"MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!"
Lucas's eyes burst open to the sounds of their four year old son's yells.
He turned his head into the pillow and groaned, "Brooke." He mumbled, "Your son wants you."
Brooke took a deep breath and stayed in bed, knowing that Carter would burst into their room anyway.
And a minute later the door was in fact pushed open by a boy in basketball pajamas.
"Mommy, daddy, I'm awake!" Carter sang, getting a running start to jump on their parent's bed.
"Whoah. Buddy." Lucas grabbed him still sleepily, "Careful."
Lucas patted his son's bottom as he crossed over to Brooke who was smiling at her son.
"Did you have a dry night buddy?" Lucas asked.
Brooke's mouth opened in pride at Carter's beaming face, "Did you Carter?"
He nodded his head proudly and pulled down his bottoms, "Yeah mommy, touch!" He grabbed his mom's hand and placed it on his pull up, "All dry!"
Brooke and Lucas looked at each other, both with big smiles on their faces and attacked their son with kisses. Both Riley and Carter were potty trained, but Carter still wet most nights. Although he was slowly improving. The doctors assured the parents that it was normal, especially for boys at this age to have bedwetting problems. Unlike her brother, Riley probably only had three or four accidents since being potty trained.
"Oh you're a big boy now aren't you?" Brooke asked him proudly, gathering him in her arms.
"I'm always a big boy mommy." Carter argued.
"Yeah, mommy. Carter's not just a big boy. He's a HUGE boy." Lucas teased and got closer to the two.
"Is Riley still sleeping bud?" Lucas asked, knowing full well that the boy either slept with his sister or went into her room before coming into theirs. If there was someone that Carter loved more than his parents, it was Riley.
He nodded, "She with Sammy. Want me to call them daddy?" He was about to get up to do so, but Brooke stopped him, "No, no, buddy. Leave them."
He laid back down easily, "Okay mommy. More cuddles for me?"
"Yeah." Lucas chuckled, "More cuddles for you."
"Wiley wanted cuddles with Sammy before she lefts for Jack."
Lucas frowned at Brooke who gave him a small and sympathetic smile.
See, they had gotten into an argument with their eldest the day before because Sam wanted to spend the day with Jack, but Brooke and Lucas wanted her to stay and go on their surprise zoo visit with the twins. Sam was not so inclined.
"Oh my God, dad they won't care if I'm there or not. And you guys didn't just tell me about this until yesterday. That's not fair!"
Lucas wanted to roll his eyes at Sam's whine. "Sam, I'm asking you to please prioritize your family and change your plans for us. Of course the twins would want you there. They love you."
"Prioritize my-" Sam sputtered, eyes wide "Prioritize my family?" She threw her hands up in the air, "Are you kidding me? That's all I do, dad!"
"Hey, hey, what is going on?" Brooke came in from downstairs, "The twins are taking a nap, quiet down."
Sam lifted an eyebrow, as if to say, 'See. This house revolves around them.'
Lucas looked to Brooke and then back to their daughter. He pulled back a bit, "Samantha, please-"
"No." Sam responded definitively, "You and mom told me that I get to have three days notice for things unless its an emergency or you need me to care for them because of work. This isn't an emergency. I'm not going. I'm going with Jack."
Ahhh. Now Brooke knew what they were talking about. She gave a small sigh as she stared at her angry daughter.
They had really wanted this to be a family outing. Sam was 17 now. She was driving, and would be heading off to college soon. The school year was quickly heading into its busiest season, and in the blink of an eye her senior year would be over. Then they would only have the summer before she left them. Both parents weren't ready for it. And if Sam was honest with herself, neither was she.
"Can I go now?" Sam asked.
Lucas took a deep breath, wishing he could put his foot down and force her to go, but that was a disaster waiting to happen. And Sam had a point.
"Yes." Brooke answered for them both, knowing Lucas wasn't going to answer.
The girl pushed herself off the counter and quickly moved upstairs, saying nothing else to her parents.
"It'll just be the four of us. It'll be fine." Brooke kissed Lucas's cheek.
"We'll still have fun with our littlest ones." Brooke reminded Lucas in bed, while she held Carter who was reaching over to get one of his pacifiers on the nightstand. They were struggling to wean him off his binkies. But he was at the point where he only used them for bed, and when he woke up.
"Yeah." Lucas replied with a long sigh, "I'm just gonna miss her."
"Wait." Brooke looked down at her baby boy, "How did you know about Sam leaving with Jack today?"
Carter snuggled into his mom's chest, "I dunno." He lied.
Lucas and Brooke chuckled, "Someone wasn't taking their nap, like I thought he was."
Meanwhile Sam was still deep in sleep when a little hand shook her shoulder, "Sammy?"
An unintelligible grunt came from the teenager, but the little girl in her penguin night shirt tried again, "Sssaaammmyyy." She whispered again.
Sam finally opened her eyes, "Yeah, thing 2. What's up?" She curled into the warmth of her sheets.
"Can I stay here with you until you wakes up?"
Sam checked her clock. It was still 7 in the morning. The girl didn't question why her little sister was awake so early. The four year old was a heavy sleeper and hard to wake up, just like Sam.
The older sister nodded and moved to leave the girl space, "Hop in, Riles." She yawned.
Riley climbed up and fit easily into her sister. She loved her sister so much, and thought she was the coolest. Sam was usually watching tv, playing piano, or up in her room when she was home, and would always let Riley stay with her.
She would've gone into her parent's room with her brother, but Sam was leaving for the day to see Jack, so she wanted her Sammy cuddles for the day. At least that's what she and their parents had argued about the day before with Sam. Her mom thought she and Carter were sleeping but they snuck out of their parents room where their mom had put them down. Carter was sucking on his paci and Riley was holding onto her hippo as they stood atop the stairs and heard Sam and their parents argue. They only caught the tail end of it.
Sam telling her parents she was going with Jack tomorrow and that was it. Once they heard Sam coming upstairs, they ran back to their mommy and daddy's room.
It was ten in the morning when Sam woke up once again. She opened her eyes and saw her little sister, laying next to her, coloring in one of her coloring books.
The teenager smiled sleepily, "Hey Riles, what are you coloring?"
"Its for you. A ice cream cone. Your favorite."
Sam chuckled and leaned over to look at Riley's coloring. The girl's hands were so coordinated. Her coloring was smooth and basically perfect. She was going to be an an artist. Sam knew it.
"Well how 'bout I hang it up in my room then?"
Riley nodded enthusiastically, "Up 'dere!"
She was pointing above the bed. "Okay." Sam told her in agreement, "Leave it on my desk, and I'll put it up."
Riley hopped off her sister's bed and headed to her desk.
"Riley!" Carter yelled.
Sam rolled her eyes good naturedly. Here Comes Carter. She thought.
He opened up Sam's door and saw Sam before Riley.
"Sammy!" He ran and jumped on her bed attacking her with kisses, "Morning." He smiled.
Sam hugged him tight, "Hi big boy."
Riley got back up onto the bed and hugged her brother. Carter squealed and moved to hug his twin, "Mommy wants me to checked if you were awake."
"Why don't you tell mommy that I'm awake, and I'll be down after I get ready?" Sam asked.
He nodded, "Come on Wiley! Daddy made pancakes!" They hopped off and grabbed each other's hands as they went downstairs.
Sam laid back down on her bed and let out a long sigh. She hoped her parents didn't try and talk her into the zoo again. Her and Jack's time was precious. She wasn't sure if Jack would be going to college and being long distance with him entering college would really suck. But they'd both been avoiding that conversation.
The 17 year old grabbed her towel along with some panties and a bra before jumping into the shower. She'd taken longer than usual in the shower as she let her mind wander aimlessly from school, her brother and sister, her parents, friends, Jack.
Eventually she came out her hair dripping, and her body wrapped up in her towel.
She opened her door back into her room and jumped surprised to see her mother sitting on her desk chair. God, her mom always snuck up on her like that.
"Mom!" She squealed. "Geez, way to terrify me!"
Brooke shook her head good naturedly, "We're leaving soon. Dad's changing the twins right now. I wanted to catch you before we left."
"Oh." Sam was trying to figure out her mom's angle.
"Come here." Brooke beckoned her, "Let me dry your hair."
The teenager smiled and walked over to the chair. Her mom stood up and gently took Sam's towel and had her sit down. The girl shivered a bit as she was just in her bra and underwear.
Brooke gently took on the task, making Sam smile in pure bliss as her mom's hands worked through her hair.
"What're you and Jack up to today?" Brooke asked softly, not wanting to argue about it, and only wanting to talk to her baby.
Sam shrugged, "The mall maybe. He really wants to get a tattoo, and wants me to help him choose one."
Brooke hid the cringe that her body so wanted to make. "Oh. I-I didn't know he wanted a tattoo."
