Author's note: Not that long hiatus this time, huh? Just barely a month… LOL
See, I do listen to you guys. And by the reviews from chapter 28 I understood that a seven weeks long hiatus was not really appreciated by you all. So this time it took four weeks, and for next chapter's update I'm aiming for less than two. ;)
This chapter goes out to the wonderful Hilary who is a fantastic writer. Thank you so much hun for all the great convos lately. And thanks to all of you that reviewed last chapter. I was honestly amazed that you've all stuck with this story, even though I didn't update for so long.
Let's start where the last chapter left off. The title is after a song by Lita Ford.
-
CHAPTER 29 – A little too early, a little too late
Lucas swings the doors to the maternity-wing on Tree Hill Memorial Hospital open and rushes through the empty corridor. Brooke is right behind him, barefoot but still in her prom-dress, and he feels bad for dragging her out like this. She must be close to exhaustion since the watch on his wrist shows 3.30 in the morning, but he needs to make sure his mother is okay.
During the car-ride over to the hospital he had horrible flashbacks of when Brooke almost miscarried and all the fears surrounding his girlfriend's health that lately has lessened is now back full force, mixing with the worry over what has happened to his mom.
Suddenly he sees Nathan in the hallway and he almost jogs up to him.
"Where's my mom?" he asks his brother breathlessly. "Is she and the baby alright?"
Nathan looks confused, almost zoned out, and shakes his head as if to clear it. "Uhm… Your mom? I thinks she's in with Haley… and the babies are down in the NICU. There's two of them, remember?"
"What do you mean? With Haley… why?"
His head feels like it's about to explode and he can't get his thoughts in order. Nathan's words don't make sense at all and it's not until Brooke puts her hand over her mouth in a shocked motion and gasps; "Haley had the babies!" that he understands.
His mother wasn't here for her own sake, she was here for Haley's. And this new realization doesn't make him the least bit calmer.
"Oh my god Nathan!" he says and drives his hand through his already messy hair. "What happened? Is she alright?"
This is not good, he thinks, not good at all. Haley still had seven weeks to go and since she carried twins the babies were bound to be smaller than average. When he and Brooke left the hospital merely ten hours ago, Haley had been fine. Tired yes, but okay, and the babies had been safely inside her. And now? Now they were in the NICU?
"They had to give her an emergency C-section around nine o'clock. Joshua's heart-rate was dropping and they needed to get the babies out…"
Nathan sighs and on the side of him Lucas can hear Brooke breathing, still with her hand over her mouth. Unconsciously he wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her into a protective hug.
"I called you like a hundred times" his brother keeps going, "but your phone was turned off and I didn't have Brooke's new cell phone number… I was kind of freaking out, but then I got a hold of your mom and she came down here… She's been a rock. I don't know how I would've managed without her…"
Lucas quickly gets his cell out of his pocket and seeing that the display is black he curses silently.
"Damn it, my battery is dead… I'm sorry Nate, we had no idea."
Nathan nods. "It's okay. Haley is awake now and she's alright. Come on, I'll take you to her."
-
The first sight of Haley in the hospital-bed calms Lucas nerves a little. Not that he didn't believe his brother when he said she was alright, but seeing it for himself is better and he smiles at her.
Brooke rushes past him and envelopes Haley in a careful hug that still makes his best friend flinch a little and he thoroughly looks her over.
"Are you okay Haley?"
"I'm alright… a little sore, but they have great pain-meds here."
She smiles back at him and Brooke, half couragesly half sad, and he hurts for her.
"And how are the boys?" he cautiously asks and Haley hands him and Brooke two small Polaroid-pictures.
"They're stable. James is breathing on his own and Joshua just gets a little extra oxygen."
She smiles with threatening tears gleaming in her eyes. "Nathan says that Josh has my nose, isn't that right baby? And James is apparently great at kicking out his IV-line."
