Chapter Forty Five
The next few months went fast. Nathan and Haley focused on their students and made their final preparations for their baby. Haley's pregnancy continued to go well. She was grateful for Nathan. He took care of her and he was always willing to run out to the store in the middle of the night when she had a pregnancy craving. At school, Peyton and Jake kept an eye on her to make sure she was doing okay.
One weekend, Nathan and Haley went to Wilmington to visit Jimmy and Lydia. As much as Haley didn't want to tell her mother about the gender, her parents pressed the issue until Nathan finally told them the good news. Both grandparents were thrilled. Just as Haley predicted, Lydia began to give advice to her daughter about raising the baby.
For the Thanksgiving holidays, Nathan and Haley had dinner with Lucas, Brooke, little Kendall, Quinn, Clay, Dan, Deb and Whitey. They were all relieved there was no drama and they could eat their dinner in peace. Although, they couldn't help but bring up the memories of the last Thanksgiving disaster. It seemed like a lifetime ago when Nathan and Haley saved everyone from Victoria's wrath. They only talked about it for a few minutes before they moved on from the subject.
For Christmas, Nathan, Haley, Lucas, Brooke and the baby joined Jimmy and Lydia in Wilmington. So did Clay and Quinn, who finally announced their wedding date. Even though Quinn wanted Haley to be her matron of honor, she knew she wouldn't be available because of the baby. So she was going to have Vivian be her matron of honor.
Lydia gave her daughter a surprised look. "Vivian? What about Taylor? I thought you two were closer than you were with Vivian. Are you even going to let Taylor be invited to your wedding? You can't leave her off the guest list. Taylor would throw a fit if she found out she was the only one out of your siblings not to be invited to your wedding."
"May I remind you that I invited Taylor to my wedding and she didn't come?" Haley reminded her. "We have tried to invite her to our family events and she doesn't want to attend. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't attend my baby shower."
"Speaking of your baby shower, I think you should consider having a gender neutral baby shower," Lydia suggested. Her daughters looked at her surprised. "Call me crazy, but I believe the doctor's wrong about the gender. You're carrying my grandson. And I don't want you and Nathan to be caught off guard when the doctor pulls out the baby."
"How can the ultrasound be wrong? Wouldn't you have found that out weeks ago during the first ultrasound?" Quinn asked.
"There are occasions where the ultrasound is wrong about the gender," Lydia said. "Especially when you go in for your ultrasound early. Go and get Brooke for me." Haley gave her a confused look. "Go and get Brooke. And we'll compare pregnancies."
Haley gave her mother a gentle smile. "Mom, you can't compare pregnancies because every pregnancy is different."
"Exactly. I haven't seen you since you and Nathan came over for dinner and announced you were expecting a girl," Lydia said. "Ever since then, I have been thinking how wrong the ultrasound is. You are carrying differently than Brooke was with Kendall."
Before Haley could respond, Brooke came into the room. "Did I hear my name?" she asked.
"Brooke, tell me what you think about my daughter's baby bump," Lydia said. Brooke gave her a confused look. "Before you found out you were having a niece, what did you think Mrs. James-Scott was going to have?" Haley wanted to protest, but her mother gave her a look. "Let her speak. Go on Brooke."
"I know what Lucas would have wanted, but I wanted a girl," Brooke admitted. "I wanted Kendall and her cousin be best friends and grow up together."
Haley gave her a smile. "I'm sure that will happen no matter what."
Lydia continued with her questioning. "Despite knowing the gender, do you still believe that?" she asked Brooke. "By the way Haley is carrying, what do you think she is having?" Brooke didn't know how to answer. "Does she look like she is carrying the same way you did with Kendall?" Brooke still remained silent. "Well, there's only one way to settle it. I'm going to call the doctor and see if you can get a last minute appointment. I don't want you to have your baby shower unless we're absolutely sure it's going to be a girl or boy."
"You have plenty of grandchildren already," Haley pointed out as Lydia pulled out her phone. "Why are you so fixated on this one? Mom, what are you doing? That's not the doctor's number."
"Yes it is," Lydia assured her. Haley looked at her confused. "It's Vivian's ob/gyn. I don't know who you used in Tree Hill, but this one has been around for years. She has delivered all four of Vivian's children. She would know what to look for when it comes to the ultrasound." Haley didn't have a chance to protest as Lydia put her phone to her ear.
"It's wishful thinking, right?" Brooke asked as Lydia went into another room. "It's guaranteed it's going to be a girl?"
Haley wished she had the answer. "I thought it was, but now I'm not so sure," she replied. Haley was now torn. "I would love for Nathan to finally have his son, but I was looking forward to having a daughter." She wanted that mother daughter relationship like she had with her mom. "I can just imagine what my son's first word will be. Ball."
Quinn and Brooke laughed. "If you first don't succeed, try again," Quinn told her. "You can always try with your second baby or third baby."
Haley gave her a look. "You know I don't want a big family. I want two children: a son and a daughter. That's it."
Before Quinn could respond, Lydia returned to the kitchen with a huge smile on her face. "Great news, Haley Bob. I was able to call in a favor and Dr. Rivers is willing to squeeze you into her schedule. She will see you early tomorrow morning at nine thirty." Lydia didn't even let her daughter respond. "If Dr. Rivers believes you're having a girl, then I promise I won't say anything more about it."
