#lucasxpeyton

Summary: Peyton is waiting on Lucas and Sawyer’s return to tell them her big secret but until then, those around her start to put the pieces together.

Sawyer just finished lunch and before her afternoon nap, decided to play with her new Lego set from her Aunt Brooke. Peyton sat in the rocking chair, scrolling through her phone while Sawyer quietly played.

"We're going to have to move this chair into your brother's room pretty soon, little girl."

"Why, Mama?" Sawer asked... her favorite question.

"Because he's going to be here soon, and we're going to share, right? Plus, you don't need it anymore, but when you were a baby, this was the only way we could get you to fall asleep... by rocking back and forth." 

Sawyer smiled and went back to building. 

Peyton put her phone down and rested her hand on her perfectly round, basketball-sized stomach. 

"You're ready to play Legos too, aren't you?" She said out loud, trying to adjust herself comfortably in the padded rocker.

She placed her right elbow on the arm of the chair and used all of her weight to readjust herself. Sawyer was distracted by her mom's constant movements but was too young to realize what was going on.

"Sawyer, Mommy is going to go to the bathroom. Can you go into the kitchen and see if Dad can make you a snack?"

She knew the word snack would get attention, and the quick sound of pitter-patter down the hall confirmed it. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed, grabbing her side below her rib cage. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and held her breath until the pain stopped. With 3 and a half more weeks to go, Peyton was sure it was too early for this to be happening, but the pain was back, stronger, and this time she didn't close her eyes, and saw the large pool of blood forming around her and Sawyer's rocking chair.

Peyton jolted awake as her phone vibrated next to her on the bed. 

It was Mia calling, and it was all a dream. A nightmare, but just a dream. 

Peyton quickly sat up to answer and for a second, felt like she had gotten up too quickly. 

"Hello?" Peyton answered, rubbing her temple with her left hand, trying to process what she swore just happened, and trying to sound like she was fully awake and not sleeping.

"You good?" questioned Mia.

"Yeah, sorry...what's going on?"

"Okay. Get this...Remember how last tour I used the Dove and talked about how it's the best guitar in the universe? Well, Gibson hooked a girl up and sent me a custom Dove AND a custom Les Paul for the summer tour!"

"No way, Mia that's incredible!"

"I'm coming over to show you all the stuff they sent me. You're gonna die!"

Those words and that phrase caught her off guard for a second.

"Yeah. I uh. I'm sure I'm gonna love it. I'm at the house, so."

"No worries, I just got everything into my car, so I'll head there now! Seriously, this is insane!" Mia exclaimed.

"Alright, girl, settle down, I'll see you soon." Peyton laughed and hung up the phone.

She sat at the edge of the bed for a moment and tried to wrap her head around everything that had just happened. It felt like a whirlwind on its own, but as she stood up, she was hit with a wave of nausea that quickly brought her back to reality.

Peyton washed her hands and stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She exhaled and rubbed some cold water onto her cheeks. Another exhale and Mia was at the door.

"Are you ready for this?" asked Mia as she came barging in with 2 guitar cases.

"Definitely!" replied Peyton, trying to act like herself, like the last hour or so did not just happen. "Let's see what all the fuss is about!"

"Ta-da!" Mia opened the cases and extended her arms out to showcase the glory of her two beautiful new guitars.

"Mia, these are amazing!"

"Dude, amazing? That's it!? I am going to look SO badass on stage this summer! This isn't even all of it. Wait until you see the basket of stuff they sent. I've gotta go grab it from my car."

Mia's energy was radiating through the roof, and it allowed Peyton a minute to forget about how nauseous she was feeling. 

Mia burst back in again with a large wicker basket packed with an assortment of goodies from Gibson Guitars. 

"Dude, look at these chocolate-shaped guitar picks!" 

"I'll take those!" said Peyton.

"And here we go... TWO bottles of vino! Let's open one up! Where do you and Luke keep the wine glasses?"

