"So we have some news"
Brady and Sara Bolton were visiting the other Bolton couple for the second time in a month. Gabriella and Troy loved that Brady and Sara were visiting as much as they were, especially with Jack passing away. Chad and Sharpay were a great couple to hang out with, but Brady and Sara understood Gabriella and Troy.
"Please don't tell me you are pregnant again Sara," Troy joked. "Because I would be pissed if you tried to upstage us. This is our moment damn it!" Troy slammed his fist on the table jokingly which caused Gabriella to playfully slap his bad shoulder and told him to knock it off.
"Oh no, no more babies for a while." Sara told everyone.
"We have news better that I think you will like better then a new baby." Brady told them.
Troy and Gabriella were on the edge of their seats on the other side of the dining room table.
"Well..." Gabriella trailed dying to know what they were about to tell them.
Brady looked at Sara with a huge smile. Sara gave him a small nod and Brady turned to the couple and said, "We are moving back to Albuquerque!"
"What!" Gabriella and Troy spat out.
"We bought a house!" Brady announced.
"Oh my god! This is incredible!" Gabriella gushed. "What made you decide?"
"Well with Jack dying we knew that we needed to come back home. I mean you guys are expecting a baby and need help, Lucille is on her own for the first time in almost 30 years, and we just wanted to be closer to family." Sara explained to them.
"Boston is great, and that will always be our first home, but now this is where we want to be." Brady told them.
Gabriella turned to her husband with a huge smile across her face. "The kids will be close now. Oh my god and we can have family dinners, and play dates, and Sara we can do girls night and the boys can have their guy nights or whatever!" She clapped her hands. "Oh my god this is so exciting."
Troy laughed at how excited his wife was over the news that his family was moving back home. "I think she is more excited about this then when I proposed to her."
Gabriella's face suddenly turned stern and she lifted a finger to him and simply said, "Last time I checked that shoulder still hurt you."
Troy lifted her hand and kissed it apologetically. "So where is the house?" Troy asked.
"About five minutes from moms. It's a three bedroom house that we looked at when we were home for the funeral." Brady explained. "We were throwing around the idea about moving before dad passed away, but that happened so suddenly that we decided it was almost a sign that it was time to come home."
"Plus Ben needs to be close to not only his grandmother, but his god parents." Sara added.
"We are pretty great people." Gabriella stated.
"Who wouldn't want to be around us babe?" Troy asked turning to her.
"Well honey I can't think of one person." Gabriella continued the ongoing joke.
"Hardy har har." Brady interrupted. "But really get ready for the Boston Bolton's to be making their way back to New Mexico."
"A toast." Gabriella said lifting her glass of water while the other three people lifted their glasses of wine. "To family, and the best chapter of our lives."
"Here here!" The other three chanted as they all clinked their glasses together.
That night Troy laid in bed and thought about their dinner with Brady and Sara. He couldn't be happier that his brother and sister-in-law were moving back to the west coast. He missed them so much, and with Jack dying it definitely makes it easier to have the family together. The death is still raw and he knows that his mother is still crying tears of joy over the news that her grandson will be moving five minutes from her house. Its a lot better then the seven hour plane ride to see him. But all this talk of moving and houses was starting to make Troy think about what him and Gabriella were going to do.
"We can't stay in this apartment forever." Troy called to Gabriella as she brushed her teeth in the bathroom.
"I know that," She said through a mouth full of toothpaste. "But for right now this works."
"You still want to be living in this place a year from now?" Troy asked her.
Gabriella rinsed her mouth out, dried her face, and turned the light off in the bathroom. She walked out and crawled into bed next to her husband. "I don't know. Right now I'm just preparing myself to push a human being out of me. I'm not thinking about moving to a new place."
"Where is our kid going to run and play basketball? This place isn't big enough for him to run around." Troy explained to her.
"You are right, but he won't be doing any running for at least another year and a half." Gabriella told him. "We have time."
"Real estate market sucks." He said under his breath.
"We have never talked about moving until Brady and Sara brought it up at dinner. Why all the sudden is it an issue?" She asked. "I'm perfectly happy here."
