SEVENTEEN
Chapter One: Happy Birthday To Us
It is not every day that a girl celebrates her seventeenth birthday in a bleak, plain white hospital room doing just what her own mother had done seventeen years prior to this special day- giving birth to her first child. It just so happened that Gabriella Montez had gone into labor on the eve of her birthday with said child. To her, it was just coincidence. It was also coincidence that it would be storming on this day, the seventh day of June, as it had nearly every year since Gabriella was young. What was not coincidence was the fact that her boyfriend had up and committed suicide just days before their baby was due to be born. In the midst of turning seventeen and going through those long, painful hours of childbirth, she was dealing with the heartache of losing the love of her life, the bane of her existence. So it is safe to assume that this definitely was not going to be one of Gabriella's favorite days to remember.
A large, bright bolt of light flashed across the eastern sky, lighting up the tiny room where Gabriella lay, waiting to give birth. She sniffled, whimpering quietly as yet another contraction came to an end and the light bulb over the head of her bed keeping the room dimly-lit flickered ever-so-slightly, just enough for her to notice. She placed her hands over the large mountain that was her stomach, caressing it, soothing the unborn child that would soon be welcomed into the world. She was trying her best to be brave, but it wasn't the easiest thing she'd ever done. After all, she was completely alone in this moment. She'd finally been able to convince her mother to go to the cafeteria and eat something, and her nurse had already stopped by to check on her. She didn't have Ben anymore. For some unknown reason he'd decided to shoot himself, leaving Gabriella heartbroken and afraid of what the future held for her and her now-fatherless child.
BOOM! Thunder rumbled in the distance. Gabriella shivered. She wished time and time again that someone would show up to keep her company. But she had absolutely no hope of that happening. There wasn't anyone at the hospital that she wanted to see, except for her mother. And she'd only just recently gone to eat dinner; Gabriella knew that she'd be a while. Her eyes drifted shut in defeat, and she allowed the tears to brim over her lids. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, and she hugged the tiny stuffed dog her mother had brought for her tightly, clutching it close to her heart. She was completely lost in her pain and sorrow. So it surprised her when there was a soft rapping on the door to her small hospital room and a sandy-haired and blue-eyed head popped into the room. "Can I come in?" the head asked softly, trying not to disturb her. She nodded weakly, and the gorgeous boy walked into the room, carrying a vase of brightly-colored flowers in his left hand and a small package in his right hand. "I thought these might brighten up your afternoon," the boy supplied, placing the flowers on the table next to her bed and handing her the package.
She smiled a tentative and weak smile at her kind soul of a best friend-slash-neighbor. "Thanks, Troy," she replied. She slid her finger under the lip of the wrapping paper and tore it off. Inside, she found a book. Not just any book, either. A baby name book. One with over a hundred thousand names to choose from. She'd been admiring the book ever since she'd found out that she was pregnant, but couldn't ever afford it. Tears filled her eyes again, and she reached her arms out slightly. Troy approached her bed and wrapped his arms carefully around her.
"I know you've been wanting this," he said, kissing the top of her head. He pulled back and examined her state with his eyes. He shook his head. "You look like hell, Gabs."
Her eyes narrowed. "Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear on the day that I'm giving birth."
"Speaking of birth," Troy countered, ignoring her sarcasm. "Happy birthday."
She straightened up and smiled. "Thanks. I mean it this time. I'm glad at least one person remembered my birthday."
"Come on, Gabs, I'm sure your mom remembered," Troy responded. He raised one eyebrow, waiting for her to reply.
"Well, yeah...but..." She couldn't continue; a lump formed in her throat, causing her to gasp repeatedly as she tried to breathe. She could feel the tears forming behind her eyelids. She blinked them back. "Ben," she managed to whisper. "Ben didn't remember."
