Gabriella slowly slit the top of the envelope and reached inside. There were four pictures, each of the unborn infant from a different angle. She spread them out so they could look. Picking up one, she smiled.

"Oh, it's looks like it's waving!"

But Troy had his eyes on another photo. "I want this one," he said, pulling it out of the pile to show her. "Look. It looks it's throwing a basketball!"

It did indeed appear that way, with the baby's arms up and a blotch in the fuzzy grey looking like a ball of sorts. Gabriella noticed the appearance right away. She giggled.

Troy stood and put the ultrasound next to the framed photo of Gabriella when they worked at Lava Springs.

Gabriella slipped the waving ultrasound into her bag.

"I guess we can give the other two to each of our parents."

Troy flopped back on the bed, covering his eyes. "I guess we have another meeting with doom on the schedule."

She leaned over him, laying her head on his chest. "We have no choice, Troy. It's only a matter of time before everyone will know. And I'll only be able to wear your sweatshirts for so long to hide it."

Troy suddenly sat up, scooped up Gabriella and flopped her on her back on the bed. He lifted her shirt.

"Troy!" Gabriella giggled. "What are you doing?"

He got down close to her belly. "Now, baby. You can't go showing yourself just yet. Me and Mommy still have to graduate."

Gabriella stroked his hair as he talked.

"But I'm your Daddy, and… and you have the most beautiful mom in the whole world. And I don't want anything to happen to you."

He tenderly kissed her bare flat stomach, stroking it slightly.

She smiled down at him. "We'd better do this."

He nodded and stood.

"Choose a picture to give to them. I'll find another envelope."

They selected the ultrasound and tucked it into the envelope.

"We're going to tell them together, alright? You ready?" Troy asked.

Gabriella flung her arms around his neck.

"Gabriella, it's going to be okay…"

She let go and they headed to the living room.

"…I hope."

Gabriella sat down in the couch with the envelope while Troy found his parents. Once they were all gathered, Troy sat on the couch with his girlfriend, facing his parents. His palms were sweaty. As he rubbed them on his jeans, he spoke very carefully.

"Mom, Dad, we… have something for you. It will probably be the biggest shock, but…" He glanced at Gabriella. "…we need help."

Mr and Mrs Bolton were confused and glanced at each other.

Troy motioned for her to hand over the envelope. She looked at him with large scared brown eyes, but gave it to them. She scooted closer to Troy.

Mrs Bolton took the envelope, glanced around at everyone watching, and slit it open. She didn't take the picture out, but examined it in the sleeve. Her face froze in shock. She looked up sharply at the two teens sitting across from her.

Mr Bolton reached over and took the envelope from her frozen fingers. He pulled the picture out. He looked at it for a long time. Then he slowly picked his head up to examine them. "Troy," he said quietly. "This is a joke… right? Tell me this is a joke."

Troy swallowed. Hard. "No. It's… it's real."

Gabriella shut her eyes.

Once again, the room was silent.

Mr Bolton's voice was dangerously quiet. "Troy, do you know what this means? In a few months, and those months will fly by fast, you will be a father, Gabriella will be a single mother, and you both will have just graduated high school. You're unmarried! You can't both go through college raising a child! By the time you both graduate college, the baby will be a little kid, almost five years old. And then what?! What then?" His face was was a mix of disappointment, anger, and confusion. Never had Mr Bolton ever thought that this would be an evening topic of conversation.

Mrs Bolton finally spoke. "Jack. Jack, calm down." To Gabriella, "Gabriella? Is this true? You are indeed… pregnant?"

She nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Troy had been bracing himself for the torrent all evening, and now that it was mostly over, he spoke. "We already know that this might interfere with our futures, Dad. We know that. But now it's too late. I think we might all be able to work this out once we figure out a plan. And that's what we need help with." He pulled Gabriella closer.

Mrs Bolton sighed and looked at her husband. "Troy, Gabriella, you are both very smart and sound, so… I think we need to see what happens."

Gabriella said something for the first time all evening. "I had a thought."

Everyone looked at her.

"After seeing the baby for the first time… I decided I wanted to go through with it."

Mrs Bolton nodded. "I understand that. It's always the first look that makes your mind up for you."

Troy turned to her. "Baby, are you sure?"

She nodded determinedly. "Yes I think so. And something we could do once the baby arrives is… well, after I tell my mother, I could set up a small nursery in my room or closet, so that when I'm at college, I don't have to bring the baby with me, but… I still don't know who would stay since my mom works."

Troy latched onto that. "Hey that's a good idea."

Mrs Bolton stood. "Troy, Gabriella, there's nothing we can do about the baby. We simply have to move forward." She sent a pointed look at her husband. "While this news is… unexpected and scary, we have to keep going and do the next best thing." She picked up the photo, and a faint smile ghosted the corners of her lips. "I don't work, so if I have to, I'll take care of Gabriella's plan."

Gabriella's eyes widened. "Really? You're not upset?"

"Oh I'm upset. But I've learned that if you can't fix the past, you simply have to keep moving." She turned to her husband. "Jack. Can we move forward?"

"You're letting this go?"

"No, of course not. But they will learn. Especially once the baby arrives."

He slowly nodded. "Okay. Alright, fine. We'll start with a little nursery."

Gabriella nearly crumpled with relief, collapsing against Troy's shoulder.

Mr Bolton stood and looked at the ultrasound over his wife's shoulder. He smiled touched his lips.

Dinner conversation was filled with talk of the coming child.

"You two realise that you must learn to care for the baby from your own pocket, right?" Mr Bolton said, handing Gabriella the water pitcher. "We will help with necessary things, of course."

"This will probably be the hardest lesson you two will ever learn," Mrs Bolton warned. "And Mrs Montez has to know. Right away."

