Title: Crazy Coconut
Author: Diane
Pairing: Nathan/Haley
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don’t own a thing!
Summary: Nathan has to deal with an addition to his and Haley’s family…
Author’s Note: I've set this post-Season 3 so just pretend all the bad stuff at the end of the finale didn’t happen which is what I do.
Author’s Note #2: I decided to write this for the ‘Lick’ prompt (#20) in my fanfic table. Thanks to Tes, Elise and Annie for the lovely comments they gave me when I posted this last night on my journal. *hugs*
Drumming her fingers on the counter, Haley waited for Nathan to answer his cell phone. A few moments later she smiled when she heard his familiar voice on the other end of the line.
“Hey, baby, what’s up?”
“Um, I need a favour,” she said, twirling a strand of hair round her finger. She bit her bottom lip as she waited for him to say something.
“And just what might that be?” On the other end of the phone, Nathan waited for her to respond when all of a sudden he had a feeling he knew what she would be asking. “No, no way, Hales.”
“What? You don’t know what I’m going to ask.”
“Uh, I think I do and the answer is definitely no. I did it the other night and…”
“I know you did and didn’t I show you how grateful I was?” Haley whispered after glancing around the café to make sure no one was too close to where she was standing and could overhear her conversation.
Thinking back to that night, he smirked to himself before shaking his head to clear those thoughts. “Yeah, you did and by the end I was the one who was grateful,” he teased. “But that doesn’t change what I said, I’m not doing it again. C’mon, she hates me.”
She sighed. “No, she doesn’t. She’s just…a little wary of you. Once the two of you get to know each other better it’ll be fine.”
“Why can’t you do it?”
“Karen’s asked me to work an extra shift since we’ve just had a group of tourists walk in and we’re rushed off our feet. Please, Nathan? You know I’ll make it worth your while again.” Haley crossed the fingers of her free hand for luck, hoping that the promise of sex would be enough to win him over again. She was pretty sure it would be but, as she waited for him to respond, she couldn’t help wondering if there would ever come a time when that wouldn’t work as well as it did now. Smiling to herself, she hoped that wouldn’t happen since it definitely helped make their relationship even more fun and spicy than it already was.
“What if I had plans after practice? Or what if Whitey decided to double our practice session since we’ve got that big game coming up next week?”
“Has Whitey done that?”
“No,” he reluctantly admitted before adding, “But he could’ve done.”
“I know and I shouldn’t have just assumed that you didn’t have plans but…”
“It’s okay, I’m just being an ass about it.”
“And what an ass it is,” Haley teased, hoping to lighten the situation even more.
“Very funny. So, is there anything special I need to do with her tonight?”
“Nope, just the usual but try to be nice. You know it’ll make things better in the long run.”
“I’ll believe that when it happens. You alright getting home or do you want me to come down and pick you up?”
Haley couldn’t help smiling at her husband’s thoughtfulness. “Thanks for the offer, honey, but Luke’s coming by to pick Karen and Kiki up so he can drop me off on the way to their place. I’ll see you later, okay.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
After hanging up the phone, Haley got back to work, saying a silent prayer as she did so in the hope that things wouldn’t be a complete nightmare when she arrived back home later that evening.
* * * * *
Inserting his door key into the lock, Nathan held his breath for a few seconds before turning it and opening his front door, mentally preparing himself for what was ahead for him. Entering the apartment, he looked around and noticed that everything seemed fine. So far, so good, he thought to himself with a smirk.
“Nutty, where are you?” he called out, listening for any signs of the apartment’s other occupant. “C’mon, don’t make me have to come and look for you.” There was still silence and he muttered a few choice words under his breath.
Closing the front door behind him, he dropped his bag in a corner before making his way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. As he did so, he looked around to see if he could see anything but no, his nemesis wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
After taking a long drink from the bottle he had just opened, he noticed his and Haley’s bedroom door was opened and he inwardly groaned. Dammit! One of them had forgotten to shut it before they left that morning.
“You’d better not be where I think you are,” he said warningly.
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the bed was undisturbed but as he walked further into the room, he spotted a familiar article of his clothing half under the bed and he cursed loudly, hearing a whimper in response.
“No! That had better not be what I think it is,” he said as he bent down and retrieved the item. Something was hanging on to the other end of it and he knew just what it was. Being as gentle as he could, he pulled a little more and all of a sudden, two large brown eyes were staring back at him as a furry little bundle slid out from under the bed. Hearing another tiny whimper emanating from the culprit, the little bit of annoyance he felt dissolved and pulling the animal out further, he picked it up and scratched behind her ear.
“Nutty, I think it’s time we had another talk about where you’re allowed to go and where you aren’t,” he teased.
The white Bichon Frise puppy buried itself further into Nathan’s arms, hiding its face from his gaze.
