Chapter 2:

I sat up with a start to silence my cell phone before it woke the pretty girl on my left, I catch a glimpse of the time and roll my eyes, "It's early Peyt, what's the matter? Is Sawyer alright?"

"Nothing is wrong, our baby is one today and I can't believe it." I hear her sniffle through the receiver, "How is that possible Luke? It feels like only yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital." She barely chokes out the words before the floodgates open and I hear her begin to sob.

I look over at my motionless girlfriend before I get out of bed and creep out to finish my call in the den, "Peyton, it's only her first birthday, there will be plenty of memories to make after today, I promise you. Now get some sleep, we will see you this afternoon."

"Daddy?" I jump at the sound of Phoebe's tiny voice, "Daddy?"

I smile and say, "Yes pretty girl."

"I have been calling your name forever," Phoebe giggles before standing up from the cluttered heap of paper surrounding her on the floor. "Were you sleeping with your eyes open again?"

I chuckle at the sight of her, she has rainbow glitter flecks streaking her cheeks and nose like freckles from the sun, "What are you making?"

"A birthday card for Yaya." She answers with confidence, I cannot get over how grown up she sounds. Phoebe Elizabeth Scott is far too precocious for her own good, I have to remind myself often that she is only six years old. Her long curly chestnut tresses are pulled into a side ponytail done in a fishtail braid with the barrettes I watched her mother put in her hair before school this morning. "Auntie Peyton said Yaya and I are having a slumber party this weekend, is that true?"

I motion for her to come closer and I wipe some of the glitter away from her eyes, "Sawyer's birthday party is on Saturday and she wants you to stay the night." I reach for my cell phone, "But if you would rather come home with me after I will let Peyton and Yaya know."

"No!" She squeals. "I want to go to Yaya's!" She hopped up and down and began to pout at my un-phased grin. It makes me happy that my girls are close, Phoebe even has her own cute nickname for her older sister - Yaya. It all started when she was learning to talk, Sawyer was a difficult name for a two year old to say, so Phoebe started calling her Yaya and obviously it stuck.

She starts tickling me and I release my phone from my hand and it falls to the floor, "Alright, alright. I guess you can go, let me see the card you're working on."

She skips over to the paper pile and hurries back with a bright piece of pink paper. She hands me the card and began to explain the intricate design of glitter and stickers, "Yaya likes unicorns and rainbows. Mommy said her party is going to be a unicorn party so I colored her a unicorn and the second unicorn is me, I am smaller than Yaya so my unicorn is smaller too." I love it when she rambles, it's times like these I cherish most, "I added the glitter colors and right there," She pointed to the words she had written in her precious handwriting, "see right there that says Happy Birthday Yaya! Love Phoebe. Do you think she'll like it Daddy?"

"Of course pretty girl, Sawyer is going to love it."


I stand up and bring the dishes to sink, "Daddy I have a question?" Phoebe speaks from her place at the table, her mother has already retreated to the spare bedroom to finish something for her latest client.

"What is it pretty girl?" I beam at her from the sink, "Your daddy is an open book." I laugh to myself over my last statement, explaining that I write novels for a living is a story for another day.

"Is Yaya really my sister?" She wrinkles up her nose and looks down at her still untouched broccoli.

I squint my eyes and run my fingers through my hair, 'I knew we should have sent the girls to different schools, it's like me and Nathan all over again,' I let out a long sigh, "Who told you Sawyer wasn't your sister honey?"

Phoebe looks down at her plate and pouts, "No one daddy honest… but-" She hesitates and bites her lip, a few seconds later she huffs at her broccoli - she detested broccoli, but in this house when I made broccoli Phoebe had to eat it. She sighs and bites her lip again; 'this must be serious' I think to myself, 'she hasn't been this agitated since we told her the storks were bringing her a little brother… not a sister.' "But Auntie Peyton is Yaya's mommy, why isn't my mommy her mommy too?"

I groan, 'I don't remember this happening this early with Sawyer,' and call out for my betrothed, "Brooke, sweetheart can you come here for a minute. We need your help with something."

Brooke comes out of the guest bedroom with straight pins squeezed between her lips. She goes to speak and furrows her brow before she brings her arm to mouth and sticks the stray pins in the pincushion cuff adorning her wrist, "Yes Luke, as you can see I'm kind of in the middle of something." I look down and it appears as though she's holding a giant shower sponge.

