A/N: I don't own Ugly Betty.


Gabriella Suarez-Meade grew quickly. She was sitting up in August and eagerly cooing away to herself. She would occasionally try to eat her mother's hair. But in general, she was a very affectionate baby. She was slowly catching up with where a six month baby should be. And her favorite person in the world was Daddy. Amanda frequently found Daniel in his office holding his daughter and talking to her. Betty had gone back to work but Ella spent her days at the Meade Publications employee daycare, so her parents saw her frequently. They usually spent lunch breaks with her and Daniel often found excuses to keep her in his office for a while after lunch because he wanted to spend time with his little girl. Betty was still breast-feeding Ella and so she got to see her daughter a few times a day. She was now working at a junior editor in the beauty department and loved it. But she loved being a mother more. And one day she admitted to Christina that if she ever married Daniel and had another baby, she would definitely give up the magazine world to be a stay at home mother when her children were young. "Ella is just growing up so fast and I feel like I'm missing out on so much. I just want to take care of her and watch every moment and every change."

Christina smiled. "Does Daniel know how you feel?"

"No, if I told him, he'd find a way for me to be a stay at home mom. This is Daniel Meade we're talking about. He can afford to do whatever he wants. He wouldn't be afraid to just throw money at me. He's used to solving his problems by throwing money at them."

"And he adores you. I think he'd give you whatever you wanted. He just wants to make you and Ella happy."

"I know. I worry sometimes that he's going to spoil her rotten."

"I think he wants to give her everything that he never had."

"Which is love," Betty said. "He wants her to know that she matters to him. I think he felt like he didn't matter to his parents and he wants Ella to know how much she means to us."

"She's a baby. All that she knows is that Daddy holds her and kisses the top of her head," Christina told her friend.

"He loves that little girl more than anything in the world."

"He really was meant to be a father."

"He's a natural father," Betty said. "I don't know how to explain it but he really was meant to be a father."

Christina nodded. "I've seen him with your little girl. He loves her very much. When you first told me that you two were together and were having a baby, I was surprised. I didn't see Daniel Meade as the paternal type. I couldn't see him as a father at all. I knew that he'd been good with DJ but I wasn't sure how he was going to do with a newborn, with a baby for whom he would be responsible for many years. And then I saw him through your pregnancy and then when Ella was born. I saw him holding her and I knew that he loved her more than anything. I know how protective he was of both of you when she was born premature. She is his little girl. He adores her. And I know everyone says she looks just like you and has none of Daniel at all in her but I think there is a little bit of Daniel in her. She has his nose."

Betty smiled. "I think it's hard to tell yet. We all know she has my hair and eyes and coloring. But we'll see what happens as she grows."


"Christina thinks that Ella has your nose," Betty told Daniel that night as he made dinner and she held the baby.

Daniel laughed. "That's interesting. I'm not quite sure how that's possible. But it's nice to know."

"Someday we'll have a baby with your nose."

"If you insist, it doesn't really matter to me."

"I really want a baby with your eyes," she said. "I think they're my favorite part of you."

He laughed and kissed her nose. "I'd think there would be other parts of me that you'd like more."

"Nope," she said. "The eyes are the windows to the soul and you have amazing eyes. They're clear and alive and vibrant. They're how I've always known that you're a good person."

"Do you know how much I love you?" he asked.

"Tell me," she replied. "How much do you love me?"

"I want to give you the world," he said. "I want to give you everything. I love you more than anything. You are my world. And I want to give you everything. You have given me so much. And I want to do the same for me. You and Ella, you have changed my life. You've given me a reason to keep going. You brought life and light into my life. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone before. I love you more than I love myself and that is saying a lot for me. I've never felt that way about anyone else before in my life."

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," she replied. "I didn't understand you at all when we met. But you've changed so much and grown so much." She adjusted their daughter on her hip. "I never would have thought of you as a father and I especially never would have thought of you as someone who would have sacrificed his liberty and bachelorhood for someone like me and their baby. I never would have thought of you who would step in and take responsibility for another man's child. But you've done so much for me. You've really become a daddy. You're an amazing daddy to our little girl. She really is your daughter, genetics be damned. I'm so grateful for everything you've done for us. And I keep falling in love with you. Every day I love you more."

Daniel looked at the baby in his girlfriend's arms. "Do you know what you've done, little girl? You've brought the world's most promiscuous bachelor together with a beautiful woman who actually gave a damn about life and made him want to care about the people around him?"

"You weren't the world's most promiscuous bachelor," Betty replied. "You're not as bad as Hugh Hefner."

He laughed. "Okay, I was the worst one on the eastern seaboard."

"Nope, you forgot Becks."

"You just won't let me get down on myself."

"You're a better person than you make yourself out to be," she told him, rubbing his back. "Now stop wooing me and start paying attention to dinner. I want to eat your cooking tonight, not take-out." She looked at him and then started as thought came to her. "Have you ever considered that your heart problems might be partially related to the amount of take-out and restaurant food you used to eat? I think about the stuff you eat and I'm amazed that you're in such good shape."

"I work out for an hour every day," he replied, patting his trim waistline. "But I guess that stuff would affect my sodium levels if nothing else."

She shrugged. "It was just a thought. I'm just thinking about things we can do to keep you healthy."

"No Ben and Jerry's in this house," he replied. "And there's the list on the fridge. You know what it says."

She laughed. "I'm not your mother, Daniel Meade. I'm your girlfriend. I'm Ella's mommy, aren't I, sweetheart?"

Ella replied by grabbing her mother's necklace and sticking the B in her mouth. Daniel laughed. "When are we giving her a younger sibling?"

"When I'm not breast-feeding her," Betty replied. "And I thought you wanted to wait until after we got married before we had any more kids."

"You're right," he said, rubbing the baby's back as her mother retrieved the necklace from the slobbery mouth and gave the baby a toy. "And I will propose soon. I'm just waiting for the perfect moment. I have plans."

Betty smiled. "Is dinner ready?'

He nodded. "I'll hold Ella if you'll set the table."

She handed the baby over and he grinned as he kissed the baby's soft cheeks and held her chubby little body close to his chest. She cooed and then spat up all of the shoulder of his dress shirt. And while that once would have made him angry, Daniel just laughed, put Ella in her playpen, took off his shirt, and then picked his daughter back up. "You're a silly girl," he whispered in her ear and she smiled.


DJ had spent most of the summer in New York with his uncle and his new baby cousin. It was clear that DJ and Ella adored each other. He thought she was adorable and entertaining. And she just loved being held and loved. Her cousin held her and kissed her forehead. He refused to change her diapers and laughed when she spat up after being fed. And he grew closer to his uncle and his uncle's girlfriend. "I want to come and spend Christmas with you here in New York," he told Daniel before he left. "I like Betty and Ella. I want to spend more time with you. You are my family too and I want to see you more."

"We can try to come to France and see you for Christmas," Daniel told his nephew. "Now that Betty isn't pregnant anymore it's easier for us to travel. And we'd love to bring Ella to Paris at some point."

"But I want to visit my cool rich American uncle in America with his American girlfriend and their American daughter."

The uncle laughed. "We'll see what we can do. But I think Betty and I would also like to come and see you in France. We'd love to bring Ella to France."

"And I would like to have you in France. But I want to come here for Christmas. I want my grandparents to get to know you and Betty and Ella here in America. I want them to see what you are like with your family, that you are a good man who loves his family and not just another dumb American playboy."

"Is that what they call me?"

He nodded. "They say that you are just stupid and irresponsible. But I don't think so. If you were, why would you be in this relationship with Betty? Why would you be raising your daughter in a family with her mother? You've grown up. You've changed. You're not the person you were when you met my mother."

Daniel smiled at his nephew. "No I'm not."

"So if my grandparents come here, they can see you and see how you've changed. They'll see you with Betty and Ella. They'll see that you're a good person. And they'll let me see you more."

"I'd like that and I think the girls would too."

"So invite my grandparents to come visit for Christmas, please."

"I don't speak French very well."

"They speak English. Just call them, please."

"I will," Daniel promised his nephew. "You will come and see me. It'll be great."

"I'll like that."

"Is everything all right in here?" Betty asked walking into the room with Ella on her hip.

"I want to come here with my grandparents for Christmas. I want us all to spend it together as a family."

She smiled. "That sounds great. We would love to have you all here."

"And Alexis could come too. It could be my whole family together for Christmas," the fifteen-year-old said eagerly.

"Alexis hasn't met Ella yet," Daniel commented.

"That's her loss," DJ said. "Ella is a great little girl. I really like her."

"I think she likes you too," Betty said as her daughter grabbed at her cousin. He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead.

Daniel smiled. "I think he'd be a great big brother but he'll never be one."

"But he can be a good older cousin."

"And someday he'll have more cousins."

"That's my plan," Betty replied.


Betty and Daniel spent Thanksgiving with the Suarez family. And amazingly, DJ got his grandparents' to agree to come to New York City for Christmas with the Meade clan. Alexis was also coming, which made Daniel both nervous and excited. "I'm worried she'll make fun of me," Daniel told his girlfriend. "We used to say that we'd never settle down and get married and have families. And now I've done that. I'm glad I have you and Ella but I'm nervous. I don't like it when she picks on me. And we all know that I suck at fighting."

Betty laughed. "You do suck at fighting. So just be honest with your sister. Tell her that you don't care what she thinks. It's your life and you can make your own decisions."

He looked down at his shoes. "But she's my big sister. She scares me. She might be a girl but she can still kick my ass."

"So don't provoke her."

He sighed and looked at her. "You don't understand. Hilda isn't like Alexis; she isn't as easily provoked."

Betty smiled and leaned her head against Daniel's shoulder. "You'll be fine. You're doing what makes you happy. You're daddy and you love it. She can't take that away from you."

He smiled and leaned his head against hers. "She can't take my family away from me. I have you and Ella and no one can take you away from me. I'm going to marry you and we're going to keep building our family together."

She looked up at him. "You're going to marry me? When will this be taking place?"

He shrugged. "You get to pick the date. But I have this early Christmas present for you in my top dresser drawer. It's pretty nice; I think I got it at Tiffany's. If you want it, it's yours."

She jumped off the bed and ran over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. Inside, she found a piece of paper saying "Just kidding, go to Ella's crib."

Daniel smiled and jumped off the bed as Betty ran to her own bedroom where she found her ten-month-old daughter sleeping in her crib. And next to her head was a velvet box. Betty picked it up and turned around to see Daniel in his pajamas, down on one knee. She gasped and dropped the box. "Is this serious?"

He picked up the box and nodded. "Will you marry me?"

She nodded, still speechless and he slipped the simple diamond and white gold ring onto her finger. "We're engaged," she whispered. "We're getting married."

He kissed her and pulled her into his arms. "Why not make it official? We've been dating for over a year now. We have a daughter together. We live together. We are a family. Let's just make it legal."

"So I'm guessing we won't be having a big wedding?"

He shrugged. "Do we need one? I'd prefer just something small with our friends and family and Ella."

She smiled and crawled into his lap. "I could handle that. But where would we get married?"

"I don't know. We could use my mom's mansion. It has plenty of big rooms or we could just do something outside in the summer."

Daniel smiled with pleasure as she rested her head against his chest and looked adoringly up into his eyes. "I just want to marry you," she said. "I don't care where or when. I just want our families and friends there. And Ella has to be there. Something small and simple with our families, that's all I need."

"You don't need the big fancy church wedding?"

"Do I look like the big fancy church wedding type to you?"

He shook his head and leaned his pale cheek against her dark hair. "No, you're not. You are the backyard wedding type. And I finally get to marry you. And we can think about making Ella a big sister."

"You really just want to get in my pants again."

"Again?" Daniel asked. "We've been dating for a year and you still haven't let me in. All I'm looking for these days is a family. I've got you and Ella but I want to keep building that family. I love you and I want to keep building up our family. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to grow old with you and watch our children grow up with you. I want to get old and fat with you."

She kissed his cheek. "I'll consider it. After all, you are Daniel Meade. You're intelligent, handsome, and the father of my daughter."

He smiled. He loved it when Betty referred to him as Ella's father without any thought for Jesse. He also loved it when people told him that Ella had his smile or his nose or his ears. There was no way Ella could have inherited anything physically from him. But she was still his daughter, his baby girl.


Ella was crawling by Christmas. And she would occasionally try to stand up while hanging onto a chair, a couch, or her parents' hands. She loved clinging to Daniel's hands and standing on his feet. DJ also started playing with his baby cousin when he arrived in New York for Christmas. One day, Betty walked into her living room to find DJ walking around the room with Ella balancing on his feet. "She's so cute. She loves this and she just wants to walk around and explore."

"Everything is new to her," Betty told him. "It's her first Christmas. She's never seen any of this before. She's never walked before. She probably doesn't remember meeting you this summer."

He smiled and picked her up. Ella wrapped her chubby arms around his neck and leaned her head against his chest. "She's so sweet. I wish I got to see her more often."

"Daniel and I are planning on bringing her to Paris with us next month. You can see her then. We'll be in town for about a week."

"But then I won't see her again until your wedding in the summer. And she grows and changes so much every day."

"I know. I feel like I miss out on things when I'm away from her at work during the day."

"But you still get to see her."

Betty nodded. "But you'll be here all summer. You'll get two and a half months with her."

DJ grinned at that thought. He was going to be Daniel's best man and then get to spend the rest of the summer with his uncle and his uncle's family. Betty and Daniel were hoping to make DJ really feel like he was a part of the Meade family. They were also hoping that he would grow closer to Daniel and his little cousin. Betty also wanted to grow closer to him. But they were really hoping that DJ and Ella would keep bonding.


For Christmas, Daniel gave Betty a locket with a picture of their family inside. The front had flowers with each of their birthstones and inside was a picture of Daniel and Betty with Ella. "I just want you to know how important you both are to me. You're my family. You're the most important things in my world."

She kissed him for that. He'd given her the locket in their bedroom on Christmas Eve after they'd put Ella to bed. After they got engaged, Betty moved into Daniel's room and her old bedroom became their daughter's nursery. Betty was becoming more and more comfortable as Daniel's lover. She was learning to stop comparing herself to the blonde models that had once filled the empty half of his bed. It was obvious that Daniel wasn't comparing her to them; he obviously thought that she was something far better than they were. "You're more beautiful, more real than they could ever try to be," he told her.

"You've changed so much," she said with a smile. "And I love you so much."

"What did you get me for Christmas?" he teased.

"Coal," she replied.

He smiled. "I don't think so. I think you got me something better."

"It's under the tree," she told him. "I was saving it for tomorrow morning."

"There are several presents for me under that tree."

"One is special."

"And what is it?"

She shrugged. "Follow me."

Daniel followed Betty out into the living room and watched as she took a small box out from under the tree and handed it to him. He shook it and she laughed and sat down next to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his as he opened the package. "A piece of paper?" he asked as he lifted it out of the box.

"It's a promise," she told him. "I'm promising you that even with the wedding plans and Ella we're still going on a date at least once a month. We can get a babysitter and go out for dinner or to a movie every month. I know it's not much but I wanted to give you something special."

He pulled her into his lap and kissed her. "It's perfect. I love it. It's way better than socks or a tie."

She smiled. "But you need socks and ties."

"I know. But I have more than enough money to buy them for myself. You and Ella can give me things that are more special."

"Someday you'll love the weird ties that your children pick out for you and wear them to work with pride even if they don't fit perfectly with your role as editor in chief of Mode."

He smiled. "I'm sure I will. I'm also sure that someday many of my presents will come from my children and will really be bought by you or me."

"I think you mean will be paid for. The kids will pick the presents out but then we'll pay for them."

"Well, yeah," he said leaning his head against hers. "You know what I mean. I can't wait until Ella is old enough to really enjoy Christmas."

Betty grinned. "It's going to be amazing. But right now I'm enjoying her the way she is."

"I know. I love her the way she is. And I'm sure I'm going to lose my mind when she starts walking for real and getting into everything."

"We're going to have to baby-proof the apartment."

"You just ruined Christmas."

She laughed and kissed him. "I'm sorry sweetie. I love you. And she's not walking yet. You don't have to do it tomorrow. But we should go to bed now; I'm getting sleepy."

"But I don't want to move. I'm tired and I don't feel like going anywhere."

"Honey, your back is not going to agree with that statement tomorrow morning."

"Are you treating me like an old man?"

She smiled and stood up, stretching and yawning before saying anything to him. Then she nodded wordlessly and motioned for him to stand up. He shook his head and sighed but when she reached out her hand, he took it and stood up. And then he followed her to bed.


A/N: Please review! I know it rushed through a lot of things but I more just wanted to show important moments.