The next three months came and went without any incident. Peyton and Nathan adjusted well to married life. Tree Hill pulled off another championship, ensuring that its start player would have his choice at any Division I college of his choice. After much conversation and a few negotiations, Peyton and Nathan settled on his dream choice of Duke University. They would both have their tuitions fully paid with access to married student housing and childcare. Peyton had gained early acceptance to their business school where she planned on honing her marketing skills so that she could realize her dream of starting a music label. Nathan was leaning more toward education as his major, hoping that he would never have to use it if the NBA panned out but knowing that he could at least parlay his passion for the game into a coaching job if nothing else.

Haley and Lucas had been together for about a month as Peyton moved into her final month of pregnancy. It had taken them two months after Brooke had broken up with Lucas for them to even go on a first date. After he had taken her for dinner on the beach and up to the rooftop of his mom's diner for a round of miniature golf, Haley had finally been able to fully admit all her feelings for her best friend. It had been awkward for much of their clique, but Nathan and Brooke had both been happy that they had found happiness in each other. All the old feelings might never go away, but they had become something else entirely.

As for Brooke, she didn't waste that much time before she made her move for Mouth. She had spent the last two years ignoring him, and now that she realized what she had in the guy, she wasn't about to let it go. They were inseparable, their relationship as strong as their friendship. They spent a lot of time with Nathan and Peyton, especially later in the pregnancy when Brooke refused to abandon her godchild in Peyton's hour of need. Nathan had told him to get used to it. He had seen how much time the two girls spent together and on the phone. With Brooke and Mouth headed for New York next year, he expected that his phone bills were going to be quite sizable. However, he would miss the spunky brunette just as much as his wife. Brooke wasn't just Peyton's best friend, she was also his.

All six of the group were headed in different directions, and for the first time in their young lives, they were going to have to figure out how to do this without each other. Lucas was following Haley to California, a plan that they had concocted a long time ago when she had first started dreaming of really becoming a musician. Lucas was going to go to Berkley while she would be at Stanford. He was finally going to take that secret book he had been writing for the past year and do something with it. Haley had been the first person he let read it, and when he had found her sobbing in his bed, he had known that he really had something.

Brooke was going to pursue her dream of fashion, using her sketches and small line to really take the New York fashion scene by storm. Enrolled at one of the city's best design schools, there were few doubts that she would make it. Mouth was going to be at nearby NYU to study political science. He was still determined to make Brooke's dream of marrying a senator come true.

However, before any of those dreams would come true, Nathan and Peyton had held their formal wedding ceremony just footsteps from the beach house that had been the scenery of so much of their relationship. Wearing a simple white cotton sun dress and bare feet, Peyton had married the love of her life for the second time along the ocean with the crashing waves providing the perfect soundtrack. Brooke had been her only bridesmaid, wearing a flowing beach-inspired dress in a deep purple. Lucas had stood up for Nathan, with the rest of their friends in attendance. Deb had managed to get dozens of white folding chairs on the beach so that no one had to miss the event of the early spring season. Larry had walked his daughter down the aisle. They had exchanged the same rings. As much as Peyton had loved her first wedding, even she had to acknowledge that it was a pretty perfect day.

Afterward, in the gauzy white tents Dan had set up in the backyard of the beach house, Nathan and Peyton had toasted their family and friends for making the day possible. Deb had cried as her only child lamented on the impact she had in his life. Larry had laughed as Peyton recounted the day that she told him that she was pregnant. Brooke and Lucas offered up toasts while Mouth and Haley showed a slide show of their lives together. Karen had served a flawless menu to the planners' liking. Everything had been exactly like Brooke and Deb had wanted, and at the end of the day, that's all that really mattered to Peyton.

It was after dinner that had mattered most to the blonde. Her only regret about her wedding to Nathan was that they hadn't had their first dance. In fact, in the months since they had married, they hadn't shared a single dance together. Peyton had been saving that moment for this night, when she would take her husband's hand and move in melodic time with him for the first time as a married couple. Sure, they'd had their Ramones moment after the wedding at the hospital, but they hadn't danced. It was only as Joshua Radin's "I'd Rather Be With You" filled the night air that that part of her dream would be realized.

"Have I mentioned that you look beautiful tonight, Mrs. Scott?" Nathan murmured in her ear as he twirled her around the makeshift dance floor. He closed his eyes as he brought her back to him and rested his cheek against hers. "I'm so glad you married me a second time."

