Sorry if the last chapter was confusing and seemed a bit rushed. Hopefully this will be less rushed; I'm going to try not to go too quickly through the chapters.
One Week Later
Austin switches from channel to channel. He can't decide on what to watch and he's attempting to annoy his sister. Lily needed to get out and decided to go for a walk. Austin wanted to go over Riley's, but he couldn't cause he got into a fight at school and Peyton said as punishment he had to clean the garage today.
Sawyer smiles as Austin flicks through Disney Channel. Her smile turns into a frown when he changes the channel. "Why can't we watch Jessie? It's my favorite show" she whined getting sick of his antics.
"I have the remote. I get to pick what we watch" Austin smirked, knowing he should be cleaning the garage right now. Peyton did tell him to do it after breakfast.
"But, you like Jessie too" Sawyer pointed out as their father stalks into the room with his hands over his chest.
The little girl instinctively moves closer to her brother. "Austin, didn't Peyton tell you to clean the garage?" Lucas demanded causing the little boy to chew on his lower lip.
Austin answered rolling his eyes, "I'll do it later."
"Do it now, just to get it over with" the father ordered sternly.
Austin keeps his eyes glued to the television. He smirks teasingly at his father whose eyes narrow. "Are you listening? I told you to clean the garage, clean it" Lucas doesn't understand why, he's getting so upset with his son.
"I'm watching something" the boy stated flicking through the channels as Sawyer keeps her eyes down.
Lucas answered, "You're annoying your little sister. Get up and clean the garage."
"I will later, jeez" Austin said smirking jokingly at his foster parent who raises an eyebrow at him.
Lucas takes Austin's wrist and lifts him onto his feet. He turns the boy to his side and lands four hard whacks to the seat of his jeans. Austin yelps in pain as Sawyer watches with wide, scared eyes.
The six year old has never seen her father look that angry with anyone before, not even when she has a tantrum. "Momma, Momma!" Sawyer shouted running out of the room in search of Peyton.
Lucas looks down at his reddened hand suddenly realizing what he's done. He and Peyton agreed to occasionally swat their children, but never full out spank them. They didn't want to be the kind of parents whose children feared them; maybe the fear of getting grounded, but nothing more.
Peyton storms into the room with Sawyer hiding behind her. "What's going on here?" she demanded, Lucas releases his son causing Austin to rub his quarters.
The mother quickly manages to read the situation in a matter of seconds, she stares at the love of her life with wide eyes. "Lucas, tell me you didn't…" Peyton trailed off, gasping in shock.
Lucas ignores his wife and reaches for his son who steps out of his reach in fear of getting another spanking. "Austin, I didn't mean it…A-Man" he tried as Austin tries to hold back his tears.
Austin Teague being the guy he is would never admit this out loud, but those smacks kind of hurt. He didn't think Lucas was the type to spank either; sure they sometimes swat him if he goes too far, but he didn't even do anything that bad this time.
Peyton can see her son's fear and feels sorry for him. "Austin, Sawyer, go wait for me in the car" she ordered in a tone not to be reckoned with; the children quickly comply with their mother's wishes.
"I can't believe you just did that" Peyton said shaking her head; this man looks a lot like her Lucas, but there's no way he's her husband.
"Don't be dramatic; I only gave him a few spanks" Lucas answered attempting to downplay the problem at hand.
Peyton shakes her head. "You did, you spanked him, Luke. You spanked him in anger; something we agreed to never do. I swear if this doesn't stop…I'll take he kids and leave you" she threatened half-meaningfully.
"Peyton" Lucas blinks; he never wants to lose Peyton or his children ever again. They're the things that keep him going.
"Don't even try; I'm taking the kids to Haley and Nate's" Peyton leaves the mansion, slamming the door behind her.
Lucas goes into the kitchen and takes a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet. He takes a swig, feeling guilt for treating his son the way he has lately. Austin didn't deserve getting spanked. He said, he'd clean the garage later and Lucas knows his son says what he means.
