Summer.
Spring's bloomed flowers stayed, but the sun's rays washed all the winter's water away. It sizzled and cracked the earth's skin, but made the little earthlings happy with its warmth. Finally, the beaches were warm enough, and everyone returned to their favorite summer vacation spots.
All but Gabriella.
The month was July, July 4th for specifics, and Independence Day flags were flying high in the sky.
Parades of people marched down the streets, holding sparklers and throwing candy to the crowd of people dressed in red, white, and blue.
In Ohio, they didn't do that.
But in Louisiana, they did.
Gabriella sat on Troy's lap in the grass as the parade went past them, and she was all giggles and smiles as Uncle Sam waved to her.
She looked at Troy in excitement and then waved back.
"I love it here! Can I stay here forever?"
Troy laughed. "Babe, I told you that you could move in with me."
"But I don't want to stress you out with college and stuff." She sighed. "I wish I was eighteen already... "
"Well, you're fifteen. Three years to go." He kissed her cheek.
"And you'll be nineteen in four days." She grinned at him. "Do you think Ainsley will be born close to your birthday?"
He wrapped his arms around Gabriella's stomach, which was still small, but was catching up. "Ah, who knows if Leah will be born close to my birthday- "
"Ainsley!"
"Leah!"
"Ainsley."
"Ainsley Leah, okay? How about that?" Troy raised an eyebrow.
"Ainsley Leah Bolton. Maybe." Gabriella grinned. "I sort of wanted the baby to have the same initials as you, but it doesn't really matter."
"There's not many girls names that start with T. Tea, Talullah, Tina, Terra, Tanna... And I can't name any more... But I really don't like any of those. It doesn't matter, anyway."
She looked back at the parade, which was almost finished.
"You wanna go find a spot for the fireworks tonight?" He said, getting up.
She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. "I guess. It's up to you."
He lead her across the lawn and towards his truck. "Well, we can go walk around campus if you want."
"No walking for me. My legs hurt enough after that damn check-up yesterday. I had to do water treadmilling for a half hour until my blood pressure started to go up."
He opened the door in his truck for her and then ran around to the other side.
They shut their doors, and Troy started the truck.
"Are you okay?" He said, looking over at her.
Suddenly, Gabriella became dizzy.
"No... " She shook her head. 'I'm really dizzy... "
Troy got a water bottle from the back of his truck and handed it to her. "Water?"
She took it and gulped it completely down.
After, she threw it in the back, still dizzy.
"It didn't help."
"Maybe if we just sit here- "
"NO!" She looked over at him, as if he was about to kill her.
"Okay!" He started down the road a little. "Better?"
She layed her head back a little and groaned. "No."
"What's wrong, baby?" He grabbed one of her hands.
"Just take me back to your apartment... "
...
Troy fumbled with his keys to open his apartment door as Gabriella freaked out.
"Why the hell am I dizzy?" She sobbed and pulled her hair back.
"I don't know, baby." He finally got the door open and pushed her inside. "Do you want me to call the hospital and ask them- "
"I'm not ready to have this baby yet!" She screamed in his face as she sat down.
"I was just going to call and ask- "
"NO!" She screamed again.
"Jesus christ Gabriella, what do you want me to do?"
"Hold me... " She started getting hysterical. "Make it better... "
Obediently, he sat beside her and grabbed her in his arms, where he rocked her quivering body back and forth as she buried herself into his chest.
"Just calm down- "
"I don't want to calm down!" She sobbed. "Just hold me!"
"I am, baby! I'm doing the best I can!" His eyes got wide. "What else do you want me to do, for crying out loud?"
"Nothing... Just stay here with me... " She sobbed.
Her body's quivering got worse, and she became very frightful.
Tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm scared, Troy... "
"I'm right here baby... " He stroked her hair and held her tighter. "I'm going to give the hospital a call just to ask some advice... "
He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called the hospital's number.
"Baton Rouge Hospital, how may I help you?"
"Hi, my girlfriend has been really dizzy for the past half hour, and I just wanted to ask what we can do."
"Any medical conditions?"
"Well, she's pregnant."
"How old is she?"
"Fifteen." Troy ran a hand through Gabriella's hair.
"And how far along is she?"
"She'll be nine months on the 15th."
"It could be a variety of things. Some women experience dizziness in the earliest signs of labor, and since she is so close to her due date, this could be one, but dizziness can also be caused from an arising hemorrhage. I would recommend bringing her in just for her and the baby's safety."
Troy looked down at Gabriella. "Okay, thanks. I'll be bringing her in shortly." He flipped his phone shut. "They said it can be from labor or a hemmorhage that's going to happen, so they told me to bring you in."
Suddenly, Gabriella's heart dropped.
"Troy, I'm not ready- "
"I'm right here, okay baby?" He kissed her forehead and picked her body up from the couch. "Let's just go, okay?"