Chapter 11
"Julian? As in my father Julian? Not possible, let me see the folder," Fox said reaching over and grabbing the folder from a shocked Charity.
"It can't be," Charity said to herself. "I mean Julian is a player. He cares about no one but himself and money, there's no way my mom would fall for him, right?" Charity said looking at Brady as if he held all the answers.
"I don't know baby, we'll figure everything out," Brady said trying to console her.
"No way," Theresa said also refusing to believe what she was reading with Fox. "Julian can't be your father. I mean you said that your mom always told you that she had no doubts that your father loved her; Julian isn't capable of loving anyone. I would know that," Theresa said bitterly.
"But here it is in black and white. Everything matches, blood types, DNA, everything. Damnit! Once again my father manages to ruin someone else's life!" Fox exclaimed, angry with Julian for abandoning Charity and embarrassed that he was actually his son.
"I can't be here right now," Charity said before quickly getting up and running upstairs barely containing her tears.
"Charity!" Brady and Fox exclaimed at the same time, both preparing to run after her until Theresa's voice stopped them.
"Leave her," she said softly but sternly. "She needs to be alone to think things through. Brady give her a little time before going up to check on her, Fox and I will come over tomorrow morning to talk to her," she said leaving no room for argument in her voice. Gathering her things, Theresa took Fox's hand and led him towards the door.
"Take care of her," Fox said before leaving Brady's house and heading to his car with Theresa.
After spending forty minutes cleaning his house, Brady finally decided that Charity had had enough time to think. Taking a deep breath, Brady entered his room and found Charity curled up in a ball staring off into space. From her eyes, you could tell that she had been crying for a long time. Walking over to her, Brady lied down on his bad and took her into his arms.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly rubbing her arms.
"Crappy," she replied tiredly. "All my life I wanted nothing more than to know who my father was. I finally find out who he is, only to realize that he is nothing but a self-centered bastard. He tricked one of my best friends into marriage just so that he could sleep with her, he's heartless, and he considers getting drunk a hobby. It just really.sucks," Charity said as she felt a fresh wave of tears invade her.
"Hey, it's okay," Brady said trying to stop Charity from crying. "I don't know Julian as well as you, Fox, and Resa do, but I do know that your mother said she loved your father and that he loved her. Don't you think that there's something good about him that caused her to fall in love with him?" he asked trying to give her hope.
Charity eyes brightened at what Brady had said but quickly faded after a few seconds. "My mom probably just said those things so that I wouldn't feel like my father never wanted me. For all I know, she could have told Julian about me and he could have sent her away without a backward glance," Charity said realizing that her mother could have been lying to her all her life.
"Wouldn't you like to know for sure though?" Brady asked.
"No! I don't want to tell Julian about me only to have him reject me. I've been fine without him for the past nineteen years, I'll continue to do fine without him," she said. Seeing that Brady was about to protest once again, Charity quickly tried to end the conversation. "Look I'm tired and I have a headache, can we not talk about this anymore,?" she asked hoping he would give up.
"Fine, I'll drop it for now, but don't think that we won't finish this conversation sometime soon," Brady said as he settled into his bed and slowly drifted to sleep with Charity in his arms.
Meanwhile.
Fox and Theresa had been driving for almost ten minutes and Fox still hadn't said a word to Theresa. When they reached their house, Fox entered and headed straight for the brandy resting on their table. Before he could even bring his class up to his lips, Theresa grabbed it from him and spilled it in a nearby bowl.
"What the hell was that for?" Fox asked clearly surprised.
"You are not Julian and I am not Julian's girlfriend, wife, or female 'friend,' therefore I will not sit by while you try to drown your pain and anger in alcohol. Is that clear?" Theresa said forcefully. At Fox's nod, Theresa continued speaking. "Now, we are going to go upstairs, change, and then sit and have a talk, like adults, about what you're feeling, understood?" she said before turning and heading upstairs not bothering to wait for Fox, knowing he would follow.
Once they were both changed and situated in bed, Theresa sat back against the headboard and waited for Fox, knowing he would talk when he was ready.
"My father is some piece of work isn't he?" Fox asked not really expecting an answer. "I mean it's not bad enough that he ignores and belittles my sisters and I or that he gets you drunk so that he could trick you into bed, but he has to go and abandon his own flesh and blood."
"Well that's Julian for you," Theresa said. "You can't change him and you shouldn't feel shame for the mistakes that he made. You two are completely different," Theresa said trying to make him see that he wasn't what he believed himself to be.
"But he's my father Theresa! I mean I tried so hard to convince myself that all of Julian's mistakes were based on his own stupidity, but now I find out that he manages to screw up when he doesn't even realize it. What if," Fox paused before trying again. "What if I turn out to be just like him? What if I end up ruining the lives of people all around me without even realizing it?"
"Don't! Don't you ever compare yourself to Julian!" Theresa exclaimed. "You are ten times the man Julian could ever be and I won't sit back and allow you to talk down on yourself! Yeah, so Julian may be your father, but that doesn't mean you're going to turn out like him. Julian is the way he is because he wants to be, not because it's some kind of Crane gene. And as long as you continue to stay the man that I know and love, you will never be like your father, okay?"
Fox looked into Theresa's eyes and saw that she meant every word that she said. All he could see was her love and faith in him shining through her eyes and it took his breath away. 'She really believes in me. I'll be damned if I let her down; I'll never be like my father,' he thought.
"Have I ever told you how much I loved you?" Fox asked taking Theresa in his arms and bringing her to lie on top of him.
"Yes, but you're welcome to tell me again," Theresa said with a smile on her face.
"I love you so much Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald."
"And I love you Nicolas Crane," Theresa said looking into his eyes. After a few minutes, Theresa asked what had been on her mind since finding out about Julian.
"So how do you think Charity's taking the news?" she asked.
'Charity,' Fox thought. 'My sister, God I have another sister.' "Probably not too well," Fox said responding to Theresa.
"I feel so sorry for her. She's waited all her life to find out who her father and now that she does, I bet she wishes she never knew," Theresa said.
"I know. God, Charity is such a good kid, now she has to live with the fact that she's one of the few unfortunate people that have to call Julian their father."
"How do you feel about the whole thing?" Theresa asked looking at Fox.
"I don't really know. I mean I already love Charity like a little sister, but to find out that she really is my sister after knowing her for over a year, it's just kind of a shock. I know this won't change my relationship with her, if anything we'll become closer, but it's still a little weird," Fox replied.
"I'm sure it is. But don't worry about it, you're a great older brother, I've already seen how close you are with Samantha and Victoria," Theresa said referring to Fox's sixteen and seventeen year old sisters. "Charity will be lucky to have you for an older brother."
"And I'm lucky to have you for a girlfriend," Fox said running his hands through Theresa's hair.
"Yes you are," Theresa replied with a smirk. "Now why don't you show me how lucky you are," she said suggestively.
"I think I will," Fox said be capturing her lips and proceeding to make love to her.
The Next Day.
As promised, Fox and Theresa arrived at Brady's mansion early the next morning.
"How is she?" Theresa asked as Brady led them into the living room.
"Not too good," Brady replied. "She wouldn't talk about it too much yesterday night and I couldn't get her to say much since she woke up, I was hoping you guys might be able to get her to talk about it."
"How about I go see her, and you can see her when I'm done," Theresa said looking at Fox.
"Sure, that's fine," Fox said before kissing Theresa on the lips and allowing Theresa to go see Charity.
Theresa walked into Brady's room to find Charity looking at the television screen but not actually paying attention to what she was watching.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Theresa asked coming over and sitting next to her.
"Okay, I guess," Charity replied. Seeing Theresa's skeptical look, she changed her answer. "Alright so maybe I'm feeling really sad and depressed right now but I'll be fine eventually," she said.
"I'm really sorry about all of this Charity. I know how much knowing your father meant to you, I wish I could make you feel better."
"Aw, don't worry about it. It's not your fault, it's nobody's fault. These things just happen I guess. I don't really want anyone's pity. I may be Julian's daughter, but I'm nothing like him. I care about people around me and I'd do anything to help anyone of my friends, knowing that helps me get through all of this," Charity replied.
"Definitely, you're absolutely nothing like Julian," Theresa said with a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Charity asked after hearing Theresa chuckle.
"Nothing, it's just now I'm realizing how you and Fox are alike in personality. I remember telling him the same exact words I just told you last night," Theresa replied.
"How is Fox doing?" Charity asked. After realizing that she wouldn't be getting any sleep any time soon last night, Charity started to think about how different her life was now that she knew her father's name. She had realized that now she and Fox were brother and sister and that thought managed to bring some joy to her mood. She already cared for him like a brother and knowing that she and he were blood related seemed to life her spirits. Her mood had also risen when she thought about the two sisters that she had gained. Charity had met Samantha and Victoria a few times when they came to visit Fox and had developed a good friendship with them automatically, but now knowing that they were her sisters made her look at them in a totally new way. Before going to sleep last night, Charity realized that she may have lost the high respect that she had for her unknown father, but she gained three wonderful siblings, and that alone made the whole ordeal worth it.
"He's fine," Theresa replied to Charity's question. "Granted, he wasn't doing to well yesterday when we first found out, but he was fine after I got him to talk about it. I think he's a little nervous about talking to you now. He won't admit it, but I think he's afraid that you might not accept him as your older brother," Theresa said with a smirk.
"Fox, nervous? I'd pay to see that," Charity said with a grin.
"Well how about I go get him so that you two can talk?" Theresa suggested.
"Sure, tell him to come up," Charity said becoming slightly nervous.
Theresa, seeing that Charity was becoming nervous, put her hand over Charity's. "It's just Fox, you know the same Fox that you call dorkbutt whenever he annoys you, that same Fox who always ruffles your hair just to piss you off, there's nothing to worry about," she said before hugging Charity and leaving the room.
As soon as Theresa went upstairs to see Charity, Brady led Fox to the couch so that they could talk.
"I think you should talk her into contacting Julian," Brady said before Fox even sat down.
"Are you crazy? No way am I letting Julian in her life just so he can ruin it more than he already has," Fox replied angry that Brady had even suggested such a thing.
"Look, I know that I don't know Julian very well, and after what he did to Theresa, I probably don't want to, but I do know that Charity has always wanted to get to know her father. Right now the only thing stopping her from talking to him is herself and the things that other people have told hr about him."
"They tell her those things so that she can stay away from him, not jump at the chance to call him," Fox said, still not agreeing with Brady.
"You're letting your feelings about Julian affect Charity's chance to know her father, it's not fair!" Brady said raising his voice a little.
"Damnit Brady, I know what kind of man my father is! Hell, the whole world knows what kind of man he is, and I'm not going to encourage Charity to get to know him when I know he'll just end up hurting her in the end. I won't do it," Fox said determinedly.
"Fine, ignore me. But go upstairs and talk and Charity when Theresa comes down. When you talk to her, tell me whether or not you see how much she really wants to talk to Julian because I can see it as plain as day, but then again that's just me," Brady said as Theresa descended the staircase.
"Charity said to come on up," Theresa told Fox cautiously noticing the tense looks on his and Brady's face. "Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, perfect," Fox replied before kissing her cheek and heading upstairs to see Charity.
"Guess who decided to grace you with his presence," Fox joked as he walked into Brady's room.
"I don't know, who?" Charity teased.
"Why me of course! Who else would it me?"
"Oh I don't know, how about somebody that matters," Charity joked.
"Ouch," Fox said with mock hurt as he grabbed his chest. "That really hurts C."
"I'm sure you'll get over it," Charity said before laughing with Fox over their miniature banter. It was the first time she'd laughed since last night.
"So how've you been," Fox asked once he stopped laughing.
"Fine, but I'll go crazy if one more person asks me that," Charity replied.
"Point taken," Fox replied. An awkward silence fell upon the two of them before Fox reached over and pulled Charity into a hug.
"Welcome to the family," he said. "We're as dysfunctional as they come, but it's always nice to have a new addition," he added trying to bring a light tone to their situation.
Charity laughed at what Fox said before hugging him back. When they pulled apart, Charity sat contemplating her thoughts before she finally asked what had been on her mind.
"Do you think that Julian did somehow love or maybe even care about my mom?" she asked.
Fox looked at Charity and could see the hope that she held in her eyes at what his response would be. 'Brady was right, she really does want to talk to Julian.' Seeing that Charity was still waiting for an answer, Fox thought of his words carefully.
"I really don't know Charity. I think it's up to you to find out. Why don't you contact him and find out," Fox suggested.
"No, I can't. Not after the way he treated you and the things he did to Resa. He's not someone I should want in my life," Charity replied with a touch of sadness.
'She's denying herself this opportunity because she feels she owes it to Resa and I. I can't let her pass this up.' Coming to a decision, Fox kissed Charity on the forehead and told her he'd come up to see again later before leaving the room and heading downstairs where Brady and Theresa were sitting.
"You were right," Fox said looking at Brady. "She really wants to talk to him to judge him for herself. I have no right to decide whether or not she should have him in her life."
"I'm glad you realized it," Brady said coming up to Fox. "So did you convince her to call him?"
"No, I tried, but she refused. She probably thinks she owes it to us to stay away from him," Fox replied. He turned to Theresa to see her reaction to all of this. "What do you think I should do?" he asked her.
Theresa stayed silent for a minute contemplating what to say. 'On one hand, Julian's nothing but an insensitive fool and doesn't deserve to have Charity in his life' she thought. 'But on the other hand, he's still the same person that's she's waited her whole life to talk to. I can't let her pass up this opportunity just because she's afraid of our reactions.' Coming to a decision, Theresa's responded to Fox.
"I think you should contact Julian and get him to come visit her," she said.
"Are you serious?" Fox asked surprised that Theresa of all people was suggesting that Julian come visit them.
"Yes," she said reluctantly. "I personally think that Julian is nothing but a bastard that doesn't deserve to live, but I think Charity should find that out on her own."
"If that's what you really think, then I'll go call Julian now," Fox said looking at Theresa and Brady one last time before heading to an empty room to call Julian.
Julian sat in the Crane living room listening to Rebecca and Ivy as they continued another one of the annoying arguments.
"Will you two just shut up!" he finally yelled out in frustration.
"How dare you!" Ivy said angered that Julian had the nerve to yell at her.
"Shut up Ivy. And don't you start either," Julian said as he saw Rebecca about to open her mouth. "You two are supposed to be grown women, yet you act like immature teenagers and I've had enough of the both of you!"
"Hey, don't talk to my mother like that!" Gwen said coming to her mother's defense.
"Gwen, you really don't want to get involved," Julian replied. "This has nothing to do with you so sit down and butt out." Gwen huffed, clearly offended, but sat down nonetheless.
"As I was saying, you two ladies are annoying the hell out of me and I've had enough! Now for some reason you people won't leave my house, and I've been pretty generous about the entire situation, but you're all pushing it! Gwen," Julian said turning to Gwen. "You and Ethan feel the need to yell at each other every night and disturb everyone in the mansion, and I'm sick of it. And you two," he said turning to Ivy and Rebecca. "For some reason, you two feel you must argue every ten minutes like crazy banshees and sometimes I swear you do it just to piss me off! All of this will stop now! I want you all to remember that you are guests in MY house, therefore you will refrain from aggravating me, is that clear?" Upon getting no reaction from the three women in the room, Julian repeated himself. "Is that clear!" he said raising his voice.
Rebecca, Ivy, and Gwen nodded their heads to show Julian that they understood. Julian took a deep breath before replying.
"Thank you, now excuse me while I go and relax in my library," he said before leaving the room. He heard Ivy call him a jackass but chose to ignore her as he continued to make his way to his library.
Upon reaching his library, Julian took a seat behind his desk and rested his head on the table. 'Finally, peace and quiet' Julian thought. Before her could enjoy the silence, he heard the shrill ring of his cell phone. Irritated, he reached over and answered his phone.
"Julian Crane," he said into the phone.
"Father? It's me, Fox," Fox said.
"Fox? Where the hell have you been?" Julian asked shocked to hear the voice of his son after over a year.
"I've been around," Fox replied. 'Not like you care' he thought. "Anyway this isn't a social call, I called for a specific reason." He said.
"What is it now? If you think I'm going to bail you out of some gambling debt, you're sadly mistaken," Julian said not liking where this conversation was going.
"I don't want your damn money," Fox said irritated that Julian always thought the worst of him. "Look, I want to know something - Faith Standish, does that name mean anything to you?" he asked.
Julian immediately tensed up at the mention of Faith's name. He was immediately caught up in a memory that occurred twenty years ago.
*Flashback*
Julian sat in the back of a bar watching Faith as she sang to an audience full of men. He could hear the whistling and catcalling that the men were making and he was quickly becoming angry. He tried his best to ignore them and looked back up at Faith as she finished singing her number and headed towards him.
"Ignore them," Faith said referring to the men that were still watching her.
"It's kind of hard when they're all looking at you like a piece of meat," Julian replied irritated.
"Well it doesn't matter, because I'm only looking at you," Faith replied before bringing Julian's lips to her and kissing him.
"God I love you Faith Standish," Julian said.
"And I love you Julian Crane," Faith replied.
*End Flashback*
Julian was brought out of his thoughts by Fox's voice repeating his question.
"Fa- Faith? How do you know her? Is she okay? Where is she?" Julian asked, eager to learn the whereabouts about his former lover.
"So you do know her?" Fox asked, surprised that Julian seemed to actually care about Faith.
"Yes I know her. The question is, how do you know her and where is she now?" Julian asked, becoming impatient.
"She's dead, Julian. She died over three years ago," Fox replied actually feeling sorry for Julian. It was becoming obvious that Julian did have strong feelings for Faith.
"Dead? No it can't be, she can't be dead!" Julian said refusing to believe Fox. 'You can't be dead Faith! We were supposed to get married and have children, you can't be gone!' Julian thought.
"I'm sorry but it's true Julian. Faith's death isn't why I'm calling though," Fox said trying to get to his real reason for the phone call.
"Then what is?" Julian said barely making the words out.
"Apparently, Faith had a daughter. When she died, her daughter moved to Harmony to live with Sam and Grace Bennett, her aunt and uncle. You may have heard of her, her name is Charity. Anyway Charity has always wanted to meet her father and last night, her boyfriend gave her a folder with information her on father," Fox said.
"That all good and nice, but would you mind telling me what Chief Bennett's niece has to do with me?" Julian asked not seeing Fox's point to calling him other than to deliver bad news.
"I'm getting there," Fox said, slightly annoyed that Julian interrupted him. "Anyway it appears that you are Charity's father. I'm not sure how that's possible or why her mother would willingly sleep with you, but it's the truth," Fox said as he waited for Julian's reaction.
"No, no that's not possible. Faith and I had no children together, don't you think I would have noticed?" Julian said shocked at the news that Fox had just delivered him.
"Look, I don't know how to explain it any better than you do, but I know that everything matches all the way down to your DNA," Fox replied. "According to Charity, Faith never told you about the pregnancy, and that could explain why you never knew."
'Oh my God, it's possible' Julian thought as he remembered going to Faith's house one day only to find that all her things were missing and that she had moved away without so much as a goodbye. 'She probably found out she was pregnant and moved away because she didn't know how I'd react. I have had a daughter with the love of my life for nineteen years and I never even knew she existed,' he thought. Realizing that he had been too quiet, Julian responded to Fox.
"Do you have any idea where Charity is now?" Julian asked hopefully.
"Yes, she's right here with me in California and for some reason she really wants to know you, though she'd never admit it," Fox replied.
"Really, she doesn't hate me?" Julian asked.
"I didn't say that, after all you did sleep with one of her best friends," Fox replied. "But I can tell that she wants to meet you and get to know you for herself. For that reason, I called to invite you to come visit her," Fox said unhappily.
"When can I come?" Julian asked already heading out of his office and into his room to pack.
"Whenever you want, but when you get here, you and I are going to have a talk before I let you anywhere near her okay?" Fox said with a bit of warning in his tone.
"Sure," Julian replied, a little shocked and scared of Fox's forceful tone. "Just give me the address and I'll be there as early as tomorrow morning," he replied. Fox gave Julian their address and informed him that a limo would be waiting at the airport to bring him to their house. As Julian was about to hang up, Fox's voice stopped him.
"Listen Julian, I think you're nothing but a screw up, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt by letting you come visit Charity. If you plan on walking out of her life or hurting her in anyway, don't both showing up," Fox said as he hung up without waiting for Julian's reply.
"How'd it go?" Theresa asked as she came up and put her arms around Fox.
"Okay I guess. Julian actually sounded like he cared about Faith, as hard as that is to believe," Fox replied.
"Well maybe Julian did care about her and maybe he does have a heart somewhere in there," Theresa said not even believing the words that were coming out of her mouth.
"We'll just have to wait till he comes here tomorrow to find out," Fox replied. A moment of silence rested upon them before Fox spoke again. "Do you think I did the right thing?" he asked her.
"I don't know, like you said we'll have just have to wait and see. But I think that as long as you did what you thought was best, it'll all be okay," Theresa said resting her head on his chest.
"Thanks, I really needed to hear that," Fox said lifting Theresa head so that she was looking at him.
"No problem," Theresa said before reaching up and kissing Fox.
TBC
Next Chapter - Julian arrives in California, how does everyone react?
As always, please feedback!!!
