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January 5th, 2028 8:00 am Albuquerque
I quietly packed all of my stuff; all of the scrapbooks, DVDs, and information I had acquired from this trip were packed into the lone suitcase I had brought with me. I quickly looked around the room before heading out the door. I quickly checked out of the hotel before dropping my suitcase and book bag in the back of the car I had rented.
It hit me like a ton of bricks as I drove through Albuquerque that I was really going home to Chicago. I had acquired new information all of the days I had been there and I was suppose to somehow fit that into my old life in Chicago. I didn't know how I was going to do it but I was going to make it all work out.
I pulled into the cemetery and pulled the car to a gentle stop before getting out. I quickly found the tombstone I was looking for and knelt in the dew covered grass. I ran my fingers over the carved granite. I smiled a little before opening my mouth.
"Hey dad, I can say you were right. I did learn tons of things about you and mom; you were also right to tell me that I might not like everything I found out. But I found out, for the most part, who you were as an all around person. I'm heading back to Chicago so I might not come visit for a while. I've got to finish up senior year before I take the basketball world by storm." I paused looking around the near quiet cemetery.
"Which school do I pick? You and mom attended Duke but I semi want to attend UNM just to be closer to my birth family; how do I pick? I've got a little while but I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision." I said quietly as I heard the wind pick up a little.
"I just want to say thank you; you were the main reason why I came to Albuquerque. I still wish I could have met you; I'm working on Gabi, the girls told me to give her time. You two were an amazing couple and I believe you would have still been with your high school sweetheart even to this day. You would have probably had your houseful of kids and your dream job as a Pediatrician as well. You would have made a great father as well as a doctor." I said still touching the stone.
I heard footsteps behind me as I picked up my head and turned around. I smiled a little as I stood up.
"I'm sorry. I'll be done in a few minutes." I said quietly as the lady smiled at me.
"Take your time. I'm not in a huge hurry." The lady told me before starting to walk back to her car.
"You can stay if you like." I told her before turning back to the gravesite.
"All right, dad I'm leaving. You'll be watching me as I know you will. If you have any more surprises, make sure you let me on them. I love you." I said before pressing my fingertips to my mouth before pressing them to the stone.
"Are you his daughter?" The lady asked me as I smiled at her.
"Yeah I am. I'm sorry I don't know you." I told her as she picked her head up and looked at me.
"That would make you my daughter as well." The lady told me as shock covered my face.
"You must be Gabriella then. Tess DeVries." I said holding out my hand as she covered her mouth.
"I am Gabriella. It's nice to see you again. It's been too long." Gabi told me as I smiled.
"It has. I'll let you be but could we meet later?" I asked her as she smiled at me.
"I would like that. How about the bar in an hour?" Gabi asked me as I smiled.
"I think I could do that. We'll talk more then." I told her before leaving the gravesite.
I walked back to the car and got in before watching Gabi knee next to Troy's tombstone. I watched her lean over and kiss it before quietly talking to it.
Gabi's POV
"Wow Troy what a year it's been. And to see Tess again was amazing. I miss you; you know that. My heart is still aching for you. I've let my anger go. Joe's amazing with his understanding of our love and devotion to each other. The kids are great but I bet you all ready knew that. I'm going to need your help in getting to know Tess. I don't even know what her favorite color is. You're my guardian angel Troy." I said quietly.
After all of those years, I couldn't believe he was gone. When you marry your love, you expect that you'll have many, many years together. We only had 3 years together and one year of marriage.
I would have to make it up to Tess. She's mine and Troy's together and I was determined to know her and show her who Troy and I were.
Tess' POV
I drove over to the bar and parked before going in and having a seat. Taylor, Chad, Jack, Carly, and Zeke were all standing at the counter as I walked in.
"You looked troubled." Chad pointed out as I smiled at him.
"Oh I'm troubled all right." I said simply as they all looked at me.
"Do you want to talk about it, Tess?" Jack asked me as I shook my head a little.
"My life just got a little more complicated." I told them as they all continued to stare at me.
"How did that happen? I thought it was all ready complicated." Taylor asked me as I smiled.
"My mom showed up." I told them as they continued to stare at me.
"Your adoptive mother?" Carly asked me as I shook my head at them.
"Oh no, Gabi showed up while I was at the cemetery." I told them as their eyes went wide.
"Wow! I didn't know she was coming into town." Zeke told me as I looked at him.
"I should have figured that she would show up; Troy's death anniversary is in 2 days." I told them.
"Usually she never comes back for that. Maybe someone called her and told her that you were in town?" Chad suggested.
