One Hundred Eight: You Don't Know the Greatness You Are
Author's note: My friend Ange, (anarchist287) just wrote on of the bestest, in depth oneshots I've ever seen. It's actually one of two, which are centred around Dan and Karen. This pairing might sound sucky to you but I PROMISE it'll make you see them in a new light. Go check out "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted".
"I am never, ever having another child," announced Brooke as she waddled in to the living room of Haley and Nathan's house. Haley, who was sitting on the sofa beside and equally pregnant Ryan, giggled.
"Do you want to know how many times I've heard you say that?" asked Haley.
"No," said Brooke defensively, lowering herself onto the sofa opposite them.
"Just yesterday you were talking about how this baby was going to be so lucky because you and Luke are finally at the right point in your lives for it," reminded Ryan. Brooke glared at her sister-in-law, round and glowing on the couch.
"I don't recall asking you, Miss Scott. You'll see, in like a week when it comes out of you. You'll all see," said Brooke ominously. Haley rolled her eyes.
"True. We will all see, in fact we'll see in freakishly linked times. But Brooke, I've done it all before, and so have you. So quite your whining," she said.
Ryan giggled as she reached the apartment she and Jake shared. She leaned against the inside of the front door as she pictured Brooke's face, shocked at being dissed in her hormonal state.
"Did you have a nice time?" asked Jake, coming in to the room. She smiled at him. Even though they hadn't been together since the night of her first ultrasound, there was no tension between them anymore.
"It was nice. Brooke's being crazy, like always. Nice." She smiled again as he went down on his knees, tugged her shirt up and placed both hands on her round stomach.
The baby kicked enthusiastically, as if she knew her father was near. Ryan sighed in contentment. This was what she wanted out of her life. This and only this.
"She's growing so much," said Jake.
"She only has a little bit more to go."
They linked hands and walked to the sofa, where he carefully helped her to sit down. She leaned back in exhaustion.
"She's getting heavy. And she kicks a lot," said Ryan, feeling more like Brooke than she'd admitted to.
"You're doing great," said Jake proudly.
"You too," she agreed, leaning against him for a second. He smiled at her. Somehow, after their years of gradually drifitng apart, they'd managed to become closer than ever before.
"This is what it'll be like. At three in the morning here, while she's sleeping in your arms after being refused to be taken to bed, but she's sleeping, and you're kind of sleeping, and I'm staying awake to make sure neither of your are going to suffocate," he said.
"Jake Jagielski, you are going to make an excellent father," she said proudly.
"Ryan Scott, you already make an excellent mother," he procclaimed, pressing a kiss on to her forehead. She tilted her head upward so their lips almost touched as the phone rang, and she guiltily jerked away.
Ryan spoke on the phone for about two minutes, the excitement on her face gradually increasing. By the time she hung up, Jake had a fairly clear idea of what was going to happen.
"Brooke and Haley went simultaneously in to labour at the house, and now everyone's at the hospital. Let's go," she said, gripping the sofa arm to stand. He nodded and grabbed her purse, passing the open door of the baby's room as he did so. He glanced inside at the white and pink wallpaper, the shiny white crib, the rocking chair, the Disney princess mobile.
"Come on. Let's go."
For once, they were the only ones waiting. Every other time there had been either Brooke and Lucas or Haley and Nathan, but this time they were alone. After some nurses fussed over Ryan and they managed to convince them that she was not in labour, they sat down and hoped that these labours would be shorter than the ones in the past.
"I guess they left Devon, Hayden, Nina and Eve with Heli. Poor woman," said Ryan sympathetically. She loved her neices and nephews, but had difficulty dealing with more than two at the same time. She glanced worriedly downward, glad that she was only having one.
"Baby try to sleep," he said encouragingly.
"I'm not tired. Nathan always used to tell this story about the time he and Lucas waited for me to be born. They were only like, six and seven but he claims to remember it perfectly. And I came out and Lucas cried because he wanted a brother and Daddy cried because he wanted a girl," related Ryan. Jake smiled.
"I'm sure it was just because he was glad to have you," he said.
"Maybe."
Ryan laid her head on Jake's shoulder and attempted to get comfortable for the long hours that lay ahead of them.
"PUSH Brooke!" said Lucas encouragingly, wiping a sweaty strand of dark hair off his wife's forehead. She turned her wide, pannicked eyes to him and he took in her red face, the droplets of sweat.
"FUCK OFF Lucas Scott, you have NO IDEA how much this hurts," she said, letting out a groan of agony. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, doing her best to break as many bones as she could.
Lucas shut his eyes tightly as she screamed one more time, trying to block out the noise, the blood, the feeling of helplesness as Brooke collapsed against the headboard and the doctor let out a triumphant call.
"And it's a boy!" he said. Brooke rolled her eyes tiredly.
"Well, of course. Seems like we can't make anything else," she said.
"Good job," said Lucas, kissing her, his eyes on the baby.
"Do you two have a name?" asked the doctor, as he put him in Brooke's arms. She smiled and looked down at her youngest son.
"Connor Lee Scott," she said. The doctor nodded.
"Leigh is my sister's name and I wanted to name him after her a little bit," said Lucas.
Brooke rolled her eyes. Lucas had told this to everyone who would listen for weeks, as he'd guiltily realized that he'd called a child after his father and after himself before giving one the name of his favourite sibling.
Nathan let out a sigh of relief as Haley finally pushed the baby out of her. He hated seeing her in that much pain, and he hated the feeling that it gave him. That he could do nothing to save her.
"Hey, it's a boy," said Haley, in some surprise. Nathan grinned. He'd been nothing but joyful when his two girls had come along, but he couldn't deny the desire of a son of his own. He kissed his wife's forehead and watched critically as his son was tended to before being slipped into her arms.
Haley leaked out a tear as she gingerly touched his soft dark hair and red skin, and examined a chubby wrist ending in a small, perfect hand.
"Uh, excuse me, Mrs. Scott? I have been informed by a Ryan Scott that her family paid for half the hospital and that she is fulling willing to withdraw funding. And that I wouldn't like to get on her bad side. And uh, that any stress could cause her to go into premature labour. And that she's willing to sue. So can I let her in?" asked a nurse nervously. Haley giggled and nodded. Jake and Ryan came through the door a moment later. Nathan glanced worriedly at his sister, who was exhausted but beaming.
"Congratulations! Brooke and Lucas had a boy. His name's Connor. What kind is this one?" asked Ryan eagerly. Nathan rolled his eyes at his sister.
"It's a little guy," said Nathan.
"Yeah. His name's Nathaniel Kaden Scott. We're going to call himd Kade," said Haley proudly. They had landed on the name two weeks previously after it had occurred to Haley that they might have a girl and not a boy.
"Kade. It's a good name," said Jake. He smiled, knowing what everyone was thinking: it was okay now. Everything had been said, and now it was good. Kade was not a replacement of something that could never be replaced. But he was good anyway. And they needed him.
"They're going to close when they grow up," observed Ryan.
"Yeah. Little menaces. Good thing you're having a girl, sis," said Haley, kissing her son's forehead.
"Nina and Eve will have to take her under their wing and teach her how to kick their asses if they try and gang up on her," said Ryan.
"Yeah. But she is a Scott. Who knows, it might come naturally," said Haley.