The game was really close. Coach Jackson was yelling at us to get our heads out of our asses and on the game. We usually had this team in the bag. I needed to get myself focused, I knew that much. It just seemed the more I focused on the game, the more I was focusing on other things like work, the play, how tired Gabriella looked up there in the stands. Dad wasn't assisting Mr. Jackson tonight, and hadn't been this season. Instead, he sat in the stands, just behind the players bench, with Gabriella and the twins. Mom had only come to the first game of the season. It had been to exhausting for her, but from the looks of it, Gabriella looked like she needed to be home as well. We were almost at halftime, and I was going to go over and see if she didn't just want to go home. I wanted her here, but I didn't want her miserable while she was here.

Standing next to Chad in the huddle, I felt him pat the top of my helmet. "You with us, Bolton."

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I turned to look at him. "Yeah, lets do this."

"Alright, but if we're going to do it, you've gotta be here and not up there in the bleachers."

I glared at him. If only he, or anyone else on the team, knew what things were like being married with two children and holding down a job and going to school. If they thought Gabriella and I had it easy, they'd be mistaken. Usually, kids don't get married while they're still in high school. But honestly, if you ask me, it's better than the alternative. Neither Gabriella nor I would have wanted to parent from two different houses. I would miss them too much when they were over at her parents house, and she'd miss them too much when they were with me. Of course, we could have just lived together, but I figure, if you're going to do that, you may as well be married. It just makes sense. It might not to other people our age, but it makes sense to us, and we're happy, even if we're tired and stressed out.

The time on the clock ran out on the first half and I took the opportunity to run up and see my family. Gabriella looked up, doing her best to hide the sleepiness in her eyes with a bright smile. Once Marie saw me, she reached out for me, wanting me to pick her up. Dropping my helmet on the floor by Gabriella's feet, I reached out and picked up my baby girl. She started pounding on my shoulder pads over my shirt, babbling on about something. All I could do was laugh, nodding along. Looking over at Gabriella, I took a deep breath. "You look so tired, baby. Why don't you take the twins and head home?" I could tell I'd upset her and sat down on the bench beside her, wrapping my arm around her. "Baby, I'm only thinking about you. I know we're both worn out-"

"And that's why I should be here with you, Troy," she cut into what I was saying. "You're worn out as well, and you need us out here supporting you. If you've got us supporting you from here, maybe you'll be able to keep it together out there."

I couldn't help but smile. She was the perfect wife. Perfect mother. Perfect best friend. There was nothing about her that wasn't perfect. Leaning over, I pressed my lips gently to hers, speaking to her silently against them, "I love you, baby."

I could feel her smile spread across her lips. "I love you, Wildcat."

Taking a deep breath, I pulled my head back and looked over at my dad. "Isn't she amazing?"

Dad nodded, smiling over at both of us. "She is amazing."

Gabriella shook her head, taking Marie's hand as she reached out for her. "Is daddy going to win this game, Angel?"

Marie continued babbling, having not stopped the entire time I've been holding her. Kissing the top of her head, I hugged her gently. "She says 'Daddy's got it in the bag!'"

Gabriella smiled softly, taking my hand in hers. "You can do it, Wildcat."

"Thank you, baby." I leaned over, pressing my lips softly to hers, whispering against them, "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back.

Pulling back, I looked down at Marie. "Ok, time to go back to mama. Daddy's gotta go win a game." She reached up, grabbing my lip, pulling it down. Laughing, I pulled my head back and kissed the top of her head and standing before sitting her back down on her mommy's lap. I lightly caressed the top of Benny's head, who kept sleeping against my dad's chest. "If he doesn't wake up soon, he won't sleep tonight."

"Don't worry," Dad assured me. "I don't have to work tomorrow. I'll take care of the little guy if he wakes up."

Nodding down at my dad, I thanked him before smiling at Gabriella again and heading back down to my team on the field. The rest of the game went by pretty smoothly. We ended up winning, 37-34. It wasn't that great of a win, but at least we pulled it together and were able to pull the win off. By the time we got home that night, neither Gabriella nor I were up to doing anything past putting the twins to bed and climbing into bed ourselves.

"I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow," I almost grumbled, pulling Gabriella into my arms as we crawled in bed together.

Resting her head against my chest, she yawned gently. "I know. I'm just so tired, Troy. I never thought I could be this tired."

Kissing the top of her head, I hugged her to me. "We'll survive this. Just think, we only have six more months of school. Then being an adult really begins."

She laughed shortly. "Oh, I thought that happened last year, when we got pregnant."

I couldn't help but laugh myself. "True, but we'll be out of school, things won't nearly be as hectic."

She stopped, turning to look at me. "Are you saying you'd rather not go to college?"

"You know," I said, stretching slightly, "I think if we do, one of us should go and the other should work, and then when that one graduates, the other can start going."

Gabriella slowly nodded her head. "It makes sense. And I think, just so we don't have to pay someone to watch the twins, because that's going to cost a lot, we should work out our schedules so that we're not working and at school at the same time." She was being logical and practical, and it brought a frown to her face.

"What is it, baby?" I asked, lifting my hand to caress her cheek.

"We'll never see each other."

Pulling her down to me, I hugged her against my body. "Yes, we will, baby. We'll work it out. You don't need to worry. I promise you." She relaxed against me and I could tell she was seriously think about it, at least until she fell asleep. This was going to be hard on us, I knew it. I mean, it already was difficult right now, and we had my parents and her family, but we would be going away to school. We'd be on our own. We'd have to make it work like any other young couple who didn't have family around to help. And we would because we wanted to. We had gotten ourselves into this, and it was our responsibility to see it through. Even if there was a way out, neither of us would take it. We were in this forever, and we both knew it.