Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. This begins the Thanksgiving arc of this story.

Chapter 19: Welcome Home Troy Bolton

Chad sat in the cell phone waiting area the Tuesday before thanksgiving waiting to pick up his best friend. It felt strange to realize that it has only been three months since Troy left for Berkeley. Everything was different now. Of course, the biggest difference was currently sitting in his car seat playing with his toy cars. At least this time Alex has been a good boy for his Uncle Chad, other than throwing things.

"You're still waiting for Troy to show up?"

"Yes and Alex just through a car at my head."

"I'm sure it just bounced off. Why did you bring Kim son with you to pick up Troy." Chad forgot that Ryan didn't know the big secret yet. Chad would not be the one to tell him. Instead, he chose a heavily edited version of the truth.

"Kim's nanny quit yesterday after Alex flushed her keys down the toilet. The agency refuses to give her a replacement two days before thanksgiving. Therefore, Alex and I get to do some serious male bonding while waiting for a plane to show up. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to keep him in his car seat the entire time."

"I'm so glad Taylor is taking the train. At least I can come into Penn station."

"Did you tell her about your dinner plans for tomorrow?

"No, I figured it would be best if it was a surprise."

"Did I mention how crazy I think it is to put her and the FMG in the same room together?"

"Only about 1000 times. Why do you hate Gabriella so much now? You guys were friends in high school."

"No, I tolerated her in high school because she was dating my best friend and she was my girlfriend's best friend. I personally didn't like her that much then and I really don't like her now." Chad said cryptically.

"Does this have anything to do with the real reason why Gabriella and Troy broke up?" Chad was definitely not answering that question.

"Hey, Ryan I have to go I'm getting another call. That might be Troy. I will talk to you later." Chad said switching to the incoming call.

"Troy I hope this is you, your son is getting very cranky. " Chad said without looking at the phone

"Sorry honey, wrong person."

"Hi mom. I'm just sitting in the cell phone waiting area for Troy to show up. Alex is already starting to throw things."

"Just remember this experience any time you think about doing something with your girlfriend without protection. You were already here, when I was your age."

"I think Mr. Evans threatening to castrate me if I ever forget to use a condom will prevent your early grandmother hood."

"He would not have threatened you if he didn't love her. Are you sure her father is ok with me staying at their house for a few days."

"It's fine, the house has like eight guest rooms and a guest house. He's not even going to be here. He's planning on surprising Ryan in New York tomorrow night." Chad may have neglected to tell Ryan about his other surprise guest at dinner. There is also the fact that during their father/future son in law bonding Chad told Mr. Evans exactly who posted that certain video file to the Internet. Ryan was going to have a very interesting day before thanksgiving.

"The house has multiple bedrooms. yet you always share a bed with Sharpay?" Chad was definitely not answering that.

"Sorry mom, I think that's Troy. I got to go. Sharpay will be picking you up from the Airport because I'll be dealing with dad."

"Chadwick Danforth don't you dare hang up his phone on me." Chad heard his mom yell as he quickly ended the call. When he heard the phone ring a few minutes later he assumed it was his mother calling to yell at him. He quickly grabbed the phone without looking knowing that if he kept her waiting, he would never hear the end of it tomorrow.

"Mom I really don't want to talk about my and Sharpay sleeping arrangements with a two year old in the backseat."

"I hope not, since it's my two year old in the backseat." It turned out it was Troy.

"All we do is sleep." Chad said defensively. The fact that they sleep with minimal clothes with an extreme amount of "touching" is something that Chad will not speak about with his best friend.

"That's not what I heard. According to Amanda and Kim, Mr. Evans scared the hell out of you at the sex health seminar. Supposedly he caught you with your hand in his daughter's cookie jar or rather your fingers inside his daughter's c…"

"Did I mention I have the phone on speaker right now? You may want to stop before you teach Alex a new word he can't repeat in public." The phone was not on speaker, but he was not going to tell Troy that.

"Alex, that is how to get out of conversations you don't want to have." Chad said after he ended the call.

"I thought the whole point of you going to Berkeley was to avoid a long distance relationship. Yet you somehow manage to get yourself in the same situation. At least I like this girlfriend." Chad said to Troy as they made their way to East High to see his father, Kim, and Sharpay.

