A/N: So this is my first story. Judge me, don't judge me, it's up to you. I leave it all in your hands. I'm also not one to hold my story hostage so feel free to leave comments, but you don't have to. I don't own One Tree Hill, but here is a lovely AU story about a married Lucas and Peyton and they take in a foster kid. Enjoy.

Prologue

"Peyt- Peyt- Peyton! Calm down."

"Lucas, I can't calm down. We still need to shampoo the carpets and mop the bathrooms and change the sheets. Did you pick up the soy milk? The social services lady didn't tell us if she's a vegetarian or not. Oh and frozen yogurt. Do you think we have enough time to go to the grocery store? We can pick up veggie pizza. Wait what if she doesn't like vegetables? We'll just get a meat supreme and a veggie pizza. And potatoes, vegetarians can eat potatoes." Peyton rattled off her fragmented thoughts while pacing up and down the hallway of her's and her husband's home.

"How about this? How about we make a list of reasonable things we can accomplish in the next two hours?" Trying to appease Peyton Scott was something Lucas was becoming quite adept at. He was rather proud of his ability to calm her down from her momentary overwhelming anxiety. "So we can definitely take care of mopping and changing the sheets together. If you want I can shampoo the carpet while you go to the grocery store. Let's make the shopping list short we don't want to shove all different kinds of food in her face before she even has a chance to move in. Just plan on baked potatoes with a side salad. We can have cheese and bacon bits and all the fixings sitting out. If she wants to dress up her potato she can, otherwise she can eat it plain."

"But what if she is still hungry?"

"I'm assuming that's what the ice cream and frozen yogurt will be for," Lucas replied with a grin knowing that relaxed Peyton was starting to return. "And plus if all else fails we can take her to the cafe and let her get more food."

"Thanks, Luke. I just want everything to be perfect for when she gets here."

"I know you do and so do I. This is what we've wanted for a while now. We're ready. We're beyond ready. I'm pretty sure that we could run an orphanage if we wanted to. Thank god we don't, but we could. Let's get started. We don't want to be cleaning up when the social worker comes."

The next hour and a half Lucas and Peyton worked together like a well oiled machine trying to finish up the last minute chores they had set out before the social worker came with their new foster child. After finally putting away the blueberry frozen yogurt and the birthday cake ice cream, Peyton flopped on the couch waiting on her husband to finish shampooing the room that would be their child's.

"Hey, Luke!" Peyton yelled over the noise of the electric cleaner.

"Yeah, I just finished. It should be dry by the time they get here. What's wrong, Broody?" Walking into the living room he could immediately tell that she was worrying over something bigger than whether or not their new kid would eat what they gave her.

"What if she doesn't like how I decorated her room? What if she and I don't have anything in common? What if she doesn't like me?" With the last question her eyes finally met his and he realized that was what the whole last minute freak out had been about. She was really just worried that whoever they ended up taking in wouldn't like her.

Lucas sat down next to her and pulled her towards him so that she was leaning on his side and had her head rest in on his shoulder. "I can't imagine anyone not liking you Peyton Sawyer Scott. Even the people that shouldn't like you, do. I mean not many people can tell big Los Angeles music producers to shove it, then end up working their way into partnering with them. You are capable of so much love and so much compassion. You were born to be a mother. There is no way this girl could not like you. Hell, I bet she loves you before you even broaden her taste in music. Just don't start her off with The Cure. We want her to be happy here," he said with a gentleness mixed with a hint of humor that took all the sting out of his insult aimed towards her favorite band.

Chuckling at his verbal jab, Lucas placed a kiss on top of his wife's head and offered the deepest kind of reassurance: his unyielding faith in her and in their relationship. "I love you, Peyton. I know that you are my soul mate and that we've had our ups and downs. We will still have them in our future. I'm not saying we won't be tried or that there won't be times in the future where we will just want to break down, but I know that I can face anything with you. I'm a stronger man because of you. This teenage girl, whomever she may be, will love you. You made me love you when I was a teenager. It should be a piece of cake."

Peyton didn't respond, just took Luke by his face and kissed. When she pulled a way she had an exasperated look on her face. "Of course you fell in love with me. You were a teenage boy and I was a hot teenage cheerleader, even if my legs were a bit, what was the word you used? Chickeny? But the sentiment is appreciated." She leaned in and gave him a more romantic kiss then resumed her former position, leaning up against him with her head on his shoulder.

Ding Dong

"You ready?" In those few brief moments before they opened the door Peyton had never been more certain that this was the right thing to do and that she was ready. She had also never been more terrified in her life.

"Yes. I'm ready." Lucas stood back and let her open the door to their new world.

"Hi, again, if you remember my name is Ms. Greta Bartowski. I represent the Department of Children and Families here in Tree Hill. This right here is your new foster child." The woman stated brusquely to the couple.

"Hey, I'm Haley James."