My chapters have been short lately, and I'm sorry about that. I lose muse quickly, but I try my best to keep the updates reasonable.
"Alexander!" Sharpay snapped. "Mommy has told you plenty of times to leave that damn candle alone, now put it back."
Peyton laughed, watching Zander put the candle back on the coffee table. He was just as in love with Zander as Sharpay was. Now that they were having their own baby–babies–he was getting kind of nervous, but excited at the same time. He'd been back in Albuquerque for a week now, but he had to leave again in just a few days.
"Don't laugh, he'll think it's okay," Sharpay said.
"Sorry."
Sharpay looked at the clock and sighed. After her encounter with Gabriella last week, they'd agreed that she'd come back over so they could talk. "It's almost twelve. Gabriella will be here soon. I need you to keep Zander entertained for as long as possible."
"I'll do my best, but you know how he gets if he's not with you."
"He can deal without me for an hour."
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Sharpay tried standing up, but she fell back onto the couch. After trying it again and falling a second time, she let out a frustrated breath and held her hand out. "Help me up from this damn couch, I can't do anything with your freakin' kids in the way," she said.
Peyton took Sharpay's hand and pulled Sharpay up from the couch, kissing her head. "Good luck," he said, before picking Zander up.
"Thanks, I'll need it," she said, walking to the door. She opened the door and stepped back so Gabriella could come in. "Hey. Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"No, I'm fine," Gabriella said, walking into the house.
"Alright," Sharpay said as she led her into the living room. "So, basically, I just wanted to let you know the situation with Zander and all our legal decisions. Obviously, I requested your mother be taken off of the co-guardianship, but that was basically because I can only have three people as co-guardians. Peyton and I are the soul guardians, Troy's parents are the co-guardians, and Chad is also a co-guardian because he's my regular baby sitter and he spends the most time with him other than me."
"Okay… Look, Sharpay, I'm really sorry that I–"
"I don't want to talk about that. I know what happened, I know you're sorry, I get it. Talking about it just reminds me of Troy, and if I have a constant reminder of him, I'll go crazy, so just drop it."
"…But, Zander is his son."
"Yeah, but he's nothing like Troy, Gabriella. Since he's been here, he's been just like me. The only thing about him that's Troy is his love for basketball."
"…He likes basketball?"
"He's obsessed with it. Chad bought him a toddler sized basketball court. He plays with him. When I take him to school with me, Jack takes him during free period and lets him play with his students. Word in the hallways is, he's better than Jimmy Zara."
"That's really sad."
"Yeah… So, anyways. I was thinking about visiting arrangements… Since you are actually live, and still Zander's mother, I don't want to cut off all visitation," she said. She saw Gabriella's eyes brighten, and she knew she'd made her feel a little better.
"…Really?" Gabriella asked.
Sharpay nodded. "Although you're legally not his mother, I still want you to be able to spend time with him… If you want to, anyway."
"God, yes, I want to, I just… I didn't think you'd ever agree to it…"
"I'd rather visitation wait until all this legal crap is out of the way. Any family gatherings we have, you and your mother will be invited and you'll see him at those times, and of course when we have our discussions."
"That's fine with me."
"At first, I'm still going to be hesitant about it, but I was trying to come up with a suitable visiting schedule last night. Are you in school or working?"
"No, not at the time."
"Okay, well, I was thinking, if you're still completely free all day after the legal stuff is finished, that since I work, I could drop him off so you can have him until I get off work. Since you would have him five days a week for the full school day, the Boltons could have him during the weekends, since that's the only time they'd really get to see him."
"That sounds perfect."
"Okay, great. All the legal things should be done by this Wednesday. That's only two days from now, so I was going to give Thursday to Sunday for Zander to get used to being around you, that way he's comfortable with being with you on Monday. If things don't go well on Monday, we'll just have to give it a little more time for him to get used to you."
"Thank you, Sharpay…"
Sharpay looked at Gabriella, and she couldn't help but notice the glisten of tears in her eyes. She felt terrible that Gabriella thought she wasn't doing a good job as a mother. She knew Gabriella loved Zander. She probably loved him more than she ever could herself. She didn't give birth to him. She didn't spend all those sleepless nights with him after he was born. She didn't nurse him–until just recently, of course.
"Mama!" Zander shouted, running into the room.
Sharpay's thoughts were interrupted, and she looked at Zander as he ran to her, holding his arms up. She picked him up and kissed his head, sitting him on her lap. "How did you get away from Daddy?"
"Dada?"
"Yeah, Dada. Peyton! You're supposed to be watching him!" she called out.
Peyton walked into the room and took Zander from Sharpay. "I was watching him, I went to the bathroom for two seconds," he said.
"A lot can happen in two seconds, Peyton. Find Boi and let them play together."
"You don't like it when Boi licks him in the face."
"That's because Zander opens his mouth for kisses. Don't let Boi lick him in the face and they'll be fine. Don't let him pull on Boi's ears, either."
"Say bye to Mommy."
"Bye bye," Zander said, blowing a kiss to Sharpay.
She laughed a little and blew a kiss back to him, and laughed again when he pretended to catch it and put it on his cheek. "God, Chad's rubbing off on him. He's gonna be a player when he gets older," she said. "Have fun with Boi and Daddy."
"Otay."
When Peyton left, Sharpay looked at Gabriella, who now had tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked at her for a few seconds, before saying anything.
"…Gabriella, I assure you, Zander is being taken care of, and he's spoiled and loved unconditionally, by several people. You don't ever have to worry about his health and well being. I know you're worried about him, but you saw him. He's happy, healthy, and still the same Zander he was before. I promise that nothing will ever happen, and I'll never keep him from you altogether unless there's a damn good reason," Sharpay said.
"Pretending to kill myself and pawning him off on you isn't a good reason to keep him away from me?" Gabriella asked, sniffling.
Sharpay reached over to the coffee table and handed her a tissue. "No, because I know that in your mind, you were trying to to the right thing for Zander because you thought you weren't doing the best you could. The fact that you trusted me to be his mother means the absolute world to me."
"You didn't even like him when we came over that day."
"Well, he was being a brat. He smacked me. After that, he was okay. I got that bonding time with him when we were cuddled up in the hammock. He got bit by an ant, and after I kissed his hand and started swinging with him, he was just fine. I got used to him."
"How can you go from not liking a baby to loving him?"
"Easy. I was given the chance. I feel in love with him. I fell in love with the idea of being his mom. I fell in love with the idea of him being my son. When I used to think about having kids, I always wanted a little boy like Zander. The fact that you gave me that opportunity and gift, I don't think I could ever thank you enough."
"Taking care of him and loving his is thanks enough. I know you love him."
"I do, but I could never love him the way you do. You gave birth to him. That's the most special bond in the world. I'll never be connected to him like you."
"You seem pretty connected to me…"
"We are, but it's nowhere near as close as the connection you have with him."
"I don't have that anymore. He's not my son anymore, he's yours."
"Gabriella, he is your son. You gave birth to him. You will always be his mother. I'll never take that away from you. I promise you that."
"Really? You mean that?"
Sharpay nodded. "From the bottom of my heart."