"What's wrong?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital with Peyton, didn't you get my message?"

"No… I didn't. Is Lucas there?"

"No, it's just me and Peyton. I called Luke, and he's getting a flight back, but I don't know how soon. Why, what's up?"

"We're upstairs."

"Oh, okay, maybe you can come down here and help me with her, cause I really—"

"Brooke…" the other voice starts, just above a whisper in a voice so broken that Brooke immediately understood what was going on.

"I'll be right up."

"NO! You can't leave Peyton, she's in labor!"

"Haley…"

"I'm not going to let you leave her down there by herself. You can't do that to her! We'll figure out something. I'm sending Nathan down."

"Okay, maybe she can break his hand then…" Brooke says, and Haley laughs a small laugh that her friend can tell doesn't reach where it should. It's a surface laugh that is put there to attempt to convince everyone that she was okay. She wasn't okay, she hadn't been for a while.

--

While They Were Away

--

She had been attacked, her pride stripped away bit by bit. Her family didn't want anything to do with her, and hell… her best friend left and stopped caring. And the only people that were left in her life just started shutting her out after a stupid argument. It wasn't worth it anymore. Everything she had set out for was stripped away, and she could care less at the moment.

Someone knocked on the door, and she contemplated just laying on the couch wallowing in whatever the hell she decided to think about had gone wrong. She decided that was best, since everyone hated her right now anyway.

However, she forgot that anyone who was left in her life had a key to the front door, so when Haley stood in front of her, she didn't seem all too surprised.

"Get up."

"Haley, I'm not in the mood for round two with you. I thought that we had enough of that two weeks ago. I'm done."

"Damn it, Brooke, get up!"

The battered brunette chose that moment to look up, and was met with the eyes of a woman who was not angry with her, but with the world. It was something that she was all too familiar with, seeing it in her reflection every day.

"Haley…" she says, cautious and barely finding her own voice.

"I'm sick of you and I'm sick of what you're doing to yourself. I don't care if we fought. I don't care about any of it. Brooke, you survived… you're here right now wallowing in self pity, but you survived! Snap the hell out of it, because I can't have you gone on me right now."

"What do—"

"Lucas left, Peyton left… we are all that we have Brooke, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you just lay there and bitch yourself out. I need someone. I need you. You need me. So, get off the couch, take a shower and put on clothes that don't smell like you've been sleeping in them or boozing in them. Grow up, Brooke Davis, cause the rest of us had to, so you've got to too."

And then she left. She left and Brooke realized that every word out of her mouth was true. She had survived, and she was going to be okay. And, she needed to be there for her friends, because they had tried to be there for her.

Showered, dressed, and feeling better than she had in months, she walked into the Naley house and straight into the kitchen, where she knew that one of the Scott clan would be. It was where she found her, with her back to the door, so Brooke couldn't see her face.

"All right, tutor bitch, I'm here and I'm ready to start fighting back. Are you happy?"

Haley turns without a word and instantly Brooke was at her side, wrapping her arms around her friend.

"Haley, what's wrong…"

"It's Jamie… it's… God, he's just a little boy."

That was the day that Brooke Davis turned herself around. Nothing was going to get the best of her, and she wasn't going to let anyone take anything away from her friends.

--

Present Day

--

"You're kidding me, right?"

"She started feeling like she couldn't breathe, and then the contractions started… how's…"

"We don't know how this is going to go down, but he's not good right now. There's a chance that he won't make it out of the hospital again."

"I thought that he was doing better."

"He was, but that's the thing with this. It'll beat you when you least expect it."

"Nathan, you should be up there, not down here."

"Brooke, he considers you an Aunt… you're his godmother. We can take shifts for this, it'll be okay."

"Well… she's going to be hell for a while in there, so be prepared."

"We dated, I know how bad she can be, trust me."

"I'll be back down in a little bit, okay?"

"Don't worry, I've got this." He says, watching Brooke walk away and walking into Peyton's room.

"Nathan? What are you doing here? Where's Brooke?"

"We…uh… we came cause of Jamie, but Haley's upstairs and Brooke just went up to visit with him for a while. It's okay."

"No, you should be up there."

"Well, when my lunatic brother shows up, he can take over here, but until then, you'll just have to settle for the handsomest Scott."

"Oh, really? When is Jamie going to come see me?"

Nathan laughs, as she meant him to at the silly comment, but then his face loses a little bit of the color that it once had.

