June 20th, 2013

Tree Hill, North Carolina

Peyton and Lucas Scott's house

"Brooke, what are you talking about?" Lucas Scott hissed into the phone as he pulled a pair of dress pants on, tucking her deep red shirt into the dark kaki pants before zipping them up and threading the belt through the loops on the new pants, each action done jerkily and angrily, with hands shaking from anger. "You promised you'd take Avery with you to Washington. The only reason that we didn't send her to Florida with Lindsay, Nate and Haley was because you begged to watch her." He sighed impatiently as he heard Brooke ramble off some excuse about her mother and the fall line.

"I'm sorry Lucas, you that. I would have never asked if I hadn't of been sure then that I could take her, but if I don't go to this meeting, and my mother does, I might lose the company, which would mean that Peyton loses the label, and then Haley and Jake and Mia all lose their careers." Brooke explained frantically, fighting back tears. She felt absolutely awful, because Lucas was right. Peyton and Lucas had been all set to send Avery with his brother and sister-in-law's, along with Lilly, but Brooke had pleaded with them, just wanting to take Avery with her and the girls to DC for a few days. She had used every single argument that she could think of to persuade Peyton to let her take the girl with her. Using arguing points like Jake was taking Bailey with him and Jenny down to Savannah to visit Nikki, of all people, and Mouth and Mille were bringing Brody with them to the Seahawks game that Millie had gotten Mouth tickets to for his birthday. Not that Peyton and Lucas hadn't had ready responses; Nikki was guaranteed by Jake to be stable, and who wouldn't trust Mouth and Millie. Not to mention Brooke's schedule was easily changeable, and very unreliable, but Brooke had promised them that nothing would come up. She hadn't meant to break that promise.

"Brooke." Lucas said, still whispering as he walked past out of his bedroom and into Avery's bedroom, searching for his wife. "I know that you meant well, but that trial starts in two hours. We have to leave in a thirty minutes, and all of our potential baby sitters are out of town, because we asked them to get the kids as far away from Ian Banks as we possibly could. What are we supposed to do now?" The panic in Lucas' voice was growing, and it continued to grow as he found his wife was not in the room with his sleeping daughter. "You know what, Brooke I have to go, my wife is missing and I have to get Avery ready now." He sighed angrily into the phone. "I'll have Peyton call you later today." He didn't wait for her to hang up before he clicked the phone off with one hand, simultaneously unbuttoning his shirt with the other, knowing that he had to get Avery ready to go now as well, though exactly where she was going was a complete mystery to him. He gently picked up his infant daughter, who happily squealed when she felt her father's arms around her. The squeal startled her father, and apparently, her mother. Lucas relaxed juts a bit when he heard a snore from upstairs, alerting him to Peyton's presence. He knew that she was ready and dressed, and that all she would need to do was her hair when she got up, so he left her sleeping, taking Avery out of the room for a much need bath. She had just had a bath yesterday night, so she was clean, but giving his kids baths was always one of Lucas' favorite things to do, because it was one of the only times that it was just one on one, him and his child. Not that he would want that all the time. These past few days, without all four children in the house had been quiet, eerily so, and had been hard for Peyton and Lucas, Peyton especially. The last time that Peyton had been apart from her kids for this long, they were in the NICU, striving to live. He forced his mind away from that thought as he washed Avery, paying special attention to each squeal and tiny word as he had tiny, not quite real conversations with his daughter. She was doing remarkably well, talking wise, and she was keeping up, for the most part, with her older brother and sister, not that stopped either Peyton or Lucas from constantly worrying about her or Lilly for that matter, who wasn't doing as well.

Though originally the trip had been something that Peyton, Lucas and Lilly all thought was just a formality, none of them could say that it wasn't helping Lilly. It seemed as though every time Lilly came home from one of the infrequent and scheduled whenever they could find the time, usually once a month, she smiled just a bit more. Which was why it had surprised Peyton and Lucas when the doctor had called them into his office the week before and gently explained that he was diagnosing Lilly with Juvenile Depression, and recommending that she see a grief specialist. The news had sent Lucas and Peyton reeling, though they had of course agreed to do whatever he had thought was best. Lilly had made her first visit to Dr. Gregory Sandston three days ago, and he had recommended that she come to see him once a week until further notice.

Shaking his head in an attempt to physically rid the thoughts from his mind, he carefully picked Avery up, bringing her into in Avery's bedroom as to not wake up Peyton, and putting her down in the crib while he went to find something appropriate for her to wear. He silently opened the door to her room and walked over to the closet, opening it up. He realized he had a problem as soon as he opened it. He didn't know where he was sending her. Worst case scenario, and he meant worst case, Avery would have to come to court with him and Peyton, and that would require slightly dressy attire. He pawed through her closet until he found something he assumed might work, a cute little pink halter dress that had a matching blanket, so if she was cold in the courtroom, she could be easily appeased. He dressed her quickly once he had gotten back into the room, then he ran a brush though her hair, put in two tiny matching pink bows, put some impossibly tiny shoes on her impossibly tiny feet, and looked at the clock. He very nearly had a heart attack when he saw the flashing red numbers, telling him that they had to be at the court house in a half hour. He quickly threw his shirt back on and then got a bag ready for Avery, realizing that he didn't have time to drop her off anywhere's, even if there was someone who could take her. Peyt wouldn't be happy about this, neither was he for that matter, he didn't want his daughter anywhere's near that psycho. That however, seemed to be the only option. He put her back down in her crib as he rushed up the stairs, knowing that he was going to have to wake his wife.

"Peyton." He whispered gently, surprised when his wife's eyes immediately opened, and he wanted to cry as he saw the fear in them. He knew in an instant that she had overheard his conversation with Brooke.

"I can't believe her." She said, and though her voice should have sounded mad, instead, it only sounded tires, with the slightest hint of fear beyond it.

"Peyton," Lucas repeated again, puling her closer to him "You know that meant well, things just don't always go as planned." He knew that saying it probably wouldn't help much, put he said it and he kissed her forehead quickly, and then glanced at the clock. Peyton got the hint and pulled herself off the couch and downstairs, where she quickly ran a brush through her wavy hair, and then quickly picked Avery, and her diaper bag up while Lucas made a bottle for her. They were in the car within ten minutes, driving towards the last place Peyton wanted to be.

She had put off being at the trial for as long as possible. Brooke had appeared in court the previous day, and Derek was coming in with her today, but that didn't mean that she wanted to be here. The last time she had seen Ian Banks she had been a senior in high school. She had been scared and she had felt completely violated, and alone. Almost as if her husband was reading her mind, Lucas pulled one hand off the steering wheel and placed it his wife's six month pregnant stomach, effectively reminding her that she was never alone.

"We have to go." Lucas whispered, and for the first time Peyton realized that the car had pulled to a stop in front of the courthouse, which was in all reality just another building, across from the Town Hall. She nodded quickly back at him, and then she pulled the door of the car open, letting her face just momentarily be swept up by the wind. Nearly as soon as she had opened the car door though, the draft vanished, replaced by the hot air. She quickly got out of the car, grabbing Avery and her diaper bag, and pulling them out.

"Here we go baby." She whispered, pulling Avery as close as she could to her body. Lucas could tell, simply from the way that she was holding his daughter, and her protruding stomach, exactly how uneasy his wife was. Not that he could blame her. It just broke his heart to see the way that she cradled Avery to her chest, afraid to let her go on hand visibly on her stomach, as if she was attempting to protect her unborn baby too.

They walked slowly to the front doors of the courthouse, and Lucas pulled it open, letting Peyton walk in in front of him, and then, as soon as they were all there, he positioned himself protectively in front of both girls.

"Hello, Mrs. Harsh." Lucas said, smile on his face, but no contempt in his voice, as he addressed the secretary. He had known Mrs. Harsh since he was a child, and they had graduated with her son, Mark, so she knew all the details of the case that was going on today, and she smiled sympathetically at Peyton, especially when she saw the baby in her arms, and took notice of how pregnant she was.

"Honey." She smiled maternally at Peyton. "Couldn't find a sitter?"

Peyton smiled, welcoming the topic. "Yeah, do you think that it would maybe be okay, if she just sat with Lucas and I?"

Lucas took one look at the older woman's face and saw exactly how his wife looked to the rest of the world. To him, his wife was strong beyond belief, and as brave as was possible. She was here, and to him, that in and of itself spoke for itself. But to the rest of the world Peyton Scott was broken. Broke, small and clinging onto this small child simply to hold herself together. To him she was worthy of praise, to everyone else, she was worthy of pity. He saw that pity in the secretary's eyes as she nodded at his wife. "Sure honey. This is just Tree Hill Claims court, not one of those big fancy city courts, no one'll care. And if they saw anything to you, just tell them I said it was okay." She paused for a second before continuing. "You guys are right downstairs. You start up in ten minutes." She gave them directions to the courtroom that Lucas knew was the most informal. It was, as Mrs. Harsh was explaining, in the basement, and there were no formal benches, just a few tables and some folding chairs. He was happy that that was were they were holding the last court session, just because he knew that his wife would feel more comfortable there, then in one of the more traditional courtrooms. That was one advantage to living in a small town, he asked, explained, and most times, people were kind enough to give you what you needed. Like when he'd asked that Peyton not have to appear more than once, and that they keep Ian Banks out of town for as long as possible. Both conditions had been agreed to after he had carefully explained that his wife was five months pregnant, and already under stress. He knew that he had made the right decision. Peyton had been on edge the past two days when she had known he was in town, and he couldn't imagine what she would have down with herself had he have had to have been in town for the weeklong trial. He saw her visibility relax when she walked into the informal room, and he smiled again as the judge came up to the entering couple.

