Promises

Parts 17-18

By Candy

Danny bolted to the front door when he heard Michelle scream. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her in some man's arms.
"Michelle?" he questioned.
"Oh, Danny," she quickly turned around with a laugh. "I'm sorry I screamed. I was just so surprised to see him."
"You're okay?" he asked, trying to get his breathing back to normal.
"I'm fine," she said. "Danny this is my father, Ed Bauer. Dad, this is my husband Danny Santos."
"You're father?" Danny repeated.
"It's very nice to meet you," Ed Bauer entered, reaching for his son-in-law's hand.
Danny extended his hand as well. "Likewise."
"I think our meeting has been long overdue," Ed said.
"I agree," Danny said. "Won't you please come in and sit down?"
Michelle held on to her father's hand as he followed Danny into the living room. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you call and tell me you were coming?"
"My first grandchild was just born," he explained. "Nothing would have kept me away. I called Rick yesterday to tell him I was coming, though I didn't know at the time my grandson would beat me here. I told Rick not to tell you because I wanted to surprise you. Of course, I didn't expect the reaction I got."
"I'm sorry," Michelle blushed. "I don't know why I screamed like that. I was just so happy to see you. It's been so long."
"Too long," Ed said, kissing his daughter's cheek. "And that is why I have decided to stay in town for awhile."
"Really?" Michelle said, excited at the thought of her father being around again, but nervous considering everything that was going on right now. "How long is awhile?"
"I'm not sure," he said. "I love Europe, but I've missed my family."
"We've missed you," Michelle hugged him.
"I'm sorry Danny," Ed apologized. "We're just carrying on our own conversation here."
"That's quite alright," Danny smiled. "I know how much Michelle has missed you."
"Well, I have some things I would like to say to you too," Ed began.
Danny and Michelle exchanges looks and braced themselves. They knew Rick had told him all the stories of Carmen and the Santos family. He knew what kind of family they were and how Michelle's life had been put in danger on more than one occasion.
"I just wanted to say I appreciate everything you have done for my daughter," he began. "Rick has told me of the difficulties with your family, but you have begun to turn things around. And from what I hear, things are going well."
"Yes sir," Danny cleared his throat. "I'm doing my best to make my family name one that Michelle and future generations can be proud of."
"That's very admirable of you," Ed said. "I just want you to know that as long as you take care of my little girl, you will always have my blessing."
"That means a great deal to me," Danny said.
"And to me," Michelle interrupted.
"And as far as taking care of Michelle," Danny began. "That will always be my first priority."
"Glad to hear that," Ed said. "Now catch me up on what's been going on?"
"Going on?" Michelle asked hesitantly, looking at Danny.
"Yeah," Ed laughed. "You know, in your life."
"Well," Michelle began. "I'm going to start back to medical school in a couple of weeks."
"That's wonderful," he said. "Danny, I must tell you that I was fearful of Michelle going to medical school only because Rick and I were doctors, but she has said she wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a little girl. She used to put on my white coat and put her play stethoscope around her neck. I believe we were all her patients on more than one occasion, but I'm afraid her mother was the patient most of the time. I'll never forget the time I walked in and saw Maureen all wrapped up in bandages. She looked like a mummy! We never let her forget about that. She didn't care though as long as it made Michelle happy."
Michelle's throat tightened remembering her mother and realizing again how much she missed her. She had been thinking about her a lot lately and with a baby on the way, she wished more than anything that her mother could be here with her.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you honey," Ed laughed as he saw the far away look on her face.
"You didn't embarrass me Dad," she smiled. "I just thought I was safe from Danny finding out what kind of kid I was."
"I'm loving this," Danny laughed. "I haven't heard too many stories of Michelle as a little girl. I would love to hear more."
"I will definitely fill you in," Ed replied. "But I really should be getting back to the hospital."
"You just got here," Michelle frowned.
"I know," he said standing up. "But I didn't get to spend much time at the hospital with my new grandson and I promised Rick I would be back soon. I just had to come see my little girl."
"Well, it was an honor to finally get to meet you," Danny said, extending his hand again. "I apologize for it taking so long," Ed said. "There was so much going on at the clinic in Europe that it was hard to break away. I'll never forgive myself for missing your wedding."
"It wasn't like you had the chance to come," Michelle frowned. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it ahead of time, but things were different then."
"We have it all on tape anytime you want to see it," Danny interrupted.
"I would like that," he said.
"I'll walk you out," Michelle said.
When they reached the door, Michelle threw her arms around her dad's neck and hugged him tight.
"Whoa there," Ed said. "What's all this for?"
"I've just missed you so much," Michelle said through her tears.
"Is everything alright Michelle?" he asked.
She let go and looked up at him, forcing a smile, "Everything's fine. I'm just so glad to see you."
"Well, I'll be at the hospital for a little while and then I'm going to stay at the house. Rick is staying with Abby tonight so I'll be there alone if you want to talk," he said.
"Don't worry. I'm fine," she whispered. "Give Jacob another kiss for me."
"I will," he said. "Michelle, honey, are you happy?"
"Yes," she nodded. "Danny makes me very happy."
"That's all I needed to hear," he smiled, kissing her on the forehead. "I'll talk to you soon."
She closed the door behind him and returned to the dinner table where Danny was sitting. He looked up at her as she sat down, noticing the expression on her face.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she forced a smile. "I was just surprised to see him."
"It's good that he's going to stay here for a while," Danny said. "Maybe you two can spend some time together."
Michelle mumbled a reply as she sat lost in thought, twirling her spaghetti on her fork.
"Michelle?" Danny said, breaking her away from her thoughts. "Sweetie, what is it?"
"I…" she looked up at him with tears suddenly flooding her eyes. She couldn't speak so she dropped her fork on her plate and ran upstairs.
Danny got up quickly to follow her. She was laying down on the bed, her body jerking with each sob. He carefully sat down next to her, reaching for her.
"Baby, please talk to me," he pleaded.
She sat up and let him hold her in his arms. He knew she needed to get this out of her system before she would be able to talk to him so he just held her close, stroking her back.
Several minutes later, her crying had eased up and she pulled away from him. "I'm sorry," her voice cracked.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about," Danny said. "I just hate seeing you like this."
"I don't know why I carried on like that," she whimpered, wiping the rest of her tears away. "Just raging hormones I guess."
"I think it's more than that," he said wiping away a stray tear.
"It's just been so long since I've heard him talk about my mom like that," she explained. "They loved each other so much. I remember thinking when I was little that they would always be together. I could never imagine one of them without the other. They were so in love. My dad used to turn on the stereo and just take her in his arms and dance her across the living room. And when my dad had a hard day at the hospital my mom would give him backrubs until he fell asleep. They were just so right for each other. But their love wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to keep them together. And that scares me."
"Why does that scare you?" he questioned.
"Because their love reminds me of ours," she whispered.
"We're going to make it," he said. "Michelle, nothing is going to tear us apart."
"Don't you understand my mom and dad used to think the same thing," she pleaded.
"The circumstances are different with us," he said. "We have been through so much together already and our marriage has only gotten stronger. I'm not promising that we won't have more bumps in the road, but we're going to go down that road together. I've told you this before, we really are better when we're together."
"I can't imagine my life without you," she said as her tears began again.
"You're never going to have to find out," he said, pulling her into his arms. "I promise."

