More Than That - Epilogue: Happiness (Gwen/Luis)
by Jamie Witter
 
 
 
 

Epilogue: Happiness

There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved.
-- Mansfield Park
 
 

“Daddy! How much longer?” five-year-old Brenna Lopez Fitzgerald asked her father impatiently from the backseat of their SUV. “I hate this seatbelt.”

Luis met his daughter’s eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Just twenty more minutes, Bren.”

“You know, if you listened to me – we would have already been there,” Gwen pointed out from the passenger seat beside him.

He glanced over at her to see if his wife was teasing him but only saw an annoyed expression on her face. In the six years since they had been married, Luis knew that it was futile to argue with her when she was obviously still angry with him for opting to drive to Harmony from Albany for Christmas. So he smiled, with the same strained tolerance that he used with his daughter. “This way was more fun.”

“Less expensive, you mean.” Gwen corrected him, arching a brow.

He sighed wearily. “Let’s not get into this, baby. Not again.”

“Not get into what, Daddy?” the ever-inquisitive Brenna asked and she leaned a little bit forward, straining against the restrictive seatbelt. “Are you and Mommy fighting again?”

Gwen glanced at him briefly, sighed and then turned around to smile at the child. “We’re not fighting, sweetie. You know how grumpy Mommy gets when she cramped up for too long.”

Brenna bought that explanation and sat back happily and started out the window eagerly, taking in the landmark of Harmony. Gwen pointed out certain points, reminding their daughter of places she had probably forgotten. “That’s the bluff! The special one!”

“Yes it is,” Luis laughed as he glanced to the left before looking at his wife lovingly. “The special bluff; where I proposed to your mother.”

Gwen’s hand reached for his forearm and she smiled back, all traces of annoyance gone. Satisfied that the ice that had been building between them suddenly – because of the lack of communication and time they spent together for the last couple of months -was slowly thawing he steered their SUV into his parents’ driveway, ten minutes later. “Don’t you think we should drop the luggage off at the apartment first?”

“Later,” he replied as he turned off the ignition. “Everyone is probably waiting.”

“Yes. Because everyone else flew in.” This time, her tone was only mildly reprimanding.

Brenna quickly latched on to her mother’s hand as the walked up the cobblestone path towards the brightly decorated house and then she eagerly ran in front of her parents to ring the doorbell. There was laughter and screams from inside and the door flew open to reveal Martin, wearing a Santa cap. “Grandpa!”

“Brenna, my love!” he exclaimed happily as he scooped her into his arms and she showered his face with kisses. He laughed and held her close. “Oh how I’ve missed you!”

Luis and Gwen smiled knowing that their daughter reminded Martin of his homeland, of his mother with her reddish brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. Luis, however, knew that his daughter was an exact replica of the woman he loved. As his father hugged them, another shout was heard and then a small pixie with raven hair ran into the room yelling at the top of her lungs. “Uncle Luis! Aunt Gwen!”

Delighted, Luis swept his niece into his arms and twirled her around. “Hello Sheridan! How’s my favorite monster?”

Sheridan Winthrop stared back at him with her twinkling blue eyes and a mischievous smiled that reminded him of Theresa at the age of six. “Still making Mommy want to pull her hair out.”

Gwen let out a snort. “I’ll bet.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Fifteen minutes later, after Gwen had sent Brenna to the bathroom before she went of to play with her cousins and had greeted Luis’s brothers with a holiday kiss, she entered the kitchen to find the female members of the family bustling around the kitchen, talking excitedly to one another. She watched for a second, warmed by the thought of being a apart of the loving family and then smirked. “And I thought we women had come far from our days working over a stove.”

Pilar was the first to turn, smiling brightly as she rushed forward to grapple Gwen in an embrace. “Mija! When did you arrive?”

“Just a couple of minutes ago, Mama,” she answered and kissed her on the cheek. “You look wonderful.”

Charity (who was six months pregnant), Jade (who married Antonio a year after they met – everyone had seen it coming) and Paloma (who was the only single female in the household) followed next, hugging her and talking excitedly about the family being complete. Theresa stood near the counter, a small smile on her face as she regarded her sister-in-law. “You couldn’t convince him to fly here?”

Gwen took a step forward and smiled. “Damn Lopez Fitzgerald stubbornness.”

Theresa’s grin grew wider and she quickly threw her arms around Gwen. “Welcome home. Now start chopping.”

Laughing, she rolled up her sleeve and grabbed a knife to slice up some tomatoes. It had taken one and a half years after she married Luis for Theresa and her to work through their issues and become friends and sisters. Things had been going well for Theresa and Ethan once Sheridan was born but after a while, the dissonance reared its head again and the two separated – and were now on the verge of divorce. But the night after Theresa had talked to her lawyer about the separation, she had flown to Albany and shown up on Gwen’s doorstep, crying and asking for help, for understanding…from someone who had been through the loss of a relationship with Ethan.

An unforeseen bond had been formed and their relationship grew stronger and steadier with the passing of time, until, the two had become the closest of friends.

