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 Four: All I Ask of You
"Aunt Peyton, why do I have to hold the baby like this, and not like a real baby? And why do I have to sit down with all these pillows around me!?"
Peyton laughed and moved to sit in front of Jamie on the bed, brushing his spiky hair with her fingertips. "Elle is a real baby; she's just very little and has to be held very carefully."
"Ya, but she's no fun" He whined.
"Don't worry Jamie, she will be one day. Maybe she'll even kick your tiny butt in basketball." She said, dropping her mouth playfully.
"Doubt it" The six year old scoffed.
"Relax kid, with Nathan Scott as your daddy, you'll kick even her butt at basketball." Jamie smiled at her, his two adult teeth bucking out. "And maybe one day you'll have a baby brother or sister and you can teach them how to play basketball."
Jamie frowned. "I don't think I want a baby brother or sister"
"Why not?" She spoke softly, encouraging the boy to speak quietly when holding the baby.
"I like Elle, but everyone gets so hyped up about babies! And they don't even do anything entertaining, no offence."
"Well maybe one day kid." Peyton ran her fingers over her daughter's soft pink cheeks. "Did your Uncle Lucas tell you that Aunt Karen and Lily are coming to visit for a week?"
"I know!" He bounced excitedly causing Peyton to remove Elizabeth from Jamie's arms, over protectively. "I hung up my postcard yesterday morning! Lily is so excited to meet Elle, and is angry cause I already got to hold her lots of times."
"Ya you lucky boy, now do me a favor and go see what your uncle Lucas is up to."
"Okay" Jamie shrugged and jumped off the bed, running out of the room. Peyton looked down at her daughter sleeping peacefully in her arms. Her face so innocent and young. She gently placed the baby down in the bassinet at the foot of the bed and picked up Luke's laptop off his pillow.
Laughing at the number of unread messages in her email inbox, one clearly stuck out.
(.com)
Subject- Regarding Red Bedroom Records
Body: I understand that you are out on maternity leave, but I had a few tapes dropped off at your office. (Don't worry, I didn't find these bands. A deck hand on my boat is a music freak) Getting your own label started isn't easy, but you did well with Mia. I'm so proud of you and the woman you've become. I know I've never been around much because of my job, and you've always been the most understanding kid and I appreciate it. And look, now my kid has her own kid to take care of. Thanks for attaching those photos of Elizabeth, she's beautiful. My ship docks early next months, so you better believe my first task is stopping by to say hello to my granddaughter. Can't wait to see your and Lucas' baby.
Love you, Dad.
Near the end of the email Lucas had crawled up on the bed, his back pressed into the pillows, attempting to read over her shoulders. She eyed him playfully and then shut the screen on him.
"Jamie found you?"
Luke laughed. "Yes and stole the Xbox controller right out of my hand." Peyton crawled up over his leg, splaying her body on top of his, her face seductively close to his.
"Can I disappear for one hour?" She begged, her lips teasing as they brushed over his. "One hour? There are more bottles in the fridge; you know you can handle it."
Luke seized her shoulders and pressed his lips to hers quickly before she could pull away. A moan escaped her lips and he smiled, releasing hold of her. "Does this have anything to do with that email from your father?" She smiled, resting her chin on his chest.
Her eye brows raised in that oh so familiar Peyton way. "Maybe"
Ever so softly, his hands traveled down to her hips, holding her still. "I'm not going to let you go until you tell me where and why."
She made a small noise of aggravation and frowned. "Overprotective"
"Well , I am someone's father now."
"That you are." She kissed his jaw. "I just want to stop by my office real quick and pick up my laptop and a few tapes my dad had sent there."
"You trust your dad, Larry Sawyer, to pick music for your label? Good luck with that…"
"No, he said a deck hand made him the CD's! Please Luke you know I won't be able to sleep tonight knowing that I have virgin music ready to be heard, sitting on my desk, right-down-the-road…" She moved her lips against his neck.
"You can go, just don't leave me here alone for too long. Can you imagine what they'll do to me?" He said referring to Elizabeth and Jamie.
"Tie you to a chair and beat you with Xbox controllers and empty bottles?" Peyton moved off of him and rolled off the edge of the bed, coming to stand at his side. "It'll be less than an hour, twenty minutes top, I can't be away from my baby girl too long." She walked to the end of the bed and peered down to look at her daughter. "Who looks just like her daddy."