________________________________________

Danny woke with a start the next morning when he felt her get out of the bed. He had grown accustomed to sleeping lightly and he was aware of her every move.
"Baby, you okay?" he asked groggily.
"I'm just going to take a shower," she whispered as she gave him a quick kiss. "Go back to sleep."
He was happy to oblige. It seemed like it had been months since he had gotten a good night's sleep. And last night was no exception. Michelle had cried herself to sleep in his arms. She had a restless night, tossing and turning. He could only imagine with all the talk of her mother and seeing her father again after so long had stirred up memories for her. She had cried out a couple of times during the night and he responded by wrapping his arms around her to comfort her until she fell back to sleep.
Michelle turned on the water as hot as she could stand it. She couldn't help but replay her dreams from last night in her head again. The day her mother died had been the worst day of her life…a day she would never forget. Somehow though, after Danny had come in her life, she was able to remember more of the happy times with her mother. But after last night, the nightmares of that day were back. She loved her father with all her heart, and she was truly happy to see him again. But she couldn't make herself forget what he had done to her mother. If he and Lillian hadn't… No she couldn't think that way. Her mother was gone and nothing was going to change that. Danny had been so sweet last night, holding her every time she woke up from one of the nightmares. She thanked God again for bringing him into her life. It wasn't until she met him that she was able to move past the pain and hurt she felt over her mother's death. Loving Danny, she knew how her mother had felt about her father. She knew what it felt like to love someone so much it hurt. And if that someone hurt you, you could forgive them. She was sure her mother would have done that, if she had had the chance.
Danny opened one eye to peer at the clock. Michelle had been in the shower for over thirty minutes. He could hear the water still running, but he couldn't hear her moving around. He jumped out of bed and knocked on the door.
"Michelle, honey, are you okay?" he asked.
When he didn't hear an answer, he walked in. He moved the curtain back and found her standing there with the water beating against her face. Suddenly she began to turn around and when she opened her eyes she screamed.
"It's just me," he smiled.
"You scared me to death," she cried with her hand over her heart. "I thought I've told you about sneaking up on me."
"Sorry," he said. "I asked you if you were alright, but you didn't answer."
"I guess I didn't hear you over the water," she said. "Well, since you're getting all wet, you might as well join me."
"Thought you would never ask," he grinned, pulling his pajama bottoms off and stepping into the shower.
"Since when do you need an invitation?" she questioned playfully.
"I didn't know if you wanted company," he said seriously.
"I appreciate that," she said handing him the bar of soap. "I'm sorry about last night. I know you couldn't have gotten much sleep either with me tossing and turning all night."
"Don't worry about me," he rubbed the soap over her back. "I just wish you could have gotten more sleep. You need it more than me."
"I guess seeing my dad again and thinking more about my mom stirred up a lot of memories…some good, some not so good," she said sadly.
Danny turned her around to face him. "I want you to have only good memories from now on."
She smiled up at her husband, "You are so wonderful. What did I ever do to deserve you?"
"I'm definitely the lucky one," he smiled back as he lowered his lips to hers.
His lips traveled down her neck as his hands drifted from her back to her stomach. When he realized where his hand had landed, he pulled back to look at her. He swallowed hard realizing that their baby was right there beneath his hand. A baby…it was still so hard to believe. Michelle suddenly shivered and broke him away from his thoughts.
"Cold?" he whispered, wrapping his arms tighter around her. "Guess you've already used up the hot water."
"I think so," she said breathlessly as he began pressing kisses to her neck again.
"What do you say we go warm ourselves up?" he said as his lips found hers again.
Her only response was to open the shower door and push him out into their bedroom..
--------------------------
