I wasn't planning on putting this up now, but i finished it early, so now im going to move onto the next MIR, and the epilogue.


Flashback

Lucille stood up as her son exited the room in front of her, his excitement evident.

"Mom!" He exclaimed, engulfing her in a hug, failing to keep in his tears of joy. "Mom, i'm a dad, a little girl mom, I got a daughter, she's.... she's perfect and tiny, and... she has my nose."

"A girl?" She smiled widely. "I have a granddaughter?"

"She's beautiful." He gushed, before letting his nerves show through. "What am I doing, mom? I don't know how to look after a baby."

"You'll do great." She assured him. "You look after Sophie all the time. You know what you're doing."

"I got to hand Sophie back at the end of the day." He argued, clearly worried. "I can't hand her back, mom, she's mine, I have to keep her. I don't know what to do."

"You'll be fine." She repeated. "Once you have that little girl, that tiny little baby, home, you'll know exactly what to do, because she's yours, and she needs you."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, i'm sure. Your dad and I felt the same way when we had you."

Troy smiled. "Do you want to see her?"

She nodded, allowing her son to lead her into the room, noticing the instant change in him as soon as he entered – his wife didn't know how scared he was, and he didn't intend for her to find out.

"Gab." He whispered, smiling as she looked up at him with tired eyes. "How's our girl?"

"She's good." Gabriella replied, adjusting the infant in her arms, turning to her. "You want to go see grandma?"

Smiling, Lucille approached them, gently taking the infant out of it's mothers arms, settling the baby in her own arms and sitting down in the chair by the bed. "She's gorgeous. Have you decided on a name?"

"Tamsin." Troy responded. "Tamsin Sarah Bethany Bolton."

"Tamsin?" Lucille whispered. "After your cousin?"

Troy nodded, "And Bethany after your aunt Beth."

"It's perfect." She insisted, smiling adoringly at the infant. "And they both would have loved it, but, why Sarah?"

"To remind us of all the obstacles we overcame to get here." Gabriella spoke up, her eyes still on the baby. She yawned softly. "To get her."

"Gab." Troy whispered. "Baby, go to sleep."

"But Tamsin..."

"Will still be here when you wake up." He interrupted. "I'll get everyone else here by then too."

"Where are they?" She questioned, yawning again.

"They all went down to the canteen, thought it would be a while." Lucille smiled softly. "I didn't want to miss a thing."

End Flashback

Lucille smiled at the memory as she watched Tamsin dart around the yard after a butterfly.

It wasn't long before the four year old faced her grandmother, pouting. "Grandma, it won't slow down so I can catch it."

"How about you try again tomorrow?" Lucille quizzed her. "It might be tired then."

Tamsin pondered this new idea before nodding, not yet able to think logically enough to know the butterfly would not be there tomorrow. "When will mommy and daddy be home?"

"I don't know, honey." Lucille answered, stepping back from the door so the four year old could enter. "Daddy's trying to make mommy cheer up."

"But mommy is cheered up." Tamsin insisted, walking straight through the dining room and to the entryway, knowing her grandmother was following her. "She said so."

"Sometimes mommy and daddy need some grown up time." Lucille tried explaining, only just managing to prevent herself from laughing at the disbelieving look on her grandchild's face. "Daddy and mommy have gone to make sure they aren't too tired to play tag with you tomorrow."

Tamsin shrugged, accepting the explanation. "I know a secret."

"Really?" Lucille questioned, kneeling down to the child's level. "And what might that be?"

"I'll tell you only if you promise not to tell." Tamsin stated seriously, nodding for emphasis.

"I promise not to tell." Lucille smiled. "Never ever."

Tamsin leaned forward, whispering in her grandmothers ear. "Sophie has a boyfriend."

Lucille grinned at the innocence in the child's words, remembering how Chad and Taylor had got Sophie into daycare almost as soon as they moved, whereas her son and daughter-in-law had decided against it. Their last experience with it wasn't pleasant, Gabriella wasn't going to be working for a while, and they didn't really need it while she was staying with them.

"Really." She answered Tamsin. "Your daddy says you're not allowed boyfriends."

"He said I never ever ever ever ever ever ever have a boyfriend." Tamsin giggled. "Boys are icky."

"But you want a brother?"

"My brother won't be icky." Tamsin responded. " Because he'll have to listen to me."

- - - -

Gabriella glanced over at the door to the mens toilets again, surprised that her husband had not yet emerged.

She turned back to the bar, sipping on the lemonade in front of her. "Strongest thing you're having." her husband had insisted when they arrived.

She looked down at herself, pleased that she had managed to find a shirt that covered up the slight bump.

