Ch 5
Theresa rubbed her neck hours later. She was in the waiting room of the clinic. "Oh I feel like I could sleep for a year. What time is it?"
Sheridan checked her watch. "4:15."
"In the morning?"
"Yep."
"How are things around here?"
"Less crowded then they were an hour ago. Doc is just finishing some suturing and then we can go home."
Theresa sighed contentedly, just before she remembered who was waiting at home for them.
"Oh, crap," she said emphatically.
"What?" Sheridan asked.
"I just remembered some unfinished business at the club."
"You mean your brothers, Kay's dad, and Ethan?"
"You knew?" She did a double take.
"They came down here to help tonight."
"Which ones?"
"Sam and Miguel. I think Ethan and Luis are still at the club."
"Her dad and Miguel? Kay's going to have a nervous breakdown."
"Let's just say your sister should probably lock her door tonight."
"I'd laugh if I weren't so tired. I hope Poe saved us some food. I feel like I could eat an entire ham."
"Half her party left with us. There will be leftovers."
"The guys at the firehouse would probably appreciate me bringing them some." Theresa meditated. "But we'll see."
"Why don't you go see if Toni's ready to go? As soon as we can lock up, Kay and I are leaving. We'll see you at home."
"Sounds good," Theresa hugged Sheridan. "Don't let Sam and Miguel corner her okay?"
"Oh, she's holding her own." Sheridan smiled. "She's stronger than you think." She tried to send a message to her sister-in-law.
"I know," Theresa said. "See you at home. I wonder if Poe's still awake."
"Probably."
Theresa smiled before she left.
HR
Ethan looked at the clock again. "It's four-thirty in the morning. Where is she?"
"Relax." Paloma said. "This isn't unusual. But if you wake the kids there'll be hell to pay." She looked back at Hank. "Help me." She mouthed.
He rubbed her shoulder. "Ethan, sit down."
"I don't want to sit down," he spat at him.
"Luis?"
"I am sitting."
"No, I mean," Hank motioned to Ethan.
"Oh. Ethan, you need to calm down," Luis said. "Sit down and relax."
"iYou're/i telling ime/i to relax? That's an interesting role reversal." Ethan finally sat. He slumped forward, and rested his head in his hands. "I just can't believe she chose to do this to me, you know? I always knew she left, but I sort of thought--I don't know what I thought but she just stole those years of my life. And she's not even sorry. She doesn't even care that my daughter and son wouldn't even recognize me if they saw me on the street."
Ethan had an unusual relationship with Rosemary. Since Gwen's institutionalization, he's been her primary caregiver. He hadn't often left her alone. She was the most important person in his life. Finding out that he had another daughter had shaken him profoundly. He had always known it abstractly, but concrete reality and abstractions are quite different in their impact.
"Oh no you don't," Paloma said, shaking her head. "You do not get to play 'Poor little me' in this scenario. You are the one who called her a liar and told her that you didn't believe that Ethan was your son and that she was pregnant. You made your mistake and that mistake is the reason Emma doesn't know who you are. You blew Theresa off, not the other way around. You wanna hate someone Ethan? Start with yourself."
He sat up. "You didn't even try to tell her to give me ten minutes to deal with the idea. Imagine the situation, if you will. I married a woman I didn't really love, but respected because she was pregnant. Then the girl I did love comes to me saying she's in the same spot, but it's too late. I overreacted, and trust me, I've beat myself up for it. I don't need you to do it for me."
"She needed to get away from you and Julian and Ivy and Rebecca and Gwen and all the hate you had for her." Paloma said fiercely. "And I would never stop anyone from escaping that--"
Hank slipped an arm around her, and hushed her gently. Luis noticed it with some surprise. A moment of disquiet was replaced by profound relief. Hank hadn't broken Luis's faith for Theresa's whim. He'd had a reason, and if the look on Luis's baby sister's face was any indication, it was probably a decent one. And even though he had never known Paloma's husband, Luis thought he saw some of his sister's own issues reflected in the desire to help their sister escape.
"Arguing like this isn't getting us anything but pissed off," Hank said after a few moments of silence. "Anyone want something to drink?"
"Wine, please," Kay said as she came in followed by Sheridan, Miguel, and Sam. She flopped into her favorite chair and immediately positioned herself so that her legs hung over the side. "And is there any food?"
"What she said," Sheridan said, choosing to stretch out on the couch.
