Oh My. Thank you all so much for putting up with me. I've been horrible. Just horrible. I went on vacation to Hawaii for over two weeks (which the 24 hours of flight time was so worth it!), left just after Xmas, and was NOT able to bring my laptop.. (My family made it a 'no electronics allowed, relaxing vacation'.. so I only had my phone. I do have internet on it but the stupid mobile version of fanfic has no way for me to get to the 'publish' section. I did write myself emails about what I wanted to do, but typing long chapters on an iPhone is tough, especially when its new to me and youre trying to write a lot really fast. Well it didn't quite work for me. Then when I get home, a lovely virus tries to take over my idle laptop. Geez, it was off for two weeks WTF. Anyways, hopefully its fixed and hopefully I will get back on track with all this.

Your patience is amazing and the PMs I've gotten really do motivate me so much with your kind words of encouragment, when I can get to them, that is.. ugh.

SO OTH Season 9, Episode one: AMAZING! Brooke as a mom is just perfect. And it's about time. The babies are SOOOO CUTE! Ugh I love them. I want them. (The one that plays Jude has the funniest little dum-da-dum-dum stare in the car scenes but I still think he's cute. LOL) I don't have a mansion and I don't live in China, Julian, but feel free to stop by anytime.

I'm making this chapter two parts so I can get one out to you now and so you have some suspense ;)

ENJOY.

AGE 10 1/2 PART 1

Brooke was in a hurry when she went to pick up Avery from school that day. They had a big staff meeting at work and of course it was right after school got out, leaving Brooke just 15 minutes to pick up Avery and get back to the store. The boys had baseball practice, so at least she didn't have to pick them up until 5.

"Hi honey. Quick buckle up," Brooke smiled and turned on the engine when Avery hopped into the backseat.

"Hi.." The six year old wasn't her usual talkative self.

"What's wrong babe?"

"Can we go home, Mommy."

"No sweetie, I have a big important meeting at the store but you like hanging out there, I thought."

"Not today."

Brooke furrowed her brow and eyes Avery in the reer view mirror.

"Or you can take a nap on the couch in the back room if you want. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah.. just sad."

Brooke's daughter wore her emotions on her sleeve, so it didn't take long to uncover the truth.

"Why?"

"A girl in my class pushed me down and said I was too small. She called me a baby."

"That wasn't nice... Did you tell the teacher?"

Avery shook her head. "Jude and Davis said that's what a tattle-tale does."

"Well if someone hurts you, you should tell on them... You need to tell someone you trust like me and daddy and your teacher."

"I told you..."

"Well next time it's okay to tattle.. And you might be small, but you are not a baby."

"But you say I'm your baby, Mommy."

"Yes, you're MY baby. But you're also a big girl too and no one has the right to be mean to you or anyone else."

;

The meeting went smoothly, but still everyone seemed on edge. Millie scribbled notes furiously as Ronan barked on about numbers and new business deals.

"No. There's no way I can go to New York that weekend, that's my daughter's birthday..." Brooke shook her head.

"It's not like she'll remember it.."

Brooke and Millie's eyes shot daggers at Ronan.

"She's not an infant, of course she'll remember if I'm not there."

Ronan scoffed. "You're squelching opportunities here, Brooke."

"Well it's my decision." Brooke crossed her arms.

"Well you can sleep on the idea for a few days..." Ronan gathered his paperwork together. "We're all done for today."

Brooke shook her head. No need to sleep on it, the answer would still be no. No way in hell. Her parents had ditched her on most birthdays growing up. There was no way she would become that kind of parent.

Millie and the other board members left and Brooke walked towards the back room. On the couch with her face in her coloring book was one Avery Baker.

"I need to head out, Brooke. Marvin is taking Mel to ballet but I have to drop off her leotard that he forgot to grab this morning."

"No problem, I'll lock up." Brooke smiled, looking out the window watching Millie leave.

The sun was setting earlier this time of year, and the fact that it had been cloudy all day was just making it seem much later than it was. Before waking Avery, Brooke went out front to grab her purse and messenger bag.

Ronan was still here.

