Brooke was sitting at her desk in her office working on another freelance piece of writing. She was still waiting to hear about the job she had interviewed for a few weeks earlier. Her latest piece was about the success rate of kids who skip college and go straight to the NBA in comparison to the kids who wait and go to college first. Writing about basketball was one of Brooke's favorite topics to write about. It was right up there with fashion and cheerleading. There were even times Brooke did feature pieces on Nathan, Lucas and other players she met in college. The phone rang a minute later breaking into Brooke's concentration. Groaning she stopped typing and answered it when she remembered Nathan had gone down to the gym to workout for a little while.
"Hello," she said trying to keep the edge out of her voice.
"Hello, I'm looking for Brooke Davis," a young woman's voice replied.
"This is Brooke Davis. How can I help you?"
"I'm calling in regards to your interview with Mr. Blackburn at the South Boston Gazette a few weeks ago. He asked me to inform you that he's made his decision."
"Ok what has he decided?" Brooke was nervous. Her fate was hanging in the balance and if she had to be honest, she hated the feeling it was leaving in her stomach.
"I regret to inform you Miss Davis that while Mr. Blackburn feels you've got great potential to be a fantastic journalist he has decided to go another way."
"So I didn't get the job?"
"No ma'am."
"Thank you for letting me know." Brooke was disappointed. She had really wanted this job. How would she ever make it as a journalist if she couldn't get hired anywhere? This stung worse than anything in a long time.
"I'm sorry for having to disappoint you but I wish you the best of luck wherever you end up."
Brooke didn't say anything. She had nothing left to say that would even be considered remotely polite. Instead of waiting for the young woman to speak again, Brooke hung up the phone. She considered throwing it against the wall for a minute but then thought better of it when she remembered that they were down to one phone now, not counting their cell phones. Sighing heavily, Brooke placed the phone back on its charger and slammed her hand down on the keyboard.
"DAMN IT!" she hollered.
Brooke grabbed her cell phone and without realizing it, found herself dialing Peyton's number.
"Hello?" a voice answered.
"Peyton?" Brooke choked out hopefully.
"No this is her boyfriend, Jaime. But I can get her if you would like."
"Oh thanks."
"Peyton!" Jaime called to his girlfriend who was playing with their 2 year old son, Joaquin Luis Miguel Feliciano.
"Que papi?" Peyton called back.
"Phone."
"Quién es él?"
"Who is this?" Jaime asked turning back to the phone.
"Brooke," she answered.
"It's Brooke," Jaime told Peyton. He nearly dropped the phone when he heard her squeal and run toward him. She grabbed the phone quickly and left the room.
"Sweetie qué se está encendiendo? El papi no entiende!" Jaime called after his girlfriend in bewilderment.
"Brooke era mi mejor amigo durante mucho tiempo y no hemos hablado el uno al otro por cuatro años. Es un pasado complicado pero algo debe ser incorrecto si ella me está llamando otra vez," Peyton replied, impressed with how well her Spanish had improved.
"Brooke hi. What's um going on?" Peyton said turning her attention to the phone.
"I just I needed to talk to someone and Nathan's out and oh gosh, nothing is going my way right now. Except the baby and my relationship with Nathan," Brooke replied.
"Que?"
"Huh?" Brooke was confused.
"Sorry. Baby? Nathan? Brooke I'm gonna need more than that."
"I applied for a job at a newspaper in South Boston, VA and had an interview a few weeks ago. I got the call just now that I didn't get the job. I wanted that job so bad Peyton. Right now the only two things in my life that are going right, if you can call a surprise pregnancy right, are my relationship with Nathan and being pregnant."
"Whoa, whoa. You and Nathan are together and now you're pregnant?" Peyton was blown away.
"Dónde está la mama?" Joaquin asked Jaime.
"Mama en su dormitorio en el teléfono con un pequeño compinche del amigo," Jaime replied.
