AN: Now its time for Elizabeth to meet her mother. Enjoy the new chapter!
To My Reviewers:
Browneyedswimmer: Thanks! a: Thank you 4-eyedDragon: I wasn't going to have her be angry, but she was turning out to be a Mary Sue, and her being angry seemed to help it a little. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Lady Zarobiti: Great guess! Thanks for r&r-ing. dreamer 3097: Thanks! CopperIslander: Thanks for reading! You know, I have an easier time picturing Zac too. I guess its because I just watched this movie he made last year, called "The Derby Stallion," where he rides horses (it gets a familiar feel because his father loves and and wants him to love baseball.). It's pretty good. Skyline Romance: Thanks! xmomoxashxzanessax226: Thanks for reading!
Strength
By Lela-of-Bast
Chapter Four
When Elizabeth woke up, her father was sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Good morning, Sweetie," he said. He was dressed in faded pajamas, his face unshaved, eyes underscored with dark circles. Automatically, Elizabeth glanced at her alarm clock, certain that she had forgotten to set it the night before. She was right; it was nine-thirty.
"Are you okay, Daddy?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her own eyes.
"I'm fine. I just didn't get any sleep last night. I already called in to work. You can stay home too, if you want." Elizabeth had no intentions of being late two days in a row. Sitting up, she looked at her father.
"If I stay will you tell me what happened yesterday?" she asked, hugging her knees.
"Sorry I rushed out like that. We do need to talk about it. That phone call from the Highland Clinic was about your mother."
"My mother is dead," Elizabeth said, her face scrunched in confusion. "What did the clinic have to say about a car accident that happened when I was a year old?" Troy took a deep breath.
"Beth, what I told you about the accident was true, only she did not die. Gabriella- your mother- has been in a coma for all these years. Back when it all happened, the doctors told me that they had no way of knowing when, if ever, she would wake up."
Elizabeth's brain rushed to process her father's words. "What?"
"You were just a baby, and all of a sudden I was solely responsible for you; I really didn't know what to do, or what to tell you."
"So you lied to me," Elizabeth stated flatly. She was still trying to comprehend what her father was saying. The idea that her mother could be alive had never crossed Elizabeth's mind.
"I know. Bad choice on my part," her father admitted. "But I believed that what I was doing was the best for both of us. To tell you then would have been to take away your chance at a semi-normal childhood."
"But you lied to me," she repeated. Elizabeth was not sure how to react. She had never been so mad at her father before.
"Beth-" he began.
"Please go away," she whispered. "I need to take it all in." Troy sighed, patting her arm softly.
"I love you, Elizabeth."
She didn't say anything. Troy left the room, dejection showing in the slump of his shoulders.
When her door closed behind him, Elizabeth turned to her nightstand, pulling a well-worn picture of her mother out of the drawer. The picture was Elizabeth's favorite, because it was taken at the hospital, just one day after her birth. Her mother was holding her little baby, smiling with all the joy of motherhood.
Elizabeth felt her eyes well up with tears. Though she had never been unhappy growing up with her father, part of her had always longed for the love only a mother could provide, the love she saw manifested in this picture. Realizing the gravity of the whole thing, Elizabeth began to sob. Sometimes a girl just had to have a good cry, and this was a very good cry.
From his spot in her window seat, Bradley yawned and stretched, sauntering across the room to stand on Elizabeth's lap and rub her tears dry. The cat clearly didn't enjoy his mistress's distress. Elizabeth giggled through her crying, and gathered the cat into her arms for a hug.
"Oh Bradley! I should be so happy. I have a mother! But all I can think about is that he lied to me." The cat mewed pathetically, hoping to be released. He was okay with comfort, as long as it was on his terms. Elizabeth continued, "I mean, I understand what he said about taking away my childhood. I wouldn't have wanted to grow up at her bedside, but couldn't he have told me without taking me to her? I'm a mature girl, I could have handled that much." Bradley cried again. His fur stood out at all angles, and when Elizabeth set him free he returned to his window seat and mustered all his dignity to bathe his fur back into order.
The more she thought about her situation, the more Elizabeth realized that her father had made a good decision. He was only looking out for her. What's more, when she put herself in his shoes, with a spouse unlikely to awaken and a newborn to care for, Elizabeth decided that she would have told her child the same thing.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, donning a robe and a pair of slippers.
"Enough pouting," she told her cat, patting him on the head. Elizabeth went downstairs and stood outside the kitchen door. Her father was not in that room. He wasn't in the living room, though some photo albums were lying across the coffee table.
Elizabeth checked the laundry room before she realized that he had to be in the garage. She wasn't the only one who vented with basketball.
Troy was throwing the ball towards the hoop. It was the pink one that Elizabeth had used the night before.
Quietly, Elizabeth watched through a crack in the door. He missed three of four shots. When he turned, dribbling, she noticed that his eyes were rimmed with red. He'd been crying too.
Elizabeth pushed the door open and walked forward a few steps. He flung the ball again, and missed once more.
"I love you too," Elizabeth said quietly. "Daddy, I'm sorry." She felt so much more than she could find words to say, but her father didn't seem to need to hear it. He pulled her into a tight hug and felt it instead.
"I'm sorry too," he said, stroking her hair. "I got so caught up in the excitement of having your mother back that I didn't take the time to stop and think about your feelings."
"I am glad that my mother isn't dead. It was just such a shock, and I didn't know how to react, like when Brooke's brother died last year. And I can't wait to get to know my mother. It has always been one of my dreams to be her little princess, just like I am to you."
"I don't want to lose what we have in the chaos that is sure to be coming. We are going to have a lot of catching up to do with your mother."
