Thanks for the lovely reviews people, I love ya all!
I have no idea where this story is heading; I don't even know what I'm going to write in this chapter, so ideas, realistic ones, are most definitely welcome.
Any who… I don't own anything apart from the story line…enjoy!
Bonding Time
"Alright ladies, make sure you have a good time today," Troy told his wife and daughter, as he walked with them down the drive to Maria's car, baby monitor firmly in his grasp.
"Don't worry Dad, we will, I'm really looking forward to creating a new me." Over dinner last night, Jasmine had asked Troy and Gabriella if she could have her restyled, she said she wanted this to be a new start in her life. It didn't take long for them to agree and as soon as she woke up this morning, Gabriella managed to get them both an appointment at their hair dressers; she also needed her hair cutting after it grew so much during the pregnancy. After making that call, she'd put a call into Maria to see if she wanted to come with them for the day, have real proper girly day out after the hair dressers, Maria agreed and said she'd pick them up at ten.
"And I'm sure the new you will look amazing sweetheart, just don't change too much, I still want to recognize you when you come back later on."
"I won't Dad, just enough for me to feel like a new person," Jasmine smiled happily at Troy, before giving him a hug goodbye and then getting in the back of Maria's car to greet her, ready for their day.
"Take it easy today babe," Troy told Gabriella, as he turned to her and pulled her into a hug. "You still haven't had a decent night's sleep and it'll catch up on you quicker than you think, especially while you're walking round shopping."
"I know Troy, I'll be careful, Mum and Jazzy wouldn't let me over work myself anyway," Gabriella told Troy, as she leaned up to give him a kiss before getting in the passenger's seat of Maria's car.
"Hey Mum," Troy greeted, as he leant in through Gabriella's open window.
"Hey sweetie, you and the boys got any big plans today?"
"Yup…housework, well I will be, the boys will be sleeping, crying, pooping, weeing, eating and whatever else it is three week old babies do."
"Sounds like so much fun Troy," Maria told him in a laugh, which Troy was about to respond to until crying sounded through the baby monitor.
"I guess that's my cue to let you guys leave, have a good time," Troy gave Gabriella another quick kiss and blew one to Jasmine, before jogging back up the drive way to the boys.
TGTGTGTG
"Jazzy, sweetheart, stop playing with your hair, it looks fine."
"I'm sorry Mum, it's just so new and different, I'm not used to it like this," The three ladies were now sat eating their lunch, but Jasmine was more interested in running her fingers through her new side fringe, which along with her new side parting made up her new hair do.
"I know sweetie but you will, just leave it for now and eat your lunch before it goes cold." Jasmine did her best to tuck her fringe behind her ear, before tucking back into her omelette and chips.
Twenty minutes later, the food was eaten, the bill was paid and the ladies were once again wondering around the mall. They walked in and out of a couple of shops until a certain one caught Jasmine's eye.
"Hey Mum?"
"Yeah honey?"
"Can I get my ears pierced?" This question stopped Gabriella dead in her tracks; she and Maria carried on walking, unaware of the fact Jasmine had stopped.
"Erm…I don't know sweetie," Gabriella answered, as she and Maria walked back to where Jasmine was standing. "Let me just phone your Dad and see what he says."
"No, please don't, I want it to be a surprise, I'll tell him it was all my idea if he doesn't like them, please Mum?"
"Come on Gabi, you know you want to say yes, I'll pay for her to have it done if you say yes."
"Mum I can't ask you to do that."
"Yes honey, you can, all you need to do is say yes, you had your ears done when you were around Jazzy's age."
"Okay, fine yes, you can get your ears pierced and if you really want to pay for it Mum, then that would be lovely, right Jaz?"
Jasmine nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah that's really kind of you, thank you Grandma, can I have them done now?"
"Sure thing sweetheart, lets go."
TGTGTGTG
The house was quiet when Gabriella, Jasmine and Maria arrived back at the Bolton household late in the afternoon.
"I wonder where they are," Gabriella said, as she and Maria walked through to the kitchen where they put down the Chinese take away they'd picked up on the way home.
"They're not in the lounge," Jasmine commented, as she came through to the kitchen after putting her shopping bags in the lounge.
"Well I'm gonna go and see if they're upstairs," Gabriella said, as she put her bag down on the countertop. "You guys take this through to the dining room and get some plates and glasses out." Maria and Jasmine nodded, as Gabriella headed towards the stairs.
Briefly she stuck her head into the nursery, wondering if Troy had put the boys in their cots for a bit and hadn't heard them come home, but they weren't in there, so she carried on along the corridor to her and Troy's room.
Opening the door she was met with a sight that made tears come to her eyes, there lying on the bed were her boys. Troy was lying on his back with Michael and Mitchell laying on their fronts on his chests, with their Dad's hands lying protectively on their backs. Gabriella reached up to wipe away a few tears that had fallen, before pulling her phone out of her pocket and snapping a couple of pics, this was one photo opportunity she was not going to miss.
She really didn't want to wake them up, but she knew that Troy needed to come and eat, knowing him, he'd just been snacking all day and hadn't had a proper meal. Quietly, she walked round to the right side of the bed and kneeling on it gently, managed to pry Michael from Troy's protective grasp.
Turning round from putting Michael in the bassinette, Gabriella found Troy starting to wake up, seemingly missing one of the tiny weights on his chest.
"Hey, it's okay," She told him, as she moved back towards the bed and sat down next to him. "I just took Michael and put him in the bassinette, let me take Mitchell as well." Troy looked slightly confused, seeing as he was still waking up, but still handed Mitchell to Gabriella, watching her as she settled him next to his brother and then kissed their foreheads, as she covered them up.
"Brie? Why are you home? What time is it?" Troy asked, as he stood up to stretch and straighten out his wrinkled clothes.
"Its six o'clock honey, we just got home and we brought Chinese, what time do you fall asleep?" Troy shrugged, as he pulled Gabriella into a hug.
"I wasn't meant to fall asleep, they were just being all whiney and I know they like falling asleep listening to your heartbeat, so that's what I tried, apparently I fell asleep as well, I think that was about three thirty. I'm not sure how I would've moved them off of me anyway, so I guess it's all good, I'm hungry now though, I've kinda only snacked all day, did you say there's Chinese?"
"Yup, it's Mum's treat, so let's go; you need to come meet the new Jazzy." Troy bent down to steal a quick kiss, before allowing Gabriella to lead him downstairs.
TGTGTGTG
Jasmine intentionally ignored Troy when he and Gabriella came downstairs; she wasn't scared of his reaction, more worried at what he would say.
"There you are," Troy said, as he appeared in the kitchen/dining room doorway. "Let's have a look at you then." Jasmine slowly turned round from pouring herself a drink to look at Troy.
"You got your ears pierced," Was the first thing Troy picked up on and Jasmine knew they need to clear that subject before things went any further.
"Yeah, is that okay?"
"Yeah of course it is honey, I'm just a little shocked that's all, I didn't think you'd want to have them done just yet."
"Well, I had my hair changed and my eye brows shaped, so I figured why not go all the way, Grandma helped me convince Mum to say yes and then she paid for me to have it done, do you like them?" Troy moved closer to Jasmine to have a proper look at the silver studs that now adorned her ear lobes.
"I love them sweetheart, they suit you, just like your hair and eye brows, you look beautiful honey, absolutely beautiful."
Jasmine smiled up at Troy, as he pulled her into a hug. "Thank Dad, thank you so much," She hugged Troy tightly and he squeezed her back for a few moment until his stomach started complaining.
"Sorry sweetie, I haven't eaten much all day and I can smell the Chinese."
"It's fine Dad, do you want a coke?" Jasmine asked, gesturing to the drink she'd been pouring herself.