"Well, hello." She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and turned to see the blonde that had sat himself on the other side of her, slightly alarmed at how close he was. "What's a pretty girl like you doing here all alone?"

Gabriella suppressed her giggles long enough to speak, deciding, instead of yelling at him, she would have some fun. "I guess if you're gonna get this close to me I should find out a few things. Tell me...um.."

"Kyle." The guy replied, and her jaw almost dropped at the name, another K, definitely bad news.

"Um Kyle." She continued. "Do you like the Lakers?"

"Nah." He answered. "More of a football guy."

"Ok. What about children? Do you like children?"

"Erm, they're okay, I guess." He responded, confused by her questioning. "Why?"

"I have two." She informed him, before thinking again. "Wait, three." She placed her hand on her stomach. "If you include this one." She paused at the look of shock on his face.

"Kids are cool, I guess."

She could tell he didn't believe she was pregnant, that top must have covered it up better than she thought. "What about other guys?" She paused. "Are you into guys too? Because my husband doesn't really like it when I go off with strangers, he likes to come with me."

"Husband?" Kyle choked, before another voice answered.

"Yes, husband." Troy confirmed, having been watching the pair at a distance. "As brave as you are for approaching someone who's way out of your league, I don't appreciate you hitting on my wife."

"Erm, sorry." Kyle stuttered, eyeing him warily. "She doesn't look married."

Gabriella laughed slightly before holding up her left hand, displaying both her engagement and wedding bands as Troy wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind. "Five years."

"Why would you leave her alone like that, dude?" Kyle quizzed, clearly looking for any sign that she was being neglected by her husband.

"I didn't." Troy's answer was quick. "That guy over there by the window, and that one at the other end of the bar, security, I pay them to watch her, if you'd of actually tried touching her, your face wouldn't look like that right now."

Kyle glanced around, frowning warily as he noticed both men, people that Gabriella had noticed following them pretty much as soon as they left the house.

"I'll um," Kyle paused. "Leave you to it then."

"That sounds like a great idea Kyle." She responded, leaning back into her husband's chest. She watched as he walked away before questioning her husband. "Is it really necessary for them to be here? You're here."

"I'm not when i'm in the bathroom." He pointed out. "Unless you know of a way I could avoid needing to go."

"I'm sure I'd be fine for five minutes." She reasoned. "I'm in a public place, what could happen?"

He smiled, deciding to take a chance with his comment. "You're you, something always happens."

She pulled away from him, sitting up straight in protest, refusing to look at him as she pouted. "You're mean. I'm telling your mom you were being mean."

He chuckled before playing along. "Please don't tell her angel. I'd get told off. I'm sorry. Please don't tell my mom. I love you."

"I think I prefer Kyle to you right now." She smirked, glancing around. "Look he's still here."

She stood up, smiling as he reacted exactly how she expected, an arm snaking around her waist and pulling her back, his lips automatically by her ear. "Now who's being mean?"

- - - -

Tamsin whimpered as she woke, taking in the sight of her room, the monster was nowhere to be seen. Slowly she climbed out of bed, padding softly towards her ajar bedroom door. Pulling it open softly, she tiptoed out and past her grandmothers room. She pushed open the door to her parents room slowly, alarmed to see one of the bedside lamps on and her mother sitting up reading.

"Hey baby." Gabriella smiled when she saw her, although a hint of concern glistened in her eyes. "You okay?"

"I can't find the monster." Tamsin told her, biting her lip in fear. "It was there and then it wasn't."

Gabriella sighed, putting down the book and opening her arms. "Come here." Tamsin obeyed, hurrying to the bed and climbing into her mothers arms. "There aren't any monsters in the house, okay? Daddy chased them all away."

"But it was there." Tamsin protested, stray tears falling down her cheeks. "It was big and green and slimy and it was gonna get me."

"Tammy, baby." Gabriella spoke, her tone reassuring. "I promise you, I will never ever let the monsters get you, okay?"

"Okay." Tamsin agreed, allowing her mother to shift her to the middle of the bed. "Mommy, why weren't you sleeping?"

"Baby's hungry." Gabriella answered truthfully. "I didn't want to wake daddy up."

Tamsin frowned, recalling her father saying on numerous occasions that her mother had to wake him up if she needed him.

She turned away from her mother and poked her father in the side, giggling as he grunted and swatted at her hand. She repeated the gesture, eventually causing him to wake up.

What is it Ga...?" He paused as he saw his daughter. "Princess, what are you doing in here?"

"The baby's hungry and mommy didn't want to wake you up." She informed him, nodding to emphasise her words. "But you said she had to."

He glanced up at his wife to see her fully awake, and sat up, wrapping an arm around Tamsin. "What's on the menu?"

