Let's not even get into what happened to me last weekend or yesterday, but let me just say it's been a long two weeks. I'm hoping the fact that this chapter was 10 pages in word and that it has some significantly important events that it might make up for my lack of update lately. Anyway hope you enjoy!
Age Appropriate
Previously
"Look sweetie, I know how you're feeling…"
"You don't know how I'm feeling," her saddened voice cut off the one of her aunt's. "You have no idea how I feel right now, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't pretend that you do."
xx
"I really wish you wouldn't do that."
"Do what?" she asked from her spot.
"Shut me out. Of all people, I thought I could be the one you would open up to and share everything with, especially considering our personal situation right now, but you always do this and I should have known now would be no different."
Her jaw set as she turned to face him, the scowl clearly showing her unhappiness with him. "You have no right to judge me."
"Apparently there's no other way to get through to you."
"Well then don't bother."
xx
"Biologically, you may be my mom and you may have legal right over more for a couple more weeks, but as far as I'm concerned, anyone who can't even tell me the truth about my father isn't a mother in my book."
"Mija…"
"No!" Gabriella spoke sternly, stopping her quickly. "You don't have the right to call me that anymore. I can't believe you! Out of all the things you've done, this takes the cake! What else are you lying about? Are you even my mother or did you just pick me up from off the side of the road somewhere?"
"Stop it! Gabriella, I was trying to protect you! I've done everything in my power to make sure you had a great life and this is how you thank me…"
"Thank you?! Should I be thanking you right now? And lying to me about my family is not protecting me."
"I…I don't know what to say to you, Gabriella."
"Well lucky you. You know what; I'll save you from having to say anything to me ever again. I'm done with you."
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.
-Robert Frost
Chapter 21
"Oh, come on, could you at least look like you're happy?"
Gabriella sighed, smiling brightly at her best friend and then turning back to the shelves of clothing in front of her.
"Real happy, not pretend happy, you silly monkey. What's up with you anyway?"
"What do you think is up with me? I'm tired, Tay. I'm tired and cranky and I'm fat and I'm swollen. I can't see my feet, I can't bend over, I can barely stand up without the help of someone else, and I can't control my bladder, which reminds me I have to go AGAIN!"
Quickly looking around, Taylor spotted and bathroom and quickly shoved Gabriella in the direction, following closely behind. "Honestly, Gab, you haven't got long to go," she conversed; checking herself in the mirror was Gabriella was busy in the stall.
"Yeah, but you haven't seen long until you're pregnant."
"Gabi, your due date's next week. Besides, weren't you the one hoping and praying that the baby would hold out this long?"
"Strictly for legal purposes," the brunette answered as the sound of flushing filled the empty bathroom and she came out of the stall to wash her hands. "I only wanted him/her to make it until Monday and it's already Sunday and I have no signs of being anywhere near going into labor."
"I thought that was a good thing?"
"I guess it was, but now it's kind of annoying. By now, being so close to my due date, the baby won't be premature so at this point, I'm just ready for the birth. I turn 18 tomorrow."
"Which is why you should enjoy this while you can! Soon enough you'll have a little monster screaming its head off at you and you'll want all the time to yourself that you can get."
Gabriella laughed. "Maybe I just…"
"Just what? What happened, why do you look that that." Taylor eyed her friends frozen figure curiously. "And why are you…I thought you just went to the bathroom, is that…OH MY GOD!"
Gabriella's eyes went wide as she felt the wet spot that Taylor currently saw growing in her pants. "Shit. I guess I kind of jinxed that."
"Did you just pee yourself or is that what I think it is?"
"No, it's what you think it is. My water just broke."
"Well you sure didn't waste any time," Taylor smirked.
Rolling her eyes, Gabriella gripped onto the counter, pulling her cell phone out of her bag and hitting speed dial, instantly responding as soon as the expected had picked out. "We have a problem."
