Don't Let Go
Authors Notes: I know this story is coming along slowly, but stick with me. I'm getting to the "meat" of the story soon. So please read and review.
Chapter 4:
It had taken them almost four hours, but Lucas and Nathan had managed to unpack all the remaining moving boxes that had taken over the living room. After Peyton's rant the other night about the mess, Lucas had called his brother and asked for his help. So while the girls were at the mall, the guys worked like mad to get the house ready in time. He wanted to surprise her, and maybe get rid of some of her stress.
There was only a box of dishes left to unpack and Nathan had already gotten started on it. Lucas pulled a couple of beers from the fridge and handed one to his brother.
"Hey Luke, are you scared?" Nathan asked, popping the top from his bottle.
"Of what, letting you unpack our dishes? The only person who should be scared by that is you. If you break Peyton's favorite coffee mug she will kill you." Lucas pointed at the bright red cup in Nathan's hand and grinned.
Nathan laughed and set the mug exaggeratedly carefully into the cupboard. "I actually meant are you scared about becoming a father?"
"Oh." Lucas said. "Well it's not so much that I'm scared as I am terrified."
Nathan looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
"I've been reading some of Peyton's baby books, in secret of course. And believe me Nathan I'm excited about being a dad, but it also scares the shit out of me. There is so much stuff to learn. I mean, did you know you're not supposed to lay babies on their stomachs? They can die from SIDS in their sleep. I didn't know that, what would have happened if I hadn't have read that?"
"Luke I'm sure these are all things first time parents worry about. What does Peyton have to say about this?"
"I haven't talked to her about it." Lucas sheepishly admitted.
"Don't you think these are the things you are supposed to share with your wife?"
"You're probably right but she needs to concentrate on herself and the baby. She doesn't need to be worrying about her insecure husband. It's nothing I need to concern her about anyway, I'll get over it."
"Well I still think you need to talk about this with Peyton, she might be feeling the same things as you."
"Yeah, I'll think about it. When did you get so good at this advice stuff?"
"Oh that's all Haley rubbing off on me." Nathan smiled. "Now quit moping around and help me finish this box."
After the last dish had been placed neatly in the cupboard, and the empty boxes had been broken down and tossed in the trash, the two brothers took a well-deserved break and collapsed on the couch with the last two beers from the six-pack. The house had changed dramatically in the last four hours. With Nathan's help Lucas had managed to turn their house into a home, and a well decorated one at that.
"I can't believe we actually did all that work in four hours." Nathan sighed.
"That was a lot of boxes." Lucas agreed in a slight daze. "A lot of boxes."
"Peyton is going to love this, plus you'll be out of that proverbial dog house. So you both win really."
"Well let's hope that's true."
"Hey Luke do you ever think about Dan?" Nathan asked suddenly.
"Wow. We're just jumping all in with these questions today." Lucas tried to laugh off the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach left by Nathan's question. It had been almost three months since Dan's death and the two brothers had rarely spoken of him. It wasn't a topic Lucas enjoyed discussing, even with his wife.
Nathan noticed Lucas' hesitance at his mention of Dan. "Forget I brought it up Luke."
"No it's alright Nate, if you want to talk about him we can." Lucas reassured him.
"I was just wondering if you ever thought about him." Nathan repeated his earlier question. It wasn't something Nathan liked to talk about either.
"As much as I wanted to put it all in the past and forget it all after he died, I guess there are times when I think about him. It's not even really him that I'm thinking about, it's mainly how I feel like I'm at a better place in my life now. I had been carrying all that baggage with me since I was ten years old, and it feels good to finally put it all behind me." Lucas remarked, looking up at Nathan who was staring off into oblivion. "Nathan?"
He snapped to attention and looked over at his brother. "Sorry." He smiled.
"Why are we talking about Dan all of a sudden?" Lucas wondered.
"I was actually thinking about him the other day, well I was thinking about kids which eventually lead to Dan. I remember the kind of father he was when I was growing up. He was overbearing and assertive and he intimidated the hell out of me as a kid. That's the kind of parenting I know, I don't know the nurturing, sensitive type you grew up with. I don't want to be like him when it comes to raising my own kids." Nathan said. Lucas could tell by his face that it was something Nathan really worried about. He didn't want to be his father.
"Nathan believe me, you are nothing like Dan. You've got nothing to worry about, besides you'll have Haley to keep you in line. And you can practice all that sensitive nurturing stuff with your niece or nephew." Lucas reassured him. Nathan managed a small smile of gratitude. It was about that time that they heard Haley's car pulling into the driveway and they both went out to meet their significant others.
Peyton's reaction to the house was worth all the time they had spent working on it. She was speechless as she toured the rooms in her house, free of boxes and clutter. Everything was finally in it's place and she could walk barefoot without fear of breaking her toes. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and she pulled Lucas close and thanked him and then Nathan.
"I have one more surprise for you." He grabbed her hand and started to pull her away, before turning back and looking at Nathan and Haley. "Why don't you guys stay for dinner, we'll order pizza?"
"I'll call and order something." Nathan waved him off knowing that Lucas was excited about showing Peyton what he had planned.
He made her close her eyes as he lead her into one of the back rooms, she heard him click on the light as he instructed her to open her eyes. When she did she saw that he had taken their spare bedroom and turned it into an art studio for her, so she could have her own space to work. On the other side was his desk where he had set up an office for himself.
"Oh Lucas this is great." She smiled at him and walked over to her art table and ran her fingers over the bristles of her paintbrush.
"I know that you wanted a space where you could work and I figured the spare bedroom would work and I put my office in here because I like being around you. Oh and I went ahead and unpacked all your art supplies and set everything up for you so you wouldn't have to worry about it."
"Thank you Lucas." Peyton smiled and walked back over to him and kissed him softly on the temple. "I love it."
"I thought you might."
The four of them shared a nice dinner, catching up on things that had been going on and laughing about old memories. As the dishes were being cleared Haley noticed Peyton's eyelids growing heavy, she looked exhausted from spending the afternoon on her feet shopping.
"It's getting late Nathan, we should let Peyton get some rest." She looked over at Nathan and he nodded.
"Yeah," he said, standing from his chair, "we need to get going. Thanks for the dinner, Lucas I'll call you some time this week about going fishing soon."
"Sounds good." Lucas shook his brother's extended hand and hugged Haley, Nathan leaned over and kissed Peyton's forehead before grabbing Haley's hand in his and letting himself out the door.
"Ok I have one last thing to show you before you go and get some much needed rest." Lucas said, pulling Peyton up gently from the table.
He lead her into the one room she hadn't explored and was surprised to find it mostly empty except for an old rocking chair. She looked at him confused. "I thought we could turn this into the nursery, put the crib in this corner and a changing table over there." He had a big grin on his face as she waved his arms around visually mapping out the room. Lucas walked over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room. "I went over to my mom's house today and asked her if she still had the rocking chair she used with me, turns out she had it in storage and she wanted us to have it."
For the second time of the night Peyton had tears in her eyes, it was he first piece of baby furniture they had gotten and it had special significance coming from Karen. It was a beautiful old rocking chair. "It's gorgeous Lucas, I love it."
"I'm glad." He rubbed her back. "Now let's get you in bed, you look beat."
A/N: I've already said this but, I know that it might feel like the chapters are moving slowly, but there are a few things that I need to establish before I get to the most important part of the story. So please hang in there, it's going to get a lot more serious and important soon!