A/n: I take no ownership in the song, I just heard it and thought it was sweet. I'm a hopeless romantic at heart so I see things like this, overcoming obstacles, stuff like that, it's cool. Shows that you can survive. R&R.

P.S. The lyrics are in italics.

P.P.S. Sorry if this gave you multiple alerts, it messed it up when it loaded from Word to here, I think I've got the bugs worked out now.

We headed out to California
Everybody tried to warn us
Said we wouldn't make it any further
Than that worn out Chevy would

Maria Montez and Sarah Bolton were quiet, neither of them happy with the decisions of their respective children. "We should talk them out of it." Maria whispered to Sarah as they watched the four children, Chad, Taylor, Troy, and Gabriella load up Troy's old truck with their luggage. "They aren't ready to leave yet."

Sarah nodded, "It's no use." She responded, "They leave for college in a couple of months and they want to do this."

"It's gonna be the death of their relationship." Sarah and Maria looked over to see Sarah's husband, Jack, standing next to them, "It's a mistake," he said rather loudly, "this is a mistake."

"Jack," Sarah scolded, "right now he's just moving there to go to college, you want him to leave us forever?"

"I want him to stay here," Jack argued, "I want him to go to the University of Albuquerque like we discussed."

"And he wants to go to USC." Jack looked over to see Troy and Gabriella standing in front of them, "And right now he would like for his father to wish him good luck."

Jack shook his head, "Come tomorrow you'll be calling us, begging us to come pick you up." Jack turned away and Troy watched him walk into the house.

Maria looked at her daughter, "You're not ready for this."

Gabriella tilted her head, "No mom, you're not ready for this, I've been ready for this for a long time." Maria gathered her only daughter into her arms and hugged her tightly while Gabriella did the same, "Mom, we're just going to get settled and then we'll be back in a couple of weeks." Gabriella pulled back, "Taylor and I just have to be there to find an apartment."

"I don't see why I can't go with you." Maria said.

Gabriella licked her lips, "Mom, let me grow up on my own, I swear, I'll take tons of pictures and I'll call you all the time."

Troy smiled at his mother, "This isn't even close to goodbye, in a couple of weeks you're going to want to fly out here and see Chad and my's place."

Sarah nodded, "Your father, he just…"

"Is my coach," Troy finished, "always will be." Troy hugged his mother, "I love you mom."

Troy pulled back and Gabriella stepped over to Troy's mother while Troy hugged Gabriella's mother, promising to take care of the other. "We're driving five hours today," Gabriella informed her mother, "stopping in Flagstaff, and then doing six hours tomorrow."

Maria put her hand over her mouth, tears evident in her eyes, "Oh my baby," Gabriella couldn't help but smile at her mother, glancing at Troy, "you will take care of her, won't you?"

Troy nodded, "Yes, I'll take care of her."

"I'm just worried about who's going to take care of him." Gabriella said sarcastically. Gabriella glanced at Troy, "Ready?"

Troy nodded, "Yes, I am." Hugging their mothers one more time the two made their way over to the truck and the four piled into the truck, Troy taking the wheel.

We broke down a time or two
Thought "maybe we didn't think it through"

"This was stupid." Taylor repeated for the millionth time as Chad and Troy stood out in the sweltering heat, trying to fix the broken down truck, "We didn't think this through." Taylor pushed open the door and walked outside and Gabriella followed suit, her eyes squinting from the sunlight. "We should go home."

"Tay, we're trying to fix it." Chad told her, "Just give us more time."

"We've been here two hours," Taylor argued, "what's the problem?"

Troy held up his hands, "My hands are too big, I can't reach it."

Taylor rolled her eyes and turned to Gabriella, "Call your mom, she'll come and pick us up."

Chad scratched his head, "I don't know man, maybe we should."

Gabriella was holding her cell phone in her hand as she and Troy locked eyes, communicating silently between them. Gabriella flipped open her phone and Troy looked down, wiping his hands on a towel, trying to rid them of the grease. Gabriella sighed and flipped her phone shut, putting it into her pocket before reaching up and pulling her hair into the ponytail. "Okay, you need small hands?" Troy looked up at her, "I've got small hands, let's fix this truck, because I'm not ready to give up yet."

Troy smiled and motioned her over. Taylor groaned and stomped back to the truck, getting back inside. Half and hour later, Gabriella's arm was halfway down the engine and she was concentrating on screwing in something. "Okay, I've got it." Gabriella said pulling her arm out.

"Got it?" Troy asked and Gabriella nodded, "Okay, Chad, give it a shot." Chad turned the key and Gabriella shut her eyes as she listened to the engine click, jumping for rejoice when she heard it start. "Yes!"

"Yes!" Gabriella yelled jumping up and down, wrapping her arms around Troy's neck, not at all caring that they were both sweaty and greasy.

"You did it babe." Troy said swinging her around.

Gabriella pulled back beaming, "No, we did it." She said before smashing her lips onto his.

We were all we had to turn to
When it wasn't looking good

"Talk about dodgy." Taylor said as they walked into their rooms.

Gabriella glanced around at the room with one double bed in it, a TV that most likely didn't work and Gabriella was pretty sure that they were in the worst part of town. "Yeah, well it was the only place with two rooms and we couldn't make it to LA tonight, it's better to stop, stay in a crappy place and finish the last hour tomorrow and spend the day finding our perfect apartment." Gabriella set her bag on the ground and opened it up, pulling out her toilet articles, "I'm gonna take a quick shower."

Fifteen minutes later Gabriella stuck her head out of her room and looked to make sure the coast was clear before she walked over a couple of rooms to Chad and Troy's. Knocking softly she felt very self-conscious in her pajamas for a moment until Chad opened the door and let her in, "Sorry, Taylor fell asleep while I was in the shower and I was bored."

Chad nodded as he shut the door, "Troy just got out of the shower, but I think I'm gonna go say goodnight to Taylor, alright?"

Gabriella bumped arms with Chad, "Yeah, yeah, you're going to say 'goodnight' to Taylor."

Chad grinned, "Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it." Chad opened the door, "When you come back, knock first."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know the rules." Chad shut the door and Gabriella walked over and plopped down onto the bed, smiling as she shut her eyes.

"Hmm…you aren't Chad."

Gabriella gasped, "No way?" Gabriella smiled again, "I think your bed is more comfortable than ours."

"Really?" Troy asked, "I think I saw a bloodstain on there earlier."

Gabriella immediately jumped out of the bed and over towards Troy, "Oh my God!"

Troy was laughing as he wrapped his arms around her, "Chill, Gabi, I'm joking."

Gabriella turned around and smacked his naked torso, "Not funny."

Troy grinned, letting go of her, "I beg to differ." Troy turned away from her and crouched down, pulling out a pair of boxers, workout shorts and a t-shirt to replace the towel he was wearing. Gabriella couldn't help the hormones that kicked in as she looked at Troy's muscular torso and she really couldn't control her mind from wondering what exactly was under that towel. Troy turned to face her, his face blissfully ignorant at the dirty thoughts running through her mind. "Give me a second."

Troy went to turn away but Gabriella tugged on his arm, "No." Troy turned back to face her and immediately felt her lips on his. Troy felt his eyes drift shut as Gabriella wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body up against his. Troy kissed her back, but separated their lips, resting his forehead against hers.

"I should get changed." Troy whispered.

Gabriella's eyes were still shut and she moved her hands to either side of his face, kissing him again, as if giving him her response. She moved her hand down and took the clothes that he was clutching onto and dropped them on the floor, "I don't think so."

Troy felt himself giving in more, his hands winding around her waist, the two shuffling over towards the bed. Troy felt his back hit the bed, his hands snaking underneath her shirt. As she planted a knee on either side of his hips, her lips still attached to his. "Gabi, we should…this isn't…I don't know if I'll be able to…"

Gabriella pulled back, looking down at him, her eyes black with passion, "I don't want you to stop."

Troy was gazing up at her, "Are you sure? Really really sure?"

