Daddy
To: Bella
Love: Secret Santa
Troy Bolton was not one to be jealous.
Well most of the time anyway…
There was that one time when he was twenty, at a college party, where was seeking out a women he had being watching (in what he promised was not of a stalker-ish fashion) to simply ask her out to dinner and movie but soon found she was taken by another man. Although he did take a girl home that night (the fact that she had passed out and had being his best friend at the time).
Or that time when he was twenty-three and found that his fiancée was more concerned with her ring then she was with pleasing his manly desires. Although she did end up repaying him greatly for said ring after her fascination for the ring changed to him.
Or finally that time when his wife had to stay late at work with her college, Rhys. It didn't matter that Rhys was gay; she was still spending time with another man when she should have being home with him.
Troy Bolton didn't get jealous except when it came to his wife, Gabriella.
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"Daddy. Daddy. Da-ddy."
"Troy, no matter how many times you keep repeating it, she ain't going to say it." Troy Bolton glanced up to his wife of 2 years, a pout on his face.
"Yes she will. Coz you love your daddy don't you Arabella?" He looked down to his 14- month old daughter, her bright blue innocent eyes looking towards her father in confusion.
"Troy, you can't force this on her. It comes naturally." Gabriella took her place across from her husband, placing her daughter in her lap.
"It's unfair though, you have every other one of her firsts. I just want this last one." Troy looked at his wife sadly however the slight smile on his face indicated he wasn't really upset.
"Half the things you count as firsts aren't really firsts." Gabriella giggled at her husband, causing Arabella to laugh as well.
"See that's what I'm talking about. You were the first to hear her laugh."
"You heard it to like a second later. Besides like I continue to tell you, it was you who made her laugh, I was simply holding her at the time."
"You saw her crawl and walk for the first time."
"But it was you that made her walk! Like I keep telling you, you were running late for work, she was on the floor waiting for you to scoop her up and make her laugh but you didn't so she tried following you. You just didn't see coz you ran out the door at such a speed."
"Well you were the first to feel her kick."
"She was in my stomach!" Gabriella exclaimed slowly beginning to get aggravated. "Now just stop it Troy. She loves you okay? And you will get to experience just as much with her as I will."
Troy sighed, silently admitting defeat, before joining his wife and daughter in front of the couch.
"I know, I just kind of hoped this would be the one thing I shared with her as a baby." Troy smiled as he looked from Gabriella, to Arabella whom was enthused by Gabriella's rings.
"What about I start referring to you as 'daddy' in front of her now? Maybe that will get the idea across."
"Have I told you how much I love you?" Troy's face lit up with bright smile, kissing his wife fervently in thanks.
"Hmm, well keep that in mind while you run out and get dinner." Gabriella patted Troy on the leg, picking up Arabella and walking her to the kitchen.
"Do I have to? Can't we just order in?" Troy groaned, following his wife never the less to get the money off her.
"Troy, last time we ordered in you accused the delivery boy of eating some of your noodles. Plus, I'm looking forward to have a soak in the tub while you two are gone." Gabriella reached for Arabella's coat, gently pulling it onto her.
"Okay for the record he did steal my noodles, no matter what he or the manager said about that being how much food each container was meant to be filled with. Anyway, I though we were going to have a bath tonight, together, you know after Arabella's gone to bed." Troy winked suggestively at his wife, taking hold of his daughter's hand.
"Well I will make you a deal. You have to six-thirty to be home with my dinner or I will have a bath by myself while you enjoy a nice, cold shower." Gabriella laughed at her husband's expression as they walked to the door together, their daughter between them.
"What happened to my sweet and gentle wife, who never threatened me?" Troy raised his daughter to his hip, pulling out his keys.
"She got hungry, now go." She lent forward and quickly pecked her husband and kissed her daughter on the forehead softly.
The father and daughter duo, headed towards the car, Troy already beginning his mantra of 'Daddy'.
"Okay sweetie, it isn't that hard. Okay now repeat after me; dad-dy." Troy spoke clearly and loudly, hoping that his daughter may miraculously pick it up.
All he got in reply was a giggle and a tiny slap in the face. Troy laughed in spite of himself, and strapped Arabella into her car seat being sure to keep all toys out of view so he could continue 'teaching' her.
"You know I thought you would have picked this up easier. I mean both your daddy and mummy started talking early, although our first words were 'ball' and 'cat'. But you know sweetie if you say daddy as your first word, I promise to let you date when you're sixteen or maybe seventeen. You know what I promise that I will consider letting you date when you're eighteen. But you may never tell your mother about this, coz you know what your mum is like with her rules about how I can't overtake your life. Even though I know you will prefer basketball over having a boyfriend." Troy said; speaking as if that was the final word on the matter, even though he knew chances are none of his wishes would come true.
