Chapter Twenty-Eight:
In the Moonlight

one of two chapters uploaded 7/8

Ethan stopped the car in front of the cabin. Just seeing the rustic building brought back so many memories... For a moment he didn't move, just stayed in the driver's seat, looking out the window, smiling slightly.

Sitting next to him, Theresa was experiencing a similiar feeling of deja vu. The feeling washed over her, the joy mixed with the pain, like it always felt when she was with Ethan...the bitter and the sweet, twisted eternally together.

Ethan looked at her and she saw her own thoughts mirrored in his eyes. Suddenly feeling vulnerable she turned the other way, opening her door and stepping out. Ethan quickly got out of his side as well, hurrying over to her and putting his jacket around her shoulders.

"Thank you." Theresa said. She looked down at her wedding dress with a rueful smile. "I hope Fancy still has some clothes here, because wearing this for the next few days is going to be more than awkward."

"No need to worry about that." Ethan walked around to the back of the car and opened the trunk, pulling out a suitcase. Theresa looked at it in surprise.

"That's mine!" She exclaimed. "You packed for me?" For a moment she was torn between outrage and amusement, then amusement won. "Let me guess. You have about ten pairs of socks in there, one pair of pants, two shirts, and something lacy you found in my negligee drawer. Men should never, ever attempt to pack for a woman."

Ethan laughed as he pulled his own overnight bag out of the trunk. "Actually, you're in luck. Fancy packed your things. Damn, I hope she didn't neglect your..what did you call it? Your 'negligee drawer'?" He looked hopeful, but Theresa was too shocked to pick up on the joke.

"Fancy helped you? She knew about this?" Theresa was flabbergasted. "I don't believe this. Who else was helping you?"

"You'd be surprised." Ethan murmured as he continued to unload the trunk. Theresa's eyes widened as she saw he pull out bags of groceries.

"So this wasn't an impulsive thing, dragging me out of the church and bringing me up here, was it?" She eyed him in wonder. "You planned all of this...you prepared for it! Wow, you were very confident, weren't you? Didn't you think at all that I might say no?" She felt a little incensed, not only with him but with herself. Was she really that easy to win over?

Ethan looked back at her as he carried the bags to the front door. "Somehow, I don't remember asking you to leave the church with me. And actually, that little conversation that we had in the car, where I asked you to come with me...well, that really didn't figure into my plans. I wasn't exactly going to give you a choice."

"Oh." Theresa picked up a couple of the grocery bags and followed him inside, feelling that once again she should be offended, infuriated, not to mention guilt stricken because of Jared, and yet somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be any of those things. She just couldn't, because this was their chance. Even if it all came to nothing, even if she and Ethan had no future, they had these few days and she wanted them. She deserved them. They had so much stolen from them, all those moments, all those years, and it felt like fate had finally realized how much she'd been robbed of, and was trying to pay her back.

Setting the bag on the counter, Theresa turned to go back out and help Ethan bring the other items in, but he stopped her. "I'll get it, Theresa. Sit down and relax."

"I think not." Theresa stuck her nose into the air and followed him out onto the porch. "You seem to forget who I am, Ethan. I am Theresa Lopez Fitzgerald, not some simpering society damsel who wants to be waited on hand and foot. I am perfectly content to be out here...standing on the porch and enjoying the view while you do all the work." Her eyes twinkled and Ethan laughed.

A few minutes later he rejoined her on the porch. "Everything's in. Don't you want to come inside and change out of that dress? You must be cold."

Theresa shrugged. "I'm just looking at everything. It's so quiet up here, and peaceful...beautiful. And look!" She held out her hand. "It is snowing, see?" She watched as a tiny snowflake melted on her palm. "It's not very much, though. I don't think it's going to stick. Are you sure that the roads will be closed?" She looked at him worriedly.

Ethan shrugged. "According the weather reports, yes. The tempeature is still dropping, so I think the snowfall will get heavier." He paused as Theresa shivered. "Come inside. Go get changed and I'll make you some hot chocolate."

"Hmmm...tempting." Theresa smiled and allowed him to lead her inside.

A few minutes later Theresa rejoined her, dressed in a warm, oversized white sweater and black leggings, her hair pulled out of the upswept hair do she'd been wearing and cascading around her shoulders. Ethan's eyes lit up once again at the sight of her and Theresa felt herself blush.

"Your hot chocolate is right there." He indicated a steaming mug in front of him on the coffee table in front of him. "Join me.' He patted the cushion next to him.

She hesitated only a moment, then slid onto the sofa next to him. Her leg accidentally bumped into his and she pulled away, her face turning scarlet.

"Theresa." Ethan's voice was gentle. "Relax, please. I didn't bring you up here to make you uncomfortable, or pressure you, or coerce you into doing anything you don't want to do. Let's just talk, and be together, and enjoy each other's company. We haven't gotten to do this in years, and I really want you to enjoy it." He reached forward and gently touched her face.

"Me too." Theresa murmured. She took a sip of her drink and then looked around. "Look at this place. It just never changes. It looks the same as it did, what was it, seven years ago? When we first stayed here...you, and me, and Whitney, and Chad...seems like a lifetime ago."

"It does, doesn't it?" Ethan looked around with a smile. "So much has happened since then. Do you know how many times I laid in my bed at night and wished that we could just go back to those moments, that we could reclaim that innocence in our relationship, and that joy we had being with each other?"

