Disclaimer: Not mine. Never has been. Probably never will be... sigh.
The Moments that Count: Chapter Twenty
"Hello Troy," Chad said congenially. "How are you?"
"I'm…" Troy looked at Gabriella, who was blankly returning the gaze. "I'm- I'm good… thank you Chad. I think. How are you?"
"Great," the boy answered. "Have I come at a bad time?"
"Well… no…" Gabriella trailed off. "I suppose not. Would you… why don't you come in?"
Chad stepped into the hallway. "Thanks. I think it's about to rain."
"Mm." Gabriella swung her gaze back to Troy. "Why don't you get on with bathing Maddy?"
"Uh… yeah, sure." Troy nodded. "Owen's in the kitchen. Do you want to me get him?"
"Would you?" Gabriella bit her lower lip. "Chad and I, we'll be in the living room. Chad?" She gestured for Chad to precede her. He began walking down the hallway, whilst Gabriella sent Troy a look that was half-desperate, half-confused.
"It'll be fine," he murmured to her, heading for the kitchen. He didn't really believe it, but he had to say it.
Gabriella hurried to catch up to Chad. "Would you like something to drink? Eat?" she asked him.
"No, no, I'm fine, thanks." He looked around the living room. "Well, this place looks a little different."
Gabriella looked around at the baby paraphernalia. Toys; clothes; books; and bottles lay strewn about the room. "Yes. I guess we hadn't really noticed." She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants. "So, uh, how have you been?" She frowned. "I've already asked you that, haven't I?"
Chad smiled. "Yes, you have. And I've already answered. I suppose you want to know what I'm doing here."
"Well… yea, actually, I do. I mean, Sharpay told us that she saw you about three months ago."
"We bumped into each other and had coffee. It was nice. She told me the twins were turning one."
"We had their party a few weeks after she saw you."
He looked at her. "I remember what day they were born, Gab."
"Of course you do, Chad." She gestured to the couch. "Why don't we take a seat?"
Chad sat, as did Gabriella, but she carefully maintained the distance between them. "Are you back permanently now?"
He shook his head. "No. I've just been doing some work with a producer who lives out here. I wanted to come and see you three months ago, but I wasn't… I didn't know if I should."
A squeal echoed down the bathroom and Chad started with surprise, whilst Gabriella smiled softly. "Owen gets pretty excited about his bath." Another giggle ridden squeal drifted to the living room. "Troy usually encourages him."
"Oh." Chad nodded. "I see. Anyway, how have you really been?"
"Great. Really great. I love- I love being a mother. Its stressful and tiring, particularly with two of them and a full-time job."
"I can imagine."
A streak of annoyance shot through Gabriella's body. How could Chad possibly imagine? She ignored it, though. "Troy's been wonderful." She recognized the remark as a deliberate stab at Chad.
"He promised me he'd take care of you."
Gabriella shook her head decisively. "No. This is not some wife-swapping deal. This isn't about you asking Troy to take care of me because you love me more. Troy stayed because he wanted to stay."
Chad released his breath. "You and Troy aren't together, right? Or at least, when I saw Sharpay, I got the impression that you weren't."
She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and evenly replied, "No, we're not together. Not like that, anyway."
"I never did think you two would end up together."
"Really?" Gabriella's eyes flashed. "And why was that?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "You never seemed to mesh. Whenever I saw you two together… it seemed… awkward."
"Well, Chad, did you ever stop to think that it was awkward because you were there?"
Chad frowned in confusion. Then he ignored it and moved on, because he could ignore things he didn't like as easily as he could breathe or blink. "Of course not. How's work been?"
"Fine. My boss is disappointed that I decided to have children at this point in my life. It's put a spanner in my career, apparently, which he doesn't like." She snorted. "Like I give a fuck."
"You use that language around our children?"
Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "Of course I dont use that language around my children." She didn't deliberately emphasize the pronoun, but the deliberate difference wasn't lost on Chad.
