Lucas drove Brooke and Jamie to another rich neighbourhood of Tree Hill. They had eaten lunch and were making their way to Nathan and Haley's house. Brooke kept fidgeting in her seat. She constantly checked her appearance in the rearview mirrors as if expecting that they would be able to tell what she had been up to in New York by looking at her.
Lucas could sense her uneasiness and placed his palm on her knee to reassure her. However, Brooke did not appreciate his gesture and moved her knee to let his hand slide down. Lucas felt a sense of rejection but chose to play it cool as he moved his hand back up to the steering wheel.
Once Lucas stopped the car, Brooke took in the appearance of the Scott home. Nathan and Haley were doing really well for themselves. They had a massive property with a huge majestic house. The front lawn was immaculate. Brooke got out of the car once the ignition had turned off and helped Jamie out of his seat. She crouched to be at the same level as him and tried to get him to understand a little of what was going on.
"Hey buddy, I never told you this before but you have an Aunt and Uncle. Your dad has a brother named Nathan and this is their home. We plan on meeting them today and I am sure they will be very excited to meet you. But Mom hasn't met them in a very long time and we are surprising them. They don't know that we are here. I need you to be polite and on your best behaviour and allow Mom to get them up to speed okay?" Blonde hair flopped around as Jamie nodded his head in compliance. She held his hand firmly and followed Lucas to the door who rang the bell.
Once Brooke could hear faint footsteps, she quickly moved Jamie behind her to hide his body. She was scared of how things would go. Beads of sweat formed on her eyebrow, each breath she inhaled and exhaled was laboured until the large doors swung open.
Nathan first saw Lucas who was standing right in the front and smiled at his brother. Then the smile quickly morphed into shock and surprise as he saw the appearance of the girl whom he had known his whole life but who had packed up and disappeared one day in the dead of the night.
"Brooke? Brooke!" he said to himself, absolutely amazed to find her standing there. "Haley! Get in here right now!"
"What!" Haley called as she lazily walked to the door. Her footsteps faltered suddenly and she got rooted to her spot when she understood why her husband sounded so alarmed. Brooke gave her a meek smile to show that she wasn't a statue. Neither had still even laid eyes on Jamie.
"How! I mean I know how! Brooke!" Haley screamed as her brain finally got back in touch with her feet and she sprinted to the door.
"Hi guys!" she said chirpily, grateful that they seemed happy to see her. They would get mad for sure, but at least their initial reactions had been pleasant.
Nathan and Haley walked out to engulf her in a hug and that's when they noticed the small boy who was still firmly clasping Brooke's hand.
"Huh? Who is that?" They both asked simultaneously.
Brooke's body grew stiff in their embrace. She let them go and both of them focused on the kid who was feeling a little uncomfortable at all the unexpected attention. Lucas knew that it was not his place to say anything and waited for Brooke to say what she had to.
"Guys, I would like you to meet Jamie, my son," she said and gently nudged the shy boy to come ahead.
The newly turned Aunt and Uncle couldn't fathom the information they had just received. They took in the boy's appearance and turned back to look at Brooke, not knowing what to say.
"How about we all go inside?" Lucas suggested as Jamie looked at his mom uncomfortably. Brooke nodded and lifted Jamie up in her arms and settled him on her hips like a baby monkey. She quickly kissed his head and cheek before walking inside.
"Hey Jaim, would you like to make a card for your Aunt and Uncle?" Brooke asked him, knowing that a huge interrogation session was about to ensue.
"Uhh, I don't know," Jamie answered with hesitation. He still didn't know them at all. However, Brooke wasn't too worried. Jamie loved meeting people and he was quite open with new people. The shock that Nathan and Haley had displayed had just tensed him a little bit.
"Just let me and your dad have a word with them. Trust me, you are going to love both of them," Brooke assured her son. "If you don't want to make a card, do you want to read your books?"
"Will you take long?" Jamie asked, already feeling bored.
