Scenario for TM's Return to Llanview # 6

It had been a long morning, She and her mom had just come from taking Hope to see her Daddy. They had gone so Cole could see Hope but also because he needed to know what his mother had been doing. It had been so hard to tell him about Marty's latest deeds. But they couldn't keep the truth from him. Starr made the decision to bring Hope to the park after leaving Cole, she wanted Hope to have some happy memories about the day.

It proved to be a good decision as Hope soon had her Mom chasing her around the park. Starr was breathless as Hope kept her moving, but she relished the time she had with her daughter. With all the unusual and dire things happening it was a relief to have a little fun. Starr took Hope's hand and decided it was time for a little quieter adventure and they began exploring for bugs. Hope had a lot of her mother's curiosity and soon they were crawling through the bushes looking for different insects.

TM walked through the park remembering times with his daughter Starr. He had gotten hold of Starr's kite and then asked her help to get a note to Tea. She had always been willing to help him with his schemes. TM sat down on the bench where he and Blair had once sat. It was a pretty area. He heard a child's laughter coming from behind him so he turned and watched as a little girl crawled through the hedge behind him intent on following something. Suddenly he spotted the insect she was stalking. The beetle was walking sedately across the grass and the little girl was creeping along behind it totally absorbed in it's movements. She reminded him of the time Starr had been so fascinated with bugs. Blair had been horrified at Starr's obsession with the creepy crawlies.

Blair put her foot down on the obsession with bugs after Starr started bringing them home. Todd turned Starr's attention to reptiles and Blair gave in. Before they knew it Starr had snakes and an iguana and any other lizard she could find or get her hands on. Todd continued to watch the little girl when he suddenly realized that she was so busy following the bug that she was almost on top of the bike path. She was headed on a collision course with several bike riders. He jumped up and swooped to grab the child just before the riders got there. "Whoa little one,you almost got squished just like that bug. " Hope looked down and saw that her beetle was dead and started to cry. Todd set her back down on the ground and quickly found a different bug and picked it up, Hope stopped crying watching the bug walk on Todd's hand.  She held her hand out and Todd carefully transferred the bug, all the time telling her to hold very still and not try and grab it. As he handed her the bug, he heard a voice calling. It sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure where it was coming from.  He spoke up. "Excuse me but if you're looking for a little girl she's over here on the other side of the hedge."

Starr had been panicking when she had lost sight of Hope. Now her heart stopped. She hadn't heard that voice in a long time. She rounded the hedge and saw a man crouched down talking to Hope. His back was to her so she couldn't see his face. Hope was laughing watching a beetle crawl up her arm. Hope saw her Mommy and said "Mommy look bug." At Hope's statement the man turned his head and looked up. Starr stopped cold.  It couldn't be.  She was trying to breathe in slowly as she walked toward her daughter.

Todd stood up, the young woman was obviously concerned. " I didn't hurt her, she was crawling into the bike path so I figured I should stop her. When she saw the bug she was following had died I gave her another one, I hope you don't mind." The young lady still wasn't saying anything.  She was staring at him like she had seen a ghost, then he took a good look at her. She looked like someone he knew, but he couldn't quite remember. Then it hit him. She looked a little like Starr. Could it be? Was he standing in front of his daughter? The more he took in her features the more he saw the little girl he remembered.  He had to ask, he needed to know. "Starr, is that you?"

When he had turned to face her, she hadn't been able to do anything but stare. He hadn't changed that much. The scar was on his right cheek where it always had been and the tone of his voice especially when he was talking about Hope was so reminiscent of the times they had talked about Jack. She had missed that voice. He was talking about giving a bug to Hope. It was so typically him, but when he suddenly said her name the floodgate burst open. "Daddy" was all she said as she rushed into his arms.