Chapter 7- Cheese Balls and Alarm Clocks

My eyes were raw with tears; I had not slept all night. I rocked back and forth in the rocking chair with Liam. His tiny nose was pressed against my chest and his soft sleepy breaths were the only noise in the room.

I looked at the wall to see it was four in the morning, it had been a long night so far and the hours were creeping by, mostly everybody was gone by two. The others all left in the hour, it had only been silent for about an hour and Liam was getting real sleep now.

I kissed his forehead and I got up from the chair, I had no clue where Troy went and I had that feeling in my stomach that maybe we should talk.

I sighed, I pushed Liam's blanket just over his tiny waist, and I stared at his dreaming self. I had to talk to Troy for Liam and only for Liam. I hugged my arms around my chest and I looked around the room.

On the wall was a picture of all three of us, the day after Liam was born. I smiled and then I saw the one that said Mommy+Daddy=me. It had sonogram pictures and then on of him the day he was born. I went over and traced my fingers over the letters.

I took a deep breath and I walked over to the door. I opened and I carefully headed down the stairs to see if he was lying on the couch.

When he was not there I looked around to see his car keys sitting on the counter, I sighed and I opened the door down to the office. I opened it quietly to see him sitting there tapping a pencil against his desk, the screen blank. I took a small breath, "Happy Birthday," I said, he swiveled his chair around to look at me.

"Oh, thanks." He said, I stood awkwardly at the door and he looked around the room. He had changed; he was in a pair of sweats and a hoodie.

"I just-" we both started at the same time and we both blushed, "You go ahead," we said together again, he chuckled while I laughed, "Gosh we are really meant to be huh?"

I giggled and I walked towards him a little more, "I don't know, are we?" I asked, he did not answer right away but he patted his lap for me to come sit down. I shuffled forward and I took a seat on his lap.

"I think we are soul mates Brie, I know we belong together." He said into my ear, I bite down on my lip and I leaned against him, "And before you bring up the marriage card, can we please just skip this talk? I know you want to get married but I don't know if I am ready to be married." He said, I turned to look at him, "And its not you Gabi, it really isn't anything to do with you. It's me." He said his arms gripped around me so I did not go anywhere.

"But what's wrong Troy?" I asked trying to turn to face him, he started to talk but he stopped, he then looked at me.

His blue eyes looked straight into mine, his eyes shifting back and forth, he tried to speak again but nothing again came out. I could tell he could not find the right wording for what he was looking for. I let my hand fall on his shoulder and I rubbed it, "I am not going to get mad at you Troy," I said softly, he smiled and then shifted,

"I am afraid everything is going to change and what we have now isn't going to be the same." He said honestly, I bit my lip trying to stop the tears that were forming. "Because what we have now is the most amazing thing ever."

"Troy, nothing could ever change and if it did, it would probably get better." He shifted and he ran his fingers through his hair, "It's just that you see all of these marriages in LA go down the drain. I bet if I was a divorce lawyer here I would make more money than basketball." He said, I could not help but giggle.

"Troy, you could not."

He shrugged, "But if we got married it would be…different." I said, "How?"

I looked up at him, "Because our relationship didn't start in LA, it started in New Mexico. It wasn't here and we have survived so much already Troy, what makes you think our marriage wouldn't last."

"Look at Kobe and Vanessa,"

"They still are married Troy," I said confused, "Yeah, well they almost got a divorce for something stupid Kobe did, I am afraid I am going to do something stupid, hurt you and Liam, and lose you both." He said into my ear quietly, I played with my fingers and I did not talk. Neither did Troy.

The silence around was was not awkward nor was it comfortable, I took a small breath and then Liam's cry was heard through the house. Troy and I both jumped up and we blushed again.

"I can" we started again together and we laughed, we both got up and we headed up the stairs. Even though we were not done, we would stop long enough to go check on Liam. It was silent all the way until we reached his room, "I got this one," Troy said, I still followed him in though.

Troy bent over the crib and pulled Liam out, he grabbed the blanket with him and he rocked him in his arms. A smile played on my lips and I felt my heart flutter. Liam soon stopped crying and Troy went over to change his diaper. Many guys would complain and beg for me to do this but Troy, Troy was one to ask to do it. I would think once he is home for more than a few weeks at a time that it would change. Once he was done, he placed Liam back in the crib and turned to face me.

"Oh I didn't think-"

I shrugged, "Come on, we need to go talk some more," I said, he nodded his head and we both headed downstairs to the living room. Mason and all of them headed home at midnight and the rest of his family was in hotels across the city. I looked out across the backyard to see it remotely clean. There were little things here and there but there was plenty of it cleaned up.

We both walked into the kitchen and I saw a DVD lying on the counter, Troy's Birthday collage. I sucked in a breath and then I sat down on the barstool.

"Tell me more about this," I whispered sliding the DVD across to him, he looked at it and he sucked in his breath. "Where to begin," he questioned, "Alicia Troy, please being with Alicia that everybody else in the goddamn room knew about but me." I said to him, he took a deep breath again and ran his fingers though his hair.

"Brie, Alicia was a nobody." He said, "Then why did you love her?"

"I didn't love her like I love you! Its like comparing you to my mom!" he said, his voice rose higher than it should have, "Maybe this is one of your mistakes you are worried about because this is by far the worst thing to keep from me." I threw at him, the face he gave look as if I just stabbed him.

"Troy, I," I started but he stopped me, "No, I deserved that one." He said holding up his hand, "But you should know that I stopped seeing her when you showed up. We still might have been a couple but I was not going on dates or anything. I didn't break it off until like three weeks after we met."

I crossed my arms over my chest, "So this would be after you asked me out on at least four dates, kissed more than once, and made out." I said, he locked his jaw and then he locked eyes with me.

