Todd: (Smiling:) She'd like that. I know I would. If it were anyone else, I'd just say that cooking's for girls, but you make it ok. (Serves her some eggs.) Eat before it all congeals and the toast turns to cold cardboard. (Sits down on the other side of the counter.)
Tea: (Laughs.) Ok.
Todd: Coffee's nice and hot. (Pouring some for each of them.)
Tea: (Eats.) Mmmmm......
Todd: Eggs ok?
Tea: Perfect.
Todd: Wow. I did something right. I cooked a meal. I even did it ok.
Tea: Yes, you did. You do many things right. You make me happy.
Todd: (Beaming.) That's what I want most to do, is make you happy. You make me happy. (Leans over and kisses her, a lingering, nuzzly "I love you" kiss.)
Tea: (Breathless. Smiles at him.) I love you, too.
Todd: (Comes around the counter and draws her into a tight hug and kiss, his eyes closed.)
Tea: (Melts in his arms, hugs and kisses him back, smiling, her eyes closed. She holds his head gently, her fingers laced in his hair.)
Todd: (Whispering, as he brushes his lips against hers, full of desire for her:) I love you, Tea. I love you. (Kisses her hungrily, still holding her tight against his body, his hands on her sides. He begins to kiss her neck and nuzzle against her, almost feeling his way with his lips.)
Tea: (Looks ecstatic, lost in pleasure at this intimate touch from him.) What brought this on? After last night.... umm.... mmmmm.....
Todd: (Moves back to her lips, and nuzzles them with his own, lost in desire with a look of careful concentration on his face. He opens his eyes halfway, looks into hers, whispers:) I want you.
Tea: (Smiles.) Mmmm..... Oh, I want you, too, Todd.
Todd: (Quietly intense:) I trust you.
Tea: (Look of awed surprise.)
Starr: (From upstairs:) Daaaaddddeeeee??
Todd: (Buries his face against Tea’s neck with a loud groan. Looks at Tea.) School day??
Tea: (Laughs.) Reality intrudes. (Kisses him.) Yes, Starr has school today. One of the last days.
Todd: (Frustration all over his face, desperately:) I want you so badly right now. (Hugs her very close and nuzzles his cheek against her hair, his eyes closed.)
Tea: (Quietly, taking gentle control:) I'm afraid we'll have to wait until she's at school and you come back here.
Todd: (Pulls back to look at her but doesn't let her go.) You'll wait? I don't know if I'll still be ready to try again when I get back. I may lose the moment, or my nerve.
Tea: We can try. (Kisses him.) It'll be ok. (Looking in his eyes and stroking his cheek. He closes his eyes and soaks it up.) Go get Starr ready.
Starr: (Enters the kitchen.) There you are, Daddy. Why didn't you answer me? You and Tee weren't in your rooms, and --
Todd: (Gathers Starr and picks her up, hugs her.) I'm right here, sweetie, ok? I still love you. (Holds her a little away, brushes her bangs off her face and kisses her cheek.) We were up a little early and got busy together here, but we didn't leave you. We needed some time to ourselves this morning.
Starr: (A little sulkily:) Without me?
Todd: Sometimes Mommies and Daddies need time without the kids. We do grown-up things together or on our own and then we go home to our kids.
Starr: Like when I'm at school and I come home to you?
Todd: A lot like that. (Sets her down at the counter.) Have some breakfast.
Starr: Did you have a bad dream last night, Daddy?
Todd: (Surprised and a little saddened:) Oh, did I wake you?
Starr: Uh-huh.
Todd: I'm sorry. It was a very bad dream and I was very scared. I'm sorry I woke you up.
Starr: Was it about your Daddy?
Todd: (Shoots Tea a quick look.) Mhm. He did something that scared me and that's what the nightmare was about.
Starr: Were you crying?
Todd: Yes, sweetie. Sometimes even Daddies can cry.
Tea: (Takes Todd's hand.) Starr? Don't worry about Daddy's dream, ok? He has them sometimes and sometimes they're very scary for him and he makes a lot of noise in his sleep.
