CH. 26- Wishful Thinking
Fox whizzed by the streets of Harmony, as he made his way over to the Lopez- Fitzgerald household. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, thinking about the events of the last two days. Ever since he had heard Theresa admit that she still had strong feelings for Ethan, he had been avoiding his regular visits with her. It was as if a part of him refused to have any sort of connection with her. Hearing her admit her feelings for Ethan, hurt him more than ever. Although Fox was aware that she still cared for Ethan, he had secretly wished that she would forget about him, and want to renew their relationship. But after hearing her true feelings, he was convinced that whatever he thought was rekindling between them, must have been his imagination. Theresa was in love with Ethan. She was having his children and because of that there was no room for Fox in her life.
He miserably leaned his head back as he stopped at a traffic light.
"Hey what's wrong?" Paloma asked him, noticing the troubled expression on his face.
Fox turned his head over to the passenger seat and smiled.
"Oh nothing, I just have a bit of a headache."
"Awww, well you can rest when we get to my house." She smiled, gently rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ok." He quietly said, keeping his stare on the road.
An instant lump arose in his throat, as he thought about seeing Theresa. He knew it would be weird for her to see him, especially since he had disappeared for two days. To suddenly see him on her doorstep and much less with her little sister, would definitely arise some questions.
"My family is going to be so surprised to see what we've brought them." Paloma interrupted his thoughts. "It was so sweet of you to help me get them this tree for Christmas. Everyone's been so distracted by everything that has happened lately, that I'm sure they've even forgotten that Christmas is less than a week away.
"Well it was my pleasure." He smiled at her. "So have you figured out what you want for your birthday yet?"
A mischievous smile suddenly appeared on her face.
"Uh oh," Fox laughed. "I'm afraid to ask."
She giggled loudly, and snuggled closer to him.
"I'm just joking. I don't want a single thing from you. You've already given me the best present there is."
"Oh yeah, what's that?" He looked down at her.
"You." She smiled, kissing him on his cheek. "I'm so happy that we're together. Being with you is all that I need."
She rested her head on his shoulder, as a worried expression flashed across his face. Fox was glad that he made her so happy, but he wasn't so sure that them being together was what he really wanted.
He still felt extremely confused when it came to his potential relationship with Paloma. Although being with her made him happy, he couldn't help but think that his feelings for her were more directed towards comfort than actual affection. Being hurt by Theresa made him feel vulnerable and weak; so weak that he allowed himself to find comfort in her little sister. He wasn't proud of it. In fact, it made him feel horrible to realize just how unfair he was being to her. It was obvious that she had strong feelings for him and playing with her emotions was not right. Paloma was a great girl, but he wasn't sure that she was the one for him; like Theresa was.
"I can't wait for tomorrow, when we tell everyone about us." Paloma excitedly grinned. "I think out of everyone, Theresa will be the happiest to hear that we are now a couple. She's the only one who knew how much I liked you. She will be so happy to know that her little sister and her best friend are going to be Harmony's newest and cutest couple!"
Fox weakly smiled at Paloma's over-excitement.
If it's anyone, Theresa would be the least person who would be happy about their upcoming news. In fact, there was a good chance that she would hate him more than anything for it.
"So where do you think we should go on our first date with Ethan and Theresa?" Paloma asked him.
"What?" He looked at her. "Ethan and Theresa?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "Once Ethan wakes up, you and I can go on a double date with them. It'll be so much fun!"
The thought of watching Theresa and Ethan together made him sick to his stomach.
"Yeah, I can't wait." He smiled through clenched teeth.
Suddenly he felt a burning rage inside of him.
I can't believe I was actually starting to feel bad for what our news might do to Theresa. Fox thought to himself. She deserves whatever is coming to her after the hurt that she caused me.
He angrily tightened his fists around the steering wheel.
She made me think that she actually wanted to be with me again, when her heart belonged to Ethan the entire time. He thought to himself.
"Well enough is enough." He whispered, so Paloma couldn't hear him. "You can't keep letting her do this to you Fox. You can't keep letting her hurt you this way."
Keeping his stare on the road, he made a solemn promise to himself.
