The café bell chimed and Keith entered. He looked around for his wife and saw her pushing together a few tables. He walked over to her.
"Hey." He said.
Karen looked up and smiled when she saw him.
"Hi." She said happily. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to pack."
"I'm done packing. I wanted to see you before I left for Charlotte."
"I thought you weren't leaving until tonight."
"I wasn't going to, but it's supposed to storm tonight and I don't want to drive in it. And I absolutely have to get to Charlotte this weekend to fix whatever the problem is down at the garage. But I promise, I'll be back by Monday night."
"Well okay." Karen sighed. "But I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." Keith said smiling before leaning in to kiss her. A little girl called out to them from the front door as they finished their kiss.
"Grams! Gramps!"
They both looked over and saw Lilly running at them and Brooke walking to them. Lilly jumped into Keith's arms, her pigtails bouncing at the back of her head.
"Hey silly Lilly!" Keith said, smiling. "Long time no see."
"We missed you." Karen said as she pulled away from a hug with Brooke.
"Well we both missed you guys too." Brooke replied. "Didn't we Lil?"
"Yep, we was gone for a long time."
"Yes. It was a long month away." Brooke sighed a sigh of relief. "And I am so glad to be home."
"How's your dad doing?" Keith asked as he passed Lilly to Karen.
"Better. He had a massive heart attack and the doctor said he was extremely lucky to have survived it. The doctor said my dad needs an extreme lifestyle change. So I stayed to help him out and help my mom a little too."
"I'm glad he's okay." Keith said. "And I'm glad you guys are back, but I'd better get going. I have to go down to Charlotte for a few days."
Keith kissed Karen's lips and then said, "I'll call you when I get there."
"Okay, drive careful." Karen replied. "I love you."
"Bye gramps!"
Keith waved to them as he left the café.
"So did you have in California, miss Lilly?" Karen asked.
"Yes." Lilly replied. "We helped grandma take care of grandpa and we did fun stuff too. I went swimmin' a lot every day and nana took me and momma shopping!"
"She did?" Karen said enthusiastically with a smile before looking at Brooke. "Sounds like she loved having you both there so long."
"Yeah." Brooke replied. "That's actually why we stayed longer. My mom really wanted to spend time with us."
"Wow."
Brooke nodded her head. She glanced out the window and saw Peyton's black Eclipse pull up in front of the building.
"Oh, Peyton's here!" She said excitedly and Karen and Lilly turned their heads towards the window.
"Come on Lilly." Brooke said. "Let's go meet them outside."
Karen put Lilly down and Lilly and Brooke went outside to greet Peyton. Peyton smiled widely when she saw Brooke and Lilly come out and she climbed out of her car as quickly as she could. Brooke ran over to hug her.
"Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!" Brooke said.
"Ditto." Peyton replied. "Long time no see."
"Totally." Brooke said as they let go of each other. " Oh, look how big you got while we were gone."
"Thanks." Peyton said sarcastically before looking down at Lilly. "Hey girlie. Do I get a hug?"
Lilly smiled and hugged Peyton. Jenny walked around the car, smiling and carrying Emma.
"Hey Jenny." Brooke said as she hugged her. "Hey there, Emma."
Emma smiled and reached out for Brooke. Brooke took her from Jenny and Jenny hugged Lilly.
"Wow Emma," Brooke said. "You sure got big too. You look just like your momma too. She's growing so fast Peyton."
"Don't I know it? And she won't even be two for another six months."
"I love how she has these adorable little blond ringlets."
"I know. Jake loves her hair and her eyes. He says she's the mini me."
"Where is Jake?" Brooke wondered.
"He had to work." Peyton replied sullenly. Brooke stared at her friend. She sensed something was wrong, but before she could try and determine what was bothering Peyton, Lilly interrupted.
"Mommy, look! Aunt Haley is here!"
Everyone looked over at the silver Dodge min van that had just pulled into an empty space. Peyton took Emma from Brooke. Haley climbed out of her car and ran over to hug Brooke wile Jenny and Lilly went over to the van to see Haley's kids.
"Hey sister-in-law!" Haley said as she hugged Brooke. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Brooke replied, smiling. "Where's Nathan?"
"He had to work for a little while, but he said he'll stop by to see you and Lilly tonight. Speaking of, where is Lilly?"
Brooke looked around her and smiled when she saw Lilly hugging James, who had gotten out of his car seat with the help of his big brother, Andrew.
"There she is/" Brooke replied and Peyton and Haley looked over at the van and smiled. "She missed everyone, but I think she may have missed her cousin and best friend just a little bit more."
"Hey Lilly!" Haley called out and Lilly looked over at her aunt and smiled.
"Aunt Haley!" She said excitedly as she ran over and hugged Haley.
"Hey sweetie. I missed."
"I missed you too. And James and Andy and Cooper and Uncle Nathan. Where is Uncle Nathan anyway?"
"Working, but he's coming to see you later tonight."
"Okay."
Andrew, James and Jenny approached the adults.
"Mom," Andrew spoke, "Coop is awake and he wants you."
"Thanks, honey." Haley said before walking over to the van.
"Hey Andrew, hey James." Brooke said, smiling. "How are you guys?"
"Good." The boys replied in unison.
"Are you out of school for the summer yet, Andy?"
"Yep."
Haley returned, carrying her youngest son. He had dark brown hair just like Nathan and Andrew, only Cooper's hair stuck up more in the back. Cooper was sucking his thumb.
