A couple years had passed and Gabriella and Troy were stronger than ever. Troy was in his second year of college at U of A and Gabriella had gotten a job at a lab close to home. Troy was still working at the auto shop to help make ends meet. Grace was five years old and looked exactly like Gabriella. She was full of energy and loved to play with Logan, who was now three. Lucille and Maria were still helping the couple by watching the kids and picking Grace up from kindergarten. One day, Gabriella was driving home from work when she decided to stop at the auto shop and see her husband. A month ago she found out that she was pregnant and today she had had a doctor's appointment and got some devastating news. Gabriella hadn't even told Troy that she was pregnant yet. She pulled into the parking lot of the auto shop and parked her car. Gabriella walked into the garage and smiled when she saw Chuck, Troy's boss.
"Hey Gabi, how's it going?" Chuck asked.
"I'm doing okay. How are you?" Gabriella asked.
"As good as can be. I'm assuming you are looking for Troy?" Chuck asked.
Gabriella nodded.
"I think he's working on a car. Let me go find him" Chuck said.
Chuck left to go find Troy. A couple minutes later, Troy and Chuck came into the garage. Troy saw Gabriella and smiled.
"Hey baby, what's going on?" Troy asked.
"Can you get off early today?" Gabriella asked.
"I can ask. What's wrong?" Troy asked.
"I want to tell you at home" Gabriella said.
"Alright. Let me go tell Chuck" Troy said.
Troy talked to Chuck and picked up his keys. He left his car at the garage and got into Gabriella's. Troy looked at his wife.
"Brie, what's going on?" Troy asked as Gabriella started driving.
"I need to tell you at home" Gabriella said.
"Is it serious?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded. Gabriella pulled into the driveway and the couple got out of the car and walked into the house.
"Babe, what's wrong?" Troy asked taking her hand in his.
"You need to sit down" Gabriella said.
Troy and Gabriella walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.
"Gabriella" Troy said softly.
"About a month ago I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive" Gabriella said.
A smile crept onto Troy's face.
"That's amazing baby. It's a little earlier than we would have liked because we wanted to space them out, but-"Troy started.
Tears ran down Gabriella's cheeks.
"You aren't happy about it" Troy concluded.
Gabriella shook her head.
"It's not that, Troy. I went to Dr. Brand to have an ultrasound and she said that I had a miscarriage" Gabriella said.
Troy's mouth twitched. He looked at his wife and felt an overwhelming amount of emotion.
"Why didn't you tell me a month ago?" Troy asked.
"I wanted to know for sure. I went in today for an ultrasound and was going to tell you tonight when you got off work, but she said there was no heartbeat or life in the baby and I didn't know what to do" Gabriella said as she started to cry.
Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and let her cry in his arms.
"Baby, look at me" Troy said.
Gabriella looked up at Troy. Troy cupped Gabriella's cheeks.
"This isn't your fault, Brie. This is not your fault okay? These things happen sometimes and we have no control of them. What is the next step? What do we do?" Troy asked.
"She said that she is going to schedule a day for me to come in and get induced and deliver it" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"You can't have a c-section and just get it over with?" Troy asked.
"It's not worth having a scar and a long recovery time. She said that it was at the beginning stages of a miscarriage. She said that there's going to be a lot of bleeding and to be prepared for that" Gabriella explained.
"Alright" Troy said kissing Gabriella's cheek softly.
"I should have told you and I'm-" Gabriella started.
"Don't apologize, baby. You just wanted to be sure and that's a good thing. I think that if you held off and didn't tell me about the miscarriage I would have been a little upset, but I'm not" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"Did she say if it was going to be a lot of blood or not a lot?" Troy asked.
"She said there would be a lot and then it would decrease and be like a period amount" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"Why don't you go upstairs and get into your pajamas and get in bed? I will be up in a minute okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips softly, but passionately.
"I love you and we will get through this" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Gabriella walked upstairs and got into her pajamas and got into bed. A couple days later, Troy had taken some time off work to be at home with Gabriella. One morning, Gabriella walked out of the bathroom and looked at Troy, who was sitting up.
"I'm bleeding" Gabriella said.
Troy got out of bed and looked down at Gabriella's pajamas and saw the blood stains.
"Alright. I'm going to run to the store and get those bed pads that Dr. Brand told us about so that you can sleep okay? I'll be back in a couple minutes" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek softly and left the house. A couple minutes later, as promised, Troy arrived back at the house.
"Brie, I'm back" Troy said.
Troy went into the bedroom and smiled when he saw Gabriella holding Logan.
"Why don't you change and I will get these pads set up?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded and kissed Logan's head and placed him in his portable crib. She then changed into another pair of pajamas and walked over to the bed and saw Troy looking at the bed, which he had put the bed pad on. Gabriella leaned against her husband. Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead softly. Gabriella got into bed and Troy tucked her in. Troy then was about to walk out of the room when he heard Gabriella choke back a sob.
"Troy, please stay" Gabriella cried.
