So this will be my second update today, since this is the only thing I don't seem to have complete writer's block with right now. xD I first wanted to start off by saying thank you for all of the reviews and I'm happy that overall all of the chapters are enjoyed. I am having my own movies marathon as I do this at the moment and I'm ending the Simpsons movies shortly. Comedy gold if you ask me. ^^ Anyway I shall move on with these and see when the next time is I can update something else. So, happy reading to all!
Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or the characters from the movie.
Chapter Six Summary: Troy's a little concerned with Timothy. With three sisters and a best friend who's a girl why is he playing with so many dolls and not acting like a little boy? He needs some real advice. Elsewhere, Ryan and Kelsi are back in town; Ryan tries to help Troy along with Chad and Kelsi is having some girl time with her friends.
Chapter Six: Boys Will be Girls?
"No Corrie, don't put that on my Ken doll!" six-year-old Timothy gasped as he grabbed the doll back from one of his younger sisters.
The four-year-old looked at her brother curiously. Shaggy long hair fell into her face and she stared at him with her big brown eyes. "Why not? Is cute." she said.
"But those don't go together!" Tim gasped. "You can't mix a striped green and blue shirt with white and red polka-dotted pants. They clash." He started to remove the outfit until four-year-old Cheryl took the doll from him. "Oh c'mon, mix it up a little huh?" she told him. "And while you're at it put on a cool jester's hat!"
"Are you crazy?" Tim questioned. "Don't do that!" he tried snatching the toy back.
Corrie's twin, Justina, looked up at eight-year-old Gina, their older sister, and blinked her blue eyes with confusion. "Should we go tell Mama and Dada what they're doin?" she asked.
"I dunno. I mean, they're not fighting or anything." Gina observed.
"C'mon, give it back!" Tim repeated as he tried pulling the doll back from Cheryl.
"No way, you gots to share!" she argued, tugging on it.
"Yeah well it's my toy so don't put stuff on it that I don't want on it!" Timothy replied.
Corrie just looked back and forth between her brother and friend as they fought over Ken.
"C'mon, it's my turn!" Cheryl insisted.
Timothy pulled her on top of him as they continued fighting over the doll. "Give it back!"
"You give it!" Cheryl countered as she continued pulling on it, even though they were now rolling all over the floor as they fought over it.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Corrie cheered in between giggles as she watched.
Justina looked up at Gina. Gina replied with a nod. "Ok, now we should tell them." she decided. "Mom! Dad! Auntie! Uncle!" she called as she ran into the other room. Justina stood there confused for a minute with the wavy hair resting on her shoulders. "Wait for me!" she yelled, following her sister.
Troy picked up his head, thinking he heard his girls. "Did you guys hear something?" he asked.
Gabriella shook her head. "No. Why?"
"I thought I heard the kids." Troy said.
Chad chuckled. "Dude, every time you think you hear your kids you sound like it's an international crisis or something."
Troy was about to counter until he saw Gina and Justina run in. "Timmy and Cheryl are fighting over Timmy's Ken doll!" Gina exclaimed as she ran in.
"What are you gonna do?" Justina asked curiously.
The adults exchanged glances. Then the four of them ran into the next room. "What'd I tell you?" Troy asked Chad.
"Ok, ok, I get your point." Chad muttered.
As soon as they made it into the room, the mothers pulled their children off of each other. "What on Earth was going on?" Gabriella gasped as Timothy continued to try and pull Ken away from Cheryl.
"She's stealing my toy!" Tim gasped.
"Am not!" Cheryl argued as she almost had it completely in her grasp.
Taylor glared down at the little girl, "Cheryl Dominique, give Timothy his toy back right now."
"But it was my turn." Cheryl moaned.
"Give it back..." she reprimanded.
Cheryl sighed. No one had a chance when it came to her mother's stare like that. She reluctantly handed it back over to Timothy.
"What were you two doing fighting over a toy?" Gabriella asked, utterly confused. The two happened to be best friends along with Corrie while Justina was closest to Gina. What Gabriella couldn't understand was why they practically tackled each other over it.
"What were you doing fighting over a doll?" Troy gasped.
"My doll!" Timothy corrected.
Troy blinked and turned to Gabriella. "When did he get a doll? What happened to action figures?"
Gabriella bit her tongue as her gaze slowly shifted towards Chad and Taylor.
"Guys..." Troy said sternly, eying his friends.
"Well he might have hinted about it for his birthday last month..." Taylor admitted. "And it was a good deal."
"What's the big deal anyway, dude?" Chad shrugged. "Dylan thought it was a good idea, too. It even came with a little dog action figure thingy that Tim would love just as much."
"I gave it to Corrie..." Timothy admitted.
"I put it in my baby jewelry box!" Corrie cheered, remembering the jewelry box she had gotten as an infant from her grandparents. It was the same one Justina had, except Corrie's was red and Justina's was purple.
"Ok, so then why is Timmy playing with dolls?" Troy gasped.
"He likes them. He and I share toys all the time." Gina said. "And Justy and Corrie love them, too."
"But...but...but...." Troy stammered.
Gabriella bit her bottom lip. She turned to her friends, knowing that this had to be going somewhere. She sent them a pleading glance.
Chad and Taylor both nodded, catching it. "You know, we really should get going anyway." Taylor said quickly. "I just remembered, I told Dylan I'd help him study for midterms."
"Yeah, and I should really..." Chad started, trying to think of a good excuse. And from the raised eyebrows he was getting from everyone else he knew he was stuck. "I'm driving." he finished. He turned around and walked out of the house.
Taylor rolled her eyes and followed Chad out, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone with their kids.
Troy turned to Gabriella as soon as they had a free minute. "Now what is Timmy doing playing with dolls? He is a six-year-old boy. Why isn't he playing with action figures?"
"Troy you worry way too much." Gabriella said. She looked at her four children with confused looks. She slowly put Tim down. "How about you guys go play in your rooms? We need some privacy in here."
Gina nodded, understanding her parents the easiest. "C'mon guys." she said, leading her younger siblings away.
Gabriella turned back to Troy once they were out of earshot. "He has three sisters, Troy. His best friend is a girl. What else do you expect him to play with?"
"Balls. Action figures." Troy shrugged. "Not something girlie like dolls."
"And I'm telling you that it's nothing to worry about." Gabriella assured him. "So maybe Timmy won't be all man like you always said you were. He'll just have a more feminine side to him is all. There's nothing wrong with that. Just because he's a boy doesn't mean he has to be masculine."
"But how's it gonna look around other boys his age or older? They'll get the wrong idea about him." Troy said.
"Let them think what they want." Gabriella replied. "The important thing is that Tim is happy with who he is. And if he's as strong as you are then he won't give into peer pressure easily. So what if he likes more girl stuff than boy stuff? What if he has more girl friends than boy friends? As long as he's happy we're happy." She looked down at her watch. "I have to make a call in to the restaurant, ok?" she asked. "I need to see who can make it in for me tomorrow."
"What's tomorrow?" Troy asked, confused.
"My personal day for the month. Or next couple of months." Gabriella answered. "Kelsi and Ryan are coming in again and you know how long I've been wanting to see Kelsi. We were going to have a girl's day. And it would give the kids more time together. It's a four day weekend for Gina and Timmy, remember? And the twins start preschool in less than a year."
"But Gabs..." Troy started.
"Just relax, ok Troy?" Gabriella sighed. "I'll see you at dinner." She turned around and went up to their bedroom.
Troy just sighed he stayed where he was, running his hand through his hair. There had to be a way to fix thins, he just knew it.
--page break--page break--page break--
Gabriella paced around Sharpay's living room while the other girls were busy conversing. She didn't even know what they were talking about anymore. She was too busy being occupied with other things in her mind. Luckily all of the kids were playing in the other room so there was nothing to worry about.
"Gabriella did you hear us?" Sharpay Baylor asked. She folded her arms and glanced at her friend. "Gabriella!"
