Chapter 12- Colicky
"We need to get up and go up to the hospital," Troy mumbled into my ear, I nodded my head into his chest, "I know but this bed is so comfortable and so warm," I said digging down deeper into the covers. "I have had this bed since high school and probably slept in it about a hundred times, that's why it's comfortable, I never slept in it. I was at your house, on the road, or on the couch down stairs." He said
"Or Chad's house, or Sharpay's," I pointed out to him, he nodded his head, "Yup, them too." He said, he let a yawn escape his lips and he closed his eyes again. "Oh my mom said to be carefully downstairs, they just redid the carpet like last week. Everything is new and nothing has been spilled so be careful." He said yawning again, "Alright,"
"Liam is gonna wake up soon," I said yawning, "I am counting down the seconds until his sixth time." Troy said rolling his eyes, "Yes, I know six times last night was a record high of getting up and going back to sleep, he doesn't like sleeping in his pack n' play," I said to him,
"I don't want to experience all nighters with him," his said pulling me closer to him, "No, you really don't, I don't want to do that all over again, it was bad and I was so tired." My body tensed just thinking about that night.
"I feel bad for leaving you like this; I wish I was home for some of those. I know I just said I didn't want to but its part of the experience and I don't want to be left out on it." He said turning onto his side and looking me into the eye, "You will be one day Troy, for when he doesn't come home on curfew, the nights he is sick, the nights he needs help and can only talk to his dad, you will get your chance for an all nighters with him, and I promise you." I said, I leaned forward and I kissed his nose. He scrunched up his face, "I guess,"
I chewed on my lip wondering if I should tell Troy what I thought about last night, "Troy if I tell you something, you can't call or talk to anybody about it until I talk to her." I sat up in bed and looked at Liam who was still sleeping peacefully in his pack n' play, his chest rising up and down with every breath.
"Gabs, what's going on?" Troy asked me, I took a deep breath and kept my eyes focused on Liam, "I think Pay is pregnant," I said watching Liam begin to stir, his arms moving around and his face scrunching up. I squinted my eyes waiting for Troy's reaction.
"What?" Troy said loudly which made Liam and me jump. Liam began to cry and Troy cringed, "Shit, I," he quickly got out of the bed and made his way to Liam. He had on a pair of black Nike basketball shorts on with no shirt, which was totally okay with me. "Well good morning buddy," Troy said picking him up, "For you not being around a lot Troy, you are sure a natural." I pushed back the covers and I went over to beside him. I rubbed my hand against the top of Liam's head, his hair nice and fuzzy.
"Why thank you," he said winking at me.
"Did your dad tell you where Kyle was last night?" I asked wondering, I did not see him all night, he was not here, and I knew he was not back with mom.
"Yea, he is with the basketball team in Texas for some intervention or some shit like that for the week. They called him last night but since it was his club coach they would not let him come back home. He should be back tomorrow," He said bouncing up and down. "Back to Sharpay," he said, I sighed for a long moment, "She called last night saying she was throwing up after every meal, tired, and really cranky."
"She is always really cranky," Troy said, I pushed his shoulder, "Be nice," I said to him, "Hey, baby in the arms!" he said lifting Liam up a little higher, "Yes but back to Pay, when I found out I was pregnant what do you remember?"
"You throwing up a lot, sleeping a ton and…oh." He said looking up at me, I nodded my head, "Yes, you see now." He nodded his head, "Yes I do see now, so we are going to have a princess Sharpay." I narrowed my eyes, "We don't even know for sure if she is or not and you are already saying it's a girl?"
"Oh yea, it's a girl." He said nodding his head, "You are too cocky," I said grabbing a towel from the dresser, "I am not!" I headed towards his bathroom and he looked at Liam. "I'll be right back buddy," he said lying him down quickly, I made my way into the bathroom and tried to shut the door but Troy stuck his foot in quickly. "Oh no," he said laughing, I giggled, "Try me big man,"
"Gabi! Troy! What are you two doing? This is not your house," Mason's voice called, I fell forward from surprise and Troy fell into the bathroom collapsing onto me. "Ah!" I screamed as his body collided into me, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back up. "You aren't going anywhere silly," he said, I glared at him from my position and he shook his head.
"Mason, this is my room, always has been," Troy said, "Where I caught you making out with girls, I know but we need to get to the hospital if you are going to make it back home tonight for the game." Troy sighed, "Alright but we can only stay till Thursday and since today is Monday,"
I nodded my head while Mason stared at us, "Mason you are beginning to creep me out," I said to him, he cracked a smile and turned to leave the room. "Does it every time, he has like…the timing," Troy said watching him walk out of the room, I giggled and I pushed Troy out. "I gotta shower, feed and change Liam." I said I then shut the door before Troy could say another word.
"How is she doing this morning?" I asked Jack, he shrugged his shoulders and took his cup of coffee, "She woke up in tears several times, and they adjusted her meds so she should be doing a little better." I nodded my head and I pushed Liam's stroller, "I can't imagine the pain she is going through…" Jack looked at me curiously, "If I remember right you got in a pretty bad car wreck your senior year, bruised a few ribs, broke a wrist, and a concussion." He told me, "Oh I totally forgot about that!" I said
"But I only bruised my ribs, I didn't break them." I pointed out, "I also didn't total my car," He shrugged his shoulders and we got onto the elevator. "So Kyle should be back tomorrow?" I asked him as the elevator dinged disturbing Liam. "The little noises are the ones that wake him up," I mumbled
"There you guys are! What happened to you all?" Troy asked, he came over and kissed my temple, Liam's cry pierced around the 3rd floor, Troy quickly looked alert, "His pacifier is in his car seat some where, he didn't want it earlier." I said to him, he nodded and pulled Liam out then finding his pacifier. "Have you seen Jenni yet?"
