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Chapter 32 – Graduation

May 26th, 2029

Troy rolled over lazily and he pressed his nose against my shoulder. I stared up at the ceiling thinking about how in a few hours my son; my eighteen-year old son would be walking across a stage to receive his diploma for graduating high school. Troy knew how much this was killing me and making me feel even older than I actually was.

Only being forty when your kid graduates isn't that bad, I was surely one of the younger parents but I was losing my baby. He was only going to live here during the summer and it made everything in me want to bawl. He kissed my temple and I was brought back to the present of the situation.

"He is going to be home all summer and then he will only be a plane ride away," Troy whispered, I shut my eyes tightly and turned away from him causing a laugh to come out of his mouth. "Brie,"

"No, if I stay in bed nothing will happen."

"It will…" Troy ventured, "You will just miss it." I sat up and I ran my hands through my hair having a hard time letting this happen. Troy put his hands around my hips and he pulled me closer to him. "Troy," I whined, he kissed the back of my neck, "No protesting," he whispered, "Troy, he will be in California…without us." Troy shook his head and pulled me back to laying down.

"Do you remember when you told me you were pregnant with Liam?" he said, his arms arched over his back. I looked at him and I slowly nodded my head, "I waited till after you signed with the Lakers for fear that you wouldn't."

"I probably wouldn't have." Troy said, "And the Lakers would have missed out on a great player," I told him, he rubbed my arm and he nodded his head. "They would have but I would have spent my time finishing school and actually getting a job."

"I think I like the fact that you played for the Lakers," I told him, he laughed, "Why? The money?" he said teasing me, I giggled, "Maybe,"

"Gold digger," he winked and I shook my head, "I really am glad you didn't walk out that day," I told him, my fingers measured up with his hand and he smiled. I folded out fingers together, "Why would I have walked out?" he asked, "Because, you were getting ready to become huge and there you were with me who was pregnant."

"Well I loved you and I would have given up basketball before I would have left you," he said with a smile, I laid my head on his chest and I played with one of his fingers. My fingers slid across his ring on his left hand, I smoothed it over and over again and my eyes glued to the gold ring.

I flipped his wrist and stared blindly at the tattoo that we both have, it was more faded now and I let my fingers trace it slowly. "You aren't even sad?" I questioned, "I'm not sad, I'm just…" he didn't have a word to describe it, "I am sad," he corrected. "We spend eighteen years of our lives devoted to him and making sure he is going to do great things in this world and when we do it and it's time to let go it's upsetting because you don't want him to screw up,"

"Exactly," I said softly, "I just want him here everyday to give me a hug, to hear his laugh, to see that smile. I just don't want him to go."

Troy sighed, "I know, but we do have four other kids that will keep us on our toes. We have the whole summer,"

"Correction, we have another split summer," Troy nodded his head as if he forgot that I was going to be spending most of my summer in Hawaii of all places. Cooper and Emma wanted to go ride some great waves and Andy thought it was going to be a great idea. So Coopers mom, Cooper, Emma, and I are all sharing a house in Hawaii for most of the summer.

"It's a great opportunity and maybe Liam can come down for most of the summer. This is going to be hard on Emma as well."

"She has Cooper,"

"Who is going to be a senior,"

"Can you believe that Emma will be a junior?" I questioned, Troy sighed, "Lo will be starting Kindergarten,"

"Lalalalalalala,"

Troy laughed, "I know, I'm sorry." He rolled me on to my back and he leaned over to kiss me softly. "He is just going to be at UCLA," Troy said, I nodded, "I know but,"

"Don't but me,"

I shook my head laughing, "Fine, I won't but you but I am,"

"That was another but,"

"Okay you asshole,"
He let a big smirk cross his face and he wrapped me into his arms, "It's not like we are dropping him off at UCLA today and waving goodbye. We will see him most of the summer even if you are in Hawaii. The kids and I will all make the trip out. Liam can make it by himself. It will all be okay." Troy rubbed my shoulders gently, "But graduating high school? Living in California by himself?"

"Coach Thompson will be watching over him,"

"Why are you so okay with this?" I asked, he pressed his lips into my hair, "Ask me this again when it's Emma."

He got up from the bed and I watched him to his closet. My eyes traced his body, muscular and tall. Nothing had changed, not in the 25 years that I had known him. His face was worn, his body was calloused, his eyes had more wrinkles, and he had thinned his hair a little bit. Nothing major, no belly, no fat body, nothing to sense that he wasn't actually an older looking teenager, he worked out everyday still.

He turned around, his eyes taking in almost the same exact thing that I just did.

I had aged compared to Troy, my workouts not nearly as frequent and my worn body from sixteen years of being the women in charge.

"Mom!" Lauren screeched and she pushed the door open, Troy shook his head and he disappeared into the bathroom to change his clothes and to shower. "Yes baby girl?" she climbed into bed and crossed her arms, "Liam said that he is graduating today. I graduated from pre-school though,"

I nodded my head, "He is graduating from high school." I told her, my arms pulled her into my lap and she rested against me. "Will he go bye bye?"

"Not yet, he will be with us all summer,"

"Good."

"Hello?"

"GRANDMA!" Emma yelled, I smiled and I picked up Lo. I went running downstairs with the rest of the kids where my mom was awaiting. I had not seen her since Troy and mine vacation over to Amsterdam. They had made a weekend trip up there to visit us and that was almost a year ago.

Lo giggled and I set her down grabbing my mom in a tight hug. She laughed, "Have you missed me or something?" she asked, and I nodded my head into her shoulder, as she was still slightly taller than me. Everybody was taller than me.

"How are you?" she asked, I nodded, "Great,"

"How were your last scans?"

"Excellent," I told her, she grinned, "Fantastic,"

"Only certain people can cause a reaction like you did to this family." Troy spoke, I turned around and he went over to give my mom a hug. "How are you Maria?"

"Okay, a little tired from that flight yesterday but I will recover. Where is the staring boy?"

Troy sent a glance my way and I shrugged, "I just got out of bed,"

Troy went downstairs and he came back up, "He isn't here. I wonder where he went."

"Huh…"

The girls were all talking with my mom and I smiled watching them, Emma had grown up so much in the past couple of years making me proud of her. Wes who was getting ready to enter high school was almost as tall as me and was doing anything he could.

Allison was funny as hell and made everything okay in our household and then we had Lauren who kept it all balanced. I watched in amazement wondering how my kids have grown so big in such a short amount of time. The years passed by faster than any thing else in this world and I wished it would all just slow down.

In a quick instant, a pair of arms were thrown around my waist and his voice echoed through the room, "Happy Graduation day momma!" I laughed as he was almost as tall as Troy now, going to play basketball at UCLA but had no interest in going pro. He wanted to do something else, not in it for the long run but wanted to play college and as good enough to play for UCLA.

"Happy graduation day Liam," I said, he laughed and he kissed my cheek, "Where did you go?"

"On a run. I sent you a text."

"Oh, I don't have my phone." He nodded and I turned him around so I could actually hug him. "You are growing up on me," I said sadly, "Please don't cry today!" Liam begged, Troy laughed, "Liam, she has already cried," I groaned, "Troy!"

"It's the truth!" I left Liam's arms and I crossed mine, "Whatever,"

Troy laughed, "Don't whatever me," I turned my nose up and he came over, his hands grabbing my face and pulling me into a kiss. "Ew, mom, dad, please," Wes said, Troy laughed, "Out of all of our kids I would never think of Wes to say that,"

I shook my head and Troy kissed my temple. Troy went into the kitchen and I followed. We had bagels sitting out and everybody started to eat, "Hello?"

"In the kitchen Cooper!"

Cooper emerged with a smile on his face, he had grown more, become taller and his face had aged and well frankly…he was hot. I completely understood Emma's attraction. Emma smiled from the counter because they still liked each other in every way still. They did a lot together but they still had their friends outside of each other that they spent plenty of time with.

It was a very balanced relationship that was going on two years. Cooper went behind Emma and he said something to her in her ear, she smiled and leaned back against him while he stole her food. She smacked his hand and he laughed,

"Where is Rayne Liam?" Wes asked, Liam sighed; Rayne and him were no longer a couple. They were still friends but not really a couple or they weren't something. I don't know she was going to a school in New York with the money her mom left her so they would be a whole country apart. He wants her to go and she wants him to go to UCLA so in reality it was a good move.

Since Liam was most likely spending most of the summer in Hawaii with us it wasn't going to work too well and I didn't blame them. I wasn't sure if they were technically broken up yet but it had been discussed thoroughly between the two.

"She is getting ready at her friends house." Liam told him, "Oh."

"Yea, oh,"

Liam was going to miss her because he had spent the last two years with her as well. They had their fights but they were still with each other and they still loved each other. I sighed and I looked over at Troy, he leaned against the counter eating while he talked to Sam and my mom. Kyle couldn't make it out but he sent his best wishes.

I went over to Troy and he took me into his arms without saying much of anything. I rested my head on his chest and just laid there because I didn't know what else to do in this moment.

Liam's POV

I finished my bagel and I looked at my family, I couldn't believe how hard my mom was taking this day. I knew she was beyond thrilled for me I just don't think she liked how it was going to end in three months from now when I go to school in California.

I chewed on my lip and I talked with my grandparents for a couple of moments. I excused myself and I went downstairs to sit on my bed. I looked at the picture on my nightstand of Rayne and I. Rayne was all smiles in the picture, sitting on my back while I was looking at her. I was going to miss her like hell but it was for the best of both of us to separate. We needed to seek other opportunities and to go from there.

We were still together until I left for Hawaii with my mom and then we would kind of going our separate ways. It was strange but it was okay. I spent my morning with her actually and not on a run. I guess I ran there so they didn't question why my truck was gone but she didn't live that far from here. I rolled onto my back and I called her. "Hey," she answered, "I already miss you,"

Her laugh echoed down the phone, "You left like forty five minutes ago,"

"How am I going to survive the next however many years a country away?"

"Oh Liam, I guess you will find some other pretty girl,"

I laughed, "Whatever,"

"Who is all at your house?"

"Everybody," I replied, "After grad we can go somewhere,"

"Sounds good because if there is one thing Liam Bolton that I will miss is having sex with you," I laughed, my head leaning back, "Mhm, I see what I am good for." A laugh escaped his mouth and I turned onto my stomach. Rayne and I had sex for the first time about six months ago. We were beyond careful with everything, she was on birth control, and I used a condom. It was how it went.

"You are good for a lot of things but really…what else does the girl wants at eighteen?"

"Funny,"

She laughed and I sat up, "I have to start getting ready," I told her, "But I will pick you guys up…right?"

"Right," Rayne confirmed, "Good, I'll see you in a bit. I love you,"

"I love you too Liam,"

I hung up and I sighed, the phone rested on my chest trying to think of how this day was going to unfold. I was going to graduate, I wouldn't be allowed back on school grounds for the rest of the year unless to get my final transcript, Grandpa was retiring, my dad was taking over the PE department, it was crazy. Everything was moving so fast and just like my mom…I wanted it to all slow down.

Emma's POV

I went up the stairs, "OPEN DOOR!" my dad yelled, I shook my head and Cooper rushed me up the stairs. I laughed tripping and once we got into the room his lips were on mine within seconds, my back against the wall and he kissed me harder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he supported my back. He pulled away and kissed my neck.

"Coop," I whispered, "I know, I know," he took a deep breath and a goofy smirk rose over his face. "I just can't handle how beautiful you are though." I shoved his shoulder and he laughed, I pulled him down onto the bed with me and he rested on his stomach. His hand found mine and he folded it into mine. His thumb stroked my hand and I stared up at the ceiling.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, "Huh?"

"You are thinking,"

"About Liam graduating,"

Cooper turned onto his side and he faced me, "I figured this day wouldn't be that easy for you."

"I mean I am so happy that he is graduating and has a full ride to UCLA but…I am going to miss him."

"Of course but he will be in Hawaii with us most of the summer and then we will be in California every month so it's not that big of a deal. You'll see him once a month, most of December and January."

I sighed and shook my head; "He plays basketball in December and January. He won't be home for much time at all."

"Well you'll probably go to him often,"

"Probably,"

"It will work out Em, you know it will." I nodded my head and I closed my hand through his, "Coop, what will I do when you go to school?" he smiled, "I don't know Em, we'll see. We have a year,"

I rested my head on his chest not really wanting to talk about that either. He wrapped his arms around me and we laid like this for some time just letting the noise of my siblings move around and then of Liam most likely leaving to pick up Rayne and Amber. Cooper played with the end of my hair, "We are leaving in an hour," I looked up to see my dad and I nodded my head, "Are you alright?" he asked, "Yup,"

"One hour,"

"Got it dad,"

I sat up and I looked at Cooper, his shirt had pushed up and his jeans were low on his hips. I crawled on top of him and he smiled, "What are you doing?" I bent down to kiss to him and he deepened the kiss quickly. I wanted to give in right here and just kiss him but I had to get ready. His hand pulled me down and I slowly gave in. "Hey," Allison scared the hell out of me as I pulled away from Cooper.

"Alli,"

"Dad's coming!" she whispered, and then she was gone. Cooper busted out laughing and he hugged me tightly. "I love that girl,"

Gabi's POV

I tugged on my dress; Troy was fixing his dress shirt while I snapped my fingers behind the dress. Tomorrow was going to be Liam's graduation party with all of our families and friends. "Gabs,"

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow, I thought about taking Liam out for a round of golf before his party unless you need him here."

"It's fine," I replied, I kept messing with my necklace because it would clasp together. I bit on my lip in frustration and Troy must of noticed because he took the necklace out of my hands and clasped it together. He pulled my hair out from behind and laid it flat on my back. He kissed the back of my head and he rubbed the back of my shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." I replied, "Why?"

"I am just wondering. You have been pretty busy since we stopped treatment."

"We didn't stop treatment, we finished treatment." I corrected, "True," Troy said with a nod, "Bad wording."

"It was," I turned around and I fixed his shirt, he brought me into another kiss, "Are you ready for this?" he asked, I shook my head, "Nope." Troy smiled, "Still my same Brie,"

"Do you remember,"

"Oh hell…"

"The first time you called me Brie?"

He smirked and nodded, "I do."

"You never really told me why you wanted to call me Brie…"

"Do you really want the story?" I nodded my head, "Please,"

Flashback

Troy's POV

Entering the Montez house was always one of my favorite things to do. Entering the house, Mr. Montez gave me a smile, "Troy, how are you?"

