A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up, but here it is nonetheless.
Chapter Fourteen: A Cover-up
One late night evening, Lucas and Peyton were lying in bed. Lucas was reading a novel that was recommended by a friend and Peyton was looking at a magazine, only she really wasn't paying any attention to it.
She had been thinking about the last few weeks and how Lucas and Gracyn were bonding and she realized that she really hasn't spent a lot of time with Grace. She feels sad about it, but she really doesn't know where she stands with Grace…at all.
Peyton sighs, closes her magazine and looks towards her fiancé.
"I'm jealous of you."
Lucas marks his spot in his book and looks at Peyton.
"What do you have to be jealous about?"
"You and Gracyn, you get this relationship with her and I haven't had that. And I want it really bad."
"Peyton, maybe Grace wants you to make that first step. Grace and I are going to have a different relationship than you and her, but you have stories that I don't."
"Like what?" Peyton says as she puts her magazine on the bedside table.
"You were carrying her for nine months maybe she would want to know some stuff. Or about what happened at the hospital when she was born or maybe her name."
"I see where you are getting at. I just want her to like me and love me."
Lucas smiles before kissing Peyton on the lips.
"I'm sure she already does. Goodnight Peyt."
"Goodnight Lucas."
Peyton continued to lie in bed after Lucas had shut off the lights. She had to agree with what Lucas was saying. Maybe it was her turn to step it up. Peyton slowly gets out of bed and makes her way out of her bedroom and walks down the hall to see her daughter lying in her bed sleeping. She watches as Gracyn's chest rises up and down. She was going to get to bond with Grace and tomorrow was when it was going to happen.
~~~/~~~/~~~/~~~
The next morning, Lucas decided to head out for the day. Peyton had wanted time alone with their daughter and Peyton had wanted to start the wedding preparations considering they were getting married in 5 months.
Grace walked into the kitchen to see her mom looking through bridal magazines. Her mom had a frown on her face.
"What's all of this?" Grace asks as she sits down next to her mother.
Peyton looks up and smiles.
"I'm starting to plan the wedding and I realized something."
"What?"
"I realized that I'm not like most brides. I just want something simple. The whole ceremony thing gets too old and I don't want it to last forever. If I could I would elope, but Brooke won't let me."
"Is Brooke making your wedding dress?"
Peyton nods her head smiles.
"It's going to be kick ass that much I know."
Peyton closes the magazines and turns all of her attention to her daughter.
"What's going on?"
"It's nothing really I'm just doing this project in school."
"What kind of project?"
"Um, it's a family tree."
Peyton nods her head with a smile.
"Go grab what you need and I can help you with it."
Grace smiles and nods her head. A few minutes later, Grace comes back into the kitchen with a notebook and pen in her hand.
"Where do you want to start?"
"With you."
Peyton smiles and nods her head.
"Well, my dad is Larry Sawyer and my mother is Anna Sawyer," Peyton watches as Grace writes down and then she continues. "My birth mother is Elizabeth Harp."
"You were adopted?" Grace asks in surprise.
Peyton nods her head.
"Yeah, I didn't find out until I was seventeen when Ellie came into my life. My mom had died when I was eight on her way to pick me up from school. I was shocked when I found out that I was adopted, but eventually that shock wore off."
Grace nods her head and writes the info down on the paper.
"Anyways, I am an only child."
"Now your dad was born to Karen Roe and Daniel Scott and of course you know his sister Lily. And then Lucas and I had you, Gracyn Elizabeth Scott."
"How did I get my name?" Grace asks after she finishes writing what she was writing.
"I was eight months pregnant when I had come up with your name. Your last name was a given for obvious reasons and you got your middle name from me and Ellie. My middle name is Elizabeth as well, but Gracyn, it took me awhile to come up with your first name."
"Why?"
"Well, um, when I had my ultra sound to find out the sex the doctor told me you were a boy so I always liked the name Grayson, but when you were born you were a girl which blew my mind. Brooke was there with me and you weren't taken away from me right away. So, I had Brooke look up different alternative spellings to Grayson and that's how you got your name."
"Um, why didn't you look for me after?"
Peyton grabs Gracyn's hand and pulls her chair closer to her.
"I was afraid. I had figured that you were already adopted when I thought about finding you. I didn't want to ruin that."
"But that never happened…well is almost happened, but fate gave me another twist."
"Your dad told me about that. So, you and Sam are just like Brooke and I huh?"
Grace smiles and nods her head.
"We grew up together and then we got separated. It didn't matter that we weren't legally sisters because in our mind we already are."
"That's exactly how Brooke and I feel."
Grace smiles and nods her head. She stands up from the table and grabs her notebook.
"Thanks for this. I'm just going to go put this away."
"Grace if you have questions all you have to do is ask you don't have to cover it up by a school project."
Grace gives a shy smile and heads back to her room.
Today was a good day