Chello People! No one's really ben reviewing at all.. hopefully you will start to. Enjoy.
Chapter 20
Nathan Scott pulled his Range Rover into the Sara Isaacs Early Childhood School parking lot and made his way inside once he parked. Signing in and getting a visitors pass, he walked down the hall to his nephews' class first.
"You guys have five more minutes until we change stations" he heard one of the three teachers speaking aloud. He was noticed by the head teacher Ms. Rachel, as the students referred to her, and she greeted him with a smile as usual.
"Mr. Scott, hello, how are you! Andrew is just on the other side on the computers, Ill grab his things"
Nathan nodded, smiled and walked to the conjoined classroom. Seeing the blonde headed boy, he squatted down behind him before tapping his shoulder.
When Drew turned around, he smiled before taking off the headphones that were on his head. "Hi Uncle Nathan! Are we going to get ice cream again today" he jumped into his arms, insisting on being carried by his uncle.
"Not today buddy, we won't get it every time I pick you up, but for special times. Say bye to your teachers and we'll go grab Jay"
"See ya ladies" Nathan watched as he winked at his teachers while bidding them goodbye. He was a nut, and picked up on everything.
"You're becoming more and more like your favorite uncle everyday kid" walking down the adjacent hallway, Nathan made his way out to the playground where Jay's class currently were. Placing Drew on the ground, he grabbed his hand before giving a small wave at his sons' teachers. They knew he usually picked the boys up on Tuesday's and Thursday's and he was honest with them about being impatient and waiting in the pick-up line. Needless to say, they all enjoyed being able to see either of the Scott men come and grab the boys. Teachers had fantasies too.
Seeing the teacher point in the direction he and Drew stood, Nathan smiled prematurely, knowing this was one of three favorite parts of his day.
Jay's eyebrows went up, lips parted showing every one of his tiny teeth, and his little nose crinkled before he took off running and threw himself in his daddy's open arms. He hugged his neck tightly, then leaned back and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before he pulled back smiling.
Nathan wondered when he'd grow out of those kisses and start thinking kissing his dad on the lips was gross. He expected him to continue them with Haley, but knew it'd be different with him. Whenever he demanded a kiss from the little boy, whether it was bedtime or one of them were leaving the other, he'd kiss his lips without a second thought. He didn't mind them at all. In his eyes, Jay was still his little baby that would come at him with a wide, slobbery mouth and lay one on him anywhere he could reach. His dad was affectionate with him and Lucas and he vaguely remember a story of them stopping with the mouth kisses by the time they were five years old. With Jay just reaching that age, Nathan knew he'd have to take all he could get from his son. He was growing up and there was nothing they could do about it.
"Hey buddy" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one teacher place her hand over her heart while tilting her head to the side, her lips forming an "o". Nodding at them, he thanked the teacher that swiped her ID card to unlock the door to let them back inside and grabbed Jay's belongings from his classroom before signing out and leaving.
After strapping both boys into their seats, Nathan turned on the radio and started on their way home. "Alright guys, what are we listening to today" Everyday he picked them up from school they had some sort of mini concert with the way the two sang in the back seat. It was easy to figure out what songs they learned with him and the ones they heard while they were with Brooke.
"Daddy turn it back, turn it back!"
"Jay, we're not listening to this song. It's lame buddy"
"PLEEEEEAAASSSEEEEEE!" they both begged and he could see their bottom lips poked out in the rear view mirror.
Turning the station back, he grimaced when he heard the boys belt out the pop song they clearly learned while in Brooke's care.
"Hey I just met you, and this is cwazy, so he-ors my numbor, so call me maybe….. hawd to look wight at you baby cause he-ors my numbor, so call my maybe"
It was only so much Nathan could take, before he faked a phone call and turned the music off. When his "call" ended he started asking the boys are their day at school.
"Ms. Rachel let me read a book to the class Uncle Nathan"
"Really? A whole book by yourself?"
