A/N: Ok guys - it seems my net is back on so here you have the next installment! I hope you enjoy! Oh and by the way - just a big of useless trivia. I've only just started watching ssn 7 as it took me a while to want to watch it seeing as my favourite two characters weren't there. I still love it but I really miss Peyton and Lucas. Aaaanyway - I actually had no idea about the tension between Julian and Brooke, or Brooke's pregnancy scare :). So I did have a bit of a giggle when I saw that the other night :P

Enjoy - and as always R&R!

Sawyer was sitting on the bleachers of the basketball court at Tree Hill High watching the boys going through their basketball practice. She was having a day out with Jaime and her Uncle Skills, who was filling in as coach for her father while he was away touring. Sawyer loved coming to watch her Daddy's team play. They always treated her like a princess and showered her with attention. This amused her Aunt Brooke to no end, who constantly teased her mother about the fact that her three year old niece was already chatting up high school boys.

"So Miss Sawyer, when is your daddy coming back to coach his team?" Dave came up and asked.

Sawyer screwed up her nose. She might like talking to these boys, but she certainly didn't like the smell of their stinky sweat. Dave chuckled as he wiped himself down with a towel.

"Soon I think. Daddy says not many more sleeps now" Sawyer informed him.

"Well you better tell him to hurry up and get back here. We need our favourite coach for the state championships if we are going to win it!"

Sawyer giggled and took Dave's hand, who led her down to the basketball court to shoot some hoops with Jaime. They always finished the practice with a quick game of ball with Jaime and Sawyer usually on one of the boys' shoulders slam dunking the ball. Both kids loved it, as did the boys who could take a bit of a wind down from the seriousness of their training.

"Ok guys – time to really hit the showers, I need to lock up in 10 minutes!" Skills called out, ushering them all into the change rooms.

As per tradition, Skills, Jaime and Sawyer were all sitting on the pier having an ice cream after practice.

"Jaime dawg you lookin kinda nervous. You got something on your mind?" Skills asked.

Jaime paused for a bit before replying "I'm a bit worried about you Skills"

"Worried about me? What are you worried about me for?"

"Well… It's been a while for you… I mean for a girlfriend that is. I mean you've had my Nanny Deb, then you had my teacher, but since then…. Nothing. That's quite a dry spell uncle Skills"

"I don't believe it!" Skills muttered to himself. "Lectured on my love life by an 8 year old!" Turning his attention to Jaime, Skills forced himself to address the question at hand "Look Jaime-boy, sometimes a man needs a break between women. I know it's a strange concept, but sometimes, they are hard work man! A man needs a breather. I mean its nice just to wonder around the house naked now and again and not having to worry about what the missus might think"

"You walk around the house naked?" Jaime asked.

Skills looked at Jaime again, just realising what he said, and wondered how he was going to explain that to Nathan and Haley's precocious son.

Brooke was sitting at the doctors waiting room sweating it out. This felt like her moment of truth. Peyton had offered to come with her, although she insisted that she wanted to go on her own. Truth be told, she was giving Julian one last chance. She had told him of the appointment and in her mind, this was his final opportunity to come clean and explain his absence. In truth, she had not heard from him since he walked out of their house when she broke the news. But, a part of her couldn't help but hope that there was a reasonable explanation for all of this. Of his absence, his silence and of course why he was going to return. If everyone else in Tree Hill could have romantic, happy endings, than why couldn't she, with the life of glitz and glamour at least have a small part of that pie too? The door to the waiting room opened once more, and Brooke looked up expectantly, only to see yet another person she didn't know enter the room. Sighing, Brooke returned her attention to the waiting room, watching everyone with their toddlers, pregnant partners and newborn children wondering around.

For Brooke, this would have been the happiest place in the world, the thing she wanted the most, if only Julian were here. And yet, it seemed evident that he seemed hell bent on staying as far away from her and his responsibilities as possible.

"Is this your first?"

Brooke looked up to see an attractive young man with a little boy, about two in his lap, looking at her. "Pardon?"

"Is this your first? You have that look of terror that most first time mothers have on their face when they are here for the first time. I know my wife did"

Brooke smiled. This guy was friendly, approachable and seemed to understand parenthood. It was nice to see a friendly face here. "Yeah, it's my first"

"Well, it's totally worth it." He said smiling. At that moment though, Brooke saw a darkness that went through his eyes as he said that. Brooke ignored it and decided to continue the conversation.

"Is your wife here with you?"

There was a pause before the man continued. "My wife… no… she's not here" He said darkly. If Brooke had blinked, she would have missed that sudden change on his face. Before she knew it he continued on, smile on his face "I'm here for Preston's check up. He's almost 3, so he was due for his yearly check."

Is that what Brooke was going to have to do? Be a single parent for the rest of her life? She realised what was different about this guy now. Everyone in this room, their eyes were sparkling with happiness. Their whole bodies glowed, even through their tired, frustrated exterior. Just like Peyton and Luke. While this guy smiled with his mouth, he lacked the sparkle in his eyes…. Just like her.

"Brooke Davis?"

Brooke smiled once more at the gentlemen and got up too see the doctor.

"Wait." He said. "Here's my card. If you need any advice, or anything at all. Call me. It's not easy on your own."

