August 4th, 2013
Nettuno, Italy
What Is Now Lucas and Peyton's Beach House
"Holy shit Lucas." Peyton said, her voice devoid of emotion, probably simply because of surprise, as she stepped out of the rented Italian car, and onto the smooth cobblestone driveway that led up to an enormous, absolutely stunning, house, that rested on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea. "This place is…" She couldn't even finish the thought.
"I know." He said simply, gazing off over the grounds. When his lawyer had called him up and told him about the vacation home, he had been expecting nice, he knew Andy was rich, but this place was beyond all his expectations. Of course, he should have had some idea of the building's size when he had been told that there was plenty of room there for all of his friends.
"Haley is going to be mad that she missed out seeing your face." Peyton joked, knowing that it probably was a good idea that everyone but Lucas, Peyton and the kids had opted to stay in Rome for three days, before joining them at the beach house.
Lucas nodded, about to say something else when he was interrupted by another voice. Luke turned his head, and his eyes widened as he saw an older woman rushing down the path, wearing an old apron over a worn pair of blue jeans and a blouse.
"Ciao! Lilly, come stai mia bella ragazza? Ho perso voi!" She yelled, and Lucas was surprised to see his little sister run out from behind him and into the woman's arms.
"Signora Romo! Ho perso anche voi! Come Nico e Tessa?" The older woman laughed, and began to respond when she saw Lucas' staggered face.
"Ciao. Devi essere Lucas e Peyton." She chuckled lightly at their still confused expressions. "Hello, you must be Lucas and Peyton." She said again, this time in English, though her heavy Italian accent was present in every syllable. "My name is Annata Romo, and I was your mother's house keeper. I also was Lilly's baby sitter when she and Mr. Andy went out. I was so sorry to hear of their passing."
"Thank you." Lucas said, extending his hand, though he knew that his grip would be weak. "I guess you knew this but, I'm Lucas Scott, this is my wife Peyton and these are our kids."
"Avery, Bailey and Brody." The woman nodded. "The triples. Tre bambini. Your mother talked insistently about them. And who is the little one?" She asked, noting the little boy in Lucas' arms.
"He's our youngest son, Chaim. He's just a little over a month old, but he was born three months early."
"A fighter." The woman nodded, as if in approval, and Lucas got the feeling that she and his mother had been extremely close. "Nico, Tessa, venire qui. Lilly qui con la sua famiglia e voglio youto venire loro incontro." As soon as she called up, two little children, probably around Lilly's age, came running out of the house, both, from what Lucas could see, were distinctly Italian. "My grandchildren." The woman explained. "My son in law is the grounds keeper here and my daughter does the cooking. When they're both here the little ones usually come with them. Lilly became very close with them."
That was obvious by the children's responses when they saw Lilly. "Lilly, Lilly!" They both called out, running over to her, babbling away as fast as they could in a language that was probably Italian, but Lucas couldn't tell it from Arabic.
"Inglese. Si parla in inglese, quando ci sono persone qui. Si tratta di Ms Karen della famiglia, e si trattano come tali, capisci?" Both children turned around and nodded quickly at there grandmother before turning back to Lilly.
A few seconds later Lilly turned back to Lucas, a pleading look in her eyes. "Lukie, can I go into town with Tessa and Nico? Please? I've been there before millions of times, and Tessa said that Alisa got a new boat to ride!" Lucas looked up at the woman, confirming Lilly's story that she had been to town alone before.
"She used to go down with the kids all the time. Alisa is one of the girls that Lilly and Tessa went to school with. Her father owns a restaurant in town, and he just got a new boat. It's perfectly safe. Andy taught her how to sail when she was six." Annata said, smiling.
"Go on Lilly." Peyton answered for him, smiling at her sister-in-law. "Have fun."
"Back by dinner you three." The housekeeper called, watching as the three children raced down the road that Lucas and Peyton had just driven up. Nearly as soon as the children had disappeared, two men and a woman joined the group, Annata smiled at them before instructing them to get Lucas and Peyton's bags and bring them up to the house. "Come on." She said, turning to Lucas and Peyton, "You come up to the house with me, and I'll show you to your rooms." The older woman smiled at the couple as she ushered them, Bailey and Chaim in Lucas' arms and Bailey and Avery in Peyton arms, up the long cobblestone driveway, the makeshift bellhops following behind them.
