Miracles Happen Once in a While
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Troy walked into the house after a long day at the studio, a smile on his face even after a stressful day because this time he actually had someone to come home to.
Gabriella had moved in with him earlier in the week. This had been his first day back to work. They had worked on getting her all settled in and somewhat familiar with the area before he had left her alone for an entire day. It had been a month since she had finally decided to move in with him. She had put in her resignation at the hospital about a week after that and had let her landlord know she would not be signing another lease with him. Troy couldn't have been happier.
For so long Troy had felt insecure about the relationship. He knew he loved Gabriella and that feeling was mutual. However, there was always that nagging feeling that something was going to come between them and split them apart. That had been the case for so long. Every time it started working out and things were looking up, something happened to spoil it all. But now…now she was by his side and things were going to be okay.
Troy put his keys down on the table by the door and hung his jacket up, listening for any sign of where he might find her. Noises were heard from upstairs. He quietly walked up the stairs, still listening for where she might be. Her soft humming led him to their bedroom. He still found it hard to believe that she was there, living with him in the house he had bought after he found out she wanted to move in with him. He only wanted the best for her, and his small apartment definitely wouldn't do.
He approached the door and leaned against the doorframe, silently watching her as she was folding some laundry she had done that day. She was softly humming the tune of a song that Troy had written for her. With her back to him, Troy quietly walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
She jumped, whipping her head around to look at him. She put her hand up to her heart, dropping the shirt she had been folding. "God, Troy. You scared me!"
"Sorry babe. I wasn't trying to." She turned around in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. He leaned down and pecked her lips. "How was your day?"
She shrugged. "Eh, it was okay. It was too quiet, though. I got bored."
"I'm sorry. Well, I'm here now. And Steven knows that I am to have no distractions tonight. So…" Troy reached in his pocket to pull out his phone, turning it off. "No phone…just in case. I was thinking that maybe we could just order in tonight, watch a movie. Sound okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. I'm really tired. I think all this unpacking and touring the city has wore me out this week…not to mention everything else," she said, wiggling her eyebrows at Troy.
Troy grinned. "Well, tonight it's just you and me, babe. Why don't you come downstairs, pick out a movie and I'll call for food. You can just sit back and relax for a while."
Gabriella nodded and smiled. The two went downstairs, spending the rest of the evening curled up together on the couch.
Over the next few months, being together had proved to be the best thing for Troy and Gabriella's relationship. Their relationship only got stronger. They both loved all the time they were able to spend together, learning not to complain about all the time Troy was away because it was still more time together than they would have had, had Gabriella not moved in with him.
Gabriella traveled alone back to Albuquerque when Taylor had the baby. She arrived a few days before Taylor was due and stayed with her for a couple weeks until everything was settled. Gabriella couldn't have been happier for her friends on their new addition to their family and loved the time she was getting to spend with them, but was ready to get back to Troy.
When Gabriella arrived back in New York, she decided she needed to make a stop on her way home. While in Albuquerque, she had started to get sick and she told Taylor that she was a couple weeks late. Taylor had told her she needed to take a pregnancy test, just to be safe. Gabriella told her she'd hold off until she made it back to New York, not really wanting to know just yet. The topic of family had always been something that had been brought up casually between her and Troy. However, it wasn't something either of them were ready for now. So the prospect of her being pregnant scared the shit out of her.
Gabriella stopped by the drug store and picked up a few pregnancy tests, deciding to take more than one to be sure. When she got home, Troy wasn't there and she breathed a sigh of relief, wanting a few minutes to just get the tests over with before he got there. If they were negative, she didn't want to be worrying him with anything. If they were positive though, she'd have to find a way to tell him and she wasn't sure how he would take it. Would he ask her to leave? Send her back to Albuquerque? Now wasn't exactly the best time in his career to try to incorporate a child.
Gabriella went upstairs and took the three tests she had bought and waited a few minutes, anxious of the results. Did she want a family right now? Could she handle having a child? As she sat there and waited, she realized that just knowing it was Troy's child made it all better. She knew she wanted to have Troy's children and she would love this baby with all she had. She just hoped he felt the same way…
Gabriella reached over and checked the tests after a few minutes. All three of them showed the same answer.
Positive.
A small smile came to her face before she panicked. "Oh, god. What am I going to tell Troy?"
"What are you going to tell me?" Gabriella jumped at the sound of his voice, not having heard him come in the house.
"Uh…" Gabriella stuttered, looking everywhere but at Troy as she tried to hide the tests.
"What's wrong, Christine? You're very pale. Are you feeling okay?" Troy asked as he cupped her left cheek in his hand. "Why don't you come lie down?"
"No…I'm okay…just tired from my trip. How was your day?" Gabriella asked, trying to change the subject and get the focus off of her.
"It was okay, but I'm not letting this go. Are you sure you're feeling alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Gabriella said as she felt the tests that were still in her hand. "Um…actually…I do have something that I need to talk to you about…"
Troy frowned. "What is it?"
"Well…can we go sit first?" Troy nodded and Gabriella followed him out of the bathroom into their bedroom, sitting next to him as he grabbed her hand and held it in his own.
