A/N: OK. As I keep writing this, there are a couple things to clear up.

ONE: The whole Lindsey debacle never happened. Basically, Lucas never really had his head quite that far up his......yeah. Anyway, Lindsey didn't exist that way. She will play a part in this story later on, though.

TWO: People are asking about Skills and Brooke...I wrote them together in a different story, and since then I've kind of been in love with the idea...so yeah, they are one of my guilty pleasure ships that we all know will never happen. So I'm writing them so that I can create my own new story line! Skills and Deb never hooked up because I kind of don't like that story line at all.

Hope that clears things up. If there's anything else, just ask.

This is kind of a filler chapter, but it's necessary to propel the story forward.

----

Nathan and Haley stood in their kitchen, him preparing cereal for himself, and her pouring a cup of coffee. He perched himself on a stool at the counter and watched as she haphazardly pulled her hair out of her face with an elastic. He couldn't hide his grin as he looked at her, and she smiled in return.

"So has Lucas been acting weird lately?" she asked, stirring milk into her mug.

"Yeah, he has actually," he admitted.

"Peyton's been really out of it. The other day I couldn't get her to focus on anything, and she left early. Then yesterday, she was just...off," Haley explained as she took a seat next to him. She didn't want to fill him in on her suspicion, since it was just speculation. The last thing she needed was to inadvertently start a rumor.

"They can't be having problems," he insisted, taking a spoonful of cereal.

"I don't know. Something's up, though." She placed her hand on his thigh unconsciously, and a smile spread to his face again. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing," he said through his grin.

He just loved all the little things she did like that. Almost 7 years of marriage, and they had fallen into that beautiful comfort, where they each did things the other loved, and they had absolutely no clue of the little, day-to-day things that made each other smile.

"Well, we're having dinner there tonight so maybe they'll fill us in," she pointed out.

"Or, maybe we could not meddle in their relationship," he said, earning him a playful slap on the leg. "Or, maybe everything will be back to normal."

"I hope so. I like them happy," she admitted wistfully.

"Me too," he said, kissing her temple.

"Nathan!" she squealed. "Now I have Cap'n Crunch and milk on my face."

"What? You love Cap'n Crunch," he teased, shrugging his shoulders as he grinned at her.

And she was about to argue, but he was right; she really did love Cap'n Crunch.

----

It was an early fall evening; the kind where you need to wear a sweater and the leaves are just beginning to turn from green. Jamie was running through the yard at Lucas and Peyton's while the four adults watched as he jumped and played, shouting for them to join him. Nathan and Lucas ran towards him and Lucas lifted him over his shoulder and spun him around, making the child giggle and shout happily.

Peyton and Haley just watched the scene unfold before them with smiles on their faces. Before Haley could ask if everything was OK, Peyton broke the silence.

"So, guess what?" she asked the brunette as they sat on the porch swing.

"What?"

"Skills has a little thing for Brooke, too!" Peyton dished.

"Really?" Haley asked excitedly.

"Apparently he asked Luke for inside info," she explained, pushing the swing slightly with her feet on the ground.

"Wow," Haley said. She looked back to the yard where Jamie was running from the two grown men. "Who would have thought? Although, when you think of it, it makes sense."

"I know, right? It's kind of weird that it didn't happen sooner," Peyton agreed.

After sitting in silence for a moment, Haley asked what she'd been dying to ask for three days. "Is everything OK with you?"

"Yeah, why?" Peyton asked with a furrowed brow. Everything was OK now, but she knew what Haley was referring to. She had been acting strange for a few days, and she felt bad not talking to her best friends about it.

"You just haven't seemed like yourself for the past couple days. I just wanted to make sure everything was good with you and Luke," she said, rushing her words out of worry.

"Everything's fine. I just wasn't feeling that great, that's all." It wasn't a lie, or so she told herself. It was just not the entire truth. But she didn't want their friends to know the real reason for her acting so distant.

"So you two are good?" Haley asked, her concern finally relenting.

Peyton looked towards the yard, where Jamie had pinned his uncle down and was attempting to tickle the older blonde. "We're great," she admitted. That was the truth.

Haley's gaze followed her friend's. "You guys should have one," she stated, making Peyton let out a breathy chuckle.

"Someday," she smiled, looking at her friend, who smiled back. All she could think of was that word and the way that Lucas had said it the night before. She found herself hoping that someday would come really soon.

"OK, boys," Haley shouted, getting up from her place and walking down the steps of the porch. "We should get home. We all have work tomorrow."

"I don't have work, mama!" Jamie shouted in protest.

"You aren't going to help me at practice tomorrow?" Lucas asked, lifting the child into his arms.

"That's not work, uncle Luke. You don't pay me," he pointed out and the four adults laughed.

"Your uncle Luke is poor, son. He can't afford to pay you," Nathan joked.

"Sorry you're poor, uncle Luke," Jamie said sincerely. Haley and Peyton laughed at the statement.

Lucas kissed the child on the forehead and handed him to his father. "Thanks, Jamie."

"We'll see you guys later," Haley said, hugging Lucas and Peyton. "Thanks for dinner."

They said their goodbyes and watched as their family drove off towards their own house. Peyton made them some tea and they sat under a blanket on the porch swing as it got dark, just rocking slowly and talking.

It was something they'd started in the summer, right after their honeymoon when they were craving that sense of home, and wanting to create it together. He'd asked, when the weather was still warm, what they'd do once it turned colder, and she said they'd manage, but she didn't want to give up those nights with him. They didn't do it all the time; just one or two nights a week, when everything was quiet in their little town. Sometimes they'd read, or talk, or kiss, but more often than not, they'd just sit, each pushing with their feet and keeping a steady rhythm, content to just exist together in the silence.

"You're so good with him," Peyton pointed out, recalling the way he acted with Jamie.

"Jamie? I guess so," Lucas said modestly, putting his arm around her.

"Are you kidding? That kid loves you," she said with a smile.

"You too," he whispered, kissing her temple as she leaned in closer to his side. "Nathan says he calls you his cool aunt Peyton."

"I am cool aunt Peyton," she stated and felt him chuckle.

"So, should we talk about it?" he asked after a few moments.

"About what?"

"Kids. When we're going to have them," he clarified, and she pulled back to look at him.

"We probably should," she said, looking down into her mug.

"You know, I thought that we should wait a year before even considering it. But now I feel like...I don't know. I feel like I might be ready," he quietly confessed, and he noticed the smile on her face as he finished.

"Yeah?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, contrary to what my brother says, we're not poor. And once this book is released, we'll be even better. I mean, obviously it's not just my decision to make, but I think we could do it, Peyt," he finished.

"Just now when I saw you with Jamie, I felt like I was so ready," she said, placing her arm on his on the back of the swing.

"But?" he asked, looking down.

"But nothing," she admitted. "I just worry about your book tour and me being alone."

"The tour is only a month," he pointed out.

"And you're going to leave your potentially pregnant and hormonal wife at home to fend for herself?" she asked, trying not to get upset that he didn't understand her concern.

"You'd have Nathan and Haley and Brooke and everyone," he countered.

"OK, fine, Luke. But none of those people are you!" she argued.

"Are we really going to fight about this?" he huffed. "I mean, is there a rush on this?"

"OK, you're confusing me, Lucas, because two seconds ago you were ready to paint freaking ducks on a nursery wall, and now you're saying you want to wait," she said, as calmly as she could.

"I'm only saying that because you just told me you didn't want to be alone!" he proclaimed, louder than he intended. "Maybe this is a conversation we should have inside where the neighbours can't hear us."

"Maybe we just shouldn't have it at all," she said softly, but there was disappointment and defeat in her voice.

"Peyton..."

"No Luke," she interrupted. "If we can't agree on this, we're clearly not ready."

With that, she took the empty mug from his hands and rose to walk back into the house. She was in the kitchen drying the dishes they'd done earlier, when he came back inside and dropped the blanket they'd been beneath onto the couch.

He stood leaning against the door frame of the kitchen and watched her as she put glasses away in the cupboard. She didn't acknowledge he was there, because she knew he hated when she did that, and she was just in that kind of mood.

"Can you please not just shut down?" he requested, crossing his arms.

"I'm not," she shrugged, with her back still to him. She could practically hear him rolling his eyes in frustration. "I'm just not talking about it any more."

"And if you're not calling that shutting down, what are you calling it?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

She placed her hands on the counter in front of her and hung her head. She knew she was being difficult. She hated fighting with him, because they'd spent so much time apart and all she wanted to do was love him. And she knew this argument was kind of silly, though the subject certainly wasn't. This was a huge, life changing decision, and they needed to have a serious conversation, so though it almost killed her to do it, she gave in.

"It would be nice if you could for once, not be right," she said, not moving from her position.

He heard her smile as she spoke, and walked towards her, placing his hands on her hips as he stood behind her. He knew how hard it would have been for her to be the first to cave, so he met her halfway.

"Sorry," he said softly.

"For what?" she asked. "For being a jerk or for being right?"

He laughed slightly. "Both?"

"Good." She moved from her place and continued tidying the kitchen.

"Come here," he said, grabbing her elbow and gently pulling her towards him. "I want to have a baby with you." His tone was soft but convincing, and she could see in his eyes how true the statement was.

A smile spread across her face. How could she not smile at that admission?

This is how their arguments went. They'd get angry for about five minutes, one would walk away, then ten minutes later all was forgiven and they were in each others' arms.

"Two days ago you were terrified, and now you have like, baby fever," she teased, snaking her arms around him.

"Well, if you think about it," he started, grabbing her hand and leading her to the living room, "if we wait until after the book tour, that's another month and a half before we're even trying. Then 9 months after that, assuming it happens right away. That's almost a full year from now." She sat on the couch and he sat on the coffee table in front of her.

"Jeez!" she exclaimed. "How much have you thought about this?"

"Just a little bit, I swear," he insisted, a slight blush creeping to his cheeks.

"If you weren't so adorable right now, I'd probably make fun of you," she said, leaning forward and kissing him sweetly.

"Does that mean you're OK with that timeline?" he asked, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"It means that I think we should sit down at a later date and seriously see if we can do it."

"Oh, we can do it," he joked, raising his eyebrows and grinning suggestively.

"Lucas," she warned. "I'm serious. I want to be smart about this."

"You're right," he agreed.

"I think that timeline sounds alright. And can we not tell people, especially your mom, until the time comes?" She looked into his eyes to prove she was serious.

"Why not?" he asked innocently.

"Please! First time grandmother? You remember how Deb was," she pointed out with a laugh.

"Come on. Give my mother more credit than that. She's a little bit less crazy than Deb," he argued with a smile.

"For now! Until she finds out she's going to have a grandchild," she teased, making him smirk and roll his eyes at her, but he nodded, because he understood what she was saying.

"Are we really going to do this?" he asked, almost shocked, looking at their intertwined hands and the bands that adorned them.

"After the book tour?" she inquired quietly.

"After the book tour," he repeated, leaning forward to kiss her.

This was the life she'd always wanted. A family with a man who loved her more than anything. She wanted the kind of family she'd only had for a short amount of time before it had been ripped from her so unceremoniously.

She had always known, probably from their first kiss, that Lucas was the one for her. They were meant for each other. She remembered that conversation at 18, dreaming of their future together and talking about that far-off day when they'd have a baby.

That day seemed closer than ever, and knowing that made her happier than she ever imagined.