Sharpay stared at the officer for a few seconds, hoping she hadn't heard correctly. "…What?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Evans," the officer said. "They're dead."
"…How?" she asked, leading the officer into the living room. "They just went to Troy's parents house to talk to them, how could they be dead?"
"Someone called and said they heard gunshots. When we got to the alleged place of the crime, we found them by Lava Springs Country Club."
Sharpay's eyes filled with tears and she laid Zander in a chair, before sitting down on the couch. "Oh my god, that's my club… Is this going to have something to do with me, like-like legal action, since it happened by my club?"
"No, nothing like that."
"…Wait a minute, how did you find Sharpay? Nobody knew they were in town," Chad said.
"We found a letter in Mr. Bolton's wallet when we were going through it to find his I.D."
"How did you find my address?" Sharpay asked.
"You're the only Sharpay in the United States…"
"…Oh. Yeah, that's my mother's fault."
"I brought the letter with me. It was addressed to you, I think it's only fair that you get to read it," the officer said, handing Sharpay a folded up piece of paper.
Sharpay let out a small breath, and she unfolded the paper, nervously.
Sharpay,
I know this is sudden. Gabriella and I just aren't happy. We don't know what to do anymore, and sometimes the only thing we can think of is ending our lives, to end the worry. If you're reading this, then we've done exactly that. We'd like you to take care of Zander for us. We know that you're the best choice to put him under your care. Please give him all the love and undivided attention you can. We'd rather you not talk about us to him, but however you choose to raise him, it's your decision on whether he knows about us or not. If you do decide to tell him, please let him know that we loved him more than anything and he was our whole world. We can't thank you enough for doing this for us.
Love, Troy
Sharpay had tears falling down her face by this point, and she covered her mouth, letting out a small sob. She looked over to Zander, who'd started stirring, and she reached over, patting his stomach lightly to get him to go back to sleep.
"What's it say, Shar?" Chad asked.
"…They want me to keep Zander…" she said. "They planned it…"
"What?"
"They planned this whole thing. They planned the suicide, they planned on just dumping their kid on me, they… Chad, I can't…" she said, with a whine.
"You can. You just have to stay strong through this. He's going to need you more than anything."
"Miss Evans, if you don't want to take him under your custody, I can have him placed in foster care and he can live with a foster family," the officer said.
"God, no, I don't want that, I just…" Sharpay looked at Zander for a few seconds. "I'll keep him… I'm his godmother. I don't know if it's documented anywhere, but they were talking about it earlier today."
"Well, I'll look into it at the police station. What's his full name?"
"Uh… I don't know. Zander Bolton is all I know."
"Unless Gabriella gave him her last name, then it would be Zander Montez," Chad said.
"They're married."
"…Right."
"Thank you for your time, Miss Evans," the officer said, standing up and shaking her hand. "I'll leave Zander here with you, and I'll have someone come by to inspect the house and make sure it's safe for him to stay with you. You'll probably have to buy some socket plugs for the electrical outlets and buy some baby locks for the doorknobs, cabinets and refrigerator, but from what I've seen there's nothing harming him. Does he had a bed he can sleep in?"
"Well, Troy and Gabriella left a playpen here, and a diaper bag," Sharpay said.
"The playpen will be fine. The diaper bag comes with all basic infant essentials? Bottles, milk or formula, diapers, wipes, clothes?"
"I haven't really gone through it except to change his diaper and get his bottle out, so I'm not sure. I can buy him whatever he needs tomorrow."
"I'd do it as soon as you get up. I'll call you ahead of time so you have time to do that, before I send someone over to look at the house."
"Okay. Thank you."
"No problem. Have a good evening."
Sharpay scoffed as the officer left. "Yeah. Good evening, my ass."
"Mama…" Zander said, sleepily.
Sharpay looked at Zander for a few seconds. "…What's the matter, Zander?"
"Mama…"
Sharpay picked Zander up and kissed his head. "Go back to sleep, Honey, you're okay."
"You want me to set up his playpen?" Chad asked.
"No, I'm gonna have him sleep in my bed tonight… And every night until I get a crib."
"Do you want me to stay here tonight?"
"Would you? It'll make me feel better… You can sleep in the guest room."
"Okay."
"Mama…" Zander said.
"…Shar, you're his mom now…" Chad said.
Sharpay stared at Zander for a few seconds and she felt tears spring to her eyes. "I am…"
"You're going to do fine… Just comfort him the best you can. He's still half asleep. He's not going to know you're not Gabriella. Do what you have to do."
"What if I do the wrong thing?"
"You'll learn from your mistakes. How bad of a mistake can you possibly make?"
"I don't know…"
"Why don't you go upstairs? Get him to bed, you go to sleep. I'll get the house straightened up and I'll be in the guest room if you need me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Go on."
Sharpay got up from the couch carefully, and she let out a small breath, looking at Chad for a few seconds. "Thank you… I don't know what I'd do without you…"
"You wouldn't be the awesome person you are, because you can't be awesome without 'me'."
"You'd only be 'aweso'," they finished together.
Sharpay laughed a little and kissed his cheek lightly. "I love you, Danforth," she said, walking out of the room.
"Love you too, Evans. But if anyone asks, I'll deny it."
"Zander, put that candle down!" Sharpay said, running into the living room.
"No, mine!" Zander said.
"It's my mother's, and if she finds out that you broke it, she'll lock you in a cellar."
"No bwoke."
"Put it down. Now."
Zander put the candle down on the couch and he pouted, crossing his arms.
Sharpay rolled her eyes and picked the candle up, putting it on the entertainment center. "You can't play with those things. We're gonna go get you some new toys after my friend comes over, okay?"
"Toy?"
"Yeah. We'll even go to McDonald's and you can play in the ball pit."
"I have ball?"
"Yeah, we'll get you a ball."
"Yay!"
Sharpay laughed a little and she sat down on the couch. "Come here, kid," she said, holding her arms out to him.
Zander walked over to her and laid his head on her shoulder when she picked him up. Sharpay kissed his head lightly and smiled, staring at him. The night had been a little hectic because he kept waking up, but the morning was going pretty good, except for the whole candle incident. She was already getting the hang of taking care of him, and it felt pretty good.
"I'm back, Shar," Chad said, walking through the door.
"Please tell me you got diapers, this child reeks of everything he's eaten," Sharpay said.
"I did."
"Thank god, give 'em to me and hand me his wipes out of the diaper bag," she said, getting down on the floor and laying Zander down.
"On it."
"I dirty," Zander said.
"Yeah, I know you are. You're toxic," Sharpay said.
"Nooo."
"Yeahhh. Thanks," she said as Chad put the wipes and a diaper on the floor. "Okay, let's see how bad this is…"
"Do I need nose plugs?" Chad asked.
"Funny," she said, untaping Zander's diaper. Sharpay gagged a little and covered her mouth and nose. "Oh, my god, that's horrible."
Chad laughed. "Oh man, I should've gotten this on tape."
Sharpay gagged again and she jumped up from the floor, running out of the room. Chad looked at Zander and smiled. "Good one, little dude."
A few hours later, the social worker from CPS came by to evaluate Sharpay's house. Everything was in check, but she needed to have Zander his own room, a crib, a dresser, and a changing table. Sharpay was having that done during the weekend. Right now, she was on the phone with Peyton to fill him in on what was going on.
"…So I'm keeping him. I couldn't let him go to foster care… That's just cruel and not fair to him," she said.
"Does this change our plans?" Peyton asked.
"No. We're just going to have an extra kid to take care of."
"Well, I can't wait to meet him."
"Oh, you'll love him, Peyton. He's annoying, but he's so sweet, and he looks just like Troy…"
"He sounds cute… Listen, I gotta get to class. I'll call you later."
"Okay. I love you."
"Love you, too."
Sharpay hung up and she let out a small breath, walking out to the backyard. She sat in the hammock and watched Zander play in the sandbox, before looking over to her neighbor's backyard. "Hey, Jordan. You out here?"
"Yep," Jordan said, appearing at the top of the fence.
"How's everything going?"
"Good. Mom's got two more weeks of therapy and then she's done."
"That's great. Tell her I said hi the next time you see her. How's your Grandma holding up? Still wrangling you and your sisters like cattle?"
"I heard that, young lady," an older woman's voice said.
Sharpay bit her lip. "Sorry, Mrs. Haskell."
"You kids are always talking bad about us adults, I just don't get it."
"…I'm an adult too, Mrs. Haskell."
"Bull hockey."
"I'm twenty-one…"
"That doesn't make you an adult. What do you do for a living? Probably sit around that house making butlers and maids wait on you."
"Grandma, be nice," Jordan said.
Sharpay got up from the hammock and she walked over to the fence, climbing on the small board that held it together. "Mrs. Haskell, I am Jordan's teacher."
"Oh yeah? What do you teach?" Mrs. Haskell asked.
"The glee club."
"That's not a class."
"It is now. All students are credited for it. And for the record, I do not have a butler or a maid. I do my own cooking and cleaning, and I don't need someone like you telling me how I probably live my life. You know nothing about me and the next time you start talking shit on me, there will be consequences."
"Sharpay, I wouldn't threaten her like that…" Jordan said.
"I'm not threatening her. It's a warning and a promise."
"You're the one that will see the real consequences, young lady. I'll make sure Jordan's not in your class anymore," Mrs. Haskell said.
"Oh, it doesn't work that way. He can't get transferred out of my class unless he himself requests it."
"He'll be requesting it, then. You wait for your consequences. I'm watching you."
"You can't even walk without help, you can't do anything to me," she muttered to herself.
"I heard that!" she snapped. "Get off my fence!"
"I'm on my side! And this whole fence is mine. I paid for the damn thing."
"Watch your language with me," Mrs. Haskell said, walking into her house.
Sharpay looked at Jordan. "You know, my grandma was just like that. I stopped talking to her."
"She lives with me, though," Jordan said.
"So did mine."
Sharpay picked Zander up as she came out of the kitchen, and she walked to the door, after hearing the doorbell go off. She opened the door and smiled, but frowned when she saw a police officer standing in front of her. "Oh great, now what? I had everything checked out by CPS, they said he was fine to stay here," she said.
"Uh… I'm Officer Goranson… I'm not here concerning a child, I'm here on a complain that a Sharpay Evans threatened Mary Haskell," the officer said.
"…Oh. Well. Okay, then. I'm Sharpay."
"Can I come in?"
"…Depends, am I leaving in handcuffs?"
"I don't think it'll get that serious, Miss Evans."
"How do you know I'm not a Mrs. Evans?"
"I looked you up."
Sharpay stared at Goranson for a few seconds and led him to the living room before sitting down, placing Zander on her lap.
"Miss Evans, Mrs. Haskell says that you threatened her life, is this true?" Goranson asked, sitting on a chair.
"Bull shit!" Sharpay snapped. "I didn't threaten her life! She started talking crap about me, and I told her the next time she talked about me without knowing me that there would be consequences, I never said what I'd do… But now I'm thinking about what I should do to the crazy old bat."
"Since there was no real threat, I'll let you off with a warning and I'll talk to Mrs. Haskell about over exaggerating."
"Like that'll stop her."
Goranson nodded and he looked at Zander, then back to Sharpay. "Your files didn't say anything about you having a child."
"Oh, he's not mine. I'm taking care of him for a few friends… I'm trying to get him under my custody, though. I'm pregnant, but I don't have any kids of my own."
"May I ask why you're fighting for custody of a child that's not yours?"
"His parents are… Gone. Up there," she said, pointing to the ceiling. "He doesn't know."
"Oh… Well, you're doing a great thing. Hey, little guy. What's your name?" Goranson asked, kneeling to Zander's height.
Zander looked at Goranson for a few seconds and grunted, leaning against Sharpay.
"Zander," Sharpay said.
"Cool name, dude. My name's Trenton."
"It's a little unprofessional to go by your first name on duty, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry. Since this is all cleared up, I guess I'll go," he said, standing up. "Thanks for your time."
"Yeah. Zander, say 'bye bye' to the policeman."
Zander snorted, pointing to Goranson. "Piggy."
Sharpay's eyes widened and she covered Zander's mouth. "I'm sorry, I don't know where he got that from."
Goranson laughed. "It's fine. It's cute when it comes from little kids. Have a good day, Miss Evans," he said, leaving the room.
Sharpay sighed and she looked at Zander, moving her hand from his mouth. "You're gonna get me arrested for verbal harassment…"