Well here's the new chapter. A little earlier than i planned to post just as a treat :) .. I won't give anything away, but let's just say looks can be somewhat deceiving ;) I really want you guys to review and tell me what you think of this chapter. Could have been super long, but I wanted to divide these next two chapters on purpose. Enjoy.

Chapter 16: 4 Months Later

Haley rolled over to the far end of the bed, only to be pulled back to rest on her husbands' chest. Obliging, she waited until his breathing evened out, and once again rolled off, this time receiving a groan in return.

"Baby what are you doing?" he grumbled out

Stretching against him, she moved up so she was face to face with her husband. "Sorry, I have to get used to sharing a bed all night again. You were gone for a long time you know"

"Well you better get used to it. I've been back for a week, and I don't plan on sleeping without you for as long as we both shall live..

He leaned down and kissed her neck, smiling when her head tilted back and allowed him better access to her throat. As soon as Nathan started to move south, a small cry was heard from the monitor on their nightstand. The soft cries quickly turned to full-fledged crying and the two parents could just picture their daughters' dramatic tears falling down the sides of her face.

Sighing, Haley got up and walked out of her room and into the nursery.

Nathan got more relaxed in bed, and prepared himself to listen as his wife talked to their daughter. Every time Haley went to the nursery, she would hold some sort of conversation with the four month old baby.

It had seemed to be a rough couple of nights for both parents. Nathan had gotten up a couple of times with Madeline, and Haley had been at Jay's side when he'd cried out in the middle of the night. He'd been having a few nightmares, and the parents were constantly checking for monsters under his bed and in the closets.

They were both drained from their new schedules they were on. Nathan had been back at the mechanic shop, and checking on everything that he'd missed out on since he'd left months ago. New equipment that he had ordered before he was shipped off was in, and he had to quickly become familiar with it. Also, he wanted nothing more but to get to really know his daughter, and to rekindle his relationship with his son.

Needless to say, things were hectic and if they were both honest, very stressful.

Haley walked into the nursery and peered into the crib. Once she saw her, Madeline let out a pitiful whimper, wondering why she hadn't been lifted in the air and kissed like the woman usually did

Madeline's POV (sort of)

Although she was only four months old, the baby realized that when she let her lungs and tears do the talking, she'd get picked up, changed, fed, and sometimes she got her worse nightmare; water. The woman and man would put her in the shiny white thing that had wet stuff in it, and she didn't like it at all. The water part didn't upset her so much, she loved making it splash, but every time it was over she would be freezing. She preferred to be warm like when she drank the white stuff and the man she liked would rub her back while she lay on his chest. Even the woman standing over her had a way of rocking her around the room while that song player over and over again.

Then there was the small boy. He wasn't as small as her, but he wasn't that big either. He always got in her face, and talked really loud sometimes. Something was also wrong with his mouth, because when he said certain words, his tongue would go between his teeth and water would shoot out of his mouth and onto her. There was another little boy too who sort of looked like her little boy that was always there. He usually only came around her when the other boy was there, but he was a loud talker as well. They would sometimes get to hold her, but it was only when the lady or man she loved was there.

There were a few other people she knew and liked a lot, but nothing compared to the lady and man that were always there with her; she really loved them.

End Madeline's POV

Finally she was picked up from the comfy crib, and was immediately smothered with the kisses she loved so much. Haley took the baby over to the changing table and laid her on the soft, light brown cushion.

"Mornin' Toots! You didn't sleep so good last night huh? I know, you got daddy up about five times baby. What's going on toots? I know daddy's your favorite, but you gotta go easy on him sometimes. And you're mommy's sweet girl, although mommy doesn't understand how something soooo small, beautiful, and sweet can smell so bad." She continued to change her diaper, and wipe her clean before putting powder on her bottom. "Now, I'm not judging, but you stink Toots. But that's okay because mommy will make you smell powder fresh for when we see the man of our dreams. You know who that is? Can you say daddy? Say daddy. Okay, let's get you a bottle, and then we can go see daddy"

Laying the baby across her arm on her chest, Haley walked into the kitchen carrying her over to the cabinets. Using her free arm, she got out her bottle and formula and mixed her a bottle and added a touch of cereal. When she walked back into the room, she climbed on the bed and handed the bottle to Nathan. Knowing she usually did that if it had cereal in it, he quickly shook it up, and handed her the bottle for Madeline to eat.

Sitting her between her legs, the baby leaned back against her mommy's thighs and waited to be fed. She sat contently drinking her breakfast all the while staring at Nathan like a hawk.

He eyed the small child and wondered what was going through her mind. She was probably laughing at him inside; happy with keeping him up all night. He'd fought with his daughter most of the night, when she refused to sleep. Sure she was gassy, and had a stomach ache, but it was as if she were trying to get back at him for something; she sure was his kid.

Brooke always said that something was wrong with her daughter seeing as the small baby could just look at you for a long period of time without blinking. She even went so far as to tease Haley that her daughter was possessed. She was said to get it from her father; him being the only one that could stare at her just as long. He called his Bear hardcore and would gloat on how she could stare down the best of them; she wouldn't take any shit from anyone.

You could easily make a silly face at the young baby, and if she was up to it, she's let out the biggest grin. It was a heart snatchers grin.

Like her momma, she was also a blusher, and when her daddy continued to play peek-a-boo with her, the blush turned into a grin causing the clear nipple to come out of her mouth; milk running down her chin.

"ewww Bear, you a nasty baby" Nathan said scrunching his face up at his daughter.

He reached forward and used his thumb to wipe the side of her mouth where the milk had drained and wiped it on her shirt. He ran his hand over her somewhat now wavy hair and let his mind wander.

Haley had brought up cutting just a bit of her hair soon, but he just ignored her. She was constantly picking at him, trying to get under his skin when it came to his Bear. Sure it was way long, and constantly got in her eyes, but if it were up to him, they'd never cut her hair. At the very least, she'd get her first cut when she turned a year, just like Jay had. It was tradition.

Both Haley and Nathan did enjoy jotting down all the fun milestones in the baby's short life. They had been just as persistent on filling out her baby book as they had with Jason's. They had kept up with all the first in their sons' life, and had the tapes to prove most of them; their daughter wouldn't be any different.

"So when can we go get my son?" Haley asked breaking his train of thought.

Lucas and Brooke had driven to visit his parents for the weekend and had offered to take Jay with them. They knew he could use the spoiling of his grandparents, and wanted to spend time with their nephew.

"Luke is gonna bring him back in the morning. Don't worry, he's being spoiled by mom and dad."

"He's already spoiled." She countered back.

"Yea, well he's getting a little wary of Mads, so he needed some attention. It's natural for him to be that way; he was an only child for like four years"

"I guess you're right, he'll like her once she's older and can play with him. He thinks she's broken or something since she can't do much."

He picked the baby up from his wife's lap and began to burp her, knowing it wouldn't take long; she was a burp-er like her daddy.

Haley took a look at her daughter, and couldn't believe that it had already been nearly five whole months since she was born. "I don't want her to get big so fast, but I can't wait until she's crawling and getting into everything; walking and talking. I miss having a baby that age."

"Hopefully she'll take after me" he said grinning. "I already got two motor mouths"

"Jerk. How about I start prepping her to call you Sugar Pie" she said knowing he hated the name his grandmother consistently called him.

"You don't listen to a word that Haley says' my pretty girl"

She scoffed at that. "Yea cause that's appropriate"

"What?"

"Pretty girl? You do realize that's what your brother calls his wife! Don't call her that, it's ... gross" she said while grimacing

"Why is that gross?" he asked amusedly confused

"Cause they are in love" she said as a matter of fact.

"And what? I'm not in love with my daughter?"

"You know what I mean" she said rolling her eyes.

"She's a pretty girl, and she's mine... besides, she knows she's really my Bear. And you really can't talk Hales, you call her tits"

"I do not! It's Toots, not tits. Don't make fun, she loves it."

"I know she does" he looked at the girl on his chest, and saw that she had fallen back to sleep.

It was still pretty early.

"She's out Hales" he said leaning back into the pillow.

"Good, we can get some more sleep.

With Madeline lying on his chest, Haley curled up next to him, excited to get in some extra sleep.

Waking up a few hours later, he wasn't surprised to see his girls still sleep. Maneuvering Madeline to lay against his wife, he went to use the bathroom then made his way out of the room to start on dinner.

One of the perks of having a infant and it being the weekend was that you could sleep as much as they did, and by the time you woke up, it was late enough to start up dinner. At least tonight it was.

They'd practically slept the day away after having such a rough night with Maddie, so with it being a little after four already, he wanted to start on their hearty meal. They both weren't fans of eating late at night and usually sat down for dinner no later than five thirty. Just before bed last night, Haley had made it perfectly clear that she wanted steak, mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner; and he of course wasn't going to deny her.

With the girls still asleep, he seasoned the meat and thoroughly pounded the meat as softly as possible. Nathan placed them back in the fridge, letting them soak for a while in the homemade marinade his wife perfected.

He walked into the living room and flipped on the TV, immediately seeing one of his reminders pop up. He couldn't live without those pop-ups and knew he would forget about the game tonight if it weren't for them.

After being lost in the game for a good fifteen minutes, Nathan cheered on the Spurs quietly, but when they took the lead, all his whereabouts were out the window and a loud cheer flooded the walls of the house. He quickly scolded himself when he realized just how loud he was and heard a small cry from his bedroom. There was a possibility that he could get lucky and she would go back to sleep, and Haley would never be disturbed.

"Damn" he muttered when his daughters' cry only grew. He made his way back into the room and although Haley was barely awake, she was definitely glaring at him.

"Sorry Baby, let me take her"

"She should be hungry by now. She needs to wake up or she'll be up all night again and she definitely stinks" she said sitting up lifting her shirt and bra. As soon as the baby latched on, all you could hear were the sucking noises she was making while she ate. Haley had planned to stop nursing weeks ago, but Maddie wasn't having it. She hadn't taken too well to formula and after about a week all Haley's consistency paid off. But of course, with her father's temperament, Madeline still convinced Haley to nurse her.

Haley settled on twice a day, and the rest was formula. She usually nursed her before they put her down for bed, and for the first feeding in the morning.

"Maybe I should give her a bath, we have to sooner or later" Haley quietly suggested. This was still a sore topic.

Nathan looked up at his wife with wide eyes, 'But she hates baths, and she's gonna scream her head off"

"Yea and I think I should be the one to do it, the last time you practically cried just as much as she did. So you can't be in there, cause once she cries, you'll start your whining, and it'll just make her cry more."

"Haley, I did not cry. I'm more than capable of giving my daughter a bath thank you very much."

Wanting to prove him wrong, she fixed her shirt and handed the already whining infant to her husband and stood up. "Go ahead, I'll finish my steaks" she said not looking at him. She hated that he couldn't admit to being wrong. She would give him five minutes before he was calling for her to finish the bath.

Nathan walked into the nursery and laid out Madeline's small hooded towel. Laying her on the changing table, he cleaned her dirty butt and brought her to the blue, white, and yellow room across the hall. Sitting on the side of the tub, and holding her on his lap, he turned on the water and twisted the knob until it was just the right temperature and filled the small tub.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly dipped the naked baby into the water and cringed when her eyes instantly locked on his.

"I know baby, I know. You're warm, it's okay" he tried

He almost caved when her bottom lip poked out and the first whimper escaped her mouth, pleading for her daddy to stop; and that's what she did for the seven minute bath, making Nathan feel like the devil.

Once she was out of the tub and dried off, he secured her bottom with a Huggies Cuddle Wave diaper, and searched through the drawer on the changing table.

"You okay now huh? Now that you're nice and warm, you gonna let daddy put some lotion on ya? It'll make you smell so good, cause let's face it, you can be pretty stinky sometimes. Daddy did good huh? I can show mommy I'm no wuss- I can give you a bath without freaking out."

Once the lotion was on, he put a simple pink onsie on her, a pair of soft booties, then sat her in the swing that was in the living room.

Walking into the kitchen, he smiled cockily when he saw his wife finishing up dinner, and dancing to the music that was playing. He shook his head at the r&b song that was playing and wasn't surprised at all. His wife listened to any and every kind of music that there was and when he would question it, all she'd say was "I'm just being open to everything"

"What is that?" he said coming behind her and kissing her cheek.

"New Cd" she answered simply. "So I heard her crying… sure you don't need a few minutes alone" she said with a smirk on her face.

"Well she was better than last time. I think she'll get used to it pretty soon, and I am perfectly fine."

She handed him the plate she made him, and grabbed hers. Following him out into the living room, the two sat on the couch and decided on a movie to watch.

Letting their real problems stay hidden inside.

During the next few days, Haley found herself gradually becoming more distant from her husband.

It had been nearly five months since Madeline was born and they had plenty of alone time, but her husband hadn't tried being intimate with her in the past three weeks.

Haley knew their schedules were hectic and he was still adjusting to full time work, father, and husband, but so was she. Lately all she received was a peck on the cheek, forehead, and every now and then on the lips. She couldn't understand why his interest wasn't there, but her mind quickly found a reason.

She knew her body had changed some when she'd gotten pregnant with Jay, and although she went back to her normal weight, she could only conclude that having another baby, really changed her body. He couldn't have still been attracted to her, and as much as she understood, her guilt and self conscious got the best of her.

Getting up that morning, she predicted the empty feeling that lingered in their bedroom. Once she freshened up, she followed the laughing she heard into the living room and saw Nathan and the kids watching one of Jay's movies.

"Mommy" he called out excitedly, something she never got tired of hearing.

Spotting his mother, the young boy ran to her and leaped into her arms. Since the months passed after his sisters' birth, he'd been getting a lot of his attention back and loved it. For a while it had just been him and his mommy, and now he made sure he had special time with her everyday. He had a soft spot for his mommy and the feeling was mutual.

"Hey baby, what are you doing"

"Watching my movie with Daddy and Maddie" he leaned in closer when she kissed his face and ran her fingers through his dark wavy hair.

"Did you eat?"

"Not hungry" he had already gone back to staring at the television screen.

"Well you need to ear something, come on, you can have some yogurt."

"He's not hungry"

She would have never guessed those would be the first words her husband uttered to her this morning; a contradiction to her parenting their son

"But he needs to eat" she persisted.

"But he doesn't want anything right now" it was simple to him, why make him eat right away when he didn't want to; he could eat later without the world ending.

"Madeline hates baths, should we stop bathing her? Exactly" she childishly rolled her eyes at her husband.

"What crawled up your ass today" he muttered

"Definitely wasn't you, and don't curse in front of my kids" she placed Jay down on the ground and glared at Nathan.

"Your kids? Don't even go there Haley"

She bowed her head, and waited before she spoke again.

"You know I didn't mean it like that... you know what, whatever, just leave me alone."

"Did you just start your period or something?"

"I said leave me alone Nathan"

"Why, so you can close yourself off like you always do when things get tough?"

Choosing to ignore him, she turned to Jay "Baby, go play in your room"

"But my movie" he started to protest.

"You can watch it later, go play in your room now"

Scooping up Madeline in her arms, she took the baby to her crib and turned on the soft music. Marching back into the living room, she spoke in a seething, quiet voice.

"Get out"

"What?" he questioned confused. There was no way his wife just asked him to leave.

"I want you to leave now" her eyes never wavering.

"Whatever, I'm not about to fight with you while our kids are in the next room"

"I'm so pissed at you right now Nathan, I don't even want to look at you"

"What the hell did I do wrong Haley? You wake up mad at the damn world and take it out on me or something?"

"NO! But I did wake up alone, again. I don't want to talk about this right now, not when they can hear us, Just leave and I'll talk to you later"

"I'm not leaving my house. You can cool off somewhere, but I'm staying right here"

"Fine!" she said while turning on her heel. "Then I'll leave"

Before she could get two feet away, Nathan grip on her arm stopped her. "No you're not" she fought against his hold, and glared up at him angrily. "You're not about to go anywhere Haley"

"Yea, and you're not my father Nathan"

"But I'm your husband, and you're too upset to be driving. If you really want me to leave, then I will, but you're not about to go driving anywhere" he said with finality.

Despite and tightness of his jaw, and the firm grip on her arm, she could see the concern and love in his eyes, and her eyes immediately softened. "I won't go"

Nathan stared at his wife and could feel his heart actually hurting at the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

"You want me to leave?" he asked in a gentle, calm voice.

"No, it's alright. I'm sorry, I'm just gonna go lay back down."

"We need to talk about this Haley" his voice stopping her mid-step.

"I know"

"You know I love you" he whispered.

"I know"

Later that night, Nathan left Jay's room from tucking him in alone. Haley hadn't talked to him at all the rest of the day, and basically hibernated in their room. She hadn't left the bedroom for anything that day, not even food, leaving him alone to care for their children.

Walking into the room he shared with his wife, Nathan stripped down to his boxers, and climbed into the bed beside her. Leaning over her still body, that he knew was awake, he kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger there longer than normal.

"You love me?" he whispered at her ear.

"Always and forever"

He barely heard the whisper that escaped her lips, but was thrilled that he did. Kissing her one last time, he turned over and went to sleep, desperately wanting to hold his wife, but knowing he shouldn't push her just yet.

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