The fifth (and possibly last) companion piece to my other holiday fics: Masquerade; Home; Family and Valentine. Although some references have been made to these stories, it should stand on its own, meaning you don't have to read them follow this one. It might help, though (~smile).

I am going to rate this FIC Alternative Universe, as you will notice some storylines from OLTL have not transferred into the story. Pairings (some you may like and others you don't) are of my doing, call it a wish list (~smile).

Thanks to everyone who has read my earlier stories. Your feedback and kind words have touched me beyond words. And special thanks to Mary for doing the holiday pages. Your talent and hard work is greatly appreciated!

Disclaimers: The characters aren't mine, just borrowing them, don't sue. The story, however, is mine. Feedback is greatly encouraged…flames will be used to light the fireplace (smile). Enjoy.

Whlwtcher

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It's been a while since I talked to you last, guess I've been really busy. Well, you know I'm not much of a talker anyway but I really have been busy, with life, my life. Actually, I was busy before you came in but with Tea sleep now, I guess I can tell you about it. It seems like I only talk to you when she's asleep and when its night but I guess that's just how it goes. Hope you're comfy.

When you look back on things it's funny how once I never thought I could have a life and now, I have one, a pretty good one too. I'm not bragging, just giving props to what I have. I've been thinking a lot about what I have, I guess. It started a few weeks ago when Starr told me about the party Asa was throwing and how she wanted all of us to go. That got me to thinking, about a party Asa threw three years ago and that got me thinking on my life. I think about it because sometimes, as I watch her sleep next to me, I wondered what would have happened if I hadn't had that paper with the article on the party delivered to the house I was hiding out at. What would have happened if I had decided not to go to the party, so I could get one last look at her before I resigned myself to a life without her. I think about that a lot. I was actually thinking about it before you came in. But I have to start at the beginning. And like back then, it started with Asa's party, the one Starr wanted to go to.

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I look like a total idiot, plain and simple. No ifs, ands; or buts about it. I don't know how I got myself into this-well, yeah, I know, my kid, Starr. She wanted to go to Asa's annual Halloween party as Dorothy, you know, that chick from the "Wizard of Oz". It's her favorite movie, hers and Delgado's. Everytime Starr comes to visit, Starr and Tea would curl up on the couch, with little Michael between them and watch that stupid movie. I guess the movie is ok, I mean, I watched a couple of times and I dug the Witch and the Flying monkeys but mainly it's a Starr and Tea thing. Chick bonding.

So, anyway, like I said, Starr wanted to go as Dorothy and like a true Manning, she got what she wanted. When we couldn't find red ruby slippers in her size, we had them made. The cousin of the person who made the dress for the movie designed the dress. I wanted the guy himself (nothing is too good for my Shorty) but I guess the guy is dead so that threw a monkey wrench into my plan so we got the cousin. I had to admit she did look cute. It was authentic down to the wicker basket with one of Michael's stuffed dogs inside to play Toto. I didn't care much for the smudge of lipstick Tea put on her lips but she did look pretty, her hair was even styled like that Dorothy chick. So when Starr told me that in order for her to really win, she had to have a few more things to make it perfect. Of course, I was totally clueless…I mean, what could possibly make this more perfect?

Looking at myself in the mirror, silver make-up on my face, a round, tin-like suit tacked to my frame, an upside funnel atop my head, why the hell did I even ask? When will I ever learn, I thought, sighing heavily to myself. The women in my life have me whipped; I had to admit that to myself. I love them and they do this to me, I look like a freaking idiot.

I sighed again. Yeah, unfortunately I was still breathing. I felt Tea's arms try to wrap around my tin-clad waist. "It could have been worse," she smiled at my reflection. "You could have been the lion."

