"Daddy," Juliet began as she approached Troy. Surprisingly, he was alone, for Gabriella had taken the younger children shopping and the older ones were all out with friends. "Could I ask you something?"

"Anything, sweetie," Troy, who was on the couch, replied, motioning for his daughter to sit beside him.

Juliet sat down. Taking a deep breath, she queried, "Could I go to the farewell dance at school with Jackson?"

"Jackson Baylor?" Troy said.

Juliet nodded. "Yeah. Yesterday at Jordyn's party, he asked me if I wanted to go with him. I said I would have to check with you and let him know at school Monday."

Letting out a sigh, Troy wrapped his arms around Juliet. "My little girl is growing up so fast," he murmured to himself.

"What did you say, Dad?"

"I said that you're growing up so fast." Troy let go of Juliet. "I feel like I was just holding you for the first time yesterday and now you're gonna go to a dance with a boy! What happened to my little girl?"

"You don't have to say 'yes,' Dad," Juliet reminded Troy.

"But I don't have a non-selfish excuse for saying 'no.' I mean, I've known Jackson his whole life, he's a nice, polite guy, and your mom and I said that you kids could date when you got into high school as long as we approved of the dates you got. And I can't find anything wrong with Jackson, so I'm gonna have to let you go."

"Just because I'm going to this dance doesn't mean I won't still be your little girl," Juliet remarked. "I love you, Daddy." She hugged Troy. "And thank you for giving me permission to go out with Jackson."

"I love you, too, Juliet." Troy returned his daughter's embrace. "And you're welcome." He released Juliet. "Now, when is this dance?"

"Next Friday...so in almost two weeks."

"Okay. Well, you'd better talk to Mom about getting something to wear for it. And she can also give you tips on what to expect your first time going out. I mean, I could try, but I'm a guy, so I think it might be better for you to hear it from a girl."

Juliet nodded in acknowledgement. "I will. Thanks again." She stood up.

"Hey, Juliet, what about I take you to get ice cream? We haven't had any daddy-daughter time in a while."

"Okay. I'll go get shoes on."

"Alright." Troy rose from the couch and, walking into the kitchen, grabbed the magnetic tablet that was always kept on the refrigerator along with a pen and wrote down a note for Gabriella informing him where he and Juliet were going. By the time he was finished, his daughter was waiting near the front door. "Are you ready?" Troy, who was already wearing a pair of sneakers, pulled his keys from his pocket.

"Yeah," Juliet replied.

Troy responded by opening the door and leading the way out to the car. He missed spending time alone with Juliet. Of course he loved all his other children just the same as her, but she was just the one he had the strongest bond with, and he enjoyed strengthening that bond. And now that she was about to start dating, he especially wanted to make sure he kept up with the special daddy-daughter relationship they had.

"Mom," Juliet spoke. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" It was nighttime, and Gabriella had just put the little ones to bed while the older kids were entertaining themselves in their bedrooms.

"Sure." Gabriella stopped her task of loading up the dishwasher for the night and turned to face her daughter. "What's going on?"

"Well, yesterday Jackson Baylor asked me to the farewell dance at school. I already talked to Dad about it and he said it was okay if I went with him, but he told me I should talk to you about dates and dresses and stuff."

"Okay." Gabriella wasn't at all surprised at the news she had just heard, for Troy had informed her of it earlier in the day. "Let's go to the dining room table and sit down. I'll bring some cookies for us to snack on while we talk." Grabbing the cookie jar that was on the counter, she headed into the dining room and took a seat. Once Juliet was sitting, she started with, "Alright, so first of all, when you're on a date, you need to make sure the guy you with is treating you right. He should be opening doors for you, helping you into the car...well, maybe at your age not helping you into the car, but holding open doors is certainly something that can be done. And he shouldn't ditch you for any reason. Even if he needs to use the bathroom, he should let you know first."

Juliet nodded in acknowledgement.

"And also, good dates should never talk about having sex, especially not at your age on the first date. If he does, dump him right away. I mean, I couldn't see Jackson bringing that up, but it's just something you should be aware of. Remember: always say no to sex. It's far better to wait until you're married, or are at least out of high school and preferably college, to have a baby, and every time you have sex, you run the risk of getting pregnant, even if you use protection or start birth control. Trust me. I know because every birth control pill I've never been on has never worked."

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm not planning on doing anything like that with a guy. I really don't feel ready to have a baby."

"And that's a good thing." Gabriella smiled and grabbed a cookie. "Now, on a date you also need to remember that just because you're the girl doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. You need to be polite and respectful to your date and also, above everything else, be completely honest with him. The worst thing you can do in a relationship is lie."

"Okay."

"Alright. And about a dress...I can take you shopping tomorrow after school so you can get a dress and shoes."

"Okay. Thanks." Juliet took a bite of her cookie.

"You're welcome. Now do you have any questions for me?"

"No. I think I'm good."

"Alright. Well then, you can go."

Standing up, Juliet exited the room.

Troy, who had been sitting in the living room, walked over to Gabriella and sat down beside her. Snatching a cookie, he remarked, "These kids really grow up way too fast."

"I know," sighed Gabriella. "It's hard to believe that our youngest is three already...and our oldest is turning eighteen and going off to college."

"But we have another little one on the way," Troy reminded his wife, gently rubbing her baby bump. Feeling some movement, he inquired, "Is he kicking you?"

"Yeah," giggled Gabriella. "He's been moving around a lot today."

"Well, you are going into the third trimester about now, aren't you?"

Gabriella nodded.

"And that's when the baby starts getting really active, right?"

