"Finally, I'm starved."

Téa laughs, "Oh, what, the big strong man couldn't make breakfast himself?"

"That's chick work," he says teasingly, enjoying the fire that immediately lights up her eyes.

"Oh, just for that remark, you get dish duty Manning."

She gathers ingredients for a Spanish omelet, instinctively knowing where everything is in the spacious kitchen. Before she starts preparing it though, she hears Todd clear his throat. Turning toward him, she looks at him questioningly. He immediately runs his hand through his much shorter hair, and she can tell he's nervous about something. His eyes glance down at the envelope in his hand, and then back at her. He shoves it toward her, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Here."

Téa gives him a strange look, to which Todd rolls his eyes, realizing his 'here' wasn't going to cut it.

"Alright, look I know we said we'd wait to you know, do gifts and stuff til Shorty gets here, but I wanted to give this one to you now."

Téa moves towards him and takes the envelope. She rips it open carefully and extracts the contents, her eyes widening at the contents.

"Are you serious?"

"What, you think I'm joking?"

"No, I'm just surprised that's all, I mean you ran screaming from the place last time we were there."

"Yeah, well look at the date we're going. The very Merry Bayberry will be back to normal by then."

She smiles, stepping closer to him. "Good call. I love it, and I can't wait."

Todd immediately looks a little nervous. "Look Delgado, I'm not gonna promise anything alright? I mean...I know what I would like to happen and you would like to happen, and I'll try but ..."

"Todd," she cuts him off when she realizes what he's talking about, "us going away together doesn't have to be about sex, okay? It can just be about us hanging out."

He exhales, and looks at her, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah," he says, reaching out and urging her closer to him. He leans down and gently kisses her. "Merry Christmas Delgado."

Téa's eyes remain closed after the soft kiss, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her, feeling his lips against hers after all this time. They finally flutter open, to find Todd's beautiful hazel eyes staring into hers.

"Merry Christmas Todd," she says softly.

The rest of the day was spent in a whirlwind of flying wrapping paper. Téa couldn't quite keep from pinching herself as she watched Starr tear into her presents, or watch Todd and Starr playing. She grins as she remembers Todd trying like crazy to put together Starr's new dollhouse, muttering to himself the whole time. She glances over at his sleeping form. The things he would do for his precious Shorty.

She hadn't felt so whole in a long time, well, since she had left Todd. She had realized throughout the day that while her 'life' was wonderful, she and Todd still had their difficulties. She smiles at the thought that she wouldn't have it any other way.

As she goes to climb into bed next to Todd, she sees a figure out of the corner of her eye. She freezes, fear gripping her heart. Slowly, she turns to look at him.

"What are you doing here?" she whispers.

"You don't have to whisper, he can't hear you or me," the cabbie responds, motioning to Todd. "And I think you know why I'm here. It's time to go Téa."

She backs towards the bed. "No, look, just a few more days, please? I want to stay, please, let me stay with my family."

"I'm sorry, Téa, but you know that's not possible."

"So, what? Was this just some cruel joke? Show Téa what she can never have?"

"No, it was to show you what you could STILL have."

Téa angrily wipes the tears falling down her cheeks. "I can't, I blew it, when I left Todd."

"You made a choice, remember?"

"Oh, so this is just to remind how badly I screwed up? How wrong my choice was?"

"No. Remember when I told you that choices are funny? That there are pros and cons for both sides? I'm not saying you made the wrong choice, you probably did what you had to do in that moment. But tell me, have you regretted it since?"

"Yes," she answers quietly.

"Well just because you made that choice then doesn't mean you have to continue to live with it if you regret it."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you can still have this life, you just have to swallow your pride and have the courage to try again."

Téa glances back at Todd's beautiful sleeping face. "I don't even know where he is," she whispers.

The cabbie smiles. "Yes you do, in your heart, you know exactly where he is," he pauses, holding his hand out to her. "Come on, you' ve got a life to get back to."

Téa turns to him, begging one more time. "Please...please just let me stay, please...."

The cabbie shakes his head, holding his hand out to her. Téa begins to feel dizzy as the bedroom around her seems to fade, she can hear her frantic voice, begging in the distance...

Don't make me leave him again....

Suddenly, she sits up with a start. Disoriented, she looks around, taking in her surroundings. She looks down at herself, seeing her business suit. She notices tear stains on the legal briefs she had been working on. Wrapping her arms around herself, she closes her eyes tight, willing herself back into her dream world. When she reopens her eyes though, all she sees is her office surrounding her. Her eyes fall on the clock.

5:35 AM.

She stares at it for a moment, seemingly transfixed, for some reason, one phrase keeps being repeated in her mind...

In your heart...you know exactly where he is...

Without a second thought, Téa jumps up and grabs her keys.

Llanview, Christmas Morning
11:30 AM

Todd watches with a slightly amused grin as Starr attempts to make a snowman. He leans back on the bench, his eyes wandering to the enormous park Christmas tree. His stomach was still turning over Saint Bo Buchanan's insipid speech. What the hell did he have to be happy about? Okay, so maybe putting his ex-wife in jail was a bit fun, and yeah, he did get to spend Christmas with his kid, but generally his life completely sucked.

Automatically, his mind wandered to her. Wondering where she was spending her first Christmas after abandoning him. It was so hard, because as much as he tried to muster up thoughts of hating her, he just ...couldn't.

A pair of brown eyes watched him from a distance, her hands clenched into fists in the pockets of her dark wool coat. She smiles as she sees Starr rolling the base of a snowman, as she catches Todd's adoring look. Part of her wants to turn around and run, knowing full well the angry and cold response she'll receive. But then she remembers...her dream. And realizes that she would fight Todd tooth and nail if she had to, because she knew that dream was right...for both of them.

Slowly, she emerges from behind the trees. She takes a few steps towards him, his eyes still watching Starr's attempt at snowman building.

It doesn't take long for Todd to 'feel' her there. His eyes lift, widening at the realization that she's walking towards him. He stands up slowly, watching her every move. Starr notices his reactions, and follows her father's gaze.

"TEE!" she screams, standing and running towards her stepmother. Téa breaks eye contact from Todd, catching Starr in her arms.

"Feliz Navidad mi Estrella," she whispers to Starr.

Todd watches them, a lump in his throat. He had no idea how to handle this. He wanted to scream at her, lash out at her, hold her, tell her how much he loved her, all at the same time. Instead, his face remained passive as his eyes gave away his maelstrom of emotions.

Starr grabs Téa's hand and drags her the rest of the way towards Todd. "Daddy, look who's here!"

Todd nods, his eyes never leaving Téa's. He's sure the confusion and fear in her eyes is mirrored in his own.

"Hey Shorty, why don't you go finish that snowman okay?"

Starr nods, smiling, and heading back to her snowball, leaving Todd and Téa with silence between them.

Téa tries to judge his reaction, but realizes it's hopeless. There's so much going on in those beautiful eyes of his. She nervously clears her throat, and begins to speak.

"Look, I know that you probably have a few choice things you wanna say to me right now, and I can't blame you. And you're going to get your chance. I'm coming back to town Todd. I don't know what will happen, but I would at least like to work some things out between us."

Todd takes in her words, a little annoyed at himself for the relief he's feeling that she's coming back to town. He wants to scream at her right there, letting her have it for abandoning him, but something in him won't let him. He knows he will, in time, but right now, all he wants to do is look at her.

Todd's silence scares Téa more than any screaming fit he could ever throw. Her heart sinks, thinking maybe he doesn't want her back, but she decides to chalk his silence up to shock. He just needed time to deal with her being back.

"Well," she begins haltingly, "I know you probably have to head to Viki's, so...I'll see you around okay? Merry Christmas, Todd," she says softly. Tentatively, before she can really think about it, she reaches out her hand and strokes his cheek. His eyes widen at the feel of her touching his skin again. Before he can stop himself, he grabs her hand and pulls her close, wrapping his arms around her.

Téa sighs in relief, holding him tightly. She knows that the coming months will be difficult, and she knows Todd will let her have it for leaving him. But right now, she's content. She smiles, as she realizes that destiny brought her home to his arms, where she always belonged.

The End