Brooke's cell phone kept ringing, but the pain medication that she had had the previous night had her knocked out cold. When the ringing got too much, Sam stirred and walked out to grab her phone. She was still sleepy herself, it was the weekend, after all. School was out and all she wanted to do was sleep.
"Hello," she said begrudgingly, answering the call without checking the caller ID.
"Hello, am I speaking to Brooke?" the person asked on the other line.
"No, she is sleeping. Can I know who is calling?" Sam asked, suddenly realising that she didn't know who was on the other side of the line.
"It's Lorelai, from the adoption agency. Should I call back? May I know who I am talking to?" Lorelai asked, with a bit of surprise in her voice. She checked the time by her watch. It was the weekend, but it was not early.
"No, wait!" Sam screamed and placed the call on hold so that Lorelai could not hear her. "Brooke! Brooke, Brooke, Brooke! Wake up!" Sam said, slapping Brooke who was knocked out cold on the couch.
"What? Sam, please let me sleep," Brooke whined as consciousness brought along with it the pain that she was experiencing in her ankle.
"Lorelai is on the phone!" Sam screamed, pointing towards Brooke's cell phone in her hand. That was enough to get Brooke's attention.
"What why!" she asked, matching Sam's pitch.
"I don't know! Here!" she yelled, thrusting the phone in Brooke's hands.
Brooke quickly rubbed her eyes to get them adjusted to the screen and took the call off hold. "Hi! Sorry Lorelai," Brooke said shamefully.
"I'm sorry, you were sleeping?" she asked with a bit of judgement in her tone.
"Yeah, I injured my foot yesterday. I had medicine to take care of the swelling and that knocked me out. Haha! Wh- what's up?" she asked then internally cursed herself for asking whats up! Who in the world asked a person in authority what's up!
"I know it's the weekend, but I wanted to have a conversation with you, off the books. Is this a good time?" Lorelai asked.
"Yes, yes, totally!" Brooke replied, having no idea where this was headed.
"I have to submit my formal decision regarding your adoption to the agency on Monday and I must say that I am conflicted. On one hand, you and Lucas are really young, parents already and you have a lot of past baggage. So all rationale says that I should reject you. However, thinking from the other angle, Samantha's angle, you are a dream come true for her. After I left your and Lucas' house, I kept thinking about why I became a social worker in the first place, that nobody should ever have to go through what my best friend did. Sometimes, when you have been doing this job for as long as I have, you start checking boxes and everything becomes a routine. You start losing emotions, you start forgetting the why, you start forgetting the purpose, to get these kids the dream that my best friend never got to live. So, I have decided that if you and Lucas still want it, I will recommend a temporary foster care placement of Samantha with you and Lucas. We will have a trial run to see how fit the two of you are to be Samantha's parents. She will be placed with you for a period of six months and it will be a proper foster care situation. You will have monthly inspections, surprise inspections and evaluations. The six months may be extended to a longer duration if the need is felt for the same. Samantha can also be removed from your care prior to the completion of those six months if the match is not suitable or if you fail during the inspections. Also, even if you complete six months, we still cannot guarantee that you will get Samantha. Is that okay?" Lorelai asked on the line.
"Yes! If it all works out, do we get her?" Brooke asked eagerly as she tried to hide her squeals.
"Yes, you do," Lorelai said and Brooke could hear the happiness in her voice too.
"Oh my God! Yes! How soon can we get her?" Brooke asked.
"Well, Samantha is currently under foster care under the State of New York, so they will have to release her from there. How soon can you and Lucas get to New York? You can complete the formalities with Nancy out there and I will sign off on the move and fax the papers to them to release Samantha to your care. You bring her to Tree Hill and we can get the paperwork signed off here to officially begin her foster term with the two of you. Although, I must warn you, Brooke. This is not going to be easy. These kids come from some really horrible experiences and usually adoption for kids Sam's age fails because they are rebellious, usually hooked on to bad habits, they act out, they steal and they are so bold and brazen from their age and experiences that they never listen to foster parents. Usually, all placements for teenagers fail and the best you can do for them is wait till they turn eighteen and then help them find a job at the local Walmart or Target."
