A/N: You guys are the awesomest reviewers ever! I think you'll have no problem getting to 500 by Tuesday morning the way you review! Its so funny. I am smarter than I give myself credit for. I had made a Luke apology sequence, its in the next chapter though (chapter 15). So sorry for the redundancy. Just pretend he was super remorseful. I just watched the season 6 finale again, and realized how right on I was about Peyton's forgiving nature. She allowed Dan to hold the baby!?! That chick has a huge heart man. Even Dan got a little in.

M's, Tori, Annie, and misshay, I really appreciate how you go back and review all the chapters you missed when you didnt have to, and I know your fellow reviewers appreciate the boost in review numbers. I love your insights and comments!

Thanks for all your predictions. Read ahead to see if you were right! And I have no idea if Brooke can sing, because in my mind she would never put herself out there to do so in front of people. She is definitely not Haley level, but I can hear her offkey with the smoky voice making it bearable.

christina- isnt it funny how kids think you pick up their siblings at the store or something? 'Take him back' Take him back where? lol. Tell me what you think of how Peyton handled that question.

A-dono- Haley will be tough. And Peyton is def the matriarch of this brood. She had a presence in the show even when she was emotionally unstable, I just imagined how formidable she would be secure in her friendships, love, and life.

chocolatemud- I think being a father brings out the best in Luke. Hes a better man because hes setting an example for his sons, and can no longer afford to be 'selfish' in his actions. I love Peyton Sawyer, warrior princess. lol. And you know I had to have Peyton pass on the top down music blasting cure all for life. I just didnt expect it to come up so soon. But it was a good way for Brody to come back a kid again in the future scenes. You'll see why Karen did what she did in chapter 17. And be sherlock holmes. Ask demeter18. I love predictions! Cause as to your prediction, you were on the money!

Firestarterchick- that is so funny. How far apart were your husband and his brother? He must have been big to carry his little brother to those places. I probably would have used that if Brody was bigger.

leytonislove- That was the last chapter, when Brooke caused the argument and Brody's hurt feelings. She's almost done causing drama, and once you see her flashbacks, I think you will forgive her, so there will be not too much more serious drama from , disrupter of tranquil lives.

Amanda- Scooter has brown hair, so Brody wouldnt see that difference. You almost hit it with your predictions. See what parts you got comin up!

mcgirl- was that sufficient drama for you? I know how much you like it, and I tend to write fluff. Theres a little drama in this chapter, but not too much. Tell me what you think.

crazyjan- so flashback row, as I like to call it, is about to start. Do you want all the flashbacks at once, or do you want me to break up the current story line with them. Flashback, present day, etc.

marybeth- you called peyton!

Cassie- Itll be awhile, but theres a Breyton scene coming, so hold tight.

M's- Peyton Scott is the best person ever! And Tink is MY favorite girl, so she gets a lot of air time. heehee hee.

Stagediva- I added the makeup scenes because of your reviews, so keep reviewing! Brooke pregnant flashback next chapter, if you can stand the wait. Brooke with parents flashbacks a little later

Mchobbitt- tink stories 17-19. Can you stand the wait?

Tori- Youve just given me some ideas. Brody has Brooke's personality mostly, though he looks like his father, so I've been writing him with a WWBD (what would Brooke do) with a little Lucas empathy thrown in. He doesnt have Peyton's personality, but WIlliam does, so Ill keep your ideas in mind for him.

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Chapter 13 Sibling Rivalry

September 30, 2010

Peyton had an easy pregnancy with William, if you could count sleepless nights and frequent bladder runs 'easy.' She was able to continue going to classes until the beginning of May, and her professors allowed her to take her finals a week early so that she could return to Tree Hill. The baby wasn't due until the end of May, so she had time, but just to be safe she made plans to be in Tree Hill a month early. She had a feeling that as active as this baby was, he wasn't' waiting around the full 9 months to make an appearance. He had already gained the nickname 'Scooter,' from his penchant of never being in the same position at any given moment in utero. It had become a game to Peyton and Lucas- Peyton would call Lucas over to feel him kick, and by the time Lucas placed his hands on Peyton's belly, he was kicking somewhere else. They had no idea how apt the nickname truly was, but at the time it fit.

The others had no official reason to leave school early or get special treatment, so it was a solitary Peyton that was left on Karen's doorstep, figuratively speaking of course, since Lucas drove her home after her last final. He had been the best husband, excited about cravings, eager to drive to the store and get a pint of ice cream in the middle of the night, or rub a cramp out of her leg. The first time she yelled at him for no apparent reason he laughed joyfully, scooping her up and twirling her around until her anger turned into laughter, which turned into more. After that, she wasn't completely certain, but she wondered if half of the future arguments they got into were provoked. Either way, she didn't mind.

What she did mind was the forced but necessary separation from her husband and child, and she wasn't happy about it. Lucas did his best to ease the transition, making sure the house was stocked with all of her favorite foods, re- installing the webcam in the bedroom for her, and promising to bring Brody to visit on the weekends. But it wasn't the same. It was only for 2 weeks, since Lucas' last exam was on the 14th, but even two weeks was two weeks too long.

Karen, Keith, and Lily made it bearable, though sometimes Lily's presence backfired on the hormonal Peyton. The first time Lily pressed a kiss to her belly and whispered, "I love you, baby," Peyton burst into tears, the sight of the brown head by her stomach reminding her of Brody, who stayed with his father, since not only did he still have 'school,' Peyton could no longer lift him safely.

William Nathan Scott was polite enough to wait until his father came home to make his appearance, though not by much. Lucas arrived home on the morning of the 16th of May, William made his entrance into the world at one o'clock in the morning on the 17th , two weeks early. They barely made it to the hospital before William came out, kicking and screaming, and to this day Peyton lovingly jokes that he hasn't stopped moving since. William did everything early, and with movement. Even in sleep the little boy wiggled, as if he were impatient for the moment when his body was fully rested and he could open his eyes again. Already rolling, at 4 months he was also scooting around, using every part of his body to wiggle from one space to the other; perpetual motion since the day he left the womb, making his nickname official.

William was a joy, with his curly hair and big, green eyes like his mother, his personality a carbon copy of Peyton down to his penchant for staying up all night and refusing to wake up in the morning. It was a running joke that Lucas would occasionally demand a paternity test as he tried to find something that would claim the boy as his; even his nose was straight like Peyton's. There was one more thing he shared with his mother.

"You do realize that William has outed me," Peyton joked, as his hair darkened with time to a beautiful chestnut brown.

"What do you mean?" Lucas said, glancing up from staring in rapture at his son, who lay sleeping in his arms, a rare event.

"You think Brooke used to call me 'fake blond' for fun?" Peyton said, gesturing towards her hair.

Lucas paused in his perusal of his son. "Actually, yeah. I just figured she said that 'cause you don't act like a blonde." He thought for a moment. "And because she could be a bitch at times."

"Lucas! Language!" Peyton admonished, laughing as she shook her head. "Nope. The blond is not all mine. I may have been a dirty blonde as a child, but underneath the salon products I am a mousy brown babe. And now you know my secret shame." Peyton joked, pretending to bow her head.

"But…how…I've never seen you any other way!" Lucas protested, shocked and disbelieving that after living with her for 4 years, he had had no clue.

"And if I keep doing my job, you won't." Peyton said cheekily. She patted his chest. "A woman never reveals her beauty secrets." She looked down at the sleeping baby. "And we're gonna talk about giving away Mommy's secret, little man!" She pressed a kiss to his forehead to let him know she really wasn't angry.

"Well," Lucas mused. "We can't let such a closely guarded secret leak to the free world." He pretended to think. "We can always tell people he took after my mom, or Dan."

"Mom" they both said together, after a beat. Dan was so not an option.

There was nothing Lucas didn't love about his son, but there was a small problem.

Brody couldn't stand him.

"Ok, Momma. Its time for Scoo-ta to go back to the hospital. I packed a bag for him, since he's too little." Brody said, dragging his Diego suitcase into Lucas and Peyton's bedroom. It would have been funny had this been right after William had come home from the hospital- the pediatrician had warned them about the possibility of Brody acting out and not being nice to his little brother. Unfortunately, this was 4 months later, and Brody had not warmed up to having a sibling at all.

"It was nice of you to help him baby, but dont you remember what we talked about? Scooter's not going back to the hospital. He's your little brother, and he's staying here with us." Peyton reminded him gently, breastfeeding William as she lay on the bed propped up with pillows.

Brody looked at Peyton, wide eyed at the edge of the bed. "But I don't need a brother. I have Jamie!" He said with all seriousness.

"Yes, you have Jamie, and now you have William too." Peyton said.

"But he cant do nothin'!" Brody said, throwing his hands up in frustration. Peyton choked back her laughter- he looked so much like Brooke at that moment, it was like going back in time to when they were younger and Larry made them play with the little girl next door who was 3 years younger than they were and couldn't yet leave the yard, so they had to go to her house and play with her toys.

"She can't even go to the end of the block?" 8 year old Brooke said. She threw up her hands in frustration. "Who lives like this?"