"Don't you want to save those? This is a big deal! You should save them for a special occasion," said Peyton trying to get herself out of the current situation.

"Are you kidding me? This is THE special occasion! These guitars have to cost like $10,000. We hit the lottery!" said Mia, who ignored Peyton's lack of response to where the wine glasses were stored and went on a hunt of her own to find them. 

"Hey, you know what I was thinking. For the southern leg of the tour, you and Haley can totally stay on the bus with me. I have two extra top bunks and Sawyer can come too. The bunks are big and kids love sleepovers right?" Mia said, trailing off.

Peyton followed Mia into the kitchen and stood behind a chair at the kitchen table. 

"It's like 4:30 in the afternoon. Don't you think it's a little early?" Peyton asked.

"One...it's 5:00 somewhere, and Two...I'm Italian, so it's always time for wine."

Mia took down two glasses that were hanging upside down from the wine rack and placed them on the table. They admired the engraving on the Gibson bottle of Pinot Noir, and Mia began to unscrew the top. 

The combination of nausea and nervousness about having to tell Mia before Lucas was too much, and Peyton about knocked over the kitchen chair she was holding on to as she rushed to run back into the bathroom.

"Okay..." Mia said as she finished pouring the second glass and watched her boss run down the hall. 

Mia put the twist wine opener back where it belonged and left the two full glasses on the table.

"Hey Peyton? Are you okay?" Mia asked, puzzled over what just happened.

Peyton removed her hand from the porcelain that she was gripping and gave Mia a thumbs up with her left hand while her face was still very much in the toilet. She ran in so quickly that she didn't even have a chance to close the bathroom door. 

"Yeah, I don't think so," said Mia as she entered the bathroom took the extra hair tie off her wrist, and began to help Peyton tie her hair back in a ponytail. 

Peyton flushed the toilet and took a second before standing up and moving over to the sink.

She washed her face and hands and looked at Mia, who was watching the whole show through the mirror with her arms crossed. She could tell Mia felt bad but also seemed a little skeptical.

Peyton smiled at her through the mirror and put her hands over her mouth, closed her eyes took a second to exhale, and turned around. 

"I'm so sorry you had to witness that. And I'm so sorry that I can't stay with you in the bunk this summer." Peyton said, putting one hand on her hip, biting her lip, and grinning. 

"Why do I get the feeling like you're not gonna fit in the bunk this summer?" Mia asked in the most Mia way possible.

"Uh!" responded Peyton, taken aback by her response.

"You know you're probably the only person in the world who can get away with a question like that. But you're right, there's no way I'll be able to fit myself in a bunk or probably even a tour bus in the next few months. I'm pregnant.”

Summary: Peyton needs a little help from Brooke to create something special to tell Lucas her big news.

"Don't forget to tell Nana Karen, Andy, and Lilly I say hi! I love you guys, bye!" Peyton smiled, waved, and blew a kiss to her phone as she closed out her FaceTime call with Lucas and Sawyer. The time difference was tricky, but they still tried to talk to each other twice a day.

She felt so guilty for not saying anything to Lucas whenever they spoke. Every time he called, she almost filled the pause before they said their goodbyes, with her big news but something was holding her back. The first time around they were 2,500 miles apart when she told him the news over the phone and now they were 8,500 miles apart. She wanted to make it as special as possible this time and wanted to see his reaction in person since she honestly did not know how he would react to their previous scare.

"B. Davis, what are you doing tomorrow?" Peyton asked Brooke who was always busy on a Saturday, but not too busy to cancel her plans to help out a friend.

"Oh, Victoria has this brunch with a new vendor scheduled at 11 AM, but why she scheduled it for a Saturday is completely unknown and completely unfair."

"Ahhh... Leave it to Victoria to never give you a day off. I swear, does that woman even sleep?"

"No, and I'll tell you what, I always thought vampires slept during the daytime, but I guess it's true they require no sleep at all" Brooke laughed.

"No problem, I was just going to see if you could help me..."

"Yes."

"Brooke!"

"No, you just saved my Saturday! Victoria can handle the meeting. She's the one who scheduled it! What do you and my niece or nephew need my dears?"

"Ha..." Peyton chuckled. "I need your help to make a jersey for Sawyer. Want to come over at 11? Have our own brunch?"

"Yes! Anything for that girl... but it would be easier if you came to me. I have everything I'll need in my office at the casa. Sound okay?

At 10:45 Peyton hopped into the Comet and drove over to Brooke's house. They quickly got to work.

"Need a coffee?" Brooke asked as she got up from her sewing table to stretch and give her hands a break.

"Ahh I wish, but the one-cup-a-day rule" Peyton sighed as she pointed to her stomach.

"Brutal." Brooke shook her head and smiled.

"By the way, how did Luke take the news?" Brooke asked.

"Well, this is actually how I'm going to tell him..." she replied.

"Very cute and also impressive being able to hold this in for so long. I'd have to tell Julian the second I found out. No way I could keep that kind of secret."

"I know, I know. I feel so nervous and guilty every time we talk and it's not that I want to keep it a secret, but I want it to be special and in person. Not when he's halfway around the world."

"I get it and I'm sure he will too." Brooke put her coffee cup down at her desk and picked back up right where she left off.

"You never told me how your doctor's appointment went..." she said to Peyton who was flipping through a magazine.

"Oh..." she paused.

"Well, I haven't gone just yet, but I made an appointment for the week Lucas and Sawyer get back. They offered to get me in right away, but I didn't want to do that without Luke so until then..." Peyton swallowed hard and took a deep sigh.

Summary: Lucas and Sawyer are out of town and Peyton struggles alone with how to feel after learning she is pregnant.

She paced the wood floors of their 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home until she realized the record she put on hours ago had stopped and the needle was riding the label. She lifted the tonearm off the vinyl and returned to the doorframe she was leaning on. With crossed arms and her right shoulder supporting her weight, she exhaled deeply while staring into her daughter's neatly put-together bedroom. Two days ago, Peyton kissed Lucas and Sawyer goodbye as she dropped them off at the airport and now she struggled alone in an empty house with how she should feel about being pregnant again for the second time. 

Sawyer almost died. Peyton almost died. And now the trauma that was tucked away the day Peyton came home from the hospital to join Sawyer and Lucas as a family of 3 in their perfect, cozy home was awakened once more. 

Still staring into her bedroom, Peyton thought about her morning routine and how walking into this tiny room and seeing Sawyer stand up in her crib with arms stretched wide open waiting for her Mama to lift her out and hold her tight is the way is how she starts her every morning. 

"Are we ready to do this again?" she asks to herself. "Am I ready to do this again?" "Sawyer is still a baby. My baby." 

She struggled with how alone she felt last time. Full to the brim, constantly nearing overflowing with fear, but forced to put on a brave face, she walked to her nightstand and opened an old notebook filled with sketches, notes, journal entries, and memories from when she was pregnant the first time, with Sawyer. 

Lucas never wanted to talk about what could have happened and Brooke avoided the topic whenever she needed someone to listen. No matter how she tried to bring it up to the two people she loved and trusted most in the world, she was alone and isolated. Shut down by positive reinforcement that everything would work out, not even getting the chance to discuss her concerns, plans, or wishes. 

But it did work out. They were right. It was beyond worth it. 

She put her notebook back in the drawer of her nightstand and found a sonogram photo. It was the first time they saw their Sawyer and heard her heartbeat. Peyton remembered how Lucas showed up to that appointment when she thought she had to do it on her own. It was one of those moments when she needed him by her side. It was a moment and a memory that somehow cleared her fears and gave her hope and excitement. It was what she needed to see to wipe away the fears of the past and the concerns of the unknown future. For the first time that day, at 10:47 PM she smiled and exhaled with relief. 

Summary: Lucas & Peyton never left 🤍 and almost exactly 2 years after Sawyer was born, Peyton discovers she’s pregnant with her second child. With Lucas out of town she turns to Brooke to lean on.

"Brooke?"

“Hi P Sawyer! What are you doing, girlie?" Brooke asked playfully, as she juggled her phone against her ear and shoulder while rummaging through her purse to find her car keys. When there was silence on the other end, her stomach dropped, and the keys were no longer important.

“Peyton, is everything okay? What's going on?"

She removed the hand that was covering her mouth and massaged the center of her forehead before answering, trying to collect her thoughts that were running wild. "Are you home right now?" Peyton asked.

“I was just about to run to the store, what's wrong? Where are you?" Brooke asked, with no clue what was going on.

“I think I'm pregnant.”

"What! Oh my gosh, you scared me! Wait...how do we feel about this?" Brooke asked, unsure how to react. Of course, she was excited but based on Peyton's demeanor, she wanted to know what was running through her best friend's mind. Two years ago Peyton almost died from pregnancy complications and with every pause and delayed response, she gathered that this news was a lot for her to process. Peyton began to cry and finally mustered out the words, "I don't know."

“Hang on, forget the store, I'm on my way, okay?" Brooke offered.

“Okay, I love you" Peyton responded.

Brooke knew that Lucas and Sawyer were out of town visiting Karen, Andy, and Lilly for the next two weeks and that Peyton was home alone. She should have been in New Zealand with them but was forced to stay home at the very last minute. Mia's new album was finished and ready for distribution when she got the offer to be featured on a new song with Dashboard Confessional. The deal required Mia and the band to each put the track on both of their albums.

With a lot of adjustments to be made, Peyton made the call at the last minute to stay in Tree Hill due to the time zone difference and workload she now had in front of her.

“Peyton?" Brooke called as she came through the side door in Lucas and Peyton's bedroom. Peyton met her in the doorway holding her latest of four tests and let out a large sigh.

“Hi..." she said as Brooke rushed over to her and wrapped her in her arms. An embrace that Peyton needed but one that caused her to smile, laugh, and cry all at the same time. When Brooke pulled away she saw what was in Peyton's hand and said, "P Sawyer, tell me what you're thinking, Mama?"

Peyton wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and let out another small burst of laughter. They both sat on the bed, their unofficial spot to divulge everything since they were kids.

"I don't know how this happened." Peyton shared.

“Well, I think I know how it happened," Brooke joked, trying to add levity to the conversation. Peyton appreciated the joke, but her smile faded quickly and she finally began to open up.

“What if it happens again? It's been almost two years and I still have nightmares that something happened to Sawyer and I wake up not knowing if I'm dead or alive. I always imagined having a big family, but after Sawyer was born... I can't go through that again... I mean I can and I would but I can't lose my baby."

"Honey, no, no it's okay... Just because you had complications in the past, does not mean it's going to happen again. I remember you telling me your doctor said it may not be an issue for you in the future!”

“But what if it is?" Peyton asked Brooke.

"But what if it's not? A wise woman once told me that we waste most of our time worrying about things that never even happen and I wonder who that was?"

“Fair." Peyton said as she smirked and nodded her head.

For a moment Peyton envisioned a family of four. Sawyer as a big sister. Two car seats. Lucas reading a bedtime story with two tiny faces tucked under each strong arm. How things could be.

"Talk to your doctor but first talk to your husband. I bet his first reaction will be nothing but pure happiness. That boy loves you and I see how he is with Sawyer. He's halfway around the world with her right now and the fact that he took a 2-year-old on a plane by himself automatically makes him the Dad of the year material. You’re Lucas and Peyton. You guys can handle this. You two can handle anything.”

"Thank you…” Peyton whispered as she reached out to grab Brooke's hand. Brooke smiled and said “You’ve got baby in that belly!”