Chapter 49
"Have you and Katherine always done the every other holiday thing?"
Nathan glanced over at Haley's question.
They were all currently in the car, driving to Katherine and Shawn's house to pick up Nick.
Katherine had requested that Haley and Macey come along with him for some reason.
They'd let Macey open some gifts this morning, but just from other family. Any that were from Nathan or Haley had to stay under the tree until Nicholas joined them.
"Yeah, we'd kind of separate. But we'd usually do Christmas together," Nathan said, shrugging. "It just seemed easier. But things are different this year."
"You could have still done that," Haley suggested, frowning slightly.
Nathan laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, okay. You, me, Macey, Nick, Katherine and Shawn. Quite the crowd."
"What I meant is that you could have stayed with them last night," Haley said, pushing on Nathan's arm lightly.
"It's fine," He assured her, smiling slightly. "I'll have him next year. It's okay, really."
"I just know you miss him," She replied, sighing softly.
"It's definitely strange when he's not with us, hm?"
"I think it's so weird!" Macey chimed in.
"It is," Haley confirmed, smiling over her shoulder at her daughter.
"Have you ever been to Katherine's house?" Nathan asked, resting his hand on Haley's leg.
"Uh... No. I don't think so," She said, shrugging.
"It's very underwhelming. Since she's not there very often, it's pretty bare. Worse than mine," Nathan laughed, shaking his head. "I'm betting when her and Shawn move into their house, that will change. I hope it will. She's lived in this place for years and there's nothing. I bet she didn't even put up a tree until just before Nick got there yesterday. And then they decorated it together."
"I'm sure it's hard being away from her house so often."
"She likes it," Nathan hummed, shaking his head. "I haven't been inside in awhile though. Maybe Shawn has changed it up."
"Isn't Shawn equally as busy as Katherine?"
"Yes, but he seems like more of the sentimental type," Nathan laughed. "Katherine basically throws away half of her stuff every time she comes home. It used to drive me insane when we were married. I'd find my stuff in the trash all the time. Nick would draw a picture, and at the age of two, you can imagine it wasn't great, and she would leave it on the fridge until he forgot about it then she would toss it. She just doesn't make the sentimental connections to inanimate objects that a lot of people make. She's better now about keep Nick's stuff since he's older though."
Haley laughed, shaking her head. That sounded a lot like Katherine.
"She always gets new furniture too," Nathan laughed, rolling his eyes. "She's so strange, Hales. I just don't know how we ever ended up as friends. Everything she does bothers me to some extent."
Haley smiled at his words. It was so refreshing for Nathan to have such a solid relationship with his ex-wife. They rarely argued. There were no hard feelings.
And when they did argue, it was usually resolved quickly. They just had a strong bond.
And Haley harbored zero jealousy towards it.
Nathan and Katherine had tried out a relationship. It was terrible. They both knew that, and there was no risk of either of them falling for the other ever again.
It was just amazing to her how secure she felt about Nathan and Katherine.
Haley leaned over, kissing his cheek lightly, joining their hands.
"What's the reason behind the new furniture?"
"I don't know," Nathan said, rolling his eyes. "I think that when her and Shawn get married, she'll change quite a bit though."
"Do you have any idea when that will be?" She asked, glancing back at Macey.
"No clue. You two are best friends now, I figured you'd know," He laughed, shrugging.
She rolled her eyes, grabbing onto his hand and interlocking their fingers.
Nathan smiled, squeezing her hand and pulling into Katherine's driveway, glancing at the clock. Almost eleven exactly.
"Do you want me just to run in?"
"No, she wanted us to come for some reason so we better just all go," Haley hummed, getting out of the car and grabbing the door handle behind her, pulling it open for Macey.
Nathan got out quickly, rushing around to catch up with them.
They followed the path up to Katherine's front door.
"See? No lights, nothing," Nathan whispered, shrugging.
"She doesn't have the time," Haley laughed, elbowing him. "Let it go."
Nathan raised his fist to knock on the front door.
After a minute, the door was pulled open by a well dressed Shawn.
"Hey, thanks for coming," Shawn said, gesturing for them to come inside. "Nathan, Katherine is in the bedroom. She wants to talk to you."
Nathan's eyebrows raised in confusion, glancing at Haley. "Uh, okay..."