"Julian? As in my father Julian? Not possible, let me see the folder," Fox said reaching over and grabbing the folder from a shocked Charity.
"It can't be," Charity said to herself. "I mean Julian is a player. He cares about no one but himself and money, there's no way my mom would fall for him, right?" Charity said looking at Brady as if he held all the answers.
"I don't know baby, we'll figure everything out," Brady said trying to console her.
"No way," Theresa said also refusing to believe what she was reading with Fox. "Julian can't be your father. I mean you said that your mom always told you that she had no doubts that your father loved her; Julian isn't capable of loving anyone. I would know that," Theresa said bitterly.
"But here it is in black and white. Everything matches, blood types, DNA, everything. Damnit! Once again my father manages to ruin someone else's life!" Fox exclaimed, angry with Julian for abandoning Charity and embarrassed that he was actually his son.
"I can't be here right now," Charity said before quickly getting up and running upstairs barely containing her tears.
"Charity!" Brady and Fox exclaimed at the same time, both preparing to run after her until Theresa's voice stopped them.
"Leave her," she said softly but sternly. "She needs to be alone to think things through. Brady give her a little time before going up to check on her, Fox and I will come over tomorrow morning to talk to her," she said leaving no room for argument in her voice. Gathering her things, Theresa took Fox's hand and led him towards the door.
"Take care of her," Fox said before leaving Brady's house and heading to his car with Theresa.
After spending forty minutes cleaning his house, Brady finally decided that Charity had had enough time to think. Taking a deep breath, Brady entered his room and found Charity curled up in a ball staring off into space. From her eyes, you could tell that she had been crying for a long time. Walking over to her, Brady lied down on his bad and took her into his arms.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly rubbing her arms.
"Crappy," she replied tiredly. "All my life I wanted nothing more than to know who my father was. I finally find out who he is, only to realize that he is nothing but a self-centered bastard. He tricked one of my best friends into marriage just so that he could sleep with her, he's heartless, and he considers getting drunk a hobby. It just really.sucks," Charity said as she felt a fresh wave of tears invade her.
"Hey, it's okay," Brady said trying to stop Charity from crying. "I don't know Julian as well as you, Fox, and Resa do, but I do know that your mother said she loved your father and that he loved her. Don't you think that there's something good about him that caused her to fall in love with him?" he asked trying to give her hope.
Charity eyes brightened at what Brady had said but quickly faded after a few seconds. "My mom probably just said those things so that I wouldn't feel like my father never wanted me. For all I know, she could have told Julian about me and he could have sent her away without a backward glance," Charity said realizing that her mother could have been lying to her all her life.
"Wouldn't you like to know for sure though?" Brady asked.
"No! I don't want to tell Julian about me only to have him reject me. I've been fine without him for the past nineteen years, I'll continue to do fine without him," she said. Seeing that Brady was about to protest once again, Charity quickly tried to end the conversation. "Look I'm tired and I have a headache, can we not talk about this anymore,?" she asked hoping he would give up.
"Fine, I'll drop it for now, but don't think that we won't finish this conversation sometime soon," Brady said as he settled into his bed and slowly drifted to sleep with Charity in his arms.
Meanwhile.
Fox and Theresa had been driving for almost ten minutes and Fox still hadn't said a word to Theresa. When they reached their house, Fox entered and headed straight for the brandy resting on their table. Before he could even bring his class up to his lips, Theresa grabbed it from him and spilled it in a nearby bowl.
"What the hell was that for?" Fox asked clearly surprised.
"You are not Julian and I am not Julian's girlfriend, wife, or female 'friend,' therefore I will not sit by while you try to drown your pain and anger in alcohol. Is that clear?" Theresa said forcefully. At Fox's nod, Theresa continued speaking. "Now, we are going to go upstairs, change, and then sit and have a talk, like adults, about what you're feeling, understood?" she said before turning and heading upstairs not bothering to wait for Fox, knowing he would follow.
Once they were both changed and situated in bed, Theresa sat back against the headboard and waited for Fox, knowing he would talk when he was ready.
"My father is some piece of work isn't he?" Fox asked not really expecting an answer. "I mean it's not bad enough that he ignores and belittles my sisters and I or that he gets you drunk so that he could trick you into bed, but he has to go and abandon his own flesh and blood."
"Well that's Julian for you," Theresa said. "You can't change him and you shouldn't feel shame for the mistakes that he made. You two are completely different," Theresa said trying to make him see that he wasn't what he believed himself to be.
"But he's my father Theresa! I mean I tried so hard to convince myself that all of Julian's mistakes were based on his own stupidity, but now I find out that he manages to screw up when he doesn't even realize it. What if," Fox paused before trying again. "What if I turn out to be just like him? What if I end up ruining the lives of people all around me without even realizing it?"
"Don't! Don't you ever compare yourself to Julian!" Theresa exclaimed. "You are ten times the man Julian could ever be and I won't sit back and allow you to talk down on yourself! Yeah, so Julian may be your father, but that doesn't mean you're going to turn out like him. Julian is the way he is because he wants to be, not because it's some kind of Crane gene. And as long as you continue to stay the man that I know and love, you will never be like your father, okay?"
Fox looked into Theresa's eyes and saw that she meant every word that she said. All he could see was her love and faith in him shining through her eyes and it took his breath away. 'She really believes in me. I'll be damned if I let her down; I'll never be like my father,' he thought.
