"Hey I'm here," Lucas said as he woke up in the plane and realized they were on the ground.

"Ok I'm outside circling the terminal so I'll keep circling til I see you," Brooke said as she was driving.

"Ok see you in a bit."

Lucas closed his phone and rose to his feet. It was good to be on the ground again. He walked off the plane and followed the signs directing him out of the airport so he could get to Brooke's car and go to the house. As soon as Lucas stepped outside he spotted Brooke driving toward him.

"Perfect timing," he said to himself as she spotted him and pulled over.

"Hey Luke," she greeted him.

"Hey. How are you?" he replied looking at her.

"I've been better. How are you?"

"Much better now that I'm on the ground."

"Ya I know the feeling."

"Does Nate know I'm here?"

"Ya I told him."

"Did he freak out at you?"

"Nope. He just said ok."

"Did you tell him why I'm here?"

"Yup. And he still just said ok. I think he was only half hearing me. Or he wasn't listening at all and I think he knows you're here but maybe he doesn't and he's gonna freak out when you walk in the house with me."

"Brooke I doubt that's gonna happen."

"You're probably right. I'm just paranoid."

"No kidding."

"Shut up!"

"Sorry."

Brooke and Lucas sat in a comfortable silence the rest of the way to the house. Lucas wasn't sure what to say and Brooke didn't feel like talking anymore. She just wanted to go home and go to bed. It had been a long day for her and she wanted to end the madness.

"Here we are. Home sweet home," she said when she pulled into the driveway.

"Oh good. Do you think Nate's still up?" Lucas asked.

"Probably. But I'm going to bed as soon as we get inside."

"Sounds good. I'll talk to Nate if he's up otherwise I'll probably crash for the night too."

They walked in the house to find Nathan sitting in his recliner staring at the tv which was off. Brooke looked at Lucas nervously, he just squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and nudged her toward the stairs remembering what she had said about going to bed.

"Night Lucas," she said.

"Night Brooke," he replied.

"Night Nate," she tried.

"Night," Nathan replied dully.

Brooke shrugged her shoulders as she continued up the stairs. Lucas was here now. He would get Nathan to talk to him and then she would talk to Nathan and things would be better. In the meantime the only thing on Brooke's mind was getting some sleep. She shut the bedroom door and changed quickly before climbing into bed. She was asleep almost immediately. Meanwhile downstairs Lucas was sitting on the couch staring at Nathan as he tried to figure out what to say.

"Nathan what's going on man?" he asked cautiously.

"Nothing Luke I'm fine. Brooke didn't need to drag you out here," Nathan lied.

"You're lying to me. Tell me what's up."

"Why? It's not gonna change anything."

"Nathan what happened?"

Nathan sighed dramatically. He really didn't wanna talk about it but judging by the persistence in Lucas' tone he didn't have a choice.

"Brooke told me something about Keith's death. And I went off on her."

"What did she say?"

"She said she saw Dan shoot Keith. When I asked her why she didn't tell me for 5 years she said she didn't want me to be hurt."

"You flipped out because of that? Nathan that's ridiculous. You know just as much as I do Dan was always jealous of Keith because everyone seemed to like him better. Including his sons."

"So you're saying that makes what Dan did ok?"

"No! Of course not. But you screamed at Brooke over it! Brooke, the woman you're in love with. She didn't do anything to Keith. Nate, look, I wish Brooke would have said something sooner but the reality is she didn't. Just be thankful she finally told you."

"Luke we're not talking about some petty high school secret she kept for five years here. We're talking about the fact that she hid the truth about who shot Keith from both of us and you're being totally calm about it. What is wrong with you? Did you ever even love Keith?"

"Are you kidding? What kind of question is that! You know I love him. His death didn't change that."

"Sorry man. I'm just pissed about all this shit Dan pulled and then the truth about this on top of everything else isn't helping."

"Take it easy on Brooke will you? She's not the enemy."

"I know I was such an asshole Luke. And I swear I was so close to hitting her just because I was so frustrated."

