High School Musical 1. Don't Worry, Baby

Nest Building For Beginners

**Disclaimer** – not mine and sadly never will be.

**Summary** – She had always been mesmerizing to him, but never moreso than now. She wasn't just glowing, she was shimmering and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

**Author's Note** – This is about the last of my half finished one-shots, which means I probably have to bite the bullet and post one of my longer fics. I promise this one shot is actually one-shot length for a change. ;) It's kinda light and fluffy and not overly deep but I just wanted to finish something happy (and I wanted to get the HSM page number off 666 so it was an incentive to finish. ;)) I hope you all enjoy anyway and let me know what you think.

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He awoke as he felt a cool breeze over his bare shoulder and instinctively groaned and readjusted the sheet over him before preparing to cuddle closer to the warm body beside him. His eyes flickered shut again as he tightened his grip only for them to snap open in confusion as the warm body he had went to sleep holding had seemingly transformed into a pillow at one point during the night.

He sat up and glanced at the clock only to find the glowing numbers saying it was 2.50 in the morning and he groaned again as he sank down and rubbed his eyes. He was beyond tired but as exhausted as he was, he refused to go back to sleep on his own. He had slept alone for more than a week and now that he was home, he refused to spend another night without her beside him.

It didn't take long for all thoughts of sleep to leave him as he climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of jogging pants before he padded out of the bedroom door, ignoring the boxes stacked in the corner, the paint cans not so discreetly hidden under the hall table and the ladder hiding under a wall coloured drape in the lounge as he went in pursuit of his girl.

In actuality he didn't have to look very far as he quietly walked down the hallway to see the familiar dark curls bent over a book in the kitchen as she bit her lip and measured something into a cup whilst humming softly before she would mumble something, stroke her small bump and then giggle quietly before turning back to her book and her measuring with all seriousness again.

To Troy Bolton, Gabriella Montez was the most perfect sight on this or any other planet. In every incarnation – be it work Gabriella, play Gabriella, dressed up Gabriella or anything in between, he was always mesmerised. Never had he thought that he would witness a more intoxicating sight than seeing her in every guise – until Gabriella Montez fell pregnant with his child that is. Her already jaw dropping beauty and hold on him seemed to be pushed to a whole other unhealthily addictive level as he watched her body change to accommodate the child they had made together. The whole thing about pregnant women 'glowing' had always seemed ridiculous to him until he had watched it happen himself and now, finally, he could understand where the phrase had come from. She carried herself different, smiled more and just omitted this aura that told everyone how content she was with her life with him. With their life together.

He had never seen anything as fascinating as watching her 'nest' as they tried to put their new home together, and gleam with pride when she would get lost in the fact that they had created a baby together. Watching it happen, and getting lost in the process, he couldn't help but feel that saying she was glowing was doing her a disservice – it didn't say enough. She sparkled, she radiated, she shimmered – she did so much more than simply glow.

His utter addiction to his girl had been secured long before when they were back in high school, but it had reached an almost dependency now and that was what caused him to lean back against the wall for a moment and observe the love of his life doing whatever she was doing.

"You know, you could be a good baby and just crave the pizza, or even better, how about some fruit salad so mommy doesn't end up the size of a house in comparison to the pretty girls at daddy's games?" she sighed as she wrinkled her nose before giggling madly and clamping a hand over her mouth. "No, okay – no pizza! You know, kicking me is not going to make the food magically appear. I know, you really can't help it – it's just genetics making you just as stubborn as your daddy when it comes to food, baby..."

He took his cue and walked over to her quietly before wrapping his arms around her from behind and placing a kiss on her neck. "Now now, Ms Montez soon to be Bolton - when have you known me to turn down pizza? And for your information, even if you were the size of a house you would still be prettier than any girl."

"Ah, but you have to say that," she smiled as she leant back in his embrace. "You know better than to insult a hormonal woman."

"I really don't have to say anything," he countered as he kissed her cheek. "Seeing you in my shirt, mere hours after I have seen you out of my shirt...trust me, any man would kill to be me right about now."

"You are such a suck up," she smiled broadly as she turned around in his arms and wrapped her arms round his neck. "Thank you though. Did I wake you up? I am so sorry. We were trying to be quiet..."

"You were quiet. I actually didn't even notice you were up until I realised that instead of cuddling my beautiful, soft, warm fiancée I was actually hugging a pillow instead," he responded with a smile as she traced his cheekbone with her soft fingers, running her finger softly under his eye. Since their reunion a few short hours earlier the pair of them had found it hard not to do this, to touch, and feel and memorise everything they had missed in the days previously. "What are you doing up?"

"Your son was hungry," she said whilst rolling her eyes playfully, making sure he knew that her exasperated tone was only used in jest. "And he insisted on kicking me until I got up and fed him. He's as demanding as his daddy sometimes."

He chuckled as he placed his hand on her small bump, never taking his eyes off her. "Well we can't have mommy getting beat up any longer, can we? What are we eating?"

"The baby wants Chinese food," she pouted as she turned back to her cook book and the counter full of items she had been appraising. "Sadly, we don't own any Chinese food and our cook book asks for ingredients that we don't own so I'm trying to improvise," she risked a glance up at him and gave him a hopeful smile. "You know if you would tell me where you've hidden my car keys..."

His eyebrow rose as he looked at her abashed face as she trailed off, knowing that there was no chance of her getting her car keys back until after the baby was born. Gabriella had been prone to fainting and light-headedness with the pregnancy and although the doctors had assured them that it wasn't anything to be overly concerned about at this stage it was something that they were all trying to monitor. Needless to say the first thing he had done when they had come out of the doctor's office was to confiscate her car keys. The thought of her driving and blacking out left him no other option - he could not lose her so if that meant he, or their friends, were her personal chauffeurs or errand boys for the remainder of the pregnancy then so be it.

"Seriously?"

She sighed and shook her head before leaning in and kissing his shoulder before turning back.

"No," she muttered, her tone not hiding how much she begrudged the concession. "I know it's dangerous to everyone who would be on the road with me, and knowing my luck I would faint and run over this little old lady and then get some serious bad karma unleashed, but...it's just kinda annoying that the baby wants Chinese food and it's like the one type of food that I don't know how to cook. And when I suggest pizza he starts kicking me..."

"Babe, if you want Chinese food I can go..."

"No," her eyes widened as she turned around and shook her head. "God, no! I don't want you going out at this time of night. Have you any idea what kind of maniacs are out at this time of night? Do you have any idea what the murder rate is in New Orleans? It's way higher than it is in Albuquerque."

"Yet not higher than LA, and I lasted four years there without getting killed when I went for food."

"You're a daddy now," she said as she shook her head, dismissing his amused tone. She really did worry too much but he knew better than to mention that to her with the amount of hormones flying around. "You don't get to be reckless by going out at 2am anymore."

Her tone was definite, leaving no room for argument and although he could see the smile playing on her lips at being able to use the 'Daddy card' he still squinted an eye and wondered if she had grasped that she was, just moments ago, considering going out herself. "Well, you're a mommy and weren't you just thinking about how you would go out to get your own Chinese food if you could drive?"

She nodded her head as though it were obvious. "Yeah, but no one would rob a pregnant and hormonal woman. I mean 99% of criminals aren't that sick. Besides, I have a much lower profile than you, Wildcat so I really doubt anyone would notice me too much," she said simply as she turned back to her book and tilted her head to look at it, completely missing the incredulous look he had on his face as he tried to work out that sort of logic. She really was too trusting sometimes. Most people would think a beautiful, sexy, tiny pregnant young woman would be more at risk than a guy, but she just didn't see it that way. "Hey, you should go back to bed as we may be cooking for a while and you have been working way too hard recently. Would you like a drink before you go back? I could heat some milk..."

He shook his head and repositioned himself behind her, his arms wrapping around her, holding her snugly against him as he kissed her head. "The pregnant superwoman is talking about people working too hard when, I believe she is not only organising our house, going to work with small, demanding children, helping Sharpay set up her store, listening to all the 'advice' our mothers are giving us and trying to mediate the latest Taylor/Chad drama but also trying to, sneakily, decorate the baby's room when she doesn't think I notice as well as looking after her lucky bastard of a fiancé who really, really doesn't deserve her. You, Beautiful, need to start looking after yourself more so how about you go back to bed and I look after you for once?"

She sighed and leant back in his embrace, her hands coming up to clasp his, their fingers interlocking naturally. "You always look after me. Everything always feels better when you're with me."

He placed his lips against her neck and kissed her, holding her tighter to his body. "I know. That's why I need you to start looking after yourself more – if anything were to happen to you..." he closed his eyes in response to the pain even the thought of it caused him. "I want you to just concentrate on looking after you and our little kick boxer in there. Work, me, our friends, the apartment, our parents...none of that matters."

"I know that, but it's just...I'm nest building. I just want everything to be perfect and for everyone to be as happy as I am so that everything is perfect when the baby is born," she whispered. "I don't want you to have to come home to boxes, paint cans and chaos. This is an important year for you in terms of establishing yourself on the team and I just want you to be able to relax when you come home and not deal with the new house insanity as well as a hormonal, needy woman. You get more than enough stress at work and with fans and press and I don't want that for you when you come home."

He took a deep breath and turned her around so he could press a kiss to her lips. She was amazing, on every level she was amazing and sometimes he wished she could see how lucky he was to have her, not vice versa. Any idea that she needed to do this for him to relax and be happy was crazy. "Nothing is more important than you. My day is spent counting the seconds until I get to come home here with you. I want to deal with a hormonal and needy woman, because she is my hormonal, needy woman and I don't want her dealing with all of this on her own."

She sighed and brought a hand to his ear and caressed it gently as he continued, his eyes never wavering.

"And I know that you're 'nest building' and I have no idea what that whole thing entails, but...please, build our nest while relaxing and not by standing on a ladder, or putting up shelves, or painting walls. I am hiding that ladder, and those paint cans before I leave next time because all I want you to worry about is staying healthy. This is our baby," he said as he placed a hand on her abdomen, rubbing small circles. "And I don't have to deal with the restless nights, or the morning sickness, or the 2am Chinese cravings, or getting my internal organs pounded so I think I get off easy if the worst I have to deal with is you crying sometimes or needing me to run to a restaurant to pick up food. I just wish I could do more for you. You have no idea how much I missed you this week," he murmured into her hair. "It's getting so hard to leave you."

"I missed you too," she sighed as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face into his chest. "So much."

He just held her for a moment and relished in being with her again. He had been away from home with his team for three away games and the trip lasted eight days which was about eight days too long for Troy. He knew it was an occupational hazard, but leaving his pregnant fiancée in their new home during a difficult pregnancy made an already frustrating part of his job even more painful. "Look on the brightside though – by the time the season is over I'll be here for all the early morning feeds and late nights and let you catch up on some much needed rest while I subliminally embed the finer points of basketball and the benefits of pursuing smart girls later in life in our son's brain."

She gave him a teary smile as she reached up and stroked his cheek. "You know, you are going to be such a great dad, Troy. Our son is going to be so, so lucky."

He grinned as he wiped her tears away and pressed a kiss to her forehead, knowing that she tended to get a bit emotional at times, especially when they talked about their upcoming role as parents, or about him being away from home and not wanting to embarrass her about being 'hormonal' didn't make any comment about her crying. "You think I'll be a great husband as well?"

She giggled and nodded as she leant up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips softly. "You will be the best husband."

He grinned at that, and couldn't wait for the day. He had known early that he was going to marry her, so when he was twenty he made it official and proposed. She cried, launched herself at him and kissed him so thoroughly that he almost forgot the question until she murmured yes against his lips. The following year was spent completing their last year of college and planning to go off and get married after it and before the basketball draft, but just as they were planning on running off their parents got wind of it and intervened with the guilt-trip from hell at depriving them of the big fairytale wedding that they deserved as they were their only children. Gabriella and Troy were aiming for something smaller and more intimate, but the image of their mother's crying in tandem meant they reluctantly conceded and so they were here, a year later still engaged as, apparently, according to their mom's, no children of theirs were getting married whilst pregnant as it would look like a 'shot-gun wedding'.

That argument had resulted in Troy and Gabriella planning on reverting to plan A of running off and doing it on their own, but car sabotage fabricated by Troy's father and assisted by Chad who, had somewhat disturbingly, recruited his on-off-on-off girlfriend Sharpay to assist in keeping them stranded in Albuquerque until they conceded defeat and bowed to their parents' wishes of a 'proper' wedding after the baby was born.

"I wish I was marrying you today. Hell, I wish I had married you a year ago like we wanted. Remind me again why we let our parents' guilt trip us?"

"Because your mother spent seventeen and a half hours giving birth to you and mine spent twenty-three and both told us in excruciatingly vivid detail the pain and every disturbing part of the process that was only bearable because they imagined how beautiful our weddings would be and we agreed to give them their wedding to stop them talking anymore."

"We're too nice," he murmured against her skin as he began kissing down her neck. "You know, I honestly can't wait until you're officially mine. Gabriella Bolton..."

"Possessive much, Wildcat?"

"Only with you, soon to be Mrs Bolton." He looked up and smirked at her, not going to deny it as he gave the Berkley basketball shirt she was wearing a gentle tug, highlighting to her that she was wearing his name already. "I just can't wait for the day when the name you're wearing on the shirt is accurate to you."

"You do know that I'm yours in every way that counts already anyway, don't you?" she smiled as she pressed a kiss to his bare chest. "The name just makes it more official. I can't wait for it though."

"I don't know why we can't just jump in the car and do it now..." he mumbled, voicing the idea that he was increasingly sold on.

"Because your mom and dad would kill you, and you have a game in three days and, last but not least, I don't want to look like a whale in our wedding photos – I want to look perfect so you can look at it and be proud that you married me," she whispered, running her hand through his hair as she spoke.

"You have never looked more beautiful," he responded as he leant down to touch her forehead with his. "In fact, I'm starting to think we should have ten kids just so that you look this ridiculously beautiful for the best part of the next fifteen years..."

She burst out laughing then and shook her head at him. "You say that now until I don't fit into my jeans anymore and the hot size zero girls at your games are looking hotter than your frumpy wife."

He frowned at her, she kept mentioning how she was worried about his eye wandering and it was starting to concern him. "You will never look frumpy. Why do you keep mentioning other women?"

She tried to give him a smile before turning back to her cookbook but he wouldn't let her turn as he caressed her face. "Gabi, talk to me..."

"I have issues," she whispered as she looked down. "You know that. You should just ignore me. I'm pregnant, and hormonal and emotionally scarred from childhood," she giggled as she shrugged. "It's nothing."

He sighed and pulled her against him, wrapping her tight in his embrace. Of course she had issues – he should have remembered that. Gabriella's father, well, the man who had fathered her had walked out on her mom when her mom fell pregnant with Gabriella. Her mom had eventually fallen in love with another guy and the guy had raised Gabriella like his own until he had died when Gabriella was thirteen, but the damage had been done with the guy before that. For Gabriella's mother, pregnancy equalled abandonment and despite her best intentions, she had never let go of that mindset in all the years that Troy had known her.

"You know, your birth father was an idiot. Like I don't even have the words to describe what a complete idiot he was."

"I know," she sighed as she held him tightly. "It's just...embedded in my brain because all I kept hearing was why he left, why he left. And my mom doesn't mean to make it worse but you know what she's like and she keeps calling every single day asking if I'd heard from you like she thinks you've fled the scene or something and I don't like shouting at her for it and I know I should let her vent because it's deep rooted issues that I am at least partially responsible for but...my brain is just really lousy at ignoring it sometimes." She groaned, her exasperation at her thinking clearly showing. If he wasn't so concerned then he would have smiled.

"You should really just ignore me and my craziness for the next few months. I trust you completely and I love you and I don't mean to...I..." she looked up at him and caressed his face and gave him a soft smile, letting him see that she trusted him completely. "I'm just so ridiculously happy and...my mom...she keeps acting like the rug is going to get pulled from under my feet and...I know it's stupid, but...sometimes, I get scared because I keep thinking how much better is out there for you, you know some beautiful famous girl and I'm just so...me..." she took a deep breath and turned away again, forcing a smile on her face. "So, I'm thinking pancakes and soy sauce with chicken could be considered Chinese, right? I know, it's kinda gross but needs must and all. Remind me tomorrow to take this book with me and stock up on ingredients. Plus, I'm kinda craving smoothies so we need to buy stuff for that as well..."

He sighed and looked at her, her face tinged pink and her eyes downcast as she attempted the subject change even though she had to know that he understood. Of course she was insecure – her entire life she thought that a girl gets pregnant and the guy leaves which combined by the ridiculous paparazzi who had taken to stalking them making their inane comments to get a reaction and her naturally fluxuating hormones due to the pregnancy, it was natural that she was feeling a little vulnerable and insecure. He appreciated her honesty but there was no way he was letting her torture herself over something that she didn't ever have to worry about. He understood her mother's issues – a husband who fled once his wife fell pregnant and who filed for divorce soon after had to leave scars, but he couldn't help but be angry that those issues were getting brought up to her daughter who was having a hard enough time and who was too kind hearted to tell her mother that she couldn't be hearing any of this. Troy leant his forehead against the back of her head and whispered her name, causing her to close her eyes as she leant closer to him. While her eyes were closed he dropped his arm down and proceeded to lift her bridal style, causing her to omit a tiny squeak of surprise at the fact she was off her feet.

"Troy?"

"Shhh," he smirked as he leant his lips towards hers and placed a quick kiss to her mouth before pulling back and grinning. "Talk first, eat later."

She opened her mouth to complain, but he shook his head as he walked her over to the sofa, sat down and kept her in his lap, holding her in place.

"But Troy, we're hungry now," Gabriella whined as she looked to the kitchen longingly. "The baby wants food first and to talk later..."

Troy rolled his eyes and reached over to grab his phone and smirked as he scrolled through his phonebook before dialling a number and looking at her. "What sort of Chinese food would the baby like to eat?"

"Chicken with chilli sauce and a side portion of noodles and cashew nuts, oooh and Hawaiian style rice," she said as she reached down and rubbed her stomach, leaving Troy to place the order including food for him and stuff to freeze in the off chance there was another late night craving issue while he was away next time. He hung up the phone and grinned at her as she leant over and kissed him deeply. "I love you. I didn't know anywhere would deliver this late. Thank you."

"Food gathering is kinda in my job description," he smiled against her lips, one hand coming to find the back of her hair. "I found a few places for just such an emergency. We're good for Chinese, Italian, Thai and Mexican midnight cravings..."

"Mmmm," she sighed as she leant against his chest, hugging him tight while her other hand came and laced their fingers together. "You're too good to us."

He continued to stroke her hair before he spoke again, his voice quiet, but strong. "You know, I am never going to leave you, right? Ever. There is no one in the universe for me apart from you. There is a reason why I didn't date before you...no one registered then, and no one registers now. It's like you're the only one I can see. I don't even know how to explain it to you to make you see...it's just...it has always been you. I don't care if there are a million guys out there who may be better for you than me because I know that none of them are even close to being able to love you as much as I love you. I am never going to leave you, Gabriella. I am never going to cheat on you. You were made for me," he whispered as he pressed a kiss to her head, feeling her tears on his chest as she hugged him tighter. "On every level we were meant to be together. It's that simple for me."

She pulled back from his chest and guided his face down so he was looking at her. "It's that simple for me too. I don't mean to..."

"Baby, I know," he said as he caressed her side with one hand and ran his fingers over her cheeks with his other. "Your mom was hurt and she's kinda regressing a little and you have to hear about it. I know and I'm not angry or hurt or anything, I understand but I just want you to know that you have nothing to worry about. Your dad was an ass, but I'm not that stupid. You and me are forever, Gabriella Montez soon to be Bolton – we're going to get married, and have as many kids as we can handle, and we're going to have a long and happy life together making other people bitch and moan about how sickeningly in love we are."

She let out a laugh then as he lay her down and positioned himself over the top of her, pressing his lips against her jaw. "You know, people already bitch and moan about how sickeningly in love we are..."

He grinned as he looked up at her and nodded. "Meh, they're just jealous. Can't say I blame them. I'd hate us too..."

She shook her head and giggled. "You are so crazy, Wildcat but I guess I love you anyway."

His smile got bigger as he repositioned himself over her, his arms braced either side of her head supporting his weight as he gazed down at her. "If I remember correctly, the way I respond to that line usually ends with us lying naked in a bed somewhere a few hours later..."

"You know, that does sound awfully familiar now that I think about it," she pretended to ponder before nibbling her lip. "You would have thought I would have noticed that trend..."

"You were distracted," he smirked. "It's understandable but at least you are aware of what happens now..."

"You are so cocky," she giggled. "I would normally love to continue our trend, but we don't have time just now, Troy..."

"Oh we have time," he promised as he dropped his head to her ear, kissing down. "After you have had your Chinese food..."

"The baby's Chinese food. I'm only eating it because the baby's hungry. I'm being a responsible mother looking after our child's needs," she corrected with a smile.

"Sorry – my most sincere apologies," he chuckled. "After you have had our _baby's_ food, you and I have a particularly nice, practically new bed all empty in there that we haven't made nearly enough use of in the last week..."

"You know, we made use of that bed four hours ago," she giggled as she looked at him. "You have practice tomorrow and can't go in all tired."

"To hell with practice," he murmured against her skin as he trailed his hand down slowly until he found the base of his shirt she was wearing. "To hell with anything that's not in my arms right now. Basketball has had me for eight days; today is all about my real life."

"I suppose I could be persuaded," she grinned as she reached out and traced his lips. "I missed you so much, Troy."

"I missed you too, baby," he sighed as he lifted his head to look at her, his own fingers mirroring hers and moving softly over her face. "Travelling so much sucks, especially now when all I want is to be with you and the baby..."

She leant into his touch and sighed. "I know it's hard for you, but I don't want you to worry about it." She brought her fingers up against his lips, causing him to kiss her fingertips. "I'm so, so proud of you," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging his hair gently. "This is what you dreamed of, Troy. Enjoy it."

"I do, I just...I just wish I wasn't away from home so much. I hate not seeing you," he whispered as he brought his hand to her abdomen and rubbed it. "I feel like a jackass for neglecting you both. It's like grounds for divorce if we were married, which we're not because of our parents, but if we were you could divorce me like that." He clicked his fingers for emphasis before sighing. "I just wish I could be with you all the time."

She giggled as she shook her head. "Trust me, you don't. I am teary and hormonal a good proportion of the time just now and I nearly killed the guy at the post-office for ignoring me. If you have to be away from home, this is definitely a good time..."

"Gabi..."

"I know," she whispered as she stroked his ear softly. "I wish I was with you too, but we knew how this was going to be and I don't mind. I love you and I know you would be here if you could. It would be different if you were missing this to go out drinking with your teammates, or actually being a jackass or something, but you're not. You're missing this because you have to. I am so proud of you," she smiled as she leant forward and pressed her lips to the side of his lips. "And, when the baby is born I will be taking my full maternity leave and we will come away with you on the longer trips when we can, for a few months anyway. This is only for a few years...then you will be home with us all the time."

He closed his eyes, his tiredness about the whole thing getting to him as he leant his head against hers, letting her words; her reassurances wash over him and soothe the lingering worries that he had. He didn't want to be that guy – the guy who listened to his kid grow up over a phone, or who saw his wife every other day. He wanted to be there to see his children's first word, and to give his wife a massage after a bad day, to fall asleep with her in his arms every night. He wanted to be there for it all, and although he knew it wasn't practical, he still wanted it. "I don't know, are you building a nest big enough for you, me and our ten kids?"

She burst out laughing then, causing him to grin wildly as he looked at her trying to vainly put a stern expression on her face as she looked up at him. "Four is the absolute maximum you're getting, Mr Bolton."

He bit his lip as he looked at her, the smirk not leaving his face as he leant down to her ear and whispered. "Fine – probably a good job anyway because I find it hard enough to keep my hands off you at the best of times, never mind when you're all hormonal and horny because you're pregnant..."

She gasped in indignation and slapped him, causing him to chuckle. "Keep up with that talk Wildcat and you'll be lucky to father one more child, never mind multiple more offspring..."

"You say that now," he whispered as he leant close to her ear. "But you know you can't say no to me..."

"There is always a first time for everything..."

"Not for this," he murmured as he began kissing down her neck. "I love you."

Her eyes closed instinctively and she gave up trying to convince him that he was talking nonsense as her hands found his hair and her head tilted back slightly, her soft sigh escaping, causing his smirk to broaden against her skin.

"You don't play fair..."

"Neither do you," he argued back as he pulled back to look at her, his hand winding round her curls as he met her deep brown eyes. "Why aren't we in bed again?"

She just smiled at him as she caressed his ear and lifted her head to meet his lips. Just as they were about to kiss though, there was a buzz at the door and if anything her smile got broader as she omitted a squeak and pushed him off making it absolutely clear that what she desired most at that moment wasn't him, but whatever food was currently available.

"I guess that's why we're not in bed," he chuckled as he sat up, watching her giddy face. "You know, a lesser guy would get a complex about his fiancée being so excited about another guy being at the door when he's trying to seduce her."

"You know you're not a lesser guy though, Wildcat," she purred as she leant close to him, her lips all but brushing his skin before she jumped up and began backing to the door, her teasing eyes never leaving him. "Now come on, soon to be husband and feed your family."

Her faux severe tone caused her to erupt into giggles as she rubbed her bump unconsciously, her face beaming at him in happiness as he could only groan good naturedly. This was what he lived for – not the adrenaline of making a last second basket, or having his name written on ESPN, or having kids asking for autographs. That was all superficial and if it stopped tomorrow, he would get over it. Her smile, her laugh, her...just her. She was everything that would ever matter and although there were things about his life he wished were different, he could hand on heart say that he wouldn't change one thing that had led them to this moment because nothing would be worth missing this.


	2. Baby, It's Cold Outside

Disclaimer – not mine, never will be.

Author's Note – You know, this was never meant to be written. It was supposed to be a one-shot but even when I wrote the first one I kinda wanted to follow it up. What can I say, I like the idea of following them until the birth and this gives me something to come back to every now and again. I'm not sure how often I'll update, I have some other things I'm kinda focusing on but this is really mainly for fun so I don't know how often updates will be. It's not going to be long – probably only 5 or 6 chapters in all but I'm hoping it will be fun. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

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The tension was sweat was dripping down his face and the noise from the stands was deafening. Every voice, every comment, every sound blended together into white noise until the only thing audible was the sound of a heart beat that was pounding rapidly in beat with the basket he was bouncing at the free throw line. There was time left, and sure, technically the opposition could make a comeback, but realistically, it was unlikely. Going seven points up with 40 seconds on the court meant the Dallas Mavericks had to score three times without giving up any more points, and that wasn't happening. He just had to sink this point...

He stopped bouncing and almost immediately the ball swished from his hands in a perfect arc and bounced through the net.

"Yes!" Gabriella Montez lifted her arms in celebration, a wide smile on her face as she watched him slap hands with his team-mates before he closed his eyes and brought his flat palm to his chest and smiled, which she immediately mirrored. That was her gesture – the one that no one else knew about and he did it so quickly that no one would know to ask about it, but he did it without fail after every basket, after every point and after every game. It had started simple enough, as most of their quirks tended to start, where she was watching him play a game during his freshman year of college. He hadn't known she was coming but she had surprised him and made the journey without telling him. He had got on and was getting fouled every time he was touching the ball and it had been hard for her to watch but, as he was taking a free throw somehow he had heard her screams of support in amongst the hostile jeering of the home support and found her in the crowd. The smile on his face in that moment was completely out of place with the way he had been getting treated on the court, but as he scored his free point he had turned to her, mouthed a thank you and placed his hand over his heart before tipping it to her. She could do nothing but grin and reciprocate the gesture, and somehow a ritual was born. "That's your daddy, baby! Now if those jerks can just stop smashing their oversized elbows at him then we can have a nice and relaxing end to the game instead of him getting hurt and driving your mommy crazy with worry."

She watched as the seven point lead was enough for the team to see out the rest of the game and grinned as she grabbed her phone and immediately sent off a text message to her fiancé like she did after every game.

_Congrats, Wildcat – we're so proud of you. Love you lots, see you soon. - G xox_

Smiling as the message went, she turned the TV off and laid her head back against the sofa, letting the soft twinkling of the fairy lights she had hung on a garland across the curtain rail wash over her soothingly. It was less than two weeks to Christmas and she was determined that their first Christmas in their new home was going to be something special so she had already started planning everything to make it perfect. They were going to decorate the tree together, so they still didn't have one, but the rest of the festive decorations were up and hung and it looked good if she had to say so herself. She just really hoped that he would like it and wouldn't stress too much about her continuing to 'nest' while he was away. He was such a guy sometimes, and although it was fun when he insisted on pampering her sometimes, at other times his protectiveness was a little irritating because she knew that he was mostly right to do it due to the difficulties she was having with her pregnancy. It didn't mean she had to like it, or wouldn't try to find a way around it though.

It was so frustrating for her to watch the pregnant superwomen on television who managed to look beautiful, and wear heels and not suffer from exhaustion or swollen ankles, or nausea and dizziness all the time. She hadn't considered herself an envious girl in the past, but she would be lying if she didn't admit that she had cursed more than once in the direction of the ultra glamorous pregnant women when she saw them who were flaunting their glowiness to the world. Still though, she knew that although she didn't look like the model moms on TV, her fiancé didn't seem to notice.

She giggled like a schoolgirl as she hugged herself, almost imagining it was his arms wrapped around her. Troy Bolton...he had problems keeping his hands off her before, but apparently it was an even harder job now which, combined with her own hormonal surges meant that if they didn't have jobs in the real world they probably wouldn't leave their bedroom at all. She felt her cheeks flush at the thought of how pleasurable the idea of them having a day like that felt but sadly, the real world was not quite so understanding. Troy had basketball games at least three times a week, which intersped with practice and cross country trips was not conducive to having a personal day, especially as her own job meant she wasn't available mid-week. It had been so much easier at college when they could just finish classes and then, if the mood took them, which it frequently did, spend the rest of their day in their own little world.

As she attempted again to motivate herself to stand and do something useful her phone rang with a familiar ringtone causing a fresh round of giddiness as she almost fell off the sofa in her haste to answer it.

"You know, I was just thinking about you, Wildcat."

"Only good things I hope," his voice echoed down the line, causing her to sigh in response. She loved his voice.

"Great things," she whispered, feeling the blush come to her cheeks and hoping that she could quickly disguise it. "Great game tonight. You were amazing."

"Thank you, and considering I'm 400 miles away from you and standing outside a locker room filled with guys, do I want to know what great things you were thinking or would it be better if I waited a few hours until I was home before you filled me in?"

"I'm not answering that," she giggled as she brought her hand down to her stomach. "Are you feeling okay? You took some hard hits..."

"I'm fine, don't worry – it always looks worse than it is as apparently I am a midget in basketball terms," he reassured her. "Have you been looking after yourself?"

"Well, since I spoke to you last I made the arduous journey from the kitchen to the sofa and back again a few times but I think we made it through okay," she teased, grinning as she heard his laughter echoing back at her.

"Ha ha, very funny but I know you're clumsy enough to begin with so you with limited visibility of your feet makes any journey difficult," he joked, laughing fully when he heard her gasp of indignation. "On that note, will you please try and brave the dangerous journey from the sofa to bed safely for me, okay?"

"I will," she whispered. "I'll see you in the morning. Love you, Troy."

"Love you too, baby," he said softly. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Hanging up the phone she sighed and leant her head back, wishing the clock to move faster so he would be home.

She would be lying if she said that this was the life she expected to be leading, but what was life without a little variety? In all the scenarios she had imagined when she was a kid, she never dreamt that she would be unmarried, pregnant and living on her own for days on end in a strange town in a strange state yet now that she had it, she wouldn't change anything about it. When Troy had been drafted they had both secretly hoped they would still be in LA, or if not then New Mexico or New York where they knew people – instead they had ended up in New Orleans where they knew no one. After the initial elation of the draft, they had both been struck with the idea that they had no idea what the hell they were doing – they were moving to a state neither of them knew anything about and they didn't even have the fallback routine of student life to ease them into it. No, now they were adults and had to start building a life in this strange place.

It had actually been much easier than they thought it would be. The team had provided them a nice house in a nice neighbourhood and it suited them perfectly. Their neighbours were nice; if a little wary about the new young couple and it was a perfectly pleasant move although she hadn't quite managed to avoid feeling like the awkward new girl around town every now and again.

It had taken a few weeks after she arrived for her job hunt to pay off. She was well qualified in her job as an education therapist who dealt with autistic children but her job was highly specialised and there had been no vacancies at first, meaning she was reduced to subbing at a local school while she waited on a post to become available. She hadn't waited long and quickly got employed at a local hospital where she spent half her week, while she spent the other half going to local centres or making home visits. It was a hard job, but she loved it and it allowed her to do everything she had ever loved. So, no, it hadn't been her dream to be sat in a strange house, in a strange town waiting on her fiancé to come home after being away for most of the week, but she wouldn't change anything about how it had turned out. Things had a funny way of turning out for the best in the end for them, so she wasn't going to start complaining now.

She felt a small kick to her ribs and smiled softly as she rubbed her bump, trying hard to raise the energy to go to bed. The little soccer-player she was carrying was a prime example of the unexpected turning out for the best.

* * *

_"So, are you planning on living in denial for the next nine months or are you actually planning on discussing things like an adult?"_

_Gabriella raised her gaze from her breakfast bowl to look at her best friend who was peering at her in annoyance. "I don't know what you're talking about, Taylor – I'm fine."_

"_You're fine?" Taylor asked with a raised eyebrow as she pulled Gabriella's cereal over towards her, eliciting a yelp from Gabriella who tried to grab it back only for Taylor to look at her with a shake of her head. "If you're fine, then why have you put your orange juice into your cereal?"_

"_I..." she bit down on her lip and tried to think of a better excuse than 'it tastes nice'. "I saw it on one of those celebrity diet things on E! – apparently it's the thing to do and I am putting on weight..."_

"_And you can't stop throwing up, or jumping your boyfriend..."_

"_Fiancé," Gabriella corrected. "And I love him. He's a great guy, who loves me as well as being very hot and perfect so...you know; it's natural to have a happy, healthy and active physical relationship..."_

"_After five and a half years?" Taylor's tone was disbelieving as Gabriella could only look at her in shock. Was she serious?_

"_Yeah – I mean I love him more now than I did when I was sixteen, and believe it or not, it actually gets better the more you..." Gabriella blushed as she looked down before smiling. "I mean, I don't think the time scale matters much."_

"_You burst into tears at the end of the movie yesterday, which normally wouldn't concern me, apart from the fact that it was Madagascar we were watching and your usual reaction to that is to quote lines from it in this bizarre bantering session with you and the boys..."_

"_I'm getting married soon, and I'm like three weeks away from a cross-country move so my hormones are a little muddled..."_

"_Or it could be to do with the fact that you're pregnant."_

_Gabriella choked as he eyes widened and she shook her head in denial. She wasn't pregnant – for one she was unmarried, for two, they were moving to New Orleans, for three, Troy was going to start a very stressful job, for four...men did not want to have kids at twenty-two years old. "No I'm not!"_

"_Yes, you are. You are wearing all your pants with the button undone."_

_Gabriella quickly looked down and blushed as she quickly forced the button closed on her shorts before she gave Taylor a smug smirk. "I've been comfort eating since we've been home. Our parents have been driving Troy and I to distraction with this elaborate wedding they have planned. Do they care that Troy and I would rather have it small? Of course not, they just think it should be bigger and bigger and it's very hard to tell them no, so, if I want to have a bowl of ice-cream then that should be okay without being made to feel guilty because of it."_

"_It should, but that's not what's going on with you. Gabs – at least consider the possibility that you're having a baby."_

"_Shut up!" Gabriella said as she grabbed her breakfast again and shovelled a spoonful into her mouth, trying to think of a way to ensure the subject was changed. "So...Sharpay's store looks like its goi..."_

"_Do not even try that," Taylor warned as she reached into her purse and pulled out a square box and sat it down on the table._

_Gabriella flinched as she looked down. "Oh...are you pregnant?"_

"_Gabriella! Take the test."_

_Gabriella could only shake her head adamantly but Taylor cut her off again. "You have two hours before Troy is due home, so if you want I'll just wait and talk to him about it..."_

"_You can't!" Gabriella hissed as she made a swipe for the box, only for Taylor to snatch it away. "Taylor!"_

"_You need to take the test and go see a damn doctor because, in case you haven't noticed, you have been woozing all over the place and call me a worrier, but you're going to wooze at the top of the stairs, or on a road and you and your baby will be dead, Troy will have a nervous breakdown and I'll be left alone dealing with Chad and the Ice Queen's latest drama so, for the sake of my sanity and your boyfriend's mental health – take the damn test." Taylor said as she held the box out of reach as Gabriella made another attempt at jumping for it. _

"_Wooze isn't even a proper word!" Gabriella gasped as she lunged for the box again, only for Taylor to back off a few steps before waving at her tauntingly. "Journalists don't have artistic licence to make up new words."_

"_We're writers, if we can't rewrite the English language, then who can? Now stop changing the subject," Taylor said as she peered at Gabriella. "Do you really want your boyfriend to have to live in New Orleans on his own because you stupidly got yourself killed by not listening to me?"_

"_He's my fiancé. How hard is it to differentiate between boyfriend and fiancé, really?" Gabriella muttered as she looked down. "I...I'm not pregnant and even if I was, people don't die of being pregnant. Seriously – maybe you've been hanging around Sharpay too much since you're definitely channelling your inner drama queen."_

"_Your attempts at trying to change the subject are pitiful," Taylor said as Gabriella again made a swipe for the box, only for Taylor to react a second quicker and pulling the box away. "You're being a child! If you're so confident then just take the test and prove it."_

_Gabriella bit her lip and shook her head. She knew she couldn't prove it, but she wasn't going to admit that. Hearing Taylor spell it out to her, it seemed obvious yet prior to that Gabriella had, successfully, convinced herself that the symptoms were all related to different things. Putting the fatigue, the dizziness, the slight weight gain, the sickness, the 'urges' all together did tend to indicate that this was indeed a pregnancy and the thought of it terrified her more than words could ever say. "N...no. Prove I am pregnant – the burden of proof is with the prosecuting party, not with the defendant."_

"_Oh please, you did one semester of pre-law, let's not try and roll out law terminology to try and make your point."_

"_You know you can't make me take the test," Gabriella said childishly as she had another spoonful of cereal. "So...are you looking forward to getting back to New Yo...?"_

"_Gabriella Montez, if I have to march you into that bathroom...!"_

"_Fine," Gabriella grumbled as she took the test. "If it will make you stop..."_

"_Do I have to come into the bathroom with you to make sure you don't cheat?" Taylor asked with a hand on her waist as she looked at Gabriella who blushed madly and marched off._

"_I think I can manage to pee on a stick on my own..." she mumbled. "I liked you better when you weren't mean, you know."_

"_Aww, Sweetie," Taylor said with a smirk. "I'm not mean, just concerned. You'll thank me for this."_

"_I might not be pregnant. Maybe I'm just getting fat."_

"_Yeah, I'm sure that's what it is," Taylor rolled her eyes and sighed. "Gabs – please, just take the test. I know that you're freaking out for whatever reason, but...Troy is crazy about you and he's going to be happy so...you know, if that's what you're worried about then just don't. It'll be fine."_

_Gabriella could only sigh as she closed the bathroom door and took a deep breath against it. No escape. She had been so good at avoiding thinking about it, but due to Taylor's insistence, and the fact that she was practically locked in her fiancé's parents bathroom with a test meant that she couldn't really back out of it now. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she looked at the test in her hands and silently prayed that it came up negative. It wasn't that she didn't want a family, because she did – but she wanted it later, after they were married, and not when they were about to move somewhere on their own. She didn't want to make it harder because she knew that nothing could destroy a couple than a baby if it wasn't the right time and she couldn't bear the thought that maybe this would destroy them. It had to be negative, it just had to..._

_

* * *

  
_

Troy opened the door to his home at a little after 4am to find his home shrouded in darkness as he expected. When he had first started going to away games she had often tried to stay up to meet him, but he knew that she just didn't have the energy to do that anymore and he honestly didn't mind. He liked to know that she was having plenty of rest because he knew she needed it, and at least when she was sleeping she wasn't over-doing it. He shrugged his jacket off and lay it on the kitchen counter along with his keys and cell-phone before he had a quick glance around the room to see if there were any obvious signs of her home design fixation that he was hoping was over with now that her Christmas fixation was in full swing. Sure enough he saw some glittering coming from the mantle and the curtains, and couldn't help but laugh lowly. She was so easy to predict – in their last apartment from December 1st she would bring out one Christmas ornament a day until they put their tree up, but clearly she had decided that one ornament a day was not happening this year.

Deciding he would investigate further after sleeping, he slowly made his way to their bedroom. Shrugging off his shirt, and his pants he turned towards the bed only to find it empty. Immediately bad images came to mind and he all but ran from the room into the lounge to locate where he had put his phone. Half way between panic and hysteria though he heard a soft murmur coming from the sofa and immediately walked over to find her laying on the couch, arms wrapped around herself and her phone gripped in her hand. The relief that she was okay flooded through him before any other emotion and he immediately dropped down on the floor beside her and brushed the hair out of her eyes. He sighed as he looked at her, she looked so tired. He knew the baby was taking it out of her, but he didn't know how he could help especially as she continually insisted she was fine. She saw proving she could do everything as a challenge, and no amount of asking her not to from him or the doctors seemed able to change her mind on it. It was times like this that he wished that their families lived closer – instead his mom was in Albuquerque and her mom was in San Francisco and outwith the frequent visits from their friends, they were very much a new couple, with new jobs, in a new town, in a new state without the support system he knew she needed when he was away from home. "Baby..."

Her eyelids fluttered slightly but didn't open as he leant down and nuzzled her nose, his lips pressing against hers softly before pulling back again. "Baby, wake up and come to bed..."

Her eyes opened briefly as she looked at him, before opening wide as she jumped up quickly, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Oh my gosh, you're home! I'm so sorry; I wanted to stay up for you. Are you okay? You must be so tired, here, sit up..." she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up onto the couch beside her as she swung her legs around. "Would you like coffee, or something to eat? Did you eat on the plane because..."

"Gabriella," he interrupted with a laugh as he placed his hand over her lips. "I'm fine. I'm more concerned as to why you're sleeping on the couch."

She blushed and looked down, grabbing his hand with a shy grin. "I was too lazy to get up, so I was just thinking about some stuff and I guess I was more tired than I thought and fell asleep..."

"Gabi..."

"Don't worry about it," she said as she leant over and kissed him softly before pulling away. "You want to go to sleep or are you hun...whoa..."

As she spoke she stood up, and mid sentence he saw her close her eyes and bring her hand to her eyes, swaying dangerously. He was on his feet in a second, steadying her and let her lean her body against his as she regained her equilibrium.

"This is one thing I am not going to miss," she said softly as she opened her eyes. "Um...what was I saying? Oh yeah, are you hungry or..."

"You're going to bed," he said simply as he reached down and picked her up, not leaving any scope for argument. "We're going to the doctor later. No way is this normal..."

"No Troy, it's okay – I promise. I just got up too quickly, I'm fine..."

He carried her to their bed and sat her down and climbed in beside her. "No, you're not. Baby, you shouldn't be as tired as you are, you shouldn't get dizzy from just standing up and you shouldn't be as pale as you are. We need to get this seen to."

"I'm fine," she said with a shake of the head. "I'm just tired. Troy..." she looked at him desperately. "If you make me go to the doctor he's just going to make me rest more and I don't want to feel even more useless than I do now. I promise I'll get it seen to if it gets worse, but just now I'm fine. I shouldn't have fallen asleep on the sofa."

He was torn. He didn't know what to do. On one hand he wanted to believe her, he wanted to let her handle things like she wanted to handle them, but on the other hand he wanted to make sure she was okay. He didn't want to be over-bearing and difficult, but it was Gabriella – if anything happened to her...

"I need you to be okay, Gabriella."

"I know," she whispered as she brought her hand up to his cheek and smiled. "And I promise if it gets worse then I will go to the doctors, but this has been happening for months and he told us that it was okay as long as it didn't get too bad. I'm taking all my vitamins, and I'm resting up and I'll be fine. I'm not going to risk our baby, I promise."

"It's not just about the baby, Gabriella. I don't want you to risk yourself either," he told her, his hand gripping her closer. He couldn't help but be frustrated with her sometimes – she never saw that she was as important as the baby in this. Moreso even. "You have to understand how much I need you here."

"Troy, I swear I'm fine," she tried to reassure him as she sat up, pressing her lips to his. "I promise. I'm just having a couple of bad days, which is normal apparently. My body is just trying to adjust to someone else living in it."

He bit his lip and moved his hand down to rest on her bump and sighed. "I can't win this argument, can I?"

She smiled and shook her head, laughing softly as she caressed his cheek. "Nope, no chance." Without saying anything else she pulled him up to beside her on the bed and smirked. "I have to get up for work in a few hours, so lie down and let me cuddle you for a while. I've missed you."

He grinned and lay down on the bed, allowing her to nestle into his bare chest as he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. "I've missed you too."

"You must be exhausted," she whispered as she reached up and traced his face with her fingers. "I don't like you missing out on sleep to get home a few hours early."

"I prefer to sleep here with you than to crash in a hotel and sleep alone," he murmured as he looked at her. It was true – it was hard enough being away from her, but at the moment it was especially tough when he knew she was on her own.

"The guys are going to start thinking you're whipped," she smiled as she reached up and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thank you for coming home quickly though."

"They know I'm whipped," he smiled as he kissed her back, holding her a little closer to him. "And, you're welcome."

There was a moment of silence before she spoke softly again whilst stroking her fingers softly over the bruise on his cheekbone. "They hurt you tonight. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just seem to catch a lot more elbows than I would if I were half a foot taller," he sighed. "I'm too short..."

"You're the perfect height for me. I would feel tiny if you were some freaky giant," she reassured as she lay down and kissed his chest. "You shouldn't believe everything that you read in the newspaper. Ask Taylor – they deliberately print things to get attention."

"I don't really care what they think, but it's kinda hard when I step onto court and guys are head and shoulders above me. That's why I usually get pulled late in the game." He couldn't hide the frustration in his voice. He was used to being the best player in the team, and although he wouldn't like to admit it out loud, it did damage his pride a little to know that now he wasn't at the same standard he was used to being. He was just...average and he knew his height didn't help.

"They pull you because they know the other team fouls you more and they're scared you'll get injured, not because you're too small," she said as she sat up so she could look down at him. "Derek Fisher, Allen Iverson and Nate Robinson are all about the same height as you or shorter and they are doing fine so please, don't listen to what's getting said, okay?"

He smiled as he looked at her. She had always been pretty good at basketball and they had often played for fun together when they had started dating. What she hadn't been good at before was knowing the ins and outs of the professional game, but around about the time senior year started in high school she had thrown herself whole-heartedly into learning everything about the sport. Underneath her beauty, and sweet, girly nature she was fundamentally a nerd who loved nothing more than to study and learn anything she could get her hands on, so when she would start randomly throwing out historic basketball facts and historic anecdotes to prove or disprove a point that Troy or Chad were making while watching a game, he couldn't help but think it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. His girl had learned everything about his sport because of him and it had gotten to the stage where she probably knew more about it than he did and it drove him crazy knowing she had went to that effort for him. "You know the heights of people in the league?"

She blushed and shrugged. "I don't like you thinking that you're too short to play with these guys because of idiots in the press making a big deal out of nothing. They hit you in the face with their elbows because they know how good you are and want to get you out the game, not because you're too small to play on the same court as them."

"I really love you and your nerdy little ways of making me feel better," he whispered as he brought his lips to her forehead, his hand running from her abdomen to her hip as she brought her leg over his, her hand drawing shapes on his chest while her lips placed small butterfly kisses on his shoulder. "We should sleep. You're tired..."

She nodded her head but didn't raise her gaze as he lifted her shirt enough to slip his hand underneath, revelling in the way she always shivered when he touched her like that. "We should...you must be exhausted...flying home early, playing basketball...it takes it out of you...we can sleep..."

"Sleep is good," he repeated vaguely as he gave up any gentlemanly pretence and sat up abruptly, allowing him to tear the shirt over her head before slamming his lips down on hers as she clung to his back. "God I missed you, Gabriella."

She pulled back just enough to repeat the sentiment before she connected their lips again, her hands fisting his hair as his skimmed her body, not sure where he wanted to touch first but knowing he would feel every inch of her before the night was out. God, it was good to be home...

* * *

Troy woke up hours later to find an empty bed and groaned as he looked at the clock to find that it was close to noon and knowing he had to be at the gym in a couple of hours. He reached over to feel her pillow, and realised that it was cold which meant she had been out of bed for a while. He could vaguely remember her mentioning work, but a part of him had been hoping that it was magically Saturday and they could spend the morning together. He trundled out of bed only to find a post-it note stuck to the door telling him that she had left for work but that there were fresh muffins in the kitchen and that she loved him and would see him later. He grinned as he removed the note, before heading to the kitchen for breakfast as he began looking to see what changes his girl had been made to the house this time.

He hummed to himself as he walked around the house, eating a muffin as he went and looked for clues as to how she had been occupying herself. It was kinda hard to miss the abundance of Christmas items that had not so subtly taken prominence around the house. She wasn't into cheap, over commercialised singing and animated toys, but there was certainly more snow globes and carved stars and glass figurines than he could ever remember them owning in their last apartment. He frowned as he saw the garlands wound round the curtain poles and sighed as he saw the tell tale sign of how she had hung the garlands as he saw the chair that was supposed to be sitting in front of their dining table sitting against the wall.

He made a mental note to get his manager to come up with an actual loop hole free wording before he went away again, because she invariably always found a way to do what he asked her not to, only in a way that made it seem like she wasn't doing anything wrong. Maybe she should have stuck with law...

As he walked into the baby's room and couldn't help but smile as he saw the little stocking hanging on the fire place along with the musical figurine of a snowman dancing with a baby snowman. In here as well she had hung a garland at the window and he couldn't help but wonder how many hours she spent in here when he was gone, just sitting waiting on March to arrive. He sunk down on the rocking chair and looked around the empty room and smiled – she had done an amazing job on getting things perfect and as much as he wished he had been able to help more, he knew that he wouldn't have changed anything she had done with the room. He couldn't wait to see it with a crib and a baby in it. She was very open minded but she absolutely refused to buy a crib until after the baby was born. He didn't quite understand it, but she was adamant about not tempting fate and flat out refused any arguments from anyone about changing her mind. She had told Troy that after she had the baby that he could go out and buy any crib he wanted and then he could build it, but until then she didn't want to hear anything about it. He didn't know why she was so superstitious, but he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it.

He sat there for a while before getting up knowing that he had to go to the gym for an hour so he would have to go get ready. Before he left he walked over to the little stocking and couldn't help but laugh when he found a small bell inside with the inscription stating 'Merry Christmas, Baby (Bump)' on it. She was so excited that everyone who knew them, from their friends back home to his new teammates and families all knew that she was going to be the most amazing mother. None of them would have believed therefore how different her reaction was at the time to how it was now.

* * *

"_I'm telling you, dude – she was like seriously drunk. I never thought Ms D would drink until the Ice Queen took me to the staff party. I don't think I'll be able to look her in the eyes again..."_

"_How can you be dating her and still calling her the Ice Queen?" Troy asked in confusion. Sometimes he was convinced that his best friend was stuck in third grade where you insulted the girl you liked because he never, ever had anything nice to say about Sharpay. Troy wasn't Sharpay's biggest fan either, but he figured that if you were dating someone you should maybe not act like you can't stand them._

"_I'm not dating her," Chad scoffed as he made a face. "We have an occasional thing."_

"_An occasional thing that has lasted three years," Troy muttered as he shook his head. "Including three vacations together."_

"_You have to be continuous for the year scale to count. We're just messing until something more suitable comes around...you know? I mean seriously, me and Evans...? Funny. We can barely stand each other."_

"_Sure, okay then," Troy said with a roll of his eyes as he walked into his parents house, hoping to find his fiancée there so she could help him slap Chad around the head until he faced the facts about whatever weird relationship he had developed with Sharpay Evans. "Don't let Gabi hear you say that – she and Sharpay are kinda tight now in a moderately disturbing way."_

"_Gabs loves me, she wouldn't sweat it," Chad said cockily, chuckling away as Troy rolled his eyes once more._

"_Sure she wouldn't," Troy mocked before raising his voice. "Gabriella?"_

"_She's not here."_

_Troy lifted his gaze as Chad cursed lightly behind him and made a move to leave only for Troy to grab his arm. He deserved a little punishment for being an ass, and there wasn't anyone better on the planet to put him in his place than Taylor McKessie. Troy wasn't sure when their relationship had turned from one of teasing affection, to one of mutual bitterness, but Taylor still scared the crap out of Chad._

"_Taylor, hey – has she been gone long?" Troy asked, having a look around to see if there was any side of his fiancée._

_Taylor shrugged as she looked up at them and glowered at Chad who was pretending he was reading the back of the cereal box. "Not long. Chad, why are you pretending to read the back of the cereal box when we both know that the words are too big for you to understand?"_

"_Taylor, hi, didn't see you there what with that thick dark cloud of negativity hiding you from view," Chad said as he put the box down. "Fancy you being in Troy's house."_

"_I was visiting my best-friend who is crashing with her boyfriend."_

"_I'm actually her fiancé," Troy said quietly but was completely ignored as Taylor continued glaring at Chad. "It's just the ring on her finger, the upcoming wedding and that whole shebang upgrades me from mere boyfriend..."_

"_You two really don't like people to forget you're getting married, do you?" Taylor asked as she tilted her head, causing Troy to blush before she turned her gaze back to Chad. "So, how's the Drama Queen?"_

_Chad smirked as he looked at Taylor. "Dramatic. How's...what's his name, oh yes...Astin?"_

"_Astin was freshman year in college. I'm dating Adam just now. He's very handsome, very smart and...oh, you may know him – he writes for the New York Daily News and has a segment on ESPN?" Chad cursed lowly as he kicked Troy while Taylor continued. "What about you? I'd ask how your love life is going but you've been with the same girl for three years so it's kinda self explanatory."_

"_Why can no one understand the concept that unless you are continually with that person then time does not count? Seriously!"_

"_Okay – enough!" Troy said trying to get in between the usual war of words between the former couple. "Where did Gabi go?"_

"_Not sure, she escaped out your window and ran off somewhere. She left her cell-phone here so..." Taylor shrugged as she turned back to Chad. "I cannot believe that you are still in denial about that? Seriously?"_

"_Taylor!" Both boys called her name, trying to get her attention as Troy fought his impulse to bang both their heads together and throw them out of his house._

"_Taylor, just...focus, okay?" Troy said slowly. "Simple question – why would she leave via the window when there's a perfectly good door there? Were you two fighting because, no offence, if you were you should have been the one who left because, you know, she does live here..."_

"_For one, she doesn't live here – she rooms here." Troy opened his mouth to interrupt but was silenced by the woman who quickly continued. "For two, I'm offended that you think that I'm the reason she's not here." Taylor bit her lip and gave him a small not very reassuring smile. "I can't tell you why she actually ran off, even though it's kinda obvious. I mean you must have had your head as far in the sand as she did not to have noticed afterall..."_

_She paused a second as she looked at both of them. "Okay, maybe you really are that clueless. Never mind, she'll probably explain everything when she comes back from wherever she is."_

_Troy narrowed his eyes. "If something is wrong with her..."_

"_Nothing's wrong with her," Taylor assured. "Listen, she's just trying to get her head around something and I guess she would do that somewhere on her own. I don't know where exactly, but..."_

_Troy groaned and waved his hand as he headed towards the backdoor. "I guess I'll go and try and find her since you can't tell me anything remotely useful."_

"_Dude, she'll come home soon enough," Chad called, leaving Troy to shrug._

"_I know, but I just want to make sure she's okay."_

_With that Troy left, trying to think where she would be. He had barely made it to his car when he turned back to the backyard and saw his tree-house. He smiled as he headed towards it – he wasn't certain but he was fairly confident that he wouldn't have to look too much further to find her._

_

* * *

_

_  
When he climbed into the tree-house he had found her sat there under the skylight holding the old cape that she had attached to Robo Rob who she was making fly through her tears. If he wasn't so worried about what could have possibly put her in that sort of state he would have found it funny, but it was hard to laugh when the love of your life was sitting crying in front of you. He watched her for a moment, trying to judge what to do before he took a deep breath, deciding to let her know he was there._

"_You know, Robo Rob doesn't need a cape to fly..."_

_She looked up at the sound of his voice and gave a small smile as she wiped her eyes quickly. "Maybe he wants to be a super hero because robots are boring."_

"_Robots aren't boring," Troy argued as he sat down beside her. "We've had this discussion before. They can do lots of cool stuff. They have death rays, they're smart, they can do everything..."_

"_Just not as well as Superman could," she replied with a sigh as she leant her head on his shoulder. "Besides – how many robots save their girl from an evil villain?"_

"_Okay, you beat me there. I can't dispute that," he whispered as he pressed a kiss to her head as he dropped down beside her. "I still think Robo Rob would prefer not to wear the cape."_

_She smiled softly as she nodded, unfastened the cape before gently placing it around his neck and tying it before she leant in and hugged him tightly. "You look better in it."_

_He sighed as he returned her hug and closed his eyes. He could feel the pain radiating off of her and wanted nothing more than to take it away from her. "So, do I need to rescue you from anything? Because I'm dressed for it now..."_

_She pulled back and gave him a smile as she shook her head, linking her hand with his._

"_So...you had a nice day?" Troy began as he sat pulled her a little closer, trying to ignore the tear stains on her face. "Because I just spent an afternoon listening to Chad pretend that he's not got anything going on with Sharpay and then came home to get him and Taylor tearing strips off each other in some weird argument."_

"_Someone will have to explain to him that three years is a relationship because he's quickly moving past denial and into delusional."_

"_I tried telling him that but no," Troy sighed as he took her hand and placed a kiss on it. "You know we should bring some stuff up here and sleep out before we leave."_

_She smiled as she nodded. "That would be great. I have never slept out overnight before. I mean I accidentally fell asleep on my balcony one night, but woke up about 3am and went back to bed but apart from that I've never done that."_

"_Are you kidding? Oh man, we're definitely doing that then. We'll do the full thing – lanterns, thermos with hot chocolate, ghost stories, the whole thing," he grinned, and he couldn't help but feel better as she giggled at him and shook her head. "What?"_

"_Ghost stories?"_

"_Yeah – it's a sleep-out tradition. You tell the scariest story and the kid who has to run to sleep in the house has to do whatever the other kids want him to do or face mortal humiliation. So I should warn you, Montez that I do in fact tell the greatest scary stories known to man, just so you know."_

_She smirked as she looked up at him. "And what would you make me do in forfeit if I did run in the house?"_

_He bit his lip and pretended to ponder as he brought his lips down to her neck and kissed it softly, before working his way up to her ear. "Hmmm, it would be tough – I mean I could decide that the absolute best way to say goodbye to my childhood haunt would be to engage in a highly un child-like act, but I think I would suggest...hmmm, you and me, and detour to Vegas enroute to New Orleans..."_

_She burst out laughing then and pushed him away. "You want us to die, don't you? Our parents would stop planning our wedding only to put their efforts into planning our funerals after they killed us both for denying them their big white wedding."_

"_Hell yeah," he grinned as he leant close and kissed her again. "I think it's a risk I would be willing to make. And they would forgive us eventually anyway...you know, I bet ten years down the line they will be fine with it."_

"_You're so crazy, Wildcat," she whispered as she looked at him, her fingers playing with the edge of the cape._

"_I'm crazy about something," he replied before kissing her more soundly. After his lips had left hers he pulled back and placed his hands on either side of her face and smiled softly. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?"_

_He frowned as she immediately stiffened after his question and he watched as she burst into tears again and flung her arms around his neck. "Gabriella? Baby, what's wrong?"_

"_I'm sorry, I didn't know and I didn't mean to and I know it's the worst time but...but...I have no idea what went wrong, and really it's not just my fault, but even so I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Troy."_

_He pulled back, trying to look at her. He wasn't used to seeing her crying like this. Usually when she cried it was much more silently and he hadn't really seen her have a massive breakdown in sobs moment like this before. "Gabriella? Baby, you have to tell me what's wrong. I can't help until I know what the problem is. Whatever it is we can sort it. Nothing is worth you getting upset like this."_

_She bit down on her lip and pulled back from him, wiping her eyes vainly as she did so. "I um...my dad left my mom when she was having me. Do you know why?"_

"_Yeah, you've mentioned it," Troy said as he rubbed his forehead in confusion as to why she would bring that up. It always upset her and unless he had tried to get in contact, he couldn't quite understand why she would even be thinking about it. "He was a jackass and left. But, I mean your mom met your step-dad like three years later and he raised you as his own. I don't get what..."_

"_No Troy, you aren't getting it. Do...do you know the real reason why my dad left? My mom...my mom said that he wasn't always a jackass; he had always been a good guy, a responsible guy, a guy with big plans. He wasn't always a jackass."_

"_I don't get why you are defending him?"_

"_Me neither," she murmured as she bit down on her lip before taking a deep breath. "It's just...he was a good guy but he left my mom. He left my mom when she was pregnant because the timing was bad for everything he had planned. He wanted to travel, and have an amazing career, and party and have fun and neither of them wanted a baby to get in the way of their plans but my mom grew to love the idea eventually, but he...he didn't. He wasn't ready for a baby, and he just left because the timing was bad for him," she whispered as she looked at him. "This timing is so bad for you."_

"_Gabi, I really don't think I ge...whoa, wait a minute. Time out," he muttered as he fell back on his heels and looked at her, his eyes wide as he looked at his fiancée who was looking at him as though she was terrified he was going to run away screaming. "Wow."_

"_Troy?" she whimpered as she looked at him. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it to happen just now..."_

"_Wow," he reiterated as he tried to get his head around the fact that not only was he going to be in the NBA, and in a new state, but he was also going to have a wife and a child in a few months. A family. His own family. He would come home and there would be bottles and diapers and kids programs on TV and stories before bed and responsibilities. He was going to be responsible for a family. He was going to be responsible for his family – his wife and child. His child that he had created with the woman he loved._

_He felt a dopey grin come on his face as the fact settled into his mind – they were going to start their own family, in their own home. He looked up at her and saw that she was still watching him fearfully. "I...I..."_

"_I am so sor..." before she had a chance at even thinking about finishing that sentence he had pounced at her, one hand behind her head, the other on her cheek holding her in place as he smashed his lips against hers, tasting, licking, caressing, worshipping and reassuring her that all was well. That she had nothing to worry about, that he was beyond happy._

"_Tell me," he pleaded against her lips. "Say it properly."_

"_Troy," she murmured as she ran her hand through his hair. "I'm pregnant. We're having a baby."_

_He grinned again as he kissed her, one hand trailing down to rest on her abdomen and the other stroking her cheek. "I can't believe it," he whispered as he looked down. "I mean, it's unbelievable, but I can't wait. What about you? Are you happy?"_

"_I...I...think so, yes, yes," she admitted as she nodded her head. "I was just...I thought that you would be upset and...I...just thought, its such bad timing and...you know? You're really happy? Because I would rather you tell me you're angry now instead of a few months down the line..."_

"_Happy is an understatement," he grinned as he kissed her again. "Okay, sure it's a little awkward what with us getting married, and moving and all, but we can deal, right? I mean we always planned on starting a family at one point, and admittedly its a few years earlier than we would have planned, but even so, I don't see a downside to us starting our family early. I love you, and that's never going to change so what if everything gets moved up a little in the schedule?" he was talking quickly as his speech tried to race to keep up with his thoughts. "We should get married before we go to New Orleans now. I mean we don't want the big wedding and I'm sure our parents will understand now that they have a grand-child to spoil. They can plan a big elaborate christening party or something..."_

_He looked at her to see her just looking at him open mouthed, like she couldn't believe he was sitting there. His smile widened as he nudged her lightly. "Babe, are you okay?"_

"_I...I don't know," she admitted softly as she wiped her eyes. "This wasn't what I was expecting at all. I mean I...I don't know, you have taken it better than I did..."_

"_How did you take it?"_

"_Um," she sniffed as she wiped her tears again. "Taylor marched me into the bathroom, yelled at me for nearly an hour to take the test and then I went to your room, climbed out the window and hid here."_

_He almost laughed at the idea of it, but he could see so clearly in her face that she was terrified so he didn't. He didn't understand why she was so scared – he knew she wanted a family, she wanted a big family in fact, so he thought she would be bouncing off walls. "Why?"_

"_I...I don't want you to leave me," she whispered so softly that he could barely hear her. "I don't want to give you an excuse to leave me."_

"_Baby," he whispered as he pulled her close to him, his hand immediately finding her cheek and stroking it, his eyes meeting hers desperately trying to convey to her that he was never going anywhere without her. "I'm never leaving you. You're stuck with me for...well, forever. I'm not your dad and I'm not leaving, ever. I want to have loads of babies with you and the other stuff? The house, the job, the car? That's secondary to us. That's secondary to you. I'm not going anywhere. It's you and me and that's all I care about. The rest of the stuff doesn't matter."_

_She looked up at him and gave him a small smile as she pressed her lips against his before pulling back. "You always know the right thing to say."_

"_It's my natural brilliance. I inherited it, so if you're lucky our baby will have it too," he teased as he leant down and kissed her lips again, his hand finding her abdomen and stroking it softly. "So how far along do you think you are?"_

_She sighed as she closed her eyes, smiling softly as she spoke, her hand coming down to interlace with his on her abdomen. "I don't know. You know my periods have always been erratic but, if I had to take a guess I would say...the draft weekend sounds about right...so about seven weeks?"_

"_Wow," he muttered. "That was a really, really great weekend..." he recalled, a lazy grin spreading across his face as he remembered going away with her to a beach-house for the weekend in celebration and barely leaving the confines of the house for three days straight. They were more exhausted after their holiday than they had ever been before it, but every second was worth it. _

_He was only snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her giggle beside him. If anything the sound made him smile more – he hated to see her unhappy, so the sound of her laughter meant everything. "Lose your train of thought there, Wildcat?"_

_He shrugged and winked at her, causing her to giggle more. "I may have been distracted..." he joked as he nuzzled her hair affectionately. "Okay, I am focused now. Um...you think, so you don't know?"_

"_I did only find out an hour ago," she whispered as she leant into his embrace. "I'm guessing dates and stuff but that weekend sounds right. We were pretty distracted..."_

"_So...did we forget or did something break, or not work or...?"_

"_I don't know," she shrugged. "We were a bit...impulsive...that weekend. I mean I was sure we were always safe but to be honest, it was the last thing on my mind and I think probably the last thought on yours as well...I guess one, or both of us messed up..."_

_He frowned slightly at the thought that it could have been his carelessness that had caused this. He was happy, but it wasn't going to be him who was most affected. "Should I be apologising if it was me?"_

_She turned and looked up at him with a smile. "It was us – collectively so if you have to apologise, so do I." She took a moment before she sighed. "I kinda don't mind that we screwed up..."_

"_Me neither," he admitted as he leant his head against hers. "I think we can live with that mistake..."_

_She bit down on her lip and knelt up so she could look at him. "Okay, so from now on we don't talk about it being a mistake, or us screwing up, okay? It was unplanned, but it sucks to think that your parents didn't want you and that you ruined things for them so we won't do that to our baby, or let anyone else do that to our baby, okay?"_

_He watched her eyes as she stuck out her hand, as though they were completing a contract. "Okay. I think I can buy into that," he smiled as he pulled her hand towards him, making her fall against his chest as she looked up at him. He leant in and cupped her face, bringing her lips down to his own. "We're getting married though, and we don't make agreements by shaking on them, so you're going to have to kiss me to make it official."_

_She laughed happily as she pressed her lips against his softly, before pulling back to look at him. "Happy?"_

"_Always," he murmured against her lips. "For the record though, Montez soon to be Bolton, anyone who ever made you feel like they regretted having you is a fucking moron."_

"_Thank you." The broad smile that broke across her face as she wrapped her arms around him said it all as she enlaced her hand with his. "We're having a baby, Troy? Can you believe it?"_

_He couldn't say anything as he joined her gentle laughter, pulling their hands down to her abdomen. He couldn't believe it – everything was just going so ridiculously well for him that he was almost afraid to move in case it was all some perfect dream that he was going to wake up from._

"_The cape suits you, Wildcat," she whispered as she leant closer to him. "You're like my own personal superhero who always knows how to make everything better."  
_

* * *

Troy smiled as he walked onto her floor at the hospital, saying a quick hi to a few people who spotted him while discreetly pulling the beanie down a little lower on his head. He had been here a few times, but he wasn't sure he was ever going to tire of seeing her name on the door. She had worked so hard, and she loved her job and he couldn't be prouder of her. He raised his hand in greeting at the middle-aged woman sitting at the desk. "Hey, Sarah - is Gabriella nearly done?"

"Mr Bolton," she greeted with a smile. "I didn't know you were coming. Ms Montez has an appointment just now, but she should be finished in about ten minutes and then she can go."

"Um – you do know you can call us Troy and Gabriella, right?" he asked, still unable to get used to being referred to so formally.

"Hospital orders, I'm afraid. Within these walls everyone is a Ms or a Mr, even you two," she said with a smile before getting interrupted by a loud round of giggles from the room before some banging of a xylophone was heard. "Its music therapy today so you maybe should have brought some earplugs..."

"At least they are having fun," he grinned as he walked over to the sofa before he heard Gabriella's clear voice singing something about an apple and the excitable voice of the child responding back to her in song as the xylophone was banged again for emphasis. "Has she had a busy day today?"

The receptionist looked down and sighed. "Friday's are always busy."

He nodded as he looked down at his phone and listened again to the sounds coming from the room that sounded like some sort of goodbye song. The door finally opened and he watched as a young boy went running out to stand in front of the desk as his parents came out alongside Gabriella. He grinned as he saw her wave goodbye and call instruction to the boy who seemed to only look at her blankly before nodding his head slowly. As the family left she leant her head back, telling Laura that she could leave and to have a good weekend before heading back to her office. She looked tired and it was slightly funny to him that she was completely oblivious to his presence, for the moment anyway.

It was fifteen minutes more before she eventually came out of her office and closed the door. He leant against the wall and watched her, admiring her from afar as he waited on her to notice him. She hummed quietly to herself as she adjusted the hat on her head and turned around, only to squeak audibly when she saw him standing there. He couldn't help the way his stomach fluttered when a warm smile spread across her face when she saw him. "Troy! What are you doing here?"

"Can't a guy come and surprise his girl?" he asked innocently as he walked over and planted a kiss on her cheek before he began escorting her out. "Spontaneity is usually considered a good thing, you know."

She turned back to him and eyed him warily as he guided her towards his car and opened the door for her to get in. "It is, but your idea of spontaneous is different from everyone else's. So what exactly are you up to, Mr Bolton?"

"Maybe I'm just saving you a bus ride?" he said before noticing her sceptical expression. "Okay, fine – you caught me...it wasn't for purely selfless reasons that I'm picking you up."

"I could have driven myself home you know," she giggled as he drove away, a smirk playing on his face as he did so. "Romantic as this is, I would have settled for you making dinner..."

"Okay, we're not having the driving argument again. The day you have the baby I swear I will gift wrap your car keys and give you them, but not until then and secondly I'm not sure even your weird taste buds are that adventurous as to handle my cooking," he grinned as he shook his head. "Besides, I was on my way home from the gym and I happened to be passing..."

"The gym is like twenty minutes in the other direction from the hospital and you do know that we just drove straight past our cut off, right?" she interjected before shushing dutifully, giggling as she did so allowing him to continue.

"I do know our way home, yes," he said as he tossed a wink in her direction. "Anyway, continuing with my story, I was on my way home from the gym and I drove past this house which was decorated like Macy's and it got me thinking about our house. Now, I know you loop-holed the hell out of our 'I will not climb on ladders' agreement by climbing on chairs in your bid to build the perfect nest, but as I was driving all I could think is that there is something that it's still not quite perfect. I mean you must have noticed it, right?"

He watched as the smile fell off her face and her arms crossed over her chest defensively. He had to bite the inside of his lip not to laugh because he knew the house was her pride and joy and she had been painstaking in her efforts to make it the perfect home for the both of them. "I haven't noticed, but clearly you did. What, in your opinion is wrong with our home?"

"Nothing really," he began, not missing the tightening of her jaw as he quickly continued. "It's just...missing something, don't you think?"

"And what exactly is it missing that this other amazing house seems to have?"

She was so outraged at his suggestion that she didn't even seem to notice that they had pulled to a stop or that he was chuckling at her reaction. "Maybe you should have a look and tell me what you think."

Her gaze narrowed at him, and if he wasn't having as much fun he was sure the temperature in the car would have dropped by about ten degrees just from the ice she was directing at him. He opened his door and ran around, but before he could open her door for her she had opened it herself, sent him another glare before folding her arms in front of her again in a blatantly childish manner. "So what is this great addition that is lacking in our house?"

He grinned wider as he leant down and gently turned her body around until she was looking at the rows of Christmas trees that were lined up for sale. "I think a Christmas tree would look pretty amazing in our home, what do you think?"

Her face lit up in a bright smile as she nodded eagerly, turning around and hugging him tightly. "Seriously? Today?" he barely got a chance to nod before she let out an excited squeal and jumped up and kissed him. "Thank you!"

"Well, I found the box of Christmas ornaments, and saw the advent calendar, and the stockings were hung and the mistletoe and snow-globe and your Santa hat that you put on when wrapping presents and I even found the 'Merry Christmas baby bump' bell that you had hiding in the baby stocking you seem to have acquired from last year so I figured I should take the hint..."

"Kelsi found the bell in a store in New York – she knew I'd like it," she blushed as she looked at him. "I went Christmas shopping last week and had to stop myself from buying the little sleep suit and stuff because I know that we won't use that, but when I go into stores it's so tempting and I think everyone kinda knows how excited I am and bought me some stuff."

"I know how you feel," he nodded. "I saw some kids queuing for Santa and I just wanted to yell and tell everyone that my kid would be doing that soon," he smiled down at her. "I can't wait until next year, and all the years after that."

She nodded happily as she reached up and kissed him again, her eyes shining with devotion as she did so. "Me neither. We're going to be great."

"We are," he agreed before he leant down and whispered into her ear. "I'm so happy we were forgetful that weekend after the draft."

"Me too," she smiled before pulling on his hand so they were running towards the trees. "Now come on, your son wants to make sure we get a big tree so there's plenty room for his mommy's presents."

He laughed as he nodded, allowing her to pull on his hand towards the trees, oohing and ahhing as she spotted different ones. If you had told him a year ago that he would be in this position, he would have never believed you but he wouldn't have changed it for the world.


	3. Always Be My Baby

Disclaimer – not mine. I borrow them to have my wicked way with them but that's it.

Author's Note – Thank you so much for the reviews for the previous chapters. I'm glad you guys are enjoying this because it is a lot of fun to write, and I've kinda needed it with work being insane. I hope you all like this chapter - I wanted to do a little more with Gabi and her mother so...it's maybe not as light as other chapters but I hope you still like it.

----------------

January was traditionally not a warm month, but Gabriella still found her cheeks warm and flushed with laughter as she grinned at her fiancé while they spoke. It was barely noon and the two were enjoying a rare day off together and the pair of them were determined to cram as much into it as possible.

"I'm serious – she said I was a 'stick in the mud' for not getting really excited about going to the show," Gabriella giggled as she waited on Troy to get his bag from the back seat of the car. "I tried to explain that going to a concert at around my due date wouldn't be the smartest idea but she said I was being negative as I had two months to have the baby before the concert."

She saw Troy turn around and look at her with a shake of the head. "And she's seriously going to be teaching children one day?"

"Scary, isn't it?" she joked as she let him take her hand. "I swear, we enrol our son in school with her as the teacher and I'm hauling him out and homeschooling him."

He chuckled as he locked up the car. "I love it when you go in forceful, sexy teacher mode – it's like all my teenage fantasies come to life..."

She giggled as she turned to look at him, trying to feign exasperation. "You seriously are thinking about sex after just sitting through a birthing class?"

He shrugged, almost bashfully as he leant close. "It's not really my fault..."

"No?" she whispered as she leant up, her hand finding the back of his neck. "Whose fault is it then?"

"I like to think that we both are a little to blame," he stated as he leant down. "You encourage me...in more ways than one."

"I encourage you to be a horny, typical male?"

He smirked down at her and nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. Don't worry, I don't mind...in fact..."

He leant down to kiss her and she almost, almost let him but she knew what kind of mood he was in, and she, in her current hormonal state was always in that sort of mood, and if they started anything then it would be extremely difficult to leave the house later that night so, with regret she took a step back. "You have a game tonight and it's far too early to write off the rest of our first day off together in a month to spend it hermitting away in our room."

He groaned out loud and looked at her with pained eyes. "We could be quick?"

She burst out laughing then and shook her head again. "No, we couldn't."

"Fine, just ruin my fun then. Karen's right – you are a stick in the mud," he pouted before winking at her, letting her know he was joking as she slapped his chest gently. "So...baby class. Was it just me or were we getting funny looks?"

She rolled her eyes and unlocked the door. It was one of those things he should have been used to, but wasn't. They weren't staying in a place that was overly populated with famous people, so sports stars always got noticed and he hadn't quite got his head around the fact that people would recognise him doing the most mundane things. "It was probably because you went in the door wearing a beanie and sunglasses – the only way you would have been less stealthy is if you wore a trench with the collar up and had a twirly moustache..."

"Really?" He asked, aghast as he looked at her. "'Cause I was genuinely just wearing them because it was sunny when we were driving and..."

She giggled then and bit her lip as he looked at her and the panic eased off his face. "And you're teasing me, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded as she backed up slowly. "You fall for that every time!"

"You're mean," he muttered as he kissed her. "Pregnancy has turned you evil."

"I thought the hormones would be better directed at teasing you than yelling at you," she grinned as she stroked his jaw. "Seriously though – they were just looking at us because we're new. Plus, I think they saw the various horrified expressions on our faces after the guy burst into tears when his wife 'gave birth' to the doll and either found us amusing or offen..."

She was interrupted by a knock on the door and looked at Troy who had his eyes closed in annoyance as he dropped his head to her shoulder with a groan. "What's wrong?"

"Why is it that anytime I get to have a day alone with you that someone invariable interrupts half way through it?"

She shook her head as she looked up at him as there was another knock. "You go sit down and I'll get rid of whoever it is, okay?"

He nodded and leant down and kissed her cheek. "Okay, I'll start lunch. If it's someone selling something tell them we don't want it instead of being nice and listening to their spiel."

"Whatever you say," she said, both of them knowing that it probably wouldn't happen. She had a real tough time turning people away. It was a character flaw. She opened the door, preparing her best forceful voice only to be confronted by her mother standing there with a suitcase at her feet. Gabriella's hand went flying to her mouth in shock as she stood there. "Mom?"

"Hey baby," Isabella Montez said with a grin. "You going to invite me in?"

* * *

If there was one thing Troy hated, it was tension. Being an only child he had had to sit through his fair share of arguments with his parents with no way of softening the atmosphere and it usually resulted in him saying or doing something stupid purely as a way to get his parents to focus on something else. As he got older, he usually just ran out and played basketball, or, if it happened later, go and stay with Gabriella for a while. He did stupid things to avoid tense environments – he had infamously vowed to ditch Gabriella and the musical call-backs to avoid the tension in amongst his teammates. He had agreed to sing with Sharpay instead of Gabriella because he couldn't stand the tension at dinner in the country club and, he had left his own 21st birthday party because everyone in the room seemed to want to give him some sort of 'good' advice for his future. Yet, here he was sitting in silence in his own home silently wishing he could escape somewhere instead of being forced to sit through a meal with his future mother in law.

It wasn't that he didn't like Gabriella's mom, because he did – he liked her a lot, but there was no denying the fact that things had changed around them recently and, judging by the way she kept shooting him glares across the table, she had noticed as well.

He looked down and felt Gabriella take his hand and interlace them together on top of the table. "So, Mom – what are you doing here?"

"You've not been returning my calls for a couple of days and I thought that maybe you could use the company," her mom said with a smile at Gabriella before it fell away as she turned to him. Troy grimaced, figuring he was getting the blame for her daughter being out of contact. In truth, he had nothing to do with it, but he wasn't going to lie and say that he didn't approve of Gabriella's decision as every time she came off the phone with her mom she was always miserable."So, Troy – when are you leaving next?"

"Next week," he said slowly, trying to keep a smile on his face and his voice light. "I'll be gone five days but, this is the last prolonged away stint for a while. It'll just be days here and there so..."

"No excuses for staying away then, huh?"

Troy blinked at the insinuation as Gabriella gripped his hand and smiled at him before turning back to her mom with a forced smile. "So, Mom – how long are you staying?"

"I have a couple of week's vacation so I thought I would stick around for a week before heading to see your aunt. Only if that's okay, of course?"

Gabriella shot a look at Troy and sighed. He really wanted to say no, but he would never do that to anyone, let alone Gabriella's mother. "Of course it is. We have plenty of room. We'd love for you to stay."

"Excellent," Isabella said with a broad smile. "I'm really looking forward to seeing where you guys live and Troy, I know your mom and dad have been talking about coming for a visit as well so you guys can consider this a trial run."

He turned to look at Gabriella who had a smile plastered on her face as she nodded her head, feigning enthusiasm. The pair of them had lived on their own for four years and although they loved their parents deeply, every time they stayed with them it was the most stressful experience because invariably their parents still treated them like they were sixteen so the prospect of having multiple weeks of their parents staying with them at the end of the pregnancy was as appealing to them both as a bullet to the head.

"That's...that's great," Gabriella said as Troy squeezed her fingers in encouragement. "Really."

"Yeah...it's...wonderful," he repeated, his own smile not wavering as he took a drink of water.

"And Troy, that means that there will be people to look after Gabriella when you're not here."

Troy stiffened at that comment and he heard Gabriella take a deep breath as Isabella continued.

"I know how tiring it can be to be working a full time job whilst pregnant and living on your own but you don't need to worry about anything this week."

"I'm not on my own, Mom," Gabriella said through a tight smile as she stood up and begun gathering the lunch plates.

"You know what I mean," her mom said with a smile. "Partially on your own. You spend way too much time alone for someone having so many problems and I know travelling is a necessary evil but still...I don't know how you cope so well on your own. I guess you just get used to it..."

Troy's jaw almost dropped whilst Gabriella stood between him and her mother and he couldn't see her face, but he could see just from her back how tense she was.

"I wouldn't know about that, Mom and I doubt I ever will." She walked over and rubbed Troy's back as she passed before looking down at him with a small smile. "Baby, can you help me bring the coffees through? Mom, why don't you go sit in the lounge and we'll be back."

Before she had even finished he had stood and took the plates off her and headed to the sink, really not wanting to be anywhere near that conversation any longer. Gabriella followed through a moment later and shot him an apologetic look as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his midsection. "I am so, so sorry, Troy."

"It's not your fault," he murmured as he kissed her head.

"No, she's my mom and she's being so rude and I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with her but I promise I'll talk to her."

He pulled back and ran his finger down her pale face. "I don't want you to stress over this, okay? I'm a big boy and I have a thick skin so...just, you ignore it and I'll do the same, okay?"

"I can't just ignore it. I don't like her being mean to you," she said as she leant back into his chest. "I'm a horrible person for not wanting her here when she's like this, aren't I? I love her but...I don't know if I can deal with her for a week."

"You'll never be a horrible person, Gabi."

"I am – she spent twenty-three hours in labour with me, and I'm silently wishing she was staying in a hotel," she stated without looking up. "This was supposed to be our day off together and now it's just ruined..."

"It's not ruined," he insisted as he held her closer, feeling her tears against his shirt as he caressed her head. He sighed as he pressed his lips to her hair – he wished that her hormonal surges made her throw things, and get angry or yell or something. Instead her hormonal surges meant she ended up in tears and hurt over things that he wished she would just let bounce off her. "Don't cry, baby. Your mom will be fine – she's just getting it out of her system and will be normal soon. We're still going to have an amazing day and you're going to come to my game and look beautiful and all the guys are going to be jealous as hell like usual and then we're going to have an amazing night. Okay?"

She sniffed and nodded her head, pulling back and wiping her eyes as she blushed. "Okay, I'm sorry. Stupid hormones..."

He chuckled as he reached over and ran his finger tips over her eyelashes to remove the trace of tears still lingering. "I like when you blush – it gives you some colour again."

"I know," she smiled. "I think I should wear more makeup until I look less tired."

"Don't be ridiculous," he stated as his fingertips fell from her eyes down to her lips. "You are so beautiful, you know that?"

She laughed out loud then as she looked at him in disbelief. "You are extremely biased if you think red eyed, blotchy and hormonal is beautiful..."

He shook his head as he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her again, completely forgetting their guest in their lounge. "I am biased, but also right – you just...I don't even have the words to describe it. You just are..."

She looked up at him and smiled at him lovingly as she brought her hands to his hair. "You are too. In every way."

"I love you," he murmured as he brought his lips to hers. "Everything is going to be fine."

* * *

Gabriella generally believed everything that Troy told her, so when he made the 'everything is going to be fine' statement, Gabriella had automatically chosen to believe it. They had gone to the game, had fun and the night had been great – and with that night being over, thus had ended the 'everything's fine' portion of her mom's stay. The following day she had come home from work to find out that Troy had left her mom halfway through the day to go to the stadium and he didn't arrive home until later where the three of them spent an uncomfortable night watching a movie on the sofa. The next day, he had left the house early and then, rather than come home to take her and her mom to dinner, he had decided to meet them at the restaurant and then had spent the night pushing his food around as he tried to ignore the jibes and looks her mom had shot at him.

Gabriella loved her mom. Travelling around the country since the age of twelve meant that the only real constant she had known had been her mom and in a lot of ways she had been more like her friend than her mother for most of her teenage years. The bond had remained steadfast for years until Gabriella finally made some real friends of her own when she had moved to Albuquerque and they moved back into a mother/daughter relationship. It wasn't that they were any less close, it was just different – instead of going shopping with her mom after school, she could call Taylor or Kelsi. Instead of watching movies with her mom on a Friday night, she would be out on dates with Troy or with her friends. Her mom's job became more Mom orientated such as attending parents evenings, or making sure she came home for curfew, making sure Troy left at night and ensuing that Gabriella didn't turn down her scholarship at Stanford even though they both knew she didn't really want to go. As a mom, it was her job to look at the bigger picture and although it had been an adjustment, Isabella had taken to the role quickly.

She had hoped that she and her mom would always be close and at no point had she ever imagined it possible that it would be so fragile that she would be screening phone calls and silently wishing that they still lived in their LA apartment that was too small to have guests stay. It had been subtle as well – everything had seemed fine and normal until Gabriella fell pregnant and instead of growing closer and wanting her mom there for advice and help, she found she couldn't talk to her mom about any aspect of it because it invariably brought up the same subject – about how men leave, how she had to be prepared, how she had to be careful...

It saddened her that if she wanted to talk about what she was feeling about her pregnancy, her nerves about giving birth, her worries that she was driving Troy insane with her hormones she had to talk to Lucille Bolton, or one of the women she worked with or one of Troy's teammates wives. All she wanted was to sit down and have a conversation with her mom and find out what it felt like to give birth, whether she was scared, or happy, or some bizarre combination of them both. She didn't want to have to hear negativity and everything else that seemed to be permanently present.

"It's not that I don't trust him..."

Gabriella bit her lip as she pushed her pasta around her plate and silently cursed Troy for not being there. It was Friday night – Friday night was the night that Troy always picked up dinner and brought it home so she didn't have to cook. Instead after a horrible day at work that saw her patient throwing a tantrum that resulted in her getting covered in the paint he was supposed to be expressing himself with and the worst headache she had ever experienced, she got a text message at 6pm telling her that he was sorry, he was going out for a drink with Isaac so he couldn't pick up dinner. So here she was, eating cold pasta that neither she or the baby wanted to eat, having a headache that made her brain feel like it was three sizes too large for her skull and listening to the same conversation that she had heard in various guises over the past three days. Sure, 'the talk' usually bookended an actual enjoyable conversation about their lives, or their friends and relatives, but as sure as the sun would set, invariably the conversation ended back at this point.

"It's just that he's a very good looking guy and temptation exists and..."

Gabriella shovelled a forkful of food into her mouth to avoid responding as she tried to mentally count to ten. She had a good mind to go to the bar, drag Troy home and make him sit and listen to this while she went out and had fun. Admittedly her fun would involve less alcohol and more sugar but that wasn't the point. The point was that she shouldn't have to listen to this in her own home and she sure as hell should not have been eating tasteless cold pasta on the one night of the week that her stupid fiancé was responsible for dinner. She felt her lip quiver as she looked down at her plate and silently pleaded for her mother to shut up, for Troy to come in bearing boxes of Chinese food and for a half dozen meringues to suddenly appear in the kitchen so she could enjoy her night. In what had been an extremely stressful pregnancy, she wasn't sure if it were possible for her to feel any more stressed than she did today.

"I want you to start thinking about what you would do if..."

"Mom," Gabriella said then, cutting her mom off before she continued that line. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Please, just stop okay. The phone calls were bad enough, but I don't want to hear it in my own home where I can't avoid them," she stated sternly, rubbing her head and closing her eyes, trying to compose herself.

"I'm just looking out for you," her mom said softly. "I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy," Gabriella said defiantly as she stood, taking her plate to the dishwasher. "You're the one who isn't happy and is determined to make everyone else as miserable as you are."

"Where is he then? I've barely seen him and this is supposed to be him at home? If you don't see him while he's staying at home, then you have to wonder what he does when he doesn't have any obligations when he's away."

With that line something snapped in Gabriella. She had tried to be sympathetic, to ignore the jibes and the comments and the negativity but she refused to just sit back and let anyone insinuate anything like that about Troy. "That's enough, Mom! Don't talk about him like that!"

"I just..."

"No! This conversation is over and if you want to continue it I wish you would wait until you leave so I have the option of hanging up on it. You want to know the reason that Troy isn't home? It's because you make him feel uncomfortable in his own home and he'd rather avoid you than argue with you." Gabriella stepped closer and looked at her mom and she knew her voice was shaking but she didn't have the energy to try and mask it. "I'm sorry that my dad left you and that having me ruined your life – but Troy isn't him and I hate that you treat him like that."

"He doesn't even notice..."

"Yes he does!" Gabriella screamed, her head pounding even worse than it had been before. "He's just too polite to tell you to stop, but I can't watch you do it anymore, Mom. Troy loves me, Mom – just...if you can't accept that then maybe you should leave."

"Where is he if he cares so much?"

"Where he is, and who he is with, or why he is out has nothing to do with you, okay? He's a grown man and I trust him and I know he's not perfect, but no one is so just...please, please if you are just going to keep on with this...please leave."

She couldn't believe she had just said that to her own mother, even though she knew she was right to do so. If the situation was reversed and Troy's mom was treating her like that she would like to think that Troy would look after her, so she had to do the same. This was her family and although she loved her mom, she had to do what she had to do.

"Baby..."

"No, Mom – you...you treat him, and us with respect or...or else you can't stay here. I will not let you hurt him. I cannot deal with you being like this anymore. I just want my mom and not this...witch who tries to hurt me and my fiancé because she was hurt once. You...you're sucking all the happiness out of this for me and I so badly want to share it with you, Mom..." Gabriella cried as she wiped her eyes. "I'm going to bed. Please, please think about what I said because I want you here, but not like this."

With those words said, Gabriella marched off to her room and closed the door before she sank down on the bed and wished that she hadn't meant every word she had just said. In that second she missed her mom more than she ever had in the five years she hadn't lived with her, even though she was only down the hallway.

* * *

The bar was loud and the atmosphere reminded Troy why he so rarely chose to go into them. He didn't mind them when it was for a party, or if it was a get together with a bunch of friends, but he could not find the appeal of them as a venue for self-pity or reflection. He looked at his untouched beer and wondered why he had ordered it – he obviously wasn't going to drink it since he was driving and he had always made a point of drinking no alcohol when he was driving but there it was. He gestured to the bartender to bring him a coke and turned back to find his companion looking at him with barely disguised amusement. "Why the fuck didn't you just order a coke when I put the order in?"

He shrugged. "Probably the same reason Gabriella always pours herself a coffee and sits it down in front of her yet doesn't drink it."

"She's pregnant – she gets a free pass on doing strange things," his teammate said with a shake of his head. "You're just being weird."

"Thanks a lot, Isaac – appreciate it," Troy mumbled as he looked down. "Honestly, your support means a lot."

"Hey, I'm here as opposed to sending your ass on your not so merry way," Isaac said with a grin. "I'm suffering you for an hour so your girl doesn't have to."

That much was true. Isaac Lonay was a third year Hornets player who had played with Troy at Berkley and who had taken Troy under his wing when he had been drafted. He and his girlfriend had had both Troy and Gabriella over for dinner and Lisa had taken Gabriella to birthing classes and doctor's appointments when Troy was away. In a town that neither of them knew very well, it had been a Godsend to have familiar people around who could give them a heads up on what was what and although it wasn't like at home, it still made things easier – apart from when he's sitting in a bar with said friend and forced to listen to his not very compassionate views on his problems.

"It's just...she's driving me insane!" Troy yelled as he turned to his teammate. "Where have you been Troy, why have you been out so late, Troy...?"

"Troy, dude – she's hormonal and stressed and..."

"And nothing I do is right – I swear we went out to dinner last night and after she made this sarcastic comment about me being late she spent the rest of the meal glaring at me because the waitress dared to speak to me."

"Troy – I'm sure your whole family warned you about the dangers of playing house too early so why the hell are you whining about it now? You know how it goes – they get a ring on you and you're supposed to be a saint. I mean, technically you have an out because you're still free and there are hundreds of hot chicks out there but with you spawning..." Isaac stopped when he saw Troy's irritated expression. "What?"

Troy took a deep breath as he looked at his friend. "You tell me," Troy said, his voice not disguising his annoyance. "What part of me complaining about my future mother in law equates to 'please Isaac, insult my relationship, my fiancée and my unborn child'? Because, I gotta say, I'm not getting it."

"I thought you were pissed off with Gabriella!"

"Why on earth would I be pissed off with Gabriella? Honestly – why the hell is that so hard for anyone to grasp, especially as I very clearly stated it was her mom I was pissed at."

"You've been avoiding home for three days. You can't expect me to read between the lines while I'm drinking," Isaac said with a roll of the eyes, letting Troy know how obvious it was.

"I'm not avoiding Gabriella, I'm avoiding arguing with her mom because arguments really stress Gabi out and that is the last thing she needs especially as she refuses to go see the fucking doctor more often," Troy explained as he glared at his drink. "You have no idea how hard it is to listen to her trying to convince Gabriella that I'm just like her father and looking for an easy way out without snapping. I don't even get it – we used to get along really well and it was all brownies and her pretending she didn't see me climbing in Gabriella's room every other night, and now it's just 'Troy, is it hard to resist the girls throwing themselves at you?' or 'Troy, does it irritate you that Gabriella isn't a girl who will raise your profile' and she does all that with Gabriella sitting right there!" Troy dropped his head to the bar, thinking of some of the things she had said. It was just so random as well and it was so hard for him to watch Gabriella flinch and have to listen to them. "I just...I wish she would just chill out. She used to be so cool and now she's like the mother-in-law from hell. I always thought the whole mother-in-law thing was a myth but it's true. She's not going to be happy until I prove her right and as I have no intention of proving her right this is going to be my existence for the next thirty to fifty years until she's dead or I've been locked up in a psychiatric ward."

They sat in silence for a moment before Isaac started to speak. "So let me get this straight? Your future mother in law is being a bitch and trying to act like you're just going to ditch Gabriella at the first sign of trouble, so to combat that you're...ditching Gabriella at the first sign of trouble to go sit in a bar?"

Troy's eyes narrowed in confusion. That wasn't what he was doing – he was just taking a few hours off. "That's not what I'm doing. I love Gabriella."

Isaac laughed and shook his head as he took a drink. "Sure it's not."

"It's not!"

"You're going away for the best part of a week in a couple of days, so today you were at training then went to the bar despite the fact that you, I and the rest of the team knows that Friday is the one night of the week that you're expected to take care of dinner by buying whatever foodstuff Gabriella is craving on that particular day." Troy flinched and looked down at his phone and remembered the lunchtime text she had sent requesting Chinese food and meringues for dinner. Before he had an opportunity to feel worse, Isaac continued. "Yesterday you were at training then stayed late to work in the gym before meeting then for a late dinner. The day before you had training and an interview...you've barely been home in three days, which is amazing considering how psyched you were on Tuesday at the prospect of having so much time at home this week."

Troy's mouth dropped as he tried to work out why that wasn't true, but he found he couldn't. Immediately he started to panic – he had only wanted to avoid the awkwardness between himself and Isabella Montez and he thought the easiest way to do that would be to limit the time he was there so she and her mom could somehow bond. He had no intention of spending as much time away from home or leaving Gabriella alone for so long. He felt guilt rise up on him – how could he have been so selfish? He had a thicker skin than Gabriella and he knew that she felt vulnerable sometimes and he had basically confirmed her mother's opinion of him for three days. "Shit."

"Uh-huh," his teammate said with a smirk as he nodded his head. "Kinda what I was thinking. Seriously – rookies are always dense, but you are usually quicker than most on the uptake."

"She'll understand," Troy said more to himself as he pulled out his wallet and slapped some money on the bar. "It'll be fine."

"Sure it will," Isaac said with a smirk. "Incidentally – every guy hates their girl's mom. It took me a year before I could stand to be in the same room as Lisa's mom without wanting to throw things at her. You just have to be a man and suck it up. It'll piss her off more if you just smile and ignore her. Trust me."

Troy didn't even answer as he stood up. "I gotta go – I'll catch you at the stadium tomorrow. Thanks for the drink!"

With that he dodged round people and headed straight for the door.

* * *

Troy made it home a little less than forty minutes clutching a box of take away food, flowers and the only meringues he could find on his way home. He knew it was probably too late for bribery, but he wasn't above attempting to soften her up. When he got in the house he had expected to find his extremely pissed off fiancée reading, or watching a movie with her mom as she glared daggers at him but instead all that was there was Isabella sitting on the sofa watching the news.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," he said by way of apology as he walked over and placed the food on the dining table. "Where's Gabriella?"

"She was tired and went to bed," she said without looking at him, her voice rough like she had been crying. "I think she had a bad day at work – she came home and she was just covered in paint and apparently the boy just destroyed everything and his parents weren't even attempting to calm him down..."

If anything, Troy felt like an even bigger jackass at not getting home earlier. "Is she okay?"

Isabella looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "If you were home earlier then you would know that, wouldn't you?"

"I was at a bar," he said in way of an explanation, before realising that wasn't going to make things any better. "With a teammate, not anyone else..."

"As my daughter informs me, what you do or who you see isn't any of my business," she said without shifting her gaze and Troy suddenly wondered what had actually happened between the two women earlier. He knew that it was extremely unlikely that Gabriella would go to bed that early on a Friday when her mom was in the house so if she had that had to have meant that they had fallen out. He sighed as he looked down – maybe this was what he needed to do. Just somehow clear the air and get everything out in the open and somehow salvage something from this trip. He wasn't an idiot, he knew how much Gabriella wanted her mom involved and he knew how much it hurt her that she wasn't so if he could do anything to make that better for her, then he had to try.

"No, it's not any of your business," he confirmed as he walked over to the couch she was sitting on and sat at the opposite end. "But you're allowed to be pissed off at me for tonight."

"I think Gabriella is probably mad enough for the both of us," her mom said with a shrug as Troy flinched. "She didn't even care that you were out with God knows who while she was stuck at home, she was more angry that you let her know so late that the plans had changed for the night. I will never understand her priorities."

He almost smiled – that sounded like Gabriella. "She knows that even if I go out without her, which I usually never do incidentally, that she can trust me. She knows that I have no interest in anyone else."

The scoff was badly hidden and Troy could only groan in exasperation as he reached over and turned the TV off with the remote. "Isabella, I am not going to cheat or leave your daughter."

"You haven't exactly been Mr Reliable the past three days, Troy," she stated coolly and Troy could only nod in acceptance of that fact. He had screwed up. "You know I like you, but you can't expect me just to sit here and wa..."

"I'm not asking you to watch anything!" He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. "I haven't been home much because I come in and Gabriella and I both get interrogated by you and it's extremely difficult for me not to call you out on your selfish, twisted way of looking at things because I'm marrying your daughter and I'm going to have to deal with seeing you for the next few decades and if I tell you what I really think of the way you've been acting it might make things extremely awkward."

There was a cool silence between them and Troy knew he should feel bad for yelling at Gabriella's mom, but he had to try and make her understand.

"Selfish, huh?" Isabella asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Anyone who calls up their pregnant daughter who is having a stressful pregnancy in order to vent about events that happened 23 years ago is selfish," he muttered. "Sorry, but it's true."

"So, because you don't want to deal with me, you abandoned Gabriella?"

"I didn't abandon her," he forced out through gritted teeth.

"Okay," she sighed disbelievingly and Troy couldn't help but sense that he was being dismissed in his own home.

"No, not 'okay', Isabella. Let me make it 100% clear. I love Gabriella. I am marrying Gabriella and nothing comes before her. I was an idiot to stay away as much as I did these three days, but the only person I was avoiding was you," he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He wanted to make things right but it was like barging his head off a brick wall. "I don't care what you think of me, but I'm sick of you trying to convince her that I'm like your ex-husband, okay? I just..." he paused and ran a hand through his hair. "I just don't get it. We always got along and now...I don't understand."

She looked down before she turned to him, a sad smile on her face as she shrugged. "I don't understand either. I...in my head I know you wouldn't do that to her, but I can't forget and I want so badly to prepare her just in case and...and I know I'm difficult, and it upsets you both but...I just...I can't seem to stop thinking it because it hurt me when it happened to me, but it would kill her if you did it. Do...do you understand?"

"Honestly? No," he sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I just...I just need you to give us both a break, okay? If I mess up you can hunt me down, but I swear to you that I am not running out on her or our baby. I'm not going anywhere so just...accept that, okay?"

"I don't like being like this, Troy," she said as she turned away from him. "You think it doesn't hurt that my daughter refuses to talk about her pregnancy with me? Or that it doesn't kill me to know that I'm upsetting her? She basically told me to leave tonight and that I'm making her miserable..."

"I'm..." he was going to say he was sorry, but he couldn't bring himself to lie. He wasn't sorry if having her mom here made her miserable. "I'm sure you guys can work everything out. She loves you."

"I know," Isabella said with a smile. "No matter what either of you think, having her was the best thing that ever happened to me. You two will find out yourselves though, it's hard watching your baby grow up and grow on from you. All you want to do is hold them tight and keep them safe from everything that could hurt them."

"I'm not going to hurt her though," he promised as he looked at her. "You know that."

She sighed and leant back and just looked at him. "If you do you realise that I would kill you, don't you? I meant what I said – it would destroy her."

"It would destroy me," he said and looked towards the room and smiled softly. "She really wants you to be involved, you know. She wants it more than anything."

"We'll see," she smiled sadly as she looked down. "I need to do some damage control tomorrow. Making my pregnant, exhausted daughter cry is not one of my proudest moments it has to be said but...she always did forgive too easily."

"She was crying?" he asked as he stood. "Was she okay?"

She nodded and laughed softly. "She was never particularly good at expressing her anger with people and it seems to have gotten even worse with the hormones flying around."

"I wish she would just throw something instead of getting so upset," he muttered as he headed towards the door. "Listen, there's Chinese food there – help yourself."

Before he could disappear into the room he heard her call after him. "Troy? I'm sorry. I'm going to try and stop, but you have to understand...it's hard for me not to worry so if I slip, just ignore me – its issues that are 23 years in the making, nothing to do with you."

"I'll try and remember that," he smiled as he looked at her. "I'll talk to Gabi."

"Don't bother – I think...I think I should probably try and rebuild that bridge myself."

* * *

He went in the bedroom to find Gabriella lying asleep on top of the bed and carefully climbed on beside her, stroking her hair softly as she murmured something before she edged over towards him, her head landing on his chest as he watched her eyes flutter open before closing them again and rolling off him.

"Hey baby," he whispered as she budged back from him. "Sorry I'm la..."

"This is early for you this week," she said as she turned away. "You suck."

He flinched at the tone she used and sighed. He had been such an idiot. "I know. I'm sorry but I promise I'll make it up to you." He scooted closer to her and put his hand on her back, massaging it gently, smiling when he heard her sigh of pleasure. "I just didn't want to argue with your mom but I know I should have come home earlier. I'm sorry."

"We're not speaking to you," she murmured even as she reached around and grabbed his hand and wrapped it around her. "Because you suck and didn't bring us dinner or dessert and didn't even have the decency to let us know in time. Not only that, you left us alone to go cower from my mom instead of coming home and making me feel better after a horrible day at work so instead I came home from a horrible day at work to a horrible night at home where we ate cold pasta and I almost kicked my mom out of the house."

"I heard. I thought I told you not to let her bother you."

"I wasn't going to let her keep talking like that about you, even if you are a jackass who forgets dinner plans."

He budged closer and put his head on her shoulder, kissing her jaw softly. "I'm really, really sorry, Gabi. Tell me how to make it up to you."

"You can't," she said with a sigh. "We're really, really mad at you."

He couldn't help but smile at the tone of her voice that was more drowsy than annoyed. He knew she wasn't really, really mad at him but they both knew that it would take at least a little bit of grovelling before she forgave him.

"What if I promise that I'm all yours tomorrow? I spoke to your mom and I think we've cleared things up as well. Doesn't that make you a little less mad at me?"

She opened her eyes at this and turned around to look at him, her lips twitching in a small smile. "Maybe – it depends on what happened and whether it was more useful than my conversation with her earlier."

"We...reached an understanding," he hinted. He could see that she wasn't satisfied with that and elaborated further. "I explained to her how she had to stop acting the way she was and that I was nothing like your father. She said that deep down she knows that but that she can't help it," he sighed and wrapped his hand in her hair as he leant closer. "I told her that I didn't want to yell at her because we were getting married and we're all going to be seeing a lot of each other for the rest of our lives but that she had to stop, because it kills me to see you upset and I know that the way she's acting is damaging your relationship with her."

"What did she say?"

"She said she understood, and she was going to try and stop but..." he smiled as he looked at her. "But if I ever hurt you she would hunt me down and kill me."

Her eyes were wide as she looked almost dumbstruck that he had finally done it, and for a moment he worried that he had said too much until her face spread into a warm smile and she wrapped her arms around him. "And here was me thinking I was going to have to tell our son that daddy was a coward who was scared of his grandma."

He rolled his eyes as she pulled back. "Daddy is a coward who is scared of his grandma, but...not enough to spend any more time away from his beautiful, sexy, always forgiving fiancée," he said as he stroked her warm cheek.

"Sweet talking isn't going to cut it, Bolton," she said with a smirk.

"What if I bought Chinese food and meringues home with me?"

"Thank you," she said with a small smile. "My head kinda hurts too much to get up to go eat," she smiled softly as she looked at him, cupping his face as he frowned at the idea of her being in pain. Her refusal to use pain-killers during her pregnancy was something the pair of them frequently disagreed on and he was just about to voice it again when she continued. "Maybe in a little while we could eat."

"Fine. I got you flowers as well..."

She giggled softly. "Food _and_ flowers? You are such a suck up."

"Is it working?" he asked as he leant down and kissed her forehead. "I could give you a massage..."

The smile that came to her face told him he had got a winner and he grinned as he pulled her closer. "Mmmm, that sounds really good..."

"And I will deal with breakfast and dinner all weekend, and the following weekend when I get back," he murmured as he nuzzled close. "And I will take you out to see a film and won't make faces when you ask them to put salsa on your popcorn..."

She leant up and kissed his chin before she snuggled closer. "I guess, maybe, I can forgive you then..."

"Good," he responded as he closed his eyes with a smile. "It won't happen again."

"Yeah it will," she said as she pressed a kiss to his chest and closed her eyes. "But don't worry because I'll forgive you then as well."

* * *

Gabriella awoke to the sun streaming through the window and found that she was dressed in her pyjamas and a blanket was placed over the top of her. She smiled as she padded out of bed and headed towards the kitchen where she figured Troy would be. Her head felt so much better and she was looking forward to having a better day today than she had yesterday.

As she walked through the house though she couldn't see any sign of her fiancé and she frowned.

"Troy?"

"He went out – said something about croissants, smoothies and something about grovelling with breakfast." Gabriella lifted her head to see her mom standing by the coffee maker with a sheepish smile. "I got the impression that he was attempting to make up for missing dinner last night."

"Umm, yeah," Gabriella said with a smile, trying to mask her surprise that her mom was acting well...normal. "We've lived together for four years; trust me – that was not the first Friday dinner he missed so he tends to make up for it with breakfast."

"I just assumed you had forgiven him, since he wasn't sleeping on the sofa."

She giggled and looked down, thinking how ridiculous that suggestion was. In all the time they had stayed together, they hadn't shared a bed twice – and that was because Gabriella had caught the flu and refused to sleep in their bedroom in case she passed it to him prior to him playing in the playoffs in their junior year. "I did forgive him. He missed dinner, he didn't shoot someone. He just likes to make up for it and I kinda enjoy it when he goes on pampering mode. It's just been so crazy sometimes since we moved here that we don't get to spend as much time as we would like to just be us without having to keep an eye on the clock. I mean with getting the house fixed up, and training, travelling and my new job and doctor's appointments it just seems like sometimes everything is on fast forward and we haven't had time to sit down and enjoy it yet so, when we can...it's something we embrace."

"And normal is him buying breakfast after forgetting dinner?"

Gabriella giggled as she nodded and sat down. "Very much so – I love him, but he is a guy and they tend to forget things so I tend to enjoy his efforts at apologising more than I would if he didn't forget." Gabriella suddenly realised what she had said and felt that she had to defend him in case her mom used that as some sort of evidence. "Not that he forgets anything major, or does it deliberately. He's very reliable, what I mean is..."

"Gabriella," her mom said slowly. "I understand."

"No, no you don't. He's...he's perfect for me so I don't mind when he forgets things. I was just angry last night because I had such a bad day, and I was too tired to cook and too stubborn to call in and you and I were fighting and..."

"Gabriella," Isabella said a little more loudly as she stepped closer to her daughter. "I understand. I...I guess I can't blame you for being defensive, I have behaved...I am so embarrassed at the way I've been treating you both. I'm staying in your home and I've made the pair of you miserable and...I can't tell you how bad I feel about that."

Gabriella opened her mouth to refute her mother's statement but she was never a very good liar so she could only nod slowly.

"When you said what you said last night, it kinda hit home what I had been doing and I swear it didn't seem like I was being as bad as I was clearly being – I thought I was looking after you. Then when you left I was thinking and then Troy came home and...and we talked and he basically called me out," she laughed softly as she looked down. "He was right, I was being selfish and neither of you deserved it. I was putting all my...deep rooted issues onto you in some misplaced idea that I was looking after you. I'm sorry, baby."

Gabriella could only look at her mom in shock. Did she really hear what she thought she heard?

"I can't promise I'm not going to be a nuisance and occasionally slip up, but I promise that I'm going to try very hard to make it up to both of you. You won't have to screen my calls, or leave the room, or avoid coming home, or...or call up Lucille to ask if it's normal to burst into tears in the mall."

Gabriella blushed as she looked down at the mention of the things she had done. She hadn't realised that her mom knew she was calling up Lucille for advice instead of her.

"I'm not angry that you called Troy's mom instead of me," she continued softly. "I understand it but I don't want for you to feel like she's the only one who understands. I...I want to be here for you, for you both and I understand that I've been pushing you away and I hate that so...I want to make things right because you'll always be my little girl, and I want more than anything to share this with you and make it easier, not harder."

Gabriella felt the tears streaming down her face and she nodded as she kept her gaze down. It was almost too much to hope for, but she was an optimist by nature and she wanted to believe her mom more than anything.

"Baby," Isabella said as she wrapped her arms around her and smiled. "I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"Y...yes, of course, yes," she sniffed as she hugged back. "Thank you."

Isabella pulled back and wiped her own eyes as she leant back and laughed. "I remember when I was pregnant with you I cried every single day. I would go to the store and burst into tears if there was a dress I couldn't fit in or shoes that were too high to wear..."

Gabriella laughed as she nodded. "It's so annoying. Troy says he would prefer it if my hormones made me angry instead of sad."

"Ah see, I was a monster when I was pregnant – when I wasn't crying I was breaking things and yelling obscenities at your grandparents and aunt," her mom smiled as she shook her head. "He's a man, he hates seeing you cry but trust me, he would be grateful that this is what he's got as opposed to you being a time-bomb waiting to explode at him."

Gabriella nodded and sighed happily as she thought about how this was the first proper conversation about her pregnancy that she had with her mom. As much as she loved being able to talk to Lucille, or Sarah or one of the other women who knew what it was like to have a baby, she had always wanted to be able to do it with her mom.

"He's crazy about you," her mom offered as she poured Gabriella a glass of juice. "It's...it's good to see."

"Yeah, he is," she smiled as she took a drink of the juice just as the front door opened to reveal Troy standing holding bags, trying to balance a tray of smoothies as he held his keys in his mouth and she burst out laughing. "Although sometimes I think he's just crazy..."

With that she stood and walked over, saving the tray of drinks and plucking the keys out of his mouth with her free hand as he shot her a sheepish look and leant down to kiss her cheek in greeting. Neither of them noticed Isabella leaning back and looking at them with a smile on her face as they interacted. It would take a while for her to lose her apprehension about their future – probably until after Gabriella had the baby, but just watching them, and hearing them talk about each other made it obvious that nothing short of catastrophic would cause history to repeat itself with her daughter. And for that, she supposed she could learn to keep her fears to herself. She owed her daughter that, and she owed the guy who made her daughter so happy that as well. Her grandson was going to be a lucky kid - probably more spoiled than any child should be, but extremely lucky and she couldn't help but wish that Gabriella could have been that lucky when she was growing up but she was glad to see that the past didn't really matter. It had all worked out for the best, and she was pretty confident that her daughter wouldn't have changed anything in her life that got her to this point and, for the first time in twenty-three years, Isabella realised that she probably wouldn't have changed anything either.


	4. Baby, I'm Yours

Disclaimer – They aren't mine – I just like to take them out to play sometimes.

Author's Note – I just want to thank you guys for reviewing this and adding it to your favourites and alerts. I am so glad you all are enjoying it. This is almost a half chapter because it kinda falls between my normal timeline but I needed something like this to break up the last chapter and the next one so I hope you all like it anyway. Let me know what you think.

* * *

The stillness in the room was almost a forgotten treat and Gabriella couldn't help but grin as she looked around and saw everything look the way she wanted it to before she reached over and turned the stereo on, letting a soothing song come through the speakers. It was barely 5 o'clock in the afternoon so outside she could still hear voices and cars but she didn't mind because at this moment, all she was concentrated on was the music coming out of the stereo as she began swaying softly whilst she looked in the mirror and played with her hair, trying to decide what style she wanted it in for the night, content in the knowledge that the meal she was preparing was almost ready.

Deciding to just tie her hair in a high bun with some strategic strands layering her face, she began humming along with the track before as she danced away when she had fixed it the way she wanted before she headed towards the dining table that she had set when she had arrived home from work earlier that afternoon.

It had been a great day in every sense of the word. She had woke up that morning, and for the first day in her entire pregnancy she hadn't felt sick, or dizzy, or exhausted and her day had continued in similar good fortune as the weather remained unseasonably mild for the middle of January which meant she was able to eat her lunch outside instead of in the dingy cafeteria, and, due to a chickenpox outbreak at the local schools, her last two appointments had cancelled which had allowed her to finish work more than two hours earlier than she should have done on any other Thursday. Her day had been almost perfect, so she took the fact that she was getting home at 2pm as a sign that she should make the most of her good day. So, after soaking in the tub for nearly an hour, she had went to work preparing the perfect night for her soon to be arriving fiancé who would be due home from practice at any moment.

She began singing softly as she swayed gently with the music as she tried to estimate his rough time of arrival. He had finished about forty minutes previously, but he had called her on the way home to say he had stopped at the grocery store which meant he would be a few minutes later than normal. She didn't mind, especially as he had told her that the store had a new flavour of ice-cream in and that he promised to pick up a carton for her. That was one of the things that she loved about him – his innate knowledge of the little things meant everything to her. He understood that pregnant or not, that there was no such thing as having 'too much' ice-cream in the house and although that particular quirk had baffled everyone else who knew her, he found it endearing and endeavoured to provide her with it on a regular basis. The fact that he did that baffled both of their mothers' and Taylor, as they all knew that he would constantly forget to buy milk, yet he could remember that he would need to buy a new carton of ice-cream every week, and two if it was Idol week and someone she liked was going to go out. It was just one of their things, the little intricacies that made them, them. He would always bring home ice-cream, and in return she would always keep him supplied with enough sugary cereals that he could have ten bowls while she was out and there would still be enough there for another bowl.

Tonight though? Tonight was not a lucky charm or ice cream night – well, not to begin with anyway. She would never predict how one of their nights would progress, but the plan definitely edged more towards the fancy than their everyday norm. She smoothed down the table-cover and glanced at the clock, knowing he would be home soon.

She rubbed her abdomen softly and smiled. It had been a hectic couple of weeks with first her mom visiting and then Troy being away, but now that they were on their own again she was determined that for one day they were just going to be Troy and Gabriella – not expectant parents, not the NBA rookie and the Education Therapist, just them because, as much as she was looking forward to being a mom, she just kinda wanted one night where that didn't count for anything. They had spent so long preparing their home, and settling in at work, and trying to build friendships and relationships in a new town that sometimes she worried that Troy had been pushed to the background and although they were better than great, she had always been a person to highlight a potential problem ahead of time, and she was going to be doubly cautious about avoiding anything that could potentially be damaging to her family.

Of course, good intentions aside, it wasn't going to be easy to forget everything apart from them. Their home screamed out about the event that was going to happen in ten weeks, and Gabriella, for all her good intentions, couldn't exactly pass as anything other than an extremely pregnant woman, but it didn't matter. She was wearing a dressy but baggy shirt dress that at the very least hung loose enough to disguise her bump slightly, but still allowed her to show her legs that she somewhat shallowly knew that Troy loved more than just about any other part of her body, even if he was too much of a gentleman for the most part to admit that out loud. She grinned slightly at the thought and it was for that fact that she was quietly confident that he would appreciate her efforts tonight because even though she wasn't going to stop traffic, she looked good. She looked like a 22 year old woman about to go on a date with her handsome 22 year old fiancé which is what she was aiming for. Deep down she knew that he didn't really care what she dressed like and he wasn't a fan of her feeling like she had to dress up for him, but she couldn't help it. She was a woman and she wanted to know that when she made the effort that she could still knock his socks off the same way that he frequently knocked hers off.

She began singing along with the track on the stereo and didn't hear the door open until he spoke. "Babe, this ice-cream is apparently a limited thing so if you are going to be craving it then we should probably stock...whoa."

She stopped singing and spun around to see him standing there with an open mouth as his gaze travelled up and down her figure and she couldn't help the smile form on her face at his perusal. She used to be shy when he looked at her like that, but he had done it so often since they were dating that now she couldn't help but get a thrill out of it, even moreso now than ever before.

"Holy crap, Gabi – you look..."

"Yes?" she giggled as she put a hand on her hip and waited for his gaze to lift back to her face. "What's wrong, Wildcat?"

She saw a faint blush cover his face as his breathing hitched and he met her eyes. "What's the occasion? Our anniversary isn't until Tuesday..."

Gabriella shrugged and bit her lip before walking over to him and taking the grocery bag off him and sitting it on the counter with a smile as she laced his hand with hers and looked up at him. "No occasion. I just love you, and I wanted to look pretty for you."

"Gabi, you always look so much more than pretty," he murmured as he leant down and tried to kiss her, only for her to put a hand to his lips.

"I just want this night to be ours," she whispered as she reached up and pressed her lips to his softly before pulling back again. "Just us – no jobs, no baby talk, no parents. I feel like you've been neglected," she softly said as she dragged her lips down his throat and pressed a soft kiss into the underside of his throat. "So I want you to have an amazing night. I think we both deserve a night where the only thing we think about is each other with no phones, no computers, no one else but us..."

"God I love the sound of that," he said as he ran his hand down her side until he came to the bottom of her dress and rested his hand on her bare thigh. "You look amazing tonight."

She couldn't help but grin as she stroked his face. "I'm glad you like. I was going to wear heels," she blushed slightly before looking down at her bare feet that, even though she didn't want to admit it to anyone, were too swollen to fit in any sort of heel before glancing up at him. "But I figure I'll let you be creative if you want me to get taller..."

He grinned at her as he leant down and brought his lips to hers, his hand finding the back of her head and massaging it gently as he sucked on her lower lip gently before pulling back. "I think I can deal with this height difference..."

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle as she looked at him as he seemed to be having difficulty in knowing what to do with her first. As much as it was appealing to see him so dazed by her, that really wasn't her sole intention for the evening so she pulled back and gave his hand a small squeeze. "I made dinner, and I bought in movies so you, Mr Bolton, just have to sit back, let me cater to your every need and enjoy..."

He shook his head as he stepped in towards her again and mumbled as he leant into her neck and began placing kisses along it. "I should be waiting on you. You're the one who's pregnant..."

She tilted her head back and tried to remember that she had to be the one to keep their focus, because he could be very, very persuasive when he was in this sort of mood. "No...no pregnancy talk tonight..."

"Fine," he said as he began nibbling one spot. "You've been working all day...you should let me look after you..." she couldn't stop the soft moan escaping her throat at his ministrations which caused him to growl slightly in response. "Damn, you are so beautiful..."

"Troy," she breathed as she felt her breathing catch as his grip around her tightened. "Troy, baby...we have to stop. I made...made dinner...and...I thought we could go for a walk after, since it's such a nice night and we haven't really been alone in a while..."

"We can be alone here..." he tried to reason, even as his hands loosened slightly on her body. "I don't mind..."

"Baby," she sighed as her eyes fluttered open. "If you keep doing that I'm going to forget everything and...and I want...us to have a nice...dinner first..."

He stilled for a moment before he reluctantly pulled back and gave her a sheepish smile. "You're right – we should definitely eat and...and everything else can wait a while longer. It smells amazing."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile giddily that he liked the idea. "You sure? I was going to make reservations but I figured people might just interrupt so I thought, here it would just be us and we could go out another night..."

"This is perfect. I would rather spend my night here," he said as he brought his hand up to stroke her cheek before letting stroke down her neck to the front of her throat, his eyes still hazy as he looked at her. "You look...I don't think I could share you tonight anyway..." before pulling back abruptly and looking at her before looking down at himself. "Wait, how long before dinner?"

She blinked at his change in mood and shook her head. "Um...I don't know, fifteen minutes?"

He smiled and nodded before pressing his lips to her cheek and backing off. "Perfect – listen, if you can hold it off for twenty, twenty-five that would be amazing, okay? I will be back way before anything gets burnt, I promise."

Before she got a chance at replying he pressed another kiss to her knuckles before running towards their room. She barely got an opportunity at working out what was going on when he was rushing out of it and heading out the door with a called 'I love you' echoing after him.

She couldn't help but laugh as she turned around and adjusted the heat on the stove, shaking her head as she began moving along with the music again. He was a little strange, but that's why she loved him.

* * *

When Troy Bolton had returned from training that night he hadn't expected to come home to find his fiancée looking like a million dollars while he looked like something you would pick up at the discount aisle of Wal-Mart due to arriving home wearing shorts and a shirt with his hair pointing every which way and a backpack in one hand and a carton of ice-cream in the other. She was always breathtaking, but he wasn't sure if it was the dress, or the vibe she was giving off, his own eagerness at having her to himself again after almost two weeks of first being in the company of her erratically mooded mother, then being separated while he was away only to come back late one night when she had an early rise for work, followed by a promised dinner for Isaac's girlfriend's birthday, a two hour phone call from his mom and rounded off by him having two games that prevented them from getting home until late or some other reason, but all he knew is that she could probably have guys begging on their knees tonight if she wanted to, and he would have definitely been at the front of that queue if it weren't for the fact that he knew that he was the only guy she wanted anyway. Just looking at her always reminded him about how grateful he was that his mother had forced him to go to that kid's party when he was sixteen.

Troy looked at his watch as he stopped his car and noted that it had only been six minutes since he left the house and couldn't help but grin at the fact that he was making such good time. He hadn't knocked her socks off the first time he went home, but he liked to think that he could at least impress her a little second time around because even though deep down he just wanted to lock all the doors, disconnect all the phones and emerge the following day, a larger part of him wanted to make this an amazing night for her, for them. She was right – they did deserve it, and although he wouldn't agree with her that he had been neglected, he would be the first to admit that the thought of just spending time with her with no outside worries, or anything else contributing was like his idea of bliss. Besides, as she had gone to all the effort of cooking and dressing up after she had had a long day at work, the least he could do is refrain from ravaging her until the night was over.

He grabbed a bag from the passenger seat and ran out his car without locking it and headed to the familiar shop and grinned at the owner as he quickly perused the store before he grabbed a bunch of flowers.

"Let me guess – you forgot dinner again?" the man said as he took the flowers from Troy with a chuckle.

Troy laughed and shook his head no. One of the benefits of the location of their house had been that there were a few stores only a few minutes away and Gabriella's love of flowers had seen her become a frequent buyer at the local florists as she often called in on her way home from work, or at the weekends and Troy, by default, had become a constant visitor as well which meant that the elderly owners had come to know the young couple well in the few months that they had been in the town.

"I have a hot date with a beautiful woman," Troy grinned as he paid for his purchase.

"With your fiancée I hope," John said with a wink, showing that he was only joking.

"You know it," Troy said as he looked around. "When are you guys getting the white roses back in?"

"We're looking into it," John said with a shrug. "You know the wife prefers to grow her own stock instead of buying in. It's how we keep in business what with internet florists offering everything you can think of. The flower shop downtown will have them if you're desperate or else we can order you some in."

"It's just I really need them for next week but Gabriella would kill me if I got flowers elsewhere," Troy said as he drummed his hands against the counter. "She would totally know if I cheated as well."

"She's a loyal girl."

"To a fault sometimes," Troy said with a nod as he took a quick glance around to see if there was anything else he needed.

"Is that how she's stuck with you?"

Troy laughed. "It must be. Anyway, if you can get me some that would be amazing. I am totally willing to pay extra, if you can just remember to ca..."

"To call you and keep them in the back so Gabriella can't see them," John laughed as he nodded. "Will do. Anything else I can do for you?"

Troy had a look around before biting his lip. Needs must and he was confident enough that his frequent custom, and their love of Gabriella would ensure that he wasn't teased mercilessly for this in the future. "Um, one more thing? Can I use your bathroom? I swear I will be five minutes, max."

The old man gave him a funny look before nodding cautiously and pointing towards the back of the shop, which was the only invitation that Troy needed as he belted through the shop and headed to the bathroom. Two minutes later he walked out; clothed in dress pants and a navy shirt with his hair slicked back and John looked at him in surprise.

"I'm not even going to ask why you got changed here and not at home or what the press will say if they see you coming out in different clothes," he shook his head to silence Troy who was about to explain about his attempt at surprising Gabriella. "You two have a good night, okay?"

Troy grinned as he took the flowers in one hand and bid goodbye with the other. "I intend to. See you guys next week."

* * *

Troy arrived back at his house nineteen minutes after he left and took a deep breath as he quickly fixed his hair before exiting the car. He knew that she didn't particularly care what he looked like, and would have quite happily had dinner with him while he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but she wasn't the only one who wanted to make an effort. It wasn't like they were chained to home – they went out quite a lot to dinner or to the cinema, but she was right, everything seemed to focus on the fact that he was slightly famous and they could be in the middle of a conversation and invariably someone would come up and talk to them. He didn't really mind, but it did make having a romantic date somewhat difficult when someone would jump right in and break the mood so he couldn't help but be a little giddy at the prospect of just having a night to themselves at long last.

He went to the door and knocked it loudly and he could still hear her singing from the other side and the grin widened on his face as he heard her footsteps come over to the door. She opened it with a confused smile before he held out the flowers he had just purchased and grinned at her which caused her smile to widen as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "You didn't have to..."

"I wanted to."

"They are beautiful, thank you," she smiled as she bounced up and kissed his cheek as she grabbed his hand. "And you look very handsome."

"Well, I figured you looked so amazing...I wanted to look right."

"Like you have to worry about that," she said as she leant into his arm, sniffing the flowers happily. "Do I even wanna know where you got changed?"

"Maybe I got changed in the car," he teased as he pulled her towards him and leant down and nuzzled her ear. "Maybe I wanted to give the paparazzi a thrill..."

"Mmmm," she said as she leant into his embrace. "I look forward to seeing pictures then..."

"Baby, you don't need pictures," he whispered as he pressed his lips to her ear. "I can demonstrate _any_time..."

They stood for a second before they both burst out laughing as she turned around in his embrace, the laughter staining her cheeks pink. "We don't do sexy talk very convincingly, do we?"

"I don't even know why," he whined. "I find you sexy as hell..."

"Likewise..."

"And I like to think that our actions prove that..."

She nodded as she stroked his chest through his shirt.

"Yet I just can't verbalise it so that it comes out in my head. In my head I sound much more James Bond..."

She grinned up at him. "And I have an internal Angelina Jolie dying to get out."

"Exactly – it doesn't make sense. I suppose I can live with our deficiencies in that department since we more than make up for it in the other's that count..." he mumbled as he pulled her closer and brought his lips down to hers.

"I think it's your natural chivalry and my natural shyness," she said as she kissed him softly. "It doesn't lead to a conducive environment for dirty talk."

He smirked against her lips. Only she would throw words like chivalry and conducive into a conversation about sex. "You mean we're too innocent to make it work?"

He was teasing her, and he knew she knew it but still.

"I'm not sure I would ever use innocent in a sentence regarding us in that manner," she whispered. "You're just sexy in a gentlemanly kinda way..."

"Is that a bad thing?"

She shook her head and kissed him again. "Personally, I love it. You know I wouldn't change you for any James Bond type guy."

"Good," he muttered as he brought his hand down her body. "Although I am determined to prove that we can pull it off eventually..."

She pulled back and he saw her eyes twinkle with mischief. He had seen that look many, many times in the past – sometimes it had ended up with him agreeing to sing in a show, or take her to Disneyland, or ended with him agreeing to do something he didn't want to do, like studying instead of making out, or spending an afternoon in the library, or calling his parents, due to the promise that that look had for later. Good things always happened when she looked at him like that. "Maybe we just need to get into character a little more often?"

His eyes widened and he felt his stomach flip. He hadn't expected her to take the conversation in that direction, and although he was never going to complain, he was going to need a second to get his brain functioning again as he tried to remind himself that they were going to have a nice dinner, a nice night and he had to prevent his mind wandering down any diverging paths. "You should be aware that I am totally willing to put my theatre skills to use any time you feel like it. It'll be like that night in freshmen year...only...you know...more 'informed'..."

"We have acquired a lot of...knowledge...since then..." she giggled and leant up to kiss him before a timer went off causing her to pull back from him, much to his frustration. "Sorry, Wildcat – but dinner's ready..."

He reached over and took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it as she led him over to the table. "We will be continuing that conversation later, you know. You cannot throw that suggestion out there and expect me to forget it."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

Troy sat back on the sofa with Gabriella's head resting on his lap looking up at him while he held one of her hands with his.

"Hawaii," he stated with a nod. "I mean it's going to be our honeymoon, so we need to go somewhere where there is a legitimate excuse for you to be scantily clad all the time..."

"Yeah, because I'm really going to fit into a bikini three months after our son is born, right?"

His brow furrowed as he looked down at her. "Babe, please tell me that you're not stressing about your body changing?"

"Not stressing, exactly..." she said before shrugging. "I'm a girl – we naturally stress about our bodies."

"You really, really don't have to," he murmured as he brought her hand to his lips. "I recognise that I'm slightly biased, but in my opinion you look amazing."

"You are biased, but I kinda like it," she smiled as she brought her free hand up to stroke his hair. "Okay, how about...Mexico?"

"Nah, last time we went there I got the impression people were making fun of my pathetic Spanish."

She began giggling madly at the memory of that particular spring break where he had, somewhat foolishly, tried to impress her by showing how much he had paid attention to her attempts at teaching him Spanish in the course of their relationship. Sadly, he had discovered that she had been giving him basic Spanish lessons and when he actually started to talk to native speakers he was lost about six words into the conversation and invariably ended up spouting some random phrase that had no relevance to the conversation. "It really wasn't as bad as you thought it was, you know."

"The guy asked us if we were together and I ended up by saying no and asking him if HE wanted to get a drink. I should have been kicking his ass for trying to pick you up instead of unknowingly making a pass at him myself."

Her laughter got louder as he blushed in response. That had been slightly awkward until she stepped in and although she wasn't planning on telling him what exactly he had done, he had known enough to pick up her explanation and the guys snickering to understand. "I thought it was cute that you were trying to fit in!"

"Never, ever, ever again," he said with a shake of his head. "You are so translating next time we need it. Anyway, enough reliving that – how about Europe? We could hit Paris or London..."

"That sounds amazing, but it's too far to go with a baby," she said as she let her eyes drift shut. "Vancouver?"

"Not exactly the standard honeymoon destination. I'd like a place that is memorable and where you have to wear fewer clothes instead of more..." he said as he stroked her wrist. "What about Hawaii...?"

She giggled tiredly and opened her eyes to look at him. "Your heart is set on Hawaii?"

"Just think – beautiful beaches, beautiful sunsets, beautiful wife, a private apartment..."

"Mmmm, you do make a convincing argument," she conceded. "I just don't know if it makes any sense to go on a honeymoon at that time. I mean the baby is going to be so small that I don't know if we'll even get much time alone..."

"But babe," he complained as he leant his head down and sighed. "I want to do it right and that means we have to have a honeymoon after the wedding..."

"We're already doing it backwards, Wildcat – traditionally the baby comes after the wedding so it doesn't really matter," her voice was teasing as she twisted her head slightly so she could kiss his arm.

He scowled as he shook his head. He wasn't that old fashioned and he didn't particularly care about the whole having a child out of wed-lock thing – he had been living with his girlfriend for three years and had been sleeping with her since High School so it was a little late in the day for him to be suddenly morally righteous, but he didn't like the implication that the baby preceded the wedding because, in his mind, they were supposed to have been married long before and although it didn't matter to him, he knew that some people would think that the baby was the reason they were getting married. "We were supposed to be married before now though, so that doesn't count."

She smiled and brought his head down for a kiss. "You know that and I know that but..."

"I really couldn't care less what anyone else thinks," he said seriously.

"Me neither," she said as she rubbed his arm. "Do you remember what our parents said about it?"

He groaned and leant his head back against the sofa, his hand finding her hair. "What was it my mom said? She'd rather we never got married than have people think that we only got married because we were having a baby which is why she wouldn't let us leave that day?"

"Yeah," she said as she leant in, laughing slightly. "It should be interesting if she ever meets my extended family who I'm sure are thinking of disowning me and cursing your name for corrupting me."

"I suppose that means there are less people to visit us then," he said as she laughed again and nodded against his torso. "Maybe we should piss off the rest of our relations and friends as well..."

"You are turning so anti-social since we came out here," she said as his hand slipped to her abdomen and began rubbing it. "Do you think because we're having a baby that we're getting old and boring?"

He paused and looked down at her. "We're not boring."

She giggled as she lifted her head, her eyes twinkling as she did so. "Troy – we just disconnected the outside world, and spent a night at home instead of going out."

"What's your point? 'Cause if you want to go out, I can take you out, Montez..."

She shook her head and brought her lips to his chest, knowing he was teasing her. "I am more than happy right here."

"Me too," he said as he brought his lips down to hers, but deliberately missed hers as he went to her cheek instead. "I just want it to be noted that I was willing to go out with you and you declined, so if anyone's boring..."

She gasped dramatically and sat up so she was looking at him. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, her hair mussed and more than a few buttons loosened on her dress as her skin glowed and a bright smile danced across her features unbidden – if she looked a million dollars earlier in the evening then she looked double that now. He couldn't put into words how happy seeing her look happy made him. She had been so pale, tired and worn in the last few weeks that it was almost painful for him to watch, but to see her look like her normal happy, healthy self was worth more than anything.

"I'm not boring – I'm just running on low energy reserves just now because your son takes after you and demands constant attention," she grinned as she looked at him. "You know what though, just because you said that I am going to make sure that we do lots of non-boring things together once the baby is born. We can go bungee jumping, and...and...I don't know, try extreme sports and football...and stuff like that."

"Football? Wrong sport, babe..."

"Basketball isn't exactly hardcore, Troy," she giggled. "Besides, we always play that. No...football is new, and not boring so...you know, I don't want you stuck with a boring wife..."

He rolled his eyes, deciding to play along to see how far he could get her to go. "Fine – Thanksgiving we will call people here and providing I don't have a game, we will go out and play football, happy?"

She grinned and nodded. "And...we can go bungee jumping...?"

"Gabi, seriously – I don't think that you're boring. You don't need to..."

"No, I want to," she said with a nod as she rubbed her abdomen. "I want our son to know that his mom is moderately cool when he grows up."

"Moderately? Aiming high?" he snickered.

"Shut up," she giggled as she shook her head. "Not all of us are like you and naturally cool. I have inner geek issues that I'm still trying to overcome."

"But your inner geek is hot! Like when you go and learn basketball stats and can randomly spout them off to anyone – you know the beat reporters are like in awe of you. Half of them would totally divorce their wife for you."

She rolled her eyes. "Numbers are so not hot."

"Not true," he stated as he leant forward. "Baby...tell me what my three-point shooting percentage is in comparison with the league leader..."

She bit her lip and shook her head, causing him to lean closer. "Baby...please, don't make me beg..."

"Western leader or over-all leader?" she said as she tilted her head back.

"Both."

"You're shooting at .427, whereas the Western lead is shared at .451, and overall it's at .455..."

He couldn't help the groan that escaped as she spoke. "Damn...see, your inner geek _is_ hot..."

"Troy," she whined as she pulled back, her lips suspiciously close to pouting. "I don't want our son to think I'm boring so we're going bungee jumping."

He knew that in this mood there was no point in arguing with her and trying to talk her round. "Fine. On our honeymoon in Hawaii, we will go bungee jumping and prove to the universe that we are not old and boring, and to our son that his mom is extremely cool, okay?" he chuckled as he looked at her, seeing if she would back down, only to see her eyes flash with excitement.

"You have got yourself a date, Wildcat," she said as she looked over towards their pin board that had a collection of notes, reminders, promises and the baby name lists pinned to it and he could see her mentally wishing for the new note to appear without her having to stand up. "I'll write it up before we go to bed and then, once it's on the board it has to be done so..."

"Hey, I'll go and write it up just now if you like, but I want to give you enough time to change your mind."

She gasped again as turned her gaze back to him. "Just for your lack of faith in me, Bolton – I'm going to tell Sharpay and Chad that they can crash here instead of at the hotel when they come in next week."

"I won't be here for half of their trip, so go ahead," he responded as he moved over towards her, backing her into the arm of the couch. "You can put up with their arguing and making up and drama for a week while I'm in Chicago..."

"Maybe not then..." She bit her lip as she looked up at him and he couldn't help but laugh at thoughtful expression on her face. "You know, we really are boring compared to those two."

"If we ever become as 'exciting' as those two, I'm going to shoot myself," he shuddered as he leant in and kissed her neck. "I'm so glad we did this tonight."

"Yeah, me too," she whispered as she brought her hand up to his hair and tugged it softly so she was looking at him. "I don't care if we're boring, you know. I wouldn't swap this for anything."

He closed his eyes and nodded before pressing his lips to hers, his hand finding her hair to hold her in place and his body resting lightly on hers so that he could feel every curve underneath him and was aware of every breath she took as he kissed her. His free hand came down to hold her wrist and he captured her soft moan in his mouth before he pulled back and locked his eyes with hers. "Me neither and trust me, what we're going to be doing for the rest of the night will never be considered boring..."

She burst out laughing as she shook her head at him. "What about the movies I bought, and our walk?"

"I'm being spontaneous," he smirked as he leant down to kiss her again. "Chicks dig that apparently."

"Chicks?" she raised an eyebrow and he couldn't help but smirk even more at her tone.

"Don't you keep telling me that you're building a nest? If that's the case then I think that chick is an appropriate term."

She rolled her eyes and brought her hand to his cheek. "If you want to run with that analogy like that then you do know that traditionally the father doesn't sleep in the nest at night, don't you?" she leant in and brought her lips to his ear. "It would be a shame if that happened here as I doubt the couch is as cosy as our bed is..."

"Did I say chicks, I meant my beautiful fiancée," he chuckled as he pulled back and leant his forehead against hers.

"You backtracked so quickly there."

"I know a losing battle when I see one," he murmured as he kissed her lips. "Forgive me?"

She closed her eyes and he just watched as she took a deep breath before she dropped her head to his shoulder and kissed it softly. "Always. I love you."

He smiled as he leant his own head on her head, breathing in the smell of her hair while basking in the silence of their home, the only sound that meant anything being the sound of their breathing. He pressed a kiss to her head and let himself fall back, dragging her with him so her head was still buried in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms more securely around her. "I love you too."


	5. There Goes My Baby

_Author's Note – Thanks for reviewing the last chapter. Um confession time – this chapter has been reworked about ten times before I decided really, the best thing to do would be to just split it and get this one out the way since it was driving me a little crazy. I promise that this is not setting up for a rug pull like a few of you seem to be worried about – right from when it was a one-shot I imagined it being a difficult pregnancy but nothing too dark or depressing for any length of time. The wait for the next chapter shouldn't be too long – as I said, I wrote most of it with this chapter but had to cut it. I know this is a little more angsty, but there are hormones and stuff unsaid and worries flying around and neither of them know how to handle it so they aren't going to be rational all the time. Anyway, let me know what you think.  
_

* * *

People automatically assumed that being a professional basketball player meant having an easy life full of glamour, travel and riches, and although it was true to an extent there was always a downside to it. For Troy Bolton, constant travel had never really had a great appeal and although it was sometimes fun to travel over the country, for him he definitely preferred spending more time at home. Apart from that obvious downside there was another obligation that went with his job that he was still trying to adjust to.

"You know, pouting is not going to make this go any quicker," he turned his head to meet the amused gaze of his fiancée who was fixing her wrap around her shoulders as he locked the car doors.

"I know, but this is really the last thing I wanted after the day of practice we had...I just wanna be home."

And he did. The absolute last thing that he wanted was to go to a team sponsored fundraising evening that was mandatory to the team, especially as it fell the night before he was leaving town for a few days.

"Me too, but I'm sure it'll be fun," she said as she ran her hand over his cheek before turning back to the window and began smoothing down her dress. "Okay, tell me the truth – do I look too pregnant with this dress?"

He couldn't help but grin at the sight of her as she checked her reflection in the window. "You look beautiful."

"Troy," she whined as she looked at him. "Please, pretend that you're impartial – do I look too pregnant? I swear it wasn't as clingy when I bought it, but I think I've gotten a bit bigger. Your son is going to be a very big boy I think, which is good for him, but not so good for when his mommy wants to look pretty at a party."

He wasn't going to admit to her that he couldn't cast an impartial eye over her; because in all honesty, in his opinion, she was stunning but telling her that would not be the best idea so he settled for as impartial as he could truthfully be. "You look about seven months pregnant, which, considering you are about seven months pregnant seems about right," he smiled as he walked over behind her and rested his face beside hers so both reflections could be seen in the glass. "Trust me, you look beautiful, Gabi."

She smiled softly and turned and wrapped her arms around him. "You're so biased, Wildcat..."

"I am," he admitted as his hand skimmed her side. "But you love me anyway."

"I do," she admitted with a small smile. "I like that you're biased. You always make me feel so beautiful."

"You are beautiful," he dropped a kiss on her hair and watched as she closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. He sighed as he ran his hand down her bare back and leant his head against hers. He knew he wasn't the only one who didn't want to be here tonight and although he was tired from training and her fidgeting at night, he knew that she was almost exhausted. Ever since she had proudly announced that she had never felt better a week ago, she had her symptoms come back with a vengeance and although she attempted to put a brave face on it, he didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know even if she was trying to hide it with makeup and an overly cheery demeanour. She was probably desiring nothing more than snuggling up with him at home, but because it was a team requirement for him to attend this fundraiser she was going to suck it up to go with him anyway. "Baby? Are you feeling okay?"

She shrugged against his chest before pulling back, a smile plastered across her face as another couple dressed in evening wear rushed past them, only briefly looking them up and down as they passed. "I feel very short, and very...pregnant...today and not in a good way."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. Pregnant was a generic term for her – it covered any query he had about her health and it infuriated him no end. "Can I get that again without the P word?"

"I'm a little tired, my head is a little sore, and I'm a little embarrassed that I'm going to be the only woman over the age of twelve at a formal event in flats, but other than that I'm fine, Wildcat. I promise," she said as she grabbed his hand while she pulled her wrap a little closer with the other. "Come on, we're blocking the sidewalk."

"How much is 'a little'?"

"It's not a lot," she giggled as she backed away, trying to pull him along with her as he smirked at her feeble efforts. "Now, come on – the sooner we get in, the sooner we can sit down."

He caught up with her in a few quick strides and grinned as he kissed the side of her head before spinning so he was walking in front of her, his back facing the way they were walking. "So I'm not going to be getting a dance out of you tonight?"

She burst out laughing as she looked up at him, her eyes glittering with amusement. "Maybe, when I'm sure no one else will see me waddle around the dance floor."

He rolled his eyes at her phrasing. It was amazing how he saw something completely different than she did, but that wasn't anything new for them. They both generally saw more in the other than the other did, but in this case he was 100% certain that he was right and she was wrong. "Waddling has never looked as good as when you do it though."

It was her turn to roll her eyes, and he stopped as he saw her eyes close momentarily as the grip on his hand tightened for a second before she opened them again and a smile forced its way on her face. He was about to voice his concern when she began walking again. "Flattery won't get you anywhere, Mr Bolton..."

He paused, about to ask about what had just happened, but decided that she was making the effort to have a good night so he could wait until they got home. He clutched her hand tighter, and kissed the back of it with a small smile as he looked at her, his eyes scanning over her looking for anything he should be concerned about as he spoke. "Flattery will get you on the dance floor with me tonight, Ms Montez."

She beamed at him as she shook her head and let him guide her into the hallway, his hand never leaving her body as he presented their tickets and were guided towards a ball room where they could already hear a loud noise coming from. He watched as she flinched slightly as she walked before taking a deep breath and turning to him and seemingly answering his unspoken question. "I'm fine – it's just very...bright. Too many celebrities needing good light, I guess."

"Gabriella – seriously how dizzy are you?" he asked as he put a hand on her forehead, checking to see if her temperature felt too high.

"I'm fine," she reassured but she had to know that he wasn't convinced at all. "I know how to handle this, so don't worry, okay?"

He wanted to explain how it was impossible for him not to worry, but instead he let his shoulders slump slightly, conceding defeat again as he knew she wouldn't tell him anyway.

"We don't need to stay long," he promised as he opened the door and led her through. "Correction, we aren't staying long so don't enjoy yourself too much."

They both had a look around the room to see women with expensive dresses, men with tuxedos and waiters carrying champagne and food around while a string quartet played on the small stage. They turned to look at each other and almost burst out laughing at the same time as they suddenly were struck by how out of place they were, and, looking at many of the other players around, they weren't the only ones feeling like that.

"Do you ever feel like you're the only one who didn't get the memo about how formal, formal means?" he asked as he looked around, nervously fixing his regular tie and trying to ignore that most other people were wearing tuxes. He stopped when he felt her hand reach up and straighten it for him before going to his hair and fixing it gently.

"Don't worry - I think you look very handsome," she said with a smile as she looked around before nodding her head towards the musicians. "So – do you still want to dance, Wildcat or is this type of music not what you had in mind?"

He knew what she was doing – she was trying to distract him from the fact that he felt wholly uncomfortable in this sort of situation and he couldn't help but feel himself relax in her presence. He met her amused, almost daring gaze with his own as he dragged her with him over towards the coach, but not before leaning down and whispering. "It's a good job that someone taught me how to waltz then, isn't it?"

He caught her small smirk of agreement before she stepped away from him with a small giggle. "I hope they were a good teacher because between my waddle, and your rustiness, we may make an interesting sight out there."

"So that's a yes?"

"Have I ever said no to you?"

"There's a first time for everything," he murmured as he took her hand again before turning to his coach who was smirking as he looked at them both. "Hey, Coach."

"Troy," he said as he shook Troy's hand before turning to Gabriella with a smile. "Gabriella, how are you? I'm going to apologise for dragging you both down here tonight considering we're leaving tomorrow but the auction shouldn't last too long and you know how these things go, the money men don't care about travelling dates and stuff like that."

"It's fine," Gabriella said as she shook his hand and smiled. "It's nice to have an excuse to get dressed up anyway."

"Well, you just make sure that he's looking after you," he said before he reached over and got the attention of a middle-aged woman with shiny black hair. "This is my wife, Anna. Anna, you know Troy but this is his fiancée Gabriella."

"Hello," Gabriella said as she took the woman's hand with a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Anna said with a smile as the coach took a step closer to Troy. "So you're the stat girl I've heard so much about..."

Troy watched as Gabriella blushed as she shyly nodded her head and he couldn't help but beam at her in awe as she fell into conversation with the older woman. The pink staining her cheeks was the first colour he had seen on her in weeks and although he would never tell her, he missed seeing that healthy glow off her more often.

"You don't need to worry, Bolton – I don't think my wife is going to kidnap her."

He was snapped out of his gazing as he felt his own cheeks heat up while he fidgeted uncomfortably as he looked at the amused smile on his coach's face. "What? No...I mean..."

"I know," the coach said with a laugh. "She's looking kinda pale tonight, is she feeling okay?"

Troy opened his mouth, immediately going to push the 'everything's fine' story out but as he turned back to his fiancée he shrugged as he kept his eyes locked on her as he spoke, scared at how true this was. "I honestly don't know."

* * *

A few hours later and Gabriella found herself sat at one of the tables watching the goings on of the party. Troy had disappeared for a moment to go talk to someone about flight times or something, but other than that he had been by her side the whole night. She was a little bit confused by his sudden need to be close to her, but she wasn't going to lie – maybe because of how bad she was feeling the last few weeks, or her apprehension about her upcoming doctor's appointment, but whatever it was, part of her was ecstatic that he was feeling particularly protective before he left. It was nice to have that sort of reassurance, even if he didn't know that she needed it. The fact that he was oblivious to the concerns, as ridiculous as they were, yet somehow subconsciously knew that he had to be there meant a lot.

She looked around, trying to be discreet as she did so as to not draw too much attention to herself and couldn't help but laugh as she watched an extremely tipsy Isaac get guided around the room by his increasingly irritated girlfriend so that he wasn't spotted by any press or his coach as it was frowned upon to drink before a game. She had a lot of sympathy for Lisa but couldn't help but be more than a little grateful that she wouldn't have to learn any of those tactics to use with Troy.

Her laughter subsided as the dizziness that had been plaguing her on and off for most of the evening returned and she closed her eyes for a second to try and regain her equilibrium because she absolutely refused to pass out at a party with all Troy's teammates present. When she opened them, she almost jumped as she found the previously vacant chair in front of her suddenly filled by her fiancé, whose jaw was tight as his blue eyes flashed over her face in oddly.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded as she looked over to see Isaac getting pummelled with Lisa's purse and giggled lightly again. "I'm fine. I think Isaac is going to have a couple of bruises in the morning though."

"He probably deserves them," he said before turning back to her with a strange expression on his face. Her laughter died down as she looked at him.

"Are you okay, Troy?"

"Yeah, no...I don't know. I'm worried about you and I have no idea what is really going on with you these last few days," he said quietly as he looked at her. "Tell me the truth, how are you feeling?"

That was a loaded question if ever there was one. Truthfully? She didn't feel great – she was exhausted, her head was starting to pound and her feet felt swollen and painful. Saying all that though would only worry him, so she settled for half truths. "I'm a little tired and my head is a bit sore with the lights and the noise, but apart from that I'm fine."

He kept his eyes on her and she knew that he knew she wasn't being fully open, but that he wouldn't say anything here. Instead he dropped his gaze as he found her hand. "You wanna dance and then go home?"

"Don't you have to stay a little longer?"

"Nah," he smirked as he stood up and pulled her body towards his as he backed towards the small dance floor, the string quartet still playing in the background. "Coach is letting me off for good behaviour so that I can get you to bed at a reasonable time. His wife's orders apparently."

She smiled softly as she let her head fall against his chest while they began dancing slowly. She loved dancing with him – they would occasionally go out and dance, and somehow he tended to catch her when she was dancing around at home but it was different when they could just dance together like this, with his hands around her, and her cheek warm against his chest. She could happily dance with him like that forever.

"She's great – you know she never wore heels at all during her first pregnancy?"

She could feel his chest rumble with his laughter as she looked up at him through her lashes. "You are obsessed with heels, which is bizarre because when you could wear heels you rarely wore them..."

She giggled and leant closer to him. "You work with very tall people and they make me feel small when we're out with them."

"Babe, you're small even with heels," he laughed as he spun her out before pulling her close again. "Have you had a good night?"

She tried to be discreet as she yawned and closed her eyes, allowing the gentle movements and his heartbeat to lull her. "Yeah, it was great. Did you?"

"Hmm," he said as he stroked her back as she felt his lips against her hair. "I spent the night with you, what's not to love?"

"I'm going to miss you tomorrow," she whispered as she looked up at him before blushing as she realised that it had slipped out. She was usually always good at not voicing her feelings before he left because she knew he felt bad about it. "I mean..."

"I'm going to miss you too, Gabriella. So much," he said as he stroked her cheek softly, his eyes searching her own for something. "I wish you would tell me whatever it is that you're thinking."

"I..." she wanted to tell him she was scared, that she was terrified that the doctor was going to tell her that she had done something wrong. She wanted to explain how every headache, and wave of dizziness, and nausea made her feel almost incompetent because she was having such a hard time with something that as a woman she was born to do, and that all she could think was that she was going to do something wrong and hurt the baby. She wanted to say all that, but instead she refocused, deciding there would be time for that when he got back. She didn't want him to worry about her while he was away. "I'm just...going to miss you a lot."

He nodded as he exhaled slowly, his frown deepening as he looked down before forcing a smile on his own face. "Come on then. I think I've shared you enough tonight - let's go home."

"Okay," she replied, not really having the energy to disagree as she felt him pull her tight against his body. "Only if you're sure no one will mind though."

"I'm positive," he said with a smile as he guided her towards the door, both of them calling out goodbyes to people around them as they passed by them on their way to the doors.

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle as he exhaled loudly when the doors closed and his hand went to his neck and unfastened his top button. She reached up and brought her hands to his chest, before sliding them up slightly to loosen his tie for him, and only when it was laying loose around his neck did she give in to temptation to reach up on her tiptoes and press her lips against his. When she pulled back she brought her hand up to ease the small frown that had been present on his forehead all night before trailing it down to his lips. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

He brought his own hand up to her face before rubbing her cheek underneath her eye with his thumb. "I..." he looked down before forcing a small smile on his face. "If I'm tired then you must be exhausted – come on, let's go home."

She knew there was more to it than that and she wondered what on earth it could be that was. She wanted to ask him, but she knew she wouldn't – not yet anyway. She nodded her head and smiled, not wanting any heavy discussions that night as she was exhausted and her head was getting worse.

Troy planted a kiss on her forehead before taking her hand in his and squeezing it tight as he looked at her. "Before we go...you know I am here for you completely, so you can tell me anything whether I'm going away or not, right?"

"I know," she replied as she squeezed his hand in reassurance. "I know that, Troy."

He kept his eyes on her before he gave a small smile and nodded. "Good – I just...I just wanted to make sure, you know? Anyway – let's get home, huh?"

Before she could reply he had taken her hand and began guiding her towards the car, making her wonder what on earth she had missed that had made him think that she might not know that.

* * *

It was a little after 1am when Troy woke up to find a cold bed beside him. After he and Gabriella had arrived home from the party, they had been good for nothing more than all but crawling into bed - in fact he almost had to carry her in the house. As much as it was great to get to go out together, he had to admit that he would have much preferred to spend his last night here as opposed to there.

He lifted his head and peered around the room, wondering where she was but not seeing a light from their bathroom or her silhouette at the window seat, he figured she had got up. He rubbed his eyes and groaned lowly as he rolled over and sat up.

He switched the lamp on beside the bed and sighed as he got up, knowing she had probably left the room so as not to disturb him and he couldn't help but find it hard not to be annoyed at that. No matter how many times he told her that he wanted to know, that he wanted her to be honest with him about this, she still attempted to keep it from him. He should have been used to it since it had happened all throughout the pregnancy, but for them having a relationship that was based on them knowing everything about each other, it was hard for him to grasp that she couldn't share with him. He knew that she was probably only trying to protect him, to save him from worry but it did the exact opposite and every half truth, every denial just made him a little more annoyed with the situation. He knew that when they went to the doctor next in all likelihood she was getting put on bed rest and he suspected that she knew it as well, but she refused to acknowledge it, and it drove him crazy.

As Troy walked from their room through the house he eventually saw her in the kitchen. His mind almost flashed to an occasion months ago when he had woke up to find her in the kitchen, giggling and joking with the baby as she tried to make Chinese food out of nothing where she had looked so beautiful, and so happy. Here he was now though, looking at her in the same kitchen, but this image was ingrained in his brain for hugely different reasons as he saw her leaning against the counter with a cold glass pressed against her head and her hand gripped to the edge of the sink. He walked over to her and tried to keep calm as he loosened her grip on the sink, only for her to sway dangerously at the loss of support causing him to grip her arm roughly merely to keep her on her feet. He reached up and took the glass from her hand only to turn her to face him to find her standing there with tears streaming down her face as her eyes scrunched up in pain. It was almost hard to believe that it was the same girl, but it was and it broke his heart to see her like that.

"Gabriella..." he whispered as he immediately tried to get her to a seat. He hated seeing her in pain, and he had been forced to witness it increasingly often. "Baby...what's wrong? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"It hurts," she whispered as she closed her eyes and held her head. "I'm sorry – I know you have to leave soon and...and I didn't want you to worry..."

He almost groaned in frustration at that. That was why he was getting pissed off about things. It had been bad enough in the beginning but the stakes were higher now and that made it worse.

"Forget that. What hurts?" he asked as he knelt down beside her, bringing his own hands up to cup her head as she buried into his shoulder and he closed his eyes and tried to keep himself calm when he was feeling anything but calm. "Baby, talk to me."

"My head hurts," she whispered. "And everything is so blurry that I feel really unsteady."

"Okay," he kept stroking her head as he thought about whether or not to take her to the hospital, or to wait until the morning and call their own doctor. He knew headaches had been a common complaint for her throughout the pregnancy, but they had definitely been getting worse the last few weeks and they had been told that if they got any worse that the doctors were going to have to intervene a little more as it was a sign that the pre-eclampsia was worsening. Gabriella had taken to living with a glass of water attached to her hand to try and keep hydrated to see if that helped, but it clearly wasn't doing much good. "Anything else?"

"I just...feel so...not myself..." Her tone was soft, and barely audible. He could feel her tears against the bare skin of his shoulder and held her tighter, trying to provide whatever comfort he could. He ran through a mental checklist of the symptoms that they were told to look for in terms of her blood-pressure being too high. He grabbed her hand to check for swelling and didn't see anything worse than it had been and tried to decide what to do. There was a chance that she was just feeling worse because it had been lingering on for a while and if that were the case she would not thank him for taking her to the hospital early, but if it wasn't and it was a sign that things were picking up, then it was dangerous for him to not take her.

"Okay – here's what we're going to do. I'm going to take you to bed, and you're going to lie there while I get you something cool for your head and some painkillers for the pain..."

She lifted her head to argue, but he was not going to back down on this. "No – listen to me. I talked to Dr Caldwell, I talked to a pharmacist, I checked online and everywhere says that it's okay to occasionally take painkillers and this is a necessity, okay? This is a onetime deal, I promise."

"No...I'll...I'll be fine without them," she said as she shook her head, even as the action caused her face to scrunch up with more pain. "I don't want to hurt the baby."

"And the baby is going to be doing better with you sitting out here in agony ready for passing out, right?" his voice came out harsher than he had wanted it to and he saw her flinch slightly either at his words or his tone. He took a deep breath as he continued a little softer. "The baby will be fine. Tylenol is perfectly safe and won't affect him in any way, I promise..."

"Troy..."

"Gabriella, just trust me on this, okay? You either take the painkillers or I'm driving you to the hospital right now. Your choice – but we are not sitting here with you in agony any longer, so what will it be?" he asked as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. Why the hell was he the only one who seemed interested in making sure that she was okay? Why didn't she seem to care? Didn't she see what it was doing to him to watch her suffer like this?

She flinched again and looked down, nodding slightly as she did so and part of him felt bad about snapping at her again but a larger part of him was so freaking happy that her concession meant she wouldn't be in pain for much longer. He stood up and watched as she gripped the tabletop at his loss of support and his happiness vanished as he realised that a couple of Tylenol probably wouldn't help much. He leant down and kissed her forehead before he gently pulled her to her feet, holding her tight as she leant into his body. He wanted so badly to just carry her into their room and look after her, but he was worried about hurting her more so he closed his eyes and slowly walked her through their house towards their bed-room, whispering encouragingly and kissing her hair, her hand, her head as they did so. After what seemed like forever he had her on their bed and he dulled the lights and looked at her, trying to decide if he could risk leaving her alone while he went and got her a drink and some pills but, seeing her pale face he had made up his mind as he stroked her cheek before rushing out – his only thoughts revolving around Tylenol, ice and water as he ran around the kitchen, gathering a jug of water, a glass, ice, a cold compress and the painkillers before rushing towards their room. He saw her still laying there and sat down beside her, placing the cold compress on her forehead. He watched as he eyes flickered open and he saw how red and watery they were from her tears, and part of him wondered how long she had been stood out there crying before he had come and how many other nights had found her in tears without him knowing. Shrugging it off he forced a smile as he looked at her. "I just want you to try and sleep, okay?"

She gave him a soft smile back as he poured her some water and he took a deep breath as he took a couple of pills out and put them in her shaky hand. She looked at him desperately and he so badly wanted to tell her to leave it, that she didn't have to take them, but he couldn't have her in any more pain than she had to and, because of that, he forced himself to be selfish as he looked at her. "I swear to you that I checked and I am not lying to you. The baby will be absolutely perfect so I need you to look after yourself, just tonight. Please."

"You promise?"

He reached over and took her hand and kissed the knuckles as he kept his eyes locked with hers. "I promise you that it's fine."

"Okay," her soft voice said and he tried to ignore the tremble in it as she swallowed the pills over and took a drink before closing her eyes again, biting down on her lip.

He crawled onto the bed beside her and began stroking her hair as he watched the clock and started counting the minutes until she stopped crying, till she stopped grasping his hand as a wave of dizziness struck her, till she fell asleep, until she stopped whimpering in pain. When he was sure that she was asleep he glanced back at the clock and saw that he would have to get up to leave in less than three hours and the thought made his stomach lurch as he leant over and pressed a kiss against her hair, just imagining her sitting in their room the following night crying her eyes out and no one being there to find her.

* * *

Gabriella woke up to find herself back in bed and her head still spinning, but thankfully not as bad as it had been the previous night. As much fun as the party had been, she was certain that it hadn't helped at all. She looked at the clock and sighed as she saw that it was almost time for Troy to get up so he could get ready to go. The part of her that wanted him to stay, that was contemplating asking him to stay seemed to be getting larger and more vocal the more she thought about it and she knew that if she kept thinking it, she was going to accidentally say it out loud and she would never forgive herself for affecting his career for something that he couldn't really help with. She wasn't an idiot – she knew that the way she was feeling wasn't good but she didn't want to think what it meant on her own. She had a doctor's appointment in two days and although she had obviously had appointments when he was travelling before, part of her wanted him there this time. She knew the baby was okay – the frequent kicking of her ribs told her that and she knew that that was what counted so she didn't really need him there, but...she just kinda wanted him there, and she knew it was selfish but it was how she was feeling.

She closed her eyes and tried to push down those feelings before she rolled over and lifted her hand to stroke down his stubbled jaw. The dark circles around his eyes told her that he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and she felt guilty for that as she knew that he had probably looked after her to his own detriment. He had a game later that night and he was going to be exhausted.

"Troy," she whispered softly by his ear as she placed a kiss on his cheek. "Baby, you have to get up."

He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like no before grabbing her hand and trying to pull her closer to him, but she knew she had to resist. She couldn't be selfish. "Baby, you have to leave soon."

"No," he said louder this time, still without opening his eyes. "We have to sleep before we call the doctor."

"Troy," she said as she stroked his cheek. "It can wait until you get back."

"No, it can't," he said simply as he opened an eye. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she looked down, not wanting to lie to his face but hoping he was too drowsy to notice. "Much better."

"You are a horrible liar," he said as he reluctantly sat up and looked at her, yawning as he ran a hand through his messed up hair. "So...what's the plan?"

Part of her was ecstatic that he wanted to stay without her having to ask, but as happy as she was, she knew she couldn't let it happen. "I have an appointment on Thursday so I thought I would just wait until then..."

He groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Gabriella..."

"No, I know...I mean...I get it, but the baby's fine because I can feel him move so it's clearly not anything serious," she smiled and couldn't help but notice the way his eyes darkened and his jaw tightened as she spoke. She didn't understand what was upsetting him as she met his gaze and she knew that he was trying very hard not to say anything. "That's the most important thing."

"And what about you?" he forced out, his tone clipped and she could only look at him in confusion. What about her?

"What about me?"

If anything his eyes darkened more and she suddenly felt like she had missed something huge that had happened because he merely stood up and marched towards the bathroom, not saying anything as she sat there, wondering what exactly had just happened.

She waited a moment before she stood up, waiting for her vision to clear before slowly making her way to the kitchen to make him breakfast before he left, and hopefully saving him a job after his shower. She knew he must be tired, but it wasn't like him to be so grumpy with her – she hadn't woke him up, he had been the one who had chosen to get up and help her. She put coffee in the pot before she went to the fridge and started taking items out of it, gently leaning her head against the cool surfaces as she moved, hoping that the coolness would take the pain out of her head enough for her to get through until he left.

She made coffee, pouring out a cup for him before turning around and looking to the pan as she ran a spoon through the pancake batter that she had stored in the fridge and waited on the pan to heat. As the pancakes got ready she hadn't heard him come out the shower or him come out the bedroom towards her, his eyes still dark and his brown still furrowed in annoyance.

"Gabriella? What are you doing up?"

She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and the sudden movement caused her eyes to close immediately in pain but she hid it as she turned to him and gave him a small smile. "I didn't hear you come out the shower."

He shrugged as he sat down, his eyes never leaving her as she put the plate of pancakes over beside him and turned off the stove. "Gabriella, why are you not in bed?"

"I know you're tired and I wanted to make you breakfast before you leave," she said as she poured herself a glass of water, not even going to attempt to eat. "Besides, I have to get up soon anyway so it made sense to just get up."

"You have to get up soon?"

"Yeah, I have work today," she said as she tried to disguise her confusion. "Like I do every weekday."

"Oh, of course you do," he repeated as he shoved a forkful of food in his mouth as he looked down, and she saw the way his leg was bouncing in annoyance. She felt her own temper rising as she looked at him – he had no right to be so snappy with her and here he was acting like a jerk and she hadn't done anything to deserve it. She was supposed to be the hormonal one – not him.

She leant back against the counter as he swallowed and looked up at her, taking a deep breath before he spoke. "I think...you should go back to bed and I'll call the doctor and we'll go see him."

"Troy," she began as she met his gaze. "The doctor's office won't be open for hours yet. You have to go – your flight is in like...three hours and I have to go to work."

"You can barely stand straight," he stated as he pushed the barely touched plate away and looked at her. "You're seriously going to tell me that you're going to work today?"

"It's my job," she forced out as she turned away from him. "I'm fine."

"You're delusional then," he said as he stood, his tone rising. "Gabriella, I haven't pushed anything, but for God's sake will you for once get your head out of the clouds and join me in the real world before it's too late?"

"Because I'm not agreeing with you, I have my head in the clouds? I have a job with obligations and commitments to people, Troy. It's not fair for me to only go in when I feel like it."

"They can do without you today, surely?"

"That's not the point, Troy. I have patients coming in that I have worked hard to build a base with and it's hard because I've got to work with the kids, as well as convince the parents and the other therapists that I can do a good job."

He groaned as he looked at her. "You are kidding right? I know you have worked hard, but that doesn't mean that you have to work until you collapse!"

"You are such a hypocrite," she laughed as she shook her head. "You work harder than anyone I know, through injury, through illness and you don't listen to anyone."

"Yeah, and you know what happens if I go out and injure myself? I can't play ball for a few weeks – the stakes are just a _little_ higher with you."

She almost rolled her eyes at his statement. She could cite half a dozen times when he was told not to play since she had met him, and in practically every occasion his stubbornness had led to him getting injured worse. It hadn't been easy for her to watch that and he had just brushed it off, so why was it different this time?

"Troy - you're being so stupid about this."

"And you're being selfish."

She froze and spun around to look at him, and saw that he was serious. She did a quick check back to see if she had been more demanding, more self-serving, and less attentive to his needs in the last few months and didn't think she had. She had been distracted on occasion, but she never made demands on him that were unreasonable like coming home at a regular time, or picking up dinner on a Friday. She didn't make him go out at all hours to pick up food, she hadn't asked him to wake up and help her the previous night so it didn't seem fair. "Selfish?"

"Yeah," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Because you won't look after yourself so everyone else has to and it's tiring to bang your head against the wall when you don't even seem to care!"

"I didn't ask you to help me, Troy," she said as she made a move from the kitchen, pausing slightly to get her bearings but roughly jerking out of his steadying grip as she pushed past him towards their bedroom. She was so angry with him and she refused to argue with him anymore before his trip but he didn't seem to care as he followed after her. "I didn't ask you to get out of bed to deal with me so don't take it out on me because you didn't get enough sleep and are tired."

"You don't ask me for anything! You sit back and take it all on yourself and you aren't able to do it. I would love you to ask me for help – I would love for you to be honest with me just once about what you're really feeling instead of shutting me out!"

She shook her head, knowing he was following her. "I'm not shutting you out, but I know you don't need to hear about – 'Troy, my back hurts', or 'Troy, I'm so tired I can hardly see straight' every other day either. In case you haven't noticed, you're in a pretty high stress position yourself and if I can save you from added stress when you come home, I'm going to do that. I don't think there is anything wrong with that."

"Gabriella – I love you, but you are so blinkered sometimes. It's harder for me to guess what's going on with you than it would be if you just told me straight out. I don't give a shit about 'stress' when I can see how hard things are for you? I'm trying to look after you yet you don't seem to care!"

"Of course I care – but I see the bigger picture," she shouted as she turned around. "I am not an invalid, Troy and I know what I can and can't do. You didn't want me to drive, so I'm not driving. You wanted me to stop with the house, so I stopped. You asked me to stop going to yoga, so I stopped and now you want me to stop going to work? I'm not going to lie around doing nothing for the next nine weeks so as long as our baby is healthy; I'm going to keep doing everything I can until then."

"And to hell with what it does to you, right?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What what does to me?"

"Pushing yourself," he said, his tone flat as he looked at her. "Trying to prove that everyone else is wrong and that you're the only one who is right."

"I'm fine, Troy," she said, her voice softening slightly. "If I wasn't I would get help."

"Prove it – call the doctor, tell him you want an appointment. If you're fine then you have nothing to worry about, right? I need you to be safe, do you understand me? I get that the baby's okay, but you're not and I know you know you're not."

She looked at him, and she could see that he wasn't as much angry now as frustrated and scared and as much as she loved him and wanted to make him feel better, she refused to be the one to concede every time. "I have an appointment on Thursday so I'll talk to him then."

He closed his eyes in frustration. "So what happens until then? You grin and bear it and hope you don't pass out before hand?"

"Troy, I told you that I'm fine!"

"I know you're not, and you know that you're not," he said as he ran a hand through his hair in aggravation. "Please, just stop being so pig-headed about this and try and see things from my perspective."

His voice had lost its edge and had taken a far more pleading tone as opposed to the demanding one that he had earlier. It was hard for her to ignore that and part of her ached as she tried to keep up her strong facade, her pride preventing her from running to him and burying herself in his arms and telling him how scared she was, how much she wanted to pretend that everything really was fine, and how it was easier not to think because when she thought, all she could picture was everything going wrong.

As strong as that part of her was though, as desperately as she wanted it another part of her refused to concede this time. He didn't know how hard it was for her to be this strong for him and he didn't know what it was like to feel like you couldn't do the thing that as a woman you were supposed to do. He didn't know what it was like to hear everyone whisper and talk about how she couldn't do this. She knew she could do this, and she was going to prove it to everyone. "Your perspective isn't always the right one, Troy."

She turned away from him and turned to the closet so she could get clothes out for work. "And neither is yours," he said. "I am not going to sit back and watch you hurt yourself. Don't go to work today."

She stilled for a moment before going back to picking out clothes, hoping that her non response would end the argument that she didn't want to have.

"Stop ignoring me, Gabriella."

"I'm not ignoring you, I'm just trying to ignore the things you say when you're being an overbearing jackass," she said as she continued to take the clothes out, silently screaming at herself for fighting with him over something that she knew he was right about. "You need to go get ready for your flight."

"You want me to leave?"

She closed her eyes and bit down on her lip just to stop from telling him no, that she wanted him to stay, that she needed him to stay, that he was right and she was scared but that she didn't know what to do but her pride stopped her as she merely shrugged her shoulders. "It's not a matter of want. You have a job that you love and I'd never try and stop _you_ from doing it."

He just looked at her and he didn't have to say anything for her to know that he was beyond angry at that moment before he shook his head and walked out the room, grabbing his bag from the door as he went. The next thing she heard was the front door slamming shut and if it weren't for the way her heart was pounding, the sound would have probably made her headache worse. As it was though, her head was the least of her worries as she sank down on the bed and forced herself not to cry as she heard his car drive off.


	6. Baby Come Back

_An – Thank you so much for your response to the last chapter, I was blown away by your reviews. I really hope you guys enjoy this, and I apologise that it took a little longer than I intended it to – it has just been insane the past few days. Let me know what you think._

* * *

She paced as she bit her lip and looked at the phone. It had been three hours, which to most people wouldn't seem like much but to someone who had no experience of arguing with her partner, it may as well have been a week. She wasn't so much angry anymore as hurt, and annoyed and maybe even a little terrified. They didn't argue – it wasn't what they did and they certainly didn't go off hundreds of miles away whilst barely speaking to each other and the fact that that was what was happening didn't feel right. She had her pride and she wasn't solely in the wrong but still...it hurt her to think that he went away angry with her and thinking that she was angry at him.

She pressed 1 on her cell and waited for his voicemail to pick up. She knew he was probably on the plane, so she didn't expect to talk to him but she needed to leave a message because she didn't want that hanging over them for three days until he came home and if she had to make the first move then so be it.

"Troy – hi, um...I know you're on the plane but I...I'm sorry. I love you, so much and...and...I didn't mean it. I shouldn't have been so stubborn. I...just please have a safe trip and...I'll call you after your game. I love you, Troy. Bye."

She hung up and sat the phone down, not feeling even a little bit better about things. All she could think of is all the things that could go wrong before he got her message and it made her feel even worse as she chewed at her lip and twirled her hair almost desperately as she looked at the clock. This is why they didn't argue – because when they did they both felt so bad, only she didn't know if he did feel bad because he was enroute to Chicago and out of reach.

She picked up her phone again.

'_I'm sorry. I love you and I didn't mean any of it. Have a good trip, okay? xox'_

She sat it back down once the message was sent and resisted the urge to try calling him again until she could speak to him, even though logically she knew there was no point. She stood up and put her phone in her purse and grabbed her jacket, ignoring the way her vision fluttered in front of her as she stood and pushing through the haze towards the door. She had to work and by the time lunch came around, he would hopefully be landed and she could call him – until then she just had to concentrate on things she could control and that meant going into work and concentrating instead of worrying about things she couldn't change at that moment.

* * *

It was thirty five minutes later when she got into the office and forced a smile as she looked at Sarah who was already at her desk. Gabriella had no idea how she managed it, but no matter how early she came in, Sarah would always already be sitting there.

"Good morning," the receptionist said cheerily. "You're a little earlier today than I thought considering Troy was leaving."

"Yeah," Gabriella said with a tight smile as she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the urge to break down and cry and her pounding head. "I thought I'd get set up early – busy day."

"I have all the files out for the morning, I'll get this afternoon's ones out as well," the older woman said as she stood up. "You look really pale, are you feeling alright

Gabriella nodded and forced another smile, tired of the question but not having the energy to fight about it anymore. "Just...tired. Rough night...rough morning as well, actually."

"How was the party?"

"It was..." she began with a shake of the head. "It was fun. They had a string quartet and Troy and I, along with half of the basketball team didn't dress formally enough but no one seemed to mind."

"Well I'm glad you had a good night, whereas I was stuck watching repeats of The A-Team with the boys. I tell you, you better hope that he's the last boy you have because they will over-rule you constantly when they're older and it will be nothing but sports and shows where things explode on television."

Gabriella smiled sadly as she stroked her stomach. "I won't mind."

"You say that now, but just you wait!" the older woman laughed as she shook her head. "They aren't momma's boys when the Saints are on TV."

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at the idea of Troy and their son sitting down to watch a football game. Troy only ever watched football on Thanksgiving, and that was because he was a traditionalist at heart and would last a half before turning the TV off and entertaining himself, usually by dragging her somewhere so she somehow doubted that she would become a football widow.

Providing they made up of course.

The rational part of her brain reminded her that this was just a silly argument, that all couples had arguments and that there was nothing to worry about but the hormonal, emotionally damaged, born worrier with abandonment issues couldn't help but think the worst, and the worst was that he wouldn't want to come back to her.

"Ms Montez?" She was snapped out of her thoughts by Sarah touching her arm gently. "You okay?"

"Um, yeah," Gabriella said with a small smile. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was just wondering what kept you awake?" Sarah asked as she kept her eye on the brunette.

"I..." Gabriella couldn't bring herself to admit to the argument without feeling like she was going to burst into tears again so she forced a smile and shrugged her shoulders. "I...just didn't feel too great. I haven't been sleeping great the past week and I think it's catching up with me a little."

"Start eating more crackers, don't drink at night and have a warm bath or shower before bed. Honestly – they will all help."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, trust me. The warm bath relaxes your body, the lack of fluids means there is less pressure on your bladder and the crackers will stop you feeling sick...five pregnancies and you'll learn the tricks too," Sarah winked as Gabriella smiled.

"We're stopping at four," she said before frowning. They had said four was the maximum, but they weren't fighting then. "I think."

She suddenly didn't care that he would be on a plane, or that they were fighting – she just had to talk to him and hear his voice to reassure herself that all their plans were still going to happen so she began walking towards the office, the frown still marring her features. "I'm just going to go and start getting organised."

"Okay. Did you eat this morning?" Sarah asked, and seeing Gabriella's almost embarrassed expression almost shot her a disapproving look. "I'll bring you in something to drink and something light to eat. Trust me, starving yourself will not make you feel better and believe me, the baby won't stop making a menace of himself just because you're exhausted."

"Okay," she conceded with a smile. She would have explained that she'd actually been eating great, just not so much this morning due to her argument and how dizzy she was, but it seemed a small point. "Um...Sarah? Thank you – I know I'm a little high maintenance just now, but I promise I'm not usually so much hard work."

She looked down and thought about what Troy said about how it was selfish that everyone else had to care about how she was feeling when she didn't seem to care herself. She didn't think she had been like that, but...she didn't want to be thought of as selfish by anyone, especially as she knew so many people here didn't really know her.

"I remember what it's like to be pregnant," Sarah said as she stood. "Trust me – no one thinks you're high maintenance, in fact I think most people are surprised that you are still working considering you don't really have to..."

"I just want to prove myself," she muttered as she looked down. "I just moved here and I know that everyone thinks that sports stars wives aren't interested in working but I need to show everyone that I deserved this job and that I'm an asset even though I'm young."

She didn't look up to see Sarah look at her in concern. "Anyway, I better go get ready. Kyle's due in later so I think I'll make sure there's nothing breakable in the room..."

She turned towards her office and opened the door only to find the light already and a bunch of flowers sitting on her desk. It wasn't particularly large, or extravagant but she didn't care as she walked over and looked at them, and looked for the card and grasping it desperately to her with shaking hands. "Sarah!"

"Yes?" Sarah asked as she opened the door and came in clutching a glass of iced water and a croissant. "Oh you saw them then? They are lovely."

"When did they come?"

"Hmm, they were delivered here about an hour ago," she said as she sat the glass and plate down. "Paula down at the main desk accepted the delivery and gave them to me when I came in."

Gabriella could only nod as she held the card, almost afraid of looking at it. "Okay – thanks."

"You have that boy wound tight around your little finger," she heard her teasing voice as she headed towards the door. "It's always good for them to know who the boss is."

She didn't respond as she heard the door close and when she was sure she was alone she opened up the envelope and took a shuddering breath as she looked down at what was written.

"_I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, any of it. I love you so much and I just get scared because I know I wouldn't be able to cope if anything happened to you. Forgive me? – Troy."_

The words were simple and scrawled so haphazardly that she knew he must have been in a rush, but she didn't care at all because all she cared is that it was from him. Her eyes flooded with tears – partially in relief, and partially in pain that he was over 900 miles away when all she wanted to do was wrap herself in his arms and not let go. She grabbed her purse again and almost emptied the contents out until she got her cell, and forgetting her earlier thoughts that she wouldn't call him again until lunch she still dialled his number.

"I just got your note. There's nothing to forgive. I'm sorry too, and I...I hate that I didn't say it this morning. I love you, so much. I love you and...and I don't know what to say," she paused as she looked down and knew that she was crying and he would be able to tell and didn't want to worry him. "I just love you, and I miss you and I can't wait until you're home. I'll speak to you later. Bye."

She hung up the phone and sighed, feeling slightly better as she clutched the note before reaching down and sliding it in her pocket. It wasn't speaking to him, or holding him but it was the next best thing and as she reached over and pressed the cold glass to her forehead, taking some of the pain out of her head, she couldn't help but feel better about getting through the few hours until she could speak to him.

* * *

He was a jerk, he decided as he looked out the window aimlessly, not paying attention to anything. His iPod blared some unheard song in his ear, and all that was pounding in his brain was the argument they had a few hours earlier. He hated this. He hated being stuck on a plane instead of making sure she was alright, that she knew he was sorry, that he didn't really mean to shout and storm out. He sunk his head back on his head rest and bit back the frustrated groan he nearly made as his mind went through all the scenarios that could occur when he was nearly a thousand miles away. Sure, there was nothing that could happen today that couldn't happen any other time he was away from home, but it didn't feel like this usually because usually he almost carried the security blanket that was their usual happy relationship around with him instead of the ten tonne weight caused by a stupid, idiotic argument that had him grabbing his bag, storming out, slamming the door and not saying goodbye, or that he loved her or anything that was important to them and had only realised what he had done when he was halfway to the airport where he had written a note and begged the first florist he could find to deliver it to the hospital.

He looked down at his watch – it had only been hours since he had spoken to her but it felt so much longer than that and he couldn't believe he hadn't turned the car around and made things right. To make matters worse he hadn't called her right away and then sat three hours in an airport waiting on his delayed flight to take off. What better way to help her through a stressful, difficult time in the pregnancy that piling more stress and demands right on top of her and although he was right, he had not handled it right at all. Sure, she was being stupid and blinkered and just...so stupid! But she wanted to feel like she was in control. Her body wasn't doing what it was supposed to, she couldn't do the things she wanted to and he knew she felt somewhat inferior to other pregnant women because of that so solid demands were not going to convince her yet he had tried it anyway, because clearly she wasn't the only one prone to moments of stupidity.

Somehow he doubted flowers were going to make that right, especially as he was over 900miles away and that was assuming she had even gone into work. What if she had been too upset, or her head had got worse and she was sitting at home upset? She would still be thinking he was angry with her. Even worse, what if she had collapsed and no one knew? She could be lying unconscious or comatose or...

"Fucking idiot," he muttered to himself as he banged his head back again, trying to clear his brain of the terrifying thoughts before closing his eyes in frustration and trying to clear his mind of any 'what ifs?' until he could land and call her. He would just keep calling her until she answered – he knew how to be persistent.

* * *

When he arrived at his hotel he cried off from going for lunch with the team and took advantage of having the room to himself as he sat on the bed and turned his cell phone on. Almost immediately his message tones went off signifying that he had text and voicemails to check. He opened up the text messages and immediately scrolled until he saw her name there and he could barely breathe as he clicked it open and saw it. He felt like the breath he released had been held since he had walked out of their house, and it felt great being able to breathe again as he immediately dialled his voicemail and listened to her messages. As soon as he hung up, he grabbed his cell and hit 1 on his speed dial and waited as it rang once, twice and as he glanced at the clock he almost groaned that she might not be available yet. He was about to concede defeat when he heard her voice.

"Troy!"

"Gabriella," he breathed out in relief as he sat down. "Baby, I'm so sorry – I didn't mean to..."

"No, you don't have to apologise, I'm sorry - I didn't mean any of it, I was just so tired, and my head hurt and you were being snappy and I was angry and I'm just sorry," she rambled as he sank his head down on his bed, partially in relief. "Are you okay, did you have a good flight?"

"I had an awful flight – I couldn't stop wishing that we would turn back so I could go back and fix things," he said as he rubbed his eyes. "Are you okay? How's your head? Gabriella, I'm so sorry about leaving like that."

"It's..." he heard her take a deep breath and could tell that she was contemplating whether or not to be honest with him. "It's better than it was last night, but it's still a bit painful. I think I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

He could almost see the reassuring smile she was trying to give off, but he was way beyond that. Their argument may have been stupid, but the issues behind it were still relevant.

"Gabriella, I need you to promise me that if it gets bad again that you'll call me," he breathed as he closed his eyes. "I know you think I'm being overbearing but..."

"No, Troy – I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. You're allowed to have an opinion."

"Yeah, but not to put it across like my dad does," he muttered as he closed his eyes. "I just...I get scared, you know? I get scared and I don't know how to make you understand how much it freaks me out to think that something could happen to you."

"I know. I'm sorry," she whispered before beginning again, her voice still quiet. "I get scared too, sometimes. I just...it's easier for me not to think about it, you know? I'm not purposefully trying to keep you out – part of me just thinks that if I don't think about it then it...it isn't that bad. I know that's stupid but I...I don't know, I just want it to be perfect for us both. I don't want to be that needy, sick girl that you always have to worry about."

"I always worry about you," he responded softly. "You being pregnant doesn't alter that – I am always going to worry about you because you're you and the most important thing in my life and I wish you could understand that."

"I do," she responded eventually. "I feel the same I just...I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologise. It's okay," he replied, wishing that he wasn't sat in a hotel room and that she wasn't sat in her office.

They sat in silence for a moment, just contemplating on the fact that the other was there before he spoke again. "I love you, Gabriella," he almost whispered after a moment, his voice soft but the depth of his emotions was clear. "More than anything."

"I love you too," she spoke softly. "Troy...you...you are coming back to me, right? I didn't ruin everything, did I?"

"God no, no," he said desperately as he sat up, partially shocked that the thought had even crossed her mind, and partially terrified at even the thought. "You didn't ruin anything. I...if I wasn't able to come back to you I don't know what I would do...I can't even think about living like that. I swear to you I'll be back as soon as I can..."

He trailed off and he waited a moment before she spoke again, and he could hear the tears in her voice even as she tried to hide it from him. "I wish you were home. I wish I had asked you to stay."

"I wish I were home too," he responded as he brought his hand over his eyes, trying to keep himself calm. "I swear baby, I will be home as soon as I can."

"I know you will," she said before he heard her force a cheery tone to her voice. "You're going to be amazing tonight though. I'm going to be watching and cheering you on, so please, try and not take too many elbows to the head..."

He heard the door handle turn and knew it was probably his room-mate coming back and immediately sat up and rubbed at his face, silently cursing him for interrupting him. "I'll do my best. Just please don't fall asleep on the sofa again, because it's getting harder and harder for you to get up off it."

"Are you trying to call me fat, Mr Bolton?" she giggled and he smiled for what felt like the first time at the sound.

"Hey Rook, we're going to the stadium in an hour and coach wants us in the lobby in 45 minutes."

Troy waved a vague hand to acknowledge that he had heard, yet kept the phone desperately to his ear. "I'm not calling you fat, just...lacking manoeuvrability..."

"I don't think I can argue with that," she said as he heard her laugh again. "I hear that you've got company."

"Oh, that's Manny – ignore him," Troy said as he tried to grasp any reason to keep her on the phone. "How's your day been?"

"Um...long," she said after a moment. "I'm about ready for going home."

"Why don't you?"

"I have patients," she sighed and he could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

He bit down on the natural response that wanted to tell her to just go home now, to relax and forget everything else. "Just don't...overdo it, okay?"

"I promise," she responded before he vaguely heard Manny shouting something else in the background. "I should let you go get your stuff together but I'll call you after the game, okay?"

"Yeah," he said reluctantly, not wanting her to hang-up but knowing that she had to. "Just...try and rest a little, okay?"

"I will. Troy? I love you."

"Love you too," he said quietly, desperately, wishing he had said it to her in person. "I'll call you later. Bye, Gabi."

She said goodbye back and hung up and he looked at his phone, almost loathing it because of the distance it represented.

* * *

Gabriella smiled as she bid her patient out the room and waited for him to head over to the toys before she turned to his parents. "How have you found things at home?"

"He's a little better, I guess," his mom said as she looked out at him. "It's not really...I mean he's saying hello, goodnight and goodbye but that's about the beginning and end of his polite phrases..."

"We were just kinda hoping it would be quicker," the father said with a sigh. "I know it has only been a few months but..."

Gabriella nodded as she walked over to her desk. The Hegarty's were regular patients with their son Kyle and she had been working with them for a couple of months. Kyle liked things loud and messy and it was a slow process for her to teach him an easier way to express himself at the best of times, but almost impossible when her head felt like it was exploding. The scepticism of his parents to the methods she was using didn't normally bother her, but today watching each eye roll and sigh while she was trying to do her best for their son had been hard for her to take.

"What it's important to remember is that he is taking information in, it just takes a little longer for him to filter it around in his brain until it makes sense. We've been using songs with him because it can help and I know it's not easy to incorporate song into your everyday life but I think if you can fit as much in as possible you will see a little improvement. I mean it's not a miracle cure, but what we're looking for is small steps," she grabbed a couple of booklets and brought them back over to the parents. "If you imagine when you were in kindergarten and were learning your ABC's – you use the song to learn it, but eventually you don't need it because the knowledge is there."

"I just don't know if putting music to 'Kyle, please stop writing on the walls' is going to be a big help."

She bit her lip to maintain her professional persona in the face of their negativity. It was impossible to maintain development with a home environment like that. "No – it won't. Truthfully? Sometimes nothing will help but other times the distraction will make it easier for everyone to communicate. It just takes time to work out what is good for you. He seems to respond to music, so I suggest you let him use that to express himself even if it's just giving him a pot and a spoon and letting him drum on it, or making up some shakers with dried peas or giving him a comb with a sheet of paper, or something. I think when he has that outlet that he can go to, that he will show less aggravation in other circumstances that he doesn't understand." She handed over the booklets and forced a smile. "It's just a few suggestions of songs that you can sing with him at home – it's basically stuff we do here, but it might be fun for him to be able to do it at home and you guys to join in with him."

"I...sometimes it's like he can't even hear us and it's frustrating."

"I understand that," she said as she rubbed her head and sighed. "But what you have to understand is that as frustrating as it is for you, it is doubly so for him because he can't understand why you don't see things the same way he does. He is a very intelligent boy, he just has a different way of expressing himself and what we're trying to do is find a way for him to show us what he's feeling and the way we do that is creatively."

"That's not going to help him go to a normal school – being a genius isn't any use if you can't be around normal people," the dad said as he looked out at his son.

"He's autistic, not dangerous," Gabriella said lowly. "He has low social integration skills, but until people start trying to integrate with him he's never going to learn how he's supposed to act. He just needs some time and you guys need to be willing to change as much as he does. Just...give it a few more months. I've seen his notes and from what I've observed these last few months leads me and Dr Thomas to agree that there is significant progress in his social interactions. He is counting, and spelling and volunteering information and greeting people and has reduced his destructive tears so take these as signs of progress and encourage him instead of expecting him to turn a 180 so quickly."

"Six years isn't that quickly," the mom said eventually as she took the booklets and smiled. "It's just hard for us – Kalyn was so advanced at this age and Kyle is...Kyle. We'll try a little harder I guess."

"Just don't expect miracles. He's getting there."

"Okay," Mr Hegarty said as he took a step to the door. "Thank you, Ms Montez."

"Not a problem," Gabriella said as she walked them out. "I'll see you guys next week."

The family bid her farewell and she watched as they left before she shared a look with Sarah who began laughing as she looked at her.

"The fact that nothing has been destroyed after that is a sign that today is a lucky day," Sarah said with a smile as she stood up.

"Thank God, I don't think I could face the cleanup on top of the parents," Gabriella muttered as she walked over to the desk and grabbed her next file. "I think I'm going to make a big sign and post it on the wall saying that anyone who infers that their child isn't 'normal' is going to be referred to Parenting 101."

"No child is normal," Sarah said with a shrug. "None of mine were anyway."

"Exactly – especially six year olds. It's all relative – some eat paste, others keep worms as pets and others like to write on walls and make a mess. As long as they aren't being violent, they're normal. I just wonder if I should maybe start him on art next week...throwing paint might be quite good for him. I'll maybe integrate colours and sounds, see if the added stimulus is helpful," she pondered as she pursed her lips. "Can you do me a favour and get me a phone appointment with Dr Thomas and I'll see what she thinks."

"No problem," Sarah said as she made a note on her notebook as Gabriella looked down at the file to refresh her mind on what she was doing next only for the letters to start swimming in front of her causing her to groan in defeat as she rubbed her eyes. Troy was right – she really had to stop being so damn pig-headed about this. She closed her eyes to try and clear her vision, not able to make out whatever Sarah had started laughing about as she worked on taking slow, deep breaths in order to ensure she stayed upright.

Feeling things even out she kept her grip on the desk before lifting her gaze to meet the older woman's concerned one with a small smile. "Sarah – could you do me another favour and...and call down to Dr Caldwell and...and see if he can make me an appointment for either today or tomorrow?"

"Sure," she said as she kept her gaze on Gabriella. "Are you okay?"

Gabriella forced a smile on her face and nodded her head, feeling anything but okay. "Of course...of course, I'm just...a little...tired...I didn't sleep much..."

"Okay," Sarah said slowly. "Well, the Delaney's are here so...do you want them just now?"

Gabriella took a deep breath and nodded, searching for a smile to go along with the reassuring vibe she was trying to give off. Sarah nodded before walking over to let the family know they could go through while Gabriella straightened herself up and clutched the notes to her chest. When Sarah returned she smiled. "Thanks, Sarah. Can...can you bring me a glass of water when you have a minute, please?"

"Of course," she said with a frown as she looked at Gabriella. "I'll call Dr Caldwell right away. You should sit down for a minute because you really do not look well."

"I think it's the lights out here, they have really gone to my head," Gabriella said slowly as she let go of the desk and began walking gingerly towards her office.

"Ms Montez," Sarah said as she reached out and grabbed Gabriella's elbow, and for a second Gabriella was trying to work out why she was being guided over towards a chair. "Gabriella, I really think you should sit down. I'll get you some water..."

Gabriella felt her legs hit the back of the couch that patients sat on and instantly she was glad of the support. She opened her mouth to thank Sarah for it but it seemed that she didn't have the energy for doing either of those things as she allowed her eyes to close in exhaustion and all she could think was that Troy was going to be so pissed at her for this.

* * *

Troy grabbed his cell from his bag after the game and sighed as sunk his head against the wall of the hotel room. It had been a tough game and although losing was never fun, it always felt worse when you lost a game you had been winning and infinitely so when you were away from home and had to prep for a 9am flight to a place that wasn't home. He noticed he had a couple of missed calls and shook his head as he dialled Gabriella, hoping she wasn't asleep as he had to hear her voice before he went to sleep. He was a hypocrite, he knew. He wanted her to rest yet still wanted her awake which he knew didn't make sense, but the past few days hadn't made a lot of sense so he shouldn't have been that shocked. All he knew was that after the day they had had, he did not want to sleep without talking to her.

"Hi, Gabi," he said as soon as the dial tone stopped. "Did I wake you?"

"Hello, hi is that Mr Bolton? Troy, I mean?"

He stepped away from the wall at the sound of the other voice. "Who is this?"

"Right, sorry – hi, this is Sarah Leclere."

"Sarah," Troy said as he wondered why Gabriella's secretary had her cell phone at 8.30 when he knew she was supposed to leave the office no later than 5. "What's going on? Where's Gabriella?"

"Um...I was trying to call you a little earlier but I guess you were already at the stadium. Gabriella's fine so don't panic, but she's in hospital."

"What?" he asked as he went over and started shoving any of the clothes that were lying around into his bag. This was like a nightmare. He knew this was going to happen and all he could think was that something had happened and he couldn't be there. "Is she okay? She's fine right? I knew I shouldn't have left. What happened?"

"She's fine, I promise. She collapsed this afternoon and I knew she hadn't been feeling well so I didn't want to risk anything, so we thought the best thing to do was to get her checked out only her doctor wasn't in so we had to take her downstairs to the er where they ran some tests. They made the decision to admit her for observation until she can see Dr Caldwell in the morning."

Troy rubbed his forehead, his heart frozen in his chest. "Why are they keeping her in? Why can't she go home and then go back to see him if she's okay?"

"I don't have all the details because I'm not family, but she's fine I think. She wanted to call you herself but she's exhausted and had been sleeping for the past hour. She wanted to let you know that she's fine and that you aren't to worry as she'll probably get home tomorrow and she'll call you."

"Yeah sure, I'll not worry," he said as he rolled his eyes and made a quick sweep of the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. "Are you still at the hospital just now?"

"Yeah, I wanted to stay until I could talk to you because I knew she would panic if she thought you didn't know and I think that's probably the last thing she needs."

"Yeah, thank you, Sarah," Troy said sincerely, mentally working out how long it would take him to find the coach and then get to the airport. "Listen, I'm guessing that you're going home now but can you leave a note and let her know that I'm on my way?"

"I don't think she expe..."

"I don't care," he interrupted. "I'll be home as soon as I can get a flight. She's definitely okay though?"

"Yeah – she's fine, exhausted but I think that's her main problem."

"And the baby?"

"He's apparently the picture of health from what I heard."

"Okay," he exhaled a deep breath as he headed to the door. "Awesome. Right, thank you so much for this, Sarah. I know you didn't have to, but I really appreciate you staying with her."

"It's not a problem, Mr Bolton," the older woman said. "I really don't mind at all. Have a safe flight."

"Yeah," he said vaguely as he walked to the elevator, ready to let his coach know that he had to leave. "Thanks again."

They said goodbye as the elevator arrived and he immediately stepped in, one hand already dialling the number to the airport to book his flight.

* * *

He arrived at the hospital a little before 2am and went to her room to find her lying in the bed. He dropped his bag on the couch and walked over, before settling down beside her, his hand immediately stroking her soft skin. She looked so fragile laying there, her face white and her lips pale. He saw the heart monitor that was bleeping along beside her and he closed his eyes and leant his head against the bed.

They both wanted a big family more than just about anything. With all the so called differences that everyone had always insisted were a factor in their relationship, they had that one thing in common – they had hated growing up as the only child in their family so when they spoke about the future it was always about three or four kids. They wanted noise, and for fights and make ups and busy dinners and hiding lots of Christmas presents.

It had seemed so easy at the time to pick a number out of thin air and aim for that, but it was different now. Seeing his future wife lying in a hospital bed, knowing she had been suffering for months made everything different and Troy wasn't sure if he wanted to put Gabriella through this again. He would have ten kids with her if possible or practical, but he hated seeing her like this and he knew that she hid the worst of it from him. He picked up her hand and smiled when he saw the faint outline of a ring that had been drawn on with a ball point and traced it with his fingers as he pressed a kiss to her knuckles before holding it against his cheek. She hated not being able to wear her engagement ring and although she wore it around her neck, he had caught her numerous times trying to force it onto her finger only being forced to take it off again when her swollen flesh had protested. "What am I going to do with you, Gabriella?"

---

He didn't know when he fell asleep, but the next thing he was aware of was fingers running through his hair and he couldn't help but sigh in the pleasure of the feeling. He reached up to grab her hand, but his eyes opened immediately at the feel of the cannula on the back of her hand as he remembered where he was. "Gabriella, baby – how are you feeling? Are you okay? Do you need the doctor?" he pressed his lips to her hand again as he moved closer to her. "I was so worried."

She smiled lovingly at him as she brought her other hand over to his hair and trailed it down until it was resting on his cheek. "Don't be worried. That's why I didn't want you rushing home – I'm fine, just a little tired."

"Gabi," he whispered as he sat up on the side of the bed beside her, stroking her fingers with his own as he looked at her, seeing how tired and scared she looked. "I was never going to be anywhere else."

"Is your coach mad?"

"No," he smiled reassuringly. "He knows how it works – coaches do actually have families and stuff. He knows I have my priorities right and let's face it, it's not like he's losing Chris so I think the team might cope."

She frowned as she looked at him. "Stop doing that, Troy. You are a great player and very important to the team so stop underestimating yourself."

He grinned as he saw the flash of determination in her eye she always got when she was defending him. She was such an easy going person, but she was so loyal that when someone said anything about anyone close to her, she would defend them. "What are you going to do about it, Montez soon to be Bolton? You're stuck in a hospital bed."

"Maybe I'll stick you on diaper duty forever," she smiled as she looked up at him, yawning shyly before continuing. "That's roughly 18 months, multiplied by four babies which makes it six years of diapers for daddy to deal with."

He couldn't help but bite down on his lip to avoid mentioning his concerns about further children. He wasn't an idiot, he knew he couldn't avoid talking to her about it forever, but there was no way he was talking about it when she was in hospital and hormonal and just needing reassurance. It could wait until she was stronger and he had a better idea of what was going on and how he really felt instead of his automatic emotional response. It was easy to be swept away in his primal instinct to protect her from anything that would hurt her. "We'll see about that."

They sat in silence for a moment before she sighed and looked at him. "Is this where you say 'I told you so'?"

He shook his head. "Not just now, I might keep it until I get you home though."

She gave a small smile as he pressed a kiss to her hand. "I didn't want to be right. I wanted to be over-reacting, over-protective and annoying."

"I know," she sighed as she laced their fingers together. "I really am sorry about telling you to go, Troy. I never want you to go..."

"I know," he said as he moved closer to her. "I'm sorry too, but none of that matters, okay? Just...how are you feeling?"

"My head doesn't hurt anymore," she said with a tired smile. "It was a bit of a combination of everything that was causing it. I was just so tired yesterday..."

"I know," he said as he moved a little closer to her only for her to move over so he could sit beside her, and immediately she placed her head on his shoulder as he placed a kiss to her hair. "It'll be okay now though."

"One of the doctors said that I probably won't be allowed to go back to work and that I might have to stay in bed. I'm...I don't think I'm going to be able to go to the rookie game," she whispered as she looked down and started playing with her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm the worst fiancée in the world..."

"The rookie game?" he laughed as he wrapped his arm tighter around her. "You honestly think I give a damn about the rookie game?"

"I..." she looked dumbstruck at his statement as she shook her head. "It's your first All Star game!"

"I don't care."

"Troy," she said as she looked at him, tears streaming down her face. "Please don't say that. You've worked so hard and you deserve this so much and I want you to be happy and look forward to it. The doctor...the doctor said that if things settle down in the next couple of weeks, I might be allowed to drive there but..."

"Gabriella," he whispered as he leant his head into hers, wiping the tears away with his free hand. "I honestly don't care. If I'm good enough there will be other games that you and our son will go to with me, but if not – I'll get over it. It's an exhibition – nothing else."

"An exhibition that only the best players in the league go to," she said as she shook her head.

"No, an exhibition that the rookies who aren't good enough to make the actual All Star game go to."

"You are good enough for that," she maintained as she looked at him before dropping her head to his shoulder again. "I just want to support you properly instead of watching on TV and I know you'll be upset but...."

"Gabriella!" he interrupted again. For such a smart girl she was so dense sometimes. How hard was it for her to understand how it worked? He knew there was no way that she would put her job before him, so why did she think it would be any different in reverse? Because he played sports and people knew his name? It didn't work like that. "Just...let me decide whether I'm upset or not, okay?"

"Yeah, but..."

"But nothing. It's a job," he said softly as he stroked her cheek. "My job and if I had a chance of playing in that game or spending the week with you, you win – every time."

He waited to see if she was going to argue with him, but instead she leant her head back against his chest and mumbled a small 'okay' as she clutched him tight. They just sat like that for a while as he stroked her hair and she alternated between stroking his knuckles and rubbing his stomach. It was strange in a way that she was laying in a hospital bed yet he actually felt less worried than he had in weeks, but he figured the reason for that was that the 'what if?' scenario had happened and she was still there. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if she hadn't been on her own when she collapsed, but even the fleeting thought caused him to clutch her tighter and press another kiss to her head, just breathing in her scent and the feel of her warm body, knowing she was okay.

They were only knocked out of their moment when the door opened and Troy saw Dr Caldwell walk in clutching a chart in his hand as he looked at them both with an amused roll of his grey eyes. "I was considering having a pool with the nurses to see if you would be kitted up for the Washington game tomorrow, Mr Bolton..."

"Doubt it," he said as he reached out a hand to shake the doctor's hand.

"Good, because I think it's only fair that the pair of you receive the lecture," the doctor said as Gabriella sat up and shook the doctor's hand as well. "Imagine my surprise when I'm on my way to dinner with my wife when I get a call from my colleagues telling me that my patient had collapsed at work and was presenting with a blood pressure of 160/100 when I seem to remember, specifically mentioning to both her and her fiancé that any changes to how she was feeling were to be reported to me immediately just in case that happened. In fact, I seem to remember giving both of them my card with not only my work number, but also my home and cell numbers just in case I couldn't be reached in office hours. Why then, do you think that they both would purposefully ignore my advice?"

He felt Gabriella flinch as she looked down and grasped his hand and he considered explaining to the doctor that he had been trying to get her to go to the doctor for days but he knew that was not the right tact.

"It's not Troy's fault," she said slowly. "He wanted me to go but I..."

"You what?"

"I thought it was just dehydration," she said with a small voice. "I thought...I felt like a hypochondriac running to the doctor all the time and I...I knew everyone would over-react and I...I just wanted to try a few more days and see if it went okay."

Troy almost joined Dr Caldwell when he rolled his eyes and sat down on the bottom of the bed to look at them both. "And do you think it went okay?"

"No," she said as she looked down, looking every inch the chastised little girl and although Troy was glad that she had learned her lesson, he didn't want her to feel worse than she already did.

"We were both a little to blame," he said as he stroked her fingers. "I should have made sure but we just thought it could wait until we saw you tomorrow."

"You are both idiots then," the doctor said as he ran a hand over his shaved head. "You know, I believe I made it very clear what the consequences could be if you didn't take this seriously right at the beginning."

"I know, and I tried to get an appointment yesterday before I fainted..."

"The damage was done before yesterday," the doctor said with a shake of his head. "I mean the symptoms have clearly been worsening for weeks yet the first I hear about it is when you come into the er unconscious?"

"She's going to be okay though, right? I mean a little rest and some pills and...she's fine?" Troy asked, his brow furrowing at the thought.

"And the baby? He's okay?"

"The baby is fine," Dr Caldwell said as he looked at them. "He's strong and healthy and kicking like a horse which is very good news as I am sure you are aware of what could have happened?"

"Yes," she said softly. "I didn't mean to endanger him I just..."

"Didn't think," the doctor said with a sigh.

"What about Gabriella?" Troy asked again, a little more insistent. "She's good, right?"

"She's fine, although you were extremely lucky, Ms Montez," the doctor said slowly, emphasising the extremely which caused Troy's breath to catch as he gripped Gabriella tighter as he kept his gaze on the doctor. "We are, from this moment conceding defeat. You are officially on bed rest for the remainder of your pregnancy. There will be no arguments or exceptions. You will be monitored weekly, and if there is no improvement we will have to start considering hospitalisation and, as a last resort, inducing the baby."

"It's...I feel fine now," she said softly. "Just a little tired but my headache is gone."

"I'm sorry, but it's not up for debate," Dr Caldwell insisted as he looked down at the chart. "I will let your department know that you're done with work and that if you even step foot through that door you are to be sent down here to sit on this bed until that baby is ready to be born."

"She won't," Troy promised as he looked at her, silently telling her that this was not for discussion. "She will rest and stay healthy. She...we...learned our lesson, we promise, right?"

Gabriella nodded as she looked at him, and he brought his hand up to wipe her tearstained cheek. "We'll be okay, baby."

"Good," Dr Caldwell said with a smile. "Okay then, so...I think I want to keep you in until the end of the week..."

"No, I'm fine, please," Gabriella pleaded as she ripped her gaze away from Troy's to look at the doctor. "Please – I just want to go home. I swear I will rest and do everything you want me to do, but I can do that at home..."

"I know that, but I really think it's for the best for the next couple of days. I really want to monitor you and make sure everything is okay and we're going to start you on a drip of Magnesium Sulphate which will be administered over the next couple of days."

He saw Gabriella look down in defeat as he turned to the doctor in confusion. "I don't get it? What's that for?"

"We were concerned about the possibility of her slipping into a seizure when she was brought in which, as you know is a sign of eclampsia. Needless to say, everyone wants to avoid that developing so the Magnesium Sulphate is basically a drug which should greatly reduce the risks of that happening. It actually has a great rate of success in cases such as this and I think we're all in agreement that we want to minimise the chances of anything else happening as much as possible."

Troy tried to get his head around the information he was receiving and he was vaguely aware that his grip on Gabriella's hand had tightened even more but he couldn't acknowledge that at that moment. "Yeah, we definitely want to stop that from happening."

He looked down to see Gabriella nodding, her gaze still down. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and hold her until she felt better, but he knew the information was important and he was trying to stay focused on one job at a time and his first was to make sure she was going to be okay. "That's it though, right? I mean she'll stay on bed-rest and do everything else but after the baby's born she'll be okay?"

Dr Caldwell smiled as he stood up. "No one can see the future, clearly but as long as we keep on top of things now, I see no reason why not. We just have to be careful."

"Okay," she said with a nod of her head as she raised her gaze to look at the doctor, almost sounding convincing as she took a deep breath and Troy couldn't help but smile at the determination that flashed through her eyes in that minute. "Okay – so I stay here for two days, have the medication and then I can go home?"

The doctor nodded before he looked up at Troy. "Yeah – and Mr Three Pointer gets to wait on you hand and foot for the next couple of months."

"I think I can handle it," he said as he looked at Gabriella and smiled. "Sharpay and Chad are coming next week so they'll be there to help out..."

"And I'll get Lisa and Sarah to pick up groceries when you're gone," she added before turning back to the doctor. "Bed rest doesn't actually mean bed rest – I can still clean up and make dinner and stuff, right?"

Troy flinched when he heard the doctor's laughter and knew that she wasn't getting the answer she wanted before he even spoke.

"Believe it or not, the phrase isn't misleading. You are, when you are released, restricted to your bed, or your sofa, or any other seating surface where you can put your feet up. You may shower and walk small distances from room to room but you may not be on your feet for any length of time, you may not exercise, you may not, until your pressure is down significantly, have any sort of sexual relations, you may not do household chores, you may not go shopping and, lastly, you may not do any form of lifting. If it is heavier than a book or a cup then you should not be lifting it."

"You aren't serious?"

"Deadly. It could be worse – it could get to a stage where you have to stay in bed and lie in a certain position until the baby is born."

Troy actually laughed at the horror-struck expression on Gabriella's face, causing her to turn to him in despair. "You find it funny now but just wait until you have to cook every night."

"I know a lot of good restaurants in town," he said with a smile as he brought her hand to his lips. "Don't worry, I'll look after you."

She smiled at him and he brought his other hand up to her cheek and stroked it softly, trying to convey how serious that statement was.

A soft cough caused both of them to blush as Dr Caldwell stood and looked at them both pointedly. "I'm going to take that as my cue to leave but I will be back in a few hours. Your job is to get some breakfast and then rest. I'll send a nurse in to set up your drip and then it's just a matter of wait and see, okay? If...by some miracle we can get you down to better level in the next few days I will look over your list of restrictions, okay?"

They both nodded as Troy stood and offered his hand to the doctor again who shook it. "Thanks so much, Doctor. Really – thank you for looking after them."

"I would say it's my pleasure, but I would much rather have not seen either of you until our pre-arranged appointment tomorrow but...better I got you in this state than in anything worse." He turned to look at Gabriella. "You – rest. If I come back and find you too busy talking to your fiancé then I will ban him from visiting unless it's within visiting hours, understood?"

"I understand," she blushed. "Thank you, Dr Caldwell. I'm sorry for...stupidity, I guess."

"You don't need to apologise to me because you're the one who is going to be stuck in the bed for the next two months," he said as he went to the door. "I'll see you guys later. Mr Bolton? Great game last night...well, in the first half anyway."

Before he got a chance at saying anything the doctor had swept out the room leaving them alone. Troy shook his head as he turned round, the weight of worry lifted off his shoulders as he leant in and kissed her forehead as he sat back down. "You okay?"

"Relieved," she admitted before looking at him. "I'm sor..."

"No more apologies," he silenced her with a kiss. "It doesn't matter because it's done now and you're okay, our soccer player is okay and that's all I care about."

"I was thinking that since I'm in here for the next couple of days..."

"No," he said as he leant back on the bed and pulled her over to lie against him again. "I'm not going to Washington."

"I don't..."

"No," he said simply as he turned to look at her. "I'll go home in a little while and get you some stuff, and call our parents and friends as a head's up, but I am not going anywhere until you're out and I know that you're okay. No arguments."

She nodded and closed her eyes as she leant back into his embrace. "I love you. Thank you for being here."

He sighed as he closed his own eyes, holding her close, revelling in the warm breath against his skin letting him know she was there, never needing anything but that. "I wouldn't be anywhere else."


	7. Baby Talk

_Author's Note – I am so sorry this has taken so long. I've had trouble focusing on it because in my head Troy and Gabriella should be running around wearing Santa hats and scowering the room for mistletoe and clearly my timing of this fic sucks because Christmas happened way too early in it. Anyway, apologies for the delay but thank you so much for all the reviews – it really means a lot. I'm probably not going to get this updated until after the holidays, simply because of the Santa hat and mistletoe problem I mentioned before so I hope you all have a great holiday. Thanks for reading._

* * *

Troy had known Chad Danforth since he was three years old and in the near 20 years that had followed they had shared almost everything together. Troy had known when Chad had got his first crush, and Chad was the first person that Troy had spoke to when he realised he wanted to marry Gabriella. Despite the distance that their colleges had put between them their friendship had remained solid but, for whatever reason, at that particular moment in time, Troy was having difficulty remembering why that was the case. Perhaps it was his stress over Gabriella's health, or the fact that he was travelling away from her in less than twenty hours for the first time since she had been admitted into hospital ten days previous, or maybe even it had something to do with the fact that Chad and Sharpay couldn't be in the same room for an hour without yelling about something, but for whatever reason Troy was having an extremely difficult time in remembering why he had thought it would be a good idea to let the couple stay with them.

"Troy, dude – what the hell are we doing shopping?"

Troy looked up to see Chad standing there looking uncomfortable as the pair of them stood in the dairy aisle. "We need food."

"That's what the internet is for," Chad muttered as he threw a carton of chocolate milk into the cart. "You're a basketball player; just get someone to shop for you."

"Yeah – like that's going to happen. Gabi can't shop at the moment, and she has this weird issue about buying groceries online when we can do it ourselves," Troy said with a shrug. It was one of her quirks – she had no issue ordering clothes, electrical goods, games, DVD's or anything else online, but she had a weird aversion to having someone else go around a store picking out food for them as though she were too good to do that sort of stuff herself. "She was going to order them online while she's on bed rest, but I know she'll cheat once I leave tomorrow so I said I would collect some stuff on my way home which is why I'm shopping. It's kinda what you do when you live with someone. You should get used to it before you and Sharpay move in together."

Chad shot him an unimpressed look before putting in a carton of eggs.

"You are way too domesticated," he muttered. "Seriously – just let her shop away online. It's not like she's going to know the difference."

"You know, you didn't have to come," Troy said as he put cheese and yoghurt into the cart before looking back to the list he had in his hand.

"I wanted to check out your training. You know, I don't know why you were complaining so much to begin with. I think I could handle a couple of hours practice in the morning and the rest of the day to myself..."

"We got away early because we have an away game tomorrow."

"All the more reason why you shouldn't be stuck in the grocery store."

"I have to get some stuff for dinner anyway."

Chad rolled his eyes and Troy silently counted to ten. He loved that his best friend had came to visit, but to be honest, it was like carting an eight year old around with him at times. The only thing that made it slightly better was the knowledge that while he was amusing Chad, Gabriella was stuck at home being 'looked after' by Sharpay.

"So you cook now?"

"I'm learning to cook now," Troy corrected as he walked over to grab some cereal. "It's a work in progress."

"What does Gabs think?"

Troy smiled as he thought about his attempts at cooking and her reaction. No matter the meal, she always smiled and said it was great and although he knew there was a couple of times it was less than great, she never mentioned it. "She appreciates the effort."

"Oh man, there goes the grin," Chad sighed as he punched Troy's arm. "You are so whipped."

Troy came out of his thoughts to glare at Chad. "Shut up."

"Nah," Chad said with a smirk. "Anyway, I don't get why you're shopping since you're leaving Gabs in mine and the Ice Queen's care tomorrow. I promise we won't let her starve but you do realise that neither of us can cook, right?"

Troy's brow furrowed as he stalked away from Chad. After coming home from Chicago, and not going to Washington he had went in to talk with his coach and the team's GM to explain that he wouldn't be able to travel as much. The team were sympathetic to a degree but not going to all away games was not an option despite his pleas so they had come up with the agreement that he couldn't be more than three hours away from home and that he wouldn't be gone for more than two days at a time. It wasn't ideal, but as Gabriella had tried to convince him that he shouldn't be restricting his season on her account, it had been a compromise that he had reluctantly accepted but it didn't mean he particularly liked it.

"You know, I don't know why you don't just drive Gabriella to Albuquerque and we'll look after her there. It's not like she'll ever be alone, and your mom would love having her around the house, and it's not like she had work..."

"I can't leave here during the season," Troy said as he stopped, wondering why that hadn't occurred to him before he suggested it. "Obviously."

"You could come back at weekends when you have time off..." Chad said as though it were obvious.

"You mean...Gabriella living in Albuquerque, and me living here? That's...that's like 1200 miles away."

"Yeah," Chad said slowly. "I mean...I don't know the exact mileage but..."

"It's a terrible idea. The worst idea," Troy said resolutely. He realised, sadly that there was a degree of practicality in the idea of her going to live with his parents but no part of him wanted to even contemplate her living in a different state from him. She would hate it, he would hate it and as selfish as it was, and he knew it was unbelievably selfish, he wasn't even going to contemplate the prospect of it.

"Why? It makes sense – she's just sitting around the house bored so if she had more company..."

"She has company – _I'm_ company," Troy said as he randomly started firing stuff into his cart. "We have friends here and her doctor's here and...and it's a terrible idea. When are you and Sharpay leaving?"

"What, I mention a perfectly viable solution and you get all prissy?" Chad laughed as he caught up. "No offence – but it's supposed to be Gabriella that is hormonal and bitchy, not you."

Troy was about to respond when Chad's cell phone went off for what felt like the tenth time in the last hour as Chad answered it, and rolled his eyes as he responded before turning to Troy with a shrug. "You're in luck because the Ice Queen is bored babysitting so is demanding I meet her down-town."

"Okay, bye then," Troy said a little too happily as he began walking away. "If you guys want to stay out and have dinner out then that's a gre..."

"Nah, we won't be too long," Chad said with a smirk. "Maybe I'll suggest to Gabriella about coming to Albuquerque since she always was the brains out of you two. See ya later, Hoops!"

Troy watched his friend go and growled as he headed straight to the cashier – not even caring if he had got everything he needed to. If Gabriella's morning with Sharpay had been anything like his morning with Chad, then she was probably in need of relaxing as he was. With that thought he made a sharp turn to get to the Ice Cream aisle and took a quick scan through until he found one that involved peaches and biscuit and put it in the cart before heading back to pay for his goods.

* * *

Gabriella was bored.

She had always operated under her grandmother's saying that only boring people got bored in life, and as a result had always found some way to amuse herself but, as she sat on the sofa with a stack of finished books on one side of her and a muted talk show on TV in front of her, she couldn't help but crave for some sort of entertainment. For a solid week, she had been the perfect patient. She had read books, scowered the internet, finished reports and watched movies that she hadn't had time to watch since they had moved out here. She had been so responsible and law-abiding that even Troy had been impressed and his efforts at looking after her had gone without a hitch as a result. She knew he had been suspicious of her to begin with and had taken to coming home from training early to make doubly sure that she was doing everything she said she was, yet regardless of when he went home he would find her following the doctor's orders to the letter.

It had all seemed so simple so that when they went to see Dr Caldwell a week later to find that no, her blood pressure hadn't gone down, and yes, the same restrictions were still in place that it had kinda destroyed her soul a little. Seven days of constant reading and movie watching was one thing, but two months?

She sunk her head back against the arm rest. She had already showered, which was about the limit for her exercise for the day and it was so bad that she was contemplating 'accidentally' dropping her smoothie over her own head so she had an excuse to go shower again, just for something to do. She looked at her watch to see that Troy wasn't due in for another few hours from training, and Sharpay had left out of sheer boredom to go and find Chad which meant that she was on her own. With nothing to do.

Again.

She stuck her foot out in front of her and knocked the stack of books off the table, giving a mischievous smile as she did so before bending down to pick them up (one at a time so as not to violate the doctor's instructions) and grinning as she sat them back up. Of course, now that she had picked them up, it would be irresponsible to just leave them sitting somewhere where she could knock them down again...

She stood and grabbed the books before taking it to the bedroom, making sure to sit once she got there so she was being responsible before quickly going back to the front of the house and biting her lip as she looked around for something else to do that wouldn't get her in trouble. As she contemplated accidentally knocking over the cereal box that Troy had left sitting out, she quickly reminded herself that she had to behave so instead she went over to the TV and was about to switch it off when she saw the game console sitting there. She paused as she looked at it, before smirking as she leant down for the controller. Troy could spend hours playing it at a time so it had to be good for something, so if it were good enough for him...

* * *

"Dammit Yoshi, stop knocking me off the edge!"

Troy bit back a laugh as he opened the front door and walked in towards the lounge to find his fiancée sat there with a Mario Kart wheel in her hands, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, one of his shirts on with a pair of shorts and her lip pressed between her teeth as she tilted her body to the side as her eyes concentrated on the screen. He watched as she didn't even acknowledge the door, realising that he hadn't even heard him come in so he went into the kitchen and put the groceries away before he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder from behind her and pressed a kiss to her neck, causing her to squeak in shock as she immediately paused her game and turned around to grin at him bashfully. "Troy! You're home early!"

"Clearly," he chuckled as he ran his fingers over her cheek. "When did you start playing the Wii?"

"I was bored," she admitted. "Turns out that I'm kinda good at it although I think Yoshi has it in for me. I'll show you later and you'll see," she said with a grin as she tugged at his hand. "It's a lot of fun and kinda helps me to expend some excess energy."

"I don't know," he teased as he leant down again. "Expending excess energy sounds awfully energetic and aren't you supposed to be relaxing?"

"If you're going to take my game off me, then you're going to have to find something to entertain me. Maybe we could relax together," she bit her lip seductively and looked up at him, and somewhere in the back of his mind a small, annoying voice reminded him that until her blood pressure was better, his thoughts had to remain innocent around her which was hard as hell when she was looking at him like that. He didn't know if she was doing it deliberately, but every so often she would look at him a certain way, or talk a certain way, or drop her hand a little too low when they were lying together and he would almost forget that he could look but not touch for the next couple of months. It didn't help that the rest had made her look healthier and that she continually mentioned that they hadn't officially 'made up' from their argument a couple of weeks previous but he was determined that while the pregnancy seemed to be awakening all of Gabriella's latent rebellious spirit, he would remain completely responsible.

Even if it killed him, which it felt like it was doing.

"Well, why don't you pick a film out and we can watch it after lunch?"

He didn't miss the way her brow furrowed and her lips came suspiciously close to pouting as she turned more fully round to look at him, her fingers trailing over his knuckles slowly. "How about we don't watch a film and do something else? Something a little more...fun."

He closed his eyes. She was trying to kill him. "Umm...how about...how about we...play Mario Kart?"

She let out a low moan of protest as she dropped her head against the sofa before looking up again. "I guess that's about all I can get," she said with a sigh as she made to turn around, but before she did she leant down and pressed a kiss to his hand that was clutching the back of the sofa and smiled sheepishly at him. "I guess I still love you."

He couldn't help but laugh as he leant down and pressed his lips to her head and moved his face down until he was level with her ear as his arms wrapped around her. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd rather be doing other things with you as well. But just a few more months," he said as he pressed a kiss to her cheek as she tilted her head back slightly and closed her eyes.

"I know," she responded as he somehow found his lips travelling down towards her jaw, and against her neck. "I'm just...frustrated..."

"You and me both," he murmured against her skin, knowing it was a bad idea but not finding the energy to care.

"Not just like that," she giggled as she pulled away. "Taylor thinks this will be good for us..."

"Taylor's an idiot," he whispered against her skin, one hand moving her hair to the side and the other running up and down her arm.

"She thinks we should wait until the wedding now."

Troy lifted his head and looked at her, his responsible and mature thinking evaporating as he swung himself around to sit on the sofa beside her, not really noting her small moan of displeasure at his absence. "But that's _months_ away."

"I know," she giggled as she shook her head before leaning in and laying her head against his shoulder. "I told her it was a terrible idea."

"It is," he agreed as he kissed her head, his arms twisting around her. "How are you feeling?"

"Bored," she murmured as she pressed her lips to his chest. "I want to go out."

"You can go into the garden," he said softly, twisting her ponytail around his fingers. "Not in the hammock though because...you know, manoeuvrability issues..."

He could feel her giggles against his chest as she lifted her gaze up to look at him through her eyes lashes. "At least I have the excuse of being pregnant unlike some people."

"I..."

His speech in defence of himself was cut off when they heard the front door open and the always present bickering that accompanied their house guests. He dropped his head to her shoulder and groaned. "They were supposed to be shopping so we could have some peace and quiet. Why did we tell them they could stay here?"

"Because you wanted me to have a babysitter while you were away," she said as she laced her hand with his. "Be nice, they're our friends."

"They're a pain in the a..."

Troy was cut off by the loud voice coming from behind them and sighed - it was just impossible to escape their drama.

"What part of bed rest equates to going to see a stage version of Moulin Rouge?"

Troy lifted his head at the sound of his best friend's voice as Gabriella buried closer into his chest, using the remote to turn the TV off as she did so. "Gabriella isn't allowed to go to a theatre just now," he called as she gave a small groan of annoyance against him, pinching his side slightly and he stuck his tongue out at her in response as he looked at her with a smirk. "She's on bed-rest."

"I can hire a booth – she can put her feet up. Grayson Fontaine is playing Christian!" Sharpay said as she looked at him like he was insane. Troy blinked as he looked at Gabriella, and then Chad as he shrugged his shoulders, showing his incomprehension about why that was important. "Grayson Fontaine! He...he's gorgeous and he played the Fyero in the West End before coming back over here to play Marius and Tony in various productions. He won a Tony!"

"If he's so good, why is he slumming it here? Why isn't he in New York or London or...I don't know, somewhere else that pathetic theatre guys hang out with other pathetic theatre guys?" Chad asked as he looked at the blonde in annoyance.

"He is not 'slumming it' – he's touring! It's what professional stage performers do," Sharpay huffed indignantly as she threw her purse down on the floor. "He is a star and we are going to meet him and Gabriella is going to use her connections with Troy and introduce me to him, Goddamnit!"

"I don't have any connections," Gabriella said as she lifted her head. "Really."

"Please," Sharpay rolled her eyes. "You're dating –"

"Engaged to," both Troy and Gabriella corrected at the same time causing Chad to snicker and Sharpay's eyes to narrow as she continued louder.

"DATING one of New Orleans young sporting sensations. You call up the theatre, drop a name, mention how much you love Grayson and that will be that! You won't regret it – he is very handsome and charming and I'm sure won't care that you are the size of a house and have been knocked up by some other guy considering your sole job is to introduce him to me."

"Sharpay," Gabriella began with a small sigh. "It sounds amazing, but I...kinda have to...do the whole bed rest thing just now. Even if I could go, I honestly don't think that it would work out that way."

Sharpay just looked at her in shock. "You are genuinely stuck in here all week? I thought you might only be pretending until Troy left."

"Sadly, I am stuck here for the foreseeable, even after Troy's gone," she muttered as she looked at Sharpay and then to Chad with a smile. "You guys don't have to be though. You guys can go out and have fun and..."

"Cool, 'cause I got LSU tickets for Thursd..."

Troy's growl cut Chad's statement off as his friend raised his hands in surrender. The whole point of them staying here for the week was supposed to be so they could be here when Troy was gone, not so they could wait until he left to start planning night time outings and trying to convince Gabriella to break her bed rest.

"So, let me see if I get this straight – you guys came to visit us, so you could go out and watch basketball and a show?"

"Not solely that," Chad said defensively, "We wanted to make sure everything was okay. Sharpay wanted to scope out your house, I wanted to see the guys on your team, and we wanted to see what Gabs mood swings were like in person..."

Chad's voice was joking but Troy barely registered it before Gabriella began stroking his hand as a sign of calming him down. "Its fine, guys – I can go a night on my own," she giggled before turning to Troy with a smile. "I'd just be watching you on TV anyway..."

"Or sleeping?"

"Or sleeping," she conceded reluctantly, and he couldn't help but grin at how annoyed she looked to make that concession. He was, she frequently told him, taking an almost perverse delight in her plight and although that wasn't true, he had to admit that her kittenish temper at not being allowed to do things was extremely amusing to him.

"Whatever," Sharpay said as she sunk down on the chair, her arms folded as she glared at Chad. "So, can we go out for lunch or does bed rest mean we're stuck in here to eat as well?"

Troy looked at Gabriella who was biting her own lip before she forced a smile on her face as she turned to Sharpay. "I'm not allowed to go out, but you and Chad should both go for lunch. There is this amazing restaurant not far from the arena..."

"Yeah, they charge you $50 for dessert so all the famous people go there to eat to avoid everyone else," Troy added as he felt Gabriella smirk beside him. They both knew that although the restaurant was ridiculously over-priced, the closest they got to famous stars in it was the film posters it had on the wall by the bar.

"I think Brad and Angelina went there once, didn't they?" Gabriella asked as she looked at Troy and immediately Sharpay stood and grinned as she tossed her hair.

"Okay, I guess we can check it out and let the two of you get back to your...whatever you were doing."

"They are just trying to get rid of us so they can make googly eyes at each other without us cramping their style," Chad said and Troy watched Gabriella blush at the truth in the statement as he tried to remain inconspicuous. "Tell the truth – is that a restaurant?"

Troy sighed and looked over at them. "Yes...no," he muttered as he looked down. "It's just...I leave at like 3am and..."

"And you don't want us cramping your style," Chad nodded with a wink towards Sharpay. "I don't know why you need to be alone for that considering you two are on a strict 'hands above the covers' first base kinda level just now."

Gabriella gasped and looked up, her cheeks flaming as Troy glared at his friend who was currently snickering with Sharpay near the door.

"Oh don't look so scandalised – the basketball by the door when you always told me that you don't play at home, the extremely early morning and late night runs that you've been going on..."

"The lip biting that Gabriella does when she's checking you out, the A4 scrawl on the message board saying 'look but don't touch until...' with various doctor's appointments scored off it complete with sad faces," Sharpay continued causing both Troy and Gabriella to shrink down further in embarrassment. "Whatever – we'll let you guys regress to your junior year selves while we leave you alone."

"No way, Blondie – why should we? They aren't being very gracious hosts...they should be entertaining us."

"They are entertaining us – their efforts at trying to kick us out without actually kicking us out is very amusing, now move."

Troy rolled his eyes as he let the mini-argument air out behind him as he leant close to Gabriella and let her engage him in a thumb war while they tried their best to ignore the various insults that were flying behind them. He frowned as Gabriella pinned his finger triumphantly before he immediately retaliated causing her to gasp in indignation as he refused to release her as he leant forward and was about to kiss her when they were interrupted by a loud groan and a triumphant shriek from Sharpay who, after yelling a loud goodbye to Troy and Gabriella waltzed out the door followed by a groaning Chad who was muttering expletives in Troy's direction. As the door finally closed Troy turned to Gabriella who burst out laughing as she looked at him.

"I hope you're pleased you're leaving me alone with them."

He groaned as he shook his head and let it fall back as she snuggled closer, pressing her lips closer to his throat. "I know – you're supposed to be stress free and they bring nothing but stress."

"They can't be like that all the time," she said as she pulled back and nudged him. "Don't worry."

"Baby, I think I deserve some degree of body contact after that," he whined as he tried to bring her back to him, only for her to smirk wickedly as she shook her head. "Why not?"

"They might come back and I don't want them adding that onto their list of teasing subjects while you're away," she said with a slow smile. "Course, I'm supposed to be on 'bed rest' so, I think I'm going to...you know, rest on the bed. If you can find your way in there then I suppose...body contact might be forthcoming..."

He watched as she got off the couch (which admittedly wasn't the most elegant sight he had ever seen) and somehow managed to defy logic and almost strutted to their room. He paused, he knew what she was doing and he was torn between being the dutiful, well behaved responsible fiancé and the admittedly frustrated fiancé of an extremely attractive woman who was desperately trying to tempt him. He weighed things up in his mind and, deciding that he could behave himself even if she couldn't he stood up, squared his shoulders and smirked to himself as he mentally congratulated himself on his determination.

He walked to the room, determined to show his resolve only to walk in to find her actually lying down on the bed, with her eyes fluttering closed. When she saw him come in she smiled softly as she patted the bed beside her and he almost laughed as he blushed at the fact that the girl he was convinced was actually trying to seduce him, genuinely was intending for the pair of them to solely cuddle up and rest together in private. He shook his head and pulled off his shirt as he sunk down on the bed beside her and immediately she nestled into his embrace as she wrapped her arms around his waist with a happy sigh.

He stiffened slightly as she pressed her lips to his chest and he could feel her sigh as she looked up at him. "I know we're not allowed to do anything, Troy," she said softly as she reached up and touched his face. "But I miss just being close to you, so unless it's too difficult for you, I promise I'm not trying to be a bad patient but 'look but don't touch' really isn't working for me."

He reached over and pulled her back, letting his hand run up and down her back as he sighed. "I know..." he chuckled before holding her tighter. "I just thought...I was all ready to prove how men aren't the ones with the one track mind and I come in here to find that, actually, I do have a one-track mind. You were supposed to be trying to seduce me so I could be all gallant and refuse..."

She giggled as she sat up and grinned at him, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Me being seductive? Really?"

"Yeah," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which to him it was. She never quite understood the power she had over him. "You..." he blushed slightly as he brought his fingers up to tangle in her hair. "You sometimes make things like 'turn off the lights' and 'do you like the chicken' sound like an invitation to spend days locked up with you in bed so...yeah, I personally find you pretty seductive."

He watched as he eyes took on a mischievous look and he could almost see her brain working before she blushed slightly and he immediately got curious as to what she was thinking about but, before he could ask she leant down to him, kissing him softly again as she linked their hands. "Good to know."

"Why?"

"Because that note isn't going to be on the board forever," she giggled and snuggled back down to his embrace and he could feel her broad smile against his skin as her warm breath teased him. he could only chuckle at the situation he had managed to get himself in but, as he allowed his hand to trail under her shirt and his eyes to close, not needing anything more from her to be completely content in that moment that what he had right then.

* * *

Gabriella had sent Chad and Troy out to have fun, leaving her and Sharpay at home as they sat watching Moulin Rouge on DVD. It had been a compromise that Gabriella had made in order to avoid Sharpay's ire about Gabriella not making the stage show, and Gabriella had to admit that she was having fun. "I can't believe how much you had to twist Troy's arm to get him to leave. That boy is more whipped than he was before."

Gabriella smiled as she rubbed her stomach, before shaking her head. "He's not whipped."

"Hey, don't complain. I could do with mine being a bit more whipped," Sharpay muttered lowly. "It's not a bad thing that he doesn't want to leave you."

"I just don't want him to resent me," Gabriella said as she grabbed a slice of mango and dipped it into the jar of nutella that was sitting beside her. "If that means I have to make him go out then I can handle that."

"See, if I made Chad go out I probably wouldn't see him in three days," Sharpay said with a shrug. "At least you know yours wants to come home. God, what I would do to be Satine in that scene...Christian wouldn't be allowed out of my bed for a week."

Gabriella lifted her gaze to look at the blonde. "Is everything okay with you and Chad?"

Sharpay scoffed and Gabriella recognised the usual dismissing body language that she always put on when she spoke about the relationship or whatever it was that she had with Chad. "He's still an idiot so yeah things are okay."

Gabriella giggled as she turned back to the screen. "He's crazy about you."

"Yeah, okay then," Sharpay rolled her eyes. "He's crazy, not a whole lot else."

Gabriella knew that this wasn't a conversation that she didn't want to have yet so she watched the screen for a while until Sharpay spoke again. "So...you got everything in for the baby?"

Gabriella spun around and grinned as she nodded. "We just need to get the crib, the stroller and the car seat but we have the stroller and the car seat ordered for collection and Troy is going to pick out a crib after the baby is born but yeah, we have pretty much everything in."

"Cool, you'll have to show me before we leave..."

That was all it took for Gabriella before she grabbed Sharpay's arm and, ignoring the blonde's howls of protest at leaving the movie began dragging her towards the nursery. It didn't matter how many times she showed off the room, she never got sick of it. She and Troy had put a lot of work into it and she couldn't wait for it to be complete.

"You really do waddle now, don't you?" Sharpay said as they went in the room.

She chose to ignore her friend as she went to tiny closet and opened it up to show Sharpay the little row of baby outfits that were hanging there. "Awww – those are so adorable!"

Gabriella giggled and nodded before she reached down and pulled open a drawer to show a pair of booties and little socks. "I know! There are so many cute ones that we've tried to stop because he's going to grow so quickly but..." Gabriella walked over to another drawer and opened it up to pull out a small pair of sneakers and handed them to Sharpay. "Troy found them in Phoenix and bought them – look at the side!"

"They...have a space on them?"

"Yeah, they come with these transfers that you put on to put your name on it. We were going to just put Bolton on, but we're waiting to see what first name we pick beforehand."

Sharpay just looked and sighed. "Why can't you be having a girl? This would be so much better if we were looking through a Suri Cruise style child's closet. Instead I'm looking at an almost carbon copy of Boi's wardrobe."

Gabriella merely shook her head. She would get her girl one day, but for now she was just delighted to have a little boy – she could almost picture him already and she wouldn't change him for any little girl in the world. She walked over and pulled out a box before walking over to the sofa at the back of the room and waited on Sharpay to join her.

"What have you got there?"

She turned to find Sharpay looking at her suspiciously and she simply clutched the items closer, the broad smile on her face never wavering as she shook her head. "You can't tell Chad because he'll tell Troy."

"Oh please, like me and Danforth talk a lot."

"Sharpay – you've been dating him for four years don't you think it's time to stop pretending that you don't even like him?"

"Not continuously," Sharpay scoffed as a small smile spread on her face and Gabriella could see how much of this 'act' was actually forced. She had no idea why the two of them played that power game in their relationship, but she supposed it worked for them so it wasn't really any of her business. "He wishes he was dating me for four years."

"Okay," Gabriella said as she took the box, not really wanting that discussion again. "My comment stands."

"Fine, don't tell me," Sharpay said slyly as she backed up. "I'll just tell Troy how I came in earlier to find you stretching up at the window trying to clean it..."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "No! Don't do that!"

"I mean it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense for someone in your condition..."

"I...I it was dirty," she said sheepishly. "The house needs to be ti..."

"Tidy, yes I get it," Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Hire a maid."

"No!" Gabriella said defensively. "I can keep my own house tidy, thank you very much. My baby is not coming into a home that is cleaned by someone else because his mommy is too lazy to clean."

Sharpay groaned and sunk down on the seat. "No, because his mommy is too pregnant to clean. Fine, tell Troy he has to clean better."

She crossed her arms defensively. "Troy is doing a great job. He's working and looking after me and the house and..."

"And he's cooking, and cleaning and yada yada yada," Sharpay said bored, causing Gabriella to frown more. "He knocked you up; he's supposed to do all that. It doesn't excuse his shoddy cleaning skills if you just have to go around cleaning up after him."

"He does not have shoddy cleaning skills," Gabriella stated resolutely, even if part of her knew that he did. It wasn't his fault – he was great at so many things, but housework wasn't high on his list and usually they shared so it wasn't an issue, but now that it was only Troy's domain, his habits of vacuuming only in the middle of the floor, not cleaning out the fridge and forgetting that you had to keep the stuff above eye level dust free as well had started to get to her slightly so she had, discreetly began to help out. She wasn't being irresponsible – she was still resting but she was allowed on her feet for a few minutes which was more than enough time to take out a few containers of food from the fridge in case he poisoned himself, and wiping the smudge marks off the window wasn't exactly over exerting herself. "He's doing a great job!"

"Clearly," Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Why then isn't it clean enough?"

"Sharpay, I'm nesti..."

"Nesting, yeah, got it – reality check? You are not a bird," Sharpay said and raised her hand when Gabriella was going to cut her off. "No, I know it's an analogy, but it's a lousy analogy because last I checked, your son isn't going to hatch out an egg. Instead you are going to spend about twenty hours pushing him out of your body that, no offence, seems pretty ill-equipped to be doing it whilst Troy and the rest of us pretend we're not freaking out at that concept."

She sighed and turned away. "Not you too. Sharpay, I'm fine. Troy is just being really over-protective, which is fine for the most part but I really don't need it from you as well."

"I'm not over-protective, just right."

"I don't know why you guys are worrying. I'm fine and I'm the one going to be giving birth. You guys worry way too much. I'm fine."

"I wish you would convince Troy of that then because he's freaking out."

Gabriella looked down and sighed – she didn't want him freaking out. "How would you even know that?"

"Because he freaks out to Danforth, who feels the need to freak out to me..."

Gabriella smiled slowly as she looked at the blonde. "So you admit that you and Chad actually talk about stuff..."

"Of course we talk about 'stuff' – it's a fact that everyone else's life is that much more interesting than his..."

"Sharpay!"

"What?" Sharpay asked with raised hands. "Whatever – I'm just saying that you need to start being less stubborn about the whole freaking out thing, okay? Right, I'm done – what do you want to show me that is worth me missing the Narcoleptic Argentine Tangoing the crap out of everything?"

Glad that the seriousness of the conversation had left, Gabriella giggled and handed the items over to Sharpay with a nervous smile.

Sharpay's serious expression immediately dissolved as she grabbed them and started analysing the three items. "Wow...do I even want to know how you got these?"

Gabriella grinned as she reached over and held up the little red outfit complete with a Wildcat motif and Bolton 14 on the back that had a small accompanying miniature jacket while Sharpay held up a similar one only designed to look like Berkley's uniform and jacket, complete with the same name and number whilst the Hornets outfit and jacket was held in Sharpay's other hand. "I had to get them custom made. It took a few weeks, but...you think he'll like them?"

Sharpay could only look on as she held up one of them again and smiled. "You realise your child is going to be living in these when he sees it, right? Every time he changes him, Troy is going to make sure he's wearing one of these. All those cute outfits you've got in there are going to go to waste."

Gabriella nodded as she hugged the Wildcat one to her chest. "I hope so. I wanted to get him something that would mean something, you know? I know it's not traditional to get the dad something but...I just...I know this would mean a lot to him and I hope he's going to like it. I know he doesn't expect anything, but I just...I want this to be as special for him as it is for me."

"I...you called it right," Sharpay said as she handed the two outfits over, allowing Gabriella to pack them up again. "He'll love it."

Gabriella nodded and stroked the fabric with a smile as she put them away again. "It's weird – in so many ways I wish the baby was here already but in so many other ways I feel completely unprepared."

"I don't know if I'll ever be prepared," Sharpay sighed and Gabriella got the sense that she wasn't that happy about it. "I just...I look at you and Troy and sometimes...sometimes I think the pair of you are insane and others I'm almost envious because it all makes sense to you..."

"When it's the right time, you'll be fine," Gabriella said softly. "The weird thing is, Troy and I weren't ready – I mean timing wise it was so inconvenient, but to be honest, I think it's worked out for the best. I...I don't think I've ever been happier, Sharpay. I mean as much as I hate being stuck at home and feeling so inadequate, I don't think I would change any of it."

"Are you scared?"

Gabriella bit down on her lip as she looked around the room. Was she scared? Part of her wasn't – the part that was too excited to be scared just couldn't wait but there was another part, a larger part that was terrified about everything. "I...a little. Not so much after he's born, but...it's hard to explain. I just want to be able to hold him just now because part of me is so scared that..." she took a deep breath and shook her head, clearing the thoughts. "It's actually a little crazy the type of stuff that goes through your head. Like I'll be lying in bed and all these scenarios are there and some of them are so good and others..."

"You're right, that is crazy," Sharpay said slowly. "This scenario isn't going to end bad. You and Bolton are going to have a ridiculously attractive child with all of the pair of your annoying features and it's going to be so easy that you'll probably be knocked up again within eighteen months." Sharpay smiled as she sat back and sighed. "You two are going to have eight kids, you know that, right? No two people should be as happy to be interrupted from their usual alone time like you two are, especially as you two have been trying to get rid of Chad and I since we arrived."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile and didn't bother to correct that accusation. Instead she reached over to the small table and pressed the button of a nightlight and watched as the room was filled with a soft lullaby and lit shapes on the ceiling and sank back to look at them one hand stroking her stomach while Sharpay started talking about something that Gabriella couldn't concentrate on in that moment. All she could think about was the soft music, the lights and the occasional small kicks that she could feel against her left hand where her ring should be. She couldn't wait for her whole family to be there.

* * *

Troy couldn't help but laugh as he watched Chad scream at the arcade screen as he fired his gun indiscriminately at the characters on the screen. "Dude – you're supposed to try and miss grandma!"

"What the hell is she doing in a drug's den – she's going down," Chad forced out as he dodged invisible bullets before groaning in frustration as his screen turned red. "Dammit!"

"When did you start sucking at this?"

"I was getting heckled from the sidelines!" Chad defended, causing Troy to laugh more as he shook his head.

"Just admit you suck and we can go eat."

"Shut up," Chad mumbled as he pushed Troy slightly before bouncing back and avoiding Troy's swipe. "I cannot believe your girl sent us to an arcade. Did I ever tell you that Gabriella is like the coolest chick on the planet?"

"Make sure you tell her that because ever since she's become pregnant she feels like she has to become 'cooler'," Troy said with a roll of his eyes as he led them over to the food court and slid in a booth and waited for the waitress, keeping his head down in case anyone noticed it was him. "I swear I think that's what half of the rebelling thing is about."

"In terms of rebelling, it's pretty minor," Chad said with a laugh as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Pretty minor? She ended up in hospital," Troy said before pausing to let the waitress take their order. When she had left he turned back to Chad. "Sure, she's not riding a motorcycle without a helmet or juggling knives but still..."

"Yeah, but that was cautionary, right?"

Troy shook his head and took a deep breath. "No – that was to stop her from slipping into a coma and dying." It was amazing actually that no matter how many times he had considered it, actually saying it out loud made it seem so much more real. She could have died. He took a deep breath and sunk back. "'course I'm the only one who seems to have been terrified about that."

"Dude," Chad began slowly with a shake of his head. "You never mentioned it was that bad."

"Not really something that you drop into conversation," he sighed as he started arranging the salt and pepper shaker. "I know that you and everyone else seem to think I'm this ultra protective guy, but...it was that close, Chad and I was hundreds of miles away. If she had collapsed at home and no one found her until the next day..."

"Whoa," Chad said, vaguely thanking the waitress for the food as he grabbed his fries towards him, but didn't eat. "So how are you handling all that?"

"Handling it?" Troy laughed as he shook his head. "I'm fine. She's doing good now and...and to be honest there's not much I can do except wait and hope, you know?"

They sat in silence for a moment as Troy took a bite out his burger.

"So what are you going to do for the rookie game?" Chad asked eventually, and Troy shook his head. His agent was pissed, but he had explained to everyone already that he was turning down the invite so it wasn't something he had even thought about. "And you have like five away games on the bounce straight after it."

"Well, the team knows that I'm missing one of the away games and I'm not going to the rookie game," Troy said and Chad immediately whistled as he shook his head. "Don't say anything."

"I'm not saying anything," Chad raised his hands in defence before continuing quickly. "Of course you might not ever get to go to another All Star thing and if so you will forever look back on Gabriella being the reason you didn't make it to this one."

Troy's eyes narrowed. "Actually, she had tried everything to get me to go since I told her. You know what else? Basketball is my job and Gabriella is vastly more important to me than that and my coach, my teammates and my dad all agree with me on it."

"I know but...it's..."

"An exhibition," Troy finished and sighed as he saw Chad's disbelief. He knew that Chad wouldn't get it but he needed to make sure it was clear that it was his decision. "Chad – I know you don't get it just now, but...one day you will and you won't be looking at me like I'm an idiot for missing a game."

"I don't think that you're an idiot but...man, I don't know. I'd kill for a chance at going there and to think of missing it for anything..." Chad shook his head before exhaling again. "I don't know –I get it, but I don't get it, if you know what I mean? I can understand exactly why you would miss it, but part of me is just screaming that you're an idiot, you know because Gabriella and the baby are still going to be there the next day even though I know that that is really shitty logic. Ignore me – I get it, I do and I think you're making the right choice, I just need to harness in the seventeen year old boy who has basketball at the top of the list, you know?" He laughed and shook his head. "You're a family man now, and I can respect a guy who puts his family first."

Troy looked down, and couldn't help the proud smile come to his face. He hadn't expected that from Chad and to say he was pleasantly surprised was an understatement and he couldn't help but grin stupidly about it. "Thanks, man."

"Hey – I gotta look out for my Godson, right?" Chad laughed as he stuffed his mouth with fries. "So tell me the truth, you ready for this baby?"

"I can't wait – me and Gabi are going to rock this. Like, I was expecting the nerves about looking after a baby to have kicked in by now, but to be honest we are both so psyched for it that it hasn't happened yet," Troy said with a shake of the head. He had no idea how they had managed to stay so calm about the prospect of being responsible for a small person, but they had and maybe it was naivety on their part, but they were looking forward to it so much that they hadn't even thought to be nervous.

"I kinda guessed that. Shar says that Gabs is sending weekly emails to everyone filled with what you guys have done so far," Chad laughed.

"Shar? Not Ice Queen or Evans?" Troy teased causing Chad to throw a fry at him. "Dude, why don't you just tell her you're in love with her already?"

"I am not in love with her," Chad snorted. "I...put up with her."

"You were thinking about asking her to move in with you," Troy pointed out causing Chad to glare at him. "Don't even try and deny it."

"I didn't ask her though so that should end that whole thing," Chad said and Troy sighed. They both knew the reason Chad hadn't asked was because Sharpay had spent so much time opening a new store so she had been even more high maintenance than usual, and they both knew that it was a situation that was going to be rectified soon yet, still they had to listen to the pretence about their relationship. "Anyway – don't think that messing with my head is going to change anything – you been to birthing classes? Has it scarred you for life thinking about what kinda monster Gabs is going to turn into while she's giving birth to your son?"

"Truthfully? I can't wait because until he's here. The next bit I can't wait for – I'm not nervous at all, but the bit before? I don't know if I want it to come quickly or go slow just in case..." Troy began before taking a deep breath, thinking about things before he continued. "I can't enjoy the pregnancy anymore – it...terrifies me. I...I can feel myself sometimes resent the baby for making Gabi so sick and I hate that but at the same time, I just want him to come so that I know that she's going to be okay and so I can start enjoying it again, you know? I want to have him in my arms and know that they are both okay and then...then it will be fun again. You have no idea what it's like to watch her be so sick and not be able to do anything to help, especially knowing that it's partly your fault."

He paused as he looked down – it was the first time his thoughts had been vocalised and he was surprised to actually feel better for saying it. He couldn't say that to Gabriella because she needed to worry about herself at that moment, never mind anyone else and he certainly didn't want to make her feel worse than she did and he didn't think that anyone else would really understand. He knew that Chad wasn't really in a position to understand either, but he didn't need advice, he just needed someone to listen and let him get it off his chest.

Chad looked at him for a second before offering him a reassuring smile. "You know she's going to be fine, right? It's just one of those things that happen – you know that but sometimes you have to...you just have to deal because she's going to be fine."

"See – I know that, but at the same time, I don't know that because no one really does know how it all shakes out," Troy said before he sat back and forced a smile on his face. "But yeah, I know that because after all the work she's put into the house, there's no way she's going to leave me alone in it with a baby."

Chad gave him a look like he was doubtful over Troy's sudden joyous tone, before shaking his head, a silent agreement passing between them that said that no one was fooling anyone but that they were going to pretend they did.

"So...what do you say we finish up and head back home? I guarantee the Ice Queen is probably laying on the guilt-trip from hell about missing that show," Chad said after a moment before scrunching his face up in disgust. "God knows it's going to be hard for her to miss her precious Grayson."

Despite his previous serious demeanour, Troy couldn't help but laugh at the clear jealous tone to Chad's voice as he gestured to the waitress to bring the bill. Despite his earlier complaining, and the frustrating way Chad managed to annoy him at times, he was glad that he was there.

"I can't believe that you called her Ice Queen and showed jealousy in the same line," Troy snickered, laughing even more when he caught the slight blush appear on Chad's face at the realisation. As Chad proceeded to fire multiple fries in Troy's direction, Troy could only grin stupidly as he raised his hands in a surrender gesture. "Don't worry, dude – your secret is safe with me."

"I would believe that if I didn't know you were going to go home and tell Gabriella the minute you get her into bed," Chad called before smirking mischievously. "Cause it ain't like you're going to be doing anything else in bed, right?"

Troy blushed but didn't justify it with a response as he stood before taking his cell out slowly and waving it at Chad who was waiting for the waitress to bring the bill. "In that case, maybe I won't wait until we're in bed. Don't worry – I'm sure she won't tell 'Shar'..."

He listened to Chad's indignant squawking as he backed out the restaurant with a wave and chuckled as he put his phone away, knowing he would wait until later simply because he didn't want to miss the look on Gabriella's face when he told her. Chad didn't need to know that though. He grinned as he shook his head, thinking back to his frustration with his friend earlier in the day and shook his head. If anything tonight was a sign as to why they would always be friends and no matter how irritating, or old, or family orientated, or delusional any of them got – at the end of the day they were still the same kids who played in junkyards and made tree-houses and although new friends and new lives completely separate from each other was naturally going to change things, he was glad that it was one thing that would never change no matter how many times he wondered why that was.


	8. Merry Christmas, Baby

_Author's Note – Um...yeah. I have an unhealthy (and if you're on FF a not very well hidden) obsession with Christmas fic and I really wanted to write something festive along the lines of Abracadabra (only it being a nice short one shot based on Christmas) but...the only ideas I could come up with wanted to be two or three chapters long which I didn't have time to write sadly so I had this idea as the backup plan. This is a half chapter so to speak. It fits in between chapters 2 and 3. I apologise that I'm cheating a little but hopefully you guys don't mind too much. I hope you enjoy it anyway and that you'll let me know what you think._

_Regardless of what you think though I just want to thank everyone so much who has reviewed and read this and I hope that everyone has a truly amazing Christmas and that the New Year brings you all nothing but health and happiness._

_**Just to be doubly clear - this chapter slots between chapter 2 and chapter 3** **but because of weird formatting in chapter titles, I can't actually call it Chapter 2.5 in the title. Sorry for any confusion caused because of it.**  
_

* * *

Gabriella woke up as the light filtered through the room and opened an eye to see the digital display that read 7.19. She grinned happily and carefully tried to extract herself from the arms that were wrapped around her which didn't seem eager to let her go. She giggled quietly as she finally got free and saw him mutter something and his lips getting close to pouting at the lack of contact he had with her so she carefully reached over and pulled the comforter over his bare shoulder, her hand brushing over his hair before she quietly moved over to the blinds and closed them over, bathing the room in darkness once more so he could sleep. She quietly grabbed some clothes and then headed to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later she was showered and dressed and she stepped back into the room to find him spread over the whole bed, lying face down on her pillow and causing her to smile softly as she walked over to him and leant down and pressed her lips softly to his forehead, causing him to smile as he snuggled down a little more into the pillow with a sigh. She fought the urge of climbing back in bed beside him and making up for the four nights he had been gone but unfortunately that was not on the agenda as she reluctantly brushed her fingers over his hair again and backed up slowly, careful not to make too much noise as she closed the bedroom door behind her and made her way through the house towards the kitchen picking up the furry red hat that was laying on the table as she did so and sitting it on her head with a grin as she almost skipped over to the calendar on the wall and opened the 24th window, popping the chocolate out and setting it on the side of the counter along with the four she had saved in the days that Troy was gone as she rubbed her stomach softly. "Merry Christmas Eve, Baby."

With a small smile she turned the stereo on as low as it could go so there was nothing but a soft hum of Christmas music audible as she made her way over to a chair and sat down holding a sheet of paper and a pen as she looked around.

There was no mistaking the fact that Gabriella loved Christmas – it was her favourite time of year and although she and Troy had been living together for the last few years, this Christmas very much felt like their first proper grown up Christmas in terms of having a proper house with proper jobs and not having their parents show up clutching turkey or a wreath or something. No, this was their first family Christmas and it would be an understatement to say that Gabriella was excited about it. They had picked the tree out when Troy had surprised her at the hospital and decorated it that night, she had bought his gifts and hidden them in various places that she knew he wouldn't find them, the turkey was ordered, the cards and presents had been sent to their family and friends, the house had been decorated, lights were dangling from the roof and she had spent every night that Troy had been away perfecting various recipes for over the holiday period.

She was determined that this was going to be the perfect holiday despite what her mother thought. Gabriella couldn't hide the frown that came to her face at that thought, the last phone call from her mom thanking her for the card and letting her know the present had arrived safe and, by the way, if Troy was too busy that she would be happy for Gabriella to come home and spend Christmas with her just in case it became the norm at the holidays. It was so hard for Gabriella to even feign patience and with every phone call and every petty dig at Troy, and their relationship, Gabriella felt the bond with her mother fragment even more and the mere thought of that would normally break her heart, but this time she was too angry to feel sad. She was sure sadness would come about it, but at this point she was determined more than ever that her favourite holiday was going to be perfect just to prove to anyone who doubted them how wrong they were.

As determined as she was though, and as organised as she had hoped to be things always fell through the cracks which found her here on Christmas Eve writing various tasks down that she had to complete before going to Midnight Mass.

"So, baby – what do you think? Should we make breakfast just now or wait until daddy gets up," she addressed her bump with a murmur as she bit the pen, holding her hand over the spot the baby was kicking on and off contemplating whether or not to scrub off the first item on her list at that point. "Hmm, I agree – he needs his sleep but Mommy's hungry and he'll wake if he smells cooking..."

She looked at her list and couldn't help but giggle at how nerdy she was. she didn't really mind her inner geekiness, and she knew that Troy got this bizarre buzz out of this but it sometimes did just strike her how similar she still was to her 16 year old self despite everything changing for her around that time when she happened to meet a certain young basketball player at a Karaoke New Year's party. She sighed again as the memories of that night played in her head – it was just one more reason why she loved this time of year, and although Troy would swear blind that for that simple fact he preferred New Year's, for her the whole holiday period was special.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts – she had way too much to do today to spend hours day-dreaming so she forced herself to stand as she repositioned the Santa hat and glared down at the list she had made as though it were a loathed enemy, with each bullet-point equally hated. She grabbed her pen and immediately scrubbed the first thing off the list with a satisfied smirk. "Guess we're making breakfast now."

* * *

The first thing Troy was aware of when he woke up was that just like the four days previous when he woke up his bed was empty. That mere thought caused him to frown as he turned around finding the room bathed in darkness, the blinds dropped in order to keep the room dark and the bathroom light not shining from under the door meaning that more than likely, he had been sleeping alone for a while which did somewhat frustrate him since he had wasted valuable time he could have spent with her by sleeping. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was barely 8.30 and he couldn't help but groan at the fact he was engaged to the one woman on the planet who would voluntarily get out of bed before eight on her days off. He got up and rubbed his eyes as he went to the bathroom to shower and change before he went and tried to work out what the hell she was doing up at this time.

When he emerged showered and shaved he threw the comforter over the bed so it at least looked tidy before heading out the room. The first thing that struck him as he exited the room was the smell of cooking and he couldn't help the way his stomach growled in response as he savoured the smell. Before it had even had time to appreciate it though, he was transfixed by another sensation as he heard her soft voice singing softly along with a Christmas song. A grin tugged at his lips as he worked his way towards her and he stopped to admire her as she swayed side to side beside the stove, a Santa hat perched jauntily on her dark curls as her red knit sweater slid off her shoulder slightly leaving the bronze skin exposed as she worked and he noticed as his gaze travelled down that she was wearing an oversized pair of his socks on her feet as she swayed gently with the music.

He didn't make a sound as he looked at her, utterly transfixed on the picture she was creating. It had been four long days without her and although they had at least won a couple of the games, it was this that he longed for the whole time. He had enough watching her as she placed a pancake on the plate.

"You know, most people on their day off prefer to lie in bed longer not get up earlier."

"Troy!" She squeaked and spun around to see him and he couldn't help but smile broadly at the loving smile that emerged on her face as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and her lips finding his in a surprisingly passionate good morning kiss. He was just about lost in the sensations of her lips, and taste and fingers in his hair when she pulled back and pecked his lips again before smiling up at him. "Merry Christmas Eve!"

"Merry Christmas Eve to you too, Ms Fiancée – your last Christmas Eve as a free woman, how does it feel?"

"I don't know – how does it feel for it to be your last Christmas Eve as a free man?"

"Fucking awesome," he murmured as he leant down and kissed her lips again. "Why exactly are you up when you should be resting?"

She stroked his cheek before pulling back, one hand pulling him with her until she sat him in a chair and grinned at him. "It's Christmas Eve."

"It's like 8.30," he replied back which only seemed to make her smile larger as she turned away and put more batter into the pan as she handed him some pancakes.

"I have a _lot_ to do today," she said as she walked over to the coffee pot and poured him a cup before almost skipping back to the stove. "You were supposed to sleep until I'd finished making breakfast. You must be exhausted since you didn't get home until after three. I was going to leave you sleeping until I came back in from my errands."

"Yeah, well – apparently Christmas Eve requires an early start," he said as he took a bite of his pancake. "Holy shit, this is awesome!"

She turned to him eagerly. "Seriously? You like them? See, I've been experimenting while you were gone and...it's Christmas so...wintery pancakes seemed like a good idea but it took a while to get the right amount of cinnamon and cranberry and...you really like them because I can make you something else?"

"No...these...these definitely need to be breakfast food more often," he mumbled as he took another bite as she brought another plate over before sitting down in the chair beside him, taking a couple of pancakes for herself as she took his spare hand in hers and squeezed it. "What?"

She blushed gently as she shook her head but didn't stop smiling or moved her hand as she leant over and kissed his cheek. "I'm just so glad that you're home. I missed you."

He swallowed the food with great difficulty due to the lump in his throat. She was always so amazing with the fact that he had to travel that sometimes he forgot how hard it was for her as well when he was gone. At least he was with the rest of his team and was kept busy, but she came home from work to an empty house and although they had friends out here there weren't any who would know when they needed distracted from things like they had in Albuquerque or LA. He didn't know how she handled it so amazingly especially as she was dealing with that along with being pregnant at the same time. He turned his hand so her fingers were loosely entwined and pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a slow kiss to it as he kept his gaze on her. "I missed you too."

She kept his gaze for a moment before giving his fingers a squeeze and turning back to their food. "I guess we should eat since I have a lot of stuff to do and you, Mr Bolton are putting me behind schedule."

"You're the one who's distracting me," he defended as he turned away so he didn't have to watch her ruin her great cooking by smothering peanut butter all over. "Babe – our son is going to come out weird with all these weird food combos you're feeding him."

"He has an open mind and likes to taste a variety of flavours," she replied smartly, her lip pressed between her teeth as she smoothed the peanut butter on before she glanced around, her eyes lighting up when she saw something and he could only cringe as she grabbed a banana and began chopping it over the pancake. "It's actually fun being so adventurous with food – I honestly would never have thought to combine things before."

"That's because you used to be normal," he teased causing her to stick her tongue out at him and start giggling.

"You should be pleased that my pregnancy symptoms such as they are do not result in me throwing things at you and generally being all ogre like," she replied between bites. "Most guys would kill to have food cravings as the only ones they had to deal with. Most guys would think that I was a catch because of it."

He shook his head as he stood, grabbing his plate before he leant over her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Most guys can take a run and jump, because I always think you're a catch."

He couldn't help but grin as she blushed as he walked away and put the dishes in the dishwasher before turning back to find her gazing at him and he knew part of it was because he had been gone, and a part of it was because it was Christmas and she loved the holiday more than anything but there was something else as well that he couldn't put his finger on. She was giving off this vibe...like he was the most fascinating thing on the planet, that she was looking at him for the first time in a year and couldn't take it all in and that open devotion, the pure elation she was exuding as she looked at him was breathtaking and although he didn't know what he had done to merit such open devotion from the woman he loved, he would give pretty much everything in his possession to keep her looking at him like that. "God, you have no idea how beautiful you look right now..."

"Flatterer," she giggled as she stood up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around His neck before one hand found his hair and the other traced over the side of his face. "What are your plans for today?"

"Hmmm," he said as he leant his forehead against hers. "Let me see – let my beautiful, pregnant wife to be get a bus around town on Christmas Eve along with all the crazy last minute shoppers or drive her around and spend the whole day with her? Hmmm, it's a tough one..."

"You want to come with me? But aren't you tired?"

"Nope," he grinned, pecking her lips as he pulled back and spun her under his arm before bowing down dramatically and kissing her hand like a medieval knight. "It would be my honour to be your escort through the hazardous shopping experience today, my lady."

She giggled and clutched her hand to her chest, before fanning herself with her other. "I would be honoured, good Sir. What may I offer you in return for your chivalry?"

He stood and put a finger to his chin in faux contemplation before he leant close and whispered. "I'll accept a token of your affection."

"Hmm," she said as she leant close before her eyes danced with mirth as she leant up. "I can do that, close your eyes..."

He did as she asked and he felt her stand on her tiptoes beside him and couldn't help the slight puckering of his lips as he felt her face beside his own only for her to pull back and grin at him as she pointed up and he noticed that the Santa hat that had been on her head was now sitting on his own.

"That really wasn't what I had in mind you know?"

She giggled as she stepped back and shook her head. "I'm on a schedule and as much as I would like to do what you had in mind, I don't have time until tonight because you distract me too easily and next thing I know it will be noon and we won't have left the house yet..."

She had a point and he nodded his head in acceptance as she backed up with a warm smile at him. "The hat suits you. I'm going to go get my boots on – I'll be five minutes, okay?"

He agreed and watched her go, sighing happily as he went over and grabbed the remaining dishes and cleared them away before heading to their room to grab his own shoes. He grinned as he saw her lying on her back on the bed with one foot in the air, huffing as she tried to force the boot on. He walked over to her without saying a word and took it from her before helping her sit up, watching in concern as she closed her eyes to regain her equilibrium before, seeing that she was okay, bending down and helping it slide on her foot.

"I feel like an ugly stepsister," she said softly as she brought her hand to his hair as he fastened the other boot. "They still fit – I just...lack the flexibility to put them on just now..."

He looked up at her and smiled. "Maybe that's God's way of telling you to buy shorter, wider boots..."

"They are starting to be hard work getting them on and off, so maybe you're right," she admitted as she leant in and kissed him. "Thank you, Wildcat."

"You are most welcome," he returned as he pulled back reluctantly. "Maybe Santa will bring you better boots tonight..."

She giggled as she stood up, wrapping her arms around his waist as she looked up at him. "Maybe...he is very good to me."

"Really, and what are you going to give him in return?"

"Hmmm, anything he wants."

"I think he's got everything he could ever want," he said as he leant close, his arms tightening around her.

"Well then," she whispered as she leaned up. "I guess he's a lucky guy then."

"The luckiest," he responded, pressing his lips to her s again before pulling back a moment later to find her eyes still closed and her breathing deep. "Come on, Beautiful – you have a schedule to keep and I know you'll blame me if you don't keep it."

Her eyes fluttered open and she nodded quickly, a shy smile gracing her face as she moved back and let's him sit down to put his own shoes on. "I'll see you out there."

He watched her leave before shaking his head, trying to work out how he was going to buy her new boots without her seeing them in the car. As he finished putting his sneakers on her quickly ran to the closet and grabbed the first boot he could find and confirmed her size before running out.

* * *

Gabriella took a deep breath as she waited in line for the barista to serve her drinks. They had been shopping for three hours and she had sent Troy off an hour earlier to save his sanity from the lines in every store she had to go in. It wasn't that she was unprepared, but it was just little things she had to collect for the next couple of days, and gifts for people that she had accidentally forgotten in the hustle and bustle of getting the house ready, work, being pregnant, checking posting dates to Albuquerque, New York, San Francisco and about a half dozen other cities around North America and then there were the Christmas parties for both her own work and Troy's team, along with getting gifts for their new friends and colleagues and, somehow, the other people – the neighbours, John & Ellie at the florists, Pete at the stadium who always made sure she got into the stadium quickly had all been forgotten and she refused to not acknowledge all the people who had made their transition to this town so easy so if that meant she had to brave the shops on Christmas Eve before going on Santa duty then so be it.

It didn't mean it wasn't exhausting though.

She smiled as she heard her order called and grabbed her hot chocolate and the gingerbread latte she had ordered for Troy and headed to the most secluded table and sat down, glancing at her watch to see that Troy was late. She prodded her marshmallows into the cream as she pulled Troy's drink over towards her and smelled it longingly. She missed coffee...

"I have no idea why you torture yourself every time we come in here."

She lifted her head to see Troy standing over her with an amused smile on his face as he placed a bag containing gift bags and wrapping paper on the floor before pressing a kiss to her cheek and sliding into the seat opposite her. "I don't torture myself..."

"Really – why were you smelling my drink?" he chuckled. "Because...you know, it has caffeine in it."

"It also has gingerbread in it," she replied as she picked up her chocolate dipper and scooped up some of her cream before dunking the whole thing into her drink, feigning annoyance as he stole one of her marshmallows and dipped it into her cream with a grin. "Why do you get to have marshmallows when I can't even smell your coffee?"

"Because, you made the rules babe," he smirked again as he stole another one, causing her to roll her eyes at his antics. "Did you get everything?"

She sighed and nodded, letting her pinkie brush against his fingers. "I did and if we don't have it then we're just going to have to make it up to people. I dropped them off in the car." She tried to hide her tiredness from him so lightened her voice. "All we need to do is go home, wrap, deliver, start cooking and then...then it's Christmas!"

He took a drink of his coffee as he laced their fingers together with a smile. "Well, I got everything you asked – it's all in the car and although my wrapping skills are almost non-existent, I am excellent at putting things in gift-bags and I make a kickass chauffeur for delivery duty so we'll get it all done quickly, okay?"

She smiled gratefully at him – she knew he must be tired but she really appreciated that despite that he was going out his way to help her even though he would have been happy with a smaller Christmas. He understood how important it was to her for this to be perfect for them with it being their first Christmas here and their last Christmas before the baby. "Thank you – I know you must be tired but thank you."

"Hey, this is important to me as well so you don't need to thank me," he said as he stroked her wrist. "Truth? I love that I have today off to help out with this because it seems like the last couple of years that you've had to do it on your own so...this is fun for me."

She shook her head. It had been weird in college because the schedule had always seemed to conflict with their plans so he would have an away game on Christmas Eve, or be playing on Christmas and everything was always a little up in the air so it was hard for them to do all the little things together that they really wanted to do. "I know it's a bit...big but..."

"But it's our first grown up Christmas together," he finished softly. "It's going to be perfect."

She looked up at him and couldn't help but beam at him happily. How the hell had she gotten so lucky to find him? "You think so?"

"I know so."

She bit her lip and smiled, wanting to believe him so badly.

"I just...my mom called while you were away," she said softly as she looked down but not before she saw his jaw twitch as he tried to hide it as he picked up his cup, his fingers stilling on her wrist.

"Yeah?"

"Um...yeah. Just..."

"Just what?"

"She...wanted to thank us for the card and the present and to see how things were..."

"That was...nice," he said slowly before giving her wrist a small nudge so she raised her gaze up to meet his. "What else?"

"She asked me if I wanted her to buy me a ticket home so I wouldn't be spending Christmas alone."

"Oh..." His jaw was fully clenched and she could see his back stiffen as he struggled to keep his tone neutral.

She bit down on her lip as she put her other hand over the top of his. "I told her that it wasn't an issue, that it's not something...but, you know my Mom and I just...I want her to understand but...I don't know. In the off chance that she decides to come here, I want her to see how perfect this is despite how much she wants it not to be, you know? I'm sorry if I'm being difficult because of it – I just want our first Christmas here to be amazing, even more so because some people think it won't be."

"Babe," he began softly. "It is going to be perfect – I don't care if the turkey burns and the electricity goes out, okay? None of that matters to me at all."

She met his gaze and couldn't help but laugh as she saw him smile at her as he brought his other hand up to her cheek. "How on earth did I get so lucky to find you, Wildcat? You know how to make everything perfect."

"It's a gift," he smiled as he leant over and pressed his lips to hers over the table before pulling back and smiling. "I'm not just saying it though – this Christmas is going to be amazing."

His confidence spread through her and she pushed her hot chocolate away with a grin. "You're right. Well then, I guess we better go and get finished, huh, Mr Bolton?"

"I guess so," he laughed as he pushed his half finished cup away as well and stood up, grabbing the bags they had with one hand and her hand with another as they headed towards the car park, ready to go home.

* * *

Troy yawned as he pulled into their driveway and shut off the headlights in the car. He couldn't help but admire their house, which although not loaded with lights was twinkling away welcomingly and the soft din of Christmas music echoed even through the closed doors. It was a little after 6pm and a long day of shopping, wrapping and delivering were taking its toll on him. He had gone out to deliver a few of the presents and to pick up Gabriella's gifts that he had bribed Isaac to stash for him since he knew for a fact that his fiancée was the world's worst snoop when it came to Christmas presents so he decided to remove the temptation from her. He would wait until she was asleep, or getting changed for Mass before he brought them in but, he had to admit, he was quietly confident that he had called the gifts right not that she would tell him even if he had got it wrong of course.

He was still trying to plan how to sneak the larger gifts in when he opened the door and was hit with the smell of cookies. He grinned as the sweet smell engulfed him – she really was a traditionalist for this sort of thing and he had absolutely no plans of complaining about it especially when her baking was so good. He saw a tray of cookies lying out to cool and helped himself to one, moaning in appreciation at the taste as he glanced around looking to see where Gabriella was. A quick look found her lying on the sofa, her Santa hat still on her head and his socks back on her feet as she slept softly. She had moved presents under the tree and there was a separate pile by the door that they were going to deliver later. He placed the three small packages he had brought in with him under the tree before going before he crouched down beside her and stroked the hair off her face.

The small action caused her eyes to flutter open to gaze at him. "Hey baby," she whispered as she looked at him. "You okay?"

"I'm great – what about you?"

She smiled up at him and nodded her head. "I'm fine – just a little tired and I didn't want to fall asleep at Mass."

He tried to hide his lack of comfort at the mention of Mass. Gabriella was Catholic and although not devout, she still insisted on going every so often and Midnight Mass was one of the ones that she was adamant about going to. He wasn't particularly religious himself, but he didn't mind accompanying her and he respected that she had beliefs and always tried to be respectful to that and if that meant accompanying her to mass a few times a year, or putting up with the stress her inevitable ice-cream sacrifice during Lent caused her then so be it, he honestly didn't mind.

The problem was that this year this would be the first time they would be showing up together at a mass with them unmarried and expecting a baby. "Babe – they aren't going to cast us into hell or something because...well...you know..."

She giggled as she sat up; looking as though she thought he was joking.

"No, I'm serious – this isn't going to be a night of pretty carols, the birth of Jesus and eternal damnation to those people living in sin and having children out of wedlock, right? Cause, if it is I'm going to have to empty our supply of alcohol when we get home and try and put it down as a really, really bad dream because I really don't know if I have the backbone to survive getting yelled at by a priest."

She shook her head and leant over and smiled. "I swear you are more obsessed with the whole stigma thing than I am, and I'm the one with the scary relations."

"I know," he sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "It's just...I don't know..."

"Troy, trust me," she smiled as she sat up and kissed him. "No one is going to say anything, I promise. It happens all over the world, and it's shocking I know, but it's so common that they would be alienating a large proportion of their congregation if they did that. Trust me, okay?"

He couldn't hide his scepticism about it but she chose to ignore as she pulled him up beside her and laid her head on his shoulder. "It's been fun today, hasn't it?"

"It's been amazing," he confirmed as he lay back, letting her snuggle into him. "Tiring though, huh?"

"Yeah," she said as she played with the collar of his shirt. "You want to just...relax for a couple of hours? Put some music on and just..."

"Have a nap?"

The broad smile that covered her face as she nodded confirmed that he had called it right and in all honesty, he wasn't going to complain at that at all. Sure, he knew they should probably eat beforehand but the prospect of getting up to eat seemed far too exhausting.

"We'll order some food in after we wake up," she said as though she were reading his mind as she walked over to the stereo and adjusted her iPod so that Christmas music played through the speakers.

He nodded and waited for her to come over before he lay down and let her lay down beside him between his body and the backrest on the sofa. She linked their fingers and smiled up at him. "Have you had a good Christmas Eve?"

"The best," he assured her as he closed his eyes. "I promise when we get up that I will be appropriately loud and cheery for the carol service before the patrons of the church start frowning and cast us out when they see that you're not wearing a wedding ring..."

She groaned playfully and shook her head. "This is why I am never going to family parties again – you spend an hour with some of my relatives and they turn you paranoid..."

"Never mind – next year we'll be married," he murmured.

"Yeah, we will," she sighed. "I can't wait."

He mumbled his agreement and listened softly as her breathing evened out against his chest and as the music played on softly in the background he felt himself drift off to some much needed sleep.

Troy wasn't sure what time it was when he became aware of the soft fingers tracing over his face, but as he forced his eyes open to meet the beautiful brown that he loved so much he didn't really care. Yet again she was gazing at him, like she had so often that day, and if anything she was even more beautiful now. She was still laying beside him, her body draped over his clothing his body in her warm heat so he could feel every breath she took and he smiled dopily as he looked at her, transfixed on nothing but that moment.

"Merry Christmas, Wildcat," she murmured softly as she leant up and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

He blinked, shaking his head. That was impossible – they had just dozed off... "What time is it?"

She shrugged as she shook her head, her fingers still against his cheek. "I don't know. Late...or early I guess. I think it's probably a little after midnight..."

His eyes widened in horror – he had somehow managed to not only fall asleep, but had managed to make her miss her main Christmas Eve tradition of going to the Midnight Mass because of it. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry," he apologised as he went to sit up. "You should have woken me up – I'm such a jackass, I'm really sor..."

Before he could continue she pressed her fingers to his lips, before replacing them with her mouth that moved in a slow caress over his before she pulled back. "We can go in the morning. We both fell asleep, it's no problem..."

"It is...we always go and...oh man, all the presents for the neighbours you wanted to drop off on our way," he brought a hand to his head in frustration, not quite believing this had happened. "I'm sorry, I just single-handedly just ruined your list after we killed ourselves trying to get it finished and I just..."

"Troy, I don't care. This is perfect," she responded as she leant back down and snuggled into his chest. "This is exactly how I want to spend Christmas. Everything else can wait until the morning. Just now...just now all I want is this."

He looked down on her to see her looking up at him from under her lashes and he could see that she was being 100% truthful and that simple face alleviated any guilt he may have had as he pulled her up gently one hand cupping her head and the other finding her abdomen and stroking it softly. "Merry Christmas, Gabriella." He pressed his lips to hers, his eyes closing in contentment as she clutched him closer to herself and he could feel her sigh of happiness against his own body causing him to smile against her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too," she responded. "So much."

They just lay there, entwined in each other's bodies and lost in each other's gazes before he stroked her cheek softly. "Do you want your presents now?"

Her smile got wider as she shook her head no before laying back down against him. "No...I just want to stay like this for a little while."

He nodded, having no complaints about staying like that forever if she so desired it as he wrapped his arms around her and let the fairy lights around them illuminate their room whilst Christmas songs played on loop in the background. "Troy?"

"Hmm?"

"I always want to spend Christmas with you," she said softly without lifting her eyes. "I know we got lucky this year with you guys not playing and being at home, but even when you're not, I want to spend it with you, wherever you are..."

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak as he clutched her a little tighter, not even liking the idea of this not being their norm at this time of year.

"I don't work over Christmas and New Years, so I can have the time and I...I don't want to wake up without you on Christmas morning. At least until the kids are too old to travel, because I know that might not be fair on them but...when we can...would...would that be okay if we did that?"

He nodded again, but knowing that she couldn't see him he forced a shaky 'yes' out before taking a deep breath and continuing. "I always want to spend it with you as well, and I will do anything to make sure that happens, okay?"

He felt her smile against his chest as she pressed her lips against his shirt before settling back down again. "Okay."

He kissed her hair, silently thanking God or whomever had blessed him enough to give her to him and offering a prayer to whatever higher power was listening that everything would remain as perfect as it was in that moment before he closed his eyes again letting memories or the day and dreams of this their first Christmas together in their home envelope them. Images of what the following Christmases could be like flitted through his mind as well where their house would be busier, and noisier and messier and each one would, no doubt, find a way to surpass this as the perfect Christmas, but until then – laying here with her in his arms, the soft coloured tree lights twinkling, the smooth voice of Nat King Cole in the background and the subtle smell of cinnamon and chocolate chip cookies in the background, he couldn't imagine anything better.

----

_Thanks a lot for reading. Merry Christmas. - Marianne xxx_


	9. Baby, It's A Wild World

_AN – hi, I hope you all had a nice new year. Sorry this took so long to update. Thank you everyone who is reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoy. I promise, it's not as random as it seems. There's some strong language in this chapter so just a head's up.  
_

* * *

"Dammit Lisa! How am I supposed to remember your mom's birthday – I hardly remember yo...my mom's birthday!"

Troy laughed as he grabbed his bag from his locker and looked over at Isaac who was currently on the phone to his girlfriend, and from the sounds of it, she wasn't congratulating him on a good game. The team had just beaten the Rockets and were supposed to be on their way to the bus in order to catch their plane out of Houston after their game. Instead, for whatever reason, Isaac was currently getting his ass chewed off from his girlfriend instead while some of the other guys had decided to grab something to eat in the stadium to save them from airport cuisine.

"Your mom hates me anyway. Fine, no, whatever. Lisa...do not touch my X-Box! Fine, yeah, I'll call her...I said I'll call her! Baby, come on..."

Troy knew he should be more sympathetic to his friend's plight, but well, he no doubt deserved it and Troy couldn't help but laugh to see the guy who used to whine about Troy being whipped was visibly shrinking in front of him.

Getting a glare from his teammate, Troy decided to pity the poor guy and grabbed his bag and headed towards the door, dodging the shoe that was aimed after him as he went. Walking through the stadium he couldn't help but chuckle as he reached down to his own cell and saw a message on it.

_I don't mean to worry you, but number 14 looked amazing out there tonight. Think he'd be interested?;) xox_

Troy stopped and laughed out loud as he shook his head, quickly keying in a response before he headed out of the bowels of the stadium again.

_I think he's engaged. Apparently his fiancée is pretty hot and he's only got eyes for her. Guess u're stuck with me. :(_

It didn't take long for his cell to buzz again.

_Pretty hot? Unless you are talking about temperature I'm going to have to refute that, especially right now. Unless you find shorts and a basketball shirt hot of course. ;)_

He gave up texting and pressed his speed-dial and held his cell to his ear. She picked up almost immediately and he stopped, casting a quick glance to make sure no one was in earshot before he spoke. "No, seriously – are you wearing my shirt?"

Her giggle on the other end of the phone confirmed it and he took a deep breath as he shook his head. "Babe, you can't be telling me things like that..."

"It's what I always wear when I watch your games at home. I don't want to jinx anything by changing the routine," she sighed dramatically before continuing. "Fine - would it be better if I took it off? Because I can do that right now if you..."

"Do not continue that sentence," he pleaded as he closed his eyes, begging his brain to erase that image until he was nowhere near his teammates. Her boredom at home had made her far more inclined to torment him and although he knew she was only doing it to entertain herself, it was getting harder and harder to remember that he was the one who had to be sensible for the next few months especially when his first instinct was to throw his natural chivalry out the window and say goodbye to the world outside their bedroom for a week. "I am about to get on a bus with a team of guys and trust me – carrying the pink luggage will be a breeze compared to the ribbing I will get if you continue."

"Sorry baby," she giggled before sighing. "You were amazing tonight, Wildcat."

"You say that every game," he teased as he bit down on his lip.

"I think a double double speaks for itself. Besides, I believe it whenever I say it," she said earnestly, and he knew it wasn't false praise she directed at him. She was knowledgeable about the game and naturally biased in his favour but she would never straight out lie to him and although they both knew she looked at him via rose coloured glasses, she would genuinely believe any praise she would direct at him. "Hey! Guess what? You've made the league top ten on free throws after tonight."

"No way! Seriously?"

"Yup – I mean I don't know the final placings with the late games but you're going to be running at around an 86.2, which should be enough to get you to about 8 on the list."

"Wow – it didn't seem like I had that good a night," he said as he began walking again. "You sure?"

"Pretty sure."

"See, I know that percentage is a pretty bogus stat because there are guys who will have hundreds of attempts and then there's me who will have a hundred attempts but still – it's top ten, you know?"

"I know. I thought you would be happy – I know that you guys flit in and out, but I just thought it was cool that you made it."

"It's great," he bit his lip and closed his eyes, trying to suppress his embarrassment at his next statement. "Gabi? When the games are over could you..."

"Take a screenshot of the page? Definitely," she finished, and he grinned and opened his eyes. He knew it was stupid, and vain and all that but he didn't know how often the opportunity would come that he would be ahead of truly great players in any sort of list so if, ten years from now, all he could say was that he had beat them one night in a useless stat category then he would take it.

"Shit," he said as he saw the doors. "Gabriella, I gotta go babe – listen, I'll call you when we land in Memphis, okay?"

"Okay," she said softly. "I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too," he said as he smiled. "Bye."

Hearing her soft goodbye he hung up his phone before walking out, internally preening at making the list. He was engrossed in his own thoughts when he heard his name called. Lifting his head he expected to see one of his team-mates braving the rain, but instead he saw a middle-aged man wearing a suit shivering in front of him.

"Mr Bolton! Hi," the man said as he stuck his hand out and offered it to Troy who took it with a smile. "Amazing game tonight – you guys were awesome. I mean, no offence but I didn't think you had any chance."

"Chris was on fire," Troy said with a shrug.

"You all were amazing. Seriously, that sinker you shot at the end of the third? That broke their back."

"Yeah, well," Troy said as he looked down, not really feeling comfortable talking about himself. "You from New Orleans?"

"Nah...I'm from all over - I travel a lot," the man said with a laugh as he looked at Troy. "I'm a massive fan of you guys though. I just like good basketball and you guys are always great to watch."

"That's great," Troy said with a smile. "So you here for a while?"

"Couple of days, then its back home before heading out again. No rest for the wicked and all that. Hey, could you sign this for my son?" the man handed over a program and Troy dropped his bag and took the pen and signed his name. He would never get used to signing autographs for people. "His name is Marcus, poor kid got named after me, but he'll go crazy for any sort of autograph..."

Troy laughed at the man's enthusiasm and put a short greeting to the boy. "Did he not make the game?"

"Nah – he's with his mom and sister. They don't travel so I'm stuck on my own for the game most times."

"Man, that sucks," Troy said as he put the cap on the pen. It was hard enough for Troy to leave Gabriella, but at least he knew it was only for a couple of days at a time and he'd be at home most of the off-season...

"Yeah – well, you'd know about it, right? I mean I don't see your girlfriend around."

Troy shook his head. "She's my fiancée and she can't travel."

He didn't know if the guy picked up his quieter tone, but he immediately spoke up. "Well, at least she gets to see your home games, right?"

"Well, at the moment she gets to watch them on TV," Troy laughed as he thought about the pouting that decision had caused as she had tried to convince him that sitting at home was no different from sitting near the court. He looked up and saw the guys questioning face and expanded. "She's on bed-rest."

"Ah," he said with a nod. "That's gotta be tough for her..."

Troy picked up his bag and shrugged. "Yeah it is, but it's for the best, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess. I know what it's like - you don't want to do anything that rocks the boat, right? At least you get a break when you're travelling."

"Well, to be honest she's been great – I mean a little emotional but...she's been amazing. She's been much better than she has any right to be. I swear, I'm the one who is going crazy, you know?"

"Well I envy you then because my wife was ready for killing me," the man said with a laugh. "So when's she due?"

"Official due date is March 23rd, but it's probably going to be a bit earlier than that..."

"Not long, huh?"

"It cannot come soon enough," Troy admitted with a shake of his head.

"Well, your game is not being affected at all – I can't imagine how tough it is to deal with all that in your first year and still play well. I mean you have to be a sure thing for the rookie game, right?"

"Nah – I'm not goi..." Troy went to continue before he felt a hand clap on his shoulder, cutting him off.

"Hey, Bolton – we need to get going. Super nanny is rounding up the kids at the restaurant so I'm guessing we'll be going pretty sharpish when they get back."

Troy turned to see Isaac looking at the man with a way too broad smile on his face. "Hey man, you need an autograph?"

"Um, yeah – that would be awesome," the man said with a smile before handing back the program that Isaac signed before reattaching his grip to Troy's shoulder. "Thanks. Great game tonight. The block you put up was...I couldn't believe that it got called on you."

"Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't," Isaac said with a grin as he began nudging forward. "Have a nice night, dude."

Before the man could get another word in Isaac was pushing Troy towards the bus, muttering and shaking his head as he led him round the back of it.

"Okay, Mr Chatty, what was that?"

Troy looked at him like he had lost his mind. "I was signing an autograph for the guy."

"Okay, clearly you missed PR 101 but when you talk to people now, you limit it to what they already know about you – i.e., what they just watched you do. Your personal life, future decisions about your career, your thoughts on anything not directly relatable to basketball is off limits until you are way more savvy to do it safely."

"Isaac, the guy just wanted an autograph for his son. I was just talking."

"Talking is what you do with your friends and people you know, not with random people who only know you because you're famous," Isaac said seriously, and Troy was confused as to where this was coming from. Isaac was one of the friendliest people on the planet so it seemed weird to him but he was so serious that Troy was certain he wasn't just messing with him.

"I..."

"Listen – we've all been rookies with starry eyed ideas about the world and the people in it. We get these guys outside stadiums and we talk like we usually do and 98 times out of 100 it is just a fan, but once in a while it will be this crazy person who is fishing for information on you or your family to blab to some sleazy online blog and rumours start and they always linger forever, or if it's not that then it's a intern fishing for dirt so their sportswriter can make the next cartoon villain out of you. The easiest way to prevent that is to concentrate your answers on the game or the team."

"I'm pretty sure he was just a regular guy looking for an autograph," Troy said slowly, trying to work out how suddenly talking to someone was something to stress about. "I mean...I'm a backup guy, like...I don't think that anyone cares...right?"

"Bolton," Isaac said slowly as he looked at him. "Relax, okay? I'm not saying that it's wrong to be friendly, but what you have to remember is that you're a public figure and that means that some people aren't just going to be happy with a 'hey, how's it going?' conversation so if you encourage it now, it's going to be something you have to deal with for the rest of your career."

"I don't get it - you just said..."

"I was making a point and clearly I forgot you tend to over-analyse stuff," Isaac said slowly as he looked at Troy before his voice lightened with a grin. "Moral of the story is not to engage in friendly conversation with guys you don't know like you would have done a year ago. It's just easier that way because like it or not, you're not a regular guy anymore and one bad joke, one silly comment on a bad day can get twisted. It happens all the time so just think a little more, that's all I'm saying."

Troy nodded dully, trying to take it all in. It wasn't something that he had ever contemplated and thinking about it, although he could see it made sense, seemed weird. He was just Troy – the same guy he had been a year ago so it was bizarre that other people didn't see that as well.

"You just gotta be a little more careful, that's all. People are more interested in what we say because we are on court, especially back home and although nationally most people could care less about anything you or I say or do, back home the talent pool is small so its big news and we have to live there."

"Yeah...you're right. I mean I just thought...but you're right. Thanks."

"Not a problem," Isaac said with a laugh. "Get your ass along to the PR people when we get back – they'll give you a crash course on dos and don'ts in situations like this. Seriously – your agent should have dealt with that when you signed."

"He's pissed at me for not going to the rookie game, and for limiting my schedule," Troy murmured as he looked at the ground and tried to keep his mind clear. "I don't think calling him getting help on this would be a good idea."

"Troy," Isaac said slowly as he let out a snort. "It's his job to help. He works for you – not the other way round. If you don't want to do something, it's his job to deal with it instead of working out what impact it has on his 20%."

"I know, it's just," Troy sighed. His agent was a nice guy, but his dad had warned him when he signed that fundamentally an agent had one goal and that was to make money. Troy's decision to skip the rookie game and to spend more time at home instead of courting endorsers at events out of state meant that their relationship was occasionally strained. "I don't know – if I want a lecture then I can call Gabi's mom and she'll give me one for free, instead of paying a fortune to get it off Kyle."

"Well, if you want my opinion you need to let him know who's in charge. I suppose if you don't want to rock the boat too much with the stork circling the nest, then just talk to Ed and he'll come up with some stuff. Until then – listen to your elders, Rook and don't be talking to strangers, 'kay?" Isaac laughed and nudged him, and Troy let a small smile grace his face as he nodded and followed Isaac towards the bus.

Once he was seated he pulled out his iPod and tried to clear his mind of all the stuff that had just happened. Isaac's warning was still playing in his head and he was still trying to get his head around it. He didn't see himself any different now than he had been before, and he thought that would be considered a good thing. He knew what Isaac said made sense - he didn't know who he was talking to, but he just wasn't sure if he wanted to be that person who was looking for enemies and potential trouble. The problem was he had always just seen people as people, but now he was supposed to not do that. He was used to people recognising him because he had grown up being known by people, be it around Albuquerque and then latterly in college before getting drafted, but ever since he was a junior in High School he had realised that he didn't have to conform to a certain persona for that to happen and now he was being told that, actually, he couldn't act like that after all.

* * *

Gabriella narrowed her eyes in concentration, her brow furrowed and her teeth biting down so harshly on her bottom lip that there was a real danger she would at the very least bruise it. at that moment in time though she didn't care as her focus was solely on one task and anyone who knew Gabriella Montez knew that she was nothing but driven when she put her mind to something.

"Dammit!!" she screamed as she looked down and saw that the tiny woollen square she was holding had, somehow became less square shaped and more lopsided than could reasonably be expected in what was supposed to be the beginnings of a blanket. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!"

She threw the knitting needles and the wool down dramatically and almost burst into tears at her own uselessness at the task. It was her own fault – she had made the mistake of complaining of boredom to too many people and as a result she had found Troy's mother, her own grandmother and Sara all had given her knitting needles and patterns with the understanding that a 'smart and creative girl like her' would have no problems with it. she had actually been enthusiastic for it – the idea of creating something for her baby to wear, or scarves for Troy, or hats and gloves and all that definitely sparked something in her imagination and he could picture all the amazing designs and colours and patterns she was going to use and she had already ordered a book of patterns off eBay with designs for all different sorts of booties and baby hats in it including ones designed like frogs and ducks and...

And now she was sat here, cursing the whole thing and anyone who had even suggested it. If she couldn't knit a freaking square without it being ruined then how the hell was she going to knit a hat with frog eyes? That thought was what finally pushed her over the edge and she burst into tears as she lifted up the little square in despair – what kind of mother couldn't even knit a blanket?

"Oh cool, you're making a...triangular thingy for the baby."

"It's a blanket!" Gabriella turned around to look at the pink clad blonde before she flung the blanket away hopelessly and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, it's supposed to be a blanket anyway."

"Well that's not going to keep anything warm," Sharpay said tactlessly as she walked over towards the mirror and stroked her hair. Everyone was well aware that Gabriella's hormones made her susceptible to crying bouts so everyone who wasn't Troy tended to act like they would normally when she was in one. Gabriella actually liked that, for the most part, but she wasn't going to lie, when Troy was gone she kinda wished that someone else would just hug her and let her cry it out a little. "Danforth is taking me out. Don't know why as it's not like today is important or anything..."

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she wiped her tears. Today was their anniversary, or it would be if they were normal – instead they were pretending it wasn't because they were drama queens and couldn't possibly do anything normal like other people.

"Maybe he just wants to spend time with you."

"Yeah, well – who wouldn't want to spend time with me?" the blonde asked as she turned around. "Would you like some cucumber in for your eyes because they are going to get swollen if you keep crying and no amount of Botox will fix that when you're older and trust me, no man wants to be married to someone with bug eyes."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes at her friend, finding it hard in her emotional state not to tell her what she could do with her Botox and cucumber, only for the door to sound and halting her suggestion before she could voice it. "Could you get that for me, please?"

Sharpay nodded reluctantly and left, muttering about getting hired help as she went, leaving Gabriella to turn back to her pattern book. Clearly the problem was she wasn't looking at it properly so she held it to the side, trying to make the numbers arrange more practically before deciding what she had to do was re-write the instructions in the hope that the information would be absorbed that way. She always used to do it for everything from quizzes to songs to speeches so why should this be any different. With renewed energy she stood up and grabbed a pen and a notepad and began writing as Sharpay came walking back in.

"Bill, junk, junk, 'you've won a million dollars', catalogue, fan mail..."

Gabriella turned around, her mouth opening in shock as she saw Sharpay paw through the letters before turning to her. "It was the mail."

"I can see that. Well?"

"Your mailman is hot – seriously, does Troy know that he comes to your house every day?"

"I've never noticed," Gabriella said, ignoring the disbelieving look Sharpay shot her and her own aversion to lying. Of course Troy was aware that the mailman was traditionally un-mailman looking and although Gabriella wouldn't deny that he was good looking, she just didn't have any interest in other men. "I mean yeah, he's moderately attractive but that's about it."

"Bolton has completely spoiled you as a woman," Sharpay tutted sadly.

"Can I see the mail, please?" Gabriella asked, deciding it was definitely the better option to try and change the subject.

"It's mostly crap – seriously, even famous people get junk mail, who knew?" Sharpay said as she sat a collection down before waving a couple towards her. "These are addressed to you," she handed her a letter and a package from Amazon. "And this," she waved a white envelope with a laugh. "Is addressed to a Gabrielle Bolton. Do you know her?"

Gabriella couldn't help the squeak she made as she dropped her notebook and made a swipe for the letter only for Sharpay to dangle it away from her teasingly. "Sharpay...give me the letter."

"I don't know, it has the wrong name on it – you're not Gabrielle and you're definitely not Bolton so maybe we should..."

Even though she knew she should be resting, and that it was stupid because clearly she hadn't married Troy yet, she had this irrepressible need to have that letter. It didn't matter that it got her first name wrong, or anything else – what mattered is that it was the first piece of mail she had received with her soon to be married name on it and she had to see what it looked like when someone else wrote it down. "Sharpay..."

The blonde rolled her eyes and handed her the letter. "Don't get your panties in a twist. Your boy doesn't need a phone call saying that you've hatched already or else he'll be an even bigger nervous wreck..."

Gabriella had long since stopped listening to Sharpay though as she looked at the letter and ran her finger over the name. She didn't care that Sharpay was giggling or that she was being ridiculous, it was a big deal to her.

"Well, who's it from?"

Gabriella squinted and shook her head as she scanned to the bottom and saw the name Emilio Sanchez as the signee and she quickly scanned her brain to see if the name was familiar. Not recalling anyone she shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, what does it say?"

Gabriella looked back and began reading. "Dear Gabrielle, I'm sorry for contacting you like this but I have no idea what to do. My name is Emilio and I am a big fan of your husband. I know you both are kind hearted people and that you work with children with learning difficulties. I admire anyone who gives their life to looking after children and I know that you're going to have your own baby soon and that's why I am contacting you." Gabriella took a deep breath as she continued, her free hand instinctively rubbing over her bump protectively. "I know I have no right to ask, but my son is sick – he..."

"Okay, that's enough of that," Sharpay said as she plucked the letter out of Gabriella's hands with a frown. "Seriously – some people are just sick."

"Sharpay..." Gabriella said as she looked at the furious blonde who was shaking her head.

"Let me see – son sick, need money, know you'll understand, hate to ask, privilege, can afford it, please, yada, yada, yada..." Sharpay couldn't even disguise her sneer. "Seriously? How the hell would a guy like that get your address? Talking about a child because he knows you're pregnant and work with children is low..."

Gabriella could only bite down on her lip, she had no idea what had just happened. It wasn't that she wouldn't want to help, but someone had just written to her at her home and begged her for money. It wasn't even a generic letter, this was someone who knew what she worked as and where she lived and that she was having a baby... "I don't..."

Before she could work out what she was thinking, Sharpay had reached down for the envelope and turned it over to see if there was anything written on it.

"Do you know anyone in Texas?"

"I...I have some family there," she said quietly as she shrugged. "I don't..."

"Would any of them have given your address to someone?"

"Yeah, I mean...yeah, if they wanted some advice on education or learning or something then yeah, I suppose it's not exactly a state secret," she said softly as she grabbed the envelope back. "Do you...do you think it's legitimate? That his son is sick?"

"No," Sharpay said with a shake of the head. "I think it's some jackass who is trying to fleece you two because he's heard from someone that you two are too nice to say no to anyone. Seriously, the nerve," she growled as she shook her head. "Actually, you know what – he left his number, maybe I should tell him that!"

"No, don't," Gabriella begged as she shook her head. She didn't want anyone fighting and she certainly didn't want to risk anyone getting angry at her if they knew her address. She wasn't sure what she thought about the whole thing, but taking away her emotional reaction and purely taking an impartial, logical stance she could see that Sharpay was right about it being a scam. "I just...if it's true and I don't help...what goes around, comes around, you know?"

"Gabriella," Sharpay said with a shake of her head as she sat down. "That thinking is what people like that want. Okay, you're new to this situation, but think about it – why would they just contact you? This is someone who is trying their luck because they know that you're heavily pregnant and you're ultra emotional. The fact that they addressed it to you with the wrong name and didn't address it to Troy tells you what they were aiming for..."

Gabriella looked down and bit down on her lip, she recognised that Sharpay was right but... "I just worry that...I mean it could be true."

"No, it couldn't. Trust me on this. You have no idea how many letters my mother used to get just like that when I was growing up – people will try anything to make some money. You know what – later I'm going to call my mom and you're going to talk to her about it and she'll explain exactly how these people work. They look for an in and then they just try and exploit it and with the women it is always about children. My mom actually used to pay as well, until she checked in once and found out that the 'child' that was in so much pain was actually a 40 year old woman looking for an extra income." Sharpay looked positively livid at the thought and Gabriella couldn't help but nod in understanding as the blonde continued. "I know you two don't like to think that you are well known, or exploitable but you are both going to have to realise you are. You're in a different world now – it isn't just Troy and Gabriella, it's now Troy the NBA player who people know and because of that, people know you as well and are going to try and take advantage of that."

"We're still the same people, Sharpay. I just...I don't like to think that people are like that...that they would use a child like that."

"I know," Sharpay sighed. "The thing is – they don't care. Do you want me to call and tell them to go to hell with that sort of game?"

Gabriella shook her head. She knew that what Sharpay said was right, and that thought combined with her already frazzled emotional state made her upset. "Just...we'll throw it in the trash and he'll just think that we never got it. I don't want to think too much about it or else it'll just make me upset that people can do that."

Sharpay looked like she was contemplating it before she reluctantly conceded. "Fine – but only because you're pregnant and I'm not getting riled up before lunch as it makes me feel bloated..."

She couldn't help but giggle at that as Sharpay made a show of ripping the letter up and walking to the trash bin and putting it in. "And that's where any other letters of his goes, whether he calls you Mrs Bolton or not, understood?"

Sharpay's stern voice harked back to the girl she was in high school and Gabriella couldn't help but stifle a laugh at that thought as she clutched the envelope to her, not wanting her friend to see it. "Of course, Sharpay."

Sharpay grinned triumphantly and tossed her hair dramatically as she walked over and sat down beside Gabriella. "You're keeping the envelope?"

"Yeah," she smiled softly as she looked down. "At least until its official, you know? Then I'll replace it with an official first letter."

Sharpay nodded before reaching over and grabbing the pen that was on the floor at their feet and grabbing the envelope and changing the 'Gabrielle' to a 'Gabriella' with a flourish. "If they are going to try and scam you they could at least get the little details right."

Gabriella giggled and nodded as she looked at the name and smiling. "It kinda goes together, doesn't it?"

"I'm sure you would know as you've been practicing writing it for years," Sharpay said with a smirk.

Gabriella had no response and instead merely stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Shouldn't you be going to lunch?"

"Apparently he's coming home to change," Sharpay shook her head. "Idiot will go out to the gym instead of coming back early. What are you going to do while we're gone?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Try and make a blanket and sit in the garden."

"Exciting," Sharpay snickered as she sat back and looked at the ceiling with a pout forming on her face as she returned to their earlier conversation. "Sharpay doesn't really go with any other name apart from Evans."

"I don't know, Sharpay Danforth might work," Gabriella teased, ignoring the withering look the blonde was shooting in her direction. She didn't want to admit it, but she was glad that both she and Chad had been here this week and although they drove her crazy at times, it hadn't been boring at least. She was going to miss having their constant company when they left at the weekend. "No?"

"Sharpay Fontaine sounds quite good," Sharpay interrupted with a slow smile. "It sounds classy, sophisticated, rich, talented..."

"It sounds like a character out of a bad soap that sleeps with her daughter's boyfriend and falls pregnant before pretending the baby is actually the kid of the town's billionaire..."

Sharpay gasped and slapped her arm. "And Gabriella Bolton sounds like some...boring, middle aged woman who is so bored at home that she hooks up with the hot gardener and gets ignored by her workaholic husband!"

"It does not," Gabriella scoffed. "You're just upset that Sharpay Danforth sounds better than you want to admit it does. It's okay, I won't tell."

"I hate you," Sharpay pouted. "Sharpay Fontaine sounds fabulous! Your new found love of daytime TV will not change that simple fact."

Gabriella giggled as she pulled a sheet of paper out and began folding it.

"What are you doing?"

She continued her folding until she held up the paper fortune teller with a flourish as she stuck her hand out for the pen. "Let's see what the fates think, huh?"

"That's so juvenile," Sharpay said plainly before grabbing it off her and filling out the spaces. "Me first!"

Gabriella laughed as the blonde decorated it with flourish and stuck the envelope in her pocket, happily forgetting her worries about the letter and her frustrations with the knitting instructions as they began playing while they waited for Sharpay to leave.

* * *

Troy was wandering around outside the hotel in Memphis and was enjoying the warm weather after practice. He had been gone two days and win in Houston aside, and warm weather in Memphis apart he was ready for going home. He couldn't help it – he knew that Chad and Sharpay were there and that made him feel better but he couldn't help it – he had to be sure he was there if she needed him.

He found his way to a bench and sat down, grabbing his cell phone as he did so. He gave it a moment before shaking his head and following his first impulse to call her. He hadn't really spoken to her since the game, and as such he hadn't had an opportunity at voicing his discussion with Isaac and although he wondered whether or not to bring it up to her at all, part of him needed to know what she thought.

She picked up after a moment and he immediately felt better for hearing her voice.

"Why good afternoon, Mr Bolton – and how are you today?"

He laughed as he shook his head. "I am currently enjoying the great outdoors of Memphis – and how are you?"

"I'm currently enjoying the great outdoors of our house," she giggled. "Well, maybe great isn't the word to use. I'm on the swing bench trying to decipher the most difficult instructions I've ever seen and failing miserably."

"You're usually so good at them. You want me to have a look when I get home?"

"Nah, I don't think they are something you'd get," she giggled and he got the idea that he had missed something funny.

"So...are Chad and Sharpay there?"

She let out a groan and he could tell that it was mostly playful. "No – they are gone for a non-anniversary anniversary lunch. It's kinda cute in a painful, loud sort of way."

"Have they been looking after you?"

"Yeah – they've been great. Sharpay even got the mail for me today. She thinks the mail-man is hot incidentally." He could almost see her eye-roll at that as she continued. "I worry about her sometimes."

"Yeah, well – maybe if she runs off with him he'll remember that you're taken when he comes to the door in future." He wasn't the jealous or possessive type for the most part, but he wasn't going to pretend that he wasn't a little obvious about how much he disliked the mail-man and his obvious attraction to Gabriella. Troy had, naturally, gone to lengths to make it clear but the guy was either exceptionally stupid or exceptionally brazen and it did still irk him a little.

"I think he knows that," she agreed, her voice teasing as she spoke.

"I should hope so." he said, sighing as he paused for a second before speaking again. "So – did Lisa tell you that Isaac gave me 'the talk' yesterday?"

"I haven't spoken to her in a couple of days. Do I want to know what it was all about?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Basically about talking to people about anything that's not basketball. Bad things can happen, or something. I don't know – he made it sound like people were out to get me or something."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, people will say stuff to you to get you to say something back and then they use it for...gossip and rumours and everything," he said as he then went on to explaining the conversation with the man and Isaac's reaction. "I just...I don't get it, you know? I'm not that interesting."

He waited a second before she spoke. "Troy, I don't know anyone who has had to deal with the sort of expectations on them that you have. I know it's on a much bigger scale now, but this is something that you're used to. You're never going to be one of those distant people who can barely smile at someone so if that means that you might occasionally talk too much to someone you shouldn't talk to, then that's just something we'll deal with."

"I just...I just want to play ball, and then come home and do normal things with you, you know? The whole idea that some people might not be who they say they are and all that kinda freaks me out."

"Troy," she said softly and he closed his eyes, almost picturing her beside him as she spoke. "You don't have to be famous to have people around you who aren't who they say they are. I trust your judgement more than anything and I know that you wouldn't ever let yourself say something to intentionally do harm to anyone. Don't let it freak you out, okay? This is one small thing that yes, it's better to be aware of it than not, but it's just something to be cautious about but not scared about, okay? Being too friendly, too nice is not a bad thing. I love that about you and I trust you to act the way you think is best."

He opened his eyes and felt a small smile tug his lips. She always had a way of simplifying things that he would tie into knots and worry about. "You're right – I just...I think I'm having sympathy hormonal surges or something. I don't know why I let it bother me."

"You let it bother you because...because as far as we're concerned you're just Troy but to other people..." she sighed as she lowered her voice and she wondered what she was thinking at that moment. "Other people just see the uniform first and don't understand how amazing you are outwith that. It's normal I guess but...I don't know - just...just remember that the people that matter know that you're still just you."

"Okay," he replied, smiling softly. She was right, of course. Sharpay had been the prime manipulator in High School, hell even his own friends had lured him into saying the wrong things so he knew how to handle stuff like that. "Man that psychology course you did came in handy, huh?"

She giggled and he smiled in reply. "I knew I'd need it for more than work purposes."

He laughed and shook his head, glancing at the time and knowing he would need to go and grab something to eat soon before the game. "Ha ha. Listen, I gotta go but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Have a nice lunch, Wildcat. Love you."

"Love you too," he whispered before quickly adding. "And call me if you don't feel well while you're on your own."

"I promise," she giggled, probably wanting to say something about the distance but choosing against it. "Now go – I'm at a very delicate stage of the blanket making process."

"I'm not even going to ask," he said as he stood. "Have a good day, Beautiful. Speak to you soon."

He let her hang up the phone before he put his own phone away and he smiled. She had definitely gotten weirder with some stuff, but despite it all, she always knew exactly what he needed to hear for things to make sense. Feeling less stressed than he had since the conversation with Isaac he walked back towards the hotel, purposely greeting an older guy as he walked past him and he smiled as he walked away knowing that he didn't ever want to be the guy who walked with his head down in the off chance that something would go wrong.

* * *

It was a few hours later that Gabriella had come in from the garden expecting to find herself alone in her house. Instead though, she had stepped in to find a sobbing Sharpay perched on her sofa. It was a sharp contrast to the pristine girl who had left the same position earlier and Gabriella had no idea how long she had been sat there because as far as she had known, she and Chad weren't supposed to be in before the evening and, based on the absence of Chad, something had happened.

Gabriella dropped her knitting attempts and bit her lip as she walked over to the sofa and wrapped her arms as best she could around the crying blonde. She had never seen Sharpay cry like this before and she didn't care what the reason was, her only thought was to make sure that she was okay because the Sharpay Evans she knew did not cry like this. Sure, she had seen the tantrums, and the divaish rants. She had even seen her turn on the water-works when she had been denied the lead role but at no point had she ever seen her look like she was in extreme pain. There was no outlandish sobbing, no over the top hysterics, just her sitting there, crying, her face blotchy and her eyes swollen and looking like she had no idea what had just happened to her.

"Sharpay? What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"It's over," Sharpay said with a throw of her arms. "This, whatever it was, it's done. I mean not that we were anything anyway," she cried as she leant over and wiped her eyes. "He's an asshole and I hate him!"

Gabriella flinched as she rubbed Sharpay's back slowly, wondering what Chad had done. As a couple who weren't in a relationship, Sharpay sure did look pretty upset. "Please don't cry. Can I get you anything?"

"You could help me kill him," Sharpay cried. "I'd make it quick – I'd wring his fat neck and you could help me castrate him and hide the body. I'll buy a pig to help..."

"A...pig...?" Gabriella's eyes widened as she tentatively tapped Sharpay's back.

"Pigs eat anything – although I bet even pigs have discerning taste and wouldn't touch him..."

Gabriella couldn't stop her jaw dropping at the comment, but Sharpay didn't seem to notice as she continued.

"Why does he have to be such a bastard?"

"I don't..." Gabriella said, feeling uncomfortable with the whole topic. Chad was her friend, so she didn't feel comfortable listening to him being bad-mouthed, but she knew that sometimes people just had to vent. "Tell me what happened?"

Sharpay snorted somewhat inelegantly and rubbed her eyes as she sat forward, her arms crossing over her chest as her face contorted in a poorly disguised sneer. "He's a bastard, and you know what? I knew he was a bastard so I don't know why I'm shocked, but as big a bastard as I thought he was, he's actually worse!"

"Um..." Gabriella said, discreetly rubbing her bump in a vain effort at shielding her son's hearing in case he came out the womb recognising certain words that he should not be recognising. "Okay?"

"What did Troy get you for your anniversary?"

Gabriella blinked as she tried to work out what to say – obviously Sharpay wanted to rant about how bad a boyfriend Chad was so showing how great Troy was wouldn't be good, but she couldn't just lie either. "He...he took me out for dinner on a steamboat and we went dancing and...stuff afterwards."

"And that's it?"

"More or less," Gabriella said as she took a drink of the water that was sat on the table, in an effort at closing the subject. "Why?"

"You know what Chad got me?"

Gabriella shook her head slowly. Even though they weren't 'official' and didn't have anniversaries as such she was sure the lunch he was taking her on had something do with it.

"He's done nothing! He took me to a restaurant, bitching how he was missing a basketball game to do it and then started flirting with the hostess right in front of me!"

Gabriella flinched and shook her head as she began rubbing Sharpay's back again.

"And you know what else? He...he never answers my calls. He bitches the whole time that he takes me out. He buys the ugliest shirts in the history of the universe, he never puts the toilet seat down and he spends all day on a Sunday in his underwear! He's a...a..."

"Sharpay," Gabriella interrupted softly, trying to calm the blonde down whose face was a worrying shade of pink through her tirade. "I thought...I mean you always act like...I didn't think you wanted more..."

"I don't!" she said even as she began crying harder. "I...I am sick of being his fuck buddy! I want to get presents on my anniversary, I want him to carry my bags without bitching the whole time, I want him to have the decency to not try and pick up the hostess when I'm sitting beside him – the bastard! And...and you know what he got me for my birthday? A freaking ticket to a show – ONE ticket! Because I would have more fun on my own. I'm Sharpay Evans – I have standards to maintain!"

Gabriella bit down so hard on her lip that she was almost scared she would break the skin. She had no idea how she could make this better and although she was only getting one side of the story, she couldn't help but want to strangle Chad for his behaviour. She had always suspected that there was more between him and Sharpay than either of them were willing to admit, but it made her feel awful to find out that Sharpay was being hurt so much by whatever the arrangement was. "Did you tell him?"

"He'd just say that I'm being clingy," Sharpay cried as she wiped her eyes, smudging a line of mascara across her face as she did so. "Like I would ever be clingy with him."

"Sharpay," Gabriella began slowly as she sat up and tried to manoeuvre herself to sit on the low table in front of the blonde. "If you aren't happy..."

"If he thinks he's sleeping with me tonight he can go fu..."

"Maybe you should try and talk to him," Gabriella interrupted quickly. "Maybe if you explain to him that you want a real relationship..."

Sharpay snorted then as she stood. "I don't want a real relationship with a bastard like that!"

"But you just said..." Gabriella rubbed her head in confusion as Sharpay marched towards the room she and Chad were staying in. The absence of the blonde and the random cursing that was going on from the room made Gabriella sigh and tilt her head back. So much for being stress free. She knew she should call Chad and make him apologise, but for that to happen it would mean she would have to reach her phone which was sitting on the sofa. She growled as she tried to get up off the table but found that some combination of her legs, back and pregnant bulge made it impossible for that to happen. She huffed hopelessly for a moment before groaning and resigning herself to her immobility as she rather ungracefully used a hand to brace herself up and slid herself along the table only to misjudge the distance and slide right off and land on her backside with a slight oomph and a rather inelegant snort as she found herself laughing at her own clumsiness.

"...and you know what? He is useless in bed – you would think for being a fuck buddy that he would at least be good at it but no, he's pathetic!"

Gabriella looked up from her giggles to see Sharpay come storming out with a bag of clothes and her purse.

"What are you doing down there?"

"Resting?" she lied as she offered a bright smile, hoping to avoid the embarrassment of admitting to Sharpay her slight issues with grace and movement at this stage in time.

Sharpay narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously before sniffing and walking round and emptying the clothes contents on the table that Gabriella had been sitting on and pulling a pen from her purse. "What are you doing?"

Gabriella managed to haul herself up onto the sofa to see Sharpay start scrawling over various pieces of clothing that she knew belonged to Chad, including the autographed Hornets jersey that Troy had got the team to sign for him. "No...Sharpay, don't...!"

"Don't what?" Sharpay asked as she wiped her eyes again as she finished off a 'I'm a cheating, lying bastard' message smack bang on the middle of the shirt. "I'm providing a public service!"

"This...you two have to talk instead of this," Gabriella said desperately. "Sharpay!"

"What?" Sharpay said suddenly as she turned round to glare at Gabriella who sunk back slightly at the sight. "You have never had anyone treat you like that, so you don't know how best to handle this!"

"You said it was just...you two were just having fun..."

"I said that...I said that because I wanted to believe that, but this isn't fun anymore," she whispered as fresh tears fell. "I don't...I thought...it was never supposed to feel like this and it just..."

Just then Gabriella understood. She sat over and wrapped her arms around the blonde who immediately began sobbing as Gabriella stroked her hair. She was right, she had no idea what it felt like to be treated like that, and although Gabriella loved Chad, she knew that in this case her loyalty was going to lie with Sharpay.

"You love him?"

"No, yes...I don't know, he's a bastard and I hate him but..."

Sharpay was still crying when she heard the front door open and heard the shuffling of feet coming from behind them. She turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Chad who paused at the door, the front of his shirt stained red with what Gabriella suspected may have been wine and his hands held at his side, fidgeting with his sleeves. "Umm...okay, I know that I'm probably the least popular person in the state at the moment, but in my defence, it really wasn't what it looked like."

"I don't think she wants to talk to you," Gabriella said as she stood up in an effort to protect her friend and walked round to stand in front of Sharpay in order to shield her. "I don't think she wants to see you either."

"Gabs," Chad said as he took a step towards her, causing Gabriella's gaze to narrow further as she brought her hands up to her hips. "I swear what she thinks she saw, was not what she thinks she saw! I wouldn't...Shar, baby...I swear..."

"Don't call her baby," Gabriella hissed as she took a step towards him, causing him to backup. "You don't get to treat her like that and then try and talk your way out of it."

"Treat her like..." Chad began before looking round her. "Sharpay, what the hell did you tell her?"

"Never mind," Gabriella said as she glared at him. "You cheated on her!"

"I didn't! Shar, I swear I didn't!" Chad said as he manoeuvred himself easily around Gabriella to stalk over to Sharpay who was now stood, a hand on her hip and her foot tapping manically. "I was..."

"You were being the same inconsiderate bastard you always are! Well, no more! She's welcome to you because, believe me, no one else will be so stupid as to put up with your..."

"I didn't do anything!"

"I was sitting right there watching you make googly eyes at her!"

"I was trying to make sure we got a good table so you could drool over your precious Grayson up close!"

"You...what?"

"Yeah – fucking Grayson 'I played Fiyero and Marius' Fontaine because, clearly what I want to do during our anniversary is watch you gush over another guy but hey, you just keep inventing things to complain about," Chad said as he threw his arms up in the air. "I can't believe I gave up the game for this!"

"I didn't know!"

"Jeez, Sharpay – I have enough annoying, high pitched screechy blonde with you, why the hell would I go looking for another one unless she came gagged?"

"I...I..." Sharpay stuttered before jutting her jaw out and putting both her hands on her hips. "I am not screechy!"

"Oh yeah," Chad said as he rolled his eyes. "You know what your problem is? You are waiting for me to screw up!"

"I don't need to wait for you to screw up, you screw up every day!" Sharpay said before she looked down, her voice softer. "How did you know Grayson was going to be there?"

Chad sighed and rubbed his head. "I...I might have called up the theatre, and...talked to some people who knew some people who knew his schedule..."

"I..." Sharpay began before shifting her shoulders back defiantly. "You should have told me you idiot!"

"You have got to be kidding me?" Gabriella muttered as she turned around, silently cursing Troy for leaving her and their son alone with two crazy people. She was just about to edge towards the door, not particularly caring that she had no shoes on and no jacket as she decided that this was one opportunity that she could say that it would be less stressful to leave the house than it was to stay in it, and surely a little walk around the garden wouldn't be that...

"Excuse me, but what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Gabriella froze at the sound of Sharpay's voice only to find both of their gazes trained on her even as they were trying to, discreetly, brush their hands against each other's. "I...I thought you two could do with some privacy so I was just..."

"You seriously do try and cheat, don't you?" Chad asked in surprise and Gabriella could only glare at him, knowing that Troy had been making it sound like she couldn't be trusted. "You're supposed to be resting not going all mad and then leaving!"

"Well it's kinda hard to rest with you two arguing!" she said, crossing her arms in aggravation as her baby kicked in agreement, causing her to smile. "And you guys are swearing so much that the first words out of my baby's mouth is going to make him look like the baby out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit so I am being a responsible mother and removing him from that sort of environment."

"Seriously?"

Chad turned to look at Sharpay who had her head tilted as though Gabriella had grown an extra head and Gabriella could only roll her eyes as she walked to the kitchen and grabbed some ice-cream and a spoon before walking back out to glare at them both. "I'm going to go rest – you two...you two are insane like...crazy to the point of delusion. I swear, I deal with children every day and none of them are as immature as the pair of you."

"No we're not," Sharpay said as she put her hand on her hips again. "You're the one censoring your child's hearing when he hasn't even been born yet!"

"You're the ones pretending you aren't in a relationship when it's blatantly clear to everyone that you are."

"We aren't in a relationship," the both parroted back at her and she let out a low scream as she pulled at her hair in frustration. How did they manage not to kill each other?

"You've been together four years – four years is a relationship!"

"Or a jail sentence," Chad murmured, causing Sharpay to push his shoulder petulantly.

"Here's a hint – Chad," she turned and looked at Chad. "Sharpay wants to be in a real relationship with you because she's in love with you," Gabriella said as she heard Sharpay's loud gasp in indignation before she smirked at the blonde. "Sharpay – Chad's crazy about you. He hasn't spoken to Taylor in six months because she was badmouthing you to his mom and when he got drunk on his last visit here he sat down and told Troy and I how he was going to ask you to move in with him."

"That..." Chad said in shock as he turned round to glare at Gabriella who reached over and grabbed her phone. "You...!"

"I'm going to lie down for a little while with Ben & Jerry. If you two can keep the swearing and the noise down that would be great, thanks," she said as she turned around, almost giddy at the fact that she had finally said what everyone had wanted to say to them. Before she could enter her room though her smile swiftly fell when she heard Sharpay calling.

"I'm so telling Troy about the fortune teller picking that hot mailman as your husband, traitor!"

She groaned in annoyance as she closed the door before she went to the bed, opened her ice-cream and got her phone out and sent a text message to Troy.

_Next time they visit, I'm coming with you. xox_

She smiled as she heard the dull roar of yelling come from the other room again and waited until her phone buzzed a minute later.

_I knew I'd get u to come on road trips somehow. ;) I'll kick them out when I come back 2morrow. Rest! Love U. xx  
_

She smiled as she vaguely heard Chad shout something about his basketball shirt as she went back to the phone and sighed.

_I might kill them b4 it. ;) Have a great game, Wildcat. We'll be watching. Love you too. xox_

Sending the message she leant over and set her alarm for just before the game in case she fell asleep before walking over and opening their bed room windows wide to let the cool breeze in as she turned some music on and settled down on the bed, laying against his side of the bed as one hand carefully stroked her baby bump and the other held the spoon. She pulled the envelope out of her pocket and glanced at the name again with a smile before quickly tucking it into the drawer of her bedside table with a grin as she settled down again.

It was funny how, even with the yelling from the other room, her rapidly melting ice-cream that she knew she was going to have to spend hours in the gym to work off, her current housebound and useless status, the pile of wool that she was attempting to fashion into a blanket and the fact that her fiancé was hundreds of miles away she wasn't sure if she had ever felt more maternal than she did at that moment. There was something about the noise, her playing referee to petty squabbling, her pathetic attempts at knitting and the fact that someone, even if it was a con-artist, had called her by her married name that made her feel like it could be ten years in the future and she loved the idea.

She smiled as a small kick reached her hand and she couldn't help but begin to sing softly to it as she sat the spoon to the side and let her eyes drift closed as she reached over and pulled Troy's pillow into her body and imagined the shouting from the other room coming from her own children and the warm object she was cuddling being Troy and she couldn't help but look forward to that future.

* * *

_I just wanted to thank you all who read and reviewed Perchance To Dream. It was kinda hard to get back into writing this fic after that one which is why there was the delay, but I just wanted to thank you all for giving it a chance even though it was very different. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and let me know what you think.  
_


	10. Baby, I'm A Star

_AN – I'm sorry. My excuse is bad – I was distracted by the tennis for the last couple of weeks and I've just not been able to concentrate on this long enough to write. Sadly the tennis didn't go the way I was hoping on Sunday, but c'est la vie and all that. Thanks so much for all the reviews – they mean a lot. I hope you enjoy this and please, let me know what you think._

* * *

The room was dark when Troy awoke to find himself alone in bed. He had only been home a few days and after finally getting rid of Chad and Sharpay a couple of days previously he and Gabriella had enjoyed their time at home on their own. After the hassle of the home invasion, and his own somewhat difficult time with the realisation that he had to be on guard all the time now it had been blissful to just have a few days of normalcy, like he was experiencing just now. Well, he would have been experiencing just now if it weren't for the fact that his bed was yet again empty.

He had joked with her on one of her frequent late night excursions out of bed that he was getting close to locking their room door to keep her close, and he knew she would tell him to stay sleeping, but the memory of her crying in pain from a few weeks earlier was permanently engrained in his brain so he had to check for his own peace of mind. He padded out the room, yawning as he worked his way around the house to see if he could find her. Not finding her in the kitchen, or beside the haphazard pile of wool that she was determined she was going to fashion into some form of blanket beside the sofa he noticed the patio doors were lying open. He wandered over, the cool night air chilling his skin as he found her sitting on the swing seat, humming a slow song as one foot made the seat sway gently while she clutched a cup in her hands and had the blanket wrapped around her showing that he wasn't the only one feeling the cold.

"Hey," he whispered as he walked out, causing her to turn around and smile at him. "What you doing up?"

"The baby couldn't sleep," she replied softly, her tired eyes telling of her exhaustion. She had been feeling better the last few weeks, but better was a relative term – she wasn't fainting or having crippling headaches anymore, but even though she tried to disguise it, she was still exhausted and drained. "He seems to think that laying in bed for more than an hour is a sign of laziness and has to get me up."

Troy gave her a small smile as he walked over and sat down beside her, as she shifted her body slightly so the blanket that was over her could cover them both as she lay her head on his shoulder. She offered him the cup and he smiled gratefully as he took a drink of the hot chocolate while she cuddled closer to him, his hand caressing her shoulder as she kissed his bare chest.

"Aren't you cold?"

"I'm okay," he assured her as he gave her back the cup and used his free hand to guide her legs up and over his own. "You want me to run you a bath and see if that calms him down?"

She shook her head with a sigh. "It doesn't work. He just seems to like it more when I don't sleep," her giggle was tired as she stroked her bump softly. "You should sleep. No point the both of us staying up."

Even as she spoke, he felt her nestle closer to him and he dropped a kiss to her hair. "Nah, I should stay up – your obsession with the mailman since Sharpay was here is making me worry that I'll wake up in the morning and you'll have left me for him."

She was developing an odd obsession with the mail and every morning would see her run (in truth more waddle) to the door to get it and he had to confess, her insistence that there was no reason for it was not exactly ringing true and although he obviously knew she would never leave him for the mailman, he couldn't help but be curious. She was usually quite sneaky when it came to any surprises she had in store for him so he had to admit her lack of subtlety about hiding something from him definitely had him intrigued.

Her laugh rang out in the quiet night air as she shook her head against his chest. "I'd never leave you for him – I spent too long getting the nursery just right here."

He chuckled as he took the cup from her grasp and sat it down beside him. "Ha ha ha," he muttered as he closed his own eyes. "Lack of sleep makes you funny."

"I'm always funny," she murmured before groaning again as she sat up, her eyes closing wearily as she looked down at her abdomen almost desperately. "Please sleep, baby."

He sighed and pulled her down against him again, his own hand finding her abdomen and rubbing it as he made the swing move with his foot.

"Mmmm," she sighed softly. "That's the first time you've touched my stomach in weeks..."

His hand stilled briefly, thinking back to see if she was right. "No it's not. I hold you all the time."

"Yeah," she put her hand over his and demonstrated the way his hand was open and spread palm down against her abdomen. "But not like this."

"That's not true," he said as he looked down at her.

"Yeah, it is. Don't worry though, I understand," she said as she looked at him and must have seen the confusion on his face as she continued. "I know I scared you about something happening to him, but don't worry, he's fine. I'm taking good care of him now."

The smile that accompanied the statement was one he could only match vaguely as she leant back down and his hand began moving again slowly, trying to provide her comfort as he fought against the automatic urge he had at reminding her that it was taking care of her, and whether or not she was fine that was his sole concern.

"I'm so tired tonight." Her voice was barely audible even in the stillness of the night, but he heard her loud and clear as he snapped out his thoughts and sighed. She was exhausted and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it and that frustrated him more than anything because he was used to her being a ball of energy and the fact that she couldn't do that scared him a lot.

"I know," he said softly, his fingers coming around to grasp her hand and caress it softly. "We can ask Dr Caldwell tomorrow if there's anything we can do to help you sleep."

"I called him when you were gone," she sighed. "He just said to sleep when I was able and do relaxing things. I think the baby's just bored..."

"You mean knitting and daytime soaps aren't tiring him out?" he gasped dramatically, causing her to look up at him from under her lashes, her eyes showing her amusement.

"I don't get it either. He's clearly going to be a strange child," she murmured as she kissed his chest again. "You don't have to stay up with us."

"I know," he said as he pulled the cover up over them more fully. "I want to stay up with you though."

He could feel her smile against his torso and he let his head rest on hers, his eyes drifting closed as he tightened his grip around her and let the seat swing a little more, as she continued to hum softly with the motion and the sound lulling them both to slumber.

* * *

It was barely a few hours later as Troy yawned as he sat at the table in the restaurant watching as the man across from him perused the menu as though it was the most complicated thing on the planet. Spending half the night sleeping on a swing bench outside was maybe not the smartest move when he had an early morning meeting, but no one ever accused him of being smart all the time so it wasn't exactly that surprising. Gabriella had finally drifted off to sleep at one point, and when the cool dawn air finally roused him from his own slumber he had managed to get her into bed, just long enough to get an hour of sleep in the actual warm before he had to get up and ready. It was a sign of her sheer exhaustion that she hadn't even stirred as the alarm went briefly and he had reluctantly left her sleeping, hoping that he would be back before she awoke. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was a little after 8, and as he figured the meeting would last an hour, tops, he was hopeful that she would get the much needed rest she had been deprived of recently.

In all honesty, he wished he was still in bed himself as he could think of better things to be doing at 8am but he figured getting this particular conversation out the way early was probably the wisest move.

He glanced up to see the waitress looking at them with barely disguised annoyance, her foot tapping impatiently and her pen poised over her pad – clearly unable to comprehend why a breakfast menu required ten minutes of contemplation.

"I'll have the pancakes, with blueberries and a side of French toast and throw in a latte, large and gimme a glass of OJ and...um...oooh, a muffin. Any flavour is good."

"And you?"

Troy looked up and offered a small, apologetic smile. "Um – I'll just have waffles and an orange juice, please."

She nodded and walked away, muttering lowly about something as she went.

"I love when waitresses make the dining experience so enjoyable," the man opposite him said with a laugh. "Seriously – this is the best place we could meet?"

"It does good food," Troy shrugged, forgetting to add that it was located ten minutes from his house so it was the most convenient place to meet. "The staff is usually friendlier."

"Yeah," the man replied as he saw another waitress bang down a coffee pot on a table a few feet away. "They look it."

Troy shrugged and sunk back in the seat as the man took off his sunglasses. Kyle Yaccol was a self proclaimed sports agent extraordinaire. Gabriella had always joked that he thought of himself as Jerry Maguire (complete with the sunglasses and mission statement), but in reality he was just a regular, small market sports agent. Drew Rosenhaus and Scott Boras he wasn't, but Troy actually hadn't minded that so much because he automatically assumed big agency would equal big demands.

After making the decision to go with a small agency, he had met Kyle and in their early meetings he had been charming, said the right things and been reasonable in his promises. He had got along with Gabriella and his family and seemed to understand that all Troy was really interested in was playing basketball.

What he hadn't quite realised at the time was that he had been talking to a salesman who earned his money on telling a client what he wanted to hear until he signed a contract, and after that happened forgot all the original plans as he tried to 'guide you' down the path he wanted you to follow. It wouldn't have been so bad if that path wasn't one which invariably was lined with endorsements and an extra 10% for him, but Troy had quickly realised that although he assumed Kyle had understood that 'just play basketball' meant just that, in fact Kyle had taken it more as a challenge to try everything apart from basketball.

"So, how's things going, Troy? You've been MIA recently – you gotta learn to use your cell more. Or, I don't know, tweet or something so I at least know what's up."

"I don't really tweet."

"You don't do a lot of things you should do. You're a young guy – embrace the trends. People dig accessible stars."

"Yeah, I'll take your word for it," Troy said as he shook his head. Kyle clearly didn't come to enquire about his life and to encourage him to take up twitter as a pastime so he kinda just wanted to get his lecture over and done with. He had already been chewed out over the phone, so as soon as he got it in person he figured that would be the whole issue put to bed. "How's things with you?"

"So so," Kyle said with a roll of his eyes and a wave of his hand. "Karen's boyfriend totalled his car, which normally wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that he was drunk at the time. Now she can't understand why we're saying no. It's like – you're 16 and the boy isn't only a moron, but he's driving drunk, you know? Tell the truth, I'm glad to be out here and let her mom deal with her for a while. Just be thankful that you're having a boy – I wouldn't wish teenage girls on anyone."

Troy smiled and nodded his head. He wasn't going to lie, as much as he hoped they would have a girl one day especially as he knew that deep down Gabriella really wanted a little girl to dress up, he had to admit that he would rather deal with his son's teenage angst than worrying about all the things a daughter could get up to especially if she should inherit her mom's looks. "I can imagine. I mean, I know Gabi secretly wanted a girl, but I don't know if I could cope with dealing with the whole guy thing when she got older. I mean Gabriella was a quiet, smart, non-trouble seeking girl and even with that, she and I...well, I mean it just makes you think and not in a good way, you know? So yeah – I'm glad it's a boy."

"Have six boys and then have a girl – they will intimidate the life out of any boy so much that no one would touch her before she's 30," Kyle said with a laugh. "So, fill me in on what's going on with you. How's New Orleans treating you? Everything okay?"

"Yeah – awesome. Never been happier," Troy said as he nodded his thanks to the waitress who put their drinks down in front of them. "Everything about our life here has just worked out great, you know? I'm glad I slid down the draft and ended up here – I don't think we would be as happy anywhere else. The team's awesome, Isaac was here so he helped with that side of things and Gabi got an amazing job and is doing a great job. Our neighbours are nice, our house is great – it's just pretty much the ideal place for us."

"That's great, that's great," Kyle said as the waitress put their plates down and walked away without a word and Troy grabbed his fork. "I'm glad it's working out, and I want to make sure that it keeps working out for you. That's why I figure you have a good idea why I'm here."

Of course he knew why he was there – he was there to talk about the rookie game. "No. I figured Ed maybe called you a couple of days ago to mention I was going to sit in on one of their PR things next week..."

"No," Kyle said with a shake of his head. "You want to know the PR thing? 'No comment' – that's it. Anything that doesn't relate to you on court or any product you may, eventually endorse is 'no comment' – see, it's simple and I've just saved you a day of your life that you'll never get back."

Troy rolled his eyes and shoved a bite of his waffle in his mouth, choosing not to respond to the obvious direction the conversation was getting steered.

"So, since I saved you a day there, you can give me a day elsewhere..."

"Sorry, I'm fully booked until the end of March..."

"Troy..."

"Kyle."

"Troy," he said stronger. "I get it, okay? Gabriella is having a baby and you two haven't done it before so you are both all antsy and she wants you home and you want to be home and blah de blah blah – I get it. It's normal. My wife tried to lock me in the house when she was about to give birth the first time, and then she tried to kill me during labour because she couldn't stand the sight of me but didn't want me to leave – it's natural. The thing is that I was an agent and I can work over the phone, you are a basketball player and kinda have to be on court in whatever city the schedule dictates."

"The team's fine with it."

"No, they are humouring you because they figure a young, good looking family orientated guy is always a good thing to keep onside. I mean what kinda jerks would they look if they made you play a full program while your girlfriend was in hospital?"

"Fiancée," he corrected as he narrowed his eyes. "I don't care why they are okay with it, as long as they understand that I have my own priorities."

Kyle groaned then as he took a drink of his coffee. "That's the problem. Your priorities are way off just now. You have to look at the big picture – you are not a star, chances are you are never going to be anything but a league average player and that's fine, you'll have a great career but the simple fact is that you're short, you can't dunk, you can't rebound and you aren't dedicated to being a better player."

Troy blinked and shook his head at the brutal assassination of his game. He could accept that he was never going to be a star, and that he had some deficiencies in his game but the suggestion that he wasn't dedicated? He had dedicated 23 years of his life to basketball – training until he couldn't lift his arms, running until he threw up, missing parties and dates, not being available for baby classes, or decorating his house, moving his life hundreds of miles away from his home and he was getting told he wasn't dedicated enough?

Kyle must have seen something in his look because he quickly continued. "I'm talking about dedication to maximising your earning potential here, not about anything else. Listen, you want the cold hard facts? You're a commodity – no one gives a shit about your personal life apart from you so come trade deadlines and when endorsers are scouting around they don't give a shit that your fiancée is having a hard time. They care that no matter what is going on in your personal life that you show up on court and are ready to play."

"I am ready to play."

"Yet you're bailing on the biggest game of your career to play house husband?"

Troy took a deep breath – he had no intention of arguing in the middle of a diner, but it was hard for him to not react. "I'm missing an exhibition game to spend some time with my heavily pregnant fiancée who is sick because of the baby that I helped create – if people can't accept that then it's their problem."

"No, it's not," Kyle stated as he lifted his coffee cup. "It's your problem because all people are going to see is a guy who isn't there. You have everything going for you to make a fortune in this game, Troy. I mean you're going to be comfortable anyway because there is always a market for guys like you, but if you played this right you could make more money than you could imagine. You are young, talented and good-looking plus – there is always a market for the new all-American stud in the game."

Troy closed his eyes and forced his voice to remain calm in the face of the salesman who was sitting across from him instead of the agent he had thought he had employed. He had made it clear, from the offset that all he was interested in was basketball. He didn't want anything else – he was getting married to a girl who nearly had a panic attack at her college graduation because she was making a speech in front of two thousand people, and people expected him to bring even more attention on her by playing the celebrity game? "I just want to play basketball – that's it."

"Well, the way you're going that's all you're going to get to do. The fact that you're having a kid or engaged isn't the issue here – you've been working 23 years to get a career in the NBA and you're not even attempting to take full advantage of it. The wife and kids will still be there in ten years when the basketball career won't and I know Gabriella would understand that."

Troy slid his breakfast away and shook his head. "I'm sure she would, but I would never ask her to understand that. If she had her way I would be there but I just want to spend some time with my fiancée. I want to spend time with her and you know what? Even if by some miracle we go to the doctor's later and she's 100% and can come to the game, I still wouldn't be playing in it, because I want this time with her."

"Troy..."

"No. Just," he raised his hand and shook his head. "No. You don't get it and that's fine, but I have no interest in playing the celebrity game. I'm happy with my life, Kyle and...you know what? I hired you to work for me, okay? If you can't accept that I know what I'm doing then...then I'll find someone who can."

Kyle looked at him and Troy couldn't help but shift uneasily at the way the conversation had gone. He was never a guy to threaten someone's job, or to be so petulant but everything about the whole situation was driving him insane. All he wanted to do was play basketball and instead all he was getting was all this other stuff that came along with it. Don't talk to those people, but feel free to talk to these people. Work harder but not too much in case people thing you're too intense. Basketball first, unless you have to talk to a sponsor in which case, schmooze them first because you have to sell a product. On one hand he was continually told that he wasn't great, yet he was expected to sell himself as though he were. He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head in frustration. All he wanted to do was play basketball.

"I'm trying to help you."

"I'm trying to look after my family," Troy said slowly. "I nearly lost her, Kyle. Do you understand that?"

"You didn't though. She's fine."

"She's fine," Troy laughed as he shook his head. "Okay then. I'll tell the doctor that this afternoon, right? 'Oh, forget about everything because Dr Yaccol says everything's fine.'"

"I'm trying to give you the career that you said you wanted when you came out of college. The career that your dad said you've always wanted and you are throwing it away."

"I never wanted this. I hate this," Troy stated, meaning it. "I came out of college wanting to play in the NBA after hearing everyone else tell me that I couldn't make it and you got that for me and that's enough."

Kyle just paused and sighed as he shook his head. "If you don't play this right now then you might not get another chance. New kids are coming along all the time and these kids are hungry and will give up anything to get the chances that you could get if you played the game right. You could be so marketable, Troy! You could become a star – even if you never played for another team or became much better than you are now. You have a face and a personality that the media wants to fall in love with, but you never give them a chance."

Troy shook his head and laughed bitterly as he looked at Kyle. Of course – naturally it would come down to shallowness. "If I wanted to be loved for my face and my personality, I would have stuck with theatre in college. Instead I chose basketball. I don't want a lot of off-court attention, I don't want my future wife to deal with people tearing her to shreds or getting in her face because we've courted the paps so my stock is high with sponsors and I sure as hell don't want to be that person who is in the gossip pages more than he's on the sports pages."

Troy took a deep breath before continuing, his voice quieter but his point still clear. "I hired you as a sports agent – not as an acting one. All I'm interested in you doing is looking after what happens on court – if a trade is proposed, if I need a contract negotiated or stuff like that you're the man. I don't give a damn about people falling in love with me for anything other than what I do on the court, and I really need you to accept that."

The two men stared at each other for a moment before Kyle spoke again. "Fine – as your sports agent, I strongly recommend you get your ass in gear and confirm your availability for the Rookie Game and start travelling to all away games or else this happy life you are forging here might be up next time the Hornets are looking for a throw-in to bring in the next star to the team."

The sarcasm was impossible to miss, but Troy didn't really care as he pulled his wallet out and slapped a twenty on the table as he pulled his beanie back on. "Suggestion noted."

"You going to listen to me?"

"No," Troy said as he stood, offering his hand to his agent. "I'm not leaving for a meaningless game when I could be with her. There's always another exhibition game."

"And there will be plenty opportunity for you to sit at home and babysit."

Troy smiled then as he shook his head, watching Kyle in confusion. No one really understood it but that was okay, he didn't need them to understand – just to accept it. "When I was in Chicago she collapsed and got admitted to hospital. The doctor was concerned she was slipping into a seizure but, thankfully she works in the hospital so they got her seen too quickly. She could have died and I would have been a thousand miles away from her, not knowing any different. So yeah, you might be right – there might be plenty of opportunities for me to look after her – but that day reminded me that there might not and I don't care who I offend by turning down an exhibition, but I will not spend any time away from her that I don't have to until I know that she's going to be okay."

Kyle dropped his head back and groaned as he stood, walking over to Troy and giving him a clap on the arm. "Fine – I'm not ramming my head against a brick wall anymore, but you know what I think. I'll do some damage limitation to buy you some time to get your head screwed on. Staying in with your pregnant fiancée will get you some awww points anyway but when things are calm we are talking about all the other stuff again."

Troy nodded and put his sunglasses on. "The answer will be the same. I don't want it. We don't want it."

"Trust me - you're going to have a baby in the house so you're going to be killing me to get you some time out of there. Now go – check on your girl. Tell her to take care of herself."

Choosing not to go any further into it, Troy smiled and hugged the older man quickly before stepping away. "Will do. I'll see you around, Kyle."

"I'll be at the game tomorrow," he said as Troy backed away. "You know, doing my job by looking after what you do on the court."

"I guess I'll see you then," Troy called back before walking out the door.

"What – no dinner invite?"

"See, I would – but I know you'll just try and guilt Gabi into your way of thinking and she's hormonal enough so...probably not."

Kyle just laughed as he shook his head, accepting of that small detail. "Fine, but I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Troy said as he walked out and groaned as he finally left the diner and headed to his car, trying to ignore the whole conversation so he could just go home and not think about any of it anymore.

* * *

Gabriella woke up to find herself lying on the bed, a blanket over the top of her and the room bright. She blinked in confusion as she looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 11am. She rubbed her tired eyes as she looked around, trying to remember how she got in from outside and how she had managed to sleep so late. She loved to sleep in as much as the next person, but the last few weeks getting sleep for any length of time was rare, never mind sleeping late in the morning. Yawning, she flicked the blanket off and awkwardly stood up, groaning slightly at the pain in her muscles the motion caused, wanting nothing more than to crawl back in bed but the pressure on her bladder made sure that wasn't an option. She had never felt lazier in her life than she felt the last few weeks and what had been her past tinges of envy at the women who wandered around pregnant and glowing had become fully formed waves of jealousy since she was reduced to bed rest. Still though, she thought as she rubbed her bump affectionately, it would all be worth it in the end.

After a quick shower Gabriella had left her hair wet as she dressed in a shirt dress and went to find her fiancé. They had a doctor's appointment at 3pm, and although she wasn't outwardly hoping too much, she would be lying if she said she wasn't secretly anticipating an end on the restrictions she was currently living under. It wasn't like she was going to go and start doing everything as soon as she got the okay – but just the prospect of going shopping or making Troy dinner or being able to go to the arena to watch a game was just the little things that she would give anything to be able to do again.

Still though, she knew better than to verbalise it out loud because she didn't want to be too disappointed if it didn't happen so, as she went looking for Troy, she carefully tried to hide her giddiness at the prospect of her incarceration being over in a few hours.

Troy wasn't supposed to have training that day, but it was possible he had been called in. As it was though, she found him sitting on the sofa with a remote in his hand trying tilting his head to the side as he was trying to get the player on the screen to do what he told him to. She almost giggled – only Troy would spend his time off from basketball playing basketball on the computer. She looked to see what he was playing and smiled as she saw him cheering when the Phoenix Suns scored, even though they were playing against the Hornets.

She walked over and dropped down to his ear, her arms wrapping round him as she whispered. "Traitor."

He dropped the remote at the sound of her voice and she couldn't help but giggle as he turned around, smiling sheepishly at her. "You're awake!"

"Yeah," she laughed as she pulled back. "And you're making the Suns kick the Hornets ass – angling for a trade, Wildcat?"

"I...I wanted to see how good computer game me is," his cheeks flushed an adorable red as he spoke and she seized her lip between her teeth to stop from laughing as he quickly continued. "See, if I played as the Hornets then I would have to sub myself in and out and that...that would be kinda arrogant but if I play against us then I can see how the computer makes me play and tell if they made me good or not because, Chad is kinda lousy at the game so that's not a fair test..."

She nodded, watching as he flinched at his lame excuse and ran a hand through his hair. He was a naturally handsome guy, but never more so than when he was all bashful and awkward.

"So how good are you?"

"I've scored like 3 points and got a total of like 6 minutes," he gave a self-deprecating grin. "Turns out computer me can't shoot from inside the paint either. Who knew?"

She laughed and leant over and kissed his lips softly. "Well, a computer version was never going to be as good as the real thing."

His lips tugged into a grin then as he made a show of turning the TV off as he looked up at her. "So..."

"So...?" she giggled as she shook her head and walked over towards the kitchen. "You want something to drink?"

"You're supposed to be resting," he called after her and she almost rolled her eyes. He really took the whole bed rest thing seriously and although she wanted to explain to him that pouring a glass of orange juice wasn't going to cause any dramatic spikes in her blood pressure, she figured the best tactic was just to ignore it.

"Did you get much sleep last night? I'm so sorry for keeping you up."

"I don't know, sleeping under the stars with you wasn't the worst way to spend my night," he said as he walked in and quickly manoeuvred himself in front of the refrigerator, shooing her away towards a seat with a smirk. "This isn't resting."

"Troy..."

"Gabriella," he repeated in the same tone as he grabbed the carton of juice and poured them both a glass. "We've got a doctor's appointment this afternoon – don't you want to be truthful when you tell Dr Caldwell you've been following the rules?"

"I have been following the rules," she muttered, her arms crossed. "I've been doing everything I was told to."

"I know," he said as he walked over and sat the glass down with a kiss to her forehead. "You hungry?"

"Nah," she shook her head as she took a drink. "I thought you were meeting with Kyle?"

"I met him," he scowled and she put her glass down at the dark look that had crossed his face. She gave him a moment to see if he would expand on his own, but when he didn't she scooted her chair closer to him and reached over and took his hand with a smile as he shot her one back. "He's a jackass."

"This we knew," she laughed as she gave his hand a squeeze. Kyle had been the best of a bad lot in terms of the sports agents that had tried to get Troy to sign up with them and to be honest, she found him pleasant enough in a sort of underhanded, unpredictable way. "What did he say?"

"He thinks that I'm half way to getting traded by not being all about basketball, or something," he sighed as he dropped his head onto the table. "See, all I want to do is play basketball and then come home but apparently I'm operating under the false pretence that I'm going to have any lasting career with the team and I should be maximising my earnings just now because clearly the team is just keeping me around until they can throw me in a deal to get a real star here."

She frowned as she brought her hand to his hair and ran her fingers through it. Nothing irritated her more than people who under-estimated him. so he wasn't the tallest guy on the planet, so he wasn't going to be the next Kobe, or Lebron, or any other list of superstars – he was him and, her bias aside, he was pretty damn great just the way he was. Sure he might not make the cover of the next video game, or become a league MVP, or win multiple championships but so what? 90% of the league wouldn't do any of that either.

"Well, that's just stupid because it's pretty damn obvious that the team all rate you very highly," she said as she leant down and rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh. "What does he want you to do?"

He groaned as he dropped his head. "Play the game, apparently. Meaning schmooze and court sponsors, be 'marketable'."

"You are a talented, good looking, friendly, approachable guy," she said in confusion. "You are like the walking, talking definition of marketable already."

"I lack dedication which makes people nervous about me," he murmured into the table. "Basketball should be first, commercial life second and personal life somewhere after that at this stage or some other crap like that because you'll still be there in ten years for the whole family thing."

"Oh," she said softly as she bit down on her lip. This was not the first time someone had said this or some form of this to them both but it didn't hurt any less when she heard it. It was funny – to hear people talk you would think that she was trying to ruin his career. Or that she was deliberately getting in the way of him being great when in reality she was his biggest fan. She had never encouraged him not to do something and when he got down about injuries and pressure in college she had always been there for him to vent to and to try and encourage him. She would do anything to make him happy and she knew that basketball made him happy so in no circumstance would she ever get in the way of that and it hurt that no one ever saw that. They saw this millstone that was holding him back, when in reality she was the one who was trying to encourage him, make him believe that he could do anything he wanted to do.

"Gabriella?"

She blinked at the sound of her name and saw him looking at her in concern and she shook her head and offered him a small smile. "Yes?"

"You kinda zoned out on me there."

"I did? I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she asked softly, her hand reaching over to run over his ear to give him any sort of comfort she could give him.

He just looked at her for a second before he reached up and took her hand. "You know I don't believe any of that, right?"

"I know that," she smiled, knowing he was honest. "I just...it frustrates me that other people don't get that what makes you so amazing is that you don't just have one thing that's important. You have so many things that make you you apart from your ability to play basketball and every time they say that it's like they are acting like you're not entitled to do that and...and you know what? See if I went to Kyle and said to him, sorry – you can only answer your cell phone constantly and if you don't it means you're not committed then he would be mad and...and he'd be right but he thinks because you're a 'sports guy' that he can say that stuff. And, you know what?" her eyes were flaming as she looked at him before she stood up and marched over to the sink, furiously rinsing her glass before walking to refill it, just needing to do something to try and calm down. "You...you are worth so much more than anyone. If you want to focus more on your career just now then I will support you a hundred percent, but...I hate when they act like you have to fit their idea of what you should be or else you're not 'trying hard enough'."

"Apparently I have a good face and personality that I could use to sell things, since I'm never going to be a great NBA player..."

He trailed off and Gabriella didn't need to be a mind reader to see that he hated that. You would have to be blind to fail to see Troy's looks but he was so much more than a pretty face.

"You have a lot of good things you could use to do different things," she said as she walked over and ran her hand through his hair. "I, personally, think that you're pretty amazing at what you're doing now though."

"You're kinda biased though," he said, but she could see the smile tugging at his lips telling her that at that moment, whatever she was saying was exactly what he needed to hear.

"Actually, you're right – I am biased. Maybe you should just give it all up and go sell broken down old trucks or something. You at least know all about that."

She giggled as she saw him frown slightly before he saw the teasing smirk on her face. "That's mean – I don't know why you have to make fun of my truck even when the poor thing has been dead and buried for like a year."

"Because," she whispered as she walked her fingers up his arm. "You gave the distinct impression that if the engine hadn't blown up it would still be your preferred mode of transport."

"Probably," he admitted as he caught her hand. "Loyalty is usually considered a good thing, you know?"

"Loyalty is good but not when it leads to us breaking down on every date. Maybe it's a good job you're good at basketball – I'm not sure I could, in good conscience, let you sell cars to other people."

"So Kyle says I can't play basketball, you say I can't sell cars – I don't have much going for me. I guess I still have my looks, right?"

"Exactly!" she teased as she leant over and pecked his lips before leaning up to his ear and whispering. "I would definitely buy anything you tried to sell me, Wildcat."

She pulled back but he put his arms around her waist to hold her in place as he leant his chin on her bump so he could look up at her. The affection in his gaze was apparent and it never wavered from hers. "You know, I could give all the other stuff up tomorrow and I'm not even sure I would miss it that much right now."

"You're just having a bad couple of weeks," she said as she brought her hands to his neck. "The pressures of being an NBA superstar are getting to you."

"I'm not a superstar."

She looked at him and she could see that it was something that was really bothering him and she had no idea how, after he had listened to countless people telling him the same thing in college, that he was still letting it bother him now. "Maybe not to everyone else, but in here they don't count."

She leant down and pressed her lips to his and pulled back to see him smile up at her softly as he brought his hand up to hold her chin in place so their eyes were locked. "No one else ever counts."

She couldn't help the broad smile break out across her phrase and it only widened as they held their gaze for a moment before he grinned at her. "Right, come on, Ms Fiancée – we have a doctor's appointment to get ready for and some of us aren't naturally as gorgeous as you and need to get ready."

She couldn't help but giggle at his attempts at sweet talking her, and although she didn't feel anything close to gorgeous in her present state, when he would talk to her like that she almost believed it. She stepped back and let him stand, where he pressed a kiss to her head as he passed. "And no cleaning up while I'm getting ready – you're supposed to be resting!"

She rolled her eyes at his instructions and took another drink from her glass, almost getting swept up in her thoughts. She wasn't sure how many minutes later it was that she realised she had been day-dreaming when she snapped out of it and moved to get ready for leaving. It was only when she had put sandals on her feet, been to the bathroom (again) and put some light make-up on that she found herself sitting almost nervously waiting for him to come out the bed-room. She couldn't help but feel like a child at Christmas with her excitement at getting to go out. She knew that it would be a brief trip out, but still – seeing more than the walls of their house or the garden would be pretty much perfect.

She resisted the urge to shout for Troy to hurry up, but as soon as he emerged she found herself standing, slinging her purse over her shoulder and grinning madly at him in excitement.

She was just about to head towards the door when her cell rang. She looked down and saw her mom's picture flash up and she couldn't disguise the moan as she looked at it, not wanting to reject another call from her mom after all.

"It's my mom," she said in answer to Troy's silent question and she looked at him. "Would it be really terrible if I didn't answer?"

"You always make me answer my mom," he said slowly with an apologetic smile and she sighed in acceptance. She did and although she was a firm believer that you only get one mom and that meant you had to always make time for them she still, somewhat selfishly, just wanted to go out. "Just tell her we're leaving and you'll talk later."

"Fine," she sighed as she dropped her purse to the floor and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Gabi?"

She bit her lip and tried to hide the groan that wanted to escape her lips. "Hey, Mom..."

Troy started chuckling at her clear lack of enthusiasm and she narrowed her eyes at him before reaching over and picking up an orange out the fruit bowl and lobbing it at his head. He gasped as he looked and she couldn't help but grin in triumph as she stuck her tongue out at him before turning away, just to avoid laughing. "Sorry Mom, can you repeat that..."

"I was asking how are you feeling?"

"Oh, great, awesome," she said, only to giggle as she felt Troy wrap his arms round her from behind as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder and her head causing her to lean back against him, turning away from the phone enough to kiss him softly in return. "Amazing..."

"Oh," she vaguely heard her mom's voice in the background as their lips met again gently before he pulled back with a smile. "Can we talk?"

Gabriella watched as Troy tapped his wrist and pulled back and she nodded in understanding before she turned her attention back to the phone. "Sorry, Mom?"

"Is everything alright? You're very distracted today?"

"Yeah," Gabriella smiled as she saw Troy walk away and nodded. "Um...yeah, I have a doctor's appointment soon so I'm actually getting ready to leave."

"Oh, who's taking you?"

The smile fell from Gabriella's face as she frowned. "Troy's taking me. You know he's at home this week."

"I just thought he would maybe...but, oh...well, that's nice that he made the time," her mom said causing Gabriella's head to tilt back in exasperation. One day she would have a phone call and not say anything like that. She had definitely gotten better since she had visited, but every now and then she would let something slip.

"You know, Mom – I really need to go," she said as she closed her eyes before forcing a smile on her face. "Is everything okay with you?"

"I'm fine, sweetie – I just really need to talk to you about something."

"I really don't have time," Gabriella said as she spun around. "Maybe later?"

"It's really important..."

"Mom," she paused as she bit down on her lip. "Is something wrong with you? Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course – I promise. It's nothing to do with me. Just...something I need to talk to you about."

"Mom, if this is about me coming to stay with you then it's still no," she said wearily as she rubbed her eyes. Conversations about her generally ended with a 'helpful' suggestion that had Gabriella seeing out her last month elsewhere. "Listen, we'll talk about it later, okay? I really have to go."

"Gabi, wait – it's..." she heard her mom sigh and waited. "It's something that can wait until later. I hope things go well at the doctors."

Gabriella gave a warm smile then and nodded. "Me too. Thanks, Mom. Love you."

"Love you too," her mom said. "I'll talk to you both later."

She let her mom hang up before she turned to Troy who was watching her with amusement. "What?"

He shook his head, the grin never leaving his face. "You make the most adorable faces on the phone."

She blushed and looked down. "I don't."

"You do – even when you're annoyed you do this little thing with your nose that you never do when you're annoyed in person."

Her hand went to her nose instinctively which caused him to laugh as she tried hard to look scandalised. "You're so not helping keep my blood pressure down."

"What? It's cute!" he laughed as he made a move at walking over to her causing her to shake her head and back away. "Baby..."

"Don't even try sweet talking your way out of this one. We're mad," she warned as she grabbed her purse and shot him a look over her shoulder.

"You don't look mad..." he said as he took a step towards her and she could see from the smirk on his face that told her that nothing good was going to come of it.

"Troy..." she warned as she held her hand up, backing away slightly until somehow he had her caged against the door, smirking down at her.

"How about," he whispered as he leant down nuzzled the side of her face with his nose as he brought his lips to her ear, his warm breath making her stomach flutter as she brought a hand up to grasp his shirt. "How about I take you for a smoothie enroute to the hospital?" he pressed a kiss to the side of her head and she felt her breath catch as he continued. "And, how about, when we're done, providing you agree to the rules, we go to the park and have a late lunch together?"

"Really?" she whispered as she looked at him hopefully. She hadn't been out of the house in three weeks and it was driving her insane so even a take-away smoothie and thirty minutes in the park would be perfect. "Oh Troy, yes! Please..."

He grinned as he pulled back and smiled at her. "Are you still mad?"

"I guess not," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Should I get a blanket to sit on? Oh, I should put more makeup on in case I look pa..."

She was silenced as he put his fingers over her lips, the small contact interrupting all her thoughts. "I have a blanket, and you do not need makeup on because you are beautiful just the way you are," he leant down and replaced his fingers with his lips. "Trust me."

"With anything," she whispered as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly. "You're too good to me."

"I guess I am pretty awesome at some things," he teased as he shook his head. "I gotta do something to keep you interested, right?"

"And bribing me with lunch does that?"

"Not just lunch," he scoffed dramatically. "I'm throwing a smoothie in there too."

She laughed and shook her head. "The smoothie does tip it in your favour."

"Exactly," he grinned as he offered her his arm gallantly. "You know, I find it funny that your favourite dates are still ones like I took you on in High School."

"I guess I'm an easy girl to please," she smiled up at him, her fingers grazing his cheekbone. "Let's remember that when you're getting all down in the mouth about something some idiot says, okay?"

He leant down and pecked her forehead softly before looking at her, his expression hard to place as he looked at her, but she could see the affection in his gaze. For her, all she wanted was for him to be happy and she smiled back as she saw the smile pulling at his lips as he enlaced their fingers before pressing his lips against their joined hands. "Okay."

They both knew that it wasn't possible for her to make all the stresses, demands and expectations on him disappear. All she wanted was for him to know that with her, none of that mattered. He could be anything, but all she would ever ask him to be was the man that she had fallen in love with, and, as she watched him guide her towards the door, a smile still on his face and their hands still clutched together, she knew that no matter what else was going on that's all that really mattered to him as well.


	11. When Something's Wrong With My Baby

AN –_ I know, I suck for taking so long. It would have been up earlier but I got distracted by the Olympic closing ceremony last night (my love for Michael Buble may have reached epic levels solely due to that) and ff is being a bit temperamental today. Next update will be quicker, I promise. Thank you so much for all the reviews and comments – I very much appreciate them all, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please, let me know what you think._

* * *

Troy had managed to get into the changing room without meeting the gaze of any of the people around him. He kept his head bowed low and tried to ignore everything else that was around him as he concentrated on the sole task of finishing taping his swollen wrist, not wanting to go to the physio for it because that would involve drawing attention to himself and at that moment, the absolute last thing he wanted was more attention. If it were possible for him to blend in with his locker at that moment, he would have done pretty much anything to make it happen.

"Hey, Bolton - throw me the tape," a voice from the other end of the room called to him as he finished wrapping his fingers and he lifted his eyes and threw over the tape, only for a few of the guys to start sarcastically applauding.

"Man, see! He found the locker room and he successfully managed to get a pass to Paul – see, he can find his teammates tonight."

The laughter caused him to look down again, knowing that it was just regular team talk but not used to being on this end of it.

"Hey! Leave the man alone! He was going for the double double - ten turnovers, and ten assists for the Cavs in a half..." the snickering continued as Paul spoke and Troy dropped his gaze down.

"Funny guys, leave the rook alone," a more senior player said as he fired a water bottle along the floor. "I don't think anyone's going to be making money off tonight so give him a break."

"Just saying – a little bit of positive production for us tonight would be appreciated. They're breaking our backs as it is without us helping them out."

"Yeah well, maybe if they weren't getting away with blatant fouls it wouldn't be an issue. Cheating bas..."

"Yeah well, maybe if we weren't given them an opportunity it wouldn't be an issue."

Troy listened as the guys turned their conversation away from him and towards the second half whilst he got lost in his own thoughts. As hard as it was to hear, the team was right – he had been hopeless all night and although he maybe wasn't as bad as some were pretending he was, he wasn't far off it.

"Bolton."

He looked up to see the coach standing above him and he knew to expect a well deserved ass kicking for the way he played. "Yes, Coach?"

"Shower up, you're done."

To say that Troy was shocked would be an understatement. He had never been benched for a half before and although he had been playing badly, he couldn't believe that he was getting benched. "Are you serious?"

"I'm serious," he said as he looked at him. "Your game's not on, your wrist is not helping and although I could leave you out there, I really think we want to avoid you making the turn over record in your first year. You can suit up again next game, but you're done tonight."

"Coach – I'll do better," Troy pleaded. He knew he would play better, simply because he didn't believe he could play worse than that. "I swear – give me five minutes and I'll prove it."

"Yeah, you'll do better on Sunday night. Tonight you'll sit down and cheer on your team and get your head right."

"But..."

"You're averaging more minutes this year than I think any of us expected you to play in your first year. It's nothing personal, or a personal indictment on your ability - you just don't have it tonight."

"Coach..."

"This is non-negotiable, Bolton now I expect your ass to be on that bench in ten minutes, okay?"

The shift in the voice was an indicator that the conversation was over, and although the logical side of Troy's brain recognised it was a fair decision, he couldn't help the surge of embarrassment, frustration and sullenness that accompanied the bruising his ego was taking.

Troy merely nodded, his gaze dropping again as the coach went to someone else. He was sure he had had worse weeks with basketball at one point in his life, but he was really struggling to remember it at that moment. The only redeeming feature of this was that at least his dad wasn't there. Sure, there were only a few million watching on TV but...

"Hey!"

He looked up to see Isaac standing there as the rest of the other guys started leaving. "Yeah?"

"We all get benched – you lasted longer than most in their first year."

"That makes me feel so much better." The sarcasm wasn't even close to being disguised and the accompanied eye roll made it even more apparent and inwardly he cringed at the attitude he was showing his friend. It wasn't anyone else's fault that he was in this situation, but he still couldn't seem to reign it in.

"Hey, you ain't in college anymore, hotshot. This is the big boys and sometimes the big boys make you look like you should be in kindergarten – suck it up. It's happened to bigger and better players than you. Stop pouting like a four year old and get your ass out before coach gives you something to really bitch about."

"I don't see you riding the bench." He was being childish and he knew it. Isaac was right but that didn't make it easier to hear.

"And while you were being the main man in college, I was sat right where you're sitting whining like a five year old because I was riding the pine like 90% of rooks do."

"Yeah, but..."

"But what? You're Troy Bolton and you're too good to be benched?" Isaac raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "Because, I hate to break it to you – you ain't that good."

"No, I don't mean that! It's just..."

"Just nothing. Listen – you get nothing from sitting and feeling sorry for yourself. I can't make you get out there, but I strongly recommend that you go out there and you show that you had a bad day, but that it's a onetime thing. But that's just me. You want to sit here and pout like a baby then fine – I'm sure Gabriella would love the practice before she has the actual baby by tippy toeing around you and your dented ego."

Troy watched as Isaac left the room, leaving some of the medical staff and trainers hanging around, tidying up as Troy sat there tearing the tape off his fingers. Isaac was right, obviously and he wasn't that prima donna who thought it was all about him, but he couldn't help but be frustrated. If there was something wrong he liked the opportunity to fix it and the only way he could fix this was to go out and play and he wasn't able to do that.

Knowing better than to take much longer he mentally shook himself and sighed as he stood, trying to remind himself that it was one game, not life or death so he would just let it go and regroup next game. Telling himself that didn't make him believe it though. He stood and ripped his shirt over his head, leaving it laying on the floor by his locker as he headed to the showers. Maybe he couldn't suck up his damaged pride and his frustration at himself so quickly, but he knew he had to prove to everyone else that he could so he would go out and do what he had to do tonight, and then in the next game, he would show them.

* * *

In all the years that Gabriella had been cheering Troy on in basketball, she could count maybe half a dozen instances when she really wished that he didn't play sports. She always loved watching him play – and the pride and joy she felt when he did well was perhaps even more overwhelming than when she did something in her own career.

Basketball made him happy, and that made Gabriella happy by default as 95% of the time, win or lose, he just loved to play. Unfortunately, every so often there would be a game like this which had the complete opposite effect.

Gabriella wasn't sure she had removed her lip from her teeth since the teams had come off the court at half time and even though it was three hours later, she still found herself clutching at her cell and desperately trying to avoid the temptation to call him just to find out that he was okay. She knew when he didn't get back on court in the second half that he would be upset and, as an extension of that she knew that when he didn't text her back after the game that it was a sign that he was mad and was probably on the court, or in the gym shooting baskets until his arms hurt as some sort of self-induced punishment for his bad play.

She rubbed her stomach and sighed as she looked at the clock. It wasn't that she wanted to check up on him – if he wanted to work it off, or go out and drown his sorrows then she would have understood but it would have been nice for him to at least call her and let her know that he was going to be late and that he was okay.

Her cell went off and she immediately accepted the call, not looking at the display. "Hello?"

"Gabriella?"

Her stomach fell as she closed her eyes. It was probably too much to expect it to be him. "Hey, Mom – this isn't really a good time."

"It never seems to be a good time. Is anything wrong?"

Gabriella blinked. "Did you watch the game?"

"The basketball? No, I was busy – why, did they lose?"

Gabriella shook her head as she heard the door open and she turned eager eyes towards it, silently appraising him, trying to get a gauge on his mood. "Mom, I'm sorry – I'm going to have to talk to you later."

"I need to talk to you, Gabriella."

"Not now, Mom," she said as she stood as Troy dropped his bag at the door and didn't lift his gaze to meet hers. "I gotta go. Love you."

Without waiting for a reply, she ended the call, dropped her phone and took a cautious step towards him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She bit down on her lip before taking another step towards him, not really sure what to say. "I...you're late."

"I was at the gym."

She knew she had an entitlement to get pissed at the lack of apology or acknowledgement that he should have called her out of common courtesy if nothing else but she couldn't really bring herself to be mad at him when she knew he was upset about the game.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" he snapped as he lifted his gaze to look at her and she almost flinched at the coolness of it but was determined to stand tall. "Let me think, I got benched for the first time in my life, I was in danger of breaking the turnover record if I stayed on, millions of people were watching on TV and I got my ass chewed out in front of the whole team. Oh, and to make things better, how about the fact that Kyle was sat there with this 'I told you so' smirk on his face all night. How do you think I feel?"

She took another step towards him. "It was just one game, Troy. Everyone has bad games."

"You don't get it! I needed a good game tonight after the crap of the past couple of weeks. I just needed one good game to remind myself why basketball is fun and I screwed it up!"

"You're just having a bad week. Everyone has them," she tried again. "Troy..."

"How would you know? Millions of people don't see you mess up when you do it," he muttered and she stopped, her lip finding her teeth again. She had no answer to that, and of course he was right but the idea that because she didn't have that sort of experience meant that she couldn't possibly understand, or help him through this stung.

"You know, I can't do this just now. I just...I'm sorry, but I just need some space to sort out my own head," he turned away from her and began walking towards the bedroom. "I'm going to lie down. We'll talk in the morning, I promise."

She opened her mouth, wanting to stop him from going away angry but she knew he needed to get it out his system. She knew he wasn't really angry at her, and he would probably tear himself to shreds later for his attitude, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. She sighed and headed towards the sofa, casting a longing glance at the bedroom before sitting down, ready to give him some space but not really sure how she could make things better for him.

He had played bad games before. She could remember one time in college where he hadn't spoken to anyone in almost a whole day because he was so mad at himself, but he had eventually snapped out of it by himself and had came looking for her with a bunch of flowers and an apology for his sullenness. She knew he was a perfectionist and held himself to impossible standards and she knew most of that came from the way he grew up and the pressures he had lived under where any sort of set-back was the same as failure.

They had grown up with similar pressures – she with her academics with her mom and her teachers all pushing her, demanding more and Troy with his sport from everyone around him and although she would never say she had it easy, she wasn't foolish enough to believe that having that level of public pressure hadn't been tougher for him. She would have wilted under it and he astounded her constantly with the way he handled it and, as she loved him more than anything – she could handle the rare moments when he let all that frustration out even if he tended to do it in a rather melodramatic way.

The problem was that unlike in the other instances when he would regress into his shell and pout, she couldn't exactly just drive off to the library, or to Starbucks, or call her friends and go shopping and wait it out like she could do in college or High School. Giving him space when she was stuck at home basically meant she was going to have to spend the night on her own, either on the sofa, or in the guest room (which she really didn't want to do due to the fact that Chad and Sharpay had stayed there) or on the swing seat outside which Troy really didn't like her doing. The fact that it was so late also meant that she couldn't just call up Lisa, or Taylor or Kelsi and talk for a few hours so she was basically stuck, in the lounge, on her own waiting for him to want to talk.

"Stupid Daddy," she muttered as she rubbed her abdomen. "You ever yell at your mommy because of stupid basketball I'm going to punish you by making you wear all the sparkly clothes that Sharpay is no doubt going to buy you."

Feeling a small kick in response she smirked and nodded. "I know - you're a good boy, not like your silly Daddy. Maybe we'll just go eat the brownies we made him ourselves, huh? That would serve him right."

She waited a moment, and stretched slightly, glancing at the clock and groaning, deciding against eating the brownies because it would involve her getting up and she really couldn't find the energy to do that.

She sighed – she was tired, but she wanted to stay up a little later in case he wanted to talk but unfortunately her body didn't seem to recognise the fact that she wanted to stay up and was already yearning for sleep. Deciding that TV and a book wouldn't keep her awake, and that she would probably stab herself with a knitting needle if she attempted her blanket she decided to do a little work. Technically she wasn't supposed to be working but she had discovered a loophole about work in that although she couldn't actually go in and have her sessions, she could, occasionally, give consultations over the phone and via webcam which a few of her patients seemed eager to take advantage of. It wasn't technically work, but it wasn't technically bed rest either but it stimulated her brain beyond daytimes soaps and sleeping so she was more than happy to have thought of it. That combined with the pamphlets she had decided to create for her patients, and the worksheets for the kids was a big enough project to keep her occupied until the baby was born and she was proud of herself for her ingenuity at coming up with it.

She had just opened her laptop in order to go over some of her notes when her cell rang again. Knowing it was most likely her mom made her consider sending it to voicemail but, Gabriella was bored and had to stay awake so if her mom wanted to volunteer as the person to keep her awake for the next hour then so be it.

"Mom, hi – what's up?"

"What's up? Nothing's up. I told you I would call you back to talk to you."

Gabriella frowned – she didn't really want to have a heart to heart or the usual argument with her mom about it. "Mom, I told you this wasn't a good time."

"And I told you that we had to talk."

Gabriella contemplated hanging up, but groaned and nodded her head in annoyance. "Fine – what is it?"

"I want to talk to you about something."

"You said," she said, looking longingly towards the bedroom, wishing Troy to snap out of his funk in record time to give her an excuse to hang up. "What's wrong?"

"Gabriella, if you can stop acting like a child for five minutes that would be great."

"I'm sorry, Mom – it's after 11pm, my fiancé's team just lost, I'm 7 and a half months pregnant and I'm getting lectured over the phone so sorry if I'm not in the best mood."

"Gabriella," she could hear her mom take a deep breath and almost heard the audible ten count that she had heard as a child and couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sometimes she was convinced her mother saw her as a twelve year old and not a woman with a family of her own. "Can you please...just...listen?"

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"I want to talk to you about your father."

Gabriella didn't even bother disguising her groan at this. This night couldn't possibly get worse. She had heard this before, first it would be about her dad, then it would be about Troy, then it would be about how Gabriella should go and live with her until the baby was born...

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Gabriella, it's important!"

"Mom, it's really not! My dad died when I was twelve and he was a great guy. I really don't care about someone who wanted nothing to do with us just because by some quirk of fate he happened to give me some of his DNA. I don't know anything about him; I don't want to know anything about him. He was a jerk and a jackass and I don't care about him. He could pass me on the street and I honestly wouldn't recognise him. He matters as much as some random guy you saw on the subway."

"Gabriella," her mom began again. "You have to listen to me..."

"No, Mom – you have to listen to me. I really don't need this tonight, okay? Men leave, Troy's going to get fed up with me, you saw it happen, I get it – I disagree, but I get you want to say it but I don't want to hear it anymore. I thought you understood that?"

"Cállate, Gabriella! Escúchame, por favor! Please!"

Gabriella immediately shut her mouth at her mother's tone which had gone from disapproving to harsh in a few short words. She couldn't believe they were having this argument again. "I don't want to listen to this again, Mom. Not tonight."

"I promise that it's not about that," her mom said softer. "It's just...your dad...he's been calling me."

Gabriella's arguments all left her at her mom's statement.

"My...what? Why? I mean...how? How does he even know where you live?" hearing silence on the other end of the line Gabriella froze at the realisation that there was more to this than she realised. "Mom?"

"He...he wants to meet you."

"What?" Gabriella grasped the cushion beside her, trying to slow her racing heart.

"Gabi," her mom said slowly. "I know that you don't want to hear this and I know that this is the worst time to hear this but...I'm only telling you this because he's determined."

"Determined? To see me?" Gabriella asked softly. "He...it's been so long. Why now? I don't get why he would want to get to know me now when he could have before..."

"Gabi, baby," her mom said gently and Gabriella could hear the sympathy in her tone which did nothing to make her feel more at ease with that sort of information. "I...I don't think he wants to get to know you."

"I don't understand – why would he look for me and not want to know me? That doesn't make sense," she laughed just as a way to break the increasing hysterical feeling she was experiencing. "You don't go looking for someone and not want to get to know them. Has he...has he been looking for a while? Did he wake up one morning and have this urge to...I don't know, atone or something? Has he heard about the baby? Does...does he want to get to know his grandson? Is that why he wants to get in contact because...I don't think I could just...you know?"

"He's...I think...I mean, I..." she heard a sharp intake of breath and she almost laughed at the familiarity as her mom slipped into her sympathetic but professional tone that she had perfected over Gabriella's childhood. She knew that tone – that was the tone that had let her know when they were moving, or when their dog ran away or when her dad was dying, or any other sort of bad news. "I think that he's...that he's looking for money."

It was somewhat surreal to hear that line, and Gabriella almost laughed out loud. Why on earth would anyone come to her for money?

"Money? Why...why would he come to me?" she paused and thought back to the letter she had received, Sharpay's warnings about what had happened with her mom, and the stories that she had heard from Troy's teammates families about the lengths people would go to at times in order to make 'a fast buck' and then it made sense. It wasn't really her that he wanted to meet, or get to know – it was her fiancé's chequebook. "Oh...it's...it's because I'm with Troy, right? He...he only wants to see me because of Troy?"

"Gabriella..." her mom's voice was sympathetic, and that just made things worse. "Baby, he's a jerk. He has no idea what he missed out on. I warned him to stay away from you and he doesn't know where you are, but baby, you're not hard to find so I had to let you know, just in case..."

"I...I don't understand," she admitted softly, her hand rubbing her abdomen as she tried to control the swirl of emotions that were surrounding her. It was painful enough to have to hear how he was only interested in money – how on earth could she face the prospect of him showing up and saying it to her face? It didn't make any sense at all. "How does he even know I'm with Troy? I have dad's surname and...and you work under your maiden name so...I mean...I don't get how...how would he know who I was to look for me and find out who I was getting married to?"

The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening and Gabriella realised why that had happened. "You...you told him, didn't you?"

"Baby," her mom said eventually. "I didn't mean it but he was talking about his other kids and I just...I just..."

"You told him?" Gabriella shook her head and closed her eyes the silence the confirmation. "Why now?"

"Because he's selfish and...he does what's good for him and always has done."

"No Mom, why is he contacting you now? What, did he randomly decide to look you up and have a little chat about what all the kids are up to?"

She knew that wasn't the case, and the longer her mom didn't say anything the angrier she felt herself getting. "Mom! Did you call him? You had his number and you called him, didn't you? To boast and now..."

"It's very complicated, Gabriella. I just wanted to let you know because I didn't want to risk him catching you unprepared. I didn't tell him your address or anything but...as I said, it's not difficult."

Gabriella nodded vaguely as she clenched her eyes closed and brought her hand to her increasingly pounding head, trying to sort through everything that she was feeling.

"Baby? How do you feel?"

She didn't know how she felt at that moment. The only time she had thought about her natural father was when her mom brought him up or when she had first fallen pregnant, so shocked would be an understatement. Upset that apparently it wasn't to meet her that he was looking for her. Betrayed that somehow her mom had failed to point out that she still had some degree of contact with him to the point where she at least knew how to contact him despite the fact that her mom rarely stayed in the one place more than eighteen months. If he still spoke to her mom, then clearly the stipulation of 'no contact' that Gabriella had always believed existed had really meant that contact was fine, as long as it wasn't contact with her. And, as much as she didn't want to admit it – that thought hurt.

And she was angry because her mom had used her and Troy in some warped game of one-upmanship without them knowing and as a result Gabriella had to deal with the fallout.

"Your dad..."

"My dad's dead," Gabriella said quickly, resolutely as she shook off her bruised ego and her pain. She had enough to worry about just now – her fiancé was beating himself up for something he shouldn't be, she was still trying to keep everything calm about the baby while keeping up with work and this wasn't something she needed. Things were complicated enough without people she trusted, people she loved making it harder for her. "I don't care about any stranger who...I just...I don't care."

"You do care, Gabriella," her mom said softly. "Tell me how you're feeling, please."

Gabriella shook her head, biting down on the reply she wanted to give as she took a deep breath. "I'm fine. Thank you for letting me know."

"Baby..."

"No, I'm fine. I'm glad I know. Just...just do me a favour, okay? When you talk to him...again," she took another deep breath before she continued. "When you talk to him again, tell him I don't want to see him. I don't want to talk to him and I don't want anything to do with him. Just...tell him that, okay?"

"Gabriella, I know you're thinking that I talk to him a lot but I really don't. It's not what you're thinking..."

"How the hell do you know what I'm thinking?" the hiss of her words wasn't something she expected, but as she spoke she found herself unable to maintain the facade of calm. "I've listened for months, years you bad mouth him – I've heard you compare Troy, TROY to him and now...now I find out that you talk to him? Worse – you talk to him about me, about my life and all the while I have to listen to you telling me how my fiancé is going to leave me like he left you. You are such a hypocrite! What the hell am I supposed to think?"

"You're upset, I understand but I had to let you know beca..."

"I don't care, Mom! Just..." Gabriella ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes, trying to convince herself to stay calm, to remember the fact she had to keep her blood pressure down. "I told you this isn't a good time. I'm going to go and we'll talk soon, okay?"

"I want to talk to you about this now. Please."

"It's not always about what you want!" Gabriella spat. "Go call him – tell him I don't want anything to do with him. Make sure he stays away because I don't need this just now, Mom and I can't believe you would do this to us!"

"I didn't mean it – I had been out and I was drinking and I...I di..."

"You had his number!" Gabriella cried, not understanding how her mom was missing that point. "You were still in contact with him. Have you any idea how that makes me feel that he would want to talk to you but never...never want to talk to me?"

"Baby, I swear it's not what you thi..."

"I don't want to hear it anymore," she interrupted, knowing she didn't have the energy or the inclination to argue about it at this point. "I'll call you. Goodnight, Mom."

Without waiting on a reply she ended the call and in an uncharacteristic fit of frustration threw her cell phone against the wall as her hands came to her head and held it, feeling utterly lost in that moment. She wanted to cry, but refused and she wanted to scream, but wouldn't. If she had the energy she would have hit something but instead she was stuck at that moment with no way to let her anger, pain and frustration out. She couldn't talk to Troy because he was dealing with enough, she couldn't call her friends because it wasn't something she could talk about over the phone and she couldn't just go out and work out her thoughts because she was as good as useless and couldn't carry a baby without being put on restriction.

She closed her eyes and tried to collect her thoughts, her breathing heavy as she kept her hands in her hair. She felt betrayed, and angry and so, so hurt and as much as she was trying to push those emotions away, and forget about it she just couldn't help it. she blamed her hormones, and her tiredness and everything else, but the harder she tried to not think about it and concentrate on Troy, or the pamphlet she was writing, or the latest episode of American Idol the louder she heard the conversation with her mom repeating in her head and the more the feelings she was trying to blot out swum around, overwhelming her.

She suddenly felt suffocated by everything and the restrictions of being stuck in their house just added to the claustrophobic feeling. It felt small and the need to escape from it, to escape from the conversation and basketball drama, and responsibilities, and restrictions was overwhelming and in that moment she was willing to ignore all her good intentions about being the perfect patient because all she wanted was to escape from everything else.

She stood up and ignored the light-headedness that standing so quickly caused as she moved as quick as she could away from the sofa. She had to get out of here – find a way to clear her head of everything that was swirling around in it before she went crazy.

Pausing briefly before she could make it to the door she realised that she couldn't just leave no matter how much she was desperate to do just that because it wasn't just about her. There was the not so small matter of her fiancé who was lying in bed licking his wounds at that moment and no matter how badly she wanted to go and get some fresh air, she had to make sure Troy was okay first. It was very well her dealing with her own drama, but she had a responsibility to her own family and that responsibility meant she had to be sure he was okay before she dealt with anything else.

She detoured into the kitchen and grabbed an icepack out before she took a deep breath to steel herself in case he was still in his angry phase of the dealing process and walked to their room and cautiously opened the door.

"Troy?" She stood there, watching as he lifted his gaze while she drew her bottom lip between her teeth and tugged at the bottom of her shirt.

"Yeah?"

She almost burst into tears at the tone because the absolute last thing she needed at that moment was for him to be so detached from her. She knew he was entitled to be upset, and she felt so selfish for wishing he wasn't, but all she really wanted more than anything at that point was to crawl into his arms and for nothing else to matter for either of them. If they could just crawl into bed and pull the covers over their head, maybe everything would be okay – even for a little while.

"Can...can I get you anything? Some coffee? Water? I can order in pizza...anything you want."

He kept his gaze on her and shook his head. "I'm fine."

She nodded and then walked towards him. "I brought you some ice for your wrist."

"Okay."

She forced a smile as she sat down on the bed beside him, not meeting his gaze as she picked up his wrist and placed the ice compress against it, holding it in place as she stroked his fingers before leaning down and pressing her lips to his knuckles. "I know it doesn't help, but you know I'm proud of you no matter what happens on court, right?"

He nodded but didn't say anything as he lay back down and she sighed and stood up slowly before letting his hand drop. She was being unfair to expect him to talk and especially for expecting him to have to deal with her issues on top of this tonight and she refused to do it. He was always there for her, and if he needed space to deal with things on his own, then so be it. She just wanted him to know that if he needed her, she would be there for him as well.

"I'll let you rest," she whispered as she brought her hand up to his hair and brushed it away from his forehead before leaning down awkwardly and kissing it before moving to his ear. "I love you, Wildcat. So much."

Before he could get an opportunity at responding she had moved away towards the door and through it.

She paused a moment outside the door, almost wishing to hear him call after her or some sort of movement but hearing nothing she shook her head and headed back out to the sitting area where she grabbed a sheet of paper and scrawled a quick note telling him not to worry, that she would be back soon just in case he roused himself quicker than he usually did from such moods.

Making sure to leave it where he would find it she quietly made her way over to the door where she had a pair of sandals sitting and slipped them on before carefully opening the door, taking nothing but her house key with her so she could get back in.

* * *

Troy lay on the bed in semi darkness. He thought about turning the bedside light on but after vaguely feeling for the switch and not being able to find it he had given up and lay back down, staring at the ceiling.

The ice pack that Gabriella had brought in thirty minutes earlier fell to the side and he groaned as he flipped over and rubbed his eyes – he knew he was feeling sorry for himself but he had no experience of dealing with something like this. Ever since he started playing basketball he had been one of the best and although he liked to think he wasn't arrogant, or complacent, the whole NBA experience had been a bit of a blow to his ego in that regard and then, to be hooked after a quarter as a backup was just...devastating. And now he was being a jerk to his pregnant fiancée who should be resting instead of walking on eggshells around him.

He turned and saw the digital display on the clock turn to 23.52 and he groaned.

"Jackass," he muttered as he rubbed his eyes and sat up. he had come home and perhaps said ten civil words to her and that wasn't even counting when he had snapped at her or inferred that she clearly had no idea what he was going through because he was on TV. He hadn't texted her after the game, he hadn't kissed her and asked how she was, he hadn't hugged her, or told her he loved her too when she said it and now he was lying down moping while she was trying to give him 'space' as if it were her fault while he's sitting basking in his own misery when she should have been in bed, resting.

He swung out of bed, ready to grovel for her mercy as he walked through the house, expecting to find her sat on the sofa, reading or maybe napping which, although it would make him feel like a jackass, would be preferable to her sleeping outside as seemed to be her habit. "Gabriella?"

He frowned as he found the room empty, and as he went to the garden and saw that it too was empty he found his frown deepen as he rushed back in and had a quick look around the rest of the house hoping that she had maybe decided to sleep in the baby's room. "Gabi - now is so not the time to be playing games..."

The basketball game was forgotten as panic overwhelmed him and every number of scenarios ran through his head as he looked around the house to no avail. As he got back to the lounge, he was about to grab his cell to call her when he saw a note sitting beside it.

_Hey, Wildcat – sorry I'm not here. Don't worry, I'm fine but the baby just needed some air. I'll be back soon! Love you, Gabi xox_

He read the note over three times, silently cursing each time as he picked up his phone. He got that he had been a jerk, but he didn't get how that meant she had to go out somewhere at midnight. If she just needed air then they had a big garden so why did she have to leave? She didn't like him going out on his own at midnight and now she was going out in her condition? Pressing to call her he was trying to remind himself to be calm when she answered but his fragile composure left him when he heard her ringtone from behind him and he could do nothing but curse loudly at the fact that not only was she out on her own in the middle of the night, but now she couldn't even call him or anyone if she needed help.

He went over towards it only to find it lying against the wall which in itself was enough for his panic to increase. Gabriella was extremely protective of her cell phone so the idea that she had hurled it at the wall, causing it to crack for any reason was staggering. How the hell hadn't he heard that?

Of course he knew why he hadn't heard it. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that a marching band could have marched through the room and he wouldn't have heard it so he was unlikely to hear her do this.

Which the mere thought of reminded him of just how big an asshole he was when he was in that sort of mood.

Ignoring any hesitation about invading privacy or anything, he quickly unlocked it and pulled up her call list and saw that she had been speaking to her mom while he had been in the room and he couldn't help the audible groan that escaped at that knowledge. Her mom was the least helpful 'helpful' influence in their lives and it wasn't surprising if she had said something stupid, which combined with Troy's own brand of stupidity no doubt drove her over the edge. Ignoring the urge to call her mom up and demand to know what she had said to Gabriella, he locked up her cell and put it down as he almost ran towards the door. He could curse her mom out later, but at this stage all he was interested in was making sure she was okay.

It was only when he had opened the door and stood on the top step that he even remembered that he wasn't wearing shoes.

"You have to be fucking kidding me!" he shouted as he shook his head. His fear at her being out alone, at night without a cell-phone only being hampered by his apprehension that maybe it had nothing to do with her mom, and instead he had been the one to cause her to leave and the small, nagging thought that maybe she wouldn't come back. He knew it was ridiculous, but...

He had just about forced one of his feet into his sneaker and was in the midst of putting the other on when he heard the door open and he stopped, his keys still in his mouth as he held his foot in his hand. He watched as she walked through the door, almost tip-toeing as she came in and if he hadn't been so worried, he probably would have laughed at her heavily pregnant self trying in any way, shape or form trying to be stealthy. The relief that washed over him at the sight of her almost caused him to just run up to her and wrap his arms around her, whilst yelling at her for disappearing like that but he didn't. Instead he took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice as nonchalant as possible.

"Hello."

She let out a small squeak and jumped at the sound of his voice as she spun around, leaning against the door with one hand while she brought her left hand to her chest in shock. He could see the guilty expression on her face at being caught but that wasn't what stopped him from asking her what she was thinking by going out so late. "Troy! You're...up?"

"I'm up," he said as he took a step towards her, his gaze not leaving her as he silently looked her over, trying to work out what was going on with her. "Nice night?"

"I thought you would be out of it a little longer," she murmured as she kicked her shoes off and looked at her feet. "Last time you didn't emerge for like...hours..."

"I guess I'm growing up," he said as he took a step towards her. "Gabriella..."

Before he could continue, she had lifted her gaze and looked at him. "I'm sorry. I know, I know I'm not supposed to go out but I just...and I'm sorry, I promise I won't do it again but I just...I needed to clear my head and I wasn't out long and I didn't go far. Not that I could go far even if I wanted to since clearly all the eating and doing nothing has really got me out of shape the last few months."

He watched as she gave him a soft smile before turning towards the kitchen, obviously hoping that the conversation was over. He followed her in to find her grabbing a couple of glasses before she went to the refrigerator and removed a carton of milk.

"You know its midnight..."

She sighed as she nodded. "I know it was stupid, and I'm sorry if I worried you but I honestly thought you would be sleeping and I just, it seemed like I could just...just sneak back in without worr..."

He cut off her rant by wrapping his arms around her from behind, stilling her ministrations as he pressed a kiss against her neck, his chin resting on her shoulder. "Stop."

"I..."

"We'll talk about the sneaking in and out thing later, and believe me we will be talking about it because I don't like you walking out this late at night even when you're not pregnant," he assured her as he nuzzled his nose against her cheek. "I love you."

His words seemed to cause her body to relax slightly as she immediately let her head rest back against him as she brought one of her hands to enclose his. "I love you too, Troy."

He just held her for a moment, letting his relief wash over him at having her there and safe in his arms again. It was actually ridiculous that a few hours earlier he had been pouting like a little kid complaining because of his lousy day when he still got to come home to her after it.

"What's wrong, Wildcat?" She turned sideways so she could look at him clearer and gave him a soft smile. "I know that's a stupid question because, like you said earlier it was a horrible night but, I mean...do you...I mean, are you feeling better? Because if you're not then...I don't know, you could go shoot things on the Xbox or something? And..." she turned around again before opening the refrigerator and pulling out a plate with a small grin. "I have brownies. Technically I wasn't on my feet when I made them because I took the bowl in while I was watching the game so I didn't break the rules but...yeah, I can offer you uninterrupted Xbox and brownies if you think that would help?"

He sighed and leant his head against hers, feeling an even bigger jackass than he did before as he remembered almost yelling at her just because she had asked him how he was when he came in. "You made me brownies..."

"I figured you could do with the pick-me-up," she smiled as he reached over and took the plate from her hand. "I know it's stupid but...I couldn't be there so...that worked."

"That worked," he agreed as he closed his eyes and held her hand. "I'm an idiot, you know. I should never have treated you the way I did when I came home and I should have called and I shouldn't ha..."

"Baby, it's okay," she tried to interrupt but he shook his head, signalling for her to stop.

"No, don't say it's okay because it's not. My ego was bruised and I was feeling sorry for myself because of it and I took it out on you when I should have been laying down in bed with you and just reminding myself why nothing else really matters at the end of the day."

She brought her hand up to his unshaven jaw and stroked it gently. "You are allowed to have a bad day sometimes and feel sorry for yourself and pout or yell or anything if you want to. You're only human."

"I know," he nodded, his hand coming to her shoulder. "But I don't want to do that with you. My mom used to ground me when I acted like that after games – it's just how I've always dealt."

"I know, I do remember you once or twice before," she laughed and shook her head. "You really weren't as bad tonight as you were in sophomore year, you know."

"I know," he cringed, remembering that day where he was actually a little afraid that he'd blown it with her when he had finally emerged from his stupor. "It's not an excuse though even though I really, really don't mean to be an asshole to you."

She smiled softly at him. "You weren't that bad."

"Gabi, I snapped at you for asking how I was feeling. I told you I wanted to be alone and then went to our room meaning you had to stay out here. I barely said a civil word to you all night," he said as he tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling. "I didn't mean it though."

"I know that," she giggled as she reached for his arm. "Troy – I know how you get sometimes. Trust me, I learned my lesson in college so, please – forget about it. It's okay."

"It's really not."

She sighed before leaning over and laying her head on his chest, her arms wrapping around him as much as she could considering the baby bump between them. "You're torturing yourself over nothing. You have so much going on without worrying about this as well when I promise you that it's nothing for you to worry over. You need to relax and have fun without all this. You have so much on your plate just now and..."

He watched as she pulled back and he could see her mind formulate some idea as she bit on her lip. "You know what you should do? You should go out tomorrow."

"What?"

She leant back and looked up at him. "Yeah, call some of the guys and go to a bar, or go see a movie where things go boom, or go play computer games or something. You need a night to relax and since I can't go out with you, you can go with the guys and do guy things and just...just forget everything else."

"I..."

"No arguments," she said as she moved away with a smile as she took his hand. "You've got too much on your mind and I don't want to be the reason that you are stressed out so...yeah, have a boys night. Think of it as a pre-bachelor party, but without the strippers."

"It's Friday..."

"I can feed myself on occasion, Wildcat."

"But I thou..."

"Nope," she repeated as she backed away. "My mind is made up. You can have a night off tomorrow and come in all refreshed and...and...then you only have one more game before the break and you'll feel better for it and we can deal with everything else then."

The way she said everything else caused him to stop – as far as he was aware the only things they had to deal with was the baby and his basketball issues and neither of those things were things that could be dealt with, really. "Everything else?"

"You know...stuff," she offered him a small smile. "There's always stuff but we can handle that after you have a night off."

He watched as she walked out and, sideways glance at the table where her phone sat aside, she headed straight towards the bedroom with her hand rubbing her bump the way she always did when she was nervous or upset. He wasn't quite sure what had just happened but he got the distinct impression that she was blaming herself for his funk which wasn't close to being true. He followed her in to find her sitting in front of the dresser, taking off her jewellery.

"What do you mean a 'night off'?"

She met his gaze via the mirror and smiled and he didn't need to know her as well as he knew her to know that it was fake. "Well, you have a couple of days before your next game and you should enjoy it instead of having to worry about anything else. You deserve a day off."

"You're really going to have to specify a little clearer," he said as he walked over to her and unfastened the clasp of her necklace, his hands lingering on her shoulders.

"I..." she looked down then before meeting his eyes. "I just hate that you have to worry about everything here as well as everything with the team and Kyle and...and I know you might not think that, but I do and I just think a day off where you can just be a regular guy instead of having to worry about everything...you know..."

"A night off from here?"

She nodded and brought her hand up to his cheek. "I know that things have been...horrible and you've been worried and stressed and I have not helped but I want to make it right. I don't like to see you tired and unhappy and...stressed."

"Gabriella," he said softly. "I was unhappy tonight because I went on court and turned the ball over five times in a quarter and a half and had my ass chewed out in front of everyone and then benched because I couldn't find a teammate with a pass if my life depended on it. I'm stressed because...because basketball used to be about just playing a game, and now that is only a small part of it and I'm trying to work out how to handle that and I'm tired because I have been to four cities in the last two weeks, and when I'm not travelling I'm training and what I really want is just a day off where it's just you and me and no phone calls, or reporters asking stupid questions or pressure. Just you and me. Like yesterday – only without the meeting with Kyle in the morning."

"Yeah but..."

"I was happy yesterday because all I had to deal with was you and me. Spending time with you makes me happy, Gabriella," he said as he ran his hand down her hair. "Are you wanting rid of me?"

"Well no," she said as she looked at him. "But it's not always about me, it's about what's best for yo..."

"Let me worry about what's best for me," he smiled as he leant close and stroked her cheek. "Just...let me do this, okay? You've kicked me out the house every couple of weeks since you got pregnant and, to tell you the truth," he said as he leant in and whispered softly. "I'm starting to get a bit of a complex."

She giggled then and shook her head. "A complex, huh?"

"Hey, you're the one rushing to see the mailman every day and trying to kick me out the house. If I were a jealous guy..."

"You mean you're not?" she gasped as she leant over and brought her lips to his with a soft kiss. "You don't ever have to be jealous, Wildcat."

He smiled and nodded. He knew that, and it wasn't cockiness or anything like that because God knows he knew she could have anyone she wanted. No, it was just...certainty. He hoped she felt the same about him, but it was just simple – they were meant to be together and that's just the way it was. It didn't matter if other people didn't get it. "I know I don't have to but it's born into me...it's just genetics..."

She rolled her eyes and stood up pushing him over to the side of the bed and climbed on it behind him, her lips finding his shoulder. "Well, no one can argue with genetics I suppose."

He nodded smugly only to close his eyes as her hands found his shoulders and massaged the tense muscles there. "You know...I'm supposed to be giving you back rubs..."

"I know – you can give me one tomorrow. Tonight's about you."

He let her rub his shoulders for a moment before he spoke again.

"Gabriella, why did you go out tonight?"

She was quiet for a second before she spoke. "I just needed to clear my head."

"Part of me thought you'd left me," he murmured. "Part of me thought you'd gone."

Her actions stilled on his shoulders and he heard her breath catch. "I would never, ever leave you, Troy. Why on earth would you ever think that?"

He shrugged and he felt her head fall on his shoulder. "I just...I don't know. I was clearly a big enough jackass to have you disobeying the doctor and leaving the house at midnight so..."

"Troy...I didn't go out because of you, I swear. Your strop tonight was nothing and the only thing that upset me about it was because I didn't know how to make you feel better. I was just going to do some work and hope you snapped out of it soon because I didn't want to decide between sleeping on the sofa and the swing seat," she said as she lifted her head and he twisted around so he could look at her. "My mom called and...and it doesn't really matter just now but I just..."

"What doesn't matter?"

She looked up at him and he could see the swirl of emotions in her eyes and she shook her head. "It's nothing. Just me being stupid. It doesn't matter. Tonight is about you, Troy."

"If it's about me, then it's about you too," he said as he caressed her cheek. "I told you why I was pissed when I came home. Your turn."

He gave her a small smile and he watched as she arranged her face in what he suspected was very much a forced smile. "Just...just the usual. You know what she's like. I just...needed a break from it. I'm going a little stir-crazy, I think."

She turned away from him and he crawled on the bed so he was on his knees behind her, his hands wrapping round her and his lips finding the crook of her neck. "Well, we'll see what we can do about that. Now, why don't you tell me what's really going on?"

He held her there for a moment until he felt warm liquid falling onto his arms and he immediately slackened his hold so he could get in front of her so he could see the tears streaming down her face. "Gabi? Please talk to me, baby. Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm sorry. I'm so selfish, you don't need this tonight and I thought I could just forget but...but, I'm so sorry..."

"Baby," he said as he pulled her close, letting her cling to him. "You're the furthest thing from selfish."

She snorted as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay then."

"Gabriella, I'm serious."

"Okay."

He sighed as she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"It's just...I hate fighting with my mom, that's all," she said. "I get all...hormonal and...I hate it because I act like a bitch and any good points I make gets lost in a cloud of flying hormones. I just...I don't understand her sometimes and I don't...I'm so hormonal...it's kinda pathetic actually."

"Hey," he said as he leant close and pressed his lips to her forehead. "You're pregnant - hormonal kinda goes with the job description."

"Exactly," she giggled but he knew it was forced as she looked at him. "I just really don't want to go over it again so...can we maybe...maybe just sleep?"

He thought about forcing it. He wasn't an idiot and he knew she was keeping something from him, but he could see she was exhausted and really just wanted to be with him so, reluctantly, he agreed. His nod caused a beautiful and grateful smile to appear on her face and her arms wrapped around him.

"Thank you, Troy. I promise I'll tell you soon. I just...I don't want to think, not tonight."

"Okay," he said reluctantly as he pulled back and went to lie on the bed. He watched as she seemed to relax at the knowledge he wasn't going to push her and she didn't even bother changing out her clothes as she crawled over and lay beside him, tightly snuggled into his side.

"Do you have training early tomorrow?"

"Yeah," he said as he locked his arms around her. "Plus I expect a call from my dad telling me that if I just work on my chest pass reps I'll reduce my turnovers."

She giggled as she shook her head. "Your wrist was a factor tonight, you know."

"Babe, I was expecting to go into the locker room to find a map and compass sitting so I could locate my teammates," he said as he stroked her hair. "Even if I hadn't tweaked my wrist I would have still played like crap."

"Jason Kidd got 14 turnovers in a game once and Gilbert Arenas turned the ball over seven times in a quarter," she said as she took his hand. "It didn't make them bad players. The whole team played badly tonight – not just you."

He sighed and nodded, knowing she was right. "Did you look that up after I got hooked or is that in your encyclopaedia brain?"

She turned and looked up at him with a small blush. "My head is full of random facts. My retention of useless information is a trait you should hope our son inherits because it will mean he's less likely to ask you for help with him homework in High School."

"Yeah, because I will be the go-to guy for homework help when his mom is a certified genius," he chuckled as he kissed her head.

They were in silence for a moment before she spoke again. "I do mean it though – tonight was just a bad game, Troy."

"I know. I just...I wanted this game tonight. I miss when basketball was more...fun. Now we have all this other stuff like public appearances and idiots fishing for info and agents and all that and I just...that stuff's fine if the stuff on court was fun and it just wasn't tonight."

"I know," she whispered as she pressed a kiss to his chest and sighed and he knew that she did understand.

"Troy?"

"Mmmm?"

He waited a few seconds for her to talk and when she did he noticed how she buried closer to him. "I'm really out of shape. I could barely get to the park without wanting to take a nap so I think I'm going to need you to take all the nutella and ice cream out the house tomorrow."

He couldn't help but laugh out loud at that as he closed his eyes and pressed a kiss to her head. "I would take it away, but I would kinda like to live long enough to see our wedding so I think I'll leave it to your willpower to try and resist."

"I'm blaming you then if I'm fat and can't fit into any wedding dress," she said softly.

"You don't need a wedding dress, just as long as you're there at the altar – I'll take you in whatever..."

She hesitated for a moment then before she spoke. "So you wouldn't mind being with someone even if no one else wanted her, huh?"

"Ah, but you see - I'll always want you, so you don't have to worry about that," he said as he pulled the blanket up over them, missing the seriousness of her tone or the small smile his simple, teasing statement created as he wrapped his arms around her again.

"You promise?"

He looked down at her and saw the seriousness in her face as he brought his hand up to nestle in her hair.

"You know I do," he leant over and kissed her softly, causing her eyes to flutter closed as her hand found his neck and held him close as he leant his forehead against hers, before he swooped down and took her lips again, his body finding its way above her.

"I love you, Troy."

"God, I love you too, baby. You have no idea," he murmured as he let her pull his shirt over his head before she pulled his lips back towards her.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that the pair of them were being stupid – they had been so much smarter since the restrictions had been put on them than this, but at that moment an almost shared desperation sprung between them where they both craved that intimacy with each other. It wasn't because of the game or because of an argument with her mom – it was something indecipherable that drew them together, to hell with the implications or anything else.

Even later, as they found themselves lying there later, wrapped in nothing but each other's embrace neither of them particularly cared about the fact that they were supposed to have been sensible and stopped. Sure, he had been slightly panicky about potentially having done something to harm her initially but one look at her face, relaxed, happy, content was enough to alleviate that particular thought. He would make sure she practically remained stationary for the next week to make up for it, but for one night – one moment, all that mattered was them and, as he pressed a kiss to her hair and felt her smile at the gesture as she wrapped her arms tighter around him in response, he couldn't help but wonder why on earth she would ever think that he would ever want anything other than this.


	12. Cry Baby Cry

AN – I'm so sorry for the delay. This chapter was kinda hard and I don't really know why. It was looking at being something like 14k words at one point which is a lot even for me, so I was editing and re-writing and it just took so much time to get it together. Hope you enjoy and thank you so much for all the reviews, I really love hearing your thoughts on this. I hope you all have a great Easter and I'll try and get the next one out soon.

_

* * *

_

"_I really, really don't think this is a good idea," Gabriella whispered as she looked at Troy from her spot behind the refrigerator door. He couldn't be sure, but he was almost certain that she was almost trying to hide behind it, which was ridiculous because if they were looking for a hiding place the absolutely last place it would be would be in a room filled with kitchen knives..._

"_I know. I feel like we're going down to a firing squad instead of our parents. I really think we should just jump in the car and drive and e-mail them or something...you know, like 'Surprise – Mr & Mrs Troy Bolton announce it's a Boy or Girl' type thing. They'd get over it eventually, right?"_

"_They can't kill us," she said, although Troy noticed that she had a more than questioning tone to it. "I mean...it'll be fine, right? They'll be happy – people are always happy with this stuff."_

"_It will," he said, wanting his voice to sound reassuring as he took her hand and placed a kiss to it. "Listen, no matter what they say – I love you and, at the end of the day, that's all that matters, right?"_

_She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Sure. I just...they are going to be so mad at us and you saw what they were like when they made us agree to the big wedding..."_

_He almost laughed. They were twenty-two years old and college graduates and here they were acting like sixteen year olds getting caught making out for the first time. Old habits die hard though and Troy and Gabriella had never been the type of people not to care what their parents thought of them – sure, they occasionally disagreed with them, or veered off on a different path to what their parents wanted for them, but for the most part they both had a great relationship with not only their own family, but with each other's so any prospect of that being damaged terrified them. "They'll be so happy at having a kid to spoil that being angry isn't going to even register, I promise."_

_She bit her lip and gave him a sceptical look, although she tried to hide it. "That's not a real promise, is it?"_

"_No," he conceded with a sigh. "It's more a hopeful one."_

_She gave his hand a small squeeze before straightening up with a determined nod. "Okay – let's do this. They can't kill us and they can't yell at us forever."_

_Before he could respond she had taken his hand and pulled him with her out of the kitchen and in towards the dining room where their parents were sitting waiting on dessert. Gabriella placed the cheesecake in the middle of the table and took her seat, smiling tightly as she sat and waited on their parents to stop talking._

"_Troy, I was just saying that with you guys coming back here to get married that we're really going to have to narrow down the venue..."_

"_Actually," he began as he took Gabriella's hand and sunk down beside her. "We..."_

"_Isabella, I swear the church on Gibson is absolutely beautiful and is small enough to be intimate, but big enough to accommodate everyone..." his mom said as she addressed Gabriella's mother. _

"_Actually, we thought..." Gabriella tried to start before she was cut off herself._

"_Oh, it is so beautiful but I think the waiting list is really long so if we can't get that then there is always the one over beside the old firehouse? That is so regal looking and the photos would be beautiful..."_

"_Oooh, I know the one you mean – the woman I work with got married there and it was stunn..."_

"_We're not getting married in Albuquerque!" Troy called out abruptly, causing the three parents to turn and glare at him. He knew they should have emailed them... "Um, what I mean is...we...we would like to talk to you guys about the wedding and...our thoughts on it. Please."_

"_Excuse me," his mother asked sternly, the cheesecake she was cutting forgotten as she turned her gaze to her son and his fiancée. "Why on earth would you two not want to get married in Albuquerque – everyone we know and love lives in Albuquerque? Have you two called the wedding off or something?"_

"_We're still getting married," Gabriella said quickly as she sent his mom a small smile. "Definitely getting married. Just...not necessarily here."_

"_Not...here," Isabella said slowly as she appraised her daughter. "Why not here? I've already told you two that I don't mind you marrying here. It makes sense – it's where you two built your relationship and your friends and everything are here."_

"_I know, it's just...we...we want to do it before we get to New Orleans," Gabriella said quietly. "We never really wanted the big ceremony or party or anything and if we get married here it's just...it's going to take so long for it to happen."_

"_But..." his mom began, shooting a look at his dad who seemed to be sitting firmly on the fence. "You're hopefully only going to be getting married once..."_

"_And it's not like we have anyone else to pamper..."_

"_And we would take care of everything..."_

"_I don't understand..."_

"_We've been engaged for well over a year – we don't want to wait any longer," Troy tried to reason. "I mean if it were down to us we would have done it in May but..."_

"_Troy," his mom began softly and Troy felt guilt bubble up within him as he looked at her disappointed expression. "I never got to have the little girl to pamper and have the big wedding and...all I could think in those seventeen and a half excruciating hours that I was giving birth to you is how proud I would be to see you get married. And now...now you're telling me that you don't want that?"_

"_No, Mama," Troy began feeling worse as she wiped her eyes and he shot a look at an equally despairing Gabriella who was silently pleading with their parents to understand. "We...we just don't need it to be so big. I mean, I guess we don't need to leave. I mean we could go to the courthouse tomorrow and you guys would all still be there..."_

"_Courthouse?" Gabriella's mom interrupted then. "Oh no. Gabriella, please, please baby – tell me that this isn't the romantic dream you had growing up. Once upon a time I will get married in a courthouse between a guy getting charged with parking violations and another guy getting cited for rape. Please..."_

"_Mami, it's just..." Gabriella said as she bit down on her lip. "We just want to get married just now. I never wanted the big white dress and the hundreds of people staring at me. I just – as long as I'm marrying Troy it'll be perfect, you know?"_

"_Gabriella, sweetie," his Mom looked at her with a smile. "Every little girl dreams about the big dress. This is going to be your big day and, God willing, you're only going to have one of them – don't you want it to be special? Just...give us to the start of the year, that's only a few months away and we will take care of everything. A few months, that's all."_

_Troy looked at Gabriella and saw her biting her lips in nerves before she took a deep breath. "The thing is...I'm going to be too big to get married at the start of the year."_

"_Excuse me?" this time it was Jack who spoke up and Troy was trying to tell himself that it was okay, he was a grown man with a family of his own so he had nothing to be scared of, but instead all he could think was that this was only ever going to end with their moms in tears and his dad yelling at them both. "Please...please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means..."_

"_What...do you think it means?"_

"_I think it means that you two have done something ridiculously stupid."_

_Troy tightened his jaw and raised his chin. He wasn't going to apologise for this or be made to feel like he was a child. They could be pissed if they wanted, but he wasn't going to regret it. "If you're thinking it means that Gabriella's pregnant then you're right."_

_All noise in the room stopped as the three parents looked at them agape. Troy turned to Gabriella who looked ready for passing out and rubbed her back soothingly. _

"_We...we're happy," Gabriella offered gently. "I know this is a shock..."_

"_A shock?" Isabella said with wide eyes, her voice rising as she looked at her daughter. "Honestly Gabriella – I thought I raised you to be smarter than that! You are barely out of college and you're just moving to a new state..."_

"_And Troy, don't think you're getting out of this," his mother stated in the same tone. "What on earth where you both thinking? You think getting out of college means that you get to be irresponsible? You are both starting new careers and now you are throwing a baby in?"_

"_I thought you both were more sensible than this," Isabella said again with a disappointed shake of her head. "A baby?! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to raise a child?"_

"_Troy – you're starting in the NBA in a few weeks never mind the fact that you're moving somewhere completely new. That's stressful enough and you two were stupid enough to get yourselves pregnant?" his dad said as he ran his hand through his hair. "Honestly – I gave you two way more credit than this. Couples fall apart under less duress than you two are going to experience in the next few months and you two are just piling more on?"_

"_So when it happens, what happens? Gabriella you are left with a child to look after on your own and Troy, you are figuring out visitation on your weekends off," Isabella said in exasperation. "If you want anything to do with the baby at all when you've got so many other distractions out there."_

"_We're not going to fall apart," Troy said through gritted teeth as he let Gabriella stroke his hand, trying to soothe him. "There will be no other 'distractions' – ever. This is a good thing."_

"_Troy," Isabella said, her voice softer as she looked at the two. "I know how stressful it can be to have an unplanned pregnancy, and trust me when I say that it will put a strain on you both if you aren't honest with each other. Getting married won't be a magic wand, or sticky tape that will hold you together if you aren't on the same page. There is a reason that people tend to wait a few years before starting their families."_

"_Mom – we're happy. We're both really, really happy." Gabriella stated as she stood up, still clutching Troy's hand and he could see how much it was trembling. _

"_No one is happy with an unwanted pregnancy, Gabriella – not really and saying you are doesn't make it true."_

_Troy watched as Gabriella stiffened before seemingly deflating slightly and he remembered what she had said to him the previous day in the tree house about nothing being worse than feeling unwanted. "It's not unwanted, Isabella. The baby was unplanned, but not unwanted and not a mistake."_

"_Troy, I'm trying to protect you both here," Isabella said softly. "We know what we're talking about."_

"_You know what?" Gabriella said then, taking a deep breath as she spoke. "It doesn't matter what you think because Troy and I are ready to have our own family. We WANT this baby and it will never, ever be referred to by any of you as unwanted again, do you understand?"_

_Troy was almost taken aback by the tone Gabriella used as she put a hand over her abdomen almost protectively as she narrowed her eyes in challenge at their parents as she continued. _

"_I'm sorry if you're disappointed or anything but I'm not going to argue with any of you about it. So...please, just accept that we're adults and we know what we're doing. Getting married isn't a way of keeping us together – getting married and having a family, our family was always the end goal and we would already be married if we hadn't already changed our plans for you guys."_

"_Troy," his mother tried as she looked at him. "You can't really tell me that you're happy. You're both still so young..."_

_He laughed as he stood behind Gabriella. "Seriously? Mom – you were barely a year older than us when you had me. Try not to be a hypocrite, okay? I am beyond happy – like...I don't even have words to express it and I'm sorry if you are annoyed but...it's not changing anything. We're having this baby, our baby and we're getting married and obviously we would rather do this with you guys involved – but if not, we can do it on our own. We have jobs, and a home and we can do this with or without you."_

_He waited, almost expecting them to continue but as the silence dragged on he knew this was going to take awhile. "Listen – we're going to go upstairs but...we didn't do this to piss you guys off or to be irresponsible or anything..."_

"_I...we would really love it if you guys wanted to be involved," Gabriella said with a smile as she wrapped her arm around Troy's arm. "This...this is something good. This is something amazing. Please, please be happy for us."_

_He nodded as he looked around the room. "You guys are going to be grandparents. Surely that can only ever be a good thing?"_

_They didn't wait for a response as he guided Gabriella out of the room and headed towards his bedroom. It was only when the door was closed that he dropped his head back against the door and exhaled loudly. "Wow – that so went better than I thought it would."_

_He looked over to her and she burst out laughing at his words and nodded her head in agreement as he began chuckling as well as he pulled her towards him. "I guess it's official now, so how about we pack up and leave in the morning? You, me, a car and a one way ticket to the first place that will marry us?"_

"_I think I could agree to that," she giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck._

"_Do you ever feel like we're suddenly grown-ups?" he sighed as he leant his head down towards hers. "Finally – at twenty-two, I'm finally not a kid anymore. I have a family, and I'm gonna have a wife...and a baby..."_

"_Feeling nostalgic, Wildcat?"_

_"Nah," he grinned as he leant down. "It feels good to know that I get to see you whenever I want now without having to sneak onto your balcony when your mom's not looking. I wouldn't swap any of this for anything."_

"_I'm sorry our parents are mad at us," she whispered as she leant up, her lips against his lips. "But I'm not sorry about anything else."_

_He met her lips and couldn't help but smile against them. "Me neither. It's just you and me at the end of the day, right?"_

_She giggled as she nodded her head. "Right."_

_He grinned down at her, seeing the determination in her eyes and couldn't help but kiss her again. "So remind me again why the hell we're worried about what they think?"_

* * *

Gabriella opened her eyes to the feel of soft fingers stroking through her hair. The simple sensation was enough to almost lull her back to sleep, but sadly pregnancy came with its own alarm system and that meant she had to force her eyes open to meet the blue of her fiancé.

"Mmmm, good morning, Handsome" she murmured, leaning into his soft touch slightly. "I thought you had practice?"

"I did," he said as he leant over and kissed her cheek softly. "I just got home. It's nearly 11."

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at him. She wasn't usually one for lying so late, especially now when the baby seemed to enjoy getting up so early. She sat up gingerly, smoothing the shirt she'd put on in the night down as she did so before running a hand through her hair. "Wow, it's so late."

He gave her a bashful smile. "We were up kinda late..."

She felt her cheeks heat as she thought about the reason they had stayed up late before the smile fell at the returning memories of the events before that. Closing her eyes briefly to compose herself she found her smile again before she turned to him and brought her hand to his hair and stroked it tenderly. "I don't mind staying up late with you, Wildcat. How did training go?"

"It was short – I got a scan on my wrist to see if it's just inflammation or if I've got some tendon damage and depending on what the scan says I might have to miss a game. It's good the break is up soon, I think."

She couldn't stop her brow furrowing as she reached down and took his wrist and looked at it, trying to see any sign of problems but other than a slight swelling, it looked fine. She brought it to her lips and kissed it softly as she sighed. She didn't like him being injured or hurt, especially if there was nothing she could do to help. "You should put some ice on it."

He grinned as he held up an ice pack that he had sat on the bedside table. "One step ahead of you, Ms Fiancée."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not doing anything on the table."

"I didn't want to risk it falling off and waking you," he defended, his hands raised defensively. "I was being a good fiancé."

"Your wrist isn't getting better by being a good fiancé," she stated as she shook her head and reached for the icepack and pressed it against his wrist. "Keep it on."

Giving his hand a quick peck she attempted to smooth down her unruly hair before giving up and throwing the covers off herself, pausing a moment to regain her equilibrium but before she could make any further movement she was aware of Troy almost vaulting over the bed to stand in front of her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

She blinked up at him. What did he think she was doing? "I'm going to the bathroom, going to shower, maybe get some clothes on, you know...the usual things people do when they get out of bed..."

She could see him cross his arms over his chest defiantly and felt her shoulders slump. That look usually accompanied him telling her something that she didn't want to hear and 9 times out of 10 usually involved her doing something she didn't really want to do.

He brought his hand to his neck and gave her a tight grin, the kind he would give her when he burnt dinner, or when he threw a basketball and broke a window in their old apartment, or the one he gave her that time his truck broke down stranding them in the middle of nowhere for 9 hours when they were driving back to Albuquerque. "Well, you see..."

"I see..."

"We...you know..."

She waited for him to continue, but seeing that he was still attempting to formulate some thoughts she sighed and looked at him with a smile. "Troy? I have a baby pressing on my bladder so I'm going to the bathroom. We'll talk when I come out..."

He eyed her almost suspiciously for a moment before he spoke. "And you'll come straight back out when you're...you know...?"

"Troy!" she said as she stood up indignantly, cheeks flushing as she stomped past him, muttering. "Next time you're drunk off your ass you better bet that I'll be having a bubble bath all night to stop you using the bathroom and see how talkative you feel then."

When she finally emerged from the bathroom, her hair less unruly, her teeth brushed and her bladder empty she found him sitting on the bed looking at her with the same grin. "What? I should be having my shower just now, Wildcat – sad as it is, it's one of the highlights of my bed-rest days."

"I got bad news then," he said soberly. "No showers today."

She looked scandalised as he stood and gently backed her towards the bed. "Troy!"

"No – you...you just sit here, feet up and...relax," he said and then patted her hand which was always a sign of his nervousness of her reaction where he tried to show his support but was scared of getting too close in case she slapped him, which she obviously would never do but apparently he had heard enough horror stories from guys to never take that chance. "I'm going to run you a bath."

"But...I want to have a shower!" she stated passionately. She wasn't usually one to turn down a day of pampering or a bubble bath but a shower was the one thing she was still allowed to do by herself without restriction placed upon it so the idea of it being taken off her was not appealing. "Troy!"

"Baby," he said in a voice that sounded almost whiny. "Baby, we...we had a slip last night. Walking, staying up late and...you know, it's not supposed to happen and although I definitely, definitely don't regret it, today is going to be the ultimate lazy day to compensate which means you basically just relax and let me take care of everything."

She groaned and opened her mouth to argue with him but just the sight of the desperately apologetic look on his face caused her argument to die in her throat. She didn't want to fight with him over something so small especially after the night they had both had prior to their...'slip' and, she had to confess, the idea of lying in a bath and just letting the water lap over her did sound relaxing. She groaned and looked at him. "Troy, I can barely get off the sofa by myself – what chance do you think I have of getting out of the bath are?"

"That's what I'm here for," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What, are you joining me?"

"Um...the whole slip thing means that's probably not a good idea," he blushed and she couldn't help but giggle and roll her eyes. "No, I'm just basically going to be 'assisting' and desperately trying to think of other things so as not to have another 'slip' that Dr Caldwell will want to kill me for."

"You seem to think you are far more irresistible than you actually are, Wildcat – I promise I can control myself in your presence," she assured him as she stood, far less gracefully than she hoped and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah well, you are far more irresistible than you think you are so you might be confident, but I'm under no illusions about my willpower after last night," he said as he leant forward and pressed his lips to hers, causing her eyes to close on instinct as she kissed back, finding it so easy to forget everything else when she was in his arms. Things would be so much better if everyone else would just leave them alone and there were no annoying outside influences like agents, coaches, interfering mothers and money grabbing fathers.

"I lied," she murmured as she pulled back reluctantly, her hands brushing from his hair, down his cheeks then his chest to fall by her side as she spoke. "You get rid of all my control."

"Good," he said as his own hands stroked down her arms and linked their hands together. "You going to play nice and humour me today?"

She paused before nodding softly, wanting to make him happy as she leant forward and lay her head against his chest. She just wanted to be close to him, and she'd take whatever she could get and although she knew it was ridiculous to feel vulnerable about anything as far as her relationship with Troy was concerned, she couldn't help it at that moment as she closed her eyes and took comfort in his proximity.

"Just a nod – no arguments about how I'm an over-bearing jackass or over-reacting?"

She shook her head and felt him press a kiss to her hair as he wrapped his arms around her. "You know," he whispered after a moment. "Just because we didn't do it last night, doesn't mean I don't know we still have to talk, Gabi. You're going to have to talk to me about whatever upset you enough to leave the house at midnight."

She knew that, but she also knew that she would try and put it off as long as possible and although she was unsure how she was going to do that she knew she was going to try. "I'm fine," she smiled as she pulled back, reaching up to kiss his chin softly. "Now if you'll excuse me but apparently my fiancé is going to run me a bath while I laze around and get fat."

He looked at her for a moment and sighed before flashing her a blinding smile that always made her heart race. "I'm letting you away with the subject change until later, but you won't get away with it forever, Ms Fiancée."

She watched him back off, shaking his finger teasingly at he went and couldn't help but giggle at his dorkiness. As he disappeared, the smile was still present on her face as she sat on the bed and sighed as she dropped back, her hand going to her bump and caressing it gently forcing her thoughts to stay in that moment, in their room and not in anything else that she didn't want to deal with or even think about at that moment.

* * *

Troy Bolton wasn't a complete idiot and he knew there were certain things that, as a guy who played sports that he wasn't supposed to understand. He knew that as a guy he was supposed to lack perception and he was genetically bred to miss blatant signs regarding the opposite sex and he knew that for the most part it was something that was true. He had grown up not understanding that various inflections on the same sentence from his mom actually meant a whole load of different things, and he had completely missed the fact that in their second year of college after he and Gabriella had moved in together that when Gabriella said that, by all means he could just leave everything in the sink and she'd just clean up after him as well as cook him dinner, go to work and go to class that she didn't actually intend for him to leave said dishes for her to clean. That was until he came home the following day and found all the dishes he'd left the night before arranged along his side of the bed with a 'Wash Me' post-it attached to them...lesson learned.

It had been a learning curve, but be it down to practice, or just his utter knowledge of his fiancée, his dense, stereotypically male moments regarding Gabriella were now few and far between and he now felt pretty confident that he could read his girl almost as well as he could read anyone regardless of his gender. He could tell when she was happy, when she was teasing him, when she was mad, when she was happy and, as he watched her as she walked out their room after her bath with a too wide smile on her face, he could tell when she was upset. He knew enough about her to know that his attitude the night before wasn't really the problem – as she'd said, she had experience of that and although that wasn't an excuse for how he had acted, it was something he knew wasn't the cause for whatever was up with her at the moment.

He gave her a smile, his eyes never leaving her as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him quickly, thanking him for the bath before she looked at the table and turned back to him, her smile turning genuine as she grinned at him. "What have you done?"

He looked at her and shrugged. "I'm making amends for being a jackass and I think muffins, pancakes, fruit and yoghurt probably helps that."

She giggled before turning back to him with a faux scowl on her face. "Is that nutella?"

He grinned as he leant over and pressed a kiss to her head. "Well, I know you said that you didn't want it but...well, I figured I'd take my chances."

"Thank you," she giggled as she turned back around, not even really noticing as he guided her onto a seat and immediately sat down beside her and hauled her legs up onto his knee with an apologetic grin at the small squeak she let out before she dissolved into giggles. "You know, Wildcat – the height differential really doesn't make this feasible."

He frowned and sat her legs down again before he looked at her mischievously, grinning as she ripped a bit of pancake off and proceeded to wrap it around a piece of fruit and dunking the whole sorry mess into her jar of nutella with a flourish. He waited until she swallowed and closed her eyes almost blissfully before he gave her hand a gently tug and pulled her up. Before she could voice the question she was thinking he had pulled her down onto his lap and swung her around so her legs were now over the side of the chair and resting on her vacant seat.

The smirk that formed on his face was unbidden, but the smug tone he spoke with was entirely intentional. "You know, Montez soon to be Bolton - I think this height difference makes it very feasible."

An eye roll was her answer as she reached over and grabbed the plate of pancakes and sat them beside him and continued to eat, occasionally offering him something that was invariably dunked in chocolate, or yoghurt that he wasn't even attempted to pretend to be tempted by before shrugging and eating it herself with a giggle or a small comment to the baby about how daddy was a coward. The silence was easy, his free hand caressed her sides and her head occasionally fell on his shoulder but for the most part breakfast was quiet until she pushed the plate away and spun more fully to wrap her arms around him, quietly thanking him for breakfast before sighing softly against his chest, her soft hands finding his arm and rubbing his wrist softly.

"Baby," he murmured as he looked at her. "Everything okay?"

She nodded, not taking her eyes off his arm. "When will they have the results of your scan?"

"Either this afternoon or tomorrow morning – they're going to talk to the doc and see what he thinks, but I'll get a call."

"Okay," she said as she continued to stroke it gently before lifting her head and giving him a soft smile. "I think I better get up before you need a scan for your legs as well as your wrist, huh?"

Before he could protest she had swung her feet around and was standing, stretching slightly as he watched her. He saw her tilt her head to the side when she saw the flowers on the counter and her face broke into a grin as she turned to look at him. "You got me flowers?"

"Well, actually..."

She didn't let him finish as she walked over and he could see the confusion cross over her face as she looked at the elaborate bunch that didn't have John's usual ribbon on it. "Did you get me flowers online – cause you really..."

"I didn't get you them, babe," he assured her and he watched as she lifted the card and her frown deepened significantly as any remnants of a smile fell from her face. "They're from your mom."

"Oh," she said as she put the card back into the flowers and lifted them up. he watched as she gave him a small smile as she walked past but instead of going to get the vase that he had left sitting out for her like he expected he watched as she walked to the bin and dropped the entire bunch into the trash bag before turning back, a smile back on her face as she walked past him. "I'm going to go email the office and let them know that I probably won't be able to send the notes through today since we're being responsible and that probably means I'm not allowed to work. Thank you for breakfast, Wildcat."

"Gabi?"

She ignored him and he watched as she picked up her cell and turned it off before sitting down on the sofa and grabbing her laptop, as though the whole situation with the flowers and her cell was completely normal.

He jumped over the sofa and landed beside her, removing her laptop and sitting it on the table before grasping one hand in his. "What's going on, Gabriella?"

"What do you mean? Oh, with work? Well it's not really anything – just a few notes and plans I've been working on online. It's not really _work_, it's more..."

"Not about work," he stated, not allowing her to turn the conversation. "What's going on with your mom?"

She turned and he couldn't place the emotion that flashed across her face in that moment as she shook her head. "We just...had a disagreement and...I just...I don't want to deal with it just now, so I'm taking a few hours off from her."

"What was the 'disagreement' about?"

She bit down on her lip and turned away from him. "Interference."

"Babe, she's been interfering for months now – you've never reacted like this," Troy tried to say as diplomatically as possible. He knew her hormones were flying all over the place, but it just seemed so unlikely for her to take the usual crap that her mom tried to sell her so badly.

"This is different," she said simply, before smiling at him. "So, this day of rest you're making me have – can I use my laptop for a little while or is that forbidden? Cause, you know...a laptop by design means that I can have my feet up while using it..."

"Nice try," he said with a smile as he shook his head. "No subject changing. What was so bad about last night?"

She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak before seemingly deciding against it and turning away with a sigh. "It was just...just...I'm sick of her making this worse. She just keeps making everything worse and I hate thinking like that."

"Babe, she sent you flowers so she's clearly sor..."

"Sorry doesn't make what she did better! It doesn't change the fact she's...she's..."

He looked shocked at her reaction and even moreso as she brought both her hands up to her face and he saw her shoulders shake as she started to cry into her hands. He immediately dropped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into him and attempted to pull her hands away from her face only to find her struggle to keep them there, closing her expression, her pain away from him. "Gabriella..."

"Why would she do that to me?" she whispered through her hands. "I always tried to do everything right. Why isn't it enough for them to let me have this? Let us have this."

He didn't know how to respond because he had no idea what it was her mom had actually done, so he just held her as tight as she would allow before she dropped her hands from her face, wiping the tear stains away vainly before she looked up at him with a watery smile. "I'm sorry..."

"Gabriella..." he wanted to tell her not to be sorry, not to be ridiculous about apologising to him for anything and he wanted to ask her to tell him exactly what had happened, but instead she brought her hand to his lips and he could taste the salty remnants on her tears on her fingertips.

"No, Troy – I'm sorry. I'm...emotional and over-dramatic and probably a bitch just now so...please ignore me. I'm...I'm having a hormonal day," her weak giggle was accompanied by fresh tears as she shook her head. "A hormonal week maybe..."

He pressed a kiss to her fingers before he removed them, his hand sliding up to hold her jaw and his thumbs catching her tears as he looked at her. "Why aren't you talking to me, baby? Why won't you let me help?"

She never flinched from his gaze as her eyes watered again but she blinked back any lingering tears and gave him a small smile. "Because I don't want to think about it just now. I don't want to be rash, and emotional because...because I need to work out what to think because just now...just now I just want to scream at her, and she's my mom and I can't do that. She's the only one I'll ever have and if I talk to her just now, I'll say things I won't be able to take back and I don't...I love her too much to do that...just in case..."

Sometimes he hated his fiancées logical brain. If she had one glaring flaw, her tendency to over-think, to try and justify if she was entitled to feel a certain way was definitely near the top of the list. Instead of just reacting she would take things in and work out scenarios where if she reacted a certain way, this would happen and if she reacted another way, that would happen. Sometimes all he wanted was for her to react and to hell with the consequences – to hell with whether she was being irrational, or if it would upset someone or anything else.

"Gabriella," he said as he stroked her hair. "Just tell me what you're feeling. Let me help."

"I just," she sighed as she pulled back. "I feel overwhelmed and that if I think too much about everything, it'll drive me crazy and...I just want to forget. I don't feel...ready...to deal with it."

"That won't make it better," he tried to soothe gently.

"I know," she admitted as she looked up at him with a warm smile. "But if I can put it off long enough until I feel better prepared, I'll deal with it better. I promise I'll tell you everything, Troy – I swear, just...just give me a couple of days, please..."

He was about to refute that but as she brought her hands to caress his face, her thumbs brushing his lips and her eyes showing nothing but sincerity he reluctantly nodded, causing her to press her lips to his jaw softly before pulling back and smiling at him, her hands still caressing his face. His hands came up to cup her wrists and he locked his eyes with hers. "A couple of days and then you'll tell me."

"I promise."

"And you won't run off again..."

She giggled and shook her head. "I don't have the stamina to run off again..."

"And you will talk to me..."

"I wouldn't talk to anyone else about this stuff," she whispered. "It's not that I don't want to talk to you, I just want to get my head around it first. That's all."

He sighed. He didn't like it but he couldn't exactly make her tell him and he believed her about her telling him. "Fine. I'll believe you, but just remember that promise is..."

"A very big word," she finished with him, her smile widening as she threw her arms around him. "I know. And I would never break one to you, Troy..."

"I know," he said as caught his fingers in her hair. "I just...the last time you kept stuff to yourself it ended with you in hospital and I can't have anything happen to you. I wouldn't...it would kill me if anything happened to you."

"I know," she sighed as she put her head on his shoulder. "But that's the reason I'm not dealing with it just now. She doesn't get to decide when it's a good time, because right now I just want it to be about us and making sure our baby's okay. Everything else, all the drama and everything...it can wait."

He nodded, his lips pursing almost instinctively as he bit back some of the thoughts he had about it being naive and unrealistic to think like that because at this stage, he wanted her to relax and not worry about it. He knew she wasn't stupid, but she always wanted to put her head in the sand if she could and then when reality actually caught up, it would all go to hell.

Despite his concerns he forced a smile on his face and nodded, his reluctant acquiesce to her request gratefully received from her as he saw her visibly relax and cheer-up as she turned away and started eyeing up her laptop again.

"Working isn't relaxing..."

He saw her lips pout slightly and couldn't help but laugh at the sight as he leant over and kissed her head.

"You're taking this total bed rest thing seriously today, huh?"

"Uh-huh," he laughed as she rolled her eyes and folded her arms petulantly. "Gabi..."

"Not talking," she huffed, causing him to laugh louder.

"Baby..."

He waited a moment, but she didn't turn towards him even though he could see her lips twitch. Seeing she wasn't responding her sighed loudly and just as she was about to turn, carefully tackled her, his fingers finding her side causing her to laugh uncontrollably. "Troy!"

"Can't hear you."

"This...this isn't rel...relaxing," she giggled as she reached up to swat him. "You jerk..."

"Sticks and stones," he laughed as he leant in, his hands stilling. "You talking to me now?"

"I so shouldn't," she pouted before he raised his hand to her side again, only for her to quickly to continue, her cheeks flushed. "I guess I could talk to you though...since you're the only one here. What would you want to talk about, Wildcat?"

"Hmm, the weather?" she scrunched her nose and he continued. "Hmm – I can't talk to you about basketball because you know more about it than I do...baseball?"

"You don't know anything about baseball," she giggled.

"I could know stuff about baseball," he said indignantly.

"Really?"

"No," he conceded with a grin. "Hey, guess what? My dad called me this morning."

She sat up and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Oh, not good. He didn't yell at you, did he?"

He chuckled as he shook his head. "He told me that I need to work on my footwork, and that I shouldn't worry because the absolute best thing for helping a guys footwork is chasing a kid around the floor."

She giggled and he felt his smile widen at the sound as she grinned. "See – why didn't we think of the helping your basketball career angle out when we were telling our parents about the baby?"

"Because no one in their right mind would equate baby with basketball hence why my dad is doing it?"

She gave his chest a small slap and giggled. "Don't be mean to your dad – he's very excited about being a grandpa."

He nodded. It was true; his parents were almost scarily excited about welcoming their first grandchild, which was actually in stark contrast to how they had reacted at the time. If Gabriella had been nesting since they came to New Orleans, his parents had been doing the grandparent equivalent in Albuquerque. He knew they had been baby proofing the house, and had converted the spare room into a nursery and he wasn't completely unaware that his fiancée and his mom had an almost weekly text conversation where they would just send each other photos of any new baby stuff they found.

"It's just funny – they were so sure it was a mistake, and now I'm almost sure they are more psyched for it than we are," he said with a laugh. "Gotta love how that worked out."

He settled back, letting her lean her head on the back of the sofa, almost touching his shoulder as she brought her hand down and took his. "People can surprise you."

He nodded, a smile pulling at his lips as he did so. "Sometimes even in a good way, right?"

He watched her smile fade slightly before she nodded her head. "Sometimes...sometimes the surprise is good. Not always though..."

"No," he agreed, regretting letting the conversation drift away from the light, playful banter that had been enjoying. "Not always..."

She waited a second before she grinned at him. "Saying that – your surprises, Mr Bolton are always good. Like breakfast..."

"Breakfast was good, if I do say so myself..."

"And the Italian food you're going to pick up on your way home from the doctors tonight..." she said teasingly as she turned away and he couldn't help but laugh as he nodded his head, letting her wink at him over her shoulder as she grabbed the pile of wool she was trying to fashion into something. "Since you're making amends and all."

"I thought you said I didn't have to make amends?"

She grinned at him as she settled down. "Ah, but I also told you I was having a hormonal day...so that entitles me to change my mind."

Knowing there was no point in arguing with that logic he merely stood up and planted a kiss in her hair before walking to the kitchen to clear up, happy to see her smile in any capacity today. "I know when I'm beat. It's a good job I love you, Montez soon to be Bolton."

As he walked into the kitchen he heard her soft giggle and her 'I love you too' echo back at him, causing him to smile happily. He didn't care what was going on with her, he just cared that he at least knew that he could still make her feel better and whenever she was ready to deal with it, he'd be ready for whatever.

_

* * *

_

It was a few hours later when Gabriella closed up her laptop and used the remote to turn down the music that was playing in the background. Troy had gone to get his wrist wrapped on the advice of the team, which meant she was in the house on her own, with her own thoughts.

She couldn't help but smile at the fact that he had distracted her so well throughout the day and she would be forever grateful to him because of it but just the prospect of being on her own let the events of the night before run around and although she wanted nothing more than to forget about it, she found that she couldn't.

She drummed her hand against her leg and pursed her lips before forcing herself up off the sofa. She grabbed her cell in case Troy called and walked towards the baby's room and she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she got in there as everything else fell away. No matter what else happened, no matter what other crap would be flying around, no one could suck the joy out of this for her. This was everything she ever dreamed off – having a child with the man she loved and she wasn't prepared to let anything ruin that for them. They deserved this to go smoothly and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that.

She walked over to the dresser and smiled as she saw the picture of her and Troy that was there before she walked over and sunk into the rocking chair, rocking softly as she hummed gently while rubbing her abdomen. She loved this room, and even without the crib she could clearly picture the nights and days they would spend in here watching their child, their son, grow up. It was going to be different for their child – everyday she would make sure that he knew how much she and Troy loved him, everyday they would talk and at no point would any child of hers be so hurt, or so angry because of something that she had done.

The silent vow made caused her to look down at the phone in her hand and she picked it up, mulling over two different calls she could make. She knew what she should do – she should call her mom, discuss things rationally, apologise for yelling but, as hard as it was, she wasn't sure if she could do it just yet. Everything was so raw, so real and so painful and the sense of betrayal was still tangible. Even though all she wanted to do was find out why her mom had done this, a part of her, a large part was scared of the answer in case it did more damage to an already fractured relationship.

Instead she found herself looking at it and beginning to dial another number for the advice she should have been getting from her own mom. Before she could connect it though she dropped the phone and sighed, her head dropping back to look at the small glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. What was she doing? She couldn't talk to Troy, but she was going to unload on his mom just so she could feel like she was getting some sort of motherly advice? She almost laughed at her own stupidity – she loved Lucille, she did but this wasn't exactly the kind of conversation she was going to have with her.

She didn't know how long she was sat there, her thoughts running round in circles but she was so caught up that she didn't hear the front door open or notice someone was in the room with her until she heard a small cough behind her and felt two arms wrap around her.

"Good afternoon, Beautiful."

"Hi," she whispered as she smiled up at him. "How's your wrist?"

He held his arm up and waved it slightly. "Just over-stretched, but I need to keep it wrapped for the next few days and probably going to wait until after the break to play."

"Ah, so I have to pamper you, huh?" she giggled as she looked up. "Cause, you know – after this morning, you better be careful what you wish for."

"You're still pissed about the shower thing, huh?" he said raising his hands. "Most people prefer baths, you know. And are you really going to yell at me? I'm injured!"

She giggled as she stood up before beckoning him over towards the sofa in the room and sinking down in it, waiting for him to join her before she lay down, resting her head in his lap and looking up at him with a smile as she took his bandaged wrist and brought it to her lips. "You poor baby..."

"Exactly," he said as he grabbed her other hand and linked his fingers with it. "What were you doing in here? I was expecting to come home and find you knee deep in files and emails that I was going to have to confiscate."

"You came home a little too late and missed all that, I'm afraid," she smiled before sighing. "I was thinking and in here is good for that. I was going to call your mom..."

He frowned as he looked down at her. "Really?"

"Yeah," she said softly as she looked up at him. "See, sometimes when I can't talk to my own mom I steal yours..."

"What's mine is yours; you know that..." he said as he brought her hand to his lips. "Did you talk to her?"

"No," she said with a sigh as she looked up at him. "You know how today we were talking about when we told our parents? Well, I was going to call, just to talk to some sort of mom like figure but as I was about to I couldn't help but think about why I would want to talk to someone else when the person I really wanted to talk to was you."

He just looked at her with a smile and stroked her hair as she continued. "Besides, if I called your mom then she would probably just want me to yell at you for not calling enough anyway."

"I call her," he defended. "But yeah...you're probably right."

"I am," she smiled and looked up at him, his fingers were now stroking her hair and she could see the questions he wanted to ask but wouldn't because she had asked him not to. "I love you."

"I love you too, you know that," he replied softly. "Talk to me, baby..."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice calm, not wanting to descend into the over-emotional mess she almost wanted to become. "I fought with my mom last night."

"I know," he said, his fingers pressing against her skull gently.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her," she admitted softly. "And that hurts."

"You'll forgive her. You know you will – you guys just need some time, that's all."

She wanted to believe him, but she knew that it wasn't that easy. "She...she's been speaking to my dad."

His ministrations in her hair ceased and she heard him take a quick intake of breath as his expression tightened momentarily before he quickly composed himself and began stroking her hair again, leaning down and pressing his lips to her forehead quickly before he spoke. "Since when has she been talking to him?"

"I don't know," she said softly. "They...they've been talking, for...forever...I think."

He nodded, and she turned her face until it was almost against his stomach as he kept his hands in her hair, unable to look at the tension that had flown through him. She knew he was trying to keep himself calm but she could see how angry he was as well. "Why is she telling you this now when she..." he inhaled sharply before he continued. "When she knows that you're not supposed to deal with anything like this?"

She turned her head again to look up to him and his eyes were trained on her. "She...she said he wants to see me...but...but...he only wants to see me...he only wants to see me, because of you...for money."

"Fucking bastard," Troy muttered as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back before he brought his gaze back to her and she was taken aback by the intensity there as he helped her to sit up. Before she had an opportunity to ask what was wrong he had cupped her face in his hands and knelt on the sofa beside her. "Last night – last night when you asked me if I would always want you, it was because of that – right?"

She opened her mouth, about to deny it but instead she felt a sob escape as she tried to drop her gaze from his but the grip he had on her face prevented it as he came closer, his voice ragged, almost vicious in its intensity. "I will always want you. This...this idiot is nothing, do you understand me? He isn't worth thinking about. You are...God, you are amazing and anyone who doesn't see..."

"I just...he's talking to my mom and he never, ever wanted to talk to me," she whispered as she shook her head, trying to force a smile. "I know it shouldn't but...it really hurts..."

She couldn't stop the crack in her voice as she spoke and she saw his own expression become pained as he pulled her to him and just held her. "I know it does baby, but...he doesn't matter. He's nothing and I'm going to look after you, I promise. I promise you, Gabriella..."

"I love you," she whispered as she clutched to him, closing her eyes and letting him soothe her, getting rid of all the emotions that had weighed her down since the phone call as he caressed her hair and whispered over and over that he loved her, that he was always going to be there, that he'd look after her. As her tears stopped she found herself hugged against him and she pressed a kiss to his chest as she squeezed him tighter. "I'm so lucky to have found you, Troy."

"I suppose I am quite a catch..." he replied and she couldn't help the laughter bubble over at his faux arrogance as she pulled back and put her hand on his cheek.

"You are."

"Good," he replied with a smile as he put his own hand over hers. "You are too, so we're well matched."

Her smile was real as she leant up and kissed him, only pulling back enough to look at him. "I don't know how you do it, but you always make everything better."

"I try," he closed his eyes and kissed her nose letting her head drop as he held her tight in his embrace. "It's just you and me at the end of the day, right?"

She smiled as she nodded, the words reassuring and apt and even though she knew that it didn't make everything better, or tell her what to do, she knew that that simple fact was all that really mattered at the end of the day. It was just him and her, together and whatever happened they would get through it the way they always did - together. "Exactly."


	13. Baby, What A Big Surprise

_Author's Note – I am so sorry for the delay. It was a combination of factors and it's no excuse but I genuinely didn't intend for it to take this long. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it means a lot and I would also like to thank the people who read and reviewed _All We're Meant To Be_ – I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it. Next chapter will not take as long as this one did, I swear. I really hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think._

* * *

It was funny how things could change in just a couple of days Troy thought as he looked around the store displays after having been sent out the house on a reconnaissance mission by Gabriella.

It wasn't obvious differences, because on the surface everything was the same – she would still smile, and laugh and tease him, but underneath he could see everything simmering under just trying to drag her down. He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair – it had been three days since the phone call from her mom had thrown everything up in the air and two days since she had told Troy and although they were both trying to be strong for the other – her with not letting herself look upset and him with refraining from going on the phone and telling her mom exactly what he thought of her, it was apparent to Troy at least that it wasn't working very well and she was as aware of his problems at dealing with things as he was to hers yet they both were still attempting to put a care-free face on things.

He wasn't going to pretend that he didn't realise that the reason she had kicked him out the house that morning was less to do with him finding out information on cribs, and more to do with him having him stop glaring at the phone obsessively. He had tried to be discreet, and the fact that he hadn't called Isabella Montez up and asked her what the hell she was playing at had to count for something, but he wasn't going to lie and pretend that he wasn't desperately trying to resist the temptation of doing just that.

"What, exactly, is the difference between this one and that one apart from $500?"

He looked perplexed as he looked around the baby shop and saw the array of cribs on offer, trying to remind himself that Gabriella sent him to do this for a reason so he better at least attempt to understand how it would be good for him because, apparently, 'thinking about the baby can't help but relax you'.

Sadly Gabriella didn't realise that thinking about the baby, and the damage it was doing to Gabriella's health did anything but relax him so there was a flaw in her otherwise flawless thinking and baby shopping on top of everything else was having the opposite effect on his mood.

"Well, you see – this one it's the finish. You will notice the bevel in the Hummingbird design is slightly deeper and the wood has been stained ever so slightly to improve longevity. Your great grand children would be able to use this without it looking any older than it does just now."

He looked up at the saleswoman, clearly showing his disbelief at her sales-pitch. "So, for $500 extra – you get a barely noticeable bevel and non-natural wood?"

"Its natural wood – just treated differently. Some people are willing to pay more for the longevity and to have something to pass down. Some people don't mind spending a little more on the ultimate luxury for their new child."

She wasn't disguising her snooty tone, and whether it was Troy's already frayed temper or her attitude, for some reason he found himself forgoing his natural good manners. "Yeah, well, some people spend $100k on birthday parties for one year olds and we won't be doing that either so...guess that means our kid's going to be deprived..."

He turned away looking around, contemplating on whether he should just leave and pretend that he did it, but deciding that he would at least give it one more shot he sighed and turned back reluctantly. He addressed the woman and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay...I'll level with you. I don't know what the hell I'm looking for. We don't really care. We want something nice, something somewhat traditional, preferably something that rocks and something that's safe. If you find me something that checks all those boxes, then awesome – if not, please level with me and I'll happily leave."

"How traditional?"

"What?"

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, like he should know what she was talking about. "How traditional? Do you want the basic, or something a bit more? Do you intend to replace it when the child is a bit older, or do you want something that can be used for a long time? Wicker or wood? Do you want the rocking mechanism to be constant, or do you want it so it can be fixed steady at the same time?"

Troy looked at the smirk that was on her face through his wide eyes and gave up. He would never be able to do this. How the hell was he supposed to know any of this?

"Well?"

"I...I don't know exactly..."

"Maybe you should bring your girlfriend with you – she may have a better idea what she's actually looking for."

"I've to buy the crib – it's the one job that my _fiancée_ gave me. Choosing, buying and assembling are the only jobs that she wants no part of."

"Oh," the woman said, stiffening again. "Well...that's...odd. Mothers usually want to choose everything about the baby. It's rather odd she would leave such an important job solely to you when you clearly don't know what you're looking for."

"She's a little odd sometimes," he said, cutting her off. "But she's a genius and I've discovered her idiosyncrasies usually have a reason so I would probably not finish whatever character assumption you were going to make before I just order something online and you lose whatever commission you no doubt make, okay?" his accompanied smile didn't soften the threat as he looked around. Man he really didn't like this place – how the hell could anyone find this relaxing?

"Of course, I understand," she said with a professional smile painted on and a falsely cheery tone. "I would suggest that most young families want a crib that can be used for a while, so I would stay away from the traditional cradles which are exquisite, but are only really suitable for a short time..."

"Yeah – longer use is good - because I don't want to be doing this again in six months...."

"And I would recommend that you have one with a switch rocking mechanism so you can have it stationary when you're not in the room."

"Right, good thinking..." he said as he looked around, expecting to see this magical crib just sitting there ready to order. "Do you have any like that in store?"

"We have basic models in, but if you wanted something special, something lasting then we would have to order it in for you. You would just have to choose a design, colour, wood, finish and size. I can give you pamphlets."

He groaned and shook his head. This whole thing was cursed. "Awesome, pamphlets! Cause I really want to think more about this..." he muttered as he rubbed his eyes. "You know, I think I'm going to go get a coffee and think about my options. Don't want to get it wrong, right?"

"Of course. If you just give me a moment, I'll get some information for you to take away and 'think' about. If you want my suggestion," she said giving him a tight smile. "Leave some heavy hints to your friends and family for anything else you need. Women love to buy things for babies and no doubt everything you'll need will show up at the baby shower."

His head snapped up at her statement, but she was already walking away as he quickly went over what she had just said. He thought a baby shower was just one of those things that some people acted like always happened, but it never did – like getting a car for your 16th birthday, or frat boys running around in togas on campus, or losing your virginity at senior prom (as he was in California for senior prom, he chose to believe that he hadn't actually proven that theory right) but he never actually considered that it wasn't just one of those things and that this was something that really was expected to happen.

The problem was that he had no idea about any of that stuff and their families and close friends who would normally do that sort of thing were scattered around the country.

Gabriella had never mentioned it, so he wasn't even sure if she would want one but, considering how excited she got with everything about the baby he knew, deep down, she would love one and, he sighed as he closed his eyes in frustration, maybe something like that to distract her from all the crap around her would actually be a good thing as well.

He groaned as he picked up his cell, the pamphlets forgotten as he scrolled down his contact list. He didn't know what the norm was with the whole baby shower thing, but he figured there must be at least one person out there who would be able to help him work it out.

* * *

When Gabriella had sent Troy out the house she had done it with the sole intention of getting him away from brooding about things like he had been doing for the past couple of days. Ever since she had told him about the phone call from her mom he had been silently fuming and although he had seemed fine afterwards, and smiled and laughed when they talked it was pretty obvious that his brow was constantly furrowed and she could see him almost itching to get to the phone. A restless night where every time she would wake up she would find him awake, staring at the ceiling with his arms around her didn't make her feel any better about unloading on him but they had promised to talk to each other about things and she didn't want to keep it from him.

Getting rid of him was a tough ask though as he seemed determined to stay close, as though he was scared she would run off again. In hindsight, leaving the house, even for a short walk hadn't been the smartest idea she had ever had and it seemed to make him even jitterier about everything.

She could understand why but that didn't make it any easier to watch. She was trying so hard to pretend that everything was okay, but it was always lingering in the back of her mind how one day she could come home from work and find a strange man on her doorstep, or answer the phone and hear a man's voice and know that the only reason he was contacting her was because he wanted something from her. That he had been happy to have been in her mother's life all these years, but didn't want to be in his daughter's life until she could offer him something. Her mother who had spend the last few months talking about how men left when women fell pregnant, inferring by default that if it hadn't been for her that they would have still been together, had actually been right. It had never been her mom that was the issue – just her. She almost laughed at the idea of it – the whole situation was almost funny in a really, really painful way.

It was times like this that she really missed her friends. For the most part she loved New Orleans - she was living with the man she loved, she had a baby on the way, her job was great, her home was perfect and the people were really nice. Despite all that though, she missed having close girl-friends around her sometimes and she knew it was going to take a while before she would develop those bonds with people here. She was close with Isaac's girlfriend Lisa, but sometimes she felt that was almost by default seeing as the two women were so different to each other. Lisa was a 'react first, think later' type of girl, and she doubted if Lisa would understand her thinking about her whole situation with her mother.

She sometimes wondered if any of her friends would understand her thinking though. She was always the methodical one, the one who thought first and reacted later before saying or doing anything and, apart from Kelsi, none of her other friends were like that and she could almost hear them telling her just to let it all out instead of over-thinking it. Deep down she knew that to an extent they would be right, but that still wouldn't convince her but even though she knew she probably wouldn't take their advice, she still wished they were here so they could give her it anyway.

She took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face, determined to try and not think about it anymore. It wouldn't do her any good to get Troy away from the situation if she was just going to sit and obsess over it herself.

She plucked at the flower in her hand and hmmd as she dropped the petal onto the ground, letting the breeze catch it and swirl it away as she turned her thoughts away from her slight bout of homesickness and towards trying to stay positive. "He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me," she murmured as she squinted and tried to estimate how it was going to end as she used her foot to make the seat swing. "He loves me not. He loves..."

"I swear I will never understand the female obsession with that game."

She twisted her head and shot a bright smile at her fiancé as he looked at her in amusement, her mood lifted by his presence. He looked tired, and stressed and she knew that he was forcing himself to be cheery, but she didn't care as she made a vain effort at sitting up straighter that caused him to chuckle as he walked over and planted a kiss on her forehead before he lifted her legs and sat them on his lap as he sat down.

"We like it because no one can tell if a person loves another person more than Mother Nature," she replied by sticking her tongue out at him. "Incidentally – the daisy says you love me."

Her sing song voice caused him to laugh again and she was relieved to see it being a genuine one as he picked up the stem of the de-petalled flower and gently prodded her with it causing her to gasp as she swatted it away with the stem of the carnation she was mid-way through in a miniature sword fight. "Really – I'm relieved the daisy knows these things. What would you have done if it had come up different?"

She grinned at him as she gave a small flick of her wrist and gestured to the other empty stems lying around. "Assumed I miscounted and cheated."

He grinned at her and caught her wrist, pulling her up towards him slightly before kissing her. "So while I was at the store, being harassed by the saleswoman who thought I was an idiot by the way, you were sat here indulging your destructive side?"

She looked at him for a second before laughing as she nodded. "I was entertaining myself. You do know I suggested the baby story solely as an excuse to get out the house for a couple of hours, not to actually go and look at cribs. I thought you would maybe just go to Sports Authority or something..."

He made a face and swiped her stem again. "I was being responsible."

"I know," she said as she sat up. "But I don't mind you not being if you don't want to." She nuzzled into his arm and pressed a kiss against it before letting herself sink back again. "I get the feeling that your morning wasn't quite as stress free as I hoped it would be."

He blinked at her before dropping the stem and taking her hand. "I'm not stressed, Gabi. I'm...pissed off, and angry and I'm worried about you but I'm not stressed. You don't need to worry about giving me a break or anything cause, no offence, I'm still gonna be thinking about you whether I'm here, at the store, at a bar or anywhere else. You're kinda constant, Montez soon to be Bolton."

She smiled and gave his fingers a squeeze. She wanted to reassure him, explain to him that things were fine and he didn't have to worry but she knew that wasn't going to make him feel better. "Okay."

"Okay? That's it? No 'trust me, I know what I'm talking about', or 'you have to try harder Troy' or...I don't know 'I'm fine and you're over-reacting'? Just okay?"

She nodded and smiled at him. There was a lot she could say about how he was driving himself crazy about things that they couldn't control, but she didn't want to nag at him so the best thing she could do was to try and encourage him to relax when she could. "Just okay."

He eyes her sceptically for a moment before she began plucking at the flower again, mouthing the words as she dropped each petal.

"So, where did the flowers you're currently destroying actually come from?"

"My mom," she said softly not raising her gaze as she kept peeling them off the stem. "They were delivered a little while ago along with another note asking me to let her explain. I need to call her and tell her to stop but..." she sighed and the light, happy tone she had on all day left at the reminder of the whole, ugly situation. "I don't know. I will call her soon, I promise I just..."

"You don't have to justify yourself to me," he said as he rubbed her leg. "It's okay."

She lifted her gaze with a small smile. "Just 'okay?' No 'you're only making it worse by avoiding it', or 'you should talk to your mom cause she's your mom and that gives her a pass on anything' or 'you're scared to talk to her in case you hear more things you don't want to?"

He looked at her with an understanding smile and shook his head as he leant over and kissed the hand he was holding. "No, none of that - just, okay."

She kept his gaze for a second before bursting out laughing. "We're both useless, you realise that, don't you?"

"I've suspected it for a while," he said with a smile as he turned to look out at the garden. "It's not avoiding things not calling her and you're allowed to take some time to get your head around this. We both are. I don't want you doing anything you don't want to just now."

"I just want to stop wanting to yell at her before I call her," she admitted softly. "I don't want to say anything that will hurt her, but I don't want to pretend that it doesn't matter, you know?"

He sighed and nodded, his hand caressing hers in small circles. "I know. You know, I could call your mom for you. Just tell her you need some space and that you'll get in contact soon..."

She shook her head. She would trust Troy with anything, but she knew it would be unrealistic to expect him to speak to her mother just now without inflaming the situation and the absolute last thing she wanted was for it to get any uglier. His loyalty was to her, and she loved that, but at the end of the day it was still her mom and she did not want the two people she loved most in the world to have any sort of bad feeling between them. "No. I just, I'd rather...let things settle. I'll text her and ask her to give me a few days and then I'll call her."

"If you're sure?"

"I'm not," she admitted with a small smile. "But I'm close enough. Thank you for offering though, Wildcat."

"It's an open offer," he sighed as he leant his head back against the back of the chair. "Just in case you change your mind."

"Troy," she said after a few minutes, causing him to look at her. She gave him a smile, trying to reassure him, to somehow make him feel better.

"Yeah?"

"I love you. You know that, right?"

"I know that," he smiled as he closed his eyes. "I love you too."

"And I'm sorry that it's just been one thing on top of another on top of another recently," she continued softly. "But...we'll be fine. Your wrist is going to get better, and you're going to have lots of other All Star games and our son is going to be healthy and...everything is going to be fine so I don't want you to worry, okay?"

His eyes opened as he looked at her and for a second and she could swear he was going to say something but instead he sighed and nodded. "I know. As long as you're fine, I'm fine."

"Good," she grinned as she went back to her flower. "Now shhh – I'm about to find out if this really cute guy I know loves me or not."

She was focused on the petals and missed his movement as he plucked the flower out of her hand suddenly. "Sorry to interrupt the scientific fortune telling, but I need a favour."

"What sort of favour?" she asked suspiciously, as she saw his eyes twinkling mischievously and immediately a wave of wariness washed over her. She would agree to pretty much anything, but still – he generally didn't ask unless it was something major that she would invariably initially say no to. "If it involves you stealing my laptop then no."

"I _borrowed_ your laptop once and you never let me forget it," he rolled his eyes dramatically and she was reminded of his inner drama queen who sometimes tried to emerge. He may have only done a year of theatre at college but sometimes she was almost convinced that he chose the wrong career path.

"You left it on the team bus and it was a month before I got it back."

"Slight exaggeration, it was twenty-two days and that was one time and when we got it back everything was exactly how it should be."

"It had the notes for my dissertation on it," she stated, the memory of that period in their final year of college where she alternated between wanting to strangle Troy for losing it and comforting him because he was so upset at the thought of losing it rushing forward, making her smile. She had no idea how they both had avoided a nervous breakdown that month, and she could still remember the rush of relief that had enveloped them when the laptop was eventually found and the desperate, rambling apologies he had made again as he handed it to her and all the promises of the things he was going to do to make up for nearly losing it that she had only silenced by kissing him. It was actually the best part of a day before either of them had been in a fit state to even look at the laptop. "Because I wasn't stressed enough back then."

"In fairness, you had a back-up," he tried to defend, his lips unsuccessfully fighting the smirk that was dying to appear as he was no doubt remembering the same things she was. "I told you I was sorry about that, baby – you forgave me, multiple times if I remember correctly."

She blushed and his smirk was fully fledged as he looked at her and he could only shake her head, knowing he had won. "Fine, you can borrow it but I'm going to back stuff up because I am not losing all my notes for work. I don't know why you don't buy a proper laptop instead of your net book anyway. I swear that's going to be your wedding present if you don't rectify the situation before then."

"I don't want to borrow your laptop, Gabriella," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "Your lack of faith in my ability at looking after your belongings wounds me, incidentally."

"What do you want then?" she eyed him warily.

"I want," he said as he leant over and kissed her jaw. "I want you to come to the game with me tonight."

She blinked. She had been expecting that he wanted to invite his parents or Chad to stay, or that he was going out with the guys, or he was going to fly and make an appearance at the Rookie game as a means to shutting Kyle up – she hadn't been expecting that. "Tonight?"

He nodded and she tilted her head, trying to get a read on what he was thinking. He had been the insistent one about her not going out and since their...slip a few nights previous he had been almost obsessive about her following Dr Caldwell's advice so it was surprising that he would now be suggesting otherwise especially as he wasn't even going to play because of his injury. "Really?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded as he took her hand. "Please? I promise I will make sure you keep your feet up and everything, just...will you?"

She nodded. Of course she would go – she was dying to get out the house more and although it didn't make sense, she wasn't going to argue if he wanted her there. "Of course I will, Troy."

"Really? Thank you," he said almost in relief as he leant over and kissed her, a smile plastered over his face. "You don't need to worry about anything. I'm going to make sure you have everything there, okay?"

"I don't need much. You get me a drink, some snacks and sit me close to the restrooms and I'll be good to go," she giggled as he shook his head. "Troy..."

"Humour me, okay?"

She nodded slowly as he handed her back the flower but before he released it to her grasp he leant back in and kissed her, only stopping to whisper against her lips. "Just so you know, it's always going to end 'he loves you', so you don't need to waste anymore time."

She felt a smile come to her face as he pecked her lips quickly before standing up. "Now if you will excuse me, My Lady – I have to go and make sure that everything is arranged for our night out."

"Troy – you'll be on the bench," she giggled. "I can look after myself you know."

"I know that," he grinned as he backed off. "But tonight you don't have to. Trust me."

As he disappeared she shook her head, any lingering melancholy or worries completely forgotten as she heard him rustle about inside the house. It was pretty clear that he was up to no good, but she had enough experience with him to know that she was onto a losing battle in trying to figure it out. She giggled as she turned back to the flower and began plucking the petals off again before stopping at the last one, a bright smile widening on her face as she plucked it off and held it, rubbing her stomach softly as she looked at it. "He loves me."

That simple fact was more than enough to make anything else inconsequential to her.

* * *

Gabriella looked around the rapidly filling stadium and smiled. She loved coming to games, and although Troy wouldn't be playing, just the idea that she could still support him even if he was just sitting on the bench because of his wrist meant a lot to her. She was proud of him, and she didn't really get the opportunity to show him that often enough so anytime she got to go out there was important for her. Not to mention the fact that she was, even if she desperately tried to deny it, a bit of a Troy Bolton fan-girl so being able to unabashedly cheer him on with the anonymity of just being another face in the crowd was something she relished. That was why she always liked to sit in the stands, whereas some others preferred to sit in hospitality.

"Gabriella?"

She looked up and saw an older woman standing next to her, giving her a warm smile and she immediately remembered being introduced to her at a party a few weeks earlier.

"Anna! Hi, how are you?" she attempted to stand in greeting to the wife of the team's coach and it took a moment before she got to her feet, blushing at the time it took her. "I'm usually a bit quicker than this. I'm still getting used to the shift in my centre of gravity."

"Don't worry – you never get used to it," the woman smiled with a shake of her head. "How are you?"

"I'm great," she smiled as she rubbed her stomach. "Been resting up, you know? How are you?"

"I am fantastic," Anna said with a grin. "So, I was just going to a box and I heard you were here and I was thinking that you cheating your bed-rest might be a bit easier if you were up there with us."

Gabriella paused – this was effectively the wife of Troy's boss and she wanted to spend time with her and Gabriella was struck by how nervous that made her as she brought a hand to her hair and tried to smooth it down, just in case it looked messy. Although she knew that obviously Anna had no sway over what happened with Troy, she also knew the importance of making a good impression on the woman. The absolute last thing she would want was for the older woman to go home and badmouth Gabriella to her husband in case it reflected badly on Troy. The problem was that as much as she wanted to make a good impression, she also knew that accepting the invite would mean that she would be leaving the seat that Troy knew she was in and she could just imagine him freaking out if he looked up and saw her missing after she had promised she wouldn't wander around. "I don't know...it's very nice of you to offer, but I wouldn't like to intrude."

"No intrusion, I promise. There are a few of us up there," Anna smiled before laughing slightly as she saw Gabriella looking down at the court, hoping to see Troy. "If you're worried about Troy, don't. He's the one who mentioned that you were here today."

"What? He did?" she squeaked, blushing as she turned back to Anna, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Don't worry – he didn't tell me. I over-heard him telling some of the guys why he was looking so pleased with himself," Anna laughed, causing Gabriella to smile at the fact that her mere presence was making Troy so happy. "I get the impression that you used to come to games a lot?"

"Pretty much every game," she said with a nod. "I like watching him play – he's a great player and he loves it so it makes me happy to see him doing something he loves."

"I wish I had any sort of love for the game," Anna sighed. "I just enjoy the fact that it gets Tony out the house and gives me some peace & quiet. I think he's given up trying to teach me the joys of basketball."

"You don't enjoy it?" Gabriella couldn't hide her surprise.

Anna laughed with a shake of her head. "There is a reason that this is just my second home game of the season. Anyway, I am going to get in trouble if I keep you standing so would you like to join me and you can try and convince me of the benefits of coming to the games more often?"

Deciding she would just text Troy when she got there she smiled and nodded, slowly reaching down for her purse before looking at the cup of soda that was sitting tauntingly on the ground. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass herself in front of Anna in her second meeting, so as gracefully as she could she tried to bend down only to flush in embarrassment as Anna reached down and picked it up for her.

"I remember that feeling," Anna said with a laugh. "Now come on, I'll show you the best way to get to it that avoids the crowds. Do you have your pass?"

Gabriella nodded and reached into her purse, watching as Anna discarded the drink in the nearest trash and pulled her own pass out as they walked towards the hospitality box and were ushered in by the staff at the entrance.

Until Troy had been drafted, Gabriella had never even considered what it would be like to watch a game in a box with air conditioning, TV screens, commentary, catering and luxury seating and it wasn't until the very first game he played in that she had even experienced it. She had been ready (and excited for) sitting in the stands, cheering him on but instead she had been invited to sit with the other player's families and girlfriends in a hospitality suite. It was very luxurious and nice and it was there that she discovered that watching Troy play NBA games was going to be nothing like watching his games in college.

Even at that first game, there was a very definite hierarchy visible as she walked in and she could almost sense that she was getting sized up to see where she had fit as she had been introduced to people. There were the senior players' wives, who had been around the NBA for years, and then there were the serious girlfriends who although not quite as entrenched in the group as others, were almost an ever-present presence. At the bottom of the food chain there was then the 'girl of the week' crowd who would show up for a game or two at the request of some of the single guys, and were usually interchangeable. In a lot of ways it was like High School – you would walk in and be evaluated for what you could offer, and what you were going to bring to the group and if you had any intention of sticking around, you better have something to offer, even if it was just a nice smile and occasional sound-bite to the ever present beat writers who would be snooping around or a token appearance at the odd charity event they would host.

Despite how daunting it had been, and occasionally still was, she couldn't help but like the women in the group. They were a varied bunch from all walks, and as someone who had been the odd one out for a lot of her life, she enjoyed the fact that there wasn't really a 'norm' amongst them. No, she had found that they accepted her very quickly and although she doubted she would ever know most of them well enough to ever be able to consider them close friends, she still enjoyed spending time with them when they met up, even if they rarely ever met outside the stadium.

That was why she hadn't been expecting to walk into the box behind Anna and find a banner and balloons everywhere, as 'Hey Mama' by the Black Eyed Peas started playing on her entrance.

Her hand was over her chest as she looked around, trying to work out what was going on, and she could see a couple of trays of cupcakes with pink and blue frosting on them on one table along with sandwiches cut into neat triangles and a line of frosted glasses beside a cake with something piped on it that she couldn't quite make out from where she was standing.

"'Hey Mama' as the song? Seriously, Tracey – is that appropriate baby music?" someone called out, breaking Gabriella out of her perusal of the room to see the group of women all smiling in her direction

"I had 4 hours to get a list together," Tracey said, with a toss of her dark hair as she smirked, turning away from the stereo. "You ain't going to find a whole lot of baby friendly stuff on this soundtrack. Hey Gabs!"

"Hey Tracey," Gabriella said with a confused look around. "What's...happening?"

"What do you think is happening?" she asked with a laugh. "Isn't it obvious?"

She shook her head, genuinely unsure as she saw Lisa bounding over with a grin on her face. "Forgive the haphazardness of things, but we were on a timetable. Anyway - Happy Baby Shower! Or...whatever it is that you say to someone to welcome them to a baby shower which isn't really a baby shower, but more a haphazard splashing of baby related puns and non alcoholic drinks in your direction."

Gabriella's jaw dropped in shock that anyone would have went to that trouble, especially as the thought of having one hadn't entered her head at any point. "Wh...how?"

"Very eloquent," Lisa laughed as she and Anna guided her over towards a recliner with a foot rest in front of it. "You know, Troy always boasts that you're a genius – can't think why that's ever in doubt."

Before she could say anything she found a glass of something put in her hand and a cupcake with blue icing thrust in front of her face.

"Now, you might notice that there's a shortage of blue cup cakes..."

"And presents," another voice called over.

"And any appropriate baby shower decorations," Anna added.

"Or music," Tracey laughed. "Although, who really wants to listen to a bunch of lame ass songs with Baby in the title anyway?"

"And the food choices are more suitable to a four year olds birthday party than anything else," someone else called causing one of the other women to protest loudly.

"I cater for kids parties! I've never done a baby-shower before," she huffed. "I did know to bring chocolate, peanut butter and ice cream cake though – so points to me!"

"And the flowers are more gas-station bought than floral arrangement," another cut off the teasing rant. "Who really knows what Baby's Breath looks like anyway? Someone needs to set one of the guys up with a florist – it would make these things so much easier."

"As you can tell, we were on a tight schedule," Lisa finished with a grin as she gestured around. "You being stuck in the house has really hampered our surprise efforts, but when Troy called this morning demanding that Isaac find out if you were really supposed to have a baby shower, I figured we may as well take advantage and persuade him to bring you to the game, so that's how we got this together."

"I..." Gabriella felt overwhelmed with gratitude – at both Troy for even worrying about it and the girls for taking the time and effort to attempt it. "I don't know what to say...thank you..."

Lisa laughed and hugged her. "Don't cry! God, do you want me to be killed when your boy gets up here and sees you with panda eyes?"

She giggled and tried to wipe her eyes from the fresh tears. "I'm sorry; it's just...thank you guys, so much. I don't..."

"Yeah, yeah," Tracey said with a shake of the head. "You're hormonal and tears are going to be a constant but if we don't get the party started the game's going to be finished and the guys are going to be gate crashing us and eating all our food before we even get round to giving the gifts..."

"Gifts?" Gabriella said as she looked around.

"Well, not so much gifts – more, gift IOU's," Lana, one of the coach's wives, said with a shake of the head. "We were rushed..."

"So we thought we'd make it like a lottery. Everyone has a ticket -" the women all waved a bit of paper in the air. "And you're going to call numbers and choose a present from the baby box." Lauren gestured to a small box that had a miniature baby doll stuck on the top. "It was that or 'pin the baby on the stork' or a baby doll shaped piñata but we were concerned that those might not be good in your condition."

"Pin the baby on the stork?" Gabriella repeated with a laugh, causing Lisa to bend down close to her ear.

"Don't worry, I have it made up – we just need to wait for some of the others to get a bit drunk to get the full value out of it. You're the only one on the non-alcoholic stuff."

Gabriella's laughter burst out uncontrollably and the girls in the room all grinned alongside her as Tracey upped the volume on the sound system, effective drowning out the PA of the team's line-ups as Gabriella began laughing and joking with the women around her as they all enjoyed their impromptu party. She didn't really care that it was haphazard and the least baby-showery baby shower on the planet. She didn't even care that her closest family and friends were missing because for the first time since she had arrived in New Orleans, she suddenly realised that maybe she didn't have to miss her old life as much as she thought she did.

* * *

Troy couldn't help but grin as he looked over at Gabriella as she slept in the passenger seat of their car with a small smile painting her face. He hadn't dreamt that when he was looking at cribs that morning that everything would work out so perfectly in terms of actually getting her mind off everything.

The truth was that he hadn't wanted to leave her alone to go to the stadium, just in case. He rolled his eyes. 'Just in case.'

Just in case her mom called, or showed up, or God forbid, just in case her dad showed up or some other disaster that seemed to be haunting her recently so when Lisa had told him to bring her, he had been glad to have an excuse that wasn't simply his own paranoia. He had no idea what Lisa had been planning until he and the guys had showed up at the box after the game to find the girls giggling as some really weird music played in the background while half of them were wearing home-made baby bonnets and bows (which was apparently one of the games) and the others were cheering on one of the others who was blindfolded and staggering about a little drunkenly whilst holding a pin and baby, apparently looking to pin it to something. He had seen Gabriella, her cheeks rosy and giggling madly as she clutched a baby doll in her lap and tried to yell directions above the din of people yelling different ones. It had been the first time in days that he had seen her completely care-free and happy and he wanted to capture the moment for her, so she could feel like that every day, even though he knew that as soon that as soon as they got home, reality would crash back in and she would have to deal with issues that she shouldn't have to deal with.

She had noticed him as he watched her, and he saw her smile broaden as she forgot the poor woman she was directing and gestured him over excitedly. He had barely got close when he found her arms wrapped around his neck, thanking him so much for bringing her and filling him in on everything that had happened at the party and how much fun everything had been, and how much she loved him for thinking of her.

He smiled softly as he reached over and brushed her hair out her face. For perhaps the first time since he had known her, she had been completely clueless about what had happened in one of his games and he couldn't have been happier about the fact that the only thing she had concentrated on was having fun. He didn't know how he was going to repay Lisa for organising everything, but he had never been so glad that Gabriella had a friend like that here than he was right now. It had been good for her, to bond with the other women, and he hoped that it was going to help her feel more comfortable with the others. He wanted her to really have a home here. He knew that she was happy because he was here, and because she loved her job, but he wanted her to have a large group of friends and people who would just be there for her. He wanted, more than anything, for her to be happy with every aspect of their life together.

Plus, somewhat selfishly, he did like the idea of having a large pool of potential babysitters available to them...

He pulled into their drive and sighed as he looked at her. She was exhausted but he doubted he would be able to take her in without jerking her awake so he settled on closing the his door, running to the house and unlocking the door before going back and opening her door carefully, before he gently unhooked her seatbelt and stroked her cheek. "Gabi?"

"Mmmm," she moaned softly without opening her eyes.

"Come on, Baby," he whispered. "That's us home."

Her eyes fluttered open and she gave him a tired smile as she leant closer to his hand. "Our car is comfy..."

"I don't know if you would think that if you stayed in it much longer," he said as he leant closer. "Let's get you to bed."

"Bed sounds good," she admitted as she sat up, letting him stand and offer her his hand. "You think this is what being old feels like?"

He laughed as he pulled her towards him, their hands locked as she held her shoes in her free hand and he closed the car door with his. "What? Falling asleep in the car and being in bed by 10?"

"And swollen ankles, and needing help to walk," she giggled as she leant closer to him, the exhaustion radiating off her as he opened the door. "The constant need to go to the bathroom..."

"If this is old, then I gotta say, old age is gonna look good on you," he smiled as he let her go in, only for her to twist in his arms so she was facing him. "Course, anything would look good on you."

"You're such a suck up," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "Thank you though."

"Gotta earn those brownie points," he murmured as he kissed her hair, earning only a soft grunt in reply. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Without any argument he walked with her to the bedroom and watched as she dropped her shoes beside the closet before walking over to the bed.

"You not getting ready?"

She smiled at him as she sank down. "Your son will be hungry soon, so I'll change then. I'll just have a nap and then get changed and eat and everything else when he wakes up."

He laughed and shook his head. "You know, to make up for all this sleep time he's costing you I think we should wake him up at 7am every weekend when he's a teenager, find out how he likes not sleeping."

She giggled and his smile went wider, God he missed this. Just seeing her so damn happy and without worrying about anything else. "I could sign up for that. We'd be the least popular parents on the planet though."

"Ah, but you see when he's a teenager we will automatically be the least popular parents on the planet purely because we're his parents," he said with a shake of his head. "It's a guy thing..."

"Ah," she rolled her eyes and laughed. "I don't think I'll ever fully understand guy logic."

"Ah, but that's why you'll be keeping me around," he teased as he walked over towards her. "It'll help you understand the traumatic, rebelling teenage years."

"I don't think you had any traumatic, rebelling teenage years," she joked. "You might not be the best guide."

"Excuse me – I stole a car and fled out of state without letting my parents know and broke into not only our High School, but also the golf course at Lava Springs. I was a badass when I was a teenager."

Her giggles became fully fledged laughter as he crouched down beside her. She reached over and caressed his face, her smile as wide as he'd seen it in weeks as she looked at him. "You are so crazy, Wildcat..."

He grinned at her and leant over and pecked her lips. "That may be true, but you love me anyway."

"That is true," she admitted as she brushed his cheek. "Are you coming to lie down with me?"

He shook his head. "I'm going to lock up and grab a bite to eat. I'll make you something if you like?"

She yawned and shook her head. "I'll get something when I get up."

He kissed her forehead and nodded as he stood up and headed towards the door. Before he could go through though he heard her call his name and stopped.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to thank you so much for today," she said softly. "It was such a nice surprise and I had so much fun."

"I honestly didn't have much to do with it," he admitted. "I just got you to the stadium."

"I don't care," she giggled. "It's because of you, so thank you, Wildcat. You always make everything better."

"You're welcome then," he conceded eventually. "I'm just glad you had a good time."

"I did," she smiled as her eyes dropped shut. "It was nice just to forget all the other stuff for a little while and just enjoy everything the way we're supposed to."

She was right – for multiple reasons they hadn't been able to enjoy any of this properly for months and it just felt good to be able to forget everything else and just enjoy it without worrying about anything. He waited a moment before making a decision as he kicked his shoes off and walked away from the door and climbed onto the bed beside her. She gave him a confused look. "I thought you were hungry?"

"Well, I am but I figure with the baby's appetite that you'll probably nap for about an hour before he's craving food so I can wait. For now...for now I like just lying here. Let's just...enjoy...the rest of our night and worry about everything else later."

"I like your thinking," she smiled as she rolled beside him and let him drape his arm around her and her eyes drifted closed. "The perfect end to a great day."

He smiled and let his fingers trail up and down her arm as he settled the other one behind his head and closed his eyes. Everything that had gone wrong in the last few weeks, all the stress and drama could wait and get dealt with another time because she was right – it was a great day, and just one of a million great days they were going to have together and, at the end of the day, he wasn't going to let anything or anyone ruin that for either of them.


	14. Doing It All For My Baby

_AN – I'm so sorry this was so long. No excuses as it was supposed to be up weeks ago. I will work harder to get the next one out quicker, I promise. Not many chapters left! Hope you guys enjoy._

* * *

The day after the rapidly assembled baby shower found Gabriella sitting on the sofa alone, with her bottom lip quivering as she clutched the cushion in front of her desperately as her eyes focused on the TV screen. Her mouth moved in time with the words spoken before she gave up fighting it and let her tears spill over into loud sobs. A note pad with hastily scribbled names lay forgotten on the side of her as she grabbed a slice of apple and dipped it in the chocolate milk at her side before eating it, a fresh sob escaping as she did so.

She and Troy had lain in bed until mid-morning when Troy was scheduled to go to the arena to have his wrist looked at and although her fist instinct had been to lay there and wait for him to come back, the minute he had walked out the door she had changed her mind. Although he took no credit for the party she had received, she knew he was at least partially responsible and it hadn't seemed fair to her that he had done that for her while he was mainly stuck babysitting her and her hormones. That was why she had made a quick call to Isaac and given him explicit instructions to kidnap Troy from the stadium and not to bring him home until they were suitably convinced that he had had fun. There were rules of course specifying what type of fun they were allowed to have and although she liked to believe that a movie, paintballing and X-Box would be the outlet of choice, in reality she kinda figured more than a little alcohol would be involved.

She sighed and hugged the cushion closer, almost wondering why she had banished her favourite movie watching companion to get drunk while she was left to cry into a bunch of feathers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a fresh round of tears due to the film and she didn't even have an opportunity to wipe them when her cell-phone started ringing, breaking her out of her immersion of what was happening on screen. She growled in annoyance and attempted to ignore it, but it continued to ring causing her to omit a silent curse as she picked it up without even checking who it was on the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Gabriella, hi!"

Gabriella almost squeaked in excitement as she fumbled to pause her film, her grouchiness forgotten as she gave the phone her full attention. "Taylor! Hi – how are you? I thought you'd be working!"

"I am," Taylor giggled. "I'm killing time until my boss comes back in. Why are you crying? Did Bolton do something stupid? Do I have to fly down there and kick his ass? Because I'm kickboxing now and I could totally do that."

Gabriella shook her head and laughed at her friend's melodramatic ways. "Troy doesn't make me cry - I was just watching a film whilst looking for inspiration for our baby name list. Troy's already ruled out anything Vampire related and anything Austen inspired so I'm looking for something unexpected..."

"I probably shouldn't even ask what this name-picking protocol is, should I?"

Gabriella giggled, wiping the remnants of her tears away. "He said he doesn't want to name our son over fictional rivals for his affections. You should see the list of names he's vetoed so far in the belief that if they were real people that I'd ditch him for them. He's a little crazy just now."

"It's not your fault that hot guys have great names! You need to put down your foot – you're carrying HIS child for nine months, and marrying him so I think it's only fair you get to name the kid, right? If you want to have a little Fitzwilliam Bolton running around then so be it!"

"Exactly," she laughed, not really meaning it but kinda enjoying the thought as well. "I've been trying to sell that, but it was sadly scrubbed early."

"Just remind him that you guys are running out of time. The baby's going to be here before you know it."

"In all honesty – I think we have a list of like five names that we both really like, but we keep throwing other ones out there just in case which muddles the whole thing. I think we have a rough idea what we're leaning towards, but we'll see – nothing wrong with keeping our options open. We were hoping to get the final shortlist done before he started travelling again, but..." she trailed off and glanced down at the list, not wanting to go into the reasons why they hadn't really been in the mood to sit down and talk baby stuff.

"Oh yeah, I forgot this was like an extended hope trip for you guys. When's he gone again?"

"Next week," Gabriella said softly, stroking the fabric on the sofa as she bit down on her lip, trying not to vocalise her selfish desires about wishing it weren't so. "Phoenix, LA, Golden State and Denver..."

"Ouch."

"Yeah," she sighed as she closed her eyes. "11 days. He wants to try and get home for a few days in the middle, but with what happened in the last couple of games, it wouldn't be good for him, you know? He needs...he needs to be there so..." she took a deep breath and tried to force a smile on her face. "But it'll be fine – it's not like I do much now anyway, so...you know?"

"Gabriella – I'm sure his coaches understand and wouldn't mind him missing one of the games..."

"I know, I know they wouldn't," she said resolutely. "But...you know, fans have short memories and I don't want him getting an undeserved reputation. He's worked so hard...I won't let him ruin that for me when I'm fine so...you know, it's not like we've not had longer time apart and...then in the summer he's going to have to go play games abroad so, it's just...we're kinda going to have to get used to it..." she sniffed, not even noticing the tears leaking from her eyes beforehand even as she tried to sound optimistic. She didn't know why she was feeling so upset – it was an occupational hazard and they both knew that going in and she knew that although they both hated it, they could handle it. The problem was that with all her emotions flying around and all the uncertainty with everything else, every separation was too long and 13 days was as good as a month and a month? She couldn't even contemplate it at that moment in time and, as selfless and understanding as she wanted to be, sometimes she secretly wished she got to keep him to herself sometimes, especially now. "I'm just...kinda used to him being here again and...I think with it being closer and everything else going on, I'm going to miss him more this time."

"I know Sweetie, but look on the brightside – you'll be able to watch as many crappy movies that make you cry as you want while he's away. We'll get a conference call going – you, me and Kelsi can watch the Time Traveller's Wife and comment on how much Eric Bana being naked in 50% of the movie wasn't gratuitous and totally enhanced the story!"

Gabriella couldn't stop the laughter erupting at that comment and shook her head. She was really blessed with the friends she had and although she knew that Taylor still didn't really understand how things were with her and Troy, she appreciated that her best friend was eager to at least try and understand to help make her feel better.

"What? You don't approve of that plan, Ms Montez?"

"I'm just not sure it would be good for my blood pressure," she giggled.

"Spoil sport," she could hear Taylor tease. "Never mind – we'll work something out. As long as we avoid sports films – because they bore us and just make you cry."

"I can't help it – they're kinda my weakness. Even the happy ones get to me – my brain isn't wired to take the inspirational, 'you can do anything' message and all I get is the 'look how much they suffered before it' message."

"It's because you're dating a lunkhead sports guy and feel the need to sub him into any sporting film you watch because of it," Taylor said sagely causing Gabriella's cheeks to inflame even more as she almost ducked behind the cushion she was holding as Taylor continued, oblivious to her accuracy. "I kinda got the clue that you and sports films don't mix when I saw you cry and Cool Runnings. You are the only person on the planet that cries more at that than you do the Notebook."

"I know, but it's just so sad!" Gabriella defended. "Troy agrees with me, so it's not just me who gets chocked up when they carry it over the finish line."

"Honey, Troy would agree with you if you said that Corn Dogs were the best food-stuff on the planet or that the Barney song was the perfect song to walk down the aisle to so he's not a reliable witness. Besides, easy way to cure that is to imagine your boy in the bobsleigh outfit – I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy that a little more."

Gabriella could only giggle, choosing not to argue the point. "Never mind my movie choices, how are you?"

"I'm great – I was just calling to check in with you while I had some time. Everything okay?"

"Everything is great," she said with a nod. "I mean my bouts of boredom, tears and insatiable craving of foodstuff that makes my fiancé sick aside of course. Other than that...I'm so happy here, Taylor. When Troy comes home and it's just us...I can't explain how it feels sometimes. I wish everyone could feel like that."

"Well good – not going to lie, I'm not close to being ready for the house, the car and the baby but...I think it was always going to be a good look on you two so I'm happy for you guys - you deserve it." Taylor responded and Gabriella was waiting for her to say something else but as there was nothing but silence on the other end of the line she began to worry.

"Taylor? Is everything okay with you?"

"Yeah, yes! Of course," she said cautiously before quickly continuing. "Okay, I lied. I didn't call to just check in with you. I mean, I did but...your mom called."

The smile fell from Gabriella's face. "Oh."

"Yes," Taylor said apologetically. "She didn't tell me much, just that she needs to talk to you and you haven't been answering...she's worried...so...I said I'd check..."

"Taylor," she sighed and tilted her head back, not really wanting to go into the ins and outs of the whole situation over the phone. It was embarrassing enough to tell Troy in person, and she wasn't quite ready to share with anyone else about the humiliation that her own father had been quite happy to spend time with her mom, but only as long as he didn't have to spend any time with her. "It's complicated."

"I know! I know, and I promise I'm not taking sides or getting involved but she called me and I just said I'd mention it...and I have, so..." Taylor trailed off, and Gabriella rolled her eyes and silently counted, waiting for her best friend to continue. She hadn't gotten to 4 before Taylor started again. "It's just she's your mom and you're hormonal and...and you need her just now and maybe that means that you should be the bigger person and just...forgive her. You only get one mom."

"I know that," she said with a sigh. "Taylor – you really don't know what's going on so..."

"I know, I just...is anything worth this? I mean...she's your mom," Taylor repeated again. "Okay, I've said my piece and I promise – I'll stop now."

"You promise?"

"I swear," Taylor repeated before trailing off. Gabriella couldn't help but laugh as she heard the voices in the background.

"Taylor? Do you have to go?"

"Nooo! Of course not! Pfft, as if I would call you just to..."

"You have to go?"

"Yes! I'm so sorry! I'm a lousy friend, but I promised your mom and I thought he would take longer but he's back and I'm..."

Gabriella giggled as she shook her head as she listened to Taylor's normally unflappable person ramble on. "Taylor! It's fine! Go...report something fun. I'm fine – it was great to hear from you and thank you for calling."

"Really? You're not angry at me for sticking my nose into things?"

"Taylor," she smiled as she looked down. "If I got angry every time you stuck your nose into things I would have stopped speaking to you after my first week at East High. I'm kinda used to it..."

She heard Taylor's indignant gasp, before she started to laugh. "I get points for my interference not being Troy related this time, surely?"

"Hmmm, I guess so," Gabriella agreed with a smile as she looked down and played with the hem of her white shirt before frowning at the way the shirt looked stretched over her bump. "I think I'm getting fatter incidentally. The baby's probably going to be tiny and I'm going to be a blob who he and Troy are ashamed to be seen in public with."

"You'll be a blob and Troy will still be gazing at you like you walked off a catwalk," Taylor laughed. "You say that all the time and we both know that in reality it's not as bad as you think it is and Troy is always talking about how beautiful and glowy and all that mushy crap that you go all soppy for, so clearly he doesn't see it and as I figure he's the only one you're interested in impressing, I'd say you should stop worrying."

Gabriella blushed and looked down. She supposed that was true. "You're right, of course..."

"As always," Taylor said with a laugh. "So, I really do have to go. I'll call you in a couple of days – finalise plans for our movie night, okay?"

Gabriella giggled and nodded, bidding her friend goodbye and sighing as she was left alone in the house again, with her notepad in hand and not much else to think about. Her conversation with Taylor had brought up what she had tried to avoid for the last few days and although she knew it was futile to think that the whole issue would go away, she kinda had hoped that after a few days it would just...go away. No drama, no arguing and the ache she felt when she thought about it would just disappear right alongside it. She knew she was being childish by putting off calling her mom, and if her mom was already calling her friends, it was only a matter of time before she showed up at the door and she had to figure a face to face argument would be more stressful than anything else.

"Ugh – this is why your mommy & daddy don't fight with people, baby," she groaned as she picked up her cell and looked at it, as though it would magically fix everything.

Deciding it was now or never, she dialled her mom and silently prayed she wouldn't answer but like so much recently, a different type of luck was cursing her as her Mom picked up after the second ring and before she even opened her mouth in greeting, her mom was speaking.

"Gabriella! I'm so glad you called honey. I was just about to jump on a plane and come see you and make you talk to me, so I'm so happy you called me."

Gabriella blinked in shock and pulled the phone back from her ear in confusion as she looked at the number, double checking she had actually called her mother before putting it back to her ear. "Mom?"

"Yes. Baby, I'm sorry for how I behaved, but I would really like to see you in person to apologise and I can be ther..."

"You're coming here?" she liked to think that her voice didn't sound as high-pitched and frantic as it seemed to, but in honesty she had a feeling that it probably sounded worse. She hadn't expected that option and had hoped they would be able to do the whole awkward, difficult conversation over the phone instead of having the extra stress of a face to face confrontation.

"I...of course, I'm coming here. I have to apologise," her mom said simply, as though it were obvious. "I mean I understand that you might not want to see me, but...well, I need to try and make things right, baby and I will – I promise."

Gabriella had no idea what to say to that. Part of her was still angry and hurt about what had gone down, but there was still a small part that desperately wanted her mom's approval and to make amends, no matter what. She knew that it was a bad idea, and that Troy would not be happy but she had to think that it was maybe worth a chance to try and get things back the way they were supposed to be. "Um...sure, you...you can come visit, Mom. Not...not to stay here though...but...yeah...that...that would be good, I think."

Her mom exhaled sharply and Gabriella could tell that she wasn't expecting that answer but with a quick acceptance and letting her know she would catch a flight the following day, they both hung up the phone leaving Gabriella looking at it in shock unsure of what had just happened and silently berating herself for getting in that position but quickly resolving to make the best of it regardless. She wanted her mom to see that she didn't need her, that she was managing just fine without her – that THEY were managing just fine without her and although Troy was doing a great job at looking after everything, at that moment Gabriella wanted nothing more than for her mom to walk into a perfect home with a happy, healthy Gabriella waiting as proof that she could do it all even with her interference.

Her mom wasn't going to come and find a weak Gabriella who was still licking the wounds of her interference, and with that thought she steadied herself and started to work on getting everything in order. She couldn't perfect herself at that point, but she still had control over everything else and she wasn't going to allow anyone, even her own mother, take that from her and ruin this experience even more.

* * *

Troy laughed as he saw one of his teammates trying to balance a shot glass on his chin before he picked up his own beer and took a drink.

"Man, he's wasted!"

He turned around to see Isaac lifting his cell up and clearly begin filming as he pointed it towards the player who was now singing loudly to the Lady GaGa song that was blaring on the stereo.

"Why are you filming it?"

Isaac looked at him with a grin. "Next road trip that he throws his sneaker at me to get me out of bed, this baby is getting put on YouTube! I would pay money for opposing crowds to start Rah Rah Ooh La La chants to him when he's free-throwing."

Troy could only chuckle as he turned back to his beer. He had been unceremoniously banished from the house by Gabriella who insisted he had a night out as she was under some sort of impression that he was feeling pressured and instead of spending the day with her after his physical therapy appointment, he found himself confronted with three of his teammates who came clutching a change of clothes that she had supplied them with and a phone call telling him that he was to go out and have fun. It was a nice idea in theory, but a large part of him really just wanted to spend the whole week with her, especially as he was going to have to leave soon which he was trying desperately not to think about but which was becoming increasingly hard to avoid.

Things were better with her of course, but there was always some other complication hanging around there which just kept chipping away at her every time she built herself up again. She'd been so happy after getting to go to his game and the party and although he knew that he was complicit in her breaking the rules that they had been given, he found that he didn't care as much as he should. Of course he wanted her to be safe and healthy, but he found that as much as the restrictions placed on her were good for her health, they were making her miserable and with the external drama going on with her parents, he wanted her to be happy and if that meant that he had to bend the rules a little to make her smile, and to make her forget the drama then he was more than happy to do that. He knew that she was an intelligent woman and she wouldn't be stupid with anything when he was gone and he trusted her, but maybe it was his natural protectiveness, or intuition, or just the fact that she drove him crazy with a need to be near her sometimes, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he shouldn't be out in a bar while she's at home on her own when he could be looking after her the way she deserved to be looked after. And it definitely didn't seem right that after this week was over he would be leaving her on her own for 13 days.

"Isaac – do you think Lisa could..."

"Bolton, come on! Guys night, huh? Some of us are drowning our sorrows at not being at the game, others are out just trying to get as drunk as possible knowing they don't have to report in for training tomorrow and I'm out for a night where I don't have to think about what Lisa's up to. I believe your fiancée's instructions for tonight was something like 'make sure he has fun – almost a pre-bachelor party party only without the strippers' so, if she is telling you to cut loose, then cut loose! She's pregnant and, no offence, not exactly Heidi Klum with it and she can still kick back and have fun more than you can."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Troy growled, upset at any perceived slight. "She's beaut..."

"I didn't mean looks wise," he clarified quickly, cutting Troy off with raised hands. "What I mean is that she's had a hard time, and had to quit work early and been pretty much varying degrees of sick for the last few months and if she can still have fun, then the least you can do is do the same. In case you forget, she was in extreme danger of being on a sugar high yesterday and if she can get buzzed on sugar, you can get buzzed on alcohol since I doubt you'll get an opportunity when you have a kid around the place. So...loosen up cause you're bringing the vibe down. We ain't in the NFL – we're allowed to go out and have fun!"

"I am loose," Troy defended. "I'm having fun!"

"You're on like your second beer!" Paul, one of his other team-mates said as he shook his head in disgust. "This is the lamest guy's night in history. We may as well be called Isa, Torii and Paulina and painting our nails and talking about hair for how lame this is."

Troy shrugged, not going to argue a point he knew he couldn't win. Despite the fact that the guys were attempting to ply him with alcohol and that he knew in a lot of ways that what they were saying was accurate, there was still the simple fact that he had no intention of getting drunk because even if Gabriella wouldn't be mad at him for it, he didn't have any desire to get into that sort of state. Truthfully, he was never much of a drinker but with the idea that he might need to be ready to go to the hospital at anytime, it was even less of an appeal. "Excuse me for being worried about my heavily pregnant fiancée..."

"She's fine – she has a cell phone, you have a cell phone and you're bringing the vibe down," Paul said as he smacked Troy on the back. "She's probably glad to get you out her hair."

"Okay - enough bitching you two. The night is still young my friends and there's plenty more drinking time left before the bar closes and plenty more time to get the perfect video. I swear, Carter keeps this up then screw this getting put on YouTube next away trip," Isaac laughed as he kept recording Eric who was now loudly (and badly) singing whilst doing dance moves. "This is going straight to E! to see if we can get him a spot on America's Dumbest Sportsmen..."

"He'll kill you when he sees it; you do know that, right?" Paul said as he gestured the barman over and ordered another round of drinks and putting a glass of something that Troy didn't recognise down in front of him.

"Nah, he'll kill me when in an hour's time I persuade him it's a great idea to do the routine on the bar..."

Troy burst out laughing, knowing that Isaac wasn't lying about that plan either as he took a look at the basketballer, who clearly hadn't had enough alcohol to be completely drunk but was obviously enjoying himself a little too much in such a public place.

"Uh-oh," he heard Paul say with a groan as he nodded his head forward towards a couple of women who were walking towards them. "Here comes trouble. 10 bucks says you can't sell the Rook as an accountant."

Troy's head spun round to look at Paul, only to see that neither of the guys were looking at him as Isaac nodded his head immediately. "Deal. Twenty says you can't fit um...gimme a word they wouldn't understand..."

"Conservative, demure, elegant, classy..." Paul listed off amongst his chuckles.

"You know, Gabi's classy," Troy murmured before catching himself and wondering how the hell that had been vocalised as he felt one of their hands slap his head without any further acknowledgement.

"You really are whipped, aren't you?" Isaac shook his head and rolled his eyes dramatically before turning back to Paul with a grin. "Twenty says you can't fit 'whipped' into a sentence before they leave."

"You know that they'll take it as a suggestion but okay," Paul just laughed as he shook his head and turned around, just before they arrived and murmured, almost inaudibly. "It's like being given free money..."

"Hey guys!"

Troy turned around to see two women standing looking at the three of them and he immediately heard synchronised groans from the other two guys as Isaac dropped his cell and put on his usual smile. "Ladies – what can I do for you tonight?"

"You play basketball, right?"

Isaac nodded slowly, barely disguising his eye roll as one of the other players that were standing beside them started sniggering. "Its been known. Amongst other things."

"We're big fans," the blonde girl said with a step closer to Isaac as she batted her eyes flirtatiously.

"Oh really – awesome! What position do I play?"

Rather than be put off, the blonde's eyes turned almost feral as she looked at Isaac. "Now, that's not the right question – the question should be...what position do I play in? The answer, incidentally is...all of them."

The ooohs from the rest of the guys surrounding them was almost enough to make Troy laugh, but he didn't and just turned around trying to avoid getting sucked into the conversation. He knew Isaac and the guys knew how to handle this sort of thing, but it was definitely not something he wanted any part of.

"Nice try, ladies," Paul said with a laugh. "We're pretty much covered for the night."

"Oh, but we were just wondering if you would like to buy us a drink?" Troy watched as the brunette shot him a smile and he quickly looked away, hoping that he had managed to avoid detection so the others could deal with them. He wasn't stupid and he knew that going out with the guys usually ended with some girls thinking they had a chance, but he could never quite get over the fact that some people clearly couldn't take a hint about a person's availability, or in their case, their lack of availability.

"I think we're okay. We're on a boy's night so...no ladies allowed," Paul said with a false weary tone. "You girls should have been here a few years ago and we could have had fun!"

"Ah, but a boy's night is only fun when you have women there to enjoy it with, right?"

Isaac forced a laugh and shook his head. "If we wanted women here, we would have brought our girls with us who, believe me, would have made the crowd in here infinitely more attractive but, since it's a boy's night, our girls are chilling at home giving us space."

"That would have been boring though," she smirked as she leant closer to Isaac. "It's more fun to just cut loose – have a little fun when no one needs to know. A little...man time. It'd be fun."

"I think we can have fun on our own."

"Even if I promise we'll entertain you?"

"It's a nice offer, girls but trust me, we can handle it on our own. Thanks."

"That's no fun," she pouted before turning to Troy. "What about you, handsome?"

"I'm engaged," Troy said as he took the drink Paul had put in front of him and downed it quickly as he shook his head. "And really not ever going to be drunk enough to think what you're suggesting is a good idea."

"Ah, but..."

"Hey - what you talking to him for, he's just the number cruncher," Paul asked with a sideways smirk to Troy. "You guys being such big fans, I figured you would have realised that."

"Number cruncher?"

"He's my accountant," Isaac added with a grin. "Could you imagine his scrawny ass on a basketball court? Come on! He's more at home with spreadsheets and calculators..."

"Why's he out with you guys then?" the blonde asked with barely disguised contempt. "You guys are NBA players..."

"That's a good question – why are you out with us, Bolton?" Paul teased as Isaac let out a low laugh. "Ain't you got some math to do, or something?"

Troy wasn't sure whether or not to be offended at his friends assistance, or thankful but as the girls looked at each other before seemingly agreeing that he wasn't worth the effort he decided that maybe grateful was the right emotion. "I'm saving you from blowing your salary on alcohol."

"And doing a good job of it too since we ain't drinking enough of it," Paul rolled his eyes before flashing the girls a grin. "The truth is, his girl kicked him out the house because she caught him watching her Sex In The City DVD's without her, so she sent him out with us to get him whipped into shape so he can get his man-card back."

Troy's eyes narrowed and he let out a kick at his teammate who never let the grin drop from his face at any point.

"As you can see, we're at a delicate stage in the process so that she can finally get some use out his ass again," Isaac interrupted with a grin. "So if you ladies will excuse us..."

"So we can't tempt you guys?"

"Oh it's very tempting, but we're not interested," Isaac said with a wave, dismissing the two women. "You ladies have a good night now."

The women walked away, mentioning how it was 'their loss' as they did, leaving the guys on their own again.

"I should go warn some of the others – those girls have tabloid magazine deal written all over them," Paul said as he downed his drink, once the girls were out of sight. "I miss the days that girls were a little more subtle when you went out and at least pretended that they weren't just collecting sports guys. How hard can it be to spin a line about how they don't know who we are, how they're just out having fun and noticed us...instead it's just so...obvious!"

"It kinda bruises your ego a bit, right?" Isaac replied, shaking his head. "So this season we've sold Bolton as an accountant, Chris as a reporter, you as a nutritionist and Derek as a translator. I swear, by the season's end I want to have a team's worth of alternate careers. Just so you both know – I want to be either a rodeo clown or the team mascot, okay?"

Troy looked up. "Sorry?"

"You see – it's kinda a game. These girls come over, but they know shit about everything so to make the ordeal a little more fun we try and play around a little by feeding them the same bullshit they try and sell us. It gets the guy who's not the ball player, i.e. – accountant you, a break and it also proves that these girls know crap."

"Don't they ever work it out?" Troy asked in confusion, refusing to believe that anyone would be that stupid.

"You kidding?" Isaac said with a laugh. "They are dazzled by being in the presence of 'OMG! A basketball player!' that they don't even notice."

"You get the odd smart one – she's usually a college chick, normally with cash to burn and looking for the trophy boy but generally, nah – they never notice. It's enough to make you wish you were still single sometimes. Rhea made me work for her attention and these chicks give it for free," Paul said sullenly.

"I'm sure they give plenty of things to plenty of people for free," Isaac muttered causing Troy to laugh a little too loudly considering as the other two gave him a strange look.

"Anyway," Paul said with a shake of his head in Troy's direction. "Get me another drink – I'm gonna go warn the others to be on the look-out before they get too pissed to notice."

As Paul walked away, Troy shook his head with a laugh. It was so different from college when half the team would have been all over girls like that and where he always felt so out of place because he had zero interest in any of that stuff, whereas now it actually wasn't frowned upon to have a grown up relationship. He always figured that being on a professional team might be like an extension of that when you hear some of the stories that go around about professional athletes, but he must have got pretty lucky or else the guys on his team were just particularly sneaky with their antics.

"I'm just wondering what the odds are of me getting an ear bashing tonight when I get home. Lisa can tell if I've been within 10 feet of another woman. I'm going to be getting the fidelity lecture again."

"Fidelity lecture?" Troy asked as he looked up at Isaac.

"Yeah, you know the 'I don't mind you drinking, or coming in later, or spending five thousand bucks on a new flat screen but if you so much as look at another woman you should know that every annoying trait, every bad habit, every screw up and every embarrassing story will be sent to every sports writer in the state.' That lecture."

"I've never had that lecture," Troy laughed with a shake of his head. "Gabi dumped my ass back in High School when she thought I was getting my head turned by another girl, which I wasn't by the way, but the ins and outs don't really matter because it was a reality check that I needed and I would have to be a complete moron to risk that happening again. She knows that I would never cheat on her."

"Yeah, well," he shook his head as he took a drink. "Give it time. They all act cool to begin with, but then they get their claws in and get all territorial..."

"I've been dating Gabriella since we were seventeen – which means I've been dating her longer than you've been dating Lisa," Troy shook his head, feeling utterly confident in his statement. "She has never been that sort of girl."

"Wow – you're a smug s.o.b when it comes to your relationship, aren't you?" Isaac laughed as he shook his head. "Shame we can't get that confidence on the court – you'd get even more minutes than you're getting."

"I'm not smug – it's just...it is what it is," Troy said with a shrug. "It's easy...it's just who we are. It's why it's so hard for me to do the whole travelling thing all the time. I know you guys don't get it...but it is what it is with us."

"Well, your only saving grace is the fact that she's as whipped as you are, hence her sending you out tonight," Isaac said with a sigh before shaking his head. "You'll get used to the travelling – it's only miles and you guys have had a lot going on this year so it seems worse but I promise, next season it will be easier and the season after that? You guys will be pros at it and will have worked out weekend trips and everything else to take advantage of it."

"You think?"

"Yup," Isaac said with a nod. "This doesn't last forever and a career is a short thing. You guys just need to remember that it's a long game and I know you both get that. It's just a matter of what works for you two and probably that will be for you to minimise your time apart so next season you work out where she can travel and when she has to work and you go from there. It's not easy for any of us."

"Yeah," Troy sighed as he nodded, taking a drink of his beer and sighing. He knew a lot of that but it still seemed tough. He wasn't sure he wanted to think about it getting easier – he didn't want that for them where they got used to being apart.

"Those chicks have completely killed the boy's night vibe by making us talk about our girls. The only way to cure that is to have more alcohol," Isaac said as he slapped Troy on the back. "Lots more alcohol, I think!"

With that he raised his hand and loudly called the bartender and some of the loitering team-mates over, ignoring Troy's insistence that he was still half way through his previous drink as he found a glass placed in front of him and three of his team-mates gathered round, clutching similar glasses. He knew he shouldn't drink it – it was basic stuff that you shouldn't mix your drinks, but, as he looked at the faces of his teammates he found himself not quite convincing himself as he lifted the glass, cheered loudly and downed it, ignoring the burning at the back of his throat as he pushed the glass away, not even getting a chance at saying no to a refill as he found another glass pressed in his hand. A couple of drinks couldn't really hurt much after all...

* * *

It had been a long evening for Gabriella and the last thing she expected to find when she finally stopped her irrational cleaning spree was for it to be after midnight. She knew that she was going to be in trouble when Troy came in, but she was hoping his trip out would have rendered him at least tipsy enough for him not to notice which she had to figure was a good bet. She couldn't help but laugh – the idea of tipsy Troy was something she was probably going to garner far too much enjoyment out of but she wasn't going to lie – if he thought he was going to use her upcoming drug induced ramblings during labour as future teasing material she fully intended to have her own material as well.

She had barely sat down, exhausted but wanting to wait up for him to make sure he drank plenty of water before going to bed when she heard a thump at the door and some loud laughter and she immediately guessed what that was as she hauled herself slowly off the couch, hearing Isaac's teasing chants to open up before they huff and puffed and blew the house in and wondering whether it was worth-while feigning anger at the other guys in retaliation since she knew that for some reason they seemed to equate pregnancy with psychosis. As it was, when she opened the door it wasn't necessary to feign anger as she saw her fiancé standing there, being supported by two sheepish looking basketball players who were trying to force Troy to stand, which did not look remotely successful. She wanted to see tipsy Troy – not almost catatonic Troy. "What have you done to him?"

"Hey baby," Troy slurred, attempting to smile at her, but instead grinning inanely in her general vicinity and she would have awwed at how adorably confused he looked by life at that moment if she wasn't so concerned about how he was feeling. "You shouldn't be up cause your supposed to be...resting, nesting, convales...convales...getting better. You look pretty today..."

She gestured for them to come in as she looked at Troy in concern, tying her hair back as she walked in front of him and put a hand to his face. "Troy? Are you okay?"

"You said he was to have a good time," Isaac said as he walked Troy away from her touch and unceremoniously dropped him face first onto the sofa, much to Gabriella's dismay.

"I didn't drink that much," Troy murmured from his spot on the couch, spluttering a cushion out his mouth as he raised his head slightly, allowing Gabriella to run her fingers through his sticky hair. "I promise Gabi...I only had a couple of beers and a couple of glasses of something but I think I'm sick and my back hurts..."

Gabriella's eyes narrowed as she turned her gaze to his team-mates whilst she continued to stroke Troy's head, ignoring his murmured recollections to address the two men. "Why does his back hurt? Did you let him fall and hurt himself? He's already injured and you let him hurt his back as well?"

"Now, let's calm down – it's not good for the baby if you get all hormonal," Isaac said as he raised his hands while Paul snickered drunkenly behind him as a car horn blared loudly outside. "You said he was to have a night away from everything and that meant he had to have a little more to drink than he was maybe intending."

"You got him drunk?" she hissed as she stood up, the urge to strangle the two men overwhelming as she marched towards them, protectively standing between them and Troy as though they were some sort of danger. "Have you any idea how dangerous that is? He's quite capable of having fun without becoming a drunken Neanderthal like some people!"

"I'm not drunk! I...Gabi," she turned around at the sound of Troy's louder voice. "Can you get me some Advil for my back...?"

"What the hell happened to his back?" she demanded, her panic making her voice rise and her heart pound. She was usually calmer, more relaxed, more willing to think things through but at that moment with her stress at her mom, the self-inflicted exhaustion and now finding out that was he was hurt just made her so angry at them. "I trusted you guys – you are supposed to be his friends and I get that he's just the Rookie and that some hazing happens, but he's still your friend first and foremost and you shouldn't be letting him get hurt after you plough him with enough alcohol to make him pass out!"

"Lets be fair," Paul interjected as Gabriella walked to the kitchen, rubbing her head as she poured some water and grabbed some Advil. "Your boy is a soft touch and we didn't know that hardly any alcohol would go to his head. Seriously – this is like the result of three double shots and four beers. Anything else and he'd be comatose."

Gabriella's eyes narrowed further as she glared at the much taller man defensively. No one was allowed to insult Troy. "He is not a 'soft touch'. He just doesn't need to get drunk every week to prove how big a man he is. That doesn't make him 'soft' – it just makes him smart, happy and professional unlike the people who were supposed to be looking after him!"

"Be that as it may – you were the one who told us to take him out and make sure he had a night away from everything else, right?" Isaac said cautiously. "And you were the one who said he was to go out and do what the rest of the guys were doing..."

"If this is you going to tell me that as well as getting him injured you also took him to a strip club or...or tried to hook him up with someone to see how drunk he was, you should know that I will kill you both..." maybe it was her tone, or the way she glared at them, or the way she reached over and banged the glass aggressively down in front of them as she spoke, but both men took a step away from her.

"No!" Isaac interrupted quickly. "What? No – he'd kill us first, seriously."

"Gabriella, we wouldn't ever do that, I promise," Paul added honestly, fighting against the alcohol to speak as clearly as possible. "I swear – you never have to worry about that, okay? If you didn't kill us, then he'd kill us and if there was anything left after that happened then our own girls would kill us. Not an issue."

She eyed them sceptically before reluctantly conceding that they were telling the truth as she grabbed the glass of water and the painkillers and began walking back to the sofa where Troy was. She sat back down and ran her hand through his hair, trying to wake him as he let out a low moan in his slumber. "So he had fun?"

"He had fun," Isaac said with a nod. "He's not going to remember much of it, but tell him if he wants we have some video evidence..."

She nodded absently, her attention focused solely on Troy as he let out a loud sigh. She wasn't angry that they had brought him home in this state as long as he had had a good time, and maybe it would have done him good to just go out and be a guy for once without having to worry about anything else. Plus if he was drunk then the chances of him being mad at her for cleaning the house would be slim... "Baby, wake up..."

She had almost forgotten about the other two men in the room until Troy let out a loud moan and winced in pain again and she was immediately reminded that he had been complaining of his back as she stood and pulled his shirt up, looking for bruising. Seeing nothing there she looked up to see the two players backing away with smirks on their faces. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing! He did it to himself!" Paul said through his laughter. "You might want to look a bit higher."

"Just remember – he's in the NBA not the priesthood and NBA players have a certain look. We were helping him fit in," Isaac said with raised hands. "He won't even feel it in the morning."

"What did you two do?" she asked again as she silently vowed never to let Troy go out with them again if they were just going to hurt him.

"Now Stat Girl," Paul said as he opened the door. "Just be glad that we were there to make sure he didn't get anything he'd regret! The other guys were all for him having something ridiculous but we guided him towards something you'd both appreciate more. It's your fault – he was feeling all soppy!"

"Having what?" her voice was raised in her panic and she watched in horror as the two guys just looked at her before bursting out laughing and wishing her a loud goodnight and told her to have Troy call them when he was conscious. Without another word the door was slammed shut causing Troy to moan and leaving Gabriella stood there contemplating what they meant and how she was going to get her very drunk and mostly unconscious fiancé to bed.

She sighed and shook her head, her hand finding its way to his back again as she tried to find out what was causing him pain only to still her ministrations when she got to his shoulder blade and felt a covering attached to the skin. Her panic caused all gentleness to leave her as she yanked him around so she could push his shirt up fully only to step back when she saw the large Band-Aid attached to his skin, and she bit her lip as she cautiously removed it and froze when she saw what it was covering. She wasn't an idiot, and just seeing the covering caused her to roll her eyes as she pulled down his shirt and shake her head. She had no idea who she was going to kill first for letting that happen.

She looked at him as he lay there unconscious and sighed, leaving the glass of water and the Advil on the table as she walked over and brought a bucket over beside him just in case he got sick. After doing that and forcing him on his side she went and pulled his socks and shoes off before removing his watch and smoothing his hair off his face and pulling a blanket over his body. Content that he was okay, she turned off the light and walked to their bedroom and slid on top of the covers, keeping the door open so she could hear if he got up as she picked up her phone and sighed at what she was about to do. In a lot of ways it was a relief, but still, she couldn't help but be a little sad at not getting everything resolved but at the end of the day, Troy came first and everything else could wait.

"Hey Mom, sorry for calling so late but I just wanted to ask if we could put off your visit until next week – Troy's..." she almost giggled as she thought of how bad his hangover was going to be the following day. "Troy's not feeling well and I don't think he's going to be up to it for the next few days..."

* * *

Troy opened his eyes at the feel of a breeze blowing over him, but immediately closed them again at the harsh light that made a shooting pain stab through his brain. He had no idea why he was in so much pain, but all he knew is that there was no way he was going to be able to get up in his present condition. He omitted a low moan which caused his head to hurt more and tried to work out where he was, and what had happened. The last thing he could remember was being at the bar with the guys, having a drink and losing at pool... his eyes opened immediately and he tried to sit up, only to fall unceremoniously off the sofa he was lying on and he ignored the nausea to look around and the relief he felt at being in his own home was tangible as he dropped his head back on the seat of the couch and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the throb in his skull and the ache in his shoulder blade. He had no idea how he had gotten home, or how he had ended up in the state he clearly was in but judging by the light, it was morning and that meant he had lost pretty much a full night. He didn't even want to think what Gabriella would think...

"Oh shit!" he cried as he tried to scramble up, his mind stuttering two paces ahead of him as he wondered what she was thinking, was she unhappy, was she okay, had everything been okay while he was out and he tried to force his body into mobility as he imagined all these horrifying scenarios that could have happened to her while he was obviously unconscious. Before he could even think about getting his sluggish body to respond to his equally sluggish brain he felt a small hand on his shoulder pushing him back down as his sunglasses dangled in front of him and a cold compress was put to the back of his neck.

"Good morning, Wildcat. I would ask how you're feeling, but I think it might be self explanatory."

He turned his head as he took the sunglasses and put them on, to see Gabriella looking at him and smiling as she rubbed his cheek. "I didn't..."

"Shhh," she giggled as she shook her head. "I'm not an expert on hangovers, but I have to figure that you not thinking too much is going to make it easier."

"I...I don't remember anything," he stammered, trying to work out if his drunkenness was conjuring her up to ease his guilt because he wasn't an expert, but he had to figure that she was going to be a little mad at him considering.

"Well," she said as she slid over beside him and moved the cloth so it was against his head. "From what I gather, you went out, had a few drinks and then came home..."

"I only had a few beers," he mumbled as he closed his eyes. "I didn't want to get drunk."

"Your friends...helped a little," she said as she pressed her lips to his temple. "Don't worry about it."

"But I..."

"Shhh," she whispered. "Your head is going to be really sore if you don't relax. It's fine."

"I'm sorry."

She laughed then and he couldn't help but flinch as she immediately stopped and apologised quietly. "Why are you apologising? I was the one who made you go out. If anything I should be apologising to you."

He didn't quite get that logic, but he was in no state to argue that so he let it pass without comment. "What time is it?"

"It's like 7.30," she said softly, her hand running through his hair soothingly, the soft touch easing the pain in his head. "I was thinking you would sleep later, but you've been threatening consciousness for an hour. I guess our sofa isn't as comfy as I thought it was. I would have got the guys to put you in bed, but they ran out pretty quickly. I think they worried that I was going to hit them with something..."

He groaned as he closed his eyes and buried his face against the side of her bare legs, only then realising that she was still in her sleepwear. So not only had he come home drunk, but he had also kept his bed-resting, heavily pregnant fiancée awake half the night to look after him as well... "I'm sor..."

"If you don't stop apologising I'm going to go start banging pots and pans in the kitchen," she warned. "Now, do you think you can get up or do you just want to lay here for a while?"

"My back hurts," he murmured into her legs and sighed. "And my head. This is why I don't drink..."

He heard her sharp intake of breath and suddenly felt her cool hand on his back. He had no idea when he had lost his shirt and he looked up at her questioningly as she put her hand over the painful bit on his back soothingly.

"Gabriella?"

"Yes?" she asked with a small voice.

"What happened to my shirt?"

She gave him a small smile. "You were sick during the night, and I couldn't let you lie in it but it was hard enough getting your shirt off you, I wasn't even going to try and get another one on you. You're heavier than you look, Mr Bolton," she teased as she made to stand up, but he clamped her wrist gently before she could even move.

"I was sick?"

"Yeah. I think you must have drunk a lot," she said as way of explanation. "Don't worry about it – I think you'll be fine now. If you're going to drink as much next time, eat something as well, okay?"

"Ugh," he groaned as he sat up. This was just great – he had to be close to being crowned worst fiancé of the year. "I'm sor..."

"Troy!" she said louder and he immediately stopped. "I swear to you, it's fine. Now...seeing as we were the lamest high school and college students in history and didn't make a habit of having nights like last night, I really don't know what's supposed to help you feel better but I looked on the internet and apparently you should eat certain foods when you have a hangover. We only have some of them in so we'll have to make do with what we have but when you think you can get up, I'll put you something out."

"You're supposed to be resting."

"No," she said as she leant over and kissed his cheek. "I'm supposed to be looking after you, the way you look after me. So up and at 'em, Wildcat. The sooner you eat, the sooner we can both crawl into bed and sleep it off. We have nowhere to be today, so we can literally spend the day in bed if we want."

He watched her get up and saw how tired she looked and sighed, but forced a smile on his face as she smiled at him before she sat down again, never taking her eyes off his. He immediately started to worry. "Are you okay? What's wrong? Did I say or do something stupid, because I swear baby – I didn't mean anyth..."

He was cut off by the sound of her laughter and the presence of two soft fingers against his lips as she shook her head. "Maybe I should be worried about your guilty conscience, huh? But no, to the best of my knowledge, you didn't do or say anything stupid..."

The breath he exhaled in relief was louder than it should have been and he closed his eyes as she leant over and kissed his shoulder softly.

"There was one thing, though," she whispered as she pressed her lips to his neck. "I don't want you to be angry, or to worry, okay?"

He nodded cautiously, his brain trying to work out what he could possibly be angry at.

"You see, when you were out last night the guys...they, well...your back...um..." she looked down at her lap before shaking her head and offering him another smile before lifting her hand and placing it on his back, softly stroking it as she leant in and kissed him softly. "They got you a tattoo."

His eyes snapped open and he looked at her, almost desperate for her to tell him it was a joke, but one look at her confirmed it and in his head he could vaguely remember lying down and the hot pain in his back as he and the team laughed about something. "I...I...what?"

All sorts of thoughts ran through his mind and he cursed himself for his stupidity, and his team-mates for encouraging him as he looked up expecting to find her angry at him.

"That's why your back hurts," she whispered, no trace of anger on her voice as she leant in and kissed his throat softly. "I was going to wait until your head was feeling better to tell you, but it's your body and you deserve to know..."

"What...what is it of? Please, please tell me they didn't let me get something stupid," he pleaded as he tried, stupidly, to see his own shoulder blade. "I'm so sorry, Gabriella – I never..."

"Troy," she interrupted again with a giggle as she shook her head. "I'm not going to lie, I was really angry when I saw what they had done to you, and I still am because they shouldn't have done it when you were drunk but...after seeing it properly and thinking of it, and with the understanding that it doesn't happen again, I...don't hate it," she said slowly, her finger dragging up his arm slowly, and her voice becoming deeper which immediately caused him to pause as he turned to look at her. "It's actually kinda..."

"Kinda what?" he forced out, trying to ignore the tone of her voice as her hand returned back to where the tattoo apparently was.

He saw her blush slightly before she leant over to his ear and whispered. "It's kinda sexy."

"Really?" he exhaled as he caught her chin with his hand. "Why?"

"It's...a commitment," she whispered. "To us. It's a Celtic knot, like the ones that were on my commitment ring," she looked down at her bare finger and rubbed it softly as though the ring was still on her finger. "And...and it means a lot that even drunk that you'd pick something like that, something that means something real instead of something stupid..."

"I...I wish I could remember how conscious I was when I was making the decision," he said as he felt a smile tug at his lips, perhaps through relief as he took her hand, covering her left ring finger with his own. "But you have to know, that even drunk, you're the only thing I think of..."

She smiled and nodded, pressing her lips to his softly before giggling and pulling back. "I need to stop kissing you – all this passive alcohol is not good for the baby."

He couldn't help but frown as she slowly got to her feet, her hand finding his hair and brushing it off his face. "I'll make you something to eat and you can go wash up. We'll talk more when you don't feel like you've got a parade marching through your skull, okay?"

He should have argued, told her to go to bed and he'd be slightly more coherent when she woke up, but he didn't and instead he nodded, offering her a grateful smile as he did so and she grinned at him before walking away, murmuring something about 'silly daddy' as she rubbed her bump. He closed his eyes, the dull ache in his head and back a reminder that as happy as he was, he was going to suffer later and as he made to stand he blinked as he looked around, his brow furrowing as he saw the books that had been on the table stacked on the shelf, and the drapes on the French doors changed from the ones that had been hanging the day previous and, as he spun round he saw bowls of fruit and vases of flowers sprinkled liberally around the room. He almost growled in frustration, only for the noise to reverberate through his head as he turned and stomped to the kitchen where he stilled her arms by her side and spun her around.

"Explain."

"Explain what?"

"Explain why you sent me out the house in order to endanger yourself in order to renovate our lounge when you could have asked me to stay and I would have done it for you."

She had the good grace to look sheepish, but his gaze didn't falter and his grip didn't slacken as she bit her lip and shook her head. "It wasn't like that...I was watching a film..."

"And the pixies came and did all the work?"

Her sheepish look left and her brow furrowed in annoyance as she glared at him. "Stop being such a jerk and listen to me! I was watching a film and Taylor called - my mom asked her to contact me because I was ignoring her..."

He bit down on his lip to stop the angry comment that was threatening to explode and waited for her to continue.

"So...I called my mom and she didn't want to talk over the phone and told me that she would come and see us and I...I said yes but, I don't know – I just wanted her to come and see that we didn't need her, that we had everything in hand and, well...I didn't think and what started as tidying just ended up as...I'm sorry, I know it was stupid but..."

His silence seemed to worry her and she quickly continued. "I didn't mean to. I know it was ridiculous and I knew it when I was doing it, but I just need her to know...to know that I can do this without her and I understand that it's crazy to make myself sick to prove a point but I swear, I was careful and the baby is fine – you can feel," and with that she grabbed his hand and pressed it against her bump and he could feel the small kick against his hand and despite his annoyance, he couldn't help the way his lips quirked in a smile at the feeling. "See – no harm done and I promise, no more. I'm angry enough at myself for both of us, okay?"

He just nodded and sighed. "I just...I worry, that's all. I'm sorry..."

She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest and sighed. "What did I say about apologising?"

"I know, I'm sor..."

She groaned and pushed him away before grabbing a pan off the stove and dropping it on the ground, a grin on her face as he flinched in pain. "Jeez – Gabi!"

"I have a lot of pans here, so you better stop right now, Mr Bolton or your hangover is going to get a whole lot worse."

"You sent me out to get drunk!"

"I sent you out to have fun – you got yourself drunk and permanently marked," she smirked as she took a step closer. "Not my fault..."

"Completely your fault," he whispered as he grabbed her wrist with a grin. "You're a bad influence."

"I learned from the best," she sighed as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his chest before pushing off. "Now, go and sit down and let me finish and then I promise – I will be so good the rest of the week that you'll wonder what's got into me."

He eyed her sceptically for a moment but, seeing no dishonesty there, and realising that his brain probably wasn't functioning enough to argue he conceded and pressed a kiss to her hair before walking over to the counter and jumping up on it. "You're too good to me."

She giggled and didn't turn around. "Just this once – in future I'll be the woman from hell, so you better watch your alcohol intake in future, Wildcat."

"I'm not sure you're going to have that problem in future, Ms Fiancée. I'm not sure the bar scene is for me." He grinned and closed his eyes and he leant his head back on the cabinet, listening to her bustle about slowly. She was right in a lot of ways – he had needed the break from everything, but not for the reasons she thought he did and the night out had confirmed to him that actually, there really wasn't anything wrong with the fact that he was happy with his life the way it was and a baby, the job or even future mother in law issues wasn't going to change that.


	15. Oh, Baby I Love Your Way

**AN – I hope you all enjoy this. It wasn't up any quicker, but I think subconsciously I'm trying to hold onto the story now it's coming to an end. This is why I write one-shots. ;)**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to Kelly who is an amazing writer and who recently completed her last fic in the fandom. As a fanfic fan it had been a pleasure reading her work and watching her grow as a writer and a story-teller over the last few years, and I know she's going to go off and do great things now. Hopefully, one day, the HSM bug might bite again but even if it doesn't she's left her mark on the fandom and set the bar really high for the rest of us. So, if you're reading - good luck for the future, Kelly. I really hope it is as happy and as successful as you deserve.**

* * *

Troy stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom a little after 11am with a towel slung low on his waist after his early morning run & rehab session at the stadium and groaned as he picked up the small mirror and attempted to angle it behind his back so that he could see the reflection in the larger mirror in front of him. Only catching a glimpse of what he was trying to see caused him to growl in frustration as he could only ever catch glimpses of the body-art that now adorned him. He'd spent the previous day recovering from his alcohol intake and had decided to go for a run when he woke up in an effort to reawaken his brain before his appointment with the PT for his wrist, but the fresh air and exercise had done little but remind him that he still hadn't really seen the damage his friends had let him do to himself.

He was lost in his efforts at contorting his body to get a better look via the two mirrors that the soft giggle from the door almost startled him as he lifted his head up and blushed as he caught the amused brown eyes of his fiancée. "Gabi! I was just...um..."

She shook her head and took a step towards him, lifting a small tub of moisturiser off the counter and spreading some on her hand before taking the small mirror from him and turning his gaze back to the main mirror where she met his eyes via the reflection. "Tell me when you can see."

She tilted it slowly and he nodded to signal for her to stop as it came into clear sight and he tilted his head in appraisal. He supposed it could have been worse and although it hadn't been something he had ever planned on getting, he didn't hate it which was good. He was lost in his thoughts until he felt her soft finger ghosting over it gently, rubbing in some of the lotion and he felt his breath catch as he lifted his gaze, only to find her focused on the spot on his shoulder. "Does it still hurt?"

"I...no?" he choked out, trying to resist adding that it especially didn't hurt when she was touching him like that as he knew that they had been really, really bad at following her doctor's instructions recently. She was always attentive to his needs, but her dedication to making sure he wasn't in more pain than necessary during his hangover/tattoo recovery was amazing even to him as she had found all the necessary information they could possibly need on how to look after it while he was sleeping it off. "No...it doesn't hurt much."

He saw her lips pull up in a soft smile via the mirror as she kept tracing it gently. "It's still a little inflamed, but it's much better today. Do you like it?"

"I guess," he admitted as he took another deep breath. "Do _you_ like it?"

He saw her blush a beautiful shade of pink and he couldn't help the cocky grin come to his face as a result as she lifted her gaze to meet his in the mirror, her hand movements stilling as she did so. "Only if you do. If you wanted to get rid of it, I wouldn't care."

He grinned more as he shook his head. "Liar."

She giggled, her hand movements starting again as she looked at him, her eyes dancing and belying the exhaustion that was evident on her face. "I'm being honest – if you hated it, I wouldn't want you to keep it because although it is...aesthetically pleasing...I wouldn't find it appealing if it was something that made you unhappy."

"Aesthetically pleasing?"

She bit her lip before she leant over and pressed a kiss against his back before resting her cheek against his arm, their eyes still locked via the mirror. "I'm trying to be good and that seems a better phrase than some of the one's I could say with that in mind," she giggled.

"If I knew it would have that affect on you I would have got one years ago when we were able to enjoy it more," he smirked as he turned around, taking the items from her and setting them down before wrapping his arms around her. "If it makes you feel better. I find you aesthetically pleasing as well.'

"Mmmm," she sighed as she leant in and pressed her lips to his chest. "I didn't know it was possible to find you more attractive. I'm starting to feel out of my league..."

He closed his eyes, ignoring the surge of pride that washed through him at her confession as he pressed his lips to her head. "Now you know how I feel pretty much every day. Sucks, doesn't it?"

Her laughter echoed against his chest as she lifted her head to meet his gaze. "Good morning, Wildcat."

"Good morning, Ms Fiancée," he murmured as he brought his lips down to meet hers softly, both of them wary of starting anything they weren't medically allowed to finish. "I was expecting you to still be in bed since you didn't sleep much last night."

"The baby was hungry so we sat outside and caught some sun while you were gone," she sighed as she stroked his bare arms before leaning into his chest again. "How's the wrist?"

"Pretty much as good as new. I can start practice tomorrow and if there's no issue I'll be good to go," he sighed as he nuzzled her hair. "Still tired, baby?"

She pulled back and gave him a small smile. "I was going to go and nap for a little, just see if it wakens me up a bit but I'm expecting some files from the office with the mail so I was waiting up for them."

He grinned down at her as he pressed a kiss to her nose. "I'm in for the day so I can sign for them for you while you sleep."

"You sure? Because I don't mind if you want to go catch a movie or something..."

"I think I've been out enough recently," he said with a smile. "I want to get the hoop up out back and maybe try and assemble the other swing..."

"I love when you're all domesticated," she mumbled. "If you're sure then, that would be great."

"I'm sure," he reiterated with a nod. "Do you want me to make you lunch or anything beforehand?"

She pulled back and rolled her eyes. "I don't always eat, you know. Sometimes I like to break up my day with sleeping, Mario Kart and occasionally attempting to be productive."

"You actually owe me a re-match in Mario Kart from last week you know. I'd hate to have to tell everyone that you were a filthy cheat when you're boasting of your success in future," he teased back, causing her to giggle as she shook her head.

"Can I help it that you get distracted easily?" she asked innocently before taking a step back. "I'm not scared of a challenge though, so when I wake up if you think your wrist can handle it we can call Chad and some of the guys and make a race out of it, instead of solely being my victory procession..."

He grinned at her as she took a step away and watched as she eyed him expectantly. "You're awfully cocky for someone who claims she's not competitive you know. You're on, Montez soon to be Bolton – no more Mr Nice Fiancé this time, though. Go get some sleep so you don't have any excuses."

She laughed and nodded, blowing him a kiss as she left the sound of her quiet rendition of 'We Are The Champions' trailing away as he turned back around and started to get ready.

An hour later and Troy was beginning to wish he hadn't told Gabriella he was going to build the new garden furniture. It wasn't that he was incapable of assembling furniture, but as he sat there reading the instruction booklet for the larger, more complicated swing seat, he had suddenly realised that it seemed to have more moving parts to it than a F1 race car. "Next time we're buying it pre-built. Stupid '_oh, don't worry Gabi, I know how to build things – I built an engine so I can build a swing. It's in the genes...'_ Idiot."

He shook his head and turned the page, hoping that the next page would provide easier answers but only seeing more nonsense instead and was all about ready for giving up when there was a knock on the door. Knowing it was probably Gabriella's files he picked the booklet up, seeing if walking would make sense of the instructions as he walked to the door.

Lowering the book he opened the door and turned, expecting to see the mailman standing there but instead freezing as instead Gabriella's mom stood with a tentative smile on her face. "Hey, Troy."

He hadn't expected to see her, and he was suddenly finding it hard to remember that he was supposed to say something, and preferably something civil to the woman who had hurt his fiancée so badly a week earlier. "What...why are you here?"

"I came to see, Gabriella," she said simply. "Can I come in?"

"She's sleeping – she's tired today."

"I can wait," she gave him another nervous smile. "I don't mind waiting – I'm here until I see her anyway."

He wanted to say no, to tell her to leave but instead he found himself reluctantly stepping back and letting her walk in. As she disappeared down the hall he rubbed his head and contemplated waking Gabriella to let her know, but, deciding her mom had caused enough problems for her he decided against it and instead took a deep breath and followed her mom into the house.

* * *

Troy sat awkwardly opposite Isabella, both of them clutching a coffee cup but not drinking it as they sat in silence. It had been a long 50 minutes since Isabella had come and the conversation had basically involved the most basic small talk and one word answers surrounded by long stretches of uncomfortable silence. Troy kept glancing at the clock, alternatively hoping for Gabriella to awaken, and also for her to stay asleep a little longer so he had an excuse to get rid of her mom before she got up in order to protect her from the resultant stress. He knew that technically it wasn't his place to throw her mom out the house (even if that's what he really wanted to do) but that didn't mean he had to like the forced niceties when he really just wanted to tell her exactly what he thought of her.

"You guys have really made this place look really good."

"Yeah, Gabriella put a lot of work in," he said slowly as he looked down. "She's amazing like that."

"I can only imagine how crazy she's been. She's not used to not being able to do anything."

He knew that she didn't mean that as a slight – but he couldn't help but perceive it as a slight. He didn't see how her being forced to take it easy was the equivalent of her not doing anything. "She does plenty. The doctor actually wants her to relax more, but she hates being waited on even though I keep telling her that the most important thing she can do just now is stay healthy and avoid stress, or things and the people who cause her stress," he stated, his pointed look in her direction reinforcing his words. "I don't care if she doesn't do 'anything' for the next year, as long as she's okay."

They returned to silence after that, Troy's knee bouncing as he looked again at the clock and considered how he could indicate that she had to leave without flat out telling her that she had to leave. It was times like this that he begrudged his own natural politeness.

"I know you think I'm a bitch, Troy." The statement came out of nowhere, but no part of him felt the inclination to disagree with her assessment.

"Yeah," he said, not even hiding it as he met her gaze. "That's only one of the words I would use though. I usually precede it with stuff like selfish, self-centred...etc etc...but yeah, that sums up my thinking for the most part recently."

He heard her inhale sharply but didn't volunteer an apology he didn't feel as she lifted her gaze to meet his, and instead of shame or any other emotion he was expecting he saw an acceptance there. "That's fair. You're actually being far kinder to me than I deserve. I spoke to a friend of mine who I've known basically since I could walk, and she was far blunter than that about how I have been acting. She's actually quite disgusted at my selfishness to be honest."

He shrugged, not really sure what she wanted him to say. If she wanted him to absolve her then she was going to have a long wait.

"You know what the funny thing is? I've always been selfish – right from the start and although I hide it well, I can't change who I am. See, most people think that Gabriella took after me growing up but in reality? In reality she took far more after my second husband than she ever took after either of her genetic parents. I gave her the intelligence, I guess that's my claim to fame in her development and I gave her a good up-bringing of knowing right from wrong but her selflessness, her kind-heart, her forgiving nature? They all came from Andro."

He nodded slowly, lifting his cup to his lips and taking a drink of the cooling liquid, not having to feign interest now.

"You see – I loved Andro, he was a good man and he loved my daughter and he made us happy but my first husband?" she sighed almost wistfully before laughing. "Milo was the love of my life and even after what happened, and even though part of me hated him, there's an even larger part there that will always love him and that part would do anything to keep him in my life in any capacity. Even if it's just the knowledge that every year on the anniversary of when we got married, or at Christmas, or New Years, or on our birthdays that one of us would call the other and acknowledge that we had been something even if we could never be anything again."

"Wow...you...you didn't think that during one of these conversations that maybe, just maybe your daughter might like to be involved?"

"Honestly?" she looked at him, and he could see the shame mask her feature briefly. "No. It was our time, our moment and in those conversations it was just us. There were no other family, there were no other life, there was just us before the complicatio..."

"Complication?" he growled, trying to remember to keep his voice down to prevent waking his exhausted fiancée. The idea of her being referred to as something negative, something unwanted, something so cruel actually made his own chest hurt. This was her own mother's words and it killed him to hear them. "Do not call her that!"

"You wanted me to be honest," she said quickly before giving a humourless laugh. "I love my daughter more than life, Troy but sometimes...sometimes when she was a child I couldn't help but wonder...what if? Pretty much all of those moments happened when I thought of him, or when I spoke to him, or after I had spoken to him so no...I didn't want her involved. In those moments, those weak, selfish moments I honestly didn't want to think of her at all. Of course when I would emerge from my self-pity I would realise how awful I was and feel terrible and do my best to make it up to her even if she never knew what I had been thinking, but no...at no point during the Milo haze did I really think of Gabriella at all, except to think 'what if?'"

"What if? What if what?"

"You know that she nearly died three times before she was 16," she continued as though he hadn't interrupted her, and she gave him a small, companionable smile as though she were talking about the weather. "I don't know if she would have talked about that with you."

He gripped his cup tighter, but nodded his head in an indication that she had mentioned it and although he felt his heart thump painfully at the mere thought of it.

"When she was five she came home from her grandma's and she was so sleepy and I had just transferred firms and was doing long hours so the fact that she didn't want dinner, or to play, or to read actually made me happy and I sent her to bed to let me catch up on work. It was a few hours and I guess the guilt got to me and I went to the kitchen to make her these toast fingers she liked that involved chocolate and strawberries..."

He smiled, the love of chocolate and fruit had clearly been evident from a young age as had apparently mixing them with other food stuff.

"I should have made her something more nutritious, but I felt guilty for not paying her any attention when she came home, so I made it and poured her a glass of milk in her Sesame Street glass and went to her room to find her lying on the bed, sick with fever. I felt awful for leaving her so long and went to wake her up only she wouldn't wake up. I was frantic – I remember dropping the cup and thinking how she was going to be so upset that I'd broken it, but all I about was trying to wake her up. I was in hysterics and I pulled at her clothes, trying to cool her down and was about to drop her into the shower to run the cold spray over her when I saw the rash over her body. I wasn't very knowledgeable about medical issues back then, but even I knew what that meant..."

"Meningitis."

She nodded and sighed as she sipped from her cup. "I ran with her out of the house, only remembering to grab my car keys and not even remembering to pack her a jacket as I wrapped her in a blanket and put her in the car and rushed to the hospital. She was in it for weeks and it was while she was in there, with tubes helping her breathe and the doctors telling me not to get my hopes up that I realised that she was the single most important thing in my life and would always be that and that no 'what if?' scenario meant more to me than her."

"Except during those five conversations every year, right?" he spat, wishing he could disguise his distaste more, but realising that it was in vain.

"Except during those five conversations," she admitted with a nod. "The last time I nearly lost her was when she was 13."

"The car crash," he whispered, looking down. She had told him of the events a few times, the faint scarring on her ribs the only real reminder of what had happened and although Gabriella would answer any and all questions he ever asked her about it, it was obviously still a painful subject for her.

"It was hard for her being in the car with Andro and I know for a long time after it she had guilt about surviving it, but mostly I think the guilt was related to me. She apologised to me once – we had just moved and...the kids at the school were so cruel to her and she was at a low point, even if she tried to hide it with a smile on her face. She came home once, her lip split and her bag burst because someone had pulled it as she was walking causing her to fall and she came in and she just went crazy. I hadn't realised it was that bad – that being the 'freaky genius girl' was something so bad and I couldn't believe what had been going on because I hadn't been paying enough attention. She had assumed that my ignorance was deliberate – that I was punishing her by making her go to that school where she was treated so cruelly as some sort of penance for 'costing me' two husbands. I sat and sobbed for hours when she went to bed that night – I had no idea she blamed herself, or that I had subconsciously let her blame herself for any of it and let her believe she had deserved punished for anything. I thought back to how she could have thought I blamed her for her father leaving, because I had tried so hard to hide that from her but right there and then I knew I hadn't done enough. She tries to hide so much of how she's feeling and she does it so well...I think in another reality she would have been an amazing actress but in this reality it just stopped me seeing that little things I was doing were making her believe that I blamed her."

He nodded, recognising the trait but not able to vocalise that because of the lump in his throat at the idea of her believing that. It had only been a few years later that he had known her and at that stage he would have never guessed that she had ever had those sorts of thoughts.

"After that point, everything focused around her. I pulled her out of the school and put in for a transfer and that was all I cared about – making sure she was happy and no one could hurt her for any reason and it worked. She was still shy and still cautious of making friends after what had happened at that school but the pair of us actually became closer because of it and I hadn't realised until then how much I had actually been keeping from her. In a selfish way I was actually happy that I was the closest friend she had – it meant that no one else would ever get close enough to hurt her and that's all I wanted. And then you came along," she laughed lowly then and shook her head. "I simultaneously loved and loathed you, you know. I loved watching her thrive in your company and it made me happy to see her so happy and she made friends and opened up to people and sang in public and...it was amazing witnessing it."

"She's amazing," he said softly. "I didn't do anything – it was all her."

"Well, I wouldn't argue there but I'm biased," she laughed and shook her head. "You were what she needed to be the person she wanted to be and I was so proud of the way she changed. Before you she was always waiting for the inevitable goodbye and when she realised that you weren't going to do that, that you weren't going to just give up on her for something easier...I don't have the words to explain how happy that made me, and how shamed I was that it was the first time she realised that not every relationship had an expiration date attached because I think I had encouraged that thinking..."

He couldn't stop the smile as he looked down before shaking his head, trying to focus on what was important here. He wouldn't tire of hearing about Gabriella's life before him, but that wasn't relevant to anything at that moment and although this was all very touching, it didn't change anything. "It doesn't change anything though. I don't get why...when you sit there and tell me all this, why you would do that to her?"

"I know it doesn't change anything – but what I'm trying to explain is that I wasn't always in contact with him. I had quit talking to him for the most part when she had her breakdown after the crash because I couldn't bear the thought of hurting her, even unintentionally like I had apparently been doing before that but after she started spending time with you, I missed it. I missed having that person who makes you feel like you can do anything so I called him for the first time in four years on his birthday and we just...we talked, and it was like old times," her smile was small, but happy and Troy was torn between feeling angry that even now she spoke of him like he was the most important thing in the world and sad for her, because she was still hanging onto a man who didn't want her. "In those calls, there was no family, no friends – just us and I didn't have to feel guilty about 'what if?' because she had you and it didn't seem so bad anymore to wonder that."

Troy rubbed his temples and shook his head. "I just...I don't get it. The guy...the guy is a jerk and you're a smart, intelligent, independent woman so I just don't understand how he has you on a string like that?"

"I love him. I've tried not to, but sometimes you can't just turn off how you feel. See, what I told him forever, I meant it even if he didn't. I was willing to do anything, change everything I am, everything I was to be who he wanted me to be," Isabella smiled then and looked at him for a moment, as though she were contemplating his reaction and how she should word it so he could understand. "Do you know the first time I nearly lost her, Troy?"

Troy shook his head, his eyes not leaving hers and he watched as she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"You see...I'm not trying to make you believe me when I tell you that I would never intentionally do her harm, or hurt her but I want you to understand why I am so stupid when it comes to him despite the fact that for the most part, I am all those things you just said I am. I had been married three years and became pregnant causing my husband to leave me. As far as I was aware love was not a problem for us so I believed that if I could just reset everything it all would go back the way it was supposed to be."

The look she gave him made it clear that she was expecting him to be able to fill in the blanks of what she was saying, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand what she was trying to tell him. "I don't get it. You can't reset something like that – it doesn't work."

"She was going to have an abortion."

Troy jumped at the new voice and spun around in horror to see Gabriella standing there looking at them, a sad smile on her face as she bit down on her lip. "She was sitting inside the clinic and was about to be called in when the fire alarm went off and...well, it didn't happen obviously but...yeah, it was a bit of a close call. That's what she meant by reset. She was going to reset her lift to before she fell pregnant to get him back."

Troy jumped over the back of the sofa and headed towards her as she stepped towards him, her hand taking his offered one and giving him a reassuring smile that staggered him. He had no idea how she could be so calm when he felt like he was falling apart. He had no idea how long she had been there, but all the mattered to him was somehow finding a way of protecting her from all of this.

"Baby," he murmured as he looked at her. "Go back to bed and I'll get rid of..."

"It's okay," she whispered as she stroked his cheek, no sign of pain or anger on her face. "I know this story, Wildcat and it has a happy ending so don't feel bad, okay? This isn't anything I don't know and it's fine."

"Yeah, but..."

She reached up and brushed her lips against his, and he couldn't help but think how warped it was that she was the one comforting him yet as she pulled back from the kiss she stepped in front of him, wrapping his arms around her so they were resting on top of the bump and interlacing their fingers, as she faced her mom. "Hey Mom," she said softly, her thumb caressing the back of his hand. "Is there any reason why you're telling Troy this stuff because I really don't think he wants to hear this?"

"I'm trying to explain to him...why," she sighed. "Maybe not very well, but...I was trying to explain to him why it was so hard for me to let go of your fath..." the look on Gabriella's face cut that off and Isabella continued. "Why it was so hard for me to let go of Milo."

Gabriella sighed then and he pressed his lips to the back of her head before guiding her towards the sofa and sliding down beside her, his arm slipping around her and their fingers lacing together again. "I'd really rather you didn't upset him with that sort of detail in your explanation."

Troy blinked – upset him? She should be the one upset, but she genuinely didn't look like it bothered her at all out with the fact that she was upset at him being upset. "You knew?"

She turned and gave him a small, reassuring smile. "Of course I knew. For the most part my mom was always honest with me, including her mistakes and she always wanted me to know that she nearly made a big one that day so that I would learn from it. It's not something that bothers me, I promise."

He was sure his mouth was gaping, but he took a deep breath and forced it closed. He remembered vaguely a conversation they had both had back when she found out she was pregnant where they were sat in his old tree-house and she was telling him how it was a horrible feeling thinking you weren't wanted and now he was starting to wonder just how many times as she was growing up did she feel like that?

He was snapped out his thoughts when Isabella started speaking again. "I just...I want you both to know that it's...complicated, which is why I was still in contact with him. This man...I was willing to give you up, I was willing to go against all my beliefs, my family, my upbringing, my conscience to make him happy and stay with me and...and part of me, a small part of me still...would give anything to think that he would do the same so...when I spoke to him, and he...he broke our rules and was talking about...his family, I snapped. I just wanted him to see...the daughter he didn't want, the daughter I..." she wiped her eyes and looked at Gabriella desperately. "The daughter I...I pretended didn't exist when I spoke to him was doing great without any help from him. She had everything that he couldn't provide for her and she didn't need him."

Troy watched as Gabriella took a deep breath and looked at her mom before closing her eyes. He wanted to know what she was thinking – to take her into their room and pry open all the feelings she was attempting to protect him from, but instead he watched as she took a deep breath and stood up, a smile finding her face as she addressed her mom, her hand still clasped tightly in Troy's. "I...I'll just be a moment. I should...get changed out of these clothes before we talk some more. I'll...I'll be right back. I won't be long."

Troy watched as she walked away and he almost followed her, anticipating a breakdown but was stopped by Isabella's voice. "She never did argue well."

"She doesn't want to say anything she'll regret," Troy said as he turned back to her, his voice lower as he tried to keep Gabriella from hearing. "I don't have that problem though. If you upset her anymore than you've already done, if you say anything to hurt her in an effort to absolve your own conscience, I will happily take the decades of awkward family dinners and parties that will be caused by kicking you out of here. You say you would have done anything for him? Well I will do anything for her, and if that means I have to protect her from you then so be it."

Isabella looked at him and gave him a nod. "When did you two become grownups?"

"A long time ago," he said as he looked back in the direction she had disappeared. "You guys just never noticed it."

* * *

Gabriella smoothed down her hair and pinched her cheeks slightly to make them look pinker as she mentally went through math problems in an effort to slow down her breathing as she looked in the mirror. She knew it was childish to leave the room like that, but she had suddenly felt over-whelmed and unprepared and she didn't want to lose control of the situation when she knew that if she could stay calm then she could get the whole thing dealt with and everything would be able to go back to normal.

It hurt more than she thought it would to hear her mother admit she pretended she didn't exist, and although she knew that her mom hadn't been malicious when she mentioned it, it still hurt far more than anything else she could have said. She hadn't heard much of what she and Troy had been discussing but the little she had heard made it obvious that it couldn't have been a fun conversation for Troy and she couldn't help but feel bad that he had to deal with it while she slept.

"He's fine, he's fine," she murmured as she picked up a lip gloss and put it on, giving herself a few extra precious seconds of calm as she made the effort to look healthier to maintain the illusion of having everything under control. It was ridiculous, and even in her own hormone addled brain she knew that but for some reason this illusion was important to her. she felt that at times she was merely along for the ride, and even something as personal as her first pregnancy had been wrenched out of her control and with her mom throwing road-blocks in the way it was important for her to not be the timid little 16 year old girl anymore and instead show that she was a grown, strong woman who was capable of looking after her family and dealing with anything that was thrown at her and doing it on the terms that would work for her. Even if sometimes she still felt like the little girl that was dragged to a New Year's party she didn't want to be at...

The involuntary thought of Troy and the positive impact he had on her life made her grin in spite of her nerves and she brought her hand to her neck to tug lightly at the rings hanging there, allowing those happy thoughts to calm her down. She had no intention of arguing, or doing anything ridiculous with this meeting. All she wanted was to clear the air, and wrestle some control back and she could play at being like that even if deep down she didn't really feel like it.

Biting her lip she took one last look at the mirror and exhaled slowly. "Stay calm, don't say anything you can't take back, she's your mom and you love her even when she does stupid things."

She nodded in acceptance and headed to the door and slowly headed back to where Troy and her mom were sitting and offered a warm smile to her stressed looking fiancé as she walked over to him. He forced a smile back and pressed a kiss to her hand as he took it and guided her to sit beside him. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," she blushed as she looked down, suddenly realising how long it had been since she had actually dressed up for anything. She would have to rectify that at one point.

"Of course," he continued lowly as he leant into her ear so he was out of earshot of her mother. "You look beautiful every day, so this is not a surprise to anyone."

"It's nice to make an effort," she whispered.

"You don't need an effort for me," he murmured as he stroked her cheek. "But I know this isn't for me, so I'll let it slide but just so you know - it's unnecessary."

She blushed again and nodded, leaning into his touch briefly before pushing herself back, hoping her eyes conveyed her thanks.

"Gabriella..."

She was snapped out of the reverie that she and Troy were engaged in by the sound of her mom's voice and she took a deep breath and re-ran her 'stay calm' mantra as she smiled at her mother, trying to diffuse the awkwardness somehow.

"Hey, Mom. I'm sorry I ran out – I just felt a little weird sitting having this conversation in shorts and a T-shirt while you both were dressed up."

"That's fine," her mom said with a smile, thankfully not pointing out that Troy was sat wearing shorts and a T-shirt as well so as not to draw attention to the fact that everyone knew why Gabriella had left the room. "I honestly didn't think I would get to speak to you today with the way you were sleeping. I take it things haven't gotten any easier?"

"The baby likes to sleep, just not when I do," Gabriella said almost affectionately as she rubbed her bump, trying to keep things light. She didn't want sympathy or looks about how tough the pregnancy was. "I think he's just on a different time-zone from us."

"And everything else is okay?"

"Everything's great," Gabriella breathed, ready for the small talk to be over as she grabbed Troy's hand and clutched it for support. "You were supposed to come next week."

"I'd already booked a flight and I figured...why wait?" her mom said quietly before continuing. "Gabriella, I...I've felt such a...poor excuse for a moth..."

"Mom," Gabriella cut her off quickly, not really wanting to see her mother self flagellate for her benefit. She wasn't that type of person.

"No, I know that I've made a mistake but I...I really wish that I could go back and fi..."

"You can't," Gabriella said quickly. "You can't so...so...let's just, let's just...deal with it and move on."

Gabriella took a deep breath and watched as her mom nodded, before turning down and trailing her finger over the back of Troy's hand as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head in support. She didn't really know what to say – she didn't want to make small talk, but at the same time she didn't really want to talk about...that either.

"I was trying to explain to Troy...some things about...not excuses, more...explanations..."

"You mean you actually have an explanation?" Gabriella took a deep breath and shook her head, trying to remember to take her time, to breathe and not say anything she would regret. "You've lied to me for 23 years, Mom. What possible explanation can you have for that?"

"It's selfish," her mom began and to her credit, she didn't start crying as she looked at Gabriella. "I just...I wanted him and only him and if I didn't mention you then he wouldn't mention them. At no point did I do it to hurt you. I never thought you would know, I swear. I just...I wanted to remember what it felt like to have that. If you imagine what it would be like for you and Troy..."

"It's not something she'll ever have to consider, so don't play that card," Troy said in a low voice behind her, and she couldn't help the grateful smile that came to her lips at that.

She looked down at her and Troy's entwined hands and knew what her mom was missing. She had already said it – she had been willing to do anything for the man, the same way that Gabriella would be willing to do anything for Troy, and it still hadn't been enough at the end of the day. She tried to put herself in her mother's position – if she was offered limited contact with Troy and the prospect of having a few hours pretending they were still in the fairytale, would she not take it, regardless of the consequences? The thing was – Troy was right. She couldn't even bring herself to imagine ever being in her mother's position because he would never act like that so it was almost impossible for Gabriella to empathise, as much as she wanted to.

"I'm sorry that it ended like that for you, Mom but I don't understand," Gabriella forced out eventually as she looked down, trying to remember that she was trying to show that it didn't bother her. "I just...why, Mom? Why would you do that? Even if I understood the lying and...I do, kinda – but why would you tell him about me now? Why...why would you do that to me?"

"It wasn't intentional and if I could take it back, I would but I don't have that sort of power. I just...I wanted him to know that you were amazing and we hadn't needed him. He could have his family, but I had you and you didn't need him to be happy."

"I...I..." she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pain the whole conversation was causing her. "You did it because you were angry...at him for...for reminding you that it wasn't a family he hadn't wanted, it wasn't just me he hadn't wanted but he hadn't wanted you either?"

She eyed her mom, almost daring her to refute the claim but instead watched as her jaw set and she nodded. "It was easier to pretend that it was only you he hadn't wanted and I'm not proud of that, but to hear him talk about them...I snapped and I am never going to be able to apologise enough for that. You didn't deserve this but I love you, Gabriella and I will do anything to make it up to you."

"You used me to score points with a man who never wanted me," she whispered. "You pretended I didn't exist to him for years and then you...you did that? You did that now after...everything..."

"Baby," Troy whispered against her hair. "Relax. None of this matters, okay? He doesn't mean anything."

"I know I've behaved...I've been awful to you at times, Gabriella. I tried to explain to Troy – it was never about you. It was about my own inadequacies, my own failings and...a little bit of my own jealousy. I needed to believe that if things had been different, he and I would have been the same. I needed to believe that and I know that doesn't make it right but I will do anything to make it right."

Gabriella's eyes flashed then and she felt her resolve stiffen as she looked at her mom's tearstained face and saw that she was at least honest in terms of her apology. "Anything?"

"Of course – just tell me what I can do to make it up to you," she implored as she looked at both Gabriella and Troy whose eyes never left Gabriella.

"Give me his number."

Her mom froze and Gabriella forced herself to stay resolved as she met her mom's gaze steadily. She wanted the power back and if that meant that she would contact him before he could blindside her then that's what she'd do. She and Troy could sort something out and deal with it together, while they were feeling strong and able to cope with it instead of just waiting for the knock on the door.

"I can't do that."

She expected that. It was somewhat apparent that her mom still retained some sort of loyalty to her former husband and if Gabriella's crying as a child when she was teased at Elementary, or his absence when Gabriella was in hospital as an infant didn't cause her to contact him then she doubted much would change now. Still though, she refused to back down. "If you really want to make amends then you'll give me the number, if not then we can't talk about this."

"Gabriella, please – you know I ca..."

"No, I don't know that," she hissed, her façade cracking slightly before she managed to pull it together again. "I'm not asking for anything that I don't deserve – you brought him into MY life, into MY family so I deserve to have a say in this for the first time. You can still keep your little relationship up with him, I'm not trying to encroach on whatever set up that you have going on. All I'm interested in is looking after my family and that means that Troy and I will not be sitting worrying about when he'll show up unannounced."

"I'll talk to him, try and make him sto..."

"You've told him enough, Mom! You...this isn't about you and him anymore. I'm not going to sit around and wait for him to show up, or for you to try and throw another spanner in the works. It's hard enough just now – I just want to enjoy this and you...you're ruining it. You keep ruining it and I've tried so hard, so hard not to let you so please...please, don't do this."

She vainly wiped her tears, angry that they fell as Troy straightened beside her, rubbing her back.

"Isabella...if you were serious about anything you said to me, just give us the damn number. If you were just feeding me a line to get in the door then please just leave. I'm not...we're not letting anything ruin this for us. We'll get the number anyway but just...do the right thing here."

Gabriella looked at him gratefully and he gave her a small smile as his gentle touch soothed her, letting her know that he was there, beside her and he wouldn't go anywhere.

"Mom," Gabriella said softly, trying to remain calm but failing as she shook her head and reluctantly turned away from the calmness Troy brought her. "I don't want to fight with you, but I won't be helpless here. If you aren't going to help us, then you need to leave because you're making things so much harder than they have to be."

"I never wanted to..." her mom's voice cracked, and Gabriella could see the tears flood her eyes and she couldn't help but feel bad. She wished she could just accept the apology and move on, but she didn't want it hanging over them and although she felt selfish, she knew she had to be strong about this. "I never, ever wanted to make things hard for you."

She got up and went over to her mom and wrapped her arms around her. "Mom, I don't want to hurt you or make you cry. I'm not doing it to ruin anything you have, or even judge anything you have with him. I don't care if you still talk to him, or still love him - I just need to feel like I have some control here. Please."

"Part of the divorce...you were never...I promised him you'd never..."

Gabriella bit her lip and ignored the pain in the wound that was her father's efforts at pretending she didn't exist and ignored Troy's whispered curse at that knowledge. "Don't try and lawyer me, Mom. I know...I know there are loopholes."

Her mom met her gaze and gave her a small smile. "I will never forgive myself for hurting you; you do know that, right?"

"I wish you would," she said softly. "People make mistakes. Just let me make the best of it and we can all forget it happened. I've never been good at holding grudges – please, please don't have this hanging over us anymore. I want my mom to be part of this...but I can't until I get this fixed."

"I can't give you the number," her mom said eventually and Gabriella couldn't help the wave of disappointment wash over her at that knowledge as she pulled back and dropped her gaze. "I can't give it to you, but if I happen to drop my address book and you find it and look through it – well, I suppose that would teach me for being careless, right?"

Gabriella was still lost in her sadness and barely caught the end of her mom's words, only realising what was said when she looked up and saw her mom grab her purse and make a show of bringing out her address book and dropping it on the floor beside the chair she was sitting on. "Remind me to pick that up before I leave, okay?"

Her smile was tentative, but Gabriella didn't care as she wrapped her arms tight around her mom, thanking her over and over again for understanding. When she pulled back she turned to Troy and grinned, and she was relieved to see the smile on his own face as she walked over and sat down beside him, her lips pressing against his arm in a subtle thank you for his support as she leaned against him.

The three of them sat in silence for a few moments as Isabella wiped her remaining tears and Troy and Gabriella took turns at grinning at each other, or stroking the other's face, or hands, or whispering about how it was all going to be okay now. After a few minutes, Gabriella tore her attention away from her fiancé to smile at her mother.

"So...tell me what I've missed the last few weeks. I heard you weren't feeling well, Troy?"

He shot an amused look at Gabriella as though he realised that she had failed to tell her mom the real reason. "It's amazing how much better I felt after a good sleep and breakfast, right baby?"

Gabriella quickly jumped in, not wanting to risk the new found harmony with her mom and Troy if she worked out that 'not feeling well' was really another phrase for 'blind drunk'. "Troy helped throw me a baby shower at the stadium."

"The stadium? I thought you were on bed rest?" the amusement in her mom's voice banished any thoughts of chastisement as Troy chuckled lowly beside her.

"Yeah, I thought you were on bed-rest?"

She mock-glared at him. "My fiancé is a bad influence on me I guess...what can I say?"

"And you let him away with that?" he asked as he gave the ring on her necklace a gentle tug. "Lucky guy."

"I'd let him away with anything," she whispered back before she leant in. "Don't tell him though."

Troy opened his mouth to respond, but the loud coughing in the background caused both of them to spring apart, blushing as they looked over at their visitor.

"It's strange – sometimes I feel like I've missed ten years with you two and the next moment it's like you are both 18 again and I'm trying to pretend that she's not sneaking you into her bedroom every other night."

"Sorry," they both mumbled together, causing her mom to laugh as she took a drink from her cup.

Gabriella sighed and leant into Troy happily as the subject changed again and the three began chatting. She let Troy and her mom talk as she nestled closer to him, her eyes heavy from her exhaustion but willing them to stay open as she let the temporary bliss of the day wash over her. It was easy listening to her mom's laughter and wrapped in Troy's arms to pretend that everything was the way it should be but, just like the illusion she had tried to create earlier, she knew that it would be a fleeting moment. Sooner or later she was going to have to call the number and deal with that rejection and sooner, or later, her mom would again remember her own issues and say something stupid and remind her why she had done so much with this pregnancy on her own. Still though – for that moment everything was fine and for that reason she wanted to enjoy it, even if she knew it couldn't last.

* * *

Troy rolled his neck as he walked back towards the lounge after showing Gabriella's mom out. It had been a long day, and although he was glad that the three of them had reached some sort of understanding, it was tempered with the knowledge that there was still a lot left up in the air. He groaned in exhaustion as he walked in and Gabriella looked up and smiled at him.

"Tired?"

"It's been a long day," he admitted as he flopped down on his back beside her, his head finding her legs as she dropped a hand to his hair and began stroking it. "How can it possibly be only 7pm?"

"You're getting old, Wildcat," she teased gently as her hands continued their ministrations.

"I'm ignoring you and putting the insult down to evil pregnancy hormones," he pouted as he closed his eyes. "Maybe I'm suffering sympathy exhaustion?"

"Maybe you're just lazy?" she giggled, causing him to tickle her lightly in response. "Okay! Okay - stop! I apologise. Baby pressing on bladder and laughing is not a good combo and I'm too lazy to move so..."

He snickered then and opened an eye to see her flushed cheeks. "Now who's lazy?"

"Maybe I'm suffering sympathy laziness?" she mimicked as she leant down, attempting to kiss him but having to give up half way due to her bump, causing her to pout at him until he lifted his own head and met hers quickly. "Mmmm, I needed that..."

He smiled, his eyes still closed as her hand went back to work in his hair. "You decided what to do with the number?"

She sighed and stilled her hands in his hair and he opened his eyes to look at her. "Honestly? I didn't expect her to give us it and now I have it? I'm kinda..."

"Scared?"

She nodded and gave him a small smile. "I know it shouldn't bother me what he thinks of me, what he thinks of us but...I think it might hurt...a little to talk to him knowing he never wanted anything to do with me until now. That's stupid, huh? Not caring yet still...caring?"

He shook his head and sat up, spinning around to look at her. "Of course it's not stupid. Baby...the guy is a jerk and an idiot and the best thing he ever did for you was walk out of your life," he said honestly as he grasped her hand. "His loss, not yours. If you're not ready to talk to him, we can wait until you are or I can call him – whatever you want. You are the only one that matters in this so whatever will make it easier on you, we'll do."

She bit her lip and sat in silence for a moment before she took a deep breath. "I don't...I don't think I want to call him just now. I think I want to take a few days and think about it, what I want to say. I only want to talk to him once so...I should wait until I feel less tired and more...composed, right?"

"Yeah," he said slowly, trying to find the words to express what he wanted to say next in case it came out wrong. "I want to be here though, when you call him. I know you have to do this, but I need to be here, Gabriella."

And he did. He wasn't a caveman who believed she needed him to fight her battles for her, or so needy that he had to know everything but with this, and how much the whole situation hurt her, he had to be there for her just so he could make sure that he was there to undo whatever damage was done.

She gave him a genuine smile then as she reached up and stroked his face. "Troy – I doubt I would be able to pick up the phone without you being there, so I always hoped you would be there."

"Good," he sighed. "I just...I need to know you're okay, you know? Even if the only think I can offer you is being there to hold your hand and sitting beside you."

"That's all I need though," she whispered as she gave him a grateful smile. The one look caused his heart to race such was the emotion behind it. "Like today – when I really needed you, you were there and managing to keep calm without any of the asinine tricks I have to use. You always stay in control and call it right and I love that even when I feel frazzled, you know what to do to make it better. I love that you spoke to my mom even though you didn't want to and that you understand why I was so upset and hurt, even if I don't 100% understand myself. I just..." she took a deep breath and ran her hand down to his chest. "I can't even put it all into words but I love knowing that when I can't do it on my own, that you'll be there and know what to say to make me see things straight again. That's why I can't even imagine doing it without you. Maybe it's selfish and needy and kinda pathetic but...you make it all better."

He caught her hand in his and pressed his lips against it as he caught her gaze, his own throat tight as he looked at her. "It's what I'm meant to do, Gabriella. I'd do anything for you, you know that right? I'd do anything to make you happy so I don't even have to make a conscious effort for it. It's like you eating strawberry shortcake ice-cream or something. It just happens."

She laughed then and he grinned at her, happy to see the smile back on her face. "Way to kill the moment by mentioning the ice-cream. I was doing so good at not eating dessert tonight, Troy!"

"My son's a growing boy," he defended as she lifted a cushion and attempted to smack him with it, only stopping when he grabbed her wrist and pulled himself over so he was almost on top of her, kissing up her jaw to her ear as he did so. "And my beautiful, gorgeous, smart, brave fiancée deserves nothing but the best – so if that means she wants to eat dessert, then she should get to eat dessert, to hell with any stupid ideas she has about going on a diet."

"That's why I love you," she mumbled against him as he nuzzled his nose against her head as he felt her hands come up and hold him in place. It wasn't the most comfortable position for either of them, but at that moment neither of them had any intention of moving until the moment was shattered as Troy's phone started ringing. He attempted to ignore it, groaning as he felt Gabriella's laughter vibrating at his anguish as he lifted his head.

"Why is everybody bothering us today?" he whined as he looked at her. "If I don't answer they might go away."

"If you don't answer, they might call all night until you do."

He huffed, but conceded her point as he rolled off and grabbed his cell, looking at it in disgust as he saw the number. "It's Tyler."

"Then he'll definitely keep calling," she said as she stood and pressed a kiss to his head. "I'll follow the advice of my fiancé and go make us some dessert while you answer that. Be nice to him."

He grumbled and nodded as he reluctantly pressed answer. "Hello?"

"Troy, hi – sorry for bothering you this evening. It's Tyler here..."

Troy had met Tyler Fortuna on his first tour of the stadium after he had been drafted. He was a junior assistant in one of the offices (that he would later learn dealt with the travel arrangements of the team) and had spent thirty minutes calling Troy 'Trey' as he had attempted to explain the importance of his job and show Troy around the different background operations within the organisation. Troy had initially laughed off the name mistake for a while, until he had returned from one of the other parts of the building to find Tyler attempting to flirt with Gabriella, who had been waiting to meet him outside the office after being shown around by some of the wives. In fairness to the curly-haired junior, he had been overly apologetic when he realised that he had been flirting with the new player's fiancée and in any subsequent meetings he had always been nothing but friendly and professional so they had both managed to put that awkward first meeting behind them. The problem was, that as nice a guy as Troy was sure Tyler probably was – he knew what Tyler's job was and when he called it always signalled a upcoming away trip and for that reason Troy couldn't help the unnatural scowl that came to his face at hearing his voice. "Oh, Tyler – hi."

"I'm ignoring the enthusiastic greeting because I've already heard the same thing from four other guys tonight and I'm immune to your collective moods now. So – I was just calling you to give you a head's up about what the arrangements are for Monday. Now we have a flight booked for 5am, so you know the drill – no later than 2 at the stadium or 3 at the airport. I'm guessing it will be airport for you since that's your usual M.O. I can arrange a car to pick you up which you never use, but it's available yada yada yada...Ummm..., yeah anyway – 3 at the airport, we arrive in Phoenix around 9 and then it's straight to the hotel, drop off luggage, grab lunch and then to the stadium for a work out. The game's at 7, hotel by 11 and then we fly out at 11am the following day and you guys effectively get 2 days off in LA before the game on Thursday. We have the flight to Oakland the following morning and again you have the two days off before the game on Sunday. I can go over the rest of the arrangements on Monday when we're all together, but I just wanted to let you know the times and that I've got your itinerary at the stadium that you can pick up when you're in tomorrow."

Troy closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he heard Gabriella humming softly from the kitchen. He had been trying to avoid thinking about it, but he guessed that the burying his head in the sand tactic wouldn't work indefinitely. "Tyler...I don't know if I'm going to LA yet..."

"Troy, don't do this to me," the guy on the other end of the phone pleaded. "I am not involved in this. You want time off you speak to people way higher on the food chain than me. All I'm responsible for is making sure you get the right travel information and get on the plane."

"I know, I just..." he sighed before dropping his head back. "Nah, forget it. You're right – it's not your job."

There was a minute's silence before Tyler spoke again. "Listen – I've got you slated as returning to New Orleans the day after the Golden State game, which gets you home 4 days early. You want my advice? Don't shake the boat on this trip – take what they're giving you before you ask for more, okay?"

"It's still 7 days, Tyler," he said quietly. "It's not as easy as you guys think it is especially when I'll be kicking my heels for 4 of those days."

"That's why they pay you the big bucks," Tyler said simply. "Listen, I get it but I set the itinerary that I'm given by the guys who pay both our salary so...if you have a problem with it, speak to them. My advice though? If she's doing well just now, take advantage of it and that gives you more leverage when you really have to be there. This is all about mutual back-scratching and you have to realise that. If anything comes up then I swear I will get you on the first flight out of there before you're even off the phone so...take this one, okay? Just suck it up and take it with a smile on your face and then you can tell them that you've been flexible with them, so they can be flexible with you."

Troy nodded reluctantly. He knew that, but it didn't make it any easier but he knew that Tyler was right. The fact they were letting him skip the Denver game was a bonus and he had to accept that instead of making things harder. He could play the game, and even though he understood it, it still didn't make any of it any easier. "I get it. You're right."

"I'm right?" he sounded sceptical and Troy couldn't help but laugh. "Finally one of you guys gets it! Anyway – I have a few more calls to make. Tomorrow – come see me and pick up your schedule."

"Right, I will," Troy agreed with a nod he knew he couldn't see. "Thanks, man."

"No problem. That's why _I_ get the not so big bucks," he joked. "Tomorrow. You two have a good night."

Troy said goodbye and hung-up and let his cell fall beside him as he dropped his head back. He sat like that until he felt the sofa dip beside him and he opened his eyes to find Gabriella sitting there with a couple of bowls of ice-cream in her hands as she nudged him slightly with a smile. "Let's not talk about flights and distance and days tonight. Let's just act like we're kids and pretend that it's not really happening, and just...watch movies or play videogames."

He couldn't help the smile on his own face at that. "And ice-cream is part of this plan?"

"Ice-cream is an essential part of this plan!" she said as she handed him his bowl with a flourish before turning back to her own bowl mischievously. "Ice-cream is an essential part of most of my plans at the moment in fairness though."

"Which is why you're now mixing ice-cream with cereal for dessert? Do they even mix together?"

"They mix a lot better than ice-cream and peanut butter," she giggled as she took a spoonful, and tasted it before grinning at him. "I don't recommend that – but this? I could see me liking this even beyond weird pregnancy hormones."

"I'm so tempted to get the nutritionist in here for a case-study," he muttered, causing her to stick her tongue out at him teasingly as he took a spoonful of his own dessert. "My future wife - the ice cream connoisseur."

"I think that would be a job I would like to have actually," she said with a grin. "I don't know why I never considered that when I was a kid?"

"You were clearly too sensible a child and lacked the appropriate imagination," he teased, causing her to gasp dramatically. "I, on the other hand, had a full summer when I was 7 when I wanted to be a professional sand-castle maker."

She giggled and her nose scrunched adorably as she did so. "I spent an entire year planning to leave school early and go work in Disneyland. Of course I was 16 at the time..."

"Why?"

"I was looking for my Prince Charming," she said with a shrug. "Then I found you. Oh, I also wanted to be one of the kids on Sesame Street. My mom would tell you that's because I had this weird crush on Count Von Count but really it wa..."

He looked at her and couldn't help himself as he reached over and kissed her, interrupting her ramblings that she was using to try and distract him. She was something else and although he knew that they couldn't really put everything off indefinitely, he liked the idea of just pretending for that night. He pulled back with a grin. "You do have a weird crush on Count Von Count though."

She blushed and giggled then and shrugged. "I respect anyone who loves numbers be it man or Muppet I guess. You must have had a weird childhood obsession?"

He grinned and set back letting the conversation develop around them and ignoring the fact that in a few days he would be in a different state and she would be left here, ignoring the number that was sitting on the table and ignoring everything but each other. There would be time for all that at a later date, but for that moment it was just them, and it was all they needed at the end of the day.


	16. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby

So, no excuses - i just suck. Real life has just got in the way recently and it's been tough getting in the writing mindset. Thank you for sticking with me and I feel quietly confident the next chapter won't take as long (not that it could take much longer!). I am really sorry, but thank you for your reviews and for reading. I've tried to make this story not solely about the pregnancy but also about their adjustment into their 'adult' post-college lives and the life/job realities that happen when so much is going on at the one time, so although this chapter might feel like filler, I promise it has a purpose! Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"_So...I'll call you..." he trailed off as he looked at her almost desperately, his hand in her hair and the other grasping hers, running his thumb over the engagement ring on her finger. "The flight...it takes hours but...as soon as I get off, I'll call you."_

_He watched as she forced a smile on her face and nodded, the tears in her eyes barely hidden as her free hand stroked his jaw and he had this horrible idea that she was doing it to memorise his face. He had never thought in his life that there would be a reason that his fiancée, the woman he loved would ever need to make such a gesture. "You better – no matter what time you land."_

_They had been in New Orleans a week. They had found a house, moved in furniture, carted boxes and attempted to plan what colour walls would be and what the needed to buy as they tried to arrange the stuff they bought from their small apartment in California and tried to make it fit in a house more than double the size. They barely knew the layout of their own home never mind the area they were staying in and just like that he was packed and ready to leave again. He was about to spend more time in a different country than he had spent in his new home._

"_Gabi," he whispered as he stepped closer. "Tell me not to go. Tell me to stay and I'll do it – just give me the excuse and I'll stay here."_

_She shook her head immediately, and he could almost see her biting back her almost natural inclination to tell him what he wanted, to make him happy. He knew she wouldn't tell him what he wanted to hear though – she was far too practical and supportive to do that. "You know, that line sounds awfully familiar, Wildcat..."_

_He looked sheepish and looked down as the memories of her showing up at his house at 1am in their last year of high school and asking him if he was sure she should go because she wanted to stay washed over him. He could still see the tear stains on her cheeks and the way her eyes deadened when he told her she had to go and the way he had felt the following morning knowing she was flying a thousand miles away from him. "Yeah...you said it to me the day before you went to Stanford..."_

"_And you told me to go," she continued as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. "You ignored what you wanted, what we both wanted to do what was right for me even though I couldn't see it at the time. You put me first...even though I didn't make it easy for you..."_

"_That was diff..."_

"_No," she cut him off and shook her head. "It was the same. I don't want to be the reason you don't follow your dreams, Troy. I want to be the person who helps you do everything you ever wanted to do. You wouldn't be happy if you didn't give it a shot, and I wouldn't be happy knowing I didn't encourage you to at least try. I love you so much, Wildcat. Too much to let you throw this away because you're afraid."_

"_I'm not afraid...just...scared," he admitted even as she smiled up at him. "And yeah, I get the irony of that statement but this isn't getting on a stage in front of the school. This...this is getting up on stage in front of millions of people and worse, getting up on that stage with millions of people but without you standing beside me."_

"_Troy," she whispered as she stroked his hair. "I'm always going to be beside you. You're used to people watching – you're used to being the centre of attention. You can do this and even though part of me wants to jump in the car with you and drive somewhere where it's just us together, you and I both know that this...this is something you have to do yourself."_

"_I just..." he took a deep breath and shook his head. "It's just different now. The house is barely hospitable, we don't know anyone, you start work in a couple of weeks and we have the first doctor's appointment in a couple of days. This...this isn't the way it's supposed to happen. I'm supposed to be here, not half way across the world being the bag carrier for the team. I want to be here and not one of those deadbeats who let their girl do everything. I want to help you with everything. I want to be here through it all. You know that you come first."_

"_I want you here through it all as well," she conceded. "But...just this once, I don't think it can happen. It's okay though – we'll all still be here when you come back Troy and I promise you that we'll have other opportunities for you to be there for all the fun and not so fun stuff. For now though? I'll be okay and I'll be on the phone and online to you so often that you'll be wishing you were someplace without network coverage," she grinned up at him, and he let his lips turn upwards slightly in response before she continued softer. "You'll never be one of those deadbeats. Trust me, I have experience of what a dead-beat father is, and you're as far from that as possible. The fact you're here and you want to be here should tell you that."_

_He sighed as he let her lean into his embrace, the stacked cardboard boxes surrounding them as he felt her breathe against his neck as he ran his hand through her hair. He knew she was right, and that it would get easier, but this wasn't college anymore – this was the real world and in the real world, pre-season tours lasted 3 1/2 weeks instead of 10 days. Instead of being sure his girlfriend was safe and sound in their apartment with their friends and school to distract her he was leaving his fiancée alone, pregnant, in an empty house in a town they didn't know while he went swanning around with his teammates, with every need being catered for. There was something twisted about that and no matter how much sense he knew she made, and how much he was aware that his nerves were more than a small factor in the apprehension he was feeling, he still couldn't shake the niggling belief that he should stay. "I'd give it all up for you, you know."_

"_I know," she said before kissing his neck and settling back against him. "But I swear I'll never let you."_

_

* * *

_

There had always been something somewhat satisfying for Gabriella whenever she completed a task. Sure, she knew that everyone got a rush of joy when they finished doing something they set their mind to, but for Gabriella it went beyond that. It almost felt like a personal victory over her less driven self when she had success and it was only when she met and fell in love with an athlete that she realised that that side of her was her own competitive spirit in full affect.

Although people in the early stages of their relationship seemed to dwell on the differences between them (he was a jock, she was an Einsteinette. He was popular; she was the freaky math girl. His family was entrenched in the town; she was the girl who lived out of her suitcase for most of her High School career. He was Troy Bolton and she...she was Gabriella...) but very few seemed to want to recognise the similarities and didn't realise that it was those similarities, those complimenting personality traits that made them work. One of these similarities was their desire to help the other one be the very best they could be. This unconditional support would find Gabriella sitting ignored on the bleachers for hours as he shot basket after basket, or him running test cards with her at 2am over the phone before they both had to get up for school in the morning. They were driven, but more than driven for their own personal achievements, they were driven to help the other achieve everything they wanted and that's why he was the one who made her go to Stanford in the first place, and she was the one who, when everyone was telling him to leave college early in case the opportunity never arose again, stuck with him and told him it was okay to hang on another year and graduate like he wanted to.

In all aspects of life, they were supportive...or so Gabriella had thought until recently.

"Ha!" she cheered as she lifted the finished blanket up and, thankful that there was no one else in the house to witness it, began doing a rather ungraceful seated version of the happy dance as she grinned at her achievement. It had been weeks and she had been forced to endure her own surging emotions and Troy's less than helpful goading about her finally finding something she couldn't do, but she had finally done it. She hadn't even finished congratulating herself when she picked up her cell and held the blanket up and snapped a rather awkward picture of herself grinning manically before turning it around, set on sending it immediately before she realised he was probably at the arena getting ready for his last game and probably wouldn't receive it for at least an hour.

There were many reasons why she hated his away schedule, but she had never thought that she would resent it for interrupting her well-deserved gloating time. Her high a little dampened, nevertheless she still sent the photo before turning around and dialling his number so she could leave a voicemail.

"Hey Wildcat – I know you're getting ready for the game so I don't expect you to call me back but I just wanted to wish you luck for tonight. I know you'll be great tonight and then I get you back. Anyway, I was just calling to hear your voice and to say I wish you were home for a number of reasons, but moreso so I could demonstrate properly how wrong you were about my knitting prowess," she giggled as she lifted up the blanket. "You owe me an apology for doubting me, Mr Bolton. But that's okay, because it gives me something to look forward to when you get home. Anyway, call me if you get a free minute but if I don't talk to you before the game, good luck and I'll speak to you soon. Love you. Bye."

Hanging up, she couldn't help but pout slightly at the prospect of him being so far away again and although she accepted, understood it and supported him when it came to it, she would be lying if she said she didn't hate this aspect of his job. Still though, she fell in love with an athlete, and she went into it knowing it was a possibility and although she missed him, she couldn't ever me unhappy that he was successful doing something he loved. Even when it encroached on her rare gloating time.

She picked up her pride and joy and grinned again as she looked at it and smoothed it over her bump, allowing the giddiness at completing at what most people would think was a relatively easy task wash over her. She appreciated that perhaps it wasn't the finest piece of craftsmanship anyone would ever see, and perhaps it was slightly misshapen in places and it had taken a long time to get it to this point, but that wasn't the point to her. It was old fashioned, and ridiculous, but she wanted to do all the 'mom' things like knowing all the lullabies, and how to make Halloween costumes out of a pair of curtains and how to do all the dances to the kids programs and part of that 'mom' thing was she wanted to make booties, and blankets and hats and all that stuff. She had time to learn the dance moves and the sewing skills but the lullabies and the booties? That was important to her especially as she wasn't exactly rushed off her feet with anything else at the moment and that's why she had felt particularly frustrated at times. She wanted to feather her nest and this was one part she could do without the watchful eye of her fiancé, or overly cautious doctor's orders restricting her.

She reached over and grabbed the pattern to the hat she was planning on making next and almost snarled at it with intent as she opened it up and began plotting her plan of attack. "We'll show your daddy when he comes back, won't we, baby?"

She had barely started reading when she jumped slightly, not able to disguise the small yelp of pain as she felt a stab in her right side, catching her off guard. she blinked, the blanket and book falling to the floor as she sat up, ignoring the slight spin in the room at the abrupt motion as she rubbed the spot, her other hand moving to the front of her bump and running against it desperately until she felt the familiar kick against it. Waiting a few minutes to see if the pain returned she sighed in relief when it didn't and shook off her irrational reaction. She knew that women became a nervous wreck when they were pregnant, and perhaps she had a reason to be a little cautious, but that was ridiculous. Her mom had told her before she had left the previous day that pains were normal and not to worry, yet here she was fretting like she was...well, like she was Troy.

She giggled as she shook her head, almost feeling guilty about mocking his over-protectiveness. Almost.

When the laughter died out to a smile she sighed and leant her head back against the back of the couch. She hadn't anticipated it happening, but she was actually missing her mom's company. Sure, things were still strained and some conversations were definitely out of bounds now, but even so – it had made the last week go in quicker having some sort of company even if the extent of it was to take her on a googlemaps tour of the city, or to make her throw out the faux Voodoo dolls she bought as a present for her work colleagues. Just having someone there made her feel better.

She wanted someone there in case something happened and although she had her friends, deep down she wanted Troy and not being able to have Troy, and her mom felt as good a bet as anyone at keeping her safe. It was ridiculous and completely non modern woman of her, but it was there all the same and even though things were awkward at best between the two women, and even though Gabriella had grown tired of the same stupid conversation, or the same question about what she was going to do with 'the number' she had to confess – having her mom there, sharing pregnancy stories and just getting the recognition from her that she was doing a good job meant a lot to her especially as sometimes Gabriella felt like she was doing everything wrong in this pregnancy – why else would she be having so much trouble when most other women sailed through it?

She dropped her pattern book as she grabbed her blanket and a cushion and held it close as she sighed. "I get points for effort though, right baby?"

Smoothing the blanket over her bump and closing her eyes she began humming the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as she rubbed her stomach. Yeah, she was maybe not the most natural pregnant woman on the planet but she definitely deserved points for effort.

* * *

The longer a person played sports in their life the easier it was to pick up on the vibe in the locker-room in any given circumstance. He had been on teams where the coach had come in and almost bashed heads in a game where they were winning by twenty and on the same note he had been in a situation where they had lost a game and his coach had been more than happy with the team. Then there were the strange occurrences where one person was the cause of the coach's ire even in an easy win for the team.

Troy knew that he was in trouble as he waited patiently in the locker room, trying not to glance at his watch repeatedly. His wrist was wrapped and his teammates, for as loud as they usually were, were deliberately quiet as they eyed him sympathetically. The coach, to his credit, hadn't said anything beyond 'Bolton – my office, 10 minutes' in front of the team, but everyone knew what was coming and although he didn't fully understand what he had done to warrant whatever lecture he was about to get, he couldn't help but wish that it would be over quickly as he was well aware that he had only a couple of hours until he had to catch his flight.

The day had started so well – the simple knowledge that he would be able to fly home at the end of it had immediately put him in a good mood and he had found that practice had went much easier than it had in days. Throw in Gabriella's photo taunting of her sorry excuse for a baby blanket and he genuinely had no complaints about anything, until game time.

It had been innocuous enough – he had been passing the ball and felt a twang in his wrist but, as it hadn't felt as bad as it had felt the last time he'd damaged it, he decided to play on without mentioning it to anyone. His numbers had been okay, the team had won and everything should have been fine but, for whatever reason, he was still benched mid way through the third quarter and his coach was still pissed at him. As he took another glance at his watch he sighed – if he could be pissed at him quickly that would be a good thing.

"Quick piece of advice – when you go in there, do not look at your watch..."

He looked up to see Manny standing beside him. "I don't know wha..."

"And don't say that. Just...give me the watch, Rookie and pretend you're in High School when you go in and don't speak unless he asks you a question, and even then watch because he's probably going to answer it for you."

Troy looked exasperated, not really wanting to waste time like this but seeing Manny's out-stretched hand he realised he was serious and reluctantly removed his watch and handed it to his sometimes roommate. "I don't know what I've done to piss him off."

He heard sniggering coming from some of the other guys and raised his head to see Isaac raising his hand and holding his wrist. "Seriously? You damaged the goods, Dude and then pretended you didn't. That shit pisses them off."

Troy opened his mouth, prepared to defend himself but his argument fell from his lips. It was true he'd tweaked his wrist again, and it was equally true that he hadn't mentioned it but the reaction was overkill...

"People try and play through injuries all the time..."

"Definitely don't say that," Chris said with a shake of his head. "People don't play through wrist injuries at this stage in the season unless they are challenging."

"I..." his attempt at further defence was halted by the sound of his name being called from the office.

"You heading back to the hotel before you catch your flight?" Manny asked as he sat Troy's watch down on top of the bench he had stood from. "Cause some of us are going to go grab something to eat before we head to the hotel."

"I brought my stuff," Troy said as he stood, gesturing to the bags at his locker. "I'm off to the airport as soon as I'm done here."

"Yeah, good luck with that," he heard someone mutter as he began making his way out the locker room, vaguely hearing the sound of his teammates calling odds out on whether he ended up on the flight or not.

"It'll be fine. I'll catch you guys in a couple of days," he said confidently. "Kick their ass."

"Oh someone will be getting their ass kicked..."

He ignored the last comment and left the room, and took a deep breath before he knocked and entered the office, taking the seat in front of the desk. It reminded him of himself in school, and although he wasn't often in trouble, he had been called into his dad's office on more than one occasion in the course of his basketball career and although the stakes were obviously higher now, it was somewhat amusing how these things tended to repeat on themselves.

"How's the wrist?"

He looked up at his coach and grimaced. The question sounded innocuous, but he knew that it was loaded. "It...twinges a little but nothing that I can't manage."

"Bolton," the older man sighed and sat down, rubbing his eyes. "You...you confuse me. I like you, I do. Your teammates like you, the public likes you, hell the press likes you and you come in and you show up, work hard and you've played better than any of us expected this season."

He knew he wasn't supposed to add anything, so he sat quietly.

"No one can question your work ethic or your...I dunno, your character. It's not in question yet...there is still this question mark hanging over you that makes everyone relating to the team uneasy. By all accounts, you're a guy we should all be excited to have here – you're putting up more than respectable numbers as a Rook, you're settled, you don't court the tabloids or the moneymen, you don't flirt it up, you show up to training on time, you have manners and class and you've proven that sometimes good old fashioned scouting counts for more than stats and law of averages. Some people thought we were crazy to draft you so high – you're short, you can't rebound and you can't shoot inside the paint and everyone thought you would be another JJ Reddick – a good role player but ultimately not going to translate college dominance to pro-ball but our guys saw something in you that they were willing to back. Watching you this season, I get what they saw yet even though I get it, the questions are still there. How badly do I trust you want this?"

They met each other's gaze for a moment and Troy, still unsure if he was supposed to speak, kept his silence.

"The truth is I have no idea. Your motivation confuses me. You came from a good family, you have a beautiful fiancée and a baby on the way, you graduated college with a degree that will get you a job when you're done with this and part of me thinks that although you love to play, you don't love to play in the same way the rest of the guys do. That's not a criticism – everyone's different after all. I just sometimes wonder if this is what you really want to do and I think that's what makes me uneasy about you," he paused and looked at Troy, squinting slightly and it gave Troy the impression that he was being sized up and analysed to see if his reaction was the right one. "I have no idea how you'll turn out – if this role we've given you this year is all you'll be – a better than average backup or if you'll develop into a first choice guy but I can't, hand on heart say that when I sit down and start planning what my team will look like next season say I have a handle on what you're doing, partly because I'm not convinced this is what you're going to be happy doing and part of me expects you to be done before we even get to re-up you in a couple of years. Instances like tonight do not ease that concern."

"I thought playing on would be a sign I wanted to play as opposed to anything else instead of crying off every time I get a twinge."

The older man showed no sign that he'd heard him and continued on. "I watched you tonight and in the first quarter Mike turned to me and said you'd done damage and I turned to him and said 'no – no way', not after what happened a couple of weeks ago because you weren't stupid enough to risk your career on a meaningless game in March when you're in your first year. I had faith in you that you had learned your lesson after last time."

"I didn't think it was that bad..."

"I'm sorry – I forgot you were a trained medical professional who knew that a repeat of a wrist injury was nothing to worry about."

"Everyone plays with a degree of pain. It wasn't like last time when I could barely throw the ball."

"Bullshit," the coach said, his tone brokering no disagreement. "There's a difference between aches and pains and ligament damage and you had this explained to you when you got the all clear to get back playing. You know – being an idiot once is fine, but I know that you were told in no uncertain terms to keep an eye on it in case it deteriorated, yet here we are with your wrist iced and me with no idea how long I have to make do with no fucking backup point guard!"

"I know I..."

"See, if I thought this was an honest mistake I think I would have taken it better, but call me cynical but part of me can't help but think that perhaps you were more inclined to pretend everything was fine solely because you wanted to get out the stadium quicker without having checks and therapy beforehand."

Troy flinched, already knowing what was happening now. In an ideal scenario he would defend himself and be so convincing about it that there was no doubt in his coach's mind, but he knew as well as the coach did that there was a degree of truth in what he said and lying about it would not help anything. There was nothing wrong with wanting to get home. "My flight is in two hours."

"Your flight is when I get the information I need to make sure that I know your availability for the games when we get back home. Your flight is when I can hand the GM the medical records and say 'it's okay, your near million dollar signing bonus is safe.' And finally, and most importantly, your flight is when I say it is."

Troy looked at him desperately. He knew the script – the scans would take time and then by the time he got it wrapped for precaution there would be no way he'd make the flight. "I've never heard of a guy being punished for wanting to play on to help the team. If you need the tests I can get them done first thing in the morning. This...you're seriously going to make me miss my flight for this?"

"This isn't a punishment, Bolton – this is business, and like it or not, this is what happens in a multimillion dollar industry," his coach said as he sat down and looked at Troy with a sigh. "We're all trying to help you out, but at times it seems like you are your own worst enemy. I know things are rough for you at the moment, and I know you want to be here like the rest of us want root canal, but one day you'll wake up and realise that you're pretty damn lucky."

"I know that," Troy said as he looked down. He knew he was lucky – he was doing a job that millions of people would give their right arm for, but that didn't mean that he didn't find it hard. That didn't mean that he didn't hate the fact that he was regularly thousands of miles away from his home.

"Do you?" he looked up at his coach's words. "You hate travelling, I get it. You hate the whole schmoozing thing and I get that as well – hell, I respect that but you get to do a job that earns you a ridiculous amount of money, that lets you provide a good home for your family, that lets you have five solid months of the year to do whatever the hell you want – it ain't that bad a deal, you know."

"I know that," he said as he shook his head. "I just...I hate being away from home, especially now when it's just one problem after another with the pregnancy. I hate thinking that if anything goes wrong then I'm not there and instead its other people she has to go to. I know that no one else gets it, believe me I know how crazy it sounds..." he ran his hand through his hair and tilted his head back, trying to reign in his thoughts before he continued. "I never...I just wanted to play ball and be with her and I feel like I'm pushing her to the side for this and I hate it."

They sat in silence for a moment before the older man exhaled slowly. "You're just going to have to man up. She has never struck me as anything other than your biggest fan so I don't think it's something that she feels because, believe me, they let you know when they're miserable. I get she's having a tough time of it, but you only get one crack at this. I'm not meaning to sound insensitive but it's true. You two will have other opportunities to do the whole pregnancy thing but if you screw this up now? Say hello to the 9 to 5 job."

He almost laughed – how could he begin to respond to that? "That easy, huh? They'll be other opportunities so it's okay if I mess this one up?"

"That's obviously not what I mean. You two picked an odd time to start your family and your first year was always going to be about getting the hang of things and trying to find the balance. I can respect a man who wants to be with his wife instead of being happy on a plane or in a different hotel but what you have to realise is that you aren't the only one who feels like that. You aren't the only one who hates the balancing act. I find it hard to believe that you went into this career blind to what it would entail."

"I knew what it would take in theory," he admitted before looking up. "I just didn't realise how hard it would be in practice."

"Welcome to reality, kid," the coach laughed, shaking his head. "Listen – no one is saying you have to like it, and as I said no one is questioning your work ethic or effort but you have got to realise that the team invested heavily in you and part of that investment means you have to look after yourself. No one wants to hear that you have a plane to catch which is why you try and hide an injury. I can't have one rule for you and a different one for every other guy on the team. I don't mind you missing the odd game, but I will not have a part-time player. I need guys I can rely on. Every pregnant woman gets aches and pains, and I get that it's scary for you two since you are in a new place but I know enough about the two of you to know that you two have settled in quicker than anyone had a right to so it's not like she's on her own. "

He almost growled at that. He couldn't explain why it bothered him so much to think that she had to lean on someone else because he wasn't there but it gnawed at him and combined with all the external drama involving her parents and his own insecurities about not being there it raised his temper to a ridiculous level that he only just managed to keep simmering away out of sight. "It's my job to be the one that looks after her."

"No, it's your job to get on that court every other night and help your team win. Your job is what is going to give your wife and family everything you want to give them. Your job is going to let you travel the world. Your job is the reason that I'll be damned if I let you endanger this team's investment by doing crazy things."

"I didn't enda..."

"Don't lie," the phrase was a warning and Troy was immediately quiet as his coach looked at him with a shake of his head. "You know what I'm going to say."

"Please," he asked again, going against his better instincts. "We have a doctor's appointment in the morning."

"And we have a lot of money and time invested in keeping you fit and on the court. We're not playing around with that and the sooner you realise that and get your head out your ass the better. You will get a full scan and X-Ray, you will get a treatment plan from Mike and get it wrapped properly then you can go catch your flight. No arguments and if I ever catch you risking long term damage on the wrist of your shooting arm again you better hope that there's enough left of you to even get married when I'm through with you, am I clear?"

Troy didn't say anything for fear that he would say something he would regret and bounced his knee to try and disperse his frustration as he reluctantly nodded his head.

"This isn't some sort of punishment; this is about trying to find a good balance. You know Gabriella will be fine, you know that you can't always be there and you know that in future you do not endanger the team's investment."

It was a cold way of things being worded but he knew there was a degree of truth in it. Here he was a commodity they were paying for and although he just wanted to play basketball he realised that the privilege of playing basketball professionally came at a price and, unfortunately, that price was his ability at looking after her the way he wanted and until he could reconcile both sides he was always going to be in this situation.

"Do you understand?"

He nodded his head, his jaw tight as he stood. "I understand."

They stood in silence for a moment before the coach shook his head. "I don't take any pleasure in it, but the team's bending over backwards already and you have to start playing your part."

He wanted to call him on the hypocrisy of praising his performances and work ethic a few minutes earlier and then telling him he wasn't doing enough but he knew it would just delay him more so he bit down on the inside of his lip instead. "I'll work harder to make the investment worth it."

As his coach looked at him and shook his head he got the feeling that that wasn't what his coach was talking about but rather than arguing further he merely shook his head. "Go get your wrist checked and then go. We'll talk more about this when we get back."

With a quick nod of his head and a mandatory 'thanks, Coach' Troy went out the office, through the almost empty locker room and stood outside it, his mind already working out who to call to sort out flights and transport and whether or not to call Gabriella that night to tell her he wouldn't be home until later or wait until the morning. If she was having pains he didn't want her to stress, but he also didn't want to leave it last minute for her to catch a ride if he was going to be much later than planned...

Deciding against delay he lifted his cell and dialled it immediately and sure enough she picked up after a couple of rings.

"Hey, Wildcat – I was hoping you'd call. Good game tonight!"

He felt his brow unfurrow at the sound of her voice and he could almost picture her smiling as she spoke to him. "Hey, Baby – thank you. How are you?"

"Hmmm, tired. These West Coast games are not good for my body-clock," she giggled. "Looking forward to seeing you. How's your wrist?"

He flinched at the question and sighed as he shook his head. "How's the pain been?"

"Same as it's been the last few days. Nothing new to report, thankfully so hopefully the doctor won't be too mad at me tomorrow."

"He'll be fine," he reassured before taking a deep breath. "So...here's the thing - I'm probably going to have to catch a later flight tonight..."

There was silence on the other end of the line and he silently cursed his coach again before she spoke. "How much later? Are you...are you going to make it in time?"

"I...I don't know," he admitted as he looked down. "I need to get some tests done on my wrist. The coach is being a jerk and he won't let me leave without them and...I don't know how long they'll take."

He heard her exhale slowly before she spoke again. "Okay – that's okay, Troy. Don't worry about it. You'll be home tomorrow though, won't you? Or does he want you to stay with the team?"

"No...I'll be home, I just don't know when," he sighed, leaning his head back. "Will...will you be able to get someone to give you a ride to the hospital?"

"Don't worry about it," she reassured him making him feel even worse. "I'll get to the hospital on time."

"I just...I'm really sorry."

"Don't apologise for something that's not your fault," she chastised him. "All I care about is that your wrist is okay and that you get home to me. I don't care if it's a few hours later than planned, okay?"

"Okay," he said eventually. "You'll tell him everything though, right? You won't forget?"

He flinched, almost anticipating the tirade he was going to get for the insinuation that she would omit things from the doctor in order to get better news but instead he heard her groan as if in exasperation at hearing it again. "I think I might be able to manage that on my own. I promise I won't omit..."

"I just...I just want you to be okay, that's all. I know I'm a pain in the ass," he murmured before banging his head against the wall. "I was kinda worried you'd be mad at me for not making it."

"Well," she said and he could hear the teasing lilt to her voice. "after me proving you so spectacularly wrong about my blanket making prowess I was expecting you to avoid coming home with your tail between your legs and admitting I win."

He couldn't help but laugh then which in return caused her to giggle down the line at him. "That barely constitutes a napkin never mind a blanket!"

"Sticks and stones, Mr Bolton," she laughed. "If you're just going to be mean to me after not seeing me for a week then I'm just going to go and sleep and let you go get your therapy."

He laughed and rubbed his eyes, looking down towards the medical room with a sigh. "Okay – I can do that. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she said softly. "Look after yourself okay? And please, let me know when you're new flight is even if it's just a text message or something, okay?"

He nodded. "And you'll be okay getting to the hospital if I can't make it?"

"I do work there so I'm sure I can find my way," she said and he could almost see the eye roll that accompanied it. "I'll be fine, I promise."

"I know I just..." he sighed and shook his head. Now wasn't the time for him to feel sorry for himself and the sooner he sorted himself out the sooner he could head home. "I'm going to go, okay? I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered. "I'll see you in a few hours, right?"

"I'll be there," he affirmed before reluctantly saying another goodbye and hanging up. He wasn't going to make a flight at a reasonable hour by talking on the phone all night so he went back into the locker room, threw his phone into his bag, took off his jacket and went quickly to the medical suite.

* * *

There was something about doing something you weren't supposed to do that was almost invigorating. Gabriella had never been much of a risk taker until the last few years, but even now she still got the rush of adrenaline when she did something she really wasn't supposed to. It was a beautiful morning and she had had a good night's sleep and she knew that the absolutely sensible thing to do would be to call a cab to take her to the hospital.

She was usually sensible, but be it hormones or boredom instead of calling the cab she now found herself standing at the garage door looking in at her car that she'd not been able to drive for most of the pregnancy.

She looked at the car keys in her hand and fought off the sense of guilt she had at even considering it. She was never petty, but likewise she had never been the type of person to impose on other people either and if it weren't for the fact that Troy would feel like she was punishing him for not being there she would have had no hesitation about using the keys and driving herself to and from the hospital. She longed for that freedom – that ability to come and go as she pleased again but, as much as she wanted to, she couldn't betray his trust like that even if he was being entirely unreasonable about it.

Reluctantly she stepped away from her much missed car and stepped out of the garage with a sigh and lifted the remote for the door, ready to remove the temptation.

"Problem?"

She spun around at the sound of the voice and blinked at the sun before offering a smile to the person who had been walking past. He wasn't one of the neighbours that she knew, and he certainly didn't give off the air of a journalist or a paparazzi so, considering her desperate need for fresh contact with the outside world she saw no harm in being friendly. "No...just talking myself out of doing something that'll get me in trouble."

"Are you stealing your husband's car? Cause in my experience that's not something that will get overlooked," he laughed at his own joke as he gestured into the garage. "The car is a man's pride & joy after all."

She almost corrected the assumption about it being her husband's car, but instead she couldn't help but bite her lip instead. It was instinctive and perhaps if she wasn't missing him quite as badly as she was at that moment she would have, but instead she merely smiled sheepishly and shook her head, turning back to the open door. "It's my car, but he'd rather I waited to drive it. Can I help you with something?"

She looked at the man and saw him shake his head as he laughed. "No – I mean...I'm actually area hunting. My wife...she's looking to move somewhere and we're looking for a place to stay and I kinda found here and was having a look to see what it was like. What the area's like, whether it'll be good for the kids, what the people are like, etc etc. Have you stayed here for long?"

She shook her head. "Just a few months – we were in college in California and moved out here when we finished, but I think we found a place that really suits us. I mean we got lucky finding such a nice area, but I really love it here."

"You must like it if this is where you're raising your family."

She nodded as he hand came to caress the bump proudly. "Well, we moved out here for work but it's genuinely a great place to stay. It's hard to imagine living anywhere else now even after such a short period of time. The neighbourhood is great too so I'm sure your wife would love it."

"Hmm, it looks a little out of our budget," he laughed as he looked around at the outside of the house. "I was expecting to see people a lot older around here. Or at least people my age. You don't usually see youngsters in a house anymore."

She blushed and looked down, suddenly feeling uncomfortable about the talk of money with a total stranger. It was kinda hard to tell a total stranger that the house was purchased because of a large signing bonus from a professional sports team. "Well...you know, the house was available and we were expecting the baby so it seemed to make sense..."

"Out of curiosity, if you don't mind me asking," he asked as he took a step on the grass. "What would the mortgage be on a place like this? Just...see if it's in my price bracket."

She forced a smile and shook her head. "I...I don't know."

"Oh, does your husband deal with that?"

She took a step back instinctively before forcing herself to straighten up. She was trained to deal with people every day, including pushy parents so she had no idea why she was regressing to her High School self. "I'm sorry, that's not really something I feel comfortable talking about. There's a realtor's office in town and I'm sure they would be able to give you more information than I could anyway..."

"Oh, I'm sorry – I didn't mean..."

She forced another smile as she shook her head. "It's fine. I'm sorry, I just...I really have to go. I hope you find what you and your family is looking for."

"Yeah, me too," he said as he took a step back. "It's a big decision, you know but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for them to keep them happy, right?"

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod as she looked at the car keys forlornly and regretting that particular sacrifice she was making to keep Troy happy. "I think it's generally worth it in the end though."

"So they say," the man said as he began walking away again. "Have a good day, Mrs..."

"Bolton," she answered before biting down on her lip as the lie escaped her own mouth instinctively but before she could take it back the man had repeated his farewell and began walking away, leaving her future married name hanging in the air as his parting words.

Any guilt she had over her white lie and slip soon gave way to the same giddy feeling she had got earlier and she couldn't stop grinning as she quickly finished closing the garage door and called a cab to take her to her appointment.

* * *

If there was something about pregnancy that people never told you about no matter how many books or magazines or stories mentioned then it would be the utter monotony of the regular check up. Gabriella wasn't sure if it was because the novelty had worn off, or just the fact that she was subjected to so many of them, but the last few months had strengthened her resolve to alternate artwork, posters and reading material far more often in her own office's waiting room when she got back to work.

She sighed as she stroked her bump. She hated going to appointments on her own and although it was necessary at times, it didn't make it any more fun. "Stupid Troy."

"Now now, let's not insult the poor guy when he's not even here to defend himself."

She turned around to see her doctor looking at her with an amused smirk on his face and she gave a nervous smile. "Sorry – he got delayed and had to catch a later flight. We thought he might be here on time but I guess it was cutting it a little close."

"I figured as much," he said as he shook his head. "Tell him I'm offended he didn't schedule his time better. Well, since he's not here – shall we get this over with?"

She nodded and walked into the office and sat down on the seat she was overly familiar with the last few months and waited until Dr Caldwell sat down.

"So...how've you been," he said as he looked at her. "You're looking a little drained – have you been resting up or been cheating and using Mr Three Pointer's absence as an excuse to go crazy?"

She looked down and gave a tight smile. "I've been good. I mean my mom was there for a while, which...you know, and...and I've been behaving..." 'Mostly', she almost added but decided against it.

"Anything different I should be made aware of?"

She bit her lip, ready for saying no but seeing his sceptical look and remembering what she said to Troy she avoided the lie.

"You know that if I can't trust you to be straight with me that I'll just end up recommending you staying here so I can be sure you're being monitored properly."

She hated that he always had this hanging over her now and although she was glad that she at least had a diligent doctor and one who at least cared what happened to her, she couldn't help but wish that he was a little less abrupt at times.

She sighed and shook her head. "I...I know it's probably nothing and...I just...I'm getting this...pain."

"What sort of pain?"

She looked down and shrugged. "I...it's hard to explain. It's like...I can't even describe it. It's my side," she ran her hand under her ribs to illustrate. "It's like...intense, and it comes and goes but it's...it's over so quickly so I don't know. I thought maybe I'd moved the wrong way or something but it keeps happening. The baby's moving fine, but..." she bit her lip. "My mom said that maybe it's normal, that all women get a degree of pain or it could be heartburn or something but...I don't know..."

He nodded as he looked at her notes. "Epigastrium pain is an unfortunate side effect of high blood pressure in pregnancy. How frequently are you experiencing it?"

"It's...it's just really been the last few days. I know I should have waited a little longer to see, but...I don't want anything to happen to the baby."

He drummed his fingers against the desk as he looked over his notes. "I'm going to give you an ultrasound, take some bloods and your bp and see if we can get an idea about what's going on. If it is an onset of epigastrium pain, we may have to consider bringing you in to monitor you more closely as that can be an indicator of a more severe complication to your pre-eclampsia. How's your vision and your head been recently?"

"I...I've been getting headaches still, and I still get a little dizzy if I move too quickly but it's nothing like it was last time."

"When you get headaches where is the pain – is it specific, or is it a more general migraine ache?"

"It's...my forehead, sometimes at the back of my ear towards my neck..." she stated cautiously, wondering if that was the right answer as he took down some notes. "They usually go away when I lie down though."

"And how are things at home? You staying stress free?"

She almost laughed – the last couple of weeks had probably been the least stress-free since they moved out here. "Pretty much. Just...life stress, I think."

He nodded absently and she was relieved that he wasn't looking at her to catch her lie. "Okay... right," he said as he looked down and finished writing something. "So...I'm going to go and get a nurse to get your lab work done, then I'll get the ultrasound done. If the ultrasound and your bp come back relatively normal I will send you home tonight on the proviso that I see you again on Thursday. I assume Troy will be back by then?"

"He should actually be home anytime now, so yeah."

"Right," he said nodding. "I'm not going to lie. It's getting to the stage where I'm going to feel most comfortable with admitting you. Frankly, we've managed it about as best as I could have hoped for thus far but I genuinely think that we are just about reaching the end of that course of action. It's entirely possible that the pain you're experiencing is normal – you'd be amazed at some of the pains a woman's body experiences when there is another human being growing in there and I'm hopeful that that is all this is but..."

"I don't care about the pain. I just want to make sure our baby is alright," she said adamantly. "I can handle the pain as long as it's nothing serious."

He put the notes down and looked at her fully. "Of course – but you have to understand, that my concern isn't related solely to your baby's health. It's my job to look after the both of you and I'm pretty sure your fiancé wants to know that I am going to look after you both."

She blushed and nodded. She understood that her priorities were skewed slightly, but she was solely concerned with protecting their child.

"You're also missing a very important point of the whole pregnancy thing," he continued as he looked at her seriously. "You need to be healthy for your baby to be healthy. Being self-sacrificing is good in theory, not so good in practice – for the baby or for your fiancé, who is scared to death about anything happening to you. You have to remember – we're just guys, and all of us, even the more enlightened, deep down just want to look after and protect our women so when he sees that he can't do that, and worse, that your actively working against him, it frustrates him."

"I understand that, I just...I hate feeling like I'm a failure with this," she whispered. "I hate how easy other people have it and that something I've done means Troy has to stress and worry. It's not fair on him so sometimes it seems...right to make it easier on him."

"Okay, first – you're clearly an intelligent woman so it disturbs me that you don't realise that your problems are solely down to dumb luck and nothing for you to feel like a failure about. Last I checked you don't drink, you don't smoke, you have a healthy lifestyle, you're young and fit and, unfortunately, one of the many of women who will develop pre-eclampsia randomly during their first pregnancy. It bothers me that you're so uninformed about your own condition, or so wilfully uninformed because I know I have went over this with you before. I have no reason to lie to you."

"I know I just..." she sighed as she bit her lip. "I always thought I'd be a natural at this and none of it is coming natural to me."

"It doesn't come natural to anyone so you have to stop being so hard on yourself. New job, new house, new city, new state, new baby – any one of them would have people climbing walls but you're handling it all. Sure we've had a few health hiccups along the way that we've dealt with, but you're as close to a natural as you're going to get in the real world. And as for the stuff about making it easier on Troy – maybe you should ask yourself how you'd feel if he kept stuff back from you about his health. He's a big boy who can handle it. Don't underestimate him."

"I just..." she began before taking a deep breath and shaking her head. What was she doing? Was she really going to argue with a doctor and pretending that she knew better? She almost laughed as she forced a smile on her face, amused at her own stubbornness. Troy was right – that semester of law classes really had had an impact on her causing her to try and barter and plea-bargain in every discussion. She hated feeling like a failure so tried to push on even when her body asked her not to, and obviously as her son was affected by that she was endangering him as well. "You're right. Of course you're right – I need to take better care of things so...lets...do what we have to do."

Dr Caldwell looked at her in surprise, clearly expecting her to put up more of a fight. "I'm obviously getting better if you're suddenly enlightened at long last..."

She shook her head and looked down. "No, I mean you're right – I need to take better care of my family and Troy's got enough to worry about without me being an idiot and thinking I'm doing the right thing by avoiding things...if I have to reduce what I do even more, or stay in bed then...then...fine. Just," she bit her lip and looked at him pleadingly. "Please, if possible, let me stay at home. I don't want to be here on my own."

"We'll see," he said as he stood and turned on a monitor, indicating for her to follow him over towards the ultrasound machine. "No guarantees and no complaining if it's a no though. Get your baby into good habits at long last..."

She didn't say anything as he pulled out some vials for her bloods and murmured something to the nurse about what tests he wanted. The tourniquet was barely fastened around her arm and the first vial filled when there was a rattle on the door and the receptionist stuck her head in with a smile.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Doctor but we have a very anxious young man out here who wants to know if it would be okay if he joined his fiancée?"

Gabriella's head snapped up and she felt her cheeks warm just at the prospect and she had missed the trace of laughter on the receptionist's tone as she immediately sat up straighter, oblivious to the nurse's frown at her moving.

Barely seconds after getting the okay from the occupants of the room, Troy walked in, his sunglasses tucked into his T-shirt and his ever-trusty hat on his head as he looked at her. She felt her own face light up at his close proximity, and she made another vain attempt at standing only to be stopped by the nurse again as Troy grinned at her. "Hey."

"Hey," she whispered back, quickly perusing him and seeing the bandage around his wrist again but no other obvious bruises or injuries. "Welcome back, Wildcat."

His smile got wider as he walked over to her, and she almost giggled at the effort he seemed to be putting in at not bounding over to her like usual as he dropped down on the bed beside her and picked up her free hand and brought her knuckles to his mouth, placing a soft kiss against them before leaning over and kissing her forehead just as softly, keeping his lips in place before resting his own forehead against hers.

"I didn't think you'd make it," she whispered. "We were calling you names."

"So that's why my ears were burning?" he smiled as he pulled back, his hand coming up to stroke her cheek before he pulled back after another disapproving huff from the nurse which caused Gabriella to giggle which only caused his own smile to grow again as he looked at her. "So what did I miss?"

She shook her head just as Dr Caldwell interrupted. "We're just taking some bloods, and then we're going to do a BP test and then an ultrasound – so you got here just in time."

Troy nodded, his eyes not leaving hers. "Did you tell him about the pain?"

"I was good," she responded softly in the affirmative remembering what Dr Caldwell had just said about Troy needing to feel like she was okay. "You can trust me, Troy – I'm not going to do anything stupid again."

"I do," he said as he brought her hand back to his lips before he turned to the doctor, the smile falling from his lips. "So...what do you think? Is she okay?"

The doctor looked at him with a nod. "I'll tell you the same thing I told her – I'm going to check her out fully and, worst case scenario, I will be admitting her to the hospital. It's very possible that it's just regular aches and pains associated with pregnancy, but it could be the onset of some complications with the pre-eclampsia and depending on the severity we may get away with just keeping a closer eye on things. In that circumstance it'll mean increased appointments, total bed-rest etc...we'll find out once we get our labs back. Since there's no major issue for the most part my initial thought is to send her home and bring her back in on Thursday to see if there's any changes but if there's a major spike in the BP that will obviously be changed."

"But if it is the pre-eclampsia..."

The doctor cut him off with a lift of the hand. "If it is, we'll deal with it and it'll be fine. There is nothing worth getting stressed over – let us find out more information before we look at worst case scenarios, okay?" he waited a moment before nodding his head. "Excellent. I'll let you know if you should start worrying."

She waited as the doctor walked back to his desk and took the opportunity to turn back to Troy who still looked pensive. She wanted to reach up and smooth the frown lines away but with one hand being commandeered by the nurse and the other in Troy's grasp she merely settled for nudging him with her shoulder and sticking her tongue out at him teasingly. "Oh ye of little faith. First with the blanket, now with the doctor - I should be offended..."

He looked at her for a second before laughing as he dropped his head onto her shoulder. "Sorry – I guess I'm just an idiot sometimes. Forgive me?"

She sighed and leant her own head against his. "Just because I missed you."

"I missed you too," he said as he kissed her head. "Remind me again why I didn't just go into physical therapy after college?"

She lifted her head and looked at him and she could see the fatigue on his handsome features and the frustration at things out with his control. She smiled and gave his fingers a squeeze. "Because, despite the travelling, and the coaches, and the politics and stress you still really, really love getting on that court and playing ball and you realise that all that other stuff is really a small price to pay at the end of the day because you love it so much."

A smile tugged at his lips and he leant in to kiss her, only stopping when he heard the throat clearing of the nurse and as Gabriella blushed at the intrusion Troy leant over to her ear and whispered. "Wanna know a secret? As much as I love playing, I'd still give it all up for you in a second."

She pulled away from him, and after a quick glance around she leant over and kissed his cheek before leaning closer to him and repeating the same words she'd said to him months earlier. "I know, but I swear I'll never let you."


	17. Baby, You're A Rich Man

_AN – I know, I suck but I've had a really, really crappy month and I had big plans for what I was going to do writing wise including a new fic for Christmas that I spent most of my writing time on but everything kinda just hit at once so it all has all been up in the air. Nothing in any aspect of my life the last few weeks has got the attention it deserved so, bear with me. I know it's frustrating and I'm a pain and all that, but I'd have things done quicker if I could but sometimes real life just gets in the way and it can't be helped. I haven't even been able to read any fanfic recently, which considering how much I read is just not right!_

_Anyway, I hope you all had a nice Christmas and that 2011 brings you all nothing but great things._

_Um - random, one of the scenes in this chapter is the first scene I wrote when I decided to make this a multi-chaptered fic. It got tweaked slightly, but for the most part I lifted it straight from what I had originally written way back too many months ago. Another scene written at the same time will be in the next chapter. My hoarding of random stuff does pay off occasionally. ;)  
_

* * *

Troy had his car keys dangling from his mouth as he pulled out his holdall with his work-out gear in it and a carton of ice-cream and sat it on the roof of the car. There was something wrong in a world where he would be at home for less than a day yet could still be called in for an early morning workout when he wasn't supposed to be there until 11. He had a more than sneaky idea that the whole thing was a part of his coach's drive to get him focused more on his career and as such he refused to do more than smile and nod so as not to give him anything else to judge him on even though all parties involved were aware of the pettiness getting played out behind the scenes. He didn't actually mind being called into the gym at 8am as it meant he got home quicker but being told minutes after he'd left the stadium that he'd need to go back for more physio work later in the afternoon just smacked of pettiness when he would have been quite happy to have stayed there the extra couple of hours and got it out the way to free up the rest of his day, but apparently, they had a schedule to keep.

He sighed. He refused to get angry because of it, and the truth was that when he was home he didn't have the inclination to waste time on being angry about things he had no control over. He refused to be one of those difficult people who thought he was entitled to everything he desired and he wasn't the only person on the planet who had a difficult time with his boss every now and again. At least he was well paid for it if nothing else. Besides, life on the road was stressful enough so he wasn't going to taint his time at home, the last few weeks he'd have alone with Gabriella, with pouting about basketball.

He shook his head, getting rid of any lingering negative feelings and picked up the ice-cream carton before he began heading towards the front door. If nothing else then his day being split up at least afforded him time to pick up the essentials like ice-cream and her recent obsession was strawberry laces. If their son didn't come out with ready-made tooth cavities it would be a minor miracle.

As he walked towards it though his attention was diverted as he looked up and saw an older man on the pathway leading towards the door, looking awkward and holding a bunch of flowers. "Excuse me, can I help you?"

The man stopped and Troy dropped jogged the few steps towards the older man warily. He was still paranoid about random people after his talk with his teammates, and that instinct was doubled by the fact that this man had been walking to his front door with a bunch of flowers, presumably meant for Gabriella.

"Um...hi. How are you?"

"Hi," he said cautiously as he dropped his bag and the ice cream down at his feet before crossing his arms over his chest. "Can I help you?"

"Actually," the guy said with a too broad smile that was clearly being used to hide his nervousness. "I was looking for your wife."

"My...wife?"

The older man nodded and before Troy could question him about what he could possibly want with Gabriella, he continued. "Yeah...you see, I saw her yesterday at your garage and we got to talking and I was telling her about how I was considering moving to this neighbourhood..."

Troy's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Maybe it was Isaac's warnings about talking to strangers, or the fact that Gabriella had been at the garage, or just the fact that this guy gave him a funny feeling but he did not like the idea of her having spent any time with this man at all. "Did you now?"

"Uh-huh," he said and he laughed. "I think I'm lucky she decided to call for a ride as I wouldn't have gotten to talk to her at all. Anyway, she seems a lovely woman – very nice and very pretty. You're a lucky man to be married to her..."

"Yeah, I am," he said, not bothering to correct the regrettable inaccuracy and not disguising his growing annoyance either. "May I ask why you're back again considering it sounds like it was a passing conversation like most people have with strangers?"

"Oh! Of course," he said with a nervous laugh as he reached down and held up the bunch of flowers. "You see, I think I was a little too inquisitive about the house and the neighbourhood to her and she sent me off to the realtor, but I felt bad and I didn't want her to think bad of me so I thought I'd bring a peace offering...don't want to start off on the wrong foot..."

Any semblance of friendliness that Troy had been extending immediately stopped as he straightened up and peered at the older man. At that moment he didn't care if he was a fan, a member of the press or a genuine regular guy whose story added up because all he cared about was the idea of a strange man harassing her at their own home and then coming back again. "Start off?"

"You know what I mean," the man said with a laugh, running a hand through his dark hair. "I just...it seemed right, you know?"

"So you're moving to the area?" he asked, quickly trying to calculate how much it would cost to get the front of the house fenced off if that were the case.

"God no," he shook his head. "It's a lovely area but it's beyond my price-range. My family...we couldn't dream of something like this at the moment. Must be nice to be a ball-player and travel around and get to come home to this. Beautiful house, beautiful wife..."

Troy didn't like the way he was talking and couldn't help but feel awkward. Obviously he'd had a lot of luck in life and people weren't always that lucky but at the same time, people didn't just talk like that to people they had just met. "Yeah, I'm lucky. There's lots of nice areas around though, just luck where you end up."

"Yeah, I know. I plan on getting my family into one of them real soon," he said with a nod. "A man's gotta do what he's gotta do for his family, right?"

"Yeah," Troy nodded as he looked at his house. He could appreciate that thinking. Family was important to both him and Gabriella and although they were both blessed with well paying careers, he was pretty certain that that particular thinking wouldn't alter if they had been in any other set of financial circumstances. "Family is what's important. All the other stuff...it doesn't count for much at the end of the day."

"Exactly! See, you two both get it."

"Get what?"

"How priorities work," he said with a nod of his head, suddenly looking more comfortable with himself. "Anyway...I was just going to give Mrs Bolton the flowers as a thank you/apology. Do you think I cou..."

"She's resting," Troy said immediately, not caring if it was true or not. "I'll let her know you dropped them off on your way back to..."

"Chicago..."

"Chicago," Troy said as he looked at the man. "Well, I'm sure she'll appreciate the thought. When are you leaving?"

The man met his gaze before he took a step back. "I have a couple of things to sort out before I leave, but I'll be gone in a couple of days."

"Excellent," Troy said with a too big smile on his face. "Well, since I won't be seeing you around here again, I hope you have a safe trip home."

He wanted to pat himself on the back for making his intentions clear without coming straight out and telling the man he wasn't welcome anymore but instead he turned around and headed back to his bag and picked it up.

"Sure...I'll do that," the man said as he stepped back. "Thanks for your time, Mr Bolton."

"Yeah, no problem" he said with a nod, before walking back towards the house and waiting until the guy began walking away before going in.

As the door swung closed behind him he took a deep breath and just inhaled the aromas of his own home. Gabriella had been going on a Jasmine kick since she fell pregnant and apart from when she insisted the house had to smell of gingerbread in December, without fail she had Jasmine oils sprinkled throughout the house. It had never been his favourite scent but perhaps it was because it was such a reassuring smell to him now, but he thought he would forever associate it with being home with her.

After he dropped his bag at the door he walked into the lounge to find Gabriella laying on it, her feet propped up with pillows and a Mario Kart wheel was quickly stuffed under a cushion in an effort to hode it from him as she beamed at him. "You're home!"

He grinned in her direction as he stepped towards her. Every time he was away for a few days she would spend the next week so ecstatic to see him every time he came home that his head spun just with the knowledge of how happy she was to see him. He never doubted, but he wasn't going to pretend it didn't make him happy that she always missed him as much as he missed her. "I'm home and I come bearing ice-cream," he said as he leant over and pressed a kiss to her head. "How are you feeling?"

He pulled back to see her and she shrugged, still smiling as she looked at him. "Still okay in the two hours since you called to ask me."

He bit his lip, trying to judge whether she was lying but not seeing anything obvious he let it slide. The visit the previous day to the doctor was an eye-opener and although Dr Caldwell was relatively content with sending her home (after some cajoling from Gabriella admittedly) Troy was still nervous and he knew he was being fussy, but...he was entitled to be fussy, right?

"How are you?"

"I need to go back in this afternoon. They're being jerks..." he mumbled and she sighed and reached up to his cheek, caressing it softly in an effort to comfort him.

"They're just worried because they know how good you are so are being extra careful with you, as well they should," she said as she leant over and pressed a kiss to his bandaged wrist. "Besides, at least you're home."

He nodded, feeling slightly bad that he hadn't yet shared with her the full extent of the conversation he'd had with the coach before he came home. Although he hadn't lied exactly, he had definitely given her the abbreviated highlights and although he knew logically that it had been the smart decision, it didn't make it any easier keeping it from her so instead of dwelling on the guilt he shook it off and agreed with her with a smile. "At least I'm home."

He let her lean her head against his hand for a moment before she pulled back, grinning mischievously. "Did you buy me flowers, Mr Bolton?"

He cursed internally at the fact that he'd forgotten to buy her flowers and for a moment contemplated lying and taking credit himself, but instead he decided on a different tack and jumped over the sofa to land beside her, lifting her legs and situating them on his own with a smirk. "I've been thinking..."

She eyed him suspiciously at the change of subject and dropped the wheel she was holding to appraise him fully. "When you think recently it usually involves you coming up with a reason why one of my names comes off the baby list or another reason why we have to pretend our spare-room isn't available for your parents when they want to stay..."

"Ha ha," he joked as he looked at her. "I've been thinking about something not involving your attempts at trying to name our baby after your fictional dream-men or my mom and dad then, happy?"

"Well in that case, Mr Bolton – what have you been thinking?"

"I've been thinking, Ms Montez," he said as he leant in almost conspiratorial towards her and lowered his voice. "That you should marry me."

He waited for a second and saw her eyes crunch in confusion as she looked at him like he was crazy. "I am marrying you. I have a ring and everything."

"Yeah, but you should marry me today," he said as he leant closer, tugging a little on the ring hanging round her neck. "You, me, a car, Elvis..."

She giggled and shook her head as she looked at him. "I think we know why we can't do that, Wildcat. In particular, because I would really like for us both to live to see our baby born and as our parents would kill us..."

"But," he said slowly as he pulled her up so she was sitting on his knee, his smirk never leaving his face as he watched her helpless giggles at his antics. He loved how she looked when she laughed, and smiled and it was times like this that reminded him why he had been so impossibly lucky to find her so early. "Don't you think it would be a good idea? You know, you being Mrs Bolton already I feel like it's only fair if we make it official..."

Her brow crunched in confusion and his smirk became a full on grin as he saw the confusion pass over her face. "I feel like I'm missing something..."

He laughed as he leant down and kissed her lips quickly, his grin never falling as he leant down and picked up the flowers and presented them to her. "You see, I was outside just now and there was a guy there and he said he had spoken to my wife yesterday and how he wanted to give 'Mrs Bolton' some flowers as a thank you, and an apology for taking up your time."

He was met by her blush and immediately he knew he hadn't been wrong to tease her as he met her gaze. "So...Mrs Bolton, did you or did you not tell some poor, random man that you were married?"

"I..." she bit down on her lip before burrowing her face into his shirt with a low groan. "It's not nice to pick on me when I'm carrying your baby and hormonal. It gives me a pass..."

"Is that a yes then?"

"I..." she pulled back and looked at him, her face still flushed. "I didn't tell him, I may have...failed to correct his assumptions...but I was hormonal, and missing you and..."

He silenced her with a kiss, smiling against her lips as he pulled back. "I may have failed to correct his assumptions as well."

She grinned up at him then before nudging him slightly in the chest with her hand. "And you made fun of me. I can blame hormones, what's your excuse?"

"Wishful thinking," he murmured as he looked at her, meaning it completely as her gaze softened and she reached up to stroke his face. "I wish I had married you months ago."

"Me too," she whispered as she leant in and nuzzled his neck. "But, it'll just be a few more months. No more interruptions. Finally,"

"Yeah, finally," he sighed as he closed his eyes, the smile at the prospect still on his face. "The guy...he said you were at the garage."

He felt her tense up and he forced his eyes to remain closed. "You weren't..."

"No I..." she sighed and pulled back, forcing his eyes to open. "I found my keys and I just...I wasn't seriously going to drive it, I just...I miss...independence...and my car...my battery if going to be ruined..."

He didn't say anything as he exhaled loudly. He understood her frustrations but his empathy didn't extend to accepting her being in any danger.

"If it makes you feel better I taped the keys back to a can of peaches..." she offered with an apologetic smile at finding his hiding place. "You can hide them again if you want."

"I don't get it - they make you sick so I figured you wouldn't touch them to find the keys..."

"I pulled them out by accident when I was looking for something to add to my yoghurt," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too," he mumbled. "And that was a lousy attempt at distracting me."

"Did it work?"

"I just want you safe, that's all. It would kill me if anything happened to you."

"That's why I didn't drive," she said as she pulled back and rolled her eyes. "I would have felt too guilty to even enjoy it. It turns out I'm not that rebellious. I guess you're a good influence on me."

"Can I extend that good influence and encourage you not to talk to strange men on the street when you're on your own?" he asked softly. "I know it's probably fine, but you remember what we were told. We have to be careful now, and even moreso with the crap with your parents and the stuff with the team and I just...I don't want to leave you open to dealing with any of that on your own. Guys will be looking for info and I just don't want you to have to deal with any of that, especially just now."

She nodded and laced her hand with his. "I realised that a little late. He seemed nice enough just a little...forward."

He nodded and looked at her. "I got rid of him, but I don't like that he was hanging around yesterday and then brought you flowers today. If I come out and he's holding jewellery tomorrow I can't promise I won't kick his ass."

She giggled then and pulled back. "I think he's a little old for me, Troy so I think I'll be okay..." she reached over and grabbed the card off the flowers. "He does have a good taste in flowers though."

"Yeah well, he's not working under John's gardening restraints," he muttered petulantly.

"I love John's flowers," she reassured him before turning to the card and opening it. "I wouldn't swa..." she paused and looked puzzled, her eye squinting to the note.

"What is it?"

"Please call me so we can talk," she said softly as she looked at the note and he immediately snatched it out her hand. It was all very well joking about but random men showing up at their house with flowers and phone-numbers wasn't anything to laugh about. "No name, just a number. That's weird."

Troy thought it was more than weird and although he liked to pretend it wasn't at least partial jealousy, he couldn't pretend that strange men giving her their numbers, and flowers and stalking outside the door was something he was okay with. "A guy giving his number to a beautiful woman isn't weird, but giving her his number via the guy he thinks is her husband is warped."

"Troy, he said he has a family," she said to placate him. "Maybe...maybe he's just old fashioned and really did just want to apologise properly?"

"He was standing at our house – he was going to see you in person," he argued as he shook his head. "I'm going to call him and tell him to stay away."

"He's probably just a fan of you," she said as she slid off his lap and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Just ignore him and don't give him anymore attention. If he comes back..."

"If he comes back I'm going to kick his ass," he said as he crumpled up the card as she yawned. "If you see him hanging around..."

"I will inform you so you can dish out said ass kicking," she giggled as she leant against him. "I'm ignoring the fact that you've never fought in your life because I'm being good and staying stress free."

He sighed and slid his arm around her. "I can fight."

"Wii boxing doesn't count," she said.

"Gabi," he said as he sat up and looked at her seriously. He understood that she didn't get it, but he needed her to realise that he would do whatever was necessary to protect her from any perceived danger regardless of whether it was in his skill set or not. "That wouldn't stop me if it kept you safe."

She pulled back and sat right up. "I know that, but I never want it to come to that. Ever." She leant over and wrapped her arms around him tightly, reassuringly. "If he keeps hanging around we'll call Lisa and she can come down in her uniform and scare him off. Please don't worry."

He nodded against her head, feeling useless but knowing she was right. Still, he reconciled as he glared at the bunch of flowers over the top of her head, understanding was one thing but not worrying? That wasn't going to happen and if it meant he had to be a little more careful with her, then so be it.

"So what time do you need to leave at?"

"Hmm...I'll leave around 2. Shouldn't be more than an hour or two unless they keep me in...again."

"Good," she sighed and released him with a bashful grin. "I like it better when you're here with me, Mr Bolton."

"What a coincidence then," he grinned back at her, letting her smile dispel his souring thoughts. "I like it better when I'm here with you too."

* * *

Gabriella yawned as she heard the knocking at the door and opened her eyes from what she had genuinely intended to be nothing more than a quick shut-eye but which seemed to have become an hour long nap. It really was true that the lazier you were, the lazier you felt and she was convinced she was more tired now that she did nothing but sleep than she had ever been when she had things to do every day. She understood that it was her body's way of preparing for the baby and that it was actually good for her, especially in her current state, to rest but it genuinely didn't make her feel any better to feel so useless.

She glanced at the clock, and realising that Troy wouldn't be home for another hour contemplated just going back to sleep and leaving whoever was at the door to go away, but another loud knock scuppered that idea and she reluctantly got up and waddled over to the door, almost amused at her own lack of grace. She used to be embarrassed to walk so gingerly but perhaps it was all the good natured teasing she had received, or the fact that she realised that she wasn't going to magically wake up as Heidi Klum and walk a catwalk while heavily pregnant, but she was almost beginning to embrace her penguin like gait. If nothing else it made her distinctive in a happier sense than being distinctive in the sense of being the pregnant woman who actually couldn't physically cope with being pregnant.

There was another loud knock at the door and she sighed. "I'm coming. Hold on."

Before she finished speaking though the door was rattled again and she could only roll her eyes as she reached it and opened it, wanting to chastise whoever was standing there but knowing deep down that she probably wouldn't do that. Still though, her heckles were raised as she turned to gaze at her visitor, only for her to stop when she saw who it was.

"Hello."

She froze, her hand at the handle preparing to close it as she gaped at the man standing there looking uncertain and reassuringly sheepish about his appearance at the door, but nevertheless she was aware that Troy had told him to leave a few hours earlier yet here he was again. She wasn't like Troy and didn't fear him, but on the same note she knew that this wasn't normal behaviour.

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'what the hell is this weirdo back again for' and...you're right, I know but..." he took a deep breath as he looked at her. "I just...I need a few minutes of your time, and then I'll be gone, I promise and I genuinely was going to leave it a few days so you could see that I'm a decent guy but..."

"You have to go. Troy told you..."

"He's not in," he interrupted quickly and she felt her heart race slightly at the idea that he knew that and although logically the absence of Troy's car made that an obvious assumption, logic didn't seem to over-ride her unease. "I...I swear to you I just want to talk, Gabrielle and all I need is a few minu..."

"You need to leave," she tried again, straightening up and preparing to slam the door shut, not caring to hear anymore and especially not interested hearing about how he knew her name. "Please don't come again."

"No, no...just...five minutes, please. I just want to ta..."

"Goodbye," she forced her voice to sound commanding and was about to close the door when he began talking again.

"You don't really look anything like your mom."

She froze mid action and felt her eyes widen as he gave her a tight smile. "Wh...what?"

"I mean you obviously look more like her than you do me, but...I wouldn't say there's an obvious resemblance there. Just two beautiful women. Funny. Some kids...some of them look so like their parents that it's almost cruel and then there are others who...I guess nature's kind and just gives them the best features. You got her eyes...and my hair...or what my hair used to be like before it started thinning out at least," he laughed before looking at her a little closer. "But outwith that...nothing."

Gabriella couldn't break herself from her stupor as she looked at him. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest and she could almost hear the blood flowing through her body because of it as she blinked rapidly to try and clear her vision. She had thought she had time before she had to deal with this and looking at the man standing there she couldn't see anything that she could have recognised as belonging to the man who provided half her DNA. She wanted to slam the door and call Troy and beg him to hurry home so they could work out what to do but he was standing there and looking at her and for some unknown reason she couldn't make herself move or even say anything.

"I...I know this is a shock, and believe me, I know you've got better things to be doing and...and I'm not here for trouble, Gabrielle. I'm just...I need five minutes, okay? I just...I know you don't owe me anything but...I just want to talk. Reconnect. Just...five minutes?"

She blinked at him, still clutching the door as if for dear life as she tried to calm her brain enough to think clearly. "I...Troy...come back when he's..."

"I..." he ran a hand through his hair until it reached his neck and the gesture was so like Troy's when he got nervous that she almost smiled. She wasn't sure if Troy would get a kick out of her mom being right about Troy sharing a trait with her dad or not, but at that moment she found it at least a little amusing. "I don't want the first time I talk to my daughter to be with her husband sitting there as the over-protective guard-dog..."

"Wildcat," she interrupted softly. "He's...we're...we're doing it together."

She didn't know if at that moment she was trying to tell him that they had planned on talking to him together, or if she meant that they were doing the pregnancy together and she desperately tried to find some equilibrium that would allow her to think and act rationally again so she could talk to him and tell him exactly what she wanted to without feeling like she was floundering like she felt at that moment. She knew the absolute most important thing for her to do was to keep calm but her heart was racing so loud she could almost hear it and she knew that she had to have some time to try and work past that initial reaction.

"Well..." he said reluctantly. "Why don't you call Troy and ask him to come home and while we wait on him, you and I can talk? Please. Five minutes and then I'll go and not bother you until Troy's here."

She bit down on her lip, pressing her bare toes into the welcome mat before nodding her head and stepping aside. Five minutes. Five minutes couldn't hurt anything.

She let him walk in as she closed the door and tried to force herself to breathe as she walked past him towards the kitchen. She picked up her cell, almost as a comfort gesture and indicated for him to sit as she contemplated whether or not to call Troy or wait and tell him when he was home. If she told him she was worried that he would rush home and she couldn't bear the thought of him driving in a panic so instead she opened up a text message.

'_Missing you so please hurry home asap. Love you lots ~ Gabriella xox'_

After sending it, she kept a grip of her cell and she felt it buzz almost immediately in reply and couldn't help the small smile pull at her lips.

'_Just getting my wrist wrapped (again), so should be home in around 30. Love you too!'_

Feeling immediately more at ease with Troy's imminent arrival she turned back to her guest cautiously. "Can I get you anything – coffee? Tea?"

"Scotch?" he laughed and she couldn't force herself to return it as he continued. "I'm sorry – that's obviously not funny, I was just meaning for Dutch courage. Um...I'll just have water please."

She nodded, pulled down a glass and went to the fridge and got a bottle of water before sitting it down beside him, not even remembering to offer him the glass as she kept her phone clutched in her hand. She tried to keep things organised – 30 minutes until Troy was home, five minutes then he'd leave, she didn't look like her mom, he didn't look anything like her, he wanted to talk to reconnect...

"This is a really nice place you've got here. I mean...wow."

She nodded, her eyes darting nervously around and she could see the cup she had been drinking tea out of earlier still sitting out, the blanket was mostly on the floor from where she'd been sleeping on the sofa, and Troy's bag was still lying by the door...they weren't faults, but suddenly she felt like they were something he could use against her as he kept looking around at the home they had spent so long constructing together.

"Have you got a yard?" seeing her nod he smacked his forehead with a laugh that seemed too forced and made her feel judged for some reason. "Of course you do. That's a stupid question, right?"

"What do you want?" she asked softly as she looked at him. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to get to kno..."

"Please don't lie to me," she interrupted her voice still quiet as she forced herself to be calm. "Please."

He froze then and lifted his gaze to look at her, a small smile tugging at his lips. "You're smart...I always knew you'd be smart."

"You make it sound like you actually thought about me," she looked at him, surprised at how cool her tone was considering she felt anything but cool inside. "Yet I'm pretty sure we both know that's not true."

"Don't listen to everything your mom says," he interceded quickly, his hands raised defensively. "She only ever saw her side of things."

"Just tell me the truth or leave, please," she said again, ignoring his statement and any inclination she may have had to want him to elaborate on it.

"I want to get to know you, Gabrielle. I want...I want to reconnect, to build a friendship..."

"Why now? Why...why not years ago?"

He paused and took a deep breath and he shook his head, looking almost shamed as he did it. "You know why. I'm sure your mother told you why – probably gleeful about karma or whatever."

"Give me your reason," she stated, willing to give him the out. If he told her any reason, she knew she'd grasp onto it desperately. "I just...I want to hear you tell me why now. So I know for sure."

He exhaled slowly as he raised his gaze to meet hers. "I came here because I need your help."

Unbidden her hand began to shake under the weight of the admission and although she had known this was never going to be a long lost dad, happily ever after scenario she still didn't want to hear her dreams be shattered out loud.

"I lost my business, my mortgage repayments are so far behind that I have no hope of making them and my daughter is going to college in the fall and has yet to realise that her college fund was emptied in order to keep a roof over her head."

"I don't understand. What...what has that to do with me?"

He looked pained as he looked at her. "I have no right to ask, I know that. I have no right to be here, I know that too but...a man will do anything for his family."

Maybe it was the masochistic part of her, or maybe it was the naive part of her that still secretly hoped that she might be included in that family, but whatever part it was she still felt the need to speak. "I don't understand. You...you showed up outside my house yesterday and you were nice, and then you bought flowers today and now...I don't understand..."

He looked genuinely tortured as he stood and part of her regretted that she was perhaps looking dense in front of him but she had to hear it clearly.

"Your mom told me that you married a basketball player. I'm not asking for charity...I will pay you back every penny...but...I need...do you understand?"

"She was right? You...you really...you really only decided to got to know me...for...for money?" the last word left her mouth in a broken whisper because even though she knew it was true, it still stung.

"I'm desperate," he pleaded as he looked at her. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

That answer caused her heart to break as she felt tears flood her eyes at that simple fact. If he didn't need something from her, he would never have bothered to look for her. She would have preferred him to continue to ignore her existence to that.

"That sounded worse than I meant it...I just...I would have done it right otherwise as I know this is awful timing for you, but I can't put it off and I hate that I have to do this, but put yourself in my position and tell me you wouldn't do the same," he continued. "You can help us, Gabrielle."

"Gabriella," she corrected in a whisper, her trembling hand finding her bump as she shook her head and stood, feeling the hurt begin to be joined by anger. He came to see her, but couldn't even be bothered to get her name right? He expected her to help him, help his family yet the only thing he bothered to learn about her was that she was in a relationship with a basketball player? "You keep calling me Gabrielle but my name is Gabriella. My name has _always_ been Gabriella, but you obviously wouldn't know anything about that, would you? You who would do anything for your _family_...God forbid you remember your first born's name!"

"I...I didn't mea..."

"Of course you didn't 'mean' anything. You never 'mean' anything. You and mom and your whole sick, twisted little games that I was an unknown part of. Please leave. Just...just go, please. Please."

"No, no," he said desperately as he approached her, causing her to take a step back and shake her head. "I'm sorry – my head is all over the place. I know it's Gabriella – I'm sorry. Please...I need your help. This isn't how I wanted this whole thing to happen, but I have no choice because I don't have the time to get to know you so you could see...you could see that I'm not a bad guy. I just...I wouldn't be here but there's no one else I can turn to."

"No one else? I don't even know you!"

"I'm Emilo Marquez, I'm 46, and I was married to Isabella Soire for three years. I'm a real estate agent, I have a wife called Katie, a son called Milo, a daughter called Meghan and a dog..."

Gabriella gasped as she brought her hand to her chest, not expecting the pain that her omission would cause.

"I need your help, Gabriella. I know I don't deserve it, but..."

"Get out," she whispered as she shook her head, trying to ignore the tears that were pulling in her eyes. "I don't even know you."

"I will pay you back! I swear, I will," he said as he stepped towards her as she tried to keep clear distance between them. "I get that this isn't fair but your husband plays in the NBA and you have a great career. I mean your mom...she keeps telling me how well you're doing for yourself. I know you can spare money for a few months...just a few months!"

"I'm not married," she admitted as she looked at him desperately. "I...we're getting married but we're not married yet. I don't...I don't know why she told you that...so...so you've had a wasted journey. Now...now please go. I don't know anything about you and although I'm sorry about everything, I can't..."

"I know this is fucked up, okay? If some random person showed up at my house and started selling me a sob story then I would react the same way," he stated as he looked at her, his brown eyes desperate and Gabriella didn't know him enough not to be afraid of him. He was her father in nothing but genetic terms – she had never seen or spoken to him before he had shown up outside her house yesterday and she had no idea of anything about him. "I'm desperate though. I don't...can you imagine what it feels like not to be able to provide for your family? Have you any idea what it's doing to my family not knowing if we're going to have a roof over our heads in a month? Or...or what it feels like knowing you can't send your child to a good college? Do you want me to beg? Grovel? I need your help and I'm not too proud to do whatever it takes. I'm your father, please!"

"My father's dead," she said as she shook her head, fighting her natural inclination to help with the warnings she and Troy had received right at the beginning about how people would try and exploit them and the overwhelming anger she felt towards this man who had no right to come to her and try and make some claim on her in an attempt to exploit her. "My father waltzed me around the room on his toes, and...and he bought me ice cream, and told me stories about princesses and castles. My father was there! You...you're some strange guy who I don't know who shows up when it suits him, when he can get something and to hell with anyone else! I know the guy who works at the florist more than I know you so don't say 'father' like it's supposed to mean anything."

"I...I understand that, and I know you're right," he said as he rubbed his eyes as though he were getting a headache. "Listen, I'm not asking for you to accept me with open arms, but if you just do this one thing and I'll be out of your life forever if you want."

She covered her eyes, not wanting to cry but unable to stop it. It was too much. She didn't want him involved with her life, but she also didn't want to hear that he had no interest in her, or his future grandchild, and although she should know better than to be hurt by it, she couldn't help it as all the conflicting emotions she was feeling came out in force. He could happily stand there and make demands on her, but he had no interest in building a relationship with her outside of what she could do for him and his family. "You were never in my life! You spoke to mom and not once did you call me, or send a card, or...or...you don't even know my name!"

"I...it was just too hard with you, Gabriella!" he pleaded as he looked at her. "I wasn't ready, your mom wasn't ready, we weren't ready and then knowing you were around just...it reminded me of what a failure we were. It was never about you."

"Don't you get it? It was always about me and I am sick...sick of you and her and all the drama you two create and how...how you are trying to ruin this for me. I am so happy when I don't have to deal with you two and so miserable when I do!"

"That's not my inten..."

"Just...I don't need either of you so just...just...leave me alone! I'm sorry about your home, but you know what – try moving 7 times in four years and maybe then you'll get a little bit of perspective about it not being the end of the world. I lived when my mom had to chase the higher salary. I dealt with earning myself a scholarship and I did it on my own so don't come in here and sell me your pathetic sob stories like you and your family are the only ones who have ever had a rough time like it justifies anything," She couldn't take it as she shook her head. "Please...please leave. Just...go..."

"I wouldn't be here unless I had to. I don't...this...this wasn't my intention I just..." he looked at her desperately before he shook his head and took a step back. "I'll let you think. I'll come back. I'll come back when Troy's here and we can talk..." he paused before he reached down and pulled out his wallet and she glanced and saw the photo of the happy family as he took it out and placed it on the table. "I know I screwed up big time with you and I know I can never make that right, and I'm in the process of screwing this lot up as well. I know I'm being a selfish bastard here and I hate myself for it, but any man who won't do anything he can to help his family isn't much of a man."

"Should of thought of the 23 years ago."

"I know I wasn't much of a man then," he said with a shake of his head. "Don't punish them in order to get back at me though. I may be an ass, but they're all pretty great."

She lifted her eyes to meet his and couldn't stop the tears from falling as she shook her head and whispered. "Why do you think I would care?"

His lips quirked in a sad smile as he shook his head. "Because...you're a better person than your father? I...I understand why you want to tell me to go to hell, but I hope you understand why I can't... You're going to have a baby soon, you'll understand then that you'll do anything for them, give up anything for them. I know...I know you will understand that one day."

She didn't hear the door close but as she heard it she felt the strong facade she had tried to adopt fall away completely as she fell to the floor and cried. She knew she had to try and hold it together for the baby, but the more she thought about everything the more she could feel herself falling apart. This was not how the day was supposed to go and no matter how much she told herself to forget it, to not think about it, the less she was able to forget. She didn't know what to do as she covered her eyes and sobbed into her hands.

* * *

Troy came home from the medical office clutching a bunch of flowers that he'd picked up from John's. It wasn't that he was trying to one-up the guy from this morning but...well; he was trying to one-up the guy from this morning.

"Honey, I'm home and I come bearing flowers not collected from creepy guys standing on our lawn," he teased as he walked in, dropping his bag. "Babe, if you're on Mario Kart again then I'm staging an intervention."

Not hearing any reply or any music he assumed Gabriella was sleeping and made his way to the lounge ready to tease her for not being able to hold out 30 minutes after texting him without falling asleep but quickly realised she wasn't there. Deciding to grab a drink for her he headed into the kitchen where he saw a picture sitting on the counter. He quirked his head to the side trying to identify who was there he froze, recognising the man from this morning standing alongside a group of other people. He shook his head wondering how the hell they had come into possession of that picture and getting ready to go and ask her until he looked down and saw Gabriella lying on the floor. In that second every thought left his head as his heart seemed to stop beating while he was almost frozen by panic. His heart stopped in that second and he almost vaulted over the chair that was between them as he crouched down beside her and grasped her desperately.

"Gabriella! Baby, please, please," he whispered as he turned her around and saw the tear tracks down her face and his hand found her wrist to make sure her pulse was okay before he leant close and felt her breathing. "Gabriella! Gabriella!"

He heard a soft moan come from her and that was all he needed as he grabbed her closer to him, stroking her head tenderly before he picked her up and headed to the sofa. He held her head between his hands and looked at her. "Gabriella, wake up...please baby. Please wake up."

Her eyes began to flutter and he closed his eyes in sheer relief as he leant forward and pressed his lips to her forehead and kept whispering her name desperately.

It took a few minutes for her to wake up, and when her eyes finally opened he was taken aback by the sheer agony that was projected back at him as she burst into tears again and clung to him desperately as though she would never see him again. He could do little else than hang onto her as he held her. "Don't scare me like that again, Gabriella. God, baby I love you so much. Please, please don't ever do that to me again."

She didn't answer and merely held onto him and that fact scared him more than anything. "Baby, please tell me what's happened. I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"Don't leave me," she whispered as she clutched him. "Please always want me."

His heart ached as he held her tighter to him, his hands alternating between stroking her hair and rubbing her back as he tried to work out how he was going to get her to hospital like this. "Baby – I always want you. Always."

"Please..."

"Gabriella," he forced out, his own voice cracking as he clutched her. "I need you to take a deep breath baby. Please," he pressed his lips on her cheek, her forehead and anywhere he could touch. "Please Gabi; I need you to listen to me, okay?"

She didn't say anything, but he could feel her nod as he brought a shaking hand up to hold the side of her face as he brought his lips to hers softly, enough to taste the salty tears as she gasped in for air. He pulled back just enough to look at her and he shook his head involuntary as he tried to work out how he could possibly fix this. He wasn't used to seeing her like this. Ever since he had known her he had seen her almost rational to a fault when it came to emotional upheaval and the fact that she was unravelling so blatantly in front of him because of things he didn't fully understand terrified him.

"I love you," he whispered fiercely, his eyes never leaving hers as his hands held her face steady as he repeated it again as he brought his forehead to hers. "You're mine and I am never, ever letting you go - do you understand me? It's not even a case of just want – I need you just to breathe, so you don't have to ask me to stay because I'm here forever, okay?"

Fresh tears fell from her eyes and she nodded as she wrapped her arms around him again and he clenched his eyes shut to try and prevent his own tears from falling at the sight of her like this. "Please talk to me, Gabriella. Please."

"He never wanted me," she murmured against his neck. "Just money and... and he doesn't care and...and he doesn't even know my name..."

He listened as her breathing slowed and he pulled back to find her looking at him, her eyes heavy. "Who?"

"The...the guy...he came back and I told him to go but he...he said I didn't look anything like him...or mom and...I...I...he just...he doesn't care that he's...a granddad or anything..."

Any surprise or anger that Troy felt at that information was swiftly buried by concern as he saw her eyelids droop again. "Gabriella," he said strongly as he cupped her cheek. "Listen to me, he doesn't matter okay?"

"He just showed up," she said as some sort of explanation. "I don't know how I didn't know...? I'm so stupid not to have known but I've never seen him so I just thought...stupid..."

Troy cursed the man as he tried to get the attention of his broken hearted fiancée. At this moment in time he didn't care about any of that as she looked at him so desperately to take the pain away. "Sweetheart, look at me – he's an idiot, okay? He is not worth anything and you are worth everything so I need you to forget about him and just think about me just now, okay? Can you...can you do that for me?"

She forced a smile on her face as she looked up at him and brought her hand up to his face before leaning up and pressing her lips against his. "I love you, Wildcat. I'm sorry for worrying you..."

He shook his head and offered her a small smile. "No – you have nothing to be sorry about. You...God, Gabriella," he breathed as he pressed his lips to hers desperately. "Just...I need to take you to the hospital. I need...I need to know you're okay, okay?"

He waited for her to argue, to tell him how they had just been, how everything was fine but instead was met with a small 'okay' as she leant her head into his shoulder and he felt her body sag with exhaustion as he sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that she would be okay.

* * *

Less than an hour later found Gabriella in a hospital bed as Troy kept ahold of her hand and bounced his knee rapidly as they waited on Dr Caldwell to see them. He intermittedly dropped a kiss on her hand and stroked the hair off her sleeping face as he kept glancing at the clock. The baby monitor was beeping steadily which said the baby wasn't distressed which was something, but it wasn't enough for him until he got the verdict on her.

"Troy?"

He turned around to see the doctor standing at the door with a small smile and he offered a tight one back as he stepped into the room. "Hi."

"You two can't get enough of me, huh? I would say I'm flattered but..." the man trailed off with a small laugh as he walked over and had a look at the machines and writing onto the chart. "Your son really likes in there, huh? Nothing seems to faze him."

"Yeah, he's always fine," Troy said as he brought a hand over to gently touch Gabriella's bump before pulling it back, almost feeling like the action was a betrayal to his fiancée and instead grabbing Gabriella's hand again tighter and pressing his lips to it. "Is she okay?"

"Well, her pressure's spiked, she's exhausted and...to be honest, I wouldn't feel comfortable sending her home like this," Dr Caldwell said slowly as Troy nodded and sighed. He knew that and as much as he accepted that, he had still hoped otherwise.

"How soon can she get out?"

"Troy," the doctor said as he looked at him. "I can't have this happening again. I really am edging towards keeping her here for the next couple of weeks and then delivering."

"That would still be early."

"I know that and in an ideal scenario we would let her carry full term but this is not ideal. The baby's strong and we're going to leave him as long as possible before we deliver but...she's not carrying full term and frankly, the fact she's got this far is pretty remarkable."

"I just..." Troy said as he looked at her and selfishly contemplating two weeks of waking to an empty bed and not having her cursing at Yoshi or kissing him goodbye in the morning... "I...if you think that's best...I just...she's not going to want it. I'll take the time off – she wouldn't be alone, at all – I promise."

The doctor looked at him and Troy could see the sympathy in the glance and immediately knew that he was going to get an answer to placate him while he was stressed. "I'll think about it but it will only be even a remote option if she's fine over the next couple of days."

Troy nodded as he bit down on his lip, his gaze going back to her face.

"Do you know what happened?"

"I came in and she was on the floor and she woke up crying," he said softly as he rubbed his tired eyes. "She was great in the morning and then when I came back in the afternoon...she was so upset..."

"Being emotional, confused and fatigued is all very normal," the older man said as he walked to the foot of the bed. "Her hormones are flying around all over, which coupled with her own issues in regards to not sleeping and the BP issues, it's actually pretty normal to have adverse reactions to things that normally wouldn't phase you. I know this hasn't exactly been a glowing endorsement about the wonders of parenthood for the pair of you but...it is extremely unlikely that this will happen next time."

"I can't have anything happening to her," Troy whispered as he looked at his fiancée. "Just do whatever you have to do to make sure she's okay."

"Troy, she's going to be fine. Her main issue is exhaustion which is natural, but her body's just too drained to cope with it. Her BP is high, but we knew that would be the case. The baby is just taking a little more out of her than her body can handle just now..."

"Then induce her," Troy turned around and pleaded, the idea seemingly solving all the problems. The baby would be induced and Gabriella would recover and they could all go home within days instead of weeks of them all being on their own. "You said yourself that he's strong. Well...Gabriella's not strong just now and she needs...she needs you to take him out and then they'll both be fine."

"I'm not inducing unless absolutely necessary," Dr Caldwell dismissed him with a shake of his head as he replaced the chart again. "Troy, the longer that she can carry him the better."

"She collapsed on the floor, which makes it necessary! What if I hadn't been home? What if I had been late? We've looked after the baby the whole way through, but what about her?" Troy tried to argue. "Just...the baby will be fine, but Gabi..."

"Will be fine," the doctor interrupted. "I understand that you're frightened about her, but I am looking at this dispassionately and I am telling you that everything will be fine. Don't make rash decisions."

"If it were your wife...if it was her, and you were sitting here, would you think it was rash?"

The doctor smiled then and shook his head. "No I wouldn't, but I would hope the doctor would be smart enough to convince me. I swear to you, Troy I will not endanger either of them and the minute there's a change then I will act on it."

"I can't lose her, I just..." he leant his head against the bed, her hand pressed back to his lips as he tried to shake the awful feeling. "I just need her to be okay."

"She will be. I know you got a scare, but it honestly looked a lot worse than it was."

"That's easy for you to say," Troy said as he looked back at Gabriella, her dark lashes in stark contrast with her too pale skin. She looked fragile and delicate and he was terrified she'd break.

"I know it is," he conceded with a sigh. "But when she wakes up, I'm sure she'll tell you the same thing. I just need for you to relax and to trust that we know what we're doing. I wouldn't expect to tell you how to shoot a three pointer against the T-Wolves next week, I trust you know how to do that without my input so just...just remember that she's not the first and she sadly won't be the last case I see like this and in the disaster scale, this is nowhere near as bad as it could have been. It's important to remember that this isn't something unusual."

Troy nodded and sighed. He knew there was a lot of sense there, but he couldn't take any of it in. It was easy for the doctor to say that it was fine, that it was just one of those things, but to him, to Troy it was unusual. He wasn't used to the idea of going home and not having Gabriella there, he wasn't used to the idea of his fiancée collapsing on the floor in an emotional heap and he didn't accept that they got lucky with how severe her symptoms were.

"Not unusual for you, but it is for us."

"And that's why you have to trust me," the doctor said as he walked to the door. "I'll be back in a little while and then the three of us will decide how we're going to proceed. Seriously though, relax and trust me, it's why I get the big bucks. In a few hours when she's begging us to let her go home again you'll wonder why on earth you were so worried. Relax."

Troy didn't respond as he picked up her hand and pressed another kiss to it, the action as much for his benefit as for hers. The doctor telling him to relax was one thing, but he knew that no man would be 'relaxed' with the knowledge that the woman he loved was in any sort of danger and he refused to apologise for it. He sighed as he shook his head and let it drop against the bed – his frustration, fear, anger, fatigue and every other emotion rallying against each other as he closed his eyes. He knew he had to be strong and have all the answers and keep it together, but at that moment he felt anything but capable of doing that but he figured, maybe at that moment, with Gabriella sleeping, the doctor gone, the drama with his team long since forgotten and the spectre of her family lingering at home away from the hospital that maybe, for a minute, that was okay. Maybe, in that moment it was okay to be weak and just feel, so he did and it was only when, after an unknown number of minutes had passed, he felt soft fingers running through his hair, cajoling him to look up from his self-imposed exile that he looked up to see her own weary, emotional, pained expression that so closely mirrored his own that he realised that maybe they could be weak in this moment together, and after that they would build each other up again. It was always how they worked best after all.


	18. Don't Make My Baby Blue

**AN – funny story, but this was actually supposed to be out last week, but in the midst of editing I got a leeetle bit distracted with other stuff (this is why I have like 10 unfinished fics on my hard-drive, inspiration strikes me at inopportune moments.) Better late than never, right? Thank you for all your reviews of that last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too!**

**Ps – this is long, but I couldn't cut because I wanted all this done in this chapter. So...sorry about the length (but not really, because it had to be there. ;))**

* * *

_Troy had never considered himself a needy guy who needed constant attention, but as he glanced longingly at the too slowly moving clock he suddenly realised that he may very well have been someone like that. He was alone, in a still strange house, in a still strange city and although professionally things were going well, he couldn't help but feel a little out of place. They had been in New Orleans for a grand total of 33 days, and for 24 of those days he had been out of state. He had returned to find the shell of a house he had left no longer existed as Gabriella had started to turn the generic house into something for them to live in. Some of the walls had been painted, photographs had been hung, his game console had been set up, his signed basketball jersey had been displayed, her books had been arranged and the kitchen had been stocked with everything from Lucky Charms to Soy Milk – in 24 days she had been working her ass off so he could come home and find...well, find a home._

_It bothered him that his pregnant fiancée had gone to all that trouble while he had spent most of his time doing sight-seeing and undertaking usual rookie hazing rituals especially as he was pretty sure they could have had an equally strenuous pre-season build up at home. He was rapidly learning that it was all about 'the product', so he basically had to suck it up, deal with his five junk minutes in random pre-season games and try and ignore the fact that he was doing that while she was thousands of miles away dealing with the new house, morning sickness and a new job in a place they didn't know._

_He sighed – he wasn't ungrateful because he had enjoyed the tour. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, it was just so...different and he wasn't sure if it was different in a good way or not. He missed how easy it had been before and although he was excited about the NBA, it just was tempered with some sort of extreme...downside. In this case, the downside was that he had missed this time building a home with Gabriella. He had been present when every wall had been painted in their apartment in LA; he had helped unpack every box...here though in what was going to be their long-term family home? His contribution had been pathetic but he had been planning on rectifying that and spending that much needed time with her, helping her._

_His good plan had been fine in theory until he had come home and had all of one day with Gabriella before she had to leave town for a couple of days for something relating to her new job. Her trip had only left him with a few blessed hours with her before he had to face an empty house and although he understood; he couldn't help but hate it. He knew he was a hypocrite – he had obviously been gone much longer than she had but the house, the city, the whole thing just felt wrong when she wasn't there. At least when he was away he had been in random hotel rooms, or on a plane and it was easier to deal with that because it was 'work', but coming home and still not being able to be with her? That just felt wrong..._

_He sighed and looked at the clock again. She was due in around 11pm and although he was planning on picking her up, he figured leaving for the airport eight hours before the plane was due to arrive might be considered overkill which meant he had approximately five and a half hours to kill. He had distracted himself over the two days by putting up shelves, painting walls, putting a basketball hoop up, emptying boxes, attempting to put together the swing-seat for the garden and becoming somewhat familiar with the local area, but despite all his efforts, he couldn't help but wonder how she did it? How did she avoid screaming at him for leaving her alone so much never mind leaving her alone in a place that they didn't even know? He hated it and it had only been a couple of days._

_The difference was that she had always been a practical, roll with the punches kind of person - years of packing up and settling in a new town would do that to you so he supposed this wasn't anything different for her to suddenly deal with sorting out a new house and meeting people and adjusting quickly. For him though? He had stayed with his parents until he was 18, moved to California on his own but with the knowledge that his girlfriend was only a call away after that, actually moved in with his girlfriend in California at 19 and then moved to New Orleans with his fiancée after that. He was used to stability..._

_He dropped his head back and covered his face with a cushion and groaned. He was a hypocrite and probably sexist and insensitive and all that, but he couldn't help it - he __hated__ that she was out of state. They had been apart for so long and this house was just...alien without her in it. He wanted to talk about what colour to paint the baby's room, and whether to stain the wood finishes and try out local restaurants, and go explore for places they could escape to together and he absolutely wanted to spend at least a day getting familiar with their new bed in their new bedroom in their new house and new city, dammit!_

_He didn't know how long he sat there pouting and feeling sorry for himself but he was broken out of it when he heard the doorbell ring which forced him out his self-pity, at least temporarily. He took one last glance at the clock as he got up and realised that it was probably one of the neighbours again, hoping to check up on the new couple to make sure they didn't fit the young sports star stereotype. He supposed he couldn't blame them for being cautious but anyone who knew them would realise they weren't really those type of people..._

_He opened the door, ready to greet them with a smile when his jaw dropped open as he saw Gabriella standing there, a small smile on her face as she looked at his dumbstruck expression. "What are you...? How did you...you're here!"_

"_Surprise, Wildcat," she grinned at him. "I got finished early and I was able to switch my flight. Are you surprised?"_

"_Surprised? Hell yeah! I would have picked you up," he said as he reached over and pulled her into his embrace, his arms locking tightly round her as he brought her inside. "God, baby I missed you so much. I'm so glad you're here."_

"_I missed you too," she sighed as she held him just as tightly. "I couldn't wait to get home."_

_He merely nodded as he all but dragged her down the hallway into the lounge. His hands found her face and smoothed back her hair and he grinned down at her before kissing her deeply. As he pulled back his smile didn't leave as he kept his hands on her while her eyes fluttered open as she gazed at him. "I'm so glad you're here. How did you manage to finish early – I thought he was a hardass?"_

_Her smile left her as she made an almost annoyed face even as her hands found their way around his back again, one hand going under his shirt to lie against the warm skin of his back. "My exemplary references and training in filing medical reports made me surplus to requirements. Truthfully, I think because I was feeling a bit woozy again yesterday that he wanted me gone. Plus they were going for 'a drink' and as they're medical professionals, I think the pregnant woman was kinda putting a dampener on things."_

_Hearing her admit to not feeling 100% always freaked him out. The morning sickness was bad enough, but for whatever reason she was also having dizzy spells and she'd even fainted a couple of times. At first they were convinced it was just normal pregnancy stuff, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't getting worried._

"_Baby," he murmured as he pulled her towards the sofa, not even letting her take her jacket off as he pulled her onto his lap. "Not that I'm not glad that you got home early, but I really think we should go to the doctor about that."_

"_I know," she sighed as she leant against him, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw as she did so. "I'll call him tomorrow and see if I can get some iron supplements or something. It's getting kinda annoying."_

"_Yeah, we'll get it sorted," he nodded as he responded by kissing her head. "I really missed you."_

"_I missed you too, Troy," she reassured him as she pulled back with a smile. "So much. What did you get up to while I was gone? Anything exciting?"_

"_Meh...you know me - X-Box, painting, showing the world my DIY skil..."_

_He was interrupted as his stomach growled loudly and she looked at him in amusement. "But not showing off your cooking skills, evidently. I bought groceries before I left so that you would be well fed."_

"_I don't like cooking when it's just me...it's easier to catch something at the stadium or snack..." he said defensively and he saw her lift her hand and slap his shoulder lightly. "Sorry!"_

"_You are such a guy sometimes, Troy Bolton," she said as she shook her head and made to stand. "What would you do if I never had proper meals at home when you were away and just lived off canteen food and ice-cream? You need to look after yourself," she sighed and rubbed her head in exasperation. "I am never going to be able to leave you alone for any length of time in case you starve yourself."_

_He didn't see a negative in her not leaving again, but recognising the whole hypocritical/sexist/irrational thought for what it was, he decided against voicing it as she got to her feet._

"_Where are you going? I'm sorry I didn't cook – I promise it won't happen again, so don't be mad at me and sit down again."_

"_I," she said as she leant down and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Am going to go get changed while you raid the phonebook and order us dinner. Then, after that, you and I are going to sit here and be boring together and talk boring things, like work, and paint colours, and fabrics and anything else that crosses our minds, because I missed you and I don't want to do anything else but be with you tonight and then, if my silly fiancé has enough energy after not eating properly, he's going to take me to our room where we are going to spend the rest of the night being anything but boring..."_

"_This is why I love you, Gabriella - you always come up with the best ideas," he sighed in contentment as he let her ghost her lips over his. "And I have plenty of energy for all those plans, just so you know..."_

_She giggled then and he couldn't help but grin dopily up at her, seeing the happiness radiate off her. "I had a funny feeling you would have, Wildcat. Tomorrow I am showing you how to make basic food so I don't need to worry about you not being able to feed yourself anymore. Can't have our baby thinking that daddy can't cook on nights that aren't called Friday and reinforcing so many bad stereotypes..."_

_He grinned – a night with her all to himself was well worth her threats about the cooking lessons so the compromise sounded fair to him. "I can live with that."_

"_Good – it's a date," she grinned as she straightened up, her fingers brushing through his hair gently and he almost lost himself in the caress until she spoke again. "I really didn't like being away from you like that, Troy. It felt different than when you go away. I don't think I could ever do what you do...I'd hate not having stuff around me reminding me that it was only temporary and that you'd be coming back. I know that probably sounds really pathetic, huh?"_

_He looked up at her and he saw how sad she looked at the thought of it and carefully grabbed her wrist and pulled her down gently until she was on his lap. "I love you," he whispered as he kissed her softly, his lips moving against hers in a physical manifestation of the whispered words. "And I hate being away from you as well. Trust me, it isn't any easier for me, so don't feel bad for feeling like that. I'd hate to think that you went away and liked being gone."_

"_Never," she whispered as she kissed him again. "I could never like that. Turns out...I'm kinda a home bird, I think. Weird, right?"_

"_Not weird," he nodded as he pulled back and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Knowing you're here, happy and that I always get to come home to you...that's the only thing that could ever make me get on the plane to leave."_

"_I love you," she murmured even as he was blessed by her smile as she snuggled into his neck, only to cringe back when his stomach growled again. "I love you even when you half starve yourself because you're too lazy to cook for yourself."_

"_I didn't hal..." his defence was interrupted by her look and he knew it was better just to shut up and let it go so he merely offered her his most charming smile. "You know, I might not be able to cook but I made the swing outside, proving that I'm not completely useless when you're not here. That counts for something, right?" seeing her amused look he quickly carried on. "So, as I have unparalleled swing building skills, can I tempt you to have dinner with me in our backyard, Ms Montez, soon to be Bolton?"_

_Her playful eye-roll told him he was forgiven even before she spoke._

"_I'm sure you could convince me to do just about anything," she said before stepping away. "You order dinner while I go make myself at home again by getting out these clothes and snagging one of your shirts while they still fit me. Then we can start our night."_

"_I'll order a lot...keep our energies up," he winked at her and saw her cheeks colour as she shook her head at him. "What?"_

"_Just..." she giggled as she backed away and motioned to the phone. "Order dinner. We'll worry about keeping our energy, and anything else, up later."_

_He laughed as she disappeared only and he couldn't help but smile stupidly - she was making herself at home, in their house and although at that moment he was sitting in the exact same position he had been an hour earlier when all sort of thoughts had been running through his head, his feelings about everything had flipped 180. Just the idea that she was there, that they were there together made it all fit and he could see it all – the idea of her bag not just lying on the floor, but lying on __their__ floor, or her kicking her shoes off in their room, or even the idea of them eating bad takeaway food on a haphazardly built swing in the cool night air out in their yard before heading in and making love on their bed, in their room, in their house made a difference. _

_Her being there made the difference and it was because of that he suddenly felt like he had finally made himself at home as well._

_

* * *

_

Gabriella opened her eyes to find the room still in darkness as she moved slightly, rustling the unfamiliar feeling bed-covers as she did so. It took a few seconds for her foggy mind to clear and remind her that she wasn't at home and was instead at the hospital. She had no idea what time it was, but as she looked down to see Troy leant over on the chair with his head resting against her bed, holding her hand while she was asleep she suddenly realised that it was either really late, or more worryingly, really early. She had been so tired earlier and she suddenly felt guilty for being so out of things that she hadn't thought to make sure he went home to rest properly. He was going to have such a sore neck...

She frowned as she carefully extracted her hand from his and laid it against his head and ran it down towards his neck where she rubbed soothingly. His sigh of contentment at the action almost made her give up her efforts at waking him, but she knew he had to get some proper rest and he wasn't going to get that there.

"Troy..." she whispered as she moved her hand up into his hair. "Wildcat..."

His response was a muffled grumble and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Baby..."

He stilled and she waited until he sat up abruptly, almost dazed as he looked around. "What? Are you okay? Do you need the doct..."

"Troy, I'm fine," she tried to soothe, hating to see him so on edge. She knew she had terrified him when he had found her, and she hated that but she didn't know how she could possibly soothe his concerns. "I promise you. I'm sorry I woke you, I just...you were going to hurt your neck..."

"What?" he blinked as he rubbed his neck almost to illustrate her point, and he looked so adorably confused by life that she couldn't help but reach for him. Her efforts at getting closer to him were hampered as he looked at her in horror as she tried to sit up. "What are you doing?"

"I...I was going to sit u..."

He shook his head frantically. "No. You need to rest. It's only..." he looked down at his watch and groaned. "It's only 3.20, so you need to rest."

"But..." she looked at him almost desperately. "You have to go to get therapy in the morning. You need to sleep."

"I slept," he yawned as he gave her a tired smile. "I will sleep."

"Go home and sleep properly."

"No," he shook his head. "Not happening - I spoke to the doc and he said I could stay tonight just to make sure everything was okay so..."

She bit her lip. She didn't want him to be uncomfortable, but a selfish part of her was really glad he was staying. With everything that had happened she was still feeling...she wasn't really sure what she was feeling. Raw? Insecure? Angry? Hurt? Probably some combination of them all, but regardless - she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone right now. They hadn't talked at all about what had happened, or what had been said and she knew they had to at one point, but she just didn't have the energy for it just now. She was just so tired about the whole situation and all she wanted was to be with him so it was just the two of them in a bubble, away from everyone else who could hurt them. "Did you call anyone?"

He shook his head and she saw him straighten up, almost determinedly. She didn't understand the look and it disappeared quickly as he took her hand and offered her a smile. "I was going to but...we don't need anyone, Gabriella. People...they just keep complicating things for us and...I know it's stupid, but...I don't want anyone just now. I mean, if there's any major news I'll call, but...I think we're fine together with this, right? I'd call someone if you wanted me to...but..."

She shook her head quickly to dissuade his thinking. If she were honest she was about as eager for interference as he was – she didn't want drama, or bad feelings or any issues just now and that would be easier if people weren't flying in from all over to help. "That's all I want, Troy. Just us right now."

He tilted his head and smiled. "I just...we don't need their drama. I won't let anything happen to you again, Gabriella. Not if I can help it."

"You didn..."

He shook his head and cut her off. "I knew there was something weird about him. I knew it. I should have realised..."

"He was my father and I didn't even recognise him, Troy. I didn't even consider it, and he's physically related to me. If I couldn't, why would you?" she asked softly as she edged herself towards the edge of the bed. "Come up."

"What?"

"If you're staying, you're not sleeping on the chair. Come and lie with me," she said, needing to be closer to him, especially if they were having that sort of conversation. He hesitated for a moment before quickly standing and kicking his shoes off and squeezing in beside her. He had barely lay down when she wrapped her arms around him, her face pressed against his shoulder and her eyes squeezed shut as his own arms wrapped around her. Neither of them said anything for a while – she was content to listen to his heart beat and feel his breathing slow down and he seemed content to play with the ends of her hair and kiss her head at regular intervals as they reassured themselves that things were better now.

"I was so scared today..." he said eventually, his voice weak and she turned her head up to look at him but could see he wasn't looking at her. "If anything ever happened to you, Gabriella – if I ever lost you...I don't even know...I couldn't...it would kill me."

She didn't know what to say. She wanted to promise him that nothing would happen to her - that she'd be fine and the baby would be fine but promise was a big word, and she didn't throw it around lightly. It didn't matter that she was a positive person; she knew that she had ridden her luck a little in regards to this pregnancy already.

So she couldn't promise that. Instead she reluctantly unlocked her hands from around him and reached up and grabbed his face so his red, tired eyes could meet her own watery ones. "I'm in the hospital and nothing can go wrong now. I never...I can't even think of anything happening to you and I know that you've been scared and I'm sorry for that, but...I love you, Troy - so much and I know that we'll be fine now. Everything will be better from here on out."

"I know, I just..." he shook his head before closing his eyes, pulling her a little tighter. "This whole thing feels so much bigger than what we signed on for. I'm the world's most whiny NBA player because I miss my college schedule, our baby is killing you, our family is...psychotic..."

"Hey – your family isn't psychotic and our baby isn't killing me, Troy. He's just...he needs more than I can give him just now. That's my fault, not his."

She didn't like the idea of him blaming the baby for what was happening to her, but suddenly little things like him not touching her bump as much since the time she had been in hospital before, to not making as many references to the things he would be teaching him all began to fit. Part of her was angry that even a small part of him could blame their son for her inadequacies, but she wasn't stupid – they both had a natural instinct to protect the other, and Troy wasn't carrying the baby so he didn't understand it fully. She reached up and pulled his hand down and held it against her bump, her hand on top of his so he couldn't move it. "This is our baby, and he's going to be perfect and if that means I have a few months of feeling bad, then I make that swap any day, Troy."

"I just..." he began, but she almost smiled as he began rubbing small circles on her bump. "I just hate seeing you so run down. Logically, I know it's just one of those things, but I don't feel very logical when you're in a hospital bed," he said and she could hear the exasperation in his voice. She knew he was conflicted, she was as well but she'd rather he got it out his system now instead of building it up. "I just...I just ugh...it's too late to think about all this. We'll talk about that, I promise I just...not now, okay?"

She nodded and smiled up at him, agreeing as he leant down and kissed her softly, his eyes softening at they looked at her. "How can you be so sick and so tired yet still be so beautiful?" he asked as he brought his free hand up and ran a finger over her face, under her eyes and down to her lips. "What did I do right to get so lucky?"

"Lucky?" she shook her head, but before she could continue he had pressed the finger over her lips.

"Lucky. Any man would be lucky to have you, Gabriella, yet you still chose me. That's why I'm lucky."

She felt her eyes water as she nodded happily, not even capable of forming words to repeat the sentiment to him even though she felt it. His sheer sincerity, the fact that she knew he was saying it because he knew she was feeling fragile and he wanted to reassure her that no matter what he would be there and the fact that he believed every word was almost too much for her and she just wanted to bury herself against him and let the whole world disappear.

She forced herself to keep it together though as she looked up at him, aware of the tears in her eyes but not bothering to wipe them as she brought her hand to his face. "I love you. I'm lucky too – I don't need anything else, ever. I'm going to have my two guys. Who could ever ask for anything else?"

* * *

It was a few hours later that Troy walked into the empty house and leant his head back against the door. A night at the hospital had been followed by Gabriella insisting that he went to his gym session at the stadium and then went home to get some rest. To him it seemed obvious – she was dangerously sick so he should be with her, but she point blank refused to let him stay and insisted that his life didn't get 'screwed up' because she ended up in hospital again.

Knowing there was no point arguing with her he had reluctantly left and although he knew she was probably going to sleep for the few hours he wouldn't be there, it still made him feel uneasy to be away from her when there were so many question marks remaining.

Not as uneasy as he felt walking through the door and realising that not only wasn't she there, but potentially she might not be there for weeks.

He banged his head back against the door. This was a nightmare.

The doctor had cancelled the consultation with them that afternoon, and Troy knew that it wasn't a great sign about her prospects of getting home if they needed an extra night to try and get the medication to work. He wasn't an idiot and it only took one look at Gabriella to see that she wasn't any better and although part of him was happy that she would have 24/7 medical attention, a larger part of him was dreading the fact that she would be in a hospital for weeks.

This was not the way this was supposed to happen.

He groaned and pulled away from the door. The whole situation was just exhausting but he wouldn't be able to think clearly about it until he knew she was going to be okay, and the only way he could really reassure himself about that was to get back to the hospital and make the most of the few hours before he had to come home again. Fighting back the instinct just to leave straight away, instead he forced himself to go into the kitchen to put the coffee machine on before he went for a shower to try and ease some of the tension in his body.

His de-stressing efforts weren't overly helpful, but it did clear his mind and once he was finished up, he reluctantly began packing a bag for her - filling it with everything she might need, ranging from underwear, to clothes, toiletries, her hair brush, her iPhone and a book. He didn't know how long she was going to be gone, so he packed light more in hope than expectation. He tried to be logical about the whole thing, but the bag almost bore the brunt of his ill feelings as he fought against the urge to kick it every time he put an item inside it.

Realising how childish he was being he almost smiled as he shook his head. "Yeah, cause that will make things better, right?"

Finishing up in the bedroom, he grabbed it and took it back into the lounge and quickly walked over and grabbed the sorry excuse for a blanket she was so proud of and sat it carefully on top of the bag. She'd accuse him of sabotage if anything happened to it.

After a quick glance at his watch, he decided that he had been gone long enough and was about to head to the kitchen to turn off the coffee machine when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Go away," he murmured as he turned away from the noise and was about to continue on to the kitchen when the door rattled again. "Dammit."

He cursed himself for not ignoring it as he stomped towards the door and opened it, planning on quickly getting rid of whoever was standing there. The problem was that as soon as Troy opened the door and he realised that there was no way that he was getting rid of this visitor quickly.

"Oh, hi! I know you probably weren't expecting to see me today," the man said as he looked up, clearly surprised at seeing Troy standing there. Troy's eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the man responsible for putting Gabriella in hospital. How on earth did he have the guts to come here again after what he did? "Um...I wasn't expecting you...I'm Emi..."

"I know who you are. What are you doing here?"

"I..." the man looked uncomfortable as Troy's eyes narrowed further. "I just thought...is Gabriella home?"

"No," Troy forced out, his grip tightening on the door handle as he tried to control his desire to punch this man for what he'd done. He knew he had to keep calm, but he also knew that he had to get some sort of resolution over this. He couldn't have that question-mark hanging over them because if Gabriella was coming home, he wanted to know that she wouldn't have to deal with this so without thinking, he quickly added."Why don't you come in and wait for her?"

"No...I can come back. No point disturbing you both..."

"No. I insist," Troy flashed a tight smile as he stepped back and let the man into his home, silently counting in order to try and control himself. "Have a seat in the kitchen. I assume you know where it is since you were here yesterday. You know, after I had already told you to leave."

"I..."

"I insist," Troy repeated as he guided the man to the kitchen and went over and pulled cups out for the coffee, for no other reason than to keep his hands occupied with something that wasn't wringing the older man's neck. "Coffee?"

"Is she due back soon?"

Troy's hand froze slightly before he took a deep breath and resumed pouring the coffee. "Hopefully."

"I just..." he heard the older man exhale sharply. "I just don't want to waste your time when Gabriella is the one who I came to talk to. I'm her fa..."

"Her mom's sperm-donor? Yeah, I know who you are," Troy interrupted coldly, closing his eyes and lifting a caffeine filled cup to his lips. He never drank black coffee, but the bitter taste was a welcome distraction. "I'm her fiancé, but you know that as well."

"I...if she's due back soon I can come later. Can...can you tell me when she's due back?"

"I don't know when she'll be back," Troy said as he took another drink. "Unfortunately."

"I...what do you mean? We...we were supposed to meet up."

"Were you?" Troy rolled his eyes. Was he seriously going to stand there and lie to his face? "You were supposed to meet up?"

"Yeah...we agreed..."

"You agreed," Troy repeated the lie back, giving him a chance to take it back but when he didn't he continued. "So what were you two going to do when you agreed to 'meet up'? Have dinner? Catch a movie? Reminisce over old photos of Gabriella's graduation or something?"

The older man blinked in confusion. "I don't know what you mean..."

"I asked - what were you going to talk about? Were you going to try and get to know her? Find out about the 22 years you missed out on? Were you going to ask her about her job, or our baby or...I don't know, race her at Mario Kart or...talk about the weather? Something?"

"We were just..." he looked at him and sighed before giving him a small smile. "You know we weren't going to talk about any of that stuff."

He nodded his head, of course he knew that. Wanting to talk about any of that stuff would be a sign that he wanted a relationship, that he had some level of regret. That he wasn't solely interested in using her.

"She's not home." Troy forced himself to say. He had wanted to evaluate this man, this person who had caused so much pain to Gabriella but it just seemed the more he saw of him, the less he understood. The less he understood how this man could have the gall to behave the way he had, and the less he understood why on earth Isabella Montez had been under his spell for so many years. "You should leave."

"When will she be back? Listen...I know you don't li..."

"Yeah, I don't like you. And yeah, she'll be back but you won't be here, so it doesn't matter." Troy said slowly as he took a step towards the table, holding his cup as he peered at the man. He couldn't see the resemblance – he figured he would be able to identify a part of the woman he loved in this man, yet he couldn't see anything. Her soft features contrasted with his angular ones, he was broad and she was slender, she loved unconditionally and he didn't have that capacity in any bone in his body.

"I have things to discuss, with her."

"Um, let me see – about money, right?"

"What? She...she told you? Huh...I guess...I guess that's understandable," he smiled and Troy couldn't help but feel infuriated at the gesture. "It's funny – her mom and I, communication was never really our thing. I just assumed..."

"Yeah well, she's nothing like you," Troy said. Did he really think that she wouldn't have mentioned something like that? "You wouldn't know that of course, since you met her for the first time two days ago."

"I know, I didn't mean it like that," he said with a shake of his head. "Where is she?"

"Where is she? You know, that's a funny story. I came home from training yesterday to find my heavily pregnant fiancée collapsed on the floor and when she regains consciousness she breaks down in tears because, apparently, the asshole who fathered her showed up randomly at our door and made her feel like shit."

"I..." the man made to stand up, but Troy was too quick as he sat his cup down and stood in front of him, pushing him back in the seat. "I didn't mean..."

"What? To hurt her? To use her? To wait until she was on her own? What didn't you mean?"

"I know how this looks, but I swear that wasn't my intention. I didn't mean to upset her but I just...I thought that it would be better if I saw her on her own. I knew how it would look for you and I could see that you didn't trust me whereas she seemed...she seemed so much more open to things and it just...it made sense to talk to her without you being there. You can understand that, right?"

Troy didn't say anything and Emilio took it as an invite to continue talking.

"My timing...I know it was awful, but if I could have put it off, I would have but I need you to understand that I don't have a choice. My business is sinking, my house is nearly gone and I can't afford to send my own daughter to college. You're just a kid starting out in life with everything at your fingertips. You just...you can't have any idea how desperate I am..."

"So let me get this straight? You came to our home, to ask the daughter you'd never seen before for money and one of the reason's you gave her is that you can't afford to send your daughter to college?" Troy asked as he sat the cup down lest he threw it at him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't worry about helping to send Gabriella to college, did you? She earned her own scholarship and we worked our asses off to afford our life out there, so don't give me that crap! You want me to get out the violins about how hard you've got it? Newsflash - your 'own daughter' is in hospital because of you!"

"Hospital?" In fairness to him, he looked genuinely shocked at the knowledge that Gabriella was in the hospital, and he raised his hands almost defensively as he looked at Troy. "I didn't know! I swear I just wanted to talk to her - I never thought..."

"You and her mom..." Troy ran his hands through his hair desperately in an effort to try and control his temper. "You two...you've been like a disease. She deserves so much better than either of you."

"I know I'm an asshole but I was desp..."

"Do not say you were desperate!" Troy shouted back as he looked at him. "You have no idea what desperate is. Desperate is coming home and seeing her lying there unconscious, or listening to her beg you not to always want her, or...or almost being afraid to touch your own baby's bump because part of you almost hates him for what it's doing to the woman you love. Don't talk to me about desperate because you honestly have no idea!"

"I...I'm sorry. I know...I know that things can't be easy just now. I just...I just needed a little help."

Troy looked up disbelievingly at the man, who looked at him guiltily. How had this man had anything to do with Gabriella? "A little help?"

"Yeah," he swallowed and nodded. "I'll get out your hair. I won't come here again, I won't...I won't talk to her again and I will pay you back. I'll talk to Isabella and sort out giving her the money. I'll do whatever you want...to make this easier."

"Make it easier. If you wanted to make it easier you would just leave! Just leave and don't come back. Don't ask me to pay you to do the right thing for your own daughter!"

"I...if..." Emilio looked appropriately shame-faced as he looked down, and Troy saw him clench and unclench his fist as he took a deep breath. "I'm ashamed of myself, but I can't do that unless you can help me..."

"Help you?" Troy repeated slowly. "You're asking me to give you money and you'll just go?"

"Yeah, first plane..."

Troy laughed then, but it sounded almost strangled in his disbelief. "You know...Gabriella was always insulted when her mom tried to insinuate that you and I were similar. Until now, I never really felt insulted. Now though? I mean its bad enough that you abandoned her and ignored her all her life, but now you're basically telling me that the only way you're going to do the right thing is if we pay you. Wow..."

"I don't..."

"You don't even care that she's in hospital? You don't...doesn't it matter to you? Don't...don't you want to know if she's going to be okay?" Troy knew he sounded desperate, but he had to believe that this man had some sort of feelings for Gabriella. That deep, deep down he must have felt something. It was impossible for him to consider that he didn't, yet, looking at the evidence, it was apparent that it was true.

"Of course I care. Is she okay?"

"How can you be genetically linked to her? It...it...ugh!" he grabbed at his hair as he turned away. It didn't make sense – this man...he was nothing like her. If, for no other reason than as a human being it should have sparked his conscience to enquire about her, surely?

"I know I'm an asshole..."

"An asshole? You're so much worse than that."

He seemed undaunted. "I understand how you feel, I do. But...I can come back? Would...would that be better? I can...a few days...when she's better. It'll be less of a shock to her now. I just...I don't know if I can get my ticket changed to a later date you see..."

He couldn't let him finish because the more he spoke the more Troy wanted to hurt him. He wasn't a violent man, but Troy almost felt he could happily pound on him for the rest of the day. He wouldn't do that though, he reminded himself. He had more important things to deal with today than this sorry excuse for a man.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm down and be logical, even if logical was the absolute last thing that he was feeling. He could throw him out, but he would just come back and that wouldn't be good for Gabriella. He could punch him, which would make him feel better but he didn't have any doubt that this 'man' would try and sue him or sell his story to the press to make his money or...

His stomach flipped at the prospect. He wasn't an idiot and he knew that not only didn't he have the right to make that decision by himself, but he also remembered the countless warnings he had been given by not only his team, but by his family and friends as well about falling into the traps set by opportunists. Regardless of all that though all he saw was the prospect of protecting Gabriella and in order to do that, to try and draw a line under it, he'd do whatever it took.

He bit down on his doubts and forced himself to calm down as he turned around and looked back at the sadly pathetic man. It wasn't that Troy didn't sympathise on some basic level – of course he did, but at the same time, he knew that instead of wasting his money to go gold-digging to Gabriella he could have been at home, looking for another job, trying to salvage something from his business, hell, sitting down and explaining to his family that they were having hard times. Instead he had come here, to Troy's family and burdened her with that knowledge. Made her listen to him talking about his other family and broke her heart, just so he didn't have to break theirs. It wasn't fair and for that reason, Troy hated him.

"We don't have a lot of money you know. I was a first rounder, but a low first rounder and we bought a house and had to make it a home. We bought a car...a big TV – things we didn't have in our old apartment."

"You...you're in the NBA though! Look at your house and your car and she's got a great job. I mean...you guys are doing okay."

Troy ignored him, wanting it over as quickly as possible. "Gabriella and I...we have savings, but not enough to just give them away. We're getting married in a few months, we're having a baby...we have our own family, our own dreams. Why the hell would I sacrifice any of them for you?"

"Because..." Emilio took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Because you hate that I'm here as much as I hate being here. I know you think I am a pathetic, twisted little man who is here to exploit you and hurt Gabriella. I can even understand why you think that because if it were reversed, I'd feel exactly the same way. I'm not asking you to like me, or even respect me...but you'll see that a man will do anything, hurt anyone if it's the best thing for his family."

"And your family approves of you coming here like this?"

They locked eyes and Troy could only snort in disgust as he rolled his eyes. Of course they didn't know.

"Do they even know about Gabriella?"

The silence said it all again and Troy tried to reign in his temper all over again. "You genuinely had no intention of building a relationship with her, did you? You...it really was solely about the money. You'd get what you came for, and then just abandon her again...how...how could you do that to her?"

That simple fact solidified his decision and he didn't wait for him to respond as he spun away and walked into the lounge, over to the cabinet in the corner and rooting through it until he found what he was looking for. He didn't listen to whatever Emilio was mumbling in the background, his head was solely focused on what he had to do and as he grabbed a pen he quickly headed back towards the kitchen, barging past the older man and leaning against the table.

"Let me be perfectly clear here. She doesn't owe you anything. She has no obligation to you and the mere fact that despite the years you ignored her existence, despite the fact that you still don't care about her and that you only came here with your own, selfish motivations makes me sick. You don't deserve her. Men like you don't deserve anyone, especially someone like her and it kills me that despite all that, she still had this fairytale idea of you coming in and being part of her life. It kills me that you broke her heart and made her doubt herself."

"I never mea..."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your voice because the more you speak the more I want to hit you and I'm not that type of guy, so please shut the hell up," Troy breathed as he closed his eyes and tried to stay calm. "If this was any other time, I would sic the team's lawyers on you for trying to exploit her and for making her feel the way you did. As it is...I'm also desperate and I just want you gone. My fiancée is in hospital and I don't know if she's going to be okay and yet I'm standing here, wasting time talking to a pathetic little man like you. So...here's what's going to happen."

He reached over and grabbed the cheque book and scrawled it out, swallowing down the bile that the idea of giving this man anything caused him and set down the pen as he held up the cheque between his clammy fingers. "I'll give you money...like you wanted, and you can go, like I want. Now don't get your hopes up – it's not what I'm sure you were expecting, but for a 'desperate man' I'm sure something is better than nothing, right? Regardless of what you think – that is all you will ever get from us and I'm only giving you it on the proviso that I never, ever hear of you being within a hundred miles of Gabriella. This isn't because she's weak and can't take care of herself, this is because I can't bear the thought of anyone hurting her and I will do anything, give up anything to prevent that happening."

"How mu –"

Troy growled, instantly silencing him before he continued. "I'm giving you it, in the understanding that if you want to return it, which I doubt you will because you're not that type of guy – but in the unlikely event that you have an attack of conscience and do? You do it via her mom. The pair of you and your happy little phone-calls every few months...you two can sort it out. Also I'm giving you it with a warning that if you ever, ever show up here out of the blue? If you ever call her or even think of coming back and trying to exploit her? If you do any of that – I swear I will personally make sure that the 'family' that you're so desperate to protect realise just what sort of man they're dealing with. I'm not going to allow her to be hurt by you again and you know that there are no lengths that a 'desperate' man won't go to in order to protect his family, don't you?"

Troy took a deep breath and clutched the table to regulate the way his heart was pounding. It wasn't in his nature to be like that, but at that moment he meant every word he said. He would do whatever it took, and if that meant playing by his own dirty tactics then that's what he'd do.

"Okay," Milo said as he nodded his head. "Okay, I agree."

Troy nodded and handed over the cheque and he saw her father open his mouth in order to complain and he shook his head in a silent warning. "Don't. As I said, we don't have millions in the bank. I could blow out my knee tomorrow and my career would be over and in no universe will I leave my family unprotected by giving someone like you our savings."

He looked like he was thinking about arguing, but quickly changed his mind as he nodded his head. "Okay. Thank you. I know...I know that you don't like me; in fact...that's probably an understatement. I get that, I do. I'm not a bad person...contrary to evidence. Ask anyone – ask...ask people I work with, ask my family, ask Isabella..."

"What if I ask Gabriella? What would she think of you?" Troy asked with a shake of his head. "I don't care about the rest of them, I care about her."

"I can understand that," Emilio said with a nod. "I just...I never wanted it to be like this. This...this wasn't my intention. I just thought...I didn't want a relationship with her so it seemed obvious it would be the same for her. I didn't want to hurt her, I just thought..." he sighed and ran his hand through his hair with a shake of his head. "I just thought it would be easy and painless. I would never have hurt her intentionally – I just wanted to help my family."

Troy rolled his eyes. "You got what you came for, so please just go so I can get back to my fiancée."

"Okay," the elder man said as he stood and rubbed his hand on the front of his pants before hesitantly offering it to Troy. Troy should have felt worse about rejecting the gesture as he wasn't a rude person, but he wasn't going to make himself a hypocrite. He didn't respect this man, he didn't like him and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise. "If...would you just tell Gabriella...tell her I'm sorry. Tell her thanks...and that maybe one day. Maybe one day we can do this the right way, if she wants. Just...tell her I'm glad she's happy and that I know she's going to be an amazing mom and just tell her I never, ever meant to hurt her. I just didn't think."

He wanted to tell him to go to hell, to get someone else to do his dirty work but instead he gave a stiff nod and watched as he shoved the cheque into his jacket pocket and turned around towards the door. He didn't move to follow him out and just kept his eyes on the retreating form until he stopped in front of the door, his hand on the handle and paused. "I'm glad she found someone like you. Someone who would stand by her & look after her. They say that girls, they sometimes pick guys who remind them of their dads, but if that were the case, you wouldn't be here."

Troy walked over to him and opened the door. He didn't want another conversation, and he didn't want this man to try and broker sympathy. At the same time though, Troy almost felt somewhat irritated at this man's attempts at calling himself her father. Troy had obviously never met Mr Montez as he had died well before Gabriella had moved to Albuquerque, but he couldn't help but have a degree of loyalty to the man. "Her real dad, the guy who raised her? He was amazing, so if I'm anything like him, I'd be a pretty lucky guy."

Emilio nodded and gave a tight smile. "I suppose I deserve that. I am sorry you know."

Troy opened the door up wider, letting the man walk out before he stepped into the vacant space. "No, you're not but you can keep pretending you are. Have a safe trip."

Without waiting for a response, Troy closed the door and exhaled as he once more laid his head against it and tried to find some sense of equilibrium again, but he knew that would be impossible somewhere she wasn't. He had to know she was alright and there, so he quickly straightened up, ran a hand through his hair and went back to gathering the things she'd need. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could be with her and at that moment that was the only thing he wanted to think about.

* * *

Gabriella blinked tired eyes as she closed up the magazine one of the nurses had snatched from the patient lounge for her. She had no idea why she was so exhausted after sleeping so much but the nurses had explained that it wasn't anything to worry about and it was just her body's way of recovering. She had hoped to have seen Dr Caldwell so she had an idea when she'd be allowed home, but her doctor had only stopped by briefly to tell her that he wanted to run some more tests and monitor her to see if things improved after another day and that they would make more decisions about where things stood then.

Sadly, she didn't need her experience of deflecting patients to know doctor speak for 'you're not getting home, but if I delay telling you that, you'll get used to the idea' when she heard it and had come to terms with the fact that she was probably not going to get home.

"Gave up on the magazine?" She looked up to see Amelie, the nurse who had brought her the magazine looking at her, an amused smile playing on her lips. "Hmm, I wish I had known that blue and red was going to be the colour scheme of choice last Christmas."

Gabriella giggled softly. "I dread to think how out of date the magazines are going to be in my office when I go back."

"Some of the magazines in this hospital belong in a library they're that old," the nurse said, her voice laced with a faint French accent as she pulled over a blood-pressure machine. "How are you feeling?"

"A little tired," she said as she felt the cuff tighten as Amelie put a cap on the in-ear thermometer. "My head's a little achy."

"To be expected. No nausea or pain in your body?"

Gabriella heard the beep of the thermometer and felt the cuff deflate and then re-inflate again and shook her head. "Not really, just...tired."

The nurse nodded and marked down the results of the tests before taking the cuff off and turning to look at Gabriella's hands. "It's just your body's way of healing up. Don't worry."

Gabriella nodded and watched as the nurse went down and lifted the cover so she could see her feet and ankles and checked them as well. "You're not too swollen, which is a great sign and the medication should help soon as well. How's your vision?"

"It's fine," she said with a smile. Dizziness hadn't been a major factor since she woke up and although part of that was because she had got used to living with a degree of it, the fact that she had been out of bed only briefly all day probably helped.

"And your right eye?"

"I don't..." Gabriella squinted in confusion as she lifted her hand to her right eye. "It's fine, why?"

"It's nothing serious, but as the blood vessels burst there we have to be careful and seeing floaters or anything because of it as that could be a sign of something more severe. We're just being a little cautious but it's better to be careful."

"The...blood vessels burst in my eye?" Gabriella asked in shock as she instinctively covered her eye. "How bad does it look? Will Troy notice it, because I don't want to panic him...?"

"Relax," the nurse said with a shake of her head. "Its elevated blood-pressure that caused it in the first place so try to stay calm. It doesn't look too bad – the white of your eye is a little red, but it will heal up quickly and it was like that last night, so your man will have seen it. Relax."

"Relax about what?"

Gabriella spun around, her hand still covering her eye to see Troy standing there with a bag slung over his shoulder and clutching what looked like a bag of Chinese food in one hand as he looked between her and the nurse. "Everything okay?"

"She's worried that you will be upset because of her eye," Amelie said with a shake of her head at Gabriella.

"Baby, trust me – of all the things that freaked me out yesterday, your eye being a bit weird looking wasn't high on my list," he chuckled as he looked at her with a smile. "Zombie eyes look good on you anyway."

The nurse laughed as Troy grinned at Gabriella, and she could only drop her hand and look at him in fake exasperation. "Zombie eyes? What kinda zombie films have you been watching recently, Wildcat?"

"You know, the kind where blood oozes from the eyeballs of beautiful women, etc, etc," he said as he walked over and sat one bag on the couch at the window, and the bag of food on her table before coming to stand beside her, pressing a long kiss to her head in greeting. "How're you doing?"

"I'm fine. No real change," she sighed before forcing some positivity into her tone. "But it can take a few more hours for the medication to kick in, so..."

"She'll be fine," the nurse added with a smile at them both as she retreated, dragging the machine with her. "We're taking good care of her. Now, I'll be back in an hour – try and hide the evidence of the contraband food before I get back, okay?"

"Absolutely," Troy responded with a nod and Gabriella giggled as the nurse disappeared, causing him to turn his attention back to her. "What?"

"You're scared of her," she grinned. "You need to be nice to me or she'll kick your ass."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm always nice to you. That's why I brought you your favourite food to save you from the evilness of hospital food."

She was going to go on teasing him when she noticed that he wasn't as relaxed and carefree as he was acting. She could see the tension radiating off him and although she knew part of it was caused by not being properly rested and because he was worried about her, she knew he hadn't looked like that when he had left her that morning. "What happened in training? Is there something wrong with your wrist?"

He blinked at her, obviously taken aback by the change in tone, but she didn't relent as she reached over and touched his cheek. "Troy?"

"My wrist is fine," he said as he looked at her. "And you're supposed to be calm, not stressing out."

"I'll be calmer once I know what's wrong," she said as she looked at him. "You're not that good an actor, Wildcat. I'm just going to think something worse if you don't tell me."

He shook his head and she could see that whatever it was that he really didn't want to tell her. Her mind started whirling with possibilities, ranging from him being in trouble with his team, to something happening at the house.

"I did something...something that you might be angry and hurt at, but that...I didn't feel like I had any choice and although I'm sorry if I upset you, I'm not sorry that I did it and...I'm telling you now because it's big and I don't want you to think I hid it."

She didn't say anything, but moved over slightly in the bed to let him sit at her knees. It was pretty apparent that he meant what he said, and although he looked uncomfortable, he also seemed resolved about whatever it was. "Okay. What did you do?"

"I was home, getting your stuff and...someone came to the door..."

It took her a second to get what he was saying, but almost immediately she realised who it must have been. Almost as soon as the thought had entered her head she reached for his hands to make sure he hadn't bashed up his knuckles by attempting to fight him. The absolute last thing he needed right now was to get in more trouble with his coach on top of everything else.

"Gabriella," Troy tried to interrupt her inspection vocally before he grabbed both her hands in his and stilled them. "I didn't hit him. I wanted to but...I didn't."

"Oh, thank God," she exhaled. "I thought...I just, I could imagine the trouble you would get in and you never know what he could say or d..."

"I gave him money."

She stopped rambling immediately and looked at Troy, seeing how apprehensive he looked about it. Logically, she knew she didn't want to see her birth father again, and she knew that he had only been after one thing but for some reason it still hurt that all it took was some money for him to leave. She felt ridiculous for still having a small belief that he wouldn't be like that.

"I know that you're angry, but you have to understand, Gabriella - he said he was going to come back, and even when I asked him to leave, he said he was going to come back and I know, I know that I should have spoken to you first, but I couldn't risk anything happening to you. If...if you want to talk to him, if you want to contact him then you can do it when you're better, but I can't have him coming here again. I'm sorry, but I won't apologise for that."

"Did...did you ask him to leave? Just to leave?" She wanted to believe that if her father had the option of doing the right thing, that he would have done it but she knew Troy, she knew that if he had given him money then it was the last option. Part of her just wanted to believe that there was more to his hurricane arrival into their lives than just money. That maybe there was some feeling there.

Troy nodded and he grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips. "He said...he said..."

"He said you had to pay him, right?"

"It was inferred..." he sighed against her hands. "Gabriella – he's a jerk if that's all he wants. I just...I need you to be okay. I'm sorry...but...I can't risk you and if it takes money...then...okay."

She nodded and he groaned and tilted his head back. "I just...he wouldn't *leave*, Gabriella."

She sighed and reached up for him, tilting his head back to look at her. "It's okay."

"No, I..."

"Troy," she interrupted him and forced a smile. She was a practical girl and before Troy she had been used to things like this happening. It hurt, but it was just one of those things she knew she would have to accept. "I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't hurt, but...you're right, we can't risk anything else happening. It's not like its unexpected," she laughed a little half-heartedly. "I just think part of me...was kinda hoping, you know? I wanted the fairy story and...reality isn't like that and maybe if I'd realised that in the first place we wouldn't be in this situation. Did...did..." she closed her eyes and flinched. "Did...he, I mean...I don't want to know how much but...he really threatened to come back?"

Troy sighed and moved until he was sitting beside her and she let him pull her into his arms. "The guy is a snake. He said...maybe one day you two can do it 'right' if you wanted. He said he was sorry, but that he had no choice but that he didn't want to hurt you. He thought it would be...simple."

She nodded and closed her eyes, not wanting to cry but somehow still feeling her eyes water as she laid her head against his shoulder. It wasn't his absence that she was upset over – she didn't know the man, and the little she did she realised that she didn't like him. No, it was more about what he had represented – a father figure who would boast about her son, who would care about her. Instead all he represented now was someone who hadn't wanted her as a child, and still didn't want her even now. "I don't want to see him again."

"I know," he whispered and she closed her eyes and just let him hold her for a few moments. "You don't have to."

"Thank you for getting rid of him," she murmured. She was grateful – now with the knowledge that he didn't have any interest in her, it would have hurt too much to see him again.

"Don't thank me for that," he pleaded as he rubbed her hair, and she felt some more tears fall. "Gabi...tell me what you're thinking."

"I just...I miss my dad," she whispered, almost guiltily. It had been so long since she had ever cried about him, but suddenly in that moment she would have given anything for him to be there and tell her how proud he was of her. Her dad had loved her unconditionally even though they weren't genetically linked, yet this man who shared her DNA could barely tolerate her existence. "I thought...it's stupid, but part of me thought that this guy...he'd want to do the whole grandpa thing, you know? And...I don't think he cared at all. My dad though? He would have loved it...so much and he would never...ever have done anything like that to us and...I just...I miss him...for me and for the baby."

She felt him kiss her head as he exhaled loudly. "I know it doesn't count for much, or make up for anything – but you know my dad is so excited about being a grandpa that he's got the last scan picture up in his office..."

She couldn't help but giggle then as he continued. "My dad...it's not going to be the same, I know that – but my dad is going to be one of those stereotypical grandpa's who let the kids do whatever and I give it a year before he is getting my mom to badger us about moving back home."

She looked up at him then, wiping her eyes. "I like our home here though. I miss Albuquerque sometimes, but I love our life here. Our own house...it's everything I dreamed of."

"I love it too. Although, I like our house better when you're in it," he whispered. "That's why I need you to be okay, Gabriella. I'm selfish, I know – but packing up a bag for you today...going there and knowing you wouldn't be home...I'd live anywhere & in anything as long as I didn't have to deal with that everyday. It's going to be bad enough the next few nights, never mind any longer."

She smiled at him softly. "After this it's not something I'm planning on being an issue again. We'll have a stress free pregnancy next time, okay?"

"That would be good," he smiled as he leant over and kissed her lips softly. "I can't bring your dad back, Gabriella – and I can't make your birth father any less of a jerk, but I love you and I know it's not the same, but I swear to you, I will never abandon you. Ever. And our son won't miss out on any of the things you're scared he'll miss out on. I promise."

She gave him a watery smile as she touched his jaw. "I know he won't – he has you. He's already going to have everything he needs right there."

"He has us," he whispered as he locked his blue eyes on hers and never wavered. "Are you really okay?"

She nodded, not feeling completely happy, but as well as anyone probably could in the circumstances and she smiled up at him. "Yeah. I mean...I will be once everything is back to normal...just...getting there first."

"We'll get there," he smiled at her as he leant down and kissed her. "I can't wait for our normal, boring lives again. Who needs excitement and drama?"

"Exactly. I have Chinese food, my two guys," she said as she ran a hand over her bump before smiling up at Troy. "Who needs anything else?"


	19. My Baby Just Cares For Me

_Thank you guys so much for the reviews of the last chapter. I know it was a monster (I swear, the closer to the end of this story, the more verbose I get. You may have to pry the end of this fic from my cold, dead fingers if it keeps up because I don't really want to let it go) so I'm glad you got through it. Hope you all like this as well. Let me know what you think!_

* * *

Troy sat on the bench beside the court and wiped his brow as he watched his teammates run a practice game. He'd just finished some fitness drills, but as he wasn't allowed to use his injured wrist until the doctor gave him the all-clear he was effectively a bystander in this phase of the practice as he took notes, studied routes and tried to glean some sort of useful information. Truth be told, if ever he could have used a strenuous workout it would have been that day as the stresses of the last week were starting to take their toll on him and he wanted something, anything to take his mind of things even if it was nothing more complex than a workout that would get his adrenaline pumping. Gabriella had only been in hospital 3 days yet they were still no closer to either getting a date when she could go home, or an eta on when the baby could be delivered. In fact, Dr Caldwell's only real actions in the three days had been to continually put off the meeting between the three of them under the guise of 'giving the medication time to work'.

Needless to say, between worrying about Gabriella, and going home to an empty house, and hoping that her dad had indeed crawled back under his rock that he'd had better weeks and that was even without the fact that his coach was still giving him the cold stare about what had went down between them in Oakland. So much for an easy life...

"Hey, Rook!"

Troy looked up to see Isaac drop down on the bench beside him, panting slightly as he ran a towel over his head. "Hey, what's up?"

"Lisa wants to know if you and Gabriella want to have dinner tonight? We'll grab some takeout and watch a movie or something. I think she saw some baby outfit, or toy or something she wants to do the gushy 'that's so cute!' thing about...I swear she has more magazines about it at our place than you have at yours..."

Troy flinched. He and Gabriella had purposefully not told anyone about her being in hospital and he knew that their friends were going to kick their ass for it once they found out and although their logic was good – other people invariably brought drama, their execution had been doomed to inevitable failure. He could ignore calls from Gabriella's mom, and he had been careful enough to time his call to his own parents to when they couldn't answer their phone and had left a voicemail instead. Gabriella assured him that Taylor would be appeased by a text message and for three days they had pretty much avoided the added drama.

But as neither of them intended to blatantly lie to anyone in regards to their current predicament, that meant that there was no way he could avoid it anymore.

"Maybe she's getting broody? You guys might be next," he tried as means of distraction.

"Yeah, that ain't happening for the next three to five. You can get working on your next generation, but leave us right minded people out of your weird cult," Isaac said with a roll of his eyes. "So what about it? She sounded kinda pissed when she texted me so I really wouldn't put it off or she might get someone to ticket you at the earliest opportunity."

"You and I both know that she doesn't have the sort of power to trump up charges yet."

"No, but it's hot to pretend she does," Isaac grinned. "Anyway - dinner?"

"Today's no good," Troy said honestly as he looked back on court. "Seriously – coach is going to hand Chris his ass in a minute if this doesn't work. He hates us even wasting time on trick plays."

"Gotta keep the superstar happy," Isaac said with another quick rub of his face. "You know he likes to know it's an option and he only needs it to go right once."

Troy nodded in understanding at that. He'd been a lot more daring in terms of play calling when he had been in High School and college, but once he made the step up he had quickly learned that anytime he did something a bit outside the box it tended to end badly so he had ended up not really trying it anymore. To underline his point he watched as Chris orchestrated the play and drove towards the basket before shooting a perfect arc – that's why he was the superstar and Troy was the backup and Troy couldn't even resent it. He wasn't an idiot, or falsely modest – he was what he was and if he had attempted that the result 9 times out of 10 would have been hugely different and as a fan of the game, he couldn't help but applaud. He knew he wasn't a bad player, but the difference between him and the elite in his position was insane.

"Besides, what's a trick play for you, isn't necessarily a trick play for him," Isaac laughed as he clapped Troy on the shoulder. "That's why he can buy and sell all our asses. Anyway – tonight?"

"Tonight's not good, man. Um...Gabi's in hospital," Troy said as he turned his attention back to his friend. "I'm heading back there as soon as I'm done here."

"Wait a minute – she's 'in hospital', as in at a hospital appointment or she's 'in hospital', as in, living in hospital."

"'In hospital' as in her blood pressure spiked a few days ago and I came home from PT to find her unconscious on the floor."

"Seriously?" Isaac shook his head and dropped his towel, waving away a shout from one of the players on the court. "Is she okay? The baby?"

"The baby's fine, like always. The nurses are all impressed with how 'comfortable' he is considering," Troy fought against the urge to roll his eyes. He was trying hard not to blame the baby like Gabriella insisted, but sometimes it was hard. "Gabi...she's...she's wiped, man. The doc says he'll let us know soon about what her prognosis is, but I don't think she's going to get home until the baby's born."

"Troy," Isaac groaned loudly. "Why didn't you tell us? Lisa was wondering why she hasn't been picking up. She's going to be beyond pissed at this. Did you let coach know?"

"No one knows," Troy shrugged. "We just...it seemed like it would be easier just to keep it between us. When people know stuff it tends to get...complicated."

"Um, no offence - the real world is complicated and you guys don't live in a bubble, Rook. You have fri..."

Isaac was cut off by the sound of a whistle and both he and Troy looked up to see the coaching staff tell the guys they were done and to either hit the gym or the showers. Troy stood and grabbed the towel as he jumped over the bench and looked at Isaac who was still looking at him in exasperation. "We're fine."

"Bolton," Isaac sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You gotta tell people stuff like this. You can't be there all the time and you guys have people here and back home who want to help. I mean while you're here someone could be spending time with her. You might be okay, but she's the one sitting in a hospital room on her own, probably bored out her mind with nothing to break up her day while you're out in the real world."

"You think I don't know that?" Troy hissed as he turned to him. "If she wanted anyone to know I would have told someone, but just now it's just easier on our own. We don't need help. We're fine on our own."

"I never said you weren't," Isaac's voice was low and serious and it was so unlike his normal tone that it was almost hard to believe it was the same man. "Listen, Coach is deliberately riding your ass harder but if he knew..."

"I don't need his, or anyone else's fake pity," Troy said as he stopped, lowering his voice to avoid anyone else listening in. "He made it perfectly clear where he expects my priorities to be, and even though I disagree, I'm not going to give him an excuse to invent reasons for me to start earlier, or leave later, or run more drills, or arrange extra appointments. I'm not giving anyone in this organisation an excuse to trade me. This is our home now – we're happy here so...I can play along for a few days and then...then he'll see that I want this."

That was the crux of his concerns and although he would never mention it to anyone, it was a lingering fear that had some legitimacy. He and Gabriella had built a home and a life in this city and although they had been warned constantly about there being no guarantees in professional sports and to lay down roots in a place they would spend the off-season as opposed to where Troy got drafted. They didn't want to do that though – to be in a part time life for so many months of the year so they had embraced the move and they were happy. Everything about their everyday life was perfect for them and he hated the thought that it was being jeopardised at all, because although he knew that if he was traded that they would cope, the idea of having to leave the lives they had built here behind was just...painful.

"Dude," Isaac shook his head quickly and whispered as he followed Troy. "They aren't going to 'trade' you! Trust me – the team is getting a haul for Chris in the summer, so they aren't going to go looking for two guards, and they especially aren't going to trade you just because you have some personal issues. Guys in this league get arrested, beat people up, have guns and no one bats an eyelid. You really think any franchise wants to be known as the one who chased a guy out of town because he wanted to spend time with his hospitalised pregnant girlfriend?"

"Fiancée," Troy corrected automatically as he stopped. "Coach said..."

"Actions and words never match up in professional sports – no one in this industry means anything they say. Unless you get something in writing, signed, witnessed and written in blood there is always a proviso attached. They try and strike the fear of God in you 'if you don't do this, this will happen' but it's all a game, on both sides. You just need to learn how to play it and pick your battles and see through the bullshit."

"People keep saying that," he admitted as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't get it...just...how hard is it to just say what you mean?"

Isaac shook his head at him and laughed. "Seriously, dude – you're playing professional sports. It's one of the biggest industries in the world – all people are interested in is maximising their income and will say and do pretty much anything to make that happen. Sometimes I think you came here and thought it would be just like any other job."

Actually, Troy had thought that as a non 'superstar' that it would be exactly like that – he'd show up, work hard, do mandatory events, play the game and hopefully win. He wasn't chasing sponsorship deals, he didn't want to do commercials, or look for photo ops and as far as he was concerned it should have been achievable. He couldn't admit that though because he didn't want to appear naive to his friend and shrugged in response causing Isaac to groan.

"Of course that's how you expected it to go because your agent sucks and you figured that as long as you kept your head down all of the crap would avoid you, right? Newsflash - this isn't college and we're not on your dad's high school team either. This is how things here work and you are going to have to get your head around it sooner rather than later. You keep running into these blind alleys with no idea what the hell is going on and I know you're smarter than that." He pulled off a wrist band and tossed it in the air and caught it. "You should have done PR, business or law at college. Sports science and physiology doesn't teach you shit for a professional sports career."

"I didn't know I was going to have a professional sports career at that time." Troy felt himself straighten up almost defensively. "I know how things go."

"No, you don't because if you did we wouldn't be having this conversation. You keep tying yourself in knots and over-thinking the wrong things. You're supposed to be enjoying this year, yet you just keep heaping more and more self-inflicted shit onto your own shoulders and don't think about asking anyone for some assistance. Newsflash - bigger and better guys than you know they can't handle this crap on their own," he said with no sign that he was joking. Troy bristled at the accusation and something in his face must have caught Isaac's attention because the taller man smirked at him. "Got something to say, Rookie?"

"I don't know if he's got something to say, but I do."

Both basketball players turned around to see their coach looking at them with a confused expression on his face. "Do I want to know what's going on with you two? I don't want any blood spilled on my court – especially since his wrist is suspect."

"It's not just his wrist that suspect," Isaac said, ignoring Troy's narrowed eyes as he turned to the coach. "I'd finish him quickly – minimum bloodshed."

"I don't wanna hear it," coach said with a roll of his eyes. "You two drew the short straws – some ESPN guy's in and wants to do a fluff piece on the team. It's like 10 questions – five about the team and five about the city in some weird sporting tourism thing or some other piece of crap thing the ad people have come up with. The whole team's doing it, but since you two are feeling chatty I figure you guys can go test run it for him off once you're changed."

"What show is this for, cause if its Michelle at Sports Nation I'm gonna have to go tell Lisa I need to cash in on a pass..."

"Down boy," Coach chuckled with a shake of his head. "And she let you put a sports reporter on your list?"

"She let you have a list?" Troy asked, knowing that was extremely unlikely.

"Bite me, Bolton," Isaac mumbled before turning back to the coach. "She has an assistant DA on her list, which considering she's in and out of court a ridiculous amount, by design I bet, then yeah – I get a sports reporter."

"This goes on the list of things I don't need to know," coach raised his hands in surrender. "Anyway – it'll only take fifteen minutes or so. I think they set it up in Room 4, but whatever. Go, smile, be charming, remember to not to say anything stupid that will piss anyone off...all the usual crap. Bolton, you got a minute before that?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Troy still nodded and tried to ignore the look that Isaac shot him as he walked away. "I'll see you and Gabriella tonight, Rook. Burst that bubble you two have got going."

Troy was going to respond and tell him not to bother, but knew he couldn't do that without alerting his coach so had to make do with silently cursing his friend as he waited on the older man to talk. "Everything okay, coach?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about your rehab. How are you feeling?"

Exhausted. Stressed. Terrified. "I feel great. My wrist feels fine."

"I was talking to the docs and they said that as long as we limit your minutes & have it wrapped that we can start getting you out there basically right away. You think you're good to go for a few minutes tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," he said with a nod.

The older man looked at him for a moment, appraising him and Troy could only meet his gaze. "And you're sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine."

"And everything else is okay?"

"We're dealing with it," Troy nodded as he looked down and telling himself it was okay not to volunteer information. The question had been vague, and he'd basically been told to leave his personal life at the door when he came to work a few days ago, so in that regard it was okay not to elaborate. "You know how it goes."

"I was talking to people and they said you've been distracted and, well, looking at you and I can see why. You look like you've not had a good night's sleep in days. Is Gabriella alright?"

Troy swallowed thickly and immediately averted his gaze from his coach. He couldn't lie to someone's face, but he still didn't want to leave himself open.

"Bolton?"

"She's...she's having a few problems," he admitted eventually, figuring that it was all-encompassing and could mean anything. "We're working it out, so don't worry."

"She's okay? Her and the baby?"

"They're going to be fine," he said with more certainty than he felt. He wanted to believe it with everything he had, but until he had her home with him, knowing she was healthy he couldn't feel certain no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise. "Gabriella...she's amazing, she...nothing keeps her down long."

The older man smiled as he nodded. "Best trait to have in anyone. You got lucky with her. Just keep telling yourselves that it'll just be a few more weeks and all this will just be a memory and then the fun stuff starts."

"Yeah. Seems a long way off sometimes, but we're counting the days."

"I bet you are," he laughed as he shook his head. "Okay, go shower up and then hit the press room first and we'll get you out of here early and you can go tell her the good news about your wrist, okay? See you bright and early tomorrow."

Troy nodded, smiling slightly at finally getting some sort of good news. It wasn't the all clear, and it wasn't anything major but he knew he needed it and he knew it would make Gabriella happy that things were looking up and at that moment he would take anything positive he could get. "I'll be there."

* * *

If Gabriella had thought that she had been bored when she had been on 'bed rest' at home, it was nothing compared to being on bed-rest in the hospital. Whereas at home she could get up, shower, grab a book, play Mario Kart, walk from room to room or sit outside, here she found that they took the term far more literally in a professional setting. A collapsible wheel-chair was folded beside her door for her to be pushed around in, her shower had a shower seat in it that she had to sit in while she showered, she was only allowed to go to the bathroom if she could be escorted to the door with someone in case she fainted and God forbid she try and stretch her legs for no reason at all.

She preferred her own interpretation of the rules. Next pregnancy she was determined was not going to come complete with guidelines and enjoying it at home, with her husband and being able to take full advantage of all the extra hormones and everything flying around instead of reining everything in.

She groaned as she dropped her head back and looked at the ceiling. She was so bored and frustrated and although deep down she knew that she should still be licking her emotional wounds from everything that happened in the days prior to that moment and using the free time to deal with it, she was never that sort of person. It had happened, it couldn't be changed and Troy had ensured that it wouldn't be an issue again (hopefully) so she could either make herself ill over it by wondering why it happened the way it happened, or she could do the best thing for her baby and try and move on. So, moving on it was...at least until such time that she could get into a gym and hit things hard to get the frustration and anger out her system.

She groaned again as she contemplated ways in which to amuse herself while she had energy and was about to fight against the headache it caused to start knitting again only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," she called out as she picked up the knitting, expecting a nurse to wander into the room, only to be greeted by a familiar woman standing there in a police uniform. "Lisa?"

"Surprise," Lisa said as she walked in. "One of us are surprised anyway."

Knitting forgotten, Gabriella sat up in order to greet her friend whose face was serious as she looked around and shook her head. She didn't know how Lisa had known she was here, but she couldn't help but be happy to see her.

"Imagine my confusion when I come in this morning to talk to a woman who got mugged and hear the nurses talking about Gabriella Montez's test results and what time the doctor would be in to speak with her. At first I was thinking it had to be some other chick, because I know Gabriella Montez and if she were in hospital I would be worth a call to say 'by the way', right? I was going to tell you about it tonight when Isaac and I came round with dinner, but then the nurses keep on talking and they mention something about waiting for this other Gabriella's basketball playing boyfriend to come back. I figured then that maybe it wasn't a coincidence."

Gabriella bit her lip as guilt washed over her at her friend's hurt expression and she couldn't even say she blamed her. Truthfully, it hadn't even occurred to her that other people might be upset at the decision to keep things quiet and although she knew that they hadn't done it for malicious, or cruel reasons, she still couldn't help but feel bad. "Lisa..."

"No, I get it – we haven't been that close, that long," Lisa began as she brushed some of her blonde hair off her face. "But a phone-call, or a text message or something would have been nice, Gabriella. You have to figure that Isaac and I would have been worth that?"

"We didn't tell anyone, Lisa," Gabriella interrupted, not wanting her friend to think it was something personal. "No one. Not even our parents know. Just...just Troy and I."

Lisa paused at that and Gabriella watched as she looked up, disbelief etched all over her expression. "What?"

"I just...it's kinda complicated."

"Well I have an hour for lunch, so let's uncomplicated it, huh? Firstly – are you and the baby okay?"

Gabriella smiled then as she nodded, her hand instinctively holding her bump. "The baby's fine. He's great."

"I didn't just ask about the baby."

She giggled then. "Why do I feel like you're interrogating me?"

"Trust me, if I was interrogating you, you'd know about it," Lisa rolled her eyes and dragged the seat closer to the bed, the frustrated look being replaced by one of concern. "Seriously, Gabriella. Are you okay? I don't want to be pissed at you if you aren't well enough for me to do it guilt-free."

"I'm getting there," she whispered as she looked at her bump. "I had a bit of a...meltdown, but Troy...he fixed it. He was amazing."

She bit her lip, not wanting to relive anything but almost wanting to tell someone who wasn't Troy what happened just so it could be over without having to worry about making him feel worse. "You have an hour?"

"Pretty much, but you're lucky as I normally charge by the hour, but your first is free as long as I can snack on your junk food while we talk," Lisa said as she sat back and Gabriella nodded gratefully as she passed over some chocolates that one of the nurses had given her. "Okay, spill – what's so complicated that you and Troy have decided to not share some pretty big news with us, but also to not share it with your families? Cause, I get that we only really got to know each other since you came out here, but I remember you and Troy vaguely from team stuff in college and you two were always seemed family orientated. It's why I liked that Isaac chose to puppy train Troy when he came out here as I knew it would be good for them both."

"Puppy train?"

Lisa giggled then. "Just shhh – don't tell him that term. They like to call it 'mentoring' and crap like that, but it is what it is...they train their new pet for the big bad world."

"I won't tell," she promised as she shook her head, regretting not being able to tease Troy on it. He'd probably realise soon enough when the next rookies came into the team hopefully.

"So...you want to start explaining now?"

She waited a moment before nodding her head, and before she knew it she was talking and explaining what had happened with her mom and dad, and how he had showed up at the door and how Troy had found her, ending with what Troy had told her had happened.

"How much did he pay him?"

"I don't know," Gabriella admitted as she pulled at the blanket. "I don't want to know. I just...I'm glad he's gone."

"Bullshit," Lisa said as she shook her head. "You want him to be gone without you and Troy paying for the privilege. You guys should cancel the cheque, let him come back and I'll arrest his ass for harassing you guys, or something."

Part of Gabriella was strangely tempted and she wasn't sure if she should feel bad that there was a part of her who would happily see the man who had contributed half her DNA thrown in jail, even temporary but she wasn't that person. That was Taylor, and Sharpay and evidently Lisa...not her. "But then he'd be back. This way...this way he's gone because he got what he wanted. Troy and I...we can forget about him now."

Lisa looked like she was going to disagree but Gabriella continued quickly. "This is what we want. We just want...no drama. No fighting and arguing...just...us. We...we don't do conflict well, Lisa. It's not us."

"Hence not mentioning it, huh?"

"Yeah. We never wanted to hurt you guys. We just...we wanted to keep it as small as possible. No questions."

"I get that, I do but you two have to learn to lean on people," Lisa said as she stood. "If that's not us, or your parents, or your friends back home then find someone else. A lot of people care about you guys and the little guy when he comes – we can help take some of the strain off. You two are going to be so prematurely middle-aged if you keep taking everything on your own and no offence, but the pair of you are too hot to have frown lines before you're 25."

"We're trying our best."

"I know you are, but sometimes it's okay to ask people for help. You two are the most stubborn nice people I know," Lisa groaned dramatically. "I'm still pissed, especially as one phonecall 'Lisa, some idiot is trying to harass me for money, take care of it?' might have kept you out of here, but I'm going to let you make it up to me. I want to start a boxercise class, and you are going to accompany me once the baby is born so that there will be someone there who is less proficient than I am. Lets see if we can get you better at conflict, huh?"

She burst out laughing then as Lisa put her hat on. "Can you see me boxing even for fitness purposes?"

"No, which is exactly why we're going to do it. You own me for hurting my feelings, so remember that," Lisa said as she leant in for a hug. "Isaac and I will drop by either tonight or for lunch tomorrow and if you want we can watch the game together tomorrow night?"

"That would be great," she admitted as the blonde stepped back. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Lisa backed towards the door with a wave. "Get some rest, sweetie – last think I need is your fiancée getting pissed off at me for tiring you out. I don't need to be nice to him because his blood-pressure's just fine. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Gabriella nodded and bid her goodbye. It had been less than an hour but the heaviness of the discussion had exhausted her, but just by talking about it to someone she felt almost better about things. Someone knew, and was on their side and although it didn't accomplish much, she couldn't help but be glad that there was someone else on their side now.

* * *

It was later in the day than Troy had planned to arrive at the hospital, but the TV spot had turned out to be unexpectedly hilarious as the whole team ended up staying to watch everyone finish up and that meant he ended up taking longer than intended. He had been on his way home when he thought back to what Isaac had said about Gabriella being stuck in hospital while he was out and inspiration had suddenly struck about a gift for her that would hopefully break up the boredom that he knew she felt, especially at the hospital.

With a wave hello to the nurses as he passed he headed straight to Gabriella's room, almost giddy at the prospect of not only seeing her, but at seeing her reaction to his gift. As he walked into the hospital room and saw her raise her head and smile at him. Her eyes were heavy and he could see how exhausted she looked but she didn't look in pain which is all he could ask for. "Good afternoon, my beautiful fiancée. How are you feeling?"

She giggled and automatically moved over as he dropped his jacket on the chair beside her bed and assumed his regular position beside her, his arm wrapping around her instinctively as he pressed a kiss to her head in greeting while the other held onto the bag he'd been carrying.

"I'm really good. I just woke up again, I had a lazy day," she blushed with a small shrug. "But I had a visitor as well."

He immediately stiffened at that. "Who?"

"Lisa," she said as she lifted her head and he could only groan as he dropped his head back. He was going to kill Isaac. "She's...kinda annoyed at us but I spoke with her, explained things and...well, she's guilt-tripping me to take this class with her after the baby's born, but she's okay, I think."

"Isaac knows as well," he mumbled. "He found out today so he's...pissed. I bet he called her up while I was talking to the coach. He is such a snitch."

"I don't think he did. Apparently she was in to question a pregnant woman who had been mugged this morning and heard the nurses going over my chart or something and that's how she knew," she sighed and gave his hand a tug to pull him back up. "I think it hurt her feelings for us not to tell her, Troy. I felt awful when she came in."

He didn't want to admit that she was probably right and he just sighed. "Our reasons were good though. We didn't...you know, it wasn't about them or anything."

"I know," she agreed as she rubbed his hands. "They'll understand. I just...if they are hurt..."

She trailed off and he immediately knew exactly what she was trying to say. If their friends here, who they had been close to only a few months were hurt, then how much worse was it going to be when their parents and friends back home found out they hadn't told them? They could both pretend it didn't matter, and he supposed deep down that it probably didn't – they'd get over it eventually, their reasoning was good, they would call if anything 'real' happened...

Good reasoning just didn't mean it wouldn't still hurt them though. "I know."

"I just..." she continued softly. "I know it's selfish, but part of me..."

"Doesn't want the drama of them knowing," he finished for her and he saw her nod. "Me neither."

"Maybe we are selfish," she sighed as she looked up at him. "We should tell them. Maybe...maybe as soon as we hear from the doctor and that way we can tell them they don't need to come out if it's good news?" she smiled and he couldn't help but laugh at the hopeful expression on her face. He'd need divine intervention to stop his son being the most spoiled child on the planet if his son got even a portion of Gabriella's persuasion skills.

"You're probably right," he leant down and kissed her. "It was good while it lasted."

"Yeah, probably should enjoy tonight, huh?" she sighed as pulled back only to squint at the bag he was holding. "Do I want to know what you have there, Wildcat? I know it's not food."

He laughed and sat up; pleased at the change in subject and spinning so he could face her. "How do you know it's not food?"

"Because you smuggle in food that makes the baby hungry or ice-cream, and," she gestured to her bump. "He's not remotely interested in the non-foody smell coming from that bag and..." she reached over just far enough to touch the outside of it but he grabbed it away before she could try and steal it causing her to pout. "And it's not cold enough to be ice-cream. So..."

"Well, the baby won't like this but I have a pretty good feeling that his mommy is going to," he teased as he leant close and he could see her eyes dance with excitement as she looked at him. "I figured it would help with the boredom. Engage your brain a little before it turns to mush."

He watched her face fall slightly and he couldn't help but laugh, knowing that as much of a book junkie as she was, probably the last thing she wanted at that stage was a book to read due to the headaches she was having. "Thank you. That was very tho..."

"You don't even know what it is yet," he said as he looked at her. "You want to guess?"

He knew she didn't want to guess, solely because when it came to presents she was worse than a six year old in regards to being patient. Still though, he couldn't resist – she looked happy and healthy and if he just focused on her he could almost pretend they were at home and not in a hospital room and that made it all worth it.

"A book?"

He shook his head. "Do you really think I'd bring you another book as a surprise? I think after the Pride, Prejudice & Zombies debacle that we agreed I would only ever buy you book you had clearly mentioned you wanted."

She giggled at the recollection of the incident of when they were in college and he was flying back from a game and brought her home a book he knew she hated as a joke, knowing she would force herself to read it so as not to hurt his feelings. It had seemed funny at the time seeing her trying desperately to finish it, until she had come home one day with a book for him to read describing it as a 'guys' book with zombies, fighting and everything else and that it was good, because it would be something for them to talk about. The book had turned out to be Pride, Prejudice & Zombies and, much like she had done, he had forced himself to read it even though she could barely disguise her glee as she offered insights on Darcy & Elizabeth and offered to give him the original afterwards. They had kept it up for a few weeks, each trying to force the other to concede until he fell on his sword when she had begun mentioning a wide variety of other books such as Sense, Sensibility and Sea Monsters. He didn't want to lose, but even he wasn't that much of a masochist.

So the agreement had been made that buying books as gifts should not be a something they did.

"Want to take another guess?"

"Perfume?"

He squinted at her. "Why would I bring you perfume into hospital? Trying to impress someone Ms Montez?"

She smirked. "A guy asked me to marry him...maybe he wants me to put in some effort?"

He leant over and kissed her. "I think the only effort he wants you to put in is into getting better. Guess again."

"You could just tell me?" her tone was bordering on whining and it just caused him to grin more. "Fine...a DVD of the season?"

"You suck at this game," he said with a role of his eyes. "I'm not egotistical enough to bring you home a DVD of me playing. Besides...season's not over and they haven't been released yet. I'm going to let you off because you wouldn't have guessed anyway. For you..."

He handed her the bag and watched as her face lit up as she pulled the box out with an excited squeak. "You bought me a DS and Mario Kart? Troy!"

He laughed and nodded as she clutched the game happily. "I figured that your obsession for it was some sort of pregnancy craving and you might be going through withdrawals, so...this seemed like a good idea. Plus," he reached over and plucked the game out her hand. "I have it on good authority that I can beat your ass as easily on this as I can at home so..."

"I always beat you at home," she said with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed the game back with a smirk. "Besides, you don't have a console so..."

"Au contraire, mon cheri," he said as she burst out laughing before he could even explain about his own console that was still in his car. "What?"

"Shhh, don't talk too loudly – a lot of staff here speak French and I think they'd be offended how you just murdered their dialect and I'd like to make sure they remember to feed me when you're not here."

"My French is awesome," he rolled his eyes in feigned arrogance. "Tu est tres jolie, mon amour."

"You don't play fair – you know I can't resist your terrible accent and sweet butchery of words." He saw her cheeks colour slightly as she giggled, quickly placing a finger over his lips to silence him. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but can I ask what inspired the multi-lingualism?"

He leant back, smirking at her as he caught her hand and kissed her knuckles. "We had an interview thing today and one of the questions was to talk about the French Quarter and they wanted us to say something French...it was stupid, but fun."

She shook her head. "So what did you say?"

"I couldn't remember anything remotely suitable for basketball purposes," he laughed, shaking his head. It was true – the only French knowledge he still retained from High School was individual lines designed to tempt Gabriella...which although successful, were definitely not suitable for public consumption. "I vaguely remembered our trip to Montreal and asked for directions to the restaurant, which would have been bad if it hadn't been for the fact that I know at least 3 guys rolled with the whole Lady Marmalade thing..."

Her giggling became full on laughter at that stage and he couldn't help but grin at the sound. "I need to see this interview."

"Hey, you think that's bad – apparently the Chicago guys had to attempt to toss a pizza and the Memphis guys had to do the whole grizzly thing – we got off lightly."

"At least it sounds like it was fun," she smiled as she reached over and brushed his cheek. "You look happy."

He frowned as he looked at her. "I'm always happy."

"No..." she tilted her head to the side and shrugged. "The last few days...you've been...stressed. Upset. Today you just look...like you. I missed that."

"Ah," he nodded in agreement as he moved closer to her. Stressed was probably an understatement about how he felt "I'm just a man who tends to get upset when the woman he loves ends up in hospital. Call me silly...but it just makes me feel better to see you here, awake, smiling and beautiful and knowing you're okay."

"I am okay," she whispered. "I love you and I love that you got me this."

"I love you too, but I had an ulterior motive," he confessed as he brushed a finger down her cheek. "I've missed seeing you really smile and I know that very few things bring you unbridled child like joy than me letting you win at computer games."

She giggled and slapped his arm gently. "You are so full of crap, Troy Bolton. You just can't handle the fact that the only computer game you can beat me at is basketball."

"Babe," he said as he rolled his eyes dramatically. "Everyone knows that basketball is the only thing that counts."

She shook her head and grabbed his arm to pull him up beside her and he gladly followed her directions and settled down so she could put her head on his shoulder. "You are such a liar."

"Only about silly things," he admitted as he tilted her chin up. "Not about anything important. I really love seeing you smile."

"You always make me smile," she said as she brushed his face. "How was your day?"

"Training, Isaac lecture, interview and apparently I might get a few minutes tomorrow night."

"That's great! I was worried they would keep you out longer because the coach was mad," she said happily and he shrugged. "I knew you were too good for them to do that with though. They aren't stupid."

"You're biased though," he grinned as she leant her head on his shoulder.

She snorted rather unladylike and sat up. "You have the best three point average of any rookie in the league and you are in the top 20 of all players. Plus, your assist rate is on par with anyone playing the same number of minutes you get. You sell yourself short all the time and you're better than that."

He watched her for a moment. It never failed to be amazing how much she knew about his game. He didn't know half the stuff she knew and although it was not something he would admit at the present time, especially as they were in hospital, it was hot as hell and did not help him forget that he was frustrated and missed her and that he was not a sex-crazed teenage boy anymore and was instead a mature, sensible, professional man who was smart enough to respect medical instructions. Even stupid ones.

"Are you okay, Wildcat?"

"You've been reading up?"

"I know your stats, Troy," she shook her head with a laugh. "It combines my two great loves together – you and numbers. It makes me happy to know that I know these things about your career and that sometimes I can tell you things that you don't know, even if they are just silly things."

He took a deep breath before grabbing the box off her new game and repeatedly banging it against his head. "I've never hated medical instructions as much as I hate them just now. I'm invoking a new rule – no basketball talk in my presence because the last thing I need is to want you more when I can't medically do anything about it for the next however many weeks. It's cruel and unfair and this is why basketball talk is banned with you for the foreseeable future."

"You're not serious."

"You have no idea how serious," he muttered as he threw his arm over his eyes when she commandeered the box off him protectively. "Stupid basketball."

Her laughter told him that she wasn't taking his plight seriously and he heard her mutter something about 'silly Daddy' while she opened the box up.

"Ah, just what I like to see. The fully fit basketball player laying down and relaxing in bed while the heavily pregnant woman sits up playing a video game."

Troy lifted his head and saw the fair-haired figure of Gabriella's doctor standing there and immediately straightened up. Dr Caldwell had been making fleeting visits the past few days, but it seemed pretty clear to Troy at least that this visit would be far more informative this time.

"You know you'd be less tired if you didn't stay here so late," Dr Caldwell said as he came in and closed the door behind him. "I promise she's in safe hands."

"I'm not tired," he argued as Gabriella sat her game onto the bedside locker. "How are things looking?"

"Pretty much how we were expecting," he said with a glance at Gabriella's chart. "I just wanted to come and have a little sit down with you both about things and catch you guys up to what we've been monitoring the last few days and mention some things we might be considering going forward. It's nothing to worry about, but I just want to keep you both in the loop. Can I sit down?"

Gabriella nodded quickly and took Troy's hand in hers as she waited on the doctor to speak. It was pretty obvious to Troy that whatever was going to be said wasn't going to be as good as he was trying to pretend and he knew that if he could pick up on that then Gabriella definitely would.

"Let me be honest – the tests aren't great," Dr Caldwell said with a sigh as he tapped his pen against the red backboard on the chart before looking up and clipping it back on his ID badge. "Nothing overly dangerous, but not something I would feel comfortable in letting continue for much longer. As you both know, Gabriella's pressure spiked a few days ago, and we've been trying to bring that down but it's not falling as quickly as we'd like even with constant monitoring. You also have a slight case of anaemia that although not a massive concern on its own, hand in hand with the high pressure it's just something that we really didn't need to have to deal with because both conditions just kinda exacerbate each other. It's nothing abnormal in even the healthiest pregnancies, but it's just not great either in this situation."

"Not great..." Troy repeated slowly. "You can give her iron supplements or something for that though, right?"

"Yeah, anaemia isn't anything to worry about and on its own it wouldn't have been a massive issue – and this is so slight that it's probably not affecting much anyway. It may be contributing to make you fatigued, but in conjunction with the existing problems it's just one more thing we have to keep an eye on."

"I suppose it could have been worse," Gabriella finished off with a resigned sigh and Troy could hear the weariness in her voice. "So what does that mean going forward?"

"It doesn't really change anything for you. I know you're eager to get home, and that's why I wanted to put this off as long as possible as I thought there was at least an outside chance that you might respond to medication quickly, but it's just not happening. I just can't risk sending you home because I wouldn't feel comfortable risking another spike without having the ability to treat it quickly. I know that's a disappointment to you both, but I assure you, it's absolutely for the best."

Troy nodded and he knew that although Gabriella was as disappointed as he was that deep down she understood as well.

"It's not all bad news though – we have good news as well. As you know, we've been pretty thorough in the tests we've run just so we could head off any potential problems off at the pass so to speak, but they have all came back clear. Liver function, kidney function and blood clotting tests are all clear and your body is breaking down proteins successfully which is extremely good news."

Troy exhaled at that – he knew enough about the condition to know that those signs were positive and although he knew that the likelihood of her getting home was somewhere between zero and none, he didn't really care at that moment as long as he knew she was going to be okay.

"So...with all that in mind, we do have a plan of action now..."Dr Caldwell sat closer towards the end of the bed and Troy felt Gabriella squeeze his hand as he moved a little closer to her. "The plan is, you stay in here and we try and get things down to a reasonable level. If your pressure drops and your symptoms slow down, we will deliver your baby within the next two weeks."

"And if it doesn't?" Troy asked as he saw Gabriella get visibly paler.

"If it doesn't, then I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it much more than a week to be honest. At this stage everything is balanced rather precariously, and although I am happy with that stability in terms of where we are at the moment we cannot have that stalemate continue indefinitely. If, after a week there hasn't been enough improvement then we will have to deliver. We're a long way of tha..."

"No."

Troy spun round at the interruption and he saw Gabriella look fiercely at the doctor, the hand she wasn't using to hold his clutched tightly around her bump.

"I know you think that a few weeks early is dang..."

"No," she almost growled. "My son will not be born that early. My son...my son is doing fine and you...you won't put him at risk by bringing him out when he's not ready. I can go another few weeks. You all have said that I'm doing better so, no. No delivering him early."

Troy was about to try and talk to her, to calm her down but a quick shake of the head from Dr Caldwell told him not to say anything as he kept his eyes locked on Gabriella.

"I think I explained to you that my job is to look after the both of you and that's what I'm trying to do. Your son is absolutely healthy, you on the other hand..."

"I'm fine."

"Gabi..." Troy tried to intervene, but she didn't even acknowledge him as she looked at the doctor.

"If you were fine you wouldn't be in here. I have a question for you – how important is it for you to be right in this?"

"What?"

"I know you are aware of what the complications are with eclampsia and allowing it to take a hold on you – seizures, liver failure, pulmonary edema and the HELLP syndrome you are already showing signs of. Even if you choose to overlook all that damage to you, you know that eclampsia can also cause foetal distress. There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and I know you are smart enough to recognise that."

"I..." she turned to look at Troy for some sort of comfort, but he couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear. Every symptom the doctor had mentioned made him want to beg him to induce her now never mind wait a week.

"Gabriella," he whispered softly as he looked at her. "He knows what he's doing and he wouldn't make you do it if it wasn't necessary. For all you know tomorrow things could start getting better and we'll get closer to time..."

"What if it doesn't?" she asked as she rubbed her bump desperately. "He's already going to be premature, Troy. I...I want to make sure our baby is well. He's so healthy just now...we could wait?"

"It'll just be by a few weeks," Troy tried to soothe, even though his own heart was racing in his chest. "Gabriella...the doctor wouldn't do this unless he was sure that it was necessary. I know you don't want to think about it, but I need you to be well. You promised me," he whispered, almost fiercely as he leant his head against hers. "You promised me that you would marry me and that you would look after yourself. We can do this, and who knows...maybe he'll just be a couple of weeks early."

"That's our hope," the doctor interrupted as Troy kept his eyes on hers. He could see she was terrified, and upset and for some reason, she looked guilty like this was her fault and he couldn't have that.

"I just...I want to give him the best chance. Premature babies – they..." she looked down and closed her eyes. "They have a higher chance of being autistic. I know that we're a bit further along than the real high point in terms of those numbers, but...if we could just wait a few more weeks it would be even lower. Just a couple more weeks."

"You looked up the numbers?" Dr Caldwell asked and she shook her head and a sad smile crossed her face.

"I did a research paper on it in college. UCL released data putting the number at close to 8% for extremely premature babies."

Troy thought back and tried to remember the paper she had spent so much time on their junior year. She had been so proud of it because her professor had told her that with a little further research and clinical study she would be able to publish it and cursed himself for not remembering the basic terminology that formed such a substantial part of her career. She could list any stat he could think of in regards to his own career, and he didn't have enough basic knowledge about her field to make her feel better.

"Your baby won't be extremely premature though," Dr Caldwell said patiently, rescuing Troy from his inactivity. "That would be around 24-26 weeks. You're already at 30-31, so you are out that bracket."

"I know, but..."

"Gabriella," Troy interrupted again as he moved so he was sitting in front of her. He wasn't going to let her talk herself out of this. Maybe he was selfish, but he trusted the doctor to be honest with them and he needed her to trust him as well. "That could happen if you carried full term as well. I don't know a lot about the numbers – unlike you, I hate numbers and they hate me so I can't tell you that I have the figures to back it up but you know as well as I do that there are no guarantees with mostly anything, especially with this pregnancy. Whatever happens happens and we'll deal with it. You and I..." he reached up and cupped her face with a small smile. "We're the constants and our baby," he brought his hand down and hesitantly placed it over her bump. "Our family is the only thing that matters and I'd rather risk him coming out a little early, than risk our family not being together. I can't have anything happening to you. Can you imagine me looking after our son on our own?" he forced the words out because even the thought of it made him want to be sick. "I know you're scared, but...please."

She bit down on her lip and he saw her eyes fill with tears as she nodded, her hands clasping his on her abdomen. She was scared and he knew that and he didn't care that the doctor was sat behind them he still reached over and pressed his lips softly to her own. "It'll be okay, baby. I promise."

"I just...I want..."

"I know and it's okay. We'll be okay. All of us."

She nodded again and he took a deep breath as he spun back around, letting her keep ahold of his hand as she took a deep breath and nodded her head. "You're right, both of you. I just...can't help know this stuff, you know? It's how I got my job...and...I couldn't bear it if something happened to him because of me."

"If, in the unlikely event anything happens, it won't be because of you. I wish I could get that through to you. This is not uncommon and neither of you have done anything wrong. It's just one of those weird things that happen every so often. I could tell you stories about really difficult pregnancies that would have you both thanking your lucky stars that this is as bad as it gets," the doctor shrugged and shook his head. "If things go right then an early delivery may not even be a major issue to be perfectly honest and that's what I think we should all be concentrating on. You look so much better already from being on the meds and outwith the ongoing epigastrium pain and intraocular haemorrhage which will both take a little longer to clear up, we're not really having any outward signs that the medication isn't working and it may only be a matter of time before we get some tangible sign of that in regards to the pressure falling."

"The baby's okay though?"

"He's about as comfortable in there as any baby could be. Don't worry – if we get any sign to the contrary, we'll take care of it but he looks like he's quite happy to stay in there and let his mommy look after him for the next couple of weeks. The important thing here at the moment is you. The healthier you are, the healthier the baby will continue to be that's why you are going to have to trust me. I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here, but we have to do our best with the cards we're given."

She nodded, leaning her head on Troy's shoulder as she sighed. "Okay. I'll do my best."

"I know you will," the doctor said as he stood. "Keep relaxing, sleep as much as you want, feet elevated, whale music, the whole nine yards." He turned to look at Troy then. "I suggest most of that for you as well, but with the added proviso that when you go home tonight you remove anything she's smuggled in here relating to work. Also, when you go home, try and sleep. Trust me; the two of you are going to miss out on enough sleep in a few weeks. Okay – I'll let you guys digest. Try not to worry, let us handle everything and we'll work everything out. Okay?"

Troy nodded, murmuring a thank you to the doctor as he turned his full concentration onto Gabriella. The door closed quietly and they sat there in silence for a moment before she closed her eyes and groaned as she cuddled into him. "Next time it has to be easier, right?"

"It can't be much harder," he admitted as he dropped his own head back. "What are you thinking?"

She sat up and looked at him. "I think...I think that you're right. We'll all be okay so, let's...let's just take it as it goes. We...nothing is going to get solved by dwelling on it, right?"

He recognised her compartmentalising and trying to be logical and although he'd rather she didn't close herself off, he would rather she was like that than working herself up. "Sounds like a plan. Do you really mean it or is this for my benefit and as soon as I leave you'll freak out?"

"I..." she looked at him and took a deep breath. "I'm not going to freak out. Freaking out would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I need to be rational and calm and...you're here, and I promised you and...promise is a big word, right?"

He grinned and nodded. "It is. So...what do you want to do then?"

"I want...I want to have a nap with you and then work out how to play my game and then...then I guess we will have dinner with our friends."

"Sounds like a plan..." he flinched as he ran a hand through his hair. "I guess we should call our parents as well."

She sighed and nodded as she lifted their joined hands and kissed them with a small smile. "The bubble was nice for a while, but I think you're right. Since I need to stay stress free, you can do that."

"How is that fair?"

"I'm in hospital, I get a pass surely?"

"So not only do I have to put up with the 'fiancée card' and the 'mommy card' – I now have to put up with the 'hospital card'? Do I have anything that gets me a freebie against doing unpleasant things with you?"

She giggled and shook her head. "You have the 'man card', which gets you out of most cooking and cleaning but it doesn't have an 'in-law out clause' attached. You should read the small print."

"I'll be sure to have Kyle look over the paperwork when I'm reapplying it then," he joked as he lay down and pulled her down. "Fine, in order to save you the stress I will bravely go into the firing line and get abused by our parents but just so you know, I'm blaming you though and as you have a 'hospital card' at your disposal they aren't going to be able to yell at you either. Everyone's a winner," he said as he kissed her forehead.

"My brave, smart fiancé," she giggled as she looked at him. "Troy? Do you really think that everything will really be alright or are you just saying it to make me feel better? Because I don't want you to lie to me."

"I'd never lie to you," he promised as he touched her cheek. "We're due some luck with this whole thing. I'd rather the doctor be too careful with you both than not careful enough. At the end of the day – I just need you both to be healthy and I know that Dr Caldwell is going to make sure that happens. If he comes a week early or a month early doesn't make a big difference. Maybe he'll be a little smaller at first, but height wise I think that's probably more genetics than anything else considering..."

She laughed and nodded and he was relieved to see her eyes lighten again as she took in and more importantly believed what he said. They weren't machines and couldn't just flick a switch and stop worrying about things, but as long as they had each other, he knew that they'd always be okay. "Maybe we can get him playing baseball instead of basketball then..."

He feigned outrage at that, causing her to laugh fully as they both settled back, hands locked over her abdomen as they joked, and laughed and teased whilst trying to ignore the monitors around them, or the impending visit from their friends or even the prospect of talking to their parents. At that moment it was just them, trying to remain in their bubble as long as possible before the real world intruded all over again.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading. **

**I just wanted to let you guys know that there is a fandom campaign on just now to raise money for the people of Japan. A lot of great authors & artists are contributing so if anyone is interested in bidding on a story, or a one-shot, or anything else then go have a look and see what's on offer. There's also some great memorabilia that has been donated, including signed pictures, dvd's etc so I encourage anyone who can spare anything to go and have a look. Information can be found at -**

_community*.*livejournal*.*com/wildcatsgivebac_

** (**remove the stars**). There's a lot of negativity around fandom just now, but this is a chance for us all to contribute to something really positive together so I really hope that some of you will go check it out. Truly anything and everything you can contribute would be a massive help.**


	20. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby?

**I know this is late and I know, I suck for that. I'm sorry.**

* * *

Gabriella had never been a person to spend time doing nothing. She had always been a person to stay active and have something on the go to keep her occupied. If it wasn't her studies, it was something extra-curricular. If it wasn't work, it was some creative venture she would try ranging from baking to scrap booking to knitting and if it wasn't cheering Troy on, it was learning stat sheets and basketball facts so she wouldn't embarrass him or herself in amongst his peers. The bed rest weeks had been tough, but nothing was tougher than the bed rest in hospital stint she was currently on, but as hard as it was it had allowed her to focus on the big picture. She was bored out her mind, but it was better than the alternative and although she missed being able to do whatever she wanted, she realised that her most important job was to stay calm and try and relax while hoping for the best. Things were certainly not going to get better just because she pouted and stressed about things out of her control so she and Troy had come to the conclusion that they were going to attempt to stay stress free. It was just unfortunate that they hadn't really had much luck with the pregnancy up until that point, so surely they were due a slice of good fortune and the easiest way to manufacture that good luck was to relax and let things happen.

Being stress-free and calm was a good idea in theory - in practice though, being stress free and calm was not so easy to implement especially when you were shooting nervous glances at the door constantly just waiting for your mother and future in-laws to blow in under the strength of their anger at the situation.

She sighed and bit down on her lip, drumming her fingers on the table nervously. She and Troy had both realised that their parents were not going to be impressed with them for keeping the knowledge that she'd been in hospital for days secret from them and although none of them knew the events that had caused her to be hospitalised, the only thing that seemed to matter was that they hadn't been informed and a terse couple of phone calls later she and Troy could only look at each other as they realised that it was going to be their last night of 'calm' for a while.

All good things...

"You don't need to look like you're about to be killed."

She turned her head to see Lisa popping a grape in her mouth with a shake of her head as she squinted at the screen of the game console that Troy had bought for Gabriella. Thankfully any and all issues with Lisa and Isaac had been forgiven, which she was sure Troy was more relived about than anyone as it meant that Gabriella had company when he had been at his game the night previously. If only everyone could be as easy to convince as those two...

"I call bullshit on this game – no way do I grade out at a C in an intelligence test. I was a solid B, sometimes B+ in High School and I have not got dumber since then."

"It's not just intelligence, it goes for reactions as well," Gabriella said as she commandeered the grapes back and opened the jar of nutella and began coating the fruit as she looked back to the door. "Do you think I should call Troy and see how he's...?"

"No," Lisa said as she closed up the console. "And my reactions are great. You should see my scores at the shooting range. Not to enforce a stereotype, but if I didn't need to worry about ask first, shoot second – I'd rule in the Deadwood style town we'd be staying in."

Gabriella could only blink at her friend as her hand fell protectively over her bump in a vain effort to protect her no doubt impressionable child hearing as she silently decided that Lisa and Isaac were out in terms of babysitting in the future. There were going to be enough questionable influences on their child's formative years. "Your level of comfort with deadly firearms is comforting. You guys aren't planning on having kids anytime soon, are you?"

"Ha! That's not even a consideration until at least a year after I make detective or when we hit 30, whatever comes first." She must have seen the confusion on Gabriella's face and laughed. "I promise I will keep the guns in a locked box in a locked cupboard. Relax."

"I know that," she squeaked a little louder than she would have liked. She trusted Lisa and she knew she wasn't an idiot, but Gabriella wasn't really a person who liked to think or deal with that sort of thing. "I just didn't realise you guys had given children any thought."

"It's not a real thought – more in passing. When we found out you were pregnant...you know, you two were 'the cute couple from college' and we had a conversation talking about how crazy you both were and somewhere, during that conversation we kinda...agreed. I mean we'll be together 10 years then," Lisa said with a shake of her head to highlight her disbelief, completely missing Gabriella's frown at the 'crazy' mention. "That's crazy, right? I mean I'm 26 just now, which no offence, is too young for me to do the whole 9 yards just yet especially as his travel schedule is so intense and my job is all hours. Plus I want him to get his next contract fixed with some trade vetoing powers first. I have zero interest in bringing a kid into the world only to have to relocate to Toronto or God forbid Detroit or something..."

"Hey - there's nothing wrong with Detroit."

"Yeah," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "There's nothing right with it either. Eve..."

"I was born in Detroit and Toronto is a beautiful city...better there than New York or LA or somewhere where you wouldn't have any privacy." Gabriella felt her frown deepen as she looked at her friend, feeling strangely offended at the whole turn of the conversation. Sure she and Troy didn't have any guarantees about where they would end up, but that wasn't going to change just because they had a child. They knew when he applied for the draft that his professional career was going to be a toss of coin in terms of long term stability in regards to where they lived, but it was a risk they were willing to take together. She loved it in New Orleans, it felt like home but she had moved around enough in her life to know that she could be happy anywhere as long as she had Troy and her baby with her. She didn't care about the state.

"It's in Canada," Lisa said slowly, almost as though she was confused about Gabriella's reaction. "I'm a US cop, not a Mountie. I know American laws and I've seen enough episodes of Due South to know that American and Canadian law enforcement don't marry well. And you may have been born in Detroit, but I'm willing to bet you weren't brought up in Detroit because trust me, even people who live in Detroit wish they didn't."

"You're being very judgemental. You can look at any city and find problems and reasons not to want to live there but the point is that you and Isaac would be together and that should be what counts not anything else," Gabriella straightened up, her brow furrowing as she stiffened her spine almost defensively. "And just because you move city doesn't mean you can't have a family. Troy and I moved here and we've been fine and if he came to me tomorrow and told me that we had to move to Toronto, Philadelphia or 'God forbid' Detroit, we'd still be fine and would still spend time raising our baby together. And as for not having time to raise a baby - even when I go back to work I have office hours and a crèche on site as well as plenty of time between patients. He's not going to be neglected just because our lives are busy. If people stopped having children because both parents had jobs the population would decrease pretty rapidly."

"Whoa...that is not what I meant at all! I wasn't talking about you guys," Lisa said quickly, seemingly sensing Gabriella's darkening mood and the offence she'd caused. Normally Gabriella would have felt bad about being so defensive, but the insinuations kinda hurt, dammit.

"You just said we were crazy," Gabriella said as she crossed her arms over her bump. "We're not crazy."

"I genuinely didn't mean it that way, though," the blonde said with a small smile. "Hell, maybe the game was too generous giving me a C...I know, I lack tact and I tend to just speak but I wasn't bashing you guys. C'mon, you know me...I love that you guys are having a kid. Sure it makes me feel old but..."

She looked so uncomfortable that Gabriella couldn't help but want to ease her conscience. She knew she was younger than most people seemed to think was acceptable even though a generation earlier and no one would have batted an eyelid. Hell, she even knew that the timing was bad and everything else and yeah, she figured everyone thought she was insane but she and Troy would have plenty of time for their family. She bit back on her irritation and counted to ten. She knew she was being irrational, over-defensive and argumentative but knowing that didn't make it easier for her to not feel like that. "I know and I'm sorry. It's just been a long few months...Troy and I have always been ahead of the curve, so...I don't see it as a big deal. It's not like we eloped in High School or got pregnant in our first year of college. To us...it's just us, you know? It's not a bad thing...we'll be just about done with getting our family together when you're starting."

"Exactly," Lisa breathed, relieved that the tone of the conversation had shifted. "You two can guinea pig for us."

"That's a good idea in theory, but you forget that our parents will probably kill us beforehand," Gabriella sighed as she looked at her nutella covered grape sadly. "I think if they kill me that I'll most miss being able to coat all my fruit in chocolate...also, it would really suck if they killed me before we got to show the baby off after the last few months."

"They aren't going to kill you. They're maybe a little pissed off, which they are entitled to be, but they know you have to be stress free. They'll get all their anger and disappointment out on Troy and be perfectly fine when they get here," she gave Gabriella a playful wink to which Gabriella could only give a weak smile in return.

She knew that they couldn't possibly react as badly as she was imagining them reacting, but after recent events she couldn't help but look at the worst case scenario which was so unlike her. She just wanted something to go smoothly for them.

"They are really upset though," Gabriella sighed as she leant back, only to flinch at the low tug in her side again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the pain quickly passed. If the visit from their parents couldn't go smoothly then she would happily accept the rest of her pregnancy to go smoothly instead. Sadly though that wasn't really looking likely either as she silently cursed at the continued twinges she was having. She knew they weren't anything serious but their increased frequency, and the increased frequency of the nurses visits were a pretty good indicator that the chances of her extending the pregnancy much further were slim. "I wish it was next week."

"And I wish I was on a tropical island. Let's not wish our lives away while sitting in a hospital though, huh? You're worrying about nothing and worrying is the last thing that you should be doing just now. I thought we agreed – only positivity from now on!"

"I'd feel more positive if I wasn't a grouch today," she murmured. "What's the pregnant equivalent of a Bridezilla?"

"I think pregnant covers a whole multitude of behavioural sins to be honest and doesn't need its own name," Lisa said with a laugh. "You just need to relax and stop worrying. I'm bringing some gushy rom-coms in next time so you can watch and gush over beautiful men doing romantic things."

"What - like the guy intercepting the cranky in-laws for their hospitalised fiancée?"

Lisa laughed and stood as she shook her head. "Exactly like that. You are living your very own rom-com. In fact, I may write the book and sell the rights for millions with...I don't know, Mila Kunis and Ryan Reynolds in the lead roles."

"You know, Troy is much better looking than Ryan Reynolds..."

"It's cute that you think so," Lisa said as she stood with a sigh. "If I wasn't so busy today I'd get started on that but, alas..."

"Big plans?"

"Oh the best," she responded with a roll of her eyes. "I have an exciting afternoon of paperwork and getting ready for a court testimony with an intern at the DA's office, because clearly I want to spend my day off at work. You have no idea how fortunate you are to not have any work dramas to deal with."

"I'll just have to stick with the in-law drama I guess. Hey, if you want to swap..." she offered with a grin. "It comes with all the fruit you can eat, a healthy portion of guilt and a large supporting cast of medical persons.'

Lisa laughed and shook her head as she leant over and hugged Gabriella. "And become a grouch too? Tempting but nah...I have enough in-law drama of my own, which is why I only talk to her twice a year."

"If they kill me, you can have my car to make up for me being a grouch."

"Now that's an offer I can't refuse. Have fun with the mother in-law, Oscar!"

Gabriella nodded and bid her friend goodbye and as soon as the door closed she closed her eyes and let out a groan as she sat back. "Have fun with the in-laws, I wish. Oh baby...if I were you I'd stay in there as long as possible and leave this drama to your mommy and daddy. I promise, when you're going to be a daddy that your daddy and I won't make you want to leave the country..." she paused for a second. "Unless you're still a teenager of course – then all bets are off, buddy!"

She giggled at the absurdity of her thoughts and settled back into the bed, tired despite the fact that all she'd done was lie in bed. She tried to imagine twenty odd years down the line when she and Troy would be in their parents position. At least, she thought with a smile, if nothing else this situation would prevent her and Troy from being over-bearing to their own child. Every cloud...

* * *

There weren't very many silver linings to be found as Troy waited in the airport with his hands drumming against his leg. This wasn't how he had been planning on spending the day following his game, but after the phone call he and Gabriella had made to their families a couple of days prior he figured they had some serious kissing up to do and as he was the one not in hospital, he automatically had the short straw.

The short straw was pretty damn short the last few days considering it had seen his fiancée land in hospital, making 'the call' to their parents and now he had to intercept them before they could come in and single-handedly induce Gabriella's labour themselves. He was all for getting the pregnancy over with as soon as it was safe for both mother and child, but he didn't think that the resultant high blood pressure to Gabriella was worth the risk, especially if their parents hadn't had an epiphany since they spoke on the phone.

In all likelihood though, he knew that the chances of them being in a better place since the phone call was slim considering how quickly the conversation had descended from warm to glacial before his mom's increasingly clipped tone informed him that she would be visiting and that if Gabriella and asking whether or not he and Gabriella could be 'bothered' letting her stay at their house or whether or not she would have to book a hotel. By the time the conversation had finished he felt like the abashed 12 year old who had routinely said stupid things to break tension in a room.

Somehow he doubted suggesting changing his nickname to Kobe, or asking to get cornrows in his hair like Chad had at the time would ease this situation, sadly.

He should have let her get a cab and met her at the house...

"Excuse me?"

He was broken out of his thoughts and looked up at the sound of the voice to see two kids standing there with their awkward looking dad standing beside them, looking at him apologetically.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"You're Troy Bolton," the younger of the boys said and Troy smiled and nodded. "You play with Chris Paul. Is he as good as he looks on TV?"

He didn't know if it was the stress of the impending situation with his mom, the innocence of the question or the sheer horror on the father's face as his son gave him the ultimate back-handed compliment, but he couldn't help but burst into laughter at the question.

"Clint – that was rude!" the dad hissed before turning to Troy apologetically. "I'm so sorry..."

"No, it's fine," Troy laughed as he turned his attention to the boy who didn't seem to grasp that he'd said anything amiss. "He's better than he looks on TV. Do you like watching the games?"

"Dad records them 'cause they're on too late to stay up," the younger boy responded with a sigh that indicated how unfair he thought that decision actually was. "It's not the same 'cause we know who wins."

"You don't miss much," the older boy whispered. "They kinda stink the last few weeks."

"Adam!" the father hissed again before turning to Troy. "He doesn't mean that. Just a down turn – all teams have them, right?"

"He's not even been playing that often so I don't know what the big dea..."

"Adam, I swear to God..."

"It's fine," Troy interrupted with his hands in the air. "You're right, we've not been great for a few weeks but we're going to turn it around."

The older boy looked sceptical but merely shrugged instead of saying anything else and his father let out a breath that seemed to be in relief. "I am so sorry – we are just about to head to visit the grandparents and they're on a sugar high. We saw you sitting here and just wondered if you could you take a picture with the kids? Only if it's no trouble of course! I promise we'll be out your way then."

Troy nodded and tried to hide his own amusement. "I can do that."

"Thank you," the man said as he manoeuvred the two boys to either side of Troy. "I wouldn't hear the end of it if we didn't get one."

"Is Chris here?" the little boy asked again which caused another exasperated cry from their father as Troy tried to contain his laugh. "Can we get our photo taken with him, Dad?"

"Shhh!"

Troy's efforts at hiding his laughter were thwarted and he could only shoot the father an apologetic grin. "It's okay."

"Are the rest of the team here? Are you guys flying somewhere? 'Cause you guys have got a home game tomorrow and you should be playing 'cause we're at home and you're not injured. I thought you were when you missed that easy three last night, but dad said that's because you're shor..."

"Adam! For crying out lo..."

"It's fine – I am shorter than a lot of the guys in the league to be honest," Troy held up his hands. "My mom is coming to visit so I'm picking her up from the airport, so it's just me I'm afraid. The other guys are all doing their own things today."

"You should visit your mom instead – it's not nice to make her fly to see you," the younger boy said. "Unless it's your birthday and she's visiting you for that."

Troy's laughter came fully then as he looked at the poor father who looked ready for finding a hole and climbing in it. "It's not my birthday, but my fiancée is having a baby and my mom is excited about being a grandma so she's coming out so she's here when the baby's born."

That was mostly true, so he didn't feel bad about omitting the part where his mom was going to kill him and had flown out so quickly so she had a few extra days to lay a guilt trip on par with her 'I was in labour for seventeen and a half agonising hours with you and you would deprive me of seeing my son have a proper wedding?' one she had perfected since he and Gabriella had gotten engaged.

"Babies cry a lot," the younger boy made a face as he turned away from Troy. "Especially girl babies. They cry all the time."

"Really? Well, we're having a boy so hopefully he'll behave," Troy joked as the father grabbed both of the boys and started moving them away.

"Well, I hope everything goes well with the birth and you two have a healthy baby," the exasperated father said as he pulled the two boys to his side, almost desperate to get out of there. "Thank you so much for your time, Mr Bolton. I'm really sorry for bothering you with these two monsters. Don't let them put you off kids."

"Don't worry about it. It was fun. You two boys have fun on your visit."

They parroted back a thank you as the father shot him another silent thank you before they walked off leaving an amused Troy behind. He couldn't help but wonder if ten years down the line he would resemble the bedraggled father apologising to strangers for his own son's lack of tact. If he had inherited his own inquisitive streak as a child he would have his work cut out for him...

"Got your own little fan club there?" At the sound of the voice over his shoulder, Troy turned around in surprise to see his dad standing there with an amused look on his face.

"Dad? What are you doing here? I thought you couldn't fly out until the weekend?" Troy asked as he stood, jumping over the back of the seat and he hugged his dad in greeting. "Where's mom?"

"Ah, your mom...she saw you were busy and decided to go wait in the coffee shop..."

"Still mad, huh?"

Jack shrugged. "I had to rearrange some vacation days and promise to not only run a few summer coaching sessions, but also to start up a girls basketball team so I could come with her to try and calm her down. She's...really upset with you two."

Troy knew that and although he hated that he had upset his mother, part of him couldn't help but be frustrated that no one seemed to want to see things from their perspective. Surely it wasn't so hard for them to grasp that there were slightly more important things going on than waiting a few days to make a phone call?

"Yeah, well, we didn't upset you guys intentionally and I think you guys are over-reacting."

"Wait, Troy," Jack held his hands up in surrender to silence his son. "I have no interest in rehashing this with you, then with you and your mom, and then with you, your mom and Gabriella. As far as I'm concerned it's water under the bridge but you don't need me to tell you that women...they get worked up over stuff like this..."

Troy was about to argue and say that Gabriella didn't really but couldn't even start before his dad continued.

"And before you say not all women get worked up over stuff like this, I'd like you to remember what happened when you took that concussion in your Sophomore year and Gabriella got out her sickbed to travel two hours by bus to the hospital, only to end up in bed for a week and missing her flight to see her mom for Thanksgiving. They tend not to act rational when they are emotionally involved with things. That's not to say I'm not pissed, you understand?"

Troy nodded as he looked at his dad's stern expression and waited on the older man to continue, figuring that perhaps him saying something would not be particularly constructive. He had a feeling he would be explaining himself enough to his mom anyway...

"I do understand though and the main thing is that everything is okay and Gabriella and the baby are healthy. Let's just get your mom, go to the hospital and we can all discuss it like grown-ups...hopefully."

"No 'hopefully'," Troy stated determinedly as he grabbed one of the bags from his dad and began walking towards the coffee shops, his dad following beside him. "I know you guys have questions, and we'll answer them but I'm not going to let an argument start at the hospital with Gabriella. She's in hospital and has had enough drama recently so...yeah, no rehashing with her."

"You're the boss, although I'm not sure your mom will agree to that."

Troy wasn't sure his mom would agree to that either, but he was adamant. "Yeah well, the doctors will back me up and that is enough for me. I'll take mom being pissed at me as opposed to the alternative..."

"Just...take it easy on her. Her feelings are bruised; just let her...do what she does."

Troy shrugged. "She can do whatever she has to do in order to get over it – just as long as it's not at the hospital."

His dad stopped and shook his head, a smile wide on his face.

"What?" Troy asked as he looked around, wondering what he had missed.

"Nothing I just...it's always amazing to me how every time I see you, you seem that little more grown up. Part of me still sees you and Gabriella as these little love-sick teenagers and yet here you are, days away from being parents and handling everything better than anyone could expect. It's...amazing."

He wouldn't lie and say that his dad's praise didn't make him proud, and he could feel his cheeks heat up slightly in response as he tried to shrug it off. "Yeah, well...I got lucky..."

"More to it than luck, but you know that," his dad said as he clapped Troy on the arm. "We'll talk about that later though, and why I'm getting irate phone calls from Kyle about you. It can wait though...I figure you can deal with your mom first and then we'll talk shop in the next couple of days, okay?"

He wanted to turn down the opportunity of discussing anything relating to Kyle with his dad, but he wasn't going to say that while his dad was onside regarding the whole not calling thing, so instead gave a half-hearted nod as he started walking again. "You want to come to training with me tomorrow? I'm still on half practice because of my wrist so I'm not over-working it before games, but if you want to come?"

"Yeah, definitely! Gotta see what you guys get up to – might be able to implement some NBA secrets into Wildcats practice next season, huh?"

Troy couldn't help but laugh as he nodded and the two of them slipped into a conversation about the current East High team and comparisons between them and the team Troy played on as they walked towards the coffee shop where his mom would be waiting on them. He had no illusions that the conversation with his mom would be as easy going as this one, but as he laughed as his dad told him about one particularly trying basketball player on his team, he still couldn't help but hope that it wouldn't be as bad as he was imagining it would be.

That hope was shattered though as they stopped outside the coffee shop and Troy looked in to see the narrowed eyes of his mom looking at him over the top of her coffee cup. He exhaled sharply and offered a small wave which just caused her eyes to narrow further as his dad let out a low whistle, a whispered good luck and a reminder to be nice as he stepped around him and walked over to his mom.

Yeah...so much for it not being as bad as they had imagined it.

* * *

It was a little over 90 minutes later when Troy entered the elevator at the hospital, his hand clasping some flowers as he waited to arrive at Gabriella's floor. He didn't know how he looked, but he felt like he'd aged about ten years in the few hours since he'd left her that morning and he was genuinely just looking forward to an hour without having to deal with any of this. His parents, after a silent car ride from the airport, were at his house cleaning up before they were making their own way to the hospital and although he knew it wasn't a demonstration of good etiquette, Troy hadn't needed to be told twice and almost immediately left them to it so he could go and enjoy some time with Gabriella before they faced the inquisition. His mom had been kind enough not to lay into him on the way home, but she'd avoided it by giving him snippy, sarcastic answers to his attempt at small talk and if he didn't talk to her, she had seemed to have been happy to ignore him.

He stepped out the lift and offered a friendly smile to the nurses at the station as they bid him hello and walked straight to the room that had become his second home the last few days. He smiled as he saw Gabriella sleeping peacefully and went over to sit beside her. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and left the flowers on the table before finding his way to the chair beside her bed and picking up the game console.

He had barely made it half way through the testing circuit in the game when he heard a soft sigh. "I'm starting to think that people are coming to visit the game console instead of me."

He looked up at her and grinned. "You weren't being very good company, so I had to find an alternative."

"So I'm boring now? You are not good for my ego, Mr Bolton," she giggled as she sat up, closing her eyes as she did so while he sat the game down and moved closer to her in case she was dizzy.

"You okay?"

She kept her eyes closed and nodded slowly. "The baby's having a demanding day and the nurses seem to find it interesting so I've not really been able to sleep and you know how I require a good twenty hours sleep just now," she giggled tiredly as she lifted her chin and rolled her neck, her eyes still closed. "I'm fine though. A grouch, but fine."

He bit down on his lip to prevent from saying anything and waited until she opened her eyes and gave him a small smile. Her eye was still red as a result of her high blood-pressure and the improvement she had made a few days earlier didn't seem to have stuck as her skin was back to the pale complexion that he hated. "You a grouch? I don't believe it."

She laughed softly and shook her head at his feigned gasp. "Ask Lisa...I bit her head off over something silly."

"You have hormones you can blame for that so don't worry," he teased as he looked at her in concern while she sat up more. "Can I help?"

She reached out and touched his cheek softly. "You can help me up so I can go to the bathroom so I don't need to call a nurse?"

"I need to get a wheelchair..." he said as he looked around for the portable chair that she was supposed to be confined to in any circumstances she was out of bed.

"It's like 10 steps," she bartered and he rolled his eyes and stood, holding his hand out for her. "Eight if we take really big steps."

"Or thirty if we walk the way you walk recently," his eyebrow quirked as he shook his head, ready to dismiss her request. "You're supposed to rest."

"It's embarrassing!" she whispered, looking towards the door apprehensively. "They're obsessed and won't let me do anything. I even have to sit down in the shower - that's humiliating. Please, baby?"

He wanted to tell her no, to be strict and sensible, but one look at her pleading face and he was a goner. He was so whipped it wasn't even funny. "Fine, but if the nurses come in here and yell at me, I'm blaming you," he said as she slowly manoeuvred her way round and grasped his hand and used it to pull herself up. He gave her a moment to balance herself. "You okay?"

She nodded and he was surprised as she walked in and wrapped her arms around him, her arms tight around him, and her bump pressing into his body as she rubbed her cheek against his chest. "Mmmm, missed you, Wildcat..."

His lips turned up in agreement to the sentiment as he tightened his grasp on her and pressed a kiss to her hair. It wasn't that they weren't able to have contact with each other, but it was just different when you were in a hospital and although they could lie together occasionally, they were a couple who was used to affection. He knew that everyone thought it was sickening, but it was just the way they were. They would rest their heads on each other's lap while watching TV, they would hold hands while having coffee, they would randomly kiss each other when they left and entered a room, they would cuddle at night...so having that taken away from them was tough and being able to do something as simple as standing up and hugging her was appreciated. "Missed you too. Come on, Beautiful...let's get you back in bed before the nurses catch us."

She nodded against his chest and pulled back just enough to be able to walk gingerly towards the bathroom as he kept a hold of her hand, just in case. He took her to the door and let her go and before he could voice his idea of getting a nurse 'just in case' she had shook her head and closed the door, giggling as she told him to trust her and to keep watch in case they were caught.

He took the few minutes she was in the bathroom as an opportunity to sneak a look at her chart. He didn't know enough about medical jargon to really understand anything, but he was a budding expert on what blood pressures and the symptoms were recorded as. It was frowned upon and both he and Gabriella had both been chastised for chart spying, but it comforted them to see that things were, if not improving, at least not getting any worse. His quest was short-lived this time though as he looked on the wall only to find the folder empty and, as a last resort he went to the end of the bed where it sometimes hung to find it missing from there as well. He was still eyeing the empty spot when the bathroom door clicked open and he heard the soft, slow padding of feet against the linoleum.

Immediately forgetting his plan, he turned and returned the smile Gabriella shot him as he walked over and offered her his arm dramatically. "May I escort you, milady?"

"Why of course you may, kind Sir," she responded with a slight dip as she held her nightshirt out in a fake curtsy. "Your chivalry is very becoming, Mr Bolton."

"What can I say, my mama taught me well," he winked, speaking in a bad Southern accent, causing her to giggle. "What?"

"Nothing!"

He helped her onto the bed and tried to act offended but couldn't keep it up as she grinned at him. "It didn't sound like nothing. It sounded like you were finding something amusing..."

"Would I laugh at you, Wildcat?" she batted her eyelashes and slipped into her own southern brogue, causing him to laugh as he leant closer to her and rested his forehead on her shoulder, his shoulders shaking as she laughed softly underneath him. "I don't think we're quite Rhett and Scarlett, do you?"

"No, and I don't know whether I'm happy or sad at that," he chucked as he sat up and let her lean back against the pillows. "They've stolen your chart."

"Yeah, they took it this morning and just bring it in with them when they visit. Apparently Dr Caldwell is coming in tomorrow morning. I'm not optimistic that it means anything good to be honest."

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I have training in the morning and I don't think I can skip..."

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I know, don't worry. Whatever it is, will keep and I'll let you know whatever he tells me. You don't need to worry, I promise."

Not worrying was easier said than done, but he wasn't going to say that. "What do you think he'll say?"

"I think he'll say that things aren't improving and he'll pick a date," she admitted with a sigh. "The pain is getting more common again, so I think...yeah, just a hunch. I hope I'm wrong but..."

He nodded as that's what he thought as well. He was at the stage where every extra day she got without the pregnancy being induced was a bit of a surprise to him. "Yeah, that's what I think too...but hey, plus point," he began as he sat up and faced her as he sat at the foot of the bed. "If the baby comes early then the quicker you get out of here, the quicker mom and dad will go back home and the quicker we can get married. Not a bad silver lining, right?"

"That is one plus point, I guess. Not sure how your parents will take it though," she bit down on her lip and looked at the door quickly. "Where is your mom anyway? Is she really mad at you? Did she yell at you? I'm so sorry you had to deal on your own."

He shrugged and he couldn't really help the sigh that escaped as he looked at her. "I would say mad is an understatement and it's not just my mom who came. My dad's here as well – he took some time off so...yeah, they are both here. I dropped them off at home to clean up. Dad's fine, he's more pissed at something Kyle apparently told him but he's been nice enough not to mention it while Mom's in her cold shoulder mood."

"What did she say?"

"Not a whole lot, to be honest," he flinched and moved up beside her. "You know mom – it takes a while for her to explode when she's mad. She's still in her silently seething phase."

It was true. His mom was a lot like him in that regard. He didn't tend to lose his temper very easily, but when he was pissed it would generally last a while. Hell, had it only been a few weeks ago that he had been in his own funk and had all but forced Gabriella out the bedroom by his insistence on feeling sorry for himself? How time drags when you're not having fun...

"I'm sorry," she murmured as she pressed a kiss to his neck. "I wish I could have been there with you."

"Nah," he shook his head and smiled at her, running a finger down her smooth cheek. "I'm glad you weren't there to see my embarrassment when two kids came to get an autograph and were more interested in whether or not Chris was in the airport and how I was too short to make the last three pointer last night. My ego got dented," he fake pouted, causing her to laugh softly as she smoothed out his lower lip.

"Still my superstar," she whispered as she moved her fingers from his lips to rest against his jaw. "They don't know what they're missing."

"See, this is why I keep you around. You are so good for my ego," he smiled as he leant in and kissed her. "Don't worry about mom and dad. As pissed as she is, she's still come with two bags worth of baby stuff. It'll be fine."

Her smile widened at that and Troy sat back as she gripped his hand in excitement. "She said she saw a little Elmo baby romper, with his face on it and was going to buy it. She sent me the picture – it's so cute."

"Our son is never going to wear the same outfit twice, is he?"

She laughed and shook her head. "Sadly I know most babies go through about four outfits a day, so as nice as that sounds...I envision lots and lots of laundry."

"Hey, it could be worse – according to my mom I was very much a 'au naturale' baby and didn't really like wearing clothes until I was like 3 and then I would only wear super hero costumes," he shook his head, remembering the stories his mom told him about the yearlong bartering that went on to persuade him not to hide his other clothes. "I guess I should probably apologise in advance if he has inherited those tendencies...I swear he'll grow out them!"

"So your inner exhibitionist started at an early age?"

"I reigned it in well, I know," he chuckled, his hand running through his hair. "What can I say - I like to time my bouts of nakedness now...I think it's worked out well."

"I certainly have no complaints," she smirked as she leant over, only to pout when her bump stopped her from closing the gap successfully. "Dammit..."

He watched as she attempted again, but could only laugh at her efforts as she was let again thwarted by the bump. Before she could get overly upset at his teasing, he reached over and kissed her lips softly and dropped back before he tentatively brought his hand over and rested it on her bump. It was a small gesture, but it was a big thing. He knew she was aware that he had not been as enthusiastic about touching her bump as he had been before she had gotten sick, and although it wasn't a conscious decision on his part to step back, now that he was aware of it he didn't want it to be something she thought about. He didn't want her to think he blamed the baby, and although perhaps subconsciously a part of him did, he knew it was unreasonable. It was just one of those things and perhaps it was because there was an end in sight, or because she was getting around the clock care, or perhaps he had just got his own head together but whatever it was, he wanted to make the effort without needing prompting to show her that he was okay, that she might be sick and not look the way she normally does because of the pregnancy, but that he still thought she was beautiful and was so happy to be starting a family with her, no matter what. Because, no matter what was going on – that was still true and in that moment, sitting on a hospital bed, her lower lip still pouting adorably as they laughed there was just something so...ordinary about sitting and laughing and having fun with the pregnancy that they hadn't been able to do in too long. "I think it's worked out well for both of us."

He watched as the frustration left her face as he tentatively rubbed her bump and he watched as her gaze softened and her own hand came over to rest over his. "More than well."

He nodded his agreement as she continued to look at him, and he smiled softly at her, watching her eyes fill with tears before they eventually spilled over, causing her to roll her eyes dramatically as he laughed again. "Damn hormones, huh?"

"Yeah, I have never cried as much in my life. I swear if I get the baby blues on top of this like the Sarah said she had with every baby, I may have to get my tear ducts removed," she giggled as she gave him a watery smile. "I promise I will be less weepy with the next baby."

"How about we get this one delivered first before we start planning on brothers and sisters for him?" he asked with a small smile. Truthfully, he was so traumatised by this pregnancy and the health problems it had caused Gabriella that he would need a couple of years to recover before even considering putting her through it again. They had had their hearts set on a big family, but he was beginning to understand why so many people stopped at one if even half had to go through similar problems. "I have big plans for you before then."

"Yeah?" she wiped her eyes and grinned mischievously at him. "Like what?"

"Hmmm," he pretended to ponder as he leant back. "I envision Elvis, show girls in skimpy costumes and feathers followed by a vacation where the most clothing you wear is a bikini and then..."

"Showgirls in skimpy costumes? This is an idea I'm supposed to agree to?" she asked, her brow quirking as she looked at him and he shrugged, feigning innocence.

"Of course! I mean, obviously you'd be far more beautiful than them, but if we're in Vegas we have to embrace the full experience."

"Hmmm," she murmured as she looked at him. "Getting married by Elvis in a $20 chapel of love really does sound like a plan. We could hit the casino afterwards..."

"You could be my lucky charm on the roulette wheel, making all the guys jealous as we gamble away our savings..."

She giggled and nodded. "Dress up as old movie stars and see how many people don't comment on it..."

"Good idea, you could become Sharon Stone from Casino and I could sing Frank songs loudly..."

"Ole Blue Eyes, huh?" she bit her lip and brought her fingers down across his cheekbone and he couldn't help but lean into her touch. "I love old music."

"I know," he whispered as he leant over and sung a few bars from Fly Me To The Moon causing her to sigh appropriately. "If I knew you liked it so much I would have adopted him as my karaoke choice years ago..."

"I like you singing anything though so I'm naturally biased," she smiled up at him with the sort of smile that always made him feel ten foot tall.

"I love you too, baby," he sighed as he reached over and brushed her cheek with the tips of his fingers.

"I love you, but we're still not getting married in Vegas." Her voice was teasing as she shook her head.

"You are such a spoil-sport," he rolled his eyes dramatically which just caused her poorly disguised laughter to increase and he couldn't help but grin in contentment at the sound. It had been a long morning, but this was what he had needed after the morning he'd had. "Fine, we'll be boring if you want but don't say I didn't offer when you're complaining about how many people our parents have invited."

"I will keep it in mind and allow you to play the appropriate 'I told you so' card if needed. And if I ever feel like I missed out with the Elvis experience I'll let you know."

She grabbed his hand again and laid it back against her bump with her own hand over the top.

"That's all I ask," he nodded before continuing. "So...I was wondering something..."

She didn't say anything and he took that as a sign to go on. "I got a call from the baby store and apparently the crib and the Moses basket are ready. Now...I asked them to hold them for a few days but I was just wondering if you wanted me to pick them up this week and leave them in the garage, or do you want them to stay in the store, or do you want to wait a little longer?"

He watched as she bit down on her lip before tilting her head to look at him. "Is it silly to just want to leave them in the store a few more days? I know it's stupid, especially as we have so many other things so if you want to get it early I...I mean, just don't tell me if you do, but if you want so you can build it early I guess that's...I just...it's silly, right? To be superstitious about that when I have bought and made so many silly things already so...what do you think?"

"I think..." he paused, trying to work out what to say. He didn't mind either way, and there was no way that he would bring the crib or anything else into the house if it made her uncomfortable even if he didn't understand the superstition. "I think leaving it in the store is the best idea. Truthfully, I doubt I would have even time to build it just now because I want to spend my free time here and maybe as soon as my parents are settled my dad can help so it won't be like we're losing much time."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," he promised as he nodded. "Besides, I think coach would kill me if I did any woodwork with my wrist just now. He's a little sensitive and since I'm hoping not to be traded in the summer, I'm going to try and piss him off as little as possible."

He watched as she stiffened slightly at the mention of a trade before reaching for his hand again determinedly. "Troy...you know that if you ever do get traded that I'll come with you, right? I mean I hope you don't, but if you do...I won't mind – no matter where we end up. I just...I want you to know that."

He was a little confused about why she would say that because it was a little serious, and a little random considering the conversation they had just been having and although he was of course relieved that her thinking hadn't changed since college when she had told him she'd stay full-time wherever he played, it was still a bit confusing. "I know that. I hope we don't have to leave for a long time, but I'm glad you would still come. I'd miss you too much to be useful to anyone and you know my game would go to hell..."

She smiled at him, her nose scrunching as she shook her head. "You always say that your game goes to hell, but it never happens."

"Hey, ask my dad and see if that happ..."

"Ask me what?"

Troy straightened at the sound of the voice behind him and he spared a glance at Gabriella, whose gaze was now trained at the door with a nervous smile on her face. He took a deep breath and gave her hand a quick squeeze before standing up and smiling at the visitors.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad..."

* * *

Of all the reactions that Gabriella had expected to face when Troy's parents came today, she would have to confess that she had never pictured this one. The room was in an awkward silence, no one quite knowing what to say beyond basic pleasantries about the journey and while Troy sat at the top of the bed with her, his parents were sat at together making her feel she was part of a 'them and us' scenario where no one would dare bring up the white elephant in the room.

Having them blow up at them would probably have been preferable to this.

"So...how are you feeling Gabriella?"

She looked up to see Jack addressing her with a smile. "I'm...I'm good. How are you both?"

"We're fi-"

"You wouldn't be in hospital if you were fine," Lucille interrupted and looked directly at Gabriella who immediately felt like a chastised child who had disappointed. "We worry about you, so please...don't feel like you have to pretend with us."

"I know. I mean...I've obviously been better," she expanded with a shrug as Troy gave her hand a squeeze in encouragement. "I...I just couldn't keep my blood-pressure down and that's why the doctor decided that it would be a good idea to come in and be careful with things."

"And the baby?"

Troy's thumbs started rubbing small circles on the back of her hand as he answered his parents. "He's fine. They are keeping a close eye on everything and he's great."

She leant slightly closer to him and nodded her head in agreement, but seeing that that was going to be the end of that particular thread of conversation she decided to jump in and hopefully break the tension. It was okay for her because she was sleeping in the hospital, but Troy would be going home with them and she didn't want him to have to deal with the fallout on his own. At least in here they could manage it and had the convenient excuse that no one could argue...

"I'm glad you guys came because the doctor...he thinks we might have to deliver the baby soon."

"We...suspected that," Jack said slowly as Lucille stiffened slightly, almost biting her lip from saying anything. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded and took a deep breath before continuing quickly, hoping that if she just came out and said it that it would be over and done with - like a band-aid. "When I first came in they were running so many different tests and I was still hoping that I'd be able to get home again. Obviously, that didn't happen and the medication didn't really work as well as it did last time and the doctor...he seems to think that we might need to deliver in the next few days. The whole thing has happened kinda quickly so we waited until we knew for sure before telling anyone, which is why we just called you a couple of days ago."

If the situation would have been less serious she may have laughed at Troy's dumbstruck expression. She had no idea what she had said that was so shocking, but she didn't get a chance to ask before Jack started laughing.

"You probably should have given your fiancée the same warning you gave us, Troy..."

She blinked in confusion and turned to look at Troy who looked both sheepish and exasperated at her. "I don't get it...what warning?"

"Troy's warning," Lucille said with a pointed look in her son's direction. "One of his first statements in the airport was that no one was allowed to mention how long it took you two to contact us while we were in hospital in case it upset you. Like we would have started arguing with a woman with your condition."

"Troy!" she slapped his arm gently as he rubbed his hand over his eyes in exasperation.

"I was trying to help! I thought we'd have an argument with them and what you just said is exactly what I said on the phone and they were still mad."

"We are still mad," Lucille added, while Gabriella kept her attention on Troy who almost smirked victoriously at Gabriella.

"See, I told you they were still mad. I was right to try and avoid the conversation happening here."

He was one step away from sticking his tongue out at her and she bit the inside of her lip to stop from laughing at him. "Then they would just be mad at you at home."

"We are still mad," Jack repeated with amusement lacing his voice as Gabriella kept her eyes on her fiancé. "And still in the room..."

"I was just trying to help," Troy shrugged. "Less drama is good..."

"We didn't do anything wrong though," she maintained before turning to his parents with a pleading expression. They didn't do anything wrong, but she could understand why they were upset but they did the right thing and she wanted them to realise that. "We didn't mean to hurt your feelings but...we didn't do anything wrong. Things were complicated, and we had a lot of stuff to think about by ourselves but we let you know as soon as we knew for definite one way or another."

And that was true – as much as she sympathised, she knew that she and Troy had done the right thing for them and as selfish as it sounded, that was what had been important at that point.

"What about your mom? She was nearly in tears when I spoke to her because she couldn't fly out right away. She seems to think that you two delayed telling us as some sort of punishment to something that happened with her."

Gabriella was almost dumbstruck at that accusation and she felt Troy tense beside her as he spoke. "We let her know the same time we let you guys know and for the same reasons. Admittedly, things between Gabi and her mom haven't been great but we're not that petty. We just needed...time."

She could see straight away that the answer wasn't going to be accepted and she took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face. There was no point avoiding everything because her mom would be there in the next day or so and she didn't want the tension to linger on for longer than necessary. She had no intention of letting this issue be a lasting factor anymore. "We had a problem with my birth father showing up looking for money a few days ago. I was...a little upset," she trailed off and looked down, trying to work out what else she could say. "I was a lot upset actually..."

Troy's hand tightened in hers and the squeeze was enough to bring her away from the still raw emotions she was dealing with about that situation. Part of her was disgusted in herself for still being hurt, and the other part wanted to grieve properly for the way the dream had been shattered.

"As you know, Gabriella has had problems with her blood-pressure since the start of the pregnancy, but this kinda made things worse so as we had to bring her in and the doctor decided that she was going to have to stay here until the baby was born. We don't want anything to happen to her."

She risked a glance at her future in-laws and she could see that they were trying to process what they had told them. She didn't like discussing something so personal, but she knew it was important that they understood what had happened.

"I don't understand," Jack said slowly. "You aren't in contact with him, are you? I don't remember seeing him at any parties or graduation ceremonies or anything so how...how did he just randomly show up?"

"I don't know him. My dad...my birth father, he found out where we were because of something my mom told him. She apparently kept in contact with him...for...for years," she tried to keep the bitterness out her voice but may have been only partially successful before she took a deep breath and continued. "Anyway, she didn't mean to tell him anything and we...we sorted it out between us. Things are better now, because I was...upset when I found out but...she didn't mean it and she's sorry. I just...I don't want that to be an issue anymore. She made a mistake, and it hurt...but she's my mom and I love her and that's all that matters."

"It's been a difficult few weeks," Troy added and as Gabriella turned her head to look at him, she saw his gaze was focused on his parents. She immediately turned to see what their reaction was, but they were both still in silent thought about the information they had received. "Isabella is catching a flight early tomorrow so she'll be here and she can fill in the blanks to you guys about her side of things, but just so you know – we weren't punishing her and we weren't punishing you...we just needed a few days to decompress by ourselves."

"Okay," Lucille said as she nodded, her gaze switching from Troy to Gabriella, a small smile on her face. "I can understand that. Just...a couple of questions. Where's your...where is he now? Do we have to watch out for him?"

Gabriella relaxed then and she felt the tension in Troy's body evaporate as he leant down and kissed her head before answering. "No. He's gone."

"Is he going to be a fixture from now on?"

She shook her head and Troy leant closer to her as he answered. "He's gone, for good. Listen, we can talk about this when we go home but we aren't going to talk about it here. We're trying to forget about it...so...if that's okay?"

"Of course," she heard Lucille murmur as Troy let out a sigh in frustration.

"Mom...it's not that we won't tell you everything," he began slowly before bringing his free hand up to his hair and exhaling loudly. "It's just...we're trying to move on. Look forward to better things...like the baby."

"And the wedding," she whispered as she interlaced her fingers with his. "And the playoffs."

He chuckled against her. "You are more optimistic than probably anyone else in this town after the last couple of weeks."

"You were injured and the team lost a few games, you get back and they win...you're lucky."

"Don't I know that?" he smiled as he looked at her.

"I didn't mean that," she blushed as she shook her head. "Rookie of the year talk..."

He made a face and she giggled and put her hand on his cheek to stop him before he could dismiss the suggestion. Deep down she knew he wouldn't win the award, but he would at least make some discussions. "Just a consideration – you probably won't win."

"Probably?"

"Probably," she repeated before turning away and feeling her cheeks heat further as she saw his parents looking at them – Jack looking uncomfortable and Lucille smiling warmly, all traces of her earlier irritation vanished from her face. "Sorry...what were we saying?"

"I think we got it," Lucille said with a laugh as she shook her head and began rummaging in her purse to bring out her cell-phone. "We're all forgetting unpleasant things and concentrating on good things now, right? I can deal with that! We'll talk weddings tomorrow – but tonight, I brought pictures so let me show you what I bought the baby..."

With the mention of baby clothes the two men groaned simultaneously which was ignored by the women as Gabriella reached over and started looking at the pictures, cooing appropriately and smiling as she offered comment on them while listening as Troy and his dad turned their conversation to the game the previous night. She sighed in contentment and let herself relax at long last and enjoy the moment. Life wasn't perfect and she knew that there were a lot of questions that she and Troy would have to answer, especially when her mom arrived, but at that moment she didn't even care. Tomorrow might bring word that she'd have to deliver early, she might have another fight with her mom, and Troy's parents might remember that they were mad at them...but she'd worry about that tomorrow if it happened. Until then, she was just going to enjoy today.

* * *

**AN - I am so so sorry for the delay. I have only got a partial excuse – I had a problem with my arm and I couldn't really write properly for a month but the rest if the time I was just busy with other stuff. No excuse and I am aware it was unacceptable. I am 100% dedicated to this story and it frustrates me that I haven't been able to get the chapters out quicker now that it's coming to a close but I am determined that it won't be even close to being that slow in the future even if I have to ban myself opening any other word docs until I'm finished.**

**There is probably only one (or two if I get overly verbose) chapters and a short epilogue to go of this. I'll be sad to see it end but I have plans for something else (short!) with these two in the future. Anyway, apologies again - hope you enjoy!**

**Also – thank you to KeyLimePie14 for letting me know that the story had been plagiarised by someone. I don't really want to get into the reasons that plagiarism frustrates me, but I do want to thank her for letting me know so quickly. It means a lot.**


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