Sam sighed, "Don't worry mom. I'm not getting one. He is. I'm too scared of needles anyway."
The mother chuckled and kissed the top of her daughter's damp head, "Good. Stay scared of needles forever please."
"If I stay scared of needles forever you're gonna have to keep coming to the doctors with me to hold my hand while I get a shot." Sam quipped.
"And who says I would mind that?"
"Even when I'm forty years old?"
"You'll still be my peanut." Brooke answered confidently, "So yes, even when you're 40."
Sam just rolled her eyes and took the towel that her mom was offering her.
"What time are you getting back?" Brooke asked Sam who was now in her closet, looking for something to wear.
"Before curfew." She heard Sam mumble. "God, it's like I have nothing to wear." She further said to herself, although Brooke could hear her, "I should've done laundry yesterday."
The mother walked into the closet with a soft sigh, and easily chose an outfit for her. She knew her daughter's style very well by now.
She chose a burgundy loose knitted sweater with skinny black pants. "Here. You always look cute with this, especially when you wear it with your long locket necklace."
Sam looked at it and smiled, "Yeah, I guess so."
Brooke kissed Sam's cheek, "Well take it from me. Your fashion designer mother." She walked out of the closet and sat on Sam's bed while the teen finished changing.
"Brooke, where are you honey?" They heard Lucas yell.
"In Sam's room!" She yelled back.
They heard the door knock, and Sam closed the closet door so her dad could come in while she finished changing.
"Come in!" Sam yelled.
Lucas opened the door and smiled at his wife who was looking so beautiful in her simple pin striped sweater and jeans. She could make the "mom look" so hot. But he'd never tell her that.
He sat down by her and put an arm around her, kissing her cheek, "The twins are currently occupied watching Nick Jr. I say we have a five minute window before Carter tries to fly off the couch again." He joked rather bitterly. Their kid almost broke his arm two months ago trying to do just that.
Brooke slapped Lucas's shoulder, "Too soon Lucas!"
Brooke almost broke down along with Carter, when his little face crumpled up in pain and terror. Luckily, Lucas was able to herd them all into the car and towards the hospital. It was only a sprain, to the relief of the parents. And Carter was sent off with a blue cast on his arm.
Afterwards they had a very stern talk with the boy, telling him that he was never allowed to do that again. And if they caught him he would end up in time out and lose his favorite tonka truck for two days. Carter started crying immediately and promised never to do it again. He loved his tonka truck and hated time outs! And also, his mommy and dada were speaking to him really seriously and his arm still sorta hurt!
Lucas and Brooke were set to comfort him when Riley burst into the room when he heard his brother crying and immediately hugged him tight, "Carter, okay?" She kissed his cheek like their parents did for them, "I'm here Carter. I'm here." She parroted Brooke and Lucas's comfort phrases.
Brooke and Lucas devolved into a puddle on the floor at the sight of their two babies.
That night Carter and Riley were bathed by Brooke. Lucas came in at the end and lifted Riley up into a towel, Brooke doing the same with Carter. They went into the closest twin room which was Riley's and laid them down on her bed.
Brooke changed Carter into his spaceship pull ups and Lucas let Riley choose what she'd wear to bed.
"Go grab your jammies Riles. I'll help you put it on if you need me."
She sat up from the bed and ran to her drawer, excited to choose her clothes. Lucas smiled at the little girl. She was such a tender and sweet soul.
"I wan' little mermaid daddy!" She squealed grabbing her little mermaid nightie and pink undies. She was going to try and put it on herself but she paused and looked at Brooke, who was busy changing her brother into his footed pjs. The cast on his arm was impeding him from doing a lot.
"Mommy, can you change me?" She asked. It was her favorite part of the day whenever her mom changed her.
Lucas looked to Brooke and the woman smiled. "Sure princess. Let's get you some clothes on 'cause you're naked!"
Brooke picked the little girl up in her arms and patted her bare bum. Riley giggled and laid her head on her mother's shoulder.
Lucas walked over to his little boy who was already suckling on his nighttime pacifier.
It was the only thing that could calm him at night to the point of being so docile that he would just lay in bed doing nothing.
This was usually the nightly routine for the twins. They had long moved past the infant stage, but at night Riley and Carter were still babies, so to speak. It was when they craved the most affection. It was when Carter asked for his paci and Riley asked to be rocked and, at least once a week asked for a baba. Both twins had been weaned off of nursing by age 3, but still wanted that comfort. Brooke and Lucas had no issue in giving it to them. They would wean them off the paci and the bottle completely by the time they got to kindergarten, but they just wanted their kids to enjoy these small comforts in the privacy of their home for now.
"Uppy dada." Carter reached his hands out to be picked up by Lucas. The man obliged and picked up the child, bouncing him in his arms and singing softly to him.
"Let's say goodnight to daddy and Carter so we can put you to bed?" Brooke whispered to Riley.
The girl nodded and Brooke picked her up and walked over to Carter and Lucas, "Night daddy. Night Carter." The four year old said sleepily.
Lucas kissed the four year old's cheek and Riley bent in closer to kiss her brother. Brooke smiled at her loving little girl.
"Can I have baba?" Riley asked her mom.
Brooke and Lucas looked at each other with a knowing smile. The mother sighed, "Alright, come on. Let's make you some warm milk."
The little girl fell asleep to two warm arms holding her and a bottle of warm milk soothing her into slumber.
"Hey dad." Sam came out the closet changed right after Lucas apologized for his poorly timed joke.
"Morning champ."
She sat on her desk chair and started to put on her shoes, "Are you guys leaving soon?"
"Yup." He patted her bed, "Come here real quick.
Sam looked at him suspiciously, "I'm not going to the zoo, dad."
He rolled his eyes, "I know that, I just wanna talk to you. He waited until she took a seat between the two of them.
"Champ, I guess we pushed for you to come today 'cause, well, you know your starting college applications soon, and mom and me, we...just thinking about you going off makes us kinda sad." He finally admitted.
Brooke bit her lip, hearing Lucas's words and looking at their beautiful daughter. She fixed some of Sam's hair and smiled warmly when Sam turned to look at her, "Dad's right." She managed to eek out. She hated thinking about Sam leaving them.
If Sam was honest with herself, she hated thinking about it too. It was terrifying to think that she'd be leaving the two people that she loved more than anything and anyone in the world. The two people who despite her tremendous growth, still let her be their baby who liked to be held and comforted whenever she wanted to be.
She looked at her hands, "Yeah, I, I know." She murmured.
"You're just always out with friends, or doing school things, so it can be a little upsetting not seeing you around the house as much." Brooke added, "But, hey, you're 17, and you have your own life. We know that and are happy that you're enjoying yourself peanut. It's your senior year and you deserve it." Brooke kissed her daughter's head, "Just leave room for us."
Sam swallowed hard. It was true, she supposed, that she hadn't really been spending much time with her family. "Maybe we can hang out next week?" She looked up at them.
Lucas smiled and hugged her tight. His loving little Sammy.
… … …
Sam was laying with Jack, smiling up at him as he rubbed his thumb across her cheek, "Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky." The comfortable quiet between them allowing nothing more than a whisper.
The 17 year old blushed, "Stop it."
"What?" He smirked sneakily, then moved smoothly on top of her and kissed her neck, "It's true." He whispered near her ear, making Sam squirm in delight, waiting and ready for more of his sensation.
He began to kiss her lightly all around her neck and up to her lips, then laid back down. Sam moved to rest her head on his chest. "Did you make a decision on what tattoo you're gonna get?" She asked him while he played with her hair.
"Yeah. It'll be the drawing of a feather my mom left with me before she left."
Sam lifted her head to look at Jack, who was yet to take his eyes off her, "I was hoping you'd choose that one."
"I figured." He chuckled gently. The other choice was a quote. Sam thought the feather was more artistic.
"You sure you don't wanna get one?" He teased her knowing Lucas would never allow it.
Sam scoffed, "Jack, I want to live. Getting a tattoo will be my death sentence, if my dad ever saw it."
"I know. It was worth a shot."
Sam smirked and slung her leg around Jack, straddling him. The teenage boy couldn't help the glimmer in his eyes. He sat up and held onto her back as she began to kiss him. The hair in the back of Jack's neck rose when he felt Sam graze his back with her nails. He loved it when she did that.
The boy grabbed the ends of Sam's sweater and easily took it off her, wanting nothing more than to feel her skin on his. He was about to push her back down when Sam put a hand on his chest, "Stop." She told him, immediately making Jack halt his movement, "Did I hurt you?"
She shook her head, biting her lip in the process.
"What is it?" He asked her gently, brushing a piece of hair out of her face.
