AN: Apologies on my part. I'll explain more, AFTER you read the chapter. Enjoy. =]

Kelsi shuffled slowly into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, her eyes scanning over the containers of left overs and fresh groceries, but not really looking at them. Her brain felt fuzzy, having a hard time comprehending what her body was doing, and she couldn't seem to force herself to snap out of it. She silently thanked her mother for taking Riley out to the park so that she wouldn't have to see her like this, but didn't know how she would cope once they got back. It was hard enough to convince herself to get out of bed, how much harder to push forward?

Feeling a chill, Kelsi realized she had been frozen in front of the refrigerator door for way too long and closed it with a scoff. Bringing a hand up to her face she shook her head, "Come on Kelsi ol' girl. Gotta stop this moping."

She cringed at the raspiness of her voice and avoided the hall mirror as she passed it. She knew she looked a mess, she felt like a mess and didn't need to remind herself of it. when suddenly a knock came to the door.

With a furrowed brow she glanced at her watch. It was a quarter to ten and her mother hadn't mentioned any guests. For a split second her blood ran cold thinking that it might be Ryan and here she was defenseless and practically the walking dead. But a ringing of the doorbell brought her back to reality and she squared her shoulders, ran a hand through her matted hair and braced herself at the door.

Exhaling air slowly she unlocked the door and pulled it open, her heart stopping at the sight of Derby Evans. "M-Mrs. Evans?"

The older woman smiled sweetly at Kelsi and nodded, "Good morning dear, so good to see you again."

Kelsi stood frozen in place, unsure of what to do and suddenly incredibly self-conscious about the way she was dressed in comparison to Derby Evans' pristine appearance. She knew. She had to know, because the Evans family was not one to be out of the loop, ever, especially with each other.

Kelsi wondered if she would be hanged or burned at the stake for hurting Derby Evans' "Ducky," but the older woman seemed to sense her fear and stepped forward. She gathered Kelsi into her arms and pulled her close, rubbing Kelsi's back until the stiffness in it gave way to collapse. The tears that Kelsi had kept at bay for the better part of the morning began to spill from her as if she were a leaky faucet and Mrs. Evans whispered soothing words to her as she let Kelsi cry into her sweater.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!" She sobbed and Mrs. Evans clicked her tongue.

"Shh, shh, there there my dear. Come now, why don't we go inside? Maybe have some tea?"

Kelsi nodded and turned, leading the way in as Mrs. Evans' followed. She made quick work in the kitchen, boiliing water and pulling out her mother's box of tea bags. She selected a mild Irish Breakfast Tea, and pulled out the milk and sugar to set on the table. She didn't realize how effeciently she was running until she sat down, setting two cups in front of Derby and herself, and noticed the water stain on the older woman's shoulder.

"I..." the tension returned to her shoulders as she stared down at her tea cup, "I'm sorry. I'll get that dry cleaned for you."

A warm hand reached out and pried one of hers away from the other and Kelsi looked up to see Derby Evans offering a sad smile, "It's only a cardigan dear. It'll dry. I came here to deal with much bigger issues. For instance, how are you holding up?"

Kelsi sighed and bit her lip, tears threatening to spill out once more, before she croaked out, "So you know then? He told you?"

Mrs. Evans tilted her head to the side and pulled back, taking a sip from her teacup, "Sharpay did actually. She and Ryan came home very late last night and we were worried when he wouldn't come out of his room for breakfast."

Kelsi shut her eyes and sighed deeply, guilt gnawing at her insides, "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt him, really!" She looked up at Mrs. Evans and leaned forward, "I wanted to tell him, but it just never seemed-and then years went by- and..." she sighed. "He hates me. He hates me and he's going to hate her too."

"Oh, no dear, he could never hate you. And he certainly is not going to hate..." for the first time Derby Evans lost her words and Kelsi looked up to see the hesitation on her face.

"Riley," she supplied, "Her name is Riley."

"Riley..." Mrs. Evans whispered, her face softening at the name, "After her father?"

Kelsi nodded, "A little bit of both of us."

