For the next few weeks, Troy and Gabriella concentrated on the baby's nursery and buying all the baby stuff together. They put all their differences aside to make an effort to make a beautiful nursery together and having fun along the way. After buying the paint for the walls, both of them painted the room together without any help. Troy at first completely objected the idea of Gabriella doing the amount of work that she's going to do but she still insisted on helping out Troy as he couldn't do the painting all by himself. But the most work Gabriella ever did is buy the baby stuff while all Troy did was carrying the bags or assembles the crib.
With their creative minds, they managed to paint a mural on one of the walls. Right where the crib is going to be, they made a mural of a few storks and a tree at the corner. While working, they both had fun with playing with one another and fooling around in the process. During this process, they fell more in love with one another every single time but still kept quiet about it.
One weekend, Troy and Gabriella decided to take a break from decorating the baby nursery. Gabriella decided to go Christmas shopping with Sharpay while Troy made plans to meet up with some of his friends. It has been a while since he seen his friends from college. Not since the whole lying thing. They all decided to meet up at their usual spot, at the bar at the corner of Ridgeway Street. The atmosphere of the bar is just like how Troy remembered it. He used to come in every once in a while when he's bored or when he's meeting up with his friends. When he arrived, his friends were already at the bar and talking. Chad was the first one to notice Troy's arrival.
"Look who decided to take a day off the baby business," Chad joked.
"Haha, very funny," Troy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"What's up man? I haven't heard anything from you for months and then Chad just told me you got married and having a baby together? Which lady did you screw up," one of his friends, Zeke joked while shaking his hand.
"It's a long story," Troy said after ordering a glass of beer.
"We've got time," his other friend, Jason said.
"I thought Chad told you the whole story already," Troy pointed out.
"He didn't tell us what's with your brain for the past few months though," Zeke replied.
"Guys, it's complicated. I don't want to get into it now," Troy said.
"Come on, at least tell us about your loving wife who's carrying your child," Jason said.
Troy rolled his eyes and answered them, "Her name is Gabriella Montez. We met at this café where her old boss told her to go to get coffee. It was a crowded day and she landed on my lap accidently while making her way to the counter. Anyways, a week before that, my parents told me that they want to put me in an arranged marriage and of course, I didn't want to go through with it so when I met up with her again, I asked her to do pretend to be my girlfriend in exchange of her sketchbook she left behind after meeting me. She agreed to the idea and met my family and a few days later, they want me to marry Gabriella. I didn't know what to do so I panicked and proposed to her," he told them.
Zeke and Jason chuckled, "Panicked and proposed? Is that a new type of strategy to not let go of a girl?" Zeke joked.
"Shut up Zeke. Let him finish," Chad scolded him.
"And then long story short, her dad didn't approve and forced both of us to live together and then accidently slept together due to a drunken night and then got married and now we're having a baby," Troy continued.
"Wow," Jason said.
"So you two weren't thinking straight when you were drunk and then sleeping together without using any protection?" Zeke asked.
"I guess. You should've tried the wine. It was the strongest thing I've ever drink. We got drunk in less than an hour," Troy said.
"So was she good in bed?" Jason asked.
"What?" Troy asked in shocked. "Why would you even ask that?"
"Just curious," Jason answered easily.
Troy shrugged, "I guess so. I have to say I enjoyed it very much."
"Whoa, you never told me you enjoyed having sex with her," Chad said.
"Why should I tell you in the first place?" Troy asked.
Chad ignored his reply and said, "So does this means you're finally in love with your wife?"
"I don't have to answer to you guys," Troy debated.
"Yes you do. We're brothers remember. We tell each other everything," Chad said.
"You make us sound like the sisterhood or something," Zeke said.
"Shut up Zeke," Chad scolded again.
"Guys, I don't know what's the big deal is, so what if I like Gabriella. In fact, I think she likes me back but she's just having trouble admitting it," Troy said.
"Just like you?" Chad asked.
"It's complicated okay," Troy said.
"So it's complicated for you to tell Gabriella that you love her but it's not hard for you to ask her to become your pretend girlfriend?" Jason asked.
"I told you it's complicated. I'm hoping that having this baby will help us develop our relationship so she won't think that I only stayed with her because of the baby," Troy explained.
His friends nodded in understanding. "So you're going to be a dad soon. How does it feel?" Jason asked.
"Ok, I guess. Why do you ask?" Troy asked.
"Nothing, it's just that I have this cousin who at one time found out that she's pregnant and then her husband at first was happy but as she entered her third trimester, her husband got scared," Jason explained.
"Why did her husband get scared?" Troy asked.
"Well, having a baby is a big step for him. With the baby coming, he has a big responsibility now and he is forced to leave his social life for family. Don't forget the whole financial thing. With a kid, you have to have a lot of money for toys and eventually school and other stuff like that. But most of all, he's afraid that his child will grow up hating him if he doesn't provide a good living for his kid," Jason explained.
