Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any other such thing involved! It belongs to Disney.

(January 15th)

Gabriella's POV-

It had been three weeks since I'd given birth to my daughter Aspen. And let me tell you, these last few weeks have been no walk in the park. All I had been doing was sleeping one hour each day and staying up all night to feed Aspen every two hours and try to get her to sleep regularly. I was exhausted and my body ached. Me and Troy's room was a mess. There were a few shirts scattered on the floor and practically our baby's whole wardrobe was hanging on sides of her crib. Troy had school today so it was another day left with me and Aspen. But to be honest, I felt like if I didn't get proper rest soon, I would go crazy. And naturally, I hadn't accomplished any homework since I had been on maternity leave. It's been almost two months since I've actually completed any work. I watched at the clock on one of the walls in the room. It read 3:17pm. It was time for Troy to come home from school. Thankfully, it was Thursday so he didn't have basketball practice today. Aspen started to cry.

"You can't possibly be hungry again" I whined lifting Aspen out of her crib to sit down on the couch in the room. I pulled down one side of the front of my shirt and pulled out one of my breasts and held her near my chest to feed her. I didn't mind breastfeeding, but sometimes it hurt. I could only imagine how much more it would hurt if she had teeth because even without them, she liked nibbling on the nipple. The room was quiet. I was sad most of the time I was home alone with my baby. It felt like I had nobody there. And half of the time, if Aspen wasn't sleeping, she was hungry, and if she wasn't hungry, she would need a diaper change, and many other things I could think of. I guess I could say I was crankier than ever. I hadn't gotten proper sleep since she was born. A lot of the time, Troy would hate for her to sleep in her crib nor her bassinet. He always had this scary thought in mind that if Aspen wasn't sleeping next to him, he would think she wasn't breathing. And on nights she did sleep in her bassinet, I would wake up to find him across the room sitting up in a chair next to it with his hand near her face to check if she's breathing. Sometimes I loved when Troy was a worry wart when it came to our daughter. It really showed that he cared. Fifteen minutes later Troy walked through the front door and up to the attic, our room.

"Hey, Brie" he said dropping his basketball and backpack to kiss me. He looked down at Aspen sucking on my nipple still trying to enjoy her lunch. I noticed Troy staring, "Eyes up here, honey" I said.

"Sorry, Gabs" he apologized. He sat down next to the couch and pulled me to the side of him for me to lean on his chest. "I missed my girls today" he said kissing on my neck.

"We missed you too, babe" I smiled. I felt a sudden tug on my breast, "Ouch!" I exclaimed.

"Does it really hurt, Brie?" Troy asked.

"Sometimes. It's usually because she sucks too hard or she'll nibble on my nipple" I said switching breasts with Aspen. "And sometimes I rotate to give the other one a break after a minute" I said adjusting the front of my shirt.

"How come you just don't use the breast pump and give her bottles instead?" he asked me.

"It's better this way" I replied. Truthfully, I enjoyed that bond with Aspen. And sometimes when I really needed her to sleep at night, giving her my breast really helped. It would only work some nights. Once Aspen was done eating Troy got up and got her spit rag for me and I gently placed her head on my shoulder and patted her back to burp her. "So how was school?" I asked.

"It was all right. People there ask about you all the time" he said as he flipped his hair out of his eyes.

"Really? What do they ask about?" I asked.

"They just want to know how you're doing and a few people want to see the baby. Mrs. Darbus wants to see her too" Troy smiled as he looked at Aspen while I patted her back.

"Maybe in about another few weeks, I'll bring Aspen to East High for a little bit" I said. I looked over at Troy and he noticed me looking at him, "Honey count to three for me" I said smiling.

"Okay, Gabs. But in the future you're gonna have to learn to do this on your own" Troy said. Together, we counted to three. Once it got to three Aspen burped. This was a little teamwork routine Troy and I did. I don't know how it always managed to work but it it was fun. "That's my girl" Troy said as he took Aspen out of my arms and held her while sitting on the couch.

"Oh, you're fine" Troy said gently bouncing Aspen to keep her from continuing to cry.

"Has she been changed, yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, Troy. I changed her twice before you got home" I laughed as I went to lay down on the bed.

"You tired, Gabs?" he asked again will coming to sit down on the bed next to me.

"Yeah. And I already have so much I need to do" I yawned.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Well I have to try to get some homework done, then I've got feeding, diapers, laundry, dishes, and more feeding and diapers. I barely have any time for sleep" I sighed and then yawned again. Troy could see how tired I was.

"Brie, if you want I'll look after her while you sleep" he volunteered.

"Troy, that would be lovely! But don't you have to practice with your father?" I asked.

"Yeah, but he'll have to wait. He needs to realize I've got other priorities now" Troy said.

"Well if you really want to watch her for a little while, I don't see why not" I gave in.

"Anything for you, Gabs. Just get some rest. And don't worry about chores, I'll do them before Mom and Dad get home" he said as he pecked my lips and covered me with a blanket.

"If she needs to be fed, just come and wake me" I said with my eyes half closed. The minute I shut my eyes I was fast asleep. Thank god, I finally had the chance to get some rest after weeks without good sleep. But something was telling me that if Troy had volunteered to watch our daughter when he should have been practicing basketball with his dad, serious consequences were about to take place.

Later on;

Troy's POV-

I lay on the couch with my daughter sleeping peacefully on my chest. I had the living room TV turned down to a low volume. I didn't want to get up from my spot on the couch, mainly to avoid waking the sleeping infant But, with the sound of silence that filled the room with the sound of Aspen's breathing and the faint sound of the TV that showed basketball, it was making me sleepy. Another thing that was bothering me was, I knew at any time my father would walk through that door and scold me for not meeting him at the park to practice basketball. He would yell, I would yell, Aspen would wake up crying, and Gabriella would wake up angry, and it get ugly. I really didn't need it right now. But things were just about to get worse. I heard my dad pull up in the driveway. I sighed and prayed he wouldn't come through the door shouting at me. I didn't want to wake the baby. I already knew my dad was pissed. I didn't even have to hear him nor look at him to know. I knew he was waiting for me at the park to practice with him after school but instead I came straight home.

"Troy!" my father yelled as he walked through the door.

"Shh!" I exclaimed.

"Where the hell were you today?" he asked dropping his gym bag.

"I had to come home, Dad. I told Brie that I would watch little one for her while so she could get some rest" I told him.

"Look, son. You have plenty of time to come home and watch baby after practice" he said.

I scoffed in disbelief.

"Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are days we practice!" he raised his voice.

"Dad! Keep it down. If Aspen wakes up then Gabi's gonna wake up and bite my head off" I whispered loudly.

"Well she needs to know that you and I had an agreement!" he yelled.

"Dad, I swear if you wake Aspen-" I said being cut off by my dad.

"You'll what? We had an agreement, Troy. Do you remember what it was?" he asked.

I sighed, "If I continue to play basketball, and go to school then Gabriella can live here" I said.

"Right. And now I'm about to tell you, if you refuse to do that, the both of you will be out of here. You got it?"

"Dad, that isn't fair and you know it! How can you cut me off when I already have to go to practice after school every day and then afterward I have to go and practice with you two hours a night? Now that I have a kid, I need you to cut me some slack!"

"Listen, son. Because you have a kid, that's why I'm making you do all of this stuff. Are you trying to tell me that you want to be poor and broke for the rest of your life and on top of it carrying Gabriella and Aspen on your back?"

"Well, if I didn't have a busy schedule every day, I would have time for a job" I argued.

"I'm keeping your butt in school and basketball so you don't need a job, Troy!" my dad shouted.

Just when you think things couldn't get worse, Aspen woke up and started crying.

"Thanks, Dad, you woke up Aspen" I said as I walked over by the couch to pick up my daughter and bounced her to make her stop crying.

"You know what, forget the talk, Why don't you just take Baby upstairs and get some homework done" my dad said while he walked into the kitchen.

"It will be impossible now since she's already awake and screaming" I muttered under my breath.

I walked upstairs to me and Gabriella's room trying to calm Aspen down. When I got there, I saw Gabriella was already awake. She looked drained.

"Giver her to me" She whispered taking Aspen from my arms. Gabriella sat down in the rocking chair near Aspen's crib, pulled down on side of her shirt and started feeding Aspen. She must have been hungry.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"She's fine" Gabi said in her baby voice.

I sighed in relief. For a second, I thought my father and I had woke her up, but now I realized Aspen was a heavy sleeper.

"What was all of that about downstairs?" Gabi asked yawning.

"My dad's pissed because I didn't meet up with him at the park to practice with him" I said as I sat down on the floor by Gabi sitting in the rocking chair.

"I figured that's what it was about" she said as she rolled her eyes.

"I just wish he's give me a break. It's bad enough I'm barely home to help you take care of Aspen" I said.

"Yeah, it is pretty messed up. Just try to calm relax, honey, you're gonna stress yourself out to the point of no return if you don't" Gabi smiled.

I smiled back at her. Even though she looked exhausted, she was still beautiful. She was especially when she fed our baby. Once Aspen was born, I remembered before when she would worry about how to handle being a mother. But as I watched, she was professional. She always knew things about Aspen I would have no clue about. Such as when she was hungry, or when she was sleepy, when she had gas, or needed a diaper change. But the nurses said it was normal for a mother to know these things. But all I had to do was be as helpful to Gabriella as possible. Once she was done feeding the baby, it was time to burp her.

"May I?" I asked Gabi putting out my hands to hold Aspen.

"Of course you can. Just remember to do it like I told you" She said handing me my daughter and her spit rag. I gently placed Aspen on my shoulder and patted her back. She grunted a few times as I did.

"Troy, don't be afraid to pat her back a little harder. She won't burp unless you do" Gabriella said.

"I just don't want to hurt her" I said.

"You're not hurting her. You have to help her learn to burp. When new babies drink their food, they tend to swallow a lot of air along with it. So it's important to burp the right way" she said.

"Well, you make a better mother than I do" I joked. Gabriella laughed and kissed me. I patted Aspen's back a little harder as I waited for her to burp. After a few minutes she finally let it out. I smiled at Gabi when I heard Aspen's grunt of contentment

"Good job, baby" Gabriella said as she took the baby from my arms.

"What about me?" I frowned.

"You did okay" she joked.

I rolled my eyes at her and she laughed, "I'm kidding, you were great Troy" she said.

"I'm going to have to start burping her more often then" I chuckled as I kissed Gabi on the cheek.

"Speaking of which, let's put this little one to bed so we can do homework" she said.

We spent an hour trying to put Aspen to sleep. It was a mystery to me about how she could be a heavy sleeper until she got hungry, but it was so difficult to get her to sleep. I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was already 8:30. Lights out was at 10:00. Gabriella and I only had an hour and a half to finish our homework. I was able to finish mine but with Gabriella being so tired and constantly having to feed and change Aspen, it made things more difficult. Gabriella wanted to be able to return to East High within a matter of a few months. She also wanted to graduate on time. She wasn't going to let her pregnancy and motherhood stop her from becoming successful. I was proud of her for that. And even though she had a new baby to take care of, she still worked hard.

"Do you need help?" I asked her.

"Nope. Troy I know I haven't been to school in a few months but that doesn't mean I'm dumb. That's what this homework is for" she said.

"Okay, Brainiac Magee" I joked.

"And I'm proud of it" she chuckled.

"You should be" I joked. She rolled her eyes. Soon it was time for us to go to bed. Just in time, Gabriella finished her homework. It was amazing how she could be easily distracted by our daughter but still be able to complete her assignments in the nick of time. All of the days that she had been doing her homework, I've turned in her work to all of the teachers she would still have at school. At this point, I didn't see how her graduating would be a problem.

2:00am

Gabriella's POV-

I was sleeping peacefully until I heard the sound of my daughter crying. I wanted to stay in bed but I knew I had to get up. I walked over to Aspen's crib and picked her up.

"It's all right, honey" I whispered as I tried to calm her down. I sat down in the rocking chair next to the crib and pulled down the front of my spaghetti strap top as I held Aspen next to my chest to feed her. The room was quiet and no sound was present besides Troy's faint snoring and Aspen's sucks. I heard ruffling of the bed and then I saw Troy get up out of the bed.

"Was she just hungry?" Troy asked with a raspy voice.

"Yeah" I whispered and smiled down at the young one sucking the milk from my breast.

"You want me to burp her when you're done?" he asked.

"No, I'll do it. You need to sleep" I said.

"So do you. I can do it, Brie" he protested.

"I know you can, babe, but you've got school in the morning" I argued.

"All right, you win" he smiled. He bent down and kissed me before returning to bed. I spent the next thirty minutes trying to get Aspen go back to sleep. Troy kept waking up to try to help me but I kept telling him that he needed his sleep because he had school in the morning. Every time he woke up, it aggravated me. Doing my job as a mom was a lot less difficult without Troy asking for help every two seconds. The only reason I would never ask for assistance was because I knew he would already have a busy day and would need to rest when he got home. Still, I couldn't blame him though. At least he was considerate enough to want to help. But I guess I was just cranky because I hadn't slept much the past few weeks. Morning finally came. I was too exhausted to notice that Troy had got up and got dressed for school and kissed me bye. I woke up around 9:30 to Aspen crying for comfort. I got up out of bed to hold her until she stopped crying.

"Why are you so grumpy this morning?" I said talking to the infant.

I looked around the room searching for my boyfriend, "Daddy had school today" I whispered as I kissed the top of my daughter's soft head.

Lucille knocked on the bedroom door, "Gabriella?" she said through the door.

"Come in!" I called out.

"Breakfast is ready, honey" she said.

"All right. Thank you, Lucille" I smiled.

"How's my gorgeous little granddaughter?" she asked coming over to look at Aspen.

"She just woke up" I said.

"Can I hold her for a minute while you eat?" she asked.

"Of course" I said as I handed Aspen to Lucille.

"Come to Grandma" she said taking the baby in her arms. After a few moments, Aspen began to cry.

"Oh, what's a matter?" She asked using her baby voice at her.

"She's probably hungry" I said as I caressed Aspen's cheek.

"Probably" Lucille agreed.

The three of us went downstairs to eat breakfast. Today Lucille made waffles with fruit on the side. My favorite thing to eat for breakfast. I breastfed Aspen while I ate.

"How did you sleep last night?" Lucille asked.

"I tried to sleep well, but little one here kept me up most of the night" I said.

"Yeah, they'll do that for the first few months" she said sipping her coffee.

"I guess so. I just feel bad because Troy keeps wanting to help but I just keep shutting him out.. Sometimes I think it's because I'm so cranky half of the time" I said taking a bite out of my fruit.

"It's not just that." she said.

"What else is it?" I asked curiously.

"It's also because now that you've had a baby, you still want to be more independent, so you don't like a lot of people helping you unless you really need it. I was that way when Troy was born" she said.

"You're probably right. I don't mind Troy asking sometimes but when he does it more times than I breathe, then it becomes overwhelming" I sighed.

"It will only be that way for a little bit. But you also have to remember, Troy also wants to help because that's his daughter too. And he probably wants to also because he already has to be away from her all day" Lucille explained.

I saw Lucille's point. Troy wasn't home a lot of the time since his father was pushing him a lot harder than usual. He had only spent one full week with Aspen since she was born.

"I wish Jack would cut Troy a little slack and let him come home after school sometimes" I said finishing my breakfast.

"I know. I think I should have a talk with both of him. Get some kind of agreement going on" Lucille said thinking.

"I thought the agreement was if Troy stayed in school and continued playing basketball, then I would get to stay here?" I asked.

"That was the agreement. But Jack is really taking it too far this time" she said.

"Maybe" I said briefly.

"Why has Troy said anything?" she asked.

"He didn't say anything but I heard him and his dad arguing last night when I woke up from my nap" I answered.

"That is so Jack" Lucille snarled.

"I'll definitely have to talk to him" she added.

I nodded. I adjusted my shirt and held Aspen over my shoulder to burp her. For some reason, I was scared for Lucille to talk to Jack about his attitude toward Troy. I knew things would only spiral out of control from there.

