Ok, so if you've read my "Future of HSM" story then you'll know what these are. They're going to be oneshots of the lives after the story. In no particular order, of course. I was thinking about doing these and I had ideas for another oneshot of Chad and Taylor, and "Deleted HSM Scenes" and now I don't remember what they are. But I remember a few ideas for this, so here they will be. And if you have any ideas or suggestions to add to these oneshots then you can let me know in a review or pm me. I don't bite. Do I…? No, my teeth aren't sharp enough for that so I will not bite. xD Anyway, I know this idea wasn't really in the previews (even though I did add another idea in there) so hence the surprise here.
Chapter One Summary: First week living with a new baby in the house. Fun, right? Well, see for yourselves! Somebody might get in trouble. Also, hints of the twins' arrival. How much longer till then? (Genre: Family)
Chapter One: "Two Worlds"
"Ok it was cute the first five times but now it's starting to get painful." Chad Danforth moaned as he tried to reach the toddler hanging from behind him, who happened to be dangling at the ends of his hair.
Troy Bolton only chuckled as he folded his arms, watching his friend struggle for the past ten minutes. "Do you need a hand, dude? This is my son we're talking about."
"No, no." Chad replied. As much as he wanted to shake his head he kind of couldn't, considering it might cause the child to lose his grip and slide down. "I can get him just fine."
"But Timothy's hanging from a point where you can't reach him." Troy pointed out.
"He doesn't wanna let go, Daddy." Gina shook her head, looking up at her father. "Timmy loves Uncle Chad."
With Troy and Chad being as close as brothers it was only natural their kids would look to each other like family. And since Chad worked at a daycare center, Troy trusted him more than anyone else to keep an eye on his kids, at least until Gina would start preschool next year. And then it would just be Timothy to look after. Chad loved looking after the kids and all, but sometimes they could just be so tiring. Especially Tim; for a toddler he was a lot sneakier than he looked.
"Well he can't love his uncle forever." Troy shook his head. "We have to get home."
"Hey that reminds me, how's the Mrs. doing?" Chad asked, referring to Gabriella.
"She's due in a few days." Troy smiled proudly. Though he wasn't going to admit that Gabriella was freaking out about the lack of contractions so far. He did keep trying to tell her that the due date could be later than predicted. Not like anyone would believe it, of course. "We'll be expecting those twins in no time. Hey speaking of which, how's your own family doing?"
"Just fine. You know, until we had a rude awakening." Chad admitted, still trying to get the two-year-old off of him, who was only laughing at the struggle.
"What happened to her being so quiet?" Troy asked.
"Spoke too soon." Chad sighed. "Cheryl was fine the first couple of nights, but now she's just being really loud and tiring."
"Yeah well, babies can do that to you." Troy replied. He finally gave his friend mercy and took Timothy away from Chad gently. Troy held his son in his arms, but Timothy was only clapping from excitement. "And I should know, I've gone through two."
"Not to mention you'll have two more to go through soon." Chad rubbed the back of his head. Hey, having a little kid hanging from there somehow could take a lot out of a guy. "So, thought of names yet?"
"Oh no, I'm not giving anything away." Troy shook his head. There was no way he would even give his best friend an advantage. He wanted it to be a surprise. And what he and Gabriella hadn't told anyone else yet was that they didn't want to know if the twins were boys or girls or both yet. They wanted to be just as surprised, though they thought of numerous names in the process just in case. "You'll find out when they're born just like everyone else."
"Gee, thanks." He replied sarcastically.
"Any time, buddy." Troy grinned like it was no big deal. He looked down at Gina, "So you ready to head home?"
"Uh-huh." She nodded eagerly. "I wanna watch some TV before dinner."
Chad chuckled. "You know, one of these days I'll be taking Tim and Gina home instead of you." He joked.
"And that's only gonna happen in your dreams." Troy informed him. "Now get home and get rest, would ya? Whenever those twins come I'm not letting you hold them if you're gonna fall asleep in two seconds."
"Alright." Chad nodded. "I can take a hint." And he took that as his cue to clock out for the day and leave as well.
-CT-CT-CT-CT-CT-
"I'm home." Chad called sleepily around fifteen or so minutes later. He yawned and collapsed onto the couch in the living room.
"You sound whipped." Taylor McKessie-Danforth observed, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Rough day?"
