"Nathan," Haley quietly admonished her husband, "we are in an elementary school."
"So?" The hand resting on her lower back pushed south, threatening to dip into the pocket of her jeans. Her husband, apparently, had no qualms about public displays of affection. Whether it be a grocery store or their daughter's kindergarten classroom, Nathan Scott took every- and any- opportunity to grope his wife.
"So," came her voice in a hushed grit, "anybody can see your hand on my ass."
His response delivered in the form of a husky chuckle- that, and a tight squeeze to her rear.
She flushed strawberry red; the tiny patch of freckles on her cheeks now resembling the green seeds of the berries.
Nathan's chuckles deepened. It seemed like everything Haley James did turn him on, like the flip of a switch whenever she walked into a room. Forget electricity. Haley could power the damn town of Tree Hill. But something about how easily she blushed, with just a simple kiss or brush of skin, she melted like putty in his hands and Nathan loved every second.
"Oh, please," he retorted sarcastically, "we've done far worse in the high school."
"Nathan!" She whacked him softly on his shoulder, stopping momentarily to feel how dense and taut the skin of his chest felt. . .
A smirk somersaulted across his lips, "What?" Feigning innocence was his fluent language.
"You know what," her voice lowered to a quiet hush when two little girls, both with pigtail braids in their hair, giggled by them in the hallway. She visibly stiffened, as if she had been caught doing far worse. Really, the kids would probably fail to realize the intimacy of the act, but something about it just felt so… inappropriate.
"You were the one who grabbed me by the tie and pressed me against the car before-,"
The red of the strawberry fused with more artificial dye, "that was different," Haley mumbled, "we were in a parking lot."
"Okay, okay," Nathan finally placated, "I'll take my hand off of your perfect ass,-"
She couldn't help but smile. Despite his puerile antics and constant ability to make her flush, she absolutely loved this man with every cell in her body.
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott?" They were soon interrupted by a short, skinny brunette. She looked no older than eighteen, but was in fact, twenty-six. When Haley was a senior at Tree Hill High, she coincidentally worked with Julie Daniels, who had been a freshman at the time- and she still looked the same as she did back then.
Haley detached her hand from her husband's arm and approached the young kindergarten teacher. "Hi, Miss Julie. How are you?"
Julie beamed, proudly displaying the thin gap between her two front teeth. Nathan returned the smile with a perfunctory nod and reached for Haley's hand again. Some part of his skin needed to be connected to hers at all time- like how the ends of the waves always reach for the shore. At the feel of his hand in hers, an immediate, graceful smile slid between Haley's lips.
"Can't complain too much," Julie drawled in a slight southern accent. The tips of her words sounded as if they had been soaked in crisp honey "It's nice to see you two again, though I wish it were under different circumstances."
Haley frowned and glanced at Nathan. His lips were in a thin, straight line, like a flimsy tightrope. When she called him at work earlier to tell him they had to meet with Lydia's teacher, he was not too thrilled to hear that his little princess was accused of wreaking havoc in the classroom.
He adamantly insisted otherwise.
"Us too," Haley sighed. She, unlike her husband, knew what their daughter was capable of. She certainly looked like an angel, but Haley could see right through the disguise. Daddy's little girl was no stranger to the devil.
"The kids are at recess right now," Miss Julie said as she lead them into her brightly colored classroom, "so we have a little while to chat. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice."
Nathan contained a scoff as he pulled a small plastic chair out for his wife to sit. He crouched to the small table and pushed back on the seat, creating more room for his knees to fit. Lydia's teacher sat across from them, looking a bit like a student herself. Nathan, on the other hand, felt like a damned giant among the miniature furniture. At least his wife looked cute in the plastic red chair. He smiled at the way she was biting her lip as if she were the one getting into trouble.
"So," he coughed on the paint-scented air, "Haley tells me that Lydia's behavior concerns you? Because as far as I know, Lydia is one of the sweetest six-year-old's you'll ever meet."
Julie shifted under his hard gaze. "That's true, Mr. Scott. Lydia is a sweet girl, but that's actually part of the issue."
