Nathan sat next to Jamie on the bleachers at the river court. He wasn't sure how to say what he was about to say, but he knew he needed to say it now and get it over with.
"Can we talk, man to man?" Nathan asked, looking at the small boy.
"About what?" Jamie asked, looking up at him, an inquisitive look on his face.
"Well, Jamie, you know that I love your mom, right?" Nathan continued.
"Yeah, I hear you tell her ALL the time!" Jamie sighed, resting his chin in his hands on the basketball that was sitting in his lap.
"And you know that I love you too, right buddy?" Nathan continued, "I mean, you're the best friend I've ever had."
Jamie smiled, "I love you too Nathan. I'm glad you came to Tree Hill. You make mama smile. I like it when she smiles. And she smiles a lot more now that you're here."
"Well, Jamie, I wanted to ask your permission to marry your mom," Nathan finally asked, holding his breath as he waited for the five year old to respond.
Jamie had a thinking look on his face, as he pondered what Nathan had just said, "Married? Like Aunt Brooke and Uncle Lucas?"
"Yeah, buddy," Nathan said, "But since you're the man of the house, I wanted to ask if it would be okay with you."
"So, we'd be like a family?" Jamie asked.
"Yeah, we would," Nathan smiled.
Jamie paused for a few more moments, before smiling at Nathan, "Okay, you can marry mama."
Jamie hugged Nathan, and Nathan couldn't believe the feelings that he had for this boy. He had come to think of him like his own, especially after what Haley had told him about Chris denying to be the father. He never thought that at 23, he'd be a father, and about to be a husband. But, the whole reason he'd come to Tree Hill was to change, to become better. And Haley and Jamie had helped him do just that.
With Jamie's permission received, Nathan and Haley quickly began to piece together a wedding. They had four days now, before Nathan had to head back to Charlotte. After much debate, the two decided that only Jamie and Deb would be at the ceremony. Though it was hard to exclude her friends, who were more like family, Haley was a little worried that if she told them about the wedding, they would tell her that she should wait, and not rush into things.
"Nathan, I really think we should let your mom be there," Haley insisted, as the two sat out on the deck of his beach house, watching Jamie play with a puzzle, "She's been really great to us, watching Jamie and helping out the café. The customers love her."
"I don't know Hales," Nathan answered, "The trust still isn't 100% there."
"She's your mother, Nathan," Haley looked at him, "And it's going to be the most important day of your life. She should be there. She will want to be there for you, for us."
Nathan squeezed her hand, "I wish I could've met your parents. Told them how amazing and beautiful and talented their daughter is, and how lucky I am to have her in my life."
Haley had told Nathan a while ago about her parents' accident. About a year after Jamie was born, they sold their house and bought an RV, to fulfill their lifelong dream of traveling the country. Though they loved Haley and their grandson very much, they wanted her to be able to care for her son on her own. She'd made the decision to have the baby, and they wanted her to be responsible. Only a few months after they'd left Tree Hill, a semi-truck had drifted into their lane and hit them head on. They were killed instantly.
Before they knew it, it was the day of the wedding. A cloudy, cool Saturday, which just helped to ensure that the beach would be relatively empty, giving Nathan and Haley the privacy that they'd wanted. Jamie and Nathan were at the beach house, getting ready, while Deb was helping Haley at her house.
"You look beautiful Haley," Deb smiled as Haley exited her bathroom, in a simple white knee length dress with cap sleeves.
"Thank you for being here Deb," Haley replied, "It means a lot to me and to Nathan too."
"Thank you for inviting me," Deb said, giving Haley a knowing look, "I know it was your idea. I know that I have a long road ahead of me with Nathan, to regain his trust, but I'm glad that he decided to let me come."
"You're his mom and he loves you," Haley sighed, tears brimming in her eyes, "Even if it's hard for him to show right now."
"Don't cry sweetheart, you'll ruin your makeup," Deb smiled, tears brimming in her own eyes, "I never thought I'd get to do this. I always wanted a daughter, and now I'm gaining the best one I could ever have. Thank you, for what you've done for my son."
An hour later, Haley and Nathan stood on a hill, surrounded by small purple flowers, the beach in the background as they held each other's hands, looking into each other's eyes. They were joined by the minister, who stood in front of them, and Deb and Jamie, who stood behind them.
Nathan slipped a beautiful diamond ring onto Haley's hand as he said, "Someday, this beach might wash away…the oceans may dry…the sun could dim but on that day, I'll still be loving you. Always and forever. I promise you Haley."
Haley smiled as she repeated what the minister told her to say, "I Haley, take you Nathan, to have and to hold from this day forward. In sickness and in health. For richer or poorer. For better or worse. I promise that I will love and cherish you, and will deny all things that come between us. I make this promise for eternity. A promise that I will keep forever. Until the end of time."
"And now, by the power vested in me by God and the state of North Carolina, I pronounce you man and wife," the minister said, "You may kiss the bride."
Haley and Nathan both smiled, as they shared a simple, sweet kiss.
After the ceremony, Deb was talking to the minister about how beautiful it had all been, and thanking him, as Nathan and Haley sat on the edge of Nathan's car, Jamie in between them. The two were still in a state of bliss.
"So now that you and Nathan are married mama, does that mean he's my dad?" Jamie asked, bringing the two adults back into reality very quickly.
"Well, I think that's up to you Jimmy Jam," Haley replied, "Do you want him to be?"
Even though it pained him to suggest it, Nathan added, "Jamie, if you don't want me to be your dad, that's okay. I can just keep being your friend."
"But, you do stuff with me, like Andre's dad. And you love me too. And Chuck doesn't have a dad," Jamie stated, "I think I want to have a dad too, like Andre."