Troy sighed. "I'm sure Ben remembered, Gabriella," he whispered reassuringly. It was killing him to see his best friend in pain. Truthfully, he secretly hated her late boyfriend for killing himself. For leaving Gabriella all alone to raise their child. He couldn't stand the thought of the next few months...years...decades. Gabriella's fate, and the fate of her child, rested solely on the hope of her finding a man who would take care of them, or inheriting a family members' life savings. Troy knew that the chances of either of those options coming to pass was slim, but he couldn't tell her that. She was already scared to death of what the future would hold for them. So it was with this knowledge that Troy decided that he would be there for them to help in any way he could. His musings were interrupted by a groan from Gabriella.
"Owww," Gabriella moaned as she grasped the handrail on her bed, waiting impatiently for the contraction to pass.
Alarmed, Troy reached out toward her, wishing there was some way he could help. "Gabriella?" he asked worriedly.
"Just a second," she replied through clenched teeth. "It's almost over." Troy watched anxiously, waiting to see if what she'd said was true. And sure enough, less than thirty seconds later, Gabriella relaxed and smiled weakly at him. Suddenly, her entire face lit up. "Hey, Troy, do you want to feel the baby move?"
"I...uh...sure, I guess so," Troy stuttered. Truthfully, he wasn't sure he did want to. Would it be weird? After all, wasn't that some kind of special moment that the parents shared together? Gabriella grabbed his hand and placed it over her abdomen, holding it there with both of her hands. Troy chuckled at her persistence. After a few moments, he felt a small movement from inside of her. He gasped, smiling crookedly once he got a hold of himself. "That was...wow. Doesn't that feel...well...kind of...weird to you?"
She grinned. "Not really. It's like riding a roller coaster twenty-four-seven. Even at night."
"Wow," Troy said again. "That's something, all right." He carefully gathered her free hand in his, leaving the one connected to the IV on her stomach.
"Yeah, it is," she replied softly, deep in thought. "Hey, Troy?"
Troy looked up at her, meeting her beautiful chocolate brown eyes with his bright blue ones. "Hmm?" he asked.
Gabriella turned her face slightly, looking away from him. "There's something...something I've been wondering about," she began. "But I don't know if I should ask you..."
"Go ahead, Gabs. Hit me with it." He grabbed a chair from nearby and slid it over next to her bed, never losing his grip on her hand. He sat down and stared up at her expectantly.
"Well..." She looked down at their hands, trying to puzzle her words together before she continued. She finally worked it out in her head, but chickened out at the last second, blurting out a different question instead. "I know you never really liked Ben...and I was just wondering...why that is."
Troy blushed. "You're my best friend...you're like a little sister to me. I have to watch out for you."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at you, Gabs," Troy said pointedly, gesturing toward her large stomach. He paused. He'd never ever planned on telling her what he was going to say next. She didn't know that he knew, and he'd always thought that was a good thing. He took a deep breath and continued. "And Gabriella...I've seen what he's done to you. All those times you wore a sweatshirt to school in ninety-degree weather...you were covering it up. The...bruises. He hurt you, Gabs."
"How do you know about that, Troy?" Gabriella asked sourly.
"I...well...the night I slept over when my parents had to go out of town last September...I saw you changing. I tried to look away, but...Gabriella...I just couldn't."
Gabriella huffed angrily. "Troy, how could you?"
"How could I? Gabriella, that son of a bitch abused you! I'm the one that did wrong?" He was nearly yelling now.
Hot tears were flowing down Gabriella's cheeks. Deep down, she was glad that Troy knew. It would make things easier later. But right now, she was too emotional to care about that.
A knock on the door made them both look up in surprise. The nurse stuck her head inside. "Everything okay in here?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," they replied in unison.
"Keep it down, there are other patients here, okay?"
They both nodded, and the nurse left. "Bitch," Troy mumbled under his breath as soon as the nurse was gone.
Gabriella giggled, ending the tension momentarily between the two friends. Then she sighed. "Troy...I'm sorry. And I know this doesn't make much sense. But I loved him."
"How can you love someone who's hurt you like that?" he whispered.
