***Disclaimer*** for creative purposes only, and I claim no ownership of the fandom, characters and setting.
I would like to thank all the reviewers of last chapter, the guest reviewers and bjq, bobilina, Megan, BrookeLucas, Lileen, Brucas, MM, notrob, breathbookslove, Ivonne, callison, GH Jasam Fan, New to brooke, princesakarlita411 and Diane hermans. Big thanks, very thoughtful reviews, and I expected many not to like it so I was prepared for it but still happy with the responses. I did smile at how close some peoples suggestions are to my plans.
Your response was great so I apologise that I haven't; had time to write and update, I am well aware this is later than even I expected. It's a busy time of the year and the school holiday's has kept me on my toes. This is another busy week but next week I should have plenty of time to write.
Chapter Twenty
Sitting cross legged on her bed, wrapped in her silk robe, Brooke gently lifted the lid from the box. Only once a year did Brooke dare to open this particular box, it usually brought a strange mix of sadness and secret joy, feelings so strong Brooke had only ever been able to cope with it one day a year, the day she could never hide from thoughts of her son. His birthday.
Everything Brooke had of her pregnancy and son before he came back into her life was inside this box. All the medical details, the ultrasound photos, the beanie that Brooke had taken from the hospital that had been put on Noah's head. One photo she had been given that barely showed Noah's face.
There wasn't enough, not nearly enough and Brooke cried as she touched each object, cried with the fact that this was all she had for years and now asleep under the same roof was her son in the flesh, so close she could see him whenever she wanted.
Her finger tips trailed over the envelopes tucked in the corner, she could still remember the emotion when she wrote them. Brooke left the unopened letters and picked up the beanie, lifting it to her nose and breathed in the scent.
A noise somewhere in the house had Brooke return to the present and wiping her tears away Brooke placed the lid back on.
Today the small box was just one box amongst many, they had started packing their things but the new house was not quite ready. Brooke had organised for the house to be painted and for new wallpaper for where she wanted it, but all the work she'd ordered was due to be completed over the next week and within a week they were expected to have moved in. It was the benefit of having money and knowledge of what you wanted, Brooke didn't waste time, and she'd already known the changes she wanted.
She slipped from her bed and tiptoed across the hall to Noah's room, he slept peacefully and Brooke couldn't help but sit down on the floor and stare at him.
Though her tears had dried Brooke's heart was full. A small voice broke the quiet morning,
"Mom… are you okay?"
"Hey, sweetie, sorry if I woke you" she rested up on her knees to get closer, gently stroking his hair as his green eyes opened to look at her.
"That's okay"
Brooke smiled, "happy birthday"
"Thanks" he rolled over to face Brooke, a frown marring his smooth skin.
"You okay?"
"I was already awake; Lily's snoring is very loud"
Unable to stop herself Brooke laughed which caused Noah to frown more, "she didn't snore last night" he added.
Brooke nodded and slowly collected herself, "would you like to come lay in my bed with me?"
"Yes, please"
"Come on then" Brooke moved his blanket out of the way and Noah hopped out of his bed, bringing his pillow with him. Together they crawled under the covers of Brooke's bed, their heads lay close together and Brooke breathed it in. The scent of her boy, right in arms reach.
-x-
It was just before seven o'clock in the morning when Lucas returned from his morning run, Peyton was still asleep when he went in the shower but by the time he was out and dressed Peyton was up and sitting in the kitchen a glass of juice in front of her and a coffee waiting opposite.
Lucas thanked his wife, slightly surprised by the more solemn look on her face. Since the wedding Peyton had become more optimistic and relaxed but today Lucas could see the old strain returning and knew thoughts were going around and around in her head. He placed a morning kiss on her cheek before grabbing the coffee and moving to the counter, "want me to make you some breakfast before I go?"
It would be the first time Lucas would have to be around Brooke for any length of time, where conversation would be expected, since he'd married Peyton. It was unavoidable on Noah's birthday and Lucas wasn't going to miss out on it because of other issues.
Peyton wasn't happy about the plans and even less so because she couldn't come, they'd made allowances for the party in the afternoon but Lucas had reminded her how important rest was for her.