Joaquin seemed satisfied with that answer and went back to playing with his trucks. Jaime smiled at the boy and was grateful to be able to carry on the name of Feliciano. It meant everything to him after his brother Miguel was killed in a car accident back in Ponce when Jaime was a little boy. From what he was told, Jaime was about 8 years old when Miguel died. After Jaime was born his parents only had girls; six of them: Aaliyah, Carmen, Selena, Maria, Kaliyah and Adriana.
Peyton talked to Brooke for a little while longer and they both ended up crying and apologizing with promises to visit each other. Peyton told Brooke about Jaime and Joaquin and moving to Texas. Brooke told Peyton about being valedictorian at Miami and then moving to Virginia with Nathan and him and Lucas being drafted. She was careful to leave out Jake cause she wasn't sure how well that be received.
"So you've been pretty serious with Jaime huh Peyton?" Brooke asked after a while.
"Oh ya. I've learned to speak Spanish rather fluently. Both for Jaime's sake and for Joaquin, mostly Jaime and I only speak to Joaquin using Spanish," Peyton replied.
"That's cool. I'm sorry I wasn't around for the birth of your child."
"Hey it's no problem. We may not have been speaking at the time but I've always known in my heart that we did speak again that there was no one else I'd rather have as the godmother of my baby than you."
"Aw Peyt. That's so sweet. I don't deserve it though. I was such a bitch to you."
"Brooke none of that matters anymore. What matters is you picked up the phone and called me when you needed someone. Let's just face the facts. Neither of us wanted out of that friendship but we're two stubborn bitches who couldn't get out of our own way to see that then."
"Oh gosh Pey I missed you so much! You better get your white ass out here soon before I pop like a fricken balloon or worse, Nathan and I move up to New Jersey."
"I will Brooke. Jaime and Joaquin will come too. It'll be fun."
"Good. Well thanks for listening and reminding how stupid I was for letting go of your friendship. I promise to call more often and I want pictures of Joaquin. So get your ass online and hook me up bitch."
"Haha ok I will. Talk to you later chica."
"Bye Peyton."
"Bye Brooke."
Both girls hung up their respective phones and smiled. Brooke was so caught up in the conversation she just had with Peyton that it hadn't occurred to her that Nathan still wasn't back. She would have been worried if she didn't know where he was but Brooke knew Nathan hadn't been to the gym to workout in a while so she wasn't expecting him home anytime soon. But she couldn't wait to tell him that she had talked to Peyton. What she could wait to tell him about was the rejection from the newspaper.
"Oh well it's their loss," she said to herself as she went back to her story.
"Bebé debemos ir a Virginia a ver a Brooke pronto. No he visto que ella en un rato y ella es embarazada. Más quisiera que ella satisficiera a te y a Joaquín," Peyton said to Jaime as she came back into their living room and saw him lounging on the couch drinking another beer.
"Seguro cualquier cosa que deseas. Sabes que te daría el mundo si me pediste él mami," Jaime replied.
Peyton smiled. Jaime was a wonderful man. It never seemed to bother her that he was eight years older than she was. All she knew was that she loved him with her whole heart. And she was fairly certain he felt the same way about her.
"Te amo conejito del snuggle," Peyton whispered as she kissed Jaime softly.
"Te amo también angel," Jaime answered sweetly deepening the kiss not caring if they ended up making love right there on the couch where Joaquin might see them. In fact, the idea of anyone catching them turned Jaime on and Peyton felt it. She smiled against his mouth as she let her hands wander.
"Mami no embroma papi. Haré que endereces aquí si no tienes cuidado," Jaime said gruffly.
"Papi del Oh, mami que no embroman. Te deseo tan malo. Darmelo," Peyton replied as she ran her hands over his chest.
"Brooke! I'm back baby," Nathan said as he walked into the apartment a few hours later. He was greeted by the sound of furious typing. Smiling he walked down the hall to Brooke's office and stood in the doorway watching her type. This was Brooke's favorite thing to do now, sit and write furiously until she had nothing left to say.
"Oh hi, babe, I didn't hear you come in," Brooke said a few minutes later when she took a break from typing. She was working on another new piece. This one was a fictional piece based on the things she had been through in life. It was a tough piece to write but Brooke wanted to get it out there. Even if it didn't make it any further than her computer it was still out and that suited Brooke just fine.
