Sorry for all you out there who love Brooke and Riley moments, but this one is for the Dad's. I think they need some more one on one time with their kids.

Chapter 12

Sawyer glances over at her foster brother. Austin and Lily showed her the bag of candy last night. This isn't fair; Daddy doesn't like it when she disturbs him during test. Sometimes it's just cause she wants attention, but most of the time she does it cause she's bored.

The six year old takes a deep breath, before running into the lower cabin; guilt tickles her insides. "Daddy, Daddy" she shouted as Lily and Austin turn sharing slight smirks.

Lucas turns and smiles patiently at his baby girl. He's used to Sawyer announcing her presence in during tests, she defidently inherited Peyton's patience. He only pretends to get mad, but really he knows Sawyer is lonely without Austin and Lily to play with.

"What's the matter, Bean?" Lucas asked bending down on one knee and staring at his daughter; his eyes full of warmth.

"A boy pushed me down and stole my lunch" Sawyer lied using the excuse Austin advised her to use in this situation.

Lucas frowns, when he was Sawyer's age; he and Haley got bullied by kids who fancied themselves better than everyone else. Lucas looks over at the other two who are working diligently. "Take me to this kid, Soy. We'll talk to his parents"

Sawyer's eyes widen and she glances at Austin. Now, she's supposed to take her Daddy on a walk around the docks. Her foster brother nods at her hoping she'll get the hint.

"Come on, then" Sawyer urged pulling at her father's hand.

The older blonde stops for a moment. "Lily, Austin, if you talk or think about cheating; I'll know" Lucas stated firmly; he knows how hard fractions have been for Austin and he did try to make the test somewhat simple, but not too simple.

Austin smirked, clearly intrigued. "How will you know?" he asked a taunting look appearing in his eyes.

"I'll just know" Lucas said firmly as he lets his youngest lead him out of the cabin.

Lily waits a few seconds before handing Austin her paper. "Only a few…enough that'll get you an 80 or something" Lily added as Austin nods, he already knows he can't steal that many answers.

Lucas would get suspicious if he suddenly figured out fractions and finished while he was gone. Austin doesn't want to get Lily in trouble too; she's only helping him out. The boy scribbles down what his 'cousin' wrote.

Lily glances impatiently at the door. "Come on, Austin" she said urgently, Austin shakes his head, impatience must run in the Scott family cause Peyton and Karen are the same way.

"I'm writing as fast as I can, Lil" Austin whispered harshly; he's writing a bit more than he intended, but really does it matter that much?

"Not fast enough" Lily answered reaching for her paper, Austin grips onto it tightly.

Both children tug at the paper, resulting in a tear. Tears rush to Lily's eyes and tremble down her cheeks. "Oh shit, Lil, I'm sorry" the boy said and he means it.

He hadn't meant for that to happen. Why didn't Lily just let him finish copying? He was almost done with the seven out of ten that he needed to sort of pass. Lily sniffles, now Luke's gonna know they cheated and he's gonna tell her parents.

"Don't cry" Austin pleaded worriedly; Lily ignores him and sniffles as she stares down at her paper.

The door opens and Luke appears at the door. He and Sawyer couldn't find the boy who bullied her, but Peyton promised to take her shopping. Luke sees his son looking around worriedly and his sister holding a ripped paper, sobbing.

"What's going on here?" his protective brother instincts coming into play as he frowns at the pair.

Lily glances at Austin, hopefully. Austin thinks for a moment, what's he gonna tell Lucas? Lying is the only thing that'll work. "When I ask a question, I expect an answer" Lucas repeated folding his hands over his chest with eyebrows raised.

"I tried to take Lily's test" Austin answered causing Lily to blink, shocked by his kindness.

"Austin Teague" Lucas said his tone full of disappointment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know the answers and when you were gone I asked Lil for it, but she said no" the boy shrugged. "I umm tried to take it, but she held onto it and then it ripped. It was more an accident than anything else, Lucas."