"But nothing happened with her. I broke up with her and we were over. She didn't talk to me unless it was school related or to say good job on a game." He said, his face in all serious, "When was the last time you talk to her?"

"I don't know, freshman year of college?" he didn't know when, the was a good sign, right?

I grabbed his hand, "Fine but if you ever talk to her again, please tell me okay?" I said leaning forward, he put his hand around my face, "Is there anything else we need to talk about here?" he asked, "Err no, why?" I said

"Because that means I can do this," he said, he pulled my face closer to his and we kissed over the counter, I pressed my lips back onto his. He moved his body to where we were pressed up against each other on the counter.

"I love you Gabs,"

I smiled and I pulled back and then leaned forward to peck his lips, "Well I love you too." I said, I then took his hand and pulled him up the stairs. "Our we going to do something naughty?" Troy asked I rolled my eyes, "Does sleeping count?"

He chuckled, "Good, sleeping sounds fantastic right now." He said I saw him glance down at his watch, "Since it is almost five in the morning." He said, I laughed and we both went in to collapse on the bed. We crawled underneath the blankets; he wrapped his arms around me.

"Any other girls I need to know about?" I asked him, he shook his head, "Nope," he said, "Secrets?"

He thought about it for a minute, "Did I ever tell you about this one girlfriend?" he said, I shook my head, "What girlfriend?"

"Oh, I guess not. Okay, well she was beautiful, perfect, cute, sexy, and oh man did I not love her." He started; I looked at him as if he had gone crazy. "Sound familiar?" he asked, "No, but this girl is going to get her ass kicked." I mumbled, he chuckled, "Unless you know how to kick your own ass you better watch out." He mumbled I looked up at him in disbelief.

"Really Bolton," he smirked, "Really Montez."

I smiled and I snuggled into him, "And see once we are married, I wouldn't be able to that anymore."

"Do what?"

"Call you Montez,"

"I would give you permission." I said to him, he chuckled and then kissed my forehead, "I really hate fighting with you." He said, "I hate fighting with you too Troy,"

"Your love sets me free," I whispered into the quiet room and did not get a response.

I woke up to see it was past ten in the morning, Troy was still laying next to me and he was fast asleep, "Holy shit!" I yelled, I jumped up out of bed and went racing for Liam's room. Liam never, never, sleeps that long!

I raced down the hallway and busted into Liam's room, I walked over to his crib to see nothing in there. I began to panic and then Troy came flying into the room.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, I spun around to look at him, "I-I don't know where Liam is! It is ten Troy! He has been waking me up at seven every single morning and this morning he isn't even in here!" I cried, Troy peered over the crib and softly nodded his head. "Come on; let's go make sure that Sharpay or Taylor isn't here." He said into my ear, I took a small breath.

"I didn't mean to freak Troy; I have been so use to him waking me up and nobody else being here." I told him, he only rubbed my back. "I know baby girl." He said, we all then headed down the stairs and then I saw him. I took a deep breath, "Thank God." I whispered to myself, I then saw Anna, Isabella, Jillian, and Haley. "How did you guys?" I asked, "Oh shit, did we scare you guys?" Haley asked

I took a deep breath, "Not knowing where Liam was, that's what scared me." I whispered Jillian held her hand up, "Oh God! I am soo sorry! I have had it happen to me too, it is horrible. I am so so so so sorry!" she said standing up, "We came saying we were going to stick around for a while since everybody was taking off early this morning, like six something." Jillian said, "So we came over here around six thirty. Hung out until we heard Liam cry, we knew what to do so we just did."

I smiled and I bent over to grab Liam, "Oh and Troy happy birthday." Haley said, "I didn't see you after mid-night so…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, it got a little crazy." He said glancing over at me.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday." Jillian said to him, Isabella sat in her lap, "Isabella say Uncle Troy?" Jillian said into her ear, "Uca Twoy," she said playing with her fingers, Troy smiled and then went over and picked her up. "Isabella," he said snuggling his face into her neck. Liam then started to cry, all of us laughed, "You have a jealous little boy," Haley said, I giggled and I propped him up so he could see what was going on, Troy handed Isabella back to Jillian while he took Liam away from me.

"So, we have a little birthday present Troy," Jillian said standing up, "Oh I should go get mine," I said, I hurried up the stairs and I grabbed the presents from the closet. I raced back downstairs to see Troy sitting on the floor with Liam in-between his legs. "Did you get your parents present last night?" I asked, he nodded his head, "Yeah, they got me a new Xbox game." He said holding Liam to his chest.

"Alright, here is your gift." Haley said handing him the envelope and winking at me. "Oh and the two envelopes you are getting are from both of us, but one if from the little girls." Jillian said handing him the other one, "Open the one from the girls first." Jillian said she held Isabella tightly to her while Anna slept in the playpen in the corner.

Troy tore the envelope open, "Happy Birthday Cuz!" he read, and he then glanced down at the tickets that fell out under that. He picked them up and he smiled, "This is awesome," he said, he held up seven tickets, "Guess where we are going today?" He asked turning to me, I shrugged, "Where?"

"The zoo!" he said with the excitement of a six year old, I laughed and Haley and Jill both laughed. "We knew how much Troy loved the zoo and we couldn't resist." Jillian said, "Especially since ten years ago, that's exactly what our family did. We all went to the zoo, crazy huh?"

I giggled and I pulled Liam out of Troy's lap and put him in mine, he glanced up at me and I avoided eye contact with him, he rolled his eyes and then picked up the other envelope.

He pulled the card out and frowned his brow, "What the hell?" he said, he then read it aloud, "Happy Birthday baby Troy! Now that you have a baby we are giving you a lifetime of babysitting!"

I glanced up at the two in front of me, "Life time of babysitting?" I asked

"We are moving down here!" Jillian said, Troy's and our mouth dropped, "Are you serious?" he asked getting up to hug them, "That's awesome!"