Chad sighed. "I'm sorry about… everything. About leaving. I was so confused. He stood up and walked to the window. I didn't know what I wanted, and it was so much responsibility, so fast. I'd never even thought about children- we'd certainly never discussed it. We were just almost ready to get married, Gab. And I just couldn't cope with the whole idea. So, I left. I ran away, because I couldn't get my head around it. That was the wrong thing to do." He twisted back to her, wearing a truly genuine expression. "You needed me, you needed my support, and I was too selfish to put aside my own fears and help you. I really am sorry for that."
"I know you are," Gabriella replied. "I know you're sorry for leaving me." But she knew what was coming, so she waited. It was almost ridiculous how predictable Chad was.
They heard excited shrieking again- Madeline this time and the splash of water.
"And I've been miserable without you," Chad continued. "I had no one to talk to about work; no one to come home to; no one to laugh with; no one to curl up with in bed, on a rainy Sunday and watch old movies with. No one who knew me; knew about my life. No one who truly understood me. Without you, I don't care about anything. None of it matters to me without you."
There was another shriek, and then the low, familiar murmur of Troy laughing and saying something to one of their children.
"I can't- Chad, what do you want?"
He returned to her side, eagerly grasping her hands. "You. It's always been you, Gabriella. I want to chance to do it right. Start again. Fix everything that I screwed up, because God knows I screwed up big time."
"And the twins?"
Chad smiled. "Them too."
"Owen!" she heard Troy exclaim, followed by more splashing, and then more laughter.
"They have names. They aren't them, or it. They have names Madeline and Owen."
"I know what their names are," Chad half-frowned.
"Then use them."
"You, and Madeline and Owen then. I want us to be a family. I think no, I know I'm ready to do this."
Gabriella's eyes narrowed. "What are their full names?"
His brow crinkled. "What?"
"What are their full names?"
Chad flushed with embarrassment. "I don't, I don't remember. You never - nobody ever told me. But don't you see?" he hurriedly continued. "These are the things I'm ready to learn. Because I want you in my life."
"Owen Troy Montez. And Madeline Abigail Montez. Owen likes to have his ankles rubbed when he goes to sleep. He refuses to eat pears, and birds fascinate him. His first word was Mommy, and he has your eyes. Madeline likes music all kinds. She's the spitting image of me, right down to her dark eyes. She claps when she wants your attention and I swear she already knows how to read. Maddy's mouth puckers up when she's sad. Troy is her sun, moon and stars, Chad. She loves that man like a crazy girl."
Chad tightened his grip on her hands. "Those are the things I want to learn. I know I've missed important things, but I'm… you and I are made for each other. We have two children, for God's sake. You can't just ignore that."
From the bathroom, she heard Maddy's familiar cry: "Daddy!"
She shook her head slightly. Everything suddenly made sense. "We never did any of those things. We never snuggled up on a rainy Sunday and watched old movies. We never laughed together, certainly not at the end." Gabriella caught his chin in her hand, trying to make him understand. "And it's not about me, anyway. It's not about you and I being perfect for each other. We're a package deal Chad. You have to be perfect for those kids, because they are my whole world. And I don't doubt that you'll be a good father one day. But not to Maddy and Owen. You walked away. You had your reasons, but you walked away." She bit her lower lip. "Troy didn't. They weren't his children, but he stayed. And it wasn't just out of loyalty to me. It was loyalty to two babies he'd never met; two children he didn't make. But he knows all those things about them… he named Maddy."
"I know that, Gabriella. But it doesn't mean you and I can't make this work."
"But it does, Chad. We could try - I could move to LA and give it a shot. But it wouldn't be real. It'd be my guilt - I would feel obligated to give you a chance. It wouldn't be real Chad, and we'd both try too hard and settle for a lie, and it would end badly. I can't do that to my children. I can't do that to you. And I can't put myself through that kind of angst." She paused. "Maddy's first word was Daddy, and she meant Troy, and that has to mean something."
"I don't…" Chad trailed off. His shoulders slumped and his mouth tightened. "It's always been about Troy."
"No, it hasn't." Gabriella smiled crookedly. "That's the stupidest thing about my life. I should have always been about Troy, but I got so caught up in this obligation and familiarity with you that I didn't see what was right under my nose. And I've been going about this all wrong. Troy makes us a family. Madeline, Owen and I- Troy makes us a family. And that makes him my family. And more than that, it makes Troy my home."
Chad let go of her hand. "You love him?"
"As much as I love my children." She stood up and smiled down at him. "I don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry, Chad, but I don't. And you've come to me for all the wrong reasons. You'll find someone else, and be ridiculously happy, and have children of your own. And you'll be there for all those tiny, seemingly insignificant moments. For all the moments that count."
Chad stood up too. "I'm not… nothing I can say will change your mind, will it?"
Gabriella reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Chad, my mind was made up years ago. I'm just catching up with it. And I'm truly sorry."
"No you're not." He wasn't bitter. Just matter-of-fact.
"Okay, I'm not. I need to go and she gestured to the bathroom. Make the moments count."
"Yeah." Chad nodded dully. "You go do that."
Gabriella touched his chin. "I'll never stop you from seeing them. You are their father. They deserve to know you, and you deserve to know them. I know you came here wanting a chance, Chad. But...I've got a chance waiting for me in the bathroom, and I can't let it pass me by."
He nodded slowly.
Gabriella gave him one last look, before she walked down the hallway, her heart thumping wildly.
The sounds of splashing water and giggling children grew louder. She could hear Troy keeping up a monologue.
She reached the doorway and watched for a moment. Troy was sitting on one of the stools, washing the shampoo out of Madeline's head, whilst he supported her neck. Owen was already out of the bath, sitting on Troy's knee, cocooned in a towel.
"And the beautiful princess realized that she didn't need a prince to live happily ever after, because she was independent woman with a brown belt in karate, a job that paid very nicely, and a fully-restored red Roadster with a black leather Interior. Instead, she could choose to be with somebody. So, she did. And she lived happily ever after, on her own terms. And her father's."
"Troy's Modern Fairy Tales," Gabriella said quietly.
He didn't seem surprised by her presence. "Hey Gabriella. Could you take Owen for me?"
She grabbed the boy, who wrapped his arms around her neck and snuggled into her body. "You aren't in here worrying that I'm about to marry Chad and run away with him to California, are you?"
Troy lifted Madeline out of the bath and wrapped her in a towel. "No." Then he stood and looked at Gabriella. "Yes. He deserves...he's their father."
"Yes. He is."
Troy nodded. "So, I won't mind...I mean, I'm not going to make some claim on them. If you...if you want to move to California and give it a shot with Chad, I'll respect that. I won't cause any problems."
"I know you won't," Gabriella agreed. Troy wouldn't look at her, and Gabriella let the silence fall. "I'm not. Getting back with Chad."
His head swung up and the look on his face made her heart bounce. "You're not?"
"No." Gabriella tilted her head. "You knew. You've known forever."
"Of course," Troy nodded. "I was just waiting for you to get a clue." He wrapped Madeline tighter, so she didn't get cold. "I don't love the children because of that, though. I love them because they're mine."
"They are. Chad's their father. You're their Daddy." Gabriella took a step closer to him. "This harried, over-worked mother and lawyer is choosing her prince."
Troy grinned. "And this harried, over-worked father and doctor is choosing his princess."
Then he bent down and kissed her.
Madeline reached out and touched Owen's nose. Her brother giggled.
None of them heard the front door shut, as Chad left.
AN: This is it. And I'm sorry it took so long but this has been a rough six months for me and I appreciate each and every review and promise whenever I thought of writing/posting it was with a warm heart. I could probably come up with a cheesy, terrible epilouge if you're interested... If not read and review one more time for me... please, with sugar and a cherry on top? Thanks again!