Life As We Know It
Chapter 4 ~ Provisions
April 2010
Haley unlocked the door to her small house and kicked off her shoes as soon as she was over the threshold. Her feet were throbbing from a very long day at the cafe; it had been incredibly busy, which was great for the profits but wore on Haley quickly. If business kept booming as it had been the last several weeks, she would have to hire some more help. The two waitresses who worked there were wonderful and worked hard, but they couldn't always keep up with the lunch and dinner rushes.
She tossed her keys onto the table next to the door, along with her purse, as she made her way through her house, flipping on lights the whole way. For the last hour she'd been daydreaming about taking a long, hot bubble bath in her oversized tub. A bath always soothed her sore muscles and was the perfect way to recuperate after such a tiring day.
She grabbed her robe from the hook on her bedroom door, then made her way into the bathroom connected to her bedroom. She gathered two towels and a wash cloth, turned the water on in the bathtub, and began to undress. She found a clip on her sink and used it to pin her long curls up out of her eyes, then climbed into the tub. As she slipped down into the hot water, she let out a soft sigh of contentment.
Haley could have easily stayed in the tub for hours, but within minutes her cell phone began ringing. She let out a groan as she searched the room with her eyes, wondering where she had placed the phone. The screen was glowing from beneath the clothes she had just stripped off and she grinned as she managed to lean over the tub and grab it. An unfamiliar number appeared on the screen and after briefly considering ignoring it, she finally hit the answer button.
"Hello? Yes, this is she."
Accident. Highway. Serious injuries. Hospital. Brooke and Lucas. That was all Haley heard; the rest was just a buzz in her ear. She knew the person she was speaking to was spouting off some instructions for her, but she didn't care. At the moment the word "accident" was spoken, Haley had jumped out of the tub and was quickly dressing in jeans and a t-shirt. She didn't even care if they were clean.
Haley was in her car within three minutes. She pressed her foot firmly against the gas pedal, depressing it all the way to floor in her determination to make the fifteen minute drive to the hospital shorter. Her mind was whirling a mile a minute and she could already fill the tears stinging her eyes. They hadn't provided many details about the accident or Brooke and Lucas' conditions on the phone, but Haley knew it couldn't be good.
After what seemed like an eternity, Haley's car skidded to a stop in front of Tree Hill Memorial Hospital. The person on the phone had told her to go through the emergency entrance, and when she walked in she saw a crowd of people; police officers, doctors, nurses.
"I'm Haley James," she said breathlessly to the first person she reached.
The tall, middle aged officer turned to look at her with pity in his eyes and at that moment, Haley's fears were confirmed: it wasn't good. "Ms. James, I'm Officer Ronald Sykes. I'm one of the officers who responded to the scene of the accident your friends were involved in," he explained. He went on, explaining that a tractor trailer had lost control on the slick roads - was it raining? Haley hadn't even noticed - and had overturned, landing on Brooke and Lucas' Honda Pilot. The vehicle was totaled, and both Brooke and Lucas had sustained serious injuries.
"How serious?" Haley interrupted, her eyes pleading with the police officer to tell her some good news.
The officer looked regretful and placed a hand on her shoulder. He met her eyes with regret. "I'm so sorry, Ms. James. Their injuries were fatal. They were both pronounced dead at the scene. All attempts were made to resuscitate them, but their injuries were just too extensive..."
Haley took in a deep breath as she listened to the officer explain her friends' injuries. The tears began streaming down her face the moment he had spoken the word "fatal." Fatal. How could it be? Days earlier they had all been celebrating little Zoe's first birthday- oh God, Zoe! Haley frantically grabbed a hold of the police officer's arm.
"Their baby! What about Zoe? Oh my God! Is she okay?" she demanded, not letting go of him.
"The baby is fine," he quickly assured her. "She's being checked over thoroughly by a doctor, but she seems to have been completely and miraculously unharmed in the accident. It seems that most of the damage was done to the front of the vehicle."
Haley let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding as she heard the first bit of good news all evening.
. . .
The call came in the middle of a date. Nathan had spent the evening wining and dining his latest conquest, a bleach blonde bimbo with a nice rack who probably wasn't relationship material at all, but she was a tiger in the sack and that was all Nathan was interested in. He wasn't relationship material, either. He rarely saw the same woman twice; he most definitely preferred a one night stand over anything substantial. It was all a guy could ask for.
He had never received a phone call requesting his presence at a hospital, but he knew something had to be very, very wrong. He left the blonde in his bed, telling her to be out of his apartment in five minutes, not really caring if it hurt her feelings or pissed her off. Lucas was his brother- half brother, but brother nonetheless, and something had happened to him- something very bad. Nathan had to get to him and Brooke.
The short drive to Tree Hill Memorial Hospital seemed to last an eternity, but Nathan finally maneuvered his Charger into the parking lot and found a spot near the emergency entrance. He ran inside, ignoring the rain pelting down on him. As soon as he set foot inside the door, his eyes fell upon her. She was standing there talking to a cop and a doctor, her honey blonde hair falling in wet strings down her back, her make up smeared, wearing a look between disbelief and devastation on her face. Haley James.
To put it lightly, he and Haley didn't exactly have the best of relationships. They didn't get along, to be honest- at all. After a failed first date years ago, both Nathan and Haley would have been glad to never see each other again. They put up with each other for the sake of their best friends, Lucas and Brooke.
It was Lucas and Brooke who was always bringing them together- for big events, movie nights or parties at their home, and now... in this terrible time of tragedy.
Nathan collected himself as he approached Haley and the cop. The pudgy officer noticed Nathan before Haley did. "Mr. Scott?" he asked.
