There was some good natured ribbing, and snickers, when Lucas and Peyton announced they were expecting their second child to their friends and family. Lucas held his six-month old daughter, Sawyer, in his arms and clasped his wife, Peyton's hand tightly when they announced Peyton was pregnant again.
Brooke squealed, Haley simply offered up a knowing smile and Nathan jumped up and slapped his big brother on the shoulder all the while smiling from ear to ear. Lucas' mom, Karen, cried and vowed she was going to talk Andy into brining her home to Tree Hill. Peyton's dad, Larry, though happy, played the role of worried father, at the knowledge that his only daughter was pregnant again so soon after her first child.
Lucas at first didn't understand Larry's concern, after all, he and Peyton loved each other deeply, they had good stable careers, and they wanted a big family. Then, that night, Lucas was laying his baby daughter in her crib and it hit him. Some day some boy, some guy, was going to take his baby's heart, fill her head with pretty words, and change her life forever. "I suck," Lucas whispered turning his head to the living room where Peyton was tidying up. He then looked down at his baby girl and stroked her soft blonde hair.
"You will always be daddy's girl, right?" Lucas chuckled softly when Sawyer put her thumb in her mouth and began to suck. "Daddy loves you," Lucas told her and then leaned down and kissed her cheek.
Walking into the living room, Lucas saw Peyton curled up on the soft leather black couch. She had a dark blue blanket wrapped around her long shapely legs and he noticed she had a photo album in her lap.
Peyton slowly flipped through the pages, and he heard her laugh softly when she found a photo that amused her. Longing to join her, Lucas walked to the edge of the couch, lifted up her legs, sat down and then placed her feet in his lap.
"Whatcha' looking at?" He asked trying to peer at the photos in the album.
"The past," Peyton said wistfully. "Thinking about now, how we got here and our future."
"It is crazy, isn't it?" Lucas smiled at her. He began rubbing the soles of her feet and he heard Peyton groan in pleasure. "Feel good," he asked knowing the answer to his question before he asked.
"Heaven," Peyton replied. She leaned her head back against the arm of the couch and the photo album slipped slightly from her grasp. Lucas watched as Peyton placed the palm of her hand on the slight bulge of her tummy. She was three months pregnant with their second child and Lucas couldn't imagine her looking for beautiful then she did now.
Looking at the open page of the photo album, Lucas cocked his head and shook it. One of the photos was of the whole group, Lucas, Peyton, Brooke, Chase, Nathan, Haley, Skills, Bevin and the rest on the river court after senior year. Looking at the photo, Lucas thought Peyton was right it was crazy how they got here.
"You ever think about it?" Lucas said absently. "About what would have happened to us if we didn't get this second chance?"
"All the time," Peyton told him. She opened her eyes and saw all the love in the world in her husband's eyes, all for her. Of course, Lucas was talking about when he and Peyton had almost lost each other, how he was set to marry another woman, and how they fought all the odds to find their way back to each other.
Peyton, on the other hand, was thinking of the incident. How she had been given a second chance to have this. She was savoring every moment, sure that at any time, this life, this chance would be taken from her. She was sure of it.
There were so many times she wanted to tell Lucas, to share this with him. But to her, it felt as if knowing what she had lost, knowing what another path held, was a burden she didn't want him to carry as well. But she had it bottled so tight inside her she feared what it would do her if she kept it inside.
"Lucas, she began," biting the inside of her lip. "I have to tell you something," she told him. And she did. Recounting the whole story, wondering when he would call the guys in the white coat to take her off to a rubber room.
"I know it sounds crazy," she said quickly when she finished her story. "But, I also know it wasn't a dream. I know it happened. I know I am here right now with you because of it."
She finished and watched his expression. His brows pinched together and she could tell he was processing what she had said.
"You have to believe me," Peyton added. "You have to." She sat up from the couch and placed her feet on the hardwood floor beneath her. Peyton grasped Lucas' hand and squeezed it tightly. "Baby, talk to me," she pleaded.
"I believe you," Lucas said letting out a deep sigh. "I believe you because it has happened to me too."