Boris Yeltsin: Wow, you're a fast reader. I posted the chapter just minutes before you reviewed, lol. Thanks for reviewing. And, ideas are always welcome so whatever ideas you have, please let me know.

othhsmfan: Thanks! Yeah, Zeke's a bit of an ass in this story. We won't really see or hear much of him, except when Sharpay confronts him in prison. I plan on making that chapter ONE of the best, if not the best of all the story.

MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN

CHAPTER 3: TIRADE, TENSION AND TWINS

It had now been three weeks since Elizabeth's death. Troy and Sharpay were still dealing and coping with it, but they were a lot better now than they were before. They both explained to Logan what had happened to Elizabeth, without explicit details. Elizabeth's funeral took place a week and a half ago and Logan's one request was to give his little sister a kiss before she was laid to rest. The whole service was emotional, but for Sharpay, Logan giving such compassion was the biggest turn. Everyone but Troy, Sharpay, and Logan had been cleared from the church so Logan could have his time with Elizabeth. Sharpay couldn't believe how spiritual Logan was, especially since they'd never attended a church service.

Logan talked to Elizabeth for a good fifteen minutes before he finally said, "I know I never said it to you and I was a super rotten big brother, but I really do love you more than all the stars in the sky." That sent Sharpay over the edge. She also broke down when Logan told her that Elizabeth would always be with them because they still have all of her pictures and the home videos. Sharpay cried the hardest at the funeral and especially during Elizabeth's burial because she knew she'd never be able to hold her baby girl again.

They also moved into a new house. It was surprisingly quick to both of them. They put all of Elizabeth's things in storage for more room, although the new house they moved into was two stories with five bedrooms. Sharpay and Troy of course got the master bedroom. Logan's bedroom was two rooms over, and they already had a nursery in between their room and Logan's. Since they didn't know the sex of the new baby, they decided not to paint the room until they found out. Right now, all that's in the nursery is a crib, a changing table, and a dresser. All three could easily be moved to the middle of the spacious room when it came time for painting and decorating.

Today was a better day; however both Sharpay and Troy had a court appearance. Troy tried telling Sharpay it was just because it was something they had to do to be cleared from the suspect list, but Sharpay was completely convinced that it was because they were going to try to twist their questions to make their answers seem like they were admitting to killing their own baby girl.

Right now, Sharpay was on the stand. Troy finished just ten minutes before herself. She was already started to feel emotional, but she was trying not to crack.

"Mrs. Bolton, you said you found the ransom note on the stairs, correct?" Sylvia Benson asked.

"Yes," Sharpay said.

"Did you read the note?"

"Yes."

"What did you do after you read the note?"

"I checked Elizabeth's room and then I went to wake up my husband."

"And did you and your husband check everywhere in the house for Elizabeth?"

"No, not right away."

"Why is that?"

"Troy was trying to get me calmed down."

"Your husband would rather sit with you than search for your missing daughter?"

"I was having an asthma attack."

Sylvia nodded and took a few seconds to gather her next series of questions. "Mrs. Bolton, where is the first place your husband looked for Elizabeth?"

"The basement."

"Why is that?"

"She used to go down there to play."

"Did your husband find Elizabeth in the basement?"

"No."

"Who found her?"

"Troy's best friend."

"Where did he find Elizabeth?"

"In the very back room of the basement."

"Why didn't your husband look in all of the rooms in the basement?"

"Because Elizabeth isn't tall enough to reach the doorknobs."

"Mrs. Bolton, I have an eighteen-month-old son that can reach the doorknob of our front door."

"The knobs are high."

"Approximately in feet, how high are the knobs?"

"Around five feet."

"Why would you have a doorknob almost to the top of the door?"

"So the kids can't open it."

"You didn't think they'd climb something?"

"Like what, the wall? My kids are smart, but they aren't strategic. Neither of them can even play on the monkey bars at school, you think they'd be able to hold their weight climbing up a wall to open a door?"

"Mrs. Bolton, how do we know that you didn't kill your daughter?"

"Objection!" Alison Neilsen snapped.

"On what account, Miss Neilsen?" Judge Thatcher asked.

"They're already accusing the Boltons of killing their daughter, that question was completely irrelevant."

"How is it irrelevant?" Sylvia asked.

"Because there's no proof that they killed her!"

"There's no proof that they didn't, either," Judge Thatcher said. "Sit down, Miss Neilsen. Miss Benson, please repeat your question."

"Mrs. Bolton, how do we know that you didn't kill your daughter?" Sylvia repeated.

Sharpay glared at Sylvia. "Maybe because she was the love of my life? She meant the world to me. Who in their right mind would harm their own child?"

"Maybe you were in your left mind. Did it cross your mind that maybe your husband killed Elizabeth?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because our detective announced that Zeke Baylor confessed to murdering her, but some people are too ignorant to focus on him and the clues that were left behind."

"And, what were those clues?"

"A rope burn."

"A rope burn? That's all?"

"It was made by the same kind of rope he used to strangle my daughter!"

"Enough," Judge Thatcher said. "Benson, get yourself together. I want you back here this Monday. Court adjourned," she said, banging her gavel.

Sharpay let out a small sigh as she sat down on hers and Troy's bed. She ran her hand through her hair and looked at Troy for a few seconds. "That bitch grilled me…" she said, laying down and scooting closer to him.

