School was long and tedious. My back and feet hurt and I didn't know how I was going to go through four more months of this. "We have our appointment tomorrow during lunch again for the babies with Robespierre at the hospital. I can't wait to see how much our little ones have grown in the last month," I said happily, looking down at my stomach, sitting against Troy's side in his truck on the way to my house after school. "From the looks of things, I'm sure they're about ready to come out already." Troy laughed, hugging me tightly to him. "Oh no! My babies are staying in there until they are fully grown. You're barely half way through your pregnancy, Gabriella. No way they're coming out early!" I giggled, laying my head against his chest. "I love how protective you are of us, Troy. You're the perfect father and boyfriend." He kissed my head quickly and laid his chin against the top of my head. "Not perfect, just in love." I hugged him tightly to me, thankful to have him in my life. He was perfect, even if he couldn't see it or wouldn't accept it.

Troy parked the truck in the driveway and helped me out, walking to the front door with me. "It should just be us here for a few hours. Kelsi's over at Ryan's and Mama and Dad won't be home from work until late," I told him, smiling up at him. He smiled back down at me, rubbing my side, making sure he rubbed my stomach as well. "I love being alone with you, baby." I blushed, taking a step forward at the door, opening it and letting Troy walk in behind me. "Get out!" I heard behind me as I pushed the door shut, causing me to jump half a mile high. Turning around, I looked at Mama who was walking down the stairs toward us. "What?" I was barely able to ask of her in a whisper. Mama's glare was focused on Troy as she came to he bottom of the stairs. "I know I said you were welcome in my home, but I'm taking it back. I want you to get out." She turned to me, turning that fire-filled gaze on me. "And you are no longer allowed to see this boy!" My mouth about dropped to the floor. "WHAT?" She grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the stairs away from Troy. "Ow! Mama!" She yelled at Troy again, "Get the hell out of my house, NOW!"

I stepped back down the first step, attempting to walk past my mother. "Not without me, he's not!" Mama turned back toward me, glaring me down. "You two are no longer allowed to see each other, do you hear me?" I shook my head, pushing past her as she grabbed my arm. Troy stepped in, pulling me away from her, returning her glare with a more heated one. "She may be your daughter, but that gives you NO right to treat her like this. I'm the father of her children! You can't just take that away from her. She needs me." Troy held me against his chest and I kept my face turned into his chest. "No, what she needs is her mama and her family." Troy tightened his embrace around me, not backing down. "I'm her family now, Mrs. Nielsen! Anyone who treats her the way you do doesn't deserve the time of day you're given." I felt Mama grab a hold of my arm and jerk me to pull me from Troy's arms, but he wasn't going to let me go for his life. "Mama, you're hurting me!" I yelled at her, holding onto Troy as tightly as I could. "Let go of this boy, Gabriella. You're staying here and he's leaving!" Troy held onto me, pulling her hand from my arm. "I'm not going anywhere without Gabriella, not with how you're treating her."

Mama reached out, trying to yank me from Troy's arms once more and I screamed out in pain. This time, it wasn't only from how much she was hurting my arm, but from a sharp pain going through my side. I fell against Troy, clutching onto him in pain, whimpering and trying to keep the tears in. "Now look what you've done to her!" Mama accused Troy as Troy lifted me up into his arms. "What I've done to her? I'll make sure you never touch her again, Mrs. Nielsen!" He turned to the door and Maria stood in front of it, blocking Troy from leaving with me. "You're not taking her out of this house, Mr. Bolton!" Troy held me closer to him, seething with anger at her, but trying to stay as calm as possible. I'm sure he knew the tension was aggravating whatever was wrong with me. He knew me better than anybody. "Get out of my way, Mrs. Nielsen! Gabriella needs a doctor and I'm taking her!" I held on tighter to her as the pain worsened, causing me to cry out in pain more, burying my face in his chest, trying to muffle my sobs. "I'm her mother, I'll take her!" I turned to her, a veil of tears and pain clouding my vision. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY, MOTHER!" I turned my head back against Troy's chest, sobbing out more in pain. "Troy is taking me. I need him, not you!" I clutched onto his shirt more. Talking was making it hurt even more. I closed my eyes, holding on tighter to Troy.

