Twenty-Five: Greatest Achievement
"I didn't know this many people lived in Tree Hill," Nathan marveled.
From where she stood beside him, Haley glanced up at her husband and offered an apologetic half-smile. "I'm sorry. I know this is last minute."
"It's Christmas Eve, and we're just now taking our son to get his picture taken with Santa Claus. Yep, that's about as last minute as you can get," he griped, shifting James to his other hip. He and Haley were at the local mall, standing at the tail end of a ridiculously long line of people who were waiting for a meet-and-greet with Father Christmas.
"Stop it," Haley pouted. "This is his first Christmas; it's a milestone, and we need something to remember it by. Besides, you're making me feel bad."
"I'm sorry." Nathan was quiet for a moment and then he blew out an exasperated breath. "We've just been in this stupid line for so long," he whined. "I'm hungry and I can't feel my feet."
"Oh gosh, Nathan," Haley rolled her eyes. "Give me the baby and go get something to eat." She took James from his father and murmured soothingly to him when he whimpered.
Nathan began to look sheepish. "Well, I can wait…."
"No. You turn into a big, grumpy bear when you're hungry, and I'm not in the mood to deal with grumpiness, so go feed yourself," Haley commanded.
"I do not turn into a bear," Nathan scowled. He was a little miffed.
"Yes, you do. Trust me," Haley assured him. "Do you have enough money?"
"Yeah," he snapped, still frowning. He did not turn into a bear!
Haley tilted her head and smiled, able to read his thoughts in his expression. "I love you, you big, grumpy bear," she giggled. She lifted her chin for a kiss.
Nathan grinned crookedly and bent to touch his lips to hers. "The big, grumpy bear loves you back," he chuckled.
Haley laughed exuberantly and quickly kissed him three more times.
"Do you want something?" Nathan asked, tucking a strand of silky hair behind her ear.
"I would love something, thank you," Haley nodded eagerly. She felt like her stomach was going to digest itself.
"Like what?" Nathan prodded.
"I don't care. Whatever you get," she shrugged.
"All right." Nathan softly kissed her temple and then bent to cover James' little face with lots of sloppy kisses; he made munching noises, like he was eating the baby up. James shrieked with amusement and smiled adoringly up at his father when Nathan stood straight again. Nathan laughed, too, before he turned and walked toward the nearby food court.
A short time later, Nathan rejoined his family. He handed Haley a McDonald's take-out bag.
She gawked at him and demanded, "What're you trying to do to me? We're supposed to be on a diet."
He flashed another lop-sided grin. "Take a break and treat yourself, it's the holidays. I don't think you need to be on a diet anyway."
"Oh no?" Haley was unconvinced.
"No," Nathan stepped closer to her and snaked his arms around her waist. Nuzzling his face against her cheek, he huskily murmured, "You're looking really good to me."
Haley slowly began to smile. "Are you just saying that because you already ate a cheeseburger and you don't want to get in trouble for it?"
"No, I'm saying it because it's true. You look amazing, Haley. And… it wasn't just a cheeseburger. It was a Big Mac," he admitted with an unrepentant smirk.
She smacked his chest and snickered. "Yeah, that's good food to be eating when you're right in the heart of basketball season."
"My coach never has to know, Haley," Nathan said with a grave expression. "We can just keep this between us. He never has to find out."
After a bit of staring and a long pause, Nathan and Haley both spit out quiet laughs.
"All right, I'll keep your secret," Haley promised. "But you have to do something for me."
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Nathan wondered with a smile. He hoped Haley was thinking a few of the same things he was.
"Take the baby so I can eat. I'm starving!" Haley passed James to Nathan and tore ravenously into the McDonald's bag.
Nathan blinked at James, who stared up at him with serious brown eyes. Holding the baby… wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind. Chuckling and sighing in the same breath, Nathan shifted the baby so that he was cradling him, the way he used to when James was just a newborn.
By the time Nathan and Haley reached the front of the line, it was well past baby James' bedtime, and he was very cranky. He did not want to sit on Santa's lap, and he let everyone know it by wailing at the top of his lungs.
"Nathan I don't want a picture of him crying like that," Haley fretted. "What can we do?"
"What if we get in the picture with him?" Nathan suggested. "Maybe he'll stop crying if you hold him."
Haley's expression went from one of despair to one of jubilation. "I love you! You're a genius!" she squealed. Going up on tip-toe, she took his face in her hands and kissed him.
