It had been a week since Brooke first got sick and she felt better...well, except for the nausea. That just didn't seem to go away. And so, there she was throwing up, yet again, at six in the morning.
Lucas heard her and got up to get her a glass of water. This was becoming routine.
"Babe, I'm worried about you." He said softly.
"I know." She sighed, "I'll go to the doctor tomorrow. I have too many meetings today."
He nodded and handed her the water, "Are you well enough to still be able go to dinner after work?" He was worried this would yet again stall his proposal plans.
She smiled, "I'd kiss you, but I'm gross." She said with a smirk, "And of course I'm well enough for dinner."
Lucas was taking her to a new restaurant downtown. One that she had been wanting to go to for a while now.
"Are you sure Sam can't come with us?" Brooke asked. As much as Brooke loved date nights, she also loved taking Sam with them to dinners and parties. She cherished the time they spent with her little heathen and not to mention, she thought Sam looked absolutely cute when she dressed up.
Lucas rolled his eyes, "For the millionth time. No. Sam can't come. We haven't had a night out to ourselves in a while."
Oh yeah, and Sam had to be home to prepare for his proposal. Minor details that Brooke did not need to know at the moment.
"You're right. You're right." Brooke said to appease him.
Once dressed, Lucas made his way into Sam's room to wake her up. Lately, she had been waking up just in time to get ready and catch the bus, or a ride with Lucas. But Lucas wanted her to be ready earlier today.
He opened up the blinds first, "Rise and shine!"
He heard a moan and knew his teenager was starting to wake up. He went and fought the hands that clawed at the sheets he was pulling off her.
Sam changed tactics and went for cute.
"Daddy." She said in a sleepy whine.
Lucas melted at the little voice, but knew she was trying to play him.
"Hi baby. Happy Friday." He cooed, matching her own sweet disposition.
Sam smiled to herself thinking he'd leave her now, but sighed heavily as she felt Lucas lift her into a sitting position.
"It's time to get up. I think your mother misses you, and is dying to take you to dinner with us. Wake up and have breakfast with us so she won't force me into making you come or something."
Sam rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, "Damn, I hate the sun." She groaned.
Lucas laughed lightly and kissed her forehead, "And it hates you too vampire. Get ready, and be down for breakfast."
She nodded sleepily, "Only 'cause I don't want mom to ruin her own proposal by dragging me to dinner."
The father got up, "That's the spirit!" He said walking out of her room and closing the door.
Brooke smiled widely when she saw Sam come down early.
"Morning little one."
Sam walked over and kissed her mom on the cheek, "Morning mom."
She poured herself some coffee and added her typical erroneous amount of milk and sugar.
Seeing that Sam was eating breakfast with them, Brooke put aside her phone, from where she was sending off emails.
"What're you up to today?" She asked her daughter.
Sam tried hard not to smile and ruin the secret, so she acted nonchalant. "Nothing special. Just school and maybe hang out here with Liz and Manny. Jack might come over too, if that's okay."
Lucas squeezed his fork but couldn't say anything because Brooke gave her the okay.
"As long as the rest of your friends are here with you." Brooke told her.
Sam rolled her eyes, "You guys weren't like this about him before." The girl mumbled taking a bite of toast, and looking rather miserable in typical teenage fashion, "We're not gonna do anything!"
Lucas always hated when Sam brought Jack up like this. "Well things change Sam. Let's not get into this right now?" He raised his eyebrow as if to say, no fighting allowed today.
Sam sighed but dropped it. Today was supposed to be a good day, after all. She looked at her mom and noticed she wasn't eating anything, "You're not hungry?"
Brooke shook her head, "I don't want to get nauseous again. I'd rather not risk it."
Sam frowned, "Mama, please go to the doctor." She hated that her mom was being stubborn, "If it was me you would've taken me ages ago!"
Brooke could see her daughter was set to work herself up. She put a hand on Sam's arm to calm her, "I'm going tomorrow peanut. I promise."
Lucas agreed, "I'll make sure of it." He affirmed, "Don't worry champ. She's in good hands." He winked at Brooke.
"Yours or the doctors?" Brooke asked too sultrily for Sam's taste.
"Aaaand that effectively ruined my appetite." The teen groaned pushing her toast away from her.
The parents just laughed.
Once at school Sam made a beeline to Haley's classroom.
"Hey Aunt Hales!"
Haley looked up from the papers she was grading and was happy to see a joyful smile on Sam.
"Hey sweetheart. You're early. Class doesn't start for another twenty minutes."
Sam took the liberty of closing Haley's door and locking it.
Haley rose an eyebrow, "Why'd you do that?"
"It's a secret, and I don't want anyone to hear. It's about mom and dad."
Haley nodded. obviously anything regarding Brooke Davis's personal life was better kept under wraps than in the limelight.
"Okay. What's up?"
"Has dad told you his plans about tonight?"
Haley smiled widely, "He has. I'm just waiting for Brooke's message after it happens so we can finally celebrate those two stubborn people you call parents, finally deciding to get married."
Sam laughed, "Well geez, Aunt Haley. Tell us how you really feel."
"I just did." Haley pointed out.
Sam rolled her eyes, "It's a saying." Sam said and Haley just blinked blankly at her. The girl could tell it went right over Haley's head, "Nevermind. It doesn't matter. I wanted to ask you a favor though."
"Okay, shoot!"
"I, um, just wanna give them you know some quality time and wanted to know if I could go over to your house after dad proposes. I'm sure they'd like to be alone after that."
"Oh God. Please don't paint a mental picture of your parents!" Haley said covering her eyes dramatically.
"I'm not!" Sam laughed, "I'm just saying, I'm sure they'd enjoy a child free zone."
"Alright. Alright. Well, Nate can pick you up. Just text him when and he'll be there." Haley knew the girl had a point anyway. Her best friends married, who would've thought?!
… …. ….
"Did you enjoy dinner babe?" Lucas asked Brooke on their way back home. Lucas was anxious to get the proposal done, but had noticed that Brooke was a little more than preoccupied in her thoughts during dinner, and he couldn't' figure out why.
"It was great Luke." She said looking out the window.
Lucas turned to her longingly and then back at the road, feeling nerves clamber up his body.
"Is there something wrong?" He finally asked once they were at their driveway. He wasn't sure if he should go through with it the way Brooke was acting. He was saddened at the thought of having to wait any longer. He also knew Sam would be really bummed about it too.
Brooke undid her seatbelt and opened the car door, "Let's talk about it inside."
Lucas felt his stomach flop. This night was definitely not going as planned, but as he saw her making his way in he quickly followed. He needed to lead before she went in search of Sam or something and ruin the surprise for herself by going downstairs before he got to her….If the surprise was even still in the cards, of course.
Lucas managed to grab her arm gently in the living room. "Babe tell me what's wrong. You seem so upset tonight."
Brooke bit her lip, "Lucas. I'm not, I'm not upset...I'm worried."
"What is it?" He searched her eyes for answers, and felt himself grow more and more anxious.
"I went to the doctors today because of the nausea."
Lucas could feel his heart rate increase. Oh no. Was she diagnosed with something? He was ready to pour out tears at the thought of Brooke having something seriously wrong with her.
He grabbed her hand, "What is it baby? What's wrong?"
"Luke, I'm, I mean not me, we...we're...we're pregnant."
She finally had said it out loud. When the doctor had told her she stayed in a daze. She couldn't believe she was pregnant. She was on birth control. They weren't trying. They had Sam. Sammy was their baby. She still needed so much of them, right? Or was Brooke holding on too hard to her? She just, I mean, a baby? They had skipped all of that with Sam. It was all so new. But of course, a baby was always in the cards for them. They had talked about it. It was just supposed to happen later. They wanted a baby a year into their marriage. Not now. Not now at all. She looked up to see Lucas's reaction.
