Christmas Day 2024:

Lucas and Peyton were sleeping in, Karen had decided not to wake them up… She wanted to let the two love birds sleep in knowing that tonight they probably would not get a lot of sleep and also knowing how busy their lives had been recently. Both Peyton and Lucas slept well through the night. Lucas was the first one to wake up and just watched Peyton sleep. Watching her rest rise and fall, again and again. Peyton finally showed some movement and turned her head towards Lucas

"Good morning" Lucas said with a smile.

"Good morning back" Peyton was excited that it was Christmas day. She always loved waking up Christmas day, even still she was like a kid in the candy store. When she was younger Peyton use to run downstairs every Christmas morning to see what "santa" had brought for her. After her mom died Peyton stopped believing in Santa and usually her dad was gone for Christmas so she learned how to adapt. After dating Lucas everything changed, she would always spend Christmas with Karen and Lucas, where Karen made her famous Christmas tree shaped pancakes with powdered sugar. "I am so glad we are here, I love Christmas" Peyton said with a big smile on her face.

"Well then we should get up and start the day" Lucas started to get up.

Peyton and Lucas get up and enter the kitchen both hungry from the smell of Karen's famous pancakes.

"Good morning sleepy heads!" Karen was glad to see her son and Peyton up!

The night before they had all put their gifts under the tree, at different times. After eating their traditional breakfast they all head to open gifts under the tree. Karen goes first as the tradition goes, and opens a present from Keith. Next Karen opens the present from Peyton and Lucas.

Both Peyton and Lucas were super excited about their present to her. Karen opens it and see there is a plane ticket.

"What is this?"

Lucas was smiling, "You always talk about how much you loved Italy when you visited for your cooking classes so we figured that we would send you there again as your present, this time, no classes just you enjoying the country"

Karen got up and gave Lucas and Peyton gigantic hugs "Thank you so much for this present, I think it is the best one I have ever received."

"Ok, Luke you open yours next"

Lucas finds two presents under the tree, one from his mom and the other friend Peyton, he decided to open the one from Peyton first. He opened it and saw that Peyton made a whole collage of him while he played basketball in both highschool and college. His two jerseys, pictures of him, newspaper articles. Peyton knew that Luke cherished these items and wanted to keep them forever, but they were just sitting in storage, now he could display them either in their apartment or at his office.

Lucas gets up and gives Peyton a gigantic hug. "Thanks so much Peyt, how did you know I wanted this?"

"Well you are always talking about it, I mean everything was still in the boxes."

Lucas gives Peyton a romantic kiss. Next Lucas opens the gift from his mom. His mom got something along the same lines. Peyton and Karen had talked about it and decided to do a basketball theme so Karen had gotten Lucas the game winning basketball he received his senior year. She had it put in a case. Also Karen got him an autographed jersey from Kobe Bryant, someone Lucas had always looked up to.

Lucas was super excited with his gifts, they were everything he wanted. Besides his gifts he was super excited for Peyton to open his gift.

"Peyton your next" Karen said while finding Peyton's gifts under the tree to give her. She could only find one, the one from her.

"Lucas did you not give Peyton a gift?"

"No I got her a gift, I just didn't want to put it under the tree", Lucas said with one of those famous Scott grine.

Peyton opened her gift from Karen. The gift was a very nice and expensive set of drawing materials, penciles, pens, paper, paints, oil paints, anything you would want.

Peyton was so happy to receive this gift, it was what she wanted.

"Well now, Luke I have opened Karen's gift, you have to give me mine, you did say you have it right!"

"Of course I have it, ,what did you think I forgot"

"You have before"

"That's not fair, that was one time in college when we were completely stressed" Luke said with a laugh.

Lucas knows this is the perfect time to give Peyton her gift. "Peyton, as you know I have loved you since highschool, we have had our ups and downs, but we survived highschool, college, and now the real world. I could not imagine waking up to you every morning, the way your chest slowly rises and falls during the night, the way in the morning you make breakfast with your eyes half shut, and the way you can handle anything that comes your way. Peyton, will you please make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?"

Peyton was shocked, she thought she was going to get a good gift because Lucas had been so secretive, but she had no idea this was coming, she was so pleseantly surprised. "Of course I will."

Lucas takes the ring out of the box and slips it onto Peyton's fingure. Karen was so happy, she had been waiting for this day for awhile. Peyton gives Lucas a nice romantic, long kiss.

All three of them had a perfect Christmas each getting the perfect gifts.

Peyton and Lucas could not wait to meet everyone tonight and start to plan their wedding. They were in a perfect bliss.