Disclaimer: I don't know anything about the storylines
I know it's been over a month since my last update, I am so sorry. I have been sick, along with going through writers block with this story. So, This is just another small filler chapter. I'm having trouble writing the same dealing with Keith. I just want to do it justice. Enjoy the update though.
"Lydia's mom packs her lunch" Davis reminded his mother, as he did every morning in the midst of the morning chaos. "Yesterday she had a sandwich in the shape of a butterfly and carrot sticks"
"Do you want a sandwich in the shape of a butterfly"? Madison asked, teasing the young boy as she reached into the refrigerator grabbing a large bottle of water. "I can make you one".
"Ew, no"! Davis said shaking his head.
"I could write your name on the sandwich in pink sprinkles," Madison told him, grinning. "Or I can make it into the shape of a little heart, all your friends will be so jealous".
"Oh, my god" Davis said, dramatically throwing his hands over his face. "Never mind".
The child took the lunch money from his mom and ran off, Brooke couldn't help but giggle for a second. She looked over at Madison who was peeling an orange, a quick breakfast.
"You were already in bed when I got in last night—and you had the boys asleep, so thank you for that" Brooke told Madison. "But, there is something I need to talk to you about".
"Am I in trouble"?
"Oh, no"! Brooke told her immediately. "Not at all" she swore. "I got a call yesterday, and I—they have set the court date for your hearing".
Madison knew it was coming, she was honestly shocked it had taken as long as it had. But, it still hit her like a ton of bricks or the fear of having to leave Tree Hill did.
"Oh".
Oh? That was all she could say was oh? The teenager wanted to kick herself for her reaction, and if her short legs could reach her butt she would.
Brooke, however, understood why the teenager was shocked, in fact, she didn't blame her. She had been speechless herself the day before.
"But, don't worry we are going to figure this out" Brooke promised Madison. "I have a few ideas—".
The sound of Madison's phone ringing had cut her off, when the teenager looked down she saw her boyfriend's face on the screen.
"I have to go make sure Jude is awake—we will talk about this later, okay"? Brooke said placing her hands on each of Madison's shoulders.
Madison slowly nodded, as if that's all she could do.
After what felt like an eternity, her phone was still ringing, even though in reality it had only been ringing for five seconds.
"Hey," Madison said, as she sat down at the kitchen, doing her best to hold it together.
"Hey—are you okay"?
Leave it to Jamie, just hearing one word through a phone he could easily tell when something was wrong with his girl.
"Yeah, I'm fine".
"Don't lie to me".
Madison smiled, a little. "It's nothing, I will tell you about it at school".
"That's why I called, I won't be at school today" she heard Jamie's voice tell her through the phone. "My dad wants me to go with him and uncle Luke to the hospital to talk to Keith".
"Oh, wow," Madison said, shocked. "You're going to get to meet Keith"?
"Yeah, I guess," Jamie told her. "I think dad just wants me to go for support, today is a big day for Keith—you're not mad that I'm not going to be at school are you"?
"Of course not" Maddie told him. "I'm just wondering how Lily is going to take it that you got to meet her dad before her".
Lauren had never felt more humiliated in her life, she stood all alone in her house, embarrassed. She returned home from prison the night before, with a rather aggravating ankle bracelet.
And not the kind she normally would buy from Tiffany's.
When she dressed herself, she made sure to wear a large pair of sweat pants that covered her ankle, at the risk of anyone stopping by. She wasn't sure where they had come from, if she had to guess she assumed they were Jamie's that Madison had permanently borrowed at one point in time, she had a habit of taking off with her boyfriend's clothes to wear as pajamas.
It was one of the few things that the teenager had left, her bedroom was depressingly empty.
Lauren stood in the middle of the teenagers—former room, the only thing that hadn't been packed away was the furniture. There were a few items of clothes hanging over a dresser drawer, or in the closet—Lauren assumed when she packed she left in a hurry. But, not so fast that Madison knew that the only pictures she would leave from the large collage above her bed were the ones of her and Lauren.
It was clear how she felt about Lauren, and worst of all Lauren felt it. She felt it from the unanswered texts, the ignored phone calls, the social media blocks, and everything else she could do to avoid the woman who had raised her.
"Hey" Lauren heard and turned around to see Andre standing in the doorway.
