Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

In It Together

Their foreheads were pressed together and they were looking into each other's eyes as they stood next to the terminal waiting for the flight to be called. "I'm going to miss you…so much."

"I know, and I will miss you too, but it's only five days. I'll be back before you know it. Plus, you'll probably be so busy at work and playing basketball with Chad, you'll forget I'm even gone." Gabriella giggled at the thought, knowing that Troy would keep himself busy.

"That's not funny. You know I'll miss you. I'll be thinking of you every minute that you're gone.

The intercom interrupted them as it announced Gabriella's flight. She looked at Troy and smiled. "I'll miss you, but I'll see you Friday night. My flight arrives at 8:00. Don't be late. I have to go. I love you."

"Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be early. I love you, too. Call me when you get there."

Gabriella leaned in and kissed Troy, then turned to go board her plane. Troy watched her go. When she was out of sight, he turned to leave and go back home, missing her already.

In the year that Troy and Gabriella had been married, this is the first time they will have been apart for more than a day. They had always done everything together and gone everywhere together. But not this time. This time she had to go on her own because it was a business trip.

The only thing that bothered Troy was she wasn't actually going alone. Her business partner, Ryan, was going along as well. Troy had never liked Ryan. He thought there was always something sneaky about him. But he trusted Gabriella and knew that the trip would be fine.

Two days after Gabriella left Albuquerque, she stood in her hotel room packing her things. She missed Troy so bad. But thankfully, she had finished meeting with clients and was able to get an earlier flight back to surprise Troy. She couldn't be happier. She just needed to let Ryan know. She called him up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ryan. It's Gabriella.

"Oh, hey, Gabriella. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know I'm heading back to Albuquerque. I got an early flight back and since we got the work done, I'm ready to go back home."

"Oh…well actually I just got off the phone. It seems we have a couple more meetings with some prospective clients."

Gabriella's spirits fell. That meant she couldn't go home to Troy just yet. "Oh, well it seems I'm not going home after all."

Ryan chuckled. "Sorry Gabriella. Anyway, can you meet me at the restaurant downstairs at 6:30 tonight? I promise we'll try to get these meetings out of the way as quick as possible."

"Yeah…thanks, Ryan. See you tonight."

Gabriella hung up the phone and threw herself back on her bed, groaning in the process. She was missing Troy so bad right now and she couldn't even call him because he was at work. She called the airlines and cancelled her flight back.

That evening, she dressed professionally and went downstairs to the restaurant. Ryan was already there and she walked over to the table he was sitting at. He quickly got up and held her chair for her. She thanked him, while feeling awkward about him doing that, but brushed off the feeling telling herself he was just trying to be nice.

Ryan and Gabriella sat at the table and talked for quite a while until Gabriella noticed that no one else had shown up at their table for the dinner.

"Ryan, what time are the prospective clients supposed to get here?"

"Huh?" Ryan looked at her confused.

"The prospective clients…what time was the meeting set up for?"

"Oh…that's not until tomorrow at 9."

"What? I thought we were meeting them tonight. I thought that was the whole point of this dinner."

"Oh. Sorry. I just thought we could have dinner together. I just want to get to know you more Gabriella."

Gabriella was mad. She glared at Ryan then suddenly pushed her chair back and stood up, storming out of the restaurant and out of the hotel. Ryan went after her and soon caught up.

"I'm sorry, Gabriella. I didn't mean for there to be a misunderstanding. I just really like you and considering we are working together as a team in this company, I figured it would be good to get to know you better."

"Ryan, let me tell you one thing you need to know about me. I'm married and couldn't be happier. Why do you think I want to go home so bad? And you need to get one thing straight. The only way you will ever get to know me is as a business partner or maybe one day a friend but nothing else. You got it?" By this time Gabriella was fuming and had raised her voice and was practically yelling at Ryan outside the hotel.

"Again, Gabriella, I'm sorry."

Gabriella just looked at Ryan and saw that he was being sincere in his apology and nodded at him in acknowledgment. She turned to go back into the hotel so she could go up to her room, but stopped when Ryan started talking again.

"Hey, you want to go get a drink? There's a place just down the street that I saw yesterday."

Gabriella thought about it a moment then nodded. "Yeah, a drink would be nice right now."

A couple hours later, Ryan guides a drunk Gabriella into her room. He helped her to her bed. As soon as she hit the pillows, she passed out. Ryan was about to walk out of her room when her phone started ringing. He decided to answer it, in case it was someone from work.

"Hello?"

"Uh…who is this?"

"This is Ryan, who is this?"

"This is Troy. What are you doing answering my wife's phone? Where is she?"

"Uh…Gabriella is a little busy right now and can't talk. Do you want me to have her call you back?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Ryan shut Gabriella's phone and laid it beside her bed then walked out and went to his own room.

Troy hung up his phone and laid in bed thinking about the phone conversation. What is Ryan doing in Brie's room so late? Why was she too busy to pick up her own phone?