And it was something that had been on Sam's mind for a while now. Sam loved Jack dearly. They'd known each other for more than half of their lives. He had consistently been there for her and had never judged her. He was one of the most supportive people in her life. Somewhere along the way their friendship blossomed into romance and love. Their future was iffy because they both still had a lot of growing up to do, but their present made sense. Sam loved Jack. She wanted him. In more ways than one. She was ready to have sex. She didn't know what made her so sure, but it just seemed right. He was 18, she was 17. They were both mature enough in her eyes. Sam wanted this.
"Jack." She took a deep breath, "I think I'm ready."
…. … ….
Sam bolted through her front door on a mission. She wanted Brooke.
The girl had left Southside earlier than expected and was relieved when she drove up to her house in her latest model, black, Toyota Camry, and saw her parents' car in the driveway. They were home early, and that made Sam endlessly happy.
Her and Jack had gotten into a full fledged fight, and right after they'd had sex too!
The pair had gone for Jack's tattoo appointment, cutting their love making short.
Sam redressed and Jack threw on a black t shirt with jeans. Sam was a bit quiet while in the car.
"Sam, are, are you okay?" He asked, worried that maybe the sex had brought up bad memories.
Sam stopped at a red light and nodded, "Sorry, I just, umm, it was great Jack. It was. There's just a lot going through my mind."
Jack understood, "You can talk about it with me, babe...If you want. I'm here for you." He had an inkling of what she might be thinking.
"I just can't believe it." She admitted, "That I-you know, this thing that used to scare me, and used to be used as abuse. But it's not like that anymore." She cleared her throat, not wanting to get emotional, "Weird. You know? Really weird."
The boy looked at her, simply watching her for a few seconds.
"I think that just shows how resilient you are. How awesome you are."
He ran a hand through his hair, "I always thought out of all of us you'd be the one to grow the most...I guess I wasn't wrong."
The girl's lips turned upwards slightly. "Thanks Jack."
Unfortunately the conversation had turned to talk of the future, once out of the car, and things only went south from there.
"Have you figured out which colleges you're gonna apply to yet?"
The two walked hand in hand into the mall where the tattoo parlor was at.
"You sound like my counselor." Sam eyed him.
"Well I'm interested!"
She grabbed onto his arm and cuddled in closer as they walked, "UNC and Duke are my top schools right now. They're both like three hours away, but I think UNC is a little closer." She looked at Jack who seemed to just be taking in her words as they walked. These conversations about "after high school" were always so uncomfortable.
"We could see each other on the weekends." She added.
"Just the weekends? Are you gonna be that busy with school?"
Sam gave him a weird, curious look, "Well it's three hours away. It's not a drive from Tree Hill to Southside Jack."
"I know that. But I'm gonna move to wherever you go, remember?"
Sam stopped dead in her tracks. She let go of his arm and could only look shocked.
"What?" He shrugged, "I said this to you already."
"I thought you were joking."
Jack looked at her with an almost shocked look. His eyes winced and his mouth opened slightly, then he closed it back up, "I love you." He told her honestly, "I want to move to wherever you go."
"Jack." Sam sputtered, finding herself quickly panicking, "But what about you? You work in the garage here."
"I can be a mechanic anywhere. I want to follow you." He grabbed her hands, "I-I wanna marry you at some point, ya know?"
Sam moved her hand away, "Jack, I'm not even 18 yet!"
"I didn't say now. I'm just saying, like down the line. I know I love you. I know you love me. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that you can't base your life around me, like that! You said you wanted to go to the community college here to figure out how to run a business and open up your own shop. You can get financial aid here because of it. You can't do that if you move to where I go."
"But I care more about you." He told her determined, "Wouldn't you do the same for me?" He asked her, making Sam's eyes jump from him down to the floor. A dead giveaway for Jack.
Jack felt his heart fall into his chest. "Sammy." He spoke softly, afraid his voice would crack, "W-wouldn't you?"
Sam bit her lip. She knew her answer was no. She knew it would kill Jack to hear that. But it was the truth. Her life didn't revolve around Jack. Maybe if she'd stayed in the system it would've been different. Maybe she would've clung to him a lot more. But that just wasn't the case.
Jack realized Sam wasn't going to answer and he felt a surge of sadness as his tears welled up in his eyes. They had just had the most intimate experience together. They laid in each other's arms afterwards sweaty and panting, but in love with one another. But here they were at a painful crossroads.
"Sammy-"
"No Jack." She said it quickly, with a hint of sadness, "...I love you." She stared right into his eyes, "I really do...but I don't, I don't know if I'd follow you anywhere. I, I don't know. I'm sorry."
It felt like an eternity for Sam waiting for Jack to respond. He felt himself shudder with emotion.
"Fuck this." He finally said turning around and walking away from Sam. The girl watched him, and finally her legs caught up with her mind that was yelling to follow him.
"Jack, wait!" She jogged a bit to catch up, "Jack."
"Stop it." She heard him say. Sam managed to grab onto his arm, making him turn around roughly,
"Would you leave me alone Sam!" His eyes screamed hurt.
Other mall goers stopped at the loud yell that came out of nowhere. Jack's raised voice stunned Sam. She'd never heard him yell like that, and especially at her.
"Just go." He said much calmer, "I-I'm gonna be late for the appointment."
He pushed her hand off his arm and walked away quickly. This time Sam didn't follow.
…. …. …..
"Mom!" Sam called. No one was in the living room.
She heard her mother's voice in her office first and headed that way.
"Mom" She burst in but was stopped short by a single finger being held up by Brooke. The woman was on a conference call, and looking at an email on her screen simultaneously,
"One second Samantha. I'm busy." Brooke said, "What were you saying Becky?" She went right back to it.
Sam could see that her mother's stress level was high at the moment. But, currently so was hers. She was sad, mad, and confused. Three emotions that any 17 year old would struggle to handle with grace. And the fact that her mother just blew her off upset her even more.
She huffed and crossed her arms, waiting for Brooke to give her the time of day. But it was like her mom just forgot her as Brooke's eyes furrowed and she just agreed with what was being said. "Okay...yes. That-yes….mmhhmm."
For some reason that really set Sam off. Well, there was a very clear reason. She was emotionally volatile.
"Mom! I want to talk to you!" Sam whined. It was a childish move. And if it had been any other day she wouldn't have done it. But Sam wasn't thinking about her actions now. Besides, her mom would usually, at the very least, ask her if what she needed was an emergency before basically tabling her to wait. But at most, Brooke usually paused her work conversations to say hello to her daughter and ask one or two questions before going back.
Brooke's eyes snapped to her daughter, "Samantha, what did I just tell you?"
"You said 'wait a second.' it's been like a million!"
Brooke took a deep breath, then pointed to the door. What had gotten into her daughter?
"Go wait for me outside of this office. I will talk to you when I'm finished." There was no room for argument in Brooke's tone.
Sam stared at her mom in disbelief.
"Now Sam!"
"Fine!" The girl yelled in exasperation and gave the office door a not so gentle slam
"God that girl." Brooke mumbled rubbing her temples.
"Brooke." Rebecca tried to get their leader back on track.
"Right." Brooke sighed, "As you were saying…"
Sam gunned her way up the stairs and was going to head into her room when her brother's squeaky voice stopped her, "Sammy!" Carter yelled happily.
She turned around and saw Riley, Carter, and their dad on the floor of Carter's room. Luke was reading to them inside of a fort that they had made of sheets.
"Look at our fort!" Carter added, "Wiley, me, and daddy build it!"
Sam managed a smile despite her own turmoil, "It's nice big boy!"
"Sammy, come play?" Riley asked her.
The teenager eyed her father who looked at her with a smile in his eyes. It was obvious he was hoping she'd say yes.
"I'll play with you guys later."
"Come play now Sammy!" Riley whined. Her big sister was the best to play with. And what could possibly be funner than playing in a fort with daddy and Carter?!
Luckily, Lucas quickly assessed that his teenager was in a somber mood and didn't feel like being in the presence of needy four year olds.
"How 'bout we go for ice cream kiddos?" He asked his twins to divert their attention from Sam. They immediately lit up and screamed yes.
Sam took that opportunity to go into her room.
"I'll be back in two minutes babies." Lucas told the twins, "Stay here, okay?"
"Two minutes is a long time!" Carter whined sticking up two chubby fingers, as if to make his point.
"Okay, how about 1 minute?" He bargained with them, although on the inside he was chuckling.
"Only one minute daddy." Riley eyed him seriously,
"Yes ma'am." Lucas saluted, "ONLY one minute."
The father got up from their fort and went towards Sam's room. He could hear that Brooke was still in her call downstairs. He sighed feeling sympathetic towards his wife.
He knocked twice and heard a "come in" grumbled his way.
"Hey champ." Lucas opened the door to his daughter's room, where she was already laying on her bed staring at her ceiling fan.
"Hey." Her tone not too convincing.
"Is everything okay?"
