"You're lying."

Brooke twirled her spoon in her coffee. She watched as the creamer slowly turned the coffee a light shade of brown. She rolled her head and felt sighed as her neck popped. If there was such a thing as teleportation, she wished more than anything that it was now.

"I wish I was."

Karen's eyes watered, "Is it wrong to think that deep down, I always knew?"

"Karen…"

"No, it's true. That day, I can remember the overpowering smell of smoke all over Lucas' clothes…" Karen trailed off as she tucked a strand behind her ear. "The next day, when I heard the news, I had this feeling deep in my gut that Lucas did it. I can't say that I wasn't a tiny bit happy, but I knew it was wrong. So, instead of punishing him and turning him in, I told him I loved him…"

"You did what any mother would," Brooke said as she placed a hand on Karen's shoulder.

Karen nodded as she refilled Brooke's cup, "I guess, I should have known that was part of the reason that he left, but I was scared that something had happened to him."

Brooke sighed, "Well, we just have to hope that I struck a nerve with Dan."

"I should be sitting right there next to him because I knew all along…"

She shook her head, "Karen, you can't be guilty about this, at all."

"I'm guilty about a lot of things…"

"Karen, people make mistakes," Brooke reminded as she drank the last of her coffee.

"Try having a baby with someone that won't even acknowledge their son as theirs. I know how Lucas felt when he watched his dad be one to someone else, but I feel ten times worse because I brought him into this world."

"Stop, Karen," Brooke snapped. "Lucas idolizes you more than you will ever know. You were his saving grace and he appreciated you. So what if Dan wasn't a part of Lucas' life?! That is going to eat away his conscience, not yours. You can say that Lucas was your world and you did all that you could!"

"She's right."

Brooke froze as she heard the voice come from behind her. She could hear his boots hit the wooden floor as he approached the counter. The fear was evident in Karen's eyes and Brooke braced herself for the worst. Dan took a seat next to Brooke.

"I never gave you credit for the work you did in making our son the man that he is…"

Karen just kept her eyes on his, "What do you want?"

"For once, I just want to give you the credit that you deserve…" he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I always wanted to be there for Lucas, but how do you walk into your child's life when you walked out once before?"

Dan reached over the counter and grabbed a coffee pot. Karen grabbed the creamer and placed it next to him. She watched as he filled his cup. Brooke couldn't believe that Dan was here and apologizing.

"I remember when Lucas and Nathan were in the same basketball camp. The coach told me that Nathan was going to be a pro at basketball, but Lucas was the total package. I just thought to myself, what am I doing? I was angry and I know that I took it out on you two, but I was so angry with myself…"

"I don't know what you are getting at, Dan," Karen said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Brooke was right," he said as he looked at her, "Nathan is no longer in this world…Lucas is all that I have left. I know that it might be too late, but it's not too late to try with my son."

"Does this mean?" Brooke said as her heart started to race.

He nodded. Sliding an envelope on the table, "I am going to go get him out of jail now; he should have never been in there."

"Thank you!" Karen called as he walked out of the café.

Brooke wrapped her arms around Karen and embraced her. She felt her shoulders dampen as the tears rolled off of Karen's cheeks. Slowly, she pulled away and smiled at Karen.

"We are gonna have Lucas back!"

Karen nodded as she opened the envelope that Dan gave her. Brooke cringed as the pain returned and flooded her body. She rubbed the side of her body.

"Karen…"

Karen opened the letter and covered her mouth quickly. There was a check for fifty thousand dollars and Dan wrote 'backed child support' as the reason.

"Karen…" Brooke said as she felt the pain worsen and her vision blur.

Behind the check, there was a picture of a newspaper clipping of Lucas with his basketball trophy when he was seven. Karen let out a small cry and held the picture close to her heart.

"Karen!" Brooke screamed as she fell to the floor.

"Brooke!" Karen yelled as she caught Brooke's head from hitting the floor. Brooke was screaming in pain. Karen grabbed her phone and dialed 911.

"I think…this baby…."

Karen placed her finger over Brooke's lips, "Shhh…everything is going to be okay.