Summary:
She wasn't ready to be a mother of twins. She walked out on them. He made sacrifices raising them alone, while she's living her life.

Disclaimer:
Disney owns everything. You know that. All we own is the plot of the story. We own nothing else.

Written By:
Heyhello (Ren) and Bl1SSFuln3ss (Yeshi)

It Happened One Night

Chapter Eight:
Home

"Where's Josh?"

Sharpay sighed carefully; slipping an inaudible curse – she had lost a kid, her kid – around the huge mansion, "JOSH!" She shouted, "Josh, if you don't get here this instant we are not going to see your Dad!" She threatened, of course—such a pointless threat, like that's gonna happen

The kid appeared slowly with a frown across his face, "Now, let's get you ready, okay?"

He shook his head, "Only dad can give me baths" Josh patted his bare chest, his pajama pants are hanging low and Sharpay cursed inaudibly, "Because daddy's a big guy like me" He said proudly, "No lady can give me a bath" Sharpay should've known; there was no way Troy could afford a nanny

"But you want to see your dad, right Josh?" He nodded giddily, "And do you really want to let daddy thinks you're smelly?" Or thinks I'm bad with children. Josh shook his head slowly, "Good now do we have an agreement?"

"Yes"

Hailey ran into Sharpay's feet and tugged on her flannel pants, "SHARPAY, SHARPAY!" She was tugging so hard Sharpay was kind of scared if this kid might've hard a seizure of something, "Can I…?"

Sharpay looked down to see Hailey was holding a pair of golden heels. She almost giggled on how she was a spitting image of herself. It was kinda funny, like seeing another version of you—almost like a remake, déjà vu, because Sharpay wasn't sure if she spent her childhood much as an hyperactive kid. She might have been a little mean spirited, but never sugar high all the time "Sure" Hailey smiled brightly—the brightest, most genuine smile she had ever seen.

"If you can fit in it" Hailey's face fell, "Well, we'll go shopping and get you something like it in your size" Sharpay could see herself and Hailey having a shopping day and Troy with Josh waiting up. And with that, Hailey's face lit up again – her dad might scold her later if she did get Sharpay to buy her a pair of dangerous footwear

She could actually see them as a family—a real, family

And it would be nice. It would be so nice

Instead of having William gone every morning. Debating whether she was either glad or not that she woke up to an empty bed every single day. Not today though, she woke up with two little subtle angels in her arms and felt so relieved that William left the house without any note or information

Not that she had longed for any – not this morning at least

She didn't want to spend the morning explaining everything to William in front of the kids – especially that she was a mother. She knew that William never signed up on board with 2 kids. A past she thought she had buried long ago and would never have to dig up. But well, you can't keep such precious treasure underground for too long, right?

Having a family wouldn't be bad. Suddenly the chasing dreams sounded pretty stupid. She had given up, having thanksgiving turkey with a table with Troy, and the twins; saying grace every night before dinner and just… memories; she could've—should've—

She wondered if she would ever get family from William, but maybe she won't. You can't base a relationship on lies, and she's been doing just that almost the past 5 years. The thought of her kids barely brushed her mind before she crashed into Troy.

"I love you Sharpay"

Yes, she regretted that now

-

A reflex – that probably was it – that Sharpay smiled when she saw Troy smiled brightly at her. Or maybe the sight of his children – their children; the littlest hope there was that maybe Troy saw, the way she walked into his hospital room carrying their children and maybe

They could be a real family

Maybe Troy realized it too, well a 1 in a 998913855717 chance he might

"DADDY!" Hailey jumped at Troy's bed, almost crushing his arm that was wrapped in a cast, there was a little bruise on the left side of his forehead – but from where Sharpay was standing, you can barely notice it

"Ouch, careful Hailey" Troy snapped almost a little harshly—but he didn't mean it. It's just that it hurt and when he saw Hailey frowned, he got it, "No, it's okay. It's just that you're such a big girl now and you're crushing me" He attempted to get a giggle out of her. And Sharpay saw that genuine smile once again

Sharpay helped Josh climbed up to Troy's bed and looked up admiringly to Troy; as if he didn't believe his Dad was there, alive and perfectly fine especially that he had been there watching his dad practically crushed "Are you okay Daddy?"

