Chapter Four
Catching up
Lucas' face had turned whiter than a ghost as the words sunk in. This couldn't be right … it just couldn't. Sure, the child looked like him, but he hadn't seen Peyton in almost two years, so unless she'd fallen pregnant and hadn't told him, she was lying.
Actually, any way the situation was looked at, Peyton had lied about the baby. Did Nathan know? Had they all been laughing at him behind his back?
All this was too much for Lucas to think about; he promptly ran to the nearest flowerpot to spill his guts. Upon hearing this, Karen, Nathan and Haley entered the living room to see what was going on.
"I see you've told him," Karen said, watching her son ruin her pot of Daisies.
Peyton winced at the sounds and replied, "Yes."
Hannah looked curiously around at her family, wondering what was happening. Strange men didn't usually run around throwing up.
"Marmee? Is he sick?" the young toddler asked, tugging at her mum's pants.
Peyton bit her lip. "Uh, Haley, would you take her into the kitchen and get her something to eat, please?"
It would be best if she talked to Lucas alone; Hannah needn't hear the sort of language Peyton knew was coming. Haley nodded silently and bent down to pick her niece up.
"No, don't!" Lucas shouted quickly. He wiped his mouth and shakily stood up. His pale complexion had now a tinge of green mixed in his sweaty face.
"Please."
Haley hesitated and looked at Peyton for help.
"I don't want her to hear negative things from you. She has a tendency to repeat everything she hears," Peyton sternly explained to Lucas.
"Repeat! Repeat! Repeat!" Hannah sang before giggling to herself. Peyton noticed a small smile threaten to appear on Lucas' lips, but as soon as the thought had come, the smile was gone.
"See," Peyton said, raising an eyebrow. She nodded at Haley, who quickly exited to the kitchen, Nathan and Karen in tow.
The young mother heaved a sigh and sat on the sofa. She looked up at Lucas, who was pacing and red-faced. "Do you want to sit down?" she asked timidly.
Lucas stopped and turned to look at her as though she was mad. "Excuse me?" he asked.
"Sit down, so we can talk," Peyton replied, trying to keep calm.
"Talk?" Lucas said, hissing the word out as if it were dirty. "What do you … Christ! This is just so typical of you," he spat, deciding that acting calm was out of the window now.
"Typical? Having your baby is typical?" Peyton asked, folding her arms across her chest. Lucas had said some stupid things in his life, but this took the biscuit.
"What? No," Lucas said, shaking his head. "What's typical is that you always have your way."
"I don't always have my way," Peyton retorted, feeling insulted.
"Yes, you do!" Lucas said, exasperated. "You've kept this from me for how long? Two years?" His face was heating up, and his voice rose as he spoke.
"I was going to tell you--"
"When? When she graduates from College?"
Peyton could feel warm tears forming in her eyes, but she was determined not to show weakness. "You don't know how much I wanted to just write you. It was such a hard choice not to," she said, her voice softening.
"A hard choice? You had the choice of telling me, or not. How the heck is that hard?" Lucas yelled his face screwing up as he looked at his former girlfriend with indignation.
Peyton stood up to face him, her eyes flashing. "If I had told you, you would have come home, wouldn't you?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips, much like Ms. Roe had done with Lucas in the past if he angered her.
Raising his eyebrows, he replied, "Yes, I would have."
"So you see why I couldn't tell you? You would have come home with no career and would probably be working in a dead-end job and be miserable for the rest of your life," Peyton reasoned matter-of-factly. Her eyes softened and she added, "Being a Marine was your dream, and I had to let you live it."
Not quite sure how to answer that, Lucas opened his mouth and then closed it again, thinking. Finally, after a moment, he replied, "You could have just let me know and told me not to come home … all those letters and nothing."
"And you would have listened?" Peyton asked, knowing the answer. She smiled knowingly at her ex-boyfriend, and sat back down on the sofa.
This time, Lucas joined her. He seemed to have calmed down. "Well … all right, I guess I understand why you didn't tell me," he said, his red face now a pink tinge of embarrassment.
For over a minute they sat in complete silence, each wondering what to say next.
Lucas cleared his throat, gaining Peyton's attention before he asked in a quiet voice, "What's her name?"
This simple question caused her heart to flutter. "Hannah," she said.
Lucas licked his lips and nodded. "Does she take after me?"
"Of course," she replied, smiling at the father of her child. "She has your smile, your temper and I'm sure you noticed - your eyes." She looked down at her hands, which were resting in her lap. "Every time I look at her, I see you."
Lucas' anger and shock were starting to subside, and a range of new emotions were taking over. He still felt angry for being in the dark, but a part of him was filled with empathy. It was obvious by Peyton's expression that keeping this secret had been very painful, and he couldn't imagine what she had gone through in the past two years. Another part of him felt sad; he had missed out on important stages of his daughter's life - her birth, first steps and first word.
"I'm sorry you had to do this alone," Lucas said, feeling guilty. He understood why he only found out now, and not 24 months ago, that he was a father, but that didn't stop him feeling guilty for not being there.
"I wasn't completely alone," Peyton admitted, looking up. "I've been living here, your mum has been a tremendous help."
"What about work? You've written to me about working at the record label," Lucas said, a bit confused.
"I've been working from here. I send in my assignments and go to the office for about an hour or so a day," Peyton explained.
