A/N Thanks for the reviews…I don't think that I've changed Brooke's character too much but if I have then I apologize.

Chapter Twelve: Friends Can Help

The plane landed and Jake met them at the airport, "Brooke it's nice too see ya, you're looking better." Brooke smiled she had been holding Austin but he'd gotten too heavy so she was holding his hand until they got the stroller. "Hey big buy." Jake said smiling at Austin.

"Hey!" Both boys told him happily, Seth was holding his brother's hand.

Jake went with Lucas to get the bags while Brooke took the boys to the bathroom, they'd refused to even try to go on the plane so she'd put them both in their diapers that they only wore at night.

"How's Peyton?" Brooke asked when he men came back.

Jake smiled slightly, "She's doing better but it'll be good for that you and Haley will be here." Brooke nodded and put her sons into the stroller.

Nathan was already at the hospital when Brooke and Lucas arrived and Haley wasn't far behind them.

Brooke walked into Peyton's and smiled hearing her yelling at one of the nurses, "My baby will be alright…if I ever hear the word 'if' again when it concerns my son I'll get outta this bed so fast and kick your butt!"

"Gee Peyton you're a little cranky after you give birth." She said smiling.

Peyton smiled and dismissed the nurse, "Hey when did you guys get here?" She was thrilled that her best friend was here with her.

"Just now really, Lucas and the boys are looking at the babies through the nursery window. So how are you?" Brooke asked sitting beside her friend on the bed.

"I've been better but thankfully he's getting stronger everyday but he's still got that awful thing over his eyes and the wires all over him to monitor his heart and breathing." Peyton said sadly, she hated seeing her baby in such discomfort and she wanted to hold him and just keep him safe.

Brooke nodded, "Can I tell you something?" Peyton nodded and waited for her friend to continue. "The twins were born too early, Seth was the stronger of the two but Austin…it was weeks before they'd even open his incubator for me to rub him. So I know what you're going through and how terrifying it is."

Peyton wiped a tear from her cheek, "I wish that I'd been there with you and I am glad you told me…I feel like it's brought us closer together."

"Yeah I agree. Now let's go and see that adorable little Dakota." Brooke said happily wiping a couple tears of her own.

Brooke and Peyton put the scrubs on and walked into the NICU even after three years she hated the place with a passion, all the sick babies and the worried parents. She remembered one night when she'd been visiting the boys a baby had died, the mom had been so hysterical that she'd had to be sedated. It was a terrifying scene to the other parents who were in there praying for their child's recovery.

"Oh Peyton he's perfect." Brooke said smiling down at the baby, the preemie diaper was too big for him which made him look even cuter.

Peyton talked to the nurse about how he'd been and she almost cheered when she'd learned that he'd gained another ounce. "You're going to come home soon…I just know it." She told him happily.

On the way back Brooke asked Peyton why she'd been so upset with the nurse, "She told me that if he doesn't come home would like a burial or cr…cremation."

"Oh my gosh! That's just awful!" Brooke couldn't believe that someone would say that to a mother who's child was fighting for his life in an incubator.

Lucas, Nathan, Jake, and the twins were in the cafeteria eating a snack, "When Nikki was pregnant with Jenny I was terrified of everything that could go wrong but her pregnancy and delivery went like clock work. With Peyton I didn't worry at all until the bed rest and now…Luke were you worried when Brooke was carrying the twins?"

"Hell yeah, but the pregnancy it's self was fine but she fell down the stairs and the twins were born early so man I've been through this, I spent many, many sleepless night sitting between two incubators with a sobbing Brooke. But eventually both my sons got stronger and were able to go home." Jake was watching him with understanding and Nathan couldn't believe it, he wished that he'd been there then when his brother had needed him. "In a way that's helped me with this pregnancy, Brooke and I have been through hell twice now and we've survived." He finished smiling at his sons eating some French fries.

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Haley pulled into the hospital parking lot exhausted but she couldn't sleep until she was sure that the baby and Peyton were alright.

She saw Peyton and Brooke sitting with the boys outside the NICU, they were holding them so they could see the baby since children weren't permitted into the NICU. "He's little." Seth told his mommy while he pressed his nose against the window.

"Aunt Hales!" Austin yelled happily when he turned around and saw her coming towards them.

"Hey, you look so much better than the last time I saw you." She said giving him and Seth tight hugs. "Hey Peyt, how are you?"

Peyton smiled sincerely, she was grateful that Haley had come. "I'm hanging in there I really want to take him home soon. That way I can also spend more time with Jenny."

Jenny had been such a big girl about all of it but it broke Peyton's heart leaving her all the time and not seeing her.

Austin turned to Brooke and smiled, "Milk mommy." He wanted his sippy cup that had his milk in it.

Brooke smiled, "How do we ask?" She was trying to teach her kids some manners since her parents had really never taken the time to teach her like Karen had with Lucas and she wanted her boys right like their daddy.

"May I have milk please?" He asked sweetly and Brooke smiled and gave him a hug.

"That's my guy!" She said happily giving him his sippy cup.

Late that night after the guys had played, and the Celtics had won Peyton lay in bed thinking of her son and what Brooke had told her. Brooke had even showed her pictures of her babies when they'd been in their incubators. Seth had been the biggest and was allowed to go home sooner but Austin…he'd broken Peyton's heart. He looked the way Dakota did with cloth covering his eyes and an IV and monitors all over him.

She hoped that soon her son would be able to come home, it was now midnight and so she set the alarm clock for 3 so she could be at the hospital by 4. She told Jake that she'd sleep when her son was safe at home.

A/N I know I said that would be longer but I've been so busy with work and classes are about to start soon so the chapters are going to keep coming but maybe now as fast as they've been.