Chapter 21 - You Are Troy Bolton
Troy's stomach did flips as he made his way to the kitchen of Gabriella's house, her mother following at a slow pace behind him. He steadied his breath and tried to compose himself as he sat in the edge of the stool.
Maria sat down opposite. They were silent, wondering where to begin.
Maria opened her mouth to speak, but Troy silenced her with his finger.
"I found this" He whispered.
He unrolled the scroll, and passed it gently across the table, his hand shaking. Maria took it in her hand, closed her eyes, sighed, then started to read. Troy watched her as she skimmed the page.
"I didn't think this would come so ...soon" She said.
She clasped her hands, leaving the paper to roll back into it's orginal shape. They both watched as the paper folded, then their eyes went back to their hands.
"I'm sure there is so much you want to know, so I'll wait for questions" Maria said, wiping the table with her hands.
"I don't have questions, I just want to know the entire story, after that, I'll shoot the questions at you"
Maria's lips turned up in a smirk as he heard the way he put his words.
"Ok then, where do I start?"
Maria looked down at her hands and fiddled with her wedding band she had on her finger. She stayed like that for some time, but Troy waited, it was probably hard remembering the past, which had her last husband in it.
"When I was 20, I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctor said there was only a 12 chance to have a child. My last husband, Robert and I, we wanted a child so much. We decided, if we couldn't have our own, we would adopt. That's where you come in, Troy"
She reached over and clasped Troy's hand, stroking it motherly.
"When you were born, your mother and father, they... weren't ready, to become parents. They said they'd find you, when they were ready, and they did."
Troy looked confused, "So, my parents...are, my parents?"
Maria nodded, then continued.
"They put you into an adoption home, for the time being. They visited you regularily, but gave permission for you to be taken for a while, by someone else. We came along, and you, you caught our eye. Well, to put it clearly, you grabbed our legs. I remember we laughed like we hadn't laughed in our lives before. We knew you were the child for us"
Her eyes sparkled, and Troy smiled.
"So, we asked to take you, and found out that you were up for short-term adoption. I won't say we weren't disappointed, we were, but we couldn't let you go. You had a hold on us."
"So, you adopted me?" Troy asked.
Maria nodded, waving back a stray strand of chocolate (slightly greying) curls. She looked just like Gabriella, but now was not the time for day-dreaming. He shook his head.
"So, how come I didn't stay with you?"
"All in good time, my dear"
Troy nodded, and Maria started again.
"So, we took you home, and fell in love with you, like you were our real son. After about 6 months of you living with us, and a drunken night... I found I was, pregnant."
Troy's eyes shot up, "With Gabriella?"
"Yes, and Robert and I were extremely pleased. But then we thought about you, were we ready to have two children? I remember a lot of sleepless nights, but then God answered my prayers, and an answer came. Your parents were ready."
Troy digested what he had heard, then told her to continue.
"You were so happy to see them, really exstatic, it almost hurt. But when we looked at you as a family, it was like the pieces of the jigsaw came together. You were where you belonged. So, you were signed off to your real parents, and we missed you. A lot. It felt weird not to wake up and half four in the morning to your cries. Then Gabriella came, and did that for you"
Maria laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Don't think your not a Bolton, Troy. You are, blood and blood. You may have come here thinking that you were going to find out they are not your parents, but they are. They just needed time."
"But why didn't they want me in the first place? What had happened?" Troy's eyes went a deeper shade of blue. A look of pure desperation.
"Your parents, were, in a crisis. Your mother's mother had just died, and they had been living there. When your gran died, she had left the house to another relative. They were homeless Troy, but they loved you so much! When I met them, they told me how hard it was to let go, to leave their darling boy. I cried when I heard. But they decided they couldn't raise their child until they were stable. It was a fair choice."
Everything was so clear now, things slotted into place. He was a Bolton; and he had come here expecting to find out he wasn't. His parents didn't have a choice as to whether to keep him, they had wanted the best for him, and by letting Maria and Robert have him, gave him a chance to start a life.
When he thought about it, he couldn't have been happier. Being with Maria and Robert had been great. He couldn't remember a lot of it, but their faces were still inprinted in his heart. That's why he had recognised the picture in Gabriella's room, it took him back to his babyhood.
They sat their for a while, just letting each other be. Troy had just found out about his past, and Maria had just told him all about the life she'd had all those 17 years ago. It had been a hard day for both of them, and neither of them had expected that to happen.
Eventually Maria stood up, walked over to the counter and started making hot chocolate.
"Marshmallows and whipped cream?" She called to Troy.
"Eh, yeah... please"
She continued to stir the mixture until Troy spoke up.
"It feels like fate, you know. Meeting you, and your family. Seeing that picture. And finding this today."
He pointed to the scroll, and continued.
"I feels sort of, meant to be. It's weird tho'."
"It is, but It's good it's happened" Maria answered.
"Suppose"
Maria handed Troy his hot chocolate, and he took it, slurping it down. Once he put the cup down, Maria started laughing hysterically.
"Come here!" She said between laughs.
Troy leaned over the table and Maria touched his nose. Reflexing, he saw cream on her finger.
"You had cream on your nose"
They laughed, then Troy looked at Maria, seeing this she wrinkled her brow.
"I still see you as a mother to me. It's like you've been here all the time, in my heart, but now I can see you in human form, it's even better"
Maria's eyes glinted, and they continued drinking.
"Thank you, by the way, Troy" Maria said as she stared out the window, mug in hand.
"I should be thanking you, not the other way around!" He said, surprised.
"Not about today, about Gabriella"
He nodded, and then blushed.
"You make her so happy. She sings around the house now, she only did that when she was little, but after her dad died, it was like she locked it away. You opened her up again. You make her happy. And I thank you for giving me back my gorgeous girl, I felt like I'd lost her".
Troy smiled, "Well, then, your welcome. She makes me happy too, and thanks for keeping it a secret."
Maria nodded, understanding.
After they had both finished their drinks, Troy collected the mugs and went over to the sink. When he turned back around, he was enveloped in a hug.
"You are Troy Bolton, Troy. Always have been, always will".
She was right. Who was he?
He was Troy Bolton.
And there you go! Sorry it took a long time to put this up. I didn't mean for it to take this long, but it did. I said I wanted it to be perfect, but after about 5 re-writes, I gave up, and you got this. It's better than nothing tho' :)
Thank you for all your reviews, they are really appriciated :)
I'm sorry I put the number up for how many reviews I wanted. Soem people got annoyed about it, but I really just wanted feed back. So this time, if you want to review, then do. It's really nice to hear what people think.
So I wrote down a sort of plan of this story, and figured out I have about 12 more chapters to this story, but lots more drama to come. I've also got lots of more story ideas, so I've got a one-shot to write soon :)
Have a great week, and I'll update as soon as possible!