Todd watches her reactions closely. She looks stunned, like she was seeing a ghost. But not angry...so far. The calm grin on his face masks the anxiety raging through him. He lets his eyes wander over her...her long brown hair brushed out on her shoulders, her brown eyes shiny with tears.

After a moment, Todd straightens up from the door jam and casually strolls past Téa. Still in shock, Téa takes her hand from the door and turns around, leaving the door wide open. He turns to face her again, the grin on his face giving way slightly to an uncertainty Téa remembered well.

She slowly steps towards him, her eyes never leaving his face, her mouth still slightly agape in shock. She reaches her hand out, her fingers gently brushing his arm. She moves closer, this time pressing her fingers harder against his skin.

"Todd?" she whispers.
His eyes fill with tears at the sound of her whisper, the look on her face.
"Yeah, Delgado...it's me."

Those simple words cause the tears Téa has been holding back to overflow. Her first instinct is to run into his arms, but she is so paralyzed at the sight of him after all this time, she's transfixed to her spot. Todd reaches up and brushes away the tears on her cheek with his fingers. His gentle touch only causes more tears to fall, as she closes her eyes at the sensation.

She opens her eyes slowly, a surge of relief to see he is still standing in front of her. A million questions flood her brain all at once...questions that want to find a voice.

Todd watches her intently, willing to wait for her. He could only imagine the shock to her it must be to have him just show up after all this time. And hey, she hadn't thrown him out...so he figured things were okay. Téa blinks rapidly a few times, and opens her mouth to speak....when from upstairs....

"MOMMY!!......"
Jason's frightened screams pierce Téa's consciousness, bringing her back to reality. Her eyes immediately move upward towards Jason's room.
"Jay..." she mutters. She begins to move toward the stairs, then looks back to Todd.
"Don't go anywhere, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes," she says, and turns to run up the stairs.

Todd can barely move. A baby? She has a baby? In her rush to go to her child, Téa had completely missed the stricken look that had come over Todd's face at the sound of the child upstairs. She had moved on. Without him. She had a baby...probably a husband. She didn't need him anymore.

Todd suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. He walks slowly towards the stairs. He looks up, straining his ears. He hears Téa softly singing....a Spanish lullaby he had often heard her sing to Starr.

The pain that ripped through his heart was almost unbearable. As if in a trance, he turns and walks slowly towards the open door. He couldn't face her again....not yet. The thought of her with someone else...having another man's child was too excruciating for him to bear...and there was no way he could ever talk to her rationally about this...not with the way he was feeling right now. He walks down the porch steps and heads for his car. He opens the door and slides into the front seat. As much as he had prepared himself for this possibility..nothing could prepare him for the emptiness, the pain he felt. A single tear slipped down his cheek, and he slammed his open palm against the steering wheel. This couldn't be happening. After all he had been through...all he wanted was to come home to his wife and daughter. His mind flashes back to finding Blair with Patrick Thornhart. Well...at least he had been spared that sight with Delgado.
Man...you're homecomings suck, he thinks bitterly.
His could still feel her skin under his fingers...he could still see her face. But she wasn't his anymore. His heart twists violently at the thought. This can't be it.....it just can't.
Taking a deep breath, he inserts the key into the ignition. He needed to think....figure out what to do. He presses the gas and drives off into the night.

******

Téa gently rocks Jay back and forth, whispering soothing words in Spanish to her son. She didn't even know what she was saying, her mind still reeling. She turns her head towards Jay and sees he has fallen back to sleep. Gently, she lays him back down on the pillow and tucks the blankets around him. Wrapping some of his soft brown hair around her fingers, she leans down and kisses his cheek.
"Oh, mijo," she whispers, "your daddy's home...finally ...your daddy's home."
She stands up and runs her hand through her hair. Wiping her cheeks, she heads for the stairs. Her heart had slowed a little. She smiles to herself as she thinks about the look on his face when she tells him about their son. She quickens her pace and trots down the stairs.
"Sorry about that...." she stops suddenly and looks around.
"Todd?"
Her breathing becomes quicker.
"Todd?" she calls, her voice edged with panic.
She brings shaking hands to her face.
"No, no," she says, "no I didn't just dream that...you were here...I know you were here." Tears stream down her cheeks as she bolts out the front door onto the porch.
"Todd?" she calls, crying.
She walks back into the house, shaking. Closing the front door, she stumbles over to the couch and sits down. She goes over the events of the evening. He was here. He was here.
She tries to slow down her breathing and figure out what happened. Why would he run off like that? She brings her hands up to her mouth, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. Where would he go? Not that she could go anywhere tonight anyway...with Jay upstairs....
Her head snaps up. Jay.
"Oh, no....." she whispers.

To be continued....