A/N: Turns out that you can't do much gymnastics or figure skating with a broken ankle. I have had more free time than I've had in three years.
These chapters just keep getting longer and longer. I start writing and it doesn't feel like I can stop. That must be a good thing.
Once again, thank you to all my reviewers. I honestly don't know if I'm supposed to reply to them or not or if I'm just supposed to reply to questions. If you feel like it, tell me whether you want me to reply to my reviews or not :)
Also, feel free to mention if you are getting sick of all the stuff between Gabriella and the Bolton's. I will honestly take your opinions to heart. I'm just not sure if it is getting to be too much time with the Bolton family.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a copy of just about every Nicholas Spark's novels.
Gabriella had been enjoying spending time with her mother. She would always forget after such large separations that she would always need her mom. Just because she had moved out of the house and had a job didn't mean that Gabriella wouldn't need her mother every once in a while.
Being in her hometown had created two different reactions. Being at home had distracted her from missing Troy. She was able to keep busy and was able to see so many people that she had missed dearly. The bad thing was, it seemed everywhere she went she had some sort of memory with Troy there. When she went to the diner Troy and her had occasionally eaten lunch at, she sat at the table they had always sat at. The waitress always remembered her and had even asked if she and Troy had gotten married yet. Some people that she had ran into from high school still weren't aware of Troy being in Afghanistan. It always hurt her having to explain where Troy was. She didn't like the looks of pity people gave her, which is why she was so reluctant to tell people about Troy's draft to Afghanistan.
Liam had called her earlier in the morning wanting a ride to the mall so that he could buy presents for his family without anyone knowing. Having no plans for the day, Gabriella agreed and she was currently making the short drive to the Bolton household. Pulling her car into the driveway, she put the car in park and walked in the front door. She had been walking into the house without knocking since she was eight. Smelling something good, she walked into the kitchen. Liam, Jack, and Lucille were the only ones in the kitchen surprisingly. Knowing how men were with food, she expected to see everyone in the kitchen eating the pancakes she saw on the counter.
"Where is everybody?" She was really confused as to why it was only the four of them in the kitchen.
"Sleeping. Sophie has been keeping everyone awake." Jack himself looked like he had bags under his eyes. The only person who didn't appear to be tired was Lucille, she had spent many nights awake in her time and a few nights wasn't enough time to affect her. "How are you Gabi? We haven't had much time to talk since you got here."
"Good, better than I was doing in Colorado." Gabriella had been having a great time. It just would have been better if Troy were with her. "I was wondering if I could read that letter you said Troy sent to you. I haven't gotten anything for a while."
Lucille smiled at Gabriella. Troy had mentioned in the letter no one was to read his or her section of the letter until Christmas. "Nope, you can't read it until Christmas, sorry honey." Lucille had been the only one to read of the letter Troy had written. He specifically wanted her to be the only one to read it because it included details of the present he had requested his mother get for Gabriella. Just because he was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, didn't mean he wasn't going to fiancé a gift for Christmas.
Rolling her eyes, "Troy and his stupid surprises." She complained about Troy's surprises all the time. He would tease her to no end about the surprises that he would plan. Despite her complaining, she really loved his surprises. They never failed to live up to her expectations. "Ready to leave then Liam?"
"Yeah, just let me run upstairs and get my wallet." He put his plate in the sink and ran up the stairs to his bedroom.
"Thanks for taking him Gabi. You really didn't have to." Lucille had been surprised that Liam had wanted Gabriella to take him shopping at the mall. She could sense that he was starting to miss his brother. She knew from experience that men had no interest in expressing their emotions. Liam was not only dealing with puberty, he was also dealing with his brother being in the army while living in a house filled with testosterone.
"I wanted to. I haven't been able to spend much time with any of you guys. Liam and I will have fun today." Gabriella was excited that Liam wanted to see her. He was starting to be more and more like Troy.
"He misses Troy. We all do, but lately Liam has seemed to be having a difficult time with him being away." Lucille hated to see anyone in her family sad about Troy, of course she missed him too, she just hated that there was nothing she could do to fix the problem.
"That's what I thought when he asked me to take him shopping. I knew there was a reason he asked me to take him." As the last few months of Troy's deployment kept going, everyone was feeling the strain. Knowing that any day they could receive the call they had been waiting for made them all emotional and sensitive.
"I'm ready Gabi." Liam bounced down the stairs again and walked over to kiss Lucille on the cheek. Yes, Liam resembled Troy more and more everyday.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road." Gabriella took her keys back out of her purse and headed toward the front door again. "See you later Lucille! You too Coach!"
"Have fun!" She heard Lucille and Coach shout from the kitchen. Hopefully they would have some fun and she would be able to get something out of Liam and why he was feeling so down lately.
Opening the door, she slid into the driver's seat and Liam slid into the passenger's seat. Turning the car on, she turned the radio down a little bit so they could talk. "So, to the mall?"