"I have it ready, just let me heat it up for you." Paloma said. "Wait here."
"What are they doing in here?" Theresa demanded. "They have a hotel."
"Nice to see you, too, Theresa," Luis said as he got up and gave her a hug. "You look like hell."
"Always were a flatterer," Sheridan murmured. "How much do we owe you Paloma? For the sitter I mean."
She waved her hand. "Nothing."
"Oh, we owe you." Kay said, allowing a poisonous sweetness to fill her tone.
"Kill her in the kitchen, will ya? We just bought this carpet," Theresa said, as she fell into a chair.
"You just stay here and talk. I'll get something together." Paloma escaped.
Hank held up a hand at Kay. "You're dead on your feet. I'll help her."
Kay subsided, pouting.
HR
"What is all this?" Hank looked around the kitchen in disbelief.
"My mother-in-law taught me how to pull together a sit down dinner at four in the morning with ten minutes advance warning."
"You know Ethan wasn't Him."
"I know. Turn on the microwave for me?"
"You almost lost it in there."
"Yeah. Thanks." She looked at him. "I didn't want to go off on him, but he acts like he's a victim here."
"They're both victims of circumstance."
"Ethan started the creation of those circumstances when he told Theresa he didn't believe her. I know he's your nephew, but if you start defending him right now, I just may have to scream."
"Enough said. I won't defend him."
"Thank you," Paloma looked grateful. "Set the table," she handed him some plates.
HR
Theresa had her eyes closed and her arms folded across her stomach.
Kay was curled up into a ball and she too had her eyes closed.
Sheridan had her forearm resting on her forehead and she was staring at the ceiling.
The only thing the women had in common was the fact that they were ignoring the four men in the room.
The only thing the men had in common was a desperate uncertainty about how to begin.
Ethan tried first, "Theresa?"
"Ethan, I am tired, hungry, and in desperate need of a shower. When I have those three things taken care of, we can talk. Until then, shush."
"Forgive me if your comfort is not utmost in my mind." He said sarcastically. "At your convenience of course."
"Oh shut up Ethan," Sheridan said. "You didn't just spend the last six hours pulling people from wreckage that up until a little while ago was a building."
"Leave him alone. You've spent the last five years with your child." Miguel said pointedly.
"Leave her alone, Miguel," Kay snapped. "My child was staying with me and I did what I had to do to make sure that happened."
"Children," Sam said, "are sleeping. You don't want to wake them up. So who left who and who hurt who worse can wait for the morning. Because I can guarantee that every person in this room has been hurt by the actions of other people in this room."
"Dinner," Hank said poking his head in. "Who's hungry?"
HR
Theresa dried her hair after her shower. She just wanted to fall into bed.
"Theresa, it's Poe. Can I come in?"
"Yeah sure."
"Thanks," she entered and shut the door behind her. "We're doubling up tonight."
"I thought they left."
"Hank convinced me to let them stay the night and get some sleep. Sam and Miguel worked just as hard as you, Sheridan, and Kay did tonight."
"I know. Okay, climb in."
"Are you okay?" Paloma asked her sister.
"I'm tired and I'm achy and I just want to go to sleep."
"I'll get up with the kids tomorrow. Sleep as late as you want."
"How do you do that?" Theresa yawned.
"What?"
"You have this internal alarm clock. You never oversleep. It's really annoying."
"I know," Paloma smiled. "Go to sleep. Everything will still be there in the morning."
"Gee, that's encouraging."
The sisters laughed.
HR
Miguel seethed in the room he shared with his brother. "Did you see them, Luis? Acting like we were the ones who--who--they took away my daughter, three nephews, and niece, not to mention two sisters and best friend and in- law and they acted like I was evil."
"You asked Kay to let you and Charity raise Olivia. If I were Kay, I'd have clocked you."
"I didn't--well, okay I did say it. I wasn't thinking. And, yeah, she should've clocked me, not run away from home."
"You know she and Grace weren't on the best of terms back then. She probably thought that she'd take your side with Charity and try to convince her that you and Charity would do a better job of raising the baby then she could."
"I have thought of all this, thank you, Luis. You're supposed to be on my side here."
"I'm on my side. If getting in good with the girls gets Sheridan to talk to me then so be it."
"You're my brother!"
"Always. But I want another shot with Sheridan."
"She'll shoot you all right." Miguel said. "I'm not the only one in hot water here."
