Chapter Fourteen

"Happy Birthday beautiful." Lucas whispers in my ear. I groan and roll over. "Luke, it's 7am, why are you awake? More importantly, why am I awake?" I ask rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "You're awake because I went out and got you a big birthday breakfast, and I have a lot of surprises for you today." Lucas tells me.

I get up and follow him to the kitchen where there's a bowl of strawberries and grapes (my favorite), and a big plate of belgium wallfles with a candle sticking up from them. I laugh and hug Lucas. "You're nuts." I sit down and blow out the candle. "What did you wish for?" he asks me. "Like I'm gonna tell." He sits down next to me at the table and starts drinking his coffee, which I'm looking at longingly. Lucas stops mid-sip when he catches me ogling his cup of coffee. "Sorry." I groan. I haven't had soda, coffee, Red Bull, nothing since the day I found out I was pregnant." "I can make you some decaf." he offers. I roll my eyes. "What's the use of that? Black water, that's it."

I wince as the baby kicks really hard. "Oh my God, gimme a break little girl." I say to my stomach. She just keeps on kicking.

"Active today, huh?" Luke asks.

"Yeah, I could barely sleep last night. She was doing somersaults in there." I tell him.

I finish breakfast and look at Lucas expectantly. "So what's next on the birthday agenda?" "Well, I figure since we've been raking in some nice amounts of money due to my book, I'd treat you to a day of shopping. We can go anywhere you want." he tells me. "Wow, major brownie points. The only way I'd love you more is if you could carry this baby for me." I laugh.

We get dressed and head off to the mall. Lucas sits patiently while I get my hair and my nails done, and as we roam the countless stores looking for stuff to buy. I go into Motherhood Maternity and get a couple more pairs of comfty maternity pants and a couple of tops, and then to BabyGap to get some outfits for the litte one that'll be here shortly. The remainder of my shopping is done at Best Buy (gotta have music to load to my Ipod for when I go into labor) and Babies R Us. Lucas laughs at me because instead of buying stuff for myself, I'm doing all the shopping for the baby.

When we get done shopping, we stop by Karen's for lunch. Karen comes out from behind the counter and hugs me and Lucas. "My God, look at you! How much longer do we have to go?" she asks me. "One more month." I tell her. "Uh oh. You ready?" she asks both of us. I say "absolutely" while Lucas says "uh uh". He's still really nervous at the prospect of being a dad. I hug Keith. "How's that little girl doing?" he asks me. "I think she's pissed because she's running out of room to move around." I tell him. He helps me up into a stool. "So, what can I get the birthday girl for lunch?" Karen asks me. I lean in towards her so Lucas can't hear. "What can I do to bribe you for a cup of coffee?" I whisper. She smiles and motions me back behind the counter. "I'm gonna show Peyton tomorrow's plans for dessert. Be back in a minute." Karen tells the guys. We go back into the kitchen and she pours me a cup of coffee. I take a sip and sigh happily. "Oh God, this is what Heaven must be like." "Lucas won't let you have a cup every now and then?" Karen asks. I nod. "Nah, he's all into doing EXACTLY what the baby books say. No coffee, no soda, no hot showers, and so on." I tell her. "I drank coffee all the time when I was pregnant with Lucas." she tells me. Just then, Keith comes back in the kitchen and I look like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Busted." he says, laughing.

"Please don't tell Lucas. I'll never hear the end of it." I tell him.

"My lips are sealed." Keith tells me.

I finish my cup of coffee and we go back into the main part of the cafe'.

After we get done eating, Karen brings a box out from under the counter. "This is for you guys. I had some free time on my hands so I thought this would be nice for the baby." she tells me.

I open the box and pull out a beautiful pink blanket. Each square is a different kind of fabric with pink in it. "Karen, you made this?" I ask. "Well, I was kind of hoping for a boy because I was going to make one out of Lucas' old baby clothes, but I went to the fabric store and just got every kind of pink fabric they had." she tells us.

"Mom, this is amazing. Thank you so much." Lucas says.

