Chapter 2 – Tests

Monday, July 11th, 2022

Gabi's POV

I didn't move underneath of the water as the spray washed over me as the warm water let my shoulders relax. I wasn't sure what today was going to bring but I knew that I was going to have Troy Bolton by my side and that's all that mattered. I was thankful he took the news well and I was scared how this would change our future sex life and just the overall process. Having a baby, trying for a baby, it was supposed to be fun. This could be the furthest thing from that. He took it with stride and the guilt ate at me because I should have been more honest with him up front. I should have. Yet, there was no changing any of it.

I gave a shaky exhale, "Gabs, you almost done?" Troy let his head pop into the bathroom, and I looked out the glass. "Yea, I'll be out in a one minute." He hesitated at the door because he knew in my voice and by the way I had been quiet most of the weekend. I wanted this appointment over with and I wanted to go back to Boston with Troy. He was going to start football season soon though and this was going to get chaotic.

Troy shut the door and I turned the shower off as I slipped out. I wrapped myself in the big fluffy towel and looked in the mirror. My eyes were dark underneath from the lack of sleep the past couple of days. I slipped on a pair of jeans shorts and a tank top as I stepped out into the room and towards the closet to find my shoes as Troy was sitting on the bed as his eyes tilted back to look at me. "Hey, come here," he gently tugged on my shorts, and I didn't hesitate. "If we're going to do this, we need to have a little conversation about what's not going to happen." I tilted my head in curiosity.

"You already are stressed out about this, and I know this isn't how you wanted this but we're going to do this together. Every single step of the way and I do not want you shutting me out because you are scared or because you feel bad or because you think this is your fault – it's not. We are just having to do extra steps to have a baby and that shouldn't change our relationship because let me tell you something, Gabriella Montez-Bolton – I love you. If we can't have biological kids – we'll adopt. If you don't even want to do this – we don't have too. We have to continue to talk to each other through all of this though and if we don't, we'll go down a dark path that I don't want to go down. I lost you once. I'm not losing you again."

I couldn't stop my tears as he pulled me into his lap, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I want your baby. I want to carry your baby." My words broke off in a crumbled sob and his arms tightened around me. "Then we'll figure it out. This might be the only time I am thankful for the amount of money I make because I will throw every single dollar at the wall to make your dream come true," he tucked a piece of my wet hair behind my ear.

Troy cupped my face and made our eyes connect, "But you cannot shut me out. I promise to not shut you out and I swear to God if our sex life is ruined because of this," I couldn't stop my laugh and Troy gave me a smile as he let his thumb wipe away any tears that were left. "I love you," I whispered as I let my forehead reach his and he gripped my face as he gave me a sweet kiss. "I love you, too. I have something planned for us after the appointment."

"Oh yea? What?"

He grinned, "You'll see."

I shook my head as I finished getting ready as Troy took Claire over to his mom's house for her to spend the day with them. I slipped my wedding ring and my engagement ring on as I slipped on my necklace before heading downstairs. Ember was running around with Troy as he stopped with a smile on his face. "Ready?" I nodded my head as he went to lock her up and we both headed towards the car. Our house was mostly packed up because while we were gone for the next several months, we were doing a huge renovation with the beach house. We weren't completely tearing it down, but we were knocking out most of the walls, putting huge glass sliders on the back to open it up, and huge windows to the ocean. The whole back of the house was going to be windows or doors.

All of the rooms were going to be expanded a bit and the master was going to be larger. It was going to be a huge house and no longer a rental for people. It was going to be for friends and family and any of the times we wanted to get everybody together in one house as it had plenty of beds and rooms for people. We were redoing the pool and adding two offices. One for me and one for Troy for the off-season. It was going to be stunning and then once this was done, we were going to start working on our dream house for Boston which was going to take a lot longer.

Troy slipped his hand in mine as I directed him to my OBs office and when we pulled in, he kissed my hand. "We got this, okay? Remember in Italy when I said I would do anything that would make you happy? I will do anything, baby." I gave him a timid smile as we both got out as Troy was right. We had to be in constant communication with each other and we had to talk because this could get hard and exhausting. I wasn't sure what today was going to hold but we were about to find out.

We signed in for my appointment as I let my fingers hook with his and he brushed his thumb over my hand. "I got the final designs for the house," Troy said, and I smiled, "I can't wait to look them over." Troy kissed my head, "I can't wait to build you your dream beach house. I really will have to drag you out of there in the future." I laughed as they called my name, and we headed back into my OBs office as we were just talking today since we did an exam last week.

