Through the Darkness, Chapter Thirty Seven

CHAPTER 37

September, 2013

Early September was not much different than late August in Llanview.  It was still hitting the upper seventies in temperatures, even as kids were whining as parents did back-to-school shopping.  Sam and Jack were little different from that, with the exception that it was Starr who got to hear the moaning and groaning.  Blair asked her to do the runs with them when Todd asked her to join him for his meeting with Carl Peterson. 

They sat in Todd office when his assistant buzzed in.  “Mr Peterson is here to see you, but he doesn’t have an appointment.  Should I still send him in?”

Todd smiled at Blair as he answered.  “Yes, by all means, show him in.”

The man in question was escorted into the office and immediately approached Todd, hand extended.  “Mr Manning, you have no idea how much I have been wanting to meet you,” he said in a rather excited tone.  Then, he seemed to notice they were not alone.  “Ms. Cramer, I didn’t know you would be here.”

“That’s Mrs. Manning,” Todd corrected, “And of course she would be here.  She’s my partner in all things.”  He turned and smiled at Blair then returned his gaze to see a measure of unease in the older gentleman.  “That won’t be a problem, will it, Mr. Peterson?”

The moment passed and a pleasant smile appeared on his face.  “No, I don’t see any problem with that,” he answered as he took a seat across from Todd and Blair.  “Well, I see you have made quite a name here in Llanview for yourself, despite a, how can I put this, a rough start?”

“Well, I could say I had a rough start at the start.  Being an unwanted bastard of Victor Lord then thrown to the wolf known as Peter Manning, wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine,” Todd mused. 

“Well, Victor Lord was a complex man.  I don’t know much about Peter Manning, but I’m sure he did his best,” Carl replied. 

Todd chose to not comment any further on Peter.  “Was there anything else besides my fathers you wanted to discuss with me?”

“Well, when we spoke last night, this was mentioned as a ‘getting to know you’ kind of meeting,” Carl reminded him.  “I must admit, I have always found Victor Lord, Sr., well, very interesting.  A man who fought his own demons and sadly, never won.”

Nothing disgust Todd more than the thought of his biological father.  He’d spent the last couple of decades playing out the similarities between him and the old man.  “There really wasn’t much that complex about him.  He was a perverted old man who prayed on younger women and little girls,” he answered as calmly as he could muster.  “Including one who you are spending much of your time with, from what I can tell.”

“Dorian is a fascinating woman herself.  Intelligent, witty, all the finer traits a woman should have,” Carl replied.  “I am honored to be allowed to spend time with her.”  Then he looked to Blair.  “She did want me to give you a message. She would like for you to come over.  I know she misses you terribly.”

“Well, if she hadn’t put her foot in her mouth several times over about my husband, I would probably still drop in to see her.  As it is, I would need an apology from her before I’d go visiting,” Blair explained.

“Still and all, she asked me to pass on that message,” Carl replied.

“Tell me, Carl, why are you interesting in Victor?  Most of this town is rather happy to not give him two thoughts, led by his greatest victim, my sister,” Todd asked.

“Yes, when Tea announced the name of her child, I remember Viki shuddering.  There is no one in town who cares to remember him,” Blair said.

“Well, he should be remembered as a patriot.  He was involved in the hunt for the Nazis after World War Two.  He sent Banner researchers and reporters to the concentration camps and the Nuremburg Trials.  Have you ever looked up the old issues of the paper?  He was one of the first newspapermen in the country to report on the anti-Semitic laws the Nazis were instituting,” Carl listed.  “Did you know that?”

Todd didn’t.  “As I said, I really don’t care to know about Victor--” Todd began.

“You should read Sloan Carpenter’s book on him.  After that, I did my own investigation and found a lot that was in not it,” Carl pressed.  Then he looked at his watch.  “I am sorry, I just forgot I have a call I need to make shortly.  But read the book and get back to me.”  With that, the man left.

Todd was glad for it.  “Can you believe that guy?  It’s like he didn’t even hear a word I said.  Like Victor’s crimes were nothing to him.”  He turned around to find Blair dialing her phone.  “What are you doing?”

She held up a finger.  “Hey, Jack, when you get home, wanna do a little more hacking?”  Todd couldn’t hear what his son answered, but it didn’t sound bad.  “Don’t worry, you won’t get into any trouble from either of us.  And I don’t think it’ll be that difficult.  The records are probably nearly eighty years old by now.  Yeah, it’s The Banner archives.  See what you can find about the paper’s work in Germany from, I guess, it’s beginning to the end of the war.  And ask your sister if you need help.”  Whatever Jack had said, Blair had to rip the phone away from her ear.  When she replaced it, she said, “I’m not doubting your skills, but she’s done he share of fooling around with it in the past.  Just, trust me on this.  Okay, work on it until we get back to Llanfair.  Love you.  Bye.”

“Starr and The Banner?”  He asked. 

Blair shrugged her shoulders.  “It was a phase shortly after ‘Walker Flynn’ appeared in town.  She figured out how to get into the system and she enjoyed tweaking the mock-ups.  A number of them made it to press, actually.”

Todd felt a burst of pride.  “That’s my Shorty.  But why did you want to have Jack go through the archives?”

“Did you believe anything he said?” she questioned, waving her hand in the direction of his office door.  “Look, this whole town knows the whole sordid history of Victor Lord, but you have actively avoided anything about him any time his name is said.  I think we just need to see how true Carl’s comments were.”

