The Devil You Know: Chapter 36

Todd had tried to get some work done, but after the practice and running into half of his family, his concentration was nil.  And it only got worse, when he thought he saw someone in the reception area.  He got up and hobbled to the door, where he found Dr. Kevin Collins outside. 

“I was looking for your assistant, but she doesn’t seem to be here,” Kevin said.

“She wanted to help out with the Nurses Ball, so I gave her the rest of the day off,” Todd said. 

“Robin Scorpio-Drake was Maxie’s cousin, so it makes sense,” Kevin reasoned. 

“Something I can help you with, Collins?  I’m kinda busy,” Todd asked as he went back into his office.

“I was wondering the same thing about you.  Is there anything I can help you with?  You took quite a header there on stage,” Kevin asked, concern evident.

“Ah, I got a hard head.  Ask any of my family,” Todd replied.  “Besides, I’ve come back from worse.  Went over a cliff in Ireland years ago.”

“And you managed to survive.  That’s quite impressive.”  Kevin milled around the office before turning back to Todd.  “I was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to talk…about what you saw today.”

“What do you mean, what I saw today?”  Todd knew what he was getting at, but he’d be damned to admit it. 

Kevin realized this would be a tough nut to crack.  “Blair said that before you passed out, you said Peter Manning.  He was the man who raised you, correct?”

“If you can call it that,” Todd muttered under his breath.  When he noticed Kevin trying to catch what he said, he tried to wave off the shrink.  “Peter Manning was my adoptive father, a fact I didn’t learn until I was almost twenty-five years old.  When he and his wife divorced, he was awarded custody mostly because he was named my guardian by the terms of my biological father’s trust fund.”

“And was he a good father?” Kevin knew the question was prying but he gave it a shot.

“What is a good father, huh?  I mean, really.  I like to think of myself as a good father, and I schemed multiple times to keep my kids away from their mother when they were little.  Hell, I even paid my lawyer five million to marry me to keep custody,” Todd told him.

“Okay, compared to you, was Peter a good father?”

“Well, I never hit my kids, if that’s any comparison.”  Todd’s gaze was turned away from Kevin and focused no where.  He was getting lost in memories. 

“Todd, have you ever talked about Peter Manning with anyone?  About him hitting you or how it felt to learn so late in life you were adopted?”  Kevin asked.

Something about that seemed to snap Todd out of the fog.  “Why do you want to know?” he asked, suspiciously.

Kevin shrugged his shoulder.  “I observed you earlier and after you left, Blair told Lucy and I a bit.”  He looked at Todd, straight in the eye.  “She’s worried about you.”

“Well, she doesn’t have anything to worry about.  She knows me better than anyone else and she knows that I’m a bit…messed up,” Todd assured him.  Then he glanced down at his watch.  “Look, Doc, I have to get home.  I have my sisters and my stepfather, sort of, coming over for dinner.”  He stood up and Kevin did the same.  “Um, I’m sure I’ll be talking to Lucy more about the Ball, so, with that, I’ll say goodnight.”  And then, Todd hustled Kevin out of the office before locking up himself. 

By the time he got home, he saw that Viki, Clint, Tina and Cord were already there, and, even worse, Viki, along with Blair, was fawning over a number of the pictures Harry had given them.  He took a deep breath and walked into the library.  “You pulled out the baby pictures already?”

“Yes, mostly because they are so adorable,” his eldest sister replied, an indulgent smile on her face.  “In fact, you know who you remind me of here?” she asked, holding up one of him from around his first birthday.

“If you say the old man, I swear--”

Viki actually laughed at that.  “No, no, no.  Not Father.”

“Good,” Todd huffed.

“You remind me of Kevin in this picture,” Viki informed him.  Her eyes never lost their bemusement.

Todd’s eyes rolled back in his hand.  “If you all will excuse me, I’m going to take a long walk off our short dock outside.”  He decided then that he may actually have preferred to resemble Victor Senior, rather than his annoying nephew. 

“Now, Todd.  Behave yourself,” Blair chided him.

