Tad’s chicken-suit proposal
~*~*~*~*~
The first words Tad ever said to Dixie, after bumping into her on his way out of Myrtle's Boutique.
Heaven help me, I've just forgotten every woman I've ever known.
Okay, so the reason he engineered "bumping" into her at Myrtle's was because Brooke had hired him to find the father of her baby, but we all know that the moment they looked into each other's eyes, they knew they were meant for each other!
~*~*~*~*~
Tad summons Adam, Brooke, and a few other people to present his "findings" in the search for the father of Dixie's baby. However, knowing that Dixie doesn't want the truth to come out, Tad tells a lie to protect his beloved (even though at that point, he just thought he felt sorry for her.)
Tad: The father of Dixie's baby is...me.
If you're wondering why I bothered to include this quote and wav, it's because this little line represents the exact moment that I fell utterly and hopelessly in love with Tad. When he stepped up and put his own (rather shaky) reputation on the line just to protect Dixie, my heart just melted. How can you NOT love him?
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie is over at the Martin house, and she’s trying to convince Tad that there’s someone out there for him (and it isn’t her),1989.
Dixie: You've got a really big heart, sweetheart, and I know someday you’re gonna make some girl very happy.
~*~*~*~*~
After all of PV has seen Tad and Dixie dancing in a club(while she’s Mrs Adam Chandler), Tad tries to brush off everyone’s insinuations.
Tad: Why is it everybody in this town thinks I'm falling for Dixie?
Nico: Well, maybe because you are.
Tad: No, no, no, no... You see, I'm not an idiot, you know. I know the difference between friendship and love, right? Love is when you think about somebody all the time, you know? Can't get them off your mind. You care about them. You want to be with them. You want to... um... protect them… (He stops talking as it dawns on him)
Nico: I think you are starting to see the light. Good luck.
Tad: Oh man, . . .what now?
~*~*~*~*~
Tad: I don’t know what it is about you, Miss Cooney, but when you’re with me, I start to feel as if anything’s possible.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad has been helping Dixie with her husband problems, 1989
Dixie: You're so loyal to me, and trustworthy.
Tad: You make me sound like a St. Bernard.
Dixie: (laughs) Do you know how much I care that you're here? Tad, you're a fine man, and you're going to make some woman a wonderful husband someday. ~*~*~*~*~
Tad is comforting Dixie(who, thanks to Adam, thinks she's insane) just before they cart her off the Laurel Hill Sanitarium.
Tad: I'm right here, right by your side. Anybody wants to hurt you, they've got to go through me first. I'm not going to abandon you. ~*~*~*~*~
After breaking Dixie out of Laurel Hill, Tad and Dixie were on the run. However, Tad made some time to make Dixie see the truth about her feelings for him, 1989
Tad: Do you feel like you can’t catch your breath? And you think you’re just about to fall?
Dixie: (Contemplating)...Yeah
T: And you know that, no matter how far you fall, you’re never going to hit the ground? You’re just so far above it? And you just keep getting higher…and higher…and higher…and you’re afraid you’re never going to come down?
D: Yeah…yeah, that’s it exactly. (staring at Tad, trying to interpret the look on his face) What?
At the mention of Hillary’s name, Dixie starts to get a bit jealous, but Tad assures her that she has nothing to worry about.
Tad: This heart of mine belongs to you, and only you, now and always. I love you, Dixie.
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie just asked Tad to put his arms around her (so she’d feel safe), and he was more than happy to oblige.
Tad: You know what? There’s nothing else in the world I’d rather do. (pausing, and then getting a mischievous look on his face) That’s not true—I can think of a couple things I’d rather do.
Dixie: (smiling up at him)Just shut up and hold me, okay, Thaddeus?
Tad follows Dixie’s "orders," and they continue to make out happily in front of the fire.
~*~*~*~*~
While hiding out from the authorities at Phoebe’s cabin (after Tad broke Dixie out of Laurel Hill), Tad and Dixie shared a romantic dinner, complete with wine and a toast…
Tad: I propose a toast--our first, if I recall, but it will probably be the first of many, because I intend to toast to you a lot.
Dixie: (playfully) Oh, yeah? Like when?
Tad: Well, first, of course, there’s your birthday, and then there’s Flag Day, Arbor Day, Groundhog’s Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Hannukkah, Veteran’s Day…and then the day I’m going to make you my wife. And, of course, every anniversary thereafter.
Dixie: Tad…
Tad: What, you don’t believe me?
Dixie: That’s such a wild and impossible dream.
Tad: Well, you know what they say—a man can’t live without his dreams. Can a woman?
