Gabriella Bolton, a petite woman of twenty-five years with long wavy black hair that reached a little beyond her shoulders, laughed, her brown eyes twinkling despite the early hour, at her husband of two plus years as he anxiously stood by their car, tapping his foot. "Troy Bolton, where's the fire? It's not even light out yet."

"Exactly," responded Troy, a man of twenty-five years with neatly arranged brown hair with bangs that still loved to cover his blue eyes occasionally and who was at least six inches taller than his wife. "You know this morning was mine to plan and control, no questions asked. Are you done?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she closed the trunk and stuck out her tongue at her husband. "Done!"

Troy chuckled as he went around the car and stopped in front of Gabriella. "You trust me, right?"

Gabriella eyed Troy carefully, becoming instantly suspicious when she sawa mischievous glint appear in his blue eyes despite the darkness. "Yes," got out Gabriella before she felt Troy's lips briefly on hers and then found herself being spun around. Gabriella tried looking back at him but found herself directed to look forward as her eyes were quickly covered with a red and white fabric. "Bolton, these better not be your used boxer shorts you are tying around my head!"

She heard his quiet laughter as he tightened the fabric again around her head. "No, I promise they aren't. Wow, you think that little of me?" he asked, pausing for a moment before he said, "Don't answer that."

"Exactly! Although I grant you the fact that Chad Danforth, your best friend and constant buddy in crime, is nowhere to be found so I guess dirty laundry stays in the hamper today," returned Gabriella, referring to an incident where she and her best friend Taylor McKessie, Chad's fiancé as well, walked into the Bolton home to find a pair of Troy's dirty boxers being thrown their way, a side effect of the clothes war going on in the laundry room. Gabriella grimaced at the memory of the black satin boxers hitting her right in the face before they slid down, giving Gabriella full view of the two men play fighting still in the laundry room. "I swear you and Chad never grow up."

"And you and Taylor wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, we haven't thrown dirty laundry around since then," defended Troy as he helped Gabriella sit down in the passenger seat in the front of their car before he closed the door and got in himself.

Gabriella resisted the urge to lift the blindfold and throw Troy a look. "You haven't done it since because I've banned you from the laundry room and, let me remind you, that was only a month ago."

Troy sheepishly grinned at his wife before he started the car and drove off to the first activity on his itinerary for Valentine's Day. He slowly pulled into the dirt field and parked the car at the spot that was indicated, quieting the worker who came over to greet them before he opened the door and helped Gabriella out. "You ready Brie?"

"Do I have a choice?" asked Gabriella, smiling to let him know she was teasing.

"Ouch," he faked whined before taking her hand and helping her out of the car, closing the door and alarming it before following the worker to their destination.

She could hear loud gushes of air or a torch being lit by gas get louder as they continued to walk, Gabriella leaning heavily on Troy's arm to make sure she didn't fall on the not so flat ground. They eventually stopped and Gabriella was told to step up on two steps before she was helped up onto a platform and then led to hold onto a wall of some sort while she assumed Troy followed behind. This was confirmed as she felt a familiar pair of arms snake around her waist, pulling her body closer to his while her hands stayed on the wall she was now beginning to feel out with her fingers. 'Hmm, it's not plaster or brick. It feels like some type of material, like leather,' thought Gabriella as she tried to figure out what was happening.

Gabriella clutched the wall tighter as she felt the platform begin to move and heard the blasts of noise again increasing, louder this time as if it was really close. She managed to take her left hand off the wall and placed it over Troy's left hand, their fingers intertwining against her waist. "Scared?" asked Troy, his voice a bit husky still with his normal morning voice.

"No, just nervous about the unknown," admitted Gabriella, smiling a little as she felt his lips on her cheek and then her neck before he tightened his hold around her waist. She took in several deep breaths, calming herself down before she turned her senses towards the task of trying to figure out what was going on. Gabriella felt the breeze more than before and shivered a little as the cold slowly crept in to her body. Troy must have felt this and he unwrapped his arms around her to zip her jacket up for her before he returned to cradling her against his body.

After a few more moments of trying to figure out what was going on but failing, Gabriella gave up and resigned herself to just enjoying the surprise that Troy planned out for her. Troy grinned as he felt Gabriella let go of the struggle she was putting herself through to figure out what was happening, knowing he had her stumped for the first time in a long time of their eight years of being together, including the two years they have been married for. He watched as the sky started turning a pink color and got the signal from the pilot that this was the moment of unveiling.