Haley's eyes widened and felt Nathan give her hand a gentle squeeze. "I don't understand."
"She's too nice?" Nathan repeated, "what does that mean? Are the other kids picking on her?" Concern and anger coagulated into every word.
"Oh, no," Julie promptly reassured the worrying parents, "it's nothing like that."
"I'm sorry, but what seems to be the issue then?" He bit out. Lydia was an angel, as far as he was concerned, so why the hell was her teacher demanding this meeting? What a waste of time. He could've been kissing his wife out in the parking lot…
Haley was still gnawing at her lip.
"Well, the truth is, Lydia has been a little… how should I put this? . . . a little too friendly with her classmates. Particularly the boys," Julie gave them a pointed look.
Nathan and Haley Scott flushed red. Haley, due to sheer embarrassment, and Nathan because of the fiery anger coursing through his bloodstream.
"Boys? She's six-years-old! What the hell is she doing with boys?" He erupted.
Haley tried to soothe his concern by slowly tracing her thumb along the veins atop his hands.
"Just, um, hugging and touching-,"
"Touching?" Nathan's tone drowned out Haley's squeak.
"Nothing too inappropriate," Julie's face now mirrored the red upon the people across from her. "Just the standard hand-holding, arm grabbing, kissing-"
"KISSING?"
Julie visibly flinched at the sudden increase in volume. The shock of the words silenced Haley's laugh. She wanted to giggle at her husband's temper-tantrum, but the truth was, she too, was taken by surprise of the teacher's words. Was Lydia already kissing boys? No wonder Nathan looked like a steam-engine on fire.
"Um, yes. I've caught her kissing a few boys-"
"A few!"
"Nathan, calm down," Haley interrupted quietly. Either he didn't hear her or simply didn't listen, because he continued to scream.
"How long has this been going on for?"
"A few weeks," Julie fidgeted. "Usually during play time."
Nathan felt his heart start to shake. Maybe he was having a heart attack. "God," he rubbed at his forehead, "this is unbelievable."
"I'm sure it's innocent, though, right?" Haley wasn't exactly sure what to say. She would have preferred to hear that their daughter was eating glue or stealing graham crackers.
"It was…" Julie avoided Nathan's stare. "Until today. She and another boy, Benjamin, they seem to be very close-"
Haley nodded. She knew his mother and they'd often meet for playdates at the park. Nathan, however, was ready to snap the plastic stool in half. He never heard of a punk named Benjamin.
"Did he do something to her? Did he touch her? I'll Goddamn sue this place!"
Haley didn't even think of that. Her stomach dropped after hearing Nathan's heated words. Could her innocent little girl have been hurt?
"No, no. I assure you it's nothing like that. Actually, uh, Lydia is usually the one to start it."
There was a dreadful pause until Haley decided to speak again. "What did she do?"
Julie tugged at the collar of her floral printed blouse. "She, uh, she started to bite his neck. It looked like she was giving him a- um- a hickey."
"Jesus Christ," Nathan swore under his breath. "She's six! How the hell does she know about that?" He felt the bile pooling at the base of his throat. If it weren't for Haley's hand in his, he might have thrown the table upside down by now.
"Mr. Scott," Julie tried to calm him, "I don't think she intended to do that, nor do I think she knows what hickies are."
"Then why the hell would she do that?"
Julie glanced at Haley for help, but Haley was too busy trying to soothe her irate husband to notice the woman's alarmed look.
"Honestly, Mr. Scott, children Lydia's age learn by imitation-"
"So other kids in the class are doing this? God, with all due respect Miss Julie, but shouldn't you put an end to this?"
Miss Julie narrowed her eyes slightly, given Nathan's accusatory tone. "Actually, no. None of my other students engage in such behavior. What I was suggesting was that she may have picked up on it at home."
"You think we taught her this?" Nathan was outraged. "Because, believe me, I don't even want her looking at boys until she's sixty-five!"
Julie hid her smile, "No; at least not consciously. But children, especially those who are as perceptive as Lydia, pick up a lot of behaviour from their parents at home. Perhaps she was just imitating what she might have seen."
