Father of mine

Peyton walked into the living room and into the portable cot they had set up, she stood in the doorway and smiled, watching as the little girl sat alone talking away to herself oblivious to the fact that it was three in the morning and that she was meant to be asleep hours ago. Peyton swept her blonde locks behind her shoulders and walked over to the crib, the little girl looking up and smiling at her aunty, when Lucas had first arrived with the two Scott kids at his side little Lydia Bob was hesitant to let go of her uncle, hesitant to be looked at by their daughters curious eyes and hesitant to be fawned over by her despite the horrible circumstances incredibly excited aunty. She of course understood the hesitance in the little girl, she wasn't just meeting new people, even if they were her aunt and uncle it didn't meant she recognised them, when little Lydia was born Lucas and Peyton couldn't make it back to Tree Hill for a visit, they had always intended too but time continued to pass them at the speed of lightening until this exact moment. It took a couple of hours maybe even a day for the little girl to get used to them and then she was all smiles and giggles, in love with her pile of curls cousin Sawyer. "You just don't want to go to sleep do you baby girl?" Peyton said as she lifted the little girl out of the crib and sat down with her on the couch, letting the little girl sit on top of her, playing with all the toys that sat scattered around the place. Peyton laughed as Lydia placed a teddy bear in her face, she was alerted to the presence of her husband when he laughed as well, Peyton looked up at him and smiled, watching as he walked into the room before looking back at the little girl who she swore was starting to get sleepy.

"Thankyou Peyton" he said as he sat down on the couch next to her, watching as she scooped up their niece as she began to sway her backwards and forwards

"For what?" she asked smiling up at him

"For helping me take care of Jamie and Lydia, I really appreciate it" he said with a hand on the little brunette's soft and delicate hair

"They are family" she said briefly looking up at him "That's just what you do for family" she smiled as he lightly kissed her temple; they caught eyes for a moment.

"Hey look" he said as they both looked down "She is finally asleep" Peyton laughed as Lucas stood up and took baby Lydia out of her arms and back into her crib, he then walked over and took Peyton's hand, dragging her back to their bedroom. It was weird having a baby back in the house, having to wake up in the middle of the night to tears, not knowing exactly what had caused the cries; their own daughter was way past that stage in life but they did find it quite refreshing all at the same time. Lucas wished that he had of thought of this earlier, that Nathan and Haley bring the kids up for a couple of weeks, without this whole his little brother had been kidnapped and his best friend was going crazy out of her mind not knowing where her husband was and without her kids.

X-x-x-x-x-x

Lucas and Peyton had moved the portable cot down to their bedroom so that 'Late Night Lydia' could have a nap before the excitement all happened; they sat at the kitchen table on the same side looking into the living room at Jamie who sat on their red couch looking intently down at his game, he looked up occasionally but then would quickly look down again. There little free spirited Sawyer who had found her mothers 'Ravens' pom-poms when they had been going through photo albums, pranced around the living room. Lucas hated that he had missed out on watching his nephew grow up into the little man he was these days, that he missed the birth of his gorgeous niece but what he was kicking himself about at this very instant was the fact that he couldn't make his incredibly happy go lucky nephew smile and that's all he desperately wanted to do, take some of that pain and suffering in Jamie Scott's eyes and put some hope and love back in them, what he did love was his daughter's ability to make Jamie smile, even if it was only for the briefest of moments, because even if it wasn't him that had that ability at least someone else could.

"Mama I need to pee" Sawyer said as she dropped her pom-poms on the floor and bolted up the hallway of their small beach home as Peyton and Lucas got brought back into reality with a massive laugh.

"Do you want something to eat Jamie?" Lucas asked as he stood up and poured hot water into his own mug, Jamie switched off his game and walked into the kitchen, standing next to his Aunt Peyton who wrapped an arm around his middle, he lightly smiled and then wrapped his arms around her neck, for the past week or so they had all been catching up on missed hugs and Jamie was happy to do so, one thing that he had learnt over the past couple of weeks of not knowing when or if he was ever going to see his father again was that you should hug the people you love as much as you can because you never know when they won't be around. Lucas searched the cupboards high and low, grunting and slamming as he opened and closed each one, and in the distance they could hear Sawyer singing at the top of her lungs, Jamie had to admit that it was nice to be in a house that was still filled with laughter, he hated that his uncle and aunty kept looking at him with this look of sadness, but at home lately his mother had been broken, the house had been silent and that silence was killing him, in his whole life he had never imagined that his home would be so silent. He tuned back into the reality of it all as his Aunt hurried up the hallway to silence his cousin before she woke Lydia up from her nap. His Uncle turned to him with this smirk on his face "Wheaties?" he asked trying to add some allure to the bland cereal that lay full in the cupboard, it was then that the front door opened and the young black haired girl ran in and threw her arms around Jamie before her smiling mother walked into the house with a massive grin on her face.