"Yeah honey that'd be great," Troy leaned against the island, as Jasmine finished pouring the drinks and then took one when she offered it to him.
"If you two don't hurry up, we're gonna eat it all," Gabriella warned from the dining room, making Jasmine and Troy laugh, but still quickly make their way through to join the others.
TGTGTGTG
Jasmine sat quietly in her room, as she listened to the noises that were made during the boys' bath time. When she burped Michael earlier, he had decided that he would throw up on her and so she'd handed him back to Troy and gone upstairs to have a shower, she was supposed to bonding with them and all they did was throw up on her or cry, things weren't going well.
She wanted so badly to be able to bond with her brothers, she loved them like no one would ever believe, she was just having a hard time in showing that. She knew giving Troy and Gabriella the bears to give to the boys was the first step, but in order to bond with them, she needed to spend time with them, be more hands on.
She let a few tears slip from her eyes, as she heard her family walk past her room, knowing bath time must now done and Troy and Gabriella were taking the boys back to their room to dry and change them. Taking a deep breath, Jasmine wiped away her tears and stood from her bed before slowly making her way to her parent's room.
Troy was the first to notice her leaning against their bedroom and gave her a smile, until he noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks and the unshed tears in her eyes.
"Jazzy sweetheart, what's the matter?" Troy asked, as he put down the baby grow he was about to put on Mitchell and made his way towards her.
Jasmine shrugged, but still allowed a concerned Troy to pull her into a hug. "It must be something honey, come on, talk to me."
"They hate me."
"Oh Jazzy, they don't hate you, they're only three weeks old, they just don't understand what's going on around them yet, as they get older things will become easier, I promise."
"How do you know that?" Jasmine asked, as she wiped away her tears and took some deep breaths to stop her from crying.
"Because I felt exactly the same way when you were born, you would always cry and throw up on me and you always screamed at me when I tried to give you a bath, but we're here now because things got easier. As you got older, you slept more at night, so I got more sleep and I started to learn how to make clothing you and bathing you, less stressful for the both of us, it just took time, just like it will with the boys, that's how I know things will get easier." Troy told Jasmine, as he placed some kisses into her hair.
"He's right you know sweetheart," Gabriella told Jasmine, as she came over and took her from Troy's arms, who in turn went to tend to a fussing Mitchell. "The night we brought these guys home and we finally got to bed, your Dad gave me a hug and I broke down, I was so scared, that I wouldn't be able to cope with looking after them, but he reassured me, just like he just did you, because he's done it all before and because you turned out just fine so I think he knows what he's talking about," Jasmine laughed softly and nodded her head, as she sniffed back her threatening tears.
"So here's what's gonna happen now, I'm gonna take Michael downstairs and feed and burp him and maybe if he needs it change him, while you are gonna help your Dad get Mitchell dressed and then when you bring him down to me so I can feed him you can give Michael a hug while a goes off to sleep and then we'll repeat the process with Mitchell, do you think you can manage that?" Jasmine nodded and watched, as Gabriella picked up Michael and left the room, before slowly making her way over to Troy, who was kneeling on the floor, facing the bed, as he played with Mitchell's feet, making the small boy squirm.
"Look who it is Mitchell, it's your big sister, Jazzy, who loves you very very much," Troy told his son, who turned his head to look at Jasmine as she knelt down next to Troy. "You haven't dressed one of them yet, have you?" Jasmine shock her head, as she picked up the baby grow.
"Come on then Mister Experience, teach me."
TGTGTGTG
"You're a natural Jaz, they are both out for the count," Jasmine smiled happily at her parents, as they both walked back into the room and flopped down onto the couch next to her.
"Mitchell still cried at me though Mum."
"He was really tired though honey, but you settled him down by yourself with just a bit of assurance from me, you did good honey."
"I guess, at least I didn't get thrown up on, right Dad?"
"That was not my fault, he threw up on me on purpose, I did not provoke him."