Gabriella blinked, snapping out of it. "Huh? What?" she asked, turning to the girls.
"You've been like this all day." Sharpay said. "What is your problem?"
"I don't have one!" Gabriella gasped, taking her question the wrong way.
"What Sharpay means is," Taylor attempted to correct, "you're a little out of it today. Do you have something on your mind?"
"No." Gabriella lied. "I'm fine."
"Well if you were paying attention then you'd know that Kelsi has something important to tell us." Sharpay informed her.
"No guys, it's ok." Kelsi Evans said calmly. "It can wait."
"No it can't." Sharpay said. "Kelsi, as your sister-in-law I am demanding that you tell us what is on your mind this second."
"But Gabriella seems so distracted..." Kelsi started. It wasn't that she had anything against her friends or she was as shy as she used to be. But Kelsi didn't like it when people, especially her friends, made a big deal out of something that anyone hasn't even talked about yet. It didn't seem to help Gabriella and it certainly wasn't helping her.
"No, I'm fine." Gabriella shook her head.
"You don't seem fine to me." Sharpay sang. "Now tell me right now what it going on. And that goes for both of you." she pointed to Gabriella and Kelsi, going back and forth between each one.
"Gabriella can go first, really." Kelsi said.
"No, you should go first." Gabriella replied.
"Somebody go first before I get the urge to check on the kids thinking they'll murder each other somehow." Taylor insisted.
"Oh my God, they're going to kill each other?" Gabriella gasped. She started running into the other room to check on them.
Sharpay folded her arms and glared at Taylor. "Big mouth."
"I meant..." Taylor started, then sighed heavily. "Oh forget it. I'll go get her." She got up off the couch and walked out, but pointed at Kelsi when she reached the doorway. "You are spilling whatever it is you need to as soon as we get back in this room."
Kelsi sighed as her friend walked out. Could she be any more cornered?
"Gabriella what is going on with you?" Taylor questioned as she caught Gabriella staring at the kids in the doorway of the other room.
Gabriella gasped and spun to Taylor. "I'm fine." she said quickly, caught off guard.
"I was being sarcastic about them killing each other." Taylor informed her.
"Ok and who's child started the doll fight first?" Gabriella crossed her arms, recalling the other day.
"Hey, Cheryl got more of Chad's genes than mine." Taylor said defensively. That reminded her.... "Does this have anything to do with what Troy thinks of Timothy?"
"What? No!" Gabriella replied. "Why would you think that?"
"Well you did shoo us out early as soon as Troy got concerned with Timothy's toys. What, does he think that Tim's going to walk the slanted line when he's older?" Taylor asked.
"You can say the g word, Tay." Gabriella rolled her eyes. "And no, I'm sure he doesn't."
"First of all, it's not my fault I'm worried that if I say it then it'll come out the wrong way." she stated. "And second of all, then what is Troy's outtake on it anyway? I'm sure he's told you his thoughts."
"Yeah, that every other boy will pick on Timothy just because he's a little more feminine." Gabriella admitted.
"So what?" Taylor asked. "He's still a child. Not even a preteen. And you know his school doesn't tolerate something like bullying. What happened to being comfortable with who he is?"
"At this rate, Tim might learn it when he's sixteen instead of six." Gabriella sighed. "I'm just worried that Troy's going to pull something on him."
"Ok so then why not talk about it in front of Sharpay and Kelsi?" she asked.
"Because they weren't there when we saw Troy's reaction about Timmy's doll." Gabriella answered. "I'm not sure they'd understand. Besides they don't have children yet, let alone one."
"I say you're worrying too much. It's not like Troy's going to try and get the boys to turn Timothy into a more 'manly' boy than a 'girlie' one." Taylor put a hand on her hip.
Gabriella gulped as she was now left alone. Troy had better not be planning something like that!
--page break--page break--page break--
"Ok guys so really, what do I do?" Troy moaned.
"Aren't you blowing this outta proportion?" Chad asked.
"Throw in something to do with baking and you'd sound like Zeke right now." Troy muttered, thinking of their friend Zeke Baylor who was stuck working double shifts at his bakery and had to cancel with his buds.
Ryan Evans just rubbed his head. "What are you two even talking about?" he asked.
Troy's head snapped to Ryan. This was perfect! This was the kind of advice he was hoping to get! "People accused you of liking guys. How did you handle it?"
"Wait, what?" Ryan blinked. "You don't seriously think I'm like that do you? Last I checked I'm married. With a girl."
"He's got a point." Chad stated.
"That is not the point!" Troy snapped before turning back to Ryan. "So how did you handle it all?"
"Ok you lost me." Ryan said.
"Troy's worried that his only son would rather play with Barbie dolls than Superman action figures." Chad answered with a roll of his eyes.
"What's wrong with that?" Ryan asked. "Doesn't he have three sisters?"
"And a best friend who happens to be a girl." Chad added.
"Right. So what's the problem?" Ryan shrugged.
"Maybe you could tell Timmy how bad it is to act like that." Troy suggested. "That he'll be made fun of and everything."
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what? What does that have to do with anything? Hey I get it if you're worried about his well being and all but you can't change him."
"Well why can't you talk to him then?" Troy asked. "Convince him that it's bad to have a feminine side?"
"But it's ok for him to be less masculine than other men." Ryan said. "I grew up with Sharpay my whole life. And with her in my house sharing practically everything with me you can't blame me for being a little less manly can you? Imagine how Tim would be growing up with three girls who aren't like Sharpay."
"Yeah but..." Troy tried again.
"You're worrying too much." Ryan repeated. "It's nothing to worry about. Just let him develop like all kids. He'll grow up to be a perfectly fine man. And look at it this way, he'll get along with girls so much easier maybe he'll have better luck with girls than you."
Troy couldn't help but chuckle at Ryan's last statement. "Yeah well, we'll see."
Chad just rubbed his chin in confusion. "You didn't share Sharpay's underwear, did you?" he asked Ryan.
--page break--page break--page break--
"Zeke can't you get someone else to cover for you?" Sharpay sighed almost around dinner time as she conversed with her husband over the phone.
"I'm sorry Sharpay, but this is the only five minutes I'll have free for the next few hours." Zeke Baylor apologized. "And you know how crazy it gets around here. Why do you think I asked Dylan to help out over here? Heck, why do you think I keep offering him a job here?"
"Zeke Baylor, you get your butt to our house right now!" Sharpay demanded. "Kelsi has big news to tell us and who knows when we'll get to be like this again."
"You were just told to say that, weren't you?" Zeke guessed.
"Ok, maybe a little." Sharpay admitted sheepishly. "But that still doesn't change things!"
"Look, I'll try and get there as soon as I can, before midnight." Zeke promised. "And I'll try and make up for it another night ok?"
"Ok." Sharpay reluctantly agreed. "But don't come complaining to us if you're left out of the loop because you've got fifty double chocolate chip cream cakes to make."
"Deal." Zeke nodded. "Now put Chad or Taylor on. I'll let them talk to Dylan before it gets so crazy he won't have a chance to tell them he'll be late."
"Alright." Sharpay nodded. "Talk to you tonight, and call me when you leave. Love you."
"Love you too, Shar. Tell everyone I said hi." Zeke replied with a nod. As he handed the phone to Dylan they could both hear Sharpay yelling, "Danforth! Get on this phone now or you're being thrown out the window!" Zeke and Dylan exchanged glances. Zeke gave a single nod. "Try and be out front in five minutes, ok?"
"Yeah." Dylan nodded. "Thanks Zeke."
"Yo Dill, what up?" Chad asked as soon as he got his hands on the phone.
"Sharpay didn't throw you out the window?" Dylan joked.
Chad made a face at the comment. "Ok I am not gonna be the one you talk to when we're out with friends and you're out late." he decided.
"Right..." Dylan said slowly. "I'm just gonna be kinda late tonight. Zeke said he'd drive me home when he closes. He's gonna try to make it out at eleven."
"Alright." Chad nodded. "Don't work too late, ok? You've still gotta clean your room this week."
Dylan sighed. "Mom made you tell me that didn't she?" he asked.
"Yup." Chad nodded.
"And she's standing right behind you right now, isn't she?" Dylan guessed.
Chad looked behind him to see Taylor with her arms folded and listening intently. Chad nodded to himself and turned back to the phone. "How'd you guess?"
"I'll clean it tomorrow." Dylan said. "Let me know how it goes with everyone."
"We will." Chad said. "Try to have fun."
"And don't come home covered in butter again." Taylor added.
"I'll try." Dylan replied. "See you later."
"Later kiddo." Chad replied. He hung up his phone and turned to Taylor. "What's next, you're gonna show up at Zeke's bakery and make sure Dill's still in one piece?" he teased.
"Hey you are not insinuating that I'm embarrassing." Taylor put her hands on her hips.
"Maybe." Chad said innocently as he walked back to the others.
"Oh I'll show him embarrassing." Taylor muttered.
In the meantime, Troy made his way over to Timothy. "Hey Timmy."
Timothy looked up at Troy. "Hi Dad." he greeted.
"Were you playing nice with the girls this time?" Troy asked, getting down to his level.
"Yeah." he nodded. "Corrie and Cheryl didn't try to steal Ken this time."
"Why do you like dolls so much?" Troy wondered.
"Gina and Justy and Corrie and Cheryl play with them all the time." Timothy replied. "Well...mostly Gina and Corrie. But sometimes they let me share them. Besides I only wanted to play with the Ken doll. He looked way cooler."
Troy raised an eyebrow. "Wait...so you only wanted the Ken doll cause he looked cool?"
"Uh-huh." he nodded. "He's tough, too. He gets all the girls. But he can't get em if his clothes don't match."
"You already know what girls like, don't you?" Troy asked.
"Yeah. Cept they could gimme cooties." Tim nodded.
Troy chuckled. So he never had to worry about anything the whole time! He was just being paranoid. "You're gonna do when you get older, you know that?"
Timothy smiled and nodded as though he knew what was going on the whole time. "I know."
"Ok guys, enough with the family moments." Sharpay called throughout the room. "Someone still has an announcement to make." She eyed Kelsi, who had never been that comfortable with declaring something in a large group even with her closest friends.
Kelsi looked around at her friends nervously, who were now all eying her. She gulped, not sure if she should do this now. She walked over to Sharpay and pulled on her arm slightly. "I can't do this." she whispered. "I haven't even told Ryan yet."
"Kelsi, you are going to tell him. You're going to tell everyone." Sharpay whispered back. "Who am I kidding? You're even telling me before I have your head for it! Now start talking!"
Kelsi nodded and took a deep breath. She looked over at Ryan, then walked over to him and took his hands. "Ryan...we're going to have to find a real house to live in soon."
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Am I missing something?" he wondered. "I thought we had all of those plans for traveling and for your music...I was gonna look around for more hats for my online hat store...."
"I think our plans are going to need to be changed a bit." Kelsi admitted. She took a deep breath. "Ryan..." she looked briefly around the room at her friends, "Everyone..." then she turned back to Ryan, "...we're going to be having a baby."
There was complete silence in the room. Everyone was shocked, slowly taking it in. Kelsi became worried for a minute, that no one liked the news. But that didn't last long. The girls let out loud squeals and pulled in Kelsi for a hug.
"Kelsi this is amazing!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I can't believe it! Wait until it gets here!"
"We are so taking you our shopping for baby clothes as soon as you find out what it is." Taylor added eagerly. "We could have a real girl's day out."
"I'm going to be a real aunt! This is so exciting!" Sharpay added.
The men covered their ears at the girls' squeals. "Hey can we have a real manly moment around here before we become girlafied?" Chad joked.
"Oh I'm sorry. We're not embarrassing you, are we?" Taylor asked sarcastically, turning to him with her arms folded.
