A/N: Hello everyone, just popping in to remind everyone of their ages. All of them expect Clay and Rachel are 22. Rachel is 24, and Clay is 23. That's all! Oh, and the Jeyton wedding will be coming up really soon, and let's just there will be MAJOR DRAMA that goes down, you don't want to miss it! Thank you for all the reviews! Enjoy!
"Because it's only when you're tested that you truly discover who you are. And it's only when you're tested that you discover who you can be. The person that you want to be does exist, somewhere on the other side of hard work and faith, and in belief and beyond the heartache and fear of what life has."
– Lucas Scott
Chapter 18
February 15, 2007
Peyton overlooked the list as she sat across from Brooke and the very pregnant Rachel. "The three of us are doing all of this?"
"By 'the three of us,' I hope you mean you, Brooke, and Lucas," Rachel said before taking a piece of bread from the basket in front of her.
Peyton furrowed her eyebrows. "I just assumed you were helping us, too. I mean, you're here."
"Brooke just brought me along because everyone is nice to pregnant women and they usually let us cut the wait for a restaurant."
Brooke nodded. "I think it's something with not wanting her to go into labour or something," she answered. "Whatever. It works for me," she added with a shrug.
"Okay…" Peyton trailed off. She shook her head. "So we're going to do all of these things two days before the wedding?"
Brooke nodded. "Please. I need your help."
Peyton sighed but nodded. "Fine, I'll do it."
They both turned to look at Rachel. "So when are you due?"
Rachel thought about it for a moment. "Ten more days. Hopefully, the baby will be born by your wedding Peyton, because I don't want to go into labour at their wedding."
Brooke laughed. "What a way to steal the spotlight from Peyton and Jake," she agreed with a laugh.
"Not my idea of a fun night. But I guess then, Jake could never forget their anniversary."
Brooke thought of it. "Who do you think is going to be the first one to forget any important milestones for them, like their anniversary? Haley or Nathan?"
"Haley," Peyton answered.
"Nathan," Rachel said at the same time.
"Interesting. I don't think they'll forget at all," Brooke answered.
"I can just picture Haley getting really stressed out and forgetting all about it, and then Nathan would be so sweet and say that it's fine, so she has to make it up in a big way the next year," Peyton explained.
Rachel piped up. "Dean can't even remember what he had for breakfast yesterday. I won't be surprised if he forgets our anniversary. If Nathan is like Dean, then I'm going with Nathan," Rachel answered.
Haley paced back and forth in the room with the paintings nervously. The only sounds she heard were the sounds of her feet pacing the floor and her rapid heartbeat.
She looked at all of these paintings and scrutinized them all. Something just didn't feel right. She felt sick, from nerves, most likely.
Her OCD was certainly acting up, along with her anal-retentiveness, making it hard for her to ignore that something was off about all these paintings. She could've sworn they were in different places, looked different, or were in different colours. She faintly recognized them all, but at the same time…they were all foreign.
She stared at one particular painting.
"Haley?"
She stared at it for a moment more before turning away and exiting the room. She walked out to the kitchen and sat at the island.
"Are you okay? You've been acting like yourself and not at all these last few days I've been back," he said to her.
She thought about it. Well, at least someone else noticed it, too. "I don't know. I feel strange. It's kind of like…I'm here and I'm not. But I guess that's better than constantly stressing out over the wedding," she said dismissively.
"Do you feel sick? Besides whatever it is you're feeling, I mean."
She didn't answer. "I'm feeling sick to my stomach now, but it's nerves. Nathan, I promise I'm fine," she said dismissively before attempting to walk off.
She was trapped, however, in between his arms. "You know I can tell when you're lying. What's really wrong here?"
She sighed. "I'm sure nothing is wrong. I think I just need to go to sleep and see if I feel any better later."
Haley peeked out of the bedroom as she watched the front door close. She took a deep breath and exited the room. She was fairly sure Nathan hadn't forgotten anything, so she was free to speak. She picked up the phone and called the only person she really felt she trusted with this huge possible secret.
She dialled Brooke's number.
"Hello?"
Haley paused before responding. "Brooke?" she asked weakly. "I think I need to tell you something. It's important," she said simply.
Still, Brooke, being her best friend, could tell something was really pressing on Haley's mind.
"Okay. I'll be over as soon as I can."
"You don't have to rush, B," Haley insisted.
But Brooke knew something was up. She completely ignored Haley's pleas.
Brooke was over within half an hour. "What was so urgent that you needed to talk about?" Brooke asked as she sat down at the island in the kitchen.
Haley walked back and forth before going into the refrigerator. She took out the lemonade she had made about two days ago. "Do you want some?" she asked, avoiding the question.