"No, honey," she assured him. Nathan and Haley's living room was humongous with a couch setting in front of a tv with a huge trophy case on the side. The living room opened into an open kitchen with a breakfast bar where Brooke settled Jamie with his book. She also put out some paper and crayons for him silently in case he changed his mind.
Jamie followed his mother's shadow and turned to see her sit on the couch and breathed in relief that they were all in the same room. He already missed having Sam around. She would have played with him. All adults seemed to do was want to talk and that, to Jamie, was the most boring thing on the planet.
Haley offered them a drink, although she was a little confused and scatterbrained while she did that. Both of them declined her offer and her eyes lingered back to the child in her home.
"We tried so hard to get in touch with you," Haley said, looking directly at Brooke who had a guilty expression painted on her face.
"I know, I changed my number," she replied sheepishly.
"What are you doing here?! Wait no, I don't mean it like that,"Haley rambled. "I am grateful that you are back but you came back after intentionally ditching us with a kid!"
"I know, it's all very strange. I came back so that my son can meet his godparents," she said slowly, giving them time to process.
"What!" Nathan asked.
Brooke sighed. They were so out of it, that she was going to have to dumb it down. "You two are his godparents."
"Brooke!" Haley said emotionally. "But wait, what have you been up to exactly? Where is his father? Are you married? How could you not tell us? What is with all this secrecy and hiding? Where the heck did you go after leaving Tree Hill? What even is his name? How old is he?"
"I was in New York, umm, working and single momming it. His father did not know until very recently that he even existed. He just surfaced a couple of days ago. My son's name is James Lucas Scott and he is almost three years old," she answered all their questions.
"Scott? Scott as in - what!" Nathan screamed. "He's Lucas' son?"
Both Brooke and Lucas nodded their heads with culpable expressions firmly etched into their faces.
"How?" Haley asked, suddenly feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
"Haley, you see when a boy and a girl love each other, no are attracted to each other," Brooke tried to make a joke.
"Brooke, I know how!" she quickly shut her off. "I mean how! When did you two…."
"Graduation party. I broke up with Chase and he and Peyton had a temporary break up. We drank our sorrows and hooked up," she gave them the CliffsNotes.
"I am an aunt!" Haley exclaimed, suddenly surprised.
"Yeah and his godmother," Brooke reminded her. "I was ashamed of what happened and I did not want to rehash the Peyton-Lucas-Brooke love triangle from hell. So, I decided to step back and keep him a secret. That is why I changed my number and why you didn't hear from me. Lucas ran into me and Jamie in New York and it was time to come clean. So, here we are."
Haley burst out crying and flung herself to hug Brooke. Nathan still had a grim expression on his face as he turned to look at Lucas. He raised his eyebrow to silently ask how he was doing. Lucas slowly shook his head to show just how much pain, confusion and hurt he still was in.
"Can we meet him properly this time?" Haley squeaked as she stole a glance in the direction of the toddler.
Brooke smiled and walked to the counter. She saw that he was busy colouring into the figures he had drawn on the paper, a girl with chestnut blonde hair and a boy with dark brown locks. She smiled at that. She loved that boy's heart.
"Hey, we're back," she smiled and said to him. "Were you alright on your own?"
"Yeah, I made the card," he sighed.
"It's really pretty," Brooke said, although the boy did not seem to have inherited her talent for sketching. "Would you like to give it to them? Did you know that Uncle Nathan and Aunt Haley used to be my best friends and Aunt Haley has known your father since he was about your age."
The backstory seemed to help Jamie and make him a little more familiar with the idea of having them around. These were the people his parents grew up with. "They are very excited to meet you!" Brooke coaxed.
"Yeah, I'd like to meet them," Jamie agreed and hopped off the barstool he was sitting on. The two walked to where Nathan and Haley were standing misty-eyed.
"Hi James," Haley called out to him as she bent from the waist.
Jamie gave them a smile and stretched his arm forward, "I made you a card."
