Title: Defining Happiness On Our Own Terms
Summary: A look into the future. Haley&Nathan want another addition to their family & Peyton&Lucas have just begun expanding there's.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own One Tree Hill.
Author: Maygen Lauren
Chapter Two: Always Love
So who hit the biggest web traffic ever trying to get this chapter up!? I DID! I almost had a heart attack. The chapter was done the night I put the other one up, and look how long you've waited. I am so sorry! I had to get my administrator friends to put it up for me. I think it might also have something to do with a compatibility error. Damn Docx… BUT!, thanks to all my free time, the next two chapters are already completed and you can get those asap ;), just let me know you want them!
"Uncle Lucas" Jamie Scott put his mouth around the chocolate ice cream on his spoon, leaving some smeared across his face. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did Shorty" Luke took a chomp on his Vanilla cone, leaning back into the park bench.
"No, another question"
He smiled at his nephew, so much like his mother and father. "Shoot kid"
The six year old straighten up in his seat unintentionally. He licked his fingers clean of anything sweet and stick before continuing. "Do you love being a dad?"
"Of course I do. Why do you want to know?"
"I was just wondering" He stood up and shot his cup into a trash bin; no sweat, just like his father. "My dad says he loves being a dad. Was the best day of your life when Elle was born?"
The uncle thought for a quick second. "Yes, followed very closely by something else."
"What something else!?" He sat back down next his uncle, peering up at him.
"When I married your Aunt Peyton"
Jamie grimaced. "Ew, you had to kiss in front of EVERYBODY!"
"You bet your short pants we did"
"Did you know Aunt Peyton was having a baby when you got married?"
"We found out shortly before, now what's with all these questions?"
He shrugged. "Well Momma and Daddy tell me stories all the time, and I never get to ask you about things like that. So I was really just wondering." A hand came up behind Jamie, covering his eyes.
"Uncle Skillz or Fergie" He stated.
"How you know that kid? Yo eye's were closed"
"I saw your hands right before you covered my face."
Skillz looked over his hands. "Damn black hands." Lucas laughed.
"Hey man" Lucas nodded to Skills, who put his hands back down at his sides. "I was just taking Jamie over to visit Peyton and the baby."
Jamie sighed. "But I've seen them everyday for a week. Can't we play one more game!?"
"Sorry Jamie, I promised you aunt I wouldn't leave her alone too long"
"Well I can take Jamie for a while" Skillz announced. "We can go back to my apartment for a while, play some X box live?"
"Yeah!" The six year old cheered, moving to stand besides his new favorite uncle. "I wanna go with Uncle Skillz!"
Luke rubbed his forehead. "You sure about this?"
"Yeah dawg, I'll drop him off at your house when we're done."
Luke stood up and placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder. "Okay then, I'll catch up with you guys later then."
*At arriving home, Lucas found Peyton in the Nursery breast feeding Elizabeth.
"So Sexy" Lucas stated closing the door behind him.
"So not" She fingered the strand of hair that had fallen out of her bun with an extra hand. "Where's Jamie?"
His mouth dropped open in shock. "You mean he didn't run in here already? Ut oh, he must be hiding out in embarrassment of finding his aunt breast feeding his little cousin." He opened the closet door peering inside, and then moved to look behind the rocker.
"Lucas Scott where is he!?"
"He's with his Uncle Skill, playin some Xbox." He leaned down and placed a kiss on her slightly parted lips. She pulled away, pressing her hand against his chest.
"I smell"
He laughed. "You smell like baby to me"
"And sweat and grease and grossness"
"Grossness huh? You smell like Peyton to me" He placed a hand on the back of the blonde babies head. "Something's up with Nathan and Haley. They were acting weird"
"And weird is different from any other day you visit them?"
"No, they were just, different. I think they might be keeping something from Jamie. And Nathan was being very, parental. It was just…"
"Weird?"
"Very." She smiled and lifted Elle from her chest to burp her. Lucas held his hands out. "Lemme take her. You can go take a shower; you're starting to smell." He kissed her forehead as she stood up from the chair and left the room. He took her place in the rocker and began to rub gentle circles into his daughters back. In front of him, was a very elaborate, very colorful, mural, painted by Peyton herself. It had taken her almost two weeks to finish. She painted in the morning, before her shower, and after work, before dinner, and before bed. The wall color was a pinkish red, and the mural itself, was indescribable. It was honestly the best work he had ever seen her do. Better than the art, made for Red Bedroom Records, and better than anything he'd ever inspired her to draw.
"By six months the baby should be able to sit up with a little help, and stand by ten months, and say his or hers first words by a year. Oh and should recognize parents or significant frequent others by five months." Peyton sat cross legged in the center of the bed with her laptop perched in the center.
