Okay, everyone, this is the final chapter of not only this story, but the whole Proposal Series in general. These 3 stories are all I'm doing surrounding the marriage topic... for now. I know a lot of you have asked for me to keep it going into the wedding plans and the ceremony itself, but I don't want to get too far from the realm of reality. I may jinx it and it'll come down on all of yall because you asked me too! Just kidding. In all seriousness, when we find out that Zac and Vanessa are in fact engaged- notice I said 'when' not 'if' because we all know it will happen one day!- I may in fact continue. But for now... I do have quite a few ideas floating around in my head, so I'm not going away for long! Just long enough to get my next story started.
Keep in mind that I don't own any of this.
Chapter 6
When the couple arrived at Zac's house to join his family, they found Dylan in the living room in front of the Xbox, Starla in the kitchen fixing dinner, and David in the kitchen as well, watching the rest of the baseball game on the television that Zac had mounted under the cabinet. Vanessa immediately joined Starla in the kitchen helping with the dinner preparations while Zac mentally struggled with joining his dad watching the game, or his brother playing the game. While both seemed equally enjoyable, he found himself having a hard time deciding and finally started heading into the living room to join his brother after grabbing a beer out of his refrigerator, only to be stopped by the sweetest voice he had ever heard.
"Zac, why don't you sit in here with us?" Vanessa said.
"Um, okay," he said questioningly. "Why?"
"We need to discuss the guest list. This will give us a chance to do so."
He sat down on the stool next to his dad and opened the beer. David immediately grabbed it out of Zac's hands as he was bringing it up to his mouth and took a sip.
"Hey!" Zac protested.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Son. Would you like a beer?" David asked with a smirk.
"Gee, Dad, thanks for asking. I thought I had one!" he said, as he shoved the back of his dad's head. The two men shared a laugh while the ladies shared a look.
"Wow," Vanessa whispered to her future mother-in-law. "Is it always that easy and how long does it last?"
"What's that?" Starla asked.
"I've always heard that the husband automatically turns into a robot and does as his wife says, but I didn't know it would start so soon or that it would be that easy! How long can I expect this to last?"
"You know I can hear you, right?" Zac spoke up.
"I- uh, I- I don't know what you're talking about, Baby," Vanessa stammered, trying to cover up the discussion she was having with her fiancé's mother.
"So, you're not talking about becoming a stereo typical wife who tells her husband what to do and expects him to do it?"
"Son, you might want to stop while you're ahead," David tried to warn his oldest son before his wife spoke up.
"What do you mean by 'stereo typical wife who tells her husband what to do'? Where did you get that idea, Zachary?" she asked, shooting her husband a look while crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"I can't imagine, Dear. Zac, where did you get that idea?" David asked.
"From you," Zac said, fully aware that he was potentially getting his dad in trouble with this little game and enjoying every minute of it.
"Um, Babe, I think you might want to stop. You're getting your dad in trouble over there," Vanessa told Zac.
"Oh, no, Sweetie. Zac's not getting his dad in trouble. David's doing that all on his own," Starla told her. The four of them shared a laugh while Vanessa walked around the island to stand next to Zac, who put his arms around her waist, pulling her close. Starla and David mimicked the actions of the young couple, while they witnessed the sweet look and loving kiss Zac and Vanessa shared with each other.
"Kids, I hate to break the moment, but while dinner's in the oven, now would be a good time to get the guest list done," Starla pointed out.
"You're right, of course," Vanessa said with a sigh. "Come on, Babe. Let's go sit outside. It's a beautiful day." Zac stood up as she pulled him to his feet and followed her outside, but not before hearing his dad's remark before the door closed behind them.
"Vanessa, you might need a bigger leash!" David called out. "Ouch! Starla, what was that for?" he asked as his wife playfully hit him on the arm.
Once in the safety of his backyard, Zac sat down in one of the patio chairs and pulled Vanessa down in his lap. As he picked up the pen she brought out to write the list, Vanessa's mind started to wander.
"Hey, Babe?" she asked after tossing names back and forth for almost ten minutes.
"Hhmm?" he said, he put the pen down and turned his attention to look into her brown eyes.
"Do you think that what your parents were saying is true?"
"What do you mean?"