Nathan plays with his wife's hair; today is a good day. They're lounging by the pool with their adorable children. Jamie's playing with Lydia, he's being cautious with his baby sister. Nathan can tell; Jamie's going to be one of those protective big brothers, which he's grateful for considering he needs all the help he can get.
The father smiles as Jamie gently splashes his sister. "They're cute, aren't they?" he asked, wanting more than anything to have more children with Haley. Perhaps a dozen more, a houseful of kids would be nice. Growing up, he always wanted siblings.
"Adorable" Haley agreed with a playful grin.
Nathan has to talk with Hales about the possibility of having another child sooner rather than later. "I want to have another baby" he stated in a whisper so their son doesn't eavesdrop on them.
Haley shifts and looks at her husband, stunned. He can't be serious, Lydia's still in diapers. "You're joking, right?" she asked laughing.
"No, I'm not" Nathan tries not to look hurt; he knows it's a bit soon, but he loves the idea of having several more children with Haley.
"Lydia's still in diapers. I want to wait until she's older to even think about having more kids" Haley shakes her head. Of course, she wants to have more children someday, but that day is defidently not today.
Nathan groaned sadly, "By the time; she's out of diapers, Jamie will be a teenager."
"So?" Haley laughed. "Karen had Lily when Lucas was eighteen" she joked winking at him in a teasing manner.
"Please tell me you aren't saying you want to wait until Jamie's eighteen to have another baby" Nathan's blue eyes widen; by then the time Jamie's seventeen, he thought they'd have three kids.
"Nathan, look at our family" Haley urged as Nathan glances at his children again. "Everything just started to calm down since Karen and Andy. We're good right now. I want to relax and wait a few years."
"How many is a few?" Nathan really wants to have another child with Haley, they are good right now. But, this just might be the calm before the storm and he can't handle anything else happening to their family.
Haley rolls her eyes; "two or three years" she compromised knowing four years wouldn't appease her husband. It'd only cause him to become even more restless.
"Two years, okay, that sounds perfect" Nathan kisses his wife, relieved with the prospect of having another child so soon.
Haley hears her phone vibrate on the table; she reluctantly checks it and gets up. "Peyton's here with the kids" she said her brow furrowing, worriedly.
"Why?" Nathan follows his wife to the front door where Peyton, Sawyer, and a tear-stricken Austin are waiting. "What's going on? Austin, are you okay?" the uncle asked lifting up the boy's chin, trying to look into his brown eyes.
The boy shakes his head. He never saw Lucas look at him like that before and it scared him. Austin never thought the day would come where he feared his foster dad.
"Come inside" Haley urged as Peyton lifts Sawyer into her arms and follows her friend into the house. "What happened?" the four sit down on the couch.
Peyton shakes her head; she doesn't want to talk about it with the kids present. "Daddy, hit Austin real hard on his butt; four times. It was really fast, I saw it" Sawyer answered causing Peyton to flash her daughter a look.
"Shut up" Austin pleaded hiding his face in his hands. This is so embarrassing, who spanks nine year olds?
Normally, Peyton would chide her children for their rude behavior, but this time she lets it slide. Nathan closes his eyes; he knew something was going on with his brother. "Austin, Sawyer, why don't you two go outside and see Jamie and Lydia?" the uncle offered as both children have left the room.
Haley waits until the kids are gone to ask, "Lucas spanked Austin? That doesn't sound like something he'd do" she never thought Lucas would ever spank any child.
"I didn't see it, but Sawyer did and now she's terrified. I don't know what to do. Luke's hasn't been himself since Karen, it's been two months. I don't want him to forget her. He wasn't the only one who lost her…I want to try" Peyton admitted feeling like a complete failure as a wife and mother.
Haley stated, "You guys are always welcome to stay here until he cleans up his act." Nathan nods in full agreement, they're family; family helps each other, no matter what.
