Sorry everybody! Still no time to write but at least I did SOOOO well on my tests! I put in the time so I'm so pumped that I earned the grades! :))))))

But I got out a new chapter finally! Again, it's not the longest, but it is better than nothing.

Keep the suggestions coming for chapters.

Thank you caseyjr, isabel camilla scott, arubagirl0926, wordsmeaneverything, ghostwhispererjimel, stagediva23, stephieboo, minervaann, sb1218, h23brock, cullentreehill, melissa, amy, onlyyoujarly, ace5492, lostinwriting, mary garland, holly, kelly, sullivan, and krystena. I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! I know you can't tell, but they DO really motivate me to write even when I have only a few minutes here and there. I force myself because I love to write and I want to give you a good chapter as soon as I possibly can.

AGE 7

Two months into first grade and the twins were seven now.

Brooke and Julian couldn't believe how fast and furious their kids were growing up. Even Avery had hit the age 3 mark. It was rediculous how time was flying by.

The boys were more active than ever. Soccer was more competative now... as competative as it can get for seven year olds. But the Baker seven year olds were good. They were very talented. And it had a lot to do with how in love with the sport they were. Practice didn't feel like practice. It was just fun. They loved to go play one-on-one in the back yard every chance they got. Now in the U8, or under 8, division in their town, the teams were not co-ed anymore as the boys and girls teams were split. Jude was very happy about that, since he was the president of the 'girls are gross' club at the moment. Brooke hoped that would last for a while. Davis on the other hand was a little saddeden by the whole thing for some reason. He told Brulian that it was because he didn't want to be in the older division because he had to leave his old coach behind, but there was more to it than that.

First grade also came with a new first for the family. Jude and Davis had begged for their parents to let them take the bus to school and back. It was the 'cool' thing to do. Not being able to say no to their persistence, Brooke and Julian caved on the issue.

Davis was the first one out the doors today as the school bus stopped in front of the Baker house. Brooke was sitting on the front steps waiting for the boys to get home, while Avery was playing with chalk on the cement. Davis bounded towards his mother, holding a big thin poster board with both hands.

"MOM!"

"Hey buddy, how was school?"

Jude got off the bus and followed behind Davis a minute later.

"Great!" Davis smiled widely, showing his Julian grin potential.

"What you got there?"

Davis turned the poster around so Brooke could see.

"I got Student of the Week!"

Brooke didn't know their class had one of those, but Davis seemed very very proud of it.

"Wait, what?"

"Student of the Week! And I get a poster and everything! It was hung up in the classroom all week and now I get to keep it."

"Well that'd great bud. Let me see."

Brooke extended her hand and pulled the poster closer. Davis let her hold it.

Each line was a question about Davis.

His full name. Birthday. Favorite color. Favorite food. Favorite movie. Favorite sport. Best friend. Family. Etc.

It was obvious that someone had asked Davis all these question and wrote down his responses neatly on the poster. She didn't go into detail reading it yet, but she focused more on how excited Davis was.

"This is so awesome!"

Davis took the poster back.

"I know! I can't wait to show Dad."

Davis took the poster and ran inside the house to put it in his room.

"How was your day, Jude?"

"It was fine," Jude shrugged. "Hi Avery."

"Hi." Avery didn't really look up from drawing.

Brooke frowned at Jude since he didn't look very happy. She thought he might be a little jealous of his brother's poster and 'student of the week' status.

"Let's go inside guys."

"Where Daddy?" Avery stood up.

"He won't be home for a few hours, hun. Come on."

Brooke opened her arms and Avery jumped up into them. Jude walked in front of the girls into the house while Brooke carried Avery on her hip.

;

That night when it was time for bed, Avery was way too hyper.

"Ave come back here please," Julian took long steps down the hallway as Avery ran away from her room.

"I'm not sweepy yet, Daddy."

Julian grabbed Avery from behind and picked her up.

"Well I am," Julian laughed. He'd had a busy day dealing with his father. It wasn't fun.

"Movie time?"

Julian smiled. His daughter knew how to push his happy buttons. She knew his soft spot for films too well already.

"Not tonight."

When Julian carried her back to her bedroom, Brooke was waiting.

"Mommy I don't wanna go to bed yet."

"I know, monkey, but you need to settle down now."

Julian placed Avery down on her bed and the little girl sat right up. She was a notorious crib climber so they had switched her to a big girl bed a while ago.

"Lie down baby."

Avery did as she was told, but with a little angry 'hmmph'. Then she turned on her side like she always did and hugged her purple monkey to her chest.

Brooke and Julian took turns kissing Avery goodnight and then walked to the door.

"Goodnight Ave. Sleep tight."