Nathan just sits silently in his chair but Haley keeps going;
"The doctor says that seven weeks early is not that unusual when it comes to twins. And we kind of knew that they'd be here early… I just didn't think it would be so sudden…"
Brooke strokes Haley over the hair and he watches the pictures over his girlfriends shoulder. They're a little blurry and dark but he can clearly see the two little babies in their plastic isolates. They seem too small and fragile and he quickly looks away, not wanting to see their little red arms and legs full of tubing.
The room feels almost too small, like if it's filled with too much worry, and although Lucas just wants to run out of there he slowly sits down on the bed next to his childhood friend and takes her hand.
"Hales…" he says softly. "It's gonna be okay you know… They're gonna be fine."
Haley nods and in the corner of his eye he sees Brooke closing her eyes and drawing a deep breath, then his girlfriend walks over to Nathan and intertwines her fingers with his.
"I want to see them in person, Nathan" she says and starts pulling him out of the chair. "Will you take me?"
His brother looks at his wife and Haley nods again, smiling slightly. And Lucas feels proud over the fact that Brooke sounds so calm. He himself isn't sure he could handle seeing the babies yet, not since seeing the Polaroid of them attached to all those tubes and stuff, but at the same time he knows that Brooke is doing the right thing.
"You two go" he says to Nathan. "Mom and I will stay her with Haley. Right Hales?"
And even though Nathan looks a little hesitant, he walks over and kisses Haley's forehead before starting to leave.
"I'll bring you back some new photos" he says before following Brooke out the door.
Once the door closes behind them Haley lets out a big sigh and Lucas squeezes her hand. She seems okay for just having had major surgery but he guesses that on the inside she isn't as calm as she looks. His mom silently mumbles something about getting coffee and disappears too and all of a sudden it's just the two of them.
"Nathan is really scared" Haley mumbles and squeezes his hand back. "I'm glad you and Brooke came because he really needs all the support he can get."
"And you don't?" he lovingly mocks her before growing serious again. "Seriously Hales, I'm sorry we couldn't come sooner. My cell phone batteries went dead and Brooke had her purse at the tables while we were dancing… if we would have known then we would have been here…"
He really feels bad for not being there for her and his brother but as always his best friend has a heart of gold.
"In a way I'm glad that you didn't get Nathan's messages Luke… I'm really glad that you got to enjoy prom without any interruptions. Brooke needed that. …And you're here now, right? That's all that matters. Nathan had Karen when I was in surgery so everything worked out fine."
Shivering he whispers; "But what if something had gone wrong Hales? I would have never forgiven myself…"
"Don't think like that. You said it yourself, everything is gonna be fine… the babies are gonna be fine!"
There's a need in her voice that makes him nod and quickly reassure her that she's right. But in the back of his head he worries. And he thinks that if it was his daughter that was down in the NICU he would probably not be mentally stable. He would probably go insane.
He forces a smile and nods, thinking that his façade is probably pretty see-through. But Haley seems to buy it and leans back against the pillow looking less strained.
"Now tell me about the Prom" she says. "You and Brooke got 'king and queen' right? And what did Peyton say when she saw Jake?"
-
Brooke and Nathan walk slowly down the empty corridors towards the NICU. Her arm rests around his lower back and he has his arm draped around her shoulders. They walk in silence, partly because none of them knows what to say, but also because the closeness without words is rather comforting. But when they're almost outside of the door to the Neonatal Unit Nathan finally opens his mouth and says;
"They're way too small you know…"
He sounds lost, his voice is a little shaky, and Brooke looks up at him. She has known Nathan for a long time and she's not used to seeing him scared but right now his eyes tells her that he is. And instead of mumbling a lot of useless words of faked comfort she turns towards him and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him close.
"Come here Nate…" she hushes and hugs him tightly. At first he just stands there, but then she hears him let out a big sigh and he hugs her back. She slowly combs through the hair at his neck with her fingers and keeps holding him until he has had time to gather himself.
When he lets go he's almost looking his usual strong self.
"Are you sure you want to see them?" he asks and she nods seriously.
