Love Never Goes Out of Style/CH 8
Claire almost dropped the tray she was carrying, so Betty ran to her aid. "Here, Mrs. Meade. Let me help you with that."
Claire Meade sat down, and stared at her hands, folded neatly in her lap, "Thank you, Betty dear." She continued to ponder what she should do, as Betty poured the coffee for everyone.
Finally, she took a deep breath, glancing at Daniel, briefly. He had not taken his gaze from her since his challenge to her. "Mom?"
She put her hand up to him, and looked at Tyler directly, ignoring Daniel's stare, "You're right, Daniel. Tyler, I haven't been completely truthful with you."
"About what?"
"About your father. We...didn't really meet at a rehab facility."
"You didn't? I don't understand. Why did you tell me that?"
"Because...I was married to Daniel and Alexis's father at the time I got pregnant."
"I see. But...you do know where and who my real father is? Does he...not want to see me for some reason? Is that why you lied about him?"
She nodded, still staring at her hands for a second, her eyes filled with tears, "Yes. You see, Tyler...your father is a very wealthy man.
He was also married when I found out about the pregnancy. Honestly he thought I terminated the pregnancy. But when it came time to actually do that...I simply couldn't go through with it.
I was going through a lot with my husband, however, and frankly, with my drinking problem, I worried that I was such a terrible mother to Alex and Daniel, that I would simply mess up yet another child's life, so I decided adoption was the best chance you would have.
But, when I finally got the courage up and tried to talk to Cal about it, I found out his wife was also pregnant, so he had gone back to her.
They ended up divorcing later, but every time I would work up the courage to call him to give him the news, he always seemed so busy and brusque.
Plus, I was afraid he'd make even more trouble for me with Bradford, who I managed to hide the pregnancy from by disappearing for the entire year when I had you, saying that I was in a rehab facility.
Just recently, after I finally found you, I told your father, but he wouldn't even listen to me. I'm sorry, Tyler. The truth is, I do know who he is, and I will tell you who he is if you want me to, but when I told him about you...he said he's already got a son.
He told me not to tell you about him, and I promised him I wouldn't. That's why I made up that ridiculous story to you before.
This is my fault. I should have told him what happened years ago, I know. I kept trying to convince myself you were better off to be taken care of by your adopted family, but...I wanted so badly to know about you and meet you. I...I simply didn't know what was best.
You have to know I thought about you and felt a hole in my life every day since I gave you away. I don't blame you for hating me.
I've messed things up so badly for all my children over the years. I'm sure Daniel can tell you that I was hardly mother of the year."
Betty gave Daniel a dirty look, but she didn't need to; he and Tyler both rushed to either side of Claire, taking her hands.
Daniel felt terrible for upsetting his mother so much, "Mom, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel so bad. Tyler, don't listen to her, she did her best.
I was a terrible kid, and so was Alex. Our father cheated on her constantly. All three of us probably drove her insane. Or I mean..."he thought better of saying that.
Claire rolled her eyes, and laughed slightly through her tears, "It's fine, Daniel.
I know, or at least, I think...you meant that as a comfort. I suppose according to the state of New York that's technically correct." She turned to Tyler and explained,
"You may as well know, your mother is also an ex-con and a murderer, too. I killed one of Bradfords' mistresses, in fact. The woman he cheated on me with for twenty years. But in my defense, I was under the influence of drugged perfume that the woman herself had poisoned to try and kill me!"
Betty chimed in, "That's right! I tried some of the perfume on and it made me go a little nuts just for a few days! I ended up throwing a brick through my sort of boyfriend's sandwich shop window!"
Tyler smiled at Betty's enthusiasm, and patted Claire on the back, while holding her other hand.
"Listen, uh...Mom, I don't blame you for anything that's happened. Bottom line, you brought me into the world, instead of having an abortion when it sounds like that's what this guy wanted and expected you to do.
Then, you gave me a chance at a good life, by having me adopted by some nice folks. I've had a good, loving family all these years in South Dakota.
But then, you knew you missed me, so you found me after all these years and you and Daniel and Alexis have all taken me into your family and welcomed me.
So now I have two families who care about me. If my biological father doesn't want anything to do with me, so what?
I don't need him, or his money, if that's what he's worried about. I've done alright so far without a lot of money. He can keep it as far as I'm concerned.
If he doesn't want me, fine. Who cares? I've got you three. That's more than enough for me."
Claire smiled, and hugged Daniel and Tyler, "You have no idea how happy this makes me to see you two getting along! Thank you, Betty. I know you had a big hand in this. Now, come on, let's eat!"
They all followed her into the dining room. Once they were seated, Claire smirked and asked Betty, "So...Betty, what are your intentions towards my son?"
"MOM! What the hell?" Daniel actually blushed, much to his mother's amusement.
Betty, too, turned a bright shade of crimson, and managed to stammer, "Uh, sorry? You mean, well, we have really only been on one actual date so far, so...I'm not sure what you mean, Mrs. Meade."
"Yeah, Mom, come on, lay off. "
"Oh, it's okay to put ME on the spot, but I can't tease you two when you are so wrapped up in kissing one another that you lean against the doorbell and disappear all night and don't answer your phone?"
"I...was distracted."
"So I see. I love Betty, don't get me wrong, Daniel. I'm happy for you both. I think this is fantastic news. Don't mind me; I'm just giving you a hard time. I saw this coming a long time ago. I honestly don't know what took you so long, actually."
Tyler looked at them, and grinned as he noticed Daniel had grabbed Betty's hand under the table, and was making small circles with his thumb on the top of her hand, as she smiled at him, rather shyly.
"Yeah, you sure do look happy together."
"I think Mom's right about one thing. We should have gotten together a long time ago." he squeezed her hand.
As they were served their meal, they all talked, fairly comfortably about Mode, and the people there, telling Tyler several stories about Wilhelmina and Marc, deliberately leaving Amanda out of them, so he didn't think poorly of her.
He almost choked on his water, "Wait, you mean to say, she actually stole your dad's uh...sperm from his dead body? That's kind of...sorry, but I've got to say it, ballsy of the woman, ain't it? Not to mention, shouldn't it be illegal? How come she didn't go to jail?"
"Well, her boyfriend's already in jail for embezzling all the company's money. So, sending her there would probably be too much of a reward for her!" Daniel laughed.
Tyler shook his head, smiling, "Well, all I can say is, you folks are awfully entertaining! I feel like I'm watching a soap opera or something."
After dinner, while Tyler and Claire were busy talking, Betty felt Daniel's hand sliding up her leg. She furrowed her brows at him, and whispered, "Daniel...what the heck do you think you're doing?"
"If you don't know, I must not be doing it right." he whispered back.
"Well cut it out! Not here."
"So...I get a rain check, then? We can pick this up in private?"
"We'll...see. Just knock it off in public, please?"
She gave him a dirty look as she felt his hand on her backside.
"OW!" Tyler yelled.
Betty bit her lip and closed her eyes, leaning forward, "Oh my goodness, Tyler, I'm SO sorry! I thought you were Daniel...I mean the chair, I mean...that was an accident.
I had a muscle spasm. I didn't mean to kick you! Are you alright?"
Daniel was trying to stifle a laugh, as was Claire, who had seen what was going on.
After she got a commitment from Daniel to do something with Tyler and was confident he meant to actually try and build a relationship with his new half-brother, she seemed relaxed and content.
"Well, I have a feeling I've monopolized enough of your time together. Thanks so much for joining us