CH 32: Christmas Surprises
Theresa cheerfully walked into the living room and sat down the bowl of eggnog that Pilar had made that afternoon. She smiled as she hummed her favorite Christmas carol and inhaled the sweet scent of sugar cookies being baked in the oven.
"I love Christmas!" She happily sighed to herself.
Suddenly the doorbell rang, as she hurried to see who it was.
"Hey Whit, Merry Christmas!" She smiled, giving her friend a hug.
"Merry Christmas honey!" Whitney grinned, handing Theresa a beautifully decorated gift bag.
"Aww, you didn't have to bring me anything." Theresa giggled, excitedly peeking into the bag.
"Yeah right Theresa! From the day that I've known you, getting gifts has always been your most favorite part of the holidays."
"Guilty as charged!" Theresa exclaimed, as she pulled out the adorable baby outfits and bottles from the bag. "Oh my goodness! Whitney, these are so cute!"
"I wasn't sure what color to get since we're not sure what these little bundles of joy are yet." She smiled, gently rubbing Theresa's tummy.
"Well maybe you don't, but I actually found out the sex of one of the twins." Theresa grinned.
"You did? How come you never told anyone?"
"Well, let's just say I never got a chance to." She frowned, remembering the night of Paloma's birthday. "But I'll be happy to share the news, once everybody else gets here."
"Sounds good to me." Whitney smiled. "So where is everyone?"
"Well, Miguel went to spend some time with Charity over at the Bennetts, Paloma is in the kitchen helping Mama cook, and Luis went with Fox to the hospital to get Ethan."
"That's right, Ethan got released this morning." She recalled, slowly starring over at Theresa. "You must be excited...and nervous at the same time."
"Nervous?" Theresa looked at her puzzled. "Why would I be nervous?"
"Well, this is going to be the first time that we're all going to be together since Ethan first slipped into his coma. A lot has happened since then, don't you think?"
"Whitney, if you're referring to my relationship with Fox, I'm not worried." She looked at her seriously. "Like I told you before, Fox and I are just friends now. So there's no reason for this to be awkward. Today is just going to be a group of friends spending Christmas together, and celebrating the recovery of someone special to us. No big deal."
"Uh huh," Whitney looked at her, "Whatever you say Theresa."
"Girls, we're home!" Luis suddenly poked his head through the front door.
"Oh hey!" Theresa and Whitney spun around, as Fox and Luis helped Ethan into the house.
"How are you feeling Ethan?" Whitney asked, as they all took a seat on the couch.
"A lot better actually." He smiled. "It feels good to finally get out of that hospital bed. I almost forgot how beautiful Harmony was in the winter."
"It sure is." Theresa grinned, sitting next to him. "We're so glad to have you home."
"And I'm glad to be home." Ethan winked at her, sweetly kissing her cheek.
"I'm going to go see where Paloma is." Fox uncomfortably cleared his throat, and slipped into the kitchen.
Theresa suddenly felt Whitney's stare on her, but she tried to ignore it.
"So how you three doing?" Ethan smiled rubbing her tummy.
"We're doing good." She happily grinned. "I just know that the twins love Christmas as much as I do. They've been kicking all morning!"
"Really?" Ethan smiled. "I've never felt them kick before. Do they do it often?"
"Sometimes." Theresa nodded. "I find that they usually do it, whenever I feel really happy. It's like they can sense my happiness."
"Well maybe they can sense mine too because at this very moment I am overjoyed that you are carrying our children." Ethan smiled, gently placing his hand on her tummy. "That's funny I don't feel anything."
"Hmm, maybe they're just tired." Theresa assumed.
"Hey, what's going on?" Fox suddenly came into the living room.
"Ethan is trying to see if he can feel the twins kicking." Whitney told him.
"Trying?" He looked at them bewildered. "Those little angels are always kicking around in there. I already told Theresa that they're going to be excellent soccer players."
Everyone laughed as Fox went around to where Theresa was sitting. Just then, Theresa felt a bit of pressure on her stomach.
"They just did it!" She exclaimed, as Fox placed his hand on the last spot she felt the kick.
"Yup, they're kicking alright!" He laughed.
"Can I feel?" Ethan excitedly grinned.
"Sure, put your hand right here." Theresa guided him.
But for some strange reason, the kicking suddenly stopped.
"That's weird," Theresa frowned. "They were just kicking like crazy!"
"That's because they get excited whenever I'm around." Fox smiled proudly. "They aren't even born yet and they already know what a great uncle they have!"
"Well Fox has been spending a lot of time with them, so it's natural for the twins to know when he's around." Luis commented.
