"Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the lord my soul to take.  God Bless Mommy, Uncle Luis, Aunt Sheridan, Uncle Miguel, and Aunt Sheridan." Their little voices said as one before they crossed themselves and get into the twin beds Miguel and Luis had occupied at their age. Theresa smiled before she went into their room and tucked them in before she switched off the lights and closed the door.

"Theresa can we talk?" Miguel asked.

"Sure.  What's up?"

"Let's go in the living room."

"Okay." Theresa said feeling a sense of impending dread.  Her brother and Whitney Russell-Maxwell were the only ones who knew who Joshua and Elijah's father was and since she had arrived Miguel had been hinting at the fact that Theresa needed to let Ethan know.  Now Theresa feared that the time had come for a patent Lopez-Fitzgerald lecture as only her brothers could deliver them.  As Theresa sat down she waited for Miguel to begin.

"Theresa you're my sister and I love you.  I want what's best for you.  I also want what's best for my nephews."

"And in your book what's best for them is to know Ethan right?"

"Theresa Elizabeth-" Miguel began.

"Don't Theresa Elizabeth me Miguel.  I'm not ten anymore.  It won't work." Theresa interrupted.  "I don't need Ethan.  I'm doing a fine job of being a single mother."

"Yes you are. No one can dispute that but Theresa you and I grew up without a father, do you want to do that to them?  And what about Luis?"

"What about him?"

"Do you like lying to him? What about Sheridan?  Do you enjoy lying to her?  And God forbid one day they need a blood transfusion or something.  Theresa you don't have their blood type, Ethan does remember?"

"I remember Miguel.  What am I supposed to do?  Ethan is in Europe with Gwen, remember?  I wouldn't even know where to start looking for him."

"I bet Sheridan would know."

"I'm not dragging her into this."

"Theresa he needs to know and so do the boys.  Don't you think it'd be better coming from you rather then some hospital official?"

"I'll think about telling him."

"That's all I ask."  Miguel kissed his sister's forehead.  "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night." Theresa lay down as Miguel went upstairs to bed.  This was one of the hardest decisions she'd ever had to make.  To tell or not to tell, that was the question.  Funny how this all started with one rainy afternoon and a kiss....

Theresa had gotten caught in the sudden downpour on her way from school to work at the Crane mansion.  Ivy had spotted her coming in the front door soaking wet.

"Oh dear.  Theresa you're soaked to the skin."

"I got caught in the rain when I was at the end of the driveway." Theresa said trying to keep her teeth from chattering.

"Go right upstairs and take a shower.  Ethan's not home so you may use his room and borrow some of his clothes."

"Thank you Mrs. Crane."

"Not at all.  Go now before you catch cold."

"Yes ma'am." Theresa said before going upstairs.  She went into Ethan's bathroom and peeled off her wet clothes before laying them over a chair at a vanity table that had presumably been put in for Gwen.  She ran a hot shower before getting in.  After she'd warmed up she'd wrapped a towel around her and gone back out to Ethan's room to search for a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.  Going back into the bathroom she dried off her undergarments with a blow dryer and slipped them back on before putting Ethan's clothes on.  As she towel dried her hair she began to sing Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman" to herself, softly at first and then a little louder.

"You make me feel, you make me feel, you make me feel like a natural woman, woman." She belted out before swinging around and stopping short when she saw Ethan standing in the door with a wide smile on his face.  "H-how long have you been standing there?" She asked.

"Not long."

"How long is not long?"

"You've got a great voice." Ethan complimented.

"Thanks.  I'm sure you're probably wondering what I'm doing in your bathroom in your clothes and I'm sure Gwen's steps behind you as usual when we get into these situations so should I hide or just run for my life?"

"Neither.  Gwen's not here and Mother explained to me what happened before I came upstairs."

"Oh.  Well good I wasn't really looking forward to having to explain myself to your girlfriend yet again." She shot a glance at her wet clothes before looking back at Ethan.  "Do you have any plastic bags?"

"I'll go look.  Don't go anywhere." Ethan smiled before he left.

"I won't." Theresa said softly before running a brush through her hair and then going out into Ethan's room and sitting on his bed.  Looking to the door for a second she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Whit? It's me.  Look maybe we better cancel that movie."

"Okay.  Tomorrow?"

"If the weather clears up."

"Ok.  Bye."

"Bye." Theresa hung the phone up and waited for Ethan.  She didn't have to wait long.

"Here you go." Ethan handed her a bag.  "Is that big enough?"

"Should be, thanks." Theresa went back into the bathroom and Ethan sat on his bed to wait for her.  When she came back out she had her clothes in a bag and she had tied her hair back.  "Well I better get to work."

"Actually Mother went for lunch at the club so you're free till she gets back and if I know Mother she won't be back for a while." Ethan said.

"Oh."

"Maybe you can give me another concert."

"Oh that's very funny." Theresa said.

"I thought so."

"Really? What do you think of this?" Theresa asked before grabbing one of Ethan's pillows and hitting him with it.

"Hey!"

"Oh not so tough now huh?" Theresa said getting him again.

"That's it.  You're dead Theresa." Ethan said as he grabbed a pillow and started to fight back for a few moments before he got Theresa's pillow away from her.

"Ah! I give! I give!" Theresa said once Ethan had her cornered against the head of the bed.  "You win." Theresa giggled before she noticed how close Ethan was to her as their breathing slowed down.  Suddenly Theresa realized exactly where she was.  She was in Ethan Crane's bedroom with Ethan Crane on his bed, extremely close to him.  "Ethan?"

"Shhh." He said quietly before he leaned forward and kissed her gently.

Theresa smiled sadly.  In retrospect that was the moment her life changed forever.  Almost a year to the day of that kiss she'd found Ethan with Gwen and every plan she'd ever had had crashed and burned that night.  She rose from the couch and looked out the window.  She couldn't help wondering, What was Ethan doing that night?
 

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