A/N: Thanks for the very wonderful reviews. Quick notes: 1) othbaby08, you rock for thinking of my story when it's not even being updated! lol, and also, the brathan will come, I promise. but you're right, i'm trying to write this very realistically and in order to do that, it has to move slow. but it will come, i promise. 2)shari ai jakku (did I spell that right?), thanks for continuing to read even though you don't like the idea of Lucas being gay. a lot of people have said that's the hardest part to deal with of this story, but i'm doing my best! lol. again, thanks for reading and reviewing. Here's the next chapter!

Chapter Nine

"Mr. Scott? Your sister-in-law is here to see you."

Nathan looked up from his computer screen to the clock on the wall. 9:01. He wasn't supposed to meet Brooke and his mother for hours.

"Send her in."

His office door opened slowly, revealing Brooke who tiptoed in and closed the door quietly behind herself, smiling slightly at him as she did.

"Are you busy?"

"No but I thought we were meeting for lunch at noon…"

"We are. I needed to talk to you before we met with your mom though. Is that ok?"

Anytime Brooke wanted to talk was ok with him, but he couldn't tell her that.

"Yeah, sit down. What's up?"

She sat across from him at the desk taking a deep breath. Her story began quickly.

"Lucas called last night to go over the details of the divorce settlement he planned out and we were talking and he got to the part about custody of the kids and apparently he was under the impression that I was going to allow them to actually go live with him for any period of time so he wanted them for a month during the summer and all holidays except for Christmas which I of course told him no so now he wants to fight me for custody and I need to hire a lawyer."

Nathan frowned and took a few seconds to actually comprehend the details of her story.

"Where do I come into the picture?" He finally asked, unsure of what she wanted from him.

"I need you to tell me I'm not being a heinous bitch by keeping them from him. Because it's not that I really want to keep them from seeing him at all I just… I don't want them to go there. Saylor and Tavian are having a hard enough time with all this, but then to have to travel between two cities and adjust to having two lives basically, I think it would be too hard on them."

"I agree with that much."

"So I'm right by not agreeing to the settlement then?"

"I didn't say that." Nathan watched as Brooke's face fell and he thought carefully as to how he should word what he wanted to say without hurting her feelings, "Lucas, no matter what, is still my brother and is still the kids' dad. He has a right to see them."

"Yes, but I told him he can see them whenever he wants, as long as he comes here. I just don't want to uproot them and send them to St. Louis for a month during the summer when they're already having a hard time dealing."

"Laney and Vaughn are old enough that the court will take their opinions into consideration. What do they say about this?"

"Neither one wants to go. I told them to take some time to think about it, but they both said no. They won't go to St. Louis."

Nathan sat back in his chair and took a few minutes to think. Brooke was his best friend and more than that, he loved her and probably always would, even though her heart had always belonged to his now gay brother. If she was asking him what he thought she was asking him, he'd have to choose between his brother and his best friend and that was going to be a problem.

"If you're asking me to go against Lucas in any way Brooke, I can't do that. As much as I disagree with the way he's handled this entire situation, I can't be against him. He is my brother."

"I just want you to help me find a good lawyer. Someone who is going to be able to get the judge to see things my way because if I know Lucas the way I think I know Lucas, now that I'm fighting him on this, he's gonna take it a step further and file for full custody. It's no longer going to be a civil matter."

She was right in that respect. Lucas was very stubborn and whenever he felt like he was being backed against a wall, he built stairs and went up to the next level. In other words, simply because Brooke wasn't agreeing with how he wanted things, he was going to lash out and try to take the kids away from her completely.

"I can try to talk to him." Nathan offered.

"If you think it'll help, great but if it doesn't, then I need your help in finding a good lawyer. I can't lose them Nate."

Nathan nodded and picked up his phone, quickly dialing his brother's cell phone number and waiting for an answer.

"Hey, it's Nathan."

Brooke sat back in her seat, watching Nathan's face as he talked to Lucas.