"Sounds like you didn't need me at all," the Lucas, sounding a little hurt.
Peyton shook her head. "Children need fathers, we did need you," she said, looking into his beautiful blue eyes with sincerity.
"This is just so much to take in," Lucas said, rubbing his neck gingerly. To think, the only worry he had this morning was introducing everyone to Miranda, and now he was responsible for another human being! Suddenly his face paled and his eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" Peyton asked, taking hold of Lucas' right hand with concern.
Lucas pulled his hand away and jumped up. "Miranda! I - I have to tell her," he said, panicked. How was she going to take it? Of all the ways he imagined introducing her to his family, explaining to his new girlfriend that he had a daughter was not one of them.
He took the stairs two at a time, leaving Peyton with the feeling that this could have gone better.
After Lucas escaped upstairs, Peyton wandered into the kitchen to finally relax.
"From the noise, I gather he didn't take it well?"
"He didn't at first, Karen, but I think he's all right now," Peyton explained, taking a seat next to Nathan who was staring at Hannah in awe, watching the small child drink out of her bottle.
Nathan turned to his old friend. "She's beautiful," he told Peyton, "just so …" he searched for a word to describe how amazing the baby was, but couldn't find one.
"Breathtaking?" Haley, who was sitting on Hannah's other side suggested.
"Yeah," Nathan said, nodding in approval. He turned back to Hannah, whose bottle was now lying on its side. The small girl blinked and reached forwards, taking Nathan's watch.
"Tank oo," she said, placing the watch on her wrist. Lucas blinked a few times and smiled such a big smile.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Nathan," Peyton quietly apologized, looking down at her hands again.
"It's fine, Haley explained everything to me. I understand why you did what you did," Nathan said. "Anyway, just being here now and seeing Hannah makes up for it all." He stroked the blonde curls on the little girl's head affectionately.
"Where's Lucas now?" Karen asked, picking up the discarded bottle, and placing it in the sink
"He went to talk to Miranda," Peyton replied, pulling a face. She saw Karen's expression stiffen as she turned back to the cupboard to close the door.
"I'm sorry," Nathan suddenly said, averting his eyes from his friends. "I should have warned you Lucas was bringing her, but he told me not to."
"Oh, it isn't your fault, dear," Karen assured him, patting his shoulders affectionately.
"It doesn't matter, Nathan," Haley said. "After Lucas tells her about this little gem, she'll probably leave." She stuck her tongue out at Hannah, who giggled, still finding Nathan's watch fascinating to play with.
"Maybe, but I've known her for two years and she is quite understanding. She never seems embarrassed," Nathan sadly explained.
"Great," Peyton said sarcastically, resting her head on her propped up elbows.
"I can just picture it," Haley said, sighing. She cleared her throat and put on an Irish accent. "Oh what a wonderful baby! She looks just like you, Lucas! When we get married, I'll be her step-mum! Won't that be super?"
This caused Nathan to laugh out loud, Karen to change her laugh into a cough and Peyton to sit up straight in panic.
"They're not getting married, are they?"
"What? No, but give it a few months and she'll have Lucas in his tux practicing 'I do'," Nathan said, sighing.
"Why do you care so much anyway, Peyton?" Haley asked suspiciously. She turned to Hannah and pried Nathan's watch from her, and then handed it to him.
"I thought you were over Lucas."
"Well I am, of course I am! I just don't want Hannah having a step-mum, that's all," Peyton said quickly, blushing slightly. It was true, she didn't want a step-mum for her daughter, but then again, she really didn't want Lucas to date anyone else. She thought she could handle it when the day came, but seeing him again today just brought back all the happy times they had spent together.
"Sure, okay," Haley said. She didn't believe her friend, but even if Peyton admitted to wanting Lucas back, there was nothing she could do about it.
"Would you like some coffee, Nathan dear?" Karen asked, gratefully changing the subject.
"Yes please, two sugars," Nathan said. He looked around the kitchen. It was just like he remembered, but for the formula in the fridge, bottles in the cupboard, and a few photographs of Hannah here and there. "So, what's been going on while I've been gone that I don't know about? Apart from Hannah being born, of course."
The girls took a moment to think; their social lives were quite dull when Hannah was born. They hardly spoke to anyone other than Mouth.
"Erm, Mouth's doing well at his job," Haley said, trying to remember what else there was.
"Thank you," Nathan said as Karen handed him his coffee.
"I better get going, it was great catching up with you, Peyton. I'll see you at home Haley."
The three women walked him to the door.
Ms. Roe gave him a big motherly hug, welcoming him home properly. "You will stop by tomorrow, won't you, dear?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way," he replied, making a move to pick up his suitcase. Haley was quicker to pick it up and handed it to him. She then got on her tip toes and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"See you at home soon," she said quietly. Lucas nodded in return.
He turned to Peyton, who gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek. "Take care."
"I will," he assured. Lucas turned to the stairs and shouted up to Lucas, "Bye! I'm going now, you two." There was no reply, but he guessed they were still busy discussing Lucas' newly found fatherhood. After a quick wave to Hannah, Nathan turned and went on his way out the door.
"Byesie bye!" Hannah called as he went.
Peyton took a deep breath. The time to confront Miranda and Lucas together had come at last.
"Let the party begin," she whispered to herself as she made her way up the staircase.