March 4, 2013

"Why do we have so much crap?" Troy grumbled.

It'd been a couple weeks since the baby shower and they were still finding places to put all of their and the baby's things. Gabriella had made Troy take a day off so they could do this together. It was barely 10 am as they got started. Troy made sure she was fed and rested before they even thought about working on all the things they had to do today.

"You threw a surprise baby shower and invited a shit load of people and we got a shit load of things." Gabriella said dryly.

"Where do we even start?"

"Diapers?" Gabriella suggested. "We can put away the twos threes and fours. Hell we can even take back the bigger sizes and get money for the things we need now."

"That isn't much." Troy said. "We have a shit load of wipes. A swing, a bouncer, a bath, wash cloths, and like twenty bottles of that baby shampoo wash stuff." Troy said. "Clothes…Who knew one gender unknown baby can have this many clothes?"

"We are taking some back because some are ugly." Gabriella said bluntly. "Do you see what my mother got for our baby?"

"That brown thing?"

"Yes." Gabriella said with a dramatic shudder.

"Alright. I say we keep one box of fours and threes. They can be the just in case for when the baby gets to be that big. We can take the rest back." Gabriella nodded in agreement. "For now I'll put all the bigger sizes in my closet since I have more room. We can just stack them."

"Great." Gabriella said. "You can stack and I'll recruit Chad, when you're done to get the bassinette put together."

"What about the stroller?"

"We can set it up in a couple of weeks when we wash the bedding and put it in and figure out how to work a car seat." Gabriella said, smirking.

"I still think we should get another one."

"We can get one if the time ever comes. Hopefully a more gender based one."

"I like the black and gray though." Troy said, looking over at the car seat that was still in it's box.

"Me too but if it's a girl then I want one with a hint of femininity."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"We need a changing table for my room. We have to go get that when we look for more bedding and burp cloths."

"We should make a list."

"I already have one babe. I have many. I need to start condensing it now that we have most everything we need."

A breast pump caught Troy's eye. "Are you going to breast feed?" Gabriella looked at him kind of surprised. They hadn't even talked about it. They didn't have a birth plan. Everything that wasn't done was suddenly rushing to Gabriella's mind. Troy noticed she'd gone a little pale. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." She said softly. "I think I need to sit down."

"Is it the baby?" Troy asked, alarmed. "Please, lord, tell me it's not coming. We aren't even half way ready!"

Gabriella shook her head. "It's not the baby." Troy gave her a questioning look. "It's the fact that this baby is coming in eight weeks and we don't have a lot of things done. It's terrifying. What if we never get around to it?"

Troy led her over to her bed. She took a seat and him next to her. "Let's talk about it now then."

"There's just so many things."

"Name a couple."

"Breast feeding is one. Birth plan? What happens if something is wrong with the baby and we have to have an emergency C section? What do I do if my water breaks? What do I do if I go into labor and nobody else is home? What do I do if I go into labor and you're on the East Coast at an away game?" Gabriella rambled on, counting with her fingers.

Troy took her hand in hopes to calm her down her a little. "Gabsy, babe, one at a time, okay? Let's start with the easiest one. Breast feeding. How long do you want to breastfeed? Or do you even want to?"

"I do, I want to." Gabriella said, squeezing his hand. "Until it starts eating baby food I guess or maybe sooner. If I don't produce milk then I guess we can do formula."

"Great. That's settled. What was the next question? Birth plan?"

"Yes." Gabriella said with a sigh.

"Okay. We can knock out three questions with this one. If your water breaks at home, we call the doctor right? Isn't that what she said?"

Gabriella nodded. "I'm supposed to call the hospital." Gabriella groaned loudly. "We have to take a tour of the hospitals and pick one. We can go across town to Washington Hospital or go across the bridge to Stanford."

"We will schedule tours then." Troy said. "After we call the hospital, we get instructions and eventually go. How many people do you want in the room?"

"I think I can only have three. You, Tay, and Shar I guess… if they want to be in there." Gabriella sighed. "What if you're out of town?"

"If you go into labor when I am out of town I will fly back on the first flight and break a lot of laws to get to the hospital on time." Troy said, making Gabriella laugh.

"You don't have to speed, Troy."

"Yeah, I will. I want to see my baby be… birthed."

She made a face at his choice of words. "What if you don't answer?"

"I will always have my phone on me and on and with a really loud obnoxious ring tone." Troy confirmed. "If I'm playing a game the coach will have my phone and pull me out. We already talked about this."

