"Wow! Look at the big tree you got." Tom's eyes were huge as he took in the tree. "How come it's not decorated?"

"Because we were waiting for you, Boomer." Tom's smile reached from ear to ear. He was so excited he was jumping up and down.

"Can we do it now?" he begged.

"Wouldn't you like to rest for a little while first?" Viki asked.

"No, I want to decorate the tree . . . No, first I want to see my old room," Tom exclaimed and headed for the stairs.

"Don't run!" Viki called after him, but he was already half up the stairs and didn't even hear her. Viki looked at Sam. His smile was as big as hers. They hugged each other, sharing the mutual joy of watching "their kid."

Both, Tom and Timmy "shared" the tree decorating. They were switching back and forth so fast that it was getting difficult to keep track of who was who. At one point Tom went inside and Timmy alone was out. He was sitting cross-legged in front of the tree, looking up at it. Suddenly, he pulled into his "little ball" position. Sam and Viki immediately knew what that meant. Something was reminding Timmy of something from his past.

Sam sat down on the floor next to him and put his arms around him. "Timmy? Hey buddy, what's wrong?"

"Daddy threw the tree over."

"Why did he do that?"

"Mommy gave me a present and said Santa knew I was a good boy." "And that made daddy mad?"

Nodding his head, Timmy answered, "Real mad. Daddy took my present and threw it in the garbage. I didn't even get to see it. Then he threw the tree down. Mommy ran upstairs crying."

"What did daddy do to you after mommy went upstairs?" Sam inquired cautiously.

Timmy folded into his "little ball" position ever tighter and started rocking back and forth. Sam knew he'd better not ask any more questions. He did not want this day spoiled for them.

"Timmy, it's okay, you don't have to talk about it anymore. You don't even have to think about it. I want to tell you that I have spoken to Santa and he knows for sure that you are a very good boy. He's coming here just to bring you lots of presents. In fact, he's going to make this his first stop."

Timmy lifted his head and stared up at Sam. "He thinks I'm a good boy? Really!"

"He thinks you're the best boy in the whole world," Sam replied. He hugged Timmy tightly.

Viki could see that Timmy looked tired. As proof, he didn't resist when she suggested he go upstairs and take a nap. Viki tucked him in and kissed his forehead and then sat on the bed and waited for him to fall asleep. She thought about how grateful she was to be given this opportunity.

Susannah had arrived by the time Viki came back downstairs. Sam had filled her in on everything that had gone on since they came home. Susannah was a little concerned about the memory Timmy had of Peter. She was relieved that Sam had been able to talk him through it without incidence. Susannah volunteered to go up and sit with Timmy so Viki and Sam could have some time alone. Snuggling down into Sam's arm,s Viki looked at the tree that Tom and Timmy had taken such joy in decorating. For a few moments she felt at peace. She knew that once the holidays were over, Susannah would be starting regular therapy sessions again and Sam and Téa would be going to Bo. She wondered if Michelle's parents were somewhere out there thinking about their little girl. Viki pushed all these thoughts from her mind. She was going to allow herself to have a good holiday.

The rest of Christmas Eve was fairly uneventful. Timmy woke up and was thrilled to see Susannah there. He held out his arms for a hug, which she happily gave him. Tom came back after a while and proudly showed Susannah the decorated tree.

"Well, you boys certainly did a beautiful job," Susannah complimented.

They sat down for dinner and the meal went without incident. Tom's meal consisted of spaghetti, chocolate milk and brownies. He had no interested in even tasting the "grown up food". Susannah made sure he had his evening meds. He and everyone else in the house were able to get a good night's sleep.

When they awoke the next morning, it seemed that both Tom and Timmy were once again out simultaneously. They both chattered so excitedly to each other it was hard to tell who was speaking. Sam helped them get washed and dressed.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth," Sam called after them, but they were already on their way down the stairs.

Susannah and Viki were sitting in the living room having coffee when Tom and Timmy ran past them and swooped down under the tree.

"Hey, don't we get a good morning?" Viki asked. Her eyes were shining with love for them.

"Oh yeah! Good morning. Come on Timmy." Tom held out his hand to Timmy. They ran back to where Viki and Susannah sat. Tom gave them both a really quick kiss on the cheek and Timmy followed his lead and did the same. Then the boys ran back and dove under the tree once more to see their presents.

Just about every conceivable kind of video game, toy car, truck, puzzle, coloring book, sketch book, drawing implement, stuffed animal, board game, and comic book, were in one box or another. "Is all this stuff really for us?" Tom asked incredulously.

"You bet Boomer. Santa wanted to make sure you got plenty of presents."

"Santa thinks we're real good," Timmy piped up.

"That's right. Santa thinks you're are the best boys ever," Viki confirmed.

They suddenly stopped playing. It looked as though Tom was whispering something to Timmy. "We'll be right back," Tom said to Sam, Viki and Susannah and ran up the stairs.

They all looked at each other wondering what he was up to. Sam started to follow them upstairs. He knew they couldn't be left alone. Sam only had a chance to get halfway up the stairs when the boys came running back down. They saw they had a some small packages in their hands. They were awkwardly wrapped in gift wrapping paper with slightly askew bows on them.

Tom and Timmy sat on their knees in front of the couch where Viki and Susannah sat. Sam sat next to Viki. One by one, they handed everyone the presents they had made for them. They handed Susannah a bracelet and Viki a necklace and Sam a tie clip.

"We made these ourselves in the art room. Laura helped us a little, but we made most of it ourselves. Terry got us the wrapping paper and the bow. She helped us sneak them in our suitcase so they would be a surprise," Tom announced with a big smile on his face.

Tom pointed to a little wooden charm hanging off Susannah's bracelet and said, "See, it's a picture of us. Like the one of your grandparents in your locket."

"We didn't know how to make a locket, so we drawed it on the wood," Timmy added.

Susannah looked at it and saw a picture of four year old Timmy, with short dark hair and brown eyes on one side, and a picture of a seven year old Tom, with long blond hair and green eyes on the other. Tears came to Susannah's eyes. In fact tears came to all their eyes. Timmy and Tom stared at the adults and then exchanged looks with each other.

"Don't you like them?" Tom asked.

"Oh sweetheart, we love them!" Viki assured him.

"Boys, this is the best present anyone has ever given me," Susannah added.

"That goes for me too," Sam stated, in a voice choked with emotion. "Then how come you're all crying?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, how come you're crying? Timmy wanted to know too.

Both boys were confused by the adult's emotions. "Well, boys, sometimes grownups cry when they're happy," Susannah informed them.

"They do?" They heard the surprise in Timmy's voice.

"Yeah, we do," Viki stated in agreement. She bent down and took them in her arms and kissed their heads.

"We made something for Téa too. Is she gonna be here?" Tom asked eagerly.

"Yes, Téa will be here later," Viki promised.

Breakfast was a little bit of a struggle, only because they were eager to get back to their presents. Finally, after shoveling in the last mouthful of food, Tom, with his mouth still full of Cocoa Puffs, pleaded, "Can we go now!" Sam nodded. Tom and Timmy ran back to the living room to play with their new things. Sam followed them.

Téa rang the doorbell at a little after two in the afternoon. As soon as she walked in, Tom and Timmy took her by the hand and showed her their presents. Téa had some more presents for the boys. Luckily she had checked with Sam so none of them were duplicates. Tom and Timmy gave her the earrings they had made for her. "I made one and Timmy made one," Tom announced.

Téa's reaction was much the same as the others. Tom looked at the tears in her eyes. He shrugged and muttered, "Grown-ups!" to Timmy.

Tom was tired and went inside for a while and Timmy stayed out. Larry showed up around two-thirty. His face lit up when he saw Susannah. After kissing Viki hello and saying hello to Sam and Téa, Larry sat next to Susannah on the couch.

Timmy was quietly drawing with his new crayons in one of his new coloring books. Larry was a little taken back at the sight of "Todd" sitting on the floor, coloring.

"Timmy, do you know Doctor Wolek?" Susannah asked. Timmy looked up at Larry and shook his head.

"You don't wear a doctor coat either," Timmy observed.

Larry noticed the difference in his voice immediately. "Well, that's because today I'm just here as a plain old brother-in-law."

"What's a brother-in-law?" Timmy inquired.

"I used to be married to Viki's sister so that makes me her brother-in-law."

Timmy looked confused. "Viki don't have a sister. She's Todd's sister," Timmy pointed out.

Viki kneeled down to Timmy and explained. "A long time ago I had a sister. Her name was Meredith. She died, but Larry is still my brother-in-law."

"Do you miss your sister?"

"Yes baby, I miss her all the time," Viki answered.

