Kelsi and Cassidy were released a little less than a week later. They immediately headed for Albuquerque so they could set up the new house. Darby and Vance made sure to be there every step of the way and Gabriella took time off from her firm to head back and help as well. After Troy finished his new design for a more modern hospital, he took the month's vacation and returned to the city he grew up in.

Chad came back after his team won the NBA Championship.

Taylor came back to stay – she was going to run for State Representative.

Zeke called his master chef in Philadelphia two days after his vacation ran out and told the older man that he'd received a better offer: Sharpay Evans' personal chef. He'd returned to Philly for two days to pack and then moved his things out to LA.

Sharpay herself got good news as well. Mere hours after Cassidy was born, Sharpay's doctor called and said the newest test results indicated that she would naturally get her voice back. They didn't know how long it would take – weeks or months – but she would speak in her own voice again. The downside was she would never sing again.

She figured that was the end of her Broadway dreams. But she was certain, after working with a vocal therapist, she would be able to audition for movies again.

Now, nearly a year later, they were all gathered in Albuquerque for Cassidy's first birthday.

Chad was brining Madeline along, thank goodness, and was planning on proposing to her. He just had to promise to stop being so jealous when other men hit on her. But it was hard. He was an NBA All-Star and the garbage man ("Municipal Waste Engineer" Maddie would reprimand) thought he could get with her.

Yeah, right, he scoffed to himself nearly every day.

Taylor's election was coming up fast but she still took the time to swing by to wish Little Miss Cassidy a happy first birthday. She couldn't stay long, of course, but there were camera crews and photographers and Ryan imagined his baby would be on the cover of the Albuquerque Journal in the morning.

Jason sent a video from Cairo – he really enjoyed shooting in the desert – because he couldn't be there to see his friends for their little girl's birthday.

Martha was there but got a phone call that she was needed back in Austin ASAP. She quickly kissed Ryan, Kelsi and the baby before racing to the airport.

Sharpay and Zeke were there as well, happy as ever, and the baker had just announced that he would be opening his own small bakery back in LA. Sharpay had smiled and kissed him on the cheek before announcing that she'd just gotten cast in a new SitCom about the ins and outs of dating within the celebrity circuit.

"Any singing?" Ryan asked with a smirk.

"Shut up, Ry," she responded with a flip of her hair. "Just because I can't sing anymore …"

"You still sing very well, honey," Zeke said consolingly. "You're just not supposed to."

"Well, yeah. Okay," she responded with a slight pout.

"I hear you're in the running for a voice-job on a new Disney movie," Kelsi said as she carried Cassidy over to the bickering group.

"Yup," Sharpay replied happily as she took the baby from Kelsi's arms. "You wanna hear Aunty Shar in a movie?" she asked the smiling little girl.

"Shar!" the curly-haired blonde screamed before gripping her aunt's hair and giving a mighty tug.

"Right," Sharpay laughed with a wince. "Ryan?"

Her twin brother shook his head before taking the baby from his sister. "Troy and Gabriella should be here soon. Apparently, Hunter decided he had to go potty every twenty miles or so and they still can't get him peacefully on a plane. So, while we're waiting, why don't we do present?"

"Yay!" Cassidy screamed.

All the adults laughed as they gathered around the little girl. "Da?" she asked as she held up a little pink box.

"Okay, little one. Da'll help you." The little girl smiled at him – Kelsi's smile – and ripped into the bright pink box. Inside was a small necklace with her name in cursive between the chain links. "Wow, Shar, it's beautiful."

"Nothing but the best for our little Cassie," she said with a smile. "The big one if from us too …"

Ryan stood his daughter up and allowed her to rip into an Easy Bake Oven. "Uhh …"

"Vintage, I know," Zeke said, "and a bit too old for her … but it's a collector now and I just wanted to make sure she had one …"

"It's perfect," Kelsi smiled.

Maddie then handed Cassidy the gift she and Chad got the little girl. There were tons of different outfits in there and then a smaller box. Cassidy looked up at them in confusion before Chad scooted over and whispered for her to take it to Aunt Maddie. The little girl gave him another look but toddled over and held the box out to her.

"Chad? What's this?" she asked.

"Open it," he told the redhead with a smile before kneeling behind Cassidy and looking up at her.

"Oh my …"

"I figured if I had the baby give it to you there was little chance of you turning me down," he said lowly. "I love you, Mads. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone or anything. Basketball included. So," he said as he took a deep breath. "Madeline Fitzgerald, will you marry me?"

Maddie stared at him for a long moment before dropping to her knees. "Of course I will," she whispered before pressing her lips against his.

"Ewww!" Cassidy cried out before toddling back to her presents.

The gathered adults laughed as Maddie and Chad kissed again.

"Well, since there's nothing for Cassidy to open from Kelsi and me, we'll tell you that we're taking her to Disney Land in a couple of months. Mom and Dad are paying for the hotel, so that's their gift, as well as coming along. And Cal's coming too. He got Cassie gift certificate for Toys R Us as well."

"And I actually have a gift for Ryan and Cassidy," Kelsi said as she pulled a rectangular box from behind her back. "Let Da open that one, baby. It could be a little sharp." Cassidy went to frown but Kelsi arched a brow and the little girl settled into her father and gave him a look that told him to hurry up.

"Dang," Chad laughed. "She's got a lot of Evans in her …"

"You have no idea," Kelsi mumbled. "Now open it."

Ryan shot his wife a confused look. It was a picture that was taken just two days ago … Cassidy was hugging her mother around the waist and her little head was resting on her stomach. He was standing behind the couch his girls were resting on; Roscoe was on the floor in front of them. Ryan looks at Maddie – the one who took the picture – and she shrugged.

"This is nice, Kels …" Ryan said uncertainly. "But, uh, we have lots of family pictures …"

"I know that, Ryan, but this one has the whole family in it."

"We have a lot of pictures with …" he trailed off, his eyes scrunching, clearly not understanding where his wife was going with this.

"Cassidy, baby, Mommy gave you this picture because it's the first one of you and your little brother or sister," Kelsi said in a sweet voice.

Everyone promptly turned to Kelsi, who was smiling and hugging the baby to her, and then to Ryan.

"All right, Evans!" Chad shouted in glee. "That's two, man! Maybe you'll have twins and finally beat out Troy and Gabriella!"

"Baby?" Ryan whispered.

"In about seven months or so," his wife replied with a serene smile.

"Maddie, watch the kid, I need to go speak with my wife."

"Right," Zeke laughed. "Because I'm sure you'll be speaking."

"Use of lips counts!" Ryan laughed before pulling Kelsi into the house and shutting the blinds.

Everyone stood in stunned silence, simply staring at the closed doors.

"Eww!" Cassidy called out before crawling over to Sharpay and holding up her arms. "Shar!"

"Right," the older blonde said with a smile. "Let's you and me talk about the benefits of having a younger sibling. The best part is … you're the boss …"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A/N: And that's all. DC, hope this lived up to your expectations.

My next story is going to be a Ryelsi and Chad/OC. I have two ideas for who to make the OC – one would be Troy's sister, the other … not. I will not allow her to be Sue-ized. Let me know which you think it should be. It'll be set AU (for the purposes of Chad/OC) Senior Year.