We sat down as Dr. Miller was walking in behind us, "Good morning, Troy and Gabi," I introduced her to Troy, and I smiled as we all took a seat. "Troy, I know that you just found out. Do you have any questions that I can help answer for you?" Troy hesitated and he reached over to grip my knee gently. "I am just worried about her physically. Her periods are terrible, and it makes me want to take her to the hospital because she is in so much pain. I know you have to have your period to have a baby but how can we make it bearable for her?" Troy let his hand fall on mine as I couldn't stop staring at him. The tears that filled my eyes because he wasn't worried about the whole process for having a baby but how to make sure I was comfortable. Fuck, he was too good to me.

Dr. Miller gave a small smile, "This is a side effect of PCOS, and it does sound like Gabi has a really hard time with them. We can talk about prescribing some strong pain killers to help but sometimes they don't. Being there for her, heating pad, massages, trigger points, there are a few different things you can try to help ease the pain. How long does it typically last?" her question was directed towards me. "Three or four days."

"Of the cramps?"

I nodded my head and Dr. Miller wrote something down as she nodded her head. "I am willing to do just about anything to help her." he mentioned softly. Dr. Miller nodded her head, "I'll see what I can find but let's drift to the topic – it sounds like you are ready to start a family. Luckily, you are both young, but I think we should start at the very beginning of this to make sure we set you both up for success. I think getting intensive testing done with a reproductive endocrinologist and find you a fertility clinic is the first step. I think you should both be tested."

"I have a daughter," Troy interjected. Dr. Miller gave a patient smile, "I would still get tested to just make sure that everything is right with both of you. That way you can quickly conclude which method to start with. You could do medications to start, IUIs, etc. There are many roads you could go down, but we just need both of you to have clean tests. Obviously, we know Gabi has PCOS, but I wouldn't be surprised if they want to go in and take a look at her uterus to see if there are any other problems."

Troy swallowed, "Surgery?"

"A minor procedure but yes, I am almost positive they will want to do one."

I exhaled as Troy looked over at me, "Can we get this ball rolling quickly? If she needs surgery, then I want to do it before my season starts. I know this will fall into season but with her going under anesthesia is enough to make me anxious to not perform well." I squeezed his hand and Dr. Miller nodded. "I have a few recommendations of who to send you too and I even called the one that I think would be the best for all of you. They treat PCOS patients regularly and I let them know it was a high-profile couple who is going to require privacy."

"They will sign NDAs," Troy tossed out quickly and I looked over at him, "Troy,"

"What? This is our business. I don't need people telling whomever without our permission." I didn't even say anything. There was no fighting him on this. "It's Boston Infertility group and they are located not too far from the stadium which will probably be helpful when Troy is having so many practices and what not. I think you are more than welcome to look other places, but I know a lot of the doctors in the practice, and they are all wonderful."

I nodded my head, "I think that will be okay. How fast can we get the ball rolling?" I asked and Dr. Miller smiled, "I went ahead and set up an appointment for Friday. Is that okay? It's going to be a rather long appointment to discuss everything. I discussed with Dr. Monty that you already have a clean diet and that you are in a healthy weight." I nodded as I nibbled on my lower lip. "It might take you several months to get everything going through and I know you probably want this process to go fast but it will be slow and agonizing and you need to find people to support you through this as a couple. You are not alone in this."

I nodded my head as we finished up a few other topics, got the information for our appointment in Boston on Friday. Troy and I walked out and once we got to the car, he pulled me into his body and kissed my head. "Are you okay?" he asked, and I nodded my head, and I looked up at him. "I am. Thank you for asking about making me comfortable in the beginning. It was…" I smiled as I took a deep breath with a smile. "It meant a lot to me."

"Gabi, they shatter my heart. I can't handle watching you like that."

"C'mon, we have some packing up to do."

"No, no, first we have something we are going to do together."


Troy's POV

She tossed her head back in a big laugh as we were playing putt-putt together on a tiny course as it was just the two of us and we were both sweating profusely because of the warm July day but it was fun to just be together and not worry about anything. I lined up my shot and let it roll down the fake green grass and circled around the hole before it went the other direction. "Fuck, me," I grumbled causing Gabi to laugh as she tapped her ball in for a second shot. We came here all the time in high school together, typically, after the 12th hole we would escape and make-out somewhere.

It took me two more times before we moved on to the next hole as we were nearly finished. At the end was one of our favorite ice cream places. I would take her, and we would go back home where I was going to make sure she knew how much I loved her before I picked up Claire before we finished packing. It was good to just see her happy and carefree right now. I felt like there had been too many emotions right now and I just wanted that smiley girl.

"Claire is going to be so mad that she didn't get to come." Gabi pointed out and I shrugged, "It's our day date. Not hers." I smiled over at her as we finished the last few holes as of course, Gabi beat me. We walked to the ice cream area as we both ordered, and we found a little umbrella to sit underneath. "I am excited to get back to Boston and meet up with all the hospitals to make sure everything is going smoothly," Gabi took a bit of her ice cream.

