HAZY SHADE OF WINTER - PART TWENTY

PREVIOUSLY

Blair’s eyes fell on the headline, “Judge disbarred over a year ago. The Manning marriage that wasn’t.”
Blair laughed. Revenge could indeed be sweet.

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Late February 1999… Téa’s Apartment…

The door closed quietly. Anton, Téa, and Samantha just stared at each other, soaking each other's presence up.
After what seemed an eternity, Anton spoke up, “Ah, why don’t we sit down?”
“Good idea,” said Téa.
Samantha sat down on the couch. Anton sat down on the one side of Samantha and Téa sat down on the other side.
“So,” said Samantha her eyes darting back and forth from Anton to Téa, “What are you guys like?”
“Well, I am an artist. I have been all over the world, and I am single,” said Anton smiling at the girl.
Samantha turned to Téa, “Ah, I’m a lawyer. I work for the local DA’s office so I prosecute criminals and I’m married.”
“That man you kissed – he’s Starr’s father?” asked Samantha.
Téa smiled, “Yeah – I’m sorry I didn’t introduce you properly. His name is Todd Manning. Wait. I never mentioned Starr? How do you know Starr?”
“Oh,” said Samantha, “We see Starr and her mom, Blair Cramer often.”
Téa made a face at the mention of Blair’s name, “I see.”
“Starr says you’re nice too. She likes you a lot,” added Samantha.
“Starr’s a wonderful little girl,” said Téa.
Samantha turned toward Anton, “Who was that girl who spit on you guys and why was she mad at you?”
Téa and Anton looked at each other and let out a breath.
“Her name is Roseanne,” stared Anton.
“And she is my sister,” said Téa, “And it’s very complicated…”
“Now is not the time to talk about Roseanne,” said Anton, “We want to get to know you better.”
“All right,” said Samantha, “I’ll go first. What’s your favorite hobbies?”
Anton paused, “Art, I suppose. But, I…find that I enjoy the old classic black and white movies too.”
Samantha turned to Téa, “Your turn.”
“Hobbies, huh? O.k… I like to read and I like to…dance. What about you?
What are your hobbies? What grade are you in? What classes do you like?”
asked Téa. She had a million more questions.
Samantha giggled and Téa took the young’s girl’s hand in hers.
“I go to school in Boston, Massachusetts and I’m in the eighth grade. I can ’t stand math but I like English – we’re doing Romeo and Juliet right now and I love to draw. My art teacher entered a still life I did in an art competition and now I’m representing the school on the state level. I love riding horses and I’m learning French,” said Samantha all in one breath.
“You ride a horse?” asked Anton clearly surprised.
Samantha nodded her head, “Dad and I have stables in Kittery, Maine. We go every chance we get.”
“It sounds like fun,” said Téa, “Did you know Anton and I speak Spanish?”
Samantha nodded her head, ‘yes’, “Dad told me.”
“Well, if you want to learn, we’ll teach you,” offered Téa.
“Cool,” said Samantha, “I’ve got the coolest parents.
“Your father – he is good to you?” asked Anton seriously.
Again, Samantha nodded her head ‘yes’, “Dad’s great. I love him a lot. I don’t want you to be mad – I know you’re my real father but – he’s the only Dad I know – I mean, I don’t think it would be right if I called you Dad too,” she could see the hurt in Anton’s eyes and she hoped her explanation made sense.
“No, I understand,” said Anton, “Whatever is comfortable for you.”
“What would you like to be called?” asked Téa.
“Samantha is fine. Sometimes Dad calls Sam – ‘cos it rhythms with his name – Cam or little “S” ‘cos my other Mom – her name was Susan and she was big “S”,” explained Samantha.
“Makes sense,” said Téa.
There was a pause between them.
Finally Samantha spoke up again, “So why did you guys give me up for adoption?”
Téa let out a breath, “That’s a loaded question.”
“One she deserves an answer too,” added Anton.
“Yeah, you do,” replied Téa.
Samantha looked intently into her mother’s soulful brown eyes.
“Well,” started Téa, “Anton and I were having an affair and you were conceived. Ah, you know about stuff like that?” Téa asked awkwardly. “Yeah. We had sex education last semester,” said Samantha trying not to blush.
“O.k., well, ah, after I told Anton we began to fight a lot,” said Téa, “Over stupid things really.”
“I see,” said Samantha.
“They were very ugly fights,” added Anton, “What had always impressed me was Téa’s maturity, her pose for her age – and the pregnancy…effected that.”
Téa could feel the sweat on her hand. She let go of Samantha’s hand and wiped her hands on her pants, “See, I was young – ah, seventeen going on eighteen. I had applied to NYU and been accepted. I was nervous, scared, poor and one day it all caught up with me – Anton and I had a horrible fight and ah, I lied to him. It was a pretty big lie. And, I’m definitely not proud of it. I told him, ah, I told him…I had…an abortion.” Her voice was trembling and tears had once again began flowing out of her eyes. Anton gave her a tissue.
Samantha nodded her head as the words sunk in, “Oh.”
Téa continued, “So, Anton left thinking I had terminated the pregnancy, only I hadn’t. I was alone when I had you – well, Carlotta helped. I wanted to keep you – I tried. I even named you Marisa – which is my middle name, but everything I knew I wanted for you I couldn’t give you. I gave you up for adoption…because…I couldn’t be the mother…you deserved…I abandoned you…just like my own mother abandoned me…” Téa’s voice cracked and she covered her face with her hands, disgusted at herself.
Anton shot up of his seat, “Do not say that! Do not say that Téa! Do not do that to yourself!” he knelt before her and pried her hands from her face, “It is not…”
Téa turned to face Samantha, “How can you love me? How can you want me to be your mother?”
Samantha’s own eyes were tear filled, “Don’t say that! I want you to be my Mom! It doesn’t matter – I don’t know why I love you – I just do!” exclaimed Samantha putting her arms around Téa.
“I…love…you…too…” whispered Téa through her tears into Samantha’s ears.
Anton looked at them, his own face wet, “I was once told a child’s love is unconditional. Do not question Samantha’s love. Just accept it.”
Téa and Samantha clung to each other taking comfort in each other’s embrace.

The Palace…

Todd waltzed up to the bar at the palace and ordered two beers. Then he turned toward Cameron, “You like beer, right?”
“Beer is fine,” said Cam. They sat down on the stools and both of them took a good, long swallow.
“Now what?” asked Cam putting his beer down.
“Ah…what do you do for a living?” asked Todd.
“I run a computer software company. It’s a big business. I’m worth millions. Samantha wants for nothing. What do you do?” asked Cam.
“Could have guessed you have money by the way you dress. I own a newspaper.
I’m worth millions too,” said Todd.
“So, how long have you been married to Téa?” asked Cam.
“Since July 97,” said Todd, “We got divorced and remarried in November 98.
Where’s your wife?”
“Susan died a few months ago,” said Cam swigging his beer again.
“Sorry,” said Todd, “So how did you find out Téa was Samantha’s mother?”
“Your ex-wife, Blair Cramer told me,” said Cameron frankly.
“Blair knows about Téa and Samantha?!” exclaimed Todd.
“Yeah,” replied Cameron. He sipped his beer, finishing it off. He ordered another one.
“Look Alton,” said Todd swigging his own beer, “You seem like a decent guy.
Blair only wants two things from a guy. Money and Power…”
“So, that’s why it didn’t work out between you two?” replied Cam.
“Whatever,” said Todd, “Just watch out for Blair. Look – what you did for Téa right now – that was good. Not too many guys would have done that.”
“Well, Téa’s different from Blair,” remarked Cameron.
“So, Alton, tell me – you got the hots for my wife?” asked Todd point blank. Cameron smiled a devious grin, “Manning, you sound jealous. Tell me – you love your wife?”
Todd sneered, “Yeah, I do.”
“She love you?” asked Cam.
“Yeah, she does,” answered Todd.
“What do you have to worry about?” asked Cam wickedly.
Todd changed the subject, “You a good father to your kid Alton? To Téa’s kid?”
“Yeah, I am. What about you Manning? You a good father to your kid?” asked Cameron.
“I try to be,” said Todd softly. He hadn’t seen Starr in quite a while but now that he was better, things were going to change – starting tomorrow.

