Author's Note: Hey guys! I know I said it would only be two weeks until the next update, but life got in the way. My finals weren't over until the 18th and since then I've been working like 9 hour days at my job and I don't get home until late and I'm just so worn out that I fall into bed. I also sometimes get "mushy brain" around the holidays, my brain is like…blah. It's hard to think of ideas and what to write due to lack of inspiration. Anyway, I thought I'd give you your Christmas present a day early. A new chapter! No matter what holiday you're celebrating this time of year, I hope you all have a good one! I hope you like the new chapter! As always, please read and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. One Tree Hill and its characters are property of the CW.

Rating: K+ to T

Chapter 4 – Life Changes In an Instant

Somehow, through all the hubbub and the drama of finding out about the baby and working things out with Brooke, Nathan had forgotten one very major thing that put a huge dent in his dreams of Brooke and him being together, even as friends living together. He was still married. He berated himself in his head for being so stupid. How could he not remember? He was still wearing his wedding ring for Christ sakes. He wondered if Brooke had noticed what he had been blind to see. He went to take the wedding ring off, but he hesitated for a moment, thinking. He thought back to the day he had given her the ultimatum. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought she would choose the tour and Chris Keller over him. He had always wondered what had gone wrong between them. Their love wasn't strong enough to keep her here with him; he loved her more than she loved him. They were too young and blind to the realities of the world; they were just two kids who thought they were madly in love and that their love would be enough. He could go on and on with reasons. Many people had said it wouldn't work between them and Nathan had been foolish enough to deny it.

Haley had been gone for about six months now. Nothing had been spoken between the two of them since he had issued the ultimatum, except for a message from Haley on the answering machine pleading for him to understand that this opportunity was one she couldn't pass up, it had always been a dream of hers to sing and perform, and now the postcard from California he had just received. Nathan flipped it over to read what it said. There wasn't much, just a few short sentences scribbled in her handwriting. It looked like she had been writing in a hurry with the way her words tilted a little more to the right than they usually did when she took her time to write something. It read:

Dear Nathan,

I'm in California now, as you can probably tell by the picture on the front. I hope you are doing okay back there in Tree Hill. Life has been so busy lately that I hardly have time to do anything but sleep between song rehearsals, performances, and radio spots. The tour is amazing. It is nothing and everything like I imagined; it is so much better! I really love it. I wish you were here so you could experience it with me. I miss you.

Love,

Haley

Nathan crumpled up the postcard angrily. "Back there in Tree Hill," he muttered in disgust. She sounded so…snooty when she wrote that line, like she was above him somehow for finally achieving her dreams and leaving Tree Hill behind. Popularity and fame had changed her; she wasn't the girl he had married anymore. He knew she probably didn't mean it that way, but that is how he felt. He was bitter about the whole thing; that was for sure. What guy wouldn't be if your wife left you for another man? Even if it hadn't been about Chris, which Haley claimed it wasn't, why hadn't she asked him to go with her? She had never answered that question the night he had given her the ultimatum.

He went back inside the apartment and sat down on one of the stools at the island counter. He sat there for a long time, thinking, thinking about everything; Haley, their marriage, the memories, Brooke, the baby, everything. After two hours, Nathan sat back and looked down at his left hand, slowly twisting his wedding ring around his finger. A few moments passed and Nathan slowly pulled it off. He stood and walked down the hallway to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Nathan walked over to his nightstand and opened the bottom drawer. He took the crumpled up postcard and smoothed it out, placing it inside the drawer, then set his wedding ring on top of it, staring at it a few moments before he finally closed the drawer.

He let out a large sigh and rubbed his face as he sat down on the edge of the bed and took his shoes off then laid back against his pillows, staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes before he finally closed his eyes. It seemed that as soon as Nathan had fallen asleep, he woke to a soft knock on his bedroom door. "Come in," he called out. Brooke opened the door a bit and stood there a few seconds before she ventured closer, "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" "It's alright. What's up," he asked, moving to a sitting position. "Well, um, I'm getting kind of hungry and um…" "I could fix you something…" Nathan began but stopped as realization hit him, "right, there's nothing in the fridge. Grocery shopping it is."