From now on things were going to be different between him and Theresa. He was still going to help her through her pregnancy like he promised, but it would strictly be for the benefit of the twins. He would not let himself become weak with feelings for her. He had to force himself to forget about her, just like she had forgotten about him. As far as having a future with Paloma, he wasn't sure about that. But one thing was clear; he was not going to let Theresa hurt him any longer. He had to find a way to make the pain go away. And if starting a relationship with her little sister was the only way to do that, then that is exactly was he was going to do.
--------------------------------------------------
"Mama, where's the box with the Christmas decorations?" Miguel called from the living room.
"They are in the hallway closet Mijo, why do you ask?" Pilar poked her head out the kitchen.
"Well, I just realized that it's around this time that we start to decorate for Christmas." He smiled.
"That's right little bro!" Luis grinned. "I totally forgot."
"My goodness, with all the planning for Paloma's birthday tomorrow, it completely slipped my mind." Pilar bashfully laughed. "Well you three can start on that right now. I still have to finish making Paloma's cake."
"No problem." Miguel looked over at his brother. "Luis, why don't you help me with the boxes?"
"Sure thing," Luis rose from the couch. "Theresa, aren't you going to help?"
"What?" A distracted Theresa looked up. "Did you say something Luis?"
"Yeah, I was asking if you were going to come help us put up some Christmas decorations." He looked at her concerned.
"Oh, you guys can go ahead." She frowned. "I don't really feel up to it."
"Theresa c'mon," He came over to her. "Look, I know you're worried about Fox but I'm sure everything is fine. He probably just had something that he had to attend to."
"For two days?" She looked at him doubtfully. "Without calling?"
"Ok I admit, that is a little strange." Luis rubbed his forehead. "But if it really were something serious, don't you think we would have heard by now? Fox is a Crane. If something happened to him, it would have been broadcasted all over the news."
"I guess you're right." Theresa sighed.
She reluctantly followed her brother to the centre of the living room, where Miguel had already started to assemble the decorations. She looked into one of the boxes and pulled out one of the angel ornaments. She held it in her hand, as her mind wandered on Fox once more.
Theresa still couldn't understand why Fox had left so suddenly that night. She was so sure that they had made a strong connection after he had told the twins his story. It was as if he was secretly trying to tell her that he was willing to give their relationship another try. She could still remember feeling so relieved that he had decided to give her another chance. It was like she had been granted another opportunity to show Fox how much she loved him. That's why it shocked her when he left so suddenly. Theresa had even tried calling him but whenever she did, his phone would just ring out. She even wondered if he was upset with her, but she could never figure out why.
"Things were going so well that night Fox." She whispered to herself. "I can't think of a single thing that would have upset you."
It had crossed her mind several times, and she tried to make it go away. But lately she had been having the strongest feeling that someone or something was trying to come between them. It was as if their relationship was suddenly different, but she couldn't figure out what could have initiated that change.
"Good morning family!" Paloma suddenly poked her head through the front door. "I have a surprise for you!"
"Hey sis," Luis smiled, briefly looking up from the garland he was stringing on the stair railing.
At the sound of her daughter's voice, Pilar immediately came out of the kitchen.
"Paloma, there you are! You left in such a rush this morning. Where have you been?" She worriedly asked.
"I'm sorry Mama, I didn't mean to leave so suddenly." Paloma apologized, easing her way into the doorway. "But I am sure that you all will forgive me, once you've seen what I've brought you."
"Well out with it already!" Miguel laughed at his sister's excitement.
"I got us a Christmas tree!" She happily squealed. "I figured that everyone forgot about getting one, with everything that's been going on lately. So I took the liberty of doing it myself!"
"Are you serious?" Luis quickly came over to her. "You got a Christmas tree, by yourself?"
"Well no," She mischievously smiled. "I did have a little help."
She stepped aside, so the rest of them could see who had helped her.
"Hey everyone," Fox smiled, stepping into the house. "You guys should see the tree. It's huge!"
"Hey stranger!" Luis beamed, giving his friend a pat on the back. "Where have you been? It's like you disappeared off the face of the earth!"