"Not yet," Peyton said coming back to the present and agreeing with the little boy, "But pretty soon, he's gonna get bigger, and he's gonna need his big brother to help teach him things, and to play with him." Peyton assured.

Truth be told, she wasn't really worried about Brody's relationship with William, though his dislike of the baby had gone on longer than any of them had thought. A loving child, there was no danger of him physically harming the baby, but he vocalized his unhappiness with the newest addition of the family daily. Peyton admired his stubbornness, knowing that he got that honestly from his biological mother, able to maintain a grudge for the longest time. But just like his mother, it was also only a matter of time before he would come around; Peyton just had to find the right trigger. Until then, Peyton settled in to wait, defusing situations as they arose, and almost enjoying her son's creativity in his attempt to get rid of his brother.

Lucas was another story.

The dislike between Brody and William was Lucas' biggest fear come true- two brothers with different mothers not getting along; to him, history was repeating itself. He brushed off Peyton's explanation that Brody didn't really grasp the concept of him having a different mother so it wasn't the same, because it wasn't just the interaction of the brothers that had him worried; it was also his reaction to his sons, and what that meant for the future. He despised the feeling of anger he had towards Brody for his continued dislike of his brother, and he worried that he was turning into Dan, choosing one son to be the favored over the other. In his mind, there was no contest- Peyton's son would win, hands down, and to him, the fact that he felt that way was the biggest problem of all.

"Momma, it's the phone. The hospital made a mistake. They want William back." Brody said one time, gripping the phone in hand and passing it to Peyton.

"Hospitals don't take babies back, honey. They have a no-return policy." Peyton said calmly, hanging up the phone.

"Oh," Brody said, stumped. Since that didn't work, he tried again.

Piling all his toys in the middle of the floor, he explained to Peyton that William couldn't stay because they 'didn't have no room for him in the boy's room,' so he had to go back to the hospital.

Peyton explained how that was ok- William was staying in their room for the time being and didn't need to go into the boy's room yet, and then helped him clean up the mess he made.

Nathan and Haley did their best to stay out of it, though Nathan would chuckle at some of Brody's more ingenious plots and even Haley would crack a smile at his toddler logic. But Brody's stubbornness was giving Lucas sleepless nights, and each incidence made the ache in Lucas' chest grow just a little bigger.

He tried everything. He spent extra time with Brody, taking him alone on shopping trips, giving him more compliments, affection and praise, trying to spend more time reading to him. But Brody hated books, accepted compliments as his due, and informed his father every time Lucas was ready to leave the house, "No thank you- I wanna stay with Momma."

It all came to a head the day Brody packed a bag for him and Jamie and walked over to the front door, holding Jamie's hand tightly and announcing to the room that they were runnin' away, as the adults sat around the kitchen table after dinner. Haley explained to Brody gently that Jamie couldn't go, because he was too young to go outside the house without an adult.

Brody stood, stumped for a moment because that was the rule of the house, so he let Jamie's hand go and told him he couldn't come, but that he was still going. Lucas latched onto Haley's idea and reminded Brody that he couldn't leave the house either, but instead of agreeing, Brody just asked Lucas to come with him.

"You and me, Daddy. We'll go and take William back to da hospital, and then I can stay here, okay?" Brody said, eyes wide as he attempted to talk his father into agreeing.

"No buddy. William's not going anywhere, and neither are you." Lucas said firmly, his heart breaking at the sight of the giant tears that sprouted in Brody's eyes.

"But it's not fair!" Brody wailed, plopping to the floor and sobbing, his head in his hands.

Lucas stood helplessly, floored by the accusation, but unable to refute it as he should. Because the truth was, that statement was a private worry that had been lurking in the back of his mind ever since the doctor announced it was a boy. He turned and left the room as Peyton rushed by him to Brody's side, having missed most of the exchange since she was putting William to sleep in his bassinet in their room.

Later that evening, Lucas confessed his fears to Peyton, unable to hold them in any longer.

"Is it fair?" He whispered brokenly. "My heart feels so full whenever I look at William- he's a dream come true for me. I love to just watch him and figure out what's from you, and whats from me, and I marvel at how he is a part of both of us. And I don't do that with Brody."

"No, you don't." Peyton said honestly. "But what does that mean, Lucas? Nothing!" Peyton continued earnestly. "Brooke's not here to argue with you that the brown of his hair came from her and not grandma Karen, which is what you used to say. Or to claim his dimples as his, instead of yours, like you always told people."

"Or are you not remembering how proud you were when people would comment on his eyes and you would say, 'Just like his daddy!,' and tell them to 'check out his nose?' I don't hear you worrying about how you feel about William because he has my eyes, nose, and hair, and can't find anything of you in him yet! So if I follow your logic, I should be worried about Willliam, because some might say you love Brody more!" Peyton said, going to the other extreme to break Lucas out of his destructive thinking."

