She wasn't completely sure if the nausea was pregnancy related or the fact that in the next few minutes Lucas would walk through the door. Since returning home from the hospital Karen had instructed Keith to cater to Brooke's every whim as she was unable to do so herself. Brooke hadn't divulged to Karen, Keith or Lauren why she'd been in hospital or what had been wrong. Karen and Keith knew that she'd collapsed at work, but she offered no explanation. Both seemed to understand that she'd tell them when she was ready. Under strict instructions Lauren had not been to visit her in the hospital, she hadn't wanted her daughter to see her like that, nor did she want her daughter reliving the time she'd spent in that same hospital.

She'd spent two days in a room with no one for company but herself. Haley had stopped by a few times but things had felt awkward between them. The elephant in the room loomed over them. Brooke closed her eyes and pushed herself further back into the mass on pillows keeping her upright on the bed. Haley had told her Lucas now knew of her hospitalisation and had begged to see her. But Haley had been true to her word and told Lucas that Brooke didn't want any visitors until she was discharged, then and only then would she agree to see him. Brooke was actually thankful for the time alone, it gave her chance to consider everything, the way her life was panning out. The baby. She wasn't filled with the same overwhelming sense of panic as when she'd discovered she was pregnant with Lauren. If someone had told 15 year old Brooke Penelope Davis that by the time she hit 24 she'd be a mother twice over, working at a small café barely keeping afloat and without a man by her side that girl would have walked straight past the crazy person who was trying to paint her as some sort of trailer trash. But this Brooke was smart enough to realise that life often took unexpected turns, and while she was facing the prospect of having two children and raising them alone she could console herself with two facts she thoughts were of utmost importance – both her children had the same father, and both children had been conceived in love. Perhaps that second one for Lauren was a stretch, but she knew she'd loved Lucas even if he hadn't loved her back then, and that was enough. This baby however, this baby was the one thing that survived the fallout of Peyton. This baby was what was going to tell the world that despite what had happened since she and Lucas had loved one another fiercely, even if only briefly. She almost laughed aloud at her own thoughts, the idea that their love had just disappeared because a pregnant Peyton had showed up. She still loved Lucas as fiercely as she had a month ago. She couldn't imagine loving anyone but him in her life. She always thought that were she to have another child she'd be married and happy and that the child would be planned and wanted. But life had thrown another curve ball her way. So it came down to the same thing as it did with Lauren. She may not have wanted to pregnant right then, but since she knew she couldn't face the other option it left her with no choice but to have a baby. However there was still the small issue of shortly having no home, and always having no money. But before she worried about that, she had to tell Lucas. The warm summer breeze hit her as the door opened. The worry outlined on his face tore at her heart.

"Brooke, why wouldn't you let me come?"

"I just needed to have a little time by myself." He looked about to argue with her but he seemed to pull himself back. He ventured closer to her and perched on the edge of the bed.

"Mom doesn't seem to have any idea what really happened to you, or why? The girl at the café said she'd never seen so much blood." She ducked her head unable to look at him.

"I'll be fine. I know I haven't really explained things to your mom, but I needed to talk to you first." Finally she willed herself to look at him properly. As her eyes roamed over him she was somewhat surprised at his appearance. He looked almost ill himself and she felt a pang of guilt. This situation was hurting him just as much as it was her. "Lucas the reason I collapsed, the reason there was so much blood was…" His cell phone shrilling cut her off. He glanced at the display before returning his attention to her. "Who is it?" His silence was enough of an answer. "Luke it might be important." He sighed and stood up, turning away from her to answer it.

"I'm with Brooke…Really? Well it won't be straight away will it because this is important…I know that it is, but Brooke has been in hospital and I need to…look Peyton you got this far alone. I'll do my best but I won't just…" Brooke saw the tension in his back and heard him curse under his breath and she guessed Peyton had cut him off.

"What did she want?" He turned back to her and took a seat beside her again.

"It can wait." She arched an eyebrow at him. "She thinks she's in labour. She's going to the hospital."

"Then why are you still here?"

"Brooke, I need to know what happened to you, that you're okay." She placed her hand lightly over his and smiled.

