Walkaway Joe - The End

By Whitney

Chapter 43

There is still a little bit of your taste in my mouth.

Haley paced back and forth on the linoleum beneath her, she’d driven Brooke to the hospital three hours before, and she and Jake, who they’d called along the way had been waiting for news ever since. Haley could barely keep her body under control, every few seconds her hands would begin to tremble and she could feel, her eyes watering with tears. It was like the never-ending nightmare, and she didn’t wish it on Brooke, she would never wish her such pain. She just wished it would all stop, she wanted the doctor to come out there and tell them that Brooke was just being her over-dramatic self and everything was fine. The baby and Brooke were both healthy and would remain so during the rest of her pregnancy.

“Any news yet?” Jake rushed back down the hall, Haley had convinced him to go get some coffee and something to eat, seeing as he’d starved himself all day. She was doing what she knew Brooke would want, taking care of Jake. But it was taxing, when all she wanted to do was go find some bed and curl up in it and then call Nathan and have him reassure her everything would be okay. But Jake had insisted they didn’t alarm anyone yet, and she’d agreed to keep mum knowing it was best to do whatever he and Brooke needed.

“Nope, not a word,” Haley exhaled and then ran a nervous hand through her hair, “I mean that’s a good sign right, if something was wrong they would come out and tell us…right?” Haley asked.

“Yeah, yeah of course they would.” Jake agreed, and Haley could tell he was as uncertain as she was. She’d never seen Jake more scared in his life, he was usually the comedian, never short a smile, or helping hand, but in that hospital hall he was falling apart right in front of her. Jake was nothing without Brooke, and she was nothing without him, Haley knew that feeling well.

“They will be Jake,” Haley said more convinced than before. “They’re going to wheel Brooke out her in a second, three or four different orderlies fighting over who gets to push her, and she’s going to smile and tell us it was a false alarm…you have to have faith Jake-”

“How can you say that,” his face clenched with pain, as his voice came out ragged with pain, “You of all people Haley…sometimes things go wrong-…I’m sorry,” he apologized immediately as her face fell with recognition of the incident he was referring to, an incident that never strayed far from her mind. “I shouldn’t have said that Haley-”

“You’re right…” she took a deep labored breath before continuing, “I know what it’s like to be screwed over, okay, I do. I know that life isn’t always fair- sometimes things happen you can’t control. But I won’t let you stop believing in Brooke because of that. Because that girl in that room over there, your wife, she is one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life and she’s going to fight like Hell. So if you can’t have faith in God, or whatever higher being, than believe in her…I do.”

Jake nodded gratefully as her words sunk in, and reached for her pulling her into a tight hug. Haley wondered if this was what it had been like with Nathan, when he’d waited to find out about her. Her heart constricted with pain at the though and she refocused her attentions on Jake and Brooke, and getting them through this. She would be there for them, no matter what it cost.

Jake and Haley were broken out of their reverie when the doctor came through the doors and stopped in front of them, his face grim with worry, setting them both on edge immediately. Haley stayed close beside Jake for support and he seemed to appreciate it.

“How is she? Is the baby okay? Are they okay?-”

“Mr. Jig-”

“Jake.”

“Jake,” the doctor said his name kindly, “I’m afraid there have been some unforeseen complications-”

“What’s going on, is she okay? Is the baby okay?” Haley squeezed his hand beside him, and he quieted down, sending an apologetic smile the doctors way.

“Your wife has gone into premature labor, now she’s not fully dilated right now, but we’re moving her up to OB right away, and we’re going to have a pediatric specialist on hand for when the baby is born…”

The news settled over them.

“It’s too soon though right, I mean for the baby, it hasn’t fully matured-” Haley’s voice broke off as panic seeped into her.

“Yes, but we’ve dealt with many preemies at this hospital and have an excellent success rate-”

“They’re going to be okay, though right? I mean Brooke and the baby, they’ll be okay?” Jake searched for some solid reassurance, and waited with bated breath for the doc to speak again.

“At this point we can only hope for the best. There is a very good chance, that both mother and child will come out in fine condition. There of course will be recovery time for both, but we won’t be able to tell anymore until the baby is born. Now I’m sure you’d like to get back there to her so I can have the nurse show you to her, will you be joining them as well Ms.?”

“Scott,” Haley supplied and turned to look up at Jake.

“Yeah, yeah of course, Brooke would want you there. I want you there.”

“Okay, guys just relax, and keep Brooke calm, and everything should go smoothly. I’ll be there every step of the way, any problems we’ll find and take care of right away.”

“Thanks.” Jake nodded at his briskly ready to get back to his wife.

“Thank you.” Haley repeatedly gratefully, as a short red-headed nurse came over to them and showed them through some back doors and hallways until they made it to the OB unit and into Brooke’s single room. Haley knew she would swing that one.

“Thank God you’re here!” Brooke screeched as Haley and Jake made their way in and Jake flew to her side, taking her in his arms and kissing her all over her face. Haley watched thoughtfully, trying not to interrupt their moment.

“Get over here!” Brooke called out to emotionally, and Haley didn’t need anymore prodding. She rushed towards her and was soon on the other side of the bed, hugging her for dear life.

“Hi.” Haley greeted her emotionally, and Brooke smiled back at her, that same beautiful Brooke smile that seemed to light everything in Jake’s world. Haley could see why, it was calming her down already.

“Don’t look so glum Haley, I’m having a baby, it’s a good thing. I was ready for this kid to come out anyway, and she’s mine so we knew she would make an entrance,” Brooke looked over to Jake who was just as nervous, “no worries, we’re going to pull through, and this hospital will never forget us. You know me baby,” Brooke smiled at him, “I never do anything small.”

“Yeah.” He laughed lightly obviously placating her. Both women could still see the fear written on his face though, and both chose to ignore it.

“Okay so here’s the deal, these things come on pretty fast, and they hurt like hell, so I need to get this out fast. Haley I need you to call everyone, my parents, Jake’s parents, Luke, Peyton, Nathan, Tim- do you have everyone’s numbers- never mind Jake can give you what you don’t have. Jake I need you to light a fire at the nurses station and make sure they bring me ice cubes at least every half hour, I’m in enough pain, I don’t need to be dehydrated. And after you do that, find out about the epidural, I want it now.” She finished with her instructions, and an amused Jake and Haley looked on with awe. She was just something else.

“I’m on it.” Haley smiled, and leaned down kissing her lightly on her forehead before heading out with her cell phone to a place she could use it.

Jake stayed behind, and linked hands with his wife again, bringing her smooth palm to his lips for a light kiss, “You know you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my life. I’m just…I’m so in love with you.”

Brooke let out a shaken breath as a tiny tear slipped down her cheek, and her free hand came up to caress his face. “You’re the love of my life Jake, you’re my husband, my home- this isn’t the end of anything. This is our beginning, with our baby, who I KNOW is going to be okay. We both will, and at the end of all of this, you’re going to be bringing us home and waiting on us hand and foot, so be prepared daddy, you’re daughter’s gonna need you.”

“Still stuck on the girl thing huh?”

“Today just proves it babe,” she laughed, “you’re going to be out-numbered, deal with it.”

He leaned down placing a quick peck on her lips before he left the room on the mission she’d set. Brooke let out a relieved breath when he left, and the strong façade she’d been wearing since they’d arrived at the room faltered. She was terrified, every time a new contraction came, her heart raced with anxiety. She knew it was too soon for this to be happening, she knew their were dire risks placed on premature births. And after what had happened with Haley, seeing the destruction, she could barely keep her eyes open. She wanted to pray to God, but that last time she did, it hadn’t worked. She wondered if it would work this time, or would they be left in the lurch, would the light die in her, like it had in Haley.

Haley made her way out into the little garden area on the roof of the hotel, where a nurse had assured her she could use her cell phone. She dialed Brooke’s parents first, they were somewhere in Europe and asked if she would call them back as soon as she knew something substantial, Jake’s parents were next and they basically asked the same thing, although they offered to fly out, Haley told them it probably wouldn’t do any good right now, but if they’d like she could get Jake for them. They’d declined just asking her to please keep in contact. She caught Tim on his cell, he was visiting Ella on the mountain, and she couldn’t talk him out of flying down, he’d said Brooke would kick his ass if he didn’t show up, and Haley couldn’t really disagree with him, Brooke did love attention. Lucas and Peyton were next, they were in the middle of touring some gallery, and Peyton had snatched the phone away from Lucas telling Haley she would call her when they arrived in the Miami airport because they needed transportation, Haley knew Peyton coming was unavoidable. She called Nathan last when she was sure he would be home, he’d known instantly how hard it was on her, and told her he was on the next plane out after he got in touch with Lucas and Peyton, she thanked him and finally hung up completing her duty.

“Mrs. Scott?” A short pudgy woman came up to her with a name badge reading ‘Elenore’ and Haley turned to her alarmed fearing something had gone wrong with Brooke while she was okay.

