A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese.

Chapter Seven

Haley gave a wide smile to Jake as she joined him behind the counter. Jake gave her a smile in return. "I'm guessing that your first week with the Scott children went well? You must have been really busy if you weren't able to come in until today."

Haley knew he was teasing her. Yet, she still felt a little guilty that she had left everything for Jake to handle. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. This whole week was trying to get settled in and get into their weekly routine. It was a little challenging since Nathan wasn't there. Luckily, Tristan, Nathan's mom Deb and his brother were really helpful when it came to following the schedule. I couldn't have done it without them. And now Nathan is back for a few days. So he is spending time with his kids and I get to enjoy my two days off. As much as I love the kids, I'm glad that I'm able to take a break on the weekends. So how was your week?"

Jake didn't answer for a few moments. Haley hoped that he wasn't having trouble with Peyton. "Well, everything was going fine until Dan Scott showed up and started asking questions about you the other day."

Haley frowned. "Dan Scott as in Nathan's dad? Are you sure?" Jake nodded. "That's weird, considering I haven't even met him yet. What kinds of questions he was asking?"

Jake shrugged. "It was mostly about what your experience was with children. I guess he wanted to make sure that his grandchildren were being taken care of properly. The only question I refused to answer was why you decided to take a break from being a nanny. That isn't his business to know."

Haley gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Jake. I had a feeling someone was going to check up on me. I just thought it would be Renée. There is something about that woman that sets me off. And it's not just her strange rules for her children either."

Jake frowned. "Are you referring to her disapproval of board games, card games or anything else like that in her house?" Haley nodded. "Yeah, that is weird," he agreed. "But maybe she has a reason for that."

"Cassie claims that it is because her mom wants her children to stay active," Haley replied, who still didn't believe the excuse. "But the kids can't run around and play the whole day. What if it's a rainy day and they get tired of playing dress up or don't feel like watching movies? Then what are they going to do? Read? Do homework?"

"Well, it's a good thing you're working for Nathan, not Renée," Jake reminded her. Haley had to agree. "Anything else happened during your first week there?" he asked as he and Haley grabbed the books that people had returned and headed to the proper shelves. "How is Cinnamon adjusting to the new house?"

"It's nice to know that you care more about my dog than me," Haley teased him before she answered his question. "We're both still getting used to having the Scott family around all the time," she admitted as she returned a couple of books back to their proper place. "Even they are making me and Cinnamon feel welcomed, I still feel like a visitor in that house."

"Give it time. You've only been there a few days." Haley knew he was right. "Have you and Lindsey decided what you guys are going to do with your house?" Jake asked curiously. "You won't really need it after Lindsey leaves, will you?"

"No, but I want to keep it in case the job doesn't work out," Haley replied. "Especially if Cinnamon misbehaves herself. But you're right. It doesn't really pay to keep the house if I'm not going to be living in it. So I'll probably rent it to someone. Why do you ask?"

Jake shrugged. "I just wondered what you were doing with your house. That's all." He then changed the subject. "I heard your parents are thinking about going to New York for the Christmas holidays." There was a short pause before he spoke again. "And you weren't too happy about it."

"I was more surprised than anything else," Haley admitted. "But if they truly want to go to New York for the holidays, I'm not going to stop them. But I'm also not going to join them either." Jake gave her a look. "I would rather be available in case Nathan or Lucas need me to baby-sit their children."

Jake raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You are choosing your career over spending time with your family? Who are you and what have you done with Haley James?" he joked. He then got serious with her. "Come on, Haley. I don't know Nathan, but I'm pretty sure he won't make you work during the holidays." He then considered another possibility. "Are you not going because you don't want to see Taylor?"

Haley gave him a look. "I hardly ever see my sister now. Do you think I would avoid her when I have a chance to see her?"