"We're," His throat felt dry, "We, we are? But we weren't, we weren't trying."
"Birth control isn't full proof. Are we, do we want this right now?"
Lucas had tears in his eyes. he wiped them away and shook his head a little then looked at Brooke and took her hand, "Come here."
Brooke felt whiplash at the sudden change in pace, "Why are we going downstairs?" SHe asked confused, "Luke did you not hear what I just told you? There's a baby forming in my stomach! Where the hell are you taking me right now?!"
He chuckled a little, "It's a surprise. Shhh."
"Are you crazy right now Luke?!" Brooke asked a seemingly determined Lucas.
Sam could hear Brooke fighting against Lucas as they went downstairs. She poised herself to start playing, as she waited for the door to open.
The moment Lucas opened the door Brooke's heart skipped a beat and the questioning died on her lips. Surrounding her, were photographs hanging all around the dimly lit room. Photographs of her and Lucas as teenagers, and of them now, and others of them and Sam. She looked to the piano and saw her daughter in a black dress, with her hair in soft curls that fell at her sides. It was as if she were at a recital playing none other than the song at the showcase.
"Sammy." The woman's voice broke.
Sam hid her smile as she kept playing. Brooke felt Lucas grab her hand. "Look around babe." Lucas said in a soft tone.
"Where did you find all these/" She touched the pictures surrounding her. It was all so beautiful. A flash flood of the past came to Brooke's mind. She was reliving it all as she saw the snapshots in time in front of her.
"Our friends." He watched as Brooke looked over each picture.
"Lucas." Her voice was breathless and she put a hand to her heart.
Brooke could hear her daughter on piano. She could see the pictures all around her. She felt her heart swell with overwhelming emotions. She was so enthralled that she didn't notice Sam slip out of the room once her playing had finished. She turned to find Lucas right behind her.
"I love you Brooke Davis. I wanna be with you."
He went over and grabbed her hand.
"I love you because you kink your eyebrow when you're trying to be cute. Because you quote Camus, even though I've never actually seen you read. Because you miss your parents, but you'll never admit that."
She recognized this. She recognized his words as the ones all those years ago, back in high school, as they stood in the pouring rain and he admitted his love. Standing here, now almost sixteen years later made it all seem so surreal. She had tears in her eyes, and wiped them, though they kept falling.
His smile grew slightly as he realized that she recognized where his words were coming from.
"I love you because of the way you've put our family first. I love you because you drop everything when Sam needs you. And, in typical mom fashion, sometimes I have to remind you that she's fourteen and not six, and sometimes you have to remind me of that too. But then we look at each other and wonder how the hell we made such an awesome kid. And I love you because you have consistently proven that you're willing to go to hell and back for the ones that you love. Brooke Davis, I can go on all night. But I'm going to say one last thing. I once said that you were gonna change the world one day. But I had no idea you were going to change my world, the world of the little girl who was just in here playing the piano, and-"
Lucas then pointed to her stomach, "-and the world of the little baby growing inside your stomach. We're pregnant Brooke, and I couldn't be any happier. Yes, we're ready for a baby."
"And we're ready for this too," He then dropped to one knee, "Will you marry me?"
Brooke put a hand to her mouth and stifled a quiet sob, "Yes, Luke, Yes."
Sam was by the door hearing the whole interaction. She heard her mother say yes, but, the girl's mind was racing too fast to hear what else was said after that. She was still on what her dad had just said before that.
Her mother was pregnant?...Really, really pregnant. She had heard her parents mention it before. But now it was real.
She backed away from the door and went back upstairs before her parents came out. She wanted to give them their alone time.
She was in a bit of a daze, but she grabbed her bag and headed outside to where Nathan was waiting for her. She made sure to leave a note in the kitchen and a text to her dad just in case.
Nathan watched as Sam came towards his car. He could tell something was a little off.
"Hey kid. How'd the surprise go? I'm hoping my bro didn't ruin it." Nate said playfully.
"He didn't." Sam said remembering to smile, "She said yes."
Nathan watched as her smile dissipated and she looked out the window.
"What's wrong? I thought you were gonna tell me the whole story."
Sam looked back at him, "We should probably go before mom and dad come outside."
He put the car in drive and left the driveway. She had a point.
"So am I gonna have to tickle this quiet out of you, or…?" Nate asked as they reached a red light. Sam chuckled, "I'm not sad. I'm just…" How could she explain her feelings?
"surprised."
"About the proposal?"
"Mom's pregnant." Sam blurted out, then regretted it, "Shit, that was probably a secret."
Nate felt a huge smile grow and he laughed, "Oh my god! Are you kidding me? This is HUGE! Sam you're gonna be a big sister! Oh my god!"
Sam smiled as she thought about being a sister. She guessed that'd be really cool, especially because the kid would be her real brother or sister, and not a temporary one. And it's not like Sam was sad. She just, well, wasn't sure how to react. These nine, almost ten, months had been just her and her parents. It was nice. And she figured at some point Lucas and Brooke would have another kid. She just didn't expect it to be so soon. But she was also a foster kid for all her life, and so she knew how to be a sister, how to share parents, how to share space, toys, love, etc. She knew all of this, for some reason though, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Sharing Brooke and Lucas would be new, but she wasn't against it.
It took Nate some time to stop gushing with excitement and for him to realize that Sam wasn't exactly as excited. Once they got to their driveway, he looked at her, "How're you feeling about it?"
"I don't know." She answered truthfully with a shrug, "I'm excited for them. Mom and dad, they've wanted this, you know? And I'm not mad or anything. But it's just gonna be a little weird. But I'm happy for them, and I guess it will be really cool to have a real brother or sister."
Nate gave her a sympathetic smile, "It's okay to feel a little nervous now. And it might be hard at first. Kids cry so much when their babies." He remembered a crying Jamie. oh, God that was horrible. "But it'll be great once you get used to it."
Sam nodded, "Yeah, I know. I just hope they don't go into full out worried mode when they tell me."
Nate chuckled, "Worried mode?"
"Yeah, you know, asking me if I'm okay, and how I feel about it, and if I'm jealous or scared or something."
Nate undid his seatbelt, "Well they're your parents, so worried mode is always on." He winked at her.
"Uncle Nate, can you not tell aunt Haley? I think it was supposed to be a secret."
"You got it Sam. Now come on, Jamie's dying to play some game with you."
… …. ….
"You're sure you're okay with this?" Luke asked the question once more in another way.
Sam rolled her eyes. Both her parents were sitting on the table in front of the couch and looking at her very intently. Worried mode.
They had told her the news about the baby, though of course she already knew, and she had told them that she was okay and was happy for them, but they just didn't seem to really take her word for it, which was driving her crazy.
"For the millionth time. I'm fine guys. It might take time getting used to a crying baby but, I'm happy. Really, don't worry."
Brooke frowned. She wasn't sure if she was sold on it, "Sam-"
Sam threw her hands onto the couch and leaned her head back in frustration, "Mom, please. I don't wanna talk about this anymore. It's cool! I don't know what else to say to make you guys believe me. I'm fourteen years old I'm not gonna cry and throw a tantrum because you and dad are bringing someone else into the family. This is a good thing."
The mother smiled, "So you're not even uneasy about this?"
Sam thought for a moment and shrugged, "I mean, it'll be different and I know that you're worried about me being jealous or something, and sure your attention's gonna be with the baby, but it's fine, really. I know you both love me, like, a lot. I don't want you guys to worry about me. Please? Can't you guys just be happy? Don't think about me and just be happy that you're finally having a baby!'
Lucas moved over and sat next to his child, "You're amazing, you know that?"
