You Can't Please Everyone (Chapter twenty-four)
Deb Scott walked into her son's hospital room and frowned when she saw his girlfriend, Haley James, sitting at his side. That was her place right now. Nathan was her son and if the papers said about her condition, she may have ruined his life. She placed flowers onto the counter and walked over to them. "Hi, Mom," he said. Deb smiled.
"Hi, Mrs. Scott," Haley said. Deb frowned at her and put her purse down on Nathan's bed.
"Haley, can you excuse us for a minute? I need to talk to my son for a few minutes," Deb said. Haley looked at her in confusion but nodded to her respectfully. When she was gone, Nathan turned to look at her in wonder.
"Mom, what's going on? You sound upset," Nathan asked. Deb sat down and took one of her son's hands and then put it down.
"I am upset. I found something out that was very disturbing to me," Deb said.
"What is it?" Nathan asked.
"Honey, I hate to be the one to tell you this but I have to because from what I walked in on, it's obvious that Haley hasn't," Deb said. Nathan smirked. He was pretty sure he knew what she was going to tell him. "She's done something horrible to you."
"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked, not entirely convinced he knew anymore.
"Nathan, Haley is pregnant," Deb said. Nathan looked at her in confusion.
"And?" he asked.
"Did you hear what I just said? Nathan, Haley is pregnant, with child, bun in the oven," Deb said. Nathan nodded. "How can you be so calm about this? When I found out, I almost had a panic attack. I thought that girl had some sense in her. I thought I could count on her to treat you fairly and not only is she seventeen and pregnant, but she didn't even tell you and now she's going to drag you down with her."
"Mom!" Nathan exclaimed. Deb stopped ranting and looked at him in amazement. Then it seemed to dawn on her.
"You already know, don't you?" she asked. Nathan nodded.
"Haley told me a few hours ago," he replied.
"And you're ok with this?" Deb asked flabbergasted.
"Well, I admit that I didn't plan on it happening, but, yeah, I'm ok with it," Nathan said. Deb just stared at him.
"Are you out of your mind? How can you be so nonchalant and cavalier about this? This is a baby we're talking about, Nathan. It's not like a basketball jersey or something or even a puppy. It's an actual human being that will depend upon you and Haley for everything," Deb exclaimed.
"I know that, Mom, but it's mine and Haley's baby. That's how I can be so calm about it," Nathan said.
"How could she do this to you? I was so wrong about her," Deb demanded. Just then, Haley walked in and looked at them.
"I heard shouting. Is everything all right?" Haley asked. Nathan winced as he saw his mother turn around and glare at Haley. He could tell that she was about to pounce on an unsuspecting Haley. She had just come into make sure they were all right and she was about to be attacked.
"How could you be so stupid, Haley?" Deb demanded. Haley looked at Nathan and then back at Deb. Her first reaction was surprise, but her anger at the sudden burst of anger from Deb was slowly mounting.
"Do I know what you're talking about?" Haley asked. Her voice was completely calm. Haley had this amazing ability to remain level-headed even in times when it was expected for a person to be emotional. Her tone had been tinged with annoyance and her basic no-nonsense attitude. She didn't take crap from people. If someone talked to her like his mom was, she would listen but she wouldn't be a doormat and he loved it about her.
"How could you let yourself get pregnant, ruining my son's life and, trust me on this, your own?" Deb asked. Haley's eyes narrowed and already Nathan could see her eyes blazing.
"First of all, it takes two. I didn't climb on top of myself and get pregnant. I had help. Second, I didn't let myself get pregnant. It happened. You of all people should understand that these things happen," Haley said. Deb glared at her.
"Mom, Haley and I are getting married," Nathan said. Deb looked at her son in astonishment.
"Excuse me?" Deb asked. Nathan explained what they had decided. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Mom," Nathan started but Deb held her hand up.
"You're not getting married, Nathan," Deb said. Haley and Nathan looked at each other.
"Mom, you can't stop me," Nathan said.
"Oh, that's where you're wrong. I sure as hell can. You need parents' permission to get married at your age, and while Haley's parents may be willing to give it to you which is enough said for their parenting skills right there, but I am not. And neither will your father," Deb said. Nathan looked at her in dismay. He looked at Haley, who was standing in the corner of the room. He could tell that she was struggling with her emotions right now.
"You can't do this to me," he said. Deb looked at him sympathetically.
"Nathan, you are going to thank me for this one day. You and Haley may be in love now, but love fades especially when you're seventeen. I'm laying down the law. Not only are you two not getting married, but you're not allowed to date anymore," Deb said. Nathan and Haley looked at each other in alarm.
"What!" They both exclaimed.
"I mean it. I will not let you tear down my son, Haley," Deb said, coming over and grabbing Haley by the arm.
"Mom, be careful. She's pregnant, remember?" Nathan said, trying to get up but his gut hurt too much for him to move. He couldn't stop Deb from pushing Haley out of the room.
