Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter also thank you to everybody who voted in the pole. At least one person did want this story to continue without the hiatus. However, the majority would like to see Alex Suarez. Look for that story beginning sometime in December.

It's a Nice Day to Start Again: Part two


Monique was supposed to be spending her honeymoon relaxing and enjoying copious amounts of good sex with her new husband. Instead, Mo was sharing her honeymoon bed in one of the best hotels in New York with a very emotionally distraught 15-year-old as her new husband of less than 24 hours slept on the couch. It's probably not a good sign when a marriage starts out this way.

Gio was sleeping on the couch for various reasons. He was furious that she didn't tell him immediately about his sister being pregnant. Contrary to what he said, she wasn't being selfish by waiting until after the wedding to let him know about something she just found out about less than 48 hours earlier. His sister was the one who didn't want to tell him and it really wasn't her secret to tell. He only found out because said teenage sister threw up on his shoes during the reception. He met some snide comment about her acting like Amanda and neither one could keep a straight face.

Now because he is in overprotective big brother mode he doesn't trust his very pregnant sister to stay home alone, even if her cousin was going to be there. Instead, he insisted that they bring his 15 year old sister on their honeymoon. If she didn't think of the girl as the child she would never have, she would probably be more upset about the whole thing. However, because he insisted Gio was the one who would be going to sleep on the couch.

Her husband was also upset with her because she prevented him from killing the boy that got his little sister in a family way. She was glad that she didn't tell him what she found out from Candy regarding the sperm donor trying to force her to get an abortion. Gio would want to kill him for that alone. Really, she didn't want the first few days of her marriage ruined by him being in jail on murder charges. Unlike Wilhelmina, she doesn't fine conjugal visits sexy.

Of course, the number one reason why her husband is sleeping on the couch and she was not getting laid any time soon is Wilhelmina Slater. First, he was upset about all the games that she and Wilhelmina have been playing recently including staging a fake argument at the rehearsal dinner to deflect from the fact that the two were playing matchmaker. He was upset about the scheme to take over Mode and Isabella. Also considering what happened probably he wishes the entire family was very far away from the moron that got his sister pregnant.

Of course, he was most upset about the current alliance with the woman. She tried to explain it as 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' and right now her enemies were Wilhelmina's enemies. Thanks to the Isabella deal falling apart and her targeting of Amanda, their common enemy was Victoria Hartley. Now, her husband would say that Wilhelmina only hated Victoria Hartley because she stole Isabella from her. Monique knew that inside the darkness that is Wilhelmina Slater she still had a heart even if it was two sizes too small. She loved Marc. He was like a son to her. During the shooting when Monique was called in to handle everything as being the most senior member of the meat publication staff that Claire could trust she got to look at Wilhelmina's emergency contact list. Marc is that contact. He also had Power of Attorney

Of course, the most telling was the fact that her life insurance also went to Marc. That was a new change only made after her earlier hospitalization this year.

It was obvious to anybody that Marc was important to Wilhelmina so much that she encouraged him to stay on at Mode even if it would be in her best interest to take him onto her new project. Amanda was important to Marc. If Wilhelmina was like the mother he always wished he had, Amanda was his sister. Because Amanda is important to her surrogate child, Wilhelmina will do things to protect Amanda. The information about Victoria's latest scheme was given without any provocation.

To deal with an enemy that already got away with attempted murder they needed someone who could be equally vicious. The woman was too smart for mere mortals. Even Brianna and a team of private investigators couldn't connect her to the attempted murder of Austin's mother when she was pregnant with him. (The fact that Justin was now dating the other long-lost Hartley son was a whole other area of concern that she would get to after the honeymoon.) They needed someone on Victoria Hartley's level and Wilhelmina was the best option.

They have already been working together for the last few weeks on operation "get rid of the slimy boyfriend". Since they were able to successfully manipulate Cliff into inviting Marc to stay at his place it seems like the two may be more powerful together. Seeing that she saw Wilhelmina threatened to cut off Troy's private parts if he came near Marc again, Monique is sure that she will do anything to protect those that she considered hers.

Of course, as Gio sarcastically pointed out in their argument last night Wilhelmina wouldn't do anything for free. Love and revenge can only take you so far. There was going to be a price for this. She knew that Wilhelmina would ask for something but it needed to be on her terms. That meant going to Wilhelmina's level and resorting to blackmail. Thanks to their recent conversation she had something of great value on Wilhelmina. With her connections it wasn't that hard to fine 'Rhonda Slater's real Honduras birth certificate. Of course, she would not use it in the same way that others would. Contrary to what everybody assumes Monique knew that you could get more from people if you try to be nice.

Her sister/daughter was already using the more traditional route. At least that explained why the woman was back in New York causing chaos for everyone. Of course, Wilhelmina would never tell her this. She overheard a very interesting conversation when she was hiding in the ladies room from her stepmother and mother on Friday when Renée dragged Wilhelmina into the otherwise empty restroom and pretty much demanded a lot of money to keep quiet about the fact that she was her mother so that Wilhelmina could keep her 'perfect' life. Wilhelmina's response was to start breaking furniture. However, because she doesn't want to deal with a still recovering Wilhelmina bleeding all over the marble floor she felt it was best to intervene.