Her eyes met his gaze, and held his while she pondered his question. "I don't know," she finally said. "But I did." Suddenly she reached over and pressed her fingers into Troy's forearm, squeezing her eyes shut as the pain became unbearable. Her face was pale when she looked up at him and whispered, "Troy, I think...I think it's time for the baby to be born. I haven't had a pain that hurt like that one before."
Troy, alarmed, asked, "What should I do?"
Gabriella smirked a bit. "Go get the nurse."
"The one that just bitched us out for talking?"
She nodded. "Actually, you were yelling. But yes, her. And hurry, please."
Troy stood up and hurried to the hallway, looking up and down it for the nurse. "I'll be right back," he said as he spotted her heading for the elevator. "I promise."
"Okay," Gabriella whimpered. "Oh...Troy?"
"Yeah?"
"Get my mom, too, please."
He smiled. "Sure thing, Gabs." He flew down the hallway in search of the nurse. Instead of finding the nurse, he found Gabriella's mother returning from lunch. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Mrs. Montez!" he exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Gabriella...said...the...baby's...coming," he panted.
"Right now?" Mrs. Montez asked, her eyes widening in surprise. "But the doctor said it would be about eight o' clock before she was ready..."
"Right now. She asked me to find you."
Mrs. Montez started bustling down the hallway anxiously, and Troy followed. Mrs. Montez smiled at him when they reached the door to Gabriella's room. "Thank you...for everything. For sitting with her while I was gone. I don't know what she would do without you, Troy."
"It's my pleasure, Mrs. Montez," Troy replied.
"Please, call me Sophia."
He smiled. "Sophia." He was about to say something else, but as soon as his mouth had formed the first word, a blood-curdling scream erupted from behind the closed door they now stood in front of. Troy immediately threw the door open and both he and Gabriella's mother ran to her bedside. "Gabriella?" Troy asked tentatively, unable to divert his eyes from the picture that had unfolded in the tiny room. Gabriella was curled up on her side in a fetal position, her hands gripping the railing of the bed. Tears were streaming down her cheeks again, faster than before. Her face was scrunched up in an obvious display of pure anguish. He longed for the moment the contraction would end, the moment that would relieve her from the pain. It seemed to be an hour before she finally relaxed and attempted to turn on to her back. Troy and her mother reached out to help her just as the doctor entered the room with the nursing staff on his heels.
The salt-and-pepper-haired doctor, wearing aqua scrubs and thick square-rimmed glasses, looked over her charts for a long time before he looked up at Gabriella. "Miss Montez," he greeted. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being the greatest amount, how would you rate the pain of your last contraction?"
Gabriella stared at him, dumbfounded. She was about three seconds away from pushing her baby into the world, and he wanted to know how she would rate the pain? She opened her mouth and stated sarcastically, "Well, I had thoughts of reaching into my cervix and yanking the baby out myself without your help here about two minutes ago. How bad do you think the pain is?"
Troy stifled a laugh, although he was concerned for his best friend. Her life was about to change forever, and she was minus the one person who could possibly have made this the happiest day of her existence. And he wasn't going to get the chance to tell her that he loved her...not before the baby was born, anyway. And probably not at all, since she would most likely sleep for the rest of the day.
"Okay, well, we're going to have you start pushing now," the doctor said, ignoring Gabriella's sarcasm. He began to prepare her for delivery. Troy looked away politely, unsure whether Gabriella would want him to watch or not. It was hard for him not to look, but he settled his gaze on the cars driving along the busy street twenty stories below, counting them quietly in his head.
Gabriella noticed Troy staring out the window and smiled despite the pain. It was sweet of him to avert his attention elsewhere, but unnecessary. She thought of him as a brother; having him watch the birth of her child would be far from awkward in her eyes. "Troy," she said hoarsely.
Troy turned to look at her, his blue eyes wide with wonderment and concern. "Yes?" he asked.
She motioned for him to come close to her bed, and he obliged. When he was in reaching distance, she held her IV-less hand out to him and pulled him closer. "Stand here by me?" she proposed. She looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. Eyes that were impossible to say no to. He nodded, speechless, and she grinned. "Thanks."
