The few days after the hospital were an absolute blur for everyone. Jamie came home, which they decided would be Nathan and Haley's home for the time being, with Lucas and Peyton staying there with help from Karen and Brooke, who would also stay around all the time.
When Haley's family started to come in, it got even more hectic, with all of her sisters and their families, trying to console Jamie, who really wanted to be left alone.
"You need help with that?" Lucas asks his nephew, walking in to find him messing with his tie.
"Yeah... dad used to always fix it for me..."
"Well, I can certainly help you with that. I'll fix it."
"Thanks, Uncle Lucas...." he says, pausing for a bit afterwards, "when does everyone else leave?"
"What do you mean?"
"I just want it to be us again..."
"You mean me and you?"
"and Peyton, Karen, Lily, and Andy... and maybe Brooke."
Lucas laughs that he added Brooke in, someone who he had met just one brief time before she had stayed to help them out.
"Soon, buddy... I think they're leaving soon."
"Then what?"
"Then... I don't know... we'll have to figure it all out. I know that Peyton and I are going to go talk to some people about everything, but you don't have to worry about any of that."
"Okay... can we go now?"
"Yeah, why don't you go wait in the car while I go get Peyton?" he says, patting Jamie on the head before walking down the hall to his girlfriend.
She was standing in front of the mirror, with an expression that he couldn't pin down. "Peyton?"
"Huh?" she startles, wiping a tear that he hadn't noticed from her face, "Is Jamie ready?"
"Yeah, he's out in the car... you okay?"
"I will be. This just sucks."
"You don't have to..."
"Luke, I'm not going to tell you this again... I know I don't have to be here, but I want to be here, and I love you and I love Jamie, and I loved Nathan and Haley. I'm not going anywhere..."
"I know that... It's just..."
Putting a finger to his lips to stop him from finishing that sentence, "Luke... I'm not going anywhere."
"We should go... long day ahead of us." he says, kissing her lightly on the forehead and waiting for her to follow him out of the room and back to the car.
The ceremony was held for both of them, and it held old friends and new, family members that hadn't been together in years, and so many memories. It was beautiful, but sad all at the same time. Jamie was brave through the whole service, looking to Lucas when things were said that he didn't understand or that upset him. Lucas would hold onto his shoulder to comfort him, or try to smile down at the boy.
When they were lowered down into their final resting places, Lucas grabbed a handful of dirt for both, allowing it to fall over each. Not knowing why, but understanding that it was something important, Jamie too grabbed two small handfuls of dirt, throwing them down the way his uncle did.
Later that evening, as the family was starting to leave, Jamie had his first real breakdown, something that seemed to come of nothing, but certainly stirred something in everyone.
"Jamie, why don't you come sit by me?" Vivian said.
"No, I want to stay here." he replies from his spot on the couch.
"Why won't you come visit with your Aunt Vivian?" she says again, patting the spot next to her again.
"Because I don't want to."
"Now, Jamie, don't be rude." she says a little more forcefully than before.
"I'm not being rude! I don't want to!" He screams loud enough to send Lucas running from the kitchen to see what was going on.
"Jamie..." his aunt says, confused by the burst of anger from the little boy.
"NO! Why don't you LEAVE! Mama wouldn't have wanted you here anyway! You weren't ever here! I don't want you here! Go away!" He screams again at her, then turns to run down the hallway, running into Peyton's legs.
She picks him up gently, taking him back to his own room until she hears his tiny whisper, "Can I go in their room?"
Looking into the boy's watery blue eyes, she had to grant him this one request, and turned around, taking him down the hall to his parents' room.
Meanwhile, Lucas was in the family room dealing with the aftermath of what had just happened.
"I think that it would be best to call it a night, everyone. Jamie has had an incredibly long day, and has an incredibly hard time ahead of him."
"Let me go say goodnight at least..." Vivian says, moving towards the hallway.
"I think that you should just go... he needs some time."
She nods, sadly, understanding how the boy felt, remembering how she felt when she found out that her sister was gone.
"I'm sorry that I caused a scene." she apologizes, bowing her head.
"He just needs time."
They all agree that Lucas is right, and leave shortly after the outburst, which left just him, his mother, and Brooke.
"You guys going to be okay?" Karen asks, putting a reassuring hand on her son's shoulder.
"We'll be okay... it has just been a long day, for everyone."
"I'll be back tomorrow..."
"You know what, mom... why don't you just wait for a few days, until Thursday... that way he doesn't have to really deal with a lot of people in the house. When Peyton and I go to that meeting in New York, you can come watch him."
"You're right, he needs the space... you call me if you need anything."
"We will."
She turns to leave, motioning to Brooke to follow her as Brooke waves goodbye to Lucas, letting him know that she understood what was needed.
"I'll send the jet for you guys on Thursday."
"You don't have to do that."
"It'll get you there and back a lot faster than driving, so I insist."
"Thank you Brooke... It has really meant a lot to Peyton having you here."
"I'm here for you too, Luke." she says, turning, and walking out the door right behind Karen.
Apparently, more time had passed than he thought. He went first to Jamie's room, but found an empty bed, then thinking that every little kid wanted the same thing when they were scared: mom and dad's bed.
