Walls – Chapter 10 – Beach Time Diversions

Troy smiled as they woke up the next morning. The beach house was considerably brighter in the morning than his apartment bedroom was. They hadn't set an alarm. They'd made out by the fire until they couldn't stand it anymore. Then they'd come inside and shed their clothes in order to get that much closer.

Troy had laid her down on her bed and spent a good hour touching her and worshiping her. He'd kissed her all over and run his fingers everywhere she desired. Finally, he'd crawled onto the bed and made love to her the way she had begged him to.

This morning, they were lying tangled in the covers and each other. She was on her stomach and he lied half on his stomach against her with one of his arms tucked around her body and the other under his head. This was quickly becoming a normal position for them to sleep in.

He smiled against her hair. She felt so good, so warm and cozy against him when he woke up. It felt natural for her to be there in his arms. It felt like she'd always been there. He stretched a little and leaned up on the arm that had been supporting his head. He saw her eyes were open and looking out at the water cresting up along the sand. He kissed her, "Morning, baby."

She smiled and looked at him, "Good morning, sleepyhead."

He laughed with a sleep-filled voice. "What time is it?"

She chuckled and looked at her phone on the night stand. "11 am."

He raised his eyebrows. "Wow. I haven't slept past 7:30 since junior high. You must have worn me out last night." He smiled down at her. He knew his satisfaction showed through his eyes.

She smiled and looked back out the window.

Troy assessed her expression, "What's wrong, baby? What's on your mind?"

She sighed and looked around the room. "I woke up thinking about my mom. This could have been my life. I could have grown up here with roots and a family and…I don't know. I guess before now I always just assumed that the life my mom and I had led was the only option, but being here now. Seeing this place, knowing that dad bought it for us to live in…God, Troy, what could they have fought about that was so important to rob me of my family and a home?"

Troy squeezed her into his arms. "Oh, baby. Don't question what might have been." He held her as she snuggled into his chest. "Sweetheart, I am sure that your mom wasn't trying to rob you of anything. I would bet a lot of money that she was trying to give you something. I don't know what they fought about. Maybe they fought about everything and your mom was just trying to give you peace and quiet the only way she could."

Gabriella cried softly against his chest. "Yeah, I guess."

He kissed her head, "Tell me something."

She laughed, "No, I still haven't chosen a single favorite flower."

He laughed along with her. "Ha, ha. When we were all hanging out at Tay's like two months ago, you said that when you have kids you'll make sure they know their father, even if you don't like him anymore."

She nodded.

He sighed, "How many kids are you planning to have?"

She ran her fingertips over his abs. "I don't know two or three. And I didn't mean it to sound like I was gonna just get pregnant by some guy and then rope him into being a father. I mean if I get lucky enough to marry a great guy and we have kids together, great. But, if something happens in the mean time, I'm not going to force them to be cut off from half of their family just because I don't get along with him anymore."

Troy smiled and kissed her head. He was immensely glad she couldn't see his face right now. "So, marriage is an option for you later?"

She nodded, "I'd love to get married and have a couple of kids. I mean I've still got a lot to do in terms of school and I know it takes a lot of dedication to raise kids, but at some point. Why?"

He shook his head, "I guess with everything you've told me about your dad this week and with what I've heard you say in the past, it occurred to me that maybe you might not want a regular marriage and kids."

She nodded against his chest again.

He kissed her head again as he played with her hair. "What would you do if we got pregnant now?"

She sprang up, "What?"

He just looked at her. "I guess I'm just curious what you would want to do if we ended up getting pregnant. I mean we've been having a lot of sex, Gabi. It is possible even with precautions."

She nodded, "No, I know. I guess I just never really—"

He ran his hand down the arm she was now leaning on as she looked down at him. "You don't have to answer. I was just curious."

She looked back at his eyes, "I don't know what I would do. I'd like to say that I'd keep it and be as strong as my mom even if you didn't want to be with us. But, I don't honestly know if I'm capable of what my mom has done."

He combed through a few of her strands with his fingers. "Just so you know I'd want to be here with you, both of you. It would be hard and I'd be completely overwhelmed, but I would want to be here and there's no one in the world that I can think of that I'd rather have my children. You're the smartest, sexiest woman I know, baby."

She blushed and looked down. "Anyway, not something we have to decide now."

He nodded, "Agreed. One thing though. Promise me something."

She looked at him, "What?"

He got a little nervous. "If we ever did, you know, get pregnant. Promise me you wouldn't have an abortion. Even if you decided you didn't want our baby, Gabriella, I would."

She just looked at him and felt like she'd been hit over the head by a two-by-four. She had no idea what to say to that. She had no clue what to think about it either. "Troy?"

He sighed, "I know this is kind of out of the blue. I just—I've always wanted to be a dad. I mean, I don't tempt fate. Don't get me wrong. I use a condom, as you know. But, if we ever were in that situation, I know that it's your decision, because it's your body, but Gabriella I would want our baby, even if you chose to walk away. You could. But…"

She looked at him, "Troy, hey, I wouldn't kill our baby."

"YOUR BABY!"

The shriek left everyone tone deaf for a few seconds as Troy jumped up between Gabriella and whoever was in the doorway. Thankfully, he was only a little embarrassed that Sharpay had now seen him naked.

Gabriella looked at her, "What the HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Taylor came around the corner behind Sharpay. "WHAT BABY!"

Gabriella was furious and confused and embarrassed.

Sharpay didn't break her stare at them even as Troy climbed back in the bed with Gabriella. "You're—having—a—baby?" Sharpay could feel her head becoming very light.

Taylor stared at them with her jaw dropped.

Gabriella and Troy both were saying, "No, no we're not."

"We were just talking about what we would do if she got—"

"I am not pregnant!"

Taylor let out a huge breath and grabbed Sharpay's arms as she began to faint.

Troy shook his head, "Great. How the hell did you guys get in here anyway? How did you even know where we were?" He was back in his shorts and walking over to check on Shar now. He picked her up and put her in a chair sitting at the side of the room next to the desk.

Taylor looked at them. "Well, we hadn't seen you two for a couple of days, so we all decided that we'd do one last night down here at the beach before everyone headed home for the summer. But, Chad spotted you two out here. We didn't interrupt because you looked like you were…uh, busy."

Gabriella dropped her face into her hands. "Oh my god…"

Taylor continued, "So we went back to Chad's and Troy's apartment. Then this morning, your dad called, Gabriella. He said that there was something important that he had to tell you and you weren't answering your phone. So, we told him that we'd come over here and get you. He told me where the hide a key is for the house."

Gabriella groaned, "Oh my god…"

Troy rubbed her back. "It's gonna be okay, baby. Come on, you need to call your dad. Why don't you call him from the balcony and I'll get these two downstairs."

She nodded and took her phone that Troy was handing her. Then she looked up, "Oh, I forgot. I don't know where my charger is. Do you mind if I use your phone, baby?"

He shook his head and handed it to her. "As long as you know the number."

She pointed to her head, "Goofy, smart girl, remember?"

He laughed and kissed her, "Okay we'll be downstairs."

She nodded and stepped out onto the balcony of her new room.