Who's the Real Todd?, Ch. 23

By the time they arrived at the Penthouse, Todd was feeling stronger and a little upset. He kicked himself for letting John see him vulnerable.  Ray would say he shouldn't let it bother him but he hated being thought of as weak in any capacity.

Blair knew Todd had built up some anger on the way home and she knew he was directing it at himself. He didn't like it when people saw his weaknesses. For him, it was tantamount to giving them an advantage over him. He had been quiet in the car, pretending to sleep. He had had plenty of time to build up steam. Hopefully, he would let it blow once they hit the apartment. She followed him in and closed the door. Starr's car wasn't in the parking garage which meant they were alone. "Okay Todd, let it go."

Todd had been all set to scream his rage when he heard Blair. It caught him by surprise. He realized Blair had been waiting for him to blow up. She knew him that well. "Damn, I'm getting downright predictable." Instead of exploding, Todd started laughing. He had gotten so predictable that Blair read him as easily as that. Well, he was going to have to put a stop to that. If she knew him that well, he'd never be able to surprise her again. He loved surprising her. He looked at her and saw the surprise on her face when he started laughing and that just made him laugh more. It was actually hilarious and he sat down on the couch letting the anger go with the laughter. Just seeing her face at that moment had been priceless. She had so been expecting something else.

Blair had been all ready for his rage and when he started laughing she was nonplussed. What the heck was going on? She saw the look on his face and something told her he was laughing at her. What had she done? He continued to laugh and Blair started getting angry. "Alright that's enough of that, I don't know what I did that's so hilarious but I want you to stop it right now."

Todd couldn't stop laughing, now she was mad and the reversal of the rolls just caused him to laugh harder. "Go ahead Blair let it out. Don't keep anything in," he said between laughs.

He wouldn't stop laughing. Furious, Blair picked up a pillow and flung it at him. "Would you stop that!"

Todd caught the pillow and said. "Temper Blair, you really shouldn't let your anger get you that way." He let the laughter die and went to her. She was seething. "My, my, You're really hot under the collar right now." she turned away and he put his hands on her waist and whispered in her ear." Why don't we see if there's a way you could let off a little of that steam." he began kissing the nape of her neck and then worked his way up to her ear. Todd felt the anger leave her body as she relaxed against him. God, she smelled so good. His hands began to roam down her lovely figure then he turned her to face him. "Still Mad?" she shook her head no and he proceeded to take her lips as she wrapped her arms around him.

Sometime later, Todd cradled her on the couch and said. "I'm starving. I don't know about you but I need some sustenance after that. My body already protested once today ."

Blair looked at him in alarm, he did look a little pale. God, what had she been thinking? "Oh my God Todd, I completely forgot. You take it easy and I'll get you something." she started to get up but he stopped her.

"I'm fine Blair, just hungry. Let's order some pizza and stay here and just let me hold you until it comes." he handed her the phone and played with her hair while she made the call.

Blair snuggled back down into his arms and let him hold her. She loved it when he played with her hair. It sent little chills down her spine. It felt so good and peaceful as they listened to the strains of jazz.   The sound of the doorbell indicated the pizza had arrived and Todd let her up to answer the door. He got up and grabbed a wine bottle and some glasses and joined her at the coffee table where he poured them something to drink and they began eating. They were still eating, when Starr and Hope arrived home. Blair had ordered plenty of Pizza so Starr and Hope sat down to enjoy some too. Hope clamored over and sat in her Dragon's lap and began breaking her slice into little pieces. They all watched as she separated them into two piles.

Todd was intrigued and so he asked. "Princess Shorty why are you making two piles? Who is the second pile for?"

Hope looked at him and said solemnly " Why you Dragon, member, you like pizza bits more than candy." at that she reached and picked up a piece and handed it to Todd.

Blair and Starr looked on. This was obviously something between the Dragon and Princess Shorty that they didn't know about.

Todd took the piece from his granddaughter and popped it in his mouth. "Why thank you Princess Shorty, you're right. I do love Pizza bits the best." his eyes got watery and he began eating the bites that Hope had separated for him specially. Together they finished her slice. Then she gave him a hug and said "Can we have more." Todd laughed and grabbed her another slice. When they finished Todd hugged his granddaughter and handed her to Starr. "I think it's time to get ready for bed Princess Shorty. I'll see you later."

"Dragon tell story?" asked Hope.

