Tia Torres looked across the field she was standing in. She could see the beach clearly past the fence, and the sight of it brought tears to her eyes. Her mother had loved the beach so much. Tia could remember all of the picnics that they had had there, on the sand. The entire family would play in the water and have so much fun. Now that would never happen again. She turned to look at her father, then her brother. Both had tears in their eyes as the priest spoke kind words about Gabriella Torres. The words tore at Tia's heart. Gabi had been Tia's mother, and her friend. Gabi had been the one that Tia told everything to. She could remember pouring over the details of her first crush, her first date, first dance, and every other milestone in her life with her mother. That wouldn't be anymore. Tia's mother would never be there to see her wedding, never meet her grandchildren. All because of some stupid drunk driver.

It had happened not quite a week ago. Gabi had been running to the store to pick up a few things for dinner. It was just a quick, simple, ten minute run to the grocery store, but someone had had a little too much to drink that night and ran the red light that Gabi was stopped at, crashing into her car and killing her instantly, painlessly. That one mistake that some stupid drunk had made had left two children without a mother, one man without a wife, and many lives darkened. It had left Gabi dead.

Tia still couldn't believe this had happened. She was only sixteen, her mother couldn't be...dead. It hurt her to even think it.  She turned to look at her little brother again. Antonio Torres, Jr. Everyone called him 'T'. He looked so sad. He was only eleven, he probably couldn't comprehend that he would never see his mother again.

And her father was probably the most devastated of them all. He seemed so lost without Gabi. Tia could see why. She knew that her mother and father had been the world to each other. They were best friends, and husband and wife. He was openly crying now. Aunt Maria was holding his hand, comforting him. She looked sad, too. The whole family was there, in the front row, and all of their friends were in the rows behind them. Everyone was there to grieve Gabi. Tia felt like screaming out "She's not dead, why are you all so sad? She's going to come back!!" But she didn't because it wasn't true.

Her shoulders trembled with fresh tears as she thougth those horrible thoughts. She felt a hand on her shoulder, comforting her and she knew that it was Lili, her best friend and cousin, sitting behind her. Lili had been great these past few days.

Before she knew it, the, it was over. They had lowered Gabi into the ground, covered her with dirt. Tia and T placed white roses onto the coffin, Antonio threw a single red rose. They climbed into the long limo, and left the graveyard. Tia's heart was breaking as they left her mother behind.
 
 

They went back to the house, everyone followed. They had food people had brought to them, everyone ate and talked in hushed voices.  They all acted like they needed to talk about Gabi. They discussed her life, her children, her job. Antonio couldn't stand it. Everywhere he turned, he heard his wife's...his late wife's name. It wasn't that he wanted to forget her, that was the last thing he wanted to do, but hearing everyone talk about her constantly, it was driving him crazy.

He finally found solitude on the porch outside of the kitchen. He looked out over the water and thought of their honeymoon. It had been here, in the house, on that beach, they had made love for the first time as husband and wife. No one, not even Maria had known they had been married in a private, completely secretive ceremony, and it had stayed a complete secret until they couldn't hide Gabi's pregnancy anymore. Then they had announced to Sunset Beach and to the world that they were husband and wife. It had been the happiest days of his life. He looked out, remembering other important things that had taken place there between him and Gabi. It was where T was conceived. It was where they had reconciled after he found out about....

"Tia." He smiled sadly at the girl who had come up beside him. She was beautiful, just like her mother. She had Gabi's long, thick black hair, and large black eyes. He was so proud of her, just as proud as any blood father she could have had. Just as proud as Ricardo could have been.

"Hi, Daddy. How are you?" She was so perceptive it amazed him.  She always had been. Sometimes too smart for her own good, though Antonio didn't mind.  But there were some things he hoped that she would never find out.

"I'm...not good. I miss her so much." Tia put her arm around her Antonio's waist.

"So do I, Daddy." By then, T had come up and was standing with them on the porch. Antonio invited him into the embrace. They needed each other now. They needed Gabi, too. If only she could be there with them.

CHAPTER TWO

Soon the people had almost all left, went back to their happy little homes. Maria and her family remained to help take care of the family, but Tia didn't mind that. She knew Aunt Maria cared very much about what happened to them, and she wanted Lili around. After Maria had forced them to eat something, Tia and Lili went up to Tia's room.

"How are you doing? Really, don't just tell me okay." Lili was worried. She knew how close Tia and her mother had been, and she knew how much this had devastated Tia.

"I miss her." Tia answered truthfully. "I can't believe I'll never see her again. Momma was so...so alive. She can't be dead now, she just can't be!!"

"Oh, Tia, I'm so sorry. You must be going through hell right now. I wish I could do something...." Lili didn't want her best friend to be hurting like this. She wanted to help her. She just didn't know how.

"You are helping, just by being here." Tia smiled, suddenly wishing that Lili were gone. She appreciated her company, but Tia wanted to be alone now. She wondered if there was a polite way to tell her to get lost.

"Hey, Lil, why don't you go help your Dad downstairs?" Maria appeared in the doorway. Lili looked torn for a minute, wanting to stay with Tia, then reluctantly left. When she had gone, Maria spoke. "How are you?"

Tia was suddenly sick of people asking how she was. Her mother had just died, how did they think she was?!?

"Fine, Aunt Maria. Just peachy." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Maria seemed shocked. Tia was always so polite, and what she had just said was just rude, but Maria seemed to get over it, seemed too understand and she left.

At last, Tia was alone. She had had very little time alone since the accident. Everyone wanted to comfort her, to make sure she wasn't alone in her time of grieving. She felt like just shouting out to wirld to leave her alone. She could take care of herself.

Then she reminded herself that she wasn't the only one hurting because of this. She had to think of her brother, and her father. They were feeling the exact same things that she was. The same pain, the feeling that somewhere a light you hadn't even noticed was on had been switched off, leaving you to face the glaring, harsh darkness all alone. She wanted more than anything to wake up and see that this was all a dream. To walk into the kitchen and find her parents making on the porch when they thought no one was looking.

The memories brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what her father must be going through. Tia knew that many of her friend's parents were not nearly as close as Tia's were. Most of them were superficial, distant and polite, but Antonio and Gabi had been everything. They had been best friends, they had been lovers, and husband and wife. Now that was gone.

"At least we have each other." Tia muttered to herself. It didn't really help, but she said it anyway. Having her family was wonderful, but it wasn't her whole family. And it never would be again.

"You in here, Tia?" She heard a quiet whisper come through the door.

"Yeah, come in." She hastily wiped a stray tear from her eye as her little brother walked in. She could tell he had been crying, too.  She moved over on the bed, making a place for him. "How are you doing? Are you okay?"

"You sound like Aunt Maria." T said, giving a pained grin at his feeble attempt at a joke.

"I know. She was in here with me earlier. She's just worried about us. She wants us to be okay." T looked so depressed, just looking into his deep, sad brown eyes, Antonio's eyes, made her tear up again.

"I know. I just wish she'd leave so we could be alone. Are she and Uncle Ben and Lili going to stay here much longer?" She knew exactly how her little brother was feeling. Like everything would be better if the people would just leave them alone.

"I'm not sure. But they're only here to watch after us, you know that." She put her around T's shoulder.

"Aunt Maria shouldn't have to watch after us. Mama should be here to do that. Why did she... why did she have to die Tia? Why did she leave us?" His tone was angry, but Tia knew that he didn't really blame they're mother for being killed. He was just angered because it had happened. So was she, but right now, all she wanted to do was to comfort him. It would take her mind off her own anger.

"I don't know, I wish I did." She smiled faintly down at him. "You have to think of what Mama would want us to do. She wouldn't have wanted us sitting around crying, would she?"

"I guess not." He sounded unsure. She didn't know what else she could do to comfort him.

"I know she wouldn't. Now, come on, I smell food. Aunt Maria must be cooking." She sat up, pulling him with her.

"I'm not hungry. Can I just go to my room?" He asked pitifully. She didn't blame him for wanting to be alone, but he had to eat.

"Why don't you come down long enough to get a plate, then you can come back up. Is that okay?" He thought about it for a second, then nodded and followed her downstairs. To Tia's surprise, Maria and her family were no where to be seen. Antonio was standing by the stove.

"What are you doing, Daddy?" Tia asked. She had been expecting Maria to cook for them.

"What does it look like, smartie? I'm feeding my babies." He leaned over to kiss Tia on the forehead, and squeezed T's shoulder, then set out three plates on the table.

"Where's Aunt Maria at?" Tia asked.

"She went home to eat with her family. I asked her to. I thought we could use a little time alone." Tia was glad. This was exactly what she had wanted. Time with her family. Well, with what was left of her family. She knew it would take her a while to get used to only three settings on the table.

They ate the grilled cheese sandwiches that Antonio had made in silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. They didn't really need to say anything to each other. Just knowing they hadn't lost each other was enough.

CHAPTER THREE

Late at night, the night after the funeral, Tia lay in bed, thinking of her mother. She had never, in her wildest dreams, expected anything like this to happen to her. She had lost her mother. Her mother was gone, dead, and she would never be coming back. It was too much to bear. Gabi had promised Tia that she would always be there for her...and now she wouldn't be able to fulfill that promise. A rush of anger flowed through Tia. Why had her mother done this? But Tia immediately felt horrible for thinking that. It wasn't her mother's fault she had died...it wasn't her fault that she would never be there for Tia again. As she drifted off to sleep, Tia recalled fond memories of Gabi....

She had been five, and Gabi and Antonio had just broken the news that Tia would no longer be an only child. To their surprise, Tia had not been too happy about it. Of course, at first she was excited about having a baby in the house, but when T actually arrived, she found out that it wasn't quite what she'd been expecting. For one thing, Tia had wanted a little sister, and she was disappointed to find that she couldn't hold the baby very often.

Well, needless to say, as she and T got older, sibling rivalry kicked in. Tia hated that she wasn't the only child and wanted all the attention. She had been used to being the center of her Mommy and Daddy's world. She had, very seriously, gone in to talk to her mother. She decided that she wasn't going to live in the house with T, and was planning on running away to Grandma Carmen's. She had told her plans to Gabi, who had smiled, and asked Tia to come sit on her lap. She had looked at her little girl, and said something that Tia had never forgotten. She hadn't known what it meant then, and she still wasn't quite sure now, but Gabi had told her that if T hadn't have been born, then Antonio and Gabi wouldn't be together. Gabi had refused to go into any further explanation, but Tia got the idea. Her little brother had kept her family together. She had a new way of treating him from then on.
 
 
 
 

The next morning, Tia was sleeping peacefully, until something jarred her awake. Well, not quite jarred, but in her deep slumber, that's what it felt like. She opened one eye to see her father shaking her shoulders gently. For a second she was confused.  Didn't her mother always wake her up? Not her father. But then it hit her, like it had every morning since the accident. Her mother would never be here to wake her up again. The thought brought tears to her eyes, but she pushed them away, forcing herself not to cry. She had done that enough lately.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Antonio smiled down at her. "No, you have to wake up." He added when she tried to bury her head under the covers again. She grudgingly sat up.

"That's good. Now, come on in the kitchen. Breakfast is ready." He kissed her on the forehead and turned to leave.

"Daddy, wait!" He turned back around to her, standing in the doorway. "Daddy...what are we going to do?"

He was silent for a few minutes, and when he came back to where she was sitting on the bed, she could see unshed tears gleaming in his eyes. She felt horrible for making him cry, but the question had been out of her mouth before she even realized it. And she needed to know his answer.

He sat down next to her, and put his arm around her, like he used to do when she had a bad dream and called out to him in the night.

"I don't know, baby. I really don't. But I do know that we will get through this. We'll keep on living, as difficult as it will be without Gabi, but we have to. It's what she would have wanted, right?" How ironic. That was the line she had used with T yesterday.

"Yeah, I guess so." She didn't really want to get up, but she would. For her father.

"Great. Now, get dressed and come eat!" She stood up, doing as her father said.
 

Antonio stood in the hall. What was he going to do? He needed Gabi, now more than ever. Lately, it was getting harder and harder to look at Tia and not see his brother's child. She was so much like him. She had his sharp intellect, his stubbornness. She was undoubtedly his. And Antonio didn't know how he was going to keep pretending he wasn't. Not that Gabi was gone, he didn't know if he would have the strength to keep up the facade. He loved Tia, loved her like his own child, but she wasn't his. He couldn't help but feel guilty that he was depriving Ricardo of knowing what a miracle he could have had in his life. Ricardo would hate him if he knew that Antonio hadn't only taken away his fiancé, but his child, too.

"He can just never find out." Antonio muttered to himself.

"What'd you say, Daddy?" T had slipped up, unnoticed, behind Antonio. He smiled at his youngest child. Well, my only child, he thought, immediately regretting it. Tia was his, his daughter, and only his. He had to keep thinking like that. Gabi had made him forget, Gabi had wanted everything to be all right again, and Antonio had done everything he could to keep his wife happy. Even lie to his brother repeatedly.

"Nothing. I was just coming to wake you up. Breakfast is ready." He smiled. He could see as much of himself in T as he could Ricardo in Tia. He didn't favor his son over Tia, he would never have done that. It would have been unfair to everyone, but he did feel a pride for his flesh and blood that was a bit stronger than what he felt for Tia.

