Okay…I know it has been like forever since I have updated this, but I promise it's only because I am working so much harder on these chapters. As it gets closer to the end, it is taking so much more thought and rewrites to get everything just right and how I want ti to be so that it makes sense. So I hope this makes sense to you. And I know after you read this, you are going to have lots of stuff to say and I am prepared to be scolded….And now…on to the chapter.
Chapter Eighteen: Unexpected
"You're going to what?" Nathan stares at his brother in absolute shock. "Are you crazy?"
"I need to go, Nathan," Lucas starts. "I have to go see him. I have to go see him just one more time so I can finally sort everything out. I need to get out everything I have built inside, tell him everything I'm feeling about what he did and about what happened because of it so that he cannot control me anymore."
"Control you? How's that?" Nathan wonders. "Luke, he is in prison, remember?"
"Yeah, I know. But he is haunting me, Nathan."
"Haunting you? What do you mean?"
Lucas sighs and moves over to a bench underneath a tree outside the police station and he explains. "I've been having some nightmares lately…about Dan, Brooke and Jessilyn."
Nathan sits down next to his brother as Lucas continues, "It's been a recurring dream lately that I still can't figure out. At the start of the dream, everything is great. Brooke is telling me she can remember everything about her life. We hug and we celebrate. And then Jess comes out and jumps right into my arms and everything is right again, like it used to be. But then the nightmare comes. As they are crossing the street, they are hit be an SUV."
""Oh, Luke," Nathan says sympathetically.
Lucas nods and continues again, pushing back the tears as they start to crawl up again. "They don't make it, Nate. The paramedics come and they try to save them, but they die. And then I remember that the SUV is still there, so I run to it, and Dan is inside…laughing. He's laughing and smiling, and when I ask him why he killed them, he says he wanted his revenge."
Nathan sighs in concern for his brother and he says, "I'm sorry, Luke. That is a hellish nightmare. And I understand why that has you so worried and why you feel like you need to see Dan again, but…don't you think seeing him is just going to make it worse?"
"No. Because I will actually see him there, in prison and unable to get out, and I'll know for sure that he can't hurt me or my family anymore. I don't really understand myself how it is supposed to help, but I do know that this what I need to do. It's the only think I can think of right now that might help me finally begin to heal from all this and maybe finally be able to try and get close to Brooke and Jess again. And I'm going whether you think I should or not. I am only telling you because I know you'll keep it a secret for me."
Nathan looks at him confused. "What?"
"I don't want anyone to know where I'm going, not even Haley. I know you tell her everything, but I don't want her to be worried. I don't want to worry anyone, and they will worry if they know I'm going to see Dan."
"Okay, but the prison is like two hours away. How are you going to explain being gone for so long?"
"I told my parents and Brooke that I'm going to visit an old friend who's in the hospital down there. Kind of mean, I know, but it's the only thing I could think of. I just…I really need to go up there and get this over with so I can get Dan out of my life and my dreams forever. So can you please just help me out here?"
Nathan nods. "Of course, Luke."
Lucas hugs his brother as he says, "Thanks, man."
"Don't mention it. It's what brothers are for."
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"So Lucas isn't coming today?" Haley asks as she sets a bowl of chips, and one with dip out on the kitchen table. She smiles and touches Chloe's head as she runs past Haley and Nathan to the back porch, her two short ponytails bouncing on the sides of her head as she runs.
"No," Nathan replies nervously, pulling Henry out of the high chair, all sticky from his peanut butter and jelly lunch, "He, um…an old friend of his in Charlotte is in the hospital, so he went down to visit him."
"Oh, that sucks," Haley says as sge begins to wipe her son's face and hands when Nathan sets him on the counter top.
Nathan smiles and asks, "Which part? That the friend is in the hospital, or that Lucas isn't coming?"
"Both." Haley smiles.
Nathan carries Henry to the living room and Haley follows.
"But," Nathan starts as he sets Henry down in the playpen. When he stands back up, he finishes, "Lucas did ask me to wish you a happy birthday with a big hug and kiss from him."
Haley smiles again. "Oh, he did, did he?"
"Yep," Nathan returns as they slowly move closer together.
"Then…you should probably give it to me."
