A/N: In this story, we're assuming Gabriella's midwife is helping her with her pregnancy. Gabriella has regular doctor's appointments, but is going to deliver at home, hence the presence of the midwife. Thanks for understanding. This is my first attempt at fan fiction, so any reviews are greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy it. Also, I'm not sure how this will turn out, I tried to douple space it, but we'll see. Please forgive any mistakes!
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I wish I did, but that's never going to happen. Anyway, not mine, not mine, not mine.
The young girl paused as she climbed up the winding staircase of her Southern California home and clutched her rotund stomach. She inhaled slowly and cursed under her
breath.
"Just three more months," Gabriella muttered, referring to the fact that she had reached the sixth month of her pregnancy the previous week. Regaining her composure, she mumbled to herself about the difficulties of two story homes and reached the top of the stairs.
"Gabriella, sweetie?" her mother called from the room at the end of the hallway.
"Yes, Mami?" she called back, waddling over to the room from which her mother called.
"Your doctors appointment is in a few hours. You know I would go with you, but I just got called in to work. Perhaps someone else could go with you..?" her mother hinted shamelessly as the younger Montez stuck her head in the door.
"Mami!" Gabriella cried out, "You have got to be kidding me! I didn't tell him when I found out, and there is no way I'm going to tell him now. It has been six months and I haven't changed my mind." Her mother stared back blankly, obviously shocked by the young girl's outburst.
"What on earth are you talking about, Gabriella? I was suggesting you call your midwife, Miriam. What did you think I meant?"
Blush crept slowly into Gabi's cheeks, making her face feel warm under the light of her mother's home office. "Oh. Okay," she whispered. Her mother frowned and furrowed her brow simultaneously. These little outbursts had become fairly common since the pair had moved from New Mexico to California and even more frequent since Gabriella's most recent ultrasound revealed she was having twins. She feared her daughter was regretting her decision to move so suddenly after finding out about the pregnancy without telling anyone.
"I'm going to go call Miriam, Mom, good luck at work," Gabriella sighed and closed the door before walking down the hall to her bedroom.
Gabriella fought back tears as she surveyed her bedroom. Two small cribs sat on either side of a modest changing table along one wall. Fingering the soft fleece bedding that lined the crib closest to her she felt a wave of sadness. She had used most of her savings to prepare for the babies. Unlike other mothers, she hadn't had a baby shower. She didn't know anyone in California other than Miriam, and none of her friends from East High knew of her pregnancy. The shrill ring of her cell phone interrupted her reverie.
She walked as fast as her growing belly allowed to the purse resting on the desk in the corner of the room. Her eyes widened at the name that appeared on the screen: Troy. She desperately wanted to answer it, but knew she had to stick to the decision she had made six months ago. She hit ignore and made a mental note to get a new cell phone number. It would only get harder to avoid his calls.
When Gabriella left Albuquerque she never once told anyone she was moving. Her phone rang incessantly for three straight weeks, though she never answered a single call. Slowly, the calls dwindled and after about two and a half months she stopped getting calls from anyone at East High at all. But that had been nearly four months ago. Why was he calling now?
Suddenly, her phone rang again. This time it was Chad. She ignored it again, despite a nervous feeling growing in her gut.
Another call came in. Taylor. Now she was really concerned. Why were they trying to contact her again? The calls kept pouring in. Kelsi. Jason. Sharpay. Zeke. Ryan. Troy. After twenty minutes of solid phone calls, Gabriella gave in and listened to Kelsi's message.
"Um, hey Gabs," the voice sounded nervous as it crackled through the speaker. "Its Kelsi. God I hope you remember me. We miss you like crazy here. Of course, we don't really know you aren't here. Well obviously you aren't at East High, but that's all we know. I know you, Gabriella, and I know you wouldn't just disappear like that for no reason. But moving out in the middle of the night? Yeah, Troy talked to your neighbors to find out. What happened that you couldn't talk to us about? Please, Gabriella, just call one of us. Even if it's just for closure."
The click on the end of the line signaled the end of the message, making Gabriella remove the phone from her ear and hold down the power button to turn it off. Kelsi's voice was so sad, she couldn't bare to hear anyone else plead with her. Instead, she called Miriam and arranged for her to take her to the doctor's that afternoon.