A/N: OK, so I am not one of those authors that begs for reviews and tells you I'll only post if I get a certain number. But, the reviews for this are way down and I'm worried that people are totally losing interest. I just finished writing this, and it's complete at 20 chapters.

So, if you want to hit me with a review just to let me know you're still around, that'd be awesome. But if not, that's OK too. I'm also not one of those authors who abandons fics, so the whole thing will be posted no matter what.

Maybe the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter will prompt people to leave me opinions...haha!

----

Peyton was almost in her eighth month, and they were 99 per cent prepared for the baby to arrive. And no one was more anxious than Peyton. The weather was turning warmer and that meant that she was constantly hot. She'd turned up the air conditioning in the house and positioned a fan to be pointed directly at her so she could sleep at night. It was quite a contrast, with Lucas in pants and tee shirt and the blankets up around his chin, and her in shorts and a tank top laying on top of the covers.

The one thing they hadn't done was gotten a car, and when Peyton woke one morning and padded out to the kitchen, she knew she had to bring it up once again. She was in only a tank top and a pair of black cotton shorts that didn't quite meet in the middle over her stomach, and Lucas smiled widely when he saw her walk into the room as she pulled her hair up.

"Stop it," she demanded, in response to the look he was giving her.

"If you just wore that all the time, I'd be totally OK with it," he admitted, leaning down to kiss her temple as she sat at the table. He set a plate of breakfast in front of her and she glared at him.

"You have no idea how happy I'll be to wear my own clothes again," she said, biting into a piece of toast.

"That makes one of us. Trust me, Peyt, this look is totally working for me," he said, his voice low as he leaned back against the counter, cradling a mug of coffee in his hands.

"Put some ice on it, Casanova. It's already way too hot," she scolded, making him laugh.

"Going in to the office today?" he asked after a moment. He pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.

"No. Desiree has everything under control and no one's recording today, so I can stay here and just check in every once in a while," she explained. "Can I have some juice?"

"Sure thing," he said with a smile, shooting up to grant her request.

Lucas was always attentive, and there was no reason she couldn't have gotten things for herself, but as soon as she hit 7 months, he became insistent that she not overdo it. Basically, what that meant was any time she went to do anything, he scowled at her and told her to just accept his help. After a while, she just gave in and stopped arguing. They were both too stubborn to back down, and she didn't want to be waited on hand and foot, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Baby, we need to talk about the car situation," she said calmly, watching as he poured.

"I'm not giving up the Mustang," he said with finality, looking over to her.

"I didn't ask you to. I wouldn't ask you to." She raised her hands defensively. "We've talked about that. We're keeping both our cars, we just need to get something that's a little more family-friendly."

"Not a minivan. Peyton, I can't drive a minivan," he warned, sitting back down.

"Oh my God! I didn't say I wanted you to be Mr. Mom," she laughed before taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, why don't we head out to some dealerships this afternoon? I'm thinking Lexus, Land Rover, BMW..."

"OK, honey, I know that I usually handle the finances, but you have to know that we don't have that kind of money," she said with a grin.

"Please. I know how to work a car salesman," Lucas promised with a confident nod.

"You're aware that every man who's ever gone car shopping has said those exact same words," she teased.

"But I worked at a dealership," he said, pouting at her lack of faith in him.

"Why don't you take Nate?" she asked.

"What? No. You need to be comfortable driving whatever we get, too," he insisted.

"Lucas," she whined. "That means I have to get dressed in real clothes and actually look good."

"Baby, you do look good," he said with a smile, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "But yeah, you would need to change."

"Lucas!" she shouted, dropping her jaw as he gave her another once over.

"What!? People would be staring at you and I don't want to have to punch anyone," he said, smirking. "You really don't understand how sexy pregnancy is."

"You've told me about a million times. I just feel completely huge and gross right now, Luke. And I really don't feel like leaving the house. I just want to stay here in the A/C and not have to worry about how I look or who sees me like this," she explained quickly.

He would have laughed, but her current mood told him that unless he wanted to have his head bitten off, he should probably not. Instead, he took a deep breath and nodded.

"OK. I'll go today, narrow it down to a few options, and then when you're feeling up to it, we can go together and make the final choice," he suggested hopefully.