"Babe, go before I change my mind."
"Okay, okay" She grabbed her keys from off the dresser and turned to face him. "I Love you Lucas Scott"
"I love you too Peyton Elisabeth… Scott" She tossed him a smiled and left to room toward the living room where Jamie was engrossed in a video game.
"Alright Jamie, looks like you're in charge for a few minutes while I run down to work for a minute. You keep your Uncle out of trouble, you hear?"
"I can try" He mumbled. Peyton brushed her fingers through his hair and left through the back door. Her 1968 mercury comet was parked in the driveway, cover up, unused in almost four months. She prayed to god it would start. Getting in the driver's seat she levered back the cover, transforming it into its convertible state. Peyton turned the key and a roar escaped from under the hood, her hands grasped the wheel and she pulled out of the driveway, a content sigh coming from her parted lips. If by magic, her fingers found the radio and she was quite content listing to Thunderstruck which meant her ACDC album had been out in her car since the last time she drove it. Luke had carried in her CD case when she complained two days into her bed rest period that she was bored. He must have never check the player before taking her CDs inside.
Pulling up in front of Tric she saw a pair of legs perched on a bench, knees balancing a sketch pad. Just over the top of the page could see the crest of a pair of Supra-aural head phones positioned over a very blonde head.
Her phone began to buzz from her pocket and she looked down at the caller ID.
"What you can't hack it for ten minutes without me?"
"Oh no, we're fine, Elle's already for college, just as smart as her daddy."
"Bad joke" She said firmly.
"You're right, sorry." Lucas laughed to himself quietly. "Nathan and Haley called after you left; I guess we're all going to their house for Linner(Late Lunch)."
"All of us being?"
"I guess Brooke and Sam will be there too?"
"I wonder what they have up their sleeves. Why don't you take Elle and Jamie and I'll meet you there as soon as I'm done at the office?"
"Sounds good, love you"
"Love you too Luke, bye" She hung up and twisted the keys, coming to stand outside of her car. As she slammed the door, the sketch book dropped and a young girl looked up at her. "Sorry" Peyton said giving the girl apologetic smile.
A girl with green eyes and a pale completion shrugged and lowered her head phones. "S'ok"
"What are you doing out here on this bench?"
The girl held up her sketch pad and Peyton caught a glimpse of some shading. "Drawing, I don't know what you do with a sketch pad, but I thought it was pretty basic to me."
"Oh" She gave an embarrassed laugh and moved towards the entrance.
"You're Peyton Sawyer, right? You own Red Bedroom Records?"
She turned back toward the girl who was now standing. She had on dark blue skinny jeans and a red plaid shirt. "Yeah, you a fan of Mia?"
"Well yeah, but actually, I'm more of a fan of you; not to sound creepy or anything."
"Really, how so?"
"You've got my dream job…" She spoke under her breath, almost ashamed.
"Aw, well that's very sweet, I'm glad you approve and I hope I don't disappoint you too much; I've been outta work for months."
"Eh, you do what you've gotta do." Her voice deadpanned, but didn't seem insincere.
"What are you listening too?" She asked, pointing at her headphones.
"Van Halen, Jamie's Crying"
"Sweet, and you've got a good taste in music" Peyton smirked. She felt as though she was looking at her past self. The girl's monotone voice, pale complexion, curly blonde hair. "How old are you anyway?"
"16, but I look a lot younger."
Peyton shrugged and moved toward the girl. "Nah, you look sixteen to me, but what do I know I haven't been that young in seven, almost eight years."
"You're ready for a stroke." The girl droned out.
"Funny kid" Peyton crossed her arms and thought for a moment. "Listen, you're old enough to get your working papers, and I could always use some help in the office, plus It'd be awesome having another set of ears sitting in on a session with a new band. You up for it?"
"Well, yeah I guess, that seems cool." She failed dismally at keeping her cool.
"Great, I can make you up a job application sheet for your parents to sign and we'll be all set. Oh, by the way, what's your name?"
Her face fell. "Ryden, but you know, this sounds great and everything, it really does, but I don't think I'm qualified." She lifted her black shoulder strap bag and CD player from the bench.
"I can teach you anything you need to know; I just wanna give you the opportunity I never had. You're as qualified as you need to be I promise."
"I appreciate this I really do, but there's a problem, this whole job application, it's not gonna work."