"Because tonight made me realize that we need to start planning better. Maybe we should start looking for houses." Troy suggested.
Gabriella leaned over and kissed her husband gently. "Honey I appreciate all the ideas, really I do, but now we don't need to add that stress to what we are already dealing with. I like the only stress being that we can't decide on a name. That and I do not want to move boxes pregnant."
"Well you wouldn't. I would do all of it." Troy assured her.
"Go to sleep babe." She told him as she rolled over and turned the light off.
"We need a house." He whispered to her.
"Yeah well I need sleep because your baby sucks all my energy out of me." Gabriella was able to get the last word in, and with that Troy decided to stop and get some sleep.
Gabriella hung her six month sonogram on the refrigerator and smiled as she looked at the black and white picture of her baby. Her and Troy decided to put them all in order on the fridge to see how the baby progressed each month. The couple still felt strongly about keeping the sex of the baby unknown until he or she finally makes their way into the world.
Gabriella walked down the small hallway of the apartment and stopped at the bedroom that will soon be occupied by their little bundle of joy. Her growing frame stopped in the doorway and she smiled as she watched her husband put together the crib.
George and Maria Montez had dropped it off the night earlier as an early baby gift. They also bought a matching changing table as well for their grandchild. The crib was a deep brown, almost black, color that matched beautifully to the light green walls they decided to paint the room.
"How is it going in here?" Gabriella asked in a sing-song voice. She could hardly contain her excitement seeing the crib almost finished. It made everything more real to her. All these years of longing for a child here she was almost two months away.
Troy smiled at his glowing wife. He couldn't believe how well this pregnancy suited her. Even though the road started off rocky, he is amazed how well she has handled everything. He loves watching her grow every day, and how every day they are closer to the start of their family.
"I dont understand how I can be a surgeon, but yet I can't put together a crib." Troy laughed as he got up off the floor and walked over to his wife. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and then placed his left hand on her stomach.
"Take a break." She suggested. "Just walk away from it for a little and come back."
"No I want to get this finished." He told her giving her another kiss. He walked back over to the crib and began trying to assemble it once more.
Gabriella walked into the tiny, empty room that her baby was soon going to live in. She took a deep breath and then realized that her and Troy have nothing ready. And it wasn't until then that it started to freak her out a little.
"We only have about two more months to get things together." She told her husband. "That's like 60 some days."
Troy laughed not knowing that his wife was being serious. "Good thing to know that you can count."
"I'm serious. We have nothing together. God forbid I have this baby early we have nothing ready. No car seat, no clothes, no toys, no rocking chair, we have half a crib. We don't even have diapers!"
Troy looked over at his wife and saw the panic that traced across her face. He quickly stood up and brought her into his arms.
"Hey hey hey," He tried to soothe her. "We are going to be fine. If you want to go out and buy all of this stuff today then we can go. But wait a little. The shower is soon and I am sure we will get everything then. Okay?" Troy asked her and all Gabriella did was nod into his chest. He placed a soft kiss on her head and then brought her out of his chest and looked at her.
"I'm turning into crazy hormone lady." Gabriella sniffled as Troy wiped a few tears off of her flushed face.
"Nah, you were like this before you got pregnant." He joked which caused her to laugh.
"I'm sorry I freaked." She whispered to him.
"There is nothing to apologize for." He told her giving her another quick kiss.
Gabriella dried her eyes and then looked around the empty room. "It's hard to believe that in almost two months time the baby will be in here."
"I know." Troy agreed. "It's still so surreal."
"Like this crib," She walked over and gently ran her hands across the top of the crib. "I never thought I would see the day when this was in our house. I think that's why I'm just so emotional."
"That's understandable kid." Troy told her.
"I'm just really happy and scared at the same time." Gabriella began to cry again.
Troy sighed and he walked over and took his wife in his arms yet again. "You have nothing to be scared of," He told her. "I am here and I will be here every single step of the way."