Todd beamed at her and nodded. "Dragon will tell story." Todd and Blair cleaned up while Starr got Hope ready for bed. They were in the kitchen when Starr came in and gave her dad a hug. "What's that for?" asked Todd.

Starr giggled "I just wanted to let Sir Dragon know how much I love him. But he better hurry upstairs, Princess Shorty is getting impatient."

Todd smiled and tossed his towel to Blair and headed out. He loved telling stories to Hope and it had been a while since the last one. As he approached her room he started growling and heard her squeals of laughter coming from inside as she waited for her Dragon. He got down on his knees and slowly pushed the door open, "Yum someone smells so good. It's a good thing Sir Dragon is full. He won’t be tempted to eat Princess Shorty tonight." He pounced on the bed making Hope pop up and she screamed happily, then he gathered her in his arms and leaned back in the bed. "So Princess Shorty do you want a happy story or a silly story tonight."

Hope replied "Dragon being silly, tell silly story" Blair and Starr were standing outside listening eager to hear the latest tale Todd might tell.

"I have just the story for you."said Sir Dragon and then he began.

'Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a beautiful queen. This queen had everything she could ask for except the ability to laugh. Everywhere in her kingdom people could be heard laughing, but try as she might she couldn't even produce a single giggle. The queen decided to offer an award to anyone who could make her laugh. Jesters and people from all over her kingdom came to see if they could make their queen laugh.

Nothing was working the queen didn't crack a smile. The queen announced that the first one who could make her laugh would share the throne with her. The news went out past her kingdom and Princes from around the globe tried to make her laugh. In the mountains outside her kingdom the Dragon Prince heard the announcement. He had watched the beautiful queen for a long time and this was his opportunity to have her for his own. He made his way into town and asked to see the queen. Everyone was fearful of the dragon but the queen thought he looked quite handsome even if he was a little arrogant. "What can I help you with Prince?" she asked and he informed her he was seeking to become her King. She said he was welcomed to try with all the rest of the suitors but she didn't think he would be any more successful than the others in getting her to laugh.'

“We shall see," he said. "We shall see." At that he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her out of the palace till he arrived at his favorite watering hole. Suddenly and without warning he dumped the queen into the muddy water. Then he stood back and waited. The queen came up sputtering fit to be tied and the expression on her face sent the Prince into a fit of laughter. The queen couldn't believe it, the arrogant prince was laughing at her. She stomped her foot only causing her to slip back into the water. Now the Prince was rolling on the ground laughing harder because the queen was covered in mud from head to toe now.'

“You stop that" she cried. but her anger just seemed to make him roar even more. " Oooh, just you wait." He was so laughing so hard that he wasn't ready for what happened next.'

Suddenly a great glob of stinky mud smashed directly into his face and he stopped laughing. As he went to wipe the mud from his eyes he heard a little giggle coming from the water. He started to say something when a second glob smacked him right in the mouth. From the water a roar of laughter peeled out. She was standing there covered in mud laughing triumphantly at the Prince. He grinned wickedly at her and said. "You think that's funny do you." he walked forward and grabbed his own handful of mud. The queen laughed nervously edging back into the water now she was in for it. Suddenly he was upon her covering her in mud and she quickly retaliated with some more of her own until they were both rolling and laughing having a grand old time. They were having so much fun, they never noticed the crowd of townsfolk who had gathered to watch.'

Then a small voice filled the air. "Mommy why can't I play in the mud like that."'

“Shush child, why they're just being silly." said her mother.

The townspeople began to laugh at their Queen and the great Prince as they sat in the pond. The Prince and Queen looked at each other and once more the valley was filled with laughter as both realized how utterly silly they truly looked. The Queen rejoiced because she had finally learned to laugh and true to her promise the Dragon Prince ruled alongside her and they found many other ways to make each other laugh. The end."'

Todd looked down at Hope and she smiled a sleepy smile and said "Good Night Dragon." "Good Night Princess" then he leaned down and gave her a kiss. He turned down the light and left the room only to run smack dab into Blair and Starr.

"Sue us," said Blair smiling. "We love to hear your stories."

Todd smiled and walked his girls back down the stairs. It was good to be with them, sometimes it felt like he had never left.

****

Todd awoke refreshed and realized he made it through the night without a nightmare. Starr and Hope were already up as he smelled coffee brewing. Ray was coming by again and he was a little leery about the session they had planned but he needed to know what had happened at that facility. Todd joined the girls in the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee and a roll. Kissing Hope and getting a hug from Starr, he returned to the living room and sat down at his desk.