"But I don't want to love either one more than the other!" Lucas protested, shrugging off her attempts to comfort him. "It wouldn't have made it better if Dan had chosen me instead of Nathan when we were growing up; what sucked is that he chose!"

"But you haven't!" Peyton said, following his line of reasoning. "You are raising both of your boys, together. You love both of your boys." She held up a hand at his attempt to protest. "In different ways, and for different reasons, and that's okay, because they are different people. What's important is that you love them."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. "You are the best father, Lucas Scott, because you learned from the best how to be a father. Do I need to call Keith and tell him you don't think he taught you how to do this well enough?"

Lucas ducked his head, sheepish at the thought of Keith reprimanding him for his foolish thoughts.

Peyton touched her forehead to his. "Its okay that you're angry at Brody's behavior. I know its because you expect better of Brody, because you want him to be a good big brother, and you want him to be excited about having someone to play walkie-talkies with, like you wished you had when you were a kid. Its not because you like William better than Brody, or because you like William's birth mom better than Brody's birth mom, because let's be clear, I am the mother of both of your sons. So get all those thoughts out of your head, and stop letting Dan's mess come into our family!"

"Yes ma'am," he said dutifully as she playfully headbutted him.

Her eyes widened, and Lucas ran a hand over her forehead in concern.

"What? Did you hurt yourself?" he said.

She shook off his hand. "No, but I just had a thought!"

He smirked. "Hurt, did it?"

He chuckled as she hit his chest, then pulled her close. "I'm just playing. What was the thought, o' genius one?"

But she wouldn't share it with him, and told him she had to think about it. And the next day, she tested out her theory.

"Hey Brody, come here. Momma and Daddy want to talk to you." She said. She smiled as he came running in, arms outstretched, excited. Talking to his parents meant sitting in Peyton's lap while Peyton lay on Lucas's chest as they cuddled on the bed and shared their day.

She sat him on her lap and leaned back onto Lucas' chest, stroking Brody's baby soft hair. "Brody, why do you keep trying to send Scooter back to the hospital?"

"Because it's not fair!" he said as if it were obvious. Lucas sent an 'I told you so,' look to the back of Peyton's head, but she waved it away.

"But why isn't it fair, Brody?" she asked patiently.

"Because Jamie doesn't have a little brother and I do! And I don't want him to be sad, so Scoota's got to go back until Jamie gets a little brother too." Brody said earnestly.

Lucas stared at his son, incredulous. All this drama for 4 months because his son was looking out for Jamie? "Did Jamie tell you he was sad, buddy?"

Brody shook his head. "No, but when we have cookies, I can't eat one until Jamie gets one, cause if I have one and he doesn't he starts to cry." Brody shrugged. "I don't like it when he cries."

Peyton was doing her best to hold in her laughter at the fact that Scooter was being compared to a cookie. Pulling herself together, she fixed her face to a serious one and addressed Brody. "You are a good big cousin to think of Jamie's feelings like that, baby." Peyton said, hugging him tight. "But Scooter is here to stay, so what are we going to do to make sure its fair to Jamie?" She pretended to think. Brody put his finger to his mouth and stared up, thinking too, his gesture making Lucas smile.

"I think I have a solution." Peyton said finally, widening her eyes as she pretended the thought just came to her. Brody looked at her expectantly, as did Lucas. How exactly was she gonna fix this?

"Brody, do you think you can share Scooter with Jamie until he gets a little brother or sister? It'll take a while for Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan to get him one." Peyton said, faking excitement.

Brody's eyes widened. "I didn't think of that!" He got excited too. "Like when there's only one cookie left and we have to cut it in half!" He hugged Peyton. "Momma, you're a genius! I'ma tell Jamie!" He jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.

Peyton glanced smugly at Lucas. "You hear that? I am a genius!"

Lucas shook his head and rose to his feet. "You are a genius." He said, kissing her forehead. He went to follow Brody. "A genius that just told her son to cut his brother in half so he can share him with his cousin."

Lucas chuckled as he made his way to the boy's room, where he could hear Brody telling Jamie excitedly about how they were gonna share William. After he explained to the boys that William was not to be cut in two, he couldn't wait to tell Nathan and Haley about their assignment to give Jamie a brother. Knowing the Scott potency, the possibility of a sibling for Jamie before graduation wasn't as far fetched as one would think.

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My nephew was three when he told me we had to take his little sister back to the hospital. Little kids are so funny. Your kid stories were so awesome. I loved reading them. Tell me what you think! UD on Monday!