Chapter 18 – Together

Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

Gabi's POV

I bit down on my lip at work as I tried to keep the nausea storming in at bay. Yesterday and today had me feeling utterly ill and I was over it. I had to get my work done because I wanted to spend as much time with Troy Bolton as possible. He was out there enjoying summer break and I was right here struggling with my entire pile of work. I rubbed my lips together as I took a drink of cool water when a knock came at my door.

I glanced up to see my boss, Marisa, come strolling into the room. "Hey beautiful, how are you today?" I smiled, "Feeling a little sick but I'm okay." I gave a supported smile towards her, "How is the Jameson project going?" she leaned against my desk, "Good. I am getting ready to send over the final proofs to their CEO." She grinned, "Good. I knew I could count on you. How are you doing? Honestly?" I looked into her green eyes and I sighed. "About my sisters?" I questioned, she nodded, "Yea,"

"I'm sad still but I am better. Having Troy in my life has dramatically improved it and I know Zo would be happy for me. I just wish Beth was around to celebrate with but she'll come back when she is ready. I know she listens to my voicemails because her box isn't full anymore." Marisa leaned over and squeezed my shoulder, "I know, you have made strides though and I am really happy you left Brad." I giggled as she smirked picking up a picture of Troy and I from Savannah.

"Now…that is a man." The picture was of us in the park together. We stopped the stranger and I wrapped my arms around his middle and his arm was around my waist. He tickled my side in the photo causing my lips to part extra in a laugh and his big ol' smile was at the camera. His blue eyes lighting up the sky. I laughed just thinking of the memory, "How is your relationship?"

"Great. We're living together practically; I just have to finish out my lease at my apartment and I will officially move in with him. It's amazing how different my life is from a year ago." Marisa grinned as she was a mom of three kids with a pretty good-looking husband herself. "I love the chat Marisa, but…" she smiled and nodded, "I wanted to know how you would feel about a promotion…" she dragged out and I felt my eyebrows raise up.

"A promotion?" I questioned, my voice squeezed, Marisa nodded with a smile, "Senior Vice President of Social Media Marketing. You do by far the best out of everybody with social media and know how to reach out to followers with your clients. You'd be over the whole department and a nice little raise," I hesitated and Marisa frowned slowly, "Wait, what's wrong?" she sat down across from me as my stomach rolled and I looked up at her, "I love the offer and I would love the position but Marisa, I made a promise to my family, to my boyfriend, and to myself, that I wouldn't throw myself into work. I love going home at five and going to do other things. That sounds like a lot of late nights."

Marisa didn't say anything for a beat as she thought, "You could work earlier – instead of 9-5 you could do 7-3 and have room to stay longer if you need, too. You'll also have your assistant and people you can delegate work, too." I rubbed my lips together and I smiled, "Can I give you an answer tomorrow? I want to talk to Troy." Marisa nodded, "I'll get you all of the details. I think it would be an amazing opportunity for you, Gabi. You'd excel and I think you would be able to set your own hours with your people if you're accessible by email in the evenings."

"I'll see." I told her, "I do love the opportunity and I cannot thank you enough for the consideration. I will give you an answer soon." Marisa nodded, "Please, talk it over with Troy and sleep on it. I'll give you until Friday to make a decision but like I said, Gabi, you would do so well in this position. When Davis stepped down, you were the first person I thought of. I already send you a lot of the social media cases and you excel so please, please consider. If it isn't a fit then you can step down to your original position."

"Thank you, Marisa." She grinned and turned around to leave my office. Tears filled my eyes after she left the office and I couldn't stop the stupid grin on my face. "Gabi, what was that about?" Annie burst into my office and I smiled, "Annie, we might be getting a promotion," I squealed with excitement causing Annie to grin, "Shut the front door! What department?" she asked with a grin, "Senior Vice President of Social Media."

Annie squealed as we both danced around the room together and laughed, the nausea hit again and I closed my eyes to concentrate but grinned through it, "Annie, I really hope Troy goes for it." I whispered, "What do you mean goes for it? Would he not support you? Please tell me he doesn't want you making more money than him bullshit" I shook my head with a laugh, "No, I already make more money than him." I said with a joke and Annie cracked a smile. "So, you really think he wouldn't want you to get promoted? He looks at you as if you hung the stars in the sky." I smiled as I looked at my shoes with the compliment because he does look at me like that. "No, I think he would support it. He'd support all of it but I am scared that I'll become too invested into work again and I won't focus on our relationship. It hasn't been a year yet since my sister died and I haven't been with Troy for a whole year yet so I just…I want to make sure all of my focus is on the proper things. Work isn't as important as Troy or my family."

Annie gave me a look and nodded, "I think you give it a try."

"I think we both just want a raise."

Annie laughed and she hugged me again, "Do you want anything for lunch? I'll order to celebrate." I smiled, "No thanks, I'm not feeling that well but I appreciate it. Maybe tomorrow when I feel better." Annie frowned, "Didn't you feel bad, yesterday?" I nodded, "Yea, I've been sluggish." Annie gave me a glance and then just nodded her head, "I'll be at my desk if you need anything." I just nodded my head and sat down to focus on work but a sudden wave of fatigue hit and more nausea.

I looked at my afternoon to see it wide open and I knew an afternoon off would be okay. I picked up my phone and I called Annie, "Hey Annie, I think I am going to bug out a little early today." I explained, her eyes lifted from her desk to meet mine, "You sure you're okay?" I nodded, "Yea, I think I've been going a little hard the past month since I got back from Savannah. An afternoon snuggling with my boyfriend should be the cure." Annie just slowly nodded her head and hung up the phone as I did a few more emails and then picked up some of my extra work to stuff in my bag.

The excitement of my promotion and getting to talk to Troy all about it made me excited.

I pulled my oversized bag over my shoulder and grabbed my Hydroflask with my phone tossed in my bag. I was going to surprise Troy with my presence as I shut down everything and stuffed my laptop into my bag before I walked out. Annie looked at me with wide eyes and a look on her face, "What's wrong?" I asked her, she bit down on her lip as she looked at me before shooting her eyes somewhere else. "Annie," I said as she sighed heavily and her eyes finally found mine again. I could see the nerves in her eyes while she looked at me. Why was she nervous? We had a great relationship.

"Please, do not freak out, I just…you said that you didn't feel great yesterday and today and I saw you crying over the promotion and it's been a month since you came back from Savannah and I don't know, I bet great things happened on that vacation with that sexy beast of yours with those big biceps and…" she mumbled and muttered everything together as I rose my eyebrows, "Annie, babe, spit it out." I demanded with a laugh.

"Are you pregnant?" she finally blurted, my eyes snapped to attention and I looked at her as she was back to nibbling on her lips with anxiety. I tried to breath but I felt my chest rise and fall with panic, "Annie, why do you ask? What?" I forced out the words and I breathed out heavily, "You just said you were nausea and tired and it's been almost five weeks since you came back from Savannah and I know you didn't practice celibacy on that vacation." She whispered the end part but her grin went wide with happiness for me but she was right…there was definitely a lot of sex on that trip. Plenty to make anybody blush.

I lowered my head into my hands as it was spinning, "Gabi, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do this to you but you just…" I breathed out and I nodded as tears filled my eyes, "It's okay, I'm okay. It was just a shock but you are right…I was supposed to have my period earlier last week and it never showed up. I just figured I was having an irregular cycle because it was happening a lot more after Zoey's death from stress." I breathed out and I blinked away tears, "I definitely need to go home for a little bit though." I whispered quietly and Annie nodded her face turning sympathetic, "Let me know if I can help with anything."

I smiled softly and nodded, I walked out of the building with my thoughts full of everything. I knew I needed to go pick up a test but at the same time, I just wanted to see my boyfriend. I wanted to talk about my promotion and I wasn't sure if I wanted to ever talk about this pregnancy. We weren't married, we haven't been together a year, and we've barely lived with each other. The fear struck through my entire body just thinking about getting into a life with a man I haven't known that long.

Yet, I knew Troy Bolton was my soul mate. "I'm going to marry you," echoed through my head from vacation and I breathed out evenly again. He saw a future with me.

I inhaled and exhaled heavily with the pain as I settled into my car as I drove on autopilot home, I breathed out heavily when I pulled into the house and lifted the garage up. Troy's car was gone from his spot in the garage and I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. My breaths coming in panicked paces, my hands tingling, and I felt the walls of my car closing in on me. The panic of him not being here, the fear of a pregnancy, the promotion, Troy wasn't here and I needed him. I couldn't breathe as the panic swelled in my stomach and my chest constricted. I picked up my phone and pressed on Troy's name as the tears ran down my face.

It rang only three times before he answered, "Hey Brie," I couldn't stop the sob from rolling out of my mouth, his voice came full attention after that sound echoed into his ear. "Gabi? What's wrong? Are you okay?" I couldn't speak as I could only cry but relief filled my body just hearing his voice. "Cam, I gotta go. I'll text you later." Troy's voice was frantic and panic filled as I just sat in my car crying because I couldn't move. The day going through my head over and over again trying to stop the panic from rising again.

"Brie, baby," his voice was soothing over the phone as I put him on speaker and just listened. "I'm coming home, are you home?" he asked, "Yes," I hiccupped, "I wanted to come home and see you and you weren't here and I just…" I couldn't stop the panic again and the tears again were in full force. "I'm coming home, baby, I'm coming. I meant to text you; I was out golfing with the guys. I didn't know you were coming home early."

I didn't say anything because he didn't have to apologize to me. He had every single right to go out and go golfing. I was being stupid and apparently fucking hormonal because my boyfriend wasn't home. He was a grown ass man and could do what he wanted but that wasn't stopping any of my tears right now. It didn't take long for his Jeep to pull up next to my car and he hopped out and quickly was at my driver side. The door was pulled open and then his hands on my face and those blue eyes looking at me with full concern. "Gabi," the pad of his thumbs stroked my face gently, "Are you okay?" he asked softly, I shook my head and I just threw my arms around his neck and he gently pulled me out of the car.

