Early the next morning, long before Lucas was even entertaining the idea of getting up to start a new day, he felt his bed shake and the covers move as a small being crawled under the blankets with him. He had a great afternoon with his daughter and remembered why he missed Sawyer so much.
"Morning Daddy" Sawyer whispered… or at least attempted to whisper.
Lucas toyed with the idea of trying to feign a few more minutes sleep, but then he realised that the time with his three year old could be limited as he wasn't sure what time Peyton was coming over to pick Sawyer up again.
Peyton… Lucas was still recovering from the shock of seeing her on his doorstep yesterday. It was a pleasant surprise to see her. Still, Lucas wished that he could have someone wordlessly conveyed to her all that he wanted to. He felt stupid for kissing her. Surely that was not the right way to go about things. But, when he saw her, when he could feel her so close, he couldn't help it. He just hoped that Peyton would understand what he was trying to tell her and they could move forward. Lucas didn't know how much longer he could go on living apart like this.
Sighing, Lucas turned his attention to his daughter who was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to wake from his slumber. For a few more moments Lucas continued to lie there with his eyes closed, knowing that Sawyer would be wondering whether he was asleep or not. He could hear her rustle in the bed, arranging herself so that she could check on him closer. As she leaned over him to check and see if his eyes were open, he could feel Sawyer breathing on him. Quickly he darted open his eyes, grabbed his daughter and began tickling her until the house was filled with her peals of laughter.
"Daddy…." Sawyer began. She and Lucas were sitting in the kitchen, stomachs satisfied after their feast of a cooked breakfast.
"Yes baby girl?" Lucas automatically responded absent mindedly.
"Sophie says that mummies and daddies stop living together when they don't love each other anymore. Do you not love Mama anymore?"
Lucas, surprised by the question, looked at his daughter who was looking at him keenly waiting his response. Sometimes it amazed him how observant his three-and-a-half year old daughter was. Nothing really escaped her attention, even though she might not fully understand what was happening. It wasn't until then that he realised there was a third party in this debacle also. His own daughter, who he loved more than life itself, was caught up in this mess. He was causing his own family this pain and heartache, all through one crazy mistake. Sighing, Lucas sat down next to his daughter and tried to explain in terms that a three year old might have a hope of understanding.
"Oh Sweetie, I love your Mama more than anything. But I did something that made your Mama very upset and so we are now trying to work through it." Lucas felt that his explanation was futile and yet he could think of no other way of explaining what was going on between him and Peyton.
"So are you having a fight?"
"Yeah… I guess so… we're having a grown up fight.."
"Mama always says that if we do something wrong we just have to say sorry and that it was a zacident" Sawyer told her father truthfully. "Have you told Mama you are sorry?"
"You're Mama's right about that pretty girl. But grown up arguments, sometimes saying sorry isn't enough…"
"Then Mama says what you can't fix with sorry's you can always fix with flowers and chocolate. Have you tried that?"
Lucas chuckled in spite of himself. "Oh sweetie, I don't think flowers and chocolate will fix this one either. I would have to do something a lot more radical than that. Just trust me ok? I love your Mama and it's my plan that we'll all be living together here soon ok?"
"Before my little sister is born?"
"Yes, I hope so. I hope long before your little sister or brother is born!"
With this Sawyer seemed to be satisfied. Impulsively she jumped off her chair, planted a kiss on her fathers cheek and then ran off to play in her room.
"Girls, I think it's time for an intervention"
Brooke, Haley and Millie were all sitting in the Clothes over Bro's office having one of their usual late morning catch up sessions. Peyton had seemed pretty worked up after dropping Sawyer off the previous night and when asked to join them this morning, she had politely declined. This however had moved Brooke over into action mode, seeing how much her friend was worked up about this whole debacle.
"I mean this has been going on for a while now and we all thought it would blow over… but it seems that Peyton of ours can be a pretty stubborn person, and I think we need to find a way to get these two back together… Maddi or no Maddi, we all know that Peyton and Lucas are meant to be together…"
All of the girls had listened to Brookes speech yet it was Haley who spoke up first.
"I dunno Brooke… I mean I know that what you are saying is true, but Peyton is not allowing any of us to talk seriously to her about it. And I know from that whole Nanny Carrie incident that even though we know our husbands are innocent deep down, we need to come to that realisation on our own accord. Remember when Lucas tried to organise his and Lindsay's bridal/ grooms party at our place?"
"Well we need to do something!" Brooke commented exasperated. "I hate seeing Peyton like this."
