The Story of Manny Chapter 28

Republisher’s Note: Manny have to face the consequences.

The baptism service was beautiful. Camille was an absolute doll through the whole thing. She never cried. Not once. It meant everything to me to see Danny sitting in the pew, finally well enough to walk and talk and function on his own. It killed me to see him so battered and helpless. It was several days before I even knew if he would make it. It was several days after that before anyone knew what kind of recovery he would make. For a few days, the neurologist told me he doubted if Danny would be able to speak again. I remember being physically sick at the thought that I would never hear my husband’s beautiful voice again. I would never hear him tell me he loved me. I would never hear him sing lullabies to his baby girl. I would never hear him moan my name when I made love to him. Of course, Danny beat all of the odds. Once he began breathing on his own he fought so hard to get well. When I saw how much he went through and witnessed the pain he had to endure, I knew whoever was responsible for this had to pay.

It was Carmen’s plan. All I had to do was make the call. I was such an emotional wreck I really didn’t realize what I was doing. I just knew that I wanted to protect my husband and our life together. He had risked everything for me over and over again. It was time for me to do the same. Theresa Sandavol could not be a problem for Danny any more.

Danny still needs to lean on me for support when he walks and he can’t move very quickly or go very far without getting tired. I know he knows. I know he knows I helped Carmen set up the hit. He hasn’t said anything about it to me. In fact, he hasn’t said anything at all. We drove out to Laurel Falls in complete silence after lunch. He insisted on going for a walk against my better judgement. It hurts his pride to depend on me for anything, especially something as simple as walking. We’ve been taking small, slow steps for about 20 minutes when he asks to sit down and take a break. I can see he’s in pain.

“What can I do?” I kneel before him. I hate seeing him like this.

“Nothing,” he says softly with jagged breath.

I reach in my bag and hand him a bottle of water. “Do you want a pain pill?”

“No.”

He’s looking away from me, over at a creek where a family of birds is drinking. “How about some Tylenol. That’s not so strong.”

“I don’t want any damned medicine. All right?” His whisper has suddenly escalated. “I don’t need it.”

“All right.” I put the medicine back in my bag and join him on the rock where he’s resting. I sit behind him and begin massaging his shoulders. “You’re so tense. You need to relax. The stress is not good for you.”

“I’m not stressed.” He’s trying to fight my touch but he can’t. I feel the tension slowly leaving his body. He closes his eyes and hangs his head. His breathing is slowing. I continue kneading my fingers into his back and shoulders, then slide my palms down the front of his chest where I rest my left hand over his heart and feel the strong beat. I nestle my nose into the space between his neck and shoulder and slowly leave soft kisses on his skin. It’s been so long since I’ve loved him this way. He reaches up and holds my left hand as my kisses become more intense. I gently nibble on his sweet, beautiful skin then drag my tongue up the side of his neck to his ear where I continue my delicious journey. I lean over his shoulder and reach for his lips. He’s reluctant at first but then he relaxes and gives into my kiss, pulling me across his body to rest on his lap, our mouths never separating. I’m pulling his face to me, I want him to be as close to me as possible. I want to connect with him completely. It feels so good to have his tongue dancing inside my mouth, to feel his lips devouring me. I slide my hand down from his heart to feel him, yearning with desire. He moans softly when my hand rests in its new destination.

“Let’s go home,” I whisper as he pulls away from my lips and begins kissing down my neck. He’s slowly gliding his hands underneath my T-shirt and massaging my breasts. It’s been so long since we’ve made love. I want him more than anything right now.

“We are home,” he breathes. I giggle as his lips continue trailing down my chest. I’m thinking of the first time we made love in that awful pink bed.

“Honey, it’s the end of November. I love you but I do not want to get frostbite with you,” I sit up , straddle him and wrap my hands around his neck. “Besides, you should not be letting me do this to you. You need your rest. Let’s just go home, all right?” He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close to him.

“Come on,” he says softly, gently pushing me off of him. “Look over here.” He grabs my hand and leads me slowly down a dirt path. I see it immediately. I see the white structure atop the hill. I cannot believe it. Our house. It’s our house.

“Our house…”

“It’s still in need of some work, but we should be able to move in before Christmas.”

“Oh my God, Danny! Our house!” I hug him so tight before running to the front door. It takes him a while to catch up to me but when he does I shower him with kisses. “It’s beautiful.”

There is a fire place in the living room that’s set off by huge bay windows overlooking the falls. A dining room separates the living room and the kitchen, a very large kitchen with a breakfast bar and a patio. A den, play room and pantry are also downstairs. Upstairs, several bedrooms and bathrooms share the space with a home gym and library. The master bedroom is gorgeous. It too has a fireplace and a patio that leads outside. The spot where we renewed our vows is just below and the falls are to our right. There’s a hot tub outside and inside and the bathroom is gorgeous. It’s gray and white marble with an old-fashioned bath tub like the one I loved so much in Mexico. I emerge from one of two walk-in closets to find Danny, looking a bit tired, starting a fire.

“This is better than we talked about,” I say, joining his side. “Let me do this. You sit down. You look tired.” He finally lets me take over and sits on blanket left by the construction workers. I start the fire then snuggle up to him. “Where are we ever going to get enough furniture to fill this whole house?”

“I’m running a Fortune 500 company, I think we can afford furniture. We’re not on the run anymore Michelle, you can have everything you want.” He rubs his hands together and zips his coat. He’s back to the distant Danny he was before we came up here.

“You cold?” I wrap another blanket around him and kiss him tenderly. “Better?”

“Yeah.”

“You want to tell me what’s been bothering you?”

“No.”

“So something is bothering you?”

“Did you see the Jacuzzi? They put one out on the balcony, too. They haven’t built the pool yet but I figured we could clear some of those trees to the west and put it there. I was thinking of maybe having a little playground put there for Camille. She’ll be running around by the time summer gets here, you know?”

“Danny, don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t shut me out. We’ve worked so hard to get past that. You’ve been through so much, honey. If you need to talk I want you to know I am here for you.” I sit up on his lap and sneak under the covers. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“I don’t know what’s on my mind.”

“Well, OK. Are you confused about something?”

“Are you?”

“What? Danny, I don’t understand…” I see the way he’s looking at me and I realize what he means. He wants me to know he knows about Theresa and Carmen. “I won’t apologize for that.” I want him to know that it was no one’s decision but mine to make that call. “They nearly killed you. Who’s to say they wouldn’t try it again? I wasn’t going to allow that to happen. And I’m tired of running. We are never running from anything or anyone ever again.”

“You have no idea what you did, do you?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, Danny. I protected you. You would have done it for me. Carmen and I knew there was no other way. We had to do it before they got to you. We had information that Jimmy was looking for you. He wanted to finish the job, Danny. I couldn’t let that happen. All I had to do was make the call when everything was set. It was just a call.”

“It was hit.”

“It was saving your life.”

I slide from his grasp and walk around what will one day be our bedroom. The place where we’ll conceive our other children and make love to each other night after night. I hear him sigh his frustration and then I hear him crying. He’s sitting in the middle of the floor, wrapped in a blanket, crying. He’s got his face buried in his hands but I see his shoulders bobbing up and down. I go back to him and hug him. “I was saving your life, Danny.”

He looks up at me with tear-filled eyes. “I know,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

“I would have done it myself if I had to. I would have pulled the trigger myself to protect you.” Tears begin to fall down my cheeks when I realize just how powerful our love is for each other. I would actually kill for him. I would. And I know he would for me.

“Do you understand what’s happened here? Do you see the irony of it all?”

I wipe his tears and lean down to kiss him. I want to make him understand how much I love him. I want him to show me he understands all of this. I reach down and put his hands over my breast, then lean down to kiss his neck. “Shhhh,” I say, finally reaching his lips. “Just let me love you.” I slowly push him down on the pile of blankets and begin unbuttoning his shirt, covering each newly-revealed piece of skin with my lips. He buries his hands in my hair and pulls my head away from him when I nearly reach his manhood. He’s forcing me to look at him. We’re both crying.

“Michelle,” he says softly. “Because of you my hands are clean. Because of me, yours aren’t. Do you see what I’ve done to you? My God, what are we doing to each other?”

I stare into his eyes. Those eyes that hypnotized me the very first time he looked at me. The eyes that burned through me with desire all of those months I tried to fight him. Those eyes that made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world when he made love to me for the first time. The eyes that look so adoringly at our daughter. Those eyes that can see into my soul.

I begin my trail of love again as I place soft kisses down his stomach towards his waist, where I undo his belt and open his pants. I never leave his stare as I continue my journey. He helps me as I crawl back up to lie on top of him and finally guide him inside of me, where I so desperately need him to be right now. Through it all, our eyes never leave each other. I slowly rotate my hips, feeling him go deeper and deeper inside of me. I push his hands over his head and clasps my hands with his. “What are we doing to each other Michelle?” he repeats, his voice a husky desperate whisper. I lower my head and kiss him with so much passion that he reciprocates.

“Loving each other the only way we know how,” I whisper against his lips as our love making nears its peek. My tears return as I feel him explode deep within me just as my own climax attacks my body. “That’s all,” I cry, collapsing against his chest. “Loving each other.”

Tags: Danny Santos, GL, Guiding Light, Manny Fanfic, Manny fanfiction, Michelle Bauer Santos