A New Addition
Title: A New Addition
Author: Diane
Fandom: One Tree Hill
Characters: Nathan/Haley
Prompt: 16 - Puppy/Kitten
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: Nope, I don’t own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is an alternative version of episode 5x15 ‘Life is Short’ so everything up to and including it just to be on the safe side.
Summary: "... So, uh, I think there might be one present you forgot to open earlier on."
Author’s Notes: This has been written especially for the Jamie 50th Thread at the OTH Fanforum board.
It's also been written for my fanfic table at 25fluffyfics.
* * *
“Hey, Luke… You’ve got Jamie’s gift, right?”
Lucas gave his younger brother a half-smile “What exactly do you think it is that I’ve got here?” he said, gesturing to the bundle in his arms which was partially covered with a little blanket.
“Very funny, smart ass. Get in here before Jamie spots us and the game’s up,” Nathan said, holding the back door open so that Luke could enter before leading the way to the laundry room. He hoped that Jamie was too busy enjoying his birthday party to wonder where he and Luke had disappeared to.
After carefully setting down the bundle in the area that had already been set up, the two men shared a smile.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Nate? I mean, Jamie’s still so young and—”.
“I know and we did have a couple of reservations but I think it’ll be a good thing for all of us.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Lucas replied, nodding his head. He could already picture his nephew’s reaction when his parents revealed the extra birthday gift they’d gotten for him.
“C’mon, we’d better get back in there before a certain little person comes looking for us.”
Looking down at the sleeping little bundle and making sure everywhere was safe and secure in the room, they left and closed the door behind them.
* * *
Sitting on his bed, his sock-clad feet swinging back and forth, Jamie sighed loudly. While his party had been awesome and he'd gotten tons of cool presents, which included the Wii he’d been begging for, he hadn’t received the one present he’d wanted even more than that. His little shoulders slumped as he stared into space, not hearing the approaching footsteps behind him.
"Hey, buddy," Haley said, knocking lightly on the door. "What are you doing up here all by yourself?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? I thought you'd be downstairs begging us to let you stay up later so you could play some more games on your Wii."
Jamie shrugged and said, "I'm kinda tired."
"Hmm, I guess you're getting old now you're five," she teased, entering the room and taking a seat beside him. "Did you have fun today?"
He nodded. "Uh huh. Thank you for my party."
Ruffling his sandy blonde hair, Haley pulled him onto her lap and cuddled him close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "You're welcome, baby. So, uh, I think there might be one present you forgot to open earlier on."
"Another present?" he asked, his bright blue eyes suddenly filled with hope as he drew back slightly and looked up at his mother.
"Yep."
"What is it?"
Lowering her head, she nuzzled her nose against his in the way they’d been doing since he was a toddler. "Why don’t we go downstairs and take a look.”
Jumping off of her lap, the little boy raced out of his room, calling out, "C'mon, Momma, let’s go!"
Laughing, Haley got up and followed, eager to see his face as he found the last of his birthday gifts. Ever since they could remember, he'd been dropping hints left and right, making it clear to them and anybody who'd listen just what was at the top of his birthday and Christmas wish list. She and Nathan couldn't resist having a little fun with him though this year, although seeing how disappointed he'd been when he’d finished opening everyone’s gifts had definitely tugged at her heartstrings. Their boy definitely knew how to guilt trip them, she thought to herself with a half smile.
"Daddy, where is it!? Jamie asked as he found his father sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV.
"Where's what, buddy?"
"My last present. Momma said I had one more to open but I can't see it," he replied, his eyes scanning the room.
“Did she? That’s news to me,” he said, biting back the smile he could feel forming on his lips.
“Daddy!”
Nathan couldn’t hold in his laughter and getting up from the couch, he picked Jamie up and carried him into the kitchen where he knew Haley was waiting for them. “Okay, okay, no more teasing.”
The little boy’s mouth fell open the second he saw his mother standing in front of him holding the present he’d been wanting forever. “A puppy!” he whispered, completely awestruck. “You really got me a puppy!”
As soon as Nathan lowered him to the ground, Jamie rushed over to Haley who was now kneeling on the tiled floor, the tiny fawn and black coloured mass wriggling around in her arms.
“Do you like him?” she asked, holding the puppy out to her son so he could get a better look.
“I love him!” he exclaimed. “What kind is it? What’s its name? Can he sleep in my room with me and Chester?”
She laughed at the sudden stream of questions. “Well, he’s a little Pug puppy and we figured you could choose his name since he’s yours.”
“Cool!” Reaching out his hand, he stroked the puppy’s soft fur, giggling when the dog’s little pink tongue suddenly licked him. “That tickles!”
Crouching down beside his wife and son, Nathan asked, “Have you got any names picked out for him already?”
Jamie nodded eagerly. “Uh huh… There’s Charlie and Ace and Wrinkles… Ooh, and Jordan after Michael Jordan ‘cause he rocks and—”
“Woah!” Nathan laughed. “You thought of all those just now?”
“No… well, ‘cept for Wrinkles. I just thought of that now ‘cause he’s all wrinkly and cute.”
“Yeah, he really is,” Haley agreed, scratching the puppy’s head. “Your Dad, however, said his face looks like he ran into a wall at top speed.”