During the ride from the Airport Troy sat in the back with his son watching the scenery passed by and catching up with his best friend. He missed his son and he definitely missed his best friend. Albuquerque had not change much except for a new Starbucks and a few more stores here and there. Yet he and Chad were not the same people they were three months ago. Besides the nicer clothing that Sharpay obviously bought, Chad was a lot more comfortable with being himself. In high school, Chad hid behind his super jock persona and Troy let him do it. He knew that Sharpay wasn't letting him get away with that anymore.

Then again he wasn't the same person either. He left here three months ago dating Gabriella and under the delusion that he could balance enacting major with basketball. Now he was a father of a 20-month-old child and engaged to the love of his life. He was also seriously contemplating if he wanted to play basketball at the collegiate level next season. There were other things more important to him like his son.

"The whole point of going to Berkeley was to go to a good drama school that I could play basketball at. At the time, the fact that Gabriella was going to school 40 miles away was just a bonus. Gabriella is the one who could not do a long distance relationship. I have no problem putting in the effort. She's pretty much disconnected herself from everyone except for Ryan." Troy said as he grabbed Alex shoes from the floor. He must have taken them off during the ride.

"The only reason Ryan is still talking to Gabriella is because I didn't tell him about Gabriella turning his sister and me into porn stars." Chad said angrily as he made the turn for the school.

"I personally can't wait to see what happens when he find out. However, that's beside the point. I feel that if you really love and care about someone beyond the superficial, you are going to be willing to work through your problems. I loved Kim and essentially she's my other best friend, so I'm going to do everything to stay with her. I know you already feel the same way about Sharpay. If Sharpay got into one of the top drama programs on the other side of the country you know that you be doing the exact same thing."

"You have a point there." Chad said as they pulled into the visitor parking lot at EHS.

"Do we need to transfer the car seat into Kim's car now or afterwards?" Troy asked as he started to get Alex out of his car seat.

"This is the car seat that Sharpay bought for this car. Kim has her own for the BMW. Don't forget to bring the diaper bag." Chad was reminding him to pick up his son's diaper bag and Sharpay was buying car seats for his son out of the goodness of her heart. He has truly entered the twilight zone.

"Your girlfriend bought my son a car seat to use when he is in her car?" Troy asked in shock as he placed Alex on the ground.

"She didn't know he was your son at the time. She bought him a car seat that we keep in the trunk. Alex spends a lot of time with us." It hurt Troy to think that his best friend and girlfriend spent more time with his son than he did.

It felt strange walking into the school for the first time since graduation with his son and best friend. He remembers coming here all the time when he was a little bit older than Alex. He used to dream about being a student here in playing on the basketball team. Now they were walking to the office to pick up their visitors pass so he could surprise his girlfriend. As soon as they made it through the doors of the office, Mrs. Rodriguez the principles assistant grabbed Troy into a hug. He has known the woman sense he was five years old.

"It's so good to see you back Troy. I'm sure you're here to see your father. Who is this little guy with you? " Mrs. Rodriguez said as she handed the visitor passes to Chad. Apparently Miss Rodrigues was never around when Kim brought Alex to the school. He could take the easy way out and say he was Kim son, but he didn't.

"This is my son Alex." As he said this, Mrs. Rodriguez dropped the lollipop that she was just about to give Alex. This was fine with Troy because his son does not do well with sugar. He could see the shock and disappointment in her eyes. Troy had a feeling he would be seen that look a lot over the next few days as he shatters the illusion of golden boy Troy Bolton. Before Mrs. Rodriguez recovered they were both making their way to Ms. Darbus is classroom.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to tell people that Alex is your son before you tell your mom? When are you going to tell her anyway?"

"I'm not going to lie about my son. We're planning on telling her tomorrow night anyway. As for other people knowing, people are already figuring it out. Taylor already knows.

"Troy, Taylor figured it out before Kim even told you." Chad said as they walked into the drama room. Alex ran out of his hand straight to Sharpay who was currently working with Kelsey sister on the scene.

"Aunt Pay," Alex cried as he was surrounded by teenage girls.

"This is not my son's first trip to drama class is it?" Troy asked Chad as he watched his son play around with the other students.

