Would you do it all the same?

by SkittleBox

She didn't know why or how, but somehow she had been given a second chance. She could fix the mistakes she made the first time around. She had a chance to do everything the way she should have done it in the first place. Could Peyton get her happy ending with her child and the man that she loved?

So there is barely any plot to this. It's a totally self indulgent AU of my own AU, that nobody asked for! because I'm original! lol

This is a fix it fic of sorts, told in snippets. You should read up to Chapter 9 of Big, Big Mistake to really understand the background of this. (Or don't I'm not the boss of you.)

This idea was floating around in my head way back when I first finished Big, Big Mistake, but I never got around to planning it out. I have no idea where this came from! I absolutely adore some parts of this, others I'm not so happy with.

This story is very Peyton centric, and you really only get insight into what she is thinking. This is intentional, I had originally planned to have some parts told from Lucas' perspective, but once I actually started writing I felt it was better purely coming from Peyton's perspective. A little bit of Lucas worked it's way in there though. This is also very Leyton centric and there isn't too much outside of their little bubble.

This is way fluffier than I had originally planned as well.

Word count got away from me with this one. I originally thought it would be under 10K words and it came out more than double that! It just didn't feel right to split it into chapters. So enjoy this incredibly long one shot!

... ... ...

"God, I can't even look at you right now, Peyton. I need to leave because if I have to stay here any longer, I will say something I really don't want to say, and you don't want to hear."

He shook his head and stormed toward her bedroom door.

"Lucas, please don't!" She grabbed at his arm, trying to stop him from leaving. "I know you're mad, but he's your son! We have to talk."

"Oh, so now he's my son?" he fired back at her.

"He's always been your son!" she cried desperately.

"I told you I can't do this right now." He shook his arm out of her grasp as he left the bedroom, and continued toward the front door, still only in the pants from his suit.

"Lucas!" she pleaded with him desperately in one last attempt to stop him from walking out.

He didn't stop. He continued as if she never spoke.

She knew it was coming, but she still flinched when Lucas slammed the front door with such ferocity that one of the glass panels cracked. She crumpled to the floor, her legs suddenly giving way beneath her.

Lucas' words 'I can't do this' played over and over in her head, triggering a fresh round of tears.

She didn't know how long she stayed there, crying in the entryway of her house, but eventually, she was able to stand up and make her way back into her bedroom, collapsing into her bed.

Her tears stained the pillow, and just as she was drifting off to sleep, she wished that she could have done everything differently.

... ... ...

When she woke, Peyton immediately knew she was not in her own bed. Her back was sore, and the space she was currently lying in was small and cramped and was definitely not her own bed.

How did she end up here? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her own bed last night.

Peyton opened her eyes and instantly bolted upright, startled when she recognized where she was. She was at Brooke's house!

How did she get here?She had no memory of even leaving her own house last night, let alone arriving at Brooke's place.

Oh god, Peyton groaned. She couldn't believe she ran to Brooke after her fight with Lucas last night.

It was Brooke's wedding night. She ruined her best friend's wedding night. She really was a terrible person.

"Hey, you're awake," she heard Brooke call from the kitchen, and she saw Brooke grab two mugs from the kitchen counter as she made her way over to Peyton on the couch.

"It's tea," she said, offering the cup to Peyton.

Peyton had a major sense of déjà vu as she accepted the drink from Brooke, and Brooke took a seat beside Peyton on the couch.

"Thank you," Peyton replied automatically, accepting the drink.

"Brooke, I am so sorry for ruining your night last night," she apologized sheepishly.

"What are you apologizing for, P. Sawyer? You know I didn't have any plans last night," Brooke told Peyton, confused.

Peyton snorted. "Really, Brooke?" she said, looking at her best friend pointedly.

Brooke was amazing, but was she really going to try and say that Peyton hadn't ruined her and Julian's wedding night by turning up at their house in the middle of the night?

And that was when Peyton realized she hadn't seen Julian at all since she woke up.

"Wait, where is Julian?" Peyton asked.

"What are you talking about? Who's Julian? Isn't that your ex from Los Angeles? What would he be doing here? Is he the baby's father? I thought you said Lucas was the baby's father," Brooke questioned rapidly, and she looked at Peyton like she had grown a second head. Peyton was acting strange, and it was concerning Brooke.

"Brooke, this isn't funny," Peyton answered apprehensively.

Was Brooke trying to prank her? Was this some form of payback for turning up here last night?

"I'm not trying to be funny, Peyton," Brooke protested. "I'm just as confused as you are. Last night you came home crying about Lucas marrying Lindsey and that he's your baby daddy, and this morning you are acting like that isn't what happened," Brooke said uncertainly.

What was happening? Peyton grabbed her head, massaging her temples. She had a splitting headache, and her head felt foggy from all the crying.

And the way Brooke was acting, like this wasn't the morning after her wedding, made Peyton's head hurt even more. It was almost like Brooke was acting like it was the morning after she returned from tour.

But no, that wasn't possible!

She took a moment to actually look around Brooke's living room. The space was different from the last time Peyton had been here - yesterday, she was last here yesterday - before they left to get ready for the wedding.

It wasn't anything too significant, and if Peyton didn't know the space so well, she probably wouldn't have noticed anything being off. But all the traces of Julian that had slowly incorporated their way into the house over the last ten months had seemingly disappeared.

All the knick knacks Julian left lying around were gone. She knew there used to be a film poster hanging by the dining table that was nowhere in sight. Even the photos of Brooke and Julian that sat on the mantel above the fireplace had disappeared.

Peyton knew there also used to be pictures of Keith on the mantel as well; she had given Brooke a new photo only a couple of weeks ago.

They were all gone.

Peyton had to give it to her best friend; if Brooke really was just trying to mess with Peyton as payback, she sure was committed, but Peyton thought she might be taking this a little too far.

Because really, that had to be the only explanation, right? What other possible explanation could there be?

And then she felt it. Peyton's hands flew to her stomach at the unmistakable feeling of a baby kicking. She hadn't felt that feeling in over seven months, but it was a feeling she would never be able to forget.

Her hands moved over her swollen abdomen.

No. No. This could not be happening. She was not pregnant. She gave birth over seven months ago. She had a seven month old son!

"Brooke, what date is it today?" Peyton asked, her voice full of panic.

"It's September sixth," Brooke said, and she furrowed her brow in confusion.

No. Brooke's wedding was July thirtieth! Today was supposed to be the thirty first.

She was going crazy. That was the only explanation for what was happening right now.

She had lost the plot. She was going insane.

The baby, Keith, moved inside her again, and she felt sick to her stomach.

"I'm going to be sick," Peyton said before she rushed to the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Brooke followed closely behind Peyton. "Isn't it a little late in your pregnancy for you to be getting morning sickness?"

"I don't think it's morning sickness," Peyton answered before she pushed herself off the bathroom floor and rinsed her mouth out at the sink.

"Are you okay? Are you sick?"

"I don't know what is happening, Brooke," Peyton replied. Tears were brimming in her eyes, and Peyton knew Brooke would not understand the double meaning behind her words.

Somehow, the last ten months of Peyton's life did not happen, and she was back to the day after she returned home from being on tour.

Was it all just some really long, weird vivid dream? Had none of it happened? Was none of it real? Or had she somehow been given a second chance to fix the mistakes she made?

She needed to see Lucas.

"I have to go," Peyton said, and she hurried back into the living room, searching for her handbag. When she found it, she grabbed her keys and rushed to the door.

Brooke was not far behind her. "Peyton, I'm worried about you. You're scaring me."

"I'll be fine, Brooke," Peyton told her, but the words did nothing to convince her friend.

Peyton sat behind the wheel of the Comet and drove to Lucas' house, probably a little too recklessly. She didn't even know if he was at home, but if this was why she was here, why she had been given this second chance. She needed to try.

Her heart thumped in her chest as she approached the house. She was nervous. She bypassed the front door and headed straight to his bedroom door, knocking frantically on the door until he opened it.

"Peyton," he said, stunned, and she saw his eyes flicker down to her stomach. He was wearing pajamas, and his hair was all tousled. She had woken him up.

"Hi, Lucas," Peyton replied. Lucas leaned against the door sleepily, and she caught sight of the ring on his left hand.

His wedding ring.

"Uh, can I?" She asked, gesturing through the door.

"Oh, yeah, of course," he said and stepped back, opening the door wide so she could enter the room.

"What did you do last night?" she asked him urgently. She had to try one last time to see if he remembered what happened between them or if it really was just some dream.

"Why?" he asked, confused, his brow furrowed.

"Please, just humor me, Lucas."

"Uh, I watched a game on TV, and then I tried to write a little, then I went to bed - nothing out of the ordinary," he answered, bewildered.

Peyton scrutinized Lucas' face as he spoke, trying to see if he was telling her the truth. She saw no sign on his face that he was lying. She sighed, so she really seems to be the only one with a memory of the last ten months.

How was that possible?

"Is Lindsey here?"

Lindsey possibly being here hadn't even crossed Peyton's mind when she made the decision to come and see Lucas.

She didn't know if the other woman was here or if she was back in New York, but Peyton would prefer not to have this conversation with Lucas while the other woman was present.

"You know that-"

"That you and Lindsey are married?" she finished for him, and he nodded mutely. "Yes, Nathan and Haley told me."

"She's not here. She's in New York," he answered. "You're-" he started to speak but stopped, too flabbergasted to continue.

"Pregnant?" she finished for him again. "Yes, twenty four weeks."

"I didn't know."

"No one did," she said sadly, remembering that she had kept this a secret before and that she had hurt her friends by doing so.

"Not even Brooke?"

"Not even Brooke," Peyton confirmed. "I mean, Mia knew. It's kind of hard to keep all this." She rubbed her stomach. "A secret when you share a cramped tour bus, but no one from Tree Hill knew."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Lucas asked.

"The baby's father didn't know, and I wanted to be able to tell him in person. I didn't want him to find out from anyone else," she replied nervously, wringing her hands together.

"So, you've done that then?"

"Not yet. Do you remember that night at Tric, back in April?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Lucas nodded. "But what does that have to do with-"

Peyton cut him off again. "I lied to you about what happened that night, Luke. I didn't send you home alone in a cab that night. I woke up here, and I snuck out because I was scared of what your reaction would be."

"No," he insisted.

"This is your baby, Lucas," Peyton whispered.

"No," he said again, shaking his head. "That's not possible," he said adamantly.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, Lucas, and I know the timing is not the best because you are married to Lindsey." Peyton took a step toward him, but Lucas put his hands out in front of him and stepped back from her.

"You're lying," he accused.

Peyton didn't know what the rules were about using the information she had learned in the future. She wasn't supposed to know any of that information yet, but she couldn't help but think that maybe she could make it work in her favor.

When Lucas had first told her about his divorce with Lindsey, he had confided to her that he realized he made a mistake marrying Lindsey pretty much straight away, but that's not something she was supposed to know.

Fuck it. Peyton took a deep breath and decided to try it.

"I know you're married to Lindsey, but I also know that you're not really happy with her and you think marrying her was a mistake," she said.

And as soon as the words left her mouth, Peyton knew she had said the wrong thing. Lucas' face contorted in anger.

Maybe she shouldn't have used what she knew was inevitably going to happen.

"How dare you! You know nothing about my marriage," he snarled. "I don't know whose baby that is or why you are trying to pin it on me, but it can't be mine!"

"Do you really think that I would lie to you about something like this?" her voice quavered, more shocked than anything.

"Do you really think that little of me?" she whispered. The tears that had been stinging her eyes started to fall.

"Why are you doing this to me? I'm with Lindsey. I'm happy again! Why do you always have to come and ruin my life when everything is finally going well for me?" he spat furiously.

For a moment, she was too stunned to do anything.

"Lucas," Peyton gaped.

He'd never spoken to her like that before. Sure, they'd fought plenty of times over the years, but she had never heard him talk to her with such hate in his voice before.

She collapsed onto the side of his bed, dejected, and sobbed. Nothing she could do was ever going to make this right. So why was she here then?

If she couldn't change everything and it was all just going to turn out the same, why had she been brought back here? What was the point?

Her vision was starting to blur, from the tears, maybe, she couldn't tell anymore. And her head felt funny, foggy almost. Then, the room began to spin, and she felt sick.

"Peyton... Peyton!"

The room went black.

... ... ...

When Peyton came to, she was gasping for air, and she realized she was back in her bed. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into her pillow. She was laying on her stomach - her flat stomach.

Oh, thank god! That must have all just been some horrible dream.

Her head was still throbbing like she was hungover, but she only had one glass of champagne at the wedding last night. It must just be from all the crying she did after her fight with Lucas.

She groaned, remembering how horrible last night had been, and burrowed further into her pillow. They still smelled like Lucas.

She registered an arm wrapped around her waist - had Lucas come back? - and she bolted upright in bed.

She opened her eyes for the first time, and she quickly realized she was not in her bedroom but in Lucas' bedroom.

How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was crawling back into her own bed after Lucas left her house, and then she had that horrible dream.

Why could she not remember how she got here? And would Lucas have really let her into his house after everything that just happened?

Fuck, she's naked.

Peyton gasped and jumped out of his bed, putting some distance between the two of them.

So, she was supposed to believe that not only did Lucas let her inside, but that he welcomed her back into his bed? And she had no recollection of that? That didn't seem right.

A wave of nausea hit her, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She hastily ran down the hallway to the bathroom, using the wall to guide her in the dark, before throwing up into the toilet.

She stood at the sink as she rinsed her mouth out, and she caught sight of herself in the mirror for the first time.

She was a mess, crazy bedhead, and smudged makeup, but that wasn't what had caught her attention.

The changes her body went through during her pregnancy were seemingly gone. Her hips were slimmer, and she ran her hand down over her stomach, not feeling the faint lines of the stretch marks that had littered her stomach post birth.

No, this was not happening, she thought adamantly. This could not be real.

She pinched herself hard on the arm, and it hurt.

Peyton stumbled her way back to Lucas' bedroom, and she frenziedly looked for her handbag. When she finally found it, under his desk of all places, she dug her phone out of the bag and checked the date. She ignored the half a dozen missed calls and twice as many text messages.

April second.

Fuck, the night Keith was conceived. This was not possible. She shook her head.

She haphazardly tugged on her clothes, no longer even trying to be quiet. She didn't care if she woke Lucas anymore. In fact, a part of her hoped he would wake up. So he could confirm that none of this was real, and it was all just in her head.