Gabriella nodded, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to his lips, "I'm positive." She mumbled against his lips before pulling back and pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it onto the floor, completely and totally aware that she was topless in front of him. It wasn't the first time, but she was never so bold with it. Troy seemed stunned for a moment, and Gabriella found it slightly cute how his eyes seemed glued to her chest before he seemed to think it was rude to stare.

Regaining his brain, or what was left of it, Troy sat up and captured Gabriella in a fiery kiss as his hands ran up and down her back, before he pushed her onto her back, moving his kisses down the side of her neck and trailing even further down, producing multiple moans from Gabriella as he passed over just the right places. Gabriella's shorts and underwear were shed and Troy's towel had fallen on the floor ages ago.

Things may have been rocky, but at that moment, it was just the two of them, and that was all that mattered.

We're looking back laughing
'Cause they called us crazy

We were young, we were wild, we were restless
Had to go, had to fly - had to get away

Gabriella glanced nervously over the edge of the cliff and down into the water to see Chad and Taylor floating in it. The four were on spring break their sophomore year of college and the four had taken a trip to a little cottage they had rented on the ocean. After renting a boat, the four had spent the day skiing and tubing, however, right now they were cliff jumping and Gabriella was terrified out of her mind.

She jumped a foot in the air when she felt a hand on her back and Troy gripped her around the waist, "Hey, calm down." Troy told her, "It's just a few feet."

Gabriella shook her head, "That's not a few feet," Gabriella gestured over the cliff, "what if there are rocks at the bottom? What if we get sucked down? Accidents happen all the time, what if we, what if we…"

"Gabriella," Troy interrupted, "do you really think I'd let anything happen to you?"

"You can't stop anything if you're dead." Gabriella countered.

Troy gave her a look, "Babe, don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?" Gabriella shook her head, "It's safe, I promise."

Gabriella crossed her arms, "You don't know that."

Troy nodded, "You're right." Before she could stop him, Troy turned and ran off the edge of the cliff.

Gabriella's eyes widened, "TROY!" she ran to the edge and watched as he landed in the water, waiting with bated breath for him to surface, sighing loudly when he did. "TROY THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

Troy smiled and looked up at her, "It's safe."

Gabriella looked at him incredulously, "YOU COULD HAVE DIED!"

Troy shrugged, "I would have died saving you, so that would have been okay, now JUMP!"

"Yeah, come on Gabi," Taylor goaded, "jump!"

"The sooner you get down here, the sooner you can kill him." Chad yelled up.

Gabriella groaned and took a step back, taking a deep breath, "Troy did it and he's fine." She repeated to herself before taking off running and jumping over the edge. Gabriella let out a scream and she squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the water encompass her. Kicking her feet and stretching with her arms she pulled herself out of the water, spitting out some water as she surfaced, pushing her hair out of her face.

Troy wrapped an arm around her waist, "See, I told you it would be fine."

"I did that, just so I could do this." Gabriella reached up and pushed as hard as she could on the top of Troy's head, effectively dunking him into the water. Gabriella pushed away from him and began swimming back towards the boat as Troy resurfaced.

Troy immediately started heading towards her, "Get your cute ass back here."

Took a chance on that feeling - baby

On the outside, Troy seemed very calm and collected, but Gabriella knew that on the inside he was a nervous wreck. At twenty-two Gabriella and Troy had both just graduated from college and were currently sharing an apartment together in LA. Gabriella was all lined up to start her first year of nursing school in the fall, but Troy was taking a very different path. About a week ago, Troy had gone to an open tryout for the LA Lakers and had gotten a callback to have a second tryout. They had told him that they would call him today and inform him whether or not he made it.

Gabriella was sitting on the couch, watching him as he absently watched the TV in front of him, biting her nails. Gabriella stood up, "Do you want something to drink?"

Troy glanced at her, "Sure, whatever works." Gabriella nodded and made her way into the kitchen, "Do you work today?"

Gabriella shook her head, despite that Troy couldn't see her, "No, we really need to go grocery shopping."

Troy laughed, "Yeah, I keep putting it off, hoping the food will just regrow itself."

