Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the High School Musical world, which is trademarked by Disney. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of High School Musical. The story I tell here about Troy and Gabriella is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of Disney story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.

"Seriously, you found out about it while you were peeing on a stick," Taylor huffed, "Why does it need to be special for him?"

"I'm not saying it has to be special," Gabriella explained while grabbing her coffee cup from the middle of the table and sliding it closer to herself. Her hands her were sweating profusely as she tore through another packet of sugar and added it to her coffee. "I'm saying I need more to say other then, hey remember me? We're pregnant."

Life for Gabriella Montez wasn't exactly a storybook idea of fantasy and romance. In fact, the next person who told her how great it was to have five older brothers might get the special feeling of her fist in his or her face. Because being the youngest child, and the only one without a penis, in a big Italian Catholic family in Chicago…well it sucked.

"You don't think he'll remember?"

Gabriella took a deep breath, "I know he doesn't. He was drunk."

Maybe, if she had seen it coming, she would have had a better chance at surviving that weekend.

This entire situation could have been avoided if her parents would have just left her as a baby on the doorstep of some nunnery in the mountains of Austria. At least then she might have had a little more action in the form of a cute shepherd passing by with his herd once she grew up and not one of her older brother's drunken best friends.

She was definitely hotter than sheep.

But no, there she was laughing at his jokes, hanging out with him all night. He was just another one of the guys. He'd grown up in the pizza shop right along with the rest of them. Troy's father passed when he was little. At first it was awkward, the way he hung around her family all the time. It was annoying the way he fell in line like the rest of her brothers. Ordering her around, trying to control who she talk to, where she went, what she did, who she did, her entire life had been about being the littlest Montez.

At first it felt so easy. He didn't treat her like a kid, didn't call her Gabi or do that annoying little tap on the nose thing. They were just two adults at party, drinking the wine and laughing about old times. And she soaked it up like a sponge, his perfect smile, and his gorgeous blue eyes. The way he tucked her hair behind her ear, and said she was beautiful.

It had been one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, and growing up with five old brothers… that was saying something.

Who gets knocked up on a one night stand, which was clearly the biggest mistake of her entire existence?

It was right after Nick's engagement party. His best friend Troy was in town for the weekend staying in the house they grew up in. They were in what use to be Nick's and Eddie's old room. She laid there for what had to be at least ten minutes soaking up the morning after delight running through her body. She scooted toward him and was relieved when he wrapped an arm around her. It felt nice to sleep against him.

Almost as nice as their lovemaking had been, until his phone rang, and reality came back at full force.

He shifted getting up slowly and lifting a hand up to his head as he reached for his phone and brought up to his face. "Shit."

Gabriella immediately shifted so she was in the sitting position as well. Thankful she slipped back into her shirt. "What's wrong?"

His body stilled and after a long beat, he sharply turned towards her. "Shit." He repeated hand over mouth as the color drained from his face.

"Troy?"

"Oh god," He shot out bed stumbling in the tangled bed sheets on the way out and almost knocking over one of the bedside lamps. "Um? Did we … did we do anything… like anything."

Gabriella arched her brow as she bunched up the sheets watching him retreat to the far end of the room in nothing but his rumpled boxer shorts and one sock. "Are you serious?" The legitimate shock fell out of her.

"Yeah," he said a little more nervously.

In all the years that she'd known Troy Bolton he'd never looked as scared as he did right now, staring at her, the youngest Montez. The fantasy was over, the romance shattered. It was all over his face, the shame, the disgust, the fear. Gabriella shifted as she pushed some of her hair back behind her ear with her left hand, "You don't remember last night?"

His eyes widened. "What happened?"

Her voice settled into a dull tone as the blood in her veins ran ice cold. "Nothing."

Troy face flooded with color instantly as he let out a loud sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"Gee, I'm not that disgusting."

"That's not what I meant Gabi. You're bothers would kill me if I took advantage of you . And what was I suppose to think, we woke up in our underwear … spooning." He scolded her. "It's irresponsible. What if someone came in?"

"News flash, I'm not sixteen anymore," Gabriella got out of bed reaching for her pants and putting them on. "I know exactly what happens when you get into bed with a man."

"And what exactly, were you expecting to happen last night?" He scoffed as he picked up his discarded jeans.

"Not asshole I woke up with this morning."

She didn't wait for an answer, didn't need to continue the conversation. She was out the door and out of the house before he could follow her. She lived in a small loft two blocks away, thankfully after a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey, she convinced herself the whole thing never happened.

Until now.

Yes, that was her. The love sick little sister who jumped into bed with a man who was so drunk he couldn't even remember it. Gabriella inwardly grunted at her own stupidity. Now she was pregnant.

"So you took advantage of him?" Taylor interrupted her thoughts.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes as she examined Taylor, her one and only true friend since high school who hadn't slept with one of her bothers. Because that was another thing, the Montez boys were popular. They were always worshipped like gods for the way they plowed across the football field at St. Thomas's or the way they way they plowed through every girl at 's. Most of Gabriella's friends included. "I didn't know he was that drunk."

"And the fact that he was willingly risking his life by impaling you wasn't a red flag?"

Gabriella stirred her coffee. She wished she could say that her brothers had failed completely at making her life miserable. Unfortunately for her, and her sex life, they succeeded in keeping her about as celibate as twenty-five-year-old grad student can be.

Oh sure, she had been able to sneak in a few affairs, but there weren't many men that she'd meet that didn't know or know of her family. The big jerks were like bloodhounds. The moment she did find someone who was mercifully ignorant about the thousand pounds of male aggression acting as the defensive line on her virtue, one of her brothers would find out and scare the crap out of him.

"They're going to kill him," Gabriella whispered.

Taylor lifted her own cup of coffee to her lips, "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

Troy was jetlagged and hungry and a tension headache was throbbing like a pneumatic drill behind his eyeballs as he stepped off the plane. His best friend Nick was getting married this weekend and it had been hell working a double shift this last week just to get this weekend off. He was a fifth year resident at New York's General Medical Center. He'd just completed his boards, his residency was almost over, and the phone calls were coming in with job offers. It was down to the wire all pending on the conformation that he'd passed his boards.

All that aside, here he was. Back in Chicago, stepping up as the best man in Nick's wedding and making the most of his hours outside of a hospital.

"Doctor Bolton in the house!"

Troy frowned as he heard his name being called followed with howls and barking noises. Ever since he could remember he always lived next door to the Montez clan. And a clan they were. Maria and Luis had six children who were always running around their restaurant and constantly breaking things.

When Troy was just a toddler his father died of leukemia, leaving behind Troy and his mom to fend for themselves. Troy's mother fell into a depression for a while after his father's death and she refused to leave the house.

Maria and Luis were like surrogate parents to him. The sort of solid and dependable nurturing maternal figures he had needed back in the days when his world had been blown apart by his mothers drinking, bitterness and broken heart.

Maria had provided a safe haven from all the craziness, had listened when he needed to talk or talked when he needed to listen. She might have had her own hands full with six children of her own, but she always had a special stool in her kitchen just for visitors.

"You know I'm not actually a doctor yet?" Troy countered as he came up to them and held out his arms to hug his best friend.

"How long is this thing gonna take?" Nick teased as he gave him a half hug. "Gabi's gonna be married before you're a doctor."

"Right," Troy said nervously at the mention of his friend little sister. The last time he was in town he almost done something incredibly stupid. When they'd set out for the evening, the last thing he'd expected was that they would end up in bed together. Thankfully nothing happened. This time around he was going to be on his best man behavior. He was his best friend's best man and he planned on being the best damn best man there ever was. But that didn't change the fact that Troy was finally going to get an opportunity to see Gabi again. Apologize for that awkward morning. Set the record straight between them. She may have pulled a disappearing act the last time he was in town. But this time he had four whole days.

She couldn't hide for four whole days.

He reached into his pocket and checked his phone. "Where's your fiancé?"

"With ma back at the house, everyone's waiting." Nick picked up one of Troy's bags. "I can't believe I'm getting married."

"Neither can I," Troy murmured as he followed Nick through the Airport. "Seems like just yesterday you were dancing around the locker room because she said she'd go out with you."

"Louie thinks I'm making a big mistake," Nick said over his shoulder as they made their way through the herd of people. "Louie says we should wait a few more years. I think it's just killing him that found my girl in half the time it took him to find Rachel."

Troy sighed. He'd been getting the text messages all week from Nick's older brothers. None of the brothers really thought that the idea of their baby brother getting married was the right thing to do. Then again the Montez clan was an unbreakable force and any threat to that bond was guaranteed to send them all running for the hills.

But Troy knew. He saw the look in Nick eyes when he talk about, looked at, or was even thinking about Sharpay Evans. Troy recognized that look. He knew it well, from personal experience. It was the look of a guy who was in love with his soul mate.

Nick Montez was twenty-six years old, a grown man. Yes, he may be the youngest Montez brother, but Troy was sure, beyond a shadow of doubt, Nick knew what he was doing.

A part of Troy knew that Louie, Eddie, Tony and Ricky thought they had Nick's best interest in at heart. But, his two older brothers, Louie and Eddie, had left for the army just days after their high school graduation and Louie had only returned recently. Louie hadn't been there for most of Nick's and Sharpay's relationship. He hadn't yet to know the man that Nick had grown into while Louie wasn't looking.

"Nick, you're going to be just fine." Troy reassured him as they reached outside. "I'm your best man, let me handle Louie, you just be insanely happy about the honeymoon."

Nick let out a laugh as they walked through the parking lot. "What would I do without you man?"

