A/N: I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter! I wasnt sure if it was any good, but I needed to let it go so I could move on to better things. Thank you for your comments, thoughts and prayers. I miss talking back and forth to you guys. I love the long reviews!
I keep watching season 7 too! Though I tape it so I can fast forward through most of it because I dislike the storylines so much, and then I erase it. I actually like Alex and her quips, though Im not looking forward to her getting in between Brulian. I realized that my problem is Im not a fan of adult drama. When you're a teenager and cheating and breaking up over stupid stuff, its one thing. But when you're 25 years old, its kind of like, grow up already. I want their drama to be like, losing a job and not being able to afford the house- not, 'I might have cheated on you and gotten some skank pregnant', or 'I want to divorce you and sleep with someone else so you stop fighting to be with me because we grew apart'. Which is prob why I dont like soap operas either. Anywho, to tell you the truth, Im just watching because I dont want to miss it if Peyton and Sawyer come back one day. That and there is nothing else on.
RJ- I think Brooke had to make the decision to stay on her own, to make her stronger and stop being so fragile. Also, at this point, if they had seen her packing up, Lucas or Haley would have helped her on her way, feeling vindicated because they were right in thinking she wasnt going to stay. So no one will know she had plans to leave.
Stagediva- Brooke's flashback will be in a couple of chapters, maybe 5? And there will definitely be a love interest for Brooke. I like my girls happy.
Darksye- I have not forgotten you love. Glad to see you back. I too have been reading without reviewing during this crazy time, so I understand and judge in no way shape or form!
A-dono- I think Vicki (I laughed pretty hard on that one) will be coming back to Tree Hill and causing trouble. After all, what happens to a design company when the designer no longer works for it? Hmmmm
Brookelover- you should definitely read Anything for Brody, though if you are not a Leyton fan, it might be a little tough. But there is no Brooke bashing (I think). I love Brooke too.
lwrnld- Do you want me to stop talking about season 7? I dont want to give anything away.
chocolatemud- I didnt even think to have Brody walk in. That would have been a great scene!
Just so you know guys, I will do my best to get an update out each Monday, barring trips to the ER.
Definitely researched UNC's course schedule for this one. Don't own it, don't go there, creative genius heavily used.
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Chapter 20 Midnight Revelations
Dec 12, 2006
Peyton stretched, glancing briefly at her watch. 11:15. Perfect. She had almost another 3 good hours of studying left before she had to go to bed, leaving her plenty of time to get 8 hours of sleep and make it to her Spanish final.
Who knew how genius she had been in creating her first year course-load? Taking only 14 credits since she was primarily responsible for Brody, she only had one in class final, with her English class requiring only a final paper, and her two freshman seminars finishing their assignments during the regular school year.
She remembered how excited everyone was the day the course schedule came in the mail- hers and Luke's from UNC, Nathan and Haley's from Duke. They even threw a 'schedule party', with Nathan and Haley coming to the house with their materials, and Karen making endless snacks for the 4 of them as they perused the general requirements and debated about majors.
"You do realize we are dorks right?" Peyton joked as she spread the UNC brochures out in front of her and Luke, who were leaning against the headboard.
"Dorks with food," Nathan pointed out, popping the last of his personal pizza into his mouth. "Karen makes the best mini-pizzas!" He looked around the room from his post, lounging across the foot of the bed. "I'd even join a study group if Karen was catering it."
Haley elbowed Nathan in the stomach from her position, stretched out in front of him with the Duke materials spread out in front of her. She knew she would be the one doing most of the legwork through the brochures, but she didn't mind if it meant she got to cuddle up against his chest, and as he absentminded caressed her stomach where his arm lay draped, and every once in a while dropped a kiss into her hair, she thought that all in all, it was probably an even trade.
"I just think that since we are going to college with kids, its probably a good idea to have an idea of what we are going to be studying, at the very least what the general requirements are, so we can best optimize the schedule for the next 4 years so that somebody will always be available whenever possible." Haley rationalized.
"Makes sense," Lucas nodded decisively.
