A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese!
Disclaimer: Don't own OTH
Chapter Twenty Six
As the days passed, there was still no word about Nathan finding Haley. Every time he and Agent Hargrove had gotten close to the location, Carrie and her men would move Haley to another one. Nathan was getting frustrated, but he was determined to find his wife before Carrie would force her to deliver the baby.
Meanwhile, Brooke sought help for her nightmares. She was soon diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and started to go to counseling. She then poured out some secrets that she had been hiding from Lucas. He had been surprised when he found out that she was still hesitant to trust him because of Dan and Nathan's betrayal. He then assured her that he and Dan were two different people and he would never hurt her. Brooke then could see that he was telling the truth.
After Brooke started to go to counseling, her nightmares slowly began to disappear. Even though she still was worried about Haley and her nephew, she was able to keep it together. She distracted herself by getting ready for her own baby.
Both she and Lucas were disappointed when Dr. Copeland told them that they wouldn't be able to tell the sex earlier than usual. They would have to wait a few more weeks for a clear picture. While they anxiously waited for that appointment, they worked on figuring out the perfect middle name for their son and a girl's name just in case they would find out that they were going to have a daughter instead of a son.
"We shouldn't have to worry about figuring out a girl's name," Lucas told Brooke as they sat down on the couch one evening. "It's going to be a boy. The signs all point to us having a boy. Just look at the way your belly is. If it's down low, it's going to be a boy."
Brooke gave him a look. "Even if we are having a boy, we still should have a middle name for him," she pointed out. "And what if the doctor is wrong and we end up having a girl? I know there have been cases where the doctor got the sonogram wrong."
Lucas frowned as he asked, "How could that happen?"
Brooke didn't know how to explain it. "I just want to be prepared, just in case," she replied. "So do you have any suggestions for our daughter's name?"
Lucas thought for a moment before answering. "How about Elizabeth, after your real name?"
Brooke smiled gratefully at him. "As much as I love that name, I would rather put that name in the past. After all, I'm Brooke Penelope Davis-Scott now. Well, I'm planning to be after I change my name. It felt weird to get married as Brooke Davis even though I haven't changed it yet."
"I'm just glad that we haven't gotten our marriage license yet," Lucas replied. "That would be too confusing." He then changed the subject back to what they were originally talking about. "What about you? What do you think we should name our daughter?"
Brooke thought for a moment. "I don't know. I've been playing around with a few names, but I haven't decided on which one sounds right."
"Hopefully, we won't need that list until we have our second child," Lucas replied.
Brooke laughed. "You're already talking about our second baby when we haven't even had our first baby yet."
Lucas frowned. "I thought that you wanted a big family since you ended up an only child."
Brooke knew that was true. "Yes, I do. I just think that we should talk about our first baby and taking care of him or her before we start to expand our little family."
Before Lucas could reply, they heard a knock at the door. Lucas got up from the couch and walked up to the door. He pulled it open and was surprised to see his mother standing there, looking concerned. "Mom, what's wrong?" he asked her as he let her in. "It isn't Haley, is it?" he asked as Brooke came into the front hall.
His mother didn't answer for a moment. "I'm not sure yet," she said with a slight frown. Lucas and Brooke gave her confused looks. "You see, your father has escaped from prison." Before Lucas could say a word, Deb continued. "And the police believe that he might be trying to find Carrie to help save Haley."
Lucas couldn't believe his ears. "Are you kidding me? He probably wants to finish off the job before he goes after Brooke."
Brooke had a different opinion. "I don't think so," she replied. "During the kidnapping, he had very specific instructions for his men not to harm Haley because she was pregnant. He really didn't want to hurt his grandchild. Besides, I've never seen him and Carrie that friendly with each other."
"Well, maybe he started having an affair with her after you left. After all, he did it with Rachel," Lucas reminded her.