A silence overtook them, both women musing over the image of a dancing, singing, blonde little girl, when Derby spoke once more, "Can I meet her?"

Kelsi's gaze shot up and she nodded without hesitation, "Of course! She's your granddaughter. Oh gosh..." she felt like she had just slapped herself in the face, "I'm so sorry to have kept her from you. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, but it all just-"

"Shh," Derby whispered, taking Kelsi's hand back into hers, "We've lost too many years to the things we should have done or meant to do. Now it's time to move on and make sure there aren't any more lost."

Her words comforted Kelsi to no end, her own hand gripping the older woman's before she sighed. "Thank you for being so kind. I know I don't deserve it. You should be furious with me. I-"

"I will decide with whom I'll be furious," Derby responded, patting Kelsi's hand once more. "And I'm not going to pretend that I wasn't hurt hearing that I had a granddaughter I didn't know about, but..." she sighed and regarded Kelsi with a matronly glance, "I know it must have been difficult for you to go through a pregnancy all by yourself and be a single mother. I also know that not everything is as cut and dry as right and wrong in these kinds of situations..."

Kelsi kept silent as Derby sipped from her teacup once more, then continued, "My children, I know, can be narrow minded at times. They are passionate and fly whole-heartedly into the moment by the whims of their emotions. And I've seen, over the years, how that passion has kept them from the people who love them the way that they need to be loved."

She crossed her legs and set her cup down, "So, while I don't necessarily condone what has transpired, I can understand your hesitation. Ryan is as immaculate as his father was at that age and I would be lying if I said I didn't think, from time to time at your age, that Vance deserved more than me and what I could give him."

Kelsi felt her breath catch in her throat as Derby leaned closer, "I nearly walked away from him too. But I had to learn, mostly on my own, to get out of my own head and stop thinking that I couldn't make that man happy. So, let me tell you what I wish someone had said to me all those years ago. You make my son happy and he could not do better than you."

She reached over and brushed another tear from Kelsi's eye, smiling encouragingly as she leaned into her palm. "I promise Kelsi, if I didn't think so I would definitely not be here telling you to just hold on."

Kelsi nodded and wiped away a few more tears, "Thank you, Mrs. Evans"

Derby shook her head, "Please, call me Derby, you know that. And if you want to thank me, you'll still come to lunch today, up at the house, and bring that beautiful little girl of yours."

Kelsi sighed and felt her heart constrain, despite the fact that Derby Evans had forgiven her, was she really ready to face Ryan?

"Please Kelsi," the older woman, whispered, pulling her attention back, "I want to meet her and so does Vance."

Kelsi sighed and nodded before she could second guess her decision. "Of course," she said, "Of course I will."

"Wow," Martha sighed, staring at the picture in her hand, "she's beautiful."

Ryan felt the sides of his mouth curl up as he reached out for the picture again. Martha handed it to him and he brought it to his face, "She really is." He kept his gaze focused in on Riley, the way her mouth stretched out across her face so big that she had to squint her eyes to fit it. But couldn't help glancing at Kelsi in the picture as well. She was also smiling wide, her eyes sparkling as she posed for the camera, an arm keeping Riley's body close to hers. They were both beautiful. Beautiful and breathtaking and...his.

He shook his head and buried his face into the pillow. No. Kelsi wasn't his anymore. He didn't know if she ever would be again. Not after...

"Ry?"

He sighed and turned his face to look up at Sharpay; his sister regarding him with concern as she sat with her back to his door. "What are you going to do?"

He scoffed and sat up, reaching a hand into his hair to maybe rub some sense into his brain, but it didn't work. He shook his head, "I don't know. I really don't."

"Well," Martha started, leaning her back against his bed, "Do you want to be a part of her life?"

Ryan glanced at her, sucking in a single breath, "Whose? Riley's or Kelsi's?"

Martha scoffed and shook her head, "Same thing," she sighed, resting her head on a fist. "Being a part of one of their lives means being a part of the other's. Unless you want to wait until Riley's eighteen."

Ryan cringed and shook his head before he could overthink it, "No. I don't want to lose anymore time with her."