"Hmm," Gabriella said grabbing him a beer and her a wine cooler, "maybe it'd do that if you stopped eating it."

Gabriella walked back into the room and handed him the beer, "What is food's purpose if not to be eaten?" Troy opened his beer and took a sip and watched as Gabriella took a sip of her wine cooler, "Trying to lower your inhibitions?"

Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "Why, you want to lower my inhibitions?"

Troy smiled, "No offense, but that's kinda the last thing on my mind right now."

Gabriella nodded, they hadn't mentioned it at all, but both knew they were freaking out over it, "I think you'll make it." Gabriella announced.

Troy nodded, "I hope so, otherwise, physical therapy here I come."

Gabriella sighed, "You'll make it." Gabriella told him again, "You know how I know you'll make it?"

Troy looked over at her, "How?"

Gabriella turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him, "I watched that second tryout with the ten guys that you were playing with, and they were good, all of them. But the looks on their faces, basketball is a job to them, and because it's a job, they resent it a little bit. But to you, it's just what you love, and it's about having fun and giving your all. I've never seen you so happy as when you are on that court, and I know they saw it, that's why you'll make it."

Troy gave her a small smile, "Babe, that's…" Troy froze when the phone rang and both of their heads snapped over, looking at the phone that was sitting on the coffee table.

Gabriella nudged him, "Better get that."

Troy glanced at her one more time before grabbing the phone and answering it, "Hello?" Troy gazed down, listening to the person on the other end, "Yes, this is Troy Bolton." Troy reached out and grabbed Gabriella's hand, gripping it tightly, "You have?" Troy nodded his head and Gabriella almost felt her heart burst when Troy smiled and she could tell he was having a hard time controlling his excitement. "I did? Well that's excellent, thank you so much." Troy nodded his head, "Uh huh, thank you, yes, goodbye." Troy hung up the phone and immediately Gabriella felt Troy smash his lips onto hers and she squealed as he pushed her back against the couch. Troy pulled back and Gabriella felt him hug her tightly, "I made it, I did it, I'm on the Lakers!"

Gabriella laughed, wrapping her own arms around his neck, "I know, I told you, remember?"

Troy laughed and pulled back, sitting up, a gigantic smile on his face, "I can't believe it, I can't believe I did it, I've gotta call my parents, your mother, Chad," Troy's face blanched, "what if he didn't make it? Oh God." As if on cue the phone rang and Troy looked down at it, "Oh God, what if they are calling to say they made a mistake?"

Gabriella picked up the phone and answered it, "Hello?" Gabriella immediately pulled the phone away from her ear when she heard the loud screaming, "I'd say Chad made it."

Troy took the phone and held it to his ear, "You got it? YES! I got it too! I know this is amazing, Chad, this is our dream! Yeah I know, I have to call my parents, yeah, congrats too." Troy hung up the phone and looked over at Gabriella, "This is amazing."

Gabriella pointed to the phone, "Parents."

Troy paused for a moment, "Can you do something for me?"

Gabriella nodded, "Sure, anything, today's completely about you."

Troy stared at her, a slightly nervous look on his face, but he never broke eye contact, "Will you marry me?"

Gabriella's face dropped, "What?"

"Marry me?" Troy repeated, "Would you?" Gabriella seemed at loss for words, "It's just, everything right now is so perfect, and I just made it on the Lakers, and the only thing I can think about is how much more perfect this would be if you were my wife." Troy stood up and Gabriella watched him walk over and disappear inside the bedroom for a moment before reappearing and Gabriella's eyes widened when she saw a square box in his hands, indicating that he had obviously given this some thought.

Troy knelt down on front of her and took her hand in his, "I know we're young, and I know I have a tendency to act on a whim, but I know I love you, and I'm willing to take a chance on this, because I know you are it for me, I want you to be my wife, I want you to be the mother of my children, and I want to grow old with you for the rest of my life. Marry me, Gabriella, and make me the happiest man in the world."

Gabriella paused for a moment, taking in the man in front of her before nodding her head, "Yes."

Troy's eyes widened, "Yes?"