Dixie stares deeply into his eyes, and then pulls him into a passionate kiss.
~*~*~*~*~
During Tad's proposal (in the chicken suit), October 30th, 1989
No matter how tough it gets along the way, if we hold onto two things, we'll do okay. Two things, Dixie. Humor and Love.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad’s chicken-suit proposal
Tad: You’re a delicate flower with a spine of spun steel. When you look at me with those eyes, I believe I can do anything. Without even trying, you make me want to be better than I am. And with you, I know I can be. Besides, you laugh at my jokes. Don’t cry. All I want to do is make you and Junior happy, no and for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me, Dixie?
Dixie: I love you. With all my heart and soul. I thank you for never giving up on me.
Tad: Will you be my wife?
Dixie: I’d be honored to.Tad slips the ring on her finger and they kiss
~*~*~*~*~
Words of love from sometime in 1989:
T: You're the miracle in my life. You've changed my life. Changed me.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad and Dixie are exchanging wedding gifts for the wedding that wasn’t, 1990
Tad: Watch, you and I are going to be two of the greats in the hall of fame of romantic couples.
~*~*~*~*~
At the wedding rehearsal for the-wedding-that-wasn’t. (snif, snif)
Dixie: Everything is gonna be perfect.
Tad: Yes, it's gonna be perfect, I promise, honey. You know, a year ago, when we did this the first time, I didn't think I'd be capable of loving you any more than I did. But I was wrong because I do. I love you more than I thought I could love anybody. And the fact that you're willing to go through this again, with me, in spite of everything that's happening, means more to me than you'll ever know. So, tomorrow you and I are going to be husband and wife again and nobody is going to screw that up. I give you my word, okay?
(This one always makes me want to cry, because we all know how utterly un-perfect it turned out to be!)
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie and Ruth have a heart to heart before the wedding-that-wasn’t, 1990.
Dixie: I'm gonna take really good care of your son. And I'm gonna care for and nurture our love so that if anything ever happens, we won't fall apart. We'll stick together. (Oh, if only…)
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie and Lanie, after Dixie has found out that Tad is "dead", 1990.
Dixie: I'm never gonna have him again.
Lanie: Nobody can take this pain away from you, but you have to try and not be so hard on yourself. Look, you loved Tad with all your heart and you made him happy.
Dixie: (crying) We loved each other like, like crazy!
Lanie: Well, you have to remember all those things. You have to remember how much joy you gave him.
Dixie: I'll have him in my heart, right? Won't I?
Lanie: Of course you will.
Dixie: Right. Memories of his smile, . . . (smiling gently) oh, and his wisecracks, . . . (whispering softly) and his kisses. (She cries as Lanie hugs her)
~*~*~*~*~
From Angie’s eulogy for Tad, 1990.
A light went out inside of him when Jenny died, and it didn’t come back until he met Dixie.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad finds Dixie in New York, 1993.
Tad: You were always there, always. Inside me. Even when I couldn’t remember who you were. Coming back like this, considering everything that’s gone on, I don’t want you the same way I used to. I want you more. And right now, I feel like if I can’t walk across the room and kiss you, I’m gonna die.
later…
Dixie: When they told me that you died, I wouldn't believe it. I said "no, no way." And I waited and I looked and I looked. I couldn't stand thinking that I wasn't going to see you or feel you again (he strokes her hair) or hear your voice. Day after day I prayed and I waited but I just couldn't do it anymore. It was too painful. So, I had to stop the waiting, sitting and waiting, and waiting for a miracle. . . this.
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie is talking to Nola’s grave, 1993
Nola, I can't tell this to anybody but you, but there isn't a minute in the day that goes by that I don't think of him. I love him so much. God help me, but it's true. I love your son. I love him. I love him so much.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad and Dixie’s reunion in Napa, 1993
Tad: I swear Dixie, when you walked in that ballroom in New York on Ted's arm I thought I was gonna die of jealousy. I thought I was gonna drop right there. All of a sudden I realized, I wasn't looking at the same woman I'd fallen in love with.
Dixie: Who were you looking at?
Tad: A woman who'd grown, changed. A woman the whole world could fall in love with. I swear, I forgot my name. I forgot what I was doing. It took everything I had just not to stare at you. You know what? All of a sudden I realized it was all my fault, everything. I was looking at the same woman I've always known. The same woman I'd been in love with. I'd been inside your heart before and because of my arrogance I couldn't go back. All of a sudden, I swear I felt as if my life should have been over because you were with him. You were with him. I destroyed everything and it was my choice. I'd lost you.