A few hours later I took my daughter up to my room with me and put her down for her nap so that I could finish more homework. Even though I had a baby to deal with, I was still dead set on returning to East High in the next few months to graduate with my classmates. I would be able to do so since Troy's mother said that she would watch her during the day while I attended school. I was into my homework for about an hour until my mom had called me.

"Hey, Mama" I said putting my pencil down on a page of my homework.

"How are you, my darling?" my mom asked.

"I'm all right. I'm just working on my homework" I said.

"Good girl. And how is my nieta?" she asked.

"She's good too. How have you been, Mom?" I asked keeping the conversation going.

"I've been okay. I've been working really hard. I'm probably going come over where you are and stop by and see you and Aspen and then if you want, you can come with me to go see Nana" she said.

"I don't think Nana wants to talk to me, Mom" I said bowing my head.

"Gabriella, I've already talked to her and I told her that no matter what, you are still her great-granddaughter and it's not right for her to neglect you like that" my mom said.

"Yeah" I said shortly. Inez was my great-grandmother, my mother's grandmother. We hadn't spoken to her much since my grandma Irene died two years ago. And she definitely didn't want anything to do with me since I had gotten pregnant at a young age. Most of the time my mom tried to say it was because she was so old. But Nana Inez was only 78 years old and I knew she wasn't that senile.

"Well, I just wanted to call you and say hi and I love you, mija" my mother said.

"I love you too, Mom" I said. I pressed the hang up button on my phone and shoved it back into my pocket and continued working on my homework. Not even five minutes later, Aspen woke up crying and needed to be changed. When I finished changing her, I heard my cell phone ring again. This time it was Troy.

"Hello?" I said as I rushed over to my phone as fast as I could with Aspen in my arms.

"Hey, sweetie. How are my girls doing?" he asked.

"All right. We miss you" I said.

"I miss you guys so much. I can't wait to see you when I get home" he said.

"Don't you have practice with your dad?" I asked.

"No. It's Friday. I don't have basketball practice with him or at school on Fridays" he said reminding me.

"Oh, right" I remembered.

"But yeah, I'll see you when I get home, okay?" he said.

"Will do. I love you" I laughed.

"I love you too, Gabs" he said as he hung up the phone. I looked at the time on my phone and it was 12:30. Troy got out of school at 3:15.

Meanwhile;

Troy's POV-

I walked down the halls passing people by getting ready to head out for lunch. I was happy it was Friday. Even though I knew tonight would only consist of feeding, napping, and diaper changing, I was happy I would get to do it with Brie. I hadn't been home much since Aspen was born. She was born a week before Christmas break was over. And since then, my dad had been working me like a slave. Gabriella didn't have much time for each other either. When she was nursing Aspen, trying to catch up on lost sleep, changing diapers, and finishing homework, I was at school, going to basketball practice, practicing with my dad afterward, homework and then bed. That was our schedule now. I wished I could find a babysitter for a night so that Gabriella and I could spend a night with each other. I yawned as I walked further down the hall to get to the cafeteria.

"You look like you had a night" Chad said as he walked up to me.

"Yeah, Aspen was up all night crying" I said.

"I figured that. How is she and Gabriella by the way?" he asked.

"Their fine. Gabriella's trying to finish all of her work so that she can come back in April" I said as I jumped into the lunch line.

"Well, I hope that works out for her. But who would watch the baby while you guys are here?" Chad asked.

"My mom said she'd watch her" I said getting my lunch. As Chad and I walked over to sit at our table where Zeke, Sharpay, Taylor, Kelsie, and Ryan were seated, some idiot bumped into me knocking my tray of food on the floor while passing me. It was that asshole who kept hitting on my girlfriend. He was Rodney Collins (N/A: You might remember Rodney Collins from 'If the Snow Don't Fall' when he was harassing Gabriella)

"Watch where you're going, Bolton" Rodney laughed while he was passing me by.

"You watch it, you little punk!" I snapped.

"I think you should watch it, Bolton. You don't want to mess with me" he threatened.

