BRIEF NOTES:

Thanks so much, again and again, for the encouraging reviews.

This chapter will be the last one chronicling Lucas's meeting with his son. There'll be a bit of a time jump between this chapter and the next one, but the story is still going to remain as clear as it possibly can. )

I hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I do writing.

DISCLAIMER:

OTH still isn't mine to own.

CHAPTER SEVEN

"Look, Robby! Your daddy's standing at the door."

The curly blonde was immobilized by Ryan Scott's innocent chirp.

Her glass of water made contact with the kitchen floor; the crash echoed throughout the house.

Outside, the shattering sound disrupted Robert Scott from the trance the familiar man's presence had woven. He turned and ran for the kitchen.

"Mommy!"

Peyton was too stunned to move or talk.

Upon seeing the splintered pieces on the floor, he sidestepped his way towards the broom closet. Just as instantaneously, his mother found her voice.

"Stay where you are, Rob. Mommy's fine, she just got clumsy. I'll clean it up. There's glass all over the floor and the last thing I need is you getting any of it on your hands or feet."

The child spoke softly, his voice carrying anxiousness, "My daddy's outside."

"Is he?" She pretended, matched with a fake bright smile and a practiced jovial voice. "I told you he'd be back for you, didn't I?"

The little blonde boy smoldered his steely blue eyes right into his mother. "I'm a little scared, but a little happy too. I'll come back later, mommy."

With an about-face, Robby Scott headed back to the living room.

The scene playing out in front of him was as surreal as it could get. In his mind, everything was moving in slow motion – the pace in which Robby moved towards him as the child emerged from the kitchen, the weight of the little boy's tug on his shirt, and the way he bent down to meet his son for the first time – all of it was too movie-like. But as he knelt to even out their eye level, the slack of the scene's movement returned to real time.

Nevertheless, his son's unexpected affection – or more accurately, the tightness of the hug that currently enveloped him – caught him totally off-guard. Even more so, the warmth of his son's reception as he said, "Welcome back, Dad" nearly broke Lucas down.

He released the embrace. The golf ball that lodged in the back of his throat was becoming a little too much. Not knowing what else to say, he stepped back. The sight of his son's mother and the former love of his life watching them was his final trigger.

"I… I'll see you later. I have to go."

Just like that, Lucas Scott bolted. Leaving his little boy to wordlessly wonder what it was he had done wrong to make his father run off once again.

Peyton emerged from Robby's bedroom as cautiously as she could, making sure to leave a small opening between the door. It hadn't taken a lot of effort to put her son to sleep tonight; the excitement of today's events had spent all of his energy. In a way, she supposed, she was thankful for that.

Physically, the exhaustion should have been enough to have her collapse in the hallway of her home; however, her mind and her heart refused to cooperate as they continued to pace wildly within her. Choosing to fight her emotions, she started for her own room.

Apparently, fate had other plans. Derek's firm but soft voice called to her from downstairs. "Peyton! Come downstairs now."

She took to the steps leading to her brother, half-annoyed. "Derek, I swear this better be good. I'm really tired and this hasn't exactly won the best-day-ever competition in my book."

She regretted saying those things as soon as she was greeted with the surprise at the door – the one and only Lucas Scott.

He hadn't really wanted to come to her right now, but he figured now was about a better time as any. He needed to, anyway. Nevertheless, nothing could have ever prepared him when his soft knock was met by the person he last expected.

"Derek, what are you doing here?" Stupid question, Lucas.

The man's glower didn't waver. "I could ask the same of you, Scott. And, I live here now – 3 point 7 years running."

He hadn't missed the sarcasm laced in Derek's words, but now was not the time for debating justifications. "Could I maybe talk to Peyton?"

Lucas swore he saw fire from the other man's eyes – the same kind Peyton got whenever her temper rose or her passion fevered. He shut that memory off with a quick blink as Derek walked off to call his sister from the bottom of the staircase. Before he could bat an eyelash, the marine had returned to face him. Lucas guessed stealth was a habit the guy often practiced.

The descending footsteps combined with a soft voice's grumbling indicated Peyton's arrival. Lucas saw her gawk in astonishment at the sight of him. Derek looked behind, acknowledging her presence. But before the man walked away, his eyes bore straight into Lucas's as he whispered, "Offend her and I will have your head. And don't, for a second, think I'm not serious."

The girl walked towards his direction. Halfway to him, Derek gently grabbed Peyton's arm and whispered something which remained inaudible to him; she nodded at whatever it was that he said and proceeded to approach him.