The Sun was already sitting there thanks to Starr and he took a look at the recent articles. He was so far out of the loop. There on his own front page was an article about Marty disappearing. Blair hadn't mentioned it, but he wasn't surprised. Marty wasn't one of her favorite people. It appeared that Marty had fled leaving his niece's baby behind. He and Natalie had never really liked each other but Todd loved Vicki and he knew how devastated a mother could be over a lost child. He had found out the hard way when he had lied to Blair about Jack, and he had never gotten over the shame he felt for giving his own child away. For that reason and for Vicki he was glad Natalie had her son home.

Todd pulled the laptop over and opened it up to view some of the other stories out there today. In the Who's Who section, there was a write up about Clint Buchanan in serious condition at the hospital. It seemed Clint confessed to all sorts of wrongdoings. Todd wondered what Clint was up too and who he was protecting. There was more going on with Clint and Todd knew that it would make a juicy story. He sent a message to the reporter of the original article telling him to dig deeper into the sudden confession. He signed it Todd Manning. It was a good bet the reporter probably wouldn't realize that Manning wasn't yet home from the hospital.

He needed to check on Manning's Status. So he put a call through to Tea. She answered and by the tone, in her voice, he knew something was wrong. "Tea, it's Samuel.  I was just calling to find out what was going on with Manning. You sound upset. He's alright still isn't he?" Todd waited. There was definitely something off, Tea was hesitating."Come on Delgado what's up?"

Tea looked at her Todd. They had been discussing the problem all morning. How was she going to tell Jack's father what he had done? Well, there was no way to sugar coat it. "Samuel, we have a situation. It concerns Jack and you have a right to know. Gigi Morasco, Shane's mom was brought into the ER last night. It isn't good."

Todd's blood froze. Shane was the boy's name that Jack had been bullying. What did Tea mean when she said Jack was involved? What exactly had happened to Gigi? "Isn't Shane the boy Jack was harassing?"

"That's right Samuel, unfortunately, events escalated and Gigi has suffered for it. I'll come by and give you the details I don't think Blair is even aware of what has occurred. Samuel, you and Blair need to know, Jack is in big trouble. I'm leaving here now and I'll be at the penthouse shortly. You need to get Blair there if she isn't already." Tea hung up.

Todd lowered the phone.  Damn! What did you do Jack? What had Tea said? Gigi was in the hospital and it wasn't good. Surely she was going to be alright. God, please let her be alright! He called Blair. "Have you spoken to Jack this morning? Is he still at home? Good. You and Jack need to come here pronto. Don't ask any questions and don't let Jack weasel out of coming. It's important. Hurry!" Todd dropped the phone and started pacing. Thoughts were rushing through his head but none of them were good. If Jack had done something to cause Gigi's injury than he was in trouble with a capital T. He headed for the kitchen to speak to Starr. "Starr, do you have any idea what your brother Jack has been up to recently."

Starr looked at her Dad and got a little worried. He seemed really preoccupied and very serious. " I haven't seen him much Dad, I know he's upset with Mom because she took away his laptop. But if Jack wants on the Internet he'll find a way. Heck I know one of his buddies, Brad, is always at Jack's beck and call. Why are you asking? Has Jack done something I don't know about? He's not still bothering Shane is he?" Starr saw her dad's face and felt a chill go down her spine. "Dad, what has he done?"

"I don't know the details yet but it's not good. I was hoping you could shed some light, but you're as in the dark as your mom and me.  Tea is on her way here and your mom and brother will soon be here too."

The doorbell rang and Starr answered. It was Tea and she looked unhappy. She gave a hug to Starr and they entered the room where Todd was still playing with Hope. Starr grabbed up Hope and gathering some toys said she'd be right back and then she took Hope out.

"That's what I was afraid of.   How bad is it Tea?" asked Todd.

"It's pretty bad. I take it we're waiting for Blair." answered Tea

Todd nodded and offered Tea a seat. "Blair's on her way and she's bringing Jack.  Whatever he's done I want to hear him tell us. Since it's obvious you already know, he won't be able to talk his way around this."

Starr returned downstairs just as the front door opened and Blair and Jack entered. Jack paused in the doorway a look of pure horror on his face when he saw Tea there. He looked from her to his real father and knew he wasn't going to be able to lie this time.

Blair looked at all of them and knew in her heart, that this time Jack had really messed up. She turned to her son. "Jack, what have you done?"The question hung in the air, as they all waited for that answer.