Gwen woke up when she heard Jane stirring in the next room. She went in and got her and brought her out into the kitchen to give her breakfast. Ethan had still not returned and a part of her was getting anxious. She knew he was still with Theresa. This concerned her. Her more rational side was telling her that Theresa was too pragmatic to give up a fortune on the chance that Ethan would divorce Gwen and take Jane to be with her and Little Ethan. But Theresa had a side to herself that involved cutting off her own nose if it would spite Gwen. That aspect was the wild card.
She jumped a little as the door opened and Ethan finally came in, looking nervous. Uh-oh. Gwen decided to play it cool.
"Good morning, Ethan," she said with the same cold politeness she spoke to him since their fight in Rome. "How is Theresa doing?"
"She's doing better," Ethan said, going to her side and kissing her on the cheek, "How are you doing, Honey? I know all this stuff with Marty's death had to be bringing up unpleasant memories. I was worried for you."
"I'm holding up. I thank God I have Jane. She's a great comfort to me," Gwen said, sagging inwardly in relief. Evidently Theresa's cash register for a heart had kicked in and restrained her from telling Ethan the truth about Little Ethan. "Have you had a chance to talk to Sheridan yet?"
"Yes," Ethan answered, visibly relaxing. "I called her before I came here. I'm planning on seeing her later on today. I'm sorry I didn't come home last night. Theresa was very upset, so we stayed up all night talking. I-uh-didn't expect to see you still here. I thought you had gone back to work."
"I'm off work right now," Gwen answered. "So I am enjoying a little time with Jane. But I still have to leave her with Mrs. Henderson today, because I have some errands to run and a couple of personal appointments I need to tend to. As a matter of fact, I'm running a little late. Would you mind dropping Jane off at Mrs. Henderson's for me? I've got her bag packed."
"Sure," Ethan said. "Well, after I speak to Sheridan, I'm going to dust off my resume and apply for some jobs now that Theresa has agreed to take me off the Crane blacklist."
"That's good," Gwen said, "But I think you should hold off on that for a couple of days, because I wanted to talk to you about that later on."
"Oh, okay," Ethan said curiously, but he knew that Gwen wouldn't go into detail with him before she was ready with all her information. "I hope you have a good day."
Gwen walked out to her vehicle, started it up and kept it in idle to get it warmed up. The first call she made was to her lawyer, Leon Feldman.
"Leon, it's Gwen. How is Jane's paperwork going?"
"Gwen I was just about to call you. The paperwork is ready to go. In fact, I have a judge lined up to sign off on it later on this morning at ten o'clock. As luck would have it, it's the same judge who awarded you and your husband sole custody of Jane and is familiar with the case. She is ready to formalize the adoption immediately, especially since you have had custody of Jane and been supporting her all this time. All we need is the birth mother to show up and sign off on it and we're good to go. Do you anticipate any problems getting her there?"
"I don't think there are any problems with the birth mother that I haven't anticipated," Gwen answered dryly. "Don't worry, Leon, she'll be there." She hung up, without saying another word. If I have to beat the hell out of her and drag her kicking and screaming into court by her hair!
She then dialed the woman she hated most in the world.
"Hello?" Theresa answered her phone sleepily.
"Hello, Theresa," Gwen said silkily. "Enjoy your night with my husband?"
"Gwen!" Theresa said disgustedly. "What the hell do you want?"
"Your signature on Jane's adoption papers," Gwen answered. "The paperwork is ready to go. The court date is today at ten o'clock where you will sign off on Jane before the judge who will then formalize the adoption. I expect you to be there."
"I can't be there on such short notice!" Theresa gasped.
"It's eight o'clock. That gives you two hours to show up at court looking presentable. I expect you to be there."
"I can't, I tell you," Theresa argued. "I have too many appointments at Crane that I need to keep."
"Cancel them. I expect you to be there at ten o'clock."
"Look, you bitch," snarled Theresa, "I'm not going to give up my damn daughter to you! I'm her mother, not your crazy ass! Go adopt someone else's kid! I am not going to lose my baby!"
"You silly twit," Gwen said with cold, calm viciousness. "You are Jane's mother in NAME ONLY. I am and I will remain Jane's defacto mother whether you sign off on her or not. Now you make up your mind to one thing. At ten o'clock this morning, you are going to lose SOMETHING. It is up to you to decide which it will be. Nominal control of Jane that will give you the cold comfort of being Jane's non-custodial birth mother or real control of Crane. Remember that I have Julian's phone number on speed dial and I am losing all patience with you. Either way, I intend to see you neutralized, Theresa."
Theresa started to scream abuse at her, so Gwen simply hung up.
With a couple of hours to go, Gwen decided to stop and have a leisurely breakfast, so she had some hot chocolate, some eggs and bacon and a short stack of blueberry pancakes swimming in butter and maple syrup at The Book Café. She bought an interesting novel and then got into her vehicle and pulled into the courthouse parking lot. She strolled around the gardens, admiring the greenery for several minutes and then walked into the courthouse and sat on the bench outside the courtroom. Several minutes later, Leon showed up with his briefcase. It was five minutes to ten.
"Where's the birth mother?" Leon asked. "Isn't she coming after all?"
"Oh," Gwen said casually, "I think she'll be here. She's rather dramatic so she'll probably make her entrance at the very last minute for more effect."
Leon shook his head doubtfully, but Gwen refused to look anything other than calm and collected, though she discreetly glanced at the clock now and then during what seemed like the longest five minutes of her life. She was fairly confident that Theresa would show up. After all, Theresa could squeeze out more children from between her legs. What was one little girl compared to a Fortune 500 company?
At ten o'clock on the dot, as Gwen predicted to Leon, Theresa swept in with regal haughtiness. She glared at Gwen with icy disdain. Gwen smiled at Leon as his eyes narrowed shrewdly wondering, no doubt, what she had on the powerful Mrs. Alistair Crane to make her sign away her own flesh and blood, "I guess we're all ready."