I can't believe all the reviews I've been getting!! Thanks so much, they really make my day and the more you review the faster I update! LOL This chapter may be a bit boring after the drama of the last few, it focuses on what's happening with the baby…there is a reason for this and it will become clear eventually. Ps I have a cameo in  this can you spot me? Love Tink.

Gabriella sighed as she stepped under the hot spray of the shower, she felt like she had been hit by a large truck, her poor battered body tired and very, very, sore.

She glanced down at her stomach, surprised to see it still slightly swollen and touched it gingerly, frowning as she noticed it felt like jelly. It was now nearing three am and Troy had left a short time ago, with a promise to call Taylor first thing in the morning to let her know what had happened. It had been an awkward goodbye, both unsure what to say and Gabriella had felt so emotional, she was afraid she would cry. She knew she wouldn't see him again, at least not for a while and her heart broke for tiny baby, who only hours old, was already without a father.

 The nurses had promised her that as soon as he had gotten some sleep, she could go along to the Nicu, probably first thing in the morning, to see how her daughter was doing. She had never felt so tired in her entire life and as much as she wanted to see her daughter, she knew she needed to keep her strength up. Turning the shower off she stepped out and dried herself down, wincing occasionally. She really felt like shit, so tired and shaky. Although she had been warned labor was hard work, she never really understood what that meant until tonight. She just felt so drained and emotional, like she wanted to cry, although she seriously doubted she had any tears left.

Gabriella made her way along to her room, where she found her overnight bag and dug out a clean nightshirt and underwear. Settling herself onto the bed, she noticed a Polaroid on the unit next to her. Picking it up with a teary smile, she saw it was her daughter, naked except for a diaper and a tiny pink bonnet, sleeping on her tummy in an isolette, her tiny bottom sticking up in the air. She traced the picture lovingly and sniffed away yet another tear, she wanted to be with her, it didn't feel right to be without her and unconsciously she placed a hand on her bump. Without the baby it just felt strange, as though her stomach was made from jello and she frowned. A yawn over took her and she kissed the picture softly before placing it under her pillow. Switching off the light, she pulled the covers around her and was asleep before she knew it, exhaustion overcoming her at last.

Across town, Troy stared out of the window of the hotel, sleep eluding him, the events of the night running through his mind like a movie. He braced himself on his hands, his palms flat and let his forehead rest against the cool glass, wishing he could get rid of the image of Gabriella holding her child. Each time he saw it, it was like a knife lancing through him, reminding him what could have been. The look in her eyes as she looked at her child would stay with him forever; she had once looked at him that way but not  anymore. Seeing her give birth was an amazing experience and in some ways he was glad he was there to share it with her, but in other ways it hurt too much. Reminded him of what could have, should have been.

He was due on a flight in only six hours but inside he knew he wouldn't be on it, he couldn't leave, not until he knew her baby was okay. He was just being a friend, he told himself, she would need a friend to get through this.

 Zeke and Sharpay were on honeymoon, Gabi had told him her mom was on vacation in Europe and Taylor and Chad both had their own lives. Gabriella would need someone and he didn't mind extending his stay for a day or two, just to make sure she was going to be okay. He knew he shouldn't care, he knew the child had nothing to do with him, but seeing her born, he was curious to see if she was going to be okay. Yeah, he told himself, it was plain old curiosity that made him change his plans, nothing else.

"Troy?" came a sleepy voice from behind him, Summer was up.

"Yeah?" he didn't even bother to turn around

"Are you coming back to bed?" she made her voice seductive "We have an early flight tomorrow"

"I'm not gonna be on it" he said, exhaustion creeping into his tone.

"What?" she shrieked, crossing the room, coming towards him.

"I'm not gonna be on it, I'm staying for a few days, make sure the baby is okay"

"Why do you need to stay, I'm sure that Gail woman has lots of people looking out for her" she pouted, sliding her hands around his waist from behind.

Troy shrugged her off, irritated that she wanted to have sex now "Her name is Gabriella and I need to know the baby will be okay"

"God Troy, why should you care, you're not exactly the most paternal guy are you" she sniped, angry at being rejected.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

She laughed bitterly "Look at you, you're a party animal, love em and leave em kind of guy, you don't care about anyone else and you certainly don't care about some broads baby"

"You're right Summer, I don't care about the baby but I want to know it's gonna be okay" he said his anger matching hers, she had hit a nerve when she told him he wasn't paternal. Troy knew he wasn't and he never could be cos of the dammed mumps, but he hated to be reminded of the fact, especially now.

"Sure" her tone dripped disbelief "more likely you're after getting into that bitches pants"

" Fuck you Summer!" he snarled, had she touched another nerve?

"No you won't be, I'm leaving in the morning and when you get done playing happy families, don't  bother calling me" she threw at him and whirled away, before storming into the bedroom.

Troy crossed the room to the mini bar and opened the lid of a miniature bottle of whiskey, without even bothering with a glass, he downed the entire contents of the bottle in one. He sighed and grabbed another before slumping down onto the couch and downing that one too. Feeling the liquid fire spread though his body, he began to relax. Summer wasn't right, it was only curiously holding him here, wasn't it?

Gabriella awoke with a start, her hand flying to her slightly swollen stomach, her eyes popping open as she realized, it hadn't all been a dream after all. Last night she'd given birth to her daughter, her daughter who was now at this very moment, at the other end of hall in the Nicu.

Glancing at the clock on the wall she saw it was seven thirty and outside her room she could hear people moving about, and somewhere a baby crying. Swinging her feet off the bed she made to get up, but felt a little dizzy. As she did this, the door opened and in walked a friendly African American  nurse, with big hips, a big bust and a big heart to match.

"Gabriella Montez?" she asked smiling at her "You okay honey?"

Gabriella nodded "Just a little dizzy there for a second"

The nurse crossed the room and took her pulse "Any blurred vision anything like that?"

She shook her head "No, I think I just got up a little too fast"

"Hmm maybe"

"When can I see my baby? She's in the Nicu"

"As soon as you like, have you had breakfast?"

"No, I'd rather see my baby first"

The looked at her in an assessing manner and pursed her lips "Well okay but remember Gabriella, you need to take care of you too, if mama aint strong, then baby can't be strong"

"I know, I just really want to see her, they took her from me so fast" she said sadly.

The nurse gave a snorting noise "These doctors, they do things for the best, but they forget we got emotions, I'll take you too her now if you want"

Gabriella nodded enthusiastically and grabbed a robe, hobbling towards the door. Nobody had warned her how uncomfortable walking could be after giving birth, everything felt heavy and swollen.

The trip to the Nicu or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as it was otherwise known, wasn't too far. The nurse had to press a buzzer to be allowed in and Gabriella followed, eager but terrified at the same time.

"Now don't be scared Gabriella, I'll hand you over to Deanna, she's the charge nurse here in the Nicu and she'll explain everything to you okay? When you're ready for a rest just come on back along" she said kindly and nodded at the blonde woman who had crossed the room to greet them.

Gabriella looked around her heart in her throat, everywhere she turned all she saw were monitors and lights and tiny babies. Every few seconds a beep would sound from some alarm or another, the Nicu was a busy, noisy place.

"Gabriella right?"

Gabriella nodded, a little dazed by what she saw.

"Don't be alarmed, it can take a little getting used to this place, but once you know what's going on, you'll be okay…So do you want to see how your little girls doing?"

Gabriella nodded "Please"

"Follow me" she said with a reassuring smile.

As they headed across the room, Gabriella peeped in at some of the isolettes, which contained babies so small Gabriella wondered how on earth they could survive. There were some bigger babies too but all had wires and monitors by them, so many tubes and lines, all doing the job of a mother's womb, keeping them alive. There were some parents there already and they smiled at her in sympathy obviously recognizing that she was new here. The lights overhead seemed very bright and Gabriella had to squint slightly, she also noted the heat, it seemed very warm. She fanned herself, adjusting her clothes. Finally the nurse came to a stop by an isolette by the window, where a pretty dark haired woman was just checking a monitor and recording some notes. Deanna smiled at her in greeting and turned to Gabriella

"Here we are, this is Rachael, she'll be baby's Primary nurse, kind of like a key carer, Rachael this is Mommy"

Gabriella smiled briefly at the woman, but all her attention was focused on her little girl, who lay so tiny and so still in the center of the isolette surrounded by wires and tubes and lines. Tears pooled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks

"My poor little girl" she said softly, laying her hand on the glass, near her head.

 She could fit her head into the palm of one of her hands and Gabriella had small graceful hands, "she's so small"

"Not as small as some, by Nicu standards, she's a giant" Rachael said with a soft smile.

"Is she okay?" she asked still staring at her daughter, taking in all her features, trying to see them around the various wires and tubes.

