Author's note: Hey guys. Sorry if the update was late, this chapter's a little longer than usual and I also took Friday off so I could celebrate my birthday. :) Anyway, I think this is a chapter where you need to really think about the context. I kinda mentioned some stuff that is important later on that you have to figure out. Anyway, chapter 11 is a Clinn chapter, chapter 12 is a Brooke chapter(Yes, just Brooke... although she is with someone in that chapter- it's gonna be short) and then chapter 13 will be the coda. :) Then it's on to episode 2! I'm so glad I got this far in the story and I'm glad so many people are enjoying it. You guys make me proud to write this. I love the support; keep it up! Enjoy and review!
Haley knocked on her front door a few times with her elbow. "I can't get in!" She yelled, hoping Nathan could hear her and would open the door. She had a large bag of baby supplies in one hand and, in the other hand was Jude sleeping in his car seat. Nathan opened the door and was startled to find Haley with a baby.
"Did you stop by the orphanage on your way home?" Nathan joked.
"Very funny." She said, walking inside. "No, Brooke and Julian are at the hospital with Davis and I figured I'd take care of Jude for them."
"Is everything okay?"
"Uh... they don't know yet. But... we're hoping so." Haley set the bag down on the couch and walked into the kitchen with Jude. She, gently, took Jude out of his car seat and set it on the ground. "Hey, Jude-bug... Hi..." She said, in her baby voice, placing Jude on her knee as she sat down. "Hi baby... Hi." Nathan chuckled at the scene. "What?" She asked, noticing Nathan was amused by something.
"Nothing it's just... I don't know, I like seeing you like this. You know, when you were like this with Jamie... feels like another life ago." He smiled.
"Yeah, it was, wasn't it? Speaking of which, where is Jamie?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Upstairs. Why?"
"I wanted him to come see Jude."
"Why?"
"Oh, just get him." She laughed. Nathan went upstairs to bring Jamie into the living room. Haley craddled Jude closely and watched him as he started to fall asleep. Just before he closed his eyes all the way, he started to fuss. "Oh, it's okay, Jude-bug. It's okay." Haley got up and walked into the kitchen with Jude to look for a bottle. "Do you think you can eat from a bottle today?" She asked, thinking for a slight moment she was going to get a worded answer out of him. She got the bottle and got the formula ready and started walking out of the kitchen. Just as Haley was going back to the living room with Jude, Lydia came bounding down the stairs.
"Baba, baba!" She babbled, as she hopped down the stairs. "Baba!" She yelled, when she caught sight of Haley. Lydia couldn't quite say 'Mama'. She could never get the 'M' to sound just right. Any time she said 'Baba', she was talking to Haley. When she was asking for a bottle, on the other hand, she would yell 'Bababa', just so everyone could understand her.
"Lydia, how did you get down here all by yourself?" She giggled.
"She didn't." Nathan said, coming down the stairs, following behind Jamie who was walking at a quick speed. Nathan walked up to Haley and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
"Aunt Brooke really left us the baby?" Jamie asked, eagerly.
"Well, she didn't leave us the baby." She said, amused. "I'm just taking care of him for a while."
"How come?" Haley sat on the couch and patted on the cushion to let Jamie know to sit next to her.
"Uh... Jame... Aunt Brooke and Julian are at the hospital with Davis right now."
"Is Davis okay?" He asked, a little afraid.
"Well, you know about as much as Brooke and Julian do." Haley frowned. "But, he's really sick, so your Aunt Brooke wanted me to watch after Jude so they didn't have anything else to worry about... I just wanted to let you know, okay?"
"Okay." He frowned. "Are you gonna feed the baby?"
"Yeah, but I don't think he's been bottle fed yet." Haley said, looking down at Jude, who was whimpering.
"I don't think it'll be a problem." Nathan retorted.
"Can I do it?" Jamie asked, excitedly.
"Sure, Jamie." Haley smiled. She handed Jude to Jamie very gingerly and made sure Jamie was supporting Jude in the right places. After Jamie was securely holding Jude in his arms, Haley handed Jamie the bottle. "You have to hold it up, so he doesn't choke, okay?" Jamie nodded and did as he was told. Jude responded to the bottle right away and drank just about the whole bottle. Haley took the bottle from Jamie and set it down on the table. "Wow, good job, buddy." Haley cheered, not addressing either Jamie or Jude. "Do you wanna burp him too?" She asked, smiling.
"Uh... no." Jamie said, handing Jude back over to Haley. Jamie bounced up off the couch and walked behind where Haley was sitting. "I like babies." He said, making Haley turn around.
"Yeah?" She smiled wide.
