Brooke watches her foster daughter toss and turn. She looks to be having some sort of nightmare or something. Riley groans and starts to cry. Brooke quickly takes a step forward and nudges the child. "Sweetie, you need to wake up" Brooke encouraged tucking the child's curls behind her ear.
"No" Riley whined shoving her head farther into the seat cushion. There's no way she can physically get up, she only just started to have an okay dream. Ever since, Grams death, her dreams have been clouded with sadness.
"Rye, you have to. You've been out for five hours" she ordered softly.
The nine year old rubs her eyes and starts to sit up. "Is Tessa still here?" Riley asked sleepily, she liked Tessa. The teen didn't treat her like a baby and was the nicest big kid, she's ever met.
"Yes, sweetie" Brooke smiles, she knew Riley would like Tessa. "She'll be here for another hour or so" she said wanting to straighten Riley's brown curls.
"You've been really nice to me" Riley yawned tiredly. "Julian has too" the fourth grader added blinking.
"I thought we went over this yesterday, Julian and I care about you. We want the best for you because we love you" Brooke explained gently pushing back her hair. "Come on, pretty girl, we have some shopping to do!" her excitement is obvious.
Riley grins good-naturally and follows her foster mother out of the office. Tessa greets her with an exuberant smile. "Lets start dressing you up" Tessa exclaimed, leading Riley over to the children's section.
Brooke turns the sign from Open to Closed. She and Tessa then start pulling clothes off of the racks and shoving them in Riley's arms. Riley looks at herself nervously in the mirror, she's never been able to afford nice clothes like this. Grams would normally just send her to the thrift shop for clothing.
Haley watches her son furiously sweep the floor. He seems as though he's working very hard and he even offered to watch Lydia on his lunch break. Jamie could be one the best employees, she's ever had.
The mother reads a text message from Brooke. Cud u bring Jamie by? Riley's bored and idk what to do. "Jamie, could you do me a big favor and bring these sandwiches to Aunt Brooke's for Brooke and Riley" she holds out the bag containing the sandwiches.
Jamie glances over looking stunned. "Okay" he answered taking the brown bag from his mother and starting for the door.
Haley purses her lips together. Her son should be playing. That's what she did as a kid and that's what kids should do now. Jamie is only nine years old. Most, if not all nine years old should be playing. When she was young, she and Lucas played with one another everyday.
"Jamie" the mother called as her son turns. "You're done for the day, go play."
"What about my pay?" Jamie asked curiously. He doesn't care so much about money, but he did do the work. He does sort of deserve to be paid in some way.
"You'll still get your ten dollars" Haley replied kindly. "For now, all you need to do is be a kid and have fun."
"Thanks Momma" Jamie quickly kisses his mother's cheek and runs out of the café with the paper bag in hand.
Haley turns to smile at her youngest child. "Your big brother is a silly boy, isn't he?" she cooed at little Lydia who giggles. Momma's right, Jay's a real silly guy, but he's one of her favorite people in the entire world.
Tessa brightens at the sight of nine year old Jamie running into the store. Jamie reminds her so much of her little brothers. He nearly knocks over a manikin; Brooke quickly intervenes by catching his hands. "Does your mother let you run in her café?" Jamie grins guiltily. "I didn't think so" she answered winking playfully.
"I had to run, Aunt Brooke or else the sandwiches would get warm" Jamie replied with his colorful smile.
Brooke rolls her eyes and takes a sandwich out of the bag. She offers one to Tessa who shakes her head. "Can I take off now, Mrs. Bake?" Tessa asked reaching for her purse.
"Sure, I'll pay you first thing on Monday" Brooke promised smiling as Tessa says her goodbyes to Riley and then Jamie.
Jamie stands beside the cash register, awkwardly. Riley looks down at her feet wishing Austin was here. He'd know what to do. "Why don't you two go down by the River Court?" Brooke offered watching the children together.
Riley shrugs. "Okay, come on Riley. I can show you the way" Jamie explained as the young girl ignores the food and starts to follow the dark haired blonde.
"Hey" Brooke suddenly remembers Riley didn't have any lunch; she barely had any breakfast. The foster parent stops the little girl who sighs reluctantly. "Here's your sandwich; eat all of it" the mother ordered sternly.
Riley takes the turkey sandwich and follows Jamie outside. "What did Aunt Brooke want you for?" he asked; his green eyes wide with confusion.
"For my lunch" Riley wags the sandwich in front of him.
