Author's note: Set in the future, Jamie is almost and everyone else is aged mostly accordingly. Leyton moved back to Tree Hill a few years earlier. Everything else is either explained or just ask and I'll explain it. This is an update from the original posting, since I didn't like the romantic interest's name anymore. Enjoy!

Jamie couldn't believe it. He had to babysit for the squirts AGAIN. Not just Lydia, either. Sawyer, Sarah and Davis too. His dad had texted him before baseball asking him to watch them because they were going to a Bobcats game with Lucas, Peyton, Clay and Quinn, and Brooke and Julian were at some fashion show.

"Great," he though as the grabbed his baseball stuff. "Maybe they'll disappear after they eat so Chuck and I can play video games or something."

When he got to the locker room, he found Nathan already there, and chuckled as always, remembering where his name came from. And from his father's descriptions, the Nathan apple didn't fall far from his parents' tree. Jamie felt bad for the kid though, and he really was pretty talented, so Jamie had taken the sophomore under his wing for the time being.

"Hey man, you got big plans tonight?" Nathan pestered him, making lewd gestures the whole time referring, of course, to his long-time crush Beth.

"Nah just found out I gotta babysit. Parents're going out of town again." Jamie didn't like to expose how high profile his family was if at all possible, and so far he'd been pretty successful. Playing off the big house and expensive cars as "family money" and not mentioning his parents' jobs as much as possible really helped.

When he'd said that, Nathan looked like someone had just kicked his puppy and Jamie couldn't help but add "You..wanna come over and hang out? You, me and Chuck?" knowing full well Chuck hated Nathan. He couldn't help it though, he just looked so sad. They would wind up having fun, whatever they did, so he didn't feel so bad. Chuck would be alright. That is, if he didn't kill Nathan and get caught doing it.

Nate jumped at the opening. "Yeah man! Totally! I'll bring snacks!" he yelled as he ran out the door, almost tripping over the threshold. Jamie shook his head as he texted Chuck "Hang out tonight? I'm on squirt duty again. Nathan's coming, don't kill him. Dinner at 6:30." He didn't wait for a response because he was already late and his dad was running drills, threw his stuff in his locker and jogged out onto the field.

Practice got done around 5:30, and Jamie jogged toward the locker room to grab his stuff and get home. His dad put his hand on his shoulder to stop him at the door and said, "We appreciate this, Jamie. Really. We owe you one." with the trademark Scott grin, and Jamie couldn't help but stay frustrated with him. He watched his dad jog off toward the car, arguing with Haley on the phone.

By the time he had gotten showered and drove home, it was just after 6. He knew from prior mishaps that unless he fed them before they asked for it, things weren't going to end will for anyone. He got some pasta started for mac n cheese and got some hot dogs out. Easy dinner and the kids loved it. "Food of the gods," his mom called it, and everyone related seemed to love it. 10 minutes later, the hot dogs were almost done and the pasta was being mixed with the cheese and he called up the stairs to all the kids. First, as always, came Davis and Sarah bounding down the stairs. As the youngest, they were always excited to spend time with Jamie. Lydia and Sawyer came down more leisurely, the dangerous "teenage years" beginning to affect them negatively.

Jamie looked all of them, sitting their slurping down their food and wondered to himself how amazing it was that they all were so close despite major differences between them. Lydia and Sawyer were very much their mothers' daughters, into music more than anything else with the sass to back it up. Davis was a product of Julian's male-ness and the influence of Nathan, Clay, and Jamie, making him a boys-boy but not a lunkhead like Nathan had been in high school. And then there was Sarah. The baby of all of them, but quick to prove herself. A true James, but with so much of Clay in her that she was always up for a good time. Despite their differences, all 5 of them, spanning 7 years age difference, were the closest group of kids in Tree Hill at the time. He loved watching the younger ones interact and see them look up to him and his buddies, and his parents loved watching it too.

Chuck got there around 7 – late as usual – just as the kids were finishing up dinner, and the song and dance that usually came with Chuck began.

"What up squirts! Mac n cheese again! I'm beginning to think that's all this guy can cook!" he hollered as he walked into the kitchen. "CHUCKED!" he yelled as he went for Jamie, but Jamie had learned by now and blocked him, putting him in a headlock as the kids giggled.

As he was set free, Chuck grabbed a spoonful of the pasta from the pot, "Not as good as your mom's! Hey-ohhh" talking as he chewed. The kids cackled again, as Jamie groaned and tossed a dish towel at him. "Dude! Come on, not with the squirts around" he ribbed, jokingly.

"Fine, fine, fine" Chuck conceded. He grabbed a bowl, filled it, and plopped down between Davis and Sarah. He began joking with them, eating out of their bowls and they ate out of his, them giggling the entire time. Jamie was honestly sort-of surprised that Chuck was so good with the kids. Guess it really does only take one generation to turn it all around, huh he thought, thinking back to his childhood and his Grampa Dan's parenting style, Chuck's less than present parents, and Quentin's immediate acceptance of him as a part of the Ravens. He was proud of Chuck for being the break in the chain in his family, and for how he handled Sarah and Davis.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Lydia and Sawyer moving to get up. "Hey, you two. Don't think you're getting away without washing your dishes. Get over there and rinse those bowls before you run back upstairs to do your girlie things" Jamie scolded, even though the last few words were in a ridiculously silly high voice. Sawyer rolled her eyes and Lydia just smirked as they complied. "And try to keep it down to a dull roar this time, why don't you." Jamie used his mother's favorite phrase, knowing it would get a rise out of Lydia, who retorted with "meh meh meh meh dull roar meh meh meh" and danced up the stairs.

