Thank you for the reviews so far. It sounds like the first two chapters were well-liked. C= So, here's hoping this next chapter is liked as well. I have a couple of ideas for chapters as far as a few years later goes, but I'm going to see if I can put in another chapter before then, even if everything won't be completely outta order. But nothing's for sure yet, so I'll see what i can work out.
Disclaimer: Do you really think I have enough ca-ching to own HSM? XD
Chapter Three Summary: Everyone is now officially freaking out. Gabriella thinks her worry can now go away, but when everyone is at the hospital to be there for her, will they leave with two new arrivals? (Genre: Family)
Chapter Three: Time
"We're back." Troy said as he stepped into his house with Gabriella behind him.
Chad picked his head up from the Sports Illustrated magazine he was reading as he sat on the couch of their living room. "Hey. How was your night?"
"Great." Troy replied. "The production went off without a hitch."
"And Stella was great, too." Gabriella smiled, referring to her cousin. "She really came a long way since I last heard her sing. She even combined English and Spanish into one song perfectly."
"Well you don't hear that anymore." Chad said as he stood up.
"Where's the kids?" Troy asked.
"Dill's been upstairs watching them almost the entire night." he replied. "All he asked for help with was making dinner and putting Tim to sleep."
"Yeah, he can be a little rowdy sometimes." Troy chuckled. "Any real problems?"
"Almost broke a vase at some point, but no worries." Chad smiled heroically. "I saved the day."
"You saved the day after almost destroying it, you mean." Troy laughed.
Chad just rolled his eyes at his friend.
"What about Gina?" Gabriella wondered. "How was she?"
Chad shrugged. "I think Dylan spent most of the time with her. It's like she was an almost perfect angel?"
Troy raised an eyebrow. "You saying my little girl isn't perfect?" he asked.
"What? No!" Chad gasped. "I'm just saying, except for spilling some dinner on the floor..."
"That explains it." Troy interrupted. "You poisoned it!"
"I did not." Chad replied defensively.
"Uh, yeah you did. What, did you risk killing Tim, too?" Troy questioned.
Gabriella smiled and rolled her eyes at the boys' playful arguing. Sure they sounded like they meant everything, but deep down they were just making jokes. It's what they always did. Silently excusing herself, Gabriella made her way upstairs. She first went into Tim's room to check on him, only to see him sound asleep in his now big boy bed. His crib had to go to one of the twins, even though he was so attached to it. But it also meant one less crib to buy. Of course the only issue was waiting for the twins. And at the rate Gabriella was going, it couldn't be too much longer now. She had been experiencing more contractions each day so the worry she once had for a miscarriage had vanished completely and she knew she had nothing to worry about...especially after one of them gave her a hard kick in the middle of the night.
Gently moving some of Tim's hair out of his face, Gabriella smiled and quietly kissed him good night before going into Gina's room. She leaned up against the doorway and smiled when she saw her four-year-old playing with Dylan.
"Having fun in here?" she asked after a minute.
"Hi Mommy!" Gina exclaimed, running over to her and hugging her leg.
"Hey baby." Gabriella smiled. She would have loved to lean down and pick her daughter up, but that was a little hard to do with such a big stomach. She turned to Dylan after managing to only rub Gina's head. "How were they?"
"I had to ask my dad for help a couple of times." Dylan admitted. "But Gina was amazing tonight. Well...except for when she made me play 'Pretty Pretty Princess' and make me be purple."
Gabriella couldn't help but giggle. "Did you get to wear a wonderful crown, Princess Dylan?"
"Yeah, for a whole hour." he blushed. "She kicked my butt, of course."
"Well thank you for watching her and Timothy." Gabriella smiled.
"No problem." he shook his head. There was no way after he had such a hard time watching his own baby sister that he could watch two slightly older kids on his own. That's why Chad had been somewhere in the house in case Dylan had ever needed any assistance. But hey, at least he didn't have to worry about changing any diapers. Helping Timothy go to the bathroom and give him fresh pull-ups, maybe, but nothing diaper-related.