Haley seemed to get extremely emotional as she took the paper from his little hands and studied it. "I love it. Thank you so much. You guys should stay back for dinner."
"Uh, no, it's fine. We wouldn't want to impose. You guys might have plans, we literally ambushed you," Brooke straight went to her 'I don't want to be a bother' mode.
"Brooke, when Haley said that, it was more a statement than an offer. Trust me," Nathan chuckled, earning an eye roll from his wife.
"Ha Ha! Although he isn't wrong. You're staying. Besides, we need to feed you. Why do you look so frail and pale, like that time you sold your blood to buy a dress for the Tric opening?" Haley asked jokingly. Brooke tried to laugh, but it came out all weak so she tried to hide it with a fake cough.
Haley didn't know how close she was to the truth. Brooke had sold her blood every six months since Jamie was one. The last one being just before getting on the plane. She thought she needed as much cash as she could for the move. She didn't want to be dependent on Lucas at all, now she was going to live in a house he bought her stupidly.
"Just tired, Haley," she replied when Haley continued to look at her expecting an answer.
"How long are you here for? How do the two of you plan to co-parent?" Haley asked, looking at both of them.
"That answer is a little complicated. I am here for some work and I will be returning to New York after that briefly and if the work I am here for goes favourably, then we are moving to Tree Hill!" I informed them.
"Oh, my God! James, are you excited to move to Tree Hill?" Haley asked him.
"I guess. Also, everyone close to me calls me Jamie," he told her.
"Oh, I'm sorry Jamie," Haley laughed. "I think you're an incredible little boy. Would you like some candy?"
"Hales, just give him one! Otherwise, he gets all hopped up with a sugar high and drives me insane!" Brooke said, following the two inside the kitchen.
"Damn, you share a son with Brooke! How are you dealing, man?" Nathan asked his brother the question both he and his wife wanted to ask really badly but knew that they would not get an honest answer in front of Brooke.
"I don't even know. It's bizarre and complicated and overwhelming as hell. I'm amazed by Jamie. He is absolutely incredible and I love him so much, yet I am deeply hurt that I missed almost three years of his life. I can never get those years again. I am hurt by Brooke and I am hurt for Brooke. I don't want to say anything but I found her in a really tough spot in New York. I had to get her here and obviously, she was too proud and too stubborn to ask for help," Lucas tried to explain himself but felt like he was not doing any justice to the situation. He was going to be a published writer soon, but words could not bring out the essence of the feelings of turmoil he felt in his heart.
"So what have you been up to in New York," Haley asked Brooke as she handed Jamie a Twix bar.
Jamie took it and looked at his mother for permission to eat it. When she nodded her head in approval, he tore through the wrapper and ate the chocolate, getting the melted chocolate all over his hands.
Brooke smiled at her son while responding to Haley. It was strange to her how it seemed like no time had passed between them and how easy conversation came to them. "Working, raising Jamie, trying to help Sam by keeping her out of trouble."
"Huh, who is Sam?" Haley asked and that's when Brooke realised what she had said.
"Uhh, Sam is the work I came here for actually. That is a long story for both you and Nathan. We need your help. We'll tell you guys post-dinner."
"Hey Jamie, want to play some football with Uncle Nathan and me in the backyard?" Lucas asked him.
"Alright!" Jamie said excitedly. "Mom, can I?"
"Yes, after you clean your hands," she said and helped him wash up. Lucas picked him up and the two ran out with Nathan who had grabbed the football. Brooke excused herself to make a quick phone call.
She went to a silent corner and video-called Samantha. "Hey honey, how are you? Missing me?" she asked her foster daughter.
"Hi, Brooke! You've barely been gone a few hours," Sam said, trying to play it cool but the truth was that she was already missing her tremendously. She was so scared about the adoption that all she wanted to do was cling to Brooke but she was so far away.
"We're at Nathan and Haley's," she informed her with an awkward smile.
"Oh! How did they take it? Are they helping?" Sam asked quickly, sitting straight and getting alert.
