Disclaimer: I own the characters not mentioned in High School Musical, but other than that...it's all Disney's.
So...people couldn't get enough of Mack and Troy. I know, they're great and I missed writing about them. These are a bunch of one shots about Mack and Troy growing up. Hope you like!
June 1992
Jack Bolton walked Troy down the hallway of the hospital toward the nursery. The three year old skipped in his blue flannel pajamas and matching slippers. Jack ignored the looks new fathers were giving him as he walked slightly behind his energetic son. They would raise their eyebrows and stare wondering what had happened to Troy.
It wasn't 'what happened' though, and that's what the fathers of healthy children didn't understand. Unless you stayed up all hours of the night by the phone, waiting for the call from the hospital saying something was wrong or something great happened. Unless you stayed in the NICU until they kicked you out just looking at the small being in the incubator. Unless you're kid was like Troy, you didn't understand.
Jack kept his focus on his tiny little Troy instead of meeting the eyes of the people passing by. He hated the fact that Troy was in the hospital, again, walking down the halls with his IV pole. He felt horrible that his son had to be in the hospital fighting pneumonia for what seemed like the millionth time that year.
Troy stopped at a large window and jumped up to see inside. Jack chuckled before he picked up his son and placed him on the window's ledge. "Which one is she," Troy asked, placing his hand on the glass. Jack pulled Troy's IV pole over to the side and looked in himself.
"See the one with the pink hat?" Troy nodded seeing the only baby with a pink hat amongst beds of babies with blue hats and blankets. "That's her."
A smile spread across Troy's face. "What's her name," he asked.
"Mackenzie."
"Ma-ken-z," he said pronouncing the name slowly trying to get it right. "Can we call her Mack?"
"Where did you get that idea," Jack asked, wondering if maybe Troy had met someone named Mack in the hospital. He and Elaine hadn't really thought about a nickname for their newborn daughter.
"Because she reminds me of Mac and Cheese. Which reminds me, I'm hungry." He turned to face his father and a grin spread across his face. "Can we stop by the cafeteria?"
Jack couldn't hold it in. He started laughing at the statement Troy had just made. "What's so funny," Troy demanded, his hands on his hips.
"Nothing son," Jack said, rubbing his eyes. Troy jumped off the ledge he was sitting on and started to walk down the hall toward the elevator. Jack followed when Troy turned around suddenly.
"Will I be home when she goes home," he asked.
Jack looked down at his son. Troy's blue eyes stared up at him, waiting for an answer. "I don't know, Troy," he told him, when in reality, he knew Troy was still going to be in the hospital when his sister left the next day.
"I'm not going to be, am I," Troy said quietly. Jack shook his head. Troy sighed, "let's go."
The ride up the elevator was silent. Jack couldn't help but look at his son. Troy kept his head held high, trying to show that it didn't bother him. But it did, and Jack knew it. He opened his mouth and was about to say something when the elevator stopped and Troy walked out. Jack shut his mouth and followed Troy to his room.
Troy climbed into his bed and turned on the television. Some cartoon was playing when Jack walked in, but Troy wasn't paying any attention to it. "Troy," Jack said. Troy looked up at his father, tears stinging his eyes. "What's wrong?"
Troy sniffled. "I'm not going to be there. It's just going to be you, Mommy and the baby. What if you forget about me?"
"We will never forget about you," Jack said. "Plus, we never leave you alone at night. Either Mommy or I will be here tomorrow night with you and the other will be with the baby."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Do you think she'll like me," Troy asked. "Do you think I'll make a good big brother?"
"The best," Jack told him. "And how could she not like you?"
Troy smiled. "When I'm better, can I hold her?"
"Of course."
"Now I can be like Chad," Troy exclaimed. "He has a sister too!"
Jack just nodded and ruffled his son's hair. "I think it's time for you to get some sleep. I'm going to see Mommy, I'll be back in a minute."
"Okay."
Jack watched Troy close his eyes before he took the elevator to Elaine's room. She was watching the television and talking to the screen. Jack assumed it was a soap opera and he was right. "Hey," he said walking in the room. "I just got Troy asleep."
She turned off the television and looked over at him. "Did you take him?"
"I did," he said. "He wants to call her Mack."
Elaine thought about it for a moment. "Mack Bolton. Hmm...I like it, what about you?"
Jack shrugged. "If you like it, I like it."
"Elaine, oh my God! She is adorable!"
Jack shook his head as Kathy Danforth walked through the door to Elaine's room. The two started talking and Jack slipped out of the room. "Congratulations," came a voice. He looked into the face of his long time friend Chris Danforth.
"Yeah, she's got quite the set of lungs on her though," Jack said.
"Get ready for some restless nights. Believe me they're not fun." The two started walking down the hall. "Chad can't wait to tell Troy the 'awfulness of having a sister'. How is the little guy?"
"He's stopped puking, but their still giving him the medicine through IV. They think he'll be out in about a week."
"That's good."
"He's upset because he wont be there when we bring her home," Jack said.
Chris laughed. "You should be thankful. When Emma found out that Chad was a boy, she wanted to bring him back to the hospital." Jack laughed. "It's not funny, she cried, he cried, I cried! The whole house was crying."
"She's completely healthy though, which is good," Jack said. "I don't think I could take it if she wasn't."
"What did you name her?"
"Mackenzie, but we're calling her Mack."
Chris nodded in approval. "Welcome to the life of having two kids. Hide all the breakable stuff."
So...what do you think? If you have any ideas, feel free to send them.
Review!