"What did you want to talk about? Is everything okay? Are Taylor and the baby okay?"
"Yeah, they're doing great…but while I was there, Taylor made me think about something…" Gabriella trailed off.
Troy looked at Gabriella, confused on what she had been thinking about. "What were you thinking?" As Troy pondered what could have possibly gotten Gabriella so nervous, he began to get nervous himself thinking of the possibilities. "You're not regretting moving out here are you?"
Gabriella's eyes widened. "Oh god no!" Gabriella said, squeezing Troy's hand. "I love being here with you. I couldn't wait to get back here to see you. I just….I don't know how you're going to feel about me being here after I tell you this…"
"Just tell me Gabriella. You're starting to worry me."
"Troy, what would you say if we were to start our own little family."
Troy was surprised. He hadn't expected that topic to be brought up. "Well…I want that with you someday, but I don't really think that right now is the best time to start a family together. I mean you just moved in and we just got our relationship leveled out. I just want to spend time with you." Gabriella nodded and looked away. Troy reached over and pulled her face gently back to look at him. "Gabriella, are you wanting a family?"
Gabriella hesitated, then nodded. "I was watching Taylor's family and just couldn't help but wish that I had my own. I talked to Taylor about it. But that's where the problem comes in. While I was there I started feeling sick and I realized I was a couple weeks late." Troy nodded, then his eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Gabriella continued. "Troy, I took some tests a few minutes ago to see if my suspicions were correct…and they were. I'm pregnant, Troy."
Troy sat there speechless. He didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected anything like this so soon. Was he ready to be a father? Could he handle taking care of a child?
He looked up at Gabriella to find tears in her eyes. "Please say something," she whispered.
Troy reached over and pulled her into a hug. "It's going to be okay," he said. They could do this. They would raise this child…this little baby that they had created out of their love for one another. He was going to be a father!
The more he thought about it, the happier he became. He was going to have a baby with this woman who had brought him more joy in his life than he had ever thought possible. He pulled back from Gabriella, taking her face into his hands as he looked in her eyes and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "We're going to be parents," he whispered to her, as he grinned.
"You mean you're not angry?"
"Angry? No! I'm ecstatic! I'm having a baby with the love of my life!" Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella once more as she let out a couple of sobs in relief that he wasn't upset with her. She didn't know what she would have done if he had been angry. "Does anyone else know?" he asked.
Gabriella sniffled and took a deep breath. "No, not yet. At least not officially. I told Taylor I was going to take the tests, but I haven't told her what the results were."
Troy nodded. "You're going to be a great mom."
"And you're going to be a great dad."
They continued to talk about the baby and becoming parents, discussing Troy's schedule and how it would all play out together.
Gabriella went to the doctor a few days later to officially confirm the tests that she had taken at home, only for the doctor to proudly announce she was in fact expecting. She and Troy had called those they were closest to and told them the good news. Everyone was happy for them.
Over the next month, Gabriella had begun getting really excited for the baby and had begun buying things for it. Troy had brought in a contractor to remodel one of the rooms in the house to make it a better space for a nursery. The project only took two weeks to complete, and by this time, Gabriella was about two and a half months along. She had just had her first ultrasound and the parents-to-be couldn't have been more joyful to see the little one growing inside Gabriella.
Troy had another couple of shows coming up, which would take him away for the weekend. Gabriella was dreading this time, knowing she would miss Troy very much while he was away, but also knowing she would be bored the entire time. The day before he left, she decided to bring up the subject of her finding a job.
"Troy, I want to go back to work."
Troy looked at her, surprise evident in his eyes. "Why? Gabriella I can take care of you. You don't need to have a job."
Gabriella shook her head. "It's not that…I just get so bored when you're at work. I need something to do. It's not about the money. You've told me over and over that you can support me. I just want something to do."
"Gabi, I really don't think with you being pregnant that you should start up something. What if you waited until after the baby was born and then we can talk about it some more then?"
Gabriella sighed. "Troy, I want something to do now. You're going away tomorrow and for a couple of days. What do you expect me to do while you're away? I can't just sit around here all the time. And every time I even try to go to the mall or some place like that, the press hound me the entire time I'm gone. I mean, at least this time you won't be gone very long, but what about all those times you have coming up that you're going to be gone for weeks or months on end?"
Troy let out a deep sigh. "I know, Gabi, and I'm sorry about the press. But I would just feel better knowing that you're here, safe."
They both went to bed that night, things still unresolved. The next morning, Troy took his luggage downstairs, getting ready to leave. He pulled Gabriella to him as he stood next to the door.
"Gabi, let's finish our conversation from last night after I get back in a couple days. We'll talk more about it then, okay?"
Gabriella nodded, though she still didn't agree with him. She had to find something to do while he was away, even if that meant just searching her options. Troy left, calling her later that night after his show.
The next night, Troy called again after his show.
"Hey babe. How was your day?"
"It was good. I miss you, though. How was your show?"
Troy sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "It was good. You know….screaming fans…loud music…the normal…." Gabriella laughed, which was music to Troy's ears. "I miss you so much. What did you do today?"