"Nah, I was waiting on you guys. You weren't to far behide me and mom wont text me back saying what room." Troy said, I giggled and shook my head. "Just down the hall, listen for the crying pain." Jack said, Troy glared at him and Jack chuckled, "Too easy," he mumbled
"You two are so immature," I told both of them, the looked at me and Troy shook his head. "Whatever!" they said together, "And twins, defiantly related." Mason walked up behide me, "They have always done that, like two little girls." I busted out into laughter. "Wow, that one is new," I said trying to catch my breath. We made it to Jenni's room and Troy pushed through the curtain. I kept the stroller outside the room and walked in, "Good Morning Jenni," we all said walking in, she waved with her hand but let her hand fell back to the sheets. "She is tired guys; today might not be a good day." Lucille said
"Mom, I don't exactly live around here anymore, what else am I going to do?" she looked at me and shrugged, "All my friends are back home, it's a Monday with no school at East, and my sister is in the hospital." Troy handed me Liam and stormed out of the room, "Mom," Jenni coughed out, she cringed and squeezed her eyes shut. "Honey, you are tired!"
"He" she paused and tried to control herself, "is my brother." She said quickly, and then pointed to Liam and me with her good hand, she twirled her finger around as if singling that we were part of the package.
"Baby you need your rest and…"
"Lucille, she gets to see her brother, Gabi, and Liam not a lot. If this is how she gets to see them then so be it. So what if she falls asleep, you two then get to see everybody." Jenni's eyes light up and then pointed to Jack. Mason and I giggled while Jack smiled proud of himself.
"I understand that but…"
"Lucy!" Jack said sharply, the room grew tense and Lucille looked at Jack with her sharp blue eyes. "Jack, you don't understand. Jenni needs to rest and it hurts her to talk. How is she going to hang out with her brother while he is only in town until Thursday? Huh? Once she is starting to get better he has to leave again!"
I felt very awkward sitting in on this conversation, "I know it's hard that Troy isn't around often Lucille but he has a family now. He has a career that is demanding because you sure as hell know he got in trouble last night for missing that Lakers game. He doesn't want to go home, he has to go home." They eyes blinked but they never lost contact, "Well Gabi shouldn't have to sit here in boredom," Jack let his hand hit his face and he groaned, "Oh Lucille, I am here for Jenni and so she can see Liam. We might head home earlier though, he isn't used to this all and he didn't sleep at all last night."
"Thank God," Mason muttered, I lifted my foot and kicked his shin, "Ow!" he cried, I grinned satisfied then went back to Lucille. "I am going to stay to see Kyle and then maybe leave with Liam. Troy won't be happy about it but that's what's probably best for Liam. We will be together in May for a full two weeks and hopefully Jenni over there will be up to some babysitting." I said winking at her, she smiled and nodded her head.
"Oh see Jack Gabi understands!" Lucille said walking over giving me a hug, she squeezed Liam in-between us, "Were we even talking about the same thing?" Jack asked Mason, I rolled my eyes and I patted Lucille's back. "I dunno" he twirled his iPhone in his hands; Jack sighed and leaned against the wall. "Well," Jenni said from the bed, Lucille pulled back, Troy stepped back into the room.
"Were you going to run this by me? To leave early?" Troy asked his eyes were a steaming grey, "Yes! Do you think I would just get up and leave one day?" I accused him, he nodded his head, "Sometimes I think you will," he said, I tried to control the emotions running through my body. "Hey Lucille, can you take Liam for a moment?" I asked nicely, she nodded her head and I pushed Troy out of the room. "Troy, I was going to tell you later. I decided that I would stay through tomorrow and head home with Liam Wednesday morning, one day away from you. Get some quality time with you family. I need to get home and talk to Sharpay, Liam isn't comfortable with this whole pack n' play thing." I rested my hand on his shoulder, "I wasn't prepared for the unexpected trip Troy, you mom doesn't even want you down here right now." Troy took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around me.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you like that. My mom pissed my off and I just don't want you leaving me."
"It's a day, you get to spend a little more time with your sister, and I want to hang around tomorrow to see Kyle. I-" he put his finger to my lips, "I will book your flight for early Wednesday morning, I got it." He said winking at me, I smiled and leaned forward to kiss his lips. "I just want you to spend sometime with your family Troy; I am not really your family yet." I said resting my head on his shoulder.
"Gabriella," he said in a strict tone, "Don't you ever say that," he said into my ear, "Because you are my family, you are my everything. You are the one." He said, "You are the mother to my child, I promise you, you are the one." His lips pressed against my ear and he hugged me tighter.
"Do you know how cute you are?" he asked me, I giggled, "Well we do have a pretty cute kid," I said to him, he laughed, "Well…he has most of my looks…" my mouth dropped and I pushed him back a little, "Bullshit!" I said to him, he chuckled and kissed my temple.