"You just got out of the hospital less than two months ago after practically dying on the table. Do you really want to end up in the hospital again? You can't do stuff like this anymore." Monique said as she grabbed something heavy out of the woman's hand before she could break anything else.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want. You heard?" Wilhelmina said pulling away in anger.

"Yes, I know that your biological daughter is fucking with your life. What I really want to know is why you're reacting like this when the absolute worst she can do is spread the truth. Would that be such a horrible thing?" Monique asked.

"Even if we come from the same circles you couldn't possibly understand why it matters. You have never cared about your reputation." Wilhelmina sneered as she started to repair her makeup.

"I care about what people say about me but only people that are worth caring about. I thought you were the same way. People say worse things about you already. I've said worse things about you. Contrary to what some in your father's party might think no one asks to be raped." Monique said with a soft expression that appeared to just make Wilhelmina angrier.

"Even you are looking at me with pity. I'd rather be a monster than a victim."

"I know you're not familiar with either but that was empathy not pity. There's a difference. You are only a victim if you let her get away with this." Wilhelmina responded with a questioning look.

"How do you propose I do that?" Skepticism was very audible in her voice.

"Take her weapon away. If she doesn't have it she can't hurt you." She explained hoping Wilhelmina would not require a detailed explanation.

"She will always be able to hurt me. You wouldn't understand." She was really tired of people throwing the fact that she couldn't give birth in her face.

"I have a pregnant 15-year-old. I understand." Monique said darkly.

"I did what I had to do to protect her." Wilhelmina said placing her makeup back into her bag.

"As well as protect yourself, you were only a child. You did what you had to do. You did not do anything wrong." Monique added before Wilhelmina made some excuse to leave as quickly as possible.

That reaction was all the more reason why Monique was shocked to see Wilhelmina screaming at one of the volunteers that Marc brought in to help salvage the wedding that Dominique destroyed. She was only on the roof because she just received a SOS text message that Victoria was now in the building and she had no idea where Amanda was. She didn't want to see her friend tossed off the roof by the evil one (Victoria, not Wilhelmina). She was expecting Wilhelmina to avoid her for the present, not volunteering at her wedding. Actually, she doesn't expect Wilhelmina to help salvage her wedding or anything else for that matter. Wilhelmina may not be harmless but she's not exactly altruistic either. Monique doubted that painkillers and a near death experience changed her that much.

"What are you doing here?" Monique asked as soon as she saw Wilhelmina making Chloe from accounting cry.

"Making sure that your wedding is not a crate paper disaster like you did to mine. If my sister didn't show up I would have killed you for that." Wilhelmina said with a sneer as she returned to Chloe. "I know you had very little to work with but even Daniel's fashionably challenged girlfriend had better instincts then you. At least, she knows how to follow instructions." Wilhelmina snapped as she grabbed the flower out of the woman's hand, resulting in the accountant running off to the bathroom.

"Do you really have to make my employees cry? I've been doing a lot over the last few months to help people recover from years of your tyranny. If you have to make someone cry please wait until my father shows up with a pop tart." Monique said with a frown.

"Maybe if you did things like that more often your wedding would not have been destroyed by your future husband's former girlfriend, have your father bring his new wife to your wedding even though you can't stand her, or have vengeful employees sellout your plans to the competition." If she wasn't already wearing her dress she would have been tempted to knock Wilhelmina unconscious.

"I didn't want my father to come but my mom made me invite him because it would look bad, even if she can't stand the bastard at all, because he is paying for this. I may have underestimated sourdough girl but her chaos did create extra bills for my father and she taught me who my real friends are so I can't dislike her that much. The Trader isn't that big of a problem. I have lots of contacts at Isabella that still like me and I'm going to make the next few months of his life miserable." Wilhelmina almost smirked at that before her face became icy again. Her response was to return to downstairs to finish getting ready. Unfortunately, Wilhelmina followed behind her.

"Considering the current state of Mode I would be a bit more worried. I understand your entire State Department shoot and interview with Hillary Clinton was killed. There goes your pre-wedding exclusive." There was that evil smirk she knew so well.

"It was going to be about wildlife trafficking not the wedding." She lied to make herself feel better. She was beyond angry about losing the wedding exclusive her only consolation was Isabella didn't get the interview either. There was no need for her to show weakness in front of Wilhelmina. "We regrouped and trust me the stuff at the National zoo is a lot better than what we originally had planned. The pictures of pandas are always good. Let Isabella have the State Department, we have something better."

"We agree, shockingly enough. Seriously, an article about wildlife trafficking in a fashion magazine? Although an interview with Clinton is still an interview with Clinton and I'm sure you're smart enough to get some wedding questions in there."

"We both know the Magazine industry at least in the print form is dying. We have to adapt. As you stated an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton about any subject will help and in this case maybe we would have got people to read the magazine who would not touch it under any other circumstances."

"Except that you lost the interview." Surprisingly, Wilhelmina's voice was not as malicious as one would expect it to be.

"No, Marc's psychotic now ex-boyfriend managed to cause a security incident that got us kicked out of the Department. Next time you do your sister a favor and higher one of her therapy support group friends; make sure you tell Marc not to date the guy." That piece of information came out during a nasty encounter with Wilhelmina's 'sister' the day before. Monique would love to know how Wilhelmina was manipulated into doing something that nice.

