Author's Note:With so much still left to say, I decided to include an epilogue. And since I'm trying a new style of writing, the epilogue is in script format. I hope it's easy to read. It's a very candid conversation between Téa and Samantha. Enjoy!! *************************************************************************************************

SCENE: The Alton Mansion, front door.

[It’s morning. Bright outside. Téa nervously plays with her fingers as she works up the courage to ring the doorbell. Today is a special day for her. She is taking Samantha to Viki’s cabin to spend some time with her daughter.] Téa: [mumbles out loud] I can do this. I can. She’s only my daughter. My daughter…who has a million questions about…her mother. [pauses. Takes a deep breath and rings the doorbell]

Cameron: [opens door. Smiles] Téa! It’s good to see you. C’Mon in.

Téa: [walks into the house. Nervous] Thanks Cam. Is Samantha ready?

Cameron: Almost. You know girls. Everything’s got to be perfect.

Téa: [awkwardly smiles] Yeah. I know.

[enter Samantha running down the stairs. She spies Téa and instantly slows down as she smiles

Samantha: Mom! Hi. [brushes the bangs out of her eyes.]

Téa: [smiles. Happy] Hey Sweetie. Are you ready?

Samantha: [nods head] Yeah.

Cameron: Okay. I’ve got your cell phone number. If something should happen give me a call okay.

Samantha: [eyes her father] You are such a worrywart Dad.

Téa: Cam, the cabin is perfectly safe. Samantha and I will be fine. It’s just what we need for our privacy.

Cameron: Yeah. Well, I’m just a concerned parent.

Samantha: [rolls her eyes] Chill out Dad. [gives her father a hug] Mom and I will be fine.

Cameron: I love you little “S”.

Samantha: [looks up into her father’s eyes] I love you too Dad.

Téa: [opens the door] Thanks Cam. I’ll bring her home tomorrow safe and sound.

Cameron: [softly] Yeah.

[Téa and Samantha exit. Camera fades out on Cameron.]

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Scene: Viki’s Cabin, front porch

[Téa and Samantha are sitting down next to each other on a bench overlooking the woods. Each has a glass of water.]

Samantha: It’s nice up here. Is this your place?

Téa: No, not really. Todd’s sister, Viki owns the cabin. She’s let me borrow it this weekend.

Samantha: Do you and Todd come here often?

Téa: Occasionally.

Samantha: Is it…your special place? For just the two of you? [sips her water.]

Téa: [shrugs shoulders] I dunno. Maybe.

Samantha: Dad and Mom – my adopted Mom – had a special place. In Newport, Rhode Island. A beach house. It was peaceful. Like this place.

Téa: Tell me about her.

Samantha: You mean my adopted mother?

Téa: Yeah.

Samantha: You’re not going to do some comparing thing are you?

Téa: No! No. I just would like to know that’s all. What was she like? Was she good to you?

Samantha: Yes. She would read me bedtime stories. I liked that. Her voice was soft. She did a lot of charity work. And she liked to take pictures. Some of them were published in local magazines.

Téa: She was a photographer?

Samantha: Yeah. Sometimes she would take me into the darkroom with her and I’d help her develop her pictures.

Téa: I’m sorry. I’m sorry…[nervous. Hesitant]

Samantha: About losing her?

Téa: Yeah.

Samantha: Dad…was very sad. And it happened quickly. He…I dunno…got quiet. It was hard to make him smile for the longest time. Until he met you. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to find my birth mother – you – I was hoping she – you – would make us smile again.

Téa: [touched] Your father – Cameron – he’s nice. I do like him.

Samantha: Even after what he did? Wreaking your wedding day? Making you sad?

Téa: Yes, even after that. He’s human Samantha. Sometimes people can’t help the way they feel.

Samantha: I guess. Dad’s got good intentions but I still think it was a lousy thing to do.

Téa: We all do lousy things. I did a lot of lousy things. I made a lot of lousy choices…with my life.

Samantha: Well, I’m not mad at him anymore.

Téa: Don’t put me on a pedestal Samantha. I’m not perfect either.

Samantha: You mean…what you said to Anton?

Téa: When?

Samantha: When you were pregnant with me? Lying to him.

Téa: It was a lousy thing to do.

Samantha: Anton said…we would never have been a family. He cared for you but didn’t really love you.

Téa: When did he tell you this?

Samantha: In New York.

Téa: How do you feel about Anton? There’s a lot of him in you. I see it when you show me a drawing. You’re very artistic, like he is.

Samantha: I like him a lot. I’m glad I got to spend time with him. Sometimes…it’s scary seeing how much I’m like you…and him.

Téa: Why?

Samantha: Because I never thought I’d be so alike with anyone.

Téa: I see a lot of Cameron in you. In your confidence. You have his recklessness. His fearlessness and I see thing in you I don’t recognize. Things that must have come from her.

Samantha: Who? Your Mother?

Téa: Not her. Your adopted mother. I see tolerance. A willingness to listen. Kindness. You’re very perceptive.

Samantha: I miss her sometimes. Actually, I missed her a lot. Until I met you.

Téa: This mother stuff – I’m not used to it but I swear Samantha, I’ll try to be the best mom I can to you.

Samantha: And I’ll try to be the best daughter I can to all three of you. I’m lucky. I’ve got two great mothers and two good fathers.

Téa: It means a lot to hear you say that. It means a lot to me that my daughter doesn’t have to grow up motherless or without a mother’s love.

Samantha: It wasn’t easy for you growing up, was it? I saw your apartment in New York.

Téa: [in pain. Voice shakes] I know what you saw. I know it wasn’t pleasant.

Samantha: What did I see?

Téa: My loneliness. My sadness. My frustration. Darkness and walls. No child’s life should be filled with darkness…and walls.

Samantha: I saw more than that.

Téa: Oh? What else?

Samantha: I saw what made you happy. I saw how you enjoyed…dancing.

Téa: I also know you saw what it’s like to be a minority. You saw what it was like for me to want something I couldn’t have. Acceptance.

Samantha: I never realized it. Until now. I mean I knew Mom and Dad – my adopted parents were white and I was different but it never mattered. I’ve always been accepted. Because I’m Samantha Alton. I’ve never not been accepted. Until I met those two nasty girls in the hotel. They hated me for being…who I was…Samantha Alton.

Téa: [reaches out and pulls Samantha into a warm embrace. A tear escapes down her cheek. They hug. After a few minutes Téa pulls back and wipes her face with her hand, drying her cheek.] I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to see that. Had to feel that.

Samantha: [says nothing. Nods head.]

Téa: I’ve felt that practically all my life. Todd…he was the first person I’ve known who accepted me, as I am Téa Marisa Delgado. Warts and all. It didn’t matter to him I was different. He never cared. I was just plain Téa to him.

Samantha: Yeah. Sometimes I like being plain ol’ Samantha too.

Téa: [pauses] I have to talk about something with you. It’s going to be uncomfortable for me.

Samantha: Sure.

Téa: It’s about…my mother.

Samantha: She hurt you?

Téa: Yeah, she hurt me…but with my recent trip I’ve gained some perspective about her.

Samantha: What was her name?

Téa: Anna. You know I have my father’s complexion and his nose but I look a lot like her and I can see her in you. In your eyes.

Samantha: Oh. Is that good?

Téa: I don’t think it’s bad. I’m a lot like her and it scared me…sometimes.

Samantha: She was bad to you?

Téa: Not really. I remember her voice. I can hear her in my mind sometimes, singing a soft Spanish lullaby. But she left the family when I was seven and died of cancer shortly thereafter.

Samantha: Why did she leave? Didn’t she love you?

Téa: [shrugs shoulders] She was married to a complicated man. The marriage…wasn’t perfect. My mother had an affair with another man and when it got out she left because of the embarrassment.

Samantha: I know a lot of kids in school whose parents are divorced.

Téa: It’s not quite the same. Does it bother you that Cameron and I…aren’t involved?

Samantha: Involved? You mean married? So we can be a real family?

Téa: Yeah.

Samantha: No. I mean there’s a part of me that thinks it would be cool but…you what you have with Todd is what Dad had with my first mom and I respect that. When Anton first told me we would have never been a real family, at first I was upset but I got to thinking and maybe it was for the best. My adopted parents were great.

Téa: I’m glad. I used to…think I had no mothering skills because I grew up without my mother Samantha. What I’m finding out or found out was that I lived too much in the past. I loved to dance. I was good at it. A natural. Come to find out my mother loved to dance too. I never knew that about her. At first, knowing I had so much in common with her scared me because I thought she was a terrible mother. It…doesn’t bother me that much any more…because I realize she was only human. I can take the good and bad and turn it into something positive for us. I can. And I will. Just…be patient…with me.

Samantha: [smiles. Becomes serious] Okay. Just promise…you won’t leave.

Téa: [sighs] I can’t do that. Something could happen – an accident – God Forbid – and I could be gone tomorrow. Samantha, I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep to you but…I promise you this…I will always love you.

Samantha: [silent. A bit hurt] It hurts to think you could leave me too.

Téa: [draws Samantha into a hug] It hurts me too Sweetie, but I won’t leave you – not like how my mother left me.

Samantha: [pulls away] What if…you get pregnant again…what if…

Téa: [swallows. Nervous] Does that bother you? If I have a baby?

Samantha: What if…you lose your baby again? Will you get so sad you won’t be like you? You’ll leave…?

Téa: [reassuring] I don’t know. I didn’t want to lose my baby. I really wanted to be Adam’s Mommy. I think it’s only natural to get sad when you lose someone.

Samantha: I guess so.

Téa: Sweetie, Todd and I want to have a baby together. We will try again. I don’t want it to bother you but if it does, let me know.

Samantha: No. I think it would be cool to be a really big sister.

Téa: Samantha, I want you to know I wanted you too. You were unexpected but I carried you to term and I tried to be a single mother but I wanted so much more for you than I could give at the time. I was only eighteen.

Samantha: No…I understand, I do. Are you worried that I’m jealous…?

Téa: Maybe I am.

Samantha: You’re honest.

Téa: [surprised] Does that surprise you? Shock you? I don’t want to be anything but honest with you. You’re not just a kid to me. You’re a person – with feelings who knows her own mind – old enough to make your own judgments and form your own opinions. I have to respect that. No matter how painful, I will always be honest with you.

Samantha: [swallows] I’ve got…the best parents in the world. I see…hear…kids at school gripe about their parents…but you and Dad…I could never gripe about you guys. You know, sometimes honesty hurts like when Anton was honest but after I thought about it, I calmed down and I respected him…I guess…for it.

Téa: Honesty is scary, Samantha. Probably because it can hurt like that. Maybe that’s why people are dishonest at times.

Samantha: Maybe.

Téa: [looks up. Sun is setting] It’s getting dark out. Maybe we should go inside. Build a fire. Read a bedtime story or something.

Samantha: Sure. Maybe you could teach me some more Spanish or tell me about Puerto Rico?

Téa: [grins] I’d like that.

[Téa and Samantha walk inside. Camera pans to window where Téa and Samantha appear to be talking to each other as they throw logs into the fireplace. Camera fades out.] THE END

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