If She Loved Him Chapter 4: The Aftermath, a high school musical fanfic

"And I'm sitting here wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders
It's been a long day and there's still work to do
She's pulling at me saying "Dad I need you!
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited
and I need to practice my dancin'
Oh please, Daddy, please!"

How much did people normally spend on weddings? It was only one day, why should he shell out so much money just to impress some people he didn't really care about. Weren't weddings supposed to be about love? He loved Gabriella, that was for sure. But he just didn't see the need to spend fifteen-hundred dollars on a dress for their daughter. She'd only just turned four, a dress from Macy's should have sufficed. Going over their receipts and looking at recent transactions on their bank account put just how much this wedding was costing. It wasn't that money was a problem, it had never been a problem, it was just that Gabriella didn't seem like the type to want a lavish wedding. Just as he began to look at the amount that they had spent on floral arrangements, the door burst open. Cassidy marched in, brown curls bouncing with each step she took.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed, making a beeline for Troy's lap. The large white garment bag she was carrying dragged along the floor. "We got me and Mommy's dresses."

"We picked up mine and Mommy's dresses." Gabriella corrected, closing the door as she made her way into the home. She, too, was carrying a garment bag.

"Oops, mine." Cassidy repeated, willing herself to remember. Once she was satisfied, she turned back to Troy with an excited look taking over her face. She leaned in close to his ear and started whispering. "Mommy looks like a princess in her dress, but I'm not s'posed to tell you what it looks like."

"Well, can you show me your dress?"

"Can I?" She asked, turning toward Gabriella as she came back into the room from hiding her own dress away. "Can I go try it on for Daddy?"

Gabriella nodded, holding out her hand for the smaller girl to take as she lead her upstairs, leaving Troy to look back at the finances going into the wedding. $9,476.32 on linens? He stared at the check, trying to fathom how one spent that much on fabric for a single event. What even classified as a linen? Gabriella's dress had been $7,600, a number he was okay with, he only wanted the best for her but didn't bridesmaids usually pay for their own dresses? The check for ten-thousand dollars, indicated that they had indeed paid for each of the five two-thousand dollar dresses. Troy reached into the top drawer of his desk, pulling out a calculator to find out exactly how much they'd spent on the wedding, so far.

Punching each total in, he stopped as he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. He turned to see Gabriella standing at the bottom, smiling while looking back up. "Introducing Princess Cassidy." She motioned upward as Cassidy made her appearance in the pale pink tulle dress. Her hair, though messy from her day's adventures, held a small tiara which Gabriella had agreed to let her wear on the actual wedding day.

She walked up to Troy, her bare feet padding against the plush carpet. "Do you like it? I picked it out myself." She questioned, always the Daddy's Girl and needing his approval.

"You look beautiful, Cass. Are you gonna take the attention away from Mommy, though? It supposed to be her day and you look pretty hard to beat." Troy told her, sending a wink in Gabriella's direction.

"Oh, no! Mommy is like Princess Jasmine...I'm only Snow White." She told him, smiling up at him. Troy nodded, though he wasn't exactly sure what she meant but he went along with it, as he knew that Jasmine was her favorite of the Disney Princesses. She was obsessed with them all, but she had always had a special liking of Jasmine, he assumed Snow White was one her least favorite.

"Daddy..." She started, crawling into his lap. "A wedding is kinda like a ball, right?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. Why?"

"So you and Mommy are like the King and Queen?"

Troy nodded, seeing where she was going. "Mhmm, and you're the princess."

Cassidy smiled up at him, getting off of his lap and facing him. "Well, King Daddy, I don't know how to dance! Can you teach me?" She queried, grabbing his much larger hand and pulling on him.

Troy had never been able to resist the plea chocolate brown eyes, her's or Gabriella's. He looked back at the papers and receipts laid out on the table, knowing that he'd have to finish some time but it would just have to wait. Standing up, he went over to the stereo plugging his phone in and playing "Beauty and the Beast." He knew that she'd relate the song to the famous scene in the film where Belle and the Beast waltzed.

He walked back over to his daughter, bending over and extending his hand. "May I have this dance, Miss Cassidy Carmen Bolton?"

"You may." She giggled, accepting his hand and stepping up onto his sock covered feet. He twirled her around the living room, dipping her at times he deemed appropriate. Cassidy threw her head back, laughing, as her hair and the skirt of her dress swayed to the rhythm of the music. Gabriella made sure to capture the moment on camera; the little girl looked like she was having the time of her life and Troy's eyes shined with the undeniable love that can only be found in a father looking down at his daughter

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone.

That night after Cassidy had been put to bed and Gabriella had cleaned the kitchen as Troy cleaned the family room, Gabriella and Troy laid in bed in a comfortable silence. Gabriella rolled over and propped herself up on an elbow, looking at Troy.

"You're quiet, tonight. Penny for your thoughts?"

Troy reached an arm out, pulling her closer to him and pressing a kiss to her hair. He shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I'm thinking about Cassidy and how much she's grown. She's just so smart and she's so pretty. It's hard to believe she's already four. Soon she'll start school and forget all about dear old dad."

"That little girl adores you, Troy. Yeah, she'll leave but she won't forget you. Ever." Gabriella mumbled into his chest.

"I guess, but how about we work on making some more. Then I know I'll always have someone to love me, even when Cassie is gone." He pulled Gabriella up on top of him and smiled cheekily at her.

"I think we can do that." Gabriella murmured, leaning down to kiss him.

She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says, "Dad, the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancin'
Oh please, Daddy, please!"

"Mom, Cassidy won't let me change the channel and she's not even watching TV! She's just hogging the remote while she talks to Asher." 13-year old Lennon whined to his mother as she chopped vegetables in the kitchen. Gabriella looked up smirking at her daughters boyfriend of two months and prom date.

"Have you finished your homework?" She questioned her middle child and he nodded. "What do you want to watch Len?"

Lennon shrugged, looking at his mother bashfully. "The game doesn't come on until seven, but I'm so sick of those freakin' wedding shows."

Gabriella sent the boy a look, scolding him for his language. She sat down the knife and made her way into the family room, where she saw her daughter sitting on the couch with her phone pressed to her ear. She was laying on her back and chatting away, not even glancing toward the entertainment stand. Gabriella strolled in, slipping the remote from under her back and tossed it to Lennon.

"Mom, I was watching that!" Cassidy shouted, sitting up and glaring at her mother.

"No, you weren't. Sweetie, you were talking on your phone. And you have a television in your room, if you want to watch something you can go upstairs."

Cassidy shot off the couch, rolling her eyes and marching past Gabriella. She stomped up the stairs and slammed the door to her room closed.

"Keep that up and you won't have a phone to talk on!" She shouted up the stairs before making her way back into the kitchen and continuing dinner.

Up in her room, Cassidy sprawled out on the bed reattaching her phone to her ear. "Sorry about that, Ash. What were we talking about?"

"Your dress..." The 18-year old boy replied. They'd met two years ago when they were both in their sophomore years of high school. Asher had taken an immediate liking to her and they'd been best friends immediately. A few months after they'd become friends, he asked her on a date- a notion which Troy shut down immediately. Cassidy, his daughter, his princess, was not allowed to date until she was seventeen. Despite not exactly agreeing with his rule, Cassidy was a Daddy's girl and she abided by it. Even when she was allowed to date, Troy decided that he had to approve of the boy and as much as he didn't want to admit it: he approved of Asher. The boy had waited two years to go out with his girl and that was applause worthy in Troy's eyes. It also helped that Troy had known Asher's father, Chad, since his college days.

"Oh yeah, it's like a sky blue. Or maybe it's more of a pastel." She'd lost him. He was completely unaware of what color he needed to get to match her dress. "But that's only on top. It has like this ombre thing going on and it fades into midnight blue at the bottom. The style is Grecian, y'know flowy and stuff. It's really cute"

"Sounds like it. But uh, what color should my tie be and your corsage. I'm kinda at a loss." Asher told her honestly.

Cassidy rolled her eyes, flipping over so she was on her stomach instead of her back. Asher was kind of ditzy sometimes, a trait his father had passed down to him according to Troy. "I just explained the whole dress! But I think you should get a midnight blue tie and a white corsage. We don't want to wear too much blue."

"Midnight blue is like really dark, right?"

"Yes, Asher." She said as if it were a commonly known fact among teenage boys. "Hey, I just heard my dad's car pull up. So I'm pretty sure we're about to eat dinner. I'll talk to you tomorrow in school. Bye!" Cassidy hopped off the bed, reopening her door to go downstairs and greet her father. No matter how old she got, she still held the special connection with her father.

Troy opened the front door as he was hit with the smell of the meal Gabriella had prepared. He couldn't make out exactly what it was, but the scent in the air was spicy and he loved it. Gabriella came out of the kitchen, crouching down to hug Kale, their youngest son. At only six, he was an exact duplicate of Troy, looks and personality wise, but a complete Mama's boy.