He stirred, but he didn't wake. Instead, he just rolled over in bed and buried his face under his pillow.

She exited the house hurriedly, but she wasn't sure where she planned on going. She just needed to get out of there.

She took off down the street, not even really thinking about it. It took her a few minutes before she realized where she was going. She was taking the familiar route a few streets over to her own house.

She paused in front of the house, anxious to actually go inside now that she was here. She didn't know what she would find on the other side of the door.

She took her keys from her bag, but her house key was not there. It had disappeared from her keychain.

She sighed and walked to the end of the porch. Bending down, she retrieved the spare key from underneath the pot plant and returned to unlock the front door.

She hesitated with her hand on the handle before opening the door. She reached out to touch the glass panel in front of her. There was no crack.

Lucas had slammed the door so hard in his haste to exit her house that he had cracked the glass in her doorway. So, either her door had magically repaired itself, or that hadn't happened yet.

The first thing she noticed as she walked through the door was that the house was different. Sure, the layout hadn't changed, but this was not her house. She stopped in the living room first.

There were no toys strewn across the floor, the room was tidy, something her living room rarely was since Keith became mobile. He was constantly tossing his toys out of the toy box faster than she could tidy them.

She traced her fingers along the edge of the familiar furniture in the room, but it was not her furniture.

It was familiar because it was from her childhood home. These were her father's belongings.

The nursery.

She turned on her heel and made a beeline down the hallway toward the room that was Keith's nursery. She pushed the door open and let out a choked gasp when she saw the room.

Her first thought was that it is all wrong. The room was empty except for a few boxes in the corner. And the walls were a beige color, not the light green Brooke had picked for Keith's nursery.

Peyton's phone pinged in her handbag, and she pulled it out. It was another text from Brooke. She read through the messages she had ignored before. There were more than a dozen texts, all from Brooke asking where she was and if she was okay.

She quickly sent a text back to her best friend, apologizing for worrying her, and said that she didn't think she would make it home tonight, but she was fine.

She crumpled to the floor, a lump forming in her throat as the tears rolled down her cheeks, and her body was wracked with sobs.

What was happening to her? How did she end up here, and where was her baby?

She was still lying on the floor when she woke in the morning. She really should not have let herself fall asleep on the floor - everything hurt.

She took out her phone and called a cab to take her back to Brooke's house, to take her home. She said goodbye to the house as the taxi drove away - this house was not her home anymore.

She made it to Brooke's, and Brooke was still sleeping as she entered the house, and Peyton was thankful for that. She didn't think she could face her best friend right now.

She looked a mess, not just from her activities last night, but her face was all red and blotchy from all the crying she did the night before, and Peyton didn't think she could explain to Brooke what happened.

What would she even say?

That yesterday Peyton had a seven month old son, and today she had somehow gone back to the day he was conceived, and she was the only person who remembered him and knew he existed?

She could just picture how that would go down, and it would not end well. Brooke would have her committed, convinced that Peyton had lost the plot.

And Peyton wasn't entirely sure that she hadn't lost the plot. She knew how crazy it sounded. She wasn't even entirely convinced it actually happened.

That somehow, she went back to the day after she returned from tour with Mia, and she told Lucas the truth, and when he hadn't handled it well, she woke up even further back to the night when her son was conceived.

It sounded certifiably insane.

She decided to hide out at the label for the day. She knew her friends wouldn't interrupt her there, and she would get a little peace. Her head was still aching with confusion, and unfortunately, the painkillers she took had done nothing to help relieve the pain.

She stared at the bag on her desk, contemplating her options, when she heard the door to her office open, and her head snapped up in surprise.

Lucas. Damn it.

She had completely forgotten he stopped by the morning after. She groaned and buried her head in her hands. She could not do this right now. She didn't know what the rules were here. Was she supposed to do everything the same as she had the first time she experienced this?

She shoved the pharmacy bag and box into her desk drawer hastily, shutting it quickly before Lucas could see. She didn't want to have to explain that to him right this second.

"Hi," he called.

"Hi, Luke," Peyton answered.

"This place looks great," he told her sincerely as he took a seat in the empty armchair across from her desk.

Peyton looked at Lucas in confusion, her eyes narrowed before she remembered that this had been the first time he had seen the office since the studio was finished.

"Thanks, Luke," she said eventually.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked.

"Like a bomb went off in my head, and from the look of you, you feel the same way I do," she said, mimicking the exact words she had said the first time she had this conversation with him.

Lucas laughed. "Pretty much."

"What can I help you with, Luke?" she asked. "Not that I don't appreciate the visit, but you haven't exactly stopped by lately."

"I just came by to make sure you were okay," he confessed. "I don't remember much about last night, but I do remember that you were with me at Tric for a while there. I don't remember how I got home, and I just wanted to make sure you made it home safely."

"Yeah, I got home fine. I put you in a cab and then got one for myself," Peyton lied easily.

She said it automatically - she didn't even have to think. Her body just acted on its own, blurting out the words before she had a chance to stop herself - like she was possessed.

And it scared her how easy it was for her to fall into this routine - to do everything exactly as it was before.

Peyton thought she saw a flicker of disappointment cross Lucas' face, and it made her even more confused.

That was something Peyton hadn't noticed when she had this conversation the first time around, and she wondered if she should really be doing everything the way she did it the first time around.

She didn't know how long she would be stuck here - if she was even stuck here. She hadn't ruled out that this was all just a dream yet.

But what if she wasn't stuck here? What if she was being given a second chance. Another chance to try and make things right between her and Lucas?

She could change everything between them this time - they could be happy together with their son.

But, she had tried to change everything when she woke up, and it was the morning after the tour. And that had not ended well, and then she ended up here, even further back than before. So, where would she wake up next if it didn't go well this time?

She hated that she didn't know what the right thing to do was.

But, if she already knew what the outcome would be, that it would only end in heartbreak again. How could she not try to do everything in her power to try and prevent that?

Peyton sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Luke, that was a lie," she told him apologetically.

"I woke up at your house this morning, in your bed specifically, and I ran because I was scared of what your reaction would be when you woke up. I think we had sex last night," she finished quietly, and she bit her lip anxiously as she waited for his response.

Lucas' brow creased, deep in thought, processing what he'd just been told.

"Okay," he replied slowly.

Peyton couldn't read the expression on his face, and she hated that she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

She hated that she didn't know what the right thing to say was. That if she had, in fact, been given a second chance, she didn't know what to do to make sure it turned out differently this time.

Peyton, scared of what Lucas' reaction would be to her confession, quickly added, "It doesn't have to mean anything," she jumped in before Lucas had a chance to say anything. "I know you're still in love with Lindsey."

"Uh, sure. Thanks, Peyton," Lucas said curtly. "I should probably be heading out. I'll let you get back to work."

He left a few minutes later, and Peyton couldn't help but notice that Lucas was now acting strange, even though she had told him the truth. And now, she had changed how events happened the first time around. Maybe she was wrong. Perhaps now wasn't the right time to tell him what happened between them.

Peyton leaned over and opened her desk draw again, staring at the bag she hastily shoved in there when Lucas entered her office. She took the box out of the bag and turned it over in her hands a few times, contemplating if she should take the emergency contraceptive.

She didn't know how long she was going to be here or how long it would take her to figure out how to get back to Keith. Because that was all she wanted - to get back to her son.

For all she knew, she could wake up tomorrow in her own time, but if she ended up being here for a while, having to relive this part of her life again, did she really want to have to go through all of this again?

If she decided to take the pill, she wouldn't have to go through the last - next? God, she didn't even know anymore - sixteen months again.

She also had no guarantee that even if she tried to change what happened that it wouldn't just end in heartbreak again. She couldn't be sure that she and Lucas would work things out this time. For all she knew, changing the events of what happened today could have made everything worse, not better.

If she took the emergency contraceptive, she could focus her energy on trying to get back to her time, to get back to her son. But she had no idea where she would even start or what she would even need to do.

If she took the emergency contraceptive, she might not ever get back to her own time, and she could end up stuck here forever. She would never see her son's face again. She didn't know if she could live with herself if she took it.

She was torn. Tears started flowing down her cheeks. She didn't know what to do.

Peyton shook her head; she couldn't do it. She couldn't risk that she might never make it back to Keith.

She tossed the emergency contraceptive away into the trash, unopened.

She didn't know why or how, but somehow she had been given a second chance. She could fix the mistakes she made the first time around. She had a chance to do everything the way she should have done it in the first place.

She had already started by telling Lucas the truth about what happened between them last night.

She just hoped it would all work out okay.

... ... ...

Over the next few weeks, Peyton carried on with her life in a daze. She did everything pretty much exactly as she did the first time around. She went to the studio, and she went home. She was like a zombie, just running on autopilot.

She had almost managed to convince herself that everything she thought happened was just some weird fever dream.

Because the only other alternative was to believe that she had somehow time traveled. Even just thinking the words made her want to be sick.

Because that didn't happen to real people, it was something you read in a book or saw in a movie or TV show. It wasn't real.

But then she remembered Keith's face, and she had such vivid memories of his sweet face and his little laugh. She missed him.

She was starting to forget a lot of the details about before. She still remembered most of the significant moments that happened, but she was beginning to forget the small everyday stuff.

The fogginess in her head that she had been feeling still had not gone away, and she wasn't sure if that had something to do with her memories.

Keith was the only thing keeping her going - the thought that if she did everything as she had before, she would get her son back eventually.

Mia was leaving on tour tomorrow. Lucas was at the bar again as Peyton was leaving Red Bedroom Records for the night.

She hadn't spoken to him since that day in his office, but she had seen him sitting in the same spot at the bar multiple times over the past few weeks.

She thought he was avoiding her, and if she was honest with herself, she was kind of avoiding him as well. After his reaction to her confession that day, she no longer knew how she should act around him.

As if on instinct, she found herself walking across the room toward him.

No, she stopped suddenly before she reached him at the bar. She couldn't do it.

Mia was leaving on tour tomorrow. Which meant tonight was the night that Lucas told her he hated her.

She wasn't going to let that happen again. If she didn't help Lucas home tonight, he wouldn't have a chance to say that to her.

She turned toward the exit and left Tric without approaching him. She felt Lucas' eyes bore into the back of her head as she walked away, but she didn't stop to look back at him.

When she arrived home, Brooke was in the living room, she invited Peyton to join her, but she didn't feel up to it tonight.

She hadn't felt up to doing much of anything lately.

She said good night to Brooke before retreating to her bedroom, collapsing onto her bed.

She still ended the night curled in a ball, crying in her bed, but it was for a very different reason this time.

She missed her son, and she didn't know if she was doing the right thing to get him back. She didn't know if continuing on as normal would bring him back to her.

She had long since stopped trying to muffle the sounds of her crying. She knew Brooke could hear her, but Peyton had cried herself to sleep that often since she arrived at this time that Brooke had stopped coming in to comfort her.

Peyton suspected it also had something to do with her refusal to tell her friend what was wrong with her.

She knew Brooke and Haley were worried about her. She'd heard them whispering when they thought she couldn't hear them and that they didn't believe her when she told them she was fine - she was obviously not fine.

She just couldn't tell anyone what was going on with her. She couldn't tell them the real reason she had been in such a funk lately.

Everyone would think she was crazy if she told them she had somehow been put back sixteen months in her past and was reliving everything all over again.

She would think someone was crazy if they told her the same thing.

She was alone in the house when she woke the following morning, and she found the note from Brooke in the kitchen, telling her she and Angie had gone out for the day.

She had been so wrapped up in herself that she forgot today was the day Brooke had to say goodbye to Angie.

She received the call from Mia a few hours later, and when Mia made a joke about Peyton joining her on tour, Peyton almost found herself accepting automatically. But she managed to catch herself and brushed it off before she wished Mia good luck on the tour.

She was determined to change everything. She was not going to fall into the same trap as before. Lucas didn't tell her he hated her, so she had no reason to run away from her problems in Tree Hill.

She thought for a moment and did the math in her head, counting back from that night with Lucas.

She hadn't been paying too much attention to the date lately. So she checked the calendar on the refrigerator to confirm.

It had been about six weeks since she had been brought back here.

If she wasn't crazy and everything was as it had happened before. If she was indeed pregnant, she would be far enough along now to take a pregnancy test. She could have taken one weeks ago.

She went to the bathroom to shower and got ready to leave the house before getting in the Comet and driving to the store.

She walked the aisles of the grocery store, adding ice cream and cookie dough and any other comfort food she thought she might need.

She hadn't been there for Brooke the first time Angie went home. She had been a terrible friend then, as she had been pushing Brooke away. Even these last few weeks, she'd been horrible to Brooke, continually pushing her away. But that was going to stop now.

She was not going to let Brooke go through this alone this time. She hadn't just been given a chance to make things right with her and Lucas. She could be there for Brooke when she needed Peyton the most.

She stopped at the pharmacy aisle on her way to the checkout. And she found herself wondering, again, why there had to be so many different brands for something that essentially did the same thing.

She grabbed a handful of tests off the shelf at random before she made her way over to the checkout.

She was sure she knew what the result would be, but there was a niggling feeling at the back of her head. What if she was wrong? What if she wasn't pregnant?

Besides, she didn't think she could just turn up on Lucas' doorstep and announce that she was pregnant without being able to prove it to him.

When she arrived home, she put the ice cream and the cookie dough into the freezer and dumped the rest of her belongings, along with the bag containing the pregnancy tests, into her room.

She looked at the clock. Brooke should be home soon. Peyton paced nervously in the living room while she waited.

Her plan had been to wait until she was with Lucas to take the pregnancy tests, but she couldn't wait any longer. She needed to know now.

She stopped pacing and turned on her heel, striding back to her bedroom, took a pregnancy test from the bag, and went into the bathroom.

She set a timer on her phone while she waited for the test to be ready, and she resumed her pacing while she waited.

The alarm had just gone off to indicate the test was ready, and Peyton took a deep breath before she picked it up to check the result. That's when the front door opened, and Brooke rushed into the house.

"Peyton," Brooke called. Her face was red from crying, and tears were still streaming down her face.

"Oh, Brooke," Peyton replied, and she pulled her distraught friend into her arms, holding her tightly.

"Brooke, what's wrong? Where's Angie?" Peyton asked for more for Brooke's benefit. Peyton already knew the answer.

"She's gone. They decided she was well enough to go home," Brooke cried.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," she consoled, hugging Brooke tighter.