Troy turned around and nodded. He climbed onto the bed and sat on top of the sheets so that he wouldn't mess with the bed pad.
"Everything's going to be okay baby. Don't worry" Troy said.
"I'm sorry" Gabriella said breathlessly.
Troy moved Gabriella's chin up so that she was looking directly at him.
"This isn't your fault. I know that you are hurting. But, you have to believe that you didn't do this" Troy said.
"She said that it made it to eleven weeks. I was almost in the clear" Gabriella said.
"I know. But, let's not think about that right now okay? Let's focus on getting you better" Troy said.
Tears ran down Gabriella's cheeks and nodded. Grace walked into the bedroom and looked at her parents confused.
"Mommy, it's not nap time" Grace said.
Gabriella put on a brave face and smiled at her daughter.
"I know it's not baby. But, I'm tired and I needed some rest" Gabriella said.
"You are bleeding" Grace said pointing to the bed pad.
Gabriella held her emotions together and smiled at Grace.
"It's okay sweetheart. Why don't you go downstairs and play? Daddy will be there in a minute" Gabriella said.
Grace nodded and left the room. Gabriella cried as soon as Grace left the room. Troy rubbed Gabriella's back in soothing circles.
"Are we going to tell her?" Gabriella asked.
Troy shook his head.
"She doesn't need to know. Do you need anything?" Troy asked.
Gabriella shook her head.
"I'm going to downstairs with Grace. Call me if you need me okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. A couple days later, Troy and Gabriella were waiting at Dr. Brand's office. She was going to give Gabriella an exam and make sure that she really did have a miscarriage. Gabriella had gone into a depression like state. She didn't really want to talk to anyone, not even Troy sometimes. They hadn't told their parents yet. The couple sat in the waiting room holding each other's hand for support. Gabriella was completely zoned out and she didn't even hear the nurse or Troy call her name.
"Baby, we are going to go into a room now" Troy said softly.
Troy helped Gabriella stand up and the couple walked into an exam room. Gabriella changed into a gown and sat on the exam table.
"Brie, can you please talk to me and tell me how you are feeling?" Troy asked softly.
"I feel like I just lost a baby, Troy. I lost our baby. It's my fault. How do you want me to talk about that? I feel like my whole body is broken and I can't put the pieces back together. I-" Gabriella started.
"Hey, hey, hey. Babe, I'm not trying to come off like I don't care about how you are doing. I know how you are doing. I just don't know what's going on in your head. This is not your fault, sweetheart. I've said it a hundred times. This isn't your fault. It just happened" Troy said.
Gabriella's lip quivered and Troy wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her head softly as she cried into his chest. Troy knew that the shock had worn off and now Gabriella was realizing what had happened.
"Look at me" Troy said.
Gabriella looked up at Troy. Her eyes had dark purple rings around them because she hadn't slept since she found out that she had a miscarriage. Her skin was paler than usual.
"I love you so much and I want to help you through this okay? But you got to let me" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy smiled slightly and kissed Gabriella's lips softly. He smoothed her hair back. There was a knock on the door and Dr. Brand came into the room.
"Hi guys. How are you doing, Gabi?" Dr. Brand asked.
"I'm alright" Gabriella said.
"I'm going to do an exam just to be sure that this is a miscarriage and not something else okay?" Dr. Brand said.
"There's a lot of blood" Gabriella said.
Dr. Brand nodded.
"I'll check it out okay? Can you lie back for me?" Dr. Brand asked.
Gabriella lied down and took Troy's hand. Troy kissed Gabriella's head softly.
"I'm right here baby" Troy said.
Gabriella held in her tears that were threatening to fall and squeezed her husband's hand tighter. Dr. Brand pulled up Gabriella's gown and squeezed some gel onto her stomach. She then moved the gel around with a wand and looked at the screen. Troy looked at the monitor and tried to look for any sign of the baby as well. He looked down at Gabriella, who had her eyes closed and tears running down her cheeks.
"You don't want to look?" Troy asked.
Gabriella shook her head.
"I don't want to see it if it's gone" Gabriella cried.
Troy took a deep breath and kissed Gabriella's head softly. Dr. Brand moved the wand around Gabriella's stomach and looked up at the monitor and nodded.
"There's no heartbeat, Gabi" Dr. Brand said solemnly.
Tears ran down Gabriella's cheeks and she choked out a sob. Troy released his own tears.
"I want to do an exam as well" Dr. Brand said wiping the gel off Gabriella's stomach.
Gabriella didn't even process what was going on. She was completely out of it. Gabriella's thoughts were spiraling through her head and all she saw was darkness. A steady beeping noise woke Gabriella up. She opened her eyes and saw that she was no longer in Dr. Brand's office, but in a hospital room.
"Thank god" Troy said breathlessly.
Gabriella looked at Troy, who was sitting next to the hospital bed.
"What happened?" Gabriella asked quietly.
"You got overwhelmed by the news and you fainted. Your blood pressure dropped and that's when you fainted" Troy said.