"We introduced Jamie to them and brought them up to speed about his paternity. We still have to talk to them about asking for their help. I figured it would be better if we waited until after dinner so that they had some time to digest that I didn't have one but two kids," Brooke said in a high-pitched chirpy voice. "Don't worry Sam. They will help and I will call you as soon as we talk to them. Relax, we will get you here one way or another. Are you alright out there on your own?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Does Jamie like them? Although that dweeb likes everybody!" Sam rolled her eyes. "Rather, do they like him?" There was so much underlying that question. Sam wasn't sure if they would like her. Sam came from the streets and foster homes. She wasn't even Brooke's blood and since she was fifteen, she had lost all the cute baby charms Jamie had as an arsenal.
"Yeah, they do. Jamie is playing football with Nathan and Lucas right now. He is really liking it here. He doesn't seem to miss New York at all," she said while walking towards the patio and flipping the camera so Sam could watch the football match.
Jamie was in Nathan's arms holding the football while Nathan was twirling him around. The two of them were laughing loudly and Lucas was standing with his hands on his hips looking unimpressed with the spectacle they were causing.
"Oh wow!" Sam remarked.
"Yeah, maybe when you are here, you can play in Lucas' team," Brooke suggested. Sam, however, cowered under fear. The more she saw it, the more she wanted it and the more it would hurt when she wouldn't get it.
"Uhh, Brooke. I need to finish my report so I should head to the library before I get stuck with the slow computer that keeps hanging," Sam said.
Brooke considered telling Sam about the new laptop and room that was waiting for her, but she decided to wait. She wasn't sure whether she was accepting the house. She hated that he did that. They said their goodbyes and Brooke went back to the kitchen to help Haley.
Nathan and Lucas set the table while Brooke and Haley finished preparing dinner. Jamie was keeping busy with cartoons in the den.
"You've really improved in the kitchen, Brooke!" Haley remarked as they took the food out to the formal dining room.
"Yeah, but I'm nowhere as good as you Hales. I can't wait to dig into your famous mac and cheese," she replied dreamily. "It's Jamie's favourite too."
Haley got excited over that. She couldn't wait to have a child of her own and seeing Jamie was getting her excited. "He seems like a wonderful boy, Brooke. I - I just wish you would have told us. We wouldn't have - why did you think that we would - uhh, it would have been alright if you had!"
"I'm sorry Haley but I was scared. I was vulnerable. I was eighteen but I was still a kid! I didn't know any better and the longer I waited, the harder it got to come clean. I've made Lucas' life hell with the revelation. Did you know that he proposed to Peyton?"
Haley nodded her head, "but she said no."
"Yeah, but you know Peyton. She loves what she can't have. She is going to come back running to him soon enough and the fact that he has a kid with me is going to complicate everything. He spent so much money on me, getting me here and he's acting stupid and completely irrational!" she screamed, the turmoil emerging from her gut.
"What do you mean?"
"Hey spent his entire book advance on, get this, buying back my old house!" she screamed.
"What? You mean the white mansion with the red door, your old house in Tree Hill?" Haley asked, completely flabbergasted by what she was hearing.
"The one and only! He said he bought it for us to live in! All he was supposed to do was get one room ready in Karen's house, that too a mock one. I was going to rent us an apartment here and he purchased my old home," she bickered.
"How much was his advance because that mansion must have cost a lot? This house cost us 5 million and the only reason we bought it was because the entire thing was paid for by Nathan's shoe contract," Haley informed her.
"Wh-what! 5 million dollars!" Brooke's head started buzzing.
"Uhh, but I mean, we have a ginormous yard in the back with a dock. Your house doesn't have that," she tried to coax.
"Yeah, but it still must have cost him millions. How does a newbie writer get so much?! That too as an advance?" she said and went searching for Lucas. "Hey, we need to talk."
"Hey, what's up?" he asked her.
"How much did the house cost?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes.
"Huh, what do you mean?"
