Five years later
"Davis Keith Scott!" I yelled when I entered the house to see a mess of the place. I heard giggles come from upstairs as my three-year-old son poked his head from the bannister. "Get down here right now and clear your toys. Your brother and sister are coming home today and I will not tolerate a messy house!" The little boy's tiny footsteps sounded like the pitter-patter of raindrops as he reached near me. His floppy chestnut brown hair swayed in every direction as he began to play with the toys instead of lifting them.
"Luke, where are you?" I asked, walking towards my home office to deposit my work things. I trailed towards Lucas' study and saw him napping on the couch. I chuckled and walked to him. It was still the couch that we got engaged on the first time. I nudged him awake.
"Hey, Pretty Girl," he greeted me, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Your son has made a mess of the entire house," I whined.
"Don't you mean our son?" he asked, kinking his eyebrow.
"When he makes a mess, he is your son. When he follows instructions, he is mine. I thought we had established that," I joked.
"Come, help me get the house in order. Everyone is going to be here soon!" I said, pulling him up.
"Davis," Lucas whined when he saw literal mud out of the flower pots and all over the floor. "How did you get to that?"
"I don't know. I was just playing in the backyard," he answered innocently.
I chuckled, finding his innocent voice really soothing. "I'll run Little Prince here a bath. Meanwhile, you clear up." I lifted my son in my arms. "Bubble bath with three toys?"
"Five toys!" he requested.
"That many, huh?" I giggled and walked up the stairs to his bedroom.
I loved the life I was living. Lucas and I had found a balance between the kids and work. A little after a year of being married, I got pregnant. My pregnancy went smoothly and Davis Keith Scott was born to us. He was a little on the smaller side, but he was a champ. We had endless sleepless nights that made us question why we chose to have another baby, especially with the kids entering college, but we pulled through.
The twins were doing tremendously. Jamie was at Duke on a basketball scholarship. He was working on taking his Uncle's Scoring Title and getting recruited in the NBA. His girlfriend Madison was going pre-med at Northeastern. Sophia shocked us all when she decided on a Law and Business program. She wanted to keep her options open to taking over Clothes over Bro's, but she was interested in studying corporate law.
Sophia and I had had a lengthy discussion. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do and I had assured her that college was the space to figure it out. She asked me about whether I wanted her to take over Clothes over Bro's.
"See honey, I am not immortal. I am not going to be here one day, but the Company, most likely is and it would be absolutely foolish of me to function on the assumption that without me, the empire would fall down. No, it won't. There are far better executives than me and designers than me. I am just doing the best that I can. Also, I am training Millicent on the Corporate front so that eventually, she can take over the business operations. I have for a while now. After I am gone, my stake in the Company obviously passes on to you, your brother and your dad, and any future kids that we might have, but I need to have someone trained to handle the day-to-day work too. Millie is the best choice currently. So, if something were to happen to me tomorrow, Millie would be in charge of the operations and hiring a fleet of designers, because let's be honest, only I do what I do," I winked. "If you want to run Clothes over Bro's, you're not going to get it on nepotism. You're going to have to earn your way up like Millicent did and prove that you're better. At the end of the day, what is best for the Company will be chosen by the Board. It is not up to me and it's good that way."
She was at Columbia where she met her current boyfriend, Dylan. Maddie and Zack, the definition of puppy love, were doing long distance. It was painful, watching them leave the nest and go to college. Lucas and I were totally unprepared. It hurt twice as much as we were losing both together.
However, it was the start of Summer and they were returning home to be with us for a few months! I could not be more excited! They had summer internships and basketball camps later on, for a while, but it would be okay. First, there was reason to celebrate. Jenny was getting engaged to her veterinarian boyfriend, and we decided to host the party for her. Peyton, Jake and Anna were here for the summer and were flying in tonight as well with Jenny and her new boyfriend. Finally, I would have all my family under one roof again. Haley was going to go on tour soon and we were flying for a few concerts as well. Nathan was going for the whole leg, it being off-season for him.
Tonight was a Charity Basketball game at Tree Hill High that Lucas was coaching. I was excited to be the proud wife in the stands, cheering loudly with her son. Everyone had promised to reach for the game and I couldn't wait to hug and kiss all my children and godchildren. Gone were the days when I was missing events all the time. Tree Hill was exactly the balance I needed. I took meetings at Haley's house while she graded papers and drew designs as she played with a new tune. She deposited the kids with us when her and Nathan needed an adult night, which were Jude and Lydia's favourite nights since Davis was born.
Lucas had written another three best sellers. One, after our honeymoon, one during my pregnancy and another one after Davis was born. He joked that we needed to make a fourth child as he was struggling with writer's block. He wanted another girl to add to our brood, but I had said that three was good enough.