He entered the house with Haley and Macey, glancing over at Nick, who was sitting on the couch, watching something on a laptop. He was still in pajamas. Maybe Shawn had to go somewhere.
He released Haley's hand, heading towards Katherine's bedroom.
He knocked on the door lightly.
"Come in!"
With another glance towards his girlfriend, he entered the room.
Pretty much as plain as he expected. A picture of Nick and Katherine sat on the nightstand, and a picture of her and Shawn on the other.
He looked around the room, his ex-wife not in sight.
"Close your eyes," Katherine demanded, her voice coming from the closet.
"This is super weird, Kat," Nathan said, laughing.
"Just close your eyes, Nathan. Dammit."
Nathan closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. "Okay. They're closed."
He heard her step up behind him.
"Okay, turn around and open."
Nathan whipped around and looked at her, blinking in surprise.
There she stood in front of him, wearing a simple white dress that extended all the way to the floor.
"What... Uh... What's going on?" He asked, meeting her eyes.
"How do I look?" She asked him, a grin on her face.
Her hair and makeup were done. She looked a lot fancier than most people do on Christmas morning.
"You look beautiful," Nathan answered honestly, smiling at her. "But what's going on?"
"We're getting married today!" Katherine said, throwing her arms around Nathan and hugging him tightly.
"What?" Nathan asked, looking down at her quickly.
"Shawn and I decided last night that there's no use in planning this big huge thing. We'd have to invite so many different people from different countries, and it just wasn't worth it. We'd rather put our efforts into something else."
"Are you serious? When?"
"Right now, buddy!" Katherine said, punching his arm. "Get a hint, Nathan. My god."
"Ouch," Nathan said, shaking his hand lightly to get rid of the tingling.
"And you're doing it," Katherine said, shrugging. "Shawn is probably telling Haley about it right now. She's my maid of honor, Nick is the best man, Macey is the photographer and you, my friend, are performing the ceremony."
"No," Nathan said quickly, shaking his head. "I'm not."
"Uh... Yes you are," Katherine laughed.
"One. I'm not a minister. Two. I'm wearing sweatpants."
"One. I ordained you on a website that takes like a minute. Two. Who cares? It's not your wedding. Unless you want to get married too. Because I can also ordain myself-"
"No," Nathan said, shaking his head. "Katherine, are you sure about this?"
"Nathan, I'm standing in front of my ex-husband, wearing a dress that isn't even a wedding dress, while my fiancé stands out there with my son as his best man and my ex-husband's girlfriend as my maid of honor while her daughter takes pictures. Does this seem like something I would do if I wasn't sure that I wanted this?" Katherine asked him, shaking her head.
Nathan nodded slowly.
She made a good point. The situation was strange, and definitely not perfect. If she wasn't sure, why would she even waste her own time on this wedding? That was Katherine's big thing. Not wasting any time on stuff that was useless.
"You're right," Nathan said, clearing his throat. "But I think you should've picked me as your maid of honor and had Haley do the ceremony. I am terrible with words."
"That's better. Keep it short and simple," Katherine said, shrugging. "In fact, just skip to the end."
Nathan smiled slightly, looking down at her.
After the shock factor passed, he knew he'd be so happy for her.
"Don't look at me like that. You can't get all sappy on me, Scott," Katherine said, poking him in the stomach.
Nathan swatted her hands away, shaking his head. "You ruined it, Kat. Ruined it."
"Sorry," She said, winking at him. "Hey. I love you."
Nathan smiled, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head. "I love you too," He whispered, letting out a deep breath. "So now what?"
"You walk me down the makeshift aisle to the Christmas tree, where they're all waiting for us hopefully. And then you stand where a minister stands and get this show on the road."
"How romantic," Nathan commented, laughing.
"Shut up," Katherine replied, letting out a deep breath.
Nathan shook his head, offering out his arm to her.
She quickly wrapped her arm around his, smiling up at him. "Thanks, Nate."
"Your parents are going to kill me, you know that right?"
"I do."
"If you would have just called and told me then I would have dressed a little nicer at least. I would have appreciated the heads up," He laughed.
"Thought it would be more fun this way," Katherine informed him, smirking slightly.
"Of course," He said, grabbing the door handle, pulling it open. "You're sure this is how you want it?"
"We can always do something bigger later. But for now, this is exactly how I want it," Katherine confirmed. "Now come on. You have a wedding to perform and it looks really tacky if the minister is late."
