CH 36- Awaiting

—Three Months Later—

"Ok, so with your aunt and uncle that makes twenty people on your side of the family, and with Mama, and Miguel that makes two people on my side." Paloma rolled her eyes. "I hope there will be enough seats for them!"

Fox smiled as he heard the sarcasm in her voice.

He dried the excess water from his hair and threw the towel aside before joining her on his bed.

"Baby, please don't do this." He begged her, kissing the nape of her neck. "We're getting married in two days. This is supposed to be a happy time for us."

"I would be happy if my family supported me for once!" She sadly looked at him. "It's not fair Fox, why is it such a big deal for us to get married when Theresa almost married Ethan at around this exact age? They treat me like such a baby!"

"Well, that's because you kind of are." He looked her in the eyes.

"Fox!" She lightly punched him. "How can you say that?"

"No, hear me out." He giggled. "Sweetheart, you have to remember that you're the youngest of the family. Luis is just being the big brother that he's used to being. He's just looking out for you. He probably just can't accept the fact that his baby sister is growing up."

"Well, he's going to have to because I'm not a baby anymore!" She frustratingly cried.

"I know, I know." He soothingly combed through her hair. "Just give Luis some time. He'll come around. You're family loves you, trust me. Everything will be ok."

"I hope your right." She lightly kissed him.

"I always am." He winked at her.

He got up from the bed and went over to his dresser to finish buttoning up his shirt.

"I'm going to be dropping by your house today." He told her, splashing aftershave on his face.

"Oh really?" She looked up.

"Yeah, I'm going to go see how Ethan and Theresa are doing. From all the time that we've been spending preparing for the wedding, I haven't been seeing much of them lately. Do you want me to bring you anything?" He came over to her.

"Nope. Just say hi to Mama for me." Paloma smiled at him.

"Sure thing." He leaned in and gave her a long kiss. "See you later babe."

"Bye."

As he drove over to the Lopez-Fitzgerald house, he thought about how long it had been since he had seen Theresa. It had been over three months since he first proposed to Paloma and until now he had been so busy planning for wedding that he barely had time for anything else. Whitney had recently told him that Theresa and Ethan were almost set for the twins' arrival. They had already decorated the nursery and bought tons of necessities for them. A lot of things had changed over the past few months, but it was all for the best. Fox was finally getting the chance to move on with his life and Theresa was doing the same.

He pulled up in the drive way and smiled at the beautiful flower bed that surrounded the front porch.

"It looks like Pilar's been busy." He laughed, as he reached in the backseat for the gift bag he had brought.

He climbed out of the car and approached the front door, ringing the doorbell.

"Oh my goodness! Fox, what a pleasant surprise!" Pilar happily grinned, as she stepped aside for him to come in.

"Hey Pilar, how are you doing?" He smiled, hugging her.

"I'm doing well, and yourself?"

"Oh, I'm excellent." He grinned. "Everything's almost up to date with the wedding and Paloma's really excited."

"That's good." She smiled relieved. "I was hoping that she wouldn't stay upset with the family for too long. So what brings you over?"

"Actually, I came to see how Theresa was doing? Is she around?"

"Yes, she's upstairs with Ethan in the nursery." Pilar smiled. "They've really done a great job with Luis' old room. It's looks beautiful!"

"Well, I can't wait to see it." He winked at her. "I'll see you later."

As he made his way up the stairs, Fox heard talking coming from a nearby room. He carefully peaked inside and smiled when he saw Theresa. Suddenly his smile faded when Ethan came into view. Fox watched in silence as Ethan slipped his arms around Theresa's waste as she placed a teddy bear into one of the cribs. He closed his eyes as he felt his pulse rate increase.

That should be us Theresa, not you and Ethan. We should be the ones putting finishing touches on the babies' room. He thought to himself.

As he realized what he was saying, he quickly stopped himself and let out a deep sigh.

You have to stop thinking like this Fox. You're going to be marrying Paloma soon. You and Theresa are over.

Suddenly he heard Theresa's phone ring in her room. He quickly hid around the corner as she hurried to answer it and Ethan followed close behind. When the coast was clear he eased his way into the room and placed the gift bag on the ground. He took a brief moment to look around, as his eyes wandered up and down the beautifully decorated space.

On both sides of the room, there were two cribs made of a beautiful dark mahogany wood. To match, two book shelves and a large rocking chair made of the same wood, stood in the corner next to the large lace-curtained window. Many dolls, books and stuffed animals occupied the spaces on the shelves. It was pretty clear to see that the enitre room was carefully planned out from the fine detail of the chiseled embroidered border along the centre of the walls, to the obvious jungle theme that spread out through the entire area. The walls were painted half ivory and half pear-green, giving the room an altogether bright and cozy look. Painted images of baby tigers, lions, giraffes and monkeys were plastered all over the walls, as well as on the blankets and throw covers inside the two baby cribs. To add to the jungle theme, tiny butterfly mobiles hung playfully above the cribs, softly playing a bedtime tune. The bumper pads were a soft peach/ beige color, which was also brought out in the fabric of the large arm chair that sat on the far corner of the room, next to the change table and dresser drawers. Fox also noticed that a lot of pillows occupied the enormous space, ranging in different pastel colors of green, blue and pink, which also brought out the soft creamy blue and beige color of the rug. From the bright sunlight that shone through the window, the room also had a very light and spring-like glow to it. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Fox walked over to one of the bookshelves and noticed that a few empty picture frames stood on every shelf. He could already imagine beautiful photographs of the babies inside them as he smiled to himself. Picking up one of the stuffed animals that laid inside the crib and taking one last glance at the room, he happily sighed.

"The twins are going to love it in here."

"You think so?" A voice was suddenly heard from behind him.

Fox spun around and grinned when he saw Theresa standing at the doorway.

"We were kind of going for a jungle-like theme." She giggled. "You think we captured it?"

"Yeah, I think so." He laughed, holding up one of the toy giraffes.

"We really wanted it to be special for them." Theresa smiled, staring into his eyes.

"Well, like I said, I really think they are going to love it." He returned her smile.

For a few moments, they just stared into each other's eyes as different emotions filled their heads. It had been a while since they had spent time together and it was a comforting feeling to be in each other's presence again. Finally Theresa broke the silence.

"So, what are you doing here?" She asked. "Is everything alright with the wedding?"

She tried to hide her uneasiness when she said the last word. It still bothered Theresa very much to know that her sister and Fox were getting married; she promised herself that she would not tell him though, knowing that it would just create a lot of confusion in their relationship.

"Yeah, everything's great!" Fox assured her. "I just decided to stop by and see how you and Ethan were since we haven't really talked to each other in a while."

"Yeah, things have been pretty crazy these past few months with you and Paloma planning for the wedding and Ethan and I preparing for the twins." She sadly looked away.

Fox instantly sensed her uneasiness and tried to change the subject.

"Well I also came by to give you this." He smiled, reaching behind one of the cribs for the gift bag.

"What's this?" She looked up at him surprised.

"Well I didn't really get to give you and Ethan a gift for your baby shower, so I just put together a little something." He grinned.

"Oh Fox, that's so thoughtful of you!" She cried, tears already shinning in her eyes.

She peered into the bag and gasped in shock at the abundance of toys and baby utensils before her eyes.

"Fox!" She cried. "Look at all this stuff! This must have cost you a fortune!"

"Theresa, I am a Crane." He jokingly reminded her.

"Right." She smiled. "I seem to always forget that since you're absolutely nothing like them."

"Well thank you." He winked at her. "Besides, I'd rather spend the Crane fortune on two of the most beautiful babies anyhow."

Among all the toys, bottles, and baby outfits, Theresa saw something that instantly brought tears to her eyes. She carefully pulled out the two matching soccer jerseys and sponge soccer balls and let out a small cry.

"Fox, these are so cute!" She squealed. "And look, one's pink and one's blue! You must really be confident that the other twin is going to be a boy."

"I sure do. Besides, as soon as the twins are born I'm going to teach them how to play soccer so we can have our official team." He giggled.

"Fox," she sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. "This is just so—"

"What is it Theresa?" He softly asked, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I-I just can't believe how wonderful you are!" She cried, the tears pouring down her face. "Everything has been so hard lately and you've just been so nice! I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you!"

Fox confusingly looked into her eyes, as she continued to cry in his arms. From the many times that he had seen it before, Fox knew that this was just another one of Theresa's hormone attacks, as a result of the pregnancy. But he silently held her and softly combed through her hair.

"Everyone has so many bad things to say about the Cranes, but no one could ever say anything horrible about you! You're not even like them in the slightest way. You're always putting others before yourself and you're the best friend anyone could ever have! The twins are going to be so lucky to have such a caring and loving uncle as you!" She sobbed.

Fox smiled, as he once again peered around the room, suddenly feeling a warm feeling rush through him.

"No Theresa," He sighed. "I'm the lucky one."