The parents closed the door, but the little girl was not going to sleep just yet.

;

Brooke and Julian entered the boys room to see them getting ready for bed. Jude slipped his pajama t-shirt over his head and put his action figures on the floor beside his bed. Davis was already changed and on his bed.

"Did you brush your teeth?" Brooke inquired.

"Yup."

"Nope."

"Well what are you waiting for?" Julian joked, touching Jude's head as he walked out of the room and towards the bathroom.

Davis laid down since he already brushed his teeth, knowing it was time for bed.

"Dave, what are you doing bud?"

Davis was lying down on his bed with his Student of the Week poster over him like a blanket.

"Going to sleep..." Davis said as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Brooke sat on the egde of the bed and shook her head.

"Well this won't keep you warm at all."

She tried to take it but Davis held onto it tight.

"Davis, you'll ruin it."

"Okay. But can we hang it on the wall? Right there."

Davis pointed to the empty wall space above his head.

"Of course. Tomorrow though. Now it's time to sleep."

Brooke leaned down and kissed Davis's head as Jude ran back into the room.

"All brushed, Momma. But do we have to go to sleep right now?"

"Yes you do. You have school tomorrow, remember." Julian felt like he had to say this every single night, multiple times to his kids.

Brooke stood up from Davis's bed, taking the poster with her. She handed it to Julian and then kissed Jude goodnight.

;

When the parents made their way downstairs, Julian read the poster and laughed.

"What?" Brooke cocked her head.

"Did you read this?"

"Sort of, not really yet. Why?"

"Because that son of ours is way more like me than we even thought."

"What do you mean?"

Brooke took the poster and sat down in the kitchen to read it. The answers Davis gave were pretty standard.

His full name: Davis Victor Baker.

Birthday: November 3rd.

Favorite color: Red.

Favorite food: Mac and Cheese that Daddy makes.

Favorite movie: Cars.

Favorite sport: Soccer.

But the next one had more than one word answers.

"My Best Friend: My brother Jude. But my other best friend's name is Riley. She's funny and I like to play with her. She was on my soccer team. I wish she could stay on my team next year cuz I won't get to see her at practices or games anymore."

"Riley is a girl?" Brooke said after reading for a minute.

"Bingo." Julian nodded.

"Did you know that?"

"I knew he had a friend named Riley, but not that Riley was a she."

"Me either. And I thought... I... How did I not know this?"

"Riley is kind of a unisex name."

Brooke continued to look at the text.

"Oh wow. That little brunette on his soccer team with the adorable pink cleates! I think that's her. I always see him talking to her. No wonder he wasn't too happy about switched to a single sex age division. He thinks he's losing his best friend."

"I guess so." Julian shook his head. "They're only seven and their lives are already a mystery to us."

"And it's only going to get worse."

Brooke signed and Julian put his arm around her comfortingly.

"I wonder how Davis got chosen for the poster in the first place. I mean he is a great kid obviously, but what made him win out over everyone else?"

"Every kid in the class gets picked at some point during the year. They pull names out of a hat and Davis's must have been one of the first ones."

"Wait? How did you know about it but I didn't?" Brooke asked.

"Because I read the papers and letters that come home from the teachers..." Julian raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, right." Brooke's shoulders went up in realization. Julian chuckled and then yawned loudly.

"Early to be bed for my husband too tonight."

"Yeah... I'm going to go change."

"Okay honey." Brooke touched his arm as he walked away. "I'll be in soon."

;

Julian walked into his bedroom and heard a bump coming from the closet. His brow furrowed as he walked towards the walk-in closet. He flipped the light switch quickly and gasped.

"Avery Jacklyn!"

Avery was sitting on the floor with an open box of photographs. Some of them were strewn all over the floor.

Avery looked up and giggled. "Hi daddy."

"What are you doing out of bed?" Julian put his hands on his hips and he scruched down. She must have snuck into their room when they were saying goodnight to the twins.

Avery held up the picture in her right hand towards Julian. The sight stopped Julian in his tracks. It took all the breath out of his body.

"Ah.. uh... umm..."

"Pitty," Avery smiled, still unable to pronounce the R in some words, like pretty.

Julian took the opportunity to experiment a little bit.

"Who's that, Ave?"

The girl looked at the photo again.

"Mommy and Avey," she said simply. Her and her mother. Like it was a matter of fact. But it wasn't.

Julian was surprised by the response he got. He looked down at the floor, unable to acknowlege what had just happened.

"Come on Ave. It's way past your bedtime."

Avery stood up and dropped the photos she was holding as she walked out of the closet. Julian lingered there for a minute, still kneeling on the ground. After picking up the other random photos, he picked up the single most important photo and studied it. This was a box Brooke kept in the back of the closet for a reason. She looked at it when she was feeling sad or just needed a reminder of the past.