Jamie kicks a pebble onto the street. "How do you like Tree Hill?" he asked wondering what an outside might think of their little town.
"Charlotte's my home, but Tree Hill isn't that bad. What's school like here?" Riley asked playing with a strand of her hair.
"Good, you're probably gonna be in my class" Jamie answered. "My friends will be at the River Court" he continues walking down the road.
"Will Madison?" Riley asked stopping short. If Madison's going to be there, then she may as well head back to Baker Man. Madison doesn't like her and Riley knows it.
Jamie thinks about it. Madison texted him earlier today that she was going to her grandmother's today. "No why?" he squinted wondering what this is all about, Madison likes everyone.
"She doesn't like me" Riley shrugged pretending it doesn't hurt her feelings. The nine year old likes to pretend she doesn't care, but really she's good at pretending.
"Sure she does" Jamie answered wanting to convince himself more than Riley. Madison is usually incredibly fair and kind; it wouldn't make sense if she didn't like Riley. She has no reason not to like her.
"I'm not stupid I can tell when someone doesn't like me" the foster child frowns at Jamie weak attempt to appease her. Maybe she should just try and leave this stupid place, people always leave in the end.
"I'm her boyfriend. If I like you, then she likes you" Jamie said.
"It doesn't work like that. Madison doesn't hafta like me" Riley replied not meeting Jamie's steady gaze. "I'm used to people not liking me, all part of being a foster kid."
"That really sucks" Jamie remembers what his father said. "Hey guys, this is Riley. She's uh new here and really good at basketball" he lied hoping it's true.
Chuck looks Riley up and down; she can't be any better than Madison. "Yeah right" he laughed doubtfully.
"I could beat you, easy" Riley answered cockily.
The girl takes the ball from Andre and takes a shot. The ball swishes into the net. "That's one for me" the nine year old smirks as Andre and Jamie take a seat on the bench.
"Who do you think will win?" Jamie wondered watching as Riley manages to weave past Chuck with grace.
Andre purses his lips together, thoughtfully. "Hard to tell, my money's on Chuck" he replied deciding to stay loyal to his friend.
"How much?" the blonde haired boy asked.
"Five dollars."
"I say Riley will win for ten" Jamie replied with a smirk.
"Deal" Andre shakes Jamie's hand. Jamie leans back his eyes grinning with delight; Riley's going to cream Chuck. He and Chuck may be friends, but Riley is easily the better player.
Quinn looks down at the pregnancy stick. This can't be right. Of course, she wants to be pregnant, but the timing is terrible. Clay is going away on business for a few months and she has a photo-shoot in Milan after Clay returns. And Logan, he will either take this well or…Quinn hopes he'll take this well.
"Quinn, what's taking you so long?" Clay knocks on the door causing Quinn to fumble with the stick.
"Almost ready" Quinn flushes the toilet, washes her hands the stick before placing the stick into her purse.
She opens the door and plasters on a smile. "You okay, babe?" Clay peers at his wife as he wraps his arms around her.
"Great" Quinn lied not sure when will be the right time to tell him. He's leaving next week in search of fresh, soccer players.
Logan looks over at his parents, mildly concerned. He didn't do anything wrong, he was playing with Nate Smith all day. "Mom, are you sick?" he asked looking and sounding concerned.
Quinn looks at each of her men; she doesn't want to lie to them, but right now doesn't exactly feel like the best moment to tell them about her pregnancy. "I'm pregnant" she announced sheepishly.
Clay smiles widely. "This is great" he kisses his wife on the lips. Quinn is looking at Logan, watching his face for a reaction.
"How do you feel about this, Bud?" Quinn asked sitting on the couch beside him, taking his hands in hers.
Logan thinks about it. Jamie seems to like having a little sister and it can be boring being the only kid. However, his parents won't give him all their attention. Maybe he'll be able to do more things without getting sent to his room or having his toys taken away.
"Will it be a girl?" Logan asked; figuring if it's a girl, his parents won't forget about him and he can still get all the cool stuff. He also won't have to share any of his toys with a girl cause most girls don't like airplanes.
Quinn smiles at her son. "Do you want it to be a girl?" she asked glancing up at the ceiling, silently thanking god.
"Yeah" Logan nodded surely.
"Why?" Quinn wondered; when her mother was pregnant with Haley, Quinn hoped she would have another sister. Her older brothers were like a tight-knit club; Taylor and Vivian were close as can be, and Quinn felt left out. After Haley was born, Quinn developed a close relationship with her.