"Sure, that sounds good." Liam was thankful that Gabriella had agreed to take him shopping. At first he was a little nervous to ask her to bring him shopping for his family but he thought maybe they could talk for a while. Like the rest of his family, he knew that Gabriella was the closest they were going to get to being around Troy and he was going to use that to his advantage now that she was here.
"So, who do you need to shop for? Putting off Christmas shopping until the last minute seems like something your brother would do." She wanted to mention Troy so that Liam knew he could talk about Troy with her.
"My mom and dad. I got Mason and Matt something already. I have no clue what to get mom and dad though, I thought you could help me." Liam hadn't put all his Christmas shopping off until the last minute, he'd done some but now he needed something for his parents. He didn't just want to get them something lame like he always did, he wanted to get his parents something that they would appreciate. He just didn't know where to start with that though.
"Of course I can help you. Do you have any ideas of what you want to get?" Gabriella wanted to help him find something.
"None. I just don't want to get them something lame like I always do." Liam was starting to mature and he wanted his parents to know he could get them something good. It was tough being the baby of the family. Your older siblings always seemed to accomplish more and you weren't able to keep up.
"Liam, you know your parents will appreciate anything you get them, right? They will appreciate that you put in the effort and money to get them something, the quality of it doesn't matter." Gabriella caught on to him. He wanted to prove he wasn't a little boy anymore. All of his brothers had gone through a period around his age where they wanted to prove their growing maturity.
"I know, I'm just sick of being the baby in the family." It wasn't that he was the youngest of the family, it was the rate at which his brother's were growing up. Matt was married and had a kid, Troy was at war, and Mason had had a steady girlfriend for the past few months, and here he was playing video games and basketball with his friends just like he had the rest of his life. He wasn't moving forward and that was part of his frustration at the moment.
"Liam, everyone goes through a time in their life where they want to grow up. I went through it, Troy went through it, and Matt went through it. You clearly aren't a baby anymore and your time will come to do mature things. Don't worry about growing up right now." Gabriella knew there was more to the story but she wanted to provide as much advice as she possibly could. Pulling into the parking lot, they got out of the car and headed toward the entrance of the building. "So, where should we go first? Do you want to go Barnes and Noble? Your mom loves to read, we could find something there if you want."
"Okay, I don't know much about adult books though." His mom did like to read, if he got her a book it was something that could last her a while and that she could reread if she wanted.
"That's why I'm here." Heading into the large bookstore they walked into various aisles. Nothing seemed to stand out to either one of them. Walking into one of the aisles at the very back, they passed a Nicholas Spark's section. Gabriella picked up a few books and read their descriptions. After reading two summaries, she picked up Dear John, reading the back cover she instantly felt an attachment to the book, it was about war letters. She handed the book to Liam to read the back cover to get his approval. Picking up a few more, the grabbed The Lucky One, about a soldier who survived three tours of duty. Once Liam finished reading the cover of Dear John, she handed him The Lucky One. "So, what do you think?"
"I think Mom would really like them." Smiling, he knew they would be tough books for his mom to read, but they had a deeper meaning. His mother's son was risking his life at war, these books would show that he had put some thought into her present. "Should I get them both?"
"If you want to. It's your decision." Gabriella knew that this was as close to a perfect present that Liam would be able to find for his mother.
"I'm going to get both of them. It would be too hard to choose between the two." Liam knew Gabriella would help him pick out the perfect present for his mother.
After paying for the books, Gabriella and Liam had continued the search to find something for Jack. This would be tricky. They had finally settled on getting him a Laker's jersey. They were his favorite basketball team.
They decided to head to the food court for some Jamba Juice. Gabriella paid for Liam's drink and the two sat down. "So, I think we did a good job."
"Yeah, we did Gabi. Thanks for helping me. I don't think anyone else's brother's girlfriend would take them shopping." Liam didn't want the day to end but he wanted Gabriella to know that he had appreciated the time they spent together.
"If you want to you can come over and wrap those presents at my house, I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind if you stayed for dinner." Gabriella really wanted to let Liam get his feelings out.
"Really?" Liam was surprised that Gabriella wanted to continue hanging out with him. He was thinking that Gabriella thought it was strange that he wanted to hang out with her.
"Sure, I mean, if you bring those home, you are going to have to hide them until you wrap them. If you're anything like your brother, you are also probably a terrible wrapper. I could help you out." She loved that she was able to have such a close bond with Troy's family.
"Thanks Gabi." They stood up, grabbed their bags and headed to the car. Driving toward her house they continued with their friendly conversation. Upon arrival they grabbed their bags and went upstairs. Her mother wasn't home so she grabbed some wrapping paper from a storage closet.
"So, do you want bags or paper?" Gabriella walked into her room where Liam was already seated on the floor.
"Bags are probably easier." Liam knew that if he even touched the wrapping paper it would all end up in a massive ball with tape wrapped around it.
They sat in silence for a while. "So, how is school?"
"It's fine. You know, it's school," Liam smiled, "I get to see my friends, but there is a lot of work to get down."
