Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. I appreciate it so much. Welcome to the home stretch. Just two more to go after this for book 1.

Sorry, it's Christmas on Labor Day. Costco does have their Christmas decorations already out. I decided it was better to keep with the every three weeks posting schedule than have an extremely long gap between books one and two. Although due to some health issues, there's going to be a slightly longer break than anticipated. I'll have more details about that in the last chapter of the book.

The title for this chapter comes from the John Lennon song Happy Xmas (War is Over). See, I can do song chapter titles not related to LINKIN PARK.

Chapter 75: So, this is Christmas: Part one

"Do we need to go downstairs to unwrap presents this early?" Chad asked as Sharpay pulled him out the door of her bedroom. It was pretty empty outside of her bed and their overnight bag. Most of the things were going into storage or relocating to Kim's guest room. Technically, Sharpay had a room at Vince's apartment downtown, but she didn't want to move there.

"We didn't even get back until like 3 hours ago. There are much better things we can be doing right now." Chad demonstrated this by leaning over to kiss her. As much as she wanted to give in, they had things to do this morning, like opening the mountain of gifts waiting for all of them. She's 99% certain her engagement ring is waiting for her.

"Considering your mom and her boyfriend are next door, none of those things will happen," Sharpay said as she reluctantly pulled away.

"Point."

"Besides, I want to get downstairs before Taylor drinks all the coffee."

"Good point on coffee. It is very needed right now," Chad's point was emphasized with a yawn.

"It's not my fault that a very Sanchez Christmas runs for hours. Only Tiffany and Jackie were allowed to leave early."

"I think they were all delighted that mom and Jack finally got together. Everyone likes him more. They were just enthusiastically welcoming him into the family." Chad explained as he managed to make their way to the kitchen.

"It's not hard to be an upgrade from Charles," Sharpay remarked as she opened the door to the kitchen.

"This is true," Chad added. At that moment, Sharpay realized she should've woken up earlier because her kitchen was already filled with people. Did anyone actually sleep last night? Carolyn made eggs, and Jack took care of the brioche French toast. Everything was prepackaged with easy instructions. Although Sharpay is glad she's not the one attempting to make it.

Ryan was sitting with Jason drinking a cup of hot chocolate. She could smell the rich chocolate beverage from the door. Thankfully Taylor wasn't there yet, so she could still have her coffee.

"Where is my brother?" Chad asked as he sat down next to Ryan.

"Still sleeping in the theater room. When we returned from Christmas decorations sightseeing, everyone decided to have a Christmas movie marathon. However, I know how uncomfortable those chairs are and opted to sleep upstairs in my bed. Unfortunately, I could only carry Jason out of there."

"But at least that means I get to be here for hot chocolate before Taylor drinks all of that, too," Jason remarked.

"Let them sleep. I'm glad we can have a little alone time." Sharpay said, sliding next to her brother on the other side.

"You just don't want to compete with Taylor for the coffee," Ryan remarked.

"She drank the entire pot by herself last time."

"She's not used to French press coffee," Ryan said, defending his girlfriend. Jason was not amused.

"We are taking that to our dorm room, right?" Chad asked.

"Of course we are." At this point, Sharpay doesn't care if it's not on the approved appliance lists.

"The matching pajamas are adorable. You guys are cute." Carolyn said as she placed the eggs in a casserole dish. Sharpay is glad that she noticed that she, Chad, and Ryan were all wearing matching pajamas. Zack and Taylor also had similar. She regrets not picking up any for Jason and Kerri. But she didn't know they were joining until after she lost her credit card privileges.

"Thank you. I always wanted to do this, but Darby said it was ridiculous." Sharpay explained.

"Even though she was actually never here on Christmas morning. She always left for Colorado or somewhere else as soon as the very Lava Springs Christmas gala was over." Ryan added.

"And then dad would go into the office."

"Honestly, I'm still expecting that," Ryan remarked just as Kerri joined the group. "Even if he was here last night for a Muppet Christmas Carol."

"Which is more than my mom did this year," Kerri said sadly as she poured herself a cup of hot cocoa.

"You have us." Sharpay wrapped an arm around Kerri.

"I know, but I'm used to spending Christmas with Jackie," Kerri said sadly. "I was her buffer to keep things from going completely off the rails. Of course, I've only recently found that out because Jason told me."

"I wanted you to have full disclosure this time when I asked you to be my buffer yesterday. You were perfect." Jason said cheerily.

"Because Taylor was texting her therapist the entire time," Kerri remarked, and Ryan just shrugged, which confirmed she was right.

"Good strategy. I'm hoping I don't have to contact Olivia." Sharpay was very worried that was going to happen.

"I'm hopeful that won't happen," Chad said just as the kitchen door opened. That's when her father walked in carrying a giant gift box.

"You're here." Sharpay walked up to her father and hugged him.

"I promised I was gonna be here, and I was going to fulfill that promise," Vince told her.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too," Ryan added.

"Okay, everybody, grab a plate of food and bring it to the dining room. Except for Ryan and Sharpay. Your dad wants to talk to you privately." Everybody quickly cleared the room at Carolyn's words, taking breakfast with them.

"Why do you wanna talk to us?" Sharpay asked. "Is it about Darby? Because I already know that she lit all our things on fire last night."

"Wait, really?" Ryan asked, surprised. "Isn't that against the divorce agreement?"

"Yes, and probably. It's not like Darby actually cares about rules."

"How did you know about that?" Vince asked.

"Chad is still friends with some of the regular wait staff from his time at Lava Springs. They sent him pictures, " Sharpay explained. "She also had the basketball court bulldozed. She's adding a private tennis court."

"Of course, she did that," Ryan said as he finished the hot chocolate in one drink. She wondered if it was spiked with alcohol. That would be useful right now.

"It's fine. Actually, I am planning something similar with this place." Both she and Ryan were surprised by their father's words.

"What?" The twins asked simultaneously.

"You know that we don't actually own this house? The Evans group does."

"That feels like some sort of tax evasion scheme," Sharpay remarked.

"I'm very thankful for it during the divorce since your mom can't touch any of the Evans group assets, although we might have to change the name."

"Despite the fact you were always an Evans," Ryan remarked.

"Nope, we're reclaiming the name Evans for ourselves. She is not taking it from us." Sharpay said forcefully. Darby will never take anything from her again, including her last name. This is her legacy, and Darby will not take that from her.

"Exactly, it's ours now. Why did you ask us to stay back?" Ryan asked.

"I promise it's nothing bad. So you both know everything must be packed or put away by the 27th. There is a reason for that."

"You found a buyer?" Ryan asked.

"We actually did have somebody around Thanksgiving, but it fell through," her father told them.

"Because of the video with Darby?" Sharpay asked.

"Yes. This is why we at the group have decided to take a different approach with this property."

"What approach?" Ryan asked. Sharpay was also curious.

"We're going to tear everything down and start over. This is going to be our new housing development. We're planning to put 7 new houses on the property. It will be its own little cul-de-sac. You each will get one once you are ready. You also get to help with the design." That's when Vince opened the box he was carrying earlier and pulled out concept drawings of the new development. Sharpay instantly fell in love with the house. It was perfect

"I love it." She was already picturing her and Chad living there. Maybe not full time but they would definitely be here during the summer and holidays.

"I did too. Although I hate that the demolition means I'm sending Penelope and Zack back to his apartment for the rest of the break." Ryan lamented.

"I was worried about that as well. Kimberly took care of that. I hate to ruin her Christmas present, but she arranged for him to have an apartment at East Grove. One for himself and one for his former roommates." Vince explained.

"That's the development Sharpay is currently staying in. Please tell me it's one of the renovated units?" Sharpay's unit was a little rough, but the others were nice, and the building had good security.

"Yes. Also, Kim is paying for it. At least for Zack. Although his roommates will pay the same as they were at the other place. I would have taken care of it myself, but that would cause trouble with the NCAA." Vince explained.

"Thank you," Ryan said as he hugged his father.

"It's a two-bedroom, so Penelope can stay over even if technically she'll have to be in the dorms," Vince added.

"I really do appreciate this. I'll go tell Zack now." Ryan said, getting up from the kitchen table.

"Let Kim have her surprise," Sharpay suggested.

"Fine. But I'm still going to drag my boyfriend out of the theater room for breakfast." With that, Ryan was gone, and Sharpay was left alone with her father.

"Thank you. I didn't want to send Penelope back there." Malick was dangerous.

"I'm surprised to see you guys getting along. Especially after I had to put her in a different math class just a couple of months ago for the vodka punch incident." Vince remarked.

"She apologized for that, and I apologized for never reporting Malick to the police." Sharpay really regrets that decision now.

"You could change that. The rape kit exists, and I had a private investigator go through the hotel room after what happened. The statute of limitations hasn't passed yet." Vince told her. She didn't know he had an investigator check out the hotel room.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to face that yet. Maybe Penelope's a braver person than I am." Despite everything that's happened to her over the last few weeks, Penelope wasn't backing down. Sharpay envied her resolve.

"Never say you're not brave. You are."

"I wish I would have told you about Darby earlier. I was just too scared." Sharpay confessed.

"I wish I could have been the person to whom you will feel comfortable telling things. I wish I was around more so I could've seen what was happening in my own house. I'm so sorry for that." Her father apologized.

"I forgive you, though." Sharpay realized that was true. Olivia would be proud.

"I'm glad. Although I feel like I have a lot of making up to do."

"Well, if you want to make things up to me, I have a couple of ideas," Sharpay smirked at her father.

"Yeah, you're not getting your credit card back, at least not until your birthday."

"Which is a few days earlier than I thought, so I'll take it. I'm actually asking for something for Penelope, not me. She needs a new dorm room next semester, and resident's life won't let her move." Sharpay did promise Penelope that she would help with this.

"That is because Malick's Uncle Grant used what happened to get Lisa fired." Sharpay wasn't expecting her father to say that.

"What?"

"He hated her and has been trying to fire her for years. He used his nephew's assault to do it." Vince rolled his eyes as he said assault. It was as if he was putting mental quotation marks around the word.

"Do they know that his nephew got hit in the head with a paperweight because he tried to rape his girlfriend?" Sharpay asked in frustration.

"I think it's best I did not tell you how many people on the board believe dating is consent."

"It is best that I don't know. I would like to get through Christmas without calling Olivia." She would like to not have a Malick flashback this morning.

"I wish I could help you, but Grant Malick is not going to do anything to make Penelope's life easier. The best I can do is make sure Zack has space for her if it becomes too much." Her father explained. That just made Sharpay angry. Maybe she should press charges.

"Would he let her move if he thought it was a punishment?" Sharpay asked as an idea started to form in her head.

"Possibly."

"Make Penelope my new roommate," Sharpay suggested.

"Really?" Her father asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"I'm not sure about that. You've been relatively okay with each other the last few days. However, you've mostly been staying on opposite sides of the room. I really do not want a repeat of the plasma TV incident. With Lisa gone, I don't think I can make it go away again." Her father explained.

"I promise none of us will wreck the dorm. Besides, I mostly stayed with Chad anyway, and she can always crash with Zack at least on the weekends."

"I didn't need to know that."

"Your son has a boyfriend and a girlfriend. You shouldn't be that surprised that I mostly stay with my fiancé. You're the one who's been getting us the idiot's guide to polyamorous relationships. Granted, Ryan is the only one who needs it right now." Sharpay doesn't think she'll need it because she's very possessive, but she's keeping her copy just in case.

"This is true." Her father sighed in exhaustion. "If you can get Amanda and Penelope to sign off on it, I'll take care of it."

