AN: Thank you all so much for the reviews for the last chapter!

As always some quick words to those of you without accounts so I couldn't respond to your reviews personally – ann – so pleased you enjoyed the update and that they sat and talked. Hope you enjoy this chapter too! Violet – Aw I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter – you'll see Nathan's reaction to the news in this chapter, hope you like it! Mazzy – Glad you liked the update – you'll see Nathan's reaction in this chapter, hope you enjoy it! Hadley – Glad you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you like this one too! Vera – So pleased you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy this update! Keri – You're right, they're going to have to sort a lot of things out! Glad you enjoyed the update and hope you like this chapter. Lottie190 – Aw I'm glad you're happy I updated and I hope you like this chapter too! Yessss – Aw thank you and I hope you like this chapter!

Many thanks to Rebecca and Kristen who read through this before I posted.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Haley halted her movement towards the door immediately as the Doctor spoke those words and the bedroom suddenly became deathly quiet. However, the silence of the room was no match for the noise which was running riot inside her head, confusing and puzzling her, clouding her brain with this haze until she felt so light-headed she was sure she was going to faint. She wasn't sure how much time passed; seconds, minutes, hours possibly. All she knew was that it felt like an absolute eternity. Breathing in and out deeply, she waited patiently for the Doctor to begin laughing but all of a sudden, far too much time had obviously passed for him to actually be joking with his diagnosis. She frowned, still hoping that the laughter would magically appear, although this was actually no laughing matter, far from it in fact. Pregnant. She murmured the word under her breath a couple of times, as if trying it on for size, but somehow it didn't sit right with her. It was impossible, she couldn't be pregnant. Either the test was wrong or this Doctor was just a cruel man, clearly lacking in ability to demonstrate good comedic timing.

So, with the frown still planted firmly on her forehead, she slowly turned herself around to face this clearly incompetent Doctor, who she found was looking at her with an incredibly smug smile spread across his cheeks. All Haley could think about doing was wiping that smirk right off his face, and quickly too, as well as screaming at Nathan for having the complete idiocy to find the most inept Doctor to ever grace planet Earth to come and see her, when she'd clearly stated on more than one occasion that she was fine and didn't need one in the first place.

Finding herself completely irritated with the way this Doctor continued to look at her, she took yet another deep breath and decided to take matters into her own hands, literally. She marched over to where he was standing on the opposite side of the room and snatched the pregnancy test out of his hands, glaring at him as she did so because he was still smirking at her. Waves of annoyance rolled over her body, causing her skin to glow a deep shade of red as she brought the test up slightly so that she could see it for herself, and in doing so finally end this ridiculous joke abruptly.

However, when she held the digital test up and glanced down at it, the word 'pregnant' was clearly displayed on the tiny screen. She instantly felt her stomach drop, making a whole new rush of nausea gurgle in her stomach, purely from the shock of it all. Pregnant. I'm pregnant. She couldn't speak and found herself completely immobile and paralyzed, barely remembering that she needed to breathe. More time passed and Haley felt like she was trapped in some alternative universe, or a dream. Unsure of how she managed to bring herself back, she refocused her eyes and stared down at the test once again. "I'm sorry, but that's impossible." She said quietly, finally finding her voice while her eyes remained completely trained on the test, refusing to believe what it was telling her. She honestly thought that there had to be a mistake; she was on the pill for crying out loud, she was absolutely, one hundred percent not pregnant.

The doctor chuckled quietly as he watched Haley continue to stare at the pregnancy test like it was some foreign object she'd never laid eyes on before. "Well, I can absolutely assure you that it is possible, and it is happening. You're pregnant, Miss James. Congratulations!" He said as he smiled over at her.

For some completely irrational reason, Haley began to get extremely angry. She lifted her eyes from the pregnancy test which she was convinced was lying to her and glared at the doctor, who was smiling away at her like he didn't have a care in the world. She kept on telling herself that she couldn't be pregnant, who the hell got pregnant when they were on the pill? That was the whole point of taking the damn thing in the first place, to prevent things like this from happening. Her anger swirled with the frustration she felt rush through her veins and she completely lost it. "I want you to leave." She demanded, managing to keep the volume of her voice reasonably low, though it sounded rather dangerous and threatening.

