Little Moments
Chapter 53: Oh Brother
Disclaimer: All characters other than my own do not belong to me.
A/N: Sorry for the wait guys, Fanfiction was acting weird tonight and it took me forever to be able to log in. Boo on them. Thank you all for the reviews for last chapter! This chapter, well...I decided to bite the bullet and do a chapter I've been putting off since the beginning. I know I said Jamie would be in this one in my bottom author's note last chapter, but I change my mind. Take a look at the chapter title and I think you'll have a good idea what it's about. I hope for those of you who wanted this, you like it. Enjoy!
OTHOTH
Nathan Scott was someone who didn't get nervous about much of anything. Give him a ball when the Ravens are down by two and there's only thirty seconds left, and he'll be as calm as ever. It wasn't that he was cocky, Nathan was just a confident guy. But a tied ball game going down to the wire had nothing on meeting Haley's brothers and sisters for the first time. They'd been married only a little while and now the time had come for him to get acquainted with his new extended family.
As he was sitting at the kitchen counter in their one bedroom apartment looking at a scrapbook, Nathan could feel the nerves kick in. It wasn't like the pictures made him uncomfortable, it was the fact that in two plus hours he was going to have meet her brothers. They were older, wiser, bigger than him, and Nathan had a hard time picturing the meeting going down well. He was a guy who had a bad reputation for being a playboy, had an ass of a father, and married their baby sister without so much as a hello. It was going to be awkward at best.
Haley walked out from the bedroom carrying the suitcase she'd packed for the both of them and laughed, "You want me to make some flashcards for on the ride up there?"
Nathan thought about it, and flashcards might not be a bad idea. There were tons of people he was going to have to meet and it would be nice if he could keep everyone's names and faces right. But flashcards were never the studying tool that helped him, it was Haley.
He turned to face her and arched his brow, "I'm just worried I'm going to mix them all up."
She walked next to him and ran her hand on his back, "I know, I'm sorry I've got such a huge family. Blame my parents."
"They're gonna hate me." Nathan looked at a picture of Haley's brothers and shrugged.
Haley shook her head and used her palm to turn his head to her, "No they won't. Once they see that I'm happy, they'll be happy." She nodded to ease his worries and leaned down to kiss him. "I promise."
Nathan felt a little reassurance. He sighed and looked at Haley, "You got off easy with me. I don't have any brothers or sisters." Nathan saw that Haley was about to speak up so he corrected himself, "Okay, yeah I've got Lucas, but that doesn't count. You knew him before I did." Laughing, Haley nodded. It was true.
She picked up the scrapbook and smiled at the pictures, "I'll quiz you on the way to Raleigh. You'll have them all down by then." She started to walk towards the door and smirked, "And if we don't leave now, then we'll be late, and then they might really hate you."
He jumped off that stool so quickly that Haley was even surprised. Nathan picked up the suitcase and pulled out his keys, "I'm ready."
Haley laughed and walked out the front door. Nathan locked their apartment and the young newlyweds made their way to the parking lot to get in their blue Honda hatchback. Nathan was in the driver's seat and Haley in the passenger seat.
Once they pulled onto I-40 Haley cleared her throat, "Okay, so first question. Who's house are we going to?"
Nathan was pretty sure that he knew this one,"Jay's. He's your oldest brother."
Haley nodded, "Right, he's twenty nine, and has two kids. What are their names?"
"Uh, Elliot, it's his first birthday, that's why were going up there." He grimaced as he tried to remember the other boy's name. "It...it starts with an H right?"
"Uh-huh, He..."
Nathan knew it once Haley got him started, "Henry!"
She nodded, "Right. Jay's the oldest, he has two boys. Henry is four and Elliot is turning one. What about his wife?"
Nathan hadn't really been worried about the wives or husbands of her brothers and sisters as much. "Um, Jay's married to..." He had no idea.
"Kim."
"Right, her." Nathan was trying to act like he'd had a mental lapse.
Haley took a deep breath, "Okay, one sibling down, five to go." She laughed at the enormity of her family, "Who's next? Who's the second oldest?"
"Vivian." He was right and Haley smiled. Nathan turned to her, "She's pregnant right?"