"Yep, today I did it! She said I did a good job" He smiled proud of himself. His dad's love of literature and books was something that was passed on and fed into Drew from day one. There hadn't been one single night that Lucas and Drew didn't spend at least thirty minutes before bed time, snuggled in his and Brooke's master bedroom reading together. Brooke never understood the patience that he had with their son when it came to sounding out the words and pronunciation, but she was so grateful. Even when Drew visited with his grandparents, they either skyped or spoke on the phone for their bedtime story.
"I'm sure you did a great job Drew and you know why? Cause you have like the smartest dad and aunt who do nothing but read in their spare time. They were both the biggest dorks in school too"
"Daddy, I wrote all my letters and numbers and my name too" Jay jumped into the conversation feeling left out.
Nathan wasn't too sure if he believed that, but was sure his son would show him once they were at home. "Really? You'll have to show me when we get home man."
Parking into the garage, they got out and made their way inside. "Where's my mommy" Drew asked for the second time, the first being when he didn't see her car outside.
"Not sure buddy. You guys want a snack before we do some homework?"
Both boys hopped up on the stools and waited for Nathan to bring them a snack "Alright, you want a Haley and Lucas kind of snack or a Nathan and Brooke kind of snack"
"Nathan and Brooke!" they cheered while giggling.
He pulled out two snack sized bags of hot Cheetos from the pantry and opened them along with two small bottles of water before handing them over.
"You guys excited for your trip with grandma and grandpa when school's out?"
"Yes, we made a countdown and I can take a day down every day!" Drew said excitedly. "Grandpa said when we come I can drive the mower with him and he's gonna take us to ride the horses again"
"I want a countdown too daddy"
Before he could answer they all heard the front door open and turned to see Brooke walk in carrying Maddie's car seat on her arm. "Mommy!" Drew slid down from his stool and rushed her, wrapping his arms around the top of her thighs, his head digging into her stomach.
"Hey Mr. Man! How goes it! Let me sit her down and I'll get ya" she sat the bags in her hand down, and smiled at Nathan as he reached for the car seat. "Alright mister" she grunted while hoisting Drew up against her chest and hugged him tightly to her chest.
"You have a good day at school, what color were you on?"
Drew immediately cast his eyes down before trying to wiggle out of her arms. With her grip too tight, he sighed before looking up at his mom and turning his head to the side. Before Brooke could say anything, his cheeks rose, causing his visible dimples to deepen and come alive.
"Don't do that" she tried
"Look mommy, we match" taking her face in his small hands, he kissed both of her cheeks. "Kiss mine mommy… we match"
Dammit! He knew her weak spot was the matching dimples he'd gotten from her. Every night when she kissed him goodnight, she'd kiss each cheek before telling him "we match" and he'd kiss her cheeks the same way. Even with Lucas' barely there dimples, there was no questioning where Drews' smile was inherited from.
"Your daddy's gonna get you" She kissed his cheeks before letting him drop from her embrace and playfully kicking his bottom when he scampered off giggling. "You have ten minutes to play, and then we're leaving Drew! I mean it, fifteen minutes"
"You're such a pushover Brooke"
"Look who's talking… you can lay her down you know? She didn't nap today, so you've got at least an hour before she's up"
Ignoring her, Nathan continued to walk around with Madeline asleep against his shoulder. "What's in the bag?"
"Oh! So, I wanted your opinion on this fabric I found. Luke will just tell me it looks great, or fine, but I want you to be brutally honest as usual and tell me what you think of it"
"What are you using it for?"
"Men's' pants for the mustard and grey, and the charcoal and orange would be for the men's ties"
"Tie is fine, but hell no for the pants for my taste, but in general I guess they're fine"
"Fine? Thanks for that help. I sent Haley a text today about some stuff I moved around that we talked about. Mads is about to be into everything"
"What do you mean, she's barely doing anything but rolling around"
"She's doing more than rolling, baby girl is scooting and will be fully crawling any day now. Gosh I hope I'm having a girl" she placed her hand on her hardened, barely curved stomach and smiled.
