The Devil You Know: Chapter 50

Todd put his hand on her stomach.  “You’re happy about it, aren’t you?”



Blair smiled brilliantly.  “Of course I am.  How could you ask me that?”



“Good,” he said.  “I can’t wait to meet our new little girl.”  Blair’s eye grew wide with questions.  “Merrie told me, hoped it would be what brought me back.”



“Todd…?” she asked.  She didn’t like the turn this conversation was taking. 



“Merrie told me and I still couldn’t go back.  I thought, for a few minutes there, that she’d be better off without me.  I even lied to myself that Jack and Starr were for all those years I was…,” Todd said.



“Todd, none of us were any good without you,” she assured him.



“Well, Delgado seemed to make it out alright.”



Blair scowled at him. 



“I didn’t…I couldn’t face the memories…of seeing Victor, of seeing him being taken away.  But he was there.  He was with me and Merrie was with me and they helped me face it,’ Todd told her.



“What happened?” 



“The night Peter…my mother told me to run, to get out.  I did and when I got to the street, got down a ways, I ran into my twin.  He was running from a car that Irene was in.  We took off together and hid in the shed.  We were there for a while, but Irene must have found us.  She dragged him out and shoved me against a wall.  Before I lost consciousness, I heard her say she wished I was never born.  I guess something inside of me connect her with being my mother, but all the things I believed, about the diary, about who she was, glossed over the memory.  Then, when I got back to Llanview it all started coming to the surface.”



“And Chicago really brought it home?” she asked, unnecessarily.



“Yeah.  I knew it would be bad, right from the start, but I promised the kids.”  He smiled sheepishly.  “And you know how I hate to disappoint them.”



“Oh, Todd, you should have said something earlier.  You know I’d do anything to help you,” Blair told him, burying her face in his chest.



“And how often have I actually asked for help?  I don’t…I don’t like feeling needy,” Todd tried to explain.  “I keep trying to fix things by myself.”  He rolled his eyes.  “And it always works out so well.”



“Oh, yes,” she replied, her voice matching his in sarcasm.  “Real well, always has.”  She laughed, unable to keep the tone in her voice.  “Seriously, how many schemes and plans of yours have actually worked?”



Todd shook his head.  “I don’t want to think about my failures.  Only my successes.”



“And what would those be?”



“Well, I turned a rag into a number of successful tabloids.  I have a thriving media empire.”  He looked at Blair.  “Three wonderful kids and a woman…who saved me and still does.”



“Three?  I count four now,” she corrected.



“Yes, that’s right.  And the newest Manning needs a name.”



“Well, you inspired Starr’s name and let me name Jack.  I think you should actually name this one,” Blair said.



“Thank you because I kinda already had one picked out.  I have since I found out.”



Blair smiled.  She had a feeling she knew what that name would be.  “Then what is going to be our new daughter’s name?”



“Meredith,” he said, almost breathless.



Blair nodded.  “Meredith Victoria,” she amended.  When Todd gave her a quizzed look, she explained.  “Meredith for your sister, of course and Victoria for her aunt and uncle.  Because it was Victor who helped you come back to me tonight.  And Viki has always been there for you.”



“You sure about that?  I was thinking something from the Cramer side, especially to appease the head witch,” Todd said



“Are you sure you’re alright, because I can’t remember you ever wanting to appease Dorian.”



Todd turned away, his eyes getting that dreamy, faraway look to them.  Blair asked him what was wrong.  He answered, “I can’t wait to see the look on Dorian’s face when we tell her the baby’s name.  Meredith Victoria Manning.  Can you imagine that?”



With Todd, Blair could imagine anything.



While Todd and Blair were dreaming of their new little girl, at the Metrocourt, Tina was looking for Carly.   She had insisted on going and setting the place for the wedding and knowing that Carly was a friend of Todd and Blair’s, she wanted to handle it.  Starr had protested but Tina pretended not to hear and left on her mission.



She found the hotelier in the grand ballroom supervising cleanup from the previous night.  With her was a tall, blonde-haired man, devastatingly handsome with some kind of accent in his voice. She had remembered seeing him the night before.  While the two seemed to be in deep discussion, Tina decided to go up and interrupt.  “Carly, can I talk to you?”



Carly turned and looked at the new voice.  “Tina!” Her first thought was of Todd.  “How is your brother?  I heard he had to be taken to the hospital last night.  Is everything alright?”



“Yes, Todd’s fine, according to his kids,” Tina replied.  “He’s always trying to keep attention on himself.”



Carly turned back to the other man.  “Her brother, he did the “Unforgettable” skit.  I heard that right afterwards he collapsed backstage.”  Then she looked between Tina and the man.  “I’m sorry, Jasper Jacks, Tina Roberts.  Tina. My husband, Jasper Jacks.”



“Yes, I saw her last night with her husband, I’m guessing, Cord Roberts.  He’s Asa Buchanan’s grandson, right?  Buchanan Enterprises?” the man asked.  He took her hand and kissed it.  “A pleasure to meet you.”



“Why, thank you,” Tina replied, acting all girlish.  She also noted the look Carly was giving her.  “Mr. Jacks, if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to your wife about a few things,”



“Of course,” he said and turned to Carly.  “I’ll see you at the house.  I haven’t spent much time with Joss since I got here and you have business to conduct.  See you later.”  With that, he left.



The women watched him go.  Then, a note of exasperation in her voice, Carly asked, “What do you want, Tina?”



“Well, I have a business proposal for you,” she began.  Taking out Todd’s file on the wedding plans, she said, “My brother is at last going to remarry Blair.”  She couldn’t help but make a face, which Carly noticed and was amused by.  “I’d like to book this room for it.”



“Really?  I was under the impression from Todd months ago that when he and Blair got remarried, it would be back in Llanview at the church where they got married,” Carly said.



“Well, things have changed and I am sure that my brother will want to make it legal as soon as possible.  Whenever Blair is in the family way…” Tina commented.



“Blair’s pregnant?” Carly nearly shouted.  Then she got strangely giddy.  “Oh, they must be so happy!”  Then she calmed down, getting into a business mindset.  “When were they looking to have the wedding?”



“We, we’re still not sure when he’s going to be released from the hospital but also, they don’t know that this is being planned.  Starr, Jessica and I are making the arrangements.  We have two days picked out but the main determiner will be when Todd comes home.”  Tina told Carly the two dates and Carly checked, verifying that both were available. 



She penciled them off and, with an equally playful gleam in her eyes, asked, “So, what else do we need for this wedding?”



Tina smiled.  “The name of a party company that can supply gold balloons.”





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