"Mom?" he says, coming down the stairs a little loudly.
"Yes?"
"Do I really have to do this?"
"By this you mean…" she says, pausing as he is just staring at her like the typical teenage boy would his mother, "What exactly?"
"High School."
"Jamie, most kids are dying to get to high school. Independence, new setting, cooler classes."
"Yeah, a basketball legacy to live up to, being the kid of a past teacher who died, and being a member of the Scott family…"
"You had all those things in Junior High too."
"You didn't grow up here, Aunt Peyton!" he says, getting more frustrated.
"Oh, don't you Aunt Peyton me, mister… you are going to be FINE. I assure you that all adults have gone through this before, myself included. You will survive and you will come out in one piece."
"Come out in one piece for what?" Lucas says, coming into the kitchen with a two year old blonde on his hip and a five year old blonde trailing quickly behind.
"High School!" Peyton says, shaking her hands in the air dramatically like it is some scary thought.
"Oh, that…" he says, rolling his eyes at the drama that came when Jamie hit puberty.
He was still every bit Haley and Nathan, strong willed, athletic, kind… and most like his mother, he was dramatic. He didn't like change, at least not in his school things. He was a high achiever thanks to the brains he got from the James side of the family, and was always striving for perfection. The love of basketball was in him before he could walk, so that was something that they kept up with. The swimming was something that stuck with him since he was younger as well, and something that he planned on sticking to at the high school level. But the hormones on the kid were enough to drive his aunt and uncle crazy.
"You do realize that we both survived, your parents survived… all adults have gone through this before!" he says, and then watches his nephew's mouth drop open.
Jamie just grabs a bagel from the bag on the kitchen counter and walks back up the stairs, ignoring the giggles coming from his aunt.
"What did I say?" Lucas says, shrugging his shoulders.
"Nothing that I didn't, babe. Don't worry about it."
"Mommy." Her daughter says, looking at her with a very serious expression on her face.
"Baley." She matches with an equal expression.
"We can't be late."
"Baley, honey, we are not going to be late, I promise."
"Are you sure?" she asks with her eager little five year old voice.
"Yes, I'm sure."
As Peyton moves around the kitchen getting various breakfasts taken care of, Lucas gets himself ready for the day, finding all of his things for classes and kissing "his girls" before walking over to the door.
"You're kidding me right?" Peyton asks, as she sees him standing at the doorway.
"What?"
"I've got a fourteen year old boy upstairs who does not want to go to his first day of high school. I have a five year old little girl who is practically dragging me out the door for her first day of Kindergarten. And I have a two year old who…" she says, looking over at Katie with a smirk on her face, "can't seem to find her mouth when she eats bananas. And you're going to leave me."
"Not the right choice?"
"Can you at least get him to come to school."
"Oh, he's going to school." He says in that fatherly tone that suggests that over his dead body is that kid going to miss going to school that morning.
"I'm well aware of that Lucas, but why don't you go up there and talk to him, and maybe you can take him with you early so he can settle in while I get your daughters presentable for the rest of the world?"
"That would be the good choice, right?"
"Yes."
"I'm not going to be able to walk out of here without the drama, am I?"
"Nope."
"So, I should go take care of Jamie?"
"This is what I'm sayin'"
He just smiles at her, pulling her close to him for a kiss before retreating upstairs to knock on his nephew's door.
"I don't want to go."
"Well, too bad, cause you're going."
"Dad, this is stupid."
"Jamie, I don't get it… how is this different? You've been going to school with these people since you were little, and all the sudden you don't want to be anywhere around them?"
"It's just… it's high school. It's all different."
"How is it different?"
"I don't know. You guys all went to Tree Hill High, and everyone knows my name there, and it's just a lot of pressure."
"Jamie, they knew your name last year in eighth grade and the year before that. It doesn't change anything."
"You and my dad hated each other in high school right?"
"Until Junior year… yeah, we basically wanted to kill each other."
"And my Mom and Dad got married when they were in high school, right?"
"Yes."
"And Mom went on that crazy tour, right?"
"Yes."
"And you guys had all of the school shooting drama and stuff, right?"
"Jamie, is there a point to any of this?"
"You never told me any stories from junior high or elementary school. All your stories with my mom and dad came from when you guys were in high school. It was huge, and everything changed, and people changed, and…"
"And you're worried that you're going to change or someone is going to change to make everything different."
"YES!"
"Kid, I hate to tell you, but part of growing up is dealing with the changing. Stuff's going to happen, and people are going to come in and out of your life. You just have to deal with it."
"This is just a big day."
"It is a big day, and I'm so proud of you for getting here. But, you have to actually go…"
He rolls his eyes before putting on that trademark Scott grin and grabbing his bag.
"So, we're going?"
"We're going." He says, then making his way down the stairs to see his sisters dressed and ready for their day.
"Jamie!" Katie screams, seeing her older brother.
"Katie Kate! Are you going to have a fun day today? It's just you and mom!" he says, with an excitement that makes her giggle.
No one could look at them and tell all the tragedy and drama that had surrounded this family name, especially this boy who was well on his way to becoming a man. He had grown up so much in the past few years, and Lucas saw in him that same desire that Nathan had of belonging to a family, of having those people around you that loved you.
His bond with his youngest sister Katie, was probably stronger than anything, especially because of how she came to be, after a talk that Jamie had with his aunt. And when she was born, and he was given the task of coming up with a middle name to go with her name, Elizabeth, he picked Katherine, which he later told Lucas and Peyton was a name his mother had thrown around after finding out she was pregnant. They thought that it was the perfect first name, and ended up naming the little girl Katherine Elizabeth Scott, and from the very first time he held that little girl, she was putty in his hands.
Baley, on the other hand, outgrew her big brother, which Peyton and Lucas were surprised at and terrified at, especially thinking towards her adolescent years. She still loved him, but fought with him as much as a five year old can fight. She claims that he always treats her like a baby and that he's just a "stupid boy" in her words. But Jamie remembers all those times when it was just him and Baley, reading together on the sofa in the living room or playing hide and go seek when she could finally walk, so he claims it's a phase.
It was a great life, and they thank their lucky stars for each other, even though the circumstances that brought them her were tragic at best.
"You guys should get going." Peyton says, grabbing the little girl out of his hands, and placing a kiss on his forehead.
"Mom, ew…"
"Oh, stop it. I may not have changed your diapers, but I still get to have my gushy moments. You've grown up, Jamie Scott."
"yeah yeah."
"Tell your sister goodbye."
"Bales, you do the Scott name proud in Kindergarten, okay?" he says, leaning down to talk to her.
"If we ever GET there!" she says, tapping her foot loudly on the hard wood of their kitchen floor.
He just laughs at his sister, knowing that the attitude she had came straight from Peyton, and loving the little girl all the more for it. "I'm sure that you and mom are leaving soon… take a chill pill pip squeek…"
"Don't call me that!"
"Hey, if the shoe fits, kid."
"James Lucas Scott, you better not be tormenting your sister, and you better be making your way out that door to the car."
"Yeah, yeah… I'm going." He says, turning again to kiss her on the cheek before walking out the door.
Lucas hung back for a moment to kiss his wife goodbye and tell his little girls that he loved them before walking out to meet his son at the car.
After the house was free of the Scott men, the girls double check hair ties and pigtails before piling into the family's other car on the way to Kindergarten.
"Is Miss Kay going to be there today?"
"She's your teacher, of course she's going to be there." Peyton calls to her from the front seat.
"I'm going to learn how to read today, and then I can grow up and be an author like Daddy."
"You don't want to be like mommy and her music?"
"No, I want to be like Daddy."
"Well, thanks, Baley…" Peyton says, laughing at the old assumption that little girls wanted to be just like their mommies.
They pull up to school with plenty of time to spare, since the little girl had been ready so early for the day anyways, and Peyton got both kids out of the car with little to do.
"Here we are! Let's go to your classroom!" Peyton says with a spring in her step and Katie on her hip.
Halfway up the driveway, she realized that she was missing a very important piece to this first day of Kindergarten… the student. Upon turning around, she sees Baley walking back to the car and trying the door handle before turning around and sitting down on the ground beside it.
"Baley Sawyer Scott, what are you doing?" her mother asks, approaching her with a questioning look on her face.
Then, the lip begins to quiver and the eyes start to flood. "I don't want to go to Kindergarten!"
Let the crying begin.
"Baley, sweetie, you've been so excited about going to school!"
"I want to stay home with you and Katie! I don't need to go to school."
"I hate to tell ya kid, but you need to go to school if you want to learn to read and to become an author."
"Then I don't want to be like daddy anymore, I want to be like you… I don't have to go to school to do music stuff."
Peyton looks down at the little girl, laughing at the child's mind, and thinking to herself that she was probably just like this when she was younger.
"Even mommy went to school, baby… you have to go."
"No, I'm not going."
"Well, sadly, you don't have a choice, kiddo… so we're going to get up and walk over into that building, and you're going to school."
"Mommy!"
Yes, this was Peyton's child, all bite and sass, and drama… oh the drama the little five year old stirred up on a regular basis.
"Baley, you're going to school… There is nothing that you can do, that is going to let you stay home with me all day."
"But what if you forget about me? What if I need you?"
"I'm not going to forget about you, and you are not going to need me. In fact, once we walk in, I bet that you'll forget about me anyways."