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek one last time before he stepped back from his wife and went to make sure everything was set up before returning, this time standing to Gabriella's left. "Are you ready for your surprise?"

Gabriella excitedly nodded her head, very curious now as to where they were. Troy slowly untied the knot that held the handkerchief over her closed brown eyes and knew he picked the right morning activity for them by the astonished look on her face as she took in the scenery around her. "Wow," breathed out Gabriella as she saw how very far up they were from the ground and then took in the fact that they were doing something together that she had on her life list, being in a hot air balloon at sunrise. 'At least taking a hot air balloon trip was on my list.'

"Like it?" asked Troy quietly as he continued to gaze at the woman who had come to mean so much to him over the years, especially since they exchanged vows in a small ceremony with friends and family those few years ago before a bigger reception.

Gabriella tore her eyes off the rising sun to lovingly look at her husband. "I love it, I love you Troy," responded Gabriella before she was gathered into his arms and kissed, tentatively at first before he allowed her to deepen it for a few moments.

When they pulled apart, Troy leaned down to his right for a few moments before he handed Gabriella a champagne flute with mimosa in it and got one for himself from the small basket nearby. He grinned briefly at the pilot who had just glanced their way but was now discreetly looking away from the couple before Troy turned his attention back to Gabriella, smiling more as he saw the blissful expression on her face. "Here's to a wonderful start to a special Valentine's Day with the most beautiful and amazing woman in this universe," toasted Troy, kissing Gabriella lightly before drinking from his glass, seeing Gabriella take a small sip before bringing the flute back down to rest in her hand on top of the edge of the hot air balloon's basket. "Don't like it?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, I do, it's still just a little early for me to be drinking. You know how I am, a lightweight compared to you."

Troy chuckled as he nodded his head and took the flute from her hand. "I figured as much. Pure orange juice for you madam," answered Troy, giving her another flute that he had prepared with just orange juice, smiling again as he watched her drink freely this time. "Fresh orange juice they prepared this morning. Pastry?"

They both nibbled on the fresh fruit Danishes that were also in the basket and sipped on their drinks as they talked in intervals between watching the Wine Country's area pass below them as they glided with the wind. The pilot piped in every once in a while to point out major points of interest but for the most part stayed in the background, letting the couple enjoy their private moments together.

After an hour and a half, while the sun was still climbing the sky but with full daylight now surrounding them, Troy put all their leftovers and trash back into the basket and pulled out the light blue box he had in his jacket's pocket. "Before we come back down to the real world, I wanted to also give you your gift. Turn around for me?"

Gabriella looked one last time into Troy's blue eyes and found herself smiling as she obeyed him and turned around, thinking back to a moment early in their relationship where Troy presented her with T shaped necklace with a little gem at the corner. She had teased him a few times in college about it just being his way of branding her his and still laughed as he never seemed to deny it, claiming he needed to do something to ward off the huge lines of guys who were waiting to date her. A few moments later, Gabriella saw a chain cross her vision before she felt the cold metal rest against her skin. Gabriella slowly turned back around to face her husband as his hands guided her before looking down and gingerly picked up the double heart pendant in yellow gold that now hung around her neck. "It's gorgeous Troy, thank you," said Gabriella, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down for a kiss he happily returned just as the hot air balloon started its descent.

They quickly had the pilot pause in his duties to take a few pictures of them up in the balloon before they returned to holding each other, watching as the ground got closer and closer to them. Eventually, the balloon came to a stop and was soon being tethered to the ground. Troy had one of the workers take a picture of them from below before he grabbed the basket and got down first, helping Gabriella down after him. They thanked the pilot and the employee who helped them before getting back into the car, Troy putting the basket in the back seat.

"So you can now take something else off your life list Mrs. Bolton. I think it was number seventeen on your list," commented Troy as he slipped back behind the driver's wheel. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Most definitely," replied Gabriella. "That was simply amazing. I could not believe how high we were and how wonderful everything just felt. Then again, that's how I always feel when we are together."

"Aww, you little hopeless romantic you," teased Troy before he leaned over and kissed Gabriella softly on the lips. "The necklace looks really good on you too. It of course symbolizes our love and how our two separate hearts have now become one."