"Fabulous sir, is Gabi upstairs?"

"Last I checked she was sleeping." I nodded my head, "Okay,"

"Don't wake Brie up,"

"Brie?" I asked confused, he closed his eyes, "Shoot, she doesn't know I call her that. I wanted to name her Brie when we had her but Maria insisted on Gabriella so I call her Brie in my head all the time. It's nothing really."

"I like it…" I mused, "You should have named her that, or at least her nickname. Gabriella. It's in there."

"Yea, I took to Ella though."

"You can call her Brie though…"

I nodded my head, "I just might."

End of Flashback

I looked at Troy struck without words, "That's why?"

He nodded his head his arms folding me into his grasp, "I started I think a week or two after that and hell it's my name I call you. Your dad loved that I called you that."

"I love you Troy," he kissed the side of my head and then separated from me. "Come on, we need to get going,"

"Got it Coach Bolton,"

Settled in our seats we had already done the national anthem, the pledge, the alma mater, and the choir had sung a song. Troy and I had both spotted Liam when he walked in wearing red, what we had worn when we were graduating, and he was sitting on the right.

I looked at him and he was smiling, sitting next to Rayne. They were holding hands and were happy right now. Emma was sitting next to Cooper talking about something; Wes was playing with Allison and Lo to keep them entertained. Troy had his hand planted on my knee and he rubbed it back and forth. Taylor and Chad were sitting behind us, the Baylor's in front, Lucille and Jack to our right, Jenni and Carson to the left. My mom was two rows in front and we were all sitting and chatting.

The valedictorian stood up for her speech and the girl after that who was the second in the class. Suddenly Liam was standing on the stage and I glanced over at Troy who shrugged his shoulders. "Next we have a speech from our MVP State Basketball player for New Mexico on how East High affected him."

My eyes washed over with tears as he stood up in front of the stage. His eyes were hard as he looked out at the audience and he gazed our section for a minute, smiled, and then looked down at his notes. "I want to thank all of East Highs students, faculty, and coaches who had guided us these past thirteen years of school. Most of us kids have grown up together from kindergarten to seniors. I on the other hand came here right before my freshman year of high school. My dad, Troy Bolton, and my mom, Gabriella Bolton, both graduated from this school. They fell in love at this school and now I have five siblings. I grew up mostly in California where my dad was playing basketball, they wanted me to experience the East High magic as they called it." He paused and I was a basket case of tears.

"It is pretty magical, the past four years have been a whirlwind of ups and downs. I found a girl that has blown my mind away with how brave and strong she is. My dad had to commute from LA to here because he still played basketball my freshman here. It was tough on the family to be away from him for that long. My sister and I grew a lot closer. I made new friends and will have lifelong friendships. My mom battled cancer in my sophomore year and I will never forget that. How hard she had to fight those months for her life. I was brought closer to my family. We were all brave in those months of seeing my mom fight for her life and now…I see her smile light up a room and her hair which is finally back to her shoulders telling me how proud I am to be her son."

He paused, "Now that I am graduating I see her worry more about me, she was dreading this day and I was dreading it too. I was always told I was attached to both of my parents. I never had one way or another. I always wanted to be with both of them. To this day still, I want to be with both of them. I love being with my parents and when people always say I get along with my parents, I do. It made high school so much easier. So when I had to choose where I wanted to go to school, to play basketball, following the legacy of my dad was almost hard."

Troy laughed next to me and I wiped away some of my tears, "College is supposed to be fun, exciting, new, thrilling, different. It won't be easy and I know a lot of my fellow classmates faced the same horrible choices I had to make. Do I want to go that far from my family? How about the girl I love? Is it really that easy to go cross-country from each other? My siblings who I am all so close too…saying goodbye to them in August, but first, I am going to kick Emma's butt on those waves in Hawaii," Emma and Cooper both laughed, my heart aching for him to just hug me.

"Most of all do I want to be away from the people who truly inspire me the most?" he paused as he looked out again at everybody, "Choosing UCLA was in fact pretty easy. My mom, my dad, my aunts, and a lot of people have gone through the UCLA halls. They have all graduated from there, alma mater. I came to East High to follow my parent's footsteps in life. I was scared that I would be constantly compared to my dad…and don't worry I was." Troy smirked and shook his head, "But I found out I like basketball for me and I want that in my future. I just also want to have a family like I had growing up, to become a doctor to help all patients through cancer like I got to see because everybody deserves a good doctor and well…that's what I want to be."