He didn't ask questions, he just held me tight in the driveway until my body relaxed against his and my breathing returned to a normal pace. He let me go and I took in his khaki shorts with his grey polo Nike shirt as he looked at me, "Baby, what happened today?" he asked, I took in a deep breath, "Can we go lay in bed together?" I asked as I wiped away the last tears and Troy nodded, "Yea, we can." I shut my car door as my whole body was exhausted.

Troy grabbed my hand and we walked into the house. Luna was wiggling in her cage but Troy ignored her as we went upstairs, "She needs to go out," I protested and he shook his head. "Not right now, she'll survive." I breathed out and nodded as he pulled me into his arms, "Baby, I'm worried," I closed my eyes and held onto his shirt for a moment as I breathed. "Hang on, just let me change." I pulled off my skirt and blouse while I pulled on one of Troy's t-shirt, washed my face, and then I sat on the bed.

Troy sat behind me and he eased me back against his chest. I played with the end of his shirt and my fingers rolled with it back and forth before I turned around to face him. His blue eyes flickered with worry over my face and I breathed, "I went to work this morning and I had a really, really good morning." His brows bent in confusion, "Marisa came into my office and she offered me Vice President of Social Media Marketing."

Troy's blue eyes grew wide with surprise and a smile crossed his face, "Seriously? Brie? That's amazing. You deserve it. What's wrong with it though?" I smiled softly, "It just…brings up a lot of emotions." I said avoiding the pregnancy thoughts right now. "I would love the promotion and the job title. I love working with the social media side but I finally just found a perfect work/life balance. I love being able to come home in the evenings to see your face and I know I want to come sees all of your games and Blaine's next season and being senior vice president is a lot more work." I felt the stress ball onto my shoulders. His hands automatically went there and massaged them gently.

I exhaled heavily and rubbed my eyes, "I love having another life and I just…I don't know if I am ready to upset that, yet." Troy eased me back against his body and his strong hands rubbed on my thighs. "Gabs…it's worth a try if anything. I think you would do amazing and yea, maybe the first few months it'll be trying to find that work balance again but you can do it. You wanted a promotion and you've earned this position."

Resting my head against his shoulder I closed my eyes, "I'm just scared, Troy, and then I realized how tired I was so I was just going to come home and when I got here and you weren't home? It just sent me into a spiral of a panic attack." Troy continued to rub his hands up and down my body as I felt his body behind mine. The solid mass and his warmth keeping me together at the moment. "I also want to start that you don't have to ever tell me you're going golfing with your friends. You're a grown man. I'm not mad at you or anything…I just wanted you. I wanted to see you and it was unfair of me to pull you from your friends. I am sorry. You deserve that time with your friends. We aren't married. You don't have to give me a play-by-play of your day." I expressed through a shaky voice because I felt bad. Really bad.

A kiss was pressed to the back of my head gently, "I love you, Brie. You don't have to apologize. Your feelings are valid. I golf nearly every day, I'm not missing anything today. I'd rather be there for you. I'm sorry that promotion brought on all of those emotions. You deserve that promotion, you deserve to go do something you love, and you deserve to try. If you don't try and you reject it later? I'd rather you try, we struggle for a little bit, and then decide. Did you talk to Marisa about this?" I nodded my head slowly, "She said that she would be okay with it being a trial for a few months."

"Then what's the hold up?" he asked with confusion hinting on his voice. I battled back the tears again as I looked at his forearms wrapped around my body, his solid chest behind me, and his warm breath in my ear. I felt the comfort he provided in my arms as I released a shaky breath as I knew I just needed to say it. "Brie," he whispered in my ear, he knew I was hiding something from him but I was terrified to tell him, his warm hands rubbing my side while kissing my hair. I breathed out, the tears pooling again, "I might be pregnant, Troy." The words pushed out in a whisper and the room went deadly silent after that. Not a sound from Troy and I held in my panic. The panic swelled in my chest that he was going to get up and leave, disappear, and then I would be alone. Again.

His hand stilled on my body and I felt him reel back slightly away from me. I squeezed my eyes closed as I tried to stop the tears from rolling down my face and the fear seized my chest. He grabbed my arm gently again and pulled me onto my back, he was quiet for a beat and I didn't dare open my eyes because the flood gates would open if I saw his face and he was going to bolt. "Gabi, baby, please open your eyes." I pried them open and the tears slid down my face just as predicted. His face held more confusion than anything and his blue eyes scanned my face, "What do you mean you might be pregnant?" I breathed out as I wiped my tears away yet it was useless because they kept falling.

