DISCLAIMER:
Same drill. I don't own OTH.
CHAPTER ONE
Peyton walked in to what sounded like the beginnings of a heated argument between the married couple. She decided to linger at the door a little longer, reflecting on whether or not she should come in.
"We have to tell her, Nate. We have to tell Peyton."
Now she knew she had to come in. But not before she heard what Nathan had to say.
"I know that, Hales. But don't you think we'd be meddling though?"
That didn't make any sense to the blonde. Not at all.
"We have to let Peyton know."
Okay, now she just had to. "Tell Peyton what, guys?"
They looked at her, startled. Clearly, they didn't expect her to hear them.
"Nathan, Haley, really… we're a little too old for the deer caught in the headlights excuse. What is it?" She was trying to lighten the mood, for both their sakes. Apparently, it wasn't working. "Seriously, don't make me pull a mommy face and --"
"Lucas is coming back in 3 days." The words from Nathan's mouth cut her off.
Then it was her turn to look like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Are we there yet?" A frustrated 4-year-old whined from her car seat.
Lucas had to smile at that. "Weren't you the one who begged mom and me to drive there?" He turned from the front seat to look at her. "If I had known you were gonna ask that every w minutes, I would've ridden a plane instead." He joked.
"Mom, Lucas is being mean again!" The young girl said with a pout.
Lucas replied, in all seriousness, "Well, you're being fussy. So quit it."
"You quit!"
"You first."
Karen had to laugh at her children's ability to squabble, considering they were an entire generation apart. A few more exchange of words, and she knew she had to draw a line. "Okay, both of you quit it. This car is getting stuffy with all that bickering. We're almost there anyway."
Kaitlyn Scott's eyes lit up. "Really?" she asks as her smile widens by the second "We're in Daddy's home? Can we see him at the cemetery? Can we mom? Please? Please? Pleeeeeeease?"
As Kaitlyn entered the dreaded stage of curiosity, which is commonplace among toddlers, the reason for her father's absence was not explained without difficulty. Both adults would find themselves close to tears whenever she asked where he was, or why he was never around. That was, until Karen realized how unfair it was to Keith to deprive his daughter of his memory. To everyone's surprise, Kaitlyn Scott accepted what was told to her with calm and composure, which was more than what neither Karen nor Lucas could say for themselves.
"We will, sweetie. As soon as we settle ourselves down, okay?" Deep down, Karen knew this would be more for her than her daughter. After 4 years, she still found it hard to look at her love's grave.
The little girl whined, "But can't we just say hi to him first? I just wanna see him before we get to the house."
There was always a first time to step up. "Okay, Kaitlyn. We can drop by daddy's grave first."
"When?"
That was the first thing out of her mouth. She felt like she had been punched in the gut. No, she felt like angels sang "alleluia" in the background. No, it was back to the gut-punch. For the first time in a long time, she had never felt so fearful and so excited at the same time. She needed to sit down.
"We don't really know, Peyt. All he said was soon." Nathan answered as she placed herself in the seat between him and Haley. The three of them were equally anxious now… and all of them knew exactly why.
The couple looked at her. They both knew a million thoughts were racing through her mind, none of them possibly involving a happy reunion between the former lovers. The brunette's forehead creased with worry as she spoke to the blonde, "We're here for you, Peyton. We'll be here and we're in this together. You have to know that."
The blonde's silent musings were broken, and she brought her eyes up to meet Haley's. "Thanks, Hales." She said as her hands reached out to touch the one that squeezed her shoulder lightly. "So, where are the boys?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Bedroom. Hopefully, Barney was enough to keep them seated for a while." Haley's words, while laced with humor, also gave hints of dread. The three of them laughed at this – after all, each of them knew that those two together always equaled chaos.
Peyton got up from her seat and started towards the room where the boys were. As soon as the door closed after her, Nathan looked at his wife.
"Well, this should make for an interesting summer."