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Chapter 28 Home is Where the Heart Is

"The chief approved the idea," Vegas said as he walked back into the living room. "She can stay here at least until her parents are questioned."

"Thanks Vegas," Lucas said as he stood to shake his hand. "It was good to see you."

"You too, Luke. It's crazy, all you still together after all these years. Really crazy. I'll see myself out. You take care, little miss," he said with a smile at Laura.

"Thanks Vegas," Peyton called after him. "He hasn't changed much since high school," she observed as soon as he was gone from the room.

"I should get home. Brooke's probably going crazy with all those kids," Jake said as he stood up.

"Thanks Jake," Peyton said with a smile.

"Anytime," he returned. He leaned down, hugged Peyton and then Laura, and dropped a kiss on the top of Peyton's head. "I'm still paying you back for all that free babysitting in high school."

"Consider the balance even."

"Will do."

"I'll go with him and get the kids. And we'll pick something up from the café for dinner," Lucas offered.

"Sounds great." After they kissed goodbye and Lucas left the house, Peyton turned her attention back to the two children who had been through so much in one day. "What do you guys think about eating upstairs in the guest room?"

"Can we watch Finding Nemo? Laura's never seen it," Ryan suggested.

"Sure," Peyton agreed. "Let's get it set up." She helped Laura up the stairs and into the guest bedroom, where Ryan was already attempting to plug in the DVD player. Peyton showed her where the bathroom was and a few other important things before she went downstairs to wait for the arrival of the rest of the family.

Lucas brought sandwiches and soup for the whole family, two portions of which they fixed on antique dinner trays that had belonged to her great grandmother and carried up the stairs to Laura and Ryan. Laura was snuggled in between a huge pile of pillow against the headboard while Ryan sprawled across the foot of the bed. Both were intently watching the television when Peyton and Lucas walked in with their dinner.

"Hey guys."

"Grandma sent a surprise dessert," Lucas said in a secretive manner.

"She makes really good cheesecake," Ryan told Laura matter-of-factly.

"Enjoy," Peyton said with a smile. "We'll be back a little later."

"Eat up," Lucas chimed in.

"Do they usually let you eat in your room?" Laura asked after the two left.

"Never," Ryan said solemnly. "They're really big on family dinner stuff."

"They seem like a nice family."

"They're pretty cool," Ryan agreed. "My mom can be a little weird sometimes, but my dad says all girls are."

"He seems nice too."

"My dad? He is. He's one of the good ones, mom always says. Aunt Haley too. Maybe you can meet her. She's really nice. Not as much fun as mom, but she helps with homework. It's not hard when she explains it."

"You're lucky. You have a nice family."

"I'm sorry about your mom and dad. How come you never told anybody what they did?" Laura shrugged her shoulders and turned her full attention to picking at her food, signaling to Ryan that she no longer wanted to talk. Having genetically gained a lot of perception from his dad, Ryan took the hint and tried to get her interested in the movie again.

Later that night, after Peyton had Laura tucked into bed, Lucas knocked on his son's door. "Come in," Ryan mumbled. He was sitting in bed with a copy of The BFG but it didn't look like he was getting very far with it. Lucas could also see a sketchbook poking out from under the covers, where it was probably shoved after Ryan heard someone at the door. The young boy was extremely private about his art, even more so than his mother had been before she had met Lucas.

"Hey," Lucas said as he walked in and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hey dad."

"I'm really proud of you, for what you did today."

"Skipping school?"

"Well, not that part. But you went with your instincts and you really helped someone. And that's something to be proud of." Ryan refused to look at his dad, but Lucas could tell his son was pleased with the compliment. He stood up and was about to leave the room again when Ryan's voice stopped him.

"Dad?"

"Yeah Ry?"

"Why do people do stuff like that?" Lucas took a deep breath and closed the door, looking away from his son as long as possible and hoping for an acceptable answer to surface. None did. Sitting back down on the soft blue comforter, hundreds of possible answers swam through Lucas's mind and he attempted in vain to sort them out. "It's okay, you don't have to answer—"

Ryan was smart enough and old enough to realize that this was not a subject the adults liked to discuss. Just like when Aunt Haley got mad at Uncle Nathan or when Aunt Brooke got silly at one of his parents parties. There were certain topics adults didn't like to discuss around kids, and what happened at Laura's house was apparently one of them.

"I wish I had an answer." It was the most honest statement Lucas could make at the moment and they always tried to be honest with their children. Hiding your feelings and lying simply complicated things and nothing needed to be complicated in a house with four kids. "I don't know how some people can hurt people they love. But unfortunately it happens. And they need to get help, because it's never alright to hurt someone else."

"Is Laura gonna be alone now?"

"No," Lucas answered honestly. "She's not ever going to be alone when she has good friends. And she has that in this family. We'll make sure she's alright." Ryan seemed satisfied with that answer; he knew that his parents wouldn't let anything happen to the little girl. He had always known that no matter what the circumstances, he could trust his parents.

Peyton thought she could possibly close her eyes and fall asleep in the hallway, but she forced herself to knock on Winifred's closed door. "Come in," the young girl called.

"Hey sweetie," Peyton said as she entered. Her oldest daughter was ready for bed, already slipped between the covers and reading a book. "Going to bed soon?"

"Ten o'clock," Winifred promised.

"How was school?"

"Really good. Mrs. Cramer let me play the review game in history, even though I missed, and our team won. Jason, this kid in my class, said that they won because of me. I knew every question. Dad was right about all the important stuff—"

"He usually is," Peyton answered with a smile.

"You're smart too, mom," Winifred said after she realized that she might be causing her mom to feel a bit left out.

"I have several of my own talents," Peyton agreed. "I'm sorry we didn't get to talk more after school."

"You had stuff going on. Is Ryan's friend going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine," Peyton answered gently.

"Is she staying here long?" Winifred asked carefully, not wanting to be rude but also clearly alarmed at the fate of her personal space. There wasn't a plethora of extra room in their home.

"Not too long. You don't have to worry."

"I'm not worried—"

"Sure you aren't," Peyton said with a knowing smile. "Don't worry. Your dad and I never had to share a room before we got married. We'd never subject you to the horror." She smiled and shook her head as her mind wandered to other happenings of the day. "How was everyone after school?"

"We were fine. Really, Aunt Brooke's not that bad."

"No, I never thought so," Peyton said with a chuckle. She had spent most of her own days with Brooke after school and part of her wished that her children were closer to Brooke. But somehow the perky brunette always seemed to send off signals that left kids weary of her. Gretchen was usually just plain terrified when she was left with Brooke.

"Dad does."

"Well, your Dad and Aunt Brooke and I have some history that makes the two of them not so happy with one another all the time."

"Dad called her a slut."

"Winifred!"

"I heard her say that to Uncle Jake one day—"

"Don't you repeat that," Peyton warned. She couldn't believe that such an old incident had found its way into her daughter's knowledge bank. "Your Dad didn't mean anything by it, it was a confusing time. And it was a really long time ago."

"I didn't think Dad would ever say that."

"No, it's not a nice thing. Let's just keep this between you and me, all right? And don't worry about Aunt Brooke. We love her. I think we'll keep her around for a while," Peyton said as she reached out to tickle Fred. The young girl squealed and attempted to fight back, but her mother was too quick. Soon, they were throwing the decorative pillows and stuffed animals at one another. They must have gotten pretty loud because when they looked up, they found Lucas, Ryan, and Gretchen standing in the doorway, staring at them.

"Sorry," Peyton said quickly, uselessly attempting to hide the pillow she was holding. Fred quickly scooted under her covers, attempting not to giggle.

"You could have some consideration for those of us who are trying to be adult-like," Lucas said in a serious voice. Peyton scoffed and stuck her tongue out at him before throwing the pillow, hitting him square in the face. That sent Gretchen into a fit of gleeful laughed, which only continued when Lucas picked her up and playfully threw her on the bed before reinstating the pillow fight. Ryan simply stood in the doorway, shaking his head at his strange family. The action eventually died down when Gretchen almost tumbled off the bed and Peyton resumed her watchful mother-mode.

"Okay, enough fun. It's time for bed. For everyone," she said with a weary look at Ryan.

"Hey, I would have been sleeping already if you guys hadn't been playing."

"Likely story," Peyton said sarcastically. "Good night, my love." She blew Ryan a kiss and then kissed Gretchen before handing her off to Lucas, who was trying to straighten his hair that had been ruffled in all the action.