Brooke gave him a look. "You really don't like to give him the benefit of the doubt, do you? Why aren't you willing to give him a second chance? You gave me one. Not to mention Peyton and Nathan."
Lucas knew that she had a point. "That's different. I thought they deserved second chances. Dan doesn't. I gave him plenty of chances to show me that he has changed. And he blew them all."
"That may be true, but I still don't believe that he would go after Haley or Brooke for revenge," Deb said. "He knows that what he did is unforgivable and is willing to pay for it. I just wish I could say the same for Cooper and the rest of those bastards that worked for him."
Lucas sighed. It seemed that everyone around him believed that his so called father had changed his evil ways. He had spent all his life hating Dan for being there for Nathan, but not for him. He didn't believe that he should give him another chance. "I hope you two are right. Because I'm going to be pissed off if anything happens to Haley or my nephew before his birth," he finally replied.
Miles away, Haley was thinking of Nathan when she heard someone unlocking the door to her prison. She didn't have to guess to know who was entering the room. She knew that it was Carrie. It was always Carrie, whether she was bringing food for her or doing the weekly check ups of the baby.
She had been relieved when she found out that Deb, Brooke and Rachel had been rescued from the fire. Carrie had been annoyed, but she wasn't really bothered by it. She was more focused on making sure that they weren't going to be found by Nathan.
Haley hated the way that she was kept restrained. She was lying on a hospital bed with her wrists and ankles tied to the bed. She was also gagged. The only time Carrie would tear the tape off or remove the restraints was meal times. She was relieved that Carrie would leave her alone when she did. She really didn't want to listen to her taunts about how she was planning to raise her son. She got enough of that during her visits when she wanted to check on the baby's progress.
Haley just glared at Carrie as she walked into the room and over to the bed. She hated the possibility that her son would be raised by this psycho bitch. She wasn't looking forward to the day that Carrie would decide to operate on her. She hoped with all her heart that Nathan would come and rescue her before that day. He had been so close a few times, but that was before Carrie's men would find out that he was hot on their trail.
Carrie rolled her eyes as she noticed the furious look on her prisoner's face. "Don't give me that, Haley. I'm letting you eat." There was then a short pause before she spoke again. "Ok, it may be all for my son, but you should still be grateful. After all, there are other things that I could be doing to you right now." She put the tray down on the bed before she pulled the tape from Haley's mouth, ready to hear what her prisoner had to say this time.
Haley raised her eyebrows. "Is that really supposed to intimidate me? Or make me stress out so that you would have to operate on me? Because you are going to have to do better than that."
"Haley, why would I want to stress you out before it's time for your surgery?" Carrie asked her sweetly as she started to pull off the arm restraints. "You are only twenty weeks. You still have a few more weeks to go before that date."
"You do know that even if you do try the surgery early, there is a chance that the baby might not make it," Haley reminded her. "Do you really want to take that risk?" she asked her.
Carrie was quiet for a moment before she left the room. She then locked the door behind her. She didn't want to admit it but Haley was right. She had to do the surgery closer to Haley's due date or risk losing the baby. However, she couldn't let anybody get in the way.
She walked past Nick, who was on guard duty, and went to find Owen and Xavier. She went down the stairs and found them in the family room. Xavier was watching television while Owen just hanging up the phone. "You two look bored. It's a good thing that I have another job for both of you."
Owen and Xavier turned to her, interested to hear more. "What do you have in mind?" Owen asked her.
"As much as I love Nathan, I'm afraid that he will have to be eliminated," Carrie told them. "I can't risk him or anybody else rescuing her before her due date. So I want you and Xavier go and make sure that Nathan stays away permanently."
"What about the rest of her family? Surely, they aren't going to sit back and do nothing while Haley is missing, are they?" Jason asked from the doorway.
Owen just smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem. I just got off the phone with Julian Baker. He told me that he and Ian just got out of jail and are ready for some revenge on the Scott family. I told them that I would be happy to help give them some."