Brooke glared at her. "Haley, you're not going to make me corner you and ask, are you? What was up with you before? And why are you acting so weird now?"
Haley bit her lip as she turned to get two glasses. "I don't know how to tell you this, Brooke," she said before setting down two blue-rimmed glasses.
"Just spit it out! You'll feel so much better once you have," she insisted.
Haley sighed. "I think I might be pregnant...again."
Brooke's eyes widened. Out of everything, Brooke wasn't expecting that. Cold feet, maybe. But pregnancy? That seemed totally off, though, in retrospect, it probably made more sense than cold feet.
"Have you talked to Nathan about this?"
Haley just shook her head. "I don't know how. I haven't taken a test or anything but I'm thinking with feeling so nauseous all the time and getting kind of moody…it makes sense," she answered
"You need to tell him what you think."
"But I'm scared about this. What if he decides this isn't what he wanted after all?"
Brooke gave Haley an unenthused look. "Hales, Nathan would want you, no matter what. A baby that's his, no less, wouldn't change anything," she reminded Haley.
Haley sighed. "You don't know that!"
"I know everything! You may be smart, but your logic and social skills are lower than Patrick Star's IQ. Listen; I will take you to the clinic. You should still tell him," the brunette insisted.
Haley sighed. She hated knowing she was wrong.
"Haley, I promise you, if you are carrying his child, he'll only love you more. Guys who aren't scumbags get so excited about stuff like this. I mean, you remember how Jake got after Peyton found out she was pregnant, right?" Brooke asked.
Haley sighed. "Yeah, I do. But what if…this wasn't what he agreed to? I mean, he knew he was marrying me. He wasn't really asking for an instant family. And honestly, what if I don't want to have a baby right away?"
"Do you think Peyton and Jake really wanted a baby? No. Anna was conceived by accident. But she's the best accident ever and look at how happy they are now," Brooke said.
Haley frowned. She didn't know how to answer. Brooke knew she had gotten Haley.
"So, when are we going?"
Haley sat anxiously in the office of her OB/GYN with Brooke. They had been waiting only about ten minutes for the result of the urine pregnancy test, but it might as well have been hours.
Finally, they heard the door open and both snapped up from their respective ways of calming their nerves.
"Well, you're definitely not pregnant," the doctor announced.
Haley let out a tiny sigh of relief, but part of her wondered if this was what she really wanted. Brooke just looked over at her friend.
"Was that the answer you wanted?" she asked.
Haley shrugged. She didn't know what the answer was at the moment.
The first five minutes of the car ride back to Haley's apartment was dead silence. Finally, Brooke broke the silence.
"Are you getting cold feet, Haley?" she inquired nervously.
Haley sighed. "I don't think so," she said. Her voice was still laced in uncertainty.
"Okay, Nathan is not Clay, Hales. He isn't going to betray you. Is that why you're so on-edge?"
The brunette just shook her head. "No, not really. I just don't really know how to feel about not being pregnant. On one hand, I'm relieved because it gives me and Nathan more time to be a couple before we turn into a family, but…"
"…But you still want more children," Brooke finished for her friend. "It's okay to want more children, Haley. You don't have to want it all now. If it were me, I'd wait until maybe one or two years into being married before trying to have any more kids. What's the rush? You're not even thirty let alone twenty-five yet, Haley."
Haley thought about it for a minute before nodding. "You know what, Brooke? You're right. I should just enjoy being with Jamie for now."
"Yeah, and maybe you're just feeling this way because you see Rachel and Dean and they look all happy and everything. Maybe you just have baby fever or something," Brooke suggested. "After all, weren't you the one who told me you weren't ready?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"For now, just enjoy the alone time you have with Nathan and Jamie. And besides, wouldn't you rather keep your little midnight romps secretive?"
"Obviously, they're not that secretive if you know about them."
Brooke rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. For now, practice baby-making must be a lot more thrilling for you than actual baby-making," she teased.
Haley just laughed and shook her head.
Haley led Brooke into the room with the blue walls and her own personal impressionistic paintings.
"Is it just me, or is something different about this room?" Haley asked as she looked around.
"God, Haley. I don't know! I don't take inventory in your paintings or whatever. Shouldn't you be doing that?" the brunette asked.
Haley pouted. "Something about these paintings is rubbing me the wrong way. I know something's off."
"If you ask me, your OCD is acting up and you should probably go back on the pill," Brooke said before exiting the room.
"What pill?"
"I don't know! Xanax or horse tranquillizers or whatever it is that makes you chill out? Like, I really thought you had ADD or ADHD when I met you. All of this stress is not going to be kind to your skin or your hair or eyes or anything for that matter. Peyton and Jake are getting married in less than two weeks and the last thing you need is to break out from stress. Just relax," Brooke said before taking a sip of wine.
Haley was about to dispute with that comment, but the door opened before she got the chance to. Lucas and Nathan walked into the apartment.
"Hey," Nathan said to both of them before kissing Haley on the cheek. "Where were the both of you all day? We tried calling you like ten times," he added.
"Hey, Nathan? Don't go all Haley on your girlfriend. Being paranoid and clingy when she feels like it is her thing," Brooke quipped.
Haley rolled her eyes and turned to Nathan and Lucas. "What happened?"
"Rachel had the baby," Lucas finally announced.
Both Haley and Brooke were taken by surprise.
Haley was the first to speak. "Really? Did you guys just go to see her?"
Lucas shook his head. "No. Dean told us that she's in a lot of pain right now and doesn't really want to see anyone, but she'll be out of the hospital by next week and she'll be fine by the wedding, he hopes."
Haley furrowed her eyebrows in concern. "Next week? They usually discharge mothers after like two or three days at least that's what happened in my case. What happened?"
"She started bleeding a lot. The doctors said something happened to her placenta—"
"Placental abruption?" Haley interrupted. "It's something that causes a woman to bleed a lot and it can be really serious," she elaborated.
Nathan gave Haley an odd look before going on. "Dean didn't tell us everything, but we just know he's pretty worried and kind of wanted some space," Nathan answered. "I think he said they might need to give her a blood transfusion or something, so I guess it's serious."
"Oh my God," Brooke uttered in shock.
Haley frowned. "Do you think he'll be okay to talk later?"
"Maybe not, but I'm sure Rachel will. And at this point, it doesn't look like Dean is planning on leaving her side for the time being," Nathan added.
Haley laid in bed with her black silk robe on. She grabbed her phone off the bedside table to call Dean.
"Hello?"
She winced. "Dean, you sound exhausted. Are you at the hospital?" Haley asked gently. Nathan, who had gotten out of the shower about ten minutes prior, walked in and slid next to Haley. He immediately took an interest in this conversation. Haley quickly brought the phone away from her ear and put it on speaker so he could hear.
"Yeah, I'm here. Rachel is right next to me."
They both heard faint mumbling on Dean's end of the line, with him responding something they couldn't quite make out.
"She…she wants to talk to you," he said finally.
"Hey, Hales," Rachel said. She sounded like her old self, but with a bit less energy.
"Hey, Rachel. Are you feeling okay?" Haley inquired nervously.
She scoffed. "Yes. I promise I'm fine. Just because my name is Rachel doesn't mean that I'm made of glass…contrary to what my husband thinks," she insisted. "Whatever lies he told you to make you pity me, I'm sure they aren't true."
"So you didn't need a blood transfusion?" Haley asked.
"No. Though, the doctor did look like he was wearing a lot of blood after delivering the baby," she commented.
"How is the baby?" Nathan asked finally.
Rachel gave a small sigh of happiness. "She is doing perfectly fine. They had to take her to the NICU because they thought there may have been some complications or an infection, but the doctor told me that she's doing well and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her."
Haley couldn't help but smile at the happiness in Rachel's voice. "So it's a girl then? Did you name her yet?" she asked excitedly.
"No, not yet. She's supposed to get out of the NICU in a little bit and then we can name her. And don't listen to Dean; the doctor said that I look fine and should be discharged within two days; three at the very most," she promised.
"Can I hold her? Can I hold her? Can I hold her?" Brooke asked excitedly at a million miles per minute.
Rachel laughed. "I don't know, Brooke. Are you going to lick her face and start chewing up the shoes?" she joked.
Brooke shook her head. Her brown eyes pleaded with Rachel.
Rachel finally caved and allowed Brooke to hold her baby.
Haley walked over to the table, putting down the small snacks she brought over for Rachel, Brooke, and herself.
"Look at you, Suzy Homemaker," Rachel commented jokingly as Brooke fawned all over the baby.
"Not yet, but I will be," she retorted. "You didn't introduce me!" she exclaimed as she tried to catch a peek at the baby.
"Her name is Delilah," Rachel said as she watched Brooke with Delilah. "You know, out of everyone, Brooke was not the one I expected to be so good with children," she added.
Haley laughed. "Let me see her, Brooke."
Brooke slowly (and reluctantly) gave the little girl to Haley. "Don't drop her!" Brooke said protectively.
"You're telling me not to drop her the woman who's had a baby before Brooke,"
Haley just brushed her off before looking down at the little girl. She had light brown hair and large hazel eyes, nearly the same as Rachel. "She's adorable, Rach."
