"Weeeee" Noah screeched happily as he sat nicely in the children's seat of the shopping cart that Hanna was running immaturely down one of the aisles with.
Although it was no surprise that the three year old could behave better than the twenty three year old who was in control of the cart. Yet still Noah's face showed a look of pure happiness as he couldn't help but laugh hysterically at Hanna's odd behaviour. She was really fun in his opinion although all of her friends would probably counter that it was more a lack of maturity than fun.
Alison tried to keep up with them both but as Hanna gained more speed she soon fell behind and ended up just fast walking and trying at all costs to keep them in sight. She already felt a responsibility over Noah especially now Emily wasn't around at this particular moment and even though he wasn't biological related to her he had become a big part of her own life in mere hours. Whilst Alison and Emily had gotten themselves changed for the day earlier they had discussed Alison's role with Noah and all of the blondes options in this new situation they had suddenly found themselves in.
"Ali... you know you can tell me and him to leave right?" Emily said quietly not wanting to disturb Noah who was now sat fully dressed on the bed watching a random kids tv programme. "Or I can move back home with Noah and we can just go back to dating each other if you're not ready for all of this. I won't judge you on your decision babe" Emily continued slowly, she wanted Alison to know
she had several options she could choose from but she also didn't want to influence her in anyway. This had to be her decision, one hundred percent no matter what that meant for Emily and Noah.
Alison was sorting out her hair and make up in the mirror of her vanity dresser as she sat on the stool in front of it whilst Emily stood close behind, her hands intertwined nervously as she awaited the blondes answer. She didn't want Alison to feel like she had to stay with her if she wasn't ok with raising a young child especially one that wasn't her own. Although if her girlfriend did decide she wanted to walk away from them both it would completely shatter her and she wouldn't know what her next move would be.
"Em, I'm not going anywhere. You didn't know this was going to happen and I'm nervous but looking forward to raising Noah with you. If you want me to that is?" Alison replied as she stopped what she was doing and gave the brunette her full attention.
She wanted Emily to know she was fully committed to both her and Noah. She had always wanted a child and sure this wasn't the most conventional way it could happen but that didn't put her off. The little boy was innocent, he didn't ask for any of this and she already felt a need to fulfil his happiness. She also didn't want the brunette to feel like she had to stay with Alison if she just wanted to focus all her time and attention on Noah, children definitely demanded a lot of both.
"Yeah I want you to and Noah seems to like you which is a bonus" Emily said with a smile as she stepped toward Alison and bent down to her level, kissing her hard on the lips.
They broke away after several long seconds, not wanting to have a full on make out session in front of Noah, although he was still completely engrossed in the television screen and was oblivious to what was going on around him. He had found one of the pillows on the bed and was hugging it tightly as he didn't take his eyes off of the programme that was showing. Alison took Emily's hand and squeezed it reassuringly before she continued with her make up and Emily jumped up onto the bed beside Noah bringing the young boy in close to her as she also focused on the television. She quite enjoyed watching children's programmes, they weren't bound by the usual rules of logic and that made them quite entertaining.
Alison was soon snapped out of her thoughts by yet another high pitched screech from Noah as Hanna had turned the cart around in a sharp motion and whizzed straight past her. She worried that the other blonde was soon going to end up getting them kicked out of the store for disturbing the peace. They had already received a few dirty looks from several of the shoppers that had passed by the end of the aisle they occupied, Alison had in return given them her famous DiLaurentis glare which had quickly made them drop their eyes and shuffle off in the other direction.
"Hanna slow down! You keep going past all the stuff we need!" Alison yelled but to no avail as the other blonde careered around the corner at the end of the aisle and out of sight.
As Hanna came back into the aisle that Alison was walking down she finally came to a stop beside one of the many toy sections the store contained. The overly excited blonde was out of breath from so much physical exertion in such a short space of time and as she bent over panting Alison swiftly took control of the cart and continued down the aisle. They needed to start actually getting the items they came for otherwise this trip would end up taking them all day and after getting up late the afternoon would already soon be over. Having refused Spencer's offer of writing out a list for them it was all down to them to decide on what they needed to buy.
Noah had a massive smile on his face as he took in all of the different toys that surrounded him but he was too shy to ask for any. He was curious as to why they were here, sure they had told him he needed new things for his new house but what about his old toys? He was still very confused by the whole situation but with Hanna messing around he often found himself too distracted to really think about it all.