"Yeah, it'll be easy to pick her out from the others." Haley was pretty impressed with Nathan's memory so far, "She's married to..."
"Tom."
Haley tilted her head back and forth, "Close enough. It's Thomas. He doesn't go by Tom, just Thomas. Don't ask me why."
Nathan laughed. "And they have a little girl. Jane."
"She's two, and the cutest thing ever."
Nathan couldn't help but see the way Haley lit up when talking about her niece and nephews. He knew that she'd want kids someday. He did too. Nathan pursed his lips together and nodded, "Then Brad, he's ten years older than us, and he's married to Julie?"
"Julia, but they aren't married yet. Just engaged." Haley was still surprised that he was doing so well. "To help you pick him out, Brad's got blue eyes. Think B for blue, and B for Brad."
He looked at her eyes, "What about brown. B's for brown too. What color eyes does Matt have?"
Haley had to think about her twenty three year old brother. She realized that her B is for..., idea, might not be as helpful as she thought, "His eyes are brown." She tried to think of a way Nathan would be able to tell who was who. It wasn't like they were twins, but they looked enough alike to confuse him. "Brad's bigger than Matt, so think B for big I guess."
"So since Matt's the youngest of the boys is he the one you're closest too?"
"Yeah." Haley smiled thinking about her brother, "He's really protective over me, and we're a lot a like. He taught me how to play the guitar."
Nathan enjoyed listening to Haley go on but a part of him was really worried about Matt James. Nathan wanted to change subjects so his worries wouldn't invade his every thought, "Then there's Quinn right?"
She nodded, "She'll be easy to pick out. Most likely she'll have a camera in her hand, around her neck, or close by." Haley figured they'd be taking lots of pictures with it being Elliot's first birthday and all.
"And Taylor's the youngest, I mean other than you?"
"Yeah, but she's kind of a flake. She might not even show." Haley laughed as she thought about Taylor's antics, "She was a senior when we were freshmen so you might recognize her if she does come."
Nathan ran through all the names in his head and he was pretty confident that he would be able to put all the names with faces. There were three brothers and three sisters. Two sister-in-laws (counting Julia that was), and one brother-in-law. Two nephews, and one niece. Even though it was a lot they were family, Nathan was just going to have to get used to it.
He was taken out of his trance when he heard the horn of an 18-wheeler blow. He turned to Haley and saw that she was cheering, "What's all that about?"
She turned to him and lifted her arm in the air and then pulled down on an imaginary whistle, "Have you never done that? Look at the driver and do this..." She started pumping her arm up and down, "..you know, wait from him to blow his horn?"
Nathan laughed out loud, "Yeah, when I was like seven and on a school field trip."
"Oh whatever, it's fun. I don't care if it's a kid thing." Haley looked out the window and saw that they were about to pass another truck. She waited till she made eye contact with the driver to start pump her arm, but something caught her off guard before she did. The truck driver winked at her.
Nathan drove by the truck and turned to Haley, "I guess he didn't want to play games, huh?"
Haley grimaced, "No, uh, he winked at me." She let out an embarrassed laugh and scrunched her nose, "He was old."
The car slowed it pace as Nathan took his foot off the accelerator, "What?"
She was laughing, "Yeah, ew, he winked at me.." Haley noticed that the truck was coming up behind them in the left lane.
Nathan cut his eyes toward the side view mirror and glared back at the truck, " Ugh, creeper."
The truck overtook them an Haley kept her eyes on the road, she didn't want to make eye contact again with the guy, "This is awkward."
Nathan nodded. A part of him wanted to be jealous or protective but he couldn't do much from the driver's side. Nathan couldn't blame the guy, he was probably on the road all the time and Haley was hot. Nathan sped up and wanted to get past him.
Haley couldn't help but look up as they passed the truck and this time instead of a wink, it was a wave. "Ah, he did it again, he waved this time." She laughed out loud and shook her head. She didn't know if she should be flattered or embarrassed.
Nathan was starting to get irritated now. He didn't want his ego and jealousy to turn into road rage so he calmly drove by the guy. Haley saw that the truck took the next exit and sighed, "That was weird." She felt Nathan's hand hers and looked at him.
