AN: I was kind of sad we didn't hear/see more of Alexis in the final episode. And once again I couldn't let go of the idea that she too had to have had a reaction to Daniel leaving Mode. This is just a bit of a silly interpretation of that though.

Warning: Spoilers for 4.20 - final episode of Ugly Betty

Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty (if only) etc. etc.

Daniel looked at the phone ringing. He knew he'd have to pick it up sooner or later, because she wasn't going to give up calling. But if he was honest with himself, he was afraid of Alexis' reaction to him leaving Mode. She did give everything up mostly for his sake after all. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he was fairly certain Alexis would be at least angry at first.

A lot had changed between them since she left for France. They'd become a lot closer, much more like when they were kids. The extreme sibling rivalry that often brought them trouble had become a thing of the past. Now they spoke each other often on the phone and Daniel tried to visit Alexis and Daniel Jr. at least somewhat regularly. Not that he actually had a lot of time, but he'd seen them a couple of times in the past months. At least visiting them would be something he'd have more time for now. Maybe he should sell it with that angle, perhaps then Alexis wouldn't be too pissed off. Well, one way or the other he was going to have to take her call eventually. Taking in a deep breath to gather courage he picked up the phone.

"Hi Al-.."

"Finally! I almost thought you already left for London and were on a plane or something. Why did I have to hear from mom you gave up your position?"

"She TOLD you? I can't believe she told you about that."

"That my little brother quit his job and gave everything to the person who forced me to give up everything? Of course she told me! What did you think, I wouldn't notice something like that? Or that I didn't need to know?"

"What? No, I meant about London. Of course I was going to tell you Alexis. I…just..well…I didn't..-"

"I'm not mad Daniel. Actually I called to wish you good luck."

"What?"

"I called to wish you good luck. You know, that thing that normal families do to show their support to a family member when they're doing something stupid and brave?"

"It's not stupid! Brave, yes, stupid no. For once in my life I just wanted to earn something the hard way. We always had it so easy, everything handed to us and-", he paused to make sure he interpreted the muffled sound on the other end right, "..are you laughing? This isn't funny Alexis, I'm serious!"

"I know you are! I wasn't laughing at you, it's just – Mom, she told me something and she was right. I think it's great that you're going to do this. I just don't think you're going to London to be earning what YOU think you're going to earn the hard way. Anyway, like I said, I just wanted to wish you luck. And you better come and visit us soon! DJ says 'Hi' by the way."

Relieved and a little confused Daniel gratefully accepted the change of topic, "Tell him I said 'Hi' back. How are things going now?"

He heard a tired sigh on the other end of the line and after a brief pause she answered, "Better. DJ seems to finally have come to terms with his father now being his mother. He no longer insists on calling me 'dad' anymore, so that's good. His grandparents are still having a hard time accepting me. At least they're trying now. We had a good talk a couple of weeks ago, and they decided to make an effort for DJ's sake. Things have been a lot better since."

Daniel could hear the emotion in Alexis' voice when talking about her newfound son. It still hurt when he thought about what had happened, the loss he felt when he found out DJ wasn't his. Nonetheless he had come to terms with just being an uncle and he was truly happy for Alexis that things were going well. At least now he got to spoil DJ without having to worry about the tougher side of parenting and setting rules. He smiled at the thought of going to visiting them soon.

"I'm glad it's going better, I promise I'll come visit soon. And thanks Alexis, it means a lot to me that you support me. I'm sorry, I should've told you sooner."

He could practically hear her grinning on the other end of the line now.

"Apology accepted. Now I have to go, tell Mom I'll call her later and tell Betty I said 'hi' and wish her luck for me."

Daniel was too confused over how Alexis knew he was going to see Betty to respond and nearly missed her final 'bye' before she hung up the phone laughing. Mumbling a goodbye back, he hung up the phone and stared at his open suitcase, which was currently still only halfway packed. He briefly wondered if he had a billboard on his forehead broadcasting his thoughts and emotions to the world, until he realized that it was probably his mom who told Alexis. Relieved and once again fortified in his personal belief that he was a 'real man' who did not broadcast his emotions to the world, he started packing again. He was trying to decide between 3 pairs of near-identical dress shoes when he realized he hadn't actually told anyone about his plans to go see Betty yet.