"Yup." Gabriella smiled. "I'm proud of you for paying attention at my doctor appointments."

"Well, you're my wife. I care about you and our babies." Leaning in, Troy kissed Gabriella's lips.

"I know you do. That's why I love you so much."

"I love you, too, baby girl." Troy ran his fingers through Gabriella's hair. "And I always will."

Gabriella adjusted her glasses as she sat back in her chair. She had just finished addressing envelopes that contained invitations to T.J.'s graduation. Unfortunately, it had taken longer than it should have due to the fact that Jordyn was on her lap, and had been trying to grab the pen the whole time Gabriella was writing.

"Mom, I'm taking Courtney to her appointment now," Gabe announced as he came down the stairs, his girlfriend following close behind. Because of her pregnancy, Courtney had a tutor from East High come over once a week to keep her up to date on her classes so she wouldn't have to go to school for the rest of the year. Gabe, however, was still going, but had taken the day off to drive Courtney to the doctor.

"Oh, okay," Gabriella acknowledged. "Is this the day you're having the ultra sound?"

"Yeah," replied Courtney. "I'm four months into my pregnancy now, so I'm hoping the doctor can tell us if we're having a boy or a girl."

"You should be able to find out today," smiled Gabriella.

"Great!"

"You ready?" Gabe checked, pulling his keys from his pocket.

Courtney nodded.

"Bye-bye!" Jordyn shouted.

"Bye," Gabe and Courtney both responded before walking out the door.

"Let's take these out to the mailbox," Gabriella said. Standing up, she settled Jordyn onto her hip and held her with arm while she used her free hand to grab all the envelopes.

"Mommy, I have to go potty," Jordyn told her mother.

"Let's go potty before we go out, then." Gabriella set her daughter down and followed her to the bathroom. She then waited outside the door until she was finished to make sure she was okay, then went in to help her wash her hands. "Are you all ready now?"

"Mm-hm."

Gabriella picked up Jordyn again along with the envelopes, then made her way out to the mailbox. After putting the invitations in there, she went back inside. "So, sweetie, Mommy doesn't have anything to do right now, so what about I take you to the park? Do you wanna go to the park?"

Jordyn nodded.

"Okay. Go get your shoes on and then we can go." Gabriella placed Jordyn on the ground.

Jordyn eagerly ran off to get her shoes. When she returned a few seconds later, Gabriella smiled and, taking her hand, led her out to the car and helped her into her seat.

"Mommy, at the park I wanna go on the big girl swing!" Jordyn told Gabriella.

"You can," said Gabriella, climbing behind the wheel.

"Yay!" Jordyn clapped her hands. "I love you, Mommy!"

"Aww, thanks, honey. I love you, too."

"And I also love Daddy and T.J. and Juliet and Eli and Karina and Gabe and Carly and Colby and Daniel and Grandma and Grandpa Bolton and Grandma and Grandpa Montez." Jordyn sounded proud.

Aww, I wish Troy were here. He would love this, Gabriella thought. Cute moments with the kids had always been something she and Troy had always greatly enjoyed. And because they had lots of kids, they had gotten a lot of those special moments that made the pain involved in giving birth to ten children completely worthwhile.

That evening, all the Boltons were gathered in the living room. Since Gabe and Courtney had found out the gender of their baby that day, they had wanted to share it with the family, since the baby would be Troy and Gabriella's grandchild and the kids' niece or nephew.

"So, who wants to guess before we tell you?" Gabe asked.

"A girl?" Carly answered hopefully.

"Yeah! A baby sister!" Jordyn shouted, much to the amusement of her parents and the older kids. However, no one wanted to ruin her enthusiasm by telling her that the baby wouldn't be her sibling.

"I think it's a boy," Troy remarked.

"Me, too," agreed Gabriella.

"Anyone else wanna take a guess?" queried Gabe.

No one responded.

"Alright, then." This time it was Courtney who spoke. "Here are the pictures of my ultra sound that I got today." She held up two pictures of her unborn baby. "And it is a..." She paused. "...It's a girl."

Everyone clapped.

Wiping a tear of happiness from her eye, Gabriella first hugged Troy, then Gabe, then Courtney. "Aw, I'm gonna have a granddaughter! This is amazing. What are you gonna name her?"

"We haven't gotten that far yet, Mom," Gabe spoke.

"Yeah," Courtney broke in. "We still need to talk about that."

"I'm gonna have a baby sister!" Jordyn exclaimed, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.

Again, no one dared to spoil Jordyn's excitement by telling her that the baby would be her niece rather than her sister.

"So, where will the baby sleep?" Eli wondered.

"Well, we've been working on the attic for some time now," Troy began. "And I think if we're really diligent about finishing it up, we can get it done before your brother is born, and then we can use it as the nursery for both babies."

"I want my baby near me at night, though," Courtney said.

"You can sleep up there," Gabriella pointed out. "The attic can fit two cribs and a bed."

"Oh, okay. That'll work, then."

"And I'll be leaving for college soon, so you'll have an empty bed to take there," T.J. reminded.

"Yeah; everything will work out," concluded Troy. "Now, how about we have some dessert?"

Everyone stood up and walked over to the kitchen table. The Bolton family was large, yes, and endlessly growing, but no matter what, things would always work out.

I'm back! Sorry I was gone for so long. I was preoccupied with my Zanessa fic I'm writing through Twitlonger, plus I've been babysitting and getting ready for finals. Can't believe I'm almost done junior year already! But here's a chapter...it's short, but it's a chapter. LOL. Please review!