"Hey Brooke," Haley said, shifting Cooper higher on her hip, "Someone here has missed his aunt very, very much and has been excited all day, knowing we were coming to see you."
Brooke smiled and said, "Well hey there, Coop. I've been excited about seeing you too."
Cooper pulled his thumb from his mouth and reached out to Brooke.
Once she was holding him, Brooke said, "Wow, you are the cutest baby boy. You're a big boy, too, huh?"
Cooper smiled and said, "I miss you."
"Awe, I missed you too. I missed all of you guys. We have so much to catch up on."
"Well," Peyton said, "Then we should get inside and start catching up. And let's hurry. I'm starving."
Brooke smiled as she stared down the table at all the children in her life. Andrew, Lilly and James were all coloring by the window end of the table. Jenny was sitting in between Andy and Emma, who was in a high chair next to Peyton. Lilly was at the far end of the table by the window in a booster seat. Next to her was James, also sitting in a booster seat to reach the table. Cooper sat in a high chair in between James and Haley and across from Emma. Haley sat across from Peyton, and Brooke sat next to Peyton at the end of the table, and Karen across from Brooke but next to Haley.
"Wow." Brooke said when she looked back at the adults, "Can you believe how big they all are?"
Peyton, Haley and Karen looked over at the children and smiled.
"It's crazy, isn't it?" Haley responded. "We're all mothers. And the three of us are only 28 and we all have kids ranging in age from 18 months to 12 years."
And some of us are still reproducing." Peyton said with a smile.
"Do you and Jake want anymore after this baby?" Haley asked.
Peyton thought for a second, then replied, "I don't know, maybe. I mean, we haven't really talked about it. This baby was actually kind of a surprise, but I think I might want to have one more in a few years."
"What about you Haley?" Karen asked. "Do you and Nathan want anymore?"
"Well I grew up in a big family so I've always wanted a lot of kids." Haley replied. "I'd love to have another baby or two even. But I don't think Nathan does anymore. When we first talked about children when I was pregnant with Andrew, we both decided that we wanted at least four. But I think Nathan changed his mind because of what happened, or almost happened when I had Cooper. I keep trying to get him to talk about it, but he won't. So I don't really know where we stand on the subject."
"Well if you really want more kids Haley," Brooke began, "Then you should tell Nathan you do. Talk to him and try and find out exactly how he feels about it. But it sounds to me like he is just afraid of something serious happening to you again."
Haley nodded her head as she tightened the lid on Cooper's blue toddler cup and said, "That's what I think too. I know I have to talk to him about it, but I'm just waiting for the right time."
Mom," Jenny said from behind Peyton's chair and Peyton looked up at her, "Where is Emma's diaper bag?"
"Under my chair." Peyton replied. "Why? Does she need to be changed?"
"Yeah, but I can do it." Jenny said as she pulled Emma from the high chair. "C'mon sis, let's go change you."
"I'll help you." Karen said as she stood up and walked with Jenny and Emma to the restroom.
"Wow," Brooke said to Peyton. "Jenny offering to change diapers? She really loves being a big sister, doesn't she?"
"Yeah, she does." Peyton replied. "She helps me out a lot. She's like a pro at diapers now. But I'm hoping we can get Emma into Pull – Ups and potty training soon so there are less diapers to buy and change."
"Well Jake can help you with that, right?" Haley asked.
Peyton glanced down at the table then replied, "Yeah, sure…if he's home."
Brooke and Haley both gave puzzled looks.
"What do you mean?" Brooke asked.
"It's nothing. Never mind."
"No, c'mon Peyton." Haley said. "Something is bothering you that you obviously need to talk about. You can tell us. We're listening."
Peyton was going to explain, but she changed her mind when she saw her daughters and Karen leaving the bathroom.
"Actually, I don't want to talk about this in front of Jenny, so can we just drop it for now?"
"Okay," Brooke said. "But we are definitely going to talk about this later."
Peyton nodded her head just as Jenny, Emma and Karen returned to the table.
"Okay." Jenny said. "She's all clean."
"Thanks, honey." Peyton replied as she took Emma from Jenny. "So is everyone still up for shopping?"
"Always." Brooke replied.
"I want to," Haley replied as she stood up, "but I haven't been feeling well the last few days and I've gotten behind on laundry and cleaning, so I should probably go home and get that done."
"Awe, okay." Peyton replied as she slowly left the chair. "How about you Karen?"
"Thanks, but I'm short a few busboys today, so I have to stick around here. You guys go and have fun and I'll see you later."
Karen hugged Brooke before walking away.
"Andy, James," Haley said as she lifted Cooper from the high chair. "It's time to go."
"But I wanna play with Lilly, Momma." James pouted.
"Yeah I wanna play with James too, Aunt Haley. Can he come over to our house, Mom?"
"I don't care, honey." Brooke replied. "But it's up to Haley."
"Please Aunt Haley?"
Haley smiled, "Oh, now how can I say no to that cute little face? How about I have Uncle Nathan bring him over later tonight and he can stay all night? Is that okay, Brooke?"
"Of course."
"Yay!" Both Lilly and James shouted, jumping up and down.
"Okay guys." Haley chuckled. "Let's go. We'll see you later."
"Haley," Brooke said, "remember, talk to Nathan about how you feel. And get him to talk to you."
Haley smiled and said, "Thanks."
Shortly after Haley and her kids left, Peyton and Brooke headed to the mall with their kids.
