Come back when you can – chapter two
It hadn't taken much convincing to get her boys into the idea of the trip, Lucas would fly to the moon if it meant he got to spend some quality time with Peyton, Jamie would go anywhere that the food was and Nathan was happy to follow anywhere that his wife and son were heading especially with some romantic convincing. So here she stood frantically rushing around her house, it took so much longer to get ready for things when you had a baby compared to pre-Jamie. Haley swept her long brown hair into a ponytail as her two slave boys took luggage to the car; she walked into the living room to where the two blondes sat in an armchair.
"It's time to go bubba" she said with a smile as both the attention of her gorgeous son and gorgeous mother in law, Haley lifted her son out of Debs arms and hoisted him onto her hip "Are you sure you will be okay?" she asked turning to Deb who stood up from the chair and began to walk up the hallway with Haley and Jamie at her side.
"I'll be fine, it's about time that you three had a little holiday, but you my little man better not walk until you get back to Nanny. Okay?" she asked as she held the little boys hands, Nathan and Lucas coming inside as they made it to the front door "I want kisses from my boys" she said kissing over her smiley grandsons face before being kissed on the cheek by Nathan and Haley "Uh-ah Lucas you don't get away that easy, I promised your mum that I would take care of you, so I'm starting early" she said with a smile as she put a finger to her cheek.
"Say bye-bye Nanny Deb" Haley said waving with one hand as she watched her son do the same and kissed his forehead. She walked to the car and buckled her smiling son into his car seat and passing him as many toys as he could grasp in his small hands before blowing him a raspberry and stepping away from the door to join Nathan and Lucas on the pathway facing Deb "Okay well we aren't that far away, call us if you need anything"
"You guys stop being the adults for five minutes and go have some fun" she said as she waved them off and walked back up to the front door as they began shutting doors and preparing for their journey. Haley sat in the back with Jamie, her tanned legs left bare by her denim shorts and lacy singlet, her eyes covered by her sunglasses, she passed her son the teething ring as Nathan assumed the drivers position and Lucas hopped in the passenger side, they had decided that they would all take turns driving but right now they were all happy with taking in the journey that they were about to embark on.
"So what is the music situation?" Lucas said with this pure smile as he rubbed his hands together and faced Haley
"I'm glad you asked" Haley said with a smirk as Nathan put the key in the ignition and the car was filled with a familiar tune that Lucas just couldn't work out, until the lyrics began and he groaned
'Old McDonald had a farm ey I ey I oh and on that farm her had a chicken..." The radio belted out as Haley did the same in the back of the car
"I knew I should have taken the ride from Mouth" he said as he put his hands on his head as Haley laughed and leaned forwards
"Just kidding Luke, actually Peyton sent everyone driving down a copy of a road mix so that we all get in the mood, and so that it sort of feels like we are all together even though we are travelling from different locations" she said as Nathan swapped the cd's and pressed play as he drove up the road. "Where going to have so much fun James L" she said playing with her sons feet as she chewed on his teething ring "You're going to get to see your aunties yeah"
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She couldn't hide the fact that she was incredibly excited, not only did she finally get off work and take a chance to relax and rest, not only did she get to see her gorgeous boyfriend but she got to spend a week with her greatest friends and selected family, she got to see her best friend who she was dying without and she got to see the people who had become permanent fixtures in her life and then disappeared without notice or hesitation and things like that were harder to adjust to in her new life. Phone calls were never as good as the real thing, a hug was better in person than in word and stories were so much funnier when you actually got to see the expressions on the story teller's face. Peyton had just reached the outskirts of town; she lowered the roof of the comet and revved the car so that she could feel the wind in her hair. It was so nice to feel free, as though she could do what she wanted whenever she wanted, she had visited her dad the night before, they had sat up laughing and reminiscing about their lives, where they had begun and where they were right then and now. She had cried when she had watched him sail off in the dredging boat, she had missed him tremendously when he had left her in Tree Hill the last time and she always hated watching him leave, but she left that behind, she turned the radio up as it blasted through the open air and the wind ran wild through her blonde curls, a smile running across her face as she settled on the idea of getting to see her man in a couple of hours and getting to be held in his arms.