"Yeah, and our first job is tonight…no charge." Haley said smiling, "You guys have reservations at Mastro's Steakhouse, you uhm, have to buy though. I love you and all but there isn't even a price on the firkin menu and I am living off of a single mommy life."

"Dido" Haley added, "You stopped seeing Raul?"

She shrugged, "I wanted to move, he didn't. Therefore, I said whatever and left, it is not even his daughter. But I looking for a job up here and wait till you here this missy's news." She said pointing to Jillian, Jillian blushed, "I got a job being a secretary for the biggest agent company in town!" she squealed, we all hugged her in congratulations, "Well since I am not working, when you start I will watch Isabella for you, same for you Haley. At no charge, I couldn't ask for your money." I said, they both beamed and nodded there heads.

"Thanks you guys, you are making the move so much easier." Haley said dabbing her eyes, "Open the rest of your presents!" Jillian demanded, he rolled his eyes and sat back down, "Okay, you have to open this on last, that one first, and this one in-between those." I said he nodded his head; he grabbed the first one and unwrapped the purple paper. The box sat in front of him and he tore off the top of the box. He pulled the tissue paper off and he started to laugh, "Wow really?" he said holding up the Laker tie that we got him.

"Well since you work so hard at your job, I thought you could use a fun tie." I said winking at him, he rolled his eyes, "Gag gift?" he asked laughing, I only shrugged, "It was funny, and you should wear it to practice or something." I said laughing; he giggled and then nodded his head.

He pulled the card off the next gift, "Happy Birthday Daddy," I smiled down at Liam and then I handed him to Troy. "He should help you open this one."

"Really?" he then glanced down at Liam, "He is sleeping,"

I rolled my eyes, "Come on Troy, and just go along with it!" I said Jillian and Haley both laughed. He tore off the paper and when he saw it, he raised an eyebrow at me. "Okay, what the fuck is this?" he asked laughing; I bit my lip and tried not to laugh.

"It's a V-Tech."

"What the hell is a V-tech?"

"Kind of like an Xbox…but for babies. So you and Liam can play some non-violent games." I said patting his shoulder, he rolled his eyes, "So what is this again?"

"It's a game system for little kids, I mean Liam won't be able to use it for a while but it was funny and it was good for twenty-three." I said, he chuckled, "Am I going to get a serious gift from you?"

"Do I ever give you a serious gift?" I asked, he tapped his chin, "Well from 18-22 were pretty good." He said, "I am a little disappointed with this one." He said I rolled my eyes, "I promise in a few weeks I will totally make up for that one." I said winking at him, "Whoa! Gross! Too much information on that one!" Haley said we both turned to stare at her, "Oh come on, not like you and Raul didn't do it."

"Oh come on! That is very different, my sex life versus yours. I barely like talking about my own." She said shuddering, I giggled, "Well for Troy's birthday, he usually gets a linger set." I said looking up at him; he smiled like a little boy getting candy, "Seriously guys? That's gross." Jillian muttered, "Just because you havent got any in a two years." Troy said sticking his tongue out, I hit Troy's shoulder and he looked at me.

"I have to so you know," she said brushing her fingernails against her shorts, I giggled, "Whatever," Troy said, he handed Liam back to me and picked up his last gift. "I am assuming it's from you."

I nodded my head, "It is from me," I tucked a piece of hair behide my ear and I kissed Liam's forehead. Troy unraveled the paper and he first got to the case, the Bolton Laker one we bought. "What the heck?" He whispered under his breath, "Just keep going, okay?" I said, he pulled that back and he the opened the next box. I knew he wanted the first one but did not get that, my parents got me one but it broke a few months ago and I did not really care for a new one, well I was kind of waiting for this one.

He opened it up and his jaw dropped, "Whoa!" he said bring it up, "The iPad 2!" he said, I giggled as he leaned over to kissed me, I pulled back, "You have to open and look at it first." I told him, he groaned and then opened the box; I got him the white one. "Oh and put the case on it." I said handing him it back, he smiled, "How the hell did you find this?"

"Long story, the store was selling them. I almost got you the Kobe one." I said giggling; he glared at me and rolled his eyes. He pulled out the iPad and turned it on. "Holy cheese balls this is amazing!" he said giggling like a little boy with a new play station game.

"Cheese balls? Really Troy?" Jillian said readjusting Issy, he shrugged, "Babies in the room."

"Didn't stop you before," Haley said laughing, I giggled and when it turned on he smiled, "Oh my," he said, I leaned over to look at the background. It was a picture of Liam and me, Liam was in his small onsie, and I had stolen one of Troy's jerseys from his bag and put that on. We were outside when the sun was setting, the ocean and beach behide us in the picture. I had Taylor take it for me.

"Brie, I love the photo." He whispered, his hand clicked on photos where a bunch of Liam, some more of Liam and I from the same day. Some of us when were in high school, the gang, his parents, and then the day Liam was born.

"Where are the pictures of the day on the beach?" he asked, "Oh, I looked so…" I started, "Pregeant?"

I bite my tongue, "Something like that,"

"Oh well, I will put them on later." He said, I blushed and the girls looked at the iPad, "That is freaking amazing!" Jillian said standing up, "Well we better get ready to go to the zoo!" I said standing up with Liam, "I showered yesterday, so I don't need to shower. I will go get Liam ready."

"Hey Gabs, you want to be extra careful with him. I know it is only 68 outside today but hat, glasses, and a light blanket over him for most of the time with his umbrella over the top of the stroller. Sun is still harsh; I took Anna out to the beach at two weeks old." Haley said, "And we just kept her hidden from the sun like the doctor said."