"What did I do?"
"Marry Beth, have a daughter, little things like that."
"She left," Luis protested. "She also married and had Antonio's baby."
"Not feeling so reasonable after all, are we?"
"Look, I get Kay. I get Theresa. I even get Sheridan." Luis admitted. "I don't understand why Paloma went with them. She hadn't seen any of us for years, and she just followed Theresa across the country?"
"I'm just glad they let us stay tonight." Miguel rambled. "I'll get to see her in the morning. Luis, how did you feel the first time you saw Chloe? What's it going to be like?"
"Scary," Luis said simply.
"Scary?"
"Yes. You have this whole other person you're responsible for. It's a scary thought. You have to make sure they grow up right, that they don't get into trouble, and that they're taught right from wrong."
"She's four years old. I already missed so much."
"There's still a lot more. You just have to hope that Kay's calmed down a little."
"Kay holds grudges better than anyone I've ever met." Miguel said, becoming depressed at the thought.
"Exactly. Good luck and good night."
"Night."
HR
"Kay? You awake?"
"Yeah," the brunette sighed. "You can't sleep either?"
"No," Sheridan admitted.
"What is it about the Lopez-Fitzgerald boys?" Kay whispered. "They screw with your head and your heart and you let them and you love them."
"And it never goes away," Sheridan said. "I think we should kill 'em."
"Think Theresa and Paloma would mind?"
"I think they'd not only understand, I think they'd help us hide the bodies."
"Yeah but what about my brother and Dad?"
"Theresa would take out Ethan." Sheridan frowned. "But none of us have anything against your dad, so maybe we need to rethink this."
"Truth be told, I was glad to see him tonight," Kay smiled. "Ethan reminds me a lot of him sometimes."
Sheridan laughed a little. "Ethan does have that moral air doesn't he?"
Kay nodded. "At least one of them does. I don't know what we'd do with five Emmas."
"Lord, I hope we never find out." Sheridan sighed. "I sometimes wonder if Luis were like that as a kid."
"I hope Livvie's not like I was as a kid. Especially during my teenage years. I worry about her and Emma being the same age sometimes. I just hope they don't fall for the same boy."
"Nah. I can tell even now that they'd never go for the same guy."
"It's just that I see them sometimes, and they're best friends, and I want them to have that forever."
"They will," Sheridan said. "It's not like you and Charity. They're growing up together. They'll be in school together."
"At least they aren't Jess and me."
"God help us all," Sheridan said. "Ow!" she pouted when Kay smacked her arm.
"Baby," Kay teased.
HR
"What would you do?" Ethan asked his father.
Sam shook his head. "I wouldn't have let her go. Ethan, you have to believe that if I knew about you I would've been there. You are my son, and I wish I had been a part of your childhood. And I know it's important for you to be there while Emma and Ethan and Rosemary grow up."
"I have the memory of Ethan Martin being born. I delivered him. I was there when Gwen had Rosemary. I don't have that with Emma. I have no connection with her at all. I hate that."
Sam nodded. "To build a connection with her, you have to start with her mother."
"How? She won't talk to me, unless she's blaming me for something."
"I don't want you to think I'm taking Theresa's side, cause I'm not, but she does have a point. You did turn your back on her."
"For ten minutes." Ethan admitted. "Then I went to look for her, and she was with Sheridan, and I figured it was a good thing for Sheridan to have someone to talk with. So I waited. And then she was gone. And it's been five years, and she's had her issues, and to be honest I've had mine."
"When did you last visit Gwen? You don't talk about it much."
"She's mostly catatonic. I visit, I tell her about Rosemary. I leave new pictures every time. I don't know how to reach her. I'm not the person she thought I was. I'm not the one she loves."
"Just keep trying with Theresa. She's the one you want. Don't give up."
"If you knew about me, would you have fought for Ivy?"
"Probably."
"Do you wish you had?"
Sam nodded. "Some days more than others. I'm grateful that I have Grace, and Noah, and Jessica, and Kay. But I wish more than I can tell you that I had had a hand in your life earlier."
"Me too," Ethan nodded. "If you had maybe I'd have always been with Theresa."
"That's quite possible," Sam said.
"Speaking of, I better get some sleep so we're on level ground in the morning."
"There is no level ground. Women always have the upper hand." Sam warned.
"I'll try and remember that," Ethan nodded.
