I'm a horrible mother...

This is a story ive been thinking about a lot, and I decided to make it a one shot instead! I hope you like it! It's Troypay (but I think of it as Zashley).

Troy Bolton and Sharpay Evans had been together since right after they graduated from High school. Literally. Troy had kissed her at the after party, and they had stayed together ever since. They were 18 when they started going out, now they were 29. 11 years. They had gotten married when they were 22 and had their first child when they were 24. Now they were happily married, lived in a big house in the suburbs and had two kids. Nathaniel, 7 and Bridget, 3. Things hadn't always been easy for the little family of four. Two months before Sharpay gave birth to Bridget, their son, Nate had been diagnosed with blood cancer, also known as leukemia. He had been getting treatments for three years now, and he was still sick. They had stopped it almost a year ago, and six months ago they had been told that he only had eight months to live. Troy and Sharpay was so upset that their oldest child was going to die. Their little baby boy. Let's get back to now, shall we?

"Night mommy. I love you.", 3 year old Bridget said to her mother.

"Mhm.", was all Sharpay said, then walked out and turned off the lights, without saying goodnight, without tucking her in and without kissing her. When she thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time she had kissed her daughter. She kissed Nate all the time, but that was different… Wasn't it?

She walked into her sons room and kissed him. He was sleeping. Then she walked into her own bedroom where her husband was sitting on the bed.

He looked up. "The kids sleeping?"

"Yes.", Sharpay answered and sat next to him. They soon fell asleep. The next morning Sharpay woke up alone in bed, she could hear Troy downstairs. She stood up and put on a robe, then looked into Bridget's room, she wasn't in bed, so she walked downstairs.

"Morning babe!", Troy kissed her.

"Morning! Where are the kids?", she asked.

"Well Nate is in the living room watching TV, and Bridget is still sleeping." Troy answered while taking a sip of his warm coffee.

Sharpay frowned. "No she's not… I just looked into her room, she wasn't there."

"Well, I haven't seen her…"

Sharpay walked past the hallway where they had all of their shoes and outside clothes, and as she was about to walk into the dining room, she walked backwards and turned her head. Bridget's shoes and jacket were gone. She ran upstairs and into the little girls' room. Her favorite blankey and stuffed animal were gone. Sharpay ran back downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Shesgone!!! herstuffsnothereandidontknowwheresheis,shesgone!!", Sharpay said, fast.

"Huh?", was all Troy could get out.

Sharpay started crying. She started speaking while Troy put his arms around her. "Bridget is gone Troy. Her jacket, her shoes, her blankey and her favorite stuffed animal, are gone!"

"WHAT?!" Troy said, in shock. "We have to look for her!!"

"Moooommm, I'm hungry!", Nate said from the living room.

"Nate, your sister is missing, we have to go look for her!" Sharpay said worried, and stressed out.

"So? I'm hungry!", Nate whined. It wasn't his problem that Bridget was gone.

"NATHANIEL!! This is serious. Your younger sister has run away from home.", Troy said.

"Ughh. Fine!" Nate went and put on his shoes and jacket.

"Me and Nate are gonna drive around looking for her, you stay here and call everyone." Troy put on his jacket and shoes and ran to the car with Nate right behind him. He really hoped they found their little girl soon. She was only 3 years old, she could get kidnapped. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't.

Back home Sharpay was in tears. She was starting to realize why her daughter was gone. She wasn't kidnapped, she had left of her own free will… And Sharpay knew why. She just didn't want to think about it. She lightly shook her head then picked up the phone and started calling around.

3 hours later Troy and Nate came home. Sharpay looked up hoping Bridget was with them. But she wasn't. Troy looked at her with the same hope in his eyes, and she shook her head 'no'.

"I called everyone, no one have seen her." Sharpay said and starting to cry again.

Troy ran over to his wife and hugged her. "Have you called the police?"

"No, I wanted to see if you had her." Sharpay sobbed into her husband's shoulder.

