The past month for Brooke, Peyton, Haley, Karen, Deb, and Alexis had been full of flowers, napkins colors, and guest lists. Alexis's wedding was coming up fast, in less than two months, actually. They had decided to get an early head start on the wedding plans, because the ceremony was going to be gigantic. This particular day, the women were planning the wedding and watching the children while the guys were at the Rivercourt.

"So wait, are we doing pink or yellow roses?" Brooke whined.

"I think we're gonna do a mix" Karen explained, jotting it down. Alexis nodded and threw in her own suggestion.

"I like lilies mom" Alexis said.

"I know honey, but this is a wedding not a sweet 16" Karen explained, underlining roses on her paper.

"Besides, Lexy, roses are romantic" Brooke giggled.

"I know…romance…that's all Brooke Scott ever thinks about" Alexis laughed.

"Mommy's am I gonna be the flower girl?" Madison asked.

"Yes you are bumblebee" Alexis answered the question. "And we're gonna have a pretty dress made for you!" Alexis giggled.

"Yay! I's gets to be a princess!" Madison said excitedly.

"Madison, you're already a princess" Brooke laughed, picking her up and sitting her down on her lap. "Hey baby, you hungry?"

"No, I's fine" Madison informed her, taking a fork and banging it on the table and singing Star Spangled Banner.

"Madison, as beautiful as your voice is, I don't think they want to be serenaded with the national anthem, princess" Lucas laughed, coming into the kitchen and kissing Brooke and tickling Madison. "Hey, the guys are gonna go play basketball and let you girls plan your things…Maddie, you wanna come with Daddy?"

"No, EWS, I's gonna help Lexy with her wedding" Madison said. "I's hate sweating"

"Ok cookie monster…bye Brooke" Lucas laughed.

"Bye sweetie" she said, blowing him a kiss. Lucas smiled and walked out the door. Nathan emerged a second later with Anthony sitting on his shoulder. "Hey we're gonna go…Hales, I have Anthony"

"Ok bye baby"

"Bye mommy" Anthony said.

"Bye Nathan"

"Bye Hales" he said, waving and walking out the door.

Peyton glanced down at her hands. Her best friends seemed to have such a perfect relationship with their husbands…why couldn't she and Jake have that?

"Peyton?"

"Yah?" she looked up.

"What do you think?"

"Uh…yah" Peyton took a shot in the dark.

"Yah to what color the tablecloths should be?" Brooke asked. Peyton had been doing this a lot lately.

"Um I don't know…look, I'm gonna run out for a little while, ok? I'll come back soon" she said. Brooke look concerned and put her hand on Peyton's shoulder.

"Ok call if you need anything, ok?"

"Yah" Peyton whispered, and left quietly.

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"Dude, nice shot!" Lucas told Anthony, who had dunked the ball atop Nathan's shoulders.

"Thank you Uncle Luke…I'm gonna be a Bobcat!" he informed them proudly.

"Really?" Lucas asked, amused.

"Uh huh…daddy says I's good"

"Well that you are my friend" Lucas said, shooting a free throw and making it with a perfect swish.

"Swish!" Anthony giggled.

"Yah…you wanna try swishing?" Nathan asked.

"Yah!" Anthony tried a shot but missed.

"Its ok, you'll get better…I'll put you in a basketball camp soon" Nathan said. "Haley's totally against sending Anthony to anyplace other than school…overprotective mothers…but my son is so going to high flyers!" Nathan shook his head.

"I know…though I don't really want Madison to go to school" Lucas confessed.

"Yah I know what you mean" Jake chimed in. "Catherine's not going to school…ever"

"That's what they all say" Nathan laughed, shooting the ball and making it.

"Swish!" Anthony giggled.

"No dude that wasn't a swish" Lucas said, laughing.

"Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't"

"Uh huh"

"Nuh uh"

"Children" Nathan snorted.

"Hey!" Lucas said indignantly.

"I wins! It was a swish" Anthony giggled.

"Dude I love Madison to death, more than life, but she would never do this with me…she'd rather go shopping with Brooke!" Lucas said, sighing.

"That's Brooke's child for you right there…I love having a boy, you don't have to spoil them as much…but dude, if I had a girl she'd be spoiled rotten" Nathan laughed.

"I's getted a sister?" Anthony asked hopefully.

"No, I don't think so dude…not yet…you never know though" Nathan laughed. "But you'd be the insane overprotective brother…he'd give me a run for my money" Nathan said.

"Oh I know…he treats Madison and Catherine like his children" Lucas said, throwing the basketball and watching it swish in.

"Nice shots Uncle Luke!" Anthony said.

"Thanks dude!" Lucas high fived Anthony. He loved his princess more than life itself but he really wanted a man in the house…the makeup, perfume, and frilly dresses were getting to him, he laughed to himself.

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"I love your ring" Brooke said, taking Alexis's hand and examining the fine cut diamond. "You chose a rich boy" she giggled.

"Hey! That's not why" Alexis said.

"I know…but that's why I chose Lucas" Brooke giggled at the horrified look on Karen's face.

"Brooke!" Karen laughed.

"Just kidding…it was honestly just love" Brooke said. "And I know how much you and Matthew love each other, I really do…I see the way he looks at you…" Brooke sighed. "Romance…I love romance"

"Oh my god, is Lucas not romantic enough for you or something? Cause he's the king of roses, sweet words, and love letters" Haley giggled.

"No, he's so romantic…you better hope Matthew's a romantic" Brooke said. "Someone who'll make your heart melt"

"He already does that" Alexis sighed, staring off into space.

"Omg Lexy so dramatic" Brooke giggled, snapped Alexis back into reality by stabbing her with a silver spoon.

"Ow! Fine let's get back to work" Alexis grumbled, sighing and glancing at the over 200 guest list.

"Are you inviting Dan?" Brooke asked.

"Uh, NO" Alexis said, glancing at Brooke with a weird look on her face. "Just because he's my father…not really my father but never" she said.

"Yah…just asking…"

Peyton walked in looking like she had just cried up a storm and sat down, pretending like everything was ok.

"Peyton! Omg are you ok?"

"Yah" Peyton said.

"No Peyton you look like something's wrong" Brooke said.

"You know what Brooke? Something IS wrong. It's been wrong for the past two or three months. I've been upset and different and not myself for two months and you and Haley and everyone was just caught up in their perfect existence. I know you were busy with Madison but we saw each other every single day and yet you didn't notice ANYTHING. You're too caught up in your whirlwind romance with Lucas, Madison, and useless weddings. I would think my best friend would notice!" Peyton cried.

"Peyton…I…" Brooke didn't know what to say. The kids were completely silent and Madison came over to sit in Brooke's lap.

"You what? Didn't know? Didn't notice? Didn't care?" Peyton accused. Karen and Alexis got up quietly to leave the room, and took all the kids with them.

"Of course I care, Peyton! I just…"

"Why are you dumping this all on Brooke? She's not the one to blame; she had a sick child she had to watch out for the last three months!" Haley defended Brooke. "If you weren't so silent and mourning and dramatic about it and actually TALKED once in a while, then we'd know what's going on, Peyton! We have our lives that we do tend to get caught up in. But part of healing and figuring yourself out is talking to people. Yah, we may not have been mother hens clucking around you all day but you know we would have dropped everything to listen to you if you needed it!" Haley said.

"Jake and I's relationship is near finished. He's too caught up in Nikki and Jenny and everything to really notice me and Catherine anymore…and Jenny, my baby girl…she's weird now and a mini Nikki and I just miss my family…and I love Jake" Peyton sobbed.

"Peyton…" Brooke said, hugging her and letting her cry into her shoulder. "Its ok…it'll be ok"

"I love Jake…and I know he loves me…I just don't know what's going on" Peyton said.

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"Ok Kitty you stands here" Madison instructed.

"I's stand here?"

"Uh huh…and yous a mermaids"

"I's a mermaid?"

"Yes! And yous have longs red hair"

"I's have yellow hair" Catherine pointed out.

"No, yous have red hair" Madison said.

"Look, Maddie, I's have yellow hair!" Catherine said, frustrated.

"Its called pretends, Kitty, and yous not pretending!" Madison said.

"Fine. I's pretty mermaid with longs red hair"

"Like Ariel" Madison said. "The Little Mermaid"

"I's not little!"

"Uh huh yous are…daddy says I's, yous, and Anthony's little" Madison explained calmly, patting her own long straight brunette hair

"Really?"

"Yup…ok and yous have a boyfriend named Sebastian"

"Sebastian is the crabby though" Catherine said, confused.

"I knows! I doesn't haves a name though" Maddie said sadly. "So yous gets to be Sebastian's girlfriend"

"I's a crab's girlfriend?" Catherine giggled.

"Uh huh" Madison giggled.

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"Anyway…" Alexis said, coming into the room after Peyton had left. "Should we continue?"

"Yah I guess" Brooke said.

"What was that all about?" Karen asked.

"Well I think she and Jake are having some problems and she's just…upset. And Peyton's always been a bit of a basket case" Brooke giggled.

"Brooke!" Haley said.

"Sorry…all jokes aside though, their relationship is all but done" Brooke said sadly. "And we're too late to save it…only they can save it now"

"Well they will, right?" Alexis asked, concerned.

"I don't know Lexy…Nikki gets in the way of everyone and everything and I just…I wish I had been there more for Peyton and made this a little bit easier on her but I…wasn't there and she was right, I was too caught up to notice her" Brooke sighed.

"She loves Jake still, right?" Alexis asked.

"Yah…definitely…and he loves her"

"Well all couples hit rough patches…but they love each other…this Nikki person…in my opinion, she shouldn't be a problem. I mean she's just another person, right? She can't be that destructive. I bet under all that eyeliner are some serious insecurities…she shouldn't be a problem if they really love each other"

Brooke thought hard about what Alexis had just said. She was an outsider in the situation and seemed to see the situation for what it was…insecurity. And Peyton had always been insecure, and Jake had been the one to cure the insecurity with his reassuring presence. And now that he wasn't there as much, Peyton was creating the problems in their marriage…they weren't actually there.

"Hey, I'll be right back, ok?" Brooke said. "I've got a marriage to save" she said. Everyone nodded.

"That girl is a force of nature" Karen laughed.

Brooke ran down Karen's driveway and sprinted the half mile to Peyton's house.

"Peyton!" she banged on the door. Peyton opened it, her face wet with tears. "Peyton sit and listen to me" Brooke instructed. "These problems in your marriage? They don't exist. You can be insecure and Jake was always the answer to that. And now that he's caught up in something else, you're getting that old insecurity back…and Nikki's a bitch, ok? We can't do anything about her. Nothing. But your marriage, your family, can be saved. Because you've got to realize that there is just as much love present between you and Jake as there was the day you said 'I do'. You're just not realizing that sometimes, when you hit a rough patch, you have to search for it and bring it back to be stronger than ever" Brooke said, putting an arm around a sobbing Peyton.

"You're right, Brooke…we'll talk"

"Good…and come on, smile. I haven't seen you smile in days…I wanna see your smile" Brooke coaxed, giggling when Peyton finally smiled through her tears.

"What would I do without you Brooke?"

"Oh I don't know…" Brooke giggled. "I'm pretty awesome"

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"Madison Caitlin Scott come here!" Brooke called.

"Yes mommy?"

"Have you been playing with mommy's makeup again?" Brooke laughed.

"Yahs…"

"Why is that?" Brooke said, picking up Madison and tickling her.

"Because I wanted to looks pretty" Madison explained simply.

"Baby you're three…three year olds don't wear makeup"

"Uh huh…Jenny does!"

"Baby Jenny's almost thirteen…you're three"

"My two favorite girls" Lucas smiled, walking in. "Oops Maddie did mommy catch you?"

"Lucas! You let her play in my makeup?" Brooke said.

"Uh…no?"

"Nice try…Maddie, mommy will buy you your own makeup set but please leave mommy's alone, ok?"

"Okays! Daddy…"

"What princess?" Lucas laughed.

"Cans I have a trampoline?" Madison asked.

"Sure cutie pie" Lucas laughed.

"You spoil her rotten!" Brooke said.

"What about you miss 'I'll buy you your own makeup set?'"

"Uh…good point" Brooke laughed.

"I's your princess daddy?"

"Of course baby…my only princess"

"Hey!" Brooke said.

"You're my queen" Lucas laughed.

"Ooh…I like it…the whole authority thing" Brooke giggled.

"Mommy I thinks I needs to go to Target"

"You know what? I think I need to go to Target too" Brooke laughed, taking Madison into her arms and hugging her. "Let's go girlfriend!"

"Coming daddy?"

"Right behind you princess" Lucas laughed, grabbing his wallet. He was gonna need it.

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"Jake…can we talk?" Peyton asked calmly, sitting down on the couch.

"Yah Peyton what's up?"

"I need to talk to you"

"Ok"

"It seems to me that our marriage is faltering, and Nikki and Jenny have a big part in it…and I talked to Brooke and Haley and they made me realize what's actually going on is that I'm insecure again, about our relationship…this Nikki issue has always been between us"

"Oh…Peyton…I'm sorry. I've been horrible lately…I've been caught up with Jenny and Nikki and I know I've barely shown my face around here and I must look like a terrible father and husband and I'm just really, really sorry…I love you so much, you don't know how much I love you…its just I've been absorbed"

"I know you've been absorbed, but I can't believe you'd neglect your wife and daughter"

"I know…I'm horrible, I kick myself for it everyday, I do, I know what I'm doing is so wrong"

"But Jake…all these petty fights, these disagreements…where are they coming from?"

"They're coming from the fact that we haven't had any alone time since Catherine was born…I'm gonna drop Catherine off at Karen's and we can have some alone time and talk and maybe do something fun"

"No, Jake, getting rid of Catherine for a day and pretending to be romantic isn't gonna SOLVE anything…I need to know what's going between Jenny and Nikki"

"She wants Jenny to stay with her every other weekend"

"And you're gonna let that happen?"

"No! Of course not…and Jenny needs to improve her behavior…I know what she did to Catherine"

"You do?"

"Yah…I'm working on it with her, she's grounded for the next month" Jake said.

"Jake…" Peyton said, hugging him. "I'm sorry"

"No I'm sorry for being horrible Peyton…I couldn't imagine ever living without you…you're my life…I could never lose you"

"Same with you Jake…and what are we gonna do about Jenny and Nikki?"

"Well Nikki's allowed one visitation a month and I'm straightening Jenny up, don't worry…she'll be our old sweet little Jenny in no time"

"Good to know"

"I love you Peyton, you know that, right?"

"Of course"

A/N: Another cheesy chapter! God but I'm really, really enjoying all the cheesiness and I LOVE this story so much, its my solace…its like my thing to distract myself from everyday crap…I'll be SO sad when it's over, I'm HIGHLY considering doing a sequel…but I have to see how the school year goes…hmm. Lol ok well now we're morphing into like December…almost Maddie's birthday! Christmas…and then Alexis's wedding! Aah! I think it's about time I tell you the story's gonna end around wedding time…so yah, fun stuff planned for that. Thank you for reading...review! All those people that have been reviewing every chapter regularly (you know who you are!) I couldn't do it without you, so many ideas come from just one suggestion! You guys ROCK!