After a couple of hours of talking and laughing and Euchre, Deb and Aaron's guests decided to call it a night.
Deb, Aaron, Keith, Karen and Larry entered the living room, where Andrew was still playing video games and the younger kids had fallen asleep. James and Lilly were sleeping next to each other on the couch, James gripping his stuffed dog, Brady in his arms. Cooper and Emma were sleeping in the playpen by the couch.
"Wow, these kids party hard, don't they?" Keith said.
"They sure do." Deb agreed. "Andrew, honey, it's time to turn that off and get ready for bed."
"Okay." Andrew sighed before turning off the Play Station and running to the back of his grandparent"s house.
"I'd better get Emma home." Larry said as he lifted his sleeping granddaughter from the playpen. He grabbed her diaper bag and said thank you to Deb and Aaron before leaving.
"We should get Lilly home too, honey." Karen said to Keith as he picked her up from the couch.
Lilly woke up and lifted her head from Keith's shoulder and asked groggily, "Where's mommy?"
"She's still out, sweetie." Karen replied. "You're staying with us tonight, remember?"
Lilly did not reply, but simply closed her eyes as Karen picked up Lilly's pink sandals from the floor. At the same time, Aaron lifted James from the couch.
Deb chuckled and said, "Those poor kids are wiped. Honey, why don't you get James ready for bed and I'll take care of Cooper."
Aaron nodded before walking down the hall.
"I'll go get her buckled in the car." Keith said. "I'll meet you outside."
He pecked Karen's lips before heading outside.
"Well I'd better get out there." Karen said to Deb as the ymoved towards the door. "Thanks again for inviting us over. We had a great time."
"Oh, sure any time." Deb replied. "You guys are always welcome here. You're family."
"Thanks." Karen said as she opened the door. "That's how we feel too about you guys. I'll call you later. Goodnight."
"So did you have fun tonight Jenny?" Jake asked as he unlocked and pushed open the front door to the house.
"I had a blast!" Jenny said with a smile. "Thanks so much for taking me. I'm tired though. I'm going to go bed."
Jenny left the living room and headed down the hall to her bedroom. Peyton wrapped her arms around her husband and kissed his lips.
"So did you have a good time tonight, Mr. Jielgelski?" She asked before kissing his his neck romantically.
"You bet I did, Mrs. Jielgelski." Jake said with a big grin.
Peyton moved her lips to his again and they kissed even longer. After a minute, she stopped and asked, "So are you ready for bed yet?"
She smiled and gave him a romantic glare and Jake understood what she was really asking.
"Wow, you are really in the mood, aren't you?" He said.
"What can I say, it's these raging hormones. They're uncontrollable." Peyton kissed his neck again and moved up to his ear.
The ear whispering seemed to have convinced Jake because he said, "Really? Okay, let's go."
And Peyton took his hand and led him down to the bedroom and closed the door.
Haley left the bathroom after getting ready for bed. Nathan was already laying under the covers.
"Are you feeling any better?" He asked as Haley walked over to her side of the bed.
"Yeah, a little." Haley replied as she climbed under the covers. "I probably just need some rest."
"Yeah, probably."
Nathan stayed quiet a few minutes while he thought. He was really worried about Haley. He wished he could get her to talk to him about whatever it was that was keeping her from talking to him. he was really beginning to miss his wife. Was she still upset about what he had said about having another baby? Or was it something else?
"Haley?" Nathan said, looking over at her. she had her back faced to him.
"Huh?" Haley mumbled quietly.
"I'm sorry we haven't seriously talked in the last couple of weeks. I know it's probably because of what I said when you asked about having another baby. I really didn't mean to upset you when I said I didn't want us us to have anymore kids. it's just that…I'm scared, Haley." I'm still not sure if I want you to be pregnant again because I'm scared of losing you. But with you barely talking to me the last couple of weeks, I'm more scared that I've already lost you."
Haley had opened her eyes, but did not say anything as she continued to listen to what Nathan had to say.
"The point is Haley, "Nathan continued, "I really want you to feel like you can talk to me about anything and everything. Lately it seems like you've been trying to hide something and I want you to know that you don't have to do that. I don't want you to do that. I love you Haley, and when you feel like you're ready to talk to me like you used to again, I'll be here to listen."
Nathan waited and hoped for a response from his wife. He sighed when Haley gave none. He had hoped his telling her the truth about his feelings would encourage her to confess her feelings . Nathan kissed Haley's cheek softly before laying down on his pillow.
Tears fell from Haley's cheek as she waited to fall asleep. Why hadn't she just had the courage to say something to him then?
