Chapter 5: Tears and Laughter

"Oh my god, really? How do you know?" Brooke asked, pacing back and forth.

"Um, Brooke, I've done this before- believe me, she's in labor" Haley said.

"Alright, well you get her in the car and I'll call the hospital and Jake. LUCAAAAAAS" Brooke shouted at the top of her lungs.

He came running in, wrapped in a towel without a shirt on. Brooke paused for a second to admire her husband before snapping back into reality. "Lucas, Peyton's in labor, says Haley. So I'm gonna call Jake and the hospital, and you go with Haley and Peyton. I'll call Nathan, too, Jake will need the support" Lucas nodded and quickly kissed Brooke before running out of the room to get dressed.

"Alright, Peyton, you'll be ok" Haley said, and helped her out of the living room.

"Brooke, are you coming?" Peyton asked.

"Yah, I'll be right there" Brooke quickly dialed Jake's number.

"Jake- Brooke here. Peyton's in labor, go to the hospital, we'll all be there! Ok- and breathe, you're not the one having the baby- bye!" Brooke sighed and called the nursing department of the hospital.

"Hi, Dr. Brooke Scott speaking. Peyton Jageilski has just gone into labor and we're coming, ok? Thanks so much! Bye" Brooke shut the brown phone book and grabbed her cell phone. It was gonna be a long night.

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Brooke rushed onto the maternity ward using the doctor's elevator.

"Nancy! Where did Peyton go?" Nancy pointed down the hall and Brooke raced down the hall. She skidded to a stop in front of the room where she saw blonde curls and a tall Lucas.

"Peyton, hi!" Brooke rushed in and hugged her friend. "How are you doing?"

"I'm ok, so far…I'll be ready in 6 hours, they say"

Great, exactly what I need…6 hours, Brooke thought sarcastically to herself. She smiled outwardly and glanced at Jake, who had a shell shocked look on his face. Nathan and Lucas were attempting to calm him down and distract him, but it wasn't working. Brooke meandered over to the boys and said "Can I steal my husband for a second?" Lucas got up and followed Brooke out.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm bored…I wanna go do something- lets go look at the babies!" Brooke said, and dragged Lucas by the hand. They made their way down to the nursery, and Brooke entered using her hospital ID. Brooke greeted the nurses and walked down the aisles to the where the babies lay. A little girl caught her eye.

"Aw, Lucas, look at her! She's so cute" Brooke leaned down and read the name. "Unnamed…that's interesting. Lucas, our baby will be in here soon with their name written on a little card…speaking of names, I haven't even thought of any names yet!" Brooke said, looking up at Lucas. Lucas smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "If it's a boy- we're naming him Lucas"

"No, baby, I would have killed myself if I was named after a parent- I'm not doing that to my poor child!" Brooke said, liking the feeling of being able to call this baby "hers"

"Brooke, sweetheart, you can do whatever you want" Lucas said, not wanting to rile up a pregnant stressed woman.

"Haha, I like the sound of that" Brooke said, kissing him and moving down the aisles. She heard a familiar voice and turned around.

"Mouth!" Brooke said in a shocked voice. "Mouth and Erica moved away so long ago! Oh my gosh, Mouth, what are you doing here. Erica! My girl! How are you?"

"Good…why are you here?"

"Peyton's having a baby a floorabove you" Brooke laughed.

"Oh, I'll have to go pay her a visit!"

"Brooke! Lucas! Hey! We were just here to see our little girl" Mouth said proudly, putting an arm around Erica.

Brooke looked at Erica's slim figure questioningly. "We're adopting" she explained.

"Oh, who?" Brooke said.

"Oh, that little girl over there" Mouth pointed to the baby that Brooke had been admiring mere moments ago. "We're about to meet with her mother to say some final goodbyes. Speaking of, she's right there! Caroline! Over here!" Brooke gaped when she saw the woman that was walking down the aisles. It was little Joseph's mother!

"Erica, Mouth…Dr. Scott?" she said surprisingly.