"She's doing really well, we're hoping she won't be with us too long…She's a little anemic so we keep taking blood to test, that's what that arterial line in her hand is for… The tube in her mouth is a feeding tube, she's not quite strong enough yet to suck but hopefully in the next twenty four to forty eight hours she will be…. The wires on her chest are attached to this monitor here" she pointed to a screen next to the isolette.

"Its called a Single Monitor and it shows all her vital signs, her pulse, her heart beat that kinda thing. The one you see on her finger there, with the little red light, is a Pulse Ox, a Pulse Oximetery Machine. This records her blood oxygen levels and it has been a little low at times so were monitoring her. The good news from our point of view is that she's breathing on her own and doing really well….We're by no means out of the woods yet but we're quietly confident"

Gabriella listened attentively, trying to take it all in for her daughters sake, but all she could think was how vulnerable and tiny she looked, naked except for her diaper and tiny pink bonnet, her jet black curls  peeping out beneath it.

"Would you like to hold her?" Rachael asked surprising her.

"I can hold her, really?" Gabriella couldn't believe it.

The woman nodded with a smile "Yeah, the wires are all long enough….we recommend what we call Kangaroo care"

Gabriella frowned wondering what on earth it meant, it sounded weird "What's that?"

"Basically its skin to skin contact, you pop her inside your shirt against your chest, like a kangaroo, it helps with bonding and encouraging her to feed"

Gabriella was thrilled she was going to get to hold her daughter at last, and couldn't stop the tremor in her hands nor the tears, that sprang ever ready, to her eyes.

With a skill that shouldn't have shocked Gabriella, Rachael reached into the isolette and moved a few wires and tubes.

Nodding at a nearby chair Gabriella settled herself and quickly opened the buttons on her nightshirt.

Within seconds, she had her hands full of her daughter and carefully avoiding the wires, she tucked her against her chest, feeling the heat from her body seep into her daughters. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the little girl squirmed, almost trying to get closer and then settled with a sigh, her eyes opening briefly and then closing again when she saw her mother. Utterly content.

"Talk to her, the sound of your voice will soothe her" Rachael said "I'll be over there if you need anything"

Gabriella nodded, overcome with so much love it was frightening and looked down at her daughter, only visible because of the pink bonnet peaking out of her nightshirt.

"Hello precious, it's your mommy again….I hope you're feeling better now you're with me" she spoke softly, watching the way her daughters face moved in response to her voice. Although she had many of her own features, Gabriella could see a lot of Troy in her, the tilt of her nose, her cheekbones and chin, they were all Troy, and she wondered how he could not see it. The bundle in her shirt made a little noise and turned her face, opening her mouth towards her breasts. Gabriella felt her heart swell with love, she was rooting, she was looking for food!

"Um Rachael" she called out with a big smile.

"Is everything okay?"

"I think she's hungry, she seems to be rooting" she looked down to where her daughter was moving her head from side to side, her mouth open.

"You're right, she is"

"Can she feed with a tube in?"

"I don't think she'll be able to suck but you can let her latch on and try…if she can then we can remove the tube"

Gabriella moved her daughter and brought her to her nipple, within seconds the baby latched on and seemed to be trying to suckle. She felt a brief tugging sensation and then nothing, her baby had let go. Disappointment flooded though Gabriella; her poor baby wasn't strong enough to suck yet.

"She'll get there," Rachael said, sensing her upset "It's still early days…so what you gonna call this little heartbreaker?"

Gabriella looked at her daughter with a tender smile "Ana Alexandra Montez, after her daddy"

She was determined to give her daughter something of father, even if it was just a feminine form of his middle name.

"That's so pretty" the nurse sighed with smile.

"Thanks, a pretty name for a pretty girl"

Gabriella spent a few more hours familiarizing herself with the Nicu and then decided to grab a snack and some rest while her daughter slept in her isolette. After saying a tearful goodbye, she headed down the corridor back to her room and grabbing a sandwich from the vending machine, settled herself on her bed. Feeling exhaustion wash over her, she drifted into a deep sleep.

Chad awoke to a noisy pounding on his apartment door and he rolled over with a groan, glancing at the alarm clock. It was ten am already?

Beside him Taylor stirred with a groan.

"Who the hell is that? At this time?" she mumbled, her eyes still firmly closed, burrowing deeper under the covers.

"Babe it's ten am"

"And?" she still did not open her eyes.