"My periods late, I've felt sick the past couple of days, I'm exhausted, and I fucking can't stop crying," I mumbled and Troy wiped away my tears gently with his thumb stroking against my skin, as he just nodded his head slowly trying to digest all of the words I was saying. All of the symptoms that clearly added up into one. "When did you realize this?" his tone was soft, non-accusing, and gentle. He wasn't angry or mad…yet. I hiccupped and I squeezed my eyes closed, "Right after Marisa came into my office. It's just been such a whirlwind of a day and I knew I should have gone to buy pregnancy tests but I just didn't have the energy and I just wanted to see you and…"

Troy released a heavy breath as he sat up on the bed and I felt my entire body start to shake from fear, his elbows rested on his knees and his eyes stared forward. "Troy," I whimpered and he turned around to face me with a whirl of panic from the panic in my own voice. I couldn't do this without him. I didn't want to do this without him. "I don't know how this happened or if you even want to have kids with me or…if you even want to be with me because I'm a hot mess but I just…" I couldn't stop the shaking of my voice and Troy shook his head, "No, baby, no, I'm not going anywhere," he whispered as he leaned down next to me and kissed my temple softly, "Positive, negative, baby, no baby, I'm not going anywhere. I just…I'm trying to digest all of that information. I wasn't expecting that."

"It's another reason I'm not sure about my promotion either. I just don't know." Troy held me tightly in his grasp and he pressed his lips into my hair. "I'm not going anywhere, baby," I gripped onto his body and he rocked me slowly. "I love you," he whispered, "I love you, too," I whispered into his grasp. "How about we both take a nap on this and tonight, we'll take a pregnancy test together, we'll talk about the promotion, and we'll do all of this together. I'm not going anywhere. We're a team, remember?" I just nodded my head as he gently continued to rock me in his arms.

I felt my shoulders relax and I relaxed into his grasp. His fingers ran up and down my back as I let him lure me to sleep.


Troy's POV

My eyes stared at the ceiling because when I got the panicked phone call from, Gabi, I panicked. She was distraught and when I got home to see her a mess in her car, I just wanted to hold and protect her. I did just that as well. I took her inside where she told me all about her promotion which only confused me to the emotions. Her story made sense, but not enough for all of this. All of the emotion that she was feeling over a promotion? I was so confused and then…she dropped the pregnancy bomb. The crying really made sense after that.

It's not that I don't see anything but her in my future with the house, a family, animals, and just being with each other. I just didn't expect a baby right now and just listening to her describe things made me know that she probably was pregnant. Her words hit my ears and I just froze. I didn't know how else to react because I wasn't expecting it. It completely caught me off guard and I did pull away from her. I saw her entire body tense and she was terrified. She was terrified that I was going to bolt and leave her. Fuck, I hated that I put that thought in her head at all.

I knew I wouldn't go anywhere. I knew she was my only girl. I knew all of it but I was still scared deep in my bones. We hadn't been together for a year yet, we've barely moved in with each other, and she's still dealing with her sisters disappearing from her life. It didn't sound like the greatest time to welcome a baby but at the same time…I could already see it. I could see the little face, the small nose, the little curve of the mouth, Gabi holding a little blanket in her arms with a proud, but exhausted feature on her face. It wasn't hard to see and it made me happy. I didn't care about us not being married, about not being together very long, I just wanted her and I wanted my children with her.

My eyes darted over to the drawer that I tucked away the ring into a few weeks ago. I could just propose and show her how committed I was to this relationship. I shook my head because I think we should see if we were having a baby first before jumping to conclusions. Not that I wouldn't want to marry her either way. She was mine. My eyes glanced over at Gabi who was sleeping soundly. She wasn't wrong that she had been complaining more of headaches, not feeling well, and she was sleeping a lot more. Fuck.

I tried to think of Savannah and if something went wrong that trip. She normally always took her birth control like clockwork and I typically wore a condom every single time. We were safe. Except, there was the quick moment in the car on the way back.

Or the time when we first got back to the hotel room both a little tipsy that we just couldn't wait.

Or that morning that I told her I was going to marry her in the bathroom.

Fuck, it's highly possible, especially if she was late at all on taking her birth control.

I scrubbed my face as I sat up, pressed a kiss to her head, and I knew I would go pick up the pregnancy tests. I would get us dinner for tonight and I would not freak out…yet. I wouldn't panic in front of her either because she was already panicking enough for the both of us. I slipped on my shoes and carefully left the room. I paused, turned back around, and left a note on top of her phone that I would be back in a few minutes. I didn't need her to panic any more than she already was.

I shut the door after I left as I ran my fingers through my hair, Luna was looking up at me with her tongue dangling from her mouth and her ears sitting up straight. Her tailed waved back and forth and I smiled at her, "You wanna come?" I questioned and she stomped her feet and talked back as I laughed, I unhooked her kennel as I let her out front while she quickly went pee and then waited at my Jeep. I pulled open the door as she jumped inside. I closed the door behind her before I climbed into the driver's side to see a handful of text messages on my phone.