"You better not hit her. I don't care how pissed you are. Hitting Brooke is beyond inexcusable and you know it."

"I know. I didn't do it though because if I had I would never be able to forgive myself."

"What did you do instead?"

"I slammed the bathroom door in her face."

"How kind."

"Hey it's better than hitting her. Somehow."

"Look, I know you're pissed but taking it out on Brooke isn't right."

"I know that! Could you please stop reminding me? I screwed up, I yelled at my fiancé and I'm sure I scared the shit out of her. I don't need a reminder from my brother about it. I know I was an asshole. And to top it off, before I even got home I was so pissed that when Jake and I were lifting weights I almost destroyed my knee and he basically had to throw me out and force me to come home."

"Sounds like Nathan Scott, world class asshole made a triumphant return today."

"Yes he did. And I gotta say, I didn't enjoy it one bit."

"Do you have any practices or anything tomorrow?"

"Nope. I was gonna stay here and spend the day with Brooke but I guess since you're here I have to hang out with you too."

"Aw gee thanks little brother. Is it really so bad to have me around?"

"No, I guess not. Someone has to kick my ass back to reality when Brooke doesn't succeed."

"Damn right. And I'm happy to help her out."

"Thanks Luke. For being there for her and talking to me, I didn't know how much I needed it til just now."

"You're welcome. Now can we please get some sleep and get rid of that monster of an attitude you had hanging over you?"

"Gladly."

They pounded their fists before going upstairs to go to sleep. Lucas walked one way once they got upstairs and Nathan went the other way toward their bedroom. He walked in and saw that Brooke was already sound asleep. Watching her, he realized he had truly been an asshole to her and she didn't deserve it. He changed out of his clothes and stripped down to his boxers before pulling the covers back and climbing into bed next to Brooke.

"I'm sorry baby, I love you," he whispered in her ear as he draped his arm protectively letting it rest on her stomach and fell asleep.

Brooke stirred slightly at the sound of Nathan's voice. She turned to face him and smiled when she realized he was still awake.

"I love you too," she whispered before kissing him softly.

"Baby, I didn't mean what I said today. I love you and you were right. You were just doing what you thought was better for me. I'm so sorry I was such an asshole today," Nathan apologized.

"Shh, it's all right. I know you didn't mean it. That's not why I called Luke. I called Luke because I was worried about you. Nathan you haven't been yourself in days and it scared me. I needed to know that someone could shake you out of your funk since I didn't seem to be getting the job done."

"Thank you for calling Luke."

"You're welcome." Brooke turned to face the wall again as she tried to go back to sleep.

"Brooke?" Nathan whispered.

"Hmm?" she replied.

"Let's name our other son after Keith."

Brooke turned back around to face Nathan. That wasn't what she thought he was going to say.

"What?"

"I think we should name the other twin after Keith. He was important to both of us and I know he would be honored to know we had a son that bears his name."

"Sure honey, let's talk about it in the morning."

"Ok." Nathan kissed the back of Brooke's neck and pulled her into his chest and that's how the two fell asleep. The next morning they woke up to the smell of breakfast being cooked.

"Morning, babe," Nathan said as he smiled at Brooke who was looking at him.

"Morning," Brooke replied.

"Do you think we should go down there and make sure Luke doesn't destroy the kitchen or worse?"

"I think Luke's ok in the kitchen but we should go down there. It's smells real good and I'm staving."

"Are you starving or are the boys starving?"

"All three."

"Ah ok. Let's go."

Brooke took Nathan's hand and the two of them walked the stairs and found Lucas in front of the stove making bacon and egg omelettes for breakfast.

"Luke this smells great. Please tell me you made coffee," Brooke said.

"Of course. Do I look like an idiot to you?" Lucas replied with a grin.

"Well…" Nathan started.

"I wasn't asking you little brother."

The three of them started laughing. It was nice to be together again. Lucas missed being around his brother and best friend now that he was out in Colorado. A few minutes later he dished out the food and poured coffee for everybody and they sat down and ate in a comfortable silence.

"What are you boys doing today?" Brooke asked.

"Hanging out with you," Nathan replied.

"Ya me too," Lucas said.

"You may have to wait a while. I have to go to work this morning. There's a staff meeting and I need to finish writing my piece from the interview I did with Jake the other day."

"Aw Brooke can't you do that tomorrow?" Nathan whined.

"Babe I wish I could but Dave wants the interview for tomorrow's edition of the paper."

"Ok but you better tell Dave that you're all mine for the rest of the day and tomorrow and I'm not sharing. Except with Luke."

"I'll be sure to do that. He's gonna love this one."

"Hey you're pregnant, he can't overwork you."

"He doesn't. And I was kidding. Dave's a good guy. He'll totally understand and besides I can always work on other stuff at night and email it to him when it's done. Except for my interview with Jake so don't get any ideas."

Nathan frowned. He should have known she would stop him in his tracks before he could open his mouth. She had done it plenty of times in the past. Lucas was glad to see that Nathan was returning to normal.

"All right boys, enjoy your Brookeless morning. I need to go shower and get dressed so I can head out. I should be back around 2:00. Behave and try not to break anything," Brooke said as she stood up and kissed both Nathan and Lucas.

"Yes ma'am," they said with identical smirks.

"Bite me."

"Oh I will," Nathan said with a grin.

"Nathan!"

"What?"

Brooke shoved her finger in Lucas' direction. Nathan looked at him and shrugged. It didn't matter to him if Lucas heard them talking to each other like that. Lucas could handle it and if he couldn't that wasn't Nathan's problem. As soon as Brooke had gone up the stairs Nathan and Lucas started clearing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher.

"What are we gonna do til Brooke gets back?" Lucas asked when the table was cleared.

"I dunno. Whatever. We could go down to the weight room and workout, watch a movie, play video games. I don't care. I want to enjoy my day," Nathan replied.

"Ok."

They decided to go downstairs and workout for a while since neither of them were practicing with their teams.

"Bye boys!" Brooke yelled as she left the house.

"Do you ever think she'll stop calling us boys?" Lucas laughed.

"Don't think so. She likes that word lately. But maybe she'll stop after the twins are born so she doesn't confuse herself," Nathan replied.

Lucas nodded and they went back to working out. The only sounds that could be heard in the weight room was Nathan's stereo, the clanging of the weights and the grunting from both Nathan and Lucas as they pushed themselves. They were down there for about two hours when Nathan suggested a game of NBA Live. Lucas agreed and they went into the video game room and set up the PlayStation. In the end Lucas beat Nathan.

"You cheated," Nathan insisted.

"Not so much. Face it little brother. I kicked your ass," Lucas laughed.

Nathan sat on the couch with his arms crossed and lips pouting. Lucas looked at him and he couldn't help the laughter that escaped from his lips.

"Rematch," Nathan demanded.

"Ok," Lucas said.

They played again and this time Nathan won. He smiled happily deciding that maybe Lucas didn't cheat the first time but he hadn't played his best.

"Whatever Nate. You just can't admit you lost," Lucas laughed again.

"Sure I can. But it's not really a loss when I went easy on you," Nathan countered.

"Oh sure. You went easy on me? That'll be the day."

"What you don't think I'm capable of that sort of thing?"

"Not at all. I know you Nathan you're competitive in all things basketball. Including video games. There is no way you "went easy" on me. I beat you, get over it."

"Okay, okay. So you beat me? Big deal."

"Now he gets it."

"Shut up." Nathan shoved Lucas sideways pretending to knock him over.

"What are we 6 again?"

"Sure why not?"

"Hey what's Jaglieski up to?" Lucas asked.

"I dunno," Nathan answered.

"Well let's call him and see if he wants to chill with us."

"Sounds good to me."

Nathan grabbed his phone to call Jake. Ten minutes he was off the phone and they were waiting for Jake to come over. Nathan and Luke were walking up the stairs from the basement when the doorbell rang.

"Hey man, come on in," Nathan said as he opened the door.

"Well if it isn't the Scott brothers. Lucas how are ya man?" Jake said as he stepped into the house.

"I'm doing good. You taking good care of my daughter I hope?" Lucas replied.

"Absolutely. She gets along great with Jenny. But I think she's having a problem with me. It's ok though, don't worry about it. Hales and I are working through it with her."

"Good."

"So, I was thinking we could go shoot some hoops at the courts up the road," Nathan suggested.

"Nathan doesn't take a day off even when it's given to him," Jake laughed.

"I don't think he ever has," Lucas added.

"You'll thank me someday," Nathan said confidently as he scribbled a note to Brooke in case she got back before they did.

"Brooke, this article is missing something. It's too formal. Where's the spunk you had in your last piece?" Dave asked.

"What do you mean it's too formal? Dave I thought you didn't want articles that made the sports pages less important than the world news or financial section. You said you thought that last piece was too spunky and to get rid of spunk and go back to professional," Brooke replied.

She had been talking to her editor for the last hour and it seemed like she wasn't getting anywhere. All Dave seemed to be doing was criticizing her and then twisting his words around and constantly changing his mind. Brooke was getting pissed, she didn't know how much longer she would be able to put up with him or it.

"I didn't tell you to lose all of your spunk. I just don't want the entire piece to seem spunky. You're a journalist, you can make spunk and professional mix. Do it or you won't another thing for this paper."

"Have it your way. I'll fix it up but this is the last time. If you think you can intimidate me you're dead wrong. Arrogant little shits like you don't phase me at all. You think you're a hot shot because you're the senior sports editor. Well let me tell you something Dave, you're not. If you were such hot stuff in journalism you'd be the senior sports editor for some big city paper. Not a small town paper in New Jersey."

Dave looked Brooke straight in the eye and laughed. He couldn't believe some southern small town girl thought she would get away with talking to him like that. There had been others to try it before Brooke and none of them lasted very long with the newspaper. If things kept going the way they were with Brooke he was sure that she would be another member of the so called club.

"I know you think I'm just some southern small town bimbo but you've got it all wrong. This southern girl is just as smart as the northeast bimbos and possibly smarter. If you wanna fire me because I thought I was doing what you asked of me, that's just fine but don't think for a second you can intimidate me enough to make me quit. That'll never work. I've never been a quitter, and I always get what I want," Brooke continued.

Dave sat in his chair silently. This girl was different from all the rest. With all the girls he had working for him before Brooke came along, they left with the first sign of confrontation. Brooke stood up to Dave and put him in his place. That wasn't something he was accustomed to. Nobody ever did that to him in his life, he was always the one leaving people speechless.

"Nobody talks to me like that," he seethed.

"Really? Cause I believe I just did. Now it's your choice. You can fire me and be down a reporter again or drop the act and keep me around. So, what's it gonna be?" Brooke replied grinning at Dave.

"You can stay. For now."

"What is that like some kind of threat? Grow up Dave. This isn't high school."

Brooke didn't wait for Dave to respond. She ripped her article out of his hands and stormed out of his office. Instead of sitting down to work on "fixing" the piece, she put it in her bag and grabbed her keys. If Dave was in a mood, Brooke didn't want to be around him anymore for the day.

"I'm leaving," she said as she passed his open door.

"Where's my article?" he shot back.

"You'll get it later."

Again Brooke didn't bother waiting for his answer. She walked outside and was glad that the sun was out. She didn't want to be in a crappy mood with crappy weather because then she'd be crabby all day long. Now she stood a chance of shaking the lousy mood. Smiling to herself, Brooke got in her car and turned up the stereo for the drive home. Just as she was coming down their street, Brooke spotted Jake's car in their driveway. She wondered if that meant the boys were out.

