Chapter Sixteen
*Lucas*
Though I had suspected sleep would elude me, somewhere during the night I closed my eyes and then the अगला thing I know I open them and the morning sun is there to greet me. I still feel like I spent the whole night tossing and turning, as if I didn't get one drop of sleep and my body aches.
Brooke cuddles अगला to me and to my surprise she is still sound asleep, it is a sight I do not see often. Actually I cannot remember the last time I got to watch her like this before last night. She's beautiful, लॉस्ट in the world of dreams her face is relaxed and even a small smile graces her lips. I wonder what it is that has her so entertained.
I हटाइए carefully out from under her and she clings to me making it difficult and when I settle अगला to her she curls into my side and sighs in contentment. With this angle I can watch her और easily and I lay my head अगला to hers on the तकिया and become mesmerized द्वारा her small even breaths. Reaching out a hand I tuck her hair behind her ear so her face is clear, nothing mars my view of her चीनी मिटटी, चीनी मिट्टी के बरतन face. It is impossible to even contemplate moving away from her, the idea of loosing contact with her skin barely wrinkled with age is not an option so instead of removing my hand I हटाइए it to touch her cheek gently. Her skin is warm, radiating heat and प्यार and comfort, her presence has always had a soothing effect on me to the point sometimes I couldn't stand being too close.
In the silence a quote comes to mind, the poet Philip James Bailey once wrote "Ask not of me, love, what is love? Ask what is good of god above; Ask of the great sum what is light; Ask what is darkness of the night; Ask sin of what may be forgiven; Ask what is happiness of heaven; Ask what is folly of the crowd; Ask what is fashion of the shroud; Ask what is sweetness of thy kiss; Ask of thyself what beauty is." And as the thought finished her eyes begin to flutter open.
"Good morning, Pretty Girl" I whisper and before her eyes fully open her smile widens, my finger grazes the indent on her closest dimple and she mumbles a happy yet still half asleep "good morning, husband"
She stretches briefly and then her eyes are wide open and she's looking straight at me, "I hate when आप do that, watch me sleep, it makes me feel so vulnerable" and then she closes her eyes and snuggles a little bit closer resting her head on my chest, my hand starts to stroke her hair.
"I haven't had the opportunity to do so in such a long time" I speak softly and stare up at the ceiling. She mutters something and I chuckle at her stubbornness because I am sure it was a sarcastic comeback.
"For once I don't want to wake up" she complains, "I want to just stay in बिस्तर and pretend that the outside world doesn't exist, five और minutes"
"Take as long as आप like" I reply and still my hand on her head, tangling my fingers in her dark locks I bend slightly and किस her hair softly.
Yet not even two मिनटों later she flings herself over and lets out a frustrated groan, "why, Lucas?"
"Because we're strong enough to get through it" though no explanation will ever be good enough for either one of us.
She sighs, "I don't think I am, last night… I've never been so scared in my life"
"What did आप feel, when Abby jumped into your arms, what did आप feel?" I ask and she does not answer, her silence is what I expected because I know what I saw in her body. Her reluctance, her fear, of Abby and her own emotions couldn't stand a chance against the प्यार that is in her. I know with out doubt that when Brooke had embraced Abby it was relief and प्यार which she had felt. "Trust yourself, Brooke"
"Well I think I will trust myself a little bit और after I check in on the kids-" and she starts to get up, I grab her hand and stop her from getting too far away.
"About that"
"Lucas?" she kinks her brow and says my name in that mom tone she has – too much time around Haley and my mother over the years and she knows exactly how much edge to add to scare me a little.
"Sawyer over heard us fighting last night" better to rip it off like a bandaid.
"Oh" her face falls, then it turns to horror "oh my god she heard me say I'm not her mother"
"No, no, no" I keep hold of Brooke's hand as she tries to get away, kneeling up on the बिस्तर I hold her hands close to my chest and bend down to look into her eyes as she tries to look away, "no, Brooke, she didn't think of it like that, she heard that I told आप that, she heard how much it hurt आप when I took her back then, that आप never wanted her to go"
"Of course I didn't, it nearly destroyed our marriage!"