"And you call me the romantic? This was all so very sweet of you Troy. Thank you again, for this necklace and for helping me accomplish something else I've been wanting to do for ages. I can't believe I didn't even think about it when you led me into the basket!" exclaimed Gabriella.

"Well, it has been a year or so since we talked about our lists. So, what time is your little surprise?" asked Troy, looking at his watch and noting it was still considered to be early morning.

"Not until 11:30," responded Gabriella. "We could check out some of the bigger wineries like Coppola's winery, which is somewhere nearby I think, and I heard there is an interesting museum of things from his movies on the top."

Troy nodded his head in agreement. "I guess that's what we'll do then."

He put the car into gear and drove off the dirt field and back onto the road towards the inn they were staying at to get directions to the better wineries to avoid getting lost and ruining Valentine's Day for them both. After visiting a few of the suggested places, including the Coppola winery, Troy followed Gabriella's directions as they embarked on her planned portion of the day. He stopped the car in front of a small café and waited while Gabriella went in and then came back out with a basket that must have included lunch.

Troy started the car again and drove under Gabriella's navigational skills through Napa until they were parked on top of one of the surrounding hills that overlooked the valley. He popped the trunk and helped Gabriella spread out the blanket they packed from home yesterday before helping her carry the bag from the trunk and then the food basket. They settled down on the blanket that was now covering a good portion of the grass near their car, giving them a beautiful view of the numerous wineries below as well as the wildlife up where they were, both smiling as they saw a few deer nibbling on the bushes a few feet away.

"This view isn't as nice as from the hot air balloon but it's still lovely," commented Gabriella, leaning her head gently onto Troy's right shoulder as he leaned back on his elbows.

"Are you kidding? Anywhere with you is wonderful," returned Troy, laughing a little as he saw the familiar roll of the eyes whenever he said something he knew she deemed as cheesy.

"Anyways," said Gabriella, straightening as she went to pull the basket closer to them. "Hungry yet?"

"Starving," replied Troy as he sat up and watched as Gabriella laid out the food in the space between them. "So what's on the menu Brie?"

She smiled at the nickname he had given her their senior year at East High after it was pointed out to him that he was the only one that called Gabriella by her full first name, all the time. "Well, there's a fresh garden salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, parmesan garlic croutons, baby corn, cheddar cheese, and some real bacon pieces included with ranch dressing for you and Italian for me, roasted chicken breast, fresh rolls, and Jello for dessert."

Troy took the plate Gabriella prepared for him and smiled back at her as he watched her make herself a plate with smaller proportions than his. "You are making me feel like a pig eating that little compared to me."

Gabriella let out a laugh. "When really you just have that faster metabolism you were so blessed with. I'm still mad that you never seem to gain weight no matter what you eat," joked Gabriella as she replaced the cover over the chicken still on the platter. "Ever since college and those junk food binges you and Chad used to have, I've learned that your metabolism is like lightning fast or something."

Troy scoffed. "It's not like you are out of shape or anything yourself Gabriella. You may have put on some weight in the last month or two but you're still gorgeous," complimented Troy, kissing the back of her hand that was currently resting in his.

She gazed as his lips grazed the back of her hand and shivered at the electrical shock she still got whenever she felt his lips on any part of her. 'I don't think those feelings will ever go away,' thought Gabriella, 'and I am very happy for that.'

"Shall we eat?" suggested Gabriella, realizing they had just spent the last few minutes just staring at each other without realizing it.

Troy nodded his head and dug into his food, enjoying each bite as he took in the scenery but also Gabriella who ate quietly by his side. 'Something is on her mind. She seems preoccupied somehow,' observed Troy in his head. He pushed the thought aside though to allow himself to just enjoy the moment, knowing how very special their alone and romantic times were, especially when they were so far away from people they knew and both had turned off their cell phones as soon as they reached Napa last night to avoid having any interruptions.

Once they were both done, Gabriella tucked all the leftovers away into the basket and brought the bag over as she scooted closer to Troy now. "Happy Valentine's Day husband," said Gabriella as she handed him the medium sized red bag with white hearts on it.

"Aww, thank you, you didn't have to," replied Troy as he glanced over again at Gabriella, who had an anxious look on her face. 'She's nervous about whatever is in here.'