“Is something wrong? Is Brooke-”

“Oh no ma'am, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to alarm you. I just recognized you from your picture in the paper, you’re married to Nathan Scott- my husband’s such a huge fan, both of my boys too.”

Haley smiled kindly, this woman seemed nice enough, and not at all overbearing like some could be, “Well that’s nice to hear, I’m sure my husband would love to hear it. He’ll be coming here later tonight, if you’d like I could have him stop by your station, maybe sign something for your family.” Haley was in a giving mood.

“Oh no Mrs., I wouldn’t want to put you out. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I was when hearing about your loss in the papers.-”

“Oh.” Haley froze, she didn’t know what to say, she didn’t expect that at all, and the woman seemed to see her discomfort.

“I don’t mean to intrude Mrs. Scott, it’s just…well I went through a similar thing, many years ago…I just wanted to express my condolences…”

Silence stretched between them.

“But you had children afterwards?” Haley felt bad prodding, but there was just something so warm and caring about this woman.

“One more, I’d already had my first son…it was hard, I guess the things in life we want the most, are always the hardest to lose.”

“But you’re okay now, I mean…” Haley trailed off she hated being so invasive. She didn’t know this woman and here she was asking about her deep personal feelings. If someone had done the same of her she would have spit in their face.

“The loss grew dim over time, it was always there,” she explained kindly, seeming to know exactly what Haley needed, and willingly giving it to her, “but it lessoned as I moved on with my life. I had my youngest son to think of, my husband, my job…life moved on and eventually I realized I had to as well. Losing a child is never easy, surviving that loss though is even harder. But I firmly believe God only gives to us what he knows we can take. I guess it sounds a bit trite but-”

“No,” Haley shook her head brushing it off, “it sounds nice. Really nice…” silence spilled between them again, before Haley regained her bearings, and smiled once more at the tiny gray-haired woman before her. “Thank you, for saying what you did…it really did help. And I really wish you’d let me have Nathan find you later, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind signing something for you-”

“Too much trouble Mrs.”

“I assure you it isn’t.” Haley protested, sending her a pleading grin. She wanted to give back to this woman, at least something. “What floor do you work on?”

“The 5th.” The woman finally agreed on her kindness, and stepped back into the hospital. Haley took a deep breath before following in her footsteps and heading back for Brooke.

“God this just can not be happening.” Peyton said in a panic as she stuffed some clothing into a backpack, her motions frenzied.

Lucas reached out to her, grabbing onto her arms and stilling her body. He pushed her wild curls away from her face, and brought her tiny body closer to his. “Brooke is okay Peyt, you heard what Haley said. She’s just gone into labor-”

“You don’t understand,” Peyton brushed him off and went back to packing. A few minutes later she was finished and ready to rush out the door. “Lucas come on!” She called out to him.

“I do understand,” he said calmly, “but we can’t go off half cocked. We’ll get down there in time Peyt, don’t worry. But we have to wait for Nathan to find out about the plane-”

“You can wait on Nathan,” she snapped, “I am going to the airport…please come with me.” Her voice softened in a pleading manner, and he came towards her pulling her into his arms, and pressing a soft kiss against the temple of her head.

“Everything is going to be okay.” He assured.

She looked back up at him, her eyes shining with tears, “But they never are Lucas, they never are.”

Haley and Jake waited outside the room for the doctor to finish putting Brooke’s epidural in, finally he came out and they were allowed back in.

“That hurt.” Brooke sighed out of breath.

Chapter 44

You‘re my never-ending dream.

Peyton paced up and down the hospital corridor impatiently, waiting for the nurse at the front desk to come back and buzz them into the unit. They’d only been there for three minutes, but it was three minutes too long as far as she was concerned, she needed to see Brooke, to see with her own eyes that everything was okay.

“Sorry for the wait, who are you-”

“Brooke Davis.” Peyton cut the nurse off instantly as she charged towards the door. She caught Lucas sending her an apologetic smile before she hit the button and the door opened for them. She wasn’t worried about pleasantries at this point. She was worried about Brooke, and her baby. She’d watched Haley go through hell, every single day she’d seen the sadness, the toll it took on her marriage, her job, her friendships. Peyton didn’t want that for Brooke, for once she wanted the happy ending. If God was ever going to prove her wrong, prove to her he existed, this was the time.

“What room did Haley say?” Peyton whipped around, and Lucas and Nathan nearly trampled into her. They held back though, and she waited for an answer.

“210.” Nathan replied shortly and Peyton was off and running again.

“Is she okay?” Nathan asked a bit concerned by Peyton’s erratic behavior as she continued on ahead of them. She’d been spazzed out since he’d met them at the airport, nearly taking his head off more than once.

Lucas shrugged, “She’s scared, she thinks it’s just like-” Lucas stopped abruptly realizing what was about to come out of his mouth. “she’s just scared.”

Nathan knew what his brother meant. Peyton was scared Brooke would lose her baby like Haley had, and though Nathan didn’t want to admit it he was scared of the same thing. Brooke had been there for him that day in the hospital, they’d prayed to God for Haley’s life and he’d come through, but in the end they’d lost so much more. He didn’t wish that emptiness on Brooke or Jake, especially not after living with it himself.

They rounded the corner right behind Peyton, where she was grumbling at some middle aged woman with frosted blonde hair, and an ID badge that said “Julia”.

“Hey what’s going on?” Lucas asked as he and Nathan came up beside Peyton.

“They won’t let us in the room-”

“Why?” Lucas asked concerned hoping something hadn’t gone wrong while they’d been out of contact. It had been nearly three hours since they’d last talked to Haley, at the time she’d said Brooke was fine, pulling through like a trooper. Lucas didn’t want to think about anything going bad.

“There is a limit to being in the room, as I was trying to explain to miss Sawyer. Now when one of your friends comes out, you can go in-”

“Can you please ask Haley to come out?” Peyton urged, not caring that she sounded crazed. All she could think about was Brooke being okay, that had to be number one.

“Sure.” The nurse tried to appease her with an understanding smile and disappeared back inside.

Haley held Brooke’s hand as she continued to read from a childrens book Jake had picked up at the gift shop. It seemed to keep Brooke calm and focused when nothing else would. The epidural was doing it’s job, but the contractions were coming faster and faster and Haley could tell Brooke was getting scared. She was hiding it well though, so was Jake. But the truth was, everyone in that room was terrified of the next few hours and what the outcome would be.

“I think she likes it,” Brooke breathed out heavily, “thanks for picking it up.” She turned to Jake with a warm smile and leaned in capturing his lips quickly with her own. Haley tried to hide the smile bubbling on her lips, but she couldn’t help it. The love she’d seen between Jake and Brooke in those last few hours, warmed her heart. It was a side she’d never really seen of Brooke before, a side she was sure her little girl would benefit from.

“Hello Brooke,” Julia, Brooke’s nurse came back into the room, with her ever present smile, and calming voice. “There are some people out here who would like to see you. But we can only allow two people in here at a time-”

“I’ll go out-” Haley offered and began to stand up, but Brooke yanked her back down, a determined look in her eye.

“This is MY baby, and I think I should be allowed to have MY friends in the room when I want them.”

Julia didn’t seem offended, by Brooke’s demanding nature. Haley was sure she’d seen it before in dealing with pregnant women, she just didn’t know this was Brooke all the time. She got what she wanted, without fail.

“For a minute, but they can’t all be in here when you give birth, the doctor-”

“Deal.” Brooke agreed quickly, and Julia opened the door waving three very familiar faces in. Peyton rushed towards the bed, and Brooke instantly took her into her arms, as Haley backed away to give them their moment. She headed towards Nathan and without a word she crashed into his open arms, finally feeling safe again.

“I’m so glad you came.” She whispered into his chest, as tears sprung to her eyes. She’d never been more happy to see him in her life. For the last few hours she’d felt so lost and helpless, like she was drowning. All she could think about was what if something went wrong, what if it happened again.

“I’m here.” He assured, and she pulled back to look him in the eyes a moment before diving back into their embrace.

“So how are you? How is everything? What did the doctor say?” Peyton threw out her questions at a rapid pace, but Brooke seemed to understand her worry without question.

“Well this kids coming a little early, but they think things should be fine. And I KNOW things will be.”

“Do you need anything?” Peyton asked still deeply concerned. Peyton had known Brooke most of her life, and she knew that beneath that steely bravado, Brooke was terrified.

“Jake needs to get some food, if you could convince him to eat something I would feel a whole lot better.” And that was exactly what Brooke wanted, for Jake to get something to eat, for him to leave the room so she could explode, because she couldn’t do it with him there. She didn’t want to worry him anymore than he already was.

“Come on man,” Lucas through his arm around Jake’s shoulder, “Lets head down to the cafeteria, and get some food in you.-”

“I don’t want to leave right now-”

“I have a feeling that wife of yours is going to kick you out.” Lucas laughed lightly.