Todd took a deep breath.  From the start, he’d never really seen anything good about the man who sired him.  It was bad enough that he had dumped three kids on a young, unwed woman.  It was just, things had snowballed for him the night he learned the truly dark secrets of Llanfair.  It was hard to go back to square one about anything regarding Victor Lord Senior.  He picked up his desk phone.  “How do you feel about having lunch with my sister?” he ask Blair as the phone rang.

“Viki?  You sure you want to ask her anything?  She tends to get as wigged out as you,” Blair told him.

He shook his head.  “No, not Viki,” he said before the other end picked up.  “Tina?  Meet Blair and I for lunch.  I need to know everything you do about dear old dad.”

==============================================================================

Jack sulked as he stared the the computer screen.  He’d had such an easy time getting into the hospital’s mainframe a few weeks ago.  How was it that an antiquated print media publication was giving him such a hard time?  Hadn’t Aunt Viki just been scoffing at the idea of the digital age a few months ago?

“You know, you look like Dad when you’re annoyed,” Starr said as she sat on the couch opposite him.  “What’s the matter?”

He looked up at his sister.  She was always the perfect one, even if she had just as big a penchant for getting into trouble as he did.  He was loathed to ask for any of her help.  “Mom gave me a project and it tougher than I thought.”

“What is it?” she asked.

The last thing he wanted was to admit he needed his big sister’s help.  He wanted to chuckle.  When he really thought about it, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference between him and his sister and his father and aunt.  He knew how reluctant Todd and Victor were to go Aunt Viki for help.  And Aunt Tina?  Yeah right.  But then again, he also knew he wasn’t exactly like his father.  And although he grown to love Todd Manning, he still wanted to rebel a little, pull something unexpected, as long as it didn’t put him in jail.  Maybe actually asking for his sister’s help was at least a little different enough.  “Mom needs me to hack into The Banner’s archives.  She wants me to look up stories that probably predate even Aunt Viki.”

“I guess this is part of the ‘keep Aunt Viki out of the loop’, right?”  Jack shrugged his shoulders at that.  “So what’s the problem?”

He also hated admitting failure to Starr.  “I think the paper must have upgraded its security because I’m having a hell of a time getting in.  I mean, who really cares about old news stories?”

“Why did Mom need you to look there?”

“She didn’t say,” he answered distractedly as he tried another route.  Finally giving up, he said, “Mom said that I I had problems, I should as you for help.”

A triumphant smile appeared on her face.  “I guess you know I did have some talent with this… without getting pulled in by the police.”

“Yeah yeah,” he muttered as she tapped away at the keyboard.  He groaned louder when it took her maybe five minutes to get in.  “Now, you said the archives?  How far back?”

“How far back do they go?” he asked.  “Mom said the paper’s work in Germany.  I guess where talking anything to do with the Nazis.”

A few more keystrokes and the entire page was filled with result.  Just hitting the scroll button, it was obvious that there were hundreds, if not thousands of article available.  The two siblings looked at each other.  “We’re going to need another computer.”

Starr scurried up to her room and came back with her own laptop.  Following the same path she had done on her brother’s she gained access to The Banner’s archives and they started parsing through the article together, Jack working his way back and Starr going from the beginning forward.

“Looks like they had a numbers of reporters embedded with the Army as they made their way through Europe,” Jack said.  “And it looks like they were heavily involved as witnesses at Nuremburg.”

“I think I remember reading in a history class somewhere,” Starr said, “that the American press didn’t really believe that there was anything happening to the Jews in Europe.  But it seems The Banner had those stories going back to, 1936.”

“That was the first year there was a European headquarters was set up,” Jack noted, remembering seeing that date somewhere.  “You got a name for the reporter?”

“Uh, Nathan Siegel, it says here,” she answered.

Jack opened another window and did a quick search.  “Nathan Siegel…yeah, I got a hit on him.  He was from Llanview and had a brother who was a lawyer in town.”  Jack searched further.  “Not many of them are still alive.  Nathan, David, Tim, who seems to be David’s son, all dead.  The only other names listed are an Eileen Riley Siegel, also deceased and a Julie Siegel Toland, who seems to be in Florida.”

“Riley?  Like Joe Riley?”  Starr asked.

“And Joe Riley would be…?”

“Aunt Viki’s first husband.  He’s Kevin and Joey’s dad,” she answered slowly, as if explaining to Sam.

Jack kind of forgot that Aunt Viki had been married to anyone before Charlie, Ben and Clint.  And he knew Victor never really like Kevin, so he never really thought about any other cousins besides Jessica, Natalie and maybe Sarah Roberts.  “Okay…?”

A smirk appeared on her face.  “Didn’t you say you have a history project you have to turn in for school?”

Jack shook his head.  They only summer work he had was a few books and he’d just downloaded them the night before.  “I don’t have any project.”

“Yes Jack, you do.  And you need Aunt Viki’s help with it…” she replied, her smirk growing. 

Through the Darkness, Chapter Thirty Six

CHAPTER 36

August, 2013

Blair had been very impressed and a little surprised by how Todd had taken control of everything.  He wasn’t usually the one to rally the troops.  His usual MO was lone gunman.  But she also knew it was within him to be that guy.  She remembered a time in their own relationship where had taken control of the situation and tried to lead them out of a mess, but she had been suspicious and scared and it only made matters worse.  Now, she was willing to sit back and let him lead.

“I need your help, Blair,” he said to her when they walked into the carriage house to wait for everyone.

“You know that whatever you need, I’ll be here to help,” she reassured him.

“You need to be the one in charge,” Todd told her.

That surprised her.  “What?” she asked.

He waved his hand back towards Llanfair.  “I’m not…I’m not this guy.  I’m not the leader type.  I tend to go off half-cocked.  I hate authority and now, now I’m getting sucked into it,” Todd explained as he sat down in a huff.  “You, you’re more respectable.  People are more liable to believe you.  You need to help me.”

She smiled at him.  “You think people believe me?  That’s not so true.  I’ve pulled enough crap to have people not take my word on things and regret it later,” she said.  “Todd, there are enough people in town who realize there is a threat to all of us.  You can do this, you are being believed.”  She sat down next to him and took his hand, as she kissed his cheek.  “I will stand by you and I will help you.  And if your voice is silenced, I will do everything in my power to keep it heard.”

He offered her a smile back and moved in to kiss her lips.  But just as they were about to connect, the door opened and Jack and Starr walked in.  “We’re gonna be subjected to this forever now?” he asked to nobody in particular.  Then he saw his sister’s grin and his scowl deepened.  “And don’t you start too.”

“I thought you and Dad were fine now,” Starr asked, a hint of teasing ion her voice.

“I’m fine with Dad now.  I’m not fine walking in when they’re making out,” Jack corrected her.

Before Starr could offer comment back, Brody opened the door and stepped in with Jess and Natalie following him.  Nick Jobek arrived a few minutes later.  He was talking with Todd when the last of the group, Victor and Tea, arrived finally.

Todd looked from his brother to his old friend.  “Guess you should meet my brother,” he commented, walking over to Victor.  With Nick one side and his twin on the other, Todd said, “Nick, Victor.  Victor, Nick.”

“I remember you,” Victor replied.  When Nick gave his a strange look, Victor waved him off. “It’s too long of a story now.  Let’s just say, I still member seeing you and that cheerleader at the party.”  With that, he walked off.

Nick turned to Todd.  “That’s kind of creepy.  You said it would stay our secret.”

Todd offered an ominous smile.  “It still is.”  When Nick’s look grew more baffled, Todd did little to explain other than, “He just does creepy.”  With that, Todd walked towards the fireplace and tried to get everyone’s attention.  “Hey, can you all quiet down?” he nearly shouted.  It did, however, seem to work and all eyes were focused on him at that point.  “Look, we have a lot to cover and I want to get this done as quickly as possible.  I’m sure Viki’s gonna be looking for a good number of us for dinner soon.”  Then he went over what he had learned early, about Elizabeth Dalton and her children, as well as her connection to Victor Lord. 

“Brody, you still got contacts in the military?” Todd asked.

Brody nodded.  “Yes, but I was Navy.  The OSS was Army intelligence.  I do, however, have a few friends who may be able to look into it, though.  I’ll reach out to them.  Anything specific you want me to have them look into?”

Todd paused, hating the idea even mentioning him, considering the specter he still cast over the family.  “Have them look into any wartime activities of Victor Lord, Sr.  He was in the OSS during World War Two.”

“Victor, Senior?” Natalie asked.  “That’s going back a ways, isn’t it?”

“Well, considering the fact that he seems to be the root of all evil in this family, that may be how far back we have to go,” Todd said with disgust.  Then he turned to Tea.  “Can you think of any way to get records on Elizabeth Dalton?”

Tea did a double take.  “What do you mean, illegally?”  At Todd nonchalant shrug, she threw him a dirty look.  “Look, let me look into legal avenues to getting information on her.  If not, we’ll see.”

Todd suppressed a smirk.  He must have been gone a long time for Tea to so obviously cringe at the idea of obfuscating the law to reach her goals.  He then turned to his brother.  “Have you gone and seen that shrink yet?”

Tea look to Victor and crossed her arms over her chest, a sure sign she was pissed.  “He’s refusing to go see Dr. Levin.”

Victor looked from Tea to Todd.  “I think, after today, I will.”  He took a breath and then said, “You still want me to do some snooping for Clint’s files at St. Ann’s?”

It was Natalie who spoke up.  “Yes.  I wanted to know what they did to my father from the time I saw Allison Perkins by his bedside to when he showed up here.  And now that he seems to have the same tattoo as you do, it’s even more important.”

“And you still need to figure out what led to you getting it,” Todd reminded him.  “Look, you know my thoughts on the whole therapy crap.  But I will make you a promise.  You do this and I’ll even sit through it with you.  I have a lot I haven’t dealt with myself and it may be time to do that as well.  Besides, you got a kid on the way.  You don’t want to lose any time you could have with them.”  Todd looked to Starr and Jack.  When he turned back to his twin, he could see Victor looking almost envious.  Since he last disappearing act, Victor has pretty much lost the boy who had always considered him his father.  “Jack will be there for you too.  You are still his uncle.”

Victor looked at Todd.  “What’s gotten into you?  You’re all compassionate, being a leader, all of a sudden.”

Todd offered a smile.  “I think I’ve been staying here at Llanfair too long.”

“That’s why I never wanted to stay long here myself.  Only one night, generally, tops,” Victor replied, mirroring his twin.  “Look, I want to get Tea home.  I’ll let you know anything I learn.  And I will be taking you up on that offer.” 

With that he and Tea left, followed a few minutes later by Jessica and Brody.  Natalie stuck around to talk with Nick until she left to get home to her son.  When she left, Todd sauntered over to his friend.  “So, you making a date with her?” he asked in a teasing tone.