"In my years of high school I learned how to handle different situations. I learned how to balance my life, I learned to love, I learned heartbreak, and I learned a lot. I learned more than math equations and how to write an essay. I learned so much in these halls of East High that I would never trade my time here for something in Santa Barbara. This is where I am glad I am graduating from and I want to thank everybody one more time for letting me grow in these hallways to become the person that I am today. I want to thank my family for teaching me how to be a caring and wonderful person, I want to thank my teachers for teaching me so much in such a short time, and I mostly want to thank my dad for teaching me the game he loves and my mom for teaching me how to be brave in situations you aren't quite sure you can face…" he paused and took a deep breath, "Thank you,"

Liam stepped back and the place erupted into applause, I was a crying mess and Troy leaned over to kiss my temple. We cheered for Liam who sat back down and then they preceded but I needed a minute. I had so many different emotions running through me right now. I got up and I squeezed Troy's hand, he knew I needed a minute after that. I exited the stadium and I went to the bathroom to wipe away my tears and to shed more tears.

When I exited Troy was standing there waiting, "Are you okay?" he asked, I laughed, "After that? No." He smiled and he pulled me into his arms, "You raised him," he whispered into my ear, "I know and it paid off for all of the work," Troy kissed the top of my head and rubbed my back. "You are amazing Brie and you deserve a lot of respect from each of the kids."

"It wasn't all about me but the things he said…"

"Are true," Troy said softly, "So, before he walks across the stage and we miss it. Come on,"

He dragged me up the stairs and we sat back down. Lauren sat in my lap as we watched. Rayne walked the stage first, "Rayne Elizabeth Thompson…" she walked across in her heels with a big smile across her face. I couldn't believe how far she had come. She had been through hell and back with losing her mother but she was still smiling. I knew if something had happened to me I wouldn't know how our kids would react.

Troy would probably be in a depression that nobody could get him out of. Liam and Emma would be upset; Wes and Allison would be sad for a while and carry on. Lauren would just be confused. Yet, I was still standing and breathing on my own two feet. I was told how lucky I was to beat so much in less than a year but I did it and I was still smiling.

Liam handed his card off to somebody with a smile on his face. Troy had his mom on camera duty and my eyes found Liam. He was so happy, proud, excited for the future and he had ever right to be.

"Liam Troy Bolton," our whole section cheered for him as he accepted his diploma and walked across the stage. The tears welled up in my eyes again as I couldn't be more proud of him. I knew it was just high school and when he graduated college I would be even more proud. He made it through some of the hardest years and had a great GPA in the end. I honestly couldn't be more proud of him and all of my other children.

I effulged him into a tight hug and he laughed, "Congratulations Liam,"

"Thanks Momma,"

"Can you prepare me next time when you are going to speak?" he laughed, "Sorry, it had to be a surprise." I shook my head and hugged him again, "It was good, and you did very well."

"I was nervous,"

Troy hugged him and so did Emma. Rayne came running over and she slipped her arms through Liam and she gave him a quick kiss. He smiled as he wrapped her in his arms, "Congratulations Rayne," I said, she came over and gave me a hug, "Thank you Mrs. Bolton for everything you do for Liam and I." I swallowed hard on my lump in my throat.

"You are more than welcome." She came over and gave Troy and I each a hug. "Dad, how much did mom cry?" Troy laughed and he looked over at me, "Twice, and it was short lived." Troy winked at me and I reached across for his hand. We took a family picture and talked to other families, as the whole place was abuzz. "I'm going to head out, we are going to get some food before after grad tonight,"

"Be safe," he nodded and ran off with Rayne, they were laughing about something and Troy sighed, "Why do we let them have sex again?" I put my fingers to my lips laughing, "We don't really…I mean, what are we supposed to do?"

"We are going to the movies, but you know how that goes. We did it. We can't keep them in our sights at all times." Troy sighed, "I guess," he kissed the top of my head, "But 41 is too young to be a grandfather," I pushed his chest and he made a noise. "Emma," she turned away from Cooper to look at Troy, "You two aren't having sex right?" Emma's eyes went wide and Cooper choked on his spit.

Troy couldn't stop the smile the suspended on his face, "Good kids," Troy commented, "Good kids," Emma's face burned with embarrassment and I shook my head, "Troy Anthony,"

"What!" he protested, I laughed and looped my arm though his. He picked up Lauren and we walked to the car. When we got into the car I sighed and rested my head onto the window. Not quite sure what to feel about this day.

Liam's POV

Rayne smiled and I tucked my head in her shoulder. Her hand ran through my hair and she let out a deep breath. "I am going to miss this," she said quietly, "Mhm," my arm stroked her side and I leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I'm just going to miss you,"

"Not even the great sex that I provide?" I laughed and shook my head, "Not just that, I am going to miss everything. I love you Rayne," my nose pressed against her skin and she wrapped her arms around me. "We will see each other in December when I come to visit you when I am on break. I will be around in the summers. I am coming back to New Mexico and so will you."

"You should come to Hawaii with me this summer,"

"I can't. I have to have a job this summer."

