*****

Todd stares at Téa, frozen in shock.

Jason Thomas Manning.....for his father

"He's...he's mine?" he asks softly, incredulously.

Tears spill onto Téa's cheeks as she nods her head. Her eyes follow Todd as he slowly makes his way to the kitchen table, sinking into a chair. His mind is reeling....here he had steeled himself for the possibility that Téa had moved on and had a child with another man...only to find out that the crying child he had heard last night was HIS.

Téa walks over and sits down in the chair next to him. She searches his face for any kind of reaction....but all she sees is shock. As he looks up at her, she notices his eyes become shiny with unshed tears.

"But we only..."

"It only takes once Todd," she cuts him off, grinning slightly. "I found out around Christmas, the year you left. And I've been trying to find you ever since, Todd...." she pauses, her voice becoming emotional, "Where have you been?"

"We...we have a son?" he asks, still staring in shock at Téa. She just smiles.

"We have a son," she answers softly.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, as Todd lets this sink in. A son...with Téa. All this time and he didn't know. Pain twists his heart as he thinks about how he cut himself off from Llanview. He did because he thought it would help him get better. It did...but it also cost him the first two years of his son's life.

"Umm..would you like to see his picture?"

Todd nods. Téa reaches into her purse and pulls out her wallet. Taking out a small photo, she hands it to Todd.

A tear slips down his cheek as he gazes at his son for the first time. His chestnut brown hair, the eyes so much like his own, his mother's beautiful smile. Their son.

"He's beautiful," Todd whispers, his fingers gently running over the picture.

"That he is," Téa replies, tears streaming down her cheeks, watching him.

"I missed it again," Todd says softly, his eyes never leaving the picture. Téa's heart breaks, for she knows exactly what he's talking about.

"Todd...I'm sure there were reasons...."

"What's he...two? Two years of his life, I missed. He doesn't even know me," Todd says, his voice edged with pain.

"Well, that's not entirely true, I mean...the few existing pictures I have of you are in his room. And I tell him about you all the time...so does Starr."

Todd eyes leave the picture and he looks up at Téa. "Shorty gets to see him?"

Téa smiles. "Believe it or not, Blair and I have come to ...an understanding. Whether we like it or not, Jason and Starr are family. Anyway, Starr is a great big sister. She even got him a Fred the magic frog for his birthday, from you. I guess Jess overheard her tell her Fred that she needed another one for Jay, and Viki got one, making it look like it came from you."

"Last night...I thought..."

"I know what you thought, Todd. Typical of you to just jump to conclusions," Téa replies, grinning at him.

"Delgado...I prepared myself you know? I mean...when I came back, I prepared myself to find you all happy and married and stuff. And when I heard the kid crying....I...figured you moved on, you know? And even though I prepared myself for that, God it hurt like hell. Wait....", he pauses, looking at her, "are you ...married?"

"Yeah...to you."

"You waited...all this time?"

"What can I say Manning, you're worth waiting for," she replies softly.

"Well, I don't know about that, Delgado."

Téa shakes her head, laughing. Reaching over, she gently caresses his chin.

"You're really here?" she asks, her voice breaking.

Todd closes his eyes at her touch, and grins. "Whether you like it or not."

"I like it."

He opens his eyes and reaches up to grab her hand. Gently, he lifts it to his lips, kissing it softly.

Téa smiles. "So, how would you like to meet your son?"