"Thanks, but I can handle it. He's my husband; I have to handle it for him and the kids" Peyton clears her throat. "Would you guys, mind watching Austin while I went to work? I don't think he wants to spend the day with two girls" she asked sounding hopeful.
"Of course, Austin's always welcome here" Haley answered earnestly, clapping her hands with delight.
Nathan purses his lips together. "I'll talk to Lucas" the man offered causing Peyton to shake her head.
"You don't have to" Peyton replied.
"I know, but I want to" Nathan answered as Peyton nods, happy to have the support of her family in her life.
"Could I borrow a room, I need to talk to my son" Peyton explained as Haley nods seriously.
Peyton heads onto the deck. "Austin, I think we need to talk" she announced as the young boy nods worriedly and follows his mother into a guest bedroom.
Austin waits until the door is shut, he knows what's coming. Peyton's probably going to spank him too. Today sucks worse than anything in the entire world. Didn't he get spanked enough by Lucas? The boy wondered miserably.
He turns to face his mother, "I'm sorry for not cleaning the garage sooner. I'll do it, I promise. Just don't spank me, okay?" he apologized hoping to avoid another painful lesson.
"I'm not mad and I'm defidently not going to spank you. You can clean the garage later, it doesn't matter. How are you feeling?" the mother asked running her hand through his blonde hair.
The boy looks down; Lucas really didn't hit him that hard, Pops used to spank him tons harder. "My butt doesn't hurt much, if that's what you're asking" Austin answered forcing himself to smile.
Peyton gently runs a hand through his hair. "Lucas never should've spanked you" she murmured glancing into his brown eyes, worriedly.
"Its okay, Pops used to spank me all the time" Austin shrugged; he only ever got spanked a few times, but the boy can tell Peyton's worried about his well-being.
"That's not how Lucas and I want to raise you. I want you to know, we're never going to spank you in anger again" Peyton and Lucas have come to the agreement to only give their children warning smacks.
Austin asked, "Is Lucas angry with me?"
"Karen and Andy's death has been really hard on him and…he's not…he doesn't blame you for anything, nobody does. Do you blame yourself for what happened?" Peyton asked, her thoughts going through the many therapists she could hire for him.
"No, I blame the guy who hit them" Austin replied honestly. "When will everything be good again?" he shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Soon, now, do you want to come with me and Soy to the studio or do you want to stay here?" the mother asked with a kind smile.
"Can I stay here and play with Jamie?" he asked nervously.
"Today, you can do whatever you want" Peyton kisses the top of his head and gives her son a hug. "I promise everything will be better soon. I love you" she whispered ruffling his blonde hair.
Austin smiles warmly. "I love you too" his foster mother glances at him feeling tears rush to her eyes. Peyton thought today was a day she'd want to forget, but now it's one she'll always remember.
Peyton exits the room. "I'll see you later. Come on, Soy; let's help peoples' rock star dreams come true" she called as the little blonde skips back into the kitchen.
"Cool, bye-bye Austie" Sawyer called giggling with delight as she follows her Momma out of the room.
Andre stares at Lily; he doesn't feel right about this. Sure, he and Lily have been hanging out more. But, they can't sneak onto a boat that doesn't belong to them. There must be some kind of law against it.
Lily isn't sure about this, either; she hasn't been on the boat since they first arrived in Tree Hill. Her parents loved to ravel. Lily just wants to look at everything, just a peek. The fourth grader needs to have Andre with her, Riley's okay too. With Andre she doesn't have to pretend to be happy. She can be gloomy without feeling guilty for causing others to remember.
"Cool boat" Andre murmured looking around; he told his Momma he was going to Lily's to hangout, not to sneak onto a boat.
The brown haired child answered, sullenly. "It belonged to Andy, we were gonna travel."
"That's really awesome; I love boats" Andre sounds amazed, he hopes to someday travel the world. "What's it like to live on one? Do you get to meet lots of cool people?"
Lily laughs as she opens her mother's drawers. She shows him a beautiful blanket Andy got her from Kenya. "Andy got this for my Momma from some Kenya village" she brings the quilt to her nose and breathes in her mother's scent in.
It smells exactly like Karen, which causes tears to spring to Lily's green eyes and spill down her cheeks. "Your Momma is in you, she's a piece in your heart" Andre's tone is full of warmth and kindness.
"I…sometimes pretend, I'm only staying with Peyton and Luke for a little while. Then I remember, they're gone" Lily sobbed wiping the stray tears from her cheeks.
Andre doesn't know what to say. He is only nine. Instead, he opens a draw and pulls out a shark tooth necklace. "This is so cool" he said as Lily sniffles and looks up.
"It was Andy's; you can have it, if you want" Andre pulls the necklace over his neck. "You look nice" Lily chuckled, she starts sifting through the drawers wanting to rekindle a memory.
Jamie dries himself off and sits down beside Austin. The boy looks so forlorn and preoccupied. While Austin was talking to Aunt Peyton, Sawyer gossiped about her big brother getting spanked. Jamie isn't quite sure if he believes his cousin. Sawyer has a tendency to be dramatic and occasionally stretches the truth.
Haley took Lydia inside to get her lunch ready. Now's the perfect time to talk without his parents snooping. "What happened?" Jamie asked taking a sip of his soda.
Austin knows the reason Jamie's nice to him cause he likes Riley and he's Riley's best friend. Nathan leans against the door leading onto the porch; eavesdropping may be wrong, but Austin hasn't been himself and he's worried.
"Why do you care?" Austin asked shaking his head. He doesn't want to talk about what happened with his foster father.
"Cause we're family" Jamie squinted at his sort of cousin and offers him a friendly smile.
Austin lied weakly, "it doesn't matter." The boy feels tears prick the walls of his eyes. "Lucas blames me for what happened."
Jamie knows his godfather better than anyone. Lucas helped his family when his Dad was depressed and in a wheelchair. "That's not true, Uncle Lucas loves you" the boy stated firmly.
"He can love me and still blame me for what happened to Karen and Andy. I was the one who wanted to go on that stupid trip. If we hadn't gone to Charlotte, they'd still be alive" Austin answered as Nathan takes a deep breath.
Jamie shakes his head. "You don't know that. Dude, what happened wasn't your fault. Uncle Lucas is just sad, is all" the boy informed his foster cousin who nods sadly.
"I just wish his sadness didn't make him mad at me" Austin murmured quickly wiping his eyes.
At that comment, Nathan opens the door with a smile. "Hey guys, you wanna go to the River Court for awhile?" he offered kindly as Jamie looks at Austin who nods weakly.
Jamie runs out of the room in search of his basketball. Nathan hangs back and looks down at his nephew. "You okay, A-Man?" he asked borrowing the nickname Lucas occasionally uses.
Austin looks up with a forced grin. "Yeah, I'm…I'm fine" he lied getting up to retrieve his jacket.
Haley ruffles her nephew's hair as he walks past her and offers her husband a sincere smile. "You're a good man, Nathan Scott" she whispered with baby Lydia in her arms.
Nathan walks over to his wife smiling at his daughter. "Who do you think taught me to be good?" he asked knowingly as he tickles Lydia's side causing the little girl to shriek with laughter.
Chuck stares at the television; Chase is downstairs; serving people drinks and whatnot. Before, he left Chase ordered Chuck to vacuum any future mess he creates.
"Shit" Chuck groaned as his bowl of Doritos falls from his lap and onto the carpet. He quickly starts picking up the chips. The boy squints, mildly disgusted at finding purple panties under the sofa. Didn't Alex have some family emergency?