“You know me well Lucas.” Brooke smiled over at him, and then reached out for Jakes hand pulling it into hers, “We still have a little while, eat now so I don’t worry okay?”

Jake nodded, not really convinced, but he would do anything for Brooke. Brooke sent a thankful smile Lucas’s way as he guided her husband out. She turned her eyes to Nathan and Haley who were standing back just wrapped in each others arms, and she smiled for a moment, thinking back to high school, when she couldn’t walk down the halls without seeing them smashed together. It used to irritate her so much that they’d found something she could never quite grasp, but now it was a sight that lightened her mood. Some things would never change, or break.

“You two should go catch up too, Peyton and I will be fine in here.”

“Are you sure?” Haley questioned as she turned around to face Brooke.

“Yeah, you just better be here by the time she’s born.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Haley assured.

“You look okay Brooke.” Nathan commented as he and Haley left the room, and Peyton and Brooke both rolled their eyes at his comment. It was such a Nathan comment. He didn’t question, he just knew. Oddly enough it made her feel good that he didn’t think she was knocking at deaths door.

Once they were fully alone, Peyton climbed up on the bed with Brooke, and situated herself beside her, being careful not to touch her epidural line. They stayed in complete silence for a few minutes, before Brooke turned to speak again.

“I’m really scared, Peyt.” She whispered, all of her carefully placed false confidence failing her.

“Me too.” Peyton responded, finding Brooke’s hand beside her and interlocking their fingers.

“Hey Peyt,” Brooke questioned, and Peyton turned to her with complete interest. Both were past trying to conceal the tears welling in their eyes, or the fact that their hands were shaking between them. “Do you remember after your mom died you told me that you couldn’t believe in God anymore, and I told you that if you couldn’t believe in God, then you could believe in me?”

“Uh huh.” Peyton nodded beside her as tiny tear drops slid down her cheeks.

“I told you no matter what I would always be there for you. And you told me you would always protect me, we swore together we could beat anything…what if we don’t win this one Peyt?-”

“We will.” Peyton turned to her determined, “You know when Haley and I got into that accident, when we were all alone on that mountain, I was so scared, I mean Haley was barely conscience, I was basically all alone out there, there was nothing to keep me going…so I asked God, you know I asked him to save us…it was the first time since she died that I really believed. And then Nathan and Tim showed up, they saved us… a lot of things happened after that, terrible things. But me and Haley we made it off that mountain…I guess what I’m saying is, maybe believing in God isn’t so bad…”

“But how can God take a baby, how can he take any life? I don’t understand that Peyton, and I don’t see how you can.”

“Death,” Peyton nearly choked on the word, “it’s a part of life. I don’t know why my mother died that day, okay, I don’t, but I am who I am because of it. The things I have in my life, I have because of that day, because she died. It changed me, it made me who I am-”

“What about Haley and Nathan, and their baby? There was no reason for that, all it did was break her, and them and-” Brooke turned to her a sob collecting in her throat. “I can’t survive that Peyton, I wouldn’t want to. This baby, I can’t lose it.”

“You’re asking me why on things I have no clue about. Good people die and bad people live, you can ask why for your whole life, but I doubt you’ll ever understand. I don’t understand God, I don’t understand how he could take what he did from Haley, but I have to believe that he won’t take your child from you-”

“Well I can’t just have blind faith, I just can’t Peyt. I’ve gone to church most of my life, even when you didn’t believe, I did, a little piece of me did. But I don’t get THIS!” Brooke erupted, “I don’t understand this, why any of this would happen…do you think it’s because, ya know maybe I wasn’t that good a person before, maybe I don’t deserve to be a mother-”

“Stop it.” Peyton commanded quietly, “You’re going to be an amazing mother. You and Jake are going to be fantastic parents…this was meant to be Brooke. If you can’t believe in God right now, I’m gonna tell you like you told me. Believe in me.”

Brooke’s body began to shake with tears, as Peyton wrapped her in her arms. Peyton had to believe for the both of them, she had to find that faith. Her mother believed in God, every Sunday she’d get them up and they’d go to church, she would tell Peyton stories about him, about how important faith was. She’d taught her about Heaven when her grandmother had passed and said it was a much better place, Peyton had believed her mother then. But then she’d died, she’d left her all alone, her father tried, but he was never quite able to be there, not like before. They stopped going to church, and she stopped believing in God. But she had to believe now, she had to believe he was there looking out for Brooke.

“So she was a nice lady.” Nathan commented as he and Haley walked out into a garden like area Haley had led them too.

“Yeah, thanks for doing that. She’d recognized me earlier, and she’d been so kind, I kind offered you up-”

“So you’re my pimp now, huh?” He asked teasingly and Haley just smiled back at him. For the first time in forever feeling completely at peace with being in his presence. It felt like for so long there had been ice between them, this impenetrable barrier that blocked them from each others lives. But it was gone, it had melted, and she’d never felt more relief.

“Have I told you how happy I am that you’re here?” She asked, as she came towards him and snuggled into another warm embrace. He was still wearing the same cologne, his shirt felt the same against her cheek, his body still melded to hers in all the right places.

“You might have mentioned it…So how is she?”

Haley pulled back, reality sobering up her good mood, “She says she’s fine, swears she’s not scared at all, but I think that’s for Jake…she’s gotta be terrified on the inside…”

“What about you? You doing okay?”

Haley took in a deep breath before meeting his eyes again, “For so long there’s been this emptiness inside me, it ripped me apart. It’s why I came here, I thought that if I could see Brooke, watch that life grow inside of her, maybe things would make sense to me again, maybe I could move on with my life… and I’ve been doing a really great job, but when she collapsed in that kitchen…I got so scared Nathan, it was like it was happening again…” tears began to slide down Haley’s cheek and Nathan reached out to pull her into his arms, but she stopped him and wiped bravely at her tears. “But I’m okay.” She said firmly, “I’m so scared for her, and it does bring back a lot of things, a lot of things I’m sure I’ll never forget. But I’m not falling apart this time…I wanna come home Nathan, I wanna be us again.”

He stood there silently, not speaking or making a move to hold her, and she had never been more scared. She wondered if she’d already wrecked them, if he’d given up on her and she was too late. It was the scariest three minutes of her life, but then he spoke.

“You already are,” he said simply, “me and you, this is home.” He pulled her towards him, and this time she didn’t stop him. His lips found hers in a soft, gentle kiss that seemed to linger on forever, even after they pulled away.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she admitted, “I’ve wanted this for so long, since that first night in the hospital, I just wanted to be okay again, me and you…I’m so sorry I screwed things up-”

“We lost a lot that night Haley, a piece of ourselves we’ll never get back…but I don’t blame you, I could never blame you. I missed you, and I wanted you, but I knew you needed time, and in the end I knew you would come back.”

“How?- How did you know?”

“Because it always comes back to us. It always has, since the moment we met, nothing was more powerful.” He pulled her back into his arms, and wrapped her in another hug, “We’re going to have a family someday Haley, I promise.”

“Yeah, we should probably talk about that-”

“Hey, you guys,” Lucas interrupted out of breath, “she’s about to have the baby, she told me to come and get you.”

Chapter 45

Things will get easier.

Nathan and Lucas waited nervously outside of Brooke’s rooms, as screams from inside made their presence loud and clear. It had been an hour since Brooke had gone into active labor, and each minute that passed seemed to be more and more painful for the mother to be inside. Brooke had somehow convinced the doctor that Haley and Peyton had to be inside with her, so that left Nathan and Lucas playing hall duty, neither of which minded or wanted to be in the delivery room, hearing what was going on was quite enough for both.

“That just doesn’t sound good.” Lucas grimaced, as he took another swig of his now warm coke. He didn’t know what to think of all of the screaming, part of him knew that was part of the process, but the rest of him was cringing and wondering why someone would ever want to go through that if they knew what it was like.

“Yeah.” Nathan agreed, as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and tried to concentrate on anything but that horrendous noise. Nurses and doctors were rushing in and out of there every few minutes, he’d gotten a small peak of Haley for a second and she looked terrified. He could only imagine what being in there was like, part of him wanted to go in there and drag her out, because he knew it had to hurt her on some level. But neither Brooke nor Haley would allow that, so he waited outside as he was asked.

Tim took yet another right turn like the front desk woman told him too, and finally found himself in front of the obstetrics nurses station. There was a big burly old woman sitting up front, with a scowl on her face. Only for Brooke would he go up against that.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes?” She turned her attentions to him expectantly.

“I’m here for Brooke Jigelski…”

“She’s in labor, only family allowed, are you family?”

“Yeah.” Tim lied easily and after she inspected him for a suspicious moment, she buzzed him on in, and told him to head for room 210 but not to go in. He didn’t plan on going in, he knew Brooke would stop labor to ring his neck if he did. But he didn’t want to wait alone in the hospital lounge either. He was hoping he could find some of the gang.

