After the lawyer, they met with Nathan's agent briefly, and then they were back at the apartment. It seemed like ages ago when they were there last, and it seemed like things were a lot simpler back then. They hadn't exchanged many looks or words after what the lawyer had told them, almost on an information overload.
"Peyton?" he asks, pulling her down to sit beside him on their bed, "Talk to me?"
"About?"
"All of this... what's going on up in that pretty blond head of yours?"
"This was a lot to take in Luke..."
"I know that, I know... and I'm going to say something... but let me finish before you say anything?" he asks, and waits for her nod to continue, "I know that you have said that you are in this, and I know that you have been there for me and for Jamie and for the rest of my family this whole time. But... I'm offering you an out. I'm going to take Jamie. I'm going to raise him just like Nate and Haley wanted me to... but just because they put you down on that paper with my last name does not mean that you have to do this, so I don't want you to feel obligated to me or to him.. or them. You can walk away from this Peyton... you can. You didn't sign up for a family right now."
"But I did... the second I said I love you, I signed up."
"Peyton..."
"No, Luke, it's true. I want to be there with you, and I want to help you and Jamie." she says almost begging him to believe her.
All he can do is hold on to her for that moment, clinging to her in such an intimate way that her emotions started to stir. Sensing that, sensing her, he captured her lips with his, slowly kissing her like she was brand new to him.
Then, for the first time in that week, they allowed that pent up emotion to come crashing down, channeling it into their passion for each other. It was like a promise was being made with every sigh and every moan, as they made love again.
When they were laying there afterwards, she broke through the silence, "Peyton Scott?" she asks.
"That's Haley for you... being thorough."
"It was before I told her though."
"Before you told her what?"
"When you left for New York, I told you that I wanted to talk about forever again, and I told her about that, but that was just before..."
This was it... this was that moment that he was waiting for. He had his opening, but didn't know if it was okay to be doing such a thing so close to what had happened. Haley already had it written in the stars for them, so he pushed those feelings aside as he moved out of her embrace and over to his suitcase, opening the front pocket.
She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest as she watched him, clad in only his boxers move around the room. And when he came back, he knelt down next to the bed, clutching something that she didn't see in one of his hands. He closed his eyes then, tilting his head to the heavens for a moment before smiling, and then looking back at her, changing so he was down on just one knee.
After her gasp at the subtle change, he explained why Haley had done what she did, "The week we spent on the water with my family, I brought this to show Haley, to get her opinion about if you would like it or not. Of course, in true Haley form, she flipped out, she was so excited."
He opens the ring then, watching as her tears get the best of her, threatening to fall down her cheeks in rivers, "This was my mom's ring, the one that my uncle Keith gave her when they were going to get married. And when he died and months later she took the ring off, she told me that she would hold onto it for me until I found the right person. Luckily for me, that happened so soon. I've been waiting for the right moment to do this, for you to be ready, and for me to be ready, and I don't know if it is too soon after what has happened, but I can't think of anything that would make me or them happier, so... Peyton Sawyer, will you marry me?"
"Yes..." she says, nodding with watery eyes, pulling him towards her after he places the ring on her finger. "God, Luke, I love you."
"It's not too soon?"
"No... it's not... and for the first time... I'm not scared at all about my future."
The next few hours was spent in celebration, but it was still bittersweet. As they rode the jet back to Tree Hill, they were unbelievably happy, but unsure of the timing of their new situation. Yes, it was right for them, but they weren't sure that it was the right time to share it with Jamie and the rest of the family. Not with everything that needed to be done, and the big changes that had to be made.
However, while the attention was not intended, it wasn't soon after they got home that the news made it out of the bag.
"You guys are back!" Jamie says, running up to Lucas as he enters the house.
"That we are, but do you think that you can hang out with Lily for a little bit longer while we talk to Karen and Andy about some stuff? Then we'll all go to dinner."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone..."
Ruffling his hair, he gently pushed his nephew towards the living room to encourage him to go play with his younger sister. He then gestured towards Karen and Andy, wanting them to come into the kitchen.
"So, what happened with the lawyer?" Andy says, always the one who dealt with things like that.
"Well, a lot actually." Lucas says, shaking his head with almost disbelief at the situation they were finding themselves in. "Basically, Jamie is set for life where money is concerned, and they had gone recently to get things in order because of Nathan's new basketball contract with the Bobcats. That was to our advantage in some ways, because it made them update basically everything in case of something happening."
"And what about Jamie?"
"He's ours..." Luke says, looking to a very quiet Peyton.
"Yours? As in..." Karen asks, gesturing between Lucas and Peyton.