"Okay, I'll be out of your hair in a few ticks. You should make an appointment…"

Haley didn't want to hear about what she should do. She just wanted this idiot out of her sight. "I said leave!" She shouted, and then dropped the pregnancy test down on top of the chest of drawers and stomped over to the door, opening it and marching through it to find Nathan sat on the couch watching the television, which irritated her some more because for some irrational reason, in her head she'd managed to twist this all so that it was in fact his fault.

Nathan lifted his head up once he heard the door open and instantly recognised the anger in Haley's face. The panic surged through his body as thoughts of why she could possibly be so livid rushed through his veins. Had the doctor done something inappropriate? If he had, he would kick his ass right out of the damn window. Jumping off the sofa, he began to walk hastily over to her. "Baby, what's wrong?" He asked as he strode towards her.

Haley watched as she stood by the door, glaring at the doctor who was making quick work of gathering up his bits and pieces and putting them back in the briefcase. As she heard Nathan speak to her, she turned her head and threw her glare onto him, watching as he halted in his movements. "What's wrong?" She said, completely exasperated with this whole mess. "I'll tell you what's wrong, Nathan. Could you have picked a more incompetent asshole to come and check me out? Huh? And don't even get me started on the fact that you didn't even listen to me when I told you I was fine…"

"Haley!" Nathan admonished her as he watched the apparently 'incompetent asshole' of a doctor walk past her into the lounge so that he could leave. "I'm sorry, Dr Jones, she's just a bit cranky…"

Haley scoffed incredulously as she heard Nathan excuse her behaviour. "I'll give you cranky…"

Dr Jones chuckled. "Don't worry Mr Scott, its fine, probably just the hormones. I've heard much worse, believe me. Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Miss James."

Haley rolled her eyes and smiled a fake smile at the stupid doctor, watching him walk out of their hotel room, before Nathan cleared his throat, bringing her attention right back to him.

Nathan was slightly confused at Haley's tone with the doctor. He knew she hadn't wanted to be seen by anybody but that wasn't a cause for her to be so rude to him. "What happened?" He asked, wanting to know what had caused her to react in the way that she had.

Haley sighed as she closed her eyes for a brief second, trying to clear her head, but it was no use. She wouldn't allow this information to sink in until she'd got a second opinion, because, as she kept on telling herself, Dr Stupid had to be wrong. "I need you to take me to the hospital." She said gravely as she opened her eyes, pissed off that she was having to do this when all she wanted to do was lay in bed all day.

Nathan instantly felt the panic overtake every single emotion in his body. The fact that she was asking him to take her to the hospital did not bode well, and horrific thoughts as to what could possibly be wrong with her flooded his mind. "Hales, what's wrong? Why do we need to go to the hospital?" He asked frantically, already walking towards the door of their suite, picking up his mobile from the table as he did so, ready to call an ambulance if it meant it would get her there quicker, despite the fact that this possibly wasn't an emergency, not that he didn't know that though.

Haley sighed incredulously as she looked down at her feet and realised she didn't have any shoes on. She marched herself back into the bedroom and slipped on a pair of flip-flops before walking back out to where Nathan was waiting impatiently for her. She was still rather angry that he'd gone behind her back as he had, and in doing so caused this whole unnecessary commotion. "Because apparently I'm pregnant, which is totally ridiculous because I'm on the pill. I mean where the hell you found such an idiotic doctor I'll never know but for God's sake Nathan, if you're going to insist that I see someone, you could at least ensure that they're qualified, he was clearly a…"

Nathan watched as Haley yakked on and on but he couldn't make out a word she was saying. It was like time had slowed down completely. He watched her mouth move in slow motion as the words 'apparently I'm pregnant' swirled around his brain, her voice sounding hazy and distant. Her mouth was continuing to move but he couldn't make out a word of what she was saying, nothing was registering in his brain because despite knowing he'd heard her, he wasn't one hundred percent sure if he'd heard her right. He shook his head, wanting to clear the fog from his brain, and all of a sudden he heard Haley talking extremely quickly, which wasn't helping him get his head around what he thought he had heard. "Hold up, Haley. What did you just say?" He asked as he stared at her intently, giving her his full concentration.