Once he made it halfway down the hall he spotted Lucas and Nathan pacing outside room 210, while he heard a very distinctive wail come from inside. He cringed at the thought of Brooke in so much pain, but he tried to push it away and plaster on a smile, he figured the situation was grim enough.

“Hey.” He called out to them, and they both turned to him seemingly grateful for his presence. “How is she doing?”

“She’s in a lot of pain from the sounds of it.” Lucas dead-panned, and then took another gulp of coke. He looked to be holding onto that can as his last lifeline.

Tim turned to Nathan, “Haley and Peyton in there with them?”

“Uh-huh.” Nathan nodded, and Tim could tell it bothered him. He didn’t ask why though, he knew Nathan better than to ask him what he was thinking. The only person Nathan Scott ever opened up with was Haley, and she wasn’t available at the moment. So he would hold strong like he always did.

“So we just wait out here.”

“Yeah, Brooke doesn’t want anyone else in the room…” Lucas explained absent-mindedly, and Tim nodded, he hadn’t expected any different. Brooke wasn’t a shy person, but he didn’t imagine she wanted the whole world to witness her giving birth.

“So we wait.” Tim repeated and fell into a nearby chair. He was exhausted from getting there, he’d been working like mad since Haley had called him to accomplish such a feat.

“You just gotta breathe okay Brooke…” the doctor urged, and Brooke grunted in pain.

“Do you need more ice?” Haley asked trying to be helpful, and Peyton scrambled for the cup before Brooke could even answer. They’d been supplying the ice every three minutes and Brooke had seemed grateful.

“Oh God it hurts!” Brooke cried out, and Jake looked to the doctor. He’d thought the epidural was supposed to stop this kind of pain, but apparently something had gone wrong, and there wasn’t time to fix it.

“I know it does baby, I know it does.” Brooke laid his head down beside hers, and whispered softly into her hair, trying to help her as much as he could. It was taking everything he had in him not to faint right there, it would have been much easier than seeing his wife in all that pain.

“Jake,” she cried out, “I’m so scared, I’m so scared,” she grabbed onto him panicked, “I can’t do this Jake. I can’t have this baby, it’s too soon, what if she’s not healthy, what if something happens? It’s too soon!” Brooke cried again, as another contraction came and the doctor urged her to push.

“We’re almost there Brooke.” He coaxed, as the contraction passed, and fresh tears spilled down her face. She’d never been more tired in her life, she just wanted to fall asleep and give up, but she couldn’t, she knew she had to pull through. Her baby would be okay, she would.

“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.” She repeated over and over again in a soft whisper. Jake was holding her hand on one side and stroking her sweat stained hair, while Haley and Peyton switched up with her other hand. It was Peyton there now, she could see her fluffy blonde hair blowing about.

“Peyton I can’t do this,” she begged her friend to understand to help her somehow. Peyton leaned down closer and squeezed onto Brooke’s hand ever tighter.

“I believe in you,” she smiled, “you can do this Brooke. A few more pushes and that beautiful little baby will be here, and then the doctors will make sure she’s okay, and you’re okay and everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

“No,” Brooke shook her head, “I’m not strong enough Peyton, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” Peyton returned resolutely, and Brooke looked behind her to find Haley watching in shock. She’d been like that since it had first begun, now she was crying though and Brooke didn’t know what that meant, she didn’t have time to think though before another contraction came on and the doctor told her to push again.

“I can’t!” She screamed as loud as she could, but pushed forward anyway.

“You’re doing great baby,” Jake promised, as he kissed the top of her hand gently and smiled down upon her. She mustered up all the strength she had and smiled back for a moment.

“You’re gonna be okay.” She heard Haley urge and she turned to her other side to find Haley there, and Peyton behind her.

“I can’t do this Haley, I can’t be mom, I just I don’t wanna do this anymore…I can’t.” Brooke just wanted it all to go away. She couldn’t be a mother, she’d never had a solid role model there her own mother treated her like a doll, something pretty she could trot out when the occasion suited her. Haley could be a mom, she would be the perfect mom. But she’d lost her baby, and Brooke might lose hers.

“GOD!” Brooke screamed another contraction taking her over.

“Think about our dreams Brooke, remember you daughter, my son, best friends. You gotta pull through this for that to happen-”

“It can’t happen,” Brooke cried to her helplessly her contraction fading away, “we lost that dream Haley, you baby died, and mine might too, and I just can’t do it. I don’t want to do this anymore-”

“I don’t believe you,” Haley shook her head stubbornly, “you’ve wanted this your whole life Brooke, come on. You’re gonna be a great mom, you told me yourself, you’re gonna do it right and I believed you. Now believe in yourself, push a few more times, get this little girl out. You’re strong Brooke, you can do it.”

“I don’t know.” Brooke shook her head, and she felt Jake’s cool hand run across her cheek, bringing her attention back to him.

“I do,” he assured, “I know. I would never bet against you. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known, and our daughter needs you to be brave now-”

“You said daughter.” Brooke smiled in awe.

“I concede.” He smiled impishly, and she closed her eyes before her screams rung out again and another contraction took her over.

“Almost there, we have the head!” The doctor called out, and that bit of news spurred Brooke on, she pushed as hard as she could, with all the energy she had left and finally her baby’s cry rung out.

“You did it!” She heard Peyton’s voice, but it felt so far away. She turned to look at Jake, but he was getting fuzzy too, he seemed so far away. She opened her mouth to talk, but she couldn’t. Everything was becoming black, everything was fading away.

“Hold on baby.” she could hear Jake beg her, and then everything just stopped.

“What’s wrong with her?” Jake asked in a panic, as Brooke’s eyes closed shut, and her hand went limp in his own. Her monitors were beeping like crazy now, and a nurse briskly moved him out of the way.

“Oh God what’s happening?” Peyton cried out, and Haley guided her back from Brooke’s bed so the doctor could get through. “This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening.” Peyton repeated over and over, and Haley just stood their stunned.

“Help her!” Jake cried out.

“We’re doing everything we can Mr. Jigelski, please just stand back.”

“You gotta help her…” Jake whispered, his whole body freezing with fear. For one moment he’d felt such relief to hear his baby cry, his baby who he didn’t even know was a boy or a girl, Brooke’s monitors had gone off so quickly no one had announced their child. He took a small step back from his wife, as the staff buzzed around her, and averted his eyes to the baby, who they were weighing and foot printing.

“Is it a girl?” He asked quietly.

The nurse looked up for a moment, a small smile on her face, “Yes, you have a beautiful baby girl. We have to bring her to neo natal now though for tests…would you like to hold her for a moment?”

Jake nodded, and eagerly took his daughter into his arms. He walked with her slowly towards Brooke, her monitors had stopped buzzing, but her eyes still hadn’t opened.

“How is my wife?” He asked instantly as the doctor turned to him.

“She lost a lot of blood, but she’s stabilized. We just have to wait for her to wake up now…I’ll give you a moment before we move her.”

Jake bent down beside Brooke’s still body with their baby in hand, he gently laid the tiny infant in her mothers arms, securing them both.

“We made a little girl Brooke, and she needs her mommy, so you gotta wake up.”

As if on cue the baby began to wail again, and Jake couldn’t help but smile. Brooke had to wake up, she had to see the beautiful life they’d created. A few moments later a nurse came up and relieved him of the baby, and another nurse instructed him of the room they would be moving Brooke too. When he walked outside of the room he found all of his friends, huddled around waiting for news.

“Uh they’re moving Brooke to another room so they can keep a better watch on her, and the baby is in the nursery now for some tests.”

“So…” Tim hesitated for a moment, “boy or girl?”

“We weren’t sure, they rushed us out of the room so quickly.” Haley explained from beside Nathan.

“Girl, we had a baby girl.”

Peyton smiled, “So Brooke was right…go figure.”

“You guys should go back to the house, get settled in, eat, I’ll stay up here and I’ll call you when Brooke wakes up-”

“Why don’t we take shifts, you don’t have to wait alone Jake.-” Haley tried to be helpful.

“Yeah,” Peyton agreed, “I’ll wait with you for a while, I wanna be here when Brooke wakes up, or they have news about the baby…if you don’t mind.”

“No,” Jake sighed relieved, “I’d really appreciate it.”

Peyton nodded, and then grabbed Luke’s hand to pull him aside with her. She was glad Jake didn’t protest because she wasn’t sure she could have forced herself out of that hospital. She needed to see that Brooke was okay, that the baby was okay, it terrified her that all she had to go on was faith.

“You go back to the house with the others, get some sleep, so you can come up here and relieve Jake later, I’m sure he’s beat at this point, but I don’t think he’ll leave until Brooke wakes up.”

“Yeah, of course,” Lucas agreed, and pulled Peyton into his arms for a tight hug. She didn’t fight him, she just sunk into him, letting out an exhausted sigh. “She’s going to be fine Peyt.”

