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Chapter 21

I quickly got out and headed up to the front porch. "Haley, wait up!" Peyton called, right on my heels. I slowed down for her, not that I was going fast. I mean, seriously, I'm pregnant. She needed to speed it up some! We left Jake to see to my bags and went inside.

There I was met with silence. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

"They're probably out in the backyard. At least, that's where Luke said they'd be," Peyton replied.

I went towards the kitchen where the door to the backyard was. It was here where I found my mom, Deb, Brooke and Bevin. Nobody noticed me yet. I snuck up behind Bevin and yelled out, "Bevin! I missed you so much!"

She jumped and turned. After her heart started to beat again she grinned. "HALEY! It's so good to see you! Look at your cute little tummy!" she exclaimed. In between her talking she kept hugging me and then pulling back. "I heard you're home for good!"

I pulled back completely, putting more space between us. "Bev, you are one crazy girl! It's really good to see you, too and yes, I am home for good. I just couldn't stand not seeing my family for so long."

"Tutorgirl you better get your cute little pregnant butt over here!" Brooke said. I looked at her and her hands were on hips. "Or should I start calling you Tutormom?"

I smirked. "If the shoe fits!" I walked over as quickly as I could. "I missed you Tigger!"

"I missed you, too, Tutorchick," she replied and then began to whisper. "I haven't gotten any further in Operation: bring down the bitch. She's one tough chick to get dirt from."

I pulled back and smiled. "Don't worry about all that just yet. Let me get settled for a few days and then we'll put it into motion, okay?" she nodded.

"How is my baby girl doing?" I heard a soft voice ask.

I turned to my mother. "Hey mom, I missed you bunches," I said and pulled her in close. "You don't hate me, do you?"

She looked me right in the eye. "I could never hate you, Haley. I guess I'm just being a hypocrite. See, I got pregnant with you and your brother when I was that young, too, and I just never thought it would happen with you. You were always the sensible one."

I sighed. "I'm sorry if I let you down, mom. I hate knowing that you're disappointed in me," I said.

She shook her head. "I'm not disappointed, Haley, and I don't want you to even think that! You created something out of love. I know you love him, Haley. I just didn't picture myself as a grandmother so young," she said with a laugh. "But I've had time to get used to it."

I nodded. "I know that once you see the baby you'll fall right in love with it," I said and she nodded back. I turned to see Deb who looked at me with a smile. "Hey, Deb, how's everything?"

She hugged me. "Everything with me is fine. Everything that has to do with Rachel, not so much. I swear Haley I want to kill her! She's trying too hard and it's completely obvious. I haven't been able to test your theory on the father because he hasn't been around. Hopefully we'll get to do that soon, though."

I laughed. I could always count on Deb. "Thanks for keeping me updated on things. For now, let's just enjoy ourselves and have a good Christmas, shall we? How's Nathan doing?"

"He's good. He's asked Rachel to marry him, not that you didn't already know he would. He wanted to do that before you got here so you wouldn't witness it. He's absolutely miserable when he gets home, but he quickly brightens up when I mention I talked with you. He's constantly asking how you and the baby are doing," she said, laughing. "It's adorable."

I smiled. "He's gonna be such a good daddy." I sighed. "I don't know how I'm gonna react to seeing them together. Even though I know it's not real, my hormones are so out of whack that I just might break down. I really hope it doesn't come to that."

The door opens revealing my dad. "Karen, everyone's waiting on- Haleybub?"

I laughed. "Hey daddy!" I replied and walked over, practically jumping into his open arms. "How are you?"

"Wonderful now that you're home. You aren't leaving my sight again!" He set me down. "How was Stanford? Was it everything you dreamed of?"

I shook my head. "Luke wasn't there, Nate wasn't there, my best friends weren't there. No, it wasn't. Besides, I missed having my parental units harping on me all the time," I joked. "So, who's all here?"

He stepped aside and let me go outside. I hugged all the guys, minus Luke and Nathan who weren't there at the moment. Rachel wasn't around either. "Got a hug for me, Haley?"

I turned to see Dan. I smiled. "Always, Mr. Scott! How are you?"

"Why'd you stop calling me Dan?" he pulled back.

I shrugged. "I just thought I'd call you Mr. Scott. Is that okay with you?"

He shook his head. "No, that makes me sound old!" he exclaimed and I laughed. He looked around and then whispered. "How's my grandson doing?"

I smiled. "Doing just fine today. Actually, he's very active," I said and placed his hand on my stomach. He smiled as my baby kicked. "He might be a soccer player!"

Dan shook his head. "No, if he's really Nate's then he'll be playing basketball in no time."

I smiled. The door opened to the back, revealing Lucas, Nathan and Rachel. The latter two looking too cozy to me. Luke ran right up to me. "Hales!" he spun me around and I laughed.

"How are you, baby bro? Did you enjoy having the house to yourself for a while?"

He set me down. "Yeah, it was pretty cool, I guess. I missed you though. How was school? Boring? I bet you missed me like crazy!"

I laughed. "You should know that from the bazillion e-mails and letters I sent, not to mention all the phone calls!"

"Did you take pictures with all the hot girls? How's Chris doing?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I got one of every girl I thought you might consider hot… NOT! Brooke would kill you if she heard you ask that! I did get pictures of my new and old friends, though. I have an album that I'll show you. Chris is doing just fine, actually. He told me to tell you he's gonna try to visit soon."

Nathan and Rachel walked over to us. "Well, well. Following in my footsteps, I see," Rachel said with a smirk. "Who's the daddy?"

I gave her the best smile I could muster. "Not that it's any of your business, but my boyfriend Chris," I said, desperately wanting to ask her the same question. "Wow, Rachel, pregnancy looks really good on you. How far along are you?"

I was being sweet to her. This definitely caught her off guard. "Umm, I'm 5, I mean 6 1/2 months along. How about you?"

I smiled. "Only 3, but I'm getting so big already! I swear, it must be twins!" I knew that she stumbled because she probably really was only 5 months along. I was perfect with my answer, leaving no room for questioning. "So I hear the pair of you are engaged. I think a congratulations are in order."

I stepped forward, hugging her slightly, our stomachs not allowing much. I then moved over to Nathan, lingering as long as I dared. "I missed you, baby," I whispered and kissed him softly on the cheek. I stepped back and he gave me a small smile. "So, how are you, Nate?"

"I'm good. I see you didn't waste any time to get over me," he said, not meaning to be truly hurtful, but trying to seem like he didn't care about me any more to Rachel.

I couldn't help the hurt expression on my face. "Yeah, well you either. You didn't waste any time to ask her to marry you," I replied then turned to Luke. "Wanna go see those albums? Let's go."

I dragged him behind me inside of the house, desperately needing to get away from Nathan and the witch.

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