The Storm After The Calm
Chapter One
Nathan walked into the kitchen of his and Haley's home. Haley was already busy at the stove. "Hey," he said, coming towards her and putting his arms around her waist. She smiled and leaned against him.
"Hey right back at you," she said.
"What are you making?" he asked.
"Eggs," she replied. Nathan smiled.
"You're such a good provider," he joked.
"That reminds me. The principal called to remind me of the music department's staff meeting so I won't be home until later on," she said. Nathan sighed. He hated it when they didn't come home together. "Is there a game today?" she asked as she plopped the eggs onto two plates and put them on the table.
"No," he replied.
"I thought there was," she said.
"We rescheduled it. It's on Monday instead," he explained. She nodded in understanding as she began to nibble on the breakfast. She made a face. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"The smell is making me a little nauseous," she replied.
"Are you getting sick or something?" he asked. They had eggs almost every week and this was the first time the smell had made her nauseous.
Haley scrunched her face as she said, "I better not be. I only have x amount of sick days and I'm not going to waste them for when I'm actually sick." Nathan laughed. Haley sighed as she got up and put the rest of the eggs in the garbage and began cleaning her plate. "I have to go in early. Can you get a ride with Lucas?" she asked. He smiled.
"Yeah. He's off on paternity leave, but I don't think he'll mind giving me a ride," he said.
"How is that affecting the team?" Haley asked as she put the dish in the dish strainer.
"Uh, not as bad as I thought. Jake is picking up the slack in his absence. Thank God I decided to hire two assistant coaches instead of one," he said. Haley laughed and nodded in agreement. "So, why do you have to go in early?" he asked.
"English Department staff meeting," she replied.
"Two staff meetings in one day?" he asked.
"Oh, it's not that big of a deal," she said. She walked out of the kitchen and began to put on her suit that Brooke had designed for her. Haley loved the fact that she had a fashion designer for one of her best friends. It made clothes shopping so much easier. And Brooke knew that Haley was pregnant so she was already designing some good maternity suits for her. She smiled as she put a hand on her stomach. She and Nathan would finally have a child soon. Haley had been a little envious when Peyton and Brooke had their kids. She was absolutely ecstatic when she went to the doctor a week ago and found out that she was a month pregnant. She knew Nathan was upset about the fact that she had to stay later today but she just shrugged it off. She was going to tell him about her pregnancy on Friday which was two days from now, so they'd have the weekend to celebrate all alone. She grabbed her shoulder bag, her keys and her purse and headed towards the front door, but Nathan grabbed her as she passed the kitchen. He brought her close to him and held her tightly as he gave her a kiss that made her rethink going to the staff meeting.
He finally let her go and said, "Just wanted to say goodbye for now. I'll see you at lunch?" She nodded as she headed out the door.
Nathan smiled as he watched Haley leave. When she shut the door, Nathan decided that he better get ready for basketball practice. He got dressed and grabbed his gym bag as well as his whistle. Never in a million years did he think he'd be using a whistle or be a coach like his mentor, Whitey Durham. He sighed as he remembered one of his conversations with Whitey.
Nathan had walked into Whitey's office and saw him packing up his stuff. "So, you're just going to quit, huh? Win 500 games and walk away?" Nathan asked. Whitey looked shocked.
"I did a little research in the library," he said, handing Whitey the list that he had dropped. It was of his life's goals.
"You were in the library? Temperature must have dropped in hell. I promised Camilla I'd win 500 games then walk away. We were going to grow old together," Whitey said.
Nathan smirked as he said, "You're already old, Coach. Besides, who's going to yell at me, huh?" Whitey shook his head as he put something in his box.
"I'm not supposed to yell at you, Nathan. You're supposed to learn things," he said.
"Yeah, but what fun would that be? You love yelling at me," Nathan said.
"I do not!" Whitey protested.
"Yes, you do. You love to yell at me and I love to make you yell," Nathan argued.
Whitey slammed his fist on the desk as he yelled, "Well, if you'd listen once in a while, you knucklehead!" Nathan raised his eyebrows and cracked a smile.
He grew serious and said, "You know, not many coaches win 500 games." Whitey nodded and threw his arms up in a gesture.
"No, not many high school coaches win 500 games. You know why? Cause they move up to the next level," he said as he pointed his finger up. "To carpeted locker rooms and air-conditioned buses and gamest that matter," he continued. Nathan shook his head.
"That's a bunch of crap, Coach, and you know it. These are the games that matter. They matter to the kids who are just trying to figure themselves out. Figure out who they're going to be. Look, the other day, you asked me if you've made a difference," Nathan said. He paused for dramatic effect. "Well, you have. At least with me," he finished.
He started to leave but Whitey said, "Son, at some point, you've got to do it on your own." Nathan turned around and nodded.
"Yeah, at some point. We both know I've got a long way to go, Coach. Just don't give up on me," Nathan said.
And Whitey never had given up on him. He even tried to help him when Haley left. He remembered Whitey saying, "Look, son, you took a big risk and admire you for that, but it's easy to be happy when things are going well. Marriage is about making it through, staying together even when things turn to crap. So, will you grow the hell up? You might not like Haley very much right now, but she's still your wife. And where I come from, that still means something. Whether you like it or not!" Nathan had been too angry and hurt to listen to Whitey at the time, but those words had a profound effect on him later. He lived by those words now when it came to his marriage. He smiled as he text Lucas to see if he would drive him to work, explaining that Haley had gone to work earlier. Ten minutes later, Lucas had replied, saying that he didn't mind. There was a knock at the door. Nathan was confused but went to answer the door. He was shocked when he saw who was on the other side.
"Hey, Nate," the girl said.
"Rachel," Nathan muttered.
"It's been a while, I know. But I still remember us like it was yesterday," she said.
"The 'us' you're talking about no longer exists. We were over the minute I came back to Tree Hill," he said.
Rachel twirled her blond hair as she said, "You mean after you changed your mind about us two minutes after you proposed to me?" There was a serious look in her green eyes that Nathan had never seen before and he took a deep breath.
