[Todd watches uncomfortably as the volume of Tea's crying increases. He hates how vulnerable she is whenever she opens her heart to him. He's always been more at ease when they're both in battle mode. Watching her pain on display makes him too uneasy...too tempted to do something stupid, like open his own heart to her.
He knows that he has to do something to stop her tears.]
Todd: Come on, Delgado. Knock it off!
[Tea looks up at him and wipes at her damp face. To Todd's relief a smile overtakes her features. Todd's eyes light up in response.]
Tea: You need to work on your bedside manner.
Todd: What's wrong with it?
Tea: I'll give you all the reasons, as soon as I get back from the bathroom. I need to blow my nose.
[Todd watches Tea leave the room. As soon as she's out of his sight, he closes his eyes tightly, trying to force himself to stop being attracted to her.
She's pregnant with another man's baby. He should be pushing her away. Instead, he arranged for her to move in with him, he kissed her, and now he's seriously considering sharing a bed with her.]
Todd: What the hell is wrong with me?
Tea: You talk to yourself, for starters.
[Todd's eyes instantly open. He stares at her stomach, trying to force himself to despise her for being pregnant with a child that isn't his. He can't.]
Tea: I'm surprised you didn't throw my things into the hallway while I was gone.
Todd: You didn't stay gone long enough. Besides, if I threw a pregnant chick out, people would think bad things about me.
Tea: I thought that was your goal in life?
Todd: It is. But, I'm trying to keep my butt out of prison right now, so I have to pretend I'm not a heartless bastard.
Tea: So, I get to keep the room? Where will you sleep?
Todd: I don't sleep.
Tea: If you've gone back to not sleeping, that would explain a lot of the unexplainable things that have been going on with you lately.
Todd: Like what?
Tea: Remarrying Blair, to begin with.
Todd: I did what I had to do.
[Tea gets back into bed. Todd is relieved as she covers her nightgown-clad body with the blankets again. He's uncomfortable with how attracted he is to her right now, despite her pregnancy.]
Tea: You had to marry her? Why?
Todd: Do you really want to get into all this right now?
Tea: If I'm going to defend you, I need to know everything that's happened since you've been back in Llanview...everything that led to the current situation you're in.
Todd: It's a long story.
Tea: We're living together, for the time being, so we have plenty of time to talk about everything.
Todd: I hate talking.
Tea: I know, but it's necessary.
Todd: This doesn't have anything to do with my case. You just want all the dirt because you're a chick and chicks are into gossip.
Tea: This chick is trying desperately to keep you from going back to prison. I need to know why you did it.
Todd: It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
Tea: I don't believe that. I know you, Todd Manning. I know how you feel about children. I know how protective you are, even when it's a child you don't know. Something big must have happened for you to treat a child the way you treated that baby after he was born.
Todd: Blair got off for shooting Max in the back because she was seeing red. Maybe I was seeing red, too.
Tea: You can lie to everyone else, but I need you to be honest with me.
Todd: As my lawyer, or my...?
Tea: Both. I need to know how the man I knew, who was so tender, and protective, with his daughter, could do something like that to an innocent baby.
Todd: I didn't know he was innocent. I thought he was Max's kid.
Tea: He was a newborn, just minutes old. How could you hurt him like that?
Todd: I never laid a finger on the kid.
Tea: You took him away from his mother...
Todd: Who is Blair, remember? I was saving the kid.
Tea: Everything that you've done since you returned to Llanview has been to save your own ass. But, I still don't understand why you felt you needed to get rid of the baby to get what you wanted out of Blair. Whether it was love, or revenge, you could have had that without hurting that baby the way that you did.
Todd: I told you, I didn't do anything to that kid.
Tea: You did what your biological father did to you. You gave him away because he didn't fit into your plans.
Todd: The other choice would have been doing to him what Peter Manning did to me. Would that have been better?
Tea: First of all, you can be a step-father without repeating the abusive example you were shown when you were a little boy.
Todd: Shut up about when I was a kid.
Tea: Does this have anything to do with that?
Todd: You want to do to me what Sam did and tell everyone a bunch of junk about what you think happened when I was a kid?
