Every Rose Has It's Thorn

Part One. ( edited )

"Ava-Rose, can you grab me some napkins while you're behind the counter?" Karen asked her daughter.

Ava nodded and did as she was told, grabbing more napkins than necessary, in true Ava Fashion.
"I got 'em!" She giggled and skipped over to her mother and Haley, her brother's best friend.

And by default, Haley was her best friend, too.

"Okay, you did not need this many napkins." Haley chortled, rolling her eyes. "You're so silly."

Ava stuck her tongue out at the teen and sat down at the table opposite her mother.

Well, adoptive mother.

She was only Lucas' half-sister with Dan Scott as their father.

See, seventeen years ago, Dan Scott and Karen Roe were high schoolers, seriously in love with one another.

Or so they thought.

Dan didn't want to put his life on hold for a child that hadn't even been born yet, so he decided to go to college, leaving Karen alone to raise the baby on her own with no one but his older brother, Keith, to help her through.

Three months after Lucas was born, Karen found out that Dan had found another woman, Deb Lee and the two had a son, Nathan.

So, making the smart choice, Karen decided to cut Dan out of her life for good. It just wasn't worth all the stress.

But lo and behold, nine years later, a woman showed up to her front door, begging her for help. She was holding a little baby girl, wrapped in a pink blanket, with the name Havana-Rose Scott stitched onto it, a pacifier was keeping her calm and quiet.

Nine months earlier, Dan and Deb had been going through a rocky point in their relationship and were on the brink of divorce. Deb, unbeknownst to Nathan and Dan, had an affair.

But so did Dan.

He had met a beautiful woman at a bar and they immediately hit it off. They liked the same things, had big dreams that had been taken away from them, and they had both been hurting and in need of company when they found each other.

They had only seen each other once, but a few months later, the woman found out she was pregnant. She was far too scared to even let Dan know, so she kept the baby a secret from him.

But she couldn't keep her.

Funnily enough, the woman had grown up in Tree Hill and had turned to Whitey for help. He directed her to Karen, so she tracked her down and told her everything.

Karen, without hesitation, agreed to take the child in as her own and loved and cherished her they way she did Lucas.

"Hey, Mom." The seventeen year old smiled as he entered the cafe.

The three women had already started to eat without him, but he hadn't missed much of the meal.

"Hey, hon." Karen greeted, stuffing some food in her mouth. "Mmm."

"It smells good in here. Did you change your hair?"

"If by 'change' you mean, 'dragged a brush through it', then yeah." Karen couldn't help but joke.

"Well, it looks nice."

"Thank you." Karen moved the plate of brownies out of Ava's reach and wagged a finger at her. "So, honey, how was your day?"

"Good, thanks." Haley jumped in before Lucas could even begin to answer. "Good', is relative, considering a third of the world is starving, which doesn't change the fact that I am super clumsy. Did I tell you that I fell down today?" She rambled, making Ava giggle maniacally. "Yeah, slipped off the curb, face down, butt in the air......too graphic?" She cringed as Karen nodded. "Sorry, I'll just be quiet."