Gabriella smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, I'm not going to miss it Gabsy."

"Good." She said softly. "I don't know if I could do it without you."

Troy leaned over, kissing her forehead gently. "I love you and my baby. I'm going to be in both of your lives no matter what."

"Promise? Promise you won't walk out?"

Troy frowned. "It hurts me that you would even think that I would. You know I'm not that type a guy. Sure I fuck around and fuck up a lot of things but I promise I won't fuck this up okay?"

"You don't fuck things up Troy."

"I got you pregnant."

Gabriella smiled to contain her laughter. "That's beside the point."

"I'm going to be there, even if you want me to go die and burn in hell." He kissed her forehead. "Our kid is going to have both parents even if we are a little dysfunctional at times."

"I won't keep it from you."

"We live in the same house." Troy said dryly.

"I know. If I go to graduate school or if you go into the NBA, you'll see the baby anytime you can."

"I'll pay for you guys to fly anywhere I am and when I have down time I'll be spending it all with the both of you."

Gabriella watched the man in front of her. She studied him. His eyes blue with flecks of green and gray. His hair dark brown, shaggy enough to grab a hold of but that was it. His shoulders wide and his arms packed with enough firm muscle to make any girl drool. She ran her fingers through his hair and down his face. "I love you Troy. You're going to be a great dad to our child. It's going to look up to you and copy everything you do. It's going to be so proud of you because you are a wonderful, wonderful person. I'm sorry I hurt you and I wish that I didn't. I wish our lives weren't complicated with the impending future and the soon birth of our child. Maybe one day we will both settle down."

Troy smiled. "We will settle down. We already are family, me, you, our friends and parents and our baby. You were right. We aren't ready to jump into a relationship and I understand now. I have hope that one day we will feel the same- if not more."

"You don't have to stop dating."

"Neither do you."

"I don't want you to feel pressured to be alone just because I am."

"Babe, you're not alone."

"You know what I mean… single."

"If I find someone who makes me happy in the moment, I will make sure they are good enough to be apart of our baby's life. You are the only mother it's going to have you don't have to worry about me playing house with somebody else."

"I trust you won't just like you trust I won't."

"We've known each other far too long to do some petty shit. If I ever do something that you don't like or makes you uncomfortable, you need to tell me."

"I will." Gabriella agreed. She dropped her hand from his face to his hands.

"We cool?"

"Frozen." She gave him a wink.

Troy laughed and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. "I think that's enough talking for now. Let's get this stuff squared away."

"Yes, sir." Gabriella saluted.

Gabriella had left to go make room in Troy's closet about thirty minutes ago. Troy was finishing up the bassinette for her room. He wiped his brow and pushed it next to the side of her bed for now. They got a lot accomplished in the couple of hours they were working. They took a brief break to eat some lunch but got started right back up. They had separated the clothes they wanted to take back and the clothes they wanted to keep. They still needed to separate by size and put away.

Troy went on a search for Gabriella. He didn't really hear much noise from his room. He opened the door and found her asleep on his bed. He smiled to himself and walked over to her. He kissed the corner of her mouth gently. He wrapped a blanket around her and let her sleep. She moaned quietly in her sleep before she settled again.

After watching her he returned back to her room. He started separating the clothes into three piles that were coordinated with size. He picked up some pajamas that were newborn sized. He tried to imagine a baby that small. His child. Sometimes he couldn't even wrap his head around it. They made a human and now they were going to take care of it. They had a near future filled with poop and crying and staying up all night. They also had a future of firsts and smiles and unconditional love.

Troy smiled to himself. Sleeping with Gabriella was always the best mistake he ever made. He placed the remaining clothes in their prospective piles. He grabbed the biggest sizes and put them away quietly in his room. He put the smallest sizes where Gabriella had planned to put them. He hung the nice things up and folded the rest away in drawers.

"Just finished up." Gabriella mumbled tiredly.

Troy chuckled. "You've been asleep for two hours babe."

She smiled innocently. "Sorry."

"Don't be, you were probably exhausted. I finished up the clothes."

"You're amazing."

"I know." Gabriella made a face. "What?"

"Braxton Hicks."

"Are you sure?" Troy asked, touching her belly.

She nodded. "They woke me up. I got up and they stopped. That one was a little one but it was still uncomfortable…. Maybe it's just gas."

"What else do we have left?"

"If you did the clothes then not much else until we get the changing table. " She covered her mouth as she yawned again. "I can't keep sleeping, you up for a walk?"