Dixie: You didn't lose me.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad and Dixie in Napa, after the San Genaro Festival, 1993
T: If I had this day to live over, I wouldn't change one blessed thing. Not one step that got me here with you, right now. I want to be here. I belong here. I love you more than anything. And what's more, . . .I don't want to live without you.
D: I know. I love you too. My friends and my family and my life, they don't mean anything compared to you. You're everything to me. You and my son. That's what my life boils down to.
Tad: You are an answer to a very big question: Where's the rest of my heart? Dixie, you're in my blood. You're in a place in me so deep no one else is ever gonna be able to get there again.
~*~*~*~*~
While stranded in the cave up in Canada(1993), Tad expresses his disbelief that Dixie came all this way to save him from Ted.
Tad: So once again, you just turn everything else upside down to find me?
Dixie: You clod—don’t you know by now that I would just curl up and die inside if anything ever happened to you? Even if this is it, even if we don’t go any further than this, even if we’re not together, and even if you and Brooke and Jamie move off to the high end of nowhere—I wouldn’t want to live in a world without you in it.
~*~*~*~*~
While stuck in the cave in Canada, 1993.
Tad: Do you realize that no matter what we do, no matter what choices we make, the harder we fight it, we just end up tripping over one another? It’s fate. I guess we’re just meant to be together.
~*~*~*~*~
After Dixie has learned that Tad slept with Liza
Tad: If you want to punish me, punish me, but don’t punish yourself, don’t punish Junior. (Pauses, as he stares intently into her eyes). I need you, and I don’t want to lose you.
Dixie: I already gave you everything, Tad...everything I am. (Tears forming in her eyes, she tries to keep herself from sobbing) I gave you my heart, my dreams, my body and my thoughts, my words. It was a gift, freely given--(regaining her strength, getting angry) but you squandered it, and now it’s gone.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad and Dixie come face to face for the first time in almost two years
Tad: Don't I know you from somewhere?
Dixie:(smiling softly) A very long time ago.
~*~*~*~*~
Liza just commented on how the room (which Dixie has just vacated) crackles with Tad and Dixie lightning.
Tad: (exasperated)Why is it that just because Dixie comes back to Pine Valley, everyone in town automatically assumes that we're going to fall into bed together?
Liza: Why do you think?
Dixie, worried about Palmer’s car going over the bridge(with him in it), remembers another horrible time, when Tad was presumed dead. September, 1998
Dixie: When they told me that they thought you were dead, I wanted to die, too.
~*~*~*~*~
As Tad and Dixie try to get into an apartment during their search for Palmer, Dixie urges Tad to break down the door, September, 1998
Tad: (staring at her in disbelief)What do you mean, bust the door down? I’m not going to the hospital. What do you think I look like--Mel Gibson?
Dixie: No, but you’re close, you’re very close.
~*~*~*~*~
Braeden asked Dixie what it was about Tad that made him so special, and this was her response.
Dixie: I can’t explain to you why I love him. I just do. That’s the way it works. He makes life worth living.
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie tries to explain to Braeden why she lied to Tad; December 3rd, 1998.
Dixie: You know, for two years, I wouldn’t let myself even think of it. And then, for a day...for half a day...I thought that I might have the love of my life back. And of all the things that I looked forward to, the one thing that was the most important was just getting to sit and talk with him, because he’s just such a wonderfully brilliant man. He’s so funny, and smart, and he has these crazy ideas. He’s doesn’t think like anybody that I know. The funny thing is, he doesn’t think he’s smart at all, which just makes him even more attractive. I guess I realize that I can’t...I can’t live without him…But I will die without him, if I have to--I am NOT going put him through the pain of losing me one more time. So the only possible thing that could happen is if Dr. Hayward comes up with some sort of miracle…and works some sort of amazing miracle, and I can live. And then I will go running back to him, and no power on earth will stop me.
This scene totally made me cry—I am SUCH a sap!
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie, who is keeping Tad at arm’s length because of her heart condition, is pining for him, December 10th, 1998.
Dixie: I think what I have is a case of terminal Tad-Martinitis, and that is a heartache that no pill can cure.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad is complementing Dixie, who is all decked out for the Crystal Ball, December, 1998
Tad: You know, you look just like two dinners on one plate.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad has just accused Dixie of sabotaging his dates, and she’s desperately trying to come up with other reasons that his dates might be running off.
Dixie: You know, I hope you don’t hold me responsible every time your social life doesn’t turn out the way you want it to—you know, you’re not always irresistible.
Tad: Damn close! What with my rapier-type wit, boyish good looks and god-like body.
At this, Dixie has to turn away to keep from bursting out laughing.
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie has just told Tad about her heart condition, and how she could go into cardiac arrest at any time.