Haley sighed again in frustration at Nathan, the least he could do was listen to her while she was venting at him. "I was saying that you should have made sure the doctor was a real doctor and not some cowboy…"

"No, Hales." Nathan interrupted her and shook his head. "Before that, before you started going off on one, what did you say?"

"I said, apparently I'm pregnant." Haley repeated and then continued with what she had said before, because if he hadn't been listening to the first part then the chances that he had been listening to the rest of her speech were pretty much slim to none. "But that's not possible because I'm on the pill, so you know, I want us to go to the hospital so that we can get a…"

Nathan couldn't stop the grin which spread extremely wide over his face. He laughed as Haley continued to explain herself but he didn't listen because he was currently too euphoric to even care about what she was saying. He walked towards her and placed his index finger on her lips, pleased when Haley stopped talking. He then lowered his hand and wrapped both of them around her waist, pulling her close to him. "You're pregnant?" He asked again, the smile still spread wide, just wanting to confirm it because it still hadn't settled in his brain yet.

"Yes. I mean, no… I mean… well Dr Jones seems to think that I am but… Nathan!" Haley shrieked as Nathan lifted her up in the air and twirled her around. She clung onto his neck, hearing him laugh as he continued to spin them around and around. And then, as Nathan continued to turn them both, it hit her. She forgot about the anger and her pissed off attitude and allowed the fact that she was possibly carrying a baby, her and Nathan's baby, inside of her. She was silent for a few seconds as she heard Nathan's excited words and she smiled, Nathan's reaction to the news making her realise what really mattered here. She was pregnant. Well she wasn't for sure pregnant but still… she was possibly pregnant. She felt him begin to slow down and once he had stopped spinning, he placed her carefully on the ground, pulling back so that she was now looking in his eyes.

Nathan had never been so excited in his life. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face and he didn't want to either. This had to be the best day he'd ever had in his entire life. He moved one of his hands around to the front of her body and looked down at it, rubbing the palm of his hand across her belly. The fact that Haley had their child inside of her didn't seem real, and he was completely fascinated with the idea of it all. He raised his eyes up and connected his gaze with hers before he moved his head slightly, lowering it towards hers so that his lips were hovering above her own. "I love you." He whispered and then pressed his lips to hers in a soft, tender kiss.

~*~

Haley couldn't help the angst she felt whirling around inside of her stomach as Nathan drove them towards the hospital. She chanced a glance at him every now and then and each time she did she was stunned by the delight she could see so clearly on his features. He hadn't stopped smiling since he'd learned of the news, and of course, for that she was glad, ecstatic even. However, she still wasn't sure that she was actually pregnant and she hoped that if they ultimately found out that she wasn't, that he wouldn't be too upset about it. But she had no way of knowing unless she got a second opinion, and truth be told, she wouldn't actually believe it until they did one of those scans so that she could see this baby she supposedly had inside of her with her own eyes.

Nathan drove to the hospital at a leisurely pace, not rushing to get there because he was looking out of the window of his car, wishing that he could shout out the fabulous news to each and every person they passed on the street. He was going to be a Dad! He honestly didn't believe that he could be happier than he was right now. He reached his hand over and placed it on top of Haley's thigh, giving it a slight squeeze, wanting to share his jubilation with her. He glanced over at her for a brief second and saw her looking at him, and when her eyes met his she giggled at him. "What?" He said, that smile he'd been wearing ever since they'd left the hotel still plastered right over his face.

Haley couldn't help but giggle at him. His mouth had to be hurting him because he hadn't stopped smiling. "Nothing, it's just, I don't know, you look like you've just won the lottery or something!" She responded, placing her hand on top of his which was still situated on her thigh, lacing her fingers through his.

"I feel like I have; only it's a thousand times better than I imagined. I mean, we're going to be parents, Hales; we're going to have a baby! I just can't believe it!" Nathan responded enthusiastically, bringing their joined hands up to his mouth so that he could place a tender kiss on her hand, smiling over at her as he did so.

