Note: Thank you for the reviews. They always encourage me to keep writing and it's great to know people are still interested in Naley after so many years.

I'm going to try and make the timeline for this pregnancy as realistic as possible, but it will not match the show because they used two full seasons for each school year. I have had people mention Keith's death and yes, he is dead. Everything up to the end of season 3 is still the mostly the same and it will be dealt with eventually. However, Nathan didn't really know Keith very well until after where his memory cuts off so he doesn't think anything of his uncle not being around. This is a longer than normal chapter. ENJOY!

Ch 11

Haley woke up with a crick in her neck, her body exhausted from her battle to hug the side of the bed all night. She didn't want to make Nathan sleep by himself again, but she was determined not to wake up the way she did the day before with her body draped all over his. She and Nathan rarely slept on their own sides of the bed, usually ending up entwined with each other. Her body didn't understand on her insistence on staying on her side of the bed now when he was right there so close. Three times she had woken up during the night to use the bathroom and all three times she had found herself on his side of the bed touching him in some way. It was like an addiction that she frankly didn't want to free herself from.

She got out of bed and padded to the bathroom to take a shower. Her doctor's appointment was in a couple hours so she decided to start getting ready. After brushing her teeth and putting on a light layer of makeup, she exited the bathroom just as Nathan walked out of his bedroom, a fitted t-shirt and shorts hastily thrown on over his tall muscular frame.

"What are you doing?" Haley asked in surprise.

"Huh?" Nathan mumbled, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Going to the bathroom?"

"You aren't supposed to be putting pressure on your knee yet," she reminded him, noticing he was walking unaided. "I was there when the doctor told you."

"I'm fine Haley," he told her, flexing his knee to demonstrate, "the swelling is gone and I've been stretching it like they showed me. I tested it out a little last night and it's doing okay."

"You are going to overdo it and make it worse," she warned him in frustration. "I know you hate relying on other people but sometimes you need to learn to...

"I'm not going to try running or playing on it yet," he promised her, stopping her ramble. "I'm just using it to get around a little."

"You are so stubborn," she scolded him. "I know you think you are fine but..."

"Haley, I know you're worried about me," he interrupted again, pulling her into a light hug, "and I appreciate it. But this isn't the first injury I've had and I'm sure it won't be the last. You don't play competitive sports as long as I have without them. I'm just glad nothing is broken this time."

"You've broken bones before?" she asked, pulling back slightly in surprise, "you never told me that."

"I don't know why it would have come up in normal conversation, but I'm sure I would have told you eventually. The worst one was the summer before 8th grade when I shattered my elbow. I was shorter then and not very good at dunking yet, but I was determined to do it against the bigger kids I was playing against. I finally managed to put one down, but I got undercut and landed straight on my arm. That was probably the worst pain I've ever felt. It took forever to heal and then even longer to get my shot back. My dad was royally pissed because I had to miss this 3 on 3 tournament in Charlotte that he'd been talking about for weeks. I spent that entire summer rehabbing and running with him so I wouldn't get out of shape. It was miserable. "

Haley understood what he was saying and what he left out. Miserable was probably an understatement where Dan Scott was concerned. It still amazed her that Nathan had such a good heart being raised by that man.

"Just take it easy and promise you will be careful," she requested.

"I promise, and if there is any more swelling, I will ice it down again and stay off it."

She figured that was as good as she was going to get and gave in, walking past him and letting him into the bathroom.

She was straightening up when he came back into the bedroom. She picked up his black sweatshirt and hung it up on a hook, her mind cataloguing the many times she had borrowed it and worn it.

"So," Nathan said casually, walking back into the room, "I was listening to my music at the hospital and I came across one you sang..."

"Oh," she said, stopping what she was doing for a minute before continuing on. "You did?"

"I was wondering how that happened," he asked, "I mean not everyone has a professionally recorded song. Do you do it often?"

"Do what?" she asked, trying to deflect his questions.

"Singing? Recording?"

