Author's Note: Wow it's been a long time since I've updated, but this chapter has taken that long to write. I hope that you enjoy the final product and it does a good job ending the story.

Disclaimer: I unfortunately have nothing to do with One Tree Hill, and only owe the creative liberty I took in writing this story.


Nathan sat in the locker room starring at the jersey twisted in his hands. He knew this day was coming, he had known since the day that he made his announcement that this day was going to come, but Nathan never thought that it his last game would be the championship game. He was more than happy when his team had made it into the playoffs, beyond overjoyed that they made it to the divisional championship, but when they won that game and ended up in the final Nathan couldn't find a word to describe how he felt. So when he stepped out onto the court and he looked up at the stands and saw his family, everyone he'd ever considered his family cheering for him in the crowd his heart burst with happiness. As he played his heart out, he pushed the foreboding feeling out of his heart.

Now sitting in the locker room the feeling was back, almost crushing him with how real this was. Tonight had been his last game of his career; it was the last time that he was ever going to step out onto the court dressed as player. The only way that Nathan was going to get back out anywhere near the court was if he became a coach but that wasn't a decision he was ready to make just yet. As he sat there he let the reality of the situation sink in for a few moments before he stood up and began cleaning out his locker, he knew that he could wait to do such a tedious task but he wanted to leave the stadium tonight without much fuss.

Brooke walked down the corridor, following the cheers hoping to find her husband. She knew that he was going to have a hard time and she felt that she needed to be there for him. As she pushed her way through the crowd of people standing outside the locker room, she hoped that Nathan wasn't taking it as hard as she was. She never thought that she would be this upset on Nathan's last day. Watching him walk out on the court for the last time as a player in the National Basketball League Brooke couldn't help but tear up as his name was announced for the last time. With each basket he made and each minute he played she felt her heart constrict a little bit more. She knew that Nathan was not going to have an easy time letting the lifestyle go, she knew that he was going to have a hard time adjusting to being home every single day.

Finally Brooke made her way into the locker room and managed to find herself pushed into the arms of R.C., who was more than happy to see her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him properly. "Congratulations R.C., it was a fantastic game."

"I believe that was mostly because the guys wanted to spend Nathan off with another ring. They played their best because that's what Nathan wanted."

"Speaking of my husband, do you think I could see him? I know that he's probably going through a whirlwind of emotions right now."

"Of course he's over by his locker, just be careful around the guys they're a little too caught up in the celebration to be concerned about who's around them." R.C. warned looking down at Brooke's pregnant belly. Brooke laughed and nodded setting off in the direction of Nathan's locker. Looking around she smiled at the happy players all celebrating and congratulating each other, with a hand pressed against her stomach she expertly weaved her way through the crowd. She stopped just short of Nathan who was just finishing packing up his locker and watched him for a few seconds. She smiled as he picked up the pictures that he had placed around his locker and walked over to him.

"Congratulations Hotshot." She whispered in his ear smirking when she saw his shoulders tense then relax when he realized it was his wife, turning he smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked looking around at his celebrating teammates.

"I thought you might be having a hard time with this being your last game, so here I am."

"You really are the best ya know that?" Brooke shrugged her shoulders and sat down in front of Nathan's locker patting the seat next to her.

"I might have also wanted some alone time with you before everyone else gets their hands on you." She replied glancing around the noisy locker room laughing slightly at how excited the rest of the team was.

"Where is everyone else by-the-way?"

"Outside celebrating with the rest of the fans, they're eager to get their hands on you." Nathan laughed and wrapped his arm around Brooke's shoulder. "I cried pretty much the whole game." She admitted quietly resting her head on his shoulder.

"I didn't think you'd get this upset."

"I didn't either, but the moment you stepped out on the crowd it hit me that this was the last time I would get to see you and I realized that I wouldn't get to see you play professionally anymore, it was so surreal. Funny part is though that I had everyone Lucas especially freaked out a majority of the game." Nathan laughed picturing his brother's face. "Oh don't worry I got a picture of it." Nathan smiled and kissed her cheek.

"That might just make this a little bit easier." Brooke sighed and wrapped her arms around Nathan's waist.

"Well I know two people who really want to see you and could possibly cheer you up just a little bit more." Nathan smiled and stood up extending his hand to Brooke and together they made their way out of the locker room towards their own celebration. Reaching the group Adam and Megan rushed towards Nathan beyond happy to see their dad again. Brooke stood slightly off to the side with a watery smile watching as Nathan was congratulated by everyone. She knew that Nathan wouldn't be hers just yet; he had the parade to do and a plethora of media interviews to do, but she was finally going to get her husband back.

That night the whole city was abuzz, it seemed as if everyone was out in the streets celebrating. It was hard getting from the arena back to Nathan's apartment, but once they made it home and put the kids to bed Nathan sat out on the balcony starring down at the people still celebrating in the streets. "Hey, you okay?" Brooke asked coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around Nathan's waist. Nathan sighed and leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. "Talk to me." Brooke whispered pulling Nathan towards some chairs. She sat down in front of him resting her hands on his knees, trying to draw him out of the shell he had built around himself.