"How was your day?" Nathan asked.
"Interesting," Brooke replied.
"Oh ya?"
"Ya, I got a call back about the job in South Boston."
"And?"
"I didn't get it."
"Aw baby I'm sorry. You must be crushed."
"I was but I'm better now."
"Oh and why's that?"
"I called Peyton."
"Wait what?"
"I was upset and absent mindedly called Peyton's number. She's living in Texas with her boyfriend Jaime and their son Joaquin, who's apparently my godson."
"Wow. That wasn't expected."
"You're telling me. Not only that but she apparently speaks fluent Spanish now. I feel like I missed so much but we agreed to put the past behind us and visit and stuff."
"Baby that's great. I'm glad you were able to work things out with Peyton. Next you have Haley to work stuff out with. Did you tell Peyton about her and Jake?"
"No I wasn't sure if that was a good idea."
"That was probably for the best anyway."
"So how was your day baby?"
"Long and tough. I shouldn't slack off so much with my working out. I need to get in shape and stay in shape or there's no way I'll have anything but a negative impact my first year in the pros and I would hate that."
"Sweetie you're an amazing athlete and you'll do fine. I have nothing but the utmost faith in you and I'll always be your biggest fan no matter what the outcome of your first year or last year in the pros might be."
Nathan smiled. He knew Brooke would say exactly what he needed to hear whether he knew he needed it or not. That was part of why he loved her so much. Suddenly it hit him. His moment was here. Suddenly, without warning, he spun Brooke's office chair around and dragged her out to the living room where he left a single white rose for her on the coffee table.
"Stay here for a minute," Nathan told her as he left the room to grab the ring box from its hiding place.
Thirty seconds later he sauntered back out to the living room watching Brooke watch him with a confused look on her face. As soon as he was directly in front of her, Nathan grabbed Brooke's hand, got down on his knee and looked her square in the eye.
"Brooke, you are my light and my world. Everything I do now is inspired by the love I hold for you and because I know you'll be there no matter what. I can't imagine life without you," he paused for a moment to grab the ring box and pop it open so Brooke could see the ring, "Would you please do me the honor of being my wife?"
Brooke couldn't believe what was happening. Nathan was in front of her, on one knee and he had asked her the one question she thought she would have to wait for years to hear.
"Yes," she said as the tears ran down her face.
Nathan slid the ring on her finger and felt tears welling up in his own eyes. Brooke brought out the best in him. He was thankful that she accepted his proposal.
"I love you so much," Nathan whispered in Brooke's ear.
"I love you too," Brooke whispered back.
Nathan grabbed Brooke into a tight embrace and danced with her. He didn't need music to dance with the love of his life. The rhythm of his heart that the love he felt created was music enough for him. Brooke loved that Nathan would randomly grab her into an embrace and dance with her, even when there wasn't any music. She rested her head on his shoulder and swayed with him. There was no better feeling than being happy and in love. Brooke was fortunate enough to have both and she owed a lot of it to Nathan.
"How's your day now?" Nathan asked.
"Perfect," Brooke replied.
Nathan smiled as he kissed her gently. Brooke kissed Nathan back as they continued to dance in the romantic silence of the apartment.
"Let's go out tonight. I think we should celebrate," Nathan said when they finally stopped dancing.
"I agree. But what, besides the obvious, is there to celebrate baby?" Brooke replied with a huge smile.
"Love and the fact that you and Peyton are speaking again. That's definitely worth celebrating don't you think?"
Brooke nodded. She couldn't agree more. Her life went from feeling like it was falling apart with very few exceptions to feeling like everything was coming together within a matter of hours. Happily she walked down to the bedroom to find something nicer than her jeans and tank top to go out in. Nathan followed behind her with the same idea with one addition, he desperately wanted to shower. He had showered before he left the gym but something about the water in their showers didn't leave him feeling as refreshed as he would like.
