Note: I haven't written a Todd and Blair fic, or any fic for that matter, since 1999 when I was very active in the 'Todd Wars' and ran my own OLTL fansite. I'm horrifically rusty so please bear with me.

Christmas morning, 2011

Blair is startled awake when her cell phone starts to ring. Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, she peers over at the clock. 2:45am. Groaning, she picks up the call. "Hello," she says groggily.

"Hey, did I wake you?" Todd's voice crackles over the line.

"It's a quarter to 3, what do you think? Why are you calling me so early?"

Todd's voice bursts excitedly over the line. "I'm out front. I've presents for the kids, come downstairs and let me in."

Blair sits up, shaking her head with a small laugh. "This couldn't wait until a decent hour?"

"Nah, come on, it's my first Christmas in 8 years. Get down here and let me in."

With a roll of her eyes, Blair throws back the covers. "I'll be right down." She ends the call, and climbs out of bed, pausing briefly in front of the full-length mirror to give herself the once over. The chemise clings to her body in all the right places. She frowns and grabs a robe. No sense giving him the wrong idea.

In front of La Boulaie, Todd paces back and forth, a large bag of presents tossed casually over his shoulder. A feeling of excitement rises inside him. He knows he probably should follow Starr's advise and not push it, but the afternoon of tree-trimming the week before made him want this day more than he could have imagined.

The front door swung open. "Todd?," Blair said with a small laugh, a smile crossing her face. He whips around, the Santa hat atop his head falling slightly askew.

"Merry Christmas, Blair," he grins, walking through the door. She closes the doors over, following him into the living room, watching amused as he places his bag of gifts on the floor, and theatrically removes and flings his coat onto Dorian's couch. Walking to the tree, he turns on the lights, and turns to face her. "Wanna help me put this batch under the tree? There's more in the car, only like 3 more bags... I may have gone overboard."

Blair crosses the room, pulling the belt on her robe tight across her midsection. 'May have?,' she says with a laugh, surveying the huge bag brimming with gifts. 'It looks like you bought out Logan's!'

"Yeah, well, you know spend 8 years locked up without any presents and you'd kinda go overboard too," he says softly, a frown crossing his face. "I just wanted to make today special." He sinks to the floor, grabbing presents from the bag and starts laying them out under the tree.

Blair slides to the floor next to him, touching his arm gently. He looks up from his present distributing, looking at her curiously, his Santa hat still askew. "Of course it's special, Todd. Starr is so happy to have her daddy back, and Jack..." her voice trailed off. "Well Jack is starting to come around. And Sam just adores you."

Todd continues to pull presents from the bag, workman-like as he places them around the tree. "Sam's a great kid, Blair." He reaches into the bag, and emerges holding a small present in his hands. "You're a great mother." He glances over at her, his face unreadable.

Blair looks at him kindly. "Thank you, Todd. You know, there was a time when I never thought you'd be able to say that to me." She smiles. "You're a great dad, too you know. And a great granddaddy, based on all these presents you bought for Hope!" She pulled another gift out of the bag, giggling. "Starr's going to kill you for spoiling her little girl."

"Come on, we spoiled Shorty like crazy and she turned out pretty good." He still held the small present in his hands, considering it carefully. He turned to Blair, smiling nervously. "Ahh, what the hell. Here," he says, handing her the gift.

Blair's eyes flash with excitement, taking the present. "Oooh, for me?," she squeals gleefully. Todd nods, a small smile still playing on his lips. "You always do give the best presents."

"No, I think you take top honors there, Blair." He leans over, brushing his fingers gently against her hair. "The first Christmas gift you ever gave me will always be my favorite."

Blair blushes, the memory washing over her warmly. She turns to lock eyes with him. "That was some night..." Todd moves in slowly, but Blair draws back, laughing nervously. "Seems like an eternity ago. To think that the Christmas after that one, I thought I'd lost you forever." She shakes her head, the sad memories coming over her again. "Finding all of the presents you had left for me and our little girl before you went to Ireland..." Her voice trails off, and she draws a deep breath, unwilling to look at him. "You named our little girl that day, and I thought that was going to be the last gift you ever gave me."

