A week later, Gabriella came home and smiled when she saw Rob holding Everly on the couch with Troy's help.
"What do you think, bud?" Troy asked.
"Daddy, I think she needs a diaper change" Robert said.
Troy picked Everly up. He grabbed a diaper and wipes and quickly changed his daughter's diaper. Troy threw the dirty diaper in the trash. Gabriella smiled at Troy. Troy looked at Gabriella.
"How was your appointment?" Troy asked.
"I'll talk to you about it when Rob goes to bed" Gabriella said.
"Is it serious?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded.
"Kind of" Gabriella said.
Troy looked at his mother, who was also helping with the babies.
"Mom, we will be right back. We are going to go upstairs for a minute" Troy said.
"Okay" Lucille said.
The couple walked upstairs and went into their bedroom. Troy sat down on the edge of their bed and looked at his wife.
"What did she say?" Troy asked.
"Basically I have the baby blues. It's normal. It's supposed to go away after two weeks" Gabriella said.
"Did she say anything that could help it go away faster?" Troy asked.
"She just said to talk to you about how I am feeling. She also said that I should be getting out of the house just so that there is a change of scenery. We also need to ask my mom to help out as well. I feel bad relying on just your mom. Plus, we need the help" Gabriella said.
"Okay. That seems manageable" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I am glad that we know what this is though" Troy said.
"Me too" Gabriella said.
Troy motioned for Gabriella to come closer to him. Gabriella walked closer to Troy. Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist. Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's shoulders and leaned her head against his. Troy kissed Gabriella's shoulder.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips. Gabriella pulled back and looked at Troy, who smiled at her. Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips again.
"Come on" Troy said taking her hand in his.
The couple entwined their fingers together and walked downstairs. They walked into the living room and laid down on the couch snuggled. Gabriella laid her head on Troy's chest. She took a deep breath and released it. Gabriella hid her face in Troy's shoulder. Troy felt Gabriella start crying. Lucille looked at the couple.
"Gabi, are you okay honey?" Lucille asked.
Troy nodded to his mother.
"She's just going through something" Troy said.
Lucille smiled sympathetically and understood. Troy rubbed Gabriella's back and kissed her head.
"I love you. We are going to get through this okay?" Troy whispered in her ear.
"I love you too and I am sorry" Gabriella whispered through her tears.
"You have nothing to be sorry for" Troy whispered into her ear.
Troy held Gabriella and let her cry. He grabbed a blanket that was on the back of the couch and placed it over Gabriella so that she could have a little bit of privacy.
"Daddy, what's wrong with mommy?" Robert asked.
Troy smiled.
"Mommy's okay" Troy said.
"Why is she crying?" Robert asked.
"Bud, remember when mommy had the babies in her tummy and she would cry or get mad?" Troy asked.
Robert nodded.
"This is kind of like that. Now that the babies are out, mommy is trying to get back to normal. So, sometimes she will cry" Troy said.
Robert moved the blanket so that he could see Gabriella's face.
"Mommy, I love you" Robert said.
Troy smiled. Gabriella looked at Robert. Robert leaned over and kissed Gabriella.
"That was really nice, Rob" Troy said.
Robert smiled. A couple of hours later, Gabriella was feeding Easton upstairs in the bedroom with the door closed. There was a knock on the door.
"Brie, are you okay?" Troy asked.
"Yeah. Just feeding" Gabriella said.
"Okay. Let me know when you want to switch" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
Fifteen minutes later, Gabriella came downstairs and smiled when she saw Troy holding Everly, who had fallen asleep on his chest. Troy looked at Gabriella.
"She just fell asleep" Troy said.
"I have to wake her up" Gabriella said.
Gabriella placed Easton on Troy's chest and carefully lifted Everly from his arms. Everly started crying.
"It's okay baby. Don't cry" Gabriella said bouncing Everly in her arms.
Everly started to calm down. Troy smiled.
