Love Will Prevail
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these OTH characters, even though I'd like to.
Author's Note: This is the final chapter in this story. But, the story continues in the third (and final?) part…"The Hardest Thing"
6 months later…
Nathan rushed into the hospital and saw Lucas standing at the front desk, "Where's Haley?"
"I'm right here babe."
He saw Haley, who was six months pregnant, walking towards him from the bathroom. Nathan smacked his brother on the back of the head, "Don't ever do that to me again."
"What?"
"Call me at work, frantic, telling me to meet you and my VERY pregnant wife at the hospital. I was worried sick." He looked around, "Why ARE we here?"
"It's Dan. They don't know how much longer he has. He slipped into a coma. Your mom's with him."
Nathan sat quietly at Dan's side while his family slept. He'd finally convinced Haley to go home, knowing that in her condition she didn't need to be sleeping in a hospital chair. He thanked God that he, and Lucas, had finally made peace with Dan. And for the first time, in a long time, he'd finally felt like a true family. For the first time ever, the entire Scott family had been together. They'd had Thanksgiving at Dan and Deb's. Mae and Royal came, along with Karen, Keith, and Lucas, and of course he and Haley had been there with Harrison and Abby. Peyton had stopped by to take a family photo. She planned to paint one for each house. They all knew Dan was sick, but hadn't expected to be here a week later.
Jake walked up behind Peyton, "Why don't you come to bed."
"I have to finish this for the funeral tomorrow," she looked up from the painting. "I want Dan to have his family with him forever."
"You need your sleep."
"Jake. The baby will be fine if I have one late night. This is something I need to do."
"I know. I'm sorry." Jake kissed her softly, "Promise you'll come to bed as soon as you're done?"
"I promise."
Nathan stood next to his mom as she cried. The receiving line was killing her, "Mom."
"I'll be fine Nathan," she wiped away a tear, "Now lets find Peyton."
Peyton stood in silence as Deb hugged her, "Thank you so much for the painting. I know Dan is smiling because of it."
"Thank you Deb. I am so sorry for your loss."
"It's okay. He was hurting. And the one thing he wanted more than anything, especially after he got sick, was to reunite the family he'd driven apart. He got that, so nothing else mattered."
Reading of the will…
Nathan sat uncomfortably in the lawyer's office with Haley, Lucas, Deb, Keith, and surprisingly, Karen. 'Leave it to Dan to make people uncomfortable, even from the grave,' he thought silently to himself. No one knew exactly what to expect from this, but as had become popular practice, Dan had video taped his will, thus there was no disputing it.
The lawyer walked into the room, "Thank you to everyone for meeting here today. Dan was very specific about who he wanted here when he taped this in June of last year."
"Last year?" Deb asked.
"Yes. I know a lot has happened with your family since then, but Dan wanted nothing changed."
Nathan squeezed Haley's hand. This could be ugly. At this time last year, he hadn't spoken to Dan in almost 4 years. He exchanged a nervous glance with Lucas, knowing he was thinking the same thing.
The tape started, and they all saw Dan sitting in the living room, a piece of paper in his hands. "Well, guess I'm dead if you're seeing this." He lifted the piece of paper he was holding, "I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. First, to my big brother Keith, I leave $10,000, the dealership, and the auto-body shop. I'm sorry for being such an ass about all of that."
"Nathan, I know nothing can change all of the things I've done to screw up your life, but I am sorry. I'm leaving $100,00 to you, and $100,000 to Haley. Under one condition - none of it can be used to fund this sporting goods business I've heard rumors of. Use it to pay off college, or something like that. Do something nice for your family. The same goes for you Lucas. None of your $100,000 can be spent on business. I'm leaving $25,000 to Nathan and Lucas, to get their business up and running. I have faith that you'll succeed beyond your wildest dreams. That is one of two joint funds I've created. The other is for my grandson Harrison, his siblings, should there be any, and his cousins, again should there be any. The balance currently stands at $120,000, it is to be divided equally amongst my grandchildren when Harrison turns 18. I hope it pays for college."
"Karen, I'm sure you're wondering why exactly I've asked you here. Well, I feel awful that I'm an ass, and didn't help you out more while Lucas was a kid. I'm leaving $15,000 for you to spend on yourself. You beat incredible odds and have not one, but two successful businesses that you've started on your own, with help from no one. While being a single parent. I admire you Karen. I wish I could've been as strong and independent as you."
"Deb, my love, everything else is yours. Thank you for standing by me, even when I gave you every reason not to. Thank you for giving our love another chance."
With that, the tape stopped. The lawyer let the Scotts sit in silence for a moment before speaking. "With the exception of the joint fund for Nathan and Lucas, and the trust fund for the grandchildren, all money was transferred to your personal accounts this morning." He hands the tape to Deb, "Thank you for being here today, and again, I am sorry for your loss."
After a few more moments of silence, Keith was the first to speak, "We all knew Dan had changed in the recent months, but that tape was filmed a year and a half ago. Did anybody know back then how he felt?"
Nathan spoke next, "In June we didn't even know about Abby yet, and I hadn't talked to Dad in three years."
"Neither had I. So how'd he know about the business?"
"That would be me," Karen looked at the brothers. "I'm sorry. But Dan wanted to know that despite all of his efforts to prevent it, his sons had become true brothers. He was always asking about both of you, and about Haley and Harrison. I wanted to tell him more, but I also knew that you didn't want that. And at the same time, I had no clue that he felt that way."
"Karen, I'm sorry. I had no idea he was grilling you," Nathan apologized.
"It's okay Nathan. I think he knew I wouldn't purposely tell him anything, but hoped I'd slip up."
"If anyone should've known, it's me," Deb looked at each member of her family, "but I was too clueless. As far as I knew, his hatred ran deep until the day he caught sight of his beautiful grandchildren with Keith and Karen in May. It was then that he realized that he needed to make amends."
Nathan looked at Haley, "So what are we going to do with all this money?"
"Oh, I don't know, pay off college maybe, buy a van, pay on the house. Just to name a few things."
"You're no fun. But if that's what you want to do with your money, fine. But I was thinking about taking my wife and kids on vacation."
"Can we wait," Haley placed her hands on her bulging stomach, "until this child has arrived?"
Everyone in the room laughed as Nathan kissed his wife, "I suppose."
Please tell me what you thought! And read more about Nathan, Haley, and the rest of the Tree Hill clan in "The Hardest Thing."