Thanks for being so patient everyone! Life has been rediculously busy and i have ZERO writing time lately. I'm not even kidding. By the time i get back to my dorm all i can do is study/sleep and i have to sleep or I'll get sick. That always happens to me. I don't get enough sleep for awhile, then suddenly I'm dying of some horrible illness. I'm trying to avoid that. But my roommate is sick now so ugh FML. As much as I love writing about OTH, my classes and homework and labs and the musical and choir are really taking up allllllll of my time right now. I'll get back on track once things settle. I'm hoping to get out an update every weekend. If I can get it out, I will, but please don't hate me if it's longer! I really havent started age 7 at all yet so I don't know if you'll see that this coming weekend, but I'll do my best!

Everyone's commenting on how FAST the boys are growing and I feel that too! But don't worry! They'll be babies again in January on SEASON NINE! LOL :)))

Thanks for your reviews lostinwriting, caseyjr, arubagirl0926, wordsmeaneverything, othleytonfan, chostwhispererjimel, cullentreehill, simy, melissa, sb1218, h23brock, megan, stagediva23, anna, lauralynn3, and kelly. You guys are the best!

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AGE 6 1/2

Spring was in the air and there was new life all around them in Tree Hill.

New plants, flowers, grass, and trees had sprung and the hotter weather was in full swing.

The twins had been begging Julian to teach them to ride their bikes without training wheels for months, since some kids in their class had been bragging about learning. And it was about time... Julian had meant to do this sooner, but time just gotten away from them.

So today was the day.

The family drove down and parked at the Rivercourt, where Julian planned to teach the boys in the grassy area near the basketball court. As Julian took the two small bikes, newly stripped of their two extra baby wheels, out of the back of his truck, (a different truck that had room for three kids in a backseat) Brooke and Avery stepped away from the car.

"Good luck boys, we're headed over to the playground," Brooke shouted.

"Let's go Daddy!" Jude demanded.

"Whoa, hold your horses."

"Who's going first?"

"ME!" The boys screamed simultaneously.

"Okayyy? Hm. I'm thinking of a number from one to 10."

Julian pointed at Davis first.

"Five."

"Nope."

Jude's turn. "Four."

"Nope."

"One."

"Nope."

"Three."

"Nope."

"Six?" Davis said.

Julian nodded.

"Yep, Davis goes first."

"Oh come on!" Jude threw his hands up.

"He won, Jude. Fair and square."

So Jude sat off to the side restlessly as Julian told Davis what he had to do, such as how to get going and how to stop. But really, balance would be the only issue for the boys.

Julian ran behind Davis's bike, holding the seat lightly until Davis told him to let go. Brooke was watching from afar and cheered as Davis went for a few feet by himself before slowing down and dragging his feet to stop.

Julian caught up. "Hey? What happened?"

"I didn't want to fall. So I stopped."

"Well use the hand brakes, you goof. And you were doing well. We'll go a couple more runs straight and then you can try turning."

Davis was better with the breaks the next time, and the time after that, he chose to turn on his own, without his dad nearby. He wobbled a bit and his little bike went down into the grass.

"You okay, Dave?" Julian hustled over.

Davis kicked his bike off of himself and stood up. His pants were grass stained, but he didnt care. "Yeah, I'll do better next time."

"I bet you will," Julian smiled. "Why don't you pedal around here and I'll start with Jude down the straight way."

Davis nodded and promised not to get in the way of Jude. No one wanted them to crash into each other. They'd done that with their training wheels a few times and that had only led to scrapes and blood and tears.

"Jude, you're up!"

Julian used the same stradegy with Jude and he picked it up quickly as well. After wobbling around the first few times, Jude got the hang of it. Teaching them was actually a lot easier than Julian had thought it would be.

"Momma look!" Jude called to Brooke.

"I see you guys, you're doing great!" Brooke yelled from the swings, where she was pushing Avery.

"Stay on the grass, okay? We'll stay away from the pavement until you get more confident," Julian told the twins, who were now riding circles around the grassy field.

"You did good Daddy," Brooke smiled as Julian made his way to her and Avery.

"They make it look easy."

Julian wrapped his arm around Brooke's shoulders and looked out at the boys.

"Higha!" Avery turned to look at her mother, who had stopped pushing her on the swing for a whole minute now.

"Oh you have mommy's patience, I see," Julian joked.

"Hey!" Brooke pretended he wasn't right.

