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I'm going to try my best to write longer chapters but I can't promise they will be!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize…
Half an hour later, the 'family' was sitting in the dining room, devouring their pancakes. Ella took a bite of her syrup drenched pancakes and sighed. "These are yummy!" she said after she finished swallowing. Troy mumbled an agreement as Sharpay rolled her eyes.
"You two and your appetites." She sighed teasingly, taking a bite of her own breakfast.
"I'm a growing man!" Troy exclaimed, shoving another forkful of pancake in his mouth.
Ella giggled and copied her father. "And I'm a growing girl!" Troy and Ella high-fived, knowing they beat out Sharpay.
"And you were pouting earlier that you were getting ganged up on." Sharpay teased, taking a sip of her orange juice. She turned to Ella and smiled. "You're a daddy's girl you know that?" she questioned, winking at her. "Use that to your advantage.
Ella looked at her questioningly, not knowing what Sharpay was telling her. Ella shrugged her shoulders and dug back into her pancakes. The adults laughed and watched as she reached for another pancake and in the process, her shirt landed right on her syrup covered plate. She sat back down and placed the pancake on her plate, not realizing her sticky shirt.
Sharpay stood up and kneeled in front of Ella. "Sweetie look at your shirt."
Ella stopped what she was doing and looked at her shirt. She gasped and looked back up at her mother. "Mommy! I didn't even notice!" she giggled, wiping her hand on her shirt.
Sharpay grabbed her hand and held back a laugh. "Now your hand is all sticky! Let's go change your shirt."
Ella nodded her head and jumped off of her chair. She started running to her room before running back into the dining room and asking, "Daddy will you still be here when I come back?" she asked
Troy chuckled and nodded his head. "Of course I will!" he smiled and she ran over to him and kissed his cheek.
"Okie dokie! I'll be right back then!" She left the room quickly
Sharpay turned to Troy and giggled. "I'll be right back. Help yourself to anything you want." She smiled and left in the same direction Ella did minutes before.
Troy decided to start cleaning up instead of just sitting there. He chuckled at the mess that Ella had made before picking up all of the plates and bringing them to the kitchen sink. He grabbed the wash cloth and wiped down the table, picking up all of the crumbs that Ella left behind on the table.
He heard some giggling from the hallway and laughed as Ella ran into the room with no shirt on, laughing as she ran around the table. Sharpay ran into the room with another shirt in hand for Ella. She blew her bangs out of her face and huffed. Ella hid behind Troy's legs, peeking at her mom.
"Need help?" Troy joked, picking up Ella and kissing her head. Ella laughed, waving at Sharpay, and hiding her face in Troy's shoulder.
"Ella Alexis Evans you do not run away from me when I'm trying to get you dressed, do you hear me?" she said sternly, walking over to the two.
"Yes mama. I'm sorry." Ella said quietly, holding her arms out for Sharpay to pick her up. Sharpay took her from Troy's arms and sat her on the dining room table. She was able to put the shirt on Ella and kissed her forehead afterward.
Sharpay smiled. "I love you Care Bear."
"Love you mama." Sharpay picked Ella up and sat her on the floor. Ella immediately went to Troy and pulled on his pants, like earlier that morning. He picked her up and set her on his hip. "I'm not sticky anymore!" she exclaimed.
Sharpay rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, and finished wiping the table down just as the doorbell rang. Troy and Ella, since he was holding Ella, went to answer the door while Sharpay went to clean up the kitchen. "Its Crazy hair!" she heard Ella scream. Sharpay decided it would be nice to go and greet Chad, even if she wasn't so fond of him. She walked into the living room, where they had moved to, and leaned against the door frame. "Good morning Danforth."
"Evans." He nodded to her.
"You take care of my baby girl you hear me Danforth? If you even hurt a hair on her head, you are never going to have kids the natural way with the hard kick to the groin I'm going to give you. You hear me?" she hissed, eyes glared and jabbing a finger in his chest.
He nodded his head, face pale, and rubbed his chest from where her finger jabbed him. "Got it." He squeaked out
Sharpay's face softened and her face broke out into a smile. "Great. Glad we're on the same page."
Troy chuckled after glancing at his friends' pale face. "He'll do just fine Shar." He encouraged.
She ignored Troy and grabbed Ella from his arms. She looked Ella in the eye. "If anything happens, call the house ok?" she asked Ella, who nodded her head.
"555-7831." Ella recited, smiling proudly when she finished.
Chad and Troy rolled their eyes. Chad walked over and grabbed Ella. "Everything will be just fine Evans." He rolled his eyes again as Sharpay scoffed. "Right Ella?" he asked, which Ella nodded her head to.
"It better be." Sharpay muttered. "I'll see you later Ella. I love you." She kissed Ella's forehead followed by Troy.
"I love you guys too!" Ella exclaimed as Chad walked to the door with her in his arms. She blew them kisses as she finally left the apartment with Chad. Sharpay whipped her head around to face Troy and glared at him. "We couldn't just let Ryan watch her now could we?" she asked angrily as she walked into the kitchen.
Troy followed her with an eye roll. "She'll be fine Shar. You just worry too much."
"That's my little girl Bolton, not just some other girl." She hissed, furiously wiping the counters.
"Hey, she's my little girl too you know. Can't you just trust me on this?" he asked, sitting on one of the stools.
"Last time you said that I ended up in your bed and pregnant." She mumbled, leaving the room towards her bedroom.
Troy gasped and was quick to follow her. "That was uncalled for Sharpay. We were both drunk and you know that. Do not make this my fault." He yelled, grabbing her arm and forcefully turned her around.
Sharpay huffed and pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Well if it weren't for you and your stupid basketball friends I wouldn't have ended up drunk and vulnerable." She screamed in his face. If looks could kill would be the appropriate way to describe the look on her face. She was dangerously glaring at him.
Troy rolled his eyes at her out of anger. "Listen Sharpay, we didn't force you to do anything. You chose to drink that night. Why don't you grow up and take responsibility for your actions instead of blaming other people." He growled red in the face form anger.
"Fuck you Bolton."
He let out a sarcastically laugh. "Did you forget so soon- you already did."
She let out a scream before walking into the living room, grabbing the box of videos and shoved it against his chest. She pulled him to the front door and threw him out. "Stay out asshole." She slammed the door in his face and huffed.
"I see you haven't changed a bit since high school." He said through the door. "I'll be back tomorrow to see Ella." She heard his footsteps leaving towards the elevator. She leaned her back against the door and slid down it, crying. She put her head in her hands and sobbed.
She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Ryan's number. "Ry, can you come over?"
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Chad and Ella walked into his apartment; Ella playing with his hair again. She loved his hair. Chad chuckled and sat her down on the couch. He through his keys on the table and took a seat next to her on the couch. They sat in a silence until Ella spoke up. "I'm bored." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Chad laughed. "What do you want to do?"
She thought for a minute before grinning. "Can we play hide and seek?" she gave him the infamous puppy dog look and he caved.
"Sure why not?" He shrugged. "How much harm could this game do?"
……………….10 minutes later……………
"AHHHH!!" Chad screamed, running away from Ella who was chasing him with a pair of scissors in her hand.
She was giggling. "I just want to cut your hair Mr. Crazy Hair!" She yelled out innocently.
He jumped behind the couch and stayed quiet, hoping that Ella wouldn't find him. Ella jumped onto the couch and looked behind it. She grinned mischievously, rubbing her hands together evilly. "Hello Mr. Crazy Hair."
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Sharpay opened the door as soon as she heard it knock. She wrapped her arms around Ryan's waist and cried into his chest. "Thanks for coming Ry."
Ryan wrapped his arms around his hysterical sister and walked them into the room. He kicked the door closed and sat her down on the couch. He rubbed her back, whispering soothing words to her. She eventually sat up and wiped her eyes dry. "Thanks Ry." She muttered.
"No problem Pay; It's what brothers are for. Now tell me what happened?" He kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she re-told the events of her day. She smiled when she talked about breakfast and glared when what happened with Bolton. "Oh Pay, everything will turn out just fine. You two just need to sit down and talk about everything. That's the best advice I can give to you baby sis." He snickered as Sharpay glared up at him.
"Just by a few minutes Ry." She rolled her eyes but hugged him anyway. "You're the best brother in the world." She whispered in his ear. Ryan smiled and kissed the top of her head.
"So, when are you going to talk to him?" Ryan questioned, being his noisy self. Sharpay rolled her eyes.
"I don't know Ry. I don't want to talk to him right now. Maybe in a few days. I'll let the both of us calm down. He's coming over tomorrow to see Ella. At least he's still thinking of her even though he was a jerk to me." She explained, glaring to no one when she finished. Ryan sighed. This is so my sister. He thought.
"Fine. But you better talk to him soon for Ella's sake. All she wants is a normal family. How can she do that when her parents are glaring and cursing at each other? Good bye Pay." he asked and left the apartment to let her think about that.
"Bye Ry." She whispered, taking in what he just said. For Ella's sake, she'll talk to him soon, but not for anything or anyone else; including herself.
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Troy walked up the stairs and turned the corner before standing in front of Chad's apartment. He was about to knock when he heard a girlish scream. Thinking it was Ella; he quickly opened the door and ran inside. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Chad running towards him, obviously scared. He heard giggling and saw Ella round the corner, still chasing Chad with the scissors. She immediately stopped running when she saw Troy. Her eyes were wide with fear and she quickly hid the scissors behind her back and put on an innocent smile. She knew she was busted though. "Hi daddy." She said, a nervous smile appearing on her gorgeous face.
Troy shook his head, holding back a chuckle. He walked over to Ella and picked her up, taking the scissors out of her hands. "Hello Ella. Whatcha doing?" he asked in a sing song voice, knowing the answer.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Just playing with Mr. Crazy Hair."
Chad gasped loudly, as always being his dramatic self. "Playing?! You call that playing?!" he asked incredulously. He looked up at Troy and pointed to Ella. "That girl is pure evil. Just like her mother." He muttered the last part. Ella giggled and wiggled her fingers at him, mocking him with a wave. Chad stuck his tongue out at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm never watching that girl again." He mumbled, walking into the living room of his apartment.
Troy looked at Ella and gave her a stern look. "Ella, first of all, you do not run with scissors in your hands got it?" he asked and she nodded her head. "Second of all, you do not make Chad cry ok?" he asked, holding back a chuckle as he said that. He couldn't believe he had to tell a 4 year old to not make a 22 year old man cry.
"Ok daddy. You're right- what I did was a big no-no. I'm sorry." She kissed his cheek and turned to look at Chad. "I'm sorry to you too Mr. Crazy Hair." She smiled innocently at him.
Chad muttered under his breath and Troy and Ella shook their heads. Troy walked over to Chad and held out his hand. "Thanks for watching her. Things didn't go exactly as planned." He explained as Chad shook his hand. Chad gave him a questioning look. "I'll explain later. When you-know-who isn't around." He glanced at Ella.
"Who?" Ella asked, looking between the two. The two adults didn't say anything and instead Troy bribed her with ice cream. Ella shrieked and nodded her head excitedly. "Ice cream!"
"Ice cream!" Chad exclaimed, jumping up and down.
Troy looked at Chad for a minute to see if he was serious before rolling his eyes. Chad was serious. "Let's go kids."
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Sharpay was currently sitting on her living room couch, eating a pint of ice cream from the container and watching 'A Walk to Remember.' She dipped her spoon back into the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and took a huge bite. She sighed happily. It wasn't common for her to have alone time in the apartment with Ella running around. Not that she minded Ella, of course she didn't mind her; it was her daughter. But quiet time was always nice too. She was trying to forget about what had happened earlier with Troy and watching the movie was a great way to do exactly that. She took another huge bite of ice cream. This was great.
And of course, her quiet time couldn't last very long. The front door opened and Ella ran in, followed by Troy. She rolled her eyes at him as he attempted to smile at her. Ella climbed onto the couch and onto Sharpay's lap. "Hi mama!" she hugged Sharpay.
"Hey Ella." Sharpay kissed the top of Ella's head and gave Troy a questioning look.
"I figured I would pick her up. No need in having Chad watch her. It was a good thing I did because Ella was trying to cut Chad's hair." He explained, rocking on the balls of his feet.
Sharpay looked down at her daughter and shook her head, not liking what her daughter had done. Ella laid her head down on Sharpay's shoulder. "I know mama. I already said I was sorry." She stuck her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes.
Troy was standing by the doorway, not knowing what to say. "I guess I'll just see you tomorrow then." He smiled awkwardly. He waved Ella over to him. "Can you come over here and give me a hug and kiss good night?" he asked, kneeling down in the ground. Ella walked over and gave him a long hug.
"Do you have to go daddy?" she whispered in his ear. She buried her head into his neck as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
He closed his eyes as he held his little girl close to him. "I do baby girl. But don't worry- I'll be back tomorrow to see you ok?" he whispered back, placing a kiss on her head.
She nodded her head and pulled away from his hug. "I guess. Nighty night daddy. Don't let the bed bugs bite." She kissed his cheek and hugged him again.
He chuckled. "Of you need anything or just want to talk to me, mommy has my phone number. Don't be afraid to call. I'll always answer for you baby girl." He looked her in the eye and brushed some hair out of her face. He planted a kiss on her forehead and smiled. "I love you sweetie." He said softly
She giggled. "I love you too King Daddy!"
He stood up and looked at Sharpay. "Is there any specific time I should come over tomorrow?" he asked quietly, not wanting to upset her anymore.
Sharpay shook her head and stood up. "Anytime after noon is good."
He nodded his head. "Alright. I'll be here around 1." She agreed and walked him to the door while Ella laid down on the couch. Sharpay could tell that she needed a nap before dinner tonight. "See you tomorrow." He said as he opened the door. He stepped outside and glanced at her one last time before walking off.
"Sure thing." She closed the door and leaned her head against it. She took a few deep breaths before walking into the living room to see Ella asleep on the couch, cuddled up in her blanket that was still there from the morning. Sharpay smiled slightly and walked over to her. She placed a kiss on her forehead and picked her up gently. She walked to Ella's room and placed her on the bed. "I love you Care Bear." She smiled before walking out of the room and closing the door.
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Troy walked out of the apartment complex and to his car. He got in the drivers' side and closed the door. He leaned his head against the steering wheel. He was angry at himself for letting things get this out of hand. He shouldn't have said any of those things he did. But Sharpay shouldn't have said anything she had said either. He was simply defending himself. He lifted his head up and leaned it against the headrest behind him. Troy knew that they needed to talk. And fast. This is the last thing Ella needed to hear. He didn't want Ella to hear her parents arguing with each other. He decided not to think about it anymore, so he started his car and drove off to his own apartment.
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The next day, Troy walked up to Sharpay's apartment and knocked on the door. He heard foot quiet footsteps before the door swung open to reveal a tired and worried Sharpay. "Hey. Is everything ok?" he asked, walking in the door as Sharpay opened it wider for him to come in.
Sharpay nodded her head. "Yeah. Ella threw up during the night though. She also threw up about 10 minutes ago. She has a bit of a fever and a headache too." They walked into the living room where Ella was laying on the couch. She was currently sleeping, holding onto her teddy bear Mr. Snuggles. Troy walked over to the couch and kneeled in front of it near her head. He brushed his hand over her forehead and cheek as her eyes fluttered open. She saw Troy and smiled slightly before closing her eyes as the light hurt her head. "Hi daddy." She whispered, trying to keep her eyes open.
Troy smiled softly and kept his hand on her cheek, brushing his thumb soothingly. "Hey baby girl. How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
Ella's eyes started tearing up. "My head hurts daddy. And so does my tummy." She kept her eyes closed. Troy smiled slightly at her before taking his shoes off. He picked her up gently and laid down on the couch, laying her on his chest and stomach. She immediately set her head in the crock of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple.
Sharpay watched from the doorway and smiled gratefully at Troy. 'Thank you.' She mouthed to him. He nodded in response and rubbed Ella's back comfortingly. Sharpay walked into the kitchen and decided to make some soup for Ella. She opened the can of tomato soup and poured it into a pan and turned the stove on. It only took a few minutes to heat up. She grabbed Ella's Care Bear bowl and poured some of the soup into it. She grabbed the matching Care Bear spoon and grabbed a package of crackers. She brought them out into the living room and set it on the coffee table.
Troy saw what Sharpay had done and gently woke Ella up. "Ella baby. You need to get up. Mommy made you some soup." Ella's eyes opened up and she sat up, clutching on to Troy's shirt.
"Do you think you can eat a little soup baby?" Sharpay asked softly, brushing the back of her hand against Ella's forehead, checking her temperature. Ella nodded her head and grabbed her spoon.
She took a bite of the soup and slowly ate about half of it. "I can't eat anymore mommy. My tummy hurts again." Ella mumbled, setting her head against Troy's shoulder, her eyes closing immediately.
"That's ok sweetie. You ate half of it and that's great. You go back to sleep ok baby?" Sharpay asked, holding up a glass of ginger ale. "Can you take a few sips of this before you go sleep again?"
Ella nodded and took a few sips of the ginger ale. She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth before lying down again on the couch, cuddling up with Troy. Sharpay kissed the top of her head and picked up the soup bowl. She nodded at Troy, telling him to watch Ella. He smiled a yes and wrapped his arms around his little girl. "Go to sleep baby." He kissed her head again. "I love you princess."
Well…I bet you guys are shocked! It was a longer chapter! LOL It took me along time to write this much! I'll try to do this a lot but I'm not promising anything! There might be a few short updates and a few long ones!
You guys are awesome and said you prefer shorter ones almost everyday and you also said whatever I'm comfortable with! I appreciate everything you guys say in the reviews and try to listen to all the advice you give me. I hope you really enjoyed this chapter. I worked extra hard on it and this long chapter was a special thanks to everyone!!
As always- any advice you want to give me would be great! I love to hear what you think I could do to make this better.