Dylan took notice of Gabriella's body. "Hey, you're as big as a house." he smiled, referring to her stomach. And he wasn't saying that as a rude comment or anything; he had hoped at least that it sounded more as a compliment and helped Gabriella realize the twins were coming any time now.
Luckily Gabriella was able to tell that from the tone of his voice. "Yeah, I know." she admitted, even though she was still a bit self-conscious about her body. "But it's all for the twins."
"Well at least they're gonna be healthy, right?" Dylan shrugged.
"Right." Gabriella agreed. And she would be the first to notice Dylan's observation skills. Even though he was adopted, he did pick up qualities from both of his parents, similarly to the way Gina had a combination of Troy's athletic skills and Gabriella's brains. Timothy...well they weren't completely sure yet; after all he was only two. It could only make Gabriella wonder what the twins would be like, who they would most take after. She and Troy had so many talks about that, and Gabriella was trying to use her knowledge of dominant and recessive genes to try and figure out what traits they might get from each parent. One could have Troy's blue eyes and the other could have her brown eyes...or were they hazel? Maybe something like that, as Gabriella had never really took it upon herself to worry. They were just eyes, right? Besides Troy's eyes were the only ones that mattered to her.
"Hey Dill, we're leaving!" Chad called from downstairs.
"Coming, Dad." Dylan replied. He turned back to Gabriella. "Good night, Gabriella." he said to her before going downstairs. "Night, Gina."
"Bye bye, Dill!" Gina called happily.
Gabriella smiled at her little girl's reaction. Maybe in a few years Dylan could watch all of her kids by himself. Or maybe to be on the safe side, just two at a time.
Dylan headed downstairs and waited by the front door for Chad. Chad took notice of that and turned to Troy. "See you on Monday, man." he said, knowing that Troy would be leaving his two kids at the daycare center again.
"You got it." Troy agreed, hitting him a high five and then a quick man hug. "And we'll see you soon, ok Dill?" he asked, pointing to the teen.
"Yup." Dylan nodded.
Chad pointed at Troy, his finger poking his chest. "And you make sure to call us when Gabriella pops ok?"
"She is not going to explode, Chad." Troy rolled his eyes.
"He means when it's time." Dylan said.
"Oh..." Troy said slowly. "I knew that."
"Yeah. Sure you did." Chad nodded sarcastically. "See ya later, man." He and Dylan turned and walked out the door, heading out to the car.
Troy closed the door behind them and then headed upstairs. He walked into Gina's room where he saw his two girls. "Need a hand getting her into bed, Gabriella?" he teased slightly with a smile.
Gabriella turned to her husband and giggled. "Yeah, can you please tuck her in?" she asked.
"No problem." Troy agreed. "I'll meet you in the bedroom." He and Gabriella kissed quickly, and then Troy did his thing. He tucked Gina into bed, snuggling her in tight.
"Daddy, read me bedtime story?" she asked hopefully.
Troy chuckled. "Maybe another night, ok G? Mommy and I are a little tired."
"Ok." Gina nodded a bit sadly. She looked down and then right back up at Troy. "Just a quick one?"
"Ok." Troy gave in with a smile. He took a deep breath and then began talking as fast as he could, barely taking any breaths in between words. "Onceuponatimetherewerethreebears whometGoldilocksandshedrankallofhtierporridgeandcrashedinthebaby'sbedandthentheycaughtherinandchased heroutbutthenthebabybearwent afterherandthentheystartedtalkingandmadeanewfriend andtheyalllivedhappilyeveraftertheend."
Gina started laughing. "That was too fast, Daddy. And that's not how the story goes."
Troy blinked. How did she catch all that? Man she really did take after Gabriella!
So he had no choice but to tell her a real quick story...much slower this time.
---
"Troy, Troy wake up!" Gabriella gasped around two a.m.
Troy moaned and turned in his sleep. "Just five more minutes." he moaned.
"No Troy, really. You have to." Gabriella begged.
Troy's eyes slowly fluttered open as he turned to face Gabriella. "What is it?" he yawned.
"It's time." Gabriella replied.
"Time for breakfast?" he asked.
"No." she shook her head.
"Time for a game?"
"No."
"Time to set out fireworks for the forty-ninth of July?"
"There's no such date!"
"Then what?"
"Troy, it's time."
"Time for what?"
"That babies!"
Troy's eyes widened as he sat up right away. "The twins?" he gasped. "Oh crap!" He ran right out of bed and rushed to get everything together. "Are you sure?" he asked as he pulled a bag out of their closet.
"Unless I forgot to go to the bathroom while I was sleeping." Gabriella insisted, referring to the wet bed.
"Ok, ok." Troy replied quickly. "Just start breathing like you did with Gina and Tim and let's get you to the car."
Gabriella nodded and obeyed. "Gina...and Tim..." she said in between breaths.
"Right, we have to get them, too." Troy realized. He made a mad dash to get his two kids out of bed and get them out to the car. Once they were in, he ran back inside to help Gabriella out. That took no more than five minutes and before they knew it, Troy was speeding to the hospital. Forced to stop at a red light shortly after, he quickly dug out his cell phone and put it on speaker, then dialed Chad's number. He would have gone for his parents or Gabriella's mom, but Gabriella's mom was away on business and had no phone service, and Troy's parents were on a plane back from their whatever number honeymoon they were on. Troy then quickly handed the phone to Gina in the back seat. "Hold onto this." he told her.
Gina replied with a nod and did as she was told, trying to stay awake in the middle of all of it.
Troy sped again as soon as the light turned green. And then he heard Chad's sleepy voice answer on the other line.
"What do you want?" he moaned. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Chad...hospital...now!" Troy gasped right away.
"What do we need to go there for?" he yawned.
"The babies are coming, man!" Troy nearly yelled.
"Oh? Is that all?" Chad asked, most likely rubbing his eyes by now. "Oh ok, we'll be there after breakfast...." He stopped in mid sentence. Troy didn't even have time to picture the look Chad must have right now, but if he did he was sure it would be at least wide-eyed with a dropped jaw. "Wait, they're coming now!" he gasped loudly.
"no, they're coming in six months." Troy said sarcastically, now annoyed. "Of course they're coming now!"
"They'll be coming sooner than now if you keep saying that!" Gabriella forced out in between breaths, clutching her stomach.
"Just get to the hospital as soon as you can." Troy told Chad. "Gina, hang up the phone."
"Wait, which..." Chad started to ask, but the click of the phone hanging up cut him off.
"Just a little longer, Gabs." Troy promised as he nearly ran through another red light. "Just keep breathing, we'll get to the hospital in plenty of time. Before you even know it.
---
An hour had passed since they arrived at the hospital and troy was pacing around the waiting room rapidly. Gina was falling in and out of sleep on one of the chairs and Timothy was sound asleep beside her. In that time interval Troy had left a message on his parents' phones - yes both of them - to tell them that the twins were coming and he would call them again (or leave a message again) after they arrived. But for now it was just Troy and his kids waiting on Gabriella. And Troy wasn't about to leave his little ones out in the waiting room alone. He was too nervous to even call anyone else. And he got word from one of the doctors with Gabriella about fifteen minutes ago that she was preparing to go into labor. Troy just hoped it wouldn't be too long.
"Yo, Hoops!" Chad called as he ran into the waiting room with his family by his side. "We're here!"
Troy sighed with relief. Finally, some more encouragement. And company. And people to listen to him as he freaked out. Hey, even though Troy had gone through all this twice already it still hadn't been with twins. In his opinion it was a good reason to be freaking out.
"What took you guys so long?" he gasped.
"One thing at a time." Taylor said, holding up a hand. "First thing's first, how is Gabriella?"
"I think she started labor fifteen minutes ago or something." he told his wife's best friend. "Now what took you to get here so long? Where were you for almost an hour?"
"Traffic." Taylor replied stoically.
Troy sighed heavily and hit his head.
Chad turned to Dylan, who was holding his baby sister. "Dill, go sit down with Gina and Timothy, ok?"
Dylan nodded and went into one of the empty seats.
"How long have you been out here?" Chad asked Troy.
"An hour, how else long would it have been?" Troy shouted.
"Troy, take deep breaths." Taylor ordered. "It's not going to do you or Gabriella any good if you're sitting out here freaking out like a three-year-old."
"Three-year-old." Chad chuckled, picturing Troy freaking out way worse.
Taylor rolled her eyes and turned to Chad. "Like you were any better. You were going so mad, Gabriella thought you were going to hyperventilate and then collapse onto the floor at the first sight of the baby." she informed him.
Chad looked like he was going to slump over at the memory. So he hadn't been much better than Troy was right now.
"So what else am I supposed to do?" Troy interrupted.
"Deep breaths." Taylor repeated. "Breath in, then out."
Troy reluctantly obeyed. "Ok, now what?" he asked after two breaths.
"Now calm down, remind yourself that Gabriella and the twins are ok, and tell us who else you called." Taylor replied.
"Wait, what does that have to do with...?" Troy started, but he stopped when he saw Taylor glare at him and fold her arms. Man, how many people could she bring down with just one stare like that? "I left my parents a message about what was going on. That was it." he answered with a sigh.
"I'll call Ryan and let him know. He should still be in town." Chad said as he took out his cell phone.
"And what am I supposed to do now?" Troy asked.
"Go in and check on Gabriella. We'll keep an eye on your kids." Taylor told him. "And give us an update in no more than fifteen minutes how she's doing."
Troy sighed and ran into the room.
Dylan just shook his head as he watched the whole thing, gently bouncing a slightly awake Cheryl in his arms. "You sounded so much more awake and confident than you did two weeks ago." he observed to his mother.
Taylor just turned to him and shrugged. "Sometimes it has to be done. And at least now we have a good reason to be wide awake and strong."
"Too bad we can't say the same thing for Troy." Dill joked.
---
Fifteen minutes later Troy came rushing back out. "She's still in labor..." he said in between breaths. "Man those babies are stubborn!"
"Dude, it didn't take Gabriella a little over an hour with Gina or Tim." Chad chuckled.
"She was in labor with Gina precisely four hours and thee minutes and with Timothy for only an hour and twenty-six minutes." Taylor calculated, remembering the wait perfectly.
"Not helping." Troy complained. "Did you call anyone?"
"I got a hold of Ryan and Kelsi but they're already outta town. They left yesterday." Chad said. "But wait until you hear how great things are goin with them. See, Kelsi's manager or boss or whatever he's called wanted to know if she and Ryan could-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, tell me about it later." Troy interrupted quickly. "What about Zeke?"
"Tried him, but he didn't give me the chance to say anything. He said not to disturb him." Chad answered.
"What, he and Sharpay busy making a baby of their own?" Troy asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, like Sharpay would really wanna carry a baby around in her belly." Chad laughed. "She thinks she'd look like the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons if she did."
"When did she say that?" Dylan asked curiously.
"She didn't." Troy knew right away. "What about Stella?"
"Oh shoot!" Chad gasped, pulling out his cell phone to call her. At least one other family member had to be there for Troy and Gabriella besides their kids, especially since their parents couldn't. But hey, who would have thought the time would come when they weren't nearby? Chad quickly dialed the number, needing to remember it after the first two times they went through this.
After about three rings, he heard Stella pick up. "Hola." she greeted.
"Stel, get to the hospital now!" Chad said right away.
"Is my cousin in there?" she asked quickly.
"No, Madonna had to be rushed here and we're all taking pictures of a large gash in her head." Chad said sarcastically. "Of course Gabriella's in here! She's in labor."
"Ok, I'll be there in a half hour tops." Stella promised.
Troy's eyes widened as he faintly heard her from the phone. "What does she mean a half hour?" he gasped.
"You forgot to apply time for traffic and parking." Dylan stated simply.
"Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious." Troy muttered.
Chad rolled his eyes as he finished up with Stella and hung up. "Just chill out man, would ya?" he asked. "Looks just go back into there to Gabriella, alright? Come back out in another fifteen minutes."
"Let me know if you hear from anyone else!" Troy called as he ran back into the room.
---
Troy was back in the waiting room a couple of hours later pacing around back and forth. Gina and Timothy were both asleep now. Dylan only woke up once to go to the bathroom and now he was just shifting in his sea to try and get comfortable. Taylor had taken Cheryl from him a while ago and was now resting her head on Chad's shoulder. Chad's head would shift up every time Troy would rush back in, which was every fifteen minutes until Stella shooed him out so she could take over. She really was not the same naive girl they remembered her being when she was in high school. Ok so maybe she was still a bit naive, but she was a bit more assertive than she used to be.
"Can I go in yet?" Troy asked Stella as soon as she came out for an update.
Stella sighed and pushed some hair out of her face. "She's still in labor, Troy. You have to wait a little longer. I just came out to give you guys an update."
"Some update." Troy muttered, slumping in his seat.
"Troy don't be so moody." Stella shook her head. "Imagine how Gabriella is right now actually going through it. Think about that." she turned around and walked back into the room.
Chad let out a small whistle. "Harsh, man."
"Not helping." Troy muttered again. "Can I have a time check?"
Chad glanced at his watch, "Four-o-five a.m."
Troy moaned and rubbed his forehead. "How much longer?"
"Troy it takes time." Taylor yawned. "Just relax and keep telling yourself that when this is all over you'll have two beautiful babies."
"Yeah but-" Troy started. He was interrupted when Stella ran back out.
"Troy get in here!" she gasped. "The first one's coming!"
The three adults gasped and rose to their feet. "What?" they gasped simultaneously.
"First. Baby. Coming. Now." Stella repeated, emphasizing each word.
Troy's mouth dropped open and he nearly keeled over. Chad caught this and got Troy back to his feet. "Dude what are you doing still standing out here? Get in there!" he urged.
"Right, right." Troy nodded quickly. He ran back into the room.
Stella bit her tongue as she watched Troy run in. "Hopefully it won't be too much longer now." she said quietly.
But it was easier said than done. There was more waiting and it wasn't going any quicker. The time was checked constantly, pacing around the room became constant, the kids would be begging for their parents the second they woke up. No one was even looking at the time when Troy came rushing back out.
"What's going on?" Stella asked right away. "How are they?"
"Stel, I need some backup. Tay, you too." Troy said right away. "Gabs needs more encouragement. The first one's almost out but the second one's too close behind it."
"What?" Taylor blinked.
"I don't know, I kinda lost focus after they said to get more backup. Can you two just get back there?" Troy replied.
"Stand by for extra backup." Stella told him as she ran in.
Taylor handed Cheryl over to Chad and followed Stella in.
Troy started pacing around again and Chad tried to follow him to calm him down. "Dude, relax." he said. "They're gonna make it out."
"Yeah well you don't see the hectic stuff going on in there." Troy replied. "It wasn't this crazy with Gina or Timothy."
"And you think I wasn't freaking out when Taylor went through this?" Chad asked doubtfully. "I was scared outta my mind."
"Which explains why you were acting like a two-year-old at the time." Troy rolled his eyes.
"Not the point." Chad said. He grabbed Troy's shoulder to get him to hold still. "Look I know what it's like to freak out about both sides. I was going back and forth between waiting and watching and the entire time I was hoping that they'd both make it out ok. I didn't wanna lose Cheryl and I certainly didn't wanna lose Tay. And look what happened. One healthy baby and now...well, a really tired mother...but they both made it out in one piece and ended up just fine. So what makes you think that Gabriella can't make it through that way, too?"
"Because this is twins we're talking about!" Troy yelled.
"Ok dude, just relax!" Chad insisted. "Everything's gonna turn out fine. Just keep thinking positive."
Gina slowly walked over to Troy. She tugged on his pants leg. "When are they coming out?" she asked sleepily.
Troy looked down at her, "Just a little longer. Promise."
