Chapter Forty Nine

A few days later, Nathan and Haley were off to London for their honeymoon. They loved seeing the sights and just spending time together. They knew that they would have to bring the kids with them one day. There were a few places where they were reminded of the children. Haley knew how much Cassie would love looking at the jewels that were guarded at the Tower of London and riding the London Eye. And Tristan would enjoy seeing Big Ben.

Of course, the newlyweds realized they would now have to start planning for a family of five now. Nathan began to wonder if it was a good idea for Haley to leave the States while she was still in her first trimester. She still had morning sickness, but she still managed to enjoy herself. Nathan made her promise to take it easy when they arrived back home. He didn't want her to stress herself out with the move to the new house.

By the time Nathan and Haley returned home, everyone had already started packing up for them. To their surprise, both Tristan and Cassie had kept their secret. Although, they had to admit it was hard to keep the secret from the family. They had almost spilled the beans a couple of times including one at Jenny's first birthday party. Luckily, Karen, Lucas and Brooke were there to help cover up their mistake.

The Scott family did their best to hide the pregnancy until the first trimester had passed. As time grew closer to that date, some of their family and friends did suspect something was up. When Nathan and Haley made the announcement, nobody was really that surprised. They were more surprised that Brooke was able to keep that secret from people.

It was an easy adjustment to living in the new house. Even though Tristan and Cassie missed their cousins, they loved having their own space again. Nathan and Haley made sure to have a lot of family time with them before the kids had to go back to school.

Once the first trimester passed, Haley was a little more relaxed about the pregnancy. She even started planning the colors for the nursery. Her friends were more than happy to help her decorate the room. Brooke and Peyton came over to present Haley with ideas. However, they had one important question for her.

"Are you and Nathan going to find out the gender?" Brooke asked. The three friends were in the nursery while Cassie and Penny were playing in Cassie's bedroom. Lucas and Nathan had taken the boys to the River court and Rachel had offered to watch Bella for the afternoon. "Lucas and I did for all four of our children. You wouldn't believe how happy I was to hear I was going to have a girl. Although, I don't know how Lucas talked me into naming my first daughter Penelope."

"What's wrong with Penelope?" Peyton asked. "I think it's a pretty name."

"It's my middle name," Brooke replied. "And I never cared for it. 'Brooke Penelope Davis'. I'm suppose I should be grateful I never got in trouble with my parents where they would call me by my middle name."

"Well, Nathan already took care of that department with Tristan Royal Scott," Haley replied, remembering the origin where Tristan's middle name came from. "I'm not worried about the name. I'm more worried about the kids and their reaction to having a brother or sister. Especially Cassie. She still needs my attention at times. And I don't want her to feel neglected because of the new baby."

Brooke nodded. "I understand completely. After all, I had to deal with that a couple of times myself. Unlike Tristan, Zach wasn't exactly happy about having a little sister. He didn't like the baby getting all of the attention. It took him awhile to adjust. Penny and Noah were both the same way when the next child was born. Tristan and Cassie are different though. They have always been so good with change. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about with Cassie."

"Brooke's right. I'm sure Cassie will be fine," Peyton added. "And there's going to be a big age difference between Cassie and the baby. She'll be able to help out with the baby more. She'll love being a big sister. Now if you need any baby clothes, I have a whole box full of clothes Jenny has already grown out of. I knew babies grew fast, but I had no idea it was this fast."

"Enjoy the first year because it really does go by so fast," Brooke said with a sad sigh. "I almost wish I could stop time so the kids would stop growing. I can't believe I have a son entering third grade this year."

Haley looked at her. "You? I have a fourth grader. I'm just glad Cassie and Penny are going to be in the same class. Cassie doesn't want to go anywhere without her best friend. And I know Cassie adjusted well to moving to Tree Hill and having your family move in with us, but this is different. Your kids are used to having a large family. It has always been just Tristan and Cassie. Tristan has had the experience of being a big brother. Cassie hasn't had that experience yet. I know she wants a little sister, but there's just as much as a chance that I'm going to have a boy too."

"Then how come you can't have twins?" a small voice asked. They turned to see Cassie. "That way, we both can have a brother and sister."

Haley gave her a gentle smile as she bent down to her level. "Honey, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way." Cassie's face fell. "Why are you so against having a little brother? It might be fun to have two brothers." Cassie didn't look convinced. Haley turned to her friends for help.

Brooke gave it a shot. Haley got up as Brooke bent down to her niece's level. "You know, I was just telling your mom and Aunt Peyton about Tristan's reaction to his new baby sister. He was in love with you from the moment he laid eyes on you."