"With you and Kim as parents, Alex was born for the stage. Sharpay wants to put him in the spring musical." Chad said as he walked over to sharpay and kissed her. Troy seriously doubted the PDA policy was relaxed from last school year.

"I realize that you two haven't seen each other for about 3 hours. However, can you two please wait until the bell rings in 15 minutes to start groping each other in front of my class?" Ms. Darbus said sarcastically to the pair.

"Sorry, Ms. Darbus." they both said at the same time as they pulled apart.

"Are they always like this?" They were worse than him and Kim.

"Unfortunately, yes. The teachers are currently taking bets on when the wedding will take place. I have 100 on April. How was your first semester at Berkeley?

"Classes are great, everything else not so much."

"Let me guess this is more than normal freshmen blues. Let's take a walk. With Alex around, I doubt we will be able to finish the rest of this afternoon's performances."

5 minutes later he found himself center stage in the auditorium. "Let's talk about what's bothering you or would you prefer just to scream on stage at the top of your lungs?" He laughed that that. He remembered that night she caught him in here. Thinking about it now, he wondered if in her own way she was trying to get him back with Kim.

"Other than finding out that I'm a father at 18? Actually I was a father at 16. I just didn't know it for two years."

"I suppose that's the big issue." Ms. Darbus said as she sat next to him on the stage.

"The thing is it's really not. I don't think I understood what love was until I met my son. Alex is the only thing that is simple right now. Being responsible for someone else, now that's a very scary concept."

"Yes it is. At least I had nine months to prepare. From what I understand you were thrown into the deep end immediately."

"You have a child. I didn't know that."

"I have a daughter who is about two years older than your fiancé. I didn't start working here until after the divorce. Because my husband had the better lawyers, he ended up with full custody." He could hear the bitterness in her voice.

"Do you have advice for someone who's going to be shuttling their kid back and forth for the next year?"

"You and Kim are in a much better place than I was. From what I understand the only reason why you're not living with Kim is because she wants you to stay at Berkeley. The two of you love each other very much. That will be the only thing that's going to help you get through the next year."

"You're probably right; there are just all these other complications. I have a crazy ex girlfriend who still can't comprehend that we are not getting back together because I cannot trust her. I have a future father in law that hates me because I got his daughter pregnant when she was 18. There's also my mother who will probably kill me or Kim when she finds out about her new grand baby. I also get to tell everyone that I'm not as perfect as they think I am. Mrs. Rodriguez practically fainted when I told her about Alex. "

"Mrs. Rodriguez always overreacts. I would not use her reaction to gauge everyone. You just announced to my entire classroom that Alex was your child and not one of them said anything. We're all human. We all make question will decision sometimes. You have more important things to worry about. Worry about your son and your fiancé. Concentrate on getting through college. Everything else will fall into place."

"I guess you're right."

"Now you can tell me about how classes are going. Have you tried out for any plays yet?"

Kim looked at her watch for the 50th time as she observed the honors 10 English class. She knew that Troy's plane should have landed over an hour ago. He should either be on his way to the school or already there. As soon as the bell rang, she tried to run out of the room but Ms. Ortega stopped her. They needed to talk about next week's lesson plans. 10 minutes later she finally made it out of the room and accidentally ran into Jason McKessie.

"I'm sorry Jason I didn't see you there. I'm assuming Sharpay sent you to come get me."

"That's right Ms. Kim or should I say Ms Bolton?" Jason said with a smile.

"Where did you hear that?" They were trying to keep her new last name a secret until after Thanksgiving. She was not looking forward to explaining to the students how she can have a new last name and not actually be married to Troy. Maybe she should seriously consider doing her student teaching at West High.

"I overheard my dad talking to your dad a few weeks ago about his baby running off and getting married to Troy." Why did her dad always exaggerate things?

"Troy and I are not getting married any time soon. Although I am changing my last name, so Alex and I will have the same name." Kim said as they turned down the hall to Ms. Darbus is class room. She was so busy talking to Jason, she didn't notice the woman of her nightmares approaching her until it was too late.

"What are you doing here? You are supposed to be in New York." Lucille Bolton said to her in a very icy voice. Lucy must be there to see Jack for some reason.