Lucas glances at his kid sister. She looks like she's going to be sick and from the looks of her heaving, Lucas wouldn't put it past her if she did blow chunks. He wipes her tears and smiles gently at her.

"Don't cry, Lily-flower. I'll get you a new test and you can rewrite your answers onto it" he promised going through his case in search of the extra test he made, just in case.

Lily nods and tries to quit crying, but she can't. It's more guilt than anything else. Austin's gonna be in so much trouble and it technically wasn't all his fault. Well, the majority of it was, but it's sort of her fault too. Why did he take the fall?

"Austin, we'll talk about this later" Lucas said sounding eerily calm and quite frightening in Austin's opinion.

Austin wonders what Peyton will have to say about this; truth be told she kinda scares him, only when she's mad, though. Like when he's rude to adults, but still cheating will earn him a lecture. Most likely from Lucas, but once Peyton finds out; it's all over. She's gonna be super pissed.

"Does Peyton hafta find out?" he asked apprehensively.

"Yes, she does" Lucas replied trying very hard to keep from smiling eat the suddenly nervous boy. In their tag-team Peyton's the one who gives the kids 'the look' if they don't mind their manners. Lily hands her brother her test and quickly leaves for the beach.

"Aww man, I'm dead, aren't I?" Austin asked watching his foster father send a text to Karen about Lily finishing.

This time, Lucas can't keep the smile from crinkling onto his face. "No, dead kids usually don't eat. Come on, let's grab a sandwich" Luke joked his eyes twinkling.

"You mean you aren't mad?" Austin sounds so full of hope and relief, from the way Luke sounded five minutes ago; he thought he was mad.

"Bud, I'm mad as hell that you cheated, but you need lunch and I need to help you with fractions" Lucas leads his son out of the cabin.

"You're gonna help me?" The child blinks wondering if he heard him right.

"If you really felt like you didn't know the material and had to cheat; then it's part of my job description to help you get it" Lucas explained nonchalantly.

Austin smiles softly. "Lucas, if Peyton finds out, she's gonna be so mad. Do we hafta tell her?" the nine year old asked shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

Lucas finds Austin's fear of disappointing them, adorable. Peyton would find it cute too, but after she reads the message he sent her. She's not gonna find much cute after that.

"You know as well as I do that we do" Luke doesn't tell Austin that he already told Peyton. "Anyway, wouldn't you rather tell the truth just to get it over with than lie?" he asked as the pair takes a seat at a local restaurant near the beach and docks.

Nathan presses his fingers against the steering wheel, trying to conceal his profound anger. In elementary school, he was a bully, himself. He teased other kids because that's what his father treated others and he wanted to be just like his Dad.

Jamie, he wanted to raise differently. He thought he and Haley were raising Jamie to stick up for bullied kids. Haley gave him a twenty minute long lecture about the dangers of bullying. At first, Jamie looked stunned that they found out, but after he looked relieved.

"Dad" Jamie's voice brings Nathan out of his thoughts. "Do you think Mom's ever gonna forgive me?" he asked weakly.

Nathan takes a deep breath. "I think this one will stay with her for awhile, eventually everything will be okay. Jamie, your Momma loves you, but she's disappointed and I am too. We know you're better than this" Jamie feels hot tears press against his eyes. Nathan sees the tears and feels a pang of guilt. "It's hard, isn't it?" the father asked wanting to lighten the mood.

Jamie sniffles and meets his father's eyes. "What is?" the dark haired blonde dared to ask.

"Growing up, it's hard" Jamie shrugs. "Choosing right from wrong isn't as easy as it used to be. Sometimes things get blurry and gray and we do things we think are okay, but really aren't" Nathan continued glancing at his son.

Jamie's eyes meet his and Nathan suddenly realizes he hit the nail right on the head.

"I didn't mean to do the things I did" Jamie admitted as tears rush down his cheeks. "Everyone else was doin' it and I thought Riley didn't mind since she didn't say anything."