Gabriella hesitated, wondering if she should tell him what she did today, but figuring it shouldn't matter. "Well, I drove around town for a while. I went out looking for doctor's offices and hospitals that are within a nice distance of our house."
"Oh, for when the baby comes?" Troy asked, pleased she was taking precautions and planning ahead.
Gabriella bit her bottom lip, hesitating once again before she told him. "No…for a job."
"What? Gabriella I told you we were going to talk about it when I get home tomorrow. What did you do that? You know how I feel!"
Gabriella's eyes started to water hearing him raise his voice. She knew he was angry, but he had never raised his voice like that at her. "What about how I feel?" she asked quietly.
Troy still heard her though. He could tell she was crying, but his anger at her going against what they had talked about got the best of him. "Right now that doesn't matter. You said we would talk about it when I got home, yet you took everything into your own hands! I don't want to talk about this right now. I'll see you when I get home tomorrow."
Troy hung up and Gabriella sat there staring at her phone, tears coursing down her cheeks. "I love you," she whispered. Troy hadn't even said that before he hung up. She knew he was angry, and she hated when he was upset with her. But he hadn't even stopped to consider how she was feeling about all of this. All he was worried about was what he thought about it all.
Gabriella laid down in bed that night and cried herself to sleep. She woke up early the next morning to severe abdominal pains. She sat up in bed and grasped her stomach before throwing the blankets back to go to the bathroom. That was when she noticed the blood on the sheets.
She let out a scream. Moments later, she heard a knock on the door.
"Ms. Gabi, are you alright?" It was the housekeeper, Olivia. She peeked in the door to check on Gabriella and gasped at the sight she saw before her. "Ms. Gabi, we must get you to the hospital right now!"
Gabriella nodded, grabbing some clothes and cleaning herself up the best she could. Olivia drove her to the hospital and sat with her while the doctors ran some tests. A couple hours later, the doctor came in to let Gabriella know she had had a miscarriage. Gabriella grasped her stomach as she laid there and cried. The doctor wanted to keep her for a while longer just to be sure everything else was okay. Olivia sat there and held Gabriella's hand the entire time, trying to bring as much comfort as possible to the young girl.
Around 1:00 that afternoon, Troy stepped inside his house, noticing how quiet it was. He thought it was odd considering Olivia or Gabriella should have been there making some kind of noise. He decided to check in the bedroom, thinking Gabriella might be taking a nap. When he walked in, though, he never imagined that he would see the sight before him. The bloodied sheets were still on the bed, Gabriella nowhere in sight. Troy panicked.
Troy dialed Gabriella's cell and waited for her to pick up, hoping she would pick up. They hadn't spoken since the previous night and he knew they didn't end the conversation well….he didn't end the conversation well and he felt extremely guilty about that. He shouldn't have treated her the way he did.
Olivia heard Gabriella's phone and looked to see who was calling, knowing she needed to let someone know where Gabriella was. Troy was calling her. She looked over at the sleeping Gabriella once more before grabbing the phone and walking out to the hallway to answer it.
"Mr. Bolton?"
"Olivia? What are you doing answering Gabriella's phone? And where is she? Is she okay?" Troy asked, now panicking know that Olivia was wherever Gabriella was.
"Mr. Bolton, I brought Ms. Gabi to the hospital this morning. She's had a miscarriage. You need to get down here right away. The doctor is keeping her for a while longer to make sure everything else is okay. She's sleeping right now, but the doctor said she's just been under too much stress."
Too much stress? Troy thought. More than likely stress that I caused.
Troy hated himself right now. He just kept thinking that he had caused the death of his child, which could have caused harm to Gabriella. He focused back on the conversation. "I'm on my way, Olivia."
The hung up and Troy ran back to his car, speeding to the hospital. When he got there and arrived at Gabriella's room, he immediately placed himself next to her bed, grabbing her hand. Olivia stepped out of the room, saying she was going to go ahead and go now that Gabriella had someone there with her. Troy nodded as he continued to look down on Gabriella.
He hated seeing her in this position, especially knowing he had put her here this time. If only he hadn't yelled at her or hung up on her or if he had just listened to her and helped to make the conversation a rational conversation where they just talked everything out…maybe she wouldn't be here…maybe they would still be expecting their first child together.
Troy rubbed gentle circles on her hand as he sat there, tears streaming down his face, still beating himself up inside for ever causing her so much pain. Gabriella began to stir, slowly opening up her eyes and looking over to the person who was holding her hand. What Troy saw in her eyes scared him. Fear…pain…unshed tears.
"I'm so sorry, Troy," she said, as the first tears traveled down her cheeks.
Troy shook his head. "No…this is not your fault. You couldn't have known. If anyone is to blame, it's me. I have caused you so much pain and I'm so deeply sorry. If only I hadn't yelled at you or hung up on you…if I had just listened…."
"No, Troy…" Gabriella interrupted. "This isn't your fault either. The doctor said I just had too much stress on my body."
