"So where's Rachel today?' Haley asked as she caught Audrey at the end of the slide. She set the little girl down and she scampered back to the top to join her sister.
"She's helping out Mouth at the restaurant," Brooke responded.
"You really think she's going to be much of a help?" Peyton asked as the three women walked the nearest bench.
"I think when she says help she really means go and order some complicated food or throw napkins all over the floor until Mouth's staff gets so fed up with her they force him to kick her out." All three laughed as they sat down. Peyton positioned herself so that she could watch a desolate looking Jenny trail her toe in the dirt as she swung back and forth slightly. White iPod cords dangled from her ears.
"I think she's getting too old for this," Peyton said as she continued to watch her daughter. "I'm going to be so happy when this one comes along." She touched her stomach.
Haley smiled, watching her own daughters. "I know what you mean, I miss having someone that's fully reliant upon me." The two mothers smiled broadly as Brooke sat uncomfortably between them. She had heard the spiel about children and reliance before.
Karen folded Lucas's shirt and placed it in the basket. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Karen called. The door opened to reveal a sheepish looking Brooke.
"Hi," she muttered quietly.
"Brooke. Lucas isn't here but I'll tell him that you stopped by."
"Actually I came to see you. We haven't had a chance to talk since…" Glancing down at her stomach, Brooke trailed off.
"Since your announcement."
"Yeah." Brooke sat down at the kitchen table. "Karen I want you to know that I didn't plan this. I know that a lot of teenage girls do it to hold onto their boyfriends but I didn't do this as some form of trap. And we were really careful…"
"But accidents happen." Karen put a few more items of clothing into the basket. Then seeing the look on Brooke's face she realized that her comment had hit a soft spot. With a sigh, Karen plopped into a seat across from Brooke.
"Karen I can't get rid of this baby and the thought of someone else getting to see my child's first steps and hear the first words, I don't think I can handle that. So I'm keeping the baby. And I know that it goes against your plans for Lucas, but I'm not forcing him into anything. He doesn't have to…" Karen reached across the table and touched the stammering girl's hand.
"Brooke I don't blame you. My son is just as responsible for this as you are. And yes I was not happy at first, who wants their teenage son to tell them that he's about to become a father? But I respect your decision. I understand. I remember when I was in your situation. And I also remember what it was like when I found out that Dan was not going to be there for me and Lucas. I will not let another girl go through those same feelings of disappointment and frustration and rejection. Lucas will be there for you and his son or daughter." Brooke smiled. "But I hope you know how much responsibility a baby will be. This little person will be fully reliant upon you. You will be responsible for giving him or her food and shelter and protection and warmth and love."
"Karen I know. And I'm ready for it. In case you haven't noticed, my house was never one of the warm and fuzzy kinds but if my parents did teach me one thing about taking care of a child it was what should not be done. I know the timing is not exactly perfect, but I'm happy and I'm ready for this baby. This baby will always have someone to watch over him or her. Except for school hours." Brooke suddenly began to panic. "I hadn't really thought about that." She seemed to slip out of the room and into her own frenzy of fear. "Who's going to watch over the baby while Lucas and I are at school? I mean I guess I could bring her or him to class with me. Or…"
"Brooke. That's one thing that you will not have to worry about. Your baby will spend school hours with his or her grandmother." Brooke smiled up at the older woman.
"Thank you. It's great that I have someone here that's been through it all." Without a word, the dark haired women embraced.
Squeals from across the playground pulled Brooke into the present. "I don't know if I would go that far," Peyton laughed. "Having a small human being incapable of anything without you is a fulltime job."
"But a rewarding one," Haley said with a gleam in her eye as she watched her daughters. "I wouldn't trade it for the world."
"Except when they're cranky," Brooke pointed out.
"Or greedy," Haley laughed.
"Oh yeah Christmas is so stressful. I want this, I want that. Last Christmas I just wanted to cut my ears off."
"Speaking of Christmas, my girls have already started talking about this year. They're excited now that auntie Brooke is back and they heard that she is loaded."
"I wonder who they heard that from," Brooke said pointedly looking towards Haley.
"Audrey! Brooklyn! How about we give some other kids a turn on the slide," Haley suggested. After a bit of whining Haley wrangled her girls off the gym and onto swings. She pushed one girl as Brooke pushed the other.
"So do you think that maybe we could go food shopping together soon?" Peyton asked of Haley. "You've done this twice before so I figure you know what sorts of foods I should be eating. Jake's been getting on my back about what I shouldn't be eating." As the two pregnant women conversed about proper foods to be eating, Brooke drifted into her thoughts.
"Oh Luke we should get this." Brooke touched the white swingset near her. "Can you imagine pushing a little Broody baby late at night." Sighing, Brooke smiled.
"Do you really think we should be buying all of this stuff so early?" Lucas asked as Brooke drug him to the nearest bin of stuffed animals.
"I just think that the sooner we get ready the better prepared we'll be. Oh look a purple monkey." From the top of the bin Brooke plucked a stuffed purple monkey. "You remember the stories I told you about me and my purple monkey when I was little."
"Brooke why are we really buying all of this stuff?"
"Whatever are you talking about Lucas?" she asked as she put a baby monitor into the basket.
"I'm thinking that maybe there are other reasons for the over indulging."
"Why don't you just spit it out? Tell me why I'm far too excited about buying baby items." Brooke brushed a strand of hair from her eyes.
"I think that maybe you're worried about this baby. You're worried that maybe you aren't ready. That you don't have enough. That you won't be good enough. And you think all of that will be magically fixed by getting our baby everything that he or she could ever need or want or even imagine. Did I miss anything?" Cuddling the purple monkey to her chest, Brooke stuck out her lower lip.
"No." Reluctantly Brooke began to pull things out of the cart. "But could we at least get the purple monkey?" she pleaded.
"I think a purple monkey is a must." She smiled up at Lucas. Lucas kissed her and then placed a feather light kiss on her stomach before standing up and kissing him again.
"So how about the mysterious David?" Peyton pulled Brooke out of her memory.
"What?" Brooke asked a bit startled.
"David. We've never heard a word about him and then you show up in town and tell us that you're married."
"David. Oh he's great." Brooke pushed the swing a bit harder.
"Great? That's all we get?" Haley prodded.
"Well we met after my dog attacked him on a walk one day. And he thought that it was pretty funny that he and my dog shared something in common. We had coffee and then a couple of dates. And for the first time since I had come to LA I found myself actually enjoying the company of a male companion. He moved in with me soon after, so that he could keep me safe in that big house. Pretty soon he asked me to marry him and I said yes. We had a shot gun wedding in Vegas and then I was a wife. I had a husband."
"So what's he like?" Peyton pried.
"He's a lawyer. A pretty successful one at that. He's funny and smart and attractive. And he takes care of me. He takes good care of me."
"You sound happy," Haley said with a smile.
"I am," Brooke smiled a smile that did not quite reach her eyes.
"We want to go play on the slide again," Audrey whined to her mother.
"Ok but you have to let other…" but the two kids were already at the slide, shoving other kids aside. "Duty calls." Haley strode over to the slide to chastise the girls.
"Do you think that you could keep an eye on Jen for a little while?" Peyton asked Brooke. "As this little baby gets bigger he pushes on my bladder a little harder and I have to pee a little more often."
"Go it's no problem."
"Thank you." As Peyton waddled towards the bathroom Brooke sat herself down on the swing beside Jenny. The two were silent as Jenny stared towards the ground and Brooke watched Haley chase her daughters around the playground.
"So if you're my godmother then where have you been all these years?" Jenny asked. Brooke turned to the little girl who had slipped one of the ear buds from her ear.
"Well kiddo I had things going on in my life. Things that just couldn't be dealt with here."
"So you just packed it up a fled?"
"How old are you?" Brooke asked of the girl who seemed wise beyond her years.
"Nine, but I watch a lot of Oprah." Brooke nodded. The two turned away from each other and stared out at the play ground. "So are you staying this time?" Brooke turned back to the little girl.
"Excuse me?" Jenny turned to face Brooke.
"Staying. Should I get used to your presence or is this just a weekend trip for you?"
"I honestly don't know."
"I guess that all depends on how things work out between you and Lucas right?" Brooke stared at Jenny. "You guys think that because I'm under the age of ten it means that I can't hear."
"No we think that because those ear buds are permanently fixed in your ears it means you can't hear."
"Sometimes, when I think that a conversation is going to get interesting I'll turn the music down or off completely. I learn a lot of good gossip that way." Again Brooke nodded. "So do you love him?"
"Lucas? Well yeah he's my friend."
"No," Jenny took the other ear bud out of her ear. "I mean do you love him like mom loves dad." Brooke thought about the question for a while. Realizing that there was no reason not to tell the little girl, she opened her mouth to respond. At that exact moment a relieved looking Peyton and an angry Haley returned, dragging two girls behind.
"I think it's time we should go," Haley grumbled. Jenny gave Brooke one more pointed look and then slid out of her swing to follow her mother.