okay. so this has been the busiest and most stressful time of my life, BUT I just wanted to let ya all know that I am still finishing this story, its taken a long time but here is the second last chapter, and I'm busy on the last one so I promise to have both of them up and posted in less then a week, also if you read "complicated" I'm also going to update that story soon, just wanna finish "Soul Mates" first. Please read and review, and thanks again.
HALES
It had been a few days since Nate had planned the perfect night alone for us, we had been engaged.
"So Hales ... I was thinking, we should probably tell the gang and Clair about our engagement" Nate said early on the Tuesday morning, I turned over to look at him, I couldn't believe that we were engaged again, it was really like a dream come true,
"I know ... But, do you really want to take the moment away from Rach and Mouth, its thier wedding in a few days and I don't want to take thier glory" I whispered stroking Nates face, Nate looked at me, and a lazy grin crept on his face,
"your amazing ... you know that? You get engaged and you worry more about your friends then you" He whispered, I grinned and kissed him,
"We will tell them on Sunday okay ... or maybe late Saturday" I said grinning at him, he leaned in to kiss me,
"Daddy ... what ya doing" Clair asked walking into the room, Nate and I burst out laughing as Nate picked Clair up and flipped her over his shoulder, before tickling her,
"Daddy ... no ... stop it" Clair squealed, as Nate put her down she ran out of the room and Nate chased her, I couldn't help but smile, I couldn't wait to tell Clair that we were finially going to be a family. I smiled and got out of bed as I headed towards the shower.
"What would you like for Breakfast" Nate asked as I entered into the Kitchen to see him in a apron and pulling faces at Clair,
"Mommy ... daddy is being silly" Clair gigled as she watched Nate fry the egg,
"What ever you making" I said smiling at Nate as I sat down next to Clair and kissed her good-morning.
"Daddy and Uncle Luke said they will help me with my basketball" Clair said proudly, I looked up at Nate surprised,
"just thought it would be a good way to spend time with her, the rest of the guys feel the same" Nate said, I grinned at him,
"I think its wonderful and you and the rest of the guys want to get to know her," I said, as I kissed Nate,
"Go get ready then" I told Clair, she jumped up and ran to her room, the look on her face was pricless.
Half an hour later, Nate and Clair were on thier way out of the house,
"you sure you don't want to come" Nate asked me as he kissed me goodbye,
"no its okay, I promised the girls I would hang out with them today," I told him and kissed Clair goodbye,
"okay have fun" Nate said with a grin,
"you too, and Nate ... becarful, don't let Clair over do it" I asked, he laughed and shook his head,
"Don't worry Hales, we will" he shouted as he helped Clair in to the car and climbed in on his side, they drove away and I waved goodbye to them.
WITH THE GIRLS
"Hey tutor mom" Brooke joked as Hales and Taylor walked into Karen's cafe, she had promised to meet all of them there for a "girls day out",
"Hey girls" hales said smiling as she hugged Brooke, Peyton, Rach, Bevin, Karen and Deb,
"So what we doing today" Bevin asked as they all stood around,
"I was thinking just lunch and maybe a movie?" Karen said looking at each of the girls,
"Sounds good," Hales said,
"Haven't seen a movie in ages" she told them all with a smile,
"Movie and lunch it is then" Deb confirmed as they all headed out of the cafe, Karen had got one of the waitresses to just watch the cafe while they were out,
"So .. how ya feeling Rach" Taylor asked with a grin,
"yeah, 4 more days and you gonna be Mrs Racheal McFadden" Peyton said getting excited, Rach just grinned,
"I know, I can't believe it, seems like its come so quick." Rach said smiling widely,
"Where is tag-along Nathan and that beautiful granddaughter of mine" Deb asked with a laugh, as the girls all giggled,
"the guys have taken Clair to help with her basketball, she wants to be on the team at school, just like daddy and his friends" Hales said,
"Oh ... that explains why Jake just left" Peyton said, they all laughed,
"it explains alot of things" Karen said with a smile,
"So what are we going to watch" Brooke asked, they had already gotten to the movie house.