"No, I just had some business that I had to attend to." Fox responded, avoiding Theresa's eyes.
"Woah, look at the size of that thing!" Miguel exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the tree in the back of Fox's car."
"I know, isn't it beautiful?" Paloma excitedly squealed. "Come on, let's go bring it into the house!"
They all rushed outside to get the tree, leaving Fox and Theresa alone in the living room.
Theresa didn't even seem to notice the tree outside. She was still in complete shock from when Fox first appeared in the doorway. Immediate chills ran through her whole body at the sight of him. It was as if she was seeing him for the first time. She was so ecstatic to see him that she wanted to run over and give him the biggest hug ever. But for some reason, he didn't seem to feel the same way. For one thing, he wasn't even looking at her. He just continued to look out the window as if she wasn't even in the room.
"Fox?" She finally said, confused by his behavior.
He turned around and gave her an awkward smile.
"Oh, hey Theresa," He came over and sat next to her on the couch. "You should really see that tree, it's amazing. It's going to look great in here."
For a moment she just looked at him, amazed by how much interest he was taking in a simple tree.
"That's really great Fox." Theresa paused. "But isn't there something that you want to tell me, like where you've been?"
"Oh that's right, I guess I do kind of owe you an explanation." He looked at her. "That night when I went to get you your milk, I received a very important phone call from a friend that I know. It turns out there's this problem with the project that we were working on. So I had to get down there right away."
"And you couldn't come back upstairs and tell me that?" She strangely looked into his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I guess I was just really distracted by the telephone call." He simply said, trying his best not to look at her.
"That's ok," she slowly said still confused. "It's just that I was really worried about you."
"I really wish you wouldn't have. I'm fine." He smiled. "But how are you doing? Are the babies still keeping you up?"
"No, actually they've seemed to settle down." She placed a hand on his arm. "That story must have really helped."
"Yeah," He mumbled unemotionally, as he slowly rose from the couch.
Theresa blankly stared at him and placed a hand to her forehead.
Why is he acting like this? She thought to herself. I was so sure that mentioning the story would have reminded him of how close we had gotten that night. But he's acting as though it meant nothing to him.
"Um Fox—" she began, but was suddenly interrupted.
"Ok keep coming!" Paloma directed Luis and Miguel into the living room. "Move a little to your left! Ok now a little to your right! Perfect! Set it down right there!"
Everyone laughed at how excited Paloma was getting.
"Oh, it looks beautiful!" She smiled.
"Paloma there's nothing on it!" Luis laughed.
"I know, I know!" She giggled. "I'm sorry if I'm over excited, but I'm just so happy! My birthday is tomorrow, and Christmas is a few days away! I'm so happy that I'll be spending my two favorite days of the year with my family!"
"We're happy too sis," Miguel smiled giving Paloma a hug. "This is going to be our first Christmas all together."
"I know! That's why it's so exciting!" She squealed. "And I have the greatest news to tell all of you!"
"There's more!" Luis mockingly laughed. "Well what is it!"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow. That's when I decided to tell everyone!" She mischievously smiled.
"Why tomorrow? Can't you just tell us now?" Pilar asked her daughter.
"Nope!" Paloma giggled. "I want to share it with you on my birthday."
"This must be some surprise." Pilar smiled.
"It is. It's the best surprise ever!" She excitedly went over to the box filled with the decorations. "Now let's start decorating this tree!"
They all laughed and joined her, while Theresa took Fox's hand and quietly led him into the kitchen. When they were alone, she turned to him and looked and him with serious eyes.
"Fox is everything alright?" She worriedly asked him.
"What do you mean?" He darted around her and got a glass from the cupboard.
"Well you're acting really weird." She stared at his back. "Are you mad at me or something because I still find it really strange at how suddenly you left that night?"
"Theresa I told you, I had to attend to a friend!" He snapped. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, but like I said I must've gotten distracted!"
Theresa couldn't believe how upset he was getting.
"Ok, ok I believe you." She tried to calm him down. "It's just that you seem so different all of a sudden and I'm worried."