"Okay. I'll be down in a minute." Antonio walked back into the, where he was momentarily joined by T and Tia. His babies.

"Dad?" Tia said after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"Uh, no offense, but maybe you'd better start ordering out. You're not much of a cook." Antonio grinned. He knew exactly what she meant. He got the feeling that eggs weren't exactly supposed to be rubbery. And his bacon... well, it was somewhat lacking in taste.

"Good idea." He winked at her. "Maybe I could invite Maria over to cook us an edible breakfast?" Both of them nodded, grinning identical grins.

He went in the next room to call Maria, hoping she would be home and awake, and as he picked up the phone, about to dial Maria's number, when he realized that he could see his children, sitting together at the table talking, with their back of the back dark heads facing him. They were depending on him now. He knew that he had to be there for them more now than ever. He had to be strong, for his and Gabi's child. And for Ricardo and Gabi's.

CHAPTER FOUR

 Maria arrived at the house a few minutes after receiving the call from Antonio to come fix them breakfast. She was glad that he had called. She knew that he wanted to try and raise his children without accepting help, but she also knew that he wouldn't be able to do everything by himself. It reassured her that he was willing to rely on her.

 "Thank God your here, Aunt Maria!" T said exaggeratedly when she walked in the door. "I can't take another bite of Dad's breakfast." She was also glad to see that they weren't as grim as they had been the day before.

 "Well, hello to you to. Seems I came just in time. Was your father trying to starve you again?" She said, playfully scolding Antonio.

 "Well, I never claimed to be a chef." Antonio replied.

 "That's good, cause you never have been good at cooking." A new voice joined in.

 "Ricardo!" Antonio said, surprised to see his brother. Ricardo had been at the funeral, but he hadn't been at the reception. Antonio knew that he was having a hard time dealing with Gabi's death, too.

 "Yeah, its me. Hey kids." He looked towards Tia and T, and Antonio felt another wave of guilt. He hated this. Gabi had made him forget what they were doing to Ricardo, but now she was gone, and he didn't know how much longer he would be able to stand the guilt. He wasn't strong without Gabi. She had given him the strength that needed.

 "Hey Uncle Ric." T said. Tia just smiled at him. Then she walked over to him and hugged him. She hadn't used to like her uncle, but over the years, she had realized that he wasn't mean...he'd just been hurt very much by someone. She often wondered whom it was that had done this to him.

 Antonio watched Ricardo squeeze Tia back, and almost hated himself at that moment. He wished he could deal with this better. He wanted a way to resolve the issue that lay before him, one that would keep everyone from getting hurt. But that was impossible, and Antonio knew it.
 
 
 

 A few hours later, he was still being plagued by guilt for what he was doing to his brother. He wanted desperately to talk to someone. Maria was the only person that knew about Tia's true paternity, but he couldn't talk to her. She was just as loyal to Ricardo as she was to Antonio. So he went somewhere he hadn't been in much too long. The mission. He had been here for Gabi's funeral, but that had been different. He hadn't been in here on his own for many months. Looking around to make sure that he was alone, he stepped up to the front of the room and knelt.

 "Father, help me through this. I need your guidance. Tell me what I should do, tell me how I should handle this awful situation I've let myself get in. Should I tell Ricardo that he has a daughter? Or would that only hurt him more, knowing the truth? Let me know what would be best, Lord, I'm asking to help me. Please, I need your guidance. "He stood and stepped away. "Amen."

  "Antonio?" Father O'Brian, who was still working at St. Joseph's, spoke, stepping out from the shadows. "Is there something you would like to talk about? Confess, maybe?"

 It was a tempting offer, but Antonio didn't feel like confessing here. He still felt as though he had betrayed God, and he wasn't entirely comfortable in the mission. It was a reminder of what he had given up to be with Gabi. He didn't regret the decision, but it also reminded him that he had given up the priesthood because Gabi and told him that she was pregnant with his child. And she hadn't been. He remembered the day they had met outside the mission, the words she had said when she told him that Tia was his.
 

 [Forgive me, I'm doing a flashback here. From Deceptions]
 

  "I did not seduce your son, Carmen. I love your son. You know that." Gabi couldn't stand to look into her eyes, to see the hatred.

 "Yes, you did. You seduced him and you ruined him. If he loses his job, he loses his life. And it will be because of you. You will ruin both of my sons." A shadow fell upon the arguing pair.

 "Mama, Gabi has not ruined my life. She has made it much better. I love her and whether you like it or not I want to be with her." Both women stood open mouthed gaping at the priest." Mama, Gabi and I are going to have a baby. I'm leaving the priesthood and we are going to be married. You can accept that, or you can forget that I am your son."

 The obviously shocked mother glared at Gabi. Pointing a narrow finger at her, she leered with open hatred. "You have corrupted my family. I will see that you pay for this. You will not marry my son. You do not deserve him." She turned to Antonio." And you, I expected more from you, m'ija. You should see past her, to what she really is. She will only cause you pain." Leaving her prediction hanging over them, she stomped off like a child sent to her room.

 When she had gone, Gabi turned to Antonio. For a moment they just stared at each other. She was the first to speak. "Antonio, did you really mean that. Do you want to be my baby's father baby? And marry me?" This was too good to be true.

 "Am I the baby's father?" This stopped her elation. The only reason he wanted to marry her is so the baby would have a father. At least I can have him in the process, she thought.

 "Yes,  Antonio you are. This baby is yours." Those two sentences would make the rest of her life.

 "Then yes, I want to be with you." To her surprise, he went down on one knee, in front of everyone in the church. "Gabi Martinez, will you marry me?" The love in his eyes shone through. She only wished it were enough love for him to marry her of his own will.

 [Okay, flashback's over]
 

 Antonio walked outside, remembering the promise he had made to Gabi. That Ricardo would never find to about Tia. He realized then, that that was one promise that he would never be able to keep to his wife. Ricardo had to know about his daughter, about Tia. Antonio had to tell him.
 
 
 

 Ricardo was sitting in his apartment, feeling sorry for himself. He he been doing that a lot since Gabi died. He realized now that he had basically wasted the last sixteen years if his life pining over a woman that he had never really had a chance with. He envied his brother. Not only had Antonio gotten to spend to many happy years with Gabi, as her husband, but he had the ultimate souvenir of her life, as well. Antonio had their children.

 "Hey, Ricardo? You in there?" He had been so deep into thought that he hadn't even heard the knock at the door. He walked over and opened it, letting Antonio in.

 "Hey, bro. How you holding up?" He asked. He could tell that something, aside from the obvious, his wife dying, was bothering Antonio.

 "I'm okay.... but that's not what I'm here to talk about me. There's something I need to tell you, Ricardo." Ricardo led his brother to the couch, where Antonio sat, while Ricardo took a seat in the chair across from him.

 "So what is it?" Ricardo asked.

 "Look.... you're probably going to hate me for keeping this from you,  but I did it for a reason. It may not be a good reason, but it was what Gabi wanted, and I would have gone to the ends of the earth for her, you know that. I'm not blaming this on Gabi, though. I'm just as much to blame for not telling you this a long time ago. I just want to say beforehand, I'm sorry." Antonio paused.

 "Come on, T, stop beating around the bush. Just say what's on your mind." Ricardo said, more for Antonio than for his own curiosity. He could tell that this was killing Antonio.

 "Ricardo...I don't know how to tell you this.... but..."He took a deep breath and finished quickly." You have a daughter."

CHAPTER FIVE

 Ricardo thought that surely, he had misunderstood that Antonio was telling him. He didn't have a daughter.... it wasn't possible. Simply not true. Hell, he hadn't even had a serious relationship since Gabi...there had been women, yes, but no one that he really knew. No one that had he had let get to know him.

 "Listen, T." He said, using his old nickname for Antonio." Say that again? I think I misunderstood, or heard wrong or something."

 "Ricardo, it's just what I said. You have a daughter. Your daughter is-" He tried to say it, but found that he couldn't make the words come out. "Your daughter is my...is...."

 "WHAT?!? Antonio, listen to me, this is not a funny joke, bro!" He was trying desperately to convince himself that that was what this was. A joke. But he knew by the drop dead serious look in Antonio's eyes that it was not a prank. He was for real.

 "It's no joke, Ricardo. You have a daughter. T...Tia is your daughter." Antonio felt tears threatening to spill over in his eyes as she spoke softly. Ricardo sat back, disbelieving what his brother had said.

 "No...No, Tia's your daughter, Antonio. She's yours and Gabi's." He said, but in his mind he was going over the possibility. Gabi and him had been quite intimate at the same time that she and Antonio had been.... it was possible that he was the father. But he had questioned Gabi about that when he first learned of the pregnancy, and she had assured him that there was no chance she was carrying his baby. Ricardo had believed her.

 "She's not Ricardo. She's not mine. Gabi was pregnant with your child when she came to me. She... she used Tia to make me marry her." It was almost impossible to say those words, to admit that the woman he loved and cherished could have been so cruel, but it was true, and he had faced that and forgiven her a long time ago. He had had no choice but to forgive her, for, as he had learned in those few days when they fought, he could not live without her.

 "Aw... T, I don't know what to say. Are you sure? How did you find out?" The truth of it all, what it would mean, hadn't even begun to sink in yet.

 "I... Gabi told me." He didn't want his brother to know the truth. His respect for Gabi had been diminished when he found out, but he didn't want Ricardo memory of Gabi to be more of a disrespectable one than it had to be.

 "She told you? What... why? Why would she tell you that the kid you raised wasn't yours? And when?" He was beginning to see how he had been deceived.

 "She told me a while ago. She told me the truth because she loved me and she thought I needed to know." Antonio couldn't meet Ricardo in the eye. He knew what question would be coming next.

 "Antonio... why the hell didn't you tell me when you first found out?" Ricardo was angry now, but it was a quiet, seething anger. Somehow, it unsettled Antonio more than a screaming, violent rage would have.

 "I'm sorry, Ricardo. I... I raised her. I love her like my own daughter. I couldn't lose her, I hope you understand that." Antonio did look up then, and the raw pain and hatred he saw in Ricardo's eyes burnt him to the core.

 "And what exactly makes now different? You don't love her? You don't want to raise her anymore? What is it, bro?" Ricardo was boiling over with rage now. He wanted to strike out at Antonio, do something to make him hurt and pay.

 "No, Ricardo. No, you know that I still love her. I raised her, for God's sake. But I thought now more than ever that you needed to know." Antonio explained. He could see Ricardo growing more and more unhappy with him, and realized that soon he had to make his escape.

 "Who now more than.... oh. I get it. You're telling me now because she wouldn't let you when she was alive, would she? If Gabi hadn't have died, if the she was still alive then you wouldn't be telling me now, would you?" Ricardo spat out angrily. "If the whore hadn't have gotten killed, you'd have kept your mouth shut."

 Antonio felt his own temper flare. "No, Ricardo. Don't call Gabi a whore! She is... was my wife, and I love her, don't you call her that."

 "Why not? It's the right word for her. She was a slut, plain and simple. She cheated on me with you, and she probably cheated on you with God knows who. Hell, she probably did everyone is this town before she di-" He was cut off by Antonio's fist making perfect contact with his jaw. The blow knocked him off balance for a few seconds, and it gave time for Antonio to push Ricardo onto the couch. He rared back for another solid punch, but changed his mind.

 "Don't you EVER talk about my wife like that again, Ricardo." Ricardo looked into Antonio's eyes, and he saw more anger, more hate than he had every seen in his brother's eyes. Then it clouded, and he just looked wary. He chose to leave before Ricardo recovered.
 
 
 
 

 Antonio stormed out of the apartment and jumped into his car. He knew where he had to go now, what he had to do, but he wanted to cool off before he went home. He had to explain this whole mess to his dau- to Tia.
 
 
 

 Ricardo sat there, on the couch. He could feel his jaw swelling, and blood dripping off of a cut on his chin. He guessed he had hit something on his way down. He wondered why he hadn't retaliated. But he supposed it was for the best, after all. Antonio would regret punching him, especially since Ricardo hadn't bothered to strike back.

 He walked into the bathroom and dressed his wounds carefully. He wanted to look his best when he went to see... His daughter. She was his, no matter who had raised her, and he was going to claim her. It was the only way to turn the tables on Antonio.
 
 
 

 "Tia? You home?" Antonio called out into the dark house.

 "I'm here, Daddy. What are you doing home so soon? I thought you were going to see Uncle Ricardo." She asked him.

 He stood there for a minute, not answering her, just watching. He gave him an odd look, probably because he was openly staring at her, but he kept gazing. He wanted to memorize her features the way they were. Her dark, thick hair pulled into a long, high ponytail, her big brown eyes, Gabi's eyes, gazing at him with affection. She was a beautiful girl, no doubt. Antonio had been fighting the anxious courters since she had been twelve.

 "Daddy? You with me here?" She asked him, walking over to the couch and sitting down. He sat next to her.

 "I'm here." He said softly. "Tia, I have something to tell you."

 He seemed so serious as she sat up. She could tell that whatever he was about to say to her was very important. Antonio also seemed upset.

 "What is it, Daddy? Is something wrong?" She looked at him. He realized that when she looked worried, she had the exact same expression that Gabi had. She even twisted the necklace she was wearing nervously, another of Gabi's old habits.

 "Yeah, babydoll." He used the nickname he used to call her when she was younger. "I don't know how to say this... but there's something I need to tell you, and I... I just want to tell you beforehand that I'm sorry, and I love you. You know that, don't you? I love you more than anything on this planet, Tia." He was really dreading telling her this. He knew that it would kill her. She had just lost her mother, and now she would be losing the man who had raised her as his own.

 "I know, Daddy. And I love you, too. Now what is it that's so important?" He looked at her with his sad brown eyes and opened his mouth to speak when the door opened behind them. Antonio's heart stopped when he saw who it was.

 "Ricardo. What are you doing here?" Antonio saw the devilish gleam in his brother's eye, and knew that whatever came out of his mouth would do more harm than good.

 "Well, well. Having a little father-daughter talk, are we? Oh... wait that's not possible is it? You'd have to actually be fa-"

 "RICARDO! Shut the hell up!!" Antonio didn't want Tia to find out like this. He jumped up. Tia sat on the couch, eyes wide and took it all in.

 "Shut up? You don't have the right to tell me that, T." He turned to the shocked teenager still sitting. She had never seen her father and uncle fight before.

 "Tia, why don't you-" Antonio began, but he was cut off.

 "Come with me. You're coming with me." Ricardo demanded.

 "No, she's not." Antonio said forcefully. He wasn't letting her go anywhere with Ricardo. Not with him acting like this.

 "You can't say anything, BRO. She's my daughter." An eerie silence fell over the room as he shouted those fateful words. No one spoke until Tia turned to Antonio.

 "Daddy... what... what is he saying?" Tia asked. Antonio had no idea how to answer her.

CHAPTER SIX

 "Tia, go to your room. I'll be there in a minute." Antonio said. It was an order, but his voice was soft. Tia simply glared back at him, and made a demand of her own.

 "No, I won't! I want you to answer me, Daddy! Now! What does Uncle Ricardo mean? Tell me, now!" Tia demanded angrily. She wanted to know and understand what her uncle was trying to tell her.

 "Tia...it's very complicated...." Antonio began to speak, but Ricardo interrupted him, glaring and his brother.

 "It's not complicated, Tia. Very simple, actually. You mother was a slut. She slept with my dear brother here while she was engaged to me. Then she figured it was time to choose between, and she chose Antonio. She forced him to marry her, and leave the priesthood, when she knew he wouldn't otherwise, because she told him that she was pregnant with his child, when it was actually my baby she was going to have. You." Tia took all of this is very silently. Then she got angry. Very angry, at both of the men standing before her. She still said nothing, though. She was waiting for Antonio to come to her defense, to say that this was all a lie. She wanted him to tell Ricardo that none of this stuff he was saying had any basis in reality. "Believe me, Tia. It's true, every single disgusting word of it. Your mother was a WHORE, Tia. She made a priest break his vows by seducing him, hell, she even accused me of raping her when she had seduced me!"

 "Ricardo, I told you before and I'll tell you again," Tia's heart soared. Her father was Antonio, and he was fixing to tell Ricardo that. Her mother hadn't done any of those things her uncle was accusing her of, they were all lies! But she was in for a shocking surprise." Gabi is not a whore, she's not a slut! She's was confused then, and turned to you because you were the only one there.  She never loved you, Ricardo. You know that and so do I. We got married because we loved each other, not because Gabi was pregnant, and it doesn't matter that Tia isn't my daughter legally, I raised her!"

 That was all the mixed up teenager could take. She took off out the door, running as fast as she could. She had to get away from her father and her uncle... whichever they were. She had to stop hearing the hateful things Ricardo had said about her mother...her sweet, loving mother. There was no way her mother could have accused Ricardo of rape...or forced her fath...Antonio to leave the priesthood. Tia hadn't even know that he had been a priest.

 She ran as far as she could, and when she stopped to catch her breath, she decided that she needed to go to someone that could tell her the real truth. She considered going to her grandmother, but decided against it. Her grandmother had never really like Gabi, so her version of the truth would probably be a bit colored.

 "Aunt Maria..." She knew that her aunt would be honest, and would give her the answered that she wanted. Glancing around to see where exactly she had ended up, she was glad to see that it wasn't far away from her aunt's house. Five minutes later, she was standing on the doorstep. She knocked loudly, and Maria answered the door, surprised to see her niece standing there.

 "Tia! Hi." Maria said when she opened the door. "I'm sorry, but Lili isn't home if you came to see her."

 "That's alright, Aunt Maria. I came to see you. I need to talk to you about something. I need to ask you about some things that Daddy and Uncle Ricardo told me." Tears formed in her eyes thinking of what it could mean if what they said was true.

 "Ricardo and your father.... Tia is this about-" She started to say something, then changed her mind. "Come on in, sweetie. We can talk in here." They walked over to the couch sitting in the middle of the room and both took a seat on it.

 "Aunt Maria... a little while ago Daddy said he had something very important to tell me. He looked so sad... But he didn't get to tell me. Uncle Ricardo came in, and he and Daddy started yelling at each other. Then....then Uncle Ricardo said something... he said that he had come to get his daughter." She looked up at her aunt. "He said some horrible things about my mother...he said that she accused him of rape, and that she used being pregnant with me to make Daddy leave the priesthood...and that she slept around. He called her a whore. That isn't true, is it, Aunt Maria? He...he's not my father is he?"

 Maria didn't know what to say. She couldn't believe that her brother, that Ricardo, would be so cruel as to say those things in front of Tia.

 "Tia... your mother made some mistakes in her life, but she was not a whore. When she first came to Sunset Beach, she was a very confused woman. When she was a child, her father abused her, which did things to her mentally. She had a lot of anger, a lot of hate, and she took it out on those people who tried to help her. Your...Ricardo was one of those people. She eventually got her emotions worked out, and she became a different person. She-"

 "Then he wasn't lying. She did falsely accuse him of rape." Tia broke in.

 "Well...yes. But then she told the truth, and Ricardo forgave her. They began dating, and they fell in love. Or, he fell in love with her. Around that time, Antonio came to town. He was a priest then. He and Gabi became best friends, and they eventually fell in love. Then something happened, and they thought they were going to die-"

 "The cave-in, right? Momma told me about that. It was the first time she and Daddy made love. It was when they realized that they were in love. I was conceived there, and they got married shortly after." Tia recalled the romantic story her mother had told her many times.

 "It was in the cave-in, but everything your mother told you about that isn't' the truth. It was the first time they were together, but they already knew their feeling before they were trapped together. And… you weren't conceived there. Ricardo saved your mother and Antonio when they were trapped in there. And when they got out... Ricardo proposed to her. They were supposed to be married, but something happened and Ricardo found out about Antonio and Gabi's affair. The wedding was called off, and Gabi found out she was pregnant. By then she had decided that Antonio was the man that she really loved, and she discovered that she was pregnant, with you. She told Antonio that you were his baby, conceived in the cave-in, and he left the priesthood to be with her. But you are not his daughter. He loves you, though. I want you to know and remember that. He loves you more than anything in the world, and he would do anything to protect you. That was why they kept the truth from you. It nearly killed him when he found out the truth, Tia. And he loves you, just like he would his own child. He raised you, and he cares for you very, very much. It would kill him to lose you, now. You have to remember that this is not his fault, Tia. It isn't anyone's fault."

 "Yes it is! It's my mother's fault for lying, and my fa...Antonio's for keeping it from me. It's both of their fault..." She was angry now, and she felt so much hatred for the two people that had raised her and loved her, and ultimately, deceived her.

 "No, don't say that. Antonio loves you. You are his daughter, he loves you." Maria wasn't sure what else to say. Nothing would reassure her now. She was too mad.

 "But I'm not. I'm not his! He and Momma lied to me…" She was sobbing now, and Maria held her while she cried. "Aunt Maria...where am I going to go? I can't go back home, and I really don't want to go with my father...my real father."

 "Don't worry about that. You can stay here tonight, in the guestroom. I'll go to your house for you and pick up your clothes and everything that you'll need, all right?" She smiled at her devastated niece.

 "Thank you so much, Aunt Maria. I love you."

 "I love you, too, baby. Now, why don't you go get something to eat while I go pick up your clothes from your house." Maria had a few things to discuss with her little brother.

 "Okay." Tia wiped her eyes and walked into the kitchen.
 
 
 

 Maria arrived at Antonio's house a few minutes after leaving Tia. She didn't bother knocking on the door, but just stormed in.

 "Antonio!! Where are you?" He came out of the kitchen, looking very poorly. His eyes were rimmed with red, and he looked like he had been crying. She was too angry to feel sorry for him now, though.

 "Maria! Thank God you're here. Do you know where Tia is? She ran out a little while ago, did she come to you?" He was very worried about her, and had spent the last half-hour calling all of her friends trying to find her.

 "Yes, she did come to me, and it's a good thing because she was in horrible shape when she did! How could you have done that to that poor girl? I thought you were a better man than that, Antonio!" Maria shouted at her brother. He seemed surprised by her anger, but he knew that he deserved it.

 "I just thought she needed to know... she and Ricardo both...I thought it was for the best. " He feebly tried to defend himself.

 "Needed to know??? Antonio, she just lost her mother, for God's sake, and now you had to go and take her father away from her, too? How is that supposed to be for her best? You've just turned her world upside down. She'll never get over this, Antonio. Never." Maria's anger was overwhelming both her and Antonio.

 "I'm sorry... I know now that I shouldn't have done that, now especially. I wish I could take it back. I wish that with all my heart I could turn back time and do this all over." He wasn't just talking about telling Tia and Ricardo, but his whole relationship with Gabi. He didn't regret being with her, but he did regret keeping the lies between them for so long.

 "Well, Antonio. You can't do that, and now you have to live with all of the lives that you've destroyed. Can you do that Antonio?" Seeing the pained look in his eyes, she almost regretted scolding him like that, but he needed it.

 "Can I see her?" His voice was so soft, she almost missed the words. "She's staying with you, isn't she?"

 "Yes, she is, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to see her so soon. She needs time to think about all of this, and you being near would just confuse her even more. I'm going to get her things packed now." Maria walked up the stairs, leaving Antonio to think about everything she had said to him. He walked across the room and picked up the framed photograph of Gabi that sat on the table.

 "Why couldn't you have been here to help me, Gabi? You could have kept me from making this mistake." Yet he couldn't help but remind himself that this had all came to be because of her deception. He still needed her, though. He needed someone to help him through all of this. But there was no one. This was one web he alone could find the way out of.

CHAPTER SEVEN

 "Daddy? Where's Tia at?" T asked his father. His sister had been gone all day, and it was starting to get late. He knew something was wrong, really wrong, but he wasn't sure if it was any of his business. The again, it was his family, so of course it was his business. He walked up to his father and sat down beside him.

 Antonio had been sitting on the couch, staring at a picture of Gabi and Tia, and moping for hours now. Now he finally turned to look at his son, and set the picture down on the table beside the couch.

 "Your sister...she's spending the night with Lili." Antonio told his son. It wasn't a complete lie. Tia was staying the night at her cousin's house.

 "She'll be back tomorrow, won't she?" T was worried now. Antonio had never been a very good liar, and it was obvious to the boy that he was lying now. He couldn't help but he curious, and worried. The last thing he wanted now was to lose his big sister, too.

 "I...I don't know, T. But that doesn't mean that you can't go and see her. I know that she'd love to have you drop by tomorrow." T was disappointed. He had wanted his father to tell that everything was all right, that Tia would be back in the morning like usual. Only he knew it wasn’t true. Antonio looked so sad, T hated seeing his father like that. He knew that something wasn't right, and he wanted his father to tell him what it was, and that it could be fixed. He wanted everything to get back as normal as possible.

 Antonio desperately wanted his family back, Gabi and Tia. He knew that it probably wouldn’t happen though. Even if he got Tia to forgive him, Gabi would never be back. She was gone for good. It hurt him more to think of Tia hating her mother than hating him.

 Then he realized something. Maybe there was a way to get Tia to forgive Gabi at least, if not him. He walked up the stairs, and then into the room he and Gabi had shared. Pulling the bottom dresser drawer open, he removed the leather bound journal that Gabi had kept out.
 
 
 
 
 

 1 WEEK LATER

 Tia had been at her aunt’s house for almost a week now. She hadn’t seem her father, or her uncle at all, something that she was glad for. She had spent a lot of time thinking. She had worked through a lot of her anger, especially at her mother. Maria had helped with that.

 Gabi kept a diary when she was alive, and Antonio had given it to Maria to give to Tia. Reading it was really helping her understand her mother. And it had helped her to understand what she needed to do.

 So that was why she was standing outside the door to Ricardo’s house at noon on a warm Sunday afternoon. Nervously shifting her feet, she rang the bell, and awaited the arrival of her father.

 “Yeah, yeah, I’m comin…” Ricardo mumbled to himself as he made his way to the door slowly. Though it was already noon, he had not yet managed to rouse himself after yet another night of drinking himself into a stupor. “Hold on!” He shouted a little more loudly when Tia rang the bell again. The ringing that echoed through the house grated on his nerves, and he felt like ripping the whole damn thing out of the door.

 “WHAT-“ He began, then stopped when he saw who it was. “Tia.”

 “Hello, Unc…uh…fa…” She tried out the titles, but neither of them sounded right to her.

 “Ricardo. You can just call me Ricardo for now.” He said, and ushered her inside the dimly lit house. The sun was almost blinding him. “We’ll work out all that later.”

 “Okay…” She said unsurely, as she looked around the messy room.

 “So, do you need anything?” He asked, trying to seem like a ‘good guy’. Like a man someone would want for a father.  “Want anything to drink? Coke, tea…” He offered, though he wasn't sure he actually had any beverages other than vodka and beer.

 "No thanks." She already felt that coming here to see him was a bad idea. She didn't even know what to say to him.

 "You came here to talk, didn't you? I'm glad. There's a lot of stuff that we need to talk about." Ricardo said, taking the initiative almost immediately

 "Yes, there is…." Tia said softly.

 "I guess you want to know the while story between your mother and me." Tia was surprised when he said that. She had assumed that he wouldn't want to talk about it. Gabi had put him through so much pain, she had figured that he wouldn't want to rehash the past. She was glad that he was willing to discuss this with her, though.

 "I…I do." She said after a momentary pause.

 "All right. Have a seat, I'll be right back." As she sat on the couch, he walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he walked back in, a picture in one hand and a drink in the other. He took a seat in a chair across from Tia and handed her the picture. It showed her mother, and Ricardo. Gabi wore a beautiful white wedding gown, and Ricardo was dressed in a suit. They were standing in front of the alter, with Antonio behind them, looking down at Gabi. He wore white robes, priestly robes.

 "The picture was taken at me and Gabi's wedding rehearsal. We never actually made it to the real thing." Tia was amazed at how in love her mother and father (her real one) looked. And how sad Antonio looked. "Even in that picture, you can tell how much Antonio loved her." Ricardo said, voicing Tia's own thoughts.

 "What happened? Why didn't you make it to the wedding?" She asked, still studying the picture.

 "You happened." He smiled bitterly. "There was a videotape made, some kind of security camera, in the cave-in that Antonio and Gabi were in, when they made love, and somehow it got mixed in with some tapes from a murder investigation that I was working on. I saw it. I was angry, hurt, betrayed…and I had a right to be! My brother and my fiancé were having an affair! But Gabi went to Antonio, told him that I knew about them, then told him that she was pregnant with his child. He left the priesthood, they were married…you know the rest from there."

 "What about you?" Although she had read her mother's side to this story, and she agreed to a certain point, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Ricardo. He had lost so much. The vulnerable hurt in his eyes was breaking her heart.

 "What about me? There's nothing to tell there. I forgave, but I could never really forget. And I could never really stop loving Gabi." He smiled that bittersweet smile again. "Your mother isn't a very easy woman to forget. You can just ask my brother about that."

 Tia was silent for a while, taking in everything that Ricardo had just revealed to her. Then she asked, "Do you have any more pictures? Of you and my mother?"

 "Yeah, hold on, I'll get them." He took another long drink of the beer in his hand, then walked down the hall. He returned with a large cardboard box. "Here you go. You can take them home with you. Where is home now? Are you staying with Antonio still?"

 "No, I'm staying at Aunt Maria's house." He felt a bit of satisfaction from the fact that Antonio was not being forgiven as easily as he usually was. "I'd better get back."

 "Sure." Ricardo stood to show her the way out.

 "I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer. I have somewhere I have to be." She explained.

 "That's okay. Just promise me that you'll come back." He smiled, in a surprisingly familiar way. Then she realized it was the smile she saw when she looked in the mirror. She had never noticed that before. Maybe because Ricardo didn't have a lot to smile about.

 "I will, I promise." She set the box down, and on impulse, reached up to hug him.

 When she had left, Ricardo allowed himself grim smugly. After all these years, he would finally be able to make Antonio pay.

 "My brother took my wife, so I'm going to take his daughter." When he was done with Tia, hatred would be the only thing she felt for the man that she had once called father.
 
 

 Tia studied the pictures that were strewn across the floor of the room that she was staying in. They were all of Ricardo and Gabi, some with Antonio lurking in the background. And a few supposedly innocent snapshots of Gabi and Antonio, their arms around each other, standing a little closer than necessary. But what caught Tia's eye the most was how in love, how happy Gabi and Ricardo looked. There were pictures of them staring adoringly in each other's eyes, holding hands, embracing. Pictures of Gabi showing off the engagement ring Ricardo had bought her, her in her wedding dress, holding the bouquet. Then there were the pictures of Tia as a baby. She was very surprised to find those. They were all of Gabi and Tia, with Antonio either not present, or cut out of them.

 At the very bottom of the box was a black videotape. Her heart immediately began to pound realizing what it could be…had Ricardo really kept the tape?

 She stood holding the tape in her trembling hands and made her way to the VCR, where she slid the tape in. But when it came on, it wasn't what she had thought, but instead, it was Ricardo and Gabi. They were holding hands at some kind of party. She recognized the voice of the person holding the video camera as Vanessa Hart, a woman that had been friends with Gabi a long time ago.

 "Hey, Ricardo, Gabi! Say hey to the camera!" They both waved, and grinned. "Now Ricardo, you have to tell us your birthday wish! Come on, don't be shy."

 She realized that the tape must be of Ricardo's birthday. Settling down on the bed, she watched.

 "I wish that the next year is as amazing as the last has been, and I know it will because I have the most beautiful woman in California by my side." He looked adoringly down at Gabi, who blushed.

 "And Gabi, what do you have to say to that?" Vanessa asked.

 "I have to say that we should have given the camera to someone that isn't a reporter!" She said, ducking away from the camera, and pulling Ricardo along behind her, grinning mischievously.

 Vanessa went around, asking other people things about Ricardo, talking and catching people in embarrassing situations. Then it landed on two people dancing. Or, they were supposed to be dancing. The room was darkened as a slow song came on, and the two people moved closer, staring intensely at each other. It took Tia a moment to realize that the two people were Antonio and Gabi.

 They were holding on tightly to each other, their eyes locked together, as if a spell had been cast on them, making them the only two people in the room, in the world. She could almost feel the strong emotions running between them.

 Then the song ended, the lights came back on, and Ricardo walked up to them, making some crack about them being supposed to dance, not stand around, and the camera moved away.

 She watched the rest of the tape without much interest, then put it back in the box with the pictures. Seeing that had confused her, left her even more in doubt about what she should do than she had been before.

 As she picked two pictures up, she studied them seriously. One was Antonio and Gabi. The other was Gabi and Ricardo. She looked at both men. Her mother had obviously loved and believed in both. So who was she supposed to believe in?
 
 
 

Tia sat on her bed and thought. She had been thinking a lot lately, thinking about what she should do, whom she should forgive…and whom she shouldn't be as compassionate with. She had found that even though she understood her true father just a little more than she once had, Ricardo Torres was still someone she wasn't comfortable being around very much. And Antonio Torres…well, she couldn't make herself hate him, it was pointless and a waste of her time. It just wasn't in her, as much as she wanted it to be. He was the man that had raised her and loved her and cared for her. But he was also the man that had lied and deceived her. She was just so confused.

 She had given Ricardo a chance to explain his side of the story to her though, and it was only fair that she presented the same opportunity to Antonio. That was why half an hour later she was standing on the front porch of her house, ringing the doorbell with a nervous finder. It felt strange not to be able to just walk in and make herself at home, but it would have felt even more uncomfortable is she were to do that, just walk in.

 "Tia! You're home!" T answered the door and grinned the sincere, happy grin of a child pleased. He and his sister didn't get along all the time, it would have been a lie to claim that, but he had still hated her being gone for the past couple of weeks. "Are you gonna stay home now?"

 "I'm sorry, T…I don't think so." She answered, regretting that she hadn't called ahead to inform them of her visit. She didn't want to keep getting her little brother's hopes up only to have to shoot them down when she corrected him. "Is Dad home?"

 "Yeah, he's in his room…are you gonna see him now? I think that you should because he really misses you. He was already sad because of Momma…you know, dying… but with you gone to Aunt Maria's and mad at him, he's really depressed. You should come back, I know it would make him a lot happier and easier to live with!" Then he added bashfully, "I don't think I'd mind it too much, either. I miss you."

 "I miss you, too, T…but you can come see me at Aunt Maria's any time, you know that right? I wish you would come by more! " He had only stopped in twice since Tia had left their house, and had not stayed for long either time.
 
 "What about Dad? You miss him too, don't you?" He said, then waited as she formed an answer. He was far from oblivious to the impending tension between his remaining family members, but he had no idea what the cause of it was.

 "Listen, T, I really need to talk to Dad right now. Go tell him I'm here." She said as she sat down on the couch. Looking confused as ever, T walked up the stairs to go and retrieve his father.

 Tia sat down and waited. Everything looked exactly the same…for some reason that seemed odd to her. She knew that it was because she was seeing everything in a different light now, as if the cover had been lifted and a blanket of deception and lies that had shielded things were gone. Suddenly, Tia heard him walking down the stairs and near to her. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she wondered what she would say to him.

 "Tia? I…I'm so glad that you came to see me!" Antonio said as he walked into the room. 'Glad' was an understatement. He was elated, overjoyed…she had come back! There was a chance that she might not hate him after all…

 "Hi…" She said, then after a pause, added. "Daddy…"
 
 She could see his eyes brighten when she referred to him as her father. It was almost an instantaneous transformation…he looked all at once ecstatic and relieved and a little bit disbelieving. "Tia?"

 "I've done a lot of thinking…and I can't just stop being your daughter, even though I'm not really yours. You…you have been my father all of my life. Uncle…I mean, Ricardo…he's my real dad, and I do want to get to know him better than I do right now, but I will never be able to think of him as a real father…not like I think of you." She said, and Antonio believed that he had never felt so much happiness in his life. He walked over and took Tia in his arms, holding her tightly close to him.

 "Oh, baby…I love you, you know that? You are and always will be my little girl, blood or not." He whispered as he hugged her tightly to him. "I mean it, Tia. I love you. Very much. More than my brother ever could."

 "Daddy…I know." She smiled softly through the tears that had begun to fall.  "I know…"
 
 
 

 FIVE YEARS LATER

 Tia Torres stood in the same field that she had almost exactly half a decade ago when they had put her mother to rest. She watched as the same priest that had delivered the sermon for her mother's funeral spoke words that might possibly have even been the same. Her eyes were clouded with tears as she watched them solemnly lower the casket into the freshly turned soil and with steady movements, buried Tia's last link to the childhood that was so sacred to her now. The happiness, the comfort and love that had crashed to an ending the day that stunning revelation had been made about her true paternity were something she looked back on as treasured memories. She had been lucky; she knew that. Both of her parents had been devoted to her happiness and to giving her a good home to grow up in. Now…every bit of that was gone, mixed in with the dirt that was being thrown over the lifeless shell that had once been Antonio Torres.

 "Tia?" Antonio Michael Torres, Jr. nudged his older sister and then helped her up from her seat, and only then did she notice that the service had been concluded and it was time to climb back into the dark limousine and be shrouded in the grief again. For a few precious moments, she had been lost in thoughts of happier times and it had felt so good. "Tee, are you okay?" Tony, as he had been come to call by everyone except his family, asked in a worried voice.

 "No…no, T. I'm okay. As okay as can be expected, right?" Tia asked, taking his hand as they followed their aunt and her family. Tia pulled her 16-year-old sibling close to her. She was his legal guardian now, being 21 herself. It had been decided that she would move out of the college dorm she had been living in and back into her old home to be with Tony, at least until he turned 18.
 

 "Yeah…" Tony said softly. Tia stopped walking suddenly, and looked back at the place where Antonio was now buried along side his love…Gabi.

 "Go on to the house without me, T. I need to stay for a few more minutes. Don't worry, I'll get a ride back. You go with Aunt Maria." Tia insisted, seeing the look flash across his face. "Please…"

 "All right…" He said reluctantly and walked ahead as Tia turned back around and headed for the freshly covered grave.

 When she had made her way back, everyone had already left for the gathering at her aunt's house. She gazed at the two headstones as tears began to fall down her face. "Hi…Hi Momma and Daddy…I'm sorry, I know neither of you would be wanting me to act like this, but I couldn't go with them. I needed to say some things to both of you."

 She reached up and wiped her tears away, then took a deep breath and continued. "I want you to know that I forgive both of you, and I'm glad…glad that you had each other through all of the bad things. I know that you two went through a lot to be together, and I'm glad you made it. You…deserved happiness. Maybe now that you are both…" Her voice cracked as she spoke. "Now that you're both…gone…you can have real peace with yourselves and each other. I love you both very much…"

 Having said what she felt she needed to say to her parents, Tia turned and walked away. Something was finished now…some ancient ritual of commitment and of love that had begun so long ago by a chance of fate. Now that the two cursed and blessed by an unstoppable love had been granted peace with each other – their test was over and their legacy left for those to follow in their footsteps.
 
 
 

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