Sam chuckled, "Yeah, well you know, I try."
Hopefully, she had assured her parents enough. But Sam had a feeling her parents would be worried about this more than she'd like. This was going to be a long nine months. The girl thought.
… …. ...
Sam was up, dressed, and ready for the day before Brooke had even gotten the sleepiness out of her system.
The mother was staring longingly at her pot of coffee as Sam zipped down the stairs, "Mom, come on, Jack's waiting for me!"
Brooke took a deep breath, "Why don't you wake up this excited for school?"
Sam only shrugged and hopped up on the counter, "Shouldn't you stop drinking coffee?" She asked her mom as she watched her pour a cup. Brooke froze. Shit. Sam was right. She was already two months into her pregnancy as she had already been a month in when she found out and that was three weeks ago.
"This'll be my last one."
Sam swung her legs absentmindedly, "How 'bout you stop now." She attempted to take the cup away but Brooke was quicker, "No!" The mother said a tad too desperately.
Sam smirked, "Damn. Someone's a coffee addict."
"How's my little man doing?" Sam asked pointing to Brooke's stomach, making the mother roll her eyes.
"You don't know if the baby's a boy Sam."
"It's a boy. I feel it." Sam responded rather confidently.
"Whatever you say. But the baby is doing fine."
Brooke was so glad that Sam was taking the news of their baby just fine. She felt guilty for having underestimated their daughter so much. But even still, she was watching Sam more closely lately.
"Where's mine?" Sam asked pointing to Brooke's coffee.
Brooke moved and gave Sam an empty coffee cup, "You make it."
Sam pouted, "But you always make my coffee."
Well, it wasn't always but whenever Brooke was up before Sam, which was most of the time, she would make it for her.
Brooke looked over her shoulder before heading to her office, "Well next time don't try and take my coffee away from me."
Sam huffed but grabbed the cup and made her coffee. Five minutes later Sam hurried her mother along again.
"Mom! Hurry up!"
Brooke groaned, "Stop yelling Sam." She called.
Sam didn't hear her, "WHAT?"
"I said stop yelling!" Brooke yelled then let out a frustrated huff when she realized she was yelling too.
"Well you don't have to yell at me either." Sam said now standing in front of her mother's office nursing her own cup of coffee.
Brooke sighed and crossed the space towards her daughter. She was holding her bag and her sunglasses in one hand, "Alright, alright. Come on. Go get dad, he's outside. I'll wait for you in the car."
Sam nodded and made her way towards Lucas. The two adults were headed for a check up with Brooke's OB/GYN, and would drop Sam off with Jack before.
Sam was sitting outside of Jack's house. She hadn't knocked the door yet. Her parents had left as soon as she got out the car and she was happy about that because it'd give her a chance to think. Jack had been a little bit distant lately and Sam knew that it was because of all the college talk she was doing. It had been college week at Tree Hill High and Sam talked all about her future with Jack and Tamara that week and pressed him to think about his future too. Jack didn't particularly enjoy thinking about that.
She sighed and finally got the guts to knock on the door.
A few moments later Jack's foster mother opened the door.
"Hi Mrs. Lake."
"Hello Samantha. Jack's in his room, go on in."
Sam stepped in and took the well worn path to Jack's room. She didn't bother knocking and found him reading a book. It kinda surprised Sam.
"What're you reading?" She asked sitting next to him.
He shrugged and showed it to Sam.
"The Ultimate Mechanic's Manual?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"My real dad was a mechanic. I figure I can do that too."
Sam bit her lip. "Oh." She said quietly.
Jack sat up, "Sam, I'm not doing that college thing. I already said it."
Sam nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I know."
She had to remind herself that she was just a freshman and he was a sophomore. There was still time, and rather than argue about it she just wanted to spend time with him.
"Well do you wanna keep reading that or do something else?" She handed him the manual back and Jack just gave her a coy smile, "Do you remember when we used to steal for fun?"
Sam looked at him suspiciously, "Um, yeah. Why?"
He shrugged, "I dunno. I miss those days."
Sam was unsure as to why Jack was acting so funny.
"Don't you?" He asked her sitting up, "I guess I just miss the feeling of it being us against the world." He added.
Sam crossed her legs, "But I don't think I miss it. I think we're both in a better place."
He nodded, "Yeah, but you gotta admit the rush we felt when we'd run from the store parking lot. That was lots of fun."
They both laughed remembering those days but then Jack got more serious, "I didn't have to think about the future then. You know?"
Sam looked at him and thought about her words carefully, "You know Jack, it's not a bad thing to think about the future. It's probably more of a good thing than anything else."
He looked away and decided to get up off the bed. He wanted to say 'easy for you to say,' but thought against it. "Let's go grab some food, I'm hungry."
The pair had found themselves at the mall later on. They were walking around and they hit a Nordstrom. There were a pair of shoes that Tamara had mentioned and they were planning on putting in half of their money to give it to their friend as a surprise. Sam had offered to put in all of the money, but Jack was adamant to give half.
"Does she want the black or the red?" Jack asked holding the shoes up to Sam and saying it rather loudly as Sam had wandered off when she saw the portion of the store that carried her mother's clothing. Sam walked over and was looking at all the pieces. She smiled to herself as she ran a hand through the clothes, but looked up and over at Jack when she heard his voice, "What?" She also said loudly.
"BLACK OR RED?" He tried again.
Their loud voices were not overlooked by the employees. One of the sales associated quickly walked over, "Excuse me." She said with a stringent voice, "Please put the merchandise down." She told Jack.
He nodded, "'kay. L'emme just figure something out first."
"Now." The woman added.
Jack felt his blood boil. He knew this was happening because he didn't look like he belonged.
Sam heard the woman and quickly went over, "Hey we're gonna buy a pair m'am. He was just asking me which color we were gonna take."
The woman looked Sam and Jack up and down. The woman took a moment to size them up. She saw two kids. The boy who clearly needed a haircut, had on a loose flannel and a white tshirt. His shoes also looked like they could fall off his feet any second now. The girl, she looked familiar for some reason, but she couldn't figure out how. She was wearing tattered bracelets, gray shorts, and a faded black tshirt with the band Nirvana and their emblem across it. The girl looked to be wearing TOMS. She also noticed the girl was holding an expensive dress from the B. Davis collection.
She sighed figuring that though they were different from the other kids who roamed around the store, she couldn't single them out.
"I'm sorry." She forced out towards Jack, "Just making sure everything is okay and in order."
Jack just scoffed.
"Are you looking at that dress? Would you like to try it on?" The woman asked changing tactics as she addressed Sam. Though in her head she thought the girl would never be able to afford that dress.
Sam smirked. If only this lady knew that her mom was Brooke Davis. "Umm, nah. I just wanted to show it to my friend."
The woman eyed the satchel that Jack carried and wondered whether they were going to try and steal it.
"Those dresses just came in last week." She pointed to the dress, "It's the latest from our B. Davis collection. It's quite expensive though."
Sam looked at the dress price and shrugged her shoulders. Jack and her were about to have fun with this woman. They both silently decided.
"You're totally right. I can't afford it." Sam said.
Jack turned to her and squeezed the strap of his satchel, "Guess we're gonna have to sneak it away when you're not looking."
The woman frowned, "You shouldn't say that to someone who works here."
"It's a joke lady chill. Can we go back to shopping now?" He asked.
The woman pointed to the dress, "Will you be needing it? I can put it back for you" Without a beat she continued, "Also, the more lower priced pieces from the same collection are just on the other side."
Sam bit her tongue from reaming the woman, "No, I wanna hold onto this dress for now. I think I just wanna try it on. You know, a girl can dream."
Actually, Sam had remembered her mom asking her about this dress when it was in the design stage and she wanted to show it to Jack and point that out.
The woman looked unsure as she stared at Sam, "Well enjoy the rest of your time here. I'll be ready to ring you up for the shoes whenever." She smiled not so sweetly at them.
"Screw you too!" Jack yelled when the woman walked away.
The woman turned around, fury creeping up in her eyes, "Ex-CUSE me?"
Sam elbowed him in the side. "Jack, shut up! Just leave it." She looked at the woman with the most innocent face she could muster, "Sorry! He didn't mean that. It was, it was a joke."
The sales associate only huffed and stalked off.
Jack ran a hand through his hair, "You shoulda told her the truth about Brooke. Why do you even have your mom's dress?"
Sam laughed, "I wanted to show it to you. She asked me about the color, and she took my opinion. I thought that was pretty cool."
Jack grabbed the dress, "Yeah that is pretty cool. Where was the dress? I'll put it back."
Sam pointed and watched him off, leaving her to decide on whether Tamara would like the red or black shoes more. She gave Jack one more glance. After choosing the red pair of shoes she decided to hit the restroom before paying.
Jack got to the rack and was putting the dress on the hanger. He looked at the price and his breath was taken away. $250 for a dress?! Brooke was crazy. This wasn't even her boutique stuff!
Thoughts started to swirl around his head. He bet that the dumb sales associate probably thought he was scum with no future. That's what everybody thought of Jack. Always a screw up. He'd probably never be able to afford a B. Davis original for his girlfriend or wife in the future.
"You fuck up." The almost 16 year old whispered to himself.
And suddenly, everything hit him right there.
He was going to be a junior in high school next year. He didn't take the PSAT's this year and was certainly not ready for any sort of college entrance exams for next year. His grades had been C's mostly, with some D's. That wasn't college material. He wasn't smart. He tightened his hold on the material of the dress. He looked over and saw that Sam wasn't there anymore. He noticed the security piece on the dress. He moved to where he was more hidden, took out his pocket knife and successfully took it off.
"That bitchy woman deserves it." He told himself.
He then stuffed it in his bag and walked back to where the shoes were and called Sam to see where she was.
Why did he do it? Impulse, really. He could do this. He could steal. The feeling of getting away with it was awesome. His life was heading nowhere and he had to watch as Sam, the girl he could say he cared for deeply was heading somewhere that he could never get to. They weren't meant for each other. She would outgrow him. He wasn't in control of that. But taking this dress? He was in control of that. Beating the system. Beating the rich people who judged. That felt great.
Jack and Sam had payed for the shoes and were heading out, luckily they weren't checked out by the same woman they had dealt with earlier.
Sam was talking quickly about what movie they should watch but Jack's mind was elsewhere. They crossed the doors but froze when the alarm rang as they crossed. Jack had missed another hidden security device on the dress.
"What the hell?" Sam said.
The same woman who had confronted them looked from her place, "I knew it!" She said heading their way. She pressed a button and called for security.
"We didn't take anything!" Sam insisted as the woman came their way.
Sam felt Jack grab her arm.
"I stole the dress." He said point blank.
"What?" Sam felt her heart drop. Shit. Had Jack really stolen something? Securit was coming their way.
Sam looked at him, "We have to run!"
Instincts came back to them and they booked it quickly. Running and passing through people, while crashing into others.
"HEY! COME BACK!" They heard a booming voice yell. Security was behind them for sure.
Sam and Jack ran and ran without looking back. They turned a corner and it seemed like they had lost the guard. They went into a family bathroom and Sam turned a hard stare at Jack.
"What the hell were you thinking, you idiot!" She yelled at him, breathing hard.
Jack swallowed hard, "I don't know alright. I just wanted to do it. That bitch deserved it."
Sam gave him a look of disbelief. What was wrong with him?
"Jack what the fuck? This is serious! We're not little kids anymore. We can get in serious trouble!"
He rolled his eyes, "So what Sam! It's not like it matters!"
Sam didn't know how to react, "What? Of course it matters!"
Jack just glared at her. Sam felt exasperated and her heart was still beating at a thousand miles an hour. This wasn't funny anymore.
She took the bag in Jack's hands and looked in, "God Jack, what the hell is wrong with you today?"
But Jack didn't get a chance to answer because a security guard opened up the door, "You two move and you'll be in bigger trouble. Is that understood?"
Both shook their heads frozen in the spot they were in. He saw the bag in Sam's hands and the girl noticed him staring at it.
"I stole it!" She admitted without a thought of the consequences for her. She knew if any one of them got in serious trouble, she would have better luck. After all, she had Brooke and Lucas. Even if they did kill her for this. She'd take it if it meant protecting Jack (even if he was acting stupid).
Jack shook his head, "What, no she didn't."
Sam spoke more forcefully, "Yes I did! Look I wanted the dress. You can ask the sales lady. My friend didn't know until the alarm rang. He ran because I told him too. Please let him go."
Jack looked at Sam and realized what she was doing. The security guard stared them down, "I don't really care. Both of you are comin' with me. We'll figure this out in a bit."
… … …
Brooke and Lucas were in the waiting room of the doctor's office. They had gotten there earlier but her OB/GYN was called in for an emergency. Since they didn't have much else planned they went home and returned a few hours later. It was then that Lucas received a call from a strange number. He picked it up and Brooke saw his features harden and his knuckles tighten.
"Luke, what's wrong? Is it Sam?" The now worried mother asked.
He nodded to her and continued listening to the conversation. Brooke lept looking on.
"She's where? Okay. Yes, I'll be there in half an hour. Thank you, and I'm so sorry."
He hung up the phone and could tell Brooke was anxious to hear what happened.
"Shoplifting at the mall. In a Nordstrom apparently." Lucas said in disbelief himself.
Brooke's eyes couldn't have gotten any bigger, "Are you fucking with me?"
He shook his head sadly, " I wish. I'll go."
"No, we both have to go."
He put a hand on her arm, "Babe, you know how hard it is to get an appointment with your doctor on the weekends, and your weeks are way to busy to try and schedule one in. You need to do this now. I'll come back with the thief in hand. I promise."
"Not a time for jokes, Lucas." Brooke said rather upset. How could her daughter have shoplifted, and at a damn Nordstrom?! Clothes. Fucking Clothes. She made clothes for a living! She shook her head with frustration.
Lucas stood up, "I'll be back, and hopefully quick. They said they'd fine us."
"Go Lucas." Brooke insisted, "Just go get her, and don't kill her before I do."
He sighed before leaning over and giving her a kiss to then make his way out.
Brooke slumped herself down in the chair. She felt anger course her veins as she thought of how stupid Sam's actions were. She was dead. That was it. Dead.
…. …. ...
Jack and Sam were now sitting in what was probably mall jail waiting on their parents. Sam kept saying she stole the dress, and Jack kept saying he did it. It didn't matter to the security, as they were both being fined for shoplifting, but it would definitely matter to the parents.
"Sam, my parents can't pay this fine." He whispered.
"Then let me fall for it." She insisted, "We can go over and beg for this and get them to believe us. Let me fall for it Jack. Please." She was desperate.
"No." Came his harsh whisper, "I stole it Sam. You had nothing to do with this."
They watched the smug sales associate make her way into the room, "You little thieves. I knew I should've trusted my gut."
Sam scowled at her and mumbled out a "bitch" that the woman luckily didn't hear.
"I'm sure it was the girl who stole it." They heard the woman tell the guard.
Jack's eyes widened.
"No she didn't. I did!" Jack yelled.
"Let him go if I did it, then!" Sam responded.
Their answer simultaneous.
The guard was frustrated, "It was a two man job. That's it. Alright? I don't care what anyone says. That's what I'm considering it and I don't care what anyone says after this point."
