A couple minutes later, Gabriella's face turned to pained. Troy smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead softly.
"Just breathe baby. Everything's okay" Troy said.
"I am starting to feel everything" Gabriella said softly.
"I know. Try to rest for right now okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it. A couple of nurses walked into the room and started getting the room ready for the baby. A nurse that had been checking on Gabriella came over to the bed and sat at the edge.
"Gabriella, do you feel like you need to push?" the nurse asked.
"Yeah" Gabriella said shakily.
Troy took Gabriella's hand in his own and kissed it gently. The nurse positioned Gabriella and instructed her to push. Ten minutes later, Gabriella cried in pain.
"It's okay baby. Breathe" Troy said trying to comfort her.
"You are doing so well, Gabriella. Let's try one more and I will call Dr. Fields in" the nurse said.
Troy was on one side of Gabriella and another nurse was on the other. Gabriella pushed again as Troy counted.
"Good job baby" Troy said.
Troy could feel Gabriella's hands shaking on the bed. He picked one up and held it in his warm hand and felt Gabriella start to relax.
"Good work, Gabriella. I am going to call Dr. Fields in" the nurse said.
The nurse walked out of the room.
"You okay?" Troy asked.
"It's just scary" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"You are doing really well baby" Troy said.
A couple minutes later, the nurse came back with Dr. Fields, who smiled at the couple.
"Gabi, you ready?" Dr. Fields asked.
Gabriella's eyes filled with tears and nodded. Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead softly and squeezed her hand supportively. She looked at Troy.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
"Now, let's have a baby" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled slightly and nodded. Dr. Fields sat in her place and Gabriella pushed until she was told to stop fifteen minutes later.
"Troy" Gabriella cried squeezing his hand.
"Breathe baby girl. Nice, deep breaths. She's almost done" Troy said smoothing Gabriella's sweaty hair back.
Dr. Fields looked at Gabriella and smiled.
"Gabi, give me your hand" Dr. Fields said.
Gabriella held her free hand that was shaking out to Dr. Fields. Dr. Fields took Gabriella's hand and Gabriella gasped.
"That's your baby's head. A couple more pushes and he will be out okay? You are doing great" Dr. Fields said.
Gabriella looked at Troy, who smiled at her.
"You can do this, Brie" Troy said.
"I'm tired" Gabriella whined.
"I know. But you are almost done. Just a couple more pushes and he will be out" Troy said.
Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut.
"Push Brie" Troy said.
Gabriella pushed and cried out in pain.
"Troy" Gabriella cried.
"I'm right here baby. I'm here" Troy said kissing Gabriella's sweaty forehead.
"One more big push, Gabi" Dr. Fields said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could. Screaming out as she felt the baby slip out. Dr. Fields placed the baby onto Gabriella's chest.
"Oh my god" Gabriella said breathlessly.
Troy smiled.
"You did it, Gabriella" Troy said.
Gabriella started to cry. Troy leaned down and kissed Gabriella's lips softly and pulled away slowly.
"I'm so proud of you" Troy said.
Gabriella continued to cry. She looked down and ran her finger gently against their son's cheek.
"Do you have a name for him?" Dr. Fields asked.
Troy looked at Gabriella, who looked at Troy and smiled.
"Patrick Troy Bolton" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. Patrick was Gabriella's father's name. Troy leaned down and kissed his son's head.
"Welcome to the world, Patrick" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. Patrick was taken by a couple of nurses so that he could be assessed by a pediatrician. Dr. Fields cleaned Gabriella up. An hour later, Gabriella had showered and was in a recovery room. Troy hadn't left Gabriella's side. He had helped her get out of bed and into the shower. Troy then had helped her sit down in the wheelchair when she was going to the recovery room. He placed his hand on top of Gabriella's.
"When will they bring him in?" Gabriella asked.
"They have to have him get assessed by a pediatrician. After that, they will give him a bath and change him and bring him up here" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"How are you feeling?" Troy asked.