Gabriella nodded more eagerly, "Yes, yes a million times over." Gabriella lunged off of the couch and crashing into Troy, sending them both to the ground, Gabriella's lips firmly planted on his. Troy wrapped his arms around her before pulling back and grabbing her left hand. Troy pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her ring finger. The princess cut medium sized diamond sitting on a white gold diamond encrusted band shimmered in the light of the apartment, "Holy shit Troy," Gabriella looked at him, "how did you…?"

Troy smiled, "I have my secrets, maybe one day, I'll tell you." Gabriella smiled down at him and pressed her lips to his once more. Troy reluctantly pulled back, "I should call my parents." Gabriella nodded and sat up, handing him the phone. Troy turned it on and dialed a very familiar number and grabbed Gabriella's hand as he listened to it ring.

"Troy?"

"Hey mom," Troy answered, "oh my God, I've got the best news in the world."

"You made it? You made it on the Lakers?"

"Well, yeah," Troy answered looking at Gabriella, "but I've got better news, Gabi and I are engaged." Gabriella laughed as she heard Troy's mother's screams of happiness erupt from the phone.

We were loving blind - borderline reckless
We were living for the minute we were spinning in

The knots in her stomach were like nothing she had ever experienced in her life. She had never been this nervous before she took an exam, applied to college, moved to LA, and it was funny, because she had never been more sure about something in her entire life, but she was still nervous.

The mesh material of the veil was covering her eyes as she noticed her two best friends standing in line in front of her, the two girls beaming. Gabriella clutched onto the flowers tightly as she heard a soft melody start up. The two girls in front of her disappeared faster than Gabriella was ready for and as she watched the wedding planner stand next to the doors and signal for the wedding march to begin, suddenly the knots were gone.

Gabriella sucked in a deep breath, glancing down at her dress, making sure everything was in place. The sweetheart neckline accentuating her curves as the long, corset type bodice ended at the sides of her hips, the skirt extending down to the floor in layers with the slight hint of a train in the back. The bodice had slight sparkles up the back and Gabriella prayed she didn't have to pee, because with as tightly as Taylor tied the dress, there was no way she was getting out of it and then getting back in.

The song started up and Gabriella instinctively smiled as the doors opened and her eyes immediately locked with his blue ones. She must have floated down the aisle, because she didn't remember walking, all she knew was that she saw him and then she was next to him. Troy looked handsome as always, no one able to wear a tux quite the way that he could, and she couldn't help but smile a little at his expression, she had most definitely taken his breath away.

The ceremony was short and Gabriella would never admit that she zoned out for most of it, her eyes just focusing on the person in front of her, their hands linked, occasionally squeezing them for encouragement. Gabriella smiled at him, 'I love you.' She mouthed and Troy smiled and mouthed, 'I love you too.'

"Rings please?" the minister asked and Chad immediately stepped forward, handing over the rings and Troy took Gabriella's left hand, locking eyes with her.

The minister told Troy to repeat after him, but all Gabriella heard were his words, "I, Troy Alexander Bolton, take you, Gabriella Marie Montez, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, to love and to cherish, for better or for worse, from this day forward, till death do us part." Gabriella looked down as Troy slid a matching wedding band onto her finger.

Taking Troy's left hand she looked up at him and smiled at how happy he looked, "I, Gabriella Marie Montez, take you, Troy Alexander Bolton, to be my lawfully wedded husband," Gabriella paused and sniffed, her promise of not crying failing miserably, "to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, to love and to cherish, for better or for worse, from this day forward, till death do us part." Troy smiled at her, the tears evident in her voice as she slid the ring onto his finger.

"By the power vested in me, by the state of New Mexico, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Troy grinned as he detached his hands from her own and gripped the edge of the veil, lifting it up and almost instantly connecting their lips, receiving a loud response of cheers, cat calls, whistles, and applause.