"What toys are we getting him?" Hanna asked as she caught up to Alison and Noah and began picking up random toys off the shelf, inspecting them and then placing them back down again before moving on to the next section.
"I'm not sure what he likes, guess we better let him choose" Alison said as she eyed up the never ending shelves that were filled to the top with all different types of toys, it was slightly overwhelming how much choice there actually was, the store they were in was huge.
"Come on then Noah, let's choose some toys" Hanna said excitedly as she picked the young boy out of the cart and carefully set him on the floor beside them.
Noah looked up at them apprehensively still unsure of what toys he was allowed. In the past he'd only been allowed to choose something when he had been good or it was a special occasion and he couldn't figure out if it was either of those occasions. He was a very happy boy but he was also very shy towards them having only just met them, this resulted in a lack of speech on his behalf.
Hanna smiled down at him and took him gently by the hand which boosted his confidence slightly and he walked her over to the Disney section that was nearby. Alison followed closely behind them both and waited eagerly to see what his decision would be, both Alison and Hanna very glad they had been giving the option of picking out toys rather than furniture.
"Nemo!" Noah shouted out joyfully as he spotted the giant orange stuffed fish on one of the higher shelves.
"You want Nemo buddy?" Hanna asked as she picked the giant toy off the shelf and handed it to Noah.
His face lit up as he hugged the fish tight although it was so big he could barely wrap his little arms around it. The weight of the toy almost made him topple forwards but he quickly regained his balance and squeezed Nemo tightly. After a few minutes of watching the young boy interact with the toy Alison bent down beside him and after placing Nemo into the cart she picked Noah up so that he was the same height as the rest of the Finding Nemo toys. He giggled loudly which the blondes found adorable as they side eyed each other. Noah spotted the octopus toy and looked at Alison questioningly, still unsure of what he was and wasn't allowed.
"You can have as many as you want Noah. Do you want the octopus?" Alison said gently and as Noah nodded shyly before positioning himself closer into Alison's neck, she picked the octopus off the shelf and placed it next to Nemo in the cart.
"You can't forget Dory! She's my favourite character" Hanna added as she picked up the giant blue fish and threw it into the cart before grabbing a Crush turtle toy, a giant shark cuddly and a couple of the smaller figurines.
Hanna checked the figurines carefully and made sure they were suitable for his age, she didn't want to be the reason the young boy hurt himself. Half the trolley was already full now with different Finding Nemo toys and they had only looked in one section in one of the many toy aisles.
"At least we know what to decorate his room with now" Alison said cheerfully as they all moved away from the Finding Nemo section and further down the toy aisle.
Noah was trying to get his little legs to move as fast as possible so he could keep up with Hanna who was practically skipping to the next section. He stopped to eye up a train set but quickly moved on to follow Hanna, Alison had noticed where his attention had wandered to and picked up a couple of the sets and placed them in the cart without the young boy noticing, it would serve as a nice surprise later.
On the other side of the store, Emily, Spencer and Aria had two carts between them and were picking up the bigger items that they needed for Noah. Emily was surprised by how much they actually needed to buy and how much choice there was, however she was glad they'd found this children's superstore which seemed to stock everything they were after. She didn't really want to go around lots of different shops dragging Noah around as she knew these kinds of things were boring for children, jay was one of the reasons she had let him go off with Hanna as she knew the blonde would keep the young boy entertained.
"So that's the car booster seat and dining table booster seat sorted, I think the bed aisle is next" Spencer said as she went through the list she had meticulously written out, not wanting them to forget anything that resulted in yet another trip or Noah being disadvantaged for even a small amount of time.
They rounded the corner of the bed aisle and they all stood still and gasped. Either side of the aisle was filled to the roof with different sizes and types of beds for all ages of children. As they looked between the beds and each other incredulously it was Aria who moved first and headed to the labelled toddler section. As they reached the desired area Emilys phone alerted her to a new received message.
Alison: Noah loves Finding Nemo so maybe go for a sea theme for his room. Ps I'm struggling to control Hanna but Noah is being an angel xx
Emily: Thanks for the heads up, this is all so overwhelming. Who knew there was this much choice?! Promise Hanna that we'll get food on the way home and she should calm down xx
"Finding Nemo is our theme for the room guys" Emily announced as she put her phone back in her pocket.
Aria let out a squeal as she pointed up at one of the beds having spotted it rather quickly, it was a Finding Nemo bed which was blue and covered in pictures of the characters. A large Nemo picture adorned the headboard. Aria looked back at Emily with a giant smile on her face obviously very excited with herself for spotting the bed.
"I'm surprised you could see that high up" Spencer jabbed lightheartedly as her and Emily reached up to get the box down together.
"Ohh look it has matching furniture" Aria added as they all looked at the back of the box to check it only came in one box of parts before placing it into the shopping cart that was still empty.
"This might not be as hard as I thought it would be" Emily commented as they headed on towards the furniture aisle.
Yet again they were met with a large variety of choice but now that they had narrowed down their theme they were able to walk past most of the items and just head to the Disney section. Two bedside tables, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe later and the shopping carts were at a breaking point.
"Shall we buy all this and then come back for the rest?" I think we underestimated how much we needed" Spencer said as she eyed up the trolleys before turning to face the two other brunettes.
There was no choice but to agree because nothing else would fit in the trolleys and according to Spencer's list there was still several more items they needed to find. They paid for the items and were happily surprise to hear the store would deliver the furniture free of charge on the same day. This was happily accepted and as once their carts were empty they headed back towards the aisles but not before almost being involved in a collision with Hanna who was yet again running down the aisle with the trolley. To no surprise Noah was walking sensibly beside Alison and holding her hand, the actual child being more mature than Hanna. Emily smiled at Noah's behaviour with pride.
"Hanna Marin will you behave!" came Spencer's authoritative voice as she only narrowly managed to steer her trolley out of the way in time.
"Sorry mum" Hanna replied whilst sticking her tongue out but her body posture gave away the fact that she was ashamed she had been told off even if it was by her friend.
"You're going to need another trolley soon!" Emily chuckled as she took a quick look at all the toys that occupied it.
The toys ranged from Disney, the Wild West, superheroes and last but not least an assortment of cars and trucks. Noah was carrying a smaller Nemo toy than the one that sat in the trolley in his hand whilst his other gripped Alison's hand tightly. He still had a smile plastered across his face and had spent most of the afternoon laughing at Hanna.
"What's left to get?" Alison asked as she walked up to Emily and gave her a quick peck on the lips before waiting for an answer.
"Accessories such as lamps, wall paper and wall stickers, a chair and maybe a beanbag, a night light, bookshelf..." Spencer read off the list she still had in her hands, she refused to let Emily or Aria hold it for fear of them losing it or missing off something.
"Ok well we just need to get books and learning toys and then we'll come find you before we check out" Alison said as they separated ways, Noah waving happily at the other three adults before they disappeared around the end of the aisle.
As Spencer and Aria pushed a cart each, Emily took her time looking over the accessories, she wandered slowly as she tried to decide if having every thing fit the Finding Nemo theme was a good idea or if they should go for a more neutral look. She didn't know how long it would be until Noah grew out of this phase and they would have to buy new items to appease his tastes.
"What are you going to do about work Em?" Aria asked cautiously, not knowing if the subject had even crossed the taller brunettes mind yet her question snapping Emily back to the here and now.
The look of confusion that fell upon Emily's face and then morphed quickly into a look of slight panic confirmed Aria's suspicions. The smaller brunette placed a hand reassuringly onto Emily's shoulder before smiling slightly at the worried girl beside her. Spencer had stopped walking once she had heard Aria's comment and listened intently for an answer. She knew for a fact that herself, Hanna and Aria all had busy weeks ahead of them in there respective careers and would be unable to lend a hand with Noah, at least for a while unless it was at the weekend.
"I hadn't thought about it. I don't know. I..." Emily trailed off as she got lost in her own thoughts of how she was supposed to juggle Noah and her job.
"Well he'll be at preschool as soon as you find him one so then you won't need to worry too much. Is your mum still working nights? She could have him for a couple of hours before you leave the office" Spencer tried to give some helpful suggestions but they wouldn't help the fact that tomorrow Emily was due at work at 9am and Noah didn't have anywhere to go.
"Yeah I guess my mum won't mind helping out. Hopefully she won't mind having him all day. Ali might have some time off as well, I never know which days she's going to spend in the office or at home"
Emily really needed to talk to both her mum and Alison pretty quickly if she was going to sort out care for her son. Normally she would have taken time off of work herself but she didn't have many vacation days left and with all the shopping they were doing today she needed all the money she could earn.
Before she could dwell too much on the situation however Aria squealed as she shoved several rolls of wallpaper into Emilys arms. The wallpaper was a sea blue but what had made the smaller brunette so excited were the Finding Nemo wall stickers that she was avidly throwing into the cart she had been pushing. The stickers were of all of the main characters and the packs stated they were removable which Emily liked just in case Noah's tastes did change rather quickly.
