Unconditionally-Chapter 5

She's a disease. Ivy Winthrop decided as she stared in disbelief at the pair that stood before her. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald Crane was a nasty insidious disease virus, infecting everything and everyone she touched with her poison. And once a poor helpless victim was infected, it seemed that there was no cure. Especially if the victim didn't want to be cured.

"Don't 'Hello, mother' me." She glared her displeasure. "I come to visit and find you and this tramp all over each other!"

"That's enough!" Ethan protested, placing himself between Theresa and his mother.

"No, not enough." Ivy responded. "What are you thinking, Ethan? You're married. To Gwen, who loves you and has always been there for you. And in case you've forgotten, this…creature is married, too. She aligned herself with Alistair in another one of her sick attempts to break up your marriage."

"I married Alistair to get my daughter back!" Theresa finally reacted to the venom that was being spewed forth.

A maliciously satisfied smile lit Ivy's face as she continued. "So you say. Nevertheless, your motives hardly matter at this point. You're his property now. And we all know that Alistair isn't keen on sharing."

"Stop it, Mother!" Ethan roared angrily. "Don't talk to Theresa like that!" Taking a deep, calming breath, he continued. "You don't know everything that's happened. Gwen and I are getting a divorce."

"Oh no. Son, no. You can't."

"Yes I can. I am."

"I thought you and Gwen were happy. You both seemed so excited about India, and the

chance to be a family. Don't do this, Ethan."

"No. I wasn't happy. I haven't been happy for a long time. And I'm sick of pretending just to make life easier on everybody else. I've spent too much of my life pretending. I love you, Mother. But I won't let you or anyone else control my life anymore. I'm filing in the next few days and there is nothing you can do to change my mind."

"I'm not trying to control your life. I'm trying to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life by destroying your marriage for a whore who doesn't deserve you. "

"I am not a whore!" Theresa denied the insult. "And how dare you judge me when you are far from innocent yourself?"

Grabbing Theresa's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze, Ethan took a step forward, locking eyes with his mother. Seeing the fury contained in her son's eyes shook Ivy.

"For the last time, do not speak to or about Theresa that way. Whether you like it or not, she is going to be a part of my life. She is not only the love of my life, she's the mother of my child. We're going to be together. In fact, if things work out the way I hope, Theresa will be your daughter-in-law some day soon. So I suggest you accept it and start getting used to the idea. Because I will not sit back and let you run roughshod over her anymore. Don't make me choose between you or my future and family with Theresa, mother. You won't like the result."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot accept you deciding to ruin your life."

"Then you won't be a part of it."

"Excuse me?" Ivy responded in disbelief at her son's words.

"I'm saying that until you can respect my wishes and the way I want to live my life, and

until you stop going after Theresa, you are no longer welcome in my life. I'm not asking you to

love her, mother. I'm simply asking you to be civil. If that's too much for you, then I'm sorry, but I don't want to see or be around you."

"Wait! Stop!" Theresa protested, moving to place herself between the man she loved and his mother, hoping to cool off what was becoming an overly heated confrontation. As much as she thrilled at Ethan's standing up for her, the last thing she wanted was to cause a rift between he and his family. "Ethan, please, you don't have to do this. Not because of me."

Looking at Theresa, Ethan smiled softly at the concern in her voice. It amazed him to no end the things that she would do for those she loved. She'd proven it countless times before. This time, however, it was his turn. He'd told her he was willing to fight for what he wanted, and he had meant it. He'd also had enough of his mother thinking she could run his life.

"Yes, I do have to do this. You're worth it." He assured her. "And this isn't just because of you." Turning back to face his mother, Ethan's smile vanished. "You know where I stand. The ball is in your court."

"You're obviously determined to follow through with this. I'll see myself out." Ivy stated her voice chilly. Walking to the door, she paused before exiting to announce. "Your father will hear of this Ethan. And he will be just as upset as I am about what you are doing." With those parting words she exited the mansion.

"Well, that went horribly." Theresa sighed. "I'm sorry. I know how important family is to you."

"Family is important." Ethan agreed. "But as much as I love my mom and dad, and my brothers and sisters, from this point on you and the children are my family. And I'll do whatever it takes to make our family work." He promised, taking her hands in his. "Besides, I am not completely giving up on mother just yet. Let's give her some time to cool down, get over the

shock of it all, and then see what she does. If she changes her mind, that's great. If she doesn't,

then it's her loss. She's the one who'll miss getting to watch Jane and Ethan Martin grow up."

"I know we haven't had the greatest past, but I really do hope she changes her mind. I would hate for you two, or for you and anyone else in your family, not to be on speaking terms because of me."

Ethan sighed at her words. Despite her confident demeanor, he'd always known Theresa could be fairly insecure. It bothered him that she thought so little of herself.

"Despite what some may try and make you think, Theresa, not every bad thing that happens is your fault. I love you 'Resa. I know I haven't shown you that a lot in the past few years. We've hurt each other so badly that sometimes I'm surprised we're both still standing. But I do love you, and I want to make sure you know that. This isn't your fault. It's been a long time coming, and now was just the moment for it to come out. If mom and I don't speak anymore, it's on she and I, not you. Okay?"

"O-Okay."

"Good. Now, I think I'd better go upstairs and get changed. The last thing I want to is for someone else to walk in on me wearing nothing but a towel."

"Why not? You could start a whole new trend in fashion!" Theresa grinned teasingly, forcing the unpleasantness with Ivy out of her mind for the time being.

"I don't think so. I'm not sure the world is quite ready for the 'just got out of the shower' look." Ethan chuckled. "I'll be back down in a few minutes."

"All right. Maybe when Jane and Ethan Martin get back, we can get some food together and go have a picnic. I know that Ethan Martin has been missing spending time with you sinceall of this craziness with Alistair began."

"I like the sound of that. I've missed the little guy, too. It'll be great to spend some time

with him and my two favorite girls."

"Okay then. Hurry up and change and I'll go have the cook whip us up some picnic food. The kids should be back any minute."

"I'll be right back down." Ethan stated, stealing one last kiss before turning and heading upstairs.

Sighing happily, Theresa made her way to the kitchen, only to take a detour at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Answering the door, she smiled at the visitor.

"Chad!" She squealed, hugging him, thrilled to see a friendly face.

"It's good to see you too, T." Chad said, surprise in his voice as he hugged her back.

Blushing, Theresa let go of his neck and pulled back.

"Sorry about that. Been a long, crazy morning. What brings you up on Raven Hill?"

"Actually I was hoping to talk with Ethan. We were supposed to hang out today, but I've got a group coming in to do some recording and need to reschedule. Figured since I was already in this part of town that I'd just drop by to tell him."

"Well, he's upstairs changing right now. He'll be down any minute though."

"That's cool. Hey, as I pulled in the drive I saw Ivy leaving. Man, she was speedin' like a bat outta hell. Did you and she get into it again or somethin'?"

"Kind of…she walked in on something that she wasn't supposed to see."

"Such as…"

"Such as Ethan and I in the foyer making out."

"You and Ethan making out? No wonder she was pissed. So does this mean what I think it means?"

Theresa nodded, smiling nervously.

"Yeah."

"When did this happen?"

"It started last night. We argued in the kitchen. I told him to follow his heart. He did, and it led him back to me."

"As we all knew it would. But what about Gwen?"

"They're getting a divorce. He says he's sure about it."

"I knew my boy would wise up sooner or later." Chad grinned.

"So you don't think that Ethan and I are horrible for doing this?"

"Of course not, T. I'm happy for you guys." He assured, hugging her.

"You have no idea how much that means." Theresa returned the hug. "These next few months aren't going to be easy. We're going to need as many people in our corner as we can get."

"You can count on me. I'm just glad that my man finally came to his senses."

"So am I." Theresa agreed, smiling happily. "It feels like things might finally be working out for us. All I've ever wanted is for Ethan and I to be together, to be a family. And for the first time in a long time, that actually seems possible."

"Of course it's possible." An amused voice stated from the stairwell. Turning, they found Ethan standing at the bottom of the staircase, smiling. "That's what's going to happen." He told her, closing the distance between them and taking her in his arms. Placing a kiss on her lips, he turned to face his friend.

"Hey there, Chad."

"Hey man. I heard the good news. About time, bro."

"I know. I'm a slow learner, I guess. So, I take it we have your support."

"You know it. If you need me, I'm there. Just don't screw it up this time."

"I won't." Ethan assured, drawing Theresa even closer to him. "Not this time."

I'm not going to make the same mistake again. He thought. This time I'm standing by Theresa, no matter what.