Maybe we were a lot of things
But we weren't crazy

Just a couple kids a couple years ago
Now we gotta couple kids of our own
We turn out right - proved them wrong
Look at us going strong

Three year old Alexander Bolton sniffled as he hugged his teddy bear to his side, making his way down the dark hallway to his parents' bedroom. A crash of thunder was heard and Alex jumped, his floppy brown hair falling into his blue eyes. Alex heard a door shut and he jumped again, his teddy bear squished up against his dinosaur covered pajamas. Alex cautiously peered his head around the corner and could barely make out the sight of a figure taking off a jacket. Alex sniffled and the figure froze. Alex blinked as a light turned on and Alex sighed as he saw his father standing there.

Troy smiled when he saw Alex standing there and he finished setting his wet jacket on the chair and taking off his shoes, "Hey little man, what are you doing awake?"

Alex sniffled again, "The storm scared me, I thought mommy said you weren't going to be back until tomorrow?"

Troy held a finger to his lips as he shut off the light and walked over, scooping up his son, "We can surprise her together, okay?" Alex nodded and Troy made his way over to his and Gabriella's bedroom, opening the door and shutting it quietly. Troy set Alex down and quickly took off his jeans and t-shirt before leading him over to where Gabriella was peacefully resting, her hand on her swollen pregnant stomach.

Alex climbed into bed and immediately latched onto Gabriella, "Mommy, dad's home."

Gabriella mumbled something out and opened her eyes, staring at her energetic son, "What sweetie?"

"Dad's home." Alex repeated and Gabriella lifted her head and looked past Alex to see Troy pulling up the covers, making sure they covered Alex.

"You flew home in this?" Gabriella croaked out, her voice still tired from being woken up.

Troy leaned over Alex and pressed a kiss to Gabriella's lips briefly before retracting and pressing one to Alex's forehead. "Yeah, well, my wife is about ten months pregnant, and could pretty much go into labor right now,"

"Oh, you don't say?" Gabriella asked sarcastically. Gabriella looked down at Alex and she smiled as he rested his head on her stomach, "What are you doing, huh?"

"I'm listening to the baby." Alex told her.

Troy smiled down at him and watched as his eyes drifted shut, Gabriella weaving her hands through his hair, "He's gonna be a good big brother."

Gabriella nodded her head, "I have told you were having another one, right?"

Troy smiled at her, "Are we? And how many do you want to have, exactly?"

"I think three is perfect," Gabriella told him, "but you have gotta think girl. I mean, I love Alex and I am going to love Connor, but you have gotta think girl."

"It'll be a girl." Troy told her, "I just had to make sure she had plenty of protection from all the boys that are going to want her because she's going to have your looks."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "So you're going to turn them into her bodyguards?"

Troy nodded, "Yes, and I intend to be terrifying to anyone that wants to touch her."

Gabriella tilted her head, "You know, we had sex before marriage?"

"That was different."

"How?"

"It just was," Troy told her, "now go to sleep because as soon as Connor is born, we won't be getting any." Gabriella puckered her lips and Troy laughed before leaning over and kissing her, careful to not squish Alex, "Goodnight babe, I love you."

Gabriella smiled, her eyes already drifting shut, "I love you too." Troy stayed awake for another minute, watching Gabriella and Alex sleep, feeling his heart swell with love at the sight of his family.

Looking back laughing
'Cause they called us crazy

We were young, we were wild, we were restless
Had to go, had to fly - had to get away
Took a chance on that feeling - baby

"Okay buddy," Troy told Alex as he crouched down to his level, "I want you to be good for your grandparents, alright?" Alex nodded his head eagerly and Troy smiled, standing up and looking at his mother and father. "I'll call if anything happens, but don't worry about it, just have fun with him."

Sarah nodded, "When you were being stubborn the doctor suggested walking."

Troy nodded, "It's on my list, but she isn't even awake yet, so we'll see if she's up for it." Troy ushered his parents and Alex out the door and walked back into his bedroom to find Gabriella awake, but she hadn't moved yet.

She yawned, "Did I miss your parents?"

Troy crawled back into bed next to her, "Don't worry about it, you'll catch them later, right now, let's enjoy some time away from our son."

Gabriella smiled, "The last time we spent some time away from our son, this happened." Gabriella pointed to her stomach.