Troy glanced around at the faces, then pushed back from the table, closing himself in his room. He leaned against the door, shutting his eyes. He didn't want to tell Mrs Montez something so altering over the phone, but… it had to be done. He sighed, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and flipped it open.

His phone rang four times before Mrs Montez picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mrs Montez. It's Troy."

"Ohh Troy! How are you?"

"I'm alright. Look, there's something I need to tell you, and… i really wish it were in person."

Shuffling sounds came from the other end. "What's happened?"

Troy pinched the bridge of his nose, sliding down the door to sit. "Um… okay. Mrs Montez… Gabriella… she's…."

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "Gabriella's… pregnant." He braced himself, grimacing at the silence that followed.

"She's what? Pregnant?"

"Yes ma'am. Like I said, I wish you were here to tell you in person, but—"

"Troy… are you the father?"

He paused. "Yes. Yes ma'am."

Mrs Montez took a shaky breath. "I wasn't aware you two were having sex. I know you both are very serious, but…"

Troy shook his head. "We had our first time a few weeks ago, not long after you left for New York. It had nothing to do with your absence."

"No, no, I believe you, Troy. I just…" she sighed deeply. "…she's pregnant. I was… not expecting that."

"Mrs Montez, we were so careful, I guess just… not careful enough. We're working through a plan with my parents, and I know you would want to be a part of that."

"Does she want to go through with it?"

He nodded. "She does."

Mrs Montez groaned softly. "Ohh I wish I could leave, but the company needs me. Troy, I trust you and Gabriella to make the right choice. This is a lesson on a far greater scale. You've skipped ahead in life and now there's a tiny life in your hands."

"Thank you, Mrs Montez."

After he hung up, Troy dropped his head back, letting out all the air in his lungs. Parents knew. That took a weight off his chest… but now there was a new one.

After dinner, Troy invited Chad and Taylor over. "I think it's alright to tell them now that parents are in the know." he said to Gabriella as they washed the dishes. Gabriella handed him another dripping plate, and he dried it and returned it to its home in the cupboard.

"How did my mom take it?" she asked, placing a glass on the counter.

Troy frowned. "She was stern. She knows we're serious, of course, but she said this is something we have to figure out."

Gabriella nodded. "Sounds about right." She sighed and dropped the dish rag. "I wish this could be normal. It's not a scandal, but still… I feel like I can't go to school."

Before Troy could answer, Chad showed up at the back door, letting himself in.

"'Sup, Hoops?" He tossed his basketball to Troy, who caught it neatly with one hand. He whacked his friend with the towel in the other, and the boys promptly began roughing over the ball.

Gabriella laughed.

Taylor appeared at the open back door, giving her friend a hug. "Hey, honey."

Mrs Bolton appeared in the kitchen. "Boys, outside. Take the ball with you."

Troy and Chad disappeared outside onto the basketball court, lit only by the porch lights.

Taylor and Gabriella went into Troy's room and sat on the bed.

Taylor gushed. "Gabriella, you have no idea how badly I want to tell Sharpay about you and Troy."

Gabriella laughed. "I would love to see her face, too. But you're sworn to secrecy!"

"I know! Oh here, I brought some things that need to be done for yearbook." She reached into a bag she had brought and removed two boxes: one with photos and one with scraping pieces.

"Perfect!" Gabriella wiggled with excitement. "This is going to be the best yearbook yet. I'm so glad the senior class is working on it."

They got to work, examining the pictures, laughing over goofy Rocketman mimicking his idol, Troy.

Eventually, Taylor looked up to rest her eyes and noticed a few other photos next to a white envelope on Troy's desk. Black and white photos, spread across the pale envelope.

An ultrasound.

Gabriella noticed her friend's sudden silence and looked up. She followed Taylor's eyes, and saw what she was staring at.

"Gabriella," Taylor asked. "What is that?"

She quickly looked back down at her work.

"Gabriella," Taylor persisted. "What are those pictures on Troy's desk?"

"Ultrasounds," she said softly.

Taylor was quiet.

Ultrasounds

"From… you?"

Gabriella blushed and nodded.

"And… Troy?"

She nodded again.

Taylor covered her mouth in shock. There had been a lot of that recently.

"Gabriella, you're… pregnant?" She jumped up to look at the pictures. Bringing one over to the bed, Taylor examined it closely. "Oh, Gabriella! I… this is the last thing I expected. You and Troy… made that?"

Gabriella huffed a laugh.

"Ohh!" Taylor flung her arms around her friend.

The basketball swished through the hoop, and Chad did a victory lap around the court.

Troy doubled over with laughter. He bounced up and caught the ball midair, proceeding to dribble around his friend. Chad stole it again.

"So, anything new?" he asked, lazily tossing another basket. "Specifically in Casa De Looove?" His tone was teasing.

Troy paused, but said nonchalantly, "Uh, yeah, actually. I have something to show you."

"Wait, you did it again?" Chad froze.

"No!" Troy said defensively.

His friend held up his hands. "Alright, alright. What do you want to show me?"

Troy reached into his back pocket, and held something flat out to his best friend.

Chad dropped the ball, letting it roll away as he took it. Tilting it towards better light, he frowned.

"Dude, this looks like an ultrasound."

Troy nodded.

"What are you trying to say, Troy?"

Troy stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I think you know."

Chad gestured to the house. "You're telling me that Gabriella, adorable, math-crazy, angel-voice Gabriella, is… pregnant?"

Troy nodded.

Chad looked back down at the picture. A half-smile touched his mouth. "Wow," he said quietly.

Troy walked over to look at the picture with his friend. "I thought it looked like it was throwing a basketball. See?" He pointed.

Chad nodded. "Little Wildcat."

Troy glanced at him. "I like that. Little Wildcat."