"Thank you. I'll talk to Penelope in a few minutes. I'll text Amanda after gifts."

XXXX

A very Bolton family group text from the perspective of Troy's cell phone

Dad: Chad and Sharpay just gave each other their engagement rings. I thought you would want pictures.

Dad: [Image three attached.]

Troy: I saw all the rings earlier, but I'm so glad you sent pictures. They look so happy.

Troy: Kim just started crying. She's super happy.

Aunt Liz: There are so cute. And I see your girlfriend is crying in the background, happy tears or?

Dad: After marriage Boot Camp for the last week and a half, she's less concerned about it. She's accepted that Chad isn't making her mistakes.

Dad: The therapist is also helping.

Troy: Good. Did you get Kim's present yet?

Aunt Liz: I did. I can't believe she bought me a car. Granted, it's just a cute little purple Malibu, but it's nicer than the rust bucket.

Troy: So you can visit more without leaving uncle Kevin without a vehicle. Kim said it was purely selfish on her part.

Aunt Liz: We really do appreciate it, though. Now we can put the car replacement money towards getting a house.

Aunt Liz: What did you get, big brother?

Dad: The deed to the house that I thought I was renting. Troy and Kim, because Kimberly, I know you're reading this over Troy's shoulder, I really appreciated it. But you know it's not necessary.

Troy: This is Kim taking over typing for the moment. It was totally necessary. You gave us unconditional support throughout this fiasco, and we both truly appreciate it. Especially me, who didn't always have the help that they needed. There's not enough money in the world to show how much I appreciate that. This is just a small token of that.

Troy: Besides, you'll make it up in babysitting hours.

Dad: You don't even have to ask.

Aunt Liz: Now I'm sad we couldn't do Christmas altogether. Although I get big brother wanting to be with his girlfriend.

Dad: If it wasn't for Vince, we would have joined everybody in Santa Fe and brought the twins with us. Maybe next year.

Troy: I'm sorry I'm not there either. I'm back. Kim has relinquished control of the phone because she needs to get Alex in his booster seat. We're at the restaurant now for Christmas brunch.

Aunt Liz: I want pictures. I completely understand why you're missing a very Bolton-Burke Christmas. However, we are having the best time without you.

Aunt Liz: Or maybe we're just having the best time without Lucy. I adored David and Chris, along with their spouses. I like Julie a little more now that she's in the middle of a divorce. They are all better when the she-devil is not around.

Dad: We are all seeing that now.

Aunt Liz: Somebody sent Julie a spa gift card for the obligatory post-divorce makeover. There was no card, though. But I passed my thanks on to whoever did so. Mainly because she's taking me with her as her +1. Mrs. Burke received her own spa day.

Dad: I think that was Sharpay before she lost credit card privileges.

Troy: Definitely Sharpay.

Dad: I'm so happy you're having fun without us.

Aunt Liz: I miss you both. Troy, I understand why you're not here. Lucy is a bloodhound, and she would find you if you were anywhere in the state.

Dad: Does she know you're having a family party without her?

Aunt Liz: Nobody's talking to her, and everybody promised not to put anything on Facebook until after. So I think we'll be okay.

Troy: Kim says you should have everybody switch to private or block Lucy.

Aunt Liz: We will all work on that. Some of us have her more blocked than others.

Dad: I thought Kim got everybody new phones and numbers?

Aunt Liz: She did. Unfortunately, that did not help as much as we thought it would. Okay, enough about the ex. Let's talk about the new family. I want details about last night. How did a very Sanchez Christmas Eve go?

Dad: About like usual. However, I no longer have to keep a drunken fight between Carolyn and Charles from breaking out.

Troy: Yeah, that happened a lot.

Aunt Liz: Why didn't they get divorced earlier?

Dad: I'm not even entirely sure. Neither is Carolyn, actually.