"Sounds like school. How's basketball? You playing Varsity yet?" Gabriella knew that Liam probably wasn't playing varsity yet since he was only an eighth grader but Matt, Liam, and Mason had all played on the junior varsity team in eighth grade.
"JV right now. Hopefully next year I'll play varsity." Just like his brothers, he was a basketball fanatic. In their family they played ball all the time it seemed.
"Troy made varsity when he was a freshman." Gabriella wanted to lead into a conversation that involved Troy.
"Yeah, Matt and Mason didn't though. I think Troy was probably the best ball player out of all of us." Troy probably was. He had played basketball in college and had offers to play professionally.
"If you work hard, maybe you will be as good as him," Gabriella smiled at the young boy. What kid didn't want to be like their older sibling?
"I want to be like Troy when I grow up." Liam expressed his wishes.
"Why?" Gabriella knew Troy was admirable. "Do you want to join the army?"
"No, Troy is just a good person. I want to be as strong as him when I grow up." Liam admired the strength Troy had, not physically, mentally. It took a strong person to leave his home and family behind.
"He is a good person. That's one of the reasons I want to marry him." Gabriella was going to get Liam to say whatever was on his mind.
"Do you miss him?" Liam looked up from wrapping his presents to see Gabriella's face when she spoke.
"I miss him all the time. There is not a second that goes by I don't wish he were here. Do you miss him?" Gabriella could tell Liam's eyes were starting to get teary.
"Yeah, I miss him a lot. It's been a long time since I've seen him." Liam let a tear fall finally. He'd been holding this in for a long time.
"It's okay to cry every once in a while Liam." Gabriella reached out and rubbed his back gently.
"I feel like a baby crying. No one cries at home about this." Liam knew his parents and brothers missed Troy but they didn't talk much about it.
"You don't know that. They all cry once in a while. What makes you want to cry though?"
"I just get scared that he won't get home." More tears fell down Liam's face as he said this.
"We're all afraid of that, but we have to think positively." Scooting closer to him, she wrapped her arm around the young boy. "Trust me, I worry about that all the time, but we need to stay positive. Troy has made it so long through the war and we only have, at most, a few months before he comes home. Think about how happy everyone will be when he comes home. He knows we all love him, and he will always remember that."
Liam stayed silent. He knew it was probably harder on Gabriella. After some moments of silence he spoke up again. "Do you ever regret anything? Do you ever wish you had said something to him before he left?"
Thinking about how she was going to respond to this question she took a few moments to process his question. "Honestly, no I don't. Of course I wish I had had more time to talk and got the chance to tell him I love him one more time, but no matter what time he left at, I will always want one more chance. I don't regret anything because Troy and I love each other. Any words we've said to each other, good or bad, have shaped our relationship."
Wanting to tell someone about what he had been thinking about lately, Liam decided to confide in Gabriella. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a bad brother."
Gabriella pulled him in for a hug. The poor kid thought he was a bad brother. "Liam, you aren't a bad brother. Just by hearing all these things you are telling me, shows you aren't a bad brother."
"I didn't like Troy leaving when he had been arguing so much. All me and my brothers seemed to do until Troy left was argue and pick on each other."
"All siblings do that though. It would be weird if you didn't pick on each other and argue. That in no way makes you a bad brother." The young boy was confused and maturing. He wanted to stop fighting with his brothers. After having Troy been gone for so long, he was starting to realize the true concept of family.
"I wish he knew how much we missed him." Liam really wanted Troy to know that he was missing him. After almost two years, he was beginning to get separation anxiety.
"You know what? He knows how much we miss him. Despite how much we miss him, he misses us ten times more. He has a whole family waiting at home for him that he doesn't want to disappoint. He isn't just fighting for our country, he's fighting for us. He is fighting for his opportunity to see me and you and everyone else he cares about." It was true, if Troy went to Afghanistan and didn't fight, he would not only be letting down his country, but himself. That was a lot of pressure for a twenty five year old to deal with.
"Thanks for talking with me Gabi. You are already a great sister." Liam took one final swipe at his eyes as Gabriella removed her arm from his shoulder.
"Anytime Liam, seriously I'm just a phone call away." This was quite the talk they'd had. She thought that he would take her up on the offer sometime. "So, should we order some pizza and then I'll take you home?"
"Pepperoni with sausage?" Liam stupidly asked. It was the Bolton family's favorite type of pizza.
"What other kind is there?" Gabriella smiled; he was certainly developing into a mini Troy. He had always seemed like the more sensitive one between him and his four brothers. Troy had fallen in love with her when they were really young. It wasn't a teenage love; it was a lifelong love that only a few people will ever experience. Troy had always confided in her and expressed the emotions he felt that he couldn't share with anyone. He was a sweet man and always showed affection for her. Gabriella knew that Troy would protect her if it meant risking his life. Much like Gabriella depended on Troy, Troy depended on Gabriella. She had been there for him almost his whole life. She wondered everyday how he was surviving by himself, because she could barely manage her own pain.