As if we are sharing the same brain she glares in my direction, "It's Sawyer's tutu for the party on Saturday. She asked for a voluminous rainbow tutu with sequins at the hem." She puts the tulle ball on the wing-back chair in the den and heads to the kitchen, "What's wrong?"

"Go ahead pretty girl," I observe the gloomy twinge to Phoebe's normally bright blue eyes, 'great, she thinks she's in trouble.' I tell myself.

Phoebe looks to me, then her mother and scurries up onto Brooke's lap and buries her head in Brooke's chest, "Why aren't you Yaya's mommy too?"

Brooke's eyes widen and I know what she's feeling, 'it's too soon,' "Well honey-"

"Daddy used to love Auntie Peyton the same way he loves mommy," I pull up a chair next to two of the most special ladies in my life and rub Phoebe's back.

Brooke narrows her eyes and takes over, "What daddy is trying to say is he used to love Auntie Peyton and they had a baby together, just like mommy and daddy have you and Milo."

I continued, "So Yaya is your sister because you both have the same daddy and I want you to know that you are special." We collectively made the decision when Brooke and I found out we were having a child of our own that we would never label Sawyer a 'half-sister' she is my daughter and I love her more than words can express, first and foremost our children were going to know they were siblings no matter what.

"How come," Phoebe looks up at Brooke and avoids my field of vision.

"You are unique because you have mommy, daddy and Milo in this house." Phoebe nods her head, "And you have Sawyer and Jenny at Uncle Jakey and Auntie Peyton's house. I bet you're the only girl in first grade with a fun family like yours."

"Can Yaya come and live with us?" Phoebe smiles as she bounces on Brooke's lap.

Brooke squeezes my hand, 'crisis averted' I tell myself before I begin to think of the first time Peyton and I discussed a custody arrangement that suited our needs.

I look down at the red faced newborn and choke on happy tears, "Welcome to the world Sawyer Penelope Scott, I'm your dad and I love you so much." I lift my head when I feel someone watching me, "She's perfect Peyt, you did an amazing job. Thank you for letting me be here for the birth, all things considering." It has been a rough month and a half, there have been a lot of fights, countless tears and an ultimatum but I feel like here in this moment we have survived the toughest part of the storm and the waters ahead are calm. It's probably just the endorphin's of new fatherhood but I could hope for the best right?

Peyton sat up in the hospital bed and knotted her hair on the top of her head, "So I was thinking that for the first six months while I'm nursing we could continue to co-habitat. I meant what I said before Luke, I don't want some court ordered custody agreement, we have been friends for ten years I am positive we can figure it out."

I let out a sigh of relief, "I think that's a great idea." I stand up and bring Sawyer to her mother. I give Peyton a quick kiss on the cheek, "I am thinking about sneaking out for something other than hospital food, what do you say?"

"That sounds great, thank you Luke." Peyton leaned back into the hospital bed and closed her eyes before I even left the room.

"Daddy," Phoebe says as I drift back into the conversation. "Do you still love Auntie Peyton?"

"I will always love Auntie Peyton pretty girl. We loved each other very much at one point in our lives and that alright, because of that love we have Yaya and I cannot imagine my life without her can you?"

"Nope," Phoebe replies before finally plopping a piece of broccoli in her mouth, "If I didn't have Yaya, I would only have Milo," She shivers and swallows her food before reaching for a second piece, "And brother's are more yucky than a plate full of broccoli."


I pull into the parking lot of the party school and see Peyton waiting for me outside. I wave before parking the car and heading to her, "Have you been waiting long?"

She leans in and kisses my cheek, "No, I just got here."

"Great," I put my arm around her shoulder and we head through the automatic sliding doors, "So I thought all of the party stuff was purchased already?"

Peyton pulls out her phone to look over her list, "I need to buy a new pinata, Jake left the other outside on the deck and Royal and Ruby ate it."

I let out a barrel laugh, "Those dogs are terrorists Peyt, when are you guys going to take them to a trainer?"

She pinches my arm, "Jake thinks him and Jenny can handle them, I keep trying to remind him that she is thirteen now and doesn't give a damn about the dogs, but he wants to try one more time."

"So did Brooke tell you about our conversation with Phoebe, I could have sworn Sawyer was older when she asked the two mommy question." We stroll down to the pinata aisle and I reach up and bring down a new unicorn pinata.

Peyton's fate twists into a pensive expression, "Brooke told me you both handled it like champions, two children down only one more to go." When we passed by an empty abandoned shopping cart Peyton grabbed it and I placed the pinata in the back, "We just need to stop at the front, I need to reserve the helium tanks and pick up the banner for the house."

I hang back by the candles while Peyton goes up front, I pick out a flowering lotus candle that sings happy birthday and an 8 is great cake stake to put in the over-sized cupcakes, "Let's add these too," I say as I jog to the register, "I got it Peyton." I hand the checker my credit card, I pick up all the bags and the unicorn shaped pinata with rainbow hair, "Did Brooke tell you Phoebe asked if Sawyer could move in with us?"

"I saw that firework thing you purchased, that is not going anywhere near Sawyer's cake." Peyton arches an eyebrow in my direction and opens the trunk.

"What's wrong with it?" I wonder, "It isn't a firework, it says right on the box blooming lotus candle, it looks really cool."

She gives me a coy grin, "Ummmm I don't think so." She closes the trunk, "So what did you and Brooke tell her about why Sawyer doesn't live with you guys?"

"The truth naturally." I smirk, "We told her that if she wanted to continue to have sleepovers they had to live in separate houses." The actual truth was, Jake, Peyton, Brooke and I decided long ago that it would be in the girls' best interest to have consistency so Sawyer would always live with Jake and Peyton. In the beginning it was an adjustment, but the anxiety she seemed to get for days after being at my house for the weekend wasn't worth my selfish desire to have her at my place. We only lived two streets away from each other and I could see her anytime I wanted to so it wasn't a problem.

"Sounds like the most logical explanation to give a six year old, I commend you." Peyton laughs as she sarcastically bows before me.

"Ha ha ha," I glare, "So we will be at your house at 10:30 Saturday?"

Peyton nods, "Yep, can you believe Sawyer is going to be eight? Where did the time go?"

"Honestly, I don't know. It was like I blinked and she was eight." I lean in and give Peyton a quick hug, "I need to go relieve Brooke, she has a conference call with Bloomingdale's soon. See you Saturday."


I let myself into the house and announce my presence, "Olly olly oxen free," I bellow down the hallway.

Phoebe and Milo come running towards me, well Phoebe runs, Milo at nearly three mostly waddles. I look up and there she is the original pretty girl who owns my heart. "What time is your call?"

"Already taken care of, I was able to talk to the buyers while Phoebe was at school and Milo was down for his nap." Brooke tilts towards me and kisses my lips passionately.

'Oh, how I miss the days before we had children?' I tell myself, 'back when life was simple; movies, dinners and nights of endless love making.' I clear my throat and hope it clears my head, "So you're mine for the entire afternoon?"

"It would appear so," She smiles and reaches for my hand, "I was thinking we put on a movie in the den, pop some popcorn and cuddle up," She flashes her signature dimpled smile, "Did you buy a new…" she looks around to see where the kids are, "unicorn? Peyton sent me pictures, it looked like the sad unicorn murder scene in that one Harry Potter movie."

I chuckle at the ridiculous face she's now making and kiss her neck, "So what movie are we watching?"

"Wreck-It Ralph, it was Milo's pick this week." I can't help but stare at her assets as she practically glides to the den.

"Here daddy," Phoebe tugs at the hem of my shirt to grab my attention, "I painted this in school today."

I look down at the poster board of finger painted stick figures and the questions about Sawyer now make sense, the painting is titled My Family. Phoebe is in the middle and she is surrounded by her family, there's a figure for Sawyer, Jenny and Milo. Next to them is her parents and I choke up a little because Brooke and I aren't the only one's represented, she has also taken the liberty of including Peyton and Jake. There is so much love in her heart I beam at the painting which also incorporated Nathan, Haley, Jamie, Lydia, Lilly and her grandparents; my mother, Andy, Deb, Victoria and Jake's parents. "It's beautiful honey, this has to go on the refrigerator for sure."

A few minutes later we are all cuddled on the couch together in the den and I hear the familiar sound of Wreck-It Ralph and I smile; 'Hi, my name's Ralph and I'm a bad guy. Let's see, I'm nine feet tall, I weigh six hundred and forty-three pounds. Got a bit of temper on me. My passion bubbles very near the surface, I guess, not gonna lie. Anyhoo, what else? Uh… I'm a wrecker. I wreck things…' I have loved this movie since the first time we watched it with Sawyer and Jenny at the drive-in. I have always had a soft spot for Ralph, here he was a flawed character who was programmed to be the bad guy and he was powerless against it. If I was being honest with myself he reminded me of a bad guy in my own life… My father Dan Scott.

