One Year Later
"Mommy look, Auntie Brooke is on the cover." Cameran said as she pulled one of the gossip magazines off the rack on the grocery store line. "Is she really getting married?"
"No she's not sweetheart." Peyton informed her daughter. Ever since Brooke had landed a role in her first Hollywood movie the tabloids had been printing bogus stories. They got especially vicious when she started dating her co-star and big time actor, Jet Thomas. Brooke had to shoot down dozens of rumors ranging from psycho stalkers to lesbian affairs. Apparently their newest article claimed that the couple was engaged.
"But what if she is but she forgot to tell you?" Cameran looked up at her mother's matching hazel eyes.
"Believe me I would be the first to know...Sometimes people just make things up to get attention." Peyton told her daughter.
"But why would they want to hurt Auntie Brooke?" Cameran was still full of innocence and Peyton wanted to preserve that as long as possible.
"Don't worry about it Cammie.. Auntie Brooke thinks it's funny." She chose her words carefully because she could see that her daughter was on the verge of tears. Cameran had always been very sensitive when it came to family. The truth was however that Brooke had been deeply hurt by some of the things that some of the reporters published.
There had been one story in one of the more well known magazines a few months back. Somehow they found out that as a teenager she was quite the bad girl. They went on to say that she was earning her roles in the movie industry by sleeping around. To prove their theory they presented the fact that, as a model, she had married and had to kids with her older manager. Conveniently they left out the spousal abuse. The part that hurt the most was that it wasn't entirely false. Jet was quick to stand up fro his girlfriend and the issue was put behind them.
Peyton took a second look at the magazine in her hand and put it in the cart. 'She will find this one funny.' She thought to herself. She planned on calling her friend after lunch that day because it had been over a week since they had spoken. Brooke was busy filming another movie so most of the time she ended up talking to the nanny or Ava. Peyton didn't mind talking to the kids because they were candid about what was happening at their house. Ava would babble on and on about her little brother Wyatt. He was born eight months ago and from the few times Peyton had seen Brooke's son she could tell he had her friend's personality. She had even met Jet once and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, the type of man that Peyton hoped Brooke would find. She concluded that it was definitely time to call.
The baby in the front seat of the car giggled and clapped at the sight of the familiar face on the cover. Riley was the spitting image of both her parents with a full head of blond curls and ice blue eyes. The only exception was her personality. She was the happiest one year old he parents had ever seen. She would toddle around the living room while Peyton drew and amuse herself with the simplest things. This was surprising because the other three children had inherited Peyton and Luke's tendency to brood.
She smiled at her daughter and ruffled her hair causing the girl to go into a fit of giggles. The elderly woman in line behind her smiled and complimented Peyton on having two beautiful daughters. Before she could thank her Ben and Gavin came barreling past the other people on line. Her thank you turned into an apology to the woman after her sons almost pushed her down. She told Peyton that it was not problem because she had grandsons and knew exactly how four year old boys were.
"Mom can we get candy? Please! Please! Please! Please!" Her sons begged as they jumped up and down.
"Boys I'm making lunch when you go home. I don't want you to lose your appetite." She told them.
"But we never get to have candy." Gavin whined.
"I'll only buy one candy bar. You guys will have to split it."
"Okay!" They both agreed happily and ran off. Peyton watched them each choose a different piece and a small argument ensued before Ben gave in. He had always been the more easygoing of the two and tended to let Gavin push him around. When they returned Peyton could tell that Ben was upset though he tired not to let it show. While the cashier was ringing up the groceries she bent down and quietly told him that he could go get the candy that he wanted as long as he didn't tell anyone else. He ran off with a big smile on his face and returned just before the cashier added the last item. He handed two candy bars to Peyton and she gave him a look.
"The other one is for you mommy." He told her timidly.
"Thank you baby." She said as he kissed him on the forehead. These times overshadowed the bad ones.
Peyton paid the cashier and discreetly out the two candies in hers and Ben's pocket. She loaded the bags into the cart and directly the kids to follow her to the car. Of course Gavin and Cameran ran ahead as she shouted various warnings about running in the parking lot. This time Ben stayed behind Peyton smiled down at him when she saw the candy bars sticking out of each of their pockets.
She loaded the groceries into the front seat while the kids claimed their seats in the back. She proceeded to strap Riley into her car seat and put in the "Spongebob" DVD that the kids never seemed to get tired of. On the ride home Riley would laugh whenever Spongebob came on the screen and Gavin was too busy arguing with Cameran over whether Squidward was a squid or an octopus to notice Ben eating his own candy.
Nathan and Haley
Haley sat on a swing in the park watching Connor and Nathan play basketball. She couldn't help but smile as she saw her husband put their son on his shoulders to help him dunk the ball in the hoop.
At first Nathan had been terrified at the prospect of having a son. The last thing that he wanted to do was to turn into his father. But from the moment he set his eyes on his son he knew that he would be a natural at it. Haley on the other hand had grown up in a big family and was completely confident in her mothering abilities. Together the two became virtually perfect parents. That is why she was so exciting about the new baby.
Haley had found out earlier that day and was trying to wait for the perfect moment to tell Nathan. Suddenly she felt a little tug on the leg and found Connor trying to climb on her lap.
"My baby is an all-star." She said as she picked up her son.
"Would you expect anything less from our son?" Nathan asks after sitting down on the other swing.
"Nathan how would you feel about having another baby?" She asked warily.
"I would love to have more kids. Why are you-?" He finally realized what she was getting at.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"This is great!" He picked up his son and gave her a kiss. "I love you more every day." He told her sincerely. "We have to celebrate."
"Okay. Let's stop at Peyton and Lucas's house first." Haley suggested. They arrived a few minutes later to find Lucas watching a movie with the kids on the couch and Peyton in the kitchen talking to Brooke on the phone. They sat down on the couch with Luke and told them the good news. Lucas was happy for his brother and sister-in-law because he knew how much they both wanted a family. Cameran was happy but the other kids didn't quite understand the importance of the news.
Peyton entered the room shortly after and made an announcement of her own.
"Brooke is engaged!" She told everyone. "I saw an article today and I decided to call her and she said it was actually true."
Haley immediately grabbed the phone from Peyton and started giggling over the engagement and the new baby.
Epilogue/Sneak Preview
"Hello this is Mrs. Watson, the principal at your daughters school. We need you and your husband to come to the school in regards to your daughter Cameran's behavior." This was the third time in the past month Peyton had recieved from the school.
"I will be there in a few minutes. My husband and I are separated so you will have to contact him at his home." She told the principal.
A/N: I was thinking about making a third part to this series and I wanted to see if there was an interst. I didn't get a lot of reviews from the previous chapters so I'm not sure if I'mm going to do it. Let me know what you think about it.