A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews. I can't believe I've passed 550 reviews already! It makes me feel so happy that you actually read (and enjoy) my story. 'No One But You' is probably the one story (besides E-Love) that I've worked the hardest on. I'm glad that every night that I push myself to write another chapter, it pays off with the great and supporting reviews. Okay, enough of me rambling on. Here's chapter 26!
Last Day of Gabriella in the hospital:
"Hey," Troy came into her hospital room, and sat on the edge of the bed. It was her third and last day staying here. It had been so boring and she only got to see the babies a few times a day. Troy visited every single day she was there, and he stayed for the whole entire day.
"Hi," she sat up, and smiled.
"How are you feeling," he rested his hand on her leg.
"Pretty good. I'm ready to go home... but I don't want to leave them here," she sighed.
"I don't either, but I'm sure they'll come home soon after," he kissed her forehead.
Just then, Dr. Pederson came in with a clipboard and papers on it.
"Good Morning, Gabriella," he smiled, and then shook Troy's hand. "Good to see you, Troy."
"Morning."
"Well, you are released today as you know."
"Yes," she said, "and it's about time."
"Well, the quadruplets will have to stay a month or so longer-"
"A month?" She interrupted.
"Yes, possibly more, depending on how their lungs develop. See, all four of them have chronic lung disease."
"What's that?"
"It's a result that many premature infants get or if their birth weight is less than 2,000 grams or 4 pounds and 61/2 ounces. Since they had about another four to five weeks to go, their lungs haven't matured yet. The lungs of premature babies are fragile and easily damaged, and the air sacs are not quite developed yet."
"Does it go away?" Troy asked, worrying about his kids.
"Well, it is different for every baby, but if we keep them on a mechanical ventilator, they should be okay. We'll keep them on it until they learn to breathe on their own."
Troy and Gabriella just looked down. She twiddled with her fingers. "Could... they die?"
"There is a chance, but as long as we keep them on the machine they should be okay. But like I said, all babies are different, so some could stay longer than others. It all depends on how their lungs develop."
After the doctor explained more about it, he let them go see them one last time, before she could leave. The night she had them, they picked out which ones had which names, so now they knew who each one was. Dylan and Abigail had blue eyes like Troy's, and Aiden and Luke had brown eyes like Gabriella's. They all had dark brown hair, which you couldn't really see, since they barely had any, but the thin little strands that lay on their head were dark brown.
Gabriella still had to use a wheelchair for a couple more days, so he wheeled her over to the Neo Natal ICU. When they went inside, there were different tables. Four of them had glass cases with a baby inside. All of the babies had machines hooked up to them. They stopped at Luke.
"Look, Troy," she said. "He's so small."
"They all are," he replied.
She wiped her eyes from seeing all the machines hooked up to her baby. He wrapped his arms around her (he had helped her stand up for a little while) and rested his chin on her head. "They're going to be okay."
"I hope so," she sniffled. "But they're so helpless. I just want to do something to help them."
"I know. I do too, but there's nothing we can do," he kissed her head.
"I know," she blinked, trying to dry her eyes.
After staying for another hour, they went home. He rolled her in through the doors.
"Oh my gosh, Troy," she put a hand to her mouth. "You painted?"
"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you," he smiled, rolling her into the living room.
She nodded, with tears in her eyes. Then up above the fireplace was a banner that said 'Welcome home Gabriella, Aiden, Abigail, Luke, and Dylan.'
"Troy..." she whispered, "You're the best."
"Thank you," he kissed her on the lips. "I thought you would like it."
"The only problem is... they're not home yet," she said, softly.
"We can leave it up... you know, if you want to."
She quickly nodded, "Yes, definitely."
"Good. They could use a welcoming, coming home from an exhausting month ahead of them," he smiled, holding her hand. When it became later, he helped her into their room, and bed.
"I feel like I haven't been home for a while," she said, resting her head on his chest.
"Well, just last night was the first time I stayed here by myself since I had been sleeping in the hospital chair," he laughed, softly.
She smiled, "Yeah. So... I was thinking we could throw a little party for them."
"That is, when they're all home, right?"
"Of course," she giggled. "They all have to be here when we do it. When they get out of the hospital and are better, we could have a little party with everyone."
"That's a great idea. I think they'd really like that," he grinned.
"I think they would too."
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The month went by pretty fast. They visited the babies every day, a few times. By the end of the month, they were told they could take Abby, Luke, and Aiden home. Dylan needed to stay because he was still having trouble breathing on his own. The three that were going home were still quite small, but they had the ability to breathe on their own.
When they said good bye to Dylan, and shed a few tears since he couldn't come home yet, they were on their way home. Gabriella held Abby (that's her nickname that I'll probably be calling her more) in her carrier and Troy held Aiden and Luke, when they walked into the house.
"Look," Gabriella said in a baby voice, "this is your new home." The babies just looked around at their new surroundings. They learned to open their eyes for a period of time just a couple weeks ago.
"Yeah," Troy touched Luke's' nose. They both sat on the couch and took the three babies out of their carriers. Gabriella held Abby in her arms, and just looked at her.
"She's so cute," she smiled at the infant.
"I know," he laughed at Aidens face that smiled as Troy tickled him, then looked at Abigail. "Hey," he put his arm around her side, "we're parents now."
"I know," she said, suddenly excited. "Finally. I feel like it's been... like a year or something."
"Just about," he smiled at Luke and held him as well as held Aiden.
"Do you think we should call your parents? And my mom?"
"Yeah, we will," he said, setting his sons in their carriers and got up to get the phone. He dialed the numbers. It rang a few times and his mom picked up.
"Hello?"
"Mom? Hey," he said.
"Hi Troy. How've you been?"
"Really good, actually. We brought Abigail, Aiden, and Luke home."
"Really? Oh my god! That is wonderful. I am so happy for you two."
"Thanks. They're getting used to it. Gabriella's in the living room with them."
"That's so great. How's Dylan? He didn't come home yet?"
"Well, he hasn't learned to breathe on his own yet. He's developing a little bit slower than the rest of them. So he's still hooked up to the machines at the hospital."
"When do you think he'll be able to come home?" She asked, worried.
"I'm not sure. Maybe another week or so. His lungs have to develop. We're trying not to think about it too much. I mean, you know Gabriella. She always thinks the worst is going to happen, but we've been working on that."
"That's good. Just know that your father and I are here for you. Would you like to talk to him?"
"Yeah," he said. After he told his father everything, he let Gabriella talk to them for a few more minutes. After they hung up, she called her mom, who was coming over to see them at the moment.
When Ms. Montez arrived, she held each one and played with them all. Troy took Gabriella into the dining room. He held her by the arms and leaned down to kiss her. She kissed back then broke apart.
"What was that for?" She smiled.
"Just wanted to get away for a few minutes," he said, grinning.
"Yeah, that was pretty nice," she stood on her tippy-toes and pressed her lips to his. He put his hands on her waist and deepened it.
"They are just so adorable!" Ms. Montez came into the room, carrying Luke.
They broke apart and blushed.
"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt the celebration," she smiled and left.
"They are pretty adorable, huh?" She laughed.
"Yes, they are because they look like you," he kissed her again.
"And you," she said. "You are so adorable."
"Really? Me? You think so?"
"Yep," she put her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his once again. They both smiled once they broke apart and were thinking the same thing: they wouldn't want to have a family with any other person.
"I really love you," he said.
"Well, I really love you too," she grabbed his hand and they walked back out to her mom and their children.
They knelt down and picked up two of them while Ms. Montez held one of them still. Their family was perfect... they were just missing one person.
A/N: Hello, and thanks for reading. I wanted to make a sort of happy chapter. At least they're not bawling, right? But I know it's kind of sad. Well, please review!
