CH 30- The Kiss
It was Christmas Eve, and everyone was happily gathered at the Lopez-Fitzgerald household for a pre-Christmas celebration. Pilar had spent the entire day cooking and making preparations for the night's gathering. Everyone close to the family was there including Whitney, Chad, Gwen, Hank, Sheridan, Charity and Fox.
"This is so nice," Theresa smiled at Whitney, as the two girls sat at the bottom of the stairs talking. "I love that we can all spend Christmas Eve together like this. There's something about this time of the year that makes you grateful for the times you share with family and friends."
"Yeah, it sure does." Whitney grinned. "But there's something that is still bothering me Theresa."
"What's that?"
"Well, it's what you told me earlier about you and Fox." Whitney sighed, looking into her friend's eyes. "I just think that you're kidding yourself honey. There is no way that you and Fox can ever be just friends. You two have been though way too much and I see the way you look at each other. You don't have to have x-ray vision to see that you two are very much in love."
"Whitney, I told you. Fox and I already talked about this." Theresa gave her a reassuring smile. "I admit that it will be hard to go back to being friends with him but it's just something that we are going to have to deal with. We have to forget about our feelings for each other because under the circumstances that we are currently in, there's no way that anything more can ever develop between us."
"Alright," Whitney gave up. "I just hope you two know what you're doing."
"We don't really have a choice Whit." Theresa sighed. "But let's not talk about this anymore. It's Christmas, we should be having fun!"
"Ok," Whitney giggled. "C'mon let's go join the group!"
Theresa and Whitney made their way over to the living room where everyone was laughing and having a good time.
"Hey, what's going on over here?" Whitney smiled, slipping into Chad's arms.
"Oh, hey baby!" Chad kissed her. "We were just talking about how Christmas is such an amazing time of the year."
"No way! Theresa and I were just talking about the same thing!" Whitney smiled.
"Well, Whit knows that ever since we were small, Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year." Theresa grinned. "I remember we used to get all hyped up on sugar cookies and stay up really late on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come down the chimney."
"I can't believe you remember that!" Whitney giggled.
"Of course I do!" Theresa winked at her. "It's pretty hard to forget good times like that."
"I just love Christmas for all the cheerfulness and love that seems to linger in the air." Sheridan smiled.
"I know what you mean." Charity agreed. "There's something about this time of the year that puts everyone into such a cheerful and giving mood! It's such a wonderful time to be with the people that you love."
"You can say that again!" Paloma grinned, starring up lovingly into Fox's eyes.
Everyone watched as Fox tilted her chin up to face him and lightly kissed her lips.
Luis immediately looked up at Theresa, concerned about her reaction but to his surprise she remained perfectly calm and admiringly smiled at her little sister and Fox.
Confused by her unstressed behavior, Luis turned his angry stare back to Fox. He couldn't understand how he could appear to be so in love with Paloma, when not too long ago he was head over heels for Theresa. Something about it just didn't seem right. Fox loved Theresa—it was as simple as that. So then why was he currently making googly eyes at their baby sister? It just didn't make sense.
Sheridan immediately sensed Luis's uneasiness, so she quickly changed the subject.
"So Theresa, how are things going with the twins? Aren't they due soon?"
"Yup, I'm half way there!" Theresa smiled. "I'm finding that I'm getting a lot more tired easily. But the morning sickness has seemed to lessen. I just can't wait until they're born! I already feel such a strong connection to them."
"Well that's common, you are their mother." Sheridan happily grinned. "The bond between a mother and child is forever strong. That's why I can't wait to have my own someday. Growing up I always felt neglected by my father, after my mother died. Even though Julian was around, he mostly stuck by Father which always left me feeling pretty lonely. But when Luis and I finally have our own children I'm going to make sure that they have the family I never had."
"And hopefully that will be very soon." Luis kissed her sweetly.
"Sorry to interrupt," Pilar poked her head into the living room. "But can some of you ladies come help me bring out some food?"
"Sure Pilar, we'll all help!" Charity hopped off Miguel's lap.
As soon as the girl's left, all the men kept their stare on Fox.
"What?" He finally looked up.
"What's going on here man?" Chad spoke first. "Since when have you had a thing for Paloma?"
"How could you do that to Theresa?" Luis added, not giving him a chance to respond. "I thought you loved her."
"I do," Fox began. "But we can never be together."
He further explained to them about him and Theresa's agreement to remain friends.
"Friends?" Chad looked at him in disbelief. "Are you sure you'll be able to do that? You and Theresa love each other and you've been though a lot. You can't just throw that away."
"Chad's right." Luis added. "Don't get me wrong. I love Paloma and there is nothing more that I want than to see her happy. But I don't want her to be with someone whose heart belongs to someone else, and yours belongs to Theresa. You two may think that being friends is the best thing but don't fool yourself. All you two are doing is placing a sheet over your true feelings. One way or another though, you're going to have to come to terms with how you really feel."
"We have come to terms with how we feel!" Fox said defensively. "We both know that we still love each other but there's no way that we can ever be more than friends. Plus, I really care about Paloma and I want to see where this relationship leads. We have no secrets between us so it'll be easier to start a future together. I just want us all to be happy and this is the only way that that could happen."
None of them got a chance to respond because soon after the girls returned.
"Hey guys, guess what? It's midnight!" Theresa excitedly grinned, laying one of the plates on the table.
"And?" Fox asked confused.
"Well, it's always been a Lopez-Fitzgerald tradition to open ONE gift on Christmas Eve at midnight!" She smiled.
"Oh my gosh, that's right! I completely forgot." Pilar exclaimed. "Mija, you used to love this part of Christmas when you were a little girl. Do you remember?"
"I sure do!" Theresa happily squealed. "And trust me Mama, I have not outgrown it!"
Everybody laughed as Theresa waddled her way over to the Christmas tree to get gifts for everyone.
"Here, I'll help you!" Fox offered, rising from the couch.
He graciously went over to where she was standing and took three or four gifts from her hand, as she reached down to grab the others. Just as they were heading back to the group, Paloma let out an excited shriek.
"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed. "Look Fox, you and Theresa are underneath the mistletoe!"
"What?" Theresa looked at her sister confused.
"You and Fox are underneath the mistletoe, sis!" Paloma came over to them. "You know what that means."
"Paloma, I don't think we should—" Fox began to walk away nervously.
"No, come on Fox it's tradition!" She pulled him back. "Besides it's just Theresa."
"Really Paloma, this isn't necessary—" Theresa groaned uncomfortably.
"What is wrong with you two? Come on Fox, just give her a kiss!" Paloma urged him on.
Finally Fox threw his hands up in defeat.
"Ok fine!" He gave up. "Theresa, let's just do this."
"Alright." She awkwardly smiled.
Wanting to get it over with, Fox quickly leaned in and lightly kissed her on the lips.
"Oh c'mon Fox, you can do better than that!" Paloma teased. "Don't worry I'm not going to get mad. It's Theresa, and besides it's Christmas! Now give her a REAL kiss!"
"Paloma—" Fox looked at her worriedly.
"Just do it! It's not a big deal!" She insisted.
Knowing how uncomfortable it must have been for them, Whitney and Gwen exchanged worried glances.
Fox suddenly felt his heartbeat increase, as he realized that Paloma was not going to give up. He nervously glanced at Theresa, as she returned his worried gaze. Finally he took a step closer to her, not taking his eyes of hers. Gently taking her face in his hands, he leaned in and softly kissed her trembling lips. For a split second all motion around them seemed to stand completely still, as they felt the intense warmth between them. Finally, for what seemed like several minutes, they slowly pulled apart and stared into each other's eyes.
"Alright, well that was nice!" Pilar suddenly spoke. "Let's open these gifts huh?"
"Uh—ok, s-sure Mama." Theresa stammered, seeing the look of concern in her mother's eyes.