Brooke rolled her eyes. She knew all of that. She had gone through all of that already. "We know that it will be difficult. Sam shared some of her experiences with me, and both Lucas and I understand. Our pasts are nothing but a version of that, you know since our parents were not exactly parents either. I promise you that we will not give up on Sam and we will love her and help her. Please give us this chance."
"Okay! I will talk to Nancy to begin paperwork to get the transfer signed off by a Judge on Monday. Get to New York as soon as you can and… Congratulations Brooke!"
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" she cried tears of happiness and ended the call.
"What did she say? Because it sounded like she said…. But I don't want to jinx it…. So just tell me, please. Did she? Am I?" Sam asked.
Brooke looked at her with all the love in her eyes as she pulled Sam into her arms for the deepest and tightest hug! "You're officially mine and we are all moving to Tree Hill!"
"What! Really! They agreed to let you adopt me! But how? You said that they rejected you!" Sam asked.
"No, not adopt you… yet. They want to try a foster care situation for six months before they decide anything but we got you!" Brooke replied, giving her another bone-crushing hug.
Sam began to cry tears of joy upon hearing that. The two girls spent some time wrapped around each other, feeling their joys.
"We gotta call Lucas. He needs to fly to New York on Monday," Brooke said after some time.
"Hey," Lucas said dully when Brooke called him.
"Hi," Brooke replied hoarsely, their last conversation still hanging over their heads. Yet, she did not want to beat around the bush, so she cut right to the chase. "I just got a call from the adoption agency. Apparently, Lorelai changed her mind, not completely, but just enough to give us a chance. They have agreed to let us foster Sam for six months, see how it goes and then consider whether or not to let us adopt her."
"What!" Lucas shrieked. "Really? You're serious, right? This better not be a joke!"
"Yeah, I really am. Oh my God! This is actually happening!" Brooke said, matching Lucas' excitement. "How soon can you get to New York? We need to finish some paperwork here to release Sam and then sign her into our care in Tree Hill once Lorelai and Nancy approve the transfer."
"I can be on the next flight! My God! How do Sam and Jamie feel about this?" he asked.
"Jamie is still sleeping, but Sam is pretty happy, you can say. You don't need to rush, but get here by Monday," Brooke said, wanting to not waste a minute to call Sam hers.
"You better start packing everything you own because finally, you're coming home!" Lucas said, trying to get Brooke excited.
"Hey Luke, we'll uhh, we'll figure out the hospital payments, right? I have enough for two more instalments, but uhh…" Brooke asked vulnerably.
"Yes, Pretty Girl. We will figure all of it out. I promise you," he replied.
"Because I'm really scared, Luke. I mean, It'll take a while to break even at the new Company, then I will have to repay Andy… profits seem like a distant future dream," she replied.
"Brooke, those jobs are so bad for you that I can't even understand why you stubbornly refuse to stop. Wait, you went back there didn't you?" Lucas asked, angrily.
"Yes, but I-" Brooke started to defend herself.
"Seriously Brooke! Enough. Just enough! Why? Seriously, do you like dancing and parading naked on stage?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Brooke asked angrily.
"Exactly what I said! Why are you doing this now? Clothes over Bro's is almost set up! The last time you set up, you saw profits instantly! You've only grown better since then, but instead of working on the good and moving on to better things, you stubbornly stick to your bad past! Why?" Lucas asked.
"I have debts to pay off!" Brooke screamed.
"But you agreed to stop! You had agreed to move to Tree Hill, to a better life for you and your family! You said that they deserve better!" Lucas threw her words back at her. "You had a debt even then. So, it makes me wonder why do you go there? Do you plan on finding a place for you to dance in Tree Hill too?" Lucas asked.
"Shut up!" Brooke shrieked, loud enough for Jamie to wake up.
"Mommy! What's wrong?" Jamie screamed, running towards where Brooke was lying on the couch.
"Nothing Jamie, I'm fine," she said, getting her temper in check instantly. Sam just sat there, listening to Brooke's side of the conversation, trying to piece what Lucas would have said.
