Chapter 3: Working it Out
"That was your daughter."
It had been over a minute and Nathan still hadn't said anything.
"Nathan, say something…please?" Haley said. She couldn't tell what the look on his face meant.
"I have a daughter?" he finally said.
"Yes, you have a daughter; I was pregnant when I left."
"I have a daughter and you never told me!" he yelled.
"I didn't know how you would react, if you would support me. I didn't want you to have to give up any of your dreams because I was pregnant and I didn't want to give her up."
"Haley I would have supported you, you know I never wanted to be anything like my father. I missed three years of my daughter's life because you never told me about her."
"I know that, and I'm sorry. It's not too late to be in her life, she's not old enough yet to realize that she is missing something."
"I want to know her and be in her life but I need one thing first?" he said seeming to soften up a little bit.
"Okay," Haley said unsure of what he would ask her for.
"What is her name?" he said almost laughing. Haley then realized she never even told him her name, she started laughing.
"Her name is Nathalie, Nathalie Michelle Scott."
"Okay, I think I'm ready now. Does she know anything about me?"
"No, I never mentioned you. She's in her room, I'll introduce you two." Haley led Nathan through the penthouse to Nathalie's room. The door was open and she was sitting at a small table coloring. Haley knocked on the open door, and Nathalie turned around.
"Mommy look, I colored in the lines of the bunny!"
"That's great sweetie, but there's someone here that wants to meet you."
"Is it him? Who are you?" she asked Nathan. He bent down to her level, kneeling on the floor.
"I'm your dad, Nathalie."
"I have a dad?" Nathalie said confused.
"Of course you have a dad, everyone does," Nathan said.
"Then why haven't I seen you before?" Nathalie asked.
"You haven't seen me because I was on a really long vacation," Nathan tried to explain in a way she would understand, "but I'm back now."
"Are you going to stay here with me and mommy?"
"No, but I'm going to come see you a lot," Nathan said, she looked sad.
"Why?" she asked.
"Come here," he said bringing her over to sit on his lap. "I am staying with some of my friends and soon I have to go on vacation again, but I will come and see you all the time, okay?"
"Okay," she said hugging her dad for the first time. Haley watched the scene in awe. Nathan was such a natural at being a father. He looked like he had known her for her whole life and loved her so much.
"I need to talk to your mom for a few minutes, so why don't you go back to drawing?"
"Okay, come back later?"
"Of course," he said going out into the hallway with Haley.
"You were really great with her," Haley said when they were back in the living room sitting on the couch.
"She's so adorable. She's beautiful, she looks just like you."
"She has your eyes. I'm sorry you had to find out about her like this."
"Me too, but it was better than never meeting her at all."
"What's going to happen now Nathan?" Haley asked.
"With what, Nathalie? When I go back to school I can come and visit her when I have time off, or maybe she could come stay with me sometimes."
"Okay, but I meant with us too?" she said hoping he would still not be mad at her.
"I think we should take things slow and see where it goes. We are still married, but I think for now we should just be friends, maybe a little more than friends."
"Okay, but do you want a divorce?" she asked 'please say no' she thought to herself.
"No, but we can't just go back to the way things were before. I forgive you for leaving, I know you had good reasons, I just still wish you would have told me. Do you want a divorce?"
"No, I want us to work up to being like we were before." As she finished talking, Nathan leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. It felt so good, the first kiss each of them had had since Haley left four years ago. It felt right.
A/N: There's the new chapter, I hope everyone liked it. I know Nathan would probably be pissed, but I wanted this to be different and I hate portraying people fighting for a while. Thanks for all the reviews and keep them coming for a new chapter!