"Fine, I guess." She lied not wanting to talk to her dad about what happened with Jack, "Mom's in freak out mode right now."
Lucas chuckled and leaned on the door frame, "We had to leave the zoo early. There's a pretty big scandal going on in your mom's celeb world."
The girl narrowed her eyes, "What happened?"
"Her company is being accused of stealing some designs."
That made Sam shoot up, quickly feeling defensive of her mom, "What? That's not possi-" She shook her head, "Mom wouldn't do that!"
"I know," He agreed, "But it might've happened lower on command. Mom and her team just found out an hour ago. They're trying to get ahead of it and figure out what happened."
Sam threw herself back on the bed and groaned, "Oh my God. I totally made things harder on her.."
"You argued with her, I'm guessing?" Luke said with a smile.
"Yes." Sam admitted, "Well, sort of. I just really wanted to talk to her, so I went into her office while she was on the phone, and I kept pushing her to talk to me, and she basically kicked me out and then I just stormed off."
Lucas patted her daughter's leg, "Well mom just needs to focus and work through today and maybe tomorrow to get it all sorted out. It'll be okay though."
Sam only nodded her head, feeling horrible for having barged in and pestered her mother at such a stressful time.
"What'd you need to talk to mom about, peanut?" Lucas's question brought all her emotions back up.
"ummm…girl stuff." Sam wisely put it. She really couldn't talk to her dad about any of her situation.
Lucas lifted an eyebrow, slightly intrigued, but also put off. He wasn't sure he was ready to talk about "girl stuff" with Sam. Brooke usually talked to him afterwards about anything important when "girl stuff" came up. But, he took the high road knowing that his baby really needed someone to unload onto right now.
"You can talk to me, if you'd like. I promise not to get weird."
Sam looked at him incredulously and couldn't help but laugh. "Dad, no!"
Lucas scoffed, "What? I'm being serious!"
"And so am I. That's weird dad." She said still chuckling, "I think I'll go over to Tamara's. Is that okay?"
He shook his head in amusement. Okay, so it looked like Sam didn't want to talk about girl things with him either.
"Of course, as long as you drive safe."
She got up and kissed his cheek, "I always do."
The father took advantage of the proximity and wrapped her daughter into a huge bear hug. Sam melted into the embrace, letting Lucas know that his oldest kiddo needed some TLC.
Her day had been a literal emotional rollercoaster. She had sex. Which she enjoyed, but it had brought up a whole host of thoughts and feelings that she needed to process, and then her and Jack got into a fight that basically left them in limbo.
So yes, Sam needed some comfort, and her dad's embrace was perfect. Her daddy's strong arms were always the place she could bury herself in and feel like everything would be okay.
"I love you as high as the sky and as deep as the sea little one." He whispered. A phrase Sam hadn't heard in a while, but she welcomed its familiarity.
Then when Sam held on tighter to him and sniffled, Lucas immediately brought her up and into his lap. The teenager held onto her father's neck and felt her eyes fill with tears as she pulled herself into her father and took in a deep breath.
Goddamn it! She thought to herself. Keep it together!
"Are you sure you don't want to talk to me baby girl?" He asked one more time. Something had happened with Jack, of that he was sure. His poor girl needed some cuddles. Damn, why did shit have to hit the fan for Brooke today of all days? Their eldest needed her right now!
It's not Brooke's fault. He reminded himself.
Sam just shook her head at her father's question, "I don't really wanna talk."
"Alright."
He stayed with her like that for two minutes or so, until the sounds of two very impatient toddlers rang through the home.
"DADDY!" Carter banged on the door, "it's been 10 bajillion minutes!"
Sam laughed a bit and composed herself, lifting her head from the crook of Lucas's chest.
"I'm coming Carter." Lucas said before holding onto Sam who was about to move off of him, "I can occupy them with something else peanut." He offered her seriously, "You and I can stay up here if you want."
Sam gave her dad a small smile, "It's okay. T's bored out of her mind at home and needs company."
Reluctantly, he let her go and gave her a final kiss on her head.
"Thanks dad." She looked up at him and Lucas couldn't help but feel a surge of pride at how much his little girl had grown up.
… …. ….
Brooke came out of her office with her mind reeling. They had come up with a media plan, just in case it came out as a scandal, and had found that it was one of her interns who had stolen the designs from a small unknown fashion company. She and Rebecca had already drafted an apology letter and ways to pay the company back. Although it all still needed to be finalized and sent over by the end of the day Monday.
They also decided to pull the design from all stores effective immediately. It would prove to be a moderate loss to that quarter's profits, but nothing that the Chief Financial Officer was too worried about. He believed they'd still come back with hefty profits by the end of the next quarter.
When she ended their call she took a deep breath and laid her head back onto her chair, resting her eyes and letting the silence ease her nerves.
Lucas had done a good job of keeping the twins occupied throughout the rest of the day. All three of them ended up asleep on the couch. The father holding either twin on each side. But Riley had woken up to both his brother and dad still soundly asleep. She still felt pretty tired but decided to get up sleepily anyway.
She squirmed out of her exhausted father's arms. Riley knew her big sister wasn't home, but her mom was. Lucas had told her to leave her alone because "mommy was doing super duper important work things and needed to be by herself to do it," but the little girl wanted to cuddle with her mom. Carter had taken up all the mommy snuggles at the zoo and when they got home she went into her office. So Riley decided to be super extra quiet when she went into Brooke's office so not to bother her.
The little girl opened the door to Brooke's office, "Mommy?"
Brooke heard the tiny voice that could only be her princess. She smiled despite her tiredness, "Hi pretty girl."
Brooke opened her eyes and saw the cute sight of her daughter in Dora the Explorer cotton training panties and a little pink t-shirt with flowers that lined the hem.' Her hair was messy, obviously have woken up from a nap.
"Can I stayed with you?"
Brooke stood up and walked over to her precious toddler, lifting her up into her arms and placing Riley on her hip. The girl laid her head on her mother's shoulder, "Oh, you're my sleepy girl right now, aren't you?" Brooke cooed, holding her close.
"Nuh-uh. I just woked up."
The mother raised her eyebrows, "ahhh, okay." Although she knew Riley would be back asleep in a matter of minutes. It was obvious she was still tired.
Brooke decided to sit on her office couch with Riley in her lap. She cradled her against her chest. The four year old grabbing onto her mother's top with her fist, just like when she breastfed.
"Dada and Carter are still sleep too." Riley told her mother.
"Oh yeah?" Brooke whispered, trying to lull her back to slumber, "And Sammy?"
Brooke hadn't forgotten what had happened between them earlier on.
"Sammy's gone. She lefts to T's."
Brooke sighed heavily at her youngest daughter's statement, causing Riley to gaze up at her mom, "What's wrong mama?"
The mother smiled and tickled Riley's tummy, making her giggle and kick her feet.
"Oh nothing. It's just your sister is sometimes more of a handful than you and Carter."
Brooke wasn't mad at Sam, it's not like she forbade her to leave or anything. The mother just wished she would've stayed so they could've talked it out. She knew the reason Sam left was probably because she was upset with her. Hopefully her girl felt better by the time she was back.
"Sammy gets a timeout when she gets home?" Riley asked making Brooke chuckle.
"No buddy. I just wanna talk to her."
"But you said she's a handsfulls." Riley, the ever observant four year old pointed out.
"You're right I did say that. I meant to say that being a teenager is hard so it makes it hard on the parents too."
The little girl still looked confused. Brooke shook her head and gave up on trying to explain it to her baby, "Can you lay with me for a little bit baby girl?"
"I just woked up mommy." Riley whined. Brooke stood up and placed her on her hip, "I know, but I'm so tired and laying with you makes me fall asleep easier. Could you do that for me?"
"Okay, but I'm not sleeping." She shook her head adamantly.
"You don't have to." Brooke assured her.
Oh yes you will. The mother thought.
"Do you have to potty first?
"Mmmmmmm….no!" Riley smiled widely, "I'm okay."
"Alright, let's go upstairs."
She carried her out and smiled at Carter and Lucas, who were still peacefully asleep on the couch.
As she laid snuggly with her youngest daughter her thoughts went towards Sam, wondering what it was that she wanted to talk about. Brooke replayed what she'd said to her and regretted having been so short with the teenager.
"Oh Sammy." She whispered to herself, closing her eyes and kissing her toddler's head.
… …. …. ….
"He's a dick Sam." Tamara said sitting on her bed next to her friend, while Sam was curled in on her side looking at her. The pair had talked when Sam first got to Tamara's. Camille and her foster brother and sister were out, leaving them alone. Sam expressed her feelings about having had sex for the first time. She had liked it, but at the same time it made her a little anxious, confused, and maybe even sad.
Tamara told her it was probably because of what had happened to her in the past.
"Sammy when I first had sex, like willingly with someone, I cried the entire night afterwards." Tamara told her honestly.