He used his thumb and middle finger to twist the gold wedding band on her ring finger. As much as he wanted to pound that truck driver, Nathan knew that Haley was his forever. Every other guy would just have to deal with it. They may have been young, but it didn't matter, they loved each other.
"We've got about an hour left, so it shouldn't be too long." Haley spoke up as she glanced at the clock.
Nathan had totally forgotten about where they were going. The truck driver had taken away all of his worries about meeting her family, but now they were back in full swing. Nathan gulped and took a long hard look down the interstate. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad.
OTHOTH
Nathan could feel his hands start to clam up and his knuckles where white as he gripped the steering wheel. They'd pulled into Raleigh, North Carolina, just a few minutes ago, and as they passed the Oakwood historic district home Nathan new they were getting close.
"It's the third one on the left." Haley pointed at a beautiful to gray Queen Anne home.
Nathan's mouth hung open, "Whoa."
Haley nodded, "Yeah, it pays to be a doctor." As they got closer she saw someone walk outside onto the porch followed by a smaller someone, "Oh look, Matt and Henry just came outside." Nathan had to swallow hard. He pulled into the driveway crammed with cars and Haley turned to him and gave him a warm smile, "Don't worry, they'll love you." She leaned over to him and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, "I love you."
Nathan nodded and took a deep breath, "I love you too."
They both got out of the car and Haley waited for Nathan to walk over to her. She extended her hand and when they joined together, Nathan felt a wave of relief pass over him. Haley gave his hand a slight squeeze and they walked up to the front porch.
"Well, well, if it isn't Baby James." Matt leaned on a post and crossed his arms over his chest smiling wide, "But I guess we better not call you that anymore since you're all grown up and married."
Haley felt a warm blush grace her cheeks and she smiled at her brother, "Hi Matt." As they walked closer, Haley saw her young nephew standing next to his uncle, "Wow, Henry, you've gotten so big."
The little boy hurried down the steps and ran over toward the young couple. Haley let go of Nathan's hand and scooped Henry up. He smiled wide, "Are you weally married?"
She laughed and looked at Nathan, "Yes I am." Haley looked at Henry then back to Nathan, "Actually, there's someone I'd like you to meet." She watched as Henry studied Nathan, "Henry, this is Nathan."
Henry stuck out his little hand and smiled warmly at the high school student, "Hi Uncle Nathan, I'm Henry James."
Nathan found it hard not to smile at the little boy and extended his hand, "Hey Henry, it's nice to meet you."
Haley set her nephew down and looked up to the porch expecting to see Matt, but apparently he'd walked inside. She watched as Henry ran back up to the porch and turned to Nathan, "See that wasn't so bad."
"Hales, he's four." Nathan glanced to the porch and shook his head, "You're brother bolted, I can already tell he hates me."
She wrapped her arm around his back, "He was probably..."
"Haley Bob!" Lydia James yelped as she walked out the front door.
Haley smiled as she saw her mom, dad, and the majority of the rest of her family,"See, Matt was just telling everyone we were here. He doesn't hate you." She turned to Lydia and smiled, "Hi Mom." Haley took Nathan's hand in hers once more and walked up to the porch.
"Nate, it's good to see you again." Jimmy extended his hand and shook his son-in-law's hand.
"Hey Mr. James. It's good to see you too."
Lydia turned to Nathan and waved him off, "Oh you can call us by our first names Nathan, you know that." She hugged him and looked behind her, "You've got a few people here who are eager to know who married our baby."
Nathan looked over Lydia's shoulder and felt all eyes on him. A guy about his height but a bit stockier than him with brown hair and blue eyes nodded in Nathan's direction and held out his hand, "Hey, I'm Brad."
Nathan felt like the world stopped. His eyes were transfixed on Brad's hand and Nathan knew that he shouldn't hesitate but he couldn't help it. After a second Nathan slowly stuck out his hand and felt a firm grip shake his hand, "Nathan Scott."
Brad smiled and turned to the woman next to him, "This is my fiancee Julia."
A girl who looked around twenty five grinned, "Hi, it's nice to meet you."
"You too." Nathan took a breath. Brad was nice. Julia was nice. Things were going fine. He shouldn't have been worried about anything.
He heard Haley talking with Brad and Nathan made his way down the line of the rest of the James crew.