I nodded my head, "Sounds good to me!" I said going up the stairs, the girls followed me up and we all went into the nursery. "Would you mind if we stayed here until we found an apartment?" she asked, I bit on my lip, "I would have to talk to Troy but we have four spare rooms that we don't use. I mean they are used sometimes like when Jenni comes over but you would each take two. There is sure as hell plenty of rooms until you guys can gather up enough money, free food and babysitting." I told them, they both looked around, "Are you serious?"

I nodded my head, "It's tough out here in LA, from moving to New Mexico to LA, it's not easy. House and food is a good start."

"And babysitting,"

"You will always have that," I said starting to change Liam, I pulled on an onsie, I then pulled on a pair of socks and some denim jeans which were snapped. No zipper, it was just windy enough to put on a light jacket. I packed a diaper bag and added a few extras of everything. I put Liam in his car seat and Troy walked into the room.

"Does everybody have strollers?" he asked, "Fire trucks, I don't have one."

"I have mine in the rental," Jillian said, "We have an extra Haley, we bought one for each of us, so we could keep on in each car." I said, she nodded thankfully, "You just saved my life," she said, I smiled at her and we all packed up. I put Liam in his car seat and then I look at them.

"So how do your babies like car rides?" I asked shifting my weight back and forth from each foot.

"Please don't even go there, it took me months! To get Issy to stop crying in the car." Jillian said, "Oh God, same here!" Haley said I looked back and forth at them, "Are you serious? Liam is the same way! What did you guys do to get them to stop?" I asked they both looked at Liam, "It must be some freakish Bolton thing," Haley muttered, "With Issy I put a soft toy she could play with." She went over to her car seat and pulled off a blue dog that you could pull down.

"Put this on here, I didn't think of this until I finally googled it because her crying in the car drove me insane." She said, I grabbed the toy and hooked it to the seat.

"Anna just grew out of it but it was horrible." She said putting a blanket over Anna who was sleeping soundly after waking up when being changed.

I draped a blanket over Liam before I picked up his car seat and we all headed downstairs. "Troy said he was out in the garage waiting for us, I think we are taking my car." I said, "Are you able to fit three car seats back there?"

"I think that is what Troy was working on…its more like how are we going to fit all of us adults in there." I said giggling, they both laughed, "Well don't you have the two in the back?"

"Not with strollers," I said, Haley bit her lip, "Troy probably already has it all figured out." I told them, "Come on let's go to the garage and see what he has planned."

We all picked up the car seat and headed down the stairs, we headed to the garage to hear Troy grunting around, "Troy?" I called, we saw his head poke out and look up at us. "Oh hey," he said with a small smile, I giggled and we all headed in to see the three car seats in the car, three strollers folded in the back, and three diaper bags across the floor.

"Now, here is the question, where are your cousins going to sit?" Troy nodded his head, "I was thinking about that and since it is only a ten minute drive that we could just have you two take a car, plus with Liam's crying."

"But you shouldn't have to take our girls," Jillian said, "Well, I thought we were all going to fit…I forgot about strollers." He said, we all laughed, "And we will be good with them all, it's only ten minutes. Anna is asleep, Liam is going to cry, and Issy is going to babble like a little one she is." He said, Jillian shrugged her shoulders, "So be it," she said, she leaned in to put Issy in the middle where her car seat was. She buckled in and Haley was doing the same on the other side. Once Jillian was done, I leant in and put Liam in.

"Somebody is looking hot in those True Religion jeans," Haley said, I giggled and then I felt somebody starring at my butt, "I would have to agree Cuz, I think she does." Troy added, I blushed and I kissed Liam's forehead before I turned to face them. "Really, you like my ass?" I asked, all three of them laughed, "I think you have a sexy ass" Troy said, I rolled my eyes, "Okay," I said trying not to laugh.

"We will meet you guys in the parking lot okay?"

"Wait which one?" Troy yelled towards them as they walked away, he walked towards them and meet in the middle, I looked down at my skinny dark denim jeans. I paired them with a pair of flats which I will regert later. I paired it with a white cami and a blue tank top that was purple with rhinestone letters. I put on my grey jacket with the heart on the back that was also rhinestone and had leopard print on the back.

My hair was up in a high messy bun with a black hard headband was in my hair, I watch Troy strut back in his dark wash flare jeans, purple Nikes, and a Just Do It Nike hoodie. He locked eyes with me, "What?" he asked, I shrugged, "Nothing," I said as I shut the car door and got in. I started the car and I glanced back at Liam to see him sleeping, he had been up all morning. I smiled at him and Troy got into the car, "You look pretty happy," he said putting his seat belt on. "Well you know, I had this wonderful talk with my boyfriend, it was a great talk to." I said grabbing his hand, he grinned and pulled out of the driveway.

We drove for five minutes in silence before he noticed, "Holy shit, is Liam not crying?" Troy asked glancing in the rearview mirror, I looked back to see him sleeping.

"He is sleeping," I said smiling, Troy smiled, "This day probably couldn't get any better." Troy said with a grin, "Oh it probably could," I said, he laughed, "The only thing that is going to suck has to say goodbye to you for two weeks." He said I bit on my lip, "I know it really is going to suck." I said to him, he squeezed my hand softly, "I have no clue what I am going to do without you," I said, "I mean Liam has been at his best since you have been home."

"Well, I know I shouldn't be asking you this but please could you start back up on camp stuff? I know you are like so tired you cant even make coffee but I am trying to send the last of the letters out and making sure I have all my paperwork." He said I could see the stress brewing in his blue eyes.

"Don't worry okay? I will work on it when I have time and I can focus on it." I said, he grinned, "God, I knew I loved you! I can't wait for all these camps, I am super excited!"

"You still need to get an office and everything going, you need to hire some staff or something."

"Chill girl, I am working on it. Oh and Carson Vaughn and Mack Owens both came up to me at my party yesterday and they said they are having a basketball charity match against West High. they are bring in some of there older players like from when we played and they wanted to know if we wanted have a match, from our high school team our senior year to there high school team."