"Someone's in trouble." Troy chuckled. He gave Kelsi a quick hug. "We're gonna have a future composer around here. How great is that?"
Sharpay walked over to her brother and patted him on the back. "Don't sound so shocked and quiet Ryan. Say something." she urged.
Kelsi reluctantly turned to him, a bit afraid of Ryan's reaction. Besides, it had been about three years since they got married and they both agreed to wait a while before thinking about kids. But did they have enough time?
Ryan took a few deep breaths, almost like he was hyperventilating. "Wait a minute.... So you're saying...that I'm going to...be a dad?" he gasped in between breaths.
Kelsi nodded quietly. "Yes." she admitted quietly.
A smile on Ryan's face grew rapidly. "Kels, that's awesome!" he cheered. He grabbed her and lifted her up, spinning her around. "This is incredible! We're gonna be parents!"
"Wait, so you're not mad?" Kelsi realized as Ryan put her down.
"You kidding?" Ryan exclaimed. "we gotta celebrate! We gotta think names! We gotta go house hunting! What are we waiting for?" He practically started running around the house. "Woo-hoo!" he cheered.
Kelsi couldn't help but laugh. She went back to the girls and hugged them. She started foring Ryan to jump up and down and squeal along with her and Sharpay. While they did that, Gabriella pulled Troy over to the side.
"So how was your guy's day today?" she inquired.
"It was...something." Troy admitted.
"And you didn't try to convince them to help you change Timmy around?" Gabriella asked.
"I almost did. But then I actually talked to Tim tonight." Troy explained. "He actually uses the Ken doll as a kind of role model. And it'll really help him get girls when he's older. Well...impress them, I mean. He's gonna be a real charmer when he grows up."
"So you're not concerned about him being less 'masculine' than most boys?" Gabriella wondered, using air quotes.
"Not as concerned now as I was yesterday." Troy shook his head. "But he is my son. And whatever he grows up to be I'll be happy. No matter what. If he's happy I'm happy."
Gabriella just stared at him for a minute. Then she nodded and smiled. "You're a good father, Troy."
As Troy and Gabriella conversed, Chad walked over to Taylor. "So I think I'm gonna go grab Cheryl so we can head home soon." he said.
Taylor just stared at him and folded her arms. "Oh, so you're not still embarrassed by me?" she inquired coolly.
"Ok every time I say a wrong thing are you gonna hold it against me?" Chad asked.
"Maybe." she shrugged.
"Look I was just kidding around ok? I didn't mean to open my big fat mouth." Chad replied.
"You don't have a fat mouth." Taylor informed him more calmly this time. That made Chad sigh with relief. "Just go make sure she's not causing any trouble ok?"
"Yeah." Chad nodded as she walked away. He headed around the room to search for the kids.
"Hey give it back!" Timothy gasped as he tried grabbing his Ken doll from Cheryl again.
"You had him all day. Is my turn!" Cheryl argued as she tugged on it.
"Whoa whoa hey, break it up!" Chad gasped. "Yo Troy, code kid!" he called across the room.
Troy ran over as if right on cue and picked up Timothy while Chad got a hold of Cheryl. Even as they were lifted up, both children continued fighting over Ken. Corrie laughed and clapped as she watched from the floor. "Lemme play!" she exclaimed as she jumped up, managing to grab one of the doll's legs while the other two pulled on his arms. So now the men were trying to tear apart two children in their arms from a toy and another one was practically hanging from the doll instead of pulling from the floor. Troy and Chad exchanged worried glances, not sure what they could do. How were they supposed to win against three kids? So they did the only thing they could think of.
They called loudly for help and screamed like girls.
Yup so I was doing this almost all day. I started this during the Simpsons movie, then continued during HSM3 while eating white chedder cheese popcorn, then continued while not watching TV, and just finished after dinner. So yup, instead of doing my homework this was how I spent my snow day. ^^ Hey, I'm a procrastinator, what can I say? xD So if we don't get more snow by tomorrow I'll probably be back at school and I'll have to see if I can get in another update or not. Till then, later people!