Part 5

On the way to their appointment, he refers to it as their appointment, because he is dedicated to this thing, probably too much, they stop and get Brooke a milkshake.

She is happily sipping it, humming from the passenger seat, clothed in a pink sun dress. Jenny is in the back, in her booster seat, licking at her own ice cream cone. A cone that he had originally said no to because of the mess, but between Brooke and Jenny, he had changed his mind.

She is going on and on about her sleepover with Jamie. The short drive had started with her complaining about it being cut-short, but when she realized she was going to see her little brother or sister on 'tv' her attitude changed. The ice cream didn't hurt.

"So, Book, I tink you sould has a girl," she states so matter-a-factly that Jake smiles. He loves his growing family, even though half of it isn't technically his.

Brooke's mouth opens into a quiet laugh, separating from her milkshake straw. "We'll see, sweetheart."

They are pulling into the parking lot of the only doctor's office open on Saturdays minutes later.

Jenny is covered in ice-cream when he goes to retrieve her from the backseat. He sighs, Brooke giggles and opens the passenger side backseat door. She reaches into the diaper bag and hands him some diaper wipes. He accepts them and proceeds to wipe Jenny down.

He hoists his little girl onto his hip, while Brooke carries the diaper bag.

"Can you believe we're gonna have another one soon?" She asks, pushing the doors to the office open.

He shrugs, too caught up in the word 'we' to respond properly. There's one other couple there. They appear to be in their mid-thirties, and they do nothing to hide their judging looks.

Sometimes he forgets he's only eighteen. Hell, sometimes he forgets his second child isn't really his. They sit next each other, and like a normal girlfriend, Brooke takes his hand and laughs softly when Jenny discovers the blocks in the corner of the waiting room.

He's not sure if she's caught up in the moment or if her hormones have thrown her for a curve, but he likes this. He likes her warm hand atop his, the security the weight of it brings. He likes the small roundness of her tummy and the way her legs stretch in front of her. He likes how Jenny hands her a block and not him. He doesn't like how he likes this so much.

Because, this isn't his to like. This is Nathan's and this is Nikki's. And any moment Brooke could change her mind, and he's so used to his ex ruining everything. He thinks about how even though he had sent Peyton away, she was supposed to come back. She had wanted to marry him, after all.

And then his mind is back to Brooke and her baby bump and smile and the way she is laughing with his daughter in the present moment. This is his, for now. And he is pretty sure as soon as the name on the birth certificate is his, the baby legally is too.

If it comes to it they can continue to lie, add to it. Say that Brooke was too drunk to remember sleeping with Nathan. Then his credibility, not to mention morals would come into question…

Jake is surprised by the dark route his thoughts have taken.

"Brooke Davis." Her name is called out by a young nurse, and Jenny clapping her hands.

He reaches down for his daughter, but she is already tucked safely into Brooke's side, leaving him to get the diaper bag.

He waits outside with Jenny while Brooke changes into a hospital gown. Jenny is climbing onto the exam table with Brooke when the door opens. Jake sits in the chair, dropping the bag with a loud thump. He really needs to potty-train Jenny. He was in the process before they moved back to Tree Hill.

The doctor, a young blond male enters and Jake does not like the way he looks at Brooke. The brunette already has her gown bunched up so that her abdomen is showing, mostly so Jenny can poke, prod, ooh, and aw.

"So, Miss Davis, today we're going to be doing the routine appointment. Check and make sure everything is alright. Then, we'll go from there."

The doctor looks over to him. "Dad, I presume?"

Jake nods.

"Sweetheart, if you could go over there with your dad for a moment, that'd be great."

Jenny looks up at the doctor with obvious distaste, and Jake grabs her, burying his face in her blond curls to hide his smile.

"So, any preference on gender?"

Brooke bites her lip, glancing over at him.

He shrugs.

"Not really."

"Would you like to know?" The doctor asks, squirting a gel onto Brooke's stomach.

