The clock in the foyer said 11:30 which surprised Todd. He thought it would be much later and he wondered just how early he and Blair had woken up that morning. He sneezed a few times, once again overcome by the sheer number of floral everything. He held himself rigid for a moment waiting to see if anyone heard him. The house was quiet so he made his way up the stairs to his room to gather his things.

He had every intention of talking to Viki about his move but Blair had suggested great rewards for speed and stealth and he had only gotten the merest taste of her not so long ago. There was no way he was going to jeopardize further opportunity.

He wasn't too worried, really. Blair wasn't overtly cruel. The most he could fault her for the last few months was being overly cautious but he couldn't exactly blame her for that, either. But there was a lightness in him at the thought of playing up the 'I've only got five minutes!' aspect of this stop at Llanfair. It wasn't as though Blair was going to refuse to have sex with him again for taking six minutes rather than five.

Still, he was eager to get on with their lives so he gathered his things and didn't concern himself too much with maybe forgetting a toothbrush. He bolted down the stairs as quietly as he could hoping like hell that Clint wouldn't wheel himself through the front hallway at that moment. Luckily, late mornings usually meant that Viki was off at some lunch meeting and he didn't care where Clint was as long as he wasn't in the way.

Todd escaped the halls of his unwanted ancestral home and bounded towards the car where Blair was waiting.

She looked suitably impressed with how quickly he had returned.

"I've been prepared," Todd explained as he got in. He leaned across and kissed her then buckled his seatbelt. "Let's go!"

Blair laughed lightly. "You never were one to let the grass grow under your feet. When you want to do something, you do it and you throw as much money at whatever's in your way to make it happen. Anyway, I called Cassie while you were in there and let her know we were on the way."

"Is she being a dear and making herself scarce?"

"I think she has some questions about yesterday," Blair replied. "Which shouldn't surprise me. And I'm willing to bet that Starr and Jack are going to want some answers as well. So, we'll have a nice little family meeting sometime this evening when Sam and Hope are in bed."

The idea of a family meeting appealed to Todd but, at the same time, he really just wanted to be able to look at everyone, say everything was fine and then take his woman upstairs to indulge in all of the things he had been fantasizing and dreaming about for the past eight years.

Life was a series of choices.

Cassie's car wasn't in the driveway when they arrived which Todd took to be a good sign. Blair, however, seemed to be much too casual about it all. She was almost formal as she took one of his bags and ushered him inside.

"Let's get you a room, hmm?"

Todd followed her up the stairs wondering just what she was playing at. As she led him to a room, he looked about trying to pinpoint how the layout was the last time he had spent any time there.

"Where's your room?"

Blair pointed at the door directly across the hall from his.

He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "You're not really making me work too hard, are you?"

Blair shrugged. "I can put you in the other wing if you really want a challenge. Personally, I'd rather not waste time tiptoeing through the hallways. We both know this is for the sake of appearance."

"Good point."

"When it comes down to it," she continued. "I really don't think you're going to be using this bed all that much."

Todd turned to grab a hold of her but she was walking towards the bathroom. "Towels are in here," she flicked the light on to double-check. 'And you should hang that garment bag up."

At the moment, Todd didn't give two shits about his suits but he hung the bag up all the same. As he did, he heard a soft jiggle of the doorknob. When he poked his head out of the closet, he saw Blair charging at him with determination. His eyebrows shot up as he stepped out into the bedroom again but before he could even think of saying anything she grabbed him by the belt loops and swung him over to the bed.

Todd went willingly. There was simply no way in hell he was going to try to not be seduced by Blair. If she was flinging him at a bed, there was literally no scenario he could dream up that he'd actually want to stop. Blair landed on top of him, her mouth slanted over his in a demanding kiss before she started heading south.

She gave his chin a love bite before kissing her way down his neck as her hands grabbed his shirt and started moving it up. She sat briefly, to get the material of the shirt out from underneath her and shoved it up to his armpits before descending onto his body again. Hands, fingers, lips, tongue, all ravenously devouring his flesh like a wild beast.

It wasn't hard to figure out where she was going. Todd's body was already responding specifically in the anticipated destination.

Todd wondered briefly if he should make some effort to attempt to convince her that he wanted to take part in this little session more than he was but when Blair sat up to undo his pants, she met his eyes with a sultry smirk and Todd couldn't imagine doing anything but letting her have her way.

