Hey everyone, Gabriella here hoping that everyone is looking forward to the upcoming holiday season! This part of our little adventure covers our first Thanksgiving together and when the Christmas part of our lives comes next, we'll be right back in line with my pregnancy as well as a few other twists and turns me and Troy weren't expecting. But not to worry, everything is fine. You'll just have to wait and see what happens ;). So read on and please, give Ltscw some words of encouragement. He's done a lot to put up with me and my raging hormones.

Chapter 9- Thanksgiving Chaos

Well after trying to recover the following Sunday after our party, I realized that I had done a little too much on that end of things as dancing and partying weren't much of a thing for me anymore. My legs burned and ached, my energy levels were depleted, and it didn't help that our babies kept me up most of the night. I tossed, I turned, and even got up and threw up a few times. Something tells me that I won't be doing that again for a while, or rather we won't as I don't think I'll be allowing it after a night like that.

Most of that day I just laid in bed taking it easy as prescribed by my husband for I wasn't about to argue with him. I was miserable from head to toe and he could see it in my eyes. During that time Troy had went to work taking down decorations and cleaning house so things would look normal again. What took us a few days to assemble took him less than a day to take down and that was just inside. Outside would have to take a backseat for now until we got some more free time to ourselves to complete the teardown.

With that in mind I knew thanksgiving was now only four weeks away and it was one that I was going to have the hardest time with other than Christmas when that arrived. It was going to be the first time in my life that I wasn't going to spend it with my mother. Every year after my fathers death we would head over to Kelsi's and spend time with them. But now I'm sure that plan is entirely blown out of the water. But I'm not about to try to let that get to me though. At least not if I have something to do with that. But everyone knows that with pregnancy comes emotional roller coasters. I only hoped that November wasn't going to be one of those rides.

That afternoon a just as tired but not as nearly exhausted Taylor came over to say hi and to check up on how I was doing. When Troy told her where I was and pointed out how to get to me she bounded in and jumped up onto our bed causing me more discomfort than I would have wanted. "Taylor, please…I'm nauseous enough as it is."

"Oh, sorry. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit that's how." I muttered into my pillow. "I can't move an entire muscle in my body."

"I'm sorry sweetie." she said softly rubbing my back. "I wish there was a way to make you feel better."

"There is. Don't let me party like that anymore."

"It's not like you were drinking Gabs."

"Doesn't matter. Even you should know that I'm not as active as I used to be."

"True."

"How was the Evan's gala last night?"

"Same as always from what I heard. Sharpay was furious though."

"I think I know why."

"We all do. Ryan informed all of us of his actions last night when we all went out to breakfast this morning."

"Aww…I missed the annual breakfast!"

"It's alright Gabriella. You missed an extremely pissed off and hung over Sharpay Evans so it's good that you did."

"Hung over? Why does that not surprise me?" I sighed trying to sit up.

"No sweetie, you just stay laying there. There's no sense in having to get up if you don't have to."

"There is when you have to use the bathroom."

"Oh, well don't let me get in your way then."

After the end of that following week after the fight with my mother, the hospital stay, my house rest orders from Sonia, and the opening of the secret I had kept from everyone else I knew, it was only three more weeks to thanksgiving and deep down I was getting nervous. Just how in the hell was I going to pull of one of the happiest times of the year when I was still visibly and emotionally shaken up from everything that has happened in my life? "Hey babe."

"Oh, hi sweetheart."

"What's up? You look like you've seen a ghost." I lightly laughed and said "No, a little far from that Troy. Trying to view the paranormal isn't on my list of things I do."

"True, but if you did it'd be different."

"And freaking scary so I think not." I said still laughing. "But no, it's something else far from that."

"Well tell me and I may be able to help."

"I'm worried about thanksgiving Troy. How are we going to handle that?"

"Oh, that? We're going to my parents. It's tradition."

"Not that Troy, even if I am glad I don't have to cook such a giant feast." I giggled looking at him. But my smile quickly went away with a sigh and instead turned back into a frown. "It's trying to get through it without my mom there with me. We always spent it together."

"I'm sorry honey. I totally forgot about that factor. Shit…how to figure this out so that everyone is happy…"

"I appreciate you wanting to help baby, but just what can we do? Mom won't even look at me."

"Now you listen here babe. You are the most beautiful, thoughtful, caring, and amazing person that this world has ever seen. So don't let what your mother thinks get to you. She just doesn't know what she's missing right now."

"Perhaps not." I sighed. "It still doesn't make me worry any less."

"I know love. But we'll figure it out so not to worry. You tired at all?"

"Just a little."

"How about taking an afternoon snooze with your one and only?"

"Sounds like the most wonderful idea in the world."

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Hey Troy." Lucille said smiling walking up to her son. "What brings you home tonight?"

"I needed someone to talk to at the moment."

"Something wrong son?"

"Oh, hey dad. Yeah, just a little I suppose."

"Well sit and take a breather. What's on your mind?"

"The holidays." Troy said sitting down on their sofa in the living room. "Gabriella told me how she's feeling about everything and now I don't know what to do."

"Is this about Maria?"

"Yeah."

"Well let's just sit here for a bit and think things out, okay?"

"Sure mom."

I woke up a little while later to the feeling the Troy's side of our bed being cold. I kind of frowned at this as I was feeling a little lonely again and with my emotional state because of the mood swings I felt tears stinging at my eyes. But when I saw a letter carefully placed on his pillow with my name on it I wiped the tears off my face and opened it carefully.

Gabi-

Went to my parents for a few minutes. I'll be back soon so don't worry. I wouldn't dare leave the most gorgeous woman in the world alone for long :). So just relax in bed and rest. I'll come for you when I get back. Love you babe.

Troy.

That little note did end up calming my somewhat frazzled nerves a bit so I did what the letter told me and snuggled back into the covers. I was still lonely and upset and was wanting him to be here to hold me and keep me warm. So with silent tears still falling down my face I curled up into a ball and sobbed quietly trying to hold back the emotions that were within.

"So what do you think we should do mom?" Troy asked. "She's not really emotionally stable to handle something like this on her own."

"Well…we could just do Thanksgiving here like we always do or try it at your house for a change. Whatever suits what's best for her is what we'll try to do."

"Oh, that reminds me…" Jack then said interrupting. "I got an email from your sister Lucy."

"Stephanie?"

"Yeah. She and her husband will be coming down from Nebraska to visit this year with their new babies."

"Oh yes! I heard about that!"

"Babies?" Troy asked curiously.

"Yes. A boy and girl." Lucille said smiling. "They're about three months old already."

"Umm…can I ask you something?"

"Sure sweetheart."

"Do multiples run in our family at all?"

"Stephanie is the only one that I know of that has had twins. Otherwise we've all been singles. You have any on your side Jack?"

"My younger sister had twins several years ago but otherwise it's always been on at a time as well."

"So it's just an on and off thing then?"

"Pretty much. Why are you curious? Because of Gabriella?"

"I suppose." Troy said with a light laugh. "I guess me and her broke the mold on that then."

"First time for three at once? Yeah, I suppose you did. Oh, and before I forget Lucy, your sister said they'd be here at least a week before Thanksgiving."

"Okay. Gives us plenty of time to get ready. Mind if my sister and husband use your old room Troy?"

"Not at all mom. It'll be good to see my aunt again. It's been ages."

"Yes it has. Where is Gabriella now?"

"At home hopefully still sleeping."

"Better get home and check on her then. We'll just do thanksgiving at your house, okay?"

"Perfect mom." he replied with a smile. "See you later."

"Bye dear."

Looking at the clock when I woke up again I noticed it was around five and my face was still wet with my tears. Why I had cried in my sleep I don't know but I still felt upset and lonely without my husband at my side. Why did I feel this way though? I was happy, content, and most of all excited about the life I was now living. We had a beautiful house, two very nice vehicles, a stable income, and three little angels on the way. But without him with me at the moment it all felt worthless until I knew he was safe in my arms. When I heard the front door open and close I prayed it was him as I did know his parents had a spare key as well so I didn't have my hopes up as of yet. But when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around me and the familiar musky scent of Troy's aftershave filling my nose I knew my baby was home. "Hey you." he whispered.

"Hi." I said softly between sniffles.

"You crying sweetheart?"

"Just a little."

"Why? What's wrong hon?"

"I just missed you that's all."

"Missed me? I was only gone for an hour or so sweetheart. Not only that I was only two minutes away."

"I know." I giggled softly. "I guess it was just one of my mood swings."

"It's alright now." he said gently pulling me further into his embrace. "I'm home now and I don't plan on going anywhere else for the rest of the night."

"Okay…" I whispered burying my head into his chest. "I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize sweetheart. Just dry those tears off your pretty face and relax. I'm right here."

"Alright." I whispered again snuggling in closer to him. It was then that i finally felt my loneliness and tension melt away with each beat of his loving heart.

It was officially one week before Thanksgiving and from what Troy had gathered during the time that had passed, his wife though happy on most days, on occasion was on an emotional rollercoaster and had kept it well hidden from his parents and their friends. The last confrontation with her mother didn't help matters all that much either and it was killing him on the inside. When they went to bed she would always fall asleep peacefully with a smile on her face. But sometimes during the night he would hear her whimpering and immediately sat up, took her into his arms and let herself weep into his arms until she would settle down and fall asleep again several minutes later of which then she would sleep quietly the rest of the night. But on this night he was out on yet another craving run completely tired and worn out. But for the love of his life and their three little girls all the extra time taking care of things was well worth the red eyes and bags that were prominent on his face. That added with the fact that it was a Sunday morning meant that he could at least sleep in to help catch up on his rest. "Another midnight craving run for the wife?"

"Oh, hey Mr. Kurosaki." he said to the smiling manager of the store. Troy had known him since he was a child as he would always come in and buy a snickers bar on his way home from middle school and throughout high school it was the daily Gatorade or water, whichever came first. He was of Japanese descent and lived in Albuquerque for most of his children's lives. His family migrated to America from Japan in the late eighties and finally made their life here when he was a baby. He grown up with his two oldest daughters Miko and Tania. Tania was one of his first girlfriends and they held together a wonderful relationship throughout their high school years and her father was elated to know that there was someone out there who respected his daughters. Tania's Japanese heritage was somewhat of a challenge to him but the Asian beauty was one that he highly respected. From her lightly tanned skin, deep brown eyes, petite form, hair that went down to the middle of her back and was always in a ponytail, all around amazing personality, and what he thought was the cutest face in the world at that time, there was no way he would have hurt her in any way or form. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was disrespect her since he was afraid Mr. Kurosaki would have come after him with a katana if it came down to that. Their splitting up was sad for both sides but mutual as she wanted to study in her home country before coming back home to stay permanently. "Yeah, you could say that."

"How is she doing?"

"Up and down right now. She's really on an emotional roller coaster at the moment."

"Ah yes. Mrs. Kurosaki was that way with all of our children. Kept me on the run all of the time."

"Now I know how that feels." Troy laughed. "How is she these days?"

"Doing very well. Her crafts hobby has her quite entertained."

"I'm glad to hear that. How are the daughters?"

"Miko is in her sophomore year of college studying to become a doctor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison."

"I remember you telling me about that. One of Gabriella's friends is doing that as well."

"It is a most honorable thing helping others."

"Yes it is Mr. Kurosaki. How is Tania?"

"Very well. She'll be home very shortly now. She loved studying back home but her heart remains here in Albuquerque."

"What did she study for again?"

"Engineering and Nursing. Two very complicated and difficult professions."

"She always was a smart girl. I miss the trouble we used to cause you and the misses."

"Oh you two were such trouble children!" the older man laughed with gleaming happy eyes. "We could never keep you two out of mischief."

"Yes but she was a very good friend and still is."

"She'll be home at the end of the month. She should be very happy to see you again."

"Tania knows I'm married, right?" Troy asked curiously.

"Yes and though she's very sad about it, she respects that and still wishes to be close to her very dear friend."

"I shall grant her that honor Mr. Kurosaki. But I should get home with these sandwiches before my wife comes to hunt me down herself. Tell Tania I said hello the next time you talk to her."

"I will Troy. You have a wonderful night now."

"You too sir."

"Took you long enough." I giggled as Troy came into our bedroom. "Get what I wanted?"

"Yes. Two turkey club blt sandwiches and a bottle of green tea. Anything else my sweet?"

"No. Thank you baby."

"Anytime." he chuckled getting back into his pajamas. "It was actually nice going out. I ran into Mr. Kurosaki tonight."

"Oh, the owner of that little corner store?"

"The very one. We got to talking about you, his wife, and their daughters so it was a pleasant visit."

"You know his daughters?"

"Went to school with them and I dated one of them."

"Which one?"

"Tania."

"Oh, I remember you telling me about her. How is she doing?"

"Very well from what her father told me. She's supposed to be home at the end of this month."

"Oh?" I asked curiously. "She's aware of us, right?"

"She's very aware of the situation and though saddened by the situation, is very happy for us."

"Now I'm worried." I smirked. "A past girlfriend coming home to stay. Should make things interesting around here."

"At least it's only one of them. If one of the other two showed up I'd be a little more worried."

"But at least I know I won the prize." I said giggling. "Plus got three little bonuses on the side."

"Three beautiful little girls." he said happily between us kissing and me trying to eat. "I still can't wait for them to arrive."

"Me and you both. Now get to sleep. I'm sure you're tired."

"What about you babe?"

"I'll be fine sweetheart. Now rest, alright?"

"Okay. Night sexy."

"Sleep tight baby."

The next morning after waking up from an extremely blissful slumber I immediately ran to the bathroom and took care of what our babies decided to do after putting immense pressure on my bladder. I knew for a fact that they were still a ways away from actually doing that but I still had a sneaking suspicion that they were the culprits anyway as I had never gone to the bathroom this much before in my life. After cleaning up and not waking my still sleeping yet handsome husband, I quietly left our room and dived into the refrigerator for another one of the burritos we had made to keep me satisfied. We kept at least two in the fridge at times and I loved it. I even got adventurous and tried a vegetarian version that I found to be quite good so I had those on occasion as well. I stayed away from any type of soda though and instead went with a giant glass of milk.

Going into the living room I grabbed one of Troy's photo albums and browsed around the pictures of his high school days and immediately found the ones of him and Tania. I had no reason to worry about anything with their past but I still loved to look around and learn more about the past of my husband and what kind of antics he got into. I know he was completely honest with me about his past relationships and I admired him for being so truthful with me. I was scared that he'd run away after my first confession and I still worry about that with me now being pregnant with our children as I had heard stories of men leaving their women right after they get them pregnant and instead run off with some other floozy who make him happy. I shudder at the thought of that every time it comes into mind.

What got me laughing that morning was one of the pictures that looked like the two had gotten into an all out massive war as the two were both covered in what looked like food stains. He was bent over somewhat and she was on his back piggy back style with her arms wrapped around his neck. It was easy to tell that they were both laughing but the next picture is what really got me as from what I was guessing were her parents were suddenly chasing them with her dad holding a giant spoon and her mom with a rolling pin. "Oh god…what did you two get into?"

"A giant food fight in her parents kitchen with us utterly destroying it." Troy said with a smile from the dining room entryway. "We were mischievous teenagers. You can even ask her parents. We were terrible."

"I can tell." I giggled. "Did they catch you two?"

"Oh yes. We spent an entire night cleaning the kitchen and then another week being grounded. But hey, it was all worth it to us. The more excitement the better."

"How about now?" I asked.

"Oh believe me, I have more than enough on my hands. Adding her to the mix would just be asking for a disaster."

"Good or bad?"

"Depends on which way that disaster goes." he chuckled sitting down next to me. "But right now I have enough adventure in my life with you so I'm quite content with what I've got."

"So am I." I said leaning up against him. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"Nah. I woke up to feeling your side of the bed being cold so I figured you were up before me."

