Title: Cookies and Christmas Cheer
Author: Creative Dreamer
Disclaimer: I've always wanted to own Ugly Betty from the beginning, but I don't think that's going to happen.
Author's Note: This was written for the advent calendar over at The Bachelor and The Butterfly over on LJ. Even though I am not into the spirit of the season since I work in retail, I thought I'd try writing a Christmas-themed fic. I hope you like it! Enjoy :)

As the days to Christmas counted down, Daniel Meade spent more time alone in his office. He tried to throw himself into his work so he could make his father proud, but under the circumstances, he had a tough time doing so. It was bad enough that this Christmas would be difficult to face now that his father was gone and his mother was stuck behind bars or so you would think, but now that his sister was his newfound boss, the editor-in-chief to Mode magazine had a lot on his plate to say the least.

After putting together his first issue of Mode without his father looming around and realizing that a clean slate was the only way to start his legacy, Daniel had difficulty knowing that the one person he thought would be there for him had snatched the company out from under him. It was bad enough that both of them had seemingly went against their mother's wishes about being there for each other by having a paintball war to determine who would be the new president of Meade Publications, but now that everything had seemingly blown up in his face, he did the only thing he could …protect Mode and keep his dignity.

The editor-in-chief spent a lot of time thinking about how his life would be now that things were so differently from the Christmas before. Both of his parents were around and unfortunately, Alex was thought to be dead, but at least the majority of the Meades were together. So much had changed in the past year…or even in the past month for that matter and now Daniel was left with the uncertainty about how things were going to be from here on out.

The book for the January issue was pretty much complete and the only thing to do besides proofing the last part of it was writing the letter from the editor. There was no need to share with Alexis now that things had drastically changed. Alexis gladly handed Mode over to her brother once she ran the entire Meade Empire now. He had been behind his desk for what seemed like hours, trying to find the right words to begin his legacy.

"Daniel, you're still here?" Betty said as she stuck her head into his office.

Her voice jolted Daniel out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat before he looked up at her.

"Yeah, but I am the editor-in-chief, and the book has to be ready to go back to the printer," he explained, trying to explain as convincingly as he could. "Besides, I thought I sent you home already."

"You sent your assistant home," Betty grinned. "But you look like you need a friend so here I am."

"Betty…" Daniel's eyes glanced up from the page he was proofing with pen in hand.

"Daniel…" she countered as she made her way into his office and over to the chairs in front of his desk. "You've been here since this morning."

"And this is my magazine and my office and I'll stay here as long as I want," he smirked as he finally took a much needed break from the book. He had been focused on it for a while, but he wanted to have an excuse to stay even though he could finish what he needed to do until the next day.

"Alright, boss, if that be the case, then the whole idea of you taking a break from being in your office is out of the question?" she said as she looked over at him with a full smile. "You know you need a break…"

"I am fine, Betty…really," he promised. "This needs to get done." He gestured at the book, making his point.

"You haven't had a thing since lunch."

"Actually, I had dinner shortly after I sent you home," he said with a nod.

"But you at least need to get out and stretch your legs. You know, a good night sleep would do you some good…more like at least going home to your apartment would do you some good. Seriously, Daniel, you can't live out of your office forever."

"What? I haven't…" he gave her a confused look.

"Okay so two days isn't entirely living out of your office, but you need a change of scenery." His assistant looked around at his surroundings and noticed that things were starting to blend together. "I mean, if things are starting to blur together for me then I can only imagine how things are for you."

"I've been too busy to notice, Betty," he countered.

Daniel finally relaxed enough to lean back in his chair and took a deep breath. The weight of the world seemed to be on his shoulders and as much as he appreciated Betty's way of watching out for him, he knew he had to figure this out for himself. This was no easy task and taking a break from it now would only mean that he would have to start all over trying to figure out how he should go about handling things.

It was times like this where he would look at his childhood and remember how things were when Alex would have won another one of their battles, and Bradford would pay more attention to his older brother than himself. It was moments like this where he remembered how Claire would do her best to make sure that little Daniel was just as special as Alex.

The younger Meade sibling began to think back on the times where he and his mother would spend time together making her special peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for him when times were getting tough for a growing boy of his adolescence. He hadn't thought about those cookies in years until this moment in time where it was only fitting that Claire's cookies were in order. From what Daniel could remember, it was something that the two of them shared that Alex and Bradford didn't have much of a clue about. He missed those special times with his mother when he was left behind and seemingly forgotten by his father because it meant that Claire loved him regardless of his shortcomings.

It was funny now how without fail Alexis had won another one of their battles, but this time his mother wasn't around to make him feel better. He needed her now more than ever but unfortunately under the circumstances, Daniel couldn't call his mom and ask her to make their special cookies.

"Daniel, you know getting out would do you a world of good," Betty's voice fazed back into his mind.

"I don't think so, Betty, I want to get this done."

Betty let out a frustrated sigh. "You can't take a clue, can you?"

"What?"

Before Daniel had a chance to figure out what was going on, Betty grabbed his coat and pulled him out of his chair. She guided him out of his office toward the elevators.

--

Betty hadn't given Daniel a much of a chance to ask questions. The next thing he knew the town car drove them back to his apartment.

After their ride home, Daniel knew that Betty had his best interests at heart. He had been working too much as of late trying to justify how he wasn't in charge of Meade Publications and his apartment was a sight for sore eyes especially after they made their way inside.

"Betty, what's all this?" he asked in wonder as he looked around his usually bare apartment.