"C'mon snots, lets go find something to do that'll for sure get both of us in trouble. Whatdya say, huh? Would you two be interested in that?" Chuck enticed the younger pair with an eyebrow waggle. They enthusiastically jumped down to wash their own bowls, dragging Chuck along with them.

"Don't do anything illegal!" Jamie called after them, as they ran down the hall to do God-knows-what.

After Jamie had finished cleaning up the kitchen, he walked into the TV room to find Sarah and Davis playing Mario Kart with Chuck, and Chuck was obviously letting them win. He stood behind them for a little while, just watching Chuck interact with his cousins, and finally spoke up. "Jeez Chuck, I'm beginning to think you're actually pretty bad at video games. Remind me why I hang out with you?" giving the kids the distraction Chuck needed to pull into first place and win the race, much to the chagrin of the little ones.

"Jamieeeee c'mon why'd you do that, we had him!" Whined Davis, always the complainer of the two.

"Yeah Jamie. We were about to win" chimed in Sarah, always the more sardonic of the two.

"You know you can beat him, guys, it's no big deal. You got him last time and you'll get him next time. Doesn't it make you feel good that the only way he can beat you is if I help him? Huh?" Jamie quipped right back at them, mimicking Sarah's face right back at her, as both of them had so much of the James genes in common.

Changing gears so as not to start a fight, Jamie quickly added "Hey, why don't we pop in Halo and kill some aliens together, eh?" Halo always distracted them, and he knew that none of the 4 of them could refuse killing waves of aliens together.

They played until kid-Nathan showed up around 8:30, with snacks as promised. He knocked, and they knew it was him because he was the only one of Jamie's friends that actually knocked and didn't just walk in. Well, any of their friends really. The Scotts had an open door policy about their house because that was just the way they were, and everyone seemed to appreciate it.

Jamie got up when the finished the game to answer the door, and saw Nathan standing there with 2 big garbage bags, full of what he could only assume were "snacks" and a case of beer in the other hand.

"Nathan, where the hell did you find someone dumb enough to sell you beer?!" Jamie jabbed jokingly but not entirely jokingly. Nathan wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed and it was pretty well known around Tree Hill.

"My dad got it for me! Told him we were havin a party tonight! Said it reminded him of old times, he got us a coupla cases and there's a keg comin later! Did he come through or what?! Too bad it's not at your dad's old beach house. Man the stories I've heard about that place."

"Nathan, we're not having a party, we're just hanging out. You know that, right?"

"Well duh. But I invited the whole school! It wouldn't be fun without a ton of people and beer, would it now!"

"Fine. Fine. Get in here. What time do they all get here? You know I have the squirts here tonight, right?"

"Yeah, but they go to sleep at like 5:00, they won't even know we're here. Promise."

"Try 10:00, dumbass. They're not 5 years old. And you won't keep it quiet, I know you, and I know parties. My dad tells me all the same stories your dad does. They're never quiet and they were never harmless."

"Fine! They can come too. I promise not to let them drink or anything. I'll make sure no one makes a mess and it won't go for that longgg. Come onnnnn pleaseeeee can we have a partyyyyyyy?! We haven't had one in agesssss"

Nathan was just so persistent that Jamie couldn't say no. "Did you invite Beth?" Jamie asked probingly.

"Yeah dude, of course. What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't?"

Jamie finally relented after a long look. "Fine. We can have a party."

"But you have to promise to clean it all up after it's done!" Jamie added as Nathan rushed past him, eager to set up for their new party.

Jamie followed him more slowly, wondering to himself what he'd gotten himself into tonight. Nathan had been known for some pretty dumb ideas, and his father Nathan had been known to throw some ridiculous parties, and Jamie knew the combination of his friend and his name weren't going to end well. Still, he sighed and went along with it.

When he got to the TV room, Chuck, Sarah, and Davis had just finished up another game, this time playing each other. Sarah and Davis had teamed up and annihilated Chuck and were now gloating.

"Whoa! Guys! You've been practicing! Nice job! You're even better than Chuck's mom was last night Ohhhh"

"Oh so you're allowed to do it but not me? Low blow man, low blow. Gotta add insult to injury, huh?"

"Whatever dude, you had it coming. Payback, you know how it is."

"Fine, fine. What's with the chumpsicle, he forget to take his Ritalin or something? He seems excited about something or other. Came down the hall screaming like a madman."

"He thought I told him we were having a uh…get-together…tonight, so he brought um…beverages…and invited almost the entire school." Jamie looked at the kids to see how much of the conversation they were understanding, and although they were following most of it, they weren't getting very much of it. Fortunately, Chuck caught on that Jamie was trying to be fairly cryptic about the whole thing and kept it going.

"Hey guys, why don't you see if you can take on some aliens yourselves, huh?" Chuck was desperately trying to keep the kids distracted. Once the game was set up and they were fully engrossed in it, Chuck asked "What about the peanut gallery? What're they gonna do?"

"I figured that they could hang out with us. In here in the TV room, I mean. We can check in on them once in a while? The girls will probably come down and hang out. I'll keep an eye on them, make sure they don't do anything dumb. It'll be fine. Plus my family's not coming back until tomorrow afternoon."

Chuck could only give him a look in response.

"It'll be fine! I promise. How bad could it be" Jamie assured him.

"Dude. Don't ever say that. Famous last words of a dead man. Kiss. Of. Death. bro."

"Whatever!" Jamie ended the conversation by heading out into the living area to make sure Nathan hadn't burned anything down yet.