Sam's eyes flicked up. She hadn't know that about her best friend.
"W-with Marcus?" Sam asked softly.
"Mhm. He-he was nice about it, ya know. Held me for like ten minutes, then told me he had to go to work."
"He left you alone?" Disbelief and a bit of bitterness, clearly in her voice.
Tamara shrugged, "He had to work...but, yeah. I just cried. I didn't even know why I cried. I just did. I thought about everything. My mom. My mom's boyfriend who...did things to me. How nice a time I had with Marcus. My future. My past. Just, everything."
Sam understood Tamara completely. It's exaclty how she felt. It was just…
"Overwhelming" Tamara finally said, "That moment after, it was just overwhelming."
Exactly how Sam felt.
After talking some more, Tamara treated Sam to some dinner at a new diner that had opened in Southside.
Although almost 19 now, Camille had let Tamara stay so long as she helped pay with rent. The girl was working at a nearby grocery store and was hoping to become manager in a year or so. Camille was very proud of her. She had grown up a lot since first having entered her home.
"But what if he's right?" Sam asked her terrified.
"Look," Tamara said bluntly, "So what if he has a point. Sure, y'all need to talk about it, but he's a dick because he's not even picking up your calls. That's a shitty move. He knows what a big deal today was for you, and he should at least be sympathetic to that."
"He just seemed so...intense." Sam held onto the pillow she was holding onto tighter, "I don't think I'm ready for that."
"It's okay to not be ready Sam. It's better that you were honest with him."
"Do you think he'll get over it?"
"The guy loves you, he'll come around Sam. Or I can beat some sense into him." She smirked.
Sam laughed and mumbled out a 'I'll hold you to that.' They talked a bit more but Sam eventually ended up falling asleep. Tamara let her be and picked up Sam's phone. She unlocked the phone, Sam always told T her password.
Brooke was attempting to bathe her twins, Carter had already bathed her shirt in soap in the process, when her phone rang in her back pocket.
Carter saw that her sister had a huge pile of bubbles in her hand. He took them from her without asking and placed them on his chin with a giggle.
"Mommy look, I have a beard! I'm Santa!" Brooke looked at Carter and laughed while Riley shot the beard down, "You're not Santa anymore!"
"Hey!" Carter pouted, "That was mean!"
"They were my bubbles!" She defended herself.
Brooke grabbed her phone, while calming both of them down and saw that it was Sam calling.
"Riley that wasn't very kind. You need to apologize." She told her sudsy girl sternly. Riley's eyes started to water, hating being scolded by her mom when Carter got away with stealing her bubbles, "Mama he stoled my bubbles!"
"Hello, Sammy?" Brooke picked up while Riley was defending herself. She didn't give the girl on the other line a chance to answer, "Give me one second Sam. Please don't hang up."
Tamara rolled her eyes in amusement hearing the 4 year old drama in the background.
"No I didn't!" Carter yelled back at her sister, causing Riley to burst into tears, "I didn't steal bubbles!"
"LUKE!" Brooke yelled so he could take over. She really wanted to talk to her eldest.
"Okay. Okay." Brooke looked directly at Riley, "Ladybug calm down. You need to calm down." She turned to Carter and then back to the crying girl, "Both of you need to say sorry to one another, "Alright?"
"I didn't do anything." Carter denied crossing his arms across his chest.
Riley narrowed her eyes angrily at her brother, "Yes he did, mama. He's lying!"
Brooke sternly looked at her oldest twin. The little boy had a bad habit of lying to get out of trouble.
Lucas walked in and watched the standoff between little boy and mom.
Riley noticed her dad first, "Daddy, Carter stole my bubbles!"
"Did he now?" Lucas asked, kneeling next to Brooke to look at his boy.
"Carter do not lie to us. Do you want a timeout and no cookies before bedtime?" Brooke added.
The stern stares of both his parents, along with the threat of punishment made Carter break. He started sobbing, "I SORRY!" He turned to Riley, "Sorry Wiley. Sorry!"
If there was anything that Riley hated it was seeing her brother in distress. She leaned in and gave him a big hug, "It's okay Carter." She patted his back the way their parents did to them, "Sorry for hitting your bubble beard." She squeaked.
"Sam called me. Can you finish up their bath?" Brooke turned to Lucas as both toddlers apologized to one another.
"Yeah, of course. Go."
"Hello, Sam?" Brooke finally got back to the phone call after kissing both twins on the tops of their wet little heads.
"It's T, Brooke."
Brooke stopped walking, and resumed a second later, "Oh. Why are you using Sam's phone? Is Sammy okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. My phone ran out of minutes. Gotta recharge it after work tomorrow. But Sam fell asleep, and I figured she should stay since her curfew's coming up soon and you don't want her to drive all sleepy back home."
Brooke smiled grateful for Tamara's thoughtfulness, "Thank you for calling." She'd grown to completely trust Tamara. There was a maternal nature to the girl when it came to Sam, and she knew that she'd never put Sam in danger, "Just let her know I'd prefer her home by morning tomorrow."
"Yeah, I go into work early tomorrow. I'll wake her before then." Tamara assured her.
"T?" Brooke took a breath, "Is she okay? I was busy with work when she wanted to talk to me."
Tamara played with her chipping nail polish, thinking about what to say, "Yeah it's alright. She might still wanna talk though. Just...girl stuff."
It was nothing different from what Lucas had told her.
"Jack?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah...but she's fine."
"I'm guessing you won't say anything else?"
"Nope." Tamara said matter of factly, making Brooke chuckle.
"Alright, well take care of my baby girl."
The nineteen year old rolled her eyes good naturedly, but knew she was serious. Brooke Davis was nothing short of fierce when it came to her kids.
Tamara looked up to Brooke and Lucas as parents. She'd seen all sides of them by now. She knew what they were like when Sam needed some extra attention. So willing and open to love her up. She knew what they were like when they needed to be strict. They ignored their baby girl's tears and whines despite it hurting their heart as they handed out punishment. She knew what it was like when they were proud. Watching from the stands as Sam played a performance. Tamara sat by them and saw their eyes water and eventually shed tears as Sam played on.
One day, when she had kids she'd embody their love.
"Don't I always?" She said before they said their goodbyes. It was certainly true. Tamara would forever have Sam's back.
… …. ….
It was nearing 8 am and Brooke was sipping on her coffee. Her work team decided that they'd take Sunday off. They had gotten ahead of everything enough. Rebecca had wanted Sunday to spend with Liz, and Brooke with her own family. They'd just work late Monday to finish it off. Meanwhile, Lucas had taken the twins to pick up some bagels and coffee. Riley and Carter had both woken up very early and Lucas wanted Brooke to get some sleep.
The fashion designer was at her kitchen island thumbing through a Vogue magazine when the front door opened. She thought it was her husband and twins, but in came Sam wearing a pair of sweatpants, a Southside High tshirt, both items borrowed from Tamara, and her hair was up in a messy bun.
Brooke wasn't in Sam's view yet, so the mother leaned on the island and watched her daughter from the kitchen. It was a pastime that Sam claimed to be creepy. But Brooke couldn't help it. She loved to just watch her kids be. It was the most soothing thing for her.
Sam took her Converse off first and yawned before locking the door. She was walking towards the kitchen and finally saw her mom.
Their eyes met and Brooke smiled, "Hey you."
Sam managed a small smile and sat on a stool across from her mom, "Morning."
Brooke walked over and kissed her daughter's forehead, "Good Morning to you, sleepyhead."
Sam blushed, "Sorry. I just passed out at Tamara's."
"It's okay. I knew where you were. That's all that matters."
"Where are Riley and Carter?" She thought they'd be awake by now.
"Your dad took them out to pick us up some bagels from the new bakery, but I think they went for a walk in the park first."
"Oh Cool! I really wanted to try that new bakery too."
"Well you came back right on time then." Brooke grabbed a coffee cup and started rpeparing Sam a cup of coffee.
"So why are you up early? You got a quiet house all to yourself! Well, up until I came." She teased.
"Your dad wanted me to sleep in too. But your brother and sister have me so used to waking up early on the weekends."
Sam laughed a bit and accepted the coffee her mother slid towards her. She took a sip and savored it before eyeing her mother who was looking down at her magazine again.
"Mom?"
"Hmmm?"
"Because of what happened yesterday with work and stuff. That's why dad wanted you to rest, right?" She played with a loose string on her shirt. She still felt bad about giving her mom a hard time.
Brooke could see the guilt in her daughter's facial expression. There was an elephant in the room that hadn't been addressed, and the mother was glad Sam had brought it up. "Yes, because of that."
"I'm umm, really sorry about barging in and, you know, demanding to talk to you. I was just being...emotional, I guess."
