Chapter 5 Count All the Bees in the Hive

The next morning was hectic simply because it was the first day of school. Despite laying her clothes out the night before, Winifred couldn't find just the right shoes to go with her outfit and Ryan was mystified as to why he couldn't wear a huge, heavy black hoodie in eighty degree weather. Gretchen sat in her highchair and giggled good-naturedly as she watched her parents and siblings run around that morning. After standing for their mother's obligatory first-day-of-school picture, the three oldest Scott siblings scrambled into their dad's SUV and watched in disgust as Peyton and Lucas kissed goodbye.

"Have a good day," Peyton called after them as she waved from the driveway, Gretchen holding her other hand and also waving. "You think they're going to be okay, baby?" Gretchen grinned in answer. "Me too, me too," Peyton agreed softly as she swung the little girl up into her arms and walked back into the house. After cleaning up a little and running the sweeper, Peyton sat Gretchen down with a few toys in the 'pen' Lucas had created for her in the corner of their office. The little girl couldn't actually go anywhere; but she seemed content with her little play area between the back of the sofa, two window seats, and her mom's drawing table. Having Gretchen confined to a certain space was the only way Peyton could get any work done during the day.

Trying not to think about the rest of the family and what they might be coming across, Peyton pulled out one of her sketchpads and starting working on the next installment of one of her comic strips. She was freelance and had always been after she had gotten pregnant in college. It gave her something to focus on, though, and her work was becoming quite popular up and down the east coast. Her creations brought in enough money to ensure that they would never have to worry about their children's education and allowed her to feel less guilt over her ever-growing music collection. The well cared for vinyl records and musical CDs were housed along built-in bookshelves in their game room downstairs along side Lucas's collection of rare and first-edition books.

That particular morning, she and Gretchen listened to a mix of Beatles songs as they worked and played. The phone rang just before noon and Peyton stretched before picking it up. "It's Daddy," she said to Gretchen before answering.

"Hey Luke."

"Caller ID just takes away all the fun," he said jokingly.

"It's lunch time," she said, a bit surprised.

"What would you do if I didn't call at lunch?"

"Miss lunch," Peyton answered honestly. "What's on the menu for today?"

"Something that looks like old gym socks," he paused and Peyton could hear another voice in the background, "Haley tells me they're dumplings. And this gray stuff is turkey." His voice suddenly grew lower and more secretive. "I'm sticking with the gym socks theory." Peyton laughed and stood up, stretching further and cringing as her back and knees cracked. She really did some damage sitting at her desk all morning.

"Tell Hales hello for me." Lucas and Haley worked together, he as the advanced English teacher and she as the honors Calculus teacher. It sometimes made Peyton jealous that they still shared so much, but it made it easier that Haley was also one of her very best friends. Her best friend, most of the time, since she almost never saw Brooke.

"She says hello back. How are you guys?"

"Peachy. Did everyone get off alright this morning?"

"Without a hitch. They were all fine. I got Ryan's MP3 player off of him just in time."

"That's my kid," she said with a chuckle.

"He's more like the two of us than we'd ever want to admit," he added. "So far, it seems like a good first day. But I miss my girls. Kiss Gretch for me. Have a good lunch."

"You too. Don't choke on the gym socks. Love you."

"Love you too. See you soon." Peyton hung up the phone and looked over at Gretchen, who was contentedly stacking wooden blocks into a dozen or so towers.

"Building your own metropolis, babe?" Gretchen looked at her and grinned mischievously before clapping and then unceremoniously knocking the towers over. Peyton raised her eyebrows in surprise and shook her head. "Whatever you want, kid." She picked up the tiny girl and kissed her on top of her blond curls. "Time for lunch." Gretchen sat in her highchair and squealed to the tune of Stereophonics while Peyton danced around the kitchen and made lunch. She usually kept the music light around the kids; her precious musical preferences just weren't family friendly.

After lunch, they locked up the house and took a stroll, Peyton walking at a dauntingly slow pace so that Gretchen's tiny, fumbling steps could keep up. A slight breeze blew, rustling the still-green leaves as they walked through the quiet neighborhood. In her more paranoid moods, Peyton often wondered how safe it was in her neighborhood during the day; not many people stayed at home and it often felt like she and Gretchen were completely alone.

Gretchen went down for a nap and Peyton was able to finish one more strip before she heard the door open just after three thirty. Putting her pencil down, she took a deep breath and went to the kitchen, where she found Ashton looking through the refrigerator.

"Chocolate chip cookies in the jar," Peyton told him.

"Cool," he said in a non-committal voice as he grabbed the milk and set it on the counter.

"How was school?"

"Good."

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"Where's your brother?" Ashton shrugged his shoulders, poured milk into a glass, and grabbed a handful of cookies, which he carried over to the island. He was sitting, munching on his snack, when Ryan walked in toting a pretty young girl behind.

"Hi," Peyton said when she saw them.

"Hi mom," Ryan said in a tone and with an expression that warned her not to make him look stupid. "This is Laura. Laura, this is my mom."

"Hi," the young girl said shyly. She kept her blue eyes cast down at the floor the entire time. She had a pretty smile but Peyton could see that she was almost painfully reserved.

"Hi, nice to meet you. Why don't you two sit down and have a snack?" Peyton walked over to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of iced tea and then watched Ryan walk around and gather a snack for himself and Laura. She was surprised when he chose yogurt and ice water; who was he and what had he done with her sugar-loving son?

"You guys be ready to go in an hour. We have to pick Fred up at the school."

"You said Ashton was your only brother," Laura said softly.

"Fred's a girl. Winifred."

"Oh."

"My mom and dad are sort of weird. I'm lucky I got Ryan." Laura nodded, not quite sure how else to answer his statement.

"How was your day, you two?"

"Good mom," Ryan said sullenly, trying to convey his displeasure at being spoken to by his mother in front of a friend. Laura simply smiled a bit and looked down at the counter, allowing her hair to curtain her flushed cheeks.

"Can I go ride bikes with Kiefer?" Ashton asked as soon as he had downed the cookies and milk.

"Any homework?"

"Nope."

"Go ahead. Be home by quarter to five. We have to go and get Fred."

"Okay," Ashton yelled over his shoulder as he ran out the door, grabbing his helmet from the hall closet as he want. Peyton excused herself and walked up to the second floor to check on Gretchen, who was awake and playing with one of her dolls. It was a pretty rag-doll type thing that Haley had made when Peyton was stuck in the hospital before the baby's birth. The fourth pregnancy had been difficult for the entire family and Peyton still thanked God every night that she had Gretchen in her life.

Sorry... this chapter ends a bit abruptly because it's mostly fluff, I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Thanks for reading!

The title comes from the refrain of "Return to Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins.

"So help me if you can/ I've got to get back/ To the House at Pooh Corner by one/ You'd be surprised/ There's so much to be done/ Count all the bees in the hive/ Chase all the clouds from the sky/ Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh"