Theresa looked at the clock. Less than an hour left on the job. The job that she absolutely hated. A job she would forget even existed when she becomes Mrs. Chad Crane. Theresa wondered if Julian was already there, talking to Chad. His life was going to change forever after Julian reveals the truth.

As she stocked her hundredth aisle of cans, Theresa wondered if Julian would tell Chad who his mother was. Theresa wondered that herself. She wondered if she would want Chad. She then wondered what would happen if she was wrong? Maybe Julian will tell Chad the truth, and not want anything to do with him? But, he couldn’t. He couldn’t be that cruel to Chad. No, Theresa thought, if Julian Crane is going to reveal himself to Chad, then that means that he’s going to accept him into the family. Has to be.

And, when the truth was revealed, SHE would be there to help Chad pick up the pieces.

Sheridan was sitting in her living room, when the door opened.

“ Julian?”, she said as she turned around.

” No Sheridan, it’s me.”, Luis said, kissing her. “ Why were you expecting Julian?”

” Um, he had something that he wanted to discuss with me.”

” Oh. Well, look what I have?”, Luis pulls out two tickets. “ It’s to the Carlos Santana concert.”

” I thought that was sold out.”

” It was. But, Murphy’s father had a heart attack, and he thinks he should stay close to the hospital, since it’s touch and go. He offered them to me, and I accepted. I can wait for you to get ready.”

” Luis….I would love to go. But, I can’t. I really do have to wait for Julian.”

” Whatever Julian has to say can wait, Sheridan.”

” No, it can’t. This is important Crane family business.”

“ Since when does Julian involve you in ANYTHING dealing with the Crane Family business.”

” This is one of the exceptions to the rule, and I have to be here when he gets back. Why don’t you call up Hank, and it can be ‘ boys night out’?”

Luis looked at Sheridan. He had a feeling that she was keeping something from him, but, he wanted to give her space to tell him. This sudden closeness to Julian bothered him. Her brother was little more than a carbon copy of his father, and Luis didn’t feel Sheridan spending ANY time with Julian was productive. But, there was something about Sheridan that made him realize that he couldn’t tell her NOT to be with her brother. She wouldn’t stand for that. Painfully, he realized that she would have to deal with Julian and get hurt. She would have to learn her own lessons. But, it killed him to know that she was vulnerable to a scumbag like Julian.

” Ok, but, are you sure that I can’t tempt you? Once I call Hank, I’m stuck.”, Luis says with a smile.

” It’s fine.”

Luis gives her a big kiss, and then says, “ Well, I’ll call Hank on my way to his place. We’ll probably have a little dinner before the concert. You enjoy your visit with Julian.”, he says sarcastically.

Sheridan punches him in the arm, and says, “ I will. Make it a true ‘boys night out’ with you and Hank. I bet his misses his time with you.”

Once Luis is gone, Sheridan lets out a sigh of relief. “ I’m so glad you’ll be busy tonight. I hope Hank insists on beer and pool after the concert. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Julian and Chad tonight.”

Sheridan went over to the couch, and pulled a picture of Chad out of her purse. She is comparing it to one of Julian, to see if she sees any family resemblance.

Chad is working on a song that has been mulling around in his head for the past few days. He had gotten the ‘muse’ again, and thought it was time that he began the road back to the music industry. He hadn’t told anyone but Theresa about a job interview that he had with the local radio station. Sure, it was small. But, it was something. He knew that he would get back to his music, and when the melody came to him the other day, he took it as a sign.

He was playing the small electronic keyboard that he had purchased awhile ago, when he heard a knock on the door. Chad went to the door, and opened it.

” Mr. Crane?”

” Hello, Chad. May I come in?”

Chad was confused, but, nodded and let Julian into his room.

“ You have a cozy place here.”, Julian said.

” Thanks.”

” I guess you’re wondering why I’m here.”

“ That could be an understatement.”

” I’m here, because I wanted to tell you the truth.”

” The truth?”

” The truth about your parents.”

Chad looked at him in shock.
 

Theresa opened the door to the Russell kitchen, using the key that TC and Eve had left Pilar for safekeeping years ago. She had seen Julian Crane’s car in the Russell driveway, so she knew that he was here. She was thankful for that. She brought in the groceries that she had purchased at work, for a dinner for her and Chad. She began washing off the food to preparation for arrozypollo, one of Chad’s favorites.

She listened out hard for any type of an explosion from upstairs.
 

“ My parents. What would you know about my parents.”

” I know a great deal about your parents.”

” You do. What? And, WHY are you telling me anything now? I’ve been in Harmony for nearly TWO YEARS, and I know we met well over a year ago. Why now?”

” Because, the information about you only came to my attention a few weeks ago.”

