Author's Note: Hey all. Remember this story! I almost forgot about it. Anyway, I'm back, and plan on updating it more regularly, I hope. Okay, so in this chapter, Brooke mentions Taylor. No, you're not going insane, Tay hasn't been part of this story, but my friend, who had been using Kate as well, replaced her with Taylor, and I think that's a good idea, so I'm gonna do that too. So, after I post this, I'm gonna go back and replace all the Kate's with Taylor. I hope you guys don't mind. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

--OTH--

"Oh, Tigger!" Haley called out from her bedroom, hoping that her best friend would hear her all the way in the kitchen where she was currently making her a pickle and cheese sandwich.

"Yes, Miss Haley?" Brooke called back with a tired sigh. She loved Haley, she really and truly did, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could take being a slave. She was really starting to regret offering to wait on Haley hand and foot. At the time, she didn't think that Haley would take such huge advantage of the offer. "What can I get you now?"

"Your cute little self," Haley answered in a sweet voice. She wasn't a stupid girl, and she certainly wasn't blind, she knew that she was driving Brooke crazy lately, and she really did feel bad for asking so much of the poor girl. "I'm lonely."

"I'm almost done," Brooke assured her with a smile, the slight annoyance not in her voice any longer. It seemed to happen all the time lately, just when she was starting to get annoyed with the pregnant girl, Haley would say something incredibly sweet and Brooke would remember why she had been so willing to help in the first place. "Just let me finish with this disgusting excuse for a sandwich."

"Hey!" Haley exclaimed lightheartedly. She was more than used to the constant teasing she received from Brooke about her strange cravings, so she just tried her best to take it all in stride. It wasn't her fault.

"I'm kidding, take a pill," Brooke suggested with a laugh. A smile creeped onto her face and she tightened the lid on the pickle bottle. "Though, I'm thinking it might be a little late for that." She could practically hear Haley's jaw drop to the floor at her comment. She shook her head and placed the nasty meal on a plate, grabbing a bottle of water as she made her way to Haley's bedroom.

Just like she had expected, she entered to find Haley lounging on her bed, her mouth and eyes wide open. Brooke shrugged and sent her an innocent smile as she walked over to plop down on the bed beside her best friend, placing the plate on her overgrown stomach.

"Well," Haley began, finally finding her voice. "I'm so glad that I've gotten to a place emotionally where we can joke about that."

"I know, right?" Haley sent her a glare and a scowl, before she eyed the plate on her stomach. Finally, she let her shoulders slump and she let out a sigh.

"You're just lucky you're good for something," she told her, puncturing her sentence with a bite of her sandwich. Brooke scrunched up her nose at the smell that floated through the room as she took a bite and moved her head further away.

"When are you going to go back to craving ice cream?" It had been such a simpler time back then. Ice cream was good, it was normal, Brooke could handle and stomach ice cream. She wasn't sure how many more pickle and cheese sandwiches she would be able to make without vomiting.

"Sometime soon, I'm sure," Haley told her with a mouth full. She tried to give Brooke an innocent smile in apology when she saw the disgusted look on Brooke's face at the action. "Sawwe."

"That's disgusting," Brooke stated, not hiding her hate for it. Haley just laughed and shook her head, not caring what Brooke had to say about what she was eating. Obviously it was disgusting, even Haley knew that, but she was craving it, so that was what she was going to have, whether Brooke liked it or not.

"You love me anyway," Haley shot back, too pre occupied with cleaning the pickle juice off of her shirt. Brooke looked at her best friend as she tried to suck the juice off of her shirt; her hair wasn't brushed, her legs hadn't been shaved, she wasn't wearing any makeup and she was having mood swings like a crazy woman. Brooke smiled at her.

"Yeah," she nodded, the warm smile reaching all the way up to her eyes. "I do." Before Haley had a chance to say anything, there was a knock at the door. She glanced over at Brooke, looking at her expectantly, nodding towards the living room.