"Hmm…probably."
Nathan smiles again as he leans down to kiss her. She wraps her arms around his neck as they share a kiss that is…well, so not a kiss intended as a birthday gift from a brother-in-law.
"hmm…good kiss," Haley remarks after. "But that's not what I wanted for my birthday, bot from you anyway."
Nathan laughs. "Well…what I have for you for your birthday is way too inappropriate to give to you in front of our one year old."
Haley glances down into the playpen. Henry is laying there in his denim overalls with his eyes half closed as the bottle Nathan gave him starts to slip from his hands.
"Well, he's falling asleep," Haley says when she looks back at Nathan, who has his arms wraped around her waist and is gently swaying her from side to side. "I think we can sneak away for five minutes."
Nathan laughs again and he says, "Nope. You're just going to have to wait until tonight."
"Damn…well, it was worth a shot."
This time they both laugh as they come in for another kiss. The doorbell chimes, interrupting their make out session.
"Damn…" Nathan says as they pull away. "Party's over."
Haley punches him playfully.
"No…the party is just beginning. You go check on the kids outside, and I'll go answer the door."
"Hey guys," Haley says to her nieces as she holds the front door open for them.
"Hi, Aunt Haley!" Megyn greets her with a big grin. "Happy birthday!"
"Yeah, happy birthday, Aunt Haley," Ashlyn says as she gives her aunt a handful of picked dandelions.
"Awe…thank you, girls," Haley says as she takes the flowers. "These are beautiful. Chloe and Katie are outside in the backyard if you want to go play."
"Yeah!"
The twins run through the kitchen, heading for the backdoor.
"Happy birthday, Aunt Haley," Jessilyn says when she steps inside the house.
"Thank you," Haley says as she leans down to hug her niece.
"Um, is Anna here yet?" Jessilyn asks as she pulls from the hug.
"No, not yet. But Peyton and Jake are on their way over with the kids. James is out back with the girls though."
"Okay."
Jessilyn, too, makes her way to the backyard. And Haley finally gets to hug Brooke, who has Gracelyn asleep in her arms, and the diaper bag draped over her shoulder.
"Hey, happy birthday," Brooke says softly, so not to wake the infant.
"Thank you," Haley returns just as quietly, running a hand over Gracie's back. "Looks like you've got your hands full today."
"Yes, I do. Is there anywhere I can lay her down for awhile?"
"Oh, yeah. Henry just went down too. You can put her down with him in the crib set up in the living room. Come on."
Haley leads Brooke to the living room.
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The North Carolina State Penitentiary…quite a depressing and dirty looking place, as it should be for a prison. Though it is an uninviting and frightening place, Lucas is not afraid to go inside. He has no other choice but to go inside.. He has to face Dan again one final time so he can finally move on from the past.
Lucas goes through security before reaching a large, balding man guarding the front gate.
"Hi," Lucas says to the guard a little awkwardly. "Is it still visiting hours?"
"Yup," the guard answered with a deep, low grunt, and with a grumpy face. "Which of the low lives would you like to visit today?"
Lucas clears his throat and answers, "Dan Scott."
The guard looks up at him with an odd expression.
"What's your name, son?" he asks.
"Lucas Scott."
"Ah…you must be Dan Scott's son?"
"Yeah…unfortunately."
The guard looks down at his clipboard again and he says, "And no one has contacted you yet?"
"About what?" Lucas wonders, getting worried that Dan is not where he expects him to be. "What's going on? Is there a problem?"
"No…not anymore." The guard looks up again. "Dan Scott is dead."
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"Mommy, can I be done now?" Chloe asks Haley, looking up at her from the table.
Haley steps behind her daughter and looks down at the paper plate, left with half of her pepperoni pizza.
"You can't eat the rest of that?" She asks her. "For me, please?"
"Mom…" Chloe whines. "My tummy is not that big like yours. It fills real fast."
Haley laughs. "It fills real fast?"
Chloe nods with a serious expression and Haley says, "Okay, you can be done."
"Thank you." Chloe climbs out of her chair and walks over to Brooke. "Auntie Brooke…can Ash and Megyn come back outside and play with me?"
