Chapter 10
Nathan gently pulled his hand out of Haley's and stretched. He opened his eyes and turned to his side.
"Good Lord!"
"Hi Natey" Emily said innocently.
"Emily, you scared me!" Nathan said.
Emily was sitting next to Nathan staring at him.
"Sorry" she apologized.
"It's ok. Are you hungry?" Nathan replied.
Emily shook her head yes. Nathan got up and stretched before hold out his hand for Emily.
"Shh. Mommy's sleeping. Let's go in the kitchen" Nathan said.
Nathan and Emily quietly walked out of his room and into the kitchen. Nathan fixed them each a bowl of cereal and they sat down and watched cartoons.
Haley woke up and sat up in the bed. She looked around for a few minutes trying to figure out where she was before she realized she was in Nathan's apartment. She heard noise coming from the living room and walked towards it.
"Daddy was mean to me and mommy" Emily said to Nathan.
"Em.." Haley trailed off as she walked over to the little girl and picked her up.
"Uh, hey Haley" Nathan started a little unsure.
"Don't Nathan" Haley said.
"Don't what?" Nathan questioned, his eyes knit in confusion.
"Don't act all weird around me now. I don't want that. Look, about yesterday…" Haley replied.
"No, it's ok. Whenever you're ready Haley" Nathan cut her off.
"Well, I have to get ready for work. Do you mind watching Emily while I shower?"
"Not at all, we're watching cartoons" Nathan replied.
Twenty minutes later Haley came out of the bathroom dressed and towel drying her hair. She walked into the living room to find Jake and Nathan talking and Emily and Jenny playing.
"Hey Jake" she said.
"Oh hey Hales. Jenny wanted Emily to come to the park with us. Would that be ok with you?" Jake greeted.
"Sounds good to me. I'm sure she'd love that. I have to work until four though."
"Oh, that's no problem. I'll keep her until you're home from work."
"Thanks so much Jake. I really appreciate it" Haley said.
"Don't mention it. Jenny, Emily, are you girls ready to go to the park?"
"Yeah" both girls shouted at the same time.
Jake, Nathan and Haley all laughed before Jake said his goodbyes and left with the girls.
"Well, I'm going to go finish getting ready" Haley said as she walked back into the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later Haley walked out of the bathroom completely ready for work.
"Ok, well, I'm going to work now. I'll see you this afternoon" Haley said as she grabbed her purse and walked out of the apartment.
"Nathan! Emily!" Haley called out as she walked into Nathan's apartment.
"Hey Hales" Nathan said as he walked out of his bedroom.
"Where's Emily?"
"Oh, she's still with Jake. He's running late" Nathan replied.
"Oh, ok. I guess I'll go for a run before Emily gets back."
"Haley, don't do this."
"Do what?" Haley questioned in confusion.
"Don't act like you're ok. Don't act like nothing happened yesterday. You don't have to be strong for us. Jake and I are here for you, so is everyone else, let us be strong for you" Nathan replied.
"Do what? I'm not doing anything Nathan. I. Am. Fine" Haley said without emotion.
Nathan didn't say anything, he just stared at Haley. She started to walk by Nathan when he reached his hand out and grabbed her by the arm. She quickly jerked her arm away from him.
"Don't touch me!" Haley shouted.
Nathan looked at Haley in shock. He noticed she was shaking.
"I'm sorry. Oh, God. Haley, I'm so sorry!" Nathan apologized.
Haley just stood there shaking, not looking at Nathan.
"Haley…" Nathan said as he moved toward her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Haley looked down at Nathan's hand. He ran his hand down her arm and linked their hands together.
"I want to be here for you Haley" Nathan whispered.
At his words Haley buried her face in his chest and choked out a sob.
Just then in rushed Emily, Jenny and Jake followed behind them.
"Mommy, mommy, guess what?" Emily squealed.
Haley quickly swiped away her tears and plastered a smile on her face.
"What sweetie?"