Brooke and I were sitting on a blanket at the park with Sawyer, Jenny and our newest addition Phoebe. "She's beautiful, I think she favors your mother." I tense instantly at the syrupy voice of Dan Scott coming from behind me.

I stand up, "Brooke go get the girls and meet me at the car please."

Brooke gives me a concerned look and turns to the park, "Don't be long alright, it will scare the girls." She kisses my cheek and calls out, "Jenny, Sawyer come on we're going to go get some lunch - let's go."

"I've tried to see your brother, I was given a new heart and it has forced me to take stock of my life. I would like the opportunity to know you and your children." Dan flashes the phony car salesman smile he is practically famous for.

I fold up the blanket and retrieve Phoebe's stroller, "I would rather eat glass than allow you access to my children. I'm glad you got a new heart Dan and you think you're a changed man but to me you're always going to be one thing, a murderer. Now if you'll excuse me."

"You know I always figured one of you would turn out like me," he crosses in front of me and stops, "If I were a betting man my money would have been on Nathan. I never thought his marriage to Haley would last, but here they are ten years and two children later - how many months apart are Sawyer and Phoebe?"

I feel my blood boiling in my veins and I want nothing more than to punch his lights out, "I am not going to tell you again Dan, stay away from my children."

I wake up when I feel Brooke squeeze my hand, "I know we've seen this movie hundreds of times but I thought for sure you would stay awake, it's one of your favorites."

I stretch as a yawn escapes my lips, "I was thinking about Dan."

"There's a shocker," Brooke stifles a giggle, "personally I think he's more like King Candy."

I watch Milo begin to fidget at our voices, he has been a quirky child since birth. His head is covered with kinky tufts of curly blond hair, his eyes are large and green in color, which surprised both me and his mother. He is the kid of many faces and he was particular about every aspect of his existence, my mother swears I was this way as a child and he will grow out of it, but when he sits on the floor and lets out a blood curdling scream for no apparent reason I want to bang my head against the wall. "Milo. Mi-lo. Miii-loooo." Brooke covers her face with a pillow, but it doesn't stop her from laughing.

Milo stands up and pauses the blu-ray player and turns towards us and gives us a death stare, "Shhhh! My movie!"

Brooke and I tense up and stop carrying on for a moment before the laughter takes old of us again and Milo folds his arms across his chest and begins to pout. "That's it mister, you better turn that frown upside down."

"No," Milo huffs.

I fall to the floor and pull him close, "Fine, you leave me no choice, tickle attack!"

Milo holds his breath to keep himself from laughing but that only lasts so long before the laughter takes a hold of him, "Daddy stop it."

Soon enough Brooke and Phoebe join in and we're all rolling around on the floor tickling each other and laughing when the doorbell rings and Phoebe wiggles loose, "Stop it, Yaya is here!" She jumps up and down, "Come on daddy, come on. Yaya and Jenny are here for dinner!"

I jog over to the door, "Hey Peyt, Jen-Jen, cutie pie." I pinch Sawyer's nose as she hugs me around the waist.

"Hi daddy." Sawyer smiles up at me and I notice she has one less tooth then she did a few days ago. 'DNA is an interesting thing' I say to myself, Sawyer was the perfect amalgamation of me and Peyton, her hair is dirty blonde and stick straight. She has a genetic eye condition, heterochromia iridum, that affects about 10% of the world's population. In layman's terms one eye is green; like her mother and the other is blue like mine.

"You have something you want to tell me?" I say, tapping my teeth.

"I lost another tooth," she shrugs, "No big deal."

Before I can respond Phoebe comes running in squealing from the back of the house, "Yaya! Yaya!" She runs into Sawyer's arms and giggles, "I missed you so much, did you miss me?"

"Of course I did kiddo." Sawyer reaches into her bag and hands Phoebe lollipop, "Don't tell daddy."

"My mommy made sloppy joes come on, come on, come on." Phoebe pulls Sawyer to the kitchen, I watch as they stop for a second and she hands Milo a fruit roll up, "Shhh, don't tell daddy."


So when I first started writing the follow-up to this story I imagined it going a different direction entirely but something happened in my life that made me rethink a few things. In October of last year my biological father passed away, we weren't exactly close so I feel like it took a long time to sink in. Then something amazing happened, his daughter (my half-sister) contacted me after nearly a decade of being estranged, so now we have reconnected and I couldn't be happier. :)

I wanted this chapter to be about Lucas and his children and how they live in their version of normal. I have one more chapter planned out, I'll be working on it soon. :)

Hit review and tell me what you thought of it. Thanks!

Krystal