Hello all! So I got this idea on the way home from New York from seeing some of my family for the holiday. I hope you enjoy, I'm going to Phoenix next week to visit more family, we're pretty spread out, so I won't be able to update until I get back, but I will try and update as much as I can before we leave. :]
Back at the Beginning
Summary: "The city is no place to raise a child." Haley James didn't agree, but when she almost looses one of her children, she decides to move back home to Tree Hill, where she may find out what she hasn't been looking for.
The air was frigid in the North end of Central Park. The city was loud with the hustle and bustle of last minute shopping before Christmas day. The leaves were lain astrew on the sidewalk and the trees were bare from winter's arrival. Haley James paced through the park, sipping at her coffee, watching her three daughters giggle and skip along in front of her. There was nothing more that Haley loved than her three daughters. The second however was the city in the winter. The lights that lit up Central Park at night, the sight of your breath when it was just cold enough, and the feeling of Christmas everywhere you went. She loved Rockafellar Plaza with the ice rink, the snow, and the lights.
Haley had grown up in Tree Hill, North Carolina. She moved after her senior year with her best friend, Brooke Davis, to New York to help with Brooke's fashion line. She had moved into a small apartment with Brooke while she attended NYU and Brooke started her clothing line. Once Haley graduated, she found a job teaching at a private high school as an English teacher. The money she had earned from the job had given her the oppurtunity to finally afford a place of her own, in the Upper West Side. Her bedroom overlooked Central Park and she had fallen in love with it.
"Mads! Not so far ahead, sweetie." Haley called out to her oldest daughter.
Madison Taylor James was now eight years old. Haley had met Madison's father at a coffee shop, off of Madison Ave, that wasn't so far from the school Haley worked at. The two had gone out on a few dates, and ended up having sex after the fifth date, which was after going to see RENT on Broadway. He never called back and Haley had been devistated. Brooke helped to raise Madison, so in favor of that, Brooke had been named Madison's god mother.
"Sorry Mommy." Madison smiled as she threw her head back and gave her mom a grin, her top teeth missing. The quartet continued to walk through the park, the littlest one of the bunch began to get tired, so she clung to her mom for support. Lexi, not Alexandra, not Alexis, just Lexi, was the youngest of the three. She and Haley's middle daughter, Whitney, were born from the same father.
Haley had met Thomas Young at the Whitney Museum of American Art. They had met when Madison was two. Haley had taken her there for a mother-daughter day. Haley had ran into Thomas while trying to get Madison to the bathroom. He had followed Haley to the bathroom, stood outside and handed her his number when she came out. He ended up proposing about six months later and then Whitney had been born a year after that. Thomas was a great father, treating Madison like his own and helping out at nights with Whitney when he wasn't at work. He had been a curator for the museum, so he worked long hours, but he always was willing to help when he got home. A year after Whitney came Lexi, who was named after Lexington Ave, where Haley's water had broken.
Haley walked out of Minx, a ladies boutique in the Upper East Side. She carried with her three bags of clothing, she had gone a little crazy today. She knew she was due for labor any time soon and she wanted to buy new clothes to wear after she had lost the baby weight.
*Ring Ring* "Shit." Her phone began to ring, hesitantly Haley set down her bags and dug around her purse for her phone.
"Hello?" She answered, balancing the phone in between her shoulder and ear.
"Hey Hales. It's Brooke. Dinner tonight, my place? Luke made lasagna."
"Sure, sounds good, I'll be over with the girls at seven?"
"Yeah, what about Tom?" Brooke asked.
"He's working late tonight." Haley sighed as she hailed for a taxi.
"Okay. Well then I'll see you at seven! Bye Haley."
"Bye B." Haley hung up her phone and put it in her pocket. Haley finally got a driver's attention and he pulled over. She was setting her bags in the back seat when she felt herself get wet.
"Uh Oh." She grimmaced. She had been through this twice before, "Driver, Hospital please, I think I'm going into labor."
Sadly, Thomas had died about three months ago. He was on his way home from work and didn't have enough cash on him for a taxi. He took it to where he could and he walked the rest of the way home. About a block from the apartment, he had gotten hit by a car, he had the right of way but in New York, drivers don't pay close attention to that sort of thing. He had died at the hospital a few hours later from internal bleeding. Haley had obviously taken it hard, but she was trying to stay strong for the girls.
Haley currently held Lexi, who looked absolutly adorable in her sweater, scarf, and mittens, in her arms with Madison and Whitney in front of her. Mads had been a huge help. Although the girl was only eight she was way more mature than an eight year old should be. She was always helping Haley with the other two, getting them ready for bed, helping with dinner, anything that she could do she did. Brooke had also been there for Haley. She would watch the kids if Haley needed her too, she would take them to work with her and she had even named a set of clothing after every one of them. There was the Madison jean which was made for little girls, the Whitney sweater, and then the Lexi dresses, which was a collection of baby dresses.
"Mommy, can we go home now, it's cold." Whitney asked as they neared the edge of the park.
"Yes sweetie. It's almost lunch time. Who wants mac and cheese?" Haley asked the girls, Madison and Whitney raised their hands with eagerness and Lexi squirmed excitedly in Haley's arms. Haley smiled a small smile and took Whitney's hand who took Madison's hand. They walked to the end of the park and hailed a taxi.