A tear slips slowly down her cheek, and Todd reaches over to brush it away. "Hey." She blinks back the tears, and cautiously makes eye contact with him again. "There's no crying on Christmas." He nods to the box in her hands. "Open your present."

Blair looks down at the small box in her hands. The wrapping paper is gold, and tied with a sheer gold ribbon. Thoughts of gold balloons flash through her mind as she opens the package. A ring box. "Todd -"

"-Just open it before you say anything."

Slowly, she opens the box, and finds a ring with multi-colored gems buffered by alternating diamonds. She looks up at Todd quizzically. "It's beautiful, Todd."

He reaches over and takes the ring out of the box. He glances over at her as he takes her right hand, sliding the ring onto ring finger. "It's called a mother's ring. The colored ones are the birthstones of the kids."

She notices that he continues to hold her hand as she looks at the ring again. "There are four birthstones there, Todd."

Todd swallows hard. "The red stone," he says pointing to the garnet, "is for Starr. That firey looking stone there is for Jack. Kinda fitting when you think about it," he says with a laugh. Blair continues to look at him intently, her eyes watering again. "The purple stone is for Sam. I know you didn't give birth to him, but he's your kid in every way that matters."

Blair blinks back tears. "And the emerald?" She knows the answer, but wants to hear him say it.

Todd can't bring himself to look at her. "The emerald is for May," he says quietly. "For Brendan. And for the son we lost." The tears come hard now, and crushed, Todd releases her hand. "I didn't do this to upset you, I didn't mean to -"

"-You haven't," Blair assures, wiping away her tears, trying to figure out a way to formulate her thoughts. Todd starts to move away from her but she grabs his hands in hers, squeezing them tightly. "Thank you. Thank you for this beautiful ring and for acknowledging Brendan. And the baby we lost before Starr."

He looks at his hands in hers, considering his words carefully. "When you spent years with nothing but your memories, you spend a lot of time playing over every moment of your life and trying to figure out how things would have been different, if only you had made another choice." He strokes her hand gently with his thumb. "There are the obvious things I would change, like that night at the KAD house, and what I did to Jack. But then there are other the other things..." His voice trails off and he finally brings himself to look at her. "I was horrible to you, when I came back from Ireland, and -"

"-Todd," Blair interrupts, but he shakes her off.

"-Let me finish, please," he pleads. "I was just so angry, the thought of another man touching you and giving you a child that should have been ours. I did horrible things because I couldn't stand the thought of you sharing something so important with someone who wasn't me." He shakes his head. "I was an idiot, Blair. I look at Sam, and I realize that it doesn't matter who the kid's dad was if you're the mom. It shouldn't have mattered then, and it doesn't matter now."

"Would you still say that if biologically Sam was my child," she asks quietly. "Is it easier to accept Sam because I didn't give birth to him?" She braces herself for the answer, which comes quickly.

"No. He could have been your kid with Victor, and he'd still be a great kid because he's half yours."

"I had a child with Victor you know," she says quietly, waiting for Todd to pull his hands back from hers. But he doesn't, he just gives her a squeeze. "I miscarried early on."

"I'm sorry," Todd says, letting go of one of her hands, pulling the Santa hat off his head. "It was stupid. I didn't mean to upset you with the ring. I can take it back."

"No," Blair replies quickly. "It's beautiful, and it's so thoughtful of you. Thank you." She drops his other hand, and reaches over, hugging him tightly. "It's good to you have you back," she murmurs into his shoulder.

Todd closes his eyes, squeezing her back, his hands settling firmly on her waist. He inhales deeply, smelling the mix of her shampoo and body lotion. He doesn't say a word, or move, unwilling to let this moment go. Blair slowly pulls back from the hug, but Todd doesn't loosen the grip on her waist. He slowly opens his eyes and sees her watching him, curious. He smiles sheepishly. "I forgot how good you smell."

