Mistakes
Hey guys, this is the last chapter of this story, so I hope you like it. I'm really sorry that this took so long to write and get posted, writers block and computer problems have been like a plague this year, anyway, please review and tell me what you thought!
Chapter 20
1 year later...
"Where do you think they got into?" Gabriella asked nervously. Her hand was tightly clasped in Troy's as they sat in their living room, with the gang, Joe and David. Together they waited for Lilly-Ella, Sassy and Matt to return from the park, to tell them which schools they been accepted by.
"I have no idea," Troy muttered back, gently running his thumb over Gabriella's knuckles. The whole group let out a collective sigh when the front door burst open, followed by jubilant shouting, as the three teenagers crashed into the room, laughing and clutching their acceptance letters tightly in their hands, their eyes shining.
"We got in!" They all screamed together. They continued laughing as the gang looked on, amusement dancing through all of their features as they watched the ecstatic teenagers.
"Where'd you get in?" Joe yelled, and the three of them just smirked at the impatient twenty two year old.
"Guess," Sassy stated, an irritating smirk covering her features as the three of them tried to hold in their laughter and the group groaned.
"Sassy," Troy whined, believing Sassy to be his daughter now as well. Sassy now lived with the Bolton's full time, unless her parents were home, which was once every five or six months, if she was lucky. Although her parents still sent her money and postcards every month, from wherever in the world they were, and they sent the Bolton's money for her essentials such as food, so Troy was now well aware of the games that she liked to play.
"Fine, just ruin the fun," Sassy sighed, turning her gleaming eyes to Lilly-Ella as the two of them grinned manically. Jumping up at the same time, the girls screamed, "WE got into Julliard!"
Matt meanwhile chuckled slightly at his overexcited friend and girlfriend before saying in a much quieter tone, "And I made NYU thankfully."
Everyone immediately started to cheer and hug the trio. They all offered them congratulations, but the only one Lilly-Ella looked to for approval was Troy, who gave her a watery smile before pulling her in for a tight hug. "It's never gonna be the same without you around here baby girl, but congratulations, I am so proud of you for getting into your dream school."
"Thanks Daddy," She whispered, pulling away and studying his face slightly. She grinned at him before being swiftly attacked into hugs by her 'older brothers' Joe and David, who were pretending to cry hysterically, saying that they were going to miss their 'baby sis', while Lilly-Ella struggled for breath. Troy only managed to roll his eyes as the others all laughed.
Later that evening, the Bolton trio were sat on the back steps of their house, quietly watching the sunset. Lilly-Ella sat in between her parents, her head resting serenely on Troy's shoulder as Gabriella played with the strands of her daughter's dark hair. Each of them were thinking of how different life would be in only a few months. To all of them, the only thing missing in that moment was Sassy. The blonde haired girl had become as much a part of their family as the trio, but had left earlier that evening for a formal dinner with her parents', before she would return to the Bolton's later that night.
"I remember the first time I held you, you know," Troy whispered quietly to Lilly-Ella, gently nudging her. "It was the best day of my life Lila," Smiling, Troy looked up into his baby girl's eyes, his eyes then flowing to those heavenly ones of his wife, sat on his daughter's other side. "Well, one of them anyway," he grinned.
Flashback
The nurse handed Troy a little pink blanket and gently pushed the blanket away from the baby's face. "Congratulations Mr. Bolton, you and your girlfriend have a beautiful baby girl."
Troy wanted to say something, anything, but all he could do was stare at the little pink bundle in his arms. Tears streamed down his face and, as Gabriella dozed in the bed beside him, he just sat watching his baby girl sleep in his arms, her tiny chest raising up and down, and the sounds of her snuffled breathing just about reaching his ears as he held her close to him. He watched her in awe, of course, she'd never been planned, but to Troy, this little pink bundle was his new reason to get up in the morning, a little wonder, and his new little angel.
He smiled gently as he leant forward and kissed her on the forehead gently, his lips lingered for a moment as he took in the softness of her skin, her warmth, and her new baby smell.
End Flashback
Troy's grin widened as he realised that since that day, Lilly-Ella had always been able to get what she wanted with just one look, not that she was rude or obnoxious about it. Nor did she ever really use her powers over Troy for bad, but she was rarely ever in trouble either. Though that was only due to the fact that Troy would take one look at her face and see that of the sleeping angel that he watched for hours at a time when she was only a newborn baby.