"Don't mind him, he's being a marine." Her eyes met his with a shyness he never saw in her before. "Hi."

"Hey." This was awkward, he silently said to himself. "Umm… I'm not staying long, but I was just wondering if maybe I could get to spend some time with… with…" Shit. How stupid did he have to be to forget his own child's name? He wanted nothing more than to kick himself.

"Robby." She supplied for him. She understood his uneasiness. It wasn't very easy to reach out to something you shut yourself off to before, it was a feeling she recognized very well.

He couldn't look at her. "Right. Sorry. Robby. I was wondering if I could maybe spend some time with him. I mean, he is mine and my mom and Kaitlyn would really love to get to know him. I know I said some cruel things before, but I never really ---"

"You can pick him up tomorrow morning. I'm sure he'd love that." It was slightly amusing to watch him ramble, but she decided it was time to relieve him of the embarrassment.

He looked up at her. "Thanks." It was all he could manage.

Now came the harder part, she thought. "Listen, Lucas. I know we didn't exactly end on a--"

"It was a really long time ago, Peyton. I think all of us have moved on from there. Let's not dig up the painful memories and maybe just try to work with what we've got, please?" He had to cut her off. He wasn't ready for any form of confrontation, especially not when it involved him and her.

His words had stunned the sense out of her. A minute ago he was rambling explanations and now he wanted nothing to be said between them. It confused her, but if this was how he wanted things to be then she supposed it had to be enough for now. She gave her agreement in the form of a nod.

"Alright. So, I'll just, uhh, pick him up around 9am?"

"Okay. If you can, bring him home before dinner. Please tell Karen I said hi."

"I will. Thanks again. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye" Having adjourned the conversation, Lucas headed for his car.

Peyton watched him leave as an overabundance of questions raced around in her head. This was going to be awkward for a while, but if that's what it took to bring him closer to their son then she would be more than willing to live with it. She didn't mind anymore if their relationship didn't see the prospect of hope renewed.

She only hoped that Lucas's relationship with Robby wouldn't have to suffer the same fate.

Robby woke up to his mom's gentle shaking; she wore a smile that spoke of genuine love. When she told him of what his father asked last night, his little heart jumped just as energetically as the rest of him. Peyton had never seen him so wired; he wasn't even like this on a sugar high.

After the due preparations were done, he bolted for the front door and plopped right on the porch steps.

"Easy, tiger. It's only 15 minutes to 9. We don't want your breakfast all over the floor like the last time." His mom harbored a secret happiness at his reactions. At least, she knew, telling her son the things she did about Lucas had been the right choice all along.

As far back as he could remember, Robby had always been assured of his father's love. His mommy had always told him that his Dad would come back, and he would love Robby just like he always did. The little boy had never questioned this; and now that it was really happening, he felt like God had listened to every prayer he made.

Still, the memory of yesterday played out in his mind. "Is he going to run away like yesterday, mommy?"

Peyton ached for the raw hurt she saw in him. All of them wanted nothing but for yesterday's events to play out differently, but what was done was done and there was no point in trying to sugarcoat it.

"I'm sorry he walked out on you yesterday, baby. I'm sure he didn't mean to, I think he just got a little scared too – just like you, huh? Besides, he said he was gonna spend time with you, so I'm thinking he isn't as scared anymore."

Robby always believed in the power of his mom's words. Most of the time, she was right and that was something he would never doubt. "Yeah." The excitement in his voice returned, but wariness had again taken over at the sight of the car that parked in front of their house.

She gave her son a tight squeeze. "It's okay, honey. It's just your daddy."

He looked at his dad again and offered a shorter greeting than what he gave out yesterday. "Hi."

The older man gave out an uncertain smile. Peyton dismissed it as nothing else but first-time jitters, but somehow the nagging feeling that Lucas didn't really want to do this nipped persistently at her gut.

"Hi. Ready to go?" Lucas held out his hand to his son.

"'kay." Robby turned to look up at his mom, they enclosed each other in a comforting embrace. "I love you, Mommy. See you later."

She smiled at her young boy's affection. He had a heart of gold, this little man.

"Bye baby. Be good for daddy."

Robby Scott ended the conversation with a nod. He walked the porch steps and held the hand that was offered to him. With that, they started for Lucas's car.

As the sound of his engine faded into the air, Peyton offered a small prayer to whoever was listening – prayer that held her best intentions at heart.

"Please… make this work for my son."