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"Are you sure that I can't convince you to drop this whole big group holiday idea thing and fly you to France and hit the club scene?" Rachel asked draped across Brooke's car bonnet, Brooke trying to wheel her many bags from the doors of the elevator to the car boot
"You know you could be helping me with this" she said as Rachel dropped off the bonnet of the car and sashayed over to where Brooke stood dragging the bag
"Have you told them about Chase yet?" Rachel asked picking up another bag and speeding past Brooke before throwing the bag into the car and turning to Brooke
"Not exactly" Brooke said pulling a face that let Rachel know that by not exactly Brooke meant not at all "I just don't know how to bring it up, there is no time in our conversations to tell people that"
"You know how you could avoid it all together?" Rachel said sweeping her red hair behind her ear and smiling at her close friend
"Get in the car" she said with strain in her voice as she lifted the heavy suitcase into the boot of the car.
"So we can go to the airport and fly to Tahiti?" she asked with this hopeful grin on her face, hoping that Brooke would finally come to her senses and fly with her to paradise.
"Get in the car" she said trying to hide her smile within a smirk "We are going to the beach house to spend time with our friends" Brooke said as Rachel groaned "and by the way you're getting your suitcase out at the other end" she said jumping into the car with Rachel dragging behind.
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"Skills hurry up" Mouth yelled into the open door that Junk and Fergie walked out of door with bags over their shoulders, throwing them into Mouth's really small car "What could possibly taking him so long?" he asked as he turned to Fergie who shrugs his shoulders in response.
"He's probably crying over Bevin again" Junk said with his back to the house as he faced Mouth "Or masturbating" he added with a shrug of his shoulders as both of the men beyond him cringed their faces in horror
"I'll have you know I'm doing neither" Skills said abruptly as he walked out of the apartment building causing Junk to jump
"Then what the hell took you so long? Lucas texted me half an hour ago and said they were hitting the road, if we are going to meet them at that diner and make the rest of the trip together we need to have left like five minutes ago" Mouth said getting all hot and bothered in his position of navigator, grabbing the map from Skills' hands and moving to the passenger side of the car as the rest of the boys found their way to a seat in the car "What are all these dots on the map?"
"I went through and highlighted every diner that serves pie, we are going to stop at every single one so that on the way back we know exactly where the best one is and we don't have to waste time" he said revelling with excitement in his own thought to a tee plan.
"I told you he was still messed up about this Bevin thing" Junk said doing up his seatbelt and sitting back in his chair as Skills readjusted his chair, giving Junk barely any foot room
"I'm so far from past that" he said putting the key into the ignition
"Yeah, that's why we're going on the great pie hunt" Fergie said with a smirk as the rest of the boys did the same, as Skills gave them all the look
"I guess you guys want to walk to the beach house" he said looking in the rear vision mirror and to the side to the suddenly serious faces "That's what I thought"
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Haley walked from the counter to the assembled group sitting in the booth, all laughter and loudness that the patrons and workers of the small town diner seemed thrilled with yet slightly annoyed by. She was the only girl in the collective group, the six boys sitting squished into the small booth, her baby son sitting on the table, supported by his dad who kept two hands on either side of his body as little Jamie Scott laughed at the antics of his uncles Mouth and Skills who persisted to make funny faces at him.
"What are they doing to you baby boy?" she asked as she walked up to the table and the little blonde haired boy put his arms up to her, there was no denying that he was a mummies boy. Haley passed her glass to Lucas and scooped the baby up in her arms swinging him around before attempting to squish in with the boys. The little boy soon became restless in his mums arms as conversation continued around him.
"Come to me boy" Skills said opening his arms as Haley put little Jamie's kicking legs onto the table and walked him with just her arms no other movement required across the table to where Skills arms trapped him and hoisted him into the air, providing incredibly joy for the tiny boy. There was no doubt that with everyone moving away for college and the Tree Hill gang began to get smaller that the remaining ones grasped onto the others with as much force and need as they could, all becoming closer than they had ever been before in that short span of time. Skills had promised Haley back in high school that he had her back and little baby Scott's back as well and there was no doubt in Haley's mind that he was going to fulfil that promise, he was already doing that.
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Two more hours and they were finally at the secluded beach town; all waiting patiently for the keys to arrive in Brooke's car, as each car rolled up there was celebration, embraces and many hugs. When Brooke finally did show up, they all together rolled into the house, appreciating the beautiful architecture of the house, before coming to the realisation that to get the best rooms they would have to fight for them, Haley threw Jamie to Nathan before running frantically up the hall and pushing Skills over.
To be continued