AN: Please realize that my storylines may deter from present or previous Passions Storylines because the last time I really watched Passions for a straight month Luis and Sheridan's son Marty was still believed to be Beth's son. I have no clue if Sheridan and Luis found out the truth or not. In this story they found out the truth but Beth ran away with Marty.
The next morning Theresa woke up with a heavy heart. Today she and Little Ethan would be leaving their small hometown of Harmony, Maine and their loved ones. She had a lot to do today. She had her family to bid farewell to. She had friends to say good-bye to and deals that had to be settled.
She started her morning by sitting at her bedroom's desk, pulling out a stationary pad and a pile of envelopes. Then she took the next hour and a half to write to her family, friends and co-workers. She wrote to them to explain what she was doing and how this would affect all their lives.
She told Julian she had set aside an account for him that he could access and basically live comfortably for the rest of his life.
She called her lawyer to serve Rebecca legal documentation which stated she vacate the Crane Estate.
She called a locksmith and had their crew change all the door locks in the mansion even the bedrooms. She had them make up only one key per lock and had them give her the key. She wasn't about to let Rebecca tried to somehow get access to the mansion again.
She talked to every staff member at the mansion and said she would be leaving for an undetermined amount of time. She also explained that since was leaving their services wouldn't be required anymore. She paid them their last week's paycheck and a sovereign's check of three times their last paycheck. She also said that if and when she ever came back to Harmony she would rehire them all to help her run the Crane Mansion again.
They smiled gave her hugs and wished her the best, after all they weren't just her employees, they were her friends. They had all watched her grow up while her mother Pilar worked at the mansion.
She wrote Whitney Russell her life long best friend a letter saying what her plans were and she hoped for the best for her. She wanted Whitney to remind Miles of his aunt who made his mother realize that he was the most precious thing in the world despite who both his parents are.
She wrote to her parents saying she loved them with all her heart and asked that they don't worry about her she and their grandson will be alright. They would come back to Harmony to visit when they settled into their new lives.
She wrote to her brother Luis and his true love Sheridan Crane wishing them all the courage she was feeling and hoped that they didn't fall victim to the elements anymore. They belonged together and it was about time the world stopped tormenting them. She also said that she knew Marty would be returned to his real mother soon and not to give up hope.
As she sat down to write the letters and make phone calls, she sighed, the one person she really wanted to write to was Ethan but after what happened last night, she decided to leave the idea alone.
After finalizing her more tasks to communicate with her family and friends, Theresa walked over to her wardrobe, picked out an outfit to wear, and put the outfit on. Then she grabbed all her luggage and put the rest of her clothing and shoes in them. Then she found her carry on/overnight bags and placed all her cosmetics, jewelry, bathroom toiletries, and hair styling products in them.
Her packing took an hour, and then she walked across the hall to Little Ethan's room to see him sitting down on his already made bed, dressed in his play clothes with his hands in his lap. "Would you like to help me pack your things?" She asked gently as to not startle him.
"I want my toys to come. I have too many toys to fit in the car," the young boy sniffled. "Don't need you to help me pack. I'm a big boy. I can do it myself." He grumbled at his mother.
She knew this would be his reaction this morning. She just hoped he would be a little less stubborn.
She looked at him for a moment just to think about a solution to his toy problem. "How about we pack all the stuffed animals Daddy gave you and then two of your most favorite other toys. The rest we will buy when we get to our new home." She had already backed some of his books and all his video games into the car. She had also packed up several movies from the collection in his playroom.
"Ok Mommy, that sounds good," he smiled. She smiled back. She then helped him pack all the stuffed animals Ethan gave him and placed them into a suitcase followed by a couple of his cars, robots and militant heroes. Then they went to work packing his clothes, shoes, and bathroom toiletries into other suitcases.
Once the two Lopez-Fitzgeralds had everything packed they slowly started taking their things downstairs and out into their car's trunk. The vehicle was fairly new to them as Theresa had purchased it a couple of months ago. It wasn't really a car; it was a sport utility vehicle. They placed all their belongings in the back. Theresa helped her son into the back passenger seats and then went back into the house to make sure all outside entrances were locked securely. She set the alarm code and walked out of the mansion probably for the last time in her life. "Good-bye Dreams and Memories," she murmured while walking out to the vehicle and her son. She locked the front door as she exited her home and old life.
Theresa was driving down the street, Little Ethan was in the back left passenger seat watching a movie on a monitor that rested on the back of his mother's seat listening to the audio with earphones on. Theresa was stopping every so often to drop her letters off to their addressees' mailboxes.