"There's no way Bear's old enough to crawl yet" he denied. His baby girl was not about to be crawling and growing up this fast.
Seeing the scowl on his face, Brooke took a step back and towards her bags. "That's my cue… Drew, let's go. I wanna see your butt out here now or you have to walk home" she called out to Drew. Grabbing her bags, she went to the door and laughed when he came running pass her while yelling bye to Nathan.
Nathan checked the microwave clock before heading in the living room to lay Maddie down in the swing and strapping her in. He hoped she would wake up soon so she wouldn't be up all night. Going down the hall, he saw Jay working hard at his desk coloring.
"Whatcha got there lil man?"
"Homework… my teacher s'plained it to us so I can do it by myself daddy. You have to color the picture for the numbers and colors to match with each other. Guess what, the blue is number five! My favorite color and how old I am" he smiled up at his dad proudly. "When is mommy coming home?"
"Well mommy had to work her long day today. Twelve hours, so check your chart and tell me what time she gets home"
It was Haley's idea to make Jay a chart regarding the times of both parents work schedule. Going to the laminated construction paper, he moved the block to the beginning first box that read "6:00 am" and counted twelve times down before landing on "6:00 pm"
"She comes home at six o'clock daddy! What time is it now? How much longer!?"
"Well it's just after four o'clock, so she will be home in about two and a half hours. Enough time for me to give you and Sissy dinner and a bath. Mommy will be home in time for maybe one show and bed time."
"What about desert time? Will she be home to have desert with me?"
"Definitely home in time for desert with you"
Both Haley and Nathan hated not being able to always have dinner as a family, but she made sure that happened only three days a week. It was still three days, but it was the best she could do. With the kids bedtime being between seven thirty and eight, Haley was certain to be home for desert, bedtime and would have time to watch at least one of Jay's shows with him.
With Jay and Drew's school session from noon till three thirty, it never hurt for him to be up a little later, but with Kindergarten starting this Fall, they were sure to stick with his bedtime schedule as much as possible to prepare him for the early mornings and full day at school.
Letting the Jay decide what he wanted for dinner, Nathan laughed at Jay, who was practically dipping his whole hand in barbeque sauce instead of just his chicken nuggets, and encouraged him to start eating his green beans and macaroni. Maddie sat in her high chair in front of Nathan smiling. A chicken broth and vegetable puree Haley home-made and frozen is what he warmed her up for dinner and his little Bear loved it. She never really fought them on eating, and he was glad. Once they were both done, he carried Maddie to their bathroom and started to fill the Jacuzzi tub. When the temperature was perfect, he reached under the sink and grabbed a hold of the small baby seat and sat it in the water before stripping the baby and placing her in.
She kicked her little feet and hands, slashing water everywhere, and looked up when Jay climbed in with her. She screamed her little head off, her limbs going stiff as her face lit up at the site of her brother and daddy making faces at her.
"You like your bath don't you bear? Is it warm enough Jay?"
"Yea daddy. Can we have some bubbles?"
"How about some bath paint instead" he went to Haley's sink and reached under for the bath paint and got out a few colors for Jay.
"Can Maddie have one" he said lifting her small foot up and painting it blue before giggling loudly.
"Naa, remember last time she just ate it. Stand up buddy so I can wash you, then you can play more."
After washing Jay two times, he lifted Maddie up, having her underarms and chest lean against his left arm while she stood, and washed her with the other. He constantly had to steady her with his right hand when she'd start stomping her feet in the water and slipping from his hold.
"You're a crazy Bear you know that" he poured water over her head, laughing when she blinked her eyes rapidly, licking the water droplets, and flailing her arms.
"Daddy, where'd it go?"
"Where'd what go buddy?" he sat Maddie back in her seat.
"Her pee-pee. It's gone"
Nathan wore the same confused expression his son had but had nothing to say that could distract the young boy.