"You should've seen her sleeping in the hospital. I swear, Dean almost started to cry," Rachel told them.
"He's such a teddy bear," Brooke commented. Rachel just laughed.
"I know he's going to cave when she gets older and asks him for anything. I don't blame him; I probably will, too," Rachel said as she looked at her daughter.
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! What are we doing?" Anna asked as Peyton carried her.
"We're going to help Uncle Toby look for a little dog, Anna," Peyton explained.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! Can we have doggy?" Anna asked excitedly, looking over at Jake.
"Maybe. That's something me and Mommy need to talk about," Jake answered.
"Uncle Nathan! Uncle Nathan! Can I have doggy?" Anna asked, turning to Nathan, her last glimmer of hope.
"You'll have to ask Mommy and Daddy, Anna," he answered.
Anna pouted before putting her head on Peyton's shoulder. "Mommy, I want doggy," she mumbled into Peyton's neck.
"Maybe another time," she said.
Anna just pouted some more. "I want doggy…" she mumbled.
The shelter director-led Nathan, Jake, Peyton, and Anna over to a section where there were some dogs. Some were older, others were younger. Some were fluffier and better groomed, others more scraggly-looking.
Peyton put Anna down and held her by the hand so she wouldn't run off and bother all the poor animals.
"We actually have a group of puppies someone reported that just came here two days ago from the animal hospital. The person who reported them to the animal hospital found them, abandoned in an alleyway in Tree Hill. The poor things. He was shocked when he saw that they were all alive. Malnourished, but they were alive," she said before bringing them to one specific cage. There were seven little puppies.
"It was a big litter," the girl explained before opening the cage. "They're bichon frise and they're all very friendly. They're great family pets," she added.
There was one auburn coloured puppy which was sleeping in the corner, with a bigger black puppy lying right beside it. There were two grey puppies and a white puppy playing with each other. They were passing around a little toy ball amongst themselves. And then, there were two cream-coloured puppies who were playing around with each other.
"None of them have names. The auburn and the black are both girls. This little grey one is a girl, and one of those cream-coloured puppies is a boy and so are the rest," she said.
The cream-coloured puppy came trotting over to Anna, who looked quite excited to see them.
"Those two are best friends. The girl looks out for her little brother; he was the smallest one of them all. He was probably in the worst shape when the hospital got them, but he's in perfectly good shape now. I'd hate to break the two of them up, though," she thought aloud.
The tiny little male puppy bumped into Anna, who giggled as it began to sniff her.
"Mommy! He likes me!" she exclaimed happily.
Peyton looked over at Jake. They were torn on what to do about this little puppy.
Meanwhile, Nathan kneeled down to where Anna was sitting. The puppy's older sister walked over curiously to him. She began to nudge him to pet her. As he began to stroke the girl's soft coat, she began to purr. When he pulled away, she barked in discontent before nudging him again.
"I think she likes you," the girl commented.
"Mommy, Daddy, Mommy! Can we keep him?" Anna asked as she looked at the cute puppy. Somehow, they couldn't find it in their hearts to say no.
On the other hand, Nathan thought he found the right kitten.
Haley looked at the calendar as she got ready to go to bed. There was only one week left before she Peyton and Jake got married.
She heard the door open outside. Still, she was frozen in place. She had a lot on her mind lately.
Nathan walked into the room.
"Can we talk?" she asked quietly.
He nodded, sitting down on their bed. Haley got up and sat down next to him. Her heartbeat quickened the more she thought about what she was about to say.
"I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the future now," she announced. When he didn't answer, she continued. "It's just…with Rachel and Peyton being pregnant and having children, I kind of wanted to know how you felt about it. If that's something you're interested in…pets…all of that."
He gave her a relieved smile. "Haley…I want everything with you. Kids, a house, a dog. I don't know how soon I want all of that, but I want it all with you. I'm looking for the day I become a husband and father. Besides, I know what an amazing mother you are and what an amazing mother you'll be. I don't think there's anything more rewarding or fulfilling. How long have you been thinking about this?" he told her.
She smiled. "I don't know, a couple weeks I guess. I just think I let the baby fever get the best of me,"
He nodded. "Okay, if you're still thinking about this in about a month then maybe we can seriously think about it."
She was relieved. "Yeah, maybe we should get a pet before we have a baby. As practice, I guess."
He laughed before giving her a kiss.
Haley stirred her coffee about fifty times. She had nothing left to nitpick when it came to the wedding. She looked up at Nathan.
"Were you serious last night about the pets and the kid talk?" she asked.
"I meant every word. Do you want a cat or a dog?"
She bit her lip like this was the hardest question in the world. "I don't know. They're both so cute. I always wanted to adopt a shelter animal, so…I like the idea of both. What about you?" she asked quickly, to take the attention off of herself.
"I like both. I think a cat might be easier at first. And cats are less prone to interrupting our time than dogs," he said with a small smile before pouring his own coffee.
She smiled and nodded in agreement. "Point taken. Maybe we could go to a shelter after we come back from Hawaii!" she suggested, her deep brown eyes lighting up in excitement.
"That sounds like a great idea, Hales."
"I hope they have a kitten there," she thought aloud.
"Haley?" Peyton asked as she led Anna into the apartment.
"Hey, Peyton!" Haley said before getting up to greet her. Anna jumped up and down excitedly. "Auntie Haley! We got doggy and Uncle Nathan got a—"
Peyton quickly clasped her hand over Anna's loose lips.
"What did Nathan get?" Haley asked curiously.
"Oh, Nathan got a crash course from the volunteers at the animal shelter on how to adopt, since he said he would probably be interested in adopting soon," Peyton lied effortlessly.
Anna frowned when her mother took her hand away from her mouth. She didn't quite enjoy the taste of cherry blossom hand lotion.
"You got a puppy?" Haley asked. She couldn't really conceal the tinge of jealousy in her voice.
"Anna's been begging us for a while now," Peyton answered before Anna got the chance to. "Do you want to see what he looks like?" she asked.
Haley nodded eagerly. Peyton fished her phone out of her bag to show her pictures of the little puppy in his cage and then some more pictures Jake sent her when he arrived home with the kitten.
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay and everything before we go home. And it was on our way home from the pet store, so Jake's waiting for us to come home before he lets the baby out of the cage," Peyton said, smiling.
"Go! Make sure you take pictures for me," Haley said before leading them to the door.
Even though she tried her most to be excited for her friends and her niece, she couldn't help but wish she had a little puppy, too.
Nathan arrived home that night as Haley was sitting in their bed, thinking about the dog she'd be getting after their vacation.
"Are you okay, Haley? You look like you're stewing about something," he commented as he climbed into bed beside her.
She shrugged. "I just can't wait to get that little puppy," she said with a shrug, playing it off as if it were nothing (but it was clearly bothering her).
"Right after the vacation, Hales," he said before giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She didn't reply.
"Is it really bothering you that much?"
She shook her head. "Nothing is bothering me."
"Are you jealous? Are you jealous of them getting a puppy?"
Haley shrugged. "Their dog did look pretty cute, though," she added.
He did his best to conceal a laugh at Haley's obvious jealousy. "We can get a puppy. After we come back."
She frowned for a split second before her face reverted back to a neutral expression. "Whatever. It's not a big deal," she said before turning off the light. She rolled over so her back was faced away from him.
She was so jealous.
And Nathan couldn't help but laugh since she was also so clueless.
"So the plan is, I'm going to bring the puppy over to the house when you call me later. I'm going to tie a little ribbon around her neck and leave her in your bedroom with the door closed so you can go get her," Brooke recapped as she spoke with Nathan over the phone.
He nodded. "Right."
"Oh, how I'd love to be a fly on the wall later," Brooke trailed off as she thought of the countless ways Haley would think of thanking Nathan. But then again, she thought, she didn't have a filter; she could just ask Haley herself.
"What was that?"
Brooke snapped out of it. "Oh, nothing. I'll be taking good care of Haley's little girl. Does she have a name?" Brooke asked.
"No. I was thinking of getting Haley to name her since this is kind of like my anniversary present to her," Nathan explained.
Brooke harrumphed. "Mmhmm. Along with the house. And I bet she didn't get you anything but a closet full of some nice lingerie. I'm sure you'll appreciate it thoroughly," she murmured.
"Brooke? You have little ears with you."
"The dog can't understand what I'm saying! She's as naïve as little Anna when it comes to innuendo. God, you and Haley are like our parents, and you're not even parents yet," Brooke complained as immaturely as a fifteen-year-old girl reprimanding her parents.
"Not yet, but tonight, we will be. To a cute little puppy, no less," he said proudly.
"You're going to be just as bad as Dean when it comes to giving in to your daughter later in life," Brooke concluded.
"Love you, too, Brooke," Nathan said merrily.
"Bye," she said playfully before hanging up.
She looked over her shoulder at the kitten sleeping on her couch. She flopped down beside her.
"I bet you're like la diabla, aren't you?" she asked. She could've sworn she saw a little smile cross the puppy's lips.
"And you're the type of puppy who climbs up the furniture and scratches everything up. I can already tell. Lucky for you, I'm like the human version of you," she said.
The puppy gave a small bark.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Brooke asked.
