In the evening Marcus called Leonard to tell him personally the good news.
-Crusher spoke to me this afternoon, his wife is willing to come to the Theater.
- Fantastic, Marcus! I assure you that you won't regret it, the young lady has a real gold mine in her throat.
- May I ask you not to bring your nonsense to my Theater, Leonard? Last time I had to re-assemble the whole cast of the play because of your affairs... -
- Don't worry Marcus, this time my interest is genuine. That woman is worth all the trouble, it won't be an affair... I have every intention of taking her away from Crusher and declaring her my territory... I think it's time I settled down -
Marcus laughed out loud.
-You have to be crazy to think like that, Leonard. Daniel is going to eat you alive, you know that. And in case you get her, what will you do with Alice? -
- Divorce her, of course.
- Wow, Reed! You surprise me... You've never lost your mind over one of your flings... Leaving Alice? WOW! -
He himself was surprised, at first he just saw her as one more chance, one of the bunch. But as he probed a little further and listened to her singing he realized that she was worth much more than that. He had lent himself to Beverly's " occurrences" for Deanna, to get to her. If Daniel could win her over with his hostile and haughty character, he could enamor her with his attentions. However, he couldn't understand what it was that drew him so much into her orbit; from the first time he saw her he had this strange feeling that wouldn't go away.
-I'm serious, Marcus... It's time, I'm sick of the life I have. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it, but I'm starting to get tired of it. It's been more than 25 years since I've enjoyed my life -
- Well, Leonard I hope you're willing to put up a fight, because Crusher definitely won't give in easily -
To hell with Daniel Crusher! He's not the man for Deanna.
-Daniel got Deanna a tutoring with Professor Marcus at the Ambassador - Laura told Harry while they were having dinner at a restaurant.
After the scandal that Camila had made, Harry was trying hard to recover and improve the situation with Laura, she had no fault.
- "That's good, he's the best, Professor Marcus.
- Yeah, Dean's lucky that Daniel has changed so much -
Daniel is the lucky one.
- When do you have an appointment with the obstetrician? -
- In two days, maybe the last appointment before the baby is born... We don't have a name yet, Harry... -
- I know, I'm sorry... I can't think of anything, but I'm sure we'll find a nice one before the birth -
His brother was right: he should take care of his own family now, Deanna was in love with Daniel and he was in love with her. What was the point of keeping feelings alive?
Harry went to the bathroom to wash his hands and face. The effort he was making was weighing on him, it was enormous, he felt like he might lose control.
-You heard it too then... -
- Yeah, Leonard is a damn bastard... I don't know how he always gets what he wants... -
- It's going to be quite a fight, they're two extremely powerful men. Ha! That babe must be a gem for these two to be fighting over -
- Don't you know her? -
- No, I don't -
- She's no big deal, really. But if she's pretty, she must have something else for Daniel to have married her so quickly -
They were talking about Deanna!
-Well, you know the rumors. She married him for his money, but to make it happen she must have employed a few good methods -
- Alice Reed is going to cause a huge scandal when she finds out -
- About what? -
- Leonard is the Ambassador's main benefactor. I'm surprised about Crusher, he mustn't know about it.
Harry came out shaken; they were talking about her without knowing her. Reed, damn you!
- What's the matter, Harry? -
Laura noticed the expression on his face when he returned to the table.
-I'm sorry... Tell me... Did you know that Leonard Reed collaborates with the Ambassador? -
- No, I didn't... Oh, my God! Deanna...
- I know, I've got to tell Daniel...
- No, Harry, don't... He's mad enough with everything that's happened, don't add any more excuses -
- But that filthy Reed will surely go and stalk her! -
- If you tell Daniel, Deanna will lose her chance with Professor Marcus. She's already lost a year of her career for us. How much longer are we going to hold her back, Harry? -
- But...
- You have to trust her, you know she loves your brother and no matter what Leonard says or does to her, she won't take it into consideration... Dean can handle a man like that... She could handle Daniel -
Laura was right, if Daniel found out he would take Dean out of the Theater and she had already sacrificed too much. What was he going to do? He couldn't get too close or his brother would blow up again and if he warned her about Leonard she would surely drop everything so Daniel wouldn't get into any more trouble. He'd have to trust that she could handle someone like Reed.
Unaware of what was being built around them, Daniel and Deanna had taken the children to a playroom. It didn't take much convincing him, they all needed to be distracted from the events of the previous days. Most of all, Ethan.
Watching him share with his children, his smile and the children's laughter, caused Deanna to feel immeasurable tenderness. They were a family that loved each other dearly, even though they had lost a member they were close in their own way. She felt so lucky to have been able to come into their lives and be allowed to be a part of it.
She was so in love with this man, her life had done a 180° turn: she went from student to wife in a little less than two weeks. And not just anyone's wife, but of this man who held her little son with one arm and her daughter's hand with the other; who smiled openly looking at her; who lost his icy armor and became a sweet and considerate being. Who would get out of control when they were alone and give her the most erotic caresses she had ever felt.
"You're totally lost, Deanna", she said to herself as she continued to watch them. Jonathan walked over to her and took her hand, as he always did. A doubt formed in her mind: why didn't the boy want to talk? He was closed in on himself and yet he behaved and acted like any other child his age. What could she do to help him?
- Do you think we can have some ice cream before we go home, Dad? -
- More junk food, Naomi? -
- Please, can we? - And she made little girlish eyes at him, Daniel melted.
- Okay... -
As they ordered their favorite flavors, Deanna came up to him.
- Looks like you're easily persuaded by someone, mmmm... -
- It's just an ice cream... Don't look at me like that, it's your fault -
- Me? -
- Since I met you you've changed everything in me. What did you expect? -
- I was thinking the same thing a minute ago... How you changed mine -
- Only that I took you out of your world to get you into troubles -
- You didn't, I went in of my own free will and I'm glad I did -
- I want to make you happy so you'll never leave... Look how I talked now too! - He surprised himself with the words he let out without noticing it.
- Quite a poet... -
- I always feel like you're making fun of me... -
- Oh, of course not! You are my poet... -
Despite the problems they were in the middle of their romance. Discovering each other more and more, giving themselves eagerly to this story that was growing. They both felt the same, with the same intensity.