She kept her back to him, her thoughts racing on just how much she should tell him. She didn't like keeping stuff from him and she hated lying to him. It never ended well. Trust was such an important part of any relationship, but especially a marriage. She was dreading this conversation and now would be an especially bad time to start it with her having to leave soon. "No, not often," she answered, gathering herself to turn around. "Peyton was putting together a benefit album for breast cancer and needed another artist. I'd performed a few times and she asked me to do the album and concert. It was fun," she told him.

"The song was great," he told her, "you totally blew me away. Did you write it yourself?" She nodded her head in affirmation and he continued, "You could do that for a living Hales. Have you performed any more since then?"

"No," she told him honestly. "It was only a couple months ago and we've been really busy."

"I think you should go for it," he told her, "You have an amazing talent."

"Thanks," she said, feeling guilty. He didn't know how much she had hurt him in her attempt to do just that. She had loved touring and performing, but she wasn't willing to risk her marriage again to try it. Someday maybe they would find a way for her to try again, but for now she needed to get them off this topic of conversation before things went any further.

"I need to get going soon," she told him.

"Oh," he asked in surprise, he had hoped to spend some more time together. He wanted to get to know her better. It seemed like any time they started to have meaningful conversations she had to go somewhere or they were interrupted. Last night she'd claimed exhaustion and gone to bed really early. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm going out with your mom to have a girls day," she told him. "I'm enjoying getting to know her better. We have never really spent much time together."

"Oh," Nathan said. He was disappointed but knew it was a good thing that his mother and his wife were getting closer. "Could you drop me off at the school on the way? I want to talk to Coach."

"No," she said quickly, softening her tone before adding, "I mean, we won't be going near the school and I don't think we'd have time."

"Okay," he said, a little confused at her tone.

"I'm sorry," she apologized for snapping at him. "We just have a tight schedule."

She pulled at the fabric of her shirt. She wanted to just rewind this whole morning and get downstairs before he woke up. She felt like a yoyo, going back and forth between trying to be helpful and supportive but also trying to avoid talking about anything that could lead to stress for him. Unfortunately avoiding certain subjects was getting more and more difficult and she found herself starting to avoid him altogether. She knew he had to be getting annoyed with her behavior and things just kept getting more awkward between them. Dinner the previous night had been wonderful but as the conversation started to get more intense, she felt herself running from it and hiding herself away. She didn't want things to be this way but it was so difficult trying to find a middle ground.

"It's fine. I'll just wait until tomorrow or see if Cooper can take me," he told her dejectedly, leaving the room and heading downstairs.

She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was push him away. This version of Nathan, without all of his success and popularity, wasn't as self-confident as she was used to and she couldn't help but feel at least part of that was her fault. She wasn't sure how much longer they could continue to do this awkward back and forth dance before one of them snapped.


"Hey Coop," he said, entering the kitchen to the smell of omelets cooking. His uncle had always made great breakfasts. "Could you run me by the school in a little while?"

"I can, but your mom is going into town to get some work done at Tric. Why don't you ask her? It's only a couple blocks away."

"I thought she was having a girls day with Haley?" Nathan asked. "Haley said they weren't going anywhere near the school."

"Maybe I got my mornings confused," Cooper told him with a shrug, giving him a plate full of steaming hot food. "I'm not the best at listening when your mom starts going on about her plans. A girls day sounds good for them though. They could use it."

"Yeah," Nathan said uneasily. "I hope they have a good time."


"I feel so guilty about this Deb," Haley said as they drove toward the doctor's office. "I know we're trying to keep him from getting too upset, but I hate lying to him and I did again this morning."

"What happened?" Deb asked in concern. They had been trying to avoid that as much as possible. It was turning out to be even more difficult than they had imagined to find a balance between hiding things from him and telling him more than the doctors wanted him to know.

Haley explained their conversation from earlier. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to tell him things he's not ready for, but he's going to be upset that we hid things from him. Some of those things are going to be painful enough without adding the pain of being lied to."

"The doctors don't think we should tell him yet," Deb reminded her.