Brooke looks over at the table and at the twins who are staring back at her, waiting for her answer.
"Did you girls finish your pizza?"
They both nods. Brooke looks over at Peyton and Haley, sitting across from the girls. Her friends nod and Brooke returns to the twins again.
"Okay," she agrees. "You can go back out, but put your jackets back on please."
"You too, Chloe," Haley chimes in as she brings out a purple jacket from the coat rack in the laundry room.
"But Mommy…"
"Chloe Sophia…" Haley says in a warning tone.
"Fine!" Chloe pouts as she takes her Dora the Explorer jacket from Haley when she offers it.
"Come on, Chloe," Megyn says, waiting with Ashlyn at the backdoor.
Chloe meets them and the girls run outside together. Peyton stands up from the with Ellie in her arms, and she walks over to Brooke, who has turned back around to look out in the living room.
"You think she's coming around to Grace yet?" Peyton asks when she stands next to Brooke. They look out at the same sight…Jessilyn and Anna on the couch. Anna has Grace in her arms, while Jessilyn holds her baby cousin Henry."
"I don't know," Brooke answers as she shakes her head. "I mean she would rather hold her cousin than her own sister, and I have no idea why. I don't understand why she is still so angry with Grace, who is just an innocent little baby who has done nothing wrong."
"Maybe she feels threatened by her," Peyton suggests. "Or jealous."
"Well, yeah, that's what I figured too. But I talked to her awhile ago about it, and I explained to her that what happened to me wasn't the baby's fault, or Lucas's, but she still seems so angry at both of them. I can't figure it out."
Peyton pulls Brooke closer for a gentle squeeze.
"Eww! Mom!" Anna squeals as Gracie flails and screams in her arms. Peyton and Brooke hurry over to the girls.
"What happened?" Peyton asks just as they are getting over to them.
""Gracie puked on me!" Anna answers in disgust.
"Yuck!" Jessilyn says grossly too.
Haley makes her way into the living room to see what the commotion is, as Brooke takes a still screaming Gracie from her niece.
"Oh, I am so sorry, sweetie," Brooke says as she wipes Grace's face with the baby bib handed to her from Peyton, who grabbed it from the open black and pink diaper bag.
Haley takes Henry from Jessilyn as Peyton says to her daughter, "It's okay, Anna. It's only a little throw-up."
"Yeah, but it's gross!"
"Just…go wash your hands and your arms, and you'll be okay. It's really no reason to flip out."
Anna rushes quickly to the bathroom and Jessilyn follows her. Her mother and aunts don't see, but she stops just inside the kitchen and looks back at her mother, trying to clean up and calm her baby sister. Then, she looks ahead again and meets Anna in the bathroom to help.
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"It happened about…oh, a week or so ago, I think," the warden tells Lucas as he sits with him in his office. "I'm sorry you didn't know before now, but I was only assigned here a few months ago, and I wasn't sure if there was any family or anyone who would want to be notified."
"Well, there's not. Not anyone who cares, anyway." Lucas was shocked by the news of Dan's death, but certainly not disappointed. Even though he would now never get to tell Dan how angry he is at him and how much pain he has caused him and his family, Lucas feels that Dan finally being dead is better than anything. He can no longer hurt anyone else. Still, Lucas had to know what finally brought Dan Scott's seemingly immortal life to its demise.
"How did it happen?" He asks the warden.
The warden leans forward in his chair. "He, um…killed himself…hung himself with the bed sheets."
What? Now that angers Lucas. After all the pain he inflicted on so many people, he had to go and take his own life? And by hanging himself? That's not a painful death, at least not as painful as all the pain he caused everyone else. It would be so much more satisfying to him to have heard that Dan had been shot or stabbed or something by another inmate. But, apparently, he'd needed control over his own pain too.
"Dan, from what I witnessed learned about in the three months I've been here, was a bit crazier than some of the other inmates around here. His cell mate, when we spoke to him after the incident, told us Dan was always talking to himself. But it was more than talking, he said. He would have conversations with himself…conflicted conversations."
"What do you mean by conflicted?" Lucas wonders.
"Well, according to his cell mate, he would speak in a tone that sounded more sinisters, and then switch to a tone all of a sudden that was a bit more…remorseful."
