"I'm glad to see you're up Theresa," said Gwen staring at her one time rival with an unreadable expression on her face. "You and I need to talk.
Theresa looked at Gwen in amazement. The last time they had talked had been that awful day so many years ago when Theresa had made the decision to leave town. Gwen was pregnant with Ethan's child as well and Theresa knew that Ethan was going to do the honorable thing and marry Gwen making her child the rightful heirs and Theresa's child illegitimate. Theresa had decided to leave town before it happened and was packing her bags when she heard the screen door open and watched Gwen waltz into her living room. She remembered thinking how strange it was considering the circumstances that there was no look of triumph in Gwen eyes. Just a look of utter resolve that Theresa didn't understand.
Gwen stared at Theresa and was surprised at what she was seeing. She wasn't quite sure what brought her to Theresa's house that day. The past few weeks had been like an unbelievable roller coster between her affair with Ethan and finding out she was pregnant. But at the same time it all brought a chance for her and Ethan to be happy again. They were going to be a family and try to learn to love each other again. Ethan had sworn to her that he wanted that more then anything and despite everything that had happening and was happening she believed him. But before they could move forward..before she could move forward she needed to know that Theresa was no longer a threat to them. No just for her sake but for her baby's sake as well.
The two women looked at each other in silence for a long time before
Theresa finally spoke. The tension in the room was palatal.
"Here to gloat Gwen?" asked Theresa wrapping up another vase in
a newspaper and placing it into a box that laid beside her on the floor.
"No," said Gwen watching Theresa's move with curiosity. "Actually
I came her to clear the air about Ethan but it seems that I caught you
at a bad time."
"Like there would ever be a good time," said Theresa hostily. She
didn't mean to be short tempered with Gwen but her visit here really made
Theresa mad. She had won. She and her children would have Ethan while Theresa
and her child would not. She and Ethan were done and she couldn't figure
out for the life of her why Gwen felt the need to personally do the post
mordem.
"Are you going some where," asked Gwen no longer able to hold back
her curiosity.
"I'm leaving Harmony ," said Theresa not looking up from what she
was doing.
"For good?" asked Gwen a little more upbeat then she would've liked.
Theresa heard the glee in Gwen's voice and put the plate down and
stared at her.
"This most be so sweet for her," she thought.
"Yes Gwen for good. You got your wish the gold diging tramp is out
of your hair for good. Ethan is all yours although I'd keep a close eye
on him if I were you he does stray."
"I can't believe that you're leaving," said Gwen trying to process
what she had just heard. She wanted Theresa gone. Had for sometime but
now that it was actually happening she was having a hard time believing
it.
"Why not the Cranes have cost me everything you know my father,
my mother, my dignity my heart and I'm taking the only good thing they
could have ever given me and getting out of this town.
"What's that suppose to mean?" asked Gwen
"Look save it Gwen you came over here to tell me to stay away from
your man. I understand that but I am no longer a threat to you. Believe
it or not I am really hoping that the three of you are very happy."
Gwen touched her stomach reflexively and looked at Theresa.
"So she knows," she though. "Of course she does did you really think
Ethan wouldn't have told her."
"Now if you'll excuse me I have a lot more packing to do and not
a lot of time to do it."
"Of course," said Gwen heading out of the door. Once she was outside
she let go of a breath that she wasn't sure that she was holding. She had
finally won. Theresa was out of her life for good and she didn't even have
to do anything, but why did the visit leave her with a sense of uneasiness.
Theresa seemed so strange, so determined to get out of Dodge. What was
that all about? She had known Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald for more years then
she cared to remember and it wasn't like her to just turn tail and run
like this. There was defiantly more to this then meets the eye. All Gwen
could do was pray that whatever it was it wouldn't come back to haunt her
or Ethan one day.
Theresa heard Gwen leave as she accidentally dropped the salad bowl
in her hands. The pieces that lied on the floor reminded her of the
pieces of her shattered life and she couldn't control the flood of tears
that stated to escape her eyes.
"Oh Ethan," she thought sinking to the floor in misery. "You'll
never know. You'll never know what you and I made together.
Theresa shook off the memories of that awful day. That was the day that she had done the one thing she swore she would never do. She gave up on Ethan. She had no choice she had a baby to consider. If the previous months had taught her anything it was that she couldn't trust the Cranes not even Ethan when it came to the well being of her child, She had come to the conclusion that the Cranes might try to take her child away from her and she would die before she let that happen. If Ethan wanted to play daddy let him do it with Gwen kids. Of course that was before Gwen's miscarriage and before Gwen found out that she couldn't have children. Looking at Gwen an awful thought creeped in her head. Could her worse fears still come true. Did she have to be afraid of losing Eli and Josh to Ethan and Gwen. Theresa took a deep breath and stared Gwen down. She suppose she knew that this day would come eventually, but that didn't make her any more prepared for it.
"So tell me Theresa," said Gwen in the cold debutante voice that always sent shivers up Theresa's back. "Just how long were you planning on keeping Ethan's son's away from his true family?"