Towards the end of her sixth month, Peyton started staying home more and more. She would pop into the office once a day or so, and put in full days when necessary, but she was really enjoying being home with Lucas. He would complain about not getting any writing done, but of course, he wasn't serious.

She stood in the doorway of the room that would be the nursery, her sketchpad in her hands, chewing on the end of a pencil. Lucas was at practice until later in the morning, so she took the opportunity to plan out what she wanted the room to look like. They'd talked about it briefly, and she already had her eye on a crib, change table, and dresser.

When Lucas got home from his practice, he found her sitting at the kitchen table, various sketches of the room and coloured pencils scattered around her.

"Why does it look like you're an interior designer and not a label president?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"I can't get it right, Luke," she said as he reached for a glass from the cupboard and moved to the fridge.

"What? The nursery?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah. I can't decide on a colour or...anything. I've tried zoo animals, basketball, bugs..." she started.

"Bugs?" he asked, raising his brow as he sat across from her at the table.

"Yea. Cute bugs. Not like, creepy spiders or anything," she explained, cringing at even the thought of it. "But until I decide on a colour, I can't decide on anything else."

"Well, if someone hadn't wanted to keep the sex of the baby a secret, then we wouldn't have this problem, would we?" he asked with a grin.

They had gone for their second ultrasound, and decided after a talk with Nathan and Haley, that they wanted it to be a surprise. Nathan and Haley had decided the same thing, so they were all in the dark about what three little people would be born in a couple months' time. Luke hadn't been crazy about the idea. He was just far too excited and wanted to buy things, but not knowing if it was a boy or a girl was hindering that. He couldn't complain too much, however, because they both knew that it didn't really matter as long as the baby was healthy, as cliché as that was. You realize, when you're expecting, that it's true.

"I know, but I just want it to be cute and...I want it to suit him," she said, watching as he raised his brow. "Or her."

"What about green?" he asked, grabbing one of her coloured pencils and holding it out to her. "Like this kind of green."

"Lucas Scott!" she cried, smiling brightly. "Have I ever told you that you're a genius?"

"No, but I always suspected that's what you thought," he said, standing, and walking over to kiss her.

"And humble, too. How'd I get so lucky?" she asked sarcastically.

"It helps that you're sexy," he said softly, leaning down to speak into her ear as he stood behind her.

"You're gonna get yourself into trouble, talking like that," she warned, taking a deep breath as he planted kisses to the side of her neck.

"You wanna get into trouble with me?" he asked, running his hands up and down her arms.

Her attempts to resist him were failing, as usual. Lucas was nothing if not persistent, and really, she could never deny him. She always wanted him, but the pregnancy and hormones had them spending even more time than usual 'together'. Their friends hadn't failed to notice, and teased them about it relentlessly.

She stood up and wrapped her arms around him, and he leaned in to press his lips to hers, but she pulled away after only a few moments.

"I should really try to do this." She would have gestured to the unfinished sketches on the table, but she just didn't want to remove her arms from around him.

"Do that later," he whined. "Do me now."

"Charming, Luke, really," she said, shaking her head. She couldn't hide her smile.

"Did it work?" he asked, moving in to kiss her again.

"Absolutely," she admitted, pushing him towards the bedroom as he laughed.

----

The next day, Lucas was ordered to paint the nursery while Peyton spent the day at the office, then they were to meet up for dinner at Nathan and Haley's while he let the house air out.

He looked at the job before him, wondering just how he was going to get it all done on his own. He'd had the good sense to tape the trim the night before, but it still felt like a huge undertaking.

He was in an old pair of jeans and a plain white tee shirt, listening to some old mix CDs his wife had insisted he listen to while painting. He'd just finished one wall, took a deep breath, and then heard a voice from behind him.

"Nice work, big brother," Nathan said, nodding appreciatively.

