NB: I'm changing things around, so it's NOT going to be like it is on the
show. In my story, Gwen is NOT pregnant and she and Ethan never got back
together. Ethan has remained with Theresa and their relationship is steady,
or rather just like Ethan and Gwen's was before Theresa entered their
lives. Gwen has moved to New York because she got a wonderful job there.
Theresa has been given legal custody of the Crane mansion by Alistair and
she and Ethan live there. Ivy, Julian and Rebecca live there also, but they
are under orders from Alistair to work for Theresa and cater to her every
whim so they constantly have to put up with Theresa bossing them around. So
here it all begins:
Chapter 1
"Ethan! Ethan! A carnival is coming into Harmony! The same one we first met at! Oh Ethan we just HAVE to go!" gushed Theresa as Ethan arrived home from his office. He was really tired and in no mood for one of Theresa's theatrics that were always one "no" away so he said, "sure Theresa whatever you say". "Ooh I'm so EXCITED!! I can't BELIEVE you and I are going to the same carnival at which we met exactly three years ago! Only this time, we're going TOGETHER as a COUPLE!" she prattled on. Ethan winced - her whiny voice really distressed his cochlear. It really did seem interesting to him that the same carnival was arriving in Harmony on the EXACT same date as which Theresa had splattered him with paint for the very first time. He wondered what Theresa's "fate" had in store for him there this time.
AT THE CARNIVAL:
"Ethan I'm going over to check out all the mascaras they have here - after all, a girl can never have enough mascara!" said Theresa, and she walked off in the opposite direction as Ethan shrugged and kept walking. As he walked past a stall selling flowers, he began to think about how much this place reminded him of the first time he had been there because it was still exactly the same. With that also came memories of the woman who had been there with him then - his first love, Gwen Hotchkiss. It seemed like only a short time ago when he had dropped to one knee and proposed to her right here.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see the young woman who was walking towards the huge swaying basket of short-stemmed roses hanging down to Ethan's shoulders while looking back to wave to someone. He didn't see her crash past the basket and straight into him. He suddenly felt a great big thwack against his shoulder blade as the gigantic basket made contact with his shoulder and as he stumbled from the contact with the woman and all the roses came tumbling down upon him as both he and the woman dropped to the ground. He was about to begin a tirade directed at her when he happened to look into her eyes. He was immediately lost in those mesmerising pools of hazelly-brown. They just looked so familiar.
The startled woman however, got up immediately and apologised, dusting off her flared jeans and mid-riff baring top, "Oh, I'm so sorry! It's just that I just ran into this friend of mine after SO long and I was so busy waving to him that I - "
"It's okay" Ethan interrupted.
"Well, I better be off then!" said the woman as she walked off. Ethan watched her receding back with waist-length chestnut brown hair cascading down it in layered waves. Ethan was dazzled. She was beautiful. He had never seen her in Harmony before so he figured she must be just visiting. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he realised he had forgotten to ask her name.
"Who was that?" Ethan heard Theresa's voice demand when he turned to head back, "some girl I bumped into" Ethan replied. Theresa said, "Oh okay. Hey guess what? I saw a fortune teller around here somewhere! We have to go see!"
"Theresa - " began Ethan. "Oh come ON Ethan! Don't be such a poop!" said Theresa. Ethan rolled his eyes and agreed to go and see the fortune teller with her.
IN THE FORTUNE TELLER'S TENT:
"Oh NO! That can't BE!!! Are you sure?" Theresa was agitated to hear what the fortune teller had to say, "The crystal never lies," replied Madame Andreika, "Another woman will steal the heart of the young man you love! You shall never marry him!"
"I don't believe you," said Theresa. Madame Andreika shrugged, "you can have a look in my crystal if you want" she offered. Theresa went over to have a look and saw Ethan hugging and kissing a blonde woman whose face was blurred, "Oh no! It's GWEN!" she thought, "I mean she has to be Gwen right? Who else has ever been interested in having Ethan other than me or Gwen?" She looked on. Ethan was telling the woman that he loved her more than anyone else in the world and then to Theresa's ultimate shock horror, Ethan asked the woman to marry him! Not waiting to hear any more, Theresa rushed out of the tent, thinking fast, "This can't be! It just can't! Ethan and I are meant to be together! It's fate!"