I left in the middle of our golf game and I saw all of the concern on their faces when I answered the phone call. I pressed on Cameron's name and it rang a few times before he answered, "Hey, is Gabi okay?" he asked and I breathed out. "For now." I said as I examined my hand, Luna nudged me and I rolled my eyes before starting my car and backing out of my spot. "What do you mean?" Cameron asked, "You're on speaker by the way."

"She had an interesting day at the office and then she just wanted to come home and see me, I wasn't here, her emotions were already on edge and it just plunged her over. She's physically fine and nothing bad happened. It's just a rough day…I think." I clarified confused because I wasn't sure how this day was going to be described. "Oh man, what happened?" Jesse asked, I exhaled heavily as I drove around the small town before pulling into a convenient store. I parked my car as I sighed, "I can't talk about it yet," I told them. I could see all of their confusion. "I need to talk to Gabi again and just make sure she's okay talking about it first."

There were crickets on the other end of the line. Luna whined from the back and I shot her a look, "I have to run some errands though you guys. I just wanted you to know that she's okay, my heart hasn't returned to a non-panic state yet, and everything will be okay."

"Just let us know if we can help with anything." I rubbed the bridge of my nose and thanked them before I hung up. I rolled down Luna's windows in the back and I looked at her, "Stay, I'll be five minutes." I told her sternly, she just turned her head and slapped her tail on my backseat. I hopped out, turned on my automatic start to allow her air conditioning, and then ran inside. I exhaled as I went for the pregnancy test area.

Conveniently, right next to the condoms. I scanned over the 50 different boxes and packages as I tried to find what she could possibly want but I had no clue. There was first response, ovulation, red dye, blue dye, thirty seconds, five minutes, instant response…the more I looked at all of the test together the more confused I got. "Sir," I lifted my head up to see a worker and she gave me a kind smile, "Can I help you?"

I scrubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment, "My girlfriend is terrified, she thinks she might be pregnant and I figured I would go buy the tests and alleviate some of that stress. I don't know what she would want or what is best or…" I breathed out a breath as the kind lady quietly scooted in front of me and plucked four different tests off the shelf. "I know she'll probably want to test tonight but typically the first pee in the morning is the best. Here are a few different brands that most women prefer." I glanced at the four different packages, eight different pee sticks, and I nodded as I swallowed down on my own fear in my throat.

She took me to the counter and I paid for all four packages and then I went back to my car to see Luna trying to squeeze her head out of the window. I laughed before I climbed back in, "You want to go run around the dog park for a few minutes?" I questioned, she jumped and I laughed again before I drove the dog park down the way. I parked, got her inside, and I let her run around as I reflected on this whole afternoon. I wasn't prepared for it, but I don't think I would have ever been. I don't care that we aren't married. I don't care that it hasn't been a year. I do care that she stays with me. That she lets me be there for her. That we are a team through this.

I saw the panic on her face when I pulled away.

The sheer thought that I might walk away.

It terrified me that she ever thought I would just leave.

Luna ran around happily with a few other dogs that I recognized; I gave a head lift to their owners thankful that they were taking out all of the energy from my dog. I rubbed my lips together while I leaned forward and watched her happily. The images of taking our baby and Luna to a park were vivid in my brain causing my heart to swell with happiness with the minor thought. We'd be good parents and I told her when we first started dating that I wouldn't care about having kids with her. She was going to make such an amazing mother.

The more I thought about it, the more excited I got.

After thirty minutes, I called Luna and she came over with her tongue half out of her mouth. I rubbed her fur and kissed her head, "You wanna go get some dinner for momma and maybe some flowers? I think she could use something to cheer her up." Luna wagged her tail and I escorted her back to the car before I called in our favorite Chinese place and picked up a bouquet of flowers. I hadn't received a text from her so I was hopefully that she was still sleeping.

I surveyed that I had flowers, pregnancy tests, and food to hopefully get us through this evening. I pulled back into the driveway and parked my car before letting Luna out. I grabbed my bag of stuff and the flowers as we back inside. I went back outside to move Gabi's car into the garage before shutting the door. It was still quiet as I stashed the food in the microwave, put the flowers in a vase, and settled the bag of pregnancy tests on the counter. I crept down the hallway to see Luna had made herself comfy on the bed cuddling with Gabi.

Gabi reached out to stroke her fur, "Where's daddy, Luna?" I saw her voice trip over the word daddy and she opened her eyes to stare at my, our, dog. Luna was still panting from her running around and Gabi smiled at her. "I'm right here," I finally said and her eyes flashed to mine. "I went to wear Luna out and run a couple of errands." Gabi nodded as she looked tired. "I did grab some of our favorite Chinese." I offered and the corners of her mouth turned up.

"I haven't eaten today." She confessed, "I felt sick this morning." My gut stirred with emotion and I nodded, "Then let's go eat." I reached over for her and she sat up. I pulled her up gently and then straight into my arms for a hug. "I love you, Brie. I'm here through this entire thing – whatever it may be. Okay?" she nodded against my chest and I pressed my lips into her hair. I just held onto her for an extra few second and then linked our fingers together.

