They had been staying there for a couple of weeks, stepping around chipped wood, metal and all kinds of other materials work crews had left. Todd said they could wait until everything was finished before moving in but Tea insisted on watching the transformation up close wait. She'd even taken to carrying around a video camera, shooting her before and after pictures.

During the day, they took long strolls between moving things here and there and at night, they might play a game, watch television, anything that was relaxing. They had gotten in the pattern of going upstairs together, she would take a long, hot bath and he would flip channels. When she came out, he would take a shower, come out and watch more television while she read a book. They had developed a sort of rhythm.

Some couples would have found it to be a boring existence but for the time being, it was perfect for them. With each day, they grew more comfortable with each other, sharing tales of their childhood and anything else that crossed their mind. Rhythm. There were disagreements, but nobody left. They might go to their separate corners for a while but there was an apology before they went to bed.

There were times of physical intimacy, though not physical lovemaking. They stopped, usually breathless, before it advanced to that stage. They were learning together, how to be part of a couple and really, how to make love in a way that began with seduction through words and ended with physical climax. Neither had ever been a part of anything remotely resembling lovemaking, though they both knew all about sex.

They had a housewarming inviting only a few people. That was Tea's idea; she said she wanted everyone to see what the love of her life had given her. Love of her life, she actually used those words. Of course, after some protests, he gave in and agreed to the party.

The Vegas were invited, as were Viki and her family and Dr. Ben. That was at Tea's insistence too, reassuring Todd that he had nothing to worry about with as passionate of a kiss as she'd ever given him. He couldn't say no after that.

Everyone loved the house, using adjectives like "stunning," "gorgeous," "amazing" and Tea beamed. She more than beamed as she snuggled into Todd's arms. He was a little embarrassed at first but it went away as he heard the comments about how happy she looked. Nobody would have guessed she would smile again, much less smile with everything she had.

Things were finally falling into place for them. They weren't in a limboland, waiting for the other shoe to drop; they were in the moment, enjoying the love that was all around, through and between them. Todd caught her crying a time or two, she said it was because she never knew she could be so happy or love anyone so much. They completed one another.

When everyone left that night and after Tea cleaned up what little mess there was, she noticed a light on in Todd's study. He was concentrating on something on his computer screen; his keen hearing didn't even pick up on her footsteps as she walked up behind him. Before he could cover it up, she had spotted a "Sun" mock up that he was working with.

"Third Time's the Charm: Former Sun Publisher Re-Marries Second Wife for Third Time"

She stepped away, clearing her throat, pretending that she hadn't seen a thing. Just as she'd expected, he scrambled to cover his work. "Whatcha got there?" she asked.

"Nothing, just, you know, surfing."

"Surfing huh? You better not be in any of those chat rooms talking dirty to other women."

"I save my dirty talk for you." He gave her a quick peck, shut down his computer and headed for the door. "Ready to go up?"

"Yeah." He took her hand and led her to the bedroom.

As usual, she went in the bathroom to take a bath, but something was different. It was more than Todd wanting to get married again, which made her insides queasy, in a good way, but like something special had to happen that night. She ran her bath water, hotter than usual, filled it with jasmine scented bath oil, piled her hair on top of her head and sank into the foggy heat.

She leaned back, closed her eyes and let the scent envelop her. This was what she dreamed of for her life, a hot bath, relaxation, the man that she loved so near. Never had the luxury of a hot bath growing up. Such a simple act brought so much pleasure.

There was a time when being naked, for any reason filled her with fear. She couldn't remember when that all changed. Was it gradual or just as sudden as the rape? Now, she was nearly comfortable with it, comfortable with her entire body for that matter. She examined her arms, which once bared the scars of the rape, and there was not a trace of that night left. She lifted her legs out of the water, examining them for the same scars and there was nothing.

Her brain was a different story. It was scarred, though no one could see the wounds. They too had begun to lighten and heal, to the point where she could talk freely about what happened to her. Healed to the point where she could go to group sessions and discuss that awful encounter in the alley.

She took her time in the tub, thinking of Todd and the next logical step for them. She laughed at the word "logical" because nothing in their relationship was anywhere near logical. Something was going to change for them that night; it was just a question of what.

Todd had been healing right along with her during those torturous months. He had sat in on so many therapy sessions and accompanied her to "group" so many times; some of the words were bound to sink in. He started opening up to her, especially when she seemed to be closed off. Like one of those quid pro quo situations, he'd tell her one thing for each thing she confided in him. From that, he started talking to her more frequently and eventually, he told her the whole story about Peter Manning.

She no longer wondered why the rape happened to her. It was a simple answer, it happened so that she could really open herself up to true and complete love. And it happened so that Todd could to the same. There was always this wall that surrounded her that, even Todd, could not break through. The rape broke her down to a rawest, most vulnerable state where she had to re-build herself without all the pretense. This person that she'd become, this more honest person was someone she truly loved.

"Hey, Tea, you didn't fall down in there and drown?" Todd called from the other room.

With her eyes still closed, she smiled and said, "I'll be out in a few."

She took her time drying her body. Todd loved the smell of jasmine, though he never said it. He would snuggle closer to her in bed and take, what he thought were discreet deep breaths, inhaling her scent. She put on jasmine lotion and body spray, looked at herself in the mirror and saw true happiness reflected back at her.

She put on her favorite, deep purple silk nightgown with a matching robe. He'd never seen that before, though she'd had it wrapped in her closet for the duration of their marriage. She'd never worn it until that night. She looked at herself one more time in the mirror, with her hair still up from her bath, grinned and joined Todd in the other room.

He was watching Sportscenter, as he always did that time of night. At first, he didn't notice her but he got a whiff of the jasmine and looked up. "Wow," that was all he could say.

"The bathroom's all yours," she said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, uh, yeah, okay, thanks" he managed to stammer. He sat in bed a few more minutes before going to take a cold shower.

*****

Todd took a quick shower, knowing that something was going to happen that night too. He wasn't afraid, or nervous, he wasn't much of anything other than excited. The next step for them was foreign territory to them both. It was a sad state that he had never really made love to a woman, not even Blair. They had sex and he did love her, but not in the all-consuming way in which he loved Tea.

He dried himself off, still smelling jasmine all through the air. He looked around him in the bathroom, at her stuff lined up on the counter and he realized that this was what made him happy. His country home with the woman he loved right there next to him; it was what he never thought he'd have. The only thing that would make it complete was to have Starr staying with them and then they could work on having their own child.

That sounded funny to him, "their child." Starr was supposed to be it for him but now all he could think about was having another one with the woman he loved with everything. He would do all the things a husband was supposed to do, including being there for the birth. He couldn't believe that Tea was just in the next room, waiting for him to join her in bed.

Usually he'd slip on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts for bed, but he decided to forego the shirt and just wear the shorts. He didn't want to rush Tea into anything; besides, Carol said to take things one-step at a time. This was his one step for the night.

When he came out of the bathroom, Tea wasn't reading a book and the television wasn't on. The lights were off and the room; candlelight flickered against the wall. Tea casually leaned against the headboard, smiling at him. "Hey," was all she said with just a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"What's all this?"

She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes. "I love you so much, Todd, so much, you just don't know. I want this night to be special for us, you know?" She hesitated before saying, "I want this to be the night, Todd."

"You sure, Tea? I mean there's no rush or anything."

She opened up her arms to him and without pausing; he went to her and let her hold him. "I love you so much," he said into her ear. Then, his lips found hers and within seconds, the soft pecks turned into something more passionate as he gently slipped his tongue into her mouth.

"Mmm," she moaned. She ran her fingers along his chest and let her lips trace the line of his neck and around the front of his body to his chest.

He pulled her back up, kissing her on her lips and very tentatively, he kissed her earlobe. Realizing the slight tickle it gave her, he flicked out his tongue and gently took it into his mouth. "Love you, Tea," he whispered. "Just tell me if you want to stop." He touched the silk of her gown, that material had always excited him. He sucked on her neck as she tangled her fingers in his hair.

"Don't be scared, I'm not." She took his hand and moved it to her breast. Without her prompting, she knew he might not be comfortable enough to touch her there. As soon as his hand made contact, she felt that familiar tingle around the nipple and as he let his hands roam, she felt them getting hard.

She was the one that lifted her gown and threw it down next to the bed. For a moment, everything stopped and Todd just looked at every inch of her. She didn't shift under his scrutiny; in fact, his smile said that he was pleased.

"God you're beautiful."

"So are you."

He found himself becoming more comfortable with her, so comfortable that he didn't need prompting to start kissing her breasts. Didn't need prompting to take them into his mouth, one after the other. Loving every part of her body. When she arched her body toward him, he worked that much harder to please her. This was love.

Tea tried to maintain her composure but it was becoming more difficult as he filled every need her body had. Never had she been so certain that this was the right thing to do and never had she experienced so much love that her head was spinning. This was what it was all about; this was what people meant when they talked about true lovemaking. Carol said that she might have trouble with flashbacks and such, but the only thing that filled her mind was being in love with the man who was doing all these things to her body.

"You okay?" he asked, looking straight into her eyes.

She answered by pulling him to her and kissing him with all the emotion she felt inside. Using her feet, she was able to remove his shorts and feel all of him against her. She turned him on his back and started kissing him down his body. She took his nipples and teased them with little bites. He loved that. She licked them and played with them, watching as they matched the hardness of other parts of his body. She went lower, inserting her tongue into his belly button. She was going lower when he stopped and forced her to look at him.

"You don't have to do that," he said.

"I want to," she answered and moved too quickly for him to stop her. First, she licked his tip, becoming more turned on by the sounds of his moans. She stroked his shaft while gently sucking and licking him.

He felt himself coming close, so he grabbed her by her head and guided her toward his mouth. They kissed more, whispering how much they loved each other and how good it felt. He broke away from her kisses and made his way down her body to reciprocate. He kissed his prize then took her clitoris into his mouth. Used his tongue to penetrate her and moaned as some of her juices flowed onto him. God how he loved doing this to her. This was the first time he'd done that to any woman, never wanted to be that close to anyone.

Finally, neither could take it anymore and as he kissed his way up her body, all he could think about was being inside of her. One more time he asked if she was sure. She didn't say a word, only opened her legs and guided him inside of her. They both gasped at the initial contact; they wanted it so badly for so long. Neither of them moved at first, they just sank into that feeling.

When they finally started moving, there wasn't that awkward feeling of trying to get in rhythm; they were already in sync. She matched him with each thrust, encouraging him to go deeper. And he did, slowly at first because he was afraid of hurting her.

"I won't break," she whispered in his ear.

That was all the encouragement he needed. From then on, he didn't back, not physically and not emotionally. When he felt her quivers around him, he let himself come inside of her.

"God, Tea, I love you," he said.

"I love you," she said as he collapsed on top of her. She let him stay inside and let him lay on top of her. She didn't want to sever this connection, nor did she want to let go of this feeling of complete contentment.

They lay together for what seemed like hours, but really, it was only a few minutes. He rolled off of her, completely drenched in sweat, smiling and happy. There were no words exchanged but he reached for her and pulled her into his embrace.

With her still in his arms, he managed to open the nightstand and extract a small, black box. Her eyes lit up when she saw the box, immediately knowing what was in it. "Oh, Todd."

"Don't 'oh Todd' me until you see what's in it. You might not like it, but we can take it back."

She opened it, gasping at the 2 ½ carat marquis cut diamond with another ½ carat surrounding it. "Oh my god." She took the ring out and gave it to him.

"You don't like it?"

"Like it? I love it! What kind of ring is it?"

"Diamond."

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, that. Well, if you insist on it meaning something, I guess if I put it on your finger, it'll be an engagement ring. So, what do you say?"

"I say the third time's the charm." They both laughed and he slipped it onto her ring finger, kissing it for good measure.