Peyton and Nathan shared a look, then shrugged in agreement. Spontaneous people that they were, planning was never their strong suit, and school wasn't much higher on their list. But they loved their bookworm and brainy significant others, enough to go along with what actually seemed like a good idea.
"Ok, so we know your major Haley, and anybody confused about what Lucas is going to study?" Peyton said, looking around the room. "So, I guess the first thing on the list is figuring out what me and Nathan are going to do with the rest of our lives. Nathan, want to start?" Peyton joked.
"You mean, what am I going to do besides play basketball and rake in millions? Hmmm, that's a good question. Haley, can you look up the requirements for a degree of basket weaving please?" Nathan said with a serious face.
Haley turned over and slapped his chest, at the same time Peyton threw a pillow at him, leaving him just off balance enough that in his effort to avoid the pillow, the extra push from Haley's slap sent him tumbling head over heels onto the floor, sending peels of laughter throughout the room. They quickly stopped when they heard the door to the basement open, and the sound of footsteps on the bed. Heads bent as they pretended to study the manuals and brochures intensely, and Nathan scrambled back onto the bed, just as Keith opened the door to the bedroom.
"You do realize that there are three babies sleeping upstairs that Karen and I are watching for you guys, right?"
"Well, technically, only two of them are ours." Lucas joked, before being elbowed into a "Yes, Dad," by Peyton.
A meek chorus of "Yes, Uncle Keith," and "Sorry Keith" filled the room.
Keith stood there, the frown on his face melting into a smile as he himself began to chuckle. "Relax guys, I was just kidding. Your mom's got some sort of white noise thingee going on, so the kids could probably sleep through a blizzard. I just heard the thump and came to make sure nobody had expired from the sheer nightmare of the college coursebook."
"It is big." Lucas admitted.
"But that's why I figured we'd make it smaller by creating our own little mini coursebooks. I mean, if you take out all the majors you don't need, and pare it down to all the courses you need and might take and alternatives to those just in case they have better timings, then really, its not that difficult." Haley said, jumping up and walking over to the desk, where she had laid out paper and pens and colored paper.
Nathan laughed, and looked over at Keith. "You gotta love her. College has got nothing on Haley James."
"Haley James Scott." Haley said, coming over to press a quick kiss to Nathan's lips. "And don't you forget it mister."
"Never," Nathan said, getting lost in her luminous brown eyes. There was something about Haley when she was in instructor mode that never ceased to get to him.
The chorus of gags and "my eyes" from Peyton and Lucas broke the moment between them, and they looked up to see one dramatically stabbing out their eyes and the other leaning over the bed with a finger in their open mouth.
Keith watched the antics for a while, before bringing it to a halt. "Alright guys. Last round of food is on its way down, then you're on your own. Karen said not to worry about the kids tonight, so we'll see you in the morning. This is a love free zone, and let's see, what else? Don't do drugs..."
"Goodnight, Dad." Lucas said pointedly, as Keith looked as if he was going to launch into his own tangent, even if he was just joking.
"Goodnight all." Keith said good naturedly. Turning back as he reached the door, he frowned in puzzlement. "Oh yeah, before I leave. Why exactly are you all scrunched up on the bed like that, when you have the desks and all this floor space? Not to mention the family room with all the couches and everything."
They all looked around the room, and it was true, they had all piled up onto the bed without a second thought to other options and had never moved, even though after 2 hours of being there, they had only just begun the work on what they had set out to do.
"I guess maybe because its easier to move into an orgy this way when we're done." Nathan finally said.
Haley gasped and rolled over to shove him, just as Peyton and Lucas threw the rest of the pillows at him, causing him to crash to the floor once again. "You think I would've learned the first time." He groaned from the floor.
Keith laughed and opened the door. "Well now, that explains pretty much everything. And on that note, its time for me to leave. See you in the morning. French toast at 10."
"Man, I love your mom Luke. Can we share?" Nathan said, still lying on the floor.
"Sure," Lucas joked. "She's already adopted Peyt and Hales. What's one more?"
One more indeed. Karen had taken them all under her wing, with Peyton already living with her, and Haley having been a pseudo-daughter for years. She didn't even blink an eye when Nathan began calling her for advice, or coming to the café without Haley, baby James in tow; his mother had fallen back into old habits as the date for Nathan to head to Duke for basketball drew near- even the thought of an empty nest was enough to send her searching for prescription drugs. Luckily Nathan had to be at school August 1, so they didn't have long to put up with her increasingly erratic behaviors.
When Nathan finally left for school, staying on campus with the other basketball players as required for the summer session, Haley and baby James moved into Brody's room, and Brody moved into Luke and Peyton's room, until the time came for them all to move to the house on Cherry Tree Lane.
Peyton was interrupted from her past remembrance by the current wail of a baby. She waited a beat, relieved that it wasn't her baby, then jumped up when the sound of one baby turned into two, and she met Nathan in the hall as they headed to the boys' room.
"We've got to stop meeting like this Sawyer." Nathan joked sleepily, running a hand through his tousled hair.
"Hey, nobody told you to follow in your brother's footsteps in all ways, hotshot." Peyton quipped as she headed to Brody's crib, Nathan heading to the opposite wall where Jamie lay.
Normally it was an ideal set-up, with both of the boys in the same room. It meant that only one changing table was needed, and all the baby supplies stayed in one place. Originally, baby James stayed in a bassinet in his parent's room since he was so small, but at the beginning of December, he had begun sleeping through the night, and they felt it was time for him to move into his own room. Only rarely did nights like this occur, when Jamie woke up for some reason, and even more rarely was Brody, who had slept through multiple teenage antics, awakened by the cries. Tonight was one of them.
"Ma-ma!" Brody wailed, standing in his crib and reaching his arms out to her, hands opening and closing plaintively. He snuffled against her chest, curling into her sleepily as she picked him up, her heart contracting painfully as it always did when he called out to her like that. The love she felt for the little boy made her heart so full it hurt. She turned, sharing a glance with Nathan as he had done the same with Jamie, their moments mirroring the other as they tried to calm their sons.
They didn't think it was possible, but the two had grown even closer during the midnight forays and chance meetings in the night, often beginning as this one had. Nathan had quickly become the go- to guy for Jamie, answering cries, changing diapers, feeding and playing with his son as much as possible whenever he was home, because the reality was, with his basketball schedule, it was rare. Haley didn't mind the perceived monopolization of her son, because she was often a 'single' parent while Nathan was on the road, or at practice, or at mandatory study halls, or whatever other required basketball commitment that occurred outside of class. Coach K was sympathetic to the fact that he had a son, but gave him no allowances- Division I basketball did not have room for outside commitments, which included even school occasionally.
And it was something that weighed heavily on Nathan's mind.
Peyton stretched, working out the cricks in her neck as she took one last look, satisfied, at her final rendition of the living room an art project due by the end of the week. She especially appreciated the scattered toys and baby swing she had incorporated into her artwork- while not necessary, it was essential to her and her work to add the personal elements of her life in her art- her living room in life had evidence of children, so would her living room in art.
Yawning as she took note of the time- 2:30am- she sleepily made her way up the stairs, stopping at the boys' room, as was her habit. She was startled as she entered the room to find the nightlight on- she remembered turning it off when she put Brody to bed earlier that night. She looked around to find Nathan in the corner, rocking a sleeping baby James, tears slowly slipping down his face.
"Nathan!" Peyton whispered, alarmed at the sight of him crying.
Taken by surprise himself, Nathan hastily wiped his face as best he could while juggling Jamie in his arms. "Sawyer," he said hoarsely, before clearing his throat. "I didn't think anybody else was up."
"I was downstairs finishing a project for my art seminar. "What are you doing up? What's wrong?" She held up a hand as he opened his mouth. "And don't tell me nothing."
Nathan sat quietly, rocking Jamie, who had been disturbed by the sudden movements, back into quiet slumber. Finally he began to speak. "I'm missing everything." He said quietly. "I missed his first smile, the first time he rolled over, and today, I came home, and he has a new tooth." Nathan hung his head. "Just call me Dan Jr. - basketball is taking over my life!" Nathan looked at Peyton, who had knelt quietly in front of him, placing a hand on his knee. "Haley might as well be alone as much as I help out around here, because Im always gone, and since Im a freshman, they give me extra things to do because I have to prove myself, which takes up even more time!"
"But Haley understands, Nate. And she's not alone. She has Luke, and me…"Peyton protested.
"And you have your own kid to deal with. You can't tell me she doesn't look at you guys doing things together with Einstein and wish I was here more, even if she doesn't say anything." He looked back at Jamie. "And I'm missing my son growing up. Look how much he's changed, and it's only been a couple of months. Look at how different Brody is in a year- that's how Jamie's going to be, which by the looks of things, I'm probably gonna miss too! And for what? To sit on the bench? To barely pass my classes, because, oh by the way, I don't have time for those either."
"Okay stop!" Peyton said, standing and placing her hands on Nathan's shoulders, forcing him to look up at her. "You. Are not. Dan. Repeat after me. I. AM NOT. Dan."
A little frightened at the intensity in her eyes, he did as she said.
"Now, say this. I love my son. And by doing whats best for me, I am doing whats best for him."
"But," Nathan protested.
"Say it," Peyton interrupted. So he said it.
"Basketball is important to me." Peyton continued. At his hesitation, she gently caressed his cheek. "Its okay to say it, Nathan. Loving one doesn't mean you cant love the other."
Choking on the words, Nathan repeated the phrase.
"Haley knows I love her, and understands." Peyton finished.
"Does she?" Nathan said quietly. "Or is she silently suffering because I'm never here? Is she secretly wondering if I'm going to turn into my father…"
Once again Peyton interrupted him. "Do I have to start this from the beginning?"
"No, no. I am not Dan. Got it." Nathan said quickly.
"Good." Peyton looked down at Jamie, who was snuggled peacefully in his father's arms, the rumble of his whispering voice pulling him deeper into sleep, but also placing a smile on his face, even in slumber recognizing his father was near. "Look at that baby, Nate. That is a well-loved baby, who loves you and recognizes you. You are the ONLY one who has doubts about the job you're doing being his father. You have already proved yourself to not be Dan because you are here, in the middle of the night, instead of sleeping and letting Haley take care of it. You are with Haley- you didn't leave her and Jamie to follow your dream like Dan did to Karen and Lucas. Every time you are not on that court you are with him."
Peyton sighed heavily. "Does it suck for you that you can't be here for his firsts? Yes. Does he feel it? No. Look at Brody. Lucas didn't have his first smile, I did." Nathan looked up in shock, remembering vividly how proud Lucas was to have witnessed his son's first smile.
Peyton waggled her finger. "Now, that's a secret that I will deny to my grave, but did not being there for the first stop Brody from giving him the second, or the thirdsmile? No, because Lucas has been there for many of them. As you will with Jamie."
"Is Haley alone?" Peyton continued, then answered her own question. " No, because she has me and Lucas, and you whenever you are not on that court; Coach K has given all of us a season pass to your games, so even then she is not alone, and she is right there with you supporting you all the way."
She ran a hand through his hair as he began to tear up again at her healing words. "This is gonna be a sacrifice, on all our parts, because none of it is easy, Nate. But you can't tell me its not worth it, and its okay to believe it. You have to believe it if you're gonna get through. Now, in a year, things will settle down, and you'll get some playing time, and you'll have more freedom because you won't be the freshman bitch."
Nathan chuckled at her choice of words, but listened intently as she continued. "And your son will be right next to your wife, and they will both be cheering you on, and they'll be so proud of you Nathan. So proud."
Peyton took Jamie from him and laid him in the crib, before pulling Nathan up into a hug, squealing softly as he gripped her tightly. "I love you, Sawyer."
"Sorry bub, I'm taken." She joked, before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I love you too." She said seriously.
"How did you get so smart by the way?" he asked, pulling away from her to look into her eyes.
"Well, I just basically told you everything Karen told me when I tried to quit cheerleading. Without the whole spouse thing, cause me and Lucas weren't together at the time…"
He stopped her rambling with another hug. "Thank you. Thanks for being my family."
"Yeah, well, you're welcome. You were a horrible boyfriend, but you are a pretty decent big brother." She said cheekily. She disengaged herself from his arms. "Now, you can do what you want, but I'm going to snuggle up to my favorite Scott man and pass out."
"I don't know how you're gonna fit in Brody's crib, but work it out." Nathan joked, earning him a slap on the chest. "Goodnight Sawyer." He said as she made her way out the room.
"Goodnight. Next time you want to cry like a baby, wake up Haley. This is her job."
Nathan smiled. He knew that the tears and the conversation wouldn't be world news. Peyton would keep this night to herself, and he would eventually talk to Haley, but in that moment he was reminded of something that he had intuitively known years ago: Peyton would always be there for him and he for her. Who knew it would be in a way that neither of them would have imagined?
Nathan had confessed his fears to Haley, and she proved them groundless, saying pretty much everything Peyton alluded that she would. Lucas caught Peyton's smile and wondered about it, figuring out quickly that perhaps Nathan had help in revealing his feelings, and walked over to her at the breakfast bar, scooping her up and hugging her tightly, pulling her into a kiss full of all the love he felt for her at that moment.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" she had asked.
"For being you." He said simply.
So here they were, once again up in the middle of the night with the two babies, only this time, the babies were up as well. Nathan and Peyton often had the night shift being night people, but tonight it was also because both Haley and Lucas were studying for their English final together. Since Lucas was studying English Lit, and Haley was studying Education with an English concentration, the two best friends had studied their respective brochures and figured out a way to take English classes that were similar enough to each other that they could study together in spite of going to different schools.
They were scary, those two.
Nathan couldn't help but chuckle as Jamie went back to sleep quickly, but Brody protested loudly every time Peyton tried to place him back in his crib, refusing to let her go and clinging to her like a monkey with both arms and legs.
"Goodnight you two." He taunted. as he made his way to the door.
"Hey," Peyton whispered harshly. "It was your kid who woke up my kid. You should be the one putting him back to sleep!"
"Okay," Nathan said simply. Peyton should have known it was a set-up, having known Nathan for most of her life, but it is still came as a surprise when Nathan reached out to take Brody and he clung to her even harder, forcing his tiny body tight against hers in defense of being taken by Nathan.
"Oh well, I tried." Nathan said cheerfully. "See you in the morning."
"Come on Brody, you love Uncle Nathan! You go to him every morning when I have class. Do it so Momma can study." Peyton pleaded. But almost as if he understood her words, Brody shook his head and held on tighter. They had slacked off on the nickname, calling him by his real name as he became older, so that he would learn to recognize himself as Brody, and not just react when he heard the name Einstein.
Sighing, she gave up the fight, tucking Brody on her hip and making her way back to her room, where she was studying since the baby monitors were broken and she couldn't hear from downstairs.
Moving her books from the desk to the bed, she stretched out beside them in the middle of the bed, Brody naturally curling up against her side as he yawned sleepily, having won his battle to be with her. "Maybe the battle, but never the war my son," Peyton spoke lovingly as she turned to the page she needed and began to speak out loud, conjugating verbs in the present tense. "To love. Amar. Yo amo. I love. Te amo. You love. Le amo…" She went through the verbs, moving through the tenses of both regular and irregular verbs before moving onto vocabulary. The steady drone of her voice sent vibrations through her chest, as Brody snuggled up to it and played sleepily with her hair, a steady hum coming from his chest as he eventually drifted off to sleep. "Gotcha" Peyton thought to herself, chuckling a little at the thought that maybe the hum was Brody conjugating verbs himself. Her son the bilingual baby.
It was almost 3 o'clock when Lucas said goodnight to Haley and made his way to the bedroom, smiling softly at the picture of a sleeping Peyton curled around a sleeping Brody, the Spanish book open underneath her limp hand. Quietly he reached for the camera and snapped a picture, before gently removing her study materials from where they were teetering dangerously off the side of the bed and crawling in behind them, putting his arm around Peyton much in the same manner as her arm lay around Brody. Sighing in content, Lucas smiled as both Peyton and Brody shifted slightly to accommodate him as he drifted off to sleep.
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I love this chapter! Its like three little stories in one! Yay flashbacks inside of flashbacks! Next chapter, Peytons b-day!