Well I'm sorry to say that there are only 2 more chapters left. :(. But for those of you reading my other story, Life Is Beautiful, then you don't have to worry about that one ending any time soon. Well here is the next chapter. :)

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Chapter 12: Remembering

"Hey sleepy heads!" Brooke laughs without taking her eyes off the TV.

"Hey! Um, Brooke can we talk to you for a few minutes?" Nathan asks.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." She gets up from the couch and follows us into the kitchen.

Of course, she knows the reason we brought her in here. "So what do you think?"

We both smile at the thought of a few nights alone. I step towards Brooke and give her a huge hug. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us."

"No prob. You two deserve a few nights to yourselves. I would be happy to watch him. You know how much I love that boy. So where you two decide to go?" She asks.

Nathan smiles over to me and then back at Brooke. " New York City." He says.

Brooke squeals. "Oh goody! Great pick!"

"Yeah, I have always wanted to go there." I say.

She gives us both a huge. "Well, now that we have that settled, let's finish this Christmas off right." We all laugh and begin walking back into the living room. The rest of the day was relaxing, except for the fact that we knew we had to pack up and leave that night. We ate an early dinner and began packing up our things. The time flew by fast. It really was a great Christmas. Nathan seemed to enjoy being around him dad for once. I think he is waiting for me to say "I told ya so."

Peyton, Brooke, and I left the boys to load bags into the cars to leave, so we decided to take a walk. Peyton looked over at me. "You look happy." She said.

"Yeah, I am. Both you do." I told them.

"So, you excited for your Big Apple trip Tutor-Mommy?" Brooke asked.

I giggled with excitement. "Yeah. I really do appreciate what you are doing for us. It really means a lot."

Brooke stopped me in my tracks and put her hands on my shoulders. "Listen. That has been the millionth time you have said thank you to me. Hales, seriously, you both really deserve for what you two have been through this past year. You guys got remarried, you were in an accident, pregnant, having money troubles, and baby James being born."

Peyton laughed. "Although the last one was on the plus side."

"Well, obviously yeah." Brooke laughs. "But Hales, I bet Peyton can agree with me, stop worrying, you both need this." Peyton nods in agreement.

"You're right." I say. "I'm sure you and the little guy will have a great time."

Ending the subject, we continue talking about random things in our lives. The day's sun began setting and we realize it's getting late and we should head back. We approach the house and stop them before we walked up the steps.

"I've really missed you guys. I've missed all of this. We need to start seeing each other more often." I say sadly.

"Agreed." Peyton and Brooke say in harmony.

I snigger. "Good."

Brooke holds out her arms for us. The last time all three of us were like this was on the day that each of us went our separate way before college.

"Aww. Look. A group hug." Lucas laughs jokingly. Nathan comes walking out of the house and stands beside Lucas.

"Very funny Luke." Peyton says.

"Yeah. You know your jealous." I say.

"Well, all I know is that we have to leave in a few minutes my dearest wife." Nathan declares.

"Alright. Do we have everything ready to go?" I ask him nicely while walking up to him.

"Yup." He smirks.

We spend the a few minutes saying our goodbyes to everyone. Then, I get James situated in his car seat. Nathan opens the passenger door for me and closes it after I get in. He goes to his side and starts the engine. I roll down the window and wave to everyone. I look at each one of them and remember it like I'm painting a picture. Karen has Sophie on her hip and they are both waving. Dan is waving too. He seems to look sad, which is difficult to comprehend because we rarely ever see Dan like that. Peyton is standing next to Brooke, instead of Lucas, which surprises me.

Peyton and Brooke have had so many ups and downs. Too many to count now a days. But seeing them how they were in that moment, gave me hope and a smile grew across my face. Luke is just standing there, his hands in his pockets, smiling. I've known him almost my whole like, he's my best friend, and I'm truly going to miss him. These people, right here, are my family. No matter how dysfunctional they can be, I will still love them.

I wave goodbye and roll my window back up to its previous state. I find myself putting my hand over my necklace and taking a deep breath. Nathan looks over at me and asks, "What's wrong baby?"

"Oh." I chuckle. "It's nothing."

"You sure?" I nod as a response.

"Good." He says with a smile. "So are you excited for New Years as much as I am?"

My smile grow larger. "Of course." I say happily.

"Mind if I turn the radio on?" I ask politely.

"Nope." He says with his eyes still on the road.

I switch to my favorite station and with my luck, a familiar song plays and I sing along.

Let it go,
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in,
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

Let it slide,
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And I don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to

We'll get by,
It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

All of my regret
Will wash away some how
But I can not forget
The way I feel right now

In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away but these small hours
These small hours, still remain,
Still remain
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders still remain

Nathan grabs my hand and kisses it. "You really love that song, don't you?" He asks.

"Yeah. I remember listening to it in the hospital one time when you fell asleep next to me. It was a few hours after my water broke and I knew you were exhausted so I told you to sleep. I had one of the nurses grab my iPod out of the bag so I could listen to music because I couldn't fall asleep. It was one of the newest songs I put on there and I already knew the words. When it came on, I sang, but I made sure I didn't wake you. It reminded me of how scared I was, but also that things would be okay."

"Really?" He asks with curiosity.

"Yup. I listened to it over and over again, then you woke up and I looked into your eyes, and I knew for sure, that we are going to be just fine."

Nathan smiles at me. "You've never told me that before."

"I know. But now you have an explanation of why I was so calm and happy when you woke up." I chuckle.

He laughs. "Yeah. I was so confused because while I was falling asleep you were so tense."

"Then a few hours passed and our boy was born."

"And I didn't have to carry around a bag of weird foods with me." He laughs at me while joking.

"Oh you're so funny, aren't you? Well you try being pregnant then." I pout.

"No thanks. I'll leave that to you."

"What are you saying then? You want more kids?" I ask.

"Yeah. Nothing to rush to though. Why? You don't?"

"Of course I do."

"Well we agree on something then." He laughs.

I turn around to check on James and he is sleeping. "Okay answer this. Why is it that he gets more sleep than us now?"

My husband glances at me and smiles. "You already know the answer to that question. Don't worry babe. We will get home soon and then hopefully he will still be asleep and we can just lay him in his crib. Then we can get sleep, okay?"

"Okay." I reply.

We finally get home and following what Nathan said, James is still sleeping.

"Thank god!" I mutter under my breath. I feeling of relief passes through my body.

Nathan takes James to his crib and quietly kisses him goodnight while I unpack. Knowing the time of sleep is coming soon, I quickly put away things in their right places, so I can lay in bed with my husband and fall sound asleep. I do as planned and get into my pajamas. I climb in next to my husband and snuggle into the crock of neck. He strokes my hair softly.

"I love you." I whisper into his skin. Oh does he smell good.

"I love you too baby. Good night." He whispers back.

"Good night."

He pulls me closer into my embrace and I slowly close my eyes into a deep sleep.