She was just about to drop the last letter off when she saw Ethan walking into the driveway of the addressee. Great he's going to see me put Whitney's letter into the mailbox and then confront me again about last night. I can't have him do that to me."Ethan, darling, I'm going to drop this letter in Auntie Whitney's mailbox. I'll be right back."
All she got was a grunt to show acknowledgement from the young boy. She shakily made herself walk out of the vehicle and walk up to the mailbox, where she would place the letter to her best friend.
"You really are going to do this after all," Ethan said as he stopped his trek to Whitney and Chad 's front door, when he saw Theresa's SUV stop at the curb of their home. He noticed that he could barely see into the windows of the vehicle due to both of the occupants' belongings inside. He could just barely make out the outline of his son through the window.
Theresa sighed as she slipped the envelope into the mailbox. "I told you, you would be wasting your time if you thought you could try and change my mind. I have to do this Ethan. I wasn't expecting to see you at all on my way out of town."
"Will there be one of these letters waiting for me in my mailbox," he said deciding to avoid the hurtful statement. He just couldn't accept that she and their son could be walking out of his life forever.
"No there's not. I thought we had spoken our peace last night. I need to go Little Ethan is waiting. I'll have him write you a letter to wherever it is we end up, as long as you don't try and come visit." She didn't want to seem harsh but she had to remain strong for herself and their son.
"This isn't over Resa. I won't be shut out of my own son's life," he told her with a cold cruel tone; she had only heard him use once or twice before.
"Funny, I said the same thing about my daughter and I had ended up where you don't want to be now," Theresa said with just as much cruelty as he used. "We can go round in circles Ethan all you want. You and I are both good at going round in circles. One of us has to break the pattern. I guess it has to be me." She turned her back to him and headed to her vehicle. She got herself settled into the car before she sighed out the relief she needed and steered the vehicle on to the road towards the town limits of Harmony Maine .
Ethan Winthrop was fuming angry. He had come to his step-brother and step-sister's home in hopes they could tell him the real reason Theresa was so determined to take his son away from Harmony and start a new life. He saw her pulling up to his step-siblings' house and hoped filled him. He thought he could talk her out of leaving forever. Once again just like last night he was wrong.
Sure somewhere in the back of his mind he thought she would wait for him to take charge of his life just like she mentioned last night. He always went to her for support whenever he had trouble with Gwen. He always felt horrible afterwards with her professing her love for him and him saying he could never break his vows he made with Gwen.
He knew each time it broke Theresa's heart and every time he thought about his misdeeds it broke his as well. He couldn't help turning to her. Something always drew him to her. Deep down inside his subconscious he knew she couldn't have told the tabloids that he wasn't really a Crane but it was too late to prove his idea was true. He couldn't find the reporter and even if he did he doubted the report still had the information on their informant. Plus he couldn't have Gwen relapse into her insanity again and target Theresa if they ever divorced. He knew it wasn't fair to Theresa to get her hopes up and he was only staying with Gwen to keep Theresa safe from harm. He just wished she saw what he was doing for her.
He shook his head and decided he wasn't going to talk to Chad or Whitney. He needed to go home to be with the only child he had left thanks to his horrid, vindictive wife.
The drive back to the Winthrop/Bennett home was a long silent filled one. His head was swarming with many happy memories he shared with Theresa and then some with Gwen. His Theresa memories over shadowed his Gwen memories though. He couldn't leave Gwen despite all his second guessing. He and Jane seemed to be the only people who could keep her from hurting Theresa.
He walked into his family home and saw his wife playing with "their" daughter. A smile was gracing Gwen's face when she looked up to see her husband. Her smile disappeared when she saw his distant face.
"Ethan darling is anything wrong. You seem distant." She asked while she stood to approach her husband.
Ethan shook his head, "It's nothing really. I just have work on my mind." He lied. Looking at Jane past Gwen's shoulder, the little girl was all he had left of Theresa now.
"Where's Little Ethan," Gwen asked as she realized the little boy wasn't with his father. "I thought you were going to bring him by today so I could see him?"
Ethan looked up at Gwen and totally forgot, he said he would bring Little Ethan home with him today. "He's not feeling well." He began. "Theresa kept him home from school today and said maybe when he's feeling better he can come visit you." He lied again.
"Well, if he's not feeling well maybe it is better he is home in bed. We wouldn't want our little Jane to catch whatever he has," Gwen said. She knew her husband was hiding something and she was going to find out what it was. Then Theresa would pay.
AN2: Sorry I had to put some Gwen in there. She'll probably be in a couple more chapters then she'll be cut. Thank you for the wonderful first reviews I've received I appreciate them greatly.