Strength A High School Musical Story

Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or their characters even if I wish Zac was mine.

Chapter 1: The Move (Monday Aug 15th)

It is 2 am on moving day and Jack, Lucy, and Troy (age 16) are up and dressed. Troy's three sisters, Katerina (age 12), Miranda (age 8), and Emmalia (age 4) would sleep for a few minutes more. Troy's six week old son Elijah was also still asleep. Lucy just left in the SUV to get breakfast, well first breakfast; second breakfast would be around 8 am if all went according to their plan. While Lucy was out getting breakfast it was up to Jack and Troy to get the four kids up and dressed and get everything packed up and in the moving truck or by the door to go into the SUV when Lucy got back; and do one last look through the apartment for anything that may have been left. Jack got the girls up and ready to go while Troy got his son ready. As Lucy walked in the door with breakfast Kat the last one for a turn in the bathroom put her overnight bag by the door with all the others. Breakfast was eaten, overnight bags were loaded in the SUV, last bathroom breaks were taken, and the apartment was locked up with the keys turned in. At 2:55 am Jack and Lucy pull out in the moving truck and Troy pulled out with his son and sisters in the SUV. By 3:00 am they were on the highway for the first of a five day drive.

Its now almost 8 am and for the last five hours Troy has been remembering what led up to where he is now and thinking about what is going to happen when they arrive in Albuquerque, New Mexico in five days. Two weeks ago Jack had called a family meeting to announce that they were moving to Albuquerque because he had been offered and accepted a job coaching the varsity basketball team at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque his alma mater. So they spent two weeks packing what they were taking with them and selling what they weren't. After moving four times in the last ten years, the last time a year ago, they didn't have much clutter and junk. The kids had clothes, awards, a few books, and very few nick-knacks. Jack and Lucy had pared down over the years also and only had a few boxes worth of keepsakes and nick-knacks. With how little everyone had, even with seven people, everything fit in one large moving truck.

Everyone is looking forward to the move because they are all getting new bedroom furniture. The beds that the kids had now were bought at yard sells and were old and beat up then and even more so now. Jack and Lucy had been saving up for a few years knowing that one day they would be moving to a bigger place. Lucy was also a lawyer that earned the big bucks. Jack had played for a NBA team but had hurt his knee three games in and had to retire. He saved what was left of his signing bonus after all the medical bills had been paid so he had quite a bit saved to contribute to this move also. Both sets of grandparents, who were both loaded, were also majorly helping out.

Troy had known about the move at the end of June when his paternal grandparents, Alex and Sophie, came to visit for the 4th of July holiday, but he didn't know when exactly they would be moving. Lucy knew that they would need to move back in November of the previous year due to the circumstances involving how Elijah came to be. Troy had been a victim of date rape from his girlfriend at a Halloween party that the basketball team had thrown. A party that Troy did not want to go to but his father had made him. Jack was the coach of his high school basketball team and wanted Troy to get to know his team mates better, hence making him go to the party. The team was made up of eight seniors, three juniors, and Troy the sophomore. Troy didn't want to go because he knew that there would be lots of alcohol and sex going on at the party and if he didn't participate he would be even more of an outcast than he already was. He went though to make his father happy and took his girlfriend with him. He however was very adamant about not drinking any of the alcohol or having sex with his girlfriend or anyone else. His girlfriend however had a different idea about that. The girlfriend had put a date rape drug in his soda can when he had gone to the bathroom. After the drug started to set in she had taken him to a room in the house where the party was being held and when he was out of it enough she raped him. He doesn't remember the actual act just what lead up to it and then waking up naked next to her the next morning. Troy had called his mom to pick him up and she had gotten out of Troy what he knew and then took him to the hospital where test were done that had determined that he had been drugged and then raped. The girlfriend was arrested and sentenced to juvenile hall until she turned 18 and then jail until she was 21. Once it was discovered she was pregnant and was going to have the baby Troy had been given the choice of keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption. After thoroughly thinking about for a month Troy had decided to keep the baby. All parental rights were removed from the mother and she would never be allowed to see the baby after it was born. Lucy knew that for Troy to even remotely have a normal life they could not stay in Chicago after the baby was born. With his parents blessing Troy had decided to keep the baby, after all it was not he baby's fault that he had been raped. He would not be able to live with himself knowing that he had a child out there somewhere and not be a part of its life. Troy's extended family had been informed about the rape so no one thought he was just careless and knocked up some girl.

Troy's paternal grandparents took the news the best and had been supporting Troy through the whole thing. So when they came to visit they took him shopping for everything that he would need. They first took him to Babies'R'Us to get the small things. They needed to get Troy excited about the baby not overwhelmed so they started small. They also started a registry at each store they went to for the baby shower that would be thrown when they moved. So they bought what would be needed before the move and the rest they put on the registry. At Babies'R'Us they got pacifiers, bottles, diapers, wipes, baby blankets, and a diaper bag. They also got the big stuff and some of it had more than one function so that they could be used for a longer time. The car seat that they got also came with a jogging stroller. The car seat would attach to the stroller until Elijah out grew it and then only the stroller would be needed. The car seat would work until Eli was at least a year old maybe a bit long depending on how big he gets. Then a bigger car seat would be needed. After finding the car seat stroller combo Troy seamed a bit overwhelmed so, his grandparents took him the bedding section to look at all the cute designs and to pick one. Troy found a few that he liked but once he found a Winnie the Pooh set called 'Up and Away' he absolutely loved it. Finding the bedding set set the theme for the nursery. The bedding set had a coordinating mobile, window valence, wall art, lamp, snuggly blanket, and diaper stacker. Going with the Winnie the Pooh theme they found a Pack' n Play portable crib, swing, bouncer, and a play mat that also matched. The Pack'n Play playpen would work as a bassinet and later as a portable crib and playpen. Most of the stuff was just put on the registry to get later after the move but Troy was having a good time planning out what and how he wanted everything. After all the essentials that Troy would need before the move were bought and loaded in the car they went to Pottery Barn.

Troy was in for a treat when they got there, but with the treat came the bad also. His grandparents had informed him that his maternal grandparents were paying for his sisters' new rooms, everything that would go in them from the paint on the walls to the furniture. However, because they did not approve of Troy keeping Elijah they had decided not to pay for anything for Troy's or Elijah's new rooms. Due to this decision, Alex and Sophie were going to pay for everything for Troy and Elijah and nothing major for the girls. However, to be fair to the girls they would get a few things that their other grandparents didn't get that would be determined later. Troy was a bit upset that his maternal grandparents wanted him to give Elijah up for adoption but he decided to not let them get to him and focus on the good things instead.

At the Pottery Barn super store they went to the baby section first and found the furniture for Elijah's new room. They put everything on the registry. There was a store in Albuquerque also where everything would be bought from later. Troy found a 4 in 1 crib in an espresso color from the Larkin collection. The crib would convert to a toddler bed and later a full sized bed with the option of having both a headboard and footboard or just a headboard. Although to covert to the toddler and full sized beds additional parts would be needed, they went ahead and got the converter for the toddler bed because Troy knew that it would be used. A dresser with a removable changing table top and a rocking chair from the same collection and color were also found. After all they baby stuff was found they went to the teen and adult sections. They found a bedroom set in the adult section and the bedding in the teen section. Troy found a bedroom set that was a queen sized four poster bed, two end tables, and a TV media table. The set was in an espresso color that would match his son's furniture and was very streamline. He also got a mattress. He also decided to get two studio bookcases to go in his room that would flank the TV media table. He found storage containers made out of cloth material for the bottom two shelves of the bookcases to store extra blankets and sheets in. On the upper shelve he would put pictures, books, and an assortment of the glass containers that he has been collecting for years. The bedding set he got consisted of a quilt set was stripes of two colors of green, tan-ish gray, and cream; the comforter was plaid in blues, greens, grays, and white; and four sets of sheets that matched in blue, green, brown, and cream. Next they went and found a desk and chair and accessories for it and the wall that would keep him organized. The desk was black with drawers on both sides of the opening for the chair. On one side there were two filing cabinet drawers and on the other there was one filing cabinet drawer on the bottom and on top there were two smaller drawers. On top of the desk there was a small hutch about a foot tall at the most to organize papers and a place to plug in a computer or other electrical equipment and a phone line. In the same black three studio wall shelf units were found, same as the ones in his bedroom but this time in black, and an entryway table. The entryway table had two thin long drawers at the top and two shelves on the bottom. Office wall organizers were found that Troy would hang above the desk. There was a corkboard, whiteboard month and week calendars, linen pin board, mail organized, and a catchall with hooks for keys. Each component was put on a metal rod at the top to hang from and attached to the wall from the rod. The different components could be mixed and matched in any order or simply be by themselves. He found a cool lamp that had a lantern for the base and the shade had the out line of the world's continents on it in a green color. As he looked at all the accessories that were there he got ideas on how he could make some from the glass containers and stuff that he had found over the years for a lot cheaper than buying them there. He took pictures with his phone for later reference. A kitchen table and barstools that matched the streamline black office furniture were also found. Last but not least a leather couch, recliner, and ottoman with a side table and lamp were found for the living room. Overall Troy and Elijah were set and it only took six hours. They had done the shopping just in time too because Elijah was born earlier then expected on the 4th of July instead of towards the end of July. Troy was happy that Alex and Sophie were there for the birth. Elijah spent a week in the hospital to make sure that he was healthy enough to go home after being born three weeks early.

Now back to the present time with Troy in the SUV at 8 am. Troy had a rough plan about what to do when they arrived at the new house but wanted to get his sisters involved with the planning. Having them involved with the planning will help pass the time; after all they had a five day drive ahead of them. He figured that he would start after they got back on the road after breakfast. As Troy finished that thought Kat, who had the front seat woke up and asked when breakfast was going to be.

Five days were spent on the road with Troy and Lucy sharing the driving time of the SUV and Jack driving the truck. A basic schedule had been set with getting up at 2 in the morning to be on the road at 3 and driving until 8 at night when they would check into a motel for the night. Breaks were taken throughout the day to give the kids time to run a little and for everyone to eat. Troy would drive during the early morning hours when all the kids would be asleep and in the evening when Eli would be asleep. Lucy drove during the in between time so that Troy could take care of Eli when he needed to. When they got to the motel dinner was eaten, beds were set up, baths and showers taken, things got ready for the next day, and then everyone went to sleep usually by 10pm. During the times that Lucy was driving they planned what to do when they arrived. It was determined that the best coarse of action would be to keep most of the stuff in the garage and just put what they had been using in the motels in the bedrooms. They would use the blow up beds for a few more days and wash the clothes that they had been using for the last week and ware them again. On the fourth day of the drive they would be checking into the motel around five. They would spend the few extra hours doing laundry and getting extra sleep. On the fifth day they would be on the road at 3 am and be at the new house around 10am. Lucy and Troy estimated that they could have the moving truck empty by 1 pm. The truck had mostly boxes; they didn't have any furniture. The biggest things were actually the stuff that was need for Eli. After they unloaded the truck Jack and Lucy would return it while Troy watched the kids. During that time Troy would help the girls pick out their rooms and finalize color choices for their rooms and his. When they got back from returning the truck everyone would get in the SUV to go get the paint. Dinner would be takeout that night. Painting would commence the next day. With a tentative plan in place the driving continued.

On day five, Friday August 19th, the Boltons arrived at their new house at 9:30am. All seven members got out and explored the house. As they walked in the front door a dinning room was to the right and a staircase that leads upstairs was just a few feet in front of the door to the left. To the left of the entrance was a study with a fireplace and built in shelving on either side of it. Beyond the foyer through the gallery hallway was the grand room straight ahead. To the left down the hallway were a powder room and the master suite. Following the grand room to the right was the kitchen, breakfast area, and the gathering room with another fireplace. Continuing the circle to the right through the kitchen into a hallway to the left was the butler's pantry, laundry room, powder room and exits to the garage and back out front. A second set of stairs that led upstairs was between the grand room and kitchen. Under that set of stairs was another set of stairs that lead to the basement with the door to them in the hallway across from the dining room. The garage could fit three cars and had a closed in workshop in it. After exploring the first floor they went upstairs. There were four bedrooms for the girls to choose from. Kat being the oldest got to choose first. She chose the second largest room because it had its own bathroom so she wouldn't have to share and it had a good layout. Mira and Emma had a hard time choosing between two of the rooms so Troy and Lucy left Jack to referee the choosing of the bedrooms and went to go see the basement. As they entered the basement a large room was to the right that had a fireplace and built in shelve on both sides. There was also a full sized kitchen with a fridge, oven, stove, microwave, dishwasher, and sink. The cabinet and appliances were all done in black. Part of the large room in front of the kitchen was a bay window. To the left of the stairs was another large room with a fireplace and built in shelves. This room also had French doors that lead out to the covered terrace and backyard. The bedrooms were down a hallway behind the second big room. Down that same hallway was accesses to a very large storage room. Troy decided to take the larger room with the bay window for himself and the other room would be for Eli. There was a bathroom that connected the two rooms. Both rooms had large walk-in closets. There was also a large walk-in closet in the hallway. After they were done exploring the basement they headed back up to the first floor to meet the others. After everyone was done exploring and had used the bathroom the unloading of the truck commenced.

Troy got out the baby swing and set it up in the dinning room where he could keep an eye and ear on Eli while everything was unloaded and he would be out of the main foot paths. Troy took all of his and Eli's stuff down to the basement. The blow up beds and overnight bags were put in the bedrooms, the boxes of stuff for the kitchen were put in the gathering room, Jack and Lucy's clothes boxes were put in their closet, and everything else was left in the garage. By 1:00 pm the truck was empty. Lucy had ordered pizza to be delivered an hour before and was delivered as Jack shut the door to the truck. By 2:00 pm lunch was eaten and cleaned up so Jack and Lucy left to return the truck. Troy set the girls off to explore the house more while he feed and changed Eli. By 3:00 Jack and Lucy were back so the SUV was loaded up, the house locked up, and they left to go get the paint and supplies. It took them three hours to get everything that they needed and to get back home. While they waited for dinner to be delivered beds were set up, baths were taken (after bath essentials were found out in the garage), and night clothes were put on. Troy set up the portable crib and air mattress in Eli's room where they would both sleep until Troy had his room painted and set up. Troy was still going to have Eli sleep in his room with him for a while longer so he wanted to have that room finished first. Besides what he had planed for Eli's room would take longer to do. Troy also moved the swing downstairs and took the bouncer seat upstairs where they would eat. By the time he had all that done the food had arrived. After dinner was eaten by all including Eli, the girls, Lucy, and Jack went to bed.