Gwen awoke slowly. She stretched her arms out and turned over to see Ethan, still in deep slumber.

Last night had been beyond anything she could have hoped for. The level of passion between them surprised her. But, more than anything, Gwen knew that she had made the right choice.

She looked at Ethan as he slept, and her hand was drawing circles on Ethan’s chest. Soon Ethan was up..

“ So, what time is it?”, he asked.

“ I don’t know and I don’t care.”

“ Last night was incredible, huh?”, Ethan said, almost blushing along with Gwen.

” I think so.”

Ethan turned serious. “ Gwen, I listened to you last night. Knowing that you know my secret…Well, I appreciate it.”

” It’s no bother.”

” I can’t lose my family, Gwen.”

” You won’t, Ethan. I guess marrying me assured that.”

” Gwen, it’s not that simple, and I….I don’t want you thinking that I married you for a business deal. I did it because….I wanted to have my family. Maybe other men would have chosen differently, but, despite their problems, I love the Cranes. And, I certainly didn’t want my sisters to grow up in a broken family.

I had to decide what I wanted, Gwen. What I wanted for my life. And, I chose a life with you. I didn’t know how wise a decision it was until later.”

Gwen caught the crypticness of that remark, and didn’t know what it meant. She decided not to push it. She had from Ethan what she wanted, which was a vow from him that they would be together, and try to make this relationship work. She had worried a great deal that Ethan would resent her because of what he had to give up with regards to Theresa. Suddenly, Gwen got the feeling that Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald wouldn’t ever again be the threat to her happiness that she once was. She knew instinctively that it went deeper than any vow Ethan took. No…she knew that it meant that Ethan had cut Theresa out of his life.

Gwen smiled and leaned in for another kiss with Ethan. No, she had no intentions of leaving this bed. She had another couple of rounds that they would enjoy before they would contact the outside world.
 

“ Well, have we seen any sign of the newlyweds?”, Julian said, as he poured his cup of coffee.

Penny was over at a makeshift table that Julian had especially designed for her. He took a seat next to Penny at the table.

” Thanks, Daddy.”, Penny said, as Julian cut up her ommlette, so that she would have smaller bites.

“ You’re welcome, Princess….so, have you seen your brother and Gwen? Your mother seems to be in her own world.”, Julian said, motioning over to an Ivy, who was sitting at the desk in the corner, stirring her coffee, back and forth, but never drinking.

“ Nope. No sign of Ethan and Gwen. They’re doing whatever married couples do.”

Julian smiled at the thought of Ethan enjoying himself with his bride. When he looked up to see Penny raising her eyebrow at him, he coughed and said, “I’m sure Ethan is doing fine…isn’t that right, My Pet.”

Ivy finally snapped out of it, and said, “ Yes?”

” Penny and I were wondering if Ethan and Gwen had been down.”

” No…I haven’t seen them.”

Penny sipped some OJ and then commented, “ Am I the ONLY one in this family who finds it weird that Ethan married GWEN instead of Theresa?”

Penny looked at her parents, and while Julian shrugged, “ I’m happy about it, dear. Ethan seems happy with his decision. He did the right thing for ‘the family’, but, I’m not the one who moans, groans and whines about ‘true love’. That would be your mother. Maybe she has an answer for you.”

Ivy looked like she had been put on the spot. “ I don’t know why Ethan changed his mind. He chose the person he wanted. “

” But, Penny has a point. The way that you have moaned on and on about ‘true wuv’, and it seemed for awhile that Ethan actually fell for that tripe.”

” It’s NOT TRIPE! Marrying for love is the ONLY reason to be married!”, Ivy exclaimed.

Julian rolled his eyes. “ Well then, since Ethan NEVER does anything against his mother’s wishes…we now know that he loved Gwen more than Theresa, and that the family and Ethan won. Isn’t that grand?”

“ Shut up, Julian.”, Ivy says, as she spots Pilar for the first time of the day. “ If you’ll excuse me.” Ivy gets up to leave the room, and Julian stops her.