"Jake pushed me on the swing and I went soooooo high! And I wasn't even scawed" Emily gushed.
"Wow! That's great sweetheart!"
"Daddy can Emily sleep over tonight?" Jenny questioned.
"Oh, not tonight honey, daddy's got a lot of work to do. How about tomorrow night? Ask Haley if it's ok" Jake replied.
"Haley, can Emily sleep over tomorrow?" Jenny questioned with puppy dog eyes.
"Sure sweetie."
"Yay!" Jenny clapped her hands in excitement.
After staying and chatting for a while Jake announced that he and Jenny had to get home.
"Ok Em, it's time for you to take a bath" Haley announced looking at her daughter.
"I'm going to go pick up some food for us while you do that" Nathan said.
"Ok, that sounds good."
Haley walked into the bathroom with Emily to give her a bath. Nathan left to get the food. Thirty minutes later Nathan arrived back at his apartment to find Haley and Emily watching T.V.
"Dinner's here" Nathan announced as he set the food on the table.
Haley walked into the kitchen and set the table.
"Mommy, can I eat while I watch T.V.?" Emily questioned.
"Sure sweetheart" Haley replied.
Haley set up a tray with food for Emily near the T.V. then she and Nathan sat down at the table. Nathan looked up at Haley for a few seconds then looked back down at his food when Haley looked up. Haley stared at Nathan for a few seconds before he looked back up at her.
"Sorry I grabbed you earlier" Nathan spoke up.
"Nathan, don't" Haley said.
"We need to talk about it sometime."
"No, we don't" Haley gritted out.
Haley turned her attention back to her food. She heard Nathan let out a sigh of frustration.
"Fine. I'll be back later" Nathan said as he pushed away from the table.
Haley didn't react to Nathan's words or actions. She stayed silent as she heard him walk out and slam the door behind him.
"Mommy, where'd Natey go?" Emily questioned after she heard the door slam.
"He had to go somewhere sweetie" Haley replied.
Nathan knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.
"Hey Nate" Peyton said once she opened the door.
"Is Luke here? I need to talk to him" Nathan blurted out.
"Yeah, he's in the living room. Luke! Nate's here" Peyton replied.
"Hey bro, what's up?" Lucas greeted Nathan when he walked into the living room.
"I need to talk to you" Nathan said.
"Ok, let's go outside and shoot some hoops" Lucas suggested.
Once they were outside they started shooting hoops. Nathan was silent and Lucas knew he would start talking when he was ready. After a few minutes Lucas heard Nathan let out a sigh.
"Ugh! I just like her so much and I wish she would open up to me. It's so frustrating" Nathan blew out.
"Ah, so she still hasn't talked about the whole Connor situation?" Lucas questioned.
"No and I know it's bothering her but she's just bottling it up" Nathan replied.
"Man, you guys should've called me yesterday. I would've been glad to help kick his ass" Lucas said.
"We didn't exactly have time to do that Luke…but, thanks" Nathan deadpanned.
"Look, I know you're not a patient person but, she's obviously been through a lot. Just wait a little while longer, I'm sure she'll talk to you when she's ready."
"Thanks Luke. Well, I better get back home" Nathan said.
When Nathan arrived back at his apartment he didn' t see Haley or Emily in the living room. He heard the faint sounds of the T.V. and headed toward his room.
"Haley" he called out.
She didn't answer him and when he reached his room he saw why. Haley and Emily were curled up together on his bed. They both looked so peaceful. Apparently they had fallen asleep while watching Shrek. He walked over to the T.V. and turned it off. Then he took a blanket and covered them both. Noticing a strand of hair in Haley's face, he pushed it out of the way before leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. After turning off the light he stood in the doorway and just watched them sleep for a while before he decided to turn in for the night.
The next morning Haley woke up then made her way to the living room. She saw Nathan sleeping. His arm was hanging off of the couch while his long legs were hanging off of the side of the couch. Haley let out a little giggle at the scene in front of her. She looked over at the clock and realized she had to get ready for work. An hour later Haley was finished getting ready and was about to leave for work. Nathan was still sleeping so she decided to leave him a note.
"Hey. What are you doing?" came Nathan's groggy voice.
"Oh, hey. Um, I have to get to work so I was just leaving you a note" Haley said as she crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash.
"What'd the note say?"
"That I had to get to work, Emily was still sleeping but Jake would pick her up around 11:30. Um, her overnight bag is packed and I have an outfit for today layed out for her on the bed" Haley replied.
"Oh, ok" Nathan replied.
There was an awkward silence. Nathan and Haley stared at each other for a few moments before Haley looked away.
"Uh, I really need to get to work before I'm late" she said and walked out of the apartment before Nathan had a chance to reply.
Peyton paced back and forth in the living room of her house. She was nervous about talking to Lucas. For a few days she had been trying to muster up the courage to bring up the subject of having a baby. Every morning for an entire week she had been sick and it finally dawned on her that she may be pregnant. She and Lucas had been married for less than a year and she wanted to find out how he felt about having a baby before she took a pregnancy test. When she got to the end of the room and turned to walk back to the other side she ran into Lucas.
"Hey baby" Lucas said as he leaned in to kiss her.
"Hi" Peyton returned.
"Is something wrong?" Lucas asked, concern written on his face when he noticed her odd behavior.
"No. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Let's sit down" Peyton answered as she motioned to the couch.
"What's up?"
"I've been watching Haley with Emily and I was wondering, how would you feel about us having a baby?" Peyton replied.
"A baby? Pey, we just got married less than a year ago" Lucas replied the shock evident in his voice.
"Does that matter? I mean we are married and we love each other. I thought you wanted to have children?"
"I do want children but not now. I'm only 23 and you're 22. We're too young. Let's wait a few years, get settled."
"Too young? Lucas, Haley is 22 and has a daughter, Jake is 24 and has a daughter. What if I'm ready to have a child now?"
"You're ready now? Peyton, where is this coming from?" Lucas asked confused.
"I just wanted to find out how you felt about us having a child, we never talked about trying to have a child. Obviously you're against it" Peyton shouted before she got up and stormed out of the room.
Lucas sat on the couch completely shocked by what had just happened. Finally after about ten minutes Lucas picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Hey Brooke, it's Luke, can you meet me at the rivercourt in ten minutes?"
As she walked closer to the wooden bench Brooke could see that Lucas was upset.
"Ok, what's wrong?" she questioned as she sat next to him.
"Is Peyton pregnant?" Lucas blurted out.
"What?" Brooke asked taken by surprise.
"Has she said anything to you about being pregnant?" Lucas repeated.
"Um, no, not to me. Why?"
"She just brought up having a baby. I have no idea where that came from. So, it made me think, maybe she's pregnant."
"Luke, did you ever think that maybe she's just THINKING about having a baby? Peyton would have told you if she was pregnant. Besides, what's the big deal?"
"Brooke, I'm not ready for a kid. I'm only 23. Peyton and I haven't even been married for a year. I want us to be financially secure and have more time to ourselves as a couple. I'm selfish, I want Peyton to myself for a few more years before we have a kid" Lucas replied.
"Ok, that's good reasons to not want a child right now. But, what are you going to do if Peyton does get pregnant anytime soon? You seem really adamant about not having a baby" Brooke questioned.
"I don't know Brooke, I honestly don't know."
When Lucas returned home that night he noticed Peyton's car was gone. He walked into the house and looked to see if she left him a note. As soon as he walked into their bedroom he noticed something on their bed. When he got closer he saw that it was a pregnancy test and a note. He read the note silently.
Looks like we have a problem.
-P
He walked to the phone and hurriedly dialed Peyton's cell phone number.
"Do not call me" came Peyton's angry voice.
"Peyt…" Lucas began but he heard a dial tone.
Lucas hit the redial button but Peyton had turned her phone off already.