Five short days later, Sharpay groaned, waking from her slumber as she heard her cell phone ringing. She looked at the clock and sighed. She only had five minutes left of sleep before her alarm went off. Sitting up, she grabbed her phone and held it to her ear. "Hello?"
"This is Chandra Taylor from Social Services, may I speak to Sharpay Evans please?" a voice on the other line said.
"This is she."
"Hi, Miss Evans, I'm just calling to let you know that I've got all of Zander Bolton's information. If you could come by my office sometime today I could go over some things with you."
"Oh, okay… Is four okay with you? I get off work at two, but I have an after school program that I run and I have to pick Zander up from a friend's house afterwards."
"Four is fine. I'll see you then. Thank you for your time, Miss Evans."
"Thanks," Sharpay said before hanging up. She got up from bed and walked to her closet, to start choosing her outfit for the day. She had one assembled in less than three minutes and got changed into it before walking out of her closet to run her brush through her hair. Most days, she'd straighten and curl it, but her natural curls seemed to be manageable today, so she just left her hair down.
"Mama…"
Sharpay looked over to her bed, watching Zander stir a bit and she smiled, walking to the bed. "Hi, Baby," she said, running her hand through his hair. "It's time to get up. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah? Okay. We'll get you dressed and your hair brushed and then we can go get something, okay?"
"Otay."
Sharpay picked Zander up and kissed his cheek. "Goodness, your diaper took quite a wetting, huh?"
Zander laughed and Sharpay walked to the next room, that Chad had so kindly set up as Zander's nursery. She laid him on the changing table and got his diaper changed, lathered him up with some baby lotion and got him changed into a cute overall outfit, sandals included. She got his hair brushed and she finally stood him up on the table, kissing his forehead. "Let's go eat."
"Eat."
"Yeah," she said, picking him up. She made her way to the kitchen, almost colliding with Chad. "Jeez, you scared me."
"Sorry," Chad said. "Hey, little dude. Did you let your momma sleep last night?"
"Finally. He might need a bath later this afternoon. His diaper was pretty wet and he still sorta smells. Just make sure you put lotion on him. He has a rash, so make sure you use his ointment and powder when you change his diaper."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"When's Taylor supposed to be here? I wanna see her before I have to go to school."
"Any minute. I told her to just come here instead of going to my place."
"Goody."
"Mama, eat," Zander said.
"Okay. You want some eggs?"
"Yeah."
Sharpay put Zander in a high chair and she walked over to the refrigerator, only to be blocked by Chad. "Come on, I gotta feed the kid."
"I'll do it, you sit down. You're pregnant," Chad said.
"I never would have guessed with my constant need to pee, my bulging stomach and my enormous boobs."
"They are pretty big."
Sharpay rolled her eyes and she sat down at the kitchen table, running her hand over her small baby bump. "I can't believe I'm actually gonna be a mom… I wasn't even expecting it, it just happened."
"You'll be a good mom. You are a good mom."
Sharpay sighed and she stood up as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it, you cook."
"I go," Zander said.
Sharpay picked Zander up out of the high chair and she rested him on her hip, walking out of the kitchen and to the door, opening it.
"Chad told me you were having a baby, not that you had one."
Sharpay smiled brightly, seeing Taylor, and they hugged before Taylor walked in. "I am having one, but I got this little surprise in addition," Sharpay said, tickling Zander's stomach.
Zander laughed and pushed her hand away. "No tickle."
"Zander, this is your Auntie Taylor. Taylor, this is Zander."
"It's very nice to meet you, Zander. Is that short for Alexander, perhaps?"
"I have no clue what it's short for, I have a meeting with a social worker later after work."
"Chad told me about Troy and Gabriella… I can't believe they were stupid enough to do something like this. If they felt they couldn't take care of him, why didn't they just ask you instead of doing what they did?"
Sharpay shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know… It bothers me that they did it… I'm kind of glad it happened though… If it hadn't, I wouldn't have him. I've been happier since he's been here."
"Kids will do that to you."
"Mama, I tirsty," Zander said.
"Okay," Sharpay said, leading Taylor into the kitchen. "What do you want?"
"Joosh."
"Orange or apple?"
"Owinge."
"Okay. You stay right there. I'll get it," she said, putting Zander into his high chair.
"Hey, stranger," Taylor said, hugging Chad from behind.
"Hey, Babe. How was your flight?" Chad asked.
"Long and boring. I'm just glad I'm finally home. I can't wait until school's over."
"Mama!" Zander shouted.
"What's the shouting about, Zander? I'm right here," Sharpay said, setting a bottle of orange juice on the high chair.
"I'm surprised he's referring to you as his mother," Taylor said. "Most children take a while to warm up to new people, especially a foster mother."
"I'm his godmother. Do you think Troy and Gabriella referred to me as his mother around him?"
"It's possible. That would explain why he's calling you Mom."
"Breakfast is done," Chad said.
"Mama, eat," Zander said.
"I know, Baby. I'm getting your plate," Sharpay said.
"I'll get it, sit down like I told you to, Tubby," Chad said.
Sharpay furrowed her brow and she sat down, attempting to cross her arms, but huffed when her breasts got in the way. "I can't even cross my damn arms," she said.
"Damn," Zander said.
"No, no. That's a bad word."
"Bad word."
"Yeah. Ow," Sharpay said, putting her hand on her stomach.
"What? What happened, are you okay?" Chad asked, rushing over to the table.
"I'm fine, I got kicked. I should really get an appointment at the doctors office. If I'm getting kicked, I'm pretty far along."
"When was your last period?" Taylor asked, walking over to Sharpay and kneeling in front of her.
"Two and a half months."
"That doesn't necessarily mean that's how far along you are, some women have their period the whole time they're pregnant, some only half the time, and some none at all," Taylor said, feeling around on Sharpay's stomach. "I'm feeling either the head or the butt. It's kicking up a storm. I say you're about five months, you're just not showing as much. When did you start showing?"
"I don't know, I haven't kept track."
"You should get a doctor's appointment as soon as possible. This far into a pregnancy without taking the proper precautions could be dangerous or fatal to the baby. I take it's moving around as a good sign, but I'd still get an ultrasound."
"I will, I've just been so busy with Zander, and with work… I've been worrying about Peyton since he left."
"Why? Is he giving you a reason to worry?"
"Well, no… I just do. We haven't talked much since he went home. I guess I'm scared he'll decide he wants to stay back there and not come out here."
"Have you tried calling him?"
Sharpay nodded. "Every time I do, he's had to go to class or he had work to do… It's like he doesn't have time for me anymore."
"I'm sure that's not the case. Maybe he really is just busy with school. Being a film student has to take up a lot of time."
"I know, but still."
"Mama," Zander said.
"What, Babe?"
"Baby," he said, pointing to Sharpay's stomach.
"Yeah, Mommy's baby."
"No, mine."
"Yours?"
"Yeah, mine."
"It's mine too, I'm the one that made it."
"No."
"Yeah, I did. I can't show you how I did it, but I did it."
Zander whined, and he started crying, making Sharpay sigh. She ran her hand through her hair before taking Zander out of his high chair and she let him cuddle into her.
"You need to stop. Mommy has to leave for work in a little bit, and I don't want you throwing a fit for Uncle Chad," Sharpay said, running her hand through his hair.
"My baby…" Zander said.
"Okay, it's your baby. Just calm down."
"I think it's safe to say that he won that argument," Taylor said.