Tea: I would never do that to you. You're the one trying to pretend that you took that baby and gave him away to protect him from yourself.
Todd: I did protect him.
Tea: If protecting him was your objective, you would have simply stayed away from Blair, which is what you should have done anyway, baby or no baby.
Todd: Because you're jealous?
Tea: My jealousy is irrelevant.
Todd: So, you are jealous? I knew you would be, when you found out how happy I was after you ditched me.
Tea: I wanted you to be happy.
Todd: Now who's pretending?
Tea: Don't try to turn this around on me.
Todd: Why not? It's all your fault.
Tea: You made the choices that you made, not me.
Todd: Only because you chose to dump me.
Tea: Clearly, I was right to question the sanity of being with you.
Todd: If you hate my guts, like everyone else, you can just get the hell out. I don't need another chick lawyer throwing a case on me.
Tea: I would never do that to you.
Todd: I'm starting to wonder.
Tea: This conversation is deteriorating. We both need to get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning.
Todd: This is my bed. This is my penthouse. You're not my lawyer anymore. Go find somewhere else to sleep.
Tea: I'm still your lawyer.
Todd: You're fired!
Tea: How did we get from kissing to fighting in just a few minutes?
Todd: You're the one who kissed me. I don't kiss pregnant chicks.
Tea: I felt you kiss me back.
Todd: You're wrong. I was trying to push you away.
Tea: With your tongue?
Todd: Just get out, Tea. Go back to your Semen Donor and leave me alone.
Tea: To self-destruct? Not a chance, Manning.
Todd: I don't want you to be here.
Tea: I don't believe that. I think you need me right now. And, from the way you kissed me, I think you want me, too.
Todd: You're wrong.
[Tea moves closer to Todd. He continues to sit on the edge of the bed, despite knowing that he should get as far away from her as he possibly can.]
Tea: You don't want me here?
[The softness in Tea's voice gets to him. He closes his eyes and tries to push away his feelings. Her hand lightly touching his hair threatens to collapse his already weakened defenses.]
Tea: You don't want me to defend you? You don't want me to support you? You don't want me to hold you? You don't want me to love you?
[Todd opens his eyes again and quickly stands up.]
Todd: I don't want any of that garbage. Now, get the hell out!
[Tea stands up and approaches him. He tries to leave the room but she takes hold of his hand and his body instantly stops its movement toward the door.]
Tea: Let me try.
Todd: Try what? To screw me over? That's all anyone ever wants to do to me. You're no different.
Tea: You know that I won't turn my back on you, no matter what you tell me. I was pushing you for answers about the baby because...
Todd: Because you're trying to trick me. You're probably wearing a wire under that thing.
Tea: Would you like me to take my nightgown off to prove to you that I'm not working against you?
Todd: I want you to leave, Delgado.
Tea: Because, I'm getting too close. I'm pushing you to face something that you don't want to face. You need to face it, Todd. You need to deal with what you did and why you did it.
Todd: I need to get out of here.
Tea: No, you don't. I won't ask you anymore questions...tonight.
Todd: You'll save them up and torture me tomorrow?
Tea: It's eating away at you. I can help, if you'll let me.
Todd: I did what I had to do.
Tea: Why?
Todd: You lied. You said no more questions.
Tea: Okay. We'll just go to bed.
Todd: Together?
Tea: That is what you want, isn't it?
Todd: I want you to leave me alone.
Tea: Why are you holding my hand?
Todd: I'm not. You're the one who grabbed mine.
Tea: You're squeezing my hand, Todd.
[Todd immediately lets go of his grip on Tea's hand and pulls away from her.]
Tea: I want to spend the night with you.
Todd: You're knocked up.
Tea: I know that sex is out of the question. We could still spend the night together. We can both take what we need from each other. I know our needs aren't the same, but I think right now they're compatible.
Todd: You're wrong.
Tea: I think that you need to be with someone who knows that you're not a monster. I know that.
Todd: You don't know anything.
Tea: I'm going to spend the night in that bed. Whether you join me is up to you. I won't push anymore. You can lie down next to me. You can sit next to me and watch me sleep. Whatever you need tonight, you can have.
[Tea lies down again and settles herself under the blankets. To Tea's disappointment, Todd quickly leaves the room.]
Tea slowly descends the staircase into the living room, trying to be quiet. Todd is lying on the sofa. His eyes are closed.
Tea carefully covers his body with the blanket she brought from the bedroom. She knows that she shouldn't chance waking him, but she can't stop herself from leaning down and lightly kissing his cheek.
With no response from Todd, Tea turns back toward the spiral staircase. She's halfway up the stairs when his voice slices through the silence, directly into her heart.]
Todd: Did you get knocked up on purpose?
[Tea turns back toward him and sits down on one of the steps before responding.]
Tea: Yes.
Todd: This is the part where I tell you to get out, right?
Tea: Of course. It's also the part where I refuse.
Todd: What I don't get, Delgado, is why you're always pretending that you don't care anything about that creep. You let him knock you up. You've been living with the loser. You're not like me. You wouldn't do all that with someone you couldn't stand, not even for revenge against me.
Tea: My relationship with Simon...
Todd (laughing): Semen Donor.
Tea: When will you stop joking about his name?
Todd: Never.
Tea: I hope you won't call him that to his face.
[Todd quickly sits up and faces her.]
Todd: You didn't tell that loser where I live, did you?
Tea: He knows all about you. Don't worry. He won't show up without calling first.
Todd: Good! I can tell him to stay the hell away from me, if he wants to keep breathing.
Tea: You would never hurt him...that much I know.
Todd: I hurt everyone.
Tea: Mostly, you hurt yourself.
Todd: It's too late for any of that psycho-babble junk.
Tea: To answer your question about Simon...
[Todd again laughs because of his juvenile version of Simon's name.]
Tea: May I continue?
Todd: Haven't you ever laughed while saying his name, because of what it sounds like?
Tea: Oddly enough, I never thought of his name being similar to...
Todd: Semen Donor. Come on, Tea, say it.
Tea: I don't have the juvenile sense of humor that you do. He's always just been Simon Donner to me.
Todd: Not anymore. Now, you'll always smile every time you hear his name...because of me.
Tea: To answer your earlier question, which you, for some reason, have been trying to distract me so you could prevent me from answering...
Todd: You're the one trying to dodge all my questions all the time.
Tea: When have I ever not answered you fully and truthfully?
Todd: You want the whole list? Because, they'll be shipping me off to prison soon and I might run out of time before I can list every time you've lied to me.
Tea: Do you want a truthful response now? Or, would you like to continue to evade this conversation, that you started, by the way?
Todd: You're the one who's stalling on lying to me this time.
Tea: I won't lie to you. I do care about him. I care about him a great deal.
Todd: Go back to lying. I think I liked that better.
Tea: I'm not in love with him. But, I do love him.
Todd: That's the same thing.
Tea: That's not true.
Todd: Love is love. Knocked up is knocked up. Get the hell out!
Tea: No!
[The room is silent for several moments, until Tea speaks again.]
Tea: Have you ever been in love?
Todd: I'm not stupid enough to feel anything for anyone.
Tea: That is not true. There's Starr.
Todd: That's not the same thing.
Tea: But, it is love.
Todd: I tried to give her everything she wanted and look how screwed up that got.
Tea: Are you trying to claim that you married Blair again for Starr's sake?
Todd: Why else?
Tea: What about kidnapping Blair's baby and telling her he had died? Was that for Starr, too?
Todd: She wanted a brother, when she thought it was mine. Then, she didn't, when she found out it was Max's. Then, she wanted it again when she found out the kid really was mine. She knew about that before I did.
Tea: Blair told her?
Todd: Not exactly. But, she found out. And then, Blair swore her to secrecy.
Tea: Starr didn't tell you?
Todd: Nope.
Tea: How did you find out?
Todd: Blair told me.
Tea: Honesty? From Blair?
Todd: I thought you didn't think the kid was really mine?
Tea: It is hard to believe that Blair would ever tell the truth, unless it benefited her in some way.
Todd: She did wait until she thought the kid was gone. There was no chance of me taking what was rightfully mine, after that.
Tea: Because, you had already taken him and given him away.
Todd: But, I got him back.
Tea: Because, Blair told you that he was your son?
Todd: No kid of mine was going to be raised by anyone but me.
Tea: Had you been keeping an eye on him the whole time?
Todd: I had no clue where he was. But, I found him. It didn't take me very long, either.
Tea: How did you do it?
Todd: I found the low-life I gave the kid to. After a few threats, he told me who he sold the kid to.
Tea: He was sold? Did you have to buy him back?
Todd: No.
Tea: His adoptive parents just gave him to you?
Todd: He's my kid.
Tea: There were no tests to prove paternity?
Todd: He's my kid!
Tea: How do you know he's even the right baby?
Todd: Because he is.
Tea: I would think that anyone who would buy a child would be reluctant to hand over that child to a stranger so easily.
Todd: The guy's wife bought the kid to get back into his life so she could steal all his money. You know, the usual story. He gave me my kid when he figured it all out.
Tea: Where did she get the money she used to buy the baby?
Todd: How the hell should I know?
Tea: Newborn baby boys generally sell for a high price.
Todd: You've been dealing in the baby market a lot lately?
Tea: I'm a criminal lawyer. I know about crime. Unless your friend were desperate, like a drug addict might be, he would have sold that baby at a premium price. If that were the case, how would a woman, presumably financially disadvantaged, be able to afford to buy a newborn boy?
[Todd is silent. His life feels even less certain now than it did minutes earlier. He didn't think that was possible, but somehow Tea always manages to turn his life upside down with her probing. This time, she's causing serious doubts to enter his mind about whether the baby he believes to be his son, the little boy he's come to care a great deal for, may not be his biological child at all.]
[Several minutes of silence pass between the ex-spouses. Tea finally breaks the silence as she stands up.]
Tea: It's late. We'll deal with everything in the morning, okay? Are you sure you don't want to sleep upstairs?
Todd: You'll take the couch?
Tea: I'm sleeping upstairs...in that big, comfortable bed.
[Todd repositions himself on the couch so that he's lying with his back facing her.]
Tea: Good night!
[Todd doesn't respond.
Tea returns to the master bedroom alone.
A few hours later...
Tea wakes up and is again startled to find Todd sitting next to her on the bed.]
Tea: You have to stop doing that.
Todd: What?
Tea: Scaring me.
Todd: I was just being myself. You always say that's what you want.
Tea: From now on, you're sharing the bed with me.
Todd: You like waking up afraid?
Tea: You won't startle me if I fall asleep with you next to me. It's the surprise of finding you here when I wake up, when you weren't here when I fell asleep, that startles me.
Todd: Whatever!
Tea: Should I take that as agreement?
Todd: What would your geek say if he knew his woman was trying to get me to bed her?
Tea: I wasn't suggesting sex.
Todd: Good! Because, I don't screw around with knocked up chicks.
Tea: Could you stop referring to me that way?
Todd: Stop showing off how fat you are and maybe I'll forget.
[Tea grabs the comforter that had moved off her upper body while she slept and covers herself with it.]
Tea: Is there a particular reason you joined me in bed this time?
Todd: It's morning. I'm waiting for breakfast.
Tea: I'm not your maid.
Todd: You signed on for this. You knew what that meant.
Tea: I signed on as your lawyer, not your servant.
Todd: The last time you were my lawyer, you cooked for me.
Tea: That was different.
Todd: How?
Tea: We were married.
Todd: Actually, the last time you were my lawyer, we were divorced. You ditched me when I needed you back then, too.
Tea: I defended you. And, I only divorced you because I knew it would help your case. We won, didn't we?
Todd: We won because I was innocent.
Tea: You may have received an innocent verdict but we both know that you were guilty of the crimes you were accused of, just like you're guilty this time.
Todd: But, it doesn't count if a jury buys your bull and I get off.
Tea: You and I both know that you penalize yourself more harshly for your crimes than any sentence a judge could ever order.
Todd: Whatever! Stop stalling. I want breakfast.
Tea: Make it yourself.
Todd: There's no food here.
Tea: How did you expect me to cook?
Todd: You can go to the store and get a bunch of food, first. Then, you can make breakfast for me. Because of you, I can't leave the penthouse, or I'd do that shopping thing myself.
Tea: I could arrange for you to be allowed to leave the penthouse, just so you can go to the grocery store.
Todd: What I need is for you to make it so I can see my kids.
Tea: I'll see what I can do. It may not be easy.
Todd: I had full custody of Starr before all of this happened. Does that count?
Tea: When did that happen?
Todd: When Blair was pretending my kid was Holden's.
Tea: Before you married Blair again?
Todd: Yeah.
Tea: You shared custody of Starr with Blair during your marriage. You're in legal trouble right now. Your earlier custody arrangement is irrelevant. Your actions gave Blair the upper hand.
Todd: She tried to murder me!
Tea: You can't prove that. No judge will take your word for it. Blair's in a better position right now. You need to wait to fight for custody until you've been cleared of all charges.
Todd: How long are we talking?
Tea: I don't know.
Todd: I need to see my kids.
Tea: Talk to Viki. She's your best chance right now. I'll work on Hank today and see if we can work something out.
Todd: I'm not going to prison.
Tea: I know. Maybe he'll agree to community service.
Todd: No way! They'll have me doing the worst, most disgusting stuff they can think of.
Tea: If Hank offers, you will accept.
Todd: Forget it. I'll take off if I have to. I won't humiliate myself in front the whole stinking town. Most of the people here have done way worse than what I did and they always get off. It's not fair.
Tea: What you did was horrible.
Todd: I did what any guy would do.
Tea: I'm on your side, Todd. I'm more likely to stay there if you don't make light of what you did.
Todd: What happened to that junk you were saying last night about how you'll always be there for me, no matter what?
Tea: I will be. I would feel better about myself, though, if you didn't act like an insensitive jackass all the time.
Todd: I get it. You don't care what I do to get revenge, as long as I pretend that I'm all broken up about it. I can do that.
Tea: I don't think you would need to pretend this time. I think you really do regret it.
Todd: The only reason I regret taking that kid is because he turned out to be mine. Knowing that Blair knew all along that he was mine and kept it from me, and even forced my daughter to keep it from me, makes me glad I did it, because she deserved to know what it felt like to lose that kid.
Tea: How can you say that?
Todd: It's the truth.
Tea: No one, not even Blair, deserves to suffer the loss of a child.
Todd: If it had been up to her, I never would have known that the kid was mine. He would have suffered through life thinking he was Max Holden's kid. It's okay for her to torture me and the kid, but it's not okay for me to torture her a little to get back at her?
Tea: But, you didn't kidnap the baby after you found out what she had done. You did that while you still thought Max was the father. Your excuse doesn't work.
Todd: It does for me. She deserved it. I just didn't know back then how much she deserved it.
Tea: When did you become so cold?
Todd: The day you ditched me.
Tea: Don't you dare try to blame this on me.
Todd: It's all your fault.
Tea: You had choices, Todd.
Todd: So did you. I made the mistake of giving you a choice whether you stayed or went.
Tea: Are you going to refuse me that choice this time?
Todd: You're knocked up.
Tea: By another man.
Todd: You don't have to remind me.
Tea: Should I expect the same response from you that Blair received for daring to have a child with another man?
Todd: That's different.
Tea: How?
Todd: It just is.
Tea: I need more reassurance than that.
Todd: Why are you here if you don't trust me?
Tea: I do trust you.
Todd: It doesn't sound like it.
Tea: If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't be here. I'm simply trying to understand why you did what you did to Blair. Why did you want to hurt her so badly?
Todd: She deserved it.
Tea: But, you didn't know at that point what she had done to you.
Todd: I knew plenty.
Tea: What were you seeking revenge for? It can't be because she was pregnant with Max's child.
Todd: He deserved it, too.
Tea: What did Max do to you?
[Todd stands up and begins to leave the room.]
Tea: Don't walk away. I need to know why you wanted them to grieve over a child that you knew hadn't died. What had they done that caused you to feel that they deserved that kind of pain?
Todd: Because of them...I lost you.
[Todd quickly exits the room, leaving behind a stunned Tea.]