"If I can't pay will I end up in juvie for this?" Jack asked.
"Yes." He answered, "You'll have to work that out at the court though.
Sam and Jack turned to each other, panic setting into their eyes.
The saleslady was folding the stolen dress back over, "You two are so lucky you're underage. I would've had you thrown in jail."
She turned to the guard, "Do you need me to stay for when their parents show up?"
Sam hoped to God the answer was no. If Brooke came and the sales lady recognized her as THE Brooke Davis she was sure it was going to turn into a spectacle. God, why was she such a screw up sometimes?
"Only if you'd like." The guard answered.
Before anything else could be said Lucas barged into the room.
Sam and Jack sat up when they heard the noise.
The first thing Luke did was laser his eyes furiously at the two teenagers. Both fidgeted under his gaze. He then looked at the two adults, "Hello sir. Hello ma'am." He shook their hands, "I'm Samantha's father."
Lucas saw the woman scoff and roll her eyes. He felt extremely apologetic for Sam's actions.
"I'm so sorry for this. I don't know what's gotten into her. But I can assure you, it won't happen again. What do I have to do to fix this?"
The guard spoke up, "I worked it out with Ms. Jeanine here, and she's agreed to only ask for the $2000 fine from both your daughter and the boy for the dress that they shoplifted. They are banned from this mall. We took pictures of them should they try and come in."
Lucas was in disbelief. This was his daughter. What was she doing acting like some sort of criminal?! He shook the shock off, "Yes. Okay we'll pay the fine." He looked at Ms. Jeanine, "Ma'am once more, I'm so sorry that my daughter and her friend did this."
The woman crossed her arms across her chest, "Yes well, as long as they don't step in here again then it'll be fine. That was a B. Davis newly released dress she tried to steal."
If Lucas wasn't angry before, he definitely was now. He felt his blood course through his veins as he turned and stared daggers at Sam. The girl's heartbeat quickened and she looked down and at her lap. Refusing to look at her father. Jack looked at Lucas, "Mr. Scott."
"You, be quiet!" He yelled, making Sam, and the other two adults in the room jump from surprise.
But Luke didn't care. All he wanted was to get to the bottom of Sam's senseless behavior. What had gotten into his daughter? He couldn't help but think this had to be a way of getting back at them for the baby. Why the fuck else would she steal one of her mother's dresses?
The guard was quickly finishing up what he was writing, "Here's the citation. You have to join her at the courthouse to either pay the fee, or try and argue it, though I wouldn't advise you to do that."
Lucas took it, "Thank you. Can I take her with me now?"
"Yes Mr. Scott. "
Lucas gave a short nod, apologized to Ms. Jeanine once more and turned towards Sam.
"Dad wait." She sounded desperate, "We can't leave Jack. let him come with us."
He grabbed her arm firmly, but gently, "No. We're leaving. His mother will come soon."
Sam pulled back, "No! Dad, please. Let him come with us. They said if they don't come in two hours they'll send him to juvie!"
Lucas looked over to the guard, surprised that they'd do that to the kid. The guard nodded his head in agreement with what Sam said, "You can't take him. It has to be a guardian. We can only hold them for a certain amount of time, afterwards they're sent to the juvenile detention but only until the parents pick them up. He'll just be in a holding cell, I assure you."
Though Lucas was angry, he could see the desperation on Sam's part and wanted her to calm down about it.
"Samantha, we can't take him. I'm not his guardian. I'm sorry."
Jack turned to her, "Sammy, I'll be alright."
"No you won't!" She insisted, "I'm waiting with you."
Lucas was taken aback, "No, you are not. We're leaving. Your mother is at the doctor's office. I had to leave her to come pick you up. Do you understand that? To pick you up for shoplifting. Now apologize to Ms. Jeanine and Mr. Ross here because we're leaving.
Sam would most definitely not apologize to them. Especially not to that woman. Unfortunately, she was far too emotional to restrain her thoughts, "Yeah right! Hell will freeze over before I apologize to that bitch." She looked at the woman.
Lucas had had enough. That was it.
His breath hitched for a second, and he closed his eyes for a moment., "Excuse us for one second. Is there somewhere I can talk to my daughter in private?" He asked them.
"I don't need to talk! Let me just stay with Jack!" He bent to her level and gave her a dangerous look, "Quiet Samantha." His voice was menacing.
The guard answered, "There's a room in the next hallway." Lucas took Sam's hand and walked quickly into the empty room, then closed the door.
Sam only realized then that she had took it too far. "Wha-what are you doing?" She asked nervously. But she didn't have much time to react because without saying anything else, and in one swift move, Lucas had her pulled close to his side, bent over, and tucked under his arm.
"No!" Sam cried and wiggled, knowing exactly what was coming.
He spanked her upturned bottom a total of five times.
"Ow!" Sam yelped and squirmed as his hand came down, "Ow! Dad!"
He stopped with one particularly hard swat that made the tears that were pricking at Sam's eyes fall down.
He righted her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but consider that a warning. The way you acted in there was beyond disrespectful. I would expect that out of a toddler Sam, not out of a teenager."
Sam was crying and wiping at her eyes and nose as her dad scolded her. Her tears were a mix of frustration with the whole situation, embarrassment, and a little bit from the pain.
"I know that you're worried about Jack, and I'm sorry he can't come with us, but my hands are tied. It's not up to us. Regardless, that still does not excuse your behavior."
He held her shoulders firmly and looked at her with a serious demeanor despite her tear stained face and runny nose.
"Now listen to me, you will go back in there and apologize. You will not have an attitude, and when we get home you, your mother, and I will be having a long talk about you and stealing. I'm so disappointed in you right now Samantha, for all of this."
Sam felt her heart thud. She hadn't even stolen anything! She became inconsolate at the thought of disappointing her father to the point of making him spank her and let the tears flow freely. She began to sob anew.
Lucas sighed. Had he been too harsh just now? As he walked with Sam to the room a few moments ago, he was confident in his decision, but seeing her like this now made him second guess his actions.
He pushed his insecurities away and focused on his child's current state.
The father softly pulled the sobbing girl in for a strong hug and then rubbed her back, "I need you to stop crying so you can go and apologize." He said more gently.
"Let's get you cleaned up." In typical Lucas fashion he brought his shirt up to Sam's face and cleaned her cheeks, eyes, and nose gently. He saw that there was a chair and had Sam sit down. She squirmed at the lingering sting on her bottom when she took a seat.
Lucas, having calmed down significantly after seeing his daughter cry so inconsolably was now staring at Sam whose head was looking at her lap and still had tears dripping down. She looked defeated, nervous...and sad. He wasn't sure why all her emotions were all over the place. Maybe it was the stress of being caught, but he didn't think that was the case. He had a feeling there was a lot of explaining to be done.
He bent at his knees and grabbed her hands in his, waiting for her to look at him. Her tears were now waning.
"I'll wait outside, okay?" He said looking at her and trying to read the emotions of his sniffling daughter, " I want you to calm down though. I'll give you a couple minutes."
Sam shook her head vehemently. She'd much rather him near her, "Stay here?" She squeaked.
Lucas nodded, "Okay." He stood up and waited by the door for Sam.
Lucas had to admit that he was also feeling relieved that Sam hadn't pushed her away after having given her that short, attitude adjustment. As upset as he was, it still would've stung to see Sam pull away from him for something like that. After all, Sam was still his baby. One of two babies now.
Lucas and Sam were back in the room fifteen minutes since they had left. Everyone could tell that Sam had been crying but didn't mention it.
Lucas had a hand on her back, "Go ahead and tell them what you need to."
Sam sighed and looked at the adults in front of her. The chubby guard and stick thin woman.
"I'm sorry for disrespecting you both just now. And for, umm, taking the dress. It was dumb and it won't happen again."