Julian turned over the picture and read Brooke's handwriting on the back before burying it in the box of countless other pictures and closing the lid.

"Peyton's baby shower. Brooke and Sam."

;

Brooke and Julian were lying in bed some time later. Brooke was about to fall asleep, but Julian's eyes were wide open.

Should he tell Brooke? Should he let is go? Was this a sign it was time to start talking to Avery about her adoption since she was more aware of things now? Or was it still too early?

"Brooke?"

Brooke turned and opened her eyes, looking very sleepy. "Hm?"

"When do you think we should start to talk to Avery about being adopted?"

"What?" Brooke was confused. This was out of the blue.

"I mean... we have to tell her eventually and I don't even really know how we would go about doing it and-"

"Julian," Brooke sat up. "What happened? Where is this coming from?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

Brooke knew there was more than he was telling her.

"What's going on Julian?" Brooke asked a bit concerned.

Julian took a deep breath.

"She doesn't even know who Sam is.. obviously. I just think maybe it's time we tell her. Maybe show her her picture or something."

"Julian, just tell me what made you think of this at eleven at night? Right as I was about to fall asleep?"

"You'll be upset."

"No, I'm upset that you're keeping something from me," Brooke raised her eyebrow.

Julian looked down.

"You know how I found Avery in our room tonight?"

"Yeah..."

"She was in the closet and she had that box of your old pictures out... and she found one of you and Sam."

"Oh my God. What did she do? Did she ask who it was?"

"No... I asked her who it was and she said it was you and her."

"She thought she was Sam?" Brooke stood up out of bed.

"She's just little, Brooke. She thinks everything with her mommy is hers anyway."

"This is different Julian!" Brooke walked towards the bathroom.

"Brooke!" Julian scurried out of bed, ready to comfort her but she slammed the door and locked it before he could get to her.

"Come out of the bathroom please," Julian knocked.

"Why would you even ask her that?" Brooke mumbled from behind the door.

"I don't know, I was just curious about what she would say."

"Why did you let her see those photos?"

"What? Brooke, I didn't. She already saw them before I came in. Don't get mad at me. You're the one who insists on keeping all those pictures that are so painful for you."

The door opened quickly.

"Don't you dare blame me," Brooke growled.

"Well you're blaming me when we should be figuring out how we handle this, how we talk to her about this."

Brooke shook her head.

"I'm not ready for that yet."

"Brooke... ready or not, I think the moment is here."

Brooke looked at him angrily. She walked towards the bedroom door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not tired anymore."

"Brooke. Don't walk out on this. We said we would never do that again."

It was a long time ago but both Brooke and Julian remembered that conversation many moons ago. Four years ago.

Brooke turned back, somberly now, but didn't lock eyes with Julian.

"I'm just going to sit out on the couch for awhile. I'm not leaving."

Julian sighed and sat back down on the bed while Brooke paced around the kitchen, looking for something to do. Both parents tried to settle their minds, but they were racing. They wouldn't be able to sleep tonight at all.

After twenty minutes, Julian figured it was time to fix this. They needed to talk it out. They needed to make a game plan. He walked out of the bedroom and into the living room where he saw the saddest sight. Brooke was curled up on the couch in the fetal position, crying into one of the decorative pillows.

The husband didn't say a word, but walked over to Brooke and sat down beside her. She sat up and shifted into his embrace. He rubbed her side and shushed her crying.

"She's mine, Julian. I'm her mother, not Sam," Brooke cried.

"Of course you are Brooke. You are Avery's mom, no one else."

Brooke sniffled. "I want to be enough for her. I don't want her to get confused or want to see Sam. We don't even know where she is..."

"You can't think like that, Brooke. That's not going to happen. And you'remore than enough as a mom."

"What if she doesn't want me after this? I can't lose her already..."

"Oh Brooke... You're the only mother she's ever known. She loves you more than anything in this whole world."

"I'm so scared Julian..."

"I know you are, but I think we need to give Avery information about Sam when the time is right. We can't just ambush this on her when she's older. We need to give her as much as she can handle at this age, and later down the road, we'll tell her as much or as little as she wants. We need to let Avery dictate all this."

"It's too much for her to handle. I can only imagine having your whole perception of your world change in an instant."

(like Peyton, I know but I don't really want to include her in this conversation, sorry guys.)

"Nothing's going to change Brooke. Don't get yourself all worked up over this. It is what it is and we can't control it. We just have to roll with the punches."

"I used to be good at that...high school Brooke, I mean."

"Well I don't know about high school Brooke, but my wife Brooke is the bravest and toughest and strongest person I know. And you know what?"

