I do not own One Tree Hill
I'm not too sure about this chapter. I've been struggling a bit lately with writing stuff, I don't know why. I wrote this chapter about a dozen times and this is what I ended with.
Chapter 52
"Hey, I thought of a name." Nathan said, looking over at his wife.
"We don't even know what we're having yet." Haley laughed, shaking her head and looking in the mirror.
"I know, I know. But I'm excited. You can't blame me." He said, holding up two shirts. "Blue or black?"
She looked over at him, humming softly. "Blue." She said, looking back into the mirror.
He nodded, looking at the two shirts in his hands, holding them up again. "Are you sure?"
She laughed, looking at him once again. "Yes, Nathan. Blue brings out your eyes. But if you want to wear black, then wear black. I don't know why you asked if you already had your mind made up."
It was quiet for a second, before he walked into the bathroom, buttoning up the blue shirt.
Haley smiled over at him, shaking her head. "You look nice, honey."
"You too." He responded, quickly kissing her cheek.
"So lay it on me." She said, putting lipstick on her lips.
"What?" Nathan asked her, raising his eyebrows. "I don't know if we have time, and the kids are home. Plus, you just got done doing your hair..."
"Not that, you dork." She laughed, rolling her eyes. "The name. Boy or girl?"
"Girl." He hummed, tapping his fingers on the counter.
"I'm surprised you're coming up with girl names since you're so positive that this baby is going to be a boy." She said, smiling at him. "So?"
"Stacy." He said, smirking slightly.
"Stacy?" She repeated back to him.
"You know, because Stacy's mom has got it going on." Nathan said, laughing loudly.
Haley looked at him, punching his arm softly. "I should have seen that coming." She laughed, shaking her head. "We aren't naming our daughter Stacy now, just for that reason. And don't start singing that song."
"Come on. You can sing it with me." He said, grabbing her hand and turning her towards him.
"It's unusual for you to be this willing to sing." She said, looking up at him.
"Well, Stacy's mom does have it going on." He responded, winking at her.
"That's not going to be her name." Haley said, patting his cheek and turning away from him.
"We could send the kids to my mom's birthday party while we stay home." He said, resting his hand on her back.
"You're funny." She said, shaking her head.
"We could be late." He hummed, pushing her hair to the side, leaning over and kissing her neck softly.
Haley closed her eyes, tilting her head and sucking in a deep breath, resting her hands on the countertop.
Nathan smirked slightly, having a small victory party in his head, pulling her closer to him.
"Jamie! You're stupid!" Lydia yelled loudly from outside their room, knocking on the bedroom door.
"I got it." Nathan sighed, winking at her. "I'll catch you downstairs." He hummed, kissing her forehead and walking out of the room. "Lydia Bob Scott! We do not call people that word in this house." He said, stepping out of their bedroom and crossing his arms.
"He won't let me play with Max! He keeps him in his room." Lydia said, stomping her foot and scowling up at Nathan.
"Dad, she's pushing him around!" Jamie yelled from his room, shaking his head.
"Regardless of what is going on, we only say kind things to each other." Nathan responded, "I'll drop you both off at Aunt Brooke's tonight if you can't behave yourselves. And I will make sure that you both go to bed at seven o'clock, and no ice cream. Is that what you want?"
"I want Jamie to stop being a butthead!" Lydia shouted, glaring at Jamie's bedroom door.
"I want her to stop being a tattletale." Jamie said, poking his head out.
"I want both of you to be nice to each other. Only one of us is going to get what they want, and I have a strong suspicion that it's going to be me." Nathan said, shaking his head and kneeling in front of Lydia.
"Why are you the one that always gets what they want?" Lydia frowned, shaking her head.
"Because I am the grown up." Nathan said, smiling at her and tapping her nose. "You two get along, or you'll be cleaning all day tomorrow while me and Mom do something fun."
"Mom and I." Haley corrected him as she stepped out, rubbing Nathan's shoulder.
"Whatever. My point is, get along or there will be consequences. Especially at the party tonight. You better be nice to each other, or not talk to each other at all." Nathan said, nodding up at Haley and standing up.
"Tell Jamie to let the puppy out." Lydia said, tugging on Nathan's hand.
"Jamie, let Max out. Lydia, be nice to Max and Jamie won't have hide him from you. Problem solved." Nathan said, nodding at Lydia, then Jamie. "Easy as that."
"I'm not mean to Max. He likes me best." Lydia pointed out, crossing her arms.
