11



"Where is she?" Fox asked urgently. "Finally," Fox thought to himself. "Now I can go to her."

Pilar held her breath as she waited for the information. Her attention was temporarily distracted by the ringing of her phone. As she left to answer it, Fox found out that Theresa had boarded a plane to Mexico.

"Mexico?" Fox said aloud.

"Her relatives." Ethan mumbled. "She must've gone to them."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Fox asked.

"I'm sure, Fox." The informant replied.

"Thank you." Fox replied before hanging up. "I knew it. I knew she was there." Fox sighed in relief. His instincts were right.

"I'm going after her." Ethan said.

"No you're not." Fox protested. "I am."

"Excuse me, but I doubt she wants to see you." Ethan retorted.

"Uh- look who's talking. She hates your guts too, remember?" Fox replied.

Ethan crossed his arms and glared at Fox. Fox returned the resentful stare while Ethan Martin watched on silently with wide eyes.

"Are you two going to fight?" Ethan Martin asked. "Grandma is gonna be mad if you do. She doesn't like fighting."

Ethan sighed and looked down at his namesake. "We're not going to fight. Don't worry. We don't want to upset your grandma."

"Okay," Little Ethan replied.

"Look, I think I should go after her since I can easily arrange a flight down there. I've still got the Crane privileges at the tips of my fingers while you on the other hand don't." Fox said matter-of-factly.

"I still have connections." Ethan said.

"They aren't as good as mine." Fox replied frankly.

"Arguing about this isn't going to get us anywhere." Ethan said already irritated.

"No it's not. So let's just settle this here and now. I'm going and it's final."
Fox replied firmly.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "No!" He said.

"Fine, you know what, you book a flight to Mexico, and I'll book a flight. Let's see who gets down there faster." Fox suggested sarcastically.

"You know what~" Ethan said narrowing his eyes.

"Sh!" Ethan Martin said tugging on Ethan and Fox's shirts, "Grandma says 'shh'."

Ethan and Fox looked over at Pilar who was signaling them to be quiet.

"Hello? Who's there?" Pilar asked.

"Mama?" Pilar heard Theresa reply.

"Theresa?" Pilar asked. Immediate relief surged through her as she heard her daughter's voice. "Theresa, why did you leave without saying anything? Do you know how worried I've been?"

"Mommy?" Little Ethan ran over to Pilar. "Is Mommy on the phone?"

Tears stung Theresa's eyes as she heard her son's voice in the background. "Ethan Martin's there with you?" She asked with a shaky voice.

"Yes," Pilar replied. "Fox brought him over."

"Can I please speak to my little boy?" Theresa asked.

"Of course." Pilar replied wiping her eyes and handing the receiver to Ethan Martin.

"Mommy?" Little Ethan asked.

"Yes," Theresa said beginning to cry again. "Yes, honey, it's Mommy."

"Why did you leave me?" Ethan Martin asked.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Theresa replied. "I just had to go away for awhile."

"Fox said your heart broke." Little Ethan said quietly.

"He's right. It did." Theresa said softly.

"Fox said he would fix it for you."

"He did?" Theresa asked.

"Yup. Will you let him fix it?" Little Ethan asked.

"I don't know if he can." Theresa admitted.

"Can't he just try?" Little Ethan asked. "Please Mommy, let him try."

Theresa sighed. "Okay, he can try."

~*~