My jaw dropped, "No way! God, are you going to have security guards?" I asked, Troy chuckled and pulled into the zoo, "Was our rivalry that bad?"

I giggled, "Do you not remember when you came home that one time with a black eye?"

"God, we would beat each other up wouldn't we?" he said, I nodded my head, "Yeah, on the court too. I have never seen so many fouls in my life. I mean I guess the guys have contacted all our old players…including Rocket and they have all agreed. Of course Chad and I both jumped on it, Zeke already said yes, I mean this is amazing!" Troy said as he pulled right next to Haley's car.

"Sounds like fun, when is it going to be?"

"May sometime, they contacted all of West Highs players to; of course they were all willing to play." He said, his eyes darting around, "Gosh, I can't believe May is going to be here soon. Liam will be older," I said pouting as I unclipped my seatbelt, Troy nodded his head, "Yeah, he will be."

We both got out and started to unload the car, Haley and Jillian both got there little ones out while Troy set up the strollers. Liam was still asleep when I pulled out the car seat. He fussed and kicked his legs before he started to cry, Troy glanced over at me and I went over to the stroller and put his car seat in before I took him out. I pulled the blanket with me and I patted his small back. "Is it time to eat?" Troy mouthed to me, I nodded my head and he nodded, "Hey guys, how about we stop for lunch first and then we head to check out the animals?" Troy said, "Sounds good to me, Anna is probably hungry." Haley said pushing her stroller back and forth.

"Dido with Issy," Jillian said, Troy nodded his head, "Good, because Liam is too." He said laughing, I giggled and we all headed for the Zoo. I carried Liam and held him over my shoulder, the zoo was not packed but it was not slow either. We got through the gate and we headed straight for the café to which we could eat.

We found a table in the shade and Troy looked at me, "Do you want anything babe?" he asked me, I looked up at him, "If they have a salad that's fine but a water sounds awesome." I told him, he nodded his head and kissed my forehead. He left with Haley and Jillian's orders too.

I dug out a bottle for Liam who was slowly stopping his crying, I placed the bottle at his lips and he began to eat, peace had been made and he was now very happy.

"Liam, look it's a tiger!" Troy said taking him over to it, I laughed at Troy's excitement; Liam on the other hand was sleeping which made me laugh harder. "I didn't know Troy got this excited over the zoo," Jillian mumbled into my ear, I giggled, "I would love for him to put my son back in the stroller away from the sun." I said, she nodded her head, "I mean gosh, Issy doesn't even care that much yet, I am guessing two week old Liam doesn't care."

All three of us giggled, "Troy, can you please put Liam in his car seat…away from the sun?" I asked, Troy sighed and slowly trotted over to us, "Fine but just because he is little…" he mumbled, Troy gently slide him back in the car seat and buckled him. I pushed the umbrella over top of him after adding his blanket on top of him.

We had been at the zoo for two hours and I glanced down at my watch, "Haley what time is our reservation for tonight?" I asked her quietly, "Seven thirty, why?"

"I need a dress," I said back to her, she nodded her head, "So I was thinking at around three we buzz out of here, take Troy and the kids home, go get a quick Pedi and find a dress." I said to her, I watched as Troy walked with Jillian and he was holding Issy and pointing different things out.

"Sounds like a good plan but how are we going to break the news to Troy?" she said giggling, I rolled my eyes, we passed the elephants. Troy stopped and pointed them out to Issy who clapped her hands together.

"I am glad you guys are going to be around," I said as Jillian and Troy began to laugh, "I am glad to move, my parents have been breathing down my neck lately to do something with life and not sit around anymore."

"Have you found a job yet?" I asked biting on my nails, "Nope, not yet." She said sighing, my brain clicked and rolled with some ideas, "How about being secretary of Wildcat Dreams?" I asked, she stopped and turned to look at me, "Gabs, that's hard. I am working for my cousin."

"You are living with your cousin too," I said, she sighed, "I know but its weird taking his money,"

"Oh come on! He needs somebody he trusts doing this! He cannot hire some wacko who is going to give his cell phone number out to the public. You would be at all the camps, go to hospitals, take care of emails, phone calls, doing paperwork, background checks you would stay busy and we would hire more people." I said to her, she bit her lip and leaned over the stroller.

"I don't know…" she said, "Oh come on, I would be there a ton and I need help doing all this damn paperwork right now!" I whined, "How soon would I be able to start?" she asked

"A few weeks, we have to find an office and all of that." I told her, she stuck her tongue out, "Okay, I will think about it."

I stopped and wrapped my arms around her, "Good, because you would be good at it Haley." She smiled and we caught up with the other three. "Troy we need to head home," I said, he turned to look at me, his face already in a pout, "What! Come on please can we stay longer?" he begged, "Babe, we have plans tonight! I still have to go buy a dress." I told him with a pout back at him.

"Fine, better be a good one though." He said nudging me, I giggled and Jillian and Haley turned towards each other. All three of us then burst out laughing, not even a word was said.

"What did I say?" Troy said turning to look at all of us, we all giggled again and he starred at us. Troy took over Liam's stroller and I walked next to him.

"So Liam, Anna, Issy, and Troy get to spend some time together right?" I said to them, they all nodded, "Great, leave me with three babies."

"Invite your best friend over," I told him, he shrugged, "Alright!"

"I don't know how much I trust him but y'know." I said, we all giggled and then I pulled out my cell phone and hit speed dial four.

"Hello?"

"Tay!" I said, she groaned, "Yeah?" she whispered, "Hangover?" I whispered back, "Just a little, Chad got me drunk."

"Do not even blame me!" He yelled in the background, "Shut up Chad!" Taylor said back, "Anyways what's up?"