"Exactly…if I hadn't caused so much of that stress. I know a lot of it came just because of me…because of how I treated you. I'll never be able to forgive myself." Troy stood up from the chair and paced the room, walking over by the window. "I was so excited to be home so I could apologize and things would just go back to how they were. I just wanted to see you. But when I got home, all I was greeted with was an empty bed with sheets that had blood all over them. God…I was so worried…I didn't know where you were or what happened. Olivia wasn't even there so that worried me even more."
Gabriella put her hand out to Troy for him to take. He walked over, grabbing her hand and sitting in the chair once again, pulling Gabriella closer to him as he placed soft kisses to her head, tears still leaking from his eyes.
Gabriella was released later in the day after the doctor said she was safe to go home. She was to check in with her doctor again within the week.
Gabriella went straight to bed when she got home, the sheets having been replaced by Olivia earlier in the day. Everything had been cleaned for her so there were no traces that anything had happened. Gabriella laid down, crying herself to sleep as Troy stood by feeling helpless, not really sure what to do.
Midway through the night, Troy woke up to an empty bed. He began to panic, not knowing where Gabriella had went. He walked out into the hall, only to hear sobs coming from the room across the hall…the nursery.
He pushed the door open, seeing Gabriella curled up in the corner on the floor with one of the baby blankets she had bought, sobs wracking her body. He walked over to her, pulling her into his lap, rubbing her back and placing kisses to her head in between the loving words he whispered into her ear. After a while, she calmed down enough to fall asleep in his arms.
The next morning, Troy had a horrible crick in his neck from falling asleep in the nursery propped up against the wall with Gabriella in his arms. She was still asleep when he woke up, so he did his best to get up without waking her up and walked her back to their room before closing the door and heading downstairs. He pulled out his phone and called Steven, telling him what had happened the day before and that he was taking a few days off. Steven was understanding and told him to let him know what he could do for them. Troy thanked him before hanging up and heading to the kitchen to fix something for Gabriella to eat.
Over the next few weeks, Troy slowly got back into work, working only part days at first so he could spend more time with Gabriella, but now finally working full days. Gabriella was slowly getting back to normal, though there were still nights when he would find her in the nursery crying.
Gabriella had brought up the subject of going back to work once again, saying she really needed something to do. She told him she wanted something to keep her mind off of things. Troy still didn't agree, even more so now, because he thought she just needed to rest. Gabriella, however, was adamant. They finally agreed on her going back to work if she took it easy. She agreed to find a job that wasn't as hectic as her last job at the hospital.
She ended up finding a job at a doctor's office that was only a few blocks from their house. The hours weren't long, but it gave her something to do during the day while Troy was at work as well, leaving their evenings free for one another.
Troy had another tour coming up as well, meaning that now that she had a job, she wouldn't have to worry so much about finding something to do. She would only have to worry about the evenings.
During part of the time Troy was away, Kelsi came to visit. She stayed for about a week, keeping Gabriella entertained. Gabriella showed her around the city, going out every night and experiencing some parts of the city she hadn't had the opportunity to yet.
For another few days while Troy was away, Jess happened to stop by. Gabriella hadn't seen her since she was in the hospital accident, so to see her again was a surprise.
"Troy's not here," Gabriella said, holding the door open but wanting so desperately to close it.
"Yeah, I heard that he was out on tour. I was actually wanting to talk to you. Can I come in?"
Gabriella hesitated but let her in anyway, wondering what she could possible have to say to her this time. They sat down in the living room and Jess started talking. She told Gabriella how sorry she was about trying to split up her and Troy. She told her about how she hadn't ever seen Troy this happy with a woman before, nor this attached.
Jess stayed for a couple hours, she and Gabriella finally able to talk and laugh freely together. Jess told Gabriella about her and Troy Burke starting to date again and how Burke had been very persistent about getting back together. They were working things out. By the time Jess left, Gabriella felt like she had formed a new friendship. Jess was living there in the city now, having transferred jobs, so they made plans to go have dinner the following night.
Troy's tour was finally up after three months. He was supposed to be coming home and Gabriella was preparing for him to get there. She was in the kitchen when he got there, humming along to the radio and cooking spaghetti. She had just turned the sauce off and drained the noodles when she felt him snake his hands around her waist. She looked around at him and smiled, happy for him to finally be home.
"Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes," she said as she pulled back from their kiss.
"Mmm…I don't think dinner is what I'm ready for right now," he whispered in her ear, slightly moving his hips to show her what he was implying. He started kissing down her neck, teasing her with his teeth and tongue.
She let out a slight gasp as he continued his torture on her neck, knowing right where she received the most pleasure. "Troy…" she said breathlessly. "Troy, what about dinner?"
"Forget dinner," he said, leaning back up to look her in the eye. "I just want you."
She saw the hunger and desire in his eyes as he swooped down capture her lips in an earth-shattering kiss. He pulled back long enough to rip her shirt over her head and throw it to the floor of the kitchen. She did the same to him, as they each made quick work to the rest of their clothing as well, immediately joining their lips together as they sunk to the floor together. It had been too long.
Troy didn't wait long as he had been ready for her since long before he had arrived home. It didn't take long for her to be ready either. Troy positioned himself and slowly slid into her, their moans blending together.
