I hope you all had a good start in 2011! Enjoy this chapter, even though it is short.

25. Worth being a Bolton

We decided to have a nice breakfast on a Sunday morning. Troy was making the pancakes, while I was doing the omelets - and yeah, I was in the mood for eggs.

"Okay, I think we're ready to serve." he said and looked at me.

"I'll get the plates." I said while doing so.

"Gabi?"

"Yeah?" I asked him as I placed the plates on the table.

"When are you going to turn the guest room into a nursery?"

"I… I don't know. Honestly, I didn't even thought I'd be staying here for that long." I answered his question as I got the forks and knifes.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"I actually was planning to move to the beach."

"Which city?"

"Laguna Beach. It would be a better place for her to grow up than here in glamorous Los Angeles. I don't want her to turn into a diva at the age of seventeen. I want her to have a life as normal as possible. And besides, my mother would just live around the corner."

"Okay… But you do know that in Laguna she's going to be just as spoiled as she is here in L.A., right?"

"I know, but she will have the beach also. Besides, I can have a little luxury can't I?

"When did you plan to move?"

"In a couple of weeks. I'm going to start looking for a house soon."

"A house, huh? So you're really serious…" he said while he filled the plates with food.

"Yeah, I am not going to do things by halves. I mean, after all this isn't about friends, this is about family. About our daughter." I said and smiled softly. "...Troy?"

"What?"

"Have you… I mean did you…" I couldn't find the right words for the question I was about to ask him.

"Yes, I did meet up with her again. Once. I told her that it was over, for good. We cleared everything. I gave her what she wanted and she promised me to now stay away from my family."

We were silent. So he did meet up with Amanda. But just once. I didn't know if I was able to believe him again. If I could believe him after what he did to me. But I was willing to try.

"But how did you… I mean did you have…"

"No, I did not. No sex since you left."

"Absolutely no sex?" I asked him surprised. I couldn't believe he survived fully 20 weeks without any sex at all. "How did you…? I mean…"

"Where there's a will, there's a way." he said and I looked into his eyes.

"No sex in 20 weeks. I don't know if I should believe you."

"You may believe me. I mean, we barely had sex back in London…"

"Yeah, I know. But the sex we had was great. I was constantly cranky and yelling at you as soon as I saw you. And you barely were home…"

"Speaking of being cranky, why were you so cranky?"

"I… I took hormones via tablets. They should help me or that's what Dr. Hamilton said. And those hormones made me cranky and made me feel bad about everything."

"Why did you start taking those hormones? I mean, you can get easily pregnant… right?"

"It wasn't the problem to get me pregnant." I said and looked down.

"It wasn't? But you had one miscarriage."

"There wasn't only one miscarriage." I bit on my lip, "I had been pregnant four times, Troy. This is my fifth pregnancy with your child."

He was silent. I let the silence take over the room. Silence was what we needed. What he needed, what he wanted...

"You Y-You… You had four miscarriages?" he asked me shocked after minutes.

I nodded, "I did. And I lost it every time in the first three months. I even was pregnant when we got married. But I didn't tell you because I didn't want to upset you again. That's why I decided to wait at least three months, before I'd tell you. But when I found out that I was pregnant again, I knew that I would have this baby. I just knew it." I finished with tears building up in my eyes.

He hugged me and stroke through my hair, "I'm sorry for everything, Gabriella."

"I know…" I said, "I know…" I repeated saying it now to myself. "But it's okay now. Everything is fine now…" Then I looked at my plate, "What did Jack do after that scandal in the tabloids?"

Troy was silent and looked at his plate. My eyes moved up and I saw how sad he suddenly looked.

"Troy…? What's going on?" I slowly asked him. I definitely wasn't ready for another Jack drama. "You can tell me." Jack-drama has never been good. Never.

He looked up at me with his eyes filled with tears, "Uhm he… Well, he passed away, Gabriella." I saw how sad his eyes were and I also saw that he definitely wasn't ready to talk about. So I was silent. I didn't say anything. I got up from my chair and walked over to him to embrace him with my arms..

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him after minutes of silence, "Or shall I get you some Scotch?"

He smiled and looked to me, "Why would I need Scotch, if I have you?" I haven't heard that sentence… like ever. I wished for him saying this sentence since years and now it was here.

"I'm so sorry, Troy. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we were separated. There was no us. There was just you and me."

"But you could have called me…"He gave me a look, "Right, you couldn't. Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him slowly, not sure what he would answer.

"It's best I tell you."

"When did he…"

"Two weeks after you left me. He had cancer, but he didn't want anyone to know."

"Did you know?"

He shook his head, "Only my mom knew. She called me on the day he died to ask us to come over. I told her I would come but you had to work. As I later found out, I was the last child who said goodbye to him. So as I stood next to his deathbed he asked me where you were and I told him that we were separated. My mom couldn't believe it. But Jack…" he stopped.

"What did Jack say?" I asked him as I stroke through his sandy brown hair. He probably was even mean to me on his deathbed. That would be so Jack.

"He said he was truthfully sorry for everything he had ever done to you and that I should tell you this if I ever see you again. He told me that you are a strong and wonderfull woman who was worth being a Bolton. He wouldn't want any other woman as his daughter-in-law." Then he laughed a little, "And he said that I am an idiot for cheating on the most wonderful woman in the whole world. He was right with that. And he also told me to give you this." he said and got out a letter from his jacket.

I was speechless. Maybe Jack didn't hate me anyway. Maybe he was just a father protecting his son.

He handed me the letter, "I didn't read it."

"I-I don't know what to say, Troy. I mean…" I stopped and we both were silent for a couple of minutes. Neither of us knew what to say. I still couldn't believe that Jack was dead.

"How did Olivia and Leah take it?" I asked him.

"Not so well. They… they don't talk about it. Not with their boyfriend or husband."

"Did they talk with you?"

He nodded, "Yeah, they both spent a couple of days with me."

"Did they stay at the apartment?"

"Yeah… it was just the three of us. And a bottle of Scotch for Olivia and me. We hadn't been this close in a long, long time. It's sad how the death of our father brought us together again. I mean, really close together again. We ate ice cream every evening and talked about the good and the bad times we all had with our father. We realized that nothing is more important than family. Well Olivia and me realized it, Leah already knew that."

"Is that why you quit your job?"

He nodded and looked down, "He… He told me to listen to my heart and, for once and for all, stop doing what my head tells me to. He was right with that also."

"Troy, " I started and brushed through his hair, "he has raised a wonderful son. He couldn't be prouder of you. He has done a wonderful job with each of you guys." I said with a soft smile on my face.

"Thank you, Gabriella."

"For what?" I asked him.

"Thank you for being there for me after what I have done to you. Take you for giving me another chance. And thank you for giving me strength when I feel weak."

"We are husband and wife, Troy. It goes without saying that I am by your side on bad days. Even though you committed adultery, I am still there for you through the tough times. Well, now I am anyway."

"I don't deserve a wife like you." he said while brushing through my hair, "I love you, Gabriella Maria Bolton."

"I love you too, Troy Johnathan Bolton." I said and kissed him.

I hope you liked this chapter.

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Xoxo Nic