Peyton wept for months after Lucas left, but not only because she missed him so much

Peyton wept for months after Lucas left, but not only because she missed him so much. No, it was because a few weeks after Lucas had gone, Peyton found out that she was pregnant. Usually the pair would have used a condom, but this time was different. It was more passionate, there were more tears, desperation and love between the two lovers that any logical thought had escaped them.

The thought of unplanned pregnancy hadn't crossed Peyton's mind for nearly a month. She was too heartbroken over Lucas' departure that she thought of nothing else but him. It was when she told Haley of the amazing goodbye that the brunette asked, "Did you guys use a condom?"

Two hours later and a home pregnancy test revealed Peyton's worst fear. She was pregnant.

Haley was the only person Peyton told about the baby for a while. She wanted to make decisions about the future, and like an exam, she wanted answers to the many questions she knew her people would ask.

The first question would obviously be, 'Are you going to keep it?' The answer to this would lay out a plan for the other queries. Peyton concluded there were three choices she could make: adoption, abortion or keep her baby.

The first option would open her child's doors and give loving parents who weren't eighteen and could look after a baby. Though, when she thought of adoption, she thought of herself and how she could never let her own child go through that.

Abortion was considered, but opened up many 'what if?' questions about the future. One scenario was that if Peyton didn't have this baby, she could work her way up into great music labels.

However, as much as she could image not having this baby, Peyton couldn't imagine her life without it. She had always wanted children. Childhood sweethearts were all well and good, but lifelong partners? She couldn't picture having a family with anyone but him. Lucas.

The last option scared Peyton to tears. She had made a list of reasons not to have the baby, but when it came down to it, the one 'pro' option beat all the 'cons' she had.

Pro: Because I want it.

Many women had children and then started their careers later in life. It could be done. And being as smart as she was, Peyton knew that she could start at any point in her life and probably speed ahead to where she wanted to be. Being a mother wouldn't stop her life.

She told her dad about the pregnancy and as expected, he asked about the father. Peyton had never told her dad about her and Lucas dating. To her dad, she was his little girl. His little Angel.

Her dad wasn't mad at her, but rather concerned about what her plans were. Exam day was here and Peyton had her answers memorized ready to reply to every question she was asked.

She was going to carry the baby to term. Peyton had thought long and hard about this, asked Haley's opinion and finally decided to go with her heart. She explained to her parents that family was very important to her and she had to do what she felt was best.

Peyton always planned to have children and knew that one day she would have to give up work to have a baby, and this way meant that she could be a mother first, and then, once the baby was old enough, Peyton could begin her career and wouldn't have to stop half-way through – unless she had another baby of course.

Another question that needed an answer was on his daughter's housing plans. Knowing that Peyton loved the Scott's he worried he would stay with them – and they were right. Peyton explained that while she loved her dad very much, she felt that as she was going to be bringing up a Scott child, it would be best to do so with the Scott's.

Her dad respected her wishes and asked his daughter to phone him when the baby was born. Peyton agreed and reassured her dad that she would be fine and would keep in touch. Then she set off for her new home: The Scotts.

What Peyton feared the most was telling Ms. Roe that she was going to become a grandmother. She looked up Karen Roe as a second mother, who would care for her as much as any of her children. When Peyton had first told her, she was disappointed in her son and her, but after a long talk, she offered their home to her if she wished to stay.

Peyton didn't even need to think about it. She knew that living Karen's would be perfect for both her child and herself. Having Karen as her mentor would help Peyton learn how to become a great mother.

Peyton was told to treat their home as her own by Karen. She was regarded as an adult, which meant she could leave the house without asking, as long as she returned by ten, she could make whatever she wished in the fridge and was given her own room.

Peyton's room took more than putting down a few rugs and moving in her own things. For one gloomy afternoon, with Haley's help, they painted the walls and had hired help fix any holes they found. Soon enough, the room was unrecognizable from the spare bedroom. The walls were now a clean shade of white, with little guitars as the border. A double bed was near the window. The finishing touch to the room was all of Peyton's records. This baby would grow up to love music.