"Sorry. You looked so handsome sleeping that I didn't want to disturb you."

"You wouldn't have anyway sweetheart. I have yet to find anything about you that disturbs me."

"Yet I've found plenty about you." I giggled. "How does that figure."

"We're men. It's how we are."

"Figures. Hungry?"

"Starving. You?"

"Even though I just finished another huge burrito I'm famished."

"How does French toast sound this morning?"

"With honey and maple syrup?"

"Whatever trips your taste buds babe." he laughed. "Come on. I'll cook and you can watch."

"Okay!"

Monday morning after Troy had left for work I tried my best to hold in my emotions and went to work myself to start my online classes. Sure I was happy to be home where I didn't have to worry about being stared at with my now expanding baby bump but I was alone with no one around to really talk to and I'm pretty sure the TV in the living room didn't make very good conversation considering that it did all the talking. I had the news channels on for the hell of it for one and for two I liked being caught up on what was going on in the world around me. It was only a few days now to thanksgiving and my nerves were still on edge. Knowing that it was going to be my first real family holiday without my mom around. Sure Halloween I wasn't too far worried about as that was more about the kids as it was anything else. But when it came to family we were always as tight as a family could be, or at least as a mother and daughter could be considering our situation. I let out a lonely sigh and tried to concentrate on what I had in front of me knowing it was going to be hard to do but with the future of our babies at stake I wasn't about to let anyone down. I had to grow up and be strong. I just had to.

By early afternoon after finishing what I had to I went down to our room to take a quick nap before Troy would come home. I had to of yet change out of my nightgown so all I had to do was slip out of my robe and get right under the covers and get comfortable. Letting out a breath of relief I finally let the warmth of our covers consume me as I fell into a deep sleep dreaming of the day I finally got the man of my dreams…

It was the middle of July and it was officially the two week mark since I had confessed what I had been feeling for over a year to Troy. I was laying in bed with my heart breaking and tears streaming down my face. I had been an emotional wreck and my mother knew it. She tried talking to me and letting me open up as to what was bugging me but I always just shook my head and said nothing. But the whole scenario of what happened between me and Troy continued to play in my mind…

"Gabriella…dinner is ready!"

"Coming Troy!" I yelled back coming from the outdoor patio. "Quite the heat wave we're having out there."

"I like the heat. I'd rather have that than to deal with driving around in blinding snowstorms."

"And we only get those what…once a year maybe if we're lucky?"

"If even that." he laughed setting a chicken fried steak down in front of me. "Enjoy Gabs."

"Looks great! Where's the gravy though? Can't have something like this without it you know!"

"Right here." he said with a smile sitting down across from me. "Got the mixed veggies and baked potatoes too."

"Perfect!" I said looking at him with a strained smile.

"Something wrong Gabs? You look like there's something bugging you."

"I-it's nothing Troy. Just a lot on my mind at the moment."

"Want to talk about it? I'm all ears you know."

"Maybe after supper. I don't want to ruin the moment."

"Well…okay then. I don't want to pressure you."

"Thanks Troy." I replied back with a gentle smile. Supper after that was fairly pleasant and we were able to make a lot of small talk with the air around us still a little tense but with no further pressure added it was alright. We'd joke and at times he'd flirt with me under the table by rubbing my legs with his feet. To me that only added to how much I had actually fell in love with him. No guy had ever had this kind of effect on me and I think the beating of my racing heart proved it as my breath would always hitch in my throat each time he touched me. Eventually we made it out into his living room after dinner where I just sat on the sofa looking out into space as he finished up the dishes. The moment was close and I knew it. I had to tell him. I just had to. Otherwise I would just be setting myself up for more heartbreak other that what I was feeling now. "Hey Gabs, you look like your mind is going at full speed."

"You have no idea…" I muttered under baited breath. "My entire world is spinning right now."

"You sick?"

"No…well…yes. But in a different way and not health wise."

"A guy perhaps?" he chuckled.

"Not just any guy Troy. He's the most wonderful, handsome, and caring person I've ever met. Each moment of my life these days he's constantly in my thoughts."

"Sounds like he's pretty special."

"He is." I said smiling at him. "He's got this wonderfully scruffy looking hair that I would love to run my hands through, these striking blue eyes that I absolutely get lost in, and this toned body that just sets my body on fire every time I look at him. Plus with his awesome personality I just can't see myself without anyone but him."

"He sounds pretty amazing. Who is this guy?"

"You are dense Troy." I said with a sad laugh. "If you were paying any attention at all you'd see I was describing you."

"M-ME?!" he said in shock. "But Gabs…"

"Yes, I know. You're twenty one, I'm sixteen. We can never happen, yada, yada, yada."

"Yes…the age barrier is a problem…but…you…are you sure?"

"More than anything that's the problem. It all started when you left last summer. I don't know why and I don't want to figure out why either. There's just something about you that my heart fell in love with and the scary thing is…I don't want to lose this feeling. I love you Troy."

"Jeez…" he said getting up and going over to stand by the fireplace.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered. "But this is how I feel Troy. I don't know why but I just do."

"I understand that Gabs. But right now I don't know what to do. I…just need time to think. You should just head on home."

"But Troy…"

"No Gabs. Please…just go home…"

"Oh…alright…" and with tears streaming down my face I ran out of the living room, grabbed my purse, and ran out the door and down the street towards home crying the entire way.

It was those two weeks after that where Troy avoided all contact with me. My heart the entire time was breaking with each passing day. But on the day I ran out of the house the sky was filled with black skies, thunder, lightning, rain, and heavy winds as the biggest storm of the season was hitting us with full force. I didn't care at the moment as I quickly bolted out of the house with mom yelling at me the entire time. "Gabriella! Gabriella! What are you doing?! Get back here! You'll get sick!!" I didn't care though. I was soaked to the bone the first minute I was out there and I knew it was at least a fifteen minute walk to Troy's house and maybe ten if I had kept running. So with determination running through my veins I made it to his front door soaked and pounding on his door and ringing the doorbell like a woman obsessed. The shock on his face when he opened the door was priceless. "G…Gabriella?! What are you doing here?! Especially out in this weather?!"

"Listen Troy. I don't care what you say, what you do, or how you act around me." I said through panting breaths. "I love you. I don't care what it takes but I need you to prove to me that you don't."

"We can't Gabs! Our ages won't allow it!"

"Screw our fucking ages!" I yelled. "I'll give up everything I have and know to let you know how I feel!! And I'll be damned if I'm going to let the best thing in my life just walk out on me!"

"Gabi…"

"Shut up Troy! I don't want to hear it! I love you and I'm not about to let you leave me!" Before he could react I dived into his arms and planted a heated kiss to his lips. The sparks I felt when he kissed back with the same intensity were out of this world as feelings clashed and the heat in our bodies rose. With our bodies suddenly wrapped tight in each other's arms he kicked the door shut and carried me bridal style into the living room where we collapsed on the sofa with our lips still firmly attached. It was after several minutes of intense kissing that we finally released our lips from one another. "Wow…you sure know how to put up a convincing argument Montez."

"Can't say I didn't warn you." I said softly straddling his midsection. "I love you and I'm not about to let you out of my life."

"Well after all of this and a lot of soul searching I can definitely say I love you too." he chuckled. "But we should get you out of these wet clothes so I can at least wash and dry them."

"But I don't have anything else to wear here Troy."

"It's alright. I have a ton of oversized shirts that you'll practically swim in plus some sweatpants so don't worry you're covered."

"Thank you baby."

"Anytime beautiful. I'll go grab some and you can change in the bathroom."

"Alright."

Later on that evening as I lay on the sofa snuggled close with my head resting on his leg, I sighed in silent bliss as he stroked my hair and chuckled lightly to himself for letting himself get into a situation like ours. Never before do I think he had ever had someone so determined to be with him let alone his parents. Sure, the age difference problem scared the living hell out of us, but seeing as we weren't doing anything sexual at the moment I really didn't foresee any real issues. But that didn't keep Troy from worrying. "Hey, Gabs, you still awake?"

