That night, Josh's cries filled the house at three AM. Gabriella woke up and walked over to the play pen and picked Josh up. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Gabriella pulled down her shirt and brought Josh to her breast. Josh latched on and ate his meal. She heard footsteps and saw Troy walk into the living room.
"He's hungry?" Troy asked.
"Yeah, he gets that from you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. He rubbed his eyes. A few minutes later, Josh pulled away from Gabriella.
"All done" Gabriella said.
"Here, I will burp him and you go get cleaned up" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. She walked into the bedroom and changed her shirt. Gabriella came back into the room and saw that Troy was patting Josh's back. When he finally burped, Troy smiled.
"Alright, let's go put him down" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
The couple walked back into the bedroom. Troy placed Josh in his play pen carefully. He made sure that Josh wasn't going to cry. When he didn't cry, Troy got back into bed. Gabriella snuggled into Troy's chest and fell asleep. Two hours later, Josh cried again. Gabriella moaned in her sleep. She woke up and saw Troy already picking Josh up.
"You ate two hours ago buddy" Troy said tiredly.
"He probably needs his diaper changed. I'll change it" Gabriella said.
Troy placed their son in Gabriella's arms. Gabriella grabbed a diaper and quickly changed Josh's diaper. She then picked her son up and kissed his cheek. Gabriella placed Josh back into the play pen and watched him fall asleep.
"Is he asleep?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded. She got back into bed. The couple fell asleep. A couple hours later, Troy woke up and saw Gabriella sleeping. He smiled and leaned over and kissed her cheek softly. Troy got out of bed and saw Josh moving in the play pen. He walked over to the play pen and lifted Josh into his arms. Troy walked out of the bedroom and went into the living room and sat down on the couch and placed Josh on his chest.
"Let's let mommy sleep okay bud? She was up all night" Troy said looking down at the newborn.
A couple hours later, Gabriella woke up and saw that Troy was not in bed and that Josh was not in his play pen. She got up and walked out of the room and into the living room and smiled.
"Good morning" Gabriella said.
Troy looked at Gabriella's tired body and smiled.
"Morning baby" Troy said.
"When did he wake up?" Gabriella asked as she sat next to her husband.
"He woke up around eight" Troy said.
"You should have woken me up so I could have fed him" Gabriella said.
"I wanted you to sleep. You needed it. You just had a baby, Brie. You need rest" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"Thanks for letting me sleep. Did you change his diaper?" Gabriella asked.
"Yeah, I have no idea who he got it from but, inside those diapers are explosives" Troy said.
Gabriella giggled.
"Probably from your side of the family" Gabriella said.
Troy looked at Gabriella and smiled.
"Ha ha. Very funny" Troy said kissing Gabriella's lips.
Gabriella opened her arms and Troy placed Josh into her arms. She pulled down her shirt and brought Josh to her breast and watched him latch on.
"Do you like breastfeeding him?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded.
"Yeah, I feel closer to him. I feel weird that he isn't inside of me anymore" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. He knew that there was a strong bond between mothers that breastfeed and their children.
"Yeah but aren't you happy that you can see and touch him? If he was inside your belly, you wouldn't be able to do that" Troy said.
"I won't get to feel him kick anymore" Gabriella said wiping a tear that was running down her cheek.
Troy smiled.
"Sweetheart, it's okay. We can get him to kick you out here if you want" Troy joked.
Gabriella laughed through her tears.
"I don't even know why I'm crying" Gabriella said.
"It's the hormones babe. They are trying to go back to normal now that he's out" Troy said.
"More mood swings?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes. But it's only for a short period of time" Troy said.
"Oh" Gabriella said.
"I love you" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"I love you too" Gabriella said wiping the remaining tears from her eyes.
"My mom texted me and asked when dad can come and meet Josh" Troy said.
"They can come see him today if they want" Gabriella said.
"Alright. I'll let her know. Have you heard from your mom?" Troy asked.
"No. She probably is too busy" Gabriella said looking down at Josh.
Troy sighed. He kissed Gabriella's head softly.
"Baby, do you want to talk about it?" Troy asked looking at Josh, who had pulled away from Gabriella.
Troy took Josh out of Gabriella's arms and patted his back until he burped.
"Nope" Gabriella said cleaning herself up.
"What can I do that would make you feel better?" Troy asked.
Gabriella looked at Troy and smiled. She leaned over and kissed her husband's lips softly.
"You don't have to do anything baby. Thanks for asking though. I just feel like she doesn't want to be a part of Josh's life. Does she think that I want that for him? Because I don't. My dad is already not here and won't get to be a part of Josh's life. I don't need my mom to do that too when she can easily fly to visit and see him" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded. He knew that Gabriella was realizing that her late father wouldn't get to meet their son and that it hurt her.
"He would have loved him" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, he would have. What are we going to do about this?" Gabriella asked.
"Brie, there isn't anything you can do. Your mom made a choice and she has to live with the consequences that it comes with. If she wants to fly down and meet him, then that's great. But we shouldn't have to feel bad that she is missing out on her grandson's life when she could easily come and visit" Troy explained.
Gabriella nodded.
"We get to experience his life together because we are going to make the time to do so" Troy continued.
Gabriella nodded. A couple weeks later, the couple had set a schedule for Josh. Troy had gone back to work and Gabriella didn't need to go back until next week. One day, Troy unlocked the door and walked into the house.
"Babe? I'm home" Troy said.
"In the bedroom. Can you wait in the living room for me?" Gabriella asked.
Troy smiled knowing why Gabriella had asked him to wait in the living room.
"Take your time Brie" Troy said walking into the living room and sitting down on the couch.
Twenty minutes later, Gabriella came out of the bedroom and walked into the living room holding, Josh.
"Hey buddy" Troy said taking Josh out of Gabriella's arms.
"Sorry. I just wanted to feed him alone" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Don't apologize. I get it. You don't want to be exposed all the time. If I had to breast feed, I would feel the same way" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"It's just becoming more of a job than anything else. I have to constantly be feeding him. My boobs are always squirting milk everywhere. I don't look good. I'm exhausted" Gabriella rambled.
Troy's face softened.
"Baby, baby, baby. You don't even know how sexy you look. Seeing you take care of Josh the way that you do, makes you even more attractive and that's the truth. I know you are tired sweetheart. We knew that this was going to be exhausting at the beginning. Hopefully, his schedule will help with that. We can get more sleep" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed.
"How was work?" Gabriella asked.
"Fine. So many screaming kids today" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed.
"And you came home to one too" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"How was he today?" Troy asked looking down at the infant.
"He ate a lot and didn't sleep at all, which resulted in him crying for the majority of the day" Gabriella said tiredly.
"And how are you feeling?" Troy asked.
"Tired. My boobs hurt and are leaking milk everywhere" Gabriella said.
"Why don't you take a nap and I will watch him? We are going to be up tonight anyway so you might as well get some sleep while you can" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"Thank you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Gabriella walked into the bedroom and lied down on the bed and fell asleep. Troy was in the living room with Josh. He looked down at his son and smiled.
"Why did you have to give mommy a hard time today buddy? You know she's tired" Troy said.
Josh started to cry. Troy sighed. He bounced up and down slowly, in hopes to calm his son down.
"Sh... Josh. You are okay. Let's check your diaper out" Troy said as he grabbed the diaper bag that was sitting on the couch.
Troy sat down on the floor and placed Josh down in front of him. He unfastened his son's diaper and nodded.
"Now, I see why you were crying" Troy said.
Troy changed Josh's diaper quickly and put his clothes back on. He lifted his son into his arms and swayed back and forth and looked down at his son, whose eyes started to close. Troy smiled. The doorbell rang and Josh woke up and started to cry.
"Come on, let's go yell at whoever woke you up from your sleep" Troy said walking to the front door with Josh in his arms.
Troy opened the door and saw Maria. His mouth dropped open in shock.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Troy asked.
Maria giggled.
"I wanted to surprise you all" Maria said.
Maria walked into the house and went into the living room.
