A/N, Christa: Our first official fanfic, since we lost our other roleplays and oneshots. Pity, they were kinda cute. Anyway, I hope you like this one! R&R, please.

Christa plays Gabriella.

A/N, Celine: For those of you who are wondering, Christopher is five years old, Hailey is four, Jonathan is three, Joanna is two, and Makenzie is a cute little infant. We powerplayed the kids, along with everyone else other than Troy and Gabriella. The carts in this story are like the ones in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, so I hope you get an accurate mental image of what's going on. The idea for this fanfic came from Christa, so direct your applause to her.

Celine plays Troy.

-------

Chapter One: Carts and Elevators

"Hailey, come back here," Gabriella Bolton called over to her four-year-old daughter, who was running around the hotel lobby. "Come here. Hold Mommy's hand."

Troy Bolton laughed at his wife and daughter, who were almost chasing each other around the lobby. "Wow," he told Gabriella. "Hawaii... I've always dreamed of coming here. But I never imagined that it'd be with my kids."

"You should try getting one of those carts," she pointed. "Then you could help with YOUR kids," Gabriella grinned wearily. She hadn't had much sleep since the baby came.

"All right," Troy said, rolling one cart over and piling their bags on it. He then grabbed the small hands of his sons and held them close. "We could get lost in this hotel. Stay right here, with Daddy," he said firmly.

Christopher walked along with Troy without protesting, being the "obedient one." Jonathan, however, the "little rebel," struggled out of Troy's reach and ran towards the registration desk. He saw the old, somewhat scary-looking man and threw his lollipop at him.

"Good boy, Chris," Troy said, but he couldn't help sounding like he was talking to a dog. He sighed. "Stay," he said, again realizing that this was another thing to say to a dog. Troy marched up to the registration desk and picked Jonathan up. "You can't stay out of trouble," he mumbled. "I'm sorry, sir," he told the man, who looked very irritated.

The man smiled painfully and took the sticky lollipop off of his face, which left a faint red mark. "Cherry."

Troy laughed nervously. "Kids... you know how they are," he said quickly before taking off. He was glad to see that Chris had stayed in his designated spot, and he bounced Jonathan up and down in his arms. "You silly little boy," he scolded. "Don't you ever do that again. We don't throw candy at nice men."

"He looked mean," Jonathan retorted, waving the lollipop in Troy's face.

"He was mad because you threw candy." Troy sighed, his frustration evident. This might not end up the relaxing vacation he had hoped for...

-------

Hailey looked up at "Mommy" with wide eyes. She quickly shook her head "no," as if she had a choice whether or not to obey Gabriella, and continued running around. Her short brown hair flew out behind her as she flailed her arms wildly, hitting a woman in the legs. But Hailey didn't notice.

"Hailey!" Gabriella said, then the baby, Makenzie, woke up and started to cry. She looked at Troy with pleading eyes.

Hailey put on her fake-sorry look. "I'm sorry, Mommy," she said, blinking cutely. This look almost always worked on them, and Hailey knew that.

Gabriella was tired and wasn't in the mood for Hailey's tactics. "Follow Daddy," she said firmly.

"We better get to our room before something worse happens," Gabriella continued, trying to console the crying baby.

Troy didn't have to think twice before agreeing. "Come on, Chris, Jon," he said. "Let's go see our new room." He tried to make this part sound exciting. Chris giggled with anticipation, but Jonathan appeared nonchalant about all of it and continued sucking on his lollipop.

"Hey, we can ride in the elevator," Troy said, a huge grin on his face as if riding in an elevator was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. He began to push the cart to the elevator.

Joanna spoke up. "I don't wanna!... I wanta ride!" She hopped onto the cart, giggling. She'd never ridden one of these before. Chris decided that this looked fun, so he jumped on, too. He was followed by Jonathan and Hailey.

Troy tried to convince them that riding an elevator was much more fun than riding a cart, but gave up. "Sure," he said softly. "But be very careful not to fall off!"

Jonathan, being the bravest of the four, stood with one foot on the cart and waved the other foot in the air above the floor. He clutched the railing, because if he fell off... it could hurt--really bad!

"Jonathan!" Gabriella scolded, giving Troy a "why-didn't-you-say-something" look. "You're going to get hurt! Both feet on right now or you're getting off and walking with Mommy."

Jonathan gasped, taking his foot back. It was fun to do that, but he didn't want to walk... like his parents. They were boring people. So he kept both feet on the cart at all times from then on.

-------

Gabriella used her free hand to hold Troy's free hand. "If it gets too heavy, tell me to let go."

Troy smiled down at her. It'll never get too heavy with you holding my hand...

Gabriella would have smiled back at him, but she was checking on Makenzie, who was now soundly sleeping. Eat, sleep, cry, and dispose of waste materials. Sounds like a nice life to me.

"So, kids, how about we ride the cart and the elevator? It'll be extra-fun!" Troy gave his best little-kid grin.

"No!" Jonathan said. "Fastah, Daddy, fastah!" Troy didn't push the cart any faster, much to the kids' disappointment. Even Chris was a little unhappy that Troy wouldn't go "fastah."

"Fastah, Daddy!" Joanna echoed Jonathan.

"No fastah," said Troy, using the children's lingo. "This is fast enough." Seeing all of the sad faces after he said that, Troy pushed the cart harder for a few seconds. "There, Daddy did it fastah. Now enough complaining, and we're going into the elevator."

The children's squeals died down after Troy slowed.

"I dun like the El-Vader!" said Jonathan.

"He's from Star Wars!" Chris announced.

"He's Luke's father!" stated Hailey.

"Okay..." Troy was a little surprised by their comments as he pushed a button, waiting for the elevator to open.

"NOOOOOO!" Jonathan screamed, and got off of the cart and onto one of an innocent business man, which was going "fastah" than "Daddy's." Joanna followed him, giggling hysterically.

The elevator doors slid open, and there were three women dressed in what the kids would call "work clothes" standing there. They looked like they were already running late, but they couldn't get going--the cart was blocking the way. It took a few minutes for Troy to move the cart so that they could pass, but once they got through, Hailey jumped off the cart and grabbed onto one woman's long skirt. She clung there, and Troy nearly ripped the hair out of his own head. Yes, he could see that this vacation would be VERY stressful.

Gabriella nodded, sighing. She looked around, not sure which kid to grab first. Christopher, however, sat contentedly on Troy's cart, looking around innocently.

The woman finally succeeded in prying Hailey's little fingers off of her skirt and rushed off, casting an indignant look at the helpless couple.

"Jonathan took after your side of the family," Gabriella giggled a little at her children's antics. The poor businessman gave up and instead took his two suitcases in his hands and walked the remainder of the way to his room, leaving Jonathan and Joanna on a motionless cart, frowning.

Troy nodded. "Eh. Now I know how my parents felt..." He had to laugh with Gabriella.

"You came out okay, though." Gabriella smiled up at him. She was surprised at how little they had changed--in appearance and personality, besides having gained necessary maturity.

Troy returned her smile. Then he bent down and picked up Jonathan. "I can't let you go anymore," he muttered. "Be a good boy, now." He carried Joanna in his other arm. "Hailey, follow," he commanded his oldest daughter, since he had no more arms left.

Jonathan tried to wriggle out of Troy's arms, then gave up. Joanna followed his lead but ended up resting her head against her father's shoulder and looking at the people behind them. Hailey followed obediently, although a bit disappointed that he didn't offer to let her ride in the cart with Christopher.

"Now all of you are going to be good kids," he said. "Isn't that right?"

They all gave him their best little-kid smiles.

-------

"Pencil," Jonathan giggled.

"Pen."

"Crayon."

"ERASER!"

This time, Troy was more than confused by what they were saying. He was completely clueless. He gave his wife a "what-are-they-talking-about" look.

"They watched a program on TV about writing utensils... no, Joanna," Gabriella said gently. "An eraser is what you use to undo your mistakes with a pencil, remember? You could try 'marker.' "

Joanna nodded. "MARKAH!"

Troy laughed. "Come on, we need to ride the elevator now." He tightened his grip on Jonathan, afraid that he would get away again. Jonathan looks brave... but is he afraid of an elevator? the father thought.

"NO!" Jonathan started to retort, then cried. Almost as an answer to Troy's question, he continued. "We're gonna get stuck in there!"

Troy sat Joanna down on the cart next to Chris and gave Hailey permission to do the same. "Jonathan, people work extra-hard to make the elevators safe. We're not going to get stuck... we'll stay alive, and we'll come out of that elevator just as unharmed as we'll go in." He pushed the cart with his free arm into the open elevator.

"No," Jonathan continued sobbing. "I don't wanta!" Gabriella raised an eyebrow and gave her husband a "how-did-our-son-get-such-an-irrational-fear-of-elevators" look.

Troy shrugged. "How do you know that we'll get stuck, Jonathan?" He stroked his son's brown hair gently.

"BECAUSE!"

"Should I take him up the stairs?" Troy mouthed to Gabriella, frowning. "Or should we let him face his fear?" Gabriella couldn't think of an answer, which was good, since the elevator doors seemed to decide for Jonathan. They closed quietly, but Jonathan seemed to wail all the more.

Jonathan hugged his father's neck tightly, sobbing into his chest. Troy leaned back on the wall of the elevator, sighing. Gabriella gave Troy a "wanna-trade" look, pitying her husband completely. Jonathan could be a wild child one minute, a crying baby the next.

"I SEEN IT ON TV!" Jonathan cried loudly. "THEY GOT STUCK IN THE ELEVATOR! THEY GOT STUCK IN THIS ELEVATOR!"

"They fixed this elevator," Gabriella said. "Or else Mr. President wouldn't let you ride in it. He doesn't want you to get hurt."

"Nuh-uh. I didn't see it get fixed on TV!" Jonathan stuck his lower lip out. Troy shook his head in disbelief. I have a crazy son...

At the sound of Jonathan's cries, Makenzie woke up and bawled for no complete reason. Gabriella was thankful that they were alone in the elevator, but was somehow sure that people could hear the noise from the outside and were wondering what kind of parents would torture their children using such cruel methods. "Shhh," she whispered, singing softly to Makenzie, whose crying subsided.

Finally the "ding" of the elevator's stop brought relief to Jonathan, who scrambled haphazardly out of Troy's arms, onto the ground, and fell to the tiled floor just outside of the elevator, breathing heavily as if he had just escaped trained snipers.

"Whew." Troy exhaled deeply, following his son out and helping him to his feet. "Glad that joyride's over."