DISCLAIMER: Nope not mine. Dreams are great though aren't they?

SUMMARY: It's all official now. Tommy and Tara are getting married and Tara's well on the road to recovery after her bout with pneumonia. What's next?

"Hey, mom." Jason walked into the kitchen as he returned from seeing Tommy and Tara. It had been almost four days since her fall and she seemed to be almost fully recovered from it. "Are those home movies I took of Tara still up in the attic?"

"I guess," Abigail said, shrugging. "What would you need those things for?"

"I need them for the wedding reception. Tommy and Tara are getting married on Valentine's Day."

Abigail turned to look at her son. After a long moment, she shook her head. "Nice try, Jason. You and I both know that no man, not even one as nice as Tommy Oliver, would ever marry your sister."

"You know what, mom? I'm tired of you constantly running Tara down like that. She's worked very hard to get where she is. She has done everything she can to make you proud only to be treated like dirt every time she walks through that front door. I'm proud of my little sister. And I'm really proud that Tommy came to me and asked for MY blessing. But I think that the proudest moment of my life will be when I walk my beautiful baby sister down the aisle to give her away to my best friend." He took a deep breath. "I hope that someday you can see the woman I see when I look at her. You might just be surprised."

With that, Jason headed for the attic to retrieve the videos he needed for the reception.

Tara was tired. Kimberly had been talking to her all day about the wedding. She just wanted some sleep. After all, they'd be heading back to Angel Grove in just a few days and she wanted to rest before they had to go back to the early rising for school.

"K-k-kim, I'm r-r-really tired. Do you m-m-mind if w-w-we …?"

"Kim, I asked you not to wear her out." Tommy's voice from the doorway made Tara turn around. He saw circles under her eyes. Of course, Kim hadn't meant exhaust the young woman. She just tended to be a little over exuberant at times.

"I'm sorry, Tara. You could have said something sooner. I'll talk to you later." She all but ran out of the room.

Tommy walked over to his fiancé and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. "I'm sorry. She's just so excited."

"I am too. Just tired." He smiled. Her stutter nearly always disappeared when he was around. Even Jason couldn't claim that.

"Why don't you lay down and rest? I'll come up and get you when dinner's ready."

She stepped back and looked up at him. Nodding, she stifled a yawn before smiling at him. "I love you, Tommy."

"I love you too, Tara. Go ahead and lay down now."

Once she was nestled under the covers, he left, closing the door behind him. He had one thing that he needed to do before they left Angel Grove.

Abigail answered the knock on the door and was surprised to see Tommy on her front porch. "Hello, Tommy. Won't you come in?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Scott. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Abigail led the way into the living room where the two of them sat down. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, Mrs. Scott, I was hoping that I could convince you to come to the wedding."

"What wedding, Tommy?"

"Mine and Tara's. It would mean a lot to her. Even though I know that she'd never say so, I know that it would make the day perfect to have her parents there."

"Tommy, you don't have to pretend any more. I know that this is just a farce. You don't want to marry her."

"Mrs. Scott, I have never wanted anything more than to marry your daughter. She's such a wonderful person. She's made my life an amazing place. I love her so much."

"Tommy, I don't understand this. No man would ever want to marry her. She's tiny and fragile and so scared all the time."

"Not with me. She talks to me without stuttering unless she's tired. She goes out with me to the local hangout back in Reefside and actually talks to people. We have such a good time."

"Do you really love her?" Tommy watched as something came over Abigail's face. Could that possibly be a mother's love for her only daughter creeping up on the woman?

"I would die for her. I would kill to protect her. Jason told you about the incident at the school about three weeks ago?"

"Just that some men walked into the school and attempted to take several classrooms hostage."

"One of those classes was Jason's. Thankfully, Kim was there and the two of them fought off the intruders. My class was another. Tara was grabbed by one of the men. He was going to take her with him and rape her. If she hadn't passed out, I wouldn't have had a chance to take him out. But if he'd hurt her, I'd have killed him. I almost decked Jason for growling and scaring her more when he heard what had happened."

"She was threatened? Tara was threatened with rape?" Tommy saw a mother's concern on the face across from him.

"I took care of the problem. But, Mrs. Scott, I have to ask. Why do you seem so cold toward Tara? She loves you dearly and wants nothing more than your love in return."

"Have you ever held a child in your arms as she fought to take each breath, knowing that she could stop breathing at any moment? Knowing that she could being dying right there in your arms and there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it?" Abigail stood up and walked over to the mantle where she picked up the one picture she had kept of Tara. "I did. Three different times. I thought it would be better to distance myself from her. That way, if she died, it wouldn't hurt so bad. I'd already lost three children to crib death over the years and didn't think that I could handle losing another one."

"She's heartbroken because she loves you and thinks that you don't care. Please come to the wedding. It would mean so much to her." Tommy wasn't above begging to see this come to pass. He was seeing a different side to Abigail Scott. She was a mother who had lost so much and was afraid to hurt like that again.

When Abigail turned around, Tommy was truly surprised to see the tears on her face. "We'll be there. Maybe it's time I start making amends to my daughter."

Tommy stood up and walked over to the woman who would be his mother-in-law. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you there. But tell you what. Let's make it a surprise for Tara. She'll love it."

"My wedding present to my daughter. Take good care of her, Tommy."

"I will. I promise." Tommy hugged Tara's mother and left the house, knowing that he had arranged the perfect wedding present for the woman he loved.