Sometime Later…

Anton and Téa walked into the palace bar. It was late. Anton carried a sleeping Samantha in his arms. Todd and Cameron were the only ones there.
Todd’s face lit up to see Téa. Her face was drained and exhausted.
Cameron shot out of his seat, “How did it go?” he asked nervously.
“Samantha’s wonderful,” said Téa quietly, “You’ve done a good job raising her.”
“I had help before,” said Cam.
Todd walked up to Téa. They exchanged light smiles and he put his arm around her shoulder.
“Téa and I have questions,” started Anton.
“Quickly,” said Cam, “I want to get Samantha to bed. It looks like you guys wiped her out.”
“All right. How often can we see her?” asked Anton.
“If Samantha wants, I’m willing to relocate to Llanview so she can be with all of us,” said Cam. He put out his arms and Anton placed the sleeping girl in Cam’s arms.
Téa smiled, “We’d like that. Ah, she wanted to come by the courthouse tomorrow and watch me try a case. Do you mind?” asked Téa softly.
“No. But it will have to be in the morning. We’ll be going back to Boston in the afternoon,” said Cameron.
Téa walked up to Cameron and lightly placed her hand on Samantha’s arm, giving her a gentle kiss on her cheek, “Thank you for bringing her into my life.”
“Your welcome. Good night,” said Cameron. He left.
“Téa, I will see you tomorrow?” questioned Anton.
“Yeah. Good night, Anton,” said Téa softly.
“Good night,” said Anton. He walked out.
Téa turned to face Todd. He had his hands in his pockets.
“So – she’s a good kid, huh?” asked Todd.
The distance between them was great.
“Yeah, she is. A lot happened this weekend Todd. Are you all right with it?” she asked, her voice shaking. She took a step closer to him. He didn’ t move.
“I guess,” he replied.
“You don’t have any regrets? Especially about New York?” she asked.
Todd’s face softened, “No regrets. You’re definitely not perfect Delgado.”
“I never said I was Manning,” replied Téa.
Todd took his hands out of his pockets and took a step toward Téa, “Now what?”
Téa walked into Todd’s personal space and placed her hands gently on his arms, “Take me back to my apartment. Stay the night – spend it holding me tight in your arms.”
He leaned down and softly kissed her forehead.

Téa’s Apartment… Todd locked the door and Téa stumbled into her bedroom, flopping down on her bed. The only light was from the night sky filtering in from the window.
Todd walked in and left the light off. He took Téa’s shoes off her feet and threw them across the room. Then, he sat down on the bed, taking off his own shoes, throwing them across the room. He unbuttoned and untucked his shirt and flopped down next to Téa. She turned to face him. She enjoyed getting lost in his eyes. He leaned up on an elbow, faced her, and unbuttoned her shirt. He softly kissed her cheek.
“We need a house. For us. For Starr. For Samantha. For…” he paused and rested his free hand on her tummy, “For that little Manning hiding inside there…”
Téa laughed, “You know Todd, we might have to keep trying until we know for sure…”
“That might be fun. So tomorrow I’ll go house hunting after I drop you off at court. And then I'll stop by the Sun and break the bad news to Blair – that I’m sane and I’m coming back to work,” laughed Todd, desire filling his eyes for her.
“I’m really glad – you’re here Todd…” whispered Téa, staring back intently into his eyes.
“Well, I’ve got no where else to go,” he muttered.
“I’m glad I’m your wife…” continued Téa reaching out for his hand with hers. “Hey – I am too. Look, what happened here tonight – I know it must have been rough…” he started.
“Just hold me,” she said, “Please? Let me know you won’t leave me…”
He nodded his head and snuggled her next to him, “I won’t leave you. I want to do the right thing Téa – only I don’t know what that is…”
“You’re doing it…” she whispered into his ear.
He wished he could stop her from trembling.
TO BE CONTINUED