WITH THE GUYS
"Hey Clair, we here" Nate told her as he parked the car by the river court, he helped her out and they headed to the table that Mouth was sitting on,
"Hey Mouth" Nate greeted, it was just mouth,Nate and Clair no one had arrived yet,
"Hey clair' Mouth said with a smile, she grinned at him and hugged him hello,
"This place is so cool" Clair said as she surveyed the court,
"how did you find it" she asked, Nate grinned at her,
"your uncles Luke, Mouth and Skills used to play here," he said,
"Didn't you play here too daddy" Clair asked looking up at him, Mouth and Nate just chuckled,
"No daddy didn't play here, though he did trash it" Mouth said giving Nate a playful push,
"Why did you do that" Clair asked confused,
"Because your daddy and I didn't like each other" Luke said with a smile from behind Clair,
"but your brothers, you have to love each other" Clair reprimaned, as Nate and Luke just laughed,
"Okay ... okay, if I give him a hug will be be happy" Luke asked joking with Clair, she just nodded her head as Luke and Nathan pretended to hug,
"Okay, are we missing something" Andy asked pretending to be shocked at the scene in front of him, everyone just laughed,
"Hey Clair ... ready for basketball" Dan asked as he bent down to Clairs height, she nodded her head and gave Dan a hug,
Once Jake, and Skills arrived everyone started throwing the ball around.
WITH THE GIRLS
"That was so sad, I can't believe that she remembered him" Karen said, as the girls walked out of the movie house, they had decided on "Just like heaven"
"yeah, but the saddest was when she woke up in the hospital and she didnt know who he was, I just wanted to cry" Peyton said, her eyes getting watery. Hales hugged Peyton,
"its okay, we will always remember you" she said with a smile,
"Hey, I want a hug too" Brooke said with a sad face,
"What about me?" Karen asked, pretending to be sad, it soon turned into a big group hug,
"So what are we going to eat" Deb asked, as we walked back to the Cafe,
WITH THE GUYS
"Clair here ... " Dan shouted as he threw the ball to Clair, Nathan pick her up swung her around as she dropped the ball into the net,
"And score" Jake shouted as he high-fived Clair, they had been playing basketball for the last 2 hours, and now they were tired,
"So what ya wanna do now" Jake asked Clair, she pretending to think about for a little while,
"Play more basketball" she squealed as she picked the ball up and ran, Nate and Luke chased after her,
"oh no you don't" Luke joked as he picked Clair up and span her around,
"uncle Luke" she squealed, Luke put her down and she ran to Nate,
"You can't catch me" she joked hinding behind her dad, Luke slowly approached her,
"hey watch it Luke" Nate joked. Clair ran off gigling as the guys just smiled and watched her,
"What ya doing tonight" Luke asked Nathan,
"I'm not sure" he answered, as they made thier way back to the grass,
"You should stop by the Cafe, I think the girls are all going thier for a drink after thier day out anyway" Andy said joining the brothers,
"Okay man, that would be cool" Nathan said, soon after that the guys started heading towards the cafe.
WITH THE GIRLS
"So you going to stay for a drink right?" Rach asked as they finished their snacks,
"Yeah, I'll just get hold of Nathan and tell them to meet us here" Haley said,
"no need to worry" Peyton confirmed, as a smile grew on her face, Hales turned around to see the guys coming up to the Cafe,
"MOMMY" Clair shouted as she ran to Hales,
"Hey kiddo, how did basketball go?" Taylor asked her niece,
"It was awsome" Clair squealed,
"Did you win?" Brooke asked the little girl, she grinned up at Brooke and nodded her head,
"Yeah I did" she said excitedly,
"girlpower" Rach said slapping her high-five, Clair gigled and climbed on to Hales lap,
"I have an idea" Karen said with a smile, she turned to Clair,
"Why don't I get the baby sitter and you and Kelly can play while Mommy and daddy have a few drinks here" she said, Hales looked at her daughter and smiled at Karen,
"thanks, I think it would be a good idea, she hasn't been able to make any friends yet" Hales said,
A few minutes later Haley and Karen had dropped Clair off and the baby sitter had agreed to come,
"its really good to have you back Hales" Karen said on the way back to the Cafe,
"its really really good to be back" Hales admitted with a small smile,
"and even better to be back with Nate ... I can't believe how much Dan has changed, he is a completey different person" Hales confessed to Karen, she smiled at Haley and nodded,
"I know, he is so determined to be there for Kelly ... I think Keith would have been so happy to see how much Dan has changed, it was hard in the beginning, and no-one believed he was for real, but he proved himself, I just hope he stays like this" Karen said softly, Haley smiled at her and as Karen pulled the car up by the Cafe and parked it, Haley turned to her and hugged her,
"i've missed you Karen" she said softly, Karen hugged her back,
"I've missed you too" she said, before they climbed out the car and headed towards the Cafe.