"I hate that I have to go fly out to California for the week," I mumbled. Gabi locked our ankles together underneath of the table and she shrugged, "You have to make all that sponsorship money." Gabi teased with a wink over towards me. I shook my head as I had to shoot way too many commercials this week for a few different brands. I was going to be gone tomorrow through and flying back super early Friday to make it to all of our appointments with the infertility specialist.

"Do you want me to go with you next Friday?" Gabi looked at me with those brown eyes and I scrunched my own eyes, "I figured we both had to go?" I questioned and she shook her head. "That afternoon, Claire has her full day of scans and everything." My brain almost immediately shut off as I sat up straighter, "Troy," her voice was calm, and her eyes were looking right at me forcing me to look right back at her. "I will be right there with you if you want me there with you." Her fingers laced with mine as I just nodded my head.

"I don't know if I can even be in that room, Gabs," I felt my gut hallow out with the thought of those appointments. I hated them. I hated every single one of them.

"Troy, you can. She is doing so well. Her last scans were great, and I know these scans are also going to be great. I will sit there, and I will hold your hand if you want that. I am not going to intrude on your relationship with Eve on this matter." I shook my head back and forth. "No, I need you there with me. Friday is going to be a long fucking day." I grumbled as I pushed my ice cream away. "How about we go out on a date that night. Eve will have Claire since you are starting your new schedule. We can get Hanson, Wren, Reggie, Reni, and have a night out to look forward to something."

My eyes lifted to look at her because I honestly didn't deserve her. "I'll set it up. We'll just do something low-key at the house." She slipped over to sit next to me, and I pulled her into my arms as I buried my face into her neck. I had kept up with therapy all summer besides when we were on our honeymoon. That was the time that I took away from it because I was probably the most relaxed there. Her lips pressed against my collarbone, and I let my own lips press into her hair.

"You did this for me, I'll do something for you. We're in this together, right?" Gabi lifted her head back to look at me and I smiled as I brushed my thumb over her lip. "Yea, thank you. I will make sure Eve is okay with you coming but after the last time I would sure hope she is okay with me coming." Gabi wrapped her arms around my neck, and I held her for a long moment before we tossed our ice cream. I made sure my mom was good with Claire for a while longer and she agreed as I took Gabi back to the house.

Our hands met in the middle as we navigated back to the house and once, we pulled we the moving company was at work from the Loyalist. They were packing up all of our shit to either put in storage or to take back to Boston. Most of it was going to storage besides the things we needed for tonight and they would do the rest tomorrow. The contractors were showing up next Monday to get to work on the construction to the house. Gabi and I walked in as we nodded towards the few people, and I drug her upstairs and into our bedroom which was very bare besides our bed and suitcases. I shut the door and locked it as I picked her up and pinned her back against the wall.

"Troy," she laughed but I caught her laugh as I kissed her roughly against the mouth. "No, you are an amazing woman and I need you to know how much I love you. I see a lot of doubt and worry in your features and all of that needs to go away so I am taking it away. You are strong, brave, incredible," I kissed down her body as I continued my words and she shut up as her head hit against the back of the wall. "You are a woman who is brilliant and so fucking sexy," I pulled her tank top down to get access to her breasts as I pulled one into my mouth. "Nothing will ever change that for me."

She rolled her hips, and I groaned as I kissed her again. "Never doubt anything about yourself or I will show you over and over and over again how you should truly feel about yourself."


Wednesday, July 13th, 2022

Gabi's POV

"GABI!" Wren wrapped me in a tight hug as she pulled back giving me a shit eating grin. "What? What does that smile about?" I asked her with a laugh as we were meeting with Val and Rynn were all meeting for coffee to catch up before my board meeting this afternoon with The Sunshine Pact. By a miracle, we were going to throw a gala the week between pre-season being over and the start of the new season. I did not think it was going to happen this year, but we had been working on it most of the summer to pull it off. We needed to wrap up a lot of the final things. We invited everybody from all Boston athletics, major hospital big-wigs, and just about anybody who was everybody in Boston.

This year – we were going to make it all about how The Sunshine Pact became a thing and that included Claire Bolton. She was our guest of honor, and we were going to finally show the pictures and tell the story of the first little girl to receive the first package and blanket. Speaking up, I needed to make a ton of blankets tonight in the absence of Troy Bolton. I dropped Claire off this morning to Eve as they were starting their new schedule and it had been agreed that it wasn't going to change based on Troy being out of town. She would just stay with me to make it consistent for her. I think this was going to be their final arrangement while both were in Boston.

"Sorry, sorry, I am late!" Val hugged me tightly, "God bless that you are one back in the country and back in Boston!" I laughed as I hugged each of them tightly as we finally all sat and ordered a round of drinks as I was only doing one before I could go to my meeting at the hospital. "Gabi, you literally came home right in time, I have some of the best news," Wren was grinning from ear to ear as she dug around in her purse as Val, and I shared a look with each other as she then pulled it out causing both of us to gasp.

"WREN!" we both shouted, and we both clobbered her in a big hug. "Congrats!" I laughed as I hugged her so tightly and so did Val as Wren giggled, "We are so, so excited and I wasn't sure for the longest amount of time if I wanted kids but then it happened and it's literally all I can think about is our sweet baby. We're nine weeks today and due at the beginning of February." I laughed as Val, and I stared at the ultrasound pictures.

"What do you think? Boy? Girl?" we asked her, and she grinned, "I don't know. We're finding out soon. I keep having dreams about both of them. I'm surprised you aren't knocked up yet," Wren said looking over at me and I gave a brief smile, and I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. Wren narrowed her eyes, "Wait, are you?" I shook my head as I took a healthy sip of my wine. "No, no, I am not. I uh…" I paused as I looked at Wren.

"We are celebrating you. I don't need to talk about me." I said trying to deflect the topic, but I got two looks from Wren and Val. "Absolutely not, what's wrong?" I grimaced and I took another drink before I looked at each of them. "Troy and I have been trying since February to get pregnant." I admitted to them. "Not like intensely tracking anything but I also have PCOS so it's really hard to track if I ovulate or if I am going to ovulate. I've had two periods this entire time. We have an appointment with an infertility doctor on Friday."

I was met with blank stares on both sides of the table.

"Gabi," Val reached over to squeeze my hand and I gave a shrug. "I didn't tell Troy until like last week." I said with a laugh as I wiped a tear at the corner of my eye. "I was scared to tell him after we didn't get pregnant because I wasn't really sure what our future is going to look like, and I still don't know what it's going to look like. I was scared but of course, Troy Bolton is Troy and has been the most patient man through everything and also noted that his anxiety would have just been worse ruining sex if he knew about it before, so I mean it worked out, but I felt terrible. I still feel terrible."

"How long have you known?" Wren asked me. "I've known I had PCOS since I was 19. I got an IUD though and I never really had periods again and my cramping wasn't terrible. I didn't forget about it, but it was at the back of my mind and once Troy brought up kids, I thought maybe I wasn't going to be that affected. I got my IUD out though and at Disney World I got my period back and it was horrendously one of the worst periods of my life. We didn't fall pregnant with that cycle, and it wasn't that long ago that I had another one. I don't know. I am not sure what's going to happen, but it appears that the normal way isn't going to be the way."

"Gabi, sweetie, I'm sorry." Val hugged me and I leaned into her side. "Thank you, I was really hoping it wasn't going to be a problem. It is tough, it is going to be a problem and I am just scared that it's going to be harder and lonely and…"

"It is not lonely, c'mon, you aren't on that side of TikTok are you?" I scrunched my eyebrows, "What do you mean?" I asked and she held up a finger before grabbing her phone and began to scroll before there was video after video after video of different women going through infertility treatments. "Wow, I guess, I just…" I didn't really know what to say as I inhaled. "They are all so brave,"

"You should do it." I blinked as I turned to look at Val, "Do what?" I asked her and she grinned, "Document your journey! Nobody famous ever talks about their struggles to get pregnant. They either hide it or they don't talk about it, or they don't have problems. Nobody talks about it who has a platform. These women are creating one, but do you know how much attention you could bring to it?" I didn't say anything because that was putting me on the vulnerable side of life. "Document your journey for a baby and my god, everybody would eat it up."

I pulled my lip into my mouth as I thought about and I shrugged, "I don't know. Troy would have to be on board because it is his life, but it would be nice to have a community to ask questions too and to be involved in. I am lucky that we can afford infertility treatment. Some people aren't lucky and that breaks my heart."

"Just like Troy is doing all of this stuff for pediatric cancer," Val said with a nudge, and I just gave a smile and a shrug. "I don't know. I would have to get really, really vulnerable with the world about this and there may not be a happy ending."

"Don't you think these women know that?" I had nothing to combat with that because it was true. These women put themselves out there because they wanted nobody to feel alone and to share their journey. I think we should share our journey, but I wasn't sure Troy would go for it. "Okay, enough talking about me. Wren, how are you feeling?"

"Great, surprisingly. I had a little bit of morning sickness in the beginning, but I am already feeling better. Of course, I had to tell work pretty quickly, but it's been going well. Breck is over the moon excited, and we are just so happy with how everything is going."

"Val, how is Cooper?" I asked her and she gushed as their wedding was coming up in early September. Luckily, it was a Saturday that the boys were home so Troy, and I could attend but he would have to leave early to make it to the team hotel. We carried on our lunch as once it was time for me to leave, I hugged each of them tightly and promised I would make a trip up to the floor to deliver baskets when both of them were working.