"We will take care of you this summer,"

"I'm going to New York,"

"Get a job in Hawaii as a lifeguard, I don't want to say goodbye to you yet Ray," she ran her hand behind my head, her fingers running over the back of my hair. "Liam, we will eventually have to say goodbye,"

"But why not postpone it for two and half months? I know you have to go to New York and I have to go to UCLA but come to Hawaii with me. Please," I whispered, my fingers trailing down her arm. She looked up at the ceiling, "I don't know Liam, I mean, that's an ocean between here and my aunt,"

"Your aunt lives in Washington,"

"I know but if I need something it's just a couple of hours but that's a lot of hours,"

"My mom will be there, you know that," she closed her eyes and suddenly there were tears, "Ray,"

"I don't want to postpone our goodbye because everyday that I am with you I am so close to changing my mind," My finger wiped away a tear, "I want to be with you Liam and I know we understood. You were going to go to UCLA and then I was going to my dream school of NYU. We both are getting our wishes but I don't want to leave you."

I kissed her cheek and her jaw, "We don't have to say goodbye Ray, and you know that we can stay together,"

"I can't do that to you and I can't worry about us. We should get to enjoy college and not have to worry about what the other person might be doing. If we just separate and go to college then we can do whatever we want. I still want to be friends with you Liam. I want to call you to tell you exciting things because you are about the only person I have."

I nodded my head, "Okay,"

My fingers ran through her hair and I kissed her again, "Please, come to Hawaii with me then. I want one more summer with you. I want to spend time on the beach with you and going to do Hawaiian things, I want to do so much more before I have to say goodbye. You can get a job. We can have a fantastic summer. It will work Ray, please,"

"I would have to ask my aunt and you really should ask your mom."

"I already did," I said kissing her cheek, "She would love to have you down there." She let out a big breath, "I guess," I smiled and kissed her again, "You guess? You aren't excited to go to Hawaii for an entire summer for free?" She laughed and covered her face, "I am really happy you asked, I really wanted to go with you but I didn't know how you would have felt, I had different emotions because spending that summer with you might just change my mind."

"I won't let that happen. You deserve to go to NYU. You deserve to let your dreams happen Rayne," she folded her fingers into mine, "I know and I thank you for letting my dreams come true and for letting yours come true,"

My eyes got lost in hers and I pulled her into a kiss that escalated awful quickly.

Sitting up in bed, I crossed my arms worried about Liam. He wasn't home yet and something wasn't setting right in my body. I put on my hoodie as I walked through the house checking on the rest of the kids. I knew he would probably drink tonight and I knew that he would have sex tonight. I knew these things but I was worried because he was due home almost an hour ago.

I called him and I got no answer. I turned around a couple of times and I peered outside. Going back upstairs I shook Troy awake and he looked up at me groggy, "Hm?" he questioned, his body turning back over to fall asleep. "Troy, it's almost four and Liam isn't home yet." Troy opened his eyes, "He was supposed to be home at three,"

"I know, and he isn't answering his phone." Troy sat up reaching for his glasses; he rolled out of the bed and slipped on a sweatshirt. He reached for his car keys when the phone rang. My gut dropped and Troy eyes flickered over to mine. He grabbed the phone and he answered it. His face frowned and I moved from the bedroom and I went to Emma's room.

"Em," I shook her softly, she groaned and looked up at me. Cooper had stayed the night and his arm was crossed over her waist. "Your dad and I are leaving. Something happened to Liam. We will be back though okay?"

"Okay. Text me that he is okay, okay?"

"I will, call me if you need something." I kissed her forehead and was out of the room. Troy was waiting with his keys, "Who was it?"

"The hospital,"

"He is fine, it was a minor car accident and he got bumped up a little bit. He was driving but he hadn't been drinking. I guess he offered to do a sobriety test at the scene to prove he wasn't drinking and driving. Rayne was in the car with him but she is fine. They just need us to go and fill out information and his health insurance card." I felt my body relax thinking that he wasn't in surgery or dying.

"He is such a smart kid," I mused, Troy nodded and we were at the same hospital where all of my breast cancer treatments took place. We parked and went into the ER where Rayne spotted us first. "He is fine, I don't know what they told you but he is fine."

"They said he is fine, how are you?" I took her into a hug, "I'm fine. I'm really fine." She said, I hugged her again and Troy gave her a hug. "I need to see Liam,"

"Let's go," Troy took me back and he was sitting up receiving some stitches. He looked fine, "I swear it wasn't my fault," he said quickly, I went over and wrapped my arms around him. "I know I am just glad you are okay." I told him, Troy was talking to the nurse and I let out a sigh, my hands rubbed Liam's back and he sighed, "I just really wanted to go home and sleep."

"I bet you did,"

"What happened to your car?"

"We drove it here with the other driver. It really wasn't a bad accident. We filled a police report out here and Liam is now here getting stitches. It was simple. There isn't much damage to his car. He honestly only needed stitches because his window exploded and a piece of glass hit him."

Liam nodded his head and I sighed looking at Troy, he reached over and he rubbed my knee.