Blair smiled in return. "And I forgot how sweet you can be." She reaches up and gently touches his scarred face. "I had missed this side of you. Even when we thought Victor was you," she laughs at the absurdity of the statement, "there were times when I missed you. I know that sounds funny..." Her voice trailed off.

"Starr said the same thing, Jessica and Viki too. I un-der-stand," Todd said slowly, emphasizing every syllable of the word. "I'm not going to pretend I'm not hurt that no one saw through the guy, but I'm trying to just focus on the present." He chuckles, "Get it? The present?" He starts rubbing his hand slowly along the small of her back. "If I keep thinking about what I lost, I'm never going to enjoy what I have. And I really want to enjoy what I have." Blair started to feel herself flush as Todd continued to slowly work his hands up her back. "I miss you, Blair."

"You see me practically every day, Todd," she deflects, trying to ignore the attraction she feels bubbling to the surface. He keeps gently gliding his hands over her back, an intense look on his face. "I don't know how you can miss me."

"I think you do," he replies, his voice suddenly hoarse with emotion. Todd watches as her eyes search his face, settling on his lips. He starts to smile as she leans in slowly. Reaching up instinctively, she pulls his face towards hers, kissing him gently. She starts to pull back, but Todd holds her close. "I know you can do better than that, Blair."

Blushing, Blair moves in again for a kiss, this time with more urgency, as Todd hungrily meets her mouth with his own. They kiss frantically, with familiarity, as if no time has passed. Todd reaches down and pulls her robe apart, never breaking the kiss. Blair slides into his lap, pressing her body against his, delighting in feeling him respond. He starts kissing her neck, sending a sizzling sensation straight through her body. Blair can feel the air around her getting thick, and her body temperature rising. She pulls back abruptly. "We can't do this here."

"Do what here?." he inquires innocently, leaning in and kissing her neck again.

"Todd, stop," Blair protests, pushing him away. He holds up his hands, a small smile playing on his lips. "The kids could come downstairs at any time."

"So let's go upstairs then." The words left his mouth before he even realized it. Blair's eyes widened slightly at the remark, but then she pulls herself up off the floor, extending a hand to Todd. He accepts, pulling himself upright. They stare at each other for a moment, matching smiles on their faces. Clutching his hand, Blair makes her way towards the stairs, Todd following.

Blair leads Todd into her bedroom, closing the door over and locking it. With a quick glance at the bed she left earlier, she turns and faces Todd, her heart pounding in her ears. He takes a tentative step towards her. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to, Blair," he says quietly, nervously shifting from side to side. "If it's just nostalgia or whatever..." His voice trailed off.

She smiles, moving to close the space between them. "Why, Todd Manning, are you getting cold feet?"

"Not a chance". Todd gently brushes the robe off her shoulders, letting it slip to the floor. He drinks it in appreciatively as her nightie-clad body is revealed before him. "You're so beautiful," he says softly. He leans down and kisses the birthmark on her shoulder.

Gazing at him warmly, her fingers reach out and graze his jawline before working their way to his shirt collar. Slowly, with focus, she unbuttons his shirt, removing it. Her eyes wander over his body, gazing on the recent scar from his gunshot wound, as well as his impressive abs.

"Wow," she gasps, reaching out and touching his midsection. "How is it possible that you look better now than you did when I first met you?" She starts to undo his belt, her fingers starting to tremble slightly.

"I guess I age like a fine wine," he retorts dryly. She removes the belt, dropping it to the floor. She looks up and draws as deep breath, the air heavy with anticipation.

They stand like this, staring at each other in adoration and amazement, until finally Blair blurts out "I'm nervous, Todd." She walks over and sits on the bed, fiddling with the ring he's given her.

Todd joins her on the bed. "Why are you nervous, Blair? It's nothing we haven't done before, nothing we haven't seen before." He brushes a lock of hair out her face, looking at her tenderly. "Do you not want this?"

She leans into him, putting her head on his shoulder. "No, I do, it's just that..." Her voice trails off and she closes her eyes. "It's been so long. What if our connection isn't the same?"

