Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan!
Cheerily, then, my little man,
Live and laugh, as boyhood can!
—John Greenleaf Whittier, The Barefoot Boy


"I promise," she says to the question he's asked for the nth time, "that I'll be here for your birthday."

Her son traces a finger over her chest. "Cross your heart?"

Haley takes his hand, holding it over her lips before placing a kiss on it. "Cross my heart. We won't be gone for long. After three days, we'll be back."

"Sunday?"

She rubs her nose against his in one of their eskimo kisses. "Sunday."

He seems satisfied. "Okay."

Throwing his arms around her neck, fingers clenched into tiny fists, he nuzzles against her shoulder. She feels her heart tug at how tight he seems to be holding on to her.

"And I promise I'll be a good boy."

She laughs softly, rubbing his back, already missing him. They're trying to raise him well, but he seems to be getting it right on his own sometimes. His father says that it's a trait he got from her sensibleness.

"Hey."

Haley lifts her eyes to see her husband and mother-in-law. "Hey. All set?"

She's not entirely comfortable taking this trip, having had a nagging doubt at the back of her mind. Nathan smiles warmly, knowing that she's still feeling uneasy about leaving Jamie behind.

"All set. Someone will meet us at the airport."

She nods, biting down on her lower lip, still swaying slightly on the spot with Jamie. "Good. Good," she responds absently.

There's that dark trepidation churning in the pit of her stomach, having increased the closer their departure approached.

"Boarding call for flight five-two-six to Montana. Please proceed to gate two and have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in ten minutes. Thank you."

Haley looks up at the ceiling, as if scouting for the voice coming from the PA system. Kissing the side of her son's face, she inhales that pleasant scent of bath wash and lotion. "Say bye to your dad again before we go, yeah?"

Jamie nods in the curve of her neck. "I love you to pieces, Mama."

Choked up with emotion for some reason, she responds throatily, "I love you, too, baby."

Jamie pulls away and turns to his father, arms held out. Not once have they taken a trip that excluded him, and this one had offended him a lot because it was basketball-related and he was not counted. They explained to him that it was "work," and he's been more or less fine with it.

"I really can't come with you?" he asks, his small palms resting on his father's shoulders.

"It's a very long trip and I don't want you to be too tired."

"I'm not going to be too tired. I'm five," he pouts, a purse of the lips so similar to his mother's.

"You're not yet five," Nathan chuckles. His birthday is not for another month.

Jamie lights up. "But my birthday is coming."

"It is?"

Nathan laughs again at Jamie's widened eyes. "I've not forgotten. When you're bigger, I'll take you with me and we can even see the world."

"The whole world?" Jamie asks with childlike wonder, thinking about the whole world.

"As much as we can."

He's grinning widely, his small baby teeth showing. "How bigger do I gotta be?"

"Like me."

"That will take forever!"

"Forever? Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"But that means you're going to be little for a longer time." If it were possible to keep him forever his little boy, he'd be selfish enough to let it happen.

"I don't want to be little for a longer time. I wanna grow up," Jamie pouts.

"Who will be stepping on my back to make me feel better after a game, then?"

Jamie frowns, his face scrunched up in concentration.

"Tell you what," his father begins, trying to hide a smile, "when your mom and I come back, you can give me an answer, okay?"

"Okay. I'll think about it."

Nathan can't resist laughing at the seriousness of his son's answer. "That's my boy."

"And you're my daddy," he giggles, like every time they exchange those similar lines.

Jamie wraps his small hands around his father's neck. "I told Mama I'll be good for Grandma."

As Nathan rubs his son's soft hair, his mind takes a trip down memory lane. If he got home before bedtime, Jamie would come trotting at the sound of his voice, face alive, arms wide open, calling, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" Then Nathan would scoop him up, toss him in the air, and then hug him close just like this. It's unbelievable that he's not two anymore.

"I know you will."

"This is the boarding call for passengers booked on flight five-two-six to Montana. Please proceed to gate two immediately. I repeat…"

Giving him a kiss to his forehead, Nathan says to Jamie in a low voice, "I love you, bud."

"Love you, too, Daddy."

Nathan puts him down, and his grandmother takes his hand. She says, "Have a safe flight and have fun."

"We'll call when we get there," Nathan tells her with a hug.

"You have the boarding passes?"

He refrains from rolling his eyes at her forgetfulness that he's not a teenager anymore. "Yes, Mother."

"Am I not allowed to ask?"

Haley, amused at the direction the conversation is going between the two, crouches down to her son's level. "We'll call tonight."

Jamie nods, thinking about the house on the beach that they're going to live in all summer. He likes the beach very, very much. "Can I go to the beach?"

Knowing where his thoughts are headed, she says, "Not alone."

He huffs. She gives him a pointed look. "Grandma Deb and Grandpa Allan can take you."

"And the store?"

He is quite fixated on doing things on his own, always telling her that he's big enough to go places by himself.

"Not even the store. Promise me that you won't go anywhere alone, James."

It's his mother's serious voice and he takes it seriously. "I promise."