"I don't really know." She admitted. "Nothing sweet or spicy. Maybe something cheesy."

She smiled as he climbed out of bed. "Cheesy, got it." He walked around the bed, pecking her on the lips. "I love you more than the world."

"Not that kind of cheesy." She giggled as he turned to their daughter. "You want anything princess?"

"Find the monster." Tamsin demanded. "I can't sleep if the monster's there."

"I can't go monster hunting in the dark." He assumed she had had a bad dream and frowned to make her believe his statement. "It'll have to wait till morning."

Ten minutes later, he made his way back into his bedroom, a cheese roll and glass of water in his hands, and smiled at the sight of the four year old fast asleep on the bed.

"How long's she been out?" He asked his wife, placing the plate on her lap and the glass on the bedside table.

"A few minutes." Gabriella answered. "I was going to take her back to her room, but I figured you'd yell at me and wake everyone up."

"I wouldn't have yelled." He argued, tucking a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. "I just wouldn't have been very happy about it. Want me to take her back?"

"No, leave her." Gabriella decided. "It's okay for just one night, and you're tired, you could drop her and then she'd get hurt."

"I wouldn't drop her." He answered. "I never have before."

"You've never been this tired before." She pointed out. "Do you really want to take the risk?"

He frowned, seeing her point as he shook his head before climbing into the other side of the bed, waiting until his wife had finished eating and had settled herself before shifting his arm so it lay protectively over both his wife and eldest child.

- - - -

Lucille frowned at the sound of crying, surprised that her son or daughter-in-law had not yet responded to it. She made her way up the steps, unable to leave the child crying any longer.

Opening the door to Kirra's room she looked in to see the two year old standing up in her crib, hysterical tears in her eyes, one glance at the clock told her why she was crying, they were late getting her up, she thought they'd forgotten her.

"Hey cutie." She greeted, lifting the child out of the crib, noting that the toddler was getting too big for it, something she'd have to mention to her son. "Are mommy and daddy still asleep? Shall we go get your sister and have breakfast?"

Kirra laid her head on her grandmother's shoulder, clinging on tightly as they left the room, heading into Tamsin's.

She automatically panicked when she saw Tamsin's bed empty, she knew her eldest granddaughter wasn't downstairs, Tamsin had perfected making herself known when she was Kirra's age.

"Tamsin!" She called throughout the empty room, carefully holding onto Kirra as she swung open the wardrobe, standing back so she could look under the bed. "This isn't funny, Tammy."

She hurried out of the room and down the hall, bursting into her son's room without knocking. "I can't find..." She paused, taking in the sight of the child staring back at her between her sleeping parents. "Tammy, what are you doing in here?"

"There's a monster." Tamsin elaborated. "I stay here till daddy make it go."

She smiled, that explained why the other adults in the house were still asleep, their daughter had woken them up in the middle of the night.

"How about we go get some breakfast?" Lucille suggested. "Let mommy and daddy sleep, and then as soon as daddy gets up, we'll ask him to get rid of the monster."

"Mommy and daddy want to get up now." Tamsin decided. "I want to go see the tigers"

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Yes." Tamsin responded quickly. "But I can eat what the tigers eat."

"No, honey." Lucille frowned convincingly. "I'm afraid the Tigers won't want to share, how about we go have breakfast, and we talk to mommy and daddy about going to see the tigers too?"

Tamsin nodded, crawling to the bottom of the bed and climbing off at the end so as not to disrupt her sleeping parents. "What couldn't you find?"

Lucille smiled. "It doesn't matter, I found it."

Gabriella smiled as they left the room, having been woken up near the beginning of the conversation, she turned over to cuddle further into her husband, not surprised when his arms wrapped around her.

"Baby." She whispered into his ear, smiling as he tightened his grip slightly in response. "Baby, we have to get up. You have monster hunting to do, and Tammy wants to go to the zoo."

"I love you too." He responded groggily, his eyes still closed. "Go back to sleep, it's early."

"Babe, it's ten." She answered, giggling as his grip loosened and his eyes snapped open.

"Kirra?" He questioned. "Who got her up? You remember what happened last time we got her up this late? She was resistant for three days!"

"Your mom got her." Gabriella answered. "She came in here to get Tamsin, and Kirra was gurgling away, plus, I could feel her wrath, she's going to make our lives hell for a few days."

"Not funny."

"It was pretty funny." She smiled. "I love that you're scared of our two year old."

"One thing that scares me more than two year old Kirra?" He queried, before answering himself. "Fourteen year old Tamsin, how the hell did you talk me into this dating at fourteen thing?"