Julian laughed and went to pull Avery's swing back.

"So you want to get out of here soon? We can take the kids to a nice lunch before their soccer game this afternoon. What do ya say?" Julian proposed.

"Sounds good to me. Do you like that idea, Ave?"

"Uh huh," the girl nodded. "Fwen fwies!"

The parents laughed.

"French fries? You're a little french fry monster, aren't you?" Brooke reached out to tickle her by Avery swung by.

"Just like her Mommy."

Brooke turned.

"Um. Am I missing something? Who made today pick on your wife day?"

Julian stepped towards her again.

"Aw I'm sorry baby."

He kissed her on the cheek.

"Kissy daddy!" Avery scrunched up her nose.

"You want my kisses, honey?"

Julian stopped the swing and went to kiss Avery. She shook her head and pulled away laughing, while Julian planted kisses everywhere he could.

Brooke laughed before turning around to address the boys.

"Come on guys! We gotta go."

"No! I wanna stay!" Jude rounded his bike near where the playground began and then pedalled away quickly.

"We'll come back another day, I promise. But we have to eat before your game."

Davis made another half loop in the grass and headed towards his dad's truck. Jude, on the other hand, decided to pedal as far from his parents as he could. And this took him right onto the Rivercourt cement.

"Jude, I told you not to leave the grass!" Julian put up his hands after setting Avery on the ground.

"Ju Ju!" Avery went running after her brother.

Julian shook his head and started walking over to the court after her, ready to round up his kids.

As Jude rode his way around the edges of the Rivercourt, he felt over-confident as he gained more speed. With the wind at his back, he turned his bike around to the straight side of the court with a jerk, not realizing his little sister was running towards him.

"Avery!" Brooke saw something bad coming and yelled for her defenseless daughter. "Jude stop!"

But it was too late. Jude turned his head for a second, and when he looked ahead, he saw his front wheel fast approaching Avery's little body.

"Uh!" Jude's bike handles swerved as quick as he could as he got closer to Avery.

Avery's body jumped in panic but she couldn't do anything to save herself. She screamed in fear as she fell back on her bottom.

Julian couldn't do anything to stop what he was witnessing, but luckily, Jude swerved quick enough that he narrowly missed hitting his sister and his bike crashed down onto its left side. Jude tried to brace his fall but it backfired quickly. The unit of Jude and his bike slid across the pavement painfully.

When Jude went down, Brooke, Julian, and Davis dropped everything and ran to the court.

"Jude!"

Julian got there first and lifted the bike up and off of Jude as he laid there, screaming bloody murder.

"What hurts? Talk to me, buddy."

"Are you okay?" Davis stared at his brother, obviously afraid.

Jude couldn't do anything else but scream and cry. Brooke dropped to her knees next to him. She tried to help him sit up, but she let go of him when she saw all the bloody scrapes on his left arm and leg. She didn't want to hurt him more. Jude just sat there screaming.

"What hurts, Jude? You gotta tell us."

"My arm!" Jude's left arm hung limp at the elbow. Jude grabbed his wrist with his right hand.

Julian could see a black bruise already forming on his son's arm. He'd only seen that one other time in his life: when a kid in his third grade class fell off the jungle gym and snapped his forearm bones trying to cushion his own fall. The father jumped into action, moving to lift Jude up into his arms gently.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asked.

"We're going to the hospital right now."

"Julian!" Brooke was scared, but even more so because of her husband's reaction.

"It's broken Brooke." Julian said simply and quietly.

With that, Brooke jumped up, grabbing Avery, who was standing nearby.

"Grab the bike, Davey!"

Davis grabbed the bike and rolled it to the car, running after his family.

Brooke ran to the car and opened the door for Julian. She and Avery jumped in first and Julian handed Jude to Brooke. He ran around the other side and buckled Avery in quickly. Julian rounded the back of the truck and threw the two bikes in the back.

"You're in the front, Dave."

Davis's eyes popped. It must be serious. The kids were never allowed in the front seat.

Julian drove away from the Rivercourt quickly and towards the hospital. Brooke took off Jude's helmet and held him in her arms. Avery covered her ears, as Jude was still bawling loudly.

;

At the ER, Julian left the car running and brought Jude through the doors.

When nearby nurses saw blood all over the child, the attention turned to Jude Baker.

"Right this way, sir," The nurse called to them.

It happened so quick that when Brooke came through the doors with Avery and Davis, she didn't know where they went.

