March 5th, 2012
Tree Hill, North Carolina
"Derek's Room"
"Well, Broody, P. Sawyer, I honestly didn't think it could be done..." Brooke Davis said skeptically as she walked through what had been, at one time, Karen and Lucas Scott's house. This house, however, barely even resembled the one Lucas had grown up in.
At first, when Peyton and Lucas had informed them all of the impending plans for the house, they had all been skeptical. The changes that they were planning on making weren't just a coat of paint here and there; it was an entire freaking new house. Complete with two extra floors. And more than the work it would entitle, Karen had to approve of her house being "reinvented", as Lucas like to refer to this project as, and no one had thought that she would approve. But, much in the same way as she had let Brooke turn the café into Clothes over Bros, she had readily agreed to let Lucas and Peyton remodel the house, as long as they stuck to a few rules. Firstly, all the kids had to have their own rooms. No matter how many of them there were. If her house was going to be redone, everyone was going to get something out of it. Secondly, Derek stays; she knew Peyton and Lucas was need the help, and Derek needed the place to stay. And finally, there had to be at least one room for her, Andy and Lilly to stay in if they ever decided to spend a bit of time in Tree Hill. Brooke liked to think that it was only because of the triplets that Karen was letting her do this, because that house had been a huge part of all their lives, and it hurt to just see it gone. Poof. Well, not quite poof, but, close enough.
And so with Karen's blessing, and a huge amount of money that Peyton and Lucas had nearly refused to accept from Karen and Andy (even though it was supposedly their wedding gift, and a congratulations on the triplets gift), the plans were drawn up. The plan, for the first floor at least, was pretty simple. Lucas' room would become Derek's room, Karen's room would become Lucas and Peyton's home office, and Lilly's room would become a small library, for Lucas' huge book collection, and Peyton and Ellie's music. The kitchen would stay as it was (with the exception of a few appliance upgrades, and the living room would become a dining room. That was where the simplicity ended.
The third floor was where the bedrooms were going to be, the triplets three room would be on the far right side, Peyton and Lucas' on the left, and a small playroom was right next to Lucas and Peyton's room. The second floor was by far everyone's favorite. There were two bedrooms, both empty on that floor, but that was it. The rest was a wide, open room that served as both living room, playroom, game room, and thanks to the bar that sat in the back, thanks to Brooke, bar room as well. The entire room was carpeted, and the furniture in the room was all very neutral, so that Peyton could redecorate anyway she wanted to. It was by far the most gorgeous home that Brooke Davis had ever seen. The house was designed to function perfect for a family, and it was decorated and painted by the best (meaning Brooke and Derek, in that order. Lucas wouldn't let Peyton anywhere near a can of paint, so the blond had unhappily settled for simply picking out the paint colors), and now, after eleven weeks of constant construction, it was done. All that had to be finished was the kids rooms, which Lucas and Peyton were waiting to paint once they found out what they were having, so that they could decide names.
Peyton walked over the plush, beige carpet that covered the living room, and sighed. It was amazing carpet, and it felt amazingly good on her bare feet.
"Excited Peyton?" Brooke asked, flopping down on the couch and turning to look at her best friend. "Peyton?" She repeated, rolling her eyes as she caught her best friend looking out the huge picture window on the back wall. The house wasn't nearly as close to the water as hers was, but from this height, you could see it in the distance, and watching the sunset, as Peyton was doing now, was absolutely exhilarating up here.
Peyton shook her head away from the window and turned back to her best friend. "Oh, yeah. I really, really am. I can't wait for tomorrow."
"Can't wait to find out whether or not you're going to have little Brooke's or Nathan's on your hands?" Brooke asked, playfully.
"If we're lucky, neither."
"Funny P. Sawyer"
"I try. No, I am really excited, and I know Lucas is too."
"Where is that husband of yours?" Brooke asked, noticing Lucas' absence, which was highly unusual, seeing as he hadn't left Peyton's side since she found out about the kids.
"Out with your boyfriend. He and Chase and Nathan, and Derek and possibly Owen, i think, went out to do something basketball related."
"So they're all out?"
"Yeah, Brooke."
"For how long?"
