Sorry it's been so long since I've posted a new chapter. It's been a busy few months, but here it is. Enjoy! :) P.S. Just read that America Ferrera said they are having serious conversations about a reunion movie/episodes, but to keep making noise if we want it to happen. So please Tweet, post, whatever, as much as you can to make it happen! #HuluBringBackUglyBetty
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The DNA results confirmed that Madelyn was in fact Daniel's daughter. Betty felt both relieved and disappointed. Part of her was glad that they knew for sure who the baby's father was. However, the other part of her felt upset – even jealous that Maggie would have a hold on Daniel for the rest of their lives, small as it was in comparison to the connection she herself had with him.
The custody hearing had just let out and she couldn't believe her ears when she heard the judge's decision.
"Are you freakin' kidding me?!" Betty exclaimed, still reeling with anger as they arrived home. "How could he possibly expect you to give a job to that woman?! She doesn't have any custody rights because she gave them up, so why do you owe her anything? Her employment status isn't your problem."
"I know . . . but she got lucky having an old college boyfriend turn out to be a really good lawyer. Probably slept with him – probably bribed the judge, too . . . Damn it! This is a nightmare!" Daniel grumbled, throwing down his briefcase in frustration.
"Maybe we can prove it?" she pondered.
"Yeah . . ." he scoffed.
"No, Daniel, I'm serious," Betty insisted.
"Betty, it's not worth the fight. At least Maggie's not getting any shares of the company – those are for Madelyn only. And we have the right to fire her, if it's within reason," he objected.
"I guess you're right," she agreed. "We should be grateful for having full custody of your daughter."
"Our daughter, Betty. She's ours, now," Daniel corrected her, smiling down at his child in his wife's arms.
"I never thought I could love someone that came from someone so despicable . . . but that little baby is the sweetest thing. She makes me smile just to see her smile. And you'd never know all that she's been through by looking at her. She's so happy . . ." Betty marveled, placing her in the bassinette before carefully maneuvering herself onto the couch.
"Yeah . . . I hope I don't upset you when I say this . . . I regret ever being with Maggie, but I'll never regret having Madelyn," Daniel confessed, sitting beside her.
"I understand. And I wouldn't want you to," Betty assured him. "I know you love me, Daniel. Our love is stronger than anything that's tried to come between us. This is just another obstacle we'll have to get through."
"I kept telling you we made a great team," Daniel teased. "Seriously, I don't know how I could have gotten through this without you. Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me, Daniel. I'd do anything for you – always have," she gave him a bittersweet smile.
"Me, too . . . C'mere," he pulled her into loving embrace the best that he could, considering she was at the end of her second trimester with triplets.
"And with your past, this was bound to happen sometime," she innocently remarked.
"Wait – what?!" he pulled back from her.
"Oh, come on, Daniel. You have to admit that with all the women you've slept with, the odds were pretty high that one of them would someday show up at your doorstep with a kid that really was yours," she shrugged.
"I was always responsible, Betty," Daniel insisted, offended. "And you act like I was a man-whore – actually you were the one who coined that phrase. You still think that – don't you?!"
"I don't anymore . . . Babe, why are you being so sensitive? I didn't mean anything by it," Betty assured her husband, gently stroking his jaw.
Daniel pulled away.
"I need to get out of here for a while . . . I'll pick up the kids . . . maybe take them for ice cream or to the park or something . . ." he quietly replied and headed for the front door.
"Daniel . . . don't do this! Don't leave like this," Betty pleaded.
Daniel left without a word, avoiding her eyes.
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Betty felt horrible. She had no idea Daniel would react the way he did. They both knew his past. Why did it suddenly bother him so much? She couldn't help but be apprehensive of his return. What if he didn't come back? What if he disappeared like he'd done so many times before when he was upset? And what about the kids – would he really run off with them, too, and leave her to have their babies alone?