She jerked his pants down to his knees and as he closed his eyes, he felt her hair tickle his thighs and her breath dance over his cock. There was nothing to be done and nothing he wanted to do but let Blair be Blair and let her have him anyway she wanted.

Todd had never been able to think straight whenever Blair turned her considerable charms and talents onto him. He had never been able to play the game for very long because she overwhelmed him so much that his vision would get fuzzy and every ounce of blood would go shooting below the waist. The most he was ever able to do when trying to keep his wits about him over the years was to remove himself entirely because if he had attempted to stay and parlay he would have given into her, repeatedly.

He probably would have been happier for it.

So he let himself simply feel what her mouth, her hair, her fingers, her breath and her tongue were doing to him. The way she encased his shaft with mouth and hands, the pressure, the wetness and the suction all combined to create amazing alchemy that drew sighs, moans and the occasional breathless expletive from his lips.

It didn't take long. It never did. Blair had told him once that a blowjob was the very last place she ever expected, or wanted, stamina. It was a gift to him, a gift of release without having to work very hard and all he had to do was enjoy it and let go.

A self-satisfied chuckle made him open his eyes. Blair was licking her fingers and looking very proud of herself.

"Wow," he whispered breathlessly. "That was... great."

Blair reached down and gently extricated him from his shirt. "You've been very patient with me since you've been back."

"Was that a reward?"

"More of a thank you," she smiled, removing his pants completely and then sitting on the bed next to him. She rested a hand on his chest, stroking the dusting of hair and smiling gently. "Now, you should take a quick shower and come downstairs. I've got another surprise for you."

"Is it like the one you just gave me?"

Blair smiled then leaned over and kissed him. "Just hurry up, okay?"

Blair was chopping some cooked chicken into cubes when Cassie came in through the back door. It took a split second for Cassie to engulf her cousin in a hug from behind.

"I have a knife!" Blair squeaked.

"Oh honey," Cassie fussed. "Are you alright? Jack told Starr and me about the whole... Asa... thing... are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Blair nodded, focusing on the chicken again. Todd wouldn't be long, she was certain of that, but she didn't want to keep her second surprise waiting. "And Todd's moved in."

"Oh?"

Blair nodded. "He was pretty adamant about not sharing living space with Clint after yesterday."

"What happened?" Cassie's voice turned flinty.

"He's taken on the role of Asa, that's all," Blair said breezily. "It's barely worth mentioning."

"Don't know that I agree with that," Cassie murmured.

"Hey, baby, are you going to do the apple butter and banana thing because... heeey, Cassie..." Todd came around the corner into the kitchen, caught sight of Cassie and his hopeful smile dimmed instantly.

"Hi, Todd," Cassie winked at him. "I hear you've moved in."

"Yes," he took a seat at the kitchen island.

"So... what's the apple butter and banana thing?"

"It's nothing," Blair replied, focusing on her cooking.

Cassie noted the gleam in Todd's eye as he focused on her cousin. "Why don't I believe you?"

"It's really nothing," Blair insisted.

"It's not nothing," Todd grinned.

"It really is."

"It's really not."

Cassie's brow furrowed as she looked between them. "Seriously, what's the deal?"

Blair rolled her eyes. "In the very brief time we were together before Todd went off to Ireland, I had a pregnancy craving and I ate bananas with apple butter every so often. That's it."

"Okaaay," Cassie hedged. "I don't get it."

"Because you're not a guy," Todd started paying attention to what Blair was doing. "Chicks eating bananas is hot and Blair ate a ton and always slathered them in apple butter and it was hot... babe... what are you doing?"

Blair hummed lightly as she mixed the chicken with the sauce she had just made.

"Are..." Todd leaned over the island. "Are you making your chicken salad?" His stomach practically howled as he got hit by a wave of spices that he hadn't actually smelled in years. Blair didn't cook often, they hadn't had a lot of time for that, but she had always claimed she could cook and the few times she had resulted in meals he quite enjoyed. He hadn't experienced her chicken salad until the third time they were married but he did remember the first time he had it.

Apparently, she did, too. Because she kept sending him knowing glances and that self-satisfied smirk was curling her lips again.

"You are," he breathed, trying to keep from drooling. He had officially not eaten since lunch the day before and he was starving but the fact that he was about to have something delicious, something that he actually had once told Blair was his favorite thing of hers that she made... his eyes flickered over to Cassie. He wanted to give Blair the biggest kiss on the lips right then but her cousin was standing right there giving him a weird look.

As far as Cramers went Cassie was in the upper echelon but that didn't mean he was about to cavort in front of her. He still wasn't too eager to display himself like that.

Blair sat a sandwich in front of him and then started to make one for herself. Todd bit into it with gusto and moaned in ecstasy.

Cassie blinked. "Um..."

Blair chuckled as she moved around the island to take a seat herself. She was hungry, too. Had she even eaten before she and Jack went shopping yesterday?

Was that actually yesterday? It seemed like a month ago.

"You can try some if you want, Cassie."

"Maybe not," Cassie replied lightly. "I just got a death stare from Todd."

Blair smacked him on the arm. "I can always make more."

"Don't care," Todd said around another mouthful. "It all belongs to me."

Cassie smiled. Todd and Blair just looked relaxed and happy together. There wasn't a hint of shadow over either one of them. "So, I hate to bring the mood down but the kids will be asking a lot of questions when they get home."

"How much do you know?" Blair asked.

"Well, Jack waited until we put Sam and Hope to bed to tell us what happened at the store. We really don't know anything else."

"But you know that Asa raped me," Blair confirmed.

"Yes."

"And?"

"And what?"

"How'd the kids react to that?" Todd asked.

"Well," Cassie hedged. "There was a lot of confusion and wondering why it never came up before. Jack said it was weird to hear his mother say that... and that's when Starr brought up Cole which resulted in Jack blowing a gasket."

"Really," Todd leaned back slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why'd Jack get bent out of shape over that?"

"He seemed to be angry that Cole and Marty were brought into it at all," Cassie recalled. "In fact, he suggested that the whole reason you never said anything," she nodded at Blair, "was because you figured it would end up being all about Marty."

Blair exchanged glances with Todd. "Jack is very perceptive."

Cassie cocked an eyebrow at Todd.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Todd snapped. "It's kind of a given that if rape comes up in our family I'm the first person people think of and then it goes immediately to Marty. That's just fact."

"Maybe so," Cassie shrugged. "Jack just didn't appreciate you and Marty and Cole being brought up in regards to something that, really, doesn't concern them at all. The way he sees it, this is about Blair, and Blair only. So, just be prepared for that." She thought for a moment. "For that matter, he and Starr were fighting about that before bed but this morning they were whispering together."

"Plotting, it sounds like," Blair nodded. "They must have called a truce during the night."

"Plotting what?"

"Well," Blair considered. "They either plotted to skip school and come find us, which they didn't, or they have a plan to get back here as soon as humanly possible. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Jack faked an illness and Starr picked him up and brought him home."

"Do they do that often?" Todd asked.

"Not so much anymore but they can pull it off."

As if on cue, the front door slammed and Starr and Jack's voices called out for their mother.

"In the kitchen!"

Starr and Jack thundered in and immediately clamored around Blair simultaneously asking questions and demanding answers in a cacophony that made tears spring to Blair's eyes.

"Okay, okay, okay," she calmed them. "First things first," she leveled a look at Jack. "What are you doing out of school?"

"I faked a migraine and called Starr," Jack replied matter-of-factly. "All I missed was English."

"Jack," Blair's voice held a warning tone.

"Oh, come on, Mom," Starr piped up. "We've been worried about you all day. You can't hold this against us!"

"All right," Blair conceded. "It's nice to see the two of you on the same side for a change."

"Yeah, well," Jack shot a steely eyed glare towards Starr. "We'll see how long that lasts."

"Where's Peanut?" Todd asked.

"She's at a playdate with Odette," Starr replied casually.

Jack narrowed his eyes at his father and noticed what he was eating. "Is that Mom's chicken salad?!" He immediately crossed over and helped himself.

Todd was deeply moved at the fact that his son shared the love he had for Blair's chicken salad. It made him feel like Jack was his in ways that crossed over the missing years.

Starr followed Jack's lead and began making herself a sandwich. "I can't believe you never talked about this before, Mom. Why didn't you?"

"It was a long time ago, Starr."

"So?"

"So, it was a long time ago. I didn't tell anyone then why would I change that? It's not like it would have made any difference."

"What did the Buchanans say?" Jack asked quietly.

