Chapter Thirty Two

After Haley and her dad reconciled, the Christmas holidays were a lot happier and brighter. The Scott family was then invited back for Christmas, but they still decided to stay in Tree Hill. The same went for Haley. They still wanted a quiet Christmas after Thanksgiving drama. However, they promised to spend time with them for New Year's Eve. Jimmy and Lydia accepted that answer.

As Nathan and Haley spent more time together, their love became stronger every day. Yet, they took their relationship slow. Their passionate kisses never went past the make out stage and Haley was grateful for that. When Nathan filed for divorce from Rachel, there was no complaint from Rachel about him and Haley. She wasn't going to fight him on this since she had done it to him first.

The excitement continued as Lucas and Brooke told their friends and family that they could find out the baby's gender. Everyone already knew that the two were still planning to keep their baby and there had been no trauma during the whole standoff with Victoria. Brooke wanted to get started on the nursery so knowing the baby's gender was a must.

"I still can't believe that I'm going to be an uncle," Nathan told Haley as they watched Ryan toddle around the room. Luckily, the house was baby proof so he couldn't get into too much trouble. "I always thought I would be the one who would have the kids first, but I guess I can't complain. Lucas is taking responsibility for the baby and not leaving Brooke as a single mother. I would kick his ass if that had happened."

Haley gave him a look as she gestured to their godson. "Careful what you say in front of him. You don't want him to pick up any bad habits, especially at this early age. And you're right. There aren't a lot of young teen fathers who wouldn't deny that the baby was his." She looked at him curiously. "What would you have done if you were him? Would you have taken responsibility for the consequences of your actions?"

"As much I wouldn't want to be a teenage father, I wouldn't abandon my girlfriend or former girlfriend and the baby," Nathan replied. "I'm not that heartless." Considering that he had said the same thing when he found out that she was pregnant, she knew that it was true. "I just hope that Lucas and Brooke don't have another baby until after college."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Haley assured him as she gently put Ryan on her lap. "They seem to have their priorities straight." She bounced the toddler on her knees and he began to smile and giggle. Haley turned back to Nathan and could tell that something was bothering him. "And I'm sure they will be great parents. I know I never met Keith and Karen, but it definitely looks like they have raised your brother right. So your niece or nephew is in good hands."

Nathan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know." Haley could tell that something was still on his mind. He let out a heavy sigh before he spoke again. "And I know that it has been several months since he has moved out, but it still feels weird that I'm not his guardian anymore. We were just getting close before he went off and got married to Brooke. And now he is going to be a dad before he even gets out of high school. If that wasn't enough for me to process, I have a new stepmother."

Haley could relate to him. "Well, I was only seven when Vivian graduated high school and left for college. By the time I was in junior high, I was an aunt. Of course I was happy for Vivian, but I felt like I was way too young to be an aunt. But I got used to it as time went by especially after my brothers got married and started their own families. In fact, I began to enjoy it. Since I was the youngest in my family, I've always looked up to everyone else and now it was my turn to be a role model. Of course my brothers and sisters didn't have anything to worry about with me. I was the good girl."

Nathan laughed as he came across a thought that he had missed. "Speaking of your siblings, Julian and Taylor seemed to disappear after that night we were finally able to arrest Victoria. Do you know where they went?"

"According to Quinn, Julian went back to California to spend the holidays with his parents. I think Tree Hill had too much drama for him." Nathan smiled in amusement as she continued her explanation. "And Taylor took off for another adventure. Who knows what that means? But the point is that she won't be around to ruin the holidays for us."

Nathan frowned. "Wait a minute, are you saying that Julian and Taylor broke up? Or are they trying that long distance relationship?" He really didn't want to come across Julian again after the way he treated Haley. "Will we be expecting Taylor to bring him around again?"

"From what I can gather, I doubt their relationship will last very long," Haley told him. "Taylor has been good for not staying with a guy too long. I'm not even sure if they were really dating. She might have just brought him to annoy me."

"I can believe that," Nathan agreed as he picked up a fussy Ryan and carried him to the crib that he had set up in Lucas's old bedroom. It was time for his nap. After he was safe in the crib, Nathan couldn't help but think about the baby that was almost his. Watching Jake with Ryan still hurt him inside and now that Lucas was having his own baby, it brought the pain back even more. He would have loved to see his son and Ryan and possibly Lucas's child growing up together. Or even his baby with Haley that they had lost before they really had a chance to decide whether they wanted to keep it or not.

