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Chapter Two

Haley watched in awe as the women she considered to be her second mother bustle around the kitchen of the café. The woman seemed to be preoccupied, almost as if her mind were dancing around some type of algebraic equation, fighting hard to figure out just the right answer to her problem.

She was mixing her third batch of muffins and unfortunately, just like the two that had preceded it there was more shell then egg in the batter.

"God damn it!" she yelled throwing the entire bowl into the sink, causing the fragile object to shatter.

Haley knew Karen well enough to know that there was something seriously wrong. She never acted this way, not even in her worst hour. Slowly the young woman approached the small business owner and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"WHAT!" she exclaimed rather harshly forcing Haley to take a step back.

"Ok can you tell me why you just tried to take my head off?"

Karen sighed.

"Sorry Haley. I've just got a lot of things on my mind right now"

"Well that's kind of obvious" she smiled "Want to talk about it?"

Karen looked around the café, searching the place for any of the well known town gossipers. When she was certain that none of the bored housewives of Tree Hill was present, she ushered Haley into empty near by corner.

"I want to tell you exactly what's going on but you first you have to promise me that you will not freak out. Please Haley, I need you to promise me"

Haley gave her a suspicious look. Whatever it happened to be was major.

"Umm…sure Karen, I promise"

"Ok. Umm I don't quite know where to begin"

"The beginning is always a good place to start" laughed Haley.

She was glad to see Karen lighten up a little.

"Right, remember when you guys went to Rachael's cabin for the weekend. You know, right after Keith died"

"Yeah"

"Well the second night that you were away I was feeling so horrible and being in the house all by myself just got to me. I was so hurt over losing Keith that I needed someone to lash out at so naturally the first person that came to mind was Dan"

Haley raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead"

"Ok so I stormed into his office and stared going off on him about how he killed Keith and that I wished that he had died instead. It was a horrible night, I was a complete wreck"

"Off course you were Karen you lost Keith just before the two of you were going to get married"

"Yeah well just as I was about to leave Dan got up and followed me out to the parking lot"

"He didn't hurt you did he? Because if he did Lucas will kill him"

Karen's eyes widened.

"No, actually he was really sweet"

"Dan Scott, sweet? Isn't that kind of like an oxymoron?"

The woman giggled.

"Well not on this night. Anyway he said that I was too upset to drive and that he would take me home. At first I yelled, telling him off and saying how I could get home on my own and that I didn't need him but after a while he grabbed my purse and threw it in the backseat so I couldn't have my keys then he forced me into the front seat, got in and drove me home"

"Karen" said Haley slowly.

By the look in her eyes the older woman knew she understood what was about to happen next.

"When we got there he walked me into the house and followed me into the bedroom. He helped me into bed and was all set to leave when I stopped him" she paused "I didn't want to be alone that night. I need someone to hold me and to tell me that everything was going to be alright and to take the pain away. So I pulled him down onto the bed and we…well I think you know"

"You have got to be kidding me"

"No trust me I'm not kidding"

There was silence for a moment before she continued.

"I've been seeing him every since Haley. We've sneaking around behind everybody's backs, including Lucas's who just happened to walk in on us this morning"

Haley's jaw hit the floor.

"Are you insane Karen? After everything's he's done to you, to Lucas? How could you just take him back? How could you let that monster back in? I don't understand"

Karen lowered her head for a second before looking back up to Haley.

"There's something else Hales. I've been lying about the baby too"

Haley gasped.

"Karen" she said cautiously "How far along are you?"

"Six months. I'm only six months"

"Oh God. Keith died seven months ago which means that…oh no"

Karen confirmed Haley's suspicions with a simple nod.

"Lucas doesn't know, does he?"

"No" she replied softly with saddened eyes.

"Oh gees Karen" said Haley lifting her hand and running her fingers through her hair.

"You have to tell him. He thinks that you're having Keith's baby. Karen you have to tell him the truth before he finds out on his own"

"I know but you have to believe that I hated lying to him all this time. I didn't want to keep this from him but he just hates Dan so much"

"Yeah and with damn good reason Karen. How could you be so stupid and selfish? How could you do this to Lucas? What kind of mother brings such an evil, devious bastard into her son's life? God I feel like I don't even know you any more"

The girl's tone and judgmental attitude made Karen snap.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that"

Haley instantly felt terrible for her choice of words and tried to explain herself.

"Look Karen I…"

"No! I have devoted my life to raising Lucas the best way I could. I have given that boy everything he's ever needed and wanted since the day he was born and now it's time that I do something for me. Yes, I know Dan has been an absolute jackass over the past several years but that's the only side you've ever seen of him. You don't know him like I do. You don't know who he was before Lucas was born and before everything got all screwed up"

"I understand that Karen but…"

"NO buts Haley James Scott. I am happy again and I will not allow anyone to take this away from me. Now I love Dan and he loves me and he is sorry for everything he's done, trust me. If I thought other wise I would have tossed him out on his ass a long time ago. He's not going to make the same mistakes he did last time, he promised me that. Once Lucas comes around he is going to be the family that we were meant to be before Deb got her hooks into him and there's nothing anybody can do to stop us"

Karen turned around and began to walk away when she stopped suddenly.

"Oh and Haley" she said now facing the younger woman.

"Before you judge me you consider this. What would life be like for you if Nathan suddenly decided that playing basketball was more important then staying with you and your baby then a few years down the line he realized his mistake and begged your forgiveness? I wonder, would be so quick to turn him down? Because I don't think that you would Mrs. Scott. So before you question my skills as a mother or as a woman you consider this. What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

With that Karen walked away to leave Haley to ponder what if…

Dan was on top of the world. He was about to become a father again, he and Karen were back on track and this time he was going to do everything right. A playful smile danced on his lips as he fastened the clasp on his watch and turned to look in the mirror.

"You handsome devil you" he spoke to his reflection.

"Everything is finally going your way. You have Karen and a new baby on the way and with any luck Lucas will come around, bringing Nathan with him and you'll have it all. And just to think, all it took was getting rid of Keith. Imagine that"

His smile grew wider at the thought. It wasn't as if he was proud or even happy about what he had done but he wasn't blind or stupid. His life had improved dramatically since his brother's demise and it only appeared to be getting better and better by the minute. So there could be only conclusion to draw from this and that was that life was great without big brother.

As he cheeked his watch the Mayor of Tree Hill silently scolded himself for looking track or time. He knew he had to move quickly other wise he was going to be late for his meeting with the town advisors. Throwing on his suit jacket he hurried out the door grabbing his keys and brief case along the way. Upon exiting the house he stumbled and cursed as he tripped over a small package addressed to his son. He then quickly retrieved the object from the ground and continued on his way, not having enough time to take it back inside.

Opening the car door he tossed the yellow package into the passenger seat before rushing off in the direction of town hall. Unbeknownst to him the only thing that could shatter his perfect world was a small package that just happened to be resting directly beside him.