Haley licked her lips nervously as she removed her eyes from Nathan and looked out of the window, seeing that they were pulling into the hospital. She took a deep breath and turned her head back to face him. "Look, Nathan, please just don't get ahead of yourself. I really think that test may have been wrong, I mean, I've been taking my pill religiously and I just don't want you to get your hopes up only to have them crushed when we find out I'm not pregnant." She said solemnly. She honestly didn't want to give this any more consideration that she already had until she had the confirmation, the second opinion.

Nathan pulled into a parking space and cut off the engine. He brought his hand up and cupped her face with his hand, watching with a smile as Haley closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. God he really did love this woman more than life itself. Running his thumb along her cheek, he leaned in and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to her lips. "Okay, I promise, no more baby talk until we've seen a doctor. But I can just feel that you are pregnant, Hales, something feels different, good different." He said softly, the corners off his mouth picking up when she opened up her eyes and looked at him.

Haley didn't know what to say back to that. What did he mean he could feel it? She sighed because he really was far too excited about something which could turn out to not be real. She glanced down at her lap and then slowly raised her eyes up to Nathan's, which were shining brightly at her.

Nathan moved his hand along her jaw so that his fingers were wrapped around her neck and he pulled her close to him, placing yet another kiss on her lips. "Come on then, let's go and get this whole thing sorted out." With that, he released his hold on her and stepped out of the car. Once he had walked over to the passenger side, he opened the door for Haley and held out his hand so that he could help her get out of the vehicle. With her hand firmly clasped in his, he locked the car and placed the keys in his pocket, walking them both towards the entrance to the hospital, hoping and praying with all his might that she really was pregnant. It was funny, he hadn't realised just how much he wanted a family until it was actually happening to him.

Just before they reached the doors to the hospital, Haley pulled on Nathan's hand, stopping them from walking any further. She waited for him to turn around so that he was looking at her, and she bit down on her lip nervously, before raising her eyes to meet his questioning gaze. "Just remember to be subtle. The last thing we need is the press getting hold of this, especially when we don't even know if I am pregnant, or if I am, how far along I am. I think the last thing both of us need at the moment is the added pressure of them sticking their noses into all of this." She pleaded with him. She obviously could see how excited he was but she wanted to keep it quiet, for the moment at least. She hadn't even had the chance to tell Peyton about it yet.

"Of course, baby. I promise to be discreet." Nathan responded, and then tugged on her hand as he walked them through the hospital doors. The noise that awaited them in reception area was extremely loud, and as Nathan looked around the bustling waiting room he sighed heavily. It looked like they were going to have to wait here for rather a long time before they managed to get seen.

An hour and a half later, Haley watched Nathan pace up and down the small waiting room he'd somehow managed to wangle for them. All his pacing was making her feel incredibly nervous and she'd already run out of the room once to be sick in the toilets. She watched as he huffed and puffed, running his hands continuously through his raven black hair. The waves of frustration were rolling off his body ferociously and it only caused her anxiety levels to rise until they got to a point where she simply couldn't take anymore. "Nathan, please will you sit down and calm down? You're making me feel sick."

Nathan immediately stopped moving and sunk down into a chair next to Haley. "I'm sorry, Hales, it's just, this seems ridiculous, I mean we've been here for an hour and a half already, we've filled in all the forms, I don't understand what's taking so long." He said as he ran his hands down his face. Not having the confirmation about the child he though Haley was carrying was really starting to get to him. He found himself daydreaming about painting a nursery, buying a swing set, teaching his child to ride a bike, going to school for the first time… and then he'd berate himself silently for thinking such things, because Haley was right, until they'd had this pregnancy confirmed, he was only building his hopes up for something that might not eventually happen.

"Well you saw for yourself how busy it was out there when we walked in. We're just going to have to be patient and wait until they come and get us." Haley responded, placing her hands in her lap as she began to play with her fingers, trying to keep her mind occupied. She was trying not to think about the implications of having a baby, because each time she did she was hit with such a mixture of different emotions, and she didn't really know how she felt about possibly being a mom just yet, none of it seemed real, and she was still absolutely convinced, despite seeing that pregnancy test for herself, that she wasn't carrying a baby inside of her.

