The Man Who Was His Father

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters

This chapter is dedicated to all of you who left those great reviews for my first chapter, I hope you guys like it.

Chapter 2

            "Mom?" Lucas called out as he walked through the front door of the home he had grown up in. "Keith? Is anybody here?" There was no answer from inside the house.

            "I thought your mom said she was going to be here when we got here." Peyton said setting her bag down next to the coat rack near the door.

"I guess they must be running errands or something" Lucas shrugged his shoulders, and walked over to the couch sprawling his tired body over the cushions. Peyton occupied the recliner next to the couch.

"So what do you want to do now, should we unload the car?" Peyton asked him from the comfort of her reclined position.

"Now when you say 'we' should unload the car, do you mean 'I' should unload the car?" he grumbled from the couch.

"Hey now I told you my back is really bothering me today" Peyton said, making sure Lucas saw her rubbing the sore spot on her back. She smiled at him with a self-assured grin plastered across her face, and twirled a strand of her blond hair around her finger.

"You know I can't resist you when you do that hair twirling thing" He laughed pulling himself from the couch and walking towards the door. He stopped to lean over her and kiss her softly on the forehead. "I'll be right back with you bags ma'am"

Lucas returned from the car a few minutes later with bags in hand. He headed back to his old bedroom to drop the luggage, when his cell phone rang from his back pocket.

"Peyton" he called out from over his shoulder. "Can you grab that for me?"

"I got it" she jumped up from her spot on the recliner and grabbed the ringing phone from her husband's pocket.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hi sweetheart" Karen's voice brought a smile to Peyton's face.

"Hi Mrs. S, how are you guys?"

"We're good" Karen said referring also to her husband. "I was just calling to see whether you two were at the house already. Keith and I were just doing a little grocery shopping for the week and then we'll be home."

"Well we just got here a few minutes ago, so we'll just see you when you guys get back."

"Ok we'll see you soon." Karen clicked off the other line, and Peyton folded her husbands phone closed. Lucas came out from his old bedroom and rubbed his hands together in satisfaction as he walked towards Peyton.

"Your bags are unpacked princess Peyton" he smiled to himself as he leaned over and bowed before her.

"Hey" she laughed, hitting him gently in the arm.

"Who was that on the phone, my mom?"

"Yeah, her and Keith are doing some grocery shopping, and then they'll be back in a little while"

"Well then while they're gone would my beautiful wife like to accompany me on a walk. I need some fresh air" he said extending his hand out towards her.

"Yeah a walk sounds really good right now." She grabbed his hand as he led her out the front door.

They walked arm in arm down his old street. The cool autumn blowing across Peyton as she tried to snuggle deeper into her warm coat.

"Are you cold?" he asked her.

"No I'm fine, besides I've got this hot stud next to me to keep me warm." She looked over at him and smiled.

"Well I don't mean to brag…" his voice trailed off. Lucas pulled his wife closer and wrapped an arm around his waist.

Their walk ended up taking them to one of Lucas' favorite spots in Tree Hill. It was the basketball court where he had spent almost every night growing up, playing basketball until the park lights would turn off.

"This brings back some memories huh?" he said motioning towards the court. During their final summer in Tree Hill before they left for college, Lucas would drag Peyton to the court almost every night where he would shoot around by himself for hours. She would offer up a few cheers every so often, from her spot on the sideline. And every once in a great while Peyton would join him for a game of one on one which usually ended up turning into an excuse for her to grab Lucas' but while they played.

"Yeah I always loved watching you play. You were so intense" Peyton smiled at him

"Come on let's go sit." He grabbed her hand and they walked towards the old wooden bleachers. Climbing up a few rows, they found a spot and sat down. Their attention was soon drawn towards a young boy around the age of four and his father playing basketball on the otherwise empty court. They watched as the man lifted the young boy from the ground and brought him up high above his shoulders towards the rim, so the boy could throw the ball through the hoop.

"Again dad, again!" the little boy yelled as his father placed him back down on the ground, and ran off to chase down he runaway ball. Lucas smiled to himself as he watched to boy play ball with his father. His grin was quick to fade when he realized that his own father had never given him the chance to experience any father-son memories. His father had never given him anything; all Lucas had ever really wanted was acknowledgement.

Peyton knew where his thoughts were as she looked over at her husband. His eyes were distant and hurting.

"Are you ok Lucas?" she felt like she had been asking that same question a lot over the last few days. She still couldn't tell how her husband felt about the news of his fathers illness.

"All I ever wanted from him was acceptance, for him to just once acknowledge me as his son. But he was too much of a cold-hearted bastard to ever give me that." He spoke softly, not letting his anger control how he spoke to his wife. He didn't want to hurt her; she wasn't the one he was angry at. "I hate the fact that I waited for that for so many years, I just…" he stopped talking and just shook his head.

"You can talk to me Lucas" she held his hand tightly in hers.

"No, I'm fine" he said standing up from the bench and turning to face her. "Are you ready to head back?"

"Lucas we can talk about this, you can talk to me," she told him; He grabbed her hands and pulled her up from the bench. Leaning in close to her, he kissed her softly on the lips.

"I know I can talk to you about this Peyton, but I just don't want to talk about my father right now. All I want to do is head back to the house, have a nice dinner with my family, then crawl into bed with my wife and sleep." He raised his eyebrows at her hoping she would just agree with him.

"We're going to have to talk about this eventually Lucas." She sighed, and allowed herself to be pulled gently away from the park by her husband.

"I know, and we will but just not now." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him, as they headed back in the direction they had come from.

Well that's chapter two. Thanks to everyone who sent in their reviews, they helped to get me motivated to write this chapter.  Next chapter will involve Lucas and Peyton, and Keith and Karen. And then future chapters will involve a little Nathan and Haley, just because you guys asked for some. So please review, and let me know how you guys liked it.