Troy shook his head, "Well, that can't happen this time, it is medically impossible for you to get pregnant while you are pregnant."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "You can't possibly be serious, I'm the size of a whale."

"You are gorgeous." Troy told her, "You have a full size baby inside of you, you're cranky and hormonal, and you're still the most beautiful woman in the world because you are giving, have already given, and will continue to give me the most wonderful things in the world."

Gabriella groaned, "Troy, you can't say stuff like that."

"Why not?"

"Because when you say that, I want to jump you and I don't think I could jump, let alone jump you."

Troy grinned, "I can help with that." Troy leaned in and kissed her, "Plus, isn't sex supposed to induce labor?"

Gabriella nodded, "Yes it is."

We were loving blind - borderline reckless
We were living for the minute we were spinning in

Gabriella was sweating profusely, breathing heavily, in an intense amount of pain, and vowing to castrate Troy when she was finished. Gabriella threw her head back as she felt a contraction rip through her body, "AH!" she screamed out, gripping tightly to Troy's hand.

"Breathe Gabriella," Troy told her, "just breathe."

"I AM BREATHING!" Gabriella yelled out, "And I hate you so much right now."

Troy nodded and wiped some sweat off of her forehead, "I love you too."

"Okay Gabriella," the doctor poked his head up, "the baby is crowning, so when this next contraction hits, I want you to push."

Gabriella nodded and gripped onto Troy's hand, his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, giving her as much encouragement as he could offer, "Okay babe, you can do this," Troy told her, "we are so close to our baby boy, and I am so proud of you."

Gabriella shut her eyes and her grip tightened as she felt another contraction coming, "Okay," the doctor said, "on the count of three, one…two…"

"THREE!" Gabriella yelled out as she pushed with all her might, the pain ripping through her body. Once the contraction passed Gabriella breathed heavily, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Alright, one more push," the doctor goaded, "and you'll be parents…again."

Gabriella shook her head, "No, I can't do it."

Troy leaned over and wiped the tears that were spilling out of her eyes away, "I know it's painful, actually, I have no idea, but you are so close, and I promise you, once he's out, it'll be so much better."

"You promise?" Gabriella asked and Troy nodded, "Alright, on the count of three." Gabriella sighed, "One…two…three!" Gabriella pushed with everything she had inside of her, screaming in pain as she felt the baby leave her, and she smiled a teary smile when she was rewarded with the most amazing sound in the world.

Her baby crying.

Maybe we were a lot of things
But we weren't crazy
Coulda walked away from this love
But that'd been crazy

Troy smiled as he watched seven year old Alex and four year old Connor play on the teeter totter, Connor unable to see why he couldn't weigh as much as his brother. Conner was the perfect mixture of Gabriella and Troy, his hair darker than Alex's, resembling the color of Gabriella's, dark eyes and tanned skin, but he was so much like Alex and Troy in his energy.

"Dad," Connor yelled, "Alex is making fun of me!"

Troy smiled and walked over, "And why is he doing that?" Alex was grinning and Troy couldn't help but marvel at how much he was truly like Troy.

"He says I could never beat him because I am too small." Connor said looking up at Troy with eyes filled with tears.

Troy smiled softly, "Well Alex doesn't know everything." Troy lifted up his foot and stepped on the teeter totter, pushing Connor down and lifting Alex into the air, "And sometimes it isn't about size, but outsmarting your opponent."

"Hey!" Alex exclaimed, "No fair!"

Troy took his foot off the teeter totter, and despite that Conner immediately went back up, he was smiling at having outdone his brother. Troy heard a mess of giggles and looked over to see Gabriella sliding down the slide with their two year old daughter in her lap, both smiling.

Hannah Grace Bolton was, in the truest sense, daddy's little girl, but at the same time she was a mama's girl too. She emulated Gabriella in every way, so much so, at times Troy was pretty sure he had nothing to do with her creation. At two she was very smart for her age. She loved it when Gabriella would read to her, she had the same long curls that Gabriella had and the same chocolate eyes on her heart shaped face.

"Han-nah!" Connor shouted, "Come here!" Troy watched Hannah shoot up from Gabriella's lap and run over to where Conner was, "Hannah come on!"