"Sure" Peyton mumbled in response and Lucas quickly cut up the fruit and made toast for Peyton, it was all she wanted in the morning these days and he placed it in front of her, gave his wife another kiss, and sat down to finish the coffee that was fast becoming cold.
It came quickly, Peyton huffed "I still don't understand why Karen and Andy are staying with Brooke and not us"
"Because Brooke has the beds for them and Lily, and we don't have the space" he kept his voice calm as he explained again.
"Don't you think it's weird though?" Peyton frowned.
Lucas gave a heavy sigh, "no, my Mom and Brooke have always been close, you know that"
"Yes, but we're family, and hell even Nathan and Haley have tonnes of spare rooms"
"Brooke is family too, even before Noah came Mom still considered Brooke family, don't over think it Peyt, Ma loves you too" he reassured her.
"Yeah, I know" she pulled apart her toast with a faraway look on her face, "you better leave. Everyone will be waiting for you"
Lucas knew Peyton wanted him to stay but he finished his coffee and gave her another kiss on the cheek, saying goodbye Lucas left her sitting alone in the kitchen, lost in her thoughts.
The mood at Brooke's house was more jovial, Lucas could hear everyone even before the door opened, and he was embraced by his mother and pulled in.
All the adults were dressed but the children were still in their pyjamas, Lily ran to Lucas and he picked her up placing his little sister on his hip as he walked over to Noah, carefully balancing the gift bag in his free hand..
Brooke was in the kitchen, Karen had re-joined her, but she turned away as Lucas came close while Karen kept her attention on the scene.
Lucas placed Lily back at the dining table, the present on the floor, and grinned at Noah, "happy birthday, son!"
"Thanks Dad"
Lucas lifted an eyebrow in question, "can I give you a birthday hug?"
"Sure" Noah shrugged and Lucas went in for the hug, after a brief pause Noah hugged Lucas back.
They pulled apart and Lucas studied Noah's face, "hmm, well you definitely look at least twenty-four hours older today"
"Noah's seven now, Luke!" Lily was so excited, she bounced on her seat and her piggy tails swung with every bounce, "we were both six for a little bit but now he's older again" she giggled, "my friend Honey is an Auntie too, she's got lots of nieces, and one is thirteen" her eyes widened, "that's like a bazillion years older"
"Lily talks a lot" Noah looked at his father when Lily paused, "I don't know how she breathes, I've asked if I can time her"
Andy walked around them, he placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder as he passed "women, mate"
"It's easy, Noah, see" Lily happily started singing happy birthday, not stopping between the words of the song. Lucas smiled, she was always so happy and he loved how her accent had started to change.
Karen asked for calm and Lily stopped though the little girl looked like she was about to burst. Lucas turned his focus back to Noah, "so what did the birthday boy pick for breakfast?"
"Eggs benedict"
"Sounds delicious" Lucas' smile waivered as he turned to the direction of the kitchen, he appeared hesitant and Brooke instantly glared at Lucas.
"Relax, your mom is in charge of the kitchen"
Karen chuckled, "everything is nearly ready but I don't want to start until Victoria arrives"
Lucas' face fell, and as if the thought of her had conjured the woman Victoria breezed in from the front door, her hands full with two presents.
Ignoring everybody else Victoria went straight to Noah, "Happy birthday, darling" she kissed his cheek and placed the presents in front of Noah.
"Hi, Mother" Brooke tried to smile, "do you remember Lucas' mom, Karen, and this is her husband Andy and daughter Lily"
"Yes, yes" Victoria gave the others a disinterested smile, "it's lovely to see you again" she pushed the presents closer to Noah, "open up-"
"We were going to have breakfast first" Brooke cut in and leaving the kitchen took the presents from the table and set them aside, "Noah would you like to help?"
"No, thank you"
"I will" Lily offered and jumped up immediately, the room went silent as Karen coked breakfast with the help of Lily and Brooke.
On either side of Noah, Victoria and Lucas sat, their eyes met and Victoria lifted her chin "I hear you married Miss Sawyer"
"I did"
Victoria stared him down and Lucas shifted uncomfortably, Brooke made a warning sound with her throat and Victoria rolled her eyes before adding, "good luck"
"Mother!"
"Is good luck not a positive thing?" Victoria sent Brooke an impassive face before turning her attention back to Noah. The boy sat up straighter, "now, my boy, are you excited about the new school year?" Victoria asked Noah.
"It's his birthday, why don't we discuss that?" Brooke was regretting inviting her mother.
"Nonsense, we can discuss both. Noah was telling me the other day that he was thinking of joining the chess club, I thought that was an excellent idea"
Noah's eyes did light up at the mention and Brooke smiled, "that would be nice"
"Nicola is on the chess team, and she said Mr Dyer has a school tournament at the end of each year where we get to play against parents. Grandma Victoria can be in it too"
"You will have to help me practice" Victoria sent her grandson a secret smile, Lucas was shocked at how different Victoria seemed around Noah. Then Victoria looked up and her expression changed, she glanced meaningfully at Lucas before facing Brooke, "there's another matter I wanted to discuss with you as well, I tried calling you"
"We've been busy. Can it wait?" Brooke was clearly exasperated.
Victoria sighed, "I don't suppose anyone's had time to go to a newsstand then"
Brooke froze, her mind wondering what Victoria could mean, knowing that Brooke's name was probably in the media again. Today of all days, Brooke's stomach dropped, she had known eventually the media would pick up on Noah's existence.
In the silence Victoria pulled a magazine from her bag and sashayed towards Brooke to drop it on the kitchen counter with a loud smack, "it's also all over the gossip sites"
As soon as Brooke saw the pictures and read the captions her body sagged in relief before she really took it in, "must have been a quiet news day"
"You hadn't been in New York for months and your love life hasn't been media fodder since you've relocated to Tree Hill, this was bound to happen with such photographs. Really it's a surprise they didn't release them sooner"
Brooke wanted to swear, "these pictures are totally taken out of context"
Sensing the undercurrent, Karen asked Andy to take the kids out to the deck, and then took gently took the magazine from Brooke's hands, "don't worry about it, Brooke. They're just pictures, everyone who matters knows they're innocent" and she gave a motherly smile as she abandoned the magazine and rubbed Brooke's back.
She felt the eyes burning into and unable to look up Brooke gave a nod, "of course"
A curious Lucas slid the open magazine over to himself to find himself staring at images from New York, Lucas was not recognisable in the photos but anyone who knew him well would be able to recognise him easily. They were from the day Brooke and Lucas had spent together, a few snaps in Central Park, one with them lying on the grass, Lucas' propped up on one elbow as he looked down at Brooke whose face could clearly be seen smiling from the gap between Lucas' back and arm, and two more that must have been taken one after the other. Lucas was aware the photos were from when Brooke had tripped but the way the photo was shot gave the impression they were embracing and one of them appeared as if they were kissing.
"We ignore it, of course" Victoria closed the magazine even as Lucas was looking at the photos, "I just thought you should know" she then grabbed the magazine and threw it in the bin.
Brooke gave another nod and quickly left them to go collect Andy and the children, and it wasn't long before they all sat enjoying breakfast. Even Victoria complimented Karen, everyone enjoyed the food though Lily was slow to eat and was the last one with food still on her plate.
"Presents now" Victoria immediately rubbed her hands together.
More enthusiastic than the birthday boy himself, Lily gave an excited clap, "Yes! Yes!" she giggled and running from the table she screamed "open mine first" and returned with a brightly wrapped package.
"Thank you" Noah accepted the gift. Broke ushered everyone to the living room before Noah opened it, on the way they all collected their presents for Noah.
It was a struggle for Noah to open the heavily taped gift from Lily, eventually the wrapping paper was gone and Noah lifted a box lid. Inside was a handmade card and Noah gently handled it and read it in his head before placing it back and pulling out the present.
"It's a rock" Lily told everyone.
"How exciting" Victoria smiled.
Unperturbed Lily continued, "now you have a piece of New Zealand and if you look real, real close, see right there, there's a shell stuck in it… and I painted the other side. Yellow cause it's your favourite and a heart for love because I love you. See the basketball, that's for your daddy and I did a pretty red dress for Brookie and a book for you 'cause you love books and stuff"
"What are those?" Noah pointed to the blue blobs.
"Stars!" Lily grinned, "I love stars, they're so pretty and sparkly"
Noah gave a shy smile, one side of his lips curling up, "I like stars too. Thank you, Lily"
"You're welcome"
Victoria was next, she handed Noah the smaller present first, a beautiful personalised journal, and then the second present came. Noah unwrapped it to reveal a stunning chess set, even Brooke could appreciate the beauty of it though she had looked twice at one before she played with Noah.
"Mom, that's lovely" Brooke complimented, sincerely touched at her mother's thoughtful gifts. Noah's eyes were large as he explored each piece before without a word he gently hugged Victoria. Noah pulled away shortly, "thank you, I will take good care of it".
Next Karen and Andy gave Noah a couple of books, his favourite one about ancient civilisations, and another small smile showed on his face. Lucas gave Noah the telescope, a camera and a Lego set.
When Lily asked what Brooke had gotten Noah, Brooke simply kissed the top of Noah's head and gave a knowing smile, "that's a surprise for later".
-x-
The party was in full swing by the time Peyton arrived at Nathan and Haley's house, Skills had been given the job to pick Peyton up and he helped her into the wheelchair that had been the condition of her coming, humming happily as he pushed her to the backyard to where the party was.
Brooke had hired staff to set the party up but Peyton knew Lucas had helped plan the party with her via text messages. Despite the distance between them Peyton wasn't surprised how well it had turned, Brooke was always good at throwing a party, and they had organised a big pool party for Noah. A bouncy castle and giant slippery slide were on the grass, she knew there were meant to be nineteen children at the party, the invite list including Jamie, Lily and Andre, as well as fifteen from Noah's school. Looking around Peyton could tell that the children ranged all the way to perhaps twelve or thirteen.
"There's Luke" Skills pointed out and pushed Peyton to where Lucas stood talking to Nathan and Mouth. Lucas put down his drink when he noticed Peyton, he took over for Skills.
Peyton grinned, "everything looks great"
"Noah's having a good time" Lucas nodded his head in the direction of the pool where Noah was, Peyton gave the boy a cursory look before searching for her mother in law in the crowd, eventually spotting Karen in the bouncy castle with Jamie and Lily.
Peyton was so lost in her thoughts it took Nathan three tries before Peyton answered to her own name, she accepted his offer for a drink and dragged her eyes back to Lucas looking up at him, "so many people here, I should go say hi to Karen"
"I'm really happy to see Noah has made friends at school" Lucas smiled, his fingers resting on Peyton's shoulder, "I'm so proud at how well he has coped"
"It's like he's always been here" Nathan nodded.
Unable to help it Peyton turned to look at Noah again, with his hair wet it looked as dark as his mother's, three other children were playing in the pool with him and Brooke was right there with them. Peyton's eyes watched Brooke happily splash the kids, her head falling back in wild laughter as they splashed her back.
In the pool Brooke wiped the wet hair away from her face, she opened her eyes and reached forward to grab Noah, she lifted him as high as she could before dropping them both down in the water. Together they came back up, this time Noah wiped Brooke's hair out of her eyes and the two of them stared at each other, eyes locking, the rest of the world disappeared, "I love you, Noah"
He smiled, his dimples becoming deeper as it reached his eyes. Brooke smiled back, wishing she could pause the moment.
A splash from behind Noah as his friends went back to the playing around broke the moment, mother and son both turned their faces away. Haley's voice came from the side of the pool next, "Brooke, Noah, do you want to play one of the games now?"
A chorus of yes came from the children in the pool, five minutes later everyone had surrounded Brooke on the grass, "okay, the name of the game is Dunk a Dad. Our first volunteer is the birthday boy's own dad, Mr Lucas Scott himself" Brooke kept her eyes on the crowd as she gestured her arms in the direction of the dunking tub.
Everyone cheered as Lucas pulled off his shirt, earning a few wolf whistles from his friends and the ladies present, and climbed up to take his seat.
Brooke continued, "now kids line up, everyone gets three tries at a time to hit the bullseye and send a Dad down. The quicker a Dad is dunked the more we send up and if you dunk a dad you win a prize"
The first try was Lily, she failed to hit the target, four more kids including Noah had tried, Lucas was laughing as he crossed his arms with confidence.
"Give me a go" Nathan tried to take a ball.
Brooke quickly took it off him, "kids first"
"I want to dunk you, Dad!" Jamie cut in. They were still bantering when with a whoosh Lucas dropped into the waiting tub of water beneath him. A loud cheer went up catching everyone's attention.