"You know as well as I do, that what you did was wrong and you have to apologize" Nathan's tone is firm and unwavering.

"Yeah, I know" Jamie said softly. "I wish I just told everyone to shut up when they first started being mean."

"Do you mean that, James Lucas?" Nathan asked curiously, Haley promised she'd come over after she and Brooke talked.

Jamie answered seriously, "Yeah, Dad, I do."

"Well tell her that yourself; she's standing, right there" Nathan nods to the two figures standing on the front steps. One is defidently Julian and the other is Riley.

Jamie wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans and lets out a breath of worry. As he opens the door, he stops midway. "Aunt Brooke's gonna be pissed, Dad" the boy realized, last time anyone crossed Brooke…well Jamie doesn't remember what happened to them.

"Where did you learn that kind of language?" Nathan asked raising his eyebrows warningly at his son; kids these days, where do they learn this stuff?

"From you" his son answered smartly, a cheeky grin crinkling onto his angelic face.

"Your in trouble and your still being a smart guy, that's very Scott of you, son" Nathan answered. "And I wouldn't worry too much about your Aunt Brooke, she'll always love you."

"But, Riley's her kid now" Jamie reminded his father who shakes his head at his fourth grader.

"I'm sure if you apologize and really mean it, Brooke will let you live with a few of your limbs intact" Jamie's eyes widen at his father's words; he can't tell if he's joking.

The father and son get out of the car. "I know I'm grounded for two weeks and that's just the beginning, but I'm okay with it. I just hope Riley accepts my apology" the nine year old said heaving in, feeling no knots at all.

Brooke went out with the boys to get some air. Really, Julian thought she was hurt by Riley's choice not to tell them about the bullying. He never expected Jamie Scott to bully his daughter. Hell, he never thought he'd have a daughter.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Julian dared to ask as they watch Nathan's car pull up.

"I can take care of myself, Julian" Riley lied; she hasn't taken care of herself in two weeks. It's felt different being with the Bakers, like she doesn't have to worry about anything cept' being a kid.

Julian chuckles softy. "No, you can't. From now on; Brooke and I'll always take care of you" the father answered causing Riley to look up at him; stunned.

"What if you wanna send me back?" Riley's been wondering this for quite some time and she likes living with them.

"Don't even think like that, if you hadn't noticed you have Brooke and I wrapped around your finger" Julian replied gently ruffling her hair.

Riley can't help, but smile at him. "I'll tell you next time" she promised with a grin.

"Rye, I really hope this is a one time thing" Julian admitted as Jamie and Nathan walk towards them.

The kids don't say anything; instead they stare at their shoes. For a few moments there's an uncomfortable silence. "Rye, I'm gonna go inside with Nathan. So you and Jamie can talk" Julian said nodding at Nathan who follows the man inside.

Jamie breaks the silence. "What we did was stupid" he said running a hand through his hair.

"People do stupid things all the time" Riley said remembering when Grams did silly thing. Sure, she was old, but that doesn't account for some of the things she did.

"Probably, but…I'm sorry about ruining school for you" Jamie doesn't add that this it must be hard for her to be a foster kid like Chuck or Madison did. He just leaves it like that.

Riley grins at him. "I think school got ruined for me when we first got homework" she joked; her eyes twinkling with mischief and delight.

"How come you're being so nice?" Jamie frowned; he doesn't get it, girls are so weird. Why is Riley joking around?

"What do you mean?" Riley asked titling her head to the side in confusion. Is she supposed to be mean?

"It's like you don't care, we were so mean to you and you don't care like you're over it."

Riley thinks about it, deeply. "Well you said you were sorry and you mean it. Why wouldn't I be over it?" she asked squinting at Jamie who shakes his head.

Jamie answered, "You should be mad at me."

"But, you apologized and I'm not. If you want me to be mad, then that sucks for you" Riley giggled shrugging her shoulders.