The next evening, Gabriella was sitting alone in her room thinking about Troy and how much she missed him when she realized that she hadn't gotten to talk to him in two days. Why didn't he call yesterday? He's called every day. Maybe he just got too busy.

Gabriella picked up her phone and called him.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe."

"Hey…been keeping busy?"

"Yeah…very busy. I'm missing you, though. I think about you constantly."

"Oh, really?" Troy asked. Gabriella detected bitterness in his voice though. That's weird. I thought he would be happy to hear that. "Even with Ryan around?"

"What? What are you talking about? Ryan doesn't have anything to do with this. Of course I miss you. And believe me. I never want to go on a business trip again unless you can come with me."

"Ryan has everything to do with this. What was he doing in your room last night so late? And why did it take you almost 24 hours to return my phone call?"

"What? Ryan wasn't in my room last night. And when did you call last night? I don't remember you calling at all yesterday."

"I called last night. Apparently you were too busy to come to the phone, though, so Ryan ended up answering."

"What? I'm sorry, babe. He didn't tell me. I'll talk to him about it. But I really didn't know that you called, otherwise I would have called you much sooner. I just assumed that you were really busy."

"Yeah, whatever," Troy spat into the phone. "I've got to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok, bye. I lo-" Troy hung up. Gabriella looked at her phone. "love you." Gabriella was confused and saddened by the whole phone conversation. What just happened? What happened last night?

Gabriella got up and walked down the hall to Ryan's room and knocked on the door. He let her in a few moments later.

"Ryan, what happened last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"After dinner. I know that we went and got drinks, but after that, what happened?"

"Well you ended up really drunk so I took you back to your room where you passed out."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Why?"

"Because I just got off the phone with Troy and it wasn't a pleasant conversation. He said he called last night and ended up talking to you. Is that true?"

"Oh…yeah. About that…Troy said to call him back."

This made Gabriella mad. "Number one…why did you even answer my phone? You had no right! Number two…in the case that you ever answer my phone again, which you better not, but in case, be sure to get my messages to me!"

"I'm sorry, Gabriella. It just slipped my mind. You had already passed out and I was afraid it might be an important call for work or something so I wanted to be sure that it got answered."

Gabriella groaned and put her head in her hands. "I need to go clear things up with Troy. He's so mad right now."

"I really am sorry, Gabriella. I hope things go smoothly with Troy. Oh and by the way…tomorrow is our last meeting…it's at 1:00 downstairs in the restaurant so after that we are free to go home."

"Thanks. Oh, good. I'm ready to go home. I'll call the airlines first thing in the morning to see when I can get a flight out. Goodnight Ryan."

"Wait…Gabriella I just want to apologize for how I've acted. I shouldn't have behaved like I did last night at all, in the restaurant or with the whole phone situation. I should have been more professional about it."

"It's ok Ryan. Just don't let it happen again. But maybe we can be friends."

"I'd like that. Goodnight, Gabriella."

"Goodnight."

Gabriella went back to her room and called Troy.

"Hey…it's me again," Gabriella said softly.

"Hey. Sorry about the way I acted on the phone. I overreacted. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I've been sitting here beating myself up over it."

"Don't beat yourself up. You had every right to be mad. But you deserve an explanation. I just got done talking to Ryan about it all."

"And…" Troy listened as Gabriella told Troy everything that happened the previous night, from the dinner to Ryan answering the phone.

"I'm sorry about everything, Troy. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's ok, babe. I love you, you know that right?"

"Of course I do. And I love you, too, more than anything."

"I just do not like Ryan right now. How could he come onto you like that knowing you are a married woman? That is just so wrong! Brie, I don't like you being business partners. I wish you could get someone else."

"Troy, it's fine. We've discussed his behavior from last night and he's apologized. Everything will be fine now."

Troy and Gabriella talked for a while longer before both of them decided they needed some sleep.

The next day, Gabriella got up and called the airlines, booking a flight to Albuquerque that would leave at 5:30. She hadn't told Troy that she was coming home early because she still wanted it to be a surprise. If everything went according to plan, she should be home by 8:30 that night.

However, things were not going according to plan. By the time Gabriella got to the airport that evening, a severe storm had hit and the winds were causing flights to be delayed. Finally, two hours later, Gabriella was able to board the plane. She was missing Troy so bad and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep in her own bed with Troy, snuggled in his embrace. Oh, how she had missed his touch…

Gabriella had been on the plane for fifteen minutes when the captain came over the intercom.

"Attention passengers, it seems as if we are having some mechanical difficulties and we are not going to be able to fly out tonight. Sorry for any inconveniences."

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I just want to see Troy!

Gabriella checked the schedule for the next flight out to Albuquerque and booked her flight. The airline put the passengers up in a hotel room for the night.