Starr: Like my bad dreams?
Tea: Just like that.
Todd: Even grownups can have bad dreams.
Starr: (Looking very sad:) I'm sorry, Daddy.
Todd: (Sweetly:) Honey, don't be. They're my dreams. You don't have dreams like mine, I've made sure you never will.
Starr: Sometimes I have bad dreams. I had some when you were away. I talked to Fred about them. I thought you wouldn't ever come back to me.
Todd: I did, Starr. I'm right here, ok? (Hugs her.) You gotta get ready for school. Eat your breakfast. We'll be upstairs. I'll take you to school, ok?
Starr: Ok, Daddy.
Tea: (Kisses Todd.) When you're done eating, come up and brush your teeth, Mi Estrella.
Starr: (Around bits of scrambled eggs:) Ok, Tee.
[Todd and Tea leave the kitchen and cross the livingroom together, holding hands. They ascend the stairs, as scene fades to black.]
[Scene ends.]
[Scene: PH2, a little while later. Todd bustling around and fooling around with Starr, trying to get her downstairs and to school quickly and on time.]
Todd: (Calls to her from the livingroom:) Come on, Starr, or we'll be late!
Starr: (Coming down the stairs with her backpack.) Coming, Daddy!
Todd: (Looks at her.) Ok. Check: Lunch money?
Starr: (Nods, looking up at her father:) Check.
Todd: (Looks in her backpack.) Homework?
Starr: (Nods.) Check.
Todd: (Looks at his daughter.) Jacket? You're wearing it.
Starr: (Giggles.) Daddeeeee!
Todd: (Beams with silliness and pride.) Ok, you've got your sneakers on for Gym.
Starr: (Points a finger down at each foot to show him, grinning.)
Todd: (Looks at Starr.) Have I left anything out?
Starr: (Looks at Todd.) Yes.
Todd: (Surprised:) What?
Starr: (Laughing:) My Daddy!
Todd: Oh! (Laughs:) Let's go, then! (Takes her in his arms, with her backpack in his hand and they head out the door together. He leans over so Starr can open the door, and close it behind them.)
[Scene ends.]
[Scene: PH2: Later that morning.]
Tea: (Approaches Todd, who is standing in the livingroom near the fireplace. Her hands are behind her back. Camera shows what she's carrying, but Todd is turned toward the fireplace and doesn't see.)
Todd: I don't want her to worry, you know?
Tea: I know. I don't, either. (Strokes his arm with one hand.)
Todd: She's my little girl. My only kid. I just want her to be happy.
Tea: I got you something. A surprise. This seems like a good time to present it. (Presents Todd with a medium-sized brown teddybear.)
Todd: (Turns to face her. Sees bear, looks touched but very uncomfortable.) What's this for? (Backs away a little, moving toward the downstage side of the stage left chair.)
Tea: To replace the one in the box in the closet.
Todd: What closet?
Tea: From your memory, from that long nightmare months ago.
Todd: Oh.... (Looks both frightened and deeply touched.) No thanks. (Voice cracks.)
Tea: (Upset:) Why not?
Todd: (Squirming.) That's for little kids, Tea.
Tea: You still have that little boy inside who was hurt.
Todd: (Firmly:) He's dead, Delgado.
Tea: I can see it in your eyes. He's very much alive. (Presses bear against Todd's chest, facing her.)
Todd: (Wraps arms around it, making a sour face at Tea.)
Tea: The bear is smiling now.
Todd: Eeeww! (Hands it back.)
Tea: (Smiles.) No, it's your bear, now. You made it smile.
Todd: (Holds bear out to look it in the face.) Is not.
Tea: Well, it's smiling when I look at you holding it. I think it's mirroring your scowl back at you. That's what you need, a mirror.
Todd: You're my mirror.
Tea: And that's now your bear.
Todd: (Makes bear noises quietly.) See? It's growling. (Bear turns to look at Tea.)