"I know what they said and I understand their concerns. I don't want to do anything that might set him back, but I can't lie to him anymore Deb. When we got back together we promised each other that we would always tell each other the truth, even when it wasn't what the other person wanted to hear. I can't go back on that now. He should be able to trust us," Haley argued.

"I'm concerned about his headaches and nightmares," Deb said. "I'm scared of letting him get overwhelmed. "

"I am too," Haley agreed with a sigh, "and I'll try to avoid it, but if he asks me again, I have to tell him the truth. I think we need to be as worried about his emotional well being as the physical."

They arrived at the doctor's office a few minutes later and got out. Haley hadn't been to this newly built facility before but the doctor was highly recommended. She was twisting her ring around her finger as they entered the well appointed office and looked around, seeing several other women in all different stages of their pregnancies. Most of them had their significant other with them and Haley once again felt a pang that Nathan wasn't there with her. This was something she had imagined they would be doing together. She filled out the necessary forms and waited to be called back.

A few minutes later her name was called and after taking care of the formalities with the nurses, they were taken to a room and Haley changed into a gown to wait to see the doctor.

"Hi, I'm Felicia Bryant. It's very nice to meet you Haley," the middle aged woman introduced herself with a brief smile when she entered the room a short time later. She had dark hair just starting to show hints of gray and a trim figure. "We have confirmed your pregnancy and I see you are only 17," the doctor said, looking up from her clipboard. "Have you thought about what you want to do? There are a few options at this point in the pregnancy, but the earlier you make your decision, the easier and better it is."

"I want to have this baby," Haley said as she looked at Deb and reached for her hand.

"Is this your mother?" Dr. Bryant asked, looking at Deb. She looked young to be a parent, but too old to be a likely friend.

"Deb Scott," she introduced herself. "I'm her mother in law."

The doctor looked puzzled for a moment and then looked back at her paperwork. "Oh, I didn't realize that you're married. I'm sorry I missed that. That's quite unusual at your age. Did you get married because of this pregnancy?"

Haley wasn't sure how to take the doctor's words. People had assumed she was pregnant when they first got married, now she was going to go through all of that again.

"No," Haley answered honestly. "We've been married over a year. "

"Will your husband be coming with you to future appointments?" she asked, wondering about the situation. She had encountered too many teenage pregnancies and even a few marriages as a result of those pregnancies but this was the first time she had a teenage mother who was already married before the pregnancy. "He needs to be on board with this. You will need his support."

"He will be here," Haley said. This wasn't what she expected from her first visit and she was taken aback.

"I'm sorry if I seem a little harsh," the doctor said, sighing deeply. "I've just seen a lot of girls who get in over their heads. Some of them think they have more help than they really do, others have great intentions but haven't really thought about the long term ramifications of taking care of a child full-time. Pregnancy is hard on your body and it's even harder on someone who changes their mind half way through it. I need you to be totally sure about what you want."

"I am sure," Haley said resolutely, "and I won't change my mind. I already love this baby and I am willing to do what it takes to make sure he or she gets the life they deserve. I have a wonderful husband to help me and we have a great support system. I won't say I'm not scared, but I have no doubts this is what I want."

"I'm so glad to hear it," the doctor smiled more broadly this time. "How have you been feeling?"

"I've had some nausea and thrown up several times. It hasn't been too bad though. I'm not sick every day and usually only in the mornings. If I get up and eat some toast right away I'm usually pretty good for the rest of the day."

"That's totally normal," the doctor said, "you'll also likely experience some additional fatigue, breast tenderness, and frequent urination. " Haley nodded, she'd already noticed all of those things. "Do you have any questions?"

Haley and Deb both shook their heads no.

"Based on the information you supplied we have a tentative due date of July 2. That puts you at 7 weeks 5 days. We will confirm or fine tune that date with the ultrasound in a little while. If you don't have any questions right now, let's do an exam and then we'll do a trans-vaginal ultrasound and get a look at this baby."