Dad: Abuela Sanchez is very sad you're not here with Alex, but understands. She's sending me back with some of your favorites for the freezer. They're waiting for you at Kim's house.

Troy: Bless her.

Dad: Also, you're going to have to have lunch with her when you get back. Although at a restaurant because she's not cooking again until Easter, apparently.

Troy: Will do. Although I think Aunt Claudia also requested a dinner.

Troy: Kim just told me Claudia is cutting her trip to Acapulco short so she can see me before I return to school.

Aunt Liz: You're going to have to visit a lot of family members. Teresa has been showing the baby off to all the Sanchez siblings. The non-horrible ones. Everybody wants to have lunch with you.

Troy: We will. We were planning to go to Santa Fe on the 27th if we could possibly find a house before then, but that's not happening. But we were definitely going to be back by the second. School starts a week later for me, so I can visit people at that time.

Dad: You'll never know. Maybe one will fall right into your lap.

Troy: I gotta go. Lucy is here

Aunt Liz: Wait, what?

Dad: I will call Jen. She has to be violating the bail agreement.

XXXX

"What are you doing here?" Troy asked angrily as Lucy tried to get the server to bring another chair to the table. "That's not necessary she isn't staying," Troy said directly to the waiter.

"That's no way to greet your mother," Lucy said as she approached the table.

"Well, that's good because you're not my mom. You haven't been since you conspired with the other witch to have my son killed." At his words, Troy realized all eyes in the restaurant were on him. Cameras were also coming out. He knows Vanessa isn't the only one filming this.

"I had nothing to do with that. Besides, she was doing you a favor." By her tone alone, Troy knew she actually meant that. He wanted to throw up.

"You need to leave," Kim said directly to Lucy. "Becky, call security now. This woman is not allowed in here."

"Already done, Ms. Bolton."

"I don't listen to you. Troy shouldn't be with someone who is keeping you from your mother. She's splitting this family up." Troy just stared at her for a moment. Seriously what is wrong with Lucy?

"That was you. Kim has nothing to do with my desire for you not to be here. I told you weeks ago that I'm done with you. I mean that. As far as I'm concerned, Carolyn is my mom now. She is a much better person than you, and Alex adores her. Dad did so much better the second time around." Every word was filled with venom.

"So you also went for the younger model. Despite how hard I tried to make that otherwise, you're like your father." She spat out.

"Thank God for that." Troy spat back, "I don't want anything to do with you, and it has nothing to do with Kim. It has everything to do with you. Do you realize what you did? How much you hurt me? You kept the person I love and our child away from me for two years. Please leave." Troy was trying hard not to cry, but a tear was already rolling down his cheek.

"If you care at all about your son, do as he asked. Because if you don't leave right now, I'll call Jen. She's going to call the judge overseeing your case. They're going to find out that you're in California when you're not supposed to leave the state." Kim said calmly. No use for Lucy to know that dad was already taking care of that.

"I can leave if the judge is notified, which I did," Lucy argued.

"We can test that," Vanessa remarked. "I have the phone number for the judge overseeing your case on my cell phone. His assistant used to work for me years ago. I can text her this video." Troy knows Vanessa enough to know she is not bluffing. And if she didn't know the judge, Carolyn probably did.

"Fine, I'm leaving. But this is your last chance. You're really choosing her over me?" Lucy asked, her gaze filled with anger.

"Every single time. By the way, the rest of your family and your moms are partying in Santa Fe without you. Leave Lucy. We are all done with you." Troy said forcefully, trying to keep the tears away.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Bolton?" The manager, Alexander, asked with three security guards with him.

"Yes, please remove her from the premises," Kim said, pointing directly at Lucy. "If she comes back, call the police. Let all the other garden properties in the region know that she's persona non grata. Lucy, I am giving you one more chance for your mother's sake. Come back again, and you will be in jail. Don't mess with my family." With that, the security team led Lucy away. Kim managed to get him upstairs before he started crying. But just barely.

To be continued…