"Can we start over and forget this ever happened?" Jamie asked his green eyes full of hope.

"No" Riley shakes her head. "I like where we are now. We'll start from here and that's it. Come on, let's go play" she encouraged a cheeky grin crinkling onto her face.

Jamie watches her sprint inside; bewildered. Girls are clearly insane; yeah that's the only solution to this. Well, Riley's insane. How can she be so forgiving? It doesn't make any sense. Anyone else would hold this against him forever, but not her. That makes zero sense, none-the-less, Jamie follows her.

The kids run into the kitchen, grinning. Sam's sitting with Jack at the counter with raised eyebrows. "I see you're still short" she observed as Riley giggles at Jamie's discomfort.

"I'm nine, what's your excuse?" Jamie asked cheekily.

"Touché" Sam knocks down Chuck's tower of fries. The nineteen year old winks playfully at Riley who grins at her; she's really going to miss seeing Sam and Jack everyday.

Jack wraps his arms around Sam. Julian raises his eyebrows at Jack who discreetly removes his hands from around her waist. Riley nudges Jamie who snorts.

"What time's Aunt Brooke, Momma and Lydia coming?" Jamie asked as his father takes a beer from the fridge.

Julian sent Brooke a text five minutes ago and Nathan did the same with Haley. From the looks of it, Jamie and Riley are friends. Kids are strange, they forgive easily, but earning their love is hard.

"Wanna make a fort in the woods?" Riley asked; Jamie's eyes brighten and he nods enthusiastically. "Let's go then."

Jamie starts out the door, but pauses. "Shouldn't we ask?" the dark haired blonde asked; he's always asked his parents if he can do anything. It'd feel off, if he didn't.

"Why?" Riley looks confused, she doesn't see the point in asking to go anywhere.

"I don't know, it's just something we gotta do" Jamie glances at his father who nods.

Julian smiles at Riley who gives him a half-grin. "Well are you gonna say yes or not?" the nine year old asked jokingly; Jamie giggles, Riley doesn't understand anything.

"Hmm" Julian taps his chin, winking at Jamie and Nathan. "Let me think about it…" he trailed off, his eyes twinkling.

The front door opens and Riley huffs in annoyance. "I'm just gonna ask M…Brooke then" Riley said catching herself, Julian blinks clearly surprised by her mistake.

The nine year old skips off before he can comment on it. "Brooke, can Jamie and I play in the woods?" she asked excitedly.

"You and Jamie are friends?" Haley asked following Brooke into the house a look of confusion.

Riley nods seriously. "Yeah, he's one of my favorites" she said as Haley looks at Jamie for an explanation, he shrugs.

Jamie guiltily walks over to Brooke who sets Dave and Jude down in their playpen. Haley places Lydia with the boys. Brooke bends down and stares Jamie in the eye. "I'm sorry, Aunt Brooke. I shouldn't ave' been mean to Riley" the boy apologized to his god-mother.

"Did you tell her that?" Brooke wondered her eyebrows raised, Haley watches with amusement.

"He did, Brooke. Can we go, now?" Riley whined causing Jamie to grin over at the nine year old.

Brooke runs a hand through Jamie's hair and glances at Riley who looks especially impatient. "Of course, be in before it gets dark and try not to get too dirty" Brooke replied knowing that's a near impossible request.

Riley and Jamie quickly scamper outside. "James Lucas, don't run in Aunt Brooke and Julian's house" Haley shouted firmly.

At the same time, Brooke shouts; "Riley Grace, no running in the house." Both mothers glance at one another and laugh.

Haley and Brooke walk into the kitchen chuckling; their husbands are clinking beers. "Riley's adorable" Haley said watching Riley play outside with Jamie.

"So is Jamie; maybe I could set Riley and Jamie up" Brooke realized clapping her hands in delight.

"Riley's nine, Brooke; she can wait to be set up" Julian groaned causing Haley and Nathan to laugh. "You won't be laughing when Lydia starts dating."