"Of course I do Nathan, why wouldn't I? They're my godsons, remember?"
And even though she is pretty sure she knows what he means, because she guesses that it will be hard to see the little boys that weren't really ready yet, she still nudges him in the side and smiles. "I bet they are super-handsome, right? Players, just like their dad…"
Nathan smiles to, almost kind of gratefully, and pushes the door open.
"Okay then, miss fairy godmother. Lets go…"
They wash up thoroughly in a small space in between and once she gets through the second door, loud beeping noises fill the air. There is about ten isolates in the room and she follows Nathan over to the far end. A nurse smiles at her and she smiles back, feeling a little like an intruder in this strange place. But then she looks down into the first isolate and her eyes widen.
"Hi Josh!" she gushes at the tiny tiny infant in the plastic cubicle. "I'm your godmother! And you just look exactly like your tutor-mom, don't you…"
-
Nathan looks at Brooke in amazement. How does she now that the baby is Joshua? And how can she seem so calm? The brunette girl gushes over his son as if this was a perfectly normal situation, not a least bit intimidated of all the medical equipment around them, and suddenly he just wants to hug her again. Hug her and thank her for actually behaving like this is a happy moment.
"Aww Nathan…" she sighs giggling "He's looks like a little elf! Look at his ears! Does James have pointy ears too?"
She waves at his first-born son saying; "I'll be right back cutie, I just have to go meet your brother" before walking the few steps over to the next isolate.
Surprised that he can, he finds himself laughing. He hasn't noticed that Josh has pointy ears but when Brooke says it he realizes that it's actually true. And for the first time tonight he looks at his little boys and sees more of the little persons that they actually are instead of just seeing sick little babies in the NICU.
"And look at James!" Brooke keeps going. "Aren't you the big guy, huh? I wonder if you have your daddy's temper. You sure do have his big feet…"
"How do you know that's James?" he asks still smiling and Brooke turns to him and gives him a look saying 'duh'.
"He looks just like you, stupid! And I saw the Polaroids, remember? Haley told me who was who."
"Yeah, but still…"
He goes silent again and just stays looking at Brooke while she gets acquainted with his babies, and he thinks that what ever worries that Lucas had expressed a couple of months ago about Brooke not being very motherly was just crap. To him it's almost amazing how much she has grown just over the last two years. Neither of them, Brooke or himself, were the same people that they used to be.
Party-Brooke seemed to have evolved into a calmer, more self-assured version and this new Brooke would make a perfect mother, as well as wonderful godmother to his sons. This is something he's completely sure of.
And snapping some pictures for his waiting wife, he thinks; "If Haley wants it that way, verything else can stay buried until the end of time…"
------
It's already 9 o'clock in the morning before Brooke and Lucas finally fall into bed at home and Lucas holds his girlfriend tightly, still a little shaken up by the last hours of emotional roller-coaster. His right hand stays firmly against the lower part of her belly and he's reassured and comforted by the on and off kicking from inside.
"Now, make sure you stay put in there…" he whispers down towards Brooke's midsection and Brooke tiredly kisses his neck.
"Don't brood honey…" she mumbles. "I'm not going to be able to sleep if you brood…"
"I'm not brooding. I'm just informing my baby how the rest of this pregnancy is going to go down. I'm just making sure that she knows that I'm the daddy and that I make the decisions…"
Brooke laughs a little and turns to look at him. She looks sleepy and he rubs his nose against her cheek, breathing in the scent of her.
"So it's your baby now?" she says. "Well could you please stop doing that right now? Yourbaby won't sleep if you keep talking to her, and if she doesn't sleep, then I won't be able to either…"
He pulls her even closer and actually tries closing his eyes for a while but sleep won't come. He's too worried about stuff. Too awake. So he rubs her cheek again with his nose and whispers;
"Brooke…"
Sighing she mumbles "Yeah?" and puts her arm around him. "What is it Broody?"
"You'll be careful, right? You won't wear yourself out or anything? Because I don't want you in the hospital again Brooke, I really don't…" He's not sure that she understands the seriousness in his words but still feels like he has to make sure. "I would go crazy if something happened to you pretty girl…"
She nods. "I promise…" And then she turns around and backs up so that he's spooning her, making sure his hand stay on her belly. "But you should really go down and see James and Josh tomorrow. I know Haley would want you to."
She's right, he should. And he doesn't even know why he didn't tonight. It just scares him, making him think too much about everything that could still go wrong. In some far off corner of his mind he honestly doesn't want to see Haley's babies at all until he's completely sure that they are out of the woods, but he can't tell Brooke that.
"I will…" he mumbles and strokes the roundness that contains his own child. "…and what you did for Nathan was great. He seemed to feel a lot better when you guys came back up to the room."
Brooke already has her eyes closed but she smiles in the dim morning light.
"It was nothing Luke, really… Sometimes I just feel like Nathan and I understand each other. I just did what I would have wanted him to do for me…"
And before Lucas has a chance to answer, or to even think through what she said, he hears her breathing become slower and deeper and her body completely relaxes against him. Brooke is sleeping.
'No wonder she's tired' he thinks. The evening had been amazing, even with Peyton's weird bathroom confession, and it had literary been a very memorable prom-night. If it wasn't for the warmth from his beautiful girlfriend and the lulling sound of her rhythmic breathing he would probably lie here for hours and worry about Haley, but instead his thoughts keep drifting off to Brooke. Her laughing at Mouth, posing for pictures with Rachel or Bevin in her beautiful dress, or her dancing with him… He pushes the worries he has for Haley and the babies further back in his mind and pulls Brooke even closer.
And within minutes he is asleep too.
----
A couple of days pass without anything really changing. On Thursday Haley gets released from the hospital but the babies are still in the Neonatal Unit so she spends all of her time there anyway.
Brooke comes to see her every day after school. With the summer heat coming she doesn't mind being in the air-conditioned hospital and since Nathan's pre-training for Duke has started Haley would otherwise be pretty lonely. But there's also another reason for her frequent visits. She feels so bad that Lucas still hasn't been to see the babies. He did swing by Haley's and Nathan's apartment the night Haley came back home but in the last three days she's had to deliver his lame excuses to Haley and she can see that she gets more and more disappointed every time.
Today there was apparently some meeting with coach Whitey that he couldn't miss and after that he was going to see Dan. For what she knows, Lucas hadn't seen Dan since before his heart-problem at the championship and that was at least three months ago. So why was it suddenly so important that he'd do it today? Why did he really have to see his asshole of a father at all?
Today when she comes in after washing up she sees both Nathan and Haley sitting by the isolates. Haley has James on her chest and Nathan is reading Joshua the latest news from a basketball magazine.
"God, you're gonna brainwash them" she laughs as she hugs him from behind before walking over to sit with Haley. Nathan mutters something about 'wait and see… you'll corrupt your kid in seconds…'. She can't hear the entire sentence but she's sure that the words 'spoiled princess' and 'cheery' is in there. She doesn't answer him, she just huffs. Instead she turns to Haley.
"How are my godsons?"
"Much better. Joshua had a bath today. I took pictures, they're in my bag."
She smiles and Brooke picks up some rolled up papers from her backpack. "That's great tutor-mom. Look, I made get-well posters!" She unrolls the papers and starts hanging them over the isolates. Anything to not have to tell them Lucas wasn't coming today either. But Nathan catches on pretty quickly.
"So big brother is still not coming?"
Brooke blushes. "How'd you know?"
"Well… You're pretty see-through Brookie cookie. You still do that thing with your nose when you're trying to hide something. It was the same in elementary school."
He smiles warmly at her and carefully strokes his son's back in the isolate and Brooke sticks her tongue out in response on pure impulse. Then she stops for a second in her hanging of the posters and smiles back. It's not often that she thinks about how long she has really known Nathan. Actually she's known him longer then all of her other friends except for Bevin. They even went to the same pre-k. She just keeps forgetting it since it hadn't been up until a year ago that they really got close. Before, they were both to busy with keeping up the image of the popular, mostly sharing the same taste in wild parties and random hook-ups.
"Brookie cookie…" she says, tasting the name. "No one calls me that anymore Nate. I think that nickname died out when Vegas moved."
"Vegas… dude, that guy could party…"
"I know! Remember that night when his dad took his car-keys away because he spraypainted his bedroom walls, and he drove to my party on a motordriven lawn-mower that he had stolen from their gardener?"
Nathan laughs and in the corner of her eye Brooke can see Haley smiling at their stories. It's a strange smile, somewhat melancholic, but she figures that it's a perfectly normal smile for someone who just had premature twins at the age of eighteen. Still she can't help but wonder. The smile seems to hide something important. Something she should know…
"I miss Vegas" she says to rid of the strange feeling. "…and Tim. No one could drink like those two."
Nathan gives her a mysterious look. "Yeah well… you weren't so bad yourself…"
---
Lucas parks the car outside of his father's dealership and takes a few deep breaths before turning off the ignition. He's been putting this meeting with Dan off for days but his father has kept calling him around the clock and stressing that it's important that he comes to see him. Why he has no clue. He hasn't so much as talked to Dan since the championship. Not until his father first called a couple of days before the prom. And apparently he wasn't going to stop until he had it his way, just as usual.
The dealership is empty of customers and he can't decide if this is a good thing or not. On one hand he's happy that there won't be an embarrassing scene in front of others, but on the other hand it kind of would have been nice to have someone around if he and his dad got into fight like last time. Down by the River court he got the upper hand because of the surprise-element. This time he might not get that lucky.
He can see Dan through the glass-window to his office. He's writing stuff in that black book that himself and Andy stole last year, and he can't help but smirk.
"You should really throw that away if you wanna keep being the mayor" he says while entering and his father flinches, obviously startled by the unexpected visitor.
"Son…" Dan acknowledges. "Are you here because you finally came to your senses?"
"About going to Duke?"
Dan nods with a superior smile already forming on his lips. But Lucas just laughs dryly, thinking that his father must be stupid. Hadn't they finished this discussion already? And what the hell would he do at Duke? He wasn't allowed to play basketball anyway with his heart-condition.
"No, I told you. Brooke and I are going to UNC."
"So I'm guessing that you're still with little miss Davis then? Who knew she could be faithful for this long…"
His father just mumbles the last part and just as he is about to ask Dan to repeat himself, the man pulls out a brown envelope and hands it to him with a satisfied smirk.
"What is it?"
"Open it and see…"
Just by the look on Dan's face he knows that this is nothing good and his hands actually shake a bit as he opens the envelope. Then he pulls out a couple of papers and reads the first one.
"This is your will…" he states feeling very confused. "You forced me to come down here just to look at your will?"
Dan leans back in the chair. "As a matter of fact I wanted both of my sons to come here, but your brother refuses so I guess you'll just have to give him the information." He stretches his arms and rests them behind his neck before continuing; "This is my new will… in which I clearly state that none of you will get a cent of my money. Unless of course you dump those little tramps you're with and both go to Duke. It's a family tradition and I want it followed."
Lucas just stares at his father blankly. The man had gone insane, there was no other explanation.
"You're kidding, right? Nathan emancipated himself from you to be with Haley. Do you honestly think he would leave her now because of some ridiculous paragraph in your will?"
"Well, we'll see won't we? And what about you Lucas? You and that Davis-girl have no future anyway. Would you trade your inheritance for a couple of years with her and a kid? It wont last… She will never change. Young sluts grow up to be nagging whores."
"Go to hell!"
His voice is loud and he clenches his jaw unconsciously and tries to understand what it is that is wrong in the man's head but Dan just laughs at his outburst.
"You know, it's easy for you to be cocky now Lucas. And it's in your character to always play the honorable guy that stays put, does the right things and takes responsibility. But wait a couple of months. Until you're away at college, working two jobs to support a whiny fat girlfriend and a screaming baby. Then it wont be so easy… By the way, it's in your genes to fail at fatherhood. All the men in the Scott-family do. Your grandfather Royal did it, I did it and Keith didn't even live long enough to try. I give Nathan four months tops before he leaves Haley and those babies. I heard they came early. Are they even normal?"
Lucas feels his shoulders tense and he balls his fists in the pockets of his hoody. 'Just in and out' he thinks. 'Do what you came to do and then leave. There is no use fighting with the jackass.'
"Listen" he says instead, his voice dropping to an almost icecold whisper. "I'm gonna walk out through this door now and hopefully I will never see you again. But I'm telling you; You stay away from Nathan and Haley, and you sure as hell stay away from Brooke! And if I hear that you go anyway near my mom or the baby while I'm gone, then I'll come back quicker than you can blink and I'll see to it that you never have any credibility in this town again."
Dan laughs, but in his face there is also a trace of fear.
"How would you do that, you little bastard?"
"I'll find a way. Believe me!"
----
It's getting late and Brooke starts to gather her things to go back home and help Karen with dinner. She checks her phone again one last time and finds two new text-messages.
One is from Rachel, saying that she and Bevin wants Brooke to come with them to the beach tomorrow. The other is from Peyton. It's nothing important, just a little 'trying to make things better again'-text and Brooke deletes it. She's not angry at Peyton. Their discussion at prom had merely showed her that she and Peyton have grown apart and she has no real interest to hang out with the curly blonde. She hasn't even taken time to ask how everything had gone with Jake.
There is none from Lucas though, and for the seventh day in a row since the twins were born it's obvious that Lucas won't show up. Silently she wonders what's been up with him lately. It's not like him to stick his head in the sand like this. And with a disappointed look on her face she shoves her phone back into her bag and sighs.
Haley looks up.
"It's okay Brooke. He'll show up when he's ready."
"I know. It's just that we talked this morning and he promised that he'd come." She adds a shrug of the shoulders as if to say 'what ever', hoists up her bag and gives Haley a sisterly kiss on the cheek. "Bye Tutor-mom. I'll see you tomorrow. I might go to the beach but I'll swing by after."
Then she waves to the babies in their cubicles and Nathan sing-songs a "See you later Brookie cookie" that actually makes her smile, before she heads out and closes the door behind her.
-
Down in the hospital lobby Brooke stops when she sees someone familiar. Lucas is standing outside the gift-shop holding two huge teddybears and a couple of balloons. He looks a bit lost and his hair is untidy as it always is when he's nervous and has kept pulling his hand through it.
Just seeing him makes all her earlier irritation go away and as soon as she gets close enough for him to hear she says; "Hey Boyfriend… so you decided to show up after all?"
She means to sound a little angry but it proves to be impossible when he looks so heartbreakingly adorable, and she can't help but smile instead.
"I'm sorry Pretty girl…" he mumbles back and she sneaks her arms around his waist and leans up to kiss him. When they finally pull apart she looks him straight into those baby-blue orbs.
"What's the matter Lucas? I've seen you try to avoid this for days and right now you look like you just want to turn around and run. Tell me what's on your mind…"
He pulls her over to a nearby bench and they sit down.
"They're gonna be fine, right?" he asks with a small voice instead of directly answering her question.
"Who? The boys?"
He nods. "Yeah. Them… Nathan and Haley…"
She says 'yes' solemnly and to reassure him further she adds; "They will all be fine, baby. And so will we. But it's okay to feel scared Luke. I've been frightened by this pregnancy so many times during these 27 weeks and you've been strong for me. Now let me be there for you…"
He sighs deeply so she rests her forehead against his, saying;
"Luke, I was soo scared that first night when I went down to see Josh and James. But just imagine how scared Haley and Nathan were. Imagine how scared you would be if it was our baby."
