Reality

He was in that little bubble in between sleeping and waking up. That short amount of time where you weren't really asleep any more but you also weren't quite ready to open your eyes either. That short amount of time where you could stay in dreamland and not have to give in to the reality that awaited you.

For Troy Bolton that meant he was still in his bed in his apartment, his German Shepard Zeus asleep at his feet.

His day ahead consisted of a shift at the local fire house, his job as a firefighter not only his career but his passion.

His evening would start with a long relaxing shower, his dinner would be quick and simple and he would chill on the sofa watching a film before bed called his name and he found himself back in dreamland.

Dreamland was great but as his eyes started to flutter open and reality started to come back to him he realised that things were about to become a lot less 'great'.

Reality meant he wasn't in his bed at his apartment but in his sister's bed at her house.

Reality meant a day off from from work, his Uncle duties needing to take priority.

Reality meant no relaxing evening shower but trying to get his three nieces to finish their homework, to make them a somewhat healthy dinner and to get them all showered and in bed by a somewhat acceptable time for their ages, all while making sure the house looked like the impeccable home his sister had always kept.

The only consistent thing between dreamland and reality was that Zeus was still very much curled up at his feet, although neither of them were asleep any more; the noise from downstairs now too loud to ignore.

Throwing back the covers, he shrugged on the t-shirt he'd discarded at some point in the night and stood up to stretch. Sighing he picked up his phone from the night stand and stopped to give Zeus a scratch behind the ear, earning him a lick and soft bark in return.

"I know buddy I don't want to go down there either but if I don't then who knows what mess they'll make." Zeus seemed to accept Troy's reasoning and stretched out his long body before following his master out of the room, if they were going to face the screaming girls, it was best they did it together.

TGTGTGTG

"EVERYBODY STOP WHAT THEY'RE DOING, RIGHT NOW!" Standing in the kitchen doorway he tried his best to sound authoritative, he was still trying to get a grasp on the whole discipline thing. The three girls all froze on the spot, he didn't shout very often and so they all stood silently waiting for what would happen next.

"What on earth is going on in here? Why was there so much noise?" The instant he stopped speaking he regretted it because all three girls started talking at once, he was going to have to try a different method. "STOP! One at a time, Maddie?"

"I was trying to do my homework at the table but they kept trying to eat their breakfast there and I didn't want anything spilt on it and they wouldn't stop talking."

"Summer?"

"I was just trying to eat my breakfast, the stool at the breakfast bar is wobbly again so I couldn't sit there, Maddie doesn't have to use up the entire table for her homework."

"Amelia?"

"I was just trying to pour some orange juice but no one would help me and Maddie had the music up loud so I had to shout." Sighing he ran a hand through his hair and stepping further into the kitchen he closed the fridge door before turning off the radio completely; giving himself one less thing to contend with.

"You." He said pointing at his youngest niece. "Take your cereal and eat it in the living room, I'll bring you some juice in a minute. "Summer..." he started now turning to the middle child. "How man times do I have to tell you that when the stool is wobbly you just reach under the seat and tighten this bolt?" He asked whilst tightening the bolt himself. "Also there are two stools and there's nothing wrong with this other one, for now please just go and sit with Amelia." Summer rolled her eyes at her Uncle but still did as he asked and picked up her cereal on her way to join her little sister in the living room.

"And you..." he spoke more sternly this time making sure the eldest sister was definitely listening. "You're fifteen Maddie, I trust you to get your homework done on time without me having to pester you. On time means at the very latest the day before it's due, not the morning of, you hearing me?" Maddison nodded, he was right, he did trust her with getting things done on her own, she didn't want to break that line of trust between them, she didn't need him constantly on her back over it.

"I'm sorry Uncle Troy, it won't happen again."

"It's okay, just hurry up and get it finished, you need to be leaving soon and you need to eat some kind of breakfast before you go." Maddison nodded to show she was listening while Troy set about the task of getting Amelia her juice and then making sure all three girls had everything they'd need to get them through a day of school.

