Disclaimer: I do not own these Passions characters. They belong to JER, NBC, and Passions. I’m just borrowing them for awhile. But I do own the characters of Isaac, Abigail, Megan, Josh, and Shane Lopez-Fitzgerald, as they are my creation.
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Across town, Whitney’s sister, Simone, was standing in the kitchen of her modest home, cooking dinner for her family. Her four children were already seated around the table, along with her father TC Russell, who was staying with the family while he healed from a car accident. The air was filled with the delicious aromas of pot roast and scalloped potatoes. Grabbing a hot pad, Simone carefully lifted the pots off the stove and settled them on the table.
“Mmm, this smells good, Mom,” nine-year-old Isaac said with a grin.
“Can we go ahead and eat now?” seven-year-old Abigail asked. “I’m hungry.”
Simone smiled at her daughter’s impatience as she settled into her chair. “Thank you, Isaac,” she replied. “And not yet, Abby. We need to wait for Daddy.”
Just then, Simone’s husband breezed through the unlocked back door, and, noticing the scene before him, he sighed. “Sorry for holding dinner up, everyone,” he apologized as he rounded the table and kissed his wife full on the lips.
“It’s all right, son,” TC piped up from across the table. “We understand how hard you work. A few late dinners aren’t a problem, are they, Sugarbear?”
Simone rolled her eyes at her childhood nickname and smiled. “Of course not, honey,” she assured her husband, giving him another quick peck.
He leaned down and patted Simone’s protruding belly. “What did I do to deserve such a beautiful, loving wife like you?” he asked.
Simone shrugged and grinned as she watched him sit down at his spot between four-year-old Megan and two-year-old Josh. “I guess you just got lucky, Miguel.”
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Several hours later, as they finished putting the kids to bed, Miguel and Simone Lopez-Fitzgerald smiled their secret smile and watched as little Josh drifted into a peaceful slumber in his Scooby Doo bed.
“Did you think we could ever be this happy?” Simone whispered, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen over the baby’s cheek.
Miguel shook his head and wrapped his arm around Simone’s waist, letting his hand rest there. “I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love you and the kids,” he whispered back. “And now, knowing that we have another son on the way, just enhances everything I already feel.”
After taking another long look at her sleeping two-year-old, Simone stepped back and tugged on Miguel’s arm. “You go on to bed,” she said quietly. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’m going to clean up the kitchen a bit and help Daddy settle into bed for the night.”
“All right,” Miguel replied, reluctantly letting her go and moving down the hallway. Turning back, he added, “Don’t take too long. That bed seems awfully empty without you in it.”
Simone smiled, and once again, Miguel was struck by how beautiful she was. She had only gotten more so as the years passed and their children came into the world. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.
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Downstairs, Simone was putting the last of the dinner dishes into the dishwasher when her father came down the stairs, heavily favoring his injured leg.
“Are you okay, Daddy?” Simone asked as she straightened.
“Fine, Sugarbear,” TC answered, limping into the kitchen. “I just thought I’d take some of those painkillers the doctors gave me before I went to sleep.”
“I’ll get them for you,” Simone offered, crossing to the medicine cabinet. “You just sit down and rest that leg.”
TC opened his mouth to argue, but apparently thought better of it (remembering Simone’s stubbornness), and lowered himself into a kitchen chair with a grimace. “Thanks, honey,” he said when she placed the tablets and glass of water in front of him.
Hesitantly, Simone lowered herself into the chair opposite him, using her hand to brace her rounded tummy. “You know, Daddy,” she said timidly, “it probably wouldn’t hurt for you to go by the Free Clinic and let Mom examine your leg…”
TC just stared at her, and Simone squirmed under his look. “Absolutely not, Simone,” he said sternly. “There is no way in HELL I’m going to let your mother take a look at my leg. Not after she and Julian Crane humiliated me all those years ago.”
“But, Dad,” Simone said softly, “it’s been over twelve years. Don’t you think it’s time to forgive Mom and Whitney? Just let go of all the bitterness?”
TC’s jaw hardened. “How am I supposed to forgive them? Forget that your mother had a bastard son with Julian Crane and didn’t see fit to tell me until the scandal broke? Forget that your sister married the son of the man I despise most in this world?”
“Daddy, you can’t blame Whitney for falling in love with Ethan,” Simone protested. “Things have a way of happening that no one could have predicted. When we were teenagers, who could have guessed that Miguel and I would be married with four kids and another son on the way? Don’t you miss Whitney—wish that you were a part of her children’s lives, like you are with mine and Miguel’s?”
TC said nothing, just stared straight ahead.
“Think about it,” she encouraged, “you have three granddaughters and a grandson you’ve never met. I see how good you are with Abby, Megan, Josh, and Isaac. You would be a wonderful grandfather to Whitney’s kids too, if you would only let yourself. It isn’t healthy to carry around all this anger, Dad.”
“How am I supposed to overlook the fact that they’re CRANES?” he exploded. “Or that I share grandchildren with Julian, the bastard who destroyed my life!”
Simone sighed and rubbed her belly. The baby, whom she and Miguel had named Shane, was kicking up a storm.
TC immediately calmed down. “I’m sorry, honey,” he said. “I don’t mean to upset you. But let’s just drop it, ok?”
Simone nodded.
After a moment or two of silence, she spoke again. “Dad, would you mind taking the kids to the mall for a few hours tomorrow morning? Miguel and I need to spend some time together, just the two of us, before the new baby arrives.”
TC smiled. “Sure, I’ll take them to the mall. We can eat and shop…maybe buy the baby some clothes and toys…”
“Thanks, Daddy,” Simone said, beaming. “And if the walking gets to be a little much, don’t hesitate to sit down on a bench. If the kids give you any problems, I’ll handle it when they get home.”
“Don’t worry, Sugarbear,” TC replied. “The kids and I will have a blast.”
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Upstairs, in the bathroom she and Miguel shared, Simone changed out of her day clothes and into the cream-colored silk maternity gown she had bought recently. After brushing her teeth and tying back her hair, she padded into the bedroom, where Miguel waited, bare-chested and sleepy.
In the muted light provided by the lamp, he took Simone’s breath away. Sometimes, she still couldn’t believe that they were married. As a starry-eyed teenager, she would have guaranteed that she would have ended up Mrs. Chad Harris, and that Miguel would have married Charity Standish at first opportunity. But, as she had pointed out to her father earlier, things rarely had a way of working out like a person thought they would…Charity had had a mental breakdown at nineteen and had to be institutionalized; Kay Bennett (Simone’s former best friend who had obsessed over Miguel) had left town eleven years ago (and returned home four years ago married to the missing Crane son, Sebastian); and Chad had turned out to be her brother through a nasty twist of fate.
Somehow, after all of the surprising detours their lives had taken, she and Miguel had found themselves falling in love, and were married in a beautiful spring wedding. Fourteen months later, they welcomed their first child, Isaac Martin Lopez-Fitzgerald, named for his missing grandfather, Miguel’s father. Simone had cried tears of joy as she held her new baby boy in her arms, and she knew right then that she and Miguel had been destined from the start. Two years later, their beautiful daughter, Abigail Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald (named for her grandmother, Miguel’s mother) was born. Three years later, another daughter, Megan Whitney Lopez-Fitzgerald, named for Simone’s beloved older sister, arrived. And two years later, their second-born son, Joshua Carlos Lopez-Fitzgerald arrived, named for his great-great-uncle Carlos, who had taken in his grandmother Pilar when she arrived in America. And now, their fifth and last child, Shane Michael Lopez-Fitzgerald (named for Miguel) was due to arrive in three months. Simone didn’t think she could be any happier…except for finding a way for her father to come to terms with what happened and put the past behind him.
“What are you smiling about?” Miguel asked, raising an eyebrow at her and drawing her from her thoughts.
“Oh, nothing,” Simone said airily, smiling even more broadly as she pulled back the covers and joined her husband in bed. “I was just thinking how much I love you.”
“Were you, now?” Miguel prodded as he put his arm around her and let her snuggle against him. Dropping a kiss on his wife’s smooth, warm forehead, he grinned.
Simone gently kissed his chest. “Yes, I was,” she replied. “And I’ve asked Dad to take the kids shopping at the mall tomorrow, so you and I can have plenty of ALONE time, if you get my drift.”
