Author's note: Danny is Troy's older brother.

Chapter Three: Preparations

Troy called Gabriela the next morning, as promised. As it turns out, neither of their parents had considered the conversation over just because the Bolton's had left the Montez house.

"I spent a good portion of last night talking to my dad about how babies are made. He just kept laying into me and saying 'how did this happen?' It's been made very clear to me that I let them down," Troy said. Gabriella sighed.

"Me too. Well, about the letting my mom down part. She didn't ask how it happened. You'd think that was pretty clear..."

"You'd think," Troy sighed. "Alright, so we have lots to do between now and July. You want to come over and make a month-by-month checklist? My mom said that's what they did before Danny and it really helped."

"Yeah, just let me ask my mom. She might not be too keen on letting me visit you right now."

"Right. Because not seeing me will make you un-pregnant," Troy scoffed. Gabriela giggled on the other end. 'He's so cute when he's mad.'

"Exactly. Let me ask." Troy heard Gabriella put down the phone and leave the room. Two minutes later she returned.

"Mom said I can go, but she needs the car, so it will take me about half an hour to walk over."

"I'll come pick you up. My mom needs me to pick up milk anyway, so as long as you don't mind a detour to the grocery store..."

"No, that's fine. See you in a bit."

"Bye," Troy said, hanging up the phone. His parents had gone to a luncheon that afternoon, so Troy locked up the house and headed over to Gabriella's.

Over the next few hours, Troy and Gabriella put together a month-by-month sketch of what needed to be done. Gabriella needed to get some maternity clothes by month four, so they agreed to hit up every garage sale and Savers they could before then. Gabriella also needed to set up doctors appointments for each month, and they both needed to put money away in savings each month – they figured $800 each month would give them somewhere to start. They would tell their friends at month six, if it hadn't come out by then, and they both needed to have their college acceptance letters in the mail by May 1st.

And so Operation: B-squared (Baby Bolton), as Troy dubbed it, had begun.

The first month after telling their parents was rough, mostly because both Troy and Gabriella felt their parents' discontent. However, Gabriella had her first prenatal visit (with success) and both she and Troy became employed.

The next month got complicated when Gabriella's baby bump began to grow. The fitted tees were changed in favor of Princess-cut tops. Gabriella's B's grew to C's and Troy was only too appreciative of her changing shape. Gabi's mom got used to seeing Troy for breakfast 1-2 times a week, after he'd fallen asleep mid-visit. Since both teens were under 18 the latest they could work was 10 PM, but getting homework done after that time (as well as whatever activities the couple enjoyed behind closed doors) placed Gabi and Troy in bed around 2 AM -- and up at 6 AM to do it all over again.

Though their friends hadn't commented on Gabriella's recent weight gain, by the end of the fifth month they knew something was going on. Always petite Gabriella was wearing loose, baggy layers, she and Troy looked like they were getting little to no sleep, and both of them had accepted admission to UNM -- the one place neither of them had mentioned wanting to go.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sharpay was the first one to put all the pieces together. Knowing it was only a matter of time before everyone else caught on, she approached Troy in mid April after free period.

Though Sharpay wasn't someone Troy would consider a friend, she was more acquaintance than enemy. She had never really accepted Gabriela (girls and their pride), but she had backed off flirting with Troy out of respect. Both Troy and Gabriella were appreciative.

Troy was walking down the hall towards the front exit, where he was meeting Gabi for some pre-Calc prep before his exam next. As he was crossing by the auditorium doors, someone reached out and grabbed his arm, yanking him inside the dimly lit room.

"Sharpay! What the hell are you trying to do, dislocate my shoulder?!" Troy exclaimed upon seeing the blonde actress. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, Troy. Like I want to ruin your future even more than it is," she retorted.

"What did you say?" Troy replied, narrowing his eyes. Sharpay's face softened.

"Look, I didn't mean to come off so harsh. I'm sorry. I just wanted to pull you aside to see if you need anything," she spoke quietly.

"What?" Troy said, somewhat taken aback by her look of pity.

'No one gives me enough credit,' Sharpay thought, sighing. "Look, Troy. I know what's going on with you and Gabriella. Pretty soon your teammates and the nerd patrol will too. Gabriella's gotten way too big to think she's still fooling people -- She's obviously pregnant," Sharpay finished. Troy glanced at the floor.

"…You think anyone else knows?" he whispered.

"While it's no secret that little miss size 2 has porked up and filled out--"

"Hey--" Troy tried to interject, but Sharpay continued.

"--But no, I don't think anyone else has put all the pieces in place."

"Oh, good."

"Good? Troy, how far along is she? Six months?"

"... How do you know these things?"

"Let's just say my sister was barely legal when she had my niece."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I'm going to assume you're the daddy from the way you two continue to make googly eyes at each other in the halls," Sharpay trailed off.

Troy blushed.

"...Anywho, we have a bunch of baby stuff in the attic from when Kara was born. My mom was going to donate it, but if you need anything, you can have it."

"Do you have a stroller…or car seat…or bottles…or clothes?"

"Yeah, like try all of the above. We have a crib too."

