The rest of the evening went uneventful, and everyone was able to enjoy the rest of the concert. Peyton stayed far away from Brooke, and Lucas apologized for Peyton's rude behavior. It was a disappointment that Peyton didn't want to do it herself, but Brooke accepted the apology.

After the concert was over, Brooke, Julian and Sam thanked their hosts and said their goodbyes to the Scott family, promising they would talk again tomorrow. Before they headed to their vehicle, Brooke found Owen.

"Do you think you can stop by the house tomorrow morning?" Brooke asked him. "I think we need to talk."

Owen nodded. "Yeah, I think we do too. I can be there around ten."

"See you then," Brooke said before she returned to Julian and Sam.

Julian drove Brooke and Sam home. Sam was excited to spend the night at their house since their parents had taken off for the weekend. Neither Brooke nor Julian blamed her for not wanting to spend the night at home by herself. They had done that too often during their teenage years.

When they arrived home, Rachel wanted to hear all of the details. Sam was more than happy to give her all the juicy details. Rachel just raised her eyebrows in surprise when she found out that Owen and Lucas's fiancée were both in attendance at the concert.

"Man, I wish I was there to see the drama," Rachel said. "It was all quiet on the home front, but I loved every minute of it."

"You didn't give him too much sugar, did you?" Brooke asked. "You know how hyper he gets when he has too much sugar."

"I know, Brooke. You reminded me before you left. Don't worry. I just gave him a couple of scoops of ice cream," Rachel said. "He was an absolute angel like always."

Brooke smiled in return as she went to check on him, and he was sound asleep in his bed. She returned to her friends. "Thank you for watching him."

"I was happy to do it," Rachel said as she got up from the sofa. "Well, I should be heading home. Call me with all of the juicy details tomorrow."

Brooke nodded as Rachel said goodbye to Julian and Sam. Julian offered to walk her out to her car, and Rachel took him up on his offer.

"So what are you are going to tell Owen tomorrow?" Sam asked. "Are you going to push him out of your life again?"

Brooke was silent. She had thought about it for most of the car ride home. She still couldn't answer that question. That was on her mind as she went to her bedroom to change her clothes and get ready for bed. It should have been an easy answer, but she couldn't dismiss him quite yet.

They had been through a lot together over the last few years, and he had been there for both her and Ethan, even after he had found out that there was a strong possibility that he wasn't Ethan's father. It was only after the last couple of months that he had decided to disappear. How did she know he wasn't going to take off again?

Her thoughts about both Owen and Lucas kept her up nearly all night. How she wished she could go to her workroom and work on her next project right now. That always comforted her, but she didn't want to disappoint Ethan by not being there when he woke up in the morning.

When morning came, she could already smell the coffee brewing from the kitchen. She opened the door and wandered out to the island. "Please tell me one of those cups of coffee is for me. I will need it today."

"Yes, and don't worry. Sam and I are going to take Ethan to the library so there are no interruptions," Julian said.

Brooke gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you. I'd appreciate that, and I'm sure Ethan will love to spend time with his favorite uncle and aunt." The bedroom door opened, and Ethan ran out to greet his mother and uncle. She embraced her son in a tight hug. "Hey buddy. I heard you had a fun time with Aunt Rachel last night."

Ethan smiled. "Yep, but I missed you."

Brooke smiled in return. "I know you did, and I missed you too. Listen, I have to take care of something this morning. So you'll be going to be with Uncle Julian and Aunt Sam this morning, and you get to go to the library." His smile had already disappeared. "But after I'm all done, I'm all yours for the rest of the weekend. I promise." Ethan's eyes lit up again as he embraced his mother in another tight hug. "I love you, buddy. Now let's get you some breakfast so you can get going to the library."

"I don't think Ethan will be the problem," Julian said with his eyes twinkling.

Brooke kept the smile on her face. She knew exactly who he was talking about.

Sure enough, Sam was the last one to get up and come downstairs for breakfast. By that time, both Julian and Ethan were well on their way in getting ready to go to the library. Ethan grew anxious, and he was testing Sam's patience. She ate a light breakfast before she hurried into the bathroom for a quick shower.

By the time Owen knocked on the door, they were long gone. Brooke gestured him to come in and he walked into the living room. Before she could greet him, Owen spoke up first. "Look, I first want to apologize for how I reacted. I never should have blown up at you like that, but I was angry you didn't tell me first. I had to hear it from Chase. I don't understand why you didn't think I had the right to know." There was silence from Brooke. "Is it because I hadn't been around for the last two months?"

"Ethan thinks you abandoned him," Brooke said. "How do I know you're not going to take off again?"