Smiling softly, Brooke took the card "How did you know?"

"You can just tell. Well… that and the fact you were staring at the door with hopeful eyes every time it opened" He winked.

"Thank you" Brooke smiled at him. Then, she turned around and walked into the room. Well… it looks like she was doing this on her own after all.

"Ok Marvin, you need to understand a few things before we go in there" Millie said as she parked the car in front of her parents' house.

Marvin tried to hide his smile. Millie had been stressed all week, but now she was the most stressed he'd seen her. She was pretty close to hyperventilating. Mouth was even afraid to touch her lest she lash out at him. Who knew what she was capable of in this mood!

"Ok – so we are not living together. They know nothing about my modelling stint. They will attack you in every possible way. Because nobody is good enough for me, but worse than that, I've disappointed them more than words can say"

"Millie, I'm sure it won't be that bad"

"Oh I'm sure it will. Mouth… this is not going to be a fun lunch. We go in, we eat and we go as fast as we can. And whatever they say about you Mouth, don't believe it. They are nasty pieces of work."

Mouth smiled again and then followed Millie's lead to get out of the car. "So… ready?"

"Yep, sure… lets go… oh and Millie… I love you, you know that right?"

Millie relaxed slightly, smiled a little, then leaned over and kissed Mouth. "Thanks Marvin. I needed that"

Peyton pushed open the door to her studio and flicked on the lights. As per usual, she was always the first one here. She smiled to herself as she walked around the studio. It was still hard to believe that she built this all up from the ground. What was now becoming quite a well known independent record company. She thanked her lucky stars that she had the guts enough to make that decision to leave her worthless LA job and start out on her own. Ok, so maybe it wasn't worthless, but there is no way she would be in the position she was in now, had she not left. She gently placed her hand on her steadily growing belly and sighed contentedly. Could she really be this lucky to have all that she could have imagined? It almost seemed to be too much happiness for one person to have. Which of course, left Peyton in great fear of the future, afraid that something out of her wonderful live might be taken from her. Too much happiness couldn't happen to one person right?

"Seriously Peyton, what time do you get here? No matter how early I plan to come, you're always here before me!" Haley commented as she walked into the now well lit studio and saw Peyton setting up for the days work.

"You do go home right? I mean you must, seeing as Sawyer does seem to know who her mother is, but seriously you're like the studio ghost. You are supposed to be taking it easy right?

"The studio ghost? Wow – that's a nice picture to paint! I'm taking it as easy as I can for someone who has a business to run, a record deal rearing its ugly head that we have to finalise, oh and I almost forgot a 3 year old to raise!" Peyton laughed.

"Seriously Peyton, you have to take it easy. I was given very important orders to make sure that you were not over-doing it. I wouldn't want to face the wrath of Lucas Scott lest anything happen to you!"

Peyton laughed again "Hales, he has the whole town looking out for me. I swear, if his mother wasn't in Australia, he would have sent for her to help look after me too. He's worrying too much. I'm fine, the baby's fine and I'm not over-doing it. Busy yes, but I do rest up." As though to prove her point, Peyton cocked her head to the side, scoffed and sat down at her desk. "Now can we please talk about how awesome our new band sounds and listen to their tape please?"

"Oh yay! My favourite part! But…. Shouldn't we wait for them first?"

"Not for the first screening we don't" Peyton winked as she began to open the files on her computer.

"Wow…. I mean you warned me but…. Wow." Mouth and Millie were standing on the front porch of her parents' home, stunned of what happened in the previous hours over lunch.

"I think that was the worst they've ever been…" Millie responded just as stunned as Mouth. "Do you think it would have been worse had I kept in contact with them more often?"

"I'm really not sure…. But can we please not visit them again for a while?" Mouth said

"I'd be glad to oblige with that. I mean they planned out our whole lives Marvin! Apparently we have our wedding date set, the birthdays for our kids and…. Did we even get a say? I mean have we even said to each other that we're getting married? And kids Marvin… KIDS? Do our feelings even matter on the subject."

Smiling, Mouth began to steer Millie back to the car, still ranting and gesticulating over all the things her parents had said during their lunch meet.

Brooke looked at the card in her hand. She had been staring at it for hours. What was she thinking? She had the support of all of her friends, two of which had been down this path at least once before. They would be there for her every step of the way, of that she was certain. And yet, why did she feel compelled to call this man? This man whom she met for a grand total of 5 minutes. All the while she was in another relationship…. wasn't she? But when the reality came to it, her friends hadn't been through this before. They had their husbands by their side the whole way. This guy, he understood. She didn't know how she knew, but she could just see it in his eyes.

Without thinking, Brooke picked up the phone and dialled the number on the card.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Brooke… from this morning… at the clinic… you gave me your card?"

"I was wondering whether you would call"

"I wasn't even sure myself."

"Hey, I'm just here as support. Nothing else… promise. But we single parents have to stick together."

"Sounds good to me"

Brooke found it so easy to speak to this guy. They chatted freely for the next half an hour, until it felt like he had always been her friend, someone who she could rely on. When she hung up the phone and rested it again in it's cradle, she couldn't help but sigh. If Julian could leave her without a backward glance, how could she feel so guilty about a simple chat with another man over the phone?