Chapter 14
A couple of months later.
"FOX!!!" Theresa screamed as she and Charity entered their house.
"What? What's wrong?" Fox asked panicked as he and Brady came charging down the stairs.
"I can't find a good church for our wedding!" Theresa said with a pout.
"Did you honestly just yell out like that over a church?" Fox asked looking at Theresa as though she had gone insane.
"Well I'm sorry if the fact that we don't have a place to marry doesn't bother you, but I'm freaking out!" Theresa exclaimed.
"Baby, calm down," Fox said putting his arm around Theresa as Brady and Charity headed toward the couch.
"Yeah, relax Resa, you'll find a church eventually," Brady added.
"But what if I don't?" Theresa asked looking up at Fox with fear.
"Don't worry. There's like a hundred churches in California, we'll find a place, trust me," Fox said trying to reassure her.
"Alright, I hope you're right," Theresa said allowing herself to calm down and relax in Fox's arms.
"Of course I'm right. I'm always right," Fox said smugly.
"In what world?" Charity asked laughing at her brother's comment.
"Very funny," Fox replied sarcastically.
"I thought so," Charity replied as Brady and Theresa joined in on her laughter.
"Are you done?" Fox asked once they all started to calm down.
"Yes, I think we are," Brady replied.
"Hey Theresa, did you know that your brother was getting married?" Charity asked reading a society magazine.
"What?" Theresa asked clearly surprised. "Which one?" she asked walking toward Charity.
"Luis," Charity answered. "Here, read what it says," she said handing the magazine to Theresa. Taking the magazine, Theresa began to read the small article out loud.
"Sheridan Crane, daughter of Alistair Crane and sister of Julian Crane, is finally making her way down the alter with long time boyfriend, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald (For those of you who don't know, Luis is the older brother of fashion designer Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald). The couple has been together for almost five years and has managed to overcome kidnaps, near- death experiences, and lies, and most of these were done at the hands of Sheridan's own family. The couple admits that they have settled their problems with Sheridan's father and brother and they are happy to have both of them attend their wedding. The wedding will be held in St. Margaret Mary's Church in the couple's hometown of Harmony where all of the citizens are welcome to attend. We wish these two the best of luck in their marriage."
"That's it!" Theresa exclaimed after she finished reading the article.
"What's it?" Charity asked now the one looking at Theresa as though she were insane.
"St. Margaret Mary's Church! That's where we can get married!" she replied looking at Fox.
"Wait, are you serious? You want to get married in Harmony?" Fox asked.
"Yes! I know that Harmony doesn't hold the greatest memories for me, or you for that matter, but it's my hometown. My family is there and I grew up in that church. I can't get married anywhere else," Theresa said trying to explain to Fox.
Fox looked at Theresa for a few seconds before replying. "Well, if that's what you really want, then I guess we're going to Harmony."
"Thank you so much!" Theresa exclaimed reaching up and hugging Fox.
"How are you going to plan a wedding in Harmony from California?" Brady asked.
Theresa's smile dropped from her face when she realized how much extra work it would be to plan the wedding from California.
"You're right, it will be too hard," Theresa replied deflated.
Fox felt helpless seeing the sad look that came across Theresa's face. 'I hate it when she's sad' he thought to himself. Coming to a decision, he made a suggestion that he was sure he'd regret later.
"Well why don't we just move back to Harmony until the wedding day?" he suggested. Fox wasn't surprised when he saw three pairs of eyes look at him sharply with shock shown all over their face.
"You want to move back to Harmony?" Charity asked not believing that Fox was suggesting this.
"Well it'll only be temporary, and it'll make planning the wedding a whole lot easier on you and Theresa," Fox explained.
"Are you really serious about this?" Theresa asked hope radiating in her eyes.
"Of course I am. This is supposed to be one of the biggest days of your life; you deserve to have everything you want and more. And if that means living in Harmony for a couple of months, then I'll do it," Fox replied.
"So will I," Brady added.
"What about you Charity?" Theresa asked looking at the girl who had become a sister to her. "I know that you really have no reason to go back to Harmony, considering what happened when you left. Would you be willing to move back to Harmony for a while? I'd understand if you couldn't," Theresa said waiting for Charity answer.
"Of course I'll move back to Harmony for you," Charity said. "Like Fox said, this is going to be the biggest day of your life, and there's no way I'm letting you plan this day without me, your maid of honor, right there by your side," she added, walking over and hugging Theresa.
"Oh, you guys are the best!" Theresa exclaimed.
"When do you want to go," Fox asked wrapping his arms around Theresa.
"Tomorrow!" she exclaimed. Seeing the looks she was getting, she quickly began to explain her answer. "Luis and Sheridan are getting married tomorrow afternoon, and I can't miss that! I've been waiting forever to see those two get married. If we leave early, we'll be able to make the wedding!"
"Well if that's what you really want, then I guess the only thing left to do is pack!" Fox said grabbing Theresa's hand and already leading her upstairs.
"Those two are really great for each other," Charity said once Fox and Theresa were already upstairs.
"Tell me about it. I've known Fox almost all my life and I've never seen him this happy before. He deserves it," Brady replied.
"Yeah, so does Theresa. They'll do great in marriage," Charity replied.
"So how do you feel about going back to Harmony?" Brady asked turning to Charity.
"It's fine, no big deal," Charity replied not looking Brady in the eyes.
"Look at me," Brady said. When Charity finally looked up at him, he continued to talk. "Now your brother and Theresa may believe that you're okay with going back to Harmony, but I know you're not. You and Miguel still have some unresolved issues, and I bet you think that you're not strong enough to face him yet."
"What if I'm not?" Charity asked fearfully.
"If there's one thing I know about you Charity, it's that you don't give yourself enough credit. Look at you, when you left Harmony you were just a little 18 year-old girl dealing with a broken-heart, but now you're almost twenty, a successful singer, and one of the strongest people I've ever met. You're ready to face him and your cousin and prove to everyone that you're not the naïve girl you were when you left two years ago."
"Thanks, I really needed that," Charity said reaching up to kiss Brady sweetly on the lips. "What would I do without you?" she asked.
"Let's hope you never have to find out," Brady replied before claiming Charity's lips again and leading her to the couch.
The Next Day.
Fox, Theresa, Brady, and Charity sat in the Crane plane waiting for it to land. Fox and Brady had fallen asleep long ago so Theresa and Charity sat talking about their arrival to Harmony.
"So, how do you feel about seeing Ethan again?" Charity asked Theresa.
"I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I have no unresolved feelings for him, God knows I've given up on Ethan completely, but it's still going to be weird to see him again after two years. Not to mention Gwen and their child," Theresa said. "What's wrong?" she asked seeing the look that came across Charity's face at the mention of Gwen and her child.
"Well, my dad actually told me a few months ago that Gwen was never pregnant. She lied about the whole thing to get Ethan to pick her over you. I wanted to tell you, but you kind of made it clear that you didn't want to know anything about Ethan," Charity replied.
"Are you serious? She lied about it?" Theresa asked clearly shocked. 'I can't believe that Gwen would stoop that low.' "It doesn't matter though. Ethan chose Gwen over me and he deserves everything he gets. Besides, I'm glad Gwen lied, if she hadn't I probably wouldn't be marrying Fox, the man of my dreams."
"That's cool. I knew you were over him, but I just wanted to let you know," Charity replied.
"So what about you? Are you going to be okay with seeing Miguel?" Theresa asked concern evident in her eyes.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Obviously, Miguel and I are going to need to talk and say things we never said before, but after that I think I'll be fine. I don't think we'll ever be able to be friends, considering how much he hurt me, but hopefully we'll be able to tolerate each other," Charity replied.
"And what about Kay?" Theresa asked slightly annoyed the girl who went out of her way to hurt her future sister-in-law.
"Kay is a different story. I'm just going to try to avoid her as much as possible. It shouldn't be too hard, she has Miguel, what more could she want from me?"
"That's true," Theresa replied as the pilot announced that they would be landing soon.
An hour later, the four of them had finally made their way to the church. Upon entering, they say Luis and Sheridan preparing to say their vows.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let go take a seat," Brady said heading forward.
"No!" Theresa said in a loud whisper. "If we go out there, no doubt everyone will start asking us questions, especially Luis. Let's just stay here for now; this is Luis and Sheridan's time to shine. We'll make out presence known at the reception. You said it was being held at the Crane mansion, right?" Theresa asked looking at Fox.
"Yeah," Fox replied.
"Good, we'll just stay till the end, head back to our limo, and make our way back to the mansion."
"Alright, it sounds good to me. I know for a fact that Jessica is big fan of you, Brady, and she'd definitely attack him if she saw him," Charity said.
"Good, that what we'll do," Theresa replied with a smile at the image of Jessica attacking Brady. They all turned their heads to continue to watch Luis and Sheridan. They watched as Luis and Sheridan said their vows and as Father Lonnigan pronounced them man and wife. Seeing that Luis and Sheridan were about to walk down the isle, the four of them quickly left the church.
"That was so beautiful," Theresa said with tears in her eyes as they made their way to the limo.
"I know, it was almost magical," Charity replied feeling tears threaten to spill from her eyes as Brady wrap her in his arms.
"Well ours will be ten times better," Fox said wrapping his arms around Theresa.
"Definitely," Theresa said with a smile.
"So are we going to the mansion now?" Fox asked.
"Let's wait awhile so that they can enjoy the party. We'll head over there in about thirty minutes," Charity replied.
"Okay," Theresa replied as they entered the limo and started driving around aimlessly.
At the Mansion.
"Congratulations guys," Gwen said as she and Ethan came over to Luis and Sheridan.
"Thanks," Sheridan replied for them knowing that Luis wanted nothing to do with either Gwen or Ethan.
"Yeah, thanks," Luis replied dryly while glaring at Ethan. Ethan glared at Luis just as hard. 'No way will I let him intimidate me' Ethan thought.
"As fun as this is, Luis and I have other guests to greet," Sheridan stated seeing the tension between Ethan and Luis. She grabbed Luis's hand and made a quick exit.
"I know you don't like him, but will you try and be civil just for today? It's my wedding day," Sheridan said to Luis.
"I'll try, but I seriously hate his guts Sheridan. He hurt my sister so much and he still walks around town acting like she'll come running back to him one day and forget all the pain he put her through," Luis replied glaring at the back of Ethan's head.
"I know that and I'm not too happy with Ethan right now either, but I would still like my new husband to refrain from glaring at the guests," Sheridan said with a small smile.
"All right, I'll do this for you," Luis replied leaning down to kiss Sheridan on the lips.
"I'd like to make a toast," Julian said grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. "I would just like to say that I am so happy for the both of you," he said looking at Luis and Sheridan. "I have done a lot of things to make sure that this day wouldn't happen, and you two amazing people still found it in your hearts to forgive me. May you two have nothing but joys and riches in your marriage because no one deserves it more than you."
"Thank you Julian, that was a beautiful toast," Sheridan said going up to hug Julian.
"Yeah, Julian, that was really nice," Luis added going to give Julian a manly hug.
"Thank you," Julian replied.
"That was really sweet daddy," Samantha said as she and Vicky came over to hug him.
"Thanks. It's too bad your brother and sister couldn't be here."
"Oh, think again pops," a voice replied.
Everyone in the room turned their heads to the living room to find Fox, Theresa, Charity, and Brady standing there.
"Theresa?"
"Charity?"
"Fox?"
"Brady Black!!!" Jessica's voice resonated louder than any of the three voices before her.
"Oh My God!! You're Brady Black! I love you so much!" Jessica exclaimed going over to hug Brady.
"Um, hi, it's nice to meet you," Brady said trying to pry Jessica off of him and allow air into his system. Charity laughed at Brady's discomfort before reaching over and slowly pulling Jessica away from him.
"Okay Jessica, calm down, and I'll introduce you guys," Charity said.
"You know him? Like personally?" Jessica asked not believing that her cousin knew one of the biggest actors ever.
"Yes," Charity replied. "I'll explain later, right now too many people are looking at us," she said pointing out the pairs of eyes that were focused on their conversation.
"Oh, okay," Jessica said before reaching over and hugging Charity. "I missed you so much! It's so great to see you, are you staying?" she asked in one breath.
"We'll talk about that later," Charity replied seeing the Lopez- Fitzgerald family, sans Miguel, walk over to them.
"Theresita! We've missed you so much!" Pilar exclaimed grabbing Theresa in a tight hug. She finally let go after a minute to allow Luis and Antonio to hug her.
"We missed you so much lil sis," Luis said not letting go of Theresa.
"I missed you too, all of you. It's so good to see all of you again," Theresa replied as tears fell down her eyes.
"It's good to see you Theresa," Miguel said quietly as he walked over to Theresa.
"You too Miguel, I really missed you," Theresa replied grabbing her little brother into a hug.
"What are you doing here? And what are Fox and this man doing here with you?" Pilar asked pointing toward Brady.
Before Theresa could answer many other citizens began to crowd around them.
"You're Brady Black," Kay said staring at Brady in awe. Brady saw Charity tense up at the sound of the girl's voice and automatically knew who she was. 'So this is the infamous Kay. She still has the power to make Charity feel uncomfortable' he thought.
"Yes, I am. You must be Kay Bennett," Brady said.
"Oh, you know my name?" Kay asked surprised that Charity talked about her to Brady.
"Yes, Charity's mentioned you a few times," Brady said not wanting to let Kay know how much she affected Charity's life.
"I see," Kay said looking at Charity who had suddenly become very interested in her fingernails. "Welcome back Charity. How long do you plan on staying?" she asked rudely.
"Not long hopefully," Charity replied barely looking up at Kay.
"Good, because you know, Miguel and I have gotten very close over the last two years and I'd really hate for anything or anyone to come between us," Kay replied with a slightly warning tone.
"Don't worry Kay, Miguel's all yours. He has been since the day I let you have him," Charity replied with a small smirk on her face.
Kay glared at Charity and was about remark when Brady cursed under his breath.
"What's wrong Brady?" Charity asked putting her arm on his shoulder in an action that did not go unnoticed by Kay. 'This is interesting' Kay thought.
"Not what, who," Brady replied pointing to Ethan and Gwen who were approaching Theresa and her family. He had seen many pictures of Ethan and Gwen in society magazines when he was still known as a Crane and he recognized them on site.
"Theresa! It's so good to see you!" Ethan said coming over to Theresa and attempting to hug her. He didn't get far before Luis and Antonio stepped in front of Theresa, blocking his way.
"Just where the hell do you think you're going Ethan?" Antonio asked rudely.
"To see Theresa!" Ethan said attempting to push past the men.
"Not going to happen," Luis said.
"Let him pass guys, I can handle Ethan," Theresa said. Luis and Antonio glared at Ethan for a few moments before stepping out of the way.
"Theresa, I've missed you so much!" he said once again attempting to hug her. Theresa, however, stepped back and avoided his hug.
"Hello Ethan, how have you been?" Theresa asked coldly.
"Fi- Fine," Ethan replied surprised by Theresa's reaction to seeing him. She was supposed to be hugging him and crying tears of joy. Why did she look like she wanted nothing more than to cause him pain?
"What are you doing here Theresa?" Gwen asked rudely.
"None of your damn business," Theresa replied not even bothering to look at Gwen.
"Theresa, are you okay?" Ethan asked confused by her behavior. "You seem different from-"
"From what?" Theresa asked cutting him off. "Different from the stupid little girl I was when a couple of years ago? You're damn right I'm different from that girl, and I'll never be her again," she replied coldly.
"What happened to you? You!" Ethan exclaimed pointing at Fox. "You changed her, you made her lose the beautiful spirit that made her who she is," he said advancing toward Fox.
"Excuse me?" Fox exclaimed. "How dare you sit here and tell me how I've changed and ruined her when you're the one that forced her to leave in the first place. You've got some nerve Ethan!"
"Alright stop!" Sheridan exclaimed. "Now I'm happy to see all of you, but this is still my wedding day! So what we're all going to do is this: Theresa, you and Ethan obviously need to talk, so go to one part of the room and talk. Charity, you and Miguel also need to talk because he hasn't stopped looking at you since you entered the room. You two will go out on the terrace by the window and talk. Fox, you will stay here and talk to Luis, you new uncle, and myself. And you," she said pointing to Brady. "I don't know you, but you will go and talk with Jessica because she won't stay still unless you do. Is that clear? Good," she said already grabbing Luis's hand and walking over to Fox.
"It must run in the family," Theresa whispered to Fox as she compared Sheridan's speech to the same speech Charity used two years ago when she forced her and Fox to talk.
"I think it does," Fox replied. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked while watching as Ethan and Gwen talked, or argued from his point of view.
"Yes, I'll have to talk to Ethan eventually, I might as well get it over with. The sooner I do this, the sooner we'll be able to announce our engagement and start planning the wedding," she said smiling at the last part of her sentence.
"If you're sure then," Fox replied. "I guess I've got to go and get to know my future brother-in-law before Sheridan comes over here and kills me," he said before brushing his hands against hers and walking toward Sheridan and Luis.
"Ethan are you ready to talk?" Theresa asked walking over to him and Gwen.
"The least you could do is let us finish our conversation, Theresa," Gwen snapped.
"Well excuse me Gwen, but I've got more important things to do that sit around and wait for you two to finish some mindless conversation," Theresa said with a roll of her eyes. "Ethan are you ready, I want to get this over with," she said.
"Um, sure," Ethan replied slightly hurt that Theresa didn't want to spend time talking to him. "We can talk by the far window," he said as he walked toward it.
Theresa prepared to follow Ethan when Gwen grabbed her arm.
"Excuse me Gwen! Let go of me!" Theresa said trying to pull her arm away.
"Listen up Theresa, I don't know why you're here or what you plan to do, but I'm only going to say this once. Ethan and I are married. We have been for the last two years. He is my husband, not yours and don't you ever think he is. You better not try to come between or I will make you regret it, okay? Stay away from Ethan."
"I take orders from no one, especially you Gwen. And if you ever touch me again, I'll make you regret it," Theresa said steely before pulling her arm out of Gwen's grasp and walking away.
"You better stay away from Ethan, Theresa" Gwen said glaring at the back of Theresa's head.
Meanwhile.
"Hi Charity, It's really good to see you," Miguel said timidly looking at Charity.
"Hello Miguel, how have you been?" Charity asked.
"Good. So do you want to go out to the terrace and talk alone?" Miguel asked glancing at Brady out of the corner of his eye.
"I'm Brady," Brady said seeing Miguel look at him.
"Nice to meet you," Miguel replied barely taking his eyes off of Charity and looking at Brady. "So will you talk to me?" he asked.
"Umm." Charity said looking up at Brady. "Do you mind," she asked him. At the nod of his head, she turned back to Miguel. "Sure, we could go talk," she replied before reaching up to kiss Brady's cheeks. Turning around she headed toward the terrace leaving Miguel to follow her and Brady to go and occupy her fanatic cousin.
TBC
Next Chapter - How do the conversations between Ethan and Theresa and Miguel and Charity go? AND, everyone one finds out about Fox and Theresa's announcement.how do they take it?
Please leave feedback!!!
A couple of months later.
"FOX!!!" Theresa screamed as she and Charity entered their house.
"What? What's wrong?" Fox asked panicked as he and Brady came charging down the stairs.
"I can't find a good church for our wedding!" Theresa said with a pout.
"Did you honestly just yell out like that over a church?" Fox asked looking at Theresa as though she had gone insane.
"Well I'm sorry if the fact that we don't have a place to marry doesn't bother you, but I'm freaking out!" Theresa exclaimed.
"Baby, calm down," Fox said putting his arm around Theresa as Brady and Charity headed toward the couch.
"Yeah, relax Resa, you'll find a church eventually," Brady added.
"But what if I don't?" Theresa asked looking up at Fox with fear.
"Don't worry. There's like a hundred churches in California, we'll find a place, trust me," Fox said trying to reassure her.
"Alright, I hope you're right," Theresa said allowing herself to calm down and relax in Fox's arms.
"Of course I'm right. I'm always right," Fox said smugly.
"In what world?" Charity asked laughing at her brother's comment.
"Very funny," Fox replied sarcastically.
"I thought so," Charity replied as Brady and Theresa joined in on her laughter.
"Are you done?" Fox asked once they all started to calm down.
"Yes, I think we are," Brady replied.
"Hey Theresa, did you know that your brother was getting married?" Charity asked reading a society magazine.
"What?" Theresa asked clearly surprised. "Which one?" she asked walking toward Charity.
"Luis," Charity answered. "Here, read what it says," she said handing the magazine to Theresa. Taking the magazine, Theresa began to read the small article out loud.
"Sheridan Crane, daughter of Alistair Crane and sister of Julian Crane, is finally making her way down the alter with long time boyfriend, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald (For those of you who don't know, Luis is the older brother of fashion designer Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald). The couple has been together for almost five years and has managed to overcome kidnaps, near- death experiences, and lies, and most of these were done at the hands of Sheridan's own family. The couple admits that they have settled their problems with Sheridan's father and brother and they are happy to have both of them attend their wedding. The wedding will be held in St. Margaret Mary's Church in the couple's hometown of Harmony where all of the citizens are welcome to attend. We wish these two the best of luck in their marriage."
"That's it!" Theresa exclaimed after she finished reading the article.
"What's it?" Charity asked now the one looking at Theresa as though she were insane.
"St. Margaret Mary's Church! That's where we can get married!" she replied looking at Fox.
"Wait, are you serious? You want to get married in Harmony?" Fox asked.
"Yes! I know that Harmony doesn't hold the greatest memories for me, or you for that matter, but it's my hometown. My family is there and I grew up in that church. I can't get married anywhere else," Theresa said trying to explain to Fox.
Fox looked at Theresa for a few seconds before replying. "Well, if that's what you really want, then I guess we're going to Harmony."
"Thank you so much!" Theresa exclaimed reaching up and hugging Fox.
"How are you going to plan a wedding in Harmony from California?" Brady asked.
Theresa's smile dropped from her face when she realized how much extra work it would be to plan the wedding from California.
"You're right, it will be too hard," Theresa replied deflated.
Fox felt helpless seeing the sad look that came across Theresa's face. 'I hate it when she's sad' he thought to himself. Coming to a decision, he made a suggestion that he was sure he'd regret later.
"Well why don't we just move back to Harmony until the wedding day?" he suggested. Fox wasn't surprised when he saw three pairs of eyes look at him sharply with shock shown all over their face.
"You want to move back to Harmony?" Charity asked not believing that Fox was suggesting this.
"Well it'll only be temporary, and it'll make planning the wedding a whole lot easier on you and Theresa," Fox explained.
"Are you really serious about this?" Theresa asked hope radiating in her eyes.
"Of course I am. This is supposed to be one of the biggest days of your life; you deserve to have everything you want and more. And if that means living in Harmony for a couple of months, then I'll do it," Fox replied.
"So will I," Brady added.
"What about you Charity?" Theresa asked looking at the girl who had become a sister to her. "I know that you really have no reason to go back to Harmony, considering what happened when you left. Would you be willing to move back to Harmony for a while? I'd understand if you couldn't," Theresa said waiting for Charity answer.
"Of course I'll move back to Harmony for you," Charity said. "Like Fox said, this is going to be the biggest day of your life, and there's no way I'm letting you plan this day without me, your maid of honor, right there by your side," she added, walking over and hugging Theresa.
"Oh, you guys are the best!" Theresa exclaimed.
"When do you want to go," Fox asked wrapping his arms around Theresa.
"Tomorrow!" she exclaimed. Seeing the looks she was getting, she quickly began to explain her answer. "Luis and Sheridan are getting married tomorrow afternoon, and I can't miss that! I've been waiting forever to see those two get married. If we leave early, we'll be able to make the wedding!"
"Well if that's what you really want, then I guess the only thing left to do is pack!" Fox said grabbing Theresa's hand and already leading her upstairs.
"Those two are really great for each other," Charity said once Fox and Theresa were already upstairs.
"Tell me about it. I've known Fox almost all my life and I've never seen him this happy before. He deserves it," Brady replied.
"Yeah, so does Theresa. They'll do great in marriage," Charity replied.
"So how do you feel about going back to Harmony?" Brady asked turning to Charity.
"It's fine, no big deal," Charity replied not looking Brady in the eyes.
"Look at me," Brady said. When Charity finally looked up at him, he continued to talk. "Now your brother and Theresa may believe that you're okay with going back to Harmony, but I know you're not. You and Miguel still have some unresolved issues, and I bet you think that you're not strong enough to face him yet."
"What if I'm not?" Charity asked fearfully.
"If there's one thing I know about you Charity, it's that you don't give yourself enough credit. Look at you, when you left Harmony you were just a little 18 year-old girl dealing with a broken-heart, but now you're almost twenty, a successful singer, and one of the strongest people I've ever met. You're ready to face him and your cousin and prove to everyone that you're not the naïve girl you were when you left two years ago."
"Thanks, I really needed that," Charity said reaching up to kiss Brady sweetly on the lips. "What would I do without you?" she asked.
"Let's hope you never have to find out," Brady replied before claiming Charity's lips again and leading her to the couch.
The Next Day.
Fox, Theresa, Brady, and Charity sat in the Crane plane waiting for it to land. Fox and Brady had fallen asleep long ago so Theresa and Charity sat talking about their arrival to Harmony.
"So, how do you feel about seeing Ethan again?" Charity asked Theresa.
"I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I have no unresolved feelings for him, God knows I've given up on Ethan completely, but it's still going to be weird to see him again after two years. Not to mention Gwen and their child," Theresa said. "What's wrong?" she asked seeing the look that came across Charity's face at the mention of Gwen and her child.
"Well, my dad actually told me a few months ago that Gwen was never pregnant. She lied about the whole thing to get Ethan to pick her over you. I wanted to tell you, but you kind of made it clear that you didn't want to know anything about Ethan," Charity replied.
"Are you serious? She lied about it?" Theresa asked clearly shocked. 'I can't believe that Gwen would stoop that low.' "It doesn't matter though. Ethan chose Gwen over me and he deserves everything he gets. Besides, I'm glad Gwen lied, if she hadn't I probably wouldn't be marrying Fox, the man of my dreams."
"That's cool. I knew you were over him, but I just wanted to let you know," Charity replied.
"So what about you? Are you going to be okay with seeing Miguel?" Theresa asked concern evident in her eyes.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Obviously, Miguel and I are going to need to talk and say things we never said before, but after that I think I'll be fine. I don't think we'll ever be able to be friends, considering how much he hurt me, but hopefully we'll be able to tolerate each other," Charity replied.
"And what about Kay?" Theresa asked slightly annoyed the girl who went out of her way to hurt her future sister-in-law.
"Kay is a different story. I'm just going to try to avoid her as much as possible. It shouldn't be too hard, she has Miguel, what more could she want from me?"
"That's true," Theresa replied as the pilot announced that they would be landing soon.
An hour later, the four of them had finally made their way to the church. Upon entering, they say Luis and Sheridan preparing to say their vows.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let go take a seat," Brady said heading forward.
"No!" Theresa said in a loud whisper. "If we go out there, no doubt everyone will start asking us questions, especially Luis. Let's just stay here for now; this is Luis and Sheridan's time to shine. We'll make out presence known at the reception. You said it was being held at the Crane mansion, right?" Theresa asked looking at Fox.
"Yeah," Fox replied.
"Good, we'll just stay till the end, head back to our limo, and make our way back to the mansion."
"Alright, it sounds good to me. I know for a fact that Jessica is big fan of you, Brady, and she'd definitely attack him if she saw him," Charity said.
"Good, that what we'll do," Theresa replied with a smile at the image of Jessica attacking Brady. They all turned their heads to continue to watch Luis and Sheridan. They watched as Luis and Sheridan said their vows and as Father Lonnigan pronounced them man and wife. Seeing that Luis and Sheridan were about to walk down the isle, the four of them quickly left the church.
"That was so beautiful," Theresa said with tears in her eyes as they made their way to the limo.
"I know, it was almost magical," Charity replied feeling tears threaten to spill from her eyes as Brady wrap her in his arms.
"Well ours will be ten times better," Fox said wrapping his arms around Theresa.
"Definitely," Theresa said with a smile.
"So are we going to the mansion now?" Fox asked.
"Let's wait awhile so that they can enjoy the party. We'll head over there in about thirty minutes," Charity replied.
"Okay," Theresa replied as they entered the limo and started driving around aimlessly.
At the Mansion.
"Congratulations guys," Gwen said as she and Ethan came over to Luis and Sheridan.
"Thanks," Sheridan replied for them knowing that Luis wanted nothing to do with either Gwen or Ethan.
"Yeah, thanks," Luis replied dryly while glaring at Ethan. Ethan glared at Luis just as hard. 'No way will I let him intimidate me' Ethan thought.
"As fun as this is, Luis and I have other guests to greet," Sheridan stated seeing the tension between Ethan and Luis. She grabbed Luis's hand and made a quick exit.
"I know you don't like him, but will you try and be civil just for today? It's my wedding day," Sheridan said to Luis.
"I'll try, but I seriously hate his guts Sheridan. He hurt my sister so much and he still walks around town acting like she'll come running back to him one day and forget all the pain he put her through," Luis replied glaring at the back of Ethan's head.
"I know that and I'm not too happy with Ethan right now either, but I would still like my new husband to refrain from glaring at the guests," Sheridan said with a small smile.
"All right, I'll do this for you," Luis replied leaning down to kiss Sheridan on the lips.
"I'd like to make a toast," Julian said grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. "I would just like to say that I am so happy for the both of you," he said looking at Luis and Sheridan. "I have done a lot of things to make sure that this day wouldn't happen, and you two amazing people still found it in your hearts to forgive me. May you two have nothing but joys and riches in your marriage because no one deserves it more than you."
"Thank you Julian, that was a beautiful toast," Sheridan said going up to hug Julian.
"Yeah, Julian, that was really nice," Luis added going to give Julian a manly hug.
"Thank you," Julian replied.
"That was really sweet daddy," Samantha said as she and Vicky came over to hug him.
"Thanks. It's too bad your brother and sister couldn't be here."
"Oh, think again pops," a voice replied.
Everyone in the room turned their heads to the living room to find Fox, Theresa, Charity, and Brady standing there.
"Theresa?"
"Charity?"
"Fox?"
"Brady Black!!!" Jessica's voice resonated louder than any of the three voices before her.
"Oh My God!! You're Brady Black! I love you so much!" Jessica exclaimed going over to hug Brady.
"Um, hi, it's nice to meet you," Brady said trying to pry Jessica off of him and allow air into his system. Charity laughed at Brady's discomfort before reaching over and slowly pulling Jessica away from him.
"Okay Jessica, calm down, and I'll introduce you guys," Charity said.
"You know him? Like personally?" Jessica asked not believing that her cousin knew one of the biggest actors ever.
"Yes," Charity replied. "I'll explain later, right now too many people are looking at us," she said pointing out the pairs of eyes that were focused on their conversation.
"Oh, okay," Jessica said before reaching over and hugging Charity. "I missed you so much! It's so great to see you, are you staying?" she asked in one breath.
"We'll talk about that later," Charity replied seeing the Lopez- Fitzgerald family, sans Miguel, walk over to them.
"Theresita! We've missed you so much!" Pilar exclaimed grabbing Theresa in a tight hug. She finally let go after a minute to allow Luis and Antonio to hug her.
"We missed you so much lil sis," Luis said not letting go of Theresa.
"I missed you too, all of you. It's so good to see all of you again," Theresa replied as tears fell down her eyes.
"It's good to see you Theresa," Miguel said quietly as he walked over to Theresa.
"You too Miguel, I really missed you," Theresa replied grabbing her little brother into a hug.
"What are you doing here? And what are Fox and this man doing here with you?" Pilar asked pointing toward Brady.
Before Theresa could answer many other citizens began to crowd around them.
"You're Brady Black," Kay said staring at Brady in awe. Brady saw Charity tense up at the sound of the girl's voice and automatically knew who she was. 'So this is the infamous Kay. She still has the power to make Charity feel uncomfortable' he thought.
"Yes, I am. You must be Kay Bennett," Brady said.
"Oh, you know my name?" Kay asked surprised that Charity talked about her to Brady.
"Yes, Charity's mentioned you a few times," Brady said not wanting to let Kay know how much she affected Charity's life.
"I see," Kay said looking at Charity who had suddenly become very interested in her fingernails. "Welcome back Charity. How long do you plan on staying?" she asked rudely.
"Not long hopefully," Charity replied barely looking up at Kay.
"Good, because you know, Miguel and I have gotten very close over the last two years and I'd really hate for anything or anyone to come between us," Kay replied with a slightly warning tone.
"Don't worry Kay, Miguel's all yours. He has been since the day I let you have him," Charity replied with a small smirk on her face.
Kay glared at Charity and was about remark when Brady cursed under his breath.
"What's wrong Brady?" Charity asked putting her arm on his shoulder in an action that did not go unnoticed by Kay. 'This is interesting' Kay thought.
"Not what, who," Brady replied pointing to Ethan and Gwen who were approaching Theresa and her family. He had seen many pictures of Ethan and Gwen in society magazines when he was still known as a Crane and he recognized them on site.
"Theresa! It's so good to see you!" Ethan said coming over to Theresa and attempting to hug her. He didn't get far before Luis and Antonio stepped in front of Theresa, blocking his way.
"Just where the hell do you think you're going Ethan?" Antonio asked rudely.
"To see Theresa!" Ethan said attempting to push past the men.
"Not going to happen," Luis said.
"Let him pass guys, I can handle Ethan," Theresa said. Luis and Antonio glared at Ethan for a few moments before stepping out of the way.
"Theresa, I've missed you so much!" he said once again attempting to hug her. Theresa, however, stepped back and avoided his hug.
"Hello Ethan, how have you been?" Theresa asked coldly.
"Fi- Fine," Ethan replied surprised by Theresa's reaction to seeing him. She was supposed to be hugging him and crying tears of joy. Why did she look like she wanted nothing more than to cause him pain?
"What are you doing here Theresa?" Gwen asked rudely.
"None of your damn business," Theresa replied not even bothering to look at Gwen.
"Theresa, are you okay?" Ethan asked confused by her behavior. "You seem different from-"
"From what?" Theresa asked cutting him off. "Different from the stupid little girl I was when a couple of years ago? You're damn right I'm different from that girl, and I'll never be her again," she replied coldly.
"What happened to you? You!" Ethan exclaimed pointing at Fox. "You changed her, you made her lose the beautiful spirit that made her who she is," he said advancing toward Fox.
"Excuse me?" Fox exclaimed. "How dare you sit here and tell me how I've changed and ruined her when you're the one that forced her to leave in the first place. You've got some nerve Ethan!"
"Alright stop!" Sheridan exclaimed. "Now I'm happy to see all of you, but this is still my wedding day! So what we're all going to do is this: Theresa, you and Ethan obviously need to talk, so go to one part of the room and talk. Charity, you and Miguel also need to talk because he hasn't stopped looking at you since you entered the room. You two will go out on the terrace by the window and talk. Fox, you will stay here and talk to Luis, you new uncle, and myself. And you," she said pointing to Brady. "I don't know you, but you will go and talk with Jessica because she won't stay still unless you do. Is that clear? Good," she said already grabbing Luis's hand and walking over to Fox.
"It must run in the family," Theresa whispered to Fox as she compared Sheridan's speech to the same speech Charity used two years ago when she forced her and Fox to talk.
"I think it does," Fox replied. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked while watching as Ethan and Gwen talked, or argued from his point of view.
"Yes, I'll have to talk to Ethan eventually, I might as well get it over with. The sooner I do this, the sooner we'll be able to announce our engagement and start planning the wedding," she said smiling at the last part of her sentence.
"If you're sure then," Fox replied. "I guess I've got to go and get to know my future brother-in-law before Sheridan comes over here and kills me," he said before brushing his hands against hers and walking toward Sheridan and Luis.
"Ethan are you ready to talk?" Theresa asked walking over to him and Gwen.
"The least you could do is let us finish our conversation, Theresa," Gwen snapped.
"Well excuse me Gwen, but I've got more important things to do that sit around and wait for you two to finish some mindless conversation," Theresa said with a roll of her eyes. "Ethan are you ready, I want to get this over with," she said.
"Um, sure," Ethan replied slightly hurt that Theresa didn't want to spend time talking to him. "We can talk by the far window," he said as he walked toward it.
Theresa prepared to follow Ethan when Gwen grabbed her arm.
"Excuse me Gwen! Let go of me!" Theresa said trying to pull her arm away.
"Listen up Theresa, I don't know why you're here or what you plan to do, but I'm only going to say this once. Ethan and I are married. We have been for the last two years. He is my husband, not yours and don't you ever think he is. You better not try to come between or I will make you regret it, okay? Stay away from Ethan."
"I take orders from no one, especially you Gwen. And if you ever touch me again, I'll make you regret it," Theresa said steely before pulling her arm out of Gwen's grasp and walking away.
"You better stay away from Ethan, Theresa" Gwen said glaring at the back of Theresa's head.
Meanwhile.
"Hi Charity, It's really good to see you," Miguel said timidly looking at Charity.
"Hello Miguel, how have you been?" Charity asked.
"Good. So do you want to go out to the terrace and talk alone?" Miguel asked glancing at Brady out of the corner of his eye.
"I'm Brady," Brady said seeing Miguel look at him.
"Nice to meet you," Miguel replied barely taking his eyes off of Charity and looking at Brady. "So will you talk to me?" he asked.
"Umm." Charity said looking up at Brady. "Do you mind," she asked him. At the nod of his head, she turned back to Miguel. "Sure, we could go talk," she replied before reaching up to kiss Brady's cheeks. Turning around she headed toward the terrace leaving Miguel to follow her and Brady to go and occupy her fanatic cousin.
TBC
Next Chapter - How do the conversations between Ethan and Theresa and Miguel and Charity go? AND, everyone one finds out about Fox and Theresa's announcement.how do they take it?
Please leave feedback!!!