Troy Bolton sat quietly in the reception room of McKessie and Montez attorneys at law with his son Ethan. He had been told that Gabriella Montez was the best child advocate lawyer in Albuquerque and, right now he needed the best, because Shelby, his ex wife was trying to take their son away from him.
Ethan had become Troy's best friend since the day he was born and it killed Troy to see hom hurting. His mother had mentioned that maybe Ethan needed his own lawyer, someone to fight for him and what he wanted. So, here Troy sat, ready to give Ethan whatever he needed, no matter what.
Troy was pulled out of his thoughts when the secretary called them. "Mr. Bolton, Ms. Montez will see you now."
Troy got up from his seat. He picked up Ethan and smiled at his nervous five year old. "Come on, Buddy", he said with a smile.
"Ethan can play for a few minutes, Mr. Bolton. Ms. Montez wants to talk to you first", the secretary said gently.
Troy put Ethan back down to play. "Be good, Bud. I'll be back."
Ethan went back to playing and Troy followed the directions he was given to an office. He knocked softly.
"Come in", a voice called.
Troy wasn't sure what he expected, but the attractive, young brunette behind the desk was not it.
"Good morning, Mr. Bolton", she greeted when Troy seemed too tongue tied to speak.
The words seemed to jerk Troy back to the present. "Please. It's Troy. Mr. Bolton makes me feel old." Troy smiled nervously as he offered his hand. "Good morning, Ms. Montez."
Gabriella smiled too. "Gabriella", she offered. "I want us to get along, Troy. I am your son's lawyer, but I'm here for you as well. Now, why don't you have a seat and tell me why you think your son needs a lawyer."
"It's my ex wife", he started with disdain. "She hates that our son wants to be with me, so she's trying to punish me by taling him away from me. Every time Ethan comes back from his weekends with her he tells me she all but ignores him. He wants to be with me, but she is trying to sue for full custody. I don't know what to do. I need help. My son needs help."
"You've come to the right place, Troy, but I need to remind you. I will represent Ethan. I'll recommend what I think is best for him based on what he tells me he wants, not what you or your ex wife want. Only what Ethan wants. I will recommend what I think is best for him.
Troy nodded. He hated the idea that Ethan could be taken from him, but he could tell that this woman would have his son's best interest at heart. He knew she could be trusted. "Gabriella, Ethan is my whole world. His happiness is all that matters. No matter if I'm what's best for him or not. Ethan comes first."
Gabriella smiled. She knew those words were hard for Troy to say. Fathers were protectors. They need to be able to keep danger away at all costs and they tend to think they can do it themselves. It was refreshing to see recognizing that he needed help. "I'd like to talk to Ethan alone. I need to hear from him what he wants without help from you."
Troy nodded. "I'll go get him." He walked back through the hallway to the reception area. "Ethan", he called softly. "Someone wants to meet you, Bud."
The little boy got up slowly. His nervousness was clear. Gabriella's smile was friendly. "Hi Ethan", she said from behind Troy. He turned to watch as the lawyer got down to his son's level and introduced herself. "I'm Gabi", she said still smiling. "I want to help you, but first I want to talk to you. Is that okay?"
Ethan looked back to his father making sure this was okay. Troy smiled. He loved his cautious boy. "It's okay, Bud. I'll be right out here waiting for you."
Ethan looked scared. "I want Daddy to come with me", he told Gabriella.
Gabriella's heart broke. She smiled weakly at the little boy. "Okay. Daddy can come, but only if you talk to me."
"Okay", Ethan agreed shyly.
They walked back to Gabriella's office and Troy stood in the back of the room while Ethan and Gabriella sat at a small, child sized, table in the corner of the office. It had toys and drawing supplies. Ethan pulled the paper and crayons to himself and started drawing a picture. He drew a big, green house, a small crying stick figure and two bigger stick figures.
"What are you drawing, Ethan", Gabriella asked already having an idea.
"This is me", he pointed to the small crying figure. "This is Mommy", this time his finger pointed to the long haired, angry figure on the page. "And this is Michael. He's Mommy's boyfriend."
"Why are you crying", Gabriella asked coming to understand Troy's desire for Ethan to have his own representation in court.
"Because", Ethan answered. "I miss Daddy and I heard Mommy tell Michael that she hates looking at me."
Behind Ethan, Troy felt physically ill. He knew Shelby was angry, but he had no idea how angry or that their son knew it too. He wanted, with everything in him, to pay Shelby a visit. He wanted to show her the evidence of their son's pain; that Ethan knew how she felt.
At the table, Gabriella was having just as hard a time not showing her anger. Looking at the little boy in front of her, she had no idea how anyone could be so heartless and cruel. She resolved to find a way to keep the woman away from her son. Gabriella squeezed Ethan close and smiled. "You stay here and play for a minute. I'm gonna go talk to your daddy."
"Okay", Ethan said with a smile.
Gabriella smiled in return and got up to lead Troy out into the hall. His anger radiated off of his body as he began to pacr back and forth in the hall. "Please tell me you can use that in court", he begged getting more agitated by the second.
"Oh yeah", Gabriella scoffed angrily. "We can difinately use that art in court." She was confifent that she could take this boy from his horrible mother. Then she remembered that she also had to make sure Ethan was safe with his father. "TroyvI also need to make a home visit. I need to make sure that Ethan is living in a safe environment."
Troy was taken aback by the idea that his son might not be safe with him, but he had nothing to hide. "Come whenever you'd like."