Quinn slept in a little longer than she meant to on Sunday, for by the time she got up, Tina was already gone and her bed was made. As she pulled herself out of bed, she paused by the window, noticing a car pulling up in the driveway. Quinn leaned towards the window to peer out and let out a gasp when she saw that it was Mike. Artie accompanied Tina to the other guy's car, wheeling with her duffel bag on his lap. Quinn's mouth fell open as she watched.

There was a brief exchange between Tina and Artie. She leaned over then, to hug him and planted a quick kiss on his lips. Mike stepped forward and actually shook Artie's hand. The whole thing looked entirely too formal and stiff not to be as awkward as it appeared from the window.

Shaking her head, Quinn remembered she still had to pump that morning, as she always did immediately upon waking, before she could go downstairs and join everyone for breakfast. Everyone, that was, except for Tina who had apparently left too soon for that.

After Quinn had taken care of her usual chore, she headed downstairs to the kitchen. As they always did, the family was eating out on the porch. After bagging up the milk and slipping it into the freezer, Quinn poured herself some of the coffee with the creamer.

"Good morning!" Amy chirped, coming up beside her and getting a refill from the coffee pot. "Who was that who picked up Tina? Her brother?"

Oh boy. After a brief internal struggle, Quinn decided not to lie to Amy.

"No," she said. "I mean, you might think so, they do have almost the same last name. He's in glee club with us. That's Mike Chang. He and Tina are going to be camp counselors together for the summer."

"Oh." Amy's initial reaction was one of surprise, then slowly changed into something else that looked like anger.

"Yeah," was all Quinn could say, as she watched Amy process what she'd just said.

"That's a charming coincidence." Amy's sarcasm was as strong as her coffee, which she drank without a drop of cream as she furrowed her brow in thought. "Makes a lot of sense now."

"What does?"

"Artie not telling her about surgery," Amy went on. "It makes sense, that he doesn't really trust Tina, if he knows she's going off to camp with some able-bodied, good-looking Asian dude. Dammit, I was really hoping that was her brother I saw picking her up this morning. Wishful thinking, I guess."

Quinn couldn't help but think then of the fake stuttering that Tina had told her about, two or three years worth of it, and what that must have done to Artie's ability to trust her. She just nodded, not sure what else to say, that wasn't gossip and just plain petty.

And, though they weren't going to church today, it was the Lord's day after all. So she'd decided to try and commit herself to acting like a good Christian, even if she really wanted to smack some sense into Tina.

Though, to be fair, Artie needed a few lessons in being a good boyfriend. It wasn't hard to see why Tina might have been frustrated. He tended to speak without thinking. And he tended to forget basic things like, drive your girlfriend home. Or maybe even, check and make sure she's okay with it before inviting another girl to move in with you.

She followed Amy out to the porch where the family was already digging into a very large platter of French toast, a heaping plate of bacon, and all the fixings, plus a pitcher of orange juice. Mimi immediately rose from her chair and asked Quinn how she'd like her eggs, adding that "eggs are great protein for producing milk."

Had Artie not been so used to hearing this kind of talk around Quinn by now, she would have been embarrassed. But now she merely thanked Mimi for her hospitality. And Artie just continued eating, totally unbothered.

Quinn wasn't about to bring up Tina leaving with Mike, but it looked like Amy was dying to know more and wasn't going to avoid the topic.

"So, what's the story with that guy who picked up Tina?" she asked, leaning across the table and eyeing her brother carefully.

"Just a friend of ours from glee club," Artie said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. "They're going to be camp counselors for the summer. I think it's some kind of STEM camp. You know, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics?"

"I'm not an idiot, I know what STEM stands for," Amy shot back.

"I wasn't sure," Artie said, deadpan."I mean, they've never needed cheerleaders for anything so... OW!"

Amy had swiped Mimi's newspaper while she was inside fixing Quinn's eggs, and she'd swiftly rolled it up, just in time to deliver a well-placed thwack! to his head, in response to Artie's wisecrack.

"What do you guys want to do today?" Quinn asked, looking back and forth between the siblings. "Artie, are you planning to do any more water skiing?"

"Oh, no, not today," he said. "One day of it, and my shoulders are so sore I can barely push my chair. Gotta relax today. Get ready for... tomorrow." He made a face at that and didn't look like he wanted to talk about it. "I might swim later when we get home, if you wanna join me."

"Sure, I'm always down for a swim," Quinn said. She wanted to make the most of the day and give Artie the company it looked like he needed to keep his mind off of what awaited him on their first official day of summer vacation.

They spent a little while hanging out after breakfast, but everyone was eager to get on the road and get home to finish up all the last minute details before Artie's surgery in the morning. Mimi cupped his face in her hands as they were loading up the car and took a long look at him.