"By telling you I wouldn't kiss you for a month if you didn't agree." She reminded him. "And by saying I wouldn't let you so much as touch me."

"But fourteen!" He exclaimed. "That's too young, how about sixteen? Seventeen? Forty?"

"Your mom told me that you started dating when you were twelve." She made him acknowledge.

"That's different!" He insisted, before responding to her eye roll. "It is, i'm not my daughter!"

"The girls you were dating were all someone's daughter." She smiled. "So am I, for that matter. So going by your logic, we shouldn't actually be together right now, because I shouldn't be dating at all for another thirteen years at least."

He frowned, knowing her had been defeated. "How's baby this morning?"

"Very happy now that daddy has just lost a debate."

"I said baby, not mommy." He chuckled.

"Baby and mommy are very in tune with eachother." She responded. "Right now, baby wants daddy to get mommy some coffee."

"Baby can want on." Troy grinned at her subtle attempt. "Mommy's not allowed coffee for quite a few months yet."

"Just for that, i'm going to make you clear out the spare room." She pouted. "Someone has to get started on this nursery."

"Do you want to find out the sex of the baby before we do that?"

"We never have before." she answered. "Why be different this time? I want it to be a surprise."

He sighed in relief, happy with her response, if she had wanted to know, he wouldn't have denied her the right, but he was glad she didn't, he didn't want to see her reaction to hearing the baby was a girl, and the chance of her getting that answer was 50/50, when the baby is finally there, she'd be too overwhelmed to even think about what she had wanted at this point.

"So..." He broke the silence that had fallen. "We should shower, get dressed, and then I've got a little spot of monster hunting to do."

"Do you have practice today?" She queried. "I didn't check."

"This afternoon." He frowned as he climbed out of bed, turning back to her. "You, mom and the girls are gonna have to hit the zoo without me."

"Okay." She answered. "When will you be back?"

"Around six." He smiled, moving round the bed and sitting by her. "You don't want me to go."

She shook her head. "I miss you when you're gone."

"I miss you too." He chuckled. "But it's only a few hours. I'll be back before you know it."

"I thought I might bring the girls to the game on Wednesday?" She informed him. "Is that okay?"

"Baby, that's more than okay." He responded. "Just you and the girls?"

"I figured we should let her have some time to herself while she's here, she hasn't called your dad once yet." She frowned, but rolled her eyes at the look that took over his features. "Don't worry, I asked Evan to come, I won't be carrying anyone." She shook her head as he sighed in obvious relief. "Go shower before you dig yourself into a hole."

- - - -

"Tamsin." Gabriella yawned, gaining the attention of her eldest child. "You really shouldn't tire mommy out before dinner."

"Unless grandma's making dinner." Lucille interrupted, smiling. "Then all mommy has to do is eat."

"I said I was making it tonight." Gabriella frowned, turning to her mother-in-law.

"That was before you were tired out by my grandchildren." Lucille responded, before eyeing her with a stern look. "You go and sit down, put your feet up, look after my other grandchild. Tamsin can help me with dinner, can't you honey." Tamsin nodded. "And Kirra should nap."

"I love you." Gabriella smiled, hugging her mother in law. "I'll probably go and take a nap with Kirry."

Lucille smiled. "Okay, I'll get Troy to wake you when dinner's ready, okay?"

Gabriella nodded, heading upstairs as she watched Lucille pick up an already half asleep Kirra and lay her down on the couch, caringly placing her blankie over her and muttering. "Won't you nap in your crib any more sweetie? Is it getting too small? Daddy will have to buy you a big bed like Tamsin has won't he?"

She continued watching as Tamsin walked over, placing her new stuffed Tiger by Kirra's feet and moving her sister's new toy elephant next to it. Smiling as the four year old looked up at her grandmother. "Tiggy Tiger will look after eleant and Kirra."

She turned and continued up the stairs as Lucille took Tamsin's hand and led her to the kitchen."

- - - -

"Hello?" Troy called as he closed the front door of the house. "I could of sworn I saw a princess looking out the window."

"Shhhh." His mother scolded him. "Gabriella and Kirra are asleep."

"That's odd." He evaluated. "Mom, what time did you put Kirra down?"

"About ninety minutes ago, why?" She queried, frowning as he headed towards his younger daughter.

"She never sleeps for more than forty five during the day." He crouched down by the couch, shaking the two year old gently.

She whimpered and rolled over, he could tell she'd been awake for a while.

"Sweetie." he coaxed. "What's wrong?"

He sat by her, pulling her onto his lap, noticing the tears streaming down her face.

"Sweetie?" He questioned, pressing his hand to her forehead. He jumped up, holding her tightly in his arms. "Mom, she's burning up."


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