He slowly took the white tissue paper out and laid it on the blanket before pulling out the first thing in the bag. Once Troy unwrapped it, he smiled as he saw a small stuffed basketball in his hand and felt the softness of the fabric as he squeezed it a few times in his left hand. He looked over at Gabriella for a moment but returned his attention back to the bag as he pulled out a second item, unwrapping it to reveal a yellow stuffed bear with a white bow around its neck and a picture frame in between its limbs. Troy noticed a piece of thick paper sticking out of the frame and was about to pull it out before Gabriella's hand came to rest on top of his, stopping him.

"Open the last two presents first," instructed Gabriella, giving Troy a smile.

Troy nodded and reached in to pull out a red envelope. He gave her one last look before he opened it and saw two tickets to the NBA All-Star game in a few days. "Serious?" asked Troy, his blue eyes bright with excitement. "Are we really going to New Orleans?"

Gabriella grinned back at her husband. "We are. We're booked on a flight to leave Saturday morning to return Monday afternoon. I cleared it all with your boss and mine so don't worry about that. Excited?"

"Oh my God, this is amazing! Thank you!" exclaimed Troy, hugging Gabriella tightly before kissing her soundly.

After a few moments of kissing, Gabriella pulled away, giving herself enough distance so she could see his full face again. "You still have something left in there."

Troy made himself put down the tickets next to the stuffed basketball and the bear and pulled out the last item, a bit perplexed when he discovered it was a 2008 pocket calendar with his favorite NBA team on the cover. "Brie, didn't you give me a lecture just recently on how important it is to utilize my phone for appointments and not just write it on paper?"

"Yes," returned Gabriella, "but an organized calendar is also a good secondary source for information."

"It's paper," pointed out Troy.

"True but it is also bound paper as opposed to those little scraps you write things on and then lose," argued Gabriella. "And here I thought you'd like it because it had your boys on the cover."

"Well I do like it, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure how I'll carry this around. It won't fit in my pockets," said Troy.

Gabriella nodded her agreement. "Which is why you use it as a backup to your phone and instead keep it at your office or at home."

"Aww, your clever way of trying to keep me organized again I see. All right, I concede, I'll try it your way," replied Troy, glad to see the smile creep back onto her face. He turned his attention back to the pocket calendar and started to flip through it, seeing the blank pages and then some writing on sporadic dates. He paused on the second one he saw and saw there was a time and the writing, "U.S. #3".

Gabriella saw the look of confusion appear back on Troy's face and smiled at his puzzlement. "Remember when I said I had a homemade Valentine for you?"

Troy tore his eyes from the pocket calendar and looked into her brown eyes. "Yeah, do you have it with you now?"

Gabriella let out a little laugh before sobering again, still wearing a smile on her lips. "I guess you could say that. You're already looking at it."

"Huh?" Troy looked around at the presents in front of him and then back at her and then around at their surroundings. "What are you talking about Gabriella?"

She nibbled on the corner of her lip before she asked, "Do you remember number fourteen on the new list we made after we got married? The one we redid so that our two lists were combined and linked together?"

He nodded his head and thought back to what number fourteen was. "Well I know we made number one get married to our soulmate so we could cross that off right away. We had travel to Fuji as number eleven. Number fourteen, hmm…"

Gabriella watched as Troy thought hard on this, trying to arrange the list back in order in his mind. After some thinking aloud, Troy finally looked like he figured out what number fourteen is on their list. "So what is it?"

"It isn't going to the NBA All-Star game, that was like number twenty-nine, which we will soon be crossing off, thank you again for that," said Troy, now looking back at Gabriella's face. "All I can think number fourteen could be is… Oh my God, are you?"

Gabriella grinned as she saw the true recognition on Troy's face. "Yes, I'm pregnant," confirmed Gabriella, squealing a little bit as Troy instantly pulled her towards him and onto his lap before kissing her, smiling against her lips. "Well, I guess you're excited."

Troy laughed as he hugged his wife close to him. "Are you kidding? This is so much better than going to a million NBA All-Star games! We're going to have a baby! How far along are you?"

"Almost three months the doctor thinks," responded Gabriella. "I actually probably shouldn't have been up in that hot air balloon but I think we're fine."

Troy paled. "Oh no! There are specific warnings on the hot air balloon disclaimer I read that warned against expecting mothers going. Do you think we killed our first child already?"