"I would be honored to be your dad, Jamie," Nathan said, as Jamie put his arms around his neck, hugging him, "Aww, I love you buddy."
"I love you too Nathan. Does this mean I have to call you dad now?"
"Only if you want to," Nathan replied, as Deb approached the three of them.
"Alright, this is the cutest thing, wait, let me get a picture," Deb exclaimed, as she got out her phone and took a photo of the new family on the car. The minister then came up, offering to take a photo of all of them.
As Deb hesitantly stood next to Nathan, he turned to her and said, "Thank you for coming Mom."
Deb had taken Jamie to go get some ice cream, before taking him back to the apartment she'd recently gotten to have a sleepover for the night, to give the two newlyweds some alone time.
As Haley got out of the car, she was suddenly picked up. Smiling as she stared at her new husband, she asked, "Nathan, what are you doing?"
"Hey, if we're going to do this, we're going to do this right," he replied, carrying her into the home, setting her down.
Haley was speechless. There was a trail of white rose petals and white candles leading from the front door into the bedroom.
"You did all of this?" Haley asked, looking into the eyes of the man that she loved.
"I would do anything for you, my beautiful wife," Nathan replied, using the term for the first time, liking the way that it sounded.
Haley sighed, looking into his eyes, before taking his hand, leading him back to her bedroom.
"Haley, we don't," Nathan began, before Haley turned back to him, placing a finger to his lips.
"Shhhh," she said, pulling him onto the bed with her, "Make love to me my sexy husband."
The next morning, Nathan sat up in the bed, propped up on his elbow, watching Haley sleep, as she then opened her eyes.
"Hey you," he smiled at her.
Haley turned her face into the pillow and laughed, "I had the strangest dream, that we got married yesterday."
"Huh, I had the same dream," Nathan replied, as the two interlaced their fingers together, "Oh, that's right, we did get married."
"And you have to leave tomorrow," Haley sighed, tracing his chest with her fingers, "So you're going to move your stuff in here today, right?"
"Yeah, and I promise I'll be home as much as I can be," Nathan replied, kissing her before saying, "So, we have to break the news to everyone today."
"Can't we just stay like this forever?" Haley whined, wrapping her arms around her husband.
"I have a few things I need to do today, and packing is one of them," Nathan sighed, "Otherwise, I would stay in bed with you all day."
He kissed her once more, before getting out of bed and throwing on some clothes.
"After we tell everyone, how are we going to tell everyone else?" Haley asked, sitting up in bed, "You know, the world?"
"I don't want it getting out from some rat of a reporter trying to make some quick cash," Nathan said, "I want us to be the ones to release it."
"What if we took a picture and posted it to your Instagram?" Haley suggested, pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, her hair still curled from yesterday, "Don't you have, like, 7 million followers or something?"
"More like 8 million," Nathan corrected her, smirking, "But yeah, I think that's a good idea. Later today, when I get back, alright?"
"You did what?" Lucas exclaimed, as he sat in his office in the locker room. He'd been going over inventory before Nathan had come in, telling him that he and Haley had gotten married yesterday.
"Look, Luke, I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Nathan began, "But we were worried you'd try to talk us out of it."
"You're damn right I would've talked you out of it," Lucas stated angrily, before taking a deep breath, cooling down a bit, "Nate, you're like a brother to me, you know that. And Haley is like my sister. And I know you two love each other. I see that, but marriage? It's a big step. And you're leaving tomorrow. Couldn't you have waited until after the season at least?"
"I know it's a big step, Luke, but we didn't want to wait," Nathan retorted, "You know that I love Haley and Jamie. I'm going to be there for them, forever now. I'm not going to mess this up, Luke. This is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Coming here, meeting Haley and Jamie. They're everything to me."
Haley had a similar reaction from Brooke and Peyton. Brooke was mostly upset that she hadn't gotten to design a "Brooke Davis Original" for Haley's wedding dress.
"So what are you going to do now that he's leaving?" Peyton asked, as the three of them sat at a table at an empty Karen's Café. It was a slow Sunday morning.
"Well, Jamie and I going to go to all the home games, and Nathan will be home on the weekends when he can," Haley answered, "It'll be hard, but I'm really happy, you guys.
The three sat in the café, chatting more about the wedding and the details, before they heard a honk from outside. The three turned to see Lucas and Nathan standing in front of a brand new car. Confused, they headed outside, Brooke with baby Liam in tow.
"What is this?" Haley questioned, narrowing her eyes as Nathan smiled at her, "What did you do Nathan Scott?"
"Look, babe, if you and Jamie are going to come to my games, you need a way to get there," Nathan said wrapping his arms around her waist, "A safe way. I don't want you breaking down on the side of the road in your old clunker."
"Nathan, this is way too much," Haley retorted, still shocked.
"Think of it as a wedding present," Nathan smiled, "Come on Hales. Let me do this for you."
Haley sighed, before looking into Nathan's eyes, "Let's take that picture."
The two had Peyton take a photo of their hands together, showing their rings, and then a picture of the two of them standing in front of the car, kissing, as Haley held out her left hand with her ring on it.
They put the two pictures together into a collage, before figuring out a caption for the Instagram photo: "Yesterday, I married the most beautiful girl in the world. Always and Forever Haley." He tagged her in the photo, before they each took a deep breath. He clicked post, and the likes and comments came flying in, faster than he could've ever imagined.
"And let the vultures descend," Haley sighed, leaning into Nathan's embrace.
Another shorter chapter than I usually post, but I wanted to get these out to you guys while I had the time! FYI, I'm not comfortable writing smut, which is why I did the Naley finally sleeping together scene as sort of a "fade to black."
Hope you all enjoyed the thirteenth chapter of Show Me How to Live!
Leave a review with any suggestions, comments, or ideas you want to see in future chapters!