"I'm not going anywhere, I'll still be stuck in this bed when it's all done. You should go." He opened his mouth to protest and then seemed to think better of it. She understood, why bother when he knew she'd refuse to say a word now. He stood and leant forward, it seemed to her almost unthinkingly and habitually he went to kiss her, at the last second his lips changed course and landed softly on her forehead.

"I'll be back soon." As the door closed she let her head fall back into the mountain of pillows supporting her and stared at the ceiling for a moment before picking up her cell. It was a short conversation and once again she was left alone with her thoughts. Though she had been fully aware of the situation for a few weeks, now Peyton was in labour and the baby was soon to arrive everything seemed more real. It was like life had gone from black and white to technicolor and her eyes were unable to become accustomed to the new world around her. She felt the waves of nausea again, but this time she was certain of the cause. The nausea became stronger and she lunged from her bed across the hall and into the bathroom. She'd barely got the seat up before the vomit came hurtling from her mouth. When she was done she rested her warm head against the cool porcelain for a moment or two before her stomach contents once again reappeared. She felt gentle hands pulling her hair from her face and rubbing slow circles on her back. As her stomach settled again she turned away from the bowl and rested her tired body against the cold wall tiles. The concern on the other woman's face made her want to cry.

"She's in labour." Brooke didn't need to offer more words to explain the sudden downturn in her condition. While she suffered feelings of nausea in pregnancy she never really went further than that.

"Oh sweetie." Haley's arms went round her friend and Brooke nestled into them.

"He got the call just as I was about to tell him. I started and then…he wasn't going to go. He said that knowing what had happened to me and that I was going to be okay was more important. But I insisted." Once again Brooke twisted to face the toilet as bile came from her already empty stomach. Haley pulled her hair back once again and continued to rub her back whispering soothing noises to her. And then Brooke knew nothing else.

She felt her eyes flutter and the light felt too strong.

"Bright." Her mouth felt dry and she had the taste of acidic bile in her throat. Someone moved and the lights were dimmed. She felt a hand holding her own and she forced her eyes open. She found Haley sat at her bedside and Karen, Keith and a doctor hovering in the doorway. "What happened?" Haley smoothed her hair back and for a minute Brooke had a flash of a memory. She was a young girl settling down to sleep and a woman was at her bedside stroking her hair, she felt at peace. Brooke knew it had to be a nanny for it couldn't possibly have been her mother.

"After you'd stopped being sick you passed out. I couldn't move you so I called Keith to come and get you into bed. Karen came too and she called the doctor to see if we should take you to the hospital. He came to check you over instead of going down there again." As Haley finished Brooke saw the other three come closer.

"Miss Davis, I'm very concerned about this pregnancy. I've contacted your ob-gyn and made an emergency appointment for later this afternoon. Mr Scott has said he'll be able to get you there. Now given the admittance to hospital due to the heavy p.v. bleed just a few days ago and the nausea combined with the fainting I really do think it's important that we get you properly checked out. I want you to stay in bed until the appointment and then back to bed as soon as you get home. Under no circumstances should you be leaving this room or be putting yourself under any undue stress." The only thought running through her mind was that now Karen and Keith knew about the pregnancy before Lucas did. As they both bid the doctor farewell Brooke felt the familiar contractions of her stomach.

"Haley…" She began, but Haley was already on her feet and grabbing the trash can, placing it under Brooke's face just in time to catch her latest offering. As she slipped back into the pillows again, exhausted and coated in sweat she smiled weakly at Karen and Keith stood together at the foot of the bed.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I wanted to tell Lucas first but…your grandchild on its way." Karen slipped onto the bed beside Brooke and hugged her tightly. Haley's hand remained firmly holding her own.

"I understand honey. What a mess. How do you feel?"

"Crappy, but I'm guessing you meant about everything. Still crappy applies. After he'd gone it just hit me, it's real. This isn't just some nightmare that I'll wake up from. In a few hours he'll have another child and that child won't be ours. I know he loves me and wants to be with me and not with Peyton. Their child won't change that, but at the same time it does change things. That baby needs him, if he walks away from Peyton she'll take the baby from him I know she will."