"Come on lets go hang with you sister for a little bit, I am going to take Liam back home so he can sleep in your bed or something, he didn't sleep at all last night." I said running my fingers through my hair, Troy stood in front of me and let his hands lay against the wall.
"Trust me, the 11, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 wake up calls weren't just nothing,"
"And the sad this is, each time he would cry for probably forty five minutes," I said, Troy rolled his soft blue eyes, "I will probably go with you for a little while then come back. Find some food and head back up here, I also have to catch the Lakers game later tonight." He said, he pushed back and grabbed my hand.
"That sounds fine, but I'll call you when you should come pick us back up, or somebody should pick us back up." I told him, he nodded his head and he pulled me through the door in Jenni's room. She was sleeping quietly in the bed, Jack was reading the newspaper and Lucille was cradling Liam. "Did you two figure it out?" Jack asked flipping the page of the newspaper, "Yea, mom just pissed me off which was keeping me high." Troy said glancing at her, Lucille looked up, "I am just worried about Jenni,"
"I know you are mom because so am I, I didn't come down here to tour the city. I came down here to make sure my little sister is okay." He said, "Troy, I just don't want her have to feel like she has to be awake."
"She can choose what she wants to do, I rather her sleep too mom. I rather not be here seeing you guys, I rather be out there playing basketball with the team or sitting at home watching Liam sleep since he didn't do any of that last night but since my sister is in the hospital, I rather be here." Lucille looked at Troy, "Troy I didn't…"
"Mom, you don't need to know everything. Yes, Liam does not like sleeping here he wants his crib. Yea, my thumb is, and yea I miss playing basketball with my boys. We all have problems these days mom, not just Jenni or you." Lucille got up and I went over to snag Liam from her. She then went over to give Troy a hug. "Not to be rude or anything mom but I came down here for a reason and I am not going to go do something else."
"I'm sorry Troy; I am so low on sleep I can't believe I even gave you any grief. I just blank out sometimes, a new baby is so stressful Troy." Troy and I both laughed, "Yes, stressful would be the best word." I added in, the whole room laughed and just like that, the tension was gone.
"So Liam doesn't like it here?" she asked, I shook my head, I do not think he slept all night. The only time he slept was when he was in somebody's arms. So basically we took turns holding him and we talked all night to keep each other up."
"We possible got four hours of sleep last night," Troy added coming up behide me, "I probably got as much as you guys, Jenni was up a lot last night. I am just happy she is doing a hell of a lot better than when she woke up late last night. Oh God, she was in so much pain." Lucille said shaking her head at Jenni, "Hey how's it all going in here?" Haley and Jillian both walked out and they were both baby free.
"Where are Issy and Anna?" I asked them, "My mom took them for the morning; she wanted to see her granddaughter and her great-niece." Haley said, "Aiden was hanging around, giving me shit last night."
Jack and Troy both started laughing, "Aiden is a shithead," Troy said, I looked at them both acting as if they were crazy. "Oh come on how bad can the kid be?"
"He drives my mother insane, my dad wants to kill him," I glanced at her, "What does he do?"
"Doesn't want to play basketball, would rather sit around and read books." I busted out into laughter, "What the hell is wrong with that?" I asked laughing, "He is technically a Hobson but both sides are basketball religious, I mean Jenni had to play basketball until she started playing volleyball more intensely. We have ALL had to play basketball."
I laughed even harder, "You have to be joking me, Troy you do understand Liam can do whatever the hell he wants without being called a shithead."
"Oh totally," Troy said trying not to squirm, "But I can highly influence him right?" I chuckled, "Highly influence, is that what we call do it or die?" I asked him, his mouth gapped and shook his head, "He could be a dancer, I really don't care but I bet you he wants to play basketball." He said smirking, Jack laughed, "Trust Me, all the Bolton boys have played and loved basketball. My sister's kids are all a little different but if your last name is a Bolton, you play."
"See, I don't have to do any of the work, my dad does it all. So I did nothing wrong," he said grinning from cheek to cheek, "You two,"
"Worse for you Gabs, you have two of them." I laughed, "Yea, I have two of them."
"See, I have always had two of them. You have lucked out," we all turned to see Jenni's pale blue eyes looking at us, "Hey, you talked."
"It doesn't hurt as bad as it did earlier," she said, her eyelids flickered and she looked up at us, "Yea but I will always have three then." I said winking at her, she nodded and she shrugged her shoulder. "True that." I adjusted Liam who was fighting between sleep and awake.
"So are you two going to force Issy and Anna to play?"
"Since either of us are Bolton's, probably not." Jillian said, "I mean I love doing the sport and all but if she wants to do something else, she has the right away." They all nodded there heads, I looked at Liam who was drifting between sleep and blinking his blue eyes. I rocked him slowly in my arms and tried to get him to go back asleep.
"Well, I just hope Liam does whatever he wants, not listening to his grandfather of course," I said looking at Jack, he smirked and hid his face in the cup of his drink. "Good Luck with that one Gabi," I laughed and shook my head. "I am not going to win this one Liam," I said picking up his small hand. He kicked his leg into my arm, "Hey, hey no kicking," I said readjusting him, "Liam did you kick your evil mother?" Jack stood up to come stand in front of us, "I am not evil!"
