House of the Bakers

Brooke's behavior was odd. You couldn't put it any different. She had cooked my favorite dish just for me and sent the kids away so we could celebrate our reunion undisturbed, but she was listlessly poking around in the food and listening only with half an ear to what I was saying. The filming of my new movie was wrapped up and the next project, this time a tv show, was waiting in the wings. In a few days I had to go back to Los Angeles already where the castings would take place. I looked at Brooke. We hadn't seen each other for almost three weeks and she seemed somewhat different; not only by her behavior. Seeing her made my heart still beat faster and I couldn't wait to hold her in my arms again tonight and make love to her. "Dessert?" I asked and winked at her. She looked at me, puzzled, then jumped up.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. There's strawberries with cream," she said hastily and went over to the fridge to fetch the bowl of strawberries.

I also rose and walked to her. But when I wanted to wrap my arms around her from behind, she flinched. "Sit down," she said with her voice slightly shaking and put down the bowl of strawberries on the table.

I halted and watched with a frown as she ran to the fridge a second time in a haste and then got the can of whipped cream. "We could take the dessert upstairs," I said with a soft and, I hoped, seductive voice. Her eyes widened when she realized what I was on about.

"Julian… I…," she trailed off and sat down on the chair. "We need to talk."

I sank back down on the chair, irritated that she had shot down my attempt of seduction so brusquely. "O-kay…," I said slowly and knitted my brows. "Did anything happen when I was away?" She avoided my eyes and began to toy with her wedding ring. My stomach clenched, my breath caught. I hoped and prayed that she wouldn't tell me now that she wanted to break up. As much as I loved my job, I wouldn't sacrifice my marriage for it. But I wasn't stupid or blind. I knew how much Brooke suffered by me being in different places for shootings all the time. Sometimes we didn't see each other for weeks. And when I wasn't filming, I was in my office in L.A. We hadn't had a life together for a long time. That I would be away again for several weeks didn't make it any better; on the contrary. I grabbed her hand across the table. "I love you, Brooke!" I said in a hoarse voice. "I know I didn't show you that so often lately, but I still love you just as much as I did the first day, when you approached my table at the cafeteria of Tree Hill High and asked me if I could give you tutoring lessons." I looked into her beautiful dark brown eyes that slowly filled with tears. But I wasn't done with my confession yet. "You're the only woman for me and you always will be! More than 20 years, Brooke…" My voice broke and I squeezed her hand tighter. "Please don't give up on it… don't give up on us!"

"Julian…"

Tears were running down her cheeks and I leaned forwards and softly wiped over them with my thumb. I was relieved that she didn't pull away her hand, but her fingers closed around mine even more.

"I… don't wanna break up," she eventually said quietly. "Why do you think that?"

I cleared my throat to banish the lump in it. "Well, since I entered the house you're acting weird," I began hesitantly. "You draw away from my touches, you're jumpy and nervous and don't even wanna look at me. So I had to assume the worst."

She pulled her hand away and ran it through her shoulder-length hair. "God, this is so hard!" she exclaimed, sighing.

"What is it?" Frustration spread out inside me, because I still hadn't gotten any explanation for her odd behavior towards me.

"I need to tell you something, but I just don't know how."

I could hear the despair in her voice. I pushed back my chair and went to her. For a moment, I stopped in front of her, before I gently pulled her up and into my arms. "Just say it," I mumbled and put a kiss to her temple.

"Just like that?"

I nodded and pressed my cheek against hers. "Just like that," I mumbled, hoping that she would tell me what was bothering her now.

"I… I'm… pregnant…"

I had expected anything, just not that. I was glad that I had something to hold onto at that moment, for otherwise my legs probably would have buckled under me. Pregnant!? The word echoed in my head. Brooke was pregnant? That was why she had acted so weird? For how long did she know? All automatically, my hands moved down, feeling from her shoulder blades across her back down to her waist. With both hands I held her middle and felt a definite bulge. "How long… I mean… how far…?" The words got stuck in my throat. It wasn't Brooke's first pregnancy. I knew that she must be quite far, if you could already feel a baby bump.

"Sixteenth week…," she confirmed my assumption.

I pushed her away from me and looked at her in shock. "You're already in the sixteenth week and didn't tell me?!" I asked, flabbergasted.

She wrapped her arms around her waist. "I've only known for three weeks myself," she said and I could hear that her voice was slightly shaking.

"At least you've known for three weeks," I mumbled and shook my head. "You should've told me."

"How? Was I supposed to tell you via Skype, while you were in Canada and busy with filming your movie! You didn't even have enough time to talk on the phone. And I wanted to tell you in person."

Her voice sounded reproachful, but also defensive, and I nodded. "Do the others already know?"

"Haley and Peyton know, and oh… Lydia, too," she admitted quietly. "It's not so long ago that she was pregnant herself. She could tell the symptoms and talked to me about it right away. I couldn't lie to her."

I ran both my hands through my hair, sighing. "A baby," I muttered, "… another one."

"I'm sorry, Julian! I regularly took the pill. I don't know how it happened. Heavens, I didn't even know I could still get pregnant at all!"

Tears of despair and frustration ran down her cheeks and I made a step towards her and pulled her into my arms. "Shhh…," I said soothingly and kissed her tears away. "We can do it. We already managed to raise four kids. We can do a fifth one, too, and… a grandchild," I added and grinned.

"I'm so happy you say that," Brooke mumbled. "I was so scared of your reaction."

I pulled her closer. "You don't need to be scared. I love you and I'll always be there for you!"

"I love you, Julian… to the moon and back!" she said with a smile and pushed her lips against mine.

Finally! I returned her kiss and then gently pushed her away from me. "Okay, I'll take the strawberries, you the cream," I ordered and smirked.

Brooke grabbed for the cream, laughing, and waited for me to take the bowl of strawberries from the table, then went upstairs with me to our bedroom.