Tea: You're not giving me this bear back, it's attached to you now. You made it smile.
Todd: Tea, really. This is silly. (Tosses bear onto couch, walks away to sit behind his desk, looking uncomfortable.) That's so heartwarming it makes me want to retch.
Tea: It'll grow on you.
Todd: (Growls:) No, it won't.
Tea: (Crosses to the couch, picks up bear. Holds bear out towards Todd, waggles the bear at him and makes bear noises.)
Todd: (Tries not to laugh, and fails despite himself, snorting and giggling a little.)
Tea: (Repeats this.)
Todd: (Overwhelmed. Serious:) Stop that.
Tea: (Stops. Takes her shoes off. Crosses to him and touches his hair, looking in his eyes. She strokes his cheek, alternating with stroking him under his chin, and he seems to relax.)
Todd: (Reaches up to her face, and draws her face gently to his. He nuzzles her face and then kisses her lips very tenderly but firmly, melting into her and kissing around her mouth and face, and returning to her lips. She drops the bear. He gathers her against him and holds her close, burying his face against her body. He lets her go a moment, she sits on his lap and he holds her while he kisses her some more. He comes up for air to say:) I love you, Tea. (And looks in her eyes, studying her mouth and eyes intently, his face relaxed and expression openly adoring, obviously smitten with her.)
Tea: I love you, Todd.
Todd: (Begins tenderly, but hungrily kissing her again. She responds throughout, completely focused on each other. Comes up for air.) Maybe we should go upstairs?
Tea: If you're ready.
Todd: (Nuzzles her, face full of heavy-lidded desire.) I want to be. I want you, only you. Please let me do this for you? (Gently covers her lips in little kisses. Gathers her up in his arms and begins to carry her toward the stairs, as he kisses her, checking his footing every few steps. They start up the stairs.)
[Scene ends.]
[Scene: Todd's room minutes later.]
Todd: (Straining under her weight a bit:) Oof. You gotta stop eating.
Tea: (Laughs.) Sam's right, you need more exercise. You should lift weights or something.
Todd: And this wasn't? (Smiles. Kisses her lips again.)
Tea: (Grins at him:) This will be.....
Todd: I hope so. (Smiles at her with desire. Lays her out on his bed and leans over her, reaching for the buttons on her clothes. He begins to undo them.)
Tea: (Holds his hands to stop him, and looks in his eyes.)
Todd: (Shocked:) No?
Tea: Yes. (Nods up at him.) Yes, this is very nice.
Todd: (Smiles a little nervously back. Takes a breath, lets it out.) Oh.
Tea: Hey.... (Squeezes his hand and gets his attention, looking into his eyes.) Don't let me rush you, ok? Oh! Your hands are freezing! It's ok. Really, it's ok. Look at me?
Todd: (Looks in her eyes.)
Tea: You need to control this process for you, so that you can finally know that you can be ok about sex with me. That you can show me how much you love me, with your body. That you can let go. You weren't at all violent last time but you also held back at the last.
Todd: I'm still scared I will be. You knew?
Tea: (Nodding:) I knew.
Todd: Look, I'm s--
Tea: (Shaking her head at him gently:) Hushshh. (Grabs his shirtfront gently and pulls him down to her, kisses him. He supports himself over her on his elbows, his body on top of hers.) You can let yourself go with me. I've seen you at your worst many times. Did I try to stop you when you cried so hard when we talked about our past?
Todd: (Fleeting smile:) More like argued. No. (Kissing her and nuzzling her, drinking in her scent at her neck and nuzzling her neck. Quietly:) Do you love me?
Tea: (Breathless, looking in his eyes, quietly:) Oh, yes. You should know that by now.
Todd: (Looking in her eyes:) All of me?
Tea: (Breathlessly:) Oh, yes. Every inch and scar. (Tracing the scar on his cheek gently with a finger. He closes his eyes soaking this touch in.) I may not always agree with you, but I accept you for who you are.