"Me too, but sometimes, these things just take time I guess" said Haley in a non-committal way.
"C'mon Hales, you've been the only one of us that has talked to Lucas the past few weeks? How is he? Maybe we can intervene on his part?" Brooke suggested.
"He was pretty messed up the last time I saw him. Although to be honest, I don't know what kind of a help I'll be. I said some pretty nasty things to him in the heat of the moment" Haley lamented. She felt so guilty about the comments she made about Dan to Luke. She hadn't had the courage to call him and talk to him about it, unsure of how receptive he would be to her after she berated him so shamelessly.
And so the conversations continues while the three girls sat and discussed how they could try and intervene and fix their friends' relationship woes.
Peyton was sitting alone in Brookes house feeling pretty sad and sorry for herself. She kept re-living the events of the previous night and after a restless sleep she still didn't know where she stood. Part of her wanted to rush right back into Lucas' arms, but then when she remembered why she was here, the anger welled up inside of her again and raged like an uncontrollable fire. How could she go back to Lucas when this cloud would be forever hanging over them? And yet, she missed him more than anything. She missed waking up next to him, seeing him every day and having the one person there that she wanted to talk to and share things with. She could still feel the touch of Lucas' lips on hers from the previous night. Would they ever be able to go back to the way things were? Casually Peyton began to sift through the many emails that she had neglected of late. While there was no 'official' maternity leave while you owned your own record label, Peyton had taken a definite backward step in the previous weeks and would continue to slow down with her work until the baby came along. Yet still, there seemed to be an endless amount of work to do, despite her plans to slow things down.
As she sifted through the emails, she came across one from Karen. They regularly emailed each other as this was the easiest way to stay in touch and send updates about their respective families. To Peyton, Karen had fast become a surrogate mother to her. Not only was she her mother in law, but Karen had also been there for Peyton when she needed a mother the most. A constant pillar of strength and as a result, both she and Luke were still extremely close to Karen. Wondering what the email contained, Peyton hastily opened it and started to read.
Instantly, Peyton was surprised by the content. Evidently, Lucas or someone had filled Karen in on the latest events in her son and daughter-in-laws lives. Peyton soon found tears welling up as she read what Karen had to say, always words from someone who understands both sides to the story.
Dear Peyton,
I'm not sure if this is over-stepping the boundaries or not, but I just wanted to talk to you about the recent events between you and Lucas. I know it's none of my business, but I can imagine the two of you would be quite torn up by these recent events and it certainly hurts me to hear that things are not going as well as they should be for the two of you. Rest assured that if my son was still the 16 year old boy that he used to be when he made rash decisions like this one, I certainly would have a word or two to say to him. In fact I still do! I know that this is your own battle to fight, and I will let the two of you do so and hope for the best. I just wanted to say one thing.
You probably remember the time, as it was when I was first introduced to you, however unfortunate the circumstances were. Years back when the two of you were in high school and Keith and Lucas had that horrible accident on the way to pick me up from the airport. Deep down I knew it was just that, an accident. But seeing my only child lying there on the hospital bed, I took my heartache out on the one person that I needed the most. I blamed Keith. Oh how I wanted desperately to blame someone. Keith was the easy option – he was in the car, he was driving and for all intense and purposes it was his fault. Perhaps I was a little irrational, perhaps not. Perhaps it's not at all similar to what you are going through with Luke right now. But one thing is for certain, I wish I never had. I wish instead that I had put it all aside and had that time with Keith together. There were so many times that I wanted his shoulder to lean on, and yet I wouldn't allow myself because every time I thought of him, I thought of the accident. But now, with the turn of events that was to take place in the next 18mths, I wish, with all my heart that the time we spent apart was instead spent together. I could have had that many more moments with Keith. We could have spent those 18mths together, instead of the short time that we did.
Life is too short to hold grudges Peyton. I learnt that the hard way. So ask yourself if you still love Lucas. Deep down, below all of that anger and hurt you are feeling now, do you still love him? Because if the answer is 'yes' then the anger will go, the hurt will go, but I am almost positive that your love for Lucas and his love for you will never truly falter. At the end of the day, that is the most important thing.
Like I said, I may have over-stepped the line, and if I have, then I'm sorry. But I just wanted to share my thoughts with you woman to woman.
Take care of that baby and give Sawyer and big hug and kiss from me.
Lots of Love,
Karen.