"Just tell me the figure, Luke and the name of the bank you raided to buy it!" she screamed.
"I- what do you mean?" he continued to ask.
"Haley said that this house cost her and Nathan five freaking million dollars. A) a newbie does not get that large of an advance and B) Even if my old house covers less ground, it could not have been cheap and unless you're secretly a millionaire running a drug cartel or something, you must have performed a bank heist to put up that money!" Brooke screamed hysterically. "Gosh, how the heck am I supposed to compete with that? If this doesn't work out and the adoption fails, how am I supposed to get Jamie to live in an Apartment half the size of his new bedroom?"
"Brooke, I'm not trying to put you down. It's just I missed 3 years of his life. I'm trying to compensate for them. I asked Andy to lend me the money. I used all my advance and yes, it wasn't enough. Since Andy is knowledgeable about real estate and things, I asked him to help me get a good deal, which was still over budget. He asked me why I suddenly wanted to buy this house and I said that I could only explain it after I had the place. He trusted me and paid for the remainder of it and I promised to pay it back to him," he came clean. "I'm scared, Brooke. I don't know anything about raising a child."
"Trust me, you receive more than you give. All he needs is love… not a big expensive mansion, not things but Love. You just show him that you love him and care for him consistently and he will warm up and give you so much love, it will fill you up and make you feel so whole. That sweet boy is the best thing to ever have happened in my life," she answered from her experience.
"You raised him so well. He is kind and humble," Lucas said as he peered at his kid.
"I didn't have to do anything for that. He is a mini you," she smiled, looking at Jamie as well. Her arms were crossed tightly in front of her chest as if she was hugging herself.
"And you," Lucas reminded her. "That ain't bad either."
They saw Haley walk up to Jamie and stretch out her hand for him to grab as they walked towards the dining room. Brooke and Lucas silently began to walk out as well.
"Mama! Look at the amount of food out here! Is it really all for us?" Jamie gasped.
Brooke turned a deep shade of scarlet with embarrassment. Nathan and Haley were oblivious to how she was living and New York and what she was doing to sustain herself.
Lucas could see it and decided to shift gears. "Are you liking Tree Hill, Jamie?"
"I'm loving it! I have my own room and I have a dad and so many new toys! This is the best day ever!" he exclaimed. Brooke smiled listening to that but in her head, she was admonishing herself for a crappy job she did providing for him.
"Uhh Brooke, can I take Jamie to the river court tomorrow?" Lucas asked instead, realising that anything Jamie would say would probably make Brooke sad.
"Of course. You can take him anywhere and everywhere you want. It was never my intention to keep your son away from you. I was scared and embarrassed and I didn't want to ruin the good things in your life. I wanted you to have your freedom. You were already compromising on so much," she mumbled. Lucas perked up at that and so did Jamie.
"I wish Sam could go with us! Can we please call her after dinner, mama?" Jamie requested.
"Of course. Let me know once you're full and then you can excuse yourself and use my phone to call her. I'm pretty sure Sam will be very excited to hear from you as well. But, let's keep the house a surprise for her, okay? It will be so much more fun to see her excitement like Dad surprised the both of us," she said through gritted teeth. Besides Jamie, everyone else could tell that Brooke was not happy with the purchase.
"This is the second time I am hearing this name. Who is Sam?" asked Haley.
"Sammy is my sister," Jamie remarked casually. "Mom, I'm done. May I go call her now?"
Brooke closed her eyes as Nathan and Haley for the second time that day gaped at her.
"Yes Jamie, you can go and talk to Sam. Sit on the couch, okay?" she instructed and handed her cell phone to him. She looked around at her friends and their faces hadn't changed. It was like their surprised expressions had been set in stone.