Karen helped by finding one of Lucas' old cribs for the room, which had served her well; it would do quite nicely for Lucas and Peyton's infant.

Karen had also reminded Peyton that she had to make a choice: she could tell Ron about the baby, or wait until he'd return. If she told him, he would most surely return home to be with her and their child, which is what she really wanted. However, if she did tell him and he did come home, he would be throwing his life away, something he would regret and hold against Peyton forever.

To make matters worse, she had been having bad dreams, dreams of her future with Lucas if she were to tell him. Lucas being fat, bald and angry all the time, hating her, resenting her for cutting his dreams short. She explained her dreams to Haley, who told her that they usually were messages from one's conscience.

This told Peyton all she needed to know to make her choice.

I can't tell him. I just can't. I won't.

He wouldn't be that mad, right?

It was very hard not to mention her predicament in the letters Peyton wrote to Lucas. When he would ask her if there was anything new, she would always reply with 'nothing'. Peyton also made sure that anyone who was in contact with Lucas, promised not to tell him. It would be much worse if someone other than herself were to tell him.

She wondered if Lucas would catch on to anything by the lack of details about her personal life. They were mostly filled with many reports of her work and what she had done at her job the past week. Lucas' were filled with his account of his training and the many dangerous tasks he explained he had to do, which strangely enough didn't seem as dangerous as Nathan told her in his letters.

For the first few letters, they were long and filled with love and passion for one another, but as the letters went on over the next few months, they became shorter and less loving comments were added. They soon enough were brief and about work or friends. One letter, addressed to Peyton read,

Peyton,

Completed basic training yesterday, passed with flying colors!
Nathan says 'hello'.

Lucas

Letters like these gave Peyton strength not to reply with, 'Oh that's great Lucas, by the way, I'm pregnant with your child'. When the letters were filled with such love, it was hard, but now that any parchment received was quite formal, it was easier to write.

However, this pressure soon ceased one February morning, when Peyton received her last letter, and longest in months, from Lucas.

Dear Peyton

How is everyone at home? I hope you're all well. Nathan and I are good here.

We're coming to the end of our first quarter, which means that after our first exam, we have a month off training. Some of our friends here have invited us up to Canada for two weeks, how amazing does that sound? There's a small village there where all the training Marines go to relax. I could do with a rest; the first quarter of training has been hard.

That's what I'm writing to you about really … training and leading such a good life is incredible, I've never felt better out here! I just feel like I can't act the way I want to act, and that I'm breaking some rule if I hang out with female friends here.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that; maybe we've brought our relationship as far as we can at this point in our lives. You're thousands of miles away from me and relationships are hard enough without that much space between the two people.

I think we should take a break from each other for a while or at least until I return.

I will always love you, Peyton.

Lucas xx

The letter was blotched with ink and the last line written shakily. Peyton was both devastated and a little relieved after she read the letter. She would repeat 'it's for the best' over and over again until the tears died away.

What Peyton feared the most was Lucas returning to Tree Hill and not wanting to get back together with her. By then, she would have a small child to look after, one that would need their daddy.

She thought about writing back to him, explaining that she was pregnant, but every time she started a letter, she would remember the letters Lucas sent her about how much he was enjoying training and how fulfilled he felt.

On May the twenty-first, Karen rushed Peyton to Tree Hill Memorial Hospital, where Peyton gave birth to a beautiful baby girl after seven hours of labor. Peyton named her daughter Hannah, who had dark blonde curly hair and big blue green eyes.

Peyton had a nagging feeling at the back of her mind which kept telling her to write a letter to Lucas and tell him. Peyton was given a month off from work to care for her new daughter.

As Hannah grew each day, Peyton felt worse. Time was passing quickly, and soon enough Hannah was giggling, sitting up on her own and crawling around. She was also looking more and more like Lucas. At ten months, she was walking and babbling words, such as 'ma-ma'.

Peyton knew that shielding Lucas from Hannah was the right thing to do--Lucas needed to complete his training, and fatherhood could wait--but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty.

