The first word Tess manages to utter is "Damn." Upon noticing the smirk on Eliot's face, Tess immediately finishes the sentence with… "you, Eliot." Tess narrows her eyes at Eliot as she straightens herself before walking into a gawking crowd of family and friends. Eliot attempts to stop Tess again with a mention of her name and a reach for her but Tess keeps walking. Connie can't help himself he had to let out a laugh as Tess passes by. "Nice recovery, Tessie." Tess simply gives him the "I am watching you" hand gesture as she resumes her swagger. She will be damned if Eliot is going to get the upper hand with a kiss. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
The boys giggle and tease mom caught yet again with Eliot and with a kiss as Tess joins them at the table. Jack and Jake show Tess their assignments so she can check them. Jack is the first tease. "Mommy, you like Eliot don't you?" Tess knows that the conversation with Eliot is far from over. She had tried for so long to get past Eliot despite the wonder twin reminder of his place in her world. Tess has to admit that she did not exactly hate the kiss. There is a reason that they ended up with kids. There were some things that they did very, very well together but she is not about to just introduce the whirlwind chaos that Eliot can provide back into her world. Navigating Eliot Spencer requires the patience of a diplomat or quite possibly a hostage negotiator, the jury is still out as to the current requirement.
Eliot strategically retreats to Sophie positioning himself across the room from Tess. "That was a bold move, Eliot." Eliot smiles with genuine mischief. "I had to Sophie, I didn't know what to say." Sophie raises an eyebrow at Eliot. "What was on the papers, Eliot." Sophie can pinpoint the source of Eliot's sudden gumption. Eliot sparkles at the moment of revelation. "Sophie, their last name is Spencer. My sons have my name, my name. I had to do something... to thank her."
"So you decided to ambush her with a kiss over say... words? Eliot, you cannot deal with Tess like she is the flight attendant, the waitress, or Nurse Gayle. You will need much more than just charm." Sophie is curt in her tone with Eliot. Sophie reinforces her point with a touch to Eliot's arm. "Sophie, it was just a kiss. I have kissed Tess before." Eliot responds to Sophie's tone. "Eliot, this is a woman you loved… and you wronged her do not dismiss that little detail." Sophie takes a sip of her wine seemingly mimicking Tess who is across the room. "Sophie, I didn't know about the boys." Sophie turns toward Eliot after his comment. "Eliot, the boys are of no consequence in regards to how you wronged Tess." Sophie locks gaze with Eliot. Eliot knows exactly what Sophie is driving at but won't admit it. "Eliot, I know you. You, of all people, would not have given a ring lightly. You chose her; you made a promise to her and then vanished from her world." Sophie knows her tone is a bit harsh but she knows this particular pain all too well from her own history. Sophie herself has a very similar tale in her own past, rearranging a few details and this is similar to the story of her and William.
Tess walks out the back door towards the barns with Paddy and Connie in tow. Mrs Hannigan is sending a bed to Tess' house since Tess is preparing a second bedroom so the boys could each have their own space. The original plan was for Paddy, Connie and or Mickey to take the bed over and set it up in the spare room and Tess is going to stick to the plan since the boys could get that bed upstairs and together no muss and no fuss.
Eliot had watched Tess walk out with Paddy and Connie, after his conversation with Sophie, Eliot wants to head off Tess with an offer of help and to make amends or at least see where it goes. Paddy spies Eliot's approach. Paddy knows that after that move of Eliot's Tess is going to be ticked off but he also knows that this pair needs to work this out. There is closure to be had one way or another. Paddy makes a command decision as he tosses Eliot his keys. Tess shoots both of them a look but she is all in with this window of time to get the bed home without the twins underfoot in their excitement. Paddy knows he is going to get an Irish earful from his dear Tesla which certainly isn't his first nor likely his last from his adopted sibling. Connie claps Paddy on the back as they head back into the house acknowledging the glare from Tess. "She is going to kick your ass, you know that brother."
Eliot follows Tess back to her house at the helm of Paddy's truck. Without a thought, Eliot walks into the garage and retrieves the tools that would be needed to assemble the bed. Eliot smiles at the peg board with all of the tools ritually in order. Tess is stunned that Eliot knew exactly where everything was. She is surprised that he remembered but Tess also acknowledges that she is a creature of habit.
Tess is oddly but noticeably silent as she and Eliot take the pieces of the bed up to what will be Jack's room. Tess is being quiet since she is internally vacillating between wanting to kiss and kill Eliot for embarrassing her in front of the boys and the others with a sophomoric move like that. This is not Eliot's first rodeo with the silent treatment from Tess. Eliot's relationship with Tess was the longest intimate relationship that he has had. Eliot knows how to navigate silence with Tess. Eliot makes an attempt to break the ice as he heads down the stairs with Tess to get the tools that he left in the living room. "Tessie." Eliot corners Tess at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid move… but I wanted…." Eliot stops. "Oh, hell I don't know what I wanted but..." Eliot pauses and touches Tess' face. "it was a hell of a kiss, Tessie." Eliot tosses a look of true appreciation at Tess. It was quite a kiss and he was not alone in participation.
Tess looks up at Eliot. She knows he is trying to say that he is sorry in the flirty Eliot way. "Eliot." Tess pauses for more than a second which unsettles Eliot a bit and that was the whole point. "Eliot, what are you doing here?" Tess locks eyes with Eliot as she turns around and paces. "Eliot, you don't get to stroll in and have it all be ok just because you didn't know about the boys and a kiss is not going to just make the past go away."
Eliot is surprised that Tess is calm. She is not raising her voice at him, she is pacing as she chooses her words with care. Eliot was expecting a taste of what Paddy has coming. "I would never keep you from our children, never… but that doesn't change what you did to me... to us." Eliot wants to speak but he knows from experience that Tess is nowhere near done as he leans against the back of the sofa.
"Eliot, you vanished without a word. I was planning our wedding, our life… and you just upped and vanished." Eliot feels the weight of Tess' words upon him and the realization as to how right Sophie was and how kind Tess has been. The night of conversation ending with waking up with her was... was something that reminded him of how they used to be and of his life. "Eliot, I went through a thousand things in my mind. I ran every possible scenario, from every conceivable angle. I loved you, Eliot. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you… and." Eliot's emotions are rising to the surface in a way that he is finding hard to contain. "Tess, it was complicated." Eliot is trying to find the right words but they are not manifesting in his brain as Eliot moves closer to Tess.
"Complicated is the best you have got?" Tess paces in the living room the same way she did that first night. "Eliot, I want to know why. I am tied to you for the rest of my life. I deserve to know what was so complicated that you could not just let me go. I waited for you. Do you know what I got? I got nothing. I lived with it. I raised those boys and fortunately, I never had to answer the question of why… When they asked me… I said your father was a soldier. Paddy told them the same thing… Now… what do I tell them… Hey yeah boys, Eliot here is your dad?" Eight years of fear and frustration are pouring out of every pore on Tess. The words are hitting Eliot like well-placed blows. Eliot tells himself had the bliss of ignorance and Tess needs to get this out of her system. The hitter in Eliot has risen to the surface as he moves in toward test in a protective stance.
The first thing that pops into Eliot's mind immediately manifests to his lips before he could put a filter on it as he reaches for Tess. "Why did you give them my last name if you did not know how to tell them?" Tess is stunned by Eliot's question. She knew it was coming. It doesn't change the feeling of being cornered by it. Tess paces away from Eliot before turning with a knock-out punch. "That was hope, Eliot. That was holding on to hope. It was the ridiculous hope that I was not alone. Hope I held onto for way longer than I should have." Tess throws her hands dramatically into the air as a period to the sentence that just came out of her mouth. Eliot knows he deserves this. Tess deserves an answer but he does not have one. Nothing would be enough to tell Tess how sorry he was for everything.
Eliot grabs Tess up in his arms. Tess fights him but Eliot holds on. The moment that Tess stops fighting him, Eliot wipes the tears from Tess' cheeks. "Eliot, I should hate you. I should hate you for leaving." Eliot will not free Tess from his grasp. "I am here now, Tessie." Eliot forces Tess to look at him through the prism of her tears. Tess' tears are burning a hole in Eliot as they always did. He only made Tess cry three times. Eliot then realizes it was three times that he saw the tears, and two of those times were in the last three days. Eliot's conversation with Sophie rings forward in his head. He could not know how many tears Tess has shed in his name over eight years. If it were just the two of them, she could have moved on. She could have been free. Eliot thinks back to the ancient story of the red string that binds two people together. The twins are that red string between them. She is bound to him through their children.
"Tess, do you hate me?" Eliot controls his voice. He touches Tess' face with tenderness placing a kiss where the tears had flowed. Eliot knows in his heart that Tess does not hate him. Hate is not an emotion that Tess ever considered useful but he needs to hear her say it. Eliot needs to hear the words. "Tess, give me a wink or give me a sneer. I am dying over here." Eliot offers a smile to try to soften Tess up a bit.
Tess wipes her face with her hands. "Eliot." Tess breaks the gaze with Eliot. She looks down as her voice lowers. "Eliot, you know the answer." Eliot raises Tess' gaze by touching her chin. "Tess, you know I need to hear you say it for my own sanity. Come here." Eliot opens up his arms in an offer of comfort. "Eliot, you know I don't hate you." Tess allows Eliot to engulf her the way that only he could. He has arms like legs. When Eliot wrapped her up in a hug, the world used to fade away. Eliot's hugs always felt like a fortress. Eliot leans down and kisses Tess tenderly. Eliot knows that he has to break through his own facade, he has to allow Tess back in. "I would love to tell you why but... I just don't have that answer... I don't know." Eliot again holds Tess' face in his hand.
Tess knows Eliot is telling her the truth. People only lie for protection or gain and in this situation, Eliot has everything to lose. "Eliot, how about we get this bed set up." Eliot is relieved that Tess is giving him a pass. Eliot gathers the rest of the tools as they head back upstairs. Eliot very much enjoys working on things for his children. He saw the paint in the room. He is hoping that Tess will accept his help.
Eliot begins to assemble the bed with Tess' help. Once the bed is together, Tess fusses with the location of the bed for another half an hour much to Eliot's amusement. Eliot is very much enjoying this ritual. It has been a long time since he fussed with the mundane duties of life. Eliot watches Tess' face as she fusses with more of the furniture. The smile made it all worth the effort. As if it were timed on cue, Paddy opens the door with boys trailing behind him as they yell for their mom and Eliot. Paddy is happy to see that Tess has left Eliot in one piece in this interaction.