I look over to the bed where my son, Michael was sitting, his face practically swallowed in fur. "He looks like a fur ball" I tell her, watching as he fidgets with his tail. "He does not," Tea laughs as she walks over to the bed to pick him up, rewarded with a large smile peaking out behind the furry costume. "I think he looks adorable, don't you mijito?" Michael giggles, plucking straw from underneath Tea's hat. Yeah, you guess it, she was the scarecrow and Michael was the Cowardly Lion.

"I'll give you a million dollars if you don't make me go out in public like this." I begged. Yeah, I've been reduced to begging. Three years of marriage and family life and I'm begging like a puppy. The inhumanity of it all.

"I don't want your money Todd," she started, setting Michael down, watching as he toddled a few steps before stepping on his tail and plopping his pampered bottom on the floor with a laugh. "Besides, you promised. It's for Starr. Finish getting dressed while I fix Michael's tail."

I sigh again, louder this time. I wanna get indignant; I wanna make a fuss. But I can't and I don't. 'It's for Starr' sticks in my head. I think of how Shorty looked up at me, her hazel eyes sparkling like flecks of gold and I realized that she could have asked me to walk buck naked up a hill in two feet of snow, barefoot to the store and all I would have said was 'bring you back anything?' Yeah, I was whipped. Can't be helped. Starr never asked anything of me, never in her young life. But when she does ask, yeah, I have to admit, I'd move heaven and earth to make it happen. My shrink says I am trying to make up for all those years I wasn't with her, for the times I had to cut out on her. Could be. More than likely it is true. But she's my kid. And no matter what she wanted, if I could give her, I'd do it.

"Oh, you forgot this. Starr made it." Walking towards me, I see she is holding construction paper with a red heart painted on it. Inside the heart were the names of my family, "Starr, Tee and Michael".

Taking a safety pin, Tea pins it to my chest, smiling up at me. "You're a good man, Todd Manning." She whispered, kissing my lips, gently touching my face, trying not to smudge my makeup. Looking down at my "heart" as it covered my whole chest; the real one underneath ached a little, ached with a good feeling as I thought of how my kid saw me. "I'm a sucker." I mumbled, trying to cover. But my Delgado knew, can't fool her. She just kissed me again and urged me to finish dressing while she took care of Michael.

The party was at the Palace and when I walked into the ballroom and getting a load of the costumes in there, I didn't feel so bad. Everyone in town was there and you know it's amazing how grown people can make complete asses of themselves in the name of Halloween.

Big daddy Asa swaggered amongst the crowd, dressed in his cowboy finest. Renee was draped on his arm, dressed as a madam. What do they say about choosing a costume that's like your personality?

Scanning the room, I heard Tea say, "Oh, look!" Why, why did I?? Following her gaze, I saw Kelly, decked out in a long gown, purple in color, sparkling under the lights of the room. Next to her were Joey and Kevin, each donning matching purple jackets, polyester pants and (good God!) platform shoes. "Gladys Knight and the Pips" Tea whispered to which I let out a loud snort. "At least they left out the Afros. I swear Delgado, if they start singing, we are outta here!" "Deal!" Tea laughed as she set Michael down, watching as Starr protectively took his hand and the two trotted off into the crush.

"Ok, I'm blind. What the hell is that?" I ask Tea, turning my head from the awful sight. I can hear her giggling next to me, playfully punching my arm. "Be nice, it's Dorian's costume. She's Maid Marion." "A bit long in the tooth for Maid Marion isn't she?" I asked. What I wouldn't give for a brain enema right now as I tried to shake the image of Dorian and her wares spilling out of the maid's costume. But my thoughts quickly went from Dorian's wares to-oh, could I BE so fortunate?? "Delgado," I started, feeling a smile start to creep across my face. "If she's Maid Marion then that means….

"Todd.." Tea is looking at me with that look…that look she likes to give when she knows I am going to do something evil. I can't help but smile. I smile because if my thought is correct then soon, I will be rewarded with a treat. Something to make coming to this stupid shindig dressed like a dork worth while.

"Counselor."