Tad: Well, look at it this way—now you’ve got two hearts beating for you—yours and mine. ~*~*~*~*~
After kidnapping Dixie and whisking her off to New York, Tad continues with his positive outlook for the future. February 9th, 1999.
Tad: We are going to have a wonderful life together. It’s going to be ordinary and remarkable all at the same time. We get to watch two boys grow up to be men, and give them the chance to be something they’ve always wanted to be—brothers. We’re going to have years of fox trots in hotel rooms in terry cloth bathrobes. And if the past is any indication, we’ll probably have all kinds of noisy, passionate arguments, where we hang on to our opinions long after we know they’re wrong. And then we’ll have a lot of noisy, passionate making up. And then after about 50 or 60 years of that, we’ll be at some family reunion and somebody will take a polaroid of us, and we’ll look so much alike, you won’t be able to tell who’s who.
Dixie: Oh, Tad, don’t say that, please.
Tad: No, honey, that’s exactly the life I want. Exactly the life I want. Dixie Cooney, will you be my once and future bride?
Dixie: Yes!
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie is telling Tad how his love and his proposal have completely changed her outlook on her future. February 9th, 1999.
Dixie: Tad, you know, just a little while ago, I felt like I didn’t have a future, that all I could see was diminishing light, and all that I could hope for was that Junior would be well taken care of. Somehow, I don’t…I don’t feel that now. Somehow, I think that…that your love and your strength and your kindness…it’s going to save me. And we could have everything we want. With a little luck.
~*~*~*~*~
Just as things are getting hot and heavy, Tad pulls back, worried about Dixie's heart condition, February 9th, 1999.
Dixie: My heart knows what it needs, what it wants right now...you. And with that, they picked up right where they left off. :)
~*~*~*~*~
Dixie emerges from the bathroom wearing a silky pink nightgown and matching robe(a la Deborah Kerr, supposedly), February 10th, 1999.
Tad: Hubba-hubba.
Dixie: I don’t believe Cary Grant ever said "Hubba-hubba."
Tad: That’s because he never saw you in that. Le Growl. You look sensational.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad and Dixie are discussing what to do that evening, when Dixie all of a sudden develops this dreamy grin and wraps her arms tightly around Tad, February 15th, 1999.
Dixie: (with a huge, beaming smile)This is so great.
Tad: (a little confused)What, moonlit walks in the snow?
Dixie: (smiling indulgently up at him)No--you and me. Us, together. I love it.(and with that, she stretches up and gives him a gentle kiss.)
~*~*~*~*~
At Dixie's wedding shower, Hayley has just proposed a toast, saying that Tad and Dixie are lucky people, because they found each other.
Dixie: Luck doesn't even begin to describe it. When I first came to town, I knew nothing. And then I met Tad and...just fell in love with him. And then when I lost him...well, it just goes to show you that life is full of miracles. Love itself is just such a miracle and I have it all around me--Tad and my friends and my family, and I just feel so very, very lucky. Thank you, all.
~*~*~*~*~
Opal has just accused Dixie of developing cold feet.
Dixie: About marrying Tad? No. No. I was just thinking about where I was a year ago and trying my best to be a happy, self-sufficient single mother, and I was just so sure that that's where I was supposed to be. But you know, how do you know?
Opal: Know what, honey?
Dixie: Well, how do you know if…I mean, a year ago, I was sure that Tad and I were meant to be separated. And now I'm sure that we're meant to be together. I mean, how do you knw if…if it's meant to be or if it's just being because you want it to be?
Of course, Dix's friends managed to warm her cold tootsies, and everything continued on merrily.
~*~*~*~*~
Tad's speech at his bachelor party.
Tad: I don't feel very funny lately. You know, I…The fact is I feel something I've never really felt before.
Dimitri: What is that, Tad? Humility?
Tad: Yes.
Trevor: All right, hold on to your wallets here.
Tad: No. I realize I don't exactly have a track record where humility is concerned. Then again, I've never had a…I've never had a miracle like this happen to me before. Tomorrow, in spite of common sense and all past mistakes, Dixie is going to vow to love me, to be my wife till death do us part. It's amazing. Well, how can this be? I mean, in the real world, somebody like Dixie…she would take one look at me and go marry somebody else. But that hasn't happened. And I thank God for it every day. So, in the face of what can only be called a miracle, I humbly find that I'm…I'm…speechless. I'm sorry. I told you I wasn't going to be very funny.
Jack: Well, he's right. It wasn't funny, but it was damn sweet, don't you think?
To that, everyone applauded, and the bachelor party continued on its merry course--until the bachelorettes crashed it, that is!
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