"I don't know, I think they mentioned something about staying in Charlotte overnight. Why, it's not like we're going to have a party."
"No, we're going to have one better than that, P. We're going to have a baby shower. Surprise!." Brooke squealed, jumping up from the couch and hugging her best friend. "I'll be back in an hour. Nap, pee doing something pregnant people do." And with that, and a patented Brooke Davis smirk, Brooke was down the stairs, and within seconds, the door was slammed shut, and the car was starting.
Peyton rolled her eyes, she had known Brooke for a long time, and this definite wasn't something out of character. She walked, or more like waddled, over to the couch, where she took Brooke's place, and sunk comfortably into the couch, falling asleep almost instantaneously, despite all three babies kicking.
She was awoken around, she could only guess, an hour later, by Brooke. She groggily opened her eyes to see the brunette standing over her, shaking her. "Up and at em' sunshine."
"It's dark out Brooke." She moaned, shutting her eyes again.
"Do you really want to miss your own baby shower?" This at least woke Peyton up. Her eyes shot open and she immediately sat up, or attempted to, that took a few seconds, but when she did, she saw that she was not alone in the room with Brooke. Behind Brooke stood Haley, Millie, Rachel (who had been back for a few days, but had yet to see anyone but Brooke), Bevin, Mia, Deb, and most importantly, Karen and… her father?
"Dad?" She asked skeptically. Brooke was a stickler for tradition, and she couldn't believe that she had let a guy come.
"He's only here until ten. Then, he gets booted because that's when the party starts. So, go downstairs or something, and talk. We'll send some one down for you in… one hour and fifty two minutes."
Almost as if she was in a trance, Peyton got up and led her dad to the stairwell, but she didn't head down, as Brooke had suggested, she made her way upstairs, where she walked into one of her favorite rooms. It was one of the triplets rooms, so the inside was all white, just like the other two, but this room had by far the best view. It had the same view of the water as the living room, and even in the darkness, with the nearly full moon reflected in it, the scene was breathtaking. She sat down on one end of the plain white couch that she had had moved in there, and made room for her father.
"Hey daddy," She whispered, as she turned around to look at him. "I missed you."
It wasn't the first time that she had talked to her dad for a while, in fact, she had talked to him just a few days ago, and he obviously knew about the triplets, but it was the first time she had seen him in nearly two years. At first Larry's job had kept them apart, and then the breakup, and then the label, so between Lucas and work there hadn't been much time for each other.
"Well, my baby girl. How are you doing?" He pulled her closer to him, dropping his arm around her shoulder just as he had when she was a little girl.
"Well, for one I'm huge." She laughed, and so did he.
"Yeah, well, that's okay hun. You're supposed to be. God, I couldn't believe it when you and Lucas called and told me. You're my little girl; you couldn't be having a baby. Babies. God, Peyton, you look beautiful."
"Thanks dad." She replied, trying to stop the tear from running down her face.
"What's wrong hun?" He noticed the lone tear and wiped it off her face, turning up his daughters face to look her in the eyes as he did.
"I just miss her is all. There are a lot times when I really thought I needed her, but this time, this time I wish more than anything that she could be here because I know need her here." There was no need to say whom Peyton was talking about.
"I know baby. But you're so strong. You don't need her. As awful as it is that she isn't here to be with you and help you, you and Lucas can do this. I know that." Larry whispered, holding his daughter as close to him as he possibly could. "So where are we?" He asked a few minutes later, gesturing to the room around him.
"Avery's room." Peyton replied without thinking.
"Avery?" Larry asked, smiling.
"Yeah, I want to name one of the babies that, if that'd be okay with you."
"There any reason?" He didn't know for sure if his wife had told her about Avery, it was a small miracle that he could smile, that even after all these years he could think about the small baby that had been his for such a short time.
"Mom told me, when I was little, well, not little, I guess. I asked her why I didn't have any brothers or sisters and she looked at me and smiled, and said I did, and her name was Avery, and she was up in heaven. I didn't really get it at the time, and I think she was banking on that, but a few weeks ago I was at the doctors office, and I asked about her, and she told me everything she could. I'm sorry," Peyton said quietly, not sure how painful of a topic this was for her father. She could only imagine the pain of losing a child, especially so unexpectedly, and at such a yound age. She knew that the baby had only been a few hours old when she was lost.
