A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese.


Chapter Twelve

Nathan was busy figuring out the next basketball plays when he heard the front door open. He looked up to see Lucas. They exchanged greetings as Lucas went to the refrigerator. He grabbed a bottle of water before he spoke. "So what is going on between Mrs. Davis and Haley? There is a rumor going around saying that Ms. James got arrested. What was that all about?" Nathan was quiet at first. "Come on, Nate. You promised to tell me the story after I completed my final exams."

Nathan hadn't been surprised that rumors had started up about Haley's arrest. To respect Haley's privacy, he refused to answer questions about it. He was relieved when he found out that Haley had caught a cold. That way, she didn't have to be hounded by her students or fellow coworkers. However, her sickness was so bad that it became the flu. So she had stayed home the entire week. He had taken care of the final exams that her students had to take. He also checked up on her every day.

"There isn't anything to tell," Nathan replied. "There was just a misunderstanding between Haley and Victoria." Lucas wasn't falling for that and he gave him a look. "Look, it's really none of our business. So I want you to respect Haley's privacy and leave her alone. That goes the same for Mrs. Davis and Brooke."

Lucas was persistent. "Why the hell would Victoria think that Haley kidnapped Brooke? Haley would never do that."

Nathan sighed. He knew that his brother wouldn't let this go until he found out the true story. "Brooke ran away from home and ended up at Haley's house. She made up this crazy story that her mother was abusing her." Lucas was suddenly suspicious. "And everyone knows that Brooke is a troublemaker. I'm surprised that you haven't caught her bad habits."

Lucas gave him a look. "I wouldn't want anything to ruin my chances to go to Duke."

Nathan turned to him surprised. "You want to go to Duke?" he asked. "I thought you wanted to get married after graduation."

Lucas sighed. "I thought that I did, but I then realized that I'm not ready to settle down and get married yet. I want to set a good example for my niece or nephew. And I know that college will help me out more in figuring out what I want to do with my life other than marrying Lindsey."

"How did Lindsey take it?" Nathan asked.

Lucas made a face. "I haven't exactly told her yet. I want to wait until after the holidays to break the news to her. I don't know how she is going to take it."

"Just break it to her gently," Nathan advised him. "I'm sure she will understand."

Lucas was doubtful. He wanted to get the subject off of him. So he changed the subject. "So how long will it be before your divorce from Rachel is final?"

Nathan couldn't help but smile at his brother's eagerness. "I'm afraid that won't happen for awhile. We have to go through that year separation thing first. Then I can file for divorce. I just hope that Rachel won't cause trouble until then."

Lucas was suddenly concerned. "She wouldn't dare hurt my niece or nephew." He then frowned. "By the way, when will we know that the baby is a boy or girl?" he asked. "Because I'm dying to know."

Nathan laughed. "We will get to find out next month. Then we can get started on that nursery." They then heard a knock on the door. Nathan went to answer it and found Haley standing there. They exchanged greetings as he let her in. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm so much better," Haley replied. Nathan could tell that she was. However, he also could see that she still wasn't herself. "I hate that I was out the entire week, but I just wasn't in the mood to go." She then told them the reason that she had walked over to the house. "Listen, I have a family emergency that I have to take care of. I was wondering if you two could keep an eye on the house and Jewel for me."

"Is everything ok?" Nathan asked her concerned. Haley couldn't speak for a moment. She tried to get her words out, but the tears started to fall. Nathan shushed her as he embraced her in a tight hug. He did his best to comfort her as she tried to calm down.

Haley finally managed to get her words out. "My dad's in the hospital. He had a heart attack. And the doctors aren't sure that he's going to make it. I need to go to Wilmington right away."

Nathan nodded understandingly. "I'll drive you there," he offered. Haley was about to protest when he didn't let her continue. "Haley, it's obvious that you can't drive in the state you're in." Haley knew that he was right. He then turned to his brother. "You can handle things for a few hours, right?"

Lucas nodded. "You can count on me."

Nathan knew that he could trust his brother. He grabbed his coat and car keys before he followed Haley outside to his car. Lucas was right behind them. "I'll be back in a few hours," he told his brother. Lucas waved good-bye as Nathan drove off.

On the ride over, Nathan noticed that Haley was quiet. He couldn't blame her. She had just heard the news about the possibility that she could lose her dad. It reminded him when he had heard the news about his own mother and stepfather. However, he didn't want to think about that. He wanted to think about his son or daughter that he was going to have in a few months.

He decided to try and get Haley's mind off the terrible news. "So what are your plans for the holidays?" he asked her. "Are you going to stay in Tree Hill again? Or have you decided to visit your family?"

