Brooke's POV
Four months later
My speech to Julian seemed to have made a real difference, because he had stopped making comments on my health and tolerated when I did something he thought was wrong. Although he had stepped back a bit, I also knew that he still kept an eye on me in the background. Especially now that there were only three weeks before the expected date of our baby girl's delivery. This time it was indeed a little girl. With this my greatest wish became true, and I knew that Julian could hardly wait to hold our baby in his arms, too. Haley had called the previous day and had asked if I would like to have coffee and cake with her and Peyton for the last time before the delivery, and I had agreed. Placing my big belly behind a steering wheel hadn't been that easy but fortunately the ride had been short, so I hadn't stayed in that position for long. I was about to knock on the front door when Haley opened it.
"Brooke!" She exclaimed. "How nice to see you."
I frowned in confusion. "Why are you so surprised to see me? You invited me," I reminded her.
"Yes, that's right." She tapped on her forehead. "Sometimes I'm a bit forgetful." She quickly stepped out of the door and closed it. "Are you all right?" She asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled, pointing to the locked door. "Don't you want to go inside?" I saw her pacing back and forth, looking at the door nervously.
"Oh no," she said quickly. "I'm so stupid! I forgot to take my keys outside."
"Is anybody at home?" I asked, frowning. "Jamie, Nathan, or is Peyton already there?"
She shook her head quickly. "No, I'm alone," she said curtly.
"But I can hear that someone's there," I said, moving closer to the door. And indeed I could hear voices and suppressed laughter from inside. I put my hands on my hips. "Haley, what's going on here?" I demanded to know.
Embarrassed, she grinned and then knocked on the door, which was opened promptly. "You almost messed up our surprise," she said, letting me enter.
For a moment I held my breath surprised. Haley had redecorated the living room. Everywhere you looked, you saw pink balloons, stuffed animals, and on a line, stretched across the room, were baby bodysuits and huge pacifiers made of plastic. On the table were packages, all decorated with pink and white bows. I couldn't believe it. Haley had actually given me a baby shower party! And all of my friends had come, including my mother and Sylvia.
"Where are the twins?" I asked her startled, because we had actually agreed that she should take care of the twins, while I was at Haley for coffee and cake.
"They're upstairs, sleeping, with Lydia in the nursery," Haley explained reassuringly. "Sylvia wanted to attend the baby shower party, and since you asked her to take care of the twins, we had to find another solution."
Relieved, I exhaled and then let myself be hugged by everyone. "That was a great surprise," I said, after we had all sat down on the sofa and in the armchairs. "Thanks a lot! I can't believe I didn't find out before."
"We had already planned a baby shower party when you were pregnant with the twins," Peyton interjected. "But then they were born premature. And this time, we were hoping you'd be a little longer pregnant." She grinned. "And it worked."
I stroked my belly and smiled. "Yes, my baby girl is fortunately not in such a hurry as her brothers."
"Don't you want to unpack your gifts?" Sylvia asked pointing to the table, where several packages were piled up.
"I'm sure I'll be busy all day," I said with a grin, picking up the first gift. In fact, it really took several hours to unpack everything. But I enjoyed being the center of attention and laughing with my friends and sharing the latest gossip. The time just flew by. We had just finished drinking coffee when suddenly I felt a strange feeling of pressure in my lower abdomen. "Okay, I think I have to go pee," I said with a tight smile and got up slowly.
"I already wondered how you could wait so long," Peyton said with a grin. "When I was pregnant with Sawyer, I had to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes."
I didn't reply on her comment, but went straight to the bathroom. Something was wrong. I clearly could feel that. The feeling of pressure had become worse, and I instinctively began to breathe shallower. Were these already contractions? Only a few days ago I had the 'cerclage' removed again, which I had already had when I was pregnant with the twins. But the doctor had told me that it would take at least two more weeks before labor would start. But it felt different this time. I wasn't in pain, just felt that pressure in my lower abdomen. Maybe it meant nothing, and it was just normal in this state of pregnancy, I tried to calm myself. I took another deep breath and then walked back to the others.
"Brooke, are you okay?" Haley asked worriedly.
I was just about to reply that I was fine when I suddenly noticed something wet running down my legs and forming a puddle on the ground.
"Oh my God, Brooke! Your water just broke!"
I stared at the floor and only gradually realized what Peyton meant.
"Lie down, Brooke!"
Haley grabbed my arm and shoved me over to the sofa. Although I still couldn't feel any pain, I knew that labor had started. I burst into tears and reached for Sylvia's hand. "Please, can you call Julian?" I asked in a choked voice.
She looked up at Haley. "Shall I tell him to go to the hospital right away, or should he come here?"
"He should go to the hospital right away," she decided. "There we'll meet. I'll call the ambulance now. I can't risk to drive her in my car."
When Sylvia got up and went to the phone, my mother sat down next to me.
"Don't worry, my dear," she said in a calm voice. "Help is coming soon."
"Mom, I'm scared," I confessed and grabbed her hand. This time I wanted a natural childbirth, but as it seemed, my baby girl had other plans. Tears of despair were running down my cheeks. Luckily, the ambulance didn't take very long, because when it finally arrived, I also felt the first contractions. Haley was at my side during the drive to the hospital, holding my hand as I tried to breathe through the labor pains.
"Peyton, your mother and Sylvia are coming as well," Haley said, wiping my sweaty forehead. "And Julian is already waiting in the hospital."
"I'm... sorry..." I stammered.
"What do you mean?" She asked confused.
"I ruined your... baby shower party." I grabbed her hand and squeezed hard as another contraction hit me.
"You didn't ruin anything. Don't worry about it. The important thing is that you get to the hospital as soon as possible so that your baby can be born."
Somehow, I no longer really believed that we would make it to the hospital in time, because in the meantime the contractions followed so quickly that there was no break between them. But finally, the ambulance arrived in time, and they quickly brought me to the delivery room, where Julian was already waiting for us. He switched places with Haley and took my hand. I could see the fear and concern in his eyes as he bent over me. I had expected that they would bring me right to the OR to make the c-section. But apparently it was too late this time, because when the doctor asked me to push, it took only a few minutes until a soft whimpering was filling the room. Julian had tears in his eyes as he bent down and kissed me.
"You made it, Brooke."
"Congratulations!" said the doctor. "It's a girl."
It was different this time. I was allowed to keep my baby with me right away after the delivery. I gently stroked her small back and the little head, where you could already see fine hair fluff. Although she was three weeks early, she was stronger than the twins and healthy. I looked at Julian. "Are we giving her the name we had decided before?" I asked him.
He first looked at me and then stroked gently the baby's cheek.
"Welcome to Tree Hill, Isabella Baker," he said smiling.
It was several hours later, Isabella slept quietly in her cot beside the bed, as Julian lay down next to me and put me in his arms. "Are you happy?" He asked softly.
"Perfectly happy," I confessed and snuggled closer to him. "Do you remember when I told you back then that I was scared we would destroy it someday?"
He nodded. "Why do you remember this now?" He asked, frowning.
"I'm not scared anymore," I confessed to him softly. "I know now that this with us will go on forever."
He looked deep into my eyes. "Our love will last forever. I promise you that, Brooke."
As he leaned over to me, I put my hands behind his neck and pulled him down until our lips met. There was a shared future ahead of us, and I looked forward to what would come. I had always been in doubt of my future because I had been afraid of the unknown. But now with Julian by my side, I knew he would support me no matter what would happen in the future. Trustingly, I snuggled closer to him, closed my eyes and dreamed of an unknown future.