---
"It's a girl!" Taylor exclaimed as she ran back into the room.
Troy jumped up right away. "The first one came?" he gasped.
"The second one is on its way." Taylor replied.
"Did they have to do a C-section?" Troy asked worriedly.
Taylor tilted her head and she poked Troy in the chest seriously. "You can have an incredibly stubborn woman sometimes, Troy Bolton."
Chad chuckled. "Someone's getting scolded."
Taylor shifted her body and folded her arms. "And you can really know how to open your big fat mouth." she told Chad.
Moments later Stella ran out of the room. "Troy you have a beautiful set of twins!" she grinned widely.
Troy spun to her. "And what do we have?"
"A girl." Stella smiled. "My new cousins are girls!"
Troy's smile grew bigger. He stood in that position being completely caught off guard. "I gotta go see them. And Gabriella!" He ran into the delivery room to see his girls.
Stella blinked as she saw him rush in. "Didn't expect that reaction." she shrugged as she walked over to Timothy to wake him up and tell him.
Chad and Taylor raised an eyebrow as they exchanged glances. "Well he seemed happy." he observed.
"Yeah. That's an understatement." Taylor nodded as she took Cheryl from Chad.
"When do we get to see the babies?" Gina asked.
"Hopefully as soon as Troy realizes he ditched us." Chad muttered, which offered him a slap on the arm.
---
By six a.m. everyone was in the room eying Gabriella holding the new babies. They had already left a message for Troy's parents and called Kelsi and Ryan again. The couple were overjoyed and insisted on seeing pictures of the kids as soon as possible and of course promised to try and visit again the next chance they got.
"They really are something, Gabs." Troy smiled, admiring the two new additions to the family.
Gabriella smiled and looked down at Gina and Timothy. "What do you two think?"
"They're so cute!" Gina cooed. "Can I hold one?"
"How about tomorrow, when you're more awake?" Gabriella suggested.
Gina nodded and looked at her brother. "Names?" he asked.
"Yeah dude, share the names." Chad said. "You can't not name your own kids."
"Yeah, you made a whole list of names, didn't you?" Stella asked. "Did you make any decisions?"
"Well we did talk a little." Troy admitted. "We wanted to name at least one of them after Jason."
"That's so beautiful." Chad said in a sappy voice.
Taylor rolled her eyes and smacked him playfully in the chest. "I think that would make Jason very happy." she said loyally.
"Now stop keeping us in suspense and tell us the names." Stella said eagerly. "What are you gonna call them? Can we help think of names if you don't have any, even a middle name?"
"Whoa whoa whoa, one thing at a time." Troy chuckled. "Gabriella and I had a lot of talks about names. And we decided to name the other one after Gabriella's father." He held up one of the babies, who was just slightly smaller than the first. "This is the younger one. We decided on Corrie. Corrie Abigail Bolton."
"You do know that spells c-a-b, right?" Chad asked, raising an eyebrow.
Stella raised an eyebrow at him and Dylan and Taylor both hit their foreheads simultaneously.
Gabriella shook her head, moving onto the first born. "And the older one is Justina Lauren Bolton." she said. She looked down at her first two children. "And they're your new sisters.
"I love them." Gina exclaimed.
Chad turned to Troy. "So what do you think, dude? Were they worth the wait?"
Troy smiled and glanced down at Gabriella. The pair exchanged smiles and Gabriella nodded. "Yeah." she nodded. "Yeah they were."
Well that took almost all day to write. I was watching TV as I typed pretty much all of it. I was totally winging it, trying to figure out if Troy and Gabriella should have two boys, two girls, or a girl and a boy. I randomly decided. So, it was mainly a T&G chapter I guess, but hey I said that all chapters would have C&T somewhere...even if it is just Taylor hitting Chad for having a big fat mouth. xD What? I thought it'd be funny. Well, that or Troy freaking out. o_0 So, I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to update anything else today but I'll see before I leave for work in...about two hours. So I will leave it at this for now and leave you guys to any other reading you wanna do. ^^