"Brooke told me about what you wanted to do with custody of the kids. I thought it'd be a good idea if I talked to you."

"She's stubborn and pigheaded and I'm going to… I don't know what but she can't just keep my children away from me like this." Lucas growled, "I've got enough going on over here with trying to get this new office open and running, I don't need to deal with her being a bitch too."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't your family come first Lucas?"

"You wanna start on me too Nathan? I don't have time for your crap. Why did you really call? She's probably sitting in your office right now, waiting for you to rescue her like you always do. 'Talk some sense into Lucas. He'll listen to you.' Well I'm done Nate. She wants to be like this, fine. Screw it. I'm filing for divorce tomorrow morning with the new revised papers. She's getting nothing. The house, the cars, the money, the kids, they're all mine."

"Don't be like this Lucas. Brooke is not trying to take the kids from you. She's trying to protect them from the confusion of having to go between two homes in two different states."

"Who knows what she told Laney and Vaughn because they already said they're not coming to St. Louis. She's probably told them a whole bunch of lies about me and brainwashed them into thinking I'm a horrible father."

"Lucas…"

"No wonder Vaughn's been so upset lately. Her mother is being wretched about this whole thing…"

"Jesus Chris Lucas will you shut up for a second and actually listen to yourself?" Nathan snapped and Brooke watched him wide eyed while he put Lucas in his place, "You're talking as if Brooke is the one in all this who banished you to St. Louis and took you out of your kids lives. If you remember correctly, you left! You left without even a goodbye hug or anything to your children. They received letters that said 'Sorry, had to leave because I'm gay.' You were too much of a coward to stay here and actually face the facts that this is a hard situation to be in. You walked out on them! The kids and Brooke were left to deal and here you are bitching because Brooke wants to protect them. You can't leave and still expect to be Father of the Year Lucas. You wanna know why Vaughn's been so upset lately? Look in the mirror and there's your reason. She misses her father as does Laney, and Tavian, and Saylor. They miss you but no, all you can think about is yourself and how this is affecting what you want."

"Nathan…"

"Don't 'Nathan' me. I'm not through. I sat here and I told Brooke that I couldn't go against you because no matter what, you're still my brother. I told her that I would talk to you because I thought that if I talked to you maybe we could work something out that would work for both of you! But I am finished with sticking up for you. You're acting more like a spoiled four year old kid right now than a 38 year old father of four who used to be a good husband and a great father. If you file those papers tomorrow and try to take everything away from Brooke then I won't be held responsible for the actions I take against you."

There was silence on the other end of the line and Nathan, for a second, thought Lucas may have hung up on him.

"How much do you love her Nathan?"

The question shocked him and Nathan frowned.

"What?"

"How much do you love Brooke? Enough to risk your family? Enough to risk losing me, and mom, and any semblance of family that we've ever had?"

"Since when are Brooke and the kids not part of that family?"

"I'm filing those papers tomorrow. You choose whose side you're gonna be on. Mine or hers. Just remember, last time she had to choose, she picked me."

Lucas hung up on Nathan then, leaving a very confused man holding a dead phone up to his ear.

Nathan looked up at Brooke as he set the phone back in it's cradle and she just stared at him, as if waiting to know the verdict.

"He's filing for divorce tomorrow. He's gonna try to take everything from you."

"Then I need to talk to a lawyer today." Brooke said matter-of-factly, "I can't risk him filing and not knowing my options of retaliation."

"We should call mom and let her know we can't make lunch. I'll take the rest of the day off and I'll help you."

"Nate, you were right. He's your brother. I… I asked for too much. Just that conversation… I heard the things you said to him. And even though you're my best friend and I'd love nothing more than to have you by my side through all this, I can't ask you to turn your back on your family and choose me over him. It wouldn't be right."

Nathan managed a small smile at her, recalling Lucas's parting words to him. 'Last time she had to chose, she picked me.' If there ever came a time when Brooke would have to choose between the two brothers again, he couldn't give her a reason to pick Lucas.

"Brooke, you are my family now."