"I'm going to go feed her" Gabriella said looking at Everly in her arms.
Gabriella walked upstairs. An hour later, Gabriella came downstairs with Everly. She smiled when she saw Rob sitting next to Troy and leaning his head against his father's shoulder.
"Mommy, he's so sleepy" Robert said.
"That's because he just ate, baby" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. Gabriella sat next to Rob with Everly in her arms.
"When will he get big like me?" Rob asked.
"Not for a long time" Troy said.
"Oh" Robert said.
Troy smiled. That night, Troy had put the twins down to bed. He got into bed and looked at Gabriella. Gabriella snuggled into Troy's chest.
"How are you feeling?" Troy asked.
"Okay. I think that I was trying to hold myself together a little bit so that Rob wouldn't think anything was wrong" Gabriella said.
"You don't have to do that, babe" Troy said.
"I don't want him to be freaked out" Gabriella said.
"Yeah, but there is a point when you just need to be let it go" Troy said.
Gabriella looked down and folded her hands on top of her deflated stomach. Troy closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I'm not trying to be insensitive, Brie" Troy said placing his hand on Gabriella's thigh.
Gabriella turned over so that she wasn't facing Troy. Troy heard Gabriella breathe shakily. He knew that she was crying. Troy lied down and snaked his arms around Gabriella's waist.
"Brie, baby, I'm sorry. I'm tired and I wasn't thinking" Troy said.
Gabriella unhooked Troy's arms from her. Troy took a deep breath and released it. Gabriella got out of bed and took her pillow.
"Where are you going?" Troy asked.
"To sleep in the guest room" Gabriella said tearfully.
"Brie, don't go" Troy said.
Gabriella walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs. She walked into the guest room and placed her pillow on the bed. Gabriella closed and locked the door behind her. She got into the bed and cried herself to sleep. Meanwhile, Troy was still sitting up in bed. He felt like a jerk for acting that way towards Gabriella, especially when she was going through a rough period. Tomorrow he was going to fix this. The next morning, Troy woke up and saw that Gabriella hadn't come back to bed. He saw that the babies were still in their room too. Troy picked up the twins. One in each arm. It was the first time that he had ever done that. He carefully walked downstairs to the living room. Troy placed both babies on the floor and changed their diapers. Once he changed their diapers, he picked up the twins and placed them in their pack and play. Troy then walked to the guest room and knocked on the door. He didn't hear Gabriella. Troy opened the door slowly and saw her sitting up in bed.
"Hi" Troy said.
Gabriella looked up at Troy.
"Hi" Gabriella said.
"I just changed their diapers. Can I sit down?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded.
"I am sorry about last night" Troy said.
Gabriella looked at Troy.
"I didn't want to show Rob that anything was wrong because I didn't want to scare him. If I "let it go" as you told me to, I know that there could be a time that I freak him out. We would then have not only two babies crying, but a kid crying as well. Rob doesn't need to know anything is wrong because he's four and a half, Troy. If he was older, then yes, we would have to say something. But, not to a four year old" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"I'm sorry for making it look like your fault. It's not your fault or anyone else's" Troy said.
"I just want him to know that mommy is okay" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"I agree. I'm sorry for pushing it and saying what I said, sweetheart" Troy said.
"You have to be gentle, Troy" Gabriella said.
"I'm trying. I am learning as I go" Troy said.
"This may not go away for a while. Like I told you yesterday morning when I was explaining what was happening, I need your support. I already feel out of place. I just need you to help me to figure out how to get out of this dark place. Because I can't do this alone" Gabriella said.
Troy took a deep breath and released it.
"Tell me what you need" Troy said.
"I need us to be a team. You and me. We need to work on this together" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"Can I touch you?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded. Troy moved so that he was sitting next to Gabriella on the guest room bed. He wrapped his arm around Gabriella and kissed her head softly.
"I love you so much. You know that, right?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled slightly.
"I'll always support you, babe. If you need anything from me, just ask or tell me. Don't let it build like last night. Or if you don't want me doing something or you don't feel comfortable with it, then tell me. We need to talk about all of this. I'll never, ever let you do this alone. Never" Troy said.
Tears filled Gabriella's eyes. Gabriella leaned her head against Troy's chest and let herself cry. Troy held her and rubbed her back as she cried. An hour later, an emotionally exhausted Gabriella looked at Troy after sitting in silence for an hour. She leaned in and kissed Troy's lips passionately. Troy kissed Gabriella back and pulled away slowly. He kissed Gabriella's lips again. Gabriella pulled away slowly and rested her head against Troy's.
"I love you" Gabriella said.
"I love you too. Come on, let's go see if the twins are awake" Troy said.
Gabriella and Troy walked into the living room. Troy walked over to the pack and play and smiled when he saw both babies awake.
"Which one do you want? Both are awake" Troy said.
"I can take either one" Gabriella said.
"Okay" Troy said.
Troy lifted Everly into his arms.
"Hi baby girl. Mommy is going to hold you" Troy said kissing his daughter's head.
Gabriella smiled. Troy carried Everly over to Gabriella. He carefully placed his daughter into Gabriella's arms. Gabriella looked down and smiled. Troy went and picked up Easton and walked over to where Gabriella was sitting on the couch. He looked over at Everly, who had been looking at Gabriella with her dark brown eyes. Troy smiled. He then looked at Easton. The couple heard footsteps coming from the stairs. A moment later, Robert came into the living room.
"Hi bud" Troy said.
"Hi daddy" Robert said as he sat down next to his father.
"How was your sleep?" Troy asked.
"Good" Robert said.
"Did the babies bug you last night with their crying?" Troy asked.
Robert shook his head.
"They were quiet" Robert said.
Troy smiled.
"Good" Troy said.
Gabriella leaned over and smiled.
"Hi Rob" Gabriella said.
"Hi mommy. Did the babies eat?" Robert asked.
"Not yet. They will in a little bit" Gabriella said.
"Okay" Robert said.
Troy smiled. Later that day, Maria had come over to officially meet the babies. She had been on a business trip and hadn't been able to come over and meet the twins. A couple of weeks later, Easton and Everly were a month old. Gabriella was still coming out of her baby blues but was improving every day. Troy had stepped up a lot and had been helping Gabriella any chance that she looked like she needed help. One day, Gabriella came into the kitchen with Easton in her arms. Troy was making a snack for himself. He looked up and smiled.
"Hi baby" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. She kissed Troy's cheek.
"Did you just change him?" Troy asked.
"Yeah. He had an explosion" Gabriella said.
"Oh okay" Troy said.
"My mom took Rob out for a little while" Gabriella said.
"Okay" Troy said.
"Just so that he could get out of the house and away from all the crying and screaming" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled sympathetically.
"Okay. The office called me" Troy said.
Gabriella looked at Troy.
"Do they need you to go over there?" Gabriella asked.
"The Las Cruces and Santa Fe sites both have been having issues with marketing stuff. I had texted Blake and Mike about going out there. They told me that they were going to go because they knew things were still crazy with the babies. I also said that I am trying to stay close to home so that I could be closer to you, Rob, and the babies" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"Thank you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"I am going to keep my promise to you. I'll never let you do it alone. At some point though, we do need to figure all of this out" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"And not argue about it" Gabriella said.
"I was thinking that maybe we could have my mom, your mom, Tay, and Chad help out. Just so that you wouldn't be alone" Troy said.
"But what about the nighttime feeding and changing diapers?" Gabriella asked.
Troy took a deep breath and released it.
"Maybe your mom would be best to stay and help. She could stay from the day I leave to the day I came back" Troy said.
"But do you think it's a good idea to go back so soon?" Gabriella asked.
Troy looked at Gabriella.
"Do you want me to stay? I will if you need me to. You know that" Troy said.
"I need help. I would rather have you here since you are their father. You've worked from home before, you can do things here for a while until we have a schedule for the twins set" Gabriella said.
"Okay. I will work from here" Troy said
"I don't want you to resent me for it though" Gabriella said.
Troy's face softened.
"Brie, I would never do that. I asked if you needed me here. You said yes. I made my decision based on our family" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"Sorry" Gabriella said softly.
Troy shook his head.
"I know that it scares you to think about. It's okay, baby. But, you need to be honest with me about this. This is one of those things that we need to talk about too" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I just didn't think you would have thought to go back so soon that's all" Gabriella said.
"I have been working from home for a while. But certain things are hard to do when you are not on site" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"That's just something we need to talk about. Also, I have to figure out when I am going to go back to work too" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"We will figure out a plan that works best for us and our situation" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Easton started crying in Gabriella's arms. Gabriella gently bounced him. But, Easton did not stop crying. Gabriella felt his diaper and sighed.
"I need to go change his diaper" Gabriella said.
Gabriella carried her son into the living room and changed his diaper. She lifted Easton up and took the dirty diaper and threw it in the trash. That afternoon, Troy was holding both twins in his arms. He was trying to give Gabriella some time to herself. Troy heard the door unlock, which meant that either his mother or Maria would be coming in. The door opened and Lucille walked into the house. Lucille closed the door and smiled when she saw Troy holding both babies. She walked over to him and took Easton out of Troy's arms.
"Thanks" Troy said.
"No problem. How are they doing?" Lucille asked looking at Easton.
"Fine. Brie is just exhausted. We had an argument earlier" Troy said.
"It was going to happen sometime, Troy" Lucille said.
Troy shrugged.
"I don't like arguing with her" Troy said.
"Do you want to tell me what the argument was about?" Lucille asked.
"Work" Troy said looking down at Everly, who was starting to fall asleep in his arms.
Lucille nodded.
"I know that there is a lot going on and I am not trying to run from this. But, we have things to do also" Troy said.
"Troy, she and all of us know that you love Rob and the twins. But, now things are different. Gabi needs you now more than ever. It was easier when Rob was the only baby. But now there are two new babies. You need to make sacrifices. I understand your work stuff is very important. But, before work, you had Gabi" Lucille said.
Troy nodded. He smiled when he saw Everly looking around in Lucille's arms.
"Gabi was always right next to you. You need to be right next to her" Lucille continued.
Troy nodded.
"How do I make this right?" Troy asked.
Lucille smiled.
"You need to show her how much she, Rob, and the babies mean to you" Lucille said.
Troy nodded. Later that day, Troy walked into the bedroom and saw Gabriella trying to get the twins to take their afternoon nap. Once they were asleep, Gabriella sighed in relief. She looked up and saw Troy standing in the doorway.
"Hi" Troy said.
"Hi" Gabriella said.
"Can we talk about earlier?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded. She grabbed the baby monitor that Taylor had loaned to her. The couple walked downstairs. They went into the living room and sat down on the couch.
"I don't want to argue with you" Gabriella said.
"I don't either" Troy said.
Troy took Gabriella's hand in his own.
"I'm sorry for making you feel alone" Troy said.
Gabriella looked down at their entwined fingers.
"It just made me feel like you were over this and that was hurtful" Gabriella said.
"I'm not over it. You, Rob, and the babies are my entire life. I would stay home every single day if I could. I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings, Brie. I know that I need to make a lot of sacrifices and a lot needs to change with the company. I'm trying to figure all that out. But I want you to know that I will always be here" Troy said.
Gabriella sniffled.
"I'm sorry for being so hard on you" Gabriella said.
Troy wiped a tear that started to run down Gabriella's face.
"They are two and a half weeks old. We were going to fight at some point" Troy said.
Gabriella sniffled. Troy moved closer to Gabriella. Gabriella placed her head on Troy's chest. Troy kissed Gabriella's head softly.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.