***In honor of Christmas coming up, I have decided to write a Haven themed Christmas story depicting how the town has been fairing a year after the troubles have ended and I have also decided to include baby James as almost any fan is in love with the idea of Audrey and Nathan having a baby. I had some help from a fellow Haven fanfiction writer by the screenname of badly-knitted as she helped me come up with some of the plot idea.***
**For those of you who are interested in finding out what happened to the previous story I had uploaded on the tenth only to delete it from my account two days later...there were some issues being brought up about the content rating and let's just say that I deleted the story from this account in order to avoid losing my account. Don't worry...it will come back online at some point...on another writing platform that I am quite sure most of you guys are aware of and to those who aren't...the story will return online on a platform by the name of Archive of Our Own or AO3. That is, as soon as my request to join gets accepted.**
*Disclaimer: I don't own Haven or it's characters as all rights to the show belong to HAVEN and it's producers as well as SyFy and Stephen King...so please don't sue me as you might not get much from me in the lawsuit.*
Christmas In A Post-Troubled Haven
It had been months since the troubles had left Haven and brought Audrey back into Nathan's life with the added surprise of the company of a baby in tow that Nathan hadn't even known she was pregnant with when she initially had gone inside the new barn. To say that he was surprised to learn that Audrey had carried and given birth to their son while inside the barn during the time that Vince was figuring out how to allow her to come back to Haven was the ultimate understatement of his life, to say the least, as he immediately took to fatherhood the moment he had found out that James's was indeed his son.
Although, it wasn't like he hadn't been helping her out before with raising James in the days leading up to him discovering the truth after she had regained her memory and decided to be the woman that he had loved before she had gone into the armory with Croatoan and Vince. It had been a year since all of that had happened and they were now enjoying life as a couple in love raising a infant who was now a year old who was about to experiance his first Christmas.
Inside the cozy home that Audrey and Nathan shared with James as a family for over a year since coming back from the barn, they were busy decorating for the holiday as Audrey sifted through the box of old Christmas decorations up in the attic while Nathan held James in his arms as he pointed out the shiny ornaments placed upon the tree while James babbled nonsense towards his dad.
"Are you excited for Christmas, James?" Nathan asked, in a baby voice as he looked adoringly into blue eyes that reminded him fondly of Audrey as he caressed cheek bones of his son's face and marveled at the mixture of how much he looked like both he and Audrey.
'Sometimes...as I look into James's face...I often wonder how lucky I am to be able to have the love of my life back with me along with my son.' Nathan thought, warmly as he watched James coo at him and play with a stuffed tiger in hands.
"He is still too young to remember what Christmas is...Nathan." Audrey stated, giving Nathan and James a warm smile as she walked by them carrying a box marked "Wournos Family Christmas Decorations".
Nathan smirked as he watched her gently set down the box on the sofa infront of her before making her way over towards the both of them to simply glance at them fondly before she began to hear James fuss a bit in Nathan's arms.
"He's probably hungry..." Audrey stated, preparing to make a move to go towards the kitchen to warm up a bottle of breastmilk she recently begin storing after she made the decision to wean James off breastfeeding before Nathan quickly stopped her by transfering a now crying James into her arms.
"I'll go warm up the bottle..." Nathan replied, pressing a soft kiss to Audrey's smiling lips before pressing one ontop of James's forehead as he made his way over to the kitchen in search for the bottle of breastmilk kept in the refridgerator.
While Nathan busied himself with reheating the bottle to the correct temperature, Audrey attempted to soothe James cries by bouncing him up and down as she kept him as close to her as she possibly could as she heard the sound of the microwave going off and the sight of Nathan carefully taking the bottle out to test the temperature of the bottle against the inside of his wrist.
Once he was satisfied with the temperature of the milk, he quickly made his way over to where Audrey had managed to calm James down a little to where he was almost quiet when Nathan finally made it over with the bottle in hand as he gently offered the bottle to James's outstretched hands while he watched in awe at the way James immediately attached his lips to the top of the bottle and began drinking.
