Gabriella looked over the pictures Troy was sending her from one of the homes he and the Real Estate agent were looking at while they talked on the phone together. Tori was out playing in the backyard of the home. Gabriella was laying on the bed at the hotel after just getting out of the shower. She had barely wrapped her robe around her when her phone had rang and she had laid down with him. It was almost one fifteen in New York, but it was three hours earlier in California.

"It's beautiful, T," she told him, looking over the pictures on the slideshow on her computer.

She heard the agent in the background, explaining what she could already see on her screen, "Five bedrooms, three point five bathrooms. Library/Study off entry way. Indoor pool with jacuzzi. Spacious backyard. Chef's kitchen. Entertaining dining room. Full theater in the basement. Everything you could possibly need."

Gabriella shook her head. "I don't know, T," she told him, cycling through the pictures. "I really need a studio like I have here. The portfolio says something about unfinished basement space. Can you ask her about it?"

Troy nodded and turned to the agent. "It's a really nice house, Nancy, but my fiancée and I have very specific needs. Like she needs a studio where she can rehearse. Big enough for a gym too."

The agent nodded and waved her hand for him to follow her. Troy called out the back door to Tori. "Hey, Princess. We're going downstairs. Come on."

Tori caught her ball as it came back down into her arms and ran toward the house. "Ok, Daddy!" She ran into the house and pulled the door shut behind her, running up to her father's side. "Is that Mama on the phone?" she asked, looking up at Troy as they followed the agent.

"Sí, Mija," Troy nodded and Gabriella smiled into the phone, listening to her daughter and fiancé talking to each other.

"Can I talk to her?"

Gabriella's heart did a flip inside her chest and she bit her lip. Troy nodded, talking into the phone.

"Hey, babe. I've got a little girl wanting to talk to her mama."

She smiled, swallowing softly. "I want to talk to her too."

Troy looked down at his daughter, handing her the phone. "She wants to talk to you too."

Tori smiled brightly, taking the phone, putting it to her ear. "Mama, this house is HUGE! Bigger than the last one we saw. Daddy said we couldn't call you when we were looking at it because you'd be asleep... I miss you, Mama."

Gabriella was quiet for a moment before she softly replied, "I miss you, Mija."

Tori nodded her head in a silent triumph. She had been mad at her for so long, but she wasn't anymore and she wanted her to know that. "Mama, this house has a theater in the basement!" Tori told her as they came down to it. It was huge and it made her eyes about pop right out of her head.

She giggled, and even though she had known, she didn't want to diminish her excitement. "Do you like it, Mija?"

Tori nodded, looking around. There was a popcorn maker, a soda machine, microwave and mini refrigerator. "¡O, Sí! ¡Que hago!" Tori looked up at her daddy. "Do you like it, Daddy?"

Troy looked down at her, nodding his head quickly to show Tori he liked it a lot. "Oh yeah, Angel. Just think about watching the basketball games!"

Tori eyes lit up more, nodding really big. "And we can watch Mama too!"

Gabriella smiled brightly into the phone as she put the laptop down on the bed and picked up the clothes she had picked out earlier, holding them to her chest.

"You finished talking to your mama?" Troy asked and Tori looked at the phone in her hand. "O, me olvidé." She put the phone to her ear again, talking to his mama. "¡Te amo, Mama!"

Gabriella took a soft breath, smoothing her towel down a bit. "Te amo, Mijo."

Tori looked up at Troy again. "Te amo, Mama. I'm giving the phone back to Daddy."

Gabriella released the grasp she held on her clothes pressed against her chest over her heart and let them rest on her lap. "Ok, sweetie. I'll talk to you later."

Tori smiled brightly and handed the phone to Troy. "Mama is going to call me later!"

Troy nodded, taking the phone. "Ok. I'll keep an ear out for her call!"

Tori got really excited and ran off to check out the theater more closely. Troy put the phone to his ear and couldn't help but smile as he spoke to his fiancée.

"I think she's missing his mama a bit."

Gabriella released her lip from lightly biting it, wiping a way a soft tear. "I miss her. I miss both of you."

Troy could hear the tears in her voice even though she wasn't crying out loud, but he didn't want to let the agent know she was crying, so he shifted the conversation. "We can see the unfinished portion of the basement now, Nancy?"

The agent nodded, opening the door on the far end of the room. "Right this way," she said, standing on the other side of the door, waiting for them.

"Vamanos, Tori," Troy called to her where she was rocking back and forth on one of the leather recliners. She hopped up quickly, running up beside her daddy. Troy wrapped his arm around her shoulders, walking through the door with him. Troy looked over the room and nodded.

"There's definitely enough room down here, babe," he spoke into the phone to Esperanza. "We could have a room built in the corner with sound proofing for you to rehearse in. There's even enough room out here for a complete gym for each of us to work out."

Gabriella pulled her panties on, leaving her towel on the bed, holding the phone on her shoulder. "Take some pictures for me. I'm going to have breakfast with Tempe."

Troy could still hear more tears in her voice and he knew it was because she wished she was there with him looking at the house with him.

"I'll call you when we're done eating."

Troy nodded, hugging Tori close to him. "Try to have fun, baby," he encouraged her, knowing how hard she would try.

She loved her sister, even knowing how difficult Temperance was making things on her. She loved her, and she was trying her hardest to make things go smooth for everyone.

"I will, T. Give Tori a hug for me, por favor. I love both of you."

Troy smiled down at Tori, nodding, hugging her again. "I will, baby. Talk to you soon. We love you."

Troy waited until he heard Lily hang up on her end before ending the call on his end and turned to Nancy, looking down at his phone, shuffling through the applications, looking for the camera function. "I think we both like this one, but we still would like to see the last two."

Nancy nodded her head, walking back to the door. "Of course."

Gabriella walked out of her room dressed in Daisy Dukes and a lavender and black lace tank top with dark lavender pumps, her messenger bag hung over her shoulder. She knocked on Temperance's door and waited for an answer.

"Out here," came her sister's reply from the living area of the hotel suite and Gabriella turned to follow her voice. "'Bout time," Tempe chided. "What were you, sexting with Stormy Eyes again?"

Gabriella glared at her younger sister from where she stood at the entrance to the hallway. "Do you not know how inappropriate comments like that are?"

Temperance smirked at Gabriella, leaning back on the couch with her magazine. "I'll take that as a yes. Or maybe it was actual phone sex. Or maybe video IMing! You're looking pretty flushed!"

Gabriella threw her arms up. "Do you have to? Seriously?" She looked over at her sister, her eyes pleading with her. "Enough of my life is publicized the whole world to know! Do you have to know EVERY INTIMATE DETAIL?"

Temperance didn't expect her to crack so easily. She blinked a few times and took a slight breath. "Wow... Are you sure you're my sister?" She laughed shortly. "You sure as hell can't take shit!

Gabriella shook her head "You know what? I don't want to go shopping or to breakfast with you! Order breakfast for yourself. And no, don't even think you're inviting Dominick over. He's coming with me!" Gabriella walked to the door. "I'll send hotel security up to babysit you!" And with that, she left her sister alone.

She walked down the hall, and knocked on Dominick's door, leaning against the door frame, feeling defeated and lost. She needed Troy. She needed Taylor. But she had herself. Troy was right when he said she wasn't the same person she used to be. Why she wasn't, she didn't know. She had lost herself along the way becoming Ella Leigh Diva Superstar, she forgot who Gabriella was. She was determined not to cry, no matter how pissed off and hurt she was.

She was still very disappointed in Dominick for what he was doing with her sister. She was fifteen for Christ's sake! Gabriella wasn't her mom, but she was her guardian now and she was supposed to be looking out for her. Not that she didn't trust Dominick. She trusted Dominick with her life and she knew he would take care of her... He was just so much older than her. He was older than Gabriella and that meant he was way older than Temperance and she preferred that she date some one her own age.

She knocked on Dominick's door and waited for him to answer. After a few moments, Dominick answered the door, looking down on her a litter concerned.

"What is it?"

Gabriella looked up at her bodyguard and the man she thought was her friend. "I can't have you messing around with my sister."

Dominick sighed, dropping his head slightly, "Ella, I understand,–"

Esperanza held up her hand, shaking her head sharply. "No! You don't understand. She's fifteen years old, Nick! Quince!" She pointed at his chest, clenching her teeth. "I'm supposed to be taking care of her, Nicky, and you know I trust you with my life and that means I trust you with Tori's, Troy's AND hers..." she took a short breath, "but that doesn't mean I want you having sex with her. Jesucristo, Nick! You're old enough to be her father! Don't you get that?"

Dominick nodded his head, taking her hand poking his chest in his. "Did you want to go get some breakfast and talk about this?"

The look in his eyes made her want to cry, but she held herself together, nodding her head surely. Dominick grabbed his jacket and stepped out into the hall with her, shutting the door behind him.

Downstairs at the restaurant, Gabriella sat across the table from Dominick as he told her about his family and how his father smoked the entire time he was growing up. His mother got lung cancer because of it and died when he was 17. His father then shot himself, not being able to live without her ... which left Dominick to take care of his younger brother and sister.

"It wasn't something I had expected. It wasn't something anyone ever expects, Ella, but I dealt with it," Dominick told her. "And I'm not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me. It was years ago. I've moved on from it. I'm a different person than I was then. What I'm getting at is I know what Temperance is going through to a point. She talks to me. She opens up to me. She didn't feel like she could open up to you, but she started talking to me one night. We understood each other. She told me she was afraid to talk to you... She knew about the way your parents treated you and talking to you just hasn't come easy for her."

Gabriella looked down at her Juevos Rancheros, pushing them across her plate with her fork.

"I'm sorry, Ella. I never knew."

Gabriella shook her head, looking up at him, forcing the smile onto her face.

"It's ok."

She didn't even know Temperance knew about all of it and Gabriella wanted to cry. She never wanted her to know any of that.

"She wants things to be better between the two of you, she's just been rude for too long, and she doesn't know how to change."

Gabreilla wiped away a tear quickly that fell from her eye, taking a sharp breath. "I've been trying, Dominick. I haven't stopped."

He nodded, leaning across the table. "I know that. And don't. This is hard on her too. You're all she's got left. She doesn't know what to do with all of this."

Gabriella picked up her orange juice, looking down into the orange liquid. "I really don't want you two sleeping together, Dominick," she whispered, not putting the glass down as she held it close to her, breathing in deeply. "She's my sister," her voice broke, closing her eyes, sobbing softly.

She felt Dominick take her free hand on the table and she sat her glass down on the table, wiping her tears off of her face, shaking her head. "I got pregnant when I was in high school, Dominick," she told him, looking into his eyes, shaking slightly. "I'm not saying that that's what's going to happen between you and Tempe, but..." she let her head drop slightly, tears falling onto her chest, "I don't want her to go through what I went through." She took a soft breath, looking back up at him. "Troy and I lost the baby. We started fighting. It was horrible. That's why I ran away from everything. Troy and Taylor are the only ones who really know all of that." She wiped the tears off of her tear-streaked face.

Dominick shook his head. "Lo siento, Ella," he whispered, rubbing the top of her hand.

Gabriella bit her lip, taking a soft breath. "Don't worry about it, Dominick. I just don't want to see my sister get hurt. And I know you won't hurt her, but she can get hurt without you hurting her." Gabriella looked up into his eyes, her lip quivering. "Please hurt don't hurt her," her plea came out in a shaky whisper. "I know if I keep you away from her, she's just going to hate me even more."

Dominick shook his head. "She doesn't hate you."

Gabriella started crying more. "I just don't want to fight with her anymore. I've been trying so hard. You're the only one she's opening up to. If I just let you two be together, maybe ..." she started sobbing more, her shoulders trembling as she hung over the table.

Dominick left his seat, kneeling down beside her, wrapping his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. "You don't have to do this. You already told me to stay away from her. You don't have to do this just so she'll like you."

She shook her head, looking over at him. "I want her happy. You make her happy. You two understand each other. I just want what's best for her, and if you're that, I don't want to stand in the way of that."

Dominick rubbed her back, leaning his head forward, smiling slightly. "Thank you. You didn't have to do this, but thank you. I really like your sister, a lot. I want you to know, I'm not going to hurt her. I'm not going to disappoint you. I would never. I love you like a sister. I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Gabriella smiled, even though her face was still wet from her tears. "I know, Nick. I love you too." She let him hugged her and wrapped her arm softly around him.

After breakfast, she told Dominick to go up and spend some time with Temperance, that she wanted to go shopping, alone. He never liked letting her go off on her own, but she told him she'd be fine. She had her hat and her glasses and she just wanted to spend some time alone. He finally let her go and she left, thankful that he let her be alone.

More and more she just wanted to be home with Troy. She loved her career. She loved what she did for a living, but she loved her family more. She'd give it all up just to be with Troy and Tori and even Temperance forever. And she and Troy were going to get pregnant sooner or later. The waiting was killing them. She didn't know why it had been so easy for them to get pregnant in high school even if Dr. Maria had explained that sometimes it was harder for women to get pregnant after coming off of birth control, but she assured her that everything else was in working order and she should be able to conceive as soon as her hormones leveled out. That didn't make Esperanza feel any better. She just wanted to be pregnant already.

She was still afraid she wasn't going to be a good mother, but she knew with Troy by her side and with Taylor's help she could do it. She already felt like she was better than she had been before Tori came back into her life. She and Tori have been getting along a whole lot better. In fact, they were getting along amazingly. She was so amazing. The way they were with each other, it was almost like she had never been mad at her to begin with. She loved it. She was really seeming to love her. No, not seeming. She was sure Tori loved her, and that really made her heart soar.

Gabriella took out her phone to call Troy as she walked into a clothing store. She really didn't shop a lot, usually only when Taylor was with her or she needed to de-stress, and she definitely needed to de-stress right now.

"Hey, baby,"Troy answered. "How was breakfast?"

Gabriella walked over to a rack of dresses and started looking through them. "I didn't go with Temperance." Troy was quiet, letting Lily continue. "We got into another fight and I left her alone in the room."

Troy shook his head slightly, turning into the driveway, following the Real Estate agent. "What did she do now, baby?"

Gabriella took a deep breath, picking up cute, floor-length plum colored sweater dress. "She was asking about our sex life again," Bri whispered into the receiver.

Troy cleared his throat, looking over at his daughter who was obliviously playing her DS. "What did you do?" she asked her, taking the keys from the ignition.

"I had breakfast with Dominick instead."

Troy slowly nodded his head. "Was that any better?"

Gabriella hung the dress back up. "Actually, I think it was. I think I understand both of them a whole lot better now."

Troy's eyes widened quite a bit as he opened the door, stepping out of his SUV. "Does that mean you're going to let them be together?"

Gabriella ran her fingers along the material of a dress she really liked, smiling at it, but contemplating Troy's question seriously. "I don't know, T. He's so much older than her. He's older than me."

Troy opened Tori's door, helping her up onto his back, shutting the door and following Nancy into the house. "I know, baby. I understand. I know you want to take care of your sister and I know it's hard on you, especially since she's not making it easy on you."

Gabriella sighed softly, picking up the dress and looking over it. "It's just really hard, T."

Troy smiled, rubbing Tori's leg softly. "You'll figure it out, babe. I know you will. Honestly, I think you already have."

Gabriella looked over the dress. He was right. She was sure he had. She just had to let it sink in.