"Yeah... I mean, I like Lydia... and I like Jude." He smiled. "I hope it'll be like this when I have a baby of my own."
"Well, you can wait for that." Haley laughed.
"Yeah... a very long time." Nathan joked. Jamie smiled and started walking back upstairs.
"Hey, Mom?" Jamie asked, stopping halfway up the stairs. Haley turned around to look at Jamie. "Can you tell Aunt Brooke that I hope Davis gets better soon?"
"Sure thing, buddy." She smiled. Jamie smiled back and walked upstairs. Nathan sat down on the couch next to Haley.
"Want me to do it?" He asked, holding out his arms to take Jude.
"Sure." She smiled. Haley handed Jude to Nathan and gave him the burp cloth. "I feel really bad for Brooke." She said, changing the subject.
"Me too. Can't imagine what it's like for your child to be in a condition like this." He frowned, while patting Jude's back.
"God, she was so freaked out at the hospital... maybe I should call and see if they found out anything-" Haley said, picking up the phone.
"No, you're just gonna distract them. I'm sure they'll tell you when they know something." Nathan said, grabbing the phone from Haley.
"Yeah... yeah, you're right... You're right, I'm sure everything is fine." Haley said, lying back on the couch. Nathan looked over at Haley and smiled. Haley smiled back and let out a small sigh. Their moment was ended by the sound of knocking at the door. "Oh, I got it, Nathan." She said, getting up. She opened the front door and found Danny standing on their porch, holding his daughter, who smiled when she saw Haley.
"Hi." Danny smiled. "Nathan home?"
"Yeah." She smiled back. "Come in." Danny started walking in, but looked back, waiting for Carol. She rushed over to Danny from the other end of the driveway.
"Hey, sorry, I was adjusting the car seat." She smiled. She held out her hand to Haley. "Hi, I'm Carol. I'm Danny's girlfriend."
Haley accepted the gesture. "Haley. I'm... Nathan's wife." She laughed. Carol found that funny and laughed as well. Carol had Haley's sense of humor. They all walked inside and Haley closed the door behind them. Nathan got off the couch and greeted them.
"Hi, I'm Nathan." He said, offering a handshake to Carol.
"Carol." She said, shaking his hand.
"Right, Danny told me a lot about you." Nathan smiled and looked down at Amber. "This your daughter?"
"Yeah." Danny smiled, while looking down at her. He looked back up and saw Nathan holding Jude. "Did you have another baby, Nate?" He joked.
Nathan chuckled. "No, this is Brooke's son. We're just watching after him for a bit because they've got stuff going on."
"Oh." Danny said with a weird look on his face. Jude started kicking his feet and crying very loudly. This scared Amber and she clutched onto her dad tighter. Haley walked over and grabbed Jude from Nathan's grip.
"I got him, I got him." She chuckled. "Let me take him upstairs." Haley started walking upstairs.
"Do you mind if I come?" Carol asked. "They're just gonna talk about basketball anyway." She joked.
"Good point." Haley said. "Come on." Danny sat on the couch with Nathan as Carol and Haley went upstairs. They stopped by Jamie's room and Haley peered her head in. "You sure you still want kids, Jame?" She joked, about the baby crying. Jamie chuckled but shrugged it off. They went into Lydia's room which was still the nursery at the time. Lydia looked up from playing with her toys.
"Baby!" She squealed, excitedly. Carol laughed.
"She's adorable. What's her name?"
"Lydia."
"That's beautiful."
"Yeah... I named her after my mom... she passed away about two years ago." Haley frowned.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My mom did too... cancer." Haley was a little stunned.
"Same with my mom... it-it was pancreatic." She said, placing Jude down on the changing table.
"Oh... my mom had leukemia." The room got a little tense then. Haley changed the subject.
"Well, he doesn't need changing."
"Wh-what do you think he wants then?"
"Well, he probably wants his mom and his dad... and his brother." The light went on in Haley's head. "Of course."
"What?"
"He's a twin. He's never been away from his brother, he's probably... scared."
"Oh, I know what to do." Carol smiled. "May I?"
"Uh... sure." Haley said, handing Jude to Carol. She craddled him in her arms and started singing.
"Honey, I just can't get around it anymore." Haley couldn't believe it. This girl that she had just met was singing her song to Jude. She was so flattered. "You make me feel like home is where you are. Baby, I just can't run around it every morn'. It's time that I believe it- home is where you are."
Haley started singing along. "Notes in my drawers, songs in my pockets, fragments of letters that you sent, leftover phone calls, cologne in the bath, I still have that bottle of Rosé. Staring at your photograph, trying to take it down. There's still a stirring in my heart."