Half an hour later and with all three girls on their way to school Troy and Zeus could finally hear themselves think. Slumping down onto a chair Troy couldn't help but smile as Zeus came over and rested his head on his owners lap, he always knew how to make things better.

"Thanks for being here for me buddy, how Jennifer did this for all that time without losing her mind I have no idea." Zeus simply nudged his head into Troy's leg before walking away only to return seconds later with his food bowl in his mouth. "Oh, I see how it is, you're only here for me because I feed you, is that it?" The dog simply looked up at him with his big brown, he knew that always got him what he wanted. "Okay then, lets get you fed and then I need to figure out exactly where the girls are going to go while I'm at work this weekend."

TGTGTGTG

When guardianship of his nieces had suddenly been thrust upon him, Troy's boss, Tim had been amazing, telling him to take off as much time as he needed and not to worry about the big bosses, he would deal with them. After taking off an entire month to just be with the girls Troy had returned to work and for the last two and a half months had been able to pick and choose the shifts he worked, the girls either going to day camps or spending time with his friends when he couldn't quite swing things to be with them over the summer.

Now though Tim couldn't hold off the big bosses any longer and Troy had a decision to make; either continue as he was but be reduced down to half pay or return to work full time. They could afford to live on half his wages for a while but it wasn't a permanent fix and so after talking things through with Tim, his colleagues, his friends and the girls the decision had been made that he would return to work full time; he needed time away from the girls to do the thing he loved and they needed to start trusting again in the world outside of the four walls of their home without him there as their protector.

This decision however left Troy with the problem of childcare for the girls, his job meant shifts, day and night shifts and he knew that wasn't the easiest of schedules for someone to fit into.

Someone coming into the home was a no go, that house was their safe haven, the place that reminded them most of their Mum, they had the best memories of her there and adding a new person into that environment just wouldn't be fair. This meant finding somewhere for them to go rather than someone.

His friends had all offered to do their bit; like they had been over the summer but they all had their own lives to lead and so he knew there needed to be a more permanent solution.

This was why the day before he was due to return to work fully he found himself pulling into the front yard of a place his friend Sharpay had suggested; The Ranch. She'd mentioned it a few times when he had first started talking about finding somewhere for the girls to go but every time he'd mentioned it none of them had even entertained the idea and so it had been forgotten but now he was running out of options; it was at least worth a look.

His first impression was that Jennifer would have loved it here, the house was big and blue, the window frames were painted white; as was the front porch, it even had a swing seat hanging in the corner, it was the kind of place that he knew his sister had dreamed of owning for her girls some day.

It was Zeus' barking from the back of the car that snapped him back into reality and he moved to open the door and let him out, quickly clipping on his lead before he had the chance to wander to far.

"I know you don't like being on the lead buddy but it's just for the introductions, Sharpay said the other dogs here are very protective of this place and we just need to prove we aren't a threat before you can make friends and play." Zeus shook his head, adjusting himself to the feeling of the lead on his collar and then nuzzled himself against Troy's leg, he'd go along with the whole lead thing for now if it meant less stress for his master.

Walking down the side of the house they found the big gate Sharpay had described, it was painted in big, bold bright sunshine colours and the words 'The Ranch' were carved into the top of it, they were definitely in the right place.

They'd barely had time to make their way through the gate and close it behind them when barking could be heard and a black Labrador was running towards them. Troy tightened his grip on Zeus' lead, Sharpay had told him the dogs were totally harmless, big softies just like Zeus but they were very protective of their land and their Mum and Troy knew he needed to make sure Zeus knew to just give it some time, the tightening of the lead signalling that to him.

"BARNEY, STOP!" Troy watched as Barney stopped dead in his tracks and immediately turned and headed back in the direction he'd come from, coming to heal at the side of the person Troy was here to talk to.

"Sorry about him, I did tell him we were expecting visitors today but he still likes to try and prove his guard dog qualities, he's a big softie really, huh buddy?" Barney barked in response, earning him a scratch behind the ear. "You must be Troy?"