"So, how much time did my mom and Andy spend here?" Lucas asked, looking around the grounds. The place definitely looked like on that his mother could have loved.
"Well, you mother actually stayed on these grounds for a night or two when she was here for cooking school. That was before it belonged to Mr. Andy, of course. The main house up there is the remnants of an old medieval manor house, which was refurbished into a tourist spot about fifty years ago. I worked here as a maid then, and I was around when Mr. Andy bought the place. It was very odd. He just showed up and said I want to buy this place, how much will it cost. He, Karen and Lilly had everything moved in a month later.
They stayed here often. It was their home, I think. When they weren't out on the sea they were always here, and Lilly loved being on the boat, but she also loved to run around. They stayed here more often as Lilly got older. Usually they would stay for two months, be gone for one."
Lucas nodded, trying desperately not to let the tears gathering in his eyes escape. Peyton noticed, and she quickly changed the conversation, to something about the music scene in the area. And then all the sudden they were there, standing in the doorway of this gigantic house, that was now there's. Lucas walked over the threshold before he could let his emotions get the best of him, and then was immediately stunned into mental silence as he looked around him.
If the outside of this place looked like a castle, the inside was the exact opposite. It was warm and inviting, and casually sophisticated. It was Karen Roe's decorating to a T. The entry way led directly into a huge living room that looked as though it spanned the entire with of the house. The room was done in warm creams, browns and red's, and there were painting that from the look on his wife's face, were probably worth more than the house.
Behind the living room, Lucas could distinctly see a large, state of the art kitchen, and a dining room that overlooked the ocean. However, they stopped to see none of that, and they continued across the great room, and over to door, half hidden behind another cream wall, with another unfamiliar painting on it.
The stairs were, like the rest of the house, warm and inviting, and Lucas was sure, childproof. Unlike the other rooms Lucas had seen though, these stairs seemed to reflect there history, making it not so hard to believe that this had once been part of a large castle. The stairs, though covered in a warm carpet, were surrounded by stucco walls, and the stairs themselves wrapped around in a distantly fairytale way. And even though the staircase was well lit, with gorgeous lights hanging down every few feet, it was easy to believe that this place had once been dark and dismal.
They passed what seemed like one hundred floors, especially with two kids each in their hands, before Lucas and Peyton followed Annata out of one of the wooden doors, and found themselves in a wide-open room. The wall directly opposite them was completely made of glass, and Peyton gasped as she looked down at the gorgeous sea below them.
"There are two rooms for the babies on the left, then on the right, on the far side is a room for a bay, then your room, and then another room for a baby. I thought Lilly would like to stay in her room, which is one floor down, and below that, on the fourth floor, is where your mother and Andy's rooms were. The second floor has a library, a game room and a family room, and the third floor has the offices and the bar. When your friends get here, they will be staying in the guest houses, downstairs. The pool is open, and the ocean is fine for swimming. Be sure to call if you need me, and I will bring dinner up in about ten minutes, so you can unpack."
Peyton and Lucas both nodded mutely and watched as she disappeared down the stairs, followed shortly thereafter by both of the luggage carriers, leaving Lucas and Peyton alone.
"I should put the babies to bed." Peyton whispered, looking at Lucas. "You go rest baby."
Lucas looked up at her, snapping his head out of its previously unfocused state. "No way. I love getting the 'Lets to bed. You know that." He laughed quietly as her face grew slightly happier. He knew that she felt awful for him, being here, but he knew that that wasn't what this trip was about. This trip was about celebrating. Celebrating Chaim being here, and the Triplet's birthday, which had been sadly disregarded amidst the chaos of Chaim's arrival. They were celebrating Haley's soon to be born daughter and Rachel's baby too. Lucas was celebrating The Comet finally making it on to the shelves, and Nathan was thinking about coaching, for real. This trip was about love, family friends and what was to come, not the past. Not anything like the past.
"You sure?" Peyton asked, and Lucas could see the hope in her eyes.
"Yeah, Blondie." He laughed quietly, "Come on, we'll put them in on our bed, and feed them, and then we'll get them ready for bed, and then, we'll lay down, together, on whatever amazing bed I'm sure is in there, and we'll just be. Sound good Peyt?"
"Lucas, that sounds amazing." She whispered, smiling as she walked into the bedroom, gasping when she saw the room. Two of the walls were floor to ceiling windows, and the other two walls were decorated with local art pieces, literary posters and record covers, all of which kept with the light beige, blue and pale purple and green theme radiating through the room.
Peyton and Lucas carefully put all three babies down on the bed, making sure they were completely safe before they left, each grabbing a suitcase, and heading off to decide which room was for each kid.
It turned out that the decision wasn't up to them. The rooms spoke already for their occupants. The first room that Peyton and Lucas' walked into was done completely in Raven's paraphernalia, from the crib to the walls. And aside from that, it wasn't just any raven's stuff; it was all Lucas' old stuff. Pictures of him, and copies of his old jerseys, and a folded blanked on the crib with both 22 and 3 on it, all of it causal and light, fitting in perfectly somehow, with the beach setting.
"I'd say this is Brody's room." Peyton laughed, dropping the bag she knew was her oldest son's on the couch, and then quickly putting things into drawers.
They found the same thing in the other room across the hall, done for Bailey, in soft pinks and princess decorations, and a framed picture of Lucas and Peyton at Honeygrove's prom on one wall.
The rooms on the other side, however, were a bit different. The first room was so obviously Avery's, and was decorated like the ocean, with album covers cut out in the shape of sea shells and start fish decorating the walls.
Chaim's room was slightly less personalized, for him at least. The room was a beachy green, and filled with pictures of both Italy, and of Lucas and Peyton.
By the time Lucas and Peyton had bathed, dressed and fed all four infants, it was nearing midnight, and they still hadn't eaten. The dinner was sitting on the desk in their room, but they just hadn't gotten around to touching the chicken dish that smelled heavenly.
"Luke." Peyton said, breaking the silence that engulfed them for nearly an hour. "What's going on?" They had finished putting all four kids to bed, and Peyton was just changing into something to sleep in. She slid into a pair of cotton shorts, and then one of Lucas tee's before crawling into bed with him. "Baby?"
"Sorry." He whispered, letting her crawl into his arms, and happily pulling her up against him, holding her head to his chest. "I just really miss her is all. I didn't have anyone growing up. It was just me and her, and sometimes it just really hits me, that she's never coming back."
Peyton nodded. "I know babe. It sucks, and it hurts like hell, but you get used to it. You get used to it, and you let people take the pain away for you. You let yourself love, and sometimes that's all you have to do." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Peyton began to talk again. "So, we're getting married again."
"Yeah, wifey, we are. On that beach right below us." He laughed, and Peyton was happy to at least have gotten that out of him. "It's beautiful down there, isn't it?" He was looking out the side wall, staring at the moon reflected perfectly in the sea.
Peyton nodded, and then smiled, getting an idea. "Come on." She said, smirking. "Get up." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of bed.
He followed, if not completely by choice, as she dragged him down the stairs, and out the kitchen, briefly asking Annata if she could watch the kids for a few hours before she pulled him out the door.
"Where are we going?" He asked, laughing, as his wife dragged him out of the house and down towards the ocean. His eyes widened in surprised as she pulled of her tank and shorts, leaving her in her underwear and bra.
"Come on." She smirked as he willingly followed her into the water. And that's what they did for the rest of the night, playing around in the water like three years olds, until they finally crawled back into the house and collapsed onto the bed, Avery, who had been crying when they got back, nestled between them as they slept.
A/N: Sorry it's so short, but it's better than nothing, right? Okay, next chapter is the wedding, and lots and lots of LP love, and Haley's having her baby too. In the chapters after that we're back in Tree Hill, Rachel has her baby (which is the one in the prequel, there's going to be three more babies, all but one of them are going to be minor storylines, and no more Leyton babies . Then I think I'm going to end it with a epilogue, witch if I like writing, might be more than one chapter. I'll try to get another chapter up by the weekend, but Friday's my birthday, so I can't promise anything. Review please (cause it's my birthday and they make me update quicker) and 128? That would be good. Also, sorry if the Italian was wrong, I was using Google Translator…