” Information about me? Why the hell would anyone give YOU information about me?”

” Because, they were informing me that I was your father.”

Chad stared at Julian for a few moments. Julian was barely breathing. The silence between them was deafening. Julian didn’t know what to do, but knew that the next action had to be from Chad.

” WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU’RE MY FATHER?!”

Theresa almost dropped the dish that she was holding. She had never heard Chad sound so angry.

” I mean, that I am your father.”

” You. Julian Crane, are my father.”

” Yes, I am.”

” You’re the racist mutherfucker that impregnated my mother, and then abandoned BOTH of us, because the color of our skin was wrong? “

“ It’s more complicated than that, but, yes, I did, in a moment of weakness, abandon your mother. “

” And me.”

” And, you.”

“ Why are you even here? I haven’t been a blip on the radar for you for over 20 years. Why the hell are you here? You didn’t give a shit about me back then, when you threw my mother away like garbage. No wonder she didn’t want me. I probably reminded her of you, and she wanted to get away from all those bad memories.”

” Your mother wanted you.”

” How the fuck would you know what my mother wanted? You didn’t give a damn what she wanted. You seduced her, got her to fall in love with you, and then you abandoned her without a second thought.”

” Everything you say is true, except I had more than a second thought about her. She haunted me for years. She still does.”

” Bullshit. You’re trying to tell me a sob story so that I don’t beat your ass senseless right now. “

” I understand why you don’t believe me.”

” YOU DO? Man, I can’t understand why. Why the ‘great’ Julian Crane would think that someone would have a problem with him claiming paternity, especially after he was the one who ran as fast as he could when he found out my mother was pregnant.”

” Guilty.”

” Guilty? That’s all you’re going to say? Guilty? Crystal told me all about you. How my mother was in love with you. The best she could say was that she THOUGHT you cared for my mother. I could tell by the tone, that she didn’t believe it. That she wanted to spare my feelings, so that I wouldn’t feel totally like dirt.”

” Crystal was right. I did love your mother. Very much.”

” Liar. You don’t know jackshit about love. People in love don’t treat people like garbage. And, that’s what you did to my mother. You didn’t love her. You used her.”

” Don’t tell me how I felt about her. I DID love her. But, I didn’t know how to deal with it. I had no courage then. I barely have any courage now.”

” Courage? Is that what it took for you to come here, courage? Are you expecting a medal from me? Congratulations for you FINALLY being a man and owning up to your responsibilities. Well you can fuck that shit. I ain’t congratulatin’ you about JACK. “

Chad can’t even speak anymore. So many words are caught in his throat. The rage inside of him is building, but, no words. He goes and picks up a cup and throws it against the wall, where it smashes into pieces.

He looks at Julian. He is beyond angry right now.

” Get out.”, Chad says calmly.

” Chad..”

” Man, you better get out of here before I kick your ass. I never wanted to kill anyone before in life. But, if you stay, I’ll probably be arrested for your murder. “

Julian looked into his son’s eyes, and saw pure hatred there.

” Fine. I’ll go. But, I’m going to leave this with you.”, Julian puts an envelope on the table. “I’m not turning back, Chad. I’ll do whatever it takes to have a relationship with you.”

With that, Julian turns and leaves.

Chad slams the door so hard, that it nearly brakes the lock. He is still pacing the room, kicking anything that isn’t bolted down, when he hears the door open.

” I told you to get the fuck…”, Chad stops when he sees that it’s Theresa.

” Theresa?”

” I saw Julian Crane leave.”

” Yeah.”

” Looking at this place…he told you, didn’t he?”

Chad just nodded. Chad finally caught his breath and sat down on the edge of the bed. Theresa slowly went over and sat next to him.

They sat in silence for a long time. It was so still in the room, until Theresa heard the wimper from Chad. She looked over, and he was crying.

“ My whole life, I wondered who I belonged to, Resa. And, now, I know. A racist SOB. I looked into the face of the man who threw me away, Theresa. I thought nothing could hurt more than NOT knowing, but, knowing has been another kind of pain.”

” Chad, it’ll be ok.”

” How, Theresa? How?”

Chad couldn’t continue, because he was in so much pain. He was sobbing some more. Theresa held him in her arms. She gently stroked his face, trying to calm him. He lifted his face away from her. He took her face in his hands, and began to kiss her. Theresa had been somewhat stunned, but, found herself responding to him. The kisses began to deepen, and then his arms went around her waist to pull her towards him. Theresa knew what he needed at that moment. He needed someone. He needed to be with someone he felt cared about him. Theresa started to unbutton his shirt, and he helped her off with hers. He pushed her back on the bed, and he stopped to look at Theresa, silently asking her if this was what she wanted. Theresa answered as she pulled him in for another kiss.