-XOXO-
"I'm looking for Gabriella Montez," Troy told the receptionist at the hospital. She quietly raised her head and nodded her head to the left, turning Troy's eyesight to the pregnant teenager currently sitting awkwardly in a waiting room chair with a huge wet spot on her jeans. Taylor was next to her, looking slightly annoyed. "Hey, you okay?"
"Heh, depends on your definition of okay. Taylor, stop bitching!"
"I'm not…"
"You're doing it in your head and its bothering me!"
Rolling her eyes, she turned to Troy. "I'll be getting some water, call me if anything new happens."
As she walked away, Gabriella groaned. "What good is she if she's just going to leave?"
"Brie…"
"And why am I still sitting out here? I thought she said she was paging Dr. Thorne immediately."
"Brie…"
"What if I were to have this baby right here in this chair?"
"Gabriella." He said, finally getting her to stop and listen. "You never answered my question. Are you okay?"
Sighing she frowned. "I don't know! I've been in this chair for 15 minutes and Taylor probably hates me and I'm not ready for this baby."
"Hey, it's gonna be okay…"
"No it won't! And I really wish people would stop saying that. Have you forgotten that if that baby is born before tomorrow, we have a huge custody issue?"
"Don't worry about that."
"How can I not worry about that? That's all that's on my mind!"
Troy sighed just as a nurse appeared in front of them with a wheelchair. "Ms. Montez, Dr. Thorne's ready for us to get you prepped."
"About time," Gabriella huffed, struggling to get out of the chair which resulting with her gripping Troy's arm as he pretty much lifted her from one chair to the other.
Smiling politely at the nurse as she started to wheel Gabriella down the hall, he hoped that the woman had already seen her fair share of pregnant women and that he wouldn't have to apologize for Gabriella's behavior later.
-XOXO-
"OH SWEET MOTHER OF GOD, YOU HATE ME!"
"Brie…"
"DON'T BRIE ME! You did this, oh God, you are never touching me again."
Troy stood speechless as he turned to Dr. Thorne worriedly and she smiled complacently. "She's just in pain," she soothed his unspoken worries. "Don't worry about it, she'll be all smiles with you again after it's over."
"The hell I will! I hate you Troy Bolton!" the petite brunette groaned through her teeth as she was hit by a painful contraction.
Taking her hand in his, ignoring the pain searing through it as she squeezed it as hard as she felt it. "Love you too," he muttered as he choose not to complain, knowing that what he was feeling from the squeeze was nowhere near whatever she felt from her contractions.
A few seconds later, with the last contraction behind her, Gabriella breathed heavily as Dr. Thorne checked her dilation again. "Do you think it's too late to change my mind for that epidural?"
Laughing, Dr. Throne removed her head from Gabriella's private area. "No, of course it's not too late, a little too early actually."
"Early?"
Nodding her head, Dr. Thorne let the stirrups down, gently placing Gabriella's legs flat on the bed again. "You're only 3 centimeters dilated, so you've still got a bit to go before I can give you the epidural."
Letting her head fall back against the pillow again, the teenager groaned in desperation. "How far does she have to be to get the epidural," Troy asked.
"At least 5 or 6 centimeters."
"And how long will that take?"
Scratching her head, she looked at the teenage girl and her boyfriend? baby daddy?- sympathetically. "Depends. Could take from 30 minutes up to 12 hours."
"12 hours?" Gabi moaned. "You've got to be kidding me! I can't go through another 12 hours of this."
"Hey it'll be okay," Troy spoke stroking her sweaty head softly.
Shaking her head and turning it away from him as she tried to overcome the pain of yet another unbearable contraction, she wasn't sure she could believe him this time around.
"Gabi, sweetheart, I came as soon as I could," Melissa said rushing into her niece's hospital room, still clad in her scrubs from her shift at the clinic.
"Aunt Mel! Thank you for coming," Gabriella smiled, reaching out and taking her aunt's hand as she pressed a kiss to her forehead in welcome.
Troy stepped back and away from the bed as Melissa tapped his arm, letting them know he was going to go update Taylor on Gabriella's progress.
