Hey guys, so here's the second part to the story. Sorry it took so long, this past week was super busy for me. I'll try to get the final part out sooner. :-) Thank you all for the amazing reviews, they mean so much to me and I'm so glad to know that you are enjoying this story. Keep it up!
Disclaimer- Neither One Tree Hill nor any of its characters belongs to me.
Summary- James is two months old when Haley's parents finally get home to Tree Hill to pay the Scott family a visit. Cute Naley with baby fluff.
Meeting Baby James
Part Two
Haley awoke the next morning to the beautiful sound of silence. She looked at the alarm clock next to the bed and saw that it was 7:14 and still quiet, too quiet. James slept through the night now, but he was always up by about 7:00 in the morning. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes as she felt Nathan's hand tugging at the oversized t-shirt she was wearing as if to tell her to lay back down. "Nathan, it's late and the baby hasn't made a sound yet."
"He's probably sleeping," Nathan mumbled. It was 7:14 on a Saturday morning, hardly what he would call late. "Let's just sleep until he wakes up."
"Oh my gosh, he hasn't made a sound," Haley said worriedly as she hurried out of the bed and pulled on some of Nathan's basketball shorts that were lying on the floor. "Do you know what that could mean? Nathan, maybe he suffocated in his crib, or, oh God, maybe he's not breathing. Do you know how common SIDS is? Why isn't he awake yet?"
Nathan watched as she ran frantically out of the bedroom and into the nursery across the hall. Ever since James was born, she constantly worried about him somehow suffocating in his crib. Basically once a week for the past two months she would have a minor panic attack like this. She would freak out about not hearing the baby yet and then rush into the nursery, only to find him peacefully asleep. Of course, to soothe her mind she always had to hold him and accidentally wake him up in the process.
When Haley arrived in the blue nursery, her eyes darted to the crib where absolutely no noise was originating. She felt her heart rise and then drop a little when she saw that there was no baby in the bed. Why wasn't he in his crib? Her mind automatically brought up dark thoughts about the missing boy, it's not like he can get out on his own yet. She quickly rushed back across the hall where Nathan was already asleep again. "Nathan! He's not in his bed! Wake up!"
"What?" Nathan mumbled against the pillow as Haley grabbed on to his arm tried to pull him out of bed.
"James isn't in his crib. What if someone broke in and kidnapped him last night? Oh my God," Nathan watched as his wife all but hyperventilated because their son was not sleeping in his bed right now. Sure, it was a little weird that James wasn't in his bed, but there were three other people in the house that could have easily taken him out this morning.
"Haley, calm down," Nathan soothed as he grabbed her wrist from his arm. "Did you check with my mom or your parents? He's probably downstairs with them."
"You're right. He's got to be downstairs with my parents or something," Haley said to reassure herself. Ever since James was born, her biggest fear was that something would happen to him while she was asleep. Mornings were always a little bit stressful for her because he had been out of her sight all night and anything could have happened to him. They had kept James's crib in their room for the first month, but once he started sleeping through the night Deb had convinced them to move it to the nursery. "I'm going downstairs."
"Ok," Nathan chuckled. He loved the way Haley became frantic over every little thing when it came to James. Sure, he worried about the boy at night too and he secretly wished that the crib was still safely in their bedroom, but he would never admit it out loud. He didn't want to be one of those crazy obsessive parents.
Haley quickly kissed his forehead and then made her way out of the room. Her parents or Deb had to have taken him out this morning, that was the only logical explanation. It would explain why they hadn't heard him crying and why he wasn't in the nursery. As she descended the steps she heard the familiar laugh of none other than her mother.
"So then I said, Haley, that's not icing," Lydia laughed from her seat at the kitchen table. Haley was sure that her father was down there too and Deb's laughter could also be heard ringing through the hallway. As she approached the kitchen, she had to wonder if her parents always told embarrassing stories about her when she was sleeping. She was positive that she would never do that to James.
"Nathan did the same thing when he was little!" Haley heard Deb's voice say with a laugh. "Only he tasted bacon grease that had been sitting out for a couple hours."
More laughter could be heard as Haley finally entered the kitchen and let out a sigh of relief when she saw her father holding a content baby James. "Good morning Haley Bub, would you like some pancakes? Deb and I made them this morning. We put chocolate chips in some of them just for you," Lydia smiled.
"Thanks mom," Haley smiled as she walked over to her father and her son. "Hey baby, how are you?"
At the sound of his mother's voice, James instantly started squirming and Jimmy reluctantly handed him over to Haley. "And I thought he liked me," he laughed.
"Oh, of course he likes you, don't you baby?" Haley cooed to the baby who looked up at her with wide eyes and tried his best to smile. "So which one of you kidnapped my son from his crib this morning?" Haley teased as she tickled James's stomach.
"That would be me," Lydia said in a very unapologetic voice. "I wanted to see the little angel and when I walked in he was already awake. By the way, do you always come down here in the morning looking like that? Honey, those aren't even your clothes," she scolded as Haley rolled her eyes playfully.
"No, normally I put on a robe or something, but I went into James's room and he wasn't there…" Haley paused to look pointedly at her mother who only shrugged with a smile. "And I wanted to get down here fast to make sure you had him."
"Haley's in the overprotective stage of motherhood," Deb pointed out to Lydia who nodded in agreement.
"What? No I'm not," Haley defended herself as she sat down in one of the chairs while holding the baby in her lap. "I just get a little worried sometimes."
"Don't worry, it's perfectly normal," Lydia assured her daughter. "After I had Matt, our oldest," she pointed out as she turned to Deb. "I would get so nervous every time he ate anything that wasn't mashed up. Once he started eating solid foods, I thought I would end up having a heart attack because I was so sure that he was going to choke."
"Oh, I know. When Nathan was little I would get really nervous every time he sucked his thumb. I know, it was dumb of me, but I always thought he would somehow choke on it or something," Deb laughed as Nathan entered into the kitchen wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.
"I see we're talking about me?" Nathan chuckled as he kissed Haley lightly on the top of her head and then sat down next to her at the table.
"Nathan, you never told me you sucked your thumb," Haley giggled as the baby started to stare at his daddy whose hair was all over the place and whose eyes still held the appearance of sleep. It was obvious that Nathan had gotten out of bed about a minute ago.
"I did not," Nathan defended himself in a sleepy voice as he graciously took the glass of orange juice from his own mother and drank a little, watching as James's eyes followed his every movement.
"Oh, yes you did," Deb laughed. "You sucked your thumb until you were at least three years old."
Everyone in the room aside from Nathan and James started laughing and Nathan turned to give Deb an aggravated look. If only his mother would stop telling his in-laws these embarrassing things. She was allowed to say this in front of Haley, that he didn't care about, but did she have to tell Haley's parents? It's not like he could control whether or not he liked to suck his thumb when he was three years old. "Whatever," he smirked before leaning over to leave a soft kiss on the baby's head. "So, what do we have planned for the day?"
"Oh, Nathan, I'm so glad you asked," Lydia cheered. "Jimmy, tell him."
"We thought it would be nice to have a picnic in the park," Haley's father said as he sat down in a chair next to Nathan and opened the newspaper to the sports section. "Oh, Nate, looks like UNC is going to be having a great season, you think you can take them?"
"I'm going to try," Nathan smiled as he took baby James from Haley's arms so she could get herself some breakfast.
"Nathan, did Haley ever tell you about the time she thought she got lost in the park?" Jimmy asked as the group approached a picnic table in the middle of the park. Haley was pushing the stroller and Nathan was walking beside her.
"Um, no she didn't," he smirked as he looked at his wife who was conveniently engrossed in arranging a thin blanket over the stroller so the sun was out of James's eyes.
"Oh, this is a great story," Lydia laughed. "Jimmy, you tell it."
"Ok, so when Haley was about five years old we took all of the kids to the park. Lydia and I had to split up the kids because they were too much of a handful when they were all together," he started explaining. "So I took the three boys with me and she took the four girls. Haley of course, being the youngest by about three years was constantly clinging to Lydia. After a while, Lydia had to go to the bathroom so she told Taylor to keep an eye on Haley. You know Taylor; you guess how well that went."
"Dad, must you tell this story?" Haley asked as her face turned a little pink. One could say that they color on her cheeks was from the heat, but Nathan knew that she was embarrassed about the story that her father was currently telling and therefore wanted to hear the rest.