Troy remained quiet but inside he was starting to panic. He would never thought about his child hating him. What if she does? What if she noticed the bad parenting between him and Gabriella and ends up hating him for it? What if she found out that Troy and Gabriella only married because of a favour gone wrong? Will she understand or will she blame Troy for it forever?
"Troy?" Chad said as he waved his hand in front of Troy's face but to no respond.
"I think you scared him about parenthood Jase," Zeke said.
"I didn't mean to. I was just telling him a story that's all," Jason defended himself.
"I'm going to be a dad," Troy finally spoke softly but still staring off to space.
"Yeah, I think you really scared him Jason," Chad joked. "Troy, do you need another drink?"
"I'm going to be a dad to someone," Troy repeated while heavily breathing. "Oh no."
"What's wrong with being a dad to someone?" Chad asked.
"What if my own baby hates me? What if I become my own dad and forced my child to follow my footsteps? Oh, she's going to hate me," Troy said as he rubbed his forehead.
"Look, Troy, normally I would give you advice about this kind of thing but I'm not a dad and I don't have a child but it doesn't take a scientist to know that you'll do fine," Chad advised and Jason and Zeke nodded in agreement.
"That's easy for you to say. All of you aren't married and don't have a family," Troy said.
"And thank god for that. I can't imagine being in your situation right now," Zeke commented. He received a punch in the arm for his comment by Chad.
Troy went home early that night and threw his keys on the coffee table and head out to the balcony to do some thinking. He's still in shock about the whole parenting thing. He's worried he'll win the worst parent award because he failed as a parent and as a good husband. Jason was right, being a father is a huge step for him. A major huge step.
"Troy? Are you home?" Gabriella called from the house.
Hearing Gabriella's voice made Troy relaxed a little. "Yeah, I'm at the balcony," he replied.
"Oh," Gabriella said as she walked to the balcony. "What are you doing out here? I made dinner. Well I ordered dinner actually. I had an appetite for chicken."
"I'm not that hungry," Troy said.
"Are you sure? I ordered chickens to share. I know you like chicken," Gabriella said.
Troy chuckled, "I'll eat later."
Gabriella could tell something was bothering Troy, "Are you ok?" she asked.
Troy didn't know what to answer. He didn't want to lie but he didn't want to tell Gabriella the truth. Instead of answering her, he turned back to the view. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked again while standing next to him.
Troy shook his head, "No. You didn't do anything. I did," he said.
"What are talking about?" Gabriella asked.
"Don't you get scared by the thought of you becoming a parent in three months?" Troy asked.
"What? Why did you ask that? Are you scared?"
Troy sighed, "Yeah. I'm scared. But mostly, I'm afraid that I'll mess this up. I'm afraid that she'll grow up hating me."
"Why would she hate you?" Gabriella asked.
"Because of not being a good parent to her," Troy answered sadly.
"Troy, you're going to be fine. I know it," Gabriella encouraged.
"But what if I mess up?" Troy asked.
"Then stop believing that you will. You're going to be a great father no matter how much you mess up. My fear is that one day I have to do this all alone because you left. That's what I'm afraid of," Gabriella said honestly.
"You think I would leave you?" Troy questioned.
"I don't know. Would you leave?" Gabriella asked.
Troy looked at her in the eyes, "Of course not. I would never leave you to handle this all by yourself because apparently, I have a responsibility now as a father and as your husband."
Gabriella smiled at his answer, "I'm scared that I'll mess up too but that's just how it is I guess. You just have to fight it and deal with it," she said.
"What if I can't?" he asked.
"You will. Because you're not doing this alone. You'll have me and if both of us are the worst parents in the world then so be it. At least we know that we're good parents and that we love our child very much," Gabriella said.
Troy smiled at her encouragement and confidence towards her full commitment to parenthood. Maybe Gabriella's right. He can do this. With the help of Gabriella, both of them will be the best parents ever. "Thanks Gabriella and you're going to be good mother," he said. "So what did you buy while you're out shopping?"
"Oh, uh...nothing much. Just the usual stuff for babies and myself," Gabriella said.
Troy could tell she was hiding something, "So just how many of the usual stuff you bought?" he asked suspiciously.
"Uh…I'm starving. Let's go eat," she said as she pulled Troy's wrist.
Troy chuckled at Gabriella's actions. Lately, she has been buying a lot of baby stuff by herself and then storing it in the closet. She still thinks that Troy doesn't know about her constant spending.
So what did you think? Good, Bad, Horrible?
Anyways, I am going to be busy for two weeks of June because I have to go back to school because I didn't do well for chemistry. I will work on the next chapter every single time I can and then post it as soon as I can.
PLEASE REVIEW!
Here's a sneak peek!
"I'm moving out."
Who do think said that?