Troy moved over and took her hand, allowing her to squeeze it gently as she thought about what was about to happen. Okay, so gently wasn't quite the word for it. It felt more like she was going to squeeze his fingers right off. He wanted so badly to complain, but he took it like a man. If Gabriella could lay in this bed for hours upon end and give birth to her dead boyfriend's child without complaining about the pain, then he could handle losing a couple of fingers in the process. He kept his mind distracted, staring at Gabriella's facial expressions- fear, anticipation, pain, then fear again- and he couldn't help but admire her beauty through it all.
His thoughts were interrupted when the doctor spoke to Gabriella. "Okay, Gabriella, I'm going to explain what's going to happen now. The nurse is going to help you with your position. She'll hold your head up, supporting your neck. She'll also be counting for you. For each push, there are ten counts. At count ten, you'll have time for a short break before the next push begins. Your mom and your boyfriend can each help support one of your legs. Any questions?" Gabriella didn't have the heart to explain that Troy wasn't her boyfriend. She just shook her head no. She didn't have any questions. All she wanted was to hold her baby. And in order to do that she had to...
"As soon as you feel the next contraction, I want you to push, Gabriella," the doctor stated.
Gabriella nodded. This was it. When the pain flared up, she took a deep, closed her eyes, and started to push. Suddenly, she wasn't in the hospital room anymore. She was being ripped apart by a creature of such nature that there was no name for it. It was tearing up her insides, slowly and painfully... Just as quickly as it had started, the pain was gone. Gabriella opened her eyes, gasping for breath as she did so. That's when she realized that there was no creature, no dangerous varmint enjoying her vital organs for dinner. No, there was no creature. But there was a baby. A baby that was working equally as hard as she was throughout the entire process. A baby who needed more room to breath.
"Is it out yet?" Gabriella asked, knowing full well that it wasn't.
"I'm afraid not," the doctor said, chuckling to himself.
Chuckling? Here she was, being tortured, and he was chuckling?
"A couple more pushes, possibly," he continued seriously. "Are you up for another try?"
She nodded weakly and pushed with all her might. The tearing feeling intensified, almost doubled if that were possible. But she pushed on. Her baby needed her to be strong. She whimpered quietly, squeezing Troy's fingers as tightly as she could without breaking them. After the tenth count, she relaxed and sighed heavily, allowing her hand to release Troy's until it was time for her to push again. "I don't think I can do it anymore," she panted, her gaze locked on her best friend. "It hurts...a lot."
Troy stared at her intensely, tears stinging behind his eyelids. He reached over and brushed a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Then his fingers trailed down to her cheek, caressing it for a prolonged moment. "You can do this, Gabriella. I know you can do this. You're strong, you always have been. You're going to be a great mother."
She smiled weakly. "Thanks, Troy," she murmured. She turned her attention to the doctor. "I think I'm ready for another one," she said. The doctor nodded, and Gabriella began to push again. Despite the urge to stop and shove her baby back up inside her, she persisted.
"Gabriella, your baby's crowning," the doctor announced, smiling. "Keep this up, and you'll have a baby here in a minute or so."
Gabriella grinned up at him when she paused to take a breath. "Really?" she asked, her chocolate eyes sparkling with excitement. It was almost over. She was going to be a mother in a matter of minutes! Tears had formed in her eyes, and they were falling freely down her cheeks now. They were not sad tears...they were happy tears. Finally she would be able to hold her child in her arms. It was the greatest gift Ben could have left her with, a little piece of him to hold on to.
The doctor spoke again. "Would you like to take a peek?" Gabriella thought for a moment and shook her head. She wanted to wait until she could see all of her baby, not just it's head.
"How about you, Daddy?" he asked, looking at Troy now. Troy was taken aback by that question. Daddy? Didn't this doctor know that he wasn't... He happened to get a momentary glimpse of Gabriella's face. It was hopeful. She nodded to him, encouraging him to play along. He took a deep breath. Okay, Troy, you can do this, he thought to himself. But a tiny part of his brain was telling him otherwise. No, you can't! How the hell are you supposed to look at your best friend's vagina and pretend that you're her boyfriend, the father of her child? You can't. Because you're not. You want to be, but you're not. Besides, he wasn't sure he could do it without getting aroused, and how embarrassing would that be? Especially when Gabriella wasn't his girlfriend and the child wasn't his.