” What do you want, Julian?”

” Remember, the candidates for Penny’s nurse will be arriving in an hour. Or, is this too much to muster up any concern from you?”, Julian says sarcastically.

Ivy looks at Penny, who has this fearful look in her eye. Ivy kneels so that she is eye to eye with Penny, “Sweetheart, don’t you worry. I’ll be here to help you and your Daddy choose a nurse.”

Penny’s eyes light up. “ Thank you, Mommy.”

” Now, finish your breakfast. I guess your father is a suitable companion for that.”

Ivy glares and grins at Julian, who returns the look. Once Ivy is gone, Julian looks to Penny, “ Well, now that the wicked witch is gone…why don’t we learn how to ‘pop a wheelie’ on this contraption?” Julian smiles mischievously, and goes behind Penny’s wheelchair, and begins to turn her around and around, making her laugh, which was the entire point.
 

Ivy pulled Pilar into her bedroom.

” Pilar, what is wrong. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that you were ignoring me.”

” No, Mrs. Crane. I have other things on my mind.”

” Like Ethan and Gwen?”

” No. Like my daughter didn’t come home last night, and I have no idea what happened to her.”

” Oh, Pilar, I’m so sorry. I knew that she was upset.”

” UPSET? UPSET? Not less than 48 hours ago, my daughter thought that she would be spending the rest of her life married to your son. In the blink of an eye, that dream was shattered, and he entered into marriage with someone else. WHY?”

” Pilar….Ethan knows about Sam.”

” I know that. I guess he was more your son than I had ever thought.”

” Now what does THAT mean?”

” Exactly what it sounds like, Ivy. Ethan is YOUR SON, through and through. When push came to shove, he chose money and power over love. Like you.”

” That’s not true. I was tricked. You know that!”

” No, Ivy. What I know is that you KNEW Sam was your love, but you didn’t have enough faith in Sam so that you were easy pickings for Julian and Alistair. YOU didn’t have the courage to leave.”

” You know that my father threatened Sam!”

” So, that only meant that you couldn’t stay in Harmony. There are 49 other states and numerous countries around the world. I know Sam Bennett. If you had had ANY faith in him, he would have gone to the ends of the Earth for you. Face it. You had no faith in him, and you took the easy way out.”

” Now look here, just cause you’re worried about Theresa.”

Pilar laughs. “ You never were able to face the hard truth. Never. Well, here’s more hard truth, Ivy. Ethan might be your son, but, I can see the Sam Bennett in him. I can see that he will NEVER blame Gwen for HIS decision. Something you totally cannot relate to in the least.”

“ Pilar..”

” No. I know that Julian Crane is a ruthless man. I know that he has his faults. And, yes, he has cheated on you continuously throughout your marriage. But, I also remember a small time when you allowed yourself to have a real family with Julian. It was only for a few years, but, during that time, he didn’t cheat on you. He had genuine feelings for you. But, you couldn’t stop from blaming HIM for the decisions that YOU made. If you had just accepted the RESPONSIBILITY for your own actions,  and decided to make the best of the situation that you were in, I don’t think you would have been miserable all these years.”

” You have no…”

” No right? Oh, but, I do, Ivy. You see, I’ve been the one stuck here, day after day, year after year, listening to you whining about how Julian Crane has done you wrong. But, instead of correcting the situation, or finding a profession, hobby, or something to occupy your time, you bring three other children into this situation, and then proceed to ignore them. Oh, I don’t doubt that you love your daughters, but, can you stand here and tell me that you don’t punish them for NOT being Sam’s children? I couldn’t believe it when you sent Penny away to Europe because Mr. Crane actually had as good a relationship with her as you do Ethan, and somehow, that just didn’t fit into your ‘view’ of him, so off she went. You didn’t care that it hurt her. And, yes, sometimes I am ASHAMED to be your friend, Ivy. You are your own worst enemy. Sam loves his wife and family. You broke his heart. You shattered him. But, he decided to move on. He found a wonderful woman to love, who wanted to share his life and who would FIGHT for him in a way that you never did or would. The funny thing is Ivy, I think, if you gave yourself half a chance, you and Julian could make something of the marriage. But, you would have to be honest with him. No more leading him on, getting his hopes up, and then turning on him. You have to have the courage that Ethan has. Gwen may not have been his choice in an ideal world, but, I bet you any amount of money that he will have more happiness in his first year of marriage, than you have had in 25. Because, he accepted his choice, like a man. Maybe YOU should learn from your son.”