"Yes, Josh. The doctors and nurses took very good care of me" Josh nodded and smiled a little, he was still pretty upset; maybe

"I'm sorry Daddy" Hailey blurted out. She had regretted everything; technically her dad wouldn't have to be here if it weren't for her, "I'm sorry I let the ladder fall" Sharpay stared on Hailey and silently sat on the uncomfortable wooden chair beside his bed, careful not to interrupt

Troy glanced on Sharpay and she gave him an apologetic look, she'd stayed up last night talking to the twins. He seemed to get the message, "Oh… No, no – honey, it's not your fault. Things like this… happens you know" Troy patted her head, "Come here" He kissed the top of her head. Sharpay knew the look draped on Hailey's face, she didn't buy it – but at least she was feeling a little better than she got it off her chest and her dad was fine, and didn't seem to place the blame on her, like she'd been afraid he would

"I love you, Daddy" Hailey mumbled unexpectedly

"I love you too, princess"

Sharpay smiled – it wasn't weird for her to feel awkward. "I love you too, Josh" Troy added, in case the little guy felt left out. It was mutual for Sharpay to be awkward. She should be in this mushy family scene. She was their mother – and yet, she wasn't in the scene. She was the loner left out watching them

Troy looked at Sharpay uneasily and cleared his throat, "Okay then"

Sharpay flashed a gawky smile for a split second and noticed that the children were watching her intently, "Well—are you okay?"

"I am"

Sharpay blinked—it was kind of hard to believe that he was fine. He fell from a pretty ugly height – at least the nurse said so, telling from his charts, "Really? I thought… you know since they've kept you overnight. Not that I hope there's anything serious, but don't you think they should keep you to y'know make—"

Troy removed the blanket covering half of his body—and suddenly caught everyone's attention, "Oh whoa –" Sharpay stared on his right ankle – it was wrapped securely under a white cast

"Wow! DADDY! Can I sign your cast later?" Hailey's hyper mode seemed to flicked on again

Sharpay warned, "Hailey" She stared her down

"I meant—does it hurt badly, Daddy?" Troy laughed. He had never seen Hailey so obedient in her life – Sharpay still had that effect on people. She did manage to brush everyone out who came on her path in High School. If he let Hailey hang out with Sharpay even more frequently, Hailey would quickly pick the ability up pretty soon – or maybe, just maybe, it was already deep in her genes

"Yes you can sign it later, honey" Troy answered tenderly

"Can I too, Daddy?" Josh piped in

"Yes, you can"

Sharpay fidgeted with her purse and shifted the conversation before it turned into another awkward family scene, awkward for her – that is. "Well, when can you come home?"

Troy's eyes met Sharpay's and she felt her knees wobbled a little. Thank god she was sitting. Sharpay Evans wasn't the only one who didn't lose her charm in high school. Neither has Troy Bolton. He still had that effect on girls. God, Sharpay felt like a stupid lovesick teen girl

"They said they're discharging once they finished prepping the OR for the tumor removal for the guy on the other floor" Sharpay nodded. She was running out of things to say, "I'll have to use crutches for the week, though"

"Oh"

"It's gonna be hard doing things around with crutches, but I can handle it" He grinned

Hailey chipped in, "We'll help, Daddy" Hailey placed her hand on top of Josh – who nodded all along

"Sure, but are you sure you can handle 2 kids all day?" Sharpay—was making up for loss time, and trying to get on Troy's good side. She felt that she already was in his good side, well-she wasn't sure- she walked out on him, leaving a pair of baby twins in his arms. If she were him, she'd have a very hard time forgiving herself

But she'd grown up now. She realized it was an immature and reckless decision. She felt a pang of remorse – but hey, what's in the past, she let it pass

"I'll preserve"

Sharpay scrunched her eyebrows – there's no way, "Psh—you can't even drive anywhere, Troy – how do you manage to get your kids to school on time? Let alone that, how could you even get them there?"

"I don't have a problem skipping school" Hailey popped the idea

"Not a chance" Troy and Sharpay snapped in together. They locked eyes – the parental side was taking over, "As—"

"Well, good morning" The nurse, whom Sharpay ignored rudely the other night – barged into the room, taking the clipboard of Troy's data hung on the edge of his stark white bed, "Good, your family is here. We can discharge you…" She looked up his name, "Troy Bolton" She stared around the room – the kids were staring at her, amused or something, "You officially can leave now"

Sharpay smiled, "Thanks"

"You're welcome" She turned around and left the room, bringing the clipboard with her

"Okay then…" Troy rose his feet and hung it on the side of his bed. His face scrunched up, not really sure of what he was doing. Sharpay caught the hint and took the crutches leaning on the wall

Sharpay grabbed one of his forearms to maintain his balance; "This will take some getting use to" As Troy remarked, Sharpay smiled and almost blushed at such a close contact, her skin tingled and moved away so that her goosebumps wouldn't press against Troy's arm. Hailey jumped down from the bed with Josh and she grabbed his dad's hand.

"Like I said…" Sharpay continued the conversation they had. She grabbed the sealed plastic bag that contained his personal belongings. The hospital had to take them off before admitting him in. Troy stared at her once he found a comfortable position with his crutches, "You might need some help"

"You're going somewhere with this, Sharpay…" Troy raised his eyebrow, "Spare the awkward tête-à-tête" He stared her down. He didn't even notice the kids by now – well, he had never gotten the kids to be silent without bribing them with a cookie for this long

"You know…" Sharpay fidgeted with the plastic bag. Suddenly Sharpay found it tough to open a seal of a plastic bag, "Like you said, I owe you – a lot" She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat; "I could—you know, help. You won't even know I'm there, I promise – I could take care of you, with the twins and everything" She took out his wallet from the bag and handed it to him, but seeing him trying hard to secured it back to his pocket, she took it and shoved it into her purse. Hell, he was struggling on his own right now

Troy seemed to think that it was a good idea – there were still glitches though, "I don't know—you, okay living with a small apartment?"

"We can always move to my house" Sharpay suggested meekly, she didn't have to ask to know what Troy would think of it

"No—NO!" Troy said that so quickly, she was taken aback, her place wasn't that bad, "God, no"

"Okay, calm down, it's just an idea. Sheesh"

"No, I meant" He thought it over in his head – no, no way – that was just a recipe for disaster, "What about your fiancé—William?"

A click snapped in Sharpay's head – she was surprised Troy even remembered the name. She had just mentioned it like, once? "He's never really around. It's not like he'd mind" A smug appeared on Hailey's face, and Troy didn't miss that.

William had been so far from Sharpay's mind, she had also realized she'd forgotten to slip on her diamond studded engagement ring. She'd been so happy flashing her rock all around town, but she'd forgotten. She'd usually stared at it for hours and she'd mindlessly placed it beside the sink this morning while giving the twins a bath. She couldn't care less if the maid wiped the top sink and accidentally pushed it down the drain.

"No, thanks" He hoped he'd said that gracefully enough to make up for his snapping rejection

She frowned. He failed, "Well, okay then – We'll make a little detour to my house and grab some of my stuff and we'll get going"

"Wha—what?"

"I'll take care of everything" She smiled pleasantly – although as tempting as it sounds. Troy didn't think it was such a pleasant idea at all, mother of his children, all alone in their little apartment – taking care of things. Taking care for goodness sakes! Kind of like what a housewife should be doing. She was playing house and Troy's not sure if she was up for the role. Why did she suddenly care so much for him and the kids anyway?

He forgot that she was Sharpay Evans. She could take on any role

-

Troy fumbled as he tried to fish out the house keys out from his pants, and as he struggled, Sharpay shoved her hand down Troy's jeans and grabbed the keys. She gave a queasy smile as her stomach churned as her hand dug deeper into his Levi's and she probably shouldn't have done something that impulsive. She was hasty on doing this without William's acknowledgement, albeit he was still the furthest thing from her mind

"We're here" Troy announced sheepishly as Sharpay flopped down her duffle bags onto the floor

They had grabbed a few things from her house and Troy was afraid to accept her welcoming offer to wait inside the mansion with the presence of hot chamomile tea– terrified of happy family mushy pictures hung up across the house, or art pieces that cost his full year apartment rent – so he declined civilly and kill time patiently inside the car while the twins jumped into house to help Sharpay – willingly and because they love running around the spacious place.

He still had no idea why she would trade her mansion to suffer in the little suffocating apartment of his – with a bonus package, a pair of wrecker twins

"Oh okay" She didn't have anything else to say

"Yeah" Troy muttered. This was kind of awkward – but they've passed kind of awkward when Hailey and Josh pestered them to sing along to the radio with them

This was painfully, stomach-twisting awkward

Sharpay pushed away the uncomfortable feeling and she realized she was there to help, so she better make herself useful for something soon. "So, are you hungry?" She turned to the twins. She checked the clock hanging above the tiny kitchen island in the middle of the room, separating the room with the living room

Hailey and Josh nodded frantically. They only had breakfast bars out from Sharpay's house in the morning because no one could wait meeting their dad

"Famished!" Hailey piped

Sharpay smiled, impressed obviously by the little girl's vocabulary expansion, "So what do you want?"

As if twin telepathy, Josh shouted, "Grilled cheese!"

"Okay then" Sharpay turned to Troy, "Are you okay with that?"

"Sure, grilled cheese sounds good" Troy flashed a smile as he walked to the kitchen, following Sharpay

"What are you doing?" Sharpay stopped abruptly, staring at Troy

"Come on, Sharpay Evans in the kitchen inventing grilled cheese?" Troy was underestimating her, almost mocking, although it was not intended. He couldn't help it

Sharpay slightly shoved him – careful not to let him lose his balance, "I am perfectly capable of cooking; now you sit there and write me your boss's number. I'll give him an update and spare you all the nagging"

"Wow, you're not really kidding when you said you want to help" Troy was silently grateful that he didn't have to lend an ear to his boss and preserve on catching up everything his boss had to say about him not making up to work. He hoped Sharpay's persuasive demeanor from high school still hadn't left her. It would come in handy

"You bet" She muttered as she began checking the counters for decent food

-

Later that night, after having a lunch together and finishing a nap, for Hailey and Josh that is – Sharpay's phone rang. Troy and Sharpay was in the kitchen, busying themselves with the shake and bake back cover –the one they've gotten from the supermarket while the kids were asleep– trying to prepare the chicken

"Sharpay, your phone" It was sitting on the coffee table at the living room which was not parted from the so-called kitchen

"Hailey, can you get that?" Sharpay asked politely, taking the bowl of flour in her hand and gave it to Troy and made her way to the sink, adjacent to the kitchen island

By the time Hailey put her doll down on the carpet; Josh was flying across the room and greeted, "Hello?"

"Who the hell is this?"

"That's not a polite word" With clean hands, Sharpay took the phone from Josh and dried her hands with the towel she took from the kitchen counter. Josh walked to Hailey, "The guy on the phone said a bad word" He informed his sister

Hailey gave a disapproving look and paid attention to what the rude guy on the phone wanted with Sharpay, "Perfect William, you just screamed out on a five year old! Unbelievable!" She didn't scream like William was to her. In fact Sharpay kept her tranquility; she reminded herself about her whereat-s

"Last time I checked this phone doesn't belong to a fucking five-year-old!" He hissed, "Where the fuck are you anyway?"

Sharpay glanced at Troy who was giving her a worry look. She decided it would be best before Hailey and Josh would give her the same look, "Nice talking to you" She faked a cheery tone and snapped shut the phone, turning it off just to make sure

"He said a bad word, Sharpay" Josh's little voice chipped in quietly, afraid that his dad might not approve of his doing.

"Don't worry. He said he was sorry and wished you'd pretend that you didn't hear that, okay?" Sharpay pinched Josh's cheek as he nodded blatantly

Troy's gaze followed her but she continued fixing dinner. Troy looked at the children and by now they were whispering to each other, probably about the so-called-bad-word, but he was more concerned what her fiancé had to say about her staying there with him instead of at home right now. Troy wondered if his fiancé even knew that she's a mother.

He saw her moved past the cabinet to find their plates. She has always been so beautiful, heck, Troy wouldn't believe her if she'd said she was a mother, if he wasn't actually the one that knocked her up, and the product of their drunken mistakes were by now turning on TV and screaming along with the Spongebob Squarepants' opening theme song.

"Dinner's ready" Sharpay announced silently and brought the plates to the coffee table in front of the couch at the living room, Troy following close behind

Dinner was quiet except for Hailey and Josh's laughter along with Spongebob's witty humor and Troy commenting on Hailey pushing away her veggies away from her plates and Josh whining that he got more vegetables in his plates than Hailey. Sharpay had taken their sides and helped them finishing off their green stuffs – Troy had disapprove this but she insisted on them having a tough day and that she's trying to keep a healthy diet. Troy had muttered bullshit and stared on her body waltzing to the kitchen to clean the dishes

"So," Troy began nervously in the midst of Sharpay handing him another clean plate for him to dry off, "How's our sleeping arrangements?" He cleared his throat nervously

"Oh" That never crossed her mind, "I can crash on the couch" She glanced to the living room – it didn't look so bad. She could lay out her clothes and made a good comforter

"That's going to have to make do" He put the plate down, "I slept on that one couch, you can have the other." Troy stared at the couch with hatred, "I think that's the more comfortable couch."

Sharpay looked at the two identical couches and smiled. She had to be polite, even if the idea of sleeping on a couch was not so thrilling.

Troy scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, we only have one bedroom in this place…and the kids have taken that over. Plus their beds are really small to fit anyone but their little bodies" explained.

His eyes glimmered as he caught Sharpay's eyes in his

"Is that okay?" Troy asked.

"That's fine." Sharpay nodded. Although she could not help but wonder how it would turn out, sleeping in the same room with Troy.

Yeshi: Please spare Ren all the blame, it's all me who couldn't seem to finish up the chapter and it has been so, so long. Forgive me ):

Ren: actually it's my fault too. Yeshi had it done earlier—I just lagged at updating. So forgive me as well.