Gwen entered her townhouse, with Jenny in her arms, only to find Luis the way she left him, in the living room, holding Jon-Louis. Only he had a slightly bemused smile on his face. Getting suspicious, Gwen walked over to the nearby bassinette and looked inside and sniffed.
"This bassinette doesn't look like it has been slept in at all since we brought the baby home," Gwen remarked. "Not only that but it still has its 'new store' smell. Has that boy lain in it at all?"
"Uh, no," Luis replied, looking a little sheepishly at her and then glancing somewhat ruefully down at his partial namesake, Jon Louis, "He kept waking up every time I tried to put him down. I'd think I finally had him asleep. But when I would stand over the bassinette and even start to put him inside, he'd open one eye and look at me, like, 'What do you think you're doing, Dude?' Finally, I gave up. I told him I'd hold him until you got home and he's been sleeping soundly as a baby- well soundly ever since."
"Are you serious?" Gwen laughed.
"I am," Luis answered. "I even took him with me into the bathroom- don't worry, I still managed to wash and dry my hands. That kid never woke up. He was happy as a clam."
"I see that he has you trained," Gwen remarked. "It took him no time to wrap you around his little finger."
"Guilty as charged," Luis grinned. "But I don't mind. In fact, I rather like it."
Gwen chuckled and looked away only to see a beautiful bouquet of pink and white roses and gasped in appreciation.
"Oh, my God, Luis," Gwen said. "They're beautiful. Who are they from?"
"Me." Luis answered simply. "When I left you at the hospital, I saw the florist on the way back to Jonathan's and the displays. That's when I remembered you didn't get any flowers, but then with the joy and excitement of the baby, I figured you wouldn't even notice them, there, anyway. So, I decided I'd have them waiting for you in your new home when you got done wrapping it all up with Ethan. I figured you'd need it then."
"Oh, so you did it, because you felt sorry for me?" Gwen asked, chagrined at being the object of his pity.
"No!" Luis exclaimed earnestly. "Oh, hell no! Leaving Ethan is the most sensible and self-preserving thing you ever did for yourself, Gwen! It's just that I've been there, done that with Sheridan. It's not easy letting go of someone you have loved and in whom you have all your emotional focus invested in for years isn't easy. It's awfully difficult. It was terribly hard for me and I wasn't with Sheridan half as long as you were with Ethan."
"Really?" Gwen asked dubiously. "This isn't some sort of lame consolation prize?"
"Really." Luis answered firmly. "This is to symbolize your victory, Gwen. You thought you could never have children of your own! Well, in one fell swoop, you've got Jenny and Jon-Louis! This is to also celebrate your great new beginnings. Knowing you, you're going to be back working with your father, who is a great businessman! You've got this beautiful townhouse in this historic old town of Boston - I've always wanted to live here, myself, because I'm a bit of a history buff! By the way, did you know that okay an American word?"
"An American word?" Gwen echoed stupidly, taken aback by his abrupt change of subject and not knowing where he was going with this.
"Okay." Luis stressed the word. "Back when the Americans were fighting the British in the War for Independence, they would send casualty reports in shorthand back to command. If five people were killed, they'd write the number five and the letter k for killed on whatever they could write on. If they took no casualties, they'd write the letter o or number zero with the letter k. Everything was okay because no one got hurt or killed, which in wartime, is great!"
"Okay," Gwen said uncertainly. "But I'm not sure what this means to my situation."
"It means that you managed to achieve all this with no one getting hurt," Luis explained, waving his free hand around the inside of her lovely home. "It means you're a winner, Gwen!"
"Thanks," Gwen said bashfully, feeling both heartened and gratified by his earnest, effusive praise. But embarrassed, too. This was not what she was used to. She hastily changed the subject. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry, so if you don't mind watching Jenny as well as holding the baby, I'll go into the kitchen and see what I can put together for us."
"No, you won't," Luis ordered forcefully with a twinkle in his eyes as Gwen's eyebrows shot up at his bossy manner. "You will not be cooking tonight. Jonathan called to let me know you were on the way home. I figured the last thing you needed to worry about was slaving over a hot stove. So I asked him what your favorite restaurant was and what you liked to eat. A caterer is on his way from The Emerald with a delivery."
"Wow! Curbside service!" Gwen laughed. As if on cue the doorbell rang and when she opened it, there was the caterer, ready to set up.
Luis and Gwen and Jenny sat down to a fine repast of Irish Continental cuisine. They then retreated back to living room to watch some television together as the caterer cleared the table and cleaned up. Luis handed off Jon-Louis to Gwen while Jenny decided it was her turn to be held by him, so she took Simba and crawled into his lap.
Jon-Louis started getting hungry. Gwen had decided to breast-feed him after he was born and felt a little strange about doing so in front of Louis. But, she figured, he had already seen her breasts-once and she was loath to leave this sense of family she was sharing with him. So, she self-consciously and surreptitiously adjusted herself to feed her son. The baby lustily latched onto her nipple and sucked ravenously, kneading his small fingers into the swollen breast tissue. Gwen snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye at Luis to gauge his reaction. He was watching her suckle Jon-Luis without any apparent discomfort. In fact he seemed to radiate his own sense of contentment, which surprised and pleased her.
It was that way that Hank Bennett found them all, sitting on the couch like a family when he arrived on her doorstep as the caterer was leaving. He stopped shortly and did a double take at the tableau they made. Gwen noticed his arrival with alarm and blushed scarlet when he stared at the baby at her breast.
"Hank!" Luis exclaimed. "I didn't know that you were coming here! Jonathan never mentioned it!"
"I never got a chance to talk to him," Hank answered, still staring at Gwen. "I finished up in Birmingham. I've been cleared by the investigation team where James Hooper is concerned and I came with your car to pick you up and take you back to Harmony."
"How did you find out my address?" Gwen asked tersely, rearranging herself now that the baby had finished nursing.
"Your new driver's license," Hank replied. "I figured you'd waste no time getting it changed to your new address and maiden name, so I ran it that way and got a hit. Uh, what's up with the new baby?"
"He's mine!" Gwen snapped.
"I can see that," Hank answered patiently. "I don't think you could nurse a baby you just adopted! Does Ethan know?"
"No, and I want to keep it that way!" Gwen bristled.
"I think Ethan has a right to know he has a new son!" Hank protested, as he took in the blue blanket.
"No, he doesn't!" Gwen retorted. "He can raise Theresa's son for all I care. My son is off limits to him!"
Hank took on a stubborn, determined look, so Gwen changed her stance.
"Please, Hank," Gwen pleaded. "It won't be forever. I promise you. I just want to hold off until after the divorce when they get married and after they have their own son, so she won't feel so threatened by him. Jenny is safe, because in Theresa's mind, she has Jane to cancel her out. Please, Hank. I've already lost Sarah and Nathan to that psycho, I don't want to lose Jon-Louis, too!"
"Jon-Louis?" Hank echoed, looking closely at the baby and staring hard at Luis.
Gwen flushed scarlet again as she read his thoughts.
"I named him after my father, Jonathan and his grandfather, Louis, who he is a dead ringer for," Gwen explained, gesturing to the double-framed old-fashioned photograph of her great-grandfather as a small boy and a grown man. While she had been waiting for Ethan to arrive, she had a photographer make her copies of her own. "But I'm glad that it turned out my grandfather was named Louis, because Luis was there to help when I went into labor and he supported me during delivery!"
"How could you two keep this pregnancy a secret from Etha-everybody?" Hank demanded.
"Look, it was a secret to both of us, too," Luis laughed. "Gwen didn't know she was pregnant, Hank. She was totally asymptomatic and you have to admit, she didn't look pregnant either. I didn't realize she was pregnant until she went into labor and the pains hit and she didn't believe it even then. She was arguing with me about it up until her water broke and she ended up in the delivery room. Believe me, it was a shocker!"
"I can imagine," Hank said dryly.
"Are you going to keep quiet, Hank? Gwen asked. "Please?"
Hank hesitated and looked unsure. He was very much a Bennett who was raised to believe in right and wrong and full disclosure, even if he had bent some rules of his own along the way as an undercover cop and FBI agent.
That is when Gwen went off on him.
"Damn you, Hank!" Gwen exclaimed. "If I have even an inkling that Ethan and Theresa know about my son, I will take my children and disappear where they can never find me! And I promise you, Ethan will never see him, ever! And he will never see Jenny again, ever! Do you hear me?!"
"Loud and clear, Gwen," Hank said laconically.
"Good." Gwen said shortly. "Now what is preferable to you? Ethan seeing both his children in a couple of years while they are still young enough to have a relationship with him? The whole while they've been raised in a stable environment with an unstressed mother and a grandfather just around the corner to help? Or Ethan never seeing his children, ever? The whole while they've been moved from pillar to post by a totally stressed mother with no support system? Your pick, Hank!"
"I see your point," Hank conceded. "I'll keep my mouth shut, Gwen."
"Thank you." Gwen said sardonically. "Are you hungry? We already had a caterer take care of us, but I'm sure there are some fresh leftovers I can heat up for you and some coffee if you would like it."
"Don't mind if I do," Hank said, getting comfortable in an armchair. "Can I hold my new nephew?" He asked, as Gwen was getting ready to hand Jon-Louis off to Luis.
Gwen was reluctant to let him, but didn't want to antagonize him. Silently she crossed over to him and put him into Hank's arms. Then she swiftly went to the kitchen to put something together for him.
Hank looked down at the baby who stared back up at him with solemn curiosity. Then he stared back at his best friend who watched him with the same expression.
"This kid may resemble Gwen's great-grandfather," Hank commented casually. "But he's a dead ringer for you, Buddy."
"I know," Luis said. "You'd be surprised how many people at the hospital thought I was the daddy."
"Are you?" Hank asked him.
"Am I what? Luis asked blankly.
"Are you this kid's father?" Hank pressed. "I've been getting this vibe between you and Gwen for months. Is there any chance … whatsoever … that you could be this little boy's father?"