"Where's my son? His dad just brought him in."

A nurse saw more blood on Brooke's clothes and tried to calm her.

"He's right through here, ma'am."

Brooke left Davis and Avery with the nurse, who offered to watch them, and went right to Jude's side. He was still crying, but he was a lot quieter now.

"It hurts!"

"I know, baby. It's okay. Everything's going to be just fine."

Jude leaned off the side of the exam table into Brooke's neck. The doctor came in shortly.

"Let me take a look there, champ, and we'll hopefully get you feeling better soon."

The doctor assessed his arm quickly and then ordered X-rays. When Julian followed Jude and his nurse to get X-rays taken, the doctor spoke to Brooke.

"Is it broken?"

"From what I can tell by just looking, he's dislocated his elbow as well as probably fracturing his wrist. He's actually doing really well for this kind of injury. Dislocating bones can be the some of the worst scale pain, especially for young people."

"So you have to put it back in place, right?"

"Yes. When the X-ray confirms it, we'll get the orthopedic on call down here to take a look."

Brooke frowned, but nodded. Julian came back to the room with Jude shortly. Jude didn't say anything, he just held the ice pack that the nurse had given him against his arm.

"He was very brave, Mom," Julian half smiled.

"I'm sure he was."

Soon the doctor reviewed the X-rays and saw exactly what he expected. Dislocation and two small fractures in his wrist. So he called the orthopedist and prepared Jude and his parents for what needed to happen.

"Okay, Jude. We're gunna put a cool colored cast on you pretty soon, but we need to fix your elbow so you can move it around again."

"It's gunna hurt more though, isn't it?" Jude looked to his mom.

"It'll be over in just a second."

When the orthopedist came in, Brooke started feeling her palms getting sweat. The last thing she wanted was to see her son's arm snapped back into its joint as he screamed out in pain. She started to feel a little woozy.

"You want to hold his other hand, Mom?" The doctor asked. Brooke didn't respond and Julian touched her side.

"Brooke?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

Brooke tried to shake it of. "Yeah."

The doctor knew what was happening. She was feeling woozy and she was obviously nervous for her son.

"Why don't you step outside for a second, Mrs. Baker. The nurses need to have you fill out some forms."

"Go ahead, hun," Julian encouraged, surprised that he wasn't the one about to pass out.

"Okay.. but I just need a minute. I'll be right back and..." Brooke was going to say, 'then she would hold Jude's hand while they fixed his elbow', but she couldn't say the words.

When Brooke went out into the hall, she sat down in the first seat she saw. She leaned into her hands and tried to take deep breathes.

Inside the room, Julian took over as the strong parent. It wasn't his job often, as he once told his newborn sons, their mom had enough strength and bravery for all of them, but right now it was his turn. This was something small that he could handle. He stood beside Jude and turned his son's head towards him, and away from his hurt arm.

"Look at me, buddy. You did so good without training wheels today."

"But I almost hit Avery."

"But you didn't! You And you'll know to be extra careful of where you're riding from now on."

"I'll try."

"Good."

"Dad, can we go baAAAA-!" Jude screamed out in the middle of his sentence. He began to whine as the pain radiated around his left arm.

"Shhh it's okay, Jude. It's okay." Julian tried to calm him.

"It's all done, buddy. You did great."

Jude's face was pretty shocked, but the pain was becoming more dull by the second, so at least that was good. And he had full range of motion again, besides the fact that he needed a cast to be put on.

Brooke bit her lip when she heard Jude's scream of pain from out in the hall. They obviously popped his elbow back into place. The door opened a minute later.

"Mrs. Baker? Jude did great. We're going to take him down to the casting center in a few minutes, but you can go in now if you're feeling better."

Brooke stood up, visibly embarrassed. "Was I that obvious?"

"Not everyone has the stomach for dislocated bones. Not even some trained doctors and nurses. It's not a big deal."

"Thanks. And thanks for helping him."

"My pleasure."

Brooke smiled and walked back into the room.

"Our son did great, Brooke," Julian smiled.

"It hurt real bad but it's not as bad now."

Brooke smoothed his wild hard hair. "I'm glad it's better. So what color cast are you gunna get?"

Jude's face puzzled, his lips puckered in thought.

"Uhh red. No! Blue."

"Surprising..." Julian smiled.

Brooke leaned down and hugged around Jude's head, pulling it close to her chest.

