Author's Note: Hey everybody! I have been gaining more followers and people are favoriteing my story, but I'm not getting many reviews. Please enjoy this chapter and then write me a review. I would love to know your thoughts on the story so far and what you would like to see in the future. Love, Belle.

The Montezes spent their evening playing games and catching up. Maria was enjoying having both of her children under one roof. She didn't want to take it for granted. She was going to enjoy every second. She didn't even mind when they started to squabble over who would be the car in their game of Monopoly.

Gabriella and Leo were just happy that their mother was happy. This weekend was for her, after all.

At the end of the night Gabriella went upstairs to her childhood room and smiled at all of the pictures, snapshots of the past. She ran her fingers over pictures of her father, smiling even as her eyes got misty. "I miss you, Papi", she whispered in the empty room.

Suddenly her phone rang. Recognizing the ringtone as Troy's she quickly wiped her eyes as she picked up her phone to answer it. "Hello", she greeted, saddness still in her voice.

"What's wrong, Baby", Troy asked immediately picking up on her mood.

Gabriella smiled at his perceptiveness. "Nothing is wrong. I was looking at some old pictures of my dad and it just made me miss him."

"Oh", Troy said wishing he was there to hold her as she cried. Instead he did the only thing he could think of. "I love you, Sweetheart."

Gabriella gasped softly, surprised at his random words, but she also smiled hugely. "I love you too, Troy. Thank you for making me smile."

"I'd do anything to make you smile, Gabriella. I love your smile", he admitted. Then he changed the subject, not wanting to pressure her. "How was your evening?"

Gabriella smiled, knowing what he was doing. "We played a game of Monopoly", she said with a smile and a giggle.

"Did you buy everything", he asked loving her giggle.

"Almost", she reported. "I didn't have the blue properties. Leo did. He bought Boardwalk and then came around to St. James, where I had two hotels, before anyone could land on his properties. He didn't have enough money and I won", she explained with a triumphant grin.

"Wow, Baby, that's devious." Troy chuckled even as he could feel himself falling a little more in love with her.

Gabriella giggled softly. "He asked for it", she defended. "He wasted his money buying up the most expensive properties. It's not my fault that two turns later he landed on my hotels."

Troy couldn't help but laugh at the sibling rivalry. He also found himself a little turned on by her apparent competive side. "I'm not gonna lie", he started. "You're kind of hit when you get into a game." He heard a faint gasp on the other end of the phone, and the reckless, sinful man in him wanted to see if he could explore that reaction a little more, but then he remembered the sleeping boy upstairs, and he stopped himself from stoking the fire that lit between them. He simply said, "I miss you, Sweetheart. Goodnight."

In Houston, Gabriella was also struggling. She could feel herself strating to blush when he said that her competitive side was hot, but she took her cues from him. She stopped when he did. So, when he said goodnight, she said a soft "goodnight" as well.

Saturday was spent at the mall with her mother. She want to buy Maria a new dress for dinner tomorrow night. She and Leo had made reservations at a new restaurant that Leo said their mother had been talking about. Of course, that was a surprise so Gabriella told her mother that she couldn't figure out what to buy her this year, so she told Maria to pick a dress and Gabriella bought it.

Gabriella was having fun with her mother, but one thing kept nagging at her in the back of her mind. No matter what she was doing, she missed Troy. Was that a sign? She tried not to dwell on it choosing, instead, to focus on her family. She would deal with her feelings later.

Back in Albuquerque, Troy was having the same problem. No matter how much Chad tried to occupy him all he could think about was Gabriella. Every morning he woke up and it was like he was missing an arm. He hadn't realized until now how much of his day was taken up by her. Even his time with Ethan was spent with her. They usually spent Saturdays at the park. As usual, he took Ethan and Bear to the park and stopped at the thought that something was missing. It didn't take long to realize that the something was a someone. Gabriella. At one point, Ethan threw a ball for Bear and then he looked at Troy. "I miss Gabi, Daddy", he said honestly. "When is she coming home?"

That innocent question was confirmation to Troy. In a month's time she had become their whole world, and the world stopped turning when she was gone. "I miss her too, but she'll be home on Monday, Buddy", he answered hearing the saddness in his own voice.

That night, after he put Ethan to bed, Troy went to his own room to do his nightly reading. He had begun reading in the fifth chapter of Ephesians. He was in verse 25: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.

He loved that verse. Troy had promised himself long ago that he would love his wife like that. Fiercely, he would love his wife with as much love as Jesus had for this wicked world, and he had. Troy loved Shelby with everything in him. He had protected her by designing a beautiful, stable home, and he had tried to teach her about his faith. For a while, he believed that Shelby believed as strongly as he did. She sold it, going so far as to be baptized, but then Ethan was born, and Troy had fallen even more in love with Shelby, while also falling instantly in love with his son.

Most women would have been thrilled that their husbands wanted to be so involved with a new baby, but Shelby was almost angry. She would push Troy out of the nursery, but then she would practically beg him to pay attention to her. That was when he started to notice her selfishness. When he was served with divorce papers it was almost a relief. He was glad that he no longer had to pretend that everything was fine.

