Disclaimer: still don't own OTH, the characters, anything really

I'm alive. This chapter had been a pain to wrote and I don't know why, I felt like I was just adding one sentence at a time.

Anyway, this week I have managed to write a lot of it, I find if my emotions are down sometimes it really helps me write. And I have had a shitty week, it has also been busy though so I really wanted to update this weekend but I don't think I would actually tie up the end of the chapter… so I cut it in half! It's a but short but I can post something and finish the other half and hopefully post soon.

You know the deal, if I get 20 reviews within a week I post within a fortnight.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, with its light moments and its more dramatic ones. Just because BL are a set couple now doesn't mean things will always be easy.

-x-

Chapter Forty

A scream came over the monitor, Brooke rolled over with a groan, about to pull off the blanket to get up when a soothing hand patted her back, "Stay. I'll go get Harry. Bonjella still in his room? " Lucas kissed her shoulder and slipped out of bed instead. Brooke couldn't help but smile as she sank back into the pillow with a nod.

An hour later Brooke woke again, the bed disappointingly empty next to her. Grabbing her robe Brooke walked through the house, eventually finding Lucas on the couch with a coffee and his laptop while Harry was in the play pen happily playing and wide awake, "good morning" Brooke jumped onto the couch next to Lucas, leaving a trail of playful kisses along his face and pushing his laptop out of the way so she could perch as close to him as possible, then her kisses turned from playful to seductive.

Eventually Lucas pulled away with one last kiss to the tip of her nose, "morning, Cheery"

"Thanks for helping with Harry"

Lucas smiled, his hands gently squeezed her hips where he held onto her, his eyes crinkled with the smile "I'm here for you, anything you need"

"And I don't think I've shown you how grateful I am to have you here" Brooke leant forward and gave Lucas another long kiss.

"Message received" Lucas was breathless, "but no thanks required"

"It's been a long sleepless week, and not the fun kind of sleepless" Brooke groaned, ending in a pout which made her resemble the teenager she had been when they had first dated many years ago.

Lucas chuckled, "I think I'm even too tired for the fun kind" and his laughter turned into a yawn.

With a sigh Brooke climbed off Lucas and patted his thigh, "go back to bed, get some more sleep" she nodded towards the door beckoning him to leave, "off you go"

"Fine" Lucas slowly got up, "wake me if you need me"

"I won't" Brooke pushed him out, laughing as the tired blonde stumbled from the room.

Her eyes then strayed to clock and then to Harry who stood hanging onto the playpen bars, his dark eyes staring at Brooke as he drooled over his favourite toy, Brooke kinked her brow, "hungry?"

"Up, up!" Harry babbled, "nanana nanana"

After she reached over to lift Harry out, Brooke carried the toddler to the highchair, securing him before going straight for a coffee. Brooke sipped the brew as she started to cut up fruit, separating it onto two different plates while she popped pieces into her own mouth as she went.

Brooke added some dry cereal to Harry's plate and placed it in front of the small boy, he went straight for a slice of banana and Brooke went straight to her coffee mug to finish it.

As Brooke expected Noah appeared shortly after, like clock work he sat down in his usual spot, his plate already waiting, and Brooke placed a glass of cold juice in front of him, "good morning, sweetie"

"Morning, Mom" Noah glanced around, "where's Dad?"

"I sent him back to bed" Brooke smiled and popped a strawberry chunk in her mouth, she chewed briefly before swallowing, "you want some toast?"

"No, thank you"

The two sat quietly together, Noah lost in thought and Brooke still tired and half asleep. Harry babbled in baby talk as he happily ate, content for the moment.

Noah cleaned up after himself while Brooke cleaned up after Harry, checking his diaper before placing the toddler back to the safety of his large play pen. Brooke rubbed her eyes, walking by Noah as she went, "I'm going to go get ready, you right?"

"Of course," Noah replied and he followed behind Brooke, taking the stairs as she disappeared back to the master suite, pass Lucas snoring gently in bed and to the bathroom.

It was one of the shortest showers in Brooke's life, she slipped on a pair of navy shorts and a white lace top, leaving her hair out to dry into its natural wave as she quickly applied basic make up before returning to the family area. Brooke sighed in relief when she saw Harry still happy as he played, toddling around with his toy lawn mower. While she had the chance, Brooke made up the baby bag for the day.

