Hi guys, I'm back with a new chappy. There's not much drama involved now that Lily's born but there'll be plenty of that as the story progresses along, so sit tight and wait for that ok. And thanks for the wonderful reviews for the last chapter. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to pen a few words. By the way, I've got a new story up called "Second Chances. Chapter 1 is already up :). I know you must think I'm crazy what with still unfinished "Patience" and "A&W" but hey, I was just too tempted. So I hope you guys will check it out and let me know what you think. Here's the link: .net/s/4627109/1/Second_Chances. Love you guys!!

Chapter 26

The first week after Lily's birth was hectic for Nathan to say the least. To his relief, Haley grew stronger as the days went by although Lily was still being monitored by the hospital. Doctor Montgomery assured them that her heart defect was not too serious and could easily be repaired by catheterization, where the hole in her heart would be closed with an expandable disk positioned in the heart using a catheter. However, the doctor would prefer to wait a few months before she could perform the surgery until Lily was stronger. Their family and friends came by every day to visit Haley and Lily. Even Haley's parents flew from Chicago to meet their first granddaughter and stayed for the whole week.

After a week, they were finally allowed to bring Lily home, much to the relief of everybody. Looking around the nursery that they had decorated together, Haley couldn't help but wonder why Nathan was adamant in not buying more baby clothes for Lily, saying that she would outgrow them quickly. She smiled at the sight of Nathan cradling Lily in his arms. Nathan never left her side if he could help it and he seemed enamored by Lily. She didn't think it was possible but she loved him more after Lily came into their lives. She could tell that he absolutely loved being a daddy and was a natural at it. She knew she could never get tired of seeing them both together.

"Hey Nathan, you might want to put her down for a bit. You're suffocating her," she said with a smile.

"I am not!" he said indignantly although he did lay her down in her bassinet. He felt her arms around his neck and he automatically pulled her close before turning her around. "How are you feeling?" he asked worriedly.

"Better," she said. "Tired though. I never thought that I would have to wake up ten times at night just to feed her. But I do love it," she said with a smile. She loved the feel of Lily in her arms, suckling her as she rocked her in the rocking chair that Nathan had bought for her. Nathan had been great. Whenever she had to wake up, he would wake up with her to keep her company no matter how tired he was.

"She looks just like you," he commented softly. He felt her lean against him as they stood there watching Lily sleep. "What do you think about the procedure?" he asked.

She was hesitant in answering. "I'm not sure. The doctor said that the procedure is safe but I'm still worried though. She's just so small and it pains me thinking that she has to go through all that now."

"I know baby, but if it's gonna fix her heart, why not go for it? I'm sure it's gonna be alright," he said although at times he shared her sentiments although he never voiced them out loud.

"If you think it's alright," she said hesitantly.

He pulled her closer and tucked her head underneath his chin. "It will be fine. I promise," he said without conviction. "Come on, you'd better get some rest before she wakes up again," he said and led her to their bedroom.

When they reached the bedroom, she suddenly realized something, "Nathan, did you-" Nathan grinned and dangled the baby monitor in his hand.

"I did. Now stop worrying."

She slapped him on the arm and laughed. "You're really good at this, you know."

He dragged her down to the bed for a much needed sleep. "So are you Hales. Now get some sleep," he said followed by a yawn. Haley snuggled up to him, perfectly content being in his arms again. Some nights when she was still at the hospital, Nathan would sneak into her bed when the nurses were not watching just to hold her in his arms, telling her that he couldn't sleep without her by his side. It made her smile thinking that her childhood friend had turned out to be this wonderful man that she loved with all her heart, and who loved her the same way too.

"Hey, how long do you think before we can, you know?" he asked in a small voice.

"Can what?" she asked sleepily. She felt him run his fingers along her back and gave muffled laughter. "Nathan?" She looked down at him and laughed out loud when she saw his perplexed expression on his face.

"What? It's a legitimate question," he said defensively.

She looked at him in disbelief. "You are unbelievable Nathan Scott."

He simply shrugged and gave her a mischievous grin. "Hey, it's not my fault. You make me that way." She fell silent. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Haley?"

She pulled the covers higher. "Nothing. It's just that I'm not sure if you're gonna like my body now that I've given birth. I can tell you now that it's nothing like what it used to be. I don't know if you'll find me sexy still," she said. "There I said it. It's silly I know."

Nathan propped himself up on one elbow. "It is silly, I'll give you that. But Hales, you were sexy before you were pregnant, you were sexy when you were carrying Lily, and in my eyes, you are sexier than ever now that you're the mother of my little girl. Don't ever think that I don't want you like I wanted you before. I'll always want you, probably even more now." He bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I love you Haley James Scott. I'll always will. Nothing can ever change that," he promised.

She looked at him with misty eyes. "You always know what to say, don't you?" She snuggled closer. "To think that we spent most of our childhood fighting. And now we're married. Still feels surreal sometimes."

"Really?" he asked in surprise. "It has always felt natural to me. Like this is how it's supposed to be." He loved nights like this, when they could talk about things. Nathan wasn't one to shy away from his feelings. That was one of the things that she loved about him. She knew that they could never run out of things to say.

He heard her yawn and laughed. "Okay, sleepyhead. You'd better get some sleep." He glanced at the alarm clock and said, "you've got approximately two hours before our little angel wakes up." She didn't answer. He looked down and smiled. She was fast asleep. With a gentle kiss on her forehead, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Haley watched in amusement as Brooke and Peyton fought over a dress in Clothes Over Bros. "You know what guys, Lily's only one and half weeks old, and I think she's more mature than you guys put together."

"Of course she is, she sleeps 99% of the time," Brooke said through gritted teeth. "Peyton, I don't care what you say. I'm wearing this dress to Lily's party," she said and yanked the dark blue dress out of Peyton's hands. "Besides, I designed it. I made it so I should wear it. Hah, you lose!" she exclaimed triumphantly. Haley had decided to throw a small party, more like a gathering for family and friends to celebrate the birth of Lily. After the harrowing experience during her birth, she thought that a small party was what they all needed.

Peyton stood back and smiled. "Okay, fine. You wear it. If you think the dress can fit your HUGE tummy," she said with raised eyebrows. It was true that Brooke had started showing her baby bump. It wasn't huge like Peyton had declared, but it certainly would take a lot to fit her into the dress.

Brooke looked down at her tummy and sighed. "Okay fine. You take it. Damn maternity line," she said grudgingly. Ever since she got pregnant, she had this idea of designing a maternity line and ultimately a baby line for her store, but it was still work in progress, one that she determined to get done as soon as possible.

Haley laughed before turning her attention to Lily, who was fast asleep in her pram, oblivious to the fighting. "Hey, by the way, Micheal called. He's gonna come to the party with Rachel."

"That's great. It's been a while since we last saw the ass and the skank," Brooke commented.

Peyton laughed. "Hey, you have to admit. Rachel is not as skanky as we thought. And Michael, yeah well, he's still an ass."

Haley thought of Michael and smiled. She thought about the times he was there for here when she was pregnant with Lily. She thought about the sacrifices that he was willing to make to help her, to the extent of moving to Chicago with her. She thought that it was great that he and Rachel found each other. And Peyton was right. Rachel turned out to be a nice person once she got to know her. She then thought about Lily's party. Although she tried to contain it, she was very excited about it. It had been while since everybody got together and what better reason than the birth of a baby to do just that? It was a shame that her parents had to fly back to Chicago, but they promised her that they would come back for Christmas which was a comfort. She smiled to herself when she recalled the looks on her parents' faces when they first met Lily. The look of pure joy and love, couple with pure bewilderment. Like Deb and Dan, they still couldn't believe that they were already grandparents.

"Oi, earth to Haley," Peyton hollered in her ears, making her jump.

"Will you stop doing that? Are you planning to make me deaf?" she complained while swatting at Peyton.

"I try," Peyton said grinning. "So what's the plan Jack? What are you serving at the party? And the music? Ooooohhhh...especially the music," Peyton enthused.

"Are you crazy?" Haley said. "You want to have music blaring with a baby sleeping in the room?"

Brooke came up from behind them and said with her eyes wide, "yeah, Peyton, are you crazy?" she echoed. Peyton glared at her and stuck out her tongue.

"Okay fine. No music. Man, this is gonna be a pretty boring party," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that!" Haley called and pretended to be angry. She then turned to Brooke and said, "so Brooke, how does it feel like to have another life growing inside of you?" she asked. "You know, to be honest, I sometimes miss having Lily in there, feeling her kick and tumble in my belly."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It's been great. The best part is there's no morning sickness." Brooke paused for effect. "At all! And Lucas has been great about it. And looking at you and Nathan and Lily together, it makes us more excited." She turned around to face Peyton. "And speaking of babies, when is Jake gonna make an honest woman out of you. You're still living in sin?" she asked with a straight face making Haley laugh.

"Hey! Just because you two decide to be baby factories, doesn't mean I have to jump in the bandwagon," Peyton said defensively. "Anyway, it's not like we haven't talked about it. We're just waiting for the right time. But it'll happen," she said confidently.

"Well, if it doesn't happen soon I guess me and Haley just have to drag Jake to the side and brainwash him. How about it Tutormom. You in?" Brooke said and looked at Haley for support.

"Oh yeah, count me in!" Haley responded. Suddenly Lily cried making her rush over to her baby. She knew she needed to get over it, but the slightest twitch that Lily made her nervous. "Hey, look who's up?" she cooed and picked her up. A second later Brooke and Peyton crowded around her.

"She really is beautiful Hales," Brooke gushed and started tickling her. "Hey, are you worried about the heart procedure?" she asked out of the blue.

Haley looked at her in surprise. "Well, yeah of course I'm worried. This is my baby we're talking about, but like Nathan said, if it's gonna fix her heart, let's just go for it. And Doctor Montgomery is fabulous. I'm sure Lily's in good hands. Anyway, I should go and get the house ready. You guys will be there in a couple of hours?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Brooke and Peyton promised. With plenty of kissed on Lily's face, they finally let Haley go.

"Oh my God Dan, you're not thinking of wearing that are you?" Deb asked, horrified by the scene she was seeing in front of her. Dan had decided to wear a Hawaiian shirt with jeans.

"What? What's wrong with this? I think it's cool," he said defensively. "It makes me fell, well young."

Deb laughed out loud and made her way across the bedroom to where Dan was standing. "Honey, is this about you being a grandfather? God, sometimes I wonder if I was crazy for marrying you."

"Yeah, crazy in loooovvveee," Dan said mockingly.

Deb made a face. "Ugh, please," she said although he was right. She was head over heels in love with him from the first date that they went on. She was still in love with him even now, after all these years. Although she was constantly amazed that their marriage had survived this long with their constant bickering. "Anyway, you're so not wearing that. Come on, get changed. We're gonna be late."

"Oh my God dad, are you gonna wear that?" Nathan asked with a horrified look on his face as he stepped in the bedroom. He had stopped by their place to pick up the beef casserole that Deb had made for the party.

Deb looked at her husband triumphantly. "See! I think you dad have lost it," she said to him while shaking her head.

"I think you both have lost it," Nathan said with amusement. "Mom, that dress. Really?" he asked, referring to the dress with a plunging neckline that Deb was wearing.

"What? I think it's cute," Deb retorted. Nathan slapped his forehead in frustration.

"It's no wonder I moved out of the house after high school. You know what? I really don't care what you two wear. Just get there on time. Lily's waiting for her grandpa Dan and grandma Deb," Nathan said, knowing that that would do the trick to get them both out of the house.

Dan laughed out loud. "Grandma Deb. Never fails to crack me up with that one," he chuckled while Deb gave him an angry glare.

"I honestly don't know what to do with you guys," Nathan said. "I'm out of here. The party's in an hour. Be there on time," he warned them before leaving while both Dan and Deb looked on.

"I think Haley has done a lot of good for him. Who knew he'd turn out to be this responsible young man," Deb said to Dan in wonderment. Dan agreed silently. He knew exactly what Deb was talking about. Two years ago, Nathan was this irresponsible young man, ready to sleep with anything that moved just for kicks. In a short span of time Haley had changed all that. They just hoped that what they had now would last forever, although it didn't seem very likely that anything would break that little family up.

What do you think? It's a bit lighthearted compared to the previous chapter. Review please! And don't forget to check out my new story! Cheers! ;)