"I had to move back due to family problems. As for why I am here at East High, I'm doing my student observations this semester. When I got to New York, I decided to be in education major instead of a drama major."

"The school is allowing a pedophile like you to be around children?" It looks like her future mother in law was taking the gloves off. If it wasn't for her promise to Troy, she would smack the woman upside the head. Instead, she tried her hardest to keep calm and neutral.

"If I was doing what I did with Troy with Jason, you can call me a pedophile. However, I am only two years and seven months older than Troy. I know you are upset that your son grew up a little bit faster than you expected him to, but that was not my fault. I love your son. Contrary to what you think, he loves me." Kim purposely used the present tense to prepare Lucille for what was about to come. "Whatever your problem is with me, you need to get over it." Kim said trying to walk away before she punched her son's grandmother.

"I don't know what you're trying, but Troy has moved on. He has a nice girl his own age, instead of some trashy ho like you." Kim had to literally bite her tongue to keep herself from saying something really stupid.

"He broke up with Gabriella over a month ago." Jason said under his breath. The look on Lucy's face was priceless. Did she really think she could bluff the two of them?

"How do you know about that? Besides this is just a break. I'm sure they'll get back together at any moment." Even Jason was laughing hysterically at that comment.

"My sister used to be best friends with Gabriella until Troy broke up with her for being an evil…" Kim cut him off before he could call Gabriella the word that truly describes the girl's personality.

"Jason McKessie, if you finish that sentence I will give you detention. Then I'll tell your mother. I doubt she will let you go to the basketball game tonight if you get in trouble for using dirty words at school."

"Yes Ms Bolton." Jason said in a condescending tone. As soon as the name was out of Jason's mouth, Lucy went completely pale. Why did Jason have to call her that? This is not good. Troy was supposed to be here when they broke the news to Lucy gently. This was not gentle.

"What did you call her?"

"Ms Bolton. That is her name. I mean you are aware that she's engaged to your son and is the mother of your only grandchild. She is taking the last name a little early. You didn't know? I'm sorry, I had no idea it was such a big secret." Jason said that in a way that shows he was anything but sorry. "Ms Bolton I'm going to go meet up with Sharpay right now."

That evil little 12 year old. How dare he dropped a bomb like that and leave her to defuse it by herself. He was so getting detention Monday. He was also getting his own very special English assignment. As Lucille started screaming every expletive known to man at her, Kim wondered if she could get away with forcing a 12 year old to read Camus.

Sharpay stood in the drama room waiting for Kim and Troy to show up. They would have to leave soon if they want to have dinner before Chad had to meet up with the team. Everyone else who was coming with them was already there.

Their punishment for the Taming of the Drama Queen incident was to serve as mentors to at risk students. She was assigned to Kerri and Chad was assigned to Jimmy. They were both assigned to Jason. Because they were no classes tomorrow she was taking all three to watch Chad play tonight. After five more minutes, she asked Jason to go get Kim and sent a text message telling Troy to get over here now.

"Where is Kim?" Sharpay asked as Jason ran into the classroom.

"Currently being yelled at by Troy's mom in the hallway. Did you know, that she didn't know about Alex yet?" This is not going to be good Sharpay thought as she got off Chad's lap."

"Stay here with Alex." Sharpay told Jason as she grabbed Chad and walked out the door. As they walked in on the shouting match going on in the middle of the hallway they found Troy already there. When she saw the amount of screaming and yelling going on she was glad Alex would not see this. Mrs. Bolton reminded Sharpay of Darby at that moment.

"Why do you believe her? The child probably is not yours. We all know how she got around in high school." Lucy yelled at Troy. Sharpay personally wanted to deck the woman, but she felt Chad holding her back.

"You mean other than the fact that he looks exactly like me and we have all the same food allergies? Because we knew you see my girlfriend as the easiest person in Albuquerque, we got a DNA test. I personally did not need one because I know I am the only person that she has ever had sex with. Congratulations, you are a grandmother." Troy spat back in anger.

"So what if the little brat is yours. It's not your fault she trapped you. You don't owe her anything." Sharpay was not sure who was angrier at that comment Kim or Troy.