"There's nothing to talk about, I'm still trying to wrap my head around what's going on. All of it won't hit me until I'm sitting at home with nothing really pressing to do." Brooke sighed running a hand through her hair.

"Nathan, you need a break. You've been going and playing for a long time now. Your body is going to catch up to you and why not just take some time and enjoy life? You finally have time to really be there for the kids, you'll finally get to know who they're growing up to be. Plus it's only a matter of time before you figure out the next career, I mean you're Nathan Scott and I know you can't handle sitting around the house for more than a day before you crazy."

"I wish it were that easy; I mean I'm walking away from my life, my dream, my passion it's going to take a while to adjust. The only highlight of this is that I do get to finally be home with you and the kids. This is just going to take some adjusting and it'll be fine." Nathan reassures in the way that only Nathan can and Brooke lets the subject drop. This is something Nathan has to deal with on his own anyway. Letting the silence overtake them, Brooke stood up and walked back over towards the railing letting the sounds from the street above drown out the thoughts running through her head. They spent another hour watching the fans running throughout the streets before finally heading off to bed since Brooke and the kids were flying back to Tree Hill the next day.

The next few days flew by for Nathan, who was busy going to almost every major event in San Antonio, including a city wide parade, and a plethora of different media outlets around the country talking about his retirement and the championship win. During that time Brooke made sure to send people to pack up the condo so that Nathan could return home after his media tour. Nathan finally returned home almost two weeks after the series had ended too many calls about what he was going to do now that he was no longer playing in the NBA.


Brooke Davis-Scott was not one that liked to have idle time on her hands. She liked to keep herself busy, whether she was working or even spending time with her family. So when her doctor advised to her that bed rest would be idle for the last month of her pregnancy, just because of how hectic the last couple of months had been for the baby, Brooke didn't know what to do with herself. Nathan, who had taken over the duties of both manager of the house and even dealing with COB, was keeping a watchful eye on her. He wasn't letting her do anything that involved getting out of bed. It had been three weeks since her last doctor's appointment and Brooke Davis was already at the breaking point.

"Nathan Scott let me get out of this damn bed! I'm going stir crazy being confined to this room day in and day out!" She exclaimed one morning after the children had been taken to school leaving only them in the house.

"Brooke, sweetheart you heard the doctor this is best for you." Nathan calmly replied completely used to her outbursts, she had been saying the same one for almost a week now and by this point it barely fazed him.

"Please Nathan? Can we just take a little walk down the block or something? I'm sure that would be completely okay. You don't understand how bored I am right now. Tabloids aren't even holding my attention anymore and I've watched every single good DVD we have." She whined hitting the bed, almost in a manner in which one of the kids would. Nathan just shook his head and set down the tray of food he had brought up in front of her.

"Let me call the doctor and if he says yes then I'd be more than happy to take a walk with you." Brooke sighed and picked up a piece of toast munching on it as Nathan left the room. As Brooke went to take another bite of her toast a flash of pain ripped through her body making her double over and clutch her stomach. She knew the moment that the pain subsided that she was most likely going to into labor. She waited still holding onto her stomach, her eyes glued to the clock timing the interval, waiting to see how much time pasted before the pain came back.

Nathan walked back into the room minutes later, a smile on his face, ready to help Brooke get ready for their doctor approved walk when he saw her holding onto her stomach. Immediately he rushed over to the bed moving the tray out of the way and placing a hand over hers. "Brooke? What's wrong baby?" He asked his eyes flickering between their hands and her eyes that had still not moved from the clock.

"I think I'm going into labor, but I'm trying to see how long before I feel another contraction."

"Are you sure that you're going to into labor and it's not something else?" Brooke tore her eyes away from the clock and softly glared at Nathan.

"Nathan, sweetheart," she started stressing the word sweetheart with a mixture of sarcasm and slight anger. "Of course I know that I'm going into labor, this isn't my first time at the rodeo." Nathan shook his head letting her implied insult at his intelligence roll off his back; he knew that she didn't mean it.

"Sorry stupid question, so how long as it been?" He asked moving his hand so it was holding hers.

"6 minutes." She replied feeling another contraction grab her body, this one a little stronger than the last, making her wince a little. "I think we should call the doctor and figure out how long before we have to go to the hospital."