"I'm sorry if I scared you" Gabriella said quietly.
Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's forehead softly.
"I'm just glad you are awake. After you fainted, Dr. Brand called the hospital and you were brought in by ambulance" Troy explained.
"How long have I been out?" Gabriella asked softly.
"An hour" Troy said.
Gabriella swallowed hard.
"I called mom and told her what happened. I know that you didn't want me to, but with you fainting, I had to. I told her to wait in the waiting room until you woke up" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"Dr. Brand gave me a number for a therapist that specializes in miscarriages and she thinks that it would be a good idea for you to go see her" Troy said.
"Not now" Gabriella said.
"Baby, we need you to get better and I think this would really help you start to do that" Troy said.
"Troy, don't push it please" Gabriella said.
Troy looked down and nodded.
"I didn't mean to snap at you. I am just-" Gabriella said.
"You don't need to explain. I understand. I want you to call her when you are ready to talk" Troy said.
"I really am-" Gabriella started.
"Babe, it's okay. You are going through something that changed everything. I'd rather you yell at me than someone else" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded and tears formed in her eyes.
"I love you" Gabriella cried.
Troy sniffled and smiled slightly.
"I love you too" Troy said taking Gabriella into his arms and rubbing her back as she cried.
An hour later, Troy was sitting next to Gabriella on the hospital bed.
"Dr. Brand also thought it would be a good idea to remove…it since you are here. I told her that it was up to you" Troy said.
"How do you do that?" Gabriella asked.
"She said that we could let the miscarriage happen naturally, or we could have you take something to get it started" Troy said.
"Naturally is better" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"I think so too. I am going to go get mom so she can see you and make sure that you are okay" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"Where are the kids?" Gabriella asked.
"With my mom" Troy said.
"Does mom know?" Gabriella asked.
"No. I thought it would be better if we told her together" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy kissed Gabriella's lips.
"I'll be right back" Troy said.
Troy left the hospital room. A couple minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Troy and Maria walked into the room.
"Gabi" Maria said.
"Hi mom" Gabriella said.
"Are you okay?" Maria asked.
"No, but I will be" Gabriella said.
"What happened?" Maria asked.
Gabriella looked at Troy, who nodded and took her hand in his.
"It's okay" Troy said.
Gabriella swallowed hard.
"I had a miscarriage" Gabriella said as tears filled her eyes once again.
Maria instantly took Gabriella into her arms and released tears of her own.
"Oh Gabi" Maria said.
"She didn't hear a heartbeat and then the bleeding-" Gabriella started.
"I know baby. I know. Just relax, okay? Troy, Lucille, and I are going to help you through this" Maria said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it. Maria smoothed her daughter's hair back and kissed her forehead.
"When are they going to discharge her?" Maria asked.
"I have no idea. I'll go talk to Dr. Brand and see what's up. You going to be okay?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded. Troy smiled slightly and leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips lovingly.
"I'll be right back" Troy said softly.
Gabriella nodded. Troy left the room and went to go find Dr. Brand. He walked down the hall and took a deep breath. Troy hoped that he and Gabriella would get through this but they hadn't ever been in a situation like this before, so he really didn't know what to expect. Troy was pulled out his thoughts when he saw Dr. Brand at the nurses station.
"Troy, is everything alright?" Dr. Brand asked.
"Yeah. Gabriella and I wanted to know when she would be discharged and how this whole thing is supposed to go" Troy said.
Dr. Brand nodded and smiled slightly. She knew that Troy was trying to put on a brave face for Gabriella, she had seen it before when she first met him when Gabriella found out she was pregnant with Grace.
"I want to keep her until tomorrow for observation. If everything is okay tomorrow, you can take her home" Dr. Brand said.
Troy nodded.
"She's going to need a lot of support from you, Troy. It's going to be rough at the beginning, but it will get better with time" Dr. Brand said.
"Will the kids make it worse? Should I bring them over to my mom's so I can focus on Gabriella? What should I do?" Troy asked.
"I think that Gabriella needs to grieve and you and I both know that she won't do that if the kids are around. I think that them staying with Maria or Lucille would be beneficial for Gabriella's recovery" Dr. Brand said.
Troy nodded.
"As far as trying again, when can we start that?" Troy asked.
"Not until she's fully recovered. She may want to, but you need to tell her that she needs to get better before you can try again" Dr. Brand said.
"Okay. I will talk to Gabriella and tell her the update" Troy said.
Dr. Brand nodded. Troy walked away from the nurse's station and went down the hall to Gabriella's hospital room and smiled.
"What did she say?" Gabriella asked.
"She wants to keep you until tomorrow for observation" Troy said.
"And then I can go home?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded.
"My mom is going to watch the kids for a while. Just so we can focus on getting you better" Troy said.
"Won't it make it better if they are home with me?" Gabriella asked.
"They are young baby. They aren't going to understand what's going on and they don't need to get stressed out either" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. That night, the couple fell asleep hoping that everything would be okay.