She walked ahead of me down the stairs and into the kitchen, "Did you buy me flowers?" her lips turned up and those brown eyes had some life behind them. I laughed; my mission accomplished. "Yea, I did. I figured you could use something to make you smile." She hugged me again and I let her rest there until she was ready to pull away. I retrieved our Chinese food from the microwave when I heard the bag rustle. I turned around and she was holding two of the packages.

"You went and bought them?" she asked looking up, I hesitated but nodded, "Yea, I did. I figured this was already enough for you and you're scared and I just wanted to help." My words tumbled and she swallowed down on what I could only assume was a lump in her throat of emotion. "I really hope I bought the right ones and that this is what you wanted. I'll drive you to pick out your own there. There are like fifty different ones."

She laughed and her eyes glanced up at me, "No, these are perfect. I really appreciate it." She looked at them and the fear crept back into her eyes. She inhaled and bit down on her bottom lip, "Do you want to take it before or after dinner? Or not until tomorrow?" I questioned and she exhaled while looking up at me. "I'm scared," she expressed, "I'm scared that you'll resent me and that you'll want nothing to do with me or the baby, and that this will change everything about our relationship and I'm scared." The fears tumbled out of her mouth as she covered her mouth with her hands to try and stop it.

I put down the food as I went over and I eased onto a bar stool and pulled her between my legs so that we were on eye level. "Brie, look at me." I whispered to her. She looked up at me and I let my fingers touch her face. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm scared, too. I'm scared that I'll be a shitty dad, that you'll hate me because I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, I'm scared that our relationship will change and that maybe this is all really soon in our relationship. I'm scared, too." She hiccupped and I wiped her tears away. "It's okay to be scared but I can for damn sure tell you that I'm not going anywhere. You don't have to be scared of that and if we run into issues, we'll work on them together. Our relationship will change and that's okay. Hopefully it'll change for the better but I know I love you; I know I will not hate you or resent you if you're pregnant because it'll be just as much my fault if not more."

She nodded as I held her face in my hand, "I'm scared, too, and that's okay. I think people who are married are scared, Brie." She nodded, exhaled and then wrapped her arms around my neck before resting her head on my shoulder. "I love you, T. I don't know what I would do without you." I kissed her neck, "I don't want to find out." Gabi pulled away, wiped her eyes, and straightened her shoulders. I watched her uplift herself and calm her fears for a moment, I stuck my pinky out to her, "I pinky promise that I'm not going anywhere because of the result of your pregnancy test, that we're in this together, and no matter what that test says – we enjoy a meal together with wine or water depending on the test, and then we plan our next steps."

Her delicate pinky wrapped around mine and she nodded her head, a promise that we both knew that I would and could keep. "Okay." She picked up one of the tests and breathed out heavily, "The worker at the pharmacy said that your morning pee will be the best but that's why she gave me so many. So that you could test now and in the morning." A smile worked onto her lips, "How confused were you looking at all of that?" I scratched my head and laughed, "Really confused."

A laugh came from between her lips and my chest eased, "I'd be confused, too." She kissed my cheek before taking one and going to the bathroom. I needed to do something so I plated our food, got us each a bottle of water, got silverware out, and when she emerged from the bathroom, she didn't say anything, "It's still calculating." She said, "I did two of them and…I don't want to look at them by myself." I breathed out as I nodded, "Okay, I'm coming."

She linked our hands together as we approached the bathroom, we walked in and she turned quickly and buried her head into my chest. "I want you to see it first. Will you just tell me?" she asked and I nodded my head because I could do this. This was only deciding my future right here in this bathroom. I shook my head; it was just advancing my future quicker than expected. "Can I clarify something? I want this with you. I didn't think I wanted this right now but I want babies with you, Gabi. I want you to be their mother, I want you to be my wife, I want all of that. This doesn't change anything for me." She exhaled and those brown eyes softened as my thoughts went back to the ring upstairs.

I exhaled heavily and I reached for the test on the counter. My own hands were shaking with the fear and adrenaline.

The digital test glared back at me with a single word on the front.

Pregnant

I swallowed heavily as I sat the stick back down and I tilted her head back, those brown eyes were searching for an answer but the only thing I gave her was a sentence that she wasn't even expecting.

"Marry me," I whispered, she reeled away from me and shock was written all over her face. The panic building in me and within her at those words. "Marry me and let's get married for this baby," she gasped at the confirmation of the words and she scrambled for the pregnancy test to see the word for herself. Gabi shook her head as she put her hand over her mouth, "What?" she finally asked looking at me with confusion on her face. "Marry me, let's do the whole damn thing. I said I want you to be my wife and have a baby and…" I ran my fingers through my hair.

"No, Troy, no, I-" she tried to form a sentence but she shook her head, "I'm not going to marry you because I'm pregnant. I'm not doing that." She pulled away from me and I tried to pull her back but she escaped the bathroom. "Gabi, wait," I protested, "It's not like that…I just…I want the family and you and…why not just get married?" her brown eyes seized with panic and she shook her head back and forth. "No, no, Troy," I saw her chest move rapidly and she shook her head.