"No, you're not! Why does your foot look like that and how did it turn that colour?" he asked, pointing to Brooke's swollen purple ankle.
"What does Jamie mean?" Lucas asked on the phone, having heard the child scream.
"Nothing! All of you need to get off my back! Aaaaah! Jamie, don't touch my foot!" she yelled when Jamie touched his tiny finger to Brooke's throbbing ankle.
"Brooke," Lucas warned.
"I slipped off the pole last night and hurt my foot. Happy?" she replied.
"No, the fact that you were on a bloody pole in the first place does not make me happy!" Lucas yelled.
"You do realise that we aren't actually engaged, right? You don't get to have an opinion about what I do or who I do," she replied, making a flustered Lucas stop talking.
"Did you atleast go see a doctor?" he asked.
"No, I'm icing it. It's only a sprain. Nothing an aspirin can't fix," she replied nonchalantly.
"Your behaviour is really starting to piss me off. Why are you so insistent on going through life alone?" he asked.
"I am not alone. I have Jamie and Sam," Brooke pouted.
"You take care of Jamie and Sam. Who is taking care of you? Who is helping you with that sprained ankle?" Lucas asked.
"Sam is more than capable," she replied.
"Hmm, it's a good thing that she is moving to Tree Hill then. Sam should not have to have the responsibility to take care of you," Lucas stated simply.
"Lucas! That's hypocritical. You grew up with a single mom! You took care of Karen all the time. You remember that, don't you. You tried to take on Dan for your mom because you thought it was your responsibility to look after her. You even took care of Peyton all through High School," Brooke complained.
"Are you forgetting about Keith?" he asked angrily.
"Lucas, why are you pissed at me about this all of a sudden? It's like you're just learning about my job. It's just a job! It pays my bills, that's it," Brooke whined.
"Because I feel incompetent. I thought that I would help you and you would stop. I thought that we would set up Clothes over Bro's, we would adopt Sam and you would be happy. Every time that you go to the club, it's like a personal punch that you're out there selling yourself because I can't help you, because I'm not a good enough co-parent. Those bills are ours to have to worry about. Not yours!"
"What!" Brooke asked, surprised to hear him say that.
"It's all my fault, Brooke. You were alone because I broke your trust. You went through the hardest pregnancies, living in homeless shelters without any help because I failed at being a friend you could count on. I really thought that once we got Sam, everything would fall in line, that you would stop!" Lucas' voice broke at the end of the line. He was ready to cry.
"Lucas, no!" Brooke said, feeling tears sting her eyes as well.
"If we were together and there was no Peyton drama, would you have kept Jamie from me? Would you have not let me be there for you?" he asked.
"No," she whispered softly. She didn't want to hurt him, but it was the truth. She had run to Lucas immediately when she had her first pregnancy scare, although it was messy even then with Peyton.
Suddenly, she hissed on the call. Sam had got her another ice pack. "Thanks, Sammy."
"I'm not doing much. Also, your chest is fully red thanks to the body glitter that," Sam remarked.
Brooke blushed, "I don't think that I can still stand in the shower."
"So, you won't go to the club tonight?" Sam continued to ask.
"You planned on going back today?" he asked.
"I did intend to, but I don't know," she whined.
"B, what will it take to make you stop? Anything. I am willing to figure everything out and give you whatever you want to make you stop going to the club," he begged, surprising Brooke.
"Why does it affect you so much?" she asked.
"Because you're my friend, Brooke. Because I care about you. Because this seems to be going in the direction of another embarrassing speech that you seem to love to make me give for you!" he said, reminding Brooke of when they fought and made up in the rain because of his ridiculously beautiful speech. "Because I do still know you and I know that this is not you. Because you're so talented and brave and beautiful. Wait. So, I have been remembering the party at the abandoned house the night of our graduation, at least trying to piece that night ever since I got to know that we conceived Jamie that night and I remembered the conversation we had before Peyton and I broke up. Do you remember it? You were crying. I asked you what was wrong and you in your raw honest vulnerability said to me that you were scared of moving on. High school was safe and you weren't sure if you were ready for the real world. I made you read something that I had been working on, do you remember that?"
