This story is AU.
~*~Summer 1997~*~
It was a beautiful summer's day and the air was still. It happened to be Marty's long-awaited day off from the hospital, so she had taken her little girl to play in the park. As Marissa ran on ahead of her, Marty tried to keep up with her active little girl. "Marissa, wait up for Mommy!" Marty called out as she watched Marissa running toward the swings in her pink flip flops.
Someone else was already standing at the swings, pushing a baby girl in an infant swing. Marty immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw that it was Todd Manning. Their gazes locked and held, and Marty felt as though all the breath had been stolen from her lungs.
She struggled to get her bearings as she caught sight of Marissa climbing onto the swing which was right next to the one in which Todd was pushing Starr. "Marissa, let's go," Marty said quietly to her daughter.
"Come on, Marty. Don't leave on my account," Todd spoke up as he continued to give his one-and-half-year-old daughter pushes in the baby swing. Starr giggled as her dark-blond hair floated in the summer's breeze.
Marty didn't respond to Todd, but instead went to take a seat upon the nearby wooden bench. She felt on-edge as she watched Marissa playing on the swing, so close to Todd. "Look at me, Mommy. I can swing high!" Marissa called out as she pumped her little legs back and forth.
"You're doing great," Marty responded, although her eyes were tranfixed on Todd. Even after all these years, he still had the same effect on her. She tried to catch her breath and calm herself, but it really wasn't working. She wanted to go home and get as far away from Todd Manning as possible.
Todd stopped the motion of Starr's swing and came around in front of his baby daughter to withdraw her from the play equipment. Starr giggled happily as Todd took her in his arms. In that same moment he was cuddling Starr, Todd's gaze settled on Marissa. When he looked into her little face, he knew. The whole world stopped as the sudden burst of knowledge struck him.
His gaze moved over to Marty sitting on the bench, and he wondered if she knew, too. The expression on her face gave her away. She jumped up from the bench and abruptly snatched Marissa out of the swing. "Do we have to go, Mommy? I was having fun," Marissa said with disappointment.
Todd's eyes were still on the child who was now in Marty's arms. He then settled his gaze onto his daughter Starr, seeing the striking resemblance between the two little girls. Without a doubt, he was certain of the fact that somehow his heart had always known.
"Marty..." Todd spoke, his voice trailing off.
Marty ignored Todd and spoke soothingly to Marissa. "Sweetie, we gotta go. It's time for your nap now," Marty told her daughter as carried her from the park and back over to the car. She placed Marissa into the car seat in the back and carefully secured the straps.
"I miss Teddy, Mommy," Marissa said softly. She rubbed her little eyes because she was getting sleepy. As much as she wanted to play, it really was her nap-time.
"He's waiting for you on your bed at home," Marty told Marissa. She was shaking all over but she didn't want to let her little girl to see.
She climbed into the driver's side of the car, started the engine, and rushed home. When she carried Marissa into the house, she was thanking God she had gotten away from Todd without a confrontation.
She got Marissa a little cup of apple juice, then tucked her into bed. Marissa lay underneath the covers, hugging Teddy, her worn brown bear. Teddy had been Marissa's best friend almost since birth. "I love you, Mommy," Marissa said sweetly as she looked up at Marty.
"I love you too, sweetie," Marty responded as she brushed the tendrils of dark-blond hair back from Marissa's face. She stared into the hazel eyes of her three-and-half-year old daughter for a moment, then tenderly kissed her little cheek.
She left Marissa's room and quietly closed the door behind her. For the first time since she'd seen Todd in the park, she started to feel half-way calm again. It had just been a bad scare, that was all. She was home now. She and Marissa were safe and that was all that mattered.
Marty had just decended the staircase when there came persistent knocking at the front door. Marty's eyes widened and her heart started to pound all over again. *Ohhh please don't let that be Todd,* she lamented.
She walked over to the door and summoned all her courage to pull it open. There was Todd, staring her in the face. "Let me in, Marty. We gotta talk," he insisted.
"Go away, Todd," she growled, trying to shut the door in his face.
Todd was too fast. He pushed his way through the door before she could close it. She took a step back from him when she saw the look of fierce determination stamped across his face. "Wh-what do you want?" she demanded softly.
Hazel eyes locked with Marty's midnight-blue ones. She forgot to breathe as he spoke the dreaded words. "Ohhh, I think you know what I want. I want to know if that little girl is my daughter."