"But everyone knew that I wanted to be the one to call her. I wanted to make the first move." I told them as they nodded.
"But isn't it better that you met her before you go back to Chicago?" Taylor asked me.
"My flight leaves in 7 hours; how much of a conversation am I going to have with Gabi in that short of time?" I asked them.
"You'll be fine, Tess. Are you meeting her somewhere?" Jack asked me as I smiled.
"Yup right here in about 15 minutes." I told them as they all nodded.
"She's a good person, Tess. Just give her a break and you'll learn a lot more than we could ever tell you." Zeke told me.
"Thanks for the advice." I said as the bell rang for the door.
I turned around and saw Gabi strolling into the bar. I got off my bar stool and walked over to her.
"How about we find a quiet area and talk?" Gabi suggested as I smiled.
"I would like that." I told her as we walked over to a vacant area and sat down.
"I'm assuming, just like Troy wrote in his letter, that you've been talking to everyone trying to figure out who Troy and I were, right?" Gabi asked me as we sat down.
"You are correct. When I first came into town, I told no one who I was but soon everyone figured it out. They said that I had your hair and skin color while I had Troy's smile and eyes." I told her.
"They were all right. I knew who you were when I was in here yesterday. You were talking to Kelsi and Jason and I figured it out." Gabi told me.
"You have questions for me, I suppose?" Gabi asked me as I nodded my head a little.
"I know you couldn't look at me after Troy died but why didn't you stay in touch?" I asked her as she looked at me.
"Your adoptive parents stayed in touch with me. They sent me pictures of you as you grew up. I flew out to Chicago a lot to see you perform in plays or watched you play basketball. You had raw talent and your adoptive parents wanted me to see what Troy and I had given up." Gabi told me.
"I wish I knew while I was growing up. It would explain a lot." I told her.
"Troy and I didn't want you to know until you could understand why we did it. We knew any one of our friends would have taken you in but we didn't want you to be forever known as Troy Bolton's daughter or Gabriella Bolton's daughter. You wouldn't have known who we were so we didn't want you to experience the backlash that would have been." Gabi told me.
"So instead, you gave me up to complete strangers who knew nothing about the two of you?" I asked her.
"Exactly. All we told them that Troy had a serious condition and we couldn't handle a newborn." Gabi told me.
"I'm glad you gave me up and into a good home instead of the life you led." I told her.
"I guess everyone told you how I was right after Troy died?" Gabi asked me shaking her head.
"They told me that you tried to commit suicide and you weren't pretty. You drank and didn't feel like living anymore." I told her.
"I was a mess. Think about adding a newborn to that; I would have taken you down with me. That's the main reason your adoptive parents wouldn't let you come back with me. To tell you the truth, it was the best thing they ever did." Gabi told me.
"After Troy died, how did you get to the point you are now?" I asked her.
"It was a lot of the people you've met here that got me to where I am now. Once Troy got bad, we both dropped out of Duke and moved back here. We got a little apartment not far from the hospital. After Troy died, I sold the apartment and moved back in with my mom. She gave me a decision: either I shape up or she was kicking me out. I managed to pull my life together, enroll in college, and started to move on. I dated a little but I was comparing everyone to Troy. He was my first love so everyone told me it was natural." Gabi paused a minute before continuing.
"A piece of my heart died the day Troy did. He was my one; the person I was supposed to grow old with. Ten years ago, I met Joe; he was like Troy but different. I can't really explain it. We married 8 years ago and now have 3 children. Alexandra is 6, Ian is 4, and Maria is a year old." Gabi told me.
"Sounds like you've made a good life for yourself." I told her as she smiled.
"It's been a long road. Now tell me about yourself." Gabi told me.
"I'm graduating in May. Five Division I schools want me to play ball for them. I've got it narrowed down to two. I want to be a physician when I grow up. And I'm just trying to make it as a teenager." I told her smiling.
"Troy wanted to be a Pediatrician. What two schools did you narrow it to?" Gabi asked me.
"University of New Mexico and Duke. Both have great medical schools so I have to make a decision by the end of January." I told her.
"What do you want to be a physician of?" Gabi asked me as I smiled at her.
"Either emergency medicine or family medicine. Both will deal with kids which I like but I don't want to be a Pediatrician." I told her as she nodded.
"Both are great fields. I finally made it as a Pediatric nurse and I've been working at USC's main hospital." Gabi told me.
"I was either going for nursing or a doctor but I decided that being a doctor would be pretty cool." I told her smiling.