"I was otherwise occupied at the time. I'm helping you with your get Marc a sane boyfriend plan. You'll be happy to know that he spent most of the night talking about his time in DC with his former lover. He barely mentioned the insane one." Her eyes showed that she was actually happy.

"Good. Maybe this time he won't fuck everything up." Wilhelmina just gave her a look that was difficult to interpret.

"Why exactly are you here?" Monique asked as she found herself in one of the executive offices once more.

"Marc emailed me. Since you did such a wonderful job decorating for my wedding, I thought I would return the favor." Given the way she was looking at Monique she was sure there was probably poison coding the flowers.

"I'm sending him to cover fashion in the Arctic Circle for this." She said slamming the door.

"That's too bad. The cold conditions do horrible things to his skin." Wilhelmina's said with biting sarcasm.

"Although, I doubt you would do anything that reckless. With your semi-daughter in a family way, you're going to be spread very thin. You are going to need all the help you can get." That's when Monique realized that Wilhelmina's presence had nothing to do with Marc being less than discerning when he sent out his SOS e-mail.

"You want back at Mode." She blurted out as soon as the idea came to her. "Not to sound mean, but we both know I'm a lot smarter than Daniel and I don't feel like playing games with you. This endless game of cat and mouse that you and the Meads have been playing for the last couple years has been bad for everyone including you. It literally almost killed you."

"You're a Mensa member, you're probably smarter than everyone here at least in the academic sense." Really she is not surprised Wilhelmina managed to get an insult in there.

"However you need a few more years in this industry before you have all the necessary wisdom to not make a complete ass of yourself. If I wanted my old job back, I would stop the sell." Monique knew that was highly possible. "It would certainly get rid of my little problem."

That makes sense. You can't get money that's not available but Renée wasn't exactly known for being rational even when she was properly medicated. That probably would not stop her.

"You're not backing out?" Monique asked knowing it was a possibility.

"After you commit yourself to a man whose goal in life is to have the largest topping bar in North America, the lawyers will be here for us to sign the papers." Despite her shock she was still annoyed at the insult to Gio.

"He doesn't have that dream anymore." She said in Gio's defense. "I have convinced him to expand his culinary horizons. He has been studying in Europe. He can be quite ambitious when pushed. If we could only buy out his slightly deranged business partner I would be completely happy."

"You don't have to be so defensive. The fact that I'm willing to eat his food, points to how skilled he is." Again, Monique is surprised by where this conversation is going.

"If you don't want my job what do you want. What's going to be your plan B now that Isabella is not an option?" Monique asked the question that has been on her mind since she knew that the Isabella deal would fall apart.

"That deal that you struck with my father to get Connor out of prison early had a catch. His visa will be rescinded and he will be deported back to Australia." Monique wasn't expecting that.

"That's not possible. He's now married to a U.S. citizen who happens to be the daughter of a senator. Rumor has it that you were able to get Betty's father citizenship without actually trying."

"Sometimes those things can be a disadvantage. According to a staff member my father did not want this marriage to happen for political reasons if not personal ones. That is why he didn't show up or even send a present. The deportation was his idea. He does not think I would leave New York behind." Monique laughed at that. Really the senator had no idea how much Wilhelmina loved that man. According to Marc she willingly gave up Mode for him. She even managed to get Molly away from Connor. Monique was unable to do that and she had been trying to ever since Molly's first round of cancer treatment. She wasn't going anywhere.

"That man doesn't know you at all. You want Mode Australia?" This request made sense to her. Wilhelmina only had at present a small stake in the international publications. However, Monique's father was heavily invested in multiple magazines in Australia including Mode.

"Or the restaurant/lifestyle magazine that I know your father has. I want to try something different."

"Why do you want the restaurant magazine? You just started eating again recently. What experience do you have in the culinary world?"

"I ran into this unfortunate soul this morning that happens to be a fabulous Baker. She just tried to burn down her former boyfriend/business partner's wedding. She wanted out but she also wanted to get even with him so she refuses to give up her stake in his company. I convinced her that the best revenge was to sell her shares to a woman that her ex-boyfriend's future wife absolutely despises." There was that evil smirk again.

"You bought out sourdough girl?" Monique asked in absolute surprise.

"For a surprisingly low price at that, she had no idea what she was doing."

"Why?" When it comes to Wilhelmina Slater there's always a reason for anything she does and it rarely makes any sense to anyone who doesn't understand her completely. She wished Marc was here. He is the only one who truly understands Wilhelmina's motives. Unfortunately, he was trying to remember how to perform a wedding ceremony.

"Thanks to certain rumors spread by our mutual enemy I'm untouchable in the publishing industry." Monique wanted to say something about how this had more to do with her new husband who embezzled several million dollars from a company that she was part owner of then anything else but she felt it was best to keep her mouth shut.

"She has convinced everyone that I was let go from Mode because of Connor. No one will return my phone calls. She wants me to come begging for the job at Isabella." Monique could only describe the sound Wilhelmina was making as villainess laughter

"Wilhelmina Slater doesn't beg." Monique said in all seriousness.

"However, if people believe I left to start a new restaurant with the husband of my successor..." Wilhelmina explained with a gesture of her hand.

"Everyone will realize that the rumors are completely untrue and maybe your shocking career change was triggered by your recent near fatal 'accident'." That made sense in a weird way.

"When your husband is released and you have to move to Australia, Gio gets full control of his restaurant and you get the job in with reputation intact." Monique said understanding what she needs to give.

