I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE! Okay, so, like, yeah....a whole summer has gone by and I really don't have anything to show for myself, do I? I honestly don't know why it is taking me so long to come up with a chapter. Anyway, I don't really have any excuses and I sincerely hope that my next update takes less than four months. Anyway, I hope you had a phenomenal summer.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Gordo

When Gordo woke up, he immediately noticed that Lizzie was not there and jumped up. He started worrying about what could have happened to her until he noticed the note. "Great," he thought, "I haven't talked to her since she got mad at him on the phone and I have no idea what she will do with our parents...or what she will tell them."

Gordo quickly took a shower and got dressed for the day. He was feeling really anxious about the day, mainly because he had no idea what Lizzie was thinking and worse—he had no idea what to say to Lizzie. This was such a huge mess and Gordo had no one he could talk to...except Miranda, but he didn't want to call her because he was afraid Lizzie would call. "This baby is not even born," he thought, "and it already has a father who screwed up."

Lizzie

An hour later, Lizzie heard that the flight had arrived and she got up, putting the magazine in her bag, she stood up and waited for her parents and the Gordon family to arrive. She put on her best smile and waited with the others who were waiting as the people got through customs.

Right when she was beginning to wonder if they were even on this plane, she finally saw her mother and father, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Gordon. It looked like her parents were having a slight argument over the bags when Jo spotted Lizzie out of the corner of her eye, "Honey!" Jo said, walking over to her daughter with her arms out, "we were so worried! Has Gordo been taking good care of you?" Jo gave Lizzie a kiss on the forehead as they hugged.

Lizzie smiled and nodded politely, "Yes, mom, he has." The other three older adults were headed towards them, waving and handling their luggage, "How are you? How was your flight?"

"It was okay, sweetie, but the important thing is that you are okay. You are okay, right?" Jo cupped her face.

"I'm fine, mom. I really am."

Jo let go of her face and Lizzie took turns hugging her dad, and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon. Then, Sam indicated that he wanted to get out of the airport as soon as possible. They had all of their luggage, and so they went outside. "Do we need to call a taxi?" Howard asked.

"No, we rented a car in Sicily. I'll drive it back to the hotel."

"Are you sure that it is okay for you to drive?" Jo asked, worriedly.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Mom, I'm fine. That was days ago and I definitely remember how to drive."

Lizzie led the way as they found their car. Lizzie opened the trunk and everyone put their suitcases in there. It was hard to fit them all, but it was done. Sam sat up front with Lizzie as Jo, Roberta, and Howard occupied the back seat. As Lizzie drove them to the hotel, he sort of talked to her dad while the people in the back seat seemed pretty fascinated with what was outside of the car.

"This is such a beautiful city. I am sorry Howard and I had to come here under these circumstances, but I have always wanted to go to Rome," Roberta said.

"I know," Jo said, "When Sam and I came here to see Lizzie, we barely had any opportunity to see the city, so I've always wanted to come back here. Sam and I were talking about coming here for our thirtieth anniversary. Are you doing okay up there, sweetie? Are you sure you don't want to call Gordo and have him meet us somewhere? We aren't really tired. We can look around the city. I have my camera right here."

"I'm fine," Lizzie said, "We should probably get back to the hotel and check in, anyway. That way you can put your luggage up and then decide what we want to do."

"Okay," Jo said, "hey, Sam, honey, is my wallet in your bag or my bag?"

"It's in your bag."

Lizzie sighed. "What a nightmare," she thought, "I hope I never act like this when I'm older and Gordo and I have been married for that long...assuming we get married."

"So, Lizzie," Roberta said, "Tell me, is this not the most romantic place you have ever been?"

"Roberta!" Howard said, lightly hitting his wife on the arm, "She's here because she had amnesia. She probably didn't even remember who Gordo was until yesterday or the day before that."

"Well, excuse me. I just thought that maybe while she was here she's noticed the atmosphere was a little different. Is it, Lizzie?"

Lizzie shrugged, "I don't know," she said, "I haven't really paid that much attention."

Ten minutes later, and not a minute too soon, they had arrived. She didn't remember her parents being so cranky, but she figured that it might have had something to do with the traveling. At that point she realized that she had to stick with Gordo because otherwise, she would go insane.

Unfortunately, the hotel clerk would not let them check in at that time. Lizzie offered to allow them to use their room to put their bags in and freshen up for the time being. The hotel clerk said that there was one room that was ready, which meant that the couples could split up and have their own rooms.

"Don't you want to call Gordo before we head up? He might still be sleeping or something," Jo said.

"Is that why he didn't come with you? I thought it was because there wasn't enough room in the car," Roberta said, and laughter followed.

"Give him a call. We don't walk in on him while he's taking a shower or something," Jo said, then she turned to the rest of them, "Howard, Roberta, why don't you take the room that's ready. We'll meet each other in the lobby in about a half an hour."

They agreed, the clerk gave them a key, and Jo and Sam waited, as Lizzie phoned her room. "Please pick up and be there," Lizzie thought to herself.

"Lizzie?" Gordo asked, on the other line, "Lizzie? Is that you?"

Lizzie looked over at her parents who were watching her and smiling as they waited, "Hey, Gordo, of course it is me! Listen, I picked up our parents and unfortunately only one room is ready right now. Anyway, so they want to go freshen up for the day after their long flight and I told my parents that it would be okay if they used our room. Are you decent?" Lizzie said this in sort of a neutral tone, giving Gordo no indication of what she was thinking.

