Peyton was well into her 4th month of pregnancy by the time she'd compiled a suitable list of possible employees. The few interviews she'd had were...well, disastrous. A high school drop out with a mohawk and a leather jacket, a 40-something failed guitarist turned bread baker, and a single mom looking to take on her 3rd job. She was sympathetic to each of them, but she just didn't believe that any of them were the perfect person for the job.
Lucas had insisted that he or Nathan be there for each interview 'just in case'. She didn't really understand what that meant, but he explained that you never know who you might encounter, and that he didn't want her alone with these strangers. She just kissed his cheek and thanked him for worrying about her, and agreed because she knew it would put him at ease.
She'd decided to do the rest of her interviews all in one day, and Lucas had two practices to run, so Nathan joined her and sat in her office reading a stack of sports magazines he'd brought to keep himself occupied. He would have complained, but he actually kind of liked hanging out with Peyton while she worked. He didn't have to do anything at all, just sit there. He went out and got them lunch, and then the two of them had a long overdue one-on-one conversation. Things had been so crazy since the dual pregnancies that they hadn't had much time to hang out just the two of them.
After three horrible interviews in the morning, and one alright one that she still wasn't sold on, Peyton was starting to think that the perfect person just didn't exist. She was in the middle of playing an unsigned rapper's demo for Nathan to get his opinion, when a young woman, about 23, stepped confidently into the office.
"Hi," she said as she walked towards them, and Nathan turned down the music. "I'm Desiree. I know I'm kind of early."
"It's OK," Peyton said with a smile, shaking the girl's hand. "I'm Peyton, this is my brother-in-law Nathan. He's kind of my body guard for the day."
"Wow," Desiree laughed. "Not a bad gig. Get to listen to some cool hip hop and hang out in this awesome office."
Nathan smiled and threw Peyton a look, knowing by now, that comments like that we well appreciated by his friend. The two women sat down across from each other, and he stood from where he'd been sitting on the edge of Peyton's desk.
"Could be worse," Nathan said. "She could be in a bad mood, then it'd be torture."
"Nathan!" Peyton exclaimed with a laugh. "Don't scare her away!"
"Alright. I'll be over there reading about the financial state of the NBA," he said with a smile, nodding towards Peyton's newest potential employee.
"Well, I have your resumé, and it looks great," Peyton said, looking down at the professionally put together document in front of her. "I'll be honest, the rest of my interviews haven't been that great, so I'm a little jaded. I guess I'm just wondering why you want this job."
"I just love music. I always have. I want the opportunity to be a part of something that becomes someone's favourite thing, you know?" Desiree said. "I guess that sounds...confusing. I just mean, I want to have a hand in creating an album that changes someone's life. I want to hear a song and know that it'll be someone's favourite song. And since I have no musical talent whatsoever, administration is pretty much the closest I'll get to that feeling."
"OK," Peyton said with a smile. Yeah, this was her girl, and she knew it already. "So tell me about your last job, Desiree."
"Oh, most people call me Des," she explained with a smile. "I interned at a radio station in Charlotte for a while, just learning the ins and outs of that before I moved here to be closer to the water. I figured it was either here or L.A., and here was closer."
"Trust me, you don't want to be in L.A.," Peyton warned as she laughed.
"Well, the job was great, and I learned a lot about playlists and charts and marketing," she explained. "I'd liaise with label reps and..."
"OK, you know what? It doesn't matter. You so have the job," Peyton said, smiling because it was so obvious that this was the best candidate she'd seen. "Let's talk responsibilities. And when can you start?"
"Tomorrow too soon?" Des said with a smile.
"Can I go now?" Nathan asked from his place, watching as Peyton nodded. "Later, Sawyer. Nice to meet you Des."
"Nate!" Peyton called out when he was nearly at the door. "Can you tell Luke to get chips and salsa? But not the cheap kind! The good kind."
"I'm on it," he said with a laugh before sliding the door closed behind him.
"Chips and salsa is not nearly as weird a craving as my sister had when she was pregnant," Des said with a laugh. "She was all about the weirdest things. It'd make you sick to think about."
"Yeah, I haven't had any of that. But my husband's been to every grocery store in a 20 mile radius trying to find the specific things I want," Peyton said, smiling at the memory of Lucas stumbling through the door at midnight, triumphantly holding up organic chicken pesto pizza.
"So Nathan, he's...?"