"Hey," Lauren said wiping the tears away from her eyes. "What are you doing here"?
"Antwon asked me to drop some food off, it's all downstairs on your table," Andre told her. "He knew you had been gone for a few weeks, and didn't know if you had anything edible".
"Oh, thank you".
"I got you something from the cafe he will be here later with some actual groceries," Andre told her. "Are you okay"?
"Yeah".
Lauren wanted to roll her eyes, even she didn't believe herself and she was pretty great at lying to herself.
"How—how is she"? Lauren asked.
Andre didn't need her to clarify, he knew exactly what she that Lauren was referring to.
"Good," Andre said, awkwardly stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I really only get to see her at Lunch—between school, the cafe, basketball practice, and volunteering at the tutoring center it's hard to keep up with her—even for Jamie".
"Sounds about right," Lauren said smiling.
Madison had never been one known for her laziness.
"Has she—has she said anything about me"? Lauren asked, very aware of how much she sounded like a lovesick teenager.
"She hasn't really said a lot to me about it—I'm sure she and Jamie have talked about it but Maddie is pretty sensitive to the whole thing," Andre told her. "She is confused, she doesn't know who she is or who her parents are, none of it. It's not easy for her, and with you, I think she feels betrayed".
Lauren nodded, slowly.
Of course, she felt betrayed, she should. Lauren hid something from her, perhaps if she had told her—there was no going back now. Not for her, or Madison, there was no point in playing the what-if game.
"How long are you—do you have to wear—or—"?
Andre has tried to change the topic but hadn't been that good at it, in fact, once he opened his mouth he regretted it.
"I'm on house arrest until my trial which has yet to be set," Lauren told him. "My lawyers aren't exactly upbeat about it either, without Maddie's testimony I could go to prison for around ten years—minimum".
"She won't testify"?
"I haven't asked her, I couldn't," Lauren said. "I wanna talk to her, I miss her, but I couldn't ask her for something like that".
Mouth stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom he shared with his wife, tying the tie around his neck. Although he wasn't sure why he felt a mirror was necessary, he could easily tie his black and white tie with his eyes closed.
After observing his wardrobe one last time he found his way downstairs and into the kitchen where Millicent was feeding Jimmie while Lucy was buttering her toast.
It had been weird, no not weird just awkward—at first, but at some point, it had stopped. The teenager had fit perfectly in with the family, her family. As if she had been there all along, which everyone wished she had.
"There are papers on the refrigerator that you need to sign," Millicent told her husband as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Papers"? Mouth asked as he walked over an eyebrow arched in confusion, normally he only ever had to give away his signature at work or the bank.
"The school sent them" Lucy explained. "It's so I can take drivers ed".
"You need permission for that now"? Mouth asked. "Back in my day they just turned us loose and prayed we made it back in one piece".
"Geese Grandpa," Lucy said as she took a bite out of her toast. "Why don't you sit down and tell us about the good ole days".
Without turning around Mouth could hear his wife laughing from the kitchen table.
When Lucy looked up her father was looking at her, and just by his look alone, she couldn't hold in her laughter either.
"You know what"? Millicent said as she continued to feed her son. "Forget drivers ed, I can teach you"!
"That's a nice gesture honey, but who is going to teach you"?
Millicent rolled her eyes. "I'm a great driver".
"I believe me and that stop sign in Denver would disagree" Mouth said and looked to find his daughter confused. "She got confused between the brake and the gas pedal".
"The gas got stuck" Millicent defended herself before throwing her arms up at her husband, it was clear it has been an ongoing argument for years.
"Millie grew up in the city, she had taxi's and the subway—why don't I teach you"? Mouth asked his daughter. "My dad taught me, I can teach you".
"Really"? Lucy asked. "You want to teach me"?
"Yeah, after school sound good for you".
"Yeah, definitely" Lucy told him grinning ear to ear.
Nathan slowly pushed his foot down on his brake, stopping his car beneath the traffic light. The inside of his vehicle was silent, even though he wasn't alone. Jamie sat in the passenger seat, playing on his phone completely unaware of any of his surroundings.
Nathan knew why his wife was having a difficult time when it came to their son when he looked over and he no longer saw a child sitting next to him but a boy, you could almost mistake him for a man. It was hard for him, too.