"Even when I'm screaming at you in the delivery room blaming you for putting me in this pain?" She asked wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Oh yeah kid, I wouldn't miss that for the world." Troy explained to her placing a small kiss on her cheek. "I will get the ice, and if you want to slap me a little, I think I can let you do that."
Gabriella laughed out loud and then looked up at her husband. "I know I picked a good baby daddy." She giggled. "Okay, I'm leaving now, I have to go to work and get some things situated. You continue the crib and if its done when I get home maybe I will reward you." She teased him as she walked out of the babys room.
"What kind of reward?" Gabriella now had his attention.
"Depends. Get to work handy man." She winked and then left her husband to finish the job he started.
Gabriella loved her job, she really did. She loved that she was getting back to work and doing what she loved. But some days were down right difficult and today was one of those days. Nothing seemed to be going right and she was beginning to doubt the people that she hired as her replacements. Gabriella didn't want to be gone from work too long after having the baby, but now she is starting to realize maybe she needs to come back earlier then she thought. She came to the conclusion that no one can do her job like her. Case closed.
She had a lot on her plate that day and all she wanted to do was to go home and see her husband. She needed to unwind and just vent. Having her hormones out of whack didnt help either because Gabriella is in the first car of the emotional roller coaster and it was starting to make her sick. She just needed to leave work and get home.
She brought minimal paperwork with her home that night and arrived home a little after 8 p.m. She opened the door and the wonderful smell of Italian food wafted into her nostrils. She dropped her things and walked into the kitchen to find her husband slaving over a hot stove making dinner.
"What is all of this?" She asked.
"I'm making a project for school." He said to her. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
She smirked and then walked over to find pasta boiling in a pot, sauce being heated up, and chicken parm in the oven. She smiled and kissed her husband softly.
"You were already going to get laid tonight, but this just got you a whole show." She told him tasting the pasta sauce.
"That is what I was striving for momma!" He smiled as he opened the oven and pulled out the chick parm. "Now lets eat."
Over the course of dinner Gabriella explained her exhausting day and how everyone she has hired has suddenly become idiots. Troy assured her that when she was gone the place won't go to hell. Gabriella explained that maybe she should go back even earlier after having the baby and Troy of course rallied against that. Gabriella decided to end that conversation before a fight broke out and that's the last thing she wanted to do.
"Im sorry, Im just extremely stressed out. I mean between work, not being ready for the baby, its just..." She was trying to find the words but couldn't. That's when Troy had enough. He got up and walked over to her chair and pulled her chair out. He took her hand and helped her off the chair. Once she was standing straight Troy picked her up into his arms and took her to the bedroom. "What are you doing? I'm not finished eating! Troy put me down!" She protested but Troy wasn't having it.
He laid his wife down on the bed and kissed her passionately. His fingers moved to unbutton her pants. Once he undid them he gently pushed them off exposing her underwear. Next was her shirt. Their lips unlocked and he pulled her up straight on the bed and lifted her arms up. He pulled her light purple blouse off of her exposing her white lacy bra. He then placed soft kisses around the tops of her breast that made her moan out softly instantly.
"I need you to stop stressing." He whispered. "It's not good for you."
Gabriella hung her head back as she felt Troy's lips move slowly up her neck. She felt her clit pulsing just by the soft touch of Troy's lips. She needed him now. She yearned for him.
"Troy," She whispered.
He placed a soft and gentle kiss on her lips and then whispered to her. "Just lay back." And she did. Troy grabbed a pillow and put it under her back to keep her comfortable and then he made his way to the edge of the bed. He crawled up and gently pulled her lacy underwear off of her. With one finger he gently glided on the outside of her vagina. "You are so wet baby." He whispered for her.
"It's because of you." She whispered back.
Troy continued to brush the soft warm folds until he decided that it was time to take her out of her misery. He placed small kisses around her growing belly and then kissed all the way down to her warm folds. As soon as is lips attached Gabriella let out a strong moan. Troy kissed and sucked his way through every part of her being. He didn't want to leave one place untouched.
