Disclaimer: It's probably obvious, but I don't own any of the HSM characters or their related elements.

Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed the intense fluff of the previous chapter! Now if I were a different type of author, this would be the chapter in which Troy gets hit by a bus and Gabi is forced to sorrowfully raise her child without her soulmate… but luckily, I'm not that kind of girl :)

Written December 9, 2006

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Chapter 10 – The Surprise

When someone knocked at the front door, it took me five minutes to struggle off the couch and answer it. Puffing slightly, I swung the door open to find Taylor standing in the hallway.

"I can't believe it," she said, staring at me as though I were an alien. "You are actually glowing."

"Taylor!" I laughed and hugged her as best as I could over my growing stomach. "What are you doing here?"

"Just here to see this pregnant lady I know," she said, walking past me with a small rolling suitcase behind her. "You were supposed to get married right about now, so I'd booked a flight to come do the bachelorette party this weekend." She grinned and sat down on the couch. "But since you're six months pregnant and there won't be a wedding for a year… we're having a baby shower instead."

I stared at her. "What? Here?"

She leaned back and kicked her shoes off. "Oh, it's all Sharpay's doing. Why do you think you're not busy on a Saturday for once? Just act surprised when she shows up with the cake."

Suddenly the doorbell rang. "That must be her," said Taylor. And opening the door, Sharpay was indeed there, a huge grin on her face and a giant bakery box in her arms.

"Hi, mom!" she trilled. "Surprise! We're throwing you a baby shower today!"

"Oh… wonderful!" I said, quickly plastering on a smile. "That's so lovely!"

Her face dropped immediately. Brushing past me, she shot a glare over to Taylor sitting on the couch. "You told her, didn't you?"

"Yes," said Taylor, rubbing her head and leaning back on the sofa.

Sharpay put the cake down on the counter loudly. "Well, where is the fun in that?"

"Oh, come off it," said Taylor. "It's a baby shower. Surprised or not, she's going to enjoy the whole thing."

Sharpay looked like she was about to retort, when I jumped in. "No, Sharpay, she's right. A shower's a wonderful idea and I love it. Come help me pick something out to wear before everybody arrives." I shot Taylor a look. "Both of you."

"Okay," Sharpay said grudgingly, but softened once the both of them started fussing over me. I had a vast selection of somewhat stylish maternity dresses, thanks in no small part to care packages from my mom and Troy's mom. We settled on a white eyelet dress that didn't make me look too monstrously huge.

And then suddenly the doorbell rang again, and the guests started to arrive. I couldn't believe how many people Sharpay had coaxed into coming. Anna and Sophie were of course there, but so were most of the other women from work… as well as Wendy and Lin from Troy's work, and a couple of ladies from my Lamaze and yoga classes. Our apartment was soon bustling, and Sharpay managed to conjure delicious snacks and drinks up for everyone.

Taylor leaned over to me. "Wow. When Sharpay throws a party, she really throws a party."

I laughed and squeezed her arm. "Just be glad she's with us instead of against us."

She put her arm around my waist. "Oh, I know," she said with a laugh. "God, it's good to see you again, Gabi."

I leaned my head on her shoulder. "You too."

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Then, after opening what seemed like a million gifts, and playing a million strange baby-related games ('guess the circumference of Gabi's waist' was possibly the weirdest), just a few stray guests were left in the apartment. Actually, it was just Sharpay and Taylor, who insisted I sit while they cleaned up the remains of the party.

"That baby blanket you got was beautiful," cooed Sharpay as she swept under the couch for crumbs. "And I made sure everybody got a neutral color, since you two don't know what the baby's going to be yet."

"You don't?" Cleaning the counters, Taylor perked her ears up.

"No," I said wearily, curling up into the corner of the couch. "We don't want to know until the baby's born."

Taylor frowned, scrubbing hard at a tough spot. "Why not?"

"Because… I don't know. We like surprises, or something." Or at least Troy did. I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes.

"Speaking of Troy…" Sharpay pointed out the window. Troy was coming up the walk. "Looks like he arrived just in time." She dusted off her hands. "We'll be out of here in a minute. Then you can have some time to rest."

"Thanks, Sharpay," I said. "Really. It was lovely."

Taylor looked at Sharpay quizzically. "I'm still staying at your place, right?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Of course."

We heard the lock click at the door, and Troy came into the apartment. "Hi ladies," he said, doing a double take when he saw Taylor. "Taylor, wow! Long time no see."

"Hi Troy, we're just on our way out," said Sharpay, grabbing her bag off the couch. She kissed me on the cheek. "Okay then," she said. "We will see you both for brunch tomorrow, before Taylor has to go back home."

I nodded, and Taylor hugged me as well. "You're going to be such a great mom, Gabi. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She hugged Troy on her way out. "And you're not going to be so bad yourself. Just don't turn your baby into one of those lunkhead basketball players."

He laughed and kissed her cheek. And then suddenly, we were alone. He came to sit on the sofa and kissed me, pulling my legs into his lap. "Hi," he said, grinning.

"Hey," I said, grinning back. "We completely cleaned up at this shower thing. Everybody brought us something super expensive for the baby. We should totally have them more often."

He laughed and rubbed my leg. "Well, as long as Sharpay doesn't mind hauling people in week after week. You know she'd been planning this for a while."

"Wait." I poked him with my toes. "So you knew about all this shower stuff today?"

"Yeah, kind of," he said. I poked him again and he let out a sheepish laugh. "Of course. I was in on it from the start. I spent the afternoon with Zeke. Why do you think you got to spend Saturday alone for once?"

I blushed. "I don't know. Just thought I'd earned some quiet time. I was looking forward to finishing my book, actually."

It still sat on the coffee table. Troy picked it up and read the title. "What to Expect When You're Expecting?" He looked at me. "You're looking forward to finishing this? You know how it ends."

I laughed. "I guess." Then suddenly, I froze. Looking up at Troy sharply, I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Troy…"

"What?" He leapt suddenly to attention. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" But trembling, I placed his hand on my stomach. "Can you feel it?"

"No…" His face seemed sick with worry. "Gabi, what is it?"

"It's moving." I felt it again—a tiny flutter, like the beating of butterfly's wings within me—and smiled. "She's moving, Troy. She's moving."

And suddenly there was a dead silence. Looking at him, I realized he was turning slightly red.

"Um…" he said slowly. "She?"

And then I was suddenly red too.

"She," I repeated guiltily.

He was staring at me, frozen. "Gabi," he said stiffly. "Are you just making all of that up, or is it…"

"I..." My cheeks were so warm. "I heard the doctor talking to the nurse after the ultrasound last week," I mumbled. "I'm sorry. I knew you didn't want to know."

He took a deep breath. "Oh, Gabi."

Shit.

And then suddenly, he let his breath out and wrapped his arms around me.

"We're having a girl," he whispered, unable to keep the grin off his face. "A baby girl."

I smiled back, relieved. "Yeah," I said, putting my arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "A little girl. It's wonderful."

"It is." He kissed me, then sat up a little. "I hope she looks just like her mom."

"And shoots hoops just like her dad."

He laughed. "Well… of course."

"But," I said, "you'd better not turn her into one of those lunkhead basketball types."

"Who, me?" He grinned mischievously and I pushed the back of his head. "Okay, okay. I guess I've been warned twice."

"Or there'll be hell to pay," I said, lifting his hand and kissing it.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "But wait. I bet being a freaky math girl is okay, right?"

I grinned. "Uh huh."

"Total double standard." He rolled his eyes. "And what am I going to do when there's two of you around?"

"Aww, my silly basketball boy." Smiling, I pulled him close and kissed him sweetly. "You're just going to have to deal."

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Author's Note: Man, I could fire this fluff off forever. And I must send out a thanks for all the reviews thus far—I've sort of neglected to mention it in the past couple of chapters, but it is again wonderful to read your long and lovely reviews on this story. And just 16 for the last chapter! Surely we can top that :)