"Does it seem to you like I tell you what to do? Do I keep you on a leash, as your dad put it?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, I encouraged you to stay in the kitchen when I know you wanted to play Xbox with Dylan and you did. I mentioned that we should come outside and I pulled you up out of your seat, and you came. You didn't do either of those things willingly and I don't want you to feel like I'm telling you what to do and what not."
"Baby, I love you. And believe me, if you're telling me what to do, I'll let you know. I won't let our marriage get to that point and I hope you never feel like I'm controlling you, either. What Mom and Dad were saying in there, they were just teasing. I've watched them for many years, and I've watched your parents for the past few years as well, and in neither of those marriages, are either party controlling the other. It's a partnership, both ways, just like ours will be."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"I love you, too," she told him, as she leaned in for a brief kiss. When they broke apart, she took a deep breath and gestured to the list. "Okay, now the list. Let's get it done before Mom, Dad, and Stella get here. I'm anxious to find out how all that's going with her."
The two of them finished the guest list within fifteen minutes and went back inside, to find that the other three Hudgens has arrived. When Stella spotted Zac and Vanessa, she immediately walked across the room and grabbed hold of Vanessa's left arm, pulling her back out the back door.
"Stella, can I keep my arm at least until the wedding?" Vanessa asked. "I'd like to have a place to put my ring!"
"Sorry," Stella said when the sisters were out of earshot of the adults.
"So? What happened?" Vanessa asked as she took a seat in the same chair that she and Zac had just been sitting in moments earlier and crossed her arms across her chest.
"Well," Stella began, "Mom and Dad sent me out of the room for a few minutes while they discussed what my punishment would be."
"Oooh!" Vanessa exclaimed. "I hate when they do that. It never turns out good."
"When did you discover that? You were always the good one."
"Is that what you think?" When Stella nodded wordlessly, Vanessa continued. "Yeah, well, uh-huh. We'll discuss that later, dear sister. Keep going."
"Oh-kay. Well, anyway, when they called me back in, Dad said that since I had lied, stolen- sort of-, and had a boy in the house, that I would definitely be punished. But then he also said it wouldn't be as bad of a punishment as it would have been had I not been honest with them."
"Yeah, that sounds like Dad. He's a big softie when you're honest. How'd it turn out?"
"I'm grounded," Stella told her sister with a slight pout.
"For how long?" Vanessa asked.
"Two weeks. It would have been a month, but I think Mom reminded him that I was honest and that helped."
"Yeah, Mom always has been the voice of reason. So, grounded for two weeks, huh? What does that entail?"
"No twitter, facebook, or phone without them monitoring and no computer. Dad's taking the computer out of my room when we get home. I can't go anywhere unless it's with one of them or you and Zac."
"Wow, that's kind of harsh. So the first two weeks of your summer are kind of blown, huh?"
"Yeah, well-"
"Hey, ladies?" Dylan said as he stuck his head out the door to catch the attention of the Hudgens sisters.
"Yeah, Dyl?" Vanessa responded.
"I was asked to come and get you two. Apparently they want to talk to all of us, or something. I don't know."
"What happened, Dylan? Halo 3 got too intense for you? Got to make up a family meeting to use as an excuse to not play anymore?" Vanessa teased her almost younger brother-in-law.
"Ha, ha, ha. Yeah, you're funny, Ness. Actually it was your parents who asked me to come and get you. Zac ended up kicking my ass in Halo anyway, so here I am."
"Family meeting?" Stella spoke up. "About what?"
"Hell if I know. I'm just the messenger," he told them as he turned to walk back inside.
"Okay, little sister. Let's go see what all this family meeting business is about," Vanessa told Stella, reaching for her hand and pulling her to her feet, as they followed Dylan back in the house.
The two sisters took a seat next to Zac and Dylan on the couch and Vanessa looked around the room. Vanessa couldn't help but notice the imaginary line separating the Hudgens from the Efrons. David and Starla sat on Zac's recliner in the corner of the room while Greg and Gina were sitting on the loveseat that Vanessa talked Zac into buying not too long ago which sat along the opposite wall. Their four children- teenagers and adults alike- were all sitting on the couch with Stella and Dylan on the outside and Zac and Vanessa in between their siblings. She couldn't help but think towards the future and imagine what the joining of these two families would be like with grandchildren playing on their grandfathers' knees and their grandmothers rocking them in their laps while they slept. Zac reached out to take Vanessa's hand, causing a smile to slowly form on her lips while she pictured the future of the two families.