"My husband's half-brother," Peyton explained. "And his wife, who is also pregnant, is my husband's best friend. Nathan and I used to date." She watched as Desiree's eyes went wide. "Yeah, you'll learn quickly that Tree Hill is....well, let's just say that relationships here are complicated."
"I can see that!"
The two spent the rest of the afternoon going over everything Desiree needed to know before officially starting work the next day. Peyton felt a sense of relief wash over her at the knowledge that she'd found someone who was actually qualified - maybe more than qualified - to help her.
----
A few nights later, after Peyton came home from work exhausted, Lucas had dinner ready and waiting for her, and they'd eaten together before she went into the bedroom and sat on the bed, notebook and sketchpad at her disposal.
He followed her into the room and was using pointless details of his day's practice to distract her from noticing that he wasn't doing the chore he should have been doing.
Lucas was an amazing husband, it was no secret. The one thing she hated was that he rarely did dishes. He claimed it was because he'd done so many dishes growing up, working in his mom's café, that he hated the task. She explained that no one liked doing dishes, but that it wouldn't kill him to help her out.
"Babe, can you please do the dishes?" she begged after five minutes of idle chatter.
Busted.
"I will," he promised. "I just...I thought we could talk about names."
He was good. Of course, he'd use that as his excuse to skirt the duty, knowing she wouldn't be able to say no. The smile he saw on her face let him know that she was aware that he was playing her.
"OK. You have any ideas?" she asked, moving so she was sitting back against the pillows.
He just stared at her growing stomach for a moment, smiling for a few reasons. One, it was just so damned cute. Two, it was his child growing inside there. And three, he had no clue that his wife could get any more beautiful than he'd already thought she was, until now. Her skin glowed and her eyes were brighter and she carried the pregnancy well.
"Quit your staring. It's creepy," she scolded playfully.
"I'm sorry," he laughed. "You're just gorgeous."
"Stop it," she said, blushing. She loved him for this. There was never a day yet in this pregnancy that she felt anything less than beautiful. Well, not really. She'd had her moments of doubt, but they were erased relatively quickly. And it was all because of her husband.
"Never," he promised, leaning forward to kiss her.
"So, what are you thinking?" she asked, watching as he walked across the room.
They'd already settled on, if it was a boy, the middle name being Nathan . She'd questioned him on whether he'd like the middle name to be Keith, but he'd said that Keith's memory would remain just as strong if they didn't name their child after him. He hadn't said as much, but assumed that it would have just been another painful reminder of the man who was torn away from him so unceremoniously. She'd broach the subject again at a later date - though she didn't expect him to change his mind - but for now, she'd let it rest.
"Don't make fun of me, OK?" he started, grabbing a book from a bag on his desk. "I bought a baby name book."
"Oh, honey. You're such a dork," she teased lovingly, placing her hand on his cheek as he sat down next to her.
"I know. But I wanted us to be prepared," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"It's smart," she conceded with a smile. "I have some ideas, I think."
"You do?" he asked curiously. She'd never mentioned anything about names. They'd barely talked about it, but she hadn't ever offered any suggestions.
"Of course. If I left it to you, our baby would be named Faulkner or Salinger or...Charles or something," she said, pulling a face that let him know in no uncertain terms that those weren't viable options.
"Well, I would have suggested Orwell, but I thought that was kind of far fetched," he teased.
"Not a chance," she insisted, making chuckle smile as he opened the book.
"How about," he drawled out, flipping the book to the page with the name he'd already had in mind. "Ben. Benjamin."
"Hmm. Benjamin Nathan Scott," she said softly. She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head in the negative. "Nope."
"What? Why?" he asked.
"Both names end with 'N'. It sounds weird," she shrugged.
"You are already taking this too seriously," he said, shaking his head.
"Says the guy who bought a book on the topic. Besides, this is our child's name, Luke! It's pretty much the most serious decision we can make," she explained, looking straight into his eyes. He just nodded. His wife was nothing if not convincing.
"What about Sophia?" he asked.
"You want to name our son Sophia?" Her tone was teasing, and it made him roll his eyes.
"If it's a girl, you goof," he reprimanded.
"I don't know," she said with a grimace.
"Come on! Little Sophie Scott!? How cute is that!?" he asked boyishly. She had never been able to say no to him when he acted like that. There was something in his tone when he got that excited that she just couldn't deny.
"Alright, it's pretty cute. What does it mean, though?"