"Lucas, Peyton." The judge, said, another sympathetic smile on his face. "And baby Avery." He smiled genuinely at the tiny baby in her arms. "Peyton, you can go sit over by Derek, okay?" Peyton nodded kissing her husband and letting him slip the baby out of her arms and then walking over to where Lucas could see Derek was sitting. Lucas waited until he could see that Peyton was safe, clam and in one piece before he turned his attention back to the judge, who was still looking at him as though he had something to say.

"Everything okay, your honor?" Lucas asked tentatively, eyeing the silent justice.

"Lucas, I've known you since you were five. It's Mr. Ellington until court is called to order." He smiled at the father. "And you know that Avery is welcome here, but I was just wondering if you really thought it was best. I mean I know that Peyton must be incredibly stress, and I just was wondering if you thought that it might just not be as helpful as you think, to have the baby in plain view of Ian Banks." He spoke as though he was afraid of offending the blonde parent, who was currently looking at his as if he had just told him that Dan Scott was the reincarnation of all that is good and kind.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, knowing full well exactly what the judge was nervous about. Avery. "Do you think that he'd hurt her?" The thought had honestly never even crossed his mind. With all the stress that had been going on, the thought that his wife's ex-stalker would even lay a hand on his child hadn't even occurred to him.

"No, no. We are a small town, but we do have a good sized police force, who heard about what was going on and offered to sit in on the trial. They'll both be fine. I'm just worried about Peyton's reaction to her child and him in the same room."

Lucas paused for a second, weighing the option. "Thanks for the concern," He said, smiling at the older man, "but right now I think that it would freak Peyton out more to not know where Ave was." The older man nodded solemnly, though Lucas could see that he did not agree with his decision. Lucas smiled at him anyways, and then made his way through the basement courtroom and took a seat next to his wife and brother-in-law.

"Is everything okay Luke?" Peyton asked, and he could see that she was clearly not doing well. Her voice was shaking, as were her hands, and she had tears running sporadically down her eyes.

Lucas kissed his wife quickly, reassuring her, and then handing the young child over to her, smiling despite himself when Avery reached out her tiny fist to her mother.

"Mama." She said, a small smile on her pale cheeks.

"Yeah, Avery. It's me." Peyton whispered quietly, kissing her daughters head as tears began to fall more steadily down her face. Lucas knew that she was upset. She hadn't seen Derek in over five years, and now she was sitting in a courthouse, extremely stressed out, pregnant with her fourth child, and holding one of her nearly year old triplets in her lap, and she was about to have a nervous breakdown. And the by far worst part was that Lucas had no idea what to do other than thread his arm around her waist and hope to god that she was going to make it through this okay.

Lucas heard the judge call the court to order a few seconds later, and as he stood, sat back down and listened he kept his eyes fixed on his wife. He knew in a second when Ian Banks entered the room. He saw it in her eyes, the way they widened in shock as he heard the door open. He saw the fear in her eyes, and they way she moved to protectively cover her stomach, but he didn't turn to look at Derek. He sat during the entire first half of the case, listening to Derek talk, then Peyton weakly describe what had happened to her, and then he even gave his own testimony of what had gone on that night, and he didn't let his eyes deviate from his wife once, not even to glance at the baby that he knew was sleeping soundlessly in her lap. He didn't look away until his daughter made him. He didn't look away from his wife until his daughter woke up, and began to whimper loudly, attracting everyone in the room's attention. And out of reflex, he spun around to look at Ian, and wanted to vomit when he saw the look of pure hatred that was aimed at his innocent young baby. But he shouldn't have turned around, because when he turned back, his wife was on the floor, and the only time that he'd even been more terrified that the moment that he saw here strewn across the courtroom floor, unconscious, was an hour later, when a doctor came out and told him that they were going to have to deliver their baby now, or Lucas would lose the baby, and his wife.

A/N: So sorry about the long wait! School has just been really, really busy. Please review anyways! 110?