"Let's hope you never have to find out." Troy said as they approached Nick beat up old white Ford pick-up with his parent's restaurant logo on the side.

When they were younger they all made deliveries in this pick-up for the restaurant. It was one of the Montez's household chores. Come a certain age you either drove the truck or rode shot gun keeping track of the orders and directions.

Building character. That's what Mr. Montez had called it. And in an odd way Troy held those six years of deliveries and ride-alongs closer to his heart than his five years of residency in pediatrics. Troy eyes took in what was left of those rusted memories his hand reaching out and touching to frame with a gentle kindness.

"She's starting to give us problems. Pops thinks it's the starter," Nick said as if reading Troy mind. "Too many damn memories to junk her though."

"So why are you driving her? I mean, you can't get your own car?"

"Because some of us still run deliveries for a living," Nick tapped the roof of the car with a carefree smile. "Not all of us are gonna be hot shot doctors."

"Yeah well." Troy huffed, "I can tell you right now. The odds of getting a baby seat in this thing are pretty slim Nick."

"Wait till you get married. I'm going bust you're balls all the time. See how you like it." Nick shook his head as he got in the truck.

"Bust my balls all you want," Troy murmured as he ducked inside the truck. "I'm never getting married."

Nick let out a laugh. "You're going to be a doctor, women love that shit."

Troy let out a breath and closed his the passenger door to the truck, "What about you, how is the restaurant going?"

"Pops is finally letting me cook pizzas; I'm hoping that means I get to do more in the kitchen."

Troy nodded as he settled into the bench seat and glanced out the window. Nick was one of the three Montez boys who didn't go army after high school. Like the twins, Ricky and Tony he stood behind and helped out in the restaurant. However, Nick actually liked working there. Always had.

Not that the other siblings hated the restaurant, but it was never there preferred career choice. It was always a Montez household chore, but for Nick the passion for it was there. He was always excited about helping out in the restaurant. Working as a waiter on the weekends, making deliveries, even helping his mother, there was nothing about the job Nick hated.

Troy always admired that about his friend. Nick had passion and he just knew what he wanted out of life. So when his eyes landed on Sharpay Evans the same woman that Troy had been falling for… Troy accepted his admission to New York's General Residency and removed himself from the equation.

If only it were that simple.

Gabriella wiped down the counter top as she watched her mother begin dicing another tomato. Her mother had been running around the kitchen all morning long. Preparing for the return of the supposed king, and for what felt like the seventh time Gabriella rolled her eyes. Gabriella went to school to for the Liberal Arts and was finally opening her own studio as a photographer. Did anyone care about that? No.

But Troy becomes a doctor, and everyone begins to trip over themselves to please him whenever it moves him to show up. Jerk.

Lucile watched Maria move around the kitchen, "I've never been any good in the kitchen. Honestly Maria I don't know how you do it all."

"It's not always easy," Maria said as she rinsed the pasta noodles down for the pasta salad.

Gabriella bit her bottom lip. Her mother was being modest. Cooking for her mother had always been the easiest thing in the world. She loved her kitchen probably more than she loved her children. Her mother woke up cooking and even before bed she was preparing tomorrow's meal. Cooking in the Montez household was a must no child of hers grew up without the basic knowledge of the kitchen.

"Hopefully his flight wasn't delayed," Maria wiped her hands on her apron. "Gabriella pass me the green peppers, Troy loves green peppers."

"Really because I hate them," Gabriella picked up the basket and placed it on the table. "Like, physically they make me gag."

"Don't be so dramatic," Rachel, her oldest brother's wife, let out a laugh as she walked over to the fridge. Louie had been stationed at Texas for most of his last tour, which had given him the opportunity to meet up with his pen pal. It had been a shock to her mother when he sent home a letter talking about finding the one he was going to marry.

Now, when most siblings visit other states they bring you back a shirt or a trinket. Louie brought back a wife. Her bright red hair and big hooped earrings made her stand out in the sea of her family's dark haired Italian roots, but with her smile and enormous heart, she fit right in.

"Have you heard from Sharpay? She should have been here by now?" Maria murmured as she checked her overweight chef clock again.

A loud crash could be heard from the hallway were her two nephews were shooting off nerf guns at each other for sport.

"Jamie and Matthew if ya'll break somethin' I'm gonna put you over my knee!" Rachel called out as she continued to work on peeling the potatoes.

Gabriella's stomach cramped at the thought of twin boys. They did run in her family. Tony and Ricky, Jamie and Matthew. She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. What were the odds it could happen a third time? Then again who could have guess the odds she'd be pregnant at all.

"Gabriella?" Her mother's voice was filled with concern. "Are you alright, you look pale?"

Gabriella nodded vigorously, "Yes moma," her hands reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone. "I'm just gonna find out where Sharpay is."

