A couple days later, Gabriella walked into the house and smiled when she saw Troy sleeping on the couch. He had been going back and forth from their house to his parent's nonstop for the last few days. Gabriella walked over to her husband and placed a kiss on Troy's forehead. His eyes opened and he sat up instantly.
"Hey, relax. Nothing happened. I was just going to tell you that I was home" Gabriella said.
Troy lied back down on the couch.
"I had an appointment with Dr. Brand today" Gabriella said.
"Why didn't you tell me? I would have gone with you" Troy said feeling horrible that he missed Gabriella's prenatal appointment.
"Baby, you have going back and forth from our house to mom's. You haven't been sleeping. I didn't want to add another thing that you have to think about" Gabriella said.
"I'm sorry I missed it" Troy said.
"Don't worry about it. Everything's fine. The baby is healthy she said. She asked if we wanted to find out the sex but I told her that you needed to be there for that" Gabriella said.
"I'm really sorry, Brie. I haven't been- "Troy started.
"I know and you don't have to explain. It's okay" Gabriella said.
Troy sat up and leaned in and kissed her lips.
"How's mom today?" Gabriella asked.
"She's up and down. The physical therapist came and mom was getting frustrated" Troy said.
"Did the therapist make her get out of bed?" Gabriella asked.
"Not yet. That's the main goal right now" Troy said.
"What did dad say?" Gabriella asked.
"He's like me. We had to listen to her in pain and we didn't like it" Troy said.
"You knew it was going to be hard" Gabriella said.
"I didn't think it would be this hard" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled slightly and kissed Troy's lips. She then pulled out the sonogram from her purse and handed it to Troy. Troy looked at the sonogram and smiled. He kissed it and held it to his heart.
"When are you going to go back to mom's?" Gabriella asked.
"In a little while. I told Grace I would take her for a walk after her nap" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I haven't been seeing them either" Troy said feeling guilty.
"Troy, there are a lot of things going on right now. You can't do them all at once. Grace knows that mom is sick. She even asked me if you were over there and I told her yes" Gabriella said.
"I just feel like everything stopped when this happened. I've been just so focused on trying to get mom comfortable and what she needs and I haven't been focused on what I have to do" Troy said.
"It was a shock. We didn't know this was going to happen. We couldn't prepare for it. You are doing the best you can and I know that mom appreciates what you are doing" Gabriella said.
Troy took a deep breath and released it. Gabriella kissed Troy's cheek softly.
"I love you" Gabriella said.
"I love you too. Thank you for holding everything together while I have been dealing with all of this stuff" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled and kissed Troy's lips again.
"I do it because I love you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. An hour later, Grace came downstairs after she woke up from her nap. Troy heard footsteps come into the living room.
"Hey bug, how was your nap?" Troy asked looking at Grace.
"Good" Grace said.
"You want to go on a walk with me?" Troy asked.
"Okay" Grace said.
"Go get your shoes on and we will go" Troy said.
Grace ran upstairs to get her shoes. A couple minutes later, she came downstairs.
"Ready" Grace said.
"Okay, let's go" Troy said.
"Bye baby. Have fun" Gabriella said.
"Bye mommy" Grace said.
Troy took Grace's hand and the father daughter duo left the house. Troy and Grace started walking down the street.
"Is mama okay daddy?" Grace asked.
"She's okay. She is going to be sick for a while" Troy said.
"When will she get better?" Grace asked.
"I don't know baby girl. But she and her doctor are working really hard to make her feel better" Troy said.
"I don't want mama to be sick" Grace said.
"I know you don't. I don't want her to be sick either. We have to be strong for her though. If we are strong for mama, then she will get stronger and feel better" Troy said.
"How can we be strong for her?" Grace asked.
"We have to tell her that she will get better and that everything is going to be fine" Troy said.
"I want to tell her that" Grace said.
Troy smiled slightly.
"Maybe when I go see mama, you can tell her" Troy said.
Grace nodded. Troy and Grace continued their walk and returned home. That night, Troy walked downstairs and smiled when he saw Gabriella looking in the mirror.
"Baby is growing" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled and nodded. He walked over to his wife and kissed her shoulder. Troy stood in front of Gabriella and kneeled down and lifted Gabriella's shirt, exposing her bump. He brushed his hand over it and smiled.
"Hi baby. Daddy's here" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
Troy kissed Gabriella's stomach softly. Gabriella giggled.