"Hey," Todd says, pulling her over onto his lap, adjusting her so she's straddling him. She can feel his hardness beneath her. "Our connection is still there. You felt it like I did, when I kissed you at that movie premiere." Slowly, he runs a finger over her lips. "You can't break a connection like ours." He kisses her tenderly. "You kept me alive Blair. All I wanted was to get back to my kids, and my life, and my wife."

Blair tilts her head thoughtfully, while stroking his chest. She can feel his heart racing beneath her fingertips. "But I wasn't your wife then, Todd."

"You are my wife," he replies firmly. Blair's startled by the insistence in his voice. "In every way that matters, you are my wife. Past, present and future." He searches her face, relieved to see a warm smile upon it. "I'm not giving up on us, Blair."

She runs her hands affectionately through his hair. "God, I have missed you," she cries, throwing her arms around him. Todd holds her tightly to him, while falling backwards onto the bed. His lips met hers, and she returned the kiss hungrily. His hands roam her body, pulling the chemise off her and discarding it. He caresses her back, her chest, her sides. Todd held her like that for what seemed to Blair to be a lifetime, appearing content just to be close to her. "Is something wrong," Blair asks quietly, stroking his face.

"No, it's just..." Todd shakes his head, embarrassed. "Well, I don't have anything." At Blair's confused look, he elaborates, "You know, protection."

Blair leans in and kisses him deeply. "We're fine." He arches an eyebrow. Blair knows it is a possibility she could get pregnant again, but looking at him, so open with desire for her, she decides to throw caution to the wind. She slides off him, and pulls what remains of his clothes off in one motion. She smiles saucily as she gives him a once over. Todd eyes are dark with desire, drinking in the sight of her. Climbing back onto the bed, laying beside this man who has meant to some much to her life, she feels her heart ready to burst of out her body. "Let's make love, Todd," she breathes.

He doesn't need to hear that twice.

Todd ran his hands ran up her legs tortuously slowly. He skimmed the inside of her thighs before he let his fingers brush over her, feeling the wetness pooling between her legs. Blair groaned as his fingers teased her clit. Todd slips a finger inside her and she groans louder, making Todd silently pray the kids were deep sleepers. He kissed down her neck, his unoccupied hand lightly dancing over her breast. Todd's lips found her nipples, sucking on each in turn. Blair cradled his head to her while feelings of impending orgasm rose within her. "Now Todd," she moaned, her hand reaching down to guide him. "I need you in me now."

Tentatively, he enters her. Blair lets out a tiny gasp. Todd stops his motion, and studies her face with concern. "Feels like coming home," she purrs. "Don't stop." He pushes in deeper, both of them letting out sighs of pleasure at the sensation, Todd's head falling to Blair's shoulder and her hands resting on his. Their bodies are moving together; as it has always been, he is waiting for her, tuned in to her responses. He was always such a generous lover, she thinks, even now when it's the first time he's been with a woman in nearly a decade. As she marvels at his control, Todd mentally attempts to recount every Super Bowl champion since Super Bowl I, trying to stop himself from falling over the edge.

Blair is so lost in her thoughts that she's almost surprised to feel the sensation in the tips of her toes, signaling the spasms of pleasure about to come. She draws in a breath to restrain herself, wanting to prolong the anticipation, but quickly gave in. "Oh, God," she heard herself moan, and he finally pushed in deeper leaned his upper body against hers and murmured, "I love you, Blair." He continued with slow, shallow strokes, and she moaned again, feeling the ripples throughout her body.

Holding her tightly, he rolls them over so she's on top, his eyes drinking in with appreciation this new view of her breasts. He reaches up and strokes her nipples as she rides him, enjoying this view of the woman he adores. Holding her waist, he sits up, pulling her into a deep kiss as she speeds her rhythm, grinding deeply against him. Feeling close, he drops his head to her shoulder, clinging desperately to her. "I want to feel you come inside me, Todd," Blair sighs. Closing his eyes, he drives up and matches her deeply stroke for stroke, finally releasing all of the pent up frustration and desire with a guttural moan. They stay intertwined like this, until Blair reluctantly climbs off him.