Moving around the house I made sure everything was ready for Liam's party in about an hour. The Baylor's and Danforth's were already here. My mom and Sam were here, and Troy's family was already here. We were having an open house but we were having the close friends and family over for a little something that Troy had put together with the help of some friend.

Zeke had catered the whole thing and Liam was doing fine after getting stitches last night. He wasn't in a lot of pain and was hanging out with Rayne. Troy came into the living room wearing a pair of khaki shorts with a plaid button down. I smiled at him and he came over in a rushed pass, he kissed my cheek and kept going. I laughed loudly and he smiled.

The kids all came into the living room, Alexa and Emma were talking about something and I looked at Taylor and Chad sitting down. "Everybody! Come here!" Troy yelled Liam came up the stairs with Rayne in tow looking a lot like Liam. Cooper sat down on the floor right next to Emma, Sharpay and Zeke took a seat. My mom and Sam sat down and same with Lucille, Jenni, and Jack.

Carson was tending to Anthony while Troy smiled, "So the past eighteen years have been a major whirlwind of life with a lot of major things. We have had five kids, Gabs and I got married, I played in a lot of basketball games, I was successful in a lot of basketball games, I raised kids, Gabi was a superwomen, she fought cancer and some how we had some pretty damn awesome kids turn out."

The group laughed and Troy pressed a button, "So without further wait," he pressed play and Liam's name popped up onto the TV. It was the picture of him right after he was born and wrapped into a blanket. I felt my heart melt as I looked at him, so little, he was my little man, and the next was of Troy and I with him. Our first family picture right after he was born.

"Oh my god! Look how young Troy looks!" Sharpay said, I laughed and nodded because looking at pictures you can see how much he has aged. I smiled as the pictures flickered to several of Liam of the first month of him being alive. I felt my heart wrench into so many different phases of his life. The next set of pictures was of him in South Carolina for the first time. Living in California.

A video popped up and it was of him crawling for the first time. I was in tears in seconds of watching him and hearing my voice. I felt Troy's hand on my shoulder as I watched it. It flipped through more pictures. Troy and I's wedding pictures popped up with Liam in them. He was so sweet. It then went to the basketball court where he took his first steps. I watched him take his steps and I instantly went back to that day in my head.

So many milestones that get bunched together, more pictures flipped through and then we got to his first birthday. The SeaWorld pictures. The pictures of Troy and I kissing him on the cheek with his smashed cake on his face, he was a giggling mess in some of them, they had one of him dunking at the age of one. The next picture was the one of Troy and I with Liam in his 'I'm a big boy!' shirt on.

"Wait, is that how you told people you were pregnant with me?" Emma asked, Troy turned towards her, "It was how she kind of told me. I didn't get it but she had a picture of your sonogram hanging up in your nursery with your due date on it." She smiled and I turned back to the TV.

It had flipped through Liam's last year as an only child. The pictures of him in the hospital when he had his brain tumor made the inside of my body cringe with fear that I would have to go through that again. He had never really seen much of those pictures. We never really kept them from him we just never looked at them.

A lot of Liam and I when I was pregnant with Emma, a couple of us at Lakers games, then there was the first picture with Emma, "Praise Jesus! Dad actually included other kids!" Emma said, Troy and I laughed as we kept watching. He was a natural with Emma. We had many pictures of them together. We had pictures of them playing, laughing, eating, so many pictures.

We had pictures of when Troy was a Knick for a while. The games and the people, the car accident flipped through rather quickly, pictures of Sharpay's wedding piled through and I felt my chest clutch with emotion as I looked at the next picture. It was of Liam, Troy, and I on the court right after the winning shot for the Knicks. We were in Troy's grasp. We were all laughing and smiling as we held on.

The next was a family picture of us.

It carried on to a lot of Liam and Emma. Plenty of us at the Lakers stadium, we had pictures of potty trained Liam, Liam starting his first day of preschool, Liam and Emma with Wes, Liam on his first day of kindergarten, all of the holidays were mixed in. The time that he had surgery to fix his broken leg, and then there was a picture of Liam, Wes, and Emma holding up a number four announcing Allison's soon to be presence.

Liam and Allison after she was born, more of him during the school years. A video popped up and it was Liam making his first basket in little league. Liam laughed as he watching, there was his first three pointers, his first middle school game. The next picture was of Lauren coming into the family, and our move to New Mexico. His first varsity starts and first letter. A couple of random girl friends were in some of the pictures. His 16th birthday and the truck he loved so much.

Rayne was introduced and then pictures of Liam and I in the hospital during chemos, surgeries, and that whole journey. They next picture was of his start of junior year and his basketball. Start of senior year, his signing at high school when he accepted the UCLA offer. There were pictures of him at Prom and graduation in the past couple of weeks. Troy must have just finished this, and then there was a final picture of our family.

I felt my tears fall down my cheek and my heart swell with all of it. I wiped my tears thinking back to the last eighteen years and how they have been the best eighteen years of my life. I would have never traded them.