I suck in a breath, "Sawyer doesn't think that, Brooke, she's believed all these years that आप no longer wanted her"
"That's insane"
Insane for us to imagine now, two adults who have long since stopped questioning whether we प्यार each other and our children, though not too long पूर्व we were young, we were the ones who went दिन to दिन never knowing the प्यार of two parents. At twelve the world is a different place and it is too easy to see things that are not there, even now the दिल plays tricks, a twisted friend that breeds the greatest joy and the most excruciating pain.
Insane to contemplate, for all we've ever done is for our family, misguided as we are प्यार is the driving force of every action.
If I could go back in time, return to the choices we made seven years ago, return to that situation, how different my actions would be. I let the anger, grief and pain inside me control every word and thing I did, and the two of us spent too long trying to cope alone that we लॉस्ट sight of our family and the basic truth that no matter what we are in it together. Everything.
"How could she think that, I प्यार her" Brooke's voice breaks, this threat to her already shaky relationship with Sawyer hits her hard on चोटी, शीर्ष of everything else. This week has been life watching the building blocks of our lives tumbling down one after another; everything titters on the brink waiting to fall next.
Two words escape me, out before I even think "I'm sorry" and like the past the moment they are कहा I feel the hopelessness in those words, how completely meaningless they are right now. How ever sorry I am that phrase does not change anything, it rarely does, an acknowledgement of some past wrong, and almost a promise that I cannot change. So I add on, gripping Brooke's hands still, "we'll go talk to her, explain everything, I'm not going to let this break us Pretty Girl, I'm not going to let Sawyer slip any further from us"
"Sometimes I feel like she's already gone" those hazel green eyes stare at me in fear, "where did they go Luke, Sawyer doesn't talk to us, Abby has to take us to court to, and Keith… why does it feel like we've already लॉस्ट the battle?"
Because a part of us both already knows we have, thirteen years we've been fighting to save our son and after all this time here we are today still having to visit him in a hospital. It feels cruel to say it out loud, it feels like giving up, so I don't speak the words, I pull my wife into my arms and let her cry on my shoulder.
Her tears continue to fall, each one causing a stab of pain to hit my heart, and it's not until she pulls away and rubs her thumbs under my eyes that I realise that I silently joined her in the crying.
She smiles, it is grim, and her thumbs stay at the corner of my eyes, "how much और can we take?" she whispers, I stay silent, and her smile twists up and she जवाब herself "at least one more" and she rubs my eyes again, my tears stop falling and I return the favour द्वारा carefully wiping her own tears from her face, and I smile too.
…
There is this perfect memory I have untouched द्वारा time, so simple that it is perfect, when I think of it I can smile and that same sense of प्यार comes rushing back. It is strange how this memory is during one of the worse times of my life, where life was hectic.
It was Abby's eighth birthday, belated as it was, and Keith was sick and barely out of hospital, Sawyer was a very broody fifteen and spent most of her time in her room listening to संगीत या outside playing with the new camera Brooke had दिया to her for her own birthday. Brooke had wanted to do something special for Abby's birthday to make up for having to रद्द करें the planned celebration; the only thing was she didn't inform anyone else of her plans.
First she kidnapped Abby from class, and then after school Sawyer and I were surprised द्वारा a limo picking us up, after Keith joined us we were driven to the airport and flown New York. We stayed the weekend, a holiday for the family, with every हटाइए we made planned द्वारा Abby.
When I think back on that weekend I don't remember Keith's sickly pallor, I don't remember a sullen Sawyer, या an upset Brooke. I remember the five of us laughing so hard, falling to the ground in a pile of joyful tears, the off tune गाना and the most delicious cake of all time. I remember seeing my children, all three of them, smiling and dancing as we walked through central park या pretending to vomit whenever they caught Brooke and I kissing.
However that perfect memory I have is not in New York, as great as that weekend was, it is when we got home, tired and jetlagged and dying to get to sleep. Somehow, I'm still not sure how, we ended up on our huge king sized bed, and द्वारा we I mean Sawyer, Keith and Abby were right there between my wife and I. We fell asleep together and when I woke up I was surrounded द्वारा the four most important people in my life, together, wrapped in each others arms so innocently in a peaceful slumber, I'd looked over at Brooke who was awake too and our eyes met. In those moments before sleep claimed me again the world was perfect.