They both started singing this time. "And honey I just can't get around it anymore. You make me feel like home is where you are. And baby I just can't run around it every morn'. It's time that I believe it- home is where you are. I've never been to half of these places, but your postcard collection makes me crave a little space, a little ways out of the city to the grace of another land, another tongue, another time. Staring at your photograph, I can't take it down. There's still a fire in me, yeah. Honey I just can't get around it anymore. 'Cause you make me feel like home is where you are. And baby I just can't run around it every morn'. It's time that I believe it- home is where you are. Oh, Honey I just can't get around it anymore. You make me feel like home is where you are. And baby I just can't run around it every morn'. It's time that I believe it- home is where you are. Honey I just can't. You better believe. Yeah, Yeah." Haley and Carol both started laughing. Jude had calmed down and he seemed to love their singing.
"Wow... you're a fan?" Haley asked.
"Huge." Carol laughed.
"Well, you are an excellent singer."
"Thanks... and hey, we got a fussy baby to stop crying." Carol joked.
"Have you ever thought of singing, you know, professionally?"
"Oh, of course but... you know, family... kinda gets in the way. A-and it's more important to me anyway." She smiled.
"Yeah, I understand." Haley smiled. She understood exactly what she meant by that because she was in that position not long ago.
"So... what's going on with his parents? How come they're not with this litle guy?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, they're, uh, they're at the hospital with Jude's brother."
"Everything okay?"
"I honestly don't know. I-I would be surprised if anybody knew anything at this point." They both found themselves in an awkward conversation. Luckily, the tension broke when they heard knocking downstairs. Carol and Haley went downstairs and found Nathan by the front door standing next to a strange looking man. The man stepped inside without invitation and started talking without looking at anyone.
"Well... you have... quite a lovely home." The man stated, while looking around.
"Thank you?" Haley said, while walking down the last few stairs. Nathan butted in.
"Who are you?" Nathan asked, in a sort of rude tone.
"Oh!" The man turned around and extended his hand to Nathan. "Peter Hampton." He smiled. Nathan didn't accept the handshake. "Right..." He lowered his hand. "You probably think I'm rude showing up uninvited when we had an arranged meeting."
"Yeah... we weren't going anyway." Nathan said, crossing his arms.
"Does anybody have a hammer?" Peter asked, while looking around. "I-I need something to tear down that wall that Nathan just put up." He chuckled after making his joke. "Sorry, I forget to tone down my jokes when I'm meeting with clients for the first time."
"Clients?" Haley asked, switching Jude from her left hip to her right.
"Yes... that's what I wanted to meet with you about, but I just remembered I can't make the meeting tomorrow." Peter said, while taking off his sunglasses.
"You could've called." Nathan said.
"Yes, well, I figured we'd do this now and get this over with." Peter opened his briefcase and pulled out a pile of papers. "I'm the creator and executive producer of a new reality tv show- 'Engaged and Underaged'. It's about couples that decided to get married and have a family at such a young age and it focuses on how they plan to live their lives or how they've been living their life. Now, of course, I couldn't resist wanting to get the two of you after hearing in the tabloids that you had a new baby. And, it was all over the tabloids, too. I mean, Nathan Scott- retired NBA superstar and Haley James Scott- Tree Hill music legend... reality tv GOLD!" He laughed.
"You want us to be on a tv show?" Haley asked, feeling a little excited.
"Yes." Peter smiled.
"No." Nathan answered.
"Nathan!" Haley exclaimed, a little upset that he would just make a decision right away without discussing it first.
"Oh, come on, Haley. Doesn't this all just seem a little ridiculous?" Nathan asked.
"Well, if you're gonna be cynical about it, then yeah, it probably is ridiculous." Haley said, taking the papers from Peter.
"Are you in or not?" Peter asked, while checking his watch. "I have somewhere to be."
"Well... we need to think about it... for a long time." Haley said, examining the papers.
"Okay..." Peter closed his suitcase and started walking out the door. "Call me when you make a decision... We'll go over al the details then. I can't meet with you until next week, though." He said, turning back around.
"Okay, well thank you." Haley said, practically shoving him out of the house. Peter walked out of the house and towards his car. She turned around to Nathan. "Well?"
"...We're gonna have to think about it." Nathan frowned.
Author's note: So yes, after all that time of wondering, that's what Peter wanted. Let me know if you think they should go through with it or not. I've got some pretty good stuff planned if they decide to go on board with it. I hope you enjoyed meeting Carol and learning a little bit about her... but there's still so much more going on with her and Danny than you could EVER imagine. It's really gonna shake up this story. Anyway, I'm gonna try to be quicker about the updates, because I want to get to episode 2. :) Thanks, and again... review.