A/N: SO…. Yeah… it has been awhile. Always, sorry about the long wait (blame school for it… DARN SCHOOL!)and I promise to try to update on the weekends at least. Also, the last little part that I gave you with the REALLY long author's note is not going to be continued right off the bat (look at that at more of a tid bit of what did occur)… you confused yet? You will see what I mean when you read it anyways.

P.S- Just for a heads up, since I had to change the plot a little to accommodate some changes, the medical info maybe a little off, so just so you know, I am aware of what I wrote and that it may not all be accurate, but hey, its fan fiction… anything is possible. LOL

Disclaimer: Yup, it's all mine, that's why I am seated in my family room typing on the family computer and spending my Saturday night doing this instead of jet setting to some fantastic place (catch my sarcasm?)


Life's "Little" Lessons

Miracles Can Happen

Last Chapter

"He's in a meeting…. Sir, don't go… SIR!" even the constant pleas from the receptionist didn't keep Troy Bolton from plowing into the conference room. As the door slammed opened wide, ten curious faces turned Troy's way. But to him, only one was of interest.

"YOU!" he exclaimed as he pointed towards the wide haired bearded man seated at the far left hand corner and made his way from the doorway over to the seat. "You told us there was nothing… ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" as he raised his voice and clenched his fists, his anger was getting the best of him. For a few moments, Troy's rant continued as he released all his frustrations and anger off on the doctor who took all hope away from the couple, only to have Troy discover some unmentioned 'live-saving' scenarios. The doctor simply looked towards Troy with a straight face and then towards the nine other people present in the room, excluding the receptionist who was standing there with a wide open mouth, apparently surprised by Troy's outburst, with a quiet nod to his fellow meeting members, he got up from his swivel chair without one spoken word. In one quick motion, Troy was pushed out of the conference room and into a smaller room, one of which resembled the one that his wife and him were in just the day before, a memory that hit Troy in a sore spot. Although the change of environment had occurred, Troy's anger had not subsided, the second that the door was closed he had another go at the so called 'high risk doctor'.

"Mr. Bolton…" the doctor said calmly as Troy continued his talk, "Mr. Bolton…" repeating the same thing a few minutes later didn't seem to be doing the trick, his calm voice was cut off abruptly by Troy's own frustrated and fairly rocky voice. "Mr. Bolton…" at the sound the doctor's stern and agitated tone, Troy stopped from pacing the office and shot his head in the direction of the voice. "Why don't you take a seat?" he questioned quietly, trying to calm down the distressed man.

"Take a seat? Do you know…"Troy had had it, in a matter of seconds he was in the doctor's face from across the plain, but cluttered desk.

"Actually, I do… and better than you, so I suggest YOU take a seat," he replied, as he cocked his head towards the chair, in which Troy reluctantly took a seat in. "Now Mr. Bolton…" the doctor took a deep breath, leaned forward, and cupped his hands on the table, Troy quietly gasped at the motion, it was one he knew all too familiar… it was his very same actions that he had taken the day before when he spilled the news to Troy and Gabi. "I took the liberty to look more closely at Mrs. Bolton's case yesterday after she was admitted to the hospital… and what I found surprised me…."

"Took the liberty… took the liberty… why the hell did you look after…" a finger was held up in the air by the doctor, single handedly sending an angered Troy into complete silence.

"Mr. Bolton…" he leaned even closer, pulling off his glasses as he rubbed his eyes before placing them back in their proper place. "The case has changed…" Troy's breathing got caught in his throat as countless thoughts started to run rapid in his brain…


This Chapter

The sun was shining and happiness was in the air; the clinks of china ware, the laughter of humans, and the glorious aromas of food flooded the room, yet, Troy Bolton was cut off from all of it. While the rest were huddled in the dining room of the Cross's house, he was secluded on the gray, seemingly stiff couch that occupied the living room. No one banished him to that location, nor did Gabi sit beside him with a face of consolidation, but, instead, one fully grown man sulked in his own grief, with no one to share it with. It wasn't just the fact that no one seemed to grasp his feelings or the idea that life wasn't as simple as it was when he was in high school, it had to do more with the fact that it had only been three weeks since the future had revealed itself, and quite frankly, Troy didn't agree with it. How could life be so screwed up when the sun is shining and the people closest to him are celebrating in the next room? When did life get so complicated that he had was the one falling into broken pieces and Gabi was the one picking them up? And that was another thing… Gabi… he had no idea how she was staying together, heck, when this whole thing started SHE was the one breaking down every two seconds, sure not having an upset wife was good, but neither was a superficial one. At this point, his thoughts were blurred… how could he think that way?... he just couldn't, his mind was jumbled, his thoughts confused, but that wouldn't stop the future from coming.

"Troy," Chad's slap on the back and one worded 'sentence' made Troy's head pop up from its position in his arms and moved over on the couch, making room for his 'brother'.

"Hmmm," he responded, keeping his words to a minimal, he didn't need any one trying to cheer him up.

"So… the good news…. isn't it great!" Chad asked Troy with a slight grin, trying to get Troy to cheer up.

"Hmmmm…" he trailed off with once again, turning his glance away from Chad and trying to focus on the pictures on the Cross's fireplace, one particular picture seemed to catch his eye… it was the picture… the one that connected all of the friends.

"You know… that was a long time ago, can you believe that we were all just starting out then?" Chad replied as he pointed up at the picture, eyeing the same one Troy was, desperately trying to make Troy open up.

"What?" Troy asked in a hush voice as he tried to feign confusion.

"You know what man…" a deep sigh is released "I'm sick and tired of this."

"Oh you are aren't you?" Troy asked as he turned his face towards Chad and stood up from the couch facing Chad, "Well for your information…" pulled in closer to Chad's face, lowering his voice to make sure that they wouldn't attract the attention of the others, "my life is screwed up right now…" he took a look around to make sure that the others were continuing with their little celebration.

"Screwed up?" Chad snorted in a quiet voice as he stared Troy straight in the face, interjecting in whatever Troy's little rant was about, "Do you not know how good you have it?" Troy pulled away a little and turned his head away from Chad, showing how uninterested he really was, "If you don't, let me tell you... a beautiful, thoughtful, intelligent wife; a very well rounded little boy, who, if a may add, is already a wonderful basketball player in training; a good home; a great job; wonderful friends and family… who…" He got up from the couch and approached Troy, poking him in the chest with every word, "would do ANYTHING for you" he took a deep breath, looked Troy dead in the eye, "that includes listening."

"Yeah, well it's hard to let others hear when they don't understand," he answered as he moved back towards the gray couch and took a seat.

"Fine," Chad stated as he threw his hands up in the air, "than at least talk to Gabi… your wife… who feels the SAME as YOU!" raising his voice in effect towards the end.

"I can't" he simply retaliated with as he took his former position on the couch, leaving a fed up Chad to shake his head and reenter the dining room. He gave up, sure it wasn't the right thing to do but he had had enough, there was only one person he could think of that could go in and straighten Troy out, heck, it was the only person boneheaded enough to marry him… Gabi…


"I am not boneheaded," whined Gabi as Chad pushed her into the living room.

"Well right now… he's being boneheaded" pointing towards the sulking man on the couch, "and well… just go," he added in with a puppy dog face trying to get Gabi to agree. A sigh could be heard before a five month old pregnant Gabi made her way into the living room.

"Troy," Gabi quietly stated as Troy was once more pulled from his less than happy thoughts.

"Hmmm," another feminine sigh could be heard, he was used to those.

"Troy… we… you have got to stop, we have hope now." Her voice sounded shaky and her mood quite upset.

"How?... that's all I want to know," he quietly whispered as he pulled his head from out of his hands and turned towards Gabi, who was seated beside him, "how is it that this is happening to us?". After he didn't receive and answer he peered over to Gabi, who was shaking her head silently.

"We can't though… we have sulked… we have wondered… now… well we just have to live," her statement seemed to give him hope, help his spirit start to soar, but he knew that that feeling wouldn't last long.

"Gabi…" a nod could be seen from his other soul, "did I tell you what the doctor said to me when I saw him alone… you know… when we found out the whole truth to our situation."

"You mean that they…" her voice became more shaky, evidence that she was holding back tears, at the sight of that, he pulled her into his arms and tried to comfort her, it was no fair that his bad mood was bringing her down, right when she seemed to getting back to herself.

"No baby…" he trailed off as he placed a kiss on the top of her head and started to tell her exactly what the doctor said, sure they have gone over it, but he always left out the last five words that the doctor told him… he didn't know why, but finally he was going to tell her…

Flashback-

"What… what do you mean it's changed," Troy quietly asked as he regained his ability to talk, although his throat was still bone dry.

"Mr. Bolton…"

"Just tell me." He stated in a stern voice, the doctor's way of beating around the bush was getting on his nerves.

"Okay… there are three."

"Three? What do you mean three?" confusion was overtaking his harsh and agitated tone.

"Fetuses, it seems that Mrs. Bolton is carrying triplets, not twins… I KNOW" he raised his voice as he could sense that Troy was about to interrupt, "that you are probably angry that we did not catch this…"

"PROBABLY, try definitely," Troy responded as he got up from his place and started pacing the office.

"Look," he walked over to Troy and forced him to sit back down, before returning back to his previous post, "It just wasn't not something we were looking for, in truth, although this is NOTHING that you want to hear, doctors go by what we know and what we know to look for… and in truth, I have never seen a case like this." A deep breath was drawn by the doctor as Troy settled in for a long lecture, "To start off with, the fetuses are aligned in an unusual pattern, the twins, who are affected by the TTTS are one behind the other and have heartbeats that are not in-synch, that being the main reason why we knew there were at least twins to start off with… but… this third one, it is quite unusual, it seems like the placenta is in somehow non-thriving."

"Non-thriving" pure worry could be heard in the question.

"Well, it means that the placenta doesn't seem to be providing the proper nutrients for the child, therefore the size of the child is lagging behind the others, even that of the twin that is being greatly affected by TTTS, the thing that worries me about this condition is that your wife could end up bleeding early and going into labor early which will not in any way help the current TTTS situation. But back to the detection, between its small size and seemed position up closer to Mrs. Bolton's bottom ribs, we just didn't look up that far since the heart beat is in-synch with that of the smaller twin's. That leads us to the second aspect, there is no history, that's the plain and simple, as I have heard, twins were already a huge surprise to everyone since your family had not had past cases of twins or even triplets for that matter. Then third, the diagnosis of TTTS seemed to fill in the blanks, but as I had said, at closer inspection, I realized that TTTS was not the only thing that was affecting the fetuses. And Mr. Bolton," he continued his monotone speech as he pulled himself closer to the table and looked at Troy even more closely, "I know that you will do anything to help your wife and that you feel that we are not doing anything in our power, but to tell you the truth, that meeting you barged into was about your wife, as soon as I had come across a frozen screen shot of further up her abdomen, I was on the phone calling in the best of the best from all around the U.S. In that room," he stated as he pointed to the room to the right of them, "are those most willing and knowledgeable to help and I have to tell you, we have already come up with some procedures already." As the doctor's voice faded and silence filled the room, Troy couldn't help but have mixed emotions.

"It's just… the book..." his voice was hush and full of uncertainty.

"Well, I can guarantee you those books were dated back, and plus, this situation was just put on even higher alert when the third baby was discovered." Silence once again over took the two grown men as Troy rose from his chair.

"How do I…" his voice trailed off in question form as he looked around the room.

"Don't worry, one of the doctor's over at the hospital are going to tell you, everything was faxed over earlier, actually I wouldn't be surprised if they were ready to tell you this morning, knowing your wife though…"

"She probably had them wait." He finished as he rushed to the door to leave, with a little glimmer of hope and of course still with a huge feeling of uncertainty.

"Mr. Bolton," Troy pulled his hand away from the doorknob and turned back around, "Miracles can happen." With a nod, Troy turned the doorknob and ran to his car… in hopes of making it to the hospital before the whole scenario was explained to the love of his life.

-End Flashback

"Miracles can happen?" a chuckle could be sensed in her voice as she used her finger to wipe away the lonely tear that just fell, they had to keep in mind that the future wasn't as bare as it was the morning before that scene, yet, now it was the complete opposite, that doctor, Doctor Betch, the one that Troy hated at first turned out to be the couple's life saver, that being taken quite literally (whenever they went in for their weekly appointments, Troy would give Dr. Betch a bag of lifesavers). "Well that's Dr. Betch for you, isn't it?" she added in, trying to lighten the mood. "But still, Troy, if you believe that, then why are you acting like this?" the question seemed to be straightforward, but to Troy it was anything but.

"I don't know, I guess, in the back of my mind, there is always a 'What If?'" his answer seemed genuine and full of worry, Gabi sensed just that as she wrapped her hands around him the best that she could and just held him in a hug. There the couple sat for a moment in pure silence, both contemplating on what was to come.