"God, Gabi…I missed you so much," Troy said, trailing kisses up Gabriella's neck to the side of her face and eventually her lips. "I love you so much."
"I missed you too," she said as he captured her lips. "I love you."
The eventually made it to the bedroom, the spaghetti long forgotten as they made up for lost time together.
Troy had a month off that he was able to spend with Gabriella before finally going back to work. They spent lots of time together, Gabriella taking a few days off of work in order to spend some quality time with him.
About two months after Troy had returned from his tour, he had been working non-stop for about a month again, and Gabriella had been as well. She had been feeling nauseas for a couple days and had thought that maybe it was just from being so busy recently and not getting much sleep. But as the days wore on, she continued to feel that way and couldn't get over it. She decided to make an appointment with the doctor and asked him if he could make time for her at the end of the day after her shift was up. He agreed and ran a couple tests to find out what was wrong. The results she got, however, were not what she was expecting.
"Gabriella, you're pregnant," he told her.
Gabriella sat there, stunned. She hadn't even considered that possibility, nor did she want to, even though she really didn't have a choice. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or not.
Over the next couple of weeks, she found herself thinking about it a lot and still mourning the loss of the first baby. She was worried that the same thing would happen to this one. The voiced her concerns to the doctor and he told her just to focus on relaxing the first few months until she got out of her first trimester when things were still fragile and questionable and anything could go wrong. She decided to wait to tell Troy.
Troy, however, noticed a huge difference in her and knew something was wrong. But each time he wanted to talk to her about it she pulled away even further than she already was and refused to talk about anything, saying she was fine. She hadn't been sleeping in with him very much and he found her crying on several occasions. He wanted to be there for her and comfort her, but she just kept pushing him away.
After about a month of this, Troy couldn't handle it any longer. His heart was breaking and he wanted nothing but to make her feel better. She kept telling him that he didn't do anything, that there wasn't a problem, but it didn't make him feel any better. Troy was getting ready to leave on another week long trip to go do some shows. He decided to ask her one more time what the problem was after she hadn't talked to him at all the night before and she hadn't come to bed.
After taking his luggage downstairs and setting it beside the door, he walked into the living room and found her on the couch crying once again. He sat down on the coffee table in front of her and took hold of her hands, kissing both of them before speaking.
He looked her directly in the eyes, his heart breaking at the tears and pain he say there. "Gabi, please talk to me," he whispered. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. Are you missing home? Do you need to go back to Albuquerque?"
She shook her head. "No, this is my home now. Wherever you are is home to me."
"Then what's wrong. And don't tell me nothing is wrong because you've been crying for a month and you've hardly talked to me. I can't handle this any longer, Gabi. I can't stand to see you like this." He kept talking to her in a soft voice, trying to bring some kind of comfort to her.
"I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about it," she said as she looked down at her lap.
Troy pulled back slightly, letting go of her hands. "Well please let me know when you are. I'll be back in a week, maybe we can talk then. I know you haven't wanted to talk much, so I won't call. If you want to talk, I'll let you call me." She looked up at him just before he stood up to walk away, noticing the pain in his eyes. She had hurt him.
Just before he reached the door to leave, he heard her shout his name. He turned around just in time to catch her as she ran into his arms.
"I'm so sorry, Troy. I'm just so scared."
He dropped his bag and rubbed her back, pulling her closer to him as he planted kisses on her head. "Why are you scared?"
"Because I'm pregnant," she said into his chest.
Troy stopped rubbing her back, wondering if he heard her correctly. He pulled back so he could see her. "You're pregnant?" he asked, surprised.
She nodded. "So that's what all this has been about?" She nodded again. He let out a sigh of relief and a sob as tears came to his eyes. He pulled her close once again as they stood there and cried together. "You have no idea how relieved I am."
"You mean, you're okay with it?" she asked.
Troy looked at her, surprised she would ask him that. "Are you serious? I'm thrilled! But what about you? Aren't you happy? How long have you known?"
She snuggled back into Troy's chest as he began rubbing it again. "I've known for about a month. And I'm happy. I mean…I want a baby…I want your baby. But…I'm just afraid that it's going to happen again…and you're not here all the time. I just don't want anything to happen…but I especially don't want anything to happen when you're not here."
Troy nodded, understanding. "Well, I'll talk to Steven, make sure I'm here for all of the appointments. We'll make sure that we only have weekend gigs from here on out until we get closer to when you have the baby and then I'll be right here. We'll be okay this time, I promise. And if anything happens…I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Troy put his hands on both sides of Gabriella's face, wiping her tears with his thumbs before leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss. This was the closest he'd been allowed to get to her in the past month and it felt good to be let back in.
"Well, as good as this feels," Troy said grinning, "I have a plane to catch and Steven will have my head on a platter if I miss it."
Gabriella giggled and Troy relished in the sound of it. He gave her one more kiss before grabbing his bag. "Call you tonight?" he asked, still unsure of if she would want to talk.
"You better," she said, smiling softly at him.
He smiled once more at her before walking out the door.