"That tickles" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled and kissed her bump one last time before letting her shirt fall over it. He stood up and kissed Gabriella's lips.
"Do you want to find out the sex at my next appointment?" Gabriella asked.
"Yeah. If you want to" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I'm going to mom's and I was going to take Grace with me" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
Troy knew that Gabriella didn't want Grace to see his mother in the condition that she was in, but he didn't know if she had a lot of time left. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips.
"I love you" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"I love you too baby. Be careful" Gabriella said.
"I will" Troy said.
Troy and Grace left the house and drove to the Bolton home.
"Gracie, remember mama may not look the same or talk the same okay? If you get scared, let me know and papa will take you downstairs" Troy said
"Okay daddy" Grace said.
Troy and Grace got out of the car and walked into the house.
"Dad?" Troy called.
Jack appeared and smiled.
"Hey big girl. I missed you" Jack said as Grace ran into her grandfather's arms.
Troy smiled.
"How is she doing today?" Troy asked.
"Physical therapist came and mom argued with her. I think she's getting frustrated" Jack said.
Troy nodded and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Well maybe we came at a good time" Troy said.
Jack nodded.
"Mama will be so happy to see you" Jack said looking at Grace.
Grace smiled.
"Come on baby, let's go upstairs" Troy said.
Jack put Grace back on her feet and Troy and Grace walked upstairs and into the master bedroom.
"Hi mom" Troy said.
"Tr..oy" Lucille said.
"Yeah, I'm here. I brought someone special too" Troy said.
"Mama" Grace said.
Troy looked at Grace and smiled. Tears ran down Lucille's cheek.
"Gr..ace" Lucille said.
"Yeah, that's Grace. She wanted to come and see you. Baby, you want to say hi?" Troy asked looking at his daughter.
Grace nodded skeptically. Troy smiled. He opened his arms and Grace held out her arms to her father. Troy lifted Grace onto his hip.
"Hi mama" Grace said.
"Hi Gr..ace" Lucille said.
Troy smiled and looked down at his daughter.
"See, it's still mama" Troy said.
Grace buried her face in Troy's neck. Troy put his hand on Grace's back and rubbed it gently. Grace wrapped her arms around her father's neck.
"Do you want to go downstairs with papa?" Troy asked.
Grace shook her head.
"Are you getting scared baby?" Troy asked.
Grace nodded slightly. Troy kissed Grace's head.
"I..love…you Gr..ace" Lucille said.
Troy smiled.
"Did you hear her?" Troy asked.
Grace nodded. She moved so she was looking at Lucille.
"I love you mama" Grace said.
"Do you want to give mama the card that you made her?" Troy asked.
Grace nodded. She slid off Troy's lap and walked closer to the bed. Troy smiled sympathetically as he watched Grace stand next to his mother's bed.
"Mama, I made you a card" Grace said.
"You can read it to her Grace" Troy said.
"I drew a picture of you and me. There's you and there's me. I wrote get well soon on it too" Grace said pointing out what was in the card.
Troy smiled. Lucille moved her hand and placed it on top of Grace's.
"Th..ank you sweet…heart. I…love…it" Lucille said.
Grace looked at Troy and smiled brightly.
"Why don't you put it on the table next to her bed?" Troy said.
Grace put the card on the bedside table.
"How's physical therapy going mom?" Troy asked.
"I…hate…it" Lucille said.
Troy smiled slightly.
"We need you to get better mom. Not just for me. But for Grace, Logan, Gabriella, and the new baby" Troy said.
"I..will…try…Tr..oy" Lucille said.
Troy nodded.
"That's all I ask. I'm going to head home. I love you mom" Troy said.
Lucille lifted her hand slowly and placed it on the side of Troy's face. Troy put his hand on top of hers.
"I…love…you…too…Tr..oy" Lucille said.
Troy smiled. He sniffled and blinked several times, trying to get rid of the burning in his eyes. Troy wanted to be strong for his mother and for Grace. He kissed Lucille's forehead softly.
"I'll be back tomorrow okay?" Troy said.
Lucille nodded slowly. Troy turned to Grace and smiled.
"You ready to go bug?" Troy asked.
Grace nodded.
"Alright, let's go" Troy said.
Troy and Grace left the bedroom and walked downstairs. Jack was sitting in the living room. He looked up and knew Troy was trying to be strong.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
Troy nodded.
"I'll be back tomorrow. If anything happens, call me" Troy said.
"Troy" Jack said.
Troy looked at his father.
