Nathan and Brooke were laying on the couch in their Danville apartment watching a movie. It was their last night in Virginia and they had opted to stay in and watch movies because Brooke got tired easily and was constantly going to the bathroom as she was further along in her pregnancy.
"Baby are you ready for the next chapter in our lives?" Nathan asked Brooke.
"As long as I've got you by my side I'm ready for anything," Brooke replied.
Nathan blushed slightly and Brooke grinned when she saw the color rise in his cheeks. It was never easy to make him blush but that didn't mean she didn't try. As they continued to watch movies, Brooke's eyes grew heavy and she was asleep for the night about half way through Cinderella Man. Nathan realized she was asleep and turned off the movie before lifting her off the couch and carrying her into the bedroom. Gently he placed Brooke on the bed and pulled the covers up and kissed her softly before walking out of the room. Nathan had stuff to do that he didn't want Brooke to know he was doing and part of him felt bad for hiding anything from her but he convinced himself it was better not to tell her.
A few hours later Nathan's eyes were falling shut on him. He was sitting at the kitchen table preparing a letter that he was intending to submit to newspaper around New Jersey on behalf of Brooke. He desperately wanted her to have a job in journalism and was doing this for her without her knowing it. As his eyes grew heavier, Nathan couldn't fight it and he fell asleep at the table with his papers spread out across the table.
The next morning Brooke woke up and put her hand out expecting to feel Nathan next to her but was surprised to feel nothing but sheets. Confused, she got up and walked out into the kitchen and found Nathan sound asleep at the table. There were papers spread out all over the table that Brooke had never seen before. Except for one, Nathan had a copy of her resume. But she didn't understand why or how with her printer and computer at the house in New Jersey now. What was Nathan doing with her resume? Brooke couldn't understand.
"Nathan, wake up, honey," she whispered sweetly in his ear.
"Huh?" Nathan replied sleepily.
"Rise and shine sweetie."
A minute later Nathan realized he was asleep at the kitchen table. There were papers everywhere. Brooke was standing next to him. Brooke. Oh no! She was gonna know what he was up to, he had to hide it and fast.
"Uh, hi sweetie. I'll make you breakfast as soon as I clean up this stuff here," he said as he frantically tried to gather the papers up before Brooke could get a good look at them.
"Here, let me help you clean up."
"No!" Nathan was nervous. He really wanted this to be a surprise, if he let her help clean up the surprise would be blown.
"Nathan." Brooke was taken back by his adamant refusal of her help. That was not like him. What was he hiding?
"I'm sorry babe. I didn't mean to shout at you."
"What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on."
"Damn it Nathan don't lie to me!"
"I'm not lying."
"Oh really then why do you have a copy of my resume if nothing's going on? What are you doing?"
"I'm not doing anything!" Nathan knew he was looking more suspicious by the second but he couldn't tell her. He knew if he told she'd make him stop, insisting she was capable of getting work on her own without having her fiancé sending a letter to different newspapers around the state.
"Nathan. I know you're up to something. The only thing I don't know is what. Or why. Stop hiding things from me."
Nathan didn't say anything. He was starting to feel bad about his refusal to speak but he had his reasons.
"How are we supposed to have a marriage built on trust when you can't tell me the truth now? Explain that to me Nathan because I don't get it."
Brooke was furious. She hated when people lied to her and Nathan knew that better than anyone else in the world. He was supposed to be Brooke's best friend and he was supposed to be on Brooke's side and sharing everything with her and now he was hiding something from her. It made Brooke sick to think he was hiding something now, it made her wonder if he hid things from her in the past. She couldn't be in a relationship with someone who couldn't tell her the truth about everything, no matter what, it left her vulnerable and that was one thing Brooke never cared to be again. Not only that but she didn't want to raise a family with someone like that. Angrily, Brooke turned on her heels and went back to the bedroom slamming the door. As soon as she was in the room she collapsed on the bed and cried. How could she be losing her rock?
Nathan collapsed back down into the chair where he had fallen asleep. He was stuck in a rut. He wanted to surprise Brooke but more than anything he wanted her to trust him at all times. Maybe this was a bad idea. There were plenty of other ways to surprise Brooke. Nathan would have to relent and tell her the truth and possibly stop the whole thing because he truly believed Brooke wouldn't want him doing this. Even if she did think it was sweet of him, Brooke liked to go out and get things on her own. As he continued to sit there thinking, Nathan's thoughts were interrupted but the distinctive sound of Brooke sobbing. Nathan felt the guilt rise up in his chest when he realized he had done this to her. Rising to his feet, Nathan walked down to the bedroom hoping Brooke would listen to what he had to say.
"Brooke," he whispered as he sat down next to her.
"No, Nathan. I get it. You don't trust me enough to tell me what's going on. Don't bother," she sobbed.
Nathan groaned to himself. This was gonna be much tougher than he had anticipated. He sat on the bed in silence as Brooke continued to sob. He tried to rub her back but Brooke was so angry with him that she shoved his hands away. The last thing Brooke wanted was for Nathan to touch her. He really upset her this time and she couldn't just let it go and let him comfort her. Although she desperately wanted to have his arms wrapped around her and hear him whisper sweet nothings in her ear but she had to stay strong and not cave to his romantic ways. Confrontation wasn't something they liked to deal with in their relationship but this relationship wasn't one Brooke would give up on. Because as she had known from the beginning, she couldn't bear to live her life without Nathan there by her side. He was her rock and everybody who ever came in contact with her could tell you the same thing. Without Nathan, Brooke was completely lost and Nathan felt the same way about Brooke. Without her, Nathan was just a cocky, arrogant basketball player who didn't give a damn about people's feelings.
"Brooke I do trust you. I didn't want to tell you because it's supposed to be a surprise for you but if it's gonna cause shit between us I'll just stop," Nathan said a few minutes later.
"I don't care. Do whatever you want," Brooke snapped.
"Baby, please don't be mad at me."
"Nathan are you kidding me? I'm not mad at you, I'm pissed off at you. You say you trust me but why couldn't you just say it was a surprise instead of nothing? I'm not stupid! I know it's not nothing. Nothing doesn't get you all worked up or nervous when I talk to you or walk in a room. But you don't seem to get that and I have no idea why. You wanna surprise me, fine but don't lie to my face when I ask you a damn question!"
"I'm sorry."
"Are you really? How do I know I can trust you?"
"Brooke, that's not fair."
"Oh really? Well neither is you making me feel like you can't trust me!"
"What do you want from me? I said I was sorry. I told you it's a surprise for you. What the fuck do I have to do to make you see how sorry I really am?" Nathan barked.
"Do not bark at me! You fucked up, I didn't! You don't get to be pissed at me!"
Brooke got up off the bed and ran through the apartment. She opened the front door and slammed it behind her. Running as fast as she could, Brooke left the apartment building and was heading for the park where she would go after fights with Nathan much like the one they were in the middle of at that moment. She reached up and furiously wiped the tears that were pouring from her eyes. It was so typical of Nathan to pull something like this but he never accused her of not trusting him before now. That stung like nothing Brooke hand ever felt before in her life and she didn't particularly wish to feel that ever again. As soon as she was in the park Brooke walked over to the swings and sat down. Today was their last day in Virginia and they were fighting. That wasn't how Brooke wanted their last day to go. It was supposed to be a good day that ended with them getting on a plane and flying to New Jersey and then spending time together in their new house. But right now Brooke didn't want to be in the same room with Nathan, never mind on a plane with him. She really hated to fight with him but there were times when it was inevitable no matter how hard they fought it. Brooke was guessing this was one of those times.
"Stupid pregnancy hormones," she muttered to herself angrily.
Nathan was sitting on the bed in the apartment with his head in hands. There were tears on his cheeks and he was sobbing almost silently. Brooke had left in the middle of their fight. She never did that. Most of the time when they fought she waited til they had both finished what they had to say before leaving. Because she was already gone, Nathan knew he had really screwed up this time but what he didn't know was how he was going to fix it. If it could even be fixed. Sighing he reached for the phone. He desperately needed to talk to someone and only one person came to mind-Karen. He hoped that she would answer the phone and be able to help him. If not he had no idea what he would do. The two of them would be getting on a plane in a couple hours and Nathan wanted to be able to talk to Brooke by then without worrying about making her cry or her biting his head off for any reason. Nathan was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Karen say hello after the phone stopped ringing in his ear.
"Nathan? Are you there?" Karen asked, concern evident in her tone.
"Ya I'm here. Sorry about that," Nathan replied.
"What's going on? Is everything all right with you and Brooke?"
"No. We got into a fight and she left mid thought. She never does that."
"What were you fighting about?"
Nathan explained the whole surprise to Karen and how he had been working on it the night before and fallen asleep with paper all over the table. Then he told her how Brooke had found him sleeping at the table a few hours before and then they started screaming at each other. Nathan told Karen he thought it was their most intense fight yet and they had been together for four and a half years. He was worried about her and the baby as well as what was gonna happen between the two of them. By the time he was done explaining everything to Karen he was in tears again.
"Karen what if she decides she doesn't want to marry me and takes all of her stuff out of the house and moves out?" Nathan asked worriedly.
"Nathan, sweetie, you don't have to worry about that. Brooke loves you and there's no one else in the world she'd rather be with. Besides do you really think she would allow your child to grow up not knowing the father?" Karen replied.
"No I don't think she would but she's so pissed at me right now Karen and I feel like shit. It's my fault this whole stupid fight started and I want to fix it. I want things to be right between Brooke and I. I need them to be right. She is my everything. Without her I'm nothing but a spoiled arrogant ass."
"Nathan Lee. You are not an arrogant ass."
"Thanks Karen but I feel like one. It's not up to me to be sending a letter to different newspapers to try and secure Brooke a job somewhere. I should have known it would come back to bite me in the ass. But I never would have guessed it would hurt this bad."