“We’re going to meet for drinks at this club, Shelter, later on.  You sure you’re alright with me dating her?” Nick asked.

Todd let out an overly dramatic sigh.  “There’s a lot that’s gone on between us,” he said, trying to wiggle out from a long explanation.  But Nick didn’t look to be giving in.  “Before I found out I even had Viki as a sister, I saved Jessica’s life.  She was in a car crash and I can upon it while I was on the run.  I saved her, her cousin CJ and the woman I raped.  CJ thought I was some hero and begged the governor for a pardon for me.”  Todd looked at his high school buddy for any reaction but there was none.  “Anyway, Natalie came along years later.  Viki didn’t know she had another daughter and Natalie, well, she kind of shoved her way into the family.  She tried to take Jess’ place and, quite honestly, I didn’t appreciate it.  We’ve been iffy since.  I will say this, however.  You are better than the last two guys she was involved with.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.  You’re not going to be the overprotective uncle or anything?” Nick asked again.

Todd smiled.  “Nah, don’t have to worry about me for that one.  She’s got a father and a brother who are Texans who like their guns,” he said as he left the carriage house and made his way back to the main house.

Nick followed.  “Gee, thanks for that one,” he replied sarcastically as they went into the kitchen.  Todd walked over to the refrigerator and got out two beers.   “Really, just how worried about them do I have to be worried about?”

The question wasn’t answered as Viki came in, hearing the two men’s voices.  “Oh, Nick, I wasn’t aware you were back in town.”

“Yeah he just got back and we were catching up,” Todd covered.  He didn’t want to let on why Nick was here and he hoped Viki wouldn’t pursue.

“Well, since you just gotten back to town, I was wondering if you’d like to join us for dinner.  I apologize, but there is still a lot about Todd that none of us know and having a friend from high school…it’s an opportunity I never thought I’d have.”

Todd, naturally, looked suitably appalled at the idea.  “I’m sure Nick has a lot to do.  Plus, you know, he’s got a date tonight,” he said, scrambling to squelch the invite.

“Uh, yes, I’m meeting Natalie for drinks later,” Nick said, somewhat baffled.

“Well, I could just ask if she’d like to come for dinner.  This is her home,” Viki reminded them.

Nick looked back to Todd and, seeing his near begging expression to not take the dinner offer, turned back to Viki and said, “You know that would be lovely.  Thank you for the gracious offer.”

As Viki walked away, Nick shrugged his shoulders.  “What, you wanted me to turn down an offer of a nice dinner?  Sorry, buddy, that was never going to happen.”

The dinner didn’t go as bad as Todd had expected.  Viki even kept the questions about his teen years to a bare minimum, and through most of the meal, Nick seemed more interest in having a conversation with Natalie or bonding with Liam.  When it was over, Natalie and Nick headed to Shelter for the drink he had mentioned to Todd earlier.  Then Blair turned to Todd.

“I want to go over the the club also.  I think I have all the plans I wanted to make in place there,” she said to him.

Todd nodded.  “Shorty’s going to meet us there?”  When Blair nodded, Todd went on to as, “And she has no idea about this?”

“Not as far as I know.  But I think she’ll be fine with it.  She told me she was given part of the club up in Port Charles, so even from that short time with it, I’d guess she’d have some ideas on how to run a club,” Blair said.

“She’s always been one smart cookie,” Todd said.  “And quick to learn things.  She’ll be fine.  And if not, she’ll still have you there for help.”

They headed over to the club and Todd quickly found Nick.  He let out a sneer when he saw Nat next to him, but pasted on a polite smile as he approached.  “Are we all having fun here?”

Natalie returned the sneer but Nick smiled.  “This is a nice place.  Blair runs it?”

Todd’s only answer was a vague smirk as he settled down next to the two.  A few minutes later, Blair and Starr made their way up to the stage.  As Blair was trying to get the crowd’s attention, Todd noticed Dorian come down on the arm of Carl Peterson.  He got Nick’s attention to the arriving couple and Nick took notice when they came to the table.

“Well, Todd, it is nice to see you up and about.  Hello Natalie.  Who is your friend?” she asked in her nasty/friendly tone.

“Nick, Dorian Lord, Blair’s aunt.  Dorian, my friend, Nick, Jobek,” Todd said by way of introduction.

“Your friend?  I didn’t know you had any of them those,” Dorian replied cattily.  “Natalie has of course met Carl, but this is my niece’s…husband, Todd Manning.”

Carl nodded as he shook the mens’ hands.  “Yes, I have heard a great deal about you,” Carl said.

Todd laughed.  “Well, that’s funny because, I don’t know a thing about you.”

“Well, maybe we should change that.  I could set up a meeting for say, tomorrow?” Carl offered.

“Call my office.  I’ll see how my schedule shakes out,” Todd replied.  Blair had finally quieted the room.  “If you don’t mind, my wife is onstage.”

Wordlessly, the couple moved off and Blair stood in front of the microphone.  “As you know, I opened Shelter because, to be honest, the club scene in Llanview was lacking.  And, I have to say, I’ve had fun here.  But, other opportunities have come up and I’ve decided to step back a bit.  Now, I won’t be leaving this place totally behind.  But, in my stead, I leave you with another fabulous young woman who probably knows more about the popular tends in music.  I’m just an old country girl at heart.  So please, put your hands together for Ms. Starr Manning!”

