A Season in Purgatory
Chapter 70
A disgruntled Lucas leaned against a column in the baggage claim area of the Tree Hill airport. The small airport was not a particular hot spot for travelers, but it was the particular people he was waiting for that annoyed him more than the average tourists.
Lucas could think of about thirty things he'd rather be doing on Thanksgiving Day, and picking up estranged grandparents at the airport was not one of them. His mother had insisted that he go with Dan, though. Luke's anger grew knowing that his mother was just trying to find ways to force Luke to spend time with Dan.
Dan glanced over at his son and tried to force some levity into the situation. "Come on, kid. It's not like anyone's asking you for a kidney," he joked, never really knowing what would push a sore point and set the boy off. Lucas seemed to relish his stance of resolute solitude. There were times when he could sense that the boy was pulled toward interaction but something always stopped him from fully participating in life. Dan was a person who dove into life and it saddened him that his son was cautious of both the waters and the other people around him.
Rolling his eyes, Lucas refused to take the bait. "There's always Christmas. I'm sure you'll find something just as vital to steal from me then," he retorted. It was bad enough that he was forced to spend a holiday with Dan, but being told he had to play chauffeur to his grandparents was adding insult to injury. "Why couldn't Nate be your manual labor for this trip?" he asked.
"Your brother is helping Karen and Haley get the house ready for our visitors," he replied, emphasizing the word "our". He didn't expect Luke to warm up to him any time before the second coming of Jesus, but he was slightly shocked that his boy hadn't been won over by his mom. His mom told him that she'd sent Luke a few emails over the past two months and she'd gotten a few tepid replies from the boy. Dan thought that was a start. He couldn't get so much as a grunt out of the boy when he was standing in front of him demanding to know why he was late for curfew.
May had a way with people. Dan was convinced that as much as Royal would alienate the boy, that he'd be charmed by May's goodness. His mother could love the pants off of any person she'd ever met. They just need Luke to let down his guard.
Dan's focus shifted to the escalator, where his father stood protectively in front of his mother. They quickly walked over to where Luke and Dan stood. "Danny," May crooned, enveloping her baby boy in a big hug. She stepped back and admired him for a moment. "Love is treating you well, son," she said, appraising him with a mother's critical eye. Luke about threw up at the idea that his mom's love for Dan was a positive thing.
The older woman then turned her attention to the sullen boy behind her son. "Lucas, how kind of you to meet us," she said. Her grandson looked too thin for her taste and May wondered if Karen was feeding her boy enough meals.
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott," Lucas distantly greeted them. It was obvious that the boy didn't want to be there. May thought about giving him a hug but when she moved toward him, he side stepped her as politely as he could. Even under good circumstances, Lucas wasn't into displays of public affection.
Ignoring Roy's tense reaction, she stood her ground with the boy. "You don't need to call us by our formal names," she cajoled, using her best grandmotherly voice. "Nathan calls us Grandma and Grandpa."
Lucas stared at the woman for a moment, wondering what reply would generate the smallest grounding. "That's because Nathan actually knows you people," Lucas bitterly commented. "I'm sorry that I can't call you terms of affection when I've never spent more than an hour with you. I'm only here because he forced me to be here."
Dan shook his head at the boy's tone. "Yes, I hog tied him and forced him to walk up hill both ways barefoot in the snow," Dan explained to his parents.
Roy took in the boy's outburst before replying. "You should be grateful that you've got parents that care about you rather than whining about being with family," he firmly stated, fully aware that he was pissing Lucas off.
"I think I'll take being the abandoned bastard on the bad side of town," Luke muttered, knowing that he'd hit the mark when Dan winced at his harsh words. It gave him a bit of satisfaction that Dan was as miserable as he was.
May moved between Roy and Lucas, sensing that her husband was about to put his grandson in his place. She'd seen the look on her husband's face during similar battles with Keith. Roy felt a bond with Dan that he'd never shared with his oldest son. He was much harder on Keith than he'd ever been on Danny and the same tension seemed to be playing out with Lucas. "I think we all need to get home and help Karen and Anna with dinner," she stated, knowing that they'd already put on a show for the few travelers in the small airport.
Roy escorted May to Dan's waiting SUV, while a desolate Lucas helped Dan with their luggage. Dan, despite his anger at the boy's earlier outburst, tried to elevate the mood. "At least you're getting to spend the day with Brooke," he reminded his son, wanting Lucas to appreciate the fact that Dan had been primarily responsible for that.
Lucas shoved a bag in the back of the vehicle. "You're a real prince, Dan. You make my life miserable and you expect me to be grateful that you trumped my mom with Brooke."