Fifteen minutes later Harry started crying, his screams of discomforting filling the room, Brooke hurried to finish the counter that she had been disinfecting and then rushed over to the upset toddler, her eyes taking in the time before she picked him up, "hey, kiddo, those gums bothering you again, huh?" Brooke bounced him as she headed for the medicine cabinet.

Noah reappeared, dressed in his sharp school uniform, tie in place, shoes shining, he kinked a dark brow "he's crying again?"

"Sorry" Brooke winced, "can you hear him at night?"

"Not very much when the doors are closed" he eyed the toddler as if Harry was about to explode any moment, "how long will Harry be staying with us?"

"Just another week, sweetie" Brooke took care of Harry as she kept glancing at Noah, wondering what was going through his mind. The boy hadn't said anything against Harry being with them yet he hadn't shown any enthusiasm for having the younger child in the house either, Brooke didn't blame him as it hadn't been the easiest time.

Noah turned his back to his mother and quickly collected his drink bottle from the fridge, and finished packing his school bag.

When Brooke strapped Harry into the car seat while Noah climbed in by himself, Brooke sent out a little prayer that Harry would fall asleep in the car. The first two days with the young child had been surprisingly easy, he'd felt unsure of his new guardians yet had been sweet and quiet, and then the crying had started as if the boy had been replaced with a changeling. At Noah's school she kissed his cheek as he offered it, wishing him a good day and reminding him that his father would be picking him up, on the way back home Brooke dreamt about crawling back into bed yet knew she had way too much work to catch up on.

The baby in the back seat was suspiciously quiet and Brooke sighed with relief when she parked in her garage and discovered that her wish had come true, Harry's big brown eyes were closed, carefully Brooke transitioned Harry from the car seat and carried him all the way upstairs to the nursery, she tip toed away from the cot and walked backwards out of the room, softly closing the door with a wince half expecting the peace and quiet to disappear.

As soon as the wince vanished Brooke smiled, as exhausted as she was, Brooke Davis was truly happy.

-x-

When he woke Lucas still felt tired, he glanced at his phone to check the time and groaned, he knew he had to get up despite the urge to roll right back over and return to the land of dreams.

The house was peaceful as Lucas stepped out of the bedroom once he was ready, he door to Brooke's office ajar and went straight to it, peering in to find Brooke at her desk, glasses perched on the tip of her nose as she sketched designs. There was an expression on her face that Brooke wore when concentrating on her work, subtly different, lips slightly parted, bottom lip slightly puffed out as she drew.

"Hey" Lucas whispered, Brooke's head instantly lifted and she grinned.

Placing the pencil down Brooke's eyes sparkled as she caught sight of her boyfriend in the doorway, "hey you. Sleep well?"

"Yes, like a baby" he frowned, "which makes no sense"

"Tell me about it" Brooke agreed with a huff, "somebody who obviously never had a baby in their house"

Lucas chuckled, "why aren't you sleeping while the baby is sleeping, isn't that rule one?" he moved closer to her as he spoke, stopping behind Brooke with his hands resting on her shoulder.

Brooke spun around in her chair to face him, his hands moved from her shoulders to the armrests, "I have so much work to do" and her hands went to rest on Lucas' hips but her eyes trailed up his chest to meet his blue eyes looking down over her. Turning her tone flirty Brooke walked one set of fingers up his chest towards the neat tie, "though I am suddenly feeling very, very tired. I think I better go to bed" and with one last smile and kink of the brow Brooke used the tie to pull Lucas' mouth down to her own.

It was only a few seconds before Lucas lifted Brooke up, her arms instantly went around his neck to hold on, her legs wrapping around his waist. Both suddenly wide awake.

-x-

By the time Friday night dinner came around with Nathan, Haley and Jamie walking in, young Harry was once again a miserable wide-awake mess. Brooke had opened the door with wide eyes begging for sanity, "come on in"

They followed Brooke to the kitchen area, where the informal dining area was set up with takeaway Chinese containers. Lucas stood bouncing Harry in the kitchen, Brooke walked by him to the freezer then want to Lucas with the toddler, she handed him the cold pacifier, "here you go" Lucas took it and placed it into Harry's mouth. For a moment the boys cries continued before turning to a whimper, eyes still red.

Jamie looked around, "where's Noah?"