"Where else would I be silly?" Melissa smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed, the smile on her niece's face grow even wider. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm having a baby," she answered sounding somewhat depressed.
"Well newsflash," Melissa teased. "You kind of are."
Giggling Gabriella turned her head and stared at the ceiling. "I know I said I didn't want to have the baby before my birthday, but I'm not so sure I can do this at all anymore, much less wait 12 hours for an epidural."
"Oh baby, how far along are you?"
"She said 3 centimeters. And that it could take up to 12 hours for me to get where I need to be to have the epidural. This is going to be the longest 12 hours of my life."
"It won't be that long sweetheart. I bet you in the next few hours, you'll be getting that epidural and things will be better."
"What exactly does few mean?"
"Maybe 2 or 3 at the most."
"UGH! That's still way too long."
"Hey, believe me when I say that I may not have kids, but I know that although you're in the worst pain of your life at this moment, that it will be worth it when you see your child."
Gabriella looked at her. "How do you know that feeling?"
"Because I saw your mom's face the day you were born. And the face of your dad, and I was beyond excited to have a niece that I could spoil the crap out of."
Laughing as she looked into her Aunt's face, Gabriella sighed tiredly as she felt another contraction starting. Maybe she was ready for this after all.
-XOXO-
"Well, Gabriella Montez, are you ready to give birth to a beautiful baby?" Dr. Thorne asked the teenager about 6 hours later. Three hours ago, she dilated enough to get the epidural. And now apparently she was dilated enough to have a baby.
Oh how it had all happened so fast.
"Now? Like right now?" Gabriella asked, Troy sitting in a chair at her bedside, now interested in the conversation.
Dr. Thorne laughed with an unsure look. "Did you want to wait another 6 hours?"
"No! No, it's just…" she paused, looking up at the clock, seeing that it was only just about 9pm. Meaning there was still 3 hours left before she was legally 18. "It's not my birthday yet."
Troy took her hand, trying to support her feelings, knowing exactly why she was worried but feeling as if she shouldn't be. He'd be behind her 100%, but ultimately, the decision was hers…or really her mom's at this point.
"Gabriella, there's no way to put this off any longer. We've got to take you to the delivery room now or we might be looking at facing some complications."
Nodding, she calming held onto Troy's hand tightly as a few nurses came in and wheeled her bed down to the delivery room. They prepped Troy along the way and quickly passed by the waiting room that held her Mom, Taylor, Chad, Jason, Zeke and surprisingly enough Carlos too. This was it. This was the moment her whole world was about to change.
Lying in the delivery room, a scrubbed up Dr. Thorne perched between her legs, as well as a scrubbed up Troy at her side, everything became a blur to Gabriella.
There had to be at least 2 or 3 nurses running about the room, preparing things, getting everything the doctor needed for delivery as well as making sure everything in the room was set for the arrival of a newborn baby.
She felt two more contractions before she heard Dr. Thorne's encouragement for her to push. In her haze, she squeezed Troy's hand, but not from pain since all she felt was pressure building up in her lower abdomen, but to keep herself awake.
There was a brief pause in between each declaration for her to push in which both Troy and the doctor counted to ten before she took a break from pushing, the feeling thoroughly overwhelming her as she was unable to fully focus on one thing with so many going on.
It was only with a sudden relief from her lower area and the loud cries that filled her eyes and took over the room did Gabriella fully shake herself from her dazed state. Glancing to Troy who was looking in awe over in Dr. Thorne's direction, she caught the tears sitting behind his eyes, threatening to fall at any moment now.
She looked down her body at her doctor seeing the slightly pinkish, bloodied, and gunky bundle in her arms, screeching it's lungs out blindly, kicking and reaching wildly. It was when she'd first laid eyes on her son, did she really understand how much her life had changed.
So was it worth it? Let me know. And oh if you guys have got any ideas as far as names, feel free to review or PM them to me, I've got a few in mind, but I haven't really started the next chapter yet (I KNOW! Don't kill me) and I want to see what you guys think so REVIEW! They make me happy (: