"Mother?" Brooke gasped.

"Hi, Brooke, dear, is that Madison?"

"Yah…what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come see my daughter and son in law and granddaughter" she said feebly. By this time Lucas had arrived by Brooke's side and had his arm wrapped protectively around her. "May I come in?"

"Uh…yah I guess" Brooke said, making room to let her mother through.

"Your house is beautiful, Brooke, it's absolutely gorgeous"

"Thanks" Brooke said, fazed by her mother's kindness.

"May I sit down?"

"Yah, yah, take a seat" Brooke said uncomfortably, clutching Madison to her and sitting down. "So Mother…what brings you here…really?"

"I wanted to talk, Brooke…after I heard that you had a little girl I wanted to make amends with you because I realized how I wronged you"

"Wronged me? After 27 years you show up at my doorstep to throw a pathetic apology at me? Tell me what on earth you could do to make up for 17 years of agony in my life? No amount of money would ever fix it, Mother, and you know it" Brooke said.

"Brooke, honey, I'm sorry…your father was a monster when you weren't alive, saying that I wasn't suitable to be in the public eye and I needed to have a child right away or he would look bad so we had…you. And I loved you, I did"

"Oh, does that explain that a month after I was born you took off to go to Prague? Because that's the story I heard again and again from all those wretched nannies who eventually became my mothers!" Brooke yelled.

"Brooke…" By this time Brooke was sobbing, tears running down her face. Madison immediately started crying when she saw her mother crying.

"Hey Lucas can you take Maddie bear to her toy room? She's getting upset" Brooke said, wiping Madison's tears. "Be good for daddy ok?" Brooke smiled and kissed Madison, who looked like she didn't wanna let Brooke go. Lucas coaxed her into his arms and carried her upstairs to her toy room.

"She looks just like you" Brooke's mother commented.

"Yah, that's because she's my daughter…and oh, by the way, I had her because I wanted to, not because Lucas demanded children or I needed to be suitable for the public eye" Brooke spat.

"Brooke, I'm sorry, I promised myself I'd tell you the truth when I came"

"What's there to tell? You had me because you had to, not wanted to, then jetted off to Prague a month later, and threw money at me my entire life and sent me on my way and had wretched nannies follow me until I was 13! You know I'm surprised you took enough time out of your oh so busy life to NAME me! You don't even love me. You never cared enough to notice if I was getting upset because you were upset, or care enough to smile through your tears to keep me calm or rock me to sleep or sing to me or rejoice at my first word or cry when I went to Kindergarten or even SHOW UP at my high school, college, or grad school graduation! I hate you, and you hate me- its kind of mutual isn't it?"

"Brooke, it's not like that I don't hate you I love you very much"

"Uh right- this conversation's over, Mother…don't let the door hit you on the way out"

"Brooke, I wanna talk, let me talk, ok? I gave you chance can you give your poor mother a second chance?"

"You're not my mother, but what?"

"Ok, when I had you, I loved you very much. I was with you day and night when I could get away from your father's parties or socialite organizations or dinners or teas or charity balls. And your father wouldn't have you in Prague because he said you would interrupt everything and he made me go…I married him for love, but he married me to look good…I loved you and love you very much still, and I was wrong, all 27 years of your life I was wrong and I eventually descended into the type of unacceptable behavior of throwing money at you and leaving you with nannies…but you're my daughter, Brooke, and I love you"

"Ok, mother, as good acting as that was- bullshit. I'm done with you, do NOT show up at my house ever again" Brooke said, motioning to the entrance hall.

"I don't have a place to stay"

"There's a hotel just 20 minutes south…bye mother"

"Wait, Brooke, no"

"Lucas…what?"

"Brooke, she's your mother…give her a chance…let her stay"

"Lucas what? No!"

"Brooke, give her a chance…if you ever screwed up this badly with Madison would you want her to give you a chance?"

"Yes…"

"Then give your mother a chance" Lucas said, taking Brooke's hand. Brooke smiled and turned towards her mother. "Ok, mother, you can stay"

"Thank you Brooke, I really appreciate. I'll get my stuff from the car and I'll be invisible"

"Do you need help Mrs. Davis?" Lucas asked.

