Time sped by; moments did the same. The funny thing was the feelings that time generated. They grew stronger, the relationship more solid. Trust was even beginning to materialize and they were both nearing complete happiness. Three weeks seemed to have come and gone in a flash, leaving its indelible impression on both of them. Time. A time for everything, that's what the Beatles said.
Three whole weeks of pain and, of some passion; instances that would last forever. He was doing most of the opening up while she listened. Time would pass at warp speeds; the sun would fall from the sky, sending darkness over the city, yet they never seemed to notice. It didn't matter. What mattered was the two of them and the hand holding and stolen kisses and not so subtle glances. Sure, it was still difficult for them and they must have cried a river between them, but there were moving forward; they were progressing.
In that one night when they decided to give it another try, they seemed to have bridged the gap that separated them for so long, even if the bridge was made out of flimsy material, it was there nonetheless. And that bridge got stronger each day. With every revelation, another layer was added to their bridge, adding to its sturdiness.
Del called Tea one day, to check on his girls and he immediately noticed a change in her. There was a bounce or happiness or contentment that he hadn't heard in a long time. The flatness was no longer present, nor were the annoyed sighs.
When he asked her about it, she trivialized her situation by saying it was nothing, she was fine, she felt good; things like that. Always avoiding letting him inside of her. She wasn't ready to let him know, or anyone else for that matter, that she had found her way back to the man who had caused her so much pain. If it didn't work out yet again, all she would hear were their mumbled "I told you so's" and that was something she did not want to deal with.
Using his considerable FBI interrogation techniques, he eventually wore her down. Kept pushing and prodding and in his round about way asking the same question over and over until she couldn't take it anymore. She gave in and maybe on some level, she wanted him to know it. He understood her love in a way not many did. He understood that soulful craving for affection and that starvation for unconditional love. He was there when no one else was, so maybe it was okay. He knew her and he knew that no words he spoke could change her mind once she decided something. Her decision was to be with Todd and to be one with him; he was going to have to accept it.
It was one of those late night conversations, right after she had finished talking to Todd. Her heart was still fluttering long after they ended their conversation. The feeling was odd to her; the need to share her most intimate thoughts was foreign. Del was like that high school girlfriend, the one to whom everything was told with strict instructions not to tell anyone. .
"Hey, little sister, what's going on?" he asked, popping a fistful of popcorn in his mouth and smacking in her ear.
"Nothing. How many sticks of butter did you use?" It was an old joke between them. Del had a thing for popcorn, especially buttery popcorn with lots of salt and hot sauce. When he had a little extra money from any of his numerous after school jobs, he would treat them to an old movie at the cheap theater. He always made her carry a purse and smuggle full bottle of hot sauce into the theater. They had to have a large drink just to salvage their severely burned taste buds.
"Half a stick."
"Cutting down?"
"Yeah, it started to affect my girlish figure," he joked, dumping more popcorn into his mouth.
"You gonna tell me why you seem so happy now or do you want to play the guessing game?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied, enjoying her game of "keep away."
"Oh, Tea, don't try to fool me. I'm happy for you, no matter what. I missed this Tea."
She missed this Tea too. The times she saw herself exhibit any level of happiness were too few and far between. This Tea she liked, loved even. This Tea rolled her shoulders back, jutted her chin out and made her place in the world. This Tea, she was proud of.
"Are you smiling right now?"
With a wide grin she said, "Maybe I am."
When they were kids, Tea used to smile all the time. Well, at least that's what she did before their mother left. After that, she didn't smile honestly. It was the fake kind that stopped right at the corner of her mouth; the dullness in her eyes spoke of her phoniness. The more she talked, the more of a spark he heard in her voice, which was why he was so glad he decided to surprise her.
Unbeknownst to her, he wasn't in some top-secret location, working on a case; he was standing outside of her penthouse door eating popcorn from a street vendor. The case he had been working on was solved and he figured it was the perfect time to take a mini vacation. It was also the perfect time to do some family bonding.
"Maybe I am," he mocked. He knocked on her door, more like banged until he heard her feet stomping down the hall in an irritated manner.
"Hang on," she said into the phone, "some jerk is banging on my door." She looked through the peephole, and said, "you asshole," into the receiver, simultaneously yanking the door open.
"Is that any way to treat your brother whom you haven't seen in forever?"
"Shut up and get in here." She took him into her arms and lifted her from the ground, swinging her around. "I'm so happy to see you."
"Do you think maybe you could loosen the death grip you have around my throat?"
"Oh, sorry."
The afternoon they spent catching up on each other's lives, even though they had discussed all of that over the phone. When they were together, they couldn't hide secrets, both had the very same expressive eyes. And he could see the happiness dancing around in hers and she could see the worry bounding around in his.
He was having second thoughts about the surprise he brought for Roseanne. It wasn't that he didn't think Roseanne would love it; it was that Tea would, without a doubt, hate him for it. He would try to explain, but seriously doubted that she would listen. Besides, he didn't want to ruin her happiness; then again, she might be more receptive to his surprise.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked.
"Nothing, I was just thinking. So, what's his name?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." The grin on her face gave her away. It started off very small and grew nearly as wide as her face. When she was a schoolgirl and became infatuated with another boy, she did the same thing, smiled from ear to ear.
"Oh and why's that smile on your face so big if you're not seeing anyone?"
"I'm in a good mood. You know, occasionally, I am allowed one."
"Well, if he keeps you smiling like that, I'm all for it."
"It's Todd," she blurted out, unconsciously gripping on to the arm of the couch, bracing herself for the angry outburst that would follow.
"WHAT?!"
"We're back together and I don't want to hear any lectures. So now, what's on your mind, besides Todd and me?"
