Strength Of The World

Once Peyton got home from the hospital the next day, Zack made sure she committed to bed rest. She could either stay in bed, lay around in the living room, or hang out on the couch in the studio. She had cabin fever, bad, and was getting more and more cranky every day. She was currently on the couch in the studio, flipping through a baby magazine and talking to Val when the guys’ manager, Larry, came in. “Okay, I just got off the phone with the guys in Long Beach. They’re asking for you guys to headline their Christmas show.” “YES!” Peyton shouted, throwing her magazine on the table. “Wait a second.” Matt said with a laugh, holding his hand up to her. “When is it?” “It’s on the 23rd. 8:00. You guys would go on at 10.” Peyton looked at Val, who looked just as excited as she did. “Oh my god guys. PLEASE. It would be the best Christmas ever!” She begged, giving the men her infamous puppy dog eyes. “Ah shit.” Johnny said, looking away from Peyton. “It seems like the decision has been made for us.” “Pey, quit that shit. You know we can’t say no to you.” Brian huffed. Peyton grinned and hobbled over to Zack the best she could with her knee brace, “If you do this, I’ll give you sex every day for a year.” She whispered into his ear. Zack raised his eyebrows and looked at his fiancée, and then back at his friends. “Let’s do it.” “Hey! She bribed you with sex. That doesn’t count.” Jimmy stated. “Pfft. No I didn’t.” Peyton said with an eye roll. “Yes you did. I know you. That’s the easiest way for you to get Zack to agree to something.” The drummer argued. “Yeah, you’re right. I did.” She grinned up at her friend. “I don’t know why you guys are pretending to think about it. You know you’re going to say yes.” Larry chuckled. “Fuck it, you’re right. Let’s do it.” Matt said, while the rest of the guys nodded. “YAY! I am so excited!” Peyton shouted, bouncing up and down. “You! Back to the couch if you want to see the show.” Matt said, pointing at the pregnant woman, who stuck her lip out and limped back to her seat. The guys got to work planning the gig while she and Val headed over to Brian and Michelle’s house to talk wedding stuff.

A week had passed and the doctor had cleared Peyton from bedrest. She was so excited she called everyone to meet them at their favorite Mexican place to celebrate. While they were waiting on their food, the guys started suggesting baby names. “I think you should name the baby Johnny.” The bassist said. “Get the hell out of here with that, short shit.” Brian laughed, “If they’re naming the baby after anyone they’ll name him after Uncle Brian.” “Uh, Yeah, I don’t think Douche Canoe is an appropriate name for a baby, Gates.” Jimmy spoke up, scratching his head. By then the women were laughing hysterically at the guys’ antics, when Matt said “What about Charles?” “Nice try, but they’re not naming the baby after you either.” Jimmy pointed out, “They’re going to name him Jimmy. Just a spoonful of Jimmy helps the whole world go down!” “Wait. What?” Brian said. “No fucking way.” Johnny added with a laugh. Peyton was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe, and Zack was shaking his head. “Dude. If I was going to name my baby after someone don’t you think it’d be after his dad?” “No, because Zack is a stupid name.” Johnny argued. “Oh, okay, Johnny Christ.” Peyton said with an eye roll, which made the girls laugh even harder. When their food arrived they forgot all about baby names, and once they were finished Peyton looked around with a huge smile on her face. “Hey guys. Do you know what tonight is?” “Your first night out after bedrest?” Jimmy questioned. Peyton just stared at Jimmy, willing herself not to yell at him, when she finally spoke again “No, tonight is the Huntington Beach tree lighting?” She clapped her hands together excitedly, while the men groaned. “Aw man. Come on Peanut. We hate that shit.” Johnny whined. “You guys are assholes.” She pouted. “You five have been BEGGING me to come home for the past four fucking years and when I finally do you complain about going to the tree lighting. I seem to recall walking through a haunted fucking corn maze on MY BIRTHDAY for you guys.” “Okay, we’ll go,” Brian said while the others nodded, “We know how much you love Christmas.” “No. I don’t want you to go if you don’t want to. Zack and I were planning on going together but I figured I’d invite the rest of you.” “Well I’m going.” Val told her, “We used to go together every year, I’m not misding another one.” “I’m going too.” Michelle added, “Yeah, us too,” Lacey said, pointing at Leana. “You guys can go home, we’ll keep Zack company.” “No fuck that. I want to go. Val is right. We used to go every year before Peyton left. I think the only reason we haven’t gone the past four years is because we missed her so damn much. But she’s back now and it’s time to go back to the tree lighting.” Matt said, motioning to the waiter to bring the checks. “Yeah, Matt’s right.” Jimmy said while Johnny nodded. “Anyone have blankets in their car?” Brian asked. “You know we do.” Zack chuckled. “But we probably won’t have enough.” “I stuck some in our car. I was hoping Pey would be able to go tonight.” Val smiled. The group paid for their meals and all headed downtown for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

Once they arrived, they found a spot to stand and took a look around. There were people selling hot chocolate and donuts, someone dressed as Santa, and a group of carolers walking around singing. “I love this place.” Peyton sighed happily. “Want some hot chocolate babe? I was going to go get a cup.” Zack asked her, placing a kiss on her temple. “I’d love some.” Peyton walked over to stand with her girlfriends while the guys all headed for the hot chocoate and donuts, and the girls talked Peyton into sitting down for a minute. “Come on P, you need to rest your knee.” Leana suggested. “Okay, fine. But someone is gonna have to help me get up.” Peyton said with a laugh. The guys all came back and Zack handed her the hot chocolates before sitting down behind her and scooting her back between his legs. He sat there for a minute and watched her, the way she smiled when she was talking to their friends, and the way she would occasionally touch her growing belly. He was so caught up with watching her that he didn’t realize it was almost time for the ceremony to start. Peyton leaned into Zack’s chest while they listened to the mayor talk, and in that moment he knew that he would go to this tree lighting for the next sixty years if that’s what Peyton wanted to do, as long as she was right there with him.

Notes

Kind of a filler chapter, but I figured they needed a little fun!