"You will never talk about my child like that ever again. That is my son who I love very much. I will do whatever I have two to protect my child from any threats, including you." Troy said yelling at his mom.

"Gabriella is a wonderful girl. How can you throw away a year and half long relationships?" Lucille spat bitterly at the pair

"Nothing I can say about Kim will ever change your opinion of her. I'm not even going to try mom. So let's talk about your precious Gabriella. Let's begin with the fact that during the first part of the school year she barely called or text messaged me."

"Everybody needs time to adjust to college life." Lucille said defensively.

"Gabriella's way of adjusting to college life is forgetting about her old life. Let's be honest she has always been like that. Do you remember when she dumped me two days before the prom because she couldn't deal with the possibility of a long distance relationship. What about when she left me at Lava Springs because I was focusing on something other than her. I was starting to grow up and she couldn't handle it."

"What about Kim leaving for New York without a phone call?"

"Let's talk about the fact that you forced her to go to New York without a phone call. Gabriella protects herself. Kim left to protect me from you. You don't think I know about that? You don't think I know about the role you played in keeping me away from my son for two years? I don't think I can ever forgive you for that."

"Honey I just feel Gabriella is a much better fit for you. She would never force you to do anything that you were not ready for." Sharpay found this part hilarious. Let's just say Gabriella Montez's attempts to bed Troy Bolton were legendary at EHS. Sharpay was never desperate enough to try half the stuff Gabriella did.

"Neither did Kim. Everything I did with Kim then and now is 100% consensual. Yes mom there is a now." Troy said sternly, looking his mother in the eyes.

"Like you two could have a relationship with out sex. I'm sure an oversexed bitch like you needs it all the time.

"Did she just call my best friend a bitch? I'm so going to kick her..." Sharpay whispered to Chad.

"Stay out of it," Chad whispered back.

"You're acting as if Gabriella was a sweet and innocent little virgin. Trust me, her cherry was popped long ago and I wasn't the one to do it. You're 'virginal' Gabriella has been sending me dirty text messages in an attempt to get back with me. Wait, she did that before we broke up. She also showed up to my dorm room two weeks ago in a trench coat."

"I'm sure she only resorted to that because she was competing against the likes of Kim." Sharpay wanted to laugh so badly. This woman was more delusional than Darby. She wasn't paying attention to anything Troy said.

"The real reason why I broke up with Gabriella had nothing to do with Kim. In her insane jealousy, she posted a very private video file of Chad and Sharpay to YouTube. That was after Saint Gabriella stole this file from my computer." Troy was screaming at his mother at this point. Sharpay didn't really know how to react to finding out that Gabriella was responsible for making her the laughing stock of New Mexico.

"Your ex bitch of a girlfriend did what?" Sharpay asked screaming at the top of her lungs as the shock wore off. This stopped the family argument instantly.

Chad sat in the Lexus with his girlfriend. Her body was still shaking with anger. After Troy accidentally let it slip that Gabriella was responsible for the almost sex tape incident Chad pulled Sharpay out of there before things got really bad. Sharpay had not said a word since her initial outburst 10 minutes ago. Her quietness scared him. The more she withdrawal from the situation, the more dangerous things could be. Finely her composure fell apart and her tears began to fall. Quickly he pulled her body against his and stroked her hair.

"I know she hated me. I know as far she is concerned; I tried to take her boyfriend several times. However, I never did anything like this to her. I never tried to humiliate her in front of the entire world. How could she do that to us?" She looked so heartbroken at this moment.

"I don't know Pay." He said as he gently kissed her forehead.

"How long did you know about this?"

"Once we realized that Troy's computer was the only place someone could have stolen the file from, Gabriella became the most likely suspect. Even you thought it could be her remember. I didn't know for sure until Troy told me that she confessed to the entire thing and didn't feel guilty."

"You let her get away with it so far." She said with a touch of anger.

"I don't consider Troy breaking up with her as getting away with it. I also told your father what happen. He will be dealing with it tomorrow when he sees her in New York. Let your dad take care of this one."

"I still want to beat the hell out of her." As she said the words Chad pulled her in for one of his earth shattering kisses. She completely forgot her Gabriella blood lust as Chad's mouth melted with hers.

