The Man Who Was His Father

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the One Tree Hill characters.

I have to apologize to all my incredible readers; I hadn't planned on putting off this chapter for so long. The next chapter is already mapped out and will be coming shortly after this one.

Chapter 7

            Lucas had learned, over the years, that sleeping in bed next to Peyton was a dangerous sport. She was usually all over the place, arms stretched out in every which way, her legs tangled up in his. She usually stole most of the covers from him and would wrap herself up in the warm pile.

This night it wasn't his wife's restlessness that was kept him from succumbing to the temptation of sleep. A huge decision was weighing on his mind and he couldn't bring himself to sleep, so he spent his night watching Peyton thrash around in her sleep wondering what she was dreaming about.

He was startled when she rolled over to face him and sleepily opened her eyes to meet his.

"What are you doing awake?" she asked him while trying to rub some of the sleep from her eyes.

"I was just thinking about some stuff." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"What kind of stuff?" she yawned softly.

"I was actually thinking that I wanted to see Dan at the hospital." He was quiet, waiting for her reaction. There was a long pause from her; she was taken aback by his decision.

"Are you sure Luke?"

"Yeah, I think so at least." He said, rubbing a hand across her arm.

"What made you change you mind?"

"It was partly thanks to Nathan. When we talked about Dan the other day, he told me some things. Things that I hadn't cared to acknowledge at that time. He said that Dan wants to see me; he wants to apologize for what he did to my mom and I. He wants to make amends before he dies. And something made me realize that I have to let that stuff go." He reached over and pulled some of her blanket over towards him.

"And what was that something?" she asked.

"Our baby" he said simply. "I've been carrying this hatred for Dan Scott around all of my life. For 25 years I've hated that man, and wanted nothing more that to see him hurt for what he did to us. But now, knowing that I'm going to be a father myself had made me realize that I have to let this go. If I don't resolve this now, I'll have to carry this around with me forever and I'm not willing to do that." He placed his hand over the familiar bump on her stomach.

"I'm proud of you Lucas," she whispered "And I'll be there to support you in whatever way I can, you know that."

"I don't know what I would do without you" He leaned over to give her a quick kiss.

"Probably get a peaceful nights sleep, since there'd be no one to accidentally kick you in the stomach" she laughed, and he absentmindedly touched at a spot under his eye. Peyton groaned.

"What?" he asked, trying to hold back a laugh.

"You touched that spot under your eye to make me feel guilty!" she pushed him playfully.

"I did not."

"Yeah you did, you always touch that little spot under your eye and try and make me feel even more guilty about giving you that black eye last year." Thrashing around in her sleep one night she had hit Lucas in the eye with her elbow while he slept beside her. He had to walk around with huge black eye for nearly two weeks before it finally faded away. She felt horrible about it, and whenever he wanted to get a little sympathy from her he would touch the spot under his eye, it worked like a charm every time.

"I'm just kidding" He smiled, but his face turned serious. "I'm going to need you there with me, I can't do this on my own"

"I'll be right by your side the entire time." She curled up next to his side and drifted to sleep, his mind now at ease he let himself follow her into some much-needed rest.

He woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Looking over at the small alarm clock on the nightstand, he was surprised to see the neon green numbers reading 12:30. That was the most sleep he had gotten in a few weeks. Sitting up in bed, he took time to rub the sleep from his eyes, and allowed them to adjust to the bright afternoon sun coming through the open windows. He made his way into the guest bathroom tat was connected to their room and turned on the faucet. A splash of cold water to his face was enough to get him going, after a quick brush of his teeth he was wide awake. On his way out of the bathroom he noticed a yellow post-it note stuck to the wall just above the light switch. It was scribbled on in Peyton's small choppy handwriting…

            'I though you could use the extra sleep,

            I'm on the beach when you wake up

                                                -Peyton'

He grabbed a pair of his tear-away pants and a clean t-shirt and headed out to find Peyton.

Coming to sit next to her in the cool sand, Lucas wrapped his arm around Peyton's shoulder. She looked over and smiled at him.

"What time were you up this morning?" He asked, slipping his bare feet under the sand.

"Well remember when I told you that I hadn't had any morning sickness at all?" Lucas nodded, "Well I think I got my payback. It hit me at about 7:30 this morning, and I couldn't get back to sleep."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked. "I should have been up to help you"

"It wasn't that bad, I just need to not look at any food for awhile." Peyton laughed. They were quiet, watching the ocean waves washing up onto the beach in front of them.

"I think it's going to be a girl." He said suddenly, reaching over and touching his finger to her stomach.

"And what makes you think that?" she asked.

"I don't know, it's just a feeling I get" he smiled. "I mean I'll love this baby whether it's a boy or a girl, but I think it's a girl."

"Well if it's a girl, you know she's going to be a total tomboy. With her dad the former star basketball player, and her mom being a reformed tomboy from her younger years." Peyton said looping her arm through his.

"If we have a daughter I want her to be girly, and wear dresses with little flowers on them. But I still want her to play sports with her daddy, and be talented like her mommy." He became lost in his idea of what his daughter might be like.

"You're cute you know that?" She smirked. The wind began to pick up around them, and Peyton felt a chill creep up her arms. Lucas hopped up from his spot on the sand.

"I'm gonna grab you a sweatshirt, don't move a muscle!" He pointed over at her, and smiled.

Stepping inside the sliding glass door he noticed the red light blinking on the answering machine indicating a new message. He pressed the play button and was surprised to hear Nathan's voice coming from the message.

'Lucas? It's Nathan, uh I don't know what you decided about Dan but I'm here at the hospital and he's taken a turn for the worse. The doctors say he only has a few days left at the most. So if you decided to see him you should come now. It's your choice, but he's asking about you. He's at Tree Hill General room 447.'

The message ended and Lucas stood silently in the living room. He knew what he had to do. His time had come to face his past and the father who had abandoned him. He only hoped he was ready for what was to come.

"Lucas, is everything ok?" Peyton asked coming through the back door.

"We have to go." He said softly. Peyton knew immediately why they were leaving. She could see it in his eyes, and she only hoped he was ready for what was to come.

Please read and review. Next chapter will be Lucas and Dan finally.