Gabriella's hands ran through his hair as her husband continued to pleasure her. It was enough to make her loose her mind. Her hips began to lift up off the bed and Troy struggled to keep her still.
"I can't take it." Gabriella moaned out in angst. Her head began to toss and turn trying to hold herself together.
Troy looked up and saw her face twisted. He didn't want to finish her just yet, he wanted to keep her going. His lips traveled to the inside of her thighs as he placed soft gently kisses. Gabriella's hips left the bed, but Troy's hands were placed firmly on them to make sure she wasn't going anywhere.
"Im not finished with you yet." Troy said from between her legs. "You are so beautiful baby, and I just need you to relax."
Gabriella continued to moan out deeply as she felt Troy's fingers brush against her vagina once more.
"E-either you end it, or enter me right-right now." She stammered. Her fist began to bunch up the sheet as she felt Troy's lips brush softly against her folds.
She opened her eyes to find her husband on top of her. Gabriella reached down and grabbed his hard member and directed him into her. Troy loved when she took charge, he loved it because he knew that she needed it. Bad.
Troy began to suck at the small delicate spots of her neck as she ran her hands through his hair. Troy felt her fingers grab onto the back of his head as she began to thrust into her. With each thrust Gabriella felt herself tipping further and further over the edge.
"You feel amazing baby." She was able to muster out, and then Troy's lips took over hers. Their tongues danced as Troy continued to make slow, passionate, love to a woman he knew he didn't deserve. "I need you deeper." She breath against his lips.
Troy pushed himself off of her and then took her right leg and put it over his shoulder to open her more to him. Gabriella's back arched as she felt her husband enter her deeper and harder than she wanted, and it felt incredible.
"Oh-oh-oh my g-god." The words were able to escape from Gabriella's mouth.
Troy's lips began to make their journey around Gabriella's plump mounds. Then he began to suck gently at her nipple which made Gabriella scream out in pleasure. Troy continued to thrust deep and slow into his wife as she pushed herself up on her elbows. Her forehead had grown sweaty and no words could be formed. Just pants. Warm, hard pants.
"Don't stop." His wife moaned as she hung her head back as she continued to let her husband pleasure her. She didn't want it to end, but she knew that she was nearing her climax. Her finger nails dug deep into her husbands back as she tried to pull him closer to her.
"I'm go-gonna come babe." Gabriella panted.
Troy's lips met hers as he thrusted into her slowly a few more times until finally Gabriella screamed out at she let herself go and Troy was soon after her. The two of them laid next to one another exhausted and drained out.
Gabriella's hand rested on Troy's shoulder and she looked over at him and gave him a little laugh. "Wow, we haven't been like that in,"
"A long time." Troy finished for her.
"Yeah, a long time." Gabriella repeated. "That was incredible."
Troy laughed as he leaned over and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Only the best for the mother of my child."
"Round two?" Gabriella proposed. And without even a bit of hesitation Troy was kissing his wife again and they began round two.
Three days later Gabriella was still walking on cloud nine from her night at Troy. She had no idea where all this stamina was coming from. Their sex life has always been healthy but the past week has been off the charts. She was not complaining though. The two of them have been through a lot in the past three months and it was nice to have time together before the baby comes.
Troy had already left for work early that morning. He was finally getting back to the way he was before his shoulder injury. He was back in the OR and back on track with all of his patients. It made him happy to get back to what he loves to do. Gabriella on the other hand has had nothing but stress with work the past few weeks. She was seriously concerned for what was going to happen to her clients when she goes on maternity leave.
Gabriella put on her black dress pants with a white blouse and a small black jacket. She slipped on her small black heels and pulled her hair back into a small pony tail. She looked at the clock and she realized that she was running behind. She rushed out into the kitchen and quickly pulled together her case files she was working on the night before and threw them into her bag. She grabbed her car keys and threw her bag over her shoulder. She quickly turned around, but as soon as she turned around a shoot pain rushed through her abdomen causing her to stop in her tracks.