"Obviously I can't get it," she snapped. Brooke rolled her eyes and nodded. She placed a quick kiss on Haley's temple, letting her know that she loved her even though she was crazy, and moved to get the door.

"Crazy bitch," she mumbled as she shuffled her feet through the living room. After a moment, she heard the knock again. "One minute!" She quickened her pace and reached the door, quickly swinging it open. Her eyes widened in shock at the people standing on the other side.

"Hey, Brooke."

"Oh my God," she gasped, not believing her eyes. Yes, she knew that she and Haley couldn't run forever, it would never work, and one day they would have to face their past, but she didn't think that it would be this soon. They hadn't even gotten to their future yet and their past was already biting them in the ass. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We thought we'd drop by and give you guys a little visit," Lucas answered with a smirk, glad that they had surprised his ex-girlfriend. He knew that they would, but he was glad that her reaction did not disappoint. He had been looking forward to it the whole ride up. "You gonna invite us in or what?"

"Oh yeah," Brooke stumbled, holding the door open more and moving to the side to let her visitors in. "Come on in."

"Sorry to just drop by like this," Karen apologized as she moved further into the small apartment and looked around. It wasn't anything special, kind of small actually, but she had expected that. Brooke and Haley didn't exactly have the biggest bank accounts.

"I'm not," Lucas grinned. Things had gotten better between since she had been gone. When she was still staying in Tree Hill, they had tried to be friends, but things were just too hard, there was way too much drama there. Now that she was in New York though, they talked a lot on the phone and they had gotten to a good place now. He could goof around with her like he could with Haley.

"Ignore him," Karen instructed, taking off her coat and handing it to Lucas to find a place for it. He rolled his eyes and tossed it on the couch before leaning on the arm to watch his mom and Brooke chat. "He's been a pain in the ass the whole way up."

"He's always a pain in the ass," Brooke responded, sending Lucas a sweet smile when he placed an overdramatic hand over his heart as if her words had actually wounded him. It was Brooke's turn to roll her eyes, something she found she did a lot when she was talking to Lucas.

"Children," Karen quickly intervened, seeing that Lucas had a reply on the tip of his tongue. "We've been here less than a minute and you're already fighting? Let's try to keep it to a minimum, please."

"Sorry," they both mumbled at the same time, glaring at each other when they realized they did. Taking a deep breath, Brooke decided it was time to ignore Lucas.

"How did you guys find us?" Even though Lucas knew they lived in New York and he knew that they lived together, they had never given him an address, and it was because of this exact reason.

"Mom's dating this new guy, Andy," Lucas immediately started to tell her, knowing that it made his mom uncomfortable. "He's a millionaire and we got him to hire a Private Investigator and here we are."

"You guys went to all that trouble?" Brooke asked, finding it hard to believe that someone would hire a PI just to find them. It wasn't like they had left the country or anything. If Lucas and Karen really wanted to find them, it wouldn't have been that hard; they knew what city they were in and everything. "Couldn't you have just called information or something? Or given the phone number to the police?"

"That's what I said," Karen nodded with a smile. "But Andy insisted."

"He could tell that mom was upset about something," Lucas informed Brooke, but in a more serious tone. "He asked me what was wrong and I said it was probably just Haley being gone and everything, and after I explained that Haley wasn't her illegitimate love child, he offered to do anything he could to help find her."

"He's a very sweet man," Karen conceded with a shy smile. She was still embarrassed to talk about him since it had been so long since the last time she had a boyfriend. Not to mention she was nervous about how people would react to their obvious age difference.

"Sounds like it," Brooke agreed, a giddy smile on her lips. Since neither she nor Haley had really gone out on any dates since the Lesbian Fiasco a couple of months ago, it was good to have girl talk. "I think he's a keeper, Karen. Is he cute? Do you have any pictures?"

"There will be no girl talk," Lucas announced, holding his hands in the air and bringing the conversation to a halt before it could start. Brooke turned away from the older woman to look at Lucas with a raised eyebrow. "I hear enough that crap when my mom and Peyton gush about how cute he is or how sexy his accent is."