"I hope you learned your lesson." The guard added.
"Yes sir." Sam told him.
The woman only gave a curt nod. She didn't want to say what she was actually thinking. That would've just been rude.
Lucas asked for a final request. "Can we speak to the boy for a few minutes outside?"
The guard nodded. He really liked Lucas. He was so cooperative. Unlike other parents he had had to confront in the past.
Lucas took Sam's hand, "Come out here with us for a bit Jack."
The boy heeded quickly. Lucas made him nervous. And Lucas was of course, perfectly okay with that.
Lucas looked at both of the teenagers in front of him, "Jack, can your foster parents pay the fine?"
Jack hung his head in shame, "N-no Mr. Scott."
Lucas thought for a moment and could only respond with frustration, "Can one of you tell me what the hell you were thinking?" He looked at jack, "You're trying to date my daughter and you get into trouble like this? You think that's helping your case?"
"Dad!" Sam sounded helpless. Lucas looked at his kid and could see the anger rising in her eyes. He turned back to Jack, "Have your foster mother call me. We'll work something out with the fine. I don't want you in juvenile detention for this." Lucas looked at the kid for longer. "Go back in there now." He said his goodbyes and did so.
Lucas once more grabbed onto Sam's hand. His anger had subsided, now he was just upset and wanted answers.
"Let's go get your mom. Don't try and explain anything yet, but know your mother's not so pleased either young lady."
Sam gulped. Her mama was going to kill her.
… …. ….
Sam was sitting on the edge of the bed in her parent's bedroom. She couldn't understand why she had been sent there by her mother instead of her own room, but she wouldn't argue. Her bottom had already felt five very hard swats, and she did not want to feel anymore. She really didn't want that. Sam also knew that it was just as simple as telling them the truth. She didn't steal. Jack did. But she couldn't tell her father that. He already disliked Jack. She pouted to herself as she thought of what to do.
"Damn it Jack." She mumbled to herself.
She couldn't understand why he did it. As she thought about him she felt herself get emotional.
Brooke and Lucas came in moments later. Lucas took a seat on Brooke's vanity chair, pulling it closer to the bed. Sam watched her mother go into the closet then come out with the same type of dress that Jack had taken.
Oh Shit.
"You stole this dress." Her voice almost quivered, "My dress. You stole from me Samantha."
Sam looked to her dad.
"Look. At. Me." Brooke ordered.
Sam gingerly turned her gaze back towards her mother.
Brooke's voice was even, and angry.
"We've given you EVERYTHING. You ask for anything, and we give it to you. Your father and I are rich. You aren't missing out on anything. Yet you go out and steal like some common thief? I expect so much more from my daughter. You are not poor. You are not without clothes. You have two parents who love you and would do anything for you."
"Mom-"
"I tell you when it's your turn to talk." Brooke added more pointedly.
Sam bit her lip. Her mother's words stung deeply.
"But what hurts the most Sam, is that you stole something that was mine. My creation. Why? Why did you do that?"
Her mother wasn't yelling. Her words were hard, but concerned, and that made it so much harder for Sam to deal with.
The girl could only shrug. What else could she do?
"No, you're talking to us about this. You're not getting away with it this time. I don't care what we have to do to get it out of you, but you're not gonna leave here by just shrugging at us Samantha Walker. That is not going to fly." The mother added.
Sam felt her eyes water again, but willed herself not to cry.
Lucas had stayed quiet until this point. He sat up a bit on the chair, "Sam, tell us what happened. You've never done something like this before. Did you do it out of spite?"
Brooke and Sam both looked at him. He carefully pressed on, "Because of the baby, Sam."
Brooke looked to Sam, now nervous for the answer. That was a very real possibility.
Sam's contriteness quickly turned to frustration, "Are you kidding me?"
Brooke gave her a glare, "Watch it. It was just a question."
Sam slapped the bed in frustration, "Why are all my actions suddenly being attributed to the fact that you're gonna have a damn baby?" She yelled, "It's not about that! Stop thinking that every time I'm sad, upset, or I do something bad it's about the freaking kid, 'cause it's not! I hate that you guys do that."
Brooke sighed, "Well what are we supposed to think Sam? You're not talking to us about it. You say you're fine and-"
"BECAUSE I AM FINE." Sam was so done with all this unfounded worry that her parents had. "I want you guys to believe me, but you don't. I'm fine. I'm happy. Why do you want to me be mad and upset about this so much? Why can't you believe me?"
Lucas and Brooke both felt their heart break. In their quest to make sure Sam was okay they ended up piling on theories that just weren't true, and their poor kid was feeling the pressure because of it.
Although they clearly had a lot to talk about with dress and the stealing Brooke still sat down next to Sam and Lucas stood by Brooke.
"Samantha, look at me please." Brooke told her.
Sam did so.
"Look Sam, I'm sorry about that. We're just worried. I don't think dad and I realized that it was hurting you until now. We want you to be comfortable and happy. That's all."
"I am." Sam answered honestly.
"Then we promise to believe you." Lucas added.
Sam looked at her hands, "Okay." She wasn't sure what to say now. The girl was sure they were still angry about the stealing. This was just an interlude to address her underlying feelings about their constant worrying. She figured she she'd let them take the lead.
Brooke gave it a moment, and went back to the task at hand,
"And though we're sorry about that Sam, you still need to tell us why you stole. Your father and I are disappointed and upset with you right now. And honestly I'm confused and more than a little hurt."
Sam stayed quiet, then came up with a cover, "Jack and I, we-we used to...shoplift before. We just wanted to do it for old times."
The mother's eyes narrowed, "So you did it for memories sake? And what, it was my own dress, just because it would make it that much funnier?" Sam noticeably retreated at her mother's words.
Lucas crossed his arms across his chest, "You know Sam, your mother and I, we've been so proud of how far you've come. But a stunt like this...you lost our trust already because of your outing in New York. You've been building that back up, but then you pull something like this. Do you even care about our trust?"
Once more, Sam felt a heaviness hit her heart. She looked at her father, "I-I do."
"You're not acting like it." Brooke pointed out.
Sam wanted to so desperately tell them the truth, 'Just tell them idiot!' Her mind yelled.
"I do care though! I care about your trust guys, I really do."
"Then act like it young lady." Brooke said more forcefully.
Sam's eyes flicked up "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."
The mother took a deep breath. They hadn't decided whether they would spank her or not yet, but that was definitely on the table for now, though they wouldn't tell her until they talked about it. Lucas had told her that he gave her five swift, but hard swats for her attitude.
"You and Jack are not allowed to see each other this month." She told Sam.
The girl had to fight back tears again, "But mom-"
"Don't start Sam. Clearly going down memory lane is too alluring for you both." Brooke was offering her daughter no sympathy at the moment.
"You're paying off the fine by working at the store, or in the office with your mother." Lucas added.
Brooke shook her head in disappointment and sadness, "I hope that one day you can respect me and my work enough to not do something like that. Or steal from anyone. It is a matter of respecting others and their property."
Sam's lip began to quiver. 'Tell them you didn't do it!' Her mind screamed at her again.
The parents watched and waited for Sam to say something, giving her the chance to collect her thoughts. They all heard the doorbell ring. Lucas wanted to yell in frustration at it all, "I'll get it." He mumbled, "Give me a second."
Sam watched her dad go sadly. Brooke, frustrated with Sam's silence shook her head, "Just go to your room Sam. Give me your phone and go to your room."
The girl felt horrible. And the worst part was all of this was due to a lie. She hadn't stolen a thing!
The moment Sam handed over the phone she looked into the most disappointed and upset eyes she had ever seen. Sam burst into tears, "Mommy please don't be mad at me!"
Brooke closed her eyes for a moment and composed herself, "Samantha what do you want me to feel right now? Hmm? I'm upset I'm not going to lie to you. Just go to your room please."
Sam shook her head. Upset herself that her mother was refusing to even hug her.
'Tell her! Dad's not here! Mom will understand more!'
If she told her mother, maybe she could convince her dad to not hate Jack forever. Her mama was always more understanding about these things.
And finally, Sam decided to listen to the reasonable part of her brain.
"Mom I didn't do it!" Her voice broke and she gave her mother the most desperate eyes.
Once Sam said it she felt herself feel much better and she began to sob, "The woman was being mean to me and Jack. She saw me holding the dress." Her cries were becoming louder and making it hard to understand what she was saying.
Brooke looked at her daughter stunned. Trying to piece together what Sam was telling her.
"Jack…the woman…we had to run…I didn't do it mommy! I wanted to help Jack! Now you're mad, and dad's mad. I didn't do it. I didn't know he did it! I'm sorry! Don't be mad at him. Don't be mad at him, please!"
Brooke felt a weight lift off her shoulders,when she realized what Sam was saying. But that was replaced by guilt that began to bubble up as she saw how broken Sam was.
She realized how heavy her words had been when scolding her. They would've certainly been warranted if Sam had shoplifted, but she clearly didn't. She wanted to shake the girl and ask her why she would've lied about something so serious, but now was not the time for that.
Brooke finally drew the sobbing girl in her arms, and began to rock her.
"Hey, hey. Shhh." The mother cooed softly.
Sam had her arms tightly wrapped around her mother's waist. She felt Brooke rub her back over and over,
"Baby girl, I believe you. I believe you Sam. Please calm down so we can talk little one. Please." The mother wanted to fix this so badly, "I'm not mad at you baby. Let's talk about this."
Sam finally looked up at her mom after a few more minutes. She let go slowly and so did Brooke. Brooke looked at her guilty little girl fondly and gave her a sad smile, "Oh sweetheart."
Sam let out a shuddering breath, "Y-You we-were so upset and hurt and I-I didn't mean it. To hurt you and dad like that. I didn't mean it mom."
Brooke laid a gentle hand on her daughter's arm, "None of that. Shh. That's all gone. Your father and I, we meant it then, but not anymore. We thought you stole. You told us you did. And so we were upset because of that, but you didn't steal and so all those things we said don't matter. I'm so sorry you had to hear me say those things. I'm so, so sorry about that."
Sam shrugged, "I-it's okay. I just, I don't ever wanna do something that'll make you that mad at me. That was so scary."
Brooke gave a light and soft chuckle, "I don't want you doing something that would make me that mad either peanut." She moved towards the head of the bed, "Come here sweetheart."
Sam gladly accepted the sure to come snuggle and went over towards her mother. She wrapped an arm around her mother's waist and laid her head on her mother's chest. She felt Brooke begin to play with her hair. "Why did you lie Sammy?"
Sam tensed.
"Shh. It's okay." Brooke assured her, "You're not in trouble. But we do need to know why you lied about something so serious."
"Jack." She squeaked.
Brooke figured that she was doing it to protect him, but she'd let Sam finish.
"He-he did it." Sam was glad she was lying down cuddled up to her mother and not looking directly at her eyes. This was much easier, "I didn't want him to getting trouble for it. When the alarm sounded and he told me he had the dress, I panicked. I thought that they might arrest him or something so I figured that you and dad would find a way to get me out of trouble in a way his foster parents never could so I tried to take the fall, but they didn't believe me because Jack kept saying that it was him."
Brooke gave out a deep sigh, "Oh Samantha. Why didn't you tell dad and me the truth at least?"
"I didn't want dad to hate Jack more than he does."
"He doesn't hate Jack."
"Yes he does!" Sam said starting to get worked up again.
Brooke began to rub her back again. She really did not want to see her child crying again today, "Okay. Okay. Come on. Let's keep talking sweetheart."
After a moment, Brooke asked another question. "Why do you think Jack did it, princess?"
Sam thought for a moment, "That woman, the sales lady, she, well we were buying shoes for Tamara. We saved our money. The woman thought we were no good I guess, because she was watching us and asked what we were doing and to put the shoes down."
Brooke's face hardened. Oh, how she wished she would've been there! How dare some non-important Nordstrom associate treat Brooke Davis's daughter that way! She was sure that if she had been there they wouldn't have dared to treat Sam and Jack that way. That bitch.
Sam kept talking, "Then I brought, I brought the dress over because I wanted to show it to Jack because it was the one that you had asked my opinion about, and I thought that was really nice of you."
Brooke's anger for that woman instantly melted, and she turned to mush at her daughter's sweet words.
"But the lady told me it was really expensive. I didn't tell her I was your daughter, or anything, I just played along. I told her she was right and she pointed me to the less expensive part of your collection at their store."
"I'm sorry that woman acted that way. Both you and Jack didn't deserve to be treated so rudely. That woman has her own set of issues. Don't even let her bother you sweetie."
Sam smiled. Her mama was the best. She kept on with her story, "And afterwards, Jack told me he'd put the dress away. He got really upset that she was treating us like that, I guess he just wanted to get back at her. He usually wouldn't do something like that though, so I don't know what made this time different…mama?"
"Yes?" Brooke said softly.
"I told him that we should run. I guess we should've just stayed, but I thought we could run and get away with it and then I would talk to him about it. I-I'm worried about him."
Brooke pulled Sam up so Sam's head was nestled safely in the crook of Brooke's neck, "It'll be okay. I know you're worried about him. You care so, so much. Jack will be okay."
Lucas came in and saw Sam cuddled up with her mother and grew confused. Weren't they not just punishing her?
"What's going on?" He asked closing the door.
Sam just hugged her mother tighter when her dad came in.
"Who was at the door?" Brooke asked ignoring the question.
"Nate and Haley came by. They're downstairs. What-what happened?"
Brooke sighed and kept rubbing Sam's back when she felt Sam squirm.
"Tell them to come by later. We all have to talk. She didn't steal the dress Lucas." Sam breathed in her mother's scent as Brooke talked to Lucas. Safe in her mama's arms.
Brooke could tell Lucas was set to ask questions. She put a hand up motioning him to stop then bent over and kissed Sam's head, "Sweetheart, let me speak to dad. How 'bout you lay down for a nap? Just for a bit."
Brooke knew the girl probably would appreciate taking a short break from all the talking and just close her eyes.
Lucas confused and frustrated left the room and explained the situation to their friends before waiting for Brooke outside the door of their room. He was stunned by the interaction between mother and daughter. Brooke had been so upset and now she was being the complete opposite with Sam. He also couldn't believe that Brooke had easily accepted Sam telling her she didn't do it. He huffed softly to himself and let Brooke do her thing before talking about this.
The girl slowly let go of her mother. She got off and let Brooke open the covers. Sam pulled down her gray shorts and laid down on her side, curling in as her mom covered her. She then looked at her mom, "Dad's gonna hate Jack so much." She lamented.
"No he won't. Let me talk to him, okay? I'll come wake you up in an hour or so." Brooke said softly, kissing her forehead.
Brooke walked out and was confronted with an angry looking Lucas.
"Calm down Lucas." He admonished him.
"You want me to be calm? You just undermined everything that we had talked to her about in there!" He whispered harshly, pointing to the door of their room, where Sam was now napping.
Brooke shook her head and took his hand, "Come on. We need to talk."
Brooke sat Lucas down, "She didn't do it Luke. Jack did and she admitted to doing it to protect him."
Lucas looked at her in disbelief, "Why would she do something so stupid? And how do you know she's not playing us?"