"Maddie doesn't have a pee-pee buddy"
"But you and mommy change her diaper cause she goes pee-pee all the time. So where's her pee-pee like mine"
Nathan grimaced when Jay stood up and proceeded to check out his privates before staring at Maddie confused.
"Jay, little boys and little girls are different. Like you know how mommy and Aunt Brooke have long girly hair, but me and Uncle Lucas have short boy hair? That's how it is for your pee-pee's too"
"So since I have a short boy pee-pee, Maddie is gonna have a long girly pee-pee?"
Damn. That did sound logical, but it was completely wrong. Why the hell couldn't Haley be here for this. It wasn't like this was the first time they'd bathed the kids together, but this was the first time Jay's question had come up.
"No buddy. Boys and girls have different parts to go pee-pee with"
"Like what part do I have? This" he pulled on it, and Nathan buried his face in his hands before letting out a sigh.
"Buddy, that is called a… penis. You use your penis to pee in the pot okay"
"Oh… a penis? I thought it was a pee-pee?"
"Yea, well it's a pee-pee too.. but it's real grown up name is a penis Jay. You ready to get out?" He wanted this whole conversation over with as soon as possible.
"Okay" he let his daddy lift him out of the tub, and start to dry him off.
"Alright, your clothes are on your bed, go get dressed" he wrapped the towel around his body snuggly before sending him off.
Lifting the top of the drain, to let the water out, Nathan then grabbed Maddie and sat her on his lap, before putting the hooded duck towel on her head and wrapping her up. He carried her into his and Haley's bed and started drying her off. He was close to securing her diaper on before applying some lotion when Jay walked into the room.
"Daddy, will Maddie have long hair and a long penis"
He was flabbergasted, thinking that conversation was over and forgotten about. But then he pictured his son getting dressed while mulling over the facts in his head and wanting conclusions. He was so his mothers' child.
"Alright Jay, listen up. You are a boy, so you have a penis. Maddie is a girl, so she doesn't have one. Only boys can have a penis"
"Men too, like you?"
"Yes, men too, boys and men have a penis"
"So what do girls have?"
"Well," he started. He looked down at Maddie wondering at what age she'd get curious about the difference between boys and girls and prayed that she'd take after him instead of his super smart wife like his son had. "Girls have a vagina"
He couldn't stop the word from coming out, and wondered if that was the word that Haley would have used. Vagina? There couldn't have been a more kid-friendly word to tell him, so that had to do.
"A vagina… so Mommy's a girl, and Aunt Brooke too. Do they have a vagina? And My teachers too! They have a vagina right daddy"
In that moment Haley walked into their bedroom to see her husband a bright shade of red, her daughter kicking her feet while half dressed, and Jay bouncing on his toes, his eyes gleaming as if he'd just figured out a big secret.
"Hey guys" she greeted them, bending down to scoop Jay up in her arms.
"Hi mommy, guess what?"
"What baby?" she said kissing his nose.
"Maddie has a vagina!"
"A what?" clearly she'd heard him wrong.
"A vagina, like you do cause you're a girl! And aunt Brooke too. But me, uncle Lucas and daddy have a penis cause we're boys…. Drew too, right daddy, since he's a boy too?"
"Yep" he didn't dare look at Haley, instead he focused on dressing the baby in front of him before lifting her up and walking out of the room.
"Jay, who taught you penis and vagina"
"Daddy did. In the bath tub, I didn't see Maddie's pee-pee and daddy said she didn't have one like me since she was a girl, and told me it was not just a pee-pee, but a penis. He said that girls with long hair don't have a long penis, but they have a vagina, and boys with short hair have a penis cause we're boys."
She should have been prepared for something like this, but wasn't at all and now understood her husband appearance when she walked into their bedroom moments ago. Taking him into the living room, she saw Nathan now sitting on the couch with Maddie and her boppy, setting up the Apple Tv to a Veggie Tales short movie.