"No, no, I'll be fine" she said.

"Lucas!" Brooke said indignantly. "I'm mad at you"

"Why?" Lucas laughed.

"Because a, my psycho mother is in our house because of your nice gene, and b, you left Madison alone in her room"

"Brooke a, your mother is not psycho, and b, Martha's with her"

"Oh…well still!" Brooke giggled, kissing Lucas. "I can't forgive her, you know that, right?"

"I know, Brooke…I didn't forgive Dan…I just let it go and realized he wasn't even worth my time"

"I don't know if I have the strength to even do that"

"Brooke, you have the strength to do whatever you want, including forgive your mother…speaking of, here she comes"

"Where am I staying? I'll be happy to sleep on the couch"

"No, no, Mother, guest room upstairs" Brooke said. Her mother smiled and started carrying her duffel bag upstairs. "Brooke…can I see Madison, if it's ok with you?"

"Yah…I guess" Brooke said, tightening her grip around Lucas's arm. "If you want to"

"And Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So she just SHOWED UP?" Haley asked, her voice echoing through the house over speaker phone.

"Yah, according to Lucas" Peyton answered, washing Catherine's pacifier in the sink.

"Brooke must have not been too happy about that" Haley commented.

"She wasn't…hey Hales; do you think its time that I stopped giving Catherine her pacifier?"

"Uh you can let her have it occasionally when she needs to be quieted like in the plane or something but other than that take it away from her" Haley advised. "That's what I did with Anthony; the doctor said having their pacifier too long was bad for the teeth that are coming in"

"Oh, ok…hmm no pacy kitty cat" Peyton laughed, shaking her head at Catherine who looked like she was going to throw a fit then changed her mind and ran off to bother Jenny. "She didn't throw a fit!"

"Lucky! Anthony hated me for like a week after I threw his away" Haley laughed. "Should we call Brooke or do you think her and her mother are battling it out?"

"I think we should leave her be for right now" Peyton said, turning off the sink water and sitting down on the couch. "She's really moody and frustrated these days"

"That sucks…oh guess what? Anthony totally said 'Taylor'…Taylor was SO excited, I swear she is like obsessed with Anthony"

"She's just excited she has a baby to play with…she's not planning on settling down?"

"Well she said she found the guy she thinks she loves, but she's said that for every guy since senior year, so I don't know…I don't like the sound of him"

"You never like the sound of anyone she dated"

"Well…I tend to be protective, though it SHOULD be the other way around" Haley laughed. "I'm the younger one!"

"Haley…" Peyton laughed.

"Ok I have to go…see you later! Call me or die!" Haley giggled, and hung up the phone. Peyton shook her head and laughed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Martha, my mother is here" Brooke said.

"Well that's wonderful Miss Scott"

"No its not, I hate my mother"

"Oh…sorry Miss Scott. What would you like for dinner tonight?" Martha asked.

"I don't know actually…mashed potatoes!"

"Well then we will have mashed potatoes"

"Thanks Martha, you're awesome" Brooke said, hugging Martha. "I couldn't survive without you"

"Well you're pretty awesome yourself, Miss Scott…how's Miss Madison? Feeling better?"

"She's doing much better…that was a long bout of cold"

"Well viral things do take a while to go away"

"Yeah…hey Martha, I never asked you…where do you come from?"

"Well, miss, I'm from Scotland…my mama and daddy are both deceased, I have a loving husband and a daughter that's a few years younger than you" Martha said.

"Wow…I never knew that"

"Yes…what about you, miss? How are things with your mother going? If you don't mind me asking"

"Better…we're talking things through…I've been hurt a lot, by her and it's not so easy to forgive, let alone forget"

"I understand…but when your mother's gone and done, you're gonna wish it hadn't been like that"

"Yah, I know" Brooke sighed. "I know what to do"

"Then go talk" Martha smiled and motioned to the door. Brooke nodded gratefully and walked upstairs to her mother's room, where she found her sitting on her bed.

"Hey mom can we talk?" Brooke asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Yes?" her mother looked up.