"More or less." Chad replied, looking at his wife. "Can I have some company?" He even put on a pouting face to lure her over.
Taylor only giggled as she walked over and sat down on his lap. She rested her head on top of his curly fro and wrapped her arms around his neck as he did around her back and waist. "This is good, because we have to talk."
"I'm too tired to talk. Can we just kiss?" Chad whined.
Taylor thought for a minute. "Tempting, but no." she answered, though the thought did sound more than nice. She sounded a bit tired herself. "But we do have a problem."
"I put the laundry in this morning before I left." Chad moaned. "Do I have to dry them and fold them and put them away, too?"
"Already done. You know I can't go back to work right away. At this rate I may even have to work from home." Taylor replied.
Chad raised an eyebrow. "Is somethin wrong with Cheryl already?"
"Yeah, she takes after you too easily." Taylor muttered sarcastically.
"Tay.." Chad started.
"No Chad, this isn't about Cheryl." she shook her head. "It's about Dylan. I'm getting worried about him."
And yet Chad was still confused. Chad had known Dylan since the kid was about six, give or take a few years. And even though they weren't related Chad was still Dylan's father; he knew everything that Dill liked and hated and he couldn't think of a single thing that could be wrong with the boy.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "What could be wrong with Dylan?"
"Come see for yourself." Taylor sighed. She got up off of Chad and headed upstairs. Chad followed behind until they ended up in the thirteen-year-old's room. Their eyes fell on the adolescent male who was sleeping against his schoolbooks, along with numerous papers, which were scattered across the floor.
"He looks tired, too." Chad observed quietly, not wanting to wake him up.
"I got a call from one of his teachers saying that he was falling asleep in class." Taylor explained. "He's never done that before. Dylan's always so focused on his studies."
"That's because you've been helping him with his homework since he was nine." Chad couldn't help but smile. Even though Dylan was adopted, most people thought that he really was Taylor's son because he took after her so much.
"Consider the flattery appreciated." Taylor noted. "But he's been like this for nearly a week. That's how long we've had the baby here. I think maybe his sister is too much for him right now. Dylan needs to focus on his studies and he can't do that if he's awake more than half the night."
"And I thought me almost falling asleep at work was a problem." Chad muttered.
Taylor's head shot over to him. "What was that?"
"Nothing." he lied quickly. He turned to face Taylor. "So what are we gonna do?"
Taylor was about to answer when a cry filled the house. She sighed and brushed some hair out of her face. "Cheryl again." she sighed. "She's been crying all day."
"You haven't gotten much sleep either, huh?" Chad asked. "What about that nanny we talked about hiring?"
"Chad Danforth, I am not leaving our baby girl alone in this house with a complete stranger." Taylor insisted. "And if memory serves, your response to the thought in the beginning was, 'the day I leave my daughter with an adult or boy I don't know is the day that I give up watching sports completely and trade it in for sappy soap operas'."
"Well I did say that..." Chad admitted. How impeccable it was that Taylor could remember almost anything he said word for word.
"Maybe we should discuss this at dinner." Taylor suggested. "I have to get get Cheryl."
"Ok. I'll get her next round." Chad promised. He watched as Taylor walked into the nursery room across the hall and sighed. If he was tired from watching his own baby at home and helping watch plenty of kids at a daycare center, he could only imagine how tired Taylor was not going to work and staying in with the baby all day. He actually felt kind of useless, not completely sure what to do half the time. He turned back to his son when he heard him stir.
Dylan yawned as he slowly sat up and turned to Chad. "Dad?" he asked. "How long have you been home?"
"About ten minutes." Chad replied. He stepped into the bedroom and sat on Dylan's bed. The room was decorated with some of Dylan's artwork and had a few toy instruments from a few years back, not to mention plenty of books. "Your mom told me that you fell asleep in class. I mean, I know a lot of the stuff can be boring..."
"No, none of it's boring at all." Dylan shook his head. "Well, except for history, but only because I usually get the events mixed up. But I was just really tired today."
"You sure it's just today?" Chad asked. "C'mon kiddo, what's really bugging you?"
"It's nothing, really." Dylan shook his head. He paused for a minute before saying anything else, still acting as though there were nothing wrong. "I should get back to my homework. I've got a lot of stuff to do."
"Alright." Chad reluctantly agreed. "You need me to get Mom to help you with anything?"
"No, I'm alright for now." he shook his head.
Chad sighed and slowly walked out of the room. He walked into the nursery and leaned up against the wall by the door. "Need any help in here?" he asked Taylor, even though the crying had ceased slightly.
"Any chance you could get a bottle going? My hands are kind of full." Taylor replied hopefully.
"Sure. Let's go downstairs." Chad agreed. The couple went down into the kitchen, and as Chad began preparing the drink, Cheryl twitched slightly in Taylor's arms, seeming a bit irritated. "She's hungry, huh?"
"She does that when she wants milk." Taylor replied. "And waves her arms when she wants to be held. I've been pretty much nowhere but home for a week. I have the idea by now."
"You need a break, you know." Chad said as he poured some milk from a container into the bottle. "Maybe I could take her to the daycare center and me and the other guys can watch her with the other babies."
"Chad, no." Taylor insisted. "You'd be playing favorites all day and you know it. And Cheryl can't be surrounded by numerous other babies that need watching at the same time she does. She needs special attention from both of us. And I have yet to see you giving her some for yourself."
"Can you pull the guilty card another night?" Chad asked, handing over the bottle once it was heated.
Taylor merely eyed him and handed him Cheryl instead of taking the bottle. "Not this time. Look, you feed her and I'll get dinner started." She walked into the kitchen and began looking through the cabinets to see what the easiest thing to make would be, aside form leftover they'd had the past couple of nights. "Dylan, can you please start setting the table?" she called.
Chad sighed and sat down on the couch in the living room, cradling the baby in his arms and feeding her the milk. "What are we gonna do with him, anyway?"
"We're going to talk to him like the mature adults that we are and see what form of agreement we can come to." Taylor answered simply. She paused and rubbed her chin, smiling slyly. "Actually, maybe you should leave that to me."
"Hey, I can be mature if I wanted to." Chad gasped, sounding as though he were insulted.
"After that belching contest you had with Zeke the other day?" Dylan asked as he came downstairs. "Yeah, real mature."
"Yeha, well you still laughing at fart jokes isn't getting much more maturer either." Chad informed Dylan.
"Ok, enough of that disgusting sense of humor you two seem to share." Taylor shuddered. "We're never going to eat at that rate."
"So what's for dinner then?" Chad asked.
Before anyone could make any suggestions, Cheryl started crying again. Chad blinked, not even realizing that as he talked he had removed the bottle from her mouth involuntarily.
Taylor moaned and rubbed her forehead. "Chad what did I just say about feeding her?"
Chad slowly turned his head to the baby, then the bottle, then back at the baby. "Oops..." He slowly stuck the bottle back in her mouth and sighed with relief as the crying ended.
Dylan shook his head at his father and then turned to his mother. "Hey Mom, how about we order in tonight?" he suggested. "Maybe a pizza and some salad?"
"I like that idea." Taylor smiled as she walked over to the phone. "I'll order some now." As she dialed the number she gave Dylan a knowing look. "But you're still setting the table."
Dylan smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Saw that comin." He took out some plates from the cupboard and then went into the dining room to set them up. Once that was done he walked back into the living room and sat on the couch, temporarily watching Chad feed Cheryl.
"You're right, Tay, she does take after me." Chad joked. "She's slurping down the whole thing."
Taylor sighed as she heard him, then hung up the phone when the order was placed. "Feed it slowly Chad or else she'll get gas." She sat down on the couch beside Dylan and quirked an eyebrow. "Now about school today..." she started.
"I'll finish my homework after dinner." Dylan promised. "I'm sorry, I just kind of fell asleep."
"Less than a half hour after you got home." Taylor finished for him. "And you fell asleep in class? That's the third time this week, Dylan. What has gotten into you?"
"Nothing." he shook his head.
"Look I'm telling you, if you're bored with the material then just say. We'll understand. Feel free to slack off." Chad shrugged.
Taylor folded her arms and gave her husband and icy stare.
Chad bit his tongue, "On second thought, scratch off the slacking idea. Save the slacking for a slow day when you deserve it."
Taylor shook her head. Note to self, never let Chad give a pep talk when it came to schoolwork. "Dylan you know you can talk to us if you need to." she said calmly. "Does it have anything to do with Cheryl?"
"What?" Dylan asked.
