September 2001…

It was Saturday. Viki was in the living room, reading a magazine. She was expecting Todd and Téa shortly with the kids, including Starr, and she was looking forward to spending some time with them. Todd and Téa were moving into their new house today and Blair and Del had gone to Vegas to get married.

The doorbell rang and Jessica ran down the stairs to get it. Viki stood up and waited at the hall entrance.

Jessica opened the door and Trevor and Starr rushed in, followed by Todd and Téa, each holding a twin. Trevor and Starr ran up to Viki and gave her a hug. Viki grinned.

"Hey Sis," said Todd sauntering in.

Viki looked up, "Hey Bro."

"Hi Auntie Viki," said T.D. and Starr sweetly.

"Hey kids. You know, Jessie just recently bought a puppy. He's outside on the patio," said Viki.

"Want to meet him?" asked Jessie clapping her hands and smiling.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Starr.

"Oooohhh!" exclaimed T.D., "Can we meet the puppy, Daddy?"

"Sure," said Todd.

"Just be careful, T.D.," said Téa nervously. It was only recently she had noticed he had stopped walking with his predominate limp.

Todd looked at her and smiled. Téa was holding Tyler. Jessie took the kids with her and Todd and Téa followed Viki into the den. They sat down on opposite couches.

"So, how's moving day coming along?" asked Viki, "Will you have to stay overnight?"

"Probably. The movers are packing up the old house now…" said Todd smiling at Taylor.

"Well, we've got plenty of room," said Viki, "So, what did you think of Fiona's sentence?"

Todd frowned, "I'm not happy."

"I'm not too thrilled about it either. What will happen in 30 days once she's released? It's not like she's going anywhere with community service and continued therapy," said Téa in a barely civil tone, "I'm sick of Fiona in my life and screwing with my family."

"Did you get that restraining order you were talking about?" asked Viki.

"Yes. That will help," said Téa.

Todd felt anxious and nervous as he listened to Téa's voice. It unnerved him to hear her sound so bitter and hurt.

"Good," grinned Viki.

"Blah! Blah! Blah!" yelled Tyler suddenly clapping his hands.

Téa grinned and smiled at him. Todd's eyes grew wide at his son's sudden sounds. Again, he looked at Téa and they grinned at each other.

Trevor, Starr, and Jessie came in and Trevor was holding the puppy. Starr was patting him. They walked up to Todd and Trevor showed him the puppy.

"See Daddy, his name is Buster…" grinned Trevor.

Buster was wagging his tail hard.

"Cool…ah…puppy…" muttered Todd. Seeing his son with the puppy evoked an old memory he thought had left him.

"Can we get a puppy Daddy? Huh? Huh?" begged Trevor.

Todd swallowed and stood up, "Ah…I…don't know. T.D.," he said hesitantly.

"Todd?" whispered Téa surprised by his reaction. Todd stood up and gave Taylor to Viki.

"Daddy? Buster's nice…" said T.D. looking hurt.

Todd said nothing and walked out. Téa grew concerned and gave Tyler to Jessie.

"Mommy, what's wrong with Daddy?" asked T.D.

"Is Daddy okay Tee?" asked Starr.

"I'm going to find out okay," she said following Todd into the kitchen.

She found Todd standing by the refrigerator, drinking out of a cartoon of milk. She stood at the counter, just watching him. He finished drinking and wiped his mouth.

"What happened in there? I've never seen you like that with Trevor and Starr…" she asked softly.

He put the milk back but didn't move, "I had a puppy once…"

"You did?" Téa kept her voice soft.

"Yeah. I was five. My father kicked it around a lot. And then one day he wasn't there. Mom had to take him to the vet. I never saw him again," said Todd putting his hands in his pockets and looking down at the ground.

Téa bit her lip, and swallowed holding back a tear. She walked up to him and paused. Finally reaching out to him, she took Todd's chin with her hand and titled his head up to meet her eyes.

"You're sad. Don't be. I understand. Look, I think Trevor just wants a pet you know," she started.

Todd nodded his head.

"You like birds, right?" she asked.

"Birds are okay. I miss Moose," he said.

"I do too. I think Trevor would like a bird," suggested Téa.

"You do?" he asked.

She leaned into him, nuzzling him, brushing her lips against his, "I do Manning," she whispered.

Hesitantly, he leaned into her, "I love you Delgado."

"I love you Manning. Are you okay with this?" she wrapped her arms around him a comforting manner.

He nodded his head.

"Good. Now, let's go spend sometime with our kids, huh? Let's enjoy this reprieve from Fiona," said Téa taking his hands.

He followed her out only wishing she hadn't brought up Fiona's name.

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Téa's Law office…

Nick hung up the phone. He stood in back of Téa's office surveying the room. It was a bit untidy. Law books were everywhere. Her "in-box" was full, her computer was dusty, but now was the perfect time to find that egg. He began to further tear up her office looking for it.

When the egg was made, Czar Nicholas II gave it to his sister, Olga, as a gift whose family managed to survive the massacre of the Russian nobility. The egg passed down through the family as an heirloom and in later years it began to take on rather mystical properties as it came to represent the "Imperial" family. Whoever owned the egg was to be considered the Russian heir to the throne should the monarchy be restored and with Russia so unstable now and constant talk of possibility bringing back the monarchy, the egg was more important than ever. And through his brother's carelessness, the egg was misplaced. Now he had managed to track it down. However, the problem was a lot of people were looking to claim this egg…not just his family, who were the rightful owners…and so, in order to keep Téa and her family safe, he would make a fake of the egg and take the real one, returning it to his older brother, Dimitri. He was hoping to accomplish this in a fairly quickly manner because another branch of the family were after the egg and they would do anything…to acquire it. And personally, it didn't matter to him if they acquired the fake that he was going to give Téa. As long as acquiring that fake kept her and her family out of danger, that's all that mattered.

Finally, he found the egg, carelessly placed behind a law book in an unlocked drawer of her desk. He took the egg and brought it to his own office. Using a state of the art digital camera, he took photographs of the egg from every angle. Then, using a metric tape measure, he measured the dimensions of the egg. Finally, he weighed the egg. After all this, he returned the egg to the place he found it, making arrangements with a friend who was a jeweler to have a copy made.

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That evening,
Llanfair…

The kids were in bed but Todd couldn't sleep. He was in the den, standing next to the patio's doors, looking out onto Llanfair's grounds. He held a half-drunken glass of scotch in his hand. He sighed as he watched the dark, lost in his thoughts – in his concern for his family – for Téa. He was surprised over his reaction to Trevor's request for a puppy. He hadn't felt like that in quite a while. He wanted everything to be perfect for them – his precious loved ones and slowly he felt as if his world – his sanctuary away from the madness was crumbling piece by piece.

"Todd?" came a voice.

He turned around, "Viki," he simply said sipping his drink.

"What are you thinking? More doom and gloom?" she asked as she walked further into the den.

"I have a crazy woman that "wants" me Viki. She's out to get me. My family. Ruin me. Destroy me. And it's like she's unstoppable. She just keeps coming and coming. 30 days isn't enough for the likes of her…" said Todd slowly raising his voice to reflect his frustration.

"Fiona can't haunt you unless you let her. Why are you letting her?" asked Viki with concern.

Todd scowled at Viki and said nothing.

"Todd, I want to ask you something. Something serious. Why are you letting Fiona haunt you? Did you return her overtures? Her advances? Do you kiss her back? Have you slept with her Todd?" Viki's tone was serious.

Todd swallowed at the horror of the question.

Viki was confident she knew the answer but she was convinced Todd needed to hear it – outloud – for himself.

"Damn you Viki!" yelled Todd throwing his glass across the den. It shattered on the floor.

"Did I return Fiona's advances? I found…Fiona disgusting as she threw herself on me. You know what that reminded me? The disgust I would feel…all those years ago at the hands of my bastard father – using me – wanting me – only for sex. Fiona taunted me Viki – my sexuality like he did. But I'm a man! I am! I do feel things and despite that disgust Fiona reached that part of me – that physical part of me that became aroused. But you know what?" said Todd. He paused to collect his breath to calm himself a bit. To cool the anger and frustration in his voice.

"What, Todd?" shot back Viki playing off the release of his pent up frustration.

"When…when I was in Berlin – alone – I thought about it. Having sex. Of f*cking a woman. I thought Téa was dead. What did it matter, right? But I remembered her… Téa – her taste, still on my lips. I remembered being intimate with her and just how much more it was than just sex – than just a f*ck. Being with Téa was the ultimate for me. I had never been with a woman before Téa like that – complete – body and soul. And if I couldn't have my wife, I didn't want a cheap substitute. I didn't want to have sex…missing that one part that made it worthwhile for me. So I didn't have it in Germany. I couldn't. Don't you get it, Viki? Having sex with any other woman – other than my wife – isn't pleasurable. Not for me," said Todd struggling with his feelings so he could have Viki makes sense of them.

"That doesn't mean your body is incapable of having sex, Todd. Of becoming aroused and you have admitted Fiona aroused you. Did you sleep with Fiona?" asked Viki firmly and more insistently.

"No. I did not sleep with Fiona. And what I just told you now was the reason why I couldn't. Viki – Argh! You don't get it! The only woman I want to share…myself with – my body completely with is Téa. She is the only woman I know who made me feel it was more than just sex. Skin – on skin – it was us – connecting on every level…" said Todd suddenly feeling exhausted from such an expressive display of his feelings.

Viki nodded her head. She understood.

Todd let out a deep breath and looked Viki in the eyes.

"I hurt when Téa hurts. I bleed when Téa bleeds. Fiona has hurt my wife – the woman who make me complete and I can't make it stop. And I want too – so desperately…" continued Todd, "I want my wife's heart to stop aching Viki."

Viki nodded her head. There was a minute of silence between them.

Téa, still dressed in her clothes from earlier on the day, walked in. She looked a little guilty but very relieved.

Todd saw her and got nervous. Scared – feeling a knot in the pit of his stomach.

"I'll leave you two alone," said Viki politely. She put her hands behind her back and left.

Téa walked up to Todd, running her hand through her hair. Todd took a step back and realized his back was literally to the wall.

"How much did you hear?" asked Todd looking at her. Noticing how tired she was.

"I heard it all Todd, you know…" she started.

"What?" he said defensively.

"It was like that for me when you were gone and it was just me and Trevor. Vincent was around and while the flesh was willing, the heart was not. If I couldn't have you – if I couldn't share with you what we had, I didn't want it. I didn't want to have sex, Todd. All I wanted…was you. You – sharing yourself so opening, honestly, and completely. You've spoiled me Manning. You really have," she said softly walking into his personal space, placing her hands on the fabric of his shirt that covered his chest.

He placed his hands on her arms and drew her into his lips, kissing her passionately.

"Let's go to bed," he said.

TO BE CONTINUED