Nathan jigged his leg, running his hand through his hair once more as he tried very hard to wait patiently as Haley had suggested. However, after three minutes of silence, he'd had enough. Lifting himself up off the chair, he began to walk towards the door. "I bet they've forgotten about us, that must be what's happened. I swear, if they have then someone's going to…"

"For God's sake Nathan, don't you dare make a scene!" Haley interrupted him, huffing slightly herself. She shook her head at him as she watched him continue to walk towards the door, really hoping that he wasn't going to just lose it and announce to the world that she was possibly pregnant. It was quite honestly the last thing she needed right now.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to make a scene, I'm just going to find out what's happening. I'll be back in five." Nathan said as he opened up the door to the private waiting room and stomped towards the reception desk, ready to give hell to whoever was sat behind it. He'd never been in such a ridiculous circus as this.

Rather surprisingly, despite thinking that he would get absolutely nowhere, twenty minutes later, Haley was laying on her back on a bed, with her t-shirt pulled up so that her tummy was exposed. The doctor explained that the liquid she was going to squirt onto her stomach was going to feel cold, but she was unprepared and flinched slightly once the gel made contact with her fairly warm skin. She turned her head away from the monitor which had been pulled towards the bed and glanced up at Nathan, who looked like a child on Christmas Eve, his hand clasping hers tightly. In that precise moment, she felt incredibly nervous, and when she felt the pressure on her stomach, her nerves increased tenfold. She was so confused and filled with anguish, she honestly didn't know what to hope for in that moment.

"Okay… the doctor said as she spread the gel over Haley's stomach, watching the screen intently. All was silent for a few seconds and then she smiled when she found what he was looking for. "There's your baby."

Haley felt Nathan's grip on her hand tighten and she watched the smile flutter over his gorgeous face. She slowly turned around and looked up at the monitor, seeing a peanut sized shape on the screen. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at the monitor in complete awe, the entire world completely slipping away from her. "That's our baby?" She muttered quietly, more to herself than anybody else, wondering how something that looked fairly strange and something that she'd never seen before in her life could suddenly engulf her with a love and fierce protectiveness she'd never felt before.

Nathan couldn't stop staring at the screen, it was amazing, absolutely phenomenal to actually see it, a baby, which looked so tiny inside of her body. He tore his eyes away from the monitor to look down at his beautiful girlfriend, who, it had been confirmed, thank god, was carrying their child. He watched as silent tears rolled down her face and he heard her mutter under her breath, a proud smile stretching across his face. He squeezed her hand and leaned down so that he could place a kiss on her forehead. "That's our baby." He whispered, turning his head to look up at the screen once again.

"I can't believe it!" Haley said quietly. "I can't believe we're having a baby!" All the angst and worry left her body, being replaced with a euphoria she hadn't known was possible, and she started to giggle, wrapping her other hand around Nathan's neck so that she could pull his mouth to hers. "I love you."

"I love you too." Nathan responded before pressing his lips to Haley, showing her just how happy he was with the way his mouth moved against hers.

~*~

The euphoria of the news was rather short lived because as soon as they made it back to the hotel room, Haley resumed her now favourite pose of hugging the toilet seat. She closed her eyes as she felt Nathan run his hands softly through her hair, willing the latest bout of nausea to just pass so that she could just get up off the damn bathroom floor.

Nathan didn't know what he should be doing. He hated that she was feeling this way, he hated that carrying their baby was causing her this discomfort, and he wished that he could shoulder some, in fact all of it for her. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well." He muttered as he continued to run his hands through her long hair.

"It's not your fault." Haley responded, taking deep breaths as she felt her stomach begin to settle. It was very welcome after the half an hour she'd spent sat on the tiled floor, however, instead of feeling energized, she felt completely exhausted.