“Why, is Kevin coming?”  But he saw the flash in her eyes and he calmed down.  “Fine, but can we please put the pictures away, at least for now?” 

“That’s alright, but Blair, I’m going to take this one, if it’s okay,” Viki said.

“Take as many as you’d like.  Harry really gave us too many,” she replied as the doorbell rang.  As Todd turned towards it, Reginald made a beeline and opened the door to Harry Redding. 

Todd made his way over, his hand outstretched.  “Harry, great of you to join us.  Please, come in.”

“Thank you again for including me in this dinner.”  Harry took off his jacket and handed it to the butler.  “I must admit, I have been looking forward to meeting the rest of your family more since you introduced them earlier at the hotel.”

“Well, that’ll wear off in no time,” Todd grimaced, until Harry turned back to him, when Todd plastered a smile on his face.  He then led the elderly man into the study.  “Harry, this is my family.  Family, Harry Redding.”

Blair offered the man a lopsided smile.  “Since Todd still hasn’t learned how to be a gracious host, allow me.  Harry, these are Todd’s sisters, Viki and Tina and their husbands, Clint Buchanan and Cord Roberts, respectively.”

“And you are sir?” Cord asked politely.

“I was married to Todd’s mother, Barbara Manning, until her death.  He recently got back in touch with me and he and his family visited me in Chicago after Thanksgiving,” Harry told them.

As if on cue, Sam Manning came racing down the stairs.  “Grandpa Harry, I thought I heard you.  I’m so happy to see you!” he called out as he tried to launch himself into the man’s arms. 

“I’m so happy to see you too,” he responded.

Jack made his way down the stairs as well and Starr and Sarah came through the front door.  Todd’s children each gave Harry a hug before introducing him to their cousin. 

When Blair went to check on dinner, Todd followed her into the kitchen.  “So, Dr. Collins had a chat with me this afternoon.  You were talking about me to him?”

Blair’s back stiffened as she turned and faced Todd.  “After you passed out, he was concerned.  He’s a doctor, it’s his job.”

“He’s a shrink.  You know how I feel about shrinks, Blair,” he stated as softly as he could. 

“Todd, you thought you saw Peter in the ballroom and you passed out.  I’m sorry, but I have to say it.  I’m getting more and more worried about you,” she told him.  “And it’s not just since Chicago.  You were having nightmares of shooting Victor for months and you never have dealt with what you were put through with Irene.”  She put her hands on his strong arms.  “Todd, you’ve never really faced what happened to you in Ireland.”

“Blair, that was twenty years ago.  There’s nothing to deal with!”  His voice got louder than he had intended. 

“Yes, and all this time, you’ve shut down about it,” she cried but then tried to reign in her emotions.  “Todd, I love you so much.  You don’t need to be strong about any of this.  I know you’ve had things to face, terrible things.  Let us help you, me, the kids, your sisters.”

“Blair,” he began, calmer than before, “Blair, I’m fine, I promise.”  He gathered her up in his arms and kissed her passionately.  “Come on, it me.  You’ve known I’ve had issues for as long as you’ve known me.  I’ve gotten through them before, I’ll get through them now.”  He looked back towards the dining room.  “Our company can only be getting suspicious of us.  Let’s get the food in there and eat.  I’m starving.”  He turned and head back to the dining room.

Before he could take two steps, however, Blair caught his hand.  “Fine,” she said, gulping in a breath.  “You say you are okay, you’re okay.  But Todd, if I see anything…”

Todd saw the tears threatening to fall.  He stepped back to her and wiped them away.  “Fine.  I’ll make a deal with you.  You see anything, I’ll get help, I promise.”  Then Todd headed back out of the kitchen.  Before he stepped into the living room, though, he felt the need to take several deep breaths.  Then, to himself, he said, “Now Manning, you just gotta keep a lid on this, at least until after the holidays.”

As Todd walked back into the dining room, he never saw that Jack was standing there or that his son had heard him.



*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Your comments are 'payment' for the work of the authors. Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.