“Let’s get you something to eat and drink first and then we can go for a walk, okay. Actually, maybe we should have that walk first since you’ve been inside all day,” he mused.
Getting the dog’s leash from the hook on the wall by the door, he attached it to her collar before opening the door and stepping outside. “We’ll just go around the complex and then later, we can go for a walk down by the Rivercourt. Hopefully then you’ll sleep tonight instead of keeping me and Hales awake all night.”
Nathan groaned at the fact that here he was, out in public with what could be only be described as a girl’s dog and not only that, but he was actually having a conversation with it. Oh, Haley was going to owe him so big for this.
* * * * *
Once they were back at the apartment, Nathan filled the puppy’s bowls with food and water respectively and while she was eating, he fixed himself a sandwich knowing that he and Haley would be eating late tonight. Hopefully she’d bring home something from the café with her.
Glancing down, he saw the dog scarfing down her dinner and he couldn’t help smiling. For a tiny little thing, she had one heck of an appetite on her. As he watched her, he remembered the day they had found her hiding under one of the bushes near the complex’s swimming pool, her body shaking and her fur a dirty grey colour. Instead of heading to the café as they had been intending to do that Saturday morning, they went back inside the apartment and Haley had immediately filled a small dish with water which the little puppy had lapped up in no time. She had sent him out to buy some puppy food from the grocery store while she filled the bathtub with water and attempted to clean the little dog.
Nathan knew that Haley had already fallen head over heels in love with the puppy and that he was going to have a hard time convincing her that they couldn’t keep her. They were both busy with their final few months at school before then having to deal with going away to college. He didn’t think it was fair for them to have a dog at this particular stage but he knew his wife would have comebacks for each of his concerns.
After doing everything they could to make sure the puppy simply wasn’t just a missing pet, Haley, together with Brooke and Peyton’s help, mounted a full scale attack and eventually wore him down into letting them keep the animal. Sometimes you had to choose your battles and he’d known from the outset that this wasn’t one he was likely to win and boy, had he been right.
He was brought out of his reverie by a tugging on his leg and looking down, he saw the little fluff ball pulling at his right pants leg with her teeth. Placing his half-eaten sandwich back on his plate, he bent down and scooped her up, grimacing slightly when she licked his cheek.
“So all I had to do was feed you to get you to like me, huh?” he said, smirking. Checking the time on his watch, he had an idea and getting up from the stool he was sitting on at the counter, he placed the puppy back on the floor and once again snapped the leash onto her collar. “How about we take another walk and go see my better half, huh?”
Nutty darted around his feet and Nathan couldn’t help laughing at the dog’s apparent excitement.
“Yeah, I know the feeling,” he muttered under his breath. Grabbing his jacket and keys, he and the puppy left the apartment together.
* * * * *
“Thanks for staying late tonight, Haley. I don’t know what I’d have done without you, especially with the way little miss here was acting up.”
Haley smiled at Karen. “It’s no problem, you know I’m happy to help out.” Jiggling the baby she was holding in her arms, she rubbed her nose against the infant’s. “I think little Kiki here was wanting some attention, weren’t you, honey?”
The baby gurgled and grasped a tiny fistful of Haley’s honey blonde curls and tugged. Seeing what her daughter was doing, Karen quickly came over and released Haley’s hair and said. “Sweetie, we don’t pull people’s hair, especially Haley’s.”
The bell above the front door rang and both women turned to look, expecting it to be Lucas since he was due any moment to pick his mother and sister up, along with Haley. Instead, they saw Nathan walking inside the café with the puppy on its leash.
“Is it okay if I bring Nutty inside or…”
“It’s fine, Nathan, don’t worry,” Karen reassured him. “We’ve just closed up so if you don’t tell, I won’t.”
“Nathan, what have I told you about calling her that. Her name’s Coconut.”
“C’mon, Hales, you know my nickname for her suits her better and sounds less girly than Coconut.”
“Well, she’s not nutty with me so maybe it’s you we should be calling by that name.”
“Very funny.”
Walking over to her husband, Haley kissed him lightly on the lips, her fingers of her free hand stroking over his cheek. “Not that I’m not pleased to see you, but what are you doing here?”
“I figured I’d take Nut—Coconut for her evening walk now so that hopefully she’ll be tired enough to sleep through the night and let us have a bit of time to ourselves.” Turning his head slightly, he looked at his baby cousin and smiled at her. “Hey, Kiki.”
The baby gurgled and reaching out her hand, she grabbed Nathan’s hair and tugged.
“Wow, she’s got some grip on her,” Nathan remarked as he caught Haley trying not to laugh as he extricated himself from the little girl’s hold on him.
