Promises
          Chapter 17 
 

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