Nora's POV

2 Weeks Along

I sat on the edge of our bed, holding the small but significant pregnancy test in my hands, with a clear plus sign. From down the hall, I could hear the front door open and close, and I knew Patch was home. My stomach churned as I heard his footsteps echo closer and closer to the bedroom door. We weren't trying. Pregnancy was kind of the last thing we'd been thinking about over the five years we'd been together in that way. The door opened and I couldn't bring my eyes to meet Patch's. I knew he wouldn't leave me, but I didn't know how he would react or if he even wanted a child.

"Angel, what's wrong?" He asked softly, squatting down in front of me to see my face, and then spotted the pregnancy test. I'd moved my thumb over the reader before he could catch a look at the answer.

"Do you want a baby?" I whispered. He gently grasped my wrists, moving his thumbs in slow, comforting circles.

"It's my baby, of course I want it," I felt tears fill the rim of my eyes as I bit my lip to fight down the enormous smile that would stretch them. Patch's answering smile was breathtaking and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he stood us both up. He held on to me for a long time before pulling away just enough to look down at my stomach. In wonder he said softly, "You've got my baby in there."

"Yes," He wiped my tears away, a smile still curving the edges of his mouth, and I leaned up for a kiss. I pulled away when a sudden thought occurred to me.

"I have to call my mom,"

"Maybe it would be better to break the news in person, maybe over dinner," Patch said, hands coming to rest lightly on my stomach again.

"Will you call her? I need a nap," The unusual tiredness of the last couple of weeks was finally explained.

"I will," He helped me onto the mattress and covered me with the blanket at the foot of the bed. I was asleep before he'd left the room. A few hours later, I picked up on quiet chatter, and rose to investigate. Patch sat on one of the bar stools while my mother worked around the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"She got here awfully fast,"

"I told her we had important news to share. Besides, she's missed you," I felt a little bit guilty, some times I was so absorbed in Patch that I kind of forgot the rest of the world existed, including my mom.

"Oh Nora, did you have a good nap sweetheart?" She cooed, giving me a quick hug before shuffling over to the oven. I sat next to Patch and he rested his arm on the back of my chair. I couldn't begin to fathom how to explain what had happened to my mother. I unknowingly pressed my hand to my stomach, as if offering comfort to the small life inside, and drawing strength from the thought.

*********After a Delicious Dinner**********

"So what's the important news I'm so excited to hear about?" My mom finally hinted after I'd danced around the subject all night.

"I'm pregnant mom," It took her a moment to think through my words before she squealed with delight and pulled me into a tight hug. Patch had his smirkish half smile plastered on his face.

"I'm going to be a grandma! I can't wait to go shopping with you for all the baby stuff! It's going to be such great fun!"

"Not only that, I just purchased ten acres of land to build our own house, on the outskirts of Clearwater of course," He added quickly when my mom's eyes grew wide. I raised an eyebrow at him, but besides that, didn't make a comment. The rest of the night went by smoothly as my mom stayed for a long talk before going home. Patch kissed my neck as I stood at the window of our apartment to watch my mom drive away, a huge smile still on her face.

"I thought we were looking, not buying yet," I whispered to him as I rested my hands on his elbows as his arms wrapped around me.

"Well it was a steal and there will be plenty of room to build the house we want,"

"I guess that guest bedroom will be the baby's bedroom and we'll just have to add another in the basement," He nodded in agreement.

"We'll figure that out tomorrow, tonight, you need to sleep," I didn't object as he carried me to bed.

20 Weeks Along

"Well, you are looking at your baby girl," The doctor announced with a pleased smile while Patch and I gazed at the ultrasound screen. Patch kissed my forehead before setting his hand on the top of my expanding belly.

"Wow," The doctor whispered as we watched our little girl reach out and press her hand to where she must have felt Patch's. A tear rolled down my cheek in happiness at the look on his face as he moved his hand to a different part of my belly, again she managed to move, and this time pressed her little foot to him. I pressed my hand just a little bit above Patch's and she reached out to press her hand to mine and I could feel the barely-there pressure of it through my skin.

"I've never seen anything like it . . . She is looking very healthy and completely on track with her growth. You can expect to see her around New Years," He smiled before cleaning off my belly and leaving the room. Patch helped me sit up before a nurse came in to hand us the ultrasound photographs before we left.

"A girl," Patch murmured under breath with a small smile as he began to drive us to the local hardware store. I'd wanted to get paint samples to begin choosing colors for our house that was now under construction.

"That's a good thing, right?" I asked as I rubbed my belly. I had a feeling she was sleeping now because she tended to kick a little when she felt my hands impinging on her space a little.

"As long as she doesn't have mysterious boys coming into her bedroom in the middle of the night," I grinned before laughing.

"All that sneaking around lead to marriage and then her, so it really can't be that bad of a thing to have mysterious boys meeting her in the middle of the night," I teased back, but he didn't seem nearly as impressed, instead his eyes grew hard as he began to concentrate on something as we pulled up in front of the store.

"Security system, definitely going to need one of those," I heard him say as we walked inside with our fingers linked.

"What about this color for her room," It was a bright, girlish pink.

"She's going to have nightmares of neon Nora, I like this one better," It was a soft, light pink.

"Maybe we should do purple instead, pink is too mainstream anyway, how about this lavender color with this light blue for the trim?" I showed him the two swatches and he nodded in agreement, "Much better." For the rest of time, we picked colors for the other rooms of the house, one of which ended up with a couple of hot kisses to convince me about the color for the family room, this time, I'd let Patch get his way.

At the Hospital

"Babe!" Vee squealed as she burst through the hospital room door. I pressed my finger to my lips for her to be quieter. Patch was protectively holding our little daughter in his arms. I watched her briefly stir, settle closer to Patch, and go back to her restful sleep. On the dot at midnight of January 1st, Noel had come into the world on time, and with a mind to claim all the hearts that laid eyes on her. Patch and I were already thoroughly hooked on her presence.

"The suspense is killing me! What'd you name her?" She hissed in excitement, giving me a one armed hug from my place on the hospital bed. I smiled over at the two of them. Her pitch black hair matched her father's and was already very thick. She was fast asleep with her little hand curled around his finger.

"Noel Blythe Cipriano," I whispered, still gazing at the amazing sight of my big, strong Patch being wrapped around the tiny finger of our daughter within a moment of her birth. He wasn't focusing on me though, eyes slowly blinking as he marveled at Noel.

"Can I hold her, please?" Vee begged as she sat down in the chair across from Patch, doing her best to appeal to him. He looked at me, I nodded, and he reluctantly stood to set Noel in Vee's arms. Gavin quietly made his entrance as Patch displayed how to properly hold our daughter before setting her within my best friend's arms. The moment Patch's finger left Noel's grip though and she was awake. Her eyes were still the misty blue of a newborn baby as she slowly looked around, processing what had just happened. Vee began to coo softly as she slightly bounced the baby. Within a few moments though, Noel had enough of the extra attention, and let out an uncertain wail. Patch did his best to not be rude as he nonchalantly made his way over to Noel to pick her back up before placing her in my arms. I slipped on the nursing cover, one of many of mom's gifts, and Noel was strongly suckling in content.

"It's nothing personal, just mother nature. It's her instinct when she gets hungry," I tried to reassure Vee as Gavin walked over to rub the back of her neck as she raised an eyebrow. On one of our many chats on the phone, she told me how desperately he at least wanted a child, and she was reluctant to allow such a thing. Vee had never really been interested in being a mom.

"How's our new mommy doing?" My mom whispered as she returned with ice cream from Dairy Queen. I smiled at her as she set all of the stuff down.

"I'm good. Noel is nursing like a champ apparently," It was all the nurses could talk about, either the ridiculously beautiful baby is room 208 or that she was the best nurser to have ever been born in the entire hospital.

"She's perfect," Patch said as he gazed at not only Noel, but deeply at me. I felt a blush color my cheeks and we shared a quick kiss before mom handed Patch my ice cream and started into a catch up talk with Vee and Gavin. I switched Noel around before Patch fed me the first bite of my ice cream. It wasn't long before her suckling grew slower and in less strength and I knew she'd fallen asleep again. I maneuvered her into Patch's arms so I could right my hospital gown and take the nursing cover off, along with being able to eat my own ice cream. He kissed her forehead and I heard the distinctive snap of mom getting one of hundreds of photos.

"She probably has the best documented three days of her life than any baby has ever had before," Vee teased with a smile.

AN: So there is the first chapter. I'd really appreciate some R&R. First fanfiction story involving Hush Hush so we'll see how it goes.