"We are at the hearing of Lucas Eugene Scott, for child abuse of his 11 year old daughter Madison Caitlin Scott" the judge said importantly. "Will the accuser's attorney please speak now?"

"Yes sir" Dan's lawyer got up and cleared his throat. "Dan Scott over here suspected child abuse when he saw little Madison first. She was apparently very shook up and Mr. and Mrs. Scott ordered her and her cousin upstairs, and she was surprisingly obedient for an 11 year old- first signs of abuse- immediate obedience out of fear"

Brooke was shaking with anger and Lucas looked like he was going to blow a fuse. How dare they take the well behaved manner of their child and turn it into obedience out of fear! Madison looked angrier than both combined.

"Then several occurrences led him to believe Mr. Lucas Scott was abusing his oldest daughter- possibly the middle son and the youngest daughter"

Lucas almost felt like crying- he would never hurt his baby girl- why was HE, of all people, being accused of this?

"And now the defendant will present his case"

"I would like to call a witness to the stand- actually, the so called victim herself- Madison, please?"

"Ok" Madison said. Brooke squeezed her hand tightly and Madison made her way up to the stand. Lucas and her shared one of their 'special' glances, one that always gave her strength.

"Madison, will you swear on the Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes sir" Madison said. The judge smiled and Madison began speaking.

"I don't know this man very well- Dan Scott. I've heard his name vaguely thrown around in my life, but I never paid it much mind- it was just another Scott name I ignored. But when he popped into my life unexpectedly, then I finally learned who he was. See, I was told he was dead all my life, because he was a crazy man who kidnapped my older cousin, Anthony, for a couple days, and got sent to jail for a couple things more than just kidnapping" Madison said, shooting a replica of one of Brooke's famous icy glares at Dan.

"I asked my parents who he was, and they told me who he was- I didn't know he was as bad as they described him to be…but I guess so" Madison sighed. "But anyway, my point is, whose word are you going to take? This man is practically a villain- he's done more emotional damage than physical, so far as I've heard. My father would never do anything to hurt me, or mom, or Hayden, or Lena- he loves us way too much. What you heard, the videotapes, everything was taken out of context- he was tickling me and we joke around like that all the time" Madison paused to smile at Lucas and Brooke.

"Miss Madison, would you please explain further the innocence of your father?"

"See, I don't get why I have to explain the innocence of an innocent man. All my life, my dad has been 'daddy', someone who'll always protect me and love me and hold me when I'm hurt and scared and laugh at mom with me and do fun stuff with me and get mad when I look pretty and I'm going out with a boy- my dad is my dad, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would accuse him of hurting me- he loves me and I know that, no exceptions. I don't need to explain anything- I think I'm done, unless you have any questions" Madison stated.

"Yes…thank you, Miss Madison" the judge said, a smile playing across his lips. Brooke looked at the judge- she was positive Madison's testimony had him convinced.

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"We're on a lunch break?" Hayden asked, following Brooke out of the courtroom.

"Yes, baby boy, and you're gonna eat your lunch" Brooke laughed.

"But mom-"

"Haydie…can you just eat?"

"Yes, mom"

"Thank you…hey Maddie will you take Lenny?"

"Yeah! Hey Lenny baby" Madison cooed to her little sister. Lena giggled and rested her head on Madison's shoulder- something she only did with Brooke, Lucas, Hayden, and Madison.

"That was a good testimony, Madison" Alexis said, hugging her niece.

"Thanks- I hope it worked"

"Oh it definitely did" Brooke said. "I saw the look on the judge's face"

"Well, we'll let the jury decide" Karen said.

"Yeah…Lucas is innocent, though- and that is a damn good lawyer I've got" Andy said. "I'm confident Lucas will be let off"

"This is so stupid" Madison sighed. "I can't believe I have to testify against my father! My testimony better be enough to let Dad off"

"It will be, Maddie…don't worry" Brooke said, hugging her daughter.

"I hope"

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"So is your brother in law ok?" Lisa asked Matthew in a low whisper.

"Yeah…he's fine…they have a testimony today" Matthew said. "But that's besides the point"

"Ooh…right"

"Yeah…ok getting back to what we were doing" Matthew said.

"Yeah…ok I'm thinking pink balloons over there"

"What if it's a boy?"

"I don't care, Mat!" Lisa giggled.

"Ugh…fine" Matthew said, rolling his eyes at his younger cousin.

"Your poor son…corrupted with pink" Lisa giggled.

"If it's a boy- I swear, it'll be blue- and its just a baby shower!"

"A SURPRISE baby shower, Mat, you cant forget that"

"Right…ok, where were we?"

"How does Alexis deal with you?" Lisa asked quizzically.

"Huh?"

"Never MIND, Matt…just…write"

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"The jury has made it's decision" the judge announced. Brooke waited with bated breath- she hated those six words. A sudden sequence of high school events flashed through her mind.

Junior year…

"The jury has made its decision…speaker of the jury…Lucas Scott?"

"Brooke Davis will be suspended for a week for possession and/or use of alcohol on school campus" Lucas choked out, looking at his beautiful girlfriend sitting in her seats, holding back tears.

Sophomore year…

"The jury has made it's decision…Lucas and Brooke are NOT supposed to be together" Brooke heard Peyton giggle to Haley in the library behind the books.

Freshman year…

"The jury has made its decision, Brooke Penelope Davis, and you are in a whole hell lot of trouble, missy!" her father yelled, brandishing his hand in front of her face.

"Due to circumstantial evidence and Miss Madison Scott's testimony, Lucas Eugene Scott is pronounced innocent and cleared of all accusations of child abuse" the judge said, and Brooke swore she could see a twinkle in his eye.

"YES!" Peyton, Haley, and Brooke jumped up and hugged each other, Madison, Anthony, and Catherine high fived each other, Lucas ran over to pull Brooke into a kiss, and all in all, it was a really happy time for the Scott brood- Dan was once again left last in the race.

"Come on, family- lets go home" Lucas smiled, wrapping his arms around Brooke and kissing the top of Madison's head. Nothing, of course, could be complete without Lena's acknowledgement of the situation with a loud boisterous "Dada!"

Dan Scott may be a ruthless monster with nothing but destruction of people's lives in his mind, Brooke decided. But the old saying the good always prevail had a new meaning in the situation- because the good DO always prevail.

A/N: see? Everything's ok! I told you drama didnt sit right with me forvery long!lol..Review, please! You guys have been soooo great! And this story'll be ending soon- I dont have much else really planned...i dunno how many more chapters, we'll see, but it'll be soon- its been dragged on pretty long..ok anyways review!