"No man, no chance at all," Luis said flatly.
"Oh well, I should have known," Hank remarked. "That stick up her butt is too big for that snob to loosen up with any guy not her class. Not to mention she's got her head buried so far up Ethan's ass she wouldn't notice a rich guy, either!"
"Hank, I realize you don't like Gwen, but she's a close friend of mine," Luis reminded him testily. "If you knew her like I knew her, you wouldn't talk about her like that. She's a warm, loving woman and a loyal person, true blue to the end."
"Sorry, I forgot," Hank said somewhat contritely. "And I will admit that you're the only person that cold, phony snob seems like a human being around."
"I mean it, Hank!" Luis snapped. "I won't stand for you or anybody else disrespecting her in my presence. Ever. Especially while you're holding her son. If we have to, we can put the baby in the bassinette and 'discuss' this outside."
"Okay, okay," Hank said hastily. "I'm not interested in an ass-whooping from you!"
"You know what I think your problem is, man?" Luis snapped. "You're a reverse snob. You only dislike Gwen because she's rich and you think she's shallow."
"Look, I gave her the benefit of a doubt once. I asked her out. She blew me off, I guess, because I wasn't her class!" Hank bristled.
"Like, the only reason could have been because she was a snob?" Luis remarked. "Not because she was still hung up on a guy she'd been in love with for years. Not because she wasn't that into you? Because it's not like any regular girl has ever blown you off, is it?!"
"Okay, okay, I'll go with your judgment about Gwen." Hank said hastily. "Uh, are you sure that there's uh, no way that you-" he looked down again at the baby in his arms.
"I'm sure, okay?!" Luis exclaimed, as Gwen slipped into the room with Hank's food. "Why do you have to think I have to be sleeping with the woman to care anything for her?! If you ever saw the side of Gwen that I have, you'd be crazy about her, too!"
"Okay," Hank said. "I've never seen that side of her, so I'll take your word for it and I'm sorry I assumed the baby is yours. You have to admit the resemblance is uncanny!"
Gwen was eaten up with curiosity so she did not make her presence known.
"Yeah, I do," Luis admitted. "He does look a lot like me. But you want to know something, Hank? I wouldn't have minded at all if he were mine. I'd love to have more children and this time I've spent with Gwen and the kids has been great."
Gwen's heart started pounding rapidly at these words. She had been basking in that family feeling with Luis herself first with Jenny and Jane and now with Jenny and Jon-Louis and she found herself feeling more hopeful than anxious. Yes, the fallout with Fancy and particularly Sheridan wouldn't be pretty, but it almost seemed worth it.
"So, I guess that means that you're going to take the next step with Fancy," Hank assumed, shattering any of Gwen's illusions where a future with Luis was concerned.
"Yes," Luis confirmed. "When I get back to Harmony, I'm going to propose to Fancy. The one thing Gwen has helped me to see is how much I want to be a family man!"
Of course, Gwen thought, wanting to kick herself for giving into false expectations. He's been in love with Fancy for several weeks now. It only makes sense that he'd want to marry her. Gwen, you idiot! All he would ever see her is as a friend. She wanted to bawl her eyes out with sadness and mortification. But, not now. Not in front of Hank. She knew he had a low opinion of her. And not in front of Luis. Especially not in front of him.
It was time to gather the shredded remnants of her dignity together and try to hold her head up high. It was time to act with some class and be a gracious loser. All her social training came to bear and she detached into a socialite automaton with programmed social responses.
"Did I just hear you say you were going to propose to Fancy!" Gwen smiled, making a point of sweeping into the room with Hank's tray.
"Yes, you did!" Luis grinned. "I'm glad you're here to share my news. I couldn't think of a better way to do it than with my two best buddies in the world!"
"Congratulations, Dude!" Hank exclaimed as Gwen further composed herself by putting his tray of food on the ottoman in front of him and taking Jon-Louis from him.
Clutching her son closer to her heart, Gwen turned and faced Luis.
"Congratulations, Luis," Gwen echoed. "Please extend my warmest wishes to Fancy. She's a wonderful woman and I not only hope - I'm sure - that you two will be so happy and have beautiful children of your own together!"
"Thanks, Gwen!" Luis said as she sat back down beside him and gathered Jenny into her other arm for a snuggle. To both men, she looked the picture of a loving mother, but inside she felt small and abandoned and her son and daughter were like beloved, soft toys children used to comfort themselves. The adults made further conversation as Hank ate his food. Gwen automatically gave all the correct, smiling responses as she counted the seconds for them to leave. After what seemed like forever, the moment had come.
"Well, it's time to go," Hank said. "We'll swing by Jonathan's to pick up your stuff."
Gwen saw them to the door and Hank stood by as Luis swiftly embraced her and gave her a goodbye kiss on the cheek. She graciously stood on the stoop and smiled and waved as they sped off toward Harmony.
Her children were both sleepy, so she put them upstairs and put them to bed, then padded to her own bedroom, undressed, slipped into her own bed and stared up at the ceiling.
Alone again. Naturally.