"Well Jillian, Haley, and I are going to the mall to get me some cheese balls and maybe some alarm clocks." I said, total code words so the boys wouldn't pick up half the time.

"Yummy alarm clocks," she said, I giggled, Haley and Jillian looked at me, I shrugged and waved them off. "Cheese balls doesn't sound bad either, I could use a new dress."

"How much wedding stuff do we have left?"

"Not much, I sent out our save the dates last weekend, we are doing last touches on the invites. We still have the DJ and we need to do more cheese balls for the honeymoon." She said, I giggled, "Alright but that's for another time, we have dinner reservations at seven thirty." I said

"Oh where?" she asked

"Mastro's" I said, I heard her gasp, "Chad and I have been trying to get reservations there for a while!" she said, I shrugged, "Well we have y'know connections." I giggled, she laughed, "Uh huh, so when are we meeting to go cheese balls." She said laughing, "Well how about an hour?" I said, "Alright can't wait for the alarm clocks!"

"Why did we start this whole code thing?" I asked laughing, "Because the boys don't need to know all our business! And Zeke was getting curious to how much shopping Pay was doing so."

"Oh that's right…are they talking yet?"

"I don't know, I thought I saw them together at the party last night having a beer." She said trailing on, "Oh so that means they had sex?" I asked quietly into the phone as we approached the car. Taylor laughed, "Probably, the two love birds." She said, "ha well speaking of love birds, I need to call her. See you in an hour."

I hung up with her, Jillian and Haley gave me a weird look, "Cheese balls and alarm clocks?"

I rolled my eyes, "I will tell you guys later," I said laughing, and I got into the car while Troy buckled Liam in.

To Pay Pay

From Crazymom

Hey, you up for cheese balls and alarm clocks? Lol ;)

I slide my phone into the cup holder and Troy slide in next to me, all the babies in the back. "I swear if we have that many babies in the backseat at one time…all our own. I am shooting one of us." He said laughing, I giggled and I kissed his jaw, "I don't think you would do anything because you would love me too much and you would have signed a contact to play basketball."

He grinned, "Clever,"

To Crazymom

From Pay Pay

Hell yes! Hahah (:

"So Alarm clocks means?" Haley questioned as we sat in the Pedicure chairs, "Pedicures," Taylor, Sharpay, and I all repeated. She nodded her head, "Clever, we should have thought of that for Raul." Haley said looking at Jillian, "I still think cheese balls is funny,"

"I think it is funnier because this morning when Troy opened his iPad he went 'Holy Cheese balls this is amazing!' or something like that" I said giggling, I watched as the purple nail polish went on my toenails smoothly. "I feel bad for coming and doing this. I just left Troy with three babies." I said my stomach sank a little bit more.

"Gabs, we are almost done. We have your dress and we are finishing our alarm clocks." Haley said loving her newfound term, we all giggled at her.

"I know but it's like he isn't in town right now,"

"It is his down time with Liam, male bonding…with there cousins." I smiled and I took a small breath, "Right because it will just be us two tonight at dinner."

I felt my stomach tie in knots, "Guys, I havent been to dinner with him since before Liam was born, I mean it's been two weeks! What the hell am I going to say? Talk about?" I groaned and I watched as the exchanged looks with each other.

"Honey, are you okay?"

I shook my head, "I have no idea what is going to happen tonight, mostly since we had our fight yesterday." I said my head starting to spin, "I mean we have had a kid since we went out last," I said, Taylor put a hand on my shoulder, "Take a deep breath okay, I think you just have mommy first date jitters. Troy hasn't changed, if he has it's because of Liam and it's a good thing." Taylor said, I nodded my head.

"Okay," I said

"So Haley what was up with that boy at the boys department in American Eagle?" Jillian asked rising an eyebrow, Haley blushed, "Nothing, he just started talking to me; he said I had really cute eyes."

I giggled, "The Bolton Charm works again," I said rolling my eyes, "What else did you guys talk about?" Sharpay asked who had a hickey on the right side of her neck, which she had been denying all afternoon.

"Well he said I had cute eyes I of course thanked him,"

"Goody," Jillian coughed, Haley sent her eyes flaring over to hers, "God, I am twenty six, leave me alone." Haley hissed my eyes widened a bit, "Name?"

"Koli,"

"Awh! That is a really good name! Koli and Haley!" Taylor gushed, Haley rolled her eyes, "How old is here?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask"

"Did you exchange numbers?"

Her cheeks blushed, "Maybe, he wanted to call and see if I had any free time."

"Does he know you have a kid?" I asked, they all four shot me glares, I looked at them, "Oh come on can she just meet a guy?"

"Sorry!"

"Anyways he sent me a text, Gawd! He was so cute; he had dark tan skin with dark brown eyes. His hair was black and it was a full head of hair. He was at least six foot."

"Still six inches shorter than Troy,"

"Shut the fuck up," I muttered, "Just because he is really tall and I am really short,"

"No, you two are like perfect for each other. You go right to mid-chest, it's cute." Sharpay said, "I am glad Zeke is tall two and when you hold hands, I mean watch out!"

"How tall do you think Liam will get?"

"I would imagine just a little taller than Troy,"

"He is going to be tall," I whined, they all laughed and we carried on, "So I need to get home and get ready." I said as they helped me slip into my flip-flop.

"I had fun with our cheese balls and alarm clocks!"

We all then broke down in laughter.

I slipped the purple dress on to my body and watched it suck up every curve I had. It fell onto my shoulders and showed cleavage. Plenty of it too, I slipped on a pair of Ralph Lauren silver heels. I wiggled my toes and I looked at my hair which was half up and half down, my headband fitting perfectly into place.