The puppy just stared.
Finally, Brooke realized what she was doing. "Oh my God. I must look fucking insane. I'm talking to a puppy."
"Nathan, where are you dragging me to?" Haley asked as she sat in the passenger seat of Nathan's car.
"You'll see. And Haley, you can't ask me that every five seconds."
"Well, I'm getting antsy! We've been driving for like an hour," she complained.
"You'll see very soon."
Haley rolled her eyes lightheartedly. She then saw a sign.
"Carowinds? Are you crazy?" she asked as the sign passed them by. "Neither one of us gambles or drinks nor really parties like that," she reminded him.
"Who said we're coming here to gamble or drink or party?" he asked slyly.
She was unamused. "Why else does anybody come here?" she asked.
"To go to the rides," he said.
Not more than five minutes later, she watched as he drove to the Boardwalk. She couldn't believe this was the huge date they were going on.
Haley pulled a small piece of fluffy pink cotton candy from the huge stick Nathan had gotten her.
"Is my tongue pink yet?" she asked before sticking her tongue out at him.
"Your tongue is always kind of pink, Hales," he reminded her with a laugh.
She broke out into the same kind of laughter. "I can't believe you really drove here for an hour just for this date," she said as she took another piece.
"Clearly, you're enjoying it, so it was all worth it."
All the time he was talking, she just kept wondering to herself, how did I ever get so lucky and what did I ever do to deserve him?
"Are you ready to go home?" he asked.
She looked around her. All of the lights and the rides looked like a lot of fun, but she realized…she wanted to go home now.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready to go home."
"Okay, Diabla. You're going to behave for your new mommy and daddy soon, right? You're not going to do all those bad things, are you?" Brooke asked as she brought the kitten into the bedroom of the happy couple's future house.
The puppy just blinked her big blue eyes. She gave Brooke a small squeak of a bark.
"You're lucky you're cute," Brooke warned. "I'm sure you'll cause enough trouble. But since you have those amazing brown eyes, Haley will melt for you," Brooke said before getting some ribbon to tie around the kitten's neck.
"But I swear to God, Diabla, if you even think of getting your hair all over Haley's clothes that I picked out for her, there will be hell to pay," Brooke warned as she tied the silky champagne ribbon she found into a perfect bow.
The puppy licked Brooke on the hand and she smiled. "You're not too bad after all," she said, rethinking her nickname. "But I mean it about those clothes."
"Ugh, Nathan! Why did you have to blindfold me with your stupid tie?" she asked as she tried to get his red tie off of her head.
"No peeking!" he scolded. "Come on, Haley. It's not a surprise if you know where we're going," he insisted before turning back to the road.
"Yeah, but, this is torturous," she complained.
"We're almost there, Hales," he told her as he drove towards their destination.
She groaned. "'Almost' couldn't be soon enough!" she exclaimed in frustration.
He laughed at her. About five minutes later, he stopped. Haley was eager to tear off the tie. He pulled her hand away. A moment later, she felt someone open the door beside her. Nathan helped her get out of the car and up the steps.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"You'll find out in a minute," he told her.
She groaned. The suspense was killing her.
He found the key on his keychain and opened the door. Haley heard the keys jingle.
Once they were standing in the entrance of the house, Nathan began to untie the blindfold around her head.
Wordlessly and without explanation, Nathan stepped away with the blindfold.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"This is the house I was building…" he began before taking both of her hands. "…For the both of us. This is our new home."
Haley thought about it for a moment. She didn't know what to think and even if she should believe him.
"Do you want me to show you around?" Nathan asked, careful to contain just how excited he was. She nodded.
After he had given her a full house tour, Haley was a little less incredulous. She walked in the kitchen, still trying to wrap her head around it all.
"I still can't really believe it," she said finally. "This is so weird."
"A good weird, though, right?" Nathan asked. She nodded incessantly.
They sat and spoke for a while before Nathan remembered his final surprise.
"There's one more place we have to see," he recalled.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "We went everywhere," she disputed.
"There's one place we're missing, though," he said before taking her hand and leading her back up the stairs. They went to the far end of the hallway and Nathan stopped in front of a door. He left Haley outside for a moment to check on the puppy. Finally, he emerged outside and let Haley in.
Haley walked into the bedroom. It was so beautiful. That painting she loved so much was hanging on a wall in a beautiful hand-carved and painted frame.
"Nathan, it's so gorgeous," she uttered, unable to say anything else.
But Nathan hadn't been listening. Nathan had been in the closet getting a tiny puppy. He finally came back out with the small new member of their family.
Haley looked about ready to burst into tears. She quickly picked up the puppy.
