Three: Relief

"Lucas, honey, wake up. I think the baby's coming."

He heard his wife's voice as she was shaking him awake and he groaned in protest, turning over to try and block out the light streaming into his eyes as they shot open. "What? What time is it?" He muttered, squinting at her and seeing her grin back at him.

"2:25," Peyton winced as a contraction overtook her. She didn't like feeling this way, but she was trying to remember that it was for a good reason; the pain meant that they would meet their daughter soon. Peyton also felt wholly unprepared for this experience, seeing as she didn't ever feel labor with Sawyer. In a way, she felt grateful for the experience and for the fact she was seeing her body do what it knew how to do.

"You need to go get Sawyer up, and you need to call Brooke to tell her to come over here." Peyton said once the pain had subsided for a minute. This was the plan. Brooke would watch Sawyer while Peyton and Lucas were having the baby, and once things were more settled, Brooke would bring Sawyer to the hospital to meet her sister.

Lucas nodded, getting out of bed, rubbing at his sleepy eyes as he went to Sawyer's room. He pushed the door open and walked over to her bed. Sawyer stirred. "Daddy?" she said sleepily.

"Yeah, honey. Mommy's having the baby and Aunt Brooke is coming over to play with you when we're at the hospital," he told her gently, leaning down and picking her up. She snuggled into him, and he brought her to the living room to wait for Brooke to arrive. Once he had done that, he called Brooke. She picked up almost instantly, there was only one reason that he would be calling in the middle of the night. "Hello?" she said groggily. "It's baby time," Lucas replied. "Contractions started about fifteen minutes ago,"

"Got it," Brooke said seriously. "I'll be right there!" Now that the call had been made, Lucas went back to check on Peyton. "Sawyer's up, sitting on the couch and watching Frozen. She thought it was cool that she gets to watch a movie in the middle of the night," Lucas laughed. "How are you feeling?"

"It hurts," Peyton moaned in response as another pain hit, one that wasn't nearly as bad as the previous ones. Lucas sat next to her, cradling her hand. He watched her carefully before looking outside the window. He saw Brooke pulling into their driveway. He sighed and stood up. "I'll be right back," he said and left the room to go let Brooke in. He opened the door and she smiled at him. Neither needed to speak, they knew what they were there for.

Lucas returned her smile and stepped back allowing her to walk into the house. They went through the kitchen where Sawyer was waiting, her blanket wrapped around herself, her hair still messy from sleeping. She perked up at Brooke and jumped off the chair running towards her aunt. Brooke bent down and scooped Sawyer into her arms. She looked at Lucas. "I've got her. Go back upstairs," she said, holding her niece against her chest.

Lucas nodded and went back to Peyton to help her get ready for the hospital. He helped her into a pair of sweatpants so Peyton could wear something comfortable, knowing she wouldn't want to ruin her clothes. Once Peyton finished getting ready, Lucas helped her to stand up. She gripped onto his arm tightly as the pains intensified for a few moments before subsiding, the contractions finally starting to stop. Peyton gasped. "Oh my gosh," she breathed. She squeezed Lucas's arm. "It's okay, you're so strong, you've got this," Lucas assured her. Peyton nodded and followed Lucas out of the room.

"Sawyer!" he called from the bottom of the stairs. "Come and say goodbye to Mommy, we're going to go have the baby!" She came running down the stairs and hugged her mother, squeezing her tight. Her eyes were watery as she looked up.

"I love you, Mama." Sawyer said, clinging to Peyton.

"Love you too, sweetie." Peyton replied and kissed Sawyer's forehead. She couldn't believe that these were the last moments that she would have only one daughter. "Be good for Aunt Brooke, ok? We'll see you later,"

"Okay, Mama," Peyton gave one last kiss to Sawyer's cheek. "Let's go." she said to Lucas who led her to the car and Brooke and Sawyer waved from the curb as they watched them drive away, ready to start the next chapter of their lives as parents of two.

Hours passed and Peyton progressed through her labor. She felt like it was never going to end until the doctor came in, checked her over, and said the magic words, "Okay, Mrs. Scott, it's time to push!" And then it seemed that everything started happening fast.

Peyton pushed with all her might, and thirty minutes later, at 10:37 a.m, Ellianna Rowan Scott was born, healthy and safe. They laid the baby on Peyton's chest and she felt like she could have stayed in the moment forever.

"You did amazing, babe," Lucas kissed Peyton and cuddled her close as best he could in the small hospital bed. They laid there for hours, soaking up the moment.

When Ellianna was a couple of hours old, they decided it was time for Sawyer to meet her sister. The girl walked into the room, clinging onto Brooke in the unsure situation. Lucas noticed her hesitancy and lifted her into his arms.

"Hey, baby girl, it's okay, want to see your sister?" Sawyer nodded timidly and he brought her over to Peyton's hospital bed. He set her down on it and Peyton cuddled Sawyer close.

"Hey, Sawyer Girl. I missed you!" Peyton placed the baby in her lap for Sawyer to see.

"This is your sister. Her name is Ellianna," Sawyer stared wide eyed at her sister and reached out to touch her. "Hi, Ellianna," she whispered.

She looked up at Peyton who gave her a proud look. "Can I hold her?"

"Of course!" Peyton said, placing her sister in Sawyer' arms. Lucas helped Sawyer's position so that she was holding her safely. Sawyer held Ellianna carefully and rocked side to side as if afraid that she'd break. She was careful not to move too much. Peyton giggled softly at the sight in front of her; her daughter, now proudly a big sister, rocking the baby in her arms was absolutely adorable, and she couldn't take her eyes off the scene. Their family was complete, and everything was perfect.