As Starr accepted the applause and cued up the accompanist, Blair moved off to join Todd.  She leaned back into him as they listened to their daughter perform, basking in the pride they both felt at that minute.  When the song was over, Todd kissed her gently on the cheek before whispering, “We have a meeting with Mr. Peterson tomorrow.  Let’s see what we can learn from our enemy.”  Blair turned to face him and smiled as she kissed him on the mouth.   

A Christmas Surprise

Christmas Eve

The delivery man stood on the other side of the front door to Llanfair, nodding to Viki as he said, “Package for Victoria Lord.”

Viki smiled as she signed the invoice.  The man put down the clipboard and turned around to lift the large box.  He brought it into the foyer and left, wishing Viki a happy holiday.  After she closed the door, Viki turned and eyed what had been dropped there.  The box was almost as high as the table it was in front of.  As she examined the box, she noticed the card with the address was actually a letter envelope.  She removed the envelope and opened the letter.

Dear Sis,

I decided it was safer to have this delivered to Llanfair, as I don’t trust the head witch to not have it tossed into the trash if she’s the one to sign for it.  I also have one request:  Have Blair and the kids over after Christmas Eve services.  Give them the gifts then.

Love, Your Brotther

PS…there’s a few things in there for you, Jessica and her kids and the redhead and her son. 

As Viki was opening the box and bringing the carefully wrapped packages to the tree in the library, Jessica, Natalie and the kids trooped in.  “Well, how was shopping?” she asked her daughters as the children hurried into the kitchen for fresh baked cookies.

“Is it just me or have the stores gotten crazier this year?” Jessica asked.  “I don’t remember Logan’s being that crowded last year.”

“Well, I see Mom was smart,” Natalie commented.  She pointed to the box in the other room.  “Although I’ve never known you to shop online.  Are we entering the twenty-first century at last?”

“That wasn’t anything I purchased.  It was a box full of gifts, from Ebenezer Manning,” Viki joked.

“Uncle Todd sent gifts here?” Jessica asked, surprise brightening her face.

“Yes, and there are a number of gifts for Bree, Ryder and Liam, as well as for the both of you,” Viki said as she stepped aside for her daughters to see.  “But the majority of them are for Starr, Jack and Sam.”

“Is mine ticking?” Natalie commented in a drool voice.  When Viki gave her an exasperated look, her daughter ignored it and asked, “Why did he send their gifts here?”

“Well, he was concerned that they won’t get to them…that Dorian would throw them out,” she explained.  “Which I wouldn’t put past her.”  Her task complete, Viki went to go get her purse.  “I’m going to head over to La Boulaie.  Todd also asked me to invite them over after the service at St. James’ so they can get them.  I’ll see you in a bit.”

==============================================================================

The doorbell rang at La Boulaie.  Blair hurried down the stairs, a pit forming in her stomach.  The last few months had been more nerve wracking than normal.  Every time the phone rang or the doorbell sounded, she was fearful that the authorities were on the other end, telling her something had happened to Todd.  She paused before opening the door, steeling herself for the terrible news.

A smile burst onto her face when she saw what was on the other side.  “Starr!” she cried, wrapping her arms around her first born.

“Mom,” Starr shouted as she returned her mother’s fierce hug. 

When they broke apart, Blair held her at arm’s length.  “What…where…How did you?”  A million questions ran through Blair’s head.

Starr could see the confusion on her mother’s face.  “Dad.  His pilot showed up at my apartment saying he wanted me to come home for Christmas.  I guess he wanted it to be a surprise,” she explained. 

Through tears, Blair replied, “Well, it worked.”

“So, where is he?”  her daughter asked.  “I want to thank him.”

Before Blair could answer, Sam called from the top of the stairs “Starr!  You’re home!”  He ran down to his sister and clamped himself to her leg.

“Hey, Sam.  Oh, I missed you so much!” Starr fussed over him as Jack came down the stair.  When Starr looked up at him, his face was a mix of happiness and smugness.   “Jack, I missed you,” she said as she gave him a hug.

Jack nodded.  “Yeah, well, not half as much, I’m sure, as Scarface missed you,” Jack said.  “But at least you’re here to help Mom pick up the pieces now that he’s gone again.”

Starr’s eyes went wide and she turned back to Blair.  “Mom, Dad’s gone?”

Blair let out a sigh.  “You’re Daddy’s on a business trip,” she explained.

“That’s been going on for months.  Mom, face it, he’s not coming back.  Move on with your life already,” Jack threw back as he headed to the kitchen.

Sam looked to Starr then his mother.  “Uncle Todd will come back.  He promised me!  Jack’s just being mean.”  With that, he scampered off.

Starr turned towards where her brothers had disappeared to and took her mother’s hand.  “Tell me what happened.”

As before, another interruption stopped the conversation.  Blair was surprised, though, to find Viki there.  “Viki hello.  How are you doing?” she asked quickly.

“Hello Blair and, is that Starr?”  Viki asked.  Blair smiled and stepped aside as Viki came in and embraced her niece.  “Well, this is a lovely surprise to have you home!”

Starr nodded smilingly.  “Dad sent the jet to LA to pick me up.  He thought I should come home for the holidays…or so his pilot told me.”

“Then, you didn’t speak to your father?” Viki asked, a note of concern in her voice.

“No.  In fact, just as you rang the bell, Mom was going to tell me what’s going on with Dad,” Starr said as she looked to her mother. 

Viki could tell that a serious talk was about to occur between mother and daughter and felt out of place being there for it.  She decided to make it brief.  “Well, as it just so happens, I got a package from Todd today…a large one filled with Christmas presents.”  She turned to Blair.  “He felt it was safer sending it to Llanfair, according to his note.  But he also asked me to invite you all over after Christmas Eve services to give them to you.”  Viki could see the emotions playing out on Blair’s face.  She knew in her heart how much the younger woman loved her brother and she could see there was pain there in this latest separation.  “Please say you’ll come.”

Blair tried to rein herself in.  “Yes, of course we’ll come.  We’ll see you later then.”  Viki nodded and as she walked out the front door, touched Blair’s shoulder in a comforting manner.  Blair turned to her and offered her an appreciative smile. 

When Viki left, Starr took her mother’s hands again.  “Tell me what’s happened.”

Blair was waging an internal struggle to tell her daughter the truth about what had happed over the summer, from the notes threatening Todd and his family to the heartbreaking goodbye they had to endure.  At last, she broke down and told her daughter everything.  Starr was shocked by all that had happened.  She berated herself for staying away while her family had been under siege.  And she had missed that she had gotten back something she had never thought would happened again.    As Blair began to calm down, Starr thought it a good idea to inject a little levity.  “Well, Dad was right.  He was going to get you back eventually.”

Blair nodded.  “Yes, he did.  But it has to stay our secret.  At least, the marriage.  Jack kind of barged in on us, but no one else knows we…”

Starr’s eyes went wide.  “Really?  And how traumatized was he?” she asked with a wink.

“He didn’t catch us in the act!  Just, he barged into your Dad’s room and I came out of the bedroom putting on a jacket.  It was no more than that morning you woke up to your father in our room at the Palace,” Blair chided.

“Yes, I remember that morning.  And I know what you did the night before,” she said with glee. 

Blair blushed but she was well aware at how unusually comfortable her daughter was with the idea of her parents together.  “Look, missy, I think you need to get yourself together for church, especially since I need to ride herd on your brothers.  I want to lay down the law with Jack, after that crack he just made.” 

As Blair went to look for her sons, Starr looked at the Christmas tree, where it had always been, in front of the French doors.  She looked to the star at the top of the tree, the inspiration for her name that her mother always told her was a gift from her father.  She sent up a silent thank you to wherever he was and a prayer that he was safe.

==============================================================================

It was unsurprising that, come six o’clock in Llanview, the good citizens headed to their various houses of worship for services.  It was terribly predictable.  But, it gave one man the opportunity he needed.  As he saw the car head off to St. James’ carrying Viki, Jessica, Brody and their kids, Todd Manning headed around the back and discovered, happily, that the doors into the library were, as usual, unlocked.  “Seriously, with the number of whackjobs in this town, you’d think my sister would have the good sense to make sure these are all secure,” he muttered to himself as he slipped in. 

He looked around the room and found it as nauseatingly cheery as he’d expected.  Then he looked down and saw the abundance of gifts there, noting that the ones he had sent were there.  He stepped over them as he shed his coat to go to the wet bar.  Unfortunately, his stealth skills had diminished and he tripped.  He didn’t think it was that loud until the door to the library opened and Lois, Viki’s long-time housekeeper, nearly screamed.

“SHHHHH!” he said, praying there was no one else in the house.

When Lois gathered her wits back, she narrowed her eyes.  “Mr. Manning?  What are you doing here?  And why did you think to sneak in the back?”

“I’m a Christmas surprise?” he answered weakly, shrugging his shoulders.  “Is there anyone else here?”

Lois shook her head.  “Ms. Lord, Lt. and Mrs. Lovett and their children are all out to church.”

“Mrs. Lovett?  Jessica married him?”  Todd snarked.  “How did the redhead take it?”  As Todd continued to get a disapproving look, he held up his hands.  “Sorry.  Is the redhead going to be coming back here later?”

“Yes,” Lois said.  “Mrs. Banks and Liam will be returning with the family.”

Todd shook his head.  “Good.  Great.  Look, don’t tell anyone I’m here.  I’m going to close the doors so leave them closed.  Christmas surprise and all,” he told her as he hurried her out of the room and did as he said.  Now, all he had to do was wait.

==============================================================================

As the congregation of St. James’ filed out of the church, Viki signaled and caught Blair’s attention.  “Are we all together?” she asked around to her family.  After the various affirmative answers were registered, Viki caught sight of Tea.  “Maybe we should ask if she’d like to join us,” Viki asked Blair.

“I’ll go over and see,” she replied as she walked over to her sister-in-law.  “Hey,” Blair whispered to the lawyer as Tea turned around.  “Viki wanted to know if you wanted to come over to Llanfair.  She’s having us there.”

Tea looked back to see Viki’s smiling countenance but shook her head glumly.  “No, I have work I need to get done.”

“Tea, it’s Christmas Eve,” Blair pleaded to her.

“And it’s a good time for me to get ahead,” Tea countered.  Then she saw the look on Blair’s face.  “It’s been a rough year and all I want to do is have a long winter’s rest.  Please?”  When Blair nodded, Tea turned to leave.  “Feliz Navidad,” she said.

Blair walked back to the collected Lord/Buchanan/Mannings.  “She said she had a lot of work to do,” was the lame response.  As the kids filed out to the cars, she let out a sigh.  “It’s been really rough on her.  Victor was around for such a short time and now he seems to have vanished off the face of the earth…I can understand not wanting to deal with family.  And she’s been going through so many rough spots with Dani and her boyfriend.”  Blair turned back to where Tea had walked off to.  “I’ll check back with her the day after Christmas.”