"Cause then I won't hafta share any of my toys" Logan answered simply, his eyes beaming with delight.
"We can't know that yet, but we'll try our best to hope for a girl" Clay said, he wouldn't mind having a little girl to dote on.
Quinn really would like to have a daughter too. Maybe Lydia or James could be the baby's middle name. Logan grabs his airplane and goes outside. "You coming?" he asked his father who nods eagerly.
"Let's go, you wanna come?" Clay asked.
"Of course" Quinn replied causing Logan's smile to widen; she's the only Mom in the entire world who actually likes airplanes. Nate's mom is too busy working to play with them and Skills is like a kid himself.
"You lost on purpose" Jamie looks disappointed. In the beginning, Riley looked like she had Chuck beat. Only towards the end, Chuck made an amazing recovery and beat Riley by four points. Chase picked Chuck up, shortly after that.
Riley rolls her eyes and takes a seat beside him. "Did not, I did my best and lost. It doesn't matter" she lied; Riley could tell Chuck desperately wanted to win and he would've been embarrassed had she won.
"Liar" Jamie scowled as he hands Andre ten dollars.
Andre looks confused, she must be lying. "You lost on purpose, why?" he wondered more out of curiosity than anything else.
"I did not" Riley lied, feeling her cheeks redden.
"You're a bad liar" the dark blonde answered knowingly. He's been lied to enough times to know when someone's telling the truth and when they're lying.
"I'd rather be a bad liar than a good one" Riley remarked sulking, Andre smiles and hands Jamie back his money.
Jamie raises his eyebrows at Andre. "I'm not gonna take money off of you, it wasn't a fair game" Andre replied shrugging, he doubts he would've kept Jamie's money anyway.
Both boys turn at the sound of a horn, honking. "Oh that's my Mom" Andre quickly wipes the dust off his jeans and starts for her car, Jamie follows.
Riley doesn't move a muscle. She can walk, walking is what she prefers. Maybe she can get a better feel for the town and the kind of fun she could have in the future. "Riley, you coming?" Andre asked glancing over at her hopefully.
"No, Brooke said she'd be here soon" Riley lied; Jamie tries to hide his disappointment and follows Andre's lead.
The boys get into Mrs. Fields car. "Who's your new friend?" the mother wondered staring at the adorable little girl.
"Riley, she's Brooke and Julian's new kid" Andre replied helpfully.
"Did you ask if she needed a ride home, Brandon?" Mrs. Fields asked raising an eyebrow at her youngest son, warningly.
"I did, Momma" Andre defended himself. "But, she said Brooke was gonna pick her up soon."
"She did, Mrs. Fields" Jamie said; quick to defend one of his best friend's. Mrs. Fields purses her lips together, she doesn't feel right leaving young Riley here, but she has a casserole in the oven and it'll burn if she doesn't get going.
"I guess" Mrs. Fields puts the car in reverse and backs out, before driving off.
Riley waits a few minutes before hopping off of the bench and going in a completely new direction. The nine year old walks smiling, this is one of the first time's she's ever felt free from everyone.
Brooke pulls into the River Court; looking around for Riley. Worry seeps into the pit of her stomach, it's their second day together and she already lost her. No…wait, what if she went back to the store. Brooke quickly back out and races back to her store.
The bridge is really nice. They don't have a bridge in Charlotte. This could be the reason why people come to Tree Hill. It's so peaceful and quiet, nothing interesting happens here, well nothing that Riley knows of. Grams wouldn't like it here. She'd think it was too quiet and therefore suspicious. Thinking about Grams, makes Riley feel guilty; here she is alive and healthy while Grams is dead in a coffin.
A horn beeps at her causing Riley to glance up; startled. She squints as the driver gets out of the vehicle. "Riley, what the…what are you doing?" Julian demanded using a tone he's never heard himself use before.
"I don't know" Riley shrugged unsurely; nobody has ever demanded any explanation out of her, not even Nat. Then again, Nat had other kids to worry about, not just her.
Julian runs a hand through his hair. When Sam lived with Brooke, Julian regarded her as a friend, even with Jamie; Julian considers the boy his friend. Riley it has to be different; he has to be her father.
"Get in the car, we're going home" Julian ordered getting back into the car. Riley reluctantly does as she's told; Julian and Brooke are okay, but Tree Hill will never be her home. Charlotte is where she belongs that's where her life was.