Gabriella laughed a little before patting Troy's right hand that was resting on her thigh while she shook her head. "Calm down future Daddy. I'm sure it's okay. It's not like a roller coaster that threw me in all different directions with various G-Forces. It was a nice, calm ride, slower than even an elevator. I would have felt some discomfort or cramping if there was trouble, I learned that much from my research and my doctor visits."

"Phew, that's a relief," said Troy, becoming more collected as he realized that everything was actually fine. "When is the due date?"

"Middle of August. So, I tried to kind of theme my little portion of today around this homemade Valentine we both made together. We had baby corn in the salad and pink and blue Jello hearts," explained Gabriella. "And I gave you a stuffed basketball, which will be our child's first one, and also a yellow bear since we won't know the gender for another few months unless we choose to wait and that will be more months."

"There's something else though, isn't there?" questioned Troy as he reached over for the bear while keeping Gabriella on his lap. Without saying a word, Troy grabbed one corner of the thick paper in the picture frame slot while Gabriella grabbed the other and together they pulled it up to reveal the picture behind it. "The first ultrasound?"

"Yup, taken two weeks ago," replied Gabriella, studying his face from where she was sitting, seeing the mixture of awe and excitement on his face. "It's not much right now because it's in the early stages but the doctor says everything so far is going great. That's also why I stopped drinking and started eating a bit better while also gaining that weight you noticed by the way."

Troy thought back to earlier on in the day where he pushed aside thoughts of how odd Gabriella was behaving by not partaking in the wine tasting but instead trying bits of different cheese while she also shopped. He remembered also the dismissed mimosa. "You took a sip of the mimosa but realized it wasn't just orange juice pretty quick this morning too."

Gabriella nodded. "I played it off well if I do say so myself," said Gabriella, kissing Troy on the cheek. "Had I not been carrying our child Mr. Bolton, I would have happily had more than that itsy bitsy sip. At least now you know I'm not just getting fat."

"Hey, I never thought you were getting fat," protested Troy, wrapping his arms tighter around her before instantly relaxing his hold. "I have to remember not to do that otherwise I'll hurt the little guy."

Gabriella rolled her eyes at this. "One, you will not hurt or kill our child by hugging me like that. Two, how do you know it's going to be a boy?"

"I don't but come on, it has to be a boy!" protested Troy, looking again at the ultrasound picture in the frame.

"Says who? Wouldn't you love our child even if it turned out to be a girl?" returned Gabriella.

"Well yeah, of course, but then I'll have to be that protective father who worries about what his daughter is doing as soon as she hits her preteen years and then all those boys will want to date her because she'll be an exact replica of her mother's beauty," stated Troy, grinning as he saw the small blush on Gabriella's cheeks. "So yes, I will love our child no matter the gender because as you have said, our child is our own homemade valentine, a physical example of our deep and constant love and connection with one another."

Gabriella wound her hands around Troy's neck as she looked into his face, studying his blue eyes. "You really are a charmer and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Good, I'm glad," returned Troy before their lips met in a soft kiss, each tightening their hold on the other. "So all those 'U.S. #x' dates are your appointments?"

"Yes," answered Gabriella. "Those are the ultrasounds and I also put in the other appointments and when we start parenting classes and Lamaze. You better transfer all those dates into your phone too Troy. I expect you at every one of those, no excuses."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss any of this for the world. I can't believe it, we're going to be parents!" exclaimed Troy, the grin on his face getting impossibly bigger.

"You really are excited aren't you?" replied Gabriella, surprised somewhat as to just how happy her husband was. "Not nervous at all?"

"Well I'm lots nervous but I know you and I are going to be amazing parents because we've been amazing together so far in our short life. You, Mrs. Gabriella Bolton, have just made me the happiest man in the universe again!" stated Troy. "The other times of course include when you became my girlfriend, our first time, when you said yes to my proposal, and when we got married."

"All good memories," returned Gabriella, a soft smile on her lips. "So, how was that for a Valentine's Day surprise?"

"Much better than receiving lifetime NBA tickets in a thousand hot air balloons," replied Troy, slowly leaning down and capturing her mouth with his.

Troy and Gabriella soon found themselves lying down on the blanket, Gabriella's head resting on Troy's right shoulder as his hand absently played with her hair while his left rested with her right over her midsection, where the most innocent proof of their love for one another was currently growing with each minute of pure bliss and love that passed them by.