Chapter 2: Babies, babies, and more babies!

"Hello, hello, hello!" Lucas called, walking into Nathan Scott's mansion. Pro baller for the Charlotte Bobcats and Lucas's teammate, money was not lacking in the younger Scott's household…nor was it lacking in the older Scott's household, for that matter.

"Hey!" Haley walked up to Lucas and Brooke with 8 month old baby Anthony in her arms.

"Hales…you look great! I guess pregnancy didn't do much to you" Brooke commented, hugging Haley and kissing Anthony, who was wide eyed and content, stealing glances at Lucas and waving his hand at Brooke.

"Ah, my nephew…my how he's grown" Lucas said, stealing Anthony from Haley and walking into the living room where Nathan was chilling on the couch, jabbering on with Jake, and a pregnant Peyton was laughing with Jenny.

"Nathan…Jake…shalom" Lucas chuckled and sat down on the couch, Anthony contently sitting in his lap and playing with his fingers.

"So how are your sleepless nights going?" Brooke asked Haley in a half laughing tone while hugging Peyton and ruffling Jenny's hair.

"Ah…just lovely" Haley smiled sarcastically and waved to Anthony, who smiled at the sight of his mother. Nathan laughed and shook his head "We're doing fine…he actually is a very good baby" Nathan smiled proudly at his son. "Mom was surprised- she said I was a terrible baby"

Everyone laughed at that and broke off, carrying on their own little conversations. Charlotte Bobcat ballers Nathan, Lucas, and Jake avidly discussed a new technique, and Peyton, Haley, and Brooke discussed babies and Haley warned Peyton of her upcoming troubles.

"So, Peyton…boy or girl?" Brooke asked.

"It's a girl" Peyton answered. "I know I kept you guys waiting 7 months, but you know…it was fun" Peyton said with a mischievous look on her face.

"OHMYGOD!" Brooke shrieked. "YES. We need another girl in this world" she commented.

"Calm down…I'm excited too, though" Peyton and Brooke laughed.

Anthony was passed around a lot, but Brooke prided herself on being able to keep him the longest before he started fussing and Haley or Nathan had to take him. Anthony obviously enjoyed sitting in Brooke's lap, because she bounced him and talked to him and giggled with him.

"Hey you guys- dinner!" Haley announced.

"Brooke, will you hand Anthony to me? He needs his milk" Haley grabbed a bottle and Anthony, and sat down with him in her lap. Anthony fell asleep during his feeding and Haley put him in his little carrier and gently rocked it with her foot while she ate. Brooke watched all of Haley's motions, admiring how she did them with such ease and a nonchalant attitude. She wondered if Peyton or her would ever be able to do that.

A few hours later, they bade Haley and Nathan goodbye, and Brooke and Lucas left, with threats of hunting them down if they didn't come visit the next day.

"Aw, Broody, Anthony's so cute!" Brooke said.

"I know…how adorable. And he's the spitting image of Nathan"

"He has Haley's calm attitude in him, though…he hardly ever fussed"

"I hope my kids-I mean our kids-are like that" Lucas commented

"So you were thinking the same thing, too?" Brooke asked timidly.

"Oh yah…I definitely want children, Brooke…and soon" Lucas said, hinting subtly.

"Oh I know, me too…think of how much fun it would be to play with them and teach them and have them call you mommy! They'd be work, too, but so much fun and such a good experience" Brooke said

"Brooke, we're both hinting something, I think…we both want kids…and soon, right?"

"Definitely"

"Well…then what's stopping us? We're married"

"True that- but are you sure, Lucas?"

"I'm surer than sure, Brooke. When I was thinking of proposing…when we were dating, actually…I always dreamed of marrying you and having kids and raising a family…and being a husband and a father and it was my biggest dream to have a little kid of my own. Even though Jake was in a tight situation, I was always jealous of him for having Jenny- just a little. He always had someone that would never reject him, you know…and when she said "Dada", Jake looked like he would melt…and it looked pretty cool"

Brooke looked at Lucas and kissed his cheek. "You're such a sweetheart. What did I do to deserve you?"

"Question is, what did I do to deserve a beautiful, charming, funny, smart, awesome, all around amazing girl that popped into my life when I was unsure and made me sure of myself…and my love for her?"

Brooke's heart beat faster and she was silent. What an amazing night.

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Peyton sat in her house, flipping through baby names in the baby book her father had sent to her. Jake walked in, Jenny trailing behind, absorbed in something or the other.

"Hey" Jake kissed Peyton and plopped down on the couch.

"Baby name hunting?" he asked.

"See, I have a question. How did you pick Jenny's name?" Peyton asked, curious as to how Jake could pick such a perfect name for the little girl.

"Well that's simple. The moment I saw her, she instantly reminded me of my cousin whom I was really close with my entire life and I named her after Jennifer" Jake said.

"Ah, you make it sound so simple" Peyton whined.

"I'm sure you'll pick the perfect name…I would help, but every name I like you don't" Jake said.

"I don't want our kid named Tatiana, Jake! She'd be ridiculed!" Peyton said, half laughingly, half indignantly.

"Hey, my great grandmother's name was Tatiana"

"Yah, in the 18th century!" Peyton said.

"Well…" Jake kissed Peyton and got up to leave her to the name picking. Peyton shook her head and went back to her book, sighing and flipping through the pages once again.

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Brooke sat on the couch in her pajamas, eating the Ben and Jerry's that she had gotten when Martha had gone grocery shopping.

"Brooke, are you seriously still eating ice cream?" Lucas asked, laughing and kissing her on the forehead.

"Yah, I wanted something cold- my throat is kinda sore and I wanted to be able to talk when everybody came" Brooke chuckled and handed Martha the spoon and the ice cream tub when she walked by.

"Hah…yah, they're coming soon…you better get ready, Cheery" Lucas said, sitting down next to her. Brooke snuggled up to Lucas "You smell good"

"It's the cologne you bought me…and I just got out of the shower"

"Ah, well I'm gonna go IN the shower…"

Brooke quickly took a shower and blow dried her hair. She was in the middle of applying mascara when the doorbell rang.

"Will you get that, Broody? I'm still doing my makeup!" she called through the intercom.

Lucas jumped up and opened the door to welcome Haley, Nathan, and Anthony in.

"Hales…Nate…Anthony" he greeted.

Brooke walked in and hugged Haley and Nathan, and tickled Anthony gently.

Peyton, Jake, and Jenny showed up a little while later, and the six friends chatted for a long time.

Nathan proudly told everyone that Anthony was gonna be a basketball star like his daddy, and that he was already showing that he had the talent.

"Dude…he's 8 months old" Lucas said.

"I don't care how old he is, you're never too young to show talent" Nathan said with and bounced Anthony gently on his knee. Brooke admired both Nathan and Haley's parenting…they made it look really easy. She assumed that it came with the whole being-pregnant giving birth being a parent package.

Martha came in. "Dinner is served" she said gracefully, and marched out of the living room.

"Wow…your maid is hardcore" Peyton commented, pulling herself up and 'waddling' to the dining room. Peyton was close to having the baby, 7 and half months pregnant. She had waited to tell everyone the gender, and she was still having trouble with the name. At the dinner table, she asked for a general consensus on what the name should be.

"So guys, I'm having a little trouble deciding our little girl's name here…I need some help- any suggestions?"

They avidly discussed names for a while, each person piping in with their own name suggestions. Peyton came close to naming her kid after Brooke several times, but she talked herself out of it- it could only mean danger. She meant that in a good way, of course.

Dinner was an interesting affair, and soon, the six friends dispersed, heading home. Anthony was cranky, Jenny was still recovering from a bout of illness, and everyone was tired and exhausted. Brooke and Lucas were chilling on the couch; Brooke buried in Lucas's arms, half watching the game, half admiring the hotness of her husband.

"Broody…you're so sexy"

"Cheery…you're so beautiful" Lucas leaned down and kissed her softly.

Brooke snuggled back in his arms until something struck her suddenly. Gasping softly, she got up from the couch and ran into their room. Lucas paid no mind, assuming she was doing something else.

Brooke searched franticly through the closets and cabinets until she found what she was looking for. "Aha!" she cried.

Brooke was staring down at the home pregnancy test, with tears in her eyes and her heart beating fast and furiously. She looked down and checked the results again. It clearly read "pregnant". Brooke sat down on the toilet and glanced down. How could it be? She and Lucas had discussed having kids just one night before. She and Lucas's hadn't had time since then…that must mean that the baby was conceived like two months ago! Come to think of it…she had skipped her last period, but hadn't paid mind to it, because it hadn't crossed her mind. "Oh, well, this is interesting" she muttered to herself. "But I'm so excited".

"LUCAS…honey, come here for a second" Brooke called through the white intercom directly behind her. Lucas meandered into their room and seeing Brooke sitting there on the toilet alarmed him immediately. "Brooke, are you ok?"

"Oh, I'm more than ok…Lucas, look at this" she held up the pregnancy test. Lucas looked at it and then looked at her and hugged her tightly. "Oh Brooke! I'm so happy!" Lucas picked her up and swung her around, kissing her gently and tickling her.

"I know! I know!" Brooke giggled and squirmed free from his hug. "I'm gonna go make a doctors appointment- I cant wait to see when we can find out if it's a boy or a girl!" Brooke laughed and ran off.

Lucas mimicked Brooke's earlier actions and sat down on the toilet. He was happier than ever, knowing that he would have a son or daughter. He saw her tiny form disappear around the bend in their room, seeing her shiny brunette hair swinging gently around. He was so in love with her, and to have a baby with her would be the most amazing thing in his entire life. He couldn't imagine living without her, and he was insanely excited to welcome their baby into the world. Regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl, he felt his stomach drop at the notion of being a father.

Brooke walked back into the bathroom.

"Aw, Broody…are you brooding, baby?" Brooke asked, rubbing his back gently with her hand and hugging him. "You know I cant call you my baby anymore? We're gonna have another one" Brooke giggled.

Lucas turned Brooke around and kissed her. Holding her face, he looked at her and said "Brooke, this is literally a dream come true. I couldn't ask for more. To be able to have a baby with you, to start a family, to know that you're mine…I cant describe the feeling…I love you, more than you know, and I already love this baby"

Brooke kissed Lucas, and they sat, holding each other and each imagining the wonders of having a baby, having a family…having each other, forever.