Brooke gave him a hard look, "Lucas! I know that you don't like this boy. But listen to me, you are pushing Sam away by acting so harshly whenever something comes up that has to do with him. Do you want to know why she didn't tell us the truth, and preferred to suffer us punishing her? Because she's terrified that you're going to hate him! You, her father. She's scared of your reaction!"
Lucas's hard demeanor began to soften.
"And if you would've seen how broken she was in there when she told me the truth. You would know that she's not lying to us. You are her father, put a little more faith in her Lucas."
His voice was shaky as he passed a hand through his hair, "S-she's scared of me?"
Brooke sat down next to him and kissed the side of his head, "No. She's not scared of you. She's scared that you won't accept the boy that means the world to her. The one that she's willing to clearly go to jail for." She said that last part rather ruefully. They definitely needed to talk about that some more with her.
Lucas turned to look at her, "The kid shoplifted. Am I supposed to love him?"
Brooke laid her head on his shoulder, "We find out why. He's a good boy Lucas. I'm pretty sure your big dad brain can at least admit that. Sam mentioned to me last week that he was acting a little off with her. I think something is going on with him, and she told me again today that she's worried about him."
"You know when we took Sam in, I didn't know we were taking in Tamara and Jack with her." His tone was light and Brooke knew he didn't mean any harm by it.
The mother embraced him, and he reciprocated the gesture, "I don't think I can take four more years of this. That girl is scaring and worrying years off my life." He mumbled sadly.
"That's what kids are for." Brooke told him.
"Wonderful."
An amused Brooke did not miss his sarcasm.
Brooke explained everything that had happened and Lucas also equally disliked Ms. Jeanine now that he knew the whole story.
They sat there together for some more, "I don't want to lose her to boys." Lucas admitted, though Brooke already knew this.
"We have to let her explore that part of life Lucas." Brooke said softly, "Boys, dating, love, broken hearts. That's a part of growing up."
"I'm not ready." He said sadly, "Are you?"
Brooke shook her head, "No. But she is, and we have to be there for her."
Lucas smiled sadly, "My little girl."
An hour and a half later, Brooke went up to call Sam down so they could have dinner, and so they could talk afterwards.
The mother came in and picked up Sam's shorts from the ground, then coaxed awake the fourteen year old.
"Wake up Sammy." She shook her daughter's arm gently.
The girl began to stir and opened her eyes.
"Hi sleepyhead." Brooke cooed stroking a strand of hair away from Sam's face.
Sam yawned and smiled sleepily at Brooke. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes.
"Do you want to put your shorts on, or just put on one of my shirts? We're going to have dinner, then you, dad, and I are going to talk for a bit."
Sam's face filled with worry.
"It'll all be okay sweetie. Trust me."
"I do trust you mom. Both of you." Sam told her mother, and every time Brooke heard those words her heart fluttered with happiness.
"I'll put on my shorts." She heard Sam say. Brooke nodded and handed them over. "We'll be downstairs. Dad brought pizza."
The scene was rather quiet at the table. Sam was fidgeting in her chair, eyeing her parents. Brooke and Lucas were the only ones making conversation, though they didn't have much to say.
Sam couldn't take it anymore and she put her slice of pizza down and looked at her parents, "Do you guys think what I did was dumb?"
'Yes.' Was both Brooke and Lucas's first thought. They swallowed the bite of food in their mouth and Lucas spoke first, "I know that Jack means a lot to you Sam."
He took a deep breath, "But I can't have you sacrificing your own well being for him like that again Samantha. That was incredibly dangerous. You could've gotten in more trouble than just having to pay a fine. Stealing is not a joke."
Sam bit her lip. Her mom said her dad wasn't mad, but she could tell that he was upset at the situation. She nodded sadly, "I-I know. I didn't steal because I know it's wrong. Jack, I just, he's my best friend, and I really, really, like him, and I panicked. I don't know what's wrong with him."
Brooke looked at her daughter sadly.
"I need to talk to him about it. Can I?" Sam asked, "I know you said I wasn't allowed to see him for a month, but that was before you knew what actually happened. Can I?"
Lucas wanted to roll his eyes and say 'hell no,' but he knew better, and Brooke's words were still fresh in his mind.
Swallowing every ounce of pride that he had, Lucas looked up at his daughter, "I want to talk to him first."
Both Sam and Brooke looked at Lucas surprised.
"Dad, you, you're going to scare him like always!"
"No I'm not Sam. I'm going to talk to him. I'll be nothing but kind. I want him to be okay too. If he means a lot to you, then I don't want him hurting if it's hurting you in the process too, understand I'm trying to get to the bottom of this like you, and I can't do that if I'm scaring him, right?"
Sam couldn't argue with that. She looked to her mother who gave her a small wink. God, her mom was amazing. She didn't know what she had told her father to get him to mellow out, but she definitely owed her one. And now all Sam wanted to do was run into her dad's arms and give him a big kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah, okay." The girl said softly, "So I can still see him?"
Lucas nodded, "After I talk to him. Got it?"
"Okay, yeah." Sam was content with the compromise.
"Okay, great. And Sam?"
Sam looked up at her dad again.
"If you ever try and cover for someone like that again, where it involves law enforcement, trust me when I say that I won't hesitate to put you over my knee. That's putting yourself in danger. We love you too much to let you get away with that again."
Sam's eyes grew, "I-I won't dad. Promise." The memory of her dad having her bent over and giving her that short spanking was still fresh in her mind.
"Good." Lucas replied, happy with her answer as he took a bite out of his pizza and, similar to Brooke, gave her daughter a satisfied wink, "Eat your pizza kiddo."
… … …
It was now eleven at night and Brooke had come out of her office. She was going to say goodnight to her kid, but she heard Sam, before she caught sight of her.
"Sing it again daddy." Brooke heard their daughter say in a tired voice and her heart once more turned to mush.
"Okay, one more time." Came Lucas's soft whisper.
The girl was cuddled up in her dad's lap, dressed simply in one of Brooke's large tshirts and short mesh shorts. Her head was resting on her dad's chest, and her socked feet were dangling off the lazyboys armrest. Lucas's arms were wrapped around her as he rocked the chair with both of them in it. He was softly singing to her and Sam's eyes were opening and closing.
He had been reading some plays and Brooke was looking over some contracts in her office when Sam came from upstairs, freshly showered and changed into her pajamas.
"Dad?" She asked tentatively.
"Yeah champ?" He put his playbook away, "What's up?"
"Thank you for not, you know, hating Jack, and being willing to help him with his fine."
Lucas smiled, stood up, and hugged her daughter, then pulled her to sit down with him and sit on his lap. Sam didn't fight it. She loved it when she just sat with her dad.
Nobody's embrace could make her feel safer like her mom and her dad's. She was sure that Goliath could come into their home right now and her daddy would have it under control. Not even Jack could compare to her dad. If only Lucas knew this, maybe he wouldn't be so crazy about boys and Sam. But, you know, teenagers weren't too keen on admitting things like that.
Once they were both comfortably settled, Lucas kissed the top of her head, "Anything for you kiddo. I love you as high as the sky, and as deep as the sea. I love you more than all the sand on the beach, and all the stars in the universe."
Sam blushed a bit at her dad's words, "I love you too dad. I used to dream about what you'd be like, and you're better than what I imagined."
Lucas instantly teared up and held his daughter tighter. Soon enough, he was singing her to sleep, and that's what Brooke had walked into.
Brooke held the child that was growing in her stomach. Never, in a million years, did she think her life would be this imperfectly perfect.
Okay, y'all I really hope you liked this chapter. Please review! I know it's been a while, but I've been working all summer so it's been busy, but it's your feedback that keeps me going! I appreciate it so much. Let me know what you think! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I made sure Luke and Sam had a moment because of the special day ;)