Nathan nodded as he reached his hand to meet with the cop's extended hand. "Yes, I'm Nathan," he replied, casting a sidelong glance at Haley, who was crying and not trying to hide it.
"I'm so sorry for your loss..."
Nathan knew before the cop told him, but actually hearing the words caused his heart to sink.
"They're dead, Nathan," Haley choked out, sobbing. "Oh, God, they're dead!"
Time seemed to stand still as Nathan stood in the hospital emergency room with a cop who probably really couldn't have cared less about his loss and a woman he couldn't stand and who couldn't stand him. The cop explained that Zoe was fine- a little shaken up, but she probably didn't even know what had happened. She would be staying with a foster family for the night and then CPS would go from there.
Zoe being okay was the only consolation for Nathan and he allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief as he learned that she hadn't been hurt. Zoe had meant everything to Luke. Nathan knew the struggle Lucas and Brooke had gone through to conceive her, and she had been their entire world. Now she was the only thing left of them. The tears sprung to his eyes as the reality of the situation came crushing down on him; his best friend, his brother, was gone.
. . .
A lanky man wearing an obviously expensive three piece suit and carrying an equally expensive leather briefcase suddenly appeared at their sides. "Haley James? Nathan Scott?"
Haley looked up at him in surprise, jumping a little when he spoke. She exchanged a glance with Nathan, who looked just as surprised. "Yes?"
"My name is Richard Blankenship; I'm Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Scott's attorney," he said by way of introduction. He reached out to shake Nathan and Haley's hands. "I need to discuss a very important matter with you-"
Nathan cut him off. "Look, can't this wait? We just lost our best friends and the last thing we want to be doing is talking to some lawyer about God knows what," he snapped, raking a hand through his short brown hair. He clenched his jaw and rolled his eyes.
"No, sir, I'm afraid it can't wait," the lawyer replied. "I've been called in to discuss with you and Ms. James my clients' last will and testament."
Haley shot Nathan a look. "Of course, Mr. Blankenship. Please excuse Nathan's rudeness. What did you need to discuss with us?"
"Shall we go somewhere a bit more private?" the lawyer suggested as he adjusted his grip on his briefcase.
They settled into a small room and took seats at a desk, Haley and Nathan on one side and Mr. Blankenship on the other. He waited for them to get comfortable in their seats before speaking. "First of all, I wish to express my condolences for your losses. I know you were very close to Mr. and Mrs. Scott and they expressed how much you meant to them in their will and how they wish for you both to stay involved in their daughter's life," he began, eying them over the tops of his glasses.
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Can you just cut the bullshit and get to the point of this whole little charade?"
"I think what he means to say is that of course we want to stay involved in Zoe's life," Haley said, giving Nathan a look of disgust as she spoke. "If that's okay."
"Yes, of course it's okay. It's more than okay," Mr. Blankenship stressed. "It's in the will."
Nathan and Haley exchanged a glance before looking back at the lawyer, curiosity in their eyes. A brief look of incredulity passed across his face before he regained his composure. "You're both unaware of the provisions?"
He pulled a stack of papers out of his briefcase and placed them on top of the desk. He cleared his throat before beginning to read from the papers. "'In the event of our concurrent deaths or our deaths following subsequent to the other, it is our express and mutual wish that the custody of our daughter, Zoe Sophia Scott, will be awarded to said godparents, Nathan Royal Scott and Haley Joy James.'"
Haley simply stared at him, not sure she had heard him correctly. Nathan furrowed his brows, obviously equally confused. "Excuse me?" they asked in unison. "Did you say they willed their daughter to us?"
"Both of us?" Haley added, gesturing wildly between herself and Nathan.
Nathan guffawed as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. A smirk stretched across his lips. "You must be off your rocker, Dick," he stated. "Zoe is not a possession. She's a human being. How can a human being be willed to someone?"
"Why would Brooke and Lucas choose us to be her guardians?" Haley breathed calmly.
"Mr. Scott, I can assure you that I am simply relaying to you my clients' instructions. Ms. James, I do not know the reasoning behind their decision."
"I don't understand," Haley said, looking at the lawyer with wide eyes. "Nathan and I- we don't exactly see eye to eye on some things. Most things. Anything, really. We're not a couple. How could this be best for Zoe?"
"This stipulation in their will is certainly unusual," he admitted, placing the papers back in his briefcase. "It may help you both to know that it is not binding either way; it is your privilege to accept or decline. It is simply an expression of their mutual wishes." He paused before continuing, "If you wish to move forward, the next step is to petition the court to appoint you as legal guardians. If it's not contested, the judge will most likely be inclined to honor the wishes of the deceased. I will give you time to think about it and discuss it, and I will be in touch with you again in the next few days." He shook their hands, once again expressed his sorrow for their loss, and was gone, leaving Nathan and Haley to stare at each other in wonderment.
. . .
Author's note: Sorry for the short delay between chapters. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas; I know I certainly did! I always love spending time with family, but unfortunately that doesn't always happen except for around the holidays.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter; now the plot is finally getting started! To give credit where credit is due, much of the last portion of this chapter involving the lawyer was taken from the 2004 movie "Raising Waylon" which is very similar in premise to "Life As We Know It."
Also, I didn't know Haley's middle name, so I just decided to use Joy. Has her middle name ever been revealed on the show? I will go back and change it if it has.
Thank you to those of you who reviewed the last chapter: Naley2333, KTxx, Smile Please10, C, Kat, swindellbc, courtneylovejason, Reese, mmjasamjaudia4eva, AshleyM15, and AllwaSsAnDForEveRr23. You are all wonderful!