"Now are you going to move, or do I have to go through you?" There was silence between the two of them for a moment before I felt Troy moving forward and opening the door. Thankfully Mama had moved out of the way and Troy was now able to take me to the hospital. He slid into the truck with me still in his arms on his lap. "Troy, you can't…" I gasped out in pain, unable to move. "You can't drive like… like this." He wouldn't even budge, kissing my forehead. "I'm not letting you go. Just rest, baby." I didn't have the strength or energy to fight him. I laid my head against his chest as the tears continued to flow. I held onto my stomach at the site of the pain, my eyes clutched tightly shut. He sped down the road toward the hospital and I held onto him, sobbing in pain.


I stood in the waiting room waiting on word from the doctor. I didn't know if I could handle anything being really wrong with my Gabriella and our babies. I wanted to be in there with Gabriella. She needed me, but the nurses wouldn't let me in until the doctor could get the pain to stop and until he knew what was going on. One of the nurses told me I was more help to Gabriella out here than being a nervous wreck in the room with her. I tried to calm down as much as I could, but with my girlfriend and babies in that room and not knowing what's going on with them, I didn't know what to do. If anything happened to any of them, I would never forgive her mother. What the hell that was all about when we got there was beyond me. The last I checked I was welcome in that house, but I get there this afternoon and she's kicking me out again for the second time in less than a month. I didn't get that woman.

I turned to pace down the hallway again when I saw Kelsi and Ryan running toward me. Kelsi wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly as Ryan came up to stand behind her. "Is she ok?" Ryan asked, apparently because Kelsi couldn't. I looked down at Kelsi wondering how we had gotten here. But it didn't bother me and it didn't seem to bother Ryan either. She was my girlfriend's sister. I thought of her as a friend, finding it odd that I never had any friends that were girls before. Now I've got a girlfriend and a really good friend in Kelsi. But she was more like my sister than a friend, and one day she would be my sister-in-law. I looked up at Ryan, sighing heavily. "They're trying to stop the pain." Kelsi looked up at me, tears falling from her eyes, "What happened, Troy? Mom called me and told me you brought Gabriella here to the hospital. She didn't tell me anything else. What happened?" I sighed heavily, wrapping my arm around her and leading her back into the waiting room to sit down.

The three of us sat together on a couch and Kelsi was still waiting on my answer, sitting with her legs curled up underneath her, turned toward me. "We just got home from school and your mom was home early from work. I don't know why, but she kicked me out, telling Gabriella she couldn't see me anymore." Kelsi shook her head, obviously as confused as I was. "That makes no sense, Troy! She was ok with it just yesterday." She shrugged, fixing what she'd just said, "Well, as ok as I thought she was going to be, but this still makes no sense!" I nodded, running my hands through my hair and leaning forward on my elbows, sighing heavily. "I know, Kels. I know." She laid her arm around my back, laying her head on my shoulder. "Gabriella will be alright, Troy. She's strong. She's a fighter." I turned my head, looking at her over my shoulder. "I know," I agreed, but my worrying still wasn't fading. "And the twins are made of both of you," she said, rubbing my back. "They're doubly strong." I smiled, wrapping my arm back around her, hugging her tightly. I knew she was trying to make me feel better, and to some extent she was, but I wasn't going to be completely better until I could see for a fact that all three of them were ok.

I looked up as Dr. Robespierre came into the room. I stood quickly, Kelsi and Ryan standing up seconds after me. "Gabriella's going to be just fine. She's resting now, but she wants to see you," Robespierre told me and I nodded, but I still couldn't relax. "What about my babies, Doctor?" He lifted a hand, patting my back. "Your twins are doing well. Strong and healthy. No need to worry about them. Gabriella's got a fetal monitor around her stomach right now and their vitals are strong and healthy. I can come in later with a sonogram if you two would like to see for yourselves if you need more assurance." I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, looking down at Kelsi and hugging her tightly. Kelsi asked the doctor, "Can we all go in to see her, Dr. Robespierre?" Dr. Robespierre looked over the three of us, nodding. "I think Gabriella would like that. Go ahead." Kelsi took my hand and Ryan's as I walked off toward Gabriella's room.

Knocking on the door slightly, I opened the door slowly, looking in to see her laying on the bed on her side. She looked over at the door, surprised. "Look who I found out wandering the halls," I said, playing around with her just a little. Kelsi laughed, walking over to her sister and hugging her softly. "Oh, he's just kidding. We weren't wandering." She pulled back, looking at Gabriella and placing a hand on her stomach. "Are you ok, Gabby?" Gabriella nodded, looking over at me, smiling softly. "I'm alright. Babies are good too." She looked back to Kelsi, shaking her head. "How did you know I was here? Did Troy call you?" I shook my head. I hadn't thought to call anyone. "No," Kelsi told her. "Mom called and told me Troy brought you in." I could see Gabriella tense up, laying back down against the pillow. "Oh," was all she could say. "Troy told us what happened, Gabby. I'm so sorry. I don't know why Mom changed her mind. I don't know what happened." Gabriella shook her head, sighing heavily. "I don't want to talk about it, Kels. I'm just not going back over there! I can't," she whispered the last bit, closing her eyes. I walked around the other side of the bed to sit down behind her, rubbing her lower back softly. "I understand, Gabby. I do. I hate that this happened, but I understand."