"We're not saying you provoked him babe, what we're saying is that the next time you burp Michael, make sure you put a burping rag on your shoulder, just like you do with Mitchell, otherwise he's gonna do it all over again."
"Okay, okay I get it, you can stop ganging up on me now…does anyone want a drink or something to eat? If you're gonna make me watch this crap, then I need something to snack on."
"Oh, coke and popcorn pwease Daddy." Jasmine asked sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes as she did.
"Brie?" Troy asked, as he got up, throwing a cushion at Jasmine in the process, although she caught it and threw it straight back.
"Same please." Troy nodded, before heading through to the kitchen, while the girls cuddled up to watch their favourite reality nonsense on the telly.
An hour or so later and the programme, food and drinks were finished and it was time to get serious.
"Jazzy, can you come sit in the middle of us a minute, there's some things we need to talk about." Jasmine looked at her Dad unsurely, but still moved to sit in the middle of her parents, cuddling into Gabriella, as Troy wrapped his arms round them both.
"Tomorrow we're gonna have a lazy day, have breakfast in bed, not get dressed unless completely necessary, just be plain out lazy bums, that alright with you?" Jasmine nodded at Troy, unsure of where he was heading with this. "On Monday, we're not gonna make you go to school, you're not going back there Jaz and that's the end of it, but you can't not go to school at all, so we need to find you another school and soon-ish so that you don't miss out on much."
"I don't want to Dad, they'll just pick on me like the others do."
"No sweetheart, they won't," Gabriella worked to reassure Jasmine, as she pulled her further against her and felt Troy tighten his arms around them. "They won't pick on you because you won't let them, this is a new you remember and the new you is gonna stick up for herself a bit more, make some new friends and if they do start to pick on you, and that's a big if, then you will tell someone straight away and it will be dealt with, alright? And you make sure you tell us what's going on as well honey, especially all the good things, you hearing me here?" Jasmine nodded and reached up to wipe away her tears.
"So, you know how right now you go to East Valley Middle and when you move to High School you'd go to Easy Valley High, right?" Jasmine nodded so Troy continued. "Well, on Monday I'm gonna phone East Albuquerque Middle School and see if they've gonna any spaces and if they have I'm gonna ask them if they'll accept you, the only thing would be that you would then move onto East High, where your Mum works and by the time you move up, she'll probably be back from leave, so would you be okay going to a school as a pupil where she teaches?" When it came to sorting out school for Jasmine, she'd been sent to East Valley because at the time it was nearer for Troy and Gabriella to commute her there as they went to college, but as time moved on, she stayed there because they didn't want her to end up going to a school where Gabriella was teaching, but now none of that mattered, what mattered, was Jasmine's happiness.
"I'm okay with that Dad, we'll work things out, right Mum?"
"Definitely sweetie," Gabriella responded with a kiss to Jasmine's temple.
"But…what if they don't have any places? I'm not going back to East Valley Dad," Jasmine started to get worked up again at the thought of having no choice back going back to her current, soon-to-be old school.
"Jasmine, you will not be going back to that school as a pupil ever, ever again. If you don't get a place at East Albuquerque, then I'm not sure what we'll do yet, but we'll work it out, so no worrying, alright?" Jasmine nodded and allowed Troy to cup her face in his hands while he wiped away her tear tracks and placed butterfly kisses on her forehead.
"Alrighty then, you two can choose what crap we watch, but only because I wove you both." Gabriella and Jasmine laughed at Troy's sweet voice, as Gabriella reached for the remote to change the channel.
"We love you too Dad."
TGTGTGTG
Alrighty, strange ending, but oh well, deal with it.
I don't know how the American Schooling system works, so I'm sorry if it's not exactly right, but for this story, you're just gonna have to deal with it :p
These keep taking me to long to get out and I'm sorry for that, but I'm seriously struggling to write them, so logical ideas may be helpful.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!