"I'm sorry your sister died," Timmy consoled Viki. He put his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. Viki heard the sadness in his voice.

"That's okay sweetheart. It happened a long time ago," Viki responded. Timmy went back to his coloring book. Larry looked at Susannah. Seeing Todd like this was not easy to get used to.

They were just about to go into dinner when Kevin showed up.

"Well Mom, I thought I'd take you up on that invitation. I assume you really meant it."

"Of course I meant it, Kevin. Where's Cassie?"

"She is having dinner at Dorian's." Kevin noticed "Todd" sitting on the floor, still quietly coloring. He was surprised at how thin and pale Todd looked. For one-second he almost felt sorry for him. Then the resentment and sibling rivalry he always felt came right back.

Kevin knelt down to where Timmy sat. "Hello Todd." Kevin's voice had a false cheerfulness to it.

"I'm Timmy," Timmy informed Kevin as he looked up from his coloring book. Timmy looked at Kevin. He looked familiar, however Timmy really didn't remember him. "What's your name?"

Kevin heard this child's voice come out of Todd and didn't believe it for a minute. "Okay, I'll play. My name is Kevin."

"Santa brought me these because he knows I'm a good boy," Timmy smiled and held up his new crayons and coloring book.

"Well," Kevin remarked sarcastically, "Santa must know something the rest of us don't."

"Kevin, can I speak with you in the kitchen?" Viki said, her voice seething with anger.

"Oh come on, Mom," Kevin started, once they were alone. "You really don't expect me to take this act seriously. Todd Manning believing in Santa Claus! I know he has all of you snowed but give me credit for having a few brain cells intact."

"Kevin, it's not your brain I'm worried about. It's your heart. You have no idea what Todd has had to go through, but you do know that he came very close to dying just a couple of weeks ago. I would think you would have a little compassion for him."

"You mean like the compassion he had for Marty when he tied her down and raped her? Or the compassion he had for me when he let me be accused of raping her? Do you think those are some of the reasons Santa thinks he's such a good boy!"

"Kevin I'm only going to say this to you once. You're my first born son and I love you dearly, but if are here to torment Todd you may as well leave now. I will not stand for it."

Kevin looked at his mother. He could not believe how gullible she was. "All right!" Kevin said, putting his hands in the air, in surrender. "I will treat Todd with kid gloves. I will take him to the zoo if you want me to."

"All I ask is that you treat him with some compassion," Viki stated coldly.

When they got back to the living room Joey had showed up. Timmy was concentrating on his coloring. Dinner went without with out any problems. Kevin and Joey were on their best behavior, eventhough they did exchange looks and rolled their eyes when, after Timmy complained of an upset tummy, Viki got him to eat a little more by feeding him.

After dinner Kevin and Joey decided to go outside and toss a football around. Kevin noticed Timmy watching them as they were about to go out. "Hey Timmy, you wanna toss the ball around with us?" Kevin offered, innocently.

Timmy turned to Viki. "Can I?"

"Oh sweetheart, I don't think that's such a good idea. It's pretty cold out. Why don't you just play with your new toys and books? Maybe you could draw a picture of the tree for me?"

They could see that Timmy was disappointed. Sam stood up. "I'll tell you what, why don't I go out with them and watch them play. I'm sure Kevin won't mind that. Will you Kevin?"

"Kevin looked Sam in the eye and sarcastically replied, "No, hey you were the football coach. Maybe you can give us some pointers."

Sam got Timmy bundled up and then took him out to join Kevin and Joey. They had been out there for about seven minutes when Viki, Tea, Susannah and Larry heard Timmy shriek in pain. The he started screaming and crying. They ran out.

Timmy was sitting on the ground. His hands were covering his face. He was screaming and crying hysterically. Sam was holding him. He was trying to comfort him and at the same time see how badly he was hurt.

"Timmy, it's okay. Let me see. Let me see your face. I won't hurt you. I promise," Sam coaxed to no avail. Sam turned to Kevin. He was furious. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

Kevin looked very nervous. He swiped his hand over his mouth and chin as he said, "Come on Manning! You were the star player. You're telling me that you can't catch a simple pass now?"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Téa cursed Kevin as she pushed past him to get to where Timmy sat. Susannah and Larry rushed over to Timmy.

"What happened?" Susannah asked.

"The ball hit him in the face, hard!" Sam explained. He looked at Kevin as if he could strangle him with his bare hands.

Susannah got down on her knees in front of Sam and Timmy.

"All right sweetie, let me see," Susannah said to a still screaming Timmy. "Timmy, I'm going to have to take your hands away from your face so I can see if you got hurt," Susannah told him slowly and calmly. She pulled his hands down. Sam quickly put his arms around Timmy's arms so he couldn't lift his hands back to his face.

Timmy cries and screams increased. His eye was already turning colors and he had a cut above his left eyebrow. Blood slowly trickled down his face. Viki had gone in for some ice and came running out with it. "Do you think he's going to need stitches?" Susannah mouthed to Larry so Timmy wouldn't hear her.

Larry knelt down to have a look at Timmy, which only made Timmy cry and scream even harder.

"Okay, honey, I'm not gonna hurt you. Timmy, I'm just gonna look at your eye. All right, take it easy," Larry spoke soothingly to the frightened child. Sam continued to hold him tightly and Susannah stabilized his head so Larry could get a good look at his wound.

"I think a butterfly will do. Why don't we take him inside? My bag is in my trunk. I'll go get it." Timmy started to calm down a little. He was cuddled up in Sam's arms. Tears mingled with the blood that had dripped down his cheek. He was sucking on the first two fingers of his right hand and making small whimpering sounds. Kevin, looked at Timmy and thought to himself, Oh God, I didn't know. I thought it was another one of your games.

They got Timmy in the house and sat him down on the couch. Sam held him tightly. Susannah put some antiseptic on a cotton swab and cautioned, "Timmy, this is going to sting a little." Timmy's body was weak. He tried to pull away but Sam's arms held him tightly.

Timmy started screaming and crying all over again as he felt the sting of the antiseptic. Sam and Susannah spoke to him soothingly as Larry applied the bandage. After a while, he finally started to calm down again. When Viki sat down next to him he snuggled in her arms. She gently, rocked him back and forth.

Timmy was starting to fall asleep. Kevin looked at him. For the first time, he saw what was really in front of him. He looked at the fragile looking young man in his mother's arms. He looked at his bandaged forehead and now purple and dark blue eye. For the first time, instead of the disgust he would have normally felt at the sight of Todd cradled in Viki's arms, he felt that twinge of compassion his mother was talking about. Kevin knew as surely as everyone else in that room that the person his mother was holding was not the man he hated all these years. It was not Todd Manning. The person he had deliberately thrown the football at, as hard as he could, to see if he would slip and some of that "old Todd Manning football hero instinct" would emerge, was just a helpless four-year-old.

Kevin walked over to Timmy, who was almost asleep. He knelt down near Timmy's head. "I'm sorry Timmy. I'm sorry I hurt you. I won't ever do that again."

"That's okay," Timmy whispered sleepily. Timmy's good heart was quick to forgive. Timmy turned his face towards Viki's chest and closed his eyes.

After Timmy fell asleep Viki carefully got up and laid him down on the couch. She covered him with a quilt. Tea and Larry had gone home. Sam had gone upstairs to change because of the blood he had gotten on his clothes. Susannah watched over Timmy. Viki had gone into the kitchen to make some tea. Kevin followed her in there.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't believe you. I thought it was just more of Todd being Todd."

"Kevin, that was Todd being Todd. Timmy and all the others are Todd being Todd. Honey, I know my relationship with Todd is difficult for you. I also know you have a good heart. I can't go into details with you. I just need you to know that as bad as you could possibly imagine things were for Todd, they were worse. Kevin, Todd is very ill. I think you realize that now. Yes, he did some horrible things. I am not excusing them, but I am forgiving them."

Viki put her hand on Kevin's arm. She looked her son in the eye and finished what she was saying. "And if you knew the things that were done to Todd, I think you'd forgive him too."

"Is he getting better? I mean Susannah did let him come home."

"No Kevin, not really. Todd has been too ill, physically, to have therapy. Susannah just wanted him to have a nice holiday before it all hits the fan."

"Before what hits the fan?" "Kevin, I can't tell you now. You'll find out soon enough. Todd is still in a lot of trouble. He hasn't even begun to come to grips with what was done to him. Just getting some of the secrets out nearly killed him. Getting him to remember and heal will be even harder. Once his therapy starts again the real work will begin. Todd will need us more than ever."

"There is one difference this time," Kevin said. Viki looked at him. "This time you can count on me." Viki took her firstborn son in her arms and held him.

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