Squinting, he nods. "That's just it Brooke… I know that I would have been a wreck and that Hales would have known exactly what to do to help me. But I don't. I have no clue how to make all of this better for her."
He looks all teary-eyed and it pains her that he hasn't said this before. All week he has probably stressed himself out over this and if he had just told her instead of coming up with all these lame excuses, she could have solved all of this much sooner.
"You two are so much alike sometimes that it's actually scary…" she says and plays with the fabric of his hoody. He looks confused and she has to smile at his total cluelessness.
"Remember when you were in the car-accident?" she says with her eyebrow raised. "You were unconscious and Haley couldn't go see you for days because she was so worried and since she apparently had a fight with you before the crash, she felt like she didn't deserve to be around you…"
He smiles now too, probably remembering how upset Haley had been when Nathan finally made her go.
"When she came into your hospital-room you said, and I quote; 'I've missed you buddy'. You were never angry with her and you never expected her to make it all better, right? You just wanted her to be there…"
Lucas looks embarrassed and she intertwines her fingers with his and gives his hand a squeeze before nudging him in the side with her elbow.
"Pull me up. I might look and feel like a whale but I can still go with you back up to see them."
He helps her get to her feet and then he kisses her slowly before slinging one around her shoulders. She relaxes into him, feeling happy that he's coming along. And when he smiles down at her she whispers;
"You know, they kind of look a little like aliens… but don't tell Haley I said that."
----
Later that night Lucas watches a silly game-show on TV with his mom and Brooke. His head is spinning with all the different events of the day and he's glad that he has a wonderful girlfriend that at least tries to understand him even when he acts weird like lately.
The visit with the babies had actually gone well and even though he still feels hopeless when it comes to being the support he wants to be for Haley, seeing his childhood friend's eyes lit up when he held his godsons was totally worth it.
But right now it's mostly the run-in with his dad that preoccupies him and he can't stop thinking of the exchange of words he had with Dan earlier in the day. There's especially one thing that his father said that keeps coming back to haunt him.
It's in your genes to fail at fatherhood…
"Mom" he says softly, not to wake up Brooke that has just fallen asleep with her head in his lap. "Was Royal a good dad to Dan and uncle Keith?"
Karen looks up from her knitting, obviously not that interested in the TV either. With two weeks left to go of her pregnancy she has become a little restless.
"Royal? Oh no, he was horrible… In some ways I think he was even worse than Dan. May can not have had a easy marriage." She goes quiet for a while, while fixing some tangled yarn, before saying; "He's not a bad person though. He was always nice to me. I guess he just wasn't parent-material."
This isn't the answer Lucas wants. He wants his mom to say that his grandfather was an excellent dad and that the only bad father-figure in the Scott family was Dan. And maybe his mom sees how uncomfortable he gets by her answer because she puts the knitting down and gives him that typical worried mother's look.
"Why do you ask, sweetie?" she asks. "Was it the visit to Haley that made you think about this or has your dad said something?"
When he doesn't answer she simply reaches over and reassuringly pats his arm.
"Don't worry" she says, and he can see her give Brooke's belly a glance. "You are my pride and joy and you won't take after Dan. You'll take after your uncle Keith and you will make a wonderful father. I know you will."
He forces a smile and he's happy she thinks that.
Because honestly, he's not so sure anymore. After seeing his brother with his little boys in the NICU he's sure Nathan will make a great dad. One that really cares for his kids. So that only leaves himself to carry on the bad-dad tradition. And as with the HCM, there is a fifty percent chance.
Just look at who's ended up with the heart-condition…
----
Author's note: So how was that? I'm still a bit rusty after all the weeks when I wasn't writing at all. It's building up again, and for all you guys that thought that the drama in this story was over and that the last ten weeks of Brooke's pregnancy would be all lovey dovey fluff… well what can I say? ;) It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings…
Once again a huge 'thank you' to all of you. I feed on your response. ;)
/Lynn