"Mom!" Jude squirmed away. "I'm okay now."

Brooke frowned. "I can't hug you to make you feel better?"

"You already did!"

Julian laughed.

"I'm going to go make sure Dave and Avery are okay."

Julian walked out of the room.

"You sure you're feeling alright, champ?" Brooke pressed.

Jude nodded.

"I was scared before but not anymore."

"You certainly are brave." She looked at his poor left side, all scraped and brusied from hitting the pavement on the Rivercourt.

"...Accident prone, but brave." Brooke finished smiling.

"Do I get a present for being brave?" Jude tried to get something out of all this.

"Maybe when we're all done here, we can go for ice cream if you're feeling up to it."

"Yay!" Jude picked his arms up off the bed and Brooke's eyes bulged.

"No, no, buddy. I know you say you're okay but let's make sure we keep your arm really still at least until the cast is on."

"Okay Mama. But I'll be up for ice cream. I promise."

Brooke nodded at her son. He was quite the bouncer-backer in the family. "I believe you, buddy."

;

Julian collected a panicky Avery and Davis from the nursing staff and met Brooke and Jude down in the casting room on the lower level of the hospital.

Davis ran over to where Jude was sitting and Julian walked up behind him with Avery's head buried in his shoulder.

"You need a cast?" Davis asked his twin.

Jude nodded. "Cool right?"

Davis gave him a confused look. Davis wasn't jealous at all, because he knew all the pain that came before the cast part. He had heard his brother's screams and he wondered how Jude forgot them so quickly.

Julian sat down next to Brooke. Brooke'shand went to Avery's back.

"Don't be scared baby. Jude is alright."

Avery didn't want to see her brother. The last time she saw him he was hurt because he swirved to avoid her. The three year old was afraid of what he'd look like or if he'd be mad at her.

"His arm's all wrapped up baby. He's gunna get a cast now, too." Julian told her, trying to pry her little frame off of his.

"Jude Baker?" The medical technician called. "You ready to get your cast on?"

Jude held his splinted arm level in the air as he got out of the chair.

"Can I watch?" Davis asked.

"You sure can."

Davis smiled and the Baker family filed into the casting room.

"Daddy no!" Avery didn't want to go in there.

Brooke looked at Julian with a sympathetic smile.

"Why don't you take her for a walk?" Brooke suggested.

"Okay. We'll be back. Good luck Jude!"

"Thanks Dad."

Brooke and Davis looked on while the casting technician put on a layer of cotton, followed by a warm slimy layer of royal blue casting material.

"I thought casts were hard..." Jude was puzzled.

"We have to let it dry first, Ju," Brooke told him.

"That's right. Soon it'll be hard as a rock," the tech explained.

"Wow."

After about 15 minutes, the cast was almost completely hardened and Jude was free to go. He was also given a sling for his elbow since his arm would be sore and fragile for awhile.

;

Unfortunately, the accident and all this hospital time meant that the boys missed their soccer game. And Jude wouldn't be able to play until his cast was off anyways. So the Bakers cut their losses and went to get some food and ice cream, as promised.

The family sat down to a nice meal at Friendlys together and ordered their food.

Davis, Brooke and Avery sat on one side of the booth, with Julian and Jude on the other. Brooke reached her hand over towards Jude.

"How's it feeling, bud?"

Brooke frowned as Jude struggled to put his drink cup towards himself with only one small kid hand.

"Fine."

"Mommy!" Avery tapped Brooke to get her attention as she dropped a crayon on the floor.

"What Ave?"

"I have ta go potty."

Brooke sighed. "Okay, let's go."

The girls got up from the table, leaving the Baker boys.

"Dad, what ice cream are you gunna have?" Davis asked, taking the dessert menu from the middle of the table.

"I don't know yet."

"I know!"

"Already?" Julian smiled.

"Yep! That!" Davis pointed to a soft serve ice cream with candy mixed in. "With chocolate and M&Ms!"

"Wow that'll be great. Maybe I'll have that too."

"No! You can't copy me, Dad!"

"Well if I order first, then you're copying me!" Julian joked, making Davis laugh.

Julian turned to his other son, seeing how much difficulty he was having getting comfortable in the seat.

"Jude?"

The son looked up sadly.

"Are you sure you're up for this, bud? Maybe we should've gone straight home."

Jude shook his head. "Mom promised me ice cream."

"Okay."