Ethan joined Theresa outside shortly and she told him she was sure the woman was Gwen as Ethan began to assure her he would never fall in love with another woman, besides the fact that Gwen was all the way in New York. "But there's no other blonde in your life Ethan!" Theresa insisted. "I've got to think fast. I've got to get Ethan to marry me before anybody else can get their hooks into him!" She decided she would drop a hint to Ethan that he should propose to her right there and then. She had to convince him it was the perfect setting since it was where they had first met.
She dropped hints to Ethan all day, but he didn't catch her drift. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts about the beautiful girl he'd bumped into earlier. "You know Ethan I'm starting to feel really insecure now" said Theresa, deciding to aim directly at the crux of the matter, "you know, about some girl stealing you away". Ethan sighed, "you shouldn't believe a fortune teller you know?" Theresa persisted, "But I saw it with my own eyes! You were professing your love to that blonde! And the most disturbing part was the marriage proposal. I mean to think Ethan - a marriage proposal from you is everything I've ever dreamed of! I can still remember how I felt the first time you ever proposed to me. And now - you're going to propose to someone else!"
"Theresa, I'm not going to propose to someone else!"
"Well since you haven't proposed to me yet, it may well happen!" she whined, "somebody else could come along and steal you away just like that! Ethan I need proof of your commitment to me!"
"Theresa - "
"Ethan no. No more trying to convince me that you will remain true to me. I need proof"
"Okay, I'll prove it to you then. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, will you marry me?"
Theresa gasped and pretended like she hadn't genuinely expected this, "Oh Ethan! Oh of course I'll marry you! Yes! You know how much I want to become your wife!"
Alarm bells went off in Ethan's head as he realised what he had done. He wasn't ready for marriage yet! They had both agreed after all that this time they were going to wait until he had secured his position with the new law firm he had recently joined - he was still on his three-month trial period. He didn't want to be dependant on Theresa and Crane money all his life. But it was too late. Theresa had forced him into a proposal and then she had accepted that proposal...
Chapter 1
"Ethan! Ethan! A carnival is coming into Harmony! The same one we first met at! Oh Ethan we just HAVE to go!" gushed Theresa as Ethan arrived home from his office. He was really tired and in no mood for one of Theresa's theatrics that were always one "no" away so he said, "sure Theresa whatever you say". "Ooh I'm so EXCITED!! I can't BELIEVE you and I are going to the same carnival at which we met exactly three years ago! Only this time, we're going TOGETHER as a COUPLE!" she prattled on. Ethan winced - her whiny voice really distressed his cochlear. It really did seem interesting to him that the same carnival was arriving in Harmony on the EXACT same date as which Theresa had splattered him with paint for the very first time. He wondered what Theresa's "fate" had in store for him there this time.
AT THE CARNIVAL:
"Ethan I'm going over to check out all the mascaras they have here - after all, a girl can never have enough mascara!" said Theresa, and she walked off in the opposite direction as Ethan shrugged and kept walking. As he walked past a stall selling flowers, he began to think about how much this place reminded him of the first time he had been there because it was still exactly the same. With that also came memories of the woman who had been there with him then - his first love, Gwen Hotchkiss. It seemed like only a short time ago when he had dropped to one knee and proposed to her right here.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see the young woman who was walking towards the huge swaying basket of short-stemmed roses hanging down to Ethan's shoulders while looking back to wave to someone. He didn't see her crash past the basket and straight into him. He suddenly felt a great big thwack against his shoulder blade as the gigantic basket made contact with his shoulder and as he stumbled from the contact with the woman and all the roses came tumbling down upon him as both he and the woman dropped to the ground. He was about to begin a tirade directed at her when he happened to look into her eyes. He was immediately lost in those mesmerising pools of hazelly-brown. They just looked so familiar.
The startled woman however, got up immediately and apologised, dusting off her flared jeans and mid-riff baring top, "Oh, I'm so sorry! It's just that I just ran into this friend of mine after SO long and I was so busy waving to him that I - "
"It's okay" Ethan interrupted.
"Well, I better be off then!" said the woman as she walked off. Ethan watched her receding back with waist-length chestnut brown hair cascading down it in layered waves. Ethan was dazzled. She was beautiful. He had never seen her in Harmony before so he figured she must be just visiting. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he realised he had forgotten to ask her name.
"Who was that?" Ethan heard Theresa's voice demand when he turned to head back, "some girl I bumped into" Ethan replied. Theresa said, "Oh okay. Hey guess what? I saw a fortune teller around here somewhere! We have to go see!"
"Theresa - " began Ethan. "Oh come ON Ethan! Don't be such a poop!" said Theresa. Ethan rolled his eyes and agreed to go and see the fortune teller with her.
IN THE FORTUNE TELLER'S TENT:
"Oh NO! That can't BE!!! Are you sure?" Theresa was agitated to hear what the fortune teller had to say, "The crystal never lies," replied Madame Andreika, "Another woman will steal the heart of the young man you love! You shall never marry him!"
"I don't believe you," said Theresa. Madame Andreika shrugged, "you can have a look in my crystal if you want" she offered. Theresa went over to have a look and saw Ethan hugging and kissing a blonde woman whose face was blurred, "Oh no! It's GWEN!" she thought, "I mean she has to be Gwen right? Who else has ever been interested in having Ethan other than me or Gwen?" She looked on. Ethan was telling the woman that he loved her more than anyone else in the world and then to Theresa's ultimate shock horror, Ethan asked the woman to marry him! Not waiting to hear any more, Theresa rushed out of the tent, thinking fast, "This can't be! It just can't! Ethan and I are meant to be together! It's fate!"
Ethan joined Theresa outside shortly and she told him she was sure the woman was Gwen as Ethan began to assure her he would never fall in love with another woman, besides the fact that Gwen was all the way in New York. "But there's no other blonde in your life Ethan!" Theresa insisted. "I've got to think fast. I've got to get Ethan to marry me before anybody else can get their hooks into him!" She decided she would drop a hint to Ethan that he should propose to her right there and then. She had to convince him it was the perfect setting since it was where they had first met.
She dropped hints to Ethan all day, but he didn't catch her drift. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts about the beautiful girl he'd bumped into earlier. "You know Ethan I'm starting to feel really insecure now" said Theresa, deciding to aim directly at the crux of the matter, "you know, about some girl stealing you away". Ethan sighed, "you shouldn't believe a fortune teller you know?" Theresa persisted, "But I saw it with my own eyes! You were professing your love to that blonde! And the most disturbing part was the marriage proposal. I mean to think Ethan - a marriage proposal from you is everything I've ever dreamed of! I can still remember how I felt the first time you ever proposed to me. And now - you're going to propose to someone else!"
"Theresa, I'm not going to propose to someone else!"
"Well since you haven't proposed to me yet, it may well happen!" she whined, "somebody else could come along and steal you away just like that! Ethan I need proof of your commitment to me!"
"Theresa - "
"Ethan no. No more trying to convince me that you will remain true to me. I need proof"
"Okay, I'll prove it to you then. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, will you marry me?"
Theresa gasped and pretended like she hadn't genuinely expected this, "Oh Ethan! Oh of course I'll marry you! Yes! You know how much I want to become your wife!"
Alarm bells went off in Ethan's head as he realised what he had done. He wasn't ready for marriage yet! They had both agreed after all that this time they were going to wait until he had secured his position with the new law firm he had recently joined - he was still on his three-month trial period. He didn't want to be dependant on Theresa and Crane money all his life. But it was too late. Theresa had forced him into a proposal and then she had accepted that proposal...