"Yes but highly comfortable." I giggled. "I'm glad I finally broke down that wall of yours."

"Seems like it took a very persistent teenager to do it." he laughed. "But I'm glad she did. I don't think I could have found a more beautiful girl to be in love with."

"And who would this girl be?" I asked smirking and sitting up to straddle his lap.

"Well let's see…she has these amazing brown eyes…wavy and curly hair that I love to twirl my fingers into, and…" he continued saying as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "The cutest face in the world with lips that are just begging to be kissed."

"Sounds like she's a special girl." I whispered with his arms around my waist. "So who is this mystery woman?"

"The one that's sitting in my lap that's who." he replied with a kiss. "Listen, as much as I love where this is going right now, how about we keep our dating a secret from our families until I feel a little more comfortable with everything?"

"Just as long as you don't plan on breaking up with me Troy that's all that I worry about."

"I wouldn't dream of it Gabs. Besides, I think it'll be fun keeping this under wraps."

"Oh yes." I giggled. "I can already see the chaos that's going to ensue with this idea of yours."

"So you in then? Should be fun."

"I am so in handsome."

After my clothes were washed and dried, I sadly had to change back into them with him slightly red in the face since he had never had to wash a significant others undergarments before. Yes everyone, he even had to wash my bra and underwear as they were both soaked as well. But seeing how embarrassed he was just made him that much cuter.

He eventually drove me home and dropped me off just around the corner from my house so my mom wouldn't see us. I had to say that this sneaking around was going to be quite the trip. "Well, here you are."

"Thanks Troy. I'm really sorry if you feel pressured into this whole thing, but I just had to find out how you really felt about me."

"There's no pressure Gabriella. If anything you made me see the light and let me open my heart up to love again. And for that I'm grateful."

"I'm glad." I said softly. "I suppose I should get home before my mom combs the neighborhood looking for me."

"She probably already is." he laughed. "Night baby."

"Night handsome. Love you."

"Love you too. I'll try to call before I go to bed."

"Alright." and with one last parting kiss I raced out of his truck and around the corner and into the house where after finally getting out of my worried mothers arms I went upstairs to bed where for the rest of the night me and Troy flirted with cheesy text messages until I eventually let sleep take over my body.

I finally woke up to the feeling of someone sitting on the bed and opened my eyes to see a smiling and relieved Troy looking down at me. "Hey beautiful."

"Hi." I whispered softly. "When did you get home?"

"Just a few minutes ago. When you didn't answer when I called your name I figured you were taking a nap. I think you were having a pretty good dream judging by the smile on your face when I walked in."

"You could say that." I said with a smile. "It was one that's very important to me."

"Oh? And what dream would that be?"

"The day that I finally nabbed the man of my dreams."

"Oh yes, that day. A memorable one indeed."

"It's one of my favorites." I giggled. "How was work?"

"Per normal for any school day. You hungry at all?"

"Yeah."

"I'm thinking of ordering in some Chinese. You in for that?"

"Sure, that's fine Troy. Can I sleep some more until it gets here?"

"That's fine sweetheart. But I want you to stay up after supper so that way I know you can sleep tonight."

"I promise I will."

"Alright. Get some rest then." and with a quick kiss to my forehead Troy gave me one last smile before tucking me in a little tighter letting me snuggle in further into our covers. As silently as he came into our room he left as I fell asleep once more comfortably knowing he was home.

Troy woke me a little after six letting me know that supper had arrived and that he would have it ready on the table by the time I got up and got moving. Gingerly I got up out of bed, into my slippers and robe, went to the bathroom to straighten my hair, and eventually came out feeling and looking a whole lot more refreshed than I had earlier in the day. I knew being pregnant could take a lot of energy out of some women but this was ridiculous. I had never slept this much like I was doing now. But I just smiled and took everything in stride. Besides, these were our little girls I was taking care of inside of me and if they wanted me to sleep, well I was going to do it. Eat, no problem. Food is what they would get. They only time they got me was on the bathroom breaks which were becoming just slightly more frequent. But the cravings at night were the worst.

After supper me and Troy had decided on a little game night and challenged me to a few games of checkers. Now being the 'nerd' that I was on the inside I instantly thought that I had this in the bag. Wrong. He matched me move for move for three out of four games getting me on two of them. So with that in mind after I had finally won the third game the fourth one was becoming a real brain strain if you know what I mean. It was my turn and I had two single tokens and two king tokens. He had me nearly pinned on the right side back corner on my side of the board and made it almost impossible to move unless I either lost one of my single tokens or one of my kings. But I was not about to let him have the satisfaction of beating me three out of four games. So I jumped one of his kings with a single and he jumped my single right back. "Ha. Another move towards victory!"

"Don't get so cocky my dear husband. Watch this!" Carefully he eyed the board as I took the one king that he had failed to pin in and jumped the king in front of it, then going up to the right and took out two of his other kings and finally to the left and up to take out his last one. Game, set, and match. "Take that baby. Now we're tied."

"No way! How could I leave myself open to an attack like that?!"

"Because you let your cockiness get the best of you, that's why." I said giggling. "Three out of five?"

"You're on Mrs. Bolton. Loser of this one owes the winner a whole week of doing all the chores."

"I've got a better idea than that babe since I'm supposed to take it easy, remember?"

"Oh yeah, duh! I should have remembered that."

"It's alright sweetheart. Let's do this instead; loser cooks and serves the loser dinner for an entire week and has to cook whatever the winner wants."

"Deal. I can deal with a few dinners in bed."

"Don't get your hopes up yet Bolton." I smirked. "Remember, anything can happen. But to make it fair we'll start next week Monday after we get past thanksgiving."

"Deal." he replied setting up our pieces. "Ready to lose beautiful?"

"Bring it on handsome."

"And that is game…set…and MATCH!" I yelled squealing after jumping Troy's last two kings. "Oh dinner is going to taste so sweet next week!"

"I am so not telling mom about this…" Troy groaned with a smile. "But a bet is a bet and you won. What shall it be on Monday dear?"

"Like I said, let's get past the holiday first and go from there."

"I can work with that." he sighed. "Good game though babe. We were pretty evenly matched there."

"I was wondering about that." I said with a pondering voice. "How is it that you're so good at checkers?"

"Oh, well, me and mom got into a few grudge matches when dad was busy so instead of fighting over what movie to watch or what chore that had to get done, we'd go a few rounds on the checker board and let the time waste away. It really was quite fun when we got into it."

"We'll have to do this more often then. It'll help me sharpen up my skills against you."

"Same here." he chuckled. "Holy cow. It's ten already."

"You mean we've been at it for almost four hours?"

"Pretty much."

"Wow." I giggled. "I guess when you're facing a tough opponent time really does fly by."

"But does it count when you're married to that opponent?"

"We'll confirm that with the judges later honey. But I think we'd better get to bed. It's another long day for us tomorrow."

"Don't remind me."

Tuesday morning started as normally as every other day would, or at least until things went chaotic on us. First Troy burned the toast, then I somehow over filled the coffee machine and overflowed the kitchen counter with a massive coffee spill that took what felt like forever to clean up. After that Troy ended up accidentally cutting himself on the chin shaving leaving a nasty little gash that took forever to quit bleeding. Sadly he ended up going to work with a band aid on his chin and swore to himself that he was going to hide in his office all day. If he did I wouldn't have blamed him. I'd probably do the same exact thing. But it got just as bad after that.

After he had left I went to make myself some fresh squeezed orange juice with our juicer and ended up getting citrus in my left eye somehow and that burned like hell. It took almost fifteen minutes of me washing my eye out for it to even remotely feel better. I ended up with one hell of a red eye for almost half the day after that. But after grabbing the safest thing around which was a bowl of cereal I opened up my laptop for another day of school and mid-way through classes the electricity went out cutting off the power to my laptop and causing me to lose everything I had worked on. So there I was in a silent house with nothing running and me in almost complete darkness other than the light coming in through all the windows. Instead of screaming my head off I instead went to our room, got dressed and looking halfway decent, grabbed my keys, and went out to lunch to calm my nerves. Since it was obvious that I couldn't cook at home at the moment I did the smart thing and left the fridge and freezer alone as opening them up would cause them to spike up in temperature. So keeping them closed was the best way of preserving what was in them.