"They wanted him to be with Peyton and I if anything ever happened."
"And you guys are okay with this? I mean this is a big deal." She says, not looking away from Peyton, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the delivery of all of this news not really meeting anyone's gaze.
"We talked about it, and can't think of anything that we would want more." Lucas says, grabbing Peyton's hand under the counter, playing with the new ring on her finger in a comforting gesture.
"Peyton?" Karen asks, the younger woman, trying to read the situation, taking Peyton's silence as hesitance.
"Huh?" she says, looking up at Karen, and then seeing her face showing doubt, "What? Oh, No! I'm more that okay with this!" she says, trying to reassure the woman.
Then Lucas looked at her, realizing that she was just trying to hide her excitement at the news that they had. In that look, he knew that they weren't going to be able to hide this very long, so they might as well just go for it, "Actually..." he starts, pulling up the hand he held under the table.
"Luke..." Peyton says, still unsure of whether or not this was the time to start telling people.
"Oh my gosh!" Karen says, standing up and running around to hug Lucas the second Peyton's hand was in sight. "You guys got engaged?!"
"Yeah, ma, we got engaged." he says, hugging her back and then laughing at Peyton's wide eyes when she did the same thing to her.
"You don't think it's too soon or the wrong time to do this?" Peyton asks, hesitantly, pulling away from his mother's grip.
"He asked me for that ring a few months ago, and has just been waiting for the right time to give it to you.... and I can't think of anything that would be better to distract from what has happened the past week than planning a wedding and celebrating a couple that Nathan and Haley both loved."
"Really?" she asks again.
"Honey, I wouldn't have given Lucas that ring for you unless I knew that it was absolutely perfect. You know the history of it, and I'm so glad that it can go to another great pair of people."
"Thank you."
"I think we're going to wait to talk to Jamie about this whole thing... we think that just explaining the fact that he's going to be with us is going to be hard enough for him."
"Don't underestimate that little boy. He loves you guys, and I think that he would actually be very happy for both of you. I understand why you would want to wait though."
"Yeah... it's just so much for him right now."
"What are you guys going to do about your living situation?" Andy asks, from his spot next to Lucas.
"We haven't figured that out yet... I can write anywhere, but I don't want Peyton to give up anything with the gallery or the record label."
"And I told him that if we had to leave New York that I would make do with everything. Running the label from here wouldn't be that difficult, and New York isn't too far from here either."
"This is where his school and friends are, so keep that in mind." Karen adds in.
"And there's the house too... I don't think that I could handle being in this house... not with all of the memories we have here, but I don't think he should be away from it."
"I would stay for a little while, but I think that starting fresh, with a new house, could be really good for him."
"Yeah..."
Of course, Jamie and Lily decide to come in during that lull in conversation, exclaiming that they were absolutely starving, and would die if they didn't get any food.
"Yeah, why don't we get some food, and then Karen and Andy can take Lily home and we can spend some time together?" Lucas says to Jamie, who picked up on something being different.
"umm... okay."
Dinner was Jamie's choice, so they stopped by Karen's cafe, which was being run by one of the women that Karen had met and befriended shortly after Lily had been born. It was the first time Peyton had actually been in the cafe, only having been to TRIC and just seeing the outside of the cafe in passing.
"This place is great!" she says, looking around and realizing that that homey feel of Lucas' childhood home carried into her small business.
"It was a big part of my life right after I had Lucas."
"Mama said that she lived here.... is that true?" Jamie asks Karen.
Laughing, Karen answers, "It was like she lived here after she and your Uncle Lucas became friends. They were here any time that I was here, and we always ate dinner together here and your mom and Uncle Lucas would do all their homework here. And later on, she worked here for me, including when she was pregnant with you," Karen says to the little boy, smiling at the memories that she had of Haley and her working at the cafe.
"Hey Aunt Peyton?" Jamie says, seeming to lose interest in what Karen was saying.
"Yeah, Jamie?" she says from his side, turning and giving him her full attention.
"You were right."
"About what?"
"It is cool to have people around that can tell me stories about them. It makes me not feel so sad when I get to hear them."
Instead of responding, she just hugged him and kissed the top of his head in a loving gesture that made Lucas look at her and smile. He really did pick a great woman... and he could understand why Haley didn't hesitate to put her with him in taking care of Jamie.
When they got back to the house, Jamie was told to get his teeth brushed and his pajamas on, and then to come back into the living room.
When he did finally get back downstairs, he sat between the two of them on the couch with an expectant look on his face. "So..."
"So, what?"