"So much for hanging out with me today," she laughed. Turning off the engine Brooke got out of the car and walked into the house. There was a note for her in the kitchen from Nathan.

"Babe, went to shoot some hoops with Jake and Lucas. Call me after you eat something. Love-Nathan". Brooke balled up the note and threw it in the garbage. She didn't realize how hungry she was until now so she rummaged through the fridge for something to eat. Five minutes later Brooke was sitting down to a bowl of Fruit Loops and a glass of Pepsi.

"Now this is what I call lunch," Brooke laughed to herself.

"Babe, it's me. I saw your note and I just finished eating. When are you coming back?" Brooke said after she called Nathan.

"We're just gonna finish this game and head back. Jake's gotta go pick up Bella and Jenny at school soon. See you in a little while," Nathan replied.

"Ok. I love you."

"I love you too."

Brooke hung up and smiled. She still had alone time but no idea what to do with herself. Then an idea came to her. She went upstairs and locked herself in her office. Now was as good a time as any to work on the design for the babies' room. She was still up there working furiously when Nathan and Lucas came back.

"Brooke!" Nathan yelled as they walked through the front door.

"Maybe she's not here," Lucas said.

"She's here. In fact I have a good idea where too."

Nathan took off up the stairs with Lucas right behind him. He wasn't surprised when he found Brooke's office door closed. Carefully he turned the knob but the door didn't open.

"Why does she lock the door?" Lucas asked.

"To keep me out of there when she's busy," Nathan replied as he knocked on the door.

Brooke was shaken from her thoughts by the knocking on the door. Carefully she stood up to unlock the door. When she did she found Nathan and Lucas standing on the other side.

"Hey beautiful," Nathan said as he kissed her.

"Hey," Brooke replied and kissed him back.

"Hey Brooke. How's it going?" Lucas said.

"Pretty good."

"Whatcha working on honey?" Nathan asked.

"Design for the boys' room."

Brooke grabbed the sheets of paper to show Nathan and Lucas. One was designed like a basketball court with the Nets colors and the other one was like Sesame Street. Of the two, Brooke's favorite was the basketball court.

"These look great babe," Nathan said.

"Thanks honey," Brooke said.

"What do you think Luke?" Nathan asked.

"Brooke these are amazing," Lucas said.

"Please don't be so dramatic," Brooke laughed.

"I'm serious."

Brooke blushed furiously. She was glad that Nathan seemed to like her designs and it made her happy that Lucas did too.

"Ok what are we doing today?" Brooke asked the boys.

"Whatever you want," they answered together.

"Goody! Let's go shopping. And this time we can buy clothes."

Brooke looked directly at Nathan. She knew he had been dying to buy baby clothes and now they finally could because they knew the sex of the babies.

"We're gonna need more diapers and other stuff too. When we got that stuff we didn't know that you're actually pregnant with twins," Nathan said.

"Oh ya. That's true. Luke is this ok with you?"

"Of course. As long as I get to spend time with you guys I'm good," Lucas answered. Truthfully he couldn't wait. This would be a good opportunity to get operation spoil the nephews going.

"Great let's go before I change my mind and decide to sit on the couch all day," Brooke said enthusiastically.

Nathan and Lucas looked at Brooke and then at each other and burst into laughter. Neither of them believed she was capable of changing her mind about shopping. It was her favorite thing to do and it always had been.

"Ok so I'm not gonna change my mind but let's go," Brooke said knowing what they were laughing at.

The three of them walked down the stairs and out to Nathan's Touareg because it would be more comfortable for the three of them. Brooke turned the radio up real loud and sang to every song that was played. Nathan and Lucas were relatively quiet. Not by choice really but because it was impossible to talk over the radio and Brooke. Nathan tried turning it down once only to get his hand slapped.

Brooke felt like she was on top of the world. She had the best fiancé in the world and her best friend was back. And then there was Lucas, he never seemed to go anywhere. He was always there when she needed him.

"Thanks Luke," she mouthed to him in the mirror.

"That's what brothers are for," he answered.