BRIEF NOTES:

Thanks for the reviews. Really.

Drama, full speed ahead.

Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER:

One Tree Hill still doesn't belong to me.

CHAPTER NINE

The doorbell to Nathan Scott's house rang twice before anyone heard it. As soon as the door was opened, 2 pairs of eyes widened at each other.

"Hi." Lucas said in a huff, hoping she hadn't seen his astonishment. "I was supposed to pick Kaity up?"

Peyton blinked. "Come in. They're still on their way back."

"On their way back?" he asked as he walked in.

"Brooke came home today. We had lunch at the café and your mom saw us there a little while after."

Leave it to mom to not let me know, he thought. "I see."

She continued, "We decided to extend the get-together here. Nathan asked Karen to invite you over. Anyway, Brooke and Derek took the kids to the mall earlier, but we told them to come back in time."

"Okay. Thanks." Lucas was a little miffed at his mom; she knew he wouldn't come here for dinner so she low-balled him into going by deliberately keeping information from him.

Haley came into the living room. "Luc! I'm glad you made it. Come on, Nathan's outside. You can help me carry the tray."

Lucas responded with a heavy sigh. He really didn't want to do this right now, he thought of the pages for his book and a number of other things; but, he supposed, if he gave in and stayed for a few minutes, everyone would shut up about it.

The doorbell rang again.

Peyton opened the door again, this time to a group carrying a load of shopping bags.

"Hi mommy!" exclaimed a very gleeful Robby as he pulled her in for a kiss. It took all of 5 seconds for him to greet her then run to the middle of the living room.

Kaity followed suit, "Hi Peyton!" greeting the blonde but swiftly running to the floor where Robby had set himself down.

"Hi Aunt Peyt!" Ryan cried as he hugged her but, again, very quickly followed the 2 children.

Brooke and Derek made their way to the entrance and the three adults headed for the garden as Peyton commanded the children to follow.

The meal was uneventful. For a while, Lucas thought that maybe it was perfect to leave things like this and head home. That was, until, the kids excused themselves as Nathan brought out the wine and beer.

Haley served wine to the women while her husband distributed beer to the men. When he offered one to Lucas, the older Scott was about to refuse before Nathan cut him off.

"Come on, man. What are you, 19?"

Lucas resignedly took the offered bottle. "Thanks."

The younger Scott pitched a statement as he looked at the children who were happily playing inside the den. "You're spoiling them, Brooke."

"Indulge me. I haven't played good Auntie in 2 years. Besides, you guys are seriously turning those two into way older kids than they should be. I mean, P. Sawyer, you got our little man paints and canvasses last week!"

"What, he asked for those!" Peyton defended. Robby had taken after her creativity; and that was something all of them had common knowledge of.

But Brooke was not to be deterred. "Yeah, but you could've thrown some robots to go with it. And you…" Her point of reference now turned to Nathan. "Air Jordan's for kids? Really?" Her face wrinkled to stress her point.

The man put his hands up in the air. "He practically threw a tantrum over them, so don't blame me."

At this point, the brunette had given up. "You guys are such doting stage parents."

Nathan and Peyton smacked her shoulders simultaneously. "Ow! Good thing you have me to bring the fun back into their lives."

The two were about to smack her again when she said, "Do that again and all hell will break loose."

They shared a laugh as the proud parents narrated stories and milestones Brooke had missed in the last years.

Lucas had kept quiet during all of this, occasionally offering the tiniest bit of a smile when a funny memory was brought up. Deep inside, he felt a surge of sadness rise as the conversation flowed.

Along with the sadness came regret, and alongside that followed ill-feelings. He couldn't help it – he was mad that he missed all of his son's moments… mad because Peyton had deprived him… mad because he didn't know how to catch milestones like that… and mad because he didn't know how else to feel.

He stood up, making the rest of the table pause in mid-conversation. It was time to go, he thought. "Thanks for dinner, but mom's probably waiting."

As he deposited his beer on the tabletop and walked in the house to claim his sister, the group that was left outside felt a pang of sadness for him. They all knew he still hadn't gotten over his issues.

But in the entire equation of their drama, they also knew he had unknowingly forgotten one important detail.

Communication was a two-way street he hadn't exactly crossed either.

"Hi mommy! I'm home" A smiling Robby chirped as he entered their doorway.

His mother welcomed him with a bear hug and a soft kiss. "Mmm. Hi honey. How was your day?"

"Okay." The boy responded nonchalantly.

Peyton's curiosity piqued. Usually, her son was more animated when it came to illustrating his day's events. "That's nice. Did you do anything with daddy today?"

Robby shrugged as he replied, "No. He stayed in his room." He scooted off of her lap. "I'll go up and draw, 'kay mom?" He gave her a kiss as he headed for his bedroom.

Her son was too blissfully innocent to notice her disappointment rise a notch higher.

One month. It had already been one month and there was no visible progress on the father-son relationship. She remembered what she told Brooke at the airport, and she hated feeling she was right. Her blood started to boil at this point, thinking that if the man she once loved still existed in the one that pretended to play dad with her kid, he would have just walked away instead of inflicting such unsolicited pain.

The questions started pouring in as soon as she felt her irritation reached its peak – Why would he distance himself? Was he out to hurt her by deliberately building walls between him and Robby? Would he really intend to detach himself? What was he afraid of?

She breathed a heavy sigh.

Her son didn't deserve this… and that was something she intended to spell out to Lucas Scott.