She quickly handed the remaining boxes she still held in her hand to Sheridan, and walked over to the dinner table. Knowing how torn Theresa must've felt, Whitney rushed to her side.
"Honey, are you ok?" She worriedly asked. "I know that must have been really hard for you."
"What are you talking about Whit?" Theresa avoided her eyes. "I'm fine. That kiss meant absolutely nothing. It was just in the spirit of Christmas."
"Oh really?" Whitney looked at her doubtfully.
"Yes." She quickly answered. "In fact, I'm sure Fox didn't feel a thing."
"Well if you're so sure that Fox didn't feel a thing, then how come since you two kissed he hasn't been able to take his eyes off you?" Whitney informed her.
Theresa quickly glanced back at Fox and just as Whitney had said, he was indeed staring at her.
"I don't know, ok?" She let out a sigh of frustration. "Can we just drop this please? I really don't feel like talking about it."
"Alright, but just know that I'm here for you." Whitney reminded her, giving her arm a gentle squeeze.
Theresa sat by herself for awhile, as everyone began to sing different Christmas carols. Luis had even brought out his guitar to play, while Paloma helped him sing an old Latin Christmas song. As Theresa silently sat and listened to the romantic words, she suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. Quietly, she left the room and made her way into the kitchen.
After getting a cold drink, she began to feel more relaxed. Still hearing the singing from the other room, she placed a hand on her tummy and smiled.
"You two are going to be born into the most loving family you could ever imagine." She whispered. "I just can't wait until you finally get here!"
"That makes two of us." Fox's voice suddenly sounded behind her. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm ok." Theresa smiled at him.
"That's good." He softly spoke. "I hope what happened earlier didn't shake you up too much."
"Not too much," she shyly admitted. "You?"
"Well, I'm not going to lie to you. It definitely arose some old feelings again."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." She placed a hand on his arm. "This friend thing is a lot harder than I expected."
"It sure is." Fox let out a sigh. "But I think I may have something for you that may make things a lot easier."
"Oh? What's that?" Theresa looked at him suspiciously.
Fox smiled and drew a tiny box from behind his back.
"Well, I noticed that you didn't get to open a gift yet so here you go." He winked, handing her the box.
Theresa smiled and carefully opened the present. When she saw the expensive silver locket lying inside, she almost gasped in amazement.
"Fox, this is beautiful!" She cried, slowly opening it. "Oh my god." She smiled, as she gazed at the photograph inside.
"Do you remember when we took that?" He grinned. "It was around the time when we first met and you insisted on taking that picture of us."
"I remember." Theresa smiled. "It was so that we would never forget how much fun we had that day."
"Exactly." He walked around her to put it around her neck. "That's why I wanted you to have this. Whenever you look at it, you can remember just how happy we were when we were just buddies. So that means that becoming friends again really shouldn't be that hard."
"Thank you Fox." Theresa grinned pulling him in for a hug. "We really were good friends weren't we?"
"The best." He softly whispered.
He slowly pulled back and carefully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, lightly caressing her face with the back of his hand. Suddenly he once again felt his heartbeat pound hard against his chest, as he stared into her eyes. Only this time, there wasn't a part of him that felt uncomfortable about it. Not being able to control himself, he cradled her face in his hands and leaned in, hungrily kissing her lips. Without taking a breath he continued to kiss her, letting his tongue explore every inch of her mouth. It was almost as if an invisible force was drawing them together. Finally without warning, Theresa reluctantly pushed him away.
"Fox, what are you doing?" She managed to say in between gasps.
"Oh god," He whispered, completely caught off guard. "Theresa—I'm so sorry."
Unable to say a word, Theresa just stood there placing a hand to her lips.
Suddenly Gwen rushed into the kitchen with an ecstatic expression on her face.
"Guys, we have to get to the hospital. Dr Russell just called." She blurted out.
"What? Why? Is everything ok?" Theresa asked confused.
"Everything is more than ok!" Gwen happily squealed. "Ethan's awake!"