“It was so weird, her eyes just closed, and then everything went crazy beeping…I didn’t know what was happening, but it was like I could feel her fading…I’m so scared Lucas. I try not to be, I’m trying to do this faith thing right like I promised her I would, but…she just has to be okay.”

“She will be okay. Brooke is one of the strongest people I know, no way is she going to leave this world when she has everything. You just gotta believe that Peyt…hey are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” He asked concerned.

“No, go, sleep, we’ll be okay here.”

“I love you.” He whispered softly before his lips met hers in a soft kiss.

“Me too.” She squeaked back on the verge of tears, before she disentangled herself and headed up to Jake.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared in my life.” Haley admitted exhausted as she and Nathan trudged into the guest bedroom at Brooke and Jake’s house. They’d stopped by a take out place on the way in, and then everyone had dispersed, she had phone duty first, waiting for Jake or Peyton to call with an update.

“I know how Jake feels,” Nathan admitted, as he began to pull off his shirt, and kicked off his shoes. “After the accident, when you were in surgery…the waiting was the worst thing, not knowing if you would be okay, and being helpless- I hated it.”

Haley came towards him slowly and pulled his hands into her own, while she fixed him with a regretful stare. “I didn’t make it easy on you…”

“You survived- I don’t know what I would have done…I would have lost it.”

“Me too,” she agreed fresh tears filling her eyes, “if anything ever happened to you- I couldn’t live, I wouldn’t want to.”

He pulled her closer to him, and locked his hands behind her back, “You don’t have to worry, nothings going to happen. I would never leave you…ever.” He repeated softly, and she brought her hands up to cup his face and bring his lips down to her own. She’d missed him so much, she’d missed being close to him, being able to touch him, and lose herself in him. She needed that, especially tonight.

“I want you so much.” He breathed huskily into her hair, as he brought his face down and cuddled into the crook of her neck. She smelled like suntan oil and sand, and it was a perfect match on her.

“I want you too.” She agreed, and pulled back from his body for a moment before her hands found the hem of her shirt, and she tossed it carelessly onto the floor. He took in the sight of her for a moment, the simple black bra only tantalizing his mind. She came towards him with a sly smirk and began to unbutton his pants, he stopped her at the last button and jerked her body towards his, unable to take the waiting.

“I don’t want to play games tonight, I just want you, I need you.” He said softly, truthfully, and she nodded in understanding. She reached for his hand and pulled him the rest of the way behind her towards the bed. She climbed on top and laid down, motioning for him to get on beside her. He did as she asked, but instead climbed on top of her, careful to levy his weight so it didn’t hurt her.

She giggled, “Why does this feel so weird?”

“It’s been a while, but I promise it’s like riding a bike, you just get back on-” she laughed again and he cut off a smirk appearing on his lips, “are you laughing at me?”

“Oh no,” she shook her head but couldn’t stop the giggles as they escaped her lips, “you’re comparing sex to a bike, what am I supposed to say?…I don’t mean sleeping with you Nathan,” she smiled teasingly, “I just mean us, being us again, sometimes I thought it would never happen again, I thought we’d lost each other…”

His eyes swirled with intensity as he continued to stare down at her, after a moment, he rolled off of her body and onto his back, “We did. For a while we did…but we found our way back.”

“Every single night we were apart, I wanted to call you, I wanted to come back to you…but I stopped myself because I knew it wouldn’t solve anything. When you left I’d still feel empty inside.”

He reached out and ran his hand against her cheek, he loved the feel of her skin under his fingers. “I knew you’d come to me when you were ready.”

She turned on her side so they were eye to eye, and she pulled his hand from her face into her own hand, she smiled at him for a moment before bringing her mouth down to his palm for a soft kiss. “And you didn’t hate me for that? I made our lives miserable.”

“I got pissed off a lot, I broke some things-”

“Wait,” she turned to him with rapt interest, “what did you break?”

“That ugly lamp-”

“No!” she cried out, “Not the one in the sunroom-”

“I hated that thing, it was an easy target-”

“Nathan!” She cried out, and repeated once more, “I loved that lamp. I paid a ton of money for that thing-”

He laughed, “Well I was in the sun room, looking at a picture of us, I got pissed off-”

“Were you drinking?” She asked amused at his explanation.

“Maybe,” he conceded, “but I was sober enough to get violent with the ugly lamp and not the one I like-”

“Opportunist!” She chortled.

“So you can buy another green lamp, you can redo the entire damn apartment with ugly green furniture…I can’t wait to get you back there, we can recreate the entire place, room by room-”

“Oh you have high expectations, Mr. Scott.”

“Making up for lost time.” He smiled over at her, and she smiled before climbing towards him and plopping down on top of him. He made a strangled noise as her weight bared down on him, and she rolled her eyes at his over dramatic complaining.

“Have you gained weight?” He joked.

“That’s it, I want a divorce,” she tried to roll back off of him, but he kept her fixed on top of him.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Well the neighbor likes my chubby self-”

“I was kidding.”

“You better be.” She smiled and leaned down capturing his lips with her own again. It felt so familiar between them, so right. His hands came up applying pressure to her head, and allowing him to deepen the kiss. She giggled as his tongue prodded her, and pulled back leaving him wanting.

“You’re a tease.” He complained.

She smiled at him for a moment, but her happiness quickly faded when the phone began to ring, she jumped off of the bed and stumbled for the phone where she left it on the dresser. She nearly fell tripping over her shirt, but she was quick and kept her balance.

“Hello?…Not interested.” She grumbled and slammed the phone off. “Telemarketer.”

“I figured.”

“I just want them to call and tell me Brooke and the baby are okay…I hate this so much.” She exhaled and came towards him on the bed again. He opened his arms to her and she snuggled into his chest.

“You need to relax.” He broke in and sat up beside her.

The next thing she knew he had guided her into the bathroom and was taking her clothes off piece by piece while he ran a bath for her. Once he’d completely stripped her, he handed her a robe to put on while they waited, and she smiled appreciatively, he was always so considerate with her, he never wanted her to feel cold or out of place. He found one of the bath oils Brooke had given her and after smelling it for a second, he sent her an approving smile and poured some in.

“You’re gonna smell like that to now, ya know.” She teased, as she pulled at his body to come back to her where she was sitting.

“This is for you-”

“I want company.” She pouted childishly.

“I’m not going anywhere, no c’mere.” She did as she was told, and he slowly undid the tie on her robe, letting the silky material fall down her body until it hit the cold tile floor. He smirked as his eyes roamed over her bare skin, and she sent him a cocky smile.

“Get in.” He coaxed, slowly guiding her into the steamy water, that carried a tasty aroma. She closed her eyes as it made contact with her body, it felt so good, so relaxing. Somehow Nathan still knew exactly what she needed.

“Thank you.” She smiled over at him, as she finally opened her eyes again. He kneeled down beside the marble tub and she extended a wet hand to him. He took it in his own, and laced their fingers together.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You were you.” She said simply.

Chapter 46

“You need to go home and sleep,” Lucas tried to coax Peyton, as he, Tim, Peyton and Jake loitered outside of Brooke’s room. “You both do. Tim and I can pull the next shift, and if she wakes up we’ll call you right away.”

“Luke I know you’re trying to help man, but I’m not leaving my wife.” Jake turned to Peyton thoughtfully, “But you should go, you and Lucas go back to the house and relax, Tim can hang out here with me.”

“Yeah of course.” Tim agreed.

“I just don’t want to leave-” Peyton tried to protest. But no one was listening anymore, Lucas looped his arm through hers and pulled her along with him.

“You’re coming home and you’re going to sleep-”

“Lucas, you don’t understand-”

He stopped and looked down upon her kindly, “I do understand Peyt, I do. But you’re no good to Brooke dead tired, that girl is going to want to party when she wakes up and at this point you’re in no condition.”

“You’re right.” Peyton relented tiredly and reached her arms up to clasp around Lucas’s neck bringing his lips down to hers, for a soft kiss. Her eyes immediately fluttered closed at the contact, and the tension slowly released from her body.

“Come on, we can get something to eat and then you’re going to bed.”

“If you insist.” She smiled easily and pulled his hand into hers as they continued to exit the hospital.

Tim creeped into the room quietly, careful not to knock anything over or cause any kind of disturbance. For some reason hospitals really made him uncomfortable, especially when one of his friends was a patient. He’d convinced Jake to at least go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat, before he held vigil before Brooke again.

Tim made his way into Jake’s abandoned chair and appraised the beautiful brunette in front of him. Even unconscious, Brooke had to be the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen in his life. He envied Jake sometimes for his luck. Tim had found Ella though, and they were getting stronger and stronger. He wasn’t crazy about the long distance thing, but sometimes when it mattered you just had to deal with inconveniences. If his friends has taught him anything it was that.