"Hey you back" Nate said as he slipped his arms around Hales waist,
"hey you" Hales said back standing on her tip-toes to kiss Nate on the lips,
"get a room you two" Luke joked from the other side of the Cafe,
"Luke ... leave them alone" Brooke joked poking him in the ribs, everyone started laughing, as Nate and Hales turned around,
"Do you wanna mess with me huh?" Nate joked getting in Lukes face,
"I'll kick your ass" Luke shot back,
"Oh really, wanna take this outside" Nate said with a smirk,
"How about we settle this with a game of Pool, " Luke added,
"name the time and place" Nate challenged,
"right now, and TRIC" Luke said turning and heading in the direction of TRIC, A laughing Nathan followed him as the guys headed towards the popular club,
"but theres no pool tables in TRIC is there" Hales asked confused, as she turned to the two older ladies, who were shaking thier heads and laughing at thier sons,
"Yeah, we changed TRIC a lot since the last time you were there" Peyton said with a smile,
"So what did you say?" Rach asked the a grin, Haley looked at her strangely,
"Say to what" she asked confused,
"Oh come on, you don't think we haven't noticed you trying your hardest to hide your hand?" Brooke asked, standing next to Rach with a grin on her face too,
"Wow, Pey ... you should be getting excited about the baby coming soon ... how does Jenny feel" Haley asked turning all her attention to her blond friend,
"Jenny is excited ... I'm sure you are too" Peyton said with a smile,
"Excited about you having a baby" Haley asked confused, everyone laughed at the look Haley had on her face, by now the 8 of them were sitting around the table near the counter, A customer came up to pay for thier food so Karen quickly excussed her self to help the paying customer,
"lets see" Deb said, trying to grab Haley's hand, she quickly pulled it away from Deb,
"Theres nothing in my hand" she defended herself,
"We know that, its more like on your finger" Bevin cut in, everyone looked at her shocked,
"What" she asked back innocently,
"I know i'm blond, but come on even I noticed that Hales is hiding a ring" She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world,
"What ring" Hales asked, still trying to play clueless,
"this Ring," Karen said, going behind Hales and grabbing her hand to show the whole table the engagment ring on her finger,
"Your engaged" Taylor gasped,
"I'm so sorry I didnt say anything, we were going to tell you guys after the wedding" Haley said,
"Why after the wedding" Rach asked confused,
"We didnt want to ruin your and mouth's wedding, by taking any of the spotlight" Haley confessed to her friend,
"Are you serious" Rach asked, Haley just nodded,
"So how did he propose? and when ... we want all the details" Brooke said leaning forward, happiness shone in her eyes, Haley told them all the deatails, just then Deb jumped up,
"Where you going" Haley asked,
"To congradulate my son ... where else" Deb asked with a grin,
"No you can't ... you have to pretend I didnt tell you" Haley said running after Deb, but it was too late, Deb was out of the cafe and as Hales turned around she noticed so were the rest of her friends. She smiled slightly, it was deffinately good to be back, so she decided to run after them.
WITH THE GUYS
"Okay, so you might be a little better then me at pool, but at least I don't crash racing cars" Luke joked to Nathan, as the whole gang started laughing,
"So hows things going between you and Hales?" Jake asked as he took his turn at the pool table, before Nathan could answer the girls all came running in, expect Peyton and Hales,
"Oh my gosh ... this is so cool" Rach squealed as she threw her arms around a stunned Nathan and hugged him,
"I can't belive it, you must be so happy" Brooke shreaked as she took her turn to hug Nate,
"I'm really proud of you" Deb said standing in line, the guys just stared at them confused,
"Look ... I'm also winning ... wheres my hugs" Luke complained, but had a grin plastered on his face, Brooke walked up to Luke,
"don't be jelous ... we love you too" she said with a wink,
"Okay ... I'm missing something here" a confused Dan turned to Andy,
"Don't look at me ... I have no idea what goes on in a womens head" he joked,
"I'm really sorry, they found out" Hales said standing back, but just lifting her finger enough for the light to hit the diamond on her ring,
"Your engaged?" Luke asked stunned, Hales turned to him and gave a small smile,
"Yeah we are" she said as she walked to Nate and he wrapped his arms around her.