"She sure seemed to like patronizing you. Maybe she's a lesbian," Troy said, looking at her wardrobe. "Just a t-shirt and panties? My kind of girl."

Sharpay laughed a little. "I just wanna be comfortable. I also wanna feel good. Really good. Would you do the honors?" she asked, kissing his lips.

"Oh, I'd love to. You know I like to make you writhe in the palm of my hand. Literally."

"You just like to get me wet and then make fun of me with river jokes."

Troy laughed and he slid his hand into Sharpay's underwear. He slid his finger over her slowly and grinned when she closed her eyes and buried her face into his chest.

"Mm…" Sharpay moaned. "Stay slow… I want it to last."

"I will. When's your next doctor's appointment?"

"Tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Two… Uhh… Oohh, Baby…"

"Am I making you feel really good?"

"Really, really good."

Troy kissed Sharpay's head and he let his finger circle over her slowly. He felt her center start throbbing and he knew she was getting closer to climaxing.

Sharpay's mouth dropped open a little and she let out a sharp breath, pushing her hips into him a little further. "Oh, god, Troy… Mm…"

"Wow, you must be pretty worked up. It takes you forever to get this far when I'm being rough," Troy said.

"Shut up. Shut up, you're ruining it. Shut up."

Troy laughed a little and he kissed her head. "Want me to go faster?"

"Um… I…" Sharpay stammered, shuddering. "Fuck!" she snapped, reaching her climax. "Oh, god… Mm… Oh my… Troy… Uhh…"

Troy slid his finger over her until she stopped throbbing and he slid his hand out of her underwear. He kissed her head. "Feel better?"

Sharpay breathed unevenly for a few seconds and she nodded. "Yeah… Thank you."

"Anytime."

"Hello, Sharpay. Troy, I see you're not nervous this time. Any chances of passing out, please sit down first," Doctor Casey Kavass said.

"Funny," Troy said. "I'm fine."

"Good. Sharpay, if you'll lay back and lift up your shirt, I'll get the machine ready."

Sharpay lay back on the table. "So, do you think I might be far enough along to know the sex?" she asked, lifting up her shirt.

"You're still flat as a board; I doubt you'll be far enough along," Casey said, turning the ultrasound machine on.

"Well, will you be able to tell exactly how far along I am?"

"Most likely an approximate week. I don't do week, day, hour, minute, second. I'm not that good," she said, squirting gel on Sharpay's stomach.

"Well, you're better than nothing."

"Thank you, that's very sweet," Casey said with a small eye roll.

"Sorry."

Casey slid the ultrasound camera around on Sharpay's stomach for a few seconds. "By the size… I say at least ten weeks. However, you're going to start showing at about twelve or thirteen, they're a little bigger than most."

Sharpay and Troy looked at each other before looking at Casey. "They?" they asked.

"Yeah. You're having twins. Possibly triplets. There's something on baby B that I can't distinguish. It could be a mass, just the way the baby's laying."

"A mass?" Sharpay asked. "Like a tumor?"

"Yes."

"And you're calm about this?"

"Sharpya, you have nothing to worry about. I'm more convinced that it's either triplets or the baby is positioned awkwardly. It's too early to tell. I'll tell you what, I'll schedule an appointment for in three weeks and I should be able to tell by then, okay?" Casey said, turning the machine off.

"Okay…"

"If I thought this were something serious, I'd tell you," she said, wiping the gel off of Sharpay's stomach.

"I know, I just… I already lost one baby, I don't want something wrong with another…" she said, in almost a whisper.

"I'm extremely sorry about Elizabeth. She was such a bright and beautiful little girl."

"Yeah, I know…" she said, sitting up.

"Are you two holding up okay?"

"Somewhat… It's still hard to believe sometimes."

"What about Logan? Is he doing alright?"

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah. He asks a lot of questions, though."

"That must be tough."

"It is some days."

"Well… I'll print these pictures out and I'll give them to you before you leave. It'll take about ten minutes."

"Okay."

Casey left the room and Sharpay looked at Troy with tears in her eyes. "Twins," she whispered. "We're having twins…"

"I heard…" Troy said. "Twice the work."

"Twice the blessing."

Okay, so I have no idea what happens in court with something as serious as a murder and I'm pretty certain that I botched the whole court scene. I realize in the las chapter, Zeke confessed to murdering Elizabeth and I forgot about that until I mentioned him in this one, so hopefully I didn't make it too bad. But, I think the other scenes came out okay. How'd you like that little fiasco in the bedroom with Troy and Sharpay? Oh, and I know there wasn't much description in the story except for the very beginning, but I tried to make it lengthy. It's a little over 2,000 characters so I didn't do too bad. By the way, I'm kind of running out of ideas. I need you guys to throw some ideas my way. I don't want to stay settled on Elizabeth's murder for too long, even though that was the initial idea of the story. I want to veer away from the murder and let everyone (character wise) have somewhat of a normal life centered around themselves and their friends. Of course, every chapter will have Sharpay in it, as she is the main character, so she needs to be contributed into the idea. There's Troy too, but he's been with her for the first three chapters. There's other people to think about as well, like Logan, Troy's parents, Sharpay's parents, Ryan, Kelsi, Taylor, Chad, Gabriella, and there's going to be a chapter (or at least a fraction of a chapter) where Sharpay visits Zeke in prison to grill him. Let me know your ideas.