The insistent pounding came again and this time they groaned together. Rolling from the bed Chad pulled on a pair of sweats, his Afro sticking up in all directions

"I'm coming" he yelled, making Taylor pull a pillow over her head with another moan.

He padded down the hallway, yawning and scratching his chest, still coming awake, as once more the banging sounded.

"Hold ya horses I'm coming," he yelled as he reached the door and unlocked it.

"Somebody better be dead," he mumbled pulling it open.

"Not quite" Troy said with a wry grin, stood in his doorway with three large coffees and a bag of donuts.

"Dude! I thought you'd be half way to LA by now!" Chad exclaimed, stepping back to allow him to enter.

"I should be but something happened last night after the reception…you, er, might wanna get Tay up, she'll kill me if she doesn't hear this" Troy said as he followed Chad into the kitchen and lounged on a stool at the breakfast bar.

Chad looked at him and the nodded before disappeared in the direction of the bedroom.

"Somebody better be dead!" Taylor sniped as she came sleepy eyed into the kitchen, clutching a robe around her.

"I've already done that one" Chad said with a chuckle, Taylor was not a morning person.

She glanced at Troy "You look like shit…I thought you should be on a plane by now" she said grabbing a donut and cup of coffee.

"I would have been but Gabriella decided to go into labor last night-"

Taylor spewed the mouthful of coffee she had been drinking across the table "What? She can't have, she's not due till May, is she okay, what's happened?" she babbled

Chad dropped his donut and hugged Taylor to his side.

"She's fine Tay, I was with her-"

"You were with her?"

"Taylor, will you let me finish. She's fine, she had a little girl at 1:07am this morning, she's tiny but healthy, 4lb 7, Gab is fine but she asked me to ask you to bring her some things to the hospital, women's things, baby things" he said scratching the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable.

"No wonder you look like shit, if you had to go through that!" Chad said with a shudder.

"Actually it was pretty amazing," he said softly, thinking back to the moment when he first laid eyes on Gabriella's daughter, so tiny, so pink, so perfect.

"So you two have made up whatever stupid fight you had?" Taylor asked

"Sorta" he said, looking uncomfortable again, unwilling to go there.

"Anyway we gotta get moving, we have to go visiting!" Taylor said with an excited grin "You guys are coming right?"

She looked at Troy and Chad who exchanged looks and a shrug.

"Guys we need to be there for her! She's gonna need all the help she can get preemies are hard work! Okay Chad you hit the shower, Troy you start making calls, I'm gonna draw up a list, oh this is so exciting!"

Exactly one hour later, Chad, Taylor and Troy found themselves on the way to hospital, their arms full of gifts and bags, Taylor practically bouncing with excitement.

"You guys go on in, I'm just gonna hang around here for a bit, she can't have too many visitors at once" Troy said as they reached the postnatal ward.

Taylor gave him an assessing look "Are you sure, you don't wanna come in and say hi?"

"I'll wait till you guys are done, get myself a coffee, I've had enough of this place to last a lifetime"

"Well if you're sure" Taylor said but was already walking away.

He nodded and sat himself down on a nearby chair, while Taylor and Chad spoke to the charge nurse and disappeared down the corridor. Troy closed his eyes happy to know he was close but not too close, he was so tired and he knew Gabriella would feel the same.

"Oh hello again" came a voice and Troy opened his eyes to see Dr Sophecles standing over him.

"Oh hey doc"

"Come to check in on your little girl? She's down in the Nicu, I'll take you down there, be nice to see her while it's quiet huh?" he said, talking a mile a minute, not really giving Troy a chance to refuse.

"I, er, she's not-"

"No, need to thank me Mr. Bolton, just doing my job" he said with a smile and it suddenly occurred to Troy, that he recognized him and was a little star struck.

 Shit! That was all he needed! Somebody thinking he was the baby's father, wouldn't the media love that story.

Getting up from his chair, he decided the best course of action was to follow him, if only just to shut him up.

The Nicu was quiet as it was nearly lunchtime, and Troy was introduced to Deanna and Rachael, who both greeted him warmly .

"Mr. Bolton, this is Rachael and Deanna…This is Mr. Bolton, Gabriella's partner"

Troy tried to correct him but the was off again, talking a mile a minute, his nerves obvious.

"So you've come to see Ana?" Rachael asked with a broad smile, as she led him over to a tiny isolette.

"Ana?" he repeated, his voice thick with an emotion he didn't want to think about.

"Gorgeous name, for a gorgeous girl" she confided as she came to a stop in front of the crib.

