After picking up breakfast from the drive thru window at Burger King and finishing before they made it to the hospital, Nick walked into the waiting room and saw two mothers, Quinn�s and his own. He was surprised to see his mother at the hospital. She hadn�t exactly been around the last couple of days. He walked over to her and sat down,
�Hey momma. Have you heard from Pop?� She was busy with her PDA and never bothered to look up,
�No. He isn�t very thrilled about this Nick so just give him time.� He thought between his mother and his father, she would be the one most upset. That she would be pissed by someone else taking away from the gravy train. Although, he couldn�t imagine that was why his dad was mad.
�What�s he so pissed off about? It�s my life, my responsibility. And doesn�t he want to see his granddaughter? Didn�t you tell him how beautiful she is?� She simply sighed and waved her hand,
�He doesn�t want to hear all that. Just leave him be. He�ll come around when he�s ready.� What was there to come around to? He looked over just in time to see Mrs. Garner turn away with a not-so-happy look on her face.
He heard that Quinn had come back to the hospital and figured he would find her in MacKenzie�s room. He was right. He entered the room and before he could make it to the other side of the room she started throwing questions at him,
�Why did you tell James you were paying my bills? What is wrong with you? Don�t you think that was something I should have told him? If I even wanted to tell him in the first place.� He sighed and flopped down in a chair,
�What's the problem?� She looked at him like he had a second head on his shoulders,
�What do you mean what's the problem? Ok fine, let�s take this one question at a time. Why did you tell James you�re paying my bills?� He wasn�t going to let regarding James upset him,
�It just came out.� He knew she wasn�t going to be happy with that answer and it showed on her face,
�It just came out? How?� He shrugged his shoulders,
�I don�t know.� She gave him a doubtful look and he knew she didn�t buy it.
�Look, he was ragging on me, I got pissed off and I told him.�
�What is wrong with you? That really hurt him.� He laughed,
�Ask me if I care?� She frowned at him,
�He feels like less than a man because of you.� He didn�t care about James� feelings. He didn�t care how upset he was. He deserved it as far as Nick was concerned.
�I shouldn�t have told you that. Keep that to yourself will you?� She walked over to him, pulling a chair with her,
�I really appreciate you willing to help me out.� From the look on her face and the way she placed her hand on his he knew there was something more,
�But I can�t accept it.� That wasn�t exactly what he saw coming,
�Why not?� It was the least he could do for her and she was saying no,
�Honestly, James doesn�t want me to and I have to respect that. I can�t mess up our relationship by taking your money.� Funny, she could mess up their relationship by sleeping with him.
�Quinn, it�s not about you or him.� He didn�t even want to say his name,
�If you don�t pay your bills my daughter isn�t going to have anyplace to live. I�m not going to let my kid grow up struggling or wanting for anything because it makes your boyfriend feel like less than a man. It�s not my job to make him feel good, it�s my job to take care of her.� She was about to respond but he continued,
�No, that�s the end of it Quinn. I�m not going to talk about this anymore. End of discussion.� He stood up and walked out of the room before it continued to be an argument.
He was smiling as he walked into the waiting room with AJ and Kevin but soon it ended when he saw James sitting off to the side with Quinn�s father. They looked so comfortable together. He felt that with her dad once and he hoped it wasn�t a solitary incident. He wanted to get along with everyone in her family.
�Nate are you ready?� He stood up and walked towards her,
�Yeah.� Quinn was on the other side of the room,
�Where are you guys going?� He noticed she didn�t look as refreshed as she did earlier that day. She looked like she was slipping back into that tired zombie.
�Mom wants to go get everything for Mac�s room.�
�What stuff?� If there was anything his daughter needed he wanted to be the one to give it to her.
�I saw a beautiful room pattern for Mac. Quinn liked it so we�re going to get it for her.�
�Let me go if it�s ok? I want to pay for it.� His mother made a grunt and he cringed slightly. Quinn�s mom gave Jane a look before turning to Nick,
�That�s ok, keep your money. Its not needed.�
�Yeah, save it for the bigger purchases. Like when its time to buy a big house with a bigger room for Mac.� He wasn�t sure where his mother was going but as he looked around the room he could see no one else knew either.
�What is that supposed to mean?� Lillian didn�t hesitate to challenge his mom. Jane laughed and if he wasn�t for the fact that they were in a hospital and it was the middle of the afternoon he would have thought she was plastered.
�Come on, you�ve hit the cash cow now. The whole family. Not only Quinn but say you need a little help�all it takes is a little call from Quinn to Nick telling him how hard up her parents are and bam�Nick sends a check.� She kept going as she stood up, �Want to start some little business, Nick�s connections and money are there.� He may have had money but he didn�t have any damn connections.
�I�ll have you know my family is very capable of taking care of ourselves. We don�t want or need your money.� This was going to get ugly, he thought as he watched them. Jane gave a look of total contempt,
�So your daughter wasn�t trying to get knocked up for a paycheck she was just a little�how shall I say, misguided?� First she insulted the entire Garner family and now she was being completely disrespectful to Quinn. He glanced over at Quinn who seemed to be a state of shock. Mrs. Garner wasn�t paralyzed by shock; that comment sent her into a sort of rage,
�Lady, are you out of your mind? My daughter and my family do not need your money. We do more than ok on our own.� He felt like he was in the middle of some soap opera. He could hear his mother mumble something about Quinn being �knocked up�. That was it; they were off. Lillian and Jane screamed at each other as all the men tried to get them to settle down. He glanced over at Kevin and AJ. Kevin stared at him wide-eyed as if he was telling Nick he needed to do something. He stood there and stared and he would have continued to do so if he didn�t see how distraught Quinn was over the whole situation. She had tears in her eyes and he made his way over to her,
�Shut up! Shut up right now; both of you.�
Chapter 95 cont'd