Brooke smiled as the door closed behind her. There was no way she was going to remain in that apartment with Mouth making goo-goo eyes at Rachel and Rachel trying her hardest to ignore it. Those two crazy kids were going to have to work things out eventually and it would probably be much easier to do if there wasn't a third party present. Brooke flicked her phone open. She and Rachel had been at Mouth's apartment for two hours, so she estimated that the two had approximately three more hours of talking to do. What was Brooke going to do with her spare time? With a sigh, Brooke decided to continue the rounds.
She checked the slip of paper on which she had printed the address for the third time before looking up at the mailbox. The numbers did match, so she was in the right place. As she stepped out of the car and paid the driver she admired the house. It was large but not imposing like Brooke's house. Brooke smiled and walked up to the door, rapping on it twice. Almost immediately, the door swung open to reveal a small little girl with a huge grin and two blonde pigtails.
"Umm hi," Brooke said confused. "I was actually looking for…"
"Audrey! How many times have I told you not to answer the door!" A harried looking Haley walked up behind the girl she called Audrey and stopped. "Wh…what are you doing here?" Haley said as she caught sight of her best friend who she hadn't seen in five years.
"Well hello to you too Tutor mom."
"Yeah…hey," Haley smiled as she overcame her initial shock. She reached out her arms and pulled Brooke into a hug.
"Can't breathe," a little voice said from between the two. With laughs, they broke apart.
"Brooke this is my daughter Audrey, Audrey this is my dear fabulously rich friend Brooke."
"What does fabulously rich mean?" Audrey asked in puzzlement. The adults laughed.
"Never mind." Haley bent and scooped the little girl up. "Well come in." Haley moved aside to let Brooke inside. Having closed the door, Haley set the little girl down and swatted her butt gently. "Scoot." Audrey scampered off in the direction of the sound of the TV. "So how have things been with you?" Haley asked as she walked towards the kitchen. Brooke didn't say anything, caught up in thoughts as she watched the child's retreating back. "Brooke?" Haley called, concerned.
"Wh… yeah. Good. Things have been good." Brooke looked back in the direction of the girl, but she was gone. With a shake of her head, she joined Haley in the kitchen. "My company's been great. Successful."
"Yeah, Peyton and I never miss an issue of your magazine." Haley was bustling around the kitchen.
"So how is Peyton?"
"She's…well she's coming over soon you can ask her then." Haley began to chop up a pepper.
"And what about you? Are you and Nathan still the cutest couple in the entire world?"
"We've been really happy. Things have been going great. Nathan's opened his own scouting agency. And I've started substituting at Tree Hill High." Brooke laughed.
"Once Tutor Girl, always Tutor Girl. So why aren't you teaching full time? Why settle for substituting?" Unconsciously, Brooke picked a grape off the bunch on the counter and popped it into her mouth.
"Well we had Brooklyn and then by the time we got her potty trained Audrey came along, and now when I thought I finally had all the kids out of diapers…" Haley trailed off and Brooke noted something in her eyes.
"What? Has Nathan suddenly become incontinent and you…" and at that moment Brooke realized what she should have noticed the moment Haley came to the door. Her friend had a certain glow about her and her upper body was encased in an overlarge, flowing shirt. "You're pregnant," Brooke surmised. A nod of confirmation from a scared looking Haley. "Well that's…that's great." Forcing a smile upon her face, Brooke stood and hugged her friend. "I'm happy for you."
"Mama can I get something to drink?" a small voice asked from the kitchen doorway. Brooke turned.
"Sure baby, but first I want you to meet someone." The little girl rushed to Haley. "Brooke this is my friend Brooke. Your godmother."
"We have the same name," Brooklyn stated the obvious. With tears in her eyes, Brooke bent down to her goddaughter's level.
"Yeah we do."
"Do we have anything else in common?" Brooklyn asked. "Like am I going to get to wear cool clothes like you when I'm older and am I going to get boobs like yours?" Haley laughed and began to scold her daughter. Brooke smiled a sad smile. She could have had this. A little girl asking what she was going to be like when she grew up and wondering if she would be like Brooke. Or maybe a little boy throwing the football around with Lucas and asking him if he would be just like Lucas. Though Brooke tried to put on a brave face for this little girl being admonished by her mother before her, the whole thing made Brooke mildly uncomfortable.