Viki smiled at Blair.  “I think I will too.”  As she noticed Jessica signaling to her, she said, “Let’s get everyone back to Llanfair.  I know Ryder and Liam were eying up the packages before we left.”

==============================================================================

Lois saw the headlight as the cars made their way up the long driveway.  She popped her head into the library.  “The family seems to be home.  Do you need me to do anything?”

Todd had to smile.  The last thing he had expected was any conspiring from Viki’s help.  “Just, make sure they all have their coats off, stuff like that.  And keep the doors closed.”  As Lois left, she nodded yes to him.

A minute later, the front doors opened and Ms. Lord stepped in with both of her daughters, their three children, Miss Jessica’s husband and Ms. Cramer and her three children.  As she took their coats, she could hear Mr. Manning’s son, Jack, already grousing about being there.  “Why can’t we just go back to La Boulaie?”

“Because, Jack, we’re family and family spends the holidays together,” Viki said.

“Besides, without Aunt Dorian there this year, it’s just the four of us.  Isn’t it better to be in a full house?” Starr asked him, but just getting a petulant look as an answer.

“Where is Dorian?” Natalie asked as she handed Liam’s coat to Lois.

“Carl Peterson invited her to Washington for the holiday.  She protested a bit but then David walked by and made a comment, so of course, she had to show him up,” Blair explained. 

“Maybe I should call him and see if he wants to join us tonight,” Viki questioned.  But after letting it hang, she turned to the family, her back to the double doors.  “Now, I have it on good authority,” she began to Liam, Ryder, Bree and Sam, “that Santa’s making some early stops and one of them was here!  Shall we go see what he left?”  As the children cheered delightfully, Viki threw open the door.

The cheering stopped so suddenly, you could hear a pin drop on the tiled foyer floor.

==============================================================================

In Todd’s mind, it all went the way he pictured it.  There was his family, some unwanted, but just about everyone who was important to him, standing there in stunned silence.  His eyes wandered from Viki and Jessica to Starr and the boys.  Lastly, they fell on Blair.  No one could speak from the other side of the room, so he decided to break the ice.  “Merry Christmas,” he declared through the lump forming in his throat. 

“Todd?” Viki asked as she walked up to him. 

Usually totally reluctant to even accept a hug, he opened his arms and Viki fell into them.  “Hey sis,” he said as he rubbed her back.  He kissed her cheek, stepping back to ask, “Did you miss me?”

With a teary smile, she answered, “Of course I did.”  She then stepped aside, knowing there were others there who Todd was desperate to see.

He walked up to Jessica.  “So, Mrs. Lovett?” he asked his golden-haired niece.  “When did that happen?”

“A few months back.  Just a small wedding at a registry office in London with Cord, Tina and my brothers,” Jessica replied.  “And our children, of course.”  She touched Bree on the shoulder as Brody picked up Ryder.

He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her cheek.  “Well, if anything goes bad, come and see me.  I have my methods of disposing of unworthy suitors of my nieces.”  As he said that, his eyes flickered to Natalie.  “Merry Christmas to you,” he said blandly.  “And I’m not going to apologize for sending that picture.  He was way too close to that woman before that and I doubted that he’d have ever told you.”  That said, he moved on to his children.

With his uncle standing in front of him, Sam turned to Jack.  “See, I told you he’d be back!”  Then, to Todd, “Jack didn’t believe that you’d come back.  But I told Santa I wanted you to come home.  I asked Santa that last year but I knew he wouldn’t disappoint me two years in a row.”

“No, Sam, he wouldn’t, but it wasn’t Santa’s fault last year.  And I’m sorry.  It was all on me,” Todd said as he hugged the little guy.

“You’re here now, so it’s all good!” his nephew replied.

Todd stood up and looked and Starr and Jack.  Then, he grabbed the both of them together in one hug.  Starr, knowing him and her brother well, clamped her arm around Jack to keep him in the embrace.  It shocked both Todd and Starr when Jack didn’t even struggle to get out of it.  “Oh you don’t know how much I missed you,” he said breathlessly to them both as they clumped together.  Todd stood back, his hand on the back of Jack’s neck.  “You keeping an eye on your mother and brother for me?”

“It’s what I always do,” Jack said simply.  But Jack couldn’t hide the emotions he was feeling, seeing Todd.  He realized just then he’d never seen the rush of pride from Victor that was so plain on Todd’s face at that moment.

Todd nodded and turned to Starr.  “I see you got your message.  You really have been in LA too long.  That place fries your brain.  Trust me, I know, Shorty.”

Starr’s eyes narrowed, her voice pitched in annoyance.  “How did you…you’ve been spying on me?”

“I like to think of it as keeping an eye on my little girl.  You’re a lot like me, you can get into trouble all on your own,” he said.

A smile broke across her mouth.  “Thank you.”

Nodding grimly, he turned his attention to Blair.  He stepped away from the children and held her gaze for a whole minute.  A thousand thought raced through his mind and then coalesced into one idea, one thing he needed more than anything else.  He grabbed her and kissed her, months of passion overflowing from him.  He was not surprised that she met him with an equal vigor and they forgot themselves or where they were.  It was only a happy squeak from Bree (or was it from Starr?) that brought them out of their rapture.  They broke apart and, in what he thought was a whisper, he said, “Mrs. Manning.”