"How was basketball, sweetie?" She asked, peppering his cheeks with kisses. He was on a children's team and he was the star player. Tonight, they'd had a scrimmage and with Troy being the head coach, they were the best team in the league.

"He scored twelve points!" Troy answered for him, a proud smile on his face as Cassidy came jogging down the stairs. He immediately opened his arms, waiting for his hug from their only daughter. Once Troy had her wrapped in his arms, Cassidy turned her back from her mother. Gabriella sent Kale off to wash his hands for dinner, as she sent Troy a look and mouthed "Your daughter." before turning and going back into the kitchen.

Once everyone was seated for dinner, the conversation flowed easily. Going around the table, everyone shared their high points and low points for the day. Kale told of how he'd dropped the cookies Gabriella had packed for him and then how he'd won his scrimmage. Lennon, the brainiac of the family, shared of the 97 that he'd gotten on his Trig test and the 89 he'd scored on an essay he thought he'd done better on. His low point was still pretty high.

Cassidy started her story as animated as ever: "Well, this morning I was pretty tired, so I went to Starbucks to get a coffee on the way to school. When I was pulling into school, Maci Theroux cut me off and I spilled it! It went all over the new zebra print seat covers you just got me, Dad. But Ash helped me clean it up and you can barely even tell. My high point would definitely be picking up my prom dress!"

"And why haven't I seen it?" Troy questioned, forking some rice into his mouth.

"I'll try it on for you after we finish eating, Daddy." She said smiling at him, before turning to her mom. "And Mom, I'm sorry for screaming earlier. This dinner is really good."

"Good enough for you to do the dishes?" Gabriella asked, jokingly, knowing that her daughter would agree to no such thing.

"Maybe another night."

"I'll wash them for you Mrs. Bolton." Troy cut in, sending Gabriella a wink. "Right after my favorite daughter shows me this prom dress."

Cassidy quickly excused herself, taking her plate into the kitchen and placing it in the sink. She bolted upstairs to try on the dress. Downstairs, Gabriella had sent Kale upstairs to take a shower and get ready for bed, while Lennon helped her clean up dinner. Troy walked to the stairs, waiting for Cassidy to come back down.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, the bottom of the skirt making it appear as if she were floating. Once she stood before him, she looked at him, expectantly. "So?"

"Asher is a lucky guy. You're going to be the prettiest girl at the prom." He told her, opening his arms to hug her once again. "You look like a princess, Cassie."

"It has been a while since I've been to a ball." She hinted, looking up into Troy's eyes. "Do you think you could squeeze in a dance for me?"

"Anything for my girl." He told her extending her hand, this time the song selection was all Troy's. As she'd outgrown her intense infatuation with Disney, he played Darius Rucker's 'It Won't Be Like This For Long', a song that summed up exactly how he felt.

As the music started, Cassidy looked up at her father once more. "Am I too old to stand on your feet?"

"As long as I can call you Princess Cassie, you can stand on my feet." He told her, helping her five foot frame up onto his toes. Her head laid against his chest as he took hold of her hands and spun her around the room. The lyrics of the song floated around the two of them, telling the story of a father and his growing daughter. Each word that came out of the stereo tugged at Troy's heartstrings, right up until the last note.

"Thank you, Daddy." She said, pulling back from him. "I love you. And mom, too. Will you make sure she's not mad at me?"

"She's not mad, Cass. You just need to watch how you act. You're a teenager, though, she understands."

Gabriella had finished the kitchen, checked Kale's homework, and tucked him in before she made it into she and Troy's bedroom. She walked in and went straight to the master bathroom to brush her teeth and wash away the days make up. When she went back into their bedroom to change into her pajamas she caught Troy sitting up, facing his nightstand. Crawling onto the bed from her side, she went over to him, rubbing his back.

"You okay?" She looked over his shoulder and saw that he was looking at the picture she'd taken of him and Cassidy dancing in the living room thirteen years ago.

"She's going to prom in a week, Elle. And she graduates in four." He said, sitting the frame back on his nightstand and pulling Gabriella into his lap.

"Your little girl is growing up, babe. It was bound to happen." She told him, turning and placing a kiss on his neck. "After seeing what just happened downstairs, it's obvious you're still her favorite guy."

Troy smiled down at her, but his eyes were still sad. "Can we try for another?"

"Another what?" Gabriella slid from his lap and got under the covers. "I'm too old now, when we had Kale we were pushing it."

"Elle, you're not even forty! Please, just one more. What are the odds that we'll have another boy? Don't you want another girl to put in those cute little onesies and dresses that you loved dressing Cassie up in?"

"I'll think about it." She said, rolling over and turning the light off.

Troy scooted closer to her and brought her back into him, pressing her back into his front. "Please, Elle?" He kissed her neck, nipping her ear. His hand crept under her shirt, before Gabriella swatted it away.

"Troy, stop! I'm going to sleep and you're not playing fair."

"One more, Elle?" He pleaded. Bargaining as if her were a child asking for another piece of candy, rather than a grown man who wanted a fourth child. "And what if it's not a girl, Troy?" She wondered.

"Then we'll have another cute ass kid with my charm and your smarts." He told her, planting another kiss on his wife's shoulder.

Gabriella rolled over and she couldn't help but smile up at her husband. "Are you serious?" She questioned, through the darkness. He nodded, smiling down at her. She groaned, maneuvering herself up on top of him. "Then come on, daddy. Let's get you another girl."

But she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned
She says, "Dad, the wedding's still six months away but I need to practice my dancin'
Oh please, Daddy, please!"

The youngest of the Bolton brude ran through the kitchen in all of his natural glory. Troy chased after the six and a half year old carrying a pair of underwear and shorts. "Come on bud, you don't even have to wear the shirt. Just put on the underwear?"

Milo Duke, mainly referred to simply by his middle name didn't slow down. The blue eyed boy rounded the corner full speed, colliding with his mother. Gabriella immediately scooped him up and carried him over to his father. "Here you go, Daddy." She said, handing the naked boy over to Troy.

Troy clothed him in the underwear and shorts and set him free in the house, sending a quick prayer out that he'd keep his clothes on this time. He made his way into the family room and collapsed onto the couch next to Gabriella. "I'm too old for this." He mumbled, laying his head on her lap.

"Oh, really? I seem to remember you being the advocate for Duke. I wasn't even forty." She told him, running her fingers through his hair.

"You have to admit he'd cute, though. And he's a charmer. You don't even know he's evil until you spend a couple days with him." Troy joked, he loved his youngest son to death but he was a handful to say the least.

"Or six years." Gabriella mumbled, just as the doorbell rang. Troy sat up, ready to answer the door when he heard the sound of the lock turning. He jumped up to get to the door, "Duke! What did Mommy and I tell you about the door. You wait fo-"

"Dukey!" It was Cassidy's voice. She appeared in the door, picking up her youngest brother. Her brown eyes looked into Duke's hazel eyes, a mixture of their mother and father's. She then looked him up and down, taking in his half dressed state. She giggled before questioning him. "Where are your clothes, little brother?"

Duke just shrugged, looking back at her with a cheeky grin. "I feel free." He replied, skipping away into the kitchen.

Gabriella had now joined Troy, standing in the entryway to the family room. Cassidy closed the door, turning to see her parents. A smile broke out across her face. "Mom, Dad!" She walked over to them, pulling them both into a hug. "Guys, I have a surprise for you."

She stepped back and held out her left hand, a bright diamond ring decorating her ring finger. "You are looking at the future Mrs. Cassidy Carmen Bolton-Danforth!" Gabriella's eyes started to water as she took in her first born and only girl. She stepped forward and pulled her into a second hug.

"Are you sure? You don't have to rush into it, you know. When are you guys having the ceremony? Oh God, you're not pregnant are you? You don't have to get married just because you're pregnant."

"Mom! I'm definitely not pregnant." She told her, removing herself from the hug. "Ash and I have been together for a while now and we just thought it was time. We're not getting married right away, but we do want to do it sooner than later."

"Are you happy?" Gabriella asked her, the tears still begging to fall.

Cassidy smiled, looking at her mother. She was nearly a mirror reflection of her, just two decades older. "Yeah, I am- we are. He looks at me the way Dad looks at you. I'm really excited, Mommy."

The tears that had threatened to fall, finally found their way out. They spilled down her cheeks, making her eyeliner and mascara run. "Well, then sweetheart, I'm happy for you. I want to hear all about what you have planned." She told her, a loud crash from the kitchen interrupting her. "Right after I see what your father's son is doing to my kitchen. Duke!" And with that, she was off chasing after her youngest child.

Cassidy smiled, watching her mother run off. She turned and looked back at Troy, who hadn't moved from his spot. "Daddy?" She stepped closer to her father. "What do you think?"