“Well, he does,” Nathan said, a smirk tugging at his lips. “What do you think, Jamie?”
Scrunching up his face and tilting his head to the side, he regarded his puppy closely, smiling at how its face looked kind of squished in. “Yeah, he sorta does,” he replied before giggling.
“See, Hales, I told you.”
Lowering her face slightly, she whispered into the puppy’s ear loud enough for her husband and son to hear, “You don’t listen to them… You’re the cutest little puppy ever.” The little dog released a bark almost as if he was agreement with her statement which made them all laugh.
“What other names do you like?” Nathan asked a moment later, smiling at his wife’s interaction with the puppy.
“Um… Chubby or Mac or—”
“Mac?”
“Like mac and cheese,” he stated, a facsimile of his father’s smirk gracing his own lips.
“Ooh, I like that,” Haley chipped in.
“You would,” Nathan quipped.
“I kinda like Wrinkles though… I think it suits him,” Jamie stated, running his hand over the puppy’s coat.
“I think it does, too,” she told him before placing the eight-week-old puppy in her son’s arms, smiling at the look on the little boy’s face as he cuddled his new pet.
“So, do you like your birthday present?”
“I love it! I thought you forgot,” he admitted as he looked at his parents in turn.
“We know you did,” Nathan told him. “We wanted it to be a big surprise so we made you think we’d forgotten but we hadn’t really. Your Uncle Luke’s been looking after Wrinkles at his house so that you wouldn’t find out we’d got him for you.”
“He’s the bestest birthday present ever!” Jamie exclaimed, a big smile stretching across his face. “Thank you!”
Holding out her arms, Haley wrapped them around her son as soon as he stepped into her embrace and she hugged him to her chest, peppering his face with butterfly kisses and laughing at the feeling of the little dog that was wriggling between them. Taking Wrinkles from him, she watched as Jamie hugged Nathan before they bumped their fists together. They were such guys!
“Can Wrinkles sleep in my room?” the little boy asked a few minutes later, taking the puppy back.
“Well, we’ve got everything set up for him down here in the laundry room, sweetie,” she told him. As she knew he probably would, he busted out the pout and she shared a look with Nathan who smirked back at her.
“Please, Momma? Just for tonight…”
“One night probably won’t hurt, Hales.”
“Ha, you say that now,” she told him.
“It’s just one night, babe… plus it is his first one with us.”
“So, can he sleep with me?”
Releasing a quiet sigh, Haley nodded. “Okay, but he stays in his little basket and doesn’t sleep in your bed.”
“Yay!” he said, pumping his fist. “C’mon, Wrinkles, let’s go upstairs and you can see my room and meet Chester,” he told the puppy as he carried him out of the room.
Nathan laughed as he picked up the dog basket, which contained a chew toy and a blanket, and followed in the direction of their boy. “Wrinkles has been fed and watered, right?”
“Yeah,’ she replied, ‘I did that before I went up to see Jamie so he should be okay but there’s bound to be a few accidents.”
“I know… Apparently, he peed in one of Luke’s shoes the other day,” he said, laughing.
“Uh huh, I doubt you’ll be laughing if it happens to a pair of yours,” she retorted.
“Remind me not to leave my shoes lying around.”
“Wow, you mean all it took for you to put your shoes away was for us to get a dog?”
Closing the short distance between them, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her in tight to his body. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”
Brushing her lips against his, she matched his smirk. “I don’t think… I know.” She deepened the kiss, moaning into his mouth when his tongue caressed her own. “C’mon, we better go upstairs and see what chaos our boy is creating,” she said breathlessly when the kiss had eventually ended.
Making sure that everywhere downstairs was secured for the night, they made their way upstairs and upon entering their son’s room, they couldn’t help smiling at the scene in front of them.
Jamie, fully dressed and lying on his side in bed, was fast asleep with a half-asleep Wrinkles tucked against him.
“They look so adorable,” Haley whispered, taking a mental picture of the two of them.
“Should we wake him up and get him undressed?” Nathan asked as he also took in how cute they looked before he walked over to the corner of the room and set down the basket he was carrying.
“No, let’s leave them for now. We can check on them again before we go to bed and, if necessary, move Wrinkles to his basket.”
“Okay. You do realise we’re going to have trouble separating those two from now on,” he remarked.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” she said, smiling at him. “We’ll have to check his backpack before he leaves for school ‘cause you know he’ll try sneaking him out of the house.”
Chuckling under his breath, Nathan nodded his agreement. “Yeah, I can imagine the phone calls we’ll be getting telling us to come and collect the dog.”
She smiled at the thought. Leaning over Jamie, she pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Sweet dreams, baby.”
Nathan did the same before pulling the dark blue comforter over their son, being careful not to cover the puppy.
Taking her husband’s hand in hers, they stood there for a long moment just watching Jamie sleep. “I love him so much,” she said quietly.
“I do, too. God, Hales, he’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” he whispered as he released her hand and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Pushing herself up onto her toes, she softly kissed his cheek. “He’s the best thing we’ve ever done,” she stated. “C’mon, let’s go before we wake him up and he gets all grumpy like someone else I could mention.”
“I’ll give you grumpy,” he told her as he interlaced their fingers and led her out of their son’s room; both of them taking one last look at him as he slept cuddled up with the new addition to their family.
Fin