I yawned and tried not to ruin my makeup when my eyes watered. Tonight was going to be another night where I was by myself, Troy was saying bye to Liam now, after dinner he had supposed to report straight to the airport, no ifs and or buts. I wiped a few my eyes and added a few more sparkles.

I grabbed my light white jacket but I noticed it had Liam's spit up on it. I smiled softly, tossed it onto the bed, and went for my black jacket instead. I put it on and I looked in the mirror, no matter how much make up I put on, I could not hide the bags that hid under my eyes.

I turned the light and grabbed my silver clutch and I walked downstairs to hear Troy, it was seven so he was probably putting Liam to bed now.

I walked on my tiptoes to the nursery to see Troy standing there swaying back and forth. His soft pure voice was singing Everyday; gosh, I cannot believe he still remembered that song.

That was from our junior year of summer, I bit my lip and I watched as he finished the song. Once he was finished, he placed Liam in the crib and he stood over him for a moment.

"Be good for mommy okay? I will see you in two weeks," Troy said holding up two fingers to him, I smiled and I blinked back tears at the two. Troy smiled down in the crib and I looked at my watch on my wrist and then entered the room.

"Hey babe you ready to go?" I said, he looked up and his jaw dropped, "Wow, don't you look beautiful," he said walking towards me, I smirked and I walked closer to him.

"You like?"

"I love. I like the sparkly belt thing" he said, his eyes never leaving my breasts, "Uh huh, sure" I said grabbing his hand, I looked over the edge of the crib, "You got Liam asleep," I said leaning into Troy, he had his black slacks on, a blue shirts, and a black blazer.

"Yeah, I did." He said smiling, he grabbed my hand, "Come on we better go," he said, he kissed Liam once more before we both headed out of the room.

I shrugged my jacket off, my body heat climbing, I put it in my hand and then I headed downstairs with Troy. "Alright we are out of here," Troy called, I then totally forgot something, I raced to the kitchen, "Hang on Troy!" I called; I flung my stuff down and grabbed my lip-gloss that was sitting on the counter. I also grabbed his iPad that was charging so he could have it on the trip. I then walked back out and looked at him.

"Don't want to forget this," I said holding it up, he smiled, "Yea, don't want to forget that."

I smiled and he slipped his arm around my waist, "One picture!" Jillian demanded. We both sighed and then looked at her, "We have a ten minute drive! And it's already after seven!" I said, she sighed and held up one finger, Troy and I instantly smiled and she took the picture.

He then guided me down the stairs, his hand placed on the small of my bike. Then he helped me into his Audi, which he had just got right before Liam was born. I slide onto the black leather seats and smelled the new car.

He shut my door and went over to his side; he pulled out of the driveway.

"Here you go sir," Troy said handing the valet parker his keys, "Thank you Mr. Bolton."

Troy then wrapped his arm around my waist and we went inside, we could hear the soft music from a piano playing in the background. I smiled as licked my lips with my tongue and we stopped at the host stand.

"Bolton, party of two," Troy said, his sunglasses where still on his face since we had to storm through paparazzi as we walked in, "Mr. Bolton, nice for you to dine here." She said, she grabbed two menus and then she asked us to follow her.

We followed her back to a small table in the back of the restaurant in the back the lights were nice and dim, "Would this be okay for you?" she said, Troy nodded his head and gave her a ten dollar bill. He slipped his sunglasses off and we both sat down, "This is really nice," I murmured

"It is really nice," he said, he picked up the menu and I picked up mine.

After several minutes of us looking at the menu I knew what I wanted, I pulled my menu down to see our waiter coming to the table.

"Hi, my name is Carrie, what can I get you guys to drink?" she asked, she then went over a few of there drink options. "I am just going to have water," I told her, she jotted it down and Troy told her the same.

"No beer?" I asked, he shrugged, "I think I had one to many last night and I have a hard practice tomorrow, a flight tonight, and a game tomorrow night." He said messing with his high school ring on his finger. He had two believe it or not, I had one and he had the other.

"Oh,"

"Nothing for you?" he asked, "I might get a glass of wine later," I told giving him one of those looks, he laughed, "Sounds good, I might just have to join you."

I felt an awkward feeling set in, gosh; I knew this would be awkward.

"Okay, here are your drinks and do you guys know what you would like to eat?" I nodded my head and looked up at Troy, "Yeah, you wanna go first babe?"

"Sure, I will have the Mastro's house salad, the Petite Filet with green beans with almonds." I told her, she smiled and wrote it all down, "Okay, I am like going far from her." He said looking up smiling at me, I smiled back and put my hands in my lap, "I would like the Spicy Mambo salad, and Herb roasted chicken, with mashed potatoes." He said closing the menu.

"Alrighty, your salads will be out shortly." She said and then turned to leave; Troy reached over and grabbed my hand. "So what are you and Liam going to do for two weeks?" he asked rubbing the palm of my hand, "Sleep, well he is. I am not so sure about me, I guess I have a lot of paperwork I have to do." I said winking at him, he smiled, "Well you can make Haley work too." He said I then looked at him.

"That's something we need to talk about," I said to him, he raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Haley and Jillian, I told them if it was okay with you until they have enough money to go and buy a house or apartment they like they could stay with us, free food and free babysitting." I said, he bit his lip and looked at me I frowned.

"You don't want them to do you?"

He shook his head, "No, I would love them being there for a while. I mean there is help right there when we need and I don't care about that but what I was thinking is the girl and boy rate went up and the boy rate didn't do anything." He said I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, only two of them can talk!" I said, he smiled, "Yeah, I know but they are very bitchy when they talk." He joked; I leaned over and slapped his shoulder. "Be nice Bolton!" I said

"It's my house!" I rolled my eyes

"Also, I offered Haley the secretary job at Wildcat Dreams she hasn't taken it yet because I needed to confirm it with Mr. President but she is in need of a job and you can trust her with all of your stuff."

