Chapter Twenty-Three
*Cry Yourself to Sleep*
They woke up at 10 o'clock the next morning, but technically they were never asleep. That night Lucas and Peyton slept a total of four and a half hours and it showed.
"Did you have fun last night?" Karen asked Lucas as he walked into the kitchen. She knew all too well what it was like to be up all night with a baby.
"Oh yeah. Tons of fun." He rolled his eyes and took a large cup of black coffee. Peyton came in shortly after still wearing her clothes from the day before and Karen knew her answer would be the same. All the evidence was in the deep bags under her eyes.
"It figures she'd grow to sleep in the morning." Peyton sat down next to Luke and laid her head on the table.
"Mom how do we get her to stop crying?" Lucas pleaded. "I mean Cameran cries just for the sake of crying. She's not hungry and her diaper is clean. What are we supposed to do?"
"Exactly what are you doing now, except..." Karen started.
"Except?" He pushed her to go on.
"Well sometimes you just need to let her cry herself to sleep."
"You mean we just let her cry?" Peyton was shocked.
"If you know she doesn't need a bottle or a diaper change and no amount of singing is going to do the trick, then yes you just let her cry." Karen explained. Moments later Cameran's cry filled the house. Peyton went to stand up but Luke stopped her.
"Let me get this." He walked into his room and picked his daughter up from the crib. Once she was in Lucas's arms she stopped crying and started to smile. "Oh you think this is funny do you?...You little ham."
"What about ham?" Karen asked as he came back in the kitchen.
"She laughed at me when I came in." He got strange looks from all around.
"I think you need more sleep." Karen took Cameran from her son. "Both of you into bed." She commanded. "For the purpose of sleeping ONLY." She realized how that statement could have been taken. Lucas and Peyton planned on doing just that- sleeping. Their heads hit the pillow and they were out until 1 o'clock that afternoon.
Lucas woke up first and peered over to see Peyton still sleeping peacefully. He decided not to wake her, instead he made his way into the living room. There he found Karen asleep on the couch with Cameran in her arms. Luke sat down next to her and lifted his daughter out of her arms. A few moments later Karen noticed that the baby was no longer there. For an instant worst case scenarios flashed through her mind but then she saw that Cameran was safe with Lucas.
"Hey sleepy head." He joked.
"I could say the same thing to you...What time is it anyway?" Karen asked.
"Almost 1 o'clock, why?"
"Damn I was supposed to be at the café half an hour ago." She frantically grabbed her keys and ran out. "Bye, love you."
"All right I guess-" He was cut off by the slam of the door.
"Who just left?" Peyton came into the living room rubbing her eyes.
"My mom, why? Did she wake you up?"
"No I was pretty much awake...I'm taking a shower." Almost an hour later she emerge from the steamy bathroom looking refreshed.
"Feeling better now?" He just put Cameran down for a nap.
"Absolutely 100%." She sounded perky.
"I'm glad. I wasn't really liking tired Peyton."
"I wasn't really feeling that mood either but right now I'm partial to frisky Peyton." She whispered in his ear.
"Are you seducing me Miss Sawyer?" Luke tried to sound surprised.
"Well you're not stopping me." She straddled him on the bed and began to kiss his neck. He pulled his shirt over his head and undid her belt. They tried to ignore the whimper coming from the crib bit they had to stop when Cameran let out a full out scream.
"Here we go again." She grumbled and stood up, tossed Lucas his shirt and picked up her daughter from the crib. After five minutes of rocking and singing every lullaby in the book Peyton passed Cameran to Luke.
"Please by quiet...pleeaase." He pleaded. A muffled laugh came from Peyton whose head was under the pillow. "I didn't make fun of your singing." He defended himself.
"I'm not laughing at you." She assured him.
"Well I don't see what's so funny then." She detected irritation in his voice.
"It's not funny, it's pathetic." Lucas gave her a blank stare. "I mean we are teenagers and this is our life." Peyton looked at the screaming baby. "We should be in college and partying. We can't even manage to make love when we are sleeping the same bed." She stopped and realized it was silent, the baby was asleep. Instead of being relieved she started to cry.
"Peyton it's okay." Luke rubbed her back and she continued to cry into his shoulder.
