Chapter Six
KAREN'S CAFÉ
Peyton and Brooke were seated at a booth in Karen's Café waiting for Haley to show up. "So, I guess you probably know about everything that's going on," Peyton said. Brooke looked at her.
"Such as?" she asked.
"The Nathan/Haley/Rachel thing," Peyton said. Brooke nodded.
"Oh, yeah. I must say when Nathan screws up, he screws up royally," Brooke said. Peyton frowned.
"Don't get me wrong. I know that what Nathan did was dumb, but it's not like he proposed to Rachel while he and Haley were together," she said.
"They were married, Peyton," Brooke reminded her.
"Yeah, but they were separated and just because Haley didn't date anyone else, it doesn't mean that Nathan had to do the same. Haley's the one who left him, not the other way around. I think she has a lot of nerve to be mad at him for something that happened when they weren't even together," Peyton said. Brooke's mouth dropped open.
"Gee, thanks for your support and understanding," Haley said from behind Peyton. Peyton swallowed hard.
"I'm sorry, Haley, but that's how I feel," Peyton said. Haley smirked as she sat down.
"Well, aside from the fact that it's none of your business, let me ask you a hypothetical question. How would you feel if Jake proposed to some girl while you two were separated?" Haley asked.
"I'd be hurt, sure, but I wouldn't take it as far as you are," Peyton said.
"And how far am I taking it?" Haley asked.
"Does Nathan know you're pregnant?" Peyton asked. Haley frowned at her. "I didn't think so," Peyton said. Haley felt her anger rising.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Haley asked, but she had a feeling she knew exactly what Peyton was insinuating.
"It's supposed to mean that you not telling Nathan you're pregnant just because you're mad at him for some stupid thing he did a long time ago is wrong," Peyton said. Haley laughed. She was tired of everyone assuming that.
"Okay, girl in need of a clue," Haley said, "It's not that Nathan proposed to her that I'm angry. It's that he didn't tell me about it when he brought up his past girlfriends. Even when he told me that Rachel was in town, he never told me. I had to find out from her." Peyton sighed.
"I would be hurt too, Haley, but that still doesn't excuse you not telling him that you're pregnant because you're mad at him," Peyton said. Haley slammed her fists on the table.
"That is not what I am doing!" she exclaimed. Brooke jumped at the force that Haley brought her fists down on the table. She didn't know Haley had that kind of strength.
Brooke was surprised that the table wasn't split in two. Brooke put her hand on Haley's forearm. Haley moved her hand away as she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Yes, I'm angry at Nathan and, yes, I am hurt. I have a right to be. But I'm not keeping my pregnancy from him to exact some sort of revenge. I'm not that vindictive," Haley said.
Brooke surprised even herself when she was the one to ask, "Then, why haven't you told him?" Haley looked at both of them.
"Neither one of you told your husbands that you were pregnant right away," she said.
"That's because I wanted to wait for a special occasion," Brooke said.
"Well, I wanted to surprise Jake with a romantic dinner both times. Funny. He never caught on when I was pregnant with Elizabeth even though I did the same thing when I was pregnant with Chris," Peyton said. Haley shook her head at them.
"I found out on Monday that I was pregnant. Rachel didn't come to town until Wednesday. I was planning to tell Nathan today since before Rachel showed up because I thought it would be nice to have the weekend," Haley said. Peyton felt like such an idiot now.
"You wanted to surprise him?" Peyton asked. Haley nodded insistently.
"And, when he gets home today, we're going to talk about the whole Rachel thing and whether we get it sorted out or not, I'm still going to tell him that I'm pregnant," Haley said. Peyton smiled.
"Sorry?" she said. Haley laughed.
"It's ok," Haley said.
SIX HOURS LATER
Nathan got out of Jake's car and waved goodbye as he and Peyton headed home. He walked up the driveway, up the stairs and put the key in the lock. He opened the door and walked into the house and down the hall. "Haley!" he called.
"I'm in the kitchen," she replied. He sighed with relief. He walked into the kitchen to find Haley working on dinner.
"Can we talk now?" he asked. Haley dropped what she was doing. She turned the timer on and sat down at the kitchen table. He pulled a chair out and sat down beside her. Haley looked at him.
"I'm sorry," he said. Haley smirked.
"For what?" she asked.
"That I proposed to her. It was a stupid thing to do. I was in a bad place. My mom had to go to rehab again and my dad was, well, my dad. I was looking for someone to make me feel less lonely and she was the only one there and.." he said. Haley shook her head as she put her hand to his mouth.
"Stop, Nathan. You don't have to explain to me," she said. He looked at her in confusion. "I'm not mad that you proposed to Rachel. It hurts, yes, but at the time, we had been separated for more than two years and that's because of something that I did, so I have no right to be mad at you for moving on, even if it was a little premature," she said.
"So, you're not mad at me anymore?" he asked slowly. Haley didn't answer.
"Just let me finish. When you told me that you had dated Rachel, you told me that you dated for a few months and that things were never really serious between you two. Why did you lie?" she asked.
"I didn't lie. Things were never really that serious," he said.
"Nathan, you proposed to her!" Haley exclaimed.
"I proposed to who I thought Rachel was. At the time, I didn't know about all of her problems," he said.
"So, you took back what you said?" Haley asked.
"She turned me down. She said that we were too young to be thinking about marriage and there were still so many things she wanted to do before she got married," he said.
"So, if she hadn't said no, you might be married to her right now instead of married to me," she said.
"No," he said. "I was still married to you when I asked her. So, if she had said yes, I would've had to get a divorce from you or sign the annulment papers and if I had been faced with doing that, I know that I would've called off the whole thing. When I proposed to Rachel, it was a spur of the moment thing. I didn't have a ring, I had never even thought of proposing to her earlier that day. She just came into my dorm room and I was in a particular mood and, well, one thing led to another and I ended up proposing to her," he said.
"You mean like how you proposed to me out of nowhere?" Haley asked.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, that day we were fooling around and you just asked me to marry you. It was a 'spur of the moment' thing too," she said. He sighed.
"There's two differences," he said. Haley looked at him quizzically. "Well, the first one is that I loved you and the second one is that when I asked you, I meant it," he said. He put an open hand on the table. She smiled as she put her left hand on the one that he had put on the table. He closed his hand over hers and she stood up from the table while he gently tugged her closer to him. Haley sat down on his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He just held her close to him. "I never meant to hurt you. Believe me, that is the last thing that I ever wanted to do," he said as he lifted his head up to look at her. Haley grew serious all of a sudden.
"Nathan, there's something I have to tell you," she said. He looked at her in confusion.
"It sounds important," he said. She nodded.
"It is very important. This will change our lives forever," she said. He looked at her and he saw a little bit of fear in her eyes.
"Haley, are you sick?" he asked. Haley cracked a smile.
"What!" she asked, laughing.
"Do you have cancer or something?" he asked. Haley started laughing harder.
"No. Where on earth did you get that idea!" she asked, her eyes shining with amusement. He relaxed.
"I don't know. You tell me you have something life-changing to tell me and that it's very important. What am I supposed to think?" he replied.
"I'm not sick, Nathan," she said.
"Are you lying to me to protect me?" he asked. She shook her head as she cupped his cheek with her hand which made him look in her eyes.
"I'm pregnant," Haley said.
"Thank God," he said. Nathan sighed with relief. Haley scrunched her face in confusion.
"What?" she asked. Then, he processed what she said.
"Did you just say you're pregnant?" he asked. Haley nodded. Nathan smiled at her as he picked her up as he stood up. He held her tight against him as he kissed her.
"That's incredible!" he exclaimed. Haley threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to kiss him.
