Author's Note: Hey guys! Here's a new chapter! I know it's beyond crappy and not much happens, but I'm really tired because I only got about an hour of sleep last night because my baby (my dog Buddy) was going in for an operation this morning and I was worried about him. Thankfully, he's fine and he's home, albeit he has a plastic cone on his head to keep from scratching his eye so I have to wake up in the middle of the night to take him to go potty since he can't go through the doggy door with the cone on his head. Anyways, more drama coming up! I hope you like this chapter! As always, please read and review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. One Tree Hill and its characters are property of the WB.
Rating: K+ to T
Finding Our Way Back
Chapter 27 – Back Into the Groove
Haley cursed her morning sickness for the second time that morning as she leaned over the toilet in the staff bathroom across the hall from her classroom. The first bell had rung for second hour when she'd felt nauseous and rushed to the bathroom. She cleaned herself up then headed back, the final bell having already rung five minutes earlier. There were soft murmurs between the students as Haley entered the class and all of them welcomed her back. Surprisingly, Heather, never one to be blunt, spoke loudly as she raised a magazine and asked Haley, "Mrs. Scott, is it true?" The students had taken to calling her Mrs. Scott ever since she'd gotten engaged to Lucas, and Haley tried to calm the anger building within her at the thought of Lucas. Stress wasn't good for her or the baby and she was already stressed out as it was with the fight, the kids, and getting back into the groove of school when she'd been gone away for so long. Even though it had only been over a week it felt as if she'd been away for months.
Haley walked over to Heather and took the magazine from her, staring at the cover and her eyes widened in shock. The title read: Another One On the Way? It showed a picture of her in New York when it had been slightly warmer so she had gone out not wearing her large overcoat. A big red circle had been made around her stomach, accentuating her thickening waistline. God, the paparazzi were so annoying. Couldn't they just leave her alone? She wasn't in show business anymore. She'd wanted out of the spotlight; she had tried to get away from all that by moving back to Tree Hill. Why couldn't they find some other new celebrity to stalk?
She sighed as she stared at the magazine cover again then looked up to the expectant faces of her students and forced a smile. "Yes, it's true," she replied. They all broke out into wide smiles, their eyes alight with excitement, and the girls shrieked in happiness. They all hooted and hollered their congratulations and Haley smiled politely, thanking them. Once all the clamor died down, Haley stated to her students, "Okay class, I know I've been gone awhile, but if I remember correctly, we have some hero posters to present." The class nodded as they got down to work and began presenting their creations.
Haley ate lunch in her classroom alone that day so she could catch up on her work and also avoid seeing Lucas in the teachers lounge, more so the latter than anything else. She graded papers and the posters as well as prepared for the next two weeks with the other various projects they would do before writing their papers on heroism. The rest of the day went by fast and before she knew it, school was over and she was still sitting there grading papers. She took a break for a few minutes and took her glasses off, rubbing the bridge of her nose and sighing. She leaned back in her chair and rested her head back, closing her eyes for a moment or two. She rested a hand on her stomach and slowly started rubbing in circles, a small smile forming on her face. Despite the hell that the symptoms were putting her through, Haley loved being pregnant. She loved the 'full' feeling she got in her stomach, the roundness and firmness forming in her belly, the feel of her unborn child kicking, although that had not happened yet and wouldn't for another couple weeks. She had calculated that she was about four months along.
After about ten minutes of gently rocking back and forth in her chair as she rubbed her stomach, she looked at her watch and realized it was almost time to go pick up the kids. She packed up the stuff she needed to take home and tidied her classroom a bit before finally gathering her belongings and heading out to the parking lot. Haley drove to Kyla's place and knocked on the door. Her friend greeted her with a hug, looking like she needed it. "How are you feeling," she asked. "I'm fine," she responded. "Have you talked to him yet," Kyla asked, gazing at her concernedly. She hated that two of her closest friends were fighting when they should just forgive each other and be happy again, but she wasn't one to force her opinions on other people. Sometimes other people had to take their own time. She just wish it wouldn't be much longer.
Haley shot her a glare and shook her head. She was still mad at Lucas for what he had said. It angered her that he would think she'd abort their child, especially after the fact that she'd been eighteen when she'd first gotten pregnant and hadn't gotten an abortion. "Mommy," she heard her children call out as they raced over to her, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Hey babies," she greeted them with a smile as she crouched down on one knee and held open her arms for them to enter. Haley inwardly berated herself. She shouldn't call them that anymore; they weren't babies anymore, they were five years old. "Did you guys have fun with Ky," she asked them. They both nodded their heads emphatically. "Yeah, can we go to the café and get something to eat? I'm hungry," Derek replied. "What? Didn't Ky feed you," she smiled as she glanced at her friend. "Hey! I'm just a poor soul who lives on a small income. I can't cater to their ravenous appetites. They're eating me out of house and home!" Kyla threw up her hands in exasperation.
Haley laughed and picked up her kids, "See you later Ky, thanks for taking care of them. Let's go get some food kids. Mommy's hungry too." They went to the café and greeted Karen, who immediately went to go fix their usual meals, BLTs for Haley and Derek and a Grilled cheese for Katie. Dinner was pretty much eaten in silence except for the few times when Derek and Katie talked about their day at school or something they did with Kyla. Once they were done, they cleaned up the table and Haley went to go pay for their food, to which Karen refused to take her money. Finally, Haley got fed up and stuffed the money in the cash register when Karen went to go pour some coffee for a customer. As she was heading out the door, leading her kids by their hands, the door opened and in stepped Lucas. His gaze immediately fell on her and he opened his mouth to say something, but she just glared at him as she slipped past him. "Daddy," Katie called out as she reached for him. "Come on Katie," Haley tugged gently on her hand, an annoyed tone in her voice. Katie sniffled as the tears welled in her eyes as her mother pulled her away from her father. Derek cried too as he craned his neck back to look at him. He mouthed 'I love you' to both of them as Haley pulled them out of the café. Tears welled behind Lucas' eyes as he watched their sad, heartbroken faces retreating further away from him. He was watching his family walking out on him, out of his life, once again.