"OK, you are at least this name meaning stuff way too seriously," he said, shaking his head as he flipped to the page he needed. "It means wisdom. Sounds like my kid."
"What name means 'conceited jackass'?" she asked with her head tilted and her eyes narrowed.
"Hang on, I'm busy looking up 'evil wife'," he teased, earning him a slap on the arm. She glared at him and he just laughed.
"Sophie Scott," she said again quietly. "It does have a nice ring to it."
"I really like it," he smiled, happy that she agreed with him.
"What about middle names for girls?" she asked. "We can't choose between Haley and Brooke. Someone's going to be hurt."
"You're right," he nodded. "And if we use neither, they're going to ask questions about that, too."
"We are amazing friends, you know that?" she asked, turning her body to his completely. "We are having a baby and we're worried about hurting our friends!"
"Well, we can just hope it's a boy," he laughed. "Then we won't have a problem."
"But we don't have first names for a boy!" she pointed out, exasperatedly.
"OK. I'm going to open this book to a random page and pick a name, and we'll discuss it. And we'll just do that until we find something we both like," he said. He fanned through the pages before opening the book again. "Landon."
"Ooo! Like A Walk To Remember!" she exclaimed dreamily, clasping her hands beneath her chin.
"No. Veto. No way," he said, shaking his head vigorously.
"Landon Nathan Scott!" she sang, using her best puppy dog eyes.
"Nope. We have the 'N' - 'N' problem. Not gonna work," he pointed out with a smug smile.
"Come on, baby. At least tell me what it means," she begged. She heard him sigh and it made her laugh at the effect she had on him.
"From the long hill," he read. "What does that even mean?"
"Long hill. Tree Hill," she said with a smile. "Come on! It's fitting!"
"Yeah, except I hate it," he pointed out. "He won't be a kick ass ball player with a name like Landon."
"I hate you right now, you know that?" she teased as she leaned forward to kiss him, realizing the action didn't support her words. He just laughed and flipped through the book again.
"Kingsley," he said, as he pondered the name. "Kingsley Nathan Scott."
"It's...not horrible," she said, as she too thought about it.
"From the king's field," he explained. "OK. Write that down. That's a maybe."
"Yeah," she smiled and nodded, jotting the name in her notebook. "A maybe. Come on. Another name, please, Mr. Scott."
"Isaac," he read. He said it as though it was the obvious choice they just hadn't found yet. He looked at her and her whole face lit up. That was their name. He knew it as soon as he looked at her.
"Isaac Nathan," she said. She didn't know why, but there was a tear pooling in her eye. That was all the proof she needed that it was perfect.
"I'd tell you what it means, but I don't think it matters," he said with a smile as he placed his hand on her knee.
"Not really," she laughed, intertwining her fingers with his. "But tell me anyway."
"He will laugh," he read. Her smile only grew bigger.
"That's all I want for him," she said, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"I love you," he said softly after noticing just what effect that decision had on her. Their son, if it was a son, had a name. He wiped away her tears and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Love you, too. Now...go do the dishes, please," she demanded. He groaned and she just laughed. She knew he'd hoped that she'd forget, but he simply wasn't that lucky.
He got up off their bed and made his way, reluctantly, to the kitchen. He knew he had to help, and that it wouldn't take that long to tidy up, he just really, really freaking hated doing dishes.
She sat alone on their bed, writing the name they'd chosen along with hers and Lucas'. She looked to the previous page in her book where they'd jotted down some girls' names. She still believed it was a boy, but she wanted them to be prepared in case, on the off chance, they did have a girl. Sophia Scott stared back at her, and she tapped her pencil as she tried to think of a middle name that might fit.
After about 20 minutes, he was just finishing the last of the pots they'd used for dinner, when he heard her calling frantically from the bedroom.
"Luke!" she shouted. "Lucas!"
"What!?" he asked worriedly as he rushed back into the room. The smile on her face put him at ease almost immediately. God, he hated when she did that to him.
"I have ideas!" she said excitedly.
"So you wanted to make me sick with worry by shouting like you were dying? Jeez, Peyton," he laughed as he sat on the edge of the bed. His heart rate was slowly returning to normal.
"Sorry," she laughed as she rubbed his back soothingly.
"Ideas for what?" he finally asked.
"Girly middle names," she said with a smile.
"Hit me," he said.
"OK. Rose is one. Kind of like Roe. Sophia Rose Scott," she said. She gave him only a moment to think before she said the next one. "And Bailey. Like a combination of Brooke and Haley."
"Are you serious?" he asked with a slight laugh.
"Dead serious," she said. "Sophia Bailey Scott."
"OK," he smiled. He'd teased her earlier, but he kind of loved that she was taking this so seriously.
"OK? That's it? Do you like it, though?" she asked.
"I think it's kind of perfect," he said with a nod. "Sophia Bailey or Isaac Nathan."
"Do you like it better than Rose?" she inquired. She needed to know exactly how he felt, and she was a little worried that he hadn't given it enough thought.
"We can save Rose for the next one," he smiled before standing again.
"Whoa. Wait. Next one?" she asked hurriedly.
"Next baby, yeah," he said nonchalantly as he continued into the kitchen.
"Hang on a second, there, Scott," she called as she got up as quickly as being 4 months pregnant would allow, and followed him. "Let's just have this one before we start thinking about more, OK?"
"I'm just saying!" he defended.
"Don't just say!" she said quickly. "Seriously. You should not be looking that far into the future, OK?"
"Calm down, babe," he laughed. "You know what I meant. Hey, it's too bad we aren't having twins! If it were a boy and a girl, we..."
"Lucas Scott, if you know what's good for you, you will not finish that sentence," she scolded playfully, making him throw his hands up in surrender.
----
Nathan and Haley sat in bed after they'd tucked Jamie in, and Nathan noticed that Haley was off in her own world. Since the news they'd gotten at their first official appointment, they'd both been off in space, wondering how this happened to them.
"What's wrong?" he asked, shutting off the TV and turning to look at her.
"We have to tell people," she said, shaking her head. "I can't believe we haven't yet."
"You're the one who said you wanted to give ourselves time to get used to the idea," he said, in his own defense.
"I know. I can't believe they didn't notice that we showed them Jamie's sonogram and not this one," she said with a slight laugh, remembering the fear she felt when she handed her friends the same photo they'd already seen years before.
"Come on, all sonograms look the same," he pointed out, making her laugh again. "But I guess we do have to tell them. I mean, we can't very well wait until you're in labour."
"Well," she said. "We could. Can you imagine the looks on their faces? 'Surprise guys, we have twins!'"
"And if Luke has another heart attack, at least we'll be at the hospital," Nathan said, smirking as he watched his wife's expression change.
"Not so funny," she insisted.
"Come on, I was joking," he said, pulling her into his side.
"We should tell them this weekend at Brooke's," Haley suggested, letting herself get comfortable resting against her husband's chest. "Everyone'll be there."
"Yeah. Karen's coming in, right?" Nathan asked.
Haley just nodded and he could tell she was about to drift off to sleep, so he let her pull away and roll onto her side, wedging a pillow against her back. He kissed her goodnight and turned off the bedside lamp, but he lay awake for a while, thrilled and terrified and overwhelmed by the knowledge that they were going to have two babies to care for in just a number of months.
----
"Honestly Skills, you have to be the most insatiable man I've ever met," Brooke said with a laugh, pulling the blanket back over her body. He'd pulled it off her just moments earlier.
The two of them had holed up in Brooke's bedroom all day, talking and eating and sipping beer and, well, enjoying each other. She should have been at the store, but she slept in, and when he came over after his morning practice was done, he told her he wasn't going to let her leave that room all day. He kept his promise.
"You just called me Skills," he said as he left a trail of kisses on her shoulder.
"So?"
"So you never call me that," he pointed out, watching intently as she lay down on her back again. He was perched on his elbow and looking down into her perfect hazel eyes.
"I kind of like being the only one who calls you Antwon," she admitted quietly. "It makes me feel special."
"You are special," he said with a smile. It still amazed him that this incredible woman harboured any insecurities whatsoever. And if she'd let him, he'd spend as much time as possible trying to erase every doubt she ever had.
"I love you," she said softly, leaning up to kiss him. "And if you wanted to pull this blanket away again, now would be the time."
"Yes ma'am," he said with a smirk, swiftly pulling away the sheets and making her giggle.
Brooke wondered briefly if she'd ever been that happy; that in love. And when he kissed her again, she realized that she hadn't, but that it didn't matter because she had found that happiness that had eluded her for so long.
----
A/N: OK, so I hope no one freaks out about me using the name Sophia (you never know...people take this stuff seriously!). But I actually think Sophie Scott is an adorable name!