"Huh…I was just paying the nursery a little visit" Brooke said, and sidled away quickly, dragging Lucas behind her. They quickly left the nursery and Brooke sat down on a bench and leaned on Lucas.

"What's the matter?" Lucas asked, stroking her hair softly.

"I…just…why would she give her kid up for adoption?"

"Brooke, honey, didn't you say that was the woman with the little boy that had financial matters you had to handle and make phone calls for? It's the matter of saving the life of her son, I guess. She may have to have given up her little girl to pay for Joseph's operation…he has a serious medical condition" Lucas hugged Brooke. Brooke's eyes filled with tears.

"I'm so lucky to have you…and have my job and yours…we're so lucky. I wanna help in some way…" Brooke trailed off.

"Well, what can we do? Mouth and Erica are already adopting the little girl…there's not muchelsewe could do"

"I wish I could help them out, but I can't…its not allowed for doctors to cut their patients a financial break"

"I know, Brooke…let's go see Peyton" Lucas said, in an attempt to distract Brooke.

Mouth emerged from the room holding the baby, right before Lucas and Brooke got up.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Brooke asked Erica, who was blinking fast.

"I wanted to cry, but I just got my new contacts…" Erica half laughed, half cried.

"She'll be fine…what's sad is that Caroline said she doesn't wanna see her baby again- she doesn't want her daughter to hate her…so that was the last goodbye. And obviously, we have to respect her wishes" Mouth said, his eyes shiny from emotion. Brooke looked like she was about to lose it, but Lucas interrupted.

"On a happier note…what's her name?" Lucas asked.

"Uh, we decided on Amelia Roxanne" Erica said, taking the little girl from Mouth and kissing her nose.

"Aw, what a pretty name. You guys have to meet us for coffee. How long are you guys in Tree Hill?" Brooke asked, wiping her eyes.

"Actually, we're moving here. To give Amelia the Tree Hill experience. In 3 weeks. But we're staying with Erica's parents for a week" Mouth answered.

"Ok, well later this week, with Peyton and her baby and Jake and Haley and Nathan- we can have some catching up. I'll call you!" Brooke said.

"Alright…great seeing you guys!" Erica hugged Brooke and Lucas and they waved goodbye.

"Well, that was eventful" Lucas commented.

"Oh yah- ok we should get back to Peyton"

Brooke and Lucas got in the elevator and stepped out on the maternity ward. They raced to Peyton's room, and to their surprise, got their just in time to hear "It's a girl!" and see Jenny jumping up and down and shouting "It's a girl! I have a sister!"

Brooke rushed in. "Oh my God, did she go into labor early?"

"Yah" Jenny answered, still jumping up and down.

"So, what's her name?" Haley asked a few hours later, as they all crowded around Peyton and the little girl. She was dressed in a fluffy pink baby suit and she was adorable. She had Peyton's blonde hair and hazel eyes, but she had Jake's features, too.

"Well…we decided on Catherine Allison" Peyton said.

"Oh how pretty!" Brooke said, hugging her and taking the little girl.

"I can't wait to corrupt this little bunny" she said, rocking the newborn gently.

Jake made an alarmed noise and everybody cracked up. The nurse bustled in.

"Ok, visiting hours are long over…shoo!" Everyone hugged Peyton and Jake and Catherine goodbye, and left, with promises to come back the next day.

Brooke and Lucas got into their car. "She is SO cute" Brooke commented. "She's the perfect mix of Peyton and Jake"

"I know!"

"So today's been eventful" Brooke said.

"Oh, tell me about it…you almost had a meltdown on me" Lucas chuckled and Brooke pouted. "And now we technically have a new family member, even though we're not related to Peyton and Jake. Close enough" Lucas said. "And she's adorable…and we saw Mouth and Erica….wow. I'm wiped"

When Brooke and Lucas got home, they fell asleep holding each other. It had been a long night.

Hey guys..hope you enjoyed this chapter...so much fluff, I'm sorry! I like cute stories lol. But I'll attempt at some drama. ;-) lol well R&R! Thanks!