"What about your baby? What about Lauren?" Brooke found herself almost unable to breath at the thought. She still hadn't found the courage to tell Lauren about her new sibling, either of them.

"Lauren never really had him. The way I see it is that if he's with Peyton he gets all his children, if he's with me he loses one."

"Keith honestly I can walk fine."

"Brooke the doctor told me I had to use a wheelchair to get you to the right part of the hospital. Now for goodness sake just sit back and enjoy the ride." Both Haley and Karen had wanted to come with her but she'd refused. She felt pressured by their presence into making a decision regarding all their futures that she just wasn't ready to make. Keith's presence was mandatory as he was her ride, but she felt at ease with him. It felt like unlike Haley and Karen he wasn't judging her for doing the 'wrong' thing.

"Brooke?" The familiar voice snapped her from her thoughts as Lucas approached them. Keith stopped the chair. "What's wrong? Are you bleeding again? Brooke?" She turned her head up to Keith.

"Have we got time for a second?" Keith nodded and disappeared to read some pregnancy pamphlets from the wall nearby. Brooke turned back to Lucas. "You a father again yet?" He looked so upset then. He nodded and she tried not to let the pain show.

"Congratulations Lucas. No matter what else is going on, we all need to remember that your child is completely innocent. Is it a boy or a girl?" He looked up at her then.

"A boy, 7lb 6oz. Brooke what's wrong with you? I'm really worried." She smiled at him.

"Brooke." Keith's voice cut through their moment as he gestured to the clock.

"Luke I have an appointment, it's just a check-up. Go see your son and I'll come find you when I'm done." He hesitated but she motioned for Keith to wheel them on before he could respond, she could feel him watching them as they went.

"Your nephew could probably use you right now Keith, I'll be fine from here."

"Brooke I know everyone has their opinion right now and this whole situation is less than perfect but try to forget everyone else and the mess and just focus on you and this baby and Lauren. She's worried, but she's still young and she'll adapt to whatever happens."

"Thanks Keith." With that he left her and she rolled herself into the ob-gyn's room.

"Hello again Miss Davis. Now the doctor tells me you've had a lot of nausea and you've fainted. You have general fatigue and are just quite unwell. Well the good news is I do have the results from your blood tests we took before you were discharged and so I can tell you right now what's causing you so many problems. You're anaemic, and your blood pressure is a little low. Now once we get you taking some iron supplements your anaemia should get better which hopefully will give you your energy back. Once that's sorted some light exercise and proper eating should help with the dizziness that is causing the fainting. Your blood pressure will need extra monitoring but once you've been on the supplements a few weeks I'm sure we'll see a vast improvement. So on the whole I'd say there's nothing too much to worry about. The supplements won't take effective for a week or so, which I'm sorry to say means bed rest until then. Any questions?" Brooke shook her head. The doctor reached over to shake her hand and left Brooke free to leave. She began to question why she'd told Lucas she'd go find him. Truth be told going near that nursery and seeing his son was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. But he was so worried about her and he needed to know about the baby. At the rate things were going once again he'd be the last to know and she didn't want that. The men heard the chair as she approached and Lucas leapt to his feet to meet her. She managed a smile for him.

"Lucas don't look so worried, I'll be absolutely fine. Some medication and bed rest and I'll be good as new. Luke at work, the blood. It was a p.v. bleed, and the sickness and fainting is just something simple. I'm anaemic with low blood pressure. But I will be okay."

"Brooke I've been so worried about you. What's causing all this? Is it me…the baby?" He hung his head but not before she caught the shame on his face. She reached a hand to him to bring his head up so she was able to look in his eyes.

"None of that Luke, it's simple really. Almost common even – in pregnant women." His face puckered into a frown.

"In pregnant women…you mean you're…" She nodded.

"I'm pregnant Lucas, we're having a baby."

I know this chapter was quite short and didn't give much mention to Peyton's baby but from Brooke's P.O.V. there's not much to be said on the matter. Next chapter is finally going to be Lucas' P.O.V. on everything