And here it is. Maid Marion's Robin Hood. There before us stood John Sykes, dressed as Robin Hood to his wife, Dorian's Maid Marion. Tea had a grip on my elbow, squeezing to silently tell me to behave. But I can't help but laugh. I tried, really I did, ok, no bullshit here, you and I know I really didn't try. I saw the man in green tights and nearly split my side laughing. If I thought that marrying Dorian was a punishment for the do-gooder, I was sadly mistaken. Wearing green tights, a tunic and a hat with a freaking feather in it was more hell than a person should ever endure.

I can tell he's pissed. He looks pissed and that just makes me laugh more. "I saw your kids," John starts to Tea, ignoring me. "The Wizard of Oz, my favorite movie. I always did have a soft spot in my heart for the scare-crow". He kisses my wife's hand and I stop laughing. I can hear myself growl. They both eye me, Tea with her 'Please behave' look and Sykes with that disgusting 'bulls eye, direct hit' smirk.

"The Tin-Man, how befitting. But I think you got it wrong, Manning. Much like yourself, the Tin-Man had no heart."

"Tough words coming from a man in tights" I chuckle, watching, as his face grew redder. Damn, he is too easy, much, much too easy. I can feel Tea's hand tightening on my elbow.

"Tea. It's been a pleasure, as always. Manning." He finished, giving me a leer before walking away.

"And to think he's running for Mayor." I mumble, watching him join his wife, that damn feather in his hat bobbing up and down as he walked.

"I gotta get a photographer out here. Can you imagine the Sun's headline with a picture of that?" My laughter was met with a disapproving look from my wife. "What? Oh come on, Delgado, you can't tell me that isn't hilarious? I mean, the man is in tights for Christ sake!"

I could tell she wanted to laugh, I know she did. I could see that twinkle in her eyes, that twinkle that did things to me.

"You shouldn't make fun of him Todd," Tea started, turning to me, fixing my pinned-on heart. "He's wearing the costume to make Dorian happy. He obviously loves her."

"He'd have to," I laughed, looking over at the pair. "Either that or he's been hitting the crack pipe too hard."

"You mean you wouldn't wear tights for me?" Tea smile, moving closer to me, her perfume tickling my nose. I inhaled sharply, wanting to take in every scent of her.

"I'd walk through hell for you Delgado, you know that," I told her, quietly, looking into her deep brown eyes. "I draw the line at women's underthings." Tea did laugh then, kissing my lips before pulling away, scanning the room for the kids.

Ok, yeah, well, between you and me, I am being a bit rough on the couple. I mean, yea, I did laugh, laugh until I though I'd pee my pants when Blair told me that Dorian was getting married to the weirdo. I mean, it had to be a ploy, right? He had to be after her names and stature in town and she had to be after the prize of being the Mayor's wife.

But as I look at them now, standing over there talking to Wild Wild West Sheriff costume clad Bo Buchanan, holding hands, fingers interlocked, I had to admit that they did seem to care about each other. As disgusting as it is, the old Witch and the do-gooder made each other happy. Well, I guess that if someone like me could find a woman like Tea and have her love me, then I guess its possible for Sykes and Dorian to find happiness with each other. Even still I shuddered at the thought.

Before Tea could respond to my vow of never wearing woman's undergarments, Blair and Dr. Lange came over. "I hope I'm not interrupting." Blair smiled, flicking back her ponytail. She was Genie as in 'I Dream Of' to Lange's Major Nelson. Suddenly, dressed in silver paint and with a drawing of a heart pinned to my chest, I didn't feel like much of an idiot after all. For me not wanting to come to this thing, I certainly was getting my jollys tonight.

"No, Blair, we were just discussing Dorian and Sykes getting together." Tea smiled, to which I snorted, shaking my head in total confusion.

"It's a mind blower, huh?" Blair laughed, threading her arm through Tim's arm. "Who would have thought? Of course, I am sure everyone in town said the same thing about us, huh?"