"Meet your grandson, Joshua Alexander Bolton" Troy said placing his son into Maria's arms.
"He looks like you. He has Gabi's hair though" Maria said.
Troy nodded.
"Gabs is going to have a heart attack when she sees you" Troy said.
Maria smiled.
"Where is she?" Maria asked.
"She's sleeping. But let me go see if she woke up" Troy said.
Troy walked into the bedroom and saw Gabriella's eyes flutter open.
"Hey baby girl, how was your nap?" Troy asked kissing Gabriella's lips.
"Much needed" Gabriella said.
"I think Josh is hungry" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
The couple walked out of the bedroom. Troy walked slowly as Gabriella walked past him and into the living room. Once Gabriella entered the living room, her hand immediately covered her mouth and her eyes filled with tears.
"Mom" Gabriella said breathlessly.
"Surprise" Maria said sweetly.
"What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked.
"I came to meet my grandson" Maria said.
Gabriella choked out a sob. Troy rubbed Gabriella's back soothingly. The couple sat down on the couch.
"I wanted to surprise you and Troy and come meet this little one" Maria said looking down at Josh in her arms.
Gabriella looked at Troy, who looked at Gabriella and smiled. He nodded.
"How long are you staying?" Gabriella asked.
"A week. They gave me a week off because I hadn't taken any sick days or anything. Instead of staying at home by myself, I decided that I needed to meet my grandson" Maria said.
Gabriella smiled slightly.
"I think I am going to go to Chad's and let you ladies talk okay?" Troy said looking at Gabriella.
Gabriella nodded. Troy kissed his wife's lips softly.
"Call me if you need anything" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
Troy got off the couch and left the house. Once the door had closed, Maria looked at her daughter.
"Gabi, I think we need to talk" Maria said.
Gabriella looked at her mother and nodded.
"I think so too" Gabriella said quietly.
"I know that you are upset that I have missed a milestone in your life where you needed me the most. You have every right to be upset with me, sweetheart. I just needed to take this job and do what I needed to do" Maria said.
"Did you ever think that I was scared out of my mind? I didn't want Taylor and even Troy sometimes to tell me that everything was going to be okay. I wanted you. My mom. I gave birth to my first child without my mother or my father present. But you didn't think of that part" Gabriella said.
Maria folded her hands in her lap.
"No, I didn't. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me" Maria said.
"I think I just need some time to think about everything. It just hurts me that every since dad died, you just have been taking jobs that send you everywhere and we have to move. That's not fair to me or my family. I want you to know Josh mom. I really do and I want him to grow up and remember his grandmother being in his life" Gabriella said.
"I understand. Maybe this week will allow us to get back to where we were. I want to get to know Josh " Maria said.
Gabriella nodded. Josh started whining. Gabriella lifted her son out of her mother's arms.
"I am going to put him down for his nap" Gabriella said.
Maria nodded. Gabriella walked out of the living room and went into the bedroom and placed her son in his play pen. She kissed his head softly and went back to the living room. The front door opened and Troy walked into the house.
"Hey baby, you okay?" Troy whispered.
Gabriella nodded.
"I tell you what happened tonight" Gabriella said.
"Alright. Is Josh down for his nap?" Troy asked.
"Yeah" Gabriella said.
"Okay, I think I will take a nap too" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
Troy went into the bedroom and closed the door quietly. That night, the Bolton's and Gabriella's mother had dinner together, as a family. The couple was now getting ready for bed. Troy walked out of the bathroom after taking a shower.
"So what happened when I was gone?" Troy asked.
"She apologized for not being here when I was pregnant and needed her" Gabriella said.
"What did you say to that?" Troy asked.
"I told her that I had to think about accepting it because of how hurt I felt and still feel" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"She hopes that this week will allow us to get back to where we were before she left" Gabriella said.
"What do you think of that?" Troy asked.
"I want her to know our son. I don't care if we are in this problem with each other. I care about my son knowing his grandmother" Gabriella said.
"I agree. So then let's have a good week with her. That means no fighting or anything like that" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. That night, the couple fell asleep hoping that everything was going to be okay.