The week following was hard. Unbearable even, as they waited to see any change in Jamie. All had not been forgiven, but the little boy's excitement at having his uncle back was a bit contagious, and everyone seemed to be getting past the fact that they were gone for so long.

"So, I'm going to have a cousin?"

"You sure are."

"How long?"

"We've got another few months to go, but the baby will be here soon enough." Lucas says, smiling at the boy before turning to his wife.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" he asks, still excited and curious about the idea.

Lucas looks to Peyton then, smiling also at his excitement, and frowning as Peyton seemed to be catching herself before saying, "We don't know yet. We're going to wait until the baby's born."

"Sweet!"

"Yeah." Lucas says, not convincing before turning his attention back to his nephew.

A few minutes later and Nathan was walking in the door to visit his son.

"How's he doing?" Nate asks his brother.

"He looks good today, but the doctors haven't come in and said anything yet."

"Okay, good to know."

"All right, well, we'll get out of your way then," he says, standing up quickly and moving to hug his nephew and say goodbye.

After Peyton did the same and they began walking out of the room, Nathan calls back out to them, "Hey, what are you guys doing tonight?"

Peyton and Lucas look at each other with the question and shake their heads, "Nothing."

"Why don't the two of you come over for dinner tonight?"

"Are you sure that's..."

"Haley was the one who suggested it, actually. Brooke and Sam are going to come too, so it will be just like old times."

Lucas smiles then, "We'll be there."

"Good."

That night arrived and it seemed to be nothing but nerves as the two of them prepared to go over to the Naley house for dinner with their family and Brooke.

Getting in the car, Peyton finally spoke of the obvious nervousness, "This is ridiculous, right?"

"Going over there?"

"No, the fact that we are about to have dinner with your brother and best friend and my in laws and your my best friend, and we are about to puke."

"That is pretty ridiculous..."

He started up the car after this, making the short trip to Nathan and Haley's house, and pulling in the driveway to just sit for a minute.

"So, how do we navigate this?" she asks finally, after they sat staring at the house.

"Well...it isn't like we haven't been seeing them almost every day, Peyton."

"Yeah, but Jamie has always been there to serve as a buffer. We didn't have to worry about saying anything, cause he said it all for us. Now there isn't a Jamie buffer, and it is just us."

"Well, Brooke's foster kid is going to be there, right? She'll be a good buffer."

"Yeah, she hates me just about as much as Brooke does."

He turns in the car, putting a hand on either side of her head and pulling her in for a kiss to calm her nerves.

"Peyton, it is going to be fine. We're going to be okay, and I think that this dinner is a step in the right direction for once since we got back."

"You're right..." she says, smiling, and then turning towards the back of the car as she sees Brooke pulling in behind them. "Here we go..."

As they get out of the car, Sam and Brooke do the same, mumbling their hellos as they walked up to the front door of the house.

"So that was the one you were in love with... huh... not really your type..." Sam says, under her breath, but loud enough for the three adults to hear.

"Sam!" Brooke says.

"What!? Just thinking out loud."

The adults meet eyes nervously and choose to then look at the ground until the door opens and Nathan welcomes them in.

Brooke obviously being a regular at their house automatically throws her purse and jacket down and makes her way to the kitchen to help Haley with whatever she needs, while Lucas, Peyton, and Sam stay back with Nathan who takes them into the family room to chat before dinner.

"So, did you guys hear any more from the doctor?" Lucas asks, hesitating, but knowing that it was a common ground for them to talk.

"No, they didn't have any results when we left for the night, but said that we'll know some things by tomorrow mornin."

"How's Haley doing?" Peyton then asks, starting to understand the idea of motherhood and not being able to comprehend what it must be like to be in such a position.

"Day by day is really all that we are doing. We don't want to get our hopes up, but at the same time that is all that we are trying to do."

"Jamie seems good though." Lucas adds.

"Yeah. He's the only one who doesn't know exactly what is going on. He was confused from the get go with all the tests and things that they were doing on him at the time."

–

While they were away...

–

"Jamie, come on buddy!" Haley calls out to her son.

"I don't get why I have to go to the hospital. I'm fine now."

"I know you are, but I also know that you haven't been feeling very well for a while. You know how you told me that you kept getting sleepy?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, we are just going to make sure that everything is okay with you. That's it."

"Okay." he says, shrugging his shoulders and pulling out his DS to play for the car ride and the waiting room.

When they arrived at the doctor's office it seemed like they waited forever before the bubbly nurse came out to get them. After listing all of his symptoms and the issues that were coming up the doctor asked just a few more questions.

"Is there any history of any illness in your family like diabetes or heart problems?"

"My husband's father and brother have HCM, but we had Jamie tested when he was a baby, and there weren't any problems that came up. Both sides of the family are pretty healthy aside from that."

"Okay. And what about any other changes that have happened recently? Have you moved to a new area or has Jamie switched schools?"

"His uncle moved away a few months ago... almost three actually." she says with a far off sound quality to her voice.

"Do you miss your uncle, Jamie?"

"Yeah, Uncle Lucas was awesome... but he and Aunt Peyton left."

"Okay, is there anything else?"

"Umm... his godmother was actually recently attacked and has been dealing with some severe depression. There have been a few incidents with that, but nothing that we felt needed attention. Jamie usually talks to us about something that is bothering him."

"All right then." he says, making a few notes and turning to Jamie. "What do you think, Jamie?"

"I don't know. I think I'm fine, but my mom says that we have to get checked out."

"Well, moms usually know the best for us. My mom still yells at me to do things like eat my vegetables and exercise."

"Really?"

"Yup. But she said that you've been really tired."

"I guess so."

"Is it hard to fall asleep?"

"No... I just want to do it all the time."

"Well, we are going to find out what is wrong with you then, little man. But to do that, we are going to need to take some blood from your arm."

"Why?"

"When we take the blood, we are going to put it through a whole bunch of different machines and they will be able to tell us if there is anything weird going on in that body of yours."

"Cool!"

"Yeah, it is pretty cool." the doctor says laughing.

"How long will it be until we get some results?" Haley asks, smiling down at Jamie and how at ease he seems with the situation.

"A couple days usually, but I'm sure that he's just coming down with something and his body just wants the extra rest to fight it."

"Okay."

A few days later, of course, the doctor called for more tests.

–

Present

–

"He's a pretty cool kid." Sam says smiling at Nathan.

"That he is."

Lucas and Peyton acknowledge the teen for the first time since they all sat down, "So, Sam, how is it living with Brooke?" Peyton asks.

"Good, actually. She feeds me, she talks to me, she doesn't let me get away with too much."

Peyton raises her eyebrows at this, recalling what Brooke was like as a teenager.

"I know... opposite of what she was like."

"Oh, honey, opposite of what all of us was like. Well, except for Lucas and Haley. They stood untarnished until me, Brooke, and Nathan came along."

"You weren't too bad, Peyton Scott, you just liked everyone to think you were." Lucas says, leaning in to kiss her on the forehead.

"Luke is right. I'm pretty sure that Brooke and I hold those trophies." Nathan says, laughing.

"What trophies?" Brooke says, coming into the family room to get everyone for dinner.

"They were just talking about the rowdy days of your little clique here."

Brooke blushes for a moment, recalling all the things that she wants to make sure that her foster daughter doesn't do.

"I told you once Samantha Walker, you are not going to end up like me..."

"The you that we all see right now is pretty amazing, B. Davis." Peyton says, in such a sincere way that has Brooke looking back at her with a smile.

The six of them sit down exchanging small talk about Lucas' second novel being published and the third one that he is currently working on and Nathan's basketball. They are all safe subjects until the youngest of the group asks an innocent question.

"So, Peyton, when is that kid popping out of there?" Sam asks.

"Sam..." Brooke says, as everyone stops to look at Haley for a moment.

"No... it's okay. I want to know too. When are you due, Peyton?" Haley says, dismissing everyone's concern.

"Just a few months, April 30th."

"Spring babies are nice... at least you don't have to spend the last months of your pregnancy really hot or anything like that."

"Yeah, it has been a blessing."

"What are you having?" she asks, seeming okay with the conversation.

Now it seems like all the attention in the room is on Peyton, as she yet again, hesitates with the question, before answering, "Oh, we didn't want to find out yet."

"I could understand wanting the surprise... We were going to wait with Elizabeth too, but Nathan insisted that it was going to be a girl and I insisted that it was going to be a boy... so we needed the bet solved."

"I think that day was the only day that I ever won anything against you...It was good news."

"Yeah..." Haley says, allowing herself to look back a moment.

–

While they were away...

–

"It is a girl." the tech said as she ran the doppler over Haley's stomach.

It was the first time that they allowed themselves to smile about everything. Jamie's treatments had been going pretty well, and she was into the second trimester of her pregnancy and feeling pretty good.

"I can't believe that I was right!" Nathan says, smiling down at his wife.

"You can't believe that you were right, I can't believe that you were right. I was sure that we were going to have another boy."

"Well, I win." Nathan says, leaning down to kiss his wife.

"Yeah, once in your life, you win."

Pictures were printed and Haley was left to get dressed and come out when she was ready, to set up her next appointment.

"We've got to call Brooke!" Haley says.

"No way! The second she hears that we're having a little girl, she is going to go crazy and have the kid's wardrobe planned through high school."

"Nathan, she has made a lot of progress the past few months, and I really think that this is going to give her something to look forward to.... please??"

"Fine, we can call her in the car on the way home."

"Do you think that Jamie's going to be excited to get a baby sister?"

"I think that he is just excited about being a big brother in general, no matter what the kid actually is."

"You're right."

Nearly the second they get into the car and seat belts are put on, Haley is whipping out her cell phone to call Brooke with the good news. However, as she goes to dial her friend, someone else dials in instead.

"Hello?"

Nathan listens to the one side of the conversation with intent, not knowing who she is talking to.

"This is she."

"Okay."

"What does that mean?"

"How can...?"

As he listens, he notices her voice growing more and more silent next to him, and chancing a glance in her direction sees the tears flowing down her cheeks. Pulling over, he turns his attention to her as she finishes the conversation.

"When do we need to start that?"

"Okay, tomorrow...that would be fine."

"Thank you." she says, ending the call and shutting her phone quietly.

She sits for a minute, staring out of the windshield, not really thinking about the fact that they have stopped and are sitting on the side of the road in Tree Hill.

"Haley?" Nathan says quietly, taking her hand in his.

"It's not working... they have to try something else. It's not working."

–

I'm soooooo sorry that I'm taking long getting updates to all of you. I know that this chapter was Naley heavy, so I apologize, but there are going to be some interesting Leyton scenes coming up. Remember that this is all about the drama. If you want no drama go read my One Year fic, cause that isn't drama, but plenty of fluff. My other stuff.... yeah... drama... I still loooooove when you read it though. I'm also trying to respond to people when they review, so I'm working on being better at that. So, review and keep reading. I'm already getting ideas for the next chapter for this fic, so I'm excited about it. I hope that you all enjoy!

Reviews are cool!!