"Sam isn't my biological daughter. Relax. She is this fifteen-year-old girl in foster care who lives with me in New York. I met Sam while I was working. She was high on drugs, beaten black and blue. She had nobody to care for her. I tried to help her, she made it very difficult but eventually, I wore her down and got her talking. She grew up in the foster system and it was so bad. The homes she has had and the horrible situations she has been in - Fire, assault, beatings, sexual stuff, I don't even know how she turned out so well despite it all. I took her in, but I didn't make enough money that the foster system would allow me to have her while I was a single young mom already. So she began to stay with me and go to the foster home she was placed at only to show her face during social worker check-ins. The actual foster parents never noticed she was gone. When Lucas met me and Jamie, I told him that I couldn't come to Tree Hill leaving Sam in New York and she wasn't mine to legally take. Lucas obviously couldn't take her in because of the very small age difference. So we came up with a ruse and we need your help. It involves lying to the State which I can't expect you to be okay with. I mean it is a felony but it is the only shot I have of getting Sam. Can you guys help us?"
"Of course," said Haley.
"Anything for you," Nathan said at the same time.
Brooke took in a deep breath. "We figured that since we can't get her alone, we could get her together. We told the social worker that we were engaged. Lucas loaned me the ring that he used to propose to Peyton. We need to give the social worker references, to speak on our behalf and she is going to talk to our family members to see how much they are willing to help and be present in Sam's life with us. We are counting on Karen to help but if she talks to my parents, we are screwed which means that it's up to us to entice her. So, will you two be willing to help us?"
"Wow, you two are pretending to be engaged?" Nathan asked, shocked to hear what we had to say.
"That's right," Lucas replied.
"Count us in, big brother," Nathan answered with a smile.
Brooke let out an excited squeal and hugged Nathan. "Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me! I'm going to go call Sammy if it's okay with you guys." Everyone nodded their heads and Brooke quickly ran to talk to her daughter who was still on call with Jamie.
Haley watched Brooke sitting beside Jamie, her arm protectively draped around him, but she was squealing like a teenager on the phone. "Wow, I can't believe this day! Brooke with a baby, your baby! And you two pretend to be engaged only so she can save a random girl's life. Am I dreaming? Nathan kiss me to wake me up," she giggled.
"Isn't it usually slap," Lucas asked.
"Not in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White," Haley giggled as she lifted her chin to allow Nathan to catch her lips. She smiled into his sweet peck, but her surroundings did not change.
"Are you really okay, Luke?" Nathan asked again.
"I wasn't at first and frankly, I am still not sure but I am in love with Jamie. Also, I have met Sam. She is an incredible girl, wild in her decision making but she adores Brooke and Jamie. She would take a bullet to keep them happy. She just really wants them to be her real family. You guys will love her when you get to meet her," Lucas answered like a proud dad which wasn't lost on Haley or Nathan.
"Luke, should we be worried about the fake engagement? I mean, you and Brooke have a tonne of history and you also share a child together. Are you sure that you're okay with the fake engagement idea?" asked Haley.
"It was my idea, Hales. Brooke didn't want to do it but it was the only way to get Sam and move her to Tree Hill, to better things, to a better life for both her and Jamie. I just hate that she makes it so difficult to do good things for her. I mess up even when I do things others would be grateful for!" he let his inner frustrations out.
"Bro, you bought Brooke's childhood house back," Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, exactly. I did a nice thing for her. She loves that house. She told me that she loved that place and that it deserved a good family. When we dated, she told me that she loved being the girl behind the red door. She has a freaking dollhouse that is a replica of the house," he argued.
"Luke, you really expect Brooke to be okay with you buying her a house?' Nathan asked again. "If you do, then you either never knew her or you have totally forgotten the girl you used to date. Brooke has always been stubborn and tough. She always has had to do everything all on her own. It's simple really, Brooke needed saving just as much as Peyton. She was living here alone too, just like Peyton was. Her family was never around and they were horrible to her. At least Peyton's dad cared about her and gave a shit about her.
"Yeah, Nathan is right. A simple example would be the school shooting. Did you hear from Brooke's parents after the school shooting? Larry was here in a day. Brooke's parents never even called to find out whether she was hurt or not. Yet you never helped her and it has nothing to do with you. Its Brooke. She wouldn't let you because like I said, she is stubborn and she has to do everything herself. She wants to help everybody but she refuses to ask for help herself."