"Alright I'll call him and Greg to see if he can pick up the kids in case we're already at the hospital." Brooke nodded and moved so she was sitting on the edge of the bed while Nathan grabbed the nearest phone and began calling everyone he knew. Almost an hour later Brooke was getting situated in her room while Nathan was still making his way down the phone tree they had constructed for this exact situation. They were seasoned pros at passing time waiting for the baby to come; they even had a few games stashed in Brooke's overnight bag just in case they got extremely bored. This time around they weren't at the hospital long, a mere 8 hours, before the doctor was telling Nathan he was about to become a father again. It wasn't long before Brooke gave birth to a healthy baby boy, James Joshua Scott, or JJ at 8:19 pm. That night as both Brooke and the baby slept Nathan sat watching them replaying their entire history over in his head, going through every moment that had brought him to the this moment and wondering where the future was going to take them. He played with the phone in his hand watching the sun rise through the blinds before he dialed the number written on the piece of paper on his hand. While he watched Brooke sleep peacefully he spoke quietly with the principal of Tree Hill High School finally accepting the offer to come coach basketball.


Present Time:

Nathan looked up from the scrapbook sitting in front of him when Brooke walked in through the front door their youngest son trailing behind her, tiredly carrying his baseball stuff behind him. He smiled and shut the book as Brooke came over to him. Adam and Megan looked at their parents and smiled as they shared a kiss, while their younger brother JJ walked over to them and threw himself against the couch. The oldest kids looked at their parents in a new light now; they didn't know that they had been through so much to give them everything they took for granted it now.

"Thanks dad." Megan quietly said breaking the silence that had fallen between the family.

"For what Megs?" He asked putting the book on the table and stretching his legs in front of him, it had been a long couple of days reliving his life for his oldest kids.

"I guess for just answering our questions and telling us the truth. You could've have easily told us lies making it sound glamorous and awesome or you could have even not told us anything, but you were honest and answered all the questions we asked." Adam replied stepping into the conversation, he was always able to effectively read the thoughts of his younger sister. Megan nodded and smiled at Adam for being able to voice her thoughts.

"Don't worry about it. Your mom and I knew that you were going to ask about it eventually, especially with everything that's on the internet and the stories you've heard over the years." He replied checking the clock across from him and frowning. "Wow we lost track of time didn't we? Adam you better go get ready, we have to be at school in a half hour for your game." Adam checked the clock and jumped off the couch making his way towards the stairs.

"Hey do you think coach will go easy on me if I'm like 5 minutes late?" Adam asked as he was halfway up the stairs. Nathan shook his head and laughed.

"How about you try and not be late and I'll let you know." Adam smiled and rushed up the stairs. Nathan shook his head once again as he laughed at his son. Adam had decided while Nathan was reliving his life that he was going to give basketball a try this season, a decision that Nathan was nothing but supportive of, for more ways than Adam just carrying out the Scott name.

"Hey hotshot, don't you think that you and Adam need to get to school? I don't think it'd be right if the coach and soon to be star of the time were late for their first varsity game of the season, do you?" Brooke teased from across the room making Nathan laugh even more.

"Yes, you're probably right. I'll see you before the game right?" Brooke nodded and smiled as she watched Nathan and Adam make their way to the car and down the driveway. She knew that the moment that Nathan took the coaching position at Tree Hill that it was only a matter of time before Adam was on the team.

While Brooke sat in the bleachers in the gym watching the team warming up her eyes caught Nathan's and they shared a secret smile. There was something comforting about being in the place where their story began, something that always made Brooke more appreciative of the relationship she and Nathan shared. They had been through a lot in their marriage and knowing that at the end of the day they were still as madly in love as they had been in the beginning, made Brooke consider herself the luckiest woman in the world.

Nathan watched with pride as Adam took his first steps on the court of his first game, he swelled with pride and immediately flashed back to his first game. It was a new experience to see his son playing the game that had been such a huge part of who Nathan Scott was, he felt more anxious watching his son play than when he was playing. He briefly wondered if this was what Dan felt the first time Nathan had ever played basketball before he became a crazy overbearing father. While Nathan was lost in his thoughts he almost missed Adam and an opposing player crash into each other.

Brooke jumped out of her seat as Adam hit the other player and fell to the floor landing awkwardly and then suddenly grabbing his knee. It had happened so fast that Brooke couldn't figure out if Adam had hurt his knee when they collided or if he had injured it when he landed. Immediately kicking into gear she ran down the bleachers making her way through the players, refs, and coaches crowding Adam to get to her son.

Nathan snapped out his daze of watching his son get hurt, and rushed onto the court, his only concern was tending to his son. As he ran out onto the court, he noticed from the corner of his eye that a young girl had taken off from the first row of bleachers and was at Adam's side before anyone else. Nathan stopped just shy of his son and this mystery girl and watched as she leaned down trying to comfort Adam, who was clutching his knee and trying not to cry over the pain. Nathan looked up and saw Brooke stop right across from him and look up at Nathan. As they stood there glancing at each other and back to Adam and some girl, they seemed to be sharing a similar thought.

History was certainly repeating itself that night and as Brooke and Nathan sat with their son in the emergency room that night, they hoped that Adam and his girl didn't go through half the problems that they had on their journey to love.


A/N: So there it is the end of the story. I'm sad that this story is coming to an end and I appreciate those that stuck through to the end. I hope that you enjoyed this story. I had so much fun writing each and every chapter.