“It’s about time for you to wake up, don’t you think sleeping beauty?” Tim chuckled a little, as he continued to gaze down upon Brooke. For better or worse, she’d been his friend for most of his life, she’d participated in most of his youthful games, sometimes she’d even been ring leader.

“You’ve got a lot of people waiting for you. You’re husband is losing his mind, who the hell knows when he slept last. Peyton’s not much better, but Luke’s taking care of her…there’s some good news though, you’re little girl is doing great. She’s the star of the nursery, which shouldn’t be a surprise with you as her mother…Nathan and Haley have reunited as well. It’s a whole new world Brooke, you just gotta open your eyes to experience it.-”

His words died in his throat when he felt her hand move beside his on the bed. His eyes flew to her face and he found her struggling to open her eyes.

“Hi.” She croaked out, and he reached for her water to help her. After taking a few greedy gulps she returned the glass to him and he dove into her small body wrapping her in a tight hug. She laughed happily indulging him and bringing a weak arm around his body.

“God you took long enough.” He pulled back, and grumbled. She simply smiled in return.

“How long have I been out?”

“Through the night…”

“How’s my baby? It’s okay right, everything went fine?” Tim could tell she was becoming panicked. So without hesitation her took her hand back into his and smiled brightly down at her.

“You have a beautiful, healthy little baby-”

“Girl or boy?” She demanded, and he hesitated. “Tell me now Tim or I will put you in the room next to mine.”

“Girl.” He laughed knowing better than to deny Brooke anything. She’d never taken well to the concept that you couldn’t always get what you want. Mainly because more often than not, she always did.

“I knew it- Jake better not have named her without-”

“You know he didn’t.”

“Yeah, he’s not a dumb man.” Brooke laughed. She squeezed Tim’s hand in her own once again. “So you’re on watch duty, where is everyone else?”

“I finally convinced Jake to eat. Lucas was going to get Peyton to sleep, but I’m sure she’ll be back within minutes, when she realizes you’re awake. And Nathan and Haley have entered the honeymoon faze finally-”

“They’re back together?” Brooke’s eyes lit up with delight. “Good.”

“Yeah.”

“Get me my husband and my baby pronto, Tim.” She ordered, and he jumped up to do just as she asked.

Nathan opened his eyes to find his wife draped over him contentedly and smiled. He wasn’t sure how he’d gone so long without this feeling, her tiny body melded again him, her hair messy, her face bringing him pure peace. She was a sight to behold. He began chuckling softly as she twisted around beside him, making the sheet drift down her naked body.

He brought his hand to her back and traced small circles on her skin, reveling in how soft she felt. She moaned in her sleep, and Nathan traced his fingers up the line of her side, flattening his hand out when he came to her cheek and stroking it slowly bringing her out of sleep.

“Hi.” She murmured, and crawled further up his body so she could meet his lips. She sighed with satisfaction as their mouths collided. His hand came back down her body, clasping around her waist and pulling her even closer to him. This was the best morning she’d had in forever.

“Mmm-hmm.” She breathed happily, and trailed her mouth down his jaw, nipping his neck before continuing down his taut chest. She felt his hand grip her head and guide her along, and she had to stop herself from laughing, Nathan was never shy about telling her what he liked.

She continued to trace kisses down his abdomen, letting her tongue flicker across his smooth skin, and moving the sheet along with her. Suddenly he pulled her back to his mouth, where he claimed her lips in a rough kiss, this time she couldn’t stop herself from giggling.

“What’s so funny?” He managed to get out, his voice coated with unfulfilled lust.

“You are, you just love to be in control.”

“Something else you’d rather be doing?” He smirked.

“No, I’m good.” She smiled and pounced on his lips again. He brought his hands up cupping her cheeks to keep her right in front of him. Before things could progress any farther the phone rang beside their bedside, and Nathan cursed under his breathe. Lucas and Tim had dropped it off before they left earlier.

“I’ll get it,” Haley reached over him out of breath, but he refused to release her from her grip, trapping her against his body as she clicked the phone on.

“Hello,” she giggled into the line, as he sucked on the sensitive skin right below her lobe, he knew how crazy that made her.

“I won’t even ask what you’re laughing about,” Tim’s voice grimaced, and Haley continued to laugh at Nathan’s ministrations while futilely trying to swat him away.

“Good.” She gasped.

“She’s awake, the doctors just checked her out and she’s doing good. But she wants you guys to get down here- have Lucas and Peyton come in yet, I can’t get them on the cell.”

“I’m not sure, we’ve been…busy. Thanks for calling Tim,” Haley felt giddy at the news, “tell Brooke our asses will be down their soon.”

“Alright.” He chuckled his goodbye and Haley hung up the phone.

She turned to Nathan her entire face lit up with glee. He finally released her from his arms and she jumped right out of bed, scavenging around for clothing and throwing it on while throwing some at him to change into as well.

“She’s okay?” He guessed, and Haley nodded joyfully.

He caught a flying bra and smirked at the object. “I think this would work better on you.”

Haley laughed, finally calming down a bit. She felt like a spaz, but the news that Brooke was okay had just made everything perfect. She and Nathan were back on track, Brooke’s little girl was fine, and now Brooke was fine too. For once it seemed like things were finally returning to normal, a new kind of normal, but a happy one.

“Yeah, maybe.” She laughed. “We have to find Lucas and Peyton, I guess they’re on their way home, so we should wait and just all go together. God I know Peyton is going to be so relieved, and-”

“Haley!” Nathan grabbed onto her shoulders, stilling her before him. “You need to breathe okay, breathe.”

Haley’s eyes teared up, “I was so scared Nathan, I tried not to be, but part of me just kept thinking about me and Peyton on that mountain, about our baby, things went so wrong…I guess it’s just hard to believe in things anymore.”

“For me too,” he admitted and guided her to sit down onto the bed beside him. “Seeing Jake in that hospital…it felt so familiar. All that waiting, the not knowing if you would ever wake up, and then finding out I’d lost something I didn’t even know I had…sometimes I think about what our life would be like now, if I’d gotten to you sooner or-”

“No,” Haley raised her hand to quiet him, and softly brushed her fingers across his lips. “I don’t know why that happened, or why we went through what we did. But it brought us here Nathan, me and you together and happy, and to me that’s worth everything. What happened made us who we are…now we just go from here.”

“I love you.” He whispered sadly, and she leaned in placing a small kiss to his lips.

“And I love you…” she hesitated for a moment, “there are some things I really need to talk to you about Nathan, but with everything going on- I don’t know if now’s the right time.-”

“Just say it-”

Before Haley could speak, there was a knock on there door, and a few seconds later Lucas and Peyton came in, Peyton looking near death from sleep deprivation.

“We just wanted to let you guys know we’re home, come get us if you here from the hospital.” Lucas announced.

“We did!” Haley blew joyfully, and suddenly Peyton perked up, nearly trampling over Nathan to get beside Haley and get the scoop.

“Is she awake?” Peyton asked excitedly.

“Yeah,” Haley smiled, “Tim said the doctors checked her out, and she’s in perfect health…she wants us down there now, so-”

“Yeah, lets go!” Peyton agreed and she and Haley bulldozed through the guys in their rush to the car. Lucas and Nathan shared a small look before heading after them.

After Peyton nearly ran over 6 pedestrians and ran a yellow light, they made it to the hospital and barreled down the halls to Brooke’s room. Peyton didn’t even both trying to convince the nurse to let them through, she pushed Nathan forward to awe her, and a minute later the doors opened to them.

“I knew he was good for something.” Peyton sighed relieved.

Haley laughed, “He is quite the charmer.”

“Nice to know I’m appreciated.” Nathan grumbled, unhappy with the fact that he’d had to promise the nurse he’d have lunch with her later. If Haley thought she was getting out of going with him, she had another thing coming.

“At least today.” Peyton returned flippantly as they rounded the corner and came upon Brooke’s room.

No one waited, or even knocked, just rushed right in to find Brooke holding her baby and cooing down at her, while Tim and Jake watched in awe. Haley and Peyton rushed to each side of Brooke, while Nathan and Lucas lingered by the door.

“God you took long enough.” Peyton huffed, and Brooke slit her eyes over at her.

“Quiet down goldilocks.”

“Are you wearing make up?” Haley asked incredulously as she appraised Brooke’s appearance, she looked better than both she and Peyton put together. It seemed her long nap did her well.

“I have to look my best.” Brooke brushed it off and brought her attentions back to the beautiful baby girl resting peacefully in her arms, “they said we could keep her in here for a while, before they have to run some more tests. They want me to try and nurse her-”

“Should we step out of the room?” Lucas broke in immediately, not wanting to experience the feeding process. He loved Brooke, she was like family, but there were some things he didn’t need to see.

“Boys are such babies.” Brooke rolled her eyes. “If you’d rather leave than hang out here and talk to your friend, the girl who has put up with your sorry ass for most of her life, then fine, leave…”

“When you put it that way…” Lucas frowned and Haley and Peyton laughed at his discomfort.

Nathan and Tim didn’t seem to mind the implication at all and crowded their chairs around the only TV in the room, trying to catch the highlights of a game the night before. Lucas caught sight of them and quickly made his way over.

“Why are boys so afraid of a boob?” She grumbled, and Haley and Peyton just shook their heads. “I mean you would think they’d enjoy a free show.”

“So,” Haley laughed, “has this little beauty been named?”

Brooke looked up to Jake, “we’ve been thinking about it actually…”

“Peyton is a good name.” Peyton smiled at them cheekily.

“Yeah I don’t need a little Peyton,” Brooke vetoed, “and before you suggest Haley, Haley, I don’t need one of you either.” All three girls laughed. “We were thinking about Molly, but then Lucas dated a Molly so we figured that would be weird. I vetoed Jake’s suggestion of Brenda, so we’ve kind of come to a stand still. We have two names we both like, which means you all are out tie breakers. Name one, which is Jake’s personal pick is Cate, choice two is my personal very favorite, Claire. So vote.” She ordered, and the guys reluctantly turned around to comply.

“I don’t know,” Tim shrugged and Brooke eyed him, “Claire, I’m going with Claire.”

“Good choice Tim.” Brooke smiled pleased.

“Oh man that’s not fair,” Jake laughed, “You’re only going that way because you’re scared of my wife.”

Tim nodded, “Yes my friend, and if you had any sense at all you would do the same.”

“Listen to him honey.” Brooke purred up at her husband. “Okay Nathan, Lucas, I need the Scott vote.”

“I don’t know,” Lucas shrugged.

“Pick.” Brooke demanded impatiently, “My daughter needs a name, and twenty years from now she can tell people in dinner conversation that she was named by 7 people, it’s unique and she will be unique. So PICK.” Brooke emphasized again.

“Claire!” Lucas blew out finally and turned back to the game.

“You’re all wimps.” Jake shook his head.

“Cate.” Nathan said bluntly, and turned away from the whole thing.

“Leave it to Nathan to be pain,” Brooke growled.

“He’s just grumpy,” Haley smiled amused, “he has a very important lunch date later.”

“You’re coming!” Nathan called back and then returned all his attention to the TV with Lucas and Tim.

“Okay Mrs. Scott, the vote is yours.” Brooke turned to look at Haley.

Haley looked down at the baby for a few minutes before turning back to Brooke. “I don’t know…” Haley sighed.

“God, no wonder you and Lucas became friends, you’re both so indecisive.” Brooke joked. “Just pick.”

“I guess I’d have to go with Claire, sound so regal…baby Claire.” Haley repeated with a grin, as she played with the babies tiny hand.

“You’re so much smarter than your husband,” Brooke complimented and turned to Peyton, “okay friend, what is it going to be-”

“Brooke you already won,” Peyton laughed, “you don’t need my opinion.”

“Yeah but I want it.” Brooke smiled.

“Baby Claire it is.” Peyton smiled over at the baby and Jake groaned.

“Okay everyone say hi to Claire.”

The boys grunted and then turned back away, while Haley and Peyton cooed down at her and Jake watched the whole thing amused along with Brooke.

“Claire say hi to everyone.”

Chapter 47

It‘s all coming to an end.

Haley rushed from the bedroom, where she had Nathan quickly zip up her dress, to the bathroom where she rushed to twist her hair up in rollers. She moved onto her make-up next and frowned at her appearance in the mirror. Her eyes looked baggy, and her face pale. She’d spent the last three days playing baby-sitter for little Claire. She and Peyton had the ingenious idea of helping Brooke out until they left for home at the end of the week. It seemed simple enough, Brooke had the bottles pre-pared, she’d hooked them up with baby monitors, everything was peachy until that first two am wake up call, which was followed by a 4 am one. After that first night the Scott brothers had kicked both girls out of their rooms, leaving Haley and Peyton camping out in the cold.

“Ugh, I look terrible.” Haley complained, as she finished applying her lip gloss, she was about to be anointed Claire’s God-mother, she didn’t want to look like a bum off the street.

“You don’t look terrible, a little tired maybe, but that’s your own fault.”

“You’re so sensitive.” Haley rolled her eyes, and Nathan came up behind her wrapping his arms tightly around her waste and nestling his head into her neck. He had a minor problem bypassing the curlers that protruded from her head, but he maneuvered around finally, and his lips met the sensitive place on her neck. She moaned instantly at the contact, giving him much pleasure.

“God Nathan, do you have an off switch.” She joked and he backed away from her immediately leaving her body cold and lonely. She twisted around to see him leaning against the doorway, a cocky smirk on his face.

“Why’re you over there?” She pouted, puffing out her glossed lips, and widening her eyes for effect.

“You turned me off.” He teased.

“I bet I could turn you on,” she raised her eye brows tauntingly, and came towards him slowly. Before she could make it all the way too him, one of her rollers shook loose and crashed down the floor, making her jump.

He laughed, “So sexy.”

“Shut up.” She puffed, and pushed the stray chunk of hair that fell free out of her face. It wouldn’t quite move though, because it had gotten stuck on the gloss. She could just imagine how attractive she looked at that point.

“Oh c’mere baby.” He latched onto her arms and pulled him towards her, swaying her body against his own. He smiled at her, and brought a gentle hand to her face to remove her hair from the sticky substance. “There all better.”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded still eyeing him. “Nathan, I want to flip the switch now.”

“Oh you do, do-” Before he could finish she smashed her body fully against his and claimed his lips as her own. He laughed at first, but it quickly died down as she plunged her tongue into his mouth, tantalizing every crevice.

Without warning, she pulled back sending him a tiny smirk, “Down boy.”

He groaned unsatisfied in the doorway.

Brooke climbed out of her bubble bath and grinned over at her husband who was trying unsuccessfully to tie his own tie. She laughed openly at his attempts and then motioned for him to pass her a towel. He took in her very naked body for a moment, before doing as she asked.

“Sadly you can look but not touch, few more weeks, honey.” Brooke soothed as she stepped before him now covered by white tarry-cloth. She finished his tie in a swift motion, and then stepped away from him and headed towards the bedroom where her ensemble was laid out. She didn’t exactly have her perfect shape back yet, but she planned on working on it day after day until she did.

“How do you do that?” Jake called after her perplexed.

“I’ll never tell!” She called back jokingly.

Lucas walked out of the bathroom, steam following behind him to find Peyton still wrapped up in the maroon sheets, completely oblivious to the world around her. He smiled down at his sleeping girlfriend and crawled towards her on the bed, watching her peacefully for a moment, before he reached out and shook her fragile body.

“No, no, no, no, no.” She tried to fend him off, and whipped her unclothed leg out from under the covers to slap at him, and get him away. Lucas gripped onto her leg before she could kick him again.

“It’s too early Lucas.” She grumbled.

“I know it is, but you can wake up now, or I can sick Brooke on you. Either way you gotta get up Peyt.”

“I hate you, soooo much.” Peyton huffed, and finally stumbled out of bed, leaning in to quickly peck Lucas on the lips before locking herself in the bathroom.

“Okay come on people!” Brooke called out to her bustling house, as she wrapped Claire in her arms, and handed the diaper bag to Jake. Every time she held Claire, this love just busted in her chest, bigger than anything she’d ever experienced in her life. There was such a grace about Claire, every time she looked at her daughter she saw Jake, she remembered their love.

“Hi my precious,” she cooed down at Claire. Jake stood back in awe watching his wife and daughter. “today we’re going to have you blessed by the church, and all of your family and friends are going to be there to watch. Your aunt Haley and uncle Nathan, Aunt Peyton and Uncle Luke, even crazy uncle Tim. Then there are you grand-parents, now my mother, your grandmother, she’s a little bit, shall we say interesting, my father, he’s the same. But your daddy’s parents are actually pretty cool. But there’s one thing all of these people have in common Claire, it’s that they love you. You’re putting a shine on all of our lives little girl…every single day.”

“Okay by some miracle I’m alive and ready.” Peyton announced, as she and Lucas came out of their bedroom arm in arm.

Tim popped out next, already on his cell phone with Ella. Ever since Claire had been born he hadn’t been able to stop gushing about the little girl. He called his girlfriend every day with reports, on how she’d cooed, or held his finger. Brooke ribbed him about it, but in truth she herself was in awe of Tim. She knew one day he would be an amazing dad, and for now he was an amazing uncle.

Nathan and Haley made their way out a few minutes later, Nathan was on the phone with his agent, while Haley was applying concealer to her face in a furious manner. Both of them looked completely disheveled.

“Do you too have sex, ALL the time? Jesus.” Brooke rolled her eyes in a playful manner.

“I only wish that was why I look like sh- I look bad.” Haley amended as she sent a sweet smile towards the little baby and headed towards Brooke, pushing her arms out and sending a begging grin Brooke’s way.

“She’s gonna wonder who her mother is, if you keep hijacking her.” Brooke joked. Still she handed the bundled little baby over to Haley. Claire gurgled discontent for a moment before settling in.

“No worries mommy Brooke, she knows exactly who she belongs too.” Haley continued to stare down at Claire with complete infatuation.

Nathan clicked off his phone and watched his wife with the baby. He couldn’t help the smile that etched onto his lips. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight in his life. And then she looked up at him, and she smiled at him, and he knew he never would.

“It’s not polite to stare.” Haley chastised uncomfortably.

Nathan just nodded and headed towards the door. Brooke sent Haley a silent smirk before following after.

Three hours later and a very cranky baby, and the gang along with various other guests arrived at the dining hall in downtown Miami where Brooke’s mother had insisted they throw the reception.

“This is swanky.” Peyton commented to Lucas, before looking down at the little baby, she’d been holding. Claire was just beautiful, Peyton couldn’t wait to get home so she could start sketching her, she wanted to store up as many details as she could before they left. “Look around little girl, this is all for you.”

Lucas laughed and turned to talk to Claire as well, “Actually this is all for show, you’re grandparents want to make sure the world knows they’re rich-”

“Don’t tell her that!” Peyton chastised but kept a smile on her face. “She’ll learn soon enough.”

Lucas smiled at both girls, and leaned down placing a quick kiss on the babies head, before doing the same to his girlfriend and then heading off after Tim who had gotten stuck with lugging all of Brooke and Claire’s accessories in.

Nathan and Haley entered the building arm in arm, laughing over what a drill instructor Brooke had become that morning. She’d had a few moments where they couldn’t distinguish her from her mother, but both knew never to tell her that.

“But the ceremony was nice.” Haley tried to stop her giggled.

“Oh yeah, watching her get tortured was so much fun.”

“She was being blessed!” Haley protested, but couldn’t stop the amusement from busting out on her face. She could tell Nathan hadn’t enjoyed the whole ordeal, he’d looked so uncomfortable up there, especially when Claire began crying.

“When we have a kid, we’re not doing this.” He said adamantly, and Haley just smiled in return. There was no arguing with Nathan when he had his mind set on something.

“Okay, honey.” She agreed, and leaned into his body further. As soon as they stepped into the main room, Brooke’s mother flitted up to them in a rush.

“Oh dear, I was hoping we’d have a chance to chat.” She began in that fakely sweet voice, that drove Haley crazy. Before they could respond with the pleasantries, Mrs. Davis had them by the arms and guided them to the head table, where she sat down by them and began blathering.

“It is so good to see you Nathan. I still remember watching you and Brookie grow up- oh how I thought you two would be the perfect match.”

Nathan began to chortle at the insinuation, but Haley stopped him by squeezing his leg under the table. It momentarily kept him quiet, and Brooke’s mom went on.

“But I guess you’re life took a different turn. How are the two of you, I was so surprised to find out you’d been married, I expected quite the lavish affair. I’m sure your parents were disappointed.”

“They got over it.” Nathan mumbled uncomfortable with her yammering.

“So do tell me about the ceremony, Brooke said it was horribly romantic…” she eyed them both ready for gossip. Haley could feel Nathan tense beside her, but she could only serve up an amused smile.

“Well it was in a little chapel in the woods…” Haley began. Mrs. David sat enraptured by the whole tale, eating up every little detail Haley through her. To keep Nathan occupied, Haley slid her hand up his thigh in a teasing manner, and he stayed put in his seat, a newly formed smile on his face.

Peyton and Lucas lounged back in their chairs, watching as Brooke and Jake showed off their new baby girl. Ever since Claire had left her arms, she’d felt empty. Claire wasn’t just Brooke’s daughter, she was a miracle in Peyton’s eyes. The one time she let herself believe and everything turned out right.

Lucas looked over to find Peyton in a daze, and pulled her into his arms, resting his head on her shoulder, and wrapping his arms around her waist. Nothing could be better than this.

“I love you.” He whispered into her ear, and she leaned her head back to smile up at him. His lips came down softly upon hers, and they stayed that way for a moment before they finally forced themselves to part.

“I love you too.” She returned lowly. “You know one day, I want this for us Lucas. The whole thing, white picket fence, land, kids, dogs, horses-”

“How are we getting rich?”

“We’ll find a way.” She replied sincerely.

“Yeah we will.” He agreed.

“You, me and the future, sounds good, huh?” She asked softly, the whole picture obviously playing in her head.

“Sounds perfect.” He whispered, and continued to rock her body in his arms. He wanted to stay like this, with her for the rest of his life.

The final guests were finally scattering out, even Brooke’s parents had given up the open bar and retired to their hotel room, leaving the gang behind to relax. Lucas and Peyton were sitting at one of the tables, Peyton was feeding Claire her evening bottle, while Lucas crooned out some horrible song to her. The baby seemed to enjoy their joint effort though and kept quiet. Nathan and Haley were out on the dance floor, completely cuddled into each others arms. The piano player had stayed behind when the rest of the band left, probably meaning he was a romantic at heart. As long as they would dance, he would play. Tim was on his cell phone again, telling Ella all about the christening, and about how beautiful Claire was, and how strong and how smart, he just couldn’t stop gushing. Brooke and Jake had found a little hide-away and were peacefully resting in each others.

“I never thought this would make me happy,” Brooke began, “I mean from the time I was born, my mother drilled it in my head that I had to marry a rich man, go for the mansion in Beverly Hills, and the penthouse in New York, never settle she’d ordered. When I was 15 she told me not to screw up my life by having kids, and put me on the pill…I felt so empty, so alone, until US, not just me and you, but all of us. I didn’t have a family, I didn’t have anyone I could count on. And now I have everything, I have friends that love me, YOU, who I have to tell you I feel like the luckiest person in the world, even if you can’t give me that mansion,” she laughed and then her gaze drifted to where Claire was with Lucas and Peyton, “and I look at her every single morning and I thank God…for a second there I didn’t believe things would be okay, and they were.”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded, linking their hands together, and placing a soft kiss on her palm, “when you were asleep, I tried to think about what I would do if I lost you- but I couldn’t. If I lost you-” his voice broke and she turned in his arms, leaning up and pressing her lips softly against his.

“You don’t have to worry about that, nobody could make me leave you and that little girl, you’re my life Jake.”

Nathan held Haley tight against his body, rocking in rhythm with her. He nestled his face into her hair, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as close as possible.

“We’re gonna be okay, I promise.” His words brushed against her ear, causing her to shiver, and mold into his body farther. They were barely dancing now, just holding each other, neither ready to let go.

“I know.” She agreed, a warm smile lighting her lips. She felt like she was glowing, she was with her friends, her husband, life somehow had returned to normal. Or maybe it had gotten even better, when she was 16 she dreamed of this, of she and Nathan in love, together forever. But she was practical, she thought it was only a dream, and it was she realized, hers had just come true.

“Nathan,” she leaned back a little and forced him to lift his head and face her. As soon as their eyes met, he leaned down brushing his lips against hers, he just couldn’t help himself with her. “there’s something I’ve kind of been holding off on, but I guess now is as good a time as any…” her hands were beginning to shake a little, no matter how hard she tried to calm herself down.

“You’re shaking.” He pulled her tiny hands into his and stilled them. When she looked at him, all she saw was love. Pure love for her, complete and utter devotion to her… they’d made it.

“This is big, this is really big.” She exhaled. Before speaking again she threaded their fingers together, and took a long breath. “There’s no- I…God, I don’t know why this is so hard.”

“Just say it,” he urged, dipping down for a comforting kiss, “whatever it is, it’ll be okay.”

“You know how we talked about making a family…we kind of already did.” She swallowed hard, as the words tumbled out of her mouth. She waited from some kind of reaction but none came, she realized he wasn’t quite sure what she meant. “I’m pregnant, Nathan.” She whispered lowly. Before she could say something else, he exploded with what she could only decipher was pure excitement.

“You’re pregnant!?”

“Yeah…” she returned surprised at his giddiness, Nathan rarely let his emotions show.

“WE’RE GONNA HAVE A BABY!”

The large dining hall echoed with his joy, and soon all of their friends were rushing towards them to get the scoop on the new, news. Nathan lifted her tiny body in the air, and twirled her around, Brooke squealed over the fact that their dream would come true, her little girl, Haley’s little boy, they’d be family. Peyton and Lucas took turns hugging them and Peyton warned her not to give her any grief like Brooke did. Tim hugged her and insisted on at least being co-God parent to this child.

In some ways their lives together were ending, they were building their own families now. But in all the ways that counted, in their hearts, they would always be connected, always love one another, look after one another, grieve together and celebrate together. What started in High School would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

THE END.

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