"Troy..." Gabriella murmured, reaching for his hand again and squeezing it. He stared at her for another moment. She was trusting him with this. He sighed and peered over her leg for a peek. He could easily see that the baby had thick, dark hair that would match Gabriella's perfectly. There were no words that could describe this sight except one: beautiful. This was the single most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his entire life. It was more beautiful than the sunset, more beautiful than the ocean, more beautiful than the mountains he admired greatly. Birth was a beautiful thing. He struggled to find his voice, but all he could do was smile and squeeze back.
"Okay, Gabriella, one more push and we'll be celebrating a birthday," the doctor said. "Well, two in fact, since today is your birthday as well."
Gabriella grinned and gave the final push everything that she had within her. She felt her baby slowly making its way into the world. The pain had become more intense, and she couldn't hold back her scream any longer. She lost herself in the moment, drowning out the silence with her sobs. She felt Troy's free hand caressing her face; she could see his turquoise eyes peering into hers. They were full of concern, and pain. This was causing him pain as well. Emotional pain rather than physical pain. She tried to find her mother, reached for her. Sophia's hand reached over and took hers. Suddenly, the pain didn't seem so bad. She had Troy, and she had her mother. She had everything she could need. With her teeth clenched and her hands squeezing theirs, she put all of her new-found strength into the push. And just like that, her baby slipped out of her body and into the doctor's arms. It was over. She was a mother. She had done it. She'd given birth to Ben's baby. She relaxed a little and sighed contentedly.
"Happy birthday, little guy," the doctor announced when he'd finished cleaning the baby's airways. The baby let out a tiny wail. "Daddy, would you like to cut the cord?"
Troy looked at Gabriella again, and she nodded. "I'd be honored," he announced, unsure whether he should inform the doctor that he wasn't the father. He took the scissors, and with the doctor's guidance, he separated the child from his mother. A nurse quickly whisked him away to be cleaned, measured and weighed. Gabriella's mother followed, eager to see her grandson and ready to be of assistance. The doctor worked to remove the placenta and make sure that Gabriella wouldn't need any stitches from the birth. As this occurred, Troy turned his attention to her. "You did it," he said, grinning. "He's beautiful, Gabs."
She grinned back at him. "Thank you, Troy. You're the greatest friend a girl could ask for...the greatest friend I could ever ask for."
"Friend?" The doctor was looking at them with a confused expression on his face.
Gabriella giggled. "He's my best friend. He's not the baby's father."
The doctor chuckled. "Oh. Then I have to agree with Gabriella, young man. You are indeed a great friend."
"Thank you, sir," Troy said, blushing.
"You're most welcome." The doctor turned his attention to Gabriella now. "You're going to need plenty of rest. That took a lot out of you...literally." Everyone in the room laughed. "But you really do need your rest. I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on you. Nicole should be back soon with the pediatrician. She's going to explain some things to you, and help you with your first feeding." It was Gabriella's turn to blush. The doctor didn't seem to notice. "And I'll be back in a bit." With that, he turned and exited the room.
"Troy," Gabriella whispered.
"Shh, Gabs, you need your rest. I'll wake you up when the nurse comes back with the baby," Troy whispered back.
"Charlie."
"Hm?"
"His name. Charlie Alexander Montez. Hope you don't mind."
Troy grinned. Alexander was his middle name, too. "No, I don't mind. In fact, I'm honored."
"I'm glad." And with that, Gabriella drifted into a light slumber.
I'm slightly worn out from writing this chapter. It took me a few weeks to get it organized in my head and written on paper. Hope you enjoyed it. As always, feel free to leave reviews. The more I get, the quicker I'll be motivated to write another chapter. (: