New Year's Eve-December 31st

Haley stood at the window of the Bobcats' coach Bobby Irons' penthouse, staring out at the Charlotte cityscape. Nathan had had the weekend off, and Haley had surprised him by coming up to Charlotte to spend some time, just the two of them. Now, they were at the team's New Year's Eve party.

"Hales," she heard Nathan call, and she turned to see that he was motioning her over.

She saw that he was talking with his coach, Bobby, and a woman who she assumed to be Bobby's wife.

"You've met Coach, but this is his much better half, Lisa," Nathan introduced, "Lisa, this is my wife Haley."

"It's so nice to meet you," Lisa smiled, "You and that son of yours are all Nathan can talk about at team functions."

"All good things I hope," Haley laughed nervously.

"Of course," Lisa replied, "Do you have a picture of the little guy?"

Haley showed her a few photos on her phone of the family of three on Christmas, the most recent photos she had.

"A handsome little tyke," Lisa smiled, "Are you two wanting to add to the family anytime soon?"

"Lisa!" Coach Irons exclaimed, "I'm sorry, that's none of our business."

Haley suddenly felt like the heat in the room had gone up a hundred degrees, "Would you excuse me? I need some air."

Haley set her champagne glass on a side table before heading out onto the empty balcony.

She had her elbow propped on the edge of the balcony wall, her chin resting in her hand as she took a few deep breaths, before she felt a hand meet her back.

"Are you alright?" Nathan asked, "I'm sorry about Lisa. She can be a little…over eager sometimes. I should have warned you."

"It's fine," Haley shook her head, "Really, it was just a little stuffy in there."

Nathan gave her a knowing look, "You've been acting weird and distant all weekend. What's going on? Is everything okay?"

Haley sighed, finally making eye contact with him as she twisted her wedding ring on her finger, a nervous habit that Nathan had picked up on.

"I thought that I was pregnant," Haley finally stated, turning around so her back was to Nathan, her hand on her temple.

Nathan's eyes widened, "W..Wh…When?"

"Christmas," Haley answered, turning to face him again, tears forming in her eyes, "I'd been feeling weird for a few weeks, tired and dizzy. I went to the doctor a few hours after you left, to figure out what was going on."

FLASHBACK-December 26th

Haley nervously paced back and forth in the house, as she waited for Brooke to arrive. She'd called her as soon as Nathan had left for Charlotte. Finally, she burst through the door, Liam's car seat tucked under her arm.

"Tutor Mom, what's the emergency?" Brooke stammered, "I got here as fast as I could."

Haley bit her lip, "I think I'm pregnant."

Brooke's mouth dropped open, as she set Liam's car seat next to the couch, taking a seat next to her friend, "What?"

"I'm late, and I'm never late," Haley said quickly, "And I'm freaking out."

"Woah…Haley…woah," Brooke replied, trying to take it all in, "Have you told Nathan?"

Haley shook her head, "No, I don't want to tell him, and then have it be a false alarm. He bought the house and said that he wants to fill all the rooms with kids and it's just….I don't want to let him down."

"Well, if you want to be 100% sure, you need to go to the doctor," Brooke suggested, "Come on, I'll go with you. Is Jamie with Deb?"

"Yeah, she took him shopping for the day after Christmas sales," Haley managed to stammer, grabbing her purse and her phone.

Haley sat on the exam table, fidgeting as she waited for the doctor to return. They'd just taken her blood and a urine sample and were sending them in for testing. As she nervously shifted from side to side, her doctor walked in.

"Alright Haley," the doctor smiled, "We will call you with the test results. Should get them back no later than tomorrow. Until then, it's a waiting game."

"Thank you," Haley sighed, as she found Brooke in the waiting room a few minutes later.

"Haley, relax," Brooke assured her, "Everything will turn out the way it's supposed to."

END FLASHBACK

"And?" Nathan asked, taking a step towards her.

"I'm not," Haley shook her head, "The doctor just said my symptoms were from stress and that I should rest for a few days."

"Okay," Nathan nodded, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were on the road and I didn't want to get your hopes up," Haley explained, wiping a few tears from her face, "You bought the house and talked about how you wanted to fill it with kids. I didn't want to disappoint you."

"Haley," Nathan sighed, closing the distance between them, wrapping his arms tightly around as she nuzzled into his chest, "I never thought I would get to have this: you, Jamie, a real family. And now I have it, and even if it's just the three of us forever, I feel like the luckiest man in the world."

"Thank you for being such an amazing husband," Haley looked up at him, "I'm sorry…I should have told you."

"Let's just focus on new beginnings," Nathan replied, "Moving into our new house, officially starting our lives together, as husband and wife."

"Let's start the countdown everyone," Coach Irons said loudly from inside, "Twenty…nineteen, eighteen…"

"Let's make a New Year's Resolution," Haley quickly told Nathan, "No matter what happens this next year…we'll face it together, okay?"

"Always," Nathan smiled.

"And forever," Haley replied softly.

"Five, four, three, two, one, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" everyone inside exclaimed, as fireworks went off over the Charlotte cityscape.

"Happy new year," Nathan whispered, before meeting Haley's lips with his own. He heard her moan and he smiled against her lips. It felt good knowing that even after months, he could get that reaction out of her from a simple kiss.

A few weeks later…

"You didn't have to come all the way out to Tree Hill Mel," Haley said, as the two women carried boxes into the Scott's new home, Brooke right behind them "But I really do appreciate the help."

"My pleasure" Mel replied, "I know you'd rather have your big, strong husband here, but it's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city."

"We'd planned to move in this weekend because they didn't have a game, but then the Children's Hospital called and asked if the team could visit," Haley explained to them, "And I told Nathan that we could wait, but he insisted that we move in now or we could be waiting a lot longer. He was upset that we'd had to postpone once already."

"Well, at least you have a lot of help here," Mel said optimistically, gesturing around the house, "What is it that they say….many hands make light work?"

The whole gang was at the house, helping bring in and unpack boxes. Haley was grateful for the help, but was still exhausted. Mia's first album was almost done and they'd been at the studio every day trying to finish it up. With all of the studio time, the café, and Jamie, Haley had an extremely full plate. She hadn't told Nathan that she wasn't following the doctor's rest advice exactly, but she didn't really have a choice, and besides, she liked keeping busy, especially with him being gone.

"Brooke, he's adorable," Mel cooed, as she held baby Liam later at the café, after they'd gotten everything moved in, "How old is he?"

"Almost six months," Brooke smiled, "I can't believe he's so big already."

"Just wait until he can talk back," Haley laughed.

"Oh, Tutor Mom, my godson is an angel," Brooke retorted.

"He certainly has us all under his spell," said Haley, "He's just so smart for a five year old, you know? Definitely keeps us on our toes."

"Well, I for one am under the spell of this little guy," Mel smiled, as Liam blinked his big blue eyes. He was the spitting image of Lucas, "I'm serious Brooke. I'm offering a trade. My Charlotte penthouse, for Liam. Straight up."

"Oh, I don't know," Brooke narrowed her eyes, thinking "That's tempting."

Mel continued, "I'll throw in my car, and my purse. Car has new tires, but that's it."

"Hmmm…" Brooke thought as Liam reached out for her, "What do you say? Say no deal!"

"Say yes!" Mel exclaimed.

"No deal!" Brooke squeaked, imitating Liam, "I like it here."

"Eh, it was worth a try," Mel sighed.

Everyone turned at the sound of a clearing throat, spying Fergie standing nervously next to them.

"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself back at the house," he began, holding out his hand to Mel, "Ferguson Thompson."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Mel smiled politely, shaking his hand, looking slightly uncomfortable, as Haley and Brooke tried to keep from laughing.

"The pleasure is all mine," Fergie smiled, bringing her hand to his lips, kissing it lightly.

