February 2nd, 2013
Tree Hill, North Carolina
Lucas and Peyton Scott's New Bedroom
"Peyton." Lucas called, more groaned into the pillow, not bothering to look up. "Your daughter wants you."
"It's your turn." She argued back, knowing that it wasn't going to help her any.
"Yeah, except every time I go in there our daughter whimpers 'Ma' and starts to cry harder.
Peyton would have smiled if she hadn't have been so tired, and scared. And sick. All four kids had been sick all week, and with Lindsay, Derek and Jake renting the old house, it was just her and Lucas let to care for the sick infants and child. It was a wonder that one of them hadn't gotten sicker earlier, according to the doctor who had given her the meds earlier that week. It was true that Avery really only wanted Peyton these days, and every time someone would go in to get her, at least this week, it would result in a six months old version of Mama, , and if it wasn't Lucas, wailing until Peyton would rush in and scoop the little girl up. Normally, Peyton would have just let the little girl cry herself back to sleep, but she had an ear infection that she was just getting over that had Peyton being overly worried and protective.
Peyton groaned into the pillow when she knew she was beat. Sighing, she pulled herself out of bed and towards the hallway staircase that led up to the kid's floor. That was probably the most inconvenient part of the new house, the babies being upstairs; it might have been the only one.
The first floor of the new house was gorgeous, as Peyton had realized soon after she had stepped into it. Both she had Lucas had large, over sized home offices with enough room for a comfortable desk and chair shelving for Lucas' immense book collection and Peyton's music collection, ample wall space for Peyton's art, and excellent acoustics. Further into the house was a huge living area that would have taken up the entire back of the house except for the cut out area near the front that housed the state of the art kitchen, for Lucas to cook in, of course. The living room was set up perfectly for the family, with couches scattered around a huge plasma screen television. The stairs up to the second floor were across from the door to the kitchen, and the second floor was nearly as family friendly as the first, with the stairs opening up to an open area that served now as mostly an extra large play room. On the other side of the playroom was a loft that overlooked part of the living room, and on Brooke, Chase and Owen's request, held a fully stocked bar. Directly off from one side of the loft was a small storage area, and next to that a small balcony that faced the street. Behind the kid's playroom was Peyton and Lucas' bedroom, the master bath and a closet, and a huge balcony that overlooked the ocean. It was the next floor that worried Peyton though. Not that she didn't love it, and she knew that once the kids were older, it would be perfect, but being away from her kids after a half a year with them right next to her was slightly stressful. But it was gorgeous. The stairs opened up to a small landing. Directly across from the landing was Brody's room, and next to that was Bailey's room, which rested against the back wall, also against the back wall was Avery's room, and directly between those two rooms was a spare. In front of Avery's room, and completely against the side was Lilly's room, and wrapped against the entire side of the house was a balcony, facing the ocean in Avery's room, Bailey's room and the spares room, the side of the house (Which happened to be beach) on both the side's of Brody and Lilly's rooms, and the street on the front. But the amazing wrap around porch and ocean view wasn't why Peyton would have loved this room as a teen; the real reason lay within each room. Each of the children's room held just enough room for a crib, a twin bed in Lilly's case, a dresser, a closet and a changing table, which was switched with a dollhouse and shelf for toys in Lilly's room, and a set of stairs that led up to each child's personal loft. The lofts were about the size of half the room, and there was a network of doors that connected Brody and Bailey's lofts, Bailey's loft and the spare room's one, the spare room and Avery's lofts, Avery and Lilly's lofts and Lilly's and Brody's. Right now the triplet's lofts only had a couch, a few chairs and a rocking chair, but later they would be perfect for a desk, some shelves and friends.
Right now, however, Peyton was only rushing to get to Avery's room, and as she opened the door to her daughter's room, she couldn't help but smile as she looked around. It was one of the only room's in the new house that was nearly exactly as it was in the old room. Color combinations and big themes were kept intact in Bailey and Brody's rooms, but nearly everything had been kept the same in Avery's room, down to the quotes that Peyton had scribed on the walls.
"Hey baby." She whispered, not wanting to startle her infant as she walked softly into the room. Avery's wails stopped as soon as she recognized her mother's voice, and quieted to whimpers.
"Ma." Peyton heard the small child coo as she reached her little arms out, hoping for Peyton to pick her up. Peyton happily obliged as she picked her up, quickly running her hand over her head for a fever, sighing in relief as she found none.
"What's wrong Ave?" Peyton asked, looking at the small girl, knowing that she wouldn't answer. She was sure she wasn't hungry; she had just eaten a few hours before, and her diaper didn't need to be changed. Which meant that Peyton still didn't know why Avery had awoken screaming.
"What was wrong with her?" Peyton heard a voice say, and she was surprised to find Lilly standing behind her, Bailey in her arms. "She was crying and I figured you wouldn't be able to hear, so I brought her in." Lilly explained, holding out the baby for Peyton to take, which Peyton did immediately.
"I'm sorry, Lills. I know that this isn't fair. And I have no clue."
"It's okay Peyton. And maybe she was just lonely." Lilly said, shrugging her shoulders. "She just missed her mom." Peyton saw the look that crossed her face and felt sadness overwhelm her.
"You think?"
Lilly nodded, smiling a bit. "Lukie said that my mom used to read to me when I would wake up and not go back to bed, Avery might like that." Peyton smiled softly at the girl, knowing how hard it must be for Lilly, losing her mother and then being thrust into a situation where there was nearly no time for her.
"That sounds like a good idea Lilly. Do you want to read to her? I'm sure she'd like that." Peyton offered, smiling at the child. She was also pretty sure that Lilly would like that…
"I can't read to well." Lilly admitted, looking down at the floor. "Maybe you should read. You could read Lucas' book."
Peyton nodded, "Okay then, you go grab the book and meet us upstairs." She laughed when she saw Lilly pull the book out from behind her, a sheepish smile on her face. "Well okay then." She pulled Bailey and Avery more comfortably onto her hips and then quickly went up the stairs, switching both girls so that they were lying in her lap, and pulling Lilly closer to her as she began to read. It wasn't long before she heard another voice narrating the book, one that seemed to fit so much better than hers with the words. She looked up, surprised to see Lucas next to her, his son in his arms.
"You didn't come back to bed, so I came up to check on you and Brode squealed when I walked by. I heard you when I was in checking on him, and we figured we'd join you."
"Well, I missed my two favorite boys." Peyton said, holding her arms out for her son, who fit comfortably on her lap as Lucas picked Avery up. Lucas carefully maneuvered his way next to her, and continued reading the book, happily reciting his novel with his arms around his wife and children until they all fell asleep.
The sun was glaring though the window of the loft when Peyton awoke again, Brody and Bailey still asleep in her arms, Lilly on one side of her and Lucas, with Avery in his arms, awake on the other side.
"Morning Peyton." He whispered, kissing the top of her head as he got up. "How did you sleep?"
"Best night ever." She responded, yawning, rolling her eyes when she saw a smirk on her husbands face. "Still the best night ever."
"I'm offended."
"Don't be." She laughed, kissing him. "You're definitely my second best night."
"And your third?"
"And my everything Lucas Scott." She sighed, smiling as he wrapped one arm around her, and then promptly was hit by something in the back of the legs. "Oh, joy. Rocket." She muttered under her breath, though it was no secret that Peyton adored the yellow lab. "You take Brode and Bails, and I'll take the dog out." She sighed, reaching a hand down to pet the dog.
"Actually, I'll take him out. Brooke called a few minutes ago, she said she needed you to call her as soon as you get up."
"Did she sound upset?" Peyton asked, already on her way down stairs, putting Brody in his crib so that he could continue sleeping before she made her way back downstairs, putting Avery and Bailey in the rockers in the living room before she picked up the phone. Ten minutes later she was out the door, Avery in one arm, Bailey in the other, and she strapped them in as quickly as she could without hurting them, and proceeded to drive to Brooke's in exactly the same fashion.
Once she was there she let herself into the house, frowning when she heard voice's other than Brooke's in the kitchen. "Hi Brooke, Lindsay, Haley." She said, looking at them all, in particularly her distressed looking best friends. "What's going on? You sounded horrible on the phone. Is everything okay?" She knew it wasn't, but that wasn't the point. She carefully listened Lindsay explained exactly what was wrong, with Brooke and with Haley, and then she sat, waiting for Brooke to burst into tears, which she knew that she would have been doing hours ago if she were Brooke.
"Peyton." She sobbed, the tears bursting onto her face, "Chase isn't even here. I cannot do this alone." She cried, looking desperate.
"Brooke," Peyton responded soothingly, trying desperately to keep her as calm as possible while balancing both girls on her lap. She was more than thankful when Haley and Lindsay each took a child from her. "You aren't alone. Chase is your husband, and it is just as much his responsibility as it is yours. He married you. And as for him not being here, call him. Explain what's going on, and he'll be home in a minute. He and Nathan are just out camping." Brooke looked slightly calmed, until she heard her daughter's voice calling her, and she burst into a fresh round of sobs. Peyton called up and asked her if she could just stay upstairs for a few more minutes.
"What about the kids?" A new round of sobs. "We never talked about this. I'm going to be so occupied and busy that I won't have time for them."
"Brooke, the kids will understand. You just have to explain what's going on to them. And I'm sure that Olivia at least has been through something like this before." Haley said, maternal as always, even though Peyton was sure that she was just as upset by her problem as Brooke was.
"Thank you guys." Brooke said, still sounding nervous. "And you guys rock, but Lindsay, I'm keeping you from your doting fiancée, I'm sure, and Peyton and Brooke, you both families to get back to, I'm sorry I freaked, I just don't know how to handle this. You guys can go home now though."
"Are you sure?" Lindsay asked, looking at Brooke.
"Yeah, guys. I have to call back to the office and check and then I have to get a hold of my husband. And Haley, I'm sure that you don't want to lose any time with Jamie, especially now. And Peyton, I honestly am not sure that your house can function without you. Thank you though."
Peyton, Haley and Brooke frowned, knowing that they should probably stay, but Brooke did need to call Chase, and they really all did need to be getting home.
"Haley." Peyton said, when they were out of Haley's earshot, and both kids had been safely put in their car seats. "Are you okay? You have to be freaking out too."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I definitely saw it coming, so it wasn't a surprise, I'm just worried about Jamie, and how he's going to take the news. He's not a big fan of change."
Peyton nodded, smiling softly. "And Nathan?"
"Oh, I'm not worried about him. He really was great, after the last time. I know he's not going to run."
"Haley, he's probably going to be ecstatic. He loves Jamie so much." Peyton said reassuringly. "It's going to be fine." Haley nodded, smiling slightly.
"I know. I'm going to go call him." She said simply before she got in her car and drove off, leaving Peyton to do the same.
She was greeted by a worried looking Lucas when she stepped into the living room.
"Is everything okay?" He asked worriedly, taking a baby out of her arms and pulling her in closer to him.
"Yeah." She said, smiling. "Where is everyone?"
"Lilly went over to play when Jenny, and Brody is in his bedroom, listening to Jake's demo because he was tried, and that put him to sleep."
Peyton laughed, smacking him and about to retort something sarcastic at him, but the phone ringing interrupted her. She picked it up, cradling the phone to her ear and her daughter in her arms, both of which she nearly dropped when she heard what the voice on the other end said. She quickly said okay before hanging up the phone to look at Lucas.
Brooke picked up the phone, knowing that what she was about to say into it would most likely be life changing, and she dialed her husband's number. "Hello, Hey Chase. I have something to tell you."
Haley James Scott was sitting on her couch, her cell phone in one hand, her son next to her, a confused expression on his face. "Honey, your daddy and I need to talk to you, so I'm going to call him, and then put him on speaker phone so that you can talk to him to, okay?" She asked, waiting for her son to nod before she dialed her husband's number. "Hello, Hey Nathan. I have something to tell you."
Peyton Scott turned around to face her husband, a panicked expression on her face.
"What's wrong Peyton?" He asked, immediately at her side.
"Lucas," She whispered, looking up at him. "I have something to tell you."
"I'm pregnant."
"The case is going to court, they finally got another testimony, and I'm probably going to have to testify."
"They're coming home, after all this time, together."
A/N: Those statements, at the end, aren't in order by the way. I'm going to stick a poll up in my profile, just to see what people want to happen, but I think I already know what's going to happen to whom. Review, as always. 90?