"Don't hold it in. I know that you are hurting but you can't keep yourself from feeling all of this" Jack said.
Troy nodded.
"Gracie, go give papa a hug and a kiss and we will go see mommy" Troy said.
Grace hugged and kissed her grandfather and left the house. Troy and Grace got into the car.
"Daddy?" Grace asked.
"Yeah?" Troy asked as he started driving.
"Were you crying?" Grace asked.
Troy smiled. She was a smart little girl.
"A little bit. But, I'm okay" Troy said truthfully.
"I don't want you to be sad, daddy" Grace said.
"I know you don't sweetheart. But sometimes, you can't help it. Mama is very sick and I want to help her. But my help may not be enough" Troy said.
"You said that if we are strong then mama will get strong. We have to do that daddy" Grace said.
"Yeah, we do" Troy said.
Troy drove home and parked his car. He and Grace got out of the car and went into the house. Gabriella smiled when she saw Grace walk into the house. She then saw Troy walk in and knew that something was up.
"Babe, are you okay?" Gabriella asked.
"I'm fine. I am going to shoot hoops" Troy said.
"Troy" Gabriella started.
"Brie, baby, I'm fine. I just need to deal with this on my own right now" Troy said softly as he put his hand on Gabriella's cheek.
Gabriella nodded.
"I just don't want you to feel like you are alone in this" Gabriella said.
"I know and thank you for thinking that. There's just a lot of things going through my head right now and its kind of overwhelming. The only way I could see myself finding any sort of peace is to figure it out on my own" Troy explained.
Gabriella nodded.
"I'm not trying to push you away baby. I hope you understand that" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled slightly and kissed Troy's cheek.
"I know you aren't. I don't like seeing you like this Troy. If you want to sort through everything on your own, I will accept that. But if you can't or don't want to, I'm always here" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Thank you honey. I know you don't. I love you" Troy said.
Gabriella leaned in and kissed Troy's lips.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella. Gabriella wrapped hers around his waist. She felt Troy's body start to shake and her shoulder became wet. Gabriella kissed Troy's cheek and rubbed his back soothingly.
"Everything is going to be okay" Gabriella said.
Ten minutes later, Troy's body stopped shaking and he sniffled.
"Sorry" Troy mumbled.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. You are one man that has had to take on a lot in a short amount time. All your emotions were built up baby. Like I said before, if you need to sort through everything, I am here" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled and kissed Gabriella's forehead.
"I'm going to go take a shower" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy walked upstairs and took a shower. Twenty minutes later, Troy came downstairs and smiled when he saw Logan lying on the couch watching one of his favorite shows on television.
"Hey bud" Troy said.
"Hi daddy" Logan said.
"What are we watching?" Troy asked.
"Cars" Logan said.
Gabriella came downstairs and saw Logan and Troy sitting on the couch.
"Feeling a little better?" Gabriella asked.
Troy smiled and nodded. He looked down at Logan. Troy got up and walked over to Gabriella.
"How are you feeling?" Troy asked putting his hand on Gabriella's expanding stomach.
"Fine. A little crazy with everything going on. But, I'm okay" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled sympathetically.
"I didn't want to stress you out with all of this" Troy said.
Troy looked down at Gabriella's bump. Gabriella put her hand on her husband's face and brought it up to her level.
"She's my mother too. It's hard to watch someone you love go from being okay to not. The baby is fine. Logan has been on baby watch. He always asks me if I'm okay" Gabriella said.
Troy chuckled.
"At least part of me is always with you when I'm not actually here" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"But, as much as I need to be with mom, I need to be here with you. I'm sorry that I haven't been lately" Troy said.
"Babe, we've talked about this. You are dealing with a lot. I don't want you to worry. I guess we both feel like we are stressing each other out" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled and nodded. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips softly. Gabriella pulled away slowly and wrapped her arms around Troy's neck.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
A couple weeks later, Gabriella was sitting in an exam room waiting for Dr. Brand to come in. Troy was at his parent's house because the physical therapist was coming to work with Lucille and he wanted to see her progress and see if she was getting better or worse. There was a knock on the door and Dr. Brand came into the room.
"Hi Gabi, Troy working today?" Dr. Brand asked as she washed her hands.
"He's with his parents. His mom had a stroke and so he's dealing with a lot right now" Gabriella said.
"And how are you doing?" Dr. Brand asked.
"A little stressed out. I've been trying to be calm but sometimes you can't in a situation like that" Gabriella said.
Dr. Brand nodded.