We knew it was true. I'm sure most of the people here had bets that our respective marriages wouldn't last as long as it took for the ink to dry on the license but here we were. All happily married. A trip, isn't it?

"So, what time should we pick up Michael?" Tim smiled which disappeared when Blair tugged on his arm and he noticed we had this what the heck are you talking about look on our faces.

"I hadn't asked them yet" Blair whispered.

"What?" Tea asked, looking first to the Tim and then to Blair. I could see Blair's back going straight, tossing back her ponytail as she looked at Tea. Total defense mechanism, totally Blair.

"It's nothing, really. After the party we're having a little thing at the house, a party for Starr and Tim's nieces and nephew."

"Starr mentioned that she wanted Michael to come," Tim interjected.

"But I told her I thought you'd think he was too young to come over by himself." Blair finished, watching Tea's eyes. "Of course, you both could bring him and let him play with the kids, for a little while." The statement, I noticed, was said more like a question, that question mark hanging there in the air.

Ok, gotta tell you, its totally weird watching my first wife and my second wife around each other. Its like ever since we had little Michael, they had this, this, thing, this truce amongst them. They smile and talk to one another, act all polite. They say it's for the kids, to show them that we can get along and be one big happy family. In concept, it's a cool idea, I guess. In some families it might even actually work but with us? It's really unnerving, you know? I mean, I married two of the most passionate women in the world, headstrong and bull-headed and now watching them try to co-mingle with each other is mind-blowing. I can tell that Blair is expecting Tea to say no. I can tell. She has this look in her eyes…the look where she wants you to think that she doesn't care but she really does. That's one of the things we had in common, you know? Trying to blow off things we really did care about. And it really did seem to be important to Blair. Really important, which is why I stayed the hell out of it. Yeah, it's a wimp-ass thing to do but hey, I know both of them. It's a no-win situation. If I jump in and say no to Blair then I don't trust her and don't want us to be civil. If I jump in and say yes, then-if I live from the merciless beating Tea will inflict on me-I am handing off our child to a woman whom at one time bitterly hated Tea. Nope. Sorry, wasn't my thing. Yeah, I'd do the wimp-ass thing and just stay out of it.

It didn't take Tea long before she responded. She smiled, genuinely at Blair and said, "I think Michael would like that. He adores Starr".

And with that, the tension that threatened to suffocate us all died. Blair smiled back, mentioned that he will have fun and proceeded to tell us all about the night's activities: the movies, the pizzas and junk food.

"We'll, I'd better tell Starr." The women looked at each other, smiled a sort of smile in which Blair's said thank you and Tea's accepted and they made off, to the other side of the room to find Starr and Michael.

"Are you pissed at me?" I asked her when we were alone; watching as she watched Michael and Starr jump up and down after Blair told them Michael could go. Tea shook her head, her eyes finding mine.

"We're adults, Todd. We've all grown up since then and the kids shouldn't suffer because we were stupid. He'll be fine." She told me, her fingers playing with mine.

"Look, Delgado, if your not sure…"

"Are you?" She asked me, her eyes looking up into mine. "I mean, we've never really had all of us in the same place for a long time. Sure we see her when she comes to drop off Starr and to pick her up, but spending time at her house? I mean, did I do the right thing?"

"Yeah, you did. I mean, look, Tea, you and Blair, you guys have gotten along for a long time now. She's married and comfortable and so are you. Yeah we had problems but she wouldn't take it out on our kid. I think Michael will have fun. But I don't think Blair is the problem, is it?"

Tea smiled, holding onto my hand tighter, lacing her fingers with mine. I know she's smiling cause over the few years we have been married, I had gotten good at this couples thing, of knowing how to read when things were really bugging her, when what she was talking about wasn't the real deal. It took me a while and between me, you and whoever might be upstairs, it frustrated the hell out of me. See, for me, if I wanted to talk, I would and since I hardly do, that means I don't feel like talking, plain and simple. But with Delgado, it's different. You gotta read between the lines, analyze stuff. It's totally exhausting but I guess she can't help it. I'm thinking it's a chick thing. Anyway, she was uptight about something else. "What gives, Delgado?"

