A/N: I know, I know, I fail royally but work has been crazy and I've just been accepted to law school so my mind is all over the place. Was in a bit of a writing mood tonight so I've gotten two chapters of a new St. Berry story and one of this which will hopefully jumpstart another when it's not after midnight. Enjoy and feel free to comment.
As Rachel approached the end of her first trimester of pregnancy she expected her morning sickness to get better, instead, it seemed to get worse. From the time Noah got up to go to school every morning until at least lunchtime, Rachel found herself hovering over the toilet. Noah hated that Rachel was so sick and that there was really nothing he could do about it, not from across town. Still, he racked his brain trying to think of something that might brighten her spirits and make up for the fact that it was his child that had her unable to keep down anything of substance for half the day.
With football season also came Homecoming and while Noah wasn't certain he wanted her anywhere near McKinley, he also thought it might be nice for her to do something that was so stereotypically high school. They both needed to make sacrifices for each other and this baby and while he'd already decided against playing basketball this winter in lieu of finding a job, in his mind she had made far more sacrifices than he had.
Deciding that he would at least see if she had any interest in going to the homecoming dance, Noah stopped after school to pick up a small bouquet of sunflowers before heading back to his house. With no sign of Rachel downstairs, Noah headed up to his, no their, room. She jumped when he opened the door and when he looked over at her he couldn't help but gasp, any further breaths getting caught in his throat. She was standing in front of the floor length mirror in nothing but her bra and underwear and with the way her hand was placed over her stomach it was obvious what she was looking at.
If he were someone that wasn't intimately familiar with her body, it wouldn't appear that there was anything different, but since he had spent many a night worshiping every inch of her the slight protrusion of her abdomen drew his attention right away. Silently, he approached her and while one hand tangled in her hair while he kissed her the other dropped to her stomach, surprised at the slight firmness that met his touch.
"Shit Rach….that's our baby." He whispered awestruck at seeing the first real signs beyond the ultrasound that was tucked away in his wallet. After all, if anyone saw it he would just say that it was Beth.
"Our baby." Rachel echoed, a tear slipping down her cheek as she pressed herself against him. She'd understood that she was pregnant, the sickness gave that away but seeing it like this, the way her body was changing to adapt to the growing fetus inside of her was something else, something that completely took her breath away.
For nearly an hour, Noah and Rachel stood embracing in his room, his hand never shifting away from the slight 'bump' that had appeared. When he finally pulled away it was because he'd remembered what he'd wanted to ask her before they'd both been distracted by their child.
"I want to take you to the homecoming dance." Noah proclaimed as he moved to dig in his drawers for a t-shirt for Rachel to slip on before someone else came home. "I mean...if you'd be interested in going that is." He added. Taking a glance at her as she slipped into the shirt he handed her he could tell that she was unsure about all of it. "I know I said there was no way in hell I was letting you attend McKinley but I don't really see any harm in us going to the dance together." He explained not realizing that Rachel's babbling, when she was nervous, had worn off on him just a little. "It's not like anyone needs to know that we're expecting and it would be nice to have a night to just dance with you. I know you haven't gotten to do much of anything like that since well…" He explained, scratching his fingers against his scalp gently.
It was honestly kind of sweet how nervous Noah seemed to be about all of this and Rachel found her smile drifting a bit into his infamous smirk as she listened to him go on about it.
"I would be honored to go to homecoming with you." She assured him, cupping his cheek in her palm before pulling him in for a kiss, her tongue dancing across his lips teasingly. All of her emotions had been on edge since she noticed the slight change in her body and seeing how enamored Noah had been with it as well had her body tingling.
"So it's a date." He declared and as soon as the words left his mouth Noah realized that he'd never actually taken her on a real date before. He'd have to make up for that sooner rather than later but he was excited to be able to show his magnificent girlfriend off to his friends.
"It's a date." Rachel agreed, pecking Noah's lips again before heading downstairs to start the family's dinner.