"Nathan, go back upstairs."

"It's fine, Peyton, we can handle it."

Of course at that moment a contraction decided to rear its ugly head, forcing her to stop all train of thought and grab for her brother in law's hand.

"This SUCKS!"

"Aren't you all drugged up and stuff? Jeez Peyton, you're gonna break my hand!" he says, cringing as she waited out the contraction.

After it passed, she finally let go, and he shook his hand out dramatically as she looked on with a sarcastic eyebrow quirk in his direction.

"Haley didn't scream near that much, and she didn't almost break my hand… you need better drugs."

"I wish I could get some, but right now, they aren't letting me have anything because we're waiting on some heart issues."

"I know that you've told us about all this, but level with me Peyton, what's going on?"

She took a deep breath, his question forcing her to take a step back and think about what could actually happen that night.

"Worst case or best case?"

"Why don't we start on a high and end on the low note?"

"Best case, me and baby Scott are fine and I'm good to go home right after she's born." She says, smiling, wishing for that best case scenario.

"And…"

"Worse case, is that none of us get to go home. Second to the worse, is that the newest Scott gets to go home…but…"

"How likely is it that one of those last scenarios is going to happen?"

"Nathan…"

"Come on Peyton, you've never once lied to me, and I can see it in your face."

"The odds are stacked against us."

"That hasn't stopped you or Lucas before. What makes you think it'll stop you now?"

She smiles a small smile, thinking in her head that he was right. They did beat the odds time and time again, but this time it didn't seem like she was going to get through it.

Twenty minutes later, Brooke comes back down telling Peyton that Lucas' flight was on its' way to Tree Hill and relieving Nathan to go back upstairs to be with his son.

"What's going on up there Brooke?"

"I don't know… I just… I don't know how much longer that little boy can take any of this."

"Could this baby have any worse timing?" Peyton chuckles as she reaches for Brooke's hand.

"Did the doctor come back in?"

"Yeah. They're monitoring me right now, and if I don't start to have this kid in the next few hours, they're going to do a c-section."

"Okay."

"Yeah…either way, this little girl is making her way out tonight. God, I just need Lucas here though."

"He'll be here, Peyton, he's on his way."

The tears start to come now, big fat tears, making their way down her face in such a way that even he best friend has never seen, "I need him here… I need to see him again… this can't be it, Brooke."

Then she understood the tears. Even if she hoped with all that she could that Peyton and their child would be okay, that cloud of doubt was lingering. She had told Brooke the specifics of everything that could happen, and Brooke understood the severity of it all, but she didn't realize the weight of it all until she was holding her best friend's hand as another contraction hit her hard.

"Tell me about her, Peyton… tell me about this baby…"

"Brooke…"

"Nope. I want to know about my little pseudo niece, so I can be prepared."

--

While They Were Away

--

"We need to have this talk Lucas, and you know that…"

"No, Peyton, we're not going to have this discussion. We don't know anything right now, so you aren't going to start this with me."

"Lucas…"

"No! I'm not losing you and I'm not losing this baby. Nothing's going to happen, and I'm not letting you talk about it 'just in case' That's CRAP. It's crap, Peyton, and you know it!" he screamed at her, which caused the tears already welling in her eyes to finally spill over for the time being.

"Peyton…" he starts, whispering while holding his arms out to her.

"No! You're a jack ass Lucas Scott, did you know that?" she says, pushing his arms out of the way, and continuing, "There is a great possibility that this baby could come into the world with no mother… they might not even get to know me. Don't you understand that on top of the fact that I know that I would be losing you, I know that I would be missing out on my… our baby's life! You don't think about that! You don't, but I do. God, Luke! Every time I feel the baby kick, I think about what it could grow up to be… maybe a cheerleader or a little basketball player… a dancer… I don't know. Or every time I see someone smile at me when I'm out shopping. That stupid little smile where they're in awe of what I'm about to experience. That stupid little smile that says that they think it is the best thing in the world even though they have no clue who I am. I want to turn around and scream at them! I want to tell them that all those cute little ideas they've got swirling in their heads is a damn lie! You will get everything… the first steps… first day of school.. EVERYTHING, and I hate it! I HATE that there is this cloud hanging there, and all I want to do is to make sure that no matter what, this baby is surrounded by the people I care about, and that I tell you all the things that I want for him or her… and you just—" she screams, her voice getting louder and her tears growing stronger with each passing thought that goes out of her lips.