This brought Haley and Brooke to their bursting point, as they couldn't hold their laughter any longer. Mel quickly pulled her hand away, trying to still be polite.

"What?" Fergie asked innocently.

"Fergie, you don't know who this is?" Brooke questioned, tears forming in her eyes from so much laughter.

Looking dumbfounded, Fergie shook his head.

"This is Mel Jones," Haley managed to say between laughs, "Nino's wife."

Shock and embarrassment filled Fergie's face, as he slowly retreated, his eyes wide.

"That was….interesting," Mel finally said, breaking the awkward silence.

"We've known him since high school," Haley replied, "He's harmless.

"So it must be really great, having all your friends from high school still around, still so close," Mel suggested.

"Well, we all talked about coming back here after college," Brooke sighed, as she and Haley remembered that night on the river court after graduation, "I actually moved to New York for a year, but there's just something about this town that brought me back.

"Lucas," Haley coughed, not-so-subtly.

"Haha, very funny," Brooke smiled, "And on that note, I have to get going. Mr. Liam here has a doctor's appointment and I don't think I can sweet talk the receptionist if I'm late again.

Haley and Jamie sat on the floor in their new living room a few days later, surrounded by boxes.

"Mama, what are these?" Jamie asked, pulling Haley's junior and senior yearbook out of one of the boxes.

Haley opened her mouth to answer, but the doorbell cut her off.

"Who could that be?" Haley questioned, "Jamie, why don't you go see who it is?"

"Why can't you go answer the door?" Jamie asked, as he opened one of the yearbooks.

"Jamie Lucas James, go answer the door," Haley sternly said, eyebrows raised.

She sighed as he got up, rolling his eyes, and disappeared to the entryway. When she heard his "happy scream," she forgave him for his minor bout of attitude.

"Mama, Daddy's home!" Jamie exclaimed, as Nathan walked into the living room holding Jamie upside down.

"What a surprise," Haley smiled, although she had known about it the whole time. Nathan had another 24 hour break, and although it wasn't much time, they'd make the most of it.

"So what are we doing?" Nathan asked, as he set Jamie down.

Jamie quickly picked the yearbooks up again, bringing them over to Nathan, "We were going to look at these."

"Oh really?" Nathan asked, surprised. All this time they'd been together, he hadn't ever looked at Haley's high school yearbooks, let alone seen a picture of her from high school.

The three of them sat on the couch, Jamie in between them, Haley's junior yearbook on his lap.

"Look, there's Uncle Lucas," Jamie pointed to a picture of Lucas shooting a three pointer during a Ravens basketball game.

"That's right," Haley acknowledged, shifting her gaze to another photo, "Jamie, who's that?"

Her finger pointed to a photo of three smiling cheerleaders, a candid photo, taken in the courtyard of the school.

"Woah, is that you and Aunt Peyton and Aunt Brooke?" Jamie's eyes widened, "Wow mama, you sure were pretty."

"She still is you goof," Nathan shoved Jamie playfully, as the little boy yawned.

"Looks like someone is ready for bed," Haley pointed out, tilting her head towards Jamie.

"Who?" Jamie asked sleepily.

"Upstairs Jimmy Jam," Haley insisted, pulling him up off the couch, "PJs, brush teeth, bed. I'll be up in a minute to tuck you in."

"Can Daddy do it?" Jamie pleaded.

"Fine, get upstairs mister," Haley smiled, as Jamie ran up the stairs.

Haley returned to sit next to Nathan, cuddled up next to him as his arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"This feels like a different lifetime," Haley sighed, as Nathan turned the pages, "Before the tour, before Jamie. Before my life changed forever."

"What about this one?" Nathan suggested, grabbing her senior yearbook.

"If you want to see my time as a whale captured in photos, go right ahead," Haley laughed, as Nathan turned to the Senior Superlatives page.

He pointed to the photo of Brooke and Lucas, "Couple most likely to get married. They hit that nail on the head."

"They had their hard times, but I always knew they'd end up together," Haley smiled, "It was kind of weird, my two best friends as a couple, but I became a professional third wheel."

"Most likely to be a starving artist…I bet Peyton loved that one," Nathan laughed, "Wow, she looked a lot different back then."

"A lot happened to her senior year that changed her," Haley said, thinking about Peyton finding out she was adopted, her biological mom dying, and finding out she had a half-brother, "Thank god she had Jake though. He was with her through everything. He was her rock."

Nathan's eyes came to rest on a photo of a smiling Haley, her hair curled and her stomach protruding rather noticeably, "You were voted Most Likely to Become Famous?"

Haley scoffed, "Yeah, they had a real sense of humor, my class."

"They must've known how talented you were," Nathan smirked.

"More like they thought I was going to be on Teen Mom, you know, that reality show?" Haley explained to him, "Regardless, these predictions, they're fun to look back on."

"Hales, you're in this yearbook a lot," Nathan pointed out, as he saw her face in the Tutoring Center staff photo, the Cheerleading squad, Student Government, National Honor Society, Yearbook staff, and Mathletes, "You were a mathlete?"

He couldn't stifle the chuckle that escaped his lips, as Haley smacked his chest.

"Hey, we won a national championship, thank you very much," Haley informed him, "Mouth and I had a lot of fun in that club."

"Looks like it," Nathan smiled as he looked at a photo of the club holding a cake in the shape of the symbol for pi. Understandably, Haley was the only girl in the photo, "You did all of this and worked at the café, and were valedictorian?"

"Yeah," Haley sighed, "It was a lot of work, especially since that last part almost didn't happen."

"What?" Nathan questioned, surprised, "Lucas told me that you had the best grades in your class, by a long shot."

"I did, but the school board didn't want a pregnant girl representing the high school," Haley explained, "They thought it could ruin the school's reputation."

"So how did you go about changing their minds?" Nathan asked, as he finally turned to the last two pages of the yearbook, graduation, with a large photo of Haley speaking at the podium on the stage.

"Peyton started a petition," Haley remembered, "She hounded everyone around town and got a thousand signatures. She threatened to go to the media with the story that a high school was discriminating against a student. That got them to change their minds pretty quick."

"Daddy!" Jamie called, sounding impatient.

"Duty calls," Nathan smiled, placing a kiss to Haley's forehead, before jumping up and heading upstairs.

A few days later…Charlotte, NC

"Thank you for tuning in to SportsCenter. I'm Josie Kent, and today, I'm joined in the studio by Bobcats' star players Nino Jones and Nathan Scott."

"Thank you for having us," Nathan said.

"It's great to be here," Nino added.

"The Bobcats are undefeated in the regular season, which is a far cry from preseason, where you lost four games. Nino, do you think Nathan's return to the court has anything to do with the team's turnaround?" Josie asked.

Nino smiled, "Nathan is an essential part of the team. We wouldn't be the same without him. It's great to be able to play with such talented guys. I think we all work together really well, and I think we've found our groove, but we take it game by game."

"Nathan, you've recently been compared to greats such as Magic Johnson and Allen Iverson. How does that feel?" Josie asked.

"You know, it's a great honor to even be mentioned in the same sentence as those men," Nathan began, "But I'm just doing my job, the best I can, and I don't ever compare myself to anyone. I'm just…me."

Josie smiled, "It's been said that you two are the dynamic duo that Charlotte fans have been waiting for. It's well known that the Bobcats have never won an NBA Finals Championship. Is this the year?"

"We don't want to try to predict or jinx anything," Nino said, "Like Nate said, we're taking it one game at a time. We're just grateful to our team, our fans, and our families for the support that they give us. We wouldn't be here without them."

"Well, thank you for being here today, and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the season has for the Bobcats," Josie smiled.

Ugh, not exactly the chapter I wanted to put out, but I hope you all enjoyed it!

Please review or PM me and let me know what YOU would like to see happen in this story! I love ideas and suggestions!