He nodded his head, "That's fine but it will be a while until we get the office up, probably a month or so…" he said, Carrie came over and put our salads in front of us. "Thanks," I said she smiled back and refilled my water, which was barely touched, same to Troy.

I dug into my salad and looked at Troy while I ate, "Which is what I told her but she said she needed time to think about it."

He nodded his head, "I think I found a building near the camp site so about a twenty miles but it's a good place. Ocean view too," he said, I smiled at him and picked at my salad, which was really good.

"It's not very big, big enough to fit ten people, a kitchen, and two bathrooms." He said he took a bit of his salad. "Oh and we would only need like six people too." He said I nodded my head.

"Sounds good, I think we should hand pick them, not just put ads out in a paper. Maybe get a few Lakers' wives." I said, his eyes went huge, "Great idea! I can ask a few this weekends to see if they are in, they are all going to Phoenix game," he said, his eyes locked to mine.

I knew what he wanted but I was not going to take Liam to a Lakers game yet, not yet. "Good," I said, he tried to smile but he only dropped his head into his salad.

"So will you call me when you land?" I asked, he nodded his head and then he gripped my hand after we had both finished our salads and he kissed my forehead.

I took a sip of my wine and laughed at Troy, "Gosh, I am going to miss you."

We both stood up after our meal and Troy looked at his watch, "We need to head to the airport," he mumbled softly, I felt a shiver run down my back, "Alright," I said wrapping my arms around me.

"Didn't you bring a jacket?" he asked, he was already taking off his black coat off his shoulders. I tried to speak but it was already around my shoulders. I smiled up on him and "Thanks,"

He held my hand and we walked out of the restaurant, we had ended up getting the Butter Cake, which was A-Hmazing! The Whip cream on the side was fantastic by its self.

The valet pulled up with the car and Troy opened the door for me, "Thanks," I said, I slipped in and I tugged Troy's jacket more around me.

He got in and drove off after tipping the Valet. I leaned against the window, thought back to our amazing night, we had come off the subject of basketball, and just talked. I giggled softly thinking back to our night and our conversations. "What you thinking about of there?"

"Tonight. How much fun we had,"

"You looked good in that dress," he muttered, I smiled softly and we held hands as he drove.

"So how were your alarm clocks?" he asked, my mouth dropped a little, "How do you?" I asked questioning him, he laughed and pulled in LAX, "Come on it wasn't hard to figure out, you said cheese balls like ten times and I knew you guys were going shopping." He said laughing, "And alarm clocks are Pedi's because really there was no other choice."

I giggled and I rolled my eyes, "Okay, whatever," I said as he showed the Laker pass, we got through and parked the car. We got out to the paparazzi again.

"WHERE IS LIAM?"

"DID YOU LEAVE HIM SOMEWHERE?"

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

"ARE YOU EVER GETTING MARRIED?"

"ARE YOU PREGNATE AGAIN?"

"SMILE!"

Troy and I both laughed as we walked through the doors leaving them behide, I looked up and I saw the Laker's all standing around, I spotted Kobe from a mile away.

I hugged on Troy and he held on to me, "Hey Bolton's here,"

Troy nodded and then he walked over to the group by coach, I let go and stopped by Taylor who was talking to Vanessa, "Hey," I said walking up.

"How was dinner? I see you go the coat," Taylor said winking at me, "It went really well, the place is amazing. I totally recommend this place and you have to get the butter cream cake." I said rubbing my stomach

"I think I gained two pounds just eating the cake, not counting my food I ate." Troy said laughing next to me, he wrapped his arms around my neck and stood behide me. Taylor and Vanessa both smiled, "Sounds good, Kobe took me there for our second anniversary, it was really good."

I kissed Troy's hand and then I turned in his arms, "I am going to miss you like crazy," I told him; he smiled and kissed my forehead and then my nose.

They called for them all to board and Troy hugged me tighter, "I will call you later okay?"

I nodded my head and he kissed my lips, "I love you, thank you for the wonderful birthday." He said into my ear, I smiled and I kissed his lips.

"I love you too," I said, "Happy Birthday…And thanks for telling me about Alicia," I said, he rolled his blue eyes while I giggled. "I think we could live the rest of our lives with mentioning her name again."

I laughed and I hugged him and gave him one more kiss, "See you later wildcat," I said,

"Bye babe," he kissed me again before he went off with the rest of the guys. He blue shirt pulled up past his elbows and his tan showing off. I pulled the jacket around me and watch him go back into the plane; he turned around and smiled at me. I smiled back at him and waved.

He winked and then ran into the wall, I burst out laughing and his cheeks blushed. It could not have been a more perfect moment.

I walked into the house and I saw Haley lying on the couch, "Hey," I said, she turned around and looked at me, "Oh hey how was it?"

"Amazing, thanks." I said, she nodded her head, "Liam slept most of the night, waking up once for food." I glanced at the clock to see it approaching eleven.

"He is going to be up in a few minutes, diaper change. Its going to be tough for him to go back to bed too, he is used to Troy."

She smiled and I tried to smile as I sat on the couch, "Need some more cheese balls?" she asked, I giggled, "Troy busted me today." I said

"He did?" I nodded my head, "Yup, I was shocked."

She laughed and I heard Liam's cry begin through the house, I got up and I looked down at Troy's jacket, "I like the jacket." She said, I giggled and went upstairs and picked Liam up.

He snuggled into my chest and stopped crying, I closed my eyes and I looked deep into his blue ones, "I think you are my little cheese ball," I said, he gurgled and I took it as a laugh.

Did you like? Haha…cheese balls! Lol (: Also I changed the chapters name because it just wasn't fitting. Soo..haha (: I hope you all liked it but I have a little brothers game to go to!

Xoxox!

PLEASE REVIEW! Lets get into the 70's!