"Exactly. Although, I may do some consulting in the meantime."

"What about your sister problem?"

"I'm sure you'll take care of that. It isn't the first time you had to commit a family member. I am sure you have some ideas."

"What exactly did your husband tell you about me?" Monique asked but she never received an answer. She instantly realized she had no choice but to go with Wilhelmina's planned.

When she explained to her now husband why she agreed to the plan he was upset. He doesn't like the idea of Wilhelmina Slater having a say in his restaurant. He didn't see the necessity of Wilhelmina's intervention despite him knowing full well that Sourdough Girl wasn't going to sell her shares to anybody unless they have the potential to hurt Mo. Wilhelmina had the potential but she no longer has will, at least for right now. They needed each other too much. Also unlike Dominique, Wilhelmina has never actually tried to kill her. No the worst she has ever done was stifle her potential. There were worse things.

Of course, he doesn't see it that way. That's how he ended up on the couch. He said some things to her that are going to require a really good apology present. Obviously, he's trying with croissants if the aroma in the air is any indication.

"Is this your way of apologizing?" She said as she saw her husband in the doorway.

"I still don't trust Wilhelmina but I do trust you when it comes to my sister. I'm not sure we should trust her judgment seeing as that is what got her in this situation in the first place but I don't want to force her to do something that she will regret later on."

"You know I don't want to force her. If my father was successful, I wouldn't be here."

"That would be a shame." He said kissing her on the forehead.

"I get why you're upset about the whole Wilhelmina thing. She's the lesser of two evils. I don't trust her that much either but I trust her more than your ex-girlfriend. Dominique actively tried to kill me. Her slander campaign alone was not good for the restaurant."

"I see your point, I just wish there was another way than having the devil herself owning 30% of my business."

"I'd rather work with somebody who doesn't actively want me 6 feet under. Wilhelmina knows how to sell stuff. If you can sell the $200,000 dress then you can sell a $15.00 sandwich to the New York elite. She has a good business mind. You can learn a lot from her as long as you keep in mind that she will screw you over if it becomes necessary."

"The magazine industry is a lot different than the restaurant business." Her husband said starting to get defensive again. She didn't feel like doing this before she had her morning croissant.

"But the fashion industry is not. Both are about getting people to buy things they don't necessarily need. Besides it's only going to be a year at most. Connor has been keeping up his end of the bargain so I'm sure by our one year anniversary Wilhelmina will safely be in Toorak." She said smiling.

"I hope you're right. Besides we have more important things to worry about. What are we going to do with Antonello?" He asked with a sigh.

"Support her." She told Gio. "And no you can't kill the guy who got her pregnant. If rumors are true and there is more than a four year age difference we might be able to get the bastard for statutory."

"This is why I love you." He said kissing her once more.

Of course the touching family moment was ruined by her phone ringing. She ignored it at first because she wasn't going to have sex on her honeymoon she should at least have a good gratuitous make out session.

"Marc, I'm on my honeymoon. Somebody better be dead. Is somebody dead?" she asked after a moment because she didn't put anything past Victoria Hartley.

"Amanda is gone." Monique started shaking at that moment.

"Gone as in dead or gone as in kidnapped?" She asked with worry.

"She left a note saying that she was leaving because Matt is a bastard." Marc said bitterly.

"Are you sure the note is genuine? Have you called the police yet?" Again she didn't trust Victoria Hartley at all. She could see her staging the entire thing.

"Actually, my neighbor did after I punched out Matt."

"Good for you."

"Actually, not really, you're my one phone call. Can you get me out of jail?" Okay, she was not expecting that at all.

"I would ask you why you didn't call Wilhelmina but we don't have time. Tell me where you are." This is definitely the worst honeymoon ever.


Amanda was half asleep as they walked through the London Airport. This flight was a lot harder than the one just three months ago. Her back hurt and she has lost count of all the times that she has gotten sick. Maybe it was a lot worse because she is farther along in her pregnancy. Maybe it was because she was here under such worse circumstances. Even if Betty reassured her yesterday that she was okay with being a stepmom to the twins, Amanda still felt uneasy. Maybe once upon a time she wanted to be Mrs. Daniel Meade but that was a long time ago. He deserved to be happy after everything that happened with Molly. She did not want to take that away by being here.

Then again maybe she felt uneasy because Matt's mom threatened to kill her after her encounter with her now former boyfriend at the wedding yesterday. At least she thinks that it was a death threat.

"I thought I told you to stay away from my son." Victoria Hartley said as soon as she walked into the bathroom. Amanda was already crying about what happened.

"I am. I want nothing to do with him." Amanda told her sternly as her anger made her tears subside.

"Good, I would hate for those two little babies to become orphans." Some people may see Amanda as being stupid and considering she thought that Matt was a decent human being she may be inclined to agree. However, even she could recognize an obvious death threat. Why did this individual hate her so much?

"That wouldn't happen because they have an aunt that loves them." Brianna said walking into the room.

"Vicky, you should stick to passive threats. Now we know where to look if another Hartley mother ends up at the bottom of a stairwell." She actually smirked at her former sister-in-law's.

"I hate when you call me that obnoxiousness moniker." Mrs. Hartley said in disgust.

"I hate you, so I guess we're even."