At Hannah's first birthday party, Peyton was at her worst. She even started to write a letter to Lucas before she broke down in tears. Hannah cheered her up by pulling a face at her and saying, "Ma-ma be 'pappy!"

At the beginning of November, Karen received a letter from Lucas, which informed her that Lucas and Nathan would be returning home in a few weeks. When she told Peyton the news, Peyton spent those weeks writing and re-writing a speech containing everything she needed to tell Lucas, including how she would tell him and a list of questions she figured Lucas would ask.

Lucas' return crept up fast and suddenly, Peyton was waking up on the day she had been dreading for months.

She rolled over and stretched, being awoken by a tapping noise across her room, which informed her that her child was awake and ready for breakfast. Peyton pulled herself out of bed, slipping into her purple dressing gown. Hannah was sat up, her curious eyes looking for her mum, tapping her bottle against the old wooden bars of her crib.

Smiling at her toddler, Peyton reached down and lifted Hannah out of her crib and kissing her cheek. On the wall next to them was a photograph of Lucas. Peyton thought that if Hannah saw Lucas everyday, she wouldn't be scared of the strange man who was coming to the Scott's today.

"Good morning, Bear," Peyton said.

"Borning," Hannah said, giggling. "Borning, borning, borning!"

Hannah liked to repeat what other people would say. As a result, swearing was forbidden in the house. At eighteen months, apart from the repeating phrases, Hannah's hair was threatening to grow curlier and curlier.

Peyton put on her slippers and made her way down to breakfast where Haley was already seated in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Peyton," Haley welcomed, as her friend placed the youngest Scott in her high chair.

"Morning," Peyton replied, yawning.

"Scared?" Haley asked, smiling slightly as she stirred a small spoon in her coffee mug.

Peyton smiled back apprehensively. "Terrified."

She went over to the cupboard and brought out a tin of breakfast food for Hannah and a bowl. Filling the bowl with milk from the fridge, Peyton sat down next to Hannah and began feeding her.

"It's understandable," Karen said, cracking an extra egg for Peyton in the pan. "The boys will be back at two so make sure you're all ready. Lucas may ask questions about the lack of people to greet him, though he'll soon work that out when Hannah comes into the picture."

Karen set the freshly cooked eggs down on a plate of baked beans and bacon for her Haley and Peyton.

"Thanks," the girls said.

"Telling Lucas shouldn't be … that hard," Peyton said, raising her eyebrows. "Are you ready to meet Daddy today, Hannah?"

Hannah looked up at her mum and grinned. "Dada!" she said. Peyton played 'Got your nose' with Hannah until Hannah reached out for more food.

Two o'clock was soon approaching and Peyton couldn't be more nervous. She had decided on wearing the necklace Lucas had given her for her seventeenth birthday. Giving herself one last look in the mirror, Peyton took Hannah downstairs and put her in the den with a few plush toys. The den was out of view from the kitchen and living room, where Peyton would first break the news to Lucas before introducing her.

Peyton kissed Hannah on her forehead and went into the kitchen to wait with Karen and Haley. Two o'clock came and went, and after a few minutes, Peyton heard the door open. Taking a deep breath, the figure rounded the corner and a man with wild black hair stepped out.

Nathan hadn't changed a bit in Peyton's opinion. His hair was as messy as ever and his eyes had a new sparkle. Peyton expected him to be tanned, but he wasn't; the only difference was how grown up and relaxed he looked. Peyton embraced her old friend in a warm hug before he let go and went to give Haley a very good 'I'm Back!' kiss.

The moment Peyton set eyes on Lucas her heart fluttered. He was taller and his hair was a little bit longer. His blue eyes sparkled brightly and his face was slightly tanner. Lucas smiled at Peyton and she felt as though there was no one else in the room.

Then something happened that made Peyton's face pale.

A woman stepped into the kitchen. Her light brown hair was pulled up into a smart bun and she looked around the kitchen with a warm smile on her pretty young face. She turned to Lucas, who motioned her forwards before he turned to his family.

"I'd like to introduce to you Miranda," Lucas said. "She's my girlfriend."