7—What Have I Done?

Coming in from outside, Ethan sorts through the mail when a small envelope captures his attention. Staring at the envelope, Ethan thinks to himself No return address, but the writing looks it be?

With that, he takes the letter upstairs to his office. Locking the door, Ethan goes to sit at his desk, taking out the letter from the envelope, sighing when he sees the familiar handwriting stare back at him.

"Theresa." He whispers, running his finger over the ink on the page. Upon reading the words, however, his touch falters.

Dear Ethan,

All my life, I wished for someone to love me, someone to make me feel so alive and filled with happiness. No surprise that I let Fate find my way to you. When I met you, even though we got off on the wrong foot, I knew just by looking at your blue eyes that you were the one for me. I knew that I had to do whatever it took for me to get to show you that I was the woman you needed in your life.

When you first told me you loved me, I felt so complete. I just knew that our love would get us through anything. When we made love on that beach for the first time, I felt myself fly away. I gave myself fully to you, knowing in return that I would have you in my life forever.

However, my idea and your idea of forever apparently didn't match up, since we are both on different pages. You have your life with Gwen, and now I have my life with little Ethan and our daughter Jane. I can't keep living my life chasing after a dream that apparently will never be more than just that, a dream….

Wiping a tear from her eye, Theresa sighs as she looks back out at the moon. Taking a deep breath, she turns back to her letter, and continues to write.

My love for you is so full, so precious. No matter what happens in the future, I will forever love you. I'm finally letting you go and be happy with Gwen. You deserve to be happy, and I deserve more than what you can give me right now.

I know that one day, we will be together. Maybe not in this life, but soon, my love, our love will overflow so fully that we will be giving into our passion, and be united the way our hearts and souls know.

I wish you all the best, and know that you are always welcome in my home, and you are always welcomed into the life of our daughter. If only our dreams had become realities…

I will forever love you, Ethan.

Theresa.

Re-reading the letter, Ethan looks up and closes his eyes. God, what have I done? Folding the letter slowly, Ethan places it into his pocket, and takes out his wallet in the process to look at a picture of him and Theresa from their dating days.

"How can you give up on me so quickly, Theresa?" He says into the picture.

You left her no choice, you idiot! A voice inside his head screams.

"I had to marry Gwen!"

No, you did what you thought was the right thing. Maybe the right thing was to marry Theresa all this time. You KNEW you wanted her to be your wife…

As if on cue, Ethan flashes back to the biggest confession of his life….

Flashback

"Who were you going to ask to marry you that night at the mansion?" Theresa asked, as she watched the only man she loved run his fingers nervously through his hair.

"It's not important now."

"Are you kidding me? This is the most important question I could ask you. It's a simple answer. Just tell me who your heart of hearts screamed out for you to marry. Was it me, or Gwen?"

As if on cue, Ethan blinked, the memories of his time with Theresa fresh at the front of his mind. Shaking his head slightly, Ethan turned and took Theresa's hand in his own, feeling her warmth seep into his body.

"You." Clearing his throat, Ethan sighed. "I was going to ask you to marry me." Watching the stunned look on Theresa's face, Ethan continued. "But it wasn't meant to be. I chose Gwen. I have to be with her."

Present

"I did….I do want Theresa to be my wife….I love her so much….how could I have ruined three lives by my choice? All I wanted was to do the right thing."

What if the right thing all this time was to have married Theresa?

"This is crazy, I won't get any answers talking to myself." With that, Ethan picks up the phone.

"Dad? Can I come over, I need your help."

Coming Up

Ethan and Sam talk!

Will Ethan find the happiness he deserves?

Please R/R