A Thankful Night
Hi friends! There should only be a couple more chapters left! Hope you enjoy! for entertainment only! :P
Chapter 10
After they all had dinner, they started to clear out into the living room; Daniel stepped over by Mr. Suarez who was already clearing the table. "Mr. Suarez, let me help, please. It's the least I can do for you inviting me"
Ignacio shook his head "No, Daniel, you're a guest, and please, call me Ignacio." he smiled at him warmly. Daniel smiled "Actually, I uh...would like to talk to you" he said quietly when he noticed Betty come back in.
"Papi, I can put everything away" she said as she started to take the plates from him when he shook his head "No, mija, Daniel and I will clean up."
Betty bit her lip looking between the two of them, when Daniel smiled back at her, she smiled "Fine" she let go of the dishes and left.
Ignacio smiled as he noticed Daniel watch his daughter as she left. "So, you really like my Betty?"
Daniel looked to him and picked up some of the plates of food and nodded as he followed him into the kitchen "Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about…"
"Look, I know I don't have the best reputation; I've been kind of a player. I can't change the past, but...I want you to know, Mr. uh...Ignacio, that I really admire and love Betty. I would never want to do anything to hurt her."
Ignacio listened as he packed the remaining food.
Daniel placed his hands in his pockets, and looked down. "To be honest, I know I'm not good enough for Betty. She's so smart and beautiful and sweet, and also the most amazing woman I've ever met. She deserves someone better than me, really."
Ignacio placed his hand on his shoulder "You aren't as bad as you think, mijoh. All I want for my daughter is that she is happy and has someone who loves and cares for her. You seem to make my daughter happy and clearly you care for her; the fondness and love you have for Betty is what matters. If you are wanting my blessing to be with my daughter, then you have it, although, you really don't need it, because Betty would choose you no matter what."
Daniel smirked "Thanks Mr. Suarez - I mean, Ignacio! Sorry, that's gonna happen a lot!" he said with a grin resulting in a chuckle from Ignacio. They were finishing up clearing and packing the food and cleaning, when Mr. Suarez stopped him and said "oh, I almost forgot! I have something for you, Daniel"
Daniel looked at him in curiosity and when Mr. Suarez picked out a small velvet pouch from his pants pocket and handed it to him, Daniel looked surprised "What's this?"
"It's a pound of gold" Mr. Suarez stated in a serious tone.
Daniel looked at him in confusion, when Ignacio started laughing "I'm joking, it's for you!"
Daniel smirked as he took it from him. He opened the pouch and his eyes grew bright "Wow, this is beautiful, Mr. Suarez, why are you giving this to me?" he said as he held the intricate and beautiful pocket watch admiring the detail and workmanship, but wondering why Ignacio wanted to give him such a gift.
Ignacio smiled "Something compelled me to give it to you. It was my grandfather's. He always told me that time is the best gift and we should use it wisely. When I was young I thought, when I have a son I would give this to him. We both know I only have daughters." he said with a chuckle.
Daniel looked at him in awe "but, I'm not, I-" he was at a loss for words.
"I felt like giving it to you. I thought you would like it." he said simply. His simple and sincere kindness flabbergasted him and all he could think to do was hug the man. Ignacio patted him on the back.
After a moment, Daniel released the man from his hug, feeling a little embarrassed but when Ignacio smiled at him he felt such calm happiness. "I love it. Thank you, Mr. Suarez. This is…" he looked at the watch and the meaning behind it, and felt humbled that Mr. Suarez gave it to him. "Beautiful…"
Ignacio smiled when he noticed Betty coming in "Yes, just like my Betty, wouldn't you say?" he said as Betty came up to them and he left. Daniel smiled when he saw her "Betty!" he felt so happy to see her he practically threw himself at her as he hugged her to him.
She giggled "Daniel! What is going on? What have you two been talking about? Are you using your charm to win over my papi?" she snickered, but when she hugged him back, all he could do was hold her closer to him, feeling so immensely happy.
He laughed at her cuteness. He never thought he could feel such happiness before, and having Betty in his arms and the beauty in her and everything around her, made him feel like he had everything. How could he be so blind to not see it before?
"I love you" he said hoping she knew that he truly meant it.
She looked at him in wonder as he released her, not knowing how to respond, mostly because she was confused by his behavior. Daniel smiled and held out his hand to her that held the watch "Your dad gave me this."
She took it and looked at it for a moment admiring its detail. "Nice... " she smiled, looking to him, feeling happy that her father seemed to like Daniel so much and that Daniel was equally happy to have her papi like him. She placed it back in his palm and wrapped her arms around him "I love you, Daniel."
"I can't believe how blind I was before to not see it" he said vaguely.
"See what?" she asked in confusion, not separating herself from their hug.
He held her by her shoulders to see her face. "How beautiful you are and how much you mean to me" he said in a mesmerized voice causing her to blush under his admiring gaze. "You really think that?" she said in a quiet tone as she looked down.
He placed his hand to her face so she'd look at him again "You know I do, Betty. I don't only think that, I know it! You are definitely beautiful. In fact, I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met! Inside and out!" he took her face in his hands and kissed her.
As Daniel kissed her she felt tears surface at what he told her. He really felt that way about her? It was almost overwhelming how quickly and genuinely he seemed to find love in her.
She knew she had suppressed her liking of Daniel over the duration of their short time working together, however she never thought Daniel could feel such a way about her. When he ended the kiss she looked at him with a smile. He grinned back making her giggle at how silly he was.
"Come on, I have a gift I really want to give you that I think you will really like."
"Really? What is is?" she asked eagerly.
He shook his head, smirking "I'm not telling you! You'll just have to wait and see!"
She smiled and right before they were about to walk back into the living room, she pulled him close and said "I hope one of my gifts is a kiss" before she walked away, leaving him with a silly grin on his face.
When Betty walked into the living room she felt butterflies. She couldn't believe that Daniel Meade was actually in love with her! She still wondered if this was all some crazy dream. Just earlier today he liked Sofia, or so he thought.
Daniel walked into the room and said "I believe it is time for gifts!" causing everyone to smile excitedly, but her father to reprimand him, of course. "Daniel, for goodness sake, you didn't have to get us gifts."
Daniel shook his head smiling "I wanted to Mr. Sua-Ignacio, please! Not only Betty, but your whole family has been kind to me, I wanted to show you all how much I appreciate you."
Justin and Hilda came over and said "We're not complaining! Ee, do I get a gift too?" Hilda asked, while Justin rolled his eyes, but said "Duh, mom! He said all of us! Betty, I take back what I said about swag from Mode. A gift from Daniel is way better!"
Betty giggled when Daniel looked to her with a pleased smile.
He looked to Christina "I even have a gift for you, Christina"
She looked surprised "Me? Well, then, thank you, luv!"
He picked out a card sized box and handed it to her; he proceeded to give the rest of his gifts, resulting in smiles and excited looks from them. When Hilda opened her present, her eyes grew bright "Oh! This is beautiful!" She said as she took out the lovely red and gold scarf. "Thank you, Daniel!"
"I'm glad you like it! It seemed like colors you would wear."
She nodded "I love it!" Hilda looked to Betty when Daniel sat over by her.
Christina opened her present and was surprised at what she found. "You really got this for me?" she asked as she opened the small book of lovely vintage fashion illustrations. Daniel nodded with a smile "I've seen some of your drawings, Christina. You're really amazing. I thought you would like some more inspiration."
She nodded with a smile "Thanks luv!" she looked to Betty with a smirk "Seems like you charmed Danny-boi here so much that he's even more charmin'"
Betty blushed when Daniel looked to her with a grin.
"OMG! EEK! Betty, Daniel got us tickets to see Wicked!" he said as he opened his present.
"What?! Really? That's awesome! Daniel! You didn't have to do that, though!" she said, but Justin immediately stopped her "Betty, speak for yourself! This is amazing! Thanks Daniel!" he ran over and hugged him tightly, while Santos started to laugh.
Daniel looked to him "Oh I almost forgot" he got up and took out a small gift box from his jacket pocket and handed it to Santos "I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what to get you, but I found this and thought it was pretty cool"
Santos opened it and picked out the intricate lighter from the box "Wow, this is sweet! Thanks!"
Daniel smiled and handed his last gift to Mr. Suarez, earning a mock scolding look from him "Mijoh! Really, this is too much! Especially since you are helping with the lawyer."
Daniel shook his head "Please Mr. Suarez, if anyone deserves some kindness it is you. You are always so kind to me, even when I was a jerk to Betty. You are extremely forgiving. I am really grateful for your generosity. After all, this is Thanksgiving!"
Ignacio shook his head and opened his gift and was happily surprised to see a cookbook "Gracias!" he smiled.
Daniel smiled and sat over beside Betty again who was watching him with this lovely sweet smile on her face. He looked to her and she smiled, but then after a moment she bit her lip and then shyly asked "Where are my gifts?"
He looked at her in confusion "What? Did I say I got you gifts? Sorry, but I don't think I have anything else" he teased.
She pouted and he couldn't help but chuckle at her cuteness and placed a kiss to her cheek. "You're adorable. Of course I have your gifts Betty! Don't you know the best is always saved for last!" he said as he picked out two presents from one of the gift bags he had and the smile she gave him was the best ever!
Her smile always managed to make his day, and now it was simply filling his heart with an all-encompassing sense of gratitude that this lovely woman was in his life and seemed to like him just as much as he liked her.
Everyone eagerly watched to find out what Betty's gifts were. Of course, the gifts he had gotten for Betty weren't necessarily ones he would get as romantic gifts since he hadn't realized he was in love with her when he got them, but he thought they were pretty awesome, especially for Betty.
As she started to open the prettier decorated one, she paused and said "does it matter which I open first?"
He smirked finding her organization adorable "Uh not really, but why don't you open the bigger one first?" he suggested after thinking about it. Betty smiled, nodding, eager to open her gifts.
She picked up the gift bag that had a pretty white ribbon tied around the handles. She didn't want to untie it so she reached in and found it was difficult to pull out what was some sort of book, so she untied it and when she pulled out the 'book' she gasped when she saw how beautiful it was.
"Oh my God, Daniel, this is...stunning!" she unclipped the hinges of the silver filigree etched book, and saw that it was a journal. A beautiful and stunning journal that came with an equally beautiful and intricately cut pen to match.
Daniel smiled proudly, knowing how much she was going to like this. He felt even happier, now, since she was his girlfriend. His beautiful and sweet girlfriend who he couldn't wait to kiss!
"I'm glad you like it." he said in a soft voice that gave her tingles. She smiled looking to him " Are you kidding, I LOVE it! It's beautiful. I'm almost afraid to write in it! I guess I better make sure it is really good!" she said in a playful tone.
He smiled and nodded "I'm sure you'll come up with something beautiful to write in there."
She smiled, but then blushed when she realized everyone was simply watching them, completely engrossed in their interactions with one another.
Her sister, Christina and Justin were all grinning at her, and her Papi looked amused, Santos shot her a teasing wink. She blushed brighter, but focused her attention back to Daniel. "Um...I guess I should open the other one. I don't know why you got me two presents Daniel! This is amazing! I don't know what could possibly top this!"
He smirked, as she picked up the other present. When she picked it up she held it and was curious and excited since it was not only wrapped in a beautiful purple floral wrapping paper, it was the only one that was actually gift wrapped, while all the others simply had a ribbon tied around or were in a simple gift bag.
"Oh go on then and open it! I want to see what it is he got you!" Christina blurted impatiently, causing everyone else to laugh, especially when she added "Especially since he got it wrapped in purple! We know how much you like that color!"
She blushed remembering the fact that Daniel picked up on the fact that she liked purple, but that was mostly only when it was on him!
The way he was watching her, that smirk of his, deadly and magnetic, was giving her butterflies. She carefully tore open the paper, there was a small note stuck on it. She flipped it open and read with a smile 'You are always there for me. You are my best friend, Betty'.
She bit her lip and opened the box and smiled even bigger when she saw a silver cord bracelet with a crystal star charm on it.
'Best friends are like stars...
...they are always there.' was printed on the inside of the box. She looked to him, her eyes glossy "Thank you, Daniel! That is so sweet!"
He smiled, as she took it out of the box and handed it to him "Can you clip it on my wrist?"
As he held her hand, and felt how soft her skin was he wanted more than anything to kiss her. He very softly clipped the bracelet on her wrist and gave it a spin, liking the fact that she was wearing something from him. He couldn't help himself, he picked her hand up and placed a kiss to her wrist, his eyes lifting to hers.
She blushed. "Come on, AB! Let's see it!" Justin commented and came over taking her hand and looking at the bracelet. "That is so perfect! You guys are like total soulmates!"
Betty felt so many butterflies, not only from Justin's comment, but Daniel's sweet incredible gift, the meaning of it, how softly he was holding her hand just then, and the sweet fluttering kiss he placed on her wrist. She really couldn't wait to get the chance to kiss him. He was so sweet! And he had gotten these gifts for her before he realized he liked her or told her he loved her.
She glanced to Daniel to see his sweet smile. He picked up her hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze of affection.
Christina smiled at Betty as she got up and came over to her. "Betty, you certainly are amazin! You make everyone better, luv! I will see you at work! Thanks for invitin me, but I should be off!"
Betty nodded "Thanks so much for coming Christina! I really appreciate it!"
Christina nodded and hugged her tightly "He is so in love with you, darlin!"
Betty hugged her tighter. As she was leaving, Hilda got up and said "I think I'm going to sleep, too, sis! Ah! Daniel is awesome, Betty! No wonder you're in love with him!" she teased, causing Betty to blush especially with Daniel smiling at what Hilda said.
When everyone else cleared out, leaving Daniel and Betty, they went and sat back on the couch. She looked to him, with tears in her eyes
"Thank you so much, Daniel! These gifts are so beautiful and amazing!" she said sincerely touched by his thoughtfulness. Daniel smiled "Anything to make you smile is worth it."
She felt her eyes get glossy at his words, thankful for him and his love. His eyes grew bright suddenly and then he said "I nearly forgot! I have a gift from my mom for you!"
She smiled brightly "I still don't understand why your mom got me a gift?"
He nodded with a bright smile as he picked out a small white box with a purple bow on it. She blushed when he gave her a teasing smirk. "She wanted to give you a gift because you are so amazing and make anyone fall in love with you."
She hugged him "Thank you Daniel! I love you and your mom so much!"
He smiled "well, we love you, too!"
Tears filled her eyes as he handed her the gift. She opened it and tears slid down her face seeing a pair of pearl earrings. She smiled and placed her hand to her own necklace that was from her mother that had fake pearls. How was Mrs. Meade so amazing?
She looked to Daniel "Tell your mom I love her gift!"
He nodded with a smile and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Betty."
She hugged him warmly "I love you. Thank you! You are so sweet!" she moved back and took his face in her hands and kissed him passionately really wanting him to know how much everything he did meant to her. He reciprocated the kiss, wrapping his arms around her, making her melt from how amazing his kiss was, and how he could make her feel so special.
She couldn't be more thankful that she had him in her life and that they both seemed to realize how special they were to each other.