I nodded slightly, looking up at her. "Thanks for coming, Kels. I love you so much." I felt weak and tired. Thankfully the medicine they gave me had made the pain go away, but it was making me sleepy. "I love you too, Gabby. You're my sister. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you." I rubbed her hand on my stomach. "I know. Thank you." She smiled down at me, looking up at Troy before looking back down at me. "I think we'll leave you two alone for a moment. But we'll be right out in the waiting room if you need us." I smiled, looking over at Ryan. "Thank for coming with her, Ryan. I appreciate you being here too." He was just as important to her as Ryan was to me and one day we'd all be family and it made me happy to think about it. Sure, I didn't know if they ever talked about marriage, but I knew one day they'd be married whether it was after high school or beyond that, I knew they would be. It was only a matter of time. "Not a problem. There isn't any place we'd rather be." I smiled at him as Kelsi took his hand and led him out of the room, shutting the door behind them, and leaving Troy and me alone.

He laid down on the bed behind me, wrapping his arms around me, holding me close to him and placing a hand on my stomach. "Thank God, you're ok, baby! I was so worried," he whispered in my ear, kissing my temple. I held his arms around me, closing my eyes, thankful for is comforting embrace. "Robespierre said I need to cut back on my stress," I told him, taking a deep breath. I felt him nod behind me and I continued. "I'm not going back there, Troy. Not after the way my mother treated you." Troy pulled back, and I turned my head to look at him. "After the way she treated me? Gabriella, she threw you around like a rag doll! There's no way I'm letting her touch you ever again!" I slowly turned around toward him, resting my head on his shoulder, holding him closely to me. "She's never been like that before, Troy." Closing my eyes, I swallowed hard. "It… reminded me of… when HE…" I couldn't bring myself to repeat it, but Troy kissed the top of my head, shhhhing me. "Gabriella, don't think about that." I held onto him, keeping my eyes closed, thankful he understood what I was talking about. "I'm never going to let anyone hurt you ever again." I looked up at him, smiling faintly. "I know, Troy. I know you'd never let anyone hurt me. Thank you for getting the twins and me here and away from her. I never want to go back there, Troy. I'm so upset and exhausted from her whiplash attitude. Thank you for keeping us safe and getting us here. You're always there for us." He kissed my forehead lightly, whispering, "And I always will be."

I rested my head back against his chest, closing my eyes softly. "I know, Troy," I whispered, holding him against me, never wanting to let go. "I love you so much," I told him, rubbing his chest softly with my hand as he rubbed my stomach. I loved laying with him like this, not being in the hospital, but with our arms wrapped around each other, just being with each other. It was all either of us needed to be happy, and we both knew it. I loved him and there wasn't anything I wanted more than to be his forever. I couldn't wait for the moment he decided he was ready to propose to me again. I wanted to be his wife more than anything. He was perfect and I knew I would want to be with him forever. I knew I was young and that both of us still have years and years ahead of us, but I knew both of us wanted to spend those years together. We didn't and wouldn't want anything but the two of us together forever. "I love you, Gabriella," he whispered, kissing the top of my head.

Nothing was ever going to change the way we felt for each other, and being together wasn't going to stop either of us from having what we wanted out of life. There was still so much we needed to discuss, but we were still in high school. Lots of things were going to change for us then and we had a lot of planning to do between now and then, but we'd figure it out together. I didn't know when we'd be getting married, but I knew it would be soon. I knew once that ring went on my finger I wouldn't want to wait much longer. We'd probably get married some time in the summer. It would be the two of us there and his parents, Kelsi and Ryan and Taylor and Chad. We didn't need anyone else. And once we were married, we'd live happily ever after, even if we still had a year of high school ahead of us and at least four years of college as well. I didn't know if I really wanted to go to college or not yet, and now without my mother on my back, I didn't necessarily have to. But I would give it serious thought and discussion with Troy. I wasn't going to make any decisions without him anymore.