Out of the three of them it was Jamie who turned first to see the person who had dunked Lucas, and his loud scream had Brooke spinning around.
"SAM!"
Noah was already next to Sam, the teenager had one arms around the younger boy and ruffled Jamie's hair when he joined them. Then Sam looked to Brook, "hi, sorry I'm late"
"You're just in time".
-x-
Everything was going better than she could imagine, Brooke hummed to herself as she got the cake ready in Nathan and Haley's kitchen. Sam sat on the counter, her legs dangling on the edge as she snacked on a bowl of popcorn she'd swiped from a table outside, "anything else new?"
"Not really" Brooke placed the last candle on and stepped back.
Sam tilted her head in doubt, "what? It's been three days since we've talked and nothing's happened, the last time we went three days Lucas had married Peyton, you got a new house and Jamie's grandad wanted to meet Noah. And you're telling me this time no drama" Sam scoffed before throwing to pieces of popcorn into her mouth.
"I ordered some curtains" Brooke smiled, her eyes twinkling at Sam and then he became serious, "what do you think?"
After a glance at the cake Sam nodded, "yeah cool, the kid will like it" and she went to wipe her finger against the frosting but Brooke smacked it away, "gee's, it's not like you made it, all you did is add candles"
"Not the point" Brooke frowned and when Sam mumbled something under her breath Brooke grinned, "sorry, what was that"
"Nothing"
"I thought so" Brooke took the bowl from Sam and pulled her down, "go get everyone ready for the cake"
"Fine, fine" Sam grumbled but left the kitchen, passing Peyton on her way. The blonde entered the kitchen, a fake smile on her face, "hey, Brooke, did you need any help?"
"I'm fine, thanks, you should be sitting anyway"
Peyton leant against the fridge, "I'm not so fragile" and she waited.
Trying not to sigh Brooke searched for the matches, she did her best not to acknowledge Peyton's presence but the blonde watched Brooke carefully, "so… I expected you to visit me"
"We've been busy"
"It's just, I got married and you're my best friend and I thought maybe you would-"
"Seriously?" Brooke turned to face Peyton, her cheeks red, anger rising quickly "it's my son's birthday and you want to do this now?"
Peyton smiled, "I'm just-"
"Oh, cut the act, Peyton. I know what you are doing. Today isn't about you and I would like to keep it that way"
"Okay" Peyton licked her lips, "If you're going to be hostile I won't bother"
Brooke almost bit her tongue, "right because your passive aggressive comments weren't hostile at all" Brooke sighed "look, I appreciate that you're ready to put everything behind us and I should be okay with that but I'm not okay, I've never been okay with it"
"Well maybe I'm not okay with you galivanting around New York with my husband, I already knew of course, Lucas tells me everything" Peyton laughed "but fine, you can be the one who isn't okay"
As soon as Peyton turned her back Brooke regretted talking back to her, there had been something smug in Peyton's smile and a tone in her voice that had Brooke on edge She swore and took a moment to catch her breath before finishing her task of lighting the candles.
With care Brooke picked up the cake board and started to walk outside, as soon as she appeared everyone started singing and Brooke felt her joy come straight back. Nothing would take away from the happiness of this day.
-x-
Brooke started collecting the rubbish, watching the view of Noah playing with three kids from school on the slippery slide. Still dressed in her black swimsuit, hair nearly dry, sarong tied around her waist, Brooke enjoyed the warmth of the sun against her skin, she basked in it for a moment before glancing back to Noah.
Eyes still on Noah, Brooke went to turn around, crashing into a hard chest as she did so, "so sorry" she said and bent down to pick up the bag of rubbish at the same time the man did. They both stood up each with a hand on the plastic bag.
"Sorry, my fault. I'm looking for one of Noah's parents" he seemed unsure.
Brooke smiled warmly, "well you've found one of them. Hi, I'm Br-" she dropped the bag and held up her hand.
"Brooke Davis… I know" he laughed, "I never saw you as the Mom type but it suits you" their hands slowly let go of each other and Brooke narrowed her eyes.
He was tall, very blonde and broad, with dark blue eyes, Brooke watched as he smiled, the dimple in his chin and his large smile ringing bells, "oh my god, Hot Brick?"