"If it was Quinn, you would see her in a heartbeat," Jake replied. "And I'm sure you would go if you found out that Quinn was meeting up with your family in New York, right?" Haley didn't answer. "Besides, New York is so pretty during the holidays." Haley didn't answer as they saw a mother and her children walking into the room. They greeted each other as she went to offer her help while Jake went back behind the counter. The conversation was now over.

After a long busy day, Haley picked up Cinnamon from doggie daycare before she headed back to the Scott house. Even though the Scotts were going to be home, she didn't quite feel comfortable leaving her dog alone with them. Tristan and Cassie were disappointed since they were in love with her. They had been helping Haley take care of her all week. They had even cleaned up her messes when she had done her duty.

When she stepped in the foyer, she was greeted by Tristan and Cassie. "What have you guys been doing all day?" she asked Tristan as Cassie played with Cinnamon. Before Tristan could answer, they heard faint voices coming from another room. "Do you have guests over?"

Tristan nodded. "Uncle Lucas is here because he and Aunt Brooke had another fight about the baby."

"Well, I'm sure they will work it out," Haley replied before Tristan went to play with Cassie and Cinnamon. She continued on her way to the kitchen, where she found Lucas and Nathan in silence. There was noticeable tension between the two. "Did I interrupt something?" she asked.

"No, I was just leaving," Lucas replied as he gave one last glare at his brother before leaving the room.

Haley didn't even want to ask. Instead, she went to grab some food out of the refrigerator. She was starving since she hadn't had a chance to have dinner yet. As she made a sandwich, she couldn't help but notice that Nathan was lost in thought. "Is everything okay?" she asked curiously. She didn't mean to pry, but she could tell that something was bothering him.

Nathan didn't answer at first. "How do you do it?" he asked. "How can you work three jobs and still be able to do the things that you want to do?"

"Actually, I'm thinking of quitting my library job," Haley confessed. Nathan was surprised to hear that since he knew how much she loved working at the library. "I thought I could handle doing three jobs at once, but it's too much for me. So I'm going to take a break from that job and concentrate on taking care of your kids." There was a short pause before she spoke again. "You do respect my privacy, right?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I know how important it is to keep your personal life private." He wondered why she was asking that question before he realized what had possibly happened. "Is my dad snooping around your personal life?"

Haley was surprised that he had guessed the right person. "Your dad has done this before?"

Nathan let out a heavy sigh. "Every time a new person comes into our lives, he wants to make sure that he or she isn't a phony. I thought he had stopped investigating into people's lives, but I guess old habits die hard. I'm sorry about the invasion of privacy."

"If he is looking for an arrest record, I don't have one," Haley replied as she finished making her sandwich. "I've never been arrested. That's my sister's department. I can't tell you how many times she got in trouble with the law." Nathan looked at her interested to hear more. "But she slowly started to quit doing those things when she became a model."

"My Aunt Rachel is a model too," a small voice piped up. Nathan and Haley turned to see Cassie coming into the room. "I haven't seen her in a long time though. She goes all around the world and brings us back presents."

Haley laughed. "I'm sure you and your brother love that, right?" The answer was obvious, but she wanted to see Cassie's bright smile. "Yeah, I always love getting presents too. When do you like getting presents more, your birthday or Christmas?"

Nathan just smiled at his daughter as she pondered the question. It was such a hard question for a four year old. "I like my birthday more because I get money too," Cassie replied. Nathan and Haley laughed as Cassie asked another question. "Can we play Goldfish?" she asked anxiously.

Over the past week, Haley started to introduce card games, board games and any other games that they previously had been forbidden to play at their mother's house. Haley played Goldfish and Memory with Cassie while she played Mouse Trap with Tristan.

"I will as soon as I finish my dinner," Haley promised before Cassie rushed off to set up the game in the playroom. She then sat down at the kitchen table and started eating her dinner.

Nathan shook his head in amazement. "I can see why you're a nanny. You're great with my kids, not to mention my niece and nephews. Did you always want to work with kids?" he asked her as he joined her.