Moments later, they lay quietly facing each other, each listening to the others breath wind down to the slow rhythm of contentment. Unable to resist, Blair breaks the silence. "Did you mean what you said, Todd?," she ventures cautiously, lazily running her fingers up and down his chest.

Todd stretches an arm over his head, reaching around and drawing him closer to him. "About loving you?" She nods. "I do love you, Blair." He smiles wryly. "Saying it is easier the second time," he chuckles, another memory coming back to him. "And who knows, maybe one of these days you'll say it back."

Blair smiles, remembering the first time she heard those words. Snuggling into him, she leans up kisses him tenderly. "Merry Christmas, Todd."

A look of disappointment flickers over his face, but he tries to cover. "Thanks for the Christmas present." He closes his eyes, and seems to quickly fall asleep. She studies him as carefully, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. A million different emotions wash over her, one more prominent than the rest. "I love you, Todd," she says softly as she closes her eyes to sleep. At her words, his eyes snap open, and a joyous smile crosses his face.

"Mom," Starr calls, jiggling the doorknob. "Why's the door locked?"

Blair sits up, startled awake. She looks over at Todd's slumbering body. "Just a minute, sweetie!" She starts shaking him. "Come on, Todd, get up."

Todd slowly opens his eyes, smiling. "hey."

Blair smiles, before her face turns serious. "You need to get up." He raises an eyebrow. "Todd," she whispers warningly, "Starr is at the door."

He rolls over, propping himself up on one arm. "And? It's not like she's never walked in on you and me in bed before. Hell, when she was a kid it was like her favorite past time."

Outside the bedroom, Starr hears the hushed voices, and grins conspiratorially, giving the door another jostle. "Mooom, what's taking so long. Hope and Sam want to open their presents"

"You guys go ahead and start, I'll be down in a moment," Blair calls, smacking Todd frustratedly.

"Ok, but bring Dad with you when you come downstairs," Starr laughs as she walks away.

Blair turns to Todd in disbelief. "Great, now our daughter knows we've had sex."

Todd starts cackling. "I think our daughter knows we've had sex, that's how she got here."

"You know what I mean, Todd."

He shrugs, "Ok, so? Starr knows we had sex. If you were concerned about her finding out, maybe you shouldn't have been so loud." She starts to protest but he pulls her into a kiss.

"Todd," she says softly, forgetting her her earlier annoyance. "We should go downstairs. See the kids open their presents."

"Maybe I want to stay up here and enjoy some more of my present," he grins, running his fingertips over her nipples.

She bats his fingers away. "I'm going to get dressed. You need to do the same." She surveys the room. "We need to be discreet. Jack and Sam won't understand if you come downstairs with me."

"Jack's a teenager, I think he'll understand."

Blair gets up off the bed, crossing to her dresser to grab a pair of yoga pants and a pullover. She pulls a pair of panties on, then throws on the clothes. "Jack is going through a hard time right now, we don't want to exacerbate it by having him realize what happened here."

Todd starts reluctantly putting his clothes back on. "What happened here?"

Blair turns and sighs. "It was a wonderful night, Todd, one of the best..." She crosses the room and hugs him tightly. "I just don't want to rush the kids into anything. They're still adjusting."

"So are you saying there's something they'll need to adjust to?" Todd inquires mock-innocently as he buttons his shirt.

Blair adjusts his collar before giving him a deep kiss. "One day at a time, Todd." She unlocks the bedroom door. "I'll go down first. You can sneak down after me, and go around the back way."

"Are you inviting me to go in the back door, Blair?"

Blair smacks him, a smile on her lips. "You're incorrigible," she laughs, as she heads for the hallway.

He shrugs after her. "But you love me anyway."

Blair bounds into the living room, a big smile on her face. "Who's ready to open some presents?"

"I am!," Sam yells, running over to his mom. He takes her hand. "I got presents for everyone. Even Uncle Todd."