"I get it" Dr. Brand said.
There was a knock on the door and Troy poked his head in.
"Am I late?" Troy asked.
Gabriella smiled and shook her head. Troy walked into the exam room and closed the door behind him.
"You are supposed to-" Gabriella started.
"I went to mom's and talked to the therapist early so I could make it" Troy said.
Gabriella's eyes filled with tears. Troy smiled and kissed Gabriella's cheek.
"How is your mom doing Troy?" Dr. Brand asked.
"Doing as good as she can. She's a fighter. Did I miss anything important?" Troy asked.
"No. We were just about to get started. Gabi, can you lie back for me?" Dr. Brand asked.
Gabriella lied down on the exam table. Troy kissed Gabriella's lips.
"You are crazy wildcat. I'm so happy that you are here" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled. Dr. Brand turned on the ultrasound and pulled Gabriella's gown above her bump. She squeezed gel onto Gabriella's stomach and picked up the wand and moved the product around Gabriella's bump.
"There's your baby" Dr. Brand said pointing to the screen.
The couple looked at the screen and smiled.
"It got so big" Troy said.
"You didn't come last month so you haven't seen it for a while" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded feeling guilty that he missed Gabriella's last appointment.
"Do you want to find out the sex?" Dr. Brand asked.
Gabriella looked at Troy, who took her hand in his and nodded.
"Yeah" Gabriella said.
"Okay let's take a look and see if we can tell" Dr. Brand said moving the wand around Gabriella's stomach.
Dr. Brand stopped moving the wand and pointed to the screen.
"It looks like another girl. Congratulations" Dr. Brand said.
Gabriella looked at Troy and couldn't help but cry. Troy kissed Gabriella's lips softly.
"I love you baby" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Troy wiped the tears that were running down Gabriella's face. He looked up at Dr. Brand.
"Is the baby still breech?" Troy asked.
"Let's take a look" Dr. Brand said.
Troy smoothed Gabriella's hair back with his free hand. Dr. Brand moved the wand around Gabriella's stomach and took a deep breath and released it.
"Yeah, it looks like it" Dr. Brand said.
Troy took a deep breath and released it. He looked at Gabriella, who looked disappointed.
"She can still turn around right?" Troy asked.
'Yeah, she can. But we have to be prepared for everything" Dr. Brand said.
Troy nodded. Gabriella tightened her grip on Troy's hand.
"Let me go print these pictures for you and I will be back" Dr. Brand said.
Dr. Brand left the room. Troy looked at Gabriella.
"Baby, are you okay?" Troy asked.
"I don't want to talk about it" Gabriella said.
"Brie, she can still turn" Troy said.
"What if she doesn't?" Gabriella said sniffling.
"If she doesn't, then we will deal with it when we get to that point. But for right now, we don't know if she will turn or not" Troy said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it.
"Do you want me to stay home tomorrow?" Troy asked.
Gabriella shook her head.
"You have a lot of things to do at work and then you have to go to mom's" Gabriella said.
"Gabriella, look at me baby" Troy said.
Gabriella looked at Troy with tears in her eyes.
"I know that there are a lot of things going on right now. I'm sorry that I'm not home as much as I should be" Troy said.
Gabriella looked down at her expanding bump.
"It's not your fault Troy. I'm just really scared about it. I've been reading things online and they have been scaring me" Gabriella said choking up.
Troy's face softened. He held Gabriella's cheek in his hand.
"Why didn't you tell me that before baby?" Troy asked.
"I didn't want to add another thing to your plate. I wanted to keep you out of it because of everything that was going on" Gabriella said.
"You are not adding another thing to my plate. Don't even say that, Brie. This baby is our responsibility. Yours and mine. No matter how much is going on, you will always be a priority okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella sniffled and nodded.
"Oh sweetheart" Troy said.
Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's neck. Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek.
"I'm sorry" Gabriella said.
"You are pregnant. You are allowed to be emotional. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me. I should have been paying more attention" Troy said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it. There was a knock on the door and Dr. Brand came back into the room.
"We'll talk more at home okay?" Troy said softly.
Gabriella nodded. Dr. Brand handed Troy the sonogram.
"Alright, Gabriella I want to examine you" Dr. Brand said.
Dr. Brand went ahead with her exam. Troy held Gabriella's hand and smoothed her hair back. He felt awful that Gabriella was feeling the way she did. Troy hoped that by talking to her at home, he could figure out a way to balance everything that was going on equally.
