Things to remember:

- Whitney and Chad are not brother and sister!!

-Antonio's still alive! But he's not married to Sheridan anymore.. Luis and Sheridan told him the truth about their past.. the oldest Lopez-Fitzgerald was devastated.. but he quickly found comfort in Beth! So there will be some Beth/Antonio and Luis/Sheridan moments. (giggles)

- Little Martin is born, he’s Luis and Sheridan’s child. Let’s pretend that Luis and Sheridan are married okay? Beth never kidnapped Sheridan or anything like that.

- Beth and Antonio are dating.

- Miguel and Kay have Maria, Miguel’s not completely over Charity yet, but he does have feelings for Kay! (I love Charity, but I’m a Kay/Miguel fan!)

- Let’s say that little Martin is a year old and Maria is two years old okay?

Disclaimer: Don’t own Passions. If I did, I'd bring Fox and Theresa back together a LONG time ago. This fic is merely here to entertain others and a way for myself to let off some steam and to also improve my writing skills. And of course to keep THEROX alive!

Well, here’s chapter 12 everybody!! I got so much reviews for the last chapter! Thanks so much everybody! All your reviews cheered me up greatly! Hopefully you all like this chapter too! Oh by the way.. Theresa now lives back at her own house okay? No more living at the Crane mansion for her!

Don’t forget to review! They are what keeps me writing.


Dreams of You

Chapter 12: A Day With the Family


Fox sat alone in the dark of his room, later that night. His emotions were running wild and he didn’t know what to think. He was in shock. For the very first time, Fox was sure he was in love.

Fox Crane – in love?

It wasn’t possible. He wasn’t capable.

But it was true.

He had gone and fallen in love with Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. His former stepmother. His partner in crime. His companion.

His best friend.

What’s a guy supposed to do in a situation like this?’ he wondered, ‘Should I just keep quiet? Or should I tell her?’

Fox flopped back on his bed and with his eyes looked around the room. Seeing the paint splattered walls made him smile at the sudden memory that had occurred more than a month ago. And soon, he remembered all the other good times he had shared with Theresa. All the talks and laughs.

But the question still lingered in his mind.

Should he pursue her?

Yes,’ he decided after giving it some thought. But he couldn’t pursue her the way he pursued other women, Theresa was better than that. She deserved more than that.

Feeling frustrated that no ideas were coming to him, Fox sat back up on his bed with a growl. He wasn’t used to being stumped when it came to women. His eyes then fell on the journal that was lying on the nightstand. Gently lifting it up, his fingers traced over the hard surface of the book.

Hopefully you can find some use for it” Theresa had written.

Shrugging, Fox turned on his lamp and began searching his night stand for a pen. Now was a good time as any to write down his feelings. After all, what could it hurt?

After writing down the date, Fox thought for a moment, wondering what to write.

Yo!

My name is Fox Crane and-

No. Scratch that. He sounded like a little punk trying to act all tough. Shaking his head, Fox tried again.

Hello,

I’m Fox and this is my first journal-

Nope. Fox shook his head once more. Now he sounded like a little child. Why did writing have to be so hard? Sighing, Fox ripped out the page and tried again.

Journal-

Fox smiled. Finally.

Tonight a whirlwind of emotions came over me. I’ve never felt anything like it and for the first time I’m speechless and at a loss of what to do. It’s finally happened. Fox Crane has finally fallen in love. The woman of my affections?

Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald.

It’s funny, when I first came back to Harmony, I only wanted to cause trouble. Make my family feel all the hurt and pain I felt over the years. Upon meeting Theresa, I had planned to bed her and then leave her like I had with all the others. I never expected her to have such an impact on me.

But she did.

And everything’s all different now.

I care about her. I don’t know how she did it, but she’s managed to take away all the anger inside of me, she was able to erase all the hurt. She’s kind, funny and so full of life.

Not to mention we have tons of fun together. And I’m not talking about the dirty kind of fun either.

I don’t know how it happened, but tonight I fell in love. The day started out normally, went to pick up Theresa’s sister at the airport (Paloma was my Christmas present to the Lopez-Fitzgerals) and then we headed towards their house. Everything was fine until after dinner and everyone sat around talking and laughing. Theresa was sitting in front of the fireplace playing with her niece, there was a fire glowing brightly behind her and she smiled at me from where she sat.

She was breathtaking.

