Authors Note: Again, I feel so bad about keeping you lot waiting, I'm back with another chapter. This one is short, almost childishly short, but it is just a filler. I'm like, letting Chad come to terms with the fact he's a father, before i start all the drama up again! (:

Disclaimer: If i did own it all, then right now i would be working on HSM4 with the ORIGINAL characters, and my name would legally be Mrs Chad Danforth (:

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Chad almost dropped the nearing 3 year old off his lap. Wow. He really hadn't expected Taylor to reveal it so quickly, he'd thought she'd go into another dance around the times, continually riddling him the answer; never being straight-forward.

But she had. She had spoken the three letter word he'd been scared to hear off since he walked through the door. Yes. Jordynn was his. This was a revelation and a half to Chad. A few days ago, he'd been completely fine, living his dream life, yet working on finding his perfect girl. Now, in a matter of days, his ex-girlfriend had come back, mildly confessed she still had feelings for him, and, to stick the knife in even further, told him they have a child together.

Of course, on the other hand, she could be lying.

But what was the point? Was she doing this to protect Chad from the truth? Yet what harm could it do to him? He was depressed when she left 3 years ago. And 3 years is a long time. She didn't honestly think that he'd welcome her back with open arms, reveal that JJ was his, and everything could go back to normal, that they'd be a proper family?

Nuh-uh, Miss McKessie. That only works for fairy tales.

He looked at Taylor, who was fiddling with a strand of her hair, tugging at it and then watching the curl bounce back into place. She looked troubled, and Chad knew this wasn't the way she wanted it to come out. But Jordynn had spoken the word 'dada,' and what excuse could Taylor have made for that?

"Taylor?" He countered softly, drawing her attention away from her hair. "Tay, we need to talk about this,"

She nodded slowly, her eyes glassy from the tears she was holding back. JJ squirmed in Chad's arms, and he looked down at her. His daughter was struggling to reach Taylor, her arms stretched outwards. Taylor smiled slightly. "Chad, could I....?"

Chad nodded. "Of course Taylor, here," He set Jordynn down on the ground, who immediately ran over to her mom, staring up at her with her brown eyes. Taylor sniffed, laughing, and picked JJ up, resting her on her lap and giving her a kiss on the cheek. She then looked at Chad, hesitantly daring to reach his eyes. "Well, I guess you wanna start with why I didn't tell you?"

To her surprise, Chad shook his head. "Nah, we can talk about that later. How about you tell me about my kid? I want to know everything about my daughter," He smiled, before quickly adding, "If that's okay with you,"

Taylor giggled. "Well, you are looking at 2 and a half years old Jordynn-Jazmine Gabriella Danforth," She started, and Chad almost choked. Danforth? Seeing his expression, Taylor rolled her eyes. "Of course she took on your surname Chad, it is basically tradition. And she is a Danforth,"

Chad smiled. That sounded so good to him. And she is a Danforth. "So, when was she born?"

"Sunday, the 22nd of March 2006, at 6.09pm," Taylor beamed, "She was premature by 3 weeks,"

Chad raised his eyebrows. She looked relatively healthy for a premature child. Chad would never have guessed. Just goes to show what a good mother Taylor must have been to her then.

"Her first word was 'ma', and she took her first steps earlier than she was supposed too. Wowed the Doctors,"

"Must be a McKessie, then," Chad joked, earning a laugh from Taylor. "What's she like? I mean, her favourite foods, colors, TV programmes?"

Taylor shifted JJ around on her lap. "She's a complete terror. Her favourite game is breaking things, seriously. She loves making me stressed," Chad laughed, and Taylor continued, "Her favourite food is rusks, and she's become to have quite an addiction to oatmeal recently. Though it normally ends up all down her face, clothes, the floors, the walls, even me, then in her mouth,"

They both smiled. Chad was loving hearing about his daughter. It was weird, how she spent 3 years without him ever knowing she was there, but with just 5 minutes of Taylor describing her to him, he felt like he'd known her forever.

"...Her favourite TV shows are Barney and SpongeBob. The amount of times I've had to sit through them. And her favourite colors are gold and purple," Chad looked up at this, "To represent her favourite team, the L.A Lakers,"

Taylor smiled softly as Chad blinked several times. "She likes the Lakers?"

Taylor nodded. "Totally. Her 2nd birthday present was the kit," Chad smirked cockily, and opened his mouth to speak, but Taylor cut him off with a raise of her eyebrows. "Don't be getting too excited. The back reads 'BRYANT' not Danforth,"

"Bryant?" Chad spluttered, "As in Kobe Bryant?"

Taylor laughed. "Yep. Her favourite player. Goes mad when he's on the screen,"

Chad pretended to be hurt. "Oh, i see how it is. So I don't even get a mention with her?"

Taylor shook her head. "Nope, sorry. Though I'm sure that if she could speak properly, she'd tell you how bad you look on the basketball court,"

Now it was Chad's turn to laugh. "Oooh, I just got burned, right?" Both 21 year olds laughed, and soon, JJ joined in too, making Chad and Taylor laugh harder. Their laughter subsided, and Chad gestured towards Taylor. "You never told me about yourself, Kessie. How've you been? Anyone special in your life?"

