No Strings Attached

28

"Noah, are you ready to go?" Quinn called as she put her shoes on.

"Yeah, I'm here." Noah replied as he hurried down the stairs and called to his housekeeper. "Mel! We're leaving!"

Quinn smiled as Noah put his arm over her shoulders, and they headed out to the car together.

"Have you heard from your mom?" Noah wondered.

Quinn shook her head. "She's not gonna call me."

"So we'll call her later. Together." Noah suggested.

"No, I'll call her on my own." Quinn said. "She doesn't like you."

"What?" Noah asked, glancing at Quinn as he started driving.

"She's mad at me because she thinks I'm taking the baby away from her by being here." Quinn explained. "And she thinks you're making me stay here, but I told her I chose to stay here."

Noah looked at Quinn. "Are you happy?"

"Am I happy?" Quinn furrowed her eyebrow.

"Are you happy?" Noah repeated. "Here? With me?"

"Yes." Quinn answered. "What about you? Are you happy?"

"Very." Noah said as he parked the car.

"We should go inside." Quinn noted.

Noah nodded.

Quinn got out of the car and led Noah inside. She signed in and sat beside him in the waiting room.

Quinn was picking at her nails while she and Noah waited for the doctors to call her name.

Noah took Quinn's hand. "Don't tear up those pretty hands."

"People are staring." Quinn whispered.

"They're not." Noah said.

"They're staring." Quinn repeated. "But I can't tell if they're looking at me or you."

"Quinn."

Quinn turned to the nurse who was waiting for her. She slowly stood up and tugged on Noah's hand. "Come with me."

"Of course."

The nurse led Quinn and Noah to one of the rooms. Noah sat on the side while the nurse took Quinn's weight and vitals before leaving them to wait for the doctor.

After about ten minutes, the doctor entered the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The doctor apologized as she closed the door behind her and looked at Quinn and Noah. "I'm Dr. Goldstein."

"I'm Quinn and this is Noah." Quinn replied.

"Nice to meet you both." Dr. Goldstein said as she picked up Quinn's chart. "So, Quinn, all of your records were transferred here and I spoke to Dr. Chin. You're just about twenty-two weeks now. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good." Quinn nodded. "A lot less tired and sick than I've been."

"Good." Dr. Goldstein nodded back as she continued reading through Quinn's chart. She looked up from the chart at Quinn and Noah. "Based on your ages and your records, the baby is healthy and you're healthy. Delivery should go smoothly and normally."

"And what does normal mean?" Noah asked as he took Quinn's hand.

"Well, it's hard to predict labor duration and tearing." Dr. Goldstein said. "But I don't anticipate any emergencies like extreme blood loss."

Noah nodded slowly.

"Do either of you have any questions before we get to the sonogram?" Dr. Goldstein wondered.

Quinn shook her head. "Noah?"

Noah shook his head and held Quinn's hand in between both of his hands as the doctor put the gel on Quinn's abdomen.

The doctor adjusted the monitors until the sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room.

Noah squeezed Quinn's hand and smiled.

"The baby has a strong heartbeat." Dr. Goldstein noted as she moved the monitor around on Quinn's abdomen. "And he or she looks good."

"Wow." Noah said softly.

"Now Dr. Chin said you don't want to know if the baby is a boy or a girl." Dr. Goldstein continued.

"I wanna know." Quinn responded.

"Me, too." Noah nodded, tightening his grip on Quinn's hand.

Quinn looked at Noah.

"The baby is a girl." Dr. Goldstein informed Quinn and Noah.

"A girl?" Noah asked as Quinn smiled excitedly.

"A girl." Dr. Goldstein repeated with a nod. "Congratulations."

Noah grinned as he turned to Quinn and kissed her lightly.