And if and when he did return, she wasn't sure how to make things any better. It wasn't like she could change the past. And she thought she'd reassured him enough that she understood about Madelyn. The baby happened before they were together – it's not like he'd cheated on her. Sure, it bothered Betty that Madelyn's mother happened to be a woman she loathed, but Madelyn couldn't help that – and neither could Daniel. If anything, it was her fault he had been with Maggie. If only she'd taken a chance with him all those years ago, that baby would have been theirs. Well, not really. Maybe it was best this had happened. She cringed even thinking that thought, but she also hated to imagine that this sweet baby wouldn't have existed.
Betty loved Daniel so much. What if those few words ruined everything they'd built together? Surely their love was stronger than that. Daniel just needed time to cool off. Her comment had probably thrown him off-guard.
Daniel had to be back with the kids before dark, right? It wasn't a school night, but they still needed to eat and do their homework at some point. And Nicky more than likely need a bath. He almost always came home looking like he'd played in dirt. And Maddie . . . he wouldn't leave his daughter after he'd just been awarded custody . . .
She heard keys in the door and giggling from her two older children, who were carrying grocery bags. She breathed a sigh of relief . . . until she saw that who came in with them wasn't her husband.
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"Hola, Mija!" Ignacio greeted his daughter. "Since Daniel had to work late, I picked up the kids and thought I'd make everyone dinner."
"Gracias, Papi," Betty thanked her father. She held back the truth, hoping she might have time to talk to him after Nicholas and Isabella were busy with their homework. However, her father was more intuitive than she remembered.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, picking up his baby granddaughter and greeting her with a kiss.
"No! Everything is great! Nicky, Bella, why don't you guys go upstairs and put away your things. Wash your hands and change your clothes. Then you can help Grandpa with dinner," Betty told her kids. "Grazi!"
"She is such an angel. I haven't held someone so small in a long time," he smiled down at Maddie then noticed Betty's mood. "Mija, I know it's hard. You've been through a lot and this is difficult to accept. But it doesn't matter where this baby came from. She will give you lots of love."
"I know, Papi. But that's not why I'm upset . . . Daniel's not working late. I said something that he took the wrong way and he left . . . I-I don't know if he's coming back," she sighed, holding back tears, and grabbed the potato chips out of the grocery bag.
Ignacio took them from her and placed them in the pantry.
"Hey!" Betty protested.
Ignacio gave his daughter a knowing look.
"We all say things without thinking, Betty. Daniel will be back. He loves you and your children," he assured her. "No te preocupes, todo sera bien."
"He's disappeared before . . . the last time it was six years until I saw him again," she argued. "I think I really hurt him – and I didn't mean to. I didn't even realize what I said would bother him so much."
"Mija, you have to have faith – in your husband and in your marriage. Your mother and I had a lot of disagreements over the years. But we got through them and you will too, because you and Daniel have the same kind of passionate love that we had," her dad reassured her.
"Gracias, Papi," she hugged him from the side as Bella and Nicky came back into the room.
"Can we have a sleepover with Grandpa? Please?! Per cortesia?!" they begged.
Betty looked at her dad, amused.
"Okay . . ." Ignacio chuckled. "I'll stay – as long as you two are good helpers in the kitchen."
The kids agreed and gave their grandpa big hugs. Betty grinned watching them and then took a sleeping Maddie upstairs to her crib. She wished Daniel had been there to see such a precious moment with their children.
Betty worried when she would see her husband again. He had to come back at some point, though. She needed to stop obsessing. They loved each other. This shouldn't be anything to be afraid of – right? Daniel had just been upset and needed to blow off steam. And instead of playing basketball, he'd needed to get out of the house completely. He'd come back – at least for the kids.
Betty didn't know why she'd become so pessimistic. She usually was more positive about things, but she guessed it came with all the stress and the hormones, and with loving someone more than anyone she'd ever loved. She had a lot more to lose at this point in her life. It was harder to keep a smile on her face when she felt like breaking down and crying. How could so few words end up pushing him away? Hopefully Daniel would come home by the end of the night, if not sooner. If he didn't, she wasn't sure what she'd do.