…
The चित्र hangs from a magnet on our fridge, in it the three children pose द्वारा the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park, and my eyes are drawn to it as I wait for Brooke to return. She had insisted on seeing Sawyer द्वारा herself and I had reluctantly agreed, what needs to be कहा needs to be कहा in privacy without my eyes watching every second.
Steady, slow footsteps start making their way downstairs, I turn when they get closer just in time to see Abby walk into the room, "hey, baby girl, आप feeling alright?"
Abby sends me a look, one that says what do आप think, dad? in a sarcastic tone, it is amazing the looks children can give you. With out a word Abby goes to the cupboard and pulls out a box of Cap'n Crunch and then walks closer to me until she's standing द्वारा my side, leaning onto the रसोई, रसोईघर counter in front of her she dips her hand in and pulls out a small handful of the cereal.
After munching on them for a while Abby tilted the box in my direction, I take the offering and dip my hand in as well, and then together we stand their having our dry breakfast. Abby sighs, her glance briefly checking the time, "have आप called the hospital?"
"He's still asleep" I answer and mentally go over the rest of what the nurse said. His temperature is still high which isn't ideal but he's stable so I hang onto that. I try not to worry, I tell myself my son has been in a worse condition and हे he's still here.
Abby turns around, now leaning her back against the counters she looks at me and asks quietly "can I go see him?"
"After school" and my reply gets a big sigh in response.
Soon after that Brooke is walking into the room and both Abby and I turn to her, she looks at me and I know it didn't go well with Sawyer.
"She wasn't there" Brooke says and my shoulders sag, as if sensing we needed to be alone Abby quietly leaves the रसोई, रसोईघर and Brooke and I meet half way, I pull her into my arms, but the tears don't fall from her until she knows for sure Abby cannot see या hear her.
"She's probably has a lecture या is with that boyfriend of hers" I say and Brooke scoffs, her tears going away, and I smile "we're her parents, we're not suppose to like her boyfriend"
"Right" Brooke moves away, she checks her face before calling out to Abby "ABRA SCOTT, IF आप HURRY I WILL TAKE आप द्वारा THE HOSPITAL BEFORE SCHOOL" and I've never seen Abby run so fast before she's back in the room, her eyes are lit up "really?"
"Of course" Brooke nods and Abby is off again, when we're alone Brooke turns back to me "do आप mind staying with Keith this afternoon, I want to be here in case Sawyer comes home"
To say I'm shocked is an understatement, for a moment I am not sure I heard her correctly but I go over her words again and they're the same as I first heard, nonplussed I kind of shake my head "yeah, sure"
"Thanks" and she comes over to me and leans up to किस my cheek before going to leave the room.
I just stand here, not sure what exactly happened. Was my anxious wife, my over protective wife, my don't trust doctors alone with my son wife, just… well… what happened?
"Brooke?"
She turns back around before leaving, her hand on the doorsill and a smile on her face, she looks oddly calm, "yes?"
"Are आप okay?"
And that's when I see the tension in her eyes, the emotions she is keeping tightly guarded, it flickers for a सेकंड her smile even falters and then she उत्तरों "at least one more, right?"
"Yeah"
She puts on that ब्रेव smile and goes to turn away again only to come straight back, "last night, आप कहा there were things we needed to talk about"
For a सेकंड my mind is blank and then I remember, "It's about Abby's guardian ad litem, she came here last night-"
"Is she nice, did Abby like her?" Brooke quickly interrupted and her brow kinks up waiting for me to answer.
I fight to find the right words, "Uh-yeah… Brooke, she's-" and the doorbell rings, Brooke spins her head in the direction of the front door.
"One second, I'll just get that"
"Brooke, just wait!" I go after her.
She is fast and I'm standing just behind her when she opens the door, over her head I see Sam standing on our porch and her eyes widen at the sight of Brooke.
I can't see Brooke's face but I can picture her shocked expression, the moment hangs in अंतरिक्ष and time, moving in slow motion Brooke seems to turn to me, I don't even think she realises that when her hand drops from the door it shuts.
The sound is muffled, my ears are ringing, all I see is Brooke's face and there is that shock.
"It's Sam" I tell her, "Abby's guardian ad litem is Sam"
She steps आगे and so do I, her hand goes up to stop me, her face fierce "this is that one thing… I can't…" she shakes her head and quickly walks off, saying one और time "I can't"
The front door opens and Sam welcomes herself in, "Brooke"
"Mom" Abby's voice says at the same time as she cuts Brooke's exit at the foot of the stairs, Abby is smiling "I'm ready"
Brooke is trapped between her daughter and her पूर्व foster daughter, one who holds the future of her brother's life in her hands and the other a girl who once hurt Brooke और than words could say.
After Keith was born Sam's rejection deeply affected Brooke, she never truly understood why Sam no longer wanted to be part of her family.
"Mom?" Abby सवालों her mother's odd silence, and Brooke glances at Sam and then back at Abby then returns to Sam until settling on Abby once more.
My daughter, dressed in simple jeans and a long sleeved green कमीज, शर्ट with her long hair out, creasing her brow, she looks over her mother to Sam, a woman she's not long met, "Hey, Miss Colson"
"It's Sam" and I can tell her smile is nervous and though she directs the correction to Abby her eyes never leave Brooke.
"Do आप wanna talk to me या something?" Abby looks worried, I can't blame her for the air is thick with tension, so think I feel like I could cut it with a knife.
"I was actually hoping to catch your parents but I would like to see आप after school perhaps, if that is okay with them and you, maybe we could go for a walk?"
"Dad?" Abby asks and I nod and give my okay.
Brooke span around, her spine now stiff and her jaw lifted "you'll have to talk to Lucas, I need to take Abby to school" which I could tell Sam didn't believe for one second.
"I was hoping to talk to you… Brooke, please"
"Now आप want to talk to me" Brooke shoots back, her cheeks growing red, "I have to take my daughter to school" the words स्लैश at Sam and she flinches.
"We're still going to the hospital on the way, right Mom?" Abby is apprehensive, Brooke nods and grabs her hand, "come on" she says.
"Brooke" Sam tries again.
Abby hurries to keep at Brooke's side, "bye Dad, bye Sam" and as we stand here Brooke and Abby leave the house.
"Give her time. She didn't have any warning" I tell Sam and she sends me a grateful smile, "would आप like something to drink?"
"Sure" and I don't need to lead her to the kitchen, I follow just behind her and she takes a सीट while I prepare her drink, "what would आप like?" I ask and she requests a very sugary coffee, I shake my head as I hand it to her and take my seat.
We don't speak at first, Sam looks around and I just stare at her, last night I never really got a chance to take her in. Seeing Julian in my house had gotten the attention that wasn't focused on Keith. It's so surreal to see her here again after all these years, sitting in our kitchen.
Then I remember that the सीट she's taken is the same one she had always claimed, and I am not even sure she knows it.
"You look good, I'm sorry I wasn't और welcoming last night"
"I don't blame you" she's quick to say and she takes a careful sip before adding "I don't blame Brooke either. I didn't expect this"
I give a little huff, "None of us did"
Your daughter suing आप isn't the situation आप envision, especially with reunions with familiar faces and the reappearance of a past daughter she लॉस्ट would only serve as a reminder to Brooke of what may be to come.
Almost fifteen years later and I still remember the night Brooke returned from visiting Sam as clear as if it had happened only last week. Seeing my wife heartbroken and in tears is not something आप forget easily. I look across the तालिका, टेबल at the young woman who was the cause of so much pain for Brooke, yet who my wife had loved as if she was family, this woman that was once the teenager who stood द्वारा Brooke's side the दिन of our wedding.
"This isn't awkward at all" her dry tone comes out, and I blink and drag my eyes from Sam and break a stare that was और than likely making her increasingly uncomfortable.
"Would आप like to go for a drive?" I ask, not knowing I was going to say so until she सवाल was hanging between us. Sam sends me a dubious look, and I think about where we could go, only one answer comes to mind "there's someone I would like आप to meet".
At one point Brooke had loved Sam as deeply as she now loves Keith, it seems only fair that she now meet the boy who was at the centre of it all, the boy who could have been a brother to her या at the least some sort of honorary nephew.
In her eyes I can see her वाद-विवाद it, knowing instinctively where I would take her, and then she nods, stiffens her spine and lifts her chin, the हटाइए so reminisce of Brooke for a moment it is like I am staring straight at her.
*Lucas*
Though I had suspected sleep would elude me, somewhere during the night I closed my eyes and then the अगला thing I know I open them and the morning sun is there to greet me. I still feel like I spent the whole night tossing and turning, as if I didn't get one drop of sleep and my body aches.
Brooke cuddles अगला to me and to my surprise she is still sound asleep, it is a sight I do not see often. Actually I cannot remember the last time I got to watch her like this before last night. She's beautiful, लॉस्ट in the world of dreams her face is relaxed and even a small smile graces her lips. I wonder what it is that has her so entertained.
I हटाइए carefully out from under her and she clings to me making it difficult and when I settle अगला to her she curls into my side and sighs in contentment. With this angle I can watch her और easily and I lay my head अगला to hers on the तकिया and become mesmerized द्वारा her small even breaths. Reaching out a hand I tuck her hair behind her ear so her face is clear, nothing mars my view of her चीनी मिटटी, चीनी मिट्टी के बरतन face. It is impossible to even contemplate moving away from her, the idea of loosing contact with her skin barely wrinkled with age is not an option so instead of removing my hand I हटाइए it to touch her cheek gently. Her skin is warm, radiating heat and प्यार and comfort, her presence has always had a soothing effect on me to the point sometimes I couldn't stand being too close.
In the silence a quote comes to mind, the poet Philip James Bailey once wrote "Ask not of me, love, what is love? Ask what is good of god above; Ask of the great sum what is light; Ask what is darkness of the night; Ask sin of what may be forgiven; Ask what is happiness of heaven; Ask what is folly of the crowd; Ask what is fashion of the shroud; Ask what is sweetness of thy kiss; Ask of thyself what beauty is." And as the thought finished her eyes begin to flutter open.
"Good morning, Pretty Girl" I whisper and before her eyes fully open her smile widens, my finger grazes the indent on her closest dimple and she mumbles a happy yet still half asleep "good morning, husband"
She stretches briefly and then her eyes are wide open and she's looking straight at me, "I hate when आप do that, watch me sleep, it makes me feel so vulnerable" and then she closes her eyes and snuggles a little bit closer resting her head on my chest, my hand starts to stroke her hair.
"I haven't had the opportunity to do so in such a long time" I speak softly and stare up at the ceiling. She mutters something and I chuckle at her stubbornness because I am sure it was a sarcastic comeback.
"For once I don't want to wake up" she complains, "I want to just stay in बिस्तर and pretend that the outside world doesn't exist, five और minutes"
"Take as long as आप like" I reply and still my hand on her head, tangling my fingers in her dark locks I bend slightly and किस her hair softly.
Yet not even two मिनटों later she flings herself over and lets out a frustrated groan, "why, Lucas?"
"Because we're strong enough to get through it" though no explanation will ever be good enough for either one of us.
She sighs, "I don't think I am, last night… I've never been so scared in my life"
"What did आप feel, when Abby jumped into your arms, what did आप feel?" I ask and she does not answer, her silence is what I expected because I know what I saw in her body. Her reluctance, her fear, of Abby and her own emotions couldn't stand a chance against the प्यार that is in her. I know with out doubt that when Brooke had embraced Abby it was relief and प्यार which she had felt. "Trust yourself, Brooke"
"Well I think I will trust myself a little bit और after I check in on the kids-" and she starts to get up, I grab her hand and stop her from getting too far away.
"About that"
"Lucas?" she kinks her brow and says my name in that mom tone she has – too much time around Haley and my mother over the years and she knows exactly how much edge to add to scare me a little.
"Sawyer over heard us fighting last night" better to rip it off like a bandaid.
"Oh" her face falls, then it turns to horror "oh my god she heard me say I'm not her mother"
"No, no, no" I keep hold of Brooke's hand as she tries to get away, kneeling up on the बिस्तर I hold her hands close to my chest and bend down to look into her eyes as she tries to look away, "no, Brooke, she didn't think of it like that, she heard that I told आप that, she heard how much it hurt आप when I took her back then, that आप never wanted her to go"
"Of course I didn't, it nearly destroyed our marriage!"