As Charity, Jade and Pilar talked loudly over the kitchen noise in the background, Gwen lowered her voice conspiratorially and leaned in closer to Theresa. “Is Ethan coming?”

The younger woman stopped in mid action and shadow passed over her face. She didn’t look up when she answered. “No, I don’t think he is.”

“Did you try and talk to him? To contact him at all.”

“I shouldn’t have to try during Christmas. He obviously doesn’t want to see his daughter or me for that matter. He obviously doesn’t care enough,” she muttered so bitterly that the pain in her voice could not be overlooked. Gwen knew that Theresa was as madly in love with Ethan as she had always been.

“That’s not true!” Gwen protested immediately.

This time Theresa met her gaze and set her jaw determinedly. “You once told me that the validation that I so desperately sought for had to come from within me. And I feel like it finally has, I have a wonderful daughter and my career as a fashion designer has finally after all these years started to soar – I can’t let that crumble because he won’t come back to me.”

Knowing that it would take a lot more than words to assure Theresa of Ethan’s love for her, Gwen simply smiled. “I really said that? I should write it down.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“Please Grandpa Martin!” Colin, Miguel and Charity’s five-year-old son pleaded with his grandfather. “Let’s open one present now!”

Dinner had ended fifteen minutes ago and the family had retired to the living room, to sit beside the fireplace and catch up on current events and special news.

Sheridan, Brenna and Colin surrounded their grandfather and whined and pleaded with him until he gave up. The grown-ups watched as the children unwrapped a gift each from under the tree and spent a few minutes “oohing and aahing” as the kids squealed with delight.

Gwen smiled when Antonio and Jade’s three year old daughter, Arabella shifted on her lap, eyes wide as she watched her cousins with glee. She snuggled the baby closer and earned a few giggles and a smacking kiss on the mouth.

“Now it’s the adults turn,” Miguel said with a boyish grin. He walked over to the tree and picked out a present. “This one if from Antonio to…my beautiful wife. I hope you’re not trying to outdo me, big bro.”

“Wouldn’t have to try,” Antonio quipped and wrapped an arm around Jade. “Merry Christmas, Charity.”

While everyone opened one present that was addressed to them, Gwen checked her watch and smiled as she heard the sound of tires on gravel. She waited a few minutes, handed Jade her daughter and then slipped out into the foyer to open the door for her guest. Then she slipped back unnoticed.

“Now, now!” she said loudly so that everyone would quiet down. She looked at her sister-in-law who was sitting with her back to the front door. “Theresa, the gift I have for you under the tree is just part of it. Here’s the rest of it now.”

Theresa whirled around and murmurs surprise went through the room as everyone’s eyes focused on the man standing in the doorway. Sheridan’s eyes went wide and Gwen saw the girl take a tentative step forward. “Daddy?”

“Yeah baby,” Ethan answered, tears in his eyes and arms open. “I’m home.”

The child rushed forward and threw her arms around her father, no questions asked. Theresa slowly went to stand in front of her husband. He put his daughter on the floor and opened his arms for Theresa. Like her daughter, without a word she fell into them, laughing and sobbing at the same time.

Over her shoulder, Ethan looked at Gwen and mouthed, “Thank you.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“You know,” Luis said as he came up from behind Gwen and wrapped his arms around her. It was almost two o’clock and they stood in their bedroom – in the apartment Gwen had bought so many years ago – and they were both exhausted. “I always knew that you had the most beautiful soul. But what you did today for Ethan, Theresa and little Sheridan – that was the most amazing thing.”

She leaned against him and sighed. “I was only doing what I knew they both wanted.”

“It was still beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she replied and the turned in his arms. She looked up at him, eyes wide and almost brimming with tears. “Oh Luis, I am so sorry for snapping at you so much lately.”

“Hey, hey,” he whispered softly and cradled her face in his hands. “It was my fault. I’ve been negligent and away so much.”

“It’s your job. Freeman needs you all the time. I should have understood.”

“You’re my wife and Brenna is my daughter and no job or partner is more important to me than the two of you,” he replied gently and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “My two girls.”

She smiled against his lips and pulled away. “We won’t be your two girls for long.”
“What?”

She took his hands from her face and placed them on her belly. He looked at her, surprised, intrigued not daring to - too overwhelmed to say the words. “This is my Christmas gift to you, sweetheart. We’re pregnant.”

He let out a whoop of joy and scooped her into his arms. “This is just…wow!”

They tumbled onto the bed together and he smiled down at her, her hair a halo around her face and her cheeks already glowing with happiness and motherhood. “That’s what I said. I love you. You’re happy right?”

“Ecstatic,” he answered as he unbuttoned her night top.

“After all, we make beautiful babies together,” she said and glided her hands over the smooth skin of his back.

“Oh yes we do,” he growled and kissed her jaw, her neck, her earlobe, her forehead, her nose and then finally, her lips. “I love you so much, Gwen.”

A smile bloomed on her face. “How much? As much as all the gold in the world.”

He grinned. “Yes.”

“As much as all the long weekends and national holidays of the year.”

“Definitely.”

“As much as - ”

He cut her off and kissed her soundly on the mouth. “More than that. Much more.”