"Okay, what kind of cereal do you want," Nathan asked as they turned down the breakfast aisle. Brooke smiled as she grabbed a box of Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms and showed them to him. Nathan raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops, Brooke?" "What? It's good stuff," she replied indignantly. "Yeah, if you're five," he laughed. "Hey, I'm allowed to have a little guilty pleasure once in a while," she responded. Nathan's eyes clouded over for a moment as he thought of something and he responded firmly, "You have to eat healthy, Brooke. Here, what about this?" Now it was Brooke's turn to raise her eyebrow, "Cheerios? Aren't they a little bland?" "They're healthy and…" Nathan paused for a moment, "babies like them." "Fine, whatever. Put them in the damn cart," Brooke grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest as a pout formed on her face, turning away from him. Oh no, she's in one of her moods again, Nathan thought as he groaned to himself. He picked up the boxes of Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms and went to stand in front of her, "Okay, you can have one sugary cereal. Which one do you want?" Brooke's face brightened and a smile appeared back on her face as she took the box of Fruit Loops from him and placed them in the cart. "Good choice, my favorite," Nathan smiled.

They were silent for a few minutes as they strolled along the different aisles. "The baby can't eat Cheerios right now, you know Nathan, it's not even born yet," Brooke said. "Sure it can. Whatever you eat gets transferred to the baby, that's why the doctors say pregnant women have to eat healthy. All the nutrients and stuff go to the baby to help it grow," Nathan responded. Brooke tilted her head to the side in confusion as she looked up at him, "Where did you learn that?" "Read it in a magazine while I was in the waiting room when we went to get your pregnancy confirmed," Nathan responded with a shrug. She gave him one of her dimpled smiles in return.

The two hit the produce section for some fresh fruits and vegetables before they split up so Brooke could go get some makeup stuff. It was now twenty minutes later and Nathan had yet to see Brooke. He had been almost all over the whole store looking for her but there was no sign of her. He did finally find her though, staring and softly fingering a pair of small pink socks in the baby section. "Did I tell you it's going to be a boy," Nathan grinned as he approached her. "What makes you say that? You're not psychic," Brooke chuckled. "I just have a feeling," Nathan winked at her, "plus, another thing I learned from the magazine is that the father determines the sex of the baby, not the mother. I come from a long line of boys in the family." "We'll see. I think it's going to be a girl," Brooke smiled. "I bet you fifty bucks it's a boy," Nathan responded confidently. Brooke slapped his arm and stared at him, a shocked expression on her face, "Nathan, I will not bet on the sex of our child!" "Well, if you're so confident that it's a girl then why not? Chicken," he chuckled. Brooke hit his arm again, "Make it a hundred and it's a deal." Nathan nodded his head and grinned, "You're on."

He reached over and grabbed a pair of blue socks, placing them in the cart, "I'm buying these for our son." "We're having a girl," Brooke said, setting the pink socks in the cart then took the blue ones and put them back on the rack, "Girls don't wear blue. They wear pinks and purples, girly colors." "Girls can wear blue," Nathan protested, "You wear blue." "But not as babies! Girls wear pink and boys wear blue, it's always been that way." "Typical gender stereotyping," Nathan muttered then said louder, "How about we just get some socks that are a neutral color like yellow or green, or white?" "Fine," Brooke grumbled, a disgruntled pout forming on her face as she put the pink socks back and grabbed some yellow ones. He leaned his head towards her and gave her a small smile, "You know, if we argue this much over a pair of baby socks, what's it going to be like when we have to pick out clothes for the baby?" "We'll just wait to get them after the baby is born. Then we can pick out pink clothes for our daughter," Brooke responded. "Then what will the baby wear home from the hospital? And it will be blue clothes for our son," Nathan smiled, but it faded when he saw something, or rather someone, standing at the end of the aisle.