"That sounds perfect," she said with a smile, leaning in to kiss him quickly.

Just then, the phone rang, and Peyton moved to get up and answer it, but Lucas shot her a reprimanding look and she rolled her eyes and stayed put while he answered.

"Hello?...Oh...yeah, sure...No, we'll be here, but I'm going out later...Alright...Yup, see ya."

"What was that about?" Peyton asked with a furrowed brow.

"It was Haley. Apparently she and Nathan are coming over, and Brooke and Skills are meeting them here, too," he said nonchalantly.

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess Brooke wanted us all together," he shrugged.

"At 7:30 on a Monday morning?" she said skeptically.

"I'm just the messenger, here, Peyt. I know nothing more than what I just told you," he explained.

"Dammit. Does this mean I have to change?" she asked in annoyance.

"You don't have to," he said with a smirk. "But it might not be the worst idea to put on a bra or something."

"Shut up!" she squealed, swatting at his arm as her other hand rested on her stomach. "He is kicking so hard right now. He doesn't like when daddy talks mean to mommy."

Lucas stopped laughing and just smiled at her. She'd been saying things like that since the baby first started moving, but every time she called him 'daddy', his heart swelled and it became all the more real to him. He was going to be a daddy.

"Well, maybe if mommy wasn't trying to make daddy crazy..."

"Don't finish that thought," she warned with a raised brow, making him laugh again. "I'll change. Happy?"

"Not really," he admitted with a smile, making her roll her eyes as she stood.

"Ugh. If I'm not out in a half hour, I've given up," she called on her way back to the bedroom.

Lucas tidied the kitchen and living room while she got ready. Their house was full of 'supplies'. Diapers and clothes and toys that had been gifts from various people. They'd been pretty good about putting everything away in its proper place in the nursery, but Lucas' colleagues had given them a bunch of gifts the day before.

He was just walking down the hall with an armful of things when Peyton opened the door and emerged, fully clothed and put together. She had on a simple empire waist tank top and jeans, with her hair pulled up, but he still stopped in his tracks and checked her out unabashedly.

"Stop it!" she insisted with a laugh for the second time that morning.

"You look nice," he called over his shoulder as he headed to the nursery.

"Thank you," she answered.

She had just walked into the living room when Nathan and Haley stepped through the door, and Haley and Peyton both made a bee-line for the sofa to sit. Nathan stifled a laugh and they both glared at him.

"You want anything to drink?" he asked, to atone for his reaction to their need to sit.

"Water would be great, actually," Peyton said with a smile, and Haley nodded.

Lucas was coming down the hall and Nathan widened his eyes, letting him know that both women were in fine form already.

"Hey Hales," he greeted, leaning down to kiss his friend's cheek.

"Hi," she muttered. Nathan entered the room and both women sent him genuine smiles while they took their glasses from him.

"So what's with the pow wow?" Peyton asked.

"I have no idea. Brooke just called last night and told us to meet them here this morning," Haley explained. "I've been trying to get in touch with her for a couple days and she finally called me back."

"Well this better be good, because I fully intended on sitting around in my pajamas and doing as little as possible all day," Peyton said, throwing a glance to her smiling husband.

"Well, I have to be at work in a half hour, so it better be good, and it better be quick," Haley said bitterly.

"Sorry," Peyton said sympathetically.

She felt bad for Haley, having to go to work every day and deal with teenagers while pregnant and tired. But her maternity leave didn't start for another month, and though Peyton was really happy to be able to pick and choose when she went to the office, she tried not to flaunt that in her friend's face.

The door swung open again, and Skills and Brooke walked in to see the two couples in front of them, sitting comfortably (well, mostly comfortably) while they waited.

"Hi," Brooke chirped happily.

"Hey," came a chorus of voices.

"We have news!" Brooke said, taking Skills' hand as they walked further into the room.

"You got MARRIED!" Peyton and Haley shrieked as their eyes went wide, only growing wider when Brooke nodded and held up her left hand as Skills laughed.

"How do they do that!?" Lucas asked, completely in awe of these three womens' connection.

"Wait, what?" Nathan asked with a slight laugh, a big, goofy, totally shocked smile on his face.