He remembers a magazine tabloid about rock star Mia Catalano returning to Tree Hill. Mia and Chase used to date about two years ago, they must have rekindled things. Chuck glares at the panties, angrily. He likes Alex; she's always been sweet to him. Chuck glares at the ground as he purposely dumps the bag of Doritos onto the couch.
Chase heads upstairs to check in on Chuck. As he opens the door, he sees the ten year old jumping up and down on the couch. "What are you doing?" Chase asked sternly, he specifically told him not to make a mess.
"What were you doing last night?" the blonde boy demanded glaring at his brother who honestly doesn't know what to say.
Chase blinks; he wasn't prepared for that question. "Uh, hanging out…you know" the older brother lied badly.
"No, I don't know" Chuck spat rudely. "But, I do know I found these naughty-naughty panties." He shows his older brother the purple panties he found under the sofa.
"Chuck" the young man objected groaning. He still can't believe Chuck founds Mia's panties. If Chuck found them, then Alex was more than likely able to find them too.
"Alex wasn't in town last night" Chuck stated quickly, not wanting to hear his 'brother' lie. "But, Mia Catalano was."
Chase asked, "H…How did you know that?"
"Tabloids" Chuck answered smartly with his green eyes narrowed.
"You have to stop reading those" Chase folds his arms over his chest giving his 'brother' a look of annoyance.
Chuck demanded his eyes narrowing, "What happened, Chase? Did you and Mia get naughty?"
"Chuck, stop it."
"You stop it, you cheating jerk" Chuck snapped, his father cheated on his mother tons of times. What makes it worse is the fact that Chuck knew about most of them.
Alex walks into the apartment, managing to hear the last part of the boy's statement. "Chuck, what's going on?" she demanded looking between her favorite guys.
Chuck glares at Chase wanting him to tell Alex exactly what happened the night before. "Mia was in town last night…she came here" Chase answered wanting to stay honest with his girlfriend.
"Go downstairs, Chuck" Alex takes a deep breath, glaring sternly at her boyfriend who tries to avoid her seething frown.
"But, I wanna hear" the boy complained, cringing at the whine that becomes evident in his tone.
Alex grits her teeth in annoyance. "Now, Chuck" she ordered firmly giving him a hard look.
Chuck quickly exits the apartment, he doesn't like having Alex's frustration focused on him. Alex waits until the door closes behind the ten year old before turning to Chase. "What happened?" she asked trying to get her bearings.
"Mia and I…we, well…last night we…" Chase stuttered nervously, trying to find his words. He can't tell Alex what happened, if he does; then she'll leave him. "We kissed" it's sort of the truth.
Alex takes a step back and shakes her head. "Alex" Chase tried reaching for his girlfriend.
"I have to think about things" Alex wipes the tears from her cheeks and leaves the apartment.
Riley looks around Julian's movie studio, she's never been here before and it's really awesome. There are several trailers parked outside the lot where they film. Technically, she's not allowed to watch Ravens because her foster parents deem it far too mature for her. Only, Riley thinks she's a lot more mature than everyone thinks she is.
"What do you think, Riley-Roo?" Julian asked watching his daughter take it all in.
Normally, Riley would blush at the nickname, but she's gotten quite used to it. "This place is awesome" she gushed, looking around the lights to an exact replica of her house.
Julian smiles; this is the first time he's ever brought Riley to the studio. "I think it is. Come on, I need your expertise on something very important" Riley reluctantly leaves the stage. "Okay, I want you to organize these files; alphabetical order."
"I thought we were supposed ta have fun today" Riley groaned overdramatically; all last week, she had to reorganize Brooke's desk, do chores, or help with Haley's store.
"We can have fun after you do some work" Julian ruffles her dark brown curls. "You are still grounded after all" he added smirking.
Riley whined, "But this week was for good luck."
The foster father raises an eyebrow, "you're still grounded. We can have fun as soon as you finish" he promised, Riley reluctantly picks up a file and begins working.
