Five years had gone by and a lot has happened for Troy, Gabriella, and their little family. Troy and Gabriella have been going to couples therapy so that they could work on their individual past issues and help each other understand what is going on. Troy and Gabriella had just celebrated their five-year anniversary. They had discussed marriage a couple years back but knew that their issues had to be worked out first to do that. Their daughter, Lily, was five years old and in preschool. She looked exactly like Gabriella with her long brown hair and olive toned skin. But, with Troy's cobalt blue eyes. Gabriella had gotten her GED and was now going to University of Albuquerque part-time. She was studying social work. Troy walked into the house and smiled when he saw Lily run towards him.
"Hey Lily pad, what have you been doing?" Troy asked putting his arm on her back as she hugged his knee.
"TV" Lily said.
"Where's mommy?" Troy asked.
"Doing her homework in the kitchen" Lily said.
"Okay" Troy said.
Lily let go of Troy and the father-daughter duo walked into the kitchen where Gabriella was doing her homework. Troy walked over to Gabriella and kissed her cheek.
"Hey baby, how's your day been?" Troy asked.
"Fine. Just doing homework for class tomorrow. How was therapy?" Gabriella asked.
"It was fine. I would like to talk to you about some stuff after Lily goes to bed" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. That night, the couple put Lily to bed. They walked out of their daughter's bedroom and into their own. Troy started unbuttoning his shirt.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Gabriella asked.
"Melissa wanted me to make sure that you were okay. She had mentioned you brought up marriage. When she told me that, I wanted to make sure that you were okay too" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled softly.
"I had just told her that I felt like you and I were on a good path and that we were waiting until this point to get married" Gabriella said looking down.
Troy took his shirt off and pants.
"Gabi" Troy said softly.
"I shouldn't have brought it up" Gabriella said.
"Baby, listen to me. You and I are on a good path, I agree with you. But, we still have to make sure that individually we are okay too. There's no rush to get married" Troy said.
Silent tears ran down Gabriella's cheeks.
"Talk to me, Gabriella. There's something else" Troy said.
"Flashbacks are coming back. I just…feel a lot…" Gabriella cried.
Troy hugged Gabriella close. Gabriella sobbed into his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around neck. Troy kissed Gabriella's head softly.
"I'm here. You are safe baby" Troy said.
Throughout the time that Gabriella and Troy started dating, Gabriella's flashbacks would come back once in a great while. It was mostly during stressful times. Thirty minutes later, Gabriella was still in Troy's arms but silent. Troy was rubbing her back in soothing circles and kissed her head.
"When was the last one that you had?" Troy asked.
"Two months ago" Gabriella said.
"When we fought?" Troy asked remembering.
Gabriella nodded.
"How do you feel now?" Troy asked.
"Better" Gabriella said softly.
"I love you" Troy said.
Gabriella sniffled.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
"We are going to be okay. We just must work on ourselves" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips softly. The next morning, Troy got up and kissed Gabriella, who was still sleeping. He walked down the hall and poked his head into Lily's room and saw her getting out of bed.
"Daddy" Lily said.
Troy smiled. He kneeled down and Lily walked into his arms and hugged him.
"Where's mommy?" Lily asked.
"Mommy is still sleeping. Let's go downstairs, okay?" Troy said.
Lily nodded. Troy and Lily walked downstairs. Troy made breakfast for Lily and coffee for himself. An hour later, Gabriella walked into the kitchen. She kissed Lily's cheek.
"Hey baby, how did you sleep?" Gabriella asked.
"Good" Lily said.
Gabriella smiled. She walked over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Morning" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled slightly.
"Morning" Gabriella said.
"Do you want me to drop Lily off at my parents' house, so you could get your work done?" Troy asked.
"We have an appointment today. Mom is already coming to get her at noon" Gabriella said.
Troy put his hand over his eyes.
"I forgot" Troy said.
Gabriella looked at Troy.
"Cancel your meetings" Gabriella said softly.
Troy nodded. That afternoon, the couple was driving to their couple's therapy appointment.
"I didn't mean to upset you" Troy said.
Gabriella shook her head.
"I'm just frustrated, that's all" Gabriella said.
"About us?" Troy asked.
"No. With myself" Gabriella said.
"Gabi, this isn't your fault" Troy said.
"It feels like it is sometimes" Gabriella said.
Troy pulled over to the side of the street and stopped his car. He looked at Gabriella.
"Gabi, look at me, please?" Troy asked.
Gabriella looked at Troy with tears in her eyes.
"There is trauma. A lot of it. Both of us are dealing with it at our own pace. None of this is your fault. It's not anyone's fault. It just happened, baby" Troy said.
Gabriella sniffled.
"These flashbacks are not your fault. Nicole dying while giving birth to her and my child is not my fault. We just need to figure out how to cope with this stuff" Troy said placing his hand carefully on her hand.
A lump formed in Gabriella's throat. She remembered the first time that she allowed Troy to touch her.
"Troy, I can't touch" Gabriella cried.
Troy's eyes filled with tears. He let go of Gabriella's hand.
"I'm sorry" Troy said softly.
"I wish I could right now" Gabriella said softly.
"I know" Troy said.
Troy started his car again and drove to their therapist's office. That night, Gabriella got her pillow and blanket and went downstairs. Troy was watching television with Lily and saw Gabriella come downstairs with her pillows. A couple minutes later, Gabriella came out to living room.
"I'm going to sleep in the guest room tonight, okay?" Gabriella said.
Troy knew that he shouldn't argue with Gabriella about it so he nodded.
"Mommy" Lily said.
Gabriella smiled at her daughter.