"I'm going to go into the living room," Brooke dismissed herself. But as soon as she walked into the living room she turned back around. Audrey was curled up on the couch watching some cartoon on the television. There was no place to hide. Brooke crossed her arms and leaned against the front door, beating her head a couple times on it. She closed her eyes wishing that she could be ok with it all. Wishing that she could look Brooklyn or Audrey or even Haley in the eyes and give them a true smile. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the door being pushed open, displacing her.
Confused, Brooke watched as a curly haired blonde moved into the foyer, child in tow. "Haley, I'm…oh my! B. Davis is that really you?"
"Yeah P. Sawyer it's me." The two best friends embraced.
"B. Davis, as in Brooke Davis my godmother who's been absent for the past five years of my life?" Brooke blinked down at the girl behind Peyton. Clad in a concert t and Converses she was the spitting image of a young Peyton Sawyer. The older Peyton Sawyer however had changed. She had traded her trademark jeans and tee shirt look for a dressier, yet still edgy skirt and pumps. And she wasn't the anorexic skinny she was in high school. She was far from it.
"Oh, you and Jake…" Brooke pointed to Peyton's protruding stomach.
"Yeah in about three months," Peyton smiled. She wasn't as careful about breaking the news to Brooke as Haley had been, but Peyton had never been one to baby anyone. Brooke faked a smile.
"Later," Jenny said to the two adults as she walked to the kitchen, shoving her the white headphones of her iPod into her ears. It seemed that Peyton had already placed upon the young girl her obsession with music. No doubt Jenny's iPod was loaded with the Cure and Modest Mouse.
"Jenny came into the kitchen so I figured that you must be here," Haley said as she hugged Peyton, their pregnant stomachs touching one another. Blinking rapidly, Brooke turned from the two. As they pulled away from each other they both touched their stomachs.
"Yours kicking too?" Peyton asked. Haley nodded with a smile and then they both cast guilty looks in Brooke's direction. There was silence except for the cartoon sounds from the living room. Brooke knew that she was the one who would have to break this quiet.
"So what's in the water of Tree Hill? I come back and the two of you are pregnant, I mean is there anyone else? Bevin? Deb? Skills?" Letting out the breath that they had been holding in, Peyton and Haley smiled.
"Nope just us," Haley told her.
"So you're naming them both Brooke right?" Brooke teased.
"Yeah because that wouldn't be confusing at all," Haley said with a roll of her eyes. The two pregnant women walked towards the kitchen, turning to see if Brooke would follow them.
"You know what, I've actually got a few phone calls to make to work. I leave them alone for more than two hours and the whole company falls apart you know?"
"Brooke…" Haley started, soothingly.
"Haley, I'm serious. Work needs me. But hey, how about we get the gang back together for dinner tonight? I came with Rachel and she's with Mouth now. And you can bring Nathan and Peyton you bring Jake."
"And I can call Lucas," Haley said not knowing the weirdness that had occurred between the two.
Her smile faltered for a moment, but Brooke recovered. "Yeah, yeah you can invite Lucas. So I'll call you later to hammer out the details." Brooke hugged the two, making sure not to squish the stomachs. "Bye." And she was gone out the door. She walked down the stairs before she realized that she didn't have a car. "Better start walking," she mumbled to herself. A walk would be good for her, give her time to think. She had put on a brave face for Haley and Peyton and her goddaughters, but Brooke had to admit that she still hurt. She still ached for her lost child. She touched her stomach, wishing that there was a child inside so that she could complete the trio. The three of them had made it through the last part of high school together and she wished that they could make it through pregnancy together as well. As she strolled down the road she pulled out her phone and punched in numbers but not for work.
"Hey," a raspy voice on the other end answered. Without a hello, Brooke began to spill.
"Rachel I thought I could do this but then I see Haley and her two kids and one more in her stomach. And Peyton with Jenny and her huge belly and I want that. Why couldn't I have the perfect little family? I mean what did I do besides wear eye makeup a little too early in life to make life hate me so much that it would take everything away from me?"
"Brooke you haven't lost everything. You've got me," Rachel joked. "And David. And Lucas."
"Yeah I do don't I?" Without thinking about it Brooke felt herself smiling. "He seems to be the one constant in my ever changing life. My rock."
"So Brooke the question is, are you ever going to leave David for Lucas? Or are you leading Lucas on with no chance of ever being with him because he makes you feel safe? Because he reminds you of the good old days?" Pursing her lips, Brooke let out a sigh. She didn't have an answer.