"You know I hate seeing you go through all this, sweetheart," she said, as Artie just nodded, his Adam's apple moving up and down sharply.

And then Mimi looked up and took note of her daughter's weary face behind him. "We'll be there to wait this one out with you tomorrow, okay? It'll be over before we know it."

Quinn looked at Amy during this exchange, because it seemed like nobody else did. She sort of withdrew from the conversation together at this point and solemnly began loading she and Artie's bags in trunk of the car. Quinn decided that later, she'd make a point to find out if her former Cheerios captain needed a support system, too.

...

Artie did go swimming, not long after finishing the simple dinner that Nancy threw together, all while apologizing for not being the gourmet chef that her mother was.

"It skips a generation," she'd commented, as Artie gave her a wry grin and said nothing as he gathered a forkful of the hamburger helper without complaining.

"Sorry that this is your last meal before this surgery," she added. After 8:00 that evening, Artie was going to have to start fasting.

"I'll live," Artie said, shrugging. And then he saw his mother's expression and seemingly had forgotten that the last time he'd had surgery, it had been to save his life. "Ah, sorry, bad word choice..."

Nancy just nodded and kissed his head. "I can't help it," she said. "Too many bad memories associated with you and the hospital, sweetheart."

"It'll be over before you know it." And he reached out and caught her hand in mid-air, holding and giving it a squeeze. She squeezed it back and just nodded, her eyes brimming with tears.

It was an interesting exchange, with Artie being the one trying to comfort his mother, even though he would be the patient tomorrow.

...

Quinn had to go pump after dinner, and by the time she'd finished, he was in the pool. She slipped on her swimsuit, this one with a t-shirt because it was a two piece. Her stomach didn't look completely awful, considering what it had been through in the past nine months, but she definitely wasn't bikini ready by a long shot.

Artie was busy swimming the length of the pool again and again. He'd developed this creative way of turning in the pool, which sort of made up for the fact that he couldn't use his feet to push off the side. Quinn had to stop and admire his technique for a minute.

"Hey." He came up for air and saw that she was standing there. Paddling over to the side, he held on to the edge of the pavement and gazed up at her. "So, you know, I'm not usually hungry at night but something about being told I can't eat makes me want everything."

Quinn giggled. "I get that," she said, sitting on the edge of the pool and letting her feet dangle in. The pool had a heater, so it was always the perfect temperature. "I thought that was really nice, how you were taking care of your mom like that earlier."

Artie shrugged. "It's more traumatic for her," he explained. "Me, I don't even remember getting hit. She remembers it all, plus she thought I was dead until the paramedics arrived."

Quinn gave a shudder. "I think I understand that on a new level, being a mom," she said. "I mean, not really a mom, but—"

"You had a child, you're a mom." Artie was quick to correct her there and she didn't mind. In fact, she just smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Listen," she went on, shifting gears to ask about something else. "Is it okay if I come up there tomorrow, as moral support for Amy? I won't come back and see you or anything... I'm sure it'll just be family invited back anyway..."

Artie definitely paused. "It's okay," he said, slowly. "Could you maybe come up in the middle of it? It's just that all the pre-op stuff, I dunno, it's all kind of awkward and..."

"You don't have to explain," Quinn cut him off. "Sure, I'll wait and come in the middle of it." She paused. "Do you know how long it takes?"

"Their estimate was four to six hours."

"Wow." Quinn let that sink in for a moment as Artie appeared to want to talk about something else. "Can I... can I pray for you? Now?"

She hadn't meant to come across with such hesitancy but Artie caught it anyway. "I'm not anti-God and anti-church, Quinn," he explained, with a forced laugh. "I just don't go. There's a difference."

"I got it," she said, quickly. "So that's a yes?"

"Sure, I'd like that," he said, hoisting himself up on the side of the pool and turning so that he was sitting right beside her. "Ugh, my arms are still sore from waterskiing. So worth it though."

They bowed their heads and closed their eyes then, and Quinn prayed out loud for him, thanking God for the presence of the Abrams family in her life and then asking for His protection for Artie and comfort for his family. When she finished, Artie lingered with his eyes closed a little longer and she preserved this silence, reaching over and taking his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. They were interrupted by the sound of the gate opening.

"Oh, hey, guys, was I interrupting something?" It was Mercedes, who strode across the yard towards the pool, giving them both a strange look as Quinn quickly dropped Artie's hand.

"Nope," Quinn said, twisting around to look at her and noticing that she was in a teal one-piece bathing suit and a long, floral sarong. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Well, I was calling you both to share some good news and neither of you were answering your phones," she said. "Amy picked up Artie's though and said you were out here. So, I thought I'd just drop by. And, well, Amy suggested I wear a suit..."

