"Lucas Scott! Are you trying to take my son away from me?" Haley Scott walked into Julian Baker's hospital room where Lucas sat at Julian's bed side with Brooke resting peacefully in his arms.
Haley quickly shut her mouth when she saw the sight of Lucas and Brooke. Her heart melted as she Lucas comfort Brooke at Julian's bed side. Haley had always known Lucas made a mistake when choosing Peyton over Brooke but she never voiced that to Lucas in fear he'd get upset.
"I brought the twins like you asked me too. They've been asking to see you, Brooke!" Haley nodded towards the door. "They are waiting outside with their cousins."
Brooke pulled herself out of Lucas' gentle hold, "Thank you Hales!" She gave the woman a tight squeeze, "I really want them to be able to say goodbye to their father today before he is officially gone."
Brooke stared at the door leading out to her where her sons were waiting. She was a nervous wreck and did not know how to go about showing the twins their dying father for the first and last time.
Lucas stood up from his sitting position at Julian's bed side and he grabbed Brooke's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "We can do this together! I'm here for you, remember?"
Brooke closed her brown eyes as tears began to sting them, "Thank you." She whispered before taking a deep breath. "We can do this!" She looked over at Lucas and he gave her a reassuringly nod of the head.
Lucas led a shaking Brooke out to the hallway where her twins were drawing and coloring with their older cousin, Sawyer Brooke.
"Hey guys!" Lucas released his hold on Brooke's hand and took a spot on the floor in front of the two Baker boys. "I'm Lucas!" He held out his hands for each boy to shake.
Both Jude and Davis looked up at their mother for confirmation.
"It's okay sweetie!" Brooke smiled sadly down at her twins, "This is your Uncle Lucas!"
Jude and Davis smiled from ear to ear once they realized who the strange man standing in front of them was. They both placed their tiny hands in the middle of his large hand and gave it a gentle shake.
"I'm glad I'm finally meeting you two boys!" Lucas smiled, "Now your mom wants to talk to you and I want you two to be strong young men for her. Can we be strong for your mama?"
Jude and Davis both nodded in agreement.
"What is it mama? And when can we go see daddy?" Jude asked.
The twins had been informed by their mother of the car accident that put their father in the hospital but she never told them how badly their father had been hurt in fear of a tragic reaction from them.
Brooke kneeled down beside Lucas, squeezing the life out of his hand behind her back. "Daddy isn't going to get any better and we have to go say our goodbyes to daddy now."
The twins frowned in unison, confused by their mother's words.
"Why do we have to say goodbye to daddy?" Davis asked.
Brooke took a deep breath before she continued to try and explain what was happening to her twin boys, "Daddy is going to heaven now but before he does go he wants us to come and say goodbye to him."
"Is daddy dying?" Jude asked with a frown.
Brooke took both boys into her arms and held them there, "It is okay! Your daddy is going to be so much happier in heaven."
"But I don't want daddy to go to heaven! I want him to stay here with us." Davis cried into his mother's blouse.
Brooke's eyes slammed shut as she tried to hold back tears and appear strong for her sons. "C'mon, let's go say our goodbyes now."
She stood up but Davis refused to go inside of the hospital room with her.
"I'm not going!" Davis threw himself back onto the hospital bench he had been sitting on.
"I got this." Lucas mouthed to Brooke before sitting down next to Davis on the wooden bench. "Take Jude inside for his goodbye. Jamie and Sawyer go inside with your Aunt Brooke." Lucas turned his full attention on Davis. "I thought we promised to be strong young men for your mom?"
Davis crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't want my daddy to leave so I'm not saying goodbye."
"Trust me no one wants to see your father go anywhere but Davis…" Lucas swallowed hard, "Your father is in a lot of pain right now and if he went to heaven he would no longer feel any of that pain. Plus when your father is in heaven he will always be able to watch over you from the clouds."
Davis' brown eyes grew wide, "So daddy won't be gone forever? He'll be up there? There really is a heaven?" He pointed up to the roof.
Lucas smiled, "Yes there is a heaven! He will be able to watch down on you and be proud of his son! But I'm sure your father would like one last goodbye before he goes up to heaven to watch down on you and your brother."
Davis began to climb down from the wooden bench but stopped himself, "How do you know he will be watching down on us?"
"Because I have an uncle up in heaven watching down on me right now!" Lucas fought back tears as he thought about his Uncle Keith. "And every now and then I get a small sign from my Uncle Keith that he is watching over me."
"Yeah? Like what?" Davis asked.
"Like this." Lucas pulled out a picture of him and Keith standing by Keith's red Mustang that Lucas now owned. "I just found this picture in my car last week and I know it wasn't there before. It magically showed up on Keith's birthday."
Davis' eyes grew wide again, "That is so cool!"
Lucas chuckled, "It is very cool and very special. Your father will do the same things with you once he is in heaven smiling down on you but you gotta go say goodbye first."