"Well you really shouldn't be wasting your concern on me. You should be concentrating on the twins and their health." He came over and placed a hand on her stomach. "I don't want you to stress yourself about me and in the process create complications for your pregnancy. Remember what Dr. Russell said about staying clear from stress. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to the twins as a result of your concern for me."
For a split second, Fox felt himself fill with affection for her, but he stopped it right away.
Theresa was about to say something, but he interrupted her.
"I'm going to go see if I can help with any decorating. Are you coming?" He looked over his shoulder.
"Um yeah, I'll be there in a second." She softly said.
When he left, she sat down at the table and placed a hand to her forehead.
"What's going on between us?" She whispered to herself. "I'm almost convinced that something is not right. It's like he feels nothing for me anymore. But how can that be, when two days ago I felt like we were actually making some progress towards getting back together. It just doesn't make sense."
Theresa wiped away the tear that had fallen down her cheek and headed back into the living room. As soon as she stepped into the room, she felt her heart skip a beat as she looked over at Fox and Paloma. They were standing awfully close to each other, and giggling about something that Theresa couldn't make out."
"What is going on here?" She whispered to herself.
Suddenly images of Fox and Paloma kissing in the kitchen flashed in her memory. Instant tears stung her eyes as she continued to watch them. A thousand fears rushed through her mind as she thought the worst. She was so concentrated that she barely felt her mother place a hand on her shoulder.
"Therasita, are you alright?" Pilar concernedly asked. "You don't look so well?"
"Oh yeah mama, I'm fine." She obviously lied, keeping her stare on Fox and Paloma.
Pilar followed her gaze and quickly realized what had gotten her so upset.
"Therasita please don't do this to yourself." She turned her daughter around to face her. "I know that you have your concerns when it comes to Fox and your sister, but you don't know anything for sure. So I am begging you to stop worrying, for the sake of your health and the babies."
"Ok mama, I will." Theresa smiled at her mother.
She placed a hand on her tummy and once more looked up at Fox and her sister.
"I have to stop making these false accusations for the sake of my children. There is nothing going on between Fox and Paloma." She confidently whispered to herself. "At least I hope not."
Fox whizzed by the streets of Harmony, as he made his way over to the Lopez- Fitzgerald household. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, thinking about the events of the last two days. Ever since he had heard Theresa admit that she still had strong feelings for Ethan, he had been avoiding his regular visits with her. It was as if a part of him refused to have any sort of connection with her. Hearing her admit her feelings for Ethan, hurt him more than ever. Although Fox was aware that she still cared for Ethan, he had secretly wished that she would forget about him, and want to renew their relationship. But after hearing her true feelings, he was convinced that whatever he thought was rekindling between them, must have been his imagination. Theresa was in love with Ethan. She was having his children and because of that there was no room for Fox in her life.
He miserably leaned his head back as he stopped at a traffic light.
"Hey what's wrong?" Paloma asked him, noticing the troubled expression on his face.
Fox turned his head over to the passenger seat and smiled.
"Oh nothing, I just have a bit of a headache."
"Awww, well you can rest when we get to my house." She smiled, gently rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ok." He quietly said, keeping his stare on the road.
An instant lump arose in his throat, as he thought about seeing Theresa. He knew it would be weird for her to see him, especially since he had disappeared for two days. To suddenly see him on her doorstep and much less with her little sister, would definitely arise some questions.
"My family is going to be so surprised to see what we've brought them." Paloma interrupted his thoughts. "It was so sweet of you to help me get them this tree for Christmas. Everyone's been so distracted by everything that has happened lately, that I'm sure they've even forgotten that Christmas is less than a week away.
"Well it was my pleasure." He smiled at her. "So have you figured out what you want for your birthday yet?"
A mischievous smile suddenly appeared on her face.
"Uh oh," Fox laughed. "I'm afraid to ask."
She giggled loudly, and snuggled closer to him.
"I'm just joking. I don't want a single thing from you. You've already given me the best present there is."
"Oh yeah, what's that?" He looked down at her.
"You." She smiled, kissing him on his cheek. "I'm so happy that we're together. Being with you is all that I need."