Taylor felt shock waves when Chad used his old pet nickname for her. It made her feel like a little girl again; totally shy. On the other hand, Chad had just nonchalantly asked her if she was dating, hadn't he? She felt herself grin widely and lean forward in her seat.

"Well, no," She started, "I've been too busy with Jordynn on the whole, and trust me Danforth, there are seriously no decent guys in California,"

Chad smiled cockily. "So now i see your real reason for moving back,"

Taylor rolled her eyes. "What about you, lunkhead? Still not tired of the gorgeous models draping themselves over you?"

Chad snorted. "Tired? Gosh Taylor. Yes, these girl may be gorgeous as you so put it, but they're hardly girlfriend material,"

Taylor looked confused. "And why is that?"

"Do the words gold digger, fame hungry and slutty not ring any bells? They'd be gone the minute they see my cash roll into their bank accounts,"

"Well, just don't put the cash there. Duh,"

"These girls find a way Taylor. Ever wondered how Sharpay got more stuff then Ryan?"

Taylor smiled. "So you're planning on being a lonely bachelor all your life?"

"Not all my life," Chad started, pausing to look in her eyes, "But when the right girl comes along, you'll be the first to know, Kessie,"

Taylor couldn't pull away; however much she wanted too. "And vice versa," She whispered, finally breaking free and looking back down onto the toddler on her lap. Chad silently cursed himself, and bit his lip, thinking for something to say that would break the silence. Finally, he settled on:

"How did she know to call me 'dada'?"

Taylor looked back up at him. "She broke a picture frame yesterday, i think it was. I got a bit ahead of myself, and told her who 'dada' was," She paused, smiling discreetly, "You,"

"So she recognises me?"

"I would say as a safe bet, yes she does,"

Chad couldn't help but feel his smile get bigger. "That's good, right?"

Taylor looked away. Her voice suddenly became quiet and distant. "If you want to be in JJ's life, then yes. If not, then she should be calling another person 'dada',"

Chad felt the sudden instinct to go be with her, and he followed it through. He felt his legs lift him off the settee, and sit on the arm of Taylor's chair. His arms went around her neck, pulling her closer to his muscular chest. Though he couldn't see or hear them, he felt Taylor's tears though his thin tee. "Of course i wanna be here, Tay. Don't think for one second that now i know, I'm leaving you in the lurch. I'm going to be here for you both now, whether you like it or not,"

Taylor pulled away from his chest, and met his eyes, confusion burning through hers. "You mean that?"

Chad nodded slowly. "Every word,"

Staring into each other's eyes, both felt old and new feelings bore through their bodies. As if on impulse, and never breaking eye contact, both adults leant into one another, Chad going forward, and Taylor putting one hand on Chad's chest as she leant upwards to meet him half-way. Closing both their eyes, anticipation and lust shaking their every sense, their lips were inches apart.

I wanna take you down,

I really wanna take you down,

And show you what I'm about.

'cos when I take you down –

"Fuck," Chad muttered, pulling away and reaching into his pocket for his cell, "This better be good," Flashing an apologetic smile at Taylor, he put his phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Yo, dude. What's up?"

Chad rolled his eyes. Trust Troy to ruin a perfect moment. "Nothing much, Troy. Was this call urgent?"

"Pretty much. Guess what i found out about you today?"

Chad smiled, knowing what was coming next. He decided to mess with Troy for a bit. "I don't know. What?"

"Just take a guess, dude. A wild stab in the dark,"

"I'm captain of the Lakers?"

Troy scoffed. "Pssh, keep dreaming man. No. Guess again,"

"Monique Coleman dropped me her number?"

"Do i look like a miracle worker? No. Think closer to home,"

"Oh, wow. I'm a...Dad?"

The line went deadly silent. Chad had to bite his cheek to stop laughs escaping from his mouth.

"Yeaaah. How did you know?"

Chad laughed. Troy sounded so confused. "I'm at Taylors now, dude. I found out like half an hour back,"

"Ohhh," Troy continued, "How you taking it?"

"Pretty good, man. Everything's perfect here," He smiled softly at Taylor, who smiled back.

"Oh, cool. Well I just wanted to tell you that. I'm gone, yeah?"

"Yeah. Oh, and Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, dude,"

"No problem. That's what brothers are for,"

Chad hung up the phone and looked at Taylor. "Did Gabi finally tell Troy?" She asked softly, stroking JJ's curls.

Chad nodded, and then looked at the clock. 7.09pm. "Shit, Tay. I've got practice in like 20 minutes. I really need to go,"

"Oh," She sounded disappointed.

"I'm really sorry. If I could cancel, i would, but -,"

Taylor held up her hand as if to silence him. "It's cool. I'll be staying here for awhile, Chad,"

Chad nodded. "So I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Yes. Now, go! You don't want to be late!"

Chad smiled, and leant forward to kiss Taylor on the cheek. It was a mile of from the kiss they were about to have a few moments before, and they both knew it. "Later, Tay,"

He grabbed his keys from the table, his coat from the settee, and walked out the room. Not even a minute later, Taylor heard the front door close.

Touching her now burning cheek softly, Taylor looked down to the toddler who was staring up at her with big eyes. "Now, that, JJ, was daddy,"

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Authors Note: Okay, filler chapter! Hope it was good!

So, Tay and Chad are getting close again, eh? Let's see what happens when i throw in a few more original characters, hey?

Review ?

Emily Ox