When she smiled at me, my heart literally stopped, but at the same time it was beating rapidly (did that make any sense?) I think I’m going to try and start a relationship with her. But how to go about it? Theresa’s special and she deserves to be treated like a princess –which won’t be a problem, I am a Crane after all.

But how am I going to convince her to date me? And most importantly, does she have feelings for me too?

What am I supposed to do now?

Fox stared at the page for a moment before putting down his pen. What was he supposed to do now? Deciding that he’d think about it the next day, Fox laid the journal on his nightstand and turned off his lamp. Crawling under the covers, Fox fell asleep almost instantly; dreams of Theresa filled his head throughout the night.


When Theresa woke up that morning, her thoughts immediately went to last night’s events. Christmas had been so wonderful this year – probably her most favorite Christmas memory yet. For once, her family was together –except for her father, but that couldn’t be helped. Her little sister had come home; her niece and nephew were growing up happy, healthy and strong. She and Whitney were as close as ever, and she had met Fox.

She had a lot to be thankful for.

Gwen had finally gotten off her back over the last month; in fact, the pregnant blonde was almost friendly. Her stomach was getting bigger and bigger everyday and within two months she was going to be a proud mother of a beautiful baby girl. Ethan on the other hand, was getting grouchier and crabbier each day and for the life of her Theresa couldn’t figure out why. Weren’t you supposed to be happy when you’re expecting a newborn? Inwardly shrugging, Theresa turned her head to check what time it was. Her digital clock read 8:01am. It was still early.

Her thoughts then turned to Fox and she had to smile. He was so amazing, and when she looked at his family, she wondered how Fox had turned out so decently. It was hard to believe that she had been over Ethan for more than a month and she owed a lot of it to Fox. He had helped distracted her whenever she had the urge to go to Ethan. Fox made her laugh, and he made things fun –with him, Theresa never had to worry about being immature or mature. She loved the fact that Fox saw all her flaws and still accepted her the way she was.

But most of all, she loved the fact that he made her feel beautiful.

Theresa’s smile became wider when she remembered the happy look on Fox’s face when he opened the gift she had given him the night before. His face had lit up with such happiness that it had made her Christmas so much more meaningful. She had spent weeks knitting that scarf (and it was very frustrating since she wasn’t good at knitting –thank you mama!) it was nice to know that her efforts had been appreciated, and in return, she loved the necklace he had given her.

She rolled to her side to look at the framed photograph of her and Fox at the ice rink. They had been trying to show off, and in the process had fallen. Fox was on top of her and they were both smiling and gazing into each other’s eyes. It had become one of Theresa’s favorite photographs of all time. Theresa giggled as she relived the memory.

Flashback

You guys are such goons!” Whitney playfully teased from where she sat with Chad on the bench, watching as Fox and Theresa skated around pretending to be like superstars and showing off. She rolled her eyes.

And you guys are boring!” Fox retorted, “We’re supposed to be skating – but you guys are just sitting there!” To his left, Theresa skated around –pretending to be like Michelle Kwan, her arms spread wide open, leaning forward and her left leg in the air. Fox gave her a grin and then attempted to do a triple axle, while their best friends sat off to the side laughing at their antics.

Yeah well, it’s more fun to watch you guys bump into each other and fall!” Chad called.

As soon as those words were spoken, Theresa slipped and in an attempt to keep herself from falling, she grabbed onto the closest person to her –Fox. But Fox wasn’t expecting Theresa to suddenly grab onto him and he also lost his balance. Whitney and Chad howled with laughter as they watched their friends try to untangle themselves.

As they struggled to untangle themselves, somehow, they were able to find each other’s faces. Theresa’s giggles died down as she gazed into Fox’s eyes. Had they always been so deep and mysterious?

Quick Whitney! Snap the picture!”

Snap!

The bright flash of the camera ruined the moment. “Got it!” Whitney yelled.

Theresa blinked and then realized Fox was still on top of her. She blushed. “Um, Fox you’re kinda squishing me.”

Fox lost his dazed look and snapped back to reality. “Oops, sorry Theresa.”

Getting up, Fox offered his hand to Theresa and she accepted. As he pulled her up, he jokingly said, “I was in such a comfortable position too.”

Theresa smiled and playfully punched his shoulder, “You’re such a flirt!”

Fox gave her his trademark smirk. “Oh yeah?” he paused, before continuing, “At least I don’t have to make people fall to get their attention!” And with that he skated away, knowing she’d chase after him for his comment.