Nathan laughed, leading her out of the room as Macey pushed play on some music.
Ah, yes. Music coming from a phone while an eight year old took pictures. A dream wedding.
He made eye contact with Haley as they emerged into the living room.
She was holding some flowers that were folded from paper.
She laughed silently and shrugged her shoulders.
He then looked at Nick, who was waving at them as they walked.
He glanced down at Katherine, who's eyes were stuck on Shawn.
She had tears running down her face.
The woman was a robot.
He'd rarely ever seen her cry in her adult life. She was strong, and proud. But here she was, crying at her soon to be husband in their living room wedding on Christmas Day.
It was bizarre. But it was so raw and real.
One they reached Shawn, Nathan glanced down at Katherine and smiled.
"You two are crazy," He whispered, shaking his head and hugging her once more. He reached out and shook Shawn's hand, before stepping up to the Christmas Tree, glancing at Haley.
Haley winked at him. She blinked in surprise when Katherine turned and hugged her quickly, flattening the paper flowers a bit but neither the bride nor groom seemed to really care.
Nathan waved at Macey, who was still taking pictures.
If you give an eight year old a phone and tell them to take pictures, they will definitely take pictures. A lot of them.
"You're up, Nate," Katherine said, nodding at him.
Nathan looked at Haley again, who gave him a thumbs up.
"Well, I had specific orders to keep this short. And considering they forced- chose, me to do this... That should be easy," Nathan laughed, shrugging. "I'm sure that most people don't picture a wedding where two thirds of the people involved are wearing pajamas," He cleared his throat, shifting slightly and shoving his hands into his pockets. "But I guess it makes sense. And we've all learned to never question Katherine, because she's usually right anyways."
"Can I get that in writing once this is finished?" Katherine asked him, glancing over at Nathan.
"No. Let me talk," Nathan shushed her. "There are many great things in life. But I'm beginning to learn that the greatest of all things is love. Sharing that raw, pure bond with another person is something truly special. It's so special that people dedicate their talents to love. They write movies, songs, books, and so much more. It's terrifying, and wonderful, and when you feel it..." He glanced at Haley, a small smile on his face. "You never want to let it go. Real love is about waking up and choosing that person every day, despite their flaws, and their bad habits. Their ugly pasts. Their broken hearts. It's not always about cheering them on from the sidelines. Sometimes it's about helping them across the finish line. Setting the screen for them to drive to the basket..."
He shook his head at the basketball analogy, sighing softly.
Haley laughed silently to it, scrunching up her nose at him. She had tears in her eyes.
God, she was so cute.
But he had to focus because he was kind of performing a wedding.
"Now I guess this is the point where I turn it over to you two if you want to say a few words?" He said, shrugging slightly.
He wasn't positive. It's not like he'd paid super close attention to the order of weddings before.
After some words were exchanged between Katherine and Shawn, rings were exchanged. Katherine must have given Shawn's to Nick to give to Haley.
"So, uh... By the power vested in my by whatever website you used, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Go ahead and-"
Nathan was cut off by Katherine and Shawn meeting in a kiss before he finished.
He looked at Macey, who was fake gagging, but still taking pictures.
Haley sent her a disapproving look, which made her stop, so Nathan held in his laughter.
He looked down at Nick, who was smiling brightly. It was almost like he could sense the joy coming from the two people.
Nick reached into his pajama pockets and pulled out a hand full of little cut up pieces of paper, throwing them at the couple like confetti.
Katherine and Shawn broke apart and she opened her arms up for Nick, who quickly ran in to meet her in a hug. Shawn joined in, hugging the two new members of his family.
Nathan side stepped to get out of the background, leaning over and kissing Haley's head.
"I love you," Haley whispered to him, leaning into his side lightly.
Nathan put his arm around her, letting out a deep breath. "That was so... Terrible."
"I thought it was good," She encouraged, placing her arm around his waist.
After the couple and Nick stopped hugging, Katherine turned and pulled Haley away from Nathan, hugging her tightly. "Thank you, Haley! For being my maid of honor. I know it was sudden."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm a pro at maid of honor by now," Haley joked, waving her hand dismissively. "Congratulations, you two."
"Thanks, Haley," Shawn said, smiling brightly.
"What's your plan now?" Nathan asked curiously, glancing over at Nick.
"Well, since it was pretty sudden and we both have schedules to work around, we're flying to Florida for a couple of days and renting a beach house. But we're going to plan a trip somewhere else," Katherine told him. "Don't worry, we'll keep you posted."
"Got it," Nathan said, resting his hand on Haley's back. "Congrats."
"This is the best wedding! I got to wear my pajamas," Macey laughed from the side, handing Shawn's phone back to him.
"It will probably never happen again," Nathan said, shaking his head and laughing.
Katherine leaned forward and hugged Nathan one more time. "Thanks again, Nate. For everything. It was great."
"It really was," Shawn agreed, clapping Nathan on the shoulder.
"Well, don't ask me to do it if you renew your vows," He responded, shaking his head. "Okay. Well... We will get out of your hair. Unless you wanted to host a reception in the kitchen?"
"I didn't plan anything. Did you?" Katherine laughed, glancing at Shawn, who shook his head. "Then I guess you are good to go."
"Merry Christmas," Nathan said, nodding at them.
"Merry Christmas. Thanks for letting Nick stay with us last night," Shawn said, wrapping his arm around Katherine's shoulders.
"Nicky, did you gather your stuff in your backpack?" Katherine asked, looking over at him.
Nick nodded quickly. "Yep! And the stuff I want to stay here I put in the tote."
"That's my boy," Katherine hummed, holding up a thumbs up. She then leaned over and kissed Shawn's cheek lightly, letting out a sigh of relief.
Nick ran off to his room.
"Thanks for coming, Macey," Shawn said to her, smiling.
Macey shrugged, "I can't really stay home by myself so I didn't have a choice," She responded, giggling.
Nathan turned his head away from Macey's view so she wouldn't see him laugh at that.
"Macey," Haley groaned, sighing softly.
"What I meant to say is thanks for inviting me," Macey corrected, winking at Haley.
Shawn laughed, nodding at her. "Nice save," He hummed, squeezing Katherine's shoulder.
"Well, if you guys want to come over for dinner later, you're more than welcome. You don't have to, of course," Haley said, smiling at them.
"We'll text you and let you know?" Katherine suggested.
"That works for me," Haley confirmed, letting out a deep breath. "Congrats again. This was actually pretty special. I'm glad we could be apart of it."
"I'm glad you're apart of it too, Haley," Katherine said, smiling at her.
Nick came running out of his room, his backpack around his shoulders.
Nathan quickly stepped over and took it from him, slinging it over one shoulder. "Give your mom a hug."
Nick walked over to Katherine, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Love you mom! Merry Christmas. Thanks for everything."
"Love you too, bub," Katherine responded, smoothing out Nick's hair and kissing his head. "I'll see you in a little while, okay? Call you every night though."
"Deal," Nick said, kissing her cheek and waving at Shawn. "Thank you, Shawn."
"No problem, Nicky. See you later," Shawn said, waving back at him.
"Well," Nathan said, tapping his hands on his legs and glancing at Haley. "You ready to go?"
"Yep," Haley hummed, holding the paper flowers out to Katherine.
Katherine took them, laughing. "Thank you. Sorry they're not real."
"I'm just impressed by whoever made them."
"Shawn," Katherine said, glancing at her now husband and laughing.
Shawn held his hands up, "Guilty. I love origami."
"Good job," Haley praised, resting her hand on Macey's shoulder. "See you guys later. Merry Christmas."
"Congratulations," Nathan said, nodding at them.
"Thanks again, to all of you," Katherine waved at Macey. "Nathan, I'll call you."
"Sounds good," Nathan said, taking Haley's hand in his own, leading her out the front door, leaving the newly married couple.
xxxx
Nathan gently tapped Haley's foot as the credits rolled on after the holiday movie they'd just watched.
The kids had crashed after a long day of excitement.
And the two of them sat on the couch and watched a movie, which was not something they did often.
Usually if they were watching a movie, they'd turn something on in bed but usually fall asleep to it.
Somehow they'd both managed to stay awake.
And Nathan had been paying attention to the movie.
But the same could not be said for Haley.
He'd keep catching her staring at him, and then she'd pretend to be watching.
"I think that I'm movied out," He informed her. "No more Christmas movies until next year."
"We'll see," She said, smiling slightly at him, biting down on the tip of her thumb.
Her legs were extended across Nathan's lap while she leaned against the couch cushion behind her.
"What have you been so lost in thought on?" He asked her, squeezing her foot lightly. "You told me you loved this movie. There was even singing in it and you didn't sing along."