I get up and hug her tightly. "I couldn't ask for a better mother in law." I tell her. She kisses my cheek. "I couldn't ask for a better daughter in law either." she whispers. I feel the tears start to well up in my eyes. "Hey, don't cry." she tells me. "I know, it's stupid. It's just so beautiful. I couldn't love anything more." I say, wiping away my tears.

"There go the hormones." Lucas tells Keith.

"That bad?"

"Not all the time. But God forbid she watches a sad movie or hears a sad song. She goes straight for the Kleenex." Lucas tells him.

"You can't really blame her though. This is a big step in you guys' life. And I couldn't be more proud of either one of you." Keith says.

After we leave Karen's we go home so I can take a nap for a while. Lucas lays down next to me and he tolds me as close as my huge belly will allow. "I love you so much, Peyton." he whispers as he brushes a strand of hair out of my face. I smile. "I love you too, Luke." "I know that this hasn't been easy on you. Me being away for the book and everything, but I want you to know that I'm always gonna be here. I never want you to feel alone." he tells me. "I know. I'm so proud of you for all the things that you've accomplished. And I'm proud of you for being an amazing husband and an awesome father to be. I mean, how many guys would run out constantly at four am to get pickles and peanut butter?"

He laughs. Well if you think I'm amazing now, you ain't seen nothin yet. Just wait until tonight." he tells me.

I clap excitedly.

"That can wait. Just try and get some sleep. I know that you must be exhausted."

Five minutes later, I'm out like a light. I've been pretty energized through the entire pregnancy, but lately I just feel like the baby is zapping all the energy that I have.

I wake up three hours later, and Lucas is just coming out of the shower. I whistle and he laughs. "So how long until my next surprise?" I ask. "Well, as soon as you get out of the shower and get ready, we can go." Lucas tells me. "Hmmm...you should've woken me up when you were getting into the shower. We could have saved a ton of water." I tell him. "Water, yes. Time, no." he laughs.

I get up, get into the shower, and 15 minutes later, I'm standing in front of the closet debating on what to wear. "Luke, dress up or down?" I yell to him downstairs. "Up!" he yells back. I grumble. When Lucas comes back upstairs, I'm dressed up in a black maternity dress and black heels and I'm doing my hair. "Wow, you look gorgeous." he says as he kisses my cheek. I finish up, even with Lucas kissing my neck and trying to distract me. When we get into the car, he turns towards me and looks like he doesn't exactly know what to say. I notice the expression on his face, and do an internal "uh oh". "What?" I ask hiim. "I hate to do this to you, but I'm gonna have to blindfold you." he tells me smiling. "What?!" I protest as he ties the blindfold around my eyes. I sit back in the seat, dejected, as we drive to his surprise spot. I finally hear the car shift into park, and my door opens. Lucas helps me step out of the car. "Okay, can I take this thing off yet?" "No...just a little farther. Come on." After walking up a bunch of stairs, we finally stop. "You know, you're brave making a pregnant girl walk up a flight of stairs blindfolded." I laugh. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you." he tells me

Lucas finally takes the blindfold off of me, and I gasp. Tric is filled with everyone I know and love. "Happy Birthday Peyton!!" they all yell. I laugh and hug Lucas tightly. "Luke, this is amazing." I look around the club and the stage is all set up with band equipment, there's candles lit around the whole club, and there's a bunch of food and a huge cake set up on tables. "Happy Birthday Peyton." I hear a voice say. I turn around to see who it is, and stop dead in my tracks. "Oh my God, Derek! How did you-" I laugh as he hugs me tightly. "Lucas called me and told me that he was throwing a surprise party for you, and I wouldn't miss it. Especially now that I'm out of the Marines." he tells me. I hug him again tightly. "This night is perfect."

Nathan comes over and hugs me. "Happy Birthday Sawyer." he tells me, kissing the top of my head. "Thanks, buddy." I tell him. I turn my attention to the stage, where Haley is sitting with her guitar strapped on. "Hey guys. We're about to cut the cake, but before that why don't you all help me sing "happy birthday" to our best friend, Petyon Sawyer!" he says over the mic. I hide my face as everyone starts singing. Lucas wraps his arms around my waist as I listen to everyone singing "happy birthday" to me. Once everyone finishes singing, I blow out the candles on the chocolate cake topped with strawberries. Everyone claps and we cut the cake.