"Everything looks good," the doctor said a little while later as she finished the exam and took off her gloves. "This is Susan," she introduced an attractive young blonde woman who was walking into the room. "She's going to help you with the exciting part of this visit. I will look forward to seeing you again in 4 weeks. Congratulations Mrs. Scott."

Susan set up the equipment and before long, there was a fuzzy image on the screen, then it got a little clearer and she could see the tiny start of their baby. "Everything looks good," the woman said, pointing out the parts of the baby distinguishable at such an early date. "The due date looks right on. Let's see if we can hear the heartbeat."

A fast thump thump filled the room and tears filled Haley's eyes as she heard her baby's heart beating for the first time. "The heartbeat is at 150 beats per minute which is right on for this stage in development," the woman said, clicking on the keyboard a few more times, taking measurements and recording the data. She stood up when she was done and handed Haley a small black and white printout with Baby Scott at the top. "Congratulations Mrs. Scott"

"Wow," Deb said, looking at the picture as Haley got dressed. "It's so amazing. Hard to believe that Nathan was that small once."

They left the room and, after stopping to make an appointment for next time, they went back to the car. "Let's go get some lunch and then I'd like to buy you few maternity items. It might not be too long before you will start to need them."

"Hopefully not too soon. I certainly don't want Nathan to find out about this baby because I can't fit into my clothes. I want to tell him myself."

"You know, I didn't show until almost 5 months. Maybe you'll be the same way," Deb told her.

"That would be great," Haley said, "Look Deb, I know I'm going to need some things and I appreciate your offer, but I don't think we should go shopping yet. If someone were to see us it could start a whole flood of rumors that I would rather avoid. Besides, Brooke promised to make me some things. Hopefully I'll be able to tell Nathan soon and we won't have to worry about hiding it anymore."

They drove for a little while, Deb telling Haley some stories from when Nathan was young. Haley was laughing at some of his antics and couldn't help but ask, "Did you ever think of having another baby?"

"Absolutely," Deb said after a short pause, "I never intended for Nathan to be an only child. We were still so young when he was born, and then I found out about Lucas and things were tough for a while. We decided that we would wait before giving him a brother or sister. Once we felt ready, we tried for a few years but no with no success. I wanted to see about getting tested for infertility, but before we even made an appointment, I developed some severe problems that led to me having a hysterectomy when Nathan was in 2nd grade."

"I was devastated because I wanted more children," she admitted, "but even more so because while I was incapacitated Dan took advantage of the opportunity to really start to pull Nathan further away from me. He's my only son Haley, the only one I could ever have, and sometimes it felt like he was a stranger to me. He doesn't even have his memory and yet this is the closest we have been in years."

"You never lost him Deb. He wants to have a relationship with you. That may be one of the few blessings to come from this," Haley said, "you are getting your chance to be the kind of mother you wanted to be."

Deb smiled gratefully. She had been so upset at what she felt was Haley taking Nathan away from her that she was just starting to realize that she didn't lose her son, she had gained a daughter. "How about we go for milkshakes?" she said, trying to lighten the mood. "I think we deserve triple chocolate with lots of whipped cream."


Nathan decided he would wait and visit his coach another day. It would be a lot of walking on his knee and he knew if Haley found out he'd pushed himself that far she'd be pissed. Instead, he decided to start a basketball marathon with the huge stacks of tapes he'd found in the den.

It was several hours later when he was back up looking for something to eat for dinner that his mom and Haley came in the door, looking happy and relaxed. When Haley told Deb what she had given Nathan as an excuse to get away, her mother in law decided that was a great idea and they had spent the entire afternoon at a spa in Wilmington.

"We brought Chinese," Deb announced she walked in the door holding two large bags aloft. Nathan walked over and took one of the bags from her, setting it on the counter and starting to empty it.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"I loved the spa," Haley said, "it was so relaxing. Thanks so much Deb."

"I enjoyed myself too," Deb responded. "And now to pig out on more bad for us food. I am going to need to work out at least 2 extra hours tomorrow to make up for today."

