Overrated
Title: Overrated
Author: Diane
Pairing: Nathan/Haley
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don’t own a thing!
Spoiler/Warnings: This is set not long after episode 4x10 and therefore contains spoilers for the current NH storyline.
Summary: Nathan laughed as he hit the off button with his foot and the sound died away. “You’re so cute when you’re all wound up,” he pointed out.
Author’s Note: This ficlet is dedicated to Paulina on her birthday. I hope you like it and I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating. *hugs*
“You’ve missed a bit.”
“Huh?”
“I said, you’ve missed a bit,” Haley practically shouted.
“I can’t hear you, Hales.”
“Turn off the vacuum cleaner, then!”
Nathan laughed as he hit the off button with his foot and the sound died away. “You’re so cute when you’re all wound up,” he pointed out.
Smirking at him, she replied, “Flattery will get you nowhere, honey.”
Walking over to where she was lying on the couch, he lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Really? ‘Cause it usually seems to do the trick.” His lips found hers and he kissed her for a long moment, drawing back sooner than he would have liked since he knew it would drive her crazy.
“Nathan!”
“What’s the matter, baby?” he teased.
“Nothing,” she huffed. “Seeing as you’re determined to drive me nuts, you can get back to vacuuming and do that bit you missed over there.”
“Fine, and there’s me thinking if I do a bad job you’ll let me off the hook from future vacuuming.”
Haley bit her lip to try and stop herself laughing. “You sound exactly like my brothers did when they’d try and get out of household chores.”
“Let me guess, your mom didn’t let them get away with it, huh?”
“Nope. If they did a bad job, it just meant they’d have to do it all over again. And it just so happens that I take after my mom so you might like to do a good job if you don’t want to spend all day doing it.”
Nathan laughed, nodding his head in agreement. “You win,” he told her.
Doing the housework while her leg was still in plaster was the very least he could do and he didn’t mind really. After all, it wasn’t as if he’d always left all of the housework down to her anyway. And, of course, there was the pregnancy to consider, too. He was going to be at her beck and call for as long as she wanted and needed him to be but it didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little bit of fun with her in the process. It definitely made things interesting.
“I always do,” she reminded him.
“Thank god we’re having a boy,” he muttered under his breath, knowing she could hear him and wanting her to.
Haley giggled and shook her head. “You planning on having him gang up on me with you, huh?”
“Well, I need someone on my side when you get all…”
“All what?” she quickly interrupted and then warned, “I’d be careful what the next words out of your mouth are?”
Instead of continuing with his sentence, Nathan swooped in and fused his lips with hers, kissing her soundly and hoping she, too would forget what they had been bantering about. The last thing he needed was to make her cranky when all he wanted was to keep her nice and relaxed.
As he kissed her, his hand found its way to Haley’s rounded stomach and he rubbed it gently. Everything seemed so much more real now that they had heard their son’s heartbeat at the hospital. God, he had come so close to losing her…losing both of them. His heart constricted in his chest as the enormity of it once again hit him and breaking the kiss, he buried his face in her shoulder and breathed in her familiar scent.
Haley’s hand stroked over the back of his neck, holding him to her as she felt the tremors running through him. Ever since she had come out of hospital, he had hardly let her out of his sight and she couldn’t be sorry about that. She needed him as much as he needed her and the thought of losing him made her feel physically sick. When she had seen that car heading towards them, pushing him out of its path had been her first instinct.
The reasons behind the acci—what had happened had angered her to put it mildly. He had kept something from her, something that had affected them both, not to mention his team-mates. Something that had almost devastated all their lives but knowing he had done it with the best of intentions…wanting to provide for her and their child, how could she not forgive him? And witnessing the nightmares he was having almost every night, she knew he was suffering just as much as she was.
“Baby, it’s okay… I’m here, I’m right here,” she whispered into his ear as she held him to her, giving him the comfort he needed. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she added teasingly, “This isn’t your way of getting out of the housework, is it?”
Nathan tensed in her arms for a second before he laughed against her neck and blew a raspberry against her skin. “You’re a brat, you know that?” he told her, drawing back from her so he could look into her face.
“A brat, huh? Well, I’ll just have to remember that when these hormones kick in and have me feeling all hor--”
“I take it back!” he quickly amended, covering her mouth with his once more and kissing her softly yet with an intensity that belied the teasing nature of their conversation.
“Funny, I thought you might.”
Peppering her cheeks with butterfly kisses, he rubbed his nose against hers and touched his forehead to hers. “Thank you… For trying to make me feel better.”
“Did it work?” Her fingers threaded through his thick, dark hair as she looked into his eyes.
“A little.”
“Only a little? Well, I guess I’ll just have to try harder.” Kissing a path from his mouth to his ear, she whispered into it, “You know, this couch is awfully uncomfortable…”
“Is that a fact?” Nathan’s lips curved up into a half smile as he guessed what she was trying to do and loving her all the more for it.
“Uh huh. I think I’d be more comfortable in our bed.” Her teeth grazed his earlobe and she felt him shiver against her. “Yeah, I’d be much more comfortable in there.”
Being mindful of the fact that her little body was still recovering from her injuries, he gently scooped her up into his arms and carried her into their bedroom and laid her down upon their bed. “Better?” he enquired, smirking at her.
“Much.”
“Okay, then. I’ll go finish that vacuuming and--”
Before he had a chance to move out of her reach, Haley had grabbed a fistful of his shirt and was pulling him over her, her lips immediately finding his.
“I’ve got a much better job for you to do than vacuuming,” she said, nipping his bottom lip before soothing it with her tongue.
“You’re the boss,” he told her, kicking off his sneakers and climbing onto the bed beside her, his fingers slipping beneath her cotton tank top to lightly caress her tummy.
“And don’t you forget it,” she quipped, her fingers caressing his face before moving to the back of his neck and gently pulling his face closer to hers so that his lips were within easy reach.
“Oh, I won’t but don’t you forget that you’re the reason the housework won’t be getting done again today.”
Haley smiled against his lips, loving his playfulness. The sadness and guilt were still evident in his eyes but hopefully in time it would fade and then disappear altogether and if this was one of the best ways to help achieve that, then that’s what she would just have to do. It wasn’t exactly a hardship.
“Where did you disappear to?” Nathan asked, his lips skimming over the slender column of her throat.
“Just thinking.”
“Thinking what?” His eyes met hers and he saw them twinkling with mischief.
“Just thinking that housework is sooo overrated,” she replied with a giggle.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” he returned, smiling at her as her laughter warmed his heart.
Fin