Julian's POV
Julian's Office, Tree Hill
A week had passed since we returned from L.A. We had visited the lawyer again, who had told us that Markham had gotten in touch with him and had consented to the custody process. Inconceivable for Brooke and me he actually had applied to get custody of Justin. A devastating information for both of us, though Brooke had suffered even more. She'd broken down crying in the law firm and her fragile state hadn't improved since then. She slept badly, ate little and suffered from nausea. I was starting to really worry about her health. In the presence of Justin, she tried not to show her sorrow. She laughed and played with him and often went to Haley in the afternoon so the boys could play together.
"You get wrinkles early if you continue to frown."
I looked up and wiped my eyes. "Hi, Dad. What's up?" I asked indifferently.
"I've been thinking of how to save the movie," he said, sitting down on a chair.
"Do you have an idea?"
"What would you think if we were going to alter it in a series?" He asked. "The book is so complex that you could easily make a multi-parter of it. And TV series are very popular these days."
I frowned at him. What he just suggested had also crossed my mind before we started shooting the movie. "Sounds interesting," I agreed.
"We could start from scratch and also cast new actors for the roles." He gestured with his hands. "We can ask those we already have under contract, if they would be willing to play in a series. We would have to renew the contracts. But if we could find a new 'Brooke' it would save us a lot of trouble."
"Yes, I know." I sighed and brushed a strand of hair from my forehead. "Today is Chelsea's funeral," I said in a low voice.
"How is Brooke?"
I looked at him in surprise. It was the first time he asked for her. She hadn't really been his first choice of a daughter-in-law, but gradually he seemed to have accepted that we were married.
"I saw her the other day. She looked awful." He frowned. "She worries about the little boy, doesn't she?"
I nodded. "I have never seen her like this before. She walks around like a zombie."
"Your mother wants to move to Tree Hill," he suddenly changed the subject.
I jerked my head and stared at him bewildered. "What?"
"I told her about your situation and now she wants to come to Tree Hill to support you," he said, smiling wryly. "She called me earlier that she's already on her way here. I'll pick her up later from the airport."
"What has gotten into you to tell her about it?" I gasped. "Brooke and Mom under one roof that's like... pouring oil into a fire!"
"Don't overreact, Julian." He frowned.
"I'm not overreacting. You don't know how bad Mom had treated Brooke back then. She called her a slut." I rolled my eyes. "Mom hates Brooke. And in Brooke's fragile state, I won't let her near her."
"Your mother is coming to help, not to insult your wife," he said. "Besides, that happened years ago. After her withdrawal treatment and months in the clinic for drug addicts, your mother has become a new person. Just give her a chance. "
"'Where will she live?" I asked warily.
"I thought she could live with you and Brooke. The house is big enough."
"With us?" I looked at my father dumbfounded. "You're not serious, are you? I haven't even talked with Brooke about it. That's still her house. I can't just let someone live in her house without her permission."
"You are married. The two of you share everything that both of you have." He shrugged. "What's mine is yours, too. Or something like that. Or didn't they recite that sentence during your rash wedding in Las Vegas?" He asked mockingly.
My hands involuntarily clenched into fists, while I struggled for control. "Out!" I yelled at my father.
"Julian..."
"No. I don't want to hear anything anymore! And tell Mom, if you pick her up from the airport, that she should take a room in a hotel." I jumped up quickly. "And now excuse me. I have to go to a funeral."
Brooke's POV
Haley's house
"Okay, Justin," I explained patiently as I looked down at him. "You're staying with Haley and Jamie today. You like that, don't you?" When he nodded, I felt tears in my eyes. Today was the funeral of his mommy. And I had thought about whether or not we should take him with us. But finally, Julian and I had come to the decision that it was best to leave him at Haley's. The funeral would be too overwhelming for him, and he was too young to understand that the mortal remains of his mommy had been burned and then buried deep in the ground. Especially, since we already had told him that his mommy was an angel now, living in heaven. I took a deep breath before finally knocking on Haley's door.
"Hey, Brooke! Hello, Justin! Do you want to go to Jamie right now? He is already waiting for you."
Haley opened the door to let us in, when an awful smell reached me that made me instantly sick. "Ugh, that smells terrible! What's that?" I blurted and covered my nose.
"I baked cookies."
"Cookies?" I stammered, carefully taking my hand away. But the bad smell stayed. I noticed that Haley was frowning at me.
"Brooke, are you alright? You are white as a sheet."
I was about to say that I was fine when a gush of nausea came over me that made my knees tremble. I pressed my hand over my mouth and ran to the bathroom. After I had thrown up my breakfast completely and was just wiping my mouth with a cloth, I noticed Haley standing in the doorway. In the hurry I had totally forgotten to lock up.
"How long has this been going on?" She asked, coming closer.
"What do you mean?" I asked puzzled.
"The nausea, the dislike of certain smells?" She listed.
I thought about it for a moment. "About a week." I rubbed my stomach. "You know that I suffer from stomach problems when I'm under stress. Even as a teenager, I had problems with it."
"Yeah, I can remember exactly when that had been," she said dryly.
The look she gave me made me nervous. "Seriously? I can't remember." But the moment I said it, I knew it was a lie. I suddenly remembered the last time I had reacted so badly to smells. But Haley was quicker.
"You're pregnant, Brooke!"
"No," I stammered faintly. "That... that's impossible."
"When was the last time you had your menstruation?"
I looked at her as if I had just awakened from a dream. "I have no idea. The last few weeks have been very stressful. I have always had my cycle irregular. Besides, I always took the pill on a regular basis."
"All that may be so," Haley said, frowning. "But the symptoms are unmistakable. You couldn't stand the smell of my cookies neither at that time. This has something to do with the hormones." She opened the bathroom cabinet, rummaged in it, and then brought out a pregnancy test.
I stared in horror at her, then at the test. "Not now," I stammered. "I have to go to a funeral."
"Then hurry up." She held the test under my nose.
I took it and noticed how my hand was shaking. "Why do you have such a test in your cabinet anyway?" I looked at her questioningly.
She rolled her eyes. "A few months ago, I thought I was pregnant again. But it was a false alarm. I bought a dozen of them. Three or four are left. So if this one doesn't show a clear result, then there are more."
"It's a relief to know that," I said wryly, then took a deep breath. "I really don't want to do that right now," I said, looking at Haley with a pained expression. "What if it turns out that I'm really pregnant? What should I say to Julian then? He believes that I can't have children."
"He knows you can get pregnant, right? I mean, getting pregnant or keeping it are two different things."
I lowered my head. "I... I haven't told him yet," I confessed embarrassed.
"Brooke!"
"I thought it wouldn't be necessary to tell him, Hales," I said desperately. "He just had to know that I can't have children."
"Which is technically incorrect." Haley rolled her eyes. "You see what happens when you lie."
I looked at the clock. "I really don't have time anymore," I said, handing her the test back and then leaving the bathroom.
"Brooke, wait!"
She ran after me and caught me at the front door.
"Take this with you. I don't need it anyway. And you should do the test soon, that you can be sure and think about what to do next if you're pregnant."
Hesitating, I took the test and put it in my purse. "Okay," I said in a slightly trembling voice.
"And no matter what the result will be. I'm here for you." She hugged me one more time and then opened the door to let me go.