Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill.

Chapter 15

Sebastian was awakened by the smell of pancakes wafting through the air. He tried to keep his eyes closed but the delicious aroma was too hard to resist. When he opened his eyes, there were a set of blue eyes staring back at him.

"Ahhhh!" They both screamed, frightening each other.

"What happened?" Lucas rushed in with a spatula in his hand, ready to fight or flip anything that scared them.

Sebastian and Lily just looked at Lucas. Then Lily burst into laughter.

"You look funny Luke." She told her big brother.

Lucas smiled a little. "Ha ha. Is everyone okay?"

Sebastian nodded his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Luke, who is he?" Lily asked, pointing to Sebastian.

"Lily this is Sebastian. Sebastian this is Lily." He introduced the four year olds.

They stared awkwardly at one another until Lily heard her mother calling her from the kitchen.

"Coming mommy." She said as she skipped out of the room.

Lucas stood there, not knowing how to start a conversation with the little boy. After a minute, the only thing he came up with was "Good morning."

Sebastian didn't reply although he was shaking nervously. Lucas was trying to figure out what was wrong until it finally dawned on him.

"Do you have to use the bathroom?"

Sebastian nodded his head furiously. Lucas walked him to the bathroom. When they got to the door, he stopped.

"Uh, do you wear a diaper or something?" Lucas didn't know what he was supposed to do.

Sebastian gave him a weird look and shook his head no.

"Do you know what to do in there?"

Sebastian nodded and went in, closing the door. Lucas blew out a breath in relief. After a minute, he heard the toilet flush and a lot of moving around and he wondered what was going on in there. He knocked on the door and when he didn't get an answer, he announced that he was coming in. Sebastian was still trying to reach the sink when the door opened. Lucas saw this and he walked over and hoisted Sebastian up to the sink. As Sebastian washed his hands, Lucas looked in the mirror. The sight before him was a welcoming one. This is my son. He thought as he looked at the boy's bed head, which was the same as his own. His unruly blonde hair jutted up in different directions. Lucas smirked until he saw Sebastian looking at him strangely in the mirror. He realized he was done so he put him down.

"Are you hungry?" Lucas asked as they left the bathroom.

Sebastian shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you like pancakes?"

He shrugged his shoulders again.

Not knowing what else to do, Lucas ushered Sebastian into the kitchen and sat him at the table. Karen was making the plates and Lily was getting spoons and forks.

"Good morning Sebastian, I'm your…Karen." She remembered that he didn't know that Lucas was his father yet.

Sebastian just waved and looked down at the table. Karen looked at Lucas and he just shrugged.

"Would you like some pancakes?" Karen asked, hoping to get an answer.

Sebastian shrugged and laid his head on the table. Lucas got up to help his mom set the table. He whispered in her ear, "He's been like this since he woke up."

"That's normal. He misses his mom." She told him.

"I miss her too." Lucas mumbled. "After breakfast, I'm taking him to their house to pick up a few of his things."

"Do you need me to do anything?" Karen asked.

"You just being here means a lot."

Breakfast was spent over light conversation and Lucas trying to get Sebastian to eat. Lily told Lucas about the garden she and her mother were working on. Karen tried to keep Sebastian engaged in conversation but all he did was shrug his shoulders whenever she asked him a question.

After getting the address from Millie, Lucas and Sebastian headed over to the house. The car ride was quiet but when they were close, Sebastian noticed the familiar surroundings. When they pulled into the driveway, Sebastian quickly unbuckled his seatbelt. Lucas unlocked the car door and Sebastian ran to the front door. Lucas caught up to him and then he knocked.

When Millie opened the door, Sebastian jumped into her arms. "Aunt Mill!" He yelled excitedly.

"Hi buddy!" Millie hugged him.

Lucas was a little shocked. That was the first time he heard Sebastian speak all morning.

"Hi Lucas, come on in."

"Thanks." he replied as he walked into the spacious home. He looked around and saw how nice everything looked. Brooke was doing really well for herself and Sebastian.

"Is mommy here yet?" Sebastian asked hopefully.

Millie gave him a sad look. "No. Remember we talked about this? Mommy is staying at the hospital for a while."

"Why?"

"Because she is sick."

"Why?" He asked again.

Millie thought for a second. She couldn't tell the four year old that his mother was brutally attacked.

"You want your mom to feel better, right?" She adjusted her glasses.

"Yes." His green eyes pleaded.

"Well, she will have to stay until she gets better."

"How long?" Sebastian asked. He was relentless.

"I don't know." Millie's voice cracked. This conversation was heartbreaking. The light in Sebastian's eyes dimmed as his hope was crushed.

Lucas could tell that Millie was uncomfortable with the current mood by the way she kept adjusting her glasses. So, he decided to deflect the conversation and change the mood.

"So, does he have a lot of clothes? If not, I can buy him some." He was attempting to change the mood but he thought about what he just said. That was a stupid question. Of course Sebastian has a lot of clothes. His mother is a fashion designer, duh!

Millie must have picked up on Lucas' nervousness because she laughed a little. "Yes, he has tons of clothes. I'm actually doing laundry right now, so if you want to wait?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Oh that reminds me!" Millie snapped her fingers. "Sebastian, can you get me your cardigan sweater? I have to take it to the cleaners."

"Okay." Sebastian said as he went to his room. When he got there, he went to his left closet because that's where his expensive clothes were. When they moved into the house, Brooke told Sebastian that his really nice clothes that she gets from her designer friends specifically belong in the left closet. And his everyday and play clothes belong in the right closet.
When he opened the left closet door, he spotted his video game sitting on the shelf. He smiled because he had lost it the week before. He grabbed his game and sat on his bean bag in the middle of the floor, his task quickly forgotten.

…

"Would you like something to drink?" Millie asked Lucas as she went into the kitchen. He followed her and sat at the counter.

"Sure, what do you have?"

"Water, apple juice, grape juice, and orange juice."

"I'll take grape juice please." He laughed when Millie handed him a juice box. "I haven't had one of these since kindergarten."

Millie laughed too. "But it's so good."

Lucas tried poking his straw into the little box. "They make these things more complicated nowadays." He said as he wiggled the straw and it finally worked. He took a victorious sip. "Ah, success!"

After both of the adults calmed down from their laughing fit, Millie asked how Sebastian was doing.

"He cried during the car ride last night until he fell asleep. And he didn't want to eat anything this morning."

Millie quirked her eyebrow. "He loves breakfast. It's his favorite meal of the day."

"It wasn't his favorite meal today." Lucas sighed.

"It's because he's not familiar with you or your house yet. Just give it time." Millie said as she grabbed a bowl and spoon.

"Will he talk to me soon? Because he hasn't said a word. The only time he's talked was when we got here."

"That might be a little tricky. Sebastian has been surrounded by women most of his life. Brooke, me, or Victoria." She visibly shook at the last name she said. "Just saying her name gives me the creeps."

"I know how you feel." Lucas agreed.

"Sebastian has never had a male role model in his life until now. That may take some time to get used to."

Lucas flinched when she said 'role model'. That's what he had to be for Sebastian. He had to teach his son how to be a man. And that was a big responsibility in which he could not afford to fail.

As he thought on Millicent's wise words, he hadn't noticed that she made Sebastian a bowl of cereal.

"Sebastian, come here please." she called out to him.

He walked into the kitchen bumping into the wall as he focused intently on playing his video game.

"Are you hungry?"

He nodded his head.

"Use your words." Millie told him.

"Yes."

"Okay, put your game away and eat your cereal."

He started to whine. "Aw Aunt Mill just one more game."

Millie gave him a stern look and he closed the game and sat at the counter to eat.

"I want you to eat at Lucas house too. Okay?"

He nodded, then he said yes. At that moment the dryer beeped, signaling that it was done. Millie headed to the laundry room.

Lucas watched Sebastian eat and he figured that it was the right time to bond.

"Is Frosted Flakes your favorite cereal?"

Sebastian nodded.

"It's my favorite too. What do you like about it?" He figured that he liked it the same reason that all kids liked it. It was sweet. He was surprised when the little boy finally spoke.

"I like the tiger." Sebastian pointed to the tiger on the box.

"Yeah, Tony the Tiger is cool."

"He's grrreat!" Sebastian mimicked.

Lucas laughed. "I always liked to do the activities on the back of the box. Do you mind if we do some together?"

"Okay." Sebastian replied.

After putting the clothes away, Millie walked into the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Lucas and Sebastian laughing at something on the cereal box. She quickly ran into Brooke's office and grabbed a camera and ran back to the kitchen. She sneaked and took a picture of them. It was the cutest thing ever.

After Sebastian finished eating, Millie sent him back to his room to get his sweater.

Her cell phone rang.

"Hello."

Lucas wasn't eavesdropping but he caught a few words from the conversation.

When she hung up, Millie explained that Clothes Over Bros was repaired and the store had a new and improved security system.

"You don't sound happy about that." Lucas realized.

"It's going to be hard working there without Brooke. And I don't know about the new security system. The last one that we had was supposed to be state of the art and look how that turned out."

"If you need help with anything, I'll be glad to help." I will do anything for Brooke. "I can drop in from time to time and check on you."

"What about Sebastian?"

"I can bring him with me. And on the days when it's really busy, I can leave him at home with my mom."

"Your mom?" Millie was thoroughly interested.

"Yeah her name is Karen. She and my little sister Lily came in to town last night."

"Karen Roe?" Millie asked.

Lucas gave her a confused look. "You know her?"

"Brooke talked about her all the time. She said Karen was like her second mom but way better."

Lucas smiled. "I'm sure my mom will be honored when I tell her."

"How old is Lily?"

"She's four."

"She and Sebastian are the same age?"

"Lily, Sebastian, and Jamie are the same age." Lucas confirmed.

Millie was confused.

"It's a complicated story."

…

Lucas and Sebastian stayed at Brooke's house with Millie all day just getting to know each other. Millie noticed that Lucas was ignoring his phone. Every time it rang, he would look at it and then make it go straight to voicemail and then he would show more interest in whatever Sebastian was talking about.

After Lucas and Sebastian played with his toys for a while, Lucas asked Millie if she could watch him for a few hours. Millie agreed and said that she would have his clothes packed when he came back.

…

As he walked into the flower shop, his phone rang again. This time he answered.

"Hey Peyton."

"Lucas, what the hell?!" Peyton yelled.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"You got up from our bed and left. I have not seen you since. What is going on?" She was furious.

"I promise I will explain."

"You know what? Just forget it!" She hung up.

Lucas stared at the phone in disbelief. He looked at a vase of beautiful flowers.

"These will make her feel better."

…

He walked to her door and slowly pushed it open.

He sat the flowers on the table.

"Hey pretty girl." Lucas said as he gently kissed Brooke on her forehead.

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