James quieted down considerably when Haley settled on Santa's knee and took him in her arms, but he still continued to fuss. After a bit of shuffling, Nathan ended up on Santa's knee, with Haley in his lap and a completely content baby snuggled in the crook of his left arm. The Scott family was all smiles and the picture came out beautifully.
"We should get this framed." Nathan's quiet sentence broke the cozy silence that had settled over the tiny living room of the apartment. He was lounging on the couch, gazing at the Santa picture with smiling eyes. All of the lights were off, except for the little colored ones on the Christmas tree in the corner, and another small one over the stove.
Haley stood in the soft illumination of the kitchen light, wiping down the counter. She looked over to meet her husband's eyes and smiled. "It's so precious," she murmured. "I was amazed that he stopped crying altogether when you held him. It was the cutest thing. He wanted his daddy."
Nathan smiled too and his heart swelled in his chest. Placing the picture on the end table, he got wordlessly to his feet and wandered down the hallway, being careful to step softly. When he reached the nursery, he practically tip-toed through the door and stood by his son's crib, just watching him sleep and listening to him breathe.
"I love you, buddy," he whispered. He placed a giant but gentle hand on top of the baby's head and tucked the blanket around James' little body even more snugly.
Haley was curled up on the couch when he came back to the living room; her pretty eyes glittered in the near darkness.
"Is he okay?" she whispered.
"Yeah, he's fine. He's out cold." Nathan settled down at her side, sighing contentedly when she cuddled up to him and laid her head on his chest.
"What're you thinking about?" she asked placidly after a long moment.
"I'm thinking that I want to give you your present," he grinned.
"You got me a present?" Haley's eyes sparkled even more.
"It's more like you got yourself a present," Nathan said, retrieving a gift-wrapped box that he'd hidden in the drawer of the end table. "You're the only one bringing in any income."
"Stop it," she warned, frowning at him. "It's Christmas Eve; you're not allowed to be gloomy. You'll be bringing in plenty of income once you earn your degree, so there. Going to school is your job right now. Don't lose sight of your goal. Now give me my present." Nathan laughed when she snatched the gift right out of his hands.
"I know money's kind of… really tight," Nathan said, smiling as he watched Haley eagerly rip at the wrapping. "And I know that we agreed to spend what we could afford to spend on presents for James, but I had to get you something. It's just… it's not much." He sounded like he was cautioning her, lest she be disappointed.
"Ohhhh, Nathan!" Haley cooed. She giggled delightedly when she'd successfully managed to pull the lid off the box. A pair of the softest, most comfortable slippers and a bottle of her favorite body spray were tucked beneath a layer of red tissue paper. She lifted her chin to peck his cheek and immediately slid her feet into the slippers.
"Do you like 'em?" Nathan watched as she tested the slippers out by taking a stroll around the living room.
"My feet have never been so toasty." She shuffled back to the couch and plopped down beside him. Reaching into the box again, she picked up the perfume and sprayed some on the underside of her wrist. Then she held her arm out to him, inviting him to smell it.
Nathan obligingly sniffed her skin and gave an approving nod. "I like it. It's the right kind, isn't it, the kind you always get?"
"Oh yeah," Haley assured him, giving her wrist a sniff of her own. "I love this stuff."
"Okay, good. I couldn't remember what it was called when I was in the store, so the lady kept spraying all kinds of different stuff on these little paper-strip things for me to smell until we found the right one." Nathan chuckled at the memory.
"You went into the perfume shop all by yourself?" Haley was touched and very impressed.
"Yep," Nathan nodded proudly. "I wouldn't do it for anyone but you, Hales."
"When did you buy it?"
"This morning, when you took James to your parents' house to drop off the cookies you made," he admitted. "To be honest, I still kind of felt like I needed to do something to make up for the fight, so this is part Merry Christmas, and part I'm sorry."
"Your incredible wonderfulness never ceases to amaze me," she declared, stretching to kiss his lips. "However, the fight is over and done with. We've talked things through, we understand each other, and as far as I'm concerned, everything is forgiven; so, do me a favor, and don't talk about it anymore."
Nathan slowly began to smile. "Deal," he said.
"I would like you to talk to your dad, though," she requested. "When you feel like you're ready," she quickly added when he hung his head. "I think it's important."
Nathan blew out a long breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll think about it," he said at last.
"All right, moving on, then," Haley gathered up the empty box and shredded wrapping that had packaged her gift and headed into the kitchen to throw them away.