Peyton placed a hand on her hip and leaned against the entry way to the club. "You're parents wouldn't approve."
"It's sorta like that. Really, thanks, but no thanks." She walked away from the bench at a quick pace, her bag flowing heavily behind her. Peyton sighed, obviously confused, and hesitated before turning and pushing open the door. It was late afternoon, four pm, too early for Tric to be buzzing with people. For the past few months Tric was being ran independently; the music being booked by a small independent agency in Tree Hill. She turned on the lights and crossed the baron dance floor to a long hallway that lead to her office door. She took her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door. Her laptop was stuffed in a drawer at the bottom of her desk, and the CDs, Owen must have checked the mail box recently, because a chunky yellow envelop was left on her black swivel chair with her name scribbled across it in black sharpie. She looked around at the red walls, feeling ashamed for leaving it unattended for so long. Peyton ran her finger across the wooden album shelf. She brought it up to her face and noticed the thick layer of dust covering her polished finger.
There was an empty corner to the left of her desk; maybe in a few months she could start bring Elizabeth to work with her and her and Lucas could save some money. She mentally noted to stop by later on this week to do some major cleaning. She shut back off the lights and left the building quickly, hoping the girl would be waiting outside, haven fully reconsidered.
The bench was empty, she could tell from behind. As she approached it she noticed Ryden's sketch pad left unattended on the concrete of the sidewalk. The front was covered in band stickers and small doodles. Peyton picked it up, daring to flip through it. Luke had done the same thing to her all those years ago. Was it so wrong? She would know.
She flipped to the first page. Ryden had sketched a simple apple, with a bite taken out of the side, juice dripping down its peeling skin. It casted a shadow over the surface of the paper. It was just an apple.
The second page was of the inside of a car. Bags were packed and a family of four seemed to be set out on some sort of vacation; two kids, a mom and a dad, very old fashioned. The only thing truly odd, was that the people, had no faces, no smiles, no bright excited eyes; nothing.
Disturbed, Peyton was not, she knew almost everything there was to know about art. It was merely a way to express yourself and show how you're feeling when there's no one to listen.
The third page contained a sketch of a tomb stone; very similar to the one Peyton had drawn of her mother's grave all those years ago. There was no name. But the description underneath where the name would have been said, beloved mother. "Accomplished a life time of dreams and only left one behind."
The fourth page was of a teacher with brown curly hair. Her back was turned to the class as she wrote on the board with an expo marker. It said 5-7-5.
The fifth page, and the last page she dared to look at was of a room of beds. They were lined up against walls and a small isle space separated a whole other row of beds. Each twin size bed had the same sized pillow, same type of comforter and the same set of slippers lying together on the floor. But oddly enough, each bed was unique. At the foot of each bed was an item, like a baby blanket, a baseball, a video game and on the last bed, by a bared up window, was a sketch pad with an apple microscopically drawn on it. Underneath the sketch Ryden had written: We've got nothing to take, so why steal? Don't find me a house; find me a family. Don't send me help; send me answers.
With enough questions that needed answering, Peyton placed the book, the envelope and her computer in the passenger seat of her car. She walked around to the driver's seat and started the comet up. The music blasted from the speakers and as she felt overwhelmed with a wave of emotions. She'd seen these pictures and all she could do was make assumptions. Is that how others felt when they look at her art? Confused?
At arriving at Nathan and Haley's house, Peyton noticed that Lucas' car was not present in the driveway. She pulled up her cars cover and walked up to the front door giving a quick knock before entering.
"Hey Hales?" She called out to the empty entrance way.
"Peyton?" Haley questioned from another room. Footsteps were heard approaching on a tile floor, and she entered from a doorway at the end of the hall. "Hey come on in, Nathan just left a few minutes ago to pick up some food for our early dinner." She looked down at Peyton's hands which were carrying the art pad. "Where did you get that?"
Peyton held it out to her. "A girl left it outside of my office."
"Ryden?" Haley asked fingering the stickers on the front.
"Yeah; Do you know her?" She asked unsure.
"She's one of my American Lit students; Very quiet, but she says a lot when she writes. She loves music"
Peyton nodded. "She said she likes what I do, so I offered her a job, but she freaked out when I mentioned a job application for her parents to sign."