"I'll marry you a third time and a fourth and a fifth," she promised. Her voice was dreamy, something that didn't go unnoticed on Nathan. He loved her like this, so open and vulnerable. There was nothing between them.

"And what about a sixth?"

"I think you'd be pushing your luck then," she giggled back as her eyes fell shut. "This is what happy feels like, isn't it? I always thought that I knew but I didn't really until you came along."

He pulled back to look in her eyes. "Well, that was pretty much perfect, what you said just now."

"Thanks, I try," she smiled as he leaned down to kiss her. "Love you."

"Love you."

Another few songs came and went before Peyton was pulled away by her father for the traditional father-daughter dance. Nathan found his mother and danced with her. Dan even managed to convince his new daughter-in-law to dance with him. Nathan had watched from the side. His father had been trying hard these past few months. They still had a long way to go, but it seemed more likely that they would get there some day. Peyton was always reminding him to let go of the past. With his father like this, it was becoming easier to do.

After their parents had had their rounds and retired to the tables for coffee, their friends had taken to the dance floor. Nathan had loved watching Peyton let go and have fun with the girls, shaking and shimmying with Haley, Brooke and Rachel. Mouth had showed off a few of his infamous moves, earning appreciative looks from Brooke. When the music had slowed down again, Lucas had pulled his sister-in-law into a dance while Nathan had headed for Brooke.

"Well, you finally got your girl, Scott," Brooke smiled up at him. "You better take care of her next year while I'm gone. It's not that long of a ride from New York. I can be there in a few hours and kick your ass if I hear you're not good to her."

"I might just have to yell at her just so we can drag you down for a visit."

"You're going to see me so often that you'll get sick of me, Nate."

"Ah, kind of like now," he teased. Brooke giggled as she elbowed him in the ribs. "No, seriously, we're going to miss you. Both of us."

She smiled up at her oldest friend. "You won't have time to miss me. I'm going to be around. Do you think I am seriously going to leave my godchild's fashion sense to you two? She'll be wearing basketball shorts and Chucks all the time if you guys have your way. No way, not even."

"Thanks for everything, Davis," he said softly. "Not just tonight but for everything. You've been an amazing friend to both of us. I just want you to know how much we love you."

"Aw, Nate," she cooed. "I love you both too."

Meanwhile, Peyton was dancing with Lucas nearby. "I can't believe that you'll be gone in a few months. What is this baby going to do without her Uncle Luke? Who is going to teach her about all these philosophers that no one has ever heard of?"

"I'm sure that Nate has sports philosophy that he can fill her head with. You'll take care of the lyrics," he grinned. "You guys are going to be great parents, Peyt."

"Yeah, we are," she agreed as Mouth came over to cut in. "Hey, Mouth."

"Hey, Luke, why don't you go dance with my girlfriend? I think your brother is putting the moves on her."

"Yup, sounds like Nate," Peyton acknowledged with a giggle as she danced off with Mouth.

Lucas headed over to break up his brother and ex-girlfriend with Haley not too far behind. He reached for the brunette's hand while Nathan accepted a dance from his former wife. Tonight was bringing a lot of closure for everyone. "You look beautiful, Brooke."

"I really do, don't I?" she grinned up at Lucas. "You look happy."

"I am," he confirmed. "Mouth seems to be having the same effect on you."

"You know, Peyton always told me that I would be lucky if I got to fall in love with my best friend," she admitted. "Since Nate got her, I guess Mouth will have to do." Lucas couldn't help but laugh. "No, seriously, Mouth is the guy that I always knew I would want but was afraid to have. I think I was so afraid what other people would think, but I quit caring about that a long time ago. I only care about what I think and what he thinks about me. He loves me. For him, there is no one else. After everything, that's what I needed. I needed someone who would look and only see me. I needed to be the only one."

Lucas understood what she meant. "I'm sorry that I couldn't give you that."

"I'm not," she shrugged. "You were never going to be right for me, Luke. It doesn't mean that you didn't love me in your own way. You just didn't love me like you love her, and that gets to be okay."

Not too far from them, Haley was in Nathan's arms for what would probably be the last time. "Is it weird that you are going from being my husband to having the chance to some day be my brother-in-law?"

"We are an incestuous group, aren't we?" he chuckled. "Luke treating you right?"

"Of course," she replied. It was nice that Nathan still looked out for her. "You know he is."

