Title: Tears Into Laughter
Author: Diane
Prompt: 033 – Tears
Pairing: Nathan/Haley
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don’t own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is set post Season 5 so everything up to and including it. It’s a sequel to ‘Ticking Clock’ so it’d probably help if you’ve read that one first and it’s also a part of my ‘Baby Talk’ series.
Summary: The first thing Nathan saw when he entered the house was his son’s tearstained little face and his heart instantly slammed against his chest as he went over and crouched in front of where he sat on the bottom of the stairs. “Jamie, what’s wrong?”
Author’s Notes: This has been written for theechochorus, a multi-fandom drabble community.
The first thing Nathan saw when he entered the house was his son’s tearstained little face and his heart instantly slammed against his chest as he went over and crouched in front of where he sat on the bottom of the stairs. “Jamie, what’s wrong?”
“Momma’s being sick,” he replied, his big blue eyes filled with tears.
Rubbing his hand over Jamie’s head, he gave him a smile before using his thumbs to wipe away his tears. “It’s okay, son. It’s probably something she ate but I’ll go and check on her. Why don’t you grab a bottle of water from the fridge and bring it upstairs?” he said, wanting to give the little boy something to do.
Nathan watched as Jamie got up from the step he was sitting on, his head bobbing in agreement. Pulling him into a hug, he pressed a kiss to the top of his head before he let his son go and then stood up and made his way upstairs, taking them two at a time.
Knocking on the door of their en suite bathroom, he turned the handle and pushed open the door, immediately seeing Haley kneeling in front of the toilet. “Hales?” When she turned her head towards him, he clearly saw how pale she looked, tiny beads of perspiration dotting her forehead and upper lip.
“I don’t remember morning sickness being this bad last time,” she told him, her voice sounding scratchy and a little bit hoarse.
Walking over to her, he knelt down beside her and rubbed a hand over her back. “I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have gone to the school this morning and—”
“It’s okay, Nathan,” Haley reassured him.
“Are you feeling better or—”
“Or am I going to upchuck some more?” she finished for him, her lips curved up into a smirk. When he nodded, she said, “I’m feeling much better.”
“Jamie’s getting you a bottle of water. He heard you throwing up and when I got home a few minutes ago he was sitting on the stairs waiting for me. He was pretty upset.”
Haley’s heart fell at hearing that. “Is he okay? I made sure I closed the door when I ran in here.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault. I think it’s time we told him about the new baby though. I know you want us to wait until you’ve reached twelve weeks but… He should know, especially if he hears you being sick again and thinks we’re hiding something bad from him.”
Nodding her head in agreement, she said, “Yeah, you’re right. Let me just clean up a little and I’ll be right out.”
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he ran his hand over her hair. “Okay.”
When he left the bathroom a moment later, he found Jamie sitting on the corner of his and Haley’s bed, a bottle of water in his hands.
“Where’s Momma?”
Picking him up, Nathan took a seat on the bed and situated Jamie on his lap. “She’ll be out in a minute and you’ll see that she’s okay.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he assured him.
“I hated hearing her being sick… I felt scared,” the little boy admitted in a whisper.
“I know, I hate it when she’s not feeling well either.”
“Hey, there are my boys,” Haley said when she entered the bedroom a few minutes later and saw them.
“Momma!” Jamie jumped off of his father’s lap, dropping the bottle of water as he ran over to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her.
Kneeling in front of him, she folded him in her embrace and nuzzled her nose against his. “I’m sorry I scared you, baby, but I’m fine… I promise.” Taking a deep breath, she looked over at Nathan who was smiling at the pair of them. “Hey, uh, remember what you asked us for a little while ago as a birthday present?”
“A puppy,” he immediately replied.
“Before you asked for a puppy.”
Jamie’s eyes lit up as he remembered just what he’d asked his parents for. “A baby brother!”
“Uh huh… Well, the reason I wasn’t feeling well is because I’m going to have a baby.”
“Is it a boy?”
Haley laughed as did Nathan. “It’s too early to tell. As soon as we know, we’ll tell you. Actually, when it’s time to find out you could come to the doctor with us,” she suggested.
“Can I?”
“Of course you can… You’re going to his or her big brother so it’s only right you find out, too.”
“Cool! Can I tell everyone at school afterwards? You could come with me to Show and Tell.”
Nathan shook his head in amusement as he pictured Haley standing there showing off her bump while Jamie told his class all about his new sibling. “I think I’d like to come to Show and Tell that day,” he teased.
“Shush, you!” Giving her son another cuddle, she said, “Since I’m feeling better now, how about we go out for breakfast?” Her stomach was feeling more settled now but she knew she’d be sticking to just tea and toast.
“Yay! Can I have waffles, Momma?”
“Sure,” she said, standing up. “Okay, you go and put some shoes on and we’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.”
They watched as he raced out of their room and going over to where Nathan was still sitting, she sat on his lap, taking the bottle of water he’d picked up off of the floor and taking a sip. “Well, that went better than I thought it might. I was worried he’d insist on us having another boy or else,” she half-joked.
“Yeah, I sort of did as well,” he admitted. Planting open-mouthed kisses along her jaw, he smirked against her skin when he felt her tremble. “Are you really feeling better?”
“Uh huh,” she replied, savouring the feel of his lips, her fingernails lightly scratching the back of his head.
“I wonder if you’ll be as horny during this pregnancy as you were last time,” he mumbled.
Turning her head slightly, she pressed her mouth against his and kissed him hard. When they broke apart long moments later, she rested her forehead against his own, her lips mirroring his smirk. “Yeah, I’ve got a feeling it’ll be even stronger this time around.”
“Sweet!”
Slanting her head, she’d just touched her lips to his when a little voice rang out from downstairs.
“Momma… Daddy! I’m ready!”
“Ugh, our boy has definitely got Luke’s timing,” he groaned
“C’mon, let’s get going before he gets even more impatient like someone else I could mention.”
“You’re one to talk about getting impatient… I seem to remember a certain someone dragging me into the Tutoring Centre and the girls bathroom when she was pregnant last time and couldn’t wait until we got home.”
Haley blushed as the vivid memories of those occasions popped into her head. “Whatever,” she retorted as she slid off of his lap and started to make her way out of the room, Nathan following close behind.
“Yeah, I’ll give you whatever later,” he replied, laughing when her face flushed even more.
“I’m hungry,” Jamie said as he watched his parents come downstairs.
Fixing his eyes on his wife, Nathan smirked. “I’m hungry, too.”
She felt her temperature spike and opening the bottle of water she was still holding, she took a long drink of the cold liquid, hoping it would help cool her down. Yeah, no such luck.
“Can I choose the baby’s name?” Jamie asked as they made their way outside to where the car was parked.
Looking at each other, they both bit back their laughter, remembering some of their son’s choices for his bunny’s name before he’d eventually settled on Chester which had definitely been the best of the bunch.
“Uh, that should probably be a… um…”
“Family decision,” Haley chipped in when it was obvious her husband was struggling with what answer to give.
“Yeah,” Nathan said, throwing her a relieved smile. “We all need to agree.”
“Okay,” Jamie replied, climbing up into the car and getting into his seat.
After she’d strapped him in and closed the door, she and Nathan shared a knowing look. “Let’s hope all of our answers go down that well with him,” she quipped.
“God, yes. But this is Jamie we’re talking about so…”
They laughed as they got into the car and Nathan drove them to their favourite diner.
Round one may have gone their way but they were both pretty sure they wouldn’t always be so lucky… not with their beautiful, little boy knowing just how to play them to get his own way.
Next : Hey, Big Spender