Haley smiled at that, "She has the biggest heart. Since we are talking about houses, Brooke Nathan and me our apartment back saying it was always ours and she was just keeping it warm until we came to our senses. She became homeless. She had no house to go to and she was willing to sleep in her car because she wanted me and Nathan to have a home. Then she lived with you secretly and moved to Peyton's. But the two of you cheated on her. Again. So she went to live with Rachel… someone she despised and neither one of you bothered to check how she was!"
"Brooke has been dealing with difficult situations and adult things her whole life. She is just better at hiding it. She needs to know she can do it herself," Nathan added, surprising Lucas by how well they knew her even though three years had gone by and Lucas couldn't help but think to himself that they didn't even know the beginning of her struggles in New York!
"Of course, she would get pissed. She would've wanted things her way. But I must say, Brooke seems to be a great mom," Haley commented, her eyes drifting back to her former best friend.
"She really is incredible with Jamie," Lucas gushed. "It scares me that I won't match up with her quality and level, so I got Jamie all the toys and the best house and things I could get."
"Stop bribing the kid. You had Keith to learn from. You know what a good dad does. Just do it as he would do it and you can never go wrong," Haley said to him.
"Thanks, Hales," Lucas said, engulfing her in a hug. "You have no idea how grateful I am to have you guys. I am at my wit's end out here. My mom is coming tomorrow and then we talk to the social worker in Tree Hill to start the process. I really hope that I get to keep Jamie close here in Tree Hill. Otherwise, It's what even Brooke wants. Otherwise, we will stay in New York until Sam is eighteen."
"I really hope that it works out. Wow, Brooke will be here in Tree Hill with us permanently! That sounds unbelievable incredible," Haley smiled.
"Okay guys, it seems like the excitement of the day tired Jamie out. Is it okay if we head for the night?" Brooke asked.
"Of course. Umm, Brooke, can we have your number now? And keep us in the loop regarding the adoption," Haley said before hugging her goodbye.
"I'll give you a call," she smiled and Lucas picked up a sleeping Jamie in his arms and placed him in his car seat.
"What time is Karen coming tomorrow?" Brooke asked him while he drove her back home. Wow, home. Her home. She was still shocked by it all.
"Around noon," he replied. "Do you want to come to the airport to pick her up?"
"No, uh, you should have some good moments with her before you ambush her," Brooke replied while pressing her temples.
"How about I come to yours at 8:00 a.m. with breakfast for you and Jamie and then we take him to the River Court as we promised him. He never got to explore the backyard, but I got him one of those 2 feet plastic fisherprice hoops like the ones in Central Park," Lucas said, his eyes concentrating on the road.
"He'll love it," Brooke said, a mix of joy and sadness in her tone.
"Yeah, then from the River Court, I can drop you at my house and go to pick up my mom," he concluded.
"Sounds like a plan," Brooke said as Lucas cut the engine off in her driveway. Lucas walked to the back and lifted Jamie in his arms again.
"Uhh, Luke, he has never slept alone and it is his first night in a new place. We have never left our apartment, except when we stayed in your hotel room. Can you put him in my bed?" she requested.
"Yeah, but didn't you complain that he kicks you?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, but I don't want him to get scared in the middle of the night and not know where to find me. Just please," she requested again and Lucas entered Brooke's bedroom. He got Jamie settled and both of them just stood there, not knowing what to say, sharing an awkward moment.
"Okay, good night Lucas!" Brooke said, giving him a cue to leave.
Lucas looked at Jamie and then Brooke one more time before leaving the house and walking to his car. He sat for a moment, thinking whether all the doors and windows were firmly locked or not. He really didn't like the idea of Brooke alone with their child. What if a burglar attacked them? He got out and checked each door and window. Once he was satisfied, he sighed and drove to his own home. Neither of them slept very well that night.