I eventually reached a local Subway restaurant after contemplating what I wanted for ages and grabbed a foot long chicken teriyaki on wheat with all the veggies I could pile onto it. That along with a water and a bag of sun chips made for a pretty good lunch with no aggravations even though some people looked at me weird for being able to eat something so huge. But what did they expect?! I'm a pregnant woman for gods sake! Of course I'm going to have an appetite!

After that I decided to take a quick drive around town to calm my still somewhat frazzled nerves. I eventually went downtown to do some browsing around and maybe a little window shopping to take in some fresh air. Wandering around I looked at my watch and noticed it was around one or so which gave me a little time to myself to relax. But the screaming of what sounded like a little girl from a nearby alleyway quickly got my attention. Now you may think that I'm defenseless but I had always kept a bottle of extremely potent mace on me for protection reasons. So as quick as I could make my pregnant body go I ran into the alley and noticed two teenage boys around my age or so crowded over what I think was a five or six year old girl who was obviously scared out of her wits. "Back off losers!"

"Oh, who is this?" one of the boys said smirking at me. In my hand hidden out of view was my mace with the safety off and finger on the trigger ready for the first sign of trouble which didn't take long as the five foot seven I was guessing blonde haired boy came at me with an evil tint glowing in his eyes. "Why don't you come here my pretty? I'll make it worth your while."

"Like you could. I'm sure my husband could do a whole lot better than you." I replied with a smirk. "Besides, you're looking a little wet behind the ears if you know what I mean."

"My, you are a little bitch aren't you?"

"One with raging hormones, yes." and with one more cynical smile I brought my hand up, aimed and squeezed straight into my attackers eyes nailing him right in the eyeballs sending him screaming and running headfirst into a wall and collapsing onto the ground in obvious pain. His partner in crime scattered and ran. I quickly made my move and ran up to the young girl. "You alright sweetheart?"

"I…I'm scared." she stuttered.

"Do you trust me?" I asked. She nodded slowly and cautiously looked up at me which made me smile. "Then take my hand and come with me. I'll take you home." The young redhead took my hand and instead of me running with her next to me I picked her up and we ran out of the alley together. It was then that I noticed after I got the girl into my car and buckled in that she had tattered clothing and was obviously pretty dirty. "Umm…where are your parents sweetie?"

"Daddy is in heaven and my mommy is really sick." she said softly.

"I'm sorry honey. What's your name?"

"K-Kayla."

"Alright Kayla. You're safe now. Can you show me where you live?"

"Okay." she whispered. We made it to her home of which was only about four miles up the road in one of the lower class neighborhoods of our city. I felt kind of odd driving my nice shiny car through there and a little afraid so I made sure the windows were shut and the doors were locked for my safety and that of the little girl in my back seat. "There it is!"

"This house?" I asked slowly pulling into the drive. I was kind of surprised at the sight of it as it was a nicer home than most of the ones in the neighborhood considering the lower class area that it was located in. After letting Kayla out of my back seat I went up and knocked on the door watching carefully the surroundings around me. Amazingly it was really quiet around here. When the door finally opened I was confronted by a lady who seemed to be in her forties and somewhat pale and hunched over and looking completely exhausted. "Can I help you ma'am?"

"Yes. I er…well…saved your daughter here from a couple of bullies downtown. I hope you don't mind but I brought her home myself just for her safety."

"My little Kayla?! Where is she?"

"Right here behind me." I giggled as the little girl raced around me.

"Momma!"

"Baby girl!" the lady said bending down to hug her child. "Oh god child, are you alright?"

"Yes mommy. This nice lady protected me!"

"I'm glad." she whispered. "Thank you…umm…"

"Oh, I'm sorry." I giggled. "Gabriella. Mrs. Gabriella Bolton."

"Mrs. Bolton. I'm gracious for your kindness. I don't get much of that anymore these days."

"Yes I can unfortunately see that. Kayla told me that her father died. Was that recently?"

"No. More than a year ago. Now I'm working almost twenty four seven to make ends meet. I'm still on the verge of losing our house though."

"Umm…she also told me you were sick. I'm not trying to pry into your life…but I was just a little concerned that's all."

"It's alright. It's cancer. I've been fighting it for four years now and it just won't go away. I'm afraid I may not make it another year."

"Have you tried everything?"

"Just about. I have no family left over and I'm worried about where Kayla will go if that time comes."

"Listen…I'm not sure if it's of any help or not, but I'd be glad to help you whenever I can. I'll even talk to my husband and see what options there are that we can use to help at least ease some of the pressure you're under."

"You'd do that for a complete stranger?"

"I rescued your daughter didn't I?"

"That's true." she sighed. "And I'm eternally grateful for that. How do I contact you?"

"Here's our home number." I said writing our number on a piece of paper from my notepad. "Please, call if you need any assistance. I know what it's like to lose a family member so I can sympathize with you on how tough it is. Kayla, it was nice meeting you okay?"

"Will I see you again?" she asked me with worried eyes.

"I'll make sure of it, I promise. Nice meeting you…Mrs…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Mrs. Mary Carter."

"Mrs. Carter. I'll see you later then."

"Thank you again!" Mary said as she and Kayla waved me off.

"Mommy…do you like her?" Kayla then asked as she and her mother walked into their home.

"She's a very nice lady sweetie. She'll be a great friend to you."

"She promised that we'll see her again. Will she keep that promise momma?"

"I think so. She seems to be a very caring person." Mary sighed tiredly looking around at their tiny yet cozy home. "And maybe perhaps…" she thought silently to herself. "A new mother to my daughter when my time comes to join my husband up in heaven…"

I arrived back home around four or so with my spirits lifted after a long and arduous day. Meeting little Kayla was a bright light in my day and it made me smile knowing how I was able to protect a child like that without even giving it a second thought. Maybe my maternal instincts were kicking in quicker than I thought they would. Pulling into my driveway I noticed that Troy had yet to arrive home yet which now was alright to me. I just hoped that the power was back on.

Walking into the house I could hear the refrigerator running as soon as I walked into the kitchen so instantly I knew things were back to normal. Firing up my laptop wasn't as easy as I had to start it up in safe mode first and then restart in normal mode and voila I was back in business. Next time I think I'll just leave the battery in it and only use power to recharge it.

My wonderful husband arrived home about half an hour after I did and was met by a very happy and expectant wife who pretty much had the best afternoon of her life. Having practically saved a life sure made a difference in my day. "Hi honey."

"Hey handsome." I smiled wrapping my arms around him. "How was your day?"

"Normal as always. But those suggestive looks that the cheerleaders keep giving me give me the creeps. Are all of them like that?"

"The ones who are virgins or aren't virgins?"

"Both."

"Well since Shannon is the only pure one out of the group I think you get the picture."

"And you know this how?"

"We have the school wired Troy. I know what goes on inside and out in that school."

"You…my dear…are too smart for your own good."

"And that's why you love me."

"That and many more other reasons Gabs. So, how was your day after I left?"

"Let's just say we had a power outage so I lost most of the class work I was working on."

"Ouch that sucks. So what did you do?"

"Instead of letting the frustration get to me I went out for lunch and then a drive before wandering around downtown a little bit."

"Looks like you had a fulfilling afternoon."

"You have no idea."

"Oh?"

"I took the liberty of saving a little girl this afternoon."

"Saving? As in…"

"Rescuing her from a couple of bullies almost three times her age."

"WHAT?! Are you insane babe?! Especially in your condition!? You could have seriously gotten hurt sweetheart!"

"Easy Troy, I'm alright. Besides, it wasn't anything that a little high powered mace couldn't take care of."

"Mace?"

"Self defense classes I took. They come in handy."

"Obviously." he chuckled. "So the baddies didn't stand a chance huh?"

"None whatsoever with my smarts. The first guy got it directly in the eyeballs."

"Ouch. That must have been painful."

"Oh, I'm sure it was. The second guy ran off and that's when I scooped the little girl up, took her to my car and drove her home."

"That was the bravest thing you could have done sweetheart. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you baby. It was worth it in the end."

"How about we celebrate your heroics with a dinner out for two? Just me and you."

"You don't have to Troy. I was only doing what was right."

"Doesn't matter. You saved a child and that deserves a reward."

"If you say so love. Let me go get changed then and then we'll go."

I did end up getting a very happy and energetic call from Kayla the next day letting me know that she and her mother were doing okay and that she was very happy that I had come to rescue her while becoming a friend at the same time. I chatted with her mother for a little bit as well so she could inform me a bit more of how appreciative she was as well. I could sense a hint of sorrow and sadness in her voice but I never pushed my luck with asking about it as it was none of my business at the time. I had only known them for twenty four hours and wasn't about to pry anymore into anyone's private lives. If they wanted to inform me of anything they were more than welcome to. "What are your plans for Thanksgiving Mrs. Carter?"

"Probably another dinner at the Salvation Army sadly. I don't have the money or time to take care of anything here."

"Is that…?" Troy asked me after he had come in the door from work. I nodded silently of which then he took the phone out of my hand which utterly surprised me. "Is this Mrs. Mary Carter?"

"Yes it is sir."

"This is Mr. Troy Bolton, Gabriella's husband. She informed me of your situation and I am extremely sorry for your loss and the hard times you have had to go through in order to raise your daughter and keep your house. So in honor of the holiday I would like to invite you and your daughter to Thanksgiving with us here at our home."

"But…you barely know us Mr. Bolton. I would hate to take your charity."

"This is not charity Mrs. Carter. This is an outright invitation."

"Well…if you insist."

"I do ma'am. I'll be picking you up myself the night before and you two can spend the night here with us."

"Oh my…" she then said with the hint of tears in her eyes that Troy was easily able to pick up on. "I can't…I'm just at a loss for words."

"Just say that you'll accept ma'am. That's all I'm asking."

"Very well Mr. Bolton. We'll be there."

"Thank you. Have a good night ma'am. I'll hand you back to Gabriella now."

"Alright." she replied back practically crying. Handing the phone back to me I was utterly shocked with disbelief. Did my husband just do that? "Mrs. Bolton? Mrs. Bolton!!"

"Oh, sorry Mary. He just left me a little speechless that's all."

"I can tell." she replied back with a tired laugh. "Is it okay that he…did that?"

"More than okay Mrs. Carter. Just make sure you're ready. If I have to I'll even take you and Kayla out shopping myself as a little holiday gift."

"Mrs. Bolton, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that."

"Just don't argue with me Mary." I giggled. "I can be a very persistent woman."

"Well, if you insist then alright." she laughed. "But I suppose I had better make dinner for my daughter. I thank you again for all of your kindness."

"It's our pleasure Mary. You two eat well and please, get some rest."

"I will. Night."

"Goodnight Mrs. Carter." I said with a smile on my face. After hanging up the phone I immediately ran to our room where I was sure Troy was as was getting changed from work. When he looked up at me smiling still half dressed with a t-shirt and boxers I just ran up, dived into his arms, and tackled him onto our bed. "You're so amazing sweetheart!"

"Well I do try Mrs. Bolton. Can't have a family like that going hungry on a holiday like Thanksgiving. It's just not right."

"Just make sure you never change baby. You have no idea how much I love you for what you've done for those two."

"Well you took care of the first part babe. I figured I had better live up to my half. It's the season of giving thanks for those around us and it's a time of giving. Sure it's not Christmas yet but still we should always do what is right. And helping those two is what this season is all about."

"God…that was so happy that I think I'm going to cry." I giggled trying to hold back my tears. "This is going to be the best thanksgiving ever."

"It will be if you let me get up and get dressed you goof." he laughed. "I have lesson plans to work on for next week plus dinner to make."

"Oh, sorry sweetie. Just make sure that we make this the best year that we can for Mrs. Carter and Kayla."

"I will. Now let me go, please?" I quickly rolled off his stomach and watched as the most handsome man in the world changed into a pair of jeans and a pull over short sleeved shirt and that it was that very same man who would surprise me in more ways than one this coming holiday season.

"Gabriella!"

"In here mom!" I yelled to Lucille the next morning as she walked in our front door.

"Hi sweetie." she said kissing my forehead. "How are you doing?"

"Doing great today. Just have two days worth of school work to catch up on."

"Power outage hit you too huh?"

"Uh…yeah…I guess you could say that." I said giggling.

"Well don't feel bad. Your father lost whatever it was he was working on also. I swear I have never heard a man say so many foul words in ten minutes time in my life."

"He was that mad huh?"

"Just slightly."

"Glad I wasn't there then. I would have had to scold him myself."

"That would have set him off even further sweetheart. It's best to just let men rant and rave by themselves. Usually after that they'll cool off and everything will be just fine."

"Luckily Troy doesn't have that kind of temper."

"Be blessed that he never picked up on it."

"I am. Is that the stuff for thanksgiving?"

"Yes and there's still more in my car. Think you can help for just a couple of minutes?"

"Sure mom."

"Mary, how are you doing?"

"Just fine for the moment David."

"Have you been living comfortably?"

"For the most part I suppose. But sadly I think my time is just about up."

"Just keep fighting until the end Mary." her lawyer said from across his desk. "I was surprised by your call. I know you were worried about who would take care of Kayla when you pass and that you wanted to be ready for anything that concerns your daughter. I am aware that you don't want her to go to an orphanage or a foster home but to a family who could adopt and take care of her right away. You also told us that you'd like to pick the people who would be the ones who would take on that responsibility. Have you made up your mind?"

"Yes. I have met up with a most wonderful and gracious family of whom my daughter fell in love with. Well, at least the wife to start." Emily said with a smile. "I have already talked to the husband via phone and they are a great couple."

"Oh, I see. And who are these people?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Troy Bolton."

"The Bolton family? We're well aware of who they are."

"You are?"

"Yes. We have represented their family for years. Greg Hodges has been their attorney from the beginning."

"Oh, well, I'm glad to know that they're a good family."

"One of the best. Troy and his wife are expecting triplets in May so it should be rather exciting to see how he handles kids."

"Mr. Bolton?"

"Yep. He's a giant kid at heart and I'm sure any kid would love to have him as their father."

"I guess that makes my decision a little bit easier then." Emily said with a smile. "I'll stick with them if you really don't mind."

"Not at all. Have you informed them of this decision?"

"As of yet no, but I will in due time. Please, just make sure my baby goes to them."

"I'll do my best Mary. Just don't give up the fight, okay? You're stronger than you look."

"Yes, but my cancer has already won the war."

"And that is it." Lucille sighed. "Who knew I'd be cooking for so many people this year?"

"Let's see…me and Troy…you and Jack…Kelsi, Amelia and Andy, your sister and her husband with the two new babies and the two that me and Troy invited."

"Oh, and who would those two be?"

"Better sit down for this one mom. It's a long but sad story."

"Alright, all the paperwork is set. As soon as you let them know of the situation, and if they approve, please make sure they get up here right away so they can sign the appropriate documents."

"I'm hoping that they will take her in. With no family left on either my side or my husbands side she's the only thing we have left that can carry on our family name. I thank you for being so patient with this."

"If it's for little Kayla we'll do our best to make sure she gets into a good home. And knowing the Bolton's like we do I'm pretty certain, or at least seventy five percent, that Kayla will have a wonderful home."

"I just pray to the lord that that seventy five percent turns into a hundred percent. If they're as wonderful as you make them out to be, I just can't see her going to anyone else."

"Well whether it's Troy and Gabriella or Jack and Lucille she can go to either couple and have an amazing home. So we'll just see what happens, alright?"

"Thank you David. What you've done for us ever since Jake passed away has been a gift from god."

"It's what we do Mary. Now you go home and keep up the fight. Show Kayla how strong of a mother she really has."

"I will. Good day now."

"Have a nice afternoon now." he said as she left his office. Sitting back down in his office chair, David Nelson looked over the files and paperwork that she had made out in regards to six year old Kayla and smiled. If any little girl had a chance of getting a home with the Bolton's little Kayla Carter was sure to be a shoe in.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

"What's the matter Kayla?" Mary giggled smiling at her six year old daughter. It was a couple of days later and the day before thanksgiving so a very energetic Kayla was bouncing around the house after packing her stuff for a one night stay at their friends house.

"A big truck just pulled into our driveway!"

"A truck?" Mary said curiously setting down her kitchen towel. "I wonder who it is?"

"Shall I open the door?"

"No, let me take care of it. You just stay in the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton should be here soon to pick us up."

"Okay momma!" Kayla squealed running into the living room.

"What a child." Mary then sighed going to answer the knocking from her front door. When she opened it, she was greeted by a smiling young couple. "Mrs. Bolton! What a surprise! We weren't expecting you for another couple of hours!"

"We decided on an early arrival instead." Troy laughed. "Troy, Troy Bolton."

"Mary Carter. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I was expecting you two to show up in her car."

"Troy wanted to drive his toy." I giggled. "Kayla!"

"Gabriella!" the young girl yelled running into my arms. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too sweetheart. Have you had any more problems with those bad boys?"

"No they haven't bugged me."

"I'm glad." I said with a sigh of relief. "Is she getting harassed constantly?" I asked Mary looking at her.

"Sometimes yes. But they do it because of where we live and where we are financially."

"Well let's not worry about that now." Troy said intervening. "Let's just get you two out of here for a night. First plan of the night is taking you two out to dinner. So get your bags and let's get rolling."

"Alright." our newly found friend replied back smiling. "We were ready a while ago thanks to Kayla's persistence."

"Let's get this show on the road then."

After we had Kayla and Mary's things loaded up into our truck and Mary had locked her door Troy helped the weakened woman in and closed her door. After he hopped into the drivers seat I gave him somewhat of a worried look and he nodded silently in response as he closed his door. We knew it was in Mary's best interest that we not force ourselves into her and Kayla's lives. But after seeing Mary several days ago to now I could see a subtle difference in her face and the way she was carrying herself. I remember Mary telling me she had cancer and I didn't delve myself into asking how bad it was. But now with the worry starting to creep up on me I was beginning to get curious.

Instead of going to some restaurant that would specialize in just one thing like the ones me and Troy go to all the time we went to a normal diner that served anything you could think of. Mary insisted that we didn't have to do anything but he wouldn't take no for an answer nor would Kayla who was insistent on dessert after her grilled cheese combo. "Can I have some ice cream mommy?"

"If you want sweetie." Mary laughed hugging her daughter. "But can you finish it after that meal you had?"

"Yes mommy!"

"Well okay then. You two don't mind do you?"

"Not at all!" Troy stated. "I'm going for a huge banana split myself."

"After that huge meatloaf dinner you had?!"

"He's got a cast iron stomach." I giggled taking the last bite out of my omelet. "I should know. I live with him."

"How does he do it?"

"I wish I knew. I've asked his mother about it and even she doesn't know. He's just like my friend Chad. Always constantly eating."

"I do not constantly eat!" Troy spat trying not to laugh. "I eat three square meals a day just like any other person."

"Plus with constant snacking in between."

"Yes but they're healthy snacks. They're all you allow me to have."

"Hey, if I can eat healthy then you can too."

"Yes dear." he chuckled.

"Do you two always banter back and forth like this?" Mary asked.

"Most of the time but it's all in good fun when it comes to our marriage. Besides, he knows I win all the time anyway."

"More like I do." Troy said smiling as he planted a quick kiss to my cheek. "And don't you forget it."

"Whatever baby. Anyway Kayla, what are you getting?"

"Fudge sundae with whipped cream!" she squealed happily.

"Alright." I giggled. "What about you Mary? Anything?"

"Probably just a piece of apple pie a la mode."

"Ooh, that's sounds great! I may just share in that."

"Get your own woman." she giggled. "I want my dessert for myself."

"My sentiments exactly."

We arrived at our home and I think Mary was in shock and awe at our neighborhood. Apparently what we had was what she and her husband had always dreamed about and now here it is sadly out of her grasp. But she was still content with what she had so there weren't really any qualms about anything as we showed her where she and Kayla would be staying. "I hope you two don't mind, but you'll have to share a bed for one night. Since it is a queen size it should be no problem."

"None at all." Mary whispered. "I love this rustic theme you have throughout the house. It's so warm and inviting."

"That's how we wanted our house to feel to our guests. I just hope it's to your liking."

"I love it!"

"Mommy! They have a pool in the backyard!" Kayla yelled running into the spare room. "And it's really big!"

"I bet it is, but stay away from it sweetie. You don't know how to swim and I don't want you falling in."

"Well perhaps she can learn someday. Troy is a physical education teacher so we'd love to have her come over to learn anytime that you'd like."

"You two really are full of surprises. But I'll think about it."

"Not a problem. You just make yourselves comfortable and we'll be in the living room."

"Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

For the remainder of the evening we sat in the living room chit chatting and playing a few family games to keep the now amped up Kayla from bouncing off the walls due to her sugar high. But she was a delightful child who had this sparkle in her eyes that was almost impossible not to look at. The little freckles on her face just added to how adorable she really was and looking at Mary as she laughed and played with her child it was easy to see just how proud and happy she was to have had such a joyful kid as her daughter in her life. "So, you two ready for tomorrow?"

"I'm a little nervous I suppose." Mary sighed. "We'll be around people we don't know so it's kind of like walking into the middle of a town where nobody knows you and you're just being stared at like some newcomer with no status or position."

"Don't worry, our friends aren't like that. Far from it as a matter of fact. I think my sister Kelsi will fall in love with Kayla here."

"Your sister?"

"Well, more like best friend for life. But we call ourselves sisters so that's all there is to that picture."

"How long have you two known each other?"

"Since kindergarten. We both moved here from Texas at the same time."

"What brought you here?"

"It's well…a story I'd rather not get into at the moment. I'll just say that it's something that affected my childhood and my current life as well."

"I understand. Well, it is late and I suppose we should get to bed, or at least get Kayla down first."

"But mommy, I don't want to go to bed yet!"

"Sweetie you have to. If you don't you won't get to meet Gabriella's friends tomorrow."

"Will you be here tomorrow Gabriella?"

"Yes sweetie, I'll be here. Now go get into bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay! Night!"

"Night." me and Troy both said. "Well, seems like everything is going well so far."

"I'm still worried Troy. Something in my guts tells me that there's something seriously wrong that Mary isn't telling us other than what she has."

"I can sense it too babe, but let her get comfortable with us first. We've only known each other several days."

"I realize that but it still doesn't keep my mind racing trying to figure out what's going on."

"Just don't babe. Let time open up it's doors first. She has to earn our trust as she does ours."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for sexy. You're just as concerned as I am. But let's take our time first."

"Alright. Should we get to bed ourselves? We have a busy day tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan."

I was hoping that Troy would have woken me up that very next morning but much to my dismay he hadn't. Instead I was woken up, with permission from Troy and Mary first, by a bouncing and very happy Kayla as she jumped on the bed and began tickling me in places that only my husband knew about. "Okay, okay! I'm up!" I said trying not to laugh too hard. But Kayla kept up her attack for a few more minutes before finally I had to admit defeat. Troy was so dead when I got him alone in bed tonight. "Morning Kayla."

"Hi! Mommy and Troy said I could come wake you up!" she said with her million watt smile.

"Oh they did, did they? Well I'll have to get them back later. Has anyone show up yet?"

"Yes! A tall man with dark hair and his wife with the long hair!"

"Oh, mom and dad. Okay sweetie, go back into the living room. I'm going to take a shower. I'll be out shortly okay?"

"Okay!" and like a shot she bounded out of our room with her flowing white floral dress flapping around her cute little legs. Something tells me that she's going to be a little spitfire when she gets older.