Troy walked over when Conner and Hannah were trying to get her up on the teeter totter, but were unable to do so. Troy picked up Hannah and placed her in front of Connor, "Hold onto your sister's waist." Troy instructed, "And Hannah, hold on here," Troy put her hands on the handle bar."

"No fair," Alex shouted, "what are you doing?"

"Outsmarting my opponent." Connor told Alex, smiling up at Troy.

Hannah looked at Connor, "What's an opponent?"

Troy smiled and turned back towards Gabriella to find her still sitting in the sand, watching the interaction with a smile. Troy walked over and offered her his hand, which she eagerly took and allowed him to pull her up, "We have great kids," Gabriella looked up at him, "have I told you that."

Troy nodded, "It's all you, I'm a bad influence."

Gabriella smiled, "To those boys you are," Gabriella laced her fingers with Troy's and the two walked over and watched their kids play, "but don't worry, I'll teach Hannah how to get around her father's rules."

Troy looked over at her, "You wouldn't dare."

"I'd do it in a heartbeat." Gabriella told him and Troy sent her a mini-glare, "I can't believe she's almost three."

Troy nodded, "I know, it's crazy." Troy gazed at the children, "Do you want another one?"

Gabriella smiled and wrapped her arm around Troy's waist, "Only if you give birth to it." Troy snorted, "I'm still working on getting my body back after Hannah."

"Gabriella…" Troy trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah," Gabriella said, "I'm perfect just the way I am, I'm the mother of your beautiful children, and you love me, I know."

Troy laughed, "I was gonna say you are hot and sexy, but whatever works." Troy glanced over at her, "There's a reason your old clothes don't fit. Your hips aren't wider because you're fat, it's because you pushed three children through them. And your shirts don't fit because your boobs are bigger because of the breastfeeding. And personally, I don't see either of those things as bad."

Gabriella leaned her head on his shoulder, "You don't look at the cheerleaders at your games and wish your wife looked like that?"

"My wife does look like that," Troy told her, "I don't really get why she doesn't see it."

Gabriella was quiet for a moment, "Some days I do, some days I don't." Gabriella looked up at him, "I guess just part of getting old."

"Old?" Troy asked, "Speak for yourself, we are 31, hardly old, our parents are old."

Gabriella smiled, "I was cleaning out the closet the other day and I found an old picture of us, when we moved here, to LA, you remember?" Troy nodded, "It was outside that old hotel we stayed at." Troy snorted, "Yeah, that one, the picture Taylor took of us the morning before we finished driving to LA."

"You mean, the morning after you screwed my brains out?" Gabriella scoffed and sent Troy a look, "What? It's true. I mean, it was both of ours first times, but I remember talking to Chad about it before and he told me that his and Taylor's first time was so awkward and that it got better with time. And I don't know about you, and I've never had any other experience, but I thought our first time was phenomenal, considering we were in a run down hotel, had no idea what we were doing with our lives and our parents were mad at us."

"Not to mention we didn't know what we were doing." Gabriella added.

Troy shrugged, "I had seen enough videos, I could put two and two together and figure out what goes where."

Gabriella laughed, "One of the reasons it was so good was because it was like it flipped a switch with us, like we weren't high school sweethearts anymore, we were in an official relationship." Gabriella looked up at Troy, "They called us crazy, you know. Your mom and dad, my mom, they all thought we wouldn't make it as a couple to LA."

Troy nodded, "I remember, we almost didn't make it to LA, but then you whipped out your mechanic side and stuck your hand in the engine."

"That's because I wasn't ready to give up," Gabriella told him, "because we weren't crazy. We were in love, we were naïve, we were a lot of things, maybe crazy about each other, but we weren't crazy."

Troy looked out at their three children, "Definitely not crazy."

We were young, we were wild, we were restless
Had to go, had to fly, had to get away
Took a chance on that feeling
We were loving blind, borderline reckless
We were living for the minute we were spinning in
Maybe we were a lot of things
Oh maybe we were a lot of things
But we weren't crazy
We weren't crazy
We weren't crazy