Todd: (Opens his eyes and looks at her for a moment.) Do you trust me?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: After everything I've done? To you? Everyone?
Tea: Yes.
Todd: I'm not sure I trust me. You must be some sort of saint. You've stuck with me the longest of anyone. (Leans down and kisses her very gently, nuzzling her lips with his. Takes a breath, looking in her eyes as if drinking in the moment. Unbuttons her shirt and pulls the shirttails out of her slacks, kissing her somewhere during every pause.) I love you, with everything I am and everything I have. (Trailing kisses down along her neck, kissing his way across her collarbones and trailing kisses down her abdomen as he unbuttons her clothes.)
Tea: (Plays with his hair as he does so.) Mmmm......
Todd: (Looks up at her adoringly, smiling broadly. He slides her slacks over her hips. Takes a breath as he looks at her body below him. He studies her form in awe as she watches him. He moves up her body to kiss her again and smiles down at her. He smoothes her hair gently and looks in her eyes. His eyes say it all, everything he feels.)
Tea: (Quietly, smiling back, her hands in his hair:) My turn. (She rolls him over to his side next to her.)
Todd: (Catches his breath, lying on his side next to her. He continues to kiss her.)
Tea: (Works his shirttails out of his pants and works open the buttons of his shirt.) You're trembling. Husssshhh. (Kisses him.) It's ok. It's ok. (Strokes his hair gently and looks in his eyes. She puts her hand in the middle of his bare chest.) It's my turn to try to stop your trembling. We don't have to do this, I can wait for you to be ready. I'm patient. I'll still love you.
Todd: (He takes a breath and seems to relax a little and slow down. Closes his eyes and takes a few more breaths and seems to relax some more. He resumes kissing her, his breathing becomes a little faster, holding her hand against his chest with his.) Mmmmm.......
Tea: (Smiles at him.) Sometimes it takes so little to please you.
Todd: Mmmm..... (Quietly:) I like your hand on my chest. Very comforting. (Nuzzles his face against hers, with a lot of emotion.) I know you said long ago that I can love you with my heart and my mind, that it isn't about sex for you, and I know that it isn't. It's that for me, I need to touch you, to be close to you ... and I'm ready to do this. I want to be able to give you my body, too, trembling or not. (Holds her close, burying his face against her neck again.)
Tea: (She pulls away and kisses him gently, hand still on his chest.) Ready?
Todd: (Nods.)
Tea: (Undoes his belt, and then his pants, pushing them over his hips with his help.)
Todd: (Kicks his pants, and shoes off, sits up to yank off his socks and toss it all to the floor. Scrambles under the blankets, turns them for Tea, with a shy smile.)
Tea: (Crawls under next to him and snuggles, kissing him hungrily.)
Todd: (Holds her tenderly, running his hand down along her body as he kisses her. Rolls over on top of her, still kissing.)
Tea: (Moves her clothes around in a way suggestive of full nudity and then seems to help him remove his boxers.)
[They continue to kiss and nuzzle and lace their fingers together, their bodies beginning to move in a slow rhythm. He holds their hands above her head, still kissing her, stretching their bodies against each other. Scene cuts away.]
[Scene: Todd is fast asleep on his back, his limbs tangled with Tea's and mixed with the bedclothes. Tea is in his arms also fast asleep, they look content and spent, their hair messy, Todd's face especially is relaxed. He looks almost like a different person, younger, boyish, calm, at peace and asleep. Tea stirs a little and he holds her closer in his sleep and she settles down again. Camera pulls away, fade to black. Scene ends.]
[Scene: Sam's law office.]
Sam: Viki, hi. Anything wrong with the kids?
Viki: No. They're fine.
Sam: Todd?
Viki: Well, as well as usual.
Sam: Then what brings you here?
Viki: I think we need to talk. About Nora.
Sam: Not you, too? It's like everyone's coming to me to either chew me out about Nora or about Matthew lately. Todd's reamed me out about a bunch of things of late, only one of which is not to lie to Matthew about his paternity. Bo's talked to me about getting my son retested and about custody. I'd forgotten that Bo has a legal case for custody even without the DNA test because Matthew was conceived and born during their marriage.