Theresa rubbed her neck hours later. She was in the waiting room of the clinic. "Oh I feel like I could sleep for a year. What time is it?"
Sheridan checked her watch. "4:15."
"In the morning?"
"Yep."
"How are things around here?"
"Less crowded then they were an hour ago. Doc is just finishing some suturing and then we can go home."
Theresa sighed contentedly, just before she remembered who was waiting at home for them.
"Oh, crap," she said emphatically.
"What?" Sheridan asked.
"I just remembered some unfinished business at the club."
"You mean your brothers, Kay's dad, and Ethan?"
"You knew?" She did a double take.
"They came down here to help tonight."
"Which ones?"
"Sam and Miguel. I think Ethan and Luis are still at the club."
"Her dad and Miguel? Kay's going to have a nervous breakdown."
"Let's just say your sister should probably lock her door tonight."
"I'd laugh if I weren't so tired. I hope Poe saved us some food. I feel like I could eat an entire ham."
"Half her party left with us. There will be leftovers."
"The guys at the firehouse would probably appreciate me bringing them some." Theresa meditated. "But we'll see."
"Why don't you go see if Toni's ready to go? As soon as we can lock up, Kay and I are leaving. We'll see you at home."
"Sounds good," Theresa hugged Sheridan. "Don't let Sam and Miguel corner her okay?"
"Oh, she's holding her own." Sheridan smiled. "She's stronger than you think." She tried to send a message to her sister-in-law.
"I know," Theresa said. "See you at home. I wonder if Poe's still awake."
"Probably."
Theresa smiled before she left.
HR
Ethan looked at the clock again. "It's four-thirty in the morning. Where is she?"
"Relax." Paloma said. "This isn't unusual. But if you wake the kids there'll be hell to pay." She looked back at Hank. "Help me." She mouthed.
He rubbed her shoulder. "Ethan, sit down."
"I don't want to sit down," he spat at him.
"Luis?"
"I am sitting."
"No, I mean," Hank motioned to Ethan.
"Oh. Ethan, you need to calm down," Luis said. "Sit down and relax."
"iYou're/i telling ime/i to relax? That's an interesting role reversal." Ethan finally sat. He slumped forward, and rested his head in his hands. "I just can't believe she chose to do this to me, you know? I always knew she left, but I sort of thought--I don't know what I thought but she just stole those years of my life. And she's not even sorry. She doesn't even care that my daughter and son wouldn't even recognize me if they saw me on the street."
Ethan had an unusual relationship with Rosemary. Since Gwen's institutionalization, he's been her primary caregiver. He hadn't often left her alone. She was the most important person in his life. Finding out that he had another daughter had shaken him profoundly. He had always known it abstractly, but concrete reality and abstractions are quite different in their impact.
"Oh no you don't," Paloma said, shaking her head. "You do not get to play 'Poor little me' in this scenario. You are the one who called her a liar and told her that you didn't believe that Ethan was your son and that she was pregnant. You made your mistake and that mistake is the reason Emma doesn't know who you are. You blew Theresa off, not the other way around. You wanna hate someone Ethan? Start with yourself."
He sat up. "You didn't even try to tell her to give me ten minutes to deal with the idea. Imagine the situation, if you will. I married a woman I didn't really love, but respected because she was pregnant. Then the girl I did love comes to me saying she's in the same spot, but it's too late. I overreacted, and trust me, I've beat myself up for it. I don't need you to do it for me."
"She needed to get away from you and Julian and Ivy and Rebecca and Gwen and all the hate you had for her." Paloma said fiercely. "And I would never stop anyone from escaping that--"
Hank slipped an arm around her, and hushed her gently. Luis noticed it with some surprise. A moment of disquiet was replaced by profound relief. Hank hadn't broken Luis's faith for Theresa's whim. He'd had a reason, and if the look on Luis's baby sister's face was any indication, it was probably a decent one. And even though he had never known Paloma's husband, Luis thought he saw some of his sister's own issues reflected in the desire to help their sister escape.
"Arguing like this isn't getting us anything but pissed off," Hank said after a few moments of silence. "Anyone want something to drink?"
"Wine, please," Kay said as she came in followed by Sheridan, Miguel, and Sam. She flopped into her favorite chair and immediately positioned herself so that her legs hung over the side. "And is there any food?"
"What she said," Sheridan said, choosing to stretch out on the couch.