"Yes," Jimmy answered sternly but with a smile. "So Taylor ran off with Quinn and Vivian leaving Haley alone by the sandbox. Haley Bub here didn't even realize that Lydia was gone so she grabbed some old woman's hand and started dragging her along after her sisters."
Nathan, Lydia, and Jimmy all laughed at that while Haley scowled at them and then looked down at her baby boy. Telling embarrassing stories to his wife was another thing that she would certainly add to the list of what not to do when he was older.
"Then, after dragging this old woman half way across the park, Haley finally realized that it wasn't her mom and started crying. No, not crying, bawling, sobbing hysterically, whatever you want to call it," Jimmy laughed as he continued. "She didn't even realize that I was standing right behind her because I had seen the whole thing happen."
"The best part was that when Jimmy tried to pick her up to calm her down, she thought that she was so lost that she was hallucinating, so she bit him," Lydia laughed. She missed the days when her children were little. There were so many funny moments that she would give up a lot to go re-live them.
"Ok, can that please be the last embarrassing story for today?" Haley begged as they stopped at a picnic table and she gently hoisted James out of his seat in the stroller and onto her lap. "Where's Deb when I need her? Maybe I could get some embarrassing stories out of her about your daddy."
"Hales, we live with my mom, you get plenty of embarrassing stories from her," Nathan laughed as he grabbed James's diaper bag from the stroller and sat down next to her. "I never get to hear this stuff from your parents, so we're even."
"Where is Deb anyway? All she said was she couldn't make it this afternoon," Jimmy wondered aloud as he stared at his grandson who has taken Haley's free hand to his mouth and was sucking on one of her fingers.
Nathan and Haley looked at each other as if trying to decide whether or not to tell them before Nathan spoke up. "She's probably at the shooting range, she goes there every Saturday afternoon."
"Shooting, like guns?" Lydia gasped. "She doesn't keep a gun in the house, does she?"
"No, mom. It's in a locker at the shooting range," Haley responded as she removed her finger from the baby's mouth and tried to soothe him when his lip started to quiver and his eyes filled up with tears. "Nathan, will you hand me a bottle please, he's hungry."
"Well, in that case, she should have invited me. You know, when we were camping in the mountains I learned how to shoot a rifle," Lydia boasted as she watched Nathan remove a bottled from the diaper bag and take the cap off.
"Oh please, Lydia. You couldn't hit a deer if it was already dead and laying right in front of you," Jimmy teased.
"Maybe so," She conceded. "Haley, can I ask why you decided to bottle feed instead of breast feed? Breast milk has been proven to be healthier for the baby and-"
"Because we're going to be in college next year and we just thought it would be too hard with our different class schedules and basketball games and stuff like that," Haley explained as she graciously took the bottle from Nathan and positioned it at James's mouth. When the baby felt the bottle on his lips he immediately opened his mouth and put his hands on the side to keep the bottle in place. Haley still had to hold the bottle for him because his muscles weren't strong enough yet to support it on his own, but it was still adorable to watch him try.
"That makes sense," Jimmy nodded. "Lydia, stop harassing them. We bottle fed all of them except for the first two."
"True," Lydia agreed. "And look how good Haley turned out. I guess I can agree with your choice, but only if I get to feed him."
Haley looked down at her son, not wanting to give him up. He stared at her with his large blue eyes and she realized that she got to feed him every day and her parents were only here until tomorrow. She sighed before standing up and walking over to her mother, gently handing the baby off to her while keeping the bottle in place. "Be careful with his head."
"Haley, I had seven children, I know how to hold a baby," Lydia pointed out with a laugh as she cradled James in her arms and held the bottle op for him. Haley chuckled at her own antics. Of course her mother knew how to hold a baby, she was just wary of giving him up for a few minutes.
When she got back to her seat she noticed for the first time that Nathan and her father were deep in their own conversation. Upon farther listening, she determined that her father was giving Nathan tips on how to be an effective disciplinarian.
"You just have to look them in the eye and lay down the law," Jimmy concluded.
"Dad, I don't think you have much room to talk on this issue," Haley giggled as both of the men turned to look at her.