The sound makes Jenny giggle and Brooke jumps.

"You okay?" He asks.

"Just cold," she responds.

"Okay, here we go."

Jenny shuffles to the very edge of his lap, balancing on his knee, tiny hands on the table. He is torn between watching his wide-eyed toddler, amazed Brooke, and the blob on the screen. All, for now, his.

Brooke nods. "Yes, we would like to know. Right, Jake?"

He nods, then realizes her attention is on the screen. "Yes, we want to know."

Before the doctor can say a word, Jenny says, "Girl."

Brooke looks at her, unsure of what to say.

"Booke, you said it'd be a girl. You never lie."

"I said, we'd see."

"Well, Little Miss, you're right, it is a girl." The doctor says.

A silence envelopes them, before Brooke is laughing, and Jenny follows suit.

Brooke kisses him, and he swears her smile is the best thing he has ever tasted. Jenny is between them, somehow not squashed but seemingly oddly comfortable. It's not an ideal first kiss, and odd in the sense that it probably looks natural and like they've done it numerous times to the doctor.

"So, we're having a baby girl!" Brooke can barely contain her excitement it seems, and he laughs.

"Yes."

Jenny is fighting sleep in the backseat, having missed her nap.

Her smile vanishes. "Wow, we're really doing this. We're having this baby."

The rest of the evening she is quiet and only interacts with Jenny, a sad smile on her face when she does so.

Brooke packs an overnight bag, knowing that staying in Rachel's hotel is possibly the worst thing she could do. But, it's only one night, and she needs to clear her head.

Put together like perfection, she quietly leaves the apartment, a hand-written note on the kitchen counter.

Rachel answers the door in a red nightie, and Brooke immediately begins to cry.

"Rach, what if he decides he doesn't want me?"

"What?" Half-asleep, her friend pulls hers into the room, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Why would he do that?"

Brooke wants to tell her everything. That's why she had originally come over here. Jake isn't tied to her. He doesn't have to stay. The baby isn't his. He probably still loves Peyton, and would go back in a second. Peyton still loves him, and nothing is stopping her now. A baby and Brooke are minor details.

"I think he still loves Peyton," she settles for saying.

Rachel sighs. "Who is carrying his baby?"

Not me. She doesn't answer. She's done enough lying.

"We're just playing house, Rachel."

"Oh, Brooke. You've always been delusion." It a whispered reassurance, Rachel fashion. "He's with you, not her. Don't over-think things. Now, go home."

"But..."

"You have something good with Luke 2.0, Brooke."

So she goes back home, and she hopes Jake is still sleeping. But, he isn't and his expression is so heartbreaking she wants to have never come home. She isn't good at this, hasn't been since Lucas broke her heart the first time. Before that even.

She had always been the love 'em and leave 'em type. She had tried with Lucas, Felix, and Chase. And failed every single time.

"You can't just up and leave like that. Not with Jenny in the other room, and especially not after the baby is born."

She goes on the defense. "Do you think I'd leave my baby?"

"Brooke, what do you think this is, a game? Not only am I invested in this, but so is Jenny! You wanted to be a family. In this family, there are children and not just your baby, but my daughter. When I agreed to this, I trusted you."

She doesn't miss the words 'yours' and 'my'. The lines have been drawn, and her vision is becoming blurry with tears. She should apologize, but her throat is closing up. And she imagines him with Peyton, and Peyton holding her little girl.

"I'm going to bed."

"Brooke."

He sounds so sad, defeated.

"I can be a single mom."

"I know."

"I could make it work."

"I know."

"But, I don't want to, Jake. I really don't."

He sighs, seemingly relieved. "And, you don't have to."

He begins to reach for her, and she silently wills him to, but he doesn't.

"I care about you, Brooke."

"I care about you, too."

He smiles, and her hearts swells almost painfully.

A/N- So, I am going back and rewriting some chapters. I wasn't liking where this story was going and decided to take it in a sightly different direction.