"Is everything okay in here Marc wanted to check on you but he needs to break up a fight between the bride and her father?" Betty asked walking in.

Excused herself why she hates me so much "Unlike you, I'm still in my 30s. I can dress however I want." Victoria Hartley left abruptly at that.

"Don't know why she hates me so much." Amanda said as tears returned once more.

"Because unlike her and the rest of her tennis club you actually have a heart." Brianna said with bitterness.

"Matt loves you." Betty added cheerily.

"My former sister-in-law does not enjoy competing for affection." Brianna interjected.

"No, Matt doesn't. He left me for you in the Bahamas even when he was fully aware you were in love with someone else." She explained looking directly at Betty. "He left me for Africa even though he knew I loved him. He believed that I screwed around with someone else, when Daniel automatically knew I was lying because I care about him too much to mess up his relationship with you. I would say that I love Daniel like a brother but that would be a little incestuous because we slept together."

"No worse than anything else that goes on in this family. Tyler is related to Alexis Junior on both sides of the family. Matt does love you he just doesn't know how to show it." His aunt said weakly in his defense. Amanda just looked at her with eyes filled with tears.

"Regardless, I don't think you should stay in Manhattan. I don't trust Victoria." Brianna said and Betty nodded her head in agreement.

"She wants me to stay away from Matt and I'm going to. She doesn't want me to have her grandchildren so I'm not." Amanda said angrily wiping away her tears. She was so sick of crying for Matt.

"Actually," Betty started to say something but she shut up quickly with a glare from Brianna.

"Unfortunately, I know my nephew and he will not stay away from you. Maybe it's best if you just get away from New York for a while. Come to London." Brianna suggested.

"I don't want to impose, especially on you and Daniel."

"I want you there. Honestly I hate it. I have no friends. Everybody at work believes I got ahead by sleeping with my former boss."

"Wasn't that your first year at Mode?" Amanda asked still crying.

"But at least I had Christina. Also most people did not believe that I got my job by sleeping with Daniel." Amanda started to say something about how most people at Mode thought that too eventually but thought better of it.

"Doesn't DJ work with you?" She asked instead.

"Yeah, but there's some things you can't tell your fiancé's nephew. Also, I need help planning the wedding. You did a good job for Gio. All things considered, it really was a beautiful ceremony." Betty said smiling and unfortunately without the braces it was harder to resist.

"Okay," Amanda finely said with resignation as she was pulled out of the bathroom.

Of course, she wasn't expecting to be put on a plane overnight but after coming home to find another strongly worded suggestion to leave her baby alone from Matt's mother she decided it was best to leave now or rather she was forced into it by Betty. She has become too manipulative for her own good in her old age. Although, it was possible that the strongly worded letter could've been from Marc's personal stocker but she had babies to worry about. Despite the situation she still turned down the invitation to stay with Daniel. Although Amanda thinks this is why Candy offered her the other wing of the giant apartment that she was staying in. She didn't know Monique's former assistant and friend that well so it had to be Daniel or Betty asking her to do this. She was grateful for it anyway.

"Do you need to rest? We can get something to eat before we leave the Airport." Candy asked breaking Amanda out of her memories. It was just the two of them. Betty and Daniel would be staying on another day.

"No, I'm still too baby sick to eat. I don't think I can take the subway or whatever they call it here. Can we take a cab?" Amanda pleaded.

"I thought about that. Actually somebody is picking us up." Candy said with a grim expression. Amanda did not ask any more questions as they kept walking.

She was shocked to see that it was Becks picking them up. She only knew that her former fun buddy was in the country because of a long conversation she had with Betty and an email she got last week from the man himself.

"What are you doing here?" Amanda asked as he kissed her on the cheek. Sometime during the time when she thought she was in love with Daniel she may have screwed around with his friend. They slept together a few times and then he would email her occasionally or send her trinkets from where ever he was in the world. They were not that close. The first time that she heard anything from him in the last year was a week ago when he finally sent her some strange e-mail out of the blue. Because she was so mad at Matt she decided to use Becks as a sounding board. Unlike everyone else, he could see things from the outside. He also talked a lot about this one girl that he worked with recently that he liked but things were complicated.

"Apparently picking you and my girlfriend up from the airport." So Candy was the girl he was talking about in his email. "When did you get so pregnant? You didn't mention anything in your last email." The way he said that it seemed really fake. It was obvious that he already knew even if their e-mail conversation focused on Matt. "I guess that Matt guy you're dating doesn't know how to use a condom." Those words made her cry again. As much as she tried to run away from everything in New York it was going to come back. Maybe she couldn't run away from the past but she could start over. She would start over, as soon as she finished crying.


"That was really the wrong thing to say." Candy said with an angry scowl directed firmly at Becks. Seriously why did she agree to this? Now Candy was stuck dealing with a hysterical Amanda again. The flight to London was already difficult enough with the woman breaking into rants about Matt in between throwing up.

"Amanda if you stop crying right now I will take you to Harrods next weekend." Candy offered not knowing what else to say. Daniel owed Candy hazard pay for putting up with his baby's mama.

"You're dating Becks?" Amanda asked between sniffles. That just annoyed her more than when Becks told her that.

"I am not his girlfriend." She groused. "I only agreed to see the moron again under these circumstances so he would send us the proofs yesterday." Candy said in her defense. Amanda just gave her a very strange look. Who was she to judge Candy when she had sex and subsequently got pregnant just to help a friend get over the death of his wife? Okay, when you look at what happened like that it doesn't seem so bad.