"It's not okay!" She burst out. "My life is shot. My world is based on bottles and diapers. Brooke is gone to God knows where and Haley and me become close and she leaves too. We had a nice group with you and Nathan finally getting along and now that's over. My father is never home, he never even came back to see his grand daughter. I know that I have you and Cameran and I love you both but it's not the same." She confessed.
"Look, I never even had a father; I lost a best friend and a new friend too." He tried to comfort her.
"No it's different, you wouldn't understand." She pushed him away.
"What is there not to understand. I don't see the difference." He raised his voice.
"It just is okay." Peyton pulled the covers down and laid down with her back to Lucas. He did the same and fell asleep moments later. They both went to bed mad, especially Luke. Because of this he was totally oblivious to the fact that Peyton cried herself to sleep that night.
*Princeton-Haley*
Nathan had left Haley that night in her dorm. It was the hardest good-bye she ever had to say, harder than saying good-bye to her family. He had helped her mover her stuff into the dorm and left quickly as not to evoke any more pain.
Haley laid on her bed, attempting to read a book but she was distracted by the clicking over of keys on her roommate's computer. Her name was Sienna Reid and she wasn't the friendliest person in the world. She simply introduced herself and went back to her computer without further acknowledgment. Haley didn't know exactly what she was doing the whole time on that computer but it didn't look like she wanted to be interrupted by an inquisition.
Her attention was also taken by the photo album lying on the foot of the bed. It was open to the picture Karen had taken on the day of graduation. Haley wished things could have stayed just as they were in the picture. Everyone was together and they were happy. Not even Lucas and Nathan showed any signs of their immense hatred of each other at the time.
Haley put the bookmarker in the page of her book and decided to look through the rest of the album. Karen had compiled pictures ranging from her and Lucas as babies to the day Cameran was born. It was given to her as a going away present.
She flipped to the next page. It was a picture of Haley running up to Nathan after graduation. That was the happiest moment of her life. A single tear landed on the plastic covering of the page. The pictures brought back too many memories of the people she had left behind and it was too hard for her to handle. She managed to fall asleep despite the sound of keys tapping throughout the night.
*Cry Yourself to Sleep*
They woke up at 10 o'clock the next morning, but technically they were never asleep. That night Lucas and Peyton slept a total of four and a half hours and it showed.
"Did you have fun last night?" Karen asked Lucas as he walked into the kitchen. She knew all too well what it was like to be up all night with a baby.
"Oh yeah. Tons of fun." He rolled his eyes and took a large cup of black coffee. Peyton came in shortly after still wearing her clothes from the day before and Karen knew her answer would be the same. All the evidence was in the deep bags under her eyes.
"It figures she'd grow to sleep in the morning." Peyton sat down next to Luke and laid her head on the table.
"Mom how do we get her to stop crying?" Lucas pleaded. "I mean Cameran cries just for the sake of crying. She's not hungry and her diaper is clean. What are we supposed to do?"
"Exactly what are you doing now, except..." Karen started.
"Except?" He pushed her to go on.
"Well sometimes you just need to let her cry herself to sleep."
"You mean we just let her cry?" Peyton was shocked.
"If you know she doesn't need a bottle or a diaper change and no amount of singing is going to do the trick, then yes you just let her cry." Karen explained. Moments later Cameran's cry filled the house. Peyton went to stand up but Luke stopped her.
"Let me get this." He walked into his room and picked his daughter up from the crib. Once she was in Lucas's arms she stopped crying and started to smile. "Oh you think this is funny do you?...You little ham."
"What about ham?" Karen asked as he came back in the kitchen.
"She laughed at me when I came in." He got strange looks from all around.
"I think you need more sleep." Karen took Cameran from her son. "Both of you into bed." She commanded. "For the purpose of sleeping ONLY." She realized how that statement could have been taken. Lucas and Peyton planned on doing just that- sleeping. Their heads hit the pillow and they were out until 1 o'clock that afternoon.
Lucas woke up first and peered over to see Peyton still sleeping peacefully. He decided not to wake her, instead he made his way into the living room. There he found Karen asleep on the couch with Cameran in her arms. Luke sat down next to her and lifted his daughter out of her arms. A few moments later Karen noticed that the baby was no longer there. For an instant worst case scenarios flashed through her mind but then she saw that Cameran was safe with Lucas.