The young girl stares aimlessly out the window; Davis and Jude are sleeping in the backseat. "I'm guessing Brooke doesn't know where you are" Julian said breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"She thinks I'm at the River Court" Riley mumbled wishing she had just waited until Brooke picked her up.
Julian sends Brooke a quick text about Riley's whereabouts. He also tells her, he has this argument, even though Julian isn't too sure if this even counts. "You gonna tell me why you didn't wait for Brooke?" he asked looking in the rearview mirror to check on his baby boys.
"I'm not a baby, I can walk."
"I know that, but it still isn't safe for you to walking this late at night when you don't know Tree Hill that well" the foster parent replied wanting to stay firm.
"But, I'm not a baby" she protested suddenly displeased with the lack of trust the Bakers have in her. If they knew what she did during the night, they'd probably put bars on her windows or something.
"I know that, but you still should've waited. Next time, wait" Riley rolls her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, I'm being serious" Julian said suddenly upset by Riley's newfound disrespect.
"Okay" Riley answered softly.
"Okay" Julian sighed. "Riley, it's not that we think you're a baby. You just don't know the area that well and…after awhile, we'll let you walk to and from places. For now, you wait until we come to get you" the father compromised.
"I guess" she answered biting down on her lower lip, nervously.
Julian quickly glances down at his cell. "Brooke's making dinner, I have to warn you though, her cooking…isn't great and make sure to apologize" he advised knowing Brooke was probably worried.
"Why?" the nine year old asked, not out or rudeness, but general curiosity.
"You worried her; Brooke Davis is a woman you should never worry. Trust me, on this one and compliment her cooking" Julian advised with a smile.
Riley makes a face. "What if it doesn't taste good?" she wondered blinking up at her foster father, her eyes dancing.
"It won't, but you need to butter her up or else you can expect to be sent to your room right after dinner" Julian said his face solemn. The boys are still young enough to eat yogurt and other delicious treats, they're lucky.
"You wouldn't let her do that, would you?" Riley asked glancing over at the older man feigning innocence.
Julian shrugged. "Just don't worry us like that, okay?" he said smiling at her, he has a feeling Riley will have him wrapped around her finger by the end of the month.
Riley shuffles out of the car. The nine year old enters the house feeling a knot tighten in the pit of her stomach. "Hi Brooke" she said as Brooke turns with spatula in hand. "I'm sorry for worrying you; I just needed to be on my own."
Brooke thinks about it. "Don't worry me like that again" she said giving the youngster a hug, Riley smiles. "I think we should get you a cell phone."
"Brooke, you do know we shouldn't be promoting this type of behavior? We should do what practical parents would do" Julian smiles as he sets Jude down at his chair.
"What would that be, husband?" Brooke asked seeing the joking smile appear on her husband's adorable face.
"Lock her in a dungeon with a dragon" Julian answered winking playfully at Riley who takes a seat at the dinner table beside baby Davis.
Brooke pours herself a glass of wine before sitting beside her husband. Julian takes a seat at the head. "This looks delicious, doesn't it Riley?" he asked giving Riley a knowing look.
"Yeah, delicious and umm good" Riley stuffs a spoonful into her mouth and forces herself to smile, despite feeling disgusted.
Jude and Davis watch as they happily eat their chicken fingers and yogurt. Riley and Julian share envious looks at the boys. Brooke waits for Riley to take another bite of the chicken, she reluctantly continues to eat. Julian and Riley glance up gratefully at the sound of the doorbell ringing.
"I'll get it" Riley announced running out of the room and towards the direction of the door.
Julian chuckles. "Who needs punishments when we have your cooking?" he joked causing Brooke to smile.
"Shut up, it isn't that bad" Brooke takes a bite and quickly spits it out. "How come when Haley makes something it's amazing and when I make something…it's not?" she pouted as Julian strokes her hand.
"I think since you're so amazingly, sexy. It counters your cooking abilities" Julian said with a smirk.
"Nice one, but your still not off the hook for getting our daughter to lie" Brooke joked as she takes a sip of her wine.
Riley re-enters the kitchen followed by none other than Sam and Jack. "They said they know you" the fourth grader shrugged as she discreetly puts her plate into the sink.
Sam smiles at her former foster mother. "Hey, Brooke, what have you been up to?" the young woman asked devilishly. Brooke quickly gets up to embrace Sam. Riley looks from Brooke to Sam wondering what the hell is going on.