It Takes A Village (COMPLETED)

Eighteen ~ Carly

I honestly am sitting here going crazy. We are currently in the car on the way to Noah's
mom's nursing home and I'm about to shit a brick. I can't think of a time I was more nervous which seems crazy in itself because the poor woman may not even realize we are in the room. And yet here I am with sweaty palms and my leg shaking a thousand miles a minute.

"Baby, are you okay? " Noah snaps me out of my inner turmoil.

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine. "

"Carly, you do remember what I do for a living right? " I roll my eyes in a 'duhh' gesture. "So therefore you should know, I know you are not fine. You are extremely tense and fidgety."

"If you know I'm not ok then why ask stupid questions. " I huff out a puff of air and stare out the window.

"Whoa, okay, I'm pretty sure you have never
snapped at me before. Are you nervous? If so there's nothing to be nervous about. My mother will love you."

"Of course I'm nervous. Even though I know logically there's no reason to be nervous especially when she may not even notice us in the room." Shit! That was so insensitive. I didn't mean that like that. Fuck. "I'm sorry that came out completely wrong and I didn't mean that I'm just stressed." He nods his head and lays his hand on me knee palm up. So I lay mine in his and take a deep breath.

"Okay, I know you didn't mean that the way it sounded. But the sad truth is it's a possibility. I'm not mad at you, I understand it's just nerves. "

"I'm sorry, it really is. She's just the most important person in the world to you and I still deep down want her to like me even if she has no idea who you or I am. "

"Carly, I love my mother very much and yes she is extremely important to me. But she is not the most important person in the world to me, you are. And if you really feel uncomfortable doing this then you don't have to. "

"Noah, I want to do this. I love you so much and I want to love her also. So I want to meet her."

"I love you too." He places a sweet kiss on the back of my hand.

"Noah do you love us also?" Shit, totally forgot they were back there. He smiles up into he rear view mirror.

"I definitely do kiddo. All three of you. And we are actually here." I unbuckle my seat belt and turn to face the kids before we get out.

"Okay guys, so remember everyone here is sick. So we have to be on our best behavior and nice to them all. Now, we are going
to spend a little time with Noah's mom, she may not talk back to us when we talk to her but that's just because she forgets to okay. So don't get upset with her. "

They both nod in agreement and Connor speaks up. "Noah, what do we call your mom."

"Well her name is Carol but I'm sure you can just say hi. You don't really have to call her anything." He's seems to approve that answer because he smiles and gets out of the car. Noah grabs Jemma out of her car seat and I grab the picnic cooler we brought and Maggie's hand.

We walk in quietly following Noah's lead. He obviously knows where he's going. He walks us through a few hallways and an elevator ride up until we make it to the nurses station on her floor. The nurse is nice and polite and greets him accordingly. He turns to us smiling wide.

"They say she's having a great day so far so it looks like today is perfect day for this."

"I'm glad baby. Alright let's go meet the amazing woman who raised you. " He grins again, clearly unable to hid his excitement and grabs my hand turning around to escort us to her room. As we are about to walk away another nurse comes over stopping us.