"If you really didn't want to see me again you would've had Daniel talk to me. If I actually tried to use you or mess with Daniel's magazine he really would make me an appointment with the doctor that made his brother his sister." She knew that he was right as soon as he said it.

"Did you think that maybe I didn't want to see you again?" She argued back as he drove.

"You could've taken a cab. However, this lets me catch up with Amanda. We have known each other for years." He said with an annoying grin.

"It's obvious you are such great friends considering you did not know she was pregnant. You two can catch up as soon as she stops crying because you said the wrong thing." She said in a huff. "Amanda we can try to get pizza after this if you stop crying." Surprisingly she almost stopped for a moment before starting again.

"Seriously, did you have to say whatever you said that set her off?" She said still glaring.

"I didn't think she would start crying like that. I assume that the bastard abandoned her." His answer was more sobbing. "I'm surprised Daniel hasn't called Alexis' doctor to take care of him." Now that actually got Amanda to stop crying.

"He should." Amanda said without tears.

'He probably will,' Candy thought to herself.

"The situation with her and Matt is complicated." Candy started.

"He was planning to do the noble thing until he found out he didn't get me pregnant. Apparently, I was that way before we got together. Not that he believes me because he thinks I will sleep with anyone." She was just happy Amanda was angry now. She can deal with angry Amanda better than crying hysterically Amanda.

"Considering I haven't seen you since July, I know it's not mine." She wondered if he was actually joking but she wasn't sure.

"The babies are Daniel's." Amanda said just before the two try to explain everything. Although it seems that he probably already knew some of what was going on. She wondered how much Daniel told him.

"You and Daniel have a very interesting friendship." He joked.

"I'm a really interesting friend to have. You should write me more often. How's Katie? You said you would send me a picture." Amanda said obviously trying to move the conversation to non-Daniel related ground.

"Who's Katie?" Candy asked an irritation. She would be beyond angry if he was married or had a girlfriend. She hates when that happens. Why does she keep ending up with assholes?

"My daughter, she's almost two. Daniel wasn't the only victim of a broken condom. But sometimes accidents can be a wonderful thing. Her mom is some British model I had a one night stand with." Why does that last part not surprise her?

"So she's the reason why you're not in Afghanistan right now?"Candy asked skeptically. She doesn't think it's a possibility but after spending time with Daniel she's starting to think that not all men are like her father that she never met.

"Don't be so skeptical. Yes, my daughter is the reason why I'm here. Contrary to what you may think, I actually want to spend time with my daughter and therefore that's why I'm here taking the photographer equivalent of a desk job. You think you know me but you have no idea who I am Candy. Just because I enjoy sex doesn't mean I am a complete bastard. If you stop making stupid assumptions about me you might find out that you actually like me. All I'm asking is for you to give me a chance."

"You want to just start over?" she asked.

"If that's what it takes. It's a nice day to start again."

"Maybe," was Candy's only response.


Seriously, Daniel thought he was going to avoid the great family brunch when Monique's wedding literally went up in flames yesterday and that idiot David destroyed his first issue. No such luck. Now that the magazine was done, he had no excuse to avoid a very uncomfortable breakfast at his future father-in-law's house with everyone there. This was the unfortunate side effect of your (almost) father-in-law and your mother being good friends. He was sure that they conspired against him. He wanted to be flying back to London this morning but due to last-minute arrangements to get Amanda safely out of the country, their flight wouldn't be leaving until 4 PM allowing for a very late breakfast/brunch.

So far this breakfast, his mother and sister got into a screaming match about her decision to get treatment in Cleveland, as well as, the fact Alexis kept the fact that she was very sick from everyone here. DJ said a couple of interesting things in French to his mother. Daniel could only understand the curse words but it wasn't good. Alexis Junior also could understand the curse words and therefore he now had to give her candy for swearing. His mother also said something to Betty about backing out on the spa time Friday. Daniel is personally surprised that wasn't mentioned during their alone time yesterday. He knew that his mother and his fiancée spent several hours together yesterday preparing for Monique's surprisingly wonderful wedding (despite computer viruses and pyromaniacs). Also, Daniel purposely stayed away from anything alcoholic because he may say something to his sister about the fact that he was upset that she had two kids and he didn't have any even though he would be taking care of Amanda's twins as much as she would let him. He didn't want anything Amanda related to come up during the morning.

The dysfunctionalness of the morning was not solely confined to the Meade family. The Suarez sisters got in a fight with their father about him neglecting to mention that he was offered a job in California. He defended himself by stating that he was just thinking about it and wasn't going to take it. That's when Betty gave him a sweet pep talk and convinced her father to take the job. Although judging by facial expression alone he was not entirely sure his almost sister-in-law was okay with that.

After all the fighting they moved on to wedding planning. 5 minutes into everything Daniel realized he got off very light with his first (not that legal) marriage. His mother and Hilda have already decided that he and Betty would be having a Christmas wedding in New York because it would be easier for everybody to attend. It will also be at the hotel that Monique's wedding was supposed to be at if they could pull it off. He and Betty were successfully able to get it changed to the day after Christmas stating that it was the day of their first real kiss. That led to more uncomfortable questions that he really did not want to answer. He's just glad that Justin was spending the day at his boyfriend's house and not an active participant. Justin was able to get out of this insanity by arguing that because he would be going to London earlier than planned he deserved to spend as much time with his boyfriend as possible. Justin did so good the day before that he was able to convince Monique to let him spend most of the summer in London. Now he will be there for all of July and August even if his mother was slightly apprehensive. Maybe that's why she's giving him annoyed looks right now.