"For sure." Troy agreed, they went their separate ways to find their shoes.

March 5, 2013

Gabriella had felt bad that Troy put all the clothes away yesterday. She had to do something to prove to him and herself that she did something in preparation for their child. She headed off to the mall in her SUV. After she was finished she was going to get Troy some food before his practice. She grabbed the bag of clothes and walked inside with her purse resting on her shoulder.

She stopped at the map and took a look around. She didn't really go to this mall that often so she wasn't to sure where the Carter's store was. She rubbed her belly as she looked at the map. "Gabriella?" She saw Julie next to her in a striped shirt. "I thought that was you. Man you look like you're about to pop."

Gabriella sighed. "I feel like it sometimes."

"What are you doing up here?" She asked. "Shopping?"

"More like returning. I was going to get Troy some lunch after this but this mall is huge and I don't know if I can find the damn store." She held up her bag.

"Good thing I found you. I work at footlocker which is three or four down from Carter's. Let me show you the way." Julie announced. "We have to take the elevator."

Gabriella followed Julie in her quickest waddle. She and Julie stepped in the elevator. "Do you have any other good baby stores in here?"

"I think there's a couple." Julie said.

"I want to go shopping again after the baby is born. It's killing me that I don't know if it's a boy or a girl. I want it to be a surprise. It might be the only baby that I have."

"I sure you'll have more kids."

Gabriella shrugged. "I feel like I'll be so focused on this baby and school and work to worry about a relationship."

Julie gave her a smile. "There's enough of you to go around."

Gabriella laughed quietly. "That's what I thought too until you're pregnant and you have to help plan a wedding with one friend. You have to help the other friend study. You have to spend time with the rest of your friends and your baby's father. I get over whelmed a lot. I never used to. I always felt like I could handle it."

"I kind of know what you mean." Julie said. "I'm still trying to get used to being in a relationship and having time for my friends. It's hard to split time between the two."

"God, I don't even want to imagine getting into a relationship. With my friends it's always been easy because we are with each other and we hang out with each other. I can't imagine new people coming in the group." Gabriella sighed. "That kind of sounds dumb doesn't it?"

"No."

Gabriella cracked a small smile. "Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because." Julie started. The elevator doors opened and they walked through, making their way around the mall. "Because Troy loves you."

"I know."

"Like, he's obsessed. It's so disgusting it's almost cute." Julie laughed. "Every single time we hung out he always talks about you. We had coffee one day a couple weeks back and I was telling him about my girlfriend. He wants a relationship with you."

"I know he does, we've talked about. I don't think he's ready for a relationship with me."

Julie frowned. "Why do you think that?"

"Troy is a good looking guy. Since he hit puberty every girl got googly eyes when they looked at him. He used it to his advantage. He dated and messed around with the pretty popular girls. Even in college. He is flirty and charismatic. It doesn't hurt that he's a gentleman as well."

"Oh Gabriella." Julie sighed. "I honestly think that you know him better than anyone. Do you really think that he will even think about somebody else while he is with you? He's in love with you. It's not just because you're having his baby. Ir's been long before that."

"I know he wouldn't be a bad boyfriend or cheat on me."

"If you're pulling the whole 'scared of ruining the friendship' crap then you are honestly missing out on someone, who I think, could make you very happy. You'll have each other and be great parents to your baby. If you do break up then I don't think he would turn your back on you." Julie said. She stopped abruptly. "This is your store."

"Thank you for walking with me Julie."

"You're welcome."

"I'm glad you came to the baby shower too. I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to talk that much. I didn't even know what was going on half the time."

Julie smiled. "Don't worry, I had fun."

"I'm glad. Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Of course, I'll be around to see that cute baby of yours. After you give birth and are at home. Hospital and gestational labor makes me feel nauseous." Julie pulled Gabriella in a tight hug. Gabriella was caught off guard but hugged her back as best she could. "See you around."

Gabriella waved quickly and walked in the store. She returned her items for store credit. She found her way back to her car and picked up lunch for Troy and her. She called him as she drove into a parking lot. She had no idea where she was. She didn't spend much time on his campus.

"Hello?" Troy answered as she parked.

"Hey, I'm here and I have lunch."

"Great, where are you?"

"I don't know. The first parking lot I saw. I think there's some time of offices here. I'm not too sure." She said, looking around.

"I think I know where you are, I'll be there in five minutes." Troy said.

"I saw Julie at the mall before I came here." She said, looking around for any sign of Troy.

"Oh yeah, she works at the mall." Troy said. "What'd she say?"

