Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I really like all of your guys' suggestions. Here's chapter 18! Can you believe it? Chapter 18 already. This is the longest story I've written.
Next Week, Monday:
Gabriella woke up with a nauseating headache. She rested her head on the pillow, eyes closed. She was so happy she didn't have to go to work today. All she wanted to do was sleep. You know that feeling when you can't even open your eyes because you're so tired?
"Gabi? Are you up yet?" Troy said, softly, coming into the room.
She quietly groaned and put the covers over her head. She realized she was acting like a little kid, but she was tired!
He rubbed her back above the comforter, "Gabriella?"
"I'm tired," she mumbled.
"I know, but we have a doctors appointment in an hour," he said, not wanting to disturb her.
She slowly pulled the top of the covers, wrapped around her hands, below her head. She squinted her eyes, adjusting to the bright sun through the window.
"Hey. There you are," he smiled.
She gave a weak smile, "Morning."
"You want me to let you sleep?"
"What time is it?" She stretched her arms, outside the bed.
"Eleven-thirty," he said.
"When do we have to go?" She said, groggily.
"One."
"Okay."
"So, should I let you sleep?" He asked.
"Just a few more minutes. I'll be up soon," she rolled over.
Troy got up and walked into the living room/dining room/kitchen. He looked around. It was such a small space. He was glad they were moving. He was ready to move on and start a family. Just then the phone rang. He walked over and picked up the phone from the hook.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is Gabriella there?" A soft voice came from the other end.
"Um... she's sleeping. Can I take a message?" He said.
"Can you tell her she has a doctors' appointment today at one o'clock? Are you her husband?" The woman asked.
"Yes. We are coming this afternoon," he replied.
"Okay. We'll see you soon," she hung up. He put the phone back on the hook, and went to the kitchen. He made two omelets, for when Gabriella wakes up. When he put them on the plates, and set them out, Gabriella came out, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"You made breakfast?" She asked, sitting down at the counter.
"Yep. That's a good thing, right?" He sat next to her and started eating.
"Yes. That's so sweet. You're so good to me. I love you," she kissed him.
"I love you, too."
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When they got to the hospital, Gabriella sat on the bench and Troy went to check in at the front desk. While Troy was up there, she looked around. She thought to herself how nervous she was for the check-up. What if they didn't make it? He came back down and sat down next to her. He grabbed onto her hand.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asked, looking at her. She was looking strait forward.
She slowly nodded, "I'm just nervous, though."
"Me too, but we're going in soon."
"Okay. I'm just thinking. What if they died, since there is so many? I'm just thinking the worst that could happen," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Are you going to be like this every doctors appointment?"
"Maybe."
"Gabriella?" A nurse came out.
She stood up, still holding Troy's hand, "That's me."
They followed the nurse into the doctors' office.
"Dr. Pederson should be out shortly," the nurse said and left the room. Gabriella's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Hi, Gabriella. It's Kelsi."
"Hey. What's up?"
"Not much. What are you doing right now?" Kelsi asked.
"Troy and I are waiting in the doctors office. This is our first check-up since we found out," she said, mouthing to Troy who she was talking to.
"That's exciting."
"I'm nervous. We don't know how they're doing," Gabriella said.
"Yeah. Um... I was wondering if you wanted to do something later this afternoon?" She asked.
"Yes. That would be great. I'll call you after the appointment, okay?"
"Yeah, sounds good. Bye."
"Bye," she said, hanging up the phone. "We might get together this afternoon."
"Okay," he said.
"Hey, Gabriella, Troy," Dr. Pederson came in, and shut the door behind him.
"Hi," she got up and shook his hand. As did Troy.
"Nice seeing you two again. How've you two been?" Dr. Pederson asked.
"We're doing pretty good. We got married a couple weeks ago," she smiled at Troy.
"Okay. Well, let's get started. You are now..." he looked through papers, " it looks like, three months pregnant."
They both nodded.
"And how've you been feeling?"
"Nauseous. My stomach's and head have been hurting," she answered.
"Okay," he jotted some things down. "Any accidents or injuries?"
"No," she responded quickly.
"So, you have a job?" He asked.
"Yes, I do. I'm a third grade teacher, but I've been missing a lot of days because I've been sick."
"That's good. You will need to be put on bed rest very soon."
"I know," she said, shaking her leg.
Troy put his hand on her thigh, "Calm down."
"Let's do the sonogram now," the doctor said.
Gabriella sat on the table and the doctor put the cold jelly.
"I hate this," she muttered.
Dr. Pederson put the monitor on her stomach and they looked at the screen. "There they are," he pointed.
Troy took her hand and smiled, "There's our kids."
"I know," she replied, "They're so cute."
The doctor looked at the screen more clearly, and had a weird look on his face.
"What?" She asked.
"I only see four," he said.
"What do you mean? I thought we were having five," Troy said.
"You were. It looks like one of them was lost in the womb."
"How?" She asked, her voice becoming shaky.
"Well, like I said earlier, having quintuplets is incredibly rare. Which means it's even more rare to have them all survive. You're lucky you only lost one."
"But, we still have like... six months, don't we?" Troy added.
"That is if you don't go into premature labor. The risk of premature labor is pretty high. You will now need to be on full bed rest, I suggest," he said to her.
She nodded, looking forward. Tears were forming in her eyes.
"It's okay," Troy put his arms around her.
"I'm so sorry," Dr. Pederson said.
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When they got home, they sat on the couch. He held her in his arms and she rested her head on his chest.
"I just don't understand. I didn't do anything wrong," she cried into his shirt.
"I know. I'm so sorry. I'm really sad, too," he kissed her head.
"I just feel so guilty."
"No, no, no. Don't, it's not your fault at all. There was so many, so it's hard to support all of them. They all needed nourishment, and you had to do it all by yourself. It's not your fault."
"I guess," she said, softly.
They sat there for ten minutes, cuddling.
"I should probably tell my boss tomorrow."
"Yeah. You can probably last this week and then you'll start bed rest. We have a meeting with John (the realtor) on Wednesday, so you have to come for that."
"I should probably call Kelsi. I don't feel like doing anything today."
"Are you sure? You don't want any girl time?" He asked.
"I don't know. I just don't feel like it, anymore."
"Okay. Let me get you the phone," he got up and handed her the phone. She wiped her eyes and dialed Kelsi's number.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Hey, it's me."
"Oh, hi. How was the doctors' appointment?" She asked.
"Uh, it was okay. No, actually it wasn't."
"Why? What happened?"
"We lost one," she said, as her voice started to crack.
"I'm so sorry, Gabi. I'm so sorry. I understand if you don't want to do something."
"Yeah, that's what I was calling about. I just don't really feel like going out today. Maybe later this week."
"Okay. I understand. We'll talk later."
"All right. Thank you. I have to fit everything in this week, because I'm going on bed rest starting next week. Of course, we're going through house buying, so I'll be up for that."
"You just get some rest and I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Kelsi said.
"Okay. Bye," she sniffled and hung up. She sat on her bed and hoped that these next few months would go by smoothly.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review! I'm really begging you ALL! I know some of you just read, but I want to hear everyone's suggestions and what you all think about it. Isn't that sad? So, please review!
