Ugly Betty

It Takes A Village

A/N: Yes, I know I am bad at updating. Life is just very busy.It's also on the short sidebut it's still an update. Forgive me? Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Ugly Betty in anyway.

Chapter Eleven: Cosy or Tiny

"So? What do you think?" Betty asked with a smile. She glanced over to Amanda who was bouncing Sybella on her hip and surverying the layout of Betty's apartment.

"It's cosy," Amanda replied.

"It's tiny," Daniel huffed. Betty rolled her eyes and glared at him. "Well, it is."

"I think I'm going to check out the rest of the place," Amanda said. She took off with Sybella and both Daniel and Betty heard her discreetly close the door to what was now Sybella's room. The closed door was in vain as they both knew Amanda would have her ear pressed up against the door and would hear everything.

"Hello?" Cristina's voice rang out. The blonde entered the apartment with a bottle of wine in her hand. "I thought we could christen the place. It's certainly... cosy, isn't it?"

"It's tiny," Daniel shot-back. Betty rolled her eyes and glared at him again. "What? Are you going to do that everytime I say that?"

"That depends. Are you going to say it everytime someone comes in or everytime you come over?" she asked.

"Right. I think I'll go off and see the rest of the place," Cristina said. She set-off in the direction of Sybella and Amanda. The door creaked open and after a flurry of whispered voices, it was closed again leaving Daniel and Betty in 'privacy.'

"Daniel, what is your problem?" Betty snapped. She rested her arms on the back of the sofa that had been moved in only hours earlier.

"I dont have a problem," he answered.

"What are you thinking then?" she asked, trying a different tactic.

"I'm thinking that you probably went out and leased the very first place that you saw just to get away from me," he replied. "I'm thinking that I have done so much to help you and this is how you repay me. I'm thinking that I am going to spend every minute of every day wondering if you and Sybella are still alive and that the gigantic roaches haven't eaten you or that you haven't been murdered by a junkie on your way upstairs."

"There's a doorman, Daniel,"she sighed. "A doorman, an elevator, running water, electricity and even a phone to which I will give you the number. If you get worried, you can call me."

"I think we should get the place fumigated before you move in. You can stay at our- at my place for a few days. I dont want Sybella picking one of those filthy things up and eating it by mistake," Daniel demanded as a cockroach the size of a pea made its way across the floor. Betty rolled her eyes and stamped on it.

"That's the first one I've seen here. I dont think that that's really necessary," she answered.

"No but you think it's necessary to remove yourself completely from my life."

"Not from your life," Betty replied, her voice revealing the pain she was feeling. "Never, ever would I remove myself your life. Just from your house. I just need to be independent from you. I cant have you rushing in to save me from every mistake I make."

"Because you're not me, right? Is that what this is all about? You dont want to be the next me?" he asked angrily.

"Daniel, no! You are twisting my words. I didnt mean that," she sighed. She walked around the couch and sank onto it. She placed her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. "Daniel, how can you not see that this is what is best for us? We need distance. I want to date, you want to sleep around. We will not be a heterosexual Will and Grace, do you hear me?"

"Will and Grace never had a child to consider," he snapped.

"I already told you," she said. She was tired, so tired and so sick of having to say the same things over and over again. "I have already told you and I will tell you once more but this is it. As far as I am concerned, you are Sybella's daddy and I will not keep you from her. You can come and visit whenever you want. I expect you too and I expect you to be at every event, big or small, that occurs in her life."

"You're thinking this is going to be a long-term thing?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Betty asked, confused.

"You're talking about events like Bella's first day of school and the first time she breaks a bone. You living here is going to be a forever thing, isn't it?"

"Something like that," Betty replied. She tilted her head into the back of the couch so she could look up into his eyes. "This isn't just a band-aid solution. This is my life and I am doing what I should have done a long time ago and that is taking responsibility. I just wish you could understand that."

Daniel walked over and sank down next to her. He took her hands in his and even though she could see the pain in his eyes and practically hear his heartbreaking, he smiled.

"I do understand. I dont want to and my ego is slightly bruised but I do get it. I'm just going to miss you and I am going to miss Sybella. I am so in love with her, you know. She is amazing and you, Betty Suarez, you are incredible and strong and I hate it but I think you're doing a brave thing," he finally relented.

"So you'll stop being mad at me?" she asked, pleading with her eyes. He sighed and nodded then he leant over and kissed her forehead, holding his lips to her brow for a long time before pulling her close into a hug. She began to cry quietly, whether through fear, relief or regret, he didn't know but he didn't need to know. It was her who needed to know that he would be there no matter what.

-

And a year went by. A year in which the chasm that had begun to grow between our heroine and our hero closed and it wasn't long before they were firm friends again, picking things up from where they had left them but not really moving on or forwards. A year in which so much changed and in which Sybella grew up so much. Her hair so dark it was almost black fell out and was replaced with short curls that were only marginally lighter. Her eyes stayed dark but her face and her body filled out and she was chubby and happy just like a baby should be. Her eyes lit up when Betty entered the room but fell only slightly when she leftbecause somebody else was always with her whether it be Amanda, Cristina or Daniel whom she loved, adored and cried for just as if he was her real daddy. It lightened Betty's heart to see them together and it sometimes pulled tears into her eyes. He would play with her for hours on end, take her out to see the sights of New York even though she could barely say 'ma' or 'da.' It was important for her to be educated and seasoned, he said, and he was the man to do it. He would bathe her and read to her and keep her overnight. Her tiny, chubby hands would reach up and stroke the sides of his stubbly face. It was something she did when she was tired, stroking. She would stroke the mattress as she fell asleep and would stroke the hairor theclothes of whoever was holding her at them time.

They all loved her but they loved each other too. It was strange the way the four of them, five if you included Sybella, had come together and created their own version of a distorted and dysfunctional family. Amanda, Daniel, Betty and Cristina came together from entirely different background and places but somehow they worked. They owed it all to Sybella, of course, but they never admitted this. It was natural progression. They were fated to be friends. Friends til death now. Sometimes they were joined by others. A beau of Amanda, a paramour of Cristina's. The new men never last and they were few and far in-between. Daniel even bought a woman in occassionally. They never lasted either until one day one did.

Amanda's hair colour changed five times over the year. Cristina's favourite designer, favourite material and favourite sewing machine changed seventeen, twelve and four times respectively. Daniel's favourite song changedtwenty-three times. Betty's bedtime changed seven times as Sybella's needs changed. Hilda and Justin visited twice and Betty made the journey to Mexico once. But they were all numbers and a year was just time. It was all relative and when it came to it, the fundamentals of Betty's life weren't changed over that year. It seemed to her that she was just there for her daughter, just there to ensure she lived. And sometimes, she felt alone.

-

"Did you see what Daniel did to Sybella's nursery?" Betty asked Cristina. Her friend swallowed her sip of wine and nodded.

"It's like a children's version of Heaven in there. I can't believe he flew in a rocking horse from Germany," she drawled.

"Or the dolls from France," Amanda added. "She cant even tell a Barbie from a G.I. Joe. Seriously, Betty, you should ask him to redecorate your bedroom. I bet he'd get you like Marie Antoinette's original day-bed or something fancy like that. You'd appreciate it more."

"I think I'd prefer Brad Pitt or George Clooney," Cristina decided. "Naked, definitely. Do you think he could arrange that?"

"If he can get the dining table from Marilyn Monroe's house then I'm sure he can arrange for Brad Pitt to come into the office one day," Amanda sighed. She went off in a dream world for a moment. Her eyes flitted over to a table and suddenly a seductive smile crossed her lips. "Excuse me, girls. I think I see something cuter than Brad Pitt and I think he'll be a whole lot easier to get naked."

"I think she's drunk," Betty noted as her friend sashayed off and began mercilessly hitting on the unsuspecting male. He seemed responsive though and Betty shrugged.

"I think we're all drunk," Cristina answered.

"I wonder how Bella is doing," Betty mused. She absent-mindedly reached for her phone but Cristina slapper her hand away. "Hey!"

"You know the rules, Betty," her friend chided her. "No phone calls on girls night. And definitely no phone calls to men."

"I just want to know if my daughter is okay," Betty pouted but she let Cristina take the phone off her and zip her small handbag back up.

"She is fine. She's in very good, capable hands. If something was wrong, he would call," Cristina said. Her eye caught someone elses and Betty saw the tell-tale smile. "I think you'll be going home alone tonight, love."

Betty grinned to herself as her other friend tottered off as ungracious as Amanda had been gracious. They were so similar yet so unlike those two but she loved them dearly and they were her family. She liked seeing them happy and for the most part they were. All of them. Daniel, he was happy too. He had a steady girlfriend who was also besotted with Betty's daughter. Everybody was besotted with Betty's now two-year-old daughter. She was amazing. It was hard to tear your eyes away from the dark-haired little girl and it was even harder to tear your thoughts away from her. But even though she had her daughter and she had her dysfunctional 'family,' she was alone. It was ironic that Daniel who had fought so hard to keep Betty in his house and to keep other women out had been the only one to bring someone into his house. Sometimes it made Betty feel like a loser but then she just remembered that Daniel was basically the father of her child and that bringing in another man would just confuse that and then everything was okay. It was easy to sacrifice the one thing that almost every woman craved for the wellbeing of her daughter. It was just... easier...

"Is this seat taken?" a male voice asked. Betty looked up into a pair of sparkling green eyes and she shook her head. He sat and offered her a smile. "I'm Owen."

"I'm Betty," she answered. She gave him a smile and offered him her hand which he raised to his lips.

"It's nice to meet you," he said. "Betty."