"Are we having a family meeting? This is what it's like when mama and daddy would have a family meeting."
"I guess that's exactly what this is." Lucas says, hugging the boy and then turning so he could be facing him when he spoke. "We've got some stuff that we want to talk to you about."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well... kind of important stuff." Peyton says, making sure that he knows that she is right there with Lucas.
"Okay..." he says, with a sad look on his face and a bit of guilt creeping into his tone.
"Jamie, you didn't do anything wrong, and nothing bad is going to happen, but we need to talk about what we have to do now."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, before the accident, your mom and dad went to a man and made sure that if anything ever happened to them, someone would take care of you."
"Are you leaving? Are you going back to New York?" he asks, in an almost panicked voice.
"No! Jamie, we are going to be here with you. That's what we wanted to talk to you about. Your mom and dad wanted me and your Uncle Lucas to take care of you if anything ever happened to them."
"For how long?"
"Well, forever..." Lucas says, realizing that his nephew really has no concept of what forever actually means.
Jamie appears to be taking all this in, not really understanding the details of what was happening, but getting the basic idea of what was going on.
"Now, we aren't going to be able to replace your mom and dad, but we are going to take care of you the best that we can, and whenever you need anything, you can come to us."
"Who's going to tuck me in at night, and take me to school, and make me breakfast in the morning?"
"Both of us are going to be there to do that."
"So you're going to be just like a mom and dad, only you're Aunt Peyton and Uncle Lucas..." he says out loud to make sense of it.
"Yup." Lucas says, patting him on the head as he looks between the two adults.
"Is that okay with you Jamie?"
Continuing to look between them, he's lost in thought, and then, "Even though you guys are going to be like mama and daddy, can I still miss them?"
"Yes you can, and you know what?" Lucas says, and then continues when he quirks an eyebrow in such a way that he looks identical to his mother, "we'll miss them with you."
"Okay..."
"Okay?" Peyton says, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah..." he says, and then looks confused, "When do we move to New York?"
"Well, we were actually thinking that we would stay here for a few more weeks, and then we'd try to find a new house for the three of us to live in. How does that sound?"
"Are we going to stay in Tree Hill?"
"It would keep us close to Lily and Grandma Karen and Andy, and you could stay in the same school and not have to move away from any of your friends."
"What about you guys and your friends?" he asks in such an innocent way, showing the big heart that Lucas knew he got from both of his parents.
"Don't worry about us, Jamie, we will be just fine." Peyton says, just laughing at his concern.
After talking some more about the logistics of things, and deciding to share with him the news of their engagement, it was time for everyone to get some sleep after the long day.
When Peyton crawled into the guest bed with Lucas, she curled into his side, resting her head on what she viewed as her spot on his chest and looking up at him. "What's up wily?" he asks.
"It was a good day today, Luke."
"Yeah, it was."
"You think Jamie is really okay with all this?"
"I think that he knew that he was going to be taken care of, and I think that he's glad that it is us that are going to be taking care of him."
"The engagement?"
"He already views you as family, so for him, all it will be is a big party. What kid isn't okay with a party?"
"Which reminds me that I need to call Brooke."
"She already knows..."
"What! How did everyone know that I was going to be the next Scott before I did?"
"Did they really though?" he says with a knowing glance.
"I guess not... I've known... I've been scared to admit it, but I've known."
"And now..."
"I told you... not a hint of being scared. I'm excited, and I'm ready."
"Instant family huh?" he says in a tone that suggested that he was hesitant to be happy about the situation.
"Yeah..." she says, still with a smile on her face, but a far off look in her eyes as she is trying to remember something. "Hey Luke?"
"yeah?"
"Right before you proposed, what did you do? You paused... but you had this look on your face..."
"I was telling Haley..."
"What?" she asks softly.
"I told Haley the day that I showed her the ring that she would be the first one to know that I was going to ask you, so I was telling Haley."
They sit for a minute after that, collecting each of their thoughts from everything that happened that day and the past week.
"I would give anything to bring them back to you and to Jamie, Lucas, I would.."
"I know that. And it's going to be okay... I know it will."
"And whatever happens, you know I'm gonna love you forever, Lucas Scott."
He chooses to kiss her, in a gesture that was almost a promise for the two of them and their future together.
–
Okay, I'm currently writing this on a car trip... don't worry I'm not driving. Though that would be pretty dang impressive... and dangerous... if I was, wouldn't it? This one is a bit longer, and I hope you all don't think that it was hokey or anything! I love these characters, and I feel like I know where I'm going with this, so it makes me happy.
Still... even though I have my own ideas... let me know what you are thinking... review review review!