2. Months went past without any more appearances from
Warren. He’d sent word from his lawyers though, requested
a copy of the birth certificate and set up a direct debit for
childcare costs. Megan aged up into a toddler without seeing
him a second time.
3. Teresa took this extra time and money as a
gift, and spent it on quality time with her
daughter. If Warren wanted to support them
financially she would swallow her pride and
accept it gracefully. She still had feelings for
Warren, but wouldn’t act on them. She
didn’t want to scare him off and jeopardise
her daughters relationship with her father.
4. Warren hadn’t given up on
Teresa or Megan. He just
wanted to keep his
distance while he
introduced James to the
idea of having a half-sister.
He didn’t want to
overwhelm his son.
5. And it was a lot to
take in. Poor James
was a bit confused. He
wasn’t sure he
remembered Teresa
properly, or how he
felt about Megan. But
he was, generally, ok
with it.
6. With James on side, Warren
arranged to meet up with
Teresa again. They chose a
neutral place to meet, and
Megan came along as well.
7. They start off with a bit of small talk,
but then Warren gets ahead of
himself and blurts out that he would
like Teresa and Megan to come and
live with him.
He babbles that there’s no pressure,
no ulterior motives he’d just like them
under one roof. So they can get to
know each other better.
8. James watches out for the imminent
arrival of his little sister and Teresa.
9. He’s been moved into his
dads room to make space
for the two newcomers.
Teresa is all he can think
about, straining his
memory to bring her face
to mind.
10. Teresa arrives late, after James
has gone to bed. She puts Megan
down for the night and prepares
to face everything in the morning.
11. That night, James even dreamed of
the exciting morning he had ahead
meeting his little half-sister.
12. When it finally
came, he was a bit
disappointed.
Megan’s first day in
Deasil Street, and
Teresa gives the
boys some space to
meet her on their
home turf. So… she
was shy and didn’t
really do anything.
She was boring.
13. Teresa, on the other hand, was
bubbling over with excitement.
She could hardly believe James was
now a child, he’d come so far since
she’d last seen him! It was a shame
she’d missed so much since he’d aged
up. She wondered how much he
remembered of her.
14. Warren gets stuck into raising Megan
right away, helping out with teaching
her to walk and use a potty.
He loved being a father, and was
thrilled he had a chance to go
through it again.
15. Teresa slipped back into her routine fairly quickly. In fact she
had more spare time, as she wasn’t having to travel to and
from each day. It was strange thinking of it as her home
though. But if it got too weird, she could always move out
again. She was only renting to holidaymakers for the moment.
16. Warren seemed to be perfectly happy with how
everything had turned out, unlike Teresa. Seeing
him with her daughter reminded her of how
much she cared for him. Not having her feelings
reciprocated, or even acknowledged, hurt.
17. But Megan was doing
really well in her new
environment. There was
no question, the
Marshalls would be
staying on Deasil Street
for the foreseeable
future.
18. A new face arrives in
Appaloosa, having
taken an overnight
shuttle bus. She
checks into her
motel, changes, and
head out again.
19. She’s here to visit Teresa, who isn’t
expecting her oldest friend to turn up on
her new doorstep.
20. Teresa hanging out with friend
Kasitova.
Her name is Bernice Kasitova, and she
drags Teresa out to a bar. She listens
to her friends complaints and woes
patiently. It’s why she’s come.
21. Though she can’t help but
remember the nights out they
used to have. She and Teresa
used to go wild… then Teresa
had moved to Appaloosa for
an internship.
First it had been good news,
then no news, then the
startling update that she was
pregnant.
22. As the evening wore
on, Teresa began to
smile again. Bernice
was gratified, it had
only been a short trip
but she’d achieved
what she’d meant to.
For a few hours at
least, Teresa had
forgotten she was
heartbroken over
Warren Bailey.
23. As they parted, Bernice
reminded her friend that
anything was possible. She
would bet the next time they
got together, she’d be
admiring a new piece of
jewellery.
24. Teresa is heartened by
her friends surety, and
tries to act more flirty
with Warren. Perhaps
he was clueless about
her romantic feelings
toward him.
25. She hoped he was slowly
getting the idea. One morning,
in their garden, she thought
she saw her feelings echoed on
his face.
26. As it turns out, she was right. Warren
had just had an epiphany. She was
the mother of his daughter, she
seemed to care about him… why
was he hesitating?
27. It was as if they no longer
needed to talk over their
relationship. All
uncertainty had
disappeared. Teresa
Marshall and Warren
Bailey were a couple.
28. Teresa could hardly believe how lucky
she was. It had all worked out so
well, it was getting harder to
remember the difficult times that had
brought her to Warren in the first
place.
29. Keen to do things properly, Warren took her on
a couple of dates, fancy restaurants, the
cinema… but it wasn’t really necessary.
30. They slipped into a comfortable,
companiable relationship very quickly. The
next stage was to explain to James why the
bedroom arrangements were getting
changed again.
31. Deasil Street
No. 1 No. 3
Trinity and Belladonna Darkstone For Sale
No. 2 No. 5
Warren and James Bailey For Sale
Teresa and Megan Marshall
No. 6
No. 5 Pablo and Jennifer Martinez
Empty Lot
No. 7
Harry Vickers and his daughter Ariette
Next
Time… Can Warren get to the bottom of James’ aversion
to Teresa?
What is Edward hinting about Ariette Vickers?
Find out next time on Deasil Street!