"In his room, buddy" Lucas answered, his voice slightly louder and more frantic than normal. As soon as the boy was gone Brooke's shoulders sagged and she groaned, freeing Lucas' arms she took Harry from him and Lucas turned to his brother and best friend, "I have never been so tired in my life"

"I wake up tired" Brooke mumbled, "don't take it personally but I so wanted to cancel tonight-" and then she held out Harry to Haley "but then I thought it would have its perks"

Haley rolled her eyes yet she grinned, holding the toddler close to her.

"I hope you guys feel like curry because it's on its way" Brooke grabbed a beer from the fridge and had a generous swallow before asking with her eyes if Haley and Nathan wanted one. Only Nathan nodded and she handed her honorary brother-in-law a cold beer before turning curious eyes to Haley, "somebody looks clucky" she took another sip of beer and saw Nate smile from the corner of her eye.

"We've talked about it" Nathan shrugged when Lucas and Brooke both turned their attention back to them.

Lucas grinned, "that's great! About time Jamie becomes a big brother"

"Don't forget Noah's even older" Nathan shot back, his bottle pointing towards his brother. Lucas' smile became shaky, forced at the edges while the levity in the room disappeared. Haley winced and Brooke's smile completely waivered, instinctively Brooke turned her back away from the others, reopening the fridge and having a look for nothing to distract herself.

Nathan didn't quite notice the change, his attention on his brother he misread Lucas' hesitance, "though I guess it's too soon for you two to talk about having more kids"

"Yeah" Lucas' voice was weak, his brow crinkled, and Nathan suddenly felt uncomfortable as he remembered not that long ago Lucas had been expecting another child.

For a moment Nathan's mouth fell open, he looked around the room, "I… I'm sorry Luke, I didn't think…"

"Nathan," Lucas interrupted his brother, "it's okay. If the two of you are blessed with another child, I would only be happy for you" and he subtly moved closer to Brooke, her back sinking against him as she closed her eyes and shut the fridge. He kissed the back of her head, "You okay?" Lucas whispered and felt her nod.

The silence in the room grew more and more uncomfortable, Nathan sent pleading eyes to his wife hoping she could save the moment. Brooke sighed as she tried to busy herself moving random objects in her kitchen, straightening the tea towel twice as she felt two sets of eyes following her.

Finally, Brooke broke the silence, "I can't have more kids" her dark eyes looked from Nathan to between Haley and Lucas, "what? It was the elephant in the room. I'm addressing it, I don't mind Nathan knowing, he's family" she kissed Lucas' hand that had grabbed for hers and smiled reassuringly before ending a shaky smile to Nathan, "We can't have any more biological children, so that's not in our plans but who knows, we aren't against the idea of continuing to foster or to adopt one day"

"Oh" Nathan closed his mouth, "that' great – I mean it's terrible that you can't do it the old-fashioned way but you two are great parents and any kid would be lucky to be yours, and it doesn't matter how that happens"

"Thanks Nate" Brooke gave a genuine smile, "I'm still coming to term with it all, really"

"I get that" Nathan quickly hugged Brooke, pulling away he grinned again, "makes it even more amazing how you two had Noah and he came back to you after all these years, like you were always meant to be a family"

"Can't fight fate" Lucas nodded.

The doorbell rang signally the delivery had finally arrived and all four adults walked together to help to carry the load, Harry still on Haley's hip.

-x-

For a moment the adults stared at the two boys, taken aback, "a sleepover?" Lucas frowned, "tonight?" he turned to Brooke with raised brows.

Noah shifted his green gaze to his mother as well, a strange expression on his face, "you were meant to ask" there was an edge of disappointment to his tone.

"Right" Brooke fumbled, "the comet"

"Meteor-" Noah began his brow creasing further, Jamie interrupted excitedly "CAN I? CAN I?

"I… well…" Brooke was torn. They were all exhausted, as much as Brooke adored her godson the last thing she was looking forward to was having the energetic child stay over night and waking up to him in the morning.

Nathan was the one who answered, "sorry, bud, remember we've got an early morning tomorrow"

"But Dad, we only live like five houses down the street it will take five seconds to get home" Jamie complained.

A silent Noah's face became stony, he didn't argue with his parents yet Brooke felt a sense of guilt when she saw Noah's eyes glaze over, "we can have our own little party, just the three of us" Brooke tried to smile, to reassure her son as Jamie pouted, his arm hanging onto Nathan as he begged his father to change his mind.

