Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 19 – No Doubt About It

When Troy awoke the next morning, he was alone on the couch and the house was quiet. Was last night all just a dream? Where is Brie? Troy got up and went to look for his family. When he went to each of the kids' rooms, he noticed they were both gone, as was Gabriella. That's weird. Brie didn't mention going anywhere. Then again, we really haven't had a chance to talk.

Troy walked back into the kitchen and found a note stuck to the refrigerator.

Troy

The kids and I are shopping today with Sharpay. I don't know when we'll be back but I'm dropping the kids off with my mom before I come back. We need to talk.

Brie

They did need to talk. Troy just didn't know when they would be back or how long they had been gone. He hadn't heard them leave or even known that Gabriella had gotten up off the couch. Troy went and showered then went back to the couch and sat and watched movies until mid-afternoon when he decided that he would cook Gabriella dinner since it would just be the two of them. He went into kitchen to see what they had that he could fix.

A couple hours later, Troy had dinner ready, along with a table set for two with candlelight. The only problem was, he still didn't know when Gabriella would be home. Troy sat and waited until finally he heard her come in the front door.

"Troy, are you home?"

"In here," he hollered from the dining room.

Gabriella sat her bags down, and then walked into the dining room. She gasped at the sight.

"I'm so sorry for yesterday. I was a total asshole and if you don't want to have dinner with me I will completely understand. But I love you so much, please don't ever doubt that. I just want to have a nice dinner with my beautiful wife and then we can talk."

Gabriella nodded as she blinked back tears. Troy held out a chair for her as she walked over to the table and sat down. Troy sat down and looked at her and smiled. Gabriella was still a little unsure about what to say to Troy, so their dinner was a quiet one.

After dinner, Troy told Gabriella to go relax as he cleaned up, then he would meet her in the living room. Gabriella nodded and turned to go put away the things she had bought that day. When Troy was finished cleaning, he went into the living room, but Gabriella wasn't in there so he sat on the couch and waited for her. A few minutes later, she came downstairs and sat beside him, leaving some room between them.

Troy looked over at Gabriella, confused at the distance she placed between them when she sat down. Maybe I was wrong last night to assume that she still loves me. She is being so quiet and distant.

Troy spoke softly to her, "Brie, will you please say something. You've been so quiet since you came home and it's starting to worry me."

"Troy, I just don't understand. What happened with you last night? First you storm out. Then you got in a fight with David. Then you didn't come home until halfway through the night. But when you did come home, its like you had never been mad at me. And now you're fixing me candlelit dinners?"

"Brie, I love you so much. I didn't stop. I was just hurt. I mean…look at it from my perspective. I come home from a long day at work, after a long week, excited to see you because you always brighten my day. And when I walk in I see you sitting here kissing your ex-boyfriend. It broke my heart and at the moment I couldn't stand the sight of either one of you. But I went and thought about everything for a while when all that David said to me finally clicked. You didn't kiss him back and he didn't give you time to even tell him you were married."

"Troy, I would never intentionally hurt you. Plus, I would never want to put what we have in jeopardy. I love you too much and I'll never stop loving you as long as I live. Like you said, David didn't give me time to respond. He just told me that he still has feelings for me and wanted me back, but before I could respond he kissed me. I was so stunned by his kiss that I didn't have time to react and push him away before you walked in the door." Gabriella started crying remembering how she spent her evening. "I didn't know where you went last night or if you would ever come back or if you would ever forgive me. I cried myself to sleep last night as I was looking at the picture of us on our wedding day, wishing that I could just go back to that day."

"I wouldn't want to go back to that day."

"Why not? That day was one of the happiest days of my life."

"Yeah it was for me, too. But think of all that has happened since then. If we went back, we wouldn't have Caleb and we would have to relive some of the worst struggles that we have ever faced. Like when Caleb was born. That started out as one of the happiest days of my life and ended as one of the worst. Plus, I haven't ever loved you as much as I do right now, not even on our wedding day. I didn't think it was possible, but it is. And I'm sure I will love you even more tomorrow."

"I love you, too, Troy, so much." Troy leaned over and kissed Gabriella softly. When he pulled back, Gabriella smiled at Troy.

Troy pulled Gabriella over onto his lap and kissed her again. "I'm so glad we worked this out. I was so worried last night that you were going to leave me for David. And then this morning when I woke up by myself I thought that having you in my arms again was all a dream, especially when the house was empty. I was afraid that you really had left me."

"Troy, I could never leave you, especially for David. David and I were over a long time ago, and that's the way it is going to stay. We did decide last night that we wanted to be friends, though."

Troy nodded and smiled. "Now, that I think I can handle…as long has he doesn't try to kiss you again." Troy chuckled as Gabriella lightly hit him on the arm.

Gabriella looked up and kissed Troy again, then leaned back and looked at him. "Troy, there is one more thing I need to talk to you about, though."

Troy noticed Gabriella had a nervous look on her face. "What is it, Brie?"

"I kinda lied to you." Gabriella looked down.

Troy looked confused. "What did you lie to me about?" Then Troy tensed up when he thought of David and he began to get mad. "Do you still have feelings for David? Did you kiss him back?"

Gabriella began to get even more nervous because she saw how mad Troy was getting. She tried to get up off his lap, afraid of his reaction, but he held her in place, with his arms securely around her waist.

Troy spoke to her, more softly this time, regretting speaking out in anger. "Brie, what is it? What did you lie about?"

"This morning when I told you I was going shopping with Sharpay. It wasn't the whole truth. I did go shopping with Sharpay, as you probably saw by the bags. But that isn't the only place I went. I didn't meet up with her until 1:00."

"Where did you go?"

"Well I went a couple of places actually. I did meet up with David, but only to tell him that you came home last night. He was really worried, Troy."

"Ok, where else did you go?"

"I went to the doctor."

"What? Why? Is everything ok? Have you been sick?"

"Yeah, I have been sick, but I didn't want to worry you so I didn't say anything until I knew what was going on."

"Brie, we have to communicate better. When something is wrong, I want to know. When you don't feel good, I want to know. Even if you think I am busy, I will make the time to be with you and listen to what you have to say. And if you're sick, I want you to tell me so I can be there for you when you go to the doctor. I want to go with you so that I can be sure you are ok and find out how I can help you get better."

"Well, then I suggest you get used to going to doctor's appointments because I am going to be going to several."

"Why? What did you find out?" Troy began to panic, thinking Gabriella must be very sick.

"How do you feel about three kids?"

"Three kids? We only have…you're pregnant?" Gabriella nodded. "Sweetheart, this is amazing! Oh my god, I'm so happy! I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that I'll be a father again, as long as you are always the mother of my children." Troy sighed in relief.

"Well I'd better be the only mother to your children."

Troy laughed. "There's no doubt about it."