Troy peered in the isolette, as Rachael explained all the various machines and monitors surrounding the tiny baby, who looked so vulnerable and skinny. He couldn't believe she was Gabriella's, but anyone who saw them together couldn't doubt it, she had her mothers coloring and delicate features.

"Is she doin' ok?" he asked thickly, emotion choking him as he looked at the tiny being, that should have been part of him.

"She's doing great, she can't nurse yet and is a little anemic but overall she's doing well"

Troy stared fascinated at her little wrist, it was the thickness of his middle finger, she seemed so fragile. So small to be out in the world, he thought, his gaze coming to rest on the pink name card tied to the isolette.

"Ana Alexandra Montez" he read aloud, she'd given her the feminine form of his middle name, why had she done that?

"Pretty name, she said she'd named her for you" Rachael smiled.

A lump formed in his throat. He couldn't seem to force any words past it. Why had she named the baby for him?

"Do you want to hold her?"

Troy swallowed, did he?

"Gabi"

Gabriella came awake to see Taylor standing over her with a misty smile, holding a large bag, obviously crammed with baby things.

"Hey" she smiled back, sitting herself up in the bed with a yawn.

"Hey Gab" Chad smiled from the back of the room, where he helped himself to her grapes.

"How are you?" Taylor asked embracing her best friend and squeezing her tight.

"I'm great really"

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you"

"Don't be Tay, it all happened so quickly, I wasn't alone" she didn't want to say who was with her, she didn't know how much, if anything Troy told them.

"I know, Troy told us all about it… I think he was pretty impressed" Chad put in from the back of the room, as Taylor perched on the edge of Gabi's bed.

"You've seen him?"

"Yeah he's waiting in the hall," Taylor said with a knowing smile.

"I thought he was going back to LA today?" she said half to herself, half to Taylor.

"Apparently not, said he's gonna be around for a few more days, you two must have made up then?"

Gabriella shrugged "I honestly don't know, I don't think he had much choice, I was alone"

"Well he's here now, you want me to get him?"

Gabriella shook her head "leave him, he'll be tired…Do you guys wanna see Ana?"

"You called her Ana? That's so pretty" Taylor smiled "I can't wait to see her"

Gabriella swung her legs over the bed and reached for her robe with a wince.

"Are you up to this Gab?"

"Taylor, I'm okay, I just feel as though I've been hit by a truck…Anyway, I wanna see her too, I miss her" she admitted softly.

"Oh Gab" Taylor said hugging her close again.

"C'mon the Nicu's this way, you can't get in to see her, it's parents only for now but I can bring her to the window"

Troy swallowed hard again, before nodding quickly.

Rachael smiled at him and opened the side of the isolette, before reaching in and rearranging a few wires.

Carefully she picked up the tiny bundle, wrapped in a soft pink blanket and went to hand her to Troy.

"What do I do?" he asked looking panicked.

Rachael hid a smile, first time fathers, always made her laugh.

"Put one hand under her bottom and use the other to cradle her head, make sure you support her neck" she instructed as she placed the tiny bundle into his shaking hands.

Right away she wriggled and he shot a look of utter fear and panic at Rachael

"She's moving!" he blurted.

"They do that…hold her close to your body, you won't hurt her, she's tiny but she's not as fragile as she looks"

Troy didn't believe that for one second but he pulled her close to his chest, enjoying the feel of her slight weight in his arms.  Enjoying the touch of her baby soft skin on his bare arms, the smell of baby powder and soap. He looked down into her face, seeing past the feeding tube and the wires in her arms. She looked so much like Gabriella, it hurt, but there was no trace of her mystery father.

"Talk to her, she'll be soothed by your voice" Rachael said when Ana protested again, making awkward movements and squawking noises.

"What do I say" he asked helpless and at a loss what to do.

"Anything you want…I'll just going to check some charts, shout if you need me"

"Wait!" he protested but she merely smiled and walked away. It was good for fathers to have some bonding time.

Troy looked down at the baby in his arms, as she made increasingly loud protestations, what did he do?

"Hey little princess, don't cry," he said making his voice soft "Sssh, it's okay"

The little girl opened her eyes and stared at him, her eyes so blue he felt his heart flip-flop. Tears pooled in his own cobalt blue eyes. They were the same exact shade as his, so intense! So penetrating! An awful thought filled his head, what if he'd been wrong? What if Gabriella had been telling the truth? What if Ana was his daughter?