"Wait, what's that?" Brooke asked, pulling away from Peyton's embrace, grabbing her wrist, and pulling it from behind her back. "Is that..." she trailed off.

Peyton hadn't had a chance to look at the result before Brooke rushed in. She saw the result for the first time and felt relief wash over her.

It was positive.

She was going to get her son back. There was a tightening in her throat, and tears pricked her eyes, but she was crying for a very different reason than Brooke.

"Peyton, you're pregnant," Brooke sputtered, disbelieving. "How?"

Peyton laughed dryly. "I'm pretty sure they covered that in middle school, B. Davis."

"Shut up," Brooke sniffled, shoving at Peyton's shoulder. "You know what I meant."

"I know," Peyton smiled sadly back at her. "Tell you what. I've got a bunch of ice cream in the freezer. Why don't we grab that, and we can wallow together," she suggested.

Peyton left to retrieve the ice cream she'd stashed in the freezer earlier and grabbed two spoons from the drawer. She returned to the living room, taking a seat on the couch next to Brooke. She held out a spoon and a container of ice cream to her.

They sat in silence for a few moments, and Peyton wondered if they were going to talk about Angie first or Peyton's pregnancy.

Peyton had done everything wrong last time when it came to her pregnancy. She wasn't going to do that this time. Peyton had hidden the fact that she was pregnant from Brooke because she was scared of Brooke's reaction, thinking Brooke would be upset with her because she desperately wanted a baby.

But she knew better this time; Brooke wouldn't be upset with her.

"I'm mad at you," Brooke admitted quietly.

Peyton's eye went wide, and she looked at Brooke confused and frowned. Guess I was wrong then, she thought. She didn't think she had done anything to piss Brooke off, not this time anyway.

"Why?" she asked eventually.

"Because you didn't tell me you were seeing anyone," Brooke replied sorely.

"Brooke, I'm not seeing anyone," Peyton confessed.

Brooke gaped. "Peyton Sawyer had a one night stand and got herself knocked up?" Brooke teased, scandalized.

"I mean, it definitely was something like that," Peyton announced.

Brooke's eyes widen. "Who's the baby's father?"

Peyton sighed heavily. She hadn't told Brooke about Lucas straight away the first time around, and it had hurt her best friend.

But, she was doing everything differently this time, so there was no need for her to keep the paternity of her baby a secret.

"Lucas is the father," Peyton whispered and diverted her gaze, looking down at the food in her lap.

"What?" Brooke yelped, choking on her bite of ice cream, dropping the spoon back into the pint. "I mean, I guess I should have figured that out, but when did you have sex with Lucas? Forget the pregnancy; why didn't you tell me that?"

"Do you remember that night last month that I didn't come home?"

"You were with Lucas that night?" Brooke asked, confused.

Peyton nodded. "Yes, we had a bit too much to drink at Tric that night. I woke up at his house the next morning."

"Have you told Lucas yet?" Brooke questioned.

Peyton shook her head. "Not yet."

"I will tell him, though," Peyton continued quickly when she saw Brooke start to protest. "But you need me right now. Lucas will still be there in a few days. Now, we've talked enough about me. You need me. Let me help you," Peyton insisted.

She grabbed Brooke's arm, pulling her until she rested her head against Peyton's shoulder, and she enveloped her best friend in a hug.

... ... ...

Peyton spent the next five days in bed with Brooke, holding her best friend as she grieved the loss of her foster daughter. Peyton couldn't believe she had been so selfish to let Brooke go through this alone before.

It was only after those five days that when Brooke told Peyton, she was fine, it was convincing enough that Peyton agreed it was time for her to go and tell Lucas she was pregnant.

She was nervous to tell him. She knew it couldn't be as bad as the first time she told him or the second.

She had already changed so much. Lucas knew they had sex that night, and she never gave him the chance to tell her that she ruined his life.

But he was still in love with Lindsey, and even though she knew that he eventually got over the other woman and he came to love her again, they were still so far away from that, and she was scared that he might still react badly to her telling him she was pregnant.

When she arrived at Lucas' place, he was exiting the house through his bedroom door just as she was about to knock. He didn't see her, and they both startled as he bumped into her.

"Sorry," Peyton apologized, grabbing his arms to steady herself.

"Peyton, what are you doing here?" he asked, and she could tell he was shocked to see her.

They hadn't spoken a single word to each other since the morning after their night at Tric in her office. And the only time they had seen each other had been the passing glances as she left her office for the night when he had been at the bar.

He hadn't reached out to her after their conversation, and she hadn't wanted to be the one to reach out first in case it was the wrong thing to do, and she would only end up driving him further away from her.

"I need to talk to you. It's kind of important," Peyton said.

"Could we-" She nodded back toward his bedroom door. She didn't want to have this conversation on his porch in case things got ugly.

"Oh, yeah, of course," he replied and opened the door to his bedroom again, letting her enter the room before him.

Once she was inside and she turned to face him, she noticed the bag in his hand for the first time. "You were going somewhere?"

Lucas tossed the bag onto his bed and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Uh, yeah, I was going to New York to see Lindsey," he replied nervously.

Peyton gaped at Lucas.

No, it was too early.

He didn't go to Vegas with Lindsey until Peyton had already been gone for a month.

She was supposed to have another three weeks before he left. She didn't go on tour with Mia; she thought she would have more time.

"Please don't go to Vegas with her; don't marry her, Luke," she whispered quietly.

"What?" Lucas' head snapped up. "How could you possibly-" he faltered. How could she know that was what he had been planning to do?

"A hunch," Peyton answered with a shrug, her eyes downcast. "I know you, Luke."

She couldn't possibly tell him the real reason she knew. That it was because he had done this once before. Though, something she had changed in this timeline had brought him leaving forward by almost a month.

She didn't know what it was that had caused the change, but if she had arrived even a few minutes later, he would have already been on his way to the airport.

"What are you doing here, Peyton?" he questioned, his head tilted toward her warily.

"I'm pregnant," she responded timidly, and she looked down at her hands, wringing them together. She couldn't look at him. She was too afraid of what his reaction would be.

"That- That night in April?" he hesitated.

Peyton nodded. "There hasn't been anyone else."

"Are you sure?" he asked. He said it quietly, tentatively, but the question still made the blood rush from Peyton's face, and she went as white as a sheet.

She closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears. She was not going to cry in front of him.

She was crushed. It really didn't matter when or how she did it. Telling Lucas she was pregnant was never going to end well for the two of them.

"I'm sorry, I meant are you sure that you're pregnant, not that there hasn't been anyone else," he added quickly when he saw the hurt look that crossed her face.

Peyton's shoulders relaxed. "I mean as sure as I can be without having seen a doctor yet. I've already taken one pregnancy test that came back positive. And..." she dumped the contents of the paper bag onto his bed. Another half a dozen pregnancy tests fell out of the bag and onto the bed. "I kind of went a little overboard," she admitted.

Lucas sat on the end of his bed in a state of shock. He was quiet, so Peyton continued, "I'm going to go and take these," she said, nodding toward the hallway. She gathered up the pregnancy tests she dropped on his bed and exited Lucas' bedroom.

When she returned a few minutes later, Lucas was still sitting in the same spot on his bed. Peyton placed the tests down on his desk and sat beside Lucas at the end of his bed while they waited for them to be ready.

"How long?" he finally asked.

"A couple of minutes," she answered. "I set an alarm on my phone."

They sat in silence as they waited. Peyton was worried about what Lucas' reaction would be to her pregnancy, and she had to remind herself that she was leaps and bounds ahead of him when it came to processing this news.

She'd already had time to deal with this. She'd experienced everything once before. But, for Lucas, he had only just learned of the possibility of their baby, and he would need time to adjust to the news.

The alarm went off, and Lucas rose from the bed, hesitantly approaching his desk. Peyton didn't move to go with him - she didn't need to check the results. She already knew what the tests would say; this was all just for Lucas' benefit.

She watched him as he checked the results on each test before hunching against his desk.

"They're all positive," he breathed out.

"Peyton," he started, pushing himself away from his desk, turning back to her, and returning to sit beside her on his bed. "I know that this is your decision, and I will support you in whatever you decide to do. And I don't want to try and influence you in any way, but I want this baby."

She reached out, placing her hand over his own, reassuringly. "It's okay, Luke. I want this baby too," she said. "I wasn't planning on terminating the pregnancy."

"Can I?" he asked nervously, holding his hand out toward her abdomen.

"Yeah, of course," she said, leaning back on her hands, and she watched Lucas curiously as his hand came out to spread across her stomach.

She wasn't showing yet; of course, she wasn't. Her stomach was still flat, there was nothing there, but that didn't stop Lucas from leaning down to talk to her stomach.

"Hi, baby, I'm your dad. It's nice to meet you."

And Peyton almost burst into tears right there. Lucas was being so sweet and accepting of everything right now, and she took this from him the first time around. He never got to experience any of this when she was pregnant with Keith the first time.

"I am so sorry, Luke," she apologized before she could stop herself.

He was still leaning down by her stomach, his face turned away from her, and she reached out to card her hands through his hair. She quickly clamped her hand over her mouth at her mistake.

"What are you apologizing for?" he asked, perplexed, looking up at her. "This isn't your fault. I'm pretty sure it took both of us to get in this situation," he added wryly.

Oh my god. She could not believe she just said that.

She needed to excuse herself. She was confusing the Lucas in front of her with the Lucas that she left - the Lucas that was in love with her.

The Lucas beside her was in love with Lindsey; he didn't love her.

And she had just apologized to Lucas, that was sitting in front of her, for something she did to the other Lucas. She apologized to him for something she hadn't even done to him, not this time around.

She was blurring the lines between now and the time that she had been taken from.

"I should be getting home," she said, standing up quickly. "I'll let you know when I've made an appointment to see a doctor," she finished and abruptly exited Lucas' bedroom, leaving Lucas sitting dumbfounded on his bed.

... ... ...

The morning of Peyton's first doctor's appointment, she woke up feeling nauseated.

She didn't remember having any morning sickness when she was on tour with Mia. Peyton hadn't exactly been clued into her pregnancy this early the first time she experienced this. Though, she thought she may have put any nausea down to motion sickness at the time and not thought too much of it.

The first appointment she could get with her doctor was two weeks after she told Lucas she was pregnant. She had been acting cautiously around him since her slip up. She couldn't keep doing things like that. She had to get her head on straight.

Naturally, Lucas insisted on picking her up for the appointment, and it made sense for them to go together.

When she woke in the morning feeling nauseated, she was glad she agreed to go with him. She texted Lucas to let him know she didn't go into the studio today and for him to pick her up at home.

Peyton decided to keep herself busy around the house while she waited for Lucas to arrive. She was sure everything was going to be okay today, but she was still nervous regardless.

Once she had confirmation that everything was okay with the baby, with Keith, she knew she would feel a lot better.

Peyton was in the kitchen, tidying up from breakfast when Lucas arrived, letting himself into the house.

Brooke had jokingly commented on Peyton's sudden change in doing household chores. Peyton usually tended to leave everything until the last possible second.

But Peyton couldn't tell Brooke that the real reason for the change had been all the months she had spent with Lucas, and his good habits had rubbed off on her. Because as far as her friends knew, she hadn't spent much time with Lucas since she returned to Tree Hill.

Peyton brushed Brooke's comments off and told Brooke that she had to get her act together and be a real adult if she was going to be having a baby. She didn't know if Brooke actually bought it, but she didn't argue with Peyton's explanation.

"Hey," Lucas greeted her warmly, smiling at her across the room. "Are you ready to go?"

Peyton couldn't help but smile back at Lucas. She could tell he was excited about today, and it was infectious. And she had a sudden thought that this was why she was here.

Sure, the situation they had found themselves in was not ideal. She was pregnant, and they were not together, and only two weeks ago, he was going to ask his ex-fiancee to marry him.

But this time, Lucas knew the truth about the baby, about Keith, and he seemed to be handling the news well. He was getting to experience everything from the beginning of her pregnancy this time, and he knew the baby she was carrying was his child.

"Yes," she replied as she grabbed her handbag. She slung the strap over her shoulder before crossing the room to meet him.

Peyton suddenly felt another wave of nausea hit her.

"Actually, no," she changed her answer as she dropped her bag to the floor. Her stomach rolled, and she clamped her hand over her mouth as she retched, running to the bathroom.

She knelt in front of the toilet as she heaved up the contents of her stomach. Lucas entered the bathroom a second after her, crouching down next to her as he gathered her hair back, keeping it off her face.

"Has this been happening a lot?" Lucas asked his other hand comfortingly on her back.

"No," Peyton shook her head. "This is the first time it's happened."

Peyton pushed herself away from the toilet, flushing it. "Thank you, Luke," she said appreciatively.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Peyton nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Better now," she answered. "I'm just going to brush my teeth, and then we can go."

She found Lucas waiting for her by the front door when she was finished in the bathroom. He picked her bag up off the floor and held it out to her, and she thanked him again.

The appointment itself was a long one. The nurse that took them back started by asking a series of questions and taking her medical history.

Peyton gave them what she could, explaining that she was adopted and didn't know much about her biological family.

Lucas provided his medical history and mentioned his family history of HCM, and the nurse wrote that down in the file.

Peyton was given a complete physical. Her height and weight were measured, her blood pressure was taken. They checked her heart, lungs, breasts, as well as a full pelvic exam. She had to give a urine sample and have her blood drawn.

And Lucas was not fazed by any of it. She was glad she had him there with her this time. He was helping to keep her calm. This was the way it should have always been.

"Have you had a dating scan yet?" the nurse asked.

"No, this is our first appointment," Peyton answered.

"Okay, I'll take you down there now, and then you'll see the doctor," the nurse explained. They followed her out of the exam room and down the hall. Peyton's file was passed off to the sonographer.

A few minutes later, she was lying back on the exam table as the cold gel was squirted onto her stomach, and suddenly the screen beside them was filled with the image of their baby.

Peyton reached out, grasping Lucas' hand tightly, entwining their fingers together.

"Do you see the fluttering right here?" The technician asked, and she pointed to a tiny spot on the screen. "That's your baby's heartbeat."

And the room was suddenly filled with the fast thumping of the baby's heartbeat.

The tears that were welling in Peyton's eyes started to spill down her cheeks. They were happy tears, tears of relief. Because she had just received confirmation that her baby was okay. Keith was okay, and she was going to get her baby back. She turned to look at Lucas and saw that he also had tears in his eyes.