He snorted, "Jack!" Lucille said, Troy was laughing to hard to say anything and Jenni was trying to hold back the giggles. "Oh Lord dad you just got yourself in a heap of trouble." Jenni said trying to cover the giggly look on her face. I smiled at her, "Thank you Jenni,"
"Oh come on Gabi, I was kidding." I narrowed my eyes at him, "Well, that was mean and Liam was just…temperamental at my comment…" I suggested but Jack shook his head, "Wow, nice try with the using of big words." He joked nudging my shoulder, "Very funny,"
Liam's face began to scrunch up and his bottom lip quivered, "Oh, looks like its time to go to Grandpa!" I said handing Liam to Jack, he took him and I backed away. "Hey Troy, do you wanna run downstairs with me to grab a quick snack from the vending machine?" I asked him quickly, I winked at him and he nodded his head. "Sure why not," He said reaching out for my hand, we both hurried out of the room just as Liam began to cry.
"Payback is a bitch," I said to Troy, Troy laughed and rubbed on my shoulders. "So what are we going to do for ten minutes?" His face dropped, "We weren't getting food?" he asked me, his voice sad and his lip covered up the top lip.
"Oh lord, if you teach Liam that I will kill you and I was just trying to get out of there. Your cereal you had this morning not working for you?" I asked poking him in the stomach, "No, I am a growing boy!" He complained
"The only thing growing on you is your ego." I said to him, I leaned into his shoulder and he guided me towards the food. "Whatever you want to believe," he told me as he slipped his wallet out, we stood in front of the vending machine, "Pick anything you want, it's all on me." He said winking at me; I shook my head at him while smiling. "I don't want anything," I paused and scanned over the vending machine, "I'll just wait to get home," I said
"Alrighty, I was just going to get that amazing looking muffin back there." He said poking a dollar bill in the machine, "I wouldn't mind a water though, pretty thirsty." He handed me the money and I retrieved my water.
"Do you think we should relieve my dad yet?" he asked slinging his arm around my shoulders, "Well, I think we should go relieve your mom," I corrected him, "Awh, very true."
"He is getting fussy Troy; I should probably get him back to your parent's house. He needs to eat and sleep, the car ride won't be good, and when he is tired he just cries the entire time." I said to Troy, his blue eyes looked forward, "Alright, I can take you home, I can grab some Taco Bell on the way back for everybody."
"Sounds good to me," as we walked closer to the room you could hear Liam's screams, Lucille protests to get him to calm down, Jack shhing, and Jenni was trying to get them both to calm down. "Your sister is doing a hell of a lot better," I told him, he nodded his head and grinned, "I am glad too,"
"We're back!" I called walking into the room, the grandparents looked at me and there eyes had firing glazing in them. "What's wrong with him?" Jack asked me, Troy and I both laughed, "He is tired; remember he got no sleep last night?" I said walking over to take him from Lucille. "As soon as you guys left he busted out into tears!"
"I know I saw he was getting ready to cry which is why I handed him to you and fled the scene." I said smirking at him, "That's evil," Jack, said trying not to smile at how much of a genius I was. "Yea well payback is a bitch," I told him, I snapped Liam into his car seat, which set him on fire. His lungs were going to be strong.
"Ohh…" he said, I pulled out his pacifier and I placed it in his mouth where it quickly was spit out of, I sighed and I pushed my hair back behide my ears. I tried to place the pacifier in his mouth again but the same thing happened. I decided to give up, I covered him in blankets and I looked at Troy. "I will be back in a little while, in the mean time figure out what you all want from Taco Bell; I am making a stop on the way back." He said turning his mom's car keys in his hand.
"Where are you going Troy?" Lucille asked, Jack went over to talk to Jenni, "I am going to run Gabs back to the house for a little bit. Try to get Liam to sleep and eat something since he isn't doing either very well." Troy told her, I gave him the hurry up look and he nodded. "I will call you when I am on my way back, gotta go!" he said, I hurried out of the room and I put Liam's car seat in his stroller. Troy started pushing it down the hallway, "Hey remember the charity auction?" Troy asked me as we got onto an elevator, Liam's screams echoing inside the small room. Thank Goodness, we were the only two in there. "Umm…yea."
"Remember the huge thing Chad, Jason, Zeke, and I got you girls?" I blushed thinking of the one night, "Mhm," I said smiling at him wondering if I knew where this was going.
"We have it all set up for April 3rd," he said smiling at me, I squealed which you could barely hear over his loud protesting screams. "Oh my…wait…you won't be in town will you?" I asked him, he shook his head, "No, I will be traveling that day down the Golden State but I don't think I want to be there. It is a Sunday so…anyways I have Haley and Jillian lined up to watch Liam for the day. He is supposed to come around noon, go out to lunch, then come back to our house where you can all chill out in the backyard. Please, don't get wasted or have sex with the guy." He said looking at me, my mouth dropped, "What makes you think I would do such a thing!" I protested looking at him; he rolled his eyes, "Because he is Leonardo Dicaprio." I stuck my tongue out and the elevator door dinged.
I pushed Liam out and we headed towards the parking lot, we got to the car and Troy got Liam in while I put the stroller in the back of his car. "Are you going to get Jenni another car?"