"Have I ever told you how much I loved you?" Fox asked taking Theresa in his arms and bringing her to lie on top of him.
"Yes, but you're welcome to tell me again," Theresa said with a smile on her face.
"I love you so much Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald."
"And I love you Nicolas Crane," Theresa said looking into his eyes. After a few minutes, Theresa asked what had been on her mind since finding out about Julian.
"So how do you think Charity's taking the news?" she asked.
'Charity,' Fox thought. 'My sister, God I have another sister.' "Probably not too well," Fox said responding to Theresa.
"I feel so sorry for her. She's waited all her life to find out who her father and now that she does, I bet she wishes she never knew," Theresa said.
"I know. God, Charity is such a good kid, now she has to live with the fact that she's one of the few unfortunate people that have to call Julian their father."
"How do you feel about the whole thing?" Theresa asked looking at Fox.
"I don't really know. I mean I already love Charity like a little sister, but to find out that she really is my sister after knowing her for over a year, it's just kind of a shock. I know this won't change my relationship with her, if anything we'll become closer, but it's still a little weird," Fox replied.
"I'm sure it is. But don't worry about it, you're a great older brother, I've already seen how close you are with Samantha and Victoria," Theresa said referring to Fox's sixteen and seventeen year old sisters. "Charity will be lucky to have you for an older brother."
"And I'm lucky to have you for a girlfriend," Fox said running his hands through Theresa's hair.
"Yes you are," Theresa replied with a smirk. "Now why don't you show me how lucky you are," she said suggestively.
"I think I will," Fox said be capturing her lips and proceeding to make love to her.
The Next Day.
As promised, Fox and Theresa arrived at Brady's mansion early the next morning.
"How is she?" Theresa asked as Brady led them into the living room.
"Not too good," Brady replied. "She wouldn't talk about it too much yesterday night and I couldn't get her to say much since she woke up, I was hoping you guys might be able to get her to talk about it."
"How about I go see her, and you can see her when I'm done," Theresa said looking at Fox.
"Sure, that's fine," Fox said before kissing Theresa on the lips and allowing Theresa to go see Charity.
Theresa walked into Brady's room to find Charity looking at the television screen but not actually paying attention to what she was watching.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Theresa asked coming over and sitting next to her.
"Okay, I guess," Charity replied. Seeing Theresa's skeptical look, she changed her answer. "Alright so maybe I'm feeling really sad and depressed right now but I'll be fine eventually," she said.
"I'm really sorry about all of this Charity. I know how much knowing your father meant to you, I wish I could make you feel better."
"Aw, don't worry about it. It's not your fault, it's nobody's fault. These things just happen I guess. I don't really want anyone's pity. I may be Julian's daughter, but I'm nothing like him. I care about people around me and I'd do anything to help anyone of my friends, knowing that helps me get through all of this," Charity replied.
"Definitely, you're absolutely nothing like Julian," Theresa said with a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Charity asked after hearing Theresa chuckle.
"Nothing, it's just now I'm realizing how you and Fox are alike in personality. I remember telling him the same exact words I just told you last night," Theresa replied.
"How is Fox doing?" Charity asked. After realizing that she wouldn't be getting any sleep any time soon last night, Charity started to think about how different her life was now that she knew her father's name. She had realized that now she and Fox were brother and sister and that thought managed to bring some joy to her mood. She already cared for him like a brother and knowing that she and he were blood related seemed to life her spirits. Her mood had also risen when she thought about the two sisters that she had gained. Charity had met Samantha and Victoria a few times when they came to visit Fox and had developed a good friendship with them automatically, but now knowing that they were her sisters made her look at them in a totally new way. Before going to sleep last night, Charity realized that she may have lost the high respect that she had for her unknown father, but she gained three wonderful siblings, and that alone made the whole ordeal worth it.
"He's fine," Theresa replied to Charity's question. "Granted, he wasn't doing to well yesterday when we first found out, but he was fine after I got him to talk about it. I think he's a little nervous about talking to you now. He won't admit it, but I think he's afraid that you might not accept him as your older brother," Theresa said with a smirk.
"Fox, nervous? I'd pay to see that," Charity said with a grin.
"Well how about I go get him so that you two can talk?" Theresa suggested.
"Sure, tell him to come up," Charity said becoming slightly nervous.
Theresa, seeing that Charity was becoming nervous, put her hand over Charity's. "It's just Fox, you know the same Fox that you call dorkbutt whenever he annoys you, that same Fox who always ruffles your hair just to piss you off, there's nothing to worry about," she said before hugging Charity and leaving the room.
As soon as Theresa went upstairs to see Charity, Brady led Fox to the couch so that they could talk.
"I think you should talk her into contacting Julian," Brady said before Fox even sat down.
"Are you crazy? No way am I letting Julian in her life just so he can ruin it more than he already has," Fox replied angry that Brady had even suggested such a thing.
"Look, I know that I don't know Julian very well, and after what he did to Theresa, I probably don't want to, but I do know that Charity has always wanted to get to know her father. Right now the only thing stopping her from talking to him is herself and the things that other people have told hr about him."
"They tell her those things so that she can stay away from him, not jump at the chance to call him," Fox said, still not agreeing with Brady.
"You're letting your feelings about Julian affect Charity's chance to know her father, it's not fair!" Brady said raising his voice a little.
"Damnit Brady, I know what kind of man my father is! Hell, the whole world knows what kind of man he is, and I'm not going to encourage Charity to get to know him when I know he'll just end up hurting her in the end. I won't do it," Fox said determinedly.
"Fine, ignore me. But go upstairs and talk and Charity when Theresa comes down. When you talk to her, tell me whether or not you see how much she really wants to talk to Julian because I can see it as plain as day, but then again that's just me," Brady said as Theresa descended the staircase.
"Charity said to come on up," Theresa told Fox cautiously noticing the tense looks on his and Brady's face. "Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, perfect," Fox replied before kissing her cheek and heading upstairs to see Charity.
"Guess who decided to grace you with his presence," Fox joked as he walked into Brady's room.
"I don't know, who?" Charity teased.
"Why me of course! Who else would it me?"
"Oh I don't know, how about somebody that matters," Charity joked.
"Ouch," Fox said with mock hurt as he grabbed his chest. "That really hurts C."
"I'm sure you'll get over it," Charity said before laughing with Fox over their miniature banter. It was the first time she'd laughed since last night.
"So how've you been," Fox asked once he stopped laughing.
"Fine, but I'll go crazy if one more person asks me that," Charity replied.
"Point taken," Fox replied. An awkward silence fell upon the two of them before Fox reached over and pulled Charity into a hug.
"Welcome to the family," he said. "We're as dysfunctional as they come, but it's always nice to have a new addition," he added trying to bring a light tone to their situation.
Charity laughed at what Fox said before hugging him back. When they pulled apart, Charity sat contemplating her thoughts before she finally asked what had been on her mind.
"Do you think that Julian did somehow love or maybe even care about my mom?" she asked.
Fox looked at Charity and could see the hope that she held in her eyes at what his response would be. 'Brady was right, she really does want to talk to Julian.' Seeing that Charity was still waiting for an answer, Fox thought of his words carefully.
"I really don't know Charity. I think it's up to you to find out. Why don't you contact him and find out," Fox suggested.
"No, I can't. Not after the way he treated you and the things he did to Resa. He's not someone I should want in my life," Charity replied with a touch of sadness.
'She's denying herself this opportunity because she feels she owes it to Resa and I. I can't let her pass this up.' Coming to a decision, Fox kissed Charity on the forehead and told her he'd come up to see again later before leaving the room and heading downstairs where Brady and Theresa were sitting.
"You were right," Fox said looking at Brady. "She really wants to talk to him to judge him for herself. I have no right to decide whether or not she should have him in her life."
"I'm glad you realized it," Brady said coming up to Fox. "So did you convince her to call him?"
"No, I tried, but she refused. She probably thinks she owes it to us to stay away from him," Fox replied. He turned to Theresa to see her reaction to all of this. "What do you think I should do?" he asked her.
Theresa stayed silent for a minute contemplating what to say. 'On one hand, Julian's nothing but an insensitive fool and doesn't deserve to have Charity in his life' she thought. 'But on the other hand, he's still the same person that's she's waited her whole life to talk to. I can't let her pass up this opportunity just because she's afraid of our reactions.' Coming to a decision, Theresa's responded to Fox.
"I think you should contact Julian and get him to come visit her," she said.
"Are you serious?" Fox asked surprised that Theresa of all people was suggesting that Julian come visit them.
"Yes," she said reluctantly. "I personally think that Julian is nothing but a bastard that doesn't deserve to live, but I think Charity should find that out on her own."
"If that's what you really think, then I'll go call Julian now," Fox said looking at Theresa and Brady one last time before heading to an empty room to call Julian.
Julian sat in the Crane living room listening to Rebecca and Ivy as they continued another one of the annoying arguments.
"Will you two just shut up!" he finally yelled out in frustration.
"How dare you!" Ivy said angered that Julian had the nerve to yell at her.
"Shut up Ivy. And don't you start either," Julian said as he saw Rebecca about to open her mouth. "You two are supposed to be grown women, yet you act like immature teenagers and I've had enough of the both of you!"
"Hey, don't talk to my mother like that!" Gwen said coming to her mother's defense.
"Gwen, you really don't want to get involved," Julian replied. "This has nothing to do with you so sit down and butt out." Gwen huffed, clearly offended, but sat down nonetheless.
"As I was saying, you two ladies are annoying the hell out of me and I've had enough! Now for some reason you people won't leave my house, and I've been pretty generous about the entire situation, but you're all pushing it! Gwen," Julian said turning to Gwen. "You and Ethan feel the need to yell at each other every night and disturb everyone in the mansion, and I'm sick of it. And you two," he said turning to Ivy and Rebecca. "For some reason, you two feel you must argue every ten minutes like crazy banshees and sometimes I swear you do it just to piss me off! All of this will stop now! I want you all to remember that you are guests in MY house, therefore you will refrain from aggravating me, is that clear?" Upon getting no reaction from the three women in the room, Julian repeated himself. "Is that clear!" he said raising his voice.
Rebecca, Ivy, and Gwen nodded their heads to show Julian that they understood. Julian took a deep breath before replying.
"Thank you, now excuse me while I go and relax in my library," he said before leaving the room. He heard Ivy call him a jackass but chose to ignore her as he continued to make his way to his library.
Upon reaching his library, Julian took a seat behind his desk and rested his head on the table. 'Finally, peace and quiet' Julian thought. Before her could enjoy the silence, he heard the shrill ring of his cell phone. Irritated, he reached over and answered his phone.
"Julian Crane," he said into the phone.
"Father? It's me, Fox," Fox said.
"Fox? Where the hell have you been?" Julian asked shocked to hear the voice of his son after over a year.
"I've been around," Fox replied. 'Not like you care' he thought. "Anyway this isn't a social call, I called for a specific reason." He said.
"What is it now? If you think I'm going to bail you out of some gambling debt, you're sadly mistaken," Julian said not liking where this conversation was going.
"I don't want your damn money," Fox said irritated that Julian always thought the worst of him. "Look, I want to know something - Faith Standish, does that name mean anything to you?" he asked.
Julian immediately tensed up at the mention of Faith's name. He was immediately caught up in a memory that occurred twenty years ago.
*Flashback*
Julian sat in the back of a bar watching Faith as she sang to an audience full of men. He could hear the whistling and catcalling that the men were making and he was quickly becoming angry. He tried his best to ignore them and looked back up at Faith as she finished singing her number and headed towards him.
"Ignore them," Faith said referring to the men that were still watching her.
"It's kind of hard when they're all looking at you like a piece of meat," Julian replied irritated.
"Well it doesn't matter, because I'm only looking at you," Faith replied before bringing Julian's lips to her and kissing him.
"God I love you Faith Standish," Julian said.
"And I love you Julian Crane," Faith replied.
*End Flashback*
Julian was brought out of his thoughts by Fox's voice repeating his question.
"Fa- Faith? How do you know her? Is she okay? Where is she?" Julian asked, eager to learn the whereabouts about his former lover.
"So you do know her?" Fox asked, surprised that Julian seemed to actually care about Faith.
"Yes I know her. The question is, how do you know her and where is she now?" Julian asked, becoming impatient.
"She's dead, Julian. She died over three years ago," Fox replied actually feeling sorry for Julian. It was becoming obvious that Julian did have strong feelings for Faith.
"Dead? No it can't be, she can't be dead!" Julian said refusing to believe Fox. 'You can't be dead Faith! We were supposed to get married and have children, you can't be gone!' Julian thought.
"I'm sorry but it's true Julian. Faith's death isn't why I'm calling though," Fox said trying to get to his real reason for the phone call.
"Then what is?" Julian said barely making the words out.
"Apparently, Faith had a daughter. When she died, her daughter moved to Harmony to live with Sam and Grace Bennett, her aunt and uncle. You may have heard of her, her name is Charity. Anyway Charity has always wanted to meet her father and last night, her boyfriend gave her a folder with information her on father," Fox said.
"That all good and nice, but would you mind telling me what Chief Bennett's niece has to do with me?" Julian asked not seeing Fox's point to calling him other than to deliver bad news.
"I'm getting there," Fox said, slightly annoyed that Julian interrupted him. "Anyway it appears that you are Charity's father. I'm not sure how that's possible or why her mother would willingly sleep with you, but it's the truth," Fox said as he waited for Julian's reaction.
"No, no that's not possible. Faith and I had no children together, don't you think I would have noticed?" Julian said shocked at the news that Fox had just delivered him.
"Look, I don't know how to explain it any better than you do, but I know that everything matches all the way down to your DNA," Fox replied. "According to Charity, Faith never told you about the pregnancy, and that could explain why you never knew."
'Oh my God, it's possible' Julian thought as he remembered going to Faith's house one day only to find that all her things were missing and that she had moved away without so much as a goodbye. 'She probably found out she was pregnant and moved away because she didn't know how I'd react. I have had a daughter with the love of my life for nineteen years and I never even knew she existed,' he thought. Realizing that he had been too quiet, Julian responded to Fox.
"Do you have any idea where Charity is now?" Julian asked hopefully.
"Yes, she's right here with me in California and for some reason she really wants to know you, though she'd never admit it," Fox replied.
"Really, she doesn't hate me?" Julian asked.
"I didn't say that, after all you did sleep with one of her best friends," Fox replied. "But I can tell that she wants to meet you and get to know you for herself. For that reason, I called to invite you to come visit her," Fox said unhappily.
"When can I come?" Julian asked already heading out of his office and into his room to pack.
"Whenever you want, but when you get here, you and I are going to have a talk before I let you anywhere near her okay?" Fox said with a bit of warning in his tone.
"Sure," Julian replied, a little shocked and scared of Fox's forceful tone. "Just give me the address and I'll be there as early as tomorrow morning," he replied. Fox gave Julian their address and informed him that a limo would be waiting at the airport to bring him to their house. As Julian was about to hang up, Fox's voice stopped him.
"Listen Julian, I think you're nothing but a screw up, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt by letting you come visit Charity. If you plan on walking out of her life or hurting her in anyway, don't both showing up," Fox said as he hung up without waiting for Julian's reply.
"How'd it go?" Theresa asked as she came up and put her arms around Fox.
"Okay I guess. Julian actually sounded like he cared about Faith, as hard as that is to believe," Fox replied.
"Well maybe Julian did care about her and maybe he does have a heart somewhere in there," Theresa said not even believing the words that were coming out of her mouth.
"We'll just have to wait till he comes here tomorrow to find out," Fox replied. A moment of silence rested upon them before Fox spoke again. "Do you think I did the right thing?" he asked her.
"I don't know, like you said we'll have just have to wait and see. But I think that as long as you did what you thought was best, it'll all be okay," Theresa said resting her head on his chest.
"Thanks, I really needed to hear that," Fox said lifting Theresa head so that she was looking at him.
"No problem," Theresa said before reaching up and kissing Fox.
TBC
Next Chapter - Julian arrives in California, how does everyone react?
As always, please feedback!!!