Early, the next morning, Karen walked into Troy's room. She did not notice that Gabriella was in bed with his son.
"Troy, wake up," Karen said as she drew the curtains. She did not even glance at the bed.
Troy woke up with a jump when he heard his mother's voice. Gabriella woke up, too. Troy and Gabriella were squinting because of the bright sunlight. They saw Karen collecting Troy's dirty clothes and their eyes widened.
"Mom," Troy said, through his gritted teeth.
Karen turned and saw a red-faced Gabriella lying in bed next to her son.
"Oh, Troy," Karen said, going pale. She knew that Troy would be very mad at her. "I'm so sorry. Honestly, I did not know."
"Just get out of here, please," Troy said, trying to control his temper.
"Okay, okay," Karen said hurriedly. "I'm sorry, Troy." She quickly walked out of the room before Troy could say another word.
"Today's going to be a long day," Gabriella sighed.
"Tell me about it," Troy groaned. "My mom saw that I was lying in bed with my girlfriend. Naked. Boy, what will dad say?"
"Haven't you done this before?" Gabriella asked.
"No, once, with Rachel," Troy said. "It was an accident. We were both drunk. Someone had spiked the drinks at a party."
"My first time was with James," Gabriella said. "It was an accident too. Same thing happened to us. It was the last time I did something like that, until last night."
At that moment, Ava started crying. Both Gabriella and Troy jumped up at the same time. They pulled on their clothes and quickly went to Ava's room. Jack was there with Ava in his arms. Ava was still crying. Gabriella quickly took Ava into her arms.
"Uh…thanks, Jack," Gabriella said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"No, problem," Jack said. "Troy, can I talk to you?"
"Okay," Troy said, slowly and followed Jack out of the room.
"Troy, your mother told me what happened, last night," Jack said. Troy's face reddened. "Troy, be careful, okay?"
"Okay," Troy answered.
"You do realize that Gabriella might end up getting pregnant, again?" Jack asked Troy.
"We used protection, dad," Troy said.
"They don't always work," Jack said. "They do work most of the time, but, anything is possible, son."
"I know, dad," Troy said, impatiently.
"Look, Troy, you don't know what it feels to be a father," Jack said.
"Actually, dad, I do," Troy smiled. "I'm a father, now."
"What?" Jack looked surprised.
"Ava chose her father yesterday," Troy explained. "She chose me."
"That's great," Jack exclaimed. "Wait, does that mean that I'm a grandfather at the age of thirty-four?"
"I guess so," Troy said.
"No, I'm too young to be a grandfather," Jack said. Troy burst out laughing. "Troy, you're too young to be a father."
"No, I'm not," Troy protested. "I'm the same age as you were when I was born."
"Oh, right," Jack said. "Well, congratulations, son."
"Thanks, dad," Troy said, as he returned the hug that Jack gave him.