Peyton had a mix of emotions rage through her as she read through the email. She was angry that Karen was of course taking her son's side in the matter, then she was surprised and touched by Karen's clear understanding of exactly how Peyton felt. One thing was certain, it didn't make Peyton's choices or the decisions she had to make any easier. If anything, it confused her further. Sighing as she closed the lid of her laptop, Peyton got up and decided to go for a walk to clear her head.
Brooke arrived home from the store feeling sad and sorry for herself. Her back ached, she had cramps in her abdomen and her head was spinning. It was now that she regretted constantly saying she was 'fine' to her ever-concerned friend. Ever since their shopping trip the pains had gotten worse, but seeing how tormented Peyton was coming home last night, Brooke couldn't bring it up and thought the pains would have gone by the morning. When she awoke that morning, Brooke was pleased that they had receded, but now they had come back with full force. She needed to get to the hospital and fast. Brooke called out for Peyton but got no response. Sighing, she grabbed her phone and started to dial her best friends number.
"So kiddo… what do you say we head for a walk down to the river court to shoot some hoops with Jaime and Uncle Nathan?" Lucas proposed as he walked into Sawyer's room.
"Yeah!" Sawyer exclaimed jumping up to join her father. This was the times that she loved with her father best. Sawyer had inherited her father's love for basketball and loved nothing more than hanging out down at the river court playing with her cousin, father and uncle. Admittedly, Sawyer didn't do much shooting, but rather spent most of the time on her father's or uncles shoulders as they played. She loved the feeling of flying way up there on Lucas' shoulders. Like nothing could touch her. She was taller than the world.
It was there that Lucas and Sawyer spent most of the afternoon, unbeknownst to them about the events that were about to take place.
Peyton, having forgotten her phone on her walk, came home shortly after, being unable to walk as far as she used to in this later stage of her pregnancy. Wanting to allow Lucas the full opportunity of spending the day with their daughter, Peyton was looking forward to a few quiet hours with her friend before heading over back to her place to pick up Sawyer. Peyton was surprised to find that Brooke was still not home. She wanted to check up on her friend who was unusually quiet last night and after the events on their shopping spree yesterday she wanted to make sure her friend was still feeling ok. To be honest, Peyton wasn't feeling the best herself, the result of the recent stress had left her constantly feeling a little worn and tired. Noticing one of Brooke's design books strewn on the floor, Peyton bent down to pick it up with the intention of placing this in Brooke's room, out of the potential danger of three year old hands. As she bent down, a sharp pain seared through her abdomen, causing Peyton to sit and rest. She hated these last months of pregnancy. Constantly uncomfortable and even easy tasks can knock you around. Peyton pushed the worry out to the back of her mind, reminding herself that her last appointment had Dr Williamson saying everything was going along just fine. Feeling well again, Peyton headed to Brooke's room to put her design portfolio away. As she opened the door, Peyton however dropped the folio, in shock, completely forgetting about it and ran to her best friends side who lay on the floor in agony. Once again, as Peyton bent down, she felt another sharp pain rattle through her.
"Brooke! What's happened? How long have you been here?" Peyton rattled off as she fumbled for her phone, not remembering where she put it.
Brooke looked up at Peyton "I tried to call you"
"I left my phone at home! Did you call anyone else? Did you call an ambulance? What on earth is wrong?" Peyton asked her voice full of panic.
"I called everyone but they didn't answer, I called the ambulance and they are coming" Brooke responded weakly. "I don't know what's happening. I felt fine this morning"
Pain again seared through Peyton's abdomen and suddenly it dawned on her that these were not just her body having Braxton hicks. Suddenly she felt something warm trickle down her legs, only looking once more at the ground, she realised it wasn't her waters breaking but it was blood. Panic went through Peyton like a wildfire. She remembered the last time that had happened. But the doctors had assured her she was clear this time around. And here she was with Brooke who was in desperate need of a doctor. Where was that ambulance?
"Brooke… Brooke… How long ago did you call for that ambulance? How long have you been here?"
"I don't know… not long… maybe 5 – 10 minutes?"
Panic stricken, Peyton grabbed Brooke's phone and dialled. Suddenly Karen's email made sense to her now. It didn't matter what Lucas had done with Maddi. Nothing mattered. He was the one that she wanted with her and suddenly all the other things didn't make a difference to that. After getting message bank, Peyton groaned and dialled again
"C'mon Luke… pick up your phone… Luke….." Peyton repeated all the while willing that ambulance to hurry along. "Argh! Why are they taking so long?" Peyton wondered, just as she felt another sharp pain sear through her abdomen, causing her to cry out.