The Baker House, Before School Started:
Summer had come and gone, and by the end of August everyone was delightfully surprised to find Lydia and Jude still together, happier than ever. But Jude was nervous about something entirely unrelated to his and Lydia's relationship: college recruiting. He was sitting at his kitchen table, sorting through the letters and invitations he'd received from various universities, and he was incredibly overwhelmed. He wasn't very smart, but somehow his basketball skills had made up for his embarrassing GPA. He wanted to go somewhere with Lydia, he knew that much, but he also knew she was way smarter than he was, and the only way he could go to a school of her echalant was through basketball - so he wanted to choose wisely. The last weeks of summer were dwindling, and he really wanted to narrow down his choices to three before he started the season, but it was hard to do knowing that Lydia couldn't apply to schools for another year and he wasn't sure where she would end up. As if on cue, Lydia Scott came bouncing through the door, her long brown hair hanging in loose curls around her tan face, and a short red sundress hanging off her busty figure. He saw his whole world when she walked in, she was absolutely glowing and summer looked incredible on her.
"Hey baby," she grinned at him, throwing one of her arms around his shoulder and resting her head next to his, "figure out where you wanna go super star?"
"I can't decide Lyds, I mean I got rid of the ones I definitely didn't want, but I don't know where you're going yet, and I don't want to do college without you Lydia Scott," Jude told the smiling brunette, and she laughed,
"Jude I can get in anywhere, why don't you pick a few good ones and we can go visit later this week? Like a road trip!" She got super excited at her own idea of a road trip, and he chuckled, because of course Lydia had thought of the best solution,
"Okay, well will you at least help me pick the top three?" He asked, looking up at her and winking, she plopped down on his lap and surveyed the papers, she carefully reached out and grabbed the Duke one from the pile,
"Well we have to go here to see don't you think? Jamie loves it there!" Lydia had always dreamed of going to Duke, but she knew Jude wanted to be his own person, and maybe he didn't want to be in Jamie's shadow again in college, especially since he was dating Jamie's sister.
"Yeah," Jude took the paper and put it in one stack, "and how about UNC too? Just for good measure." He grabbed the tar-heel blue letter and put it next to the Duke one, Lydia nodded, looking at the remaining stacks,
"How about UVA?" She ventured slowly, she wasn't sure how Jude would feel about going out of state, and so far away, for college, but they were a huge powerhouse basketball school, and had a reputation for giving a great education as well.
"We could try that," Jude was surprised by her suggestion, but she had a point, UVA had expressed enormous interest in him, and he knew they'd have a shot at winning the title with him replacing their graduating point guard. He looked at the rest of the stack, nothing else really called out to him, and just like that he had it down to 3.
"So do you want to ask our parents tonight? We could drive up and do Duke one day and then UNC the next since they're neighbors, and then after we could drive up to Charlottesville and stay there to see UVA." Lydia, as always, had a plan, and Jude nodded in agreement,
"That sounds perfect. I'm pretty sure my parents won't mind. I'll text the coaches and see if I can set up a tour or something." Jude went to grab his phone and Lydia watched him with a huge smile, she really loved him.
Duke University, two days after telling Nathan and Haley:
Jamie was still overcoming the shock of Madison telling him that she had cheated on him in high school, and also the relief that he wasn't legitimately Dan reincarnated. He didn't really know where he stood with Julia though; he really liked her, and Tyler was precious, but he also didn't know her that well and it was weird to jump right into being a family when he had only been on a couple dates with Julia. He also hadn't gone public with any of his recent events yet, and he wasn't sure how it would play out on the big screen when it was time for the draft. He knew he was going to bring his parents with him, but should he invite Julia? Or should he keep her private for the sake of publicity and Tyler. Did he drop the bombshell that he had a son on social media, or did he just let people find out through tabloids, nothing was making sense to him. He got back to her apartment, with his mind sort've made up,
"Julia?" He called into the dark apartment, and he heard her close the door to Tyler's room as she came into the living area. She turned on the lights and smiled,
"Sorry, I was just putting Tyler down for a nap. How was your drive back?" She asked, also trying to figure out the dynamic of their new little family,
"It was quick, not too much traffic at all actually. I actually wanted to ask you something, I know we haven't been dating that long but I feel like," Jamie was interrupted by Julia,
"Jamie Scott don't you dare ask me to marry you." She said quickly, and he was a little taken aback but also relieved by her short outburst,
"Oh god Julia, nothing like that, we've been on like four dates. Don't worry I wouldn't ask you to marry me just because of Tyler, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come to the Draft with me next month." Jamie calmed his new girlfriend down, she breathed an audible sigh,
"Thank god, I thought your parents might have told you that you needed to or something to save your image. Of course I'll come to the draft, we'll have to find a babysitter for Ty since neither of us can watch him." Julia looked up at him with a big smile, and he kissed her forehead,
"Perfect, you can get a nice dress for it, my treat" Jamie knew how much she loved to shop and she grinned ear-to-ear,
"Oh this is going to be so much fun!" She clapped her hands excitedly and embraced him, "come on let's go celebrate, Ty's napping and we have the apartment to ourselves." Julia raised her eyebrows and smirked and Jamie laughed, letting her take his hand and drag her to her bedroom. It had been weird the first time a few weeks before, having sex with her again, knowing the last time they had slept together that they had been blacked out and had produced a child. But as the weeks had gone by they had gotten used to one another and it no longer was a strange experience, but rather an enjoyable activity.