But it was not meant to be and Nathan was stuck without a child. As much as he wanted to think about it, he knew that he had to move on and think about what he had in life. He still had his family. It just got a little bit bigger with Brooke and Deb joining it. Brooke also was pregnant with his niece or nephew.

There was another person he had to focus on who he couldn't forget, but how could he? She had been there from the start of all of this drama with Rachel and Victoria. Yes, it seemed that she was the one who caused the drama, but she was really looking after Nathan and Brooke. And that's why he wanted to name his future son after her. She always stuck by her morals and fought for what was right. And that was one of the many things he loved about her. The pace of their relationship was different than what he was used to, but it was worth it if it meant he and Haley could be together.

A couple of days later, it was Christmas Eve and Nathan's house was full of guests. Lucas, Brooke, Quinn, Clay, Dan, Deb, Whitey and Cooper all came to help Nathan and Haley celebrate the holidays. Lucas and Brooke also were allowed to invite Mouth and Millie. They eagerly accepted the invitations since they wanted to spend some time with their friends and wanted to hear about the baby's gender.

Once food was put on the table, everyone took their seats and drinks were poured, Nathan stood up and his guests turned to him. "I would like to make a toast. First of all, I would like to thank you all for coming. I've had a rough year and I'm really grateful that I had a lot of support to help me get through it. I feel very blessed to have you all here with me." He exchanged smiles with Haley as he raised his glass. "So here is to my wonderful friends and family."

"To friends and family," the guests chorused as they raised their glasses and clunked them together. They then took a couple of sips of their drinks before they started passing the delicious food around. Lucas and Brooke were going to wait until dessert to reveal their surprise and had brought a special cake to help them reveal it.

Even though everyone believed that they already knew their baby's gender, the expectant parents claimed that they didn't. They wanted to find out with everyone else. So they had asked their doctor to send the envelope to the café and Andy would make the inside of the cake either blue or pink. Lucas tried to sneak a peek a couple of times, but Andy made sure that he didn't find out before it was time. He knew that Brooke wouldn't have been happy if he had found out before her.

"It's too bad Andy couldn't be here, but I understand why he wanted to go home for the holidays," Brooke said as she turned to her husband. "I'm sure he would keep an eye on Lucas so he doesn't sneak off and try to find out about the baby before anybody else does."

Nathan pretended to be disappointed. "Lucas, it's not really a good idea to upset the pregnant wife. It will come back to bite you in the butt later."

Dan nodded in agreement. "Nathan is right. You don't want to mess with your pregnant wife. I remember when your mom was pregnant with Nathan. She would be awake in the middle of the night and she would insist that she had to have a jar of pickles right then and there. And she wasn't going to let me go back to sleep until she got her request. I had no choice but to find a store that was open and buy some pickles for her."

"That's weird considering that I don't even like pickles," Nathan joked. There were smiles and laughter around the table. "What about you, Brooke? Have you been getting any weird cravings yet?"

Brooke shook her head. "No, but I love ice cream. I can't seem to get enough of it. Actually, that sounds good right now." She turned to Nathan. "You don't happen to have any, do you?"

Lucas frowned as he looked at the food that was still on her plate. "Don't you want to wait until after dinner before you eat dessert?"

Dan gave him a look. "What did I just tell you? You can't argue with a pregnant woman. You can try all you want, but she is going to win. And it will only get worse as the months go by." He then noticed that his son was looking a little worried and gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry, son. We have no intention on making you a big brother again. Those days are long past us. We're thinking about doing some traveling once the holidays were over. It would be like our honeymoon since we didn't get one."

"Yeah, we didn't really get a honeymoon either," Lucas added. "I guess that's the price we pay for eloping."

"I would love to go to Paris," Brooke said as Nathan and Haley exchanged looks. They were thinking the same thing, but they kept quiet about the Europe trip that they were planning to give to them for their high school graduation. It was still in the works. "Now may I please have some ice cream?"