When he found them, he was finally asleep with dried tears covering his face, still in his little suit from earlier in the day. Peyton was clutching the small boy in a protective manner, with tears in her eyes as she hummed to him a song that he didn't recognize.
"He asleep?" he whispers, causing her to stop the humming for a moment.
"Just a few minutes ago..."
"What were you humming?" he asks, having a feeling that he knew what the answer was.
"It was the first song she recorded with me... it was actually about Jamie. He knew it. He smiled when I started to hum it to him, like he remembered her singing it."
"Where there was a piano, there was Haley. He's probably heard everything on that album you guys were working on."
"I'm going to try to get a copy of it for him, let him hear her voice."
"That's a good idea." he says, sitting on the edge of the bed, just watching his nephew sleep for a few minutes, "We should go to bed."
"I don't want to leave him in here by himself."
Nodding, he takes his shoes off, moving to take hers off as well. He lay next to her then, kissing her cheek and wishing her sweet dreams.
It was rough that evening and the evening after, but they made it through. They don't know how much sleep they didn't get, but Jamie seemed better during the days, wanting to play outside or play some video games with Lucas. It was a slow paced way of life for those few days, until Lucas got another phone call about meeting with Nathan's agent and their lawyer and getting down to business with everything.
They didn't want to leave him. They both worried that he would have another freak out in the middle of the day and shut down, but Karen insisted that he would be in good hands. Lucas didn't want to go by himself and they figured that it would be easier for them to grab stuff from their apartment with two of them instead of just one of them.
"When are you guys coming back?"
"We'll be back tonight."
"Why do you have to leave?"
"Jamie, we talked about this. Your mom and dad had a lot of things that we need to make sure are all taken care of. We need to find out about the house and you and money and a whole bunch of boring adult stuff. And we need to get more clothes if we are going to come back and stay for a little bit longer."
"Grandma Karen is going to be here?"
"Her and Lily and Andy are coming over to stay with you... is that okay?"
"Do you think Lily will play basketball with me?"
"She is my sister! Of course she'll play basketball with you. She loved playing basketball with you and your dad..." he says, trying to bring up Nathan in a positive way.
"Yeah, we always beat her though."
"Well, your dad was kind of in the NBA... so he could probably beat anyone."
"Yeah..." he says, a sad tone creeping into his voice.
"Hey... when I come back, I'll call Skills and the three of us can play together. Sound good?"
"Can we go to the rivercourt?"
"Yup!" he says, lifting Jamie up and swinging him around as he walks to answer the doorbell he heard while talking with his nephew.
Both the limo that was taking them to the airport and his mom's car were pulling in the driveway, and Lily was standing in the doorway with a big smile on her face.
"Hi, Jamie!"
"Hi, Lily!" he says, smiling a little bit.
After greetings were exchanged and goodbyes were said to Jamie, the pair piled in the limo and headed off to the airport, and to New York.
–
"Lucas, I'm sorry about your brother and sister in law..." Mr. Nash says extending a hand to him.
"Thank you sir."
"And this is?" he says, extending the same hand out to Peyton.
"Peyton. I'm a friend of the family as well."
"Well, it's nice to meet the two of you.... now let's sit down an talk about everything." he says, gesturing for the couple to sit down and get comfortable. "We're actually quite lucky in this case, tragedy aside, because Nathan and Haley had just tied up their affairs."
"Why would they do that?" Lucas asks confused.
"I remember Haley getting a call when she was in New York with me a few weeks ago... it was something that Nathan's agent suggested because of his new contract." Peyton explains, taking Lucas' hand in hers for a moment.
"Yes, that's right. They went a step further than money though, as Haley was one to leave no stone unturned."
Lucas laughs a bit at this, fully aware that his best friend would have made sure that absolutely everything that could be done, would be done, "Which means?"
"They had a will made, complete with information regarding all funds and assets."
"Which, I guess is why you called me here..."
"Haley and Nathan both thought that you would be the best person to contact in case of a situation, so I'm assuming that you are going to be taking care of everything?"
"Yes."
"All right, then let's get down to it?" he says, opening the paperwork.
Most of the money was set to go to Jamie, including the house and their combined savings. One savings account was set for just his schooling down the road, and another was set aside for what would be awarded from the couple's life insurance. The boy was set for life as far as anyone was concerned, and Nathan's newest contract made sure of that. When Lucas spoke to the agent briefly, he was told that half of the contract would still be paid out to Nathan Scott's name, which then made Jamie receive it.
Then came the point where Lucas held his breath. He knew what it would say, but officially, he was worried at hearing the words.
"With regards to the legal guardian of James Lucas Scott, full legal guardianship shall be given to Lucas and Peyton Scott." the lawyer reads.
Both eyes go wide as Peyton starts to cough on the water she had just taken a sip of. When she stops the coughing, she turns to Lucas with still wide eyes, "Scott?"
–
Okay, you KNEW that Lucas would end up with Jamie... that's kind of a given. And this is where my original story idea actually begins... haha... it only took me 12 chapters to get here... wow... So I'm hoping that you guys are enjoying this, because I have to admit that this has been my favorite to write thus far as a fan of anything. It just keeps coming! So yeah, let's see what happens next!
Reviews make me HAPPY!!!