"That's great babe, but shouldn't the kid finish growing in there before you bring it out here to talk and stuff." Lucas exited the bathroom in a pair of sweatpants and kneeled down next to her on the bed. "He's got like what, four-five more months?"
"What makes you so sure it's a boy?"
"Scott genes." He tried to lift her shirt, but she ushered his hands away.
"So when the baby comes out lacking parts, are you going to leave me in rage?" She smiled as he shoved the computer off her lap, and pushed her down onto her back. He leaned over her, and placed light kisses on her neck and cheek bone. He stopped to capture her eyes.
"Never" Her smiled grew. "Besides, we'll find out what we're having today!"
"And as soon as we know, I can paint the nursery!"
"If you think I'm letting you anywhere near those open pain cans, carrying my kid, you're crazy."
"Luke" She whined. "You can't take this away from me! I have to do the nursery; I've been dreaming about it forever."
He playfully rolled his eyes and leaned back down to kiss her lips. He pulled away with a smile on his face. "After you give birth, then you can intoxicate yourself with harmfully paint fumes"
"No LUKE! We are finding out today! And I already know what I want to do if it's a girl."
"And if it's a boy?"
"Well, if it's a boy, I'm assuming I don't have a say in the matter. It'll basketball themed hands down, end of story."
"Right you are wifey."
She rolled her eyes too and lifted Lucas hand to see his watch. "One more hour!" She groaned and turned her head into a pillow.
"Would you like to busy yourself with more baby info or do you wanna get something to eat before your appointment?"
"Get something before my appointment, definitely."She pushed her husband off of her and stood up in front of the closet. "Hope you don't get grossed out, but I might be going out in my Rolling Stones T Shirt again, considering it's the only thing that fits me."
She reached into his pile of pants, neatly stacked on a rack in the closet, and pulled out a pair of gray sweats. She held up the waist band, just below her lower stomach and stretched it out. She slung the pants over her shoulders and began searching for a shirt.
"Maybe we should do some shopping after the doctors."
Her eyes lit up. "For paint!?"
A laugh escaped his lips and he shook his head. "No, for clothes. I'm sorry, but that's the 5th day this week you resorted to wearing my sweatpants and I'd rather you have something comfortable of your own to wear."
"But I like wearing your pants." She bent over to pick up her Rolling Stones T Shirt from off of the floor.
"And your shirts? I'm sure you don't intend to wear that T shirt for the rest of our pregnancy."She blushed. "And not to bring you down, but at this rate, you can only get bigger." Her face fell. "Which is a good thing!"
She rolled her eyes and stood with her back to him as she threw off his extra large sleep shirt and replaced it with her Rolling Stones T. She turned back around as she also changed her pants. "How come you stood with your back to me when you changed your shirt?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I did it subconsciously. Come on, meet me in the kitchen. I'm starving."
He shook his head as she left the room.
Peyton sighed once she was standing in front of the open refrigerator door. She lifted up the hem of her shirt and peered down at her expanded stomach. Lucas had noticed she was getting bigger. His comment earlier had proved that. She knew it was impossible, but she could help but feel like her new weight would somehow push her husband away from her. She'd been hiding her stomach from him since a little over a month ago, when she first began showing. Every attempt Lucas made at contact with her stomach, she froze, unwilling to let him become too curious. What was even worse was, this feeling was so new to her, she'd never felt self conscious before, and especially around Luke. And she couldn't help but feel silly whenever she wrapped her head around the idea. But then, once again, she's back in the bedroom with Lucas, and his hand is creeping up her side to rest on her stomach and she freaks, pretending that begin overly ticklish is a side effect to pregnancy. Peyton had also kept her weird cravings a secret. She'd sneak into the kitchen around two in the mornings, searching for anything to keep her head from wondering too far. She reached in a pulled out a water bottle to wash down her prenatal vitamins that had been dished out over the microwave last night.
Lucas entered the kitchen wearing jeans and a gray sweatshirt, carrying his and Peyton's cell phone, with the car keys jingling from his pockets. "What do you want for lunch?"
She shrugged her shoulders up. "I was thinking Dunkin Donuts drive through, an everything bagel toasted with cream cheese and a large light and sweet iced coffee." She said hopefully, batting her eye lashed at him.
"No coffee."
"But LUKE!" He squinted his eyes at her, crossing his arms in protest. "Fine, then, just a strawberry banana smoothie."
"That's my girl." He wrapped his arm around her waist, his fingers dancing just below the bump of her stomach. She lay her hand on his, to be affectionate, but more importantly to keep him from becoming more explorative. "So Dunkin?"
"Sure" She half smiled as they moved out the kitchen door and out to their car in the drive way. The Comet was parked in the garage at Haley and Nathan's, waiting for someone to restore it to good use. For now, they were taking Lucas' black Honda Civic.