"Yeah, of course!" Artie said, a little too enthusiastically. "Join us."

"Do you wanna hear my news?" Mercedes asked.

"Is your news that you and Matt are officially dating?" Quinn teased her.

Mercedes frowned a little. "Uh, no, girl, we're still just talking," she explained. "No, my news is that Momma and Daddy are taking DeShaun and me on vacation. They rented us a beach house in Gulf Shores, Alabama! We haven't done that in years. We're going to be there for two weeks!"

"Wow..." Artie seemed to be thinking exactly what Quinn expected that he'd be thinking. With Mercedes gone, there was one more person who wouldn't have to know about his surgery right now. She correctly read the relief on his face as Mercedes shared her news.

"That's great, Mercedes," Quinn added. "What about Matt though? He's really gonna miss you. Any chance your family could bring him along for the trip?"

"Quinn, we aren't even dating!" Mercedes admonished her. "Anyway, he's working, but even if he weren't, that would be really, really weird. I wouldn't want DeShaun doing something embarrassing."

"Older siblings," Artie nodded, knowingly. "The worst. Oh, wait, check that out... we're all second-born. I never noticed before."

"I didn't really have the typical sibling experience," Quinn shared, with an eye roll. "Not with Frannie being ten years older. But now that's she's pregnant, maybe we can bond over the kid and I can be an aunt."

Mercedes, who had witnessed Frannie's treatment of Quinn firsthand, just raised an eyebrow. "She's pregnant?" Mercedes echoed. "Lord, help that child."

"You okay?" That was Artie, who was surprisingly sensitive to the fact that her older sister being pregnant was something Quinn might have some pretty strong feelings about.

"I'm okay," Quinn assured him, giving him a grateful smile. "Except for the... the pumping and my ruined body, it almost feels like it never even happened now."

"Your 'ruined body?'" Mercedes spat, looking disgusted and shaking her head at Quinn. "Really, girl? Please. I bet you already look amazing under that baggy t-shirt."

It was then that Artie flopped himself face-first into the water, clearly brought on by being in the middle of the uncomfortable conversation about what was under Quinn's baggy t-shirt.

The girls giggled and joined him, after a short gossip fest about Mercedes and her most recent dinner and a movie date with the mysterious and suddenly-interesting Matt Rutherford. Quinn was sad when she realized that this was the first and last time they'd swim together like this for the whole summer.

...

Quinn forced herself to sleep in the next day, because she knew that even the sight of her around the house before they left might make Artie uncomfortable. She was trying to respect Artie's privacy, even if she personally thought that hiding this from everyone he knew, especially Tina and Mercedes, was next-level crazy.

Waking up alone in an empty house, knowing that Artie was either preparing for surgery or already under anesthesia, was nearly unbearable. She paced around the kitchen while her single pod of coffee brewed.

As she helped herself to some creamer, she realized she'd forgotten to set an alarm to wake her up so she could pump in the middle of the night yet again. And that, she decided, was just fine with her. She'd continue to pump every few hours during the day and she wouldn't guilt herself about getting a little extra sleep.

Once she'd pumped, she went to the garage to store the morning's milk in the deep freeze (which had been recently emptied by Shelby when she'd visited during Quinn's trip to the lake). Seeing her freezer stash always brought about thoughts of Beth, as it had now been officially the longest she'd gone without seeing Shelby's baby. But she was surprisingly more okay with that than ever.

She went for a brisk walk around the neighborhood, even jogging on the final stretch. She immediately checked her phone for any messages while she'd been gone, and finding nothing there, decided she had to text Amy to find out how it was going. Nothing she did could completely take her mind off the Abrams family in the waiting room and Artie undergoing major surgery.

As she started to tap out the words, she changed her mind and decided to do something she and most teenagers didn't even do with their phones anymore — she called Amy.

"Hey, what's up Quinn?" Amy sounded pretty surprised by the call, in lieu of a text, but she didn't sound annoyed.

"Just thinking about Artie and all of you," Quinn said. "Is Mimi there? Any updates?"

"Yeah, she and Pops are here and yeah..." she sighed loudly on the other end. "He's under now and they've started. It's difficult to even think about it, so I'm trying not to. I'm not good with this medical stuff. And I really hate hospitals."

"Want me to come up there?" Quinn asked. "I already cleared it with Artie. He said I could come to provide you with moral support. I could take you out for coffee or stay there, whatever you want."

Amy let out something that sounded like a laugh mingled with a strangled cry. "That would be really great," she said, her voice trembling. "I'm starting to lose my mind. You are welcome to drive my car, too. The keys are by the door."

"Okay, great." Quinn was glad she could help, in some small way. "I'll be there soon."