Disclaimer: Too bad I don't own One Tree Hill. If I did though…man. It'd be heaven.
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It had been a week since Brooke and Lucas had told Karah and Brenna about Andrew. For the most part, the girls took it well. They asked a lot of questions, which weren't easy for their parents to answer. Some they didn't even know the answers to.
"Girls! Come downstairs for breakfast!" Brooke yelled up the stairs. Soon enough, the two Karah bounded down the stairs, closely followed by her sister. They sat as a family over a meal of Belgian waffles.
"Karah, what do you want on your waffle?" Lucas asked, placing a freshly baked waffle in front of the little girl.
"Strawberries and cool whip!" She giggled, clapping her small hands together.
"Brenna, how about you?" Brooke asked, even though she knew the answer. Brenna had a mind of her own when it came to breakfast. She took her time to carefully put one chocolate chip in every divot of the waffle, then requested that they be melted in the microwave. She would fold the waffle in half: the result? A chocolate waffle sandwich.
"Chocolate chips, please." She gave a toothy grin, showing off a set of dimples that matched her mother's exactly. Brooke set the bag of chocolate chips in front of her.
"We're going over to Grandma Karen's house today." Brooke said.
"Okay!" Brenna agreed, heartily. Karah, on the other hand, wasn't so happy.
"Mommy, I don't want to go to Grandma's house." She pouted.
"Why not, sweetheart?" Brooke asked, taking a bit of her waffle.
"Last time she made me eat real cheese." Karah sighed, putting an emphasis on the word, 'real'.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas asked, confused. Brooke was laughing.
"I have to agree with her. Karen's real cheese isn't the best." She sided with her daughter.
"Real cheese as opposed to what?" Lucas eyed his wife.
"You know, real cheese. Not the Kraft Singles kind that are probably milk and powder. She means the kind of cheese that comes like, straight from a goat. The stuff that smells like foot and tastes even worse." Brooke explained. Karah and Brenna giggled, thrilled that their mother understood their hate for their grandmother's cheese.
"Do we have to go?" Karah asked again.
"Yes, sweetie." Brooke said.
"Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan will be there." Lucas said.
"Really?" Karah and Brenna said in unison.
"Yep. And I'm sure Evelyn and baby Eli will be there too." Brooke said, referring to Haley and Nathan's four year old daughter and six month old son.
"Yeah!" Brenna screeched. If she had a best friend other that her hippo, it was Evie.
"So you'll come?" Brooke smiled.
"Yes." Karah said.
The four loaded into the car and drove to Karen's house. She still lived in the same house that Lucas had grown up in. It was about a forty minute drive from their house on the Atlantic Coastline, but well worth the drive.
As soon as they arrived, the girls were unbuckled from their car seats. Karah jumped out of the car and ran to ring the doorbell. Karen answered and was nearly mauled by her two grandchildren.
"Hi Karah! Hi Brenna!" She said, squatting down and giving the two girls a big hug. She let them go and the two scampered into the house. She gave Brooke a hug and then Lucas.
"How are things going with you two?" Karen asked, letting them inside. They all sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for Haley and Nathan to get there.
"Alright. Brenna asked about Andrew the other day." Karen winced as Brooke said this. Andrew had always been a hard subject with anyone close to the couple.
"So they know now?" Karen asked, getting up to pour herself a cup of tea.
"Yeah, they do. I'm not sure how well they understand though." Brooke said.
"Well, they're little. Would you guys like some tea?" She asked.
"I'll have some." Brooke said.
"Lucas, how about you?" Karen asked.
"No thanks ma. I'm good." He replied. Just then, Karah came bounding in the room.
"Grandma, do you have Aladdin?" She asked.
"I do, sweetheart. It's in the movie cupboard." Karen answered.
"Daddy, will you help me get it?" Karah batted her eyelashes at her father. Lucas stood up and Karah took his hand, dragging him off toward the television.
"Her and her Disney." Karen shook her head.
"Yeah, she's a little crazy." Brooke said as Karen handed her a cup of tea.
"They're good little girls though." Karen said.
The doorbell rang, and Brenna nearly took out half the room as she sprinted to get to it first.
"Hey Brenna!" Nathan said as he picked her up and gave her a big hug. Evelyn ran over to Karen and Brooke, giving the two of them hugs. Lucas emerged with Karah, just in time to see Haley walk in with little Eli in her arms.
