"One, two, three, four, five, six, and SEVEN!"
Paloma made her way down the Crane hallway with Little Ethan in her arms and counted as she passed each door.
"Well, this is it." She sighed as turned the knob.
Paloma walked into her sister's room and placed Little Ethan on the changing table beside the bed. She searched around and found all that she needed to change the baby's diaper. When the deed was done, she lifted her little nephew and looked into his bright brown eyes. Little Ethan reached out and grabbed a chunk of Paloma's dark hair into this chubby hand and pulled.
"Ouch," She grimaced. "you sure do have a grip, don't you little man?"
The baby cooed in response and smiled at the look on his aunt's face. Paloma picked him up from his table and walked toward the door, as she laid her hand on it she was greeted by Phyllis, who had her hand just inches away from the door's surface, ready to knock.
"Oh, hello, Phyllis." Paloma smiled, took her nephew's hand in her own and made him wave to her. "Say hello little man."
"Hey, you." Phyllis bent so that she was eye-level with the baby. "Look what I have here, it's your bottle."
"Oh, is it time for him to eat?" Paloma asked as Phyllis walked into the room.
"Yes, Miss." Phyllis smiled.
"Please, call me Paloma." She nodded. "And, please, let me do the feeding."
"But, Miss" Phyllis objected, "uh, Paloma, it's my job."
"Well, then" Paloma sighed. "Think of it as time off. Really, Phyllis, I'd like to do it. I'm sure my sister won't mind. Why don't you just go and have a cup of coffee and put your feet up and let me have the honor of feeding my nephew."
Paloma smiled at the older woman. She remembered her from when she was a child. Phyllis and her mama were the only two Crane housekeeping employees that had enough guts to stay for more than fifteen years. Paloma looked into Phyllis' eyes and saw that she had had a rough life. It most likely wasn't much different from Pilar's life. A life of servanthood, but Paloma always held those who chose this line of work in high respect. It takes a person of character and humility to be able to have a job like this, and it could only be a person with a heart of gold that would take a job like the one Phyllis had.
"Are you sure?" Phyllis asked the younger woman.
"I'm positive." Paloma nodded.
"I want to thank you."
"Please, don't." She shrugged. "Now, just leave me the bottle and you can go and take a break."
Phyllis handed Paloma the baby bottle and took a deep breath as she walked out of Theresa's room. She was so glad to see that Pilar's daughter's had grown into decent women. In all her years, she never heard a respectable comment directed at the house help from a Crane, until Theresa came to live in the mansion, and Phyllis was more than glad to help the young girl out, it gave her true purpose in her job, and to see Theresa's younger sister display the same kindness, filled her heart.
************************************************************************
"Alright," Paloma took her nephew in her arms and sat down in the rocking chair beside his crib. She took the bottle in her hands, and looked down at Little Ethan, "you'll have to bear with me on this one, little man. I haven't had to do this yet, so if I'm doing anything wrong just make a gurgling noise or something to let me know. Deal?"
Little Ethan smiled at his aunt's words.
After he had finished his bottle, Paloma rocked her nephew in her arms as his eyes began to fall. He let out a small yawn before wrapping his hand around his aunt's finger. As she rocked him to sleep, she sang a soft lullaby.
************************************************************************
Nicholas Foxworth Crane crept down the hallway in the mansion toward his "stepmommy's" bedroom. This delightful detour came the moment he heard voices coming from the room. He stopped just before turning the corner and watched as Phyllis, the crane maid, walked from the room with a huge smile on her face and mumbling something of how glad she was that Pilar's daughter had turned out so wonderfully. He continued his stroll down the hallway and paused as he heard a soft song escaping through the crack in Theresa's bedroom door.
He rested his hand against the door for a moment before pushing it open to reveal a dark-haired girl rocking back and forth with Little Ethan in her arms. Fox leaned himself against the doorway and indulged himself in the sight of this couple and the sounds coming from the woman's lips. His blue eyes lit up as she finished her song, and he moved from his position in the doorway, toward the rocking chair.
"Well, well, stepmommy." Fox smiled and laid a hand on the back of the chair to stop its movement. "I didn't know you had such a glorious voice." Paloma turned her head toward the man and looked into his eyes. She stood from her seat and turned to face him.
"Stepmommy?"
"Oh," Fox's eyebrows jolted upward as the realization hit him that this woman looked an awful lot like Theresa from behind, but as his eyes met hers, he realized his mistake. "I'm so very sorry, I thought you were Theresa."
"Really?" Paloma walked toward Little Ethan's crib and set him down.
"Yes, this being her room and all." Fox laughed. "And that, being her son."
"Well, I'm sorry to have disappointed you."
"Oh, no don't be." Fox stepped forward and surveyed the girl. "You certainly didn't disappoint me at all. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nicholas Foxworth Crane. And you are possibly the most beautiful woman I've laid eyes on."
Fox took Paloma's hand in his own and brought it toward his lips. He kissed the top of her hand.
"Those lines may work on the naïve and well, stupid." Paloma laughed. "But, I know who you are. Nicky Crane."