Lilly-Ella reached over and gently kissed Troy's cheek, before turning to Gabriella when she asked if Lilly-Ella was coming to help with dinner. Turning to watch the two most important girls in his life wander away, arm in arm and laughing, Troy couldn't help but grin. His little Lilly-Ella, his baby girl was leaving, in only a few short months' time. His Lilly-Ella would be leaving for her dream school, in New York. He was thankful that she would still have Matt and Sassy, of course, but New York, New York, that was a long way away Albuquerque, and from him.
He was actually thankful to the likes of Joe, David, Sassy and, of course, Matt, though. They had given his baby girl the courage to realise that her true passion was acting and singing, regardless of how much she loved basketball and her academics. Troy knew, however, that if they'd stayed in L.A., his daughter would have never even dreamt about heading off to attend a school like Julliard, rather, she probably would have ended up somewhere that she had hated, and would have worried the entire time about fitting in.
A few months later found Troy brooding in the back yard, playing basketball. Gabriella had taken the girls' shopping for last minute college supplies, and Troy was trying to think of a way to get Lilly-Ella to stay in Albuquerque. He never would ruin her dreams, but it scared him that in only a week's time she would be in New York, while he would still be in Albuquerque, miles away from her. Troy bounced the ball harder off of the tarmac on the court, his eyes darkening a shade as he panicked about all of the things that could happen to Lilly-Ella. He had already made both her and Sassy promise that they would call if they ever ran into trouble, and that at least at first, one of them would call every day. Gabriella and the girls' found his worrying entertaining by this point and never ceased teasing him about it though. Sighing softly, Troy shot a basket and ran to collect the ball.
"M-Mr. B-B-Bolton?" a voice stuttered, and Troy looked up, surprised to see a very nervous Matt standing on the edge of the basketball court.
"Hey Matt, what's up? I thought that Lilly-Ella told you, she's not here. She and Gabriella have gone shopping for some things she'll need for college when you guys leave next week." Troy smiled slightly at the one boy that he knew held his daughter's heart close, although he could feel his heart wrenching at the thought of Lilly-Ella leaving for college.
"Oh, I know, I was actually wondering if I could talk to you?" Matt asked, still looking extremely nervous, one hand on the back of his neck as Troy headed off of the court and the two sat on the back porch, looking at each other as Matt fiddled with his hands, raising his golden eyes to meet Troy's cobalt ones.
"Go ahead Matt, I'm not going to bite your head off, and call me Troy already, Sir and Mr. Bolton are my father," Troy chuckled, trying to relax the young man, but if anything, this only turned him paler.
"I'm not so sure at the biting my head of bit," Matt muttered under his breath to himself, before turning to Troy and smiling uncertainly. "Well, umm, you see, uh, Si-Troy, umm, I was wondering if I could talk to you about next week, when we leave, cause umm, there's one thing that I want to do, but I want to do this right, and I know that Lilly-Ella would want me to do this, and I want to do this anyway," Matt babbled, before taking a deep breath to try and regain his breath, and hopefully some courage. Troy watched him, confusion evident on his features. "Well, umm, as you know, Lilly-Ella, Sassy and I, we're leaving next week for New York, so that the girls can go to Julliard, and I can go to NYU, and as you also know, we've got an apartment there together, courtesy of Sassy's family never using it, but umm," Matt trailed off once more, rubbing the back of his neck as he raised his eyes to meet Troy's. "Obviously we don't know how often that we'll get back here to New Mexico, given how much flights are, or how often you guys are gonna be able to get out there, and I don't want to ask her this yet, but I know that I wouldn't want to wait four years for it either, and I wouldn't feel right asking you this over the phone, so umm," Matt took one last deep breath. Closing his eyes softly, he opened them once more, locking them onto Troy's, "Mr. Bolton, I love your daughter so much that I can't even describe it, so I want to ask you if I can ask her to marry me sometime in the future, with your blessing?"
Troy smiled faintly and sighed. "I guess I have to say that I can't say that I didn't see this coming," he smiled a little more. "You two remind me of what Gabriella and I were like in high school. Would you ever leave her? Hurt her? Will you love her forever? Cherish her? Make her happy? Help her to excel in everything that she does?" Troy smile widened even more, as Matt answered 'no sir' and 'yes sir' to the appropriate questions. "Well then Matt, you have my blessing, but if you ever hurt her, I will hurt you so much that you will wish that you had never met her, got that?"
"Yes Sir, thank you Troy, it means a lot to me to have your blessings. And I know that it will to Star Girl as well," Matt muttered, and then grinned at Troy. "But I'd never ever even consider hurting her, and there is no way that you could ever hurt me enough to wish that I'd never met her, she's special, and I'd give my life to save her from anything. She's my one true love, my soul mate, who I can never live without, but if she ever wants to leave me and find happiness with someone else, I won't stop her, just as long as she's happy," Matt shrugged slightly. "I love her, it's as simple as that."