"WHAT!... NO WAY!... NOT OVER MY DEAD BODY!" a chorus of voices came from the living room, the broken silence surprise both Troy and Gabi as they got up from their seats and made their way to the kitchen. The scene in front of them was quite confusing; Kelsi and Sharpay were standing next to each other as their husbands opposed them from across the kitchen island.

"QUIET!" bellowed Sharpay's voice as she threw her hands over the both Zeke and Jason's mouths, Chad and Taylor were quietly sitting at the table watching the event unfold, both having expressions of amusement.

"Where are the kids?" Gabi asked as she took a seat next to Taylor, realizing that the three kids that were present for dinner were no longer there. Everybody turned towards her, wondering why she was ruining the important conversation.

"Sleeping upstairs, we decided to put Caleb to bed while you two were having 'a moment'" Taylor quietly whispered in Gabi's ear from her position at the table as she put quotation marks around 'a moment'. That sent Gabi into a fit of eye rolls.

"Anyway, back to this," Zeke stated as he turned his attention from Gabi back to his wife and conversation.

"Not over my dead body." He once again clearly stated, stressing every word to the best of his ability.

"And why not?" Sharpay questioned back with an attitude as she pressed the issue, whatever it was… Gabi and Troy were confused.

"What?" the expectant couple both muttered at the same time from their seats as they watched the four go at it. Taylor looked over, turned her seat, and with a big sigh she began.

Flashback-

"I swear… those two!" Chad huffed as he turned back around to the others occupying the kitchen after he pushed Gabi to go talk to Troy.

"Hey, lay off won't you, they haven't exactly had the easiest past few months." Taylor's stern voice caused a short fused Chad to sigh and plop himself into the closest chair.

"Well anyway… congrats guys," Chad's remark sent smiles to play across Kelsi and Jason's faces, finally after a few months of holding off on their news, they were able to spill.

"I know, it's nice to know that…" Jason had started but was soon interrupted by a very upset Shavanna.

"Mommy…" a short whine that was certainly inherited from her mother filled the room as the young child pulled at Sharpay's shirt.

"Shavan…"

"I didn't" pouted an upset Caleb as he interrupted Sharpay's scolding, the appearance of the young child with his arms crossed over his stomach gave a clear sign the it was bedtime.

"You know, why don't we go visit the…" Zeke started as he pulled himself off of the chair that he was occupying and approached the two young children, with his hands in the air wiggling them around like crazy, "tickle monster." At the sound of the words, the kids ran up the stairs, with Zeke close in toe, that was after he gave Sharpay a shrug of the shoulders.

"Just actually get them in bed," she exclaimed after him with the roll of the eyes, "Anyways, before the wonderful little interruption, what were you saying Jase?" she turned the attention back to the Cross's as she took a position at the kitchen island, next to Kelsi and across from Jason.

"Well, it's nice to know we will finally be parents." A smirk played across his face.

"Now, this suro thing, does Jase have to… you know…" Chad tried to trail off in hopes someone would understand, but no one did, "well, if someone else has a kid and some genes are from you then doesn't Jason have to…"

"Oh Chad," Taylor's hand came in contact with the back of his head as she shook her head at her husband's stupidity and even worse listening skills. "They already explained that."

"No its okay," Kelsi added in, in hopes of saving Chad from a beating, "It's kind of like intro- fertilization, but instead of me being impregnated someone else is, but in all sense, it will be our kid, genes and all." Her words were slow and deliberate, trying her best to help Chad make some sense of it all.

"Wait, so in that case, who's the other woman?" Sharpay asked, popping a cookie that was on the counter into her mouth.

"Her name's Heather, a 27 year old woman that is healthy and has no plans of settling down anytime soon or even a husband for that matter," Kelsi seemed satisfied with their choice as surrogate mother, but at the confusing looks of her friends she added on, "You see, if she's not settling down then risk of suing is lower… at least that's what I figured…"

"What! Suing!" Sharpay's loud voice made Kelsi jump out of her skin.

"Well, sometimes with this kind of thing, the woman feels like the child is hers… and well… look, we're not that worried about it, they gave us the choice of a family member or a stranger and well…" she held her arms up in exasperations, "all we know is that we will soon be parents… FINALLY." They could all sense the happiness in her voice.

"Wait, did you say family member," Sharpay questioned as she swallowed her cookie and turned towards Kelsi, a simple nod was her answer, "How about us?" her added question seemed to just roll off of her tongue like it was no big deal, it was that second that Zeke decided to make his entrance known to the individuals occupying the kitchen…. Adding his own remark to those that the Bolton's had heard at that moment from the living room.

-End Flashback

"Did she just 'volunteer' us?" whispered Gabi to Taylor as her eyes were stuck on the four adults standing around the island. She couldn't make herself tear her eyes away from the juicy scene infront of her.

"No… more like her," Taylor's hush voice reached Gabi's ear just as the conversation infront of them continued.

"Over your dead body?" Sharpay uttered back with rage towards her husband, "I think it's better than a complete stranger, plus you don't even know what we were talking about." She added in as she stared straight into his eyes.

"Oh yes I do, you are willing to carry their child… Sharpay," a deep breath was drawn, "we are not even done."

"But it's helping someone else out."

"Guys," Kelsi tried to calm them down and end the conversation by turning Sharpay's offer down, but was stopped abruptly by Sharpay's hand over her mouth.

"I want to help… and not done? We have a nine month old, what you want to take me upstairs right now and have me pop out a kid in nine months?" sarcasm reeked in her voice as, for no apparent reason, Sharpay started to go off the rim.

"What?" Chad muttered under his breath from his chair, as he peered around at the Bolton's and Taylor, he could tell he wasn't the only one confused about why they were in such a heated conversation. That didn't stop from the group in front of them from fighting, quietly, the four of them sat, occasionally staring at the clock as the four, or should you rather say, two bickered it out.

"STOP!" Kelsi's fed up voice filled the room as the Baylor's voices came to a halt and the adults turned their attention to the surprisingly loud woman.

"What was even the point of that?" her questioned was geared towards the Baylor, but everyone in the room shrugged, well that was except Sharpay, she thought words would work better.

"To help you guys." She simply answered, once again shrugging her shoulders like her offer was no big deal.

"Well, like I was about to say BEFORE…" Kelsi turned her body specifically towards Sharpay, "No thank you, we have decided and it is going to be okay."

"But…" Sharpay gawked her mouth open as she realized that someone turned her offer down.

"Honey…" Zeke's voice turned from anger to understanding as he acknowledged her current mood. "No offense, but you, nine months of hormones and cravings… I have had enough of that for a while." He was trying to not offend her, but he was sure that there was going to be a rebuttal.

"No offense, NO OFFENSE, I'm sorry honey, but just saying no offense does not erase that offense that you have previously said!"

"HUH!" that was the chorus that was heard around the kitchen as Sharpay allowed a loud sigh to exit her as she left the kitchen and headed up the stairs to retrieve the kids. Apparently she had had enough and had single handedly ended the night's celebrations.


"Hey, sorry about my earlier mopping around," Troy's sincere apology reached Kelsi's ear as he pulled her into the best hug he could, considering he was juggling an exhausted sleeping Caleb in his arms. The Bolton's had decided to finally leave after the Baylor's little outburst and then sudden departure from the house. They were still all very confused about what the whole kitchen scene was about and they were all quite unsure about what it all meant either.

"No worries, we all understand," a smile played on her face as she pulled away, she was just happy to see that he was not in his old mood, but instead, looking up instead of down.

"And you guys, congrats," squealed Gabi as she traded places with Troy, she gave Kelsi a huge hug as Jason gave Troy a manly handshake with a small hug before the small family, at least for now, departed from the house for their own.

The house seemed bright, usually that was a good sign, but for the approaching couple, it was a confusing sight. Even with the peculiarity of lights on, Troy, with Caleb in his arms, and Gabi entered their own home as they came home from the Cross's interesting dinner party. The scene though, that they discovered as they entered was not one that they expected, actually, opening that door and discovering the reason for the lights was one that sent Gabi into a fit of worry and Troy, well let's just say a huge sigh left his mouth.


Okay, so if that was confusing… I AM SO SORRY, hopefully it will all come together, and what's going one, I guess you will just have to read. Anyway, I need some feedback, for example, the triplets, more hardship or a clean ride? It is up to you guys, you tell me and I will write. Also, sorry about the messed up med info., I just had to find a way to explain it all and after a while I got fed up w/ making sure it was all correct and instead I just wrote what would make it all get together. To add on, triplets was not in my future, but I had to find something to make sense of future events so just hang in there with me… other than that

THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!!!!!!