"Well, it's nice to finally meet you Nathan." A older guy with glasses held out his hand, "Jay James."
Nathan figured that he was Jay. He looked like the oldest, and if it was possible, he looked like a doctor as well, "Hey, you too." Nathan saw the woman next to Jay holding a toddler, "You must be Kim?"
The blond haired woman nodded looked to her son, "And this is Elliot." Kim boosted her son in her arms, "This is your Uncle Nathan, Elliot." The young boy didn't say anything but that was to be expected.
Henry squeezed between his parents and looked up at Nathan, "That's my little brother."
Nathan nodded down to the boy, "I know, and I bet your the best big brother."
Smiling triumphantly, Henry nodded, "Yeah."
All of the adults laughed. Nathan moved on to the next person. He saw that a woman, obviously pregnant, was looking him over. It was the most uncomfortable he'd felt so far but he knew that Vivian was a lawyer and it was second nature for her to judge things. He flashed her a smile and she was taken by his charm, "Nathan, it's nice to meet you." She turned to her husband next to her, "This is Thomas and..." Vivian pointed to the little girl clinging to her legs, "That's Jane."
Nathan shook Thomas' hand and knelt down to Jane, "Hi Jane." He saw that she was being shy but smiled, "I like your shoes." The two year old looked down and lifted her foot. Nathan smiled at the little girl and nodded. He stood up and saw that he was at the end of the line. Matt was leaning against the front door.
Matt didn't know much about Nathan, and that was the part that got him. He didn't know what he was like, if he was nice, or if he was a good guy. He wanted to like him, but Haley was his baby sister and if this Nathan Scott guy hurt her there was going to be hell to pay.
Nathan could tell that Matt was looking him over. He extended his hand and waited for Matt, "Hey, I'm Nathan."
"Yeah, I'm Matt." Matt had a firm grip on Nathan's hand and cut his eyes a little, "So, you and Haley, huh?"
Lydia walked over to her youngest son, "Don't save all the questions for yourself Matty, why don't we all go inside." She checked her watch, "Quinn should be here shortly and if Taylor ever shows up she'll want to know the story too." Grabbing her son by the arm, Lydia pulled him inside and the rest of the group followed.
Nathan waited on Haley and they started to walk in when he felt Haley's hand on his side, "Hey?" He looked down and raised his brow. "Thanks for doing this, for coming here."
He shrugged, "We're family now Hales, wherever you go, I'm right next to you."
She sighed and ran her palm over his cheek, "You're amazing, you know that?"
Nathan smiled. He wanted to believe that, but more than that, he wanted her family to know it too. He wasn't some fling, he wasn't playing Haley; Nathan had the best of intentions. He'd married her because he loved her. Hopefully the James' all understood that.
OTHOTH
Once the group was inside, Nathan and Haley took a seat next to each other on the couch and everyone else crowded around them. Nathan felt this kind of pressure before. Eyes on him, watching his every move, but it was on the basketball court, not his brother in law's living room. It was definitely a different experience.
Brad started to clear his throat when the front door opened.
"Hello?"
Haley smiled at the sound of her sister's voice. She leaned over to Nathan, "Quinn's here." A brunette walked into the room and had a guy at her side.
Nathan looked at Haley with a raised eyebrow, "Who's that."
Grimacing, Haley bit her bottom lip, "That's David, sorry I forgot about him. He's Quinn's boyfriend."
Nathan added the name to the ever growing list and took a deep breath. That family was never ending.
Just as Haley had said, Quinn had a camera around her neck. She was taller than her little sister but they definitely looked related. Quinn spotted the newlyweds and walked towards them. "Haley, you got married!"
Haley got up and hugged her sister, "Yeah I did."
"Well thanks for the invite."
Nathan had stood up and smiled, "It was kind of spur of the moment."
Quinn held out her hand, "Nice to finally meet you Nathan."
"You too."
Quinn looked behind her, "And that's David."
The two guys exchanged their hello's and Quinn walked over to her boyfriend, "So what did I miss. Start all over."
Brad cleared his throat, "So it's Scott right?"
Nathan nodded, "Yeah. My Dad's Dan."
"That's Lucas' father too, right?" Vivian adjusted herself in the chair to get comfortable.