"Nathan it's very sweet of you to wanna help Brooke get a job but you should let her do that one on her own. There might be certain areas of news she wants to write about that she hasn't necessarily shared with you or she might know better than you do what the different newspapers are looking for in the first place. The only thing you can do to help Brooke get a job is to give a wonderful reference if anyone calls you for a reference."
"Thanks Karen. Listen I should go find Brooke. We need to talk. I can only hope she'll listen to what I have to say right now."
"Don't push her Nate. If she's not ready, you'll end up fighting again."
"Thanks again Karen. I guess I'll talk to you later."
"You're welcome Nathan. Don't forget you can call anytime you need something. I'd be more than happy to help you out anytime you need you it."
"I will. Bye."
"Bye."
Nathan hung up the phone and sat down for a few minutes. He knew where Brooke was and he also knew if he went to try and talk to her there it would be pointless. Plus they would be giving the entire world a show if they got into another shouting match in the park. Nathan didn't want that to happen so he decided to be patient and wait for Brooke to come back. He would try talking to her then and not before.
Brooke had finally stopped crying and she was sitting on the swing thinking. She knew she would have to go back to the apartment and talk to Nathan because he was smart enough not to come looking for her when she left because of a fight. He made that mistake once and never did it again after she explained to him that she needed to be alone until she was ready to talk rationally. This fight was the worst one they had that Brooke could think of. She was sitting there when suddenly it occurred to her, she was ready to talk to Nathan if he would listen to her. Slowly she got to her feet and walked back to the apartment.
"Nathan! I'm back," she called as she walked into the apartment a few minutes later.
"Hey baby. Listen, I'm so sorry for yelling at you like I did," Nathan greeted her with a smile.
"Nathan, I know I was upset and I yelled at you earlier but it hurt it so bad to think you don't trust me. You are the only person besides Lucas who was stood by my side through everything the past four and a half years. I was afraid that it was all a lie suddenly and I couldn't handle that. It made me worry that I was gonna lose you. Nathan I can't lose another person in my life. Especially you! You are my life, if something happens my whole life will end. I firmly believe if you were to leave me my heart would stop."
"Oh baby, I'm never gonna leave you. I love you and I only wanted to surprise you. Albeit in a way that I know you'd be opposed to. So I think I'm not gonna do it. I'll find another way to surprise you."
"Nathan I love you too but I don't want you to think you have to surprise me all the time. That's not what this relationship was built on and I would prefer that it stay that way."
Nathan grabbed Brooke's hands and leaned down placing a sweet kiss on her lips. She smiled as she returned the kiss. In that moment they knew everything was ok again. It was unrealistic to think that they would never fight but neither one of them thought that they could live without the other one. This fight had taken a lot out of Brooke. She hated to scream at Nathan but she couldn't help it, he had pushed way too far.
"There's something else I wanna show you," Nathan said as he broke the kiss.
"What's that?" Brooke asked smiling.
Nathan pulled Brooke into the bedroom and grabbed a piece of paper he had folded up and placed in his pillowcase. Smiling broadly he handed the piece of paper to Brooke. She opened it with deep curiosity. On it was a list of names that Nathan liked and wanted to consider for their baby.
Tayshaun, Adam, Taylor, Kaiden, Lindsay, Ashlee, Meagan, Shea. Names for Daddy's princess/big guy.
"Brooke? Are you ok?" Nathan asked as he watched her facial expression as she read the list.
"Perfect. Nathan these names are great. Sweetie when did you make this list?" Brooke replied.
"The day you told me you were pregnant. I went online and looked at some name sites and wrote down the ones I liked the most."
"Baby you hear that, Daddy was looking up ideas for names since day one. That's so sweet."
Nathan blushed. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so excited about anything in his life. The only thing he could think of was the moment his name was called during the NBA draft. And even that was only a close second to the day he found he was gonna be a father. Sometimes he still got scared and thought he wasn't cut out to be a father but then he looked at Brooke and knew that he didn't have to be scared because they would always be a team. That thought was enough to calm his nerves every time.
"I love you baby," Nathan said as he placed his hand on Brooke's stomach and rubbed it gently.
Brooke's heart melted as she watched Nathan interact with their unborn child that was growing inside of her. She couldn't believe she was ignorant to think she was gonna lose Nathan earlier in that day. The baby needed its father as much as she needed Nathan. Without Nathan she and the baby would be stuck. She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. Now was not the time to go there. She needed to focus on the days ahead of her. In a few short hours they would be boarding the plane to fly to New Jersey.
"I love you," Brooke whispered to Nathan.
"I love you too," Nathan replied.
"What time are we leaving for the airport?"
"We should leave in an hour. Do you have everything packed up?"
"Yup. We just need to take out the trash and turn our keys over to the super."
An hour later after the trash had been taken care of and the keys were turned in, Nathan and Brooke were standing side by side holding hands in front of the airport. They each squeezed the other's hand as they walked into the airport to close the door on one chapter of their life and open another chapter in their exciting lives.
Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting. I struggled with how to write this chapter but I hope you enjoy it. Maybe tonight I'll get a couple more done. If not, definitely tomorrow. Enjoy!