"Just promise me that none of you guys will say anything to Nathan," Haley said. "I don't want to get his hopes up."
"Hope? Christmas is all about hope," Lydia replied as she embraced her daughters in a gentle hug. "Christmas is my second favorite holiday because it's the time of helping those who are less fortunate than yourself. Look at what you did with Brooke." Brooke gave her a smile as Lydia went over to her and embraced her in a hug. "When I first heard your story, I was crushed. I didn't understand why someone would want to hurt a beautiful young lady. But I had hope for you that you would be able to get away from your mother."
"Please don't call her that," Brooke said. "She doesn't consider me as her daughter and she doesn't want to know her granddaughter. It's only fair if we call her Victoria. Can we not talk about her?"
Lydia nodded in agreement. "You're right. I would rather talk about my honorary granddaughter. Where is that adorable baby of yours?"
Brooke laughed. "Grandpa Jimmy is trying to make her giggle in the den." She barely got her words out before Lydia hurried into the den. Brooke and the aunts were right behind her. Haley watched fondly as her parents doted on Kendall and she realized it wouldn't be long before everyone would be doting on her own baby.
Her baby. Her baby with Nathan. It felt so surreal that she was going to be a first time parent in a couple of months. It felt scary, but exciting at the same time. She knew they were ready. Last time, the pregnancy was so unexpected that she shouldn't have been surprised she had the miscarriage. There was so much going on in their lives at that time that they weren't ready. Once in a blue moon, she did wonder what would have happened if she didn't have the miscarriage. But the thought always went quickly out of her head because she couldn't dwell on the past. After all, she was with Nathan now and she was pregnant with their first child.
Haley was so sure it was going to be a girl until her mother made her question the ultrasound. The thought of the ultrasound being wrong loomed over her head until the next morning when she left for the doctor's office. For support, Quinn came with her. As promised, Nathan was kept in the dark and he was told Haley and Quinn had some last minute Christmas shopping to do. It wasn't really a lie since it was a possibility Nathan was going to get his Christmas wish.
The appointment went quick and Haley and Quinn were back within the hour. Both Lydia and Brooke wanted answers, but Haley avoided answering. She wanted to keep the true identity of the baby's gender a secret until after she talked to Nathan. Yet, she told them there was only one baby in the womb.
The next few days were full of Christmas activities. The only activity Haley wanted to do, but she had to miss was ice skating at the rink. Nathan insisted she had to sit that one out because of her pregnancy. It was a disappointment, but she had fun watching her family skate around the rink. She watched in amusement as Nathan still had a hard time maintaining his balance and he kept falling on the ice. Finally, he gave up and headed towards the stands to sit next to his wife and baby niece, who was in her stroller next to her.
"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to hold in her laughter. Nathan just nodded, but his face told a different story. She felt sorry for him. At the same time, it was amusing. "You should stick to coaching. You're much better at it."
Nathan let out a heavy sigh. "If we ever bring our daughter here, I don't want her to see her dad as a wimp who can't skate."
"You're not a wimp," Haley assured him. "You are just not a skater. I'm sure Jamie will understand."
Nathan frowned. "Jamie? Don't you mean Charlotte?"
Haley shook her head. Nathan looked at her, ready for an explanation. "No, I mean Jamie. The baby is a boy. The ultrasound was wrong. We're really having a boy," she announced. As she said the words, it felt more real. She couldn't believe when Dr. Rivers told her the doctor had been wrong all this time. How could anybody miss the differences between a boy and a girl? Nathan looked at her in shock. He couldn't believe it. She just gave him a smile. "You're getting your wish. We're having James Lucas Scott."
Nathan just looked at her in amazement. He barely managed to get his words out. "You're serious? We're really having a boy?" he asked. Haley nodded. He was ecstatic. At the same time, he was concerned for Haley. "Are you okay? I know how happy you were when we found out the baby was going to be a girl."
"I was, but then I thought about what you said when you found out it wasn't going to be a boy," Haley said. "And I realized I should be grateful. I've made this far without any problems. I'm doing well and our son is doing well. That's all what counts, right?" Nathan nodded as they shared a passionate kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too," Nathan replied. They began making out until they realized they had an audience. Lydia, Jimmy, Clay, Quinn, Brooke and Lucas were all giving them smiles. The two lovebirds pulled away from each other. Nathan pretended to look annoyed. "Really? You guys can't give expectant parents some privacy?"
"P.D.A. is so seventh grade," Brooke teased him. Nathan nudged her. "I don't want Kendall's favorite aunt and uncle teach her bad habits," she said, gesturing to Kendall next to them. "Are these the kind of habits you're going to teach my niece?"
There was a short pause as Nathan turned to Haley. Looking at each other, they could read each other's minds. Nathan turned back to the family. "Actually, Haley and I have an announcement," he said. Haley hoped her mother would let her speak. She saw a twinkle in her mother's eyes as Nathan spoke again. "It turns out James Lucas Scott is joining our family after all. There was a mistake with the ultrasound and we're not having a girl. We're having a boy." There were cheers and hugs as everyone congratulated the expectant parents.
Lydia embraced her daughter in a tight hug. "Good thing you found out about it before the baby shower," she said with a wink. She smiled. "I love it when I'm right."