Just then Avery ran back to the booth, but Brooke was not in sight yet.

"Where's Mommy?"

"Slow," Avery giggled, jumping in the booth next to Davis.

Brooke got back thirty seconds later and sighed.

"She bailed on me while I was washing my hands."

Julian smiled.

"She said you were slow Mom," Davis laughed.

"What! How rude!" Brooke faked being hurt and then tickled Avery's side.

When their food finally came, Julian offered to cut up Jude's chicken fingers so it would be easier for him to eat, but Jude pushed him away. He could pick up the tenders with his good hand, he insisted. The family ate relatively quickly, and after some delicious ice creams, the Bakers headed home.

Avery ran to her room to play with her dolls to avoid bathtime, and the boys sat down in the living room.

"Jude, honey. Let me help you get cleaned up, okay?" Brooke said. She saw how dirty and scraped up he was and wanted to give him some relief.

Although he gave her 'Brooke Davis annoyed face', Jude followed her upstairs to the boys' bathroom. Brooke took off his sling gently and covered his cast with a plastic bag. Brooke started the tub, but only filled it a few inches.

"I think we're gunna have to throw out these clothes, buddy."

Brooke grabbed at his shorts.

"No, Mum."

"Jude, it's no big deal. I just want to clean you up. Please don't fight me on this."

"I don't need your help to shower."

Brooke shook her head. "You can't get the cast wet. Just let me help clean you off. I'll use a face cloth. Just for tonight and we'll do it differently another day."

Jude relented and let his Mom help undress him. He didn't know it would be that hard to take off his own clothes with just one arm, but it was. He needed help for now.

Brooke put the wet cloth gently over Jude's cuts. They went all the way up his leg and the side of his body. The poor thing was a mess.

"Ah, Mum. Oww."

"Sorry," Brooke whined, hating that she was making his body sting.

Brooke washed his cuts and put some neosporin on them before dressing him in his PJs. She figured it didn't matter since they werent going anywhere for the rest of the night. Then she helped him put the sling back over his head and onto his left arm.

"Okay. You're all set," Brooke smiled.

Jude took that as permission to scurry out of the room.

"Walk please!" Brooke yelled after him. He wouldn't be happy until he was even more hurt.

Brooke walked downstairs, past the three boys on the couch, and towards her daughter's room.

Brooke knocked softly before pushing the ajar door open more.

"Bath time," Brooke said clenching her teeth, knowing her daughter was going to put up a fight as usual.

"Noooooooo," Avery frowned. "I clean!"

"Avery. We go through this every time..."

Avery climbed out of the big rocking chair in her room and made a run for it.

"Dadddddyyyy!" The daddy's girl ran right into her father's arms.

"Ave! Shhhh!" Davis was really into the movie.

"Bath time?" Julian assumed, seeing his wife walk into the room too.

"Bingo. Let's go Ave. Daddy can't save you."

"Awww man." Avery let her bottom lip drop.

"Sorry stinky."

;

Not long after the girls headed into the bathroom, a wet little girl ran out into the living room with just her little yellow duck hood towel over her head.

"Ick she's naked!" Jude scrunched his nose.

Avery ran towards Davis. He leaned back.

"And wet!"

"Okay. Come here little ducky."

Julian reached out and grabbed his daugther, bringing her in close, and rubbing the towel up and down her skin to dry it.

"Quack quack!"

"Girl parts are wierd..." Davis voiced his young opinion.

"Well boy parts are pretty wierd too," Brooke laughed, coming to find her runaway daughter.

Davis and Jude laughed.

Brooke threw a little comb towards Julian and sat down beside Jude.

"Untangle that mess Daddy."

Julian smiled and accepted the challenge. He started trying to comb the knots out of his daughter's thick dark hair.

"Dad! Ouch!" The opinionated child turned her head side to side.

"Sorry."

Brooke shook her head as she settled down on the other couch between the boys, smiling.

Jude yawned loudly beside Brooke.

"I think you guys are going to go to bed early today. We've all had a busy busy day today."

"NO!" The three kids jusmped up and shouted.

Brulian smiled at each other, knowing that was coming.

No matter what bumps and bruises they got along the way, Brooke and Julian knew that their kids were resilient enough to get through anything. And they would be there every step of the way to help them, guide them, and see them through.

;

It's not my best work, but I thought it was a decent chapter idea for this age LOL

I'll update ASAP.

REVIEW LOVIESSS!

~Haley :)