"Okay, I'll call them now!" Troy found the home phone and dialed 911.

"Hello? Police here." A lady said on the other end of the line.

"Hey, I'm Troy Bolton. I'd like to report my daughter missing." When he said missing he heard Pay sob some more.

"Is she kidnapped?"

"No, we're pretty sure that she's not."

"Okay. Can you please describe her to me?"

"Umm" Troy tried to think. "She has brown hair, light brown, brown eyes, about… I don't know how tall she is.. not very tall. She's only 3 years old."

"Okay, we're gonna send a police car over there."

Troy tells her the address, and they hang up. Troy goes back and hugs Sharpay.

"Don't worry babe, we'll find her soon!"

"I sure hope so. I want my little girl back."

"I know babe, I want her too."

Nate walked in and sat next to his mom. "Come on mom, stop crying. It won't bring her back."

They all ate dinner in silence and then went to bed. Sharpay was crying on the bed and Troy was comforting her.

"Troy I know why she left."

"Why is that baby?"

"Well think about it Troy. We've never really showed her any emotions. We've never told her that we love her." She took a breath. "Last night when I put her to bed, she said 'I love you mommy' and I just said mhm. And her birthdays… her first birthday we gave her a cupcake. We didn't have a party or anything. Her second birthday. Nothing big. Then her last birthday, that was right after we found out that Nate was gonna die, so we forgot her birthday. I can't remember the last time I hugged her, or kissed her, or did anything for her."

Troy looked back and he knew she was right. It was so true. It was like they had never done anything with just her, or had fun with just her. When Nate was her age he would take him fishing, picnic, and take tons of pictures and videos. They didn't have any videos that were about Bridget. Not even when she was born. They hadn't enjoyed having her, when she was born, because they we're still sad that Nate was sick. He had been diagnosed just 2 months before his sister was born. It wasn't Nate's fault. It was theirs. Bridget deserved much better than this. She was smart, adorable and a really sweet girl. She didn't deserve to be put into a world where she would be treated like this. He now realized how much he loved and missed his little princess. He wanted nothing more than to hold his little girl in his arms. To tell her how much he loved her. He couldn't remember the last time he had said that. And Nate didn't treat his younger sister well. He would blame things on her, push her, and just be a jerk to her. He had no idea where Bridget was. How far could she have gone? She was only three years old. His daughter, their daughter was probably out there in the dark somewhere and she was probably scared. He also knew the reason why Bridget loved to be at his parent's house. There she was always the center of attention. They would hug her, and tell her that they loved her.

Neither Troy nor Sharpay got a lot of sleep that night. They would just lie in bed and look up at the ceiling. Sharpay slept a little bit, but she would dream about Bridget. Her daughter looked just like her really, except for the gorgeous brown hair, which she had gotten from her dad. Both of them promised them self, in their thoughts, that when… or if, Bridget ever came home that everything would change. They would love her, and they would tell her that. But it was still hard, because they knew t

hat Nate only had a few months left to live. He could die soon.

Two days passed and the tension was starting to build up among the family. Nate couldn't see why it was such a big deal. Troy and Sharpay would start yelling at each other for no reason, and then they would hug and start crying. It was tearing them up inside. Bridget had left on her own. No one was with her. Not a soul. Their friends would drop by the house every now and then to check on them, but they would just sit on the couch and stare into the air. Everything they did was like robots. They didn't laugh, didn't smile. Didn't show any signs of emotions except crying.

One day the police said that they should make a statement on TV. So they did. They went out with a picture, and they said how much they wanted their little girl back, and if anyone had seen her if they could please contact the police. That was all they asked for.

At the end of the press conference Sharpay was in tears. Troy walked her to the car and the three of them drove home, in silence. All they could hear were the sobs Sharpay came with.