Lucas noticed immediately that Nathan was holding a roller in his hand, seemingly ready to get to work. He watched as his brother started on the wall adjacent to the one he was standing in front of, and the two had a long overdue one-on-one conversation.

"So where's your head at with this whole twins thing?" Lucas asked, turning to look at Nathan over his shoulder.

"Probably the same place yours is at the thought of having one," Nathan explained.

"So, terrified? Feel like you might just throw up any second?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, sounds about right," Nathan said with a laugh. "Honestly, I don't know how Haley's so calm."

"She's already a mom," Lucas pointed out. "She knows how to do the baby thing."

"So do I!" Nathan cried indignantly. "I just don't know how to do the two baby thing."

"Ah, you'll be fine," Lucas insisted. "The two of you are like, the best tag team ever."

"Speaking of awesome parents, Peyton's been a rock star, huh?" Nathan said, dipping his roller in paint again.

"Amazing," Lucas concurred. "The first few months, I think she was really scared, you know? Wondering how everything would go."

"Yeah, gotta love that Peyton Sawyer Drama," Nathan laughed. "It's like she's always waiting for something to go wrong."

"Exactly," Lucas said, smiling because they both knew it was the truth. "But things have been good. I know she's been talking to my mom a lot, and Haley's been great with her."

"Yeah, those two are like two peas in a pod right now," Nathan laughed.

The two were quiet for a while, with just the sound of the music filling the room, echoing off the walls.

Nathan had never liked painting. When he was a kid, maybe 13, his mother repainted her office at their old house and recruited his help. He spent two days painstakingly brushing eggshell paint on the crown molding with her, listening to her go on and on about things he couldn't have cared less about as a bratty teenager.

But somehow, now, standing with his brother in the room that would be his niece or nephew's, there was something calming about the task. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was almost a feeling of growing up, or getting older or wiser, or just peace.

"You know what's crazy?" Lucas asked, turning to face his brother.

"What's that?" Nathan inquired.

"Our kids are going to be exactly the same age. It's just kind of like...I mean, you and I are so close in age, and now our kids are going to get to grow up together," Lucas mused.

"Yeah," Nathan said with a smile. "Maybe they can do some of the things we never got to do." Lucas just nodded, happy that Nathan understood, then the brunette started speaking again. "Look, man, I know we don't really do this much, I mean talk about our feelings or whatever...But I hope you know how glad I am that you're my brother."

"Me too, Nate," Lucas agreed, smiling genuinely. "Hard to believe we ever didn't get along, you know?"

"I know," Nathan said somberly, but his smile stayed in place. "OK. I feel like we need to talk about sports or something, now."

"What, painting a nursery and talking about our feelings isn't manly enough for ya?" Lucas joked.

----

Peyton burst through the door of Nathan and Haley's house, without knocking, as usual, around 4:30 after leaving the office. She was surprisingly energetic considering she'd been insanely busy at work that day, on the phone or in the studio.

"Hey!" Haley called as she saw her friend walking into the kitchen.

"Hey hot stuff," Peyton chided, making Haley look at her incredulously before glancing down at her stomach.

It had been a major point of contention that Haley was so much bigger than Peyton, especially since she was actually a few weeks behind her. She didn't want to complain, but sometimes it was hard to bite her tongue. Luckily, when she said anything to Peyton, they could both turn their frustration into a mutual thing, and start talking about how they were envious of Brooke.

"Hey aunt Peyton," Jamie called from the living room, where he was sitting and drawing.

"Hey short stack," she shouted back. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, because she was always coming up with new nicknames for him. But they both loved it, and it had become their 'thing.'

"Where's your husband?" Peyton asked as she hoisted herself onto the stool next to Haley, both of them making faces in silent acknowledgment that it was no longer an easy task.

"Helping your husband," Haley said with a smile.

"Really?" Peyton asked excitedly. "That's so cute!"

"I kind of made him," Haley admitted, laughing as she recalled the conversation she had with Nathan that morning. "I figure Lucas helped us so much with Jamie for those couple years, the least Nathan could do was help paint."