His mother, sister, her baby's mama, and his fiancée were still planning the greatest wedding ever. They were now arguing over the guest list. The strange thing was no one was really listening to his or Betty's suggestions, so much for a small wedding. Despite doing enough wedding issues over the last five years to actually contribute to this discussion he was being completely ignored. He was actually happy when Monique called. He was too frustrated to stay in there.

"Why did you call?" He asked as soon as he stepped into the Suarez kitchen. "Shouldn't you be enjoying copious amounts of honeymoon sex right now?" He joked before realizing that is exactly what should be going on and Monique would not call him unless there was a reason. "What is wrong? Please tell me the magazine didn't go to hell again?" Knowing his luck there would be another computer virus that would destroy everything.

"The magazine is fine, in both countries. Also my husband just found out his 15 year old sister got knocked up by an almost 20 year old moron. Thankfully she's under 17 and we can press charges according to Fernando." If Monique called Fernando things were bad. He was the fixer of the company's legal team. "Gio is not going to let her out of his sight until the baby is born. I'm probably not going to be having sex until after Christmas."

According to my mother and sister I'm getting married the day after Christmas, so your second marriage will probably still be legal before mind."

"Thankfully the marriage was consummated in my office right before the reception. I expect to be a bridesmaid." Daniel blinked at that.

"I know from personal experience how important it is to make your marriage legal but I did not need to know the details. Because you missed out on being a bridesmaid at the not legal wedding, I guess you should be this time around." His words were mildly sarcastic.

"So you watched the DVD from Molly?" Monique asked with sadness in her voice.

"Last night." Daniel said simply.

It was so hard to see Molly again. Maybe that's why he avoided watching the DVD. Of all the things he could've seen he didn't expect her to apologize for being selfish.

"I'm sorry." Those were the first words out of Molly's mouth in her video. They were repeated multiple times.

"I think I figured out early on in our relationship that you were destined to be with Betty." Molly said at some point during the dialog. "I saw the signs. Why do you think I was laughing yesterday at your Jim and Spock comparison? Even though I knew it wasn't going to work out I just couldn't do this alone again. I tried to leave but just couldn't do it. I love Monique dearly but it just wasn't enough. I needed you there." Daniel actually yells at the screen to say that he would have been there regardless but it doesn't make a difference now.

"I need you to say it was going to be okay even though we both knew that it wasn't. I was so selfish. But I'm going to make it right. I'm going to make sure that you do not drowning your own grief. Hopefully my planning has worked and you are already with Betty. If not you should be. I know you love her. I am okay with that because I know she loves you too. Because of her I can leave this world in peace knowing that you will be okay." The screen went to black and Daniel was in tears. He spent the rest of the night crying in Betty's arm as she repeatedly told him that she loved him more than anything else in the universe.

"Betty made me." Daniel started after returning back to the present. Daniel will blame Molly related thoughts for what he accidentally said next. "She did it right after she returned from dropping Amanda off at the airport. I mean Candy not Amanda." He tried to correct himself after he realized what he said but it was too late.

"I believe you the first time. At least I now know she is safe." Monique said sounding lighter. "Now, I don't have to fill out a police report."

"She left Marc a note." Daniel said remembering what Betty told him. "

"Marc did not have time to give me details and I'm naturally paranoid. There is a time limit on your one phone call. Amanda is missing. That's why I was calling you. Psycho mommy already tried to have one of Mr. Hartley's fun time friends off. Who knows what she could've done." Monique explained.

"That's why Betty convinced her to leave last night. No, I can't tell you where but she's safe. Did you say one phone call? What happened?" Daniel asked Monique as soon as his mind caught up.

"According to Cliff, Marc found a note from Amanda, overreacted, and punched Matt out. No, I do not know what the note said. One of the neighbors heard the whole thing and called the police." His mouth was opened wide in complete shock. Daniel couldn't believe that. Marc has an asthma attack at least twice a week.

"Marc got arrested for beating up Matt?" He asked for clarification.

"Yes, I'm going to bail him out of jail right now."

"Put it on the company card. I'll pay for it myself. Think of it as my way of saying 'congratulations for doing something I wish I could but my girlfriend won't let me'. Also, call Fernando again. Tell him I'll take care of it." Daniel suggested. "Matt has a lot of money and may want vengeful."

"This is the only company I know that keeps a criminal law firm on retainer; however, it does come in handy." Monique quipped.

"You should probably call PR too. Two top employees fighting is not going to look good." Danielle's suggested

"Already did. They're busy. The wicked bitch of Isabella just did an interview this morning with that new girl on fashion TV that they're bringing in to replace Byron when his contract is up at the end of the year." Okay, Daniel was confused. What did this have to do with Mode being very busy?

"Who's Byron?"

