Little Moments

Chapter 10: Flat on the Floor

Disclaimer: I seriously wish I owned a little piece of OTH, but I don't, and it's a little depressing.

A/N: Hey guys, so I feel like it has been another long stretch since updating. Sorry bout that, I've had a hell week with all my classes. Actually I should be doing psychology, I've got an exam tomorrow, oh well, (I like to procrastinate with that class in particular) but I had a minute of free time that turned into a bunch more minutes. Becky this one is for you. Hope this makes your week a little bit better. So the rest of you can thank her for pushing me to write this new chapter. Enjoy.

OTHOTH

Nathan walked in the front door and called out for his wife, "Hales, Haley? Haley come here." He shut the door and turned to find her walking out of the kitchen.

"Hey. What is it, you sound so excited?" Haley hesitantly moved toward Nathan who was beaming.

"Well I have something I want to show you." He took her hand in his and headed for the front door. "Close your eyes."

Haley reluctantly closed her eyes knowing that Nathan had something up his sleeve. 'Close your eyes' was man code for 'Honey, I just bought something really expensive but I want you to be surprised.' He led her out the door and she took a deep breath.

"Okay, so I thought this would be fun for all of us and I uh, well." Nathan was too excited to really get his point across, "Um, just, just open them."

There in the middle of the driveway was a enormous boat. Not some little canoe or a john boat with a trolling motor, but a giant white, 28 ft monster. Bright and shiny straight from the marina, Haley could hardly concentrate on the big white blob sitting on a trailer behind Nathan's Range Rover.

"Isn't it great. I mean we can take it to the beach and use it to fish or just ride around. I passed it coming back from Clay's house and couldn't resist. Look Hales the dealer threw in a captains hat as a bonus." Nathan put it on and even though he was acting like a giddy school boy on Christmas morning, he did look extremely attractive with the captain's hat on. But aside from his good looks Haley was fuming. He had gone out and bought a boat, not to mention a boat that looked like it probably put a dent in their bank account. Nathan turned to look back at Haley and raised his brow, "So what do you think, great right?"

Haley was still standing a few feet away from the door and had yet to move. Her feet were frozen in place and words unable to escape her mouth. Instead of answering his question she narrowed her eyes and turned back to the house. With a loud thud she slammed the door behind her leaving Nathan alone in the driveway.

OTHOTH

Charlotte was up in her room doing her Algebra homework when she heard the front door slam. Curious as to what was going on she took a look outside and noticed the massive boat.

"Oh man this can't be good." She walked back towards her bed. As she reached for her cell phone she could here her mom and dad arguing downstairs. Dialing the one person who would get a kick out of this she pressed call.

"Hello?" Jamie's voice echoed through the phone and Charlotte was thankful he picked up. He was currently at UNC, and had just started the fall semester of his senior year.

"You'll never guess what Dad got." She was trying to whisper in case her parents could hear. Without letting Jamie try to guess she went on, "A boat. Like as in a huge, big, ginormous, boat."

"Why he do that?" Jamie questioned his little sister.

"I have know idea, I bet that's what Mom wants to know. They are arguing about it right now." Charlotte stepped toward her door and listened to the heated conversation downstairs.

"Well I'm sure she will get over it. Mom always finds a way to forgive Dad."

Nodding her head in agreement Charlotte sighed, "Yeah, but I wouldn't be surprised if he sleeps on the couch tonight." It was getting harder and harder for her to concentrate on her conversation with her brother while simultaneously trying to listen to her parents. "Well I'll call back later with all the gory details." They both laughed at her last statement. Charlotte threw her phone on her bed and ran back to the door to try and get a better idea about what was going on.

OTHOTH

Haley was furious. Not only did he not tell her that he was going to buy the boat, but it wasn't a cheap investment either. She had always been money conscious. It started back in her high school days when she worked at the Cafe. To Haley money wasn't something you just spent blindly, someone worked hard for it so it should be used wisely.

After she left Nathan outside she went into the living room and began to pace. Nathan walked through the front door and looked dumbfounded.

"Haley, it's just a boat. I thought it would be fun for us and the kids. Jamie likes to fish and I think Charlotte will like it too."

"Don't play the kids card on me Nathan." She cut her eyes toward him and shook her head, "Why didn't you say something to me."

"I uh, I don't know, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. And I never thought you would react like this." He looked hurt that she was more upset than excited about his newest buy.

"Nathan, you don't even know how to drive a boat. Do you even have your vessel liscense?" She knew that he didn't but asked anyway.

"No but the sales guy said the test was really easy and I mean I'm married to my tutor so..." He thought it was a sweet comment. That's how they first got together anyways, but Haley took it the other way.

"Nathan that was in high school and college. I don't know anything about boats. Did you really expect me to teach you the rules of the water? You know just as much as I do. So you can take you little boater's manual and read it yourself. You can do that right, read?" That last part came out a bit harsh but she was livid.

Nathan didn't have anything else to say. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down. He knew that he was in the wrong but never in a million years did he think she would ever get this upset.

Haley looked back to Nathan and crossed her arms, "How much did it cost anyway? Ten thousand dollars?"Nathan looked up and winced. She saw and gasped, "Nathan! What like twenty-twenty five thousand?" Again he said nothing and Haley couldn't believe it. "Okay really, how much was it?"

As quickly as he could Nathan managed to jumble up all the numbers, "Eightyninethousand, sevenhundredsixtytwo dollars." He looked back to Haley who as pale as a ghost

"You just spent ninety thousand dollars on a boat! Nathan that's Charlotte's college fund, the rest of Jamie's. What were you thinking." She put her hand on forehead and breathed deeply.

"Hales, it's not that much. Jamie's almost done with school and we have plenty of money to put Charlotte through school." He walked toward Haley and reached out for her. He was right. They had more than enough money to finish paying for Jamie's education and Charlotte's too.

$90,000 was essentially pocket money to them but that was not the point of the argument.

Haley backed away from Nathan, "I know I know, but did you not think it would be important to at least let me know." Nathan was beginning to say something when she interrupted. "You should have told me." Haley walked to the kitchen and Nathan could hear her open the refrigerator and some cabinets, she was going to keep herself preoccupied making dinner.

Nathan felt awful. He figured that she would be surprised and excited about the boat. After all it was for the family. It wasn't like he went out and bought a motorcycle only he could use, this was something everyone could enjoy. But now instead of bringing people happiness it did the opposite. Nathan headed for the door and drove away.

OTHOTH

Haley had whipped up dinner in a short 30 minutes and was setting the table when Charlotte came down.

"Mmm smells good." Charlotte helped her mom finish with the table and poured everyone's water. Haley kept pretty quiet but Charlotte couldn't help but ask, "So I uh noticed the boat in the driveway, what's that all about?"

Haley didn't even look up when she answered, "You're father." That's all she said. 'You'r father', like she was supposed to know the whole story from those two little words. Charlotte could tell that it was a sore subject and decided not to pry open the still fresh wounds. As the mother and daughter duo finished preparing dinner they heard Nathan walk in. Haley rolled her eyes not yet wanting to see her imbecile of a husband.

"Hey Dad". Charlotte walked over to her dad and hugged him. She saw that he was carrying something.

"Hey." He sounded a little defeated in his reply. Nathan leaned over to his teenage daughter and whispered in her ear, "Hey uh, let me talk to you mom for a sec, then we'll call you in to eat alright." Charlotte understood and left the room, but stayed close so she could hear what they were saying.

Nathan walked over to Haley who stood in front of the stove and handed her what was in his hands. "I didn't know what else to do, and I know you love these."

Haley took the purple flowers and sighed. "Nathan it's not that simple. You can't just buy me flowers when you screw up."

"I know, but...." He didn't get to finish because Haley interrupted.

"Dinner's gonna get cold, we better eat."

The family of three ate in silence for the majority of dinner. Charlotte tried to do everything she could think of to try and stir up conversation but nothing was working. Nathan offered to do the dishes but Haley said she'd do them. He was trying his hardest to show her that he was sorry but she just wasn't having it.

OTHOTH

After dinner Charlotte went straight back up to her room and dialed her brother again.

"Oh my gosh, Jamie, it's bad. Mom's super pissed." Charlotte flopped down on her bed and began to tell Jamie about her relatively quiet dinner. "Dad even got her flowers."

"Are they...?"

"Yeah, they're purple." Charlotte interrupted Jamie, it seemed to be trait she had inherited from her mom

"I am sure they will talk some more tonight and figure everything out. They always do." Jamie tried to give his little sister some assurance that even though she may seem mad, their mom would find a way to get over it.

"You should have seen us at dinner though, it was like someone pressed a mute button on everyone. Well except for me, I tried to get them to talk but it was like they weren't even listening to me." Charlotte's voice reeked of concern.

"Well it's a big deal. How big is the boat?"

"I don't know, big. It looks ridiculously huge compared to Dad's car... so yeah, it's big."

"Boats are expensive, it was probably close to one hundred thousand so that's probably why Mom's so upset."

"Holy shi...crap." Charlotte tired to correct her word usage. Not that she was speaking to an adult who would get mad at her but she didn't want her big brother to fuss at her for her language. "That's a lot of money."

"Uh-huh, but Mom will sleep on it and then everything will be fine tomorrow, I promise." Jamie had seen first hand their parents fight when it was at it's worst. He was four when Haley threatened his dad with a divorce but ever since they haven't ever come close to that. He knew that they would always get over whatever was standing in their way. "I've got to go, but don't worry okay, everything will be fine."

Charlotte hung up phone wondering if Jamie was right. Would their mom wake up the next morning and be perfectly okay with the big white vessel sitting in their driveway?

OTHOTH

Haley was putting on her pajamas when Nathan emerged from the bathroom. He had already changed and reached for his pillow from the bed but Haley got to it first.

"Don't even think about sleeping in one of the guest rooms, or even the couch, you can take the floor." She threw his pillow on the floor and looked back at him. Nathan didn't say anything back, he was accepting his punishment hoping that the hardwood wouldn't be too bad on his back.

Once he got on the floor he suddenly the room went dark. Haley had thrown a blanket his way and it landed perfectly on top of his face covering everything. He made a makeshift mattress out of it and closed his eyes. Haley turned out the lights and he could hear her shifting in the bed. This was going to be one long night.

OTHOTH

Haley woke up and instinctively reached over to Nathan's side of the bed. When she felt the cool sheets beneath her fingers and remembered that he was on the floor. She maneuvered to his side and looked down at the ground. There he was fast asleep on the hardwood floor. She watched him sleep and decided to do something.

Nathan felt a warm body next to him and opened his eyes. "Haley?"

She propped herself up on his chest and looked into his eyes, "Hi."

"What are you doing?" His arm slid up her back and he held on to her waist.

"Nathan I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have overreacted." Haley buried her face in his chest and shook her head.

"No it's my fault. I don't know what I was thinking. Actually I wasn't. I'm the one who's sorry. I should have told you from the start." He rubbed her sides soothingly and held her close. "Do you remember that fight we had after we got married when I bought you that keyboard?" She nodded "I knew then that we would have to do things together, and I know that now too, but I think I just got carried away with the sales guy and somehow ended up buying the thing. I'll take it back."

"No Nathan don't do that." Haley ran her hand over his cheek. "Keep it, you bought with you're money. You shouldn't have to ask my permission to buy something you've earned."

"We've earned, something we've earned. And yeah I do Hales. We are a family and I don't ever want to not include you in anything." He placed a quick kiss on the top of her head and she melted in his grip.

"I'll help you study for your boaters test too if you still want me too."

"Of course I do. I wouldn't go to anyone else." He squeezed her tight and smiled, "Besides, I saw that look in your eye when you saw me in the captains hat."

"Nathan!" She playfully smacked him on the shoulder

"I'm just saying.... That boat might be something you might actually enjoy a lot more than you thought."

Haley could see him smirking even in the darkness of their bedroom. Even though Nathan had gone and gotten a boat without her knowledge he said everything she needed to hear lying on the hard floor. He had even offered to take the boat back but the more Haley thought about it, the more she liked the idea of being on the open seas with her husband.

Haley started to get up when Nathan questioned her, "Hey where are you going?"

Tugging on his shirt and pulling him up with her she replied, "Come on, we're getting off this floor."

"I was hoping you would say that."

So it seemed Jamie was right. Haley had forgiven Nathan. And they both fell asleep fast and peacefully in each others arms in the comfort of their own bed.

OTHOTH

A/N: Sorry it was kinda short, normally I try to make them a little longer but I thought that was a good place to end it. So just a heads up, I have finals next week and will probably not be able to update as much as you guys would like. However with that being said, I am a review whore so your kind words will more than likely help me procrastinate and I might just write a new chapter in a few days. I won't promise anything, cause we know how well that turned out last time (blaming the Thanksgiving holiday) but still, the more reviews, the better for you guys. Like I said earlier, it's all thanks to Becky for this new update. I appreciate every single one of y'alls reviews and you never know, maybe the next chapter will go out to you. Thanks for reading guys. Have a great weekend!