Starr looks pointedly at her mother. "Where is dad?"

Blair shoots daggers at her daughter. "Your father is probably still at Aunt Viki's."

Starr smirks, "Of course, Aunt Viki's."

Jack rolls his eyes. "Why does anyone care where Scar- I mean, Todd is?"

"He's family, Jack. He's our dad!"

"Whatever, Starr," Jack replies, rolling his eyes, unaware of just how much he sounds like his father.

The door bell rings, distracting Starr and Jack from their budding argument. "I'll get it," Starr announces, marching to the front door. She opens it widely, smirking as she sees her father before her. "Wow, Dad, it's December and you're not even wearing a coat. Have we had a sudden heatwave?"

"You've grown into a real smart-ass," Todd replies appreciatively, walking into the foyer, clutching the remaining presents from his car.

"Well, I learned from the best," she says, giving her dad a hug. "I put your coat in the closet," she whispers. "I thought you were going to take it slow!" Todd arches an eyebrow. "Eww," Starr replies with a shudder. "Don't want to think about you and Mom-"

Todd gives his eldest daughter a squeeze, cutting her off. "-I thought you'd be happy that your mom and I-"

"-Just tell me you didn't do it under the tree!"

"Starr!," he exclaims, choking out a shocked laugh. "I'm not going to talk about -"

"-foisting my mom?," she interjects.

"Ok, ok... Nothing happened... under the tree."

"But something happened," she prompts eagerly.

Todd laughs, recalling similar questions over the years. "I thought you didn't want to think about me and your mom that way." Starr crosses her arms across her chest, a pointed look on her face. "I'm not discussing my sex life with you young lady," he replies, as Starr squeals.

Blair enters the foyer, smiling at her daughter and ex-husband. "It's lovely to have you join us, Todd. You got here just in time," she says a touch too loudly. "The kids are going to start opening their presents." She nods to the bags he's holding.

"Well looks like I have great timing then," he replies, a hint of mocking in his voice. "So glad I could join with you this morning." Blair feels heat rising in her cheeks as Todd smiles at her like the cat that swallowed the canary.

Starr watches her parents sizing each other up, and giddily claps her hands together. Todd and Blair turn and stare at her. "This is the best Christmas gift ever!"

Todd and Blair exchange a heated look. "You have no idea," Todd replies, with a smirk.

"Okaaaaaaaay," Blair drawls, eager to end this line of conversation. "Todd, let's get those presents under the tree." She takes the bags from him, and marches into the living room. "Jack, your daddy's here." Todd and Starr follow closely behind her. Blair carries the bag of gifts over to the tree.

Sam looks up from the present he's opening and waves. "Hi Uncle Todd! Santa came this morning, he really came!"

"I can see that, Sam! Looks like you really cleaned up on the gifts." Todd nods at Jack. "Hello Jack. Merry Christmas."

Jack rolls his eyes. "Merry Christmas. I guess." He goes back to helping Sam with his gifts, a sullen look on his face.

Todd smiles as Starr picks up Hope from her spot under the tree, bringing him over to him. The little girl stares at him shyly. "Can you say Merry Christmas to Grandpa, Hope?," Starr prompts.

"Mewwy Chwistmas," Hope says softly, burying her face into her mom's shoulder.

"Merry Christmas, Peanut," Todd replies softly, leaning over and giving his granddaughter a kiss on the top of her head. Todd surveys the scene around him. "Alright, lots more presents to open." He picks up a camera from the sideboard, and gestures to the bags. "Dive in."

Blair sidles up to Todd, taking the camera from him. "You've missed so much. It's time for you to start making some new memories. I'll play photographer, you go help the kids with their gifts"

Todd leans in and kisses her softly on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Blair." He walks over and joins the kids, settling in on the floor next to Starr and Hope.

She blinks back tears, surveying the scene as Jack helps Sam open his gifts, and Todd pulls Hope onto his lap, joining Starr in helping her unwrap a particularly large box. "Merry Christmas, Todd," she says softly, before powering on the camera and beginning to snap some photos of her family.

The End