Another crash came from the living room followed by a scream.

"Hey, if you are going to scream like that, you better be on fire with a stick in your eye." Rachel scolded as she let out a sigh. "Louie, take your eyes off the television for one second and watch you're boys before I murder them." She added.

"Yes dear!"

Gabriella walked into the dining room a little bit away from the noise of her family. Her fingers tapped away at the screen of her phone.

Ma's waiting on you and the ham.

Gabriella let out a sigh as she also took this moment to catch her breath. Her thoughts filled with Sharpay, her perfect, perky, blonde, everything's fine soon to be sister-in-law, who was so friendly and perfect Gabriella couldn't find a reason to hate her. Seriously did these people just fall of the womb with their lives perfectly plotted out for them? Why was she struggling with the basics when everyone made everything look so easy?

How on earth was she going to be a mom? And by herself? She couldn't expect Troy to want to be dad. She couldn't just throw down the law and make him throw away all his life dreams to just put up with her own inability to take a stupid pill. What if he was already seeing someone? What if he refused to even consider the possibility that this child was his? After all she did lie to him. Why had she done such a stupid thing?

Shaking her thoughts aside she looked back at her phone as it lit up with a text message she received from Sharpay.

Looking for parking, got the Ham.

"Ma," Gabriella made her way back into the kitchen were Jamie was getting his chin patch up with a band-aid. "She's looking for parking, what happened to him?"

"Matt pushed me," he blurted out as his mother crumpled up the wrappers and tossed them out.

Rachel let out a sigh, "You both go sit down on the couch with your daddy, one more peep and I'll take away the Game Boys for a week."

"But-"Matt's voice began to whine only to be cut off when his mother gave him that look.

How did she do that? Gabriella thought as she witness the magic of obedience follow behind in its wake. Did that look come with the handbook? Did they teach that in the mommy and me class?

"Gabi," Her mother ran back to the fridge, "I've got pineapples and clovers in the pantry make sure there are ready for her when she gets here."

"I'm here," Sharpay hollered from the front door.

Gabriella nodded as she watched Sharpay enter the kitchen looking effortlessly beautiful with porcelain skin, a mess (in the I've-just-rolled-out-of-bed-but-look-fabulous sense) of blond, upswept hair. Men must fall at her feet, Gabriella thought feeling ashamed to admit, to just the slightest jealousy.

"Oh there's my soon to be new daughter-in-law!" Maria wiped her hands on her apron and encased Sharpay in a large Montez hug.

It wasn't that Gabriella was jealous of some other woman in the family getting attention, she'd become use to all that when Rachel became part of the family five years ago, it was just different with Sharpay. Rachel was older and right after the wedding they lived in Texas for the last two years of Louie's tour. Sharpay on the other hand was only a year older than Gabriella and for last twenty-five years she kind of on her own as far as being the youngest girl in the family, and now here she was… not the only girl anymore.

It was odd.

Gabriella lifted a hand to her own mess of curls that seemed to have a mind of their own. Untamed, wild, and lost in its own form. Not at all like her mother hair which was straight and rich with chestnut browns and peppered with natural grays hairs.

"Is that my future daughter-in-law I hear?" Luis came into the kitchen and Gabriella felt herself inching out of it a little more as she watched Sharpay become embraced in another bear hug.

Her mind began to wonder again as she thought about the seed in her stomach. What would things be like? Would people be joyful? Would they welcome her or disown her? Would she find herself ban from the family? Called a whore? A bastard child born into the family wasn't really an honor?

All these fears made a cold sweat run up her back.

"We're here!"

Gabriella turned to see Nick coming down the hall with Troy right behind him. In true Montez fashion it was a mere moment before they were all surrounded. Her brothers had all come in from the living room where some game was on the television and now everyone was standing in the kitchen in a half circle around Troy.

All around them the conversations began to buzz, and out the corner of her eyes she watched as Troy greeted everyone one by one shaking hands, taking some punches and lots of kisses from mom and papa. Even his own mother broke into tears at the sight of him.

"You look so much like your father,"

"It's okay mom," Troy voice was filled with concern. "I'm home."

Home he was. Her eyes slowly took him in, from a few feet away she could see the changes in his face from the last time she saw him. He looked tired and worn, a day or two without a shave maybe. Years of track and basketball had honed his physique, his form strong and athletic, and his shoulders broad.

Making love to him had been an experience she would never forget. The single best experience of her life. Try as she had to expel the memories from her head, they stayed with her, tantalizing her, taunting her with the knowledge it was an experience that could never be repeated.

She wasn't ready for this. Quickly making the decision she slipped out the back door and came out onto the porch her left hand pressed gently against her stomach. Her heart hammered beneath her ribs, her stomach roiling with nerves that threatened to overwhelm her.

This was all her fault.

She couldn't do this, she couldn't just walk back in there and face them all. How could she?