Chapter 3

Dining on Disasters

As they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, Peyton could now see why they had to be so dressed up. The building itself was a replica of a Southern plantation house with steps leading up to a front door in the center of it. A covered veranda ran the length of the front and was decorated with cream coloured lights. The door itself was at least nine feet high, double paneled and looked like it would weigh a ton to move. A warm candlelight glow emanated from all the windows.

Had Lucas not treated his classic Mustang like it was his sole possession in the world, it might have looked out of place among the Mercedes, BMW's, limousines and many overpriced Italian sports cars. However, the fresh wax job that made the body shine, combined with the chrome rims made it look like a well looked after rich man's toy.

Lucas pulled up to the valet parking and quickly got out so he could be the one to help Peyton out of the car instead of the valet. He slipped a couple of bills in the attendants hand and once again put his hand on Peyton's back just grazing the bare skin where her dress drooped. This time the pressure he put on her back as she climbed the few steps up to the veranda was enough for him to feel the hooks of the corset underneath and he turned and raised his eyebrow at her as he reached to open the door to the restaurant.

"What?" Peyton asked innocently, knowing he'd discovered her little secret.

"You're trying to torture me, aren't you?"

Peyton smiled without responding giving him all the answer he needed and continued walking into the restaurant. Lucas thought to himself that this was going to be a really long night, and that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to turn this event into a full blown date. The outline of their relationship and the boundaries they had held for so long had begun to blur rapidly over the last couple of hours. It was only expected as they were about to enter into the ultimate line blurring relationship in becoming parents together.

Once seated at their table, the lusty tension that had been building seemed to be lifted for the moment. They ordered their meals and Lucas ordered a bottle of Peyton's favourite Chardonnay without even asking her. She smiled in appreciation of the gesture and they settled into comfortable conversation about their current lives.

They talked every day, but this conversation seemed more intimate. Lucas discussed his plot ideas for his next book, and talked at length about two of the seniors on the Tree Hill Ravens who he thought had a real shot at the NBA. He'd asked his big shot NBA star brother, Nathan to mentor them in the off season which Nathan had gladly agreed to. Peyton talked about her label and her latest discovery, and also informed Lucas that Mia, her first signing was pregnant with her first child. Lucas made some lewd comment about Chase, Mia's boyfriend of six years who happened to be Brooke's ex, having it 'in him' to father a child. Peyton gave him an admonishing look and told Lucas he better hope he had it in him as well.

That one comment returning to the innuendo that had hung over them earlier in the evening sent them back into a contemplative silence. It was Peyton who broke the silence first.

"Do you think we'll be good parents?" she asked suddenly.

"I know we will" he answered sincerely. "We had the best role models, even if some of them were taken too soon."

Flashback

Fourth grade was a pivotal year for all the youngsters. As they turned ten and entered into the pre-teen years, the opposite sex wasn't so disgusting all of a sudden, and the two groups of three slowly merged into a gang of six. The boys would play basketball and the girls would cheer them on. Marvin discovered that he was much better at giving a running commentary of the game than playing it and soon gained the nickname 'Mouth'.

A new boy also joined the group causing them to all be nicknamed The Magnificent Seven. He was amazing at basketball and seemed to fit in well with all of them. His name was Nathan and when it was discovered that he had the same last name as Lucas, the boys started asking questions. They learned that they were cousins as their fathers were brothers, but had not got along for a very long time. Nathan's father had now decided to move his family back to Tree Hill and settle. The boys didn't seem to care that their fathers didn't get along, they were becoming fast friends and that's all that mattered.

Karen always managed to make excuses for Lucas not going to Nathan's house, but Nathan was welcome at her and Keith's house, and the children often all went to the café for ice cream together. Karen was aware of who Nathan was and was also aware of his age and that Dan had clearly moved on very quickly once he got to college. Obviously, it wasn't that he didn't want children, he just hadn't wanted children with her.

A few months into the new school year of fourth grade, Peyton was dealt a crushing blow when her mother was killed in a car accident after running a red light. She was late to pick Peyton up from school.

The week that followed that awful day went by in a blur for all those close to the Sawyers. Keith and Karen did everything they could to support Larry and help him and Peyton cope. Dan's wife and Nathan's mom, Deb, came in to the café to offer her condolences to Karen as she knew her and Anna were close. It was briefly awkward until Deb told Karen that the history Karen had with Dan didn't have to be theirs and that she would very much like to be her friend.

None of the children knew what to say or do to help Peyton. Brooke went to see her every day, but always left feeling like she hadn't helped at all. It wasn't until Lucas went to see her one day that she finally confessed that she thought it was her fault her mother was dead. If her mother hadn't been coming to pick her up, then she wouldn't have run the red light. Peyton asked Lucas to hold on to her while she cried, and he sat on her bed and did just that telling her it wasn't her fault. He let her cry on him until his shirt was soaked through and she had no tears left, and she thanked him for being there for her and making her feel better.

That was the day Lucas realized that girls didn't have cooties and that it felt kind of good to have a girl cuddle up to you and depend on you. He also realized he would always be there for Peyton and do anything she asked him to if it made her feel better.

Over the next three years as the children entered their teens , the dynamics of the adults and the children changed dramatically.

Lucas was extremely protective of Peyton all the time causing tension with both Brooke, who felt like she was being ignored by Peyton in favour of Lucas, and with Nathan who was developing a bit of a crush on Peyton, but felt he couldn't get near her because of Lucas. He settled for just being her friend, but it was always clear he wanted more.

Haley was upset because she had a crush on Nathan who only seemed to have eyes for Peyton, so she turned to Lucas for advice knowing how he felt about Peyton as well.

Lucas was struggling with his own inner battle as he was developing feelings for Peyton much more than the brotherly ones he's always had, but he had also noticed that Brooke wasn't a little girl anymore either. The problem was, Brooke only saw him as the person who took her best friend from her.

Through all of these little dramas, Mouth and Skills sat back and laughed and called it As Tree Hill Turns.

The adults had their own share of drama. Deb had started coming around the café and Karen's house more and more and she and Karen had become very good friends. In listening to Deb talk about her life with Dan, Karen came to realize she got the much better end of the deal, and the better brother. The fact that Dan was Lucas' biological father never came up, because it wasn't considered an issue. Keith had been his father in every way that counted.

It only became an issue to Dan as Nathan and Deb both started spending more and more time with the other Scotts and Larry Sawyer.

It all came to a devastating head when Keith planned a guys camping weekend for him, Lucas & Nathan. Nathan had been spending more and more time with Keith and Lucas rather than with Dan. They did all the things fathers and sons do. All the things Dan never did.

Deb was at Karen's café helping her pack up a cooler of food for the trip and Nathan and Lucas were bringing all the camping gear out to the front of the house ready to load up. Keith was working under the hood of the truck in front of the garage doing a last minute check on fluids before they left when Dan pulled up.

He got out of his car and went straight to Keith and began having a quiet but animated discussion with his brother. Lucas and Nathan watched somewhat puzzled but couldn't hear what was being said. Keith responded just as ardently, but the boys still could not hear what was being said until Dan began yelling. What they heard after that and the subsequent events would change them forever.

"It's not bad enough that you took one of my sons, now you have to take the other one too?" screamed Dan.

"Danny, if you'd been man enough in the first place, I wouldn't have had to be Luke's father. You ran and left Karen all alone and pregnant. Someone had to look after her!" Keith retaliated and then realized both Lucas and Nathan were watching and listening. That realization took his focus off Dan and the right hook that was coming his way. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he was knocked from his feet and backwards into the garage. His head struck sharp corner of a wheel jack, and it was all over as quickly as it started. Instead of a camping trip, there was a funeral.

After that day Lucas and Peyton became inseparable, although not romantically involved, leaning on each other in their mutual grief of lost parents. Haley and Nathan became closer and Brooke threw herself into her cheerleading and being the social queen of their middle school.

Lucas' parentage was explained, but never dwelt on. As far as he was concerned Keith was his father. Nathan wished Dan wasn't his, but the boys developed a deeper camaraderie in the knowledge they were brothers.

Dan and Deb divorced and Dan was sent to jail for involuntary manslaughter. Deb, Karen and Larry became very close employing a system of team parenting. When Larry was away at sea, Peyton would stay with Karen. When Karen was busy at the café, Deb would have all the kids at her house. And when Larry was home, they would all gravitate to the Sawyers' house. Whichever parent was in charge at the time, they were fully invested in the task at hand, providing comfort, knowledge, and discipline when needed. Each of the three kids felt like they had three parents and felt loved by all of them.

"You miss her, don't you?" Lucas asked almost rhetorically once again breaking the silence at the table that had fallen as they finished their meal.

"Every day." Peyton replied sadly. "I know you miss him"

"I do, but I'm not going to let what happened to him or your mom make me think we'll be any less of a parent because we didn't have both parents ourselves. We had something much better in the end. And I believe that nurture outweighs nature every time. What Keith gave me in his time and his love, is more than any of Dan's DNA ever could."

"Do you think we're being fair to our child by doing this without being together. I mean we're basically sentencing the child to a life of every other weekend and twice during the week, before it's even conceived, let alone born. Am I being selfish in wanting this so badly without waiting for it all to be perfect?" Peyton asked.

"Peyton, we had five people who cared about us and gave us their knowledge and wisdom and all the right tools to become the most awesome parents. I know we were older, but we were raised by single parents and shipped around a lot after…well, you know. Besides, who's to say, we won't be together?" His eyes twinkled as he smiled at her and reached across the table.

Peyton let a smile reach her eyes as she took Lucas' hand.

"I'm not ruling it out either." She said quietly, and Lucas squeezed her hand a little tighter. "But for now, I think we should go back to that beach house, 'cos you look good enough to eat, and you do remember what I have on underneath this dress, right?" she added wanting to lift the somber cloud that had drifted over their conversation.

Lucas' eyes widened in shock, and just the tone of her voice had his pants feeling a little tighter. He was up out of his chair and over to help her up from hers in a flash. Still holding the hand he had pulled her up with, he led her quickly out of the restaurant.

"In a hurry?" Peyton asked giggling as they got back in the car.

"You have NO idea!" he replied as he reached for her hand over the gear shift.

The evening was definitely turning into something neither had expected.