"Good answer Matt, just make sure she's happy," Troy smiled once more at the boy he knew would one day be his son-in-law, and the two headed back onto the basketball court to play until the two loves of their lives returned home from shopping.
Later that night, Troy sighed softly as he made his way up the stairs. His heart was heavy with the feeling that his life that had finally only just gotten itself back together was going to be broken again, with Lilly-Ella's departure for college only one single week away.
He sighed once more as he looked at the door to the room where his wife lay waiting for him to go to bed. Gradually he turned and walked the other way up the corridor, pausing before gently pushing open the door to his daughter's room. Peering in, he smiled when he saw her curled up into a ball, one arm clamped around her two bears, one which Troy had bought her when she was only a baby, and the other which Matt had bought her a little over a year ago. Her other hand was held up to her face, her thumb in her mouth, a picture of innocence to Troy, her sleeping habits only having one change since she was around the age of two, she now had two bears instead of one.
"I love you my little girl," Troy whispered, about to step out of the room when he heard a shuffling and turned around with a beaming smile.
"I love you more Daddy," Lilly-Ella whispered, never once opening her eyes as she rolled over.
A week later Troy stood by the car with Matt, the two men watching the silhouettes of Lilly-Ella, Sassy and Gabriella as they ran around the house, packing the last minute things.
"They do know that we're gonna miss our flight if they don't hurry up right?" Matt questioned, raising his aviators slightly to look at Troy with a kinked eyebrow.
"Yep," Troy muttered, raising his own sunglasses and glancing down at the time on his iphone. Cupping his hands over his mouth, he yelled into the open door of the house, "If you lot aren't ready to go in the next five minutes your gonna miss your flight and I'll just take Matt to the airport instead."
Turning to Matt, Troy couldn't help but chuckle as a fresh round of screams flowed out from the house, followed by pounding feet as Matt winced. "Oh man, would someone please tell me why I agreed to live with two girls' for the next four years of my life?" He moaned softly, and Troy chuckled once more.
"Matthew Thomas Baker, shut your mouth!" Sassy screamed out of the door, sticking her head out momentarily to give him a death glare, before being pulled back inside by Lilly-Ella once more.
"Because you have a death wish," Troy answered, grinning from ear to ear as he replaced his sunglasses, "Four minutes! I'm just thankful that they said goodbye to everyone else yesterday or G-d knows how long this would be taking."
"Thanks man, that's really making me feel confident about living with them," Matt rolled his eyes behind the aviators and grinned at Troy, who only chuckled, turning his attention to the girls' now bouncing down the front steps. Lilly-Ella's white dress swished around her knees as she turned to take in the house one last time, before racing over to Matt and Troy, pulling Matt's aviators off, and settling them over her own sparkling eyes. Matt slung one arm around her shoulder and smiled as Lilly-Ella turned into him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
Gabriella and Sassy took the steps down from the house at a slightly slower pace, rechecking Sassy's list of essentials as the younger girl linked arms with Gabriella.
Leaning up, Lilly-Ella started to slowly kiss Matt, a giggle escaping her lips attracting Troy's attention away from his wife as his nose wrinkled up. "Eww, can't you guys at least wait until you're on the plane, and out of my sight before you do that!"
"Personally, I'd rather they get it out of their systems now," Sassy muttered, her nose scrunching up in a similar way to Troy's as everyone laughed, carefully climbing in the car. Troy glanced at Gabriella and grinned slightly, taking hold of her hand and squeezing as she glanced up at him. Looking away, his attention was drawn to the rear view mirror as he drove the car carefully away from the Bolton's, his eyes catching on Lilly-Ella, who had her head resting on Matt's shoulder, talking softly to Sassy, with a peaceful smile on her face.
Standing at the gate in the airport, Gabriella made sure to go through checklists with the three teenagers one more time, before the boarding call for their flight was announced.
Standing slightly to the side, Lilly-Ella grinned as both of her parents each hugged her friends' goodbye, each reciprocating the same message. To Matt, it was to make sure that he took care of both of the girls', along with calling them if he ever needed anything. In return, her parents promised to check in on his grandparents every once in a while. To Sassy, it was for her to remember to call, and that they would always be there if she needed them, and of course, that there would always be a room for her at the Bolton's home.
