-1Lucas pulled up into the driveway of his and Brooke's home and he turned the engine off and looked over at her. Brooke had her head resting against the headrest as she looked blankly out the window she hadn't said a word since they'd made the 15 minute drive from the hospital to their house.
"He's going to be ok Brooke" Lucas assured and placed a hand on her shoulder lovingly.
Brooke nodded and unhooked her seatbelt "I just can't believe we left him there"
Lucas got out of the car and walked over to the passenger side door and opened the door for Brooke. "Mom and Andy are probably going crazy with two girls in the house…between Lily and her tea parties and Hannah and her new fascination with Play-Dough it's probably a three ring circus"
"Yeah…I guess"
Lucas watched as Brooke silently walked up the porch steps and into the house. He shook his head and walked into the house behind her.
Andy was sitting on the living room floor with Lily playing tea cups and he looked up when he saw Brooke and Lucas walk into the house.
"Hey guys" Andy said smiling
"Hey Andy….nice hat" Lucas half laughed looking at Andy wearing a pink hat with feathers on it.
"Thanks…I've got a boa that matches it"
Karen walked from the back of the house following Hannah. "Guess what…Hannah went pp in the big girl potty"
"Yea" Andy and Lily both clapped as Hannah walked into the living room.
"She's doing so good with this potty training I can't…" Karen stopped when she saw Lucas standing in the doorway of the living room.
"My boy" Karen walked over and wrapped her arms around Lucas she smiled sadly when she looked over Lucas' shoulder and saw Brooke standing in the kitchen looking out the front door.
"How's Isaiah?" Karen pulled back and looked up at Lucas.
"He's doing ok…he's not out of the woods yet but he's doing surprisingly well considering how small that he is"
Karen nodded and walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Brooke. Lucas watched the two women for a moment before he felt someone wrap their arms around his leg.
"Hi dada" Hannah smiled up at Lucas and held her arms up for him.
"Hey love" Lucas bent down and picked Hannah up "What's my baby girl doing today?"
"Where mama?" Hannah asked running her hand across Luke's face.
"Mommy's in the kitchen monkey"
Hannah looked in the kitchen wriggled in Lucas' arms so that he'd let her down. Lucas sat Hannah down on the ground and watched as she walked into the kitchen. Hannah walked into the kitchen and looked around the corner she smiled when she found her mother and laughed smiling ear to ear. "Mama!""
Brooke looked over from where she was talking to Karen and she knelt down and Hannah ran into Brooke's arms. She picked Hannah up and kissed her on the cheek "Hey sweetheart"
"Hi mama" Hannah pulled back and wrapped her hands in Brooke's long brown hair.
"How's my almost 2 year old today?" Brooke looked at Hannah and smiled.
"Where baby?" Hannah asked looking up at her mother.
"Isaiah is still is the hospital…he just needs a little extra care and he'll get to come home soon"
"Ok…I go pp" Hannah said proudly.
"You did?….oh wow you're such a big girl Hannah" Brooke praised and kissed Hannah on the forehead.
Karen looked over at Hannah and held out her arms. "Hey Hannah how about you come with ma maw and you and Lily and I will play a game outside so that mommy and daddy can have time to settle in"
Hannah shook her head no and buried her face in Brooke's neck. "No ma maw"
Brooke ran a hand down her daughter's back. "Hannah mommy's not going anywhere you go with grandma Karen and have fun"
Brooke handed Hannah over to Karen and walked out of the kitchen and to the bedroom.
"No mama" Hannah called after Brooke and started to cry.
Karen walked out onto the porch with a screaming Hannah as she tried to soothe her, she smiled when she saw Nathan and Haley walking over from next door with Jamie and Leah. Jamie took off running across the lawn and up the porch steps. "Hi Karen…is Hannah ok?"
"Yeah sweetie she's fine…she just needs an N-A-P and she doesn't want to take one"
"Oh…ok…can I go in the house and play with Lily?"
"You sure can…just tell Lily she has to pick up her toys first"
"Ok" Jamie jogged into the house and shut the door behind him.
"Hey Karen" Haley greeted carrying Leah against her.
"Hi Haley…how's Leah doing?"
Haley looked down at Leah and smiled "She's good…I can't believe that she's almost 5 months old already"
Nathan walked up behind Haley carrying a few casserole dishes. "Hales made some dinner for everyone but I don't know how well it's going to turn out"
"Shut up" Haley joked and hit Nathan in the arm with her free hand.
"H-bug what's with all the tears?" Nathan asked looking at Hannah.
Hannah looked over at Nathan and reached for him still crying.
"Hang on a minute" Nathan told her and took the food into the house. He came back out a few seconds later and took Hannah from Karen and walked her around the back of the house.
Haley looked over at Karen 'How are Lucas and Brooke holding up?"
Karen shrugged her shoulders "I don't know…Lucas is putting on a brave face but I know that he's hurting and Brooke will barely say a word to anybody…Hannah doesn't want Brooke out of her sight…it has just been an afternoon and a half…I want to go back to the hospital but every time I see Isaiah it just kills me"
Haley nodded "I know he's just so tiny…I've never even seen anything like it before…Leah has bigger stuffed animals than him"
Karen nodded "I would do anything to make this better for the two of them"
"I know it seems like everything happens to them anymore" Haley patted Leah on her bottom gently and looked through the window into the living room at Lucas who was talking to Andy.
Nathan walked back around the house with a sleeping Hannah, Karen looked over at him a sighed. "How'd you get her to go to sleep?"