Brooke sighed deeply and brushed a stray hair behind Sam's ears. Sam's eyes flicked up to her mom.
"Thank you for apologizing. I appreciate it. What did you want to talk to me about?"
Sam was unsure of whether to tell her. She'd actually felt better that morning. And even though Jack still hadn't talked to her she hoped to wait it out and see if she could fix this without needing her mom to help her. After all, she was 17 now and soon she'd be in college. Her mom and dad wouldn't always be there. A painful thought.
"It doesn't matter anymore." Sam shook her head, "It was just dumb stuff. I talked it out with T."
Brooke stood up a bit straighter, surprised by her daughter's answer, "Sam, it seemed pretty urgent. Are you sure?"
The teen looked up at her mom and rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm sure. It's just stuff with Jack, but it's fine. We're fine. Don't worry about it."
"Sam, you know you can talk to me, right? I'm sorry I was busy and I snapped at you, but I'm here now and-"
"Mmooommmm." Sam whined with a huff, "I know I can talk to you. I just don't need to." It had come out a little harsher than she had intended and Brooke hid the flash of hurt.
Her kid was 17. This was normal. She told herself. But it still hurt.
Sam could read her mother's expression easily. She bit her lip, "I didn't mean it like that." She got off the stool frustrated with herself, "I'm okay mom. Really. You don't have to worry."
Her mother nodded.
"I'm gonna go shower and change."
Brooke watched her make a quick exit and she slunk back into a chair. 17 better not come quickly for her twins.
When Sam came back down again, Lucas and the twins were back. The family ended up spending the rest of the day together, even inviting Haley and Nathan to come over with Jamie as well. The boy was going to be 14 in a few months. A far cry from the 11 year old that Sam had first met.
"Hey James." Sam said with a smirk, knowing he hated being called by his full name. She had just walked down the stairs and caught sight of Jamie in their kitchen.
The boy rolled his eyes, "Hi Samantha." He drawled out slowly. The girl put an arm around him good naturedly, "Come on, my dad's grilling something outside."
"Yeah...I'd rather just wait in here."
Sam looked at him funny, then looked outside. Haley and Nathan seemed to be enjoying themselves. "What's wrong?"
The boy shrugged, "Does your dad still have his xbox downstairs?"
"Yeah, but you're not even a little hungry?" Sam then studied his face a little more and a bit of realization came to her, "You're fighting with one of them aren't you?"
Jamie rolled his eyes, "I wanted to hang out with Dylan and Anthony, but my mom's upset that I turned in some paper late which meant I got a letter grade lower, and she barred me from going. My dad just agrees with whatever she has to say. It's so annoying."
Sam nodded and hid a smirk. Three years ago Jamie's parents could hardly do wrong in his eyes.
"Parents suck sometimes, huh?"
"Guess so." He added bitterly.
"Well, my dad's xbox can help with your woes. It's still in the same place." The boy bounded down to where he could find safe haven away from his parents, whom he was currently peeved at.
Sam went the other way and opened the sliding door to the backyard, greeting her uncle and aunt.
"Hey senior." Nate said hugging her tightly and lifting her feet off the ground for a moment, "How's it feel to be the top dog on campus?"
"Like high school has felt every year." She stated blandly, "Boring and stressful."
He chuckled and put her down, "High school was some of the best days of my life."
"I don't think that's a good thing Nate." Luke teased, making Nate scoff and elbow him.
Haley then extended her arm and brought Sam to her side, kissing her head. "Ready to start those applications?" She asked.
Brooke overheard from where she was coaxing the twins to eat their hotdog, and groaned dramatically, "Don't answer that question Sam! I'm trying to ignore the fact that you're leaving us for as long as I possibly can."
Haley rolled her eyes, "Your mother is so dramatic." She whispered in Sam's ear.
The teenager grumbled out an "I know." but she couldn't help but agree with her mother. She didn't want to think about that right now. Besides her phone had just vibrated and she wanted to see if it was Jack who'd texted her.
She quickly grabbed food and headed inside.
"Where ya speeding off too?" Nate stopped her.
"To hang out with Jamie. He seems pretty bummed."
Haley rolled her eyes, "He's just mad at me."
"You made my Jamie upset?" Brooke gasped.
Sam let that be her cue to leave and finally went back inside. She checked her phone and saw that it was Jack. He agreed to meet with her tomorrow after work. She felt herself tense up. How the hell would that meeting go.
They could work through this, right? They had to work through this. Sam wasn't ready to not be with Jack. They'd been inseparable for so long.
The rest of the evening was calm for all parties involved. Sam had stayed downstairs with Jamie, and the twins eventually made their way in, wreaking havoc on the peace. But it took Sam's mind off Jack. Jamie and her entertained them by playing hide and seek with them.
When night came Sam bid goodnight to her parents and retired to her room pretty early on. Lucas didn't think anything of it, but Brooke couldn't help the worry that settled in her stomach. She tried to ignore it and got her kiddos ready for bed. She gave them a sweet kiss goodnight. Tonight they were both laying in Riley's bed. Hands holding onto one another as they fell asleep. The mother's heart swelled as she slowly walked out.
Lucas was laying in bed when Brooke reached their bedroom.
"Hey hot stuff." He crooned the moment she walked in.
Brooke's eyes narrowed, "Luke, really?"
He sat up and pouted, "Come lay with me please? I missed you this weekend."
"The kids-"
"You just put them to bed. And they can knock if they need something."
Brooke thought for a moment, but couldn't kid herself she wanted Lucas just as bad, and the weekend had been spent with her worrying up until now, so she locked their door and walked over to the bed. The moment she got near he pulled her down making her squeak in surprise.
"Clearly you missed me." She said, moving to straddle him, pulling her dress up in the process.
"Didn't you?"
She messed with the button on his shirt, "Oh yeah, tons." She gave him big, pouty eyes that made Lucas mad, "So can I make it up to you then?" She asked and felt herself moving against his thighs slowly.
Lucas made a quick move of laying her on the bed, "Let me take your clothes off, and let me lead." He whispered the order in her ear, "That's how you can make it up to me."
Brooke bit her lip in anticipation, "Mmmm...Yes sir." She breathed out. It was her absolute favorite when he took over and Lucas knew that.
Meanwhile Sam laid wide awake in her room, she'd been staring at nothing for what felt like hours.
"Fuck." She groaned out angrily. Her mind was on a roll and the teenager was sure that there would be no hope of sleep anytime soon. She moved to grab her remote control and turned on the tv, hoping that some old Fresh Prince reruns would do the trick and send her to bed. It was about 15 minutes later that she heard noise downstairs. Her curiosity peaked and so she got up and checked the hallway. Her sister's room was open. She went in and saw that her Thing 2 was still peacefully asleep. The teen checked Carter's room and his bed was still made, which meant that he'd gone to bed with Riley and was surely the one making noise downstairs. That was not a good sign.
"What're you up to Thing 1?" Sam asked leaning on the kitchen archway. Her brother had somehow climbed the counter and was reaching towards the marshmallows.
Carter turned around frightened, he lost his balance and Sam quickly leaned over and scooped him in her arms, "Whoah big boy!" She placed him on his hip, "This is why you're not allowed to climb the counter."
"Sorry." He squeaked.
"What were you doing up there?"
"I dreamed 'bout mashmallows."
She rested her forehead on his temple, "So now you want marshmallows?"
He nodded before laying his head on her shoulder. "I don't wanna timeout." He whined miserably, knowing that's exactly what he would get if mommy or daddy caught him.
Sam hid her smile, trying to match her baby brother's seriousness. "Well, how about you and I keep this one a secret. But next time you're going into the corner. Deal?"
Carter frowned deeply, "Deal."
"Buddy, how did you even wake up after your dream?"
"Wiley woked me up because I kicked her."
Sam chuckled. Carter could be a crazy sleeper. "Wanna sleep with me?"
The boy lifted his head off her shoulder, with gleaming eyes, "Yeah, yeah!"
She grinned, "Okay, let's go sleep in my room."
"Wait Wiley too! I want her to sleep with me and you too."
"Alright, you stay on my bed, and then I'll bring Riley in too."
Looks like she'd be in cramped quarters but it was better than being alone with her thoughts.
Soon enough Sam had two sleeping babies sleeping with her. She was in the middle. The girl also left a note on Riley's bed letting her parent's know that the twins were with her. She figured her parents didn't need a scare that early in the day.
When morning came it was Lucas who found all three of his kids sleeping in Sam's bed. He quickly grabbed his phone and snapped a picture. Both twins were clinging to some part of Sam's body and the teenager still managed to hold onto her teddybear, while her blanket draped the three of them.
"Oh my God." Brooke put a hand to her heart, stopping short at such a loving sight.
"We made cute kids huh?" Lucas whispered and rose an eyebrow at his wife.
"They look so peaceful." Brooke mused. They let themselves linger there for a moment before Brooke smiled and walked, "Help me wake them up."
She went over and gently shook Carter awake, while Lucas woke Riley up with soft strokes to her cheek.
"Good morning baby boy. It's time to wake up."
The little boy's eyes fluttered.
"There he is." Brooke whispered and tickled his belly softly until he giggled and whined out a, "Mama, it tickles."
"Well wake up big boy."
A few more moments of her mother cooing at him and Carter finally woke up. Brooke lifted him up, "Let's get you ready for the day?"
Sam felt all the movement and turned the other way and hid her face in the pillow.
Lucas and Brooke gave each other a knowing look, "Let's give your sister more time to sleep. She still has thirty minutes." Lucas whispered to Riley and then followed Brooke out of Sam's room.
…. …. …
Brooke walked into her home that Monday night, exhausted and excited to finally be home. They had waited until Monday to finish up everything that had pertained to the potential legalities of the situation with her company. She had texted both Lucas and Sam letting them know not to wait for her for dinner because she'd be home nearing eight in the evening.
Once inside Brooke could hear Lucas upstairs getting the twins into a bath, hearing Carter and Riley laugh made the mother so happy. She took her shoes off and went up the stairs to greet her husband and children.
"MOMMY!" Screamed Carter, "Mommy, mommy!" He got really excited and stood up trying to get to his mother.
"Buddy, you're not done." Lucas mildly scolded making the boy pout.
Brooke walked over and kissed the boy and then Riley on their temples, "You'll both get two big hugs right after your bath."
"Hi handsome." She kissed the kneeling Lucas on the lips and let it linger there for some moments before stepping back and kneeling next to him to help out with the bath.
"Where's Sam?" Brooke asked as he carried a freshly showered Carter in her arms. He was hugging her neck a little bit too tightly, "Buddy, you're gonna choke me." She chuckled a bit prying Carter's hands off.
"I just missed you mama." He told her hugging her more carefully and hiding his face in her hair. She almost melted and rubbed his back lovingly, "I missed you too big boy." She missed all her kids while at work, especially during trying days. Sometimes she would lock her door, sit at her office, and stare at the pictures of her family that surrounded her desk. She always found her center that way.
Lucas put Riley down and directed her to choose her pajamas, "I heard her get home when I brought them up for their bath. She didn't come up to say she was home though. She had gone to talk with Jack."
Brooke snapped her attention to Lucas after having told Carter to grab a pull-up from his room. "Did she seem okay when she left?"
Lucas frowned, "I-I'm not sure. She didn't seem upset." He quickly noticed the wheels in Brooke's head turning.
"Can you finish with them?" Brooke asked, "I want to go check on her."
She was about to leave when Lucas caught her arm, "Babe," She ignored him, "Babe!"
"What?" She bit, exasperated.
"You're tired. You had a long day at work. Why don't you lie down, and I'll check on her?"
"Daddy I wanna wear these ones." Riley held them out. Lucas looked down, "Okay princess, you try and put the pants on and I'll help you with the shirt."
Brooke shook her head, "Lucas, I love you for always thinking about me. But I need to talk to her. She's been avoiding talking about what's been going on with her and Jack, and I, I" She ran her hand across her forehead, "I just feel like she needs me right now."
He raised up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay." There was no arguing with her, so he leaned over and kissed her before she made her way out of the room.
The mother checked Sam's room but she wasn't there. She checked the living room and downstairs but she wasn't there either.
It wasn't until she went into the kitchen and saw the girl sitting on the swinging bench they had outside. Her back was to Brooke, and so the woman couldn't tell if she was alright.
Brooke carefully opened the sliding door and stepped out, "Hi peanut." She spoke softly.
"Hi." Came her daughter's shaky voice.
She's not okay.
Without another word, Brooke walked over and sat by the bench. Her daughter had silent tears making their way down her cheeks as she stared emptily at their yard.
"Oh, honey." Brooke sympathized immediately wiping the tears on her daughter's cheeks with her thumbs, "Let me help you sweetheart". It was all Sam needed to feel her guard break. She turned to her mom with a quivering lip and crashed into her before letting out a sob that she'd been holding in since she'd gotten home.
Brooke felt her arms hug her daughter tightly before she could even register what was happening.
"Mom." Sam cried further wishing in that moment to be Riley and Carter's size, so she could feel herself completely overtaken by her mother's warmth.
Gone was her desire to keep it to herself and fix it on her own. Yes, she would leave for college in less than a year, and she wouldn't always have her mom. But right now she did, and right now all she wanted was to be cuddled by Brooke Davis. Her mommy.
"Shhh." Brooke pulled her in and let Sam bend her knees up towards her and snuggle into her side. She rocked her gently, "I'm here sweetie. I'm here."
Sam wasn't sure how long her mother let her cry. She just felt the kisses on her head, her back being rubbed, and the sweet assurances that were murmured in her ear. Sam felt little. She felt all of four years old. But it's exactly what she needed. She wanted to feel like her mother could fix all her problems. Like the arms that were holding her could make all the confusion go away.
Brooke gave her daughter one last tight squeeze and rested her chin atop her head, "Baby, why don't you go get ready for bed and wait for me in your room, so we can talk?"
Sam wiped her tears, taking hitched and broken breaths, "Y-you're tired, m-mom. It's okay. I'm o-okay."
Brooke frowned, "Honey-"
"No mom, really. It's fine." Sam was about to get up and leave but the teenager was surprised by the firm pat that she felt on her bottom. She looked up at her mom with reddened eyes.
"Don't lie to me." Brooke told her firmly, "You are not okay...Sweetie, I know you were with Jack today." She softened her tone, "Sammy you told me you had handled this before." She watched as Sam bowed her head. The mother cupped her daughter's cheeks and looked in her blue eyes, "But that isn't the case, is it?"
The girl shook her head feeling completely exposed under her mother's gaze, "N-no mama."
Brooke sighed, "Why don't you want to talk to me about this?"
No answer,
"If it's about me being tired, don't worry about it. I'd be up late talking to your dad or the twins anyway."
Sam blushed a bit and nodded, "I'm sorry." She mumbled.
Brooke kissed her forehead, "No apologies. I'm not upset. I'm worried about you."
"Yeah, okay." Her daughter said through a hitched breath.
"I'll meet you up in a few minutes okay? Go change into your PJs."
Sam finally agreed and unhooked herself from her mother before making her way inside and into her room.
It was around ten minutes later when Brooke walked into her daughter's room. Sam was laying on her stomach, playing with a loose string on the mattress, lost in her thoughts as she listened to music. She'd changed out of her black pants and denim shirt and was in a simple large dark blue tshirt and socks. A look that always made her appear years younger in her mom's eyes.
She felt a pat to her back and gazed that way. Her mother was smiling down at her, in that special way that made Sam's heart warm.
She took out her headphones and sat up, "Hey mom." She said shyly.
"Well don't sound so uncomfortable." Brooke half joked, "I'm not here to judge you and yell baby. I don't know what's going on with you and Jack, but I'm here to listen and help you."
In reality Brooke had thought about everything that could've possibly got Sam this upset, and the one thing that kept ringing through her mind was that they broke up, or they had sex. She felt her heart tighten and her blood pressure rise for both situations, but she'd mentally prepared herself for both.
Sam gave her a half hearted smile and nodded. Her mother moved onto her headboard and patted her thighs, "Let's talk, sweetheart."
Sam laid her head on her mother's lap.
It was a position far too familiar for both mother and daughter. Sam would lay her head and curl in. Sometimes she'd play with the hem of her mother's skirt or just draw circles with her finger on her mother's' pants, meanwhile Brooke would slowly and rhythmically play with Sam's hair. It relaxed both of them, and Sam always ended up spilling her truth. It was easiest for her to talk about serious things in this position.
It was silent for a few moments, until Sam grew the courage to speak again.
"Mom, Jack and I, we-we got into this huge fight about me leaving for college."
Brooke waited with baited breath, knowing that there was so much more to the story.
"What happened?"
Sam sighed and tried to hold in the stinging tears, "He just, he scared me when he started talking about moving wherever I go 'cause he loves me so much. I-I don't want him to do that. Like him moving wherever i go...that's too much. It's too serious. I'm only 17. And, and now he thinks that I don't love him as much as he loves me." She groaned at the feel of tears on her cheeks and wiped them, "When I talked to him today he just kept saying that he wasn't sure if it's worth us to continue if I can't see myself making decisions like moving for him or him moving for me."
"Oh, baby."
"I'm just not ready for that!" Sam exclaimed, "I do love him, I-I don't want us to be over. I thought we were gonna do long-distance. I mean, I won't be too far. But I-I don't know...It can't be over mom. It can't!"
She broke into a sob and hid herself in her mom's pants.
Oh if Brooke could knock some sense into that idiot boy, right now.