Viki: Have you thought about what it would mean if Matthew really isn't yours?
Sam: (A little wary) Nora and I would work something out.
Viki: What if Nora doesn't stay with you?
Sam: (Anxious:) I don't know. I can't think that she wouldn't.
Viki: Can't as in "no data", or won't as in "won't accept it"?
Sam: Both. I love Nora and Matthew, and I know Matthew is mine. Besides, I've raised him.
Viki: That doesn't always mean much in custody battles.
Sam: It means a lot to him. He doesn't know Bo.
Viki: (Sharply:) And whose fault is that?
Sam: Viki!
Viki: Sam, you have got to think about Matthew first. Not Nora, not you, but that helpless little boy. What if he isn't yours?
Sam: He is.
Viki: Sam, wake up! He very well might not be, from what I'm hearing. What then? If you don't prepare yourself emotionally for the possibility that he isn't yours, you'll be blindsided if it turns out he isn't. You'll be devastated.
Sam: Do you know something?
Viki: About Matthew? No.
Sam: Has Nora spoken to you? Is she not happy with me?
Viki: She's .... reassessing things.
Sam: Viki, this is me. I had thought we'd learned to give each other the truth after everything.
Viki: Ok, Sam, the truth. Nora is not happy with you, she feels crowded and if you were smart you'd talk with her and agree to back off. She's just had a baby not too long ago, she's getting back to work again, and back to juggling those two jobs. Having someone you feel crowded by more than supported by at a time like that is a burden, Sam.
Sam: Has she complained?
Viki: Nora's not one to complain, she takes on more and more and just gets things done until something fails. Last time it was her health, and she and Bo had to stop eating so much junk food and Nora was told she needed to start exercising.
Sam: I see.
Viki: I'm not sure you do.
Sam: Your brother said that. He doesn't think I see him very well a lot of the time. Todd thinks I'm selfish and the things he's laid into me with I guess they do make me come out looking pretty damned selfish. I don't intend this.
Viki: But everyone else around you has to deal with it. Personally, the more I see of Will, the more I see the effects of a selfish parent on him. Two of them. Lindsay, and you know there's no love lost between us, is alarmingly self-involved. Everything is about her, even when it isn't.
Sam: Wow. You're not pulling your punches today, are you? Lindsay's self- involvement is one of the reasons I divorced her. She got pretty nuts by the end of it.
Viki: It's one of the strongest reasons Nora is unhappy, because her life has come to revolve around you when before then she had a full life of her own. I might add, with someone else with whom she very well may have conceived that little boy.
Sam: Everyone's telling me that, that he might be Bo's. He's mine. I guess I should go talk to Lindsay, then.
Viki: You do that. And talk to Will, his whining is getting on my nerves.
Sam: He's whining?
Viki: Yes. When he isn't whining, he's fine. I'm just not sure I want him near Jessica if he's going to be that way. He's not very responsible with alcohol, either, as we know.
Sam: Has he done something?
Viki: No. I almost wish I could point to something more specific than he whines. A boy his age should not be doing that.
Sam: Something's wrong. I don't think he's as happy as I thought. Maybe it's his move to New York City for college? This sounds like stress to me. Has he said anything?
Viki: Not to me. Perhaps he's spoken about it to Jessica. Not to be rude, Sam, but I'm glad he's moving on and planning to attend college in another state.
Sam: He irritates you that much?
Viki: I'm afraid he does, yes. He reminds me of Lindsay too much some days.
Sam: Is this out of a preference for Cristian?
Viki: I'd like to say it is, but it isn't. Will's passive-aggressiveness is annoying.
Sam: I know exactly where he learned that. I think I need to go have a serious talk with Lindsay now, if you'll excuse me. You do know she tampered with Bo's sperm test?
Viki: No. I had no idea. Is this why Matthew's paternity is in question?
Sam: It's more complicated than just that, but that's where it started.
Viki:
Sam: I'm on my way. I'll talk to you later, ok?
Viki:
[Scene ends.]
[Scene: Penthouse, that night. Livingroom.]
Tea: Do you want to make love again?
Todd: We can try. This may never be very easy for me, you know.
Tea: I know. That you can express yourself physically in some way other
than violence is a big step. You’ve been struggling with that ever
since I've known you. That you and I can make love even once in a
while is a huge step.
Todd: You don't know the half of it.
Tea: I think I do by now. Have you ever experimented sexually?
Todd: (Sarcastic:) You mean other than rape two people?
Tea: Todd...
Todd: (Sheepish:) No. Blair would try things on me sometimes. Do things.
Tea: Can I ask what things?
Todd: No.
Tea: I think I can guess. Did she use her mouth for some of these things?
Todd: I don't want to talk about it, it's disgusting!
Tea: If it's what I think it is, it's pretty normal. Nothing you confess could make me love you less.
Todd: It's still disgusting!
Tea: Does the idea scare you?
Todd: No, it disgusts me.
Tea: (Casually:) A lot of guys say they like that.
Todd: (Anxious:) Yeah, well, I'm not a lot of guys. It's perverted.
Tea: Would you like to try it sometime?
Todd: Blair already did it to me.
Tea: Did it to and not with?
Todd: (Chafing:) Yeah.
Tea: Interesting choice of words, Manning.
Todd: I got all hinky when she'd do it, I couldn't tell her why. I had to
push her off of me more than once to get her to stop. It was a long time
before I remembered why. It was all just sex with her. And lies.
Tea: And she'd try it again?
Todd: And I'd have to stop her again. She didn't get it. It's like she
felt this ugly power over me. There was at least once when I felt violated by her over this, and we argued. It's not just about all her lies and betrayals. Do you see why I hate her so much?
Tea: I didn't know.
Todd: (Very uncomfortable:) Now you do. It's private.
Tea: I'm sorry she did that to you.
Todd: Oh, now I feel really gross. She just wouldn't take 'No'. (Crosses to the stairs.)
Tea: Where are you going?
Todd: (Disgusted, back to her:) I gotta take a shower, I feel like I'm
covered in slime now. I didn't want to remember this stuff.
Tea: I'm sorry.
Todd: (With some difficulty:) They're my memories.
[After a few minutes, Tea goes upstairs and sits outside the bathroom door listening to the water falling on the tub.]
Todd: (Can be heard from inside the bathroom howling in anguish. Berating himself between cries and sobs:) You told too much! You said too much! She's gonna leave, and it's all your fault! She knows too much to stay now! You're a loser! I'm not! Shut up! Shut up!
Tea: (Goes down hall to linen closet, gets big fluffy towel out, goes to
bathroom door and slowly opens it. Todd has gone very quiet. Steam billows out into the hallway around her.) Todd? Todd, are you ok?
Todd: (Silent. Water is still running. He casts no silhouette in the fog behind the glass shower door)
Tea: (Tea opens shower door, finds him on the bottom of the tub, knees drawn to his chest, face buried against his knees. Turning off the water:) Oh, Todd! What's wrong?
Todd: (Unmoved.)
Tea: (Worried, wraps towel around his shoulders, pulls his hair out of the towel, draping it along the outside of the towel down his back.) You
didn't fall or anything?
Todd: (Shakes his head.)
Tea: (Thinks.) No, I didn't hear a thump... (Looks at the tub floor.) No bleeding. Ok. Then it was what we talked about?
Todd: (Silence.)
Tea: (Sits down next to the tub. Reaches across for his hand, but doesn't touch it.) I'm going to just sit here with you, can I hold your hand? (Takes his hand in hers, resting it on the tub side.) I love you, Todd. It's ok. I think I understand what this is about. We can finish talking about it later. Right now, I'll just sit here with you, ok?
Todd: (Nods his head.)
[Scene ends]
TO BE CONTINUED