"Moving on to what?" Nathan asked, smiling at the scuffling noise Haley's new slippers made on the kitchen's linoleum floor.
"Your present," Haley revealed, pulling another festively-wrapped present from one of the kitchen cabinets with a sly little smirk. She returned to her cuddly position beside him on the couch and put the box in his lap.
"New headphones!" Nathan crowed when he discovered what was in the box.
"I remembered you told me that your old ones were broken, and then I thought how boring the plane rides and bus trips must be for you with no way to listen to your music, so that's why I got them," Haley explained. She felt like she had to explain so he wouldn't think her present was entirely ridiculous. "And I'm sorry there's nothing else, but…."
"No, hey," Nathan reached out to touch her cheek, and she stopped talking. "These are really nice, a lot nicer than my old ones, so thank you. They'll definitely make all the trips I have to take for basketball seem a lot shorter. You were right on with these, they're great."
"I bought them this morning, too," she revealed with a quiet laugh, "after I left Mom and Dad's."
Nathan joined in Haley's laughter. "Next year, let's try not to wait until the last minute to do everything," he suggested.
"I'm with you on that," Haley agreed. "Maybe next year we'll be able to splurge a little more on presents."
"I don't really care about presents," Nathan admitted, putting the headphones aside so he could wrap both of his arms around his wife. "You and James are all that matter to me."
Haley's breath caught in her throat and her eyes burned with sudden tears. "Wow. That was sweet," she laughed, blinking rapidly to keep from crying.
"I'm serious. You two are everything to me. I can't tell you how glad I am to have both of you in my life. I'm sorry for messing everything up all the time…."
"Hey, no more talking about that. We made a deal, you promised," Haley reminded him. She put a finger to his lips.
"Thanks for sticking with me, Haley," he smiled, kissing her fingertip. "I love you."
"The feeling's mutual," she smiled back at him. She leaned in for a kiss, but before their lips could touch, his watch beeped.
"Oh, sorry," Nathan hastily pushed a button to silence the noise. Then he grinned.
"What?" Haley giggled at his expression.
"It's midnight."
Haley's eyes danced as memories from the last Christmas she and Nathan spent together played over again in her mind.
"Merry Christmas, Nathan," she murmured after a quiet moment.
"Merry Christmas, Hales."
They kissed, and things quickly became heated.
"I'm not back on the pill yet," Haley whispered, gasping when Nathan's lips grazed a certain spot of skin on her neck that always gave her goose bumps. They were already stumbling down the hallway, tangled up in each other's arms.
"Okay," Nathan panted, kissing her mouth.
"No, Nathan, do you still have condoms?" She really hoped he did, because there was no way she could stop at this point; she wanted him.
"Uh-huh," he managed to breathlessly say. Haley helped him remove his shirt as they made their way into their bedroom.
"Merry Christmas, Sweet Baby James," Haley cooed with a smile the next morning. She was sitting beside the tree, holding her son in her lap.
"The first of many," Nathan spoke up from where he sat on the couch. He watched his family with tender warmth in his deep blue eyes. He had a camera in his hands and he lifted it up to snap a picture.
They spent the morning opening the baby's presents, which consisted of a small assortment of little clothes and toys.
In the evening, they made the short drive to Nathan's parents' place for a big dinner.
"Merry Christmas, kids!" Deb smiled, wrapping her arms around both of them as they came in out of the cold. "Look at this baby!" she exclaimed kissing baby James' chubby little cheeks. "You're just adorable, aren't you?" she asked, smiling all over again when Haley put James in her arms. "You're grandma's little angel, yes you are."
"Deb, the house looks beautiful," Haley spoke up, gazing around the impeccably decorated home with sparkling eyes, as she followed her husband and mother-in-law into the living room. A crowd of people was already congregated there.
Haley's parents, Jimmy and Lydia, converged on their daughter and her husband with hugs and kisses and handshakes. Peyton came up to them next to say hello. Jake was standing in front of a ten-foot tall tree that was draped with glittering lights and elegant ornaments. Jenny was on his hip, staring up at the star that gleamed from the tree's highest bough, so he sent them a smile and waved with his free hand.
"Dan!" Deb called down the hallway. "Stop messing around with that TV! The kids are here!"
Dan emerged from his den wearing a huge smile. He greeted the kids and then proceeded to gush over his grandson.
"Still haven't got that TV working, Dan?" Jimmy asked innocently.
"I'll figure it out," Dan vowed. "I still don't need your help." Apparently, there was a good-natured competition going on between the two men.
"I could figure it out faster than you," Jimmy said confidently.
"What're you guys talking about, what TV?" Nathan was intrigued.
"Santa brought your father a flat-screen," Deb grinned.
"No way!" Nathan was ecstatic. "Oh man! Where is it? I want to see!"
"Oh, Nate, it's so nice," Dan chuckled. "It's in the den, come on. Jake, you come, too. Come check it out." He led the way, with Nathan, Jimmy, and Jake following along behind.
"Men," Deb sighed, rolling her eyes. She laughed and excused herself to the kitchen, so she could check on the dinner.
Keith, Karen, and a glum-looking Lucas rang the bell just minutes later. Karen went to the kitchen immediately to offer Deb some help with the food, while Keith went straight to the den to see Dan's new flat-screen.
Haley came to sit beside Lucas, who had plunked down on the step at the bottom of the staircase. She'd left James with her mother; the baby was now sleeping peacefully in his grandma's arms.
"Hi," she said quietly.
"Hey," Lucas mumbled.
"Your mom told me about Brooke's flight being cancelled," she went on, speaking carefully. "I'm sorry, Luke."
"Stupid snowstorm," he grumbled, putting his chin in his hands.
Haley laughed and moaned out a sympathetic, "Awww, Luuukkkeee," as she wrapped her arms around him. "Sitting over here all by yourself and being grumpy won't make her magically appear," she murmured, rubbing his back.
Lucas slowly began to grin. "Yeah I know," he sighed, slinging an arm around her.
"We have power!" Jake crowed from the den. The words echoed through the entire house.
"I told you I could make it work before you, Dan!" Jimmy cackled victoriously.
James began to cry in the living room and Peyton and Lydia rebuked the men for waking him up.
"Luke!" Nathan called, sprinting into the foyer. "You have to come see Dad's TV, it's freaking awesome! The picture and sound are unbelievable!"
Lucas and Haley snickered. Then Lucas dragged himself to his feet, trailing behind his brother, as Nathan raced back to the den.
"Mom do you want me to take him?" Haley whispered. She was bent over her mother, arms outstretched, ready to hold her son.
From where she sat on the living room couch, Lydia made a show of pouting and cradled James closer. "No!" she fervently whispered back. "He's so cute and cuddly," she cooed, tracing a fingertip over the whimpering baby's cheek. He was quieting down again and his little eyelids were fluttering sleepily.
"You do plan on giving him back eventually, right?" Haley pretended to be concerned.
"Nope," Lydia shook her head, playing along. "I'm keeping him."
"Hey, Foxy Lady," Jimmy grinned. He sat down next to his wife and gave her lips a light peck.
"Uh-oh, what do you want?" Lydia was jokingly suspicious.
"I want a flat-screen TV," he blurted with a straight face.
Haley and Lydia both laughed and Lydia said, "We'll see, Jimmy."
"There's my grandson," Dan beamed, striding into the living room. "Is it all right if I hold him?" he asked Haley. "Do you mind?"
"Um, no," Haley was startled by the suddenness of his presence.
"Come here, little guy," he said sweetly. "Come to Grandpa." He smiled at Lydia when she gently placed James in his arms. Shushing the baby when he fussed, Dan rocked him, smiling down into his face.
"He's a handsome little devil, isn't he?" Jimmy put an arm around Lydia's shoulders and grinned.
"Very," Dan nodded proudly. "Look at his chin. He's got the jutting Scott chin."
"He's got a jutting James chin," Jimmy disagreed.
"That's a Scott chin," Dan insisted.
"I know what a James chin looks like, and that is definitely a James chin," Jimmy countered.
"His chin is his own," Lydia spoke up, "and it's perfect."
Haley was watching this exchange about her son's chin with amusement. Then a tug on the back of her sweater made her turn.
"Look," Jenny said, holding up a new doll for Haley to see.
"Oh, what a pretty baby," Haley was wide-eyed with exaggerated amazement. She knelt down to be at the two-year-old's level and smoothed the doll's painted-on hair. Jenny laughed, pleased that Haley was impressed. "Did Santa bring her to you?" Haley inquired.
"Yeth (Yes)," Jenny lisped with a vigorous nod.
"Oh, you must have been really good, then; Santa must have been really happy with you. Does your dolly have a name?" Haley reached out to brush a stray curl away from Jenny's forehead.
"Dolly," Jenny replied, hugging the toy baby tightly in the crook of one chubby little arm.
"Dolly," Haley repeated with arched eyebrows. "Well that's… that's the perfect name for her, Jen. She's beautiful."
Jenny laughed again and then hurried over to Lydia. Thrusting her toy out in front of her, she commanded, "Look!"
As Lydia was getting acquainted with Dolly, Haley went on a search for her husband. She found him in the den with Lucas and Keith, still fooling around with the TV. Rolling her eyes, Haley left, and the boys were oblivious that she'd even been behind them.
She discovered Jake and Peyton stealing a private moment--- along with a few kisses--- on the stairs. She simply flashed them an impish grin, and prepared to make her way to the kitchen, to ask Deb and Karen if they needed an extra pair of hands.
The chime of the doorbell caused Haley to backtrack. She pulled the door open and felt her mouth fall open with ecstatic surprise. She would have screamed, but a rosy-cheeked and smiling Brooke brought her finger to her lips, gesturing for Haley to keep quiet. Jake and Peyton had come up behind Haley, curious to see who was outside, and Brooke flashed them the same signal. She gladly accepted enormous, seemingly never-ending hugs from her friends, and followed them into the living room. Everyone was gathered there, with the exception of Keith, Lucas, and Nathan, who were still in the den; Karen and Deb had just come from the kitchen to announce that dinner was ready. There was a collective gasp when everybody discovered that Brooke had entered the room. She flashed all of them the "be quiet" signal, smiling hugely.
"Where's Lucas?" she whispered, speaking as softly as she could.
"He's in the den," they all whispered back at her. The entire group followed her as she made her way to Lucas.
"Geez, Nathan," Lucas griped. "What did you do to it?"
"I don't know," Nathan sounded agitated. "Just fix it before Dad comes back."
They had their backs to the door, facing the television. They were trying to figure out why the screen had suddenly erupted in static.
"Do you know what you're doing? I don't think you know what you're doing," Nathan said. He frowned at Lucas, who was just pushing random buttons on the remote control. "Give me that," he commanded, grabbing the remote from his brother.
"You don't know what you're doing either, man!" Lucas shouted as Nathan started pushing even more buttons.
Brooke tip-toed up behind her boyfriend and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
Lucas spun around, expecting to see Dan. When he found himself looking into Brooke's face, he stumbled backwards, too stunned to speak.
"Hey, stranger," she murmured, smiling at his shocked expression.
"Brooke!" he exclaimed when his voice came back to him. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her before she could say anything in response.
Nathan began to laugh and the crowd in the den's doorway joined in, hooting and cheering.
"Are you real?" Lucas whispered over the noise when the kiss ended. He and Brooke stood forehead-to-forehead, staring into each other's eyes, drinking in the sight of one another.
"If I wasn't, do you think I could have kissed you the way I did just a second ago?" she giggled, blinking back happy tears.
He chuckled and quickly kissed her again. "How did you get here? You said the weather was too bad to fly."
"Last night it was," she shrugged. "By this morning, the storm had passed, so I got on the stinkin' plane, caught a cab when I landed at the airport--- I'm an expert at hailing cabs now--- and here I am."
"Here you are," Lucas echoed, hugging her close to him. "Finally, after four-and-a-half months, here you are."
Dinner followed Lucas and Brooke's joyful reunion. Gluttony was taken to new heights in the Scott household that night as family and friends feasted on honey-baked ham, creamy mashed potatoes, and the traditional green-bean casserole.
"Nathan," Dan was startled when he walked into his study and found his son sitting at his desk.
"Why aren't you watching your TV?" Nathan asked, idly flipping through a rolodex.
"Keith and Jimmy have taken it hostage," Dan grinned. He closed the study door and came over to take a seat on the edge of the desktop. "I came in here to hide from your mother. If she finds me, she'll make me do dishes. Why are you here?"
"Just thinking about things," Nathan mumbled. "Haley's in the guest room, feeding the baby, so I just came in here to be by myself."
"Oh yeah, it's been a busy day for you, I'm sure," Dan agreed. "How was your first Christmas as a parent?"
"I loved it," Nathan answered earnestly, meeting his father's gaze with an intensity Dan wasn't expecting. "Being a dad is my greatest achievement."
"Good," Dan nodded, unnerved by the vehemence in his son's eyes. "I'm proud of you for feeling that way."
"What about you, Dad? Is fatherhood your greatest achievement?"
Dan began to suspect that Nathan had other questions that weren't being asked. "I think so," he nodded again. "You are my biggest success."
"If you think you were successful with me, you're insane," Nathan said, spitting out a dry laugh.
Dan heaved a heavy sigh and bowed his head. He'd known that Nathan would come to him for explanations sooner or later. "Do you think you're a failure?" he asked quietly.
"If it wasn't for Haley, I really think I would be," Nathan's answer was hard and full of contempt. "I would have been a failure without her. I would have been a failure because of you."
"No, if you fail, then you fail because of choices you make. You live your own life, Nathan. Whether you succeed or fail is up to you," Dan replied.
"Nothing is ever your fault, is it?" Nathan sneered.
"That's not what I meant. Do you want me to apologize? I will, if that's what you want. Tell me what you want, Nate."
"I want you to admit that you screwed up and that you screwed me up in the process!" Nathan yelled. "Mom was away practically all the time when I was growing up, because she couldn't stand to be around you, so you were all I had! You terrorized me and made me feel like I was worthless… like I'd never be anything because I'd never be as great as you! Do you have any idea what that did to me, what it still does to me? I was your son, and you were my father, and you were supposed to take care of me, but you didn't! I don't know how to be a good father! I don't know how to be a good husband! I don't know because you never showed me how! I only know how to be a monster! Your decision to change after almost eighteen years of abuse doesn't un-do the damage, Dad! You're a failure because I'm a failure!" Nathan didn't realize he'd begun to sob until Dan pulled him up out of the desk chair and wrapped him in a bone-crushing embrace.
"I'm sorry," Dan whispered against Nathan's ear. He sniffled and Nathan realized, with an enormous amount of shock, that his father was crying too. "I'm sorry. I have failed you, I know that. I guess that old saying isn't true after all. Maybe there comes a time when it is too late to change. But I'll tell you a secret: I decided to change because of you."
Nathan managed to pull back just enough to look into his father's face. "What're you talking about?" he demanded; he was slowly regaining control of his emotions.
"You inspired me to change," Dan explained. "I saw how happy you were with Haley and what a great father you were to James and I found myself envying you. I wanted what you'd achieved for yourself and I realized that I needed to change in order to do that. I knew I could if I worked hard enough to be better. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I'm not sure," Nathan was flabbergasted.
"Nathan, you are not me; you are your own person. In spite of the mistakes I made with you, you know what's right. You haven't failed; you've had more success in your life than I ever had in mine at your age. You do know how to be a good father and a good husband; you don't know how to be anything else." Dan cleared his throat, blinking fast against fresh tears. "You're a good boy," he rasped. Then he corrected himself and said, "You're a good man."
"Thanks, Dad," Nathan murmured. He didn't flinch when Dan hugged him again.
"I should have told you this a long time ago," Dan sighed, stepping back and wiping a hand over his face. "I'm so sorry, Nate. If I was allowed to go back and do one thing over again, I'd be a better father to you… and to Lucas."
"You're being a better father now," Nathan said.
"Does that even matter?" Dan asked, disgusted with himself. "You're both grown."
"So? We'll always be your sons, and you'll always be our father. You're doing a lot better, Dad. I really enjoy being around you now; I'm happier. And I know Lucas is, too." Nathan grinned and squeezed Dan's shoulder.
A smile gradually crept across Dan's face. "I love you, Nathan."
"Love you, too."
They hugged again, slapping each other on the back. Then a quiet knock at the door pulled them apart. Turning around, they found Haley peeking through the doorway, smiling at them with glistening dark brown eyes.
"Deb asked me to come get you," she said. "We're opening presents."
Nathan and Dan hastily stepped away from each other, swiping their palms over their cheeks. "We'll be there in a minute," they said gruffly.
"Okay," Haley nodded. Her smile grew wider and a crystal tear streamed down her cheek before she quietly pulled the door closed.
Hello. Do you still remember me? Hehe… : ) It's been a loooooong time, I know, and I apologize. Stuff happens, right? Anyway, there's the chapter. Even though it took me forever to post it, I hope you enjoyed it. And, as always, thank you so, so much for sending me such awesome reviews for the last chapter. I absolutely love hearing from you! It's the coolest thing: )
This story is almost done, but I've had a couple of people ask about a sequel--- a story where James is a little older--- and here's the crazy thing--- I was actually thinking about doing that. If that's something you guys would like to see, I would be so thrilled to do it. I already have a few rough ideas for the storyline so… yeah. Okay, so I'm going to go. Thanks again you guys, you're wonderful. Happy Turkey Day! Hehe… : ) -----Sarah