I let her walk away because I was only going to dig myself into a deeper hole. I gripped the counter and breathed as I tried to come to terms with everything. I flipped the other pregnancy test over to see the same result. Fuck, I was going to be a dad. A dad to a human. Luna was one thing…but an actual baby? Fuck.

I gave her five minutes before I walked out of the bathroom and she was sitting at the counter just staring forward at her food that she hasn't touched. I settled into the bar stool next to her and stayed quiet for a moment, "I'm not saying that I don't want to get married to you some day, Troy. I'm just saying…I'm not getting married because of a baby. That's the last reason I want to get married." I twisted to face her, "I'm not saying let's get married because we're having a baby, I'm saying let's get married because I love you."

Gabi shook her head, "Would you have proposed today if I didn't have a positive pregnancy test?" she argued and I bit my lip because I didn't have a response for that. I wasn't planning on doing it for a couple more months but…I breathed out and I nodded, "I understand, I don't even have a ring. I guess all of the emotions just caught up with me. I don't care if we're married when we have this baby but you are mine. You are my girl."

She exhaled and the panic left her body as I reached for her gently, "Gabs, we're going to have a baby together." Those brown eyes found mine and she stared for a moment before letting a soft smile cross her face, a few tears shined in her eyes, "A baby," she swallowed down on the words and I kissed her forehead before resting my forehead on hers. "I'm going to be a mom," she laughed at the words and I smiled before pulling her into my lap. Our kiss was rough as I secured her around my lap.

She parted her lips and I followed suit as we battled out the entire kiss with each other. Her soft moans left her mouth and I tried to control myself but my hands crept up the back of her shirt to the point she raised her hands to allow me to pull it off. I tossed it aside before I pulled down her bra straps to reveal those perky breasts. I squeezed one for a hiss to escape her mouth, "I'm sorry," I said quickly, and she shook her head. "They are just sensitive. I thought it was due to my period coming soon but…" I laughed as I pulled one into my mouth and she arched her back backwards. Her hand went to my dick and rubbed against it causing me to moan this time.

I stood up and placed her on the kitchen counter as I peeled away her underwear leaving her completely naked. I pushed our food down the island and towards the center as she was about to be my dinner. Fuck cold Chinese food. I leaned her back against the counter as she gasped from the cool contact and I pushed her legs far apart before I let my tongue dive down. She gasped and tried to curl up but I continued to work her up and down causing her to gasp and moan before her climax took off.

"Troy," her words were panted and I smirked before undid my button on my khakis and released my dick that wanted her. I pushed into her quickly, "Guess we don't have to worry about condoms anymore." She laughed and I smirked as I leaned forward to kiss her before sliding out and back in. The contact causing my whole body to spasm. She gripped onto my shoulders and I slammed into her again as she gasped. "Fuck, baby," I moved inside of her because I couldn't handle not.

She rode along easily until she was having another orgasm and I was chasing mine right afterwards. We both were panting and breathless as I pulled out and then pulled her into my arms into another deep kiss. "Best dinner I've ever had," she laughed and rolled her eyes and I shook my head with a growing grin and I gave her one more kiss. "How about you go clean up, crawl into bed, and I'll be right behind you while I see what I can salvage of this food," she nodded in agreement before she hugged me tightly.

"I love you, Troy, thank you, for being there today and everyday forward." I squeezed her as I pulled back, "Sorry, I jumped the gun on the whole marriage thing. I just…" I breathed out, "I was just excited and I just want you to know that I'm in this." She gave me a smile and kissed me softly on the cheek, "I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that you're all in. Just your words and your actions will show me that, Troy."

She slipped off the counter and pulled my shirt back on before going upstairs. I watched her retreat and I collapsed into the bar stool with a stupid happy grin on my face. I was a lucky son of a bitch.


Gabi's POV

Troy laid next to me and his eyes were on the ceiling but his hand was draped over my stomach, he rolled over onto his side and he smiled softly, "There's a baby in there," he said quietly, the words were terrifying but also very true. I rested my hand on top of his while I breathed in deeply, "I'll take another test tomorrow morning."

"You're pregnant, Brie." His voice was soft and I looked at him, those blue eyes were soft and I nodded with my own smile, "I know. Once Annie mentioned something…I knew she was right. I didn't need a test to tell me. It all fit together."

"Speaking of work…I think you should at least attempt the promotion. You deserve the opportunity and if you can't make it work then you can go back to your old job but I think you will make it work and you have another motivation to making it work." Troy kissed my temple, "I think I want, too. Will you give me grace for the next month or so?" Troy nodded, "Of course, Brie. Are you going to still take off for my surgery next week?"