"Actually, he likes me best. So it really doesn't matter. Just everyone be nice to him. He's my dog." Nathan laughed, wrapping his arm around Haley's shoulders.
Haley smiled slightly, pinching Lydia's chin. "Alright, everyone down in the car in five minutes, and be happy because to Grandma Deb's birthday. So put on your biggest smiles."
Nathan stood next to Lucas, watching his wife as she talked Deb, Megan, Karen, and Peyton. He looked over at his brother when a hand was waved in his face, raising his eyebrows.
"Dude, you totally weren't listening." Lucas laughed, following his eye line. "Oh come on. You've spent fifteen years with her and you still can't hear a word I say when she's in the room."
"Sorry, man. She's hot." Nathan said, smirking slightly and catching Haley's gaze, nodding at her.
Lucas shook his head, taking a drink from the bottle in his hand, rolling his eyes.
"I mean, damn. My wife is good looking." Nathan said, looking at his brother and shrugging.
"Okay, that's enough." Lucas said, sighing softly.
"She's hot as hell." Nathan smirked slightly, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt.
"Knock it off, Nathan." Lucas laughed, "I know you're just trying to make me uncomfortable and it's not going to work."
"That dress fits her perfect." Nathan said, winking at Haley. "If you want, you can talk about Peyton. But I guarantee I won't be paying attention because I'll be too busy checking out Haley."
"It's not working, Nathan." Lucas said, waving at Haley.
"You can't see them, but there's probably half a dozen hickeys under that dress." Nathan said, letting out a deep breath.
"Okay, shut up." Lucas grumbled, smacking Nathan on the back of his head, taking the drink from his little brother's hand and walking away.
Nathan laughed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "That was mine." He said, smiling.
"Now I have two, bitch!" Lucas yelled over his shoulder, laughed and holding them both up and sitting down next to Nicole.
Nathan sighed softly, shaking his head. "Damn." He laughed, crossing his arms. He looked over when Toni appeared, holding a bottle out to him.
"Brothers can be such pains, right?" She laughed, nodding over at Lucas.
"I don't think your brother is a pain." Nathan pointed out, taking the beer from her.
"Yeah, well he can be." Toni said, smiling at him. "Your mom looks happy."
"You think?" Nathan asked, looking at his mom.
"Yeah, I do." She responded, nodding at him.
"I hope she is, because after suffering years with Dan, she deserves to be happy." He said, sighing softly.
"William seems nice. I haven't really talked to him much." Toni said, nudging him.
"Yeah, he's... You know... He's alright, I guess." Nathan said, shaking his head.
"Don't drag her down, Nathan." She said, looking up at him.
"What do you mean?" He asked, looking over at her.
"If she's happy, then why can't she just be happy? Why fight with the guy?" She questioned him.
"I don't need some girl who shows up once every thousand years telling me what I'm doing wrong." He said, taking a long drink of his drink.
"Sorry." She said, shaking her head and sighing. "I just think you should take it easy on him."
Nathan looked at his mom again, letting out a deep breath. "Where's Cooper?"
"I think he's in the kitchen with your step dad actually." Toni informed him.
"Maybe Cooper will see what I see." He grumbled, kicking at the ground.
"I'm just curious as to what you actually see, Nate. Because he seems like a nice guy to me." She pointed out, rubbing his back.
"You see it, or you don't. I'm done with this conversation either way. Besides, it's not like you've ever been around them before this weekend. I'll talk to you later, Daytona." Nathan grumbled, walking away from her.
Haley watched as her husband pretty much stormed away from his childhood friend, raising her eyebrows. She looked over when Karen started talking to her again, smiling.
"So you two. How are your pregnancies going?" Karen asked, nodding at her and Megan.
"Oh, you know... I have a boyfriend who is uneasy about the idea and a dad who is uneasy about the idea." Megan said, sighing softly. "Sorry, sorry."
Karen sent her a sympathetic smile, "I've been there." She said, nodding at her. "When do you find out what you're having?"
"I think I'm going to wait until the baby is born to find out." Megan said, nodding. "Let's stop talking about me though. Haley?"
Haley looked at her, "All is going well. A lot of mood swings. Midnight cravings, the usual." She laughed, waving her hand.
"When I was pregnant with Lucas all I wanted to eat was corn flakes. I know, that sounds crazy. But that's all I wanted." Karen laughed, nodding at her. "Have you felt the baby start kicking?" She asked Megan.
"Oh yeah, sort of. It's a crazy feeling." Megan said, smiling brightly. "It's amazing."
"It definitely is." Deb said, nodding at her. "But then it starts to wake you up in the middle of the night."
"I already wake up in the middle of the night, so it's okay." Megan laughed, nodding at her.
"I wish my son and his wife would have another one." Karen said, sending a pointed look to Peyton.
Peyton raised her hands in defense, laughing. "Talk to Luke." She said, shaking her head.
"Trust me. I will." Karen said, nodding at her.
"I think I may be a little too old to be having babies." Peyton joked, looking over at Haley.
"Oh lord." Haley said, rolling her eyes.
"No way are you too old. I was older than you when I had Lily. I want at least two more grandchildren, so figure it out." Karen said, nodding at her. "You're still young."
"Two more, got it." Peyton laughed, nodding at her.
"While we're requesting amounts, I want at least three more from you. Not including this one." Deb said, nodding at Haley. "It's my birthday, don't argue with me."
Haley raised her eyebrows, "I guess we'll talk about this at a later time then. You should've started requesting amounts when I was twenty-two, not the age I am."
"Thirty-one?" Megan said, smirking at her.
"Stop." Haley said, shaking her head.
William walked out of the kitchen a few minutes later, standing next to Deb. "We're going to bring the cake out soon." He said, smiling at her.
Deb nodded at him, "How was talking with Cooper?"
"Good." William said, nodding slowly.
"I think I'm going to go find Nathan." Haley said, smiling at them. "I'll be back."
She walked over to where Lucas, Nicole, and Toni were sitting. "Hey. Do you know where Nathan is?"
"Uh... No?" Lucas said, looking away.
"Luke, you're a bad liar." Haley said, ruffling his hair.
"He's in one of the bedrooms watching basketball and updating Lucas on the scores." Toni informed her, nodding.
Haley looked at Lucas, sticking out her tongue. "Ha." She laughed, nodding at Toni. "Thanks." She hummed, walking away.
After a few minutes of searching, she finally found him in Megan's room, sitting in a chair, his eyes stuck on the TV.
"Hey, you." Haley hummed, looking at him. "What's the score?"
"You're totally the coolest wife out there." Nathan said, smiling at her and turning his gaze back to the TV. He reached out, grabbing her hand and pulling her down onto his lap.
"Why'd you leave the party?" She asked, playing with his ear softly.
"I didn't leave, I just found something better to do." He informed her, laughing.
"What happened?" She asked, looking over at the TV.
"Nothing, really." Nathan said, sighing softly. "I'd just rather be watching basketball. Preferably at home, but I can make do."
Haley chuckled quietly, kissing his head softly. "Am I going to lose my status as cool wife if I suggest you go back out there?"
He rested his hand on her stomach, shaking his head. "We'll see. Is that a risk you're willing to take?"
"I've been lame my whole life. It doesn't really matter to me now." She hummed, winking at him. "So I suggest you get back out there, buddy. For your mom. It's her birthday."
"Fine. Just sit her with me for a minute." Nathan sighed, looking at the TV.
She smiled slightly, resting her head on his shoulder, smoothing her hand over his shirt.
"You're still cool." He grumbled, looking down at her and smiling.
"Thank you." Haley said, brushing her fingers over the scruff on his chin. After a minute of sitting there, she stood up. "Come on."
"Fine." He sighed, shutting off the TV and standing up. "But that was a good game, so if I miss something good then I might start crying."
"It's okay, baby. I'll take care of you if that happens." She laughed, grabbing onto his hand.
"Thank you." He hummed, squeezing her hand softly. "I love you."
"I love you too." Haley responded, kissing his cheek and pulling him out of the room.
A short while later, everyone sat on the couch, Lydia sitting between the two of them. Toni was sitting next to Nathan with Jamie on her other side, listening to the story she was telling him intently.
"Oh, look. There's one more present." William said, gesturing towards the ground. "We must have missed that one." He picked it up, handing it to Deb.
"Oh, it's from Nathan." Deb said, smiling.
Nathan looked up from his cake quickly, raising his eyebrows. "What?" He asked, looking over at Haley.
"You didn't have to get me anything, Nathan. You guys already got me something." Deb said, nodding at her son.
"I know, Mom... I got it because... You're so, uh... Special to me?" He attempted, looking over at Haley again and shrugging.
"You're going to love it, Deb. Nathan has good taste in everything." Haley said, reaching over and taking Nathan's plate from him and handing it to Lucas. "Here you go, buddy."
Lucas blinked, "Why?" He asked, shaking his head.
"Because you're my best friend and I love you." Haley hummed, smacking his leg softly. "Well, open it Deb."
Deb opened it slowly, looking down at the velvet box, raising her eyebrows. She opened it, smiling over at her son. "Nathan, these are beautiful." She said, nodding at him and standing up. "They're too much."
"Oh no, mom. Nothing is too expensive for you." Nathan said, raising his eyebrows.
"Let me see." Megan said, standing up and looking at them. "Oh, Nathan. How nice." She said, smirking at him. "This is a beautiful present. How did you ever figure out what to buy her?"
"I just, looked at her and I thought... This is what I should get her." He said, looking at Haley.
"Let me see them again." Haley said, standing up and looking down at the box. "Nathan has always had such good taste in earrings." She said, looking over at him and nodding.
"Well the women in my life deserve the best." Nathan claimed, standing up and walking over to his mother. "Happy Birthday, Mom. You don't look a day older than twenty-six." He said, smiling at her.
"Thanks, honey." Deb laughed, hugging him tightly. "You're a good son."
"I do what I can." Nathan said, hugging her back and letting out a deep breath.
"I want to see!" Lydia said, jumping up to her feet. "Can I please see them Grandma Deb?"
"Well, of course." Deb smiled at her, handing them to Lydia. "Aren't they pretty?"
"They're so pretty! I want to get my ears pierced." Lydia said, looking up at Haley.
Haley smiled slightly, looking over at Nathan's panicked face. "Your father and I will discuss it, okay?" She hummed, tapping her daughters nose.
"That usually means no." Jamie informed her, shrugging.
"When it comes to you, Jamie." Lydia said, sticking out her tongue. "Daddy gives me whatever I want."
"Okay, kids. We'll talk about it, Lydia." Haley laughed, shaking her head.
"Nice gift, Nathan." William said, nodding at him. "She'll probably love it more than what I got her."
"I owe her for all of the birthdays I didn't give her anything." Nathan said, nodding at him.
Deb smacked his arm, shaking her head. "Stop it, Nathan. You don't owe me anything. And I love all my gifts. Thank you to everyone."
"Well you only turn twenty-nine once. Or two, or three times." Cooper laughed, hugging his sister.
"If only I looked and felt like I was twenty-nine." Deb said, shaking her head.
"You look great, Deb." Karen said, smiling at her. "I'm so glad I could come celebrate with you. It's too bad Andy and Lily couldn't make it. We'll have to come visit again soon."
"You should." Lucas agreed, nodding. "We miss having you here, don't we Sawyer?" He said, smiling over at his daughter.
Sawyer looked up at him and nodded her head, "For sure." She agreed, smiling brightly.
"I like it when you're here too, Aunt Karen!" Lydia hummed, nodding up at her.
"I love being around both of you, so I will have to come visit more. Maybe the next time I come my son's wife will be pregnant with another baby." Karen said, nodding over at Lucas and Peyton.
"Yeah, yeah." Lucas laughed, waving his hand. "Save it for later, Grandma Karen. Don't start spreading rumors about us."
Nathan smirked slightly, nodding over at Lucas. "Come on, big brother. Get with it. Everyone is having babies, might as well jump on the bandwagon." He said, slinging his arm around both Haley and Megan's shoulders.
"Maybe I'll have triplets, then you'll have to have another kid since for some reason you can't stand the thought of me having an equal amount or more kids than you." Lucas said, shaking his head.
"Woah there buddy. No triplets for us." Peyton said, shaking her head.
"I can't even believe these women will have children with you two based on the way you argue." Nicole pointed out, shaking her head.
"She has a solid point." Toni agreed, smirking up at Nathan.
"I just can't believe they'll have children with you in general." Cooper said, nodding. "I mean, both of these ladies are way better looking than you two are."
"Right back at you, Cooper." Lucas shot back, nodding at Nathan.
"Yeah, Cooper. I've been told I have your eyes, so maybe I wouldn't go talking trash on me." Nathan smirked, nodding at Lucas, fist bumping him.
"Oh how attractive you are when you bring up situations like that." Haley said sarcastically, shaking her head and laughing.
"I don't think I even want to know." Deb said, shaking her head. "But I think that Nathan is cute."
"Thanks, mom." Nathan said, nodding at his mother.
"Yeah, Nathan is so cute." Lucas laughed, shaking his head.
Karen looked at him, nodding. "I wouldn't be laughing, Lucas Eugene. I think you're adorable."
"Ha!" Nathan responded, sitting back down next to Toni. "You're adorable, Lucas. You'd be cuter if you looked like your younger brother, though."
"You wish."
About an hour later, Haley, Jamie, and Lydia were all waiting in the car while Nathan said goodbye to his mother.
"Bye Mom. I hope that you had a happy birthday." He said, hugging her tightly.
"I did. Thank you, Nate. For everything. And thank you for being civil with everyone tonight." Deb said, rubbing his arm.
"Of course." He said, nodding down at her. "I like seeing you happy. It still makes me happy after all these years."
"I like seeing you happy too, honey. I had an amazing birthday." Deb said, smiling at him.
"I'm glad. I better go say goodbye to Toni. I don't know when I'll see her next. I'll talk to you tomorrow, I'm sure." He said, hugging her once more, before walking over to his friend.
"Hey." Nathan said, smiling down at her. "It was great to see you."
"You too, buddy. I'm glad that you're happy and well." Toni said, nodding up at him.
"Me too. Don't be a stranger, okay? I mean it. You have my number, I have yours. I want to come watch you race in person. Jamie seems super interested too. And next time, I expect Jarrett to be there too." He said, shrugging slightly.
"Okay, okay. I understand. I'll talk to you soon, I promise. Stay out of trouble, alright? No more getting kidnapped, or breaking your back."
"It's been awhile since any of that has happened, but I'll be careful." He laughed, smiling at her.
"Good. It was great seeing you, Nathan." Toni hummed to him.
"You too." Nathan said, pulling open the front door. He turned and looked at her, rushing over and pulling her into a big hug. "How about I pick you up tomorrow and take you to the airport?"
"My flight is early. Like 6:30, which means I need to be there at about 4:30 or 5." She informed him, shrugging.
"It's okay. I'll be here to pick you up. See you then, Toni." He said, smiling at her.
"I'll see you then. But you better show up." She laughed, shaking her head.
"I will, I will." Nathan laughed, waving at his mom. "Bye Mom! Happy Birthday." He said, walking out to the car.
"How'd your game go?" Haley asked, walking out of the bathroom, rubbing lotion on her hands.
"Hm?" Nathan questioned, looking up at her and raising his eyebrows.
"Your game. Do you need a shoulder to cry on?" She laughed, smiling at him.
"Well... If you're offering." He said, tossing his phone to the side, standing up and pressing his face into her shoulder, fake crying.
She laughed, rolling her eyes and kissing his head, grabbing his arm and rubbing her hands over his.
"What is that?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
"It's lotion. I got too much." Haley said, winking up at him.
Nathan smelled it hand, shaking his head. "Dammit, Hales. Now I smell like Winter Sunset."
She laughed, rubbing her hand over his neck. "Actually, it's called Hawaiian Breeze." She informed him.
"Okay, it actually doesn't smell that bad. I prefer it on you, of course. But this works too." He laughed, kissing her briefly. "Good call on the earrings, by the way. I think my mom liked them. Why'd you do it?"
"Because I knew that she would like it if you got her a present besides the one from our family." She said, nodding up at him. "Now, about Lydia getting her ears pierced..."
"Nope, no. I don't want to hear it. My little girl is not getting her ears pierced." He protested, sitting back on the bed and smelling his hands.
"Come on, why not? I think she's old enough." Haley pointed out, sitting next to him.
"I disagree. Once she gets her ears pierced, she's practically a woman. I don't want her to grow up. Then she'll be getting a tattoo that is well known by a certain name on her lower back, and tutoring assholes and falling in love with them. Does it look like I want that? Hell no." Nathan smirked at her, shaking his head.
"You think you're funny, but you really aren't. Tattoos well known by a certain name on her lower back, huh?" Haley said, poking his arm.
"I'm not going to say what it's called because I know someone that has one, and I respect her too much to call it that." He responded, kissing her head. "I'm talking about Taylor, of course."
"Whatever. I think she should be allowed to get her ears pierced." She argued, rubbing his back.
"Taylor? I think hers are already pierced..." He smirked, shrugging.
"No, Nathan. If she wants them I say we let her get them. It's not a big deal." Haley said, moving to the other side of the bed and laying down.
"It is a big deal. I don't want her to grow up, and I don't want her ears to be hurt." Nathan frowned at his wife, looking down at her.
"It only hurts for a second. Come on, baby. She'll grow up regardless." She said, tugging on his t-shirt.
"Really?" He frowned, laying down and letting her cuddle into him.
"Unfortunately our babies won't always be babies forever." She said, looking up at him.
"Fine, she can get them pierced."