"That's me, I'm going to assume you're Gabriella?"

"You assume correctly, who's this handsome boy then?" Gabriella bent down to give Zeus fuss and he was more than happy to lap up the attention.

"This is Zeus, he's kinda grumpy right now because he's on the lead, Sharpay said it was best for the initial greetings."

"Yeah she's kinda right, Barney is overly protective of me but once he knows I'm not in any danger he calms down, as you can see." Gabriella gestured over to where Barney was now attempting to wrestle with a much larger black and white dog. "Barney! Luna! Come here please, come say hi." Gabriella rose to her feet just in time for the two dogs to come to a skidding stop next to her, both happy to receive any attention Troy would give them; now that they knew he wasn't a threat.

"Luna's a beautiful dog, what breed is she?" Troy asked as he unclipped Zeus' lead, the three dogs now seeming perfectly happy in each others company.

"She's a Newfoundland, she is also a big softie but as you can see she's a bit of a slobber monster too." Troy couldn't help but chuckle as Gabriella grabbed hold of Luna long enough to use the bandana around the dog's neck to wipe away the slobber currently dripping from her mouth.

"This is a beautiful place you have here, I've heard a lot about it and you from Shar and the others but their descriptions don't do it justice." Gabriella ducked her head at the compliment and gestured for Troy to follow her as she started making her way towards the house.

"Thanks, it takes a lot of hard work to keep it all looking this good but now that I'm here I wouldn't go anywhere else...what exactly have the others been saying about me?" Gabriella asked as she lead Troy into the house and after propping the door open and indicating to Troy that he should take a seat at the kitchen table she walked over to the sink to wash her hands.

"All good things I promise, mainly that you work too hard and that you're a pretty amazing person for running this place single handed." Troy watched as Gabriella once again ducked her head at the compliment; only this time she did lift her head to look him in the eye and offer him a small smile.

"They worry about me too much...did you want a drink? I've got home made lemonade."

"That sounds great, thank you." Gabriella poured them both a glass from the pitcher she had in the fridge and then took a seat opposite Troy at the table.

"Firstly I should apologise for the state I'm in, I knew you were coming at some point today but I had things to be getting on with in the stables, I promise I'm not always covered in this much dirt." Troy took a long drink from his glass to stop himself saying something he shouldn't. Gabriella looked anything but a state, her curly hair was piled up in a messy bun, she had on a faded blue t-shirt with denim shorts and work boots and yes she was covered in dirt but that only seemed to prove the point their friends made of her working too hard. He'd only known her ten minutes but it was already clear to him that Gabriella didn't take compliments very well and so he held off from what he really wanted to say but he couldn't deny it; the woman in front of him was absolutely beautiful.

"Don't worry about it, you look like you've been working hard that's all...maybe the others are right to worry?" Gabriella shook her head; a small smile showing on her face.

"I'm fine, they all work just as hard, as I'm sure do you. Anyway this isn't about me, Shar said you were after some child care?"

"Erm yeah, I've been the legal guardian of my three nieces for the last three months or so now but I'm heading back to work full time from tomorrow and I need somewhere for them all to go while I'm there."

"Well that definitely sounds like something I can help with," Gabriella said as she reached for a note pad and pen from the middle of the table. "What are their names?"

"Maddison, Summer and Amelia." Troy replied as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to show Gabriella a picture of the three girls.

"Looks like you've got your hands full with those three, how old are they?"

"Maddie is fifteen, Summer is twelve and Amelia is nine, ten in a couple of weeks."

"That's a good age range you've got going on there, does Maddie prefer that over Maddison?"

"She will happily answer to both but if you asked her she'd say Maddie, Maddison is saved for when she's in trouble." Gabriella laughed as she jotted a couple of things down.

"So if I remember correctly you're a firefighter? Which I'm assuming means crazy shifts?" Despite having never actually met before Troy and Gabriella had heard a lot about each other from their mutual group of friends and so things weren't quite as awkward as a first meeting could be.