The next morning, bright and early, Gabriella was waiting in the airport again. Her flight was scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. Please don't let there be any problems this time. Gabriella boarded her flight and headed back towards Albuquerque. By 9 a.m. she was back at home. But Troy wasn't there. He was at work. Today was the day she was supposed to be returning, but he wasn't expecting her back until 8 p.m. How was she going to make it through another day without seeing him? If only the day would go by quickly…

Troy walked into his house that evening after a long day at work. He was exhausted but was looking forward to picking his wife up at the airport later that night. He couldn't wait to see her. The past five days had been the longest of his life and he didn't ever want to go that long without seeing her again. He walked upstairs to his room to change out of his work clothes and into something more comfortable.

Troy walked into the bedroom and went straight to the closet, not even noticing the presence of another person in the room. When Troy came out of the closet holding the clothes he planned to change into, he stopped, finally noticing his sleeping wife on their bed. She's back! But why so soon? How? None of that mattered though. She was home, finally.

Troy walked over to the bed and crawled up on it, lying down next to her on his side so he could watch her sleep. He wanted so bad to just hold her in his arms. He had missed being able to touch her. He didn't want to wake her though. She looked so peaceful.

Finally after a few minutes of just watching her, Troy couldn't bear to be this close and not touch her, he reached over and brushed her hair out of her face before leaning in and brushing his lips gently across her cheek.

Gabriella stirred in her sleep as Troy continued to plant soft kisses along Gabriella's jaw line and neck. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Troy and smiled, pulling him down for a kiss. When the need for air came, Troy pulled back and looked down at Gabriella, who still had her eyes closed.

"Welcome home, babe. I missed you so much."

Gabriella opened her eyes and looked into those pools of blue that she had missed so much. "I missed you too. I missed those kisses."

Troy smiled and leaned down to kiss her again. When he pulled back he looked down at Gabriella with confusion in his eyes. "What are you doing here? Not that I don't want you here but I'm just confused. I thought you weren't going to be here until tonight."

"Well I tried to come home two days ago because we got everything wrapped up long before we thought we would, but we ended up with more meetings scheduled. But we got those done early too, so I decided to surprise you. I tried to come back last night…" Gabriella proceeded to tell Troy about all the flight problems she had. "I've been here since 9 this morning going crazy because I just wanted to see you."

"I missed you so much. I'm glad you are back early."

"Me too."

Troy and Gabriella laid there in silence for a while, just happy to be back in the embrace of one another.

"Troy?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something without you getting mad?"

Troy, thinking it was something about her business trip and Ryan, began to get worried. "Yeah…" he said cautiously.

"Well…you know how we've always talked about having kids and you said that you wanted to wait several years before we had any?"

"Yeah…I just want some time with just you before we have to worry about little one's running around."

"Oh…is that how you feel now?"

"Yeah, plus I don't think I'm ready to be a father yet. I mean I'm still getting used to being a husband. Why?"

"No reason."

Over the next week, Gabriella began distancing herself from Troy. Troy noticed this right away. He was worried that he did something, but every time he brought it up, Gabriella would tell him that everything was fine. He also noticed that any time the subject of kids was brought up around Gabriella, she was touchy about it and would try to change the subject. Troy decided that it was time to talk about it.

Troy and Gabriella were sitting next to each other on the couch watching a movie. "Brie, can we talk?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I've been noticing something lately about you."

"What?"

"Well every time that someone brings up the topic of kids you don't want to talk about it. You always change the subject, get easily irritated about it, or just walk away from the conversation. Why is that?"

"I don't know. Do we have to talk about this?"

"Yes, I want to know why, Brie. See…you're trying to get out of the conversation again. What's going on? You've been like this since our conversation last week. Is this because I told you I'm not ready to have kids?"

Gabriella looked at Troy. "Troy…we don't have to talk about this. I'm fine…really."

"Yes we do. Brie, do you want to have kids? Is that what this is all about? Are you ready for kids now?"

Gabriella looked down timidly at her hands in her lap. "Maybe."

Troy put a finger on Gabriella's chin and turned her head so she was looking at him. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

"You said you weren't ready for kids so I didn't want to push it."

"Brie, if you're ready for kids then so am I. I don't want to hold you back from your dream of becoming a mother. Honestly, the thought of becoming a father scares me to death, but I know that with you by my side we can make it together."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what would you say right now if I told you that you were going to be a father?"

"Seriously? I would be the happiest man in the world knowing that you are carrying my child."

"Well then get ready. As of October you are going to be a father."

"What? Are you kidding?" Troy jumped up from the couch bringing Gabriella with him. He picked her up and twirled her around with a big grin on his face. When he set her down he looked into her eyes. "I love you!"

"I love you too. I'm assuming that you really are happy?"

"Of course! We're going to have a baby!" Troy was still grinning like a Cheshire cat. "How long have you known?"

"A little over a week. I took a pregnancy test while I was gone on the business trip."

"You tried to tell me last week when you got back didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept this from you as long as I did. I was just so scared because you said you weren't ready for kids. I was afraid of what your reaction would be."

"Babe, as long as we are in it together we will make it through just fine."

Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!