"I just laid on the hammock with her and she was out in no time"
"Yeah Nathan just has the magic touch with Hannah…she's the only one though Jamie and even Leah don't listen to him about bedtime so I don't know how Hannah listens to him…or why"
Nathan walked over to Haley and kissed her on the lips quickly "You're so funny Hales"
"I know" Haley stuck out her tongue and smiled up at Nathan.
"Well lets go in and see what's going on" Karen said and opened the door for Nathan and Haley.
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Later that night after Brooke had put Hannah down for the night she walked down the hall and looked in the new nursery that was going to be Isaiah's room she found Lucas sitting in the white glider that sat by the window. Brooke smiled sadly and walked into the light blue nursery decorated with baby ducks along the boarder. Brooke walked up to the white sleigh style crib and ran her hand along the wood before walking over to Lucas.
"You ok?"
Lucas looked from the window over to Brooke and shook his head. "Not so much pretty girl"
Brooke walked the remaining distance to Lucas and sat on his lap in the glider, and rested her head against his chest "Me either"
Lucas reached a hand over to the nightstand and grabbed the picture of Isaiah's sonogram "I just keep thinking that the phone is going to ring any minute and it's going to be something we aren't prepared to hear"
Brooke looked at the picture in Lucas' hand "I'm sorry Lucas…I should have taken better care of myself…I should have done the things Andrea told me to and not put up such a fight"
Lucas shook his head and placed a kiss against the top of Brooke's head "It's not your fault Brooke…I don't want you to blame yourself"
"I just want Isaiah to come home…it kills me to know he's there by himself"
Lucas smiled against the top of Brooke's chocolate locks "Rachel says he's a fireball…she said that when she went to see him that Isaiah held onto her finger so tight it amazed her how strong that he is"
"Well he's just like his father"
"I love you for that Brooke but we both know that's not true"
Brooke pulled back and looked up at him "Luke don't say that…you are the most amazing man you're a great husband and the most amazing father…you've changed so much since the first time we met…you've turned into this incredible guy that everyone cares about and it makes me so proud to say that I am your wife"
Lucas looked down at Brooke and kissed her "You shouldn't talk to me like that since we can't have sex for 6 weeks"
Brooke laughed for the first time since Isaiah had been born and she kissed Lucas on the chin "I'm sorry about that…you suck ok…is that better?"
Lucas thought for a minute and nodded "Yeah…it's better"
"Ok"
Lucas pulled Brooke tighter against him and kissed her forehead "I love you so much Brooke"
"Back at you Luke"
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It had been a week since Brooke was released from the hospital and her and Lucas had been back to the NICU everyday since then. Today was the first time that Hannah was going to get to see her baby brother and it excited Brooke and Lucas but also made them nervous because they didn't know how she would react. Lucas walked behind Brooke and held Hannah's had as she walked down they walked down the corridor of the hospital.
"Look dada" Hannah said pointing at the murals that were painted on the walls.
"I see that baby girl…it's a baby deer" Lucas said looking to see what Hannah was pointing at.
"Look dada" Hannah said pointing at another mural
"That's "Max and Ruby" Hannah you know that show and look there's "Franklin" remember you and daddy watch "Franklin" together" Lucas bent down and picked Hannah up so that they could continue their trek to the NICU nursery.
Brooke and Lucas walked up to the NICU doors and stopped when they saw Whitey walk out. "Hey guys"
"Hey Whitey…how've you been?" Lucas asked switching Hannah in his arms so he could shake hands with Whitey.
"I'm good for an old man who is bored to death with his retirement…and how are you doing love?" Whitey asked wrapping his arms around Brooke.
"I'm ok…everything is just really overwhelming" Brooke said forcing a smile as she relaxed in the older man's embrace.
"You don't have to be so strong all the time" Whitey whispered against Brooke's ear.
Brooke nodded and pulled back from Whitey's hug. "I know"
"I tell you one thing that little boy is so strong…I think he's without a doubt the next guard for the Tree Hill Ravens"
"We appreciate that Whitey thank you" Lucas said looking him in the eye.
"It's no problem…and how are you miss Hannah?" Whitey asked raising his eyebrows at her causing her to laugh.
"Growing like a weed" Lucas said proudly looking at his daughter.
"Well that's what they do…one moment they're dependant on you for survival and the next they're wanting to do everything on their own"
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Brooke and Lucas walked to the back of the NICU and sat down in the chairs next to Isaiah's isolette. "Look Hannah that's your baby brother" Brooke said running her hand across the top of the Plexiglas.
"Baby?" Hannah asked looking over at Lucas.
"Yeah love its your baby brother Isaiah" Lucas smiled at Hannah and looked over at Isaiah laying in the isolette.
"Hi Isaya" Hannah said the best she could and waved at her brother in the isolette.
"He likes you Hannah" Brooke smiled looking down at her little girl and pointing over to the baby that was looking at them.
"La oh baby"
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Brooke and Lucas pulled up to their house and got out Hannah had fallen asleep on the way home and Lucas carried her into the house. Brooke sat down on the couch and sighed deeply she leaned her head against the back of the headrest and closed her eyes. The phone rang a few times but before Brooke could answer it, it stopped so when she heard Lucas talking in the background she knew he'd picked it up. What she wasn't expecting though was Lucas to come running back into the living room with a now awake Hannah.
"We've got to go"
Brooke opened her eyes and shot up from the couch "What's wrong?"
"That was the hospital…Andrea said that we need to get back there right away"
The fear in Lucas' voice scared Brooke so much that she couldn't even function.
"Well what's wrong?"
"I don't know Brooke, Andrea just said we need to get there as soon as we can"
"Ok" Brooke said and followed Lucas out the door.