"Did she ask about me?" Elizabeth wondered, crossing the room to get a ball. She dribbled twice, then passed it to her father. Troy caught it easily.
"She wanted to know if you were beautiful," he said, passing the ball back to his daughter, who had moved further up the court. "And she wants to see you. I thought that we could go this afternoon, if you feel up to it."
Elizabeth launched the ball into the basket. She caught it from underneath and let it rest on her hip.
"I'd like that."
…..
Two hours later Elizabeth was watching out the car window as the Highland Clinic grew closer. The building was painted white, with old fashioned pillars and dark green shutters. It looked very cozy. Rows of hedges lined the road that led to the parking lot.
Elizabeth followed her father up the stairs, looking at the flowerbeds. She nearly ran into her father, as he stopped to hold the door open for a family. Three little boys, a middle-aged gentleman, and a girl about Elizabeth's age came out, each with tear-stained cheeks and red noses. Their sad faces told a tale of a lost loved one, probably the family's mother.
Elizabeth kept her eyes on the back of her father's shoes, afraid that if she looked up, she'd meet their looks and have to answer to the uncomfortable situation. She felt an arm around her shoulders. Troy had sensed his daughter's distress. He passed through the door and smiled softly to comfort her.
"We've been there, haven't we?" Elizabeth whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I looked a lot worse than that man did," he said. "I was so stupid. I only had one child to take care of."
"We survived," Elizabeth noted. Her father nodded.
"And so will they. It just takes time."
"Hello, Mr. Bolton," a nurse said, brightening as they came in. Elizabeth had seen many women give her handsome father similar love-struck looks, but he had never done anything more than be a perfect, polite gentleman. She had wondered why he didn't return their flirting. Now I know why, Elizabeth thought, realizing that her mother was in this building.
"Well, hi there, Ms. Maggie. How are you today?"
"I'm great," the redhead replied. Her eyes moved to Elizabeth. "Is this your daughter? She's gorgeous."
"Thank you," Elizabeth said.
"Are you excited to see your mom?" another nurse, Carolyn, asked. Elizabeth could only nod an answer. Troy's arm tightened around his daughter.
"She's going to love you," he said. Elizabeth grinned. Her father continued, speaking now to the two nurses. "Besides, it will do her good to have her mother around, and not just her goofy old dad."
"Never old," Maggie said, chin in palm, leaning her elbow on the desk. Carolyn elbowed Maggie and her arm slipped, causing her to stumble forward against the desk.
Distractingly, Elizabeth's cell phone began to play The Phantom of the Opera overture. That was Brooke's ringtone. Elizabeth pulled the phone out of her purse and pressed the "ignore" button.
"Do you want to talk to Brooke before we go in?" Troy asked as he signed the visitor log.
"If your dad wants to go on ahead I can take you back when you're ready," Maggie offered.
Elizabeth smiled politely.
"No thanks. My father always tells me that my phone conversations last at least three and a half hours. If I get on now, I might miss visiting hours," she joked, turning her phone off all the way.
Maggie nodded, and crossed the room to a filing cabinet. She looked disappointed at losing another chance to see Troy.
The second nurse, Carolyn, handed each of them a visitor sticker.
"You remember the way, Mr. Bolton?" she said.
"I'll never forget," he said, smiling dopily. Apparently, he was still on a natural "high" from happiness.
Elizabeth followed her father once again, glancing over her shoulder to see Maggie. She was watching them leave, arms crossed over her chest.
"He's happily married," Carolyn hissed.
Elizabeth turned her thoughts from the woman in the lobby as she and her father drew nearer to their destination. Elizabeth had a million questions about the mysterious woman who was her mother. Was she bitter about the years she had missed? Was she as pretty as the pictures at home? Most importantly, would her mother like her?
Elizabeth had spent much more time picking out her outfit. It was even more difficult than when she attended the wedding of one of her father's high school friends, opera star Sharpay Evans. Of course, Sharpay had given Elizabeth a three-hundred and fifty dollar dress to wear for the wedding. This time she was on her own.
After nearly twenty minutes of deliberating, Elizabeth had finally settled on a skirt with a pink and purple butterfly pattern, and a long-sleeved white shirt beneath a pink t-shirt. She then took time to curl her hair and arrange a butterfly clip behind & above each ear. Her jewelry consisted of simple purple gemstone earrings, and matching necklace, and three silver bracelets between both wrists. When she had finally come downstairs her father's eyes had teared up, but he hid it behind the newspaper, making a comment about how grown up she looked.
"You look beautiful," he whispered now. They stood at the door of her mother's room. Elizabeth barely heard him over the pounding of her own heart. "She's going to love you, Beth. She always did." Troy gave his daughter one last hug, then pushed the door open.
"Good morning, Mrs. Bolton," he said with a smile. Elizabeth watched from the doorway as her mother grinned, extending both arms for a hug.
"Hi, Troy!" Gabriella said. Her voice sounded soft and musical. Her eyes twinkled with merriment as she smiled over Troy's shoulder. Then she caught sight of Elizabeth. She released Troy from the hug, clutching his hand. She asked, "Is this her?" Her eyes never left Elizabeth's face.
"Yes," Troy whispered, reaching his free hand out towards his daughter. "Beth?" Elizabeth took a deep breath and made her feet step towards her parents. She had been painstakingly keeping her eyes on her father. When her father put his hand on her shoulder, Elizabeth found the strength to look up.
"Hello, Elizabeth," her mother said. Now she held her arms out for her daughter. Elizabeth stumbled forward into the hug.