HAZY SHADE OF WINTER - PART FIFTEEN

PREVIOUSLY

“We’re going to the hospital – now. You’ve been sick for weeks…” muttered Cameron.
“I’m coming too,” insisted Blair.
Cameron glared at Blair.
“It’s o.k. Dad,” insisted Samantha, touched by Blair’s gesture.
Cameron picked up his daughter and walked out. Blair followed behind him.

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Boston, Massachusetts
February 1999

Blair Cramer walked into Samantha Alton’s hospital room holding a stuffed teddy bear. Samantha gave Blair a weak smile.
“How are you feeling?” asked Blair taking the seat next to the bed.
“Not much better,” said Samantha. Her voice was weak.
“I got you something,” said Blair holding up the teddy bear.
“A teddy bear?” questioned Samantha.
“Well, I know you might be a bit old for a teddy bear, but my daughter gets cheered up with them,” said Blair.
Samantha reached up and Blair handed the teddy bear to her.
“How old is your daughter?” asked Samantha.
Cameron quietly entered the room.
“She’s six,” said Blair smiling at the young girl.
“What’s her name?” asked Samantha looking at the bear.
“Starr,” replied Blair.
“It’s a pretty name,” said Samantha, “I’m going to call your teddy bear Starr.”
Blair’s heart melted.
“Do you have a picture of her?” asked Samantha softly.
Blair fumbled around in her purse.
Cameron walked over to his daughter, “Hi, Honey.”
“Hi, Daddy,” whispered Samantha. They exchanged a light hug.
Blair noted Cameron had the copy of the Sun she had brought with her. He must have gone to his office to retrieve it. He held it, rolled up, in his hand.
Blair showed Samantha and Cameron a wallet pic of Starr.
Samantha smiled at the pic. Cameron looked at the picture from the side.
“She must have her father’s nose,” remarked Cameron.
“Yeah,” said Blair.
“She’s a lovely girl,” said Cameron.
“Are you married?” asked Samantha.
Cameron noticed Samantha didn’t sound well.
“I’ve divorced from Starr’s father,” said Blair.
“I’m sorry to hear it,” said Cameron, “Is he still involved with your daughter?”
“Todd’s a good father. He’s got his problems but he’s a good father. From what I understand he’s been in therapy these past few months and has just recently returned to Llanview. Showed up at the benefit party,” said Blair, “I haven’t seen him yet.”
“Todd?” questioned Cameron.
“Todd Manning,” replied Blair.
Cameron raised an eyebrow. That name sounded familiar. He glanced at the newspaper’s article about the ball. In the fine print Téa Delgado was referred to as Téa Delgado Manning.
The doctor walked in and the room got uncharacteristically quiet. The doctor checked Samantha’s chart, her vitals, and her IV.
“How are you feeling Samantha? Still feeling weak?” asked the doctor.
“Yes, Sir,” said Samantha.
“I’m going to change the medicine you’re on. It may take a day or two before it kicks in. Can I talk to you outside Mr. Alton?” asked the doctor.
Cameron nodded his head and Blair followed them out.
“What’s the problem?” asked Cameron. Blair listened intently. “She has a very resilient strain of pneumonia. The anti-biotic I prescribed is not helping her get better, so I’m going to prescribe a higher dosage and see how that works,” explained the doctor.
Cameron nodded his head visibly worried.
“I’ll check on her later on in the day,” said the doctor. He lightly patted Cameron’s shoulder and walked off.
“Is this...serious?” asked Blair.
“I don’t know yet,” replied Cameron, “However, as far as you’re concerned I put a few more pieces of the puzzle together.”
Blair tried to look innocent, “Puzzle?”
Cameron nodded his head, “A few days ago you confirmed that Téa Delgado was Samantha’s biological mother and that you’re not her biggest fan – those being your words. I think now I know why.”
“You do?” asked Blair.
“She’s currently married to your ex-husband, Todd Manning, isn’t she?” asked Cameron.
“Yes,” said Blair, “But there’s more involved than you think.”
“There probably is,” said Cameron, “I won’t have you using Samantha as a pawn in a revenge scheme. Especially now that Samantha is growing…fond of you.”
Blair made a face, “I won’t use… your girl. Besides, I want her to get well too.”
“I do too,” said Cameron, “Maybe…you could visit with your little girl? Samantha would like that.”
“Maybe,” said Blair.
“Somehow I don’t think this Téa Delgado Manning is as bad…as you make her out to be,” remarked Cameron. He remembered the article did say she gave a donation to ALS research and she was a local ADA. That didn’t sound like a bad person. He turned around and walked into Samantha’s room.

Llanview, Pennsylvania

Téa walked into her apartment. She was exhausted. She had gotten up early, caught the morning flight to Pine Valley and gave her brief to the NY State DA. She caught an afternoon flight back to Llanview and spent the rest of the day in therapy with Todd. They had dealt with what happened on their wedding night, the DID and trust. Now, she just wanted to kick back, relax, and have a glass of wine. After all, it had been a long day. She had extended an invitation to Todd to come over and see her apartment and he had related he would be over later on in the evening.
Roseanne walked out of her room carrying a full backpack.
“Moving out?” asked Téa throwing her briefcase on an adjacent chair. She went into the kitchen to pour herself a drink.
“Not yet. I’m going to New York for a week…” said Roseanne following her aunt into the kitchen.
“New York? Now? What about school?” questioned Téa.
“I’m caught up on my schoolwork. Besides, I need questions answered about your mother and my father,” replied Roseanne.
“The affair?” said Téa softly.
“Yeah, the affair,” said Roseanne, “You, Carlotta, and Uncle Anton have no answers for me.”
“If I had answers, I’d tell you,’ said Téa.
Roseanne raised an eyebrow and walked toward the door, “I’ll be back in a week.”
“Great,” muttered Téa watching her niece walk out the door. She took her drink, walked over to her couch and flopped down on it. She kicked her feet up on the coffee table.
“Ahh….” she muttered.
There was a knock on the door. She went to say come in, but Anton walked in.
Téa rolled her eyes, “Such rude manners, Anton.”
Anton sat down across from her, “I thought I would save you the trouble.”
“What do you want Anton?” asked Téa.
“What do you think? I want to discuss our daughter – Marisa,” said Anton sitting back in the chair.
“All right,” said Téa.
“Thank you,” said Anton softly. He paused and smiled at her. She returned it.
“Who…did she look like?” asked Anton.
Téa paused, “It was so long ago Anton, but I remember she had your warm, bright smile.”
“Did she fuss a lot?” asked Anton.
“I can’t say she fussed a lot but I remember I’d get frustrated because when she did fuss, it would take forever for me to calm her down,” replied Téa.
“Which adoption agency did you use?” asked Anton.
“St. Mark’s,” said Téa softly.
“I plan on petitioning the New York courts to open the records,” said Anton.
“I see,” said Téa.
“No words of discouragement?” asked Anton.
“No. And no words of encouragement either,” replied Téa.
There was a knock on the door.
“Were you expecting someone?” asked Anton.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting you,” said Téa putting down her glass of wine.
She got up and opened the door.
“Todd?” she smiled.
“Hi. Téa. I got you these,” said Todd thrusting a bunch of flowers at her.
She bit her lip, “They’re nice Todd. C’Mon in.”
Todd walked in and was surprised to see a man he didn’t recognize. Anton stood up.
“So, Téa, this is your absentee husband? Zorro?” commented Anton.
“You’re a bit old for Téa, don’t you think?” snapped back Todd.
Téa got between them.
“That was rude…both of you. Now apologize,” said Téa.
“Téa was right. I was rude. I apologize,” said Anton.
“Me too,” said Todd.
“All right,” said Téa, “Anton de la Rocha, this is Todd Manning. Anton is an old friend…and Roseanne’s uncle,” said Téa making introductions. The two men hesitantly shook hands.
Anton walked to the door, “I’ll keep you updated…on the petition.”
“Thank you Anton,” said Téa.
Anton left.
“I thought I’d find you alone,” remarked Todd looking around the apartment. Téa went into the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase. Todd followed her. “Hey – I thought we worked on some trust issues this afternoon,” said Téa going through the cabinets, looking for a vase.
“Did I say anything about trust?” questioned Todd keeping his tone of voice light. He put his hand on the countertop, “I just…well…I get jealous too easy. Susannah says I do…”
Téa put the flowers in a vase and put it aside. She put her hand over Todd ’s “It’s kind of sweet. It shows…you care.”
Her smile warmed his heart.
“So, what do you think of the place?” asked Téa, “Here – I’ll show you around.”
Todd followed her around the apartment.
“You’ve changed, Téa. You’re different. You believe in yourself,” whispered Todd.
“So are you Todd. You’re mellower,” she remarked as they continued through the apartment.
“Oh, I’m still a jerk. My next goal is to kick Blair, Max, and Kelly out of my office at the Sun, well, maybe I’ll keep Kelly around…” replied Todd, “Once Susannah says I’m not like Viki anymore.”
“You know, I wouldn’t mind seeing you give them the boot,” said Téa, “Speaking of Blair, she hasn’t been around lately…Kelly said she was in Boston on an assignment.”
“Who has Starr?” questioned Todd with concern.
“Kelly, I believe,” said Téa.
Todd frowned. It bothered him to still be under the court order not to see Starr.
“Does Blair let you see Starr?” asked Todd.
“Not really. It hurts a little,” said Téa.
Téa stopped dead in her tracks and Todd bumped into her.
“Sorry. What?” muttered Todd peering into the room. It had a very nice feminine touch to it.
“It’s my bedroom,” whispered Téa.
They exchanged bashful looks.
“Remember…” started Todd
“…our wedding night?” finished Téa.
“The good part?” asked Todd.
Slowly, Téa cupped Todd’s check with the palm of her hand, “I’m glad you’re back Todd. I’m glad we can work it out between us.”
“I can’t live…without you,” he whispered in reply intently.
It was silent between them as they connected – like they did so many times before.
“I need to go…” muttered Todd.
They turned around and walked into the living room. Téa watched Todd as he walked out.
“I’ll be back,” he whispered opening the door looking at her.
“I know,” she replied as he turned around and closed the door behind him.

TO BE CONTINUED