Davis was every bit spoilt by everyone in the family. His eyes were sparkly mischievous and hazel green like mine. He was smart, he knew when to feign innocence and how to get his way with everybody. If nothing worked, all he had to do was ask his Uncle Nathan and surely, he would have what he wanted in no time. We had tried to get him to stop doing that, but he couldn't help himself. Sophia was a little jealous of their relationship as she used to be Uncle Nate's favourite, but she kept her jealousy on the DL.
Just as I was towel drying Davis' hair, I heard the doorbell ring.
"They're here?!" my baby asked me.
I grabbed him and stepped out to see just as Lucas was opening the door. Sure enough, it was my children.
"Bubby!" Davis creamed and squirmed in my arms so that I would put him down.
"No, Davis, clothes first!" I reprimanded. Yet, nothing stopped him. He jumped off and scampered down the stairs, his towel slapping away.
"Davis!" I yelled and followed him down.
"Hey! Oh wow!" Sophia said as she caught the little boy in her arms. "We don't do nudity in this house, little man! Where are your clothes?"
"Mommy gave me a bath! I got to have 5 toys in the bubble bath," he informed her like it was a crucial piece of information. He lifted his little palm to show her five little fingers.
"That many, huh!" she smiled. "Hey Mom! I've missed you."
"Hi, Princess. God, it's so good to have you kids home! I have missed both of you so much!" I said. I hugged Jamie and then hugged Sophia from the side as she still had Davis in her arms. "I'll go get him in some clothes and meet you down. Are y'all hungry? Do you want me to make something for you?"
"Yes! I'm starving and I miss homemade meals! Please, anything!" Jamie begged.
"Coming right up! Luke, a little help," requested.
"You get Davis ready, I'll start on the food," he said, pecking my lips.
"Ewww!" Davis creamed as the kiss was so close to him.
Lucas and I grinned before kissing both his cheeks simultaneously, making him feel even more disgusted. He wiped both of them repeatedly as if I had smeared lipstick all over him.
"Okay, come on upstairs, before you catch a cold!" I said and took him back to his room. I put him in a t-shirt and shorts and we walked down the stairs.
The twins were seated at the breakfast counter while Lucas was cooking a pot of rice.
"Davis looks so much bigger than the last time I saw him," Sophia remarked.
"Yeah, he's getting bigger every day!" Lucas replied like a proud dad. "Just sucks that he wants nothing to do with basketball. He won't even touch it. Says he doesn't like the colour orange!"
I laughed. It had pained Lucas to have a son that disinterested in the sport. Davis preferred soccer over basketball. He liked the black and white patches on the ball. However, Lucas hadn't left his efforts to try to get his son interested in the game. He took Davis to all the High School matches and he was getting more and more interested in the game. Lucas was considering painting the ball black and white so that Davis would share his passion. Although, he enjoyed kicking the football just as much as he enjoyed dunking one through a hoop.
"You know, you and Mom could just have another one who is interested," Jamie joked.
"Oh please, if it's another, it has to be a girl!" Sophia complained. "I don't like this 2:1 ratio. It has to be even."
"Sorry guys, I tried to convince your mother to have more, but she was persistent that three was enough," Lucas said, hoping that they could persuade me. If only they knew.
"Umm, Actually…" I began and turned a fresh shade of scarlet. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me.
"Wait, what? Is it what I am thinking?" Lucas asked, dropping the spoon that he was stirring with.
"Yeah," I said, biting my lip.
"You're pregnant, again? We're - we're pregnant?" he asked.
"It's really early! I have been super regular, but I didn't get my period for a week beyond my normal, I thought it was menopause but I took a test for kicks and it came back positive. I wanted to get it checked with a doctor before I told you. I only found out yesterday. It really could be menopause, but yeah, maybe, more. Are all of you okay with that?" I asked.
"Okay! We're more than okay! Oh my God! Brooke!" Lucas said and came to hug me. "I love you! I love you! I love you so much!"
I couldn't help but blush. "Okay, let's dial it down until we have official news, but God Lucas, if you did impregnate me, you're in charge of every single dirty diaper! I'm expanding to shoes this year. I need sleep! Also, there better not be more than one baby in there!"
"I hope it's triplets this time," Jamie joked.
"James Scott, I will ship those three to Duke for you to take care of!" I screamed. "I'm scared!"
Everyone burst out laughing at how red I was.
"Mom, you and Dad will be good! You did this at 16! You can definitely do it at 36!" Sophia laughed.
"Luke, can you just hold me?" I requested.
"Come here," he laughed. I melded my body into his and draped my arms around him. Lucas rested his chin on my forehead and held me.
"We'll be good, Pretty Girl! We'll figure it out like we always do," he smiled.
I felt wobbly but comforted. "Okay, let's do this!"
My kids cheered me as my hands laced my belly, feeling something fluttery inside.