Remorseful? Dan? I doubt it.
"What did he talk about?"
"I'm not sure. We didn't ask about that. It was probably just something that only made sense to him. Whenever he talked to anyone in here, it usually didn't make any sense. And he was always acting out too, on top of the nonsense talking. We had actually just gotten the order to send him to a highly guarded psychiatric division when it was discovered he had hung himself."
Lucas nods.
"Oh," the warden says as he opened a drawer to his desk. "We did find something underneath his mattress."
The warden pulls out an envelope and hands it to Lucas and he explains. "We weren't sure who it was for, but since you're here, I'll give it to you. Maybe you can figure out who it might be for, if anyone."
Lucas stares at the envelope in his hands and wonders what a letter, or what looks like a letter, might contain.
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"Are you okay, Jess?"
Jessilyn looks over to Anna as the two of them sit out on the swing in her aunt Haley's and Unlce Nathan's backyard.
"Yeah," she replies. "Why?"
"Cause you seem kind of sad, and you keep looking back at the house, like you're waiting for someone. So what's the matter?"
"Nothing. I was just kind of wondering about some stuff."
"Like what kind of stuff?"
"Why are you asking so many questions? Can't a girl just wonder to herself for awhile?"
"Sure. Just as long as she tells her best friend what she's wondering about." Anna smiles. "And I am still your best friend, aren't I?"
Jessilyn returns the smile. "Of course you're still my best friends. Remember…friends 'til the end."
"Forever and ever, my friend."
The girls chuckle. Then Anna asks again, "Why don't you tell me what you're wondering about?"
Jessilyn looks away again, back out into the yard. She gets lost staring out at her uncle Nathan and her cousins, Katie and Chloe. Her cousins are laughing as they run from their daddy. Chloe's high pitched squeal rings out loud as Natahn catches her and scoops her uyp in his arms and topples to the ground with her. He pulls Katie down with them and tickles both of his little girls. Anna looks out at the same sight and looks back at her best friend, who has a glistening, wet look in her eye.
Watching her cousins get to play with their father has Jessilyn's heart filling with jealousy and sadness. She wishes she could have that fun with her own father now…just like it used to be…
"Come and catch me, Daddy!" Six year old Jessilyn yelled to her father, standing on the back deck with her mother and near her two year old sisters, who were sitting at the little picnic table behind them, coloring (mostly on everything but the actual paper).
Standing on the highest step of the deck connected to the back of their home, Lucas holds Brooke close to him, her head leaning against his chest as she stood with her arms wrapped around his torso.
"Jess, daddy is tired," Lucas said as Jessilyn came to a complete stop at the bottom of the deck. "I've been chasing after you and your sisters all day."
"Yeah…in the house while it was rainy and boring." Jess moved one hand to her little hip and her short dark brown hair blew across her face. Lucas smiled at her. He loved that sight, the sight of his little girl looking a hundred percent like her mother.
"But now it's sunny outside and mommy is home to watch Ash and Megyn," Jess continued. "Now we can have our daddy and Jessi time. We haven't had that in a long time. Unless…"
Jessilyn linked her hands together in front of her. She lowered her head, rocked herself from side to side, pouted her lips and finished. "Unless you don't want to 'cause I'm not your little princess anymore?"
That pout of hers made her father melt every time she used it. And she knew it too.
"Oh, she's good," Brooke remarked. She smiled and looked up at Lucas. "I bet that pout looks awfully familiar, yet irresistible, doesn't it?"
Lucas smiled and looked back at Jessilyn.
"Of course you are still my little princess, Jess," he said. "I'm just tired. Can't we just make it a rain check?"
"But mommy won't let me play outside in the rain!"
Her parents laughed. Megyn toddled over and pulled on Brooke's shirt.
"No, Jess," Lucas said, catching his other toddler from meeting the stairs, just as Brooke lifted Megyn to her hip and kissed her blond head.
"A rain check is like a promise to play later."
"But I want to play now, Daddy!" Jess pouted again and stomped her foot. Then she looked up at him again with the same dimpled smile as her mother's, and she moved her hand back to her hip and said, "Oh, I get it, Daddy. You're just afraid you're too slow to catch me noe. It's okay, Daddy. You don't have to run with me. You are kind of slow…and old."