I suck in a breath, "Sawyer doesn't think that, Brooke, she's believed all these years that आप no longer wanted her"
"That's insane"
Insane for us to imagine now, two adults who have long since stopped questioning whether we प्यार each other and our children, though not too long पूर्व we were young, we were the ones who went दिन to दिन never knowing the प्यार of two parents. At twelve the world is a different place and it is too easy to see things that are not there, even now the दिल plays tricks, a twisted friend that breeds the greatest joy and the most excruciating pain.
Insane to contemplate, for all we've ever done is for our family, misguided as we are प्यार is the driving force of every action.
If I could go back in time, return to the choices we made seven years ago, return to that situation, how different my actions would be. I let the anger, grief and pain inside me control every word and thing I did, and the two of us spent too long trying to cope alone that we लॉस्ट sight of our family and the basic truth that no matter what we are in it together. Everything.
"How could she think that, I प्यार her" Brooke's voice breaks, this threat to her already shaky relationship with Sawyer hits her hard on चोटी, शीर्ष of everything else. This week has been life watching the building blocks of our lives tumbling down one after another; everything titters on the brink waiting to fall next.
Two words escape me, out before I even think "I'm sorry" and like the past the moment they are कहा I feel the hopelessness in those words, how completely meaningless they are right now. How ever sorry I am that phrase does not change anything, it rarely does, an acknowledgement of some past wrong, and almost a promise that I cannot change. So I add on, gripping Brooke's hands still, "we'll go talk to her, explain everything, I'm not going to let this break us Pretty Girl, I'm not going to let Sawyer slip any further from us"
"Sometimes I feel like she's already gone" those hazel green eyes stare at me in fear, "where did they go Luke, Sawyer doesn't talk to us, Abby has to take us to court to, and Keith… why does it feel like we've already लॉस्ट the battle?"
Because a part of us both already knows we have, thirteen years we've been fighting to save our son and after all this time here we are today still having to visit him in a hospital. It feels cruel to say it out loud, it feels like giving up, so I don't speak the words, I pull my wife into my arms and let her cry on my shoulder.
Her tears continue to fall, each one causing a stab of pain to hit my heart, and it's not until she pulls away and rubs her thumbs under my eyes that I realise that I silently joined her in the crying.
She smiles, it is grim, and her thumbs stay at the corner of my eyes, "how much और can we take?" she whispers, I stay silent, and her smile twists up and she जवाब herself "at least one more" and she rubs my eyes again, my tears stop falling and I return the favour द्वारा carefully wiping her own tears from her face, and I smile too.
…
There is this perfect memory I have untouched द्वारा time, so simple that it is perfect, when I think of it I can smile and that same sense of प्यार comes rushing back. It is strange how this memory is during one of the worse times of my life, where life was hectic.
It was Abby's eighth birthday, belated as it was, and Keith was sick and barely out of hospital, Sawyer was a very broody fifteen and spent most of her time in her room listening to संगीत या outside playing with the new camera Brooke had दिया to her for her own birthday. Brooke had wanted to do something special for Abby's birthday to make up for having to रद्द करें the planned celebration; the only thing was she didn't inform anyone else of her plans.
First she kidnapped Abby from class, and then after school Sawyer and I were surprised द्वारा a limo picking us up, after Keith joined us we were driven to the airport and flown New York. We stayed the weekend, a holiday for the family, with every हटाइए we made planned द्वारा Abby.
When I think back on that weekend I don't remember Keith's sickly pallor, I don't remember a sullen Sawyer, या an upset Brooke. I remember the five of us laughing so hard, falling to the ground in a pile of joyful tears, the off tune गाना and the most delicious cake of all time. I remember seeing my children, all three of them, smiling and dancing as we walked through central park या pretending to vomit whenever they caught Brooke and I kissing.
However that perfect memory I have is not in New York, as great as that weekend was, it is when we got home, tired and jetlagged and dying to get to sleep. Somehow, I'm still not sure how, we ended up on our huge king sized bed, and द्वारा we I mean Sawyer, Keith and Abby were right there between my wife and I. We fell asleep together and when I woke up I was surrounded द्वारा the four most important people in my life, together, wrapped in each others arms so innocently in a peaceful slumber, I'd looked over at Brooke who was awake too and our eyes met. In those moments before sleep claimed me again the world was perfect.