"I brought Bagels" she said holding the white paper bag up in the air and both the boys celebrated with a simple yet loud 'yes' as Peyton walked back into the room with Lydia on her hip and Sawyer at her side. "Oh my god" Karen said orbiting towards her daughter in law, staring intently at the little girl who clung onto her aunty Peyton for dear life "Lydia Bob Scott you are the most gorgeous thing, exactly like your mama" she said with such glee before kissing the top of the little girls head. Karen, Andy and Lily were living on a boat still, happily floating, most of the time with little reception, so by the time they had received the news that Nathan had been kidnapped and that the kids were staying with them, it was nearly time for the two Scott kids to head back to Tree Hill, so when Karen had heard that her good friend Deb, who she hadn't seen in years, was coming up to collect her grandchildren to take them back to their mum, so today seemed like the perfect day to come up and see how much the Scott babies had grown and to see Deb.

X-x-x-x-x-x

The kids were all rugged up as they walked along the secluded beach, Lucas and Andy at the back, Karen was holding Lydia who had finally warmed up to her as she walked next to her own daughter and Peyton, Jamie walked alone and Sawyer ran, jumped and went crazy between them all.

"How is Jamie doing?" Karen asked Peyton with concern in her eyes as they continued to walk

"He is so sad; it's so hard on him. There is no doubt that Jamie adores Nate you know? And I just don't think him being away from his mum and his friends is really good for him, but I do think that being here, with us has helped him out a little bit, maybe got him out of the constant suffering, but then again only minimally cause his dad is missing, Nathan Scott is missing" she said it feeling a little faint just staying the words made it real, Karen held out an arm and let Peyton's head fall against her shoulder. Just letting her finally share in a moment of weakness, Karen knew that Peyton was trying to remain strong for Lucas who had to face the possibility of losing his younger brother, for Sawyer who had always been in awe of her big and tall goofy uncle, for Jamie and Lydia who had left Tree Hill so that they didn't have to be involved in all the waiting but everyone, including Peyton was forgetting that Nathan Royal Scott was Peyton's friend, Peyton's first boyfriend and also Peyton's brother in law. All this was affecting her as well. As they got closer to the end of the beach and back onto the street near where they lived Jamie picked up his pace and they all looked curiously into the distance. And there she stood her blonde hair flying freely in the wind, her sunglasses on her face and this painful smile, as her grandson got closer Deb got down on her knees so that she was at his level and he swooped into her arms. They continued to hug as the rest of the group caught up to them, as though neither of them were willing to let go of each other, Jamie was clearly crying as he latched on to his grandmothers neck and behind her sunglasses Karen assumed that Deb was doing the same.

X-x-x-x-x-x

The moments between when they had found Deb at the end of the beach and when they had to say goodbye to the kids who had become permanent fixtures in their home for the past couple of weeks went past so incredibly fast. One moment the house was filled with bodies sitting and drinking cups of tea, cautious of what they said, hearts breaking as they watched how distraught Deb was, how incredibly sad Jamie was and how oblivious Lydia was to it all. The next Peyton and Lucas were left standing alone, their bodies connected as they watched their front door shut; Peyton brushed a tear away from her eyes as she felt her husband's eyes on her face, she turned and briefly smiled.

"Luke you should go back with them" she said matter of factly, as they turned and headed to the comfort of their lovely couch in the company of their lovely daughter.

"What?"

"Your best friend, your Haley is hurting right now she doesn't know where her husband is. She needs you more than we do right now, those kids need their uncle Lucas"

"Peyton I've been thinking, well actually mum has been thinking and filled me in before you left and I'm so sorry"

"What did you do?" she asked with a slight smile on her face as she leaned against him and looked up

"You are missing someone too, it's not just me and my brother or Sawyer's uncle or even Jamie and Lydia's dad, You and Nathan have known each other and been friends for such a long time and I seem to have forgotten to check if you are okay. So are you okay?"

"As okay as we all can expect to be" she said simply as they both looked off into the distance

"Are you sure you don't need me?" he asked looking down at the crown of her head

"Not as much as Tree Hill does, plus with you gone Sawyer and I can re-decorate this place the way we like it" she said as he jokingly tickled him. Within minutes he was in their bedroom packing his bag, ready to go to Haley's side, ready to go home but as he went to go and talk to his young daughter Peyton's voice beamed up the hallway. They had all been on high alert for phone calls at the moment, constantly hoping that that phone call would hold the news that they all so desperately craved. Peyton stood in the hallway holding the phone as Lucas bolted towards it and answered.

"Hello this is Lucas" he said gulping and feeling the need to steady himself, Peyton watched him intently but out of the corner she could see that Sawyer had snuck her head around the doorway to watch, and at that moment Peyton realised that Sawyer wasn't as oblivious as they had originally hoped about it all. "He is what?" those words shocked everyone back into focus, Lucas' face so unreadable, she swore it was bad news until a massive grin plastered itself across "THEY FOUND NATHAN! HE IS ALIVE" he said pulling the phone away from his ear and yelling it at his wife who smiled and then threw herself at her husband before racing to her daughter's side.