Her arm stretched out as she gripped onto the counter, her other hand was placed on the bottom of her belly. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to control the fear that was quickly taking over her. She continued to breath slowly and stay calm. The pain only stayed for less then a minute and then it subsided. Gabriella dropped her bag on the floor and walked over and sat down at one of the dining room chairs. She opened her phone and dialed Sharpay. Her hand continued to rub her stomach as she hoped that this was not the start of something bad.
"Shar," She exclaimed when she heard Sharpay pick up. "Don't freak out. I'm fine but I need you to come get me and take me to see Sloan."
Sharpay quickly rushed over without asking anymore questions. Gabriella explained to her that she hasn't experienced pain since that first pang but she didnt want to take any chances, or scare Troy. Gabriella had called Sloan on her way over to tell her she was coming in for an emergency visit. She also made sure to not tell Troy. Gabriella then made a few calls to the law firm to let them know that she will not be today.
Sharpay went in the office with Gabriella, and she was admitted right away. One of the nurses took Gabriella into the exam room and they quickly set her up. Sharpay asked Gabriella if she was sure she didn't want to call Troy and Gabriella insisted that she not call him.
Gabriella moved herself back onto the exam table and it was then she had another shooting pain in her abdomen. Sharpay watched as her friend as her face scrunched up in pain and she had a horrible feeling something was not right.
"This is not good." Gabriella mumbled to Sharpay as she laid back on the table and continued to rub her growing stomach.
There was a small knock on the door and Sloan entered to see a in pain Gabriella. "What is going on?" She immediately answered.
"I don't know," Gabriella choked out. "I was getting ready for work and then as soon as I was about to leave I had a shooting pain. I figured I would come just to make sure everything was fine, but I just had another shooting pain."
Sloan helped Gabriella lay down on the table and then asked her another question. "How far apart were the pains?"
"About fifteen minutes." Gabriella told her. "Sloan please tell me I'm not contracting."
Sloan pulled the stirrups out and put Gabriellas legs into them. She then put her hand on Gabriellas stomach and her other hand began to check Gabriella. It was quiet for a few moments until Sloan said.
"I don't want you to panic, but you are 2 cm dilated." Sloan explained to her calmly.
"WHAT?" Gabriella let out.
"I said don't panic." Sloan told her calmly.
"I'm only 32 weeks! I have another month and a half!" Gabriella exclaimed to her.
Sloan pulled her legs off the stirrups and then turned to her again. "Every pregnancy is different Gab. Right now the best move for you and the baby is to go to the hospital to simply be monitored." Sloan explained. "The pain you are experiencing are contractions. I want you to go and I will watch you for a few hours. I will give you medication to stop them. I'm going to keep you at 2 cm for as long as possible."
Gabriella threw her head back and took a nice long deep breath. This was not part of the plan and this was not supposed to be happening. This was something that could change every, fast.
"Can I call Troy now?" Sharpay asked from the right side of the exam table.
Gabriella opened her eyes and put her hand out. "Nope, I think I need to."
An hour later Gabriella was in a hospital gown, in a bed, with a monitor strapped onto her 7 and a half month belly. She had an IV drip in her hand to help stop the contractions that were happening. Sloan told her to just try to relax the best that she could, but in typical Gabriella form she couldn't help but worry.
Sharpay was staying by her best friends side until Troy was able to make an appearance. He was in surgery when Gabriella called him. He left surgery to speak with her but she assured him to not worry and to come see her when he was finished.
The door flew open and a panicked Troy entered.
"Oh babe," he gasped as he placed a kiss on her forehead and then took her head.
"It's not bad, but it's not good either." Gabriella explained to him. "I can't believe I'm going to say this but you might be right."
"What do you mean babe?" He asked her.
Gabriella felt herself get choked up and she turned away from her husband. She couldn't even look at him. The amount of guilt she was feeling was undesirable and if something happens to the baby, she would never be able to forgive herself.
"I pushed myself too hard." Gabriella finally choked out.
Troy looked over at Sharpay who just shook her head slightly.
"I'll go call Chad and tell him whats going on," Sharpay explained to the couple and she excused herself to give them a minute.
"What are you talking about?" Troy asked her.