If it weren't for Dan knocking his mother up, he'd be free to spend the holiday with whomever he wanted.
Dan sighed and shook his head at the boy. "You can decide to be miserable or you can chose to be happy, Luke. It's your decision," he softly replied before moving toward the front of the car. He'd done the best he could to promote peace for the holiday and he'd failed. All he could do was try to make sure that Luke's toxic attitude didn't affect Karen.
Nathan leaned against the doorway and watched the flurry of activity in the kitchen and wished for a moment that he'd volunteered for grandparent duty instead of staying at the house with the women. It was weird for him as he watched Karen move around his mother's kitchen. She looked like a natural in the gourmet kitchen and part of his heart constricted at the idea that she was moving into his life and taking over one of the last parts of his mother that he had. By the end of the year, Karen would be taking over his mother's house, which depressed Nathan.
Karen leaned against the counter, content that the bulk of the work was finished. Yvonne, the new chef at the Café had prepared a turkey and Anna and Haley had finished the rest of the side dishes. There was very little for her to do now, which was probably the goal.
Anna watched as Karen leaned against the counter, reading the exhaustion in her body language. "Karen, why don't you go lie down while we finish up the little things," she suggested, knowing that the woman was stubborn to the bone. Dan had asked her to keep on eye on his fiance while he was out, as he knew that Karen naturally gravitated toward the kitchen.
Her future sister in law looked over at her and smiled. "You aren't supposed to be doing too much, either," she reminded Anna, who was only a week removed from child birth. The happy gurgles of the baby could be heard from the den, where his father was teaching him the finer points of football.
They all turned toward the door as Brooke rushed through it, carrying a festively decorated tray of desserts. "Hello, all," she greeted the group, searching for a place to set down her contribution for dinner. She paused a second, as the group soaked in her outfit de jour. "Are the boots too much?" she asked, running a nervous hand over the black lizard print thigh boots she wore.
Haley took in the assorted mix of Ann Taylor and blue jeans the group wore. "I think they are entirely festive for the occasion," she firmly stated, knowing that Brooke did most of her shopping in big cities that most of the people in the room had never seen.
Nathan rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's lame attempt to make Brooke feel more comfortable. "Entirely fitting if the pilgrims were invaded by marauding pirates," he snarked.
Smiling, Brooke gave Nate's shoulder a quick squeeze. "Thanks, Nate. That's exactly the effect I was going for," she commented, glad that someone could appreciate her attempts to push Tree Hill's fashion forward.
Anna moved passed a tense Karen and hugged the vivacious girl. "It's sweet that you offered to do all the desserts for dinner," she replied, choosing to emphasis Brooke's efforts when she knew Karen would find some thing negative in her attempts.
Brooke smiled at Anna's warmth, knowing that she was making a preemptive strike against Karen's inevitable nitpicking. "Thanks. Our cook trained in a France for a few years, so it's fairly certain that you won't get food poisoning, which is more than I can say for my cooking," she joked, knowing that her culinary skills were limited to brownies and pop tarts.
Haley wrapped an arm around Brooke's too tiny waist. "You just need to eat more of Grace's cooking so you can gain some weight," Haley gently admonished, convinced that Brooke was going to blow away in a light breeze.
Picking up on Haley's comment, Anna smiled at the younger girl. "I'm sure Brooke is going to focus on eating a calorie laden feast today so she can regain some of her weight," Anna lightly replied. Brooke looked down a second before meeting Anna's eyes.
"I'll do my best," she softly replied, knowing that Anna wasn't going to give up even on a day that was likely to be traumatic. Crazy Karen with Grandpa Scott was not the optimum time to pig out.
Keith headed into the kitchen with baby Caleb in his arms. "I thought I heard your voice," he said to Brooke, walking over to kiss her gently on the check.
"Little Luke!" Brooke squealed, sidestepping Karen and making a beeline toward the baby. She plucked him out of Keith's arms and promptly snuggled him to her chest.
Karen quietly observed the image of Brooke and the baby with growing unease. She had expected the girl to buy some gifts for Caleb and promptly forget about him, or worse, be grossed out by the spit up and dirty diapers. But to see the girl actually cuddle the baby and hum happy tunes to him freaked Karen out. All she needed was for Brooke to decide that she could find love by getting pregnant and having her own baby.
Ignoring the growing tension in the room, Brooke focused on how totally calm the boy was, completely unphased by all the noise and chaos of the holidays. A wide smile revealed her dimples. "He's wearing my Baby Dior outfit," she happily commented to Anna, pleased to see one of her many baby gifts going to good use.