Troy's eye were transfixed on her ring, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his little girl was getting married. She was leaving the nest, for good. She wasn't going to be his girl anymore, she was Asher's now. "Come and sit with dear old dad, will you?" He slung his arms around her shoulder and walked toward the couch. "So, Asher, huh?"

"Yeah, we're thinking of a Fall wedding. So, it won't be until next year."

Troy nodded, still not fully accepting the idea. She was only in her early twenties, she still had her whole life ahead of her. Why was she getting married so early?

Cassidy tucked her feet under her body and curled into Troy's side, while he stroked her hair. "What are you thinking, Daddy?"

Troy continued to smooth her curly hair as he looked off into the distance. A small smile dared to appear on his face. "Just thinking of how I used to tuck you in. You were mine and I didn't have to share you with anyone besides your mom. I guess Asher is the main guy in your life now, huh?"

Cassidy shook her head, looking up at Troy. "Why do you think I'm hyphenating our last names? You'll always have a special place in my heart, no one could ever replace you. I'm just making room for other people."

"I guess my princess is growing up. I'll just have to adjust."

"Just focus on Duke and you won't even think about me." She said jokingly of her rambunctious little brother. "And besides, I'm still your princess. Just think of it as when King Triton let Ariel have her legs so she could live with Eric on land. She was still his little girl..." She referenced the movie she'd forced him to watch a thousand times when she was younger.

Troy chuckled softly. When she put it that way, the idea of her marriage was surprisingly less scary. "Do I get to walk you down the aisle?"

She rolled her eyes, looking up at her father. "Duh." Cassidy then smiled at Troy, before quickly standing up and reaching for her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. Walking over to the same stereo where Troy had played "Beauty and the Beast" years earlier, she plugged in her own phone. After a moment of scrolling, the instrumental beginning to Heartland's "I Loved Her First" filled the room. "I know we still have a while before I actually get married, but it's never too early to practice the first dance. Especially with the guy who was my original Prince Charming." She told him, pulling him up from the couch.

"What are you waiting for? Get up here!"

"Daddy, aren't I a little too old to be standing on your feet?" She asked, grasping his hands, ready to dance around the room.

"Never. What did I tell you?" Troy told her as she stepped up onto his feet and he placed a hand on the small of her back. She let her head rest against his chest as he started twirling to the music. He spun them around, as the truth of the chorus of the song set in with them and they both began to hum along.

"But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it still hard to give her away
I loved her first"

The song faded into the background and Cassidy pulled away, looking up at Troy and trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. "Thank you for being the best dad ever." She wrapped her arms around his center, letting her face burrow into his chest. "I love you."

"I love you more, sweetheart. But I'm gonna need to talk to Asher. He better treat you right and I'm going to make sure of that."

"Can I sleep in here?" Duke questioned quietly from the door, looking into his parent's bedroom. Even with all of his outbursts and bad behavior during the day, he still curled up between his mom and dad at the end of the night; claiming that there were monsters in his room.

"Come on." Gabriella motioned him over, closing the magazine she was reading while she scooted to make room for their youngest. Duke ran over and launched himself into the bed, laying on Troy's side. "You know Daddy lays there." Gabriella chastised while she pulled him closer to her. She pulled the covers up over his small body and kissed his forehead; and he was out within minutes.

Just then, Troy came into the room out of the bathroom. His eyes landed on Duke's slumped body before he looked up at Gabriella who just shrugged. Troy was drained from the day and too lazy to carry Duke back to his room, so he settled into the space that was left for him.

"How you feeling, Daddy?" Gabriella questioned, stroking Duke's hair, as she looked over at her husband

"She's gone, isn't she? Troy questioned, rolling over and staring at the ceiling. "He's got my baby girl now."

"Troy, that girl is never going anywhere. She'll always be your little girl. You've just to share her now. And I'm not having anymore, so don't even try it."

He smirked at her, running his fingers through her hair. "I guess I'll have to settle for Duke," he said chuckling, lightly, "and let someone else steal my princess. I can't fight for her like I fought for you." He told her, leaning over Duke to kiss Gabriella goodnight before turning out the light.

"Maybe she'll give you a granddaughter that looks just like her, that you can spoil rotten. Gabriella mentioned in the darkness, earning an unseen smile from Troy.

A/N: Here's the epilogue. It's less focused on T & G and more on Cass. The italicized are the lyircs to Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman and the italicized/bold is to I Loved Her First by Heartland/Blake Shelton. I actually wrote this first and the earlier chapters followed. I hope y'all enjoyed. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.
Love as always,
dev.(: