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Chapter 3 Daughter Am I in My Mother's House

Peyton went back into her bedroom, picked up their laundry hamper and carried it into the hallway, where she dumped it down the chute. She trudged up the stairs and attacked the kids' rooms, taking little time to investigate which clothes were actually dirty. In the boys' room, everything suspicious went down the chute.

"Hey sweetie," she said as she popped her head into Winifred's room. "Any dirty clothes?" She looked up from her book and shook her head.

"I put them downstairs yesterday."

"Thanks. What'cha reading?"

"Anne Frank," she said as she held up the book.

"That's a sad one," Peyton said as she moved to sit on the end of the bed, facing her daughter. Winifred shrugged her shoulders and set the book down.

"Dad says that books don't have to be happy all the time because people aren't."

"He's a pretty smart guy, your dad." Winifred nodded. "How was breakfast?" Peyton posed the question after seeing the almost full tray on the nightstand.

"Don't worry, dad made me take the medicine."

"I wasn't worried. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. But I'm sort of tired. I might take a nap."

"Sounds like a plan," Peyton said resolutely, trying to hide her concern. "I'll leave you alone. I'll be in the laundry room. Call if you need anything."

"Thanks mom," she said as she snuggled under the covers. Peyton pulled them up around her shoulders and kissed her forehead before turning out the light. She closed the door quietly behind her, turned around, and screamed.

"Haley! God! You scared me!"

"Mom?" Winifred had heard her mother's initial scream and run to the door.

"It's okay," Peyton assured her as she reopened the door. "Aunt Haley just literally popped up."

"Hey kid-o," Haley said with a warm smile.

"Hi," Winifred said with a small yawn. Peyton walked her back over to the bed and tucked her back in. This time, when she reached the hallway, she smacked Haley.

"Hey! Pregnant woman!"

"Hello! Ever heard of making your presence known?"

"I have known you for almost fifteen years, Lucas for twenty. I've never knocked."

"You don't have to knock," Peyton hissed. "But at least make a little noise. You could scare a person to death." All the while, through their argument, they were headed back to Peyton's room.

"My God," Haley said as she saw Peyton reach down to turn the door handle, "you really were scared. You're still shaking."

"I just wasn't expecting it," Peyton said agitatedly. "What's up?"

"I found out you granted me a free day. Nathan and Jared just left with Lucas and the kids."

"I'm sure they'll have interesting stories to tell. What are you going to do with the time?"

"I thought I'd convince you to do some shopping, but I didn't realize Luke didn't take Fred with him."

"She's not feeling well."

"I noticed last night. What's up?"

"We don't know," Peyton said uncomfortably. "Just a little fever. I'm sure it's nothing."

"You don't sound sure," Haley noted.

"I'm not," Peyton said as she sat down and allowed her head to fall to her hands. "I don't know what to think. Is it normal? Everyone keeps telling me I'm imagining things. But she's sick."

"Fred did seem pretty upset last night when she stopped by."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen before you get mad," Haley said with a solemn expression. Peyton nodded for Haley to continue. "Maybe you're over-analyzing what's really there. Fred thinks you worry too much about her. Maybe all of your worrying is making her seem sicker than she actually is."

"You think I'm making my own child sick?" Peyton asked incredulously.

"No," Haley said quickly. "That came out wrong. No. I think that you worry too much. That's all. Give it time."

"That's what Lucas said."

"Lucas is a smart guy." They chatted for a few more minutes about Peyton's latest drawings and Haley's impending addition to the family. Eventually, Haley left to run her errands and Peyton continued to work on the laundry; a daunting task that, while not new, was her least favorite thing about life in general. If she thought Lucas could do the laundry without ruining her precious wardrobe, she would have thrown the task to him in their early years of marriage. As it was, he was trusted only with loads that couldn't possibly be ruined; such as bath towels and dishtowels. The day went by quickly for all involved and before she really had a chance to sit down and relax, her family returned.

Lucas walked in carrying a sleeping Gretchen while a very tired Ashton held onto his father's pocket and swayed a little as they entered the house. Ryan looked fairly content as he walked in behind the others but he headed straight to his room and turned on his MP3 Player. Peyton tried to enjoy a dinner alone with Lucas after the kids had fallen asleep but she was distracted. Eventually, she excused herself and he promised to do the dishes. Picking up her purse and car keys, she walked out the front door and got behind the wheel of her trusty old car. It may have been older than her, but Lucas made certain that it never stopped running well. After a walk around the park in the waning light, she found herself driving to a familiar spot.

Peyton rapped lightly on the door to the café, knowing that Karen was probably still inside getting ready for the next day. After a few seconds, the familiar figure appeared and opened the door with a smile after she saw it was her daughter in law on the other side. Peyton hugged Karen tightly, genuinely happy to see the one constant mother figure in her life. The grandmother of the blossoming Scott family still looked as young as ever but her brown hair was lightly sprinkled with flecks of silver that reminded everyone that she too was aging.

"Hi sweetie. How are you?" Peyton smiled half-heartedly. It was all the answer Karen needed. She relocked the front door and ushered the other woman into the kitchen where she had a fresh pot of tea already seeping.

"How's Keith?"

"Alright. Driving himself crazy at home. I'm glad he didn't hurt his back any sooner. I don't know if I would have married him if I knew he'd be around the house so much. He's more addicted to soaps than any woman I've ever met." They both laughed, but it was an obvious façade. Karen poured two cups of the steaming liquid and handed one to Peyton, studying her carefully. "You didn't come to talk about Keith."

"I don't want to worry you. But I needed someone to talk to. Luke doesn't always understand. He tries—"

"I love my son. But he's a man. And they don't understand certain things. What's going on?" Peyton took a deep breath and stared at the table for a moment, attempting to collect her scattered thoughts.

"Has Luke mentioned anything about Fred?"

"Not lately. Is something wrong?"

"I don't know," Peyton admitted in a frustrated tone. "She hasn't been herself in months. I don't know if you've noticed, but she's always sick."

"She does look pretty tired after school. But she's growing up Peyton. All the changes she's going through, they can drag you down for a while."

"I know, I thought of that. But it's just too weird. She gets fevers all the time and she's always sleeping. I've taken her to the doctors so many times that the receptionists know me by name. They think I'm crazy."

"What do you think?"

"Something's wrong," Peyton stated with a pleading look in her eyes; she needed someone to believe her. "It's been months since she's played. She doesn't play ball with Lucas anymore – it tires her out too fast."

"What does Lucas think?"

"That we should wait and see. He thinks she's just going through a phase or something."

"What do you think about waiting?"

"That's what you think we should do."

"I didn't say that," Karen argued.

"But that's what you think."

"Peyton," Karen said softly as she sat down across from her daughter-in-law, "when Lucas was little, I would rush him to the doctor's office for every little thing. It wasn't until he got a little older that I realized it was mostly in my mind. I was so afraid that something would happen to him, I convinced myself that he was possibly sick."

"So we wait."

"Unless you have a good indication that it's serious. Otherwise, rushing into things will just worry everyone." The answer wasn't exactly what Peyton had been looking for, but it was enough to pacify her worries. She returned home twenty minutes later to a waiting Lucas.

The title of the chapter comes from this quotation:

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
"Daughter am I in my mother's house;
But mistress in my own."
Our Lady of the Snows.