"There you go...little man." Nathan murmured, running a hand along the soft head of hair similar to his own as he placed a soft kiss on the crown of James's head before looking up to meet Audrey's eyes as they stared into his.
"I remember I was almost four months pregnant whenever I discovered I was having James and Vince had asked me whether or not I wanted to keep the baby or put it up for adoption...he stated that he would support and help me through whatever I had decided...I decided to keep James as soon as I discovered that I was carrying a boy. I thought it was fate giving us another chance at being a family again after our first son was taken away from us so harshly. The moment I laid eyes on him as soon as Vince placed him in my arms...I remembered his facial features reminded me so much of you and I just couldn't wait to come back to you...only Vince encouraged me to wait a full month in order to recover from giving birth." Audrey replied, as she took a long gaze down at the bundle of joy in her arms whom was staring back up at her with a set of bright cerulean blue eyes that matched hers perfectly.
"How is it that you were pregnant those last few weeks in Haven during the troubles and neither you nor I were able to notice anything was different with you? I mean...we were around one another a lot during that time and I thought your crying jags was just leftover grieving from when we lost your mother...it never occurred to me that you could have been pregnant." Nathan stated, still wondering why they never realized that they were having James in the following weeks that Haven was still dealing with the troubles.
"Nathan...I kind of came to the conclusion a while back that we shouldn't blame ourselves for not knowing something that I was pretty sure was bound to occur at some point between us in the near future after the troubles left Haven...and besides...the usual signs of pregnancy could have been confused with stress that came along with trying to end the troubles." Audrey replied, attempting to soothe Nathan's worries about James's well-being during that time.
"I know...Audrey...I know...it is just sometimes I wonder whether we caused any harm to James unknowingly while he was in the womb." Nathan stated, his voice slightly etched with worry as he laid a protective hand on James's head.
"James came out as healthy as you could expect from a baby who you didn't even know you were having until you were almost in your second trimester...he was born 7 lbs and 9 ounces...and he came out wailing like someone had stolen his candy." Audrey replied, ending off on an amused laugh as she was hit with the memory of James's birth and watched as Nathan's eyes changed from a worried expression to an amused look.
"Oh really..." Nathan replied, gingerly grabbing ahold of James in his outstretched arms after motioning for Audrey to hand him over as he ignored the plastic baby bottle that slipped out of James mouth as Audrey handed James over to Nathan.
"Yeah...I think he loves you the most as he can't stop smiling whenever he sees you...I mean...he smiles whenever he sees me but he does it overtime when he sees you." Audrey states, smiling as she dropped down to pick up the discarded empty bottle that once held milk before moving to drop it in the sink to be washed and rinsed later.
"I think that is because he knows that I am his daddy and that daddy would do anything to make little James and his mommy happy." Nathan babbled, in the baby voice that used to be cringy for Audrey to hear but was now soothing and fun to hear Nathan as he went loose with his baby speech.
"Boy...if Duke were here...he would probably be filming you and viewing this one day at our wedding or some other event that includes us." Audrey stated, laughing as she quickly placed a towel over Nathan's right shoulder as Nathan procceeded to burp James.
"Speaking of Duke...shouldn't we probably begin heading over to the Gull for Duke's holiday party that he invited all three of us to?" Nathan replied, feeling as James let out a burp against his shoulder and watching as Audrey glanced up at the clock to see what time it was.
"You'll strap James into his car seat in the Bronco and I'll pack his baby bag to take with us?" Audrey asked, already making her way to the nursery room to pack the bag while Nathan searched for their coats.
"Got it." Nathan replied, nodding affirmatively as he grabbed James's coat and put it on James's squirming body as he shrugged into his own before grabbing the keys to the Bronco as he juggled James in his arms until he got to the passenger side where he unlocked the door and pushed the back of the seat forward and strapped James into his car seat.