He glared at her, trying to calm himself and she waited unflinchingly. "If he's the one that makes you glow like this, what can I say?"
Tea surprised both of them and threw her arms around him. "Thank you for not saying anything. I love him so much, Del, so much and I think we're really going to make it this time."
He gave her a dry, "good," and turned serious again. "I spoke to Carlotta."
"Yeah?" Tea said with a hint of bitterness in her voice. She had not spoken to Carlotta since Roseanne miscarried. Didn't like the way she acted; didn't like the side she chose.
"Yeah. She said she misses you."
"She said all that, did she?"
"Yeah. You gonna tell me what happened?"
"Well," Tea began, "don't you think the way she treated your niece is reason enough to keep my distance?"
"That's something you should let Roseanne and Carlotta deal with between the two of them." Truth was Carlotta sounded heartbroken as she recounted the last conversation with Tea. She often considered herself to be Tea's surrogate mother, being the one constant, stable person in her life. She failed her though and now Tea had become the prodigal child, wandering the world with severed connections and a broken wing.
"You weren't there after it all happened and you didn't hear her try to defend Christian."
"He's her son!"
"And Roseanne's our niece. Who was in her corner when she went through the most devastating time of her life? I know you want to believe Carlotta is some sort of saint, but she's not. She's flawed just like everybody else and the sooner she realizes that, the better off we'll all be." Tea's voice broke slightly but she regained her composure before anyone who didn't know her could tell she was about to lose it. She cried some nights, cried over the distance that had grown between she and Carlotta. There was no reason for it, Tea knew, but it became more of a matter of pride. She wouldn't be the one to go back and apologize, not this time.
"Wow, you sure can hold a grudge."
The room grew quiet again; the steady hum of the appliances filled little of the silence. It was bright outside, the sun reflected beautifully off the hardwood floor. She relaxed, breathed the fresh air in and let the anger go. Let the fresh air in and let the anger go. Relaxed, related and released until she felt her face return to its normal complexion.
"Where is our niece anyway?"
"Shopping. She said she needed to get some things for the new season," Tea replied, rolling her eyes.
"Hmm. Have you talked to Jose lately?"
Tea looked stricken as the word registered in her brain. Her heart still skipped a beat whenever he was mentioned, though in a different way. In an angry way. In a way that brought back memories of his betrayal and in a way in which her heart hurt all over again for the loss of her baby.
"I'll take it as a no."
"Yeah," she cleared her throat, "yeah."
Del watched what she did with her hands. She twisted her left ring finger in the space where there was once a very large diamond. She brought them to her face and to her ear and back to her lap. He then watched her eyes for any sign of "leakage." He watched her leg bounce up and down without making a sound against the floor.
"Stop trying to figure me out," she warned, giving Del what she called the "evil eye."
"I'm not."
"Yeah, right. Have you spoken with him?"
"I might have."
"Might he have mentioned his daughter? She's trying to accept the fact that she really doesn't have a father but I can tell she misses him." She could more than tell. At night when she paced the halls, she could sometimes hear Roseanne calling "daddy, daddy" into the air and feel her heartbreak when no one answered.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. I found Jose and I brought him to New York with me. He's at the hotel now, waiting for me to give him the word so he can come over."
"You what?!" Tea screamed, jumping up from the couch. "He has done nothing but cause us pain and you're bringing him back? He hasn't done a damn thing for Roseanne in all these years, not a damn thing and all of a sudden you're forcing him back here to play daddy to her? How dare you?"
"Tea," Del said calmly, "she's the one that asked me to bring him here."
Tea quietly walked over to the window and looked over the city, longing to be out of that penthouse. For years she avoided Jose and then there Del was, knowing how she felt had the audacity to bring him back into her life. He was the reason she lost everything and now that she was starting to deal with it, he was back.
Del walked behind her and embraced her from behind. "It's time to let it go."
"Don't you think I'm trying," she cried, "but he cost me everything."
Roseanne watched them from the doorway, and wondered what was going on. The ruffle of her bags caused them to turn around. Tea quickly wiped her eyes and went to help her with the bags. "Here, I'll take these and leave you two alone."
*****
Roseanne ran into Del's waiting arms and jumped into his embrace. "I'm so glad you came!"
"I couldn't stay away from my girls too long. How are you feeling?" he asked, leading her to the place on the couch that Tea occupied a few minutes earlier.
"I'm okay, getting better everyday, I guess."
Del observed her. She was much easier to read than Tea. She wore her heart on her sleeve and what you saw was what you got. He knew she was telling the truth. "Good. Roseanne, I found your father."
"You did?" Her eyes grew wide and a smile came across her face. She tried to not need him and the more she proclaimed she didn't need him, the more she did need him. It grew to be too much, until every night she was dreaming of having him around.
"Yeah, he's at the hotel."
"What did Tea say?"
Del paused before answering. Roseanne had no idea of the amount of hatred that existed between Tea and Jose. She knew nothing of the reasons, though she was vaguely aware that they hadn't spoken on purpose in quite some time. "Not much. She's not happy about it but-"
"She'll forgive him. If she can forgive Todd for everything he did to her, she can forgive my dad. So, when am I going to see him?"
"In a bit. So, tell me about Tea and Todd." He wanted to know everything about that relationship. While he was in New York, he was going to have a nice, long talk with Todd. If he hurt Tea again, there would be no place on earth he could hide. He would find him and no matter how hard Tea protested, he would put him out of everyone's misery.
"There's not much to tell. They're together again, taking things slow."
"And she's happy?"
"Yeah, definitely."
"Well, let's see what we can do about making my other girl happy," Del said, reaching for the phone and calling Jose. In a little over an hour, the family would be together again, only no one knew how good or how bad the meeting would be.