"So drive through, not sit down?" He asked as they pulled out of the driveway.
"Yeah, I'm not in the mood to be around people. Especially eating"
"But I'm an acceptation?"
She smiled as he took her hand in his larger one. "Always"
Silence crept between them quickly, and Peyton started to fidget in her seat. "So I've decided to make this a bet."
"Make what a bet?" She asked turning her head to look at the side of his face.
"If it's a boy, we keep the guest bedroom that light blue color, and just buy new baby furniture."
"And if it's a girl" His eyes met hers for a second before hr turned to look back at the road with a sigh.
"If it's a girl, then I guess you're going to have to wear one of those itchy masks… while you paint the nursery"
She rubbed his arm. "Aw Luke, thanks"
He rolled his eyes. "We can get you paint, and the itchy mask, on the way to buy you new clothes."
A forced growl escaped her lips. "I don't need new clothes!"
"What are you going to wear to the label? You've got an interview on Friday with a new band; you gunna go dressed like that?"
"Maybe" She crossed her arms. "So what's with this bet anyway? You so sure we're having a boy?"
"Maybe" He retorted.
"Guess we'll find out" Peyton picked up her CD case from off the ground and popped 4:13 Dream into the player, turning up the volume, revolving her eyes toward the window.
On the way to the doctor's office, Peyton sat quietly eating her everything bagel, watching the trees pass by the window. She had just finished as Lucas pulled into the parking lot. A jolt shot through her chest as he parked and turned to face her, placing his hand on her knee. "Are you ready?"
She shook her head. "No Luke, I'm scared." Her eyes were just brimming with tears as a wave of unexplainable emotions hit her.
"Peyt, I already told you, that you are going to be an amazing mother. I know finding out the sex is going to make everything real and we can wait if that makes this easier for you."
"No, no, not that; I want to know what we're having." She took a deep breath. "Luke, once you see me, you're going to hate it. And I know this sounds really dumb but I've been thinking about this for a while."
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
"I'm going to be lying up on that table and you're going to see how much I've changed."
"You've changed? You've gotta fill me in here babe, I wanna help you, but I don't know what you're talking about."
"Luke, I'm huge, and once you see, it's going to be a major turn off"
Lucas shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Peyton, that is not going to happen. And you're right this just sounds dumb." He brushed the tears off her cheeks.
"Hormones?" She questioned.
"I think so." He agreed and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Is this why you changed with your back to me today?"
"Yes, but I didn't mean to hurt you Luke, honest. When we pulled into the parking lot, it dawned on me that you would have to see during the appointment anyway, so I figured I should just confess. I mean you haven't seen the size of my stomach since our last visit, and that was over a month ago."
He brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Do me a favor" She blinked up at him. "Lift up your shirt"
A blush spread quickly across her cheeks and she broke her eyes from his. "What!? No!"
"Well if you don't now, then you'll get all red faced later in front of the doctor." He teased.
Her blush only increased more. "Luke" Her head rolled back against the head rest. She lifted up her shirt keeping her eyes locked on his face.
His eyes enlarged as he peered down at his wife fairly large stomach. "Wow"
She released the hold on er shirt and quickly got out of the car, slamming it behind her. Luke turned off the car and quickly ran to her side. "Hey hey Peyton, come here"
She stopped and turned toward him. "No, now you're all creped out"
"Not in the slightest and I'm serious! I'm just surprised how big you got and I can't even tell with you wearing that shirt. I think is amazing, but I am a little concerned."
"Why?"
"Peyt, I'm afraid you aren't telling me everything. And I don't want it to be like that. I need you to tell me when you're feeling insecure or hungry, or tired. I want to know what you're thinking. He took hold of her waist and moved her towards the entrance, and stopped before going through the door. He rested his hand on her stomach. "Promise you'll tell me these things."
"I promise" He kissed her cheek before guiding her inside. Together, they signed in at the front and took seats near a window looking out into the parking lot. Peyton's hand grasped Lucas tightly and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I think you look beautiful Peyton, don't even worry about it."
"Thanks Luke" She whispered up to him.
"And don't worry about how big you get, got it. Because you're pregnant, and you're holding our baby, and I think it's pretty sexy."
She slapped his arm. "Don't joke"
"I'm not joking babe, I wouldn't be surprised if I had to throw you down on that metal examination table." She blushed and looked around to see if any of the other patients had noticed. It was here he notice how much pregnancy had taken a toll on her. "Carefully, of course."
She snuggled back into his arms for a few minutes, before being nudged by her husband. "What?"
"Boy or girl, this kid's going to have great parents."
"And a great taste in music."
Thanks for sticking through this chapter I apologize for the delay in update. The next two chapters are already done, so they should be out shortly! REVIEWPLEASE!- Maygen Lauren.
Inspirations- 4:13 Dream- The Cure