Pulling up at the Chinese restaurant, Troy quickly glanced at his watch, pleased to know he still had fifteen minutes to get home.
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If there was one thing Gabriella Bolton believed to be true about her husband, it was that he was a man whom always got what he wanted.
Well except that time he stalked an older college girl (whom Gabriella simply referred to as OCG) to the point where he roped her to go to a Frat party with him, to see if OCG had a boyfriend. She should have said no but the need for a night out was killing her so she agreed, knowing that it would kill her to see her best friend of merely a year to be off with another girl. That fact sent her to drink her body weight in alcohol, only just having enough time to find Troy and ask him to take her home before passing out in his arms.
It was the first time Gabriella had even drank that much liquor and her 19-year-old body broke under the pressure.
And there was that time on the night that Troy proposed to her, that she was so deeply enthralled in her engagement ring that she regretted to notice her new fiancée whom was desperately seeking her attention.
And yes, eventually, she did bestow her complete and utter attention on him once she finally realized that the fact she was getting married was real.
And there was that other time when Troy made Gabriella promise to come home early so they could have and entire night to themselves. When Gabriella said that she couldn't ahs she had to work late with her colleague Rhys, she could practically smell the envy on him. She knew he didn't think anything was going to happen between them (the main reason being Rhys' overly protective boyfriend) and that it was necessary for her to work overtime so they could buy their first home.
And while Gabriella did end up rushing through her work so she could see her husband as soon as possible because while he believed it not to be true, she missed him every single second he was not within touching distance.
Gabriella married a man who always got what he wanted and she knew, even now when her daughter was at such a young age, that that would be the one gene she would get from her father. That trait would lead her be a daddy's girl (not that she wasn't already one) and her father would be wrapped around her finger.
So as she continued to watch him repeat the same word over and over again to her daughter between bites of food, she knew that the first word uttered out of her mouth would be 'daddy'.
And she couldn't be happier about it.
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"Okay, bath time for Ms. Arabella." Gabriella pushed out her chair, pulling Arabella out of her's. Pulling off her pip and placing it down on the messy high chair.
"Messy baby, aren't you? Good thing mummy waited till after dinner to bathe you, isn't it?" Gabriella giggled seeing her daughter's innocent expression. Troy grinned hearing his wife's laugh, before walking over to her.
"I can give her her bath if you like, it's no trouble." Troy attempted to take his daughter from his wife's hold, her response a shake of the head.
"No, daddy, she needs to get ready for bed. You can continue in the morning." Gabriella kissed Troy on the jaw before heading for the bathroom.
Troy rolled his eyes, and began cleaning up anyway. How is daughter managed to get food around the perimeter of her high chair, he'll never know. Half of her food always ended up on her or around her even since she began eating by herself. Although he always found it adorable when she would stuff her mouth full of food and loudly chew it showing her love for that piece of food.
He continued wiping up the mess made by the Chinese food and his daughter, before heading in the direction of splashing water and laughter. Stopping at the door, Troy watched as his Arabella splashed Gabriella, highly amused by the response she got from her mother.
"Now I thought bath time was when you were supposed to calm down?" Troy wondered in, taking a seat on the floor next to Gabriella. Picking up a stray face-washer, he soaked it in water and slowly made circles on his daughters back, instantly calming her.
"We were just having fun, but someone needs to get to bed before they become grumpy." Gabriella said, running a hand gently over Arabella's face. Troy reached up to the sink to retrieve her towel as Gabriella pulled her out of the cooling water. Troy wrapped the fluffy towel around her, leading the way to Arabella's bedroom.
"Can you grab her pajamas out of the draw, please?" Gabriella laid Arabella on her back, patting down her body to make sure she was completely dry.
"Here you go." Troy placed the basketball covered pajamas on to the changing table where Gabriella was in the process of putting on Arabella's diaper. Gabriella glanced at her husband's choice, chuckling slightly.
"She is, eventually, going to have to wear the pink ones that Sharpay brought her. It would be rude not to, especially since she was so excited about getting her a gift."
"But she looks so much cuter in basketball ones plus it would be rude for her to not wear these ones since I was the one who brought them." Troy retorted, making Gabriella roll her eyes. Gently lifting her daughter to her chest, Gabriella began to sway softly in order to lull her daughter to unconscious.
Feeling her head grow heavy on her shoulder, Gabriella carefully lowered her into her crib, pulling her blankets comfortably around her. Leaning down, she placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, whispering 'I love you' before moving aside so Troy could say his goodnights.
Much in the same way as his wife, Troy leaned down and placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead, and whispered 'I love you' but instead of pulling away like his wife he leant down to he little ear and whispered;
"Daddy."
Straightening back up, Troy joined his wife at the door. Taking one last glance at the crib, they switched off the light and quietly closed the door. Walking back into lounge room, Gabriella immediately began picking up the scattered toys and cushions, not noticing Troy who had walked over to the stereo and let the soothing sounds of Ronan Keating fill the room.
Gabriella stopped what she was doing when she heard the first few chords of their song fill the room, and her amazing husband stand before her, a hand extended.
"May I have this dance?" Gabriella smiled and nodded shyly, making Troy's face light with a boyish grin. Twirling her into his embrace, Troy smoothly took her hand in his; his spare had wrapping around her petite waist, hers going around his neck.
Slowly swaying, in silence, the two of them lovingly gazed at each other, blissful smiles on their faces. Pulling her closer so her head was resting on his chest, right next to his heart, Gabriella's eyes closed in content as they continued to sway together.
"I still think that we should do our own recording of this song and release it to the world. We are being seriously selfish by not letting America hear our awesome voices." Troy twirled his wife out of his embrace and back in again as she let out a giggle in response.
"Troy when we sung this song for karaoke, people booed us off the stage."
"They only booed us because we were so darn great at singing and they felt intimidated." Troy firmly stated.
"Of course, you are such a genius Troy." Gabriella sarcastically replied, as Troy poked at her side.
"I know I am, but you know there was another reason why it was mostly the males in the room booing." He paused, waiting for his wife to look up at him.
"And what's that?"
"Well because at the end of the song I got to kiss my beautiful singing partner, whom was looking exceptionally stunning in that blacky, grey short dress." Gabriella giggled, her beaming face matching her husbands.
"You remember what I wore on our first date?"
"Yep, you wore black high heels, your hair was shorter then normal but still in your alluring curls and you were wearing that gold necklace that went slightly into the dress, which by the way did not help my male hormones." Troy chuckled, as he vaguely heard the song finish in the background.
"I can't believe you remember our first date."
"How could I forget one of the best nights of my life?"
"I love you, Troy." Moving the position of her head, Gabriella softly pecked Troy's lips.
"I. Love. You. So. Much." Troy responded, placing a kiss on her lips after each word, finally pulling her up into a proper kiss when he finished. Gabriella slipped her hand out of Troy's so she could wrap it around his neck as his hand wrapped around her waist.
The kiss continued to be slow, their lips moving together in perfect harmony, neither feeling the need to deepen it. They slowly pulled back, the need for air to great, but remained with their foreheads resting against each other. It was Gabriella to break the tranquil silence.
"So, how about that bath?"
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The moonlight streamed into Troy and Gabriella's bedroom, creating an atmosphere of calmness. The delicate light, in Troy's opinion, hit all the right places on his wife's face. It was his favorite time of the day to gaze at his wife in pure love and contentment; when she was in a deep slumber, her face resembling one of an angel.
Lightly stroking the side of her face, Troy admired subtle ways in which her face had changed over the past six and half years that he had known her. Like the light rings that remained under her eyes that never seem to fade due to the lack of sleep a mother and a full-time working women would receive. Troy would always be able to tell whether his wife was being worked to hard or if she needed a little time out by how dark the rings were.
Troy stopped his delicate movements as Gabriella mumbled something in her sleep, rolling over slightly to cuddle into Troy's naked form. Her movements caused Troy's hand to go from running up and down the side of her face to stroking her curly, black locks, his fingers instantly finding his daughter's favorite strand of hair. The black lock was no longer curly like the rest of Gabriella's hair due to months of daughters constant pulling of it during breast feeding.
"Troooy, go to sleep." Due to his intent study of Gabriella's hair, Troy regretted to see or hear his wife wake up from her slumber. Troy averted his eyes from the piece of hair curled around his finger to innocently smile at his wife.
"Nah, I'm happy to juts lie next to you and watch you as you sleep."
"How am I going to sleep now if you're lying there watching me? It's creepy and you make me all self-conscious." Gabriella sat up, pouting down at Troy who had laid down on his back.
"You have nothing to be self-conscious about. Now come on, lye back down and go to sleep." Troy replied, opening his arms up to signal her to come to him. He chuckled as she shook her head, the pout still fixed on her face.
"No, you'll keep on staring at me. Besides I'm not tired now."
"Really? Well I can help make you sleep if you like." In one swift movement Troy pulled Gabriella into their bed, his arms pinning hers above her head.
"Hmmm, well that's an offer I just can't refuse." Gabriella's husky whisper filled the room as Troy crashed his lips to hers. Their tongues dueled, as Gabriella pulled her hands free to grab onto Troy's hair to pull him closer.
Their zealous embrace quickly grew in heat, their lips only parting for a few seconds for air before crashing together again. However, the mood halted at the sound of a baby's cry. Pulling away, Troy buried his head into Gabriella's neck as they both tried to get their racing hearts to slow back down.
"I swear Arabella has learnt her impeccable timing from Chad." Troy mumbled, groaning when Gabriella pushed him onto his back.
"I'll go get her; you wanna warm up some milk and bring it back here for her." Gabriella slid out of bed, swiftly picking up Troy's discarded shirt. Slipping it on, she checked to make sure Troy was moving before going and getting her daughter.
Wondering into her daughter's room, Gabriella was met with the tear stained face of Arabella, her little arms out stretched to Gabriella. Picking her up, Gabriella gently rocked her back and forth as Troy's shirt was dampened by the tears still racing down her face.
"Sshh, Bella. It's ok, mummy's here." Gabriella continued to rock Arabella as she walked back into Troy and her's bedroom, thankful that Troy had turned on the bed-side lamps.
Gabriella slipped onto the bed and rested her back against the headboard. Arabella kept a firm hold around her mother's neck, her little hand intuitively grabbing her piece of hair. Gabriella softly kissed her daughter's forehead as her tears dried up.
Troy quietly returned to the room; his daughter's bottle filled with warm milk in one hand, a glass of water for Gabriella in the other. Troy placed the glass of water on Gabriella's bed-side table before walking over to his side to join his girls in bed.
Silently, Troy passed Gabriella the bottle of warm milk.
"Bella, do want some milk?" Gabriella pulled Arabella away from her neck, and gently placed her on her lap facing Troy. Arabella shook her head, extending her arms out to Troy.
"Da-dy" Her tired voice was only at a whisper but both Gabriella and Troy heard it. Troy excitedly picked his daughter up, a brilliant smile highlighting his features.
"What did you say Arabella?" Troy held her up to eye level, wanting to hear her say it again but to no avail. Arabella looked at her dad, seemingly confused.
"Bella, say 'Daddy'" Gabriella encouraged her.
"Daddy." Arabella's voice had slightly grown in volume, enough to make Troy spring out of bed and spin around his giggling daughter above his head.
"Did you hear that Gabbi? She said 'daddy'. I'm her first word!" Troy exclaimed, holding Arabella close to his chest. Gabriella's smile resembled that of Troy and Arabella's.
"You most certainly are but Troy I think you need to calm down otherwise she will never get to sleep and then her daddy will be the one who has to deal with a grumpy daughter later on this morning." Gabriella responded.
Troy nodded before joining her back in bed Arabella still against his chest.
"Ok, fine. But when it's a reasonable hour I am going to make her repeat again and again till its all she can say." Troy said as he gave Arabella her milk. Gabriella silently giggled as she took the now empty bottle from her daughter.
"Do you want to take her back to bed or shall I?" Gabriella questioned, watching as her daughter's eyes began to droop.
"I think she's fine staying with us for the night." Troy answered carefully lowering himself into the bed.
"Troy is that really safe?" Gabriella unsurely asked. "I don't want her to get hurt."
"It will be fine, I'll show you." Troy carefully passed Arabella to his wife, before gathering all the pillows in the room.
Troy put his and Gabriella's pillows on top of each other in the middle of the head board before getting two of the decorative pillows and putting them to his right.
Laying down Troy made sure that right hand side pillows were secure before signaling to his stills skeptical wife to pass over Arabella.
"Lay her on my right under my arm." Troy held up his forearm as Gabriella laid their daughter down. His hand came to rest securely on her back as her tiny hands clenched in and out of a fist.
Gabriella reached over and turned off the two bed side lamps before curling up Troy's left hand side; her head resting on his shoulder, her head also falling onto Arabella's back.
"Comfy?" Troy asked, his hand gently moving up and down Gabriella's arm she nodded in agreement. Feeling both his girl's breathes even out, Troy too was lulled into a peaceful nights sleep.
If there was one thing Gabriella Bolton believed to be true about her husband it was that he always got he wanted.
Getting his daughter to say her first word was no exception.