I posted a 8x22 story about Brulian's pregnancy and meeting their boys so if you didn't see that yet, then click on my profile above and go read&review "We've Been Waiting For You" right now! :) I may be extending that one eventually but I figured I'd write more of this story while I'm inspired a bit.
Thanks to kate, lostinwriting, wordsmeaneverything, arubagirl0926, melissa, maddie, kelly, sb1218, oreopeanutbuttermacaroni, stagediva23, and jenoth for reviewing! Love you guys!
I'm thinking I may end this story after two more chapters. I will really miss writing about this AU Baker family, but i think it has run its course at least for now. I'm not getting the kind of responses or traffic I used to get and plus, I've been strapped for ideas lately. I so love and appreciate everyone who reads this still and i will be sure to give it the best ending I can. (I have flashback ideas!) I even tried to give you a 'shocker' moment in this one that i am pretty sure no one expects :)
Chapter 54
No matter what she did, Nolan couldn't stop thinking about Reid. Her therepist was really great at helping Nolan talk out her feelings about the accident and how she was hiding behind her guilt. So at least that was going well, but her relationship had taken a turn. She really was feeling better, but of course, just when "I'm fine, really" was becoming a true statement, now she was on the verge of losing Reid. He'd made it very clear he wasn't feeling appreciated and had pretty much given up. She hoped that wasn't entirely true, but she knew he was really hurt and his reasons were valid.
"Nolan come on!"
Jordan was super excited as she called to Nolan, who was slow to get out of the car.
Today was one of those random Monday holidays so the kids were off from school and the parents were off from work too. And today Brooke was taking Nolan, Sienna, and Jordan to get mani-pedis and a massage at her favorite spa.
Brooke and Sienna followed behind Jordan holding hands and Sienna swung their arms dramatically. "I think I'm gunna be ticklish Mumma."
"Well maybe they can just paint your toes real quick so you don't kick anyone in the face." Brooke smiled. She could totally picture her youngest doing just that.
"Okay good."
Brooke held the door open as her younger two daughters walked inside. Nolan was lagging behind and Brooke stopped her before she went inside.
"You okay hun?"
Nolan nodded. She had told Brooke about what Reid said in the parking lot a few days ago.
"I just won't be able to forgive myself if I blew it with him. I love him and I don't want him to go to Boston..."
Brooke knew nothing she said would make Nolan feel better, so she just wrapped an arm around her daughter and they walked inside.
"Just try to enjoy today and not think about it so much. Either way, things will work themselves out, you'll see."
About fifteen minutes later, the four girls were lined up in matching bath robes and sitting on matching massaging chairs getting their pedicures.
Brooke decided to get a french manicure on her fingers and toes, Nolan picked a bright color pink, Jordan picked a royal blue color, and Sienna insisted on the closest color she could get to Nolan's pink without being exactly the same.
"This is the best day ever!" Jordan just couldn't get enough of being pampered.
"Oh I knew you'd love this." Brooke said.
"Do you think we could do this every week?"
Brooke's eyes bulged out at that comment, but also at the fact that Sienna was squirming around in her seat as the little woman at her feet was insisting on filing her tiny toenails.
"Uhhh. I don't think so." She thought of all that money flying out the window. "But definately on special occasions... Sienna honey, take a deep breath love."
"I'm trying!" Sienna giggled.
"O0o that color looks good on you, Nolan." Jordan tried to get a smile out of her big sister.
"Thanks Jord."
"Have you heard from Reid at all?" Jordan was pulling for those two. She genuinely like Reid.
"No. He won't answer my calls and I don't blame him. I mean, that's exactly what I did to him."
"You should go to his house. Go make one of those grand gestures like in movies."
"This is real life Jordan, not some romantic fairytale. That doesn't really happen."
"It could though. You could do it."
Nolan shook her head and looked to her mother for confirmation.
"She's crazy, right?"
Brooke smiled simply. "Actually I think she's right."
;
Julian had hoped to spend the day with his boys while Brooke had a girls day. But no. He was at the doctor's office for his yearly checkup.
Brooke insisted he have a yearly checkup. She told him that, to her, his health was just as important as the kids' health and she wanted Julian to set a good example for them. So she had booked this appointment for him and had forced him to go.
Julian sat in his boxers on the awkward, paper covered exam table waiting for his doctor to make an appearance. He took one hand and ripped off the piece of tape and gauze from the crook of his left arm from the routine blood test he'd had just an hour ago downstairs.
When Julian's older male doctor arrived, he did all the usual exam stuff and then sat down to talk with Julian.
"Now your blood work came back a little unusual this time. You have a high PSA number for your age so I just want to be on the safe side. It's nothing to be too concerned about but I would like to do a few extra tests on you."
Julian's eyebrows sunk. "Uhh.. okay. Like what?"
"Well your blood test indicated a possibility of prostate abnormalities, so I would like to give you a prostate exam and we can go from there."
Julian hated the thought of it, but he didn't really have a choice. If he said no, Brooke would kill him.
"Don't only old guys have prostate problems?"
"There is a higher risk as one gets older but it can happen to any male. One in seven men are affected with prostate cancer."
Julian nodded and looked down. Let's just get this over with.
;
Reid looked down at his phone and saw Nolan had texted him again. He was running on the treadmill in the gym and stopped to read it. She had written I'm sorry for about the tenth time today.
He shook his head and wiped his brow as he moved to the weight room.
He was still pretty upset and angry, but that didn't mean he wasn't thinking about her.
He looked back at his saved texts from her.
I love you so much.
You were right.
You didn't deserve to be treated like that.
I'm sorry, please forgive me
ILY
I don't want to lose you
They were all the things he wanted to hear. But it took him stepping up and confronting her to get it out of her.
He had a big decision to make. Well, two actually. Whether to be with Nolan again, and where to go to college in the fall. These two choices were so intertwined now it seemed like they were one decision that couldn't be separated. Where he played soccer in college would affect whether he and Nolan could work. Could they handle long distance? Was it worth it to try and hang onto your high school girlfriend when you're moving on and she's not?
He got another call from a school today offering him a scholarship. Now he was thinking hard about what to do.
Working out always helped him think so that's what he was doing. When he finished, he went to check the time on his phone and found one last text from Nolan.
Please don't go to Boston.
;
Biopsy.
Julian's doctor wanted him to have a prostate biopsy. It was the only test that can confirm the diagnosis of prostate cancer.
His prostate exam was apparently abnormal or whatever the blood test indicated was severe enough to have the doctor eager to get a move on with all these tests.
It was one thing to potentially have any kind of cancer, but this would completely suck. His prostate was one part of Julian that made him male. Yes he could be a sensitive guy most days, but he still considered himself manly. And if this something had spread beyond just his prostate, his whole reproductive and urinary systems were in jepordy. This certainly hit his pride where it hurts.
The doctor had scheduled his biopsy for a few days from now and had told him to go home and speak to his wife.
But before he did that, he had driven over to the Riverwalk, parked the car, and just started running. He ran circles around the town until he was sweating harder than he ever had before. Exercise usually made him feel alive and strong and powerful, but it didn't quite work this time. He got kind of nervous when his lower stomach began to ache, it was probably just a cramp but anything abnormal about that area was scaring him now. He shook his head, trying to convince himself he psyching himself out. It was nothing.
;
When the girls were done at the spa, they headed over the bridge to get lunch at Friendlys. Brooke called Julian twice to see if he and the boys wanted to meet them after his doctor's appointment, but she got no answer. Then she got a call from Haley. Brooke was surprised to learn that the boys were still at her house. This confused Brooke but she figured she might as well get the boys since Julian was MIA and they would be hungry too. So she headed to the Naley household. Brooke and the six kids had a tasty, laughter-filled meal at Friendlys and then headed home. When they got inside, the boys found their father sitting on the couch watching Sport Center.
"Dad I'm so full from lunch. I ate all my chicken fingers!" Jeremy was very proud of himself.
"That's cool bud."
"Dad can we go outside and play catch?" Tristan asked.
Julian looked at his son and nodded. "Yeah go get our glooves and I'll meet you in the backyard."
Brooke approached the couch as Julian finished watching the highlights.
"Where were you? Why didn't you pick up the boys or answer my calls?"
"I went running."
"Yeah I can tell, you're sweating pretty good. But you were supposed to get the boys from Haley's. She had to go out and she called me because you didn't show."
"Geez Brooke, what do you want from me?"
Julian walked outside to play catch with his son and left his wife pretty confused.
;
After forty-five minutes, Brooke called Julian and the boys to come inside for dinner. The kids ate and joked and chatted like usual but Brooke couldn't understand why Julian was so standoffish. When everyone was done, she told the kids the clear their plates and Julian headed into their bedroom to shower.
Brooke, of course, followed him.
"Julian what the hell is going on with you?"
"What?" Julian played dumb.
"Don't give me that. What happened today?"
Julian took a deep breath and sat down on the bed.
"I have to have a prostate biopsy."
Brooke's jaw dropped slightly. She wasn't quite expecting anything like that.
"Oh my god. I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot. I didn't even ask you about your physical. I'm so sorry baby." She sat down next to him.
"I'm scared Brooke. If I have cancer... I could lose my life or I could lose everything that makes me a man."
Brooke shook her head and hugged him from the side. 'That's not true. You're going to be just fine. You're not going anywhere... And nothing can make you less of a man, ever! No one would ever know if you didn't have a prostate."
"But.."
"No. I'm not gunna let you jump to conclusions. We're going to take this one step at a time and I'm going to be right here with you."
Julian grabbed Brooke's hand and she squeezed it tight. They would fight this battle together, just like all the rest.
;
Drama, I know... We all love to hate it.
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~ Haley :)