Karen rolled her eyes at Brooke's histrionics. "Spending money on designer baby clothes is just throwing your money away," she pointed informed Brooke. "Babies grow so fast he'll be too big for that next week."
The others in the room winced at Karen's tone but Brooke just smiled at the older woman. "Then it's a good thing I have lots of money to waste," she calmly replied, as she rubbed her check against the baby's downy soft hair.
She refused to get caught up in Karen's wrath on a holiday. Every family event she'd experienced as a child was marred by her parent's constant bickering. Even though Karen's attacks seemed to be getting worse, Brooke refused to spoil the day for everyone else. As she was holding Little Luke, she was sure negative energy would affect his holiday.
They were spared further conversation as Dan and Lucas walked in from the garage, lugging two suitcases behind them. "We survived," Dan solemnly informed the group, moving so that his parents could get out of the cold garage. The drive home had been torturous, with his mother trying to force conversation with Lucas and his father criticizing Luke for his lackluster responses.
May walked in, scanned the room and headed straight for Brooke, who still held Caleb. "Is that my new grandson?" she asked, carefully taking the baby from Brooke's protective arms.
"Well, he's certainly not mine," Brooke replied, laughing as Caleb's chubby little arm reached back for her. She grabbed his little hand and made cooing sounds at him as his grandparents admired him for the first time. Keith wrapped his arms around Anna as the both gazed at their son straining to get back to his godmother. It was like the baby subconsciously gravitated to Brooke.
"He's beautiful, Keith," May told her oldest son, pleased to see how happy her oldest was with his new family. "And he's got those famous Scott blue eyes. Just like Lucas." Her words meant to draw attention to the similarities between her aloof grandson and the rest of his gene pool. Luke's shoulders tensed up at her words and he unconsciously hedged away from the group.
Roy, Dan, and Nathan stood at the edge of the kitchen and watched the cacophony of noise that emanated from the group. "Is Brooke the slutty girlfriend that Karen talked about?" Roy asked Nathan and Dan.
Nathan glanced over at Karen, trying to mask the anger he felt. "Did she say that?" he demanded. "You'd be pray that Lucas didn't over hear you say that. He'd punch your lights out and I can't say that I'd blame him." Nathan could handle some of Karen's attitude toward Brooke, but calling her a slut was unacceptable.
Trying to placate his grandson, Roy put his hand on Nate's shoulder. "I'm just surprised that Karen has such a low opinion of Brooke. She's a good girl, if somewhat wild," Roy replied. Brooke had been a fixture at the Scott house for years and Roy was fond of her.
"Karen feels that Brooke is tempting Lucas to the dark side with her feminine ways," Dan quietly said, not wanting to start another fight when dinner was in reached. "She's just upset that he's not listening to her any more."
Roy rolled his eyes at Dan's word. "Please. If anything, it's lack of an authority figure in the boy's life that's causing the problems," Roy said, raising his eyebrows in Dan's general direction. "You need to lower the boom on the boy and snap him back into line."
Dan pointedly ignored most of what his father said. It was easier that way. "Let's just go eat and try not to kill each other before the pumpkin pie." He herded his father to the table, praying that no one came to blows. Lucas was spoiling for a fight and Karen desperately needed to avoid anything that could negatively impact her blood pressure.
Dan and Keith passed around plates of desserts, both grateful that dinner had been mostly uneventful. Other than Luke's taciturn disposition and Brooke's overly chatty nature, things were fairly normal for a Scott family get together.
"All finished," Brooke said, as she and Anna reappeared from the den. She carried Caleb close to her chest, relishing the warmth of his tiny body. Anna reluctantly took the baby from her and sat down with Keith. "Brooke just changed her first diaper with great flair," she announced to the group. Anna was secretly thrilled that Brooke had turned out to have such a strong maternal instinct.
"Better you than me," Nathan replied, wrinkle his nose in distaste. He hoped that his dad realized that he was not playing nursemaid when the baby came. Haley laughed at his reaction, herself a veteran of changing many messy diapers from her nieces and nephews.
"I can't wait to have a horde of babies," Brooke happily replied. "I'm going to be a stay at home mom who spends all day mired in crayons and paste." She'd never really considered being a mom for a career but now that she'd found love with Lucas, it was easier to envision a happy family life in the future.
Haley saw the look of sheer panic in Karen's eyes. "She means after we graduate college and are old and wrinkly," Haley explained, drawing the attention of the rest of the family. Brooke laughed at Haley and Karen. "Not now," she affirmed. "That would put a serious crimp in cheerleading."