"Hey sleepy head." He joked.
"I could say the same thing to you...What time is it anyway?" Karen asked.
"Almost 1 o'clock, why?"
"Damn I was supposed to be at the café half an hour ago." She frantically grabbed her keys and ran out. "Bye, love you."
"All right I guess-" He was cut off by the slam of the door.
"Who just left?" Peyton came into the living room rubbing her eyes.
"My mom, why? Did she wake you up?"
"No I was pretty much awake...I'm taking a shower." Almost an hour later she emerge from the steamy bathroom looking refreshed.
"Feeling better now?" He just put Cameran down for a nap.
"Absolutely 100%." She sounded perky.
"I'm glad. I wasn't really liking tired Peyton."
"I wasn't really feeling that mood either but right now I'm partial to frisky Peyton." She whispered in his ear.
"Are you seducing me Miss Sawyer?" Luke tried to sound surprised.
"Well you're not stopping me." She straddled him on the bed and began to kiss his neck. He pulled his shirt over his head and undid her belt. They tried to ignore the whimper coming from the crib bit they had to stop when Cameran let out a full out scream.
"Here we go again." She grumbled and stood up, tossed Lucas his shirt and picked up her daughter from the crib. After five minutes of rocking and singing every lullaby in the book Peyton passed Cameran to Luke.
"Please by quiet...pleeaase." He pleaded. A muffled laugh came from Peyton whose head was under the pillow. "I didn't make fun of your singing." He defended himself.
"I'm not laughing at you." She assured him.
"Well I don't see what's so funny then." She detected irritation in his voice.
"It's not funny, it's pathetic." Lucas gave her a blank stare. "I mean we are teenagers and this is our life." Peyton looked at the screaming baby. "We should be in college and partying. We can't even manage to make love when we are sleeping the same bed." She stopped and realized it was silent, the baby was asleep. Instead of being relieved she started to cry.
"Peyton it's okay." Luke rubbed her back and she continued to cry into his shoulder.
"It's not okay!" She burst out. "My life is shot. My world is based on bottles and diapers. Brooke is gone to God knows where and Haley and me become close and she leaves too. We had a nice group with you and Nathan finally getting along and now that's over. My father is never home, he never even came back to see his grand daughter. I know that I have you and Cameran and I love you both but it's not the same." She confessed.
"Look, I never even had a father; I lost a best friend and a new friend too." He tried to comfort her.
"No it's different, you wouldn't understand." She pushed him away.
"What is there not to understand. I don't see the difference." He raised his voice.
"It just is okay." Peyton pulled the covers down and laid down with her back to Lucas. He did the same and fell asleep moments later. They both went to bed mad, especially Luke. Because of this he was totally oblivious to the fact that Peyton cried herself to sleep that night.
*Princeton-Haley*
Nathan had left Haley that night in her dorm. It was the hardest good-bye she ever had to say, harder than saying good-bye to her family. He had helped her mover her stuff into the dorm and left quickly as not to evoke any more pain.
Haley laid on her bed, attempting to read a book but she was distracted by the clicking over of keys on her roommate's computer. Her name was Sienna Reid and she wasn't the friendliest person in the world. She simply introduced herself and went back to her computer without further acknowledgment. Haley didn't know exactly what she was doing the whole time on that computer but it didn't look like she wanted to be interrupted by an inquisition.
Her attention was also taken by the photo album lying on the foot of the bed. It was open to the picture Karen had taken on the day of graduation. Haley wished things could have stayed just as they were in the picture. Everyone was together and they were happy. Not even Lucas and Nathan showed any signs of their immense hatred of each other at the time.
Haley put the bookmarker in the page of her book and decided to look through the rest of the album. Karen had compiled pictures ranging from her and Lucas as babies to the day Cameran was born. It was given to her as a going away present.
She flipped to the next page. It was a picture of Haley running up to Nathan after graduation. That was the happiest moment of her life. A single tear landed on the plastic covering of the page. The pictures brought back too many memories of the people she had left behind and it was too hard for her to handle. She managed to fall asleep despite the sound of keys tapping throughout the night.