Strength Of The World

It had been a few weeks since Thanksgiving and Peyton was in full blown “Elf mode” as Jimmy calls it. She had spent almost a week decorating the inside of their house, and she had gotten Zack to hang lights on the outside. Christmastime was Peyton’s favorite time of the year. She loved everything about the holiday season, especially spending so much time with her family. It was just a few days before Zack’s birthday, and Peyton had been shopping with Brian to try and find a great gift for him. They spent a few hours at the mall before deciding to grab lunch. They were sitting down at the restaurant talking about life when Brian brought up the baby. “So, are you freaking out yet?” He asked curiously. “Not yet.” Peyton grinned at her pseudo-brother, “Give me a few more months and I might be. Right now I just want to find out what the baby is and decorate the nursery.” “When is your appointment again?” “On Zack’s birthday.” She grinned excitedly. “He has no idea, he just thinks it’s a routine doctor’s appointment before lunch.” “Oh shit. He’s going to be so excited. When do I get to find out?” “You guys will know at dinner that night, I promise. You know I’m not good at hiding things from you.” ”Yeah you’ve got that right.” Brian chuckled, “Like that time you broke the strings on my guitar and when I asked about it you immediately started crying and thought I was going to hate you.” “Hey, I was an emotional teenager!” Peyton defended herself with a laugh. “Zack and I had just had our first big fight. It was sad times.” “Can you believe you guys have been together that long?” Brian said. “I mean yeah you guys broke up while you were in college, but you have loved him since you were fifteen. And now you’re having a baby and getting married. You’re all grown up Pey, I’m so proud of you. You and Zack deserve all the happiness in the world.” “Stop it, Bri.” Peyton whispered, wiping a tear away. “You’re gonna make me cry.” “You’re so emotional.” Brian said with a laugh, “Come on, let’s get outta here. I’m sure ZV is missing his lady.” Brian paid for their meal and dropped her off at home, where she spent the rest of the evening with her future husband.


A few few days later, Peyton woke Zack up with birthday cake pancakes in bed and a huge box on the bedroom floor. “Happy birthday, baby!” She said excitedly, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Babe what the hell is in that big ass box?” Zack asked with a laugh, “And how did you get it in here?” “Zack it wasn’t that heavy.” She scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s just big!” The green eyed man chuckled at his fiancée and walked over to the gift. He pulled the lid off the box and looked over at Peyton with a raised eyebrow, inside the box was a few smaller boxes and something wrapped in brown paper. He pulled the smaller boxes out first and found some new shirts and hats, and when he pulled out the item wrapped in paper he smiled. “This feels like a painting.” “Well, open it and see.” Peyton said nervously. Zack tore the brown paper off and took a long look at the picture on the canvas. It was a painting of him and Peyton from Thanksgiving that he didn’t even know someone had taken. They were standing in Matt and Val’s back yard with their twinkling patio lights behind them, Zack had one hand wrapped around Peyton’s shoulders and the other placed protectively on her growing belly. He was smiling as he placed a kiss on Peyton’s temple, who was leaned into him with one arm around his waist and the other hand holding onto the hand on her shoulder. “Damn Pey. I love it.” He said quietly, never taking his eyes off the photo. “When did you even do this?” “I have my connections.” She grinned mischeviously, “That’s all you need to know.” “I think we should put it in the baby’s room.” Zack stated, looking over at his pregnant fiancée. “Whatever you want to do with it babe. It’s your painting.” Peyton smiled. “I figured you’d want to put it in your office but there’s really no room for that.” “No, there’s plenty of other shit in there though.” Zack chuckled. They walked into the room that would eventually become the baby’s room and leaned the canvas against the wall, when Zack’s phone started ringing. Once he finished with the call he sighed and looked over at Peyton. “I have to run to the studio, the guys need me for something. I’ll be back in time for your appointment though.” “Okay. Or I could just meet you at the studio and we could ride together so you don’t have to come all the way back here to pick me up.” Peyton suggested, wrapping her arms around his waist. “That’s a good idea babe. You’re a smart girl.” “Part of the reason why you’re marrying me.” She joked. They said their goodbyes and Zack headed for the studio.

A few few hours later Peyton was dressed and heading toward the studio in her Jeep. She decided to take some back roads to avoid traffic and was almost to the studio when she saw a familiar vehicle come around a sharp curve. The vehicle swerved over into her lane and wouldn’t move over, which made her jerk the wheel to try and get past. Before she could even register what was happening, her Jeep was flipping across the road and slammed into a tree on the passenger side. The drivers side window had shattered and cut her face and arm up. Her leg was wedged between the dash and the center console and she couldn’t get it out. She tried searching for her purse and phone, but any movement she made caused her vision to blur and she became incredibly dizzy. She looked out the window and saw the driver of the car give her a sickly satisfied smile before driving away. Peyton didn’t know how long she sat there in her mangled Jeep, praying for someone to help her and the baby, but she heard a familiar voice as she was starting to lose consciousness. “Peyton! Oh my god. Peyton are you okay? Stay with me!” The voice shouted at her. “Johnny.” She whispered, opening her eyes to look at her friend, “Please save the baby.” Was all she could manage to get out before the whole world went black.

Notes