By the time I got out into the kitchen a more rested looking Mary and Lucille were chatting away happily about what sounded like nothing other than typical mother talk about their children and how they are or did grow up. Jack and Troy to no surprise were outside on the basketball court and Kayla was helping Lucille with the mashed potatoes while the smell of turkey permeated the air. "Morning everyone. Mary, thank you so much for that wake up call. Be expecting paybacks later."

"I have been forewarned." she giggled. "Sleep well?"

"As always. How about you and Kayla?"

"Best sleep I've had in ages."

"Good to hear. It looked like you needed it."

"That I did."

"When are our other guests showing up?" Lucille then asked looking up at me.

"Not sure mom. They should be here hopefully sometime soon. I'm not too far worried though. They always show up fashionably late anyways."

"Speaking of that, there's the doorbell."

"Thus the fashionable part." I giggled walking towards the front door. Immediately Kayla was right behind me clinging to my hand. "What's the matter Kayla?"

"You're not leaving are you?"

"No I'm not sweetie. My really good friend is here."

"Is she mean like those boys?"

"Not at all. She's a very nice girl just like me."

"Really?!"

"Yes really." I laughed opening the door. "It's about time the Nielson family showed up!"

"Ha ha. Very funny dearie." Amelia giggled hugging me. "How is the mother to be doing?"

"Excellent as always."

"That's good. And who is this little angel?"

"This little firecracker is Kayla Carter. She and her mother are new friends of me and Troy. Kayla, this is Andy, his wife Amelia, and my very best friend Kelsi."

"K-Kelsi?" she said nervously clinging to my leg.

"Yes sweetie. She's that friend I told you about who is just like me."

"Really?"

"Yes goofy. Go ahead and say hi."

"Hi Kelsi…" she said in almost a whisper.

"Hey kiddo. Nice to meet you. How old are you?"

"I'm six. Mommy says I'm a big girl."

"Yes you are. Do you like games at all?"

"Yeah! We played mousetrap last night!"

"Mousetrap?" Kelsi said to me smirking. "Isn't that game a little old?"

"Hey, it's Troy's game not mine. Not my fault that my husband is a child at heart."

"It shouldn't surprise me then. Want to play with me then Kayla?"

"Okay! Can you play too Gabriella?"

"Yeah, no problem. Just go with Kelsi into the living room. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Come on!" Kayla giggled pulling my friend along by the arm.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"What a kid." I sighed happily. "I'm glad you three could make it."

"We wouldn't have missed it for the world. Is everyone else here then?"

"Pretty much. I'll introduce you to Mary in the kitchen. She's Kayla's mother. She and Lucille have already been chatting it up all morning from what I can tell from my viewpoint."

"Sounds like a charming woman. What about Jack and Troy?"

"Basketball court, where else?"

"I'll go hang out with the men if you ladies don't mind." Andy smirked walking past us. "It's bad enough you women out number us already."

"Just get out of here." Amelia laughed. "Okay, let's go meet this charming woman you speak so much about."

The rest of our morning went rather swimmingly for the most part. Kelsi and Kayla bonded instantly as did Mary with Lucille and Amelia. Our men pretty much avoided us for most of the time for fear of being overrun by a passel of females. We couldn't say that we didn't blame them after Lucille's sisters family showed up. Sure they had one baby boy, but add two more ladies to the mix it was like taking one step forward and two steps back for them. So it was best that they all hung out downstairs watching the holiday football games. "Stephanie, how is life in Nebraska?" I asked taking a break from playing with Kayla.

"A complete adventure now that I have two little babies to take care of. But the life in the country is nice."

"You live in the country?"

"Oh yes. Not being located directly in the city is wonderful. It's nice and peaceful with our only neighbors being almost a mile away from us. Otherwise it's all farm fields as far as the eye can see."

"This coming from a city girl." Lucille giggled pointing at her sister with a mini carrot. "You swore you'd never leave Albuquerque."

"Well I can't help it if I met the man of my dreams while on vacation from my job. Hell, it did me a lot of good as a matter of fact. Wouldn't change a darn thing about how I live."

"We wouldn't expect you to."

"And like you'd have a chance anyway." she laughed. "So either way sis, I'm not turning back."

"You always were the direct one in the family."

"Well someone had to keep your head on straight."

"Hey, I grew up just fine thank you."

"Yeah with me and mom always on your case." she giggled with baby Janie sitting on her leg. Baby Justin was downstairs with his father so as to ease a little bit of the stress of taking care of two little ones at once. I think he was just with the boys to help even the odds with them but who was I to judge? "You always were a handful."

"Says the girl who got caught multiple times sneaking out of the house to party."

"Hey, at least I was adventurous!"

"And an absolute pain in the butt."

"Makes me glad I was an only child." Amelia whispered in my ear.

"Me too. Now I'm worried about how our girls are going to be when they grow up."

"Heaven forbid if they end up like Lucille and Stephanie here."

"I agree."

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Mary said looking at us curiously. "You hiding something that we should know about?"

"No!" we both said instantaneously.

"That means they are." said Stephanie with a smirk on her face. "Should be interesting to see how we get whatever it is that they're hiding out of them."

"We were just agreeing on how we're glad that we were the only children in our families." said Amelia smiling. "Listening to you two bicker made us see what it was that we missed."

"But we love each other though." Lucille said checking on the turkey. "There's more love there than you think."

"Exactly." said Stephanie. "I nearly chased Jack away from her but she persisted on being with him."

"What's so wrong with that?" I asked. "I followed through with my feelings for my husband and wouldn't change a thing about what I did."

"Says the woman carrying the triplets."

"You better believe it."

"Oh, I do. Trust me, you two definitely broke the mold on child birth when it comes to this family."

"Well I'm glad we can be an example for you."

"Yeah…sure…I'll go peel those potatoes now."

"Wimp!" I yelled mockingly joking around. But Stephanie only turned to face me to stick her tongue out in defiance before going back to what she was going to do. My job today was to just help watch the children and that was easy enough as I had of course baby sat before. What American teenage girl hasn't in her lifetime? Besides it was going to be easy enough with Kelsi as my backup.

Our thanksgiving feast was eventually ready around two and boy was I starving. All the fixings were here. Turkey, pumpkin pie, stuffing, cranberries, fruit salad, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, yams, gravy, green been casserole, and the drinks we decided on which were wine for those adults who wanted it, milk for me, Kayla, and Kelsi, and of course formula for Justin and Janie who just looked around in confusion as they tried to figure out what was going on around them. Just looking at their chubby little faces as they tried to play detective was absolutely adorable. "Well, since we're all sitting now, I think the newest member here should give thanks. Care to do the honors Mary?"

"I'd be honored to Gabriella. Everyone please join hands." she said as we did so. Closing our eyes and bowing our heads slightly, she then began our prayer of thanks. "Dear lord, we thank you today for this wonderful feast of which has been laid out before us on this most special of days. We thank you for your love, your kindness, and your strength as we celebrate what is important to our lives. I also thank you for me and my daughter's new and most cherished friends. May they always be blessed in whatever they do. So in your name, amen."

"Amen." we all said softly.

"Everyone, thank you again for inviting us." Mary said as we began to dig in and pass the dishes around. "I was worried about how I was going to provide Kayla with a wonderful holiday this season and now by some miracle that worry has turned into a dream that I wouldn't have thought could happen."

"It's our extreme pleasure Mary." said Lucille as she dished some potatoes onto Kayla's plate. "So there really isn't any need to thank us."

"I believe there is. I'd like to propose a toast. To good friends, good food, and to many wonderful memories."

"Cheers!" we all said raising our glasses. And for the rest of our day nothing concerning the world around us was spoken of. Instead it was all about good times, funny stories, and the love of family and friends combined on this, our Thanksgiving day.

A/N: Another one for the record books. I tried to make it not sound like a filler chapter but now looking at it, it somehow does. Oh well, can't win them all I suppose lol. As always, read, review, and please leave your input on what you'd like to see next. So you see that little review button? It's calling you. Come on...don't be afraid. It's calling you...