"Wow, that is amazing," he said, and he leaned down to place a kiss against Peyton's forehead. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, letting herself picture that everything was different. That they were together, that he wasn't in love with another woman. She was broken out of her thoughts by the sonographer talking.

"It looks like everything is progressing right where it should be. The baby looks healthy," the technician told them. "Based on the dates in your chart and the measurements taken today, your due date is December twenty third."

"A Christmas baby," Lucas breathed out, and Peyton smiled up at him warmly. That had been her exact thought when she heard Keith's due date the first time.

And then suddenly, he was pressing his lips against hers. It was a chaste kiss, and it had thrown her off guard. He was probably just caught up in the moment and hadn't realized he'd done it, but it confused her nonetheless.

Almost two hours later, after seeing the obstetrician and meeting with the midwife, they finally left the doctor's office.

Lucas didn't take her home or even drop her off at the studio. Instead, he drove them both to his house. She looked at him questioningly as he turned off the engine to the Mustang.

Lucas threaded his fingers through his hair nervously. "I was thinking... If you wanted to... Did you want to come inside and talk?" He finally got out, stammering over his words.

"Sure, Luke. That's fine; I didn't have any plans for the rest of the day," she answered.

Peyton followed Lucas through the back door and took a seat at the kitchen table.

She didn't say anything; she was waiting for him to be the first to talk. He was the one that asked her inside to talk, after all, so there must be something he wanted to say.

She figured he wanted to talk logistics about them having a baby together. They hadn't spoken much about her pregnancy since he learned the news. Their communication had primarily been via text message, as it was harder for her to slip up again via text.

Lucas took the envelope that held the pictures from the ultrasound that Peyton placed down on the table. He took the photos from the envelope and laid them out on the table.

The baby was barely more than a blob, only just starting to resemble a little person, but the ultrasound technician had printed six almost identical photos for them.

"Do you mind if I keep some of these?" Lucas asked her quietly.

"Of course, Luke," Peyton replied, and she pushed herself away from the table, making her way across the kitchen to the drawer she knew he kept a pair of scissors. She took the strip from him, cut it in half, keeping half for herself and handing the other half back to him.

Lucas was looking at her curiously as he took the pictures from her, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he got up to pin them to the refrigerator with a magnet.

And Peyton suddenly realized her mistake. She and Keith had spent plenty of time at Lucas' house, almost as much time as he spent at her house. But this Peyton was not supposed to have spent much time in Lucas' home in the last five years. So how would she know her way comfortably around his kitchen?

She returned the scissors to the drawer and decided to change the subject before Lucas had a chance to dwell on the strangeness of the situation too much.

"Have you told Nathan and Haley yet?" she questioned.

Peyton had seen Haley a handful of times since she broke the news of her pregnancy to Lucas, and Peyton had been waiting for Haley to bring it up in conversation, but she had heard nothing but silence from the other woman.

She assumed Lucas would have told his brother and best friend by now, but it appeared he hadn't. And she didn't know if that was something she should be concerned about. Like maybe he really didn't want the baby, and he was ashamed of the situation.

"Not yet," he answered. "I wanted to wait until after we'd gone to the doctors. You know, make sure everything is okay first. I thought, maybe, we could tell them together?"

Peyton felt relief wash over her. She really needed to stop jumping to the worst case scenario all the time.

She smiled at him. "I'd like that."

"I take it that Brooke knows?" he asked.

Peyton nodded. "Yes, she saw the test that I took at home before I came to see you."

"I'll talk to Haley and let you know when it's a good time for us to stop around," he told her.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Peyton asked, bringing them back around to their original purpose.

Lucas' face changed, she could tell he was nervous again, and she didn't know why. Finally, he reached out to grab her hand across the table.

"I want us to raise the baby together, Peyton," he said with determination.

Peyton looked at him confused, and she placed her other hand over his. "Of course, we're going to raise this baby together. I wouldn't keep the baby from you, Luke," she faltered.

She had done that once before. She was not going to do it again. She was going to make sure she did everything right this time around.

Lucas sighed heavily, running his free hand over his face. "No, you do not understand what I'm trying to say. I want us to be together. I want to be with you, Peyton."

That was not what Peyton had been expecting him to say. That explained the kiss earlier.

But, this was what she wanted, though. For them to be together again, but not like this.

She didn't want them to get back together because he felt some obligation to the baby. She wanted them to be together because he wanted her.

"No," she breathed out, leaning back in her chair and withdrawing her hands from his. "You can't say that kind of shit to me, Lucas."

"Why not?" he asked. "It's the truth!"

"No, it's not," Peyton replied. "You're still in love with Lindsey."

"No, I'm not. I want to be with you and our child, Peyton," Lucas insisted adamantly.

"You were going to ask Lindsey to marry you only two weeks ago, Lucas!" Peyton retorted, her temper rising. "Your feelings cannot have changed that much in two weeks!"

Lucas' fists clenched. "Yeah, because you said that night between us didn't matter, and-"

"What?" Peyton cut him off angrily. "One, that is not what I said at all, and two, you cannot seriously be trying to blame me for this again!"

Lucas' face contorted in confusion. "Again? Peyton, when-" She had messed up again. She had gotten confused with what was happening now and what had happened before.

"Look, Luke," Peyton sighed, cutting him off again. "I'm not saying never, but you need to sort out your feelings regarding Lindsey first," she finished, her face softening, in an attempt to try and not have to explain yet another slip up on her part.

"And I'm telling you I have," he argued.

"Two weeks is not enough time!" she countered. "There's a baby involved now, Luke, and I don't want to get hurt again," she admitted quietly.

She was, of course, referring to her fight with Lucas the night of Brooke's wedding before she ended up here. Of course, Lucas wouldn't know that and would think that she was just referring to their past.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Peyton."

"You can't know that, Lucas," she said softly. She grasped for his hand again, squeezing it. "Like I said, I'm not saying never, but we both need to make sure that we aren't just doing this because of the baby."

"You'll be a good father to this baby, Luke, regardless of what your relationship status with me is," Peyton said, and she knew it was true because he had been excellent with Keith when he didn't even know he was his son. She pushed herself away from the table, standing up and gathering her belongings.

"Where are you going?" Lucas asked.

"I can make my own way home. I'll talk to you tomorrow," she promised.

Peyton wanted nothing more than for her and Lucas to get to the point they had been in the time that she left before their fight.

But she was worried that if she rushed into a relationship with him now because of how she felt, it would crash and burn and end in disaster again.

She had months of feelings that Lucas hadn't had a chance to feel or experience yet.

She was scared that Lucas' only motivation for saying he wanted to be with her was because of the baby.

Because his failed wedding to Lindsey was only three months ago, and up until two weeks ago, he still wanted to marry her.

She didn't want them to get back together just because he was scared he wouldn't be a good father if they weren't together. But she knew he would be.

Damn it, she cursed. Today had not gone at all how she imagined it.

... ... ...

Peyton was eleven weeks into her pregnancy when they told their friends she was pregnant.

It's the Friday after her doctor's appointment, and they were telling their friends that Peyton was pregnant tonight; well, they're telling Nathan and Haley - Brooke obviously already knew.

It was still very early in her pregnancy, too early to really be telling people, but Peyton already knew that everything was going to be fine with Keith, and Nathan and Haley were family. So she didn't see the point in keeping this from them.

Lucas told Haley that he and Peyton had some news they wanted to tell everyone, and Haley offered to have them over for dinner.

Peyton could only guess what they thought tonight was going to be, but she could guarantee that they hadn't guessed correctly. Because even she knew that the bomb they were about to drop was crazy and would appear totally out of left field to everyone, partly because it was.

Lucas, again, insisted that they go together. After all, they were announcing they're having a baby together, they should arrive together. And Peyton thought he was just playing into Nathan and Haley's assumptions.

She walked the house aimlessly while she waited for Lucas to finish getting ready, looking at the books on his bookshelves, taking note of anything she thought she might like to read.

Considering their fight after her doctor's appointment, Peyton thought things might be a little awkward between them, but surprisingly it hadn't been.

They were both kind of pretending it hadn't happened, and Peyton assumed that when Lucas didn't bring it up again, it was because he realized she was right. It was too soon after his break up with Lindsey for them to be together.

She stopped in his kitchen, standing in front of the refrigerator, and she smiled at the ultrasound pictures. She placed her hand over her stomach, and her eyes went wide.

"Hey, Luke," she called to him. "Come and feel this."

"What is it?" he asked, exiting his bedroom and coming to meet her in the kitchen.

Peyton reached out to grab Lucas' hand and held it to her lower abdomen, pressing his hand firmly against her.

She hadn't been the most athletic person in recent years, and sure she had always been slim, but there had always been a softness to her stomach when you pushed against it, but that had now disappeared.

When she pressed against her stomach, there was no give. Instead, there was a firmness that hadn't been there before, and it dawned on her.

That was their baby.

"That's the baby?" Lucas whispered awestruck, and Peyton nodded, smiling back at him.

Lucas knelt in front of her and whispered something to her stomach - to the baby - that she couldn't hear.

She tugged on his collar, exasperated, and rolled her eyes at him playfully. "Come on, Luke, we're going to be late," she said as she pulled him back into a standing position.

"It's fine," he laughed. "I'm ready."

Lucas turned away from her and took his copy of their ultrasound pictures off the refrigerator, folding them and putting them in his pocket. Peyton cocked her head at him curiously.

"I figure it will be easier to convince them if we bring the proof," he shrugged.

"Good point," Peyton replied, smiling approvingly. She hadn't actually thought of that.

When they arrived at Nathan and Haley's, Brooke had already arrived, looking all too pleased to be there. A wine glass was thrust into both Peyton and Lucas' hands.

Lucas looked at her amused, eyebrow raised, and Peyton shrugged back at him. It wasn't like she was actually going to drink it.

"What did you want me to say?" she whispered, leaning in close to him, as Luke chuckled at her. "I didn't think you wanted me to blurt it out right here. It would be too obvious something is up if I turned it down."

As Haley's back was turned, Brooke approached Peyton and swapped her almost empty wine glass for Peyton's full one.

"Thank you," she murmured to her best friend.

"More for me," Brooke replied, smiling indulgently. Brooke was the only other person in the room that knew what tonight was really about, and she was undoubtedly enjoying Peyton's awkwardness.

As they were sitting down to dinner, Haley noticed Peyton's empty wine glass.

"Oh, Peyton, did you want another drink?" she asked.

"No, Hales," Peyton insisted, laughing lightly. "One glass was more than enough. Thank you, though."

As they ate, Nathan looked at her and Lucas knowingly, and Peyton just shook her head slightly to herself because whatever he thought they were about to announce, she knew he would not have guessed correctly.

Haley made it all of five minutes into dinner before she could not contain herself any longer.

"Okay, tell us! What is this announcement the two of you have?" Haley demanded impatiently.

Lucas set down his cutlery and reached out to grasp Peyton's hand on top of the table. Peyton saw Nathan smirk at the gesture, thinking his suspicions were confirmed, and she couldn't help but think he was about to be in for a big surprise.

Lucas took a deep breath. "Peyton is pregnant. We're having a baby," he announced.

Nathan's eyes went wide, and he dropped the fork in his hand, momentarily frozen in shock, and Haley choked on the bite of food she had just eaten. Brooke was sitting there, an amused smirk on her face as she took another sip of her wine.

"What?" Haley exclaimed. "This is a joke, right?"

"No, it's not a joke," Lucas replied, reaching into his pocket to retrieve the ultrasound picture he stashed there before they left his house. He unfolded them and placed them on the table, facing Haley. She gasped, her hand covering her mouth as she reached for the strip of pictures.

Haley, noticing Brooke's non-reaction to the announcement, turned her attention to Brooke. "You knew about this?" she accused, slightly hurt.

"I live with Peyton," Brooke answered. "Even if I didn't see the positive pregnancy test, it would have been hard to not know something was up with her throwing up every morning."

At Brooke's confession, Lucas turned to Peyton and looked at her concerned. "You've been throwing up again? You didn't tell me."

Peyton rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness. This is why she hadn't said anything.

"It's just morning sickness, Luke. I'm fine. And it hasn't been every morning," she said, glaring at Brooke. "It's only happened three times."

"Well," Nathan started, finally speaking. "Haley and I assumed that the two of you would be telling us you're back together tonight. We never would have guessed you'd be telling us you're having a baby as well."

Lucas and Peyton both cringed at Nathan's words.

"Wait, are the two of you back together?" Haley asked, picking up on the tension between them.

Lucas nervously ran his hand over the back of his neck as he chuckled and said, "We're working on it."

While at the same time, Peyton said, "Oh, we're not together."

The room fell into an awkward silence. Lucas looked at Peyton, questioning; a hurt expression crossed his face, his jaw clenched.

He assumed they were on the same page after their talk after her doctor's appointment, but from the sound of her reply, they couldn't be further apart.

Peyton closed her eyes; she needed to get out of here. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, and Lucas was looking at her like she had just kicked his puppy. She needed to get some fresh air.

"Excuse me," Peyton said, pushing herself away from the table. She saw Brooke and Lucas start to rise from the table with her.

"Stay. I'm fine," she told them.

Peyton walked through the kitchen and opened the french doors that lead out onto the patio. She leaned against the railing, burying her head in her hands.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be with Lucas; she did. But she had been given a chance to make things better than before, and she didn't think that rushing into anything would help her accomplish that.

It wasn't just that she wanted to make sure Lucas was no longer in love with Lindsey and he had genuine feelings for her. She needed to know that she had her own head on straight.

That what she felt for him was because she felt it for the Lucas she was with, and not the Lucas she had spent so many months with in her time.

She groaned and ran her hand over her forehead. This was all hurting her head.

She had a few minutes of silence before she heard the doors behind her open and close again, and she looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Brooke or Lucas, but was surprised when she came face to face with Nathan.

"Well, that was certainly an unexpected announcement," Nathan commented, chuckling.

"You're telling me," Peyton laughed wryly.

"How are you handling the news?" Nathan asked. He leaned against the railing next to her, his shoulder touching hers.

"Fine," Peyton answered automatically, and Nathan eyed her dubiously. Finally, Peyton sighed. "Really, Nate, I'm fine."

She knew her friends expected her to be freaked out about becoming a mother, but she wasn't. She had been the first time she was pregnant, but she knew she would be able to do it.

And this time, she would have Lucas by her side the entire time, as the baby's father, not just her friend, and she knew that Lucas would be amazing with their son as well.

Peyton could tell from Nathan's expression that he didn't believe her, but she was glad when he didn't push the topic further.