Theresa stared at him for a moment before skating after him, all the while reliving the feeling of his body on top of hers.

End Flashback

Theresa let out a happy sigh before she heard a knock on her door. “Come in,” she called as she sat up and stretched.

The door opened and Luis poked his head in. “Oh good, you’re up,” he commented, “Hurry up and get dressed, we’ve got lots of things to do today.”

Theresa gave her older brother a confused look before remembering what plans they had that day. It was the Lopez-Fitzgeralds tradition. They would all get up and eat breakfast then spend the day together as a family, going sledding and building snowmen and having snowball fights. This year was special because Antonio and Paloma were home to share it with them. Theresa flung her blankets to the side. “I’m going to go get ready Luis!” She chirped cheerfully.

Luis nodded and fondly looked at his sister for the moment. Watching his sister head towards her closet he smiled, “Oh and Theresa?” Luis waited till his sister’s attention was on him before continuing, “Why don’t you invite Fox over for breakfast? He can spend the day with us.”

Theresa flashed him a grin and ran over to hug her brother. “Thanks Luis, I’ll do that,” she whispered.

Luis returned the embrace and then left to go find Sheridan, closing the door behind him. Theresa hurried to her phone and quickly dialed Fox’s number. It rang three times before a sleepy voice answered in an annoyed tone, “Whoever this is, I hope you know it’s 8 in the morning.”

Looking at her digital clock Theresa smiled, noting how adorable his voice sounded when he was still half asleep. “Good morning sunshine! It’s 8:20am by the way.” Hearing a groan at the other end of the line, Theresa gave a little giggle.

“Theresa?” now he sounded more awake.

“Who else would call you this early?” she retorted, all the while smiling.

“Only you, Resa, only you. So what’s up?”

“Wanna come over for breakfast?”

A pause.

“Sure Resa, I’ve got nothing better to do anyways.”

“Great! I’ll see you in a half hour Fox!” and with that Theresa hung up and headed off to the bathroom to get ready.


Theresa was in the kitchen setting out plates, with Paloma and Sheridan when the doorbell rang. Paloma was set down the plate and headed towards the front door. “I’ll get it!” She excitedly called. The youngest Lopez-Fitzgerald opened the door to reveal Kay and Maria. Paloma smiled warmly at her friend and niece and invited them in. Just as she was about to close the door, she saw Fox walking up the pathway. She pulled the door wide open once more and smiled brightly. “Hi Fox!”

Fox walked though the door carrying a basket. “Hey Paloma. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine,” the petite girl answered, then eyed the basket Fox was currently holding. “Is that a present for my sister?” she asked curiously.

Fox laughed, as he started to take off his coat. “Nope. It’s muffins for all of you. I figured it would be a good to eat with breakfast.”

“Hey Fox!”

Both Paloma and Fox turn to see Theresa coming towards them with a bright smile on her pretty face. As Theresa reached up to give her friend a hug, Paloma stood to the side observing Fox’s face. ‘His eyes lit up when he saw Theresa,’ she thought, ‘and his smile looks a lot bigger after she hugged him. Looks like Fox Crane returns my sister’s feelings. It’s going to be easier than I thought.’

“What are all of you standing around for? Come and eat! We have lots to do today!” Pilar called as she walked into the living room. “Oh thank you Fox, how thoughtful of you!” Pilar smiled warmly as he handed her the basket of muffins, “come everyone, come eat!”


Breakfast was just as enjoyable as the dinner last night had been. Fox sighed in content as he finished the last of his scrambled eggs. Pilar was such a good cook! “So,” he said, as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, “What are we going to do now?”

Theresa laughed as she stood up and began piling the plates, “Now we get to go sledding!”

“It’s a lot of fun,” Miguel added, from Fox’s left, “it may seem a little immature, but it’s tradition here in the Lopez-Fitzgerald house.”

Fox smiled. He loved the feeling of being included in the family traditions. One could sure get used to this. “It’s a great tradition.”

Once all the dishes were cleaned, everyone headed outside towards Harmony Park with toboggans and sleds in toe. Theresa was pleased to see that Fox had been wearing the sweater she had given him. And she was even more thrilled when she saw Fox bundled up with the scarf she had knitted. Briefly, she wondered if he was writing in the journal she had given him. Shrugging, Theresa forgot her thoughts as she joined in the family fun.

