Okay…The reviews are soo wonderful! Thank you soo very much for all your support. It makes me thrive and want to make my story the best it can be!

So.. at this time the story has 7 reviews for the previous chapter which equals out to be 1750 more words on top of the base 1000! 2750 words!! This is going to be a long chapter for sure!

I have a favor to ask of you all. In your next review answer this question..

Which story should I update next of my other stories? Or do you want something fresh and new??

I'll take in all your thoughts and try to accommodate your wishes ASAP!

CH.9- Laughter For Everyone

EARLY THURSDAY MORNING, Gabi woke up to someone slightly shaking her. She grumbled in protest before slowly opening her eyes. Staring back at her was a very blonde and bright Sharpay, who was wearing a Juicy Contour red jogging outfit with her hair lying neatly on her shoulders.

"Gabs, I need you to come help me. You don't have to dress up or anything…I just need your help." Shar quietly begged, flashing her pleading eyes.

"Sure Shar, just give me a few minutes to get some decent clothes on and I'll be down." Gab sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

"Tay brought over a turkey that she let de-frost overnight, so she'll be downstairs too, just come down whenever." Shar smiled at her friend before quietly exiting out the doorway.

Gabriella threw her legs off the side of the bed and stepped over to sit in front of her vanity. She sighed softly seeing the picture of Troy, Lilly and herself from their first trip to New York.

Only thoughts of Troy ran through her mind as she finished getting herself ready for the day…

WITH TROY

12 O'CLOCK couldn't come fast enough for Troy; that was the time they were planning to leave the hotel and go over to Sharpay's for Thanksgiving dinner. The guys, including himself, had been overly thrilled to hear of this new update, since they had all thought they would be stuck another year eating gross take-out for Thanksgiving, on a plane heading for New York.

His watch read 11:49 when he left his bedroom and walked next door to see Ryan.

He knocked on the door, which was quickly opened to reveal Ryan wearing blue jeans, a long sleeve gray sweatshirt and some Nikes.

"Hey Man! You all set to go see your woman huh?" He laughed at Troy's apple red face before stepping back inside his room. "Let me get my wallet and keys then we'll head on over. That is if Chad isn't still tied to his bed!" They both laughed.

"Hey Ryan…can I ask you a question? You seem like one of my more intelligent friends." He began, seating himself on the end of the king-size bed.

Ry called back from the bathroom, "Glad to hear it bud. What's your problem? I'm all ears!"

"You see….."

"Nieta, would you sit down please? You're making me nervous…" Katie Montez wore a half-amused, half-worried look as she steadily watched the young woman she thought of as her granddaughter anxiously pace the room.

"I'm sorry Abuelita, I'm just so scared that Troy's not going to come or not speak with me because of the other day." Gab had fully informed Katie of everything that had happened during her stay in Phoenix and of her thoughts about Lilly's 'visits' from Lana, who was finally ready to settle Gabi's fear once and for all.

"Gabriella, come sit with me." She patted the space beside her on Shar's couch.

Gabi obeyed, gently taking a seat and angling herself towards her grandmother.

"For many generations in my family there have been certain members who have been blessed with a profound gifts. Many had visions and could see into the future. Many were given the ability to achieve more than most…and select few could see and speak with those no longer with us, better known as angels…" She paused. "I have the gift of visions and have often known what you would be doing before you did it. Lilly's gift is so special and deserves to be acknowledged for the great thing it is. I will talk with Troy and try to explain it to him"

Gab's mouth couldn't have been much wider if it was Niagara Falls, "Why haven't you told me about all this before?"

"I had a vision about telling you in this spot 5 months ago, so I waited to make my vision come true."

Gab nodded her head, "Did Tony have a gift?"

"Just the gift to love with all his heart. I should also tell you that I think Tony would be thrilled that you are happy again." Katie smiled and the two women embraced.

"Now let's go check on Sharpay and make sure she isn't burning our dinner."

30 MINUTES LATER

Knock! Knock!

The door to the 2-story mansion swung open to reveal an aging woman in her early 70's, a huge grin on her face as she greeted all the men on the doorstep.

"Hello there men, I'm Katie Montez, Gabriella's grandmother. Who may you all be?"

Troy spoke up, feeling it was his duty since this was basically Gab's mother, "I'm Troy Bolton, Ms. Montez. This is Chad Danforth, Zeke Baylor, Jason and Kelsi Cross and their two children, Holly and the baby, Rachel." He smiled his 1000-watt smile in hopes of making a great impression.

Everyone said hello and smiled at Katie.

"Well…it's nice to meet you all." She smiled and opened the door up far enough for everyone to flood inside.

"Young Man…" Katie stopped Troy and pulled him beside her. "We need to talk."

LATER THAT EVENING- 5PM

The past few hours every board game, sports channel, old-time movie, chick-flick and worst date in the history of everyone's lives had been played, told or watched.

The large house was full of warm air, yummy scents and overflowing with love and holiday cheer. Gabi and Troy had barely spoken to one another because of all the chaos, so when Gabriella excused herself to upstairs, Troy took this as a great opportunity to have the serious talk he had been hoping to have for some time now.

Stealthily, the young blue-eyed man pounced up the stairs and started looking for open doors or some hint of which room Gabi was in.

The last door on his left was slightly ajar, so he peeped inside to a sight that made his heart squeeze tightly in his chest.

Gabi sat on the end of her bed, tears freely falling down her face and her head turned up to the ceiling, "Why God? Why did you have to make him hate me because of my daughter?! I love him but he hates me now…I mean he's barely even spoken to me yet, much less showing any sign of moving here or marrying me or anything. I just want him to speak to me and to love me. MAKE HIM LOVE ME GOD!" She cried harder and fell down on her bed in the fetal position.

Now…right about now, most people would think Gabriella was an oversensitive drama queen who needed to get her act together. But to those who know her, like Troy, they see the broken woman who's still hurt from the deaths of her parents and husband. She just wants to be loved and know that not all good things come to an end. She needs that love from a man, that Lilly and her friends just can't give her.

So…Troy gingerly pried the door open wider, walked over to the bed and scooped Gabriella up into his arms, "You don't need to ask God to make me love you. I already do." He leaned down and took her lips with his own, proving his love.

He could taste the salty tears and felt the tension melt from her body as he slowly laid her back on the bed.

She pulled away, " Did you hear all of that?" Red, puffy eyes stared back into Troy's crystal lakes.

"Most of it…Gabriella, do you really think that after these few months that I could just hate you? Just because of Lilly?" It stung at his very core, but it was needed question.

She simply nodded and stared at her hands.

"Baby, I love you soo much. I love you, your amazing daughter, your crazy grandmother, your silly two best friends, and everything else in your life. I love how when your happy, you crinkle your nose up and smile, and the way you bite your bottom lip when your nervous or thinking hard. There's nothing about you I don't love and nothing can possibly change my mind." Troy simply smiled at a teary-eyed Gabriella.

"That's one of the sweetest things anyone has ever told me. I love you too…even your goofy macho ways." She giggled.

"Macho eh?" He gave her a mischievous smile before attacking her side, making her squirm and laugh loudly.

"T-TR-ROY!" She screamed and laughed harder, "STOP I-IT!"

He had been laughing along with her, "You have to tell me you'll spend the entire day with me tomorrow!"

"OKAY I WILL!" He stopped and hugged her tightly.

She smiled and pecked his cheek, "Let me fix my make-up and we can go back down. They are probably curious where we are." She hopped up and he stayed seated on the edge of the bed.

"Step 1 Complete, Ms Katie." He whispered to himself.

Once Troy and Gabi returned to the group, it wasn't long before the enormous Thanksgiving dinner was served.

Sharpay, Taylor, Katie, Kelsi, and Gabriella had all come together and prepared a feast fit for royalty.

At one end of the table lay bowls of deep-colored cranberry sauce, tins full of crispy stuffing and rich sweet potatoes. There was fruit salad, pasta salad, potato salad, green salad, even bean salad. In the center was the main prize, the golden-browned cooked-to-perfection turkey in all its glory. You could continue on for miles it seemed with all the food that was prepared on the table.

"Good-Gracious Girls! Are we feeding a nation or what?" Chad called down to all the ladies.

"Oh hush up! You know your soo excited you might wet yourself!" Tay fired back as everyone laughed heartily.

"Okay…so every year for some time now, we've made it a tradition to tell of one great thing that has happened to us before we eat. We'd be overjoyed if you all would join us." Katie explained and looked from face to face.

"We'd be delighted Ms. Katie." Troy stated and saw his friends nod in agreement.

"My birthday party is the greatest thing from this year!" Lilly exclaimed, smiling from her seat between Sharpay and Taylor.

"The greatest thing this year was having Rachel." Kelsi piped up.

"Finally getting my dream sports car" Jason spoke, pecking Kels's cheek.

"Troy saving Lilly from our burning house." Gabriella gazed into Troy's eyes.

"Getting engaged to Chad." Taylor blushed as all the girls screamed,

"WHAT?!"

"10 minutes ago, you missed it!" Tay stated and smiled at all the gaping girls.

"Let's continue then you can tell us the story, Taylor Francesca!" Katie smiled and pointed a finger in her face.

"My new house in Albuquerque." Chad surprised all the occupants of the table, including his new fiancée.

"When did you buy a house?" Tay quickly questioned.

"Earlier this morning, just before we came over here, that's why we were late. I had been out signing the papers." He smiled triumphantly.

Chad and Taylor quickly kissed before the group continued.

"The greatest thing that happened to me this year has got to be signing the papers to open my own restaurant in New York." Zeke laughed as his best friends made google eyes.

"I finished writing my book and it's going to be published next summer, so that has to be the greatest thing for me." Katie's smile radiated across the room.

"I made the winning basket at my district semi-final game!" Holly giggled as she gave her dad a high-five.

"The best thing for me….has to be finally learning how to roll rose pedals!" Shar laughed at the girls inside joke.

"Well…the greatest thing that has happened to me isn't anything you can buy. The greatest thing that has happened to me is Gabriella. I love you, Gabi." He smiled at her tear-filled eyes.

All the women at the table dabbed at their eyes and smiled at the couple, who only had eyes for each other.

"This has been on heck of a session and I don't think we've had more surprises than this year so before we can tell anymore, LETS EAT!" Katie announced, much to the men's delight as everyone started filling their plates and passing dishes around.

MIDNIGHT

Cuddling in front of the blazing fire lay Troy and Gabi plus Chad and Taylor. The two couples were quietly discussing their plans for the next day, or so it seemed.

Sharpay had just sat on the couch when Zeke walked in and sat down beside her.

"That food was amazing. This has got to have been the best Thanksgiving I've has since I was a kid." Zeke smiled over at a blushing Shar.

"Thanks. All the other girls were a big help too, plus Ms. Katie. She was commander-in-chief." They both laughed lightly.

"So, you work with Gabriella and Taylor at the flower shop right?"

She nodded, "It's one of my passions. My main passion is cooking really. I just love to get in the kitchen and experiment, working hard to make the perfect meal, you know?"

"Really? I love to cook myself, that's why I'm trying to open a restaurant so when I retire I'll have a job to occupy my time."

"That's so amazing! What I would give to help run a restaurant or café, just where I could cook and have a great time!" Shar was soo excited to be able to talk with someone who shared her passion.

The pair continued to happily chat for another 10 minutes about their love for cooking.

"Sharpay, what would you say if I offered you a job in New York as co-owner of my new restaurant?" Zeke smiled widely as he spoke, watching as Shar's mouth hung open.

"Omigosh! I don't know! I've never lived outside of Albuquerque and most of my friends and family live here! EEK!"

"Just know the offers always there. In the mean time, how about a date tomorrow at lunch? Maybe a movie too?" He glanced hopefully in her direction.

"I'd love to." She smiled and leaned over, brushing her lips on his cheek.

"Dude…I can't believe your getting married. So, your sure it won't be like before??" Troy quietly questioned his friend as the girls chatted away about weddings.

"Troy, don't talk about it!" Chad scolded, looking over to make sure Tay hadn't heard.

"Wait! You haven't told her about Jasmine? Bad move man, soo very bad." Troy shook his head for effect.

"I will before we get married. I just…I didn't want to ruin what we have, you know?" The newly engaged man gazed lovingly at his new fiancée.

"Okay, just be careful not to screw up and wait too long okay? I don't want anything wrong to happen."

Chad and Troy did their man-shake then scooted over to snuggle with their girls.

Troy lightly kissed Gab's head, "Hey babe…what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Hmmm….well…" She glanced over at Tay. " I was wondering if Tay and Chad could tag along and we could go shopping for their new house and wedding? You see…I'm helping her plan the wedding, basically I'm the wedding planner." She smiled her most convincing smile, hoping he would let her have her way.

"That's fine, but it's just you and me after 5 o'clock alright? I want to go out together and maybe catch a movie or something." Troy inwardly smiled and hoped his plan could continue to work.

"Sounds great! So, are you going to stay here with me tonight?"

He wriggled his eyebrows and smiled, "Well you know I did bring handcuffs…"

"Oh don't think like that you bad man! I just meant to sleep here that way we could get an early start in the morning!" She smacked him lightly on his bicep.

"What about clothes?"
"You have some here that I bought you. They were on sale and I just couldn't pass up the deal." They all laughed at her.

"Underwear?"

"They were on sale too." More laughs from Tay and Chad.

"Socks?"
"Yep…"

"Dang woman, was everything on sale?" Troy smiled a mile wide, laughing as he did so.

"Basically.." They couldn't take it anymore, and all began laughing soo hard they were rolling around on the floor.

A/U: So…What does Shopping+Troyella and Chaylor? It 's CUTENESS! Hehe…

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