"You made a very honest and adult decision by telling him how you felt. It's better that he knows how you truly feel."
"But because of that we might be over!" Sam cried.
Brooke sighed. She could read right through that dumb kid's words. "Sammy sweetie, Jack is nervous about losing you. You and him have had a conversation like that before a few years ago, remember? I think, and it's just my opinion, but I think he wants to take a drastic measure like that because he's afraid of losing you. Losing you to the college life, and new friends, and experiences."
Sam listened to her mother and then slowly lifted her head to look at her, "But, I-he won't. He won't lose me."
Brooke nodded, "Have you told him that?"
Sam looked down at her hands, "He-he won't listen."
"You have to make him listen, and if he doesn't then maybe he doesn't deserve you."
The girl's eyes snapped up, "Mom, don't say that!" She felt the visceral need to defend him, "I'm not better than him! How could you say he doesn't deserve me?"
Brooke grabbed her daughter's hand, "I didn't mean it like that. I don't think you're better than him. I mean that you love hard and you love honestly. If he can't accept that, then he doesn't deserve you."
"But we've-we've always been there for each other."
"I know you have babe." Brooke cooed sympathetically.
Sam's lip started quivering again, knowing and feeling in her gut that she'd feel better once she told Brooke everything. "But" She sputtered. Her eyes watering over again, "But mommy that's not even the worst part."
Oh God. The 'mommy' bomb. Brooke thought.
"It's okay." The mother assured her. "You can tell me."
"I…" She took a deep breath, "Mom, we, we had sex for the first time right before we got into that fight!" Sam burst into sobs again and found herself once more embraced by her mother.
"Were you safe?" Brooke whispered to which her daughter nodded and whimpered out a 'yeah.'
Brooke felt deeply for her daughter. She couldn't imagine the confusion her daughter had been dealing with. Losing your virginity is naturally serious, but on top of that Sam had to deal with her past traumatizing sexual moments, and the fact that right afterwards she and her boyfriend got into a potentially relationship ending fight. Brooke hoped dearly that the situation with Jack didn't further ruin for Sam the beauty of what a healthy sexual relationship should be.
It pained the mother to think that their daughter was sexually active, but she had been waiting for this day. Brooke had a mother's intuition that it would happen soon.
"Oh sweetie. I'm so sorry."
"I-it was so weird mom! We-we did it and I've never felt so close to him and now he doesn't even wanna talk to me."
"He's a stupid boy Sam." Brooke had to bite back her words, careful not to say what else she was thinking, "I'm so sorry that this is how it happened."
Sam let go of her mom slowly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "Mama I-I think I'm mad at him too." She squeaked.
Brooke wiped stray tears from Sam's chin, "Why honey?" She asked her.
"Be-because it's so confusing to me! Sex used to be this scary thing for me and with Jack it's not, and now it's like that doesn't matter,"
"Sammy wait." Brooke put a hand on her daughter's hot and damp cheek, "Of course that matters. It's a big deal for you. Bigger for you than most people. And I'm sure it's brought up a lot of overwhelming feelings, right?"
Sam nodded truthfully, "It just makes me happy, but sad at the same time when I think about it...about what happened to me before. It's just so much."
Brooke took a deep breath. She wanted to cry right along with her daughter. Cry for her, and cry because her baby girl was becoming a young woman right before her eyes. But she had to be strong for Sam.
"It'll get easier with time." Brooke spoke softly, "...Sweetie, you and I, we've had a lot of conversations about you and Jack. So I want you to be honest with me. Do you regret having had sex with him? Do you feel like you weren't ready for it?"
Sam shook her head then moved to lay her head back on her mother's lap. "No." She finally said once settled, "I-I do feel like I was ready. I just hate that we ended up in a fight. I wanted to talk about my feelings about my past and whatever with him, but it's like I can't anymore."
"Jack is scared. Scared for your future. But he still loves you. That boy is head over heels in love. You'll get the chance to talk to him about it." Brooke told her with a fierce confidence that she wasn't so sure where it came from.
Sam turned from staring at the wall while on her lap over and into her mother's stomach. She curled herself in, "Mommy, I, I don't know if love is enough this time."
The conversation never came to a clear conclusion. Brooke couldn't give her daughter a concrete answer. She could only give her comfort. And at the end of it Sam was content with that. Sure, things weren't solved. But she had her mother on her side, and it was nice to hear what Brooke thought and just get it all out there.
After Sam got everything out, they ended up watching an episode of SVU together. Lucas was keen enough to keep the twins occupied and tuck them in by himself. He knew Sam needed Brooke to herself.
"Mom?" Sam's hoarse voice squeaked.
"Hmmm?"
"Can you, um," She bit her lip, knowing that it had been months since she asked the question, "Can you sleep with me tonight?" She finally asked quietly while playing with the hem of her mother's shirt, purposefully avoiding Brooke's eyes.
"Of course." Brooke answered without any qualms.
And so Sam slept snuggled in close. She had her bear and blanket nestled into her and just as her mother was humming her to sleep, the 17 year old popped her thumb into her mouth and began to suck gently. A move that the mother hadn't seen in a while. She knew that her eldest was trying hard to break the habit of sucking her thumb when feeling stressed or overwhelmed. But Sam just needed it this time around. Brooke would never admit it, but she thought her daughter's habit was rather endearing. A reminder to the mother that Sam would always be her little one.
Brooke hid it well, but her heart broke for her daughter. Relationships were hard, and Sam had been in a relatively stable one with Jack. One that had involved very little drama. Until now.
… …. ….
Sam stepped into her mother's office Thursday after school. The girl was wearing dark blue chinos with a loose, long plaid shirt, and a grey beanie. Her uncharacteristically clean white converse tracked some mud that Millie would notice after work.
The teen caught her mom talking to someone at their desk just as she walked in.
"Mom!" She spoke across the room trying to get her mom's attention.
Millie, who was at the receptionist's desk, snapped her head towards Sam disapprovingly, "Samantha Davis-Scott!" She hissed, "You are in an office, not a playground."
Sam just rolled her eyes, "Hi Millie." She winked at her then waltzed her way over to her mother who didn't look to happy about her yelling as well. But Sam knew her mother's first question would be another.
"Sammy, what are you doing here?" She asked once the girl was closer.
Sam, feeling a bit shy walked close enough so only her mom could hear. "Can I talk to you? It'll be super quick, promise."
Brooke thought about asking Sam to go wait for her in the office, but she felt guilty about having kicked her daughter out of her office that weekend, and really, her conversation with her employee wasn't dire. Besides, conversations with her daughter always satisfied her more than any sort of work conversation.
"I'll come back to you in a bit Patrick." Brooke told one of the designers, before grabbing her daughter's hand and kissing her temple, "Alright little miss impatient. Come on then."
The mother's heels clicked along as they walked hand in hand.
"What's up peanut?" Brooke asked once her office door was closed.
"He apologized!" Her eyes lit up.
Brooke hid a smirk from her daughter. Because, well, she may have had something to do with that.
"He told me he wasn't sure how it would work, but that he wanted to try long distance!"
Yes. Brooke Davis AND Lucas Scott had a two on one conversation with Jack Daniels. It wasn't scary or intimidating. Lucas didn't know that his little champ had lost her virginity so that helped as well. Else, he probably would've killed the kid. Not really, but...maybe. Brooke only told him that Jack was scared and unsure about Sam moving away.
Jack's eyes widened and he took a step back when he saw both of Sam's parents at the shop he was working at.
"We're not here to bully you." Brooke said immediately, "Just talk to you about how you're honestly feeling. We want to help you make sense of all the thoughts going through your head because I'm sure you are just as torn up as our daughter right now."
The fashion designer was proud that she'd kept it civil and even loving because damn was she mad at that little punk. But she and Lucas had to be the parents in the situation. Although the mother couldn't help but think that if she was currently in high school and Sam's friend, the situation with Jack would've gone down much differently. Brooke was nothing short of a bitch for the people she loved.
Brooke would never tell Sam that they'd talk to Jack. Maybe that was a horrible idea, but at the moment, looking at her daughter's smiling face she didn't really care.
"See, it all worked out for you."
She opened up her arms and Sam hugged her tightly, "Thank you for talking to me about it."
"You're welcome sweet pea." Brooke dropped a kiss on her daughter's forehead.
Sam nuzzled her head into her mom's chest, making Brooke smile as she gave her daughter's bottom a few rhythmic pats, "I love you princess." Her words muffled into her daughter's watermelon scented hair.
"Love you too, mama."
They both cherished the moment because they didn't know it, but mother and daughter had the exact thought run through their head. In a few months they wouldn't be able to do this because Sam would be gone. College was going to be hard….for the both of them.
Yes, it's been a long time coming! But I hope you enjoyed it :) Please let me know what you think.