Tea sighed, looking over at our son, smiling at him in his costume, trying to keep from tripping over his tail. "He's never been away from us, Todd."

"Yeah he has," I told her, kissing the side of her head. "When we went away for Valentine's day and how about that time he went over to Carlotta's, huh?"

Tea nodded, "But that's family."

"And you and and Blair are the ones on this one big happy family kick" I reminded her, stroking her hair. "Look, if you don't want to, don't. But if we are going to do this family thing, we gotta do it right, Delgado." Again, she nodded. I take her hands in mine, looking at her slim fingers curl around mine.

"It'll be ok, Tea. Michael will be fine."

Smiling, Tea nodded. "I know. We all will be." And with that, she kissed me, taking my top lip between hers, letting her tongue flick at my lips. It was the sweetest kiss I think I've ever had. "Have I told you I loved you today?" she asked, softly, letting her sweet breath float across my lips. My eyes flicker to stay open. I can feel my skin tingle at the sensation. I can't talk. Even if I could, I don't think I could form a single sentence. She leaves me speechless, always have. I nod my reply, hoping to feel her lips against mine again. I don't have to wait long. Leaning up, she kisses me again, firmer this time before letting her lips slide from mine. "I love you, Todd Manning." She whispers against my lips, before kissing my cheek, touching my face with the hand that was still laced with my fingers. I could only nod my head, trying to form a thought; one that didn't involved her legs wrapped around me as I slide deeply inside of her.

"I want to spend some time with Michael before he goes," I breathed, resting my forehead on hers. She nods, looking up into my eyes with a smile. "And then later," she tells me in a whisper, "after the party, I've got a special treat for you." I smile again, remembering just how special her treats are.

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Yeah, coming full circle, I'm told that's how life is. What comes around, goes around, eventually we all end up where we started. For me, that always scared me, considering where my start was. Peter Manning and his house of horrors. But I got a new start, one that isn't as horrific or scary. I'd like to say my start started about three years ago, on Halloween night at Big daddy Asa's party. And even though I wasn't invited, I knew I had to go. Not for the party but for one woman, my woman. She'd be there, I knew she would be. And I promised myself that night that I would only take one dance from her, nothing more, I had no right. I only wanted to just hold her in my arms one last time before I slipped away into the night back where I came from and try to forget I ever loved her.

But as you can tell from the resulting stories that came after that night, I didn't stay away and for that I am glad. That night was my start, the start of my new life with my wife Tea and my son, Michael. That night, on Halloween, I was born again. Not born anew, virginal or saintly born again, I couldn't even begin to imagine me like that. No, I guess you could say that I woke up, from a long, lonely sleep and lucky for me, I had my family there waiting for me.

So, here's the ending of my last tale. Coming full circle, coming back to where I started. And even though I think about the depressing thought of what would have been if I hadn't come back, it kind of helps me, you know? Makes me appreciate what I got cause I never, in a million years thought I could have it or should even have it. After all this time, I still wake up at night to see if Tea and my son are still there. As I watch them sleep, I wonder what it would feel like to wake up one day and realize that it was all a dream. You've never felt loneliness until you do that, truly. But I highly recommend it, no, seriously. When you get to a point where you think your crap don't stink or that you don't need anybody or anything, wake up one day thinking you're the only person in the world and there is no one that would ever again touch you, truly, deeply touch you. It humbles you, makes you think. Makes you realize how good you've got it.

This full circle thing as impossible as it is to imagine; I guess things do work out, even for me. I guess that's why people like Halloween so much. Not because of the candy, the parties or the silliness. I think people like it because for one night, a person can be anything they wanted. And three years ago tonight, I wanted to be the man Tea Delgado Manning wanted to spend the rest of her life with, and I still am.

The End

Thank you kindly for reading.