"They didn't want to believe her," Todd spoke up. "But most of them did. That's what it looked like to me."

"Most of them?" Starr frowned.

"Who didn't?" Jack pressed.

"Clint," Todd growled, happy to share his consternation at the previous day's events.

Starr, Jack and Cassie responded with stony silence.

"So," Jack finally asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means nothing," Blair said firmly. "I don't care if Clint believes me or not. I would have preferred to never have that whole mess come out but-"

"Why not?" Starr was confused. "Why keep that inside?"

"Because it doesn't matter," Blair insisted. "It was a long time ago, it was my problem, it just... doesn't matter."

There was a pause.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say," Jack blurted out.

Starr nodded in agreement.

Cassie hid a smile and stepped aside slightly. It seemed that Blair's kids might have this in hand.

"You keep telling us that there is nothing we can't tell you, that there's nothing you won't do to take care of us and protect us, that all we ever need to do is come to you and talk to you..."

"You're my children," Blair began.

"You're our mother," Starr burst out. "Don't you think we'd do anything to take care of you and protect you?"

"That's not your job," Blair told them. "I love hearing you say that but it's not your job to take care of me."

"Tell that to someone who hasn't crawled in bed next to you when you've had your heart broken," Starr said bluntly.

"Or someone who hasn't told Da-Victor that he couldn't make me not want to be with you." Jack sent a pointed look in Todd's direction as if warning him to not try to separate him from his mother again, either.

"Blair," Cassie's voice was soft and gentle. "Sweetheart, can I just point something out here?" She walked around the kitchen island and reached over to wipe the tears that were falling from Blair's eyes. "You're not alone anymore. From the moment I met you, you've wanted a family and a place to belong. You've got it. Look..." she gestured at Starr and Jack. "You've got it."

Blair was a tough nut to crack. She was adamant about the fact that things that had happened twenty years ago were best left in the past and the argument got put on hold when Sam came home. Starr went to go pick up Hope and everyone settled into a cease fire.

Todd's feelings were mixed on the subject. As much as he enjoyed seeing the family rally around Blair, as much as he could see how much it meant to her, he also agreed that the details of the past were not exactly something to be shared. Starr and Jack were definitely their kids, they wanted to know everything, and Blair was not eager to share said details. He wondered if Starr had demanded such details when she found out about his own past.

Had she demanded such details from Blair during the trial that merely reading about left him sick to his stomach?

The upside was that announcing that Todd had moved in was something of an anti-climax to the kids. Sure, Starr and Sam were happy. Jack barely noticed save for a long, measured look at Todd when Blair had told them. When Todd followed it up by saying he wasn't sleeping under the same roof as Clint, Jack seemed satisfied with the answer.

But Todd caught his son watching him over the course of the evening.

Once the kids retired for the night, neither Todd nor Blair were interested in keeping up the pretense. Though that didn't mean Blair wasn't up for a game or two. He took his empty beer bottle and her empty wine glass to the kitchen to show he could be just as careful about his environment as anyone but when he returned to the living room, Blair was gone and Cassie did her best to hide a smile.

"She went upstairs."

Blair's door was shut when he got up there and Todd stared at it for a few moments before going into his room and tossing on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. He flipped off the light and then shut his door before turning back to Blair's and scratching lightly at it.

"Come in," even the door couldn't block Blair's sultry tone.

She was draped artfully across the bed, long legs stretched out across the duvet. One bedside lamp was on but covered with an indigo scarf giving the room a soft, purply hue that Todd found fantastically romantic.

"Lock the door, lover," she purred.

It almost hurt to turn around to do just that. The word 'lover' on her lips directed at him was something he had been yearning for down to the depths of his soul.

"Lose the shirt, too."

"Bossy," he murmured, but he chucked the offending garment to the floor without hesitation. Upon reaching the foot of the bed, he crawled up towards her, seeing her smile widen and her eyes brighten as he got closer. Her arms opened in eager welcome and he happily fit his body against hers as he kissed her.

Blair trilled in delight at having Todd in her arms again. There was simply no one like him. No one else had his lips, his ears, his beautiful neck or his broad shoulders... she ran her hands over every part of him as they removed what little clothes the other was wearing. It was the most natural thing in the world to wind herself around every part of him.

This, she thought, is heaven.

But she amended that thought when Todd started moving down. Oh no, she sighed as she felt his tongue between her legs, heaven in just beginning...