"I was talking to Martha, and she told me that one day when you're gone I'm gonna regret all of this, which is absolutely true. Mother, I know we never had a good relationship- not even close. But I am your daughter and you are my mother and it's weird for us not to talk and like each other...so I'm willing to call a truce and work on our relationship if you are"

"Oh, Brooke, of course!" Her mother exclaimed hugging her and looking positively elated. "That's exactly the point I wanted to get to"

"Well great…dinner's in an hour…Martha's mashed potato contraption- they're usually good" Brooke laughed. "And you can come see Madison in like ten minutes if you want, she should be in our room with her daddy"

"Ok". Brooke nodded at her mother and left the room. She could not believe she had just done that.

"Broody" Brooke said, walking into their room.

"Cheery…" Lucas said, acknowledging her.

"I just told my mother I was willing to work on our relationship"

"Brooke…good job!" Lucas laughed, hugging her. Brooke giggled and kissed him. "Maddie bear, I get daddy for the next hour, you go play with grandma" Maddie made an angry face and clung to Lucas, which made both Brooke and Lucas burst out in laughter. Brooke tickled Madison and finally got her to move sideways to let Brooke in. Madison was climbing all over Brooke and Lucas when they heard a knock on the door.

"May I come in?"

"Yah" Lucas called, waving her in. "Hey"

"Hi, Brooke said I should come down in 10 minutes…"

"Oh right!" Brooke exclaimed, finding Maddie babbling under the covers. "Madison, go with grandma to your toy room, ok? Be good baby!" Brooke said, handing Madison who looked a little worried but then got over it and started playing with Brooke's mother's earrings.

"Alone at last Broody pants" Brooke sighed, laying her head down on his chest. He stroked her hair. "I'm gonna go to sleep, I'm so tired"

"Me too…Martha will wake us up when its dinnertime, right?"

"Right" Brooke yawned and was asleep within a minute.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So then she said she wasn't gonna make nice" Haley's mother laughed. "And we were just talking about our grandchildren"

"I know…" Haley laughed. "And then I completely bitched her out, which I feel terrible about"

"I know, but she was being unreasonable" her father said. "It was unnecessary behavior"

"So do you still talk to her?"

"Well we do, because she's Anthony's grandmother, and Nathan's mother, but since she never exactly blessed our marriage or relationship, things have always been awkward with her" Haley explained, popping a piece of bread in her mouth.

"She still thinks you ruined Nathan's life?" Haley's mother laughed.

"I guess, but she shouldn't…it didn't work out at first, but we love each other more than anyone or anything else in the world, and Nathan did exactly what his dream was, playing for the Charlotte Bobcats, so I don't get how I'm still ruining his life" Haley said a little sadly. "I always knew my in-laws wouldn't like me"

"That's not true Haley, baby…I'm sure she likes you but just doesn't wanna tell you" Haley's mother laughed. "Don't sweat it…and plus, you and Nathan have an excellent life, so what more do you need than love and a wonderful baby boy? Not your in-laws admiration, that's for sure"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey Lucas there's a hot brunette waiting for you by the door" Thomas, a teammate, told Lucas at practice.

"Brooke's here?" he asked, turning around. "Anna!" he said, running over and hugging her. "How are you?"

"Good, Lucas, I was just coming to watch international star Lucas Scott play"

"Oh, I see…how'd you get in?"

"Well I'm a girl" Anna laughed, touching Lucas's arm. "We'll leave it at that…so how's Brooke?"

"She's great; actually, she's coming soon"

"Damn it"

"Pardon"

"I have a little cold…I said that's great"

"Oh, ok I better get back to practice"

"Lucas!" Brooke called.

"Hey Brooke!" He said, kissing her and kissing Madison. "Anna's here" he said with an amused look on his face.

"Oh that backstabbing conniving bitch…lovely…well I've got your child and your ring so she can back up OFF" Brooke said, bouncing Maddie.

"SCOTT STOP MAKING OUT WITH YOUR WIFE AND GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE FOR SUICIDES!" the coach yelled.

"I better go" Lucas laughed, kissing Brooke one more time before running off.

"Hey Maddie, look, there's daddy playing with Uncle Nate and Uncle Jake" Brooke said loudly, making sure Anna heard the daddy part. "Wave to daddy baby" Brooke laughed, picking up Madison's hand and waving it.