After the showdown at the high school, Troy didn't feel like joining anybody for dinner. Things got worse after Chad pulled Sharpay from the hallway. Things got so bad Troy doubted if he and Kim will be attending Thanksgiving dinner with his mom. The situation deteriorated dramatically once his dad arrived. His parents proceeded to get into a 23 minute argument about how his father kept Kim's reappearance a secret from her. Things got so bad that his father was currently hiding at Kim's house under the pretense of babysitting Alex. He really didn't care what his mother said. He stopped trying to be the person that everyone expected him to be a long time ago. Maybe if he did it three years ago things would be a lot less complicated

If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to see his best friend play, he would probably stay home. Considering how much Chad hated playing for the team now, he needed all the encouragement he could get. He remembered coming here when he was young and dreaming about playing for his father's alma mater. At some point that stop being his dream. He wanted to be his own person.

So far he's had six different people throw things at him and someone yell out trader. Let's just say some hardcore Red Hawk fans are upset about him choosing a different school.

"I have no idea they took basketball so seriously here." Troy said as he removed the bald up piece of paper from his hair.

"You should hear half the stuff they say to Chad. That is the number one reason why he is considering not playing next year. If it is this bad now I hate to see what is going to happen when Berkeley comes to play in February."

"Another thing to look forward to." Troy said sarcastically as they made their way to the seats. They were sitting just one roll behind the A of U bleachers.

"Just forget about them and enjoyed the game tonight." Kim said as she sat down next to Sharpay. She was dressed in a very tight fitting at A of U shirt and blue jeans. Troy didn't even think Sharpay Evans own a pair of jeans. Jimmy, Kelsey sister, Taylor's brother, and some girl he didn't know was sitting in front of them.

"It looks like you actually have friends in college." Troy said jokingly as he sat next to Kim and put his arm around her.

"I decided to try being a human being instead of a bitch this school year and it has paid off." Sharpay said with a smile. "Let me introduce you to everyone. The two crazy ones over there are Nikki and Marc. There just here to cheer on Amanda."

"She's the cheerleader trying to kill Penelope." Marc said pointing to their friend. He definitely wanted to meet Sharpay and Chad's long suffering roommate in person after the game.

"Do you know that at the last away game, she tried to jump my boyfriend in his hotel room? I'm so going to kick her ass."

"Now that's the girl I remember from school." Troy mumbled under his breath.

"Speaking of high schoolers, I'm sure you probably don't remember anybody in front of us except for Jimmy. That's Kelsey Sister Jackie and her best friend Kerri. Next to them is Jason McKessie, the boy who is single-handedly responsible for pudding principle Matsui in the hospital for two days after the great play incident."

"If you and Chad didn't make out whenever you're in the same room, it would not have worked." Jason said in a whiny voice.

"Let's not forget Jason is also responsible for telling your mom about my new last name, our engagement and her grandbaby this afternoon." Troy looked over at the boy in front of him. He seemed to be the complete opposite of his sister in every way. They didn't even look alike.

"You are the one who told my mom about Alex?" Troy asked Jason.

"I didn't know, that she didn't know." Jason said in his defense.

"She was trying to pass off Gabriella as Troy's current girlfriend to me. That was a big sign right there." Kim answered quickly.

"I thought she was just being delusional." He agreed with Jason, but he wasn't gonna say anything.

"No more talk about crazy parents till after the basketball game." Sharpay said sternly as she began cheering Chad on. Sharpay was screaming at the top of her lungs every time Chad was on the court. Troy noticed that Chad had a lot more playing time then he did.

"Half the fun of coming to a basketball game with her is watching her cheer on Chad. A week and ½ ago when some guy fouled Chad and she started screaming so loudly that Mr. Evans had to take her outside. She is definitely a super fan." Kim said kissing him.

"She never acted like this in high school with Zeke. Actually I don't think she ever made it to a basketball game."

"That's probably because she wasn't in love was Zeke in high school. Wasn't he the weird guy who was always hiding in the library reading cooking books? Besides from what I heard he slept with Penelope. Anybody who goes for trash like Penelope over someone like Sharpay, does not deserve her as their number one fan." Kim said as she placed her head on Troy shoulder.

"As for never showing up to a game in high school, Darby was too busy turning me into her second chance at a Broadway career. Speaking of parent's you really don't want to see again, I think your father is here Kim." Troy turned around to see Mr. Kim behind him.

"Daddy what are you doing here?"

"I thought we could talk before tomorrow and I figure things would go more smoothly if we were in a public place.

"I don't know. That didn't help last time."

"Kim go talk to your father." Troy whispered into her ear.

"Fine let's talk. " Kim said as she let go of her boyfriend.

Kim walked with her father in the outer loop of the arena. She had no idea why Troy was making her talk to her father to night. Wasn't one shouting match today enough?

"If you're gonna yell at me can we please wait a few days. One crazy parents screaming at me is enough for the moment."

"Your mom didn't show up early did she?" Kim could hear the worry in her father's voice. Just the thought of seeing the woman again made Kim shiver.

"God I hope not. I don't want to see her tomorrow, but I know I have to. No the crazy parent I have to deal with was Troy's mom, not mine. She called me a pedophile 15 times and said some things so bad about Alex that I refuse to repeat them." Kim felt like she was about to cry as she said these things to her father. Unexpectedly, she felt his arm go around her.

"I'm sorry,"

"Why should you be sorry? You have said some pretty bad things yourself over the last few years." Kim said with a touch of anger and pain.

"I am Sorry about that too. I didn't realize how difficult a position you were in. I was worried about the wrong things."

"Yet you still told Mr. McKessie about Troy stealing your baby girl."

"In my defense I was slightly drunk at the time. That was also before Vanessa and I had a very long talk."

"So she finely told you everything that happened with mom in New York."

"I have long been aware that your mother is a very evil person. No, Vanessa told me all about DC and the senior partner in the spring of 1989." Kim found a surprising because Vanessa never talked about 1989.

"Even though I was a lot younger than her, I had a much easier situation. I know that you and mom never believed it, but at least I knew that Troy loved to me."

"I know he loves you and I am sorry for making you think otherwise. I think I just needed time to get used everything."

"Does this mean you're ready to walk me down the aisle?"

"As long as it is in 2011, I still think you're too young to be getting married. However as possible husbands go, you could have done a lot worse."

"That's why we are waiting 2 ½ years. Do you want to come watch a basketball game with us?

Sharpay watched Troy looking anxiously at the outer loop. She didn't remember him being this protected with Gabriella.

"Stop worrying Troy. If things are really going badly we could hear them from here. Sit back and relax. This had to be a first for you, watching Chad play without you."

"It's no more surreal than anything else today. Since arriving in New Mexico I've realized that my mom doesn't care about my happiness, you're a force for good who my son refers to as Aunt Pay, and Chad actually hates playing basketball. The world has gone completely mad."

"Chad hates playing basketball with his teammates. That is a completely different thing. He likes playing with me."

"That's because when you two play, you allow him to take your clothes off." That comment earned him a snack on the arm. Just because it's true, didn't mean Troy had to say it out loud.

"Not in front of the children," Sharpay said in a whisper.

"I doubt we would be teaching these children anything new. Do you realize 12 year old Jason is hiting on a 15 year old Kerri?"

Sharpay was just happy that Troy didn't notice the little triangle going on between the high school freshman, the college freshman, and the basketball captain. Then again Troy was also oblivious to Jimmy's crush on him last year. She would definitely have to talk to Marc about hitting on the underage basketball player. Not that she can say anything, because technically she has been doing very inappropriate things with a certain 17 year old basketball player. She could not wait until Chad was legal.

"I'm not worried, she's a safety crush. Nothing is going to happen." Sharpay whispered low enough so only Troy could hear her. "It's not that bad, there in the same grade. It is not as if he can be with girls his own age. Psychologically he is a lot older than they are. Remember, Chad had the same problem. That is why he was always dating older girls. I wouldn't get so high and mighty because there's only a 2 years and five month age difference."

"When he is 15 and she's 18, I promise I won't say anything." Troy said with a laugh.

"Let's just hope he doesn't do what you did. Anyway I think I owe you a thank you." Sharpay was sure she just made Troy go speechless.

"This is another one of those surreal things that I was talking about earlier." Troy told her in shock.

"I'm saying thank you because you broke up with Gabriella for what she did to me and Chad. Up until three months ago, I think Kim was the only friend I had. I know you probably did it mostly for Chad, but thank you."

"I consider you to be a friend and not just because you're dating Chad. It probably helps that you're on not chasing after me anymore." He said with a laugh.

"If you would have told me you were in love with Kim I would a stop chasing you earlier and bought you a first class ticket to New York."

"You were going to shipped Troy first class to me. You are like the best friend ever." Kim said as she sit between Troy and Sharpay, placed, an arm around each one of them.

"Are you okay," Sharpay asked her friend.

"I'm fine, just the normal father daughter bonding. My dad is coming back up and a few minutes he just went to get popcorn. Troy, your hands need to stay visible for the rest of the game."

On Wednesday morning, Troy made his way past the boxes of Kim's soon to be former roommate with a breakfast tray in hand. Alex was following him as usual. They just returned from a quick trip IHOP and the grocery store. He wanted to make Kim breakfast in bed but realized his cooking skills would most likely land his girlfriend in the hospital. He definitely wanted to spend as much time with her as possible before he had to leave Sunday

Things went surprisingly well with Kin's father at the basketball game. They even went for coffee afterwards. He was much more worried about the situation with his mother. He knew that Kim was very upset by what happened yesterday, even though she hadn't said much about it. He just hoped to day would be better. Last night was definitely an improvement even though they only got about 3 hours of sleep.

He walked into their bedroom to see Kim dressed in the pajamas that he laid out for her. Obviously, she found his note.

"I thought we would surprise you with breakfast in bed on your 21st birthday. I was originally planning to do this with you completely naked, but Alex decided he wanted to help. So the fun part of your present will have to be rescheduled for later today." Troy said kissing her quickly.

"I'm looking very forward to that Mr. Bolton. I personally want to see if we can outdo our Vegas record of 15 times in a 38-hour period. Although, I'm not thinking of today as my birthday. I'm thinking of it as my emancipation day. I am finally free. Free of the Kim last name and free of the last things that connected me to a family that didn't appreciate me.

"I thought you made peace with your father last night."

"Not quite, however, we're getting there. We still have a very long way to go. Most likely Vanessa is going to have to play mediator. She's always been really supportive." Kim said this as she took a bite of her pancakes.

"I've been meaning to ask you why your stepmom is so helpful with Alex, when your biological parents were not."

"Because my biological parents have never been in my shoes, Vanessa has." Kim told him as Alex grabbed one of her pancakes, even though Troy fed him before they came up here

"What?" Troy asked her in surprise.

"Pull up a pillow. This is going to be a long story. What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. You cannot even repeat this to Chad, Sharpay, or Taylor. Vanessa did not tell my father this story until a couple of weeks ago."

"I promise," he said putting his arm around her and kissed her quickly.

"Sometime around the late eighties, Vanessa was working as a paralegal at one of the top law firms in the DC area to pay her way through law school. During that time, she fell in love with one of the partners who just happen to be married. They had an affair that lasted about two years. She loved him, but he didn't love her. One day the condom broke and she ended up pregnant. He offered her money to get rid of the baby. When she said no, he tried to get her expelled from law school if she didn't take care of the problem. He tried some other things that Vanessa wouldn't tell me about. Eventually their compromise was she would give her daughter up for adoption and never contact him again. That's why she helped me so much to keep Alex. She did not want me to go through what she did."

"I am glad she was there. I don't know what I would do without the two of you." He said kissing her softly before placing a gentle kiss on their son's forehead. He was very happy that Vanessa was there to help Kim when he wasn't.

"Troy there's more to this story. Could you grab the photo album on top of the dresser?" Troy quickly did what Kim asked.

"Why do you have a picture of Taylor dressed in eighties clothes?" Troy asked as he looked down at the picture that Kim showed him.

"That's not Taylor. That is a picture of my stepmom in high school."

To be continued in part two: The Parent/Child Trap

I know I said last week that Chad's mother would be in this. However, in the interest of avoiding another 10,000 word chapter that material will be in the next chapter. The next chapter will be loaded with Chadpay goodness.