A/N: Skipping the long excessive Author's Note and just continuing with the story. Sorry, though, that I disappoint you with this story. I'm just an aspiring writer, trying to be noticed.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

'The Great Mr. Jane'

Chapter Four

"What do you suggest I do?"

It went silent then. Yes, what did I suggest she should do? I wasn't sure. I had dove head-first into this problem and hadn't really thought things through.

I did know one thing, though.

"You should talk to Walter."

The breath caught in her throat, and she continued walking again.

"He will kill me."

"No, he won't."

Teresa sighed, and turned around.

"I love Walter. Despite everything that I told you here, I still love him. He cares about me. He raises Christina, even though she isn't his. He cares about both of us, I can't leave him. I appreciate you're going through this, for me, but it won't work. I love Walter, and I love Jane, and that's my own fault. It's all a mess and I can't do anything about it." She sighed, and looked down. "I have to fall out of love with Jane."

She raised her head to look in my eyes. "But I'll talk to Walter."

I nodded, feeling a bit of victory rise inside me. That was a start. I didn't expect Teresa to leave Walter now already, but at least trying to alter this sticky situation was better than nothing.

-YulianaHenderson-

Teresa slowly walked into the house, and I had already seen it coming. Knowing Teresa, even for the little time we've actually known each other, she would do everything to avoid this situation from happening. No matter what would happen, Teresa would always be difficult in handling her emotions.

Walter was home. It could be felt by the whole changed mood that hung around the house now. Where it had been cheery and light this morning, it wasn't now. It wasn't a negative change, not like it had been the first time, but it was a change nonetheless.

Teresa may have walked into the house rather reluctantly, she did walk up to Walter in a determined matter. I watched the man's reaction and wasn't surprised when I saw a bit of annoyance inside of them. There was also a warmth though, and when he pulled Teresa closer, much to her own surprise, I saw the love I had already suspected was there in his eyes.

He did love her. He simply showed it in all the wrong ways.

And now this situation was getting more and more complicated and I was getting the strong feeling that I had made a terrible mistake.

I knew Jane and Teresa belonged together, but then there was the Walter thing as well. If he still loved her, and really loved her the way I hadn't thought he would, then he wouldn't let her go. And Teresa wouldn't let him go either.

There really was no way to go around this.

I felt a slight pulling on my hand and looked where it came from – Christina was asking for my attention.

"Auntie Grace? What are you doing?"

I smiled at the little girl. Frankly, I didn't know what I was doing either.

"What are you doing?"

Christina chuckled, and shrugged. "I had to get something for Johanna but I heard Mommy and Daddy talking. What are they doing? They never talk like that."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the hallway. I had to grand Teresa some privacy with her husband, it was not within my right to eavesdrop and I had to prevent Christina from doing that as well.

"Let me tell you what, Chrissie. Why don't you go to your room and I'll be in shortly so we can do your hair?"

The girl raised her eyebrows at me. Obviously, she knew that I was hiding something. I supposed I had to make her forget this.

She shrugged and nodded. "Okay."

She turned around and jumped up the stairs. I sighed and looked at the closed door of the living room.

It was time for me to be a responsible adult and leave them alone.

Half an hour later, I had had enough of it and Christina had too. Instead of actually eavesdropping we decided we could go play in the garden – it wasn't like we could hear anything from there.

Well, we could. And it didn't take long before Christina had lost interest in the dolls in the garden house and was sneaking her way to the house to listen in on her parents' conversation. By the time she sat against the wall, out of sight of the people inside but underneath a window that was opened and covered with curtains, it was too late for me to stop her, so I decided to sit down next to her and make sure she didn't do more stupid things.

That was when I heard the two adults.

"Teresa, I don't want to lose you. I really don't. And especially not to that scumbag Ja-"

"Don't call him that, Walter, he's not worth it."

"No, you're right, he's not worth it. He's not worthy of your love, Teresa. Your love is much too precious for that. Don't let him win-"

"Walter!" It was quiet, suggesting they were either staring at each other or staring into nowhere. I heard a deep sigh.

"It's my fault. I fell in love with him."

It was silent again. Christina looked up at me with a frown. I knew that it wasn't possible for Teresa to lie about this anymore – Christina knew now.

"What do you want to do now, Teresa? Do you want to leave me?"

"Of course not."