"I know what you're doing, but this isn't the best way to handle this. Working yourself to death is not the way to run a magazine, so I thought it'd be a nice change for you to go home to a place where there's some Christmas cheer," Betty smiled as she saw the look on her friend's face as he looked around at the Christmas decorations she had put up for him.

It wasn't much, but a small Christmas tree with some multi-color lights and some icicle lights outlining his living room would hopefully put him in a better mood than what he had been lately.

"I thought you needed a change from what you're used to especially with Christmas just around the corner," she gave him one of her full smiles.

He looked around his apartment in awe as he realized that his assistant had managed to surprise him in a way he hadn't expected.

"Thank you, Betty," Daniel managed to get out.

"I am not done yet," she chuckled. "Why don't you go sit on the couch and put your feet up?"

"Okay."

Daniel wasn't in the mood to argue now that he was back at home and he realized how tired he was from work. He tossed his coat on the armrest of the couch before he took a seat. He leaned back and closed his eyes briefly.

"Now I know these probably aren't the same, but it's the thought that counts," Betty mentioned as she brought over a plate of something or other.

She placed it on the coffee table in front of him before he opened his eyes.

"I am sure whatever it is, Betty. It will be fine." He reassured before his eyes fluttered open and look over at the plate on the table.

"Peanut butter…chocolate chip?" Daniel asked confused as he glanced back at his assistant who was back in the kitchen fixing them both something to drink.

"Well, try one and you tell me," Betty chuckled softly as she made her way over to couch with a cup of hot chocolate with a candy cane in each hand. She placed his mug by the plate of cookies.

Without hesitation, he leaned over and grabbed a cookie and tried it. It was like the memories from his childhood flooded back into his mind of all of those times where he would spend time with his mom making these cookies.

"Betty, how did you…" Daniel began as he looked over at his friend with a curious expression on his face.

"With the way things had been for you lately, I had a talk with your mom the other day, and she gave me the recipe for your favorite cookies," Betty explained. "She told me about how special and important these cookies were to both of you, and I thought it'd be nice for you to be able to have them especially now."

Daniel wanted to say something; to show his best friend the appreciation she deserved, but before he could, his phone rang. He heard it ringing from his coat pocket. He scrambled for a few moments to find it.

"Uh, hello, Daniel Meade." He answered his phone in his usual way.

"Hello, Daniel." A woman's voice said.

"Mom!" he said somewhat surprised to hear from her.

"Yes, Daniel, it's me." Claire chuckled to herself. "I am sure you've had a cookie by now and Betty's probably told you how she got the recipe, but sweetheart, I had to tell you that she told me about your paintball fight with Alexis."

"Oh, she did?" Daniel gulped.

"She did, and I will say that settling for ownership over your father's company the same you did over your tree house was not using your better judgment, but I know that you're upset that your sister has yet again managed to take away something that you had your heart set on," she sympathized.

"I know it wasn't one of our--my better ideas to figure out who would run Meade, but…"

"Daniel, I don't want to talk about that. It's in the past, but I will say that this only seemed fitting that our cookies were in order. I know that things are spiraling out of control with Alexis snatching the company away from you, and your father and I aren't going to be able to be with you guys as a family for Christmas, but I just wanted you to know that no matter what, I love you."

"I love you too. Thank you for this, Mom. Your cookies always somehow make me feel better," he grinned.

"I know. I had a feeling you would need them in a time like this. I just wish I could be there to help you adjust as well as your sister even though I am sure you two need your space right now," Claire reasoned.

"I do too. This Christmas is going to be so weird without you and Dad."

"I know it will be, sweetheart, but we'll talk soon, and I am sure you'll come by and visit. You know I can't talk for long, but we'll talk again soon, okay?"

"Of course, I'll come by soon, I promise. Take care of yourself in there."

"I've got some thick skin. Your father gave me that," she chuckled to herself. "I love you, Daniel."

"I love you too, Mom."

After they shared their goodbyes, Daniel sighed as he hung up his phone. He looked over at his friend with a huge smile on his face.

"Thank you…thank you so much, Betty." He said as he reached out and touched her hand.

Betty had intently watched the way Daniel had been since he got home, and she couldn't help but chuckle to herself about the way he was about everything. It reminded her about how he was at her house the year before while he spent time with the Suarez family decorating their tree.

"Oh, you're welcome." She smiled at him.

"You didn't have to go through all of this trouble…really," he mentioned before he took a sip from his mug.

"It was no trouble at all. You know that. I am just glad I was able to give you something that you needed. I bet you haven't had those cookies in a long time," she commented as she tilted her head to the side to study the expression on his face.

"I haven't….not since I was kid." He nodded with a chuckle before he set his cup next to the cookie platter.

The look on Daniel's face reminded her of that little kid on Christmas morning where he got the one gift he had hoped for all season long. It warmed her heart to see her best friend all excited about the least likely thing he'd ever thought he'd have.

Without putting much thought into it, Daniel caught Betty off guard as he pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you, Betty. This means so much to me."

"You're welcome, Daniel. It's the least I can do to make you feel closer your family."

He couldn't help but be thankful for Betty and her ability to figure out the littlest thing that would mean so much to him. Her mother's cookies were the last thing he ever thought he'd have again, but thanks to the way his friend was, she came through for him without fail in the most unexpected way. The smile on his face spoke volumes about how this phase of his life would be. In the darkness, there was always a ray of hope, and for Daniel Meade, it just happened to be his best friend who just happened to be his assistant Betty.