"Hey Hales." Lucas said, taking the baby from her. "Hey little man."
"Guess what Uncle Nathan?" Karah said, running up to him.
"What Karah?" He asked, putting Brenna down.
"You have to guess, silly." Karah said. Evelyn came to join the other two girls.
"Your going to live in Timbuktu?" Nathan asked.
"No, silly." Karah laughed.
"Darn. Your parents are getting you a pony?" Nathan guessed again.
"Really!" Karah asked, forgetting that this was her game.
"I give up." Nathan laughed.
"I get a bunny rabbit." Karah said, extremely proud of herself.
"Umm, excuse me Missy. Says who?" Brooke cut in.
"Says Daddy." Karah smiled. Brooke looked over at Lucas, who had an extremely guilty smile plastered on her face.
"I kind of bribed her into cleaning her room…" Lucas said. Brooke laughed.
"We'll see about a bunny for you two." Brooke said, rolling her eyes at Lucas.
"Why don't you three go watch Aladdin." Karen proposed, ushering the children off to the other room.
"A rabbit, Lucas? You couldn't have said, 'I'll give you a quarter'?" Brooke questioned.
"Sorry, but she wouldn't do it for anything less than a rabbit." Lucas shook his head.
"Well, now we're going to have two little girls begging for a bunny, and you are going to be the one to deal with that." Brooke said, poking him in the chest.
"Me?" Lucas asked.
"Yes you. I didn't tell the girls that they could get a rabbit." Brooke said.
"You two." Haley shook her head, taking Eli back from Lucas, as he was beginning to get fussy.
"Are you making fun of us?" Brooke asked, laughing.
"I just might be." Haley said, rocking Eli back and forth.
"It's a love hate relationship." Lucas said, smacking Brooke on the butt as she walked away.
"Trust me, it's obvious." Nathan said.
"Well, are you guys hungry for lunch at all?" Karen asked, walking back into the room.
"Oh, no. We had a late breakfast." Brooke said.
"I don't really feel like anything either." Haley said. Nathan and Lucas agreed, shaking their heads.
"Well, I'm going to make myself a sandwich if you don't mind." Karen said, walking towards the kitchen.
"Oh no, go right ahead." Lucas said.
Just then, the high pitched shrieks of three four year old girls could be heard coming from the other room.
"What on earth…" Nathan said, walking towards the room. The other three adults followed him. They found the three girls huddled in the corner, opposite a spider that was probably about the size of Lucas' thumb.
"Daddy, kill it!" Brenna cried, pressing herself further into the corner.
Lucas ran to the bathroom and grabbed a wad of toilet paper. In all of about three seconds, the spider that had caused such a racket was gone.
"All better." Brooke said, leaving the girls to watch Aladdin.
The four adults joined Karen on the couches in the living room.
"So, is anything new with you guys?" Karen asked, starting up a conversation.
"Well, the girls start preschool next month." Lucas said.
"As does Evie." Haley said.
"I can't believe it. They grew up so fast." Brooke said. She thought about what her life should be like, with a little boy. She often dreamt about how their family's life would have been if Andrew were still around. Lucas would take him to play basketball every Saturday, and when they got into high school, Brenna and Karah could both be co-captains of the cheerleading team, cheering their brother, star of the basketball team, on to victory. The thought of it brought tears to her eyes.
"Thinking about him?" Haley asked, grabbing Brooke's hand. She didn't dare say the name out loud, for fear that she wouldn't be able to keep her composure. And it didn't make it any easier on Brooke or Lucas to be upset. She couldn't even imagine the pain of losing a child.
Brooke simply nodded her head. Lucas put a protective arm around her, kissing her softly on her forehead.
"Sometimes I just wonder if it will ever get any easier." Brooke said, fighting to hold her tears back. No one spoke, because no one had the answer. It was probably no, but no one had the courage to tell Brooke that.
"We're all here for you." Nathan said, patting her on the back. Brooke nodded and wiped her tears away, quickly changing the subject to something more pleasant.
"Should we tell them?" Lucas whispered into Brooke's ear. Brooke's smile returned to her face once again, dimples showing and all.
"Yeah." She said.
"Well, we've got some news." Lucas said.
Brooke grabbed his hand for reassurance.
"I'm pregnant again."
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