"My mom kept my crib, in case I ever wanted it for my own baby, go figure. Although she never thought it'd be this soon, I'm sure."

"... Right. Anyways, If you and the missus want to come by this evening to look at what we've got, feel free. Ryan and I will be home at seven, so anytime after then is fine."

"Wow, Sharpay. Thanks. I'll talk to Gabi about it after school..." Troy couldn't believe this was the same girl who had tried to ruin his and Gabriella's relationship a year ago. "I really appreciate this," he said. Then a frightening thought struck him. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"Well, Ryan already knows because we're twins and that whole 'he knows what I know' thing comes into play. But we're not going to spread your news for you this time. This is something you need to tell your friends about yourselves. I have no desire to be burned at the stake, thank you very much."

"Gee, thanks... you really think they'll take it that bad?"

"Troy, how long have you been keeping the biggest secret in the world from your best friends?"

"Four months..."

"Exactly. I can think of two people in particular that will feel like you betrayed their friendship by not telling them about this."

"Their names wouldn't happen to rhyme with 'mad sailor,' would they?" Troy asked jokingly. Sharpay pinched his cheek in a mocking manner.

"And they say Gabrielle is the brains of this operation."

Troy smirked and pulled away. He shook his head as if to clear it, and sighed.

"Gabi and I will cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, I need to get to the math lab so I don't fail calculus. Thanks, Sharpay. I'll see you later."

"Toodles! And you're welcome." Sharpay replied, bounding down the hall in the opposite direction.

Troy rushed to meet Gabriella for a quick study session. He'd already missed half of free period, but he needed all the help he could get for the math test. Gabriella only gave him the dismayed, 'we'll talk later' look as he entered the classroom, and they went straight into test prep mode.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

One test and two classes later, Troy had grabbed a carton of milk and was headed to meet Gabrielle on the roof. They generally ate lunch with their friends, but Troy had received a note in his locker asking him to meet her here. Gabriella was waiting when he arrived.

"Hey, Mama," Troy greeted, placing a kiss on her upturned lips.

"Hey, you. I take it you got my note?" She replied.

"Otherwise I'd be sitting in the cafeteria wondering where you are," he said in jest. "So what's going on?"

"Just felt like not being in the middle of it all. I needed a break from everyone for a few minutes."

"…Do you want me to leave?"

"No, silly. 'Everyone' doesn't include you."

"Right... I think this pregnancy thing is messing with your vocabulary knowledge."

"Ha ha. So how did your test go?"

"It was alright. I probably got a B. There was one theorem I think I messed up, and it was worth 10 points, so we'll see."

"Speaking of your test, why were you late for our study session?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. Sharpay and I had a conversation on my way to the math lab."

"... And?"

"Well, there's good and bad. The good thing is we have a stroller and a car seat."

"And the bad?"

"She knows about us. Ryan does too."

"... Did she say how?"

"She said she 'put the pieces together.' She doesn't think anyone else knows, but she said we should tell them soon, because pretty soon you're not going to be able to hide B-squared anymore."

"That explains why when I bumped into Ryan he nearly fainted asking if I was okay."

"Yeah…so that's the bad news. The good news is that Sharpay and Ryan's older sister had a baby girl a few years back, so they have all this barely used stuff in the Evans attic. Sharpay said we could come by anytime tonight after 7 PM, and we can have whatever we want--her mom was going to get rid of it anyway."

"Oh my goodness, that's amazing! I've been wondering how we were going to afford all this stuff...and Sharpay doesn't have anything she wants out of this? You don't have to do anything for her?"

"Ha ha. I asked her that too. She said it was going to charity anyway, and we're in need of charity. No strings attached."

"Wow...how very unexpected of Sharpay," Gabriella thought allowed, allowing the last few minutes of conversation to settle in her mind.

"Definitely. Though not unappreciated." Troy qualified.

"That's for certain. Oh my gosh, I feel like all huge weight has been lifted. I have to work until 7:30, so can we go then?"

"Yeah, tonight's my night off from the restaurant. I have two junior lessons, but those are done by six. How about I pick you up at work and we'll head to the Evans' place from there?"

"Okay," Gabriella replied, the smile on her face growing as everything finally sank in. Troy couldn't help but think of how much he loved to see her smile.

"It's nice when things work out, huh?" he said, looping his arm around her shoulder.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," She grinned, leaning into place a kiss on his mouth. This seemingly innocent kiss quickly became not so much, and before either of them was ready to stop the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Troy groaned.

"Promise we'll finish this later?" he asked, giving her one more kiss.

"Tonight. After homework. I promise." Gabriella grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him off the bench. "As for now, it's AP US for me."

"Yeah, and I've got English. Let's go." Troy replied, grabbing his bag and squeezing Gabriella's hand as they headed back down to reality.

A/N: I don't even want to dignify the obscene stretches of time between updates with a response – plain and simple, I suck. And I've totally crossed over onto Twighlighted(dot)net and don't spend nearly as much time on as I used to. I will keep working on getting this story typed up and posting the chapters as they're typed. Thanks for sticking with me!

~Kat