Lucas played around with his pecan pie, wishing that this night would end. It wasn't so much the tension between him and Karen that was driving him insane as the noise of so many people in one room. Most of his family holidays consisted himself and his mom, with Keith and Haley thrown in on occasion. Lucas had no experience with multigenerational families and the addition of so many different people was slightly freaking him out.
Keith felt like kicking Karen under the table. He could feel her blood pressure going up from across the room. When Anna had first suggested that Karen was out to get the girl, he thought she was being a bit melodramatic. But lately, he'd noticed the snide little comments that Karen would make around her. It was completely out of character for her to be so harsh to another human being. Keith understood that Karen was reacting badly to Luke's rebellion but he also saw that Brooke was taking the brunt of her exhaustion and frustration with her son.
May reached over to take Caleb from Anna so she could finish eating. "I think all babies born to happy couples are a wonderful addition to the family," she declared. She wanted to say married couples, but that would have alienated Lucas. She was old fashioned enough to know marriage helped families survive. She was thrilled that Dan and Karen were doing the right thing and getting married. Of course, it was 16 years too late, in her humble opinion, but that just showed that everything that was meant to be eventually happened.
Roy leaned over and took a good look at the baby. He wasn't very good with children. He'd left most of the child rearing to May over the years. "It's good that we are getting a new generation of Scotts," Roy beamed, proud to be the patriarch of such a fine family. He glanced over and saw Lucas roll his eyes at his grandfather's words. "And you, young man, need to learn some respect for your elders."
Tossing his pie aside, Lucas turned to face the older man. "Maybe it's hard to appreciate something you've had," he retorted. He'd fought all day to remain silence, least he get grounded yet again. But Roy seemed intent to force Luke to submit to his so called authority.
Sighing, Karen shot Roy a look before turning to her son. "Lucas, it's not your grandfather's fault about the past. You need to try to be more polite around your family."
Sensing that Lucas was at the end of his rope, Dan quickly sought to end any argument before it began. "Brooke, I saw your stepfather this morning. I guess your family canceled their trip?" he asked. As long as he'd known Brooke's mother, she'd always found a reason to leave the state for a few weeks each month. Holidays were another excuse for her to travel, so Dan was shocked to see her new husband and stepson in town.
Startled, Brooke dropped her fork, desert forgotten. "I didn't know they were in town," she shakily replied. Anna looked over at her, concerned at the sudden change she saw in Brooke's face.
"I saw them on the golf course early this morning. They were playing the round in front of me," Dan explained. "They told me they'd be in town for a few days waiting for your mother to return to town."
Brooke took a steadying breath, focusing on not passing out. Anna, worried about her ashen completion, move over next to the girl. "Brooke does this mean that something is wrong?" she asked, suddenly realizing that Lucas, Nathan and Haley all seemed upset as well. Anna started putting what few pieces of the puzzle she had together. Brooke and her friends were concerned that her step-father was in town. He planned on being home while her mother was out of town. That didn't bode well if he was abusing her, Anna thought.
Lucas moved next to Brooke, holding her hand and murmuring soothing words in her ear, conscious of the people around them. He wasn't sure why J.J. was back in town. After the last smack down he'd received from Luke and Nate, they didn't think he'd go anywhere near Brooke again.
Roy took in the mild chaos around him. "What's any of this got to do with us? It's her family not ours," he said to no one particular around him. Dan was alarmed at the change in the kids' mood. They all seemed overly concerned about Brooke, when minutes before they'd been eating and relaxing.
Brooke shakily stood up. "I need to run to the powder room for a moment," she calmly replied, taking advantage of the space the others gave her. Most men didn't like to bother a lady in the bath room. Making sure that no one in the room followed her, she grabbed her purse and keys and slipped out the front door. All she needed to protect her was the gun she kept in her bedroom.
Okay, first, I apologize for getting so many awesome replies last time and not posting sooner. I really appreciate the feedback and it really makes me want to finish the story. Second, I passed my big certification test, so all is right with the world, except my job, LOL. But that's easily remedied. It took me a week to post this because I'm not happy with it. I think you can lose your ability to write, or more like fall out of shape with writing. Nothing seemed right with the story, but what can you do? The next chapter should be fairly gutwrenching and hopefully, it will make many of you happy. There are a lot of little things I put in chapters that make sense in later chapters. Or maybe I'm the only one who notices stuff like that. But there was a purpose for this chapter in my mind. Thanks for reading and replying and to Stagediva, whose pm's and reviews make me want to be faster with my with my writing.