"Oh that's never gonna happen" Nathan takes a sip of his beer.

Haley turns and looks at her husband. "Why won't that happen?" she demanded grinning up at him.

"Because once she turns eleven, I'm locking her in her room" Nathan leans in and kisses Haley. "Don't worry, she'll get three meals a day" he promised.

"Oh that makes it all okay" Haley said running a hand through his short black hair.

Chuck shifts in the stool uncomfortably. He still can't believe Chase really did that, he thought they were friends. Chase rolls his eyes at his 'little brother' whose being a little overdramatic in his opinion.

"Oh, come on. I didn't even give you that hard of a smack" Chase said rolling his eyes as he wipes the table.

"It really hurt, before" Chuck grumped pouting. His father knocked him around, but he never swatted him like that before.

"Before, like four hours ago; when I gave you a quick smack for being mouthy to Julian before" Chase said raising his eyebrows knowingly as Chuck shrugs, so it might be an after sting or something.

"He was being stupid."

"Chuck" Chase said with mild warning in his voice. He would tell Chuck's mother, but she's too busy to care how her son behaves.

"What? He was and it's not like I did anything that bad. I apologized to Riley, just like you said" Chuck didn't mind apologizing, it was Julian who was being annoying.

"You did, but that doesn't mean you get to be disrespectful" Chase said earning an annoyed look from Chuck. "Let's start your homework."

Chuck's face falls. "But, we were supposed to go to the movies tonight? To see G.I. Joe" he reminded looking more than a little upset.

"We can do that next weekend. For now, we'll start your homework for the weekend."

"But Chase" Chuck objected.

"No, Chuck, consider this evening your punishment" Chase answered, considering he doesn't live with Chuck, regularly. He can't very well ground him for a week.

Chuck reluctantly gets out his Math homework; gross fractions, the ten year old thought miserably.

Peyton watches Austin play with Sawyer. She and Lucas have talked and they're at loss over what to do. Austin needs to be punished, but they don't know how. It's not like they can ground him; they live on a yacht with few electronics. Austin doesn't even like watching television or playing video games. He prefers reading or playing.

Austin looks at Peyton, knowing he's in deep trouble. Peyton beckons him toward her and Lucas. The boy reluctantly walks over. "Hi" he replied shyly.

"I heard what you did today" Peyton stated wanting to get straight to the point. Her parents used to beat around the bush until there was no bush, with her children she plans on starting out with the problem. The problem at hand is Austin's cheating.

"I didn't know the answers."

Peyton reminded, "You didn't have to cheat; you could've told Lucas that. You know he would've let you retake the test."

She has a point, had he just told the truth; Lucas would've understood. But, doing this with Lily was fun, it reminded him of all the fun times he and Riley used to have. "Sorry" Austin mumbled sourly. Nobody cared how he behaved before, Natalie couldn't parent him all the time. She had other kids to tend to as well.

Lucas watches his wife consider possible punishments. Her face is drawing a blank. An idea hits him; he leans over and whispers in his wife's ear. Peyton smiles and nods in full agreement. That's perfect, it's not too harsh or too lenient. Maybe this will cause Austin to quit misbehaving too, over the past few days; he's been testing the boundaries. Peyton wonders how far he's willing to push them.

The father hands his son a white lined sheet of paper. "Okay, you're going to write 'I will not cheat' in your best penmanship" he said making sure his tone breaches no room for objection.

Austin takes the pencil from Peyton. "How many times?" he asked sitting down with a defeated look forming on his cherubic face.

"One page" Lucas said remembering when he was around Austin's age and had a similar punishment. "It has to be in your best handwriting, if not you'll start over until it is."

Peyton can see a smile playing on Luke's lips. Austin counts the lines trying to see how many times he'll have to write that stupid sentence. 36 lines isn't that bad the boy thought.

"When you're done we'll all go out for ice-cream" Peyton promised running her hand through his thick blonde mane.