"Uncle Nate is okay baby girl" she said as Sawyer smiled before giggling as her mother hoisted her into the air and started jumping up and down and spinning her around.

"Haley that is so great, I'm so happy for you. Give Nate a massive hug from us please. How is he doing? Is he okay?" he found himself babbling and he just wasn't one hundred per cent sure why.

"Yeah he is okay, just happy to be home I think, I hope" she said with this giggle that made Lucas smile, he didn't know if he would ever hear that noise again.

"I told you he was going to come home, that everything would be okay" he said watching as his wife and daughter continued to gleefully celebrate

"Lucas" she said inhaling deeply, alerting him to the fact that she wasn't telling him something

"What is it Hales?" he asked as Peyton stopped and began walking towards him

"It's Dan"

"Dan?" with that name Peyton was quieting the little girl and looking at her husband with such concern

"It was Dan who brought him home; He got shot while trying to get Nathan out of there. He's in a bad way Luke, they don't think he is going to make it" Haley continued to explain continued trying to get through to Lucas but he stood still just trying to absorb the information that had just been told to him, he felt the concern in the tones of two of the women he loved most in this world.

"Lucas?" they both said almost instantaneously

X-x-x-x-x-x

Within an hour they had organised plane tickets back to Tree Hill, had piled bags and kids into the car and were ready to set off to the airport. Sawyer was incredibly confused by it all, it was hard to explain to her that a man she never knew, a man who was only really mentioned in hush tones throughout their home was dying and that because of that they were uprooting their life to fly and be by his side, even if it was her grandfather, it was a grandfather that she would never know. He sat in the front seat ready to drive away, he could feel his wife's eyes piercing into his soul but he couldn't bring himself to look at her, he put a hand on her leg for a moment before putting the key into the ignition. Peyton watched eagerly as Lucas sat with his hands grasping the wheel but the car not moving, she knew he had to get there on his own, that she couldn't push him or make him go that it was his decision but after five minutes she put a hand on his face, drawing his attention but to her. He appreciated her touch but he still refused to look at her "I can't do it" he said with a tone that broke her heart

"Well okay" she said unbuckling her seatbelt "I'll drive" she said turning to open the door but he grasped her hand and drew her back

"No I can't do this I can't go back to Tree Hill" he said it and her heart literally broke in two for him, she was surprised that Sawyer had remained so quite through this whole experience, like she knew her dad just needed to be for a while.

Peyton took in a big deep breath, she knew the ins and outs of Dan Scott and the relationships he had with his sons "I'm going to call Haley and let her know" she said leaning down to get her phone out of her purse

"No, I think I should call her" he said as Peyton handed him the phone before getting herself and Sawyer out of the car.

"Hey Hales It's me"

X-x-x-x-x-x

Lucas sat on the beach engulfed by the sounds of waves in the not so distant distance and the sound of wind whizzing past his ears, watching the horizon and its vastness when he felt the presence of another person standing next to him, blocking out the minimal sun that shone in the sky, he looked up and smiled.

"Deb called me, so Dan is dying" she said sitting down on the beach next to him wrapping herself in her light blue cardigan as he looked to her

"He Killed Keith"

"I know baby" she said putting a hand on his lower back as he continued to stare intently at the ocean.

"And I hate him for that"

"I know"

"Then why am I so upset that he is dying, why is the prospect of Dan Scott no longer being on this earth hurting me so much?"

"Because you are Lucas Eugene Scott, You are a decent human being, in fact you are an incredible human being and you feel empathy, you feel love and despite all that has happened Dan Scott is your biological father, he may not have been there for your life and he may have killed Keith, the only father you ever had but you are human Luke and the truth is I would be more concerned if you felt nothing"

"Do you feel something?" he asked like a vulnerable little boy asking his mother a question

"Yeah I feel sad for him." She said as her sun looked up at her, she threw her arm around his shoulder and he leant his head down on shoulders "Dan Scott, Despite his incredible flaws gave me the most important life lessons, he gave me Keith but he also gave me the most important gift of my life, Lucas he gave me you"

The end...

It would have been really nice to see Lucas, Peyton and Sawyer go to Tree Hill and say goodbye to Dan, and in a perfect world they would have but obviously it couldn't happen and while that's sad, I thought that an opportunity was missed by not showing how Lucas dealt with it. I think if I get enough interest in this idea I might do more Leyton + Sawyer reactions to stuff that happened on the show while they were gone, because I do believe that while we didn't see them on the show, their lives were still in Tree Hill and I reckon that while we couldn't see them, they were all still involved in day to day life and day to day decisions on the show….