"You know, you don't have to be so crabby all the time," Brooke said.

"It's how I get things done. There's nothing wrong with putting a little fear into people."

"I don't run business like that."

Ronan nodded sightly.

"You ready to go? I have to lock up and get home. Dinner doesn't cook itself."

"Wow.. you're the worst celebrity ever. Get a cook so we can work more," Ronan said, not really making a move to leave.

Brooke chuckled. "Being a 'bad' celebrity makes me a better Mom."

Ronan came up behind Brooke and touched her shoulder.

"Time to go. I'm gunna grab Avery and go..." Brooke said quickly.

"If you're not a yeller, then she won't hear a thing..."

Brooke stepped away, moving her neck and head away from him. "That's not funny. Stop.. I mean it"

"Or what?"

Ronan went towards her again and his lips touched her neck.

Brooke turned, angry and pushed his chest away with both hands.

"I said stop!.. Get out," Brooke pointed.

"Relax, baby."

"No, don't call me baby." She pointed her finger in his face. "You are the most unprofessional, self-centered person I've ever met! And I'm starting to believe everyone who told me to get as far away from you as pos-"

Brooke's thought was stopped when he came back towards her and grabbed her arm. She twisted and he ended up holding her body from behind.

"Let me go!" Brooke fought.

Ronan shushed her. "Your brat will hear us."

She repeated her phrase, but this time, she bent her heel-clad leg at the knee and kicked him right between the legs to free herself. Ronan groaned in pain and doubled over, but Brooke stood over him.

"You're fired! Now get the hell out!"

Brooke felt confident and strong, but that changed quickly when he jolted up and punched her square in the face.

Brooke screamed in pain and dropped to her knees. She grabbed her face with both hands, tears forming automatically. Ronan grabbed her hair and she looked up at him.

"You can't fire me, sexy. You work under me."

He licked his lip slightly, that violent, perverted glimmer in his eye telling her that he truly wanted him under her.

"I can ruin your career, sweetie. I can make your clothing line non-existent." Ronan backed off.

"Get the hell out! I'm calling the police!" Brooke's voice was strong yet panicked as she half crawled towards the counter to grab her cell that was in her purse. "And never touch me ever again."

Ronan put his hands up. "It was just a joke, Brooke. Can't you take a joke? Nothing happened here."

"Mummy?" They both heard the little girl's voice calling.

"Leave. Just leave, please." Brooke pointed to the front door to her store.

"Fine... but don't think you can get rid of me that easily... baby."

Ronan walked out into the night and Brooke grabbed her chest, ready to sob. She had stood her ground as best she could but she felt like a helpless child inside.

Julian was right. That guy was a creep and didn't care about the clothes at all. He wanted to make a lot of money. He wanted her. And Brooke was afraid of how Julian would react and what Ronan might do next.

;

Brooke looked in the mirror and brought her hand to her cheek. It was swollen already. It hurt to touch and it ached in general. Right now it was just red. But surely it would bruise eventually and brooke wasnt looking forward to that. She had pulled herself together and had gotten out of the store ASAP with Avery still sleepy. She had snuck in without Julian really seeing her face since he was distracted by the boys. She wanted to try and cover his thing up. Now she had a makeup brush to her cheek, trying to blend in the whole mess.

"Brooke?" Julian knocked on the locked bathroom door. They never locked the door on each other unless something was wrong. It was a tell tale sign for Julian now.

"One minute..."

"Are you okay?"

No, Brooke thought.

"Yeah of course. I'll be out in a second. Is dinner ready?"

"Almost," Julian said though the door. "It may not be my best though. The boys' practice went late so I threw something together."

"I am sure it's gunna be great," Brooke assured as she finally opened the door. Her hair blocked her right eye a bit and the makeup helped.

"Hey, wait," Julian grabbed her waist and pulled her in close as she tried to pass him. "I love you."

Brooke felt him turning her around and she put her hands around his neck in a hug, shielding her face still. "I love you too, so so much. I don't even know how I found a truely amazing guy like you."

"Well... Sam helped.."

Brooke laughed into his neck.