"Yes. Lucas is my half brother."
Matt laughed out loud, "I never would have thought Haley would have married Dan Scott's son." He shook his head.
Quinn disagreed, "No way, it was always gonna happen, we just all thought it was going to be Lucas."
"Ew, Luke?" Haley scrunched her forehead and laughed.
Jimmy raised his brow, "It's true kiddo, we all assumed you'd end up with Lucas. You two were inseparable."
Haley looked at Nathan and leaned into him, "I'm pretty sure I picked the right Scott brother."
A couple of the girls cooed over Haley's statement and her oldest brother Jay spoke up, "So how was it you two met? Mom said you tutored him?"
His baby sister nodded, "Yeah." She looked at Nathan and smiled, "You could say he needed a little help."
Vivian looked concerned, "How much help?" She didn't want her sister who was full of potential to have married some imbecile.
Nathan cleared his throat, "I needed to get my grades up if I wanted to keep playing on the team."
"Oh, what do you play, Matt played baseball." Quinn perked up as she looked from Matt to Nathan.
"Basketball, I play basketball."
Jimmy was nodding his head, "Apparently he's some hot shot or something."
Nathan humbly shook his head, "I wouldn't say..."
Haley didn't let him finish, "Yeah, he's the best one on the team."
"You wanna play college ball?" Brad asked.
"That's the plan."
Silently Vivian wondered if that was the only way he could get into college. She didn't mean to be so judgmental but she couldn't help it.
Lydia started to get up and waved her hands, "Now girls, why don't we all go to the kitchen and start working on dinner and leave the boys alone."
Haley got up and gave Nathan a reassuring look. He could deal with the guys by himself. No big deal.
OTHOTH
As she rounded the corner to the kitchen she noticed that she was the last one in. All eyes were wide, and the smiles wider.
"Haley, he's so cute." Kim complimented.
Quinn was nodding right along with her sister-in-law, "Yeah Hales, you did good."
Feeling that blush of her's start to creep across her cheeks, Haley turned away.
"Don't be shy, Haley. Nathan's a keeper." Lydia winked at her daughter.
Julia was rinsing off the vegetable and butted in, "He really seems great Haley. I'm really happy for you."
All the other girls agreed but Vivian had kept quiet. Quinn noticed and glared at her older sister, "What about you Viv? Don't you have anything to say?"
Vivian sat down on a stool, "North Carolina State law allows people to get married at eighteen without parental consent so I just don't see why you two were in a rush."
Haley knew that of all of her sister's Vivian would be the hardest to convince. "Because he asked, and I said yes. I love him. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him and it just so happened that we needed Mom and Dad's permission." Haley didn't want to argue with Vivian, because even if Haley had a valid point, Vivian would find a way to win her case.
Vivian subconsciously ran her hand over her stomach, "If you're happy, I'm happy."
"I am."
Quinn rolled her eyes, "Jeez Viv, way to suck the happy mood outta here." She nodded at Haley and smiled, "I think it's great. I can't believe you beat me to the altar, but it's great."
Julia laughed and held up her left hand, "Me too. You beat me too, and I've had this ring for almost a year."
All the women laughed and Haley looked down at her simple gold band and twisted it around her finger. She didn't need a diamond or anything fancy. It could have been a simple pieces of string for all she cared.
Lydia leaned back on the counter and squinted, "Now what would Taylor be saying right now?"
Haley looked at her mom, "Where is Tay?"
"Oh you know. Here, there, somewhere." Lydia shrugged, "Taylor's pretty carefree so it's wherever the wind takes her."
Vivian tilted her head, "Don't you mean careless...not carefree."
Kim pointed to a gift box on the counter, "She sent Elliot a present but both Jay and I are afraid to open it."
Everyone laughed and but a part of Haley wished Taylor was there. She had wanted for Nathan to meet all of her brothers and sisters. Granted, Taylor was never easy to pin down, it still would have been nice.
Back in the living room Nathan was sitting in an uncomfortable silence. Jimmy looked around and knew that his boys would want to have a few words with Nathan so he looked at David and Thomas, "Why don't we take the kids outside. I'm sure they'd like to run around, and David, you can show me how to work my new video camera. I want to be sure to record Elliot eating the cake tomorrow."
The men nodded and silently Nathan was wishing they'd said no. Now he was all alone, on one side of the room looking helpless against Jay, Brad, and Matt.
Once their dad and the other two had left Jay looked at the teenager, "Now Nathan, how is it that we never knew about you?"
Matt answered before Nathan could, "Oh we knew about him. Lucas used to talk about him." Nathan felt his mouth go dry and he wanted to come up with the words to defend himself, but couldn't. Instead, Matt went on, "You guys know. Nathan's dad Dan, knocked up his high school sweetheart then left her to go play college basketball.
Both Brad and Jay turned their heads quickly. From what Matt was saying, it seemed high possibility that Nathan could do that to their little sister. As far as they knew she wasn't pregnant, and she wasn't, but that didn't change the fact that Nathan might leave her.
When Nathan found himself being compared to his father he found his voice, "Look, I know my dad's an ass, but I'm nothing like him. I'm never going to leave Haley." He looked at each of Haley's brothers and continued, "I know we don't know each other, and you have every right to be curious, but believe me when I say I'm nothing like that man. I may not be the smartest guy here but I do know that I love your sister. I know that for a fact."
Jay realized that they may have been coming off a little too protective, "Nathan, I get that you're a good guy. You seem really nice, this is just a lot to take in. Haley was always the one who played with all the boys on the river court and now... she's married. It's going to take a bit of adjusting to do."
Matt agreed, "We didn't even know she was seeing someone. Imagine our shock when we find out Haley's married."
Nathan nodded. He understood what they were saying. "I understand, and I know this was sudden and spontaneous, but I love her. I do." He felt like he was being repetitive but he didn't know what else to say.
Brad took a deep breath, "You've got to protect her, be there for her, and keep her in the back of your mind all the time."
"Yeah, absolutely. I'll always do those things." He silently to himself thought 'always and forever' but figured he'd keep their saying to themselves for now.
Matt leaned back in his chair, "How did you know Haley was it?"
Shrugging, Nathan shook his head, "I just knew." He paused for a moment,"She treats me like I'm not dumb, and sees the goodness in people that others don't. She saw that same goodness in me even after I messed up a few times." He mentally kicked himself for saying that, "But when she looked passed it all, I knew." He looked toward the kitchen and nodded, "That was the girl I wanted, that I needed to spend the rest of my life with."
Nathan was worried that he wasn't explaining himself very well. How could he? There were a million little things that made him love Haley. If he wanted to keep the conversation going all night he could continue, but stopped.
The guys didn't want to keep pressing the subject because it seemed apparent that Nathan was in love with Haley. Even if they didn't know him, or approve of their quickie wedding, there was no way to doubt that this guy didn't love their sister.
Brad knew exactly what Nathan meant when he had said that he just knew. He'd been the same way about Julia. It wasn't like he could explain it. Love wasn't simple, and he admired the fact that Nathan was giving them the answers they were looking for. He looked at Nathan with a raised brow and smiled, "So which team do you pull for? UNC or Duke?"
Relief passed through Nathan's body when he heard the next question. He relaxed a little and slouched back into the couch, "I love Jordan and all but I've got to go with Duke. That's where I've always wanted to play."
Jay nodded his head and smiled, "Good choice. Coach K sure does know a thing or two about basketball."
Nathan felt another wave of relief pass through him. They were on to sports talk. Something he could get through much easier than twenty questions with the brother-in-laws. The cross examination hadn't gone so bad. He'd expected it to be much worse, but it wasn't the slug fest he'd feared it would be.
OTHOTH
It was after dinner and it was getting late. Vivian and Kim had gone upstairs to try and get the kids to bed but the rest of the gang were still downstairs. The family had been immersed in a game of Trivial Pursuit and when the game ended everyone started to head off to bed.
Haley saw that Matt walked out on the back porch while the rest of them started disperse into the bedrooms. She walked out to meet him and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "You weren't mean were you?"
Matt turned to Haley, "What do you mean?"
"When you guys were all in there alone earlier."
He knew what she was talking about, "I wouldn't say we were mean, just concerned."
"You know I'm not a baby anymore." Haley leaned on the railing and looked to her brother.
"Yeah you are. Haley, you're Baby James. The youngest of us all. You can't hide that."
Haley took a deep breath, "I may be the youngest, but I'm not a baby."
"Okay, maybe not." He looked up at the nigh sky then back to Haley, "But you're my little sister and I think it's okay if I get protective." Matt took up for Jay and Brad too, "If we get protective."
She nodded and looked inside, "So was it your idea for Nathan and I to sleep on the sleeper sofa?"
Matt smiled, "That was done by a general consensus." He laughed, "Sorry kid."
Haley rolled her eyes. Sometimes being the youngest sucked.
Matt put his arm around her shoulder and walked her inside, "No funny business tonight."
She playfully nudged him in the side and rolled her eyes. As they headed in their opposite directions she looked at him, "Night Matt."
"Night Hales."
Haley walked into the living room and saw that Nathan was fluffing up the pillows. She told him that she was going to go change and that she'd be back in a second. Haley went into the hall bathroom and threw on the old pair of flannel pajama bottoms and one of Nathan's t-shirts. She pulled the material up to her face and could smell him on the shirt. There was something about the way he smelled that she loved.
Once she was done she quickly walked into the living room. Haley slid into the covers and took a deep breath, "So that wasn't so bad?"
Nathan closed his eyes and shook his head, "No, I'm glad we came." He rolled over to the far left side of the bed and Haley reached out for him.
"Where'd you go?"
"I'm playing it safe."
She turned over on her side, "What?"
Nathan rolled over to face her and shrugged, "I figured we might wanna keep our distance since we're out here in the open."
Haley started to laugh, "And why would you think that?"
"Uh, I don't know. I have a feeling that we may get some late night visitors from upstairs who want to check in." Nathan was being a little paranoid.
"They won't come down." She pulled on his arm, "And if they do, I don't care."
"But Haley..."
She shook her head, "Really Nathan. It's not a big deal. We're married, remember?"
He looked at her and she had him. He couldn't say no now. Nathan rolled over and opened up his right arm, "Come here."
Haley slid over close to Nathan and put her head down on her chest. She ran her hand over his chest and looked up to him, "I love you Nathan Scott."
Nathan looked down and kissed Haley sweetly, "I love you too." He felt her lay her head down and shut his eyes. He couldn't believe that he had actually thought he'd be able to sleep without her wrapped up in his arms. They'd been doing it since they'd been married, and as he breathed in the smell of her shampoo, Nathan thought about how many more nights he'd be doing that same thing. There may not have been an exact number he could pen point, but he could ball park it. It was a lifetimes worth
It was nearly 1:00am in the morning and Quinn, Matt, and Brad were waiting on Jay to come out of his room. Vivian had declared herself unfit for the late night operation seeing as it would take her triple the amount of time to get up and down the stairs. Her being pregnant, didn't qualify her for stealth mode. Quinn had her back though, she'd report their findings.
"Where is he?" Quinn looked at the door to the master bedroom.
Brad looked down the hall, "Maybe he forgot."
Matt shook his head, "Nah, just give him a second. Maybe he's trying not to wake up Kim."
Within the next minute they heard the door creak and Jay emerged from the bedroom. He held his hands out, "Sorry, I couldn't find my glasses."
Quinn rolled her eyes. It was just like him to misplace those things and then wander around the room like a blind mouse hunting and pecking for them. "Alright, so we ready?"
Matt nodded and raised his finger to his mouth, "Yeah, let's go."
The foursome tiptoed down the stairs and made their way over to the living room. It was really dark but Jay was leading the pack since he knew exactly where he was going. Once they were beside the sleeper sofa all their eyes went to the same thing.
Haley's head was resting on Nathan's chest and he had protective arm fashioned securely around her.
Through the darkness Quinn could tell that their breathing patter was the same, because when Nathan's chest rose, so did Haley's. Vivian would be getting a good report.
The boys looked on appreciatively. Brad had asked Nathan to protect Haley and even in sleep he did it. Just by the way his sister was lying with Nathan made Matt regret any of the worries he'd ever had about Nathan. It seemed liked they fit pretty well together. Jay was thinking the same thing. Nathan Scott was a good guy. Even though it was silly to spy on her, it made all of them feel a little better.