Nathan dropped Austin and Jamie off at the River Court. He started home, but instead turns and goes to his brother's house. When he was going through his depression; Lucas didn't give up on him. The little brother isn't going to give up on Luke, just yet.
Since Peyton and Sawyer are at Red Bedroom Records that should give him just enough time to talk some sense into his brother. Haley decided to drop Lydia at the sitter's and get to work. She should be there more often, to make sure things run smoothly.
Nathan's mostly doing this so Lucas doesn't become the kind of father Dan was growing up. The dark haired brother enters his older brother's home without knocking.
Lucas' eyes narrow at the sight of his little brother. "What are you doing here?" a slightly drunken Lucas demanded glaring sourly at his older brother.
"I was just in the neighborhood. Are you drunk?" Nathan asked, but he already knows the answer to that.
"I've only had a few drinks, but that's none of your business" Lucas glares at his little brother. "What do you want?" he asked clenching his fist.
Nathan answered, "Hmm, well let's start with you growing up and being a father to your children and a husband to your wife."
"What are you talking about? I'm doing my best" Lucas lied; he's not doing his best. He's not doing anything, but disappointing the people he cares for most.
"If this is your best, then it really sucks. Austin doesn't like coming home anymore, Lily's scared, and Sawyer…Soy doesn't understand why you're acting like this. None of us do" Nathan stated knowing he sounds like he's pleading with his brother.
"My mother just died" Lucas answered reaching for the bottle of Jack Daniels.
Nathan grabs his brother and slams him into the wall. "She wasn't just your mother. Did you ever think of that? You weren't the only one who lost someone when they died; you selfish jerk" he shouted shaking his brother who blinks.
Lucas runs a hand through his hair. Nathan's right, as much as he hates to admit it, his little brother is right. He's been selfish and hasn't considered his family in all of this. Lily's had to be the brave one, that isn't fair; she's only nine years old.
Lucas always vowed to try and be a good father to his children, like Keith was to him. "Austin doesn't like coming home?" he asked softly.
Nathan can see he's finally getting through. "He thinks you blame him for what happened" the father said knowing he shouldn't have eavesdropped on his son and nephew.
"I don't blame him. He's a little kid" Luke said softly. "You wanna know who I blame? Me…I shouldn't have let her get them. I should've just said you and Hales could do it, but I didn't."
"You didn't know they were gonna die, Luke."
"But, I should've just…dammit, why didn't I just…every time I go over it; I think about what I could've done" Lucas feels tears fall down his cheeks and he shakes his head.
Nathan releases his brother from his vice grip. "There was nothing you could've done to change what happened" the little brother informed Lucas who covers his mouth to keep from screaming.
"That's what I hate most about what happened, the fact that I couldn't change anything" Lucas admitted throwing the bottle of Jack Daniel's against the wall. "I fucking hate this."
"It'll get better" Nathan whispered softly.
Lucas stares into his brother's eyes. "How do you know?" the older brother asked his lower lip trembling.
"I don't" Nathan said wanting to be honest with his brother. "I just hope that it will."
"You're a good brother" Luke stated studying Nathan, he remembers when he hated Nathan. He remembers the days when he thought Nathan was lower than dirt. Now, Lucas knows he and his brother are closer than ever.
"I learned from the best" Nathan smiles crookedly.
The more Lucas thinks about it, the more he hates the fact he hit his own son. "How do I fix things with Austin and…everybody?" Lucas asked, there's no way in hell, he's ever going to be like Dan was.
"You can do it, I know you can" Nathan glances at the wall and smiles teasingly. "Want me to help you clean up?" he offered kindly.
Lucas chuckled nervously, "Oh right, Peyton will freak if she sees this."
"Damn right she will" Peyton appears at the door with a smile in her green eyes and Sawyer beside her. Her husband's back, the Lucas she knew and has always loved is back. It's about time.