"Tired" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Rest baby. Let me handle Patrick and where he's at right now" Troy said.
"If something is wrong, wake me up" Gabriella said.
"Don't worry" Troy said.
"Troy?" Gabriella called.
Troy looked at Gabriella.
"I love you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"I love you too. Get some rest" Troy said.
A couple hours later, Gabriella woke up and smiled when she saw Troy holding Patrick in the chair that was next to the hospital bed. Troy looked up and smiled.
"How are you feeling?" Troy asked.
"Sore, but I'm fine" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Do you want to hold him?" Troy asked.
Gabriella's eyes lit up and nodded. Troy stood up carefully and walked to the bed and placed Patrick into Gabriella's arms. Gabriella looked down and smiled.
"Hi Patrick" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"The nurse came in and said that the lactation consultant should be coming in a little while. I didn't know you wanted to breastfeed" Troy said.
"I want to try it. If it doesn't work out, I could just pump and bottle feed him" Gabriella said.
"You have done your research" Troy said.
"Of course" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Did he sleep?" Gabriella asked.
"A little bit. He was in and out of it for a while but then he knocked out" Troy said.
Troy looked at Gabriella and couldn't stop smiling. The way she looked at their son made him fall in love with her all over again.
"So I was waiting until you woke up to discuss this with you" Troy started.
Gabriella looked up at Troy.
"What is it?" Gabriella asked.
"Do you think we should call your mom and tell her?" Troy asked carefully.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it.
"It's completely up to you. I just thought that that maybe we should" Troy said.
"I don't think it would be right if we didn't" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"Do you want to call her or do you want me to?" Troy asked.
"I will. But, can I do it alone?" Gabriella asked politely.
Troy smiled and nodded.
"Sure sweetheart" Troy said.
"It's not-" Gabriella started.
"I get it. You don't have to explain. I'm going to go get a cup of coffee and make sure my interns are taking good care of my patients and I will be back" Troy said.
"Okay. Thank you, baby" Gabriella said.
Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips.
"If you need me to come back, page me" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy left the room and Gabriella picked up her phone and dialed her mother's number. An hour later, Troy was walking down the labor and delivery floor. Gabriella had paged him to come back to the hospital room. Once he got to the room, Troy saw that Gabriella was curled up as close as she could get herself and facing the window of the room. He knew that position all too well. Troy walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.
"She had a lot of meetings today" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"She didn't ask about his name or if everything went smoothly" Gabriella said.
"Brie, don't let it ruin today. Don't let her do that to you" Troy said.
Silent tears ran down Gabriella's face. That night, Gabriella was feeding Patrick when there was a knock on the door. Troy looked at Gabriella.
"Open the door a little bit and stick your head out" Gabriella said trying to not expose herself to whoever was at the door.
"Okay" Troy said.
Troy walked over to the door and poked his head out. Gabriella tried to hear the conversation but couldn't make much of what was being said. Troy closed the door and looked at Gabriella.
"Who was it?" Gabriella asked.
"You have a visitor" Troy said.
"Who is it?" Gabriella asked.
"I told the person that you were feeding and to come back in a little bit" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Ten minutes later, Gabriella looked down and smiled.
"He's done. Can you hold him while I go get cleaned up?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded. Gabriella carefully placed Patrick into Troy's arms and got out of bed. She walked to the bathroom and cleaned herself up and got back into bed.
"Feel better?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded. Troy placed Patrick back into Gabriella's arms.
"Who is at the door?" Gabriella asked.
"Hold on. Let me go check" Troy said.
Troy left the hospital room. A couple minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in" Gabriella said.
Troy poked his head in. Gabriella looked at Troy confused. Troy opened the door and walked in. He walked into the room and Gabriella saw a figure behind him that shook her to her core.
"Mom" Gabriella said breathlessly.
Maria smiled.
