**Ex**
Note: Gwen was never pregnant, but Ethan still proposed to her. Chapter 2
Disclaimer.
She heard the front door click shut, she knew he was going to work and wouldn't be home till later on that night. She got out of her bed quietly; they had stopped sleeping together years ago. He had said it wasn't fair to her, he was married to her and he still loved another. She'd pleaded with him, begged to take her back into his bed, but he refused. She knew what she had to do, she'd still heard him calling out HER name as he slept, and well she would put an end to it. She had been out all day yesterday and he didn't even notice. She opened her closet and pulled out a shoebox, it had taken her too long to get what she needed, but she had managed. She walked downstairs and saw that the fire was still burning, good, one less thing she had to do. She sat down on the floor and opened the box. She began assembling everything, the dust that had taken her three months to find, the herbs that had taken eight, the egg which she stole yesterday, that was the hardest, it wasn't everyday you find freshly lain snake eggs and finally the book that had started it all.
She'd had to give Kay Bennett credit; she'd been willing to do anything to get her man. But, unlike Kay, she'd keep him. When Sam and Grace had split, Grace had a huge yard sale; she'd sold almost everything, including all of Kay's old things. Sam had taken what he could and the rest was gone, all her clothes, all her jewelry, even her diary. Which is what Beth had happened upon. Kay was a busy bee indeed, she'd sold her soul, gone to hell, frozen Charity and even had sex with him, but alas Miguel only had eyes for Charity. More then a little interested in how Kay accomplished all this, she'd bought the last of Kay's things. Most of her book collection, a jewelry box and a box of odds and ends. Her true prize was hidden in the very bottom of the book collection, a book of spells. Now normally, she didn't believe in these kinds of things, but at this point she was willing to try anything to get her husband back.
She opened the book to the right page, "To Bind One to You" this would be a sure way to keep him. She had everything she needed, and she was ready. She crossed her legs and began, "I take this dust, it represents my past," she threw it into the fire, "I take these herbs, they represent my present," She threw them into the fire as well, "I take this egg, it represents my future," she took the egg and sat it in front of her, she then took the ceremonial knife she'd found in an antique shop, she sliced her arm, tears ran down her face as she poured the blood over the egg and with her free hand, threw it into the fire, "Mixed with my blood it will take my hearts desire and give it to me. Bind him to me forever, never let his heart go to another." The open wound she had on her arm suddenly was gone, the crimson stain on the carpet disappeared and the fire turned black. Suddenly, the fire came out of the wall and engulfed her, it burned, and it calmed at the same time. She knew what she needed to do to keep her husband, and she would. ~*~
"Mommy?" Shylah's soft voice startled Kay.
"Morning baby. What's wrong?" Kay pulled her tiny daughter onto her lap.
Shylah hugged her mother tightly, "I had a bad dream. It scared me, there was blood and fire."
"Oh, baby, it's ok. It was just a bad dream." Kay stroked her daughter's hair lovingly.
"Aunt Kay!" Mika ran into the room and Sheridan followed.
"I'm going to tickle you!" Sheridan chased her.
Gwen walked into the room, she looked around and smiled. The five of them lived in a good sized three story house, the girls shared a room on the second floor, and Kay, Sheridan and her each had their own on the third, plus the guest room located on the second floor, which would eventually become one of the girls rooms. With Sheridan and Gwen's combined money and Kay's skill at making and investing money, they were quite well off. They could've hidden here forever, if that stupid letter hadn't of come. Going back to Harmony was not her idea of fun. The last time she was there so much went wrong. . .
~Flashback~
It was her wedding day, finally, she was going to marry the man she loved and everything would be perfect. In a few moments she would walk down the aisle and become Mrs. Ethan Winthrop. The music signifying her entrance began and she walked down the aisle. She reached Ethan, and the ceremony began.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, until Father Lonigan asked if the famous question.
"Does anyone have any reason why these two should not be married?"
Gwen glared at Theresa who was crying quietly in the back of the church, she was quiet. Suddenly,
"I do." No one was more shocked that Rebecca Hotchkiss was standing than Gwen.
"Mother, what are you talking about?" Gwen wanted to die.
"I'm sorry Gwennie, but it's every woman for herself." Rebecca Hotchkiss walked to the front of the church and handed Ethan some papers.
Ethan read over them quickly, "What is this? Did she put you up to this?!" Ethan demanded.
"What's wrong Ethan?" Gwen took the papers out of Ethan's hands before he could protest.
"That means that YOU," Rebecca turned and pointed to Theresa, "are no longer the legal Mrs. Crane."
"What are you talking about Rebecca? I haven't even done anything." Theresa defended herself.
Gwen began sobbing, "Ethan Martin's yours Ethan."
"What?" Theresa gasped.
"Oh like you didn't know you little slut!" Rebecca said.
Ethan stood in silence, the information sinking in, "I need to get out of here and think." He turned to Gwen, "I'm sorry, I can't marry you right now." He walked out of the church.
"Ethan!" Gwen followed him.
Theresa stood there in awe, without lifting a finger and without any doing from her, Ethan and Gwen didn't get married, "It's fate." She said quietly.
The church had been silent throughout the entire ordeal, everyone turned around to where Ethan and Gwen were arguing.
"Ethan are you leaving me now? Just because he's your son doesn't mean that we can't be happy together!" Gwen cried.
"Gwen, I love you, you know that. But, I can't marry you today, it's too much." Ethan said.
"No, Ethan, you can't marry me today because you realize that this means maybe you're supposed to be with Theresa. I know you Ethan and I know how you feel about her, if this is true, we'll never get married." Gwen felt tears building up in her eyes.
"Gwen, that's not true. I did love Theresa, but I'm with you now. It's just hard. A child makes everything different." Ethan ran his hand through his hair.
"If you don't marry me tonight Ethan, I can guarantee we won't get married. I know you, once you think about it, you'll realize that you truly love Theresa and I'll be left out in the cold, again. So, it's your choice. Am I going to go into that church and call off this wedding, or are we going to get married, no looking back, no holding back, nothing." Gwen looked at Ethan, he stood silent, "that's what I thought." Gwen turned around and waked out of the church.
Ethan made no move to stop her, and Sheridan ran and followed Gwen out of the church.
~End Flashback~
Gwen shook the thoughts out of her head; she'd gotten over Ethan years ago. It still hurt, but she knew that being married to him would have been hard on her. Going back home would be something she had to face eventually.
"Gwen?" Kay's voice broke her thoughts.
Gwen snapped back to reality, "What's going on?"
"Mommy and aunt Sheridan were talking about going home. They said we would meet our daddies." Shylah said smiling.
"Oh, well that's great." Gwen smiled.
"Are you coming with us aunt Gwen?" Mika asked.
Gwen looked at her two "nieces", their eyes so full of hope. Shylah was the younger of the two, quiet, more behind the scenes, while Mika was the exact opposite. Liberty was loud, rambunctious, she was only a month older, but she tried acting like she was years. The two got along well, and acted more like sisters than cousins. Knowing she couldn't deny the girls anything, she reluctantly nodded.
"Really aunt Gwen?" Shylah asked.
"Yes, really. If you girls want me to go home, then I will." Gwen smiled.
"Yay!" The girls cheered.
"Mommy?" Mika tugged on her mom's skirt.
"Yes Mik?" Sheridan looked down at her daughter.
"When are we going?" Mika asked.
"Um," Sheridan looked at the other two women for some kind of response.
"Tomorrow." Gwen said.
Kay and Sheridan looked at Gwen, shock evident on their faces.
"Tomorrow?" Kay repeated.
"Yes." Gwen said with conviction.
"Alright. Tomorrow it is then." Sheridan said smiling, she turned to the girls, "and do you girls think you can be ready by then?"
Mike nodded, sure of herself as usual, and Shylah looked at her mother for an answer.
"Shy, I don't know if you'll be ready by then baby." Kay said smiling.
Shylah's eye's nearly bugged out, "Will you leave me behind if I'm not?"
"Oh, no baby. I was just kidding with you. If you're not ready I'll help you out sweetie. Okay?" Shylah nodded at her mother.
"Come on Shylah!" Mika grabbed her friend's arm and they ran off into their room.
"Well," Kay turned to Gwen, "Want to tell us about the change of tune?"
Gwen played with her hair nervously, "I want to go there and get it over and done with. I need to prove to myself that I'm over Ethan once and for all."
"Makes sense to me." Kay said smiling, "Well, I am exhausted. I think I'm going to go back to sleep and when I wake up later I'll pack." Kay walked out of the room.
"Well she's in much better spirits this morning." Sheridan said smiling.
"Yes, she most certainly is. What do you think our little Kay is planning?" Gwen pulled herself onto the counter.
Sheridan sat next to her, "I think she is planning revenge."
"That won't be good." Gwen commented.
"Not at all." Sheridan sat silent for a moment, and then turned to Gwen, "Should we stop her?"
Gwen laughed, "As if we even could! If Kay has something in mind for the people that ran her out of town, I don't think we'll know about it."
"Good point. Well, I think they'll get what they deserve." Sheridan said.
"Really?" Gwen looked at her friend like she was nuts.
"Yes, for some things people need to be taught a lesson. And after what happened to Kay? Knowing what we know about her and them, I think they'll get their just desserts, as they say." Sheridan sighed.
"Do you think that some people need revenge to move on with their lives?" Gwen asked.
"Do you mean what we did?" Sheridan hopped off the counter and began pacing nervously.
"Sher, it's not like we killed anyone, and besides, we didn't really do it. It was more I did it and Kay planned it out. You had nothing to do with that." Gwen said.
Sheridan stopped pacing, "She WAS your mother Gwen."
Gwen shook her head, "She was my mother at one point, yes. But after all that, I think she was gone."
"That's harsh."
"It's true. By then she wasn't the person who raised me. And besides, it's not like we stuck around to find out what happened." Gwen got off the counter top and walked to the window.
"You know." Sheridan said quietly.
"Yeah, well so? Kay guesses what her little 'present' did. She still wants more revenge." Gwen spoke lowly.
"Kay doesn't know for a fact that it caused the damage she wanted it to cause. She had no idea what happened to her family. I'm not even sure she cares anymore." Sheridan poured herself a cup of tea.
"I think that she does. But, what I also think is that if she's going back to get more revenge on her mother and him then she's wasting her time." Gwen continued staring out the window.
Sheridan sat down at the table and sipped her tea, "I agree. But, as I said earlier, we can't stop her from doing something that she wants to do. And I think I already know what she's planning."
"And?" Gwen turned away from her post at the window.
"If I'm right then, well Harmony's in for a twist."
Thank you all so much for your reviews. It really means a lot to me that you all like my story. I know that things seem a little weird right now, but in time everything will be revealed. I hope you're all not too lost. Please tell me what you think!!
Note: Gwen was never pregnant, but Ethan still proposed to her. Chapter 2
Disclaimer.
She heard the front door click shut, she knew he was going to work and wouldn't be home till later on that night. She got out of her bed quietly; they had stopped sleeping together years ago. He had said it wasn't fair to her, he was married to her and he still loved another. She'd pleaded with him, begged to take her back into his bed, but he refused. She knew what she had to do, she'd still heard him calling out HER name as he slept, and well she would put an end to it. She had been out all day yesterday and he didn't even notice. She opened her closet and pulled out a shoebox, it had taken her too long to get what she needed, but she had managed. She walked downstairs and saw that the fire was still burning, good, one less thing she had to do. She sat down on the floor and opened the box. She began assembling everything, the dust that had taken her three months to find, the herbs that had taken eight, the egg which she stole yesterday, that was the hardest, it wasn't everyday you find freshly lain snake eggs and finally the book that had started it all.
She'd had to give Kay Bennett credit; she'd been willing to do anything to get her man. But, unlike Kay, she'd keep him. When Sam and Grace had split, Grace had a huge yard sale; she'd sold almost everything, including all of Kay's old things. Sam had taken what he could and the rest was gone, all her clothes, all her jewelry, even her diary. Which is what Beth had happened upon. Kay was a busy bee indeed, she'd sold her soul, gone to hell, frozen Charity and even had sex with him, but alas Miguel only had eyes for Charity. More then a little interested in how Kay accomplished all this, she'd bought the last of Kay's things. Most of her book collection, a jewelry box and a box of odds and ends. Her true prize was hidden in the very bottom of the book collection, a book of spells. Now normally, she didn't believe in these kinds of things, but at this point she was willing to try anything to get her husband back.
She opened the book to the right page, "To Bind One to You" this would be a sure way to keep him. She had everything she needed, and she was ready. She crossed her legs and began, "I take this dust, it represents my past," she threw it into the fire, "I take these herbs, they represent my present," She threw them into the fire as well, "I take this egg, it represents my future," she took the egg and sat it in front of her, she then took the ceremonial knife she'd found in an antique shop, she sliced her arm, tears ran down her face as she poured the blood over the egg and with her free hand, threw it into the fire, "Mixed with my blood it will take my hearts desire and give it to me. Bind him to me forever, never let his heart go to another." The open wound she had on her arm suddenly was gone, the crimson stain on the carpet disappeared and the fire turned black. Suddenly, the fire came out of the wall and engulfed her, it burned, and it calmed at the same time. She knew what she needed to do to keep her husband, and she would. ~*~
"Mommy?" Shylah's soft voice startled Kay.
"Morning baby. What's wrong?" Kay pulled her tiny daughter onto her lap.
Shylah hugged her mother tightly, "I had a bad dream. It scared me, there was blood and fire."
"Oh, baby, it's ok. It was just a bad dream." Kay stroked her daughter's hair lovingly.
"Aunt Kay!" Mika ran into the room and Sheridan followed.
"I'm going to tickle you!" Sheridan chased her.
Gwen walked into the room, she looked around and smiled. The five of them lived in a good sized three story house, the girls shared a room on the second floor, and Kay, Sheridan and her each had their own on the third, plus the guest room located on the second floor, which would eventually become one of the girls rooms. With Sheridan and Gwen's combined money and Kay's skill at making and investing money, they were quite well off. They could've hidden here forever, if that stupid letter hadn't of come. Going back to Harmony was not her idea of fun. The last time she was there so much went wrong. . .
~Flashback~
It was her wedding day, finally, she was going to marry the man she loved and everything would be perfect. In a few moments she would walk down the aisle and become Mrs. Ethan Winthrop. The music signifying her entrance began and she walked down the aisle. She reached Ethan, and the ceremony began.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, until Father Lonigan asked if the famous question.
"Does anyone have any reason why these two should not be married?"
Gwen glared at Theresa who was crying quietly in the back of the church, she was quiet. Suddenly,
"I do." No one was more shocked that Rebecca Hotchkiss was standing than Gwen.
"Mother, what are you talking about?" Gwen wanted to die.
"I'm sorry Gwennie, but it's every woman for herself." Rebecca Hotchkiss walked to the front of the church and handed Ethan some papers.
Ethan read over them quickly, "What is this? Did she put you up to this?!" Ethan demanded.
"What's wrong Ethan?" Gwen took the papers out of Ethan's hands before he could protest.
"That means that YOU," Rebecca turned and pointed to Theresa, "are no longer the legal Mrs. Crane."
"What are you talking about Rebecca? I haven't even done anything." Theresa defended herself.
Gwen began sobbing, "Ethan Martin's yours Ethan."
"What?" Theresa gasped.
"Oh like you didn't know you little slut!" Rebecca said.
Ethan stood in silence, the information sinking in, "I need to get out of here and think." He turned to Gwen, "I'm sorry, I can't marry you right now." He walked out of the church.
"Ethan!" Gwen followed him.
Theresa stood there in awe, without lifting a finger and without any doing from her, Ethan and Gwen didn't get married, "It's fate." She said quietly.
The church had been silent throughout the entire ordeal, everyone turned around to where Ethan and Gwen were arguing.
"Ethan are you leaving me now? Just because he's your son doesn't mean that we can't be happy together!" Gwen cried.
"Gwen, I love you, you know that. But, I can't marry you today, it's too much." Ethan said.
"No, Ethan, you can't marry me today because you realize that this means maybe you're supposed to be with Theresa. I know you Ethan and I know how you feel about her, if this is true, we'll never get married." Gwen felt tears building up in her eyes.
"Gwen, that's not true. I did love Theresa, but I'm with you now. It's just hard. A child makes everything different." Ethan ran his hand through his hair.
"If you don't marry me tonight Ethan, I can guarantee we won't get married. I know you, once you think about it, you'll realize that you truly love Theresa and I'll be left out in the cold, again. So, it's your choice. Am I going to go into that church and call off this wedding, or are we going to get married, no looking back, no holding back, nothing." Gwen looked at Ethan, he stood silent, "that's what I thought." Gwen turned around and waked out of the church.
Ethan made no move to stop her, and Sheridan ran and followed Gwen out of the church.
~End Flashback~
Gwen shook the thoughts out of her head; she'd gotten over Ethan years ago. It still hurt, but she knew that being married to him would have been hard on her. Going back home would be something she had to face eventually.
"Gwen?" Kay's voice broke her thoughts.
Gwen snapped back to reality, "What's going on?"
"Mommy and aunt Sheridan were talking about going home. They said we would meet our daddies." Shylah said smiling.
"Oh, well that's great." Gwen smiled.
"Are you coming with us aunt Gwen?" Mika asked.
Gwen looked at her two "nieces", their eyes so full of hope. Shylah was the younger of the two, quiet, more behind the scenes, while Mika was the exact opposite. Liberty was loud, rambunctious, she was only a month older, but she tried acting like she was years. The two got along well, and acted more like sisters than cousins. Knowing she couldn't deny the girls anything, she reluctantly nodded.
"Really aunt Gwen?" Shylah asked.
"Yes, really. If you girls want me to go home, then I will." Gwen smiled.
"Yay!" The girls cheered.
"Mommy?" Mika tugged on her mom's skirt.
"Yes Mik?" Sheridan looked down at her daughter.
"When are we going?" Mika asked.
"Um," Sheridan looked at the other two women for some kind of response.
"Tomorrow." Gwen said.
Kay and Sheridan looked at Gwen, shock evident on their faces.
"Tomorrow?" Kay repeated.
"Yes." Gwen said with conviction.
"Alright. Tomorrow it is then." Sheridan said smiling, she turned to the girls, "and do you girls think you can be ready by then?"
Mike nodded, sure of herself as usual, and Shylah looked at her mother for an answer.
"Shy, I don't know if you'll be ready by then baby." Kay said smiling.
Shylah's eye's nearly bugged out, "Will you leave me behind if I'm not?"
"Oh, no baby. I was just kidding with you. If you're not ready I'll help you out sweetie. Okay?" Shylah nodded at her mother.
"Come on Shylah!" Mika grabbed her friend's arm and they ran off into their room.
"Well," Kay turned to Gwen, "Want to tell us about the change of tune?"
Gwen played with her hair nervously, "I want to go there and get it over and done with. I need to prove to myself that I'm over Ethan once and for all."
"Makes sense to me." Kay said smiling, "Well, I am exhausted. I think I'm going to go back to sleep and when I wake up later I'll pack." Kay walked out of the room.
"Well she's in much better spirits this morning." Sheridan said smiling.
"Yes, she most certainly is. What do you think our little Kay is planning?" Gwen pulled herself onto the counter.
Sheridan sat next to her, "I think she is planning revenge."
"That won't be good." Gwen commented.
"Not at all." Sheridan sat silent for a moment, and then turned to Gwen, "Should we stop her?"
Gwen laughed, "As if we even could! If Kay has something in mind for the people that ran her out of town, I don't think we'll know about it."
"Good point. Well, I think they'll get what they deserve." Sheridan said.
"Really?" Gwen looked at her friend like she was nuts.
"Yes, for some things people need to be taught a lesson. And after what happened to Kay? Knowing what we know about her and them, I think they'll get their just desserts, as they say." Sheridan sighed.
"Do you think that some people need revenge to move on with their lives?" Gwen asked.
"Do you mean what we did?" Sheridan hopped off the counter and began pacing nervously.
"Sher, it's not like we killed anyone, and besides, we didn't really do it. It was more I did it and Kay planned it out. You had nothing to do with that." Gwen said.
Sheridan stopped pacing, "She WAS your mother Gwen."
Gwen shook her head, "She was my mother at one point, yes. But after all that, I think she was gone."
"That's harsh."
"It's true. By then she wasn't the person who raised me. And besides, it's not like we stuck around to find out what happened." Gwen got off the counter top and walked to the window.
"You know." Sheridan said quietly.
"Yeah, well so? Kay guesses what her little 'present' did. She still wants more revenge." Gwen spoke lowly.
"Kay doesn't know for a fact that it caused the damage she wanted it to cause. She had no idea what happened to her family. I'm not even sure she cares anymore." Sheridan poured herself a cup of tea.
"I think that she does. But, what I also think is that if she's going back to get more revenge on her mother and him then she's wasting her time." Gwen continued staring out the window.
Sheridan sat down at the table and sipped her tea, "I agree. But, as I said earlier, we can't stop her from doing something that she wants to do. And I think I already know what she's planning."
"And?" Gwen turned away from her post at the window.
"If I'm right then, well Harmony's in for a twist."
Thank you all so much for your reviews. It really means a lot to me that you all like my story. I know that things seem a little weird right now, but in time everything will be revealed. I hope you're all not too lost. Please tell me what you think!!
