A couple days later, Troy came home from work and smiled when he saw Lucille in the kitchen with Grace.
"Hey, what's going on in here?' Troy asked.
"We're making cookies daddy!" Grace said excitedly.
"Ooh. That sounds yummy" Troy said kissing his daughter's head.
"Did Gabi call you?" Lucille asked.
"Yeah she did. Thank you for watching them" Troy said.
"I'm their grandma, it's my job. Logan is still taking his nap" Lucille said.
Troy nodded.
"What did you guys do today?" Troy asked.
"Played" Grace said.
"Yeah? What did you play?" Troy asked.
"Tea party" Grace said.
Troy smiled.
"Without me? I thought that was our game" Troy said feigning hurt.
"Daddy, you will always be my favorite guest" Grace said nonchalantly.
Troy laughed and lifted Grace into his arms.
"Good. Because you will always be mine" Troy said.
"How was school today?" Lucille asked.
"It was alright. I'm halfway done" Troy said.
"Any interest in the team there?" Lucille asked.
Troy shook his head.
"I need to be here. I made a choice" Troy said moving a stray hair out of Grace's face.
Lucille nodded.
"I would have wanted to, but I have two kids. I don't want to be away from them" Troy said.
Lucille nodded and kissed her son's cheek.
"These kids have the best dad, Troy" Lucille said.
Troy smiled.
"I don't know about the best. But, I try" Troy said.
Troy and Lucille talked for a little while longer until Lucille had to leave.
"When's mommy coming home?" Grace asked.
"She's going to be home in a little while. Do you want to try one of your cookies?" Troy asked.
"Yeah" Grace said.
Troy picked up a cookie from the counter and handed it to his daughter and watched her take a bite of it.
"Yummy?" Troy asked.
Grace nodded. Troy took a cookie for himself and the father daughter duo walked into the living room and sat down.
"Daddy?" Grace asked.
"Hmm?" Troy asked.
"Is mommy going to have another baby?" Grace asked.
Troy swallowed the rest of the cookie that he was eating and lifted Grace onto his lap, so that her head was leaning against his chest.
"What would make you think that?" Troy asked.
"I don't know" Grace said innocently.
"Did mommy talk to you about having another baby?" Troy asked.
"No" Grace said.
"Well, she's not. So don't worry about that okay?" Troy said.
Grace nodded. Troy smiled and kissed his daughter's head. Grace reminded Troy so much of Gabriella. She analyzed everything exactly like Gabriella and knew when something was happening or wrong. That night, the couple had put both Grace and Logan to bed. Gabriella and Troy walked into their bedroom and got into bed.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" Gabriella asked.
Troy smiled.
"A lot. Grace and I had a long talk earlier" Troy said.
"About what?" Gabriella asked.
"She asked me if you were going to have another baby. I was confused by her question because I have never brought that up. I asked her if you had said something and she said no" Troy explained.
"Wow" Gabriella said astonished by her daughter's question.
Troy nodded.
"I would like to have another baby maybe in a few years but not now" Gabriella said.
"You've thought about it?" Troy asked.
"Yeah, but we will see where we are at" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"Would you want to have another baby?" Gabriella asked.
"We are still young. The question is can we handle three kids?" Troy asked.
"That's the question" Gabriella said.
"We will see. Maybe Grace knows something that we don't" Troy said.
"Maybe. She's a smart girl" Gabriella said.
"She has her mommy's brain" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. A couple weeks later, Troy came home from school and smiled when he saw Gabriella holding Logan, who was just falling asleep in Gabriella's arms.
"Hey" Troy said.
Gabriella looked up and smiled.
"Hi" Gabriella said.
"I can put him down if you want" Troy said.
"It's alright. I came home to him crying for me" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"He's definitely a mommy's boy" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"Well, Grace is a daddy's girl for sure. So we are even" Gabriella said.
"Why was he crying?" Troy asked.
"He was just hungry" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips softly.
"How was school?" Gabriella asked.
"Fine. The Red Hawk coach emailed me and wanted to talk to me about joining the team and I said that I couldn't" Troy said.
"Troy" Gabriella said.
"I can't and I don't want to. I need and want to be here" Troy said.
"Daddy!" Grace said.
Troy smiled and kneeled down and caught Grace in his arms as she ran into them. Gabriella knew that she had to talk to her husband about playing basketball again. That night, the couple had put the kids to bed. Gabriella came out of the bathroom and got into bed. She snuggled into Troy's chest.
"Babe, we need to discuss something" Gabriella said.
"What do we need to discuss?" Troy asked sitting up.
"I know that you have said no, but, I want you to think about playing basketball again" Gabriella said.
"Brie, I can't. I would regret missing things in Grace and Logan's life. I would be gone long hours, even days at a time. I don't want to do that to them or you. We made a choice to have sex. Yes, we did everything correctly, but we still got pregnant and had Grace and now we have Logan. We need to live with the consequences of that choice" Troy said.
"But we have help. My mom is- "Gabriella started.
"Brie, I'm their father. I am responsible for them. I'm not going to do it" Troy said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it. She turned over with her back facing Troy. Troy took a deep breath. He didn't want to argue about this situation. He wanted to play basketball, that wasn't the problem. Troy knew that he had to do the right thing and that was to stay with his family. He wrapped his arms around Gabriella and kissed her shoulder.
"I don't want to argue" Troy said softly.
Gabriella turned over and looked at Troy.
"I don't either. I don't want you to have to let go of the thing that you love because we got pregnant and had kids" Gabriella said.
"I understand. But, to me, I don't want to leave you home with the kids while I go and play. That's not fair to you or them" Troy explained.
"Troy" Gabriella started.
"Gabriella" Troy said.
"I want you to play" Gabriella said.
"I know you do and I want to. But, we have responsibilities. When you were pregnant with Grace, I told you that I was always going to be here. I'm going to keep that promise" Troy said.
"But, you can't protect us all the time, babe. You need time to do the things you love too" Gabriella said.
"I'm listening to you, Brie. I am. I just don't think it's right for me to do that" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed. Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's cheek softly.
"I know you are saying this because you love me and want to see me happy, but all I need is you, Grace, and Logan to be happy" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I love you so much that it would kill me to be away from you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled slightly. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips softly.
"You won't regret it?" Gabriella asked.
Troy shook his head.
"I would regret not being here when you or the kids need me to be. I don't want to miss out on anything" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"But, to answer your original question, I want to have another baby. Just not yet" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded and smiled. Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips again.
"Get some sleep okay?" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
A couple weeks later, Troy was shooting hoops in the backyard. He had received a letter from the Red Hawk coach asking him again to join the team. Troy didn't want to think about it and he threw out the letter before Gabriella got home so she wouldn't see it. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the back door open and close.
"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked.
"Thinking" Troy said.
"About what?" Gabriella asked sitting on the step next to the door.
"I got a letter today" Troy said as he stopped dribbling the ball.
"From?" Gabriella asked.
"Red Hawks" Troy said looking at her.
Gabriella nodded.
"What did they want?" Gabriella asked.
"They asked me to join the team again" Troy said.
Gabriella took a deep breath and released it.
"Are you okay?" Gabriella asked.
"Yeah, I just need to clear my head" Troy said.
Gabriella stood up and walked over to her husband and took the ball out of his hands. She threw it on the ground and then looked at Troy. Gabriella walked closer to Troy and wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in and kissed his lips.
"I love you" Gabriella said.
"I love you too" Troy said.
"I want you to be happy, babe. I don't want you to regret this decision" Gabriella said.
"And I don't. I just need time to adjust. Especially since we are going to be planning this new baby soon" Troy said wrapping his arms around Gabriella's waist.
Gabriella smiled.
"In a couple years we will" Gabriella said.
"Yeah, but we don't know how long the contract would be. That's the problem" Troy said.
"Can you just meet with them and see what the criteria would be? It may be different than what you think" Gabriella said.
Troy looked at his wife and knew she wasn't going to end this conversation until he agreed to meet with the Red Hawks.
"Fine. I'll call them and see what the plan is. If I don't like it, then I won't sign" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"Thank you baby. This is a good thing" Gabriella said kissing his cheek.
A week later, Troy came home his meeting with the Red Hawk coach.
"Brie?" Troy called.
Grace came running into the living room and Troy caught her.
"Hey, where's mommy?" Troy asked.
"With Logan" Grace said.
"Doing what?" Troy asked as he lifted Grace onto his hip.
"Changing diaper" Grace said.
"Okay" Troy said.
A couple minutes later, Gabriella came downstairs with Logan.
"You're home" Gabriella said stating the obvious.
"Yeah" Troy said.
"How did it go?" Gabriella asked.
"They were cool. They asked me a couple questions. They asked if I was seeing someone. I said actually I'm married and have two kids" Troy said.
"What did they say to that?" Gabriella asked.
"They seemed fine with it. They asked me their ages and stuff like that. They asked me if it would affect away games" Troy said.
"What did you say to that?" Gabriella asked.
"I told them that it wouldn't unless it's out of state" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"So did you tell them yes?" Gabriella asked.
"I said that I had to talk to you first before I gave them an answer" Troy said.
"Okay. When do they need to know by?" Gabriella asked.
"Next week" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I want you to do it" Gabriella said.
"Are you sure?" Troy asked.
Gabriella smiled slightly.
"This is what you have worked so hard for, Troy. It's your dream. We have our families to help out with the kids if needed" Gabriella said.
Troy looked down and started thinking,
"I just don't want to miss out on anything" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"And you won't. We have phones and computers. If you are at an away game, we can use that and you can talk to Grace and Logan. When you aren't at an away game, you will be home" Gabriella said.
Troy took a deep breath and released it.
"I just want to make the right decision" Troy said.
"I know you do and you will make the right decision, babe. You just have to put yourself first sometimes. We had a baby and then another one and then got married. You didn't get to really live your dream the way that you wanted to. This might be your chance to do that and I don't want to get in the way of that" Gabriella said.
Troy put his hand on the right side of Gabriella's face. She put her hand on top of his.
"Don't ever think that you are getting in the way of my dream, Gabriella. You are my dream. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself to make sure that I'm awake because I'm so lucky to have you as my wife and the mother of my children. The fact that you are telling me to do this shows how much you love me and that you want me to be happy. That makes me want to do this. You will never be in the way of anything that I'm doing" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. She wrapped her arms around her husband and leaned her head against his shoulder. Troy placed his hand on the small of Gabriella's back.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
"So I will call them tomorrow and tell them my answer" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Two weeks later, Troy closed his suitcase and carried it downstairs. Grace looked at her father, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Where are you going daddy?" Grace asked.
Troy smiled and kneeled down in front of her.
"I'm going to school. Remember how mommy and I told you that I was going to go play basketball?" Troy asked as Grace walked into his arms.
"Yeah" Grace said.
Troy lifted Grace onto his hip and smiled.
"Well, I am going to go play a little bit and talk to some people about playing. I'll be back before you know it" Troy said.
"You aren't going to be here at night?" Grace asked.
Troy smiled sympathetically.
"No baby. But mommy and grandma will be. You are going to have so much fun" Troy said.
Gabriella was in the kitchen and smiled when she started to overhear what Troy and Grace were talking about.
"Mommy and grandma will be here and then you will come home?" Grace asked.
Troy had never gone away on a trip or for a night since Grace had been born. He was trying to figure out a way to help his daughter understand what was happening.
"In a couple of days I will be home" Troy said.
Grace started to cry. Troy rubbed his daughter's back and whispered soothing things into her ear.
"Grace, look at me" Troy said.
Grace looked at her father with tears in her eyes.
"You have to help mommy and grandma with Logan okay? You have to be a big girl" Troy said.
"I will miss you" Grace said.
Troy smiled and kissed Grace's cheek.
"I will miss you too sweetheart. We can't cry okay?" Troy said.
Grace nodded.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you" Grace said.
Troy smiled.
"Kiss" Troy said.
Grace kissed Troy's lips.
"Thank you" Troy said.
Troy got his things together and walked to the front door. He looked out the window and saw that the car that was supposed to bring him to the airport had arrived.
"Babe, the car is here" Troy said.
Gabriella walked to the front door with Grace walking next to her. Troy leaned down and kissed Logan's head softly.
"Bye buddy. Keep an eye on the girls for me. I love you" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. Troy turned to Grace and opened his arms and watched her run into them.
"Help mommy out while I'm gone okay?" Troy said.
Grace nodded. Troy kissed Grace's head softly. He stood up and looked at Gabriella, who had silent tears running down her face. Troy walked over to Gabriella and wiped her tears away. Gabriella wrapped her arms around her husband.
"Let me know your schedule when you find out okay?" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded.
"I love you Gabriella" Troy said cupping her face in the palm of his hand.
Gabriella put her hand on top of Troy's.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
"I'll call you when I get there" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Troy kissed Gabriella's lips one last time and walked out of the house.