"She just showed me around. This mall is huge." Gabriella smiled when she saw Troy come out of a building. He looked around and a small smile curled his lips when he saw the truck. "I see you."

"I see you." He murmured, making his way over. He hung up the phone and hopped in. "Hey."

She smiled, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. "Hey. How was class?"

"Long. What'd we get?"

"Your favorite. Cheesesteaks."

Troy moaned happily when he saw the bag. "I love you."

Gabriella giggled. "Love you too. Hand the bag over." He handed over the bag and she gave him his sandwich. Gabriella pulled out her sandwich then napkins for them both.

Troy moaned as he bit into his sandwich. "This is amazing." She smiled as she watched him eat. "What?" Troy asked as he put his sandwich down on the paper in his lap and wiped his mouth and hands.

"Nothing." She said with a small smile.

"No, really, what?" He asked.

"Nothing." She stressed with a laugh. "Finish your sandwich."

"Okay." He said, rolling his eyes.

She picked up her sandwich and they ate while Troy started telling her about his science class he was taking. She listened to him as she finished her sandwich. She threw the wrapper away and wiped her hands. She put some hand sanitizer before she picked up her drink. Troy cleaned up after himself, throwing his wrappers away.

She covered her mouth and yawned. "By the time I get home, I'll be ready for my nap."

"How about I introduce you to my coach before you leave? We can walk off a little bit of the grease." Troy offered.

"Okay. My legs are starting to fall asleep anyway." She put her purse behind the seat and pulled the keys out of the ignition. She slid out the truck. She walked over to Troy before locking up the truck. She put her keys around her neck and took his hand.

Troy lead her up to the gym. His coach was always in the gym early inspecting the floor and setting up for the practice. He pushed open the first set of doors and walked through the hallway to the gym doors. "Hey coach." Troy said as they walked in.

Gabriella looked around the big gym. It reminded her of East High. She suddenly missed Albuquerque. "Hey Troy, Who's this?" Gabriella turned her attention to the man.

"This is Gabriella, my best friend and mother of my soon to be child." Troy introduced. "Gabs, Coach Alex Peterson."

"Nice to meet you Coach." Gabriella said. "Heard you've been whipping him into shape."

Coach laughed. "I could say the same about you. Very nice to meet you Gabriella. Hoe many weeks you got now?"

"Not many more." Gabriella said.

"Nine, maybe more depending on the baby." Troy said.

"Boy or girl?"

"Surprise." Gabriella said. "He wants to know badly but I want to wait until it's born."

Coach smiled. "My third daughter was a surprise. It practically killed me cause I wanted a boy so bad. I got him the next time though."

Gabriella smiled. "I don't really know if I want a boy or a girl more. What about you?"

Troy shrugged. "I have a strong feeling it's going to be a girl."

"Girls are nice when they're little. Once they hit 11 it's like something snaps in them and they turn into little women." Coach said. "Everybody says boys are easy. I think boy's are harder, especially when you put pressure on them. You don't want to push them too hard."

"We'll be happy either way." Troy said, putting his hand on her belly. "I'm going to walk her back then I'll get ready for practice."

"You're more than welcome to stay, Gabriella."

"Maybe another time. It's almost nap time." She said with a wide smile. "It was great to meet you."

"Come back anytime."

Troy and Gabriella walked back to the car. Gabriella unlocked the door. Troy opened the door for her and helped her in the truck. She sat down and opened her arms for a hug. He hugged her tightly. He pulled away but she held onto his hands. "What?" He asked quietly.

She smiled, moving her hands up his shoulders. She rest her hands on his neck. She pulled him closer as she leaned in. She placed a kiss on his lips. Her heart raced as he put his hands on either side of her to hold her steady. She nipped lightly at his bottom lip. He pulled away slowly. "Mmm, what was that for?" He wondered aloud.

"Just for being you." She said softly. Her lips and body was still buzzing from the kiss. She ran her fingers though his hair. "I love you Troy, have a good practice."

He sighed in content. "I love you too." Troy murmured softly. He leaned down kissing her bump. "Text me when you get home." She nodded, releasing him. She turned in her seat. He closed the door. She blew him a kiss as he walked away.

Getting over being sick AGAIN. I feel like ever since i moved i've been sick like every other month. I never used to get sick. Anyway. Working on new stories as usual. Hoping to wrap this one up soon. Next week i'm going to put up the second chapter to SB. Hope y'all have a good thanksgiving and do lots of shopping. Don't forget to review!