"I have it ready, just let me heat it up for you." Paloma said. "Wait here."
"What are they doing in here?" Theresa demanded. "They have a hotel."
"Nice to see you, too, Theresa," Luis said as he got up and gave her a hug. "You look like hell."
"Always were a flatterer," Sheridan murmured. "How much do we owe you Paloma? For the sitter I mean."
She waved her hand. "Nothing."
"Oh, we owe you." Kay said, allowing a poisonous sweetness to fill her tone.
"Kill her in the kitchen, will ya? We just bought this carpet," Theresa said, as she fell into a chair.
"You just stay here and talk. I'll get something together." Paloma escaped.
Hank held up a hand at Kay. "You're dead on your feet. I'll help her."
Kay subsided, pouting.
HR
"What is all this?" Hank looked around the kitchen in disbelief.
"My mother-in-law taught me how to pull together a sit down dinner at four in the morning with ten minutes advance warning."
"You know Ethan wasn't Him."
"I know. Turn on the microwave for me?"
"You almost lost it in there."
"Yeah. Thanks." She looked at him. "I didn't want to go off on him, but he acts like he's a victim here."
"They're both victims of circumstance."
"Ethan started the creation of those circumstances when he told Theresa he didn't believe her. I know he's your nephew, but if you start defending him right now, I just may have to scream."
"Enough said. I won't defend him."
"Thank you," Paloma looked grateful. "Set the table," she handed him some plates.
HR
Theresa had her eyes closed and her arms folded across her stomach.
Kay was curled up into a ball and she too had her eyes closed.
Sheridan had her forearm resting on her forehead and she was staring at the ceiling.
The only thing the women had in common was the fact that they were ignoring the four men in the room.
The only thing the men had in common was a desperate uncertainty about how to begin.
Ethan tried first, "Theresa?"
"Ethan, I am tired, hungry, and in desperate need of a shower. When I have those three things taken care of, we can talk. Until then, shush."
"Forgive me if your comfort is not utmost in my mind." He said sarcastically. "At your convenience of course."
"Oh shut up Ethan," Sheridan said. "You didn't just spend the last six hours pulling people from wreckage that up until a little while ago was a building."
"Leave him alone. You've spent the last five years with your child." Miguel said pointedly.
"Leave her alone, Miguel," Kay snapped. "My child was staying with me and I did what I had to do to make sure that happened."
"Children," Sam said, "are sleeping. You don't want to wake them up. So who left who and who hurt who worse can wait for the morning. Because I can guarantee that every person in this room has been hurt by the actions of other people in this room."
"Dinner," Hank said poking his head in. "Who's hungry?"
HR
Theresa dried her hair after her shower. She just wanted to fall into bed.
"Theresa, it's Poe. Can I come in?"
"Yeah sure."
"Thanks," she entered and shut the door behind her. "We're doubling up tonight."
"I thought they left."
"Hank convinced me to let them stay the night and get some sleep. Sam and Miguel worked just as hard as you, Sheridan, and Kay did tonight."
"I know. Okay, climb in."
"Are you okay?" Paloma asked her sister.
"I'm tired and I'm achy and I just want to go to sleep."
"I'll get up with the kids tomorrow. Sleep as late as you want."
"How do you do that?" Theresa yawned.
"What?"
"You have this internal alarm clock. You never oversleep. It's really annoying."
"I know," Paloma smiled. "Go to sleep. Everything will still be there in the morning."
"Gee, that's encouraging."
The sisters laughed.
HR
Miguel seethed in the room he shared with his brother. "Did you see them, Luis? Acting like we were the ones who--who--they took away my daughter, three nephews, and niece, not to mention two sisters and best friend and in- law and they acted like I was evil."
"You asked Kay to let you and Charity raise Olivia. If I were Kay, I'd have clocked you."
"I didn't--well, okay I did say it. I wasn't thinking. And, yeah, she should've clocked me, not run away from home."
"You know she and Grace weren't on the best of terms back then. She probably thought that she'd take your side with Charity and try to convince her that you and Charity would do a better job of raising the baby then she could."
"I have thought of all this, thank you, Luis. You're supposed to be on my side here."
"I'm on my side. If getting in good with the girls gets Sheridan to talk to me then so be it."
"You're my brother!"
"Always. But I want another shot with Sheridan."
"She'll shoot you all right." Miguel said. "I'm not the only one in hot water here."