Later that morning, Danny went downstairs to his office while Michelle slept. He made the necessary phone calls to see if there was any new developments. Frank didn't have anything new. There were no fingerprints found in the house except for theirs. The toxicology reports didn't offer any clues either. Frustrated, Danny tried his family connections. None of his contacts had heard anything, but they warned him he was stirring up a hornet's nest by making accusations. The other families didn't take too kindly to be being threatened, so he better watch his back. Danny slammed the phone down on his desk. How can it be possible that no one knew anything? He had to find out the truth soon. Michelle would be showing before much longer and he didn't want anyone to find out about the baby just yet. The baby would just be another target and he would never let that happen.
He worried about Michelle starting back to school. She would be an easy target out in the open like that. But Carlos was the best and he trusted him when he promised nothing would happen to her. He couldn't ask Michelle to put her life on hold anymore than she already had. He would just have to trust her to stay close to Carlos.
----------------------------
Ed came over later that afternoon and spent the day with them. Danny cooked them dinner while Michelle spent time catching up with her father. She gave him a quick tour of the house and afterwards they sat down in the living room.
"So where's the wedding video you said I could see?" he asked.
"I'll put it in," Michelle said, getting up from the sofa.
She filtered through all the movies her and Danny had collected and finally found the tape from the wedding. She put the tape in and turned on the television. Grabbing the remote, she sat back down beside her father.
The tape began with Ray giving an opening introduction. "This is a blessed day for the Santos family as two souls who were destined for one another join together as man and wife. Danny, what can I say. We've grown up together. You're my best friend. It does my heart good to see you so happy. You've spent years looking for your soul mate and I'm so glad you finally found her. Michelle, I've only known you for a short while, but it doesn't take long to see the light in your eyes. You make my cousin so happy and I know he will do everything in his power to make you just as happy. I wish you both love, health, happiness and blessings for a wonderful marriage."
"That was Ray," Michelle explained. "He's a priest at St. Joseph's."
"A Santos as a priest," Ed raised his eyebrows. "I never would have thought that."
"Dad," Michelle groaned.
"I'm sorry," he frowned.
After Ray's speech came other varied family members and friends of Danny's. Drew and Rick didn't say much except to say they hoped Michelle would be happy. The next shot was of Danny and Ray entering and standing next to the priest. Danny's face was pale and he kept wiping his hands on his jacket.
"Danny seemed to be a little nervous," Ed commented.
"I think he was," Michelle smiled. "But what groom isn't nervous on his wedding day."
The camera panned around to see Rick walking Michelle down the aisle. As he gave Michelle's hand to Danny, the camera focused on Danny's face. At that moment, looking at the expression on Danny Santos' face, Ed Bauer had no doubt this man loved his little girl. And as they repeated their vows to one another, he also noticed the sparkle in Michelle's eyes. He knew this wedding wasn't the normal wedding, but it was obvious these two people were in love.
After the ceremony, there was some footage of the reception. Michelle let the tape finish before she said anything.
As she hit the rewind button, she looked at her dad, "So what did you think?"
"I'm sorry I wasn't there," he said.
"It wasn't your fault," Michelle explained. "I know if I had told you about it, you would have been there. But like I said things were different back then."
"You were in love with him then, weren't you?" he asked.
"I didn't know it, but I yes I was," she shook her head. "I loved him then and I love him now."
"All I've ever wanted was for you to be happy," he said.
"I know," she said. "But Dad, I am happy. Danny and I love each other as much as you and Mom loved each other."
"Just don't let anything come between you," he looked her in the eyes. "If there is ever a problem, don't just let it go. Talk it out. Don't ever lose the trust you share."
"I know you and Mom had your problems," Michelle began. "But she loved you. She never stopped loving you."
Ed leaned over to hug his daughter. "I loved her too. I still do."
"Dinner…" Danny started as he entered the room. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."
"It's okay," Michelle said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready," Danny finished.
"I think I'd like to wash up first," he said, patting Michelle's hand. "I'll be right back."
Danny watched him as he exited the room and then he sat down beside Michelle. He reached for her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. Then he leaned in to press a soft kiss on her lips. "How's my girl?"
"You do know how much I love you, don't you?" she whispered.
"I know," he smiled as he pulled her into his arms.

Parts 19-20

Home