"These days people just call me Brick"
Brooke wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug and then punched his arm as she pulled away, "what are you doing here?"
"Picking up my son"
"Small world, which ones yours?"
Brick searched the crowd before pointing to one of the boys playing with Noah, "Zane"
Across the party Mouth sat on the dunking board, he looked down at his friends metres away, Millie's throw missed by a mile but Mouth had been distracted, "who is that talking to Brooke?"
There was a collective turn of heads, Lucas clenched his jaw and took a deep swallow of hi drink, everyone was confused except for Haley and Skills, they both soon answered, "Brick" and only got confused looks in return.
Skills was the one who explained further, "Brick Mirskey, Bevin's brother, he's some big shot lawyer in Raleigh"
"Remember, Luke, he dated Vivian her senior year" Haley added.
Nathan nodded, "Hot Brick! I remember him. Shame Peyton left early, she had the biggest crush on him in middle school, all the girls did, Bevin had a slumber party every week during summer break"
Placing his bottle down Lucas grabbed the ball and threw it as hard as he could, a second later Mouth went into the dunk pool, Lucas ran after the ball, "everyone's starting to leave, we should help clean up"
"Ah, man, we're the guest" Skills moaned but despite his complaint he helped. They started with collecting the abandoned drinks and clearing the food, not many guests were left and within minutes the party was reduced to their group and family except for one boy and his father who still stayed close to Brooke talking and helping the pack away too.
Within half an hour it looked as if there had never been a party as the bouncy castle was deflated and carried out.
Skills left, then Mouth and Millie, Victoria was next and then Brooke and Noah left behind Karen and Andy. Hesitant Lucas gave the yard another look making sure nothing had been missed and then went inside, Nathan offered Lucas a beer and the two brothers relaxed.
"You survived" Nathan cheered, tapping their bottles together.
Haley reappeared, she carried small rectangular present, "did Noah leave a present?" Lucas held his hand out to take it from Haley.
"No, it's for you" his sister-in-law replied, "from Brooke"
Lucas unwrapped the present unsure what was instore for him, when the gift wrap was gone Lucas let out a deep breath, his eyes stung from the tears that threatened to fall.
"It's a copy of Noah's new birth certificate" Lucas smiled as he whispered the words to Haley and Nathan, his eyes glued to the names. No longer did it proclaim father unknown, with Lucas' name clearly printed and his surname added to Noah's own.
He hadn't known how much it would have meant to him until he saw the letters printed in front of him, Lucas touched the framed certificate then his eyes were drawn to the blurry image in the right corner and Lucas recognised it as an ultrasound photo. There was a clear outline of a baby, one hand reaching up.
It was the best present Lucas had ever unwrapped.
-x-
Brooke had turned the opposite direction from her house when they left Haley and Nathan's, Noah immediately noticed, "this isn't the right way"
"I owe you a surprise"
The drive was not far, Brooke turned into their new house's driveway and parked. Noah had seen the house from the outside but had never been inside, he got out of the car and gave Brooke a sideways glance, "a whole house is an extravagant gift"
With a laugh Brooke ushered Noah forward, "don't be silly, the present is inside" she jogged ahead and unlocked the door, "come in"
Noah walked slowly, his eyes taking in everything he could see as he followed Brooke into the grand room, "happy birthday, Noah"
He stopped, unable to move, the grand piano was on display along the back windows, it was a moment before Noah stepped forward. Eventually Noah touched the keys, "it's a Steinway" he gave a little smile and pressed down on one key, then another.
"Do you like it?"
Noah gave a nod, his eyes still on the piano, "can I play it?"
"Of course," the room was empty except for them and the piano, Brooke sat down on the step, still slightly damp from the party. She crossed her legs to one side as Noah sat down on the small bench and started to play.
She had missed six birthdays and never wanted to miss another, Brooke listened, so lulled by the music she could almost fall asleep.
-x-
Trust me, you do NOT want to miss the next chapter. Quick press that follow button.
Before I forget, I want to change the chapter titles to song titles. So when you review after reading think of a song that you think fits the chapter, if your suggestion is picked you win a reward. First reward is you get a character named after you.
Feel free to suggest titles for previous chapters too. Some rewards will give you the power to influence the story.