STOLEN CHANCES - PART NINE

PREVIOUSLY

"Don't feel that way," he says, grabbing her hand. "That's not what's going on here now. I'm not trying to run away. I just need a little time, okay? Good night," he says as he lifts her hand to his lips, kissing it lightly before turning to walk out the door.

***************************************************************************************************

Todd quietly walks into the penthouse, taking care not to wake up Tea. He knew she would be full of questions, and he wasn't quite ready to answer them. He still was trying to figure things out for himself. He makes his way through the dark foyer into the living room and reaches to the desk to turn on the lamp. He turns around to see Tea's tear streaked face staring back at him.
"What are you doing sitting here in the dark, Honey?" he asks Tea, surprised to see her sitting there.
"I was waiting on you, Todd. You just dismissed me earlier, sending me home with Viki to get me out of your way. I wanted to know what was going on," she says with a bitter, angry tone in her voice.
"Tea, don't be angry. Please don't be angry. I had a rough night and can't really get into this with you."
"You had a rough night? What about me, Todd? I've been sitting here for hours wondering when you were coming home. If you were coming home." She pauses and they're both silent for what seems like an eternity. "She's very beautiful, Todd. Who is she?"
"I'm sorry. This has been hard on you. You look like you've been crying."
"So do you, Todd. Please don't shut me out now. I can see that you're hurting. I just want to be here for you," Tea says pleadingly.
Her eyes were so sad and they were begging him for answers. She was hurt and confused and just wanted to know what was going on with him. He had to tell her about Michelle. She deserved to know what he was facing. Todd gathered what was left of his strength and sat her down. He was emotionally drained, but knew that this was the best thing to do. Tea couldn't handle too much stress these days. The doctors warned her to keep her blood pressure down for the baby's sake. Waiting until morning to tell her about Michelle would only make her even more stressed out.
"Okay, Tea. I'll tell you." Todd pauses for a while, not so much from fear of how Tea will react, but to quickly sort out the barrage of information Michelle threw at him not two hours ago. He didn't know where to begin.
"Her name is Michelle Westlake."
"Judge Westlake's daughter. I gathered that much at the Palace. I take it you two know each other from Chicago."
"Michelle and I grew up together. We were practically joined at the hip ever since we were about three years old. We were supposed to come to Llanview University together after high school, but she disappeared the day we were supposed to leave. Her father, the honorable Judge Lincoln Westlake told me she left to find a better life. One without me. I was crushed, but kept the pain inside. I decided to myself that day that she was going to be the last person I allowed close enough to my heart to hurt me."
"So, you loved her," Tea said, standing up and walking over to the huge glass windows looking down on Llanview. "And based on your reaction to her tonight, you still do," she adds in almost a whisper, trying to cover her quivering voice.
Todd looked at her. She was such a strong woman, but at this moment, she looked as if the lightest breeze could blow her down. He walked over behind her and put his arms around her waist, gently rubbing her stomach. They stood there for a minute, embracing each other in the silence. He moves around in front of her and lightly cups her face in his hands, placing a gentle, yet passionate kiss on her lips.
"Listen, Delgado. I love you. You're my right now and my future. You're all that I want or could ever dream. You and this baby of ours," he says, still holding her stomach as if to shield their unborn child from the daggers of worry and doubt flying across the room.
"But it's obvious that you love her too," Tea says softly, trying to look into his eyes as he suddenly tries to avert her gaze. "Please don't lie to me, Todd. I can see that you do."
"I do. I love her," he replies. "But it's not what you think, Tea. Michelle was my best friend. She was the one good thing in my life for almost 15 years. And when she walked out on me, it killed me. Tonight was the first time I'd seen or even heard from her since then."
"So, where has she been this whole time, Todd?"
"Tea, let's go sit back down," he says to her, still trying hard to avoid her gaze. This was the hard part of the story for him to tell her, but he's come this far. He may as well tell her the rest.
"Todd, you're scaring me. What's so shocking that I need to be sitting down to hear?"
"Tea," he starts slowly. "Michelle's father lied to me that day I went looking for her. She wasn't running from me when she left. She left because he made her. He found out something that made him flip. You have to realize that the judge hated me. I got into some trouble and he didn't want Michelle hanging out with me. He tried to ignore me, thinking that maybe I would go away. But something happened that he couldn't ignore."
"What happened?" she whispers, as the color starts to drain from her face. She looked as if she knew what he was about to say. But he had to say it anyway. He didn't want to keep any secrets from her.
"They found out she was . . . ," he pauses and grabs her hands, holding them tightly against his face. She was trembling, in agony over what he was about to tell her. "They found out she was pregnant. She had my baby. I have a son, Tea."

TO BE CONTINUED