She rested her head on his shoulder, as a worried expression flashed across his face. Fox was glad that he made her so happy, but he wasn't so sure that them being together was what he really wanted.
He still felt extremely confused when it came to his potential relationship with Paloma. Although being with her made him happy, he couldn't help but think that his feelings for her were more directed towards comfort than actual affection. Being hurt by Theresa made him feel vulnerable and weak; so weak that he allowed himself to find comfort in her little sister. He wasn't proud of it. In fact, it made him feel horrible to realize just how unfair he was being to her. It was obvious that she had strong feelings for him and playing with her emotions was not right. Paloma was a great girl, but he wasn't sure that she was the one for him; like Theresa was.
"I can't wait for tomorrow, when we tell everyone about us." Paloma excitedly grinned. "I think out of everyone, Theresa will be the happiest to hear that we are now a couple. She's the only one who knew how much I liked you. She will be so happy to know that her little sister and her best friend are going to be Harmony's newest and cutest couple!"
Fox weakly smiled at Paloma's over-excitement.
If it's anyone, Theresa would be the least person who would be happy about their upcoming news. In fact, there was a good chance that she would hate him more than anything for it.
"So where do you think we should go on our first date with Ethan and Theresa?" Paloma asked him.
"What?" He looked at her. "Ethan and Theresa?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "Once Ethan wakes up, you and I can go on a double date with them. It'll be so much fun!"
The thought of watching Theresa and Ethan together made him sick to his stomach.
"Yeah, I can't wait." He smiled through clenched teeth.
Suddenly he felt a burning rage inside of him.
I can't believe I was actually starting to feel bad for what our news might do to Theresa. Fox thought to himself. She deserves whatever is coming to her after the hurt that she caused me.
He angrily tightened his fists around the steering wheel.
She made me think that she actually wanted to be with me again, when her heart belonged to Ethan the entire time. He thought to himself.
"Well enough is enough." He whispered, so Paloma couldn't hear him. "You can't keep letting her do this to you Fox. You can't keep letting her hurt you this way."
Keeping his stare on the road, he made a solemn promise to himself.
From now on things were going to be different between him and Theresa. He was still going to help her through her pregnancy like he promised, but it would strictly be for the benefit of the twins. He would not let himself become weak with feelings for her. He had to force himself to forget about her, just like she had forgotten about him. As far as having a future with Paloma, he wasn't sure about that. But one thing was clear; he was not going to let Theresa hurt him any longer. He had to find a way to make the pain go away. And if starting a relationship with her little sister was the only way to do that, then that is exactly was he was going to do.
--------------------------------------------------
"Mama, where's the box with the Christmas decorations?" Miguel called from the living room.
"They are in the hallway closet Mijo, why do you ask?" Pilar poked her head out the kitchen.
"Well, I just realized that it's around this time that we start to decorate for Christmas." He smiled.
"That's right little bro!" Luis grinned. "I totally forgot."
"My goodness, with all the planning for Paloma's birthday tomorrow, it completely slipped my mind." Pilar bashfully laughed. "Well you three can start on that right now. I still have to finish making Paloma's cake."
"No problem." Miguel looked over at his brother. "Luis, why don't you help me with the boxes?"
"Sure thing," Luis rose from the couch. "Theresa, aren't you going to help?"
"What?" A distracted Theresa looked up. "Did you say something Luis?"
"Yeah, I was asking if you were going to come help us put up some Christmas decorations." He looked at her concerned.
"Oh, you guys can go ahead." She frowned. "I don't really feel up to it."
"Theresa c'mon," He came over to her. "Look, I know you're worried about Fox but I'm sure everything is fine. He probably just had something that he had to attend to."
"For two days?" She looked at him doubtfully. "Without calling?"
"Ok I admit, that is a little strange." Luis rubbed his forehead. "But if it really were something serious, don't you think we would have heard by now? Fox is a Crane. If something happened to him, it would have been broadcasted all over the news."
"I guess you're right." Theresa sighed.
She reluctantly followed her brother to the centre of the living room, where Miguel had already started to assemble the decorations. She looked into one of the boxes and pulled out one of the angel ornaments. She held it in her hand, as her mind wandered on Fox once more.
Theresa still couldn't understand why Fox had left so suddenly that night. She was so sure that they had made a strong connection after he had told the twins his story. It was as if he was secretly trying to tell her that he was willing to give their relationship another try. She could still remember feeling so relieved that he had decided to give her another chance. It was like she had been granted another opportunity to show Fox how much she loved him. That's why it shocked her when he left so suddenly. Theresa had even tried calling him but whenever she did, his phone would just ring out. She even wondered if he was upset with her, but she could never figure out why.
"Things were going so well that night Fox." She whispered to herself. "I can't think of a single thing that would have upset you."
It had crossed her mind several times, and she tried to make it go away. But lately she had been having the strongest feeling that someone or something was trying to come between them. It was as if their relationship was suddenly different, but she couldn't figure out what could have initiated that change.
"Good morning family!" Paloma suddenly poked her head through the front door. "I have a surprise for you!"
"Hey sis," Luis smiled, briefly looking up from the garland he was stringing on the stair railing.
At the sound of her daughter's voice, Pilar immediately came out of the kitchen.
"Paloma, there you are! You left in such a rush this morning. Where have you been?" She worriedly asked.
"I'm sorry Mama, I didn't mean to leave so suddenly." Paloma apologized, easing her way into the doorway. "But I am sure that you all will forgive me, once you've seen what I've brought you."
"Well out with it already!" Miguel laughed at his sister's excitement.
"I got us a Christmas tree!" She happily squealed. "I figured that everyone forgot about getting one, with everything that's been going on lately. So I took the liberty of doing it myself!"
"Are you serious?" Luis quickly came over to her. "You got a Christmas tree, by yourself?"
"Well no," She mischievously smiled. "I did have a little help."
She stepped aside, so the rest of them could see who had helped her.
"Hey everyone," Fox smiled, stepping into the house. "You guys should see the tree. It's huge!"
"Hey stranger!" Luis beamed, giving his friend a pat on the back. "Where have you been? It's like you disappeared off the face of the earth!"
"No, I just had some business that I had to attend to." Fox responded, avoiding Theresa's eyes.
"Woah, look at the size of that thing!" Miguel exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the tree in the back of Fox's car."
"I know, isn't it beautiful?" Paloma excitedly squealed. "Come on, let's go bring it into the house!"
They all rushed outside to get the tree, leaving Fox and Theresa alone in the living room.
Theresa didn't even seem to notice the tree outside. She was still in complete shock from when Fox first appeared in the doorway. Immediate chills ran through her whole body at the sight of him. It was as if she was seeing him for the first time. She was so ecstatic to see him that she wanted to run over and give him the biggest hug ever. But for some reason, he didn't seem to feel the same way. For one thing, he wasn't even looking at her. He just continued to look out the window as if she wasn't even in the room.
"Fox?" She finally said, confused by his behavior.
He turned around and gave her an awkward smile.
"Oh, hey Theresa," He came over and sat next to her on the couch. "You should really see that tree, it's amazing. It's going to look great in here."
For a moment she just looked at him, amazed by how much interest he was taking in a simple tree.
"That's really great Fox." Theresa paused. "But isn't there something that you want to tell me, like where you've been?"
"Oh that's right, I guess I do kind of owe you an explanation." He looked at her. "That night when I went to get you your milk, I received a very important phone call from a friend that I know. It turns out there's this problem with the project that we were working on. So I had to get down there right away."
"And you couldn't come back upstairs and tell me that?" She strangely looked into his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I guess I was just really distracted by the telephone call." He simply said, trying his best not to look at her.
"That's ok," she slowly said still confused. "It's just that I was really worried about you."
"I really wish you wouldn't have. I'm fine." He smiled. "But how are you doing? Are the babies still keeping you up?"
"No, actually they've seemed to settle down." She placed a hand on his arm. "That story must have really helped."
"Yeah," He mumbled unemotionally, as he slowly rose from the couch.
Theresa blankly stared at him and placed a hand to her forehead.
Why is he acting like this? She thought to herself. I was so sure that mentioning the story would have reminded him of how close we had gotten that night. But he's acting as though it meant nothing to him.
"Um Fox—" she began, but was suddenly interrupted.
"Ok keep coming!" Paloma directed Luis and Miguel into the living room. "Move a little to your left! Ok now a little to your right! Perfect! Set it down right there!"
Everyone laughed at how excited Paloma was getting.
"Oh, it looks beautiful!" She smiled.
"Paloma there's nothing on it!" Luis laughed.
"I know, I know!" She giggled. "I'm sorry if I'm over excited, but I'm just so happy! My birthday is tomorrow, and Christmas is a few days away! I'm so happy that I'll be spending my two favorite days of the year with my family!"
"We're happy too sis," Miguel smiled giving Paloma a hug. "This is going to be our first Christmas all together."
"I know! That's why it's so exciting!" She squealed. "And I have the greatest news to tell all of you!"
"There's more!" Luis mockingly laughed. "Well what is it!"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow. That's when I decided to tell everyone!" She mischievously smiled.
"Why tomorrow? Can't you just tell us now?" Pilar asked her daughter.
"Nope!" Paloma giggled. "I want to share it with you on my birthday."
"This must be some surprise." Pilar smiled.
"It is. It's the best surprise ever!" She excitedly went over to the box filled with the decorations. "Now let's start decorating this tree!"
They all laughed and joined her, while Theresa took Fox's hand and quietly led him into the kitchen. When they were alone, she turned to him and looked and him with serious eyes.
"Fox is everything alright?" She worriedly asked him.
"What do you mean?" He darted around her and got a glass from the cupboard.
"Well you're acting really weird." She stared at his back. "Are you mad at me or something because I still find it really strange at how suddenly you left that night?"
"Theresa I told you, I had to attend to a friend!" He snapped. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, but like I said I must've gotten distracted!"
Theresa couldn't believe how upset he was getting.
"Ok, ok I believe you." She tried to calm him down. "It's just that you seem so different all of a sudden and I'm worried."
"Well you really shouldn't be wasting your concern on me. You should be concentrating on the twins and their health." He came over and placed a hand on her stomach. "I don't want you to stress yourself about me and in the process create complications for your pregnancy. Remember what Dr. Russell said about staying clear from stress. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to the twins as a result of your concern for me."
For a split second, Fox felt himself fill with affection for her, but he stopped it right away.
Theresa was about to say something, but he interrupted her.
"I'm going to go see if I can help with any decorating. Are you coming?" He looked over his shoulder.
"Um yeah, I'll be there in a second." She softly said.
When he left, she sat down at the table and placed a hand to her forehead.
"What's going on between us?" She whispered to herself. "I'm almost convinced that something is not right. It's like he feels nothing for me anymore. But how can that be, when two days ago I felt like we were actually making some progress towards getting back together. It just doesn't make sense."
Theresa wiped away the tear that had fallen down her cheek and headed back into the living room. As soon as she stepped into the room, she felt her heart skip a beat as she looked over at Fox and Paloma. They were standing awfully close to each other, and giggling about something that Theresa couldn't make out."
"What is going on here?" She whispered to herself.
Suddenly images of Fox and Paloma kissing in the kitchen flashed in her memory. Instant tears stung her eyes as she continued to watch them. A thousand fears rushed through her mind as she thought the worst. She was so concentrated that she barely felt her mother place a hand on her shoulder.
"Therasita, are you alright?" Pilar concernedly asked. "You don't look so well?"
"Oh yeah mama, I'm fine." She obviously lied, keeping her stare on Fox and Paloma.
Pilar followed her gaze and quickly realized what had gotten her so upset.
"Therasita please don't do this to yourself." She turned her daughter around to face her. "I know that you have your concerns when it comes to Fox and your sister, but you don't know anything for sure. So I am begging you to stop worrying, for the sake of your health and the babies."
"Ok mama, I will." Theresa smiled at her mother.
She placed a hand on her tummy and once more looked up at Fox and her sister.
"I have to stop making these false accusations for the sake of my children. There is nothing going on between Fox and Paloma." She confidently whispered to herself. "At least I hope not."