Miguel laughed wickedly and swooped down to cover her lips with his. Several minutes later, when he finally let her up for breath, he whispered, “I love the way your mind works.”
Simone moaned breathlessly and tugged his head down. “I thought you might,” she managed to whisper back, before drowning in the pleasure of his kiss.”
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The next morning, at nine-fifty, Simone was helping her father load the kids into his SUV. Miguel had announced at breakfast that he had a couple errands to run, but that he would be back soon. Simone was fairly vibrating with energy.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to drive, Daddy?” she asked, glancing worriedly at his leg.
TC shrugged. “Sure I will, honey,” he replied. “It’s my left leg that’s injured, not the right. Don’t worry, ok?”
Simone nodded.
“Grandpa, I want to buy a new baseball mitt!” Isaac exclaimed, running out of the house and heading for the front seat of the vehicle.
“I want a Barbie,” Abby yelled, squealing in protest as Isaac reached the car first. Sticking her bottom lip out, she pouted for a moment.
“Can I have a baby doll?” Megan asked timidly from her grandfather’s arms.
“Truck!” Josh added enthusiastically, squirming to get down from Simone’s hip.
Simone sighed. “I’m sure Grandpa will buy you guys ONE toy each,” she replied. “But don’t you guys take advantage of that, all right? I mean it. And don’t give him a hard time if needs to sit down from time to time.”
The kids nodded. Isaac sat down in the passenger seat and buckled his seat belt. Simone strapped Josh into his car seat, and helped Abby and Megan get settled, then stepped back from the car. “Thanks, Dad,” she called as TC cranked the car and shifted into gear.
At the end of the drive, he turned around to wave, and after the SUV disappeared from sight, Simone grinned and dashed for the door.
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“Honey, I’m back!” Miguel called as he opened the door half an hour and stepped into the kitchen. The house was silent. Obviously, TC had already left with the kids…but where was Simone?
“Simone? Honey?” he called, making his way through the house. Finally determining that she wasn’t on the first floor, he ventured upstairs.
The sight that awaited him in their bedroom made his mouth go dry. The curtains had been drawn, shrouding the room in darkness and muted shadows. Large scented candles were spread around, and Simone stood in the center of the room, at the foot of the bed, draped in a short, pale pink satin gown. Her hair was swept up on top of her head, with only a few tendrils escaping, and even at six months pregnant, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
With a small smile, Simone raised her hand and crooked her finger at him. Miguel stripped off his gray T-shirt, throwing it on a nearby chair, then moved slowly across the room until he stood in front of his sexy wife.
Unable to resist the temptation of touching her any longer, he reached up and cupped her chin. Stroking her smooth cheeks with the pads of his fingers, Miguel lowered his lips and kissed her fiercely, passionately. Immediately, Simone’s arms came around him and she moaned into his mouth, raking her fingernails down his back.
Miguel kissed his way down Simone’s throat until he reached the upper swells of her breasts. He drew back a bit and let his hands move to the spaghetti straps of her gown, which he pushed down her shoulders and let fall to the floor. Barely a second later, his mouth was back, working its magic and making her shiver in delight.
“Miguel,” she whispered as her fingers moved to the snap of his blue jeans.
“Simone,” he groaned back, taking possession of her lips again.
In the next instant, he swung her up in his arms and carried her the few feet to the bed, still wearing his unbuttoned jeans. Gently, lovingly, he worshipped her with his lips, tongue, and hands, until Simone was riding the waves of passion, clawing at his skin and crying out. He followed soon behind, groaning her name over and over.
After it was over, Simone and Miguel snuggled together under the covers, and Simone draped her arm around his hard abdomen, laying her head on his chest.
“I love you, Miguel,” she whispered, kissing his neck. “I never thought I could love anyone this much.”
Miguel leaned down, kissing her lips gently. “I love you too, Simone,” he said softly. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you or your love, but whatever it is, I’m extremely grateful. You and the kids are my heart, my life.”
“And you are ours,” Simone assured him. “I never want to live one day without you.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Miguel said, leaning close to smell her hair. “You won’t ever have to.”
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