"Wow. I wonder what else we could guilt trip him into doing?" Peyton asked seriously.

"Oh trust me, I'm working on it," Haley said, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously. "Oh! I have a pre-dinner treat for us!"

Haley stood from her place and made her way to the fridge, pulling out a tub of vanilla ice cream and two bottles of root beer.

"No way! I love you!" Peyton exclaimed happily.

"Hey Jamie, you want a root beer float?" Haley called, and both women watched the boy's eyes light up as he ran towards the kitchen.

"Before dinner?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes. But don't tell your father," she said seriously, making Peyton laugh.

"Nice parenting," she teased, and Haley just shrugged her shoulders as she started spooning ice cream into tall glasses.

The three of them sat at the counter, with Jamie between the two women, slurping away at their treats when the Scott brothers walked into the house.

"Well, well," Nathan said with a raised eyebrow. "Looks like someone's breaking the rules."

"Oh calm down, daddy. It's just a little snack," Peyton joked. That was all it took for Nathan to snatch her treat away from her, making her squeal in protest. She watched as he took a taste.

"Oh my God. That's disgusting," he said, grimacing as he handed her glass back to her.

"It is not!" Haley cried indignantly.

"It's good, dad," Jamie concurred. "You're just mad because mama let me have a snack before dinner and she always yells at you not to let me."

"It's just funny that mom can break the rules and I can't," Nathan said, staring at Haley pointedly.

"Relax," she panned, waving off his statement. "Dinner will be ready in a half hour."

"You're evil," Nathan said, shaking his head. "You're lucky I'm too tired from painting to really fight you on this."

"How does it look?" Peyton asked excitedly as Lucas walked over to kiss her temple.

"It looks great," he insisted. "Perfect colour."

"Good," she sighed. "Thank you, Nathan, for helping."

"Least I could do," he said, looking at Haley as he mocked her words from that morning.

"Hey, we wanted to talk to you guys about something," Lucas said abruptly, shifting everyone's attention. "Peyton and I have talked about this, and we were wondering if you guys would be our baby's Godparents."

"Are you serious?" Nathan asked with a smile as Haley jumped off her stool and ran into Lucas' arms.

"We're serious," Peyton smiled. Nathan walked over and pulled her into a hug as well.

"Is that a yes?" Lucas asked, still with his arms full of Haley.

"Yes!" she cried. "We'd be honoured."

"Did you really think we'd pick anyone else?" Lucas asked, finally able to hug his brother as Haley wrapped her arms around Peyton. Well, as well as two pregnant women can hug.

"No, we knew you'd ask us," Nathan said with a smile. Haley's mouth gaped and she swatted his arm. "What? It's true!"

"We were going to ask you to be ours, too," Haley said sincerely.

"Really?" Peyton asked, tears already welling in her eyes. "Ugh, there is a reason you don't ask a pregnant woman this!"

"We'd love to," Lucas answered for his wife as he wrapped his arm around her in an attempt to stop her tears.

"Brooke's going to be pissed," Nathan said.

"Daddy said a bad word!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Yes, he did," Haley scolded, looking at Nathan disapprovingly. "But she is not going to be happy."

"Three babies and not one Godmother nomination?" Lucas said. "We may need to flee the country."

"She's my Godmother," Jamie pointed out innocently.

The four adults looked at each other and thought, maybe knew, that that was enough for her. For now.

----

As soon as they got home that night, Peyton went straight to the nursery to check out her husband's handy work. She raced down the hall as Lucas laughed, because he'd fully expected her to do that very thing. He saw the light flicker on and when he joined her, she was standing in the middle of the room with a smile on her face.

"Nice work, Mr. Scott," she said when she saw him.

"Why thank you," he said with a laugh as he wrapped his arm around her.

"I love this colour. It's so perfect," she admitted happily. It was a light green, officially called 'Moss' according to the paint sample they'd looked at before they purchased it.