"Come watch with us, mommy" Lily said.
Gabriella kneeled down and opened her arms. Lily walked into them.
"Baby, I'm not feeling very well. I'm going to go to sleep" Gabriella said.
"Okay" Lily said.
"Can you do me a big favor though?" Gabriella asked.
Lily nodded. Gabriella smiled. She whispered into her daughter's ear. Lily looked at Gabriella and nodded. She walked to Troy and kissed his cheek. Troy looked at Lily and smiled.
"That was from mommy" Lily said.
Troy nodded. He motioned to Lily to come closer to him. Troy whispered into Lily's ear. Lily smiled and nodded. She walked over to Gabriella and motioned for her to kneel to her level. Gabriella kneeled down and Lily kissed her cheek. She smiled.
"That was from daddy" Lily said.
Gabriella said goodnight to her daughter and Troy and went into the guest room. A couple nights later, Gabriella walked upstairs and went into her and Troy's bedroom. She got into bed and snuggled into his chest. Troy opened his eyes.
"It's over" Gabriella said referring to her flashback.
Troy turned on his bedside lamp.
I'm sorry" Gabriella said.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. We are working on this. It has gotten a lot better" Troy said.
"What did you think of what Melissa said?" Gabriella asked.
"We both want to make it work. We just got to work on one thing at a time" Troy said.
"You've been doing really well" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"So, have you" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. She leaned in and kissed Troy's lips.
"We are going to be okay" Troy said.
A couple weeks later, Gabriella came home from school and smiled when she saw Troy and Lily in the kitchen making dinner.
"Mind if I join the dinner party?" Gabriella asked.
"Mommy" Lily said jumping into her arms.
"Hi baby, what are you guys making?" Gabriella asked looking into pots on the stove.
"Spaghetti" Lily said.
"Mm" Gabriella said kissing her daughter's cheek.
Gabriella put Lily down and watched her walk to the living room. She looked at Troy.
"How was school?" Troy asked.
"Fine. I passed my exam" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips.
"That's great, babe" Troy said.
"Thanks. I'm just ready to be done" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"You will be done soon. There's no rush" Troy said.
"Troy?" Gabriella asked.
"Hmm" Troy said making sure the spaghetti was simmering.
"Am I too much to handle?" Gabriella asked softly.
Troy looked at Gabriella.
"What?" Troy asked shocked by her question.
Gabriella swallowed hard.
"With the nightmares, flashbacks, not letting you even hold my hand, or sleeping in the same bed. It must be bothering you too" Gabriella said.
"Gabriella, I love you. I want to take that pain that you feel away from you. But, I know that I can't. It bothers me the same way it bothers you" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed. She wrapped her arms around Troy. Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella and kissed her cheek.
"Maybe we can watch some movies tonight" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled slightly.
"Okay" Troy said.
"And Troy?" Gabriella said.
"Hmm.." Troy said stirring the spaghetti.
"I love you so much. I don't want you to think that I don't" Gabriella said.
Troy looked at Gabriella and silently asked for permission, to which Gabriella nodded. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips softly.
"I never doubted that you didn't. I know that this may never go away. I just wish I could help you more with it" Troy said.
"You just being there helps" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled slightly. That night, Troy had gotten into bed. He didn't know if Gabriella was going to sleep with him upstairs or if she was going to stay in the guest room. Gabriella walked into the bedroom and smiled softly.
"Hey, you still want to watch movies?" Gabriella asked.
Troy smiled and nodded. He opened the covers on Gabriella's side of the bed. Gabriella climbed into bed and snuggled into Troy's chest. Gabriella had told him earlier that he was supposed to pick the movie. Troy turned on the movie and Gabriella smiled when she saw the title. Half way through the movie, Troy felt Gabriella's lips on his jaw.
"Gabi" Troy said slowly.
"Sh.." Gabriella said softly.
Troy felt Gabriella's lips go down to his bare shoulder. He closed his eyes. Troy knew that they shouldn't be doing anything because of Gabriella's recent nightmares and flashbacks.
"Gabriella, stop" Troy said gently.
Gabriella pulled back and looked at him confused.
"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked.
"Your nightmares and flashbacks. I don't-" Troy started.
"You will never hurt me" Gabriella said.
Troy looked into Gabriella's eyes.
"I want to show you how much I love you, Troy" Gabriella said.
Troy took a deep breath and released it.
"If you have a flashback, you stop me. That's not a suggestion either" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. The couple made love. Two hours later, Gabriella's head was resting on Troy's chest.
"You okay?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded.
"I missed you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"I missed you too" Troy said kissing Gabriella's bare shoulder.
A couple weeks later, Troy came home later than usual. He walked into the house and went upstairs and found Gabriella sitting with her computer.
"Hey" Gabriella said.
"Hey baby" Troy said kissing her lips.
"How was the meeting?" Gabriella asked.
"It went well. We may have a new proposal done within the week" Troy said.
"That's great" Gabriella said.
"Lily in bed?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded.
"I told her that you would give her a kiss goodnight when you got home" Gabriella said.
"Daddy duty calls" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. Troy walked out of the bedroom and went to Lily's. He walked over to his sleeping daughter's bed and kissed her head softly.
"Night night baby. I love you" Troy whispered.
Troy quietly walked out of the bedroom and went back to his and Gabriella's. He took his shirt off and got into bed. Troy noticed that Gabriella was really stiff and looked stressed out.
"Baby, is something bothering you? Did you have a flashback?" Troy asked.
Gabriella took Troy's hand in his own.
"What would you do if I said that I might be pregnant?" Gabriella asked.