She considered telling Nathan the truth; maybe he wouldn't think she was crazy, perhaps he'd believe her. After all, he thought he saw Keith in the river all those years ago. Maybe he would be able to understand what she was going through?

It would be nice to have a friend who understood what was happening to her, but she ultimately decided against saying anything. Believing you saw a dead relative was in an entirely different ballpark to thinking you traveled back in time.

"Are you going to tell me what that was between you and Lucas?" Nathan pushed after a few seconds.

"It's nothing, Nate," Peyton insisted.

"It doesn't look like nothing. Luke seems to really want to be with you, Peyton."

"He only wants to be with me because of the baby. He's still in love with Lindsey."

"I don't think he's in love with Lindsey. I haven't for a while," Nathan said, and Peyton looked at him bewildered.

She had no idea Nathan felt this way. Nathan was Luke's best man at the wedding; why would he tell Peyton something like that?

"He's only here right now because I told him about the baby. If he thought he had a choice, he would be with Lindsey right now," she said.

"I don't believe that, Peyton. He chose you, not Lindsey."

Peyton looked at her friend incredulously. Nathan had made Peyton angry with his comment, and he didn't know why. And it was unfair of Peyton to be mad with Nathan when he had no idea what was really going on with her.

And Peyton couldn't possibly tell him why what he said had infuriated her so much because no one knew what had happened to her, and she couldn't tell anyone without them thinking she was crazy.

Because she didn't think it meant much when Lucas said he chose her because last time he chose another woman, he chose Lindsey, and that had not ended well for anyone involved.

It had ended in a long and drawn out painful divorce, and she was worried that would happen to her if she got back together with Lucas before he was really sure she was what he wanted. She didn't want that for herself. She wanted them to be better.

"I think you should be talking to Lucas about this, Nate," she told him, indignant. "There's a lot that has happened that he hasn't told you these past couple of weeks."

"Well, I'm talking to you, not Lucas," Nathan retorted. "So, what's going on?"

Peyton sighed, eyes downcast. "Lucas was on his way to see Lindsey when I told him I was pregnant, Nate. He was going to ask her to go to Vegas with him and get married," she whispered.

Nathan gaped at her. "Did he tell you that?" he asked, disbelieving.

"Yes," Peyton nodded. "I guessed, and he all but confirmed it."

Nathan pulled Peyton in for a hug, embracing her tightly as he thought for a few moments.

"All right, come with me," he said finally, grabbing Peyton by the arm, and he dragged her back through the house and up the stairs to the second floor.

"Nathan, where are you taking me?" Peyton asked with an exasperated sigh.

Nathan led Peyton into his and Haley's bedroom, dropping his friend's hand as he crossed to the other side of the room. He opened a drawer and pulled out what appeared to be a manuscript. He returned to Peyton and held the manuscript out for her to take.

"Nate, what is this?" Peyton questioned, eyes the papers in Nathan's hand but didn't move to take them.

"Don't tell Haley I gave this to you, but it's Lucas' second book. When Haley read it before his wedding to Lindsey, she called him and told him he couldn't marry Lindsey because he was still in love with you," Nathan explained. He grabbed Peyton's hand and pressed the manuscript into it.

"Nate, it's just a book. What he writes and what he says are two completely different things," Peyton argued, shaking her head.

Nathan arched an eyebrow at his friend. "Well, you can't really use that argument anymore, can you? Because he's writing about wanting to be with you, and he's saying he wants to be with you."

"Have you even read the book?" she asked, and she glared at him petulantly.

He smirked at her. "No, but Haley has. That's enough for me."

"Fine," Peyton sighed. "I'll read the book, but I don't think it's about to change anything."

"And I'll be happy to tell you I told you so when it does," Nathan smirked at Peyton, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, we should get back down there before they start wondering where we got to."

When she was back downstairs, Peyton tucked the manuscript into her bag before Lucas could see it. She didn't know how he would feel about her having a copy of the book, and she would rather not find out right now.

"Peyton," Lucas called softly as he approached her. She turned to him expectantly. "I'm going to head home. Will you be all right to get a ride home with Brooke?"

"Sure, Lucas, that's fine," she said, her shoulders slumping sadly.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," he said, reaching out and touching her arm gently, and she nodded in response.

"Okay." She sighed as she watched him go. She knew he was hurt and that she was the one that had caused him to feel that way.

She was trying to do things differently this time so she could make sure everything ended differently for them. So they could be happy, but all she seemed to be able to accomplish was causing him pain.

As soon as she arrived home, she started reading Lucas' second book. She didn't sleep; she couldn't put the book down.

She only stopped reading long enough to go to the bathroom or to get something to eat, and it was only because of Keith that she stopped to even do that.

She thought she would have just read the manuscript cover to cover without stopping if she wasn't pregnant.

His words captivated her, and her chest ached as she read his words, the longing, and the yearning, and damn it, she was going to have to apologize to Nathan because her friend was right. Reading the manuscript changed how she saw Lucas' feelings for her.

She finished the manuscript on Saturday night, and she needed to see Lucas now. She couldn't wait.

She called out to Brooke to tell her she was going out, but she didn't wait to get a response from her friend before exiting the house.

She had to trust that when Lucas said he loved her and wanted to be with her that he meant it.

She couldn't keep holding him at arm's length because she was scared he was still in love with Lindsey, and she might get hurt.

Why would she be here if it wasn't to change how things happened between them?

Peyton had a glimpse of how happy they could be together, but there had always been that niggling feeling at the back of her head because she had been lying to him.

But she had been given a chance for a fresh start, and she was going to take it. So what was the point if she just kept running because she was scared?

When she arrived at Lucas' house, she hastily pushed her way into his bedroom. Lucas was sitting at his desk, and he jumped up from his chair when he saw her, startled.

And Peyton realized how much of a mess she must look. She was still in her pajamas, and she hadn't run a brush through her hair in over twenty four hours. He must think that something had happened to her or the baby for her to show up unexpectedly, looking like this.

"Peyton, are you okay? Is it the baby?" he asked, concerned, walking around his desk to stand in front of her, his hand coming out to rest across her abdomen.

"Yes, I'm fine, the baby's fine. I needed to see you," she answered quietly, smiling up at him.

She hadn't given much thought to what she would say when she got to Lucas' house. She just knew that she desperately needed to see him.

His face was so close to hers. Feeling brave, she reached up with both hands, cupping his face and bringing him down to her. She brushed her lips against his before quickly deepening the kiss.

Lucas pulled back. "What brought this on?" he asked, smiling down at her. His hand came up to stroke her cheek with his thumb. Peyton leaned into his touch, closing her eyes.

Peyton threaded her hands in his hair, kissing him again. "Nathan gave me Haley's copy of your second book. I read The Comet."

She pulled him to her again, kissing him deeply. "I love you, Lucas."

"I'm sorry for pushing you away and keeping you at arm's length," she apologized quickly before he had a chance to respond to her confession.

"I was scared of getting hurt," she admitted. "I'm not scared anymore."

Lucas wrapped his arms around her waist, and he pulled her flush against him. He kissed her first this time, his tongue parting her lips, and she returned the kiss passionately.

Lucas was the first to pull away, pressing his forehead against hers. "I love you too," he said, and Peyton grinned widely back at him.

Later, as they were lying in his bed, Peyton tucked into Lucas' side. Lucas was pressing his hand against her stomach, and she was content to let him stay that way as long as he wanted. Because she could never make up the time she took from him when she was first pregnant with Keith.

Lucas looked over at her. "I think the baby is going to be a girl," he told her.

"Yeah?" she asked curiously.

Peyton had been very careful to make sure she didn't refer to the baby as he or mention the sex of the baby at all. She didn't want to slip up and reveal that she knew the baby would be a boy.

"Mmhmm," he murmured, placing a kiss against her temple. "With your green eyes and blonde curls."

Peyton laughed. "There may be curls, but I doubt they'll be blonde."

"Don't ruin the illusion," Lucas groaned.

Peyton covered his hand on her stomach with her own. "I think it's going to be a boy," she said, smiling at him. "And he's going to look just like you."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Lucas replied, placing his lips against her again, and Peyton melted into him. She smiled into the kiss and rolled onto her back, pulling him with her.

... ... ...

She was thirteen weeks into her pregnancy when the sex of the baby was confirmed.

She was out of the first trimester now, and even though she knew Keith was born perfectly healthy, it was a weight off her shoulders that the chance of miscarriage was now significantly reduced.

At her first doctor's appointment, they were asked if they wanted to do a non-invasive prenatal test, and Peyton had almost rejected the test at first.

It was just a simple blood test, so there was no risk to the baby, but Peyton knew that Keith would be born healthy, so she didn't see the point. She and Lucas weren't in any of the risk categories for the conditions that the test detected.

But when it was mentioned that it could also determine the sex of the baby, she found herself saying yes. If she could confirm now that the baby was definitely a boy, that it was Keith, instead of having to wait until the anatomy scan, why wouldn't she take it?

The doctor's office called her while she was at work to go over the results with her. And explained the report they were about to email over to her. As expected, there were no issues with the baby's chromosomes; everything was perfectly fine there.

The woman she spoke to didn't tell her the sex of the baby but explained where she and Lucas would find it on the report. And it took all of Peyton's willpower to not open the email the moment it hit her inbox.

She promised Lucas that they would look at the report together, and even though he wasn't aware that she knew their baby was a boy, she wouldn't break her promise to him.

She tried to concentrate on her work, but she was too distracted. Eventually, she gave up all pretense of getting any work done and decided to leave Red Bedroom Records early. She was eager to get home to Lucas. She stopped at the thought and smiled to herself.

She didn't know exactly when she started thinking about Lucas' house as her home, but she'd stayed at his house every night for the past two weeks. She had only been going back to Brooke's house to see Brooke and pick up clean clothes.

Brooke's house hadn't really felt like home since she'd been here. She thought it might have been because the house hadn't been her home for over a year before she arrived. Somewhere along the way Lucas, and the baby, had become her home.

The last two weeks with Lucas had been amazing. She'd thrown all caution to the wind and was all in with her relationship with Lucas this time. Because this time, she didn't feel like there was some big secret looming over them.

When she arrived at his house, she burst through the backdoor into the kitchen.

"Luke!" she called out to him.

He exited his bedroom, smiling at her as he strode down the hallway. "Hey, you're home early."

He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him, his other hand stroking her cheek as he leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers.

Peyton smiled into the kiss and said, "I got the NIPT results today."

"Really?" he asked, his eyes lighting up.

He reached out and laced his hand against Peyton's stomach to the slight swell of her abdomen. She was barely showing; if you didn't already know she was pregnant, you would think she had just eaten a big meal. But she knew the bump was there, as did Lucas, and he could not keep his hands off her stomach.

Peyton nodded. "Yes, they went over the results on the phone with me-"

"You know?" Lucas pouted, interrupting her. "I thought we were going to wait and do it together?"

"Don't worry," Peyton said, laughing, patting his cheek lightly, leaning up, and kissing him again. "They just went over the genetic results with me - no issues there, by the way. Don't worry, they didn't tell me the sex of the baby."

"Can I use your laptop?" she asked. "I left mine at the office."

Peyton followed Lucas back into his bedroom, and she opened the email on his computer. She sat next to him on his bed. The cursor hovered over the attachment. She was too nervous, she couldn't click on it.

"You do it," she insisted, thrusting the laptop into his hands.

Lucas laughed lightly as he opened the report on her laptop, scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Peyton leaned into his side, chewing nervously on her lip. She didn't know why she was so nervous. She knew everything was going to turn out fine.

"Oh, wow," Lucas gasped, stunned. "The baby is a girl."

"What?" Peyton exclaimed, shocked. "That can't be right."

Peyton snatched the computer from Lucas and looked at the report for herself. There at the bottom of the page, she saw it.

Predicted Fetal Sex: Female

"What? Peyton, what do you mean? What's not right?" Lucas stammered over his words.

Peyton shook her head in disbelief. No. This could not be happening.

She had done all of this to try and get her son back, to get Keith back, and now she was not going to.

"No," she whispered, her voice cracking.

This was not happening.

She was supposed to get Keith back. That was supposed to be the reason she was here. They were supposed to be happy, to be a family this time.

She had done all of this to bring him back to her, and it had all been for nothing.

They were having a girl. She would have a daughter.

What if she didn't love this baby enough?

What if she couldn't love her daughter the same way because she wasn't Keith?

Oh god, a distraught sob escaped her.

"Peyton, what's wrong?" Lucas asked. Her reaction was worrying him. He discarded the laptop and pulled Peyton into his arms.

Her fists clenched against his shirt, and she leaned into him as another sob escaped her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and they soaked his shirt, but she couldn't do anything to stop them.

She felt like she was suffocating, and she tried to catch her breath as she cried. She couldn't accept the fact that she was never going to see her son again.

Lucas leaned back, so he was resting against the head of the bed, and he hugged Peyton to him tighter. He whispered something in her ear, but she didn't register what he said.

She gripped Lucas tighter. She couldn't focus on anything other than the thought of Keith right now as the gut wrenching sobs wracked her body.

She lost track of how long she stayed there crying against him. She thought she might have even fallen asleep at one point, but when she was finally conscious of herself again, it was dark outside.

Shit, she must have been here for hours.

She was still wrapped up in Lucas' arms, and he was running his hand up and down her spine.

"Peyton, are you okay?" Lucas asked, quiet, apprehensive, placing a kiss against her temple. Peyton nodded in response, not willing to trust her voice just yet.

She was embarrassed by her reaction, and she felt terrible.

This was all new for Lucas. He never had a chance to experience this before, and she had just ruined his joy at finding out he was going to have a daughter by freaking out on him.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she murmured against his chest, and her voice was hoarse from crying.

"Hey, you don't need to apologize," he cajoled, rocking her slightly. "Just tell me what's going on."

"It's just hormones, I guess," she lied, her eyes downcast. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. She could feel his eyes on her, and she knew he wasn't buying it.

"I was just so convinced we were going to have a boy. I was just surprised to learn we weren't," she finished.

It wasn't exactly a lie, she had been so sure that she was going to get Keith back, and she hoped the half truth was convincing enough that he would believe it.

They laid there in comfortable silence for a moment.

"Is it too soon to say I told you so?" he asked, contemplatively.

She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, and it worked. She couldn't help but laugh.

She looked up at him for the first time since her meltdown, and she could tell from the look in her eyes that he was worried about her.

She leaned up to kiss him as a way of apology, brushing her lips against his. Trying to pour all the words she couldn't say into the kiss.

Sorry, she was such a mess. Sorry, she ruined this for him. Sorry, she just couldn't be normal.

"I love you, Luke."

"I love you too, Peyton," he assured her.

She was not going to get her son back, and that was going to be a big adjustment for her, but she had Lucas, and she would have her daughter, and she would be okay.

... ... ...

Peyton was eighteen weeks into her pregnancy when she moved into Lucas' house.

Lucas had just returned from his second book tour. Unfortunately, it had been cut short due to poor performance, and that hurt, but the blow was softened a little when he walked through his bedroom door and found Peyton asleep in his bed.

He wasn't expecting her to be there. He had given her a key when they got back together and told her to come and go as she pleased, but she had insisted that she would probably be staying at Brooke's house while he was gone.

She'd said that she just didn't feel comfortable staying at his house when he wasn't there, but he guessed she had a change of heart.

It also hadn't failed to escape him that she no longer referred to her house as her house anymore; it was always Brooke's house.

He was glad to be home. He had only been gone for three days, but he missed Peyton and their unborn child like crazy.

Peyton stirred as he dropped his bag and removed his shoes, but she didn't wake.

The covers had come down, bunching at her waist, and the shirt she was wearing had ridden up as she stirred, exposing her stomach. And Lucas swore that her stomach had grown bigger in the three days he's been gone.

He couldn't help but smile to himself as he noticed it was one of his shirts she was sleeping in.

He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed as he reached his hand out to caress her stomach. He lifted the shirt further up her torso and pressed his lips against the swell of her abdomen.

"Hi, baby girl. Daddy missed you," he murmured against her stomach.

Peyton startled awake when he spoke, bolting upright in bed.

"Luke?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he smiled, reaching out, stroking her cheek. "I thought you were going to be staying with Brooke while I was gone?"

"I couldn't sleep," she confessed as she looked down sheepishly, toying with the hem of the shirt she was wearing. "My bed was uncomfortable." The, because you weren't in it, was thought silently.

He grinned at her confession. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I missed you."

"I missed you too." She leaned over and brushed her lips against his. "How was your trip? How was Lindsey?" she asked politely, but she was really just fishing for details.

Lucas stood and removed his shirt and jeans before joining Peyton under the covers in bed, his hand resting back against her stomach. Peyton turned, so she was facing him.

"She wasn't there. The publisher sent some idiot named Lon, who had no idea what the book was even about," Lucas said, sorely.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she consoled. Sorry that the book tour was cut short, not sorry that Lindsey wasn't there.

Peyton hadn't said anything to Lucas, but she was sure he knew anyway. Peyton had been jealous that he was supposed to be spending the week alone with the woman he had almost married before she told him she was pregnant.

"But, I'm glad you're home," she admitted, pressing her lips to his neck as he hugged her to him.

"I'm glad you were here when I got home," he told her.

"Me too," Peyton hummed. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do this."

She pushed at his shoulder, forcing him onto his back as she straddled his hips. She leaned down to kiss him passionately, parting his hips with her tongue.

Lucas' hands pressed against her back, roaming under her shirt. He moved to palm her breast, pinching her nipple between his fingers. She arched into his touch and quickly pulled the shirt over her head, discarding it, not caring where it landed.

"Well, this is certainly a nice welcome home," he teased as he trailed kisses down her neck, biting at her pulse point.

"Well, if you're not interested," she huffed playfully.

"Don't," he growled. He gripped Peyton's hips tightly, his fingers digging into her skin as he ground up into her, and she felt his erection press against her.

She laughed and kissed him again. She pulled back just enough to rid herself of her underwear as Lucas freed himself from the confines of his boxers. She straddled him again, lining him up with her entrance.

"It's been too long," she moaned as she sank down onto him.

Lucas had no idea if she was talking about the time it had been since they'd seen each other or how long it had been since they last had sex, but he didn't care to clarify it with her. He agreed on both counts.

Instead, he laughed. "It's been three days."

Since he left on tour since they last had sex. It worked both ways.

Peyton moaned as she rocked her hips. "Still too long. Hormones are driving me crazy."

Lucas laughed again. So, it was the sex then. He leaned up and sucked her nipple into his mouth, flicking the bud with his tongue. Peyton threaded her hands through his hair as she panted.

"So what you're saying is that you're using me for sex?" he said.

It was Peyton's turn to laugh this time. "You said it, not me."

His hands roamed her body, settling on the swell of her growing abdomen. He pressed against it, against their baby.

"God, you're so beautiful, Peyton," Lucas groaned.

"Careful, Luke. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were developing a kink," she joked, deflecting, and she covered his hand on her stomach with her own.

"Don't make it weird," he grunted. His hands trailed over her hips to settle on her ass, and he pushed up into her harder, and a breathy yes fell from her lips. "I love you, and I love your body, and that's not going to stop just because it's changing."

She teased him, but she really did love the fact that he didn't seem fazed by the changes her body was going through, growing to accommodate their child.

He thrust up into her again, and she gasped. It was enough to push her over the edge. She came, with his name on her lips. Her clenching around him was enough to set him off. He jerked, spilling into her.

She slumped against his chest, breathless and panting as the tremors coursed through her body, and he softened inside her.

"I could get used to a homecoming like this," Lucas said, amused, placing his hands on her back.

"Pun intended?" Peyton murmured.

"Pun intended," he laughed and kissed the top of her head.

He feathered his hands along her spine as their breathing returned to normal, and Peyton pressed her lips against his chest as she shivered at the sensation.

She pushed off of him, lying beside him, sated and sleepy. He pulled her back against him, so her head was resting on his chest as she let out a satisfied whimper, tangling their legs together.

Lucas looked around his room as he absentmindedly stroked Peyton's hair, and he grinned as he realized that his closet was overflowing with her clothes. More than half his closet space was filled with her clothes, and he knew every surface of his bathroom was also full of her products.

He'd been clearing out his mother's old room the past few weeks to turn into the nursery for their daughter. They'd talked about paint colors and picked a theme.

And he didn't even know if this was where Peyton planned to bring their daughter home from the hospital or if she wanted to stay at Brooke's or even get her own place.

But Lucas had known from the moment they got back together that he never wanted her to leave.

And so he just blurted it out while they're laying there wrapped up in each other, as he's stroking her hair.

"You should move in."

Peyton's eyes went wide, and she sat up, so she was looking Lucas in the eye. She was no longer sleepy; she was now wide awake.

"Luke... what?" she stuttered.

"I mean, we both knew it would happen eventually, right?" Lucas chuckled at her surprise. "More of your stuff is here than at Brooke's house. So we should just make it official."

And she had figured this was coming eventually. She just hadn't left after they got back together. He was right - she practically lived here already. They just hadn't made it official.

She wanted her daughter to have both parents under the one roof. She hadn't been able to give that to Keith because of her own selfishness and cowardice, but she was going to make sure it happened for her daughter.

"Okay," she replied, agreeing, and she smiled down at him before she kissed him again. She didn't see a reason why she should object. She would just be delaying the inevitable.

So in the morning, they spent the day packing the few things Peyton still had at Brooke's house. She cried when Lucas took the last box from her and loaded it into the Comet, and she's sure it was just her hormones messing with her.

Brooke laughed as she hugged her best friend because she had been teasing Peyton for weeks about no longer living with her.

Peyton had probably spent more time with Brooke in the weeks since she and Lucas had gotten back together than she had since she arrived at this time, and she knew that officially moving in with Lucas wouldn't change that.

Peyton may not have been staying at the house, but she had been making an effort to spend time with her best friend, which she hadn't done in her first few weeks here. Since her pregnancy had been confirmed, she had started to feel more like herself again.

It didn't take them long to unpack her boxes, most of her stuff was already at his house, but they quickly realized they didn't have anywhere near enough space for her records.

Peyton insisted that she could just keep the rest of her music at the studio; half of her collection was already there anyway. But, despite her protests, Lucas stressed that this was also her house now, and he knew that she wouldn't feel at home without her music put away properly.

So Lucas went out and bought new shelving, clearing a space for it next to the built in bookshelves in the hallway. He refused to let her help him assemble them, so Peyton retreated to the kitchen while she made herself lunch and sketched as she ate.

She was starting to lose the image of Keith's face in her mind, and it hadn't really bothered her when she thought she would have him with her again soon, but now that was no longer going to happen. So she started sketching his little face as often as she could, trying to preserve her memory of him.

She didn't want to forget him completely.

"All right, the shelves are done," Lucas called to her, ambling down the hallway to meet her in the kitchen.

"You can start putting your records away." He stopped, placing a kiss to the top of her head, and noticed the sketchbook open on the table next to her.

"What are you drawing?" he asked, picking up her sketchbook before she could stop him. "Peyton, what is this?"

"I was just imagining what the baby might look like," she said with a tight lipped smile. She reached out to grab her sketchbook back from him, closing it and putting it on the chair on the other side of her, out of Lucas' reach.

He was looking at her strangely, his eyes narrowed like he didn't believe her story, but he didn't press it, and he went to make himself some food.

She didn't blame him for not believing her. The sketches were too realistic, too detailed, to be something she had just imagined in her head.

Lucas returned to the table and sat next to her, placing his own food in front of him. He leaned over and rested his hand against her thigh.

He'd been watching her more closely since they found out they were having a girl. Like he was just expecting her to break again.

She wasn't going to, and while she still missed Keith, would always miss him. She was starting to look forward to meeting their daughter.

She took a bite of her food, reheated leftovers from the night before, to distract herself from Lucas' eyes on her.

But his face had changed, and now he was looking at her in disgust as he took a bite of his own lunch.

"What are you eating?"

Peyton laughed. "It's the chicken and mushroom dish you made last night," she said like it was obvious.

"What the hell did you do to it? Because that is not what I made last night," he argued playfully.

"I made it better," she teased. "There's some mustard, barbeque sauce, and brown sugar in there, oh, and some of those garlic stuffed olives."

She took another bite, smiling at him as she chewed, and Lucas shuddered as he watched her.

"How can you eat that?" he asked, repulsed.

"Baby's craving," she told him, jokingly.

Lucas laughed. "Oh right, blame the baby for your bad taste."

"It's actually really good," she said, leaning in closer to Lucas.

"I'll just have to take your word for it," he replied with a shake of his head, his hand coming out to caress her stomach. "Because there is no way I'm going to try that."

"No?" Peyton grinned. She leaned forward, threading her fingers into his hair, as if she was going to kiss him, but stopped short.

"Definitely not," he said, closing the distance between them, laughing as he kissed her.

Peyton pulled back and gasped. "Do we have any Oreos?"

"I don't think so," Lucas replied, confused at the seemingly random question. "Do you want some?" Peyton nodded.

Lucas sighed, pushing himself back from the table. "Okay, I'll go get you some."

"You're the best," she thanked him. He was too good to her, always willing to do anything she asked for the sake of making her and the baby happy.

"Oh, Luke," she called, stopping him as he was heading out the back door. "Could you also get some pickles, the round ones that are already sliced for burgers and sandwiches?"

Peyton had been craving like crazy lately. And usually, it was pretty standard foods - there had been lots of ice cream and chocolate. But sometimes it got really bizarre, like what she'd done with the dinner leftovers or what she planned to do with the Oreos and pickles.

Sometimes even she couldn't stand the food she had just eaten once the craving finally passed.

Lucas turned back to look at her, his face scrunched up in disgust. "I don't even want to know what you plan on doing with that." He shook his head, and Peyton laughed as he closed the door behind him.

Once he was out of the house, she took her sketchbook and placed it into a shoebox, stuffing it at the back of their closet in a spot where Lucas wouldn't think to look.

She would have to be more careful about when she took it out. She didn't want Lucas to find it again. She had been lucky that the sketch he saw was just a drawing of Keith's face.

There were so many sketches in the book that would make him ask too many questions that she just couldn't answer.

Like Keith with Lily on Christmas day or Keith's first smile as Lucas gave him a bath.

Events that were just too vivid to play off as her imagining what their future child would look like.

She loved Lucas. She was just scared of his reaction if he found out what she thought happened to her.

... ... ...

Peyton was halfway through her pregnancy when Lucas felt the baby move for the first time, and it could not have been at a more inopportune moment.

She was twenty weeks along now, and Peyton had been feeling the little flutterings of her daughter moving inside her for a couple of weeks now.

And she had even managed to catch a few small kicks from the outside of her stomach, but every time she tried to get Lucas to feel, their daughter would not cooperate.

But one night, as Lucas pressed into her, and she gasped at the familiar stretch as she accommodated him, Peyton felt a kick so strong that it took her breath away. The baby had never kicked that strong before.

"What is it?" Lucas asked, stopping, pulling back to look at her. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, keep going," Peyton urged. She brought her hand up to the nape of his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair, before she pulled his mouth back down to her, kissing him needily.

Lucas pulled out and thrust into her again, and she rocked her hips up to meet him. Her hormones had been driving her crazy lately, and she had not been able to get enough of this or Lucas.

She didn't think it was a problem, though, because he had not been able to get enough of her either, and he was only happy to oblige her.

She felt her orgasm start to build, and the baby kicked again, and she could tell from the look of shock on Lucas' face and the fact that he stilled within her again that he also felt it this time.

"Is that the baby moving?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes, she does it all the time," Peyton said. She trailed her hands down his back, pulling him into her, urging him to keep going. "Don't stop. I was so close."

But Lucas didn't listen. Instead, he pulled out of her as she whined his name and left a trail of kisses over her breasts and down her stomach until he came to rest his head right where her bump was.

She was showing now, not much, if you didn't know her, you wouldn't be able to tell she was pregnant, but Lucas had become so familiar with her body, he knew all the changes their baby was making to her physique.

Lucas placed a gentle kiss on the slight swell of her abdomen as he caressed her stomach with his hand. "Hi, baby girl," he murmured against her skin. The baby kicked in response, and Lucas grinned ecstatically.

Lucas was always touching or talking to her stomach. And usually, she would be content to lay there and watch him talk to their daughter for hours. But not when her hormones were making her so incredibly horny, and Lucas had been so close to satisfying that itch.

"Lucas, please," she begged, but he made no effort to move. He was still talking to her stomach, whispering quietly to their daughter so she couldn't hear. The baby kicked as Lucas poked and prodded her belly; the baby had never been active like this before.

Well, fine, she decided she didn't need him - she could just finish this off herself. So she reached down between them, to the little bundle of nerves between her legs, and thumbed her clit.

Lucas' head snapped up to look at her, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"Well, if you're not interested in finishing this, I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself," she moaned.

Lucas growled, placing a final kiss just under her belly button before crawling back up her body and situating himself between her legs again.

"That was so unbelievably hot," he groaned, grabbing her thigh and hitched it over his hip before capturing her lips again, and Peyton laughed.

"But seriously, Peyt, you have never been more beautiful," he assured her, serious now.

"Oh god, Luke," she grumbled, covering her face with her hands. He was making her blush, and she had butterflies, but maybe that was just the baby moving again. He chuckled - she had never been good at taking compliments.

"I'm serious - that's my baby you're carrying," he said, reaching down between them, caressing her stomach again. "You're exquisite," he breathed out.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and Lucas kissed it away. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing, hormones," she told him, brushing it off and kissing his lips.

But it was really just another reminder that she deprived him of this the first time around, deprived herself of him like this.

And then he was inside her again, and her nails were digging into his back as her body arched into him, and he thrust into her at a steady pace.

The baby tumbled in her belly again, and Lucas stilled again, and Peyton whined.

"Do you think she knows what we're doing?" He asked mischievously, smiling down at her.

"Oh my god, Lucas. I love you, but if you do not shut up and make me come, I am moving back to Brooke's."

Lucas laughed at her empty threat. "What's she going to do to help?" he teased, laughing again before resuming his previous pace. He attached his lips to Peyton's neck, sucking the flesh into his mouth as she groaned.

... ... ...

Lucas got the call about selling the film right for An Unkindness of Ravens when Peyton was twenty six weeks pregnant.

They were at Nathan's slamball game, and Peyton stayed quiet for most of the conversation. She hadn't been here when this all went down the first time.

She had not long returned from tour, and she had just found out that Lucas had married Lindsey, and she was still hiding out, trying to avoid him.

Peyton had been waiting for Julian to show up but was also almost dreading it.

She and Lucas had fought about Julian the first time she lived this, but things were different this time; they were better. They hadn't been talking then, and he was still married to Lindsey and thought she was having someone else's baby.

They were together this time, and everything had been good between the two of them for a while now, and she hoped that if she mentioned Julian to Lucas before they met each other, they could avoid a fight this time around.

She had to be careful, though, because she didn't want to change things too much. Brooke and Julian were meant to be together, and if Lucas decided not to do the movie, the two might never get together.

She couldn't stop her best friend from meeting the love of her life just because she was now happy with Lucas and didn't want to do anything that might jeopardize that.

It wasn't until they were at home, in bed, wrapped up in each other's arms, with Lucas talking to her stomach, that she managed to gather up the courage to say something.

In the last couple of weeks, Peyton's stomach had popped. There was a very noticeable swell to her abdomen now that nobody could mistake for anything but the life growing inside of her.

And Lucas could not keep his hands off her stomach. His hands were constantly splayed across the swell of their unborn child, and she was long past feeling self conscious over her body. Lucas' actions and his words had made her love her changing body.

Lucas poked her stomach, making their daughter roll in her belly. He laughed and poked her stomach again.

"Stop teasing her," she chastised.

Lucas grinned up at her. "But it's fun."

"And it's my bladder she takes it out on," Peyton pointed out.

"Okay, fine," Lucas relented. "Night, baby girl, daddy loves you." He placed a final kiss on her stomach, coming to lay beside Peyton. He kept his hand resting against her stomach.

"Hey, Luke," she started. Her fingers were threaded in his hair, massaging his scalp.

"Mmm," he replied, his eyes closed as he let out a satisfied moan.

"Did I ever tell you that I dated a movie producer when I lived in Los Angeles?" she asked nervously. She couldn't let her nerves get the better of her. It would be better with everything all out in the open. And even if Lucas said he didn't want to do the movie with Julian, Peyton was sure she could convince him otherwise.

He looked up at her, eyes wide in surprise. "No, I didn't know that."

He wasn't surprised she dated while she was in Los Angeles. He didn't expect that she would have been celibate while they weren't together. It was just surprising to him that she was bringing it up now.

"I hadn't thought about it in a while," she lied. Of course, she'd been thinking about it a lot lately. She knew the date that Julian arrived in Tree Hill was fast approaching, and she'd been thinking about the best way to approach the topic with Lucas. "The talk of Ravens being made into a movie just reminded me of him. His name was Julian."

"When was this?" Lucas asked curiously.

Peyton cringed. "Do you remember how I let you believe that I didn't go to your book signing in Los Angeles?"

Lucas shook his head, confused. "What..." he started.

Peyton shushed him. "I was there, Luke. Of course, I was there. I saw Lindsey kiss you, and I panicked because I thought you'd moved on, and I left," she explained.

"Peyton," Lucas scolded lightly. "Lindsey and I weren't together then."

And he couldn't help but think about what could have happened if she'd stayed that day. He probably wouldn't have got together with Lindsey, and they might have reconciled a lot sooner before a baby brought them back together.

"I didn't know that then," she replied. She went on to tell Lucas how she met Julian once at Syre Records months before she ran into him out the front of the bookstore.

She didn't go into too much detail because that wasn't what this conversation was supposed to be about. She just wanted Lucas to know about Julian, so when he showed up in town, they could hopefully avoid the fight that had followed.

She made sure to drop Julian's full name in there somewhere, so when Lucas met him, there wouldn't be any confusion as to who he was.

She left the studio early the next day. Today was the day she ran into Julian at Tric, and she didn't want to deal with that right now.

When she arrived home, Lucas was waiting for her. She joined him on the couch in the living room. His hand immediately came out to caress her stomach, and he leaned down, placing a kiss against her belly.

"You're just going to ignore me?" she pouted.

"Don't be jealous," Lucas quipped. "Hi," he finally said, leaning forward and placing a kiss against her lips.

She smiled, and when he pulled back, he was grinning at her like the cat that just caught the canary.

"What?" she couldn't help but laugh.

"Take a guess who stopped by the house today," he said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Who?" She asked.

So that was how Lucas and Julian had met. He'd turned up at Lucas' house. She hadn't known this piece of information before.

"The producer for the movie," he smirked.

"Okay..."

"It was Julian," Lucas laughed, amused by the situation.

"Are you sure?" she asked, feigning innocence.

Lucas nodded.

"Did he tell you who he is? Did you tell him you know who he is?"

Lucas shook his head. "He didn't say anything, and I wasn't going to tell him I already knew who he was."

"Why not?"

"Because it's fun."

Peyton chuckled. This is not what she expected Lucas' reaction to be when she told him about Julian. She never expected him to be this amused by the entire situation.

"You know, this isn't exactly how I expected you to react to meeting Julian," she commented.

"Was I supposed to be jealous?" He asked lightheartedly. "I've already knocked you up. So you're stuck with me now," he laughed.

"Lucas!" She exclaimed and slapped him on the chest, but she was laughing with him.

Lucas pulled her into his side, his hand on her stomach again. she smiled and rested her hand on top of his.

"I'm actually meeting Julian tonight at Tric," he told her. "I didn't get a chance to tell him about you or the baby. Did you want to come too?" he smirked.

"No," Peyton shook her head. "I'm pretty tired. I think I'm going to have a bath and head to bed. You have fun, though."

She was tired, and a soak in the tub did sound nice, but she just wasn't ready to face Julian yet. The Julian she remembered, the Julian she became friends with, was very different from the Julian who first turned up in Tree Hill. He was kind of a dick then.

Even though she knew the movie wouldn't end up being made, this was the last thing Peyton felt she needed to make sure happened the way it did previously.

If Julian stayed in town working on the movie, he would enlist Brooke's help with the costumes, and eventually, everything would work out for the two of them.

It felt like it was all finally falling into place.

... ... ...

Peyton went into labor on the sixteenth of December.

She should have expected it; after all, that was the day Keith was born, but it still surprised her.

She woke with a start, not exactly sure what had woken her. She checked the time and groaned in frustration when she realized it was four in the morning.

Her back hurt, but that wasn't anything new. She looked at Lucas beside her. He was still sleeping soundly.

She was so big, and it was making her so uncomfortable that she hadn't slept through the night in almost two months.

She glowered at Lucas. She missed being able to sleep that soundly.

She stuffed a pillow back under her stomach and closed her eyes, trying to get comfortable so she could drift back off to sleep.

But sleep never came. Peyton laid there for about ten minutes before she felt it. Her stomach tightened, followed by a cramp in her side that moved to the middle of her belly.

Her eyes went wide as she realized what had woken her. She was having contractions.

They weren't too painful yet and were coming about ten minutes apart and lasting around thirty seconds.

She woke Lucas an hour later when the contractions increased in intensity and were becoming too much for her to handle on her own.

"Luke," she whispered, shaking his shoulder, but he just groaned and rolled over. "Lucas!" she called louder this time and shook his shoulder again.

"What is it?" he mumbled sleepily.

"I'm having contractions. The baby's coming," she told him.

He bolted upright in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, now alert. "Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"Not yet," Peyton assured him, chuckling lightly at his concern. "The contractions are still too far apart."

She took the time to double check she hadn't forgotten anything in her hospital bag, and Lucas took it to the car before making breakfast for the two of them.

Lucas helped her time the contractions, and they were progressing steadily but were still too far apart to head to the hospital.

She paced the house to help with the pain of the contractions. She cried out as a contraction hit, grabbing the couch as she doubled over in pain.

Lucas came to stand behind her, massaging her lower back. "What do you need me to do?" he asked.

Peyton leaned back into him, her eyes closed. "What you're doing is good. That feels nice."

She'd been in labor for about four hours when her water broke, fluid gushing down her leg. Her eyes went wide - that was new. Her water hadn't broken when she had been in labor with Keith. Instead, they'd ruptured her membrane when she'd gone into the delivery room.

"Luke," Peyton called.

He rounded the corner into the hallway, his eye drawn to the puddle on the floor. "Time to head to the hospital?"

Peyton nodded. "I'm going to change before we do." Her contractions were coming about five minutes apart now, and she had just been about to tell him it was time to leave before her water broke.

When they arrived at the hospital, Lucas let all their friends and family know that Peyton was in labor. Her plan when she had Keith was to have Haley and Brooke with her, and she ended up with Haley and Lucas. Brooke had offered to be in the room with her this time as well, but everything was different this time around. She just wanted Lucas with her.

"Brooke is demanding I double check that you don't want her to come," Lucas said with a laugh.

Peyton shook her head. "Just you is fine," She told him, and Lucas relayed the message.

The contractions increased in intensity and were coming so close together that she barely had a break from one contraction ending and the next starting.

Lucas was a massive help, and it was so different having him with her from her delivery with Keith. Lucas applied counter pressure to her lower back during her contractions and massaged along her spine between them.

Still, by the time she was ready to push, she was exhausted.

"You're doing amazing, Peyton," he murmured encouragingly against her temple.

"One final push, Peyton, and your baby will be here," the midwife announced.

She cried out as she felt the contraction and squeezed Lucas' hand as she bore down, and Lucas was whispering words of encouragement in her ear.

And then suddenly, the room was filled with their daughter's cries, and the baby was placed on her chest. Peyton burst into tears, tears of relief because she was here and she was okay. She was perfect.

She couldn't draw her eyes away from her daughter. She ran her finger over her cheek as they started cleaning her up, and then Lucas was asked to cut the cord.

"God, Peyt, she's perfect," he said in awe, repeating her own thoughts. And Peyton looked up at him for the first time since their daughter arrived and saw that he was also crying.

The nurse lifted the baby from Peyton's chest to take her to be checked over, weighed and measured, and finish cleaning her up. Lucas stayed by Peyton's side but kept his eyes on their daughter the entire time.

"Go with her, Luke," she told him. "I'll be fine." The hard part was over now; she just had to wait for the placenta to pass.

Lucas reluctantly let go of Peyton's hand, placing a kiss against her forehead, and crossed to the other side of the room after their daughter.

... ... ...

Her daughter was four hours old, and Peyton had hardly been able to put her down. She was longer and heavier than Keith by almost an entire pound, but Peyton swore Keith was never this tiny.

She had passed her to Lucas so she could clean herself up and shower, and he had laughed at her reluctance.

They had enjoyed these few hours just the three of them, but now it was time to let the outside world in.

The baby stirred, wriggling in Peyton's arms, and let out a tiny wail. "I think she's hungry," Peyton said.

"Here, let me change her for you," Lucas insisted, and Peyton watched as he took their daughter from her and placed her down on the change table.

She smiled at the two of them as he cooed to their daughter as he changed her diaper.

Lucas brought the baby back to Peyton, and she removed the bodysuit her daughter was wearing, and she lowered her gown, so they were skin to skin as she helped the baby latch at her breast.

Lucas came to sit on the bed beside her and placed a kiss against her temple. "You're a natural at this, you know," he told her.

Peyton smiled sadly as she remembered Keith. She didn't feel like any of this came naturally to her.

It certainly didn't feel like it came naturally to her the first time she took care of a newborn, and it didn't feel any easier this time around, but she didn't tell him any of this.

Instead, she leaned into his touch and whispered, "Thank you."

"I think we need to decide on a name now," Peyton said as she adjusted her daughter in her arms as she nursed. "Otherwise, I think everyone will be knocking that door down if we don't let them in soon."

Their daughter was four hours old, and they still did not have a name for her.

Naming her son had been so easy. She didn't even need to think about his name; it had just come so naturally to her. Keith Lawrence. She had named him for his two grandfathers.

Picking a name for their daughter was not coming as easy to her.

She also had Lucas to consider this time. She couldn't pick her daughter's name on her own like she had with Keith. She had to consider Lucas' feelings in this as well.

They had narrowed down a list of potential middle names that they liked, all with sentimental meanings to them. And they had a few strong contenders, depending on which they thought would go best with whatever first name they end up choosing.

But they haven't been able to agree on a first name for the baby, and they eventually gave up and decided they would wait to pick a name until after they had a chance to meet her.

They wanted to pick her name before they introduced her to their friends and family, and there were nine very impatient people in the waiting room ready to meet her.

"I think you're right," Lucas agreed with a chuckle. "Are you sure you don't want to name her Anna?" Lucas asked a final time. It was the name at the top of their list for middle names. However, Peyton insisted it didn't necessarily have to be their daughter's first name.

Peyton looked down at her daughter, stroking the newborn's cheek. "No," she shook her head. "I don't think she's an Anna."

"Okay," Lucas said. He rose from the bed and walked across the room to the whiteboard the nurses have been using. He erased what was there and wrote down all of the top picks for their daughter's middle name.

Peyton raised her eyebrow at him, amused. "I don't think you're supposed to write on that," she laughed.

"So what?" he shrugged. Lucas wrote down a name on the whiteboard to compare it with their choices for her middle name. He was covering it with his body, so Peyton couldn't see what it was.

He stepped back, revealing the name. "I was thinking Catherine might be nice."

Peyton looked at Lucas, indignant, and shook her head. "No," she shot him down quickly.

"Why not?" he asked. "You won't even consider it?"

"Have you forgotten that I have also read Steinbeck? We are not naming our daughter after that monster from East of Eden," Peyton insisted adamantly, but she was smirking knowingly at Lucas.

Lucas shook his head, smiling to himself, damn it. His first name suggestion, and of course, she'd already clued into the theme he had going on. He thought he might at least get a couple of suggestions out before she picked up on it.

"Okay, well, what if I wasn't thinking of Steinbeck, what if it was more-"

"Wuthering Heights?" she finished for him, cutting him off. "Still no."

"Okay," Lucas relented, giving up on that name. He erased Catherine from the board and wrote down another name. "What about Caroline?"

"The Sound and the Fury?" Peyton scoffed. "No, she was neurotic! And don't you dare say Candace next!"

"Fine," Lucas sighed. "Olivia," he said next.

Peyton thought for a moment, and then, "Twelfth Night," she tried. Lucas groaned and removed Olivia from the board.

"I have one," Peyton said, and she said it with a grin. This could be fun. Two could play at this game. "Tobi, with an i."

Now it was Lucas' turn to look at Peyton incredulously. "As in Vail, from Bikini Kill? Veto!"

"What about Brett?" Lucas countered.

"The Sun Also Rises!" Peyton laughed. "But I don't think Brett Scott flows very well, do you?"

"No, I guess not," Lucas exhaled loudly and erased yet another name from the board.

It wasn't that Peyton didn't like any of the names he was suggesting. If there was absolutely nothing they could agree on, there were a few he had already suggested that she would consider. She was just having too much fun with him right now to want to stop.

"Camila?" Peyton said.

"Uh Huh Her? Nope."

Lucas smirked. "What about Daisy?"

"The Great Gatsby," Peyton sighed dramatically. "What do you think, baby girl?" she asked the four hour old baby, gently lifting her daughter off her breast as she switched her to the other side.

"Are you a Daisy?" The baby stared back at Peyton and smacked her lips, her tongue coming out of her mouth.

"She doesn't like it," Peyton said, addressing Lucas with a shake of her head, and he laughed loudly.

"Robin," was Peyton's next suggestion, and it stumped Lucas for a second.

He'd picked up on Peyton's theme of musicians, just like she had picked up on his literary theme, and he was trying to figure out where she got the name.

Suddenly it hit him. "Cheap Trick? No way," he protested adamantly.

"Oh, come on, Robin is totally a unisex name. I didn't bat an eye when you suggested Brett!" Peyton argued lightly. Peyton brought her daughter to her shoulder to burp her, rubbing circles on her back.

"Fine," Peyton sighed. "How about Alice? Fits in with both the themes we have going here," Peyton quipped lightly.

Lucas groaned. "Please tell me you are not trying to name our daughter after Alice Cooper?"

"Oh hell no," Peyton insisted. "I was thinking of Alice Readman from The Auteurs."

Just as Peyton had finished speaking, the baby let out a loud belch for such a tiny thing.

"Well," Lucas chuckled. "I guess she answered that one for us. She's not an Alice."

Lucas turned and wrote two names down on the board this time - Octavia and Ophelia - and stepped back to let Peyton see, looking at her playfully.

"Oh my god, quit it with the Shakespeare!" she complained, with mock annoyance, but she was laughing, and he laughed with her.

"Okay fine," Lucas said, giving in. Peyton didn't offer another suggestion, so he took the chance and wrote another name down. "What about June?"

"The Secret Life of Bees," Peyton answered quickly. Lucas humphed and went to erase yet another name.

"No, don't," she stopped him. "I didn't say I didn't like it. My mother was born in June," she said quietly, though she was aware that he already knew that. She didn't know if he had thought about that when he suggested it. "And Lily and Jamie," she added.

"I know," he replied softly.

"Put it with the third middle name on the list," Peyton said. Lucas erased all of the names from the board and wrote the two Peyton suggested together. "What do you think?" she asked, chewing her bottom lip.

Lucas stepped back, looking at the names together on the board. He looked over to Peyton and their daughter, and he grinned. "I think we just found her name," he said fondly.

"Hi, June Penelope Scott, mama loves you," Peyton murmured softly to her baby, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss to her daughter's temple.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and she was sure it was just the hormones making her cry, but she was so in love with the tiny bundle in her arms that she didn't even think it was possible.

When she found out she was having a girl, that she wouldn't be getting her son back, she was so scared that she wouldn't be able to love June the same way she had loved her son, because she wasn't Keith.

"I think you better go and let them in now," Peyton said, and Lucas pressed his lips against hers and dropped a kiss to June's forehead before he stepped out into the waiting room to tell their friends and family it was okay to come and meet the baby now.

Karen, Lily, Andy, Larry, Haley, Nathan, Jamie, Brooke, and Julian all piled into Peyton's hospital room after Lucas to meet their newest addition.

Lucas approached the bed, and Peyton held June out to Lucas, and he introduced her to their family and friends.

Her father was the first to hold their daughter. He smiled down at the baby, completely smitten with her, as he played with her hand that she managed to wiggle out from under the blanket.

Karen broke away from the group and came to sit beside Peyton on her hospital bed.

"You don't want to meet your granddaughter?" Peyton asked.

Karen reached out to grasp Peyton's hand, pulling it into her lap. "I'll meet her soon when all the commotion has died down. Everyone always wants to meet the baby that sometimes they neglect to check how mama is doing. How are you doing, Peyton?"

Peyton laid her head on Karen's shoulder. She didn't know how the other woman did it, but Karen always seemed to know exactly the right thing to say and do in every situation.

"I'm good. I'm exhausted and sore, but I'm glad she's finally here and that she's healthy."

The baby was passed between their friends, all getting a chance to hold their daughter. Finally, she settled in Brooke's arms.

"You haven't told us her name," Brooke said, looking to Peyton.

Peyton looked to Lucas, and he smiled and nodded for her to do the honors.

"Everyone, meet June Penelope Scott," she announced.

"Really?" Brooke asked, awestruck, her eyes wide.

Peyton nodded, laughing lightly. "Of course."

"I am going to spoil you rotten, mini me, yes I am," Brooke cooed to the baby, stroking her cheek.

Lucas helped Lily hold June, keeping his hands under his younger sister's, ensuring she was supporting the baby properly. Then Jamie had a turn holding his cousin.

Finally, once everyone in the room had met the baby, Karen stood from Peyton's bedside, and Lucas passed June to Karen.

Peyton watched Karen as she rocked her granddaughter, playing with her tiny fingers as she cooed to her. And she thought it was probably a good idea Karen had waited until last because she did not look like she was willing to give the baby up anytime soon.

Later, after all, their friends and family had left, and it was just the three of them again. Lucas was standing at the end of her bed, cradling June in his arms.

"Marry me."

He said it so quietly that she wasn't even sure she'd heard him correctly. He wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was gazing down at their sleeping daughter.

"Lucas..." Peyton gasped.

"I want to marry you," he said, tearing his eyes away from their daughter to finally look at her. He sat on the side of her bed and grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers together.

"I'm sorry it's not a more eloquent proposal. And I don't mean to ambush you, so if you don't have an answer now, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere this time."

"Are you serious, right now?" she asked.

"Of course, I'm serious. I would marry you right now if that's what you wanted, but if you're not ready, I will wait as long as you need. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our daughter, Peyton."

"Yes," she answered.

"Really?" he looked at her optimistically, his eyes wide.

"Yes," she answered again, chuckling slightly. Lucas leaned down to place a soft kiss against her lips.

"I love you so much, Peyton," he said.

"I love you too, Luke, more than anything." She reached out to stroke his cheek, their foreheads touching.

"Here, take her for me," Lucas said, holding their daughter out to her. Peyton took the baby from Lucas and laid her in her lap. She undid the baby's blanket, and June let out a big stretch as she was released from the confines of the swaddle.

She counted June's tiny fingers and her tiny toes, gently running them through her hands. For the longest time, Peyton thought that maybe the test was wrong, that maybe she would still give birth to a boy when the time finally came.

She couldn't believe she actually had a daughter.

Lucas bent down and retrieved something from her hospital bag, and Peyton looked at him curiously. She gasped when she saw he had a jewelry box in his hand.

"When did you slip that in there?" she asked with a quiet chuckle.

"Just before we left, when you weren't looking," he replied with a boyish grin.

"Now, I hope you're okay with this, but this ring was always supposed to be your ring, Peyton. I want you to wear it," he said, opening the jewelry box and revealing Keith's ring.

He removed the ring from the jewelry box. Then, reaching out, he took her left hand in his own. Finally, he slid the ring into place on her third finger.

"If you don't want to wear the ring, I'll completely understand, and I'll get another one. I just always envisioned you wearing-"

"Lucas, be quiet," Peyton demanded, cutting off Lucas' rant, as she cupped his cheek with her hand and placed a soft kiss against his lips. Tears had started to well in her eyes, and she cursed her hormones again. "You are fooling yourself if you think you are ever getting this ring back."

"Good," Lucas murmured against her lips, grinning widely. "That ring is where it should have always been," he said, toying with the ring on her hand.

June let out a wail of displeasure, breaking her parents' attention from each other.

"I'm sorry, baby, were we not paying you enough attention," she chuckled. Peyton turned back to her daughter, cradling her against her chest, and kissed the top of her head.

Lucas held his arms out for her to pass the baby to him, and she handed June to him with a smile.

She watched him with their daughter, and she was filled with so much love for the man beside her and the tiny bundle in his arms. For the first time since she arrived here, she felt whole again.

This was the way it was should have been.

... ... ...

The months passed, and Peyton had a hard time believing that this was actually her life. She had an amazing daughter, and her relationship with Lucas had never been better. She couldn't recall the last time she had ever felt this happy.

There were a few things of what she could remember that stayed the same. The movie never did end up going ahead, still being scrapped due to budgetary issues with the production company. Nathan and Haley were still having their second child, and Nathan was playing for the Chiefs.

But there were some things that had changed. Today was the thirtieth of July, and she was not at her best friend's wedding. Brooke and Julian did not get married, though they were still together, and Peyton suspected that it wouldn't be too long before Julian popped the question.

Peyton laid back on her elbows on the picnic blanket, soaking up the summer sun. She should be doing some work, but she decided to play hooky to spend the day with her daughter. June was now seven months old, and she was the exact age that Peyton last saw Keith.

She and June were having a picnic in the backyard, Lucas was inside working on his next book, and Peyton hadn't wanted to disturb him, so she and June snuck quietly into the backyard.

June seemed to be enjoying the sun as much as Peyton was. The baby would hold out a piece of sliced fruit or a finger of bread to her mother, and sometimes she would let Peyton take a bite of her offering, and other times she would snatch it away with a squeal before Peyton could even get close.

"You cheeky monkey," Peyton said, scooping her daughter up into her lap and blowing a raspberry onto her tummy as the baby giggled melodically.

Peyton didn't think she had ever met a baby that matched their name as well as June did. Though, Peyton would admit she was incredibly biased.

June was all things bright and sunshiny - she was the complete opposite of her broody parents.

Though Peyton would be the first to admit that neither she nor Lucas had been particularly broody in the last year - they'd both been too happy.

Peyton had brought all of June's favorite toys out into the backyard with them, but the baby had abandoned them in favor of turning the pages of Peyton's B. Davis magazine.

June stopped on an article about the new Clothes Over Bros summer line and pointed to a picture of Brooke.

"Ba," she babbled, looking up at Peyton.

"Yes, Juju, that's Aunt Brooke," she replied, and her baby girl smiled up at her, as if she understood.

Peyton heard the backdoor open and close, and she saw Lucas standing there watching the two of them, a fond smile on his face.

"That's where the two of you got to," he called and made his way down the back steps.

"Look, Juju, daddy's here," Peyton told June excitedly. The baby squealed in response and started to crawl off the blanket toward her father.

But Lucas was faster, and he reached their daughter before she had barely made it off the picnic blanket. He picked her up, holding her above his head, making her giggle.

"Hi, Junebug," he said before hugging her to him and kissing the tiny wispy curls on top of her head.

Blonde hair and green eyes, just as Lucas had predicted.

"How are my two favorite girls today?"

"We're great," Peyton answered for the two of them. "Even better now that you're here."

Lucas sat down, joining them on the picnic blanket. He pulled Peyton's legs into his lap, and she scooted closer to him as his hand massaged her thigh.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look today, Peyton Sawyer?" he smiled flirtatiously.

"Mmm, not today," she hummed, drawing his mouth down to her own, her hand stroking his cheek. "But, don't you mean Peyton Scott?"

"Of course, how could I forget," he murmured, relaxing into the hand on his cheek. He brought his own hand up to cover hers and turned to kiss the rings on her third finger.

The wedding band had joined her engagement ring two weeks ago.

They'd married at the courthouse, with Nathan, Haley, Brooke, and Julian in attendance. Peyton wore jeans, much to Brooke's dismay, and June cried in Peyton's arms for the majority of their vows, but they wouldn't have changed a thing.

They'd just wanted to be married and didn't want to wait any longer.

One day they would get around to having a big party with all their friends and family, but for now, just the fact that they were married and enjoying being together as their little family was enough.

She didn't remember too much of before anymore, but she remembered her son's face, though it was fading.

She still had a box hidden at the back of her wardrobe with her sketches of Keith, and she took them out sometimes to look at them, to remind herself. She was careful to only take it out when Lucas wasn't home.

She still didn't know what actually happened to her or how she got here, and a part of her would always miss her son, but she loved her daughter, and she loved her husband, and she thought their little life together was pretty perfect.

And that was all that she needed for now.

... ... ...

So I have no idea when Anna's birthday actually was, I couldn't find anything online so I obviously took some liberties.

Fun fact, when I decided to finish Big, Big Mistake earlier this year I had considered making the baby a girl, but ultimately I decided not to get too crazy and left Keith alone in that story.

Let me know what you think!