My chest tightened with the thought and I nodded, "Of course." I whispered. Troy propped himself up on the bed and his eyes looked at me closely, "I know the surgery has you freaked out and I understand if you don't want to come. My mom will be there. I'll be okay." I squeezed my eyes closed as I didn't want to talk about it but I knew he wanted to talk about it. I could feel his eyes on me and I turned my head away. "I have to do it." I whispered.

"You're my boyfriend, my soon-to-be baby daddy, and eventually I'm going to know somebody having surgery and I need to do it and I want to be there for you." I finally turned my head and looked at him, "Okay," he whispered, "I just know that everything is a bit rocky right now." I nodded and he slid my body closer to him. His warmth grabbing my entire body and I snuggled into him. "I want to tell the guys. Is that okay? They have already been asking what's wrong and…" I breathed out and I nodded, "Let's tell our parents first. I can't be more than 5 weeks pregnant, Troy. Things can still happen."

"40 weeks, right?" I looked at him and he smiled, "It takes 40 weeks." I nodded, "Yea," Troy pulled out his phone and he pulled up the calendar as he started to slowly count of the weeks until he hit forty. "I could be a little wrong." I admitted and Troy smiled and then frowned, "Fuck, right in the middle of basketball season." I laughed, "January?" I questioned and he shook his head, "Probably the middle of February."

"At least you have a good band of coaches that should be able to take over for you." I teased. A laugh echoed from his lips and he smiled, "Maybe I can pull some strings and not have to go back work until you are on summer break. That way our baby doesn't have to go to any sort of daycare until its closer to six months old." Troy smiled, "That would be really nice. If you can't make it work then maybe one of our parents could help out."

"To bridge it?"

"Or until they are one."

I smiled, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Do you know who will be really excited?" I questioned, he thought about it and then smiled, "Jenna." I laughed, "Yea, she'll be happy to know that she won't have a kid without anybody else having a kid. They can be friends." Troy kissed my temple and he smiled before he inched down my body as his hand rested on my belly, a smile on his face before leaning forward, "Hi baby, it's your daddy," tears welled in my eyes as I watched him. "I can't wait to meet you," he pressed his lips to my belly. "I love you," I whispered and Troy glanced up with a smile before crawling up my body.

"I love you more,"


Gabi's POV

I woke the next morning wrapped up in Troy's arms but I had to go to the bathroom and I wanted to take another pregnancy test. I slipped from Troy's arms and I went into the bathroom as I looked in the mirror. My cheeks were pale this morning and I felt a little sick again but nothing like yesterday morning. I turned to the side as my belly was flat as could be and I sighed knowing that there was something inside of it.

I pulled out another test as I peed on it, washed my hands, brushed my teeth, and glanced to see two very bold lines staring back at me. Tears filled my eyes just looking at it because I was terrified but I was also excited. I knew I had the best person to do this with and I didn't want anybody else to do this with. Troy was the person for me and it was just scary that this was happening so soon. I breathed out a nervous breath as I looked over to see Troy pulling the sheets over.

His hair was all sorts of messy and his phone buzzed on the nightstand. I peeked over to see the boys group chat blowing up but I silenced his phone and I crawled back into bed. I let my fingers dance on my belly as I wondered if it was a boy or girl, if they were going to look like me or him, and what was in store for us. All of the questions that every new mom probably thought. I stroked my belly thinking of the days that it was going to be large and round with a baby inside.

"What are you doing?" I looked over at Troy as his sleepy voice filled the room. I wiggled closer to him as he wrapped me in his arms, "Just thinking about our baby," a smile spread over his lips and those blue eyes flickered open to look at me. His large hand rested on my belly causing a smile to spread over my own cheeks. Goosebumps ran over my skin as his thumb brushed back and forth. "I kinda can't wait to see you with a belly." I laughed as I let my hand rest on top of his.

"You're sure?" I questioned, "It could get whale like," Troy shook his head as he propped himself up. "Nah, you're going to be beautiful." I chewed on my lip as insecurities came flying in, "Are you sure you want to do this Troy? I mean I can leave and walk out and just…" I couldn't stop the rambling as it continued to spew out of my mouth. Yet, Troy leaned over and pressed his lips to mine to silence all of the words.

"I'm 1000% sure, Gabi, I want this. I want you. I want this baby. There is zero doubt in my mind that this is what I want." His eyes were serious and I just nodded as he leaned forward to kiss me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I kissed him harder. He wedged himself between my legs and began to pull off my underwear. "Good, because I don't think I could actually walk away." Troy chuckled as he deepened the kiss, his hips rolling against mine causing my body to respond back to him.

"Yea, no, I'm never letting you walk away from me ever again." He whispered to me and I connected my eyes with him and couldn't stop my smile on my lips.


*Raises eyebrow* plot twist. *GRINS*

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I am excited for this next part of the story – and I am trying to figure out how to end this story and I am 99% sure there will be a sequel to this story. I am just trying to figure out how all of this connects together! I love these characters and am not quite ready to part ways – even though this will probably have a good 15 chapters left of this story! So we have a LONGGGGG way to go!

I wanna know all of your thoughts!

Please Review!

Next update: January 24th