Father and son, finally together....as they belonged.

*****

Todd spent the rest of the day with his son, playing and talking. It had been hours, but it seemed to fly by to Todd. Téa had gone out for a while to run some errands, wanting to give them some time alone. The three of them had eaten dinner, and when Jay's bedtime had come, he excitedly asked for "Daddy" to tuck him in.

When he returned downstairs, he found Téa sitting on the sofa holding a large photo album.

"What's that?"

"This is the history of your son's life. I saved everything...you know..hoping you'd get to see it someday."

"Yeah?"

Téa nods, motioning for him to sit down next to her. She opens the album, showing him the first page, which has pictures of a very pregnant Téa. He grins at her, noticing she's blushing.

"Viki made me pose for those, she said you'd wanna see them. I said you could do without seeing your wife as a beach ball, but she insisted."

"You were beautiful," he says quietly. She looks at him and smiles.

Todd reaches over and turns the page, and his eyes immediately mist up when he sees a picture of Téa in the hospital holding their newborn son. He runs his fingers slowly over the picture.

"You look sorta sad," he observes.

Téa grins. "Only you would have picked up on that."

"Were you?"

"Not sad. I don't know. In a way, Jay's birth was sort of...bittersweet. I mean, I was happy to have him of course. It's just that after I found out I was pregnant, I promised myself I would find you before he was born. So, yeah, I guess in that respect I was a little disappointed."

"I didn't wanna be found. I thought, you know, it was better just to cut myself off. I thought it'd be quicker. And we didn't leave things so great, and there was no way I could have handled hearing about you moving on. Man, I wish I hadn't now."

"Stop. You did what you had to do to get better."

"Yeah, but I missed all that time with Starr, and you. And I missed him being born. I got two kids and still haven't seen one born."

Téa turns towards him, covering his hand with hers. "You'll be there for the next one," she says softly.

Todd meets her eyes, searching them as he always had. "You want there to be a next one?"

Téa responds by giving him one of her brilliant smiles. In the back of his mind, Todd felt this was all too easy, his coming home. But another voice persisted.

Maybe it's your turn for easy.

He couldn't argue with that. His life had been a living Hell. And he didn't expect that to stop. But maybe he was catching a break.

"So, you wanna see the rest of this or not?" Téa grins.

*****

For the next couple hours, they look at pictures and talk. They make plans for Todd to talk to Blair the next day to arrange to spend time with Starr. Todd gets a few laughs and a few surprises as Téa brings him up to speed on the residents of Llanview.

"I'm glad you like the house"

Téa smiles. "I love it. I finally found that the key led to this a few months after you left. Moved right in. I don't know why, even though we never lived her together, I just felt like you were here."

"So, do I get a tour?"

"Todd, you bought it!"

"Yeah, but I've never seen it all done up, Delgado. Come on," he stands up, motioning for her to follow.

She rolls her eyes and gives him a quick tour of the downstairs. They head upstairs and peek into Jay's dark room.

"You saw this when you tucked him in," she whispers. Moving back into the hallway, she points to the next room. "That's Starr's room. She picked everything out herself."

Todd walks in and turns on the light.

"Pink," he mutters. Téa laughs. He shuts off the light and joins her in the hallway. Téa suddenly stops laughing and glances at him awkwardly. She walks a little further down the hall and pushes open a door. He follows and leans against the arch opposite her.

"Um..and this is our room."

Todd raises an eyebrow. "Our room?"

She raises her eyes to meet his. "Yeah, if you want."

Todd glances into the darkened room, then back at her. He takes a step towards her and reaches for her, pulling her into their first kiss in almost three years. Téa immediately responds, sliding her arms around his neck. He gently pushes her lips open with his tongue, exploring the warmth of her mouth. Téa turns slightly, pulling him into the bedroom with her.

"Close the door," she whispers.

"Why?"

Téa grins. "He can walk."

Todd grins back, and nods. He kicks the door closed with his foot, and immediately returns to kissing her. He moves her towards the bed, his hands lifting up her sweater. Téa begins to feverishly work on the buttons of his shirt. Suddenly, the wait of three long years overtakes them both and the passion consumes them. Téa practically rips Todd's button down off him, throwing it on the floor. They break their kiss momentarily as Todd lifts Téa's sweater over her head.

Feeling the bed against the back of her legs, Téa sits down, quickly unbuttoning her jeans. Todd helps her, grabbing them at her waist and pulling them down, leaving her only in her bra and panties. She scoots back on the bed, laying back on the pillow. Todd just looks at her for a moment, not believing he is really here wiht her. He kicks off his shoes and socks, and crawls up the bed next to her. She grabs the bottom of his t-shirt and lifts it over his head. She immediately plants small kisses all over his chest. Todd leans back into the pillows, tangling his fingers into her long brown hair. She lowers her mouth onto his nipple, suckling gently, reaching her hands down to undo his jeans. Todd moves his hands down her back, unhooking her bra. He eases the straps down her shoulders, gently pushing her to sit up so he could get it the rest of the way off. As soon as he flings it across the room, his hands immediately find her breasts, massaging them slowly. Téa closes her eyes at the warm contact of his hands. She leans down and kisses him, her tongue touching his. He rolls over, pushing her back into the pillows. Pulling away from her for a second, he removes his jeans the rest of the way. He throws them on the floor, turning back to her. He leans down, planting soft kisses on her chin and jaw, working his way down her neck to her breasts. Téa arches her back as he reaches her nipple, gently lapping at it with his tongue. She feels his hand start down towards her panties, and immediately reaches down to stop him.

"No," she says.

He lifts his head up, a slightly worried look on his face. "Why not?"

She smiles up at him. "Because it's been three years Todd. You so much as touch me there, it'll be all over."

He grins back. "Gotcha."

He gets up on his knees and pulls down her panties, tossing them on the floor. Laying back down, he pushes down his own boxers, again tossing them off the bed. He rolls on top of her, nestling himself between her legs. He brushes her lips tenderly with his, and pushes himself into her. They both gasp at the wonderful feeling of being physically connected again after three long years. Téa's eyes close as Todd kisses her chin softly.

"Open your eyes," he whispers raggedly. She does, finding herself staring right into his. It was an amazing feeling for both of them, staring into each others eyes as they made love. Todd begins to pump into her faster, and as they expected, neither of them last long. Their eyes lock as fierce orgasms overtake them both.

Todd collapses breathlessly on top of her, nuzzling his face into her neck. She wraps her arms around him, holding him close.

"We're never goin' on a three year break again," she hears his muffled voice say. She giggles, closing her eyes. It had been a long day. A long, wonderful day. Exhausted, they both drift off to sleep, wrapped up in each other.

*****

Téa rolls over and feels emptiness. Immediately she sits up and looks at the clock.

3:30 AM.

"Todd?"

No answer.

She looks at the floor and sees his button down where she had thrown it earlier. She smiles and gets out of bed, throwing it on. She walks towards Jay's room, knowing that's where Todd is. She stops in the doorway, overcome by the sight in front of her. Todd is sitting on the floor next to the little bed, wearing his t-shirt and pants from before. He had put the rail usually on the bed to keep Jay from falling out down, and was tenderly touching Jay's thick brown hair. Sensing her presence, he turns his head toward the door.

"Kid's a good sleeper," he says quietly.

Téa grins, walking in and sitting on the floor next to him. "Yeah he is. You have no idea how many times I've done the exact same thing you're doing right now."

"Yeah I do."

They fall into silence for a moment, watching their son sleep. Then, Todd begins to speak, his eyes never leaving his son's face.

"You know Téa, the last three years of my life were absolute Hell. A torture I wouldn't even wish on a Buchanan," he pauses, grinning, "I couldn't wait to get it over with. I mean it really sucked. But if I had to go through all that to get me to you, to him, to Shorty...to us, then it was worth it," he finishes quietly.

Téa wipes away a tear and moves closer to him, softly kissing him on the cheek.

"I love you," she whispers. He turns his head and gently kisses her lips.

"I love you too."

He carefully wraps his arms around her and pulls her onto his lap. There, in the quiet darkness of the night, they watch their son sleep. Knowing they could never get back the time they lost, but also knowing because of that time apart, they would have the rest of their lives together.