"Yeah. Send them right up."

"Great. I'll see you in a minute."

They hung up and Lizzie led the way up the stairs and into their room. Gordo was sitting on the bed and stood up when her heard Lizzie open the door. He saw Lizzie first, followed by Mr. and Mrs. McGuire, who greeted him and thanked him for taking such good care of Lizzie.

"Well," Lizzie said, walking over to stand by Gordo, "we are going to give you two some privacy and go hang out in the lobby. We'll see you in thirty minutes."

Lizzie and Gordo left and headed to the hotel lobby and sat down on a couch, "So you decided to pick them up, huh?" Gordo asked, "I would have been glad to do it, you know. Or I would have been glad to have gone with you."

Lizzie shrugged, "There wasn't enough room in the car for all of us."

"Oh."

"So..." Gordo said, trying to think of something to talk about, "How was the airport?"

"It was fine. The flight was delayed for about thirty minutes."

"Did you mention anything about...us?"

Lizzie shook her head, "No, I didn't really think that was necessary. Do you?"

"No," Gordo said, immediately, "I agree with you. This has nothing to do with them."

"Yeah," Lizzie said, "This has to do with us. We're going to have to work together through these next few days and we can't let them think that we are not getting along."

Gordo nodded his head, "I agree."

"I don't want my parents to know everything about what has happened yet. We'll figure that out later."

Lizzie and Gordo sat out there for a few more minutes until Howard said, "Oh, to be young and to be in love!"

Gordo, followed by Lizzie, stood up and Gordo gave his dad a quick hug, "Hey, dad," he said, smiling, feeling a little bit nervous for some reason, "How was your flight?"

"Well," he said, as he sat down across from them in a chair and Lizzie and Gordo sat back down, "It was okay. It was a little cramped, but I slept most of the way, so it was fine. You're mother should be down in a few minutes. If its alright with you, we were thinking about eating lunch and maybe walking around the city. Would you guys like to join us?"

"Sure, Mr. Gordon," Lizzie said.

"Dad, how long do you think you and mom are going to be here, anyway?"

Howard shrugged, "I don't know. When are you two planning on leaving?"

"Well, I have to go by the hospital quickly tomorrow, but we aren't really sure, seeing as our plans changed a little bit," Lizzie said.

"Yeah, Lizzie and I have to talk about that and get the car back to Sicily."

"Well, we're here for you, Lizzie. We want to make sure you'll be okay. I know David cares a lot about you and Roberta and I are here to help you."

"Thank you, Mr. Gordon," Lizzie smiled.

"Oh, please, Lizzie," Howard said, "I think we've known each other long enough to where you can call me Howard."

"Okay," Lizzie said.

Sam was the next person down, followed by Roberta and Jo. They all agreed to what they were doing and they also agreed that they would walk.

It was really hot outside and in all honesty, the tour of Rome that the parents wanted to do did not appeal Lizzie at all. It was like she felt like being all by herself or with Gordo, but she didn't want to overcrowd herself with too many people to deal with. She sort of hinted this to Gordo while they were eating lunch and the parents were busy talking about whether to see the Coliseum today and save Vatican City for the next day or vice versa. "Gordo," she said, "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind letting them go off and having us doing something else."

"Are you feeling okay, Lizzie?" he asked, mainly because he didn't think she would choose to be alone with him if their were other options."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lizzie assured him, "I just think we should tell them that I just don't feel like walking around and getting dehydrated and that we'll catch a movie or hang around the hotel."

Gordo nodded his head and after lunch, they told their parents the new plans. Lizzie didn't really want to be alone with Gordo, but she figured it was better if a0 they got it over with and b0 it seemed like a better alternative than what she could be doing with her parents.

The parents seemed okay with it of course, offering that they all go back and help Lizzie, but Lizzie said she's be okay after some rest. Lizzie was pretty sure that it was all going to work out when suddenly, something surprising happened.

"Gordo," Sam said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to spend this afternoon with Lizzie myself. In fact, why don't you go with Jo and your parents and I'll see to it that Lizzie gets back to normal."

Everyone looked at Sam, surprised, "What? I've been to Rome before. Also, I wouldn't mind the chance to sleep myself. Is that okay with you, Gordo?"

Lizzie and Gordo glanced at each other and all Lizzie did was shrug. It didn't seem like a bad idea, although she did feel like it was a little weird of her dad to do this. "Okay, dad," she finally said, "That's fine with me." Sam smiled and the groups headed in their separate directions.

Once they were a safe distance apart, Sam said, "Lizzie, I know you are probably wondering why I offered to go with you."

"I am curious."

"Well, I decided to take advantage of this time with you and see if you are alright and to assure you that if you need anyone to talk to...about anything at all...I'm here for you."

"Thanks."

"And I mean it. Even if it's something about Gordo, I'll talk."

"Okay," Lizzie said, feeling a little weird.

"And Lizzie, if this will make it a little easier to talk to me, I already know."

Lizzie blushed. What could her dad possibly know? "What do you know?"

"Lizzie?" he said, getting a little nervous sound in his voice, "I haven't told anyone, including your mother this, but I know you are pregnant."

ooooo !!! ooooo

Oh! The sorrow! The pain! I can't believe this story is even remotely near to coming to an end! There are only a few chapters left of this story...my first story. Review if you have time. Otherwise, until next time...