"This is a female Bichon Frise and she needed a home and I knew you would love her," he explained as he watched his girlfriend get misty-eyed over the tiny little creature.
"Does she have a name?" she asked.
"No, she doesn't. I thought that you should name her yourself," he said with a smile.
Haley bit her lip as she thought. "What do you want to name her?" she asked.
"Haley, she's your puppy."
Haley pouted. The puppy looked at him curiously, tilting her small head. They both waited for an answer.
"Do you really want to know?"
She nodded incessantly as the puppy played with her hand.
Nathan sighed. "As girly and stupid as it sounds, I always really liked the movie 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'—"
"You're right; it does sound extremely girly," she teased.
He rolled his eyes. "—And if I got a puppy, I always wanted to name my hypothetical puppy 'dog'," he confessed.
She shook her head. "You're such a goofball. Well…I don't want to name her puppy. I can just imagine us putting up posters if she ever ran away. I can just picture us walking up and down the streets calling 'puppy' and it looks like a nightmare," she said softly as she pets the small animal.
Haley pulled the puppy closer to her as she thought. The puppy gave her a tiny bark before beginning to purr.
"I think I want to name her…Bella," she concluded. "She just looks like a Bella."
Nathan thought of it. "You're the only person I know who would name a cat something like Bella," he said with a smile on his face.
"You're the one who wanted to name her dog!" Haley retorted.
"You're such a nerd and I love you."
A slight blush crept onto Haley's face. "Really?" she asked quietly.
He nodded. Taking her free hand, he kissed her. The kiss was about to become more heated before the little kitten reminded them that she was still in Haley's hand.
"Hey, maybe we can name her Bella dog James Scott," she said finally.
Nathan nodded as he thought of the name. "I just realized that neither of us should be allowed to name our hypothetical child," he thought aloud.
Nathan began to laugh. "Hey! I did pretty good with Jamie's name okay? James Lucas Evans is a great name. However, our poor kids would have to live with a really horrific name for the rest of their lives. Maybe we can ask our friends who have children for a more logical name. And we should definitely avoid asking Brooke," she added.
She stared at the puppy fondly for a moment more. "I should probably put her down now, right?" she asked before placing her gently on the floor. Bella quickly jumped out of Haley's hand, stumbling across the hardwood floor. She stuck her tiny nose out of the room, looking up and down the hallway. Nathan and Haley watched her curiously. She was almost acting like a little puppy. They watched as she trotted off out of their room.
"You know that she was the best present you ever could've gotten me, right?" she asked as she put her arms around his neck and leaned back on the bed.
"Better than this house?" he asked, only slightly insulted.
"The house is beautiful, Nathan, and I know you designed it and everything, but…I've always wanted a pet and…it kind of makes me think that you're ready to start a family soon. And I think it's cute," she said.
His cheeks began to feel a bit red. "What makes you say that?" he inquired.
She shrugged. "It's just…taking care of a pet is like a step before needing to take care of a kid. It's actually really comforting knowing you're responsible enough to take care of a pet. It lets me know that you'll be able to take care of our child…when we have one," she said with a slight blush.
"Or two…or three…or four," he added.
"Two is a good number. Three is a bit much. Any more after three and you're going to need a vasectomy because I'm not living without sex," she said before kissing him.
"Are you still on the pill?" he asked, pulling away from her.
"Yeah, why?"
He pecked her softly on the lips before answering. "Because from the looks of things, we're about to start practicing making a baby…and I have no intention of stopping," he said before kissing her again.
"I'm not opposed to it," she replied. As she began to kiss him, she quickly slid back onto the bed.
They both smiled before kissing each other again. Haley wasted no time to get rid of his shirt.
"Oh, and for the record, you seduced me this time," Haley said with a small smile, referencing their disagreement which led to a food fight.
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Anal-retentive…" he mumbled quietly.
She sat up abruptly. "Anal-retentive?" she asked loudly. "I am not!"
"That was the worst joke I've ever heard. Hales, you're OCD about your socks," he commented.
"I'm not OCD; you're just a slob. How can you just throw all your socks in a drawer? And you don't put them in order according to colour or style, either!" she answered indignantly.
"You're the only person I know who organizes their socks," he said before rolling off of her.
She quickly climbed on top of him. "Fine, I'll admit that I am. But can we get back to what we were doing? I enjoyed that a lot more and—"
She was quickly cut off by a kiss.
"I didn't say you aren't cute when you get into one of your little nerd-panic attacks," he announced.
She pouted. "You're adorable when you do that, too."
She thought about how to respond. "Am I adorable when I do this?" she asked before giving him a few less-than-innocent kisses.
"Hmm…I can think of a few other adjectives," he answered.