Haley sighed and handed the book back Peyton. "Sweetie Ryden doesn't have any parents to sign papers. She lives in a women's shelter that her actual father pays money for her to stay there. Apparently his work takes him everywhere, but to visit his only daughter. She was a new student last year and the principle called her teachers in to prep us on her background. We were supposed to take notice if we saw her struggling. I guess her mom died only a few years back and life hasn't always been her best friend. She's got some sort of illness too; she has to take a lot of medication. It's just weird that you would come here with that. I used to talk to Nathan about her. It's miserable to see her in class, so drawn from everything around her, but it's not like she's adoptable or anything. She's still got a dad, even if he does resent her."
Peyton blinked. "Wow"
"You know Peyton, she reminds me a lot of you, growing up. I mean I don't know her the way I did you, but similar life style, although you had the house to yourself."
"I know my dad couldn't stand to look at me sometimes because I was Ana's kid too. I was always this reminder of what they'd gotten themselves into, but he never left me. He worked hard, and changed his life style to be there for me. And after having a kid, I can't understand how you could ever leave yours."
"I know, and it sucks honey it does."
"But she's got no one and that's not fair. God, I would never ever want my daughter to grow up like I had to, or Ryden has to."
"What makes me so crazy thinking about her is, how can you leave your child? Especially with a choice."
"Wait, suicide? Her mother committed suicide?" Haley nodded. "Oh god" She held her stomach in despite.
"How can you EVER leave your child? That's your child. Wouldn't you even think about how it would affect them? I don' t know about you, but when I hear something like that, I just wanna hold MY kid and tell them that I'm always going to be there for them."
Peyton shook her head. "But you're not going to be. Something can happen, something can always happen. In a perfect world, you will go before your child. Now that I have Elizabeth, I can't imagine a world without her; I mean that'd be torture."
"You'd know better than anyone what it's like to grow up without a parent"
"I never said this to Luke, but one of my biggest fears is leaving my daughter and him behind before I'm ready. Like I said I never want Elle to grow up like I did. I want to be here for her always." A tear dripped down Peyton's cheek. "Sorry Haley , didn't mean to get all emotional on you there."
"Yeah, hey Peyton, Nathan's out right now, would you like to come in and have something to drink, I made ice tea. We can talk about how cute our kids are." She placed a hand on her sister in laws shoulder. "Hormones?"
She laughed and nodded. "Just when I thought I was getting back to normal." She whipped her eyes. "Sorry Hales; I've been holding that in for a while now."
"And you haven't told Luke?"
Peyton shook her head. "No, I didn't want to bother him with it. I mean it's something only I can live with. I don't think anyone can say anything to change the fact that there is always that potential for something to happen."
"Sweetie, this is the kind of stuff you share with your husband. I do remember a very similar conversation the two of you had when someone was feeling a wee bit insecure and you PROMISED to tell Luke everything you were thinking from then on."
"He told you?"
"He came to me for advice"
She smirked. "What a good guy"
"So listen, you need to tell Luke about how you've been feeling." Haley raised Peyton's wedding ring to her face. "See missy, you'd be surprised how many influential words come out of that guys mouth. You don't give him enough credit."
"Because I'm afraid of what he'll think of me." She sighed. "I've been a mom two weeks now and I can't even keep it cool that long. I don't want to continue to cry to him. He doesn't need that."
"Oh Peyton!" She groaned. "I am not hearing this. You're afraid of what he'll think of you? Please, there is more to this then you're leading on and it has everything to do with your mother and how you felt after she passed away and you do need to tell Luke all of this. Do you hear me? The second he walks in that door I want you drag him upstairs and lay it out straight for him. And by that I mean speak to him you dirty girl. Give someone else a chance to over populate the Scott family."
A car door slammed from outside and Peyton's smile grew.
"No!" She exclaimed. "You're pr?"
"Hush, don't you dare say anything."
"Is that why you and Nathan acted weird with Luke this morning?"
"I said quite!"
Footsteps approached the front door and it opened quickly as Jamie came running in the front door.
"Hey Momma, long time no see." He handed her the long awaited photo of him and Nathan and herself. "It's ready for the fridge. It's perfect."
"Hey" Luke said entering the hall carrying Elle in her car seat. "I've finally figured out how to get her out of the car once I've buckled her in."
"Yeah and she cried the whole way!" Jamie whined turning toward his mother. "Aunt Peyton said babies are fun, but so far all Elle's done is cried and slept."
"Okay Jamie, enough from you Mr. Boy. Why don't you go play with your toys while we wait for everyone to get here?" He shrugged and bound off towards the living room.
Peyton rolled up her sleeves. "I'm going to go wash my hands in the bathroom so I can hold my girl." Her heels clicked as she left the hall, with Luke secretly admiring her long legs from behind.
Haley quickly made her way over to Lucas and wrapped her arms around him. " You've got to talk to her" She whispered into his cheek as she gave him a quick peck. When she pulled back his eye brows were frowned. "How's my god daughter?" She bent over to brush the baby's nose with her soft finger. "How's are you pretty girl?" Elle's eyes remained wide as she stared at Haley's face. "Sorry Luke, but aside from her eyes, she looks just like Peyton. I mean look at that curly hair coming in and her nose."
He tightened his grip on the handle of the car seat. "Don't I know it? She acts just like Peyton too."
"How so?" Peyton said coming back into the room, pulling down her sleeves.
"It's hard not to act like you when all she does is eat and sleep, like Jamie has so boldly put it." Haley stepped out of the way as Luke gently placed the carrier on the floor so Peyton could bend over and unbuckle her daughter from the seat. She caressed the back of her baby's head and carefully lifted Elle into her arms.
Elizabeth's reaction was immediate. She reached out slowly and grabbed onto the first thing her hand came in contact with, which just so happen to be Peyton's shirt. While she did not smile, or admit a sound from her mouth, her eyes lit up and mouth opened in surprise and glee. Luke moved besides her placing a hand on her back affectionately.
"I bet this makes you want another one, huh Hales?" Haley frowned, crossing her arms.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Right…" She whispered positioning Elle to look at her aunt.
"I'm gunna go pull some drinks out of the garage and clean up the kitchen. If you need to feed Elle, or anything, the guest bedroom is yours." She winked at Peyton and walked away, her shoes rough on the tile.
"Did you feed her while I was out?" Peyton asked, clutching her daughter to her chest.
"She slept until the car ride here. She's probably hungry" Lucas leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips and put pressure on her lower back as he gently directed her upstairs.
Once in the guest room, Luke closed the door and turned toward Peyton, taking the baby from her arms as she pulled the shirt over her head. "I'm assuming you didn't bring the bottles from the fridge."
"Oh no, I brought those. I just wanted to take advantage of the guest room, and get you to take your shirt off." He smirked as Peyton sat down with her back against the headboard, a pillow propped up behind her.
"Oh please, you don't want to see me this way. Look at all this." She took a fist full of her left over pregnancy fat and then motioned for Elle. He gently replaced his daughter in his wife's arms.
"So you weigh 110 pounds now instead of 105. Peyt your skinny as hell. You better eat more with the next kid. I'm thinking all that food went straight to her." He rubbed Elle's tiny tummy.
"Next kid? You're full of jokes today aren't you" She lowered down one side of her bra and Elle latched on, her eyes drifting closed as she sucked. Peyton looked up at Lucas who had his eyes locked on her face. She blushed and rolled her eyes. "Why do you look at me like that?"
"Because, you're beautiful."
Her heart leaped like it did whenever he said something incredibly sweet. "Stop it" Her blush darkened. "Ugh" She groaned. "Why do you do this to me?"
"What!?" He questioned caressing her thigh as he scooted closer to her. "You are"
She rolled her eyes. "Do your lying self a favor and grab me that black note book by the door."
Luke pushed himself off the mattress and crossed the room to the small table. He picked it up and looked it over. While he knew Peyton was a fan of all the bands stickered to the front, he was sure he hadn't even seen this book before. He flipped it open, a look of confusion spreading across his face. "A little, amateurish of you Peyt."
"Not me" She said shaking her head. He brought it back over to her, continuing to flip through it. "It's a girl's from the High school; her name is Ryden." He blinked, still sitting in the dark. "Luke, you know how I grew up, right?"
He nodded. "If you're talking about your mother, yes"
"Well this girl, I met today, and she's living in a women's shelter because her father would rather work thousands of miles away from her then look into her eyes and see the woman he loved and lost. "
"And I'm assuming you felt sorry for her because you know how she feels?"
She made a small noise of aggravation."Not really Lucas." She brushed her fingers against Elizabeth's chubby cheek. "My dad, even though it hurt him, changed his life style when he knew how it was affecting me."