Almost as soon as Nathan saw him, he disappeared. "Oh god, Lucas knows," Nathan said as he turned back around to face Brooke. At the sight of Lucas, Brooke had turned pale, fearing Lucas would say something or try to hurt Nathan for she knew he was probably still upset about the news. "Brooke, are you alright," Nathan asked concernedly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Brooke sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, "Nathan, Luke already knows about the baby." His brows wrinkled in confusion, "What? How?" "When I was at Karen's, resting in Lucas' room, I was crying about what had happened this morning and I said some things about you and the baby, but I didn't mention your name, and I guess Lucas heard me and he thought the baby was his. I told him it wasn't and when he found out it was you who was the father, we got into this big fight…" Brooke began to get teary and Nathan wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back up and down in soothing strokes as she buried her face in his chest, "Sh… it's alright. I think we're pretty much done here. Let's check out and go home." Brooke nodded against him and they headed towards the cashiers, Nathan's arm never leaving her side.

When they arrived back at the apartment, they put the groceries away and afterwards, Brooke took the pair of baby socks and went to her room. She sat down on her bed and stared at them a few long minutes, slowly rubbing her fingers over the soft material. It was the first thing they had bought for their child. Sometimes it seemed so unreal, fake, that she was pregnant; she couldn't believe it. Having something tangible, something she could touch, made the presence of a baby more real to her. She knew though that the baby would never be more real to her than when her child started to move around inside of her. She couldn't wait to feel the baby kick and greatly anticipated the day when she felt her baby's first movements. Brooke smiled as she stood from the bed and walked over to the bulletin board hanging on the wall near her nightstand then took a push pin and stuck it into the board, hanging the baby socks on it. She smiled as she stared at them and gently rested a hand against her stomach.

A few moments later, Brooke turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Nathan standing in the doorway. She placed a hand to her chest, "God Nathan, you scared me." "Sorry," he grinned sheepishly, "Uh, dinner's ready." "Okay thanks. I'll be there in a minute," Brooke replied, grabbing a washcloth and heading towards the bathroom. "Mmm, this all smells great. What is it," Brooke asked when she entered the kitchen. "I made salad, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans," Nathan responded as he set their plates down on the table. "Thanks, it looks wonderful," Brooke smiled at him before she took a bite of it, "Yumm." "Glad you like it," Nathan said in return. After a few minutes of silence as they each ate their food, Nathan asked, "Hey Brooke?" "Yeah," she inquired, looking up at him. "Do you think Lucas will tell people about the baby?" A frown formed on her face as she set her fork down, "I don't know. I hope not. I honestly didn't really think about it until now. I mean, if he tells people then we'll deal with it. If not, then we'll keep it secret until I start to show." Nathan nodded his head and went back to eating his food.

The next morning, the two arrived at school early for once. As they walked towards their lockers, Nathan noticed that Brooke had her arms wrapped around her stomach and she looked a little pale. "Still feeling sick," he asked quietly. Brooke nodded. She had already had two rounds of morning sickness that day and couldn't keep anything down. Nathan pulled his backpack from his shoulders and dug through it for a moment then handed her a bag of crackers, "Here, these are supposed to help with the nausea." She smiled up at him gratefully as she took them from him, "Thanks." The minute warning bell sounded and Nathan said to her, "I hope you feel better. I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Brooke nodded in response before they parted ways and each went to their first class.

"Hey Brooke," Nathan called out when he spotted her leaving her last class of the day, speeding up his pace to catch up to her. She stopped and turned around, "Yeah?" He finally caught up to her and whispered in her ear, "How are you feeling?" "I'm okay now. It was just the morning sickness kicking in earlier. The crackers helped," she responded with a smile. "I'm glad," he replied then said, "Listen, Whitey called a practice this afternoon so I can't take you home right away. Would you mind waiting for me until practice is over?" "Oh no, that's fine. I have cheer practice anyway so we'll probably be done at the same time as you guys," Brooke responded with a wave of her hand in dismissal. "Brooke…" Nathan's brows furrowed in concern. "I'll be fine. Don't worry," she said, knowing what he was thinking about. He continued to stare at her warily for a few moments before he finally nodded.