She smiled before proceeding to kiss him again. After several kisses, he pulled away from her.
"And now you're seducing me," he said with a small smirk.
She sighed. "Honestly, I don't even care anymore," she answered before kissing him again.
Haley bit her lip as she stared into Nathan's crystalline blue eyes. She remembered what home felt like.
As they continued to communicate without words, she realized something she really failed to think about this entire time.
In her previous relationships, she always kept idealizing the guy, or at the very least, she tricked herself into believing it was love.
But now, she knew she wasn't making it up. She knew this wasn't just something in her mind.
They were both interrupted by a high-pitched bark at the foot of their bed. Haley sat up and peered over the edge to see Bella looking up at her with her similar brown eyes. She wanted to come onto the bed.
Haley quickly bent over the bed (Nathan enjoying the view from behind) and pulled Bella onto the bed with them.
"This is going to sound weird, but she looks so much like you," Nathan said with a small laugh.
"Is it the eyes?" he asked.
He nodded. "I hope our kids have the same eyes," she commented.
"Are you forgetting? Bella is our daughter. So technically, they do have the same eyes," she teased, doing his best to mock her.
She wasn't very amused (well, she was, but she wasn't about to give him that satisfaction). "I see my impeccable attention to detail has rubbed off on you, along with my need to always be right," she said with a small pout as she stroked Bella, who was snuggled up in between the both of them. Her nose was buried underneath Nathan's side. Haley sighed. "She's just the cutest thing I've ever seen," she commented.
"Really? Besides me, of course," he joked.
She shook her head. "She's cuter than you," she retorted. She continued to stroke Bella's head and heard her purr into the clean white sheets. "I don't know how I'm going to leave her for a week. I couldn't even leave Jamie for a week without breaking down," Haley said.
"Brooke already promised me she could take good care of Bella. Apparently, they're good friends now. But then again, Bella's brother is at Jake and Peyton's house. And I'm sure Anna wouldn't mind having another playmate," he said.
"Don't tell Peyton or Jake this, but Bella is way cuter than their dog," Haley said.
"You're not biased at all," he answered with an undertone of sarcasm.
"She is. And she listens. It's like she's really listening to you when you talk," she said, still in a daze.
"Okay, Haley. Maybe you should put Bella down so we can go to sleep now," he said.
"Can she sleep with us?" Haley asked.
"Hales, don't be silly. I'm sure she'd be much more comfortable sleeping in a pile of your clothes or something. What if you crush her?"
Haley looked distressed by the mere thought of her new puppy getting crushed. "You're right," she said. She reached over the edge of the bed and pulled Nathan's t-shirt over her head. She went into the closet with Bella, getting a blanket of hers. She took the blanket and placed it on the floor about ten or fifteen feet away from the bed.
"Bell, why don't you sleep here tonight?" Haley asked in a high-pitched, baby-talk voice.
Bella squeaked in response. She didn't really want to leave Haley, but reluctantly made her way onto the top of the blanket. She waddled around three or four times in a circle before plopping down. She looked up at Spencer anxiously before placing her head down on the blankets.
Haley smiled as she watched Bella. When she felt that Bella felt comfortable enough, she climbed back into bed with Nathan.
Nathan kissed her on the cheek. "You're going to make an amazing mom one day... you know what you're already an amazing mom," he commented.
She blushed. "First, I want to be an amazing wife. I can focus on all of that later," she said before kissing him on the lips.
"Right now, all I want to focus on is being here, with you."
So in case you didn't know, ya girl has a mild form of baby fever! It's been real the last few weeks lol! No, I'm not pregnant nor having a baby yet, I'm still very young only 23, but one day! Anyway, I have a biology exam on Monday and a history exam as well, so I'm procrastinating, especially since my bio professor decided to let my class learn the material on the test by ourselves, like, WTF? I have to learn all about cellular respiration by Monday at 8:30, which means I will probably have less than 12 hours to learn it all before this test. Great. Thank you, Ms. Thompson. I will be sure to never take your class again. If I have to take science as a senior, I will opt for Chemistry. I really could not care less about how a cell breathes. I mean I guess it would be useful for my line of work, but still. Also, I know what you guys are thinking Nathan and Haley have a house, and a dog together, are 22, and not engaged, let alone married? That is some dedication for a non-married/engaged couple. Perhaps the reason being is there might be a proposal in the works soon.
Okay, so I'm really not supposed to still be up but I was really determined to write this for you guys. Please, please update to let me know what you think of this all. This chapter's really really long!
Okay, I'm sorry, but I can't redo all of these responses all over again. I am sorry. I am just too mad and I have to go right now. So thank you for clicking on!
Until next time! Bye!-Sidney