"I don't think I'm following you Peyton. Do you want to pull a Brooke Davis and foster the girl?"
"No Luke, it's deeper than that." Elle squirmed in her mother's arms a cry bursting from her tiny lungs. Luke stood up again and draped a white towel over Peyton's shoulder. She rubbed her hand in circles across her babies back. She released a tiny burp and Peyton giggled, shaking her head in amusement. Elle closed her eyes and began drifting off once again. Luke held out his arms and Peyton gently set their daughter in them.
"Hi beautiful" He said kissing Elle's forehead lightly.
Even though anger was boiling close under her skin, Peyton couldn't help but smile. "My babe is the best daddy EVER!" She said smiling.
"Ya, well, we make pretty great parents don't we?"
She shrugged. "She's only two weeks old, give it a year and you might be begging me for a divorce."
He leaned forward with the baby in his arms and kissed her cheek. "Never"
"Well I hope so" Lucas set the baby down on the mattress, and set up two pillows besides her. "Luke, look how tiny she is. The damn pillow is bigger than her." Peyton reached forward and touched Elle's soft hair.
"She's really amazing Peyton. If I haven't told you lately, thank you."
She lowered her eyes at him and then leaned back into the head board. "For what?"
He moved to sit beside her, his legs hanging of the edge of the bed. She threw her own legs over his. "For giving me our daughter."
"If I remember correctly, you helped." His smile widened. "But I'll take the thank you. You're welcome Luke."
He ran his hands softly up and down her legs. "So, before, this girl. Would you care to explain?"
She sighed and took the hand from off her leg and held it in her own. "First, I have to say, that I haven't been completely faithful to you."
His forehead scrunched up. "Okay, go on"
"I promised that I would start telling you how I was feeling, and" She paused. "I haven't been"
He was silent for a minute and her eyes widened as if she was waiting for him to say something. "Peyt, I'm not going to lecture you or anything because I want to hear what you have to say. So if you're going to tell me how you've been feeling, go on."
She clutched his hand harder. "Well, this girl just reminded me, that since Elle was born, I've been, I've been afraid Luke. And I don't think that fear is going to go away."
"Afraid of what? And why didn't you just tell me?"
She brought his hand up to her cheek. "I'm afraid of leaving our daughter. I don't wanna die and leave Elizabeth to grow up without a mom. Not how I had to grow up. I don't want that for anyone. And I didn't tell you because it's silly. I know that you can't say anything more than, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. We are always going to be here for her and it's not true."
He held up his hand and gently placed it on her lips. "You underestimate my ability to give a good rebuttal. What I would have said, and I still will, is that, I know, because I'm an author and a realist, that things happen. I've seen it happen in my life, and in yours and Peyton, listen, if anything ever happened to you. I would be here. I don't work across the world or on a fishermen's boat. I will always be here for our daughter, and any other kids we decide to have." She nodded sadly. "I know it's scary to think about, and you only want what's best for her, but if that ever did happen the kid has a great support system. Look at Haley and Nathan and Jamie, Me, my mom. She's going to be fine. And this is all killing me to say because I can't imagine a world without you and I want you to be here for Elizabeth, always and forever. And Peyton, I know that if anything ever happened to me, you would be her for her as well. She has just become the biggest part of our lives, and we have to consider her first, now and forever." He released her lips and her wide and wet eyes stayed locked on his.
"I guess I do underestimate you at times."
"Please, for my sake, and Haley's, tell me how you're feeling. All the time because it feels like you're keeping secrets from me."
"Not secrets" She shook her head. "I shouldn't ever believe that you're going to think something I have to say is silly"
"Never, because, whether you like it or not, I love you"
"Oh" She said smiling, as she leaned towards him. "I like it a lot"
"Good, because I'm hungry and I just heard the front door slam" He pulled away before her lips could touch his. "But, Peyt, we should do this more; talk about everything. It's good for us"
"Okay, at nights, after we put the baby down. "
"Good idea" He leaned down once more and captured her lips with his own before pulling away and moving toward the door.
"I'll stay up here for a while and let her sleep. Send Brooke up when she gets here, alright?"
He nodded with a slight smile and left the room.
This chapter was uber long!
Next chapter: Brooke&Peyton talk it out. Haley&Nathan's BIG news. &a flashback to bedrested Peyton ;)
REVIEW or I won't update.