Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing of One Tree Hill.

Back by popular demand…I guess.

Sorry if this isn't the best chapter ever…I wrote this thinking it was going to be a one shot, and currently have a 102.8 degree fever. But there's nothing else to do, so I'm writing this!

PS…Don't worry. I'm in a happy state of disposition.

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"Daddy?" The faint sound of sniffling could be heard through the phone. For a little girl, it was a long time waiting in silence.

"Let me talk to your mother again, sweetheart." Lucas said, getting up and silently closing the sliding glass door.

"Okay." The girl obliged, handing the phone back to her mom. "He wansa talk to you, Mommy."

"Alright sweetheart. Why don't you go lie down on my bed. I'll wake you when he wants to talk to you." Brooke said, kissing the child on her forehead.

"Lucas…" Brooke began. She was quickly cut off.

"How could you keep something like this from me Brooke?" He asked. His voice was quiet, but it didn't hide the fierce anger evident in it.

"I…Lucas, you had Peyton, and I wanted you to be happy." Brooke cried.

"Brooke, I would have been happy with you." Lucas said.

"But, Peyton needed you more, and I knew that I could do this on my own Lucas. I've proven that to so many people." Tears were evident in her voice now.

"How do I even know she's mine?" Lucas asked.

"How can you even ask me that Lucas? She is three years old. Never once was I unfaithful to you. Of course she's yours." Brooke said. Lucas' end of the call remained silent.

"Other than the paternity test they did at the hospital, she looks just like you. She has my brown hair, but her eyes are bright blue. Just like yours. And it hurts, sometimes, to look in them; they're so much like yours. She broods, just like you, and she loves to read." Brooke continued.

"What's her name?" Lucas asked.

"Alexa. Alexa Jaclyn Scott. Everyone calls her AJ though." Brooke said.

"Does she ever ask about me?" Lucas asked.

"Her first word was Daddy. Ever since she's been able to speak in an understandable language, she's asked about you." Brooke said.

"What do you tell her?" Lucas asked, hoping she had told AJ good things.

"I tell her that you can't come and live with us, but that you love her. She loves you so much Lucas. She doesn't even know you and she talks about you all the time." Brooke said, laughing a bit through her tears. "She has the picture, of you and me, from Prom, on her nightstand. She kisses you good night every time I tuck her in."

"Can I talk to her?" Lucas asked, fighting off his own tears. He had missed so much of his daughter's life, and he couldn't help but be a little bit angry at Brooke for that, but now he felt for Brooke. He had to see the situation from her point of view.

"Sure. Just a minute." Brooke said, going over to the bed where Alexa was just about to fall asleep. "Alexa, honey, do you want to talk to daddy?"

Immediately, Alexa bolted upright, nodding her head vigorously.

"Yes!" She shouted.

Brooke handed her the phone, and immediately, she began her three year old chatter.

"Hi daddy!" She said, excitedly.

"Hi sweetie. How are you?" Lucas asked.

"I good." She announced, proudly.

"That's good." He said.

"Hey daddy?" Alexa asked.

"Yes, AJ?"

"Why you whisper?" She asked, lowering her voice also.

"Because people around me are sleeping and I don't want to wake them up." Lucas replied.

"Oh." Alexa replied.

"So when is your birthday?" Lucas asked, knowing that it would be about a month before Kelsey's.

"February 12." She said. I just turned three." She said, feeling very grown up.

"Wow. You certainly are a big girl." Lucas said, chuckling.

"Yes, I am." She said.

"Well why don't you give the phone back to your mom and we can see about meeting someplace and spending some time together? How does that sound?" Lucas asked.

"Good! Like, Pike Place Market? Mommy takes me shopping there all the time!" AJ said, excitedly.

"Well, we'll see. Daddy lives a long ways away, so your mom and I will discuss it." Lucas said.

"Alright." Alexa agreed.

"It's probably way past your bedtime, huh?" Lucas said, looking at his watch. 2:41.

"Nope. Mommy says bedtimes are for babies." Alexa indulged him.

"Oh really?" Lucas laughed.

"Yep." Alexa said.

"Alright, well let me talk to your mom again, okay sweetheart?" Lucas said.

"Okay. Goodnight." Alexa said.

"Goodnight." Lucas replied.

"Daddy?" Alexa asked, bringing the phone to her ear one more time.

"Yes?" Lucas asked.

"I love you." AJ said. Lucas paused.

"I love you too, honey." Little did he know, a little girl in Seattle handed the phone to her mother, and skipped off to her bedroom with the biggest smile possible on her small face. Her daddy loved her.

"When can I meet her?" Lucas asked, once Brooke was back on the line.

"Well, not next week, but the week after I have off of work. We could meet halfway?" Brooke suggested.

"I can get that week off. How about Chicago?" Lucas asked.

"Chicago sounds good. I'll book a flight tomorrow." Brooke said.

"For the whole week?" Lucas asked.

"Um, I don't know. What sounds good to you?" Brooke said.

"The whole week works for me. I can fly out Sunday and come back Sunday." Lucas said.

"Alright." Brooke said.

"And I'll pay for Alexa's plane ticket. Just bring the receipt with you." Lucas said.

"That's really unnecessary, Lucas." Brooke said, but Lucas was not about to have it.

"You've done everything for her Brooke. Let me have something to do with her life." Lucas said.

"Fine." Brooke said. "Call me tomorrow with the arrangements."

"I will do that." Lucas said.

"Goodnight, Lucas." Brooke said.

"Goodnight, Brooke." And with that, the line went dead.

Lucas heard a noise behind him and turned to see what it was. Peyton was opening the sliding glass door.

"Who were you talking to?"

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