When Troy got back a week later, he had told Gabriella to be ready by the time he got there. He had made reservations at a nicer restaurant, wanting to take Gabriella out and enjoy the evening, but also because he wanted to talk to her about something. Gabriella got ready, dressing nicely, assuming he was taking her out in celebration of the two years they had known each other. She couldn't believe it had been that long since he had called her by accident, but she couldn't be happier to think back on the two bumpy, but wonderful years they had spent together.
Later that evening, Troy and Gabriella were finishing up their dinner. Troy had told Gabriella all about his week out on the road and how Steven was ecstatic about them having a baby and wished them the best with the pregnancy.
"You know…I've seen such a huge change in Steven since I moved out here. Have you noticed or is it just me?" Gabriella asked.
"Actually that's just it…it is you. You're the reason he's changed."
"Me? Why?"
"Because he finally realized that you weren't just some girl who was taking up my time." Troy found that this was the perfect time to talk to her…to tell her. "You are the girl who I want to take my time. You are the woman who I love and who will forever hold my whole heart." Troy moved from his seat to kneel in front of her chair. Gabriella had tears in her eyes as she realized what was happening. She slapped her hand over her mouth. "You are the woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with. Not Telling Gabriella Christine Elizabeth Montez…." Gabriella giggled at him using all of her names. "…will you please marry me?" Gabriella looked down at Troy, tears streaming down her face. She nodded, unable to form words at that moment, and leaned down to kiss Troy.
Troy was beaming as he took the ring from his pocket and showed it to her before slipping it on her finger and kissing her again. Applause was heard all around them as others in the restaurant realized what was going on. Troy pulled back and looked at Gabriella again before scooting his chair over and sitting in it once again, but closer to her this time.
"I love you so much," he said.
"I love you too, baby," Gabriella said, smiling brightly.
Then went home that night and had many things to celebrate…the baby…Troy being home…and their engagement.
Over the next few months, Gabriella cut back on her work hours, only working half days in order to keep her stress level down. Her doctor thought this was a wise idea with what happened last time. The pregnancy had gone smoothly this time, though, and they had found out they were having a little girl. Troy was very proud to be having a girl, hopefully one who would be just like her mama.
She and Troy also started planning their wedding. Troy told her he would like to get married before the baby arrived so they wouldn't have to postpone it any longer. He just wanted to call her his wife finally. Gabriella agreed, so they planned it for December since the baby was due in February. Troy's birthday was also in December, a few days before Christmas, so they planned it so family could be there for all three occasions.
Steven had planned one last longer trip for Troy which had been planned quite a while in advance. It just happened that it was the week before the wedding. Troy was to leave twelve days before the wedding and get back the day before. Gabriella was nervous about his, but Troy reassured her that it would be fine. If she needed anything, she could call and they would figure everything out.
The day before the wedding arrived and Troy was on his way home, flying from Los Angeles to New York with a layover in Chicago. His layover was only an hour so he wasn't too worried about missing out on anything at home. Part of his family had already arrived and were jumping in to help Gabriella with the last minute preparations for their small ceremony that would take place in their backyard. Kelsi had been there all week to help out as well as the maid of honor.
What Troy hadn't expected was to have his flight delayed due to weather. It had been snowing in Chicago for quite some time and all flights were delayed until they could get the runway cleared. Troy called Gabriella.
"Hey, babe."
"Hey, where are you? Will you be home soon?"
Troy put his head in his free hand. "I wish I could say I would be. My flight's been delayed due to snow here in Chicago. I'm hoping we'll be back on schedule soon. They're clearing the runway now."
Gabriella panicked. "Troy, what if you don't make it in time for the ceremony? What are we going to do? Your family is already here and waiting on you. I can't get married by myself!"
Troy let out a sigh. He knew that Gabriella didn't need to be stressed out right now and this definitely was not helping her at all. "I know, sweetheart. But calm down, please. Take a deep breath. I can't have you stressing out, especially while I'm not there. It's not good for the baby."
Gabriella took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know, I'm sorry. I just really want you here…like now. I miss you."
"I know, babe. I miss you, too. I'll be there as soon as I can, though. Okay?"
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you, too. See you soon."
They hung up, but Gabriella didn't feel any better. By that afternoon she was stressing over every little thing. She was still afraid Troy wasn't going to make it on time and she didn't want that to happen after everything she had put into the wedding.
By dinnertime, Gabriella was a basket case. Troy still hadn't made it home and she was worried about all the details of the wedding that were slowly falling into place but weren't finished yet. Kelsi told her she needed to go sit down and relax a while, worried about her health and the baby, but Gabriella would have none of it. Just as she was about to go out the back door to check on the decorations in the backyard, a pain shot through her stomach, causing her to double over. Lucille had been standing there and saw it and quickly walked over to check on her.
"Gabriella, sweetie, are you alright?"
Gabriella slowly straightened up and rubbed her stomach. She looked over at Lucille and tried her hardest to give her a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. I think the baby is just a little excited."
Lucille was still concerned, though. Gabriella continued on outside to check on decorations, but a few minutes later on her way back across the yard to go inside, she had another pain. But this time, she felt liquid running down her leg. She looked up and locked eyes with Kelsi who was standing a few feet away.
Kelsi saw the fear in her eyes. "Kelsi, I think my water just broke."
"What? That can't be! It's too soon!" Kesli walked over and took Gabriella by the arm, guiding her inside the house where Lucille grabbed her stuff and the three of them went out to Lucille's car and drove to the hospital, quickly explaining what was going on before they left.
Kelsi grabbed Gabriella's phone and called Troy on their way. A frustrated Troy picked up.
"Hey babe. I'm still stuck in Chicago, but the good news is I should be flying out in about an hour."
"Troy, it's Kelsi."
Troy panicked. The last time Kelsi had used Gabriella's phone to call him it hadn't been good news. "What's wrong, Kelsi? Is Gabi okay?"
"Troy, we're on our way to the hospital. Gabi's went into labor. Her water broke."
"What? No! It's too soon! She can't be in labor yet. She has two months left."
"I know, but it happened. Troy, you need to get here as soon as possible."
"My flight doesn't leave for another hour. It will be another three hours before I can get there."
"Just hurry, Troy."
"Okay. Stay with her until I get there, Kelsi. Please don't let anything happen to my girls."
Kelsi was a little unsure of his last comment as he hung up, not able to promise anything to him. There was nothing she could do if something went wrong, and she didn't like that feeling at all.
A few hours later when Troy finally showed up, Lucille had left to go back to their house to take care of the rest of the family while Kelsi stayed at the hospital with Gabriella. Gabriella had progressed in her labor, but still had a while to go before she would actually deliver when Troy walked in, frazzled.
He immediately walked over to the side of the bed, kissing her forehead and grabbing her hand. He thanked Kelsi for staying with her and Kelsi excused herself, saying she was going to go back to the house until they knew more. She left, leaving the couple on their own.
An hour later, Gabriella had been given medicine to take the pain down and was now sleeping peacefully. Troy took this time to go downstairs to call his mom and let her know what was going on and that he would call her again after the baby was born.
When he walked back upstairs, he didn't expect to find a team of doctors rushing Gabriella down the hall on her bed. He started running after them to find out what was going on, but one of them stopped him and pulled him back in her room.
"Mr. Bolton, I'm afraid you can't go with her. You'll have to stay here."
"But…she's my fiancé. I have to be with her."
"Mr. Bolton, your fiancé is going to have to have a cesarean done to remove the baby. She is suffering from Amniotic Fluid Embolism. It's very rare. But we're hoping we caught it soon enough."
"What is that?"
"During her labor, some of the amniotic fluid escaped into her blood system. It caused her heart rate to become elevated and she's slipped into unconsciousness. We've caught it pretty early. We were monitoring her pretty closely and noticed her heart rate rising."
Troy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Is she going to be okay?"
"We're doing what we can. But for now, I need you to stay here and wait. We'll let you know how things go. But due to her unconscious state, we're going to have to do a cesarean to take the baby. We'll keep you posted."
Troy was left alone in Gabriella's hospital room. His Gabriella, was unconscious…not able to experience the birth of their daughter. Troy slid down the wall he had been leaning against and sat on the floor, sobs wracking his body as he placed his face in his hands. Once again he hadn't been there for Gabriella when she needed him the most. And now he could lose not just one, but both of his girls. He didn't want to lose his daughter…he couldn't stand the thought of losing another child….but he definitely couldn't handle losing Gabriella. It would be the end of him.
About an hour later, the same doctor that had talked to him earlier came back to find him.
"Mr. Bolton, your daughter is doing great. But because of how soon she was born, she's being placed in an incubator until she gets stronger. She was only three and a half pounds. She's very tiny and very fragile."
Troy nodded. "And my fiancé? Please tell me she's okay," Troy pleaded.
The doctor paused a moment. "I'm afraid, Mr. Bolton, I have some bad news." Troy tensed up at hearing this, fearing the worst. "Gabriella came out of surgery okay, but she's still unconscious. She's slipped into a coma. I was afraid of this, but hoped for the best and hoped we had caught it in time that she wouldn't. We've got her hooked up to some monitors and we'll keep an eye on her very closely. I'm sorry, Mr. Bolton."
"Can I see her?"
"Of course. Would you like to see your daughter as well?"
Troy hesitated. He just wanted to see Gabriella, to see for his own eyes that she was alive and she was strong enough to pull through. "Yes, but I want to see my fiancé first."
The doctor nodded and led him to Gabriella's room, telling him when he was ready to see his daughter, to let a nurse know and she would take him.
Troy sat with Gabriella the entire night, not ready to see the baby that had caused Gabriella to be put in this state. Finally the next morning, Troy made his way downstairs to the ward where the doctors were keeping an eye on his daughter. He was allowed to stick his hand in to hold her hand and touch her, but he wasn't allowed to hold her, not yet…not until she was stronger. How could someone ever be so tiny?
Over the next few days, Troy got over his initial resentment to his daughter for the situation Gabriella was in. His daughter was beautiful and he couldn't even begin to describe how much love he already had for her. But he still worried about Gabriella. For a week, Troy went back and forth between Gabriella and his daughter, checking on both of them. By the eighth day, he was completely exhausted and was afraid for Gabriella's health as the doctor weren't giving him very much hope for her.