There was a long pause before Larry spoke again. "She was the reason we fought so hard for you Peyton. Holding her convinced us that we wanted a daughter. We never loved you as anything other than our own, you know that by now, right honey?"
"Of course dad."
"Okay then. I think your mother would love it, if one of her grandchildren carried that name with him, or her. And I would be honored."
Peyton nodded, smiling once again at her father before she heard someone come rushing up the stairs. "I'm coming!" She yelled before whoever it was even had a chance to call her name.
"Good." Was the reply. It was Brooke.
"Okay Peyton." Larry said, kissing the top of his daughter's head. "I'm going to go before that friend of yours kills us bo- all. I love you, and I will call you tomorrow."
"Okay dad." Peyton smiled, hugging him goodbye. "And, you know what. I'll call you after my doctor's appointment tomorrow."
Larry nodded, hugging his daughter once more before they both made their ways down the stairs, and he continued down, leaving Peyton at her party.
The party was just as Peyton had expected it would be. Nothing like any other baby shower in the world. For one, Brooke had put her bar to good use. Peyton laughed, turning around to see Brooke, drunk at the bar attempting to drag the gifts over to where Peyton was sitting next to Karen, repeatedly apologizing for what had happened to her house. Karen laughed, rolling her eyes at her daughter in law, calling Lilly over to her.
"So, Lilly" Karen started, looking at her daughter. "You remember Peyton, right?"
The ever so tactful six year old nodded. "The one who broke up Lukies wedding, right mama?"
"What happened between your brother and Lindsay was complicated, Lilly." Karen started, after a few seconds of shocked silence, trying to explain what had happened without placing blame on anyone. Thankfully, Brooke, in a frighteningly sober state considering how much she had probably drunken by that point, answered for her.
"Lilly, do you remember when you were real little, like maybe two or three?" Brooke sat down and pulled the little girl into her lap.
"No."
"Well, silly, that's because I haven't asked you to remember yet. Anyways, it was Christmas time, the first Christmas since we had left Tree Hill, and we were all home. Never mind about the whole remembering thing, you were like one. Anyways, Lucas came home with Peyton, and he was so happy. He hadn't seen her in a really long time, and he missed her, and it was a week before Christmas, and his only plans were for him and Peyton to… talk."
"And kiss?" The six year old said, smirking.
"Yeah. You watch to much tv kiddo. Well, your mom got sick, and Lucas was called in for babysitting duty, and without even a second thought, Peyton came with him. And then Lucas got sick too. And Peyton here spent the whole week taking care of you and Lucas and your mama, because she loved you guys all so much. But she got scared, and she didn't do what her heart was telling her to do, and so she and Luke broke up, and when he came home that Christmas, Peyton staying in LA, and Lucas stayed in his room the entire time. He didn't even bother to come home the next year. But the year after that, he came home with another girl. And she made him smile too. But it wasn't as big of a smile as he had when he was with your Aunt Peyton over here. But he couldn't see that, and none of us wanted to say anything, because we were to afraid to make him sad again. And between then and the wedding, Lucas made some mistakes, and Peyton made some mistakes, and Lindsay made a few mistakes, but Peyton didn't break up Lucas and Lindsay. Lindsay saw what the rest of us were afraid to see. She saw Lucas' smile."
The entire room was silent as Brooke finished talking to Lilly. "Thank you." Peyton and Karen both mouthed to her, both silently crying. Brooke only smiled back.
"Okay, Lilly." Karen said, "It's getting pretty late, so why don't you go ahead and give Peyton your present, and then head off to bed." Lilly nodded, avoiding Peyton's glance until she returned from the stack of presents with an oddly wrapped package. Peyton took it from her and began to open it, gasping when she saw what was inside the package.
"I made them myself." She said proudly, gesturing to the three stuffed animals in the package. "Well, we went to build a bear, and I made them there, but I made them."