The River Court, two weeks before school:
Jude saw his brother coming,or rather heard his brother coming, from miles down the road. The loud, blasting rap music was one of the few things both brothers enjoyed thoroughly, and currently Davis had it on full volume as he sped down the adjacent road to the court. He parked, and stomped out, dressed to play basketball.
"Hey!" Jude waved at his brother and tossed the ball to him, Davis threw up a perfect jump-shot and then handed it back to Jude, "Shots looking good" Jude remarked, but it didn't change the stone-cold expression Davis had on his face.
"Princeton called." Davis said quietly, looking at his brother, Jude suddenly understood his sullen attitude. Princeton had been Jude's dream school for years, an Ivy League education with a basketball team that always seemed to be in contention in March.
"Oh." Jude didn't really know what to say to his brother, "What'd you tell them?"
"I told them I had to discuss it with my family, but you and I both know it's not gonna happen," Davis hurled the ball against the backboard, banking in a long three, "Anna's pregnant I can't take her to New Jersey."
"Davis," Jude started, before pausing to take a breath, "why don't you ask her to come with you? Then you could have the best of both worlds."
"That's not how it works Jude." Davis said sharply, "By the time I get to college the baby will be almost two. I can't take Anna away from her family or force her to come with me, and I can't support a family while playing basketball at an Ivy League, do you have any idea how time consuming that is?"
"Sorry, I was just trying to help," Jude nabbed his brother's rebound and handed it back to him, "well, did you talk to Nathan? He was in the same predicament."
"Haley and he were married, he went to a small school and transferred to Maryland. It's different, he didn't need to work, he was Nathan Scott." Davis quipped back, tossing up another perfect shot.
"Yeah but I still think it'd be worth asking him about it. You are Davis Baker. What's the difference between you and Nathan Scott?" Jude asked, trying to give his brother a confidence boost.
The Scott Household, two hours later:
A knock on the door interrupted Nathan, who was trying to put together a fancy new crib in the nursery to surprise Haley with. He wiped his hands off on his sweats and went to answer the door, and saw Davis Baker standing on the other side,
"Hey Davis, everything okay?" Nathan saw the look on his face and immediately beckoned the teenager in, "Haley went on a school field trip with Claire, so I'm just putting together the baby's room, want to help and we can talk?" Nathan could tell Davis needed advice and hoped he would be able to help the young man before him.
"Yeah sure I'd love to help," Davis followed Nate to the back of the house and into the bedroom that had been painted a soft shade of green, stuffed animals were strewn around the floor and a partially assembled crib was laying in the middle of the mess, "What happened there?" Davis asked with a chuckle,
"You'd be surprised how hard cribs are to put together." Nathan said with a sigh, and Davis laughed at him,
"You've had like eight kids, isn't this second nature for you by now?" He asked with a joking pat on the shoulder,
"Five. And I swear every time the crib is more and more confusing, we were going to use Claire's and just paint it but apparently it's been recalled?" Nathan pushed his hair back from his brow and got down on the floor, motioning for his "nephew" to join him. The two started screwing in the little knobs, and then Nathan broke the silence, "So what brings you here?" he asked, and Davis looked at him, twisted his lips and started talking,
"Princeton called today. They asked me to come play. And you know that's my dream school, but I guess I just figured that was out the window now because of Anna and I but then I was talking to Jude and he thought maybe you could help me because you and Aunt Haley…" Davis tinkered off, feeling stupid as he asked Nathan for advice, but Nathan smiled knowingly and patted his "nephew" on the back. He remembered how hard it had been, especially once he'd gotten to Maryland…
Years Earlier, College Park Maryland:
Nathan came in from practice drenched in sweat and exhausted, today had been extra hard at practice after their loss to Duke the previous night, but knowing he'd get to see Jamie after being on the road for two days had gotten him through it. He opened up the door to his and Haley's small apartment and was hit with the aroma of burning cookies, he jumped into action and dashed towards the small kitchenette. He was relieved to see his wife standing in the middle of the tiny room, but then he saw she was crying.