She smiles. When she smiles or sings to him, he always feels better. "One more hug, okay?"

She gives him a kiss on the lips and another hug, and his father plays with his hair before they say goodbye. Then he and Grandma Deb wave until his parents disappear into the crowd.


As they walk past the check-in counter and down the hallway towards the gates, that bad feeling in Haley's gut builds up.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asks with concern.

Haley nods vigorously, as if trying to convince herself that she's fine, her glossy, chocolate-coloured ponytail bouncing with the movement.

"Yeah," she smiles weakly.

"No, you're not," he states matter-of-factly.

She grins, not surprised that he caught her lying. "Am I that obvious?"

"To me you are."

Six years of marriage, and they know each other more than they know themselves. This weekend will be a proper honeymoon for them, after their first celebratory that was two days in Nathan's apartment. Primarily, it has been arranged for Nathan to take a tour of the Billings Bulldogs, but they'll squeeze in some alone time. They renewed their vows in the spring, but they didn't get to go on a romantic getaway far from town like honeymooners would.

He throws an arm around her shoulders. "It'll be okay, Hales. It's only a three-day trip and a three-hour plane ride."

"Three-and-a-half," she corrects.

He chuckles. "Three-and-a-half. And before you know it, we'll be back here enjoying the rest of the summer."

She wraps an arm around his waist, leaning her head on his chest. "I can't wait."

He feels the same. For the first time in years, none of them is taking up a summer job, opting to relax before the school year begins and Haley is off to teaching, before basketball season starts and he's travelling for days on end. But knowing his wife, she'll probably take a few shifts at the café out of boredom.

"Me neither," he responds as they get to the airport's security checkpoint.


Jamie skips and holds onto his grandmother's hand as they head towards the car. "Can we go to the beach tomorrow?"

He likes making sand castles, but most of all, when his father is with him, they go in the water.

"Sure. You want to see the beach house?"

"I want to!" he replies enthusiastically.

"We'll set aside some time to unpack some things. Will you help me?"

Apart from their clothes, most of everything they packed up from their apartment in Durham is still in boxes.

"Do I gotta?" he whines. Like any child, he doesn't give much thought to chores.

"Yes, you gotta," she chuckles.

"Is Grandpa Dan gonna be there?"

Although her feelings simmer with a cross between dislike and impassivity towards her ex-husband, Deb appreciates his unfeigned affection when it comes to their grandson. Though unsaid, it's their second chance at parenting.

Unlocking the back seat, she settles him in before answering, "I don't think so."

He looks disappointed. As far as Deb knows, Jamie is not aware of the complete family history but he loves his grandfather.

"You could give him a call," she suggests. She's never been fond of that sad look on his face, sometimes slipping him a cookie or two before dinner when he gives her the puppy-dog eyes.

"Really?" he grins, looking so much like Nathan at the same age.

"Of course," she says, kissing his cheek. "I think he'd like that."

She slides behind the wheel, and as she's driving towards the airport's exit, Jamie says, "Grandma, can we go see Uncle Lucas?"


They move past the gate along with the crowd.

"Want to hear something cool?" Nathan asks, his fingers touching her elbow.

"What?"

"This is our chance to join the mile high club."

There's the trace of a grin in his voice.

Haley bursts out in a soft laugh, colour creeping up her face. "How long have you been waiting to share that with me?"

"Since this is the first time we're flying together, I thought I'd plant the seed."

She giggles softly, poking him lightly in the ribs. "Keep dreaming."

"I am," he answers, a wide smile on his face.

He whispers wicked things in her ear of what they can do on the plane as they walk, making her blush so much that she's afraid her ears are steaming.

"It's not a private jet."

Her face is hot and her voice feels rough. Truth be told, the man has a way of affecting her moods in a heartbeat.

"Think of how creative we can get, though."

"It's a three-hour flight."

"Three-and-a-half," he corrects with a wink. "Besides, we've managed before in far worse places, and had wild, hot sex in those worse places."

"Oh, jeez," she admonishes, looking behind them to see if anyone overheard. The woman paces behind them is on her phone and chattering animatedly.

"We're married, Hales. It's expected that we have sex. Jamie is obviously evidence of it."

"Will you stop?" she breathes in shame like he's talking about them turning to auto-erotic asphyxiation for a thrill.

"Remember how quiet we have to be when we visit Grandma May? Good times," he chuckles. "When was the last time we had loud sex, do you remember? I love Jamie but I don't like having to keep it down when you're beside, above or below me."

"I'm going to kill you, Nathan Scott, if you don't…Oh."

She tugs at the hem of the light-blue dress shirt that draws attention to the colour of his eyes. "Honey?"

"I'm willing to compromise," he continues, ignoring her. "I know some of my suggestions are a little farfetched for the air but we could try them at the hotel."

"We should try them all at the hotel," she answers, pointing ahead with her chin.

The certainty in her voice makes him refocus on their surroundings. He halts in his step, dropping his arm from her shoulders, groaning at the sight of the small aircraft before them.

"Well, this is going to be a crappy ride."