"Okay." He says, cutting her off, noticing that she's getting too tired to do any of this arguing any more, and wrapping her up in his arms.

"Okay?"

"Tell me everything… tell me everything that you want for this baby, and no matter what, I will do it. If I have to do it alone, I will… but I want you to do one thing for me."

She doesn't say anything, just acknowledges that he spoke with a nod of her head.

"Don't give up yet… We'll plan… we'll talk about everything you want to talk about, but you can't give up on this yet. There is still a good possibility that everything is going to be fine."

She nods, finally giving in to his embrace, and letting her head rest against his chest. As they moved to lay on the sofa together, she remained there, listening to his strong heartbeat as she told him all the things that she wished for their son or daughter, knowing full well that it was a little girl.

--

Present Day

--

"I can't, Brooke, I can't do this…"

"Nope, I'm not accepting that. You can do this Peyton. It's you and Lucas. It's always been you and Lucas, and now this baby needs you."

"Anna…"

"What?"

"That's her name… make sure that Luke knows that I want that to be her name, no questions."

"Okay."

"Brooklyn…" she says, turning her face to meet her friend's. "Anna Brooklyn Scott… she needs some of you in there too."

"Peyton…"

"You're going to fight me on this now?!"

Brooke laughs and then a frown comes to her face as she sees that Peyton is really in a lot of pain.

"I think you need to go get the doctor…"

"I'll do it… Brooke, why don't you go upstairs for a bit?" Haley says, making her presence known from the doorway.

"Haley, you don't have to…" Brooke starts, but motions that she forget about it.

"I know how this is… I've done it… and you, Brooke Davis, cannot handle what is about to happen in this room."

"I can totally—"

"Brooke, let me help my baby niece be born?" she says with a finality that lets Brooke know that Haley was done with the arguing.

"I'll go get the doctor on my way up." Brooke says, nodding after kissing Peyton's forehead and making her way through the door.

"Haley, you really should be upstairs…"

"If my best friend found out that I abandoned his wife while she was having his baby, he'd probably kill me, so I don't have a thing to worry about…"

"But, Jamie…"

"It's okay Peyton, you need this, and Jamie will still be there after this beautiful baby girl graces us with her presence."

Wincing, Peyton clutches at her stomach just as the doctor walks through the door.

"How are we doing in here Peyton?"

"God, I can't do this anymore!" she half-screams at him.

Looking over at the various monitors that she was hooked up to and checking her progress, he decided that it was time.

"What do you mean, it's time? I'm not ready for this… Lucas isn't here… Haley!"

"I'm right here Peyton, and you're going to be fine."

"Make sure that he's okay. God… if anything happens, take care of Luke and take care of Anna… please take care of them…"

"Peyton, you have no need to worry, you're going to be fine…we're watching you right now. You're doing just fine." The doctor calls out to her.

"Haley… please."

"I'm not going anywhere, Peyton…"

"I love him… I love her…"

"I know… come on Peyton… you can do this." She says, with that unwavering strength that was so Haley. It was the Haley that she knew. It was the Haley that could conquer anything and everything, and that made her smile. Because for all the moments missed, this made up for everything.

And it was in that moment… that single moment, when she started to push, Haley at her side that something went terribly wrong.

It was a flurry of activity. Monitors beeping, doctors rushing… hearts breaking.

Then it seemed like as soon as the moment hit, it came to a crashing halt. Everything went white, with tears of joy, tears of unshakeable sadness.

A beautiful baby girl in her arms had Haley James Scott sobbing like a little girl, for reasons more than the beauty of a new life… for so many more reasons than that. And when she caught the eye of another, so familiar to her… she knew… what a bittersweet day it was…

She cried for all the moments they missed, she cried for all the moments that would be missed… and she cried for the blonde boy that didn't get to see the birth of his baby girl or get to hear his wife's voice one last time. She cried for a woman who had become her best friend, who had just lost her best friend. She cried for losing her son at the same time she gained a niece.

--

Okay, I'm crying just sitting here and writing it, so I know that you all hate me right now. I know that you do. But… please don't. I don't know why, but I felt like I wanted to do something different. For once, I wanted there to not be the happy, fairytale ending that everyone seems to write. So, I hope that you don't hate me for it.

The next chapter is the last, and will be an Epilogue.

Don't hate… review, and tell me how you cried…