"Oh, he has an accent?" Brooke repeated, a glint in her eyes. "Foreigners are the sexiest. Where's he from?"

"New Zealand," Karen told her with a dreamy smile. Lucas made a face, all too familiar with the look his mother was currently sporting. He let out a puff of arm and fell back onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling, preparing himself for more gushing. "And I do happen to have a picture."

"Aw, you keep a picture of him in your wallet?" Brooke asked as Karen began to fish around in her purse. "That's so romantic.

"No, actually," she answered, smiling when she found it. "Lucas knew you would ask, so he told me to bring one."

"You know me too well, Lucas Scott," Brooke giggled, ignoring Luke's groan from the couch. She moved in closer and peered at the picture of Andy and let out a huge squeal, causing Lucas to cover his ears. "Oh my God, Karen! He's a total hottie."

"Isn't he, though?" Karen agreed, a huge smile plastered on her face at the thought of her boyfriend. After Haley had left, and the given the why she did and why, Karen had been really down. Lucas had tried his best to lift her spirits, but it wasn't until she met Andy that she started to get over the lose of her surrogate daughter. She still missed Haley deeply though, and lived for the phone calls and e-mails she received from her.

"Tigger, what the hell?" Haley scolded her and she wattled to her bedroom door to see what all the squealing was about. She had figure that it was someone they knew at the door when Brooke didn't come right back to sit with her, but she had given up trying to hear who it was. "Why are you shrieking like a howler monkey?"

"Damn, Hales," Lucas laughed from the couch at the sight of her. "You're a freaking cow!" Brooke flinched at his words, knowing what was going to come next. Haley did not appreciate being called fat at all, and she was sure to maim Lucas severely for his comment.

"Lucas!" Haley screamed in excitement, not noticing the older woman behind Brooke trying to hold back sobs at the sight of her. Seeing that she wasn't going to be able to come over to him, Lucas rolled off the couch and went over to Haley, enveloping her in a huge hug. He wasn't able to lift her off the ground like he would normally do on account that she was a cow, but he held her as tight as he could without making her pop.

"It's so good to see you, Hales," he whispered into her hair, ignoring the huge bump that was keeping them apart. He brought his hand up to rest on top of her head, and kissed her hair. "I missed you, buddy. Tree Hill just ain't the same without you."

"I missed you too," Haley whispered back, her hormones getting the best of her as she started to cry. She laughed at her display and pulled away from him so he could see just how big she had gotten. "I'm fat, I know."

"You're glowing," he corrected her with a friendly smile. She chuckled at his kindness and rolled her eyes, letting him pull her into a sideways hug and lead her over to the door. "I think there's someone else that's just dying to see you."

"Who?" Haley asked, looking up at him. For a split second she thought it was Peyton, but she realized that Brooke probably wouldn't have been doing happy shrieking, and she was pretty sure that she would have heard Peyton cussing up a storm by now. She looked over at Brooke, who smiled softly at her, knowing how much she had missed Karen and moved to the side to relieve the older woman.

"Hi, baby," Karen greeted with a teary smile and small wave. Haley let out a squeak of sheer surprise and quickly moved out of Luke's arms and into her surrogate mothers. "Aw, Haley, you have no idea how much I've missed you."

"You too," Haley assured, her response muffled by Karen's shirt. She wrapped her arms around Karen's back and pressed herself as close to her as possible. "I missed you too."

"God, you're so big," Karen exclaimed in a light tone as she pulled away from Haley, afraid that she never would if she didn't do it now. "Look at you. I can't believe you're gonna be a mom."

"I know," Haley nodded, still trying to wrap her head around it all. Sure, she had time to except it, but there were still days when she couldn't believe how her life had turned out. Not only was she pregnant, she was living hundreds of miles away from the only family and home that she'd ever known, and with her best friend Brooke Davis. "I still forget some mornings."

"Well, I think you'll be a great mom," Lucas piped in from his spot standing behind Brooke. Haley glanced over her shoulder him to find Brooke nodding her head in agreement.

"I'll have Tigger to help me out, right?"

"Of course," Brooke answered without a second thought. "It's not like I've got guys lined up around the corner that I'm looking to date. I think it'll be just you, me and the baby, baby." Haley smirked at her, letting her know that she couldn't be more grateful for her companion.

"So, do you know yet?" Karen asked out of nowhere, causing three heads to turn at her and look at her in confusion.

"Know what?" Brooke and Haley questioned at the same time. It had been a while since they had been in Tree Hill; there could be tones of stuff she was talking about.

"The sex of my grandchild, of course," she clarified, ignoring the pain she felt at the word grandchild. She had always hoped to be at least fifty when she became a grandmother, but it was too late to do anything about it now. Truth be told, she was actually kind of excited about being able to spoil the little thing.

"Oh, um, no." Haley couldn't help the bright smile that spread across her face when she heard Karen call her baby that. She had always considered Karen her mother for as long as she could remember, and a part of her had been scared that their relationship would be strained now that she had gone and not only gotten herself pregnant but left the state as well. "But Brooke is convinced that it's a girl."

"Trust me," Brooke began with a tired sigh, getting sick of having this conversation over and over again with Haley. "I just know these things, okay? I'm telling you, that's Little Brookie in there."

"You've already named it?" Lucas asked with an amused grin when he saw the annoyed look on Haley's face at the name. Brooke glared at him. "And you let Brooke do it? I thought you were smarter than that, Hales."

"First, my baby is not an it," Haley corrected him. Brooke's eyes lit up when she saw the ever so familiar pissed off look appear on Haley's face. She was wondering when she was going to snap at someone. She was surprised at how refreshing it was to not be the one on the receiving end. "Until I have the baby, we refer to her as a her, okay."

"Or Little Brookie," the other brunette piped up, always one to add fuel to the fire. She didn't bat an eye when Haley's glare went in her direction, used to it by now.

"And second of all," Haley continued, deciding to ignore Brooke's comment and focus her attention back on her childhood best friend, who looked scared shitless. "There is no way in hell that I would ever name my daughter Little Brookie, or Brooke for that matter…"

"Hey!" Brooke protested, no longer finding Haley's assault on Lucas funny. "And what is wrong with the name Brooke?" Just as usual, Haley shifted out of bitchy mode to extra sweet mode in two seconds flat. Her features softened and she wrapped her arm loosely around Brooke's shoulders, a hard feat considering she was pregnant and a few inches shorter than the cheerleader.

"Nothing, Tigger," she promised, putting on her best pout, reserved especially for her best friend when she recovered from one of her bitch attacks. "There's only room for one Brookie in my life, and let's face it, there could only be one Brooke Davis in the world, and I wouldn't want my poor daughter to have to try to live up to someone as great as you."

Brooke eyed for a moment, her expression unreadable, trying to decide whether she should forgive her best friend or not. After a moment of trying to hold her blank face, a big grin broke out and she slumped her shoulder, planting a big wet kiss on Haley's cheek before turning to Lucas and Karen.

"Isn't she such a charmer?"

"How do you think she got away with so much stuff when we were little?" Lucas laughed, shaking his head when Haley let out a fake gasp and held a hand to her heart as if she was shocked at the mere suggestion that she used her charm to get away with things. "Oh, don't even try that! You used to flash that pout at my mom and you were free."

"I did no such thing!" Haley protested, turning her and Brooke, who still had her arms wrapped around her, around to face Karen with pout in place, trying to assure her that what Lucas was saying wasn't true. "I never did anything bad, did I Karen?"

"You were a complete angel," Karen beamed, reaching over and running a hand over Haley's hair to smooth it out. Haley turned back around and stuck her tongue out at Lucas, who narrowed his eyes at her. "It was my son who was always trying to get you to break the rules.

"What!"

"Why don't we move this into the living room," Brooke suggested, deciding it was best to end this conversation before Lucas and Haley got into a screaming match. While Karen and a grumbling Lucas moved towards the couch and sat down, Brooke helped Haley over to her chair. Once Haley was comfortable, Brooke perched herself on the arm of Haley's chair.

"So," Haley started, leaning her elbow on Brooke's lap and resting against the back of the chair, facing mother and son. "What are you guys doing here, anyway? How did you guys find us?"

"Karen's hottie boyfriend tracked us down," Brooke quickly filled her in before Karen had a chance to say anything. "You should see him, Tutor Girl, he is a total fox. And he's got an accent too!"

"And I'm sure mom would be more than happy to show you the picture later," Lucas cut in before Haley started to react the way Brooke had earlier. He was really starting to regret telling his mother to bring that picture. "Like when I'm not in the room."

"Andy found you guys about a month ago," Karen explained, patting her son lightly on the back to try to make him feel better, while talking to the girls. "We wanted to come visit right away, but with all the drama with Jake and Jenny, we figured we'd wait until things calmed down."

"Plus," Lucas added, forgetting all about his broody. "We wanted to surprise you for your birthday!"

"Your birthday?" Brooke repeated in surprise, looking down at Haley accusingly. Haley blushed and suddenly found her shirt very interesting. Letting out a gasp, Brooke hit Haley lightly on the shoulder. "I cannot believe that you didn't tell me it was your birthday! Is it today? It better not be today, I didn't get a chance to buy you anything."

"Calm down, Brookie," Haley laughed, feeling a little bad for not telling Brooke about it. "It's tomorrow."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Brooke asked in a soft voice, not sure whether it was a touchy subject or not. Haley shrugged as she played up the hem of hr shirt before finally looking up at Brooke.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just didn't want you to make a big deal out of it, you know? You've already done sooo much for me, more than I could have ever asked you for, and I know how you get about this kind of thing, and I knew you'd make a big deal about it."

"But it is a big deal, Hales," Brooke insisted, not believing that she had no idea that tomorrow was Haley's birthday. She couldn't believe that Taylor hadn't mentioned it to her at all. Maybe she forgot about it too, she thought. "Well, we are going to celebrate. The four of us are going out to dinner tomorrow night, assuming you guys will still be here?" Karen and Lucas nodded. "And we'll call Taylor and Courtney, too. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

"Thanks," Haley mumbled, glaring at Lucas for opening his big mouth. "That's just what I needed."

"Oh, you shush," Brooke scolded her, slapping her arm again, and ruffling her hair. "It's going to be fun, and you are going to love it. You can show Karen and Broody around town tomorrow while I go shopping for the perfect gift to get you. How does that sound?"

"I've always wanted to see the Big Apple," Karen replied, not sure whether or not Haley really wanted to do it or not. She was getting the feeling that Brooke was the boss around there. Lucas nodded as well in agreement.

"Great," Brooke cheered, clapping her hands in glee. "Well, since we haven't gotten around to buying that pull out couch yet, you guys can take my room for the weekend and I'll bunk will Miss Moody over here. Is that cool."

"We don't want to put you guys out," Karen immediately started, feeling bad for springing this on them. "We can just stay in a hotel or something."

"Nonsense, it's no trouble at all," Brooke assured her, nudging Haley in the shoulder with her elbow to tell her to say something. "Right, Hales?"

"Right," Haley nodded. "It's no trouble. Brooke and I always have slumber parties, anyway."

"If you insist," Karen finally gave in. Brooke let out a sequel again and started to clap her hands together in excitement. "Oh, this is going to be sooo much fun! I can't wait!"

"Yeah," Haley groaned, not sure if she could take overexcited Brooke all weekend. "Great."

--OTH--

I know, nothing exciting, but it's an update, right? Oh, and I don't think I mentioned it in the chapter, but for those of you that are having trouble with the math, Haley is now 7 months pregnant. Please review so I know that you guys are still interested in this story.