"Yeah I work in blocks of three or four days, doing twelve hour shifts starting at either seven in the morning or seven at night. Over night stays are something you cater for right?"

"Yeah...I mean I haven't had anyone stay over night for a few months now but it's something I do, it's not like I don't have the room for it. Excuse me for being so bold but that crash back in May, that's how your sister died, isn't it?" She finished that statement with a soft smile, earning her one in return from Troy as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah...I'd kinda be surprised if you didn't know, this is such a tight knit community and well we have mutual friends, I'm sure they've mentioned it."

Gabriella nodded as she took a sip of her lemonade. "They have but they've also mentioned you and the girls and how well you seem to have taken to looking after them considering how suddenly it was all thrust upon you." Now it was time for Troy to duck his head at the compliment.

"I didn't have much of a choice, the girls needed me, I was all they had left, I kinda just had to get on with it...saying that though our friends have been amazing. Chad and Taylor have helped me with the caring for the girls side of things what with them having parenting instincts and Sharpay and Zeke are just amazing at making sure I look after myself properly, I wouldn't have gotten this far without knowing I had all of them to call on."

"Well now you have me and this place to add to your list of people to call on, I feel like I already know you pretty well thanks to our friends, I'm not really sure how we've never met before."

"Well before Jen died I was a workaholic so never really took them up on any invitations to anything and since she passed away the girls have been my priority, I'm pretty antisocial to be honest." Gabriella chuckled as she got up to grab a piece of paper from a folder on the island.

"Me too...I'm definitely an introvert. This is a list of prices I usually give people to give them a rough idea of much I charge." She handed the piece of paper to Troy before sitting back down. "But seeing as you have the three girls and there's such a wide variety of ages and what they'll need me to help them with and you have a pretty crazy schedule compared to most people, I'd say we can come to some kind of figure that works for us both."

"That sounds amazing, thank you Gabriella. I should probably warn you that all other kinds of child care I've mentioned to the girls have completely been shut down and thrown back in my face so there's a good chance you'll be met with a lot of resistance."

"It's fine honestly, don't worry about it, they've been through a lot, you guys have formed a little unit and now that it's being messed about with they're bound to resist. I say we get this initial weekend over with, let them get used to me and this place, they'll be the only children here this weekend so they won't have to worry about meeting anyone else. If you give me your email address I can send you the forms I need filled in about the girls, it's just the basic stuff along with any allergies or things you think I should know about them that they might not tell me themselves. I will also send you proof of all of my qualifications, I'm a qualified elementary school teacher and trained first aider but I've also been on courses that makes this place a registered child care facility, I'm not just in this for the money, I really do enjoy what I do, I'm just putting my degree to use in a slightly different way." Troy smiled as he jotted down his email address, his friends had told him how organised and passionate Gabriella was and everything she'd said just seemed to back that up.

"I probably won't be able to get this back to you until quite late, getting the girls fed and in bed can be quite a task some days, especially knowing I've got to explain this to them."

"No worries, when you do send it over if you could add on your contact info just in case I do need to get hold of you, that would be great. I'll also add on my fee for the weekend and my bank details so you can send it across like that without having to worry about getting hold of cash and then once we know the girls wanna come back maybe we can sit down once a month and figure out your schedule and when they'll need to be here and work out a monthly fee that way?"

"Sounds great, honestly Gabriella I've been so worried and stressed about getting this sorted for the girls but you've been so helpful and calm, I feel a lot more at ease with it now."

"I'm glad to hear it, hopefully I'll be able to make the girls feel the same way." Gabriella replied as she stood up and put their finished glasses in the sink before following Troy back outside. "Hey, where does Zeus go when you go to work?"

"He comes with me." Troy answered as the three dogs came bounding over looking for attention, something they got from both humans in equal measure. "He spends his days getting fed left overs and sleeping on my bed, why? You offering him a place here too?"