Theresa suddenly felt shaky and close to tears. "I have, too. So many times. But there's no point in looking back, is there? We can't go back, no matter how much we wish we could."

"Maybe not." Ethan stood up, and walked across the room. "But there are some things we can recreate." He stopped in front of the stereo and pressed a button. Theresa looked up, startled, as the soft music filled the room. "Ethan, is that...it is!" She smiled, amazed. "Where did you get that?"

"Chad. He said he owed you a favor." Ethan turned to her as the song continued. "Bring back memories, Theresa?"

She closed her eyes for a minute, seeing the younger version of herself, standing in front of the fireplace, Ethan before her, as the words brought it all back...

Let me close my eyes (Let me see)
Give me hope tonight (Give it to me)
Touch my heart I cry (And I live)
I live alone tonight (And I dream)
Hold me (Give me a place)

The memory was so clear that when she opened her eyes, she almost expected to see the ghosts of themselves, standing in front of the fireplace, singing to each other the way they had that night. Instead, she was still there, on the couch, and Ethan was watching her, a melancholy smile on his lips.

"Ethan..." She stood up. "Don't be sad. I'm not. That was one of the happiest nights of my life, one of my favorite memories." she sighed.

"Mine too." Ethan crossed the room and took her hands in his. "Do you know what I want now? I want to make some new memories with you...memories that will make you smile like you did just now, not cry or hurt like so much of what I've done has." He led her away from the couch.

Theresa couldn't help but smile again, just at his words. "If you think I'm singing again, you're crazy."

"Alright then. Will you dance?" He looked at her hopefully.

Theresa nearly melted at the look in his eyes. She could feel every bit of her resolve to let him go slipping away from her. "Yes, Ethan...that I can do." She moved into his arms, and slowly they began to dance, circles around the room as the sun sank into the sky and moonlight began to filter through the windows.

Help me (Find my way)
Carry through the night (Carry me)
Be the one tonight (In my dreams)
See me (Make me whole)
Breath me (Find my way)
I'm here (Be with me)
All for you now... Kiss Me
Wake me (Light the way)
Find me... Kiss me

Back in Harmony: Brady Residence

"You seem to have an affinity for staring out windows with starry eyes today, Gwen." Kieran walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What are you dreaming about?"

Gwen smiled. "I'm wondering what Ethan and Theresa are doing right now. I wonder if she was right all along about her and Ethan. She always said they were fated to be together...all those years I thought she was crazy. Maybe true love really does win out in the end." She turned towards her husband with a smile. "I know it worked for me."

"I think she was right." Kieran ran his hands up and down Gwen's arms. "You know I believe in fate, Gwen. It led me to you. If Theresa and Ethan are meant to be together, it will happen."

"Kieran!" Sarah's voice called impatiently from the top of the stairs. "You said you were going to tuck us in! Jane fell asleep already and I'm waiting for you!"

Kieran and Gwen laughed as they parted, looking at the nightgown clad little girl who was peeking over the railing at them.

"The princess has summoned me." Kieran murmured. "But I will be back." He hurried up the stairs after Sarah, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her into her bedroom as she giggled.

Gwen smiled to herself as she heard Kieran and Sarah's voices mingled together. She couldn't believe how perfectly everything was turning out. There had been so many times throughout the past few years that she never believed she'd be truly content, that she would never feel loved, or special, or wanted...that she would never feel at peace with herself. But now...it was all coming together, and even if it sounded like something that Theresa would say, she did believe it was Divine Intervention. How else could all of the pieces come together the way they had.

As she mused over this, Kieran's voice soared down the staircase.

Is tusa mo rún, mo rún, mo rún
Is tusa mo rún is mo ghrá gheal
You are my delight and my comfort tonight
And I'd wrap you up tight in my arms

He was singing now, as he did for the girls every night. That was one of the things that Gwen had been pleasantly surprised to discover about him as they had fallen in love over the past year, that Kieran had a wonderful singing voice. She believed that if he'd really wanted to, he could have easily become a professional singer, but he had no interest in it. Instead, he used his gift to sing old Irish ballads, as he'd done for Sarah since she was a baby. It was one of the few good memories the child had from her time in Moreau Manor, and Gwen thanked God every night that Kieran had been there for her daughter when she could not be.

Suddenly, she found herself pulled back into her husband's arms. He'd come down the stairs while she was deep in thought, and now he swung her around, and then pulled her back to him, and they were dancing around the room as he continued singing.

Nine nights I have lain in sorrow and pain
Beneath your window love under the rain
Thinking of you my love once again
That some whisper or thought might awaken you

As they moved across the room, the moon rose higher and higher in the night sky, sending its silvery glow into the room and lighting up the two with an incandescent glow.

And that same glow was shining on the mountain tops, and peeking shyly into the window where Ethan and Theresa stood, melted together, their arms wrapped around each other, kissing as if they'd never stop.

Perhaps, for all four of them, tomorrow and all its brethren might bring sorrow, or confusion, or anger, but for now all they had and all they felt was love, and it was enough to make a memory that would indeed last forever.

TBC
Coming soon

Theresa and Ethan share more tender moments, but an argument could wreck everything.
Ethan is shocked by what Theresa finds in her bedroom.

A/N

The song Kieran is singing is called Mo Paistinn Fionn and it's a beautiful Irish song. My favorite version is by Niamh Parsons and I think it's on iTunes...definitely worth a listen.