Todd is standing outside Tea's suite, pacing nervously. He wants to knock, he wants to be in there with her, to see her, but an overwhelming fear has consumed him. What if she isn't happy to see him, what if she's angry? His thoughts are interrupted by a cart coming down the hallway towards him. The young man pushing the cart stops it in front of Tea's room and goes to knock on the door.
"Wait," Todd stops him.
The man looks at Todd. "Can I help you?"
"Look..uh..let me take that in.....I mean, I'm going to see her anyway...here," Todd hands him a couple of twenties, "take this and get out of here."
The man takes the money. "Okay, whatever you say," and he leaves.
Todd takes a deep breath and knocks on Tea's door.
Tea opens the door, and is shocked to see Todd standing there, that adorable grin on his face.
"Thought you might be hungry," he says, his joke hiding his fear and anxiety. Tea stands, staring, mesmerized by that grin.
Finally, she speaks. "Todd, what...what are you...wait, what's going on?" she stammers. All of the sudden, worry takes over. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he can't take his eyes off her, "so can I come in?"
Tea smiles shyly, "Oh, yeah, sorry," and steps aside to let him and her breakfast in. She suddenly feels very self conscious, as she remembers what she looks like. Great, she thinks, not exactly how I wanted him to see me.
Little does she know that as Todd looks at her, he can't stop thinking about how adorable she looks. He resists the urge to run over to her and take her in his arms.
"Yeah," Pete sneers, "She looks good Todd. I have a few ideas, interested?"
Todd feels a pang of sheer panic inside him. What's going on? he thinks. He takes a deep breath, and the panic passes.
It's ok, he tells himself, he's gone, he won't hurt her.
Todd calms himself further by letting his eyes wander to Tea's growing stomach. He smiles, a smile Tea catches.
She laughs, "Ok, you can say it, I'm huge."
"You're beautiful," he whispers.
Tea stares at him. It's so unlike him to say something like that to her. Todd sees the surprised but happy look on her face, and realizes what he just said. He is slightly embarrassed and quickly changes the subject.
"So, I guess you're wondering why I'm here."
He walks over and sits down on the sofa, motioning for her to sit down next to him.
"For a while, I've felt like I was ready to get out of there, but I was never really sure. But yesterday, when you sent me that picture....I knew it was time to come home."
Tea reaches out and covers his hand with her own. "Todd..I'm glad to see you....really...it's just...I mean are you sure you're ready for this?"
Todd looks into her eyes, enjoying the warmth of her hand on his. "Look, I'm not saying I'm completely better, I know I have a lot of work to do. But I'm ready to do it here, to start getting on with my life. Jay found me a doctor here so I can keep on going to therapy."
Tea's eyes fill with tears, of both relief and admiration. "I am so proud of you Todd."
He looks at her, loving the sound of her voice saying those words to him. It was okay, they were going to be okay.
"So what now?" she asks.
"Well, I talked to Viki last night. She said I could stay there, but I don't know, all those Buchanans running around. So I got a room here."
"Here?"
"Yeah, down the hall. I figured this way I could be near you in case you need me."
Tea smiles, "You know, you could have stayed with me."
Todd reaches up and runs his finger along the side of Tea's face. "Well, I didn't want to pressure you, you know. Besides, we have all the time in the world to work things out."
Tea is touched by his words. Without thinking, she throws her arms around him, holding him close. Todd closes his eyes, savoring the feeling of her in his arms. They slowly pull apart, and Todd tentatively puts his hand on Tea's stomach.
"So, how's Junior?"
She smiles, covering his hand with her own. "Very active. I think we have a future football player here."
Tea leans over and rests her head on Todd's shoulder. They sit quietly, thinking that maybe, finally everything will be okay......