"Hales, are you okay?" He asked worried, thinking maybe she had burned herself, "What's wrong?" he asked again when all she did was choke out a sob again, she was holding a cookie sheet full of what he assumed had been her famous chocolate chip cookies,
"I burned the cookies." She said in-between cries, and he looked at her confused, she was being incredibly irrational, then he was hit with a flash of worry,
"Haley you're being really emotional, you're not pregnant again are you?" He asked and she tossed the cookies down,
"No Nathan Scott I am not pregnant again." She looked at him with her hands on her hips and tears still in her eyes, "I just wanted to surprise you with cookies and I had Jamie down for his nap and I started to work on my paper and then I got so wrapped up in my paper that I let the cookies burn and then the fire alarm woke Jamie up and I just can't handle all of this."
"Hey hey hey come here," Nathan wrapped his wife in a bear hug, "you are the best mom, best student and best wife in the whole world do you know that?" and Haley dug her head into his shoulder. Being married in college presented a whole host of issues, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Sure, they got in fights about how much time and attention each of them gave to one another and to Jamie and to school or basketball, but in the end it worked because they loved each other endlessly.
Their biggest fight had come their junior year, when Nathan had gone out with some of his teammates, much to Haley's shagrin, because he hadn't spent a lot of time with the younger freshmen and he didn't want to have a team rift because of the lack of bonding, especially since he was in charge of the team. They'd gone to a party just off campus, and although Nate had abstained from any contact with the numerous girls that came up and said hi to him, it still rubbed Haley the wrong way, especially when he came in drunk at 3 a.m. in the morning and had woken Jamie up.
"Nathan Scott, I swear to god take one more step towards me or Jamie and I will leave," Haley had snapped when he'd tried to come over and help Haley as she put their son back to sleep, he reeked of whiskey and she was not having it. That was the first time Haley had put his stuff on the couch, "You can't be irresponsible Nathan, you're a father. We have a baby." She had lectured him before turning to go sleep in their room alone. Nathan had passed out on the couch, and when he woke up the next morning he realized immediately that he had done something wrong.
"Hales," he knocked tentatively on the door,
"What?" She was sharp in her tone, but she opened the door a crack. He could tell she had been crying and she looked up at him with her big brown eyes,
"I suck, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone out last night or gotten drunk and I should've called you when I knew I was going to be late." He apologized and she sighed, opening the door further,
"I love you Nathan, and I know that you're twenty-one years old and you deserve to be a college kid, but I'm a mom 24/7. I don't get a break. When you go to away games you get to be someone else, when you go to practice or out with your friends you don't have to be Jamie's dad, but I always have to be Jamie's mom." She said softly, and he looked at her inquisitively,
"Listen to me Haley. I never,never, pretend to be anyone other than your husband and Jamie's dad. You two are the most important people in my entire life, and I never want to be anything but your husband and a father to however many amazing kids we have. I don't ever forget about either of you, I promise." Nathan told her and she started to cry, happy tears, as she pulled her husband in close.
Back in the Scott Household, present day:
"I mean I'm not going to lie to you Davis, it was really really hard. But for me, for Haley and I, basketball and her education were almost as important as our relationship. We knew that we needed to do college, even with Jamie." Nathan told Davis, who nodded slowly,
"But how did you ask Haley to come with you to Maryland without ruining her dreams? And how did you afford it?" Davis asked, as he watched his uncle of sorts start to assemble the crib,
"Haley and I decided we were going to go together and that where we went wasn't as important as us being together, but she really was my biggest cheerleader at Maryland. And as for money, it was tight but we were both on full rides, so we got stipends for rent and food and Haley worked part-time and I coached camps and gave lessons during my off days to cover the other stuff," Nathan explained to Davis who again shook his head along and rubbed his temple,
"I just don't think Anna would want to come with me I guess," Davis' voice dropped off, "I guess I have to tell her don't I?"
"This is a decision you two should make together, with your family's best interest in mind," Nathan repeated almost verbatim what he had said during his press conference his junior year.