A smile stretched across Davis' face, "I'm ready to go say goodbye now!"
"Good!" Lucas and Davis walked hand in hand into Julian's hospital room.
Brooke was holding Jude in her arms as the young boy cried into her shoulder While Haley was holding her emotional son in her arms as well as Saywer.
"He's ready." Lucas informed Brooke as he released Davis' hand.
Davis took a step toward his father but turned back to his Uncle Lucas and he gave him a hug, "Thank you Uncle Lucas!" He turned and climbed onto his father's hospital bed.
No one was able to hold back tears as they watched the ten year old boy talk to his father's unconscious body.
"Daddy, I'm going to miss you!" Davis lied his head down on his father's chest. "But I know you will be watching down on me and Jude and mama once you go to heaven. I can't wait to get cool signs that you are really there like Uncle Lucas gets from his Uncle Keith." Davis planted a soft kiss on his father's bandaged cheeks. "Bye daddy."
Davis jumped down from the hospital bed and ran into the arms of his Uncle Lucas.
"You did great!" Lucas picked up the boy with ease, "I'm really proud of you."
"Thanks Uncle Lucas!" Davis pushed his wet face into his uncle's chest.
Jamie took Sawyer, Jude, and Davis out for ice cream while the adults stayed behind to pull the plug on Julian's life support. Lucas and Haley remained by Brooke's side as she signed the paperwork.
"I'm going to miss you so much!" Brooke kissed her husband's forehead, "Please be happy and wait for me up there although I don't plan on joining you anytime soon."
"Okay, you ready?" The nurse said Brooke.
Brooke laughed in disbelief, "Am I ready to pull the plug on my husband's life? No!"
Haley and Lucas wrapped their arms around Brooke.
"Everything is going to be okay, Brooke." Haley whispered into her friend's ear, "I promise!"
"Just do it!" Brooke cried out to the nurse.
As the machines all began to beep Brooke's body gave out. Lucas and Haley both caught her lifeless body and removed her from the room. With ease Lucas scooped Brooke up into his arms.
"Brooke!" Lucas called out to her. "Wake up, Brooke."
Haley bit down on her bottom lip as she watched her unconscious friend, "I'll go run and get her some water." She took off down the hallway towards the vending machines.
Lucas sat down on the wooden bench outside of Julian's hospital room. "Brooke, you have to wake up for me please!" He whispered against her cold pink lips. "Please!" He gently kissed her.
Brooke's body began to slowly react to the kiss planted upon her lips. "Luke?" She croaked out as she began to wake up.
Lucas smiled and held the woman against his chest, "Oh god, Brooke! You scared me half to death!"
"What happened?" Brooke scanned the empty hallway, "Where is Haley?"
"She ran to go get you some water after you fainted in the middle of the floor." Lucas said breathlessly. "Please don't ever do that to me again? You know I have a heart condition."
Brooke gasped and placed her petite hands over his chest, "Are you okay?" She gently took his face into her hands, "Do you need anything? Are you feeling any type of pain?"
Lucas laughed and shook his head, "You just said goodbye to your husband and you're asking me if I'm okay? You're pretty special Brooke Davis, you know that?"
Before Brooke could respond the nurses began to roll Julian's body from the hospital room. The thick white sheet covering over him gave his body a holy look.
Brooke buried her face into Lucas' muscular chest and she began to cry again. "How am I going to get through a whole funeral?"
"With your family and friends by your side." Lucas answered. "We're all here for you Brooke!"
Haley came running back down the hallway towards where Brooke and Lucas were sitting.
"Oh thank god you're awake!" Haley gasped for air after her run to the vending machines and back, "You scared me and Luke!"
She pushed the icy cold water bottle into Brooke's hands.
"I'm sorry!" Brooke just held onto the water bottle, "Can we go home now?" She asked quietly.
"Of course!" Haley pulled her friend up from Lucas' lap. She wrapped her arm around Brooke's waist to steady her, "You know I hate that you look so damn stunning right now, right?"
Brooke laughed softly as she made her way towards the parking deck where she parked her car. "Thank you Hales."
"No problem gorgeous!" Haley smiled widely.
Once they reached Brooke's black Audi, they all fell silent. Brooke fumbled for the keys in her purse and once she had them out she knew she couldn't drive with her being in such a frantic state.
"I don't think I can drive." Brooke whispered as she stared down the slick black key chain that was holding her car and house keys.
Haley removed the keys from Brooke's cold hands, "I can drive you home since Jamie has my car. I wanted to stop by your house anyways."
"Thank you Hales!" Brooke turned to Lucas, "You coming back to the house too?"
Lucas peeled his eyes off of his brown boots, "I'd love too but only if you want me there."
"Can you come back to the house please?" Brooke said with a deep pout, "I don't think I can handle being alone in that house with all of Julian's things still there."
Lucas pulled Brooke into his arms, "Then I'll be there by your side!"