"Then why did you want to talk to me? I see no other option."

"There is!"

"Oh? Enlighten me, Teresa. I would love to hear what other option you came up with."

"Don't be like this."

"Like what, Teresa?" It quiet again, and I heard footsteps, indicating Walter was walking around – I could already recognize Teresa's heels.

"I want you to choose between us. No, let me finish, Teresa. I want you to choose – me or Jane. This has taken too long already, we were stupid to think that this would last. I won't be angry if you choose him. Merely... sad and disappointed. But you have to choose, Teresa. We can't stretch this longer. Choose, or fall out of love with one of us. Or both, I don't care."

And then silence. Earth-shattering silence. Because even though nobody said anything, I knew everything had been said already.

Walter was making Teresa choose. And he wouldn't be angry if she chose for Jane.

That was the strangest thing I had ever heard. First he blackmailed her into marrying him and now he let her go – just like that?

Was this weird situation ever going to end?

"Auntie Grace?" Christina whispered, and I startled. I had completely forgotten about her. I quickly put my hand over her mouth to prevent her from saying anything more.

"Let's go," I whispered back and pulled her away from the wall. We quickly ran around the house to enter it at the front and then, when we were about to sneak upstairs, Walter exited the living room.

He seemed surprised to see me, but had a soft smile on – how did he even get that smile? It was probably a mask anyhow.

"Hello Grace," he said, absentmindedly, and moved into the direction of the kitchen. I stopped him.

"Everything all right?" I asked. He nodded, too quickly for my liking, but I let it slide. He didn't come across to me as being cruel, not like the other day when every small movement he made showed disgust and hate. He looked distracted, distressed even, and it didn't seem like he felt the need to pretend he was fine.

Teresa exited the living room with the same expression as Walter had had, and as soon as she saw me, she pulled me inside.

"How did it go?" I asked, feigning confusion. She didn't need to know that I knew more than she thought.

She raised her eyebrows at me, much like Christina had done, but then waved it away. As though she didn't feel at all like pretending – she wasn't the only one.

She made me sit down on the couch and then paced the floor, running frantic hands through her hair. When she turned back towards me, I caught the worry in her eyes.

"He wants me to choose."

I feigned surprise, and a quick look at her expression showed me she believed it.

"So? What are you going to choose?"

"I don't know!" She cursed a bit, hugging her body with her arms and started pacing again. "Dammit."

"What if you choose for Jane?" I started after a while. She stopped pacing and turned to me.

"What... what do you mean?"

I sighed and shifted on the couch a bit, making myself comfortable. "If you choose for Jane... what will change?"

She frowned deeper and sat down beside me. "Well... if I was with Jane I wouldn't be with Walter."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, that much was clear. But what would happen with Christina?"

It hit then and Teresa swallowed, looking at her lap.

"I'm not sure what would happen with her. I don't think Walter would want to share custody of some sort-"

"She knows," I slipped without thinking about it. Her eyes widened and I already saw the tell-tale signs of hyperventilation in her body.

"Oh god. Oh no-"

"Teresa, it's not a bad thing-"

"Oh, it isn't? So my seven year old daughter knows that I when she was 'conceived' I loved two men and the man she thought was her father all her life isn't actually her father because of a stupid mistake I made? And I lied to her all this time? And-"

"Teresa."

She took in a few deep breaths and sat down. "She mustn't know. That's why I kept it from her."

I scooted closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She raised her head and I saw she was panicking.

"Teresa," I whispered gently, as if speaking to a younger child, "you are a smart woman. Jane is a smart man... up to a point. Christina would find out eventually, if she is ever to become as smart as you are, which she definitely will. Did you really think she wouldn't find out? That's a rather naïve thing to think, isn't it? I may be young but I do know that something quite as big as this can't be hidden. She would find out the truth, because she would want to find out the truth. Stop denying the past. Walter gave you the chance to do the right thing. I can only say... think about your daughter, Teresa. What kind of future would you want her to have?"

Teresa shook her head, then ran a hand through her hair, like she almost seemed to do when she was stressed out. Fact was, I did that too, so for some reason that was a family trait – even if we weren't all that close family.

The curtains blew away from the windows, a cool breeze running through the room. Teresa fought her shiver and succeeded well.

"I can't decide now," she whispered, her voice uncharacteristically weak. She took in a short breath again, and straightened. As she continued speaking, her voice was stronger again. "I can't decide now. I'll think about it... but I can't make a decision right now."

"And nobody expected you to, Teresa."

She stood without another word and left the living room. I was left feeling slightly guilty but that couldn't be helped.

-YulianaHenderson-

A few, strange, days later, Walter announced he would be having a party at the mansion.

I wasn't sure why he was doing this, though. It could be different things – his love for Teresa and the need to protect her, showing people that he could in fact still take care of her, or the fact that he really didn't care and merely wanted to show off with his money and wealth.

I suspected it was the first thing but I didn't have physical evidence so I couldn't prove it. I had to talk to him.

And that was why when we for some reason were left alone in the kitchen I stopped him from leaving.

He raised his eyebrows and looked at me with curiosity.

"Grace. Do you need something from me?"

"I know about Christina and Jane."

He nodded, not surprised. No one seemed to be surprised by the fact that I knew – it was as though they expected Teresa to break and tell someone. Which, in itself, was a big mistake since I knew how strong Teresa could be.

"I figured as much. The question is why you are talking to me about it. I can't recall giving you permission to talk about that topic."

"You didn't."

"Good."

"I gave myself permission."

Now he seemed surprised. He stared at me for a few seconds, before averting his eyes and staring into nowhere the same amount of seconds he had at me.

"I loved her. I gave her my all and she turned it down... for him."

I nodded my understanding. To be honest, never once had it crossed my mind how Walter could have felt about Teresa's little mistake. I always assumed Walter was a cruel man and I knew that this was my little mistake – but one that couldn't be forgiven that easily.

"I know I'm not the right man for her... that was why she turned to Jane. But somewhere, deep down, I still want to be that kind of man. The kind of man she deserves and needs. Wants."

"She still wants you-"

"No, she doesn't."

I rolled my eyes softly. Was there anyone that would act reasonably and not like a four-year-old? "She does though. She immediately told me what kind of choice you gave her days ago and she also told me that she would choose for you."

His eyes crossed mine again and I could see the genuine surprise.

"She said that?"

"Yes, she did. Look, I know this is hard on you, on all of you, really. But a little advice from me? Don't let it wander around. You, Teresa, Jane, might be able to cope with this, but Christina is just seven. She won't even understand that you are not her real father. How is she supposed to fathom that her mother is in love with someone else? And that everybody is making a big fuss out of it?"

When he was about to interrupt me, I interrupted him instead.

"I'm not here to change anything or to stick my nose into your business – I know I'm too late with that – but I am merely trying to help. Think of the future you want to give Christina. It can't be true that you do not love that little girl, even a bit. I know she's not yours but you can do this as last good action."

He sighed and averted his eyes again. I saw that this situation was weighing down on him, more so than I had suspected at first. There were now bags under his hazel-colored eyes, and they weren't there when I had arrived. His shoulders were slumped a bit in an uncomfortable angle, and if the bags hadn't been any indication already, then you could see in the way he breathed that he was tired.

"You want this to be over too." It wasn't a question, merely stating facts, but he seemed relieved someone picked up on his feelings for once.

"I don't want to lose her, don't get me wrong. I still love her, with all my heart. But this... this marriage we have... it's not working. Believe me, I hadn't thought at first that I would care about this as much as I do now... but I do care now. I won't be the one with a bad reputation if we decide to end this. Teresa is. And I don't want that to happen."

"If she were to choose for him, then she'll be in fine hands too."

"I know. But Grace, her reputation," was all he said. As though that would make great sense – and yes, it did. I understood his position. He was the one deciding the reputation of his wife. If they were to get a divorce, she would be shunned by most people. They wouldn't understand her motives, the only thing they would understand was that she must be a lousy wife, if Walter Mashburn would divorce her. No need for her looks then, that wouldn't help her anymore.

I sighed.

"I appreciate that you want to help, Grace, I really do. But I'm afraid this has been going on for too long to be helped. I gave her the choice now-"

"You've got a choice too in this, Walter. You can show her what kind of life you want with her-"

"The fact that she's living here is enough showing from my side."

"Are you serious? You don't love her enough to actually show it to her? You're fine with her being unhappy? Look, I don't want to tear her away from you, if that's not what neither of you wants, but you do have to admit that Teresa isn't happy the way it is now."

He nodded.

"Then what do you want to do about it to change it?"

Then, it went eerily quiet. He went from staring at me to staring outside while leaning against the kitchen counter. I could hear the wheels churning in his head, and it was a good thing because now he was finally thinking about the life he wanted to give his wife. Instead of merely assuming everything would be alright if he simply ignored it long enough, he now realized what he was causing and what he was doing to not only himself, but his family as well.

"I want her to be happy," he said softly, and I nodded, though I knew he wouldn't get to see it due to him not genuinely looking. "We need some time apart."

And I knew he wasn't talking about not sleeping in the same bed anymore.

-YulianaHenderson-

Walter's party still remained, though I think that the reasons did change. Now, this party was more for the outside world to think that everything in the Mashburn family was going alright while everything had changed.

Teresa avoided Walter, which in itself wasn't a good thing if Walter hadn't been avoiding her too. They were doing the awkward dance and it did not lie well on my heart to know that I was the cause for that. But things only had to get worse before it became better, I told myself, and knowing that Teresa was really contemplating what to do with her future, I knew it would end well. Only time would tell though who she would choose – right about now, I hadn't the foggiest. She was awkward with both of them.

Now that Walter and Teresa were back to being the awkward parents, Christina didn't suspect a thing. And that was definitely a good thing because she was a happy girl again. I was sure she wasn't aware of what all the terms that came to my mind when thinking of Teresa's situation meant, but that didn't mean she couldn't be affected by any of it. She would suffer just as much as the three adults would, even without a basic understanding of such things.

Jane kept a reasonable distance from Teresa as well, though he had attempted more times to get her attention. She would brush it off with a small wave or a little smile. The best thing about Walter's changing attitude was that he allowed Jane to see Christina, if just for less than a minute. That didn't mean that Walter agreed on it, I was sure it was some pushing on Teresa's side to allow this to happen but it was a beautiful thing nonetheless. Jane really cared about that little girl, more so than Walter could ever fake.

Okay, both men cared about her.

It really was a difficult matter.

The only people not happy with the change was the staff.

Wayne and Cho were unfazed – Johanna a little less. She openly showed her disgrace over what I had done. She even told Christina about it, who in her turn told me. I didn't know why Johanna didn't want the change. Maybe she was afraid of losing her job, maybe she liked the way Walter and Teresa had been dancing around the subject for seven years. I couldn't imagine it but then again, I didn't know the girl all that well. Who was I to draw conclusions?

Luther wasn't sure about the changes either, but I suspected Johanna changed his mind on that matter. I had talked to the man a bit more than I had done to Johanna, more because she spent a lot of time with Christina, so I did think I had more insight into his character. Frankly, he didn't seem the man who had such feelings over things like this, perhaps because he was still so young, so it seemed unlikely that he had come up with such a strong opinion.

Now that I thought about it, Wayne wasn't happy with it either. I wasn't dumb, I saw the way he looked at mainly Walter – it appeared the younger man was very protective over Teresa, and so was Cho. No wonder with the trio's shared history. Yet Wayne tried to mask it, and I knew why. I didn't want to admit it but I suspected he had a crush on me – adorable, but not helpful while I was working on something quite this big. I had more important things to do.

So all in all, the only staff-member that seemed okay with it was Cho. Although he rarely shared emotions so perhaps he wasn't happy with it either.

I sighed as I stared into the neighborhood from my house. Jane was outside, like he always was these days. I thought he was trying to get Christina's attention that way, by merely showing her he was there to talk to or to play with, and a lot of times, it did work. Not today though.

It was a strange situation, and with Walter's upcoming party, I knew it was about to get ever weirder. There was no time for that, though. Teresa had demanded I accompanied her to the city to help her with some preparations for the party, but in my turn I demanded that she took Johanna and Christina with her – I had nothing to do there anyhow.

So instead I was giving the household some time to calm down by sitting in my temporarily house and staring at Jane who made some futile attempts to get Christina's attention.

When he was about to go inside, I didn't hesitate any longer and ran outside. He smiled when he saw me – and it hit me in that moment that I hadn't talked to him at all in the past few days. The only time we actually talked was that first night when he had come to my house and had told me that Christina was his.

"Grace, dear, care to elaborate on why you're not accompanying Teresa to the big city?"

I shook my head. "She needs some time off. The only thing I caused her is pain and confusion, she deserves not having me around."

He smiled even brighter, and nodded. "I certainly agree. It can be tiring to be around me too, although I don't feel that problem myself."

I rolled my eyes. He stepped aside and extended his hand to his house.

"Well then, care to accompany me for some tea?"

"Of course."

Once inside, I was shocked at the interior of the house. While the outside suggested that this was a rather historic building, the interior was by far historical. To be quite fair, it looked out of other times – modern, futuristic.

"You may close your mouth, Grace."

I startled and slammed my jaw closed, trying not to show that that very action hurt. He chuckled and waved at the couch, on which I sat down.

He went to make some tea. He didn't sit down with me while the water was boiling, he waited until it was completely done before pouring the hot liquid into elegant teacups and bringing it to where I was sitting.

"Tell me, Grace," he started, while adding just the right amount of milk and sugar in his own cup. "Why do you bother trying to get me and Teresa together?"

I shrugged, and picked up my cup. I blew at the tea for a few seconds, before focusing on Jane again.

"My... parents. They don't have a happy marriage either. It's not escalating, they will stay together, I'm sure. But it affects me, and all other people around us. I suppose I wanted to spare everybody here that same fate before it was too late."

He nodded, understandingly.

"But why bother, Grace, when you know it's beyond repairing?"

"It's never beyond repairing, Jane. You can always fix things. Christina is just seven. You can't leave her in a relationship that will destroy her. And what Walter and Teresa are doing right now is slowly destroying her. I don't want it to happen."

He nodded again, sipping at his tea. He leant back until his back hit the couch, then crossed one leg over the other.

"What did you tell Teresa?"

"A lot."

"No, I mean, what did you tell her about what she should do?"

I took my time answering that. Frankly, I hadn't done all that much on that field. I had told her that she should reconsider her situation but that was about it.

"Not much."

As though he had read my mind, he shifted topics.
"Have you seen Walter changing his behavior around Christina?"

I startled, and stared at him for a while, before I got back my composure and answered.

"He is friendlier towards her, yes."

He sighed quietly, but masked it by sipping his tea once again.

"He is playing a game, Grace. You may not see it, but he is. He is trying to be the perfect father for Christina, so that it will become easier for Teresa to choose – for him. Well, that game can be played by two because I will do just the same."

"I understand, Jane, but don't get all obsessed. Maybe you got your wires crossed? Perhaps Walter is indeed making it easier for Teresa to choose, but for you instead of him? He is showing that he is reasonable enough."

"But I know him. He is the same man that made me move to the other end of the neighborhood to see my child growing up without me. Grace, he hasn't changed. He's still that person-"

"How would you know, Jane? Have you talked to him? Have you looked into his eyes while he was holding Christina or Teresa close? Have you ever realized that maybe, just maybe, he does love them? Teresa stays with him for a reason, Jane, just think about that."

Then, it became quiet. Eerily quiet. The kind of quiet I had witnessed when Walter was trying to come up with a solution for this mess.

Jane had lost attention for his tea, the cup still in his hands but as minutes passed, the tea lost its steam and it cooled down until I knew it would be cold. He was staring at me, unadulterated sadness radiating from his eyes and I had to look away a couple of times to cope with it.

After about ten minutes, he pulled himself out of his trance, put his cup down on the table and looked at me again.

"I was hoping that wouldn't happen," he whispered, and that threw me off guard. I had suspected he would pull up his walls but instead, they were blown to little pieces. "I was hoping that Walter would stay the way he was and that Teresa would realize that he life was with me and not with him."

He took in a deep breath.

"It will only become harder for me this way."

I took a few seconds to make sure he was done, then I spoke again.

"Maybe you should take the focus off Christina and onto Teresa. Walter is only focusing on your daughter but that leaves Teresa all on her own."

Jane's twinkle appeared again, and slowly, the outsides of his lips curled up into a small smile.

"You are a genius, Grace."

He picked up his cup and threw the tea back in a few big gulps. He pulled a face at the temperature of the beverage but didn't complain one bit. He got up radiating the biggest beam of hope I had ever seen on a human being.

"I'm going to win her back."

A/N: I've got most of the story finished, only trying to make an Epilogue, but just so you know, I am finishing this. Let me know what you think in a review, thank you!