"Hi Gabi" Maria said.
"But what about- "Gabriella started.
"I was getting on a plane. I cancelled my meetings" Maria said.
Tears filled Gabriella's eyes. Maria walked over to the hospital bed and kissed Gabriella's cheek.
"How are you feeling?" Maria asked.
Gabriella sighed and sobbed. Maria wrapped her arms around Gabriella and let her cry into her chest. Troy stood back and smiled. Ten minutes later, Gabriella pulled away.
"I needed you here" Gabriella said softly.
"I know and I'm sorry that I wasn't" Maria said.
Gabriella sniffled.
"Baby, I'm going to let you guys talk. I'll have my pager on me" Troy said.
"Troy, please stay" Gabriella said.
Troy looked at Gabriella smiled slightly. Maria looked at Troy.
"Stay Troy. Please" Maria said.
Troy nodded.
"Do I get to know his name?" Maria asked.
Gabriella smiled.
"Patrick Troy Bolton" Gabriella said.
Maria smiled.
"Your dad would have been so happy" Maria said.
Gabriella's eyes filled with tears. Troy saw this and took Gabriella's hand in his own. Gabriella looked up and smiled at Troy.
"Is he healthy?" Maria asked changing the subject.
"Perfectly. Troy was in surgery when I went into labor" Gabriella said.
Maria looked at Troy. Troy smiled slightly.
"How did you get out of that?" Maria asked.
"I didn't. The doctors put her on speaker phone and I talked to her while the surgery was going and I was working" Troy said.
Maria smiled.
"After I was no longer needed, I raced up here" Troy continued.
"Sounds like you had a hectic day" Maria said.
Troy shrugged.
"It all turned out okay" Troy said.
An hour later, Maria wanted to leave. Troy walked her out to the hallway.
"Troy?" Maria called.
Troy looked at his mother-in-law.
"I don't want to argue with you or fight with you anymore" Maria said.
"I was only fighting with you Maria because I wanted to protect Gabriella. Every time you both would talk, you would fight. She would get so hurt by the things you would say that I couldn't take it anymore. I want my son to know you" Troy said.
Maria's eyes filled with tears and nodded.
"I don't want to fight with you anymore. Especially now that we have Patrick" Troy said.
Maria nodded. Troy walked closer to Maria and hugged his mother-in-law.
"Congratulations, grandma" Troy said.
Maria smiled.
"He looks just like you and I know that you will raise him to be the loving and caring man that you are. I'm going to get going" Maria said.
Troy nodded.
"Congratulations, Troy" Maria said.
Troy smiled.
"Thank you" Troy said.
Troy walked back into the hospital room. Gabriella looked at Troy and smiled.
"You were out for a while" Gabriella said.
"Talking to your mom" Troy said.
"About what?" Gabriella asked.
"We both agreed that we don't want to fight anymore" Troy said.
"Who brought that up?" Gabriella asked.
"She did. She said that and I said that I didn't want to either especially now that we have Patrick" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"It's a start, Brie" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. That night, Gabriella was feeding Patrick when there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Gabriella called.
"Me" Troy said.
"Come in" Gabriella said.
Troy poked his head in and smiled sympathetically.
"Baby, if you want I can wait outside until he's done" Troy said.
Gabriella shook her head.
"It's fine. If it was someone else at the door then I would have said to come back later" Gabriella said.
"I just don't want you to feel like you are always exposed" Troy said.
"Nurses have been coming in here every hour to check me and make sure everything looks like it's healing. I am exposed and I don't even care anymore" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled slightly. He walked over to the bed and kissed Gabriella's lips softly.
"How are you feeling?" Troy asked.
"Tired" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Do you want me to burp him while you go change?" Troy asked seeing that Patrick had pulled away from Gabriella.
"Yes please" Gabriella said.
"Okay" Troy said opening his arms.