"Let's go get the chair and bookcase next, I think they're only a few aisles over" Spencer stated as she looked between the store map and shopping list that she held in either hand. Only Spencer Hastings would actually pick up a map of a store and use it.
Two beanbags, a chair and a child sized bookcase later and their trollers were looking rather full again. All that was left to grab was the bedside lamps and a lampshade for the ceiling light. In reality thanks to Spencer's detailed list and knowledge on certain items the trip had only taken them an hour and a half so far. Emily had expected it to take much longer as they had needed to buy so much but as her stomach growled loudly she was rather glad the end was in sight.
They met Alison, Hanna and Noah before they reached the lighting section and all six of them made the choice together of which ones to buy. Shopping trollies filled to the brim they paid for the items before carefully packing them into the two cars. It took some clever manoeuvring and several readjustments but they just about managed to get everything in. With a few added groans and moans plus Hanna's own Shit, fucks and a loud ow when Ali had clapped Hanna over the head for swearing in close proximity to Noah they had finished and were slightly surprise with how well they actually worked as a team.
Emily had fitted the car seat quickly and was glad the instruction manual was clear and easy to read, she hoped everything else would be the same. With Noah seated within it and the others spread between the two cars they headed back to Alison and Emily's but not without a quick detour to get food at one of the local restaurants as by then they were all rather hungry.
Once they had returned home Emily and Spencer had made their way upstairs and started on the wallpapering, both being pretty handy when it came to diy. They'd borrowed all the items they had needed from Ashley Marin as she had just decorated several rooms in her house. It took some effort but they were delighted by the overall look of the room once they were finished, the Finding Nemo stickers that they had placed sporadically around the room really brought it to life.
The others had kept Noah entertained downstairs with some of the many toys they had bought. Aria had set up the train tracks that Alison had bought secretly and all of them had sat around it with their own separate trains. However it wasn't long until Hanna had taken the game too far and after crashing in to both Alison's and Aria's trains they decided that they should pack it back up as they waited for Spencer and Emily to finish.
They couldn't build the bed due to the fumes from the wallpaper paste lingering in the room and had decided to air the room overnight and move all the furniture in the next day, for now it sat in one of the other spare rooms. Noah could spend one more night sharing a bed with Emily and Alison. Spencer promised that she would be back round the next evening with her own set of screwdrivers so that they could tackle all of the bigger pieces of furniture including the chest of drawers and bookcase.
Everyone left at 8pm, they were all exhausted from the extensive shopping trip and needed to get in a good nights rest before they returned to work the next day. Emily had tucked Noah into their bed an hour before her friends had left after the young boy had struggled to keep his eyes open several times. She read him one of the new books they'd acquired and it only took a couple of pages before sleep overcame him and he began to quietly snore. Emily kissed him softly on the forehead before she made her way downstairs where she spent what was left of her evening snuggled on the sofa with Alison.
Emily was going to ring up the local preschools then next day before she headed into work and that would give her a rough idea on how long she would need to sort care for Noah out. There were three that had been recommended to her when she had visited a local mums page on Facebook. The social media platform had already answered several of her questions in the few hours she had been looking after Noah.
This week Emily had been happily surprised to find out that Alison only had a couple of meetings that were mandatory for her to attend and so she would stay at home with Noah whilst Emily was at work. For the days where Alison had to travel to her office Pam had eagerly agreed to look after her grandson wanting to bond with him as quickly as possible and make up for lost time. She had been talking excitedly over the phone to Emily and it took a lot of effort for Emily to be able to end the call with her mum not wanting to stop their conversation. For now she seemed to have everything under control when it came to Noah and that took a weight off of her shoulders.
A/N
Ok so I officially dislike winter. I ended up falling over twice on ice earlier and have injured my back and both wrists/arms. However this has meant I had to call in sick to work as my job is basically all heavy lifting and this means I was able to finish the next chapter and post this one :)
This was a lighthearted chapter after some slightly emotional ones but I promise you the next chapter contains smut and I know that's what you're all waiting for.
Like I've said previously, I love writing about Noah's relationships with the other characters especially Hanna.
I hope you enjoyed this one and I hope to be able to start writing the next chapter I'm on ASAP. Be patient and don't worry I'm not stopping this story anytime soon.
Don't forget to review or leave comments and ideas :)