Danny stood motionless unable to speak for a moment. Hadn't he somehow known who she was? Wasn't he strangely drawn to her as a magnet is drawn to steel? Didn't he see himself when he looked into her eyes?
This was unbelievable. He had just found out that this woman existed and here she was standing in front of him, close enough to touch. He had lived his entire life without knowing about her and now he wanted to know everything there was to know about her. Had she ever married? Did she have any other children? Did she ever wonder about him?
The questions poured through his head faster than his brain could process and sort through them all. She must have sensed his confusion and she began to speak again. "Is there anything you would like to know? I am sure this is overwhelming for you but I would be happy to tell you anything you would like to know," she said and Danny nodded his reply.
"Okay Danny, just tell me what you want to know" she said and Danny felt Michelle's hand in his gently squeezing. He wanted to know everything that this woman with the welcoming eyes had to tell him, but first he and Michelle needed to talk. They had so much to talk about and he felt strangely torn between his need to find out about this woman and his desperate need to tell Michelle all that had transpired in the last few weeks.
He returned Michelle's squeeze and then finally found his voice "I want very much to talk to you. I have so many questions to ask but I need to do something first. Would it be alright if we talked later?" he asked and the woman nodded eagerly and smiled. Danny thought it was the kindest smile he had ever seen besides the one his grandmother bore. He felt then that he was going to like this woman.
"Or course Daniel" she said and he searched her eyes scanning for any sign of hurt or disappointment. He found none. "I have waited 27 years to get to speak to you, a little while longer will not hurt" she explained.
"Thank you" he said sincerely. "Can you come to the house later on this evening..say around 8 o'clock?"
She nodded her head eagerly and said "I will see you then" and then she turned to leave the church. Danny watched her walk out of the church and then he and Michelle followed suit.
It was another twenty minutes though before they could exit the church since everyone wanted to stop him and offer their condolences although Danny knew it was more out of sheer curiosity than anything. Each of the churchgoers had seen him talking with the mystery woman and he felt sure the gossip would begin before nightfall.
Bernard stopped him and asked about Carmen and all Danny could say was that they would just have to see what happened. Carmen was the last thing on his mind right now and he was a little surprised to realize that he didn't feel bad about that.
Bernard nodded his understanding and Danny walked past him still holding Michelle's hand. He led her to his car with a promise that they would be back to pick hers up later. He helped her into the car and then pulled out onto the road.
He didn't tell her where they were going and she didn't ask. Both of them knew they would end up at the lighthouse. There, they would sort through the confusion and the uncertainty that had been prevalent in their lives since they first laid eyes on each other.
Neither spoke a word during the short journey to the lighthouse. Michelle watched Danny's expression and tried to read it. His mother, or the one that he had thought had been his mother, was in jail and would be charged with attempted murder. What was he thinking? What was going through his mind at this very moment?
She leaned back and let the cool blast of the air conditioner cool her skin. The goosebumps that rose on her flesh weren't entirely from the cool air being pumped through the vents and projected onto her.
They were really going to talk. She knew it had to be so confusing for him right now but yet he wanted to be alone with her. She would tell him all of her feelings and allow him to tell her all of his and pray that this time they would take the chance that was being offered to them and see that this was indeed the right lifetime for them to be together.
How long had Danny known that Carmen was not his real mother? She could tell by his shocked response at meeting Teressa today that he had merely been stunned at finding out she was his mother and not the fact that he had found out Carmen was not his natural mother.
Michelle had to admit that in retrospect, she wasn't really that surprised since Danny had always seemed to be cut from a different cloth than Carmen and she was a little ashamed to find out how happy it made her that Carmen wasn't his mother. She would never be able to hurt him again.
She felt the first pangs of sympathy for Carmen then. She didn't know where they came from or why they had surfaced but they were there just the same. She couldn't allow herself to think of Carmen right now though but she made a mental note to speak with Danny about going to see Carmen once they finished there talk.
Soon, Danny was pulling the car up to the rear of the lighthouse and he was opening her door for her and taking her hand. They walked hand in hand up the steps and to the room where each, unbeknownst to the other, had sought sanctuary during their separation.
Danny lit the lantern illuminating the room that was encased in shadows. He suddenly felt his palms go as damp as he did on the day that he had asked Maria Lopez to go to the seventh grade dance with him.
This was it. The chance that he had been praying for. It was time to put it all on the table and hope that they could have a future together. The business with Carmen was finally over and he had a whole new life to look forward to. One that included Michelle, their future children and his newly found natural mother.
He wondered what Michelle thought about all of this. There was so much to tell her that he didn't know where to begin.
He wiped his palms on his black suit pants and took off his jacket. The tie came off next and he threw it on the bed next to the discarded jacket. Michelle was looking at him and waiting for him to make the first move.
"I don't know where to begin," he admitted and Michelle offered him a smile full of understanding.
"Why don't you begin with why you didn't go to California" she said and that broke the ice. Soon he was telling her everything. He told her about his decision to stay in Springfield and expose Carmen, bring her down from the inside and take over the business. He told her of Dietz's involvement in helping him and his subsequent shooting because of it.
He didn't stop talking until he had told her everything including why he had to tell her he didn't love her that fateful day in the kitchen of her brother's house. He prayed that she would understand that he had only been trying to protect her.
He waited a moment to let all of the information sink in. He absent-mindedly twirled his wedding ring around his finger while he waited for her response.
"You are wearing your ring again," she said and he nodded.
"Yes" he said.
"Since when?" she asked.
"Since the night we made love in your bedroom at your brother's house" he admitted. "I only found out that night that you thought we were annulled. I knew we weren't because I never signed the papers. I insisted that you sign them because I thought it was what was best for you but when I got them back and saw your signature on them, I felt as if all of the life had been sucked out of me. I didn't want the annulment, and had never wanted it" he admitted. "So I felt that I had every right to wear it since we were still married and in fact still are. I found the papers missing from my briefcase and deduced that Carmen had forged my name on them since I could never bring myself to sign them and sent them to you and therefore you thought we were annulled" he said.
Michelle simply nodded as Danny spoke. She absorbed each word that he said and her heart rejoiced as she realized that he loved her, he truly loved her and that all of the trials that they had had to endure had only made them love each other more and make their resolve to be together stronger.
"So there it is" he said and Michelle nodded again.
"Do you have anything to say?" he asked.
"Yes" Michelle answered. "I have a lot to say but first I want to show you something" she said and took his hand and led him to the bed.
"What are you doing Michelle?" he asked with a glimmer in his eyes?
"Oh, I think you know" she said and pulled him down with her. She needed to show him that she was a woman who was capable of loving her man and she was going to show him just how much she loved him.
They made love for the first time with the truth out in the open. They told each other how they felt with their bodies. By the time it was over, there was no mistaking the tears in each of their eyes and the love in their hearts.
Danny reached for the blanket and covered Michelle with it as he began to talk again. "I love you Michelle," he said and Michelle realized that it was the first time that he had said it aloud.
"I love you too" she said and buried her head in his shoulder and ran her fingers over his chest in a circular fashion.
They lay still and quiet for a long time simply rejoicing in the knowledge that they were finally together. Michelle was the first to speak.
"Danny, what are you going to do about Carmen?" she asked tentatively.
"I don't know" he answered candidly. " I will just have to see what happens. She tried to kill Dietz on two different occasions and even though they will never link the shooting to her, her fingerprints were all over the plug in his hospital room. She will have to answer for what she has done," he said.
"How does that make you feel?" she asked.
"Again, I don't know. She raised me and loved me like I was hers but the funny thing is Michelle, that I think I have always known that I didn't belong to her. It is almost like I have a recollection of someone else being my mother and I know this sounds crazy, but I really think I have seen her before. That somehow, she has always been with me" he said. "Do you understand any of this?" he asked.
"I think so Danny because Maureen wasn't my real mother either and every now and then I have a memory of my real mother and I think that I can recall certain times when she was there with me, so I do know what you are talking about" she said.
"I thought you would understand. You always understood me even when I didn't give you a chance to. That day in Pilar's room, you were begging me with those big, beautiful, brown eyes to ask you to stay but I had to do what I could to keep you safe, but I have learned something since then" he said nipping at her shoulder
"And what is that?" she said playfully.
"That a life without you is no life at all" he said and Michelle knew at that moment that the two halves had been reunited and that they hadn't had to wait for another lifetime to reconnect them.
Soon Danny was attempting to show his love for her again when she gently stopped him and reminded him that they had to get back to the house because they had company coming.
They got up and helped each other get redressed and then stood at the door of the lighthouse. They both pondered what life outside that door would bring but they each knew that whatever happened, they would have each other and all would be well.
Soon it became apparent that neither one of them wanted to make the first move to open the door and walk outside. Michelle took Danny's hand, inhaled deeply and said, "Let's go and meet your mother" and together they walked out of the door and into their future.