"Hey Brooke" Anna said.

"Anna, what a surprise" Brooke said sarcastically. "How are you?"

"Good, you?"

"Good, I just thought Madison should come watch Lucas at his practice, Lucas threatened to kill me if his daughter grew up knowing nothing about basketball" Brooke laughed her tinkling laugh that she knew Anna hated.

"Oh…I see" Anna said. "So how old is she?"

"9 months and attached to me and Lucas like white on rice" Brooke laughed, tickling Madison, who was wide eyed, staring at the action going on. Lucas waved to Madison and Brooke blew him a kiss.

"I see" Anna said, her look getting sourer. "Well I have to go, it was nice seeing you"

"You too…not" Brooke added as Anna left.

Tagarro Residence….

"Brooke was at the practice, and those two are inseparable!" Anna cried. "And their daughter is like their obsession, this'll never work!"

"Oh yes it will…it better Anna, because you want Lucas and I want Brooke"

"I don't want Lucas"

"Oh I forgot you were a homo"

"Ok Felix that's it I'm done with you…Brooke hates your guts and God so do I" Anna screamed, throwing boiled water at Felix. "Bye asshole" she yelled, grabbing her suitcase and marching out the door. "You can WALK to Charleston!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Jake, the phone" Peyton laughed, pointing at the phone.

"It's so far away" Jake groaned, getting up and walking over. "Hello?" he said. A furious expression appeared on Jake's face. "What?" he said, and walked into the guest bedroom. He emerged 30 minutes later looking like he had just fought a battle.

"Who was that?"

"Nikki"

"Oh, no, Jake what did she say?"

"She wants to see Jenny, even though the judge granted me full custody of her!" Jake said.

"No"

"Yah…whatever, the police can deal with her"

"Good idea…I'm sorry, how does she do this? Wasn't she in jail for something stupid?" Peyton asked.

"I wish…I just don't want Jenny to hear that she has anything to do with monster woman"

"Yah…we best not tell her"

"Yah"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That night, everyone got together at Brooke and Lucas's to hang out and chill. The girls were entertaining the kids and the guys were watching basketball.

"Over the hill and out to play…" Peyton, Haley, and Brooke sang in chorus, making the kids giggle and the guys cover their ears.

"Only Haley can sing!" Lucas yelled.

"HEY I was in chorus in Jr. High!" Brooke yelled back.

"Madison won't be able to sing at all, she has our genes" Lucas laughed.

"Maddie can too sing…listen to her babble, its so on tune"

"Brooke…" Lucas laughed, kissing her.

"Lucas" she replied, kissing him back. "Maddie can sing"

"Don't tell her that when she wants to perform in front of 300 people, ok?"

"Lucas do I look stupid?"

"Bad question to ask, Brooke" Nathan said.

"Nathan!" Brooke yelled, throwing a pillow at him. Nathan threw the pillow back, and before they knew it, they were in an intense pillow fight with Jenny, Catherine, and Anthony smack in the middle of it. Madison was sitting in her playpen giggling at Brooke who would occasionally wave and then hit Lucas with her pillow.

"See Maddie's cheering mommy on" Brooke laughed.

"No, Maddie bear's cheering daddy on" Lucas said, waving at Madison who bounced up and down and shrieked. "See?"

"Go Anthony- look my child is so competitive" Nathan said, picking up and Anthony and swinging him around.

The six friends had a nice long pillow fight and then had hot chocolate in wake of the approaching fall. Sitting down, faces flushed, children laughing, and hearts happy, Brooke, Lucas, Peyton, Jake, Haley, and Nathan temporarily forgot the trials, hardships, and sadness life could hold.

A/N: Ah! I'm having like a bad chapter week or something…bad and short! Ah sorry! This chapter sucks…I just wanna get them up fast, cause school is rapidly approaching and I'm in all honors and honestly, I think the story needs to be finished really fast, because I don't wanna not update for weeks and weeks once school starts. So I don't know when the story's gonna end, but I have a lot of writing to do, so forgive me for the chapters that suck…lol ok well review please…I love them!