"Thanks Lilly. They'll love them." Peyton whispered as she smiled at her sister in law. Unexpectedly, Lilly really hadn't completely warmed to Peyton, though she had known her since before she was born, Lilly shyly hugged her. "Thank you." Peyton said one more time before Karen sent her off to bed.
Bevin's gift was up next. Baby clothes. Nice ones, very cute, and extremely generous seeing as she hadn't really talked to Bevin since senior year. Rachel's gift was of the same variety, and Peyton could only assume they were picked out by Brooke, because she honestly go the feeling that Rachel could care less.
Deb's present was next, and smiling, her ex-boyfriends mother handed the package to her. "I know that this is an odd situation that we've all got, going on here, but I've known you since you were in kindergarten and you and Brooke used to come over and play tag with Nathan in the yard. I watched you grow up, and I just thought that you should know that even though you and Nathan are so very over, I do think of you as like a daughter, and if you ever need anything, I'll be there." With a tearful nod, Peyton opened the gift, and saw a photo album. She flipped open the first page, and saw a picture of her from her third birthday party, and on the next page, some from kindergarten, and then some from elementary, and twenty pages worth of pictures, all of her growing up, right up until the summer before ninth grade, the summer her and Nathan started dating. "I'm sure you have pictures from then." Deb said, nodding at the blank pages. Peyton nodded again before she placed the album back into the bag, and pulled out a photo, that she nearly dropped as soon as she saw it. She knew exactly what it was from, her kindergarten graduation. She had just never seen the picture of her, her mother and her father before. "It was on my camera, I just found it the other day. I figured that you couldn't really spilt the photo album between the kids, so there's a frame and a print for each one.
Mia's gift was nowhere's near as emotional, but it was definitely just as thoughtful. Each of the adorable onsie's had a different Foo Fighters autograph on it. "It took me forever to get those, so don't lose them, or let them spill on them."
Peyton laughed. "I'll frame them, then."
"Lovely." Mia laughed as Peyton took Karen's gift off the table.
"Karen, you so didn't have to get us anything. You've already done so much."
"Peyton, don't worry about it." She smiled, gesturing for Peyton to open the gifts. "Now," she interrupted before Peyton had even seen what they were. "They are all the same, so you only have to open one now, but they're reversible, because we didn't know if they were going to be boys or girls. And the gift, it's from your dad, too." Peyton tore open the package, and was once again left speechless as she looked at what she was holding. It was a quilt, made out of Lucas' old jerseys and clothes on one side, and Peyton's on the other side. "All the clothes are from when you were kids, so we thought it was special."
"God, Karen." Peyton said, leaning over to give her mother in saw a hug, "Thank you so, so much. They're beautiful."
Now all that remained were Haley and Brooke's gifts. Haley went first. "I know that this is seriously teacherish of me, but if it makes them anymore special, they were Lucas and mine's favorites when we were kids." Haley said laughing as she watched Peyton open the huge pile of books. "Thank you." Peyton said, leaning over to hug her Haley.
"Now." Brooke said, holding her hand out to Peyton. "This is from Millie and I, and Haley too." She pulled Peyton off of the couch and led her up the stairs and into on of the baby's rooms. Smiling, she slid open the closet, and Peyton gasped. The entire closet was filled with clothes. "Okay, so this is not what they're actually getting, because I don't know what to make, because I don't know if my future favorite people are girls or boys, but as soon as I do, they will be the proud owners of an entire Baby Brooke Wardrobe."
"I'm speechless Brooke, this must have taken forever."
"Not as long as this." Haley said, walking into the room that Peyton hadn't known she was missing from, holding a large piece of wood. "Did you know that THUD keeps a record of every single paper they've ever printed?" She laughed as she turned the board around, and revealed every single strip that Peyton had ever drawn for THUD. "We know that you have all your other drawing downstairs in your office, but you didn't have these, so Brooke and I got together and worked our asses off to make this for you."
For lack of anything else to say, Peyton Elisabeth Scott simply moved towards them, enveloping them both in a huge hug. "I love both you guys so much."
"And we love you to P."
A/N: Next chapter: What will the babies be?? Suggestions for names are requested (I have a good idea of what I think I'm naming them, but I'm not positive), so review with comments and names. 34 Reviews would be amazing, and I would be super happy!!