Quinn looked at the sleeping pair and mumbled to herself, "I wish I had my camera."
A picture may have been nice, but it wasn't needed. Lying in front of them was what mattered. Haley looked happy, she looked peaceful, she looked comfortable. She may have been the youngest but she had a wise head on her shoulders. And with those smarts, Haley had made the best decision in marrying Nathan Scott.
OTHOTH
Alright, there you have it. Nathan finally meets Haley's brothers along with the others. Now I know that about a thousand a four things could have happened but this is how I saw it. I hope you liked it. I really felt challenged with the chapter seeing as so many people wanted to read something about the brothers. I really hope I didn't let you guys down. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate the feedback for last chapter and I'd love to hear from you guys about this one. If I pass a milestone I may not be able to update till Friday...it's the last week of class and I've got a crap load to do tomorrow. I'll try though, you guys know that I don't wait too long between updates.
To the reviewers I can't reply to: Joan, Alexis, joelles, tasha, bethanyfan23, Becky, and Hadley...THANK YOU SO MUCH for the kind words. I appreciate the feedback!
naleyfan: I'm so glad you liked the part when Haley was asking Nathan if she should say it (don't say I never gave you anything) if she passed Charlotte over. I couldn't resist throwing that in there. I mean it's Naley at their bench....it was a gimmie.
Madison: Thank you for the review! So you want to see something about Haley telling Nathan she's pregnant and the aftermath...okay. My only hesitation is that I wouldn't want to repeat what we already saw. I feel like Haley blurting out that she was pregnant was spot on. I can't imagine that she would have done it in any other way. Now she probably would have if Nathan hadn't just said that he'd gotten a scholarship to Duke but that's how it played out. I could see an extended scene for when Nathan comes home after the press conference but other than that I really can't see how I could add much more to it. And with that being said, I don't think I could make it long enough. Your other suggestion, about the aftermath of the Daunte fiasco might work better. I feel like a lot more Naley could have been added in that ep...somehow it became a Lucas centric episode...(Uh hello...earth to the writers, did you forget Haley had been hit my a car). Sorry for my little rant, but your're right. So much more could have been said in that ep. I'll add it to my list!
Heather: It means so much to me that you take the time to review! I'll try my best to think up a scenario that could hit on the bond between brothers. So far nothings coming to me but that doesn't mean I won't think of something later. It's on my list to do though.
BDavis: Haha, I should get paid!! No, I'm kidding. Kinda, lol. I wish I did. Considering I'm a college student, that would be...wonderful. Teenage Charlotte is on the way! I'll tease you a little: Charlotte is going to have a disagreement with her mom about something....I wonder what I mean by that!
mazzy: I saw that the story made it on the the OneTreeHillBlog and was completely shocked, flattered really! About your suggestion: I have done a chapter when Haley is away and Nathan takes care of the kids. It's called, Home Is Where the Heart Is (chapter 40). You reviewed it but maybe you forgot about it. Take a look at that one and see if it was what you had in mind. If not, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Naley3: It means a lot that you think the situations are realistic. As for your suggestion: I've done a chapter that includes Haley's pregnancy with Jamie (Sweet Baby James, chapter 42) and it includes things you want to see. A lamaze class isn't in there (dang it, I knew I forgot something), but a lot of other stuff is. If it doesn't include what you want, let me know and maybe I can do another one: Sweet Baby James part 2.
Alwaysandforever9: Thank you! It was such a huge compliment to hear that this is the best thing you've read. I'll have to humbly take that compliment, but I know that there are some mistakes throughout it all. My grammar is not the best and typos are super unfortunate, lol. I appreciate the kind words, I try to improve with each chapter. Protective Nathan is coming soon! Really soon!
Diana: Congrats on thew new job. I hope it's going well for you. I'm so glad you enjoyed both chapters you read!
Alice: Thank you so much! You know, if you want to write, go for it. That's what I did. I randomly thought of the idea and figured it might be something fun to write and it is. I really enjoy writing this for everyone. So I encourage you to give it a shot. As for where to get started. Just brainstorm about ideas and when you have one, ask yourself if it's something you would want to read, if so, go for it! And College Naley is coming relatively soon!
Review Please!