"Why is that?" He asked, noticing the smile on her face and in her voice. "I was good at keeping you kids in line!"
"Yeah right, I had you wrapped around my finger and you know it. You didn't even punish me that one time when I punched Taylor," Haley laughed as she scooted closer to Nathan and he put his arm around her shoulder. Haley punching Taylor was definitely something he wished he had seen.
"You were only five years old," Jimmy defended himself. "And she did flush your favorite barbie's head down the toilet."
"I know she deserved it," Haley chuckled. "But I shouldn't have punched her so you should have grounded me or something. Mom was always the one I was scared of."
"Jimmy, Haley's right. You were a big softie even though you pretended to be strict," Lydia laughed, causing James to stir in her arms. "Did you hear that sweet baby? Your grandpa is a big softie. He'll never yell at you for anything," she cooed. "Unless you mess with his dentures," she added.
"I do not have dentures!"
"But you will, so I want James to get used to the fact that you have fake teeth," Lydia said dismissively as she started to talk to the baby again. James pushed the bottle from his mouth and Lydia knowingly set in on the table. "You're such a good boy, James. You drank almost the whole bottle!"
A few minutes later James was back in his mother's arms and Jimmy and Lydia were sharing an exciting tale about their trip to the Grand Canyon. "So then she said she wanted to go white water rafting," Jimmy laughed as he shook his head for emphasis. "I'm sure you can think of all the wonders that did for my back."
"Oh, stop your complaining Grandpa," Lydia smiled as she slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Nathan, I haven't gotten to talk to you very much this weekend. Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?"
"Um, yeah, I have." Nathan answered uneasily. He had gone with his parents when he was younger and the only thing he remembered about the whole trip was Dan and Deb arguing and then Dan taking him home early and leaving Deb behind. His visit to the Grand Canyon was definitely not his favorite memory to say the least.
Haley remembered Nathan telling her about his family vacation to the Grand Canyon and she knew how much he hated to talk about it. That trip, along with many other parts of his childhood, was best forgotten. "Nathan, will you take him? He's getting fussy," she asked suddenly, changing the subject as she lifted the little boy off her lap and into Nathan's outstretched arms. Nathan gave her a grateful look before turning his attention to the whimpering baby in his arms.
"It looks like the angel is about ready for a nap," Lydia sympathized as she stared at her grandson. She just couldn't get enough of him and she was sure that she never would. He was innocent and adorable personified.
"Yeah, we should probably start heading back," Jimmy agreed.
Nathan looked down as the baby whose eyelids were growing heavier by the minute and decided that his in-laws were right. James needed a nap and the heat from the sun was starting to get a little excessive. James yawned as Nathan held him tighter and got up to walk over to the stroller. Almost as soon as he started to lower the tiny boy in, he started to cry. Loud wails rang through the park and Haley was instantly by his side to help calm the child down.
Nathan and Haley watched the baby with puzzled faces as they tried everything to get his tears to stop falling, but every time he was close to the stroller, they came again. Nathan rubbed James's back as Haley whispered into his ear, but every time they moved to put him in the stroller, he started to cry again.
"I don't get it, he was fine in the stroller before," Haley said as she racked her brain trying to think of what could be upsetting her son. He didn't have a dirty diaper, he wasn't hungry, he was tired, but he usually didn't cry when he was tired but instead just fell asleep.
"Haley, I think he's mad because he doesn't want to go into the stroller," Lydia laughed as she looked over at Jimmy who nodded in agreement.
"What do you mean? He was fine in it earlier," Haley responded as she and Nathan both looked them. Nathan was slowly rocking James back and forth as his crying subsided.
"But he wants Nathan to keep holding him," Jimmy pointed out as if it were obvious. Nathan and Haley looked at each other before focusing on their baby who was already falling asleep against Nathan's chest.
"Oh," Haley smiled, embarrassed that she hadn't figured that out on her own.
"It's ok, baby. Parenthood takes practice. After seven kids, we're pretty good at reading children," Lydia chuckled as she took in the look on her daughter's face.
"So, I guess I'm carrying him home," Nathan laughed lightly as he felt the soft breaths of his son on him and the steady rising and falling of his chest. James was already fast asleep in his father's arms and Nathan wouldn't want it any other way.