Coming Home

Chapter Nine

A month later...

Sharpay sat in front of her vanity, puckering her lips. She had just finished putting on her lipstick, and just needed to spray a little perfume on.

She was taking Graham and William with her shopping. Dylan had plans with her friends, and Troy was staying home with Logan since he had a fever.

It had been a month since her conversation with Gabriella, and thanks to her, her marriage with Troy was stronger than ever. She hadn't seen William yet, but Sharpay had talked to her stepson about it already.

"Mom!" Sharpay was interrupted when Will entered the closet, holding a bow tie in the air.

"What is it, Darling?" Sharpay sprayed her Chanel N°5 on herself a few times.

"I need help with this," he handed her his navy blue bow tie. "It will look good with what I'm wearing right?"

Sharpay glanced at his clothes while tying the bow tie. Will was wearing a pair of red orange jeans and a buttoned flannel. On his feet, he wore a pair of black doc martens. "You look fabulous, sweetie."

When she was finished, she started putting her makeup away in the drawers, as William sat on the small couch in there. "I have a question."

"Yeah?" Sharpay closed a drawer and looked at him.

"How does Gabriella feel about my sexuality?" William asked. It wasn't that it bothered him if she did not accept him. He accepted himself. He just wanted to know so he didn't waste his time by meeting her.

"I wouldn't exactly say she's thrilled," Sharpay sat next to William on the couch. "She accepts who you are, though. She's not thrilled but sweetie, that doesn't matter. You are an amazing person. Your sexuality doesn't define who you are."

"Okay." Was all that came out of his mouth. The past few months had been crazy for him. With basketball season, his coming out, and his school work, topped off with his birth mother; it was crazy.

"Honey, you don't have to see her if you don't want to," Sharpay told him what she told him several times already. "This is your choice. If you meet her, great! If you don't, great! It's totally up to you."

"Thanks, Mom," William pulled his stepmother into a warm embrace. "I love you so much. You're the best mother any one could ask for."

"I try to be." Sharpay joked, cockily.

William pulled away and got up. "Are you ready yet?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, William," Sharpay grabbed her bag and followed him out of the master suite. "Is Graham ready?"

"Yeah. He's downstairs with dad," Will told her. He stopped in his tracks. "Can I ask you something again?"

"The amount of questions you have is insane," Sharpay smiled. "Of course. Ask away, sweetie."

"Do you think I can meet her today?"

Sharpay took a deep breath and stared into her stepson's hopeful eyes. "If that's what you want."

Maria Montez pulled her car into the parking space and put it in park. She looked at her daughter. "Are you ready?"

"I don't know how ready I can be." Gabriella admitted. She loved her son no matter what. She wasn't against her son, or the LGBT community. Frankly, she believed marriage was meant for a man and a woman to share. Not that these people couldn't experience the same kind of love.

It was complicated. She never thought she would have to deal with this.

"I'm sure William is excited to meet you." Maria assured her daughter. She dug in her handbag and held out a small box.

Gabriella took it in her hands, and examined it. "Mom, what is this?"

"It's your father's watch," Maria smiled. She wanted William to have it. Francesco Montez would have wanted his grandson to have that watch. "Your father wanted to give it to his son. When we found out we were having a girl, he told me if we didn't have a son after you, to give it to your son."

Gabriella had tears in her eyes. She missed her father dearly. He died when she was ten years old. Her memories of Francesco were very fond. He was an amazing father. "Thank you, Mom."

"Vamos," Maria unlocked the doors. "Te queiro mucho, mi amor."

"I love you too, Mom." Gabriella blew a kiss to her mother and shut the door behind her.

She made her way into the busy mall towards Hot Topic. Sharpay told her they would be having a drink at the Starbucks across the store. She was excited to see her son.

It broke her heart every time she thought back to that rainy Sunday morning when she fled Albuquerque for Seattle. She remembered it so clearly. She wished she didn't. But sadly, she did.

She had just finished feeding her son for the final time, and placed him in his playpen. Troy was having a shower during that short two minute goodbye. Gabriella remembered giving her son a kiss on the head, before she grabbed her suitcases and left.
It was a memory that would never leave.

"I'm right outside the mall. How come you needed me to come?" Troy questioned. He was on the phone with Sharpay. She told him to come to the mall ASAP, so he did as he was told.

"The support. Duh." He heard Sharpay say something to Graham before putting the phone back to her ear. "Are you close?"

"I brought baby in his snuggly," Troy told his wife. Berta was at an appointment so there was no one to keep an eye on Logan. "We'll be there right away."

He hung up without a response, and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

He walked through the automatic doors, and made his way towards Starbucks. It was a quick two minute walk. He was getting winks from women, and he was flattered.

But there was only one woman for him. And there she was.

"Babe!" He called as he approached her, and a hyper-looking Graham. "What'd you give Graham?"

"William bought him an ice cream," Sharpay sighed. "He's going to be like this for about another hour."

Troy nodded as he sat next to her on the bench as he looked around for his son. "Where's Will?"

"He's with her right now," Sharpay told her husband. "I wonder how it's going."

"I'm sure it's going fine," Troy grabbed his wife's hand, gently playing with her wedding rings. "Now, how about we go get something to eat?"

"Yeah, Daddy!" Graham jumped up and down. "I'm hungry!"

Sharpay stood up, and picked her son up. "Maybe we can get actual food in you instead of that junk your brother bought you."

Troy followed behind them, as he looked in the coffee shop and seen his son speaking to the brunette.

He hoped it was going okay.

"So," Gabriella sipped her drink and put it back down. "How is school going?"

They had been learning about each other for about twenty minutes, and she adored him. He was an amazing boy. He was polite, and had great character from what she could tell.

He was all that a mother could ask of her son to be.

"Great. I've been researching the Native American culture. It's a beautiful culture. They're beautiful people," William thought back to all the stuff he learned about the Indigenous people. It fascinated him a lot. "I've been helping the secretary, Debby and learning a lot from her."

"That sounds fun." Gabriella smiled.

"How about yourself?" William smiled back. "You seem like a great woman. I can see why my father loved you back then."

"Thank you, William," she reached over to give his hand a squeeze. "Well, this might be a little too much but how would you like to know that you have a sister?"

"Hmm," William nodded. "I'm sure she's lovely."

"Alicia. She was the girl you showed around that day." Gabriella told him.

"Wow," William adjusted himself in his chair, crossing his legs. "Does my father know?"

"She's not his." Gabriella quickly told him.

"Oh," She could sense the disappointment. "So, anything else you want to know about me?"

"Your boyfriend." Gabriella forced herself to say.

She needed to get to know her son and show him she accepted him. Which she did. From what she was told, Robert was a great boy. Sharpay told her that Robert was a straight A student, and was involved in numerous clubs. He was a great boy."

"Uh," William awkwardly bit his lip. "His name is Robert. We get along great, and he makes me feel good. I never thought someone could make me feel complete. I know we're both very young, and this probably will not last a lifetime but I love him. We're taking it day by day. He's my best friend, not boyfriend."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. Her son was so intelligent. He was way beyond his years. He reminded her of herself at that age.

It was silent for the next few minutes, which worried William a lot. Gabriella was silent because she was trying to process everything about her son.

"I'm sorry." Will apologized immediately. "I shouldn't have mentioned him."

"I asked, Will," Gabriella assured her son it was fine. "I must say, he sounds like a great boy. I would love to meet him one day."

"Thank you." Will grinned, flashing the smile Gabriella was too used to. He resembled his father perfectly.

"Will," Gabriella adjusted herself in her seat. "I'm sorry for leaving you when you were a baby. I truly am. I regret it every day."

"It's okay," he played with his bow tie. "We all make mistakes. We're all humans."

"How are you only thirteen?" Gabriella laughed.

William and his mother continued to learn more about each other in that busy restaurant. Gabriella was thrilled she finally knew who her son was. William was thrilled to have another amazing woman in his life.

Gabriella knew it was going to be tough. She knew he would never call her mom. She knew he wouldn't refer to her as his mother. She knew all that. She also didn't regret a thing.

This was how it was supposed to be.

A/N: And now it's complete. Thanks to the people who put up with me for so long. This story turned out better than I planned. Never thought I would ever write a Troypay story, let alone partially ship the two. Depending on the reviews, I will write an epilogue.
If there's any story suggestions, or anything like that, don't hesitate to PM me or DM me on Twitter (westc0astkilla), also my instagram is that too. But I mean if you're like 40 years old, email me. vhworshiper .
Review and let me know if you'd like a epilogue, or tell me if you liked the story, but if you didn't, review too bc ily