Martha nodded, "Well, then I guess you're just going to have to reaize that being a part of Riley's life is going to mean being at least on speaking terms with Kelsi."

Ryan huffed and felt his insides turn, the anger that he had towards Kelsi undealt with and difficult to process. "She lied Martha. She kept a daughter from me!"

"Yeah," Martha nodded, "yeah she did. But, to be fair, you abandoned her. You gave her no reason to believe you were coming back."

"I did come back!" He spat out, turning on Martha, who didn't shy away from him, only held his gaze.

"Too late. You came back too late, Ry."

He seemed to deflate, but his conviction was etched into his brow as he muttered, "Still doesn't make it right. She still should have told me."

Martha nodded, "I agree. But what's done is done and now you have decide where to go from here."

Ryan glared at his friend, understanding her words, but, by no means, wanting to relent to her logic. Instead he turned to his sister and tilted his head to the side, "What do you think Shar?"

His sister held his gaze for a while longer than he expected, the gears in her head turning as she brushed her hair back. She sighed, "I think Martha's right Ry. You need to make a choice and...while I think you have every right to be mad at Kelsi, I also think that being mad at her doesn't change the fact that Riley is her daughter too. Kelsi is the only parent Riley has ever known and from the looks of that picture Kelsi has done a really good job with her. Do you really want the first thing your daughter learns from you is to be angry with her mother?"

Ryan sighed deeply and dropped his gaze, letting his mind marinate in his sister's words. She was always one for the dramatics, but if she was calling for a cease fire; for them to act like grown ups, he knew that it was serious. And he knew that she was right.

"You're going to have find a way to get over this Ry. Your daughter deserves to have both of her parents."

He nodded, "Yeah," he sighed, "she does." He stared down at the picture in his hand and traced Riley's face, unsure of why she looked so familiar to him. Was it because she looked like the perfect blend of him and Kelsi? She had his smile, the color of his hair, but it was clearly wavy like Kelsi's. She obviously got her eyesight from her mother, but...there was something else, something nagging at him, like the faint memory of a melody that he couldn't remember the words to.

A knock at the door startled all of them out of their silence and Sharpay quickly stood to open it slightly. "Kids?" It was their dad, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his expression a cautious one, "You missed breakfast and lunch will be served soon. I suggest you all get ready."

Sharpay cast a look at her brother, who held her gaze and turned back, "If you don't mind dad, maybe we could take lunch up here? It's been-"

"We have guests that have just arrived," her father interupted, stepping closer into the doorway and causing Sharpay to open it just a bit more. "I know it's been a tough morning, but your mother invited guests and I think it's best if you all make an appearance."

"Dad," Ryan groaned, "Please. You know-"

"Let me rephrase son," his dad cut in again, more forceful this time, "This is not a request. You are all to make yourself presentable and come down to the family room."

"Dad," Sharpay responded, her face etched in confusion over his insistance, "I think you and mom could grant Ryan a reprieve, don't you think?"

Vance shook his head and sighed, "Fine." He turned on his heel and made to pull the door closed. "But if you want to meet your daughter, she's downstairs," and with that he closed the door. The tension in the room grew thick like a cloud of smoke as Mr. Evans' words resonated. Ryan felt all the air in his lungs leave him as he looked between Sharpay and Martha.

"Did he just-"

"Yeah," Martha responded to Ryan, standing up and smoothing out her dress, "I think he just did."

Ryan felt like he was about to pass out.

AN: So, let me explain. Since my last update...I moved over 7000 miles away from home for a high school teaching job that I ended up losing due to district changes and so for two weeks I was...stuck in limbo. Then, thank the Lord, I found another job at...get this...the local University, the day before school started. Yeah. Strange things are afoot at the circle k my friends haha. So, the past few months have been full of me leaving everything I've ever known, losing control of everything i thought i had control over, then falling neck deep in a new school system, new students (who are all around my age), grading papers, and lesson plans. But, hopefully, some guise of normalcy has come back enough so that I can focus on my writing, especially because I have so much to write about. I've already started on the next chapter, which hopefully I will be able to post sometime in the next few days. Hope you're all still out there. =]

-scribbling wordsmith