Lucas let his jaw drop and he looked back at Brooke again. "Did our six year old just accuse me of being too old and too slow to catch her?"
Brooke smiled as she sat down with Megyn on a patio chair. "I think she did. And I think she's right?"
"Really?" Lucas looked away for a moment, but then moved over to Brooke and sat Ashlyn down in her lap next to Megyn. "Wellm then I guess I will just have to prove you both wrong."
Lucas looked back at Jessilyn, waiting for him at the bottom. He smiled as he moved slowly. Then he wuickly darted down the stairs and said, come here, my little princess!"
Jess squealed excitedly and ran from her father.
"I'm going to get you!" Lucas yelled as he chased her around the swing set in the yard.
"No you won't! You're too slow!"
"Wanna bet?"
Jess squealed again as her father's arms wrapped around her little body and pulled her into the air. She laughed uncontrollably as he tickled her.
"Stop, Daddy, stop!" She said through her laughter as he tickled her more and more.
"Why?" Lucas returned as he tickled. "Isn't this what you asked for?"
After another squeal of her laughter, Lucas stopped to let her catch her breath.
"That…was fun," Jessilyn said as she finaly caught her breath.
"Yeah, it was," Lucas said. He smiled and touched her little button nose as she held onto him with her legs and arms linking to his waist and neck, respectively. "You're beautiful, Jess. You know that?"
"Yeah…I know."
Lucas laughed. Jess leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"Thanks for playing with me, Daddy."
"Anytime, Jess…anytime."
"Jess?" Anna touches her friend's shoulder. "Jess, what's wrong?"
Jessilyn wipes the tears from her cheeks as she looks away from her uncle and cousins.
"What's the matter, Jess?" Anna asks again. When Jess looks at Nathan and the girls again, anna looks too. And then she understands. "Oh…it's your dad, huh? You miss him?"
"I don't want to talk about it right now."
Anna nods and scoots closer to hug her friend.
"It's okay," she says. "We don't hae to."
Anna looks over at Jame and Tyler and one of James' friends playing catch under the big tree. Then, she looks up in the tree and a smile creeps across her face.
"Hey," she says and Jess pulls away. "You want to go hide out in the tree house for awhile?"
Jessilyn looks at the tree house and thinks that it is the perfect place to escape right about now. There she can go wit hher friend and not have to watch the other kids have fun with their dads.
"Yeah," she says. "Let's go."
The girls stand up, hand in hand, and run off to climb on the rope ladder to the tree house.
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After the talk with the warden, Lucas made his way back out of the prison (safely) and to his truck. But he didn't drive off right away. Instead, he sits alone in the car with nothing but his thoughts and that envelope from Dan to distract him.
Do I really want to know what is inside? He asked himself the same question over and over again. I do, but I don't. His own thoughts confuse him. He knows he really wants to know what sort of message Dan might have been trying to get out when he wrote the letter or whatever it was. But he also fears what is inside. Dan has caused him so much pain already, and how does he know that this letter won't cause him anymore. He doesn't.
So instead of opening it right away, Lucas decides instead to just get back on the road again. Maybe if I just drive for awhile, I can make up my mind about whether or not I should open the envelope.
"Nathan…" Haley says to her husband as he steps into the kitchen from outside, covered in dirt and grass stains. "Look at you, you're a mess. Didn't I tell you not to go out there and get dirty? I just washed all those clothes for you."
"I'm sorry, baby," Nathan says as Jake follows him inside. "But the girls forced me to get down in the dirt and play with them."
"Did not," Jake said with a smile after he gave Peyton a quick kiss on the lips. "You're the one who started chasing and tickling them."
"Thanks, Jake," Nathan said. "Aren't you supposed to defend me?"
Jake laughed, as did Brooke, Peyton and even Haley.
"Whatever, I don't care," Haley says, sitting back down in her chair after Nathan kisses her. "I'm glad you had fun out there with the kids. But you're doing the next load of laundry, mister."
"Fine." Nathans agrees as he pulls two beers from the refrigerator and hands one to Jake. "You shouldn't be doing it all anyway. You're getting to be a little too pregnant to be doing all the laundry and stuff anyway."
"No, I'm not. The baby isn't even due for another five months. I can still do all my normal work for awhile."
"Sure, but no heavy lifting."
Haley sighs in surrender. "Fine."
"Hey," Peyton says as Jake takes Ellie from her. "Speaking of the baby, you guys never told us if the baby is a boy or a girl."
"Oh yeah," Brooke remembers, looking back at Nathan and Haley. "Didn't you guys say you were going to find out?"
Haley smiles at Nathan. They look back at their friends and Haley says, "Yeah, we, um…we did, but we decided we're going to keep it a secret."
"What?" Peyton responds. "You don't keep it a secret with the sixth kid, you do that with the first or the second. Besides…if you don't tell us, we can just ask the kids. They can't seem to keep it a secret either."
Nathan laughs and says, "Yeah, we know. That's why we're not telling them either."
""You guys are nuts," Peyton says laughing.
"Why? It's more fun this way. We get to watch you all go nuts wondering what it's going to be, while we get to enjoy knowing all to ourselves what our last little one is going to be."
"That's cruel," Brooke says glaring with a smile. "You know how much we love babies."
"Really," Peyton agrees. "No one in this group can seem to stop making them."
The friends laugh together again and Brooke takes her shot at trying to persuade them to reveal the baby's sex .
"Come on," she begs. "You have to give us something to work with, to play around with for the next five months."
Haley looks at Nathan again. She smiles and looks back at her friends.
"Okay," she says. "Nathan, hand me that pad of paper by the phone and a pen."
"Sure." Nathan passes her a white notepad and a purple pen.
"What are you doing?" Peyton wonders, she, Brooke, Nathan and Jake all watching as she uncaps her pen.
"I'm giving you something to play with."
They wait while she writes. When she's finished, Haley turns the pad for Brooke, Peyton and Jake to see.
"S.L.S?" Peyton reads outloud. She, and the others look up at Nathan and Haley again. "Initials?"
"Yep."
"Wait a second," Brooke says. "You just found out what you're having a week ago, and you already have a name picked out?"
Nathan and Haley nod.
"Damn, you two work fast," Peyton says.
Brooke laughs again and she says, "This should be fun."
She stands up from the table and says, "I'll be back. I'm going to go check on Grace."
"I'll come with you," Nathan says. "Check on Henry too."
"Okay."
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Sitting in the tree house with her friend, Anna looks up from drawing to see how Jess is doing. Her face still looks sad as she shakes a pom-pom in her hand, unenthusiastically as she usually does.
"Jess," Anna says and her friend looks up at her. "You might feel better if you just talk about it."
Jessilyn shakes her head. Anna sighs and goes back to her drawing. But after another minute or two, Jess finally says something.
"I do miss him, Anna."
Anna looks up as Jess makes eye contact with her. She puts her sketchpad off to the side and moves over closer Jessilyn.
"Your dad?"
Jessilyn nods. "I miss him a lot, and not just now when he's out of town again. But I've been missing him when he's here too."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. It's like…he's not the same as he used to be, Anna. You remember how he always used to play with all of us, like chase us around and stuff like Uncle Nathan was doing out there with Chloe and Katie?"
Anna nods.
"Well, he's not like that anymore. He's not much fun anymore, not with me anyway. He's always sad about something, or working or taking care of Gracie. He never has time to play or do anything with me, really. I just miss him always smiling and wanting to play like all the time. But…he doesn't."
Anna hugs her and says, "I'm sorry, Jess. But…have you talked to your dad much lately either?"
Jess shakes her head and says, "No, I guess not. I just…I'm not really sure what to say. I don't want to make him sadder."
"Well, maybe you should try anyway, when he gets back. Maybe you could just see if he wants to play cards or walk or something."
Jessilyn nods again. "Yeah…maybe I should try that. Thanks, Anna."
"No problem, Jess. That's what friends are for."
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"Hey, how's she doing?" Haley asks as Brooke joins her, Peyton, Nathan and Jake back in the kitchen.
"Better, I think," Brooke answers as she sits back down at the table next to them. "Her fever has gone down and she's sleeping again. I wish I knew what made her get sick though."
""It's probably just a stomach flu sort of thing," Peyton says. "Tends to be common in babies her age."
Brooke nods. "Yeah, I know. I think I'll talk to Lucas about scheduling a doctor's appointment for her anyway when he gets back."
"Why don't you just go ahead and do it, and then tell Lucas about it when he gets back?" Nathan suggests. "You know…you're her parent too."
"Yeah, I know. But Lucas should have a say in it too."
"Well, Brooke," Peyton says smiling. "He's not going to say no to you taking her to the doctor."
"Yeah," Haley agrees. "You're her mother, Brooke. You have a right to take care of her on your own too."
"And you seem to be doing pretty good with them on your own, "Jake says, setting Ellie down on the kitchen floor.
"Yeah…seem being the operative word," Brooke almost mumbles.
"What are you talking about, Brooke?" Peyton says. "You're doing great with them. You're a great mother, Brooke."
"Maybe.."
"Brooke, seriously," Haley says, leaning forward in her seat. "She's right, we're all right. You are doing really great at taking care of them. I mean, you made sure the twins had finished their lunch before letting them go back out to play, you made them put on jackets 'cause it's chilly, and you knew exactly what to do with Grace. Most people who suffered as much as you did would have done a lot worse."
"Yeah, but those are little things, Haley, things every mother knows, even the ones who care only a little. But I still can't remember the bigger things that I should. I couldn't even remember my little girls' names or their ages, or their favorite colors and likes and dislikes until someone told me. I couldn't remember anything about them until I was told. How can I be called a great mother when I can't even remember my own children."
"Because, Brooke," Nathan starts in, coming to the defense of his sister-in-law. "You suffered a major concussion and major brain swelling. That's really hard to heal from, and you're still healing."
"Yeah, but you suffered a major concussion too, and you could remember your family when you woke up," Brooke points out. She looks around as her friends look at each other. "What?"
Haley smiles and says, "You, um…you just remembered something."
"I did? What?"
"We never told you about my concussion, Brooke," Nathan says, also smiling.
"You didn't? Well, then how did I…"
"It's coming back to you little by little," Peyton says, a smile upon her face as well. "So obviously you're getting better."
Brooke smiles, but still looks bewildered as to how she could have remembered something and not have been conscious of it.
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"Ryan!" Anna shouts to her brother from an opening in the tree house. "Leave us alone! We don't want to play with you guys right now. We're having some serious girl talk in here!"
Jessilyn laughs and Anna smiles at her.
"Fine!" Ryan shouts back to her from the ground. "I mean, if you're too afraid to lose to us, then stay up there. I understand."
"Oh, we could so beat you if we wanted to!"
"Prove it then!"
Anna looks back at Jessilyn. "What do you think? Should we?"
Jess smiles and says, "Yeah. Let's go kick their butts in some kick ball!"
Anna laughs and follows Jess to the ladder. She waits at the top while Jessilyn starts her descend down the rope ladder.
"You're so slow, Jess," Anna says. "Can't you move a little faster?"
"Hang on," Jess returns as she comes to a stop half way down. "My foot is stuck."
She removes one hand from the ladder to try and untangle the rope from her feet, but then the other hand slips from the bar.
"Jessi!" Anna screams.
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"You just have to be patient, Brooke, "Haley says, leaning in to Nathan as he rocks her back in forth in the middle of the kitchen. "The rest of it will come to you."
"And when it does," Peyton says, "Things will feel better for you. Everything will be good again…for everyone I think."
"Yeah…" Brooke nods her head. "I just wish I knew when so I could make things a little easier on everyone."
""It will get easier, Brooke," Haley says. You know, you remembering anything at all was really unexpected to the doctors."
"Yeah," Nathan agrees. "They didn't expect you to remember anything."
""Seems like life is meant to be that way," Brooke says. "Unexpected."
"I think that's probably a good conclusion," Jake says with a smile.
"Yeah, well if life is happily unexpected from now on, or just for a little while, that would be great."
"Mommy! Mommy!" Three different little voices cry as they come running into the house. All smiles disappear as Haley and Brooke rush over to their daughters.
