Chapter Twenty: Daddy's Girl
"Daddy, I can explain everything," Peyton pleads as Larry Sawyer walks into the room. Grace smirks at her mother's fear on her face.
"We'll talk about it later Peyton, right now I would like to catch up with my granddaughter."
Peyton bites the bottom of her lip and nods her head.
"I'll just leave you two alone."
Grace chuckles once Peyton leaves.
"She's scared of you," Grace comments. "I'm glad you're here grandpa."
Larry smiles and takes the seat that Peyton was occupying earlier.
"You've had a tough life kid."
Grace nods her head.
"Yeah, but I've come along way."
"I wish I had known Grace. I wish my daughter would have told me. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself. I understand why mom did what she did, but she's making up for it. When you talk to her don't be so hard on her. You were never around, all she had was Brooke. She was scared, she didn't know what to do, but she gave me up instead of killing me which was a hard choice to make because she could've aborted me, but she didn't. And for that I will always be grateful."
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"It's good to be home," Grace says as she slowly walks into her home. Lucas was already waiting with open arms and Grace walks into them.
"So, your mom and your grandpa have things they have to discuss so it's just going to be us tonight is that alright?"
"Yeah, it's all good. We could watch some movies, order some pizza and just chill."
Lucas grins and pulls away from his daughter.
"How are you really?" Lucas asks.
Grace frowns and sits down on the couch.
"I'm okay, I just feel bad. I knew him. I knew the shooter and I almost died. It was the first time I was actually scared to."
Lucas sits down next to Grace.
"I don't know if I can explain this, but when I was unconscious, I felt like I was out of my body. And all I saw were glimpses of you and everyone else. I think I saw Keith."
Lucas looks intently at his daughter.
"It may sound crazy, but he gave me what I needed to wake up."
"You're not crazy at least I don't think you are. When I had my heart attack, I saw my uncle Keith too. I remember I had asked him 'what was the point?' What was the point of being a good person when all these bad things kept happening to people?"
"What is the point?"
"Keith showed me what my life would have been like if I had done things differently and I got to tell you it wasn't pretty. The point is we all make decisions and some of those decisions have bad consequences to them, but we have to be strong enough to get our lives back to the way they were."
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"Do you want to explain to me why you didn't tell me I had a granddaughter?"
"I don't know dad, really I don't. I wasn't thinking just like I wasn't thinking when I didn't tell Lucas he was a father either."
"Alright, I'll give you that and I'll give you the fact that I was never around, but what about these past months since you got Grace back into your life. What about then?"
Peyton looks out the window of the coffee shop and sighs.
"I was scared. You and mom raised me better then the way I acted. I got pregnant as a teenager, I didn't tell anybody, but Brooke and I ran away. I gave Grace up and I kept it hidden for so long that I believed or at least pretended that it never happened. Every day, I remembered that I gave up my little girl and every day I feel like this horrible person and it sucks. I can't change what I did, I can only make it better in hope that everyone will forgive me."
"Peyton, I'm sorry I wasn't there enough then maybe you wouldn't have felt the need to runaway. There are a lot of things I wished were different. I wished your mother was still alive for one," Larry reaches for Peyton's hand and grabs a hold of it. "I'm not here to punish Peyton. I'm here as your father because your daughter was injured. I'm here because I wasn't there before. I'm here because I want to be, because I need to be."
Peyton let's go of her father's hand and wipes away her tears.
"It's okay, Grace is okay, I'm getting married, everything is going to work out."
"So, tell me about your life," Larry says with a grin.
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After three movies, pizza and a lot of junk food, Grace was knocked out on the couch. Lucas watches Grace's chest move slowly up and down giving him peace that his daughter isn't dead. He was glad that this ordeal didn't end with another loved one dead. He didn't think he could handle that if it were to happen.
As he watches his daughter sleep Lucas looks back on the past year and he smiles because he thought he had everything he wanted. Peyton was in his life. He had a steady job and everything was going great. When Grace showed up on his doorstep it had thrown him for a loop, a very big one, but he was glad that it had happened. Now he couldn't think of his life without his daughter by his side. It was an amazing feeling being a dad. He never wanted it to stop.
Lucas was so into his thoughts he didn't hear the front door open or feel Peyton sit down next to him.
"You look like you guys had fun," Peyton mentions as she keeps her eyes on her daughter.
"Yeah, we just hung out and did a little talking, but it's great."
"My dad was mad, but then he reassured me that he would never stop loving me so it made things a little bit better."
"Your father loves you Peyton, no matter what you do he would never stop loving you."
"I know," Peyton whispers.
"Let's get Grace to bed."
"Let's just stay here for a minute, enjoy the moment."
And that's what they did.