"Yea, I already have it coming in. I talked to the insurance company, they said they could not get the money or coverage fast enough so whatever happens with that, I will just get back from them. I already have it all worked out. I will pick up the car tomorrow." He said starting the car; I climbed in the back with Liam to try to shush him.
"Buddy," I said adjusting myself in the backseat of the car, "you really need to learn to sleep," I said, "I love you Liam but really the screaming needs to stop." I mumbled
"I wonder if this is how Sharpay got to be such a bad screamer…" Troy wondered aloud, I laughed and I rubbed Liam's stomach wondering if he did not feel to well, I kissed his forehead but he felt fine. I let my fingers run through his crazy hair and I kissed his forehead again. "I know baby, you are tired." I said to him, his face scrunched up some more, "Troy have you ever thought that he could be Colicky?" Troy's eyes found mine through the review mirror. "What do you mean?"
"I mean when he cries he cries for hours on end, he screams. He does not take a pacifier and there are nights where he does not sleep. He-" Troy interrupted me in mid-sentence, "What do you mean he doesn't sleep at nights," I cringed and I looked him in the eyes as his head turned around to look at me. "Well, you see once you usually fall asleep, I sometimes sneak off so you don't wake up but other nights I don't since I fall asleep but when you are gone there are nights in a row he won't sleep, its gotten worse in the past few days, like this." I said pointing to him
"Gabi has this happened before last night?" he asked, I bit on my bottom lip, "Well yeah," I said shrugging my shoulders, Troy refocused on the road and he sighed. "Brie, I know it hasn't happened much when I am home because well I havent been home a lot. His first two weeks though, he wasn't bad." He said turning into his subdivision. "Yea, I know but it didn't kick in for a while. I have been wondering if that's it."
"I promise you he can't be colicky," he told me, I looked at him, "How the hell would you know Troy?" I asked looking at the back of his head. He turned into the house I came to so many times as a teenager. "Because neither Jenni nor me was a colicky baby."
"It isn't genetic," I told him, "He is healthy, he eats like a pig, and everything else seems normal." He got out of the car and I jumped out as he grabbed Liam's crying self.
"It was just a suggested Troy," I told him, I rubbed at my eyes and I felt my contacts coming out. "I am so switching to my glasses," I muttered as the pain in my head began to form. We went inside the house and all was calm, Jenni's cat Mack was lying on the couch. When Liam's screams entered the room, he jumped up from the couch and went running for another room. "I don't blame you," I said after him, Troy put Liam's car seat down, "You got him?" he asked, I looked down at my feet and I looked back at him, "Oh sure," I said to him, he came over and kissed me hard on the lips, "Love you," he said, I smiled and I watched him leave the house. I sighed kicking off my shoes; I locked the door and let Liam's screams fill the house before I went over to pick him up.
"Come on buddy; let's go find you something to eat then maybe we can sleep?" I suggested to the infant who could not talk back but he did scream.
I cradled him in my arms; I walked into the kitchen and pulled out a premade bottle that was made earlier this morning. I went back to the living room and sat against the back of the couch. I grabbed a burp clothes that was sitting on top of the diaper bag. "You gotta eat baby," I said as I put the bottle near his mouth, I stuck it in his mouth and he began to suck on it. The screaming began to die down from his mouth, "Thank God," I whispered.
He sucked on his bottle for five minutes before I pulled him away and I burped him on my shoulder. As soon as he let go of the bottle the screams began to echo through the home. "Oh Lord," I muttered, my eyes began to hurt and my headache. "You are going to have to lay in you playpen for a moment bud, I have to take my contacts out." I said standing up, leaving the bottle sitting on the table. I walked up the stairs that were located right as you walked in. My feet pounded up the stairs and I entered Troy's bedroom. The first room you came to, the dark blue walls with the basketballs and pictures hanging around the room.
I went over to the playpen but decided that he could lie on the bed with all the pillows surrounding him. I placed him directly in the middle taking all the pillows from the bed placing them around him. "Please be good," I said trying to shush him but the screams echoed. I grabbed a blanket and I placed it over his waist hoping that he might fall asleep eventually. I took a deep breath and I walked to the bathroom cracking the door. I still could not shake the pain in my head, "Only when your dad is away," I mumbled to the mirror, I saw my bland face.
No make up on my face, bags under my eyes, my face looking paler and I could feel the dual thud in my head. I took a deep breath and I dug my glasses from my bag, I tossed my hair up into a messy bun and I took my contacts out. I placed them in there case and I slipped my pink glasses on my face. I opened the cabinet in Troy's bathroom to see if he had any medication but I came up dry.
I went back out to see Liam still screaming, "Please Liam," I asked him, his crying did not stop nor did it calm down. I escaped down the downstairs bathroom to find all the drugs. I sighed of relief and grabbed the Tylenol. I popped two into my mouth and followed it with some water. I tried to shake the tired feeling from my body.
I went back upstairs, changed into a pair of sweats, and grabbed on of Troy's hoodies from his closet. I smelled the fading scent but it still lingered. I went over to Liam to see he had not calmed at all. "You my friend are starting to get annoying." I said sitting down on the bed next to him. I laid him on my chest and rubbed his back.
After twenty minutes of constant crying, my head pounding, and my hands shaking I finally said screw it. I got up from the bed and I placed him in the playpen. I tossed him the blanket and I grabbed my laptop, I opened it up and my eyes began to blur together.
I opened up the internet and I typed into the Google box, 'Colicky Baby?' I looked at the options it had from me to choose from before I became across How to Deal with a Colicky Baby. I opened up the thing to read it; it had been an hour since this whole episode started, hour and half since we left the hospital. I took a deep breath and ran over the paragraph. "So it is genetic." I mumbled to myself, I read some more.
"The baby can be perfect healthy and still get Colic…" I looked at Liam, he flexed his legs, scrunched them up, and laid them out straight, his fist was crumpled in a ball, and his face red. Just like the article read, I pushed my laptop off the bed and I rubbed my forehead. "There is nothing I can do," I said, "Nothing." I looked at Liam's painful face. I felt tears brush my eyes, "Oh Liam," I mumbled, I went over and I picked him up. Tears fell down my cheek and I picked up his crying self. "I am sorry buddy," I said trying to ease his pain but nothing ended the crying. We both sat on the bed and we both cried together, I felt my shoulders shake and my body starting to shut down. I was ready to sleep, I wish he could sleep, I wish he would do something. My head started to hurt worse when I heard a crash, I jumped up and I placed Liam in the playpen. I went running down the stairs to see Liam's bottle all over the floor. I felt the tears starting coming down my face faster as Mack stood next to it licking it up.
I ran down to the kitchen and grabbed a rag, Liam's scream was echoing through the house, the thumping in my head was echoed, and my tears made my hands shake. I tried to clean up the spilled formula but I just kept making it worse on there new carpet. "Brie?" Troy's voice said in a high pitch tone, I turned to look at him and he rushed over to me. "Why is Liam crying, are you okay? What happened?" he asked coming over to me. He tossed his jacket on the couch, "I-He has been crying since you left and Mack knocked over his bottle and the cap fell off which made a huge mess and I…" I could not catch my breath as the tears falling down my face.
"Hey, hey," Troy said sitting on the ground, he pulled me into his lap and I dropped the rag on the floor. He wrapped his arms around me in a hug and kissed my temple. "He has been crying since I left you?" I nodded my head into his shoulder, which was getting soaked with tears.
"Maybe he is sick,"
"Troy, he is colicky, I researched it. There is no way around it. They can be perfectly healthy and hell, I might have had it when I was little. I don't know, my mom has never told me." I said trying to shake the tears; Troy brought his thumb pad up to my cheek to wipe away the standing tears. "Alright, I'll take your word for it but what can we do to help him?" he asked me, he let his fingers run through my hair. "Nothing." I said to him, "He is already using the formula that is the best for this; I have tried just about everything else." I said taking my glasses off to wipe my eyes, "I am can't believe I left you." He said into my ear, I pulled my knees up Troy kissed my ear. "I love you," he said, I heard his scream, some more which made me break even farther.
"Baby," he whispered into my ear, "Calm down," I looked back at the carpet, which made everything worse. Troy's eyes drifted towards the carpet and sighed. "Don't feel bad, my mom will understand. It was not your fault and with Liam being so colicky and you are tired. You looked tired Brie, I havent seen you like this in a long time, I mean studying for SAT tired," I shook not wanting to remember that but that is almost how I felt. "You need to sleep without a crying baby, you need some time off." He said to me, I shook my head. "Troy…" I paused and licked my lips, "I can't just let him cry like that. I am scared." I looked at Troy, my eyes blurred with tears, "I can't think that he is screaming like that. I do not want him to feel like he is, I know he won't remember this but I will. I will remember when he was screaming because he has a stomachache or whatever he has." I dropped my head and Troy rubbed my thigh. "I will remember though that I did everything I could to make sure he could stop."
"Alright, fine, let's go upstairs and see what else we could do." He said, he stood up and then he looked at the mess, "I will get the carpet cleaner out and wash the carpet for my mom once you and Liam are fast asleep." He said kissing my temple. He led me up the stairs and into his room.
"God, that is deafen, do you need meds?" he asked me, I rolled my eyes, "I went down that road, hasn't helped me at all." I said, Troy leaned over the playpen and took Liam over to the bed. I sat down on the bed and Troy rested Liam in his arms. "Alright so what could we try?"
"I don't know, I can't even think straight right now. My head feel so numb and my hands were still shaking, Liam's shill cry made chills run down my back. Troy started to softly rub Liam's stomach, he grabbed my hand and we both started to do it together, softly. His eyes connected to mine and he kissed my forehead. Liam's crying didn't sooth but it slowed down. "I did read that if you lay the baby on your lap, his back up, the rub his back softly that it might help some too." I suggested leaning against Troy some more. "Alright, let's give that one a try." He lifted Liam up and he placed him gently on his stomach across his lap.
Troy and I rubbed his back together, it had been two and half hours since he had started this whole crying shit and within minutes of trying the back thing, it seemed to disapper. I took a small breath and tried not to exhale too hard. Trying not to hold my breath, you did not know if he was just taking a breather. "He is out." Troy whispered I leaned my head against his shoulder. "I just…" I yawned and Troy kissed my forehead. "I am going to swaddle him, make this room dark as possible." Troy said I looked up in his eyes.
"I read about colicky while at the hospital. I couldn't shake the thought about it when you said it to me, I was somewhat in shock, and when I realized oh shit, and I think he does have it, I raced home." He said shrugging his shoulders, I grinned and I felt the glasses pinch my face. Troy leaned forward and kissed my lips, "Troy Bolton, I love you." He said, he grinned and kissed me again. He got up from the bed and grabbed Liam's swaddle blanket.
"Troy, you are amazing." I said slipping down in the bed; I pulled the sheets over my shoulders sinking down in the bed. I saw the grin form on his face and the love in his eyes as he laid him down in the playpen. Liam did not stir once; he was truly exhausted for once probably. Troy closed the curtains and blinds in his room, shutting off the bathroom light. It was pitch dark but still had some light lingering in the air.
I closed my eyes, which blinked several times; I let my head fall into the pillow, my eyes closing quickly. I pulled the hoodie sleeves around my arms.
I then felt the soft hint of the glasses come off my face and his soft lips pressing against my forehead. The feeling of his lips made me feel warmth and happiness. Colicky baby's are not my favorite, I smiled and I dug deeper into the pillow, letting my body fall asleep.
Troy's POV
I ran the carpet cleaner of the spot one last time to make sure it was still spotless. I took a deep breath before I sat down on my butt, I breathed out the long breath of air. I was tired but if Liam woke up, I cannot let Gabi wake up, she was tired, to the point that I don't know how she was awake herself.
I sighed and started to clean up the mess, the door handle turned and I saw my dad walk through the door. I instantly put my finger to my lips and I pointed towards my room. He nodded his head and then looked at the carpet and then me. "Please tell you didn't spill red Gatorade or something red on the new carpet," he said glancing at me harder, I shook my head.
"I come back to the house, Gabi freaking out and crying on the floor, Liam's screams throughout the house, and it was crazy. Liam is totally colicky even if I don't want to believe it, Gabi was so tired that she was like zombie walking or something but Mack spilled the bottle and the cap broke off. So it was white and not to noticeable but I washed the carpet twice. Rinsed it and everything so I am hoping its back to new." I said to him, "Is that why you left in a rush?"
"I was reading about colic at the hospital on my phone, I knew reading it Liam had it so I rushed back to Gabs. That is when I found her in meltdown mode. We sat there listening and you could tell she was heartbroken from his screams, she wanted it all to stop and for him to calm down and feel better." I said shrugging my shoulder, I pushed the carpet cleaner towards the hall closet and I put it away. I leaned against the door and I rubbed my eyes. "You look awful tired too," my dad, commented, "That would be because last night Liam didn't sleep." I yawned and I felt my body starting to want to sleep some more. "Why don't you go and join Gabi…sleeping." He suggested, "I can't, if Liam wakes up I don't want Gabi to wake up."
"I can watch him if he wakes up,"
"Dad he is pretty bad and I don't want to put that burden on you if he goes in an episode." I said to my dad, he tried to smile but it failed, "You were so bad." He said shaking his head, "Wait…I was colicky?" I asked him, "Oh boy, yes, you were for about three weeks. Your mom was dead by the end," I blinked my eyes trying to think; "I thought mom said I wasn't?"
"Jenni was not colicky but you were, she doesn't like to speak of the time but you were defiantly colicky." He said trying not to laugh; I looked up the stairs to look at the room. "I bet you Gabi might have been to, it was popular back then. They have more help now than they did then." My dad put his hand on my shoulder, "You going on the road again is going to kill Gabi, your mom at least had me around all the time," he paused and looked down the hallway himself, "But she does not have that with you gone."
"You are doing the right thing by wanting to help her. By not wanting her to wake up and surviving this sleepless night but Gabi has done more than you will ever know. She will always do more than you; don't let your male ego come out." He said grinning, I laughed and I kicked back on the leather couch. "Defiantly. I just don't want her to turn against me or not ask for help since she has a mother ego," I said picking up the TV remote.
I kicked my Nike's off and I let my head fall against the back of the couch. "Is this what parenting is like?" I asked my dad, he looked up from the couch and shook his head. "Yes and no, it gets just as hard in the years to come but there are those moments that you will never forget which make it all worthwhile." He said looking at me, "Like right now parenting isn't as fun, one of my kids is in the hospital; my other is dealing with his tired girlfriend and a colicky baby."
"Yes, parenting not so good right now." I told him, he nodded his head, "Why aren't you at the hospital?" I asked him, "Your mom is PMSing, Jenni is tired and cranky and I have a headache. I wasn't going to win any battles so I decided I would come home for a little to try and sleep."
"Go right on up to your bedroom and sleep dad. Don't feel burdened by me being down here." I started flipping through the channels to see the Lakers pregame show was on. I clicked my dad sat up a little, "Well the Laker game is going to be on soon," my dad commented, "We could sit down here and watch the game like old times before you were the one on the screen playing." My dad commented I looked at the wall to see my high school self, the picture from first year, probably the dorkiest year of them all.
"I would love to," I commented, my dad grinned and we both leaned into the back of the couch. I sat there and thought, this was not the same, and I was waiting. I was waiting for that cry to go off. I chewed on my bottom lip and I looked at the television.
"Welcome to the Laker's Pre-game show," I watched as the boys in the background began to pass the ball around and warm up. Hitting off the backboard and watching the ball bounce in. "So we are in our third game without superstar rookie Troy Bolton," the John said, "You are right indeed John." Austin's voice turned his back, "He reportedly was in the airport at LA yesterday but we weren't expecting him to return back to the team so soon yet he hasn't been seen tonight." He turned back to the camera and he looked at the cards on the table. "Troy is supposed to return with the team April 1st from his sprained thumb, which was pretty bad from what I heard." John said
"The team was all grossed out; they were shocked when they said it wasn't broken." I rolled my eyes and looked at my bandaged thumb that was swollen and still purple.
"We will be talking to Coach Phil and Chad Danforth to see if Troy is actually here tonight and making a surprise, remarkable, come back." Austin tapped his cards on the table, "Yes, indeed. We will be back after this."
"Great, this should interest." I mumbled, my dad laughed, "You were always excited about the pregame interviews and the postgame interviews. Now that you are on there it's not so fun huh?"
"Nope, that's why this seems so much different. I know all the plays and they already want to make me captain next year. Its all overwhelming but so much fun and excitement that you don't want to give it up." I looked at the commercial on the TV, "So much different than high school." I said
My dad stayed quiet and then the TV turned back to Austin and John who was sitting with Chad. "Chad Danforth, how are you doing?" John asked, Chad let a lazy grin take over his face, "Great,"
"So just to get this out of the way and before we start talking about tonight's game, I wanted to ask you if Troy Bolton was here tonight. He was seen in an LA airport yesterday afternoon." Chad's face instantly turned into a frown. "No. Troy is not here tonight. He will not be back until April 1. He is trying to spend some quality time with his son and girlfriend."
"Thank you Chad,"
"But the airport…" John questioned
"He can go every the hell he wants to go, why does he need to be integrated over it?" He asked the two shrugging his shoulders, "Well since you guys are best friends we just wondered…" Austin started but Chad interrupted him, "And that's why I am not saying where he is or what he is doing. He wouldn't do that to me, I am not going to do it to him."
Austin and John both nodded there heads, "Alright moving on to the game," I smirked and I pulled my cell phone out, I texted Chad, Thank you.
Gabi's POV
"The ref is insane!" I bolted up in the bed and I looked around, I glanced at the clock to see it well in the evening. I rubbed my forehead as a small pain still lingered in my head. I looked over at the playpen and Liam's small body was missing. I jumped out of bed and I looked around as to where to begin. "I can't believe I lost him, I…" I tried to think but my mind went in circles. I looked at the door.
"Troy isn't here is he? He probably left," I muttered to myself, I pulled on the sweatshirt that was over my head. I looked down to see the letters East High cross the front; I smiled knowing this was the hoodie I always wore. I loved this hoodie; it had Bolton on the back with his number.
When I got to the stairs, I heard more voices, I took a deep breath, and maybe Liam was just done here. I felt my hair sliding out of my messy bun slowly. I turned the corner into a bathroom before I hit the living room. I redid my messy bun and finished my walk down the stairs. Troy was lying on the couch, his head propped up onto the armrest, Liam's small body resting on his dad's big chest, and Jack was sitting on the loveseat. I smiled watching three generations in front of me.
"Dad, can you believe that! That was total bullshit," Jack looked down at Liam, "Oops, I meant BS…" Troy said grinning, I shook my head, "You three," I paused as there heads turned around, "Are going to drive me nuts someday." Troy sat up with Liam, Liam's eyes were closed and his breathing was soft and smooth.
"Has he woken up?" I asked him walking into the living room, "For about twenty minutes, I feed him and burped him a little more often and nothing." He said winking, "Yeah, they say it is usually after feedings…" I looked carefully at Liam to see if he was ready to cry.
"If Liam is anything like Troy it was usually only in the afternoon, he would do it in the middle of the night to piss everybody off but at night like this Troy didn't do it."
I looked at Jack and then back to Troy, "You lied to me!" I pointed at him, he blushed and shrugged, "I didn't know," he said, I looked at the score to see the Lakers barely holding the lead with three minutes left in the game.
"Oh and Gabi once Liam is old enough to talk, he will be driving you crazy." Jack said winking, I rolled my eyes and I sat down next to Troy. I slipped my feet into his lap and let my head fall onto his shoulder. "What am I? A wall?" he asked, I giggled, "Nope, you are my couch." I said snuggling my face deeper into his arm.
He kissed my forehead, "How did you sleep?" he asked, "Wonderful. I enjoyed every single minute of it; I am shocked I didn't wake up when Liam cried."
"Cause I basically woke him up when I went in to check on you two. So he was out within seconds." I poked at Liam's small belly and his eyes began to flutter open. "Great," Troy and I said together but for once we did not cringe; we both sighed of relief that he shut his eyes once more. "Colicky babies scare me," Troy whispered, I laughed nodded my head, "Most defiantly."
Wow. I am SO sorry! This is so late, I planned to have this out over a week ago! I feel SOOO bad! I will give you two updates before I update The Truth About Love. Time just got away from me so quickly, I don't know where it goes! I will begin working on the next chapter tonight so everybody start reviewing! We are going out of town again next week so I am hoping to have some more updates out before then! But don't count on me…I suck. Lol
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, Gabi is starting to struggle and Troy is finally seeing that! Yayyy! :D And Liam…sigh. Lol (:
PLEASEEEE REVIEWW! Lets get close to 280! :D