Then it was up to Lilly-Ella to say her goodbyes, starting with her mother. Gabriella pulled her daughter just out of hearing range of the rest of the group, and proceeded to grab her in a hug. "I love you so, so much my baby girl, you know that right?" Pulling back, Gabriella, placed her hands on the sides of Lilly-Ella's face and studied her carefully, "You've got to promise me that you'll be careful in New York and you know that we're only a phone call away if you need us right?"
Both women had tears streaming down their faces as Lilly-Ella nodded softly, "I promise, and I love you too Mommy, lots and lots. I feel like I've only got you back, and now I'm the one that's leaving."
"Oh baby," Gabriella whispered, pulling her close again and soothingly stroking Lilly-Ella's hair. "You are only going away for college, you'll be back for thanksgiving before you know it, and you know that there's always a place for you with your Dad and me, if you ever want to come back." Lilly-Ella nodded slightly, the tears still streaming as Gabriella pulled her closer, "But between you and me, by the time you come back for next summer, there will be a lot less room in that house."
Lilly-Ella watched as Gabriella's hand unconsciously travelled down to rest on her stomach, the teenager immediately growing excited, "Seriously? Are you kidding me?" She squeaked.
"Nope, you're gonna have to deal with not being the baby of the family anymore sweetheart, because there will be three more, but they will need a big sister to dote on them," Gabriella laughed, and Lilly-Ella squealed, straight away hearing the fact that she was going to have triplet baby brothers' and/or sisters' by the following summer. Pulling Gabriella into a tight hug once more, her squealing attracted the attention of the other three, and a quick shake of Gabriella's head quickly surmised what Lilly-Ella had believed of her father not knowing about the latest additions just yet.
Bouncing over to Troy, Lilly-Ella threw her arms around him, still giddy from the news as the tears clouded her vision once more. "I'm gonna miss you so, so, so much Daddy," She breathed softly, "I love you."
"I love you too baby girl, more than you will ever, ever know," Troy murmured, gently soothing his daughter by rubbing her back. "It's never gonna be the same around here without you, you know that right? It's going to be far too quiet for a start," He teased softly, laughing when Lilly-Ella let out an exaggerated gasp.
Pulling Gabriella into the hug too, Troy clutched his two girls' close to him and just held them there as the final boarding call for the trio's flight was announced and Lilly-Ella pulled back, standing between Matt and Sassy once more.
"Now, are you sure that you've got everything?" Gabriella asked one more time and everyone laughed at her, while she glared, "Fine, but I'm not sending you anything you forgot."
Giving everyone one final hug, the trio headed for the boarding gate, Matt's arms wrapped around the two crying girls', before Matt and Sassy disappeared down the tunnel to take them to the flight. Lilly-Ella turned around one last time, grinning at her parents, and blowing them kisses. Troy held up his hand in a final wave, and she was gone, disappearing after Matt and Sassy into the tunnel.
"Well, it might have taken us eighteen years, countless obstacles and mistakes, but here we are," Troy beamed. Wrapping his arms around Gabriella's shoulders, he pulled her tightly into his side, as she snuggled up against him, inhaling his unique scent. "We're together, finally, married, happy, and sending our only child away to college in a totally different state," sighing, Troy watched his daughter's flight take off, bound for New York. Turning to Gabriella slightly, he raised an eyebrow, "Think we can have another one?"
"Troy Bolton!" Gabriella yelped, jumping away from him and glancing around to make sure that no one else had heard him. Glaring at him, she then proceeded to smack his chest lightly.
"Yes Gabriella Bolton?" Troy questioned, his expression caught somewhere between extreme amusement and faux innocence. Slowly, he leaned down and rested his forehead to hers, examining the cheeky twinkle in her eyes and the blush that stained her cheeks, a serene expression covering her features as she stared just as deeply into his own eyes.
Grinning at him, Gabriella carefully captured his face between her hands. Slowly, she pulled him towards her, placing a long, leisurely kiss on his lips, savouring the feel of his lips against hers and his exclusive taste. "I love you Wildcat."
Eyes twinkling, Troy wrapped an arm around her waist, before tugging her towards the exit. Softly, he blissfully whispered into her hair, "And I love you, my Ella." Unhurriedly, the Bolton's made their way out of the airport, talking and whispering sweet nothings to each other the entire way. Having said goodbye to one child, they were about to start a new chapter in their lives, unbeknownst to Troy, with three new additions, each getting ready to make their stamp in the Bolton family.
Well that was the final chapter, thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed this story, I am really sorry that it took so long to write. But for the last time on Mistakes, I hope you enjoyed it, and please review.