Cooper came into the kitchen as they were dishing out plates, "I thought I smelled something good," he said, grabbing a plate for himself.

They sat around the island and ate, Haley and Deb doing most of the talking as they told about their spa and shopping adventures. Nathan listened, enjoying the women's newfound closeness. He and Cooper volunteered to do the clean up since the ladies provided the food. "Thanks," Haley said, giving Nathan and his uncle both kisses on their cheeks before heading for the stairs. "I have to go do a little studying. I start tutoring again tomorrow after school and need to make sure I have lessons prepared."

"It's good to see them so happy," Cooper told his nephew as she left, tossing the empty containers into the trash can. "It's been a long time since I've seen your mom look like that."

"Haley seems to have that effect on people," Nathan said as he turned on the water and started on the dishes. "I'm glad they had such a good time."

"Maybe it will help with some of the tension around here," Coop said, "I know it's been bothering you."

Nathan agreed, "It's the most relaxed I've seen either of them since I woke up."

"Now it's your turn," Cooper said. "You need to relax too. Get rid of some of your stress. Take your mind off all this memory garbage."

"What do you suggest?"

"Well, I used to go drive 200mph. That'll definitely clear your mind, but the last time I let you in one of my cars you crashed it."

"I crashed a race car?" Nathan asked in shock. "A real one?"

"Oh yeah, you totally trashed it. You're actually lucky you weren't hurt a lot worse than you were. It caught fire and everything. There's a scar on the left side of your abdomen as evidence," Cooper explained.

"Wow," Nathan said, "it's too bad I can't remember it, not the crash, but the driving. I bet it was a blast."

"That it was," Cooper told him. "So, since my way is out, we're going to have to do it your way."

"What's my way?" Nathan asked, "Basketball?"

"What else?" Cooper laughed. "You've been addicted to that game since you could walk."

"I can't play yet," Nathan reminded him. "Even if I felt up to it, I promised Haley to take it easy."

"So we watch," Coop said, "My Tar heels are playing your Blue Devils tonight. You up for watching your future team get crushed by my alma mater?"

"Ha," Nathan said, "we'll see about that."


"Good to see you Nathan," Coach Durham said as he welcomed his star player into his office. "I didn't expect to see you today."

"Because I wasn't supposed to be walking yet?" Nathan asked sheepishly. "I almost came a couple days ago but figured it might still be a little early to walk all the way across campus."

"I knew you wouldn't abide by their time table. I've known you for too long to believe that. I'm actually surprised you had enough sense to wait til now, you've always been stubborn," he teased. "Physical recovery aside, I didn't think you'd want to be here at the school until you got at least some of your memories back. "

"I wanted to get out of the house and ask about the team a little more," he told his coach, "I've been wondering how things are coming with the playoffs starting soon."

"Well, we just added a new player," Whitey told him. "A friend of yours named Antwon. He isn't as good as you, but he'll certainly help give us a chance."

"Coach," a voice said, sticking their head into the doorway. "Oh, hey Nate," Lucas said, walking further into the room and greeting his brother. "I didn't expect to see you here. Did you walk?"

"My mom dropped me off," Nathan told him, "but I walked the rest of the way. The knee is actually feeling pretty good. It's the shoulder that's going to take longer to heal."

"Yeah," Lucas commiserated, "I had a shoulder injury last year and it really sucked. The advice you gave me was to let it heal as much as you could and then keep shooting through the pain until it got easier."

"Sounds like me," Nathan laughed lightly. "That's what I did with my elbow."

"At least yours isn't your shooting arm," Lucas said, "That should help."

Nathan nodded. He knew that was true. "So it sounds like you're going to have to carry the team," he said, "I've watched a couple of our games from last year. You're a damn good shooter."

"Well, I don't know how much carrying I can do playing 15 minutes, but I'll do my best," Lucas laughed. It was strange to hear his brother compliment him so openly. Even after they got close basketball was always something they were competitive with each other about. He could see his brother was confused and continued. "I have a genetic heart condition called HCM. It is what caused Dan to have his heart attack. It can be extremely dangerous, so to mitigate the risks I'm only going to be playing 15 minutes a game from now on."

"If it's genetic then..." Nathan started, his mind going places it didn't want to. He wondered if this was one of the things Haley was hiding from him.

"No," Lucas said quickly, watching Nathan's facial expressions. Nathan wasn't usually so easy to read. With most people he was actually pretty closed off. It was another reminder that no matter how normal Nathan seemed at times, he wasn't back to himself yet. "No you don't have it. You've been tested and it was negative."

Nathan nodded his head in acceptance, grateful for the answer to his unspoken question.

"So why are you really here Nathan?" Coach Durham asked. "I know you're interested in the team, but you turned down my offer to come to practice and came during the day instead. Do you need something son? Or did you come today because your little wife is here and you wanted a chance to see her?"

Nathan paused for a minute, surprised the coach had read him so easily. He didn't want to sound like a baby, but he was frustrated enough that he needed to talk to someone. The two men in the room with him had been open and honest with him so far. "Do you know when you walk into a room and everyone stops talking?" The men nodded, both their faces showing confusion at the topic of conversation. "Since the accident that's what I feel like all the time. I feel like I'm on the outside of my own life looking in."

Lucas looked at the coach who gestured at him to be the one to step in and try to help his brother. "Nobody wants you to feel that way Nate," he started. "The doctors don't think you should be told everything yet. They want us to wait and see what you are able to remember on your own and they don't want you to be stressed. Your mom and Haley are both trying to do what's best for your recovery."

"By making me feel like an idiot?" Nathan complained, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees. "I don't have all my memories, but I'm not stupid. I can tell when people are avoiding things or hedging the truth. I still notice when people change the subject as soon as I walk in or stop talking all together. Don't you think that worrying about what is being hidden is hard on me? Imagining what could be so bad that I can't know about it?"

"I know I probably sound whiney," Nathan sighed in frustration, "and I know that everyone is trying to do what is best for me. I guess it just feel like I should have some say in what that is."

"I think you need to tell them how you feel," Lucas reasoned. "They wouldn't want you to be upset like this."

"I don't know what's worse, the keeping secrets, or the avoiding me to keep them. I can't even seem to catch them long enough to ask them a question much less to have this kind of conversation." Nathan told them.

"I'm sure you are just imagining things Nate. They aren't actually avoiding you, they are just busy," Lucas laughed.

"Oh really?" Nathan challenged him. "Three nights in a row Haley went to bed before 9, without telling me, and she sleeps so far to the edge of the bed that I keep expecting her to fall off. We live in the same house, we are sort of sharing a room, and I barely see her. She's already informed me that she is totally booked for every hour of the weekend and to not wait up for her," he told his brother who was starting to cringe. "My mother has started working until all hours so I'm already in bed when she gets home too. Still think I'm imagining it?"

"Haley is really busy with coming back to school and everything," Lucas tried, knowing it sounded weak, but wanting to defend his best friend.

"She wasn't even supposed to come back to school until Monday, then all of a sudden she changed her mind and threw herself right back into it all at once. She purposely made herself this busy."

Lucas started to break in but Nathan stopped him. "Let me ask you a question Lucas. I'm sure she has been really busy before, but when was the last time she was so busy she couldn't find a 10 minute window for me?" Nathan asked. Lucas didn't have anything to say in response.

"Everything seemed to be going well at our dinner the other night, but I don't know if I said something wrong or did something..." Nathan continued, his tone defeated. "I feel like I'm letting her down, like I'm losing her. I'm afraid that she is avoiding me because she doesn't want to upset me by telling me what's wrong. How am I supposed to fix it if she won't even talk to me?"

"I don't know little brother," Lucas said, giving Nathan a quick hug, "but I'll try to talk to her. Just don't let yourself worry about this too much okay? Haley loves you more than anything and whatever this is that's going on with her doesn't change that."