"We'll understand if she's been keeping you up most of the night. She's been doing that with us, too." Taylor replied. "If it's too much for you then I'm sure you could stay at someone else's house until things are more settled..."
"No, there's no need to." he insisted, shaking his head.
"Dylan, schoolwork has to come first." Taylor replied.
"Before family?" he asked doubtfully. "It's not happening, Mom. No way."
"Well then how are we supposed to help you if you won't tell us what's wrong?" Taylor asked.
"Nothing is wrong!" Dylan insisted.
"Someone's hormones are kicking in." Chad sang.
"Or he could be cranky due to sleep deprivation." Taylor suggested. "Look I'm only saying-"
"I'm not going anywhere." Dylan insisted as he stood up. "I don't care if she keeps me up for a month. I'm not leaving this house." He started heading to the stairs until Taylor got up and tried going after him.
"Dylan what has gotten into you?" she questioned.
"I'm just trying to stay here!" Dylan replied, turning to her. "I'm not going to someone else's house cause then I'll be stuck there until I'm sent somewhere else. It sounds more like you're trying to get rid of me."
Taylor shook her head and spun to Chad. "Ok, what were you saying to him when I wasn't around?" she asked.
"What?" Chad blinked. "I never told him anything. I mean, I told him plenty of stuff, but they were never anything bad."
Taylor folded her arms and looked at him doubtfully. "Ok can you please show your serious side at some point before we turn eighty?" Before Chad could even answer, Taylor turned back to Dylan. "And what makes you think we would ever get rid of you?"
"Saw it on TV." Dylan admitted. "The kid was kicked out of his house and was told to never come back."
"Ok what did I tell you about believing what's on TV?" she inquired.
Dylan sighed, "Don't always believe anything you watch unless there's some kind of proof that something like that happened or it's based off on a real story but even then it's not all accurate it shouldn't be believed." He paused and thought for a minute. "Or something like that."
"Close enough." Taylor nodded. "And what did I tell you the day we brought Cheryl home?"
"That even if we're not related I'd still always be her brother?" he answered a bit questionably.
"Exactly." Taylor said. Her look softened and she put a hand on his shoulder. "Honey, we would never even think to get rid of you. Your father and I only want what's best for you. That's why the offer stands if you need somewhere else to focus."
"I can just go to the library?" Dylan shrugged.
"For homework, yes. For sleeping..." Taylor replied. She lowered her voice, "You have no idea how long in advance I've been trying to plan that for myself."
Dylan chuckled.
"Uh, guys?" Chad asked as crying filled the room once again. The two turned to see Chad trying to burp Cheryl, with her tiny head on his shoulder facing his backside and his free hand patting her back. "I'm trying to burp her, how come she's not burping?" he asked.
"Well maybe you need to..." Dylan started.
But then the crying stopped and Chad froze. Cheryl calmed down but she had left a little something on Chad's back, mainly his shoulder area and at the ends of his hair. "What did she just leave me on my back?" he asked, turning around.
Taylor covered her mouth right away, trying to suppress her giggles, even though plenty of them still escaped her. Dylan automatically started laughing, even at the unseemly sight. "I think she kind of upchucked on your backchuck." he joked.
"Oh so you're gonna be like that then, are you?" Chad smirked. He handed Cheryl over to Taylor and pulled his shirt off. He started chasing Dylan up the stairs. "You're gonna get it now, I'm gonna attack you with my shirt!"
"Hey, I don't want baby barf on me, there's enough of it on you!" Dill gasped as he tried to escape.
"You can't run forever, it's gonna get you!" Chad called in between his laughs.
That was the good thing about the family; when something like that happened, even if they were more than exhausted, they would feed off of each others' energy and start laughing about everything. Even Taylor laughed as she cleaned up Cheryl, almost acting in the process as though she was rewarding her for a job well done.
"Something tells me I'll have to go a night without touching his hair after that." she realized.
-CT-CT-CT-CT-CT-
Too bad the peace didn't last all night. Around eleven, Cheryl's crying began once more and the three woke up instantly. They went into the nursery and Taylor began cradling Cheryl as Chad yawned in the doorway and Dylan leaned up against the wall rubbing his eyes.
"If she keeps crying like that she'll be turning as red as a cherry." Chad stated sleepily.