The light turned green and Nathan began to slowly drive again. Most of everybody was either at work or school, so traffic was fairly light. So, he took his time—not intentionally, but his mind was somewhere else.
Jamie was sixteen years old, he was just two years younger than Nathan was when he became a father and his son was no longer a virgin—
"Jamie"?
For the first time since the two had got in the car the teenager looked up from his phone "Yeah".
"Can we talk"?
"Uhm, What is it that we are doing"?
Good point. A smartass, but good point.
"I need you to put your phone down, and be honest with me okay"?
Jamie locked his cell phone and laid it between the two, but nodded.
"You and Madison—you two are having sex".
It wasn't a question.
"I told you that we have".
"But, you were apart. Now, you're back together so you're having sex—frequently".
More like as much as humanly possible.
"Yeah".
"And you two—you're safe"?
How could the two be alone and Jamie feel this much humiliation?
"Dad, please to god stop".
"I'm your dad I have a right to ask these questions".
"Okay, but how would you feel if Grandpa Dan had asked you that"? Jamie shot back at his father.
Again, he had a fair point. Dan had been gone for years, but yet the very thought of discussing sex with his dad made his skin crawl, though not as badly as the thought of becoming a grandfather anytime soon.
"This isn't about me and my dad this is about me and my son, Dan never asked me because he didn't care enough. I do care, I had a baby when I was just two years older than you is that what you want? A baby"?
"No"!
"I'm just trying to make sure that you're—".
"We are safe dad," Jamie said throwing his hands over his face, embarrassed.
"Okay, good so you wear—protection"?
Jamie dropped his hands and looked at his dad who was looking at the road, thank God.
"Sometimes," Jamie told him honestly.
And Nathan's eyes left the road, shooting over in the direction of his son.
"Sometimes? Sometimes"! Nathan yelled.
"Dad," Jamie said grabbing the wheel jerking the two back in their own lane.
Nathan immediately looked back at the road, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Sorry," he told his son. "What do you mean sometimes"?
"I wear a condom sometimes but sometimes I don't," Jamie told him. "It's not a big deal".
"It will be if she were to get pregnant".
"Maddie is on birth control, it's 99 percent effective," Jamie told his dad. "It's not like we have diseases to worry about, we have only ever been with each other. I don't like wearing them—".
"None of us like them," Nathan told his son. "But, we all wear them or otherwise we wear diaper bags and carry car seats".
"I don't have to worry about that okay"?
"Jamie, you do have to worry about that—".
"No, I don't".
"And why the hell not"?
"I can't have kids" Jamie snapped at his dad, tired of this conversation. "After—my incident with the horse over the summer—it wasn't just a penile fracture, it hit a little lower than that, too. The doctor said something about testicular trauma" he said, his voice lower and softer.
Nathan parked the car in Lucas' driveway but he didn't get out, not yet. Instead, he turned to face his son. "Why—why didn't you say anything"?
Jamie shrugged. "I'm sixteen, it's not like it's a big issue now. I'd love to have a kid, in like ten or fifteen years but it just didn't seem worth mentioning, I haven't even told Maddie".
"Why not"?
"Because she wants kids one day, she has talked about is getting married after high school and having six kids and now—".
"You're scared she would leave you—over it"?
Jamie didn't have to answer his dad, he already knew.
"I don't think Madison would leave you over that but you're right it's not a problem you need to worry about now".
"Dad, please don't tell anyone".
Nathan looked at his son, it was obviously not something that he wanted to talk about with his dad but trying to talk about the "being safe" he pushed him.
"Okay".
Think about it.
He wants her to think about it.
Haley sat at her desk in front of the classroom as the students began to slowly pile in, one after the other, finding their designated seats. Haley never assigned seats, but somehow over the course of the first quarter, they each had found a seat they preferred.
Mrs. Scott watched the students as they sat down, and talked about whatever high school gossip was making its way around the school, as she thought about.
Per Nathan's suggestion.
But, what was there to think about? This was her best friend, who wanted to be a mother—again. Haley and Nathan could have a child anytime that they want, they were blessed in that way she didn't have to think about it.
Although she knew what she felt when she gave birth to Jamie and Lydia—she couldn't have imagined handing them over for someone else to raise.
But, this wouldn't be her child—
The bell rang that hung over Haley's head pulling her out of her own thoughts.
Haley stood up "time for class".