Nathan could tell his brother and friend were both exhausted, enough that his voice turned stern as he reprimanded Jamie to stop asking.

"Another time Jamie" Lucas promised.

"On that note, we should probably get home" Haley intervened, pulling Jamie off of Nathan.

They all made their way to the front entrance, Jamie moved his attention from his father to his Aunt, she gave him a big hug before kissing his cheek, "maybe in a couple of weeks"

"Promise?"

"Pinky swear" Brooke held out her little finger, wrapping it around her nephew's and as she stood back up Lucas placed his hand at the small of her back, she leant into him grateful for his support.

Once the Scott family left Noah silently walked away from his parents, "Noah, why don't' we all get our jimmy jams on for the star party, make some snacks?"

"Sure" Noah mumbled as he changed directions for the staircase.

Lucas wrapped his arms around Brooke as Noah went upstairs, "Harry's asleep, why don't we share that shower?"

With a giggle Brooke pushed Lucas away, "race you" and she ran off, Lucas at her heels.

-x-

Ever so slowly Brooke felt her body relax, her eyes adjusting to the dark room. Her head lifted, Brooke recognised that the solid warmth beneath her was Lucas' shoulder, she wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, still half asleep Brooke glanced around.

The house was silent, Brooke sighed in relief not remembering the last time she'd woken to a silent house, and she smiled down at a slightly snoring Lucas. Brooke didn't remember what she was doing before they fell asleep on the couch, she had been so tired all day.

It was dark, Brooke untangled herself from Lucas and once she saw the time Brooke looked to the ceiling, both boys sounded still fast asleep, when she looked back down at Lucas she was thinking about how to wake him up gently.

His blue eyes were already blinking back up at her, "hey, what's the time?"

"Three. Come on, let's go to the actual bed" she held out her hand and Lucas accepted it, continuing to hold it as they left the living room.

With a yawn Lucas followed Brooke, "boys both in bed?"

"I'll go check in a minute, Noah must have taken himself up" she bit her lip, "we fell asleep"'

"Looks like he packed away the popcorn"

"Yeah" Brooke sighed, "he seemed so quiet today"

"Noah's always a bit quiet"

They reached the bedroom and Brooke pulled back the duvet, "he was really looking forward to tonight"

"Hey, it's done. He'll understand, we fell asleep we didn't just…"

"Forget?" Brooke questioned, she kinked her brow, "I did forget. I was meant to ask Haley and Nathan about Jamie sleeping over, I completely forgot about tonight"

"Come on, lay down. You're a great mother but if you must worry about it, you can do it in the morning"

"No. I'll go check on the boys" Brooke took a step back, Lucas grabbed for her hand, "I won't be long" she pulled her hand away with a grateful smile. Lucas was already in bed under the covers before she left the room.

Upstairs Brooke checked on Harry first, finding the toddler fast asleep in the cot still, much to her surprise, Brooke moved the blanket back over the boy before leaving the room and heading for Noah's room.

The room was as dark as downstairs, Brooke walked further in it leaving the door ajar as she headed to Noah's bed, already beginning to smile as she grew closer.

What she saw didn't make sense at first, Brooke froze, she blinked and quickly looked around the room before returning to the empty, perfectly made bed.

The bed was empty, Brooke didn't quite understand it, she shook all the negative thoughts away and quickly went to Sam's room, the room was empty, as was the spare room, and the games room.

Downstairs Brooke ran through the house finding empty room after empty room before frantically running back into the master room "HE'S GONE!" she shouted, her body sped to the bed shaking a sleeping Lucas to wake him back up, "LUCAS!" Brooke felt her heart rate pick up, "LUCAS, NOAH'S GONE!"

"Huh?" Lucas mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he began to sit up. Taking in Brooke's face Lucas' mind quickly cleared, "gone?"

Her words came out fast, "Noahisnotinhisbed" she took a breath, "he's gone!"

Lucas jumped out of bed, "he can't just be gone, Noah's somewhere"

"I checked the whole house" she began to pace, "what do we do?" and tears started to build up.

Instinct had Lucas running to see it with his own eyes, his heart dropped when he turned the light on in Noah's empty room.

"NOAH?" Lucas screamed, his eyes on the bed as he called his sons name, "NOAH!"

There was no answer just stomach dropping dread.

-x-

Thank you for reading!