Nathan watched as she yawned and smiled down at her, his hand moving from her head down to the nape of her neck. "Do you want to lie down for a while and see if you can get some sleep?" He asked, knowing that last night had been rather restless for her, and today had contained a rather big surprise. He wasn't shocked at all that she was yawning, even though time was only just creeping into late afternoon.

Haley nodded her head once she was sure that her stomach had settled for longer than a minute, and felt Nathan wrap his arms around her waist so that he could help her off the floor. She smiled up at him once she was standing and allowed him to walk her out of the bathroom towards the bed. She didn't bother taking her clothes off, and neither did Nathan.

Nathan lay down on the bed, propping his head up with pillows and opened up his arms, inviting Haley to lay wrapped up in them. He felt her rest her head on his chest and he folded her up in his arms, his hand moving down towards her stomach, slipping underneath her t-shirt and stroking the silky smooth flesh he found there. He found it completely unbelievable that there was a person growing inside of her, it was completely mind baffling, but the smile was still present on his face. He felt pride, love, complete adoration for Haley, and a rush of utterly unconditional love for the little person inside her belly rush through his entire body. Everything felt right. He had the woman of his dreams wrapped up in his arms and a child on the way. What more could he possibly want?

Haley closed her eyes as she lay in Nathan's arms, the day's events finally catching up with her. However, she was restless, her stomach still whirling uncomfortably and not allowing her to rest undisturbed. Nathan's soothing hand rubbing on her stomach was helping her relax though, and knowing how excited and happy he was about the news was something she was eternally grateful for.

"God there's so much we need to do." Nathan murmured under his breath, shifting his head slightly so that he could place a kiss on the top of her head. "Do you want to find out whether it's a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know, I mean, I guess it would be nice to know but on the other hand it would also be a nice surprise if we didn't know. What do you think?" Haley asked as she rested her hand on the other side of Nathan's chest, running her fingers along the outline of the pocket stitched onto his shirt.

Nathan smiled to himself, wondering whether she was carrying a boy or a girl. "I don't mind either way, it's up to you, Hales." He returned, continuing to rub gentle circles along her tummy. "Maybe we should get a book or something tomorrow so we know what's going on inside of you, like how big the baby is, and when you're going to start showing and all that."

"A book sounds good." Haley returned, opening her eyes and staring at absolutely nothing. She was suddenly hit with how little she knew about babies, and pregnancy, and what she should expect. The fear rolled over her body, causing her to shiver in response. Giving birth hurt, didn't it?

"And then we need to think about a nursery... but then again, if we don't want to know the sex of the baby until it's born, it might make decorating a little bit difficult. I wonder what features it'll have from the both of us? I hope the baby has your smile, I love your smile so much, Hales. And your nose… your eyes too… and your hair." Nathan said excitedly, forming a picture of what he'd want the baby to look like in his head, smiling when he realised that he was imagining a little Haley. God a little mini Haley would quite possibly be the cutest thing he'd ever laid eyes on.

Talk of a nursery for the baby only served to remind Haley that they still had yet to sort out their living arrangements. God, their life together was such a mess at the moment, and now that they had to add a baby into the mix, things were bound to get completely chaotic. She clenched her eyes shut and bit down on her lip as the angst worked its way through her entire body. She listened to Nathan continue to talk about what he wanted the baby to look like but all she could think of were the practicalities of having a baby, of how much it would alter their already messy lives. The one question which reverberated through her mind repeatedly was the one she didn't have an answer to, and it was troubling her deeply. What on earth were they going to do about where they lived?

Nathan's hand continued to rub Haley's stomach, the excitement still rushing through his veins. "So when can we tell everybody? I can't wait to tell Lucas and Brooke, and Jake and Peyton, I wonder what their reaction is going to be? I think they'll be rather shocked actually, it's going to be so much fun to see their reactions to the news, especially Brooke, I think she'll flip completely, and probably bag herself a spot as Godmother." He continued.

God, his questions were all over the place. One minute Nathan was talking about a nursery, the next he was talking about what sex it would be, what it would look like, what everyone's reactions would be… Haley felt like she was trapped in a whirlpool and couldn't find a way out. She felt incredibly dizzy as his voice echoed in her mind, mixing in with her own worries about how on Earth they were going to make this thing actually work. Before she could even think about getting excited again, she needed to answer her own questions, but she couldn't. She felt the tears build in her eyes, because how were they going to cope? What were they going to do about this whole living situation?