I headed for the hospital that wasn't far from here and I walked in as I headed for the meeting room. Bailey, Hannah, and Rachel were already seated around the table along with our party planner and event coordinator Tiffany. "Eve won't make it today," I said as she was doing a lot of our advertising and creating our graphic design which she had a real knack for. I was loving adding her to our board. Elliott and Quinn both showed up as we all sat down, and we went over what was done and what needed to be done still.

"Is the silent auction going well?" I questioned towards Bailey. She nodded, "It is. I have had great success with the Loyalist on getting signed stuff and the Sox's." I nodded in understanding as we talked over what else needed to be dealt with as our theme was black and white – a true formal gala where everybody could dress up. Walk the red carpet and just have a good time. We found a bunch of sponsors to help, and it was all going so well.

"I just can't wait to see how this all unfolds," Hannah spoke with a dreamy sigh as they had all been doing so well recently. Their husbands both had emailed me and thanked me for giving them a purpose the foundation and for letting them focus their grief and time somewhere. To make a difference. It made me feel good and I knew that this was something special from the very, very beginning.


Friday, July 15th, 2022

Gabi's POV

I waited in my car as Troy's flight landed late as the commercial, he shot this morning went over on time and he was running behind. I nervously chewed on my lip as I scanned the parking lot for his Range Rover. I missed him and I couldn't wait to hug him, but I was also nervous with our meeting today. I had no idea what was going to come of it, and I was nervous. My stomach somersaulted as I looked around again for Troy's car.

Reaching for my phone I looked to see if there were any text messages but there was nothing. I looked up again to see a speeding black car through the parking lot and was quickly whipping in next to me. He appeared to be on the phone as I slipped out of the car, and I walked over to Troy. I was worried about him today, but we had a group of people coming over for dinner tonight and I hired a chef to cook so nobody had to worry about it.

Troy was still on the phone when I got to his side of the car, and he twisted to look out and he held up a finger as he pulled his phone to his ear and turned off his car before slipping out. "Lucas, I have to go. I am at an appointment with Gabi. Are you coming over tonight?" I couldn't hear his reply as Troy kissed the top of my head and then grabbed my hand as we walked in together. Troy had a baseball cap on low to help shield his face as I checked us in, and the front desk receptionist gave me paperwork to fill out.

Troy was in the corner tapping on his phone as I sat down next to him, "Hi, sorry, I was trying to get all of the stuff done last night but we had a reshoot this morning at the ass crack of dawn so I could be here," I leaned over to give him a kiss and he gently grabbed my chin. "Are you okay? You sounded nervous on the phone last night." I gave a shrug, "I am nervous. I don't know what to expect today." I told him and he nodded as he slipped our hands together as I took a picture of our feet in the waiting room as I still was unsure about the whole documenting this process. Something I still needed to ask Troy about but today was not the day.

I finished filling out the paperwork and Troy went to turn it back in for me as I stood up and he scrunched his eyebrows. "I just want a hug," I told him, and he smiled as he pulled me into his arms with a tight embrace. "I missed you," I grumbled, and Troy chuckled. "I missed you, too. I have to go back in a few weeks to wrap up a few other things, but Lucas is handling the scheduling of that." It wasn't long before Troy and I were called back to the room, and it was again – just an office as we both took a seat and his hand wrapped around mine.

"Good afternoon," Dr. Monty walked in with a smile on her face as she sat across from us. "I am Dr. Rachel Monty, I am a reproductive endocrinologist, and I sadly, need no introduction from the two of you. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton – how are you doing?" Dr. Monty took a seat after we both shared a smile with her. "We're nervous," Troy said shooting me a glance as Lucas had already sent over NDAs to the staff here. "As you have a right to be. I was a little surprised when I got the phone call from Reagan."

"Gabi, she said you found out you have PCOS when you were 19?" I nodded as I went back through my history of painful periods, very irregular periods, and heavy bleeding when I did have periods. I went into further detail about how well the IUD helped me and she nodded her head as she wrote a ton of stuff down. Her nurse, Indy, was also taking notes and typing things on the computer. "When did you get your IUD removed?"

"February," I replied as Troy gave a gentle squeeze to my hand. "And you've had only two periods?" I nodded my head and Dr. Monty looked up at Troy. "This says you have a daughter?" Troy nodded his head, "I have a five-year-old daughter," Troy said, and she wrote that down. "Was she planned?" Troy shook his head, "No, my girlfriend in college was on birth control and she said she forgot a birth control pill." Dr. Monty went through both of our history, luckily, Troy had a very detailed record sent over from the NFL and all of their physicals. It took longer to go through all of mine.

"From the looks of your guys, medical history, and how severe Gabi's last ultrasound looked of her ovaries – you will have a very hard time trying to have a baby on your own. There are several paths we can take but I want to make sure all other lab results come back normal for both of you. Troy, I want to do a semen analysis just to make sure there isn't anything we are missing there. Gabi, we are going to do a panel of blood results on you today and then set up appointments for ultrasounds for a few different things before we sit down and come up with a game plan. I'd like to do blood work on day 3 of your period but since we don't know if or when you'll get one, I'm okay just running some now and then if you get one while we're trying to figure things out, we can run them again."

Troy shifted uncomfortably next to me, and I knew the thought of masturbating into a cup probably wasn't high on his list of things to do. I squeezed his hand this time as we wrapped up with another appointment next week to go over the next steps after we get the initial results back from everything. Troy was supposed to bring his sample back by Monday and at least an hour after it occurred. Troy just nodded his head as we took our instructions and headed for our cars out front.

I released a heavy breath once we left because today was just a lot of talking and trying to get to the bottom of it. I had two ultrasounds next week and she was going to think about putting me on a birth control pill to see if we could induce my period but Troy's grunt in the meeting pretty much told Dr. Marty how bad my periods were. Since we knew what my underlying problem was, she wasn't too concerned with how those test results played out. "Are you okay?" Troy looked over at me as we approached the cars, and I haven't said anything. "I didn't realize they were going to test you." I told him as I felt bad.

Troy took my face in his hands, "It's part of the process and it sounds like regardless I will be giving them my sperm to make our babies so – I better get used to it. Plus, it sounds like you can help me out at home." He wiggled his eyebrows and I laughed with a shake of my head. He opened his car door and then he turned around and pulled me into his arms. His lips met the top of my head as he inhaled with me. "We're going to figure this out and we'll get our baby," he whispered, and I just nodded as I couldn't stop the overwhelming feel of emotions because it was going to be such a long process.

He felt my shoulders start to shake and he just held me tighter against his body as he pressed his lips into my head. He sat back against his seat, and I just wanted to curl up into his body. "It's nice to know that we don't have to worry about birth control," Troy said, and I couldn't stop the laugh as I pulled away to wipe away my tears. He kissed me softly as he tucked my hair behind my ear. "How about you ride with me to Claire's appointment? We can come back and get your car later."

I just nodded as I left his hand to get into the passenger side as he stroked my hand gently as he started towards the children's hospital. "How were the commercials?" I asked him to try and distract myself and him from the next appointment. "Busy. I swear we were on 15 different sets for 15 different commercials for 15 different brands." I laughed as I let my thumb stroke his hand as he looked over at me. "Who is all coming over tonight?"

"Hanson and Amber, Wren and Brecken, Reni, Reggie and Bianca, Val and Cooper, and I think Lucas is coming over. The girls and I are going to have a wine and dessert time while you boys can go play poker or whatever. Smoke cigars, whatever you all fancy. I told them to all bring swimsuits as we can get in the hot tub or the pool." Troy smiled, "I like it. It will be a good night. Smart idea to hire the chef."

"We had too much to do today to cook."

We pulled into the hospital parking lot and Troy inhaled as he looked up at it. He rarely came here because I think it broke him out in hives. Now that I didn't work here, he rarely had a reason, too. We set up a lot of his meetings with kids around the playground or in playrooms, but he didn't love doing them here. He would do them anywhere else though. "I'll be right there with you the entire time." I told him and his blue eyes flickered over to me.

"My heart is already racing. I just…I know she is doing well but that doesn't mean it's not hiding."

"I know," I whispered to him as I got out of the car, and I went over as I opened the door. I let my arms slip around his neck and I just hugged him tightly. My fingers tugging through his hair, and I kissed the side of his head. "Just think – once we are done today then she is going to go three months without another scan. She's doing well," Troy just nodded as I grabbed my bag, and we started inside.


Troy's POV

I tried to just focus on her hand in my hand. We were waiting on the nurse practitioner to come talk to us after the series of test Claire was put through yesterday. Claire was playing with child life, but I wish she was sitting on my lap currently. I felt her squeeze of my hand and I inhaled deeply as Eve was seated on the other side of me as I couldn't hear anything but buzzing around me. "Troy," her voice was faint, and I honestly wish Gabi could just sit here and tell me what happens. I'll go sit with Claire.

"Troy," I felt her fingers on my face and I finally let my eyes turn to focus on her. "It's just Mary coming to give results. That's good. It's good news." I could barely exhale, and she moved my thumb to her wrist where I could feel her pulse against my thumb. "Focus on that and breathe," her voice was quiet, and I felt my body relax feeling her pulse against my finger as her thumb stroked my skin. Mary entered the room with a smile on her face and that almost made me melt into a puddle on the floor.

"Troy, Eve, Gabi, it's good to see all of you. I just finished looking at Claire and doing an assessment and she is doing so, so well," I nearly choked on the air as I wanted to just bend over with relief. I felt Eve's hand on my other side rub my shoulder. "All of her scans came back so good. Her bone marrow looks amazing, her scans show zero evidence of disease, her blood work is normal. She is amazing." I felt Gabi's squeeze of a hand as Eve started asking questions and I sat up to look at Mary.

"Thank you," I told her, and she smiled, "I figured we would just cut to the chase. It helps everybody's nerves. She is doing so well. I talked with all of the doctors, and they don't see any reason as to why she can't travel and start doing normal kid things."

The meeting concluded pretty quickly thereafter, and I was the first up and out of the room in search of Claire. I rounded the corner, and she was giggling with the child life therapist. "Daddy! Look at the picture I drew!" she showed the picture to me, and I couldn't stop my smile as I picked her up and I held her close to my body. The tears were instant as I felt such a relief from the news, but my entire body felt so spent from the day. Flying across the country so early in California time, doing the infertility thing, and then this appointment? It was so much mental effort.

"Daddy," she giggled as I kissed her head. "Sorry baby girl, I just needed a big hug. I missed you." She laughed as I kissed her forehead and I put her back on the ground as she told me more about her picture as I sat next to her. Eve and Gabi joined in the room as Claire then reexplained all of her pictures. "Troy, will you pick her up Sunday?" I nodded my head. "Yea, I'll come get her from you, but I think Gabi will drop her off on Thursday morning. We have some team stuff going on."

"Perfect, Claire, baby, we have to go pick up Jackson." I hugged Claire tightly again and I kissed her temple, "I love you, Claire bear."

"I love you, too daddy!"

She threw her arms around Gabi in a big hug and then grabbed Eve's hand as they walked out together. I sank back against the couch and Gabi scooted right in next to me. She rested her head on my shoulder and our fingers locked together. "I'm fucking exhausted," I mumbled, and Gabi laughed. "I bet; you've had a long day. Let's go back to get my car, go to the house and you can lay down for a bit before everybody comes over. I know it's probably been mentally taxing as well as emotionally and physically," I nodded my head because I didn't have much left.

"Thank you for being here, you helped. I was actually able to listen." Gabi smiled, "Always. I will always be here with you." I kissed her head, and I took a deep breath because I was really, really thankful for her.


I sipped the amber liquid in front of me as dinner with our friend's tonight was exactly what we all needed. The girls were all a little wine drunk and laughing together while we did break out a poker game. "Troy, are you happy to be back in Boston or missing North Carolina?" Reggie asked me. "I'll miss North Carolina but I cannot wait to get started on football season. I want to run it back guys, let's do it again."

"Hell fucking yea," Hanson said. I grinned as I played my cards as my eyes searched for Gabi, but she was out of my eyesight as they were all out back. I'm pretty sure all of them had swimsuits on and were getting ready to get in the pool. "Are you ready for OTAs to finally start?" Reni shot me a look and I nodded, "I am. I am just ready to start playing and I weirdly miss watching film." The group grumbled as the film watching was always the hardest part but the best kind of homework there was.

"Guys, I am sharing here now because Amber told me I could but…we're having another baby." I snapped my head up to look at Hanson who had the biggest shit eating grin on his face. "Shut up! I thought she had wine during dinner?" Reni said as he slapped his back. It caused him to laugh, "She never touched it. I took a few drinks out of it to make it look like it because she wasn't sure she wanted to announce tonight since we're pretty early still."

"Hanson, congrats man, going for that boy?" Hanson shrugged with a laugh, "It was a surprise all around. We weren't even really trying but we also hadn't ruled out another kid. She's eight weeks and due at the very end of February." My heart panged a little bit because this was what felt like the fourth pregnancy announcement in days of each other and I didn't truly know how Gabi felt about it. She told me about Wren, now Hanson, and it wouldn't surprise me if Bianca was pregnant soon. My eyes went searching for Gabi again and she was laughing with her head tilted back.

"Troy, what about you? I figured you would have had her knocked up on your wedding night." Reni said with a smug grin. Lucas looked up at me because I had called and confessed the struggles that we were going to take. I gave a grim smile, "Gabi and I had an infertility appointment this morning," I said as I dropped my cards, and I felt the room kind of grow quiet and I just shrugged. "Gabi has a condition called PCOS – basically she doesn't have normal periods and her hormones are out of whack. It's going to make it hard to ever have kids without intervention. Just trying to figure out what kind of intervention that we will need."

"Damn, Troy, I'm sorry man," I shrugged my shoulders as I looked for her again and she slipped into the pool with a smile on her face as she splashed Wren and then Val attacked her from behind. I couldn't stop my smile watching her. "You wouldn't know watching her."

"Wren told me the other day; she told them when they had lunch together. Wren felt terrible," Brecken said.

"Damn, I bet Amber already told them, too."

"Don't worry about it. She hasn't been too stressed about the whole thing. The appointments stress her out a little bit but overall, she is doing well. Her best friend Wren is pregnant, too. She has known for a little bit that this could be a problem. She just was hopefully that it wasn't going to be a problem." Breck nodded as he had easily folded into this group of the past summer. Lucas tipped back the rest of his drink as I did as well. "I am so happy for you though, Hanson. Also, good job making sure it was in the off-season," I said shooting him a smile. Hanson laughed, "Like I said – unplanned."

Reggie smiled, "Look at all of you growing up."

Reni cleared his throat, "Yea, yea, except you, you fucker," we all laughed as the backdoor slid open and Val came running through to the bathroom. "Do you we really think we should let these beautiful girls outside by themselves?" we all dropped our cards and forgot the game as we all quickly changed and headed outside. I took a running jump as the girls all squealed causing me to laugh. I swam underneath the water until I found the pair of legs I knew like the back of my hand. I grabbed behind her knee, and she squealed.

I popped up and laughed as I whipped my hair away from my eyes and my hands grabbed her hips as I stood up. "Gotcha," I winked as I pulled her mouth into mine and she started to laugh but melted into the kiss instead. "How are you doing?" I murmured to her mouth. She gave a smile, "I'm good, why? Afraid all these pregnancy announcements are going to send me over the edge?" I just looked at her and she shook her head. "Troy, I'm okay. I promise. I am so happy for all our friends. We will get our turn one way or another. It's just a lot of information today at the fertility place and that it's going to be a long road. Not that I am mad that it isn't happening."

"Fuck, I love you," I went to kiss her again when I was yanked backwards. Reni and Hanson took me down and I laughed as Gabi hoisted herself onto the side of the wall. Wren and Val both sat on either side of her as I loved seeing her comfortable, "You fuckers," I muttered as I pushed off each of them. "Leave your wife alone,"

"I still can't get over that you were literally wifeless for like less than a year,"

I rolled my eyes, "And your point is?" I questioned. "She is the one, she's always been the one."


Gabi's POV

Monday, July 18th, 2022

Troy sat the brown bag on the counter as Claire was eating cereal at the counter as I had done just enough to drive Troy crazy this morning before fleeing the room with a teasing look on my face. "Daddy, are you taking lunch somewhere?" Claire scrunched her eyebrows and Troy looked over at the bag and he choked, "No. I am taking that to the doctor's office. That's all you need to know," Troy kissed her head and then came over to me and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"You tease," he murmured into my ear as I laughed, "It got the job done, didn't it?" Troy smirked with a shake of his head as he looked at his phone. "Okay, I have several meetings at the facility this morning and then I should be off all afternoon. What do my girls want to do?"

"Swim!" Claire yelled and I looked over at Troy with a shrug, "I can see if Hanson wants to bring his girls over to play. I think Bethany is on a trip with her mom." I nodded as Troy picked up the bag and shot me a wink, "I'll call you when I am done. I love you both so much,"

"Love you more daddy!" Claire called out, "Not as much as I love you, Claire bear," I looked over at Troy and I smiled, "I love you," I mouthed back, and he smiled before leaving and I looked at Claire. "What would you like to do this morning?" I leaned across the counter as I picked at the fruit on my plate and ate my yogurt as she thought about it for a few minutes. "Can we make homemade ice cream? I did it at mommy's house not too long ago and I liked it a whole lot." I laughed, "Yea, we will have to go to the store though." I told her honestly and she nodded. "Okay!" she started to get down and I laughed, "Claire, finish your cereal and then we will both go get ready."

She grumbled but we both finished our breakfast as I got a text with Troy dropping off his sample as I was going in tomorrow for blood work plus one of the few ultrasounds they wanted to do. Claire and I finished as we went upstairs, and we both got ready for the day. I pulled on a pair of jean shorts with a tank top from Athleta while I pulled my hair into a messy bun. Claire was pulling on a dress and her favorite sandals when I went to check on her.

"Did you brush your hair and teeth?" I asked and she shook her head before running to her bathroom. I went in to help her brush her hair as she tilted her head back with a smile, "Gabi, I know you aren't my mommy, but you are going to be such a good mommy one day." I felt my breath hitch with her words as she looked up at me with those blue eyes. "Yea?" I whispered and she nodded her head with a smile. "Yea, I love my mommy a lot but if I had to pick a second mommy? It would be you." I laughed and I kissed the top of her head, "Thanks, Claire."

"You should have a baby," she told me, and I shook my head with a laugh. "Maybe one day but right now your daddy and I are happy with you." I tapped her nose and she frowned, "But don't you miss me when I am gone at my mommy's house?" I couldn't believe this was coming from a five-year-old. "Of course, we miss you, but we would miss you regardless. C'mon, let's go get everything we need to make homemade ice cream."


Happy Sunday! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and are enjoying this story! I wanted to take them on a different direction and they are the couple to do it. I cnanot wait to see how this story unfolds and how much you all enjoy it!

Also...who doesn't love Claire?

PLEASE REVIEW!

Next Update: May 21st