Fox stood off to the side as he watched everyone begin to sled. Feeling a little out of place, he didn’t notice Theresa come up behind him until she tapped him on the shoulder. “What’s wrong Fox?” she asked, concerned in her voice.

“I-“ he paused, “I feel a little awkward.”

“Why?”

He shrugged.

Theresa smiled and grabbed his gloved hand. “Come on Fox, you are coming sledding with me!” And with that she dragged him towards the sled that Miguel had just ridden on with Maria. He cautiously sat down behind Theresa and wrapped his arms around her. ‘She smells like strawberries and vanilla,’ he thought as he inhaled her scent. “Ready?” she asked and Fox nodded. Next thing he knew, they were whizzing down the long hill –both laughing all the way.

Sheridan heard their laughter and noticed them from where she was kneeling with Martin and Luis, making a snowman. “Look at them,” she smiled, encouraging Luis to shift his attention from the snowman to his sister. “Aren’t they adorable?”

“Yeah,” Luis replied, “he really makes Theresa happy.”

“Looks like Theresa really makes him happy too. What is it about you Lopez-Fitzgerals making us Cranes happy beyond belief?”

Smiling, Luis shrugged. “We’re just special that’s all.”

Sheridan laughed, and the two exchanged a kiss.

“Yeah well, it’s about time Theresa found someone. Other than Ethan I mean. She’s been alone for way too long.”

Sheridan smiled at the sight of Theresa and Fox laughing. She really hoped her nephew would find the happiness he deserved. “Yeah, and Fox finally found someone to settle down with too.”

Sheridan gave another glance at her sister in law and her nephew. ‘I wish you two the best of luck.’


Paloma sat next to Kay on the bench. She was bored. While Kay was fussing over Maria, she saw Fox and Theresa standing a few feet from each other. Fox was observing the snowy park, looking like he was lost in his thoughts. Theresa on the other hand, her attention was on Beth and Antonio –who were acting like children. Paloma smiled, this was her chance –both of them were distracted. She quickly gathered some snow into her hands and turned it into a snowball and then stood up. Taking careful aim, she threw the snowball with all her might and watched as it hit her target right in the back of the head.

She then quickly sat down and tried not to look suspicious, pretending to take an interest in Maria’s clapping. Kay smirked. “I saw what you did.”

Paloma shrugged all the while trying to keep a straight face. “Match making isn’t that difficult. The hardest part is trying not to get caught while trying to pair people up without them knowing.”

“You think Fox and Theresa make a good couple too huh?”

“More than good.”

Both Paloma and Kay sat back to watch the scene unfold.


Fox stood at the top of the hill looking at the beautiful scenery below him. It had been such a perfect day. He couldn’t have been happier. It was all because of Theresa all these things were happening to him –not that he was complaining. He had never gone sledding before and for his first experience it had been fun, of course having his arms wrapped around Theresa had been a big bonus as far as he was concerned.

Splat!

Suddenly he was hit in the back of the head with something cold, pulling him out of his thoughts. ‘What the heck?’

Turning around, Fox saw Theresa. Although he could only see the side of her face, he saw that she was smiling. His eyes narrowed, and he smiled. ‘Jeez Theresa,’ he thought, ‘if you were going to throw a snowball at me, you could’ve at least hidden. Well two can play at this game.’

Bending down, he gathered some snow and packed it into a snowball and aimed at Theresa. The snowball hit her right shoulder and for a moment Theresa looked surprised. She quickly noticed him, and then smiled as he waved. This meant war. And from that point on, a huge snowball fight started.


Kay and Paloma were laughing so hard.

“I can’t believe he fell for it!” Kay gasped, as she clutched Maria in her arms.

“I know!” Paloma giggled along with her, “that’s why I did it. Theresa was in the perfect position.”

“You have to let me help you with your match making!” Kay pleaded.

Paloma thought for a moment, then shrugged. Why not? After all, two heads were better than one. And besides, if her plan blew up in her face, it would be good not to be blamed entirely. She smiled, “Sure Kay.” Then she sat back and watched as Fox and Theresa pelted one another with snowballs.

She felt very proud of herself.


Well, don't forget to review!!

Now I have a question for you all, I'm planning on having a few more chapters for this story.. would any of you like me to bring Martin (the father, not the baby) in? I've got a couple of ideas for them, but it's all up to you readers! If not, then I was thinking of ending this story with oh, 10 or so chapters and starting a new one. So all of you let me know what you think I should do okay?

Review!!