Plopping Jay down on the couch, she went to change her shirt before coming back out and sitting next to Jay on the couch. She took Madeline from Nathan and smiled and kissed at the baby's face, greeting her for the first time that evening. She'd seen her earlier that day during her lunch break, never able to be away from her the entire day. When her happy squeals quieted down, Haley started nursing her, and when she burped and switched her to the other side, she fell asleep while still eating.
"Daddy, does Grandma Deb have a vagina like mommy cause she's a girl?"
Nathan looked to his wife, and grimaced at the glare she was sending him.
"How about I go and put Bear down, and you can finish the movie with mommy" before Haley could protest, Nathan went to scoop Maddie up, signaling to Haley to break the hold the baby still had on her chest, and quickly made his way down to her nursery vaguely hearing Haley tell him to burp her.
It was roughly thirty minutes later when Nathan watched Haley come out of the shower and climb into bed next to him.
"So it's good to know that I don't have a long penis. This marriage would be a little weird for the both of us huh?"
"So not funny Hales. Tonight was kinda horrible to be honest. I didn't even expect him to ask me that. I'll tell you one thing, that's the last time I'm bathing them together."
"It's not that bad, he was bound to start asking those questions soon anyway now that Maddie's here. I'm surprised it took so long. Now what I would like to know is why you taught him vagina. I can handle penis, but vagina? He'll never stop saying that word now. We just got him to stop saying boobies"
"What was I supposed to say? It's a conversation I didn't expect to have for a few more years, and my plan now is to pretend it never happened. I mean I just taught our five year old son the words penis and vagina. Bear will never learn those words."
Moving closer to him, straddled his lap, and moved his hands away from his face. "I missed you today Scott. Thanks for taking good care of our babies when I'm gone."
"Hey," he said interrupting her, and stopping her hands from removing his shirt. "what's with Brooke starting to baby proof things? She said Bear's about to be fully crawling any day?"
"Yea can you believe it!"
"No, I can't believe it, cause it's not true. Madeline is not crawling yet. I haven't seen anything but rolling"
She went back to pushing his shirt up, coaxing his arms out, slowly kissing up his chest in between talking, "babe, she's about to start crawling really soon. Like real crawling. You haven't seen all she can do because you really never put her down." She pulled the shirt off of him entirely and ran her fingers through his thick hair. "You hold her constantly, so you haven't seen all she can do. Kid is on the move now."
"What the hell? Crawling? It's too soon isn't? Jay crawled early, but he also was with Brooke who wouldn't carry him and Drew at the same, so they both moved around like crazy. Bear should not be crawling this soon, she'll probably hurt herself"
"You're too soft when it comes to her ya know. I should be the sappy one not wanting her to be crawling yet, but you steal all my mother daughter thunder from me" she leaned back and looked at the scowl he wore and kissed his lips chastely. "Too bad it's soooo sexy" She moved in capturing his lips in a searing kiss urging him to drop the subject of their kids and be in the moment with her.
When he wasn't giving as much as she was, she leaned back frustrated "Do I need to have a different kind of talk with you about a penis and vagina, cause I'm really trying here babe. You do know I can do this without your consent right?" she moved down to his boxers before reaching her hands inside. "All it takes is a little touch and …" she smiled when she felt him ready and he flipped them over, hovering on top of her and attacking her neck. "I win"
It was two days later when Nathan walked into the house carrying Madeline's car seat with Haley in tow sporting the same somber look as Jay.
"Buddy, I know you're gonna miss your teachers, but don't' forget that summer starts and you and Drew can go on your trip with Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow. Aren't you excited about that"
He nodded his head, a bright smile now adorning his face. "My bag is already packed, I can't wait"
"I just can't believe that those teachers won't be a part of his life anymore and that he's no longer a preschooler, but will be a full time student"
"Hales, it's not like the kid is going to college, it's just elementary. Relax okay. What we need to do is finish getting Maddie's stuff ready to go for the weekend."
It was a big step for both he and Haley to allow Madeline to go back with Nathan's parents for the weekend. With Haley working a double shift Friday, and Nathan working, they decided to let Maddie leave with the boys in the morning and spend Friday and Saturday with the grandparents. They were heading there anyway with Brooke and Lucas to celebrate Dan's fifty-sixth birthday. She'd be back in Haley and Nathan's arms Sunday morning, but they both would have a hard time letting her leave.
The next morning, before the Scotts Suburban was packed and car seats were put in, hundreds of tears were shed when Haley left for work, kissing the kids goodbye.
When Haley was finally home Saturday, she'd woken in the afternoon to Brooke announcing that lunch was ready in the kitchen. As much as she missed her kids, she was excited to see Lucas and Nathan waiting for her and Brooke to eat lunch with them.
"Pizza and beer for lunch" she asked walking towards the table and dropping herself onto Nathan's lap.
"Yep, at least for you guys" Brooke started "you know I think the last time we did this was right before I found out I was pregnant with Drew"
"Well altogether yea, but me and Hales have our specialty of wings and shots quite often" Nathan said squeezing Haley's side.
"Haley, check this out" Brooke said typing on the lap top that sat on the table before turning it for Haley to look at. "I finally got a Facebook, and have already got over fifty friends since last week. Pretty much all of our class from LU is on and I'm finding someone new every day"
Moving off Nathan's lap and onto the chair next to her sister in law, Haley smiled at the faces she was seeing. "Oh my word, is that Jessica Leonard? She's got a beautiful little girl, I didn't know she was married!"
"Haley, we barely kept in touch with anyone, of course you didn't know that! You need to get on here, Me and Luke are now"
"You're on Facebook" Nathan said laughing at his brother.
"I was forced to be on facebook actually. But it's not so bad"
"Not so bad "Mr. I refuse to trust the internet and even send pictures through email to family"
"Yea, yea. This has privacy settings and everything. No one can see anything we post without being our accepted friend. Complete privacy."
"What do you mean "we"?"
"I made us a joint account" Brooke chimed in. " I was not about to let him get a single account, and have a bunch of skanks sending my husband friend request. I'm sure everyone from school will be jealous anyway seeing as though I have the hottest husband in all of our class" Haley shook her head at Brooke before grabbing their lap top and starting up an account herself.
"How did you find everyone from your class? What'd you do memorize their names?" Nathan didn't really like the sound of Facebook, but knew his wife would be into reconnecting with everyone.
"No, with the information you put in, you can add schools and stuff, and there's even a group for our class. Just type in LU and our class year and it'll take you to the page. I found everyone through there. Like we had a successful class, but damn wait till you see some people Hales. Like Gavin Mitcham, he's gone downhill, and that's putting it nicely"
"Brooke, really?" Lucas scolded. "That's what teenagers use this social media for"
"Shut it Broody. I'm simply basking in the fact that the first guy I dated in college that publicly dumped and humiliated my is finally getting what he deserves"
"Alright, we're on. Nate, I set it up with your email since I get so many from work already. I'm gonna upload the pictures we took at the park a few weeks ago and then start looking for people. Hey, you can even check for guys in your unit! I'm sure they have one too. This could be good for both of us"
"Yea, until we get tons of requests from people we don't want to be in touch with. All you read about in the news is how much drama Facebook brings."
"Don't be a party pooper Nate, Me and Luke are doing it, and I'll even make sure we're your first friend request to make you feel all safe. It'll be fun, I promise. Besides, we're so behind on getting a Facebook. The entire world has one, kids have one nowadays."
"Look, I've already got two request from people from LU! I think I'm gonna like this" Haley said smiling at the screen, clicking "accept" for both requests.
Hearing a noise from the island, Nathan went to grab his phone and read the text he'd just got. Haley, Brooke and Lucas sent him a curious look when he started laughing aloud and he simply showed them the text he'd received.
"Why the hell are my grandsons talking about penises and vaginas? I'm gonna kill you boys!"
Simple chapter, with not much going on. Hope you enjoyed it. Review.