"We can pick a restaurant when I get out of the shower, ok, baby?" Nathan said as he walked toward the bathroom.
"Sounds good but I hope the baby will be happy with whatever we decide," Brooke answered.
Nathan nodded. He hoped so too. He didn't want anything to ruin this night. It was going to be a perfect night for them. They had so much to celebrate together and in Brooke's life.
As Brooke was changing, she decided to take a picture of the engagement ring on her finger and send it to Lucas. She grabbed her cell phone and took the picture. Seconds later she sent it with a message saying "now you're stuck with me forever bro love b". A few minutes later her phone was ringing. She answered it on the second ring.
"Hey Luke," she said.
"Welcome to the family sis," Lucas replied.
"Thanks."
"So my brother finally asked huh?"
"Yup."
"I was beginning to wonder when he'd ask."
Brooke laughed as she thought so was I.
"Ya I know the feeling."
It was Lucas' turn to laugh.
"All right well if I know my brother, and I'm pretty sure I do, you should probably be getting ready to go out. Tell him I said congratulations and to call me tomorrow."
"I will."
"Talk to you later."
"Of course you will. Love ya bro."
"Love ya too sis."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Brooke hung up the phone and sat down on the bed. She couldn't take her eyes off the ring. It amazed her how well Nathan had done picking out a ring. Although he had always been good at buying her jewelry. This was by far her favorite piece of jewelry from Nathan and it made her happy to think about the commitment it now represented. A promise to stay together and get married. Just thinking about getting married made Brooke smile. She'd have to design her dress and the bridesmaid dresses. She never could find anything she liked in the stores anyway so she knew it would be pointless to even try.
A few minutes later Nathan was walking into the bedroom only wearing a towel. Brooke couldn't help but smirk at the sight of her fiancé in a towel. She smiled at how easily she had made the transition from referring to Nathan as her boyfriend to her fiancé now. And then soon he would be her husband and the father of her child. Life sure was looking up for Brooke Davis and she couldn't be happier with any other man.
"I love you," she said she wrapped her arms around Nathan's waist.
"I love you too," he replied.
This relationship was definitely Brooke's definition of fairytale romance. Even when they fought she felt like she was living in a fairytale. Nothing anyone said could make her love Nathan any less. Sometimes she wondered if it was possible to love him more than she did, then she looked at her ring and then her stomach and knew that it was absolutely possible love him more. She could only hope that love never faded. With that thought in her mind she set about getting changed to go to dinner. Knowing it would end up being somewhere dressy, Brooke grabbed a medium length tan skirt, black cami and red blouse to throw over it. Satisfied she ran her hands through her hair and left to fix her makeup in the bathroom.
"Baby you don't need any makeup you look perfect just the way you are," Nathan said to her knowing where she was going.
"I appreciate the compliment babe but I was just touching up what I did this morning. Nothing extra," Brooke answered him.
Nathan smiled as he grabbed a pair of khakis and a white button down shirt out of his closet and got dressed. After he was dressed he grabbed a pair of socks from his dresser and then put his dressier shoes on and left the room. He walked down the hall and watched Brooke touch up her makeup. He loved to watch her except when she was going to the bathroom. He drew the line there because it not only freaked him out, but it also made Brooke sick. She smiled when she spotted him watching her in the mirror.
"Italian sound good to you and the baby?" he asked.
"Sounds good to me but baby will let me know the verdict after I eat it," she responded.
"Ok."
It was settled. They would go to the Italian restaurant in South Boston. It was a favorite of theirs and it made perfect sense to Nathan that they went there for dinner. He walked into the bathroom when Brooke was done with her makeup and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck.
"Come on Nathan, your child is hungry," Brooke laughed.
"Hey that's your baby too," Nathan shot back with a grin.
"I know."
"All right let's go."
He grabbed her hand and they left the apartment to enjoy a celebratory dinner.
Hope ya'll enjoyed that! And for the Spanish translations go to http/translate. As always…R&R! I'm loving the responses so far. Chapter 6 should be up soon. Maybe tonight and if not definitely sometime tomorrow.