Her attention was brought back to the present, however, when she heard her father's voice.
"Guys, Gina and I had something brought to our attention today and we wanted to talk to all four of you to see how you all felt about it as well. Well, Dylan, I guess more you than Zac and Vanessa, but we felt like we all should be here."
"What are you talking about, Greg?" Dylan asked, curiously.
"Dylan, Stella pointed out to us that she had been feeling neglected since Zac and Vanessa got engaged," Gina mentioned.
"Son, your mom and I wanted to talk and find out how you were feeling," David spoke up.
"Dude, you left out?" Zac asked, turning to look at his younger brother.
"Nope," Dylan answered. "Are we done?" He made a move to stand but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked back at Zac as he pulled Dylan back down on the couch. "I'm taking that to mean no?"
"I think that'd be a smart assumption," Zac told him. "I mean, look at Mom and Dad. They have that 'serious' look on their faces."
"You mean the same one they have whenever they talk to you and Ness every time you two go on vacation about not coming back pregnant?"
"Dylan, now would be a really good time to stop while you're ahead!" Vanessa spoke up with a deep crimson blush on her cheeks while everyone else in the room chuckled. She felt Zac give her hand a slight squeeze as he let out a smirk.
"In all seriousness, Mom, Dad, what's going on?" Zac asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"Well, Dylan, we need to find out exactly what you are feeling. You say you're not feeling neglected, but what is on your mind?" Starla asked.
Dylan sighed as he began to think. After a moment of thinking, he finally was able to answer his mom's question. "Well, I'm not neglected, but I am feeling something," he admitted.
"What's that?" David asked, encouraging his son to elaborate.
"Smothered." Dylan answered his father with ease, not even having to pause to consider. Upon hearing his brother's confession, Zac couldn't hold in his laughter.
"Dude, I feel ya! I know what you mean!"
"What are you talking about, Zac? You feel smothered?" Starla asked in surprise.
"Well, no, not now. But I did."
"When?" she asked.
"Mom, you smothered me to no end when High School Musical first came out. It was hard for me to even talk on the phone without you needing to know all the details. I don't think you let up until I moved to LA and got my own place."
"And Dylan, you feel smothered now?" she asked again to clarify.
"Stella, you feel ignored?" Dylan asked his counterpart.
"Well, yeah. I even acted out a little bit to get noticed, it had gotten so bad. Now because of the things I did, I'm grounded for two weeks."
"But," Gina cut in, "because we talked about how's she's been feeling and Greg and I are now aware of it, we can also pay more attention to her feelings so it won't happen again."
"Well, Mom," Dylan went on, "it's so bad for me that I'm willing to trade with Stella for her two weeks of being grounded with Greg watching my every move. Mom, I love you, but you've gotta let up a bit!"
"How am I smothering you?" she asked with interest.
"Dylan, is she tracking how long you're on the phone?" Zac asked. When Dylan nodded, he continued. "And who you're talking to all the time?" Another nod from Dylan. "And where you're going and how long you'll be there?" Again, Dylan answered in the affirmative. "Does she keep up with how much gas is in your car and ask where you've been when you need gas sooner than she thinks you should need it?"
"Oh, Zachary! I didn't do that!" Starla said in disbelief.
"Mom, you did," Zac told her causing Starla to gasp.
"I did?" When Zac nodded, she went on. "Dylan? Do I do that stuff to you?" The question caused Dylan to look up from the hands that were resting in his lap and meet his mom's eyes across the room. Seeing the look on her younger son's face, the realization set in. "Oh, sweetie. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I don't know. I guess I just thought it'd pass."
"It won't pass until you move out, little brother," Zac told him with a pat on Dylan's shoulder, causing the Hudgens sisters to share a smirk.
"Dylan, nothing will change unless you talk to your mother and I. If we're doing anything to make you feel that way, you should have spoken up," David told him.
"I know, Dad. I don't know why I didn't. I guess I just got caught up in all of it. Why do you smother me, Mom? I mean, I get that you didn't realize you were, but deep down, you must have some reason. So why?"
Starla was silent for a moment as she pondered Dylan's question. "I don't know, Sweetie. I guess I did it to Zac because I was afraid of losing him as he was growing up and becoming his own person as everything started taking off for him. Now, I see that letting him go was the best thing for him. I don't have to look out for him anymore. He's got someone else to do that for him now." She paused as she shared a look with Vanessa across the room. When she saw Zac lean over to press a gentle kiss to Vanessa's temple and Vanessa smile at him, she herself smiled before continuing. "I guess I do it with you because you're my baby-"
"Mom!" Dylan interrupted, with a slight whine evident in his voice.
"Sorry. You're not my baby. You're my grown up, almost an adult yourself, younger son. I love you very much and I guess I'm just afraid of losing you."
"Mom, you will lose me… someday. But right now, I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere until I have to move into the dorm in August."
"Even then she'll make sure that it's only physically that you're leaving," Zac joked. "Believe me, she'll make sure you stay out of trouble."
"Well, I guess the one thing that we've all learned here today is that the four of us still have children at home. We all need to remember to either pay more attention or ease up on the attention. It was good that we all had the chance to sit and talk this out," David spoke up on behalf of the other three parents. "Dylan, your mom and I love you and Zac very much and yes, while she does have a tendency to smother all three of us-" he was interrupted by a smack to his arm "-Ouch! Okay, she only smothers you two. Sorry, Dear," he said while rubbing his arm, causing the rest of the group to laugh. "Anyway, as I was saying, we love both of you very much and while Zac is about to embark on a new adventure in his life, you are, too, with college. Your mom is just trying to make the most of the time we've got you still at home with us."
"And Stella, your dad and I didn't mean to push you to the side. I guess we just got too excited about Vanessa and Zac's wedding that we got carried away. But that's all going to change. In fact, I think that next weekend we should all three take a road trip to see Nonnie," Gina said. She looked at Greg for confirmation about going to visit his own mother and he nodded.
"I'll give Mom a call here in a bit and make sure she's free next weekend."
"Hey, that's not fair! I want to go to San Diego!" Vanessa whined.
"Baby V, I think this trip needs to be just the three of us, given the recent events," Greg told her.
"Fine," Vanessa huffed, as she fell back against the couch and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Staring at Stella, she scoffed and said "Lucky dog."
"That's right, I am," Stella told her with a smirk on her face.
Vanessa playfully cut her eyes at her sister while Stella gave her the stare down. The two girls stared at each other for a moment before falling into a fit of giggles.
"You deserve some Mom and Dad time," Vanessa told her sister. "Tell Nonnie hey for me and that Zac and I will come down soon."
"I will."
"So we're all good? Everyone in this room okay with everything?" David asked. When he got seven affirmative answers, he continued. "Okay, then, dinner! Let's eat!" As everyone stood up to leave the room, Zac spoke up to get his brother's attention.
"Wait, Dyl, hold on, man. I've got something," Zac said, causing his brother to stop mid stand and sit back down. Taking a deep breath and wiping his palms on his pants, he continued. "Uh, I was, um, kind of thinking and uh, I've got something I want to ask you."
"Okay, yeah. What's up?" Dylan asked.
"You and I have been through a lot growing up. I mean, we've picked on each other and fought all the time, but yet through it all you've been not only my brother, but my best friend as well. I want you beside me when Van and I are married."
Dylan just sat there and stared at his older brother. Finally, he spoke up. "Huh? I don't get it."
"Dude," Zac said, rolling his eyes at his brother, "I'm saying I want you to be my best man. I mean, I would ask Dad but I have a feeling that Mom would need him sitting there beside her during the ceremony. You know, her crying and all that…"
"Really?" Dylan asked, confused. "What do I have to do?"
"Well, the best man usually has to escort the maid of honor down the aisle, keep up with the rings, sign the marriage license as a witness, give a toast at the reception, make sure the rest of the groomsmen know what the hell they're doing-"
"Okay, first of all, how do you know all this and second, does he do anything fun?"
"Well, I know because Van and I talked about who we wanted as best man and maid of honor and looked up what they have to do, and- best part- you're responsible for the bachelor-"
"-Party!" Dylan exclaimed. "Dude! You're awesome!"
"Dylan, you do realize that the bachelor party is not the most important thing you have to do, right?"
The two Efron brothers looked up at the sound of the new voice coming from the doorway of the living room only to see Vanessa standing with a hand on her hip and Stella standing next to her.
"Well, yeah, but it'll be the best part!" he tried to defend himself.
"Okay, I'll give you that, but there are two rules about this bachelor party," she said as the two girls came further into the room, watching as Dylan rolled his eyes.
"Of course there are. What are they?" he asked Vanessa as she sat down next to Zac.
"First of all, it will not be any later than the weekend prior to the wedding so that he can get as drunk as he wants to and still be sober during the ceremony. Second, he will be on time to the ceremony. And sober. He'll be sober."
Dylan stood up off the couch and crossed to the other side of the room as he considered his brother's request. Coming to a stop in front of Stella, he turned to face his brother and took a deep breath as he said, "Yeah, okay, I'll do it. I'll be your best man."
Zac chuckled as he stood from his position on the couch and began walking across the room. Dylan met him halfway and the two gave each other a brotherly hug, complete with a manly pat on the back.
"Okay, you two, that was a nice brother moment. Now let's not ruin it with the tears, okay?" Stella remarked, causing the other three in the room to laugh.
"Alright, my turn," Vanessa said.
"Your turn for what?" Dylan asked.
"My turn to cause my sister to cry. Stella, I want you to be my maid of honor."
"Really?" Stella asked with a gasp and wide eyes.
"Well, actually, more of a junior maid of honor, since you're still kind of young for everything that's asked of the maid of honor, but it's still kind of the same, if that makes sense."
"Nessa, I'd love to!" Stella exclaimed with a bit too much enthusiasm, causing the others in the room to cover their ears.
"Okay, tone it down just a bit before we all go deaf. Now, the reason I mentioned a junior maid of honor is because of all the stuff you'd have to pay for, like the shower, the bachelorette party, and you can't sign the marriage license because you're underage, but I still want you there as a maid of honor."
"That's cool! Who will I be working with?"
"I think I'm going to ask Ashley to be my other maid of honor," Vanessa told Stella, and then scrunched her eyebrows in confusion as a thought occurred to her. "Actually, I guess she'll be matron of honor, wouldn't she, since she's married now? Anyway, I think I'm going to ask her tomorrow when we're at lunch."
"So wait, if I'm supposed to escort the maid of honor down the aisle, who am I escorting?" Dylan asked.
"I don't know, but we have awhile to figure all that out," Vanessa told him.
"So no date yet?" Stella asked.
"No, not yet. I think we're going to wait until after the party to start with the actual plans. One thing at a time, right?" Zac said, giving Vanessa a look.
"Right," she said with determination in her voice. "Our moms are going out of their way to plan this amazing bash and we're going to enjoy it! And then we'll give in to the stress of wedding planning. Oh, and Stella, don't forget..."
"I know. No twitter announcement until you two are ready. Got it."
"Guys, dinner's ready! Come on," Gina's voice called out to them from the kitchen.
Dylan and Stella left the room to join their parents, while Zac looked down at Vanessa.
"Hey," he said, causing her to look up at him.
"Yeah?"
"I love you," he told her. As Vanessa looked up at Zac and blue eyes met brown, she could see their future and all that comes with it hidden within. Their wedding, their honeymoon, the next movie offers that come their way, their future kids… It was all there in the eyes of the man that she loved. The man that she had promised her forever to and who was willing to share it with her.
"I love you, too," she told him as he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. She returned the kiss as she reached her hand up and ran her fingers through his hair. He reluctantly pulled away and joined their hands together.
"We'd better go join our families," he said leading her in the direction of the kitchen. As they walked in the room, they were greeted with the sight of their dads talking sports, their moms talking about the party, and their siblings teasing each other. Taking in the scene before her, Vanessa was grateful at how well their families meshed together as one, since they would be spending many holidays and many family gatherings together for many, many years to come. As a smile gently tugged at her lips at the thought, she pulled herself closer to Zac and he wrapped his arms around her petite waist and hugged her tight, placing a soft kiss to the top of her head. As he noticed the look on her face, he knew exactly what she was thinking, for he was thinking the same thing. Leaning down so he could reach her ear, he shared his thoughts.
"Take it all in, Baby. It's going to be like this for a very, very, very long time."
"For forever," she told him. "Exactly as it should be." They shared a smile and turned their attention back to the excitement of the rest of the people in the kitchen, enjoying every minute of the family festivities… together.