"Well, if that every changes and you need someone to knock some heads together, I'm your guy," he boasted. "I don't care if he is older than me, I can still kick his ass."

The two former spouses shared a laugh before she turned serious again. "Nathan, I want you to know how happy I am for you and Peyton. It's taken me awhile to be able to say it, but I've always wanted the best for you. We never quite fit, but the two of you are a perfectly matching set."

"Thank you, Hales," he said sincerely. "I hope that Luke will give you the same kind of happiness that Peyton had brought to me. Speaking of which..."

"Can I steal my husband?"

"Of course you can," Haley assured her. She reached up and kissed Nathan's cheek before hugging Peyton tightly. Lucas was nearby and welcomed her into his arms. "Hey."

"You holding up okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, leaning forward to kiss him. It was still weird to kiss her best friend sometimes but it always felt good, felt right. He gave her the sense of home that she hadn't felt in the years since her parents had left her on her own. "Luke?"

"Hmmm?"

"I'm really glad I found you."

"Yeah," he murmured as he held her even tighter, "me too."

Meanwhile, Mouth had managed to sweep his beautiful girlfriend off her feet into their own private waltz. He still couldn't believe that she was his every time he got to hold her. He knew that he would never get sick of looking into her eyes and seeing forever gazing back at him. "You always were my favorite dance partner," she whispered as he turned her in a circle and dipped her back.

"Don't you forget that," he emphasized. "Hey, Brooke."

"Hey, Mouth."

"I love you."

Her eyes went wide at the three little words. "That's the first time you've said that." She waited a moment before realizing that wasn't the reply he probably wanted. "I love you, too." They danced like that quietly for several moments before she looked over at her best friends. "They look really happy, don't they?"

Mouth knew that she was looking at Peyton and Nathan but didn't follow her eyes. Instead, he looked down at her and smiled sincerely. "Yeah, they really do."

Peyton buried her face in Nathan's chest as his hands rested on her stomach. The baby was especially active tonight, drumming out a beat against her womb with her foot. Nathan and Peyton were both sure that it was a girl now. They had come to completely refer to the baby as a her. "She's having a good time." Nate laughed as he rubbed her belly.

"Yeah, she's happy," she grinned. "Kind of like her mommy."

"And her daddy," he added, kissing her deeply. Their exchanged earning whistles from others at the wedding, but neither of them were embarrassed. They counted themselves as among the lucky ones. "Look at all of our friends."

"It's like someone took the deck and reshuffled it so that everything was right," she replied. She watched Lucas and Haley dancing cheek to cheek, so secure in their new beginning. Brooke was laughing with Mouth off to the other side as they tangoed out of beat. Bevin was with Skills while Tim danced with Rachel. Everyone was really happy. "This was a good night, huh?"

"Very good night, babe," he agreed. "Very good life."

"A very good life," Peyton concurred jut as he kissed her again.

That very good life got even better two weeks ago when Peyton and Nathan welcomed their beautiful little girl into the world. Nathan had been at her side the entire time, holding her hand and urging her to push until the finally saw the dark mess of hair that was Anna Camille Scott. He had cried as he held her for the first time, his eyes locked with Peyton's. Weighing in at nearly seven pounds and twenty inches long, she was the closest thing to perfect her parents had ever seen. Brooke had been the first person to hold her other than her parents, something that had been important to both Nathan and Peyton. Lucas took an immediate liking to his niece, Deb bawled like any proud mother and Dan had immediately made Anna the apple of his eye. Larry and Whitey had stood side by side and watched her sleep, both loving that such a beautiful little girl would carry on the names of the women they had loved.

It was just after eight in the morning on a season May morning when Peyton and Nathan Scott returned to their home in Tree Hill. A short walk down the hall, a ride to the parking lot in a wheel chair, a drive across town to the house and a jaunt up the stairs to the nursery had brought them back to where everything had begun. It had taken them nine months to make it where they stood. Staring down at their sleeping little girl, they both felt that familiar sense of home. It wasn't a place anymore. It was a feeling that existed between the three of them. What had started out as the summer of their discontent had turned into their lifetime of happiness. It was indeed a very good life.

Fin.

Author's Note: I want to thank you all for reading this story and the other one that I previously wrote for Peyton and Nathan. It has been wonderful diving into this fandom. You are some of the best readers that are out there! I'm going to take a hiatus from OTH for now but I will be back. Take care and thanks again.