"Yeah, vaguely I mean. It's been years," she replied.
"I'm sending you what I wrote and said to you back then because it is truer today," he replied and sent her a document.
"Wait, uhh, Lucas, you seemed to have sent me your uhh, your book," she said.
"I know. Go to Chapter three," he answered calmly.
"What?" she squeaked.
"Brooke, I was working on my novel, the novel that I am publishing, remember?" he asked.
"Yeah, the novel about you and Peyton," Brooke replied.
"About me and Peyton and you, Brooke. If I am writing my history in High School, you literally are half the book. Are you on Chapter three?" he asked.
Brooke scrolled down and went to where he had indicated. She saw the title and gasped. 'Brooke', it read in a neat cursive.
"I made you read this part that night. Read it to me, Pretty Girl."
Brooke's voice hook, but she began to read his words, "She was fiercely independent. Brooke Davis... Brilliant and beautiful and brave. In two years, she'd grown more than anyone I had ever known. Brooke Davis is gonna change the world someday, and I'm not sure she even knows it."
"I told you that you were gonna do great, Brooke. That the world didn't stand a chance," he reminded her.
Brooke remembered. She remembered his words, she remembered their interaction. She remembered being blown away by his words.
"You kept this in your book?" she asked.
"Of course. I meant them back then because they were true and I mean them now because they are still true. So, the million dollar question still remains. What will it take for you to believe them to be true?" he asked.
"I'm scared, Lucas. I mean every single person and I mean every single person in my life has been so unreliable and untrustworthy. My mom and my dad, Peyton, you. When it happens over and over again, every single time, you start to realise that you are the problem. I think I am worthy only of this life, that all I can ever amount to is being the girl who strips for money," she confessed.
"That makes me just feel sad for you, Brooke. You were an incredible, lively person. Hell, you could be President of the Country in my imagination. You were brave and bold when you ran for Student Body President. You worked so hard to improve the school, fighting with Turner for your DW-not-I campaign. When you took that job at the crab shack, you fought for the rights of all those girls, reading laws and getting them the wages and breaks that they deserved. You fought for everybody, defended all of us. Even now, I see you fight for others, you fought for Sam and we got her! You did that. Why not for yourself? Don't you deserve better?"
"But the money, Luke," she whined.
"Should I put the Davis mansion on the market? We will get enough to pay your hospital debt, easily or Andy can loan us the money," Lucas suggested.
"No! No more loaning money from Andy, we're adults, we should be able to handle our shit without help, and we can't sell that house now, at least not for six months. Lorelai will think we're poor kids and refuse custody if she finds out that we sold the house," Brooke said with a heavy sigh.
"Leap of faith, Pretty Girl? I mean you really don't have a choice since you're moving to Tree Hill!" he said, running out of options to get Brooke to simply stop. "Look, I don't want to make you feel bad or force you. Actually, I do. I really do, but I am trying not to. I know how much you guard your heart, remember the whole non-exclusive dating thing you made us do?" he asked.
"And look where that got me," she said sarcastically.
"Hey, two words, Chris Keller!"
"Yeah, god. I still cannot believe that I did that. Sorry!" she said, grimacing at herself.
"What I meant was…. We did the whole non-exclusive thing and we were both miserable and stupid in every way during that time. But when you leaned in, it was magic," he tried to remind her.
"Yeah, for about two seconds until you were kissing Peyton and hiding it from me…. Again!"
"You know what, if you wanna strip! Fine! But I refuse to have Jamie around that anymore!" Lucas argued.
"I don't wanna strip," Brooke mumbled.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Lucas asked, struggling to hear Brooke's soft confession.
"I said I don't wanna strip anymore," she repeated herself with a pout.
"Then don't and if we can't make enough to pay the hospital, we will get help, work harder and figure it all out."
"If we fail, I go back, Marty will never say no to me," she replied.
"Hey, at least you said if 'we' fail. That's progress," he said, making Brooke chuckle. "But I have to confess that this thing is getting on my nerves. I cannot see you do that, I cannot see you live this way. If this was Peyton, would you let her continue stripping?"
"If it was Peyton, you would've saved her a long time ago, Luke," Brooke said snarkily.
"Brooke, you really need to leave your stubbornness in New York. It's not serving you anything," he said, wounding her ego. "The move is a fresh start for you, Jamie and Sam. Leave all the baggage of New York in New York and come here with a fresh mindset for a new life. You're an entrepreneur here, not a waitress or a maid or a stripper. Sam is our daughter here, not a foster kid with a bad history and Jamie has two parents here. I am not saying to erase your histories and forget about them or belittle them. Your experiences in New York made you who you are today. But, bring the good, chuck the bad out there. And if it's alright, can I talk to Sam?"
"Sure, she has been eavesdropping on our conversation this whole time," Brooke said, rolling her eyes and handing the phone to her. "It's for you."
"Hey Sam, uhh, I just wanted to check in. Are you okay with this? It's pretty quick, the move to Tree Hill, me being your, uhh, Dad adjacent?" he asked.
"Yes, I am. I get to be with Brooke, for real and she gets to stop working at the club, it's a dream come true," she replied with a smile.
"How bad is her foot on a scale of 1 to 10? Be discreet," he asked.
"I'd say seven," Sam answered with a hint of mischief in her eyes. "Hey Lucas, I'm glad you're there for this. This was required, if you catch my drift."
"She and you both needed family to take care of y'all and who knows, maybe, between the two of us, we'll actually manage to keep Brooke Davis in check. You have me now to help and support her and I'm also glad that I can be a shoulder of support to you, Sam. I, uhh, also wanted to remind you that whatever Brooke said about me forgetting you if Peyton came back, that's false. I really want to be there for you on an equal footing like Jamie, if you would like that and I need you to know that. You're fifteen, so I cannot really make you do anything, but if you ever need me or just want to talk or hang out, we can, without Jamie, with Jamie, whatever you like. I want to be whoever you need me to be for you."
"Thanks," she replied awkwardly.
"So, when do you get here?" she asked, trying to mask the excitement in her voice.
"Soon, I promise. Let Brooke rest her foot and you start packing the house. You're coming home, Sam," he said and Sam couldn't hide the wide grin that got plastered on her mouth. She would have a home, a permanent one, hopefully. She ended the call with a satisfied sigh.
"What did he want?" Brooke asked.
"Nothing. I'm gonna start packing up for our move. Gosh Brooke, you're itching your chest like a wild animal. You need a shower, that glitter has been on you for too long," Sam said.
"I can't hop in the shower, I will slip and fall, hurting myself even more and we don't have a tub," Brooke reminded her.
"Karen's hotel had a tub. It was so divine to use one for the first time when you guys were in Tree Hill," Sam remarked. "Also, did you find a place for us to stay at Tree Hill?"
"Yeah, we have a place," Brooke said, knowing that Sam would freak out looking at the mansion.
"Is it nicer than this place? If it's not, it's cool. Tree Hill is warmer than New York, right?" she asked.
"The place is nicer, the heater and air conditioner works and yes, Tree Hill has much better weather than New York," she finished. "Any more questions?"
"Yes, is there any way for you to take a shower because you're itching your skin raw!" Sam rebuked.
"Uhh, don't want to do this, but can you help me. You're right, the glitter has to go. I use some cheap brand anyway," she said.
"Yeah, it's like I'm back to living with Molly and Pete. Molly would get so black out drunk that she would puke all over herself and the place reeked but she was too out of it to shower herself so I had to do it," Sam tried to joke, but Brooke's face only got serious.
"I'm sorry honey. Really, you shouldn't have to help me," Brooke said apologetically.
"Brooke, you're not a drunkard, you're hurt. There is a difference. I just know what I'm supposed to do," she said and placed a plastic chair underneath the shower head. She came back and helped ease Brooke off the couch who hissed when her foot made contact with the cold floor.
"Brooke, could your foot be broken? Should we go to the doctors?" she asked.
"No, if it was broken, I wouldn't be able to stand on it for even a second. I made it home from the club last night, it just needs time to heal," she answered with a smile. Sam wished Lucas was with them at that moment, but kept her mouth shut.
She helped Brooke sit on the chair and helped pull out her pants and underwear. Brooke felt so much pain as Sam pulled her pants off her ankles but she tried to stifle her moans.
"Okay, thanks. I'll shower and call you, alright," Brooke said once she was sitting bare bottomed. Sam nodded and left the bathroom to give Brooke some privacy.
Brooke pulled off her top and saw the glitter sticking to the fabric and her skin. She rolled her eyes and turned on the faucet to be covered by a blanket of hot water. She rubbed her skin, getting all the sequins out. Her foot was prickling as the water made contact with her bruised skin, but she ignored the pain. It was hard showering while sitting on a chair that barely fit inside the really tiny shower, but she was grateful to wash away all remnants of the club. Once she was done, she called out to Sam who came in with a towel. Brooke draped it around herself as Sam held her hand to keep her stable while she walked out of the bathroom, still wrapped in the towel. Brooke stopped caring that she was nude, Jamie had seen plenty of that at the club, hell half of New York had.
Sam helped her to the couch and Brooke sat down while still being completely wet. She used the towel to wipe herself while sitting down and Sam brought some clothes for her, a dress so that she did not have to touch her ankles.
"Thanks, kiddo," Brooke replied once she was clothed and feeling better. The shower had made her feel so much better. "Any plans for the day?"
"Yes, packing. Jamie, I need you to help me!" she commanded the toddler who had been watching videos on Brooke's phone while she showered.
"Both of you need to eat something first. Sammy, sorry, I know breakfast is my duty, but can you feed him and yourself after you get him to brush his teeth. I know, just like all the other foster homes…" Brooke sighed.
"Oh well, soon you will have Lucas doing all this and I won't have to," she joked.
"Baby, we aren't living with Lucas," she reminded her.
"I know, but I bet he'll be around all the time and Jamie will be spending some nights there too, eventually," she replied, making Brooke pale. Yes, she would have to share Jamie and that sucked.
"Come on Jamie, we have a long day. We have to get dressed, eat breakfast and then pack everything in the house?" Sam informed him.
"Huh? Why?" Jamie asked, not understanding.
"Because on Monday, Brooke and Lucas will sign some papers which will allow all of us to live in Tree Hill," Sam grinned. "You can live close to your father."
"What really? But what about school? Miss Margaret is already mad at me for skipping so much," Jamie said with chagrin.
"Brooke and Lucas are going to pull us out of these schools and we will be going to new schools. Remember, we discussed this," Sam reminded the toddler.
"Oh," he said.
"I thought you liked being in Tree Hill," Sam said.
"Yeah, but you could never come," he sighed.
"That's what is changing. I'm coming too!" Sam explained excitedly.
"What! Really! You are coming to Tree Hill with us!" Jamie shrieked.
"Yes!" she replied and hugged the little boy who had flung himself in his big sister's arms.
"You have to come to the River Court and the beach and Uncle Nathan is so good at the basketball game on the playstation and the River Walk is so beautiful. At night the lights twinkle like stars and there are so many toys at the house there!" Jamie talked sixteen to a dozen.
Sam didn't say anything but she was excited. The two quickly got dressed and Sam poured some milk onto the cereal she put out for them. Sam gave a bowl to Brooke to have and put out another two aspirins for her to take. Brooke looked at them gratefully as she completed the bowl from the couch. Sam texted Liz the good news and Liz called her back immediately, sobbing on the phone because she would miss her.
"Liz, you can come visit her anytime," Brooke shrieked in the background after Sam failed to console her best friend.
Sam rolled her eyes and put her phone on speaker so that Liz could talk to Brooke. "Thanks Mrs. Wheeler. It sucks that Mr. Wheeler and you don't want to live in the city, but I am so happy that my best friend is getting adopted!"
"You have to visit Sam in the Summer, okay," Brooke said with a smile.
"Thank you!" she said. "Sam, when can I see you? I need to see you before you leave," Liz begged.
"Tomorrow?" she asked. "I need to help Norma with some packing today because she hurt her foot, but Mike who is in Tree Hill will be here by tomorrow, so he can help Norma which frees me. You and I can spend the whole day together," Sam suggested.
"Promise me that you will miss me and we will talk everyday," Liz requested.
"I promise and Summer is just around the corner. Thanks Liz, for everything," she said, grateful for her best friend.
"I hate you for doing this to me! You're killing me Samantha Walker or should I be calling you Samantha Wheeler now?" Liz asked.
"Uhh, I don't know whether I'm changing my last name. Anyway, the adoption will take six months," Sam said with an eyeroll.
The girls said their goodbyes and Sam went downstairs to go to a store and buy some boxes for them to pack.
"Brooke, should we tell Liz who you actually are? Like are you really serious about her coming for the Summer? Another mouth to feed and space is always an issue, though you say that the apartment has a working thermostat and air conditioner. What I mean is, if she really comes, I don't want it to be weeks of you and Lucas lying and pretending to be Mike and Norma. I hate Mike and Norma, I want to forget them!" she asked after she returned carrying flattened boxes in her arms.
"Tell her after we have you, as soon as they stamp the papers in Tree Hill, you can come clean, but Sammy, she raised a good question. Do you want to change your last name to Scott after the adoption?" Brooke asked.
"Scott?!" Sam asked, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, I mean Lucas' last name is Scott and he will be your father according to the adoption papers," Brooke reminded her.
"Oh, right…" Sam said, just realising something.
"Hey, you don't have to change your last name. You can keep being Walker if you want, that's really up to you," Brooke said, needing her to know that they would agree to whatever she wished for.
"Yeah, I'll think about it and let you know," Sam replied and quickly went to her room to start putting her clothes in the box with Jamie's help. The truth was, Sam had thought about it, quite a lot. She had always dreamed of getting adopted by Brooke and becoming a Davis. She dreamed of being a Davis girl. She often forgot that Lucas was on the papers too. He reminded her, but Brooke was still the one who did the hands-on caring part and Lucas was the cool guy she went on adventures with like rollercoasters and learning how to swim. Brooke was her mom and her family. Lucas was still just the guy who helped Brooke and Sam achieve that.
Brooke wasn't awake for too long after that as the medicines put her to sleep, so Sam and Jamie got to work.
"Will you miss New York, Jamie?" Sam asked him while she emptied the closet. They didn't have much stuff, so packing wasn't all that hard. Sam could fit her things in one box, Brooke's in half of another and Jamie's in two boxes. The kitchen stuff and linens would take a few boxes and that was it. A car would be more than enough to move things by road, hell if each of them carried a carton down, discounting Jamie, the three of them could get all the boxes on two or three trips.
"I don't know, how can you tell?" he asked.
"When you were in Tree Hill, did you feel like coming back?" she explained.
"Yes, you were here," he said, giving a Brooke Davis eye roll to Sam. Jamie looked so much like Lucas with Brooke's dimples that it was hard to see Brooke in her son, but sometimes his mannerisms were so Brooke Davis, that you couldn't help but agree that she was his mom.
"Do you like Tree Hill more or New York more?" she asked next.
"I think I like Tree Hill more. Mom and Dad are around much more. Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan are awesome and Mama looks happier and prettier in Tree Hill," Jamie replied, making Sam's heart melt. That was another thing Jamie had inherited which was pure Brooke, an humongous heart with an immense capacity to love and care for others.
"I love you James Lucas Scott," she said in awe.
"And I love you Sammy Walker," he answered with a toothy grin.
"Your Daddy is coming to New York soon," Sam informed Jamie.
"Really?" he asked, his face glowing.
"Yeah, do you like spending time with him?" she asked.
"Yes! Daddy is cool!" Jamie said.
"But who is cooler, Daddy or me?" she asked, feeling a tad bit jealous that Lucas was replacing her in Jamie's life.
"You're way cooler, Sammy!" Jamie giggled. "Do you think Mama's foot will be okay?"
"Yes, we will make sure of it," she replied, ruffling his blonde hair.