"Suzuki is Byron and his wife told me that he's taking a job on Wake up America. Look, that's not important. What is important is that as of three minutes ago the world now knows that you got Amanda pregnant." That's when he heard an explosive argument coming out of the living room. Apparently even with Justin not there the television was stuck on Fashion TV. Hilda is currently yelling at her sister for not telling her about the baby.

"I hate that bitch." Daniel said as the room behind him descended into a combination of rapid French and Spanish.

"We all do. I'll send you a text message if anything changes. Have a safe flight and I will see you in September. You still can't tell me where Amanda is?" She asked as an afterthought.

"No." Daniel said ending the call.

"I don't know why you're so upset now." Betty said as Daniel entered the living room. "You knew Amanda was pregnant before I did. You even knew that it was a possibility before I did that Daniel was the father. Why are you screaming at me now?"

"But now we know for sure." It was a feeble excuse.

"It doesn't change anything. You have no idea what's going on here." Betty said biting her lip. He knew all the lying was hard for her.

"We have to leave for the airport soon and because papá is moving to California I will need to take extra stuff with me. I need to finish packing." Betty said leaving from the room.

"I'm not going to stand here and defend myself. Yes Amanda's babies are not Matt's. Yes, I am going to help her raise the children. No I'm not leaving, Betty's so don't ask. The wedding is still on. Betty knew about the situation before she said yes. Yes, I am fully aware that Betty is too good for me." Daniel said before Hilda could say anything.

"Thank you for having us and your home and we will see you soon." He said turning to Mr. Suarez. "Mom, we'll speak with you later. DJ be ready to leave in 30 minutes." With that Daniel left to find his girlfriend. She's currently repacking her suitcase for the eighth time.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Not really. Did you hear what she said?"

"Not all of it. She's not happy that I got someone else pregnant and thinks that you can do better."

"Essentially, although I think there's more. I think she's jealous that Amanda is pregnant with twins and she had a miscarriage even if she says otherwise." Betty said in her sister's defense.

"She shouldn't have said that. Everyone else defended you." That made Daniel fell slightly better.

"The last part is true. You really can do better." He said putting an arm around her.

"I don't think I could. You're pretending to be the father of someone else's children to keep three people alive. You're a good person Daniel." She said kissing him gently on the lips.

"Are we doing the right thing?" he asked as she pulled away.

"Protecting innocent life is always the right thing." Mr. Suarez said as he entered the room.

"How much of that did you hear?" Betty asked as she pulled away from Daniel's arms.

"Enough. Daniel's not the father of Amanda's baby, is he?"

"Not biologically but that really doesn't matter." Daniel told him.

"No, it doesn't. That's why I am okay with you marrying my daughter." He said smiling before giving some other advice.

"Take care of yourself in London." He said a few minutes later when he finally left.

"I promise we will come see you in a couple of months. It's going to be weird coming out to LA." His girlfriend said realizing that this would probably be the last time she would be in her childhood home. He wonders if she realizes that they already have a new home together.


Tiffany stood in her kitchen making lunch for the two teenagers in the other room. Her husband of seven years was out. He's usually out when her son's boyfriend is over. She likes Justin despite the fact that he's a boy and her husband's only consolation is his stepson is still a proud member of the baseball team. She is sure said husband will be happy that Justin will be spending the summer in London and was already coming up with girls to try to set up his stepson with. She already knows that it's futile. His boyfriend maybe bisexual but her son is gay. Fortunately, Austin will be able to avoid his stepfather by spending the summer at Meade publications with his half-brothers.

She doesn't know how she feels about that. If she knew Matt Hartley had anything to do with Mode Magazine she would have said no to the paid internship. But she couldn't back out now. Austin would ask too many questions and she wasn't ready to answer any of those. He knows nothing about the circumstances of his birth. He actually believes that she went to a sperm bank because she was so lonely after all her family died. She wasn't ready for him to know the truth. He had no idea that most of his life was based on a lie or that he has lots of family that he has never met. She's already thankful for the fact that Austin looks a lot more like her than his father. The more time he spent with Matt the more likely he would start asking questions. She wasn't sure she could keep lying.

Her thoughts were broken by a knock at the door. She assumed that her son would get it but he didn't. This causes her to leave her kitchen.

She realizes why he did not when she notices that neither teenager is in the living room. She was sure she knew what they were doing in Austin's bedroom. Unfortunately, neither her or Justin's mom can really say anything about that. They both had the misfortune of getting pregnant by the wrong guy.

At least in the case of Justin's mom, her only consequence was being a single parent. Tiffany spent the last 15 years living under an assumed name unable to even see her mother on her deathbed. She didn't want to come back to New York but the economy was bad and this was the only place her husband was able to get a job. It's been 15 years and she didn't expect to run into anybody from her old life. But then seven days ago that all changed.

When she looked out the peephole, there was nothing there but a bouquet of roses. She wonders if this was an apology present from her husband. He would do something stupid like get her almost dead roses. However, the note told her that they obviously did not come from him.

Do you remember what I said last time what would happen if you came back to New York? You didn't listen, remember, I don't make empty threats.

The letter wasn't signed but she knew who it was from. 16 years ago she allowed that woman to take her life away but she wouldn't allow her to do it this time. She wasn't going to run away again. She wasn't going to take her son away from his new life. She would not run away this time.

End of Part One


I plan to take at least a four month hiatus from this story. However, there will be an interlude or maybe a short story composed of diary entries from Justin that will go up during the middle of the hiatus.