Not the best chapter in my opinion but, all I could come up with lol

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Celeste had fallen asleep not long after she had arrived at home. She hadn’t meant to but, it just happened. She didn’t understand why she had been so tired once she got home. It’s not like she had done much that day. Celeste woke up to something tapping her cheek. Groggily opening her eyes she came face to face with Brooklyn. Blinking her eyes a few times she looked back at Brook. Was her eyes playing tricks on her?

“Morning, mommy” Brook smiled. Nope, Brook was definitely there. She thought to herself.

“What are you doing here?” Celeste asked pushing herself into a sitting position.

“We came to pick you up,” Nate answered walking into the room. 

“What happened to sneaking in last night?” Celeste yawned with a teasing glint in her eye.

“I would have if it wasn’t for this little one,” Nate replied ruffling Brooklyn’s hair making her giggle. “She kept waking up last night,”

“That’s okay,” Celeste smiled “I fell asleep once I got home anyways,”

“Well, that’s good,” he nodded “You needed the rest.”

Celeste’s mind went back to the things they had done the other night and blushed. She looked up at Nate who was grinning down at her. Narrowing her eyes, Celeste slipped out of bed and situated Brooklyn on her hip. She sauntered out of her room with Nate trailing behind her, chuckling to himself. He had done that on purpose. Aaron was sitting at the table with his arms crossed over his chest. Celeste narrowed her eyes at the smirk on his face. He had no reason to be smirking.

“Lovin’ the bed head, sis.” said Aaron, he looked over at Nate. “I don’t know how you can be able to wake up looking at that in the morning.”

“She still looks beautiful to me,” Nate shrugged, kissing Celeste’s cheek and taking a seat at the table.

Aaron snorted. “Kiss ass,” 

“You know it,” Nate grinned

Celeste rolled her eyes at them and began making Brooklyn a plate of food. She wondered when Nate and her older brother became all buddy, buddy. When Aaron had first found out that she would be working with Nate for their project, Aaron didn’t even want her around Nate. Now though, something had to have happened that Celeste didn’t know about. First he’s all okay about her staying at Nate’s house and now they’re joking around. Something was definitely up.

Throughout out breakfast Aaron and Nate were off in their own conversation while Celeste helped Brooklyn with her meal. Celeste blocked out whatever they were saying since it obviously did not pertain to her. The door bell ringing had Celeste standing from her chair and going to see who was at the door. Opening the door Celeste’s mouth fell open in shock. There she was standing on Celeste’s door step, Samantha.

“What the heck are you doing here?” Celeste hissed “How the hell did you even know where I lived?”

“I have me ways.” replied Samantha “As for what I’m doing here, well, we both know the answer to that question. You have something I want, two things to be exact.”

“Nate and Brook are not just objects that you can throw away and take back whenever the hell you want to,” Celeste snapped. How dare this girl come over to her house acting as if she owned Nate and Brooklyn. What the heck was wrong with her? “Nate was a one night stand and you gave Brooklyn up. By, law you have absolutely no rights to her not even the right to pop up whenever you feel like it.”

“I should never had done that in the first place and I want my family!” Samantha hissed

“They are not your family,” said Celeste shaking her head.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy,” Brooklyn sang running over to Celeste and wrapping her tiny arms around Celeste’s legs.

“She isn’t you’re mommy,” Samantha snapped pulling Brooklyn away from Celeste.

“Mommy,” Brooklyn cried holding her arms out toward Celeste.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Celeste hissed trying to grab Brooklyn from her crazy biological mother. Celeste watched on as Brooklyn continued to cry as Samantha held onto her arm. “Let her go,”

“She’s my daughter, not your’s!” snapped Samantha 

“Give her to me,” Celeste said calmly. She didn’t want to just grab Brooklyn in fear of her getting hurt. 

“You are not taking my daughter from me,” 

“Either you give her to me or I take her,” Celeste said “Neither one of us wants her to get hurt so just giver her here,”

“Screw you,” Samantha spat.

“Close your eyes, baby,” Celeste whispered to Brooklyn. Brooklyn squeezed her eyes tightly as her chin trembled and tears felling down her cheeks. 

“Don’t talk to my daughter!” Samantha growled. What the hell did she think she was, a dog?

Celeste looked down at Brooklyn making sure her eyes were still closed. Noticing that they were Celeste reeled her arm back and before Samantha could process what was happening she swung her arm forward and Celeste’s closed fist connected with Samantha’s nose. Samantha’s hand flew to her nose and Celeste pulled Brooklyn into her arms. Nate had walked to the front door in time to see Celeste punch Sam in the face. He had been wondering what was taking her so long and was stunned to see the reason why.

“What’s going on?” he asked walking over to Celeste who was cradling his crying daughter in her arms.

“You deal with that,” Celeste snapped pointing to a bloodied Samantha “I need to calm her down.” Celeste picked up Brooklyn and walked into the house without waiting for a reply from Nate. 

Celeste was mad. No she was beyond mad, she was livid. Yeah she had a short temper at times but she was never violent. Samantha just seemed to bring it out in her. She probably wouldn’t have done anything but, Brooklyn was involved and Celeste wasn’t about to let anything to happen to that little girl. Aaron raised his brow when Celeste walked pass the kitchen but said nothing. He knew better then to ask question when his little sister was in one of her moods and by the looks of it she was in one of them now. 

Nate stood at the front door staring at Sam, he didn’t know what to do. He would offer her some help but, she really didn’t deserve it. He knew that Sam had to have done something really bad for Celeste to hit her. On top of that his little girl was crying and he had no doubt in his mind that it had something to do with Sam.

“What did you do to my daughter?” asked Nate. His voice calm but his insides were raging. If Sam had done something to Brooklyn it would take everything Nate had in him not to strike her the way Celeste had. 

“Don’t you mean our daughter?” Sam spat, her voice muffled by her hands.

“No, I meant what I said. True she biologically your daughter but, by law you’re nothing to her and she is nothing to you.” said Nate. “You need to leave Sam, go back to wherever the hell it is you came from. If you set foot at this house or my house again I will have you arrested for trespassing.”

“Don’t threaten me Nate cause I could have you’re little bitch thrown in jail for assault.” hissed Sam. She wasn’t below calling the cops herself and getting that home wreaking slut arrested. 

“Go ahead,” Nate said crossing his arms over his chest. “While you’re at it you can tell them how your been harassing us. Now, back on point what the fuck did you do to make my daughter cry?”

“I ain’t telling you shit,” Sam hissed “Tell your tramp to watch her back, never know when the cops might come knocking or who’s waiting in the shadows.”

Nate didn’t get a chance to retort before Sam turned on her heels and stalked off to a car parked in front of the house. He sighed and closed the front door, walking back to the kitchen Nate sat back at the table. What was it going to take to get rid of Samantha Cohen? He didn’t know but, he need to figure it out fast. Nate wasn’t sure how much more he could take of that girl and he didn’t want to lose Celeste because of it. When Nate looked up he noticed that Aaron was still sitting at the table looking at him with a raised brow.

“So, you wanna tell me what’s going on or am I going to have to wait for Cece to calm down?” Aaron asked 

“Brooklyn’s mother is being her crazy self,” Nate replied with a sigh. “It’s a bit of a long story,”

“A story that’s going to have to wait till later,” Celeste said walking into the kitchen. “Right now I think we should take Brooklyn for a milkshake.”

“Momma Cece is on the move,” Aaron chuckled 

“Shut up Aaron,” Celeste sighed leaving the room and heading for the front door.

“Run along Nate, your master is waiting,” Aaron teased

“Don’t even try and act like Nina doesn’t have you by the balls,” Nate shot back at the same time Aaron’s phone rang.

“Hey babe,” Aaron grinned answering his phone, “Yeah, I’ll come pick you up right now.”

“By the balls,” Nate whispered cupping his hand in the air and shaking it.

Aaron gave him the finger and Nate walked out of the kitchen laughing. When he stepped outside he found Celeste and Brook waiting next to his truck. He walked over to them and kissed his daughter on the cheek before pressing a kiss to Celeste’s cheek.

“You okay?” he asked brushing her cheek with his fingers.

“I’d be a lot better if Sam wasn’t around,” Celeste admitted with a sigh. 

“Me too,” he nodded opening the door for Celeste and taking Brooklyn from her arms. 

With Nate in the truck they all headed off to Danny’s. Celeste was in need a cool down and a milkshake was just what the doctor ordered. Nate held onto Celeste hands through the whole drive occasionally kissing her knuckles. The same knuckles that were starting to bruise from the punch she delivered to Samantha. Celeste glanced over at Nate as he kissed her knuckles again and smiled. Being with him always made her feel better and after the incident that just took place not long ago she needed to be with him. Just him. And Brooklyn.

In no time Nate pulled into Danny’s parking lot. Celeste got out first and went to take Brook out of her seat, holding her closely. Nate walked around the truck and wrapped his arm around Celeste shoulders, leading her into the diner. The trio took a seat in one of the open booths near the window, Celeste keeping Brooklyn in her lap. She just did not want to let her go. Nate watch his two favorite girl and frowned. There was a making of a bruise on Brooklyn’s arm, he couldn’t recall how she got it. 

“What happened?” asked Nate reaching across the table and running his fingers along his daughters arm.

“Samantha, pulled Brooklyn away from me when she came running to the front door.” Celeste whispered looking down at the bruise. “I knew that her grip was a too tight but I didn’t want to just snatch Brook away and risk hurting her so I hit Sam instead causing her to let go.”

“When we’re done here we’ll go down to the sheriffs office,” Nate hissed. He was trying real hard not to lash out in front of his daughter but, the fact that she had a bruise thanks to Sam was not helping any. He did not want Brook seeing him like that. A hand on his had him breaking away from his murderous thoughts. Nate looked down at his hand to see Celeste’s holding on to his rubbing the back of it gently. 

Nate took a deep breath and let it out slowly as Danny walked over with three milkshakes and a large helping of fries. By the looks of it the couple sitting in front of him need a lot more then fries and shakes. Danny placed the items on the table and smiled at them. The smiles he got in return weren’t the cheery ones he was used to getting. It made him wonder just what had happened before they had gotten to his diner. 

“You kid’s alright?” he asked 

“Yeah,” Celeste nodded sending him a small smile. 

“Alrighty then, if you want anything else let me know,” said Danny before he walked back to the counter.

Brooklyn was the first to reach for the fries so Celeste let got of Nate’s hand to help her out. She didn’t want Brook burning her fingers on the freshly made fries. Celeste put a few fries onto a napkin and set them aside to cool down before grabbing a shaking and helping Brook with it. Nate couldn’t bring himself to touch his shakes or the fries just yet, he was content with just gazing at the two most important girls in his life.

“Aren’t you gonna have some?” Celeste asked motioning to Nate’s untouched milkshake and the tray of fries. 

“In a bit,” Nate nodded

“Okay,” Celeste whispered and got back to her own shake while helping Brooklyn.

Danny stood behind the counter and watched the trio with a smile. Celeste would make a good mother one day, she already reminded him of her own mother. Every time Celeste walked into the diner it felt like Danny was looking at younger version of her mother. It was such a shock to the town when Celeste’s parents had died. They were always so involved with everything and always tried to help everyone out. At one point Danny’s diner had hit a rough patch and Celeste’s parents were right there doing everything that they could to help him out. 

Celeste and Brooklyn had finished off their milkshakes and half of the fries before Nate got half way through his shake. Celeste could tell that his mind wasn’t really with them at the moment and she didn’t fault him for it. Her mind had been in turmoil as well ever since Samantha showed up on her door step. She really needed to find out how Samantha had known where she lived. Celeste didn’t want the girl coming back to her house, if she did the girl would get more then a punch to the face, she would be arrested for trespassing. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Nate said standing from the table and tossing a twenty on to it. It would be more then enough for their little meal. Celeste just nodded and lift Brooklyn into her arms as she stood as well. 

Celeste followed Nate out to his truck and got in without a word. She didn’t know where they were going but, figured that they’d probably be going down to the sheriffs office. As she gazed out of the window she spotted the familiar building. Nate parked the truck and they all got out. Celeste wasn’t sure what was going to happened once they got in there and talked with Sheriff Brown but, she hoped that all went well. Nate wrapped his free arm around Celeste shoulders while he held Brooklyn in the other. The sheriff was unsurprisingly not busy when they showed up which wasn’t all that unusual. Not a whole lot ever happened in Hilton Valley so Sheriff Brown was hardly ever doing anything. He must of been bored out of his mind day in and day out. 

Celeste took a seat while Nate when over to talk to him. She would tell what she needed to when she needed to but, until then Celeste was just going to do. . .well nothing. She didn’t really want to be at there at the moment. Celeste would rather have been at home snuggled up with a good book or doing something else with Nate and Brooklyn. That was going to have to wait, obviously. 

It took them nearly three hours to finally be able to leave the Sheriffs office. By that time Brooklyn was fussing up a storm. She needed a nap. During their time there Celeste was the one who spoke to the Sheriff there wasn’t much that Nate could say since he hadn’t seen or heard everything that had happened that morning. The only thing that they would have a hard time with was finding Samantha. Well maybe not that hard but, neither Celeste nor Nate knew where she was staying so they couldn’t point the sheriff in the right direction. For right now though, Celeste did not want to think about Sam or what was going to happen when she was found. 

“You wanna go back to my place?” Nate asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. 

“Sure,” Celeste nodded from the back seat. She had chosen to sit in the back to keep Brook company and keep her from crying for the time being. 

They arrived at Nate’s house in less then ten minutes and by that time Brooklyn had fallen asleep. Celeste carried Brooklyn to her room and laid her in bed. As she looked down at the little girl she felt bad. She wished that she could have prevented Sam from bruising Brook’s arm. Nate wrapped his arm around Celeste’s shoulders and led her over to his room. It had been a long morning and they both needed to just relax. He laid on his bed and pulled Celeste down next to him, wrapping his arms around her. 

“Hopefully we wont have to deal with Sam again,” Nate whispered and kissed Cece’s hair.

“Yeah, hopefully” she agreed

Celeste and Nate fell asleep wrapped in each others arms both hoping that their run in with Samantha earlier would be their last. If Celeste never saw that girl again it would be too soon. She knew though, if Sam decided to come back again Celeste would do everything that she could to keep Brooklyn away. Brook didn’t need someone like Samantha in her life. She was better off without her just like Sam had wanted int the first place.