"Well what can I say? He is a handsome boy after all...but no seriously, if you ever did need somewhere for him to go then of course I'd have him here. Now that these two know he's a friend he'd never need to be on his lead here ever again."

"I'll bare that in mind, maybe if I tell the girls how much he likes it here they'll be more likely to go along with it."

"Just be honest with them, I usually find that works best and try not to worry about them too much while you're at work tomorrow, we'll be just fine."

TGTGTGTG

On May thirtieth Chad and Taylor Danthorth stood with their friend as he sat in front of his three nieces and told them their Mum, his sister had been cruelly taken from the world. They watched as he took all three sobbing girls into his arms and held them tight, there were no more words left to say as he too battled with the grief and shock they'd been dealt with.

Today, as their twenty one month old twins slept in the living room, Chad and Taylor listened as the girls came up with every possible reason why they didn't need to go to The Ranch tomorrow.

"I'm fifteen, I don't need a baby sitter."

"I don't like strange places."

"I don't wanna be away from you."

"GIRLS! STOP!" Taylor slammed her hands down on the kitchen counter, earning her the gaze of everyone in the room. "You know Uncle Troy has to go back to work full time, you were all part of the discussion when that decision was made. He's respected your wishes of not bringing someone new into your home, the least you can do is hear him out." Troy mouthed a thank you to Taylor and turned back to the girls.

"Honestly girls The Ranch is amazing, so much space to run around and play and loads of different animals too, looked like their was a pretty cool arts and crafts supply inside as well. It's not like camp when you have to take part in certain activities, Gabriella just checks in on you every so often to make sure you're okay but otherwise you can do whatever you like so long as you're polite and follow the rules she has in place."

"When you work at night would she tuck me in and read me a story?"

"Of course she would Amelia, I saw a massive bookcase filled with books when I was there, I bet there's some on there you haven't read yet."

Amelia smiled "I guess that doesn't sound so bad." The three adults shared a smile; one down, two to go.

"How about you Summer? What are you thinking?"

"What animals does she have?"

"Well I saw horses, chickens and even some ducks while I was there today and of course her two dogs Barney and Luna."

"What kind of dogs?"

"A black Labrador and a Newfoundland." Chad answered for Troy as he pulled his phone out and scrolled through his photo album. "This is Gabriella with the dogs from just the other week when we went over to see them." He watched as Summer and Amelia both looked at the photo, both taking a few moments to process their thoughts.

"She's pretty." Amelia broke the silence. "And the dogs look really soft too."

"You're right on both of those things Amelia...Summer, you're an animal person, sounds exactly like your kind of place to me." Taylor knew they were on the verge of winning Summer over but there was still something holding her back.

"It does sound like a really cool place but I don't wanna go if Maddie doesn't come."

"Unfortunately Maddie doesn't really have a choice Summer, she's coming with you whether she wants to or not." Troy looked pointedly at his eldest niece, he was putting his foot down and she needed to realise that.

"Obviously I'm going, I'm not going to let them go somewhere without me, that doesn't mean I'm happy about it."

"I never said you had to be happy, just promise me you'll be polite to Gabriella, she's a really lovely person and if you give it a chance I really do think you'll like it there." Maddie gave her word and so the three girls were dismissed from the kitchen to go and chill out before bed.

She wasn't trying to be awkward or make things hard for her Uncle, she just didn't like the idea of meeting someone new, someone who at some point was bound to ask about her parents, a topic Maddie really didn't have the emotional strength to talk about.

But the reality was her Uncle had been nothing but amazing through all of the upset and hurt they'd all been dealing with and if he had to go back to work and deal with those kind of questions then she would go to this Ranch and deal with them from a stranger; not just for him but for her Mum too.

TGTGTGTG

So...it's been a while.

There's a full explanation over on my profile as to how this story came to be but for now all you need to know is that I'll be updating weekly and that I don't own anything other than a clearly crazy imagination.

Please review...Thank you!