Nathan couldn't help but think about what it would be like if the baby turned out to be a boy, how he could teach the little guy how to play basketball, how they could bond over his favourite pastime. It was pretty much a certainty that he'd been good with a ball, his own father had been rather decent at playing when he was younger, he'd just not committed to the sport as Nathan had. But then again, if it were a little girl, he could just imagine playing tea party with her, taking all of her cuddly toys out on a picnic to the beach which would be at the end of their house, dressing her up in gowns like the one Belle wore in Beauty and the Beast...

Haley tried once more to stop the tears from falling, she was blinking rapidly in an effort to thwart them but the thoughts wouldn't fade from her mind, sending her into a blind panic. She eventually stopped trying to fight the tears and felt them roll quietly but persistently down her cheek, ending up on Nathan's shirt. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that he wouldn't notice how upset she was getting, but when she felt his wiggling body still underneath her, she knew that he had realised that she was crying.

Nathan lay incredibly still for a beat, feeling the wetness plop onto his chest, creating a damp patch right next to Haley's head on his shirt. He didn't want to believe that she was crying, he wanted to believe that he was just imagining it, but when he felt the wetness of what was unmistakably a tear fall onto his chest, the confusion began to set in, and the dread coursed its way ferociously through his body. Why was she upset? His greatest fear was that she didn't want the baby… and if that were the case, how could he possibly convince her otherwise? Carefully, he lifted himself and Haley up from their laying position so that they were seated on the bed, and then he pried her off his chest and held her at arm's length, his hands on her shoulders. His stomach sank deeply when he saw her cheeks, blotchy and red with fat, unrelenting tears flowing freely down them. "Hales, baby, what's wrong?" He asked cautiously, unsure of whether he wanted to hear the answer to his question or not.

Haley lowered her eyes from Nathan's inquisitive gaze and stared down at the mattress. She knew she needed to voice her fears, her doubts over how this was going to work but she felt really horrible at taking away the excitement of the moment from him. He'd been so unbelievably happy about the news, but the fact of the matter was, that they still had some very important decisions to make. She lifted her gaze from the duvet and stared into his concerned blue eyes, taking a deep breath as she tried to control her emotions, though it was no use. "I just… how… what… how are we going to do this Nathan? At the moment, you live in a hotel room and I live in New York… what are we going to do?"

Nathan breathed a slight sigh of relief because at least she wasn't saying that she didn't want to have the baby. But then he considered her question and realised that she was right. He'd been so distracted by the excitement that the previous discussions about their living situation had completely evaded him. In truth, he had forgotten all about them. He wrapped his arms back around her waist and pulled her close to him, resting his forehead against hers. He smiled brightly at her. "Don't worry about that, Hales, we'll sort it all out, I promise."

Haley looked into his eyes and lowered her gaze down to his beautiful smile. "You think so?" She said in a small voice, really wanting to believe that he was right because if they didn't sort this living situation out then she wasn't sure how the hell they were going to raise this baby. It simply wouldn't work with them both living on different sides of the country.

"I know so." Nathan affirmed as he lowered them both back to the mattress, moving one of his hands back around to her stomach once they were settled, Haley's head once again resting on his chest. He couldn't seem to get enough of touching her belly now that he knew a baby, their baby, lay inside of her. He closed his eyes, wishing that there was a magic answer to all of this, but knowing that they still had a lot to discuss. He was also incredibly concerned with Haley's emotions today, she'd literally been all over the place, happy, sad, angry, worried… but then he blocked all of those thoughts of the whats, wheres, whys and hows from his mind and the image of their baby on the monitor came back to him and he smiled. It'd all work out in the end. It had to.

AN – Please let me know what you thought of the chapter by dropping me a review.

I think there's only two, maybe three chapters left of this story!

A preview for the next chapter will be available to those of you who want it, just let me know in a review if you do and I'll get it out to you as soon as I've written it.