"Just keep on walking, Rodney. Troy, come on" Chad said pulling me away from Rodney where we were standing eye level from each other. Chad and I walked over to our table of friends. Sharpay, Taylor, and Kelsie had odd looks on their faces.

"I don't know what his problem is, anyway" I said.

"What ever it is Troy, it certainly isn't yours. So just let it go" Ryan said.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over things lately" I said taking a bite from my sandwich.

"Beats me" Chad said. Oddly, the girls were awfully quiet when I approached the table after seeing what happened. Every day they would usually ask me how Gabriella and the baby were doing but they hadn't said one word. I brushed it off as I ate.

A few hours later, school let out. My dad told me that he was leaving work early and that he would see me at home. I walked out into the school parking lot and jumped into my Yukon and drove home. I couldn't wait to see Gabriella. I was thinking about asking my mom if she could watch our daughter so that I could take Gabi out. She really needed time away from the house and I knew my mom was probably driving her crazy.

"I'm home!" I called out with a cheery voice.

"Troy!" I heard my dad.

I walked into the living room and saw my parents sitting on the couch. All I could think was 'Oh boy, what did I do this time'.

"What is it?" I asked throwing my backpack on the floor from off of my shoulder.

"Your father and I were talking and I was telling him that he needs to cut you a little slack once in a while. And he doesn't seem to agree with it" my mom said glaring at my dad.

"You know why I don't?" my dad asked.

"Oh, what is your excuse this time, Jack?" my mom shouted.

"I'll tell you what it is! I'm trying to prepare our son for this scholarship so that he can have a better future!" he yelled. Both him and my mom had argued to the point to where you couldn't understand what they were saying with their voices colliding.

"I don't need this" I muttered to myself as I made my way upstairs to me and Gabriella's room. I opened the door and saw Gabriella sitting up on the bed with her head lent back on the headboard with her eyes closed, having Aspen next to her chest with a blanket over her shoulder covering the baby. She must have been nursing. I tip toed over toward her and lightly kissed her four head. Her eyes fluttered open and looked up at me.

"Hey, Wildcat" she whispered as she gave me a kiss.

"I was feeding Aspen, I guess a fell asleep there for a minute" she laughed.

"It's okay, you were tired" I said stroking her hair. Gabi and I stayed quiet for a minute when we heard my parents from downstairs still arguing.

"How long have they been going at it for?" she asked.

"Since I got home, I guess. My mom said something about talking to my dad about cutting me slack" I said.

Gabriella bowed her head, "I was actually talking to your mom about that this morning" she said.

"Well it's nice that you did, but I don't think my mom's going to win this one" I said as I sat down next to Gabriella.

"I guess not" she sighed.

"You want to burp Aspen for me while I finish more homework?" she asked.

"I'd be happy to" I smiled and then kissed her on the lips.

"And when your finished, you want to change her for me?" she asked giving me the look. The look that only I gave in to.

"Man, that's so unfair. Whenever I try that on you, you never give in!" I whined.

She nudged me playfully, "Because you're already too easy" she joked.

"Ha ha. Right. I will do it for you this time" I said. She laughed and then kissed me on my cheek. While I burped Aspen, I let Gabriella finish her homework.

"So how was school?" she asked.

"It was fine" I started.

"Except for this jerk, Rodney Collins purposely bumped me during lunch and I ended up dropping my food on the floor. I swear that guy's been out to get me since you and I started dating" I said patting my daughter's back.

Gabriella looked away and then had an uneasy look on her face.

"What's the matter?" I asked concerned.

"Nothing" she said briefly. I knew something was up with Gabriella the minute I mentioned Rodney's name. I just couldn't put my finger on it. I just hoped that there wasn't anything going on involving the two that I should have known about. I let the thought go when I quickly had to get Aspen's spit rag to wipe the white baby vomit she had left on my shoulder. Stupid me for not putting the rag there before I burped her. There were still a lot of things I was learning about being a parent. But as the time passed, I was getting the hang of it. There were a lot of things going through my mind at the moment. Dealing with arguing parents was one thing but dealing with a bully at school was another thing. Something I thought I would never have to worry about. The heat was on.