The Next Forever

Chapter Four

As I sat down with Liam, I noticed that Scott was still looking at Hillary.

"Liam, I'm going to go talk to Scott. I'll be right back."

He nods in response.

I approach Scott. "Hey. I see that you have a little something going on with Hillary." I say with a smirk.

"You noticed?" He said surprised.

"Yeah. It's not hard to tell that you like her. Why won't you go talk to her?"

"I'm scared too. Even though I shouldn't be."

"Yeah. You shouldn't be. Hillary has been waiting for a relationship where a guy would treat her right and love her for her. I see that you could do that. Now go talk to her. Maybe even ask her to dance."

"Okay. I'll try." He says quietly.

"Good luck." I wish him.

I walk back over to Liam. "What did you tell him?" He asks.

"He's been staring at Hillary for the past fifthteen minutes and I told him that he should ask her to dance."

"I could see them together." He claims.

"Well Hillary needs someone to take care of her when I can't. So I think Scott would be able to do that for me."

He nods agreeingly.

A few minutes pass. I realize that Scott moved. I look at Hillary. Scott and Hillary are laughing together. They are finally bonding.

I hear soft, slow music playing. I then make an observation that Hillary and Scott are both missing from they're seats. I then realize, they are dancing. How sweet.

Liam gets up and walks around the table. He walk over to me and grabs my hand.

"Dance with me?" He says smiling.

"Why of course." I say giggling.

Everyone around us suddenly dissappears. It's just Liam and I dancing alone. I look into his mysterious eyes. I lay my head on his warm shoulder. He then lays his head on my head. I feel safe in his muscular arms. I feel at home, at peace. My life is complete.

Liam lifts his head and looks at Scott. He chuckles. "Look at them."

I look over at Scott. He's holding her face and kissing her."Yeah, they'll date soon enough." I say gigging.

"Yep. I know Scott well enough that he wouldn't do that to any girl. She must be the one."

"I hope so." I say smiling.

Moments pass. I see Lorraine walk on the stage for a speech I suppose. Liam and I walk back and sit to listen.

"Good evening everyone. This really isn't a speech. It's something I thought Brooke should know about me."

I looked at her very confused. I know everything about her. Or at least I thought I did. She then continues.

"This is a little story that none of you know about me. This took a lot of courage to tell everyone this. When Brooke was 6, I had to give her up to an orphanage. I was homeless for a very long time. Her father left me shortly after I had her. He took all the money with him. That left me with barley anything. With no money, I lost the house, and the very little money I had hidden. At that moment, I realized was homeless. I started living under a bridge in California. One day I saw an old woman. She walked under the bridge and introduced herself. Her name was Nancy. She look as if she was in her eighty's. She told me to follow her. I asked her where we were going. I was received with no answer. I kept quiet. I wasn't in the best of shape. I had ripped clothes and nappy hair. I looked monstrous. I suddenly realized we were at the city bank. She took me to an empty office and sat me in a chair. She tells me that she owns this bank and she is a billionaire. She also said she was willing to give me a million dollars. She knew I had a daughter to take care of. I asked her why she even thought of doing this for me. "Because I was in the exact same place you are in now. Instead of a daughter, I had a son to take care of". The thought to why she would do this for me stood unanswered. Instead of asking, I simply smiled and said thank you. A couple of days pasted. Within those couple of days, I got clothing, a car, and a house. Today is the biggest day of my life. I finally get you back! Nancy took me to the orphanage. When arriving, I was worried about what would happen. Would you remember me? Would you even consider me being your mom? I didn't know what your reaction would be. We went in the orphanage. Nancy took me to the front desk and I heard her ask for Brooke Miller. Oh my goodness! Hearing that filled my heart with so much joy and happiness. The lady took us down a hall way. As I turn the corner, I see a tall, beautiful, brown hair, hazel eyed girl. I immediately open my arms. You ran and hugged me tight. Oh, I never thought I would see you again. This is the moment I've been waiting for. You're fifthteen now. It's been nine years since I saw you last. But I have you back and I won't let you go again.

My mother then looks at me and says "I'm not going to read anymore. Brooke, most of this you didn't know about. I'm sorry that this had to happen to both of us but look what came out of it. You have a wonderful husband, best friend, and family. I hope you're not upset with me. I should've told you sooner."

I suddenly get up and walk up to my mom.

"I'm not mad at you. I have no reason be mad at you. We couldn't prevent this from happening because we didn't see it coming. Yeah, I have an amazing family and I couldn't ask for a better one."

Lorraine's eyes started to pool.

"No, mom. Don't cry."

I turn to her and hug her tight. I whisper "I love you."

"I love you too."

Everyone started clapping and cheering. Everything seem to be in place now. Before, nothing fit and now it all makes sense.

Liam walks over to me.

"Well you learn something new everyday." He says.

"You're not mad at me are you?" I asked confused.

"No why would I be?"

"I don't know. I just feel like you would have different feelings for me now." I said.

"Brooke, my feelings for you are the same, just like they were in high school. Just more intense now because I just married my best friend." He says smiling.

I smiled and leaned up and kissed you.

Liam suddenly looks up and gasps.

"Brooke. It's our song! Care to dance with me, beautiful?" He says smiling.

"Totally." I say giggling.