"I'm just thinking about today. Katherine and Shawn's wedding. That was crazy stuff, right?"
"Really crazy," He agreed, laughing. "She punched me so hard in the arm before it. I think I'm getting a bruise."
"Don't act dumb to a bride on her wedding day and you won't get punched," Haley laughed, poking his leg with her foot lightly.
"I didn't know it was her wedding day!" He defended, smiling at her.
"And your speech. So sweet," She hummed, raising her hand to pinch his cheek. "I loved it."
"I hated it," He said, shrugging.
"I thought it was perfect," She encouraged, keeping her hand on his cheek, gently brushing her thumb along his rough stubble.
"Then I dedicate it to you," He said, pretending the pull his heart out of his chest and toss it to her.
"I'll keep it," She assured, winking at him. "Think we could hire you out?"
"I've already had a couple of calls, honestly," He replied, walking his fingers up her leg lightly, stopping at her knee.
"I believe it," She hummed, letting out a deep breath. "It was good though. I'm sure the pictures aren't great, but it definitely felt right. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Sure," He said, shrugging. "She offered to marry us."
"What?" Haley laughed, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah, she said she could do the same if we wanted," He rolled his eyes.
"She is something else," Haley commented, shrugging.
"Yeah," He said, squeezing her knee lightly. "Nick has a step-dad. Weird."
"That is kind of weird," Haley agreed, laughing. "You feel alright about that?"
"I feel fine," He said, leaning his head back. "It will be interesting to see what happens. It's funny that we were literally talking about when they'd get married on the drive to their house."
"Little did we know."
He smoothed the material of her sweats between his fingers and thumb, smiling.
Haley was studying him again.
He could see it out of the corner of his eye.
"I can't believe you got me Hornets tickets for Christmas. Only two. How did you get away with that?"
"I promised Macey that we could all go to another game," Haley laughed, shrugging. "I thought about getting four, but I wanted us to have a weekend off."
"A weekend off in the city we live in," He laughed, shrugging.
"I figured we could get a hotel. Make a whole thing out of it."
"I like that plan."
"I thought you probably would. And, I promise I'll wear a shirt, or a jersey. Whatever you want."
"Whatever I want?" He asked, looking at her and smirking slightly.
"Within reason," She correctly, leaning over and kissing his cheek softly.
Nathan laughed, massaging his hand back down her calf.
There she was, staring at him again.
"You know..." She said, biting her lip. "I know we kind of decided to put this conversation off for a little longer but..." She looked at him. "What if we moved in together?"
"Wasn't it you that said a few weeks ago we weren't ready?"
"Maybe."
"And you remember that I'm messy, don't you?"
"I do," She confirmed, clearing her throat. "And I also know that we've only been together for like two months. Less than that, actually. But I love you, Nathan. And it's harder to sleep without you next to me."
"Is this the wedding Haley talking?" He asked her, smiling slightly.
"No. Well... It has a little to do with what you said at the wedding. Being in love means accepting the other person. And I love you, Nathan. So if I have to remind you to put your toothbrush back in the holder, or put your clothes in the laundry, then so be it."
"What about the kids?"
"They already hate to leave each other. We can put them in separate rooms and only let them share a room on the weekends," She said, resting her hand on his chest. "I want to move forward with you, Nathan. I know it's early, and quick, but where else can we go from here?"
"You really want to do this? Because if you wake up tomorrow and change your mind... I'll be pretty disappointed. And once we tell the kids, it's set in stone," He said, looking at her.
"I really want to move in together, Nathan. I do. I've been thinking about it all day. And I love you. I want this."
He smiled, leaning over and kissing her. "Okay. I'm in."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm in. Let's do it."
She hugged him, kissing him again. "We're going to move in together!"
He kissed her once more, sliding his hand up her leg.
After a moment, he pulled back. A look of remembrance on his face.
"Oh! I almost forgot something," He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, fake plant. "This was on Katherine's tree and I broke it off," He said, laughing.
He held up the plant. "Mistletoe."
Haley looked at it and started laughing. "Babe... Mistletoe has white berries. That, is holly."
"I thought it was weird that it was all over her tree," He said, shrugging.
He held it above their heads anyways.
"The sentiment is there, right?" Haley hummed, leaning forward to kiss him under the makeshift mistletoe.