Being with him, in his arms, Brooke felt better. She thought the Ronan thing was over now. She had handled it; there was no need to get the police or anyone else involved. It would just make too much out of nothing.. This was nothing, right? Well either way, Brooke convinced herself it was nothing.
Julian frowned as she pulled away mumbling about dinner. He could sense there was something wrong, something different about his wife, but he wouldn't push her.

;

That night after Julian tucked the boys into bed, he met Brooke in the bedroom. She was still acting off and odd so he wanted to get her to talk to him.

"Brooke... Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why do you keep asking me that?" Brooke got defensive as she pulled the covers up more.

"You just don't seem yourself today."

Julian sat down on the bed and really looked at her.

"Oh my god Brooke, what happened to your face?"

Brooke shied away. "I fell into the desk today at work like a clumsy idiot .. I've just had a headache today, that's all. I'll be fine in the morning."

Julian frowned, touching her forehead delicately.

"Aw Brooke, you should have told me. I'll get some ice for that. You've got quite the shiner happening here," Julian joked.

"Thank you," Brooke sighed as Julian headed towards the kitchen.

Brooke felt horrible lying to him, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell him. At the club, she had stood up for Ronan and she would look like a fool and a naive little girl after she was so adamant that Julian was wrong. He'd definately freak out and she didn't want that.

;

A week and a half later, Brooke's eye was feeling better and she hadn't heard from Ronan at all. Nobody had.

Brooke had told Millie and the rest of her staff about firing Ronan, but she didn't specify why. And nobody asked.

'I guess everybody DID hate him,' Brooke thought.

Brooke had been spending even more time at home, just so there was no risk of a run-in with Ronan.

"Mom?"

It was Friday, but the kids had the day off for some teacher workshop or something. In the Baker house, that meant the kids got to sleep in. Most kids were up at the crack of dawn, but not Brooke and Julian's kids. They loved their sleep.

Brooke looked at the clock on the stove. It was barely nine and one of her sons was already up.

Davis rounded the corner and stopped like a zombie in his bare feet in the kitchen. His arms were wrapped around his stomach.

"Good morning baby. Are you cold?"

"My stomach hurts and I couldn't sleep.."

Brooke approached her son and guided him to the couch with a frown.

"You didn't sleep at all? Why didn't you come get me?"

Davis looked at her as they sat down on the couch. "I didn't want to wake you up.. Then two people wouldn't be able to sleep."

Brooke smiled at her son's kindness and kissed the side of his head.

"You lay down here, and I'll get you some ginger ale."

Davis nodded and Brooke went to get his drink. When she came back, Brooke sat down and let Davis's head lay in her lap. She stroked his hair as he took small sips of his ginger ale.

"I love you, Mom. You always make me feel better."

Brooke smiled and leaned back. "I love you too, buddy. My family is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"Even over clothes... Cuz Ronan said that your clothes came first."

Brooke tensed just heading his name. "When did he say that?"

"At the fashion show.. well he didn't say it, but he made it seem that way."

"Well that's not true at all. My kids always come first. Don't believe anything else you hear."

Davis relaxed more. "I won't."

The two sat there for a little while longer until Brooke realized that Davis had finally fallen asleep. She lifted his head slightly so she could squeeze out from under him and headed upstairs, where she heard a yell and a slam.

"What is going on up here?" Brooke knocked on the boys door, which Jude had just slammed.

Avery came out of the bathroom and went to her mother's side.

"Jude pinched me.."

Brooke turned. "Jude, open this door."

"She's such a tattle tail." Jude mumbled as the door opened.

"AM NOT!" Avery yelled.

"Sshh! Davis isn't feeling well and he just fell asleep on the couch. Now stop it... Jude apologize."

"Whatever. I'm sorry. But you're still a tattle tail."

Brooke rolled her eyes. Was Jude already in the 'whatever' stage? This was early, right? He wasn't a teenager for another three birthdays.. Great, just great.

"Mommy said you have to tell on people if they hurt you, and you did.." Avery defended herself and turned to Brooke once again. "Punish him, Mommy."

Brooke listened to her daughter's explaination and felt guilty. How could Brooke look her daughter in the eye and say that, but then turn around and let Ronan get away with what he'd done. She was a hypocrite.

"Mom?" Avery interrupted her thoughts.

Brooke shook her head. "Just stay away from each other, please..."

Brooke walked off in a huff. Jude and Avery looked at each other and shrugged, then retreated off to their separate rooms.

;

When Brooke came downstairs, she peered over at Davis, who was still sound asleep. She smiled at his adorable face. He was looking more and more like Julian everyday.

Speaking of, as Brooke stepped towards the kitchen, Julian walked through the front door.

"Hey babe."

Brooke spun around.

"Didn't you have a meeting today?"

"I did, but my second one got cancelled so I figured I'd come home to spend the rest of the day with my favorite people."

Julian's arms wrapped around Brooke and they kissed. Then Julian spotted his son on the couch.

"Why is he sleeping?"

"He wasn't feeling too well. His stomach really hurt and he said he didn't sleep at all last night."

"Aw poor thing. Well, now he knows how we felt the first year of his life." (ode to episode 9x01)

Brooke chuckled, remembering the sleepless nights as the couple walked towards their bedroom.

Then the thought came back into her head... what Avery said was right. She needed to 'tattle' on Ronan. This was something she didn't want to do, but knew she had to. Brooke imagined how she would feel if Avery had been hurt and kept it a secret. It wasn't okay.

"Julian.. I have to tell you something.."

"Oh god, what happened now?" Julian said jokingly.

"And you can't get mad."

"Well that depends what it is."

Brooke opened her mouth to say the words, but nothing came out. She was about to studder out the words when her cell phone ringtone sounded through he room.

Brooke smiled nervously and put one finger up. She grabbed the phone as her excuse to delay the talk and furrowed her brow at the caller.

"Hello?"

"Hey Brooke, it's Nathan."

"Yeah," Brooke laughed. "I know, your name came up on the screen. What's up Boy Toy? You never call me."

"Yes I do.. sometimes."

"No, you always go through Haley."

"Yeah, but she can't know about this one."

Brooke's eyebrows arched.

"O0o Naley secrets, what's up?"

"Well I need a really good gift for Haley's birthday and I wanted to ask you to meet me at Clothes Over Bros so you could help me pick something out. Only a B Davis original is good enough for my wife, you know."

Brooke smiled. "Well I'd say that's pretty accurate, So right now?"

"If it's too last minute don't worry about it. You know Haley, the dinner will be enough for her."

"Oh it's no trouble. I'll meet you there in a half hour, is that okay?"

"I might be a little longer than that. But I'll be there."

"Great, Nate. See you soon."

"Bye."

Brooke hung up the phone and Julian was still staring at her.

"So does this conversation have to wait now?" Julian asked, knowing his wife loved helping people pick out clothes, especially for her friends.

Brooke smiled, indicating yes, and stood up. "Can you make sure the kids eat something healthy while I'm gone?"

"You bet," Julian kissed his wife before she scurried out the bedroom door.

;

Unlocking the door, Brooke stepped inside the dark store and sighed. She loved the smell of the clothes and the great feeling of accomplishment that came with designing again. She had missed it.

The clack of her own heels was the only thing she heard as she made it to the back room. She went over to the closet where she kept all the designer gowns locked away so a burgler couldn't steal the expensive stuff, and unlocked it. Haley deserved the best for her birthday.

Little did Brooke know that someone did break in, but they weren't after the clothes at all.

From out of nowhere, Brooke was grabbed from behind in the still dark back room. Brooke screamed and her body tensed with fear. The larger body behind her covered her mouth and she tried to bite him. She fought with all her might but he was stronger. When teeth pinched his hand, the man groaned and threw her down on her back. Brooke looked up in fear, only to see Ronan again for the first time since their last altercation.

Ronan knelt down on top of Brooke before she could even try to get away. He pinned her to the ground.

Ronan had left on his own last time, but Brooke knew this time he was going to try to take something from her first, before he'd ever take a step towards the door.

And that something was her dignity.

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT WITH ME!

REVIEWW PLEASE ;)

~Haley :)