Fox stood to his full height upon hearing the girl call him by that name. His eyes frantically searched her own and wondered who in the world this woman could be. But, that name, the name that sent him crawling back into his shell. He'd heard that name before, but not recently, not in the past few years.
Paloma smiled as she watched and waited as Fox tried to place her face. She knew that this boy must have forgotten her face, but Paloma knew from the moment she looked into those blue eyes, just who was standing before her. It was little Nicholas Crane. The boy that she had been "forced" to play with in her early years. Whenever she would accompany her mother to work, Pilar had taken her straight to the Crane playroom upstairs. And, each time she would enter, she would see those blue eyes stare at her from a corner of the room. These were the eyes of the boy that was responsible for the gum in her hair that would take Luis hours to get out when she got home. These were the eyes of the boy that would steal her doll from her grasp and run around the Crane grounds, ultimately burying the doll beneath a tree in the garden. These were the eyes of the mischievious little boy that would blame Paloma for EVERYTHING when Pilar would walk into the playroom and find the walls colored in marker, the bathroom sink overflowing, and the soil in planter by the window scattered all over the carpeted room. These were little Nicky Crane's eyes.
Fox sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he searched into his memory bank for this woman's face. He looked deeper into her eyes and he knew immediately who he had been speaking with.
"My, my, my," Fox's eyes danced as the memory finally hit him. "If it isn't Little Lo?"
" And, if it isn't Mr. Devious himself." Paloma quipped. "It sure is something to see you again, Nicky."
Fox grimaced at that nickname. How he had hated it when he was called that.
"It's Fox now." He simply stated.
"Fox? Really?" Paloma rolled her eyes at Nicholas' cheesy nickname, "Well, since were on the subject of name changes, it's just Paloma now."
"Oh, I'd rather stick to the name I remember you by," Fox grinned. The excitement from this banter with Paloma brought more memories of his childhood 'friendship' with the youngest Lopez-Fitzgerald. "Little Lo."
"Very well," Paloma ran a hand up Fox's arm, sending chills down his spine, but they were pushed aside when her hand reached his cheek with a hard pinch followed by a playful slap. "Nicky."
*A/N* Hope you guys liked this chapter. I've been seriously thinking about where to go with this "couple", and would love some input from you all.
SPOILERS for the NEXT chapter:
* Fox and Paloma don't start off on the greatest of terms.
* Noah meets his brother, Ethan.
* Ethan sees something in Theresa's eyes that he had not prepared himself for.
* The Lopez-Fitzgeralds bring Antonio back home after his stay in the hospital.
Paloma made her way down the Crane hallway with Little Ethan in her arms and counted as she passed each door.
"Well, this is it." She sighed as turned the knob.
Paloma walked into her sister's room and placed Little Ethan on the changing table beside the bed. She searched around and found all that she needed to change the baby's diaper. When the deed was done, she lifted her little nephew and looked into his bright brown eyes. Little Ethan reached out and grabbed a chunk of Paloma's dark hair into this chubby hand and pulled.
"Ouch," She grimaced. "you sure do have a grip, don't you little man?"
The baby cooed in response and smiled at the look on his aunt's face. Paloma picked him up from his table and walked toward the door, as she laid her hand on it she was greeted by Phyllis, who had her hand just inches away from the door's surface, ready to knock.
"Oh, hello, Phyllis." Paloma smiled, took her nephew's hand in her own and made him wave to her. "Say hello little man."
"Hey, you." Phyllis bent so that she was eye-level with the baby. "Look what I have here, it's your bottle."
"Oh, is it time for him to eat?" Paloma asked as Phyllis walked into the room.
"Yes, Miss." Phyllis smiled.
"Please, call me Paloma." She nodded. "And, please, let me do the feeding."
"But, Miss" Phyllis objected, "uh, Paloma, it's my job."
"Well, then" Paloma sighed. "Think of it as time off. Really, Phyllis, I'd like to do it. I'm sure my sister won't mind. Why don't you just go and have a cup of coffee and put your feet up and let me have the honor of feeding my nephew."
Paloma smiled at the older woman. She remembered her from when she was a child. Phyllis and her mama were the only two Crane housekeeping employees that had enough guts to stay for more than fifteen years. Paloma looked into Phyllis' eyes and saw that she had had a rough life. It most likely wasn't much different from Pilar's life. A life of servanthood, but Paloma always held those who chose this line of work in high respect. It takes a person of character and humility to be able to have a job like this, and it could only be a person with a heart of gold that would take a job like the one Phyllis had.
"Are you sure?" Phyllis asked the younger woman.
"I'm positive." Paloma nodded.
"I want to thank you."
"Please, don't." She shrugged. "Now, just leave me the bottle and you can go and take a break."
Phyllis handed Paloma the baby bottle and took a deep breath as she walked out of Theresa's room. She was so glad to see that Pilar's daughter's had grown into decent women. In all her years, she never heard a respectable comment directed at the house help from a Crane, until Theresa came to live in the mansion, and Phyllis was more than glad to help the young girl out, it gave her true purpose in her job, and to see Theresa's younger sister display the same kindness, filled her heart.