Gabriella shook her head vigorously and turned back to Troy with tears streaming down her face. "I didn't listen to you or Sloan. You both told me to slow down and I didn't. I thought I could do it all but I can't and now I'm hurting the baby." She sobbed.
Troy stood up and pulled her head into his chest. "You did nothing wrong Gab, you didn't."
"Troy this past week I pushed myself way to hard. I got too stressed out and I didn't take any time for myself. And now here I am in early labor because of it. Our baby is going to be born with under developed lungs!"
Troy pulled her back and attempted to pull his wife back into reality.
"Enough," he stated. "You did nothing wrong. This baby is not going to be born today, this will happen in a few more weeks. Sloan is stopping the contractions and everything is going to be okay. She's going to give you a steroid shot to help develop the baby's lungs if something happens." Troy tried to explain to her. "This is not your fault."
Gabriella continued to sob into her husbands arms. It's as if every emotion she has tried to put on the back burner was coming out and nothing was stopping her. Her tiny hands grabbed onto Troy's white lab coat as she tried patting the tears away from her eyes.
"What you need to do is just take a deep breath and calm down okay?" Troy asked her. "Watch me." Troy made eye contact with his wife and slowly took a deep breath and then let it out through his mouth. Gabriella repeated his action once, twice, and then three times. "Good girl." He whispered to her.
Troy's fingers ran through her hair as she looked up at him. She mouthed 'I'm sorry' and Troy simply mouthed back 'stop it'.
Sloan continued to check Gabriella every hour to make sure there was no change. She was no longer dilating, but she still stayed at 2cm. A few contractions continued to hit her, but she explained to Sloan how they were dying down.
Both The Montez's and Lucille were contacted on what was happening, but in typical Gabriella and Troy fashion they told them to not worry and not come to the hospital. They both loved their parents, but things are easier when they are not around breathing down their necks.
Sloan checked the monitor to make sure the contractions were indeed slowing down. She smiled over at Gabriella to give her a bit of assurance that she knew she needed.
"Things look good girl," Sloan told her. "Contractions are slowing down, and you stopped dilating, but I still want to keep you for an overnight observation."
"That's fair I guess." Gabriella said stroking her stomach.
Troy looked over at Sloan wanting to know what the next step is. "So where do we go from here?"
"Well," Sloan started off. "It should be known by now that work is done for the rest of the pregnancy." Gabriella nodded. "You my dear are going to be put on permanent bed rest!"
Gabriella simply nodded again. She knew that this was going to happen, she wasn't too thrilled, but she had to do what she had to do.
"And instead of monthly checkups I want to see you every week. You are a high risk pregnancy and I need nothing else to happen to you understood?" Sloan asked and Gabriella just nodded. "Troy I am putting you in charge to make sure these orders are carried out."
"You got it doc!" Troy smiled causing both women to crack a small smile.
"What are my chances of going full term?" Gabriella asked.
Sloan sighed as she began to tell Gabriella what she has to look forward too. "Seeing as you are already dilated anything could happen at any time. I want to see you go to 37 weeks. You will be full term and that is what I want. There might be a small chance you could go into labor earlier then that we will face that bridge when we come to it. Right now, I just want you to relax and rest okay?"
Gabriella nodded nervously and looked over at Troy who only gave her a smile and a wink.
"Try and get some rest okay?" Sloan said leaving the two of them alone.
Gabriella threw her head back on the pillow and sighed as she rubbed her hands over her eyes. Troy felt his heart crush into a million pieces watching his wife suffer like this. He reached over and placed his hands on her growing stomach and kissed it softly. Gabriella lifted her head to see what her husband was doing, and what she saw was his lips on her stomach.
"Just stay in there a little longer kid," Troy said to her stomach. "Please do that so you don't make mommy crazy."
Gabriella couldn't help at her husband and then Troy began to laugh. He reached up and over and placed a kiss on his wifes lips giving her more reassurance that everything was going to be okay.
Lots of emotions this chapter! As always thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I love hearing ideas and feedback from you guys!
Please review!
xo Laura