"You've only been dating for what? 8 months?!" Haley exclaimed.

"How did you...how did this even happen?" Lucas asked.

"We love each other," Skills said, his eyes meeting his new bride's, and smiled back at him. "We decided to make it official."

"This is insane, you know that right?" Nathan said before standing and pulling his friend into a manly hug.

"Sure, says the guy who got married in high school," Brooke laughed, putting her arms around Nathan.

"Brooke," Peyton said softly, failing in her attempt not to cry. "I can't believe it. And I can't believe you stiffed me out of being maid of honour."

Brooke stepped over towards her two best friends and sat on the coffee table in front of them, taking each of their hands.

"I thought you loved weddings," Haley said, herself starting to cry as the men all shot each other looks. "I just never...never saw you getting married without the perfect day."

"It was the perfect day," Brooke admitted softly, letting her own tears fall. "It's not about the wedding."

The other two women could only smile, because they'd been waiting for the day, the relationship, the man, who would make her see that. And she finally had him, and they knew then that he was 'the one'.

"Congratulations," Peyton said, smiling as she squeezed her best friend's hand. "Can you wait till I pop out this kid and have my body back before you have any kind of celebration?"

They all laughed at that statement, and then there were questions on how and where and when the decision was made. As it turned out, the two had traveled to New York for the weekend at the last minute and gotten married at City Hall that Friday, spending the rest of their weekend in a fancy hotel and enjoying the city together. The girls talked about what Brooke wore, and where they got the rings, and just about everything they could in the short amount of time before Haley announced that she had to get to work.

Nathan offered one last congratulations to his friends, kissed Brooke and Peyton on the cheek, and left with his wife. As soon as the door was closed behind her and she was in the car, she started to cry again.

"Haley," Nathan said comfortingly, reaching for her hand.

"I'm sorry. It's just...all my best friends are so happy and it's...we're growing up," she blubbered.

"I know," he said softly, smiling as he wiped her tears. "It's pretty great. But you might want to turn off the waterworks before your first period English class."

She reached across and swatted his arm before resting her head against his shoulder. She let out a contented sigh and rest her hand on her stomach, and felt a few little kicks, and smiled at how happy everyone she knew truly was.

Inside the house, Lucas had handed the girls a box of tissues and he and Skills settled into the kitchen table to talk. After an hour, Brooke said she and Skills had to go to his parents' house, where she was sure his mother was going to be less than impressed that her son had gotten married so quietly.

They said their goodbyes and Lucas joined Peyton on the sofa and took her hand as she shook her head.

"Never a dull moment in Tree Hill," Lucas said. "You OK?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders. He just looked at her with a raised brow to let her know that she wasn't fooling him with the nonchalant attitude.

"Because your best friend just got married in secret, and you're 8 months pregnant and already pretty emotional and...yeah, that's all," he said with a smirk, watching as she cracked a smile.

"I'm really happy for her," she said softly.

"I know you are," he said, rubbing his hand over her back.

"I just wish I could have been there," she admitted. "I should have been there. And I know it's silly to make this about me because it's so not about me, but..."

"Peyton, you don't need to explain it to me," he said, leaning over to kiss her temple and pull her closer. "I know you."

"Yeah, you do," she said quietly. She let out a breath and stood up, sending an appreciative glance to him when he helped her. "Well, since I'm dressed, I think I'm gonna go to the office."

"Why don't you come car shopping with me?" he asked.

"Because I kind of just don't want to go?" she said sweetly, scrunching her nose and making him laugh.

"Come on. We'll go now, and I can drop you off at the office," he pleaded. "This is a big decision that we should make together."

She mulled it over for a moment, then sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes and grabbed her purse.

"Let's go, Mr. Persuasive," she said as she opened the door and looked back at him, waiting for him to get up off the couch.

He sensed their conversation about Brooke's sudden marriage should have been a little longer, and that there was something more that she hadn't said. Perhaps he shouldn't have interrupted her when she was trying to explain why she was upset, but she was rambling, and if he'd let her go on, she would have become incoherent.

So he followed her out the door and into the car, and he asked her if she wanted to talk about it more, but she insisted she was fine. Given her mood that morning, he decided to drop it.

----

Four hours and a bunch of test drives later, Lucas was driving Peyton to the office after they'd decided on the car they'd buy, and it would be ready for pickup in a week's time. Well, it was an SUV. Lucas was sold when the salesperson explained that it was the safest model on the road and had all sorts of crash testing and high ratings and good scores. Peyton just thought it looked nice and was a good size and was comfortable to drive. But the salesperson was the one problem she had.

"I can't believe we just bought a car from that ass," she said bitterly.

"Are you still mad about that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to look at her.

"Lucas, what the hell is wrong with men?" she asked, but didn't give him a chance to answer. "Seriously. He said that I was about to 'explode', and looked at you like he pitied you or something!"

"Come on," he said calmly. "You know it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."

"It matters to me," she pouted. "I already feel like people stare at me everywhere I go, Luke."

"Baby, the only one staring at you is me, and trust me, it's not in a bad way," he assured her, resting his hand on her thigh and giving it a squeeze as he smirked. He parked the car and turned to her. "What time do you want me to pick you up?"

"I dunno. Like, 4:00, I guess," she mumbled.

"Peyton," he said softly, forcing her to look at him. "You're beautiful. And you don't have to work today if you don't want to."

"But I should," she said with a smile. She wasn't sure how he did it, but this man was able to take two simple words and make her feel like he'd written a(nother) novel about her. Two words and she felt like herself again.

"OK, well call me if you want to come home early. I'll be there all day," he insisted. She leaned over to kiss him quickly and then he watched her walk up the steps towards her office.

Peyton walked into her office and was greeted immediately by her assistant, though she felt bad for calling her that, since Desiree did far more work than any assistant would.

"Hey! I thought you weren't coming in today," she said, standing from her desk and walking towards her 'boss'. "Uh oh. What's with the face?"

Since they'd started working together, the two of them had shared a lot. Desiree now knew all the twisted history of their circle of friends and as much of the towns' relationships as Peyton could reveal, and Peyton knew about Desiree's past boyfriends, including one botched proposal, a guy she caught in bed with her roommate, and an older man who turned out to be married, only he didn't tell her until 6 months into their relationship. To say they trusted and could read each other was an understatement.

"Nothing," Peyton said, doing her best to sound convincing. Desiree wasn't buying it, and raised an eyebrow. "OK, well, Brooke and Skills eloped in New York this weekend, I weigh a thousand pounds and people are afraid of me, Lucas and I just bought a car, and now I feel like...that feeling you get when you know the money was well spent but you didn't want to spend it. And God, is it like, 100 degrees in here, or is it just me?"

Desiree wanted to laugh, because that spiel was actually hilarious to probably everyone but the woman who'd spoken it. But she couldn't laugh. She valued her life.

"It's you, but I'll turn up the A/C," she said with a smile, watching as Peyton took a seat at her own desk. She followed her and sat across from her. "So your best friend got married? That's amazing, and I'm sure she'll have some sort of party that you will go to and have a wonderful time. You look great, although, I'll admit, Angry Peyton can be a little scary. You needed the car, and you've been talking about it for as long as I've known you, so don't worry about that. Did I cover everything?"

Peyton laughed, because she realized how silly she was being, and it took only one long spiel for her to realize it.

"Yeah, that's it," she said with a smile. "So, what are you working on?"

The two of them settled into an afternoon of mostly menial administrative stuff; sending back demos, working on a mailing list, coming up with a few ideas for concert tee shirts. It was about 3:00 when Desiree announced that she needed her afternoon caffeine and headed out to the coffee shop around the corner.

Peyton had gotten up to change the CD that had just ended, and felt a pain in her side. Her hand instinctively moved to the spot, but the discomfort passed and she didn't think much of it. She was almost back to her desk when another pain hit, worse this time and it lasted longer. Something was definitely wrong. She was doubled over and bracing herself against her desk with her arm and clutching her stomach with her free hand when Desiree walked back in.

"Peyton!" she said hurriedly. "Are you OK?"

She rushed over and placed her hand on Peyton's back and noticed the scared look on her face, and had no idea what to do.

"Call Lucas," she said weakly as she winced in pain.