************************************************************************
"Alright," Paloma took her nephew in her arms and sat down in the rocking chair beside his crib. She took the bottle in her hands, and looked down at Little Ethan, "you'll have to bear with me on this one, little man. I haven't had to do this yet, so if I'm doing anything wrong just make a gurgling noise or something to let me know. Deal?"
Little Ethan smiled at his aunt's words.
After he had finished his bottle, Paloma rocked her nephew in her arms as his eyes began to fall. He let out a small yawn before wrapping his hand around his aunt's finger. As she rocked him to sleep, she sang a soft lullaby.
************************************************************************
Nicholas Foxworth Crane crept down the hallway in the mansion toward his "stepmommy's" bedroom. This delightful detour came the moment he heard voices coming from the room. He stopped just before turning the corner and watched as Phyllis, the crane maid, walked from the room with a huge smile on her face and mumbling something of how glad she was that Pilar's daughter had turned out so wonderfully. He continued his stroll down the hallway and paused as he heard a soft song escaping through the crack in Theresa's bedroom door.
He rested his hand against the door for a moment before pushing it open to reveal a dark-haired girl rocking back and forth with Little Ethan in her arms. Fox leaned himself against the doorway and indulged himself in the sight of this couple and the sounds coming from the woman's lips. His blue eyes lit up as she finished her song, and he moved from his position in the doorway, toward the rocking chair.
"Well, well, stepmommy." Fox smiled and laid a hand on the back of the chair to stop its movement. "I didn't know you had such a glorious voice." Paloma turned her head toward the man and looked into his eyes. She stood from her seat and turned to face him.
"Stepmommy?"
"Oh," Fox's eyebrows jolted upward as the realization hit him that this woman looked an awful lot like Theresa from behind, but as his eyes met hers, he realized his mistake. "I'm so very sorry, I thought you were Theresa."
"Really?" Paloma walked toward Little Ethan's crib and set him down.
"Yes, this being her room and all." Fox laughed. "And that, being her son."
"Well, I'm sorry to have disappointed you."
"Oh, no don't be." Fox stepped forward and surveyed the girl. "You certainly didn't disappoint me at all. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nicholas Foxworth Crane. And you are possibly the most beautiful woman I've laid eyes on."
Fox took Paloma's hand in his own and brought it toward his lips. He kissed the top of her hand.
"Those lines may work on the naïve and well, stupid." Paloma laughed. "But, I know who you are. Nicky Crane."
Fox stood to his full height upon hearing the girl call him by that name. His eyes frantically searched her own and wondered who in the world this woman could be. But, that name, the name that sent him crawling back into his shell. He'd heard that name before, but not recently, not in the past few years.
Paloma smiled as she watched and waited as Fox tried to place her face. She knew that this boy must have forgotten her face, but Paloma knew from the moment she looked into those blue eyes, just who was standing before her. It was little Nicholas Crane. The boy that she had been "forced" to play with in her early years. Whenever she would accompany her mother to work, Pilar had taken her straight to the Crane playroom upstairs. And, each time she would enter, she would see those blue eyes stare at her from a corner of the room. These were the eyes of the boy that was responsible for the gum in her hair that would take Luis hours to get out when she got home. These were the eyes of the boy that would steal her doll from her grasp and run around the Crane grounds, ultimately burying the doll beneath a tree in the garden. These were the eyes of the mischievious little boy that would blame Paloma for EVERYTHING when Pilar would walk into the playroom and find the walls colored in marker, the bathroom sink overflowing, and the soil in planter by the window scattered all over the carpeted room. These were little Nicky Crane's eyes.
Fox sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he searched into his memory bank for this woman's face. He looked deeper into her eyes and he knew immediately who he had been speaking with.
"My, my, my," Fox's eyes danced as the memory finally hit him. "If it isn't Little Lo?"
" And, if it isn't Mr. Devious himself." Paloma quipped. "It sure is something to see you again, Nicky."
Fox grimaced at that nickname. How he had hated it when he was called that.
"It's Fox now." He simply stated.
"Fox? Really?" Paloma rolled her eyes at Nicholas' cheesy nickname, "Well, since were on the subject of name changes, it's just Paloma now."
"Oh, I'd rather stick to the name I remember you by," Fox grinned. The excitement from this banter with Paloma brought more memories of his childhood 'friendship' with the youngest Lopez-Fitzgerald. "Little Lo."
"Very well," Paloma ran a hand up Fox's arm, sending chills down his spine, but they were pushed aside when her hand reached his cheek with a hard pinch followed by a playful slap. "Nicky."
*A/N* Hope you guys liked this chapter. I've been seriously thinking about where to go with this "couple", and would love some input from you all.
SPOILERS for the NEXT chapter:
* Fox and Paloma don't start off on the greatest of terms.
* Noah meets his brother, Ethan.
* Ethan sees something in Theresa's eyes that he had not prepared himself for.
* The Lopez-Fitzgeralds bring Antonio back home after his stay in the hospital.