Momentary confused played across her face and she noted the surprise on the faces of various members of Todd’s family.  But she was emboldened by him calling her that and she returned it, saying “Mr. Manning.”

Todd eyes slid towards Starr and Jack.  His daughter wore a smug expression, almost a mirror of his own.  His son was unreadable but when he seemed to notice the pride on Blair’s face, he acquiesced, wearing a cheeky grin.  “Just make sure I don’t catch you again,” Jack said.

“Why?  That’s half the fun,” Starr retorted.

“Ewww, you mean you’ve…?”  Jack didn’t even finish that question.

Starr’s grin broadened.  “You don’t want to know when I caught them.”

As much as Todd enjoyed the sibling teasing, he shook his head at Starr.  “It’s better to leave those bombs to be dropped when you need them,” he gently scolded.  Then he turned to the rest of the gathered Lords.  Looking to Viki, he said, “I know you have to put you’re two cents into this.  Go ahead.  Say whatever it is you want to say.”

Viki walked up to Todd and took his hand and Blair’s.  “I am so happy that you both found your way back to each other.  It’s been a long time coming.”  When Todd’s eyebrows shot up his forehead, Viki looked insulted.  “You told me over two years ago, you wanted everything back that you had lost…the paper, your money, your children, but especially Blair.  It took you a long time, but you got it all back.”

Todd was about to comment but Blair stopped him.  “Let’s just enjoy Christmas as a family.”  She drew him into another kiss.  Todd forgot what he was about to say.

==============================================================================

The hours sped by and Todd was surprised how much he was enjoying himself in the bosom of his family.  He hadn’t made a snarky comment about anything, even when Natalie cautiously opened her present, a sapphire and diamond bracelet that matched the one Todd gave Jessica.  The youngest kids, Sam included, went into the sun room to play with all the neat toys Todd had bought for them.  As the clock stuck midnight, Todd looked at Blair.  “I need to get something out of my car.  Can you help me?”

Blair noted his expression but quietly left with him.  Once they were outside, she looked sad, knowing what was going to happen.  “You have to leave, don’t you?”

Todd nodded.  “It’s amazing I’ve even been able to keep secrets from you.  You know me better than I know myself.”  He rested his forehead against hers, will the tears to stop.  “This…this was a respite.  I shouldn’t even be here, I may have put all of you in danger.”

“Todd, this was the greatest present I could ever receive…seeing you, knowing you’re safe.  I couldn’t have asked for anything else,” she said as the tears began to fall.

“Gift giving at the holidays was always your forte,” he said with a smirk.

“You have topped anything I could have ever given,” she replied as she place a soft kiss on his lips.  As the tears fell harder, she had to ask, “When will I see you again?”

The ever present lump that had been nestled in Todd’s throat since the door to the Lord Library opened made its presence known again.  “I don’t know.  I’m trying Blair, I’m really trying.  They have me jumping through fifty thousand hoops and I don’t feel any closer to finding Victor.”  He looked to Blair.  “How’s Tea holding up?”  There was an actual measure of concern in his voice. 

“She’s not handling any of this.  She’s trying, she knows Victor loves her, but there is so much unknown for her…”  Blair couldn’t finish her sentence.

Todd merely nodded.  He went to the driver’s side door and reach across to grab his briefcase.  Opening it, he took out a small box.  “I’m surprised you never noticed there wasn’t anything under the tree for you.”

A smirk crossed her face.  “I thought you were my present.”

“Just one measly gift, for you?  Never!”  He handed her the box and when she opened it, saw a five carat, marquise cut ring.  “Oh, Todd,” she whispered.

“I understand that there’s danger if you wear it.  It will be taken for what it’s meant as.  You can hold off until…until I come home,” he managed to get out. 

She took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger.  “I will wear it, with pride.”  They kissed again and Blair wanted to hold on, hold on and not let him go.  But at last she did and he slipped into the car.  As he he started it, he said, “Tell the kids…tell them I love them.”

“You know I will,” she replied. 

He was about to pull the car out when he said, “Tell Viki everything.  She should know.  Her family is in danger too.  But wait until after Christmas.  I love you.”

“And I love you!” she cried as the car rolled down the street.  As it disappeared into the night, she walked over to a tree and collapsed against it.  She didn’t want to go back into Llanfair in this state.  It took her a few minutes but she made her way back to the house. 

As she approached the front door, it opened and Viki came out.  She looked around and seeing Blair alone, surmised what had happened.  “He’s gone, isn’t he?”  Blair could only nod an answer.  “Can you tell me what is going on?”

Blair took a deep breath.  “Can I tell you after the holidays?”  Viki offered an incredulous look, but Blair pleaded, “I promise, I will tell you everything.”

Viki agreed.  As they walked into the house, the light from the chandelier caught the diamond on Blair’s finger.  She thought about what she could say.  “Blair, I know that you and I have had issues over the years.  Please understand, I have never doubted Todd’s love for you or yours for him.  If you need me, I will be there for you.”  Then, her eyes dropped to the ring.  “And I suspect, when someone we both knows see that, you may need me.”

Blair offered a pained look.  As beautiful as the ring was, she knew the reaction it would draw from Dorian.  “Well, going to have to deal with it.  And now that Todd got called back for an emergency meeting, I may just take you up on that, when the time comes.” 

Viki caught the subtle hint her sister-in-law was sending.  “Well, then, I guess we should tell the children.  But it was a lovely time, while we had it.”

Blair nodded.  “It’s something we’ll hold in our hearts until he comes home for good.”