Now, a year later, he sees that God had something better in mind. Gabriella was everything he could have ever wanted in a woman, and she was quickly becoming the second most important person and in his world. She loved him, but, more importantly, she loved Ethan and she protected him fiercely. He knew that she would have gladly fought Shelby that day she went to her house to observe. He saw it in her eyes when she brought Ethan to him at the church. She was angry. That's when he started falling for her, and it snowballed from there, but Troy didn't care. He was going to ride this ride for as long as he could. No matter the consequences. Whether this was forever or not he was going to see it through.

Troy closed his Bible and sighed deeply. He got comfortable in bed before he closed his eyes and began talking to God in his heart. Lord, he began. I'm not sure what You have in mind for Gabriella and I. I only know that I am falling fast. I know that You wouldn't allow me to fall so hard if she wasn't in Your plan for my life, but not my will, Lord, Your will be done. Prepare my heart, Lord, and help me to be able to be there for my son. He's been doing so well since I told him that he wouldn't be goung back to Shelby's house anymore, but I know that one of these days he's going to ask about his sister. Please, help me to know what to say when the time comes, Lord. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for all of the many blessings You give me, and help me to be the man You want me to be, Amen.

And with that he rolled over and fell asleep peacefully.

In Houston, Gabriella was having a similar conversation.

Lord, she prayed. I can feel myself falling for Troy a little more each day. Thank You for a man that excepts me for me, and loves me anyway. I love how he loves me in spite of my mistakes and never faults me for them. He says they brought us together, so he could never fault me for that.

I love the way he is always checking on me. He wants to make sure I'm safe, even when he's not here. Thank You for the caring man You've blessed me with. I know he would protect me, Ethan and our future children, with his life and love us with his whole heart. Amen

Wow! Did she really just pray for her future children. She and Troy had never even talked about that, but heart had been imagining it more and more recently. She could see another son, and a little girl with Troy's incredible blue eyes. The thought made her heart burst with excitement. Her future looked bright.

She got herself ready for bed and then got comfortable in bed, before sending Troy a message. They hadn't gone to bed without a message or a conversation to say goodnight since he asked her to be his girlfriend, and just because she was away was not going to stop Gabriella from saying goodnight to her man.

She hated to admit it, but she needed it. She needed to hear his voice before she fell asleep. It was soothing for her. No matter what had happened at work that day, hearing Troy's voice at night made the problem melt away. He calmed her. She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey, Baby", he greeted happily as he answered on the first ring.

That made her smile, but then, everything he said made her smile. He was amazing at that. "Hi, Troy", she greeted with a smile on her face and in her voice causing Troy to smile as well.

"How was your day", Gabriella asked when Troy didn't say anything.

"Lonely", he answered honestly.

That caused Gabriella to turn red as her bottom lip found it's way between her teeth. She didn't say anything, but Troy could feel her blushing.

"I'm not the only one that misses you, Sweetheart. Ethan asked when you would be home."

She felt her heart burst in her chest hearing that. She knew Ethan liked her, but she had been curious as to hus thoughts of she and Troy as a couple and whether or not he liked her hanging around so much. Truth be told, she missed them too. Hanging out with Troy and Ethan had become part of her routine. "Tell him that I missed him too", she replied.

Troy smiled and nodded, then, realizing that she couldn't see him he said, "I will." Then he asked, "are you going to church in the morning?"

"I've been thinking about it", she confessed. "But we never went to church, so I don't know where to go."

"Do you have a baptist church around there?"

Gabriella had to think about it. She had lived on military bases through her entire childhood, in several different states, when shr got to high school she stopped trying to get to know anyone. She didn't have good friends until college. "I don't know", she said honestly. "I never explored the city. I never had to. We lived on Navy bases until my father died. After the funeral we moved here, to Houston, where my parents grew up, but I didn't try to make friends or get to know the town, because I left again when I got excepted to Stanford."

Troy had to think quickly. "Well, if you want to find a church to go to, you could just go riding around in the morning."

"I could", Gabriella agreed. "But I don't want to leave my mother on Mother's Day."

"Invite her to go." Troy had an answer for every excuse she tried to come up with.

Truth be told, Gabriella didn't want to go to church without Troy beside her. "I guess I just don't want to go without you", she confessed.

Troy frowned at that. "Church shouldn't be something you do just to be with me, Brie. It should be something you do to be closer to God and to fellowship with other people that love him. It helps your faith grow."

Suddenly, Gabriella felt guilty. "I'm sorry", she whispered.

"Don't apologize to me", Troy said having barely heard her. "Apologize to God."

"I was", she confessed. "All of a sudden a feeling of guilt came over me."

Troy smiled. "That's called the Holy Spirit, Sweetheart. That feeling comes when we do something that God doesn't like. It's His way of disciplining us. When we apologize and ask forgiveness then we're back in good standing with God." There was silence on the line while he thought about whether or not he should say the rest of what he was thinking. He sighed deeply and then he added, "but that feeling only comes to those that have given their hearts to God."

More silence. How was she supposed to know if what she felt was real? How did she know if she had truly given her heart to God? She didn't want to claim that she had, and have it not be true. She wasn't going to be like Shelby. Troy, and Ethan, deserved better than that. No, she would pray about this and ask God's guidance before she made a mistake she, and Troy, would regret. It would kill her to break his heart.

Knowing she had a lot to think about, and talk to God about, she said goodnight to Troy.

"Goodnight, Baby. Sleep well."

With that simple, loving, farewell Gabriella smiled and hung up the phone before crawling into bed and a restful sleep.