The Other James ~~ One Tree Hill FanFiction

Part 15

A/N:

WE HIT 1000 READS GUYS OMG!!!!

S5E15

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None of us had really gotten any sleep since Angie came into the home. Brooke has yet to get any of her work done too.

"You guys go on, I got her." I said, pushing them out of the room, "Go... mingle or something."

I turned back to Angie in her crib who had stopped crying, "There we go!" I smiled, picking her up and bouncing her, "You gotta keep this up, okay? Mamma and Aunt Peyton have a lot going on with work and need your help!"

I took a seat in one of the chairs and reclined it back, noticing she had fallen asleep. With all the stillness and how quiet it was, it didn't take me long to fall asleep along with her.

***

We entered Brooke's store as one giant clutter. I was carrying the baby while Brooke had all of her work.

"Have you finished the sketches?" Milly asked, taking some things from Brooke.

"Sketches? What?" Brooke questioned, obviously feeling stressed.

"For the Macy's deal?" Milly finished.

"Oh... no, I haven't! We haven't gotten much sleep really." Brooke sighed.

"Why don't I take her for the day? You could get work done and I can take her to go meet some people." I offered.

Brooke let out a breath, "I appreciate you so much... and you are such an amazing father. I would not be getting through this without you. I love you." Brooke smiled, giving me a kiss.

***

"She is one cute kid, huh?" Carter smiled, playing with Angie's feet.

"Yeah... too bad we can't keep her." I sighed, "We only have her until she heals after surgery and then we send her back home."

"Well, if you and Brooke didn't help her then who would?"

I nodded and bit my cheek, watching the way Carter interacted with her. "Do you know anything about her issue?" he asked.

I shook my head, "All we know is it involves her heart... guess she's taking after me!" I teased, trying to not think about it.

"What's the deal with that, anyway? How does Brooke feel about it?" he asked.

"I just have medication I need to take, nothing too serious. Brooke... it worries her but she knows I'm okay." I paused, glancing up at him, "How do we do this? Just dive in to this relationship or whatever we're doing?"

I shrugged, "I didn't plan on diving in, son. I planned on taking baby-steps." he smiled.

"Sounds like a plan to me." I smiled, looking back to Angie, "But we gotta head out, huh? Got a birthday boy to go see."

"Till next time then." Carter smiled, waving goodbye as we drove off.

***

I arrived at Jamie's party the same time Brooke had pulled in.

"Thank you so much... Did you have a good father-daughter day?" Brooke smiled, placing a kiss on my cheek.

I smirked, "Yeah... sure did."

Once inside, I found Jamie and swooped him over my shoulder. 

"Uncle Tobes, put me down!" He laughed.

"Why? It's not like it's your birthday or anything!"

"It is too! I'm 5!"

I placed him back on the ground, "I know, I know... that's why I got you this!" I smiled, handing him my gift.

He opened it quickly and smiled as he wrapped the necklace over his head, "Cool! Why a necklace?"

"Well," I said, pulling out mine, "Your mom got me this one. So now, we can match and it can remind us that no matter where we are we have each other..."

"Thanks, I love it." He smiled, giving me a quick hug before heading back to the party.

"That was sweet." Brooke said, as I stood back up.

"Oh, I know. Aren't I just the sweetest?" I joked, giving her a squeeze. "You're doing good, Brooke. Just so you know."

"So are you." She smiled.

***

"I HAVE to get these sketches done." Brooke sighed, trying to calm Angie down.

I just laughed and shook my head, "Give her here."

She handed over Angie and began working on her sketches. I played with her and made faces which got her to stop crying, but still no smile yet. I glanced over at Brooke, who was already looking at me.

"I don't think you'll get much done if you're looking at me!" I smiled.

She breathed out a laugh, "I know... I'm just mesmerized by how much I love you."

I gave her a smirk and turned back to Angie, but Brooke broke the silence again.

"Do you ever think about the past? Miss being 16? Wish you could go back?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think about it a lot... of course I miss it. But, that's the past. The only reason I would ever wanna go back is to change or fix my regrets... but we all have regrets. I love my life now, with you, and I wouldn't want to change that for anything." I smiled. 

After Brooke finished her sketches, she joined Angie and I on the couch. Not long after, we all fell asleep together. We were one, tangled family.

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No A/N

till next time!

*kelsey*