Haley's eyes snapped shut. If the ground could open up and swallow her, she'd appreciate it. Judging by the way Miss Julie's eyes judgingly landed on Nathan's neck, Haley knew she'd noticed the hickey there. The blotch of red and purple seeped straight through the skin, like a badge of honor- there was no denying it.
They'd been kissing on the couch last night and Haley might have gotten a little carried away. Unfortunately, she forgot about the little pair of eyes watching from the kitchen. She couldn't even blame Nathan, this time. It was all on her. Lydia didn't know anything other than that she wanted to be like Mommy and Daddy- so, of course, she'd try and do that to the boy she liked.
Nathan looked like he was on the verge of a coronary. The vein in his neck swelled and throbbed. If it burst, globs of red would ooze on the walls like paint.
"Miss Julie," Haley stuttered, "I am… we are… I'm so, so sorry."
"Oh, please. Don't apologize," the brunette drawled, "it's quite alright. These things happen. It's better for kids to grow up in a loving environment as opposed to watching their parents fight all the time. But still, you might just want to talk to her about it."
Nathan looked at his wife and stared at her, completely dumbfounded. Their innocent little angel was going around kissing boys! He couldn't wrap his head around it. Sure, it was great their children had loving parents, but he definitely didn't want her to go around and spread the love like it was some type of candy.
He couldn't be mad at Lydia, though. She didn't know any better. Like Miss Julie said, she was only doing what she watched them do. How was she to know it wasn't appropriate? Better yet, how was he supposed to tell her not to do that? He and Haley certainly had their hands full with her.
As if Haley could read his mind, she asked Julie, "how did you handle the situation?"
"It was quite adorable, I must admit," she chuckled softly, "but obviously we can't have that in the classroom so I told Lydia the rule about no touching and that's when she told me they were playing House. She was the Mommy and Ben was the Daddy. It's hard to be upset with her when she gives you those big brown eyes…"
Nathan and Haley couldn't stop their own laughs. They knew the exact look Julie was referring to.
"We'll make sure it doesn't happen again. I can promise you that," Nathan finally said after hearing the bell ring. The kids would be back from lunch soon and they didn't want to interfere. The talk with Lydia would have to happen when she got home later.
"Thank you," Julie sighed with relief. "I'm sorry if my call startled you. Lydia really is a wonderful girl. I just wanted to nip it in the bud before it did get a little more, uh, x-rated."
Haley could no longer look the teacher in the eye. She probably thought they were sex addicts! Lord only knows how many times Brooke said they were. Half of Tree Hill has probably heard that rumor. So what she couldn't keep her hands off her husband? He was hot! And they were not addicts, no matter how many times they do it in a week (usually six but no one has to know that).
"Thank you," Nathan mumbled, standing up from the chair and holding his hand out for Haley. She was still silent and just as red as before.
"Have a nice day," Julie waved as Haley all but dragged her husband out of the classroom. He was still freaked out that Lydia was kissing boys but he also had to find the humor of it. Especially the way Haley was so mortified.
On their way to the car, he pressed a kiss to her temple, "hey, I love you."
She inhaled his calming scent of cologne and smiled, "I love you, too."
"Are you okay?"
"If by okay you mean completely embarrassed to the point that I can never see Miss Julie again, then yes, I'm wonderful," she grumbled sarcastically. Nathan chuckled. "How could you be laughing, Nathan? You were just freaking out like ten minutes ago! She's kissing boys already!"
"I know. I'm not happy about that, Hales, but Julie was right. We should be proud of the fact she sees us in love and not fighting."
"You're right," she sighed against his chest as they stood outside of their car, embracing tightly. "I just can't believe she learned that by watching us. Oh God, we've become my parents! She's going to be institutionalized!"
"Oh, come on," Nathan laughed, "it could be worse. We're lucky that's all she's seen!"
Haley hid her face in the crux of his neck, "we have to be more careful. No more of your touching, Mister!"
"Me?" Nathan scoffed, "no way. This is your fault. She wants to be just like you so she was copying you, not me!"
Haley groaned again, "how do we even punish her for this?"
Nathan shrugged, "I don't know but there's one thing for sure: we're sending her to an all-girls school."