"I'm glad you like it. It felt like you," he said with a smile, admiring the finished room. Well, mostly finished room. He didn't doubt that she'd decorate it beautifully and insist on the best furniture. He kind of loved her for that.

"Felt like me?" she asked, smirking as she turned to him.

"Yeah. Green has always reminded me of you, no matter what. It seemed fitting," he said softly, weaving his fingers in with hers.

"You're quite a romantic, you know that?" she asked before leaning in to kiss him.

"Yeah," he said with a shrug, making her swat his arm. "Come on. Let's get some sleep."

Lucas woke up in the middle of the night and found the bed next to him cold. Panic immediately set in, as it always did, and when he looked at the clock and saw that it was 3:00 am and she wasn't anywhere in the room, his heart rate didn't slow down. He got out of bed and opened the door to step out into the hall, noticing the light on in the nursery.

He walked to the door and found Peyton sitting on some cushions in the middle of the room with her sketch pad in her hand. He leaned against the doorway as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. She didn't notice he was there, though he hadn't exactly made an effort to sneak up on her. He just knew how she was when she was focused. She basically had tunnel vision and could drown out anything around her; he was the same way when he wrote.

"Hey," he said softly, his voice thick with sleep.

"Oh!" she said, snapping her head around to look at him. "Hi."

"What are you doing? I was worried," he admitted, stepping into the room and sitting next to her.

"I didn't want to wake you," she said, placing her hand on his thigh. He was only in boxers, and the sight of his bare torso and his mussed hair was kind of making her heart race. "I just woke up and had an idea."

She handed the sketch book to him to show what she'd been working on, and she heard him let out a breath that was close to a chuckle.

"Stripes," he observed, smiling down at the drawing of a finished nursery. "I love it."

He turned to her and looked in her eyes and saw that sparkle that he was so used to seeing. Happiness, pride, love, hope, wonder. He loved that sparkle almost as much as he loved the woman who carried it.

"God, this is all so crazy," she sighed out, shaking her head.

"What is?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to his side.

"Us. Together and having a baby," she clarified. "Sitting in an empty nursery at three in the morning. I just...I love our life."

He could only shake his head at that. It was all true. It was crazy. If you'd asked him as a teenager, when he only dreamed of even talking to Peyton Sawyer, if he would end up married to her, he would have laughed in your face. And yet, there he was, looking down at her hand and the ring he'd placed on it, as it rested on her stomach.

"I love it, too," he admitted softly, pressing a kiss to her hair.

"You know, any time I get scared or nervous about being a mother, I just picture you with our baby, and it all goes away," she said, pulling away to look at him. "It's like I know we'll figure it out, and I know you'll be amazing. Just...knowing that you're going to be an incredible dad puts me at ease."

"Peyton," he said in a whisper.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm all sentimental," she said with a laugh.

"I love you," he said, unable to hide his smile. "I can't wait to see you hold our baby for the first time. You're going to be the best mom."

"Ugh," she groaned and shook her head. "Are you trying to make me cry?"

"You started it," he pointed out playfully, reaching out to caress her cheek. "Come on. Let's go back to bed."

He stood and held out his hand for her to take, and helped her up off the floor. He went to step out of the room, but she tugged him back towards her and pulled him into a searing kiss.

"Mmm," he moaned just before he pulled away. "You're starting to make me think I don't satisfy you well enough. Is that why you want sex more often?"

"Oh, it's not that," she growled. "Just the opposite."

"You're the one with all the right words tonight," he informed her, leaning in to kiss her again.

"I don't need you to talk," she said with a raised brow, pushing his chest and making him walk backwards towards the door.

"You're gonna kill me, saying things like that," he muttered.

"I'm serious, Luke. Stop talking," she demanded, slipping her hand below the waistband of his shorts as they walked.

Not talking wouldn't be a problem; any words he would have liked to say completely flew out of his head, and all that existed was the two of them.