"Brooke! Where have you been? We haven't seen you in like a week," Bevin squealed and hugged her when she entered the locker room. "I've been sick. I haven't really been feeling all that well. I'm feeling a little better today so I thought I should come to practice. I am captain after all. Plus, we need to prepare for the upcoming Sparkle Classic. I want to beat Claire Young this year," Brooke explained. She knew she wouldn't be able to participate in the Classic this year because she would be too far along in her pregnancy, but she was captain and she was determined to have her squad win because this was the last year she would be eligible since she was a senior. "Alright girls, let's get changed and start practice. We have a lot to work on," Brooke shouted over the voices as she clapped her hands. Once they were dressed, they headed out to the gym where basketball practice was already under way. Nathan, who was in line for shooting free throws, saw Brooke as she passed him and gave her a small smile. She smiled back at him. Brooke walked over to where the girls were and sat down on the floor, beginning to stretch. "Okay," Brooke tried to get their attention after they had stretched and limbered up for about ten minutes, "first we're going to start off with our regular Ravens cheer to warm up then we'll continue working on the cheer we were practicing last week, alright? Let's go, get into positions."

Peyton nervously bit her lip as she approached Brooke cautiously. She knew Brooke was still mad at her for what had happened between her and Lucas, but she still held out hope that one day Brooke would forgive her and they could be friends again. She knew they would never be the same again, as close as they once were, but she'd give anything to have her best friend back. "Brooke," she inquired quietly. Even though she had her back turned, Brooke immediately recognized the voice and spun on her heel to face the blonde backstabbing ex-best friend. "What," she shouted angrily. Peyton flinched at the harshness of her tone. "Well, um, while you were gone… we, um, thought of some new moves for the cheer and it's, um, a little different than what you had originally showed us, but…well, anyway, we wanted to show it to you," Peyton bit her lip again, waiting for her response. Brooke clenched her jaw as she turned from Peyton and waved her hand for them to go on.

Once they performed the new cheer, Peyton and the rest of the squad waited on baited breath for Brooke's reaction as their captain paced back and forth in front of them. Brooke was silent for a few minutes before she shouted at them, "That was nothing like the cheer I made up! You changed everything around!" "Brooke, we were just experimenting…We thought it would be better if we could incorporate the new moves into the cheer for the Classic-" Peyton was cut off by Brooke's booming voice, seething with rage, "You don't understand! This is my squad, I am captain! I make the cheers! Everybody, Ravens cheer, NOW!" "You're not the only one who has ideas for new cheers, Brooke! Don't take this out on them! It was my idea to change the cheer you made up," Peyton said as she stepped up to her. "Oh, it was you who wanted to change it? Why doesn't that surprise me? Every time I turn around you're stabbing me in the back!" Brooke yelled at her. "It was a mistake! We have been friends for nine, almost ten, years, Brooke! How many times do I have to say I'm sorry before you'll forgive me," Peyton yelled back at her, tears now welling in her eyes.

Brooke noticed one of the cheerleaders performing a move that was less than perfect. They needed to be in top condition for the Classic and if that move had been performed there under the judges' scrutiny, points would have been taken off for it. "Courtney," Brooke shouted as she ran over to her, "you didn't do that back flip twist right. We need it to be perfect for the Classic. Let me show you how it's done." Brooke jogged to one end of the gym and stretched for a few seconds before she started to perform the move. Brooke advanced closer and closer towards the squad doing a series of back flips and just as she began to twist her body so that she would end up landing facing the group of cheerleaders, Brooke felt a searing pain course through her abdomen. Screaming out in agony and fear, she wrapped an arm around her stomach as she lost her momentum and fell onto the gym floor, landing on her left shoulder. "Oh my god, Brooke," Peyton screamed as she raced over to her.

From across the gym where basketball practice was being held, everything stopped when they heard the scream. Nathan whipped his head around and his eyes widened in fear, dropping the ball he had in his hands as he ran as fast as he could, "Brooke!" Lucas was right behind him. Even though they were broken up, he still cared about her. Plus, even though he was still upset about it, she was carrying his niece or nephew and he wanted to make sure they were both alright. "Oh god, Brooke," Nathan sank to his knees when he reached her, tears falling from his eyes. "Brooke-" Peyton started to say something but Nathan looked up at her angrily. "Get away from her! Haven't you already done enough?" "Nathan…" Brooke said weakly, her voice almost drowned out by her sobs, "it hurts so much…" She was gripping her shoulder now, but he saw the fear in her eyes. He knew it was the baby. She was just probably trying to hide the fact that she was pregnant from the concerned cheerleaders and basketball players trying to crowd around her. Lucas saw that nobody was doing anything, just standing around looking at Brooke. "Somebody call an ambulance," he shouted.