That afternoon, however, Troy had left Gabriella's room to go down and spend some time with his daughter. He had had plenty of time to think about names and already had the perfect one picked out, but he wanted Gabriella's opinion as well. He just needed her to wake up. Troy was sitting a chair next to his daughter's incubator when a nurse came rushing into the ward.
"Mr. Bolton?" She seemed to be in a rush and Troy once again panicked, fearing the worst about Gabriella. Troy stood up and looked at her, unable to make any comments as thoughts flew through his mind. "Your fiancé is awake, Mr. Bolton. The doctors would like you back upstairs."
It took a moment for the words to actually sink in. But as soon as they did, Troy was sprinting up the hall, not caring about all the weird looks he was getting from the people he was passing by.
When he reached her room, there were doctors and nurses all around her bed, check her vitals and making sure she was okay. She caught sight of Troy and smiled. He breathed a sigh of relief, happy to see those beautiful eyes once again.
When the doctors left, Troy took his usual spot next to her bed, grabbing her hand and kissing it several times as tears streamed down his face, elated she was awake once again and she was going to be okay.
"God…Gabi…I was so worried about you," he said, leaning up and peppering kisses over her face.
Gabriella giggled. "I'm okay, though, Troy." The smile that was on her face faded. "What about our daughter. Is she okay? Where is she?"
"She's downstairs in the neo-natal unit. She's very tiny, Gabi. She only weighed three and a half pounds when she was born. They've put her in an incubator until she's strong enough."
The doctor came in a little later, wanting Gabriella to rest some more, but telling her that later in the evening he would allow her to sit in a wheelchair to go down to see her daughter.
When they finally brought a wheelchair for her, Troy picked her up out of bed, careful about the wires and tubes they still had hooked up and gently placed her in the wheelchair, pushing her downstairs so she could see their daughter. He pushed her right up beside the chair he had been sitting in and sat down next to her. Gabriella was amazed at how tiny their baby was.
"Have you named her?"
"No, I wanted to do that with you. But I did think of a name," he said. Gabriella looked over at him.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Elizabeth Christine Bolton," he said. "Elizabeth after your mom, Christine after you."
Tears sprung to Gabriella's eyes. "It's perfect. I love it."
Troy leaned over and kissed Gabriella, pulling back to wipe away her tears. "No more tears, Christine. No more tears."
Gabriella was released a couple days later after the doctors felt more comfortable that she was okay. Elizabeth wasn't as lucky, though. She had to stay there for a couple more months. She continued to get stronger every day and her weight was steadily increasing. The doctor's were very pleased with her progress. Troy and Gabriella rented an apartment that was only a block from the hospital so they could go to and from the hospital much easier.
When the family finally got home in mid February, Troy and Gabriella were relieved. They were both ready to get on with this new chapter of their lives. There was just one thing left to do…
After Gabriella had put Elizabeth down that night, she walked into the bedroom to get ready for bed knowing she better get sleep now because Elizabeth would be up again in a few hours ready for more to eat. When she walked in, though, there was Troy down on one knee in front of the door.
"Troy, what are you doing?"
"Gabriella, I love you so much, and we've been through so much together. I want nothing else than to spend the rest of my life with you proving to you how much I love and adore you. Would you please agree to be my wife?"
Gabriella had a bright smile on her face. "I would love to become your wife," she said as she knelt down in front of him, kissing him like there was no tomorrow. If the past two months had taught Troy anything, it was to not take the time you're given for granted because you never know when it could be ripped away. Rather take advantage of it and use it wisely. And because of this, Troy wanted to get married as soon as possible.
"When do you want to get married," Troy asked after they finally pulled away from one another for air.
"Well, actually I've been thinking about that. Troy, what would you say about not getting married here?"
Troy was confused. If she didn't want to get married here then where would she get married. "Please tell me you're not thinking Vegas."
Gabriella laughed. "No, definitely not. That place doesn't hold the best memories for me." Troy smiled wistfully. "I was thinking Albuquerque…the same church my parents were married in. I've always wanted to get married there."
"Why didn't you mention this before when we were planning the wedding?"
"Because I knew I wouldn't be able to travel. But now that I can travel again and Elizabeth can travel with us, I'd really like to go back there and get married where they did."
Troy nodded. "Then that's what we'll do."
Gabriella smiled. "Really?" Troy nodded again. "Well I'll call tomorrow and see what works best for them for dates and we'll go from there."
Troy and Gabriella ended up planning their wedding for the end of April. Elizabeth was four months old and able to travel well. Troy had taken quite a bit of time off to just spend with Gabriella and Elizabeth, thankful for the two girls who had been brought into his life. He couldn't believe how blessed he was to have them. And he definitely couldn't wait for the day he was finally able to call Gabriella his wife.
Thanks so much for reading and sticking with me through this series. I might add another story or two to the series, but we'll see. I have an idea in mind that is set a few years down the road. Sorry if this seemed rushed. I didn't want to drag it out too long since I wanted it to just be a one-shot, but I tried to add in enough detail that it wasn't too choppy. Let me know what you think…leave a review!