Meanwhile some other place in their town a young mother was watching TV. The news came on and she saw the press conference. When the picture showed up on screen, she gasped. That was one of her daughters' friends', they went to kinder garden together. She felt so bad for her parents, they must miss her terribly. At the same time she heard her three year old daughter came running into the house laughing.

"Mommy, can me and Bridget have an ice cream?" Valerie said in her sweet voice.

"Sure baby." Her mother answered then looked away from the TV and at them.

"OHMYGOD!!!" she cried out. The kids looked at her. "You're Bridget Bolton."

The little girl nodded slowly.

Marie got down on their level. "Do you have any idea how much your parents miss you?"

"They don't miss me. They probably haven't even noticed that I'm gone." The three year old stated.

"sweetie, look here!" she pointed at the TV! The statement was still on. Bridget saw her parents cry and talk about her.

She got tears in her eyes and whispered. "Mommy…"

Marie looked at the little girl.
"Do you want me to drive you home sweetie?"

"Yes please!" Bridget answered and hugged her teddy bear tighter.

"I wanna come too" Valerie cried out, a little mad that the attention wasn't at her.

"Okay, go put on your shoes and jackets"

The kids ran to the hall way and did as they were told. Then Marie locked the door and they all got into the car. Marie helped them put on their seat belts, and she started driving. The two three year olds were in the backseat chatting away. They soon got to the Bolton residence and all three got out of the car and walked to the front door. Marie rang the door bell.

"I'll get it.." Sharpay said, in a lifeless tone. She opened the door.

"MOMMY!!!" Bridget ran towards her mother.

Sharpay smiled and started crying. "Bridget!!!" she bent down and hugged her daughter tight.

"I've missed you so much baby. I love you so much. Please don't ever do that again. You scared me and daddy." Sharpay whispered in her ear.

"I'm sorry mommy" Bridget answered, now also crying, "I didn't think you loved me."

"Oh honey, of course we did. We love you so much"

"I love you too mommy!"

Sharpay smiled at Marie, and they talked just a little before Sharpay and Bridget walked into the house.

"Daddy!!!!!"

Troy turned around. "Bridget?" He smiled when he saw her.

Bridget dropped her teddy bear and hugged her daddy tight. "I've missed you daddy!!"

"I've missed you too princess. So much. I love you honey."

The next few days, most of their friends came by, to make sure they were okay now that Bridget had returned. They were better than ever. The next two months they did things together as a family. They went to the park, the amusement park, to the pool, or just to a picnic. They did everything together. And they were all happy. They filmed and took tons of pictures.

One day, Nate was very sick. They all knew it was the end. He didn't want to go to the hospital, so all of their closest friends, and family, gathered at their house, and said goodbye to him. It was sad. He was only seven years old. His last minutes, were spent with his parents and younger sister.

All of them were crying. Bridget was sitting next to him on his bed.

"I'll miss you Nate. Sooooo much" She showed with her arms, as much as she could.

Nate smiled. "I will miss you too sis. A lot!"

They hugged and their parents smiled.

"Take good care of mom and dad for me, huh?" he smiled at his baby sister.

"I promise I will take good care of them Nate!"

"And we'll take good care of her." Troy said.

"I'll miss you so much baby boy. I promise you, we'll never forget you. Ever."

"I know you won't mommy."

"We love you son." Troy said.

They kissed him, and a few minutes later, his eyes closed. For good.
They all cried while hugging each other. The next few days, their neighbors came over with tons of food, which was good, because neither of them felt like cooking. A week after he died, they had his funeral. All of his classmates from school, were there. The church was full of people who came to say goodbye. Sharpay, Troy, and some other people held beautiful speeches. There wasn't a single dry eye in the room.

They never forgot him. Two years after his death, Sharpay gave birth to another girl. They named her Nathalie Teodora. After Nate.

They had pictures of him everywhere around the house, and they often talked about him. But they weren't sad. They were a happy family. And he was still a part of it. He just wasn't right there. But he was watching over them.