She narrows her eyes in a gesture so much like her father that it causes Peyton's breath to catch in her throat as she holds back a laugh.
"What if I don't like it?"
"Then you come back tomorrow and you try it again."
"Baley School!!" Katie says, pointing in the direction of the other children.
"See, even your sister knows that you are supposed to be walking in that building. So you need to be brave and you need to get in there before they start without you. Then everyone is going to learn how to read and all those things before you."
At this, Baley perks up, because the competitive streak she gets from her father starts to show. No one can do something before her, and she wasn't about to start that now!
"I thought you might change your mind." Peyton says, under her breath as the little girl stands up and starts to slowly walk towards the school.
When they get to the door, she peers in at the room, all bright colors and fresh name tags. And tears.
Kindergarten was rough on the first day of school. The moms were crying the kids were crying. It was absolute chaos, and Peyton had to laugh to herself as she watched the scene unfold before her.
Yes, that little girl was hers and Lucas' child, perfectly content to pave her own way as she figured out that she had to hang up her back pack and found a nametag with her name on it. With one look to Peyton, the little girl pointed to the name tag and sat down at her seat. And with a wave to her mom and little sister, she waited for everyone else to figure out what they were supposed to do.
Peyton waited for a little while, making sure that Baley was really over her outburst from the morning, and then watched as the moms started filing out of the room with tears still in their eyes and Kleenexes in their hands.
Once she got to the car, she had a minor freak out moment.
"Brooke!" she says into the phone that she had pulled out.
"Hey P. Scott, What's up?"
"I'm a horrible mother!!"
"What?! Peyton, you're like super mom. Are you kidding me?"
"I didn't cry! All the other moms were crying and hugging the crap out of their kids and freaking out, and I just let Baley walk in and sit down and I waved! I'm a horrible mother."
"No, you're just a normal human being. These moms know that they are getting their kids back, right?"
Peyton laughs at this, knowing that she made the right choice in calling her best friend, "Brooke, it was just weird. Why didn't I cry?"
"You've already gone through the school thing with Jamie."
"But Jamie was already in school when we came into the picture. Baley's new at this whole thing."
"Yeah, but even though he's not yours biologically, Jamie is your first. Since he was settled, you were settled."
"So, I'm not a bad mom?"
"Nope, the best."
"Are you sure?"
"There is nothing that I'm more sure of in this life… now what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"
She thought for a moment, realizing that it really was odd only having one child to cart around with her for the day, and not a child that could very well hold a lot of conversations with her. "I don't know. I hadn't thought that far ahead."
"Then I'm flying to Tree Hill. I'll stay for your first week of back to school happiness."
"Brooke, you don't have to do that!"
"I know I don't have to, but hey, the jet is sitting there, why not use it?"
"I love how important and successful my best friend is."
"Speaking of which, did Baley have the new clothes on? Was she adorable? Did you take pictures?"
"Pictures!!! See, I am a bad mom! The first day of school and I didn't take pictures!"
"So take them when she gets home."
"You remember my daughter right? You realize that by the time she gets home, there will be a run in her tights, her braid will be half undone, and she will have already lost a button or buckle on something that she wore to school this morning. It's inevitable." She says, picturing the little girl in her cute outfit this morning, and picturing what she could possibly look like after school.
"No pictures on the first day of school… wow, you are a bad mom."
"BROOKE!" she screams back into the phone, laughing.
"Listen, I've got to get some stuff done, but I'll fly into Tree Hill tonight and maybe we can do dinner and plan out some stuff to do for the week?"
"Sounds good B. Davis."
"Caio!"
With this, Peyton hangs up the phone, glancing over to the school where she had just dropped her daughter off. Then she glanced to the back of the car where her sleeping two year old was. Apparently her conversation with Brooke was enough to bore the little girl into a nap.
"You better not grow up this fast Katie Kate…" she says, glancing between the school and her daughter again, and wiping a tear of her cheek.
Yeah, she was a good mom… she just didn't freak out in public like all the other crazy moms.
--
Okay guys here is the random piece of fluff that you asked for. I'm thinking that now I'm going to stick with the freshman year thing for a few chapters, and then I'm going to work on another little time jump. I'm not going to do flashbacks as people have asked about, because I want you to fill in the blanks yourself. I may fill in some blanks in a similar fashion as how I threw in the part about Jamie naming Katie. You will know all. A big thanks to the long reviewers, cause you guys are really helping me with the story! I'm also going to get more into the relationships they have with the new kids as well. I'm also going to get a few Leyton moments in there too, cause I keep going away from that to focus a bit more on Jamie. I'm working through it though, so just wait and see!
Keep reviewing, and keep enjoying!!