…
The चित्र hangs from a magnet on our fridge, in it the three children pose द्वारा the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park, and my eyes are drawn to it as I wait for Brooke to return. She had insisted on seeing Sawyer द्वारा herself and I had reluctantly agreed, what needs to be कहा needs to be कहा in privacy without my eyes watching every second.
Steady, slow footsteps start making their way downstairs, I turn when they get closer just in time to see Abby walk into the room, "hey, baby girl, आप feeling alright?"
Abby sends me a look, one that says what do आप think, dad? in a sarcastic tone, it is amazing the looks children can give you. With out a word Abby goes to the cupboard and pulls out a box of Cap'n Crunch and then walks closer to me until she's standing द्वारा my side, leaning onto the रसोई, रसोईघर counter in front of her she dips her hand in and pulls out a small handful of the cereal.
After munching on them for a while Abby tilted the box in my direction, I take the offering and dip my hand in as well, and then together we stand their having our dry breakfast. Abby sighs, her glance briefly checking the time, "have आप called the hospital?"
"He's still asleep" I answer and mentally go over the rest of what the nurse said. His temperature is still high which isn't ideal but he's stable so I hang onto that. I try not to worry, I tell myself my son has been in a worse condition and हे he's still here.
Abby turns around, now leaning her back against the counters she looks at me and asks quietly "can I go see him?"
"After school" and my reply gets a big sigh in response.
Soon after that Brooke is walking into the room and both Abby and I turn to her, she looks at me and I know it didn't go well with Sawyer.
"She wasn't there" Brooke says and my shoulders sag, as if sensing we needed to be alone Abby quietly leaves the रसोई, रसोईघर and Brooke and I meet half way, I pull her into my arms, but the tears don't fall from her until she knows for sure Abby cannot see या hear her.
"She's probably has a lecture या is with that boyfriend of hers" I say and Brooke scoffs, her tears going away, and I smile "we're her parents, we're not suppose to like her boyfriend"
"Right" Brooke moves away, she checks her face before calling out to Abby "ABRA SCOTT, IF आप HURRY I WILL TAKE आप द्वारा THE HOSPITAL BEFORE SCHOOL" and I've never seen Abby run so fast before she's back in the room, her eyes are lit up "really?"
"Of course" Brooke nods and Abby is off again, when we're alone Brooke turns back to me "do आप mind staying with Keith this afternoon, I want to be here in case Sawyer comes home"
To say I'm shocked is an understatement, for a moment I am not sure I heard her correctly but I go over her words again and they're the same as I first heard, nonplussed I kind of shake my head "yeah, sure"
"Thanks" and she comes over to me and leans up to किस my cheek before going to leave the room.
I just stand here, not sure what exactly happened. Was my anxious wife, my over protective wife, my don't trust doctors alone with my son wife, just… well… what happened?
"Brooke?"
She turns back around before leaving, her hand on the doorsill and a smile on her face, she looks oddly calm, "yes?"
"Are आप okay?"
And that's when I see the tension in her eyes, the emotions she is keeping tightly guarded, it flickers for a सेकंड her smile even falters and then she उत्तरों "at least one more, right?"
"Yeah"
She puts on that ब्रेव smile and goes to turn away again only to come straight back, "last night, आप कहा there were things we needed to talk about"
For a सेकंड my mind is blank and then I remember, "It's about Abby's guardian ad litem, she came here last night-"
"Is she nice, did Abby like her?" Brooke quickly interrupted and her brow kinks up waiting for me to answer.
I fight to find the right words, "Uh-yeah… Brooke, she's-" and the doorbell rings, Brooke spins her head in the direction of the front door.
"One second, I'll just get that"
"Brooke, just wait!" I go after her.
She is fast and I'm standing just behind her when she opens the door, over her head I see Sam standing on our porch and her eyes widen at the sight of Brooke.
I can't see Brooke's face but I can picture her shocked expression, the moment hangs in अंतरिक्ष and time, moving in slow motion Brooke seems to turn to me, I don't even think she realises that when her hand drops from the door it shuts.
The sound is muffled, my ears are ringing, all I see is Brooke's face and there is that shock.
"It's Sam" I tell her, "Abby's guardian ad litem is Sam"
She steps आगे and so do I, her hand goes up to stop me, her face fierce "this is that one thing… I can't…" she shakes her head and quickly walks off, saying one और time "I can't"
The front door opens and Sam welcomes herself in, "Brooke"
"Mom" Abby's voice says at the same time as she cuts Brooke's exit at the foot of the stairs, Abby is smiling "I'm ready"
Brooke is trapped between her daughter and her पूर्व foster daughter, one who holds the future of her brother's life in her hands and the other a girl who once hurt Brooke और than words could say.
After Keith was born Sam's rejection deeply affected Brooke, she never truly understood why Sam no longer wanted to be part of her family.
"Mom?" Abby सवालों her mother's odd silence, and Brooke glances at Sam and then back at Abby then returns to Sam until settling on Abby once more.
My daughter, dressed in simple jeans and a long sleeved green कमीज, शर्ट with her long hair out, creasing her brow, she looks over her mother to Sam, a woman she's not long met, "Hey, Miss Colson"
"It's Sam" and I can tell her smile is nervous and though she directs the correction to Abby her eyes never leave Brooke.
"Do आप wanna talk to me या something?" Abby looks worried, I can't blame her for the air is thick with tension, so think I feel like I could cut it with a knife.
"I was actually hoping to catch your parents but I would like to see आप after school perhaps, if that is okay with them and you, maybe we could go for a walk?"
"Dad?" Abby asks and I nod and give my okay.
Brooke span around, her spine now stiff and her jaw lifted "you'll have to talk to Lucas, I need to take Abby to school" which I could tell Sam didn't believe for one second.
"I was hoping to talk to you… Brooke, please"
"Now आप want to talk to me" Brooke shoots back, her cheeks growing red, "I have to take my daughter to school" the words स्लैश at Sam and she flinches.
"We're still going to the hospital on the way, right Mom?" Abby is apprehensive, Brooke nods and grabs her hand, "come on" she says.
"Brooke" Sam tries again.
Abby hurries to keep at Brooke's side, "bye Dad, bye Sam" and as we stand here Brooke and Abby leave the house.
"Give her time. She didn't have any warning" I tell Sam and she sends me a grateful smile, "would आप like something to drink?"
"Sure" and I don't need to lead her to the kitchen, I follow just behind her and she takes a सीट while I prepare her drink, "what would आप like?" I ask and she requests a very sugary coffee, I shake my head as I hand it to her and take my seat.
We don't speak at first, Sam looks around and I just stare at her, last night I never really got a chance to take her in. Seeing Julian in my house had gotten the attention that wasn't focused on Keith. It's so surreal to see her here again after all these years, sitting in our kitchen.
Then I remember that the सीट she's taken is the same one she had always claimed, and I am not even sure she knows it.
"You look good, I'm sorry I wasn't और welcoming last night"
"I don't blame you" she's quick to say and she takes a careful sip before adding "I don't blame Brooke either. I didn't expect this"
I give a little huff, "None of us did"
Your daughter suing आप isn't the situation आप envision, especially with reunions with familiar faces and the reappearance of a past daughter she लॉस्ट would only serve as a reminder to Brooke of what may be to come.
Almost fifteen years later and I still remember the night Brooke returned from visiting Sam as clear as if it had happened only last week. Seeing my wife heartbroken and in tears is not something आप forget easily. I look across the तालिका, टेबल at the young woman who was the cause of so much pain for Brooke, yet who my wife had loved as if she was family, this woman that was once the teenager who stood द्वारा Brooke's side the दिन of our wedding.
"This isn't awkward at all" her dry tone comes out, and I blink and drag my eyes from Sam and break a stare that was और than likely making her increasingly uncomfortable.
"Would आप like to go for a drive?" I ask, not knowing I was going to say so until she सवाल was hanging between us. Sam sends me a dubious look, and I think about where we could go, only one answer comes to mind "there's someone I would like आप to meet".
At one point Brooke had loved Sam as deeply as she now loves Keith, it seems only fair that she now meet the boy who was at the centre of it all, the boy who could have been a brother to her या at the least some sort of honorary nephew.
In her eyes I can see her वाद-विवाद it, knowing instinctively where I would take her, and then she nods, stiffens her spine and lifts her chin, the हटाइए so reminisce of Brooke for a moment it is like I am staring straight at her.