"You've got the determination to do it. The world could always use a couple more great doctors." Gabi told me.
"That's what a lot of people have told me. We'll see though." I told her smiling.
"I hope we can stay in contact, Tess." Gabi told me.
"I would like that. I just have a quick question for you. How did Troy incorporate his old life with his new one as an actor?" I asked her.
"He lost a lot of sleep most night. It took a while for people to jump on the Troy Bolton actor's bandwagon. He had to prove that he was a great actor before people accepted him. Why do you ask?" Gabi asked me.
"I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate my old Chicago life with my new Albuquerque life." I told her.
"What you've learned these past few days, are going to change you for the rest of your life. You now have two sets of parents; a couple more aunts and uncles; and four sets of grandparents. You've just got to figure out how to put everything together into a life that you're comfortable with." Gabi told me.
"Do your kids know about me?" I asked her as she slowly nodded her head.
"Alexandra asked me where I was going and I told her. They know that you are their stepsister but they don't know any of the history." Gabi told me.
"Do they know about Troy?" I asked her as she shamefully hung her head.
"Once they get older, Joe and I are going to tell them. We want to be honest with them because I do have pictures of Troy, you and I hanging around the house. Your pictures are on the mantel in our living room." Gabi told me.
"I would like to meet your kids sometime if I could." I told her as she smiled.
"I would like you to meet them too. So now what are you going to do?" Gabi asked me.
"My flight leaves at 4 this afternoon. I'm going back to Chicago to finish out my senior year. I have to make my decision by the end of January about where I'm going to go to college in the fall. Then I'll graduate in May." I told her.
"You've got a couple of busy months ahead. I would like to hear all about it." Gabi told me.
"I've got your email address and I'll make sure I keep in touch." I told her smiling.
"Your adoptive parents did a great job with you. I'm proud of you, Tess Alexis." Gabi told me as I gave her a hug.
"Thank you. Thank you for coming out here and for letting me get to know you a little better." I told her as she smiled.
"It's not a problem." Gabi told me as we both walked over to the counter.
"Did you two have a nice chat?" Jack asked as I took a seat on a vacant barstool.
"We sure did. We got caught up on each other lives." I told them as they all nodded.
"That's good." Carly told us nodding her head and smiling.
"I've got time to kill. What should I do?" I asked them laying my head on the counter.
"You could decide right now what school you're going to." Chad suggested as I picked my head up and looked at him.
"My list of pros and cons are at home." I told him as he shook his head.
"So make a new one." Chad told me as I grinned at him.
"You're not finding out until February 7th. I'm not even telling my best friends." I told them.
"You're a Bolton; you won't keep your secret until February 7th." Zeke told me.
"You guys aren't going to find out." I sung as they all looked at me.
"You sing?" Jack asked me as I slowly started to nod my head.
"I've sang as long as I could remember. Didn't you and Troy use to sing?" I asked Gabi as she smiled.
"We sure did. How about you sing for us?" Gabi asked me as I quickly shook my head.
"How about no." I told them as the all looked at me.
"Come on Tess. Sing something." Chad told me as I glared at him.
"Fine I'll sing something." I said racking my brain for a familiar song.
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird in a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
After I finished I looked at the people that surrounded me. They were all in shocked and I just smiled at them.
"Wow Tess. That was amazing." Jack said as he shook his head.
"Thank you." I said a little embarrassed.
"You are one amazing girl." Chad told me as everyone nodded their heads at me.
"Thank you again." I told them as we fell into another conversation.
I smiled to myself, finally glad with the people I was surrounded by. But the dread fell to the pit of my stomach. I was leaving, possibly forever, a place that held a lot of history for my family. I promised myself that I would be back one day. I even went as far as promising myself that I would reside in Albuquerque one day.
"You listening, Tess?" Chad asked me as I quickly shook myself out of my daydream.
"My ears are fully opened." I told him as he went back to telling his story to Gabi.
I shook my head as he ended it with a corny remark. I wished I could say goodbye to everyone before I flew back to Chicago. Oh well, I've got all of their email addresses so I would have to settle with sending a goodbye electronically. I smiled at Gabi as she continued listening to Chad talking on and on about who knows what.
I decided that I was in a good place with life and my family. Even when I arrived here, I didn't know what I wanted out of the trip but now I'm pretty glad I decided on coming. I got to know my birth parents as well as if I would have grown up with them. I was happy with my life as an adoptive child.
There you guys go. I'll give extra brownie points to anyone who can tell me who Gabi's daughter Alexandra is named after!!!
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