"And if I wasn't so tired I'd be surprised that you and Mom actually heard her." Dylan yawned sarcastically.
Chad's eyes widened. "Hey!"
"Boys, it's too late to argue." Taylor sighed. "Clearly we're doing something wrong if she keeps waking us up."
"Maybe it's the music playing." Chad suggested, referring to the quiet symphony of Beethoven or Bach or whatever musician it was playing in the background. "She probably so bored from it she's crying every night."
Taylor shot him a look. "So then what do you suggest, Mr. Baby Expert?"
"Is she hungry or wet?" Chad asked.
"She's not wet." Taylor shook her head as she checked. "And it doesn't sound like she's hungry either."
"And if she wanted to be held, she'd stop crying by now." Dylan added as he turned off the music before sitting back on a nearby chair.
"Well what else can we do?" Taylor asked as she started rocking the baby gently. "Sing to her?"
"Why not?" Chad asked. "My mom did it to me all the time. I still remember her singing to my little sis before she was two."
"So then you try." Taylor suggested.
"Why don't you?" Chad replied.
"I was the one who fell asleep to the 'boring music' when I was her age, not by a lullaby." Taylor said.
"Ok you were really missin out, then." Chad said, more awake now. "Let me show you how it's done." He took Cheryl carefully and slowly walked back over to the crib, cradling her in his arms. He began singing quietly to the melody in his head that he practically grew up with.
"Paradise untouched by man
Within this world blessed with love
A simple life
They live in peace
Put your faith in what you most believe in
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lives we see."
He made every motion he did gentle and he actually sang in a soothing voice. Cheryl's sobs slowly dispersed in the air and she seemed a bit calmer the more he sang.
"Two worlds, one family
Beneath the shelter of the trees
Only love can enter here
A simple life
They live in peace
Put your faith in what you most believe in
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guise these lives we see
To guide these lives we see."
By the time the next verse was complete, the sobbing had completely died down and Chad continued singing as he started tucking her into the crib. At one point he gently tickled the infant, which made her giggle in response and then he rubbed her head and continued singing, still doing everything in almost one complete fluid motion as thoughts of sleep began entering Cheryl's mind at the song.
"Put your faith in what you most believe in
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lives we see
Somewhere something is calling for you
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lives we see
Two worlds, two worlds
Two worlds, one family
Two worlds."
Taylor smiled and shook her head as she walked over to Chad. "You actually did it. I'm impressed." she whispered.
"And you thought I was completely useless." Chad teased with a smile as he turned to her. "Something you'd like to say to me?"
"I suppose I should say thank you for your help." she smiled, and then gave him a single kiss. "I would say this qualifies as your one miracle working moment for the year."
Chad chuckled. "You're forgetting about the part where you run your fingers through my hair and we kiss again."
"We're still in the nursery, Romeo." she replied. "And as clean as I know your hair is now, I'm still not touching it after the gift Cheryl left in it for you."
"Oh c'mon, you know you want to." Chad teased. He tried to grab Taylor, but she took a step back. "Come on, you know you want to get to bed." she mocked him playfully.
"Oh, alright." Chad sighed. He put his arm around her and they started leaving the room until he noticed Dylan, who was now sound asleep on the chair. "Hey Tay, check it out." he smiled.
Taylor stopped and turned to look at the teenager. She smiled at the sight, seeing how peaceful he looked sleeping, and much more comfortably than against his books. "You really did have a miracle moment tonight." she told Chad.
Chad smiled and nodded. "Peace and quiet for the first time in a week." he sighed contently.
Taylor smiled in agreement and they looked at each other. "Let's enjoy it while it lasts."
So how was it? Sweet? Lame? Decent? Boring? Anything? As you know, I do not own HSM nor the song "Two Worlds" and I actually used the version by Corbin Bleu (I was listening to the song as I typed the words out). Man it's a good song. ^^ So if you want me to keep doing this, let me know. And like I said, if you have any ideas feel free to let me know. Don't worry, there will be other couples involved in these oneshots, especially a couple for Ryan and Kelsi, considering a lack thereof in the story itself. I shall work something out, especially if we wanna see Ryan sell his hats. xD Oh c'mon, you all know he's got cool hats! Anyway, that wraps it up for tonight and I do not think I have anything else to say. So, have a nice night then and I'll be back wiht an update on something tomorrow. C=