"What do you mean?" Ethan looked at everyone.
"Well since you were in the hospital Fox spent a lot of time taking care of Theresa and the twins." Whitney informed him. "He always took her for her checkups, made sure she ate well and got lots of exercise."
"He even brought me all the crazy things I wanted when I had my weird cravings." Theresa giggled. "Sometimes I wanted chocolate and other times I wanted chips, It was crazy!"
"Wow, I sure missed out on a lot." Ethan sadly frowned. "I bet you probably even know the sex of the babies."
"Well only one." Theresa looked at him. "The doctor couldn't tell the sex of the other baby because its legs were closed."
"What?" Fox excitedly looked at her. "You know the sex of one of the babies? Well what is it?"
"Oh that's right, I didn't tell any of you." She remembered. "It's a girl!"
"Are you serious?" Fox smiled, giving her a hug. "That's so good to hear! But you said you don't know the sex of the other one?"
"Nope we couldn't tell. But I just know that the other one is also a girl. I can feel it! It's mother's intuition!" She excitedly grinned.
"I don't know Theresa, during those cravings of yours you asked for chips a lot of the time. Maybe the other one is going to be a boy." He winked at her.
Theresa just laughed at Fox's theory.
"But it doesn't matter because whatever they are, there's no doubt in my mind that they are going to be the most beautiful twins ever. I mean, just look at their mother!" Fox winked at her.
"I see you haven't lost your charm, Fox." Ethan suddenly spoke, growing annoyed by his half brother's flirtatious behavior. "Thanks though for helping out Theresa while I was in the hospital."
"No problem, it was my pleasure." He smiled at her.
"I bet it was." Ethan said underneath his breath. "But it's ok now because I think I got things from here."
Fox just stared at Ethan as he put his arm around Theresa and kissed her lightly. The sight of them made him sick to his stomach. It killed him to know that Ethan thought he could just waltz back into Theresa's life and take his place. Until now, he hadn't been there for her once. Although Fox knew that it was because he was sick, he still couldn't help but feel angry. He had put so much time and effort into developing his relationship with Theresa and now Ethan was taking it all away in one single step.
"I hope you do, because Theresa's pregnancy is very fragile." He snapped back. "She needs to stay clear of any type of stress. So you better take good care of her and the twins."
"Don't worry half brother." Ethan stared at him coldly. "My family and I are going to be just fine."
Suddenly everyone felt the tension rise in the room, as Fox and Ethan kept their angry stares on one another.
"Is it just me, or is it getting kind of hot in here?" Theresa began to breathe rapidly, as she felt herself grow extremely uncomfortable. "I think I need some air."
Both Fox and Ethan quickly stood up to assist her, but she quickly refused.
"No, it's ok. You guys stay here. I'm just going to go out in the backyard for a while." She told them, heading for the front door. "Luis, can you help everyone to a cup of eggnog?"
"Ya, sure sis." Luis looked at her, concerned by her behavior.
Not giving them a second look, Theresa quickly grabbed her jacket and closed the door behind her. She couldn't stand to be in that house any longer, especially with Fox and Ethan about to kill each other. She didn't want to admit it, but Whitney was right. This was awkward.
She slowly wandered over to the swing and dusted off the fallen snow that still laid on the seat. Carefully sitting down, she soothingly rubbed her tummy as she felt the twins kick once more.
"Why don't you guys kick when your daddy's around?" She lightly giggled. "You two must really like your uncle Fox huh? Yeah, I really like him too."
Theresa reached around her neck and carefully pulled out the tiny locket that Fox had given to her. Unaware that he had come outside to make sure that she was ok, she continued to quietly talk to herself. As she stared down at the photograph, a small tear escaped from the corner of her eye.
"Fox, you said this was going to be easy. But it's not." She said to herself. "With Ethan back this is even harder than it originally was. I know that Ethan is the father of the twins but I can't just forget about the feelings that I have for you. We've been through so much. Can we honestly still stay friends after it all?"
Fox just stood there with his mouth open, not believing what he was hearing. He had initially planned on coming out there to apologize to Theresa for the way he had behaved in the house. He didn't think it was fair for him to reveal his feelings for her when they had initially planned to be friends. But at that moment he could have sworn that Theresa was having second thoughts about the promise that they made to each other.
"Could I have been wrong about us Theresa?" He whispered to himself. "Do you and I actually stand a chance despite everything that's happened?"
Fox silently continued to stare at her as she held on tight to the locket in her hand, as a deep feeling of hope filled his heart.