Everyone laughed as Haley offered to get some ice cream for Brooke. Brooke was right behind her. Haley pulled out a bowl from the cupboard and scooper from the drawer while Brooke pulled out the container of ice cream that she wanted from the freezer. There was silence before Brooke spoke. "You know, I never had a chance to personally thank you for not giving up on me. I never had someone who cared about me that much before except for Mouth and Millie and now Lucas." Haley gave her a smile as Brooke put her hands on her stomach. "It's nice to know that my baby will be brought up in a world where he or she is loved by not just me, but my new family as well." She was quiet before she spoke in a soft voice. "I'm sorry about your baby."

"Thank you," Haley replied as she began to scoop out the ice cream and put it into the bowl. "It was hard at first, but I'm better now. It helps knowing that you and your baby are okay and you can finally live your life away from your mom. And I'm sure you're afraid that you'll turn out like your mother, but I know that will never happen. After all, you already love your child and the baby's not even here yet." Brooke gave her a smile as Haley gave her the bowl and they returned to the dining room.

Later, it was time for dessert and everyone couldn't wait to find out about the baby. Before Lucas and Brooke cut the cake, they asked the guests to go around and guess whether the baby was going to be a boy or girl. Brooke, Haley, Dan, Quinn, Mouth and Millie believed that it was going to be a girl while Deb and the rest of the guys thought it was going to be a boy.

As the expectant parents cut a slice of the cake, nobody made a sound until the pink frosting made an appearance. Brooke squealed in delight as Lucas tried not to look too disappointed. Their friends gathered around them and congratulated the happy couple. The celebration continued with cake and more ice cream before they exchanged gifts. The party lasted well into the night and it was several hours before Nathan and Haley were finally alone. Clay and Quinn were the last ones to leave since they were just going next door to Quinn's house.

Nathan waited until they left before he spoke. "I thought Clay was going to propose to Quinn. Did he change his mind or something?" he asked as he sat on the sofa, exhausted from the day's events.

"No, I think he wanted to do it privately instead of doing in front of people," Haley replied as she cuddled up next to him. "Quinn isn't one who likes to be put on the spot." Nathan nodded understandingly. "So how do you feel about getting a niece instead of a nephew?"

"Truthfully, I don't care whether they have a boy or girl. I just want Brooke and the baby to be healthy," Nathan replied. Haley agreed with him. "And the ultrasound doesn't turn out to be wrong and they have a boy who they name James Lucas Scott."

Haley looked at him. "That name is really important to you, isn't it?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, it is. It comes from two of the most important people in my life. And I want my future son to know that there are people out there who are willing to do anything to love and protect him." Haley knew that he was thinking of Victoria and Brooke. "I still can't believe I didn't see it."

"Nobody could have seen it. Victoria made sure of that," Haley reminded him. "I didn't even see it at first. All I saw was a quiet girl who didn't have very many friends whose mother tried to make me think she was a troublemaker. From what I've seen, there is such a difference in her. She seems happier since she met Lucas."

Nathan thought about Brooke and Lucas before he agreed with her. "I have to admit that Lucas does seem happier in this relationship, more than he was when he was with Lindsey. And they have you to thank for that." Haley smiled proudly at the compliment. "If it wasn't for you, they wouldn't have met and fallen in love. And neither would we." Nathan let out a heavy sigh. "I wish you didn't have to take that job in Charleston."

Haley pulled away from him and sat up straight. She had been waiting to tell him this all day and she thought that this was the perfect time to do it. "What if I told you that I'm moving back to Tree Hill?" she asked. Nathan looked at her curiously. Was she really serious? Was his dream about to come true? "I finally heard back from the new principal, Mr. Turner. He reviewed all of the evidence and agreed with the students and faculty that I was fired unfairly. He offered me my job back and I've accepted it." Nathan still couldn't believe his ears, but her smile told him that she wasn't joking with him. She was returning to Tree Hill. "I'm coming home," she happily announced.

Nathan returned the smile as he took her hands into his. "This is the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten." They shared a passionate kiss before they pulled away for a moment. "Merry Christmas, Hales."

"Merry Christmas, Nathan," Haley replied as she went back to putting her head on Nathan's chest. "Now what do you propose we do tomorrow? I know we were going to go over to Jake's and Peyton's house for dinner, but we still have the whole day together."

Nathan thought for a moment before he answered. "How about we just see where the day takes us?" he suggested.

Haley nodded in agreement. "That sounds just perfect."