Haley snapped out of her daydream and turned to him. With all of the drama going on, she hadn't thought much about it. "I was planning to stay in Tree Hill, but I'm now thinking about visiting my family." Nathan nodded understandingly. "What about you? Are you still going to let Rachel and her mother spend the holidays with you?"

Nathan sighed. "I don't know," he admitted. Even though he should spend the holidays with her, he didn't want to. He would prefer it if he didn't see Rachel again until the divorce proceedings. But he knew that couldn't happen since she was pregnant. He was willing to be there for Rachel's doctor appointments, but that was it.

"I know you two just separated, but you shouldn't let that spoil the holidays," Haley pointed out. Nathan knew that she had a point. "After all, she is having your baby. You two could at least be civil until the baby is born."

"It's not going to be that easy," Nathan replied. "Charlene is pissed off at me for kicking Rachel out of the house. She is insisting that we wait until after the baby is born to file for separation. She doesn't want us to cause a scandal. I told her that I wasn't going to wait that long."

"How did your dad take it?" Haley asked him.

"Well, he took it better than Charlene did. I can tell you that," Nathan replied. "He is more upset about you accusing Victoria of hurting Brooke."

Haley knew that Victoria would be brought up sooner or later. She hadn't heard anything from social services since her call. So she had no idea if Brooke had been removed out of the house or not; or if Victoria had been arrested for it. Of course, she wouldn't be surprised if Victoria had that news covered up somehow. That way, she would have all the bad publicity.

Haley wanted to argue with him. Instead, she gave him a look. "I thought you were supposed to be cheering me up, not making me feel worse."

Nathan realized that she was right. He was about to apologize when he realized that she was teasing him. He gave her a smile in return before he changed the subject again. "Why don't we listen to some Christmas music?" he suggested as he turned on the radio. "I'm sure that will cheer us up."

"Are you kidding? I love Christmas songs," Haley told him. She started singing along to "Twelve Days of Christmas". Nathan was enchanted as he heard her sing the words. Even though it wasn't a relaxing Christmas song, he heard her hit every note perfectly.

She then nudged Nathan to sing along. At first, he was hesitant to sing. It wasn't like he was tone deaf. He just didn't feel comfortable having Haley hear his singing voice. However, he could see that she really wanted him to join her in the sing along. So he decided to face his fears and sing with her. Even though he wasn't a good singer, he had fun doing the song with her.

Once the song was over, Nathan quickly turned the radio onto a different station. "Why did that song have to be so long?" he muttered, pretending to be annoyed.

However, Haley could see right through him. "You loved every minute of it." Nathan was about to respond when Haley didn't let him. "It's ok. I know that most people would rather listen to songs than sing them."

"That's because I'm not a good singer," Nathan replied. "Compared to you, I stink. Where did you learn to sing like that?"

Haley turned red. "According to my parents, I've always had a beautiful singing voice. My parents have a piano in their house. During Christmastime, we would always gather around it to sing Christmas songs together. And I would always have a solo to sing."

"Have you ever thought of becoming a professional singer?" Nathan asked her. "Because you're really good."

Haley laughed. "I may be really good, but I get stage fright. I don't mind singing in front of my family because I know them. Even though I have a big family, it's still a small crowd compared to concerts."

Nathan knew that she had a point. He didn't say anything more about it as they reached Wilmington. Haley then directed him to the correct hospital. He could see that Haley was now getting anxious. Nathan managed to find a parking space and barely turned off the engine when Haley started climbing out of the car.

Nathan tried to reassure her that her dad would be fine, but Haley didn't want to listen. Nathan tried a second time and Haley managed to calm down. She waited until Nathan was ready before walking into the hospital.

They went into the waiting room, where Quinn and who Nathan assumed to be Haley's mother were waiting. There were a few other people in the waiting room who Nathan knew had to be Haley's other siblings. He counted them silently in his head and noticed that one sibling was missing.

Haley ignored her siblings and immediately went over to her mother. She embraced her in a tight hug. Her mother couldn't help but notice Nathan. She gave him a warm smile. "Why, you must be Nathan Scott." Nathan nodded as they shook hands. "Haley has told me all about you. I'm Lydia, Haley's mother."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry it's not under better circumstances," Nathan replied.

"How's Dad?" Haley asked anxiously as Nathan and Quinn exchanged greetings. Quinn then introduced Nathan to the rest of the clan as Haley spoke with her mother. "Is he ok?"

Lydia James gave her daughter a small smile. "He's hanging in there," she gently replied as a doctor came into the room. They turned to him and waited anxiously to hear the news. "Is my husband ok?" she asked. There was more concern in her voice than worry.

The doctor nodded. Haley let out a relieved sigh. "Your husband has had a heart attack, but we have managed to get him stabilized. And we believe that he will make it. However, he will have to take it easy for awhile."

Haley was trying to listen to the doctor when she noticed a familiar person walking towards them, carrying a few drinks in each hand. However, she had to do a double take to make sure that it was the person she was seeing. Sure enough, it was him. She couldn't believe that he was here. She just stood there in shock as he approached them.

"Quinn, what is Julian doing here?" she hissed to her sister as Vivian told Julian the good news. Quinn shrugged. She didn't have a clue. Haley knew that the only way to get answers was to ask the source herself. She marched over to him and pulled him away from her brothers. She dragged him out of the waiting room and waited until they arrived outside to speak to him. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I'm here to support you and your family," Julian replied. Haley couldn't believe that he was playing games right now. She gave him a look. He knew perfectly well that was not what she meant. "Oh, you mean the reason why I'm in North Carolina? I'm here on business and I thought I would stop by and see some old friends." Haley still didn't believe him. She raised her eyebrows. He finally gave in. "Ok, I'm here to ask your parents on how to get you to take me back." Haley was about to protest when he went on. "I've missed you, Haley. I haven't been able to move on from our break-up because I keep thinking of you. I realized that you're right. I've been a real asshole to you lately. And I can't tell you how sorry I am. If you take me back, I promise that I will change my ways."

Haley stopped him from going any further. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she didn't want him back. She took a deep breath before she spoke again. "Julian, I'm sorry that you came all the way out here, but I'm not going to take you back. I don't believe that we are right for each other. We have so many different needs and wants that it would be impossible for us to stay together. I'm sorry. I'm hoping that we can still be friends." Julian didn't answer as they heard footsteps. She knew who it was without even turning around. She had a feeling that Nathan would come and check on her sooner or later.

"Haley, your family can go and visit your dad now," Nathan told her before he and Julian made eye contact. "Hi, I'm Nathan Scott. I work with Haley at the high school."

"I'm Julian Baker," Julian replied. There was an awkward silence before Julian spoke again. "Well, I'm sure you want to see your dad now. So I'm just going to go back to my hotel and relax for awhile." Haley was relieved to hear that he wasn't staying at her parents' house. She couldn't imagine how awkward it would be if he stayed there at the same time she was.

They quickly said good-bye before Nathan and Haley headed back inside. Once Haley saw that her father was doing well, her stress level went down. Nathan was then introduced and he soon started talking to Haley's parents about his life. Haley could see that her parents really liked him. In fact, they liked him so much that Lydia invited him, Dan and Lucas to Christmas Eve dinner. Nathan happily accepted for his father and brother.

"Thank you for rescuing me from Julian earlier," Haley told Nathan as they headed to Haley's parents' house for lunch. "I can't believe that he came all this way to ask me to take him back. Isn't that crazy?"

"I think it is just as crazy as Rachel asking me to forget about the abortion and just move on with our lives," Nathan replied.

Haley groaned in frustration. "It's probably good that I'm spending the holidays with my family. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Nathan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Whenever I feel stressed out, I go to Rachel and she always finds ways to make me feel better."

Haley knew exactly what he meant. "What are you going to do now that you're separated?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'll just have to find another way to relieve some of that stress." He then smiled to himself. "Of course, I'll soon be so busy with the baby to that I won't even have time to think about that."

Haley gave him a smile. "Well, I'll help you out in any way I can," she told him. "I don't know if I have told you this already, but I'm an expert on babies."

Nathan raised his eyebrows, pretending to be surprised. "Really? I never would have guessed that." There was a short pause before he spoke again. "I wasn't going to tell you this until later, but now I think is the perfect moment for it." Haley looked at him with curiosity. "If the baby turns out to be a boy, I want to name him after you." Haley looked at him confused. "I want his name to be James, in honor of my new neighbor, colleague and best friend."

Haley looked at him speechless. She never expected Nathan to do that. She looked at him skeptically as she spoke. "Nathan, I'm honored that you want to name your son after me. But are you sure you want to do this? According to the town, I'm not exactly the best role model right now. Even you said that you don't believe me about Victoria and Brooke."

Nathan knew that Haley had a point. "I know what I said. And I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so quickly. If I want to be a good role model to my son or daughter, I should learn to listen to both sides of the story first. Then I'll make my decision on who I believe is right."

"I would hope so," Haley replied. "Because it's not fair to me that you choose to side with Victoria or Rachel just because you have known them longer. You have to learn to trust me and believe me when an accusation is thrown my way or at someone else. Otherwise, I don't think that we can be friends."

Nathan let out a sigh. "You're right. We can't. So you do think that you can forgive me for jumping to conclusions?" he asked her. Haley didn't answer right away. She then nodded in agreement. The subject was then dropped.