Over the next few months, Haley and Nathan were kept apart. Nathan was still in the hospital recovering and Deb had forbid Haley to set within ten feet of his hospital room. She had even gone as far as to put a restraining order to prevent Haley from seeing Nathan. At first, Nathan and Haley ignored Deb's rules and interfering but after the restraining order was put into place, Nathan told Haley to keep her distance until his mom cooled down. But Deb never did. She remained adamant about keeping Nathan and Haley apart.
Three months later…
Haley walked out of the doctor's office and got into her car and sat there for a few minutes as she let the tears fall. She had just gone to her second sonogram appointment and she stared at the picture of her and Nathan's daughter. She had just found out that they were going to have a girl. And Nathan had missed it.
She knew that it wasn't by choice, but part of her couldn't help but resent Nathan for not helping her through this. It was his baby too, after all and he had not been there. Then she felt a whole new kind of anger at his mother for driving them apart, putting her through the last few months and making her resent Nathan. She put her car into gear and drove away.
She pulled into the school parking lot and grabbed her book bag and carried the rest of her books in her arms. She had been taking some night courses to make up for the time she would soon need to take off from school when the baby would be born. She had always taken extra courses in summer school so she was pretty far ahead compared to others in her grade. She saw the familiar faces of Peyton and Brooke walking towards Lucas, Jake and Tim and Haley longed to go over there to ask them how Nathan was but thought better of it and headed toward the tutoring centre. She had not only cut herself off from Nathan, but her friends too since they were his as well. She could revert back to who she had been before just until Deb cooled down, if that ever happened.
Nathan got out of Lucas' car and sighed as he saw the school. "One good thing about getting shot was that I never had to come here," he said. Lucas smirked and sighed.
"Please. You were bored out of your mind at the hospital and you know you're not here just for school," Lucas said. Nathan looked at him in confusion. "You came to see Haley, Nate. I know that even if you don't." Nathan shook his head.
"No way, Luke. I mean, yeah, of course I want to see her. I haven't seen her in months and I miss her like you can't even believe but with my mom, I figure she has warned the staff," Nathan said. Lucas nodded.
"Don't get me wrong. I love Aunt Deb, but I just think that what she's doing is wrong. Forget about what she's doing to you, which is bad. But what about what she's doing to Haley?" Lucas asked. Nathan nodded. "I mean, she was pregnant with you around Haley's age and Dan stuck by her by choice and she took that for granted. That doesn't happen all the time. And now she's not letting you stick by Haley."
"How is Haley?" Nathan asked. Lucas shrugged.
"I've seen her around, but I haven't actually really spoken to her. She doesn't really talk to us anymore," Lucas said.
"She's just trying to make things easier on all of us," Nathan said, feeling even worse about what she was going through. She was being put through the wringer and yet she still had a good enough heart not to drag their friends in the middle of it.
"From what I've seen of her, though, she's doing all right. She seems a little lonely, but she looks fine, if you're worried about her and the baby," Lucas said.
"I'm sure she would've told you if something were wrong," Peyton said, coming over and hugging Nathan. "Welcome back." Nathan smirked at Peyton.
"Look, I got to get to Brooke's locker. Apparently, she has something to show me," Lucas said.
"I'll walk him to his locker and meet you in the cafeteria," Peyton said, giggling as Nathan glared at her. They continued walking and Nathan put some things in his locker and grabbed other things. Then they walked towards the cafeteria. "Dude, we've got to stop by the tutoring centre," Peyton said.
"Why?" Nathan asked.
"I need to talk to my tutor," Peyton said, as if it were the dumbest question.
"You have a tutor?" Nathan asked in disbelief mixed with amusement. Peyton nodded. "Why?"
"Because math and I are not the best of friends and my tutor's like a math whiz," Peyton said. Nathan cracked up and followed her to the tutoring centre. Peyton walked in and went up to a guy and they started chatting. Nathan leaned against the door and then felt like an idiot so he walked in. That's when he saw her.
Her hair was longer, her skin shone with a sort of glow now and she had gained a little weight to her stomach and he felt a burst of happiness as he realized that it was their child changing her like this. Then she turned around from the conversation she had been carrying on with a girl that was a year or so younger and froze. He smiled at her and she got up from her chair and walked over to him. "Hi," she said. He smiled.
"Hey," he said. They stood there staring at each other for a minute and then Haley took a step forward and threw herself to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. At first, Nathan was caught off guard but then he pulled his arms around her back and pulled her closer and tightened his arms around her. He could feel her soft crying. Then she pulled back and looked up at him.
"I missed you," she said. Nathan smiled.
"I missed you too," he said. "Both of you." Haley reached up and ran her hand across his cheek as she leaned up and kissed him. Meanwhile, Peyton was over at another table with Mouth and was smiling at the moment Haley and Nathan were sharing.
"You're a good friend to have brought them together again," Mouth said. Peyton nodded.
"And thank you for helping me do it," Peyton said, slapping Mouth a high five for a job well done.
"I still can't believe Nathan thought you needed at tutor," Mouth said.
"I can't believe he thought you were my tutor," Peyton said and they both laughed.