Gabriella carefully placed Patrick into Troy's arms. Troy smiled and looked down at his son. Gabriella got out of bed and went to the bathroom and cleaned herself up. The next morning, Troy helped Gabriella sit down in a wheelchair. He then placed Patrick's car seat carefully on her lap.
"Alright, let's get out of here" Troy said.
Troy wheeled Gabriella to the elevator and went down to the parking garage where his car was. He first opened the back seat door and put Patrick's car seat in and buckled it so that it was secure. Troy then looked at Gabriella, who was already trying to walk to the front seat.
"Slow down. Don't rush. Dr. Fields said that you need to take it easy" Troy said.
Troy helped Gabriella get into the car. He returned the wheelchair and got into the car.
"Ready?" Troy asked
Gabriella nodded. Troy drove home. A couple hours later, Troy was sitting on the couch with Patrick lying on his chest. Gabriella walked into the living room and smiled.
"Still sleeping?" Gabriella asked softly.
Troy smiled and nodded.
"He's going to need to eat soon" Gabriella said.
"Yeah" Troy said.
"Nicole had mentioned that you are taking a couple weeks off" Gabriella said.
"Yeah" Troy said.
"You didn't tell me that" Gabriella said.
"Because I finalized it and talked to the chief about it yesterday" Troy said.
"Oh" Gabriella said.
"I don't want you to have to take care of him by yourself. At least, not yet" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled slightly.
"When we put him on a schedule and that is set, I will gradually go back" Troy continued.
"Thanks Troy" Gabriella said.
"He's our son, Brie. We both are responsible for him" Troy said.
"I just thought-" Gabriella started.
"We talked about it, yes. But when I held him for the first time, my plans changed" Troy said.
Gabriella kissed Troy's cheek softly. Patrick let out a cry. Troy looked down at Patrick and smiled.
"Hey, it's okay" Troy said.
Troy stood up carefully with Patrick in his arms. Gabriella smiled.
"I think that was a cry that a daddy can't help" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. He carefully placed Patrick into Gabriella's arms. Gabriella picked up a burp cloth that was on the couch and placed it over her chest. She then pulled down her bra and brought Patrick up to her breast.
"Do you want-" Troy started.
"You are okay" Gabriella said.
"I'm only asking because sometimes women think of it as a private thing. Physically and emotionally. I didn't know if you wanted to be alone" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"Thank you for thinking of me. Ask me in a couple weeks and you may get a different answer. But, for right now, it's okay" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"I still can't believe he's here" Troy said.
"Me too" Gabriella said.
The phone rang. Troy cursed under his breath when he heard Patrick start crying. He ran over to the phone and answered it.
"Hello?" Troy answered annoyed that whoever was calling woke his newborn son.
"Troy, how's everything going?" Lucille asked.
"Fine. We just got home" Troy said.
"Everything okay?" Lucille asked.
"Well, he started crying when you called. So the phone is going to be our worst enemy" Troy said.
"How's Gabi?" Lucille asked.
"She's okay. Tired, but okay" Troy said.
"Maria called me" Lucille said.
"Did she tell you that she came to the hospital and there was a truce?" Troy asked.
"Yeah. I'm proud of you, Troy" Lucille said.
"Mom, I swear if she says one thing-" Troy started.
"I know. But let her try" Lucille said.
"Troy" Gabriella called.
Troy pulled the phone away from his face.
"I'm coming baby" Troy said.
"Troy?" Lucille called.
"Mom, I have to go" Troy said.
Lucille and Troy hung up the phone. Troy walked back into the living room.
"Take him" Gabriella said.
Troy looked at Gabriella and saw that there was vomit all over chest.
"Did he throw up?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded.
"I'm going to take a shower" Gabriella said.
"Are you okay?" Troy asked.
"Yes. I just want to take a shower" Gabriella said.
Troy carefully took Patrick out of Gabriella's arms. Gabriella walked into the bedroom and picked out a new set of clothes and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Life with a baby was starting to become more real.