Guilt was written all over Owen's face. "That was wrong on my part," he said. "When I gave you space, I never meant to give him space too. And I never meant to hurt him. I love him, and I hope you give me another chance to be there for him. And I'm not just saying that because you're allowing Lucas to get to know him." His voice became soft as he sat down on the sofa. "I'm asking you because I don't want to lose him. Because I'm afraid what will happen if I do. And I don't want to go down that path again. I'm not sure I would be able to survive it this time."

Brooke sat down next to him and took his hand into hers. She squeezed it tight. "Don't talk like that. You can get through it. You have before."

Owen let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, but that was because I knew I had you and Ethan waiting for me when I got out. I have continued to fight every day because of that little boy, even after we broke up." There was a short pause. "You're not the only one who've had dark days, but it's been nearly six months since it happened. Maybe it's time we should talk about it because I really don't know where we stand." Brooke removed herself from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Owen was right behind her. "Because everyone thinks we've broken up for good, and I thought we were still on a break."

"Victoria wouldn't stop hounding me about your absence so I told her that we broke up," Brooke said in annoyance. "Maybe it's a good idea. Maybe we're not meant to be together."

Owen walked around the island and he approached her. "Why? Because you still feel like you can't give me a family?" Brooke opened her mouth to respond, but Owen didn't let her interrupt. His voice became soft again. "Just because we lost our baby doesn't mean that we can't try again."

Brooke stayed silent as she registered his words.

There it was. He brought up the baby. The baby that they had lost through a miscarriage. It had been six months and the guilt was still there.

It was almost as if Owen heard her thoughts. "You have to stop blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault."

Brooke shook her head. "It was my fault. I knew I shouldn't have overworked myself, but I didn't want to disappoint my client."

"Your client was a bridezilla," Owen said. "Nothing was going to make her happy, not even her wedding dress."

Brooke didn't want to admit it, but he was right. That client had been a nightmare to work with, and she was relieved when she finished the wedding dress. It was to the bride's satisfaction and she had surprisingly gained more clients because of her.

"Maybe she was, but it doesn't matter now," Brooke said. "I'm still trying to find a balance between work and raising Ethan. Mother is talking about expanding the business across state lines and now both you and Ethan's biological father are asking to spend time with him. And I'm not only Millie's maid of honor, but I'm making her wedding dress."

"You always have a lot on your plate," Owen said. "That's why you need to slow down. It's okay to take a break from working."

Brooke raised her eyebrows. "You mean like last night?"

"Hey, I was just trying to do my job," Owen protested. "It was nothing personal. I was just doing what my boss requested. I had no idea she was your husband's fiancée. I didn't even know he was engaged until last night. I'm sorry I didn't step in sooner before she confronted you. I was dealing with another security issue."

"It's okay," Brooke said. "I have a feeling that it won't be the last time I will run across her." There was a short pause. "Lucas will be looking for a second home in Tree Hill so he can be closer to Ethan. I'm allowing him to have supervised visits until the end of the summer. Then we'll be talking about joint custody."

"Like I said, I'm not going to stop you from giving Lucas a chance to get to know Ethan," Owen said. There was no anger in his voice. "But this isn't about him. This is about us. I don't want to make any assumptions, but I think it's pretty clear that you don't want to give our relationship another chance. Am I wrong?"

There was more silence from Brooke before her words finally came out. Tears formed in her eyes. "The miscarriage was tough on me, more than I wanted to admit," she confessed. The words now came so easily. Maybe it was because she had been holding back her feelings for so long that she had to get them out now. "And you're right. I thought the baby was our second chance at becoming a real family. You, me, Ethan and our baby. When I lost the baby, I thought I ruined our perfect dream. I know I pushed you away, but I was hurt and angry. And all that pain I caused you when we were dealing with Ethan's paternity returned, and it made me think we didn't deserve to be together."

Owen embraced her in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry. I knew you were hurting, but I had no idea you were going through all of that. I should have been there for you and for Ethan."

"We should have been there for each other," Brooke said softly.

Owen pulled away from her. "We can't go back to the past. We can only move forward and start anew, but I'm not sure if you're ready to do that. Or maybe you're moving in a different direction than I am. You don't have to defend yourself. I understand. I just want to let you know that I will still be around for you and Ethan. I promise you, I won't go anywhere this time."

Brooke watched him head to the front door. What was she doing? "Owen, wait," she called. Owen stopped and turned around to look at her. She took a deep breath. It was crazy, but she felt it was the right thing to do. "Do you think you can start taking Ethan a couple of days a week? It's just until the summer is over. I know he loves going to the sitter's, but I'm sure he would love to spend some time with his Daddy too."

Owen smiled. "I will rearrange my schedule to spend some time with him. Thank you, Brooke. Now I want you to do something for me."

Brooke raised her eyebrows. What did he want from her?

Owen spoke softly again. "I want you to forgive yourself for believing you're the reason for breaking our family up. It's not your fault. Maybe we're just not meant to be together."