"What's wrong?" Brooke asks the twins, afraid of why they are so afraid and crying. But they cannot seem to stop crying long enough to explain,. Neither can Chloe as Nathan and Haley try to calm her. Then anna comes racing in.
"Mom!" She screams. She too is crying.
"What?" Peyton asks her, bending down to face her. "What's wrong, Anna? What happened?"
"Jessi…she…"
"Jessi?" Brooke says, growing more afraid at the mention of her daughter's name.
"What happened?" Peyton asks her daughter again, holding her face to try and calm her.
Anna swallows and tries to explain, "She fell…off the ladder to the tree house?"
"Oh my god," Brooke gasps, covering her mouth. Nathan passes Chloe to Haley quickly and runs out with Jake to the backyard to tend to his niece. Brooke runs out with them.
"Shh…" Peyton says softly to Anna as she hugs her. "It'll be okay, honey. Just tell me what happened."
"She was climbing out of the tree house so we could go play with the boys, but then, um…her foot got stuck in the rope and she tried to untangle it, but then her hand slipped and she fell. I tried to help her, Mom, but I couldn't."
"No, it's okay. We'll go see how she's doing okay?"
Anna nods and turns to run outside again.
"Haley…" Peyton says when she turns to her.
"Yeah, I know. I'll call him."
Peyton ran outside to the others.
"Coop, what happened?" Nathan asks his son when he meets them out there, all gathered by the tree, where Jessilyn lay unconscious.
"I don't know, Dad," Cooper replies, gently laying his cousin's head back down. "She was just climbing out of the tree house and she fell. That's all I saw. And I tried to get her to wake up, but she's completely unresponsive."
"Oh my god…" Brooke cries at hearing this, fearing for the worst. Peyton hugs her.
"It's going to be okay, sweetie. She'll be okay."
"Okay, we need to call 911." Nathan says, looking at Peyton.
"Yeah, Haley's on it," she replies.
"Lucas…" Brooke says just above a whisper.
"She's calling him too. Don't worry. It's going to be alright."
When he reached a rest stop about forty five minutes away from home, Lucas decided maybe he ought to take a look at that letter. Since he couldn't speak to Dan himself now, maybe the letter would be able to clear his conscious. Unless it just makes everything worse.
So then he's decided maybe he should just wait for Nathan. The two of them could read it together. He really wasn't sure what to so. Getting this letter and news the Dan is dead was all so…unexpected. And he really can't decide what he should do with all of it. But deciding what to do is put on hold for him again as his cell rings.
The screen reads Haley calling, and he answers the phone with a smile.
"Hey you," he says when he puts the phone up to his ear. "Happy birthday."
"Lucas," he hears panic in her voice. "You need to get home right now."
"Why?" He wonders, his smile gone. "What's wrong, Haley? What happened?"
"It's Jess, Luke. She's hurt."
"What? What happened?"
"Not now, Luke," Haley interrupts. "Just hurry and get here."
"I'm on my way."
He ends the call without a goodbye and presses harder on the gas pedal.
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Okay there it is. Like I said…I am prepared to be scolded. But only as long as you review. LOL. Now it took me like three hours to write the last half of this chapter in one night and about two weeks to write this whole chapter, so you should now how hard I worked to make it as good as I could get it. Let me know what you think. And here's a preview as to what's ahead:
LUCAS RUSHES HOME IN A HURRY TO HIS DAUGHTER'S SIDE; WILL JESSILYN BE OKAY? HOW WILL BROOKE DEAL WITH WHAT HAPPENED? HOW WILL LUCAS DEAL WITH WHAT HAPPENED? WILL THEY COME TOGETHER AGAIN AND DEAL TOGETHER? OR WILL THIS TOO PUSH THEM EVEN FURTHER APART?
We are getting ever so nearer to the end of the story, so I am sure you are all wondering when I am going to get to that big brucas memory you all want so badly, or if I'm going to get there at all…..that you will have to wait and find out, I guess. But I can tell you that we are almost through . The chapters are taking longer to write because I am making them longer than they have been. And I am going to guestimate and say there are probably about….three more big chapters left until I get to the epilogue, which will sort of be the conclusion to this whole series I've been working on the past three years. Anyway, more about that later. Until then…please review!!!