The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
AFFLICTION
BY TROG |
EPILOGUE |
EPILOGUE
(one year later)
Todd Manning drove like the devil, maneuvering his black Jaguar along the thirty miles of freeway between Llanview and Windsor Lake...heading home. It was late Summer and the trees that lined the highway were already showing signs of Fall, their leaves tipped in red and gold.
As he got closer to home that familiar warmth started rising in his chest, that strange, glowing sensation that he still couldn’t get used to after all this time. The prospect of seeing his wife and his children at the end of the day still thrilled him, filling him with a joy that he couldn’t quite comprehend, a triumph he still didn’t feel he altogether deserved.
“What a fucking sap you’ve become, Todd Manning,” said Todd to himself, catching his hazel eye in the rearview mirror...smiling a little.
Two months following their return from Greece, he married Tea. Getting his marriage to Blair annulled only took a short time after she was sentenced to two years in prison for Obstruction of Justice...and he married Tea the very day he got the annulment papers in the mail...running up to the penthouse with the papers in his hand. No grandiose ceremony...no phony fanfare...just the two of them at the Justice of the Peace in the presence of a dull public servant who made legal what was already completely real to them...their commitment to one another.
The house at Winsdor Lake, purchased from Dr. Woolf at great expense and much persuading , was Todd’s wedding gift to Tea. They lived there with Starr, a surly Swedish housekeeper named Hedda, and their six-month old daughter, Alma. Her name, Alma, meant soul in Spanish and Tea picked it because she told Todd that was when her soul met his...Alma was conceived in that moment.
Turning onto the long, private road that lead to the house he slowed down and parked his car some distance away, choosing to walk along the lake and surprise Tea who wasn’t expecting him so early in the day.
As he got closer to the large, white house the scent of roses surrounded him, riding delicately on the breeze that swept up off the lake, and he noticed Tea was in the garden. She had thrown a blanket on the grass and laid there under the shade of a rosebush with Alma lying beside her, having both fallen asleep in the balmy air of the lazy, Summer afternoon.
His heart swelled at the sight of them, his eyes misting with wonder.
Slipping off his jacket and letting it fall on the grass, he walked over quietly and laid down behind her, spooning his body into hers, his arm pulling her closer.
Tea jumped, startled by the sudden contact but relaxed almost immediately, smiling...smelling his spicy scent, feeling his familiar warmth.
“Querido...what are you doing home,” she whispered drowsily without opening her eyes.
Todd brushed his lips lightly against her neck.
“Slow news day...I missed you,” he said. Reaching over, Todd caressed his daughter’s wispy hair and her soft, rose-petal skin as she slept. “How’s she doing?”
Tea turned onto her back and looked up at Todd, pushing his long hair back behind his ear.
“She’s okay...just teething....I just got her to sleep. I gave Hedda the day off...she was up all night with her.”
Todd sat up, looking around.
“What? Brunhilda’s gone? And Starr’s still at school...and after that she has soccer practice, right? You know what that means, Delgado?”
“What?”
Todd laid down beside her, slipping his hand under her pink tank top and stroking her breast lightly.
“We’re alone. It‘s been awhile since we‘ve had the place to ourselves.”
Tea smiled up at him, touching his face.
“I know, querido...I miss the days when we made love in every room of this house...but...soon things will get back to normal. I promise.”
Todd stared down at her and sat up again looking annoyed.
“Not when you go back to work. I don’t know why you can’t stay home, Tea...it’s not like we need the money. I like knowing your here...that your safe.”
Tea sat up with him.
“Todd...I need to go back to work. I worked hard to become a good lawyer...and I need that...I need to have that...identity...just like you need to run The Sun. Antonio is just about to finish law school...and we’re going to be law partners. I thought you were okay with this?”
“And what about Starr...and Alma? They need you!”
“Starr is in school most of the day now...and Hedda’s always here...and Alma adores her. She’s a qualified nanny...and I trust her...we both do. Please, amor... don’t be like this, try to understand.”
“I’m trying, Delgado...but I don’t like it.”
Todd stood up and pulled her to her feet. Reaching down he carefully picked up Alma and held her sleepy face against his shoulder, rocking her gently as she stirred slightly. Tea picked up the blanket along with Todd’s jacket and they headed inside.
Todd had made extensive renovations to the house but it still had all the charm of it’s classical architecture and Tea had decorated it accordingly, going with neo-classical furnishings and art nouveau touches that fit in perfectly with their personalities. She had learned to embrace Todd’s darkness and the house reflected it, having decorated the place in deep greens and rich burgundy shades throughout the ground floor. Todd recalled all the trips they made all over Pennsylvania, haunting antique shops and going to auctions to fill the place with things that were unique and all their own. His favorite piece was a Tiffany lamp that Tea had given him for his birthday, that of a bronze wolf howling at the moon with a shade of leaded glass in an opalescent yellow-green, the exact shade of his eyes, which sat on the desk in his study. The whole place was a study in polar opposites that fit perfectly together...muscular leather furniture softened by antique lace curtains...bronze, winged gargoyles and silk pillows...masculine strength tempered by feminine softness. It was elegant and gothic, yet comfortable and whimsical, with just the right touch of madness and eccentricity...like them. It was the first place that ever felt like home to either one of them.
“I’ll put her down,” said Todd, heading up the stairs to the second floor.
Alma’s nursery, a brightly colored room with stars painted on the ceiling was nestled at the bottom of the staircase that lead up to the third level of the house where Todd and Tea’s bedroom was. Walking in he headed for the crib as Alma opened her sleepy eyes and started crying almost immediately.
“Hey...hey...no crying...God knows you did enough of that last night. I think somebody needs changing,” said Todd, laying her on the changing table as Alma whimpered. He removed her yellow sleeper and wet diaper quickly and proceeded to wipe her, powder her and place a fresh diaper on her expertly, all the while talking to her to keep her from crying. Alma stopped crying as her eyes focused on her father’s soothing voice and followed his every move.
“Yeah...I know it hurts right now but trust me, soon you’ll appreciate getting those little molars and canines. You’ll be able to eat good junk like cheeseburgers and fries...and it’s a lot better than that gross, mushy stuff that you have to wolf down right now,” he said as he rubbed some medicine along her gums to ease her discomfort.
When he was done he held her high in the air and shook her until she started smiling at him flashing two, tiny and perfect front teeth.
It took his breath away...looking at her beautiful shiny dark eyes, her peachy skin and her dazzling smile. It was her mother’s face.
“You’re my little Tee...that’s who you are,” he said, pulling her to him and closing his eyes. “My sweet, little soul...daddy loves you,” he whispered, feeling her baby softness against his rough beard, her sweet breath against his neck. Walking her around for a few minutes until her eyes started closing again, he kissed her softly, before placing her carefully in her crib and waiting for her to drift off. When he was certain she was asleep he grabbed the baby monitor before heading up stairs.
Tea walked around their bedroom...it was the entire third level of the house. Todd had wanted them to have their own space--their own world--so he had the entire attic converted for them. It was a huge, cavernous space but the angled ceilings gave it a cozy ambiance. It had one large, arched window facing east and another facing west on either end of the room and Tea smiled remembering Todd had told her he wanted to experience the beginning and end of every day of his life with her...sunrise to sunset.
There was a walk-in closet on one end of the room and a huge bathroom with a hot-tub on the other. The bed sat in the center against an angled wall, opposite a living area complete with fireplace, sofa, chairs and tables. There was an area with a desk and computer with shelves filled with law books and computer games. Along the ceiling were rows of skylights lighting the room softly in sunlight, including a large, round skylight that hovered directly above their bed where Tea loved to watch the moon and the stars, and Todd loved to watch the thunder and lightening. They spent much “private” time here, as Hedda liked to call it when Starr asked her why Tea and her daddy were always up stairs in their room.
Tea leaned against the window that looked down on the lake and observed her rose-garden admiringly, having taken over its cultivation under the strict tutelage of Dr. Woolf, who had bought a smaller house across the lake. Like Dr. Woolf, she too had become obsessed with the lovely flowers and wouldn’t allow anyone near them, including their gardener. This Spring she had planted a rare breed beside the Brandy rose, the Rosacea Nocturna, known as the black rose. It’s color was the darkest, deepest crimson, so dark that it looked black from a distance but on closer inspection, when parting its velvet petals, one saw its bright red center, its flesh and blood...just like Todd Manning, her lover...with all his dark layers surrounding his beautiful heart. The Brandy Rosacea and the Rosacea Nocturna bloomed side by side...polar opposites that fit perfectly together.
Hearing the door close she turned as Todd came up the stairs, depositing the baby monitor by their bed.
“Did you get her to sleep?”
“Yeah...she’s out,” he said as he dropped onto the sofa and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “Are you bored, Tea? With me...with our kids and all this weird domesticity? Maybe it’s not what you signed up for. Is that why you want to go back to work?”
“NO! How can you think that?” she asked, walking over and standing before him.
Todd looked up at her, at her golden-streaked hair falling softly around her face, at the confused expression in her eyes.
“I don’t know...maybe all this...maybe it’s too dull for you. Maybe you don’t like the new and improved Todd Manning...family guy! I don’t know, Tea...I don’t understand why you need to abandon us so you can lawyer about, that‘s all!”
Tea sighed deeply and approached him. Pulling her long, soft skirt above her thighs she straddled Todd and sat on his lap, taking his face in between her palms.
“You know, amor, when I was in law school I use to laugh at women who only wanted to get married and have babies. I thought I was above them, that they were shallow and inconsequential...that my aspirations were bigger, loftier...somehow more important. I was going to be Tea Delgado, high-priced lawyer, successful career woman...not some insignificant housewife. But now...after this past year...I realize why women want to do this. There simply is nothing more fulfilling, more important than being a wife and mother...it is the most joyous experience of my life...of being a woman. I‘m completely happy.”
“Yeah...okay, than why do you want to go back to work?”
“Because...I need something that’s my very own. This life we have...this life that I love is all about us. I could so easily get lost in all this...and forget that I ever existed before you and Alma....but...I don’t want to. I want to continue being the woman you fell in love with...not the woman I became afterwards. Just like...I love the man you were long before you became Todd Manning, family guy. I happen to love crazy, slightly dangerous Todd Manning, the gadfly on Llanview‘s hypocritical ass, who gets a perverse, childish joy out of upsetting the status quo...just as much as I love Todd Manning the lover, the husband...and the father. Please, querido...try to understand. I don’t want to lose myself in all this...I need something of my very own...I need to work. Do you understand?”
Todd stroked her bear arm lightly, staring into her fathomless eyes.
“Yeah...I guess.”
“What’s wrong, Todd? It’s not like you to oppose me working? What’s happened?”
Todd took a long, deep breath and released it, turning slightly away from her.
“The sheriff’s department called me today with some news. Apparently, they’re going to release Blair early on the count of her good behavior.”
Tea sat up stiffly, her lips parting slightly.
“What? When?”
“Next month.”
Tea jumped off his lap and wrapped her arms around herself. Todd stood up and took her hand.
“Hey...she can’t touch us, Tea.”
“No? That woman is filled with poison, Todd...and I imagine a year in prison has only served to exacerbate her already too vengeful soul. Let me tell you something...if that woman comes near us...or our baby...I’ll kill her...do you hear me, Todd?” she said, her eyes wild.
“She’s not going to do anything...she can’t. She’ll be on parole and have to keep her nose clean...and she’s not getting anywhere near Starr!”
Tea paced around nervously.
“Starr...she’s so happy, Todd. She’s come such a long way...loves her new school...she’s made good friends...and we’ve gotten really close again. But...I’m not fooling myself...I’m not her mother! Starr’s going to want to see Blair, you know that...and no court in this country is going to prevent a mother from seeing her child.”
“LIKE HELL, TEA! She’s not coming anywhere near Starr. Let her go and mother Max Holden’s kid...let her destroy Jack‘s life...she‘s not destroying Starr‘s!”
Tea rubbed her eyes and shook her head.
“Well...I guess there’s not much we can do. We knew this day would come, Todd...I just didn’t expect it so soon. I thought we’d at least have a few years of reprieve from her venom. You know she’ll come after us, Todd...we both testified against her.”
“Just let her try, Tea,” said Todd quietly.
Tea watched him, his face tense, his body stiff and tight as she took him in her arms and held him.
“Yeah...let her try, Todd. Hey...I’m not afraid of Blair...there’s nothing she can do to us. I say...bring her on, amor. Perhaps, it’s time we let go of our anger too. She’s done her time, the courts punished her for what she did...maybe...well, let’s hope she’s learned something from all this.”
“Blair’s an idiot. She doesn’t have the mental capacity to learn any lessons. The only thing she’s ever been really good at is revenge...and I’m sure she’s just counting the days till she can get back at us. But don’t you worry...I won’t let her.”
Tea pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, pouting sensually.
“Querido...do you realize we’ve just wasted about five whole minutes of “private time” discussing Blair.”
Todd looked down at her, feigning astonishment.
“Damn...you’re right, Delgado! What the hell are we doing? Time’s a wasting...get your clothes off and lie down on that bed immediately, preferably supine...thighs apart,” he said as he quickly undressed and sent his clothing flying to various corners of the room.
Tea smiled wickedly as she pulled her tank top over her head and unfastened her skirt, letting it slip to the floor with only her pink lace panties remaining. Todd scooped her up quickly in his arms and jumped on the bed with her. After they stopped laughing they lay quietly for a few minutes their hands caressing one another before Todd leaned in and kissed her mouth, letting his lips explore her softness, his tongue discover her wetness, moaning softly. Tea’s hands were in his hair as she pulled his mouth closer, deeper into hers, trying to satisfy that mutual physical hunger between them that could not be sated...even after a year.
“M-m-m-m...you taste so good,” whispered Todd between kisses, feeling her warm hand between his thighs, working their magic.
“M-m-m-m...you feel so good,” she whispered back, feeling him come to life in her hand.
Todd suddenly pulled away, panting a little as he stared down at her lovely face, with a drowsy, sensual expression in his eyes.
“I’m so fucking happy with you, Tea...I feel like I’m flying. But it’s terrifying too...like I’m afraid it’s all going to end...like we’re going to crash and burn.”
“No amor...it’s never going to end...we’re just going to keep right on flying...soaring. I love you,” she whispered, spreading out her thighs like wings as she pulled him closer...pulled him inside her.
“I love you,” he gasped, letting go of his fears, gliding into her heaven....and flying away with her.
THE END
2002 Copyright by Trog
FanFiction Home
Home