Audrey was making her way outside of the house and locking it behind her just as Nathan was pushing the back of the passenger seat back into place and smiled as Nathan kept the passenger door open in order to help up into the Bronco. The moment she was inside the car, she cranked up the truck's finicky heater as far as it would go as Nathan shut the door and made his way over to the driver's side as she buckled herself in.
"Everyone ready to go to the Gull?" Nathan asked, shutting the door and buckling up as he inserted the key into the ignition and prepared to drive out of their driveway and on the route to the Gull.
"Ready." Audrey replied, turning back behind her seat to catch James snoozing in his car seat as Nathan started pulling out of their driveway while she placed James's baby bag on the ground in front of her feet.
***Haven***
The Gull was already hopping with people drinking and dancing as well as socializing by the time Audrey and Nathan had made it to the newly fixed two-story resturant/bar with a sleeping James in tow, they were greeted by Duke as soon as Nathan had parked in a parking space near the entrance as Duke stood near the driver's side and waited paitently as Nathan placed the Bronco in park before opening the door.
"Seasons greetings...Audrey and Nathan...and how is little baby Wournos doing?" Duke replied, warmly as he each gave them a complimentary wrapped Christmas present courtesy of the Gull.
"Merry Christmas...Duke." Nathan replied, with a genuine smile across his face as he allowed Audrey to set her gift on top of his so that she could get out of the car and help James out of the car seat behind her.
Duke could hear the sound of Audrey cooing towards James as she undid the straps securing him to the seat and picked him out and carried him out of the car in Duke's line of sight where he giggled happily as soon as he saw Duke. As soon as he saw Duke, he immediately made a motion of hands to let the adults know he wanted to Duke to hold him as Audrey made her way over to give him to Duke who happily accepted him in his arms.
"Why...hello there...James!" Duke replied, happily as he quickly situated James to rest above his hip as he bounced him up and down while James giggled in response.
"Be careful Duke...he ate not too long ago..." Audrey stated, warning Duke as she watched him bounce James up and down.
Duke looked over to smile warmly at Audrey and noticed that she was wearing something on her left ring finger and glanced over towards Nathan who was busy taking out the baby bag Audrey had placed in the passenger's side of the Bronco.
"James...what is mommy wearing on her left ring finger? Did your daddy finally propose to mommy?" Duke asked, in a baby voice as he gestured towards the ring on Audrey's left hand to James who babbled incoherent nonsense as he begin drooling.
"Um...yeah. He proposed to me last night over dinner that he had been preparing while I was busy at the office finishing up the last of the paperwork...he claimed that he wasn't able to wait until Christmas morning." Audrey replied, a smile beaming on her face as she brought her hand up in front of her to display the medium sized diamond ring resting on her finger for Duke to see.
"Well...your daddy did a very nice job in picking out mommy's engagement ring." Duke gushed, while nodding appraisingly at the ring from afar as Nathan playfully rolled his eyes while locking the Bronco up.
Duke was about to snicker at Nathan's reaction when his nose suddenly started picking up the distinct smell of a completely rancid odor and gagged when he realized the smell was coming from James's diaper. Instantly, he quickly motioned using James's body for either Audrey or Nathan to take care of James and sighed mentally in relief as Audrey gently grabbed a hold of James from Duke's hands.
"Let me guess...little James is in need of a fresh diaper change and Uncle Duke doesn't do diaper changes?" Audrey stated, completely amused as she positioned James above her hip and grabbed a hold of the outstretched bag that Nathan was handing her.
"Hey...Uncle Duke is willing to play with your kids but don't expect him to change their smelly diapers because that just isn't my strong suit..." Duke stated, putting both his hands up in a "don't judge me" gesture while making his way in front of them in the direction of the Gull's entrance.
"Hmm...something tells me that I will feel bad for Jennifer whenever she becomes pregnant with your child at some point in the future." Nathan teased, good-naturedly as he saw Duke stop in his tracks and turn back around and face both Audrey and Nathan with suspicious eyes.
"Did Jennifer say that she was pregnant?" Duke asked, starting to sweat from nervousness despite the fact that it was extremely cold and snowing around them as they continued to stand near the resturant's entrance.
"Well...is she?" Audrey asked, curious as she continued holding James to her body as she proceeded to make her way into the resturant with Nathan following behind her.
Duke didn't say much in response as he followed the both of them into the resturant and went to order their usual drinks as soon as he made his way behind the bar while he watched Nathan secure him and Audrey a table at the same time that Audrey went in the direction of the ladies restroom with James and the baby bag in tow.
***Haven***
"So...is Jennifer pregnant?" Audrey asked, sitting down right next to Nathan as she unknowingly interrupted a conversation between Duke and Nathan as they sat nursing their beers.
Nathan started patting Duke's back after he started choking on the beer he was sipping on due to getting surprised by Audrey's abrupt appearance at the table as well as what she had just blurted out.
"Um...she and I were actually going to tell you guys about that next month when we got back from our trip to Nebraska. But...yeah...Jen is definitely having my baby." Duke stated, nervously twirling the beer bottle in his hand as he looked down at the table in front of him.
"Are you telling us that you and Jennifer are planning on visiting Jean? Have you told Beatrice about this?" Audrey asked, at the same time, her eyes keeping track of James who was being watched by Laverne and Dwight's daughter Lizzie.
"Yes and yes...I figured that right now is as good a time as any to come for a visit and I did call her parents to let them know who I was and to ask if it would be okay for me to visit Jean...they said it was alright as long as I didn't try to confuse her too much of who I really am in regards to her." Duke stated, nervously taking a deep swig of his beer while Audrey and Nathan glanced at him concerned etched on their faces.
"Duke...are you nervous about having another kid?" Audrey asked, watching as Duke fiddled with the label on the bottle.
"Before the troubles ended...I had refrained from getting Jennifer pregnant due to the fact that I wasn't interested in passing down my family's curse...but now that the troubles are finally over...I am still nervous as ever to have another kid again because I feel like I might screw it up like my father did with me." Duke stated, setting his beer down to put his head in his hands briefly before scrubbing both of his hands across his face.
"Duke...you're going to do fine as a father to Jennifer's baby...you two are going to be the best parents ever." Audrey replied, rubbing on top of Duke's free hand in a soothing reassuring manner.
"Audrey's right, Duke. I mean...I didn't think I was ready to be a father to James after the troubles had ended but now...I wouldn't give my son up for anything in the world. Not even if a serial killer asked me to...I would rather die than give him or his mother up." Nathan replied, giving Audrey a sweet little smile as he tuck her body into his side.
"Not something I would want to hear but...thanks...I guess..." Audrey murmured, as she forced herself to smile at him even as she attempted to ignore thoughts about him dying infront of her and their son.
"Nathan...compared to me...you two weren't even aware that you guys were having a child until Audrey came back with James in a car seat." Duke replied, gesturing to the two of them in regards to James.
"Um...speaking of our son...where is he?" Nathan asked, curious even as his tone of voice took on a slightly worried tone.
"He is with Laverne and Lizzie...uh...Laverne ambushed me outside the restroom after I had gotten done changing James's diaper...stated and I quote 'why don't you let Auntie Laverne take care of the little one here while mommy and daddy go have some adult holiday fun.' and wouldn't take no for an answer." Audrey replied, not being able to suppress a grin while talking.
"That is Laverne for you...always willing to watch over the young ones while the parents have fun without the worry over what the kids are doing in their parents absence." Nathan stated, smiling as he followed Audrey's sightline to where she was currently watching Laverne and Lizzie playing ball with James who seemed to be enjoying it.
"Well...I should probably get back to the bar and make sure that my new bartender isn't having that hard of a time with making the drinks...stay as long as you guys like and please enjoy yourselves." Duke stated, waving to them as he was getting up and preparing to walk over to the bar area where he would relieve the new bartender.