And, with that, Pilar left Ivy in her room to think.
 

Julian and Penny were having fun in the foyer when the doorbell rang. Julian looked around and seeing no servant, shrugged and went to the door.

“ Eve?”

” Julian? I thought you were out of town.” Eve looked down at the little girl in the wheelchair. “ You must be Penelope.”

” Yes.”

” Penny, this is Dr. Russell. Well, Eve, is there something that I can do for you?”

“ I needed to speak with Ethan.”

” That’s a little difficult, Eve. “

” He’s out of town?”

” No, he’s upstairs on the beginning stages of his honeymoon. He was married last night.”

” Really? I guess he and Theresa didn’t want to wait.”

” Ethan married Gwen.”

” Gwen? “ Eve paused to take that news in. “ Well, anyway, was Chad Harris here at the ceremony?”

” That boy from the Book Café? Hardly. It was only immediate family.”

The irony of that statement didn’t escape Eve, but this wasn’t the time or place.

Julian looked at Eve and knew that something had to be bothering her.

“ Eve, would you like to talk in the Library?”

” No thank you, Julian. I’ll be going. Nice meeting you, Penny.”

Eve turned and left.

” She seems nice, Daddy.”

” She is.” Julian had to cover his concern for Eve, so he began playing with Penny again.

Eve got into her car. She checked off Ethan’s name. He was the last person on her list. She had left at dawn, going around to everyplace that she thought Chad might be. Eve put her head in her hands.

“ Chad, where are you?”, she cried out loud.
 

The sunlight came through the slit in the drawn curtains just so, to hit Chad directly on the face. Feeling the sunlight, he began to move. His eyes opened slowly. He had to remember where he was. What had happened the night before. As it came to him, he sat up in the bed with a shock. He looked down at himself, and saw that he was nude, and that he wasn’t in the bed alone. He pulled back the blanket a little to see that it wasn’t his imagination: Theresa was in the bed with him.

Chad hopped out of bed and found his underwear and pants. He got them on in record time, and was tying up his shoes when Theresa came to.

“ Oooh…”, she groaned.

” Hi.”, Chad said softly.

” So, it wasn’t my imagination.”

” Nope. Theresa, I’m sorry. I don’t know how this happened. I’m sorry that I hurt you like this. I never wanted to hurt you.”

” Chad, the last thing you did is hurt me. You couldn’t hurt me anymore than I already had been. You saved my life. You helped me survive last night. I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t of run into you.”

” Theresa, what were you doing there? In that bar?”

Theresa was quiet for a few moments, and then she turned away from Chad. “ Ethan married Gwen yesterday.”

“ What?”

” He married HER. Don’t make me say it again, Chad.”, Theresa said, pleading.

“ I heard you. Why?”

” I don’t know. “

” He loves you.”

” He married her. Period.”

” Maybe you..”

” No, Chad. There is NO maybe. There is no FATE. It’s all gone. Ethan’s gone and so is my belief in love.”

” Don’t say that.”

“ It’s true. I’m through with love.” Theresa put on her clothes slowly, and then sat at the edge of the bed next to Chad.

” Chad, I know why I was in the bar. Why were YOU there?”

“ Theresa, I can’t tell you. I can’t even utter the words. But, my life was torn apart yesterday, and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t think I’m going back to Harmony.”