"What did I do?"
"Marry Beth, have a daughter, little things like that."
"She left," Luis protested. "She also married and had Antonio's baby."
"Not feeling so reasonable after all, are we?"
"Look, I get Kay. I get Theresa. I even get Sheridan." Luis admitted. "I don't understand why Paloma went with them. She hadn't seen any of us for years, and she just followed Theresa across the country?"
"I'm just glad they let us stay tonight." Miguel rambled. "I'll get to see her in the morning. Luis, how did you feel the first time you saw Chloe? What's it going to be like?"
"Scary," Luis said simply.
"Scary?"
"Yes. You have this whole other person you're responsible for. It's a scary thought. You have to make sure they grow up right, that they don't get into trouble, and that they're taught right from wrong."
"She's four years old. I already missed so much."
"There's still a lot more. You just have to hope that Kay's calmed down a little."
"Kay holds grudges better than anyone I've ever met." Miguel said, becoming depressed at the thought.
"Exactly. Good luck and good night."
"Night."
HR
"Kay? You awake?"
"Yeah," the brunette sighed. "You can't sleep either?"
"No," Sheridan admitted.
"What is it about the Lopez-Fitzgerald boys?" Kay whispered. "They screw with your head and your heart and you let them and you love them."
"And it never goes away," Sheridan said. "I think we should kill 'em."
"Think Theresa and Paloma would mind?"
"I think they'd not only understand, I think they'd help us hide the bodies."
"Yeah but what about my brother and Dad?"
"Theresa would take out Ethan." Sheridan frowned. "But none of us have anything against your dad, so maybe we need to rethink this."
"Truth be told, I was glad to see him tonight," Kay smiled. "Ethan reminds me a lot of him sometimes."
Sheridan laughed a little. "Ethan does have that moral air doesn't he?"
Kay nodded. "At least one of them does. I don't know what we'd do with five Emmas."
"Lord, I hope we never find out." Sheridan sighed. "I sometimes wonder if Luis were like that as a kid."
"I hope Livvie's not like I was as a kid. Especially during my teenage years. I worry about her and Emma being the same age sometimes. I just hope they don't fall for the same boy."
"Nah. I can tell even now that they'd never go for the same guy."
"It's just that I see them sometimes, and they're best friends, and I want them to have that forever."
"They will," Sheridan said. "It's not like you and Charity. They're growing up together. They'll be in school together."
"At least they aren't Jess and me."
"God help us all," Sheridan said. "Ow!" she pouted when Kay smacked her arm.
"Baby," Kay teased.
HR
"What would you do?" Ethan asked his father.
Sam shook his head. "I wouldn't have let her go. Ethan, you have to believe that if I knew about you I would've been there. You are my son, and I wish I had been a part of your childhood. And I know it's important for you to be there while Emma and Ethan and Rosemary grow up."
"I have the memory of Ethan Martin being born. I delivered him. I was there when Gwen had Rosemary. I don't have that with Emma. I have no connection with her at all. I hate that."
Sam nodded. "To build a connection with her, you have to start with her mother."
"How? She won't talk to me, unless she's blaming me for something."
"I don't want you to think I'm taking Theresa's side, cause I'm not, but she does have a point. You did turn your back on her."
"For ten minutes." Ethan admitted. "Then I went to look for her, and she was with Sheridan, and I figured it was a good thing for Sheridan to have someone to talk with. So I waited. And then she was gone. And it's been five years, and she's had her issues, and to be honest I've had mine."
"When did you last visit Gwen? You don't talk about it much."
"She's mostly catatonic. I visit, I tell her about Rosemary. I leave new pictures every time. I don't know how to reach her. I'm not the person she thought I was. I'm not the one she loves."
"Just keep trying with Theresa. She's the one you want. Don't give up."
"If you knew about me, would you have fought for Ivy?"
"Probably."
"Do you wish you had?"
Sam nodded. "Some days more than others. I'm grateful that I have Grace, and Noah, and Jessica, and Kay. But I wish more than I can tell you that I had had a hand in your life earlier."
"Me too," Ethan nodded. "If you had maybe I'd have always been with Theresa."
"That's quite possible," Sam said.
"Speaking of, I better get some sleep so we're on level ground in the morning."
"There is no level ground. Women always have the upper hand." Sam warned.
"I'll try and remember that," Ethan nodded.