Thank you for your reviews, krizue, SnowWhite213, lilmonkeygirl31, hybridwolf10, OTHlover04, deli41321, Nataliegirl1214, CCScott23, JeniRose, naley214, iftheyonlyknewthetruth, NaLeYBaBiixo, and xSmile.

I really look forward to getting your comments after every chapter, so don't stop! Be prepared for a bit of a wait for the next chapter, though – it's a long weekend here (Queen's Birthday in NZ), and I've taken Friday off work and am travelling up to Auckland to see my family, so probably won't be posting.

Hopefully you won't be too upset by this chapter. It does provide a bit of a twist, though, so be prepared.

This chapter has been amended to fix an error.

Karen Scott closed her eyes and smiled as she listened to the voice talking to her through her cell phone. She felt her husband's hand squeeze hers, and she opened her eyes again and smiled at him.

"No, Mom, it looks as if it's all going to work out, actually. Haley said to say that you and Keith were more than welcome to come and visit Faith – it looks like they'll be stuck in New York for a little while at least, pending a few legal issues being tied off. The upside is that the lawyer's arranged for the custody already, and Haley's going to let Nate be involved – "

"Is that a good idea?" Karen interrupted, frowning slightly.

Haley had been – and still was – almost like her own daughter. She loved Nathan, too – he was the son of a close friend, and the brother of her son – but she had always felt protective of Haley. Haley had always been so sweet, and so giving, and so optimistic, that she couldn't understand how anybody could not love her. So, even though she loved Nathan, Karen couldn't understand how he had done what he'd done. Not to Haley.

And especially not when she was pregnant with his child.

For some years, Karen had avoided Nathan, although carefully masking her feelings during unavoidable interactions.

Until Faith. And until she understood that, as much as Nathan had hurt Haley, in a way, he'd hurt himself even more.

So she had mended fences with Nathan, but that didn't mean that she wanted him anywhere near Haley and her daughter. Not if there was even the slightest chance he could make the same mistakes again.

Karen's thought processes were interrupted by Luke's response.

"Yeah, Mom, I know what you mean, but I think it's for the best. It'll be hard on Haley, but this is about Faith now, and what she needs. And you know Nathan."

Karen nodded. She knew Nathan. That was why she was concerned.

But he did love Haley. It wasn't as if that had ever not been true, actually. So maybe everything would turn out for the best?

"He's not going to let anything happen, you know? Besides, I'll kick his ass if he screws this up again."

Karen gasped, and laughed, prompting Keith, listening intently to her side of the conversation, to grab the phone off his wife.

"I don't know what you just said, Luke, but your mother looks rather shocked here! So everything's going well?"

In New York, Lucas laughed.

"Hey Keith – yeah. Everything is perfect."

Dan Scott sat at his desk in his Tree Hill car dealership, his fists clenched on the arms of his chair, a tabloid newspaper lying opened across his desk.

The pictures were bright and the story upbeat, but Dan Scott was anything but.

He thought he had solved the problem years ago, but here it was again, rearing its ugly little head. Dan gave a sudden, eerily engaging, chuckle. Or its pretty little auburn head, depending on how one looked at it.

Either way, it was bad, and Dan was definitely going to do something about it.

And soon.

He hadn't gone to all that effort seven years ago, six years ago, five years ago, and ever since, for nothing.

All that money, all that time, all that effort, would not be wasted just because of one hiccup. Or even one DNA test.

Nathan would come around. He'd recognise what Haley James was, and he'd understand that everything that his father had done was for the best. Just as he had more than six years ago.

Dan's eyes narrowed in thought, malice in their depths. Haley James might have made it in the music world, but she was still the same girl who had ruined his family. The same girl who had stolen his son away. The same girl who had alienated his family, and threatened to ruin his son's life, and who had not been ashamed.

Dan Scott would never allow Haley James or her little bastard to be part of the Scott family.

No way. Over his dead body.

Deb Scott took a deep breath, inhaling, then exhaling out her tension as she watched the TV news.

Her past had caught up with her, and things would never be the same between Nathan and her after it all came out. She knew that.

On the screen, the crowd jostled and shoved and yelled questions, and the family – because they undoubtedly were a family – smiled, and nodded, and spoke briefly and without elaboration.

Regardless, maybe it was time.

She had never regretted anything as much as she had regretted what had happened with Haley. What had happened to Faith.

The camera zoomed in on the little girl standing, bulwarked between her parents' larger bodies. Holding hands with both her parents – her mother on her left and her father on her right – she was pressing up against her father's leg, sheltering from the brightness of the flashing cameras.

And although she hadn't been to blame for that – and nobody would've thought she could be – she had always known something was wrong.

In spite of her otherwise defensive posture, her smile was bright, and carefree.

That something was off.

It was time to come clean.

The family smiled, and waved, as the father helped his wife and daughter into the waiting car.

Deb Scott wasn't letting her husband get away with it anymore. Especially not after that hurried phone conversation with Nathan, held a day earlier. He had been elated, and she had realised he hadn't been that happy in more than six years. Not since Haley.

So, even though this revelation could ruin her life, or at least her relationship with her son, she needed to make certain he knew the truth. She needed to make sure he had a real chance of realising happiness once again. With Faith, and, hopefully, with Haley as well.

"Hi, is this American Airlines? I need one one-way ticket to New York. As soon as possible, please."

In a crowded New York city jail, a tidy man in his mid thirties sat, meticulously clad in a grey suit. Silent, he watched the others sharing his cell, ignoring their shouts, and their laughter, and the odd scuffle. The cell was cramped and smelled strongly of urine, but that didn't matter. This was not where he was supposed to be, and no doubt shortly he would be taken out. After all, he had just been doing what was right.

David Knight adjusted his shirtsleeves, ensuring they were even and that he appeared presentable.

It was just a matter of time until everything was cleared up and he was back in his home with Sarah. She needed to be cared for. She needed to be taught what was right.

And he needed what he got in exchange for keeping her.

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Next chapter: Faith emerges from her room to meet everyone.