Haley had been on the phone giving directions to her son, "Jamie will meet us at the house with the children in tow. You ready?"
Brooke sighed deeply, "I wish everyone would stop asking me if I'm ready. I'm not ready for any of these!" She climbed into the passenger seat of her sleek black car.
Brooke and Haley rode to Brooke's home in silence. Brooke took in all of the sights that she had been to lately with Julian but she closed her eyes when they reached the spot where Julian's car had been crashed into.
"You okay?" Haley asked as they were forced to stop at the red light where Julian had been hit.
"I will be once we get out of here!" Brooke whispered while her eyes remained shut.
Lucas followed behind Haley and Brooke and he too took in all of the sights his hometown had to offer. He had not been back to Tree Hill in almost ten years; the last time being when Nathan was kidnapped because Peyton refused to go back to such a 'drama filled' town. Lucas did not want to go back because his father had been released from prison and he didn't want to endanger his family but now his father was dead and he was back.
Lucas was surprised to find that Brooke and Julian had been living in the home Brooke had grown up in.
"You're still the girl behind the red door i see." Lucas said to Brooke as she slowly climbed out of her car.
Brooke smiled sadly, "I heard your voice every time I went through that front door. I missed being the girl behind the red door."
Lucas took Brooke into his arms as they made their way up the long walk way to the front door. They stopped at the front door as they waited for Haley to unlock it since she held the keys.
"Welcome home Brooke Penelope Baker!" Haley flipped on the lights as they all stepped inside.
Seeing everything as it was left before Julian's passing made Brooke sick to her stomach. How can her life look so perfect from the outside looking in but be so screwed up?
"I'm going to go lie down." Brooke made her way up the spiral staircase. She opened the door to their bedroom and sank down into the floor. She picked up one of his tee shirts that Julian left lying in the middle of the floor. "I told you how much I hated you leaving stuff in the floor." Brooke cried out as she held the tee shirt up to her chest.
"Thank you for coming back to Tree Hill on such short notice." Haley turned to Lucas as they stood downstairs.
Lucas shrugged his shoulders, "It really was no problem. When I heard that Brooke needed me I was on the next flight back."
Haley smiled and sat down on one of the white couches in Brooke's formal living room, "So where is Peyton?"
The divorced had been pushed out of his head. There was so much tragedy going on around him that his divorce seemed so small compared to it all.
"Last I heard she was on her way to Tennessee to go scout out a band or something." Lucas plopped down onto the couch next to Haley. "Did you tell her about Julian?"
"I tried to call her but all I got was voicemail three times so I left her a message about everything that was going on." Haley began to pick at a loose thread in her jeans. "Everything is just so different now, Luke."
Lucas let out a heavy sigh, "Tell me about it! This is not how I saw our lives turning out."
"Me either." Haley wished she had her husband there but he wasn't going to be back from his business trip in Europe until later that night.
"Welcome home Baker Brothers!" Jamie pushed opened the front door and the kids all ran inside.
"Where is mama?" Jude asked his Uncle Lucas.
Lucas nodded towards the spiral staircase, "She is upstairs sleeping so be very quiet so we don't wake her."
Brooke heard her sons arrive home and hearing their voices gave her a sudden strength. She suddenly had the strength to pick herself up off of her bedroom floor and drop her late husband's tee shirt.
"I'm going to miss you Julian but I can't do this to our boys. They need me more than ever right now and I can't hole myself up in our bedroom crying and wishing you were here with me!" She whispered before she left the large bedroom and made her way down the stairs.
"Mama!" Jude and Davis called out in unison.
Brooke took both boys into a tight hug, "Did you have fun with your cousins at the ice cream parlor?"
"Yup and we brought you back some ice cream!" Jude held up a pint of ice cream.
"We thought it might make you feel better." Davis added.
Brooke smiled and planted a kiss on each of their cheeks. "Seeing you two smile makes me feel so much better already! Mama is going to be okay."
It amazed Lucas that Brooke was still as strong as she had been in high school when they first met.
"I was wrong about you, Brooke Davis!" Lucas thought back to the time after Brooke saved Peyton from being raped at a college party.
Brooke had shown so much grace and strength in that moment that it made Lucas like her so much more than he already had. She continued to show such strength and grace in dealing with the school shooting, him publicly dating her best friend, and after finding out she couldn't have kids.
"You're going to make it through this Brooke!" Lucas stood up from his sitting position on the couch, "You are the strongest woman I know."
Lucas' words made Brooke feel empowered, "Thank you Luke! That means a lot coming from you."
Brooke had been disappointed and heart broken when Lucas choose her best friend, Peyton, over her. The decision haunted her until she found that very same love she held for Lucas in Julian. When she was around Julian she forgot just how badly Lucas had hurt her by his decision but now Julian was gone and all of that pain was rushing back to her as she stared into Lucas' deep blue eyes.
"He hurt me so bad but I love him so much." Brooke thought to herself, "I wish I didn't but I still do."