Liam was the highlight of my life from the start to the end. Everything in between was just as amazing as the one before and I never wanted to see any of my family go. Troy hugged me from behind and Liam came over to grab both of us in a hug. "You guys rock," he said only loud enough for us to hear. "Thank you for being the best parents in the entire world."

I held him tight and Troy finally made me let go, "Thank you for being an awesome son,"

He smiled and I could see the own tears in his eyes. Troy smiled, "The journey doesn't end here, remember that, the journey is just beginning for him. We get to still be along for this ride."

I nodded my head and wiped my tears away, "I just can't believe how fast my baby grew up on me," Liam smiled and sat down next to me, his arms pulling me in to hug him. This entire life felt like a crazy dream that I would never turn away. I had come to the conclusion if I had to pick I would pick this life over having my dad still with me. Who knows what would have happened. I could have been a lawyer, Troy and I would have broken up and who the hell knows.

Seeing this, I loved seeing this and everything that I have gotten to live through. The good and the bad was the best thing in the world. I never wanted to let go of the people I had in my life but I was learning that I was going to have to let go to see them grow into an even better person they are today. I will always be Liam's mom but I was also going to be my other children mom for the next several years.

I hugged on Liam and I kissed his cheek, "I love you Liam," he smiled, "I love you too Mom,"

"I want in on this love fest," Emma came and sat on Troy and he laughed, "I love you too Em," Emma grinned, "I love you too mommy!" she leaned over to kiss my cheek and Wes laughed, "Mine turn!" Wes sat down on my lap and he kissed my cheek too, "I love you mom AND dad,"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Liam said, "I love dad too!"

"Me too!" Emma argued, Troy laughed, "Good thing I love all of you,"

"I want up! I want up!" Emma pulled Allison up and she giggled, "I love mommy and daddy too,"

"Well don't forget about Lo," Chad said, he placed her on top of all of us, I found Troy's hand and he squeezed it. "I love mommy and daddy the most!" she shouted, the room laughed and Troy turned his head to look at me. I turned my head to look at him and I smiled. "I love you," he mouthed, "I love you too," he tried to lean in for a kiss but neither one of us were going to make it.

"Say cheese!" Troy and I turned to see Chad taking a picture, Troy and I smiled with our kids piled on top of us. This was the best life I could have imagined and to think it all started with an apartment with a door that would never open and today I had a big beautiful house with five amazing kids and one blue eyed boy that made me fall head over heels in love with him from the moment his eyes laid onto mine.

There will never be perfect endings to life. I have found out in my years that some poems don't rhyme and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, or end because what you thought was the beginning was technically the middle of a crazy life in the making. You thought the end was here but really it is the beginning of a life you haven't gotten to see yet…and whatever life held. I know I will always have Troy Bolton by my side to make everything okay. Just like he always does.

Troy Bolton will forever and always be my world and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Holy Shit. I am so amazed at how far this story has come since I randomly posted it one day last May. It amazes me how many people LOVED this story and I LOVED how much my writing has grown. I love how much my readers have grown and everything you have done for me. Supporting me with my choices of making Liam older in this last chapter. I am in love with how it turned out because you got to see some of the life of the Bolton's with older children. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I have to thank you guys as my fans for LOVING this story and for taking the Bolton family in as your own! You guys are amazing and wonderful and I love you guys for everything you have done for me. On May 27th, I will have been writing this Bolton family for four years total. I did four stories in four years and you guys rocked every step of the way. You guys gave me 2,618 reviews in those four years over those four stories and I can not wait for you to give you final reviews on how you thought this story ended!

Here are some stats for the series:

Chapters: 159 Chapters

Words: OVER 1,212,073 words

Reviews: 2618

Favorites: 519

And many many emotions while writing this series, I have grown and loved to write with this series. I love this so much and I have so many more inspirations for writing after this series. You guys are amazing and thank you for every review I have ever received. You guys are just amazing. Thank you. I hope you guys continue to read my other writings as I have a NEW STORY debuting next week in place of MLB! I know how sad it is to say goodbye to these characters but a fresh branch is coming in and I am SO EXCITED to introduce you to them!

Here is a little tease…..

Unwritten

Gabi is a famous author at the young age of twenty-six. She wrote fiction young adult books and she loved everything that she did. Teenage love that she wish she had, the love that made your knees weak and your heart race and your palms sweat. That's what Gabriella Montez wanted and during a coffee writing session, a male holding a basketball dropped his coffee startling a chain reaction that a famous author couldn't even think about as a plot twist.

SO I hope you all come check that out next week! It is going to be a pretty cool story! Once again, Thank you for all of the love through the years of writing this story and watching my growing pains through all of it. You guys rock and thanks for being so awesome so how about one last awesome review.

Tell me your FAVORITE chapter FROM ANY OF THE STORIES that you loved and is your favorite. TELL ME!

PLEASE REVIEW! & AND TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE CHAPTER!