***Haven***
Audrey and Nathan stayed a couple more hours at the party socializing with some of their coworkers as well as people around town before eventually deciding that it was time to leave as they went around in search for Laverne and James whom they found at the brand new play area.
"Uh...Laverne...Audrey and I are leaving and were wondering if we could..." Nathan stated, before being cutoff by Laverne who smiled sweetly at him with an understanding look on her face as she got James ready to leave while Nathan went in search for James's coat.
"Say no more...hun. This little guy of yours really is a sweetheart...it seems like he has inherited his daddy's good manners..." Laverne stated, lightly pinching James's cheeks as he cooed in response while Audrey moved to steady him while Nathan came back to help James into his winter coat.
"Did you hear that, James? She says you're sweet like your daddy here. Ready to go home?" Audrey gushed, pushing James up with her leg to hold him up above her hip as she encircled an arm around his waist securely.
"Thank you Laverne...would you be willing to watch over James during mine and Audrey's honeymoon in late June?" Nathan asked, looking at Laverne hopefully as her expression turned from happy to shocked and excited.
"You guys are getting married?! When did he propose? When is the wedding? Am I the first to know about this?" Laverne asked, excitement filling her voice as she begin processing the news.
"Yes...we're getting married...he proposed yesterday and the wedding is scheduled for mid June...also Duke knew before you did." Audrey replied, amusement filling her voice as she put her hand out to show Laverne the ring.
"Oh..what a beauty that is...but why set the wedding six months from now...knowing you guys...I would have thought that you would want to get married sooner than that." Laverne replied, gently taking a hold of Audrey's hand to examine the ring.
"I want to marry Audrey on the anniversary of the first day I met her in Haven..." Nathan stated, wrapping an arm smoothly around both Audrey and James as he tucked them both close to him before pressing a soft kiss to the crown of Audrey's head.
"Aw...how romantic..it reminds me of my Alvin and I...we were so much in love...god rest his soul." Laverne stated, letting go of Audrey's hand to rest her right hand against her heart.
"Well...Nathan and I better get this little guy home and into bed or else we will be dealing with a very cranky one year old tonight." Audrey stated, as she watched James begin to yawn as if on cue.
"Well...I will let you three go on home...please be safe out on the road tonight...and to answer your earlier question...Nathan...I would be delighted to watch over James while you two are on your honeymoon." Laverne stated, beginning to wave goodbye to them as Audrey used her free hand to wave goodbye back to Laverne before turning around to head to the exit.
"Will do and Merry Christmas!" Nathan yelled, as they reached the door and heard Laverne call back the same as he opened the door and allowed Audrey to walk out first before digging into his back pocket to grab his keys to the Bronco to unlock it.
Once the passenger side door was unlocked, Nathan quickly helped Audrey push the back of the passenger seat forward so that she could strap James into his car seat before putting the seat back in place and taking a seat as Nathan got into the driver's side. Audrey quickly buckled up and gestured for Nathan to do the same as she felt him pull slowly out of the driveway of the parking lot.
As they slowly departed the entrance to the Gull's parking lot, fat batches of snow proceeded to fill up the space that Nathan's Bronco left before blanketing the deck of what was once Audrey's upstairs apartment, which lay undisturbed since she had moved out months prior.
This had definitely been a Christmas to remember in a post-troubled Haven.
***I hope you guys liked this story and are willing to wait a while until the next story is published on because I will not be publishing a new story until the start of next year...instead I will be taking the time during the holiday break to rest up and come up with some brand new storylines for my Valentine's Day story and new stories. Until then...I wish all of you a Merry Christmas as well as a very prosperous New Year and that will be all until the new year.***
**I would love to thank my fellow writer friend on here if I haven't already thanked her: badly-knitted...if she hadn't encouraged me or helped me choose an idea for this prompt...I probably wouldn't have gotten around to start this story...so thank you.**
*See you guys in the new year!*