Cassie looked at her. Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

Brooke smiled. "Of course. He couldn't wait to hold you. And he has been looking after you ever since, right?" Cassie nodded. "You see. He loved you so much that it didn't matter to him whether you were a girl or boy. He was just proud to be your big brother."

Cassie managed a smile before she threw her arms around her aunt and embraced her in a tight hug. "Thank you, Aunt Brooke. I feel better now." She turned to Haley as Brooke got up from the floor. "Can Tristan and I help you name the baby? Or are you and Daddy still going to use Jordan? Grandma Karen told me that it can be used as a boy or a girl's name."

"Grandma Karen is right," Haley said. "But your dad and I haven't decided on any names yet. We'll keep Jordan in mind though." That answer satisfied Cassie and she disappeared out in the hallway. The mothers laughed and smiled in amusement before they began to discuss the perfect theme for the nursery.

It was hours later when Haley and Cassie were reunited with Nathan and Tristan. Nathan and Haley waited until the kids were in bed before they really went into deep discussion about their days. Haley asked the question first and Nathan was hesitant to answer. She looked at him. "What's wrong? Did something happen at the River Court?" she asked.

Nathan let out a heavy sigh. "Tristan asked that dreaded question. 'Where do babies come from?'

Haley frowned. "You're kidding, right? With all of his cousins, he never asked that question before?"

"No because I was never really around to explain it," Nathan replied. "And whenever he asked Lucas and Brooke about it before, they always told him he was too young to understand. But he told me he thinks he's old enough to understand now."

"So what exactly did you tell him?" Haley asked. As soon as Nathan started to tell her his answer, she tried not to smile. Yet, she had to interrupt him. "So you told him the basketball hoop is like my uterus?"

"He caught me totally off-guard," Nathan said. "He was like a ninja."

Haley put her hand on her face as she looked at him. "Where did you leave it?" she asked nervously.

Nathan tried to describe the right words to her. "Kind of uncomfortable and confused," he replied as Haley moved her hand away from her face. "And that was just me." Haley managed a laugh. "I just started babbling about the birds and the bees. He was just sitting there looking at me like my dad was my hero until this very moment." There was a short pause. "He said he was going to talk to you."

"Great. Thanks a lot," Haley said. "Like I'm going to have a better answer than you did."

Nathan finally managed a smile as he wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. "I never thought I would have to talk to my son about the birds and the bees. I always thought it would be more with Cassie, who's not dating under my roof. I don't want any guy to get near our daughter."

Haley returned the smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't worry. I'm sure Tristan won't let anyone near her." She shared a kiss with him. She then pulled away as her tone grew serious. "Speaking of Cassie, I think she might be experiencing some jealousy issues when it comes to the new baby. She said she didn't want a little brother. Brooke helped her feel better about that, but I don't know. I think there's more to it than her wanting a baby sister. I don't think she really wants me to have this baby."

Nathan frowned. "What? That's ridiculous."

"Is it? She has seen the way everyone is when a new baby comes along. All the attention is on the new baby. Yes, she lived with her cousins including Bella, but it wasn't her baby. This will be our baby. She's no longer going to be the baby of the family. Maybe she feels like we're going to replace her with this new baby."

Nathan thought about her words. He froze as he had a realization. "Or maybe she's afraid that something will happen to you like it did to Renee."

Haley gasped in surprise. "Oh my god! You're right. I never thought of that. What do you think we should do? I'd hate to put her back in therapy again."

Nathan let out a sigh. "Yeah me too."

They were both silent for a couple of moments as they thought of ideas to help Cassie. Haley spoke up again. "Maybe we should have the kids more involved in the preparations of the baby. Maybe I'll bring Cassie to my doctor's appointment so she could hear the heartbeat. I'm sure Dr. Copeland wouldn't mind. And we'll bring Tristan up to speed about the truth of the birds and bees. That way, there are no more misunderstandings." Nathan made a face. "Don't worry. We still have two more kids. We'll make sure we'll get it right with Cassie. If not, there's one last kid."

Nathan looked at her. "Are you saying you're going to be done with kids after this?"

Haley shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still adjusting to this baby. Why don't we cross that bridge when we come to it? Now I need to talk to you about the nursery. Both Brooke and Peyton gave me ideas for the theme of the nursery and I want to run it by you first. What do you think of Winnie the Pooh theme?"

Nathan nodded in agreement. "I love it. It's perfect, Hales."