Aiding him in his ministrations, Haley responded to his answer about why he was there at the cafe. “That’s good thinking about Coconut. We’re pretty much done here and were just waiting for Luke to arrive.”
“Speaking of my brother, any chance we can get out of here now before he cracks another joke about me and the dog?”
“C’mon, he’s only kidding, you know that.”
“Yeah, but even after just a few weeks it’s getting boring and if there’s a chance I can avoid a repeat of it tonight, then I’m going to take it.”
Mock-sighing loudly, she said, “Fine, let’s get out of here. Let’s go find your mommy, sweetie.”
Nathan watched as Haley walked into the kitchen holding the little girl securely in her arms and he couldn’t help smiling at the picture. He knew she’d be an amazing mother when they decided to extend their family sometime in the future and a part of him couldn’t wait.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she told him a couple of minutes later as she pulled on her jacket. “Lucas just called Karen’s cell and said he’s about five minutes away so if you don’t want him to see you and Coconut, we’d better get moving now.”
Noticing the way she was avoiding his eyes, he sighed. “He knows, doesn’t he?”
“Um, maybe,” she finally said, knowing he could tell when she was hiding something from him. “It wasn’t me, I swear. Kiki…”
“You’re blaming this on a baby who hasn’t yet started talking? I’m surprised at you,” he teased.
“Fine, Karen mentioned that I didn’t need a ride home after all because you and Coconut came to pick me up.”
The older woman walked out of the kitchen carrying her daughter, both of them wearing their jackets. “I’m sorry, Nathan. I just said it without thinking,” she said, trying not to laugh.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to the funny looks whenever I take the dog out which seems to be more frequently these days,” he said, giving his wife a pointed look.
“Hey, she’s our puppy, buddy, so it’s only right you do your fair share. You agreed she could stay.”
“I didn’t have much choice considering who I was up against. Oh, and by the way, it wasn’t exactly fair for you to get Luke in on it by having Brooke withhold se--” In that moment, he realised just what he was about to say and closed his mouth abruptly.
This time Karen did laugh. “Oh, Haley, you didn’t?”
“That was Brooke’s idea… I had nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet,” he mumbled under his breath. “C’mon, let’s get going, Hales. Nutty’s getting restless which usually means one thing,” he reminded her.
“Okay, let’s go. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, Karen. Bye, Kiki,” she said, waving to the little girl who waved back with her mother’s assistance.
“Bye, you two, sorry three,” Karen replied jokingly, chuckling at the threesome leaving the café. Lucas would definitely be sorry he’d missed them.
* * * * *
They took the long route home in the hope that the extra distance would tire the puppy out even more and it seemed to be working since she didn’t seem to exuberant as she had been at the start of the walk. In the end, Nathan had actually picked her up and carried her when they were about five minutes from the apartment which earned him a few licks to his cheek.
“Aww, you two are so cute.”
“Why am I the one carrying her when she’s your dog?”
Haley shook her head. “No, she’s our dog, Nathan. And, from the way she’s licking your cheek, it seems that she’s finally accepted you which hopefully is a very good sign.”
“You mean she won’t try getting between us when we’re sitting on the couch from now on?”
“Hopefully,” she said, looping her arm through his and resting her cheek against his bicep as they continued walking.
Just as they entered their apartment complex, Nathan carefully placed Coconut on the ground and got her to walk the last few yards in the hope that if she needed to do her business, she would do it outside rather than leave them any presents inside on the carpet. Thankfully, the puppy classes Haley had started taking her to did seem to be working and apart from the odd accident, things weren’t going too badly.
A few minutes later, they were inside the apartment and since neither of them felt much like cooking, Haley dialled the local Chinese take-out restaurant and ordered them a ton of food. While they waited for it to arrive, they both got changed into their sleepwear before grabbing some drinks and cutlery and making themselves comfortable on the couch, sharing kisses between talking about their day.
As was often the case with them, their kisses soon turned scorching hot and clothes started being removed. The sudden sound of yelping broke through the quiet atmosphere and they both turned their heads and looked down.
Haley looked back into Nathan’s face and burst out laughing just as he did the same.
There on the floor was Coconut scurrying around, Nathan’s shirt covering her completely as she tried to shrug it off but so far without much success.
Climbing off of Nathan’s body which she was lying on top of, Haley went over and removed the offending item of clothing before picking the puppy up and cuddling her close to her chest. “Aww, honey, I’m sorry,” she said, stroking its soft white fur. “I didn’t see you down there.”
“I think we spoke too soon about her not coming between us anymore,” Nathan said as he eyed the puppy jealously.
In that moment, the little dog looked directly at Nathan and if he believed it was possible, it was almost as if she smirked.
Fin
Just in case anyone doesn't know what a Bichon Frise looks like, I've uploaded a photo which you can find by clicking HERE.