"What?"

"Our daughter got those same qualities from you."

;

The next afternoon, Brooke dropped the boys off at soccer practice and took the short walk over to the girls team's practice. She spotted a familiar looking, slightly older (than Brooke) parent on the sidelines and approached her.

"Excuse me... um are you Riley's mother?"

"Oh my goodness! You're Davis and Jude's mother aren't you!"

Brooke smiled and stuck out her hand.

"Yes, I'm Brooke."

"Lauren Kensington. Nice to finally meet the mother of my daughter's best friend."

"You knew about Riley and Davis? See that's the difference between boys and girls. My boys don't tell me anything unless I pull it out of them or I hear it from other sources."

Lauren chuckled. "Yeah, my son does that. And it only gets worse with age."

"Riley has an older brother?"

"Yeah, actually Riley's my youngest. My son Parker is 17 and my oldest daughter Kianna is 15. Riley was our surprise eight years later."

"You have a teenage boy!" Brooke's eyes widened as Luaren nodded. "Oh wow. You need to prepare me now..."

Lauren laughed and shook her head.

"Anyway," Brooke blushed. "I heard Davis talking about Riley all the time, but I didn't know she was a girl until recently."

"Yeah, my husband was a little weary of his baby already having boy friends so young, but it's normal for this age."

"Haha I bet."

"So are you here for the boys' practice?"

"Yes, they're over there," Brooke pointed. "Davis seemed really upset that he and Riley aren't on the same team anymore. Our families should have a playdate or something soon so the kids can have some fun, and us too."

"Definately, Riley would love that. I'd love that."

"Great. How about my house, this... Sunday work for you?"

"Perfect."

The women exchanged numbers before the went their separate ways.

;

That night, Brooke's heart was beating through her ears. Jude and Davis were off at an MLB game with their Grandpa Paul, and Brooke knew this was one of the only good moments they'd get to talk to Avery alone for awhile.

They went through the usual routine of bath and pajamas and now Brooke was rocking with Avery in her favorite chair in her room when Julian came in.

"Are you sleepy baby?"

"No way jose," Avery shook her head.

"Ave, Mommy and Daddy have a cool new book for you."

Avery took the book from Julian and looked at the cover.

Brooke read the cover.

I Wished for You. An adoption story.

Julian had picked it up at the store today.

"Julian..."

"It's time, Brooke."

"Pooh bear." Avery pointed to the two bears on the cover.

"No, honey. Those are different bears."

Avery looked up at Brooke, waiting for her to start reading. Brooke took a deep breath.

"Mama and Barley bear snuggled in their favorite cuddle spot," Brooke started.

"Like us!" Avery smiled and leaned back into Brooke.

Brooke nodded as Julian sat down on the floor beside the chair. She continued.

"Mama, said Barley, tell me again how I'm your wish come true..."

Brooke read the story to Avery and couldn't help but tear up. Avery didn't seem to have much reaction to it at first, so it was harder on the mother than on the small child. Julian showed his support by rubbing Brooke's arm up and down and by wiping her cheek of tears when she was having a little bit of a hard time seeing.

When the story was over, Brooke sighed. It wasn't the exact circumstances of how Avery came to be a Baker, but it was close enough. Nothing could really ever describe their story to a T.

As Avery stayed silent, Brooke began to get scared that Avery was confused or having a panic attack. I mean, does she even know what adoption is in general? No. They never talked about it. Their families knew Avery was adopted, but she looked pretty similar to Brooke anyways, so no one would ever assume it or think to even ask. The boys knew too, but Brooke and Julian weren't sure if they even remembered. They were only four at the time of Avery's arrival. That would be another thing to deal with eventually.

"Did you like that story, Ave?" Julian asked.

Avery's little shoulders shrugged.

"Do you want to ask us any questions about it?" Brooke tried, remembering what the website she looked at said about talking to your child about adoption.

Avery turned her head to look at her Mommy.

"Another story?"

Brooke wasn't expecting that, but shook her head.

"No baby... it's bedtime now."

Julian and Brooke's eyes met. They'd done all they could do for tonight. Avery obviously wasn't interested in the subject right now. They started to give her information. She didn't have questions. Maybe she didn't connect the dots or understand that this story applied to her. She was probably too young. The parents would continue this conversation at a later date. The conversation would probably span over Avery's entire childhood and maybe beyond. It wasn't something they wouldn't hide or be shamed of. They were proud to be Avery's parents. They were so overjoyed to add her to their family.

And no matter what happened, Avery was their daughter. No negative comments or harship or person or DNA would ever change that.

Im sorry it took so long. I hope you liked it! Let me knoww!

REVIEW PLEASE

~Haley :)