Haley nodded before she told him her story in between bites. "Yeah, I have since I was a kid myself. I was always watching after kids who were younger than me. At first, I thought I would want to be a teacher. That's before I realized that I would much rather see the kids grow up than have a new batch of kids each year. I baby-sat during my junior high years. In high school, I volunteered at the community center and joined the Big Brother/Big Sister program when I was a junior. And I'm still in contact with my "little" sister today."

"That's cool. I probably would have joined stuff like that in high school if I wasn't so focused on basketball," Nathan said.

"You were one who had your future all set out for you since you were a child, right?" Haley guessed.

Nathan nodded. "Basketball has been my life up until now." Haley didn't even have to ask to know who he was talking about. She didn't want to admit it, but she was glad to see his children were more important to him than basketball. "What about you? Do you have anyone special in your life?"

Haley shook her head. "Nope, kids and animals are my life. If I hadn't chosen a profession that involved children, I would probably help my dad run the animal shelter. I love animals and it kills me to see that there are so many out wandering the streets with no one to love them."

"I'm surprised that you don't have more than one pet," Nathan replied. "Or is one dog more than enough for you to handle?"

"Actually, my former roommate Lindsey has a Chihuahua too," Haley told him. "His name is Gizmo and he got along great with Cinnamon." Nathan tried to hold in his laughter, but it wasn't working. Haley knew what he was thinking. She too had the same reaction when she had heard his name. "Lindsey didn't want the traditional names like Max or Buddy." Nathan nodded understandingly. "Anyway, I would love to get another companion for Cinnamon. But for right now, I think I'll stick with one dog." There was an awkward silence before Haley spoke again. "I should probably check on the kids. It was really nice talking to you though."

Nathan nodded in agreement. He needed a conversation where there weren't any arguments. She was about to clean off her plate when he took it from her. "I'll do that for you. Go and play with the children." Haley gave him a smile before she disappeared from the room. As he cleaned the dishes up, he made a mental note to visit his dad the next day. He already knew the perfect excuse that he could use to be able to stop by: Tristan and Cassie.

While Haley was visiting her parents in Tree Hill, Nathan took his children to visit their grandparents. Tristan and Cassie were thrilled to see them again. They didn't get to see them enough during the weekdays especially Dan since he worked all the time. Of course, he took time off to attend Nathan's home games or his grandchildren's activities.

Deb was the one who greeted them at the door and Dan soon followed once he found out who the guests were. They embraced their grandchildren with hugs and kisses as Tristan and Cassie told them about their busy days. Dan was amused by the fact that Tristan had been skipping his piano lessons to practice for the basketball tournament.

Nathan waited until the children were out of sight before he mentioned the investigation. Making sure that they had complete privacy, he asked if they could talk in his study. Dan shut the door as he waited for his son to speak. "Dad, I heard that you were digging into Haley's private life. Is that true?"

"I was only doing what is necessary to protect my family," Dan replied as he went to his desk and sat down in his chair. "I know your mom claims that she is a nice person, but you never know with people. You see it all the time in newspapers about nannies harming or kidnapping children. I wanted to make sure that my grandchildren aren't in any danger."

"Haley has been around children all of her life," Nathan defended. "She would never hurt a child or kidnap them." He shook his head in disbelief. "Man, I swear that you are just like Renée. You believe that every woman that comes near me is a gold digging whore or is a kidnapper."

"There are people who will take advantage of you," Dan pointed out. Nathan just rolled his eyes. He had heard all of this before. "After all, you're a NBA basketball player. Women adore you and throw themselves at your feet. I just want to make sure those crazy women stay away from you and my grandchildren."

Nathan let out a heavy sigh. "Dad, I appreciate what you are doing, but I'm an adult now," he reminded him. "And I'm the parent. It's my responsibility to protect Tristan and Cassie. You are just Grandpa Dan who spoils them rotten, okay?" he asked. Dan was about to protest when Nathan gave him a look. He finally agreed and promised to back off.