After we open presents (which are mostly for the baby, but I get some awesome ones too), Lucas gets up on the stage, and I'm really curious as to what he has planned next. "As you know, we're all here to celebrate my beautiful wife Peyton's birthday. As all of you also know, Peyton loves music. It's the biggest part of who she is, so I made a few calls for this special occasion. We have a great evening planned for you guys, so give it up for the first band playing tonight, Jack's Mannequin!" Lucas says over the mic. I cover my mouth to stifle a scream. I jump out of my seat and throw my arms around Lucas as he makes his way towards me. "How on earth did you pull this off without me knowing?" I ask him. "I had a little help." he says, motioning towards Nathan, Haley, and Brooke. We sit down and listen to the band. I'm even more surprised when Fall Out Boy takes the stage, followed by our very own Haley James Scott.

After everyone leaves the club, we're all sitting down on the couches in the VIP section, relaxing. "So P. Scott, good birthday?" Brooke asks me. "You guys, this was the best birthday I've ever had. I can't thank you guys enough." I tell them. I go around and hug all of them tightly.

"Well, if memory serves, we have a few more surprises up our sleeves." Nathan says, rubbing his hands together. We all get into our respective cars and make our way back to me and Lucas' house.

Lucas leads me upstairs to the nursery. Nathan, Haley, Brooke, Skills, Owen and Derek aren't far behind us. "Remember how you said you left a wall of the nursery blank so everyone could write a welcome message to the baby? Well, since we already picked the baby's name, I thought that this would be a perfect time to surprise you with it. I hope you like it." Lucas says. He opens the door to the nursery and I step inside and start crying when I see the wall. Everyone has a picture on the wall, and their message is written underneath it.

Nathan and Haley: Hey Brooklyn! We are so excited to meet you, and so are your mommy and daddy. Always remember to follow your dreams, because if you work hard and believe in yourself, they DO come true! We love you! Love, Uncle Lucas and Aunt Haley

Brooke: Hey sweetie. I am so honored that your mommy and daddy decided to name you party after me. Me and your mommy are like sisters, and I can tell you right now that she is so happy that you're coming. I can't wait until you're old enough so I can take you shopping! Smile pretty girl! Love, Aunt Brooke.

Skills: Hey shorty. Just remember, if you ever need help learning how to shoot a three pointer, come see your Uncle Skills. See you when you get here! Uncle Skills.

Owen: Brooklyn, your mom and dad are so crazy about you even though you're not here yet. You couldn't have gotten cooler parents, so don't be too hard on them! Can't wait to see you! Uncle Owen.

Karen and Keith: Hey baby girl. We're so proud that we're grandparents, and we know that you are going to be spoiled rotten. We love you! Grandma and Grandpa.

Derek: Brooklyn, if you turn out to be half as awesome as your mommy, you're in pretty good shape. Uncle Derek

There's another picture of Lucas and I but there's no message. Lucas hands me a paint pen. "I thought you'd like to do the honors." he tells me. I smile and take the pen from him

"Brooklyn, we are so blessed that we're going to have you in our lives. You are going to be the start of a great adventure. You are going to have so many people that love you so much, you won't know what to do! We're looking forward to meeting you, honey. Love, mommy and daddy."

A tear slips down my cheek as I hug everyone. "You guys are so amazing. I don't know what I would do without any of you." I tell them.

Once everyone leaves, Derek comes up and hugs me. "Do you have to go?" I ask him. "Actually, with me being out of the Marines, I asked Lucas if you guys had enough room for another new arrival. He said that I'd have to make sure it was okay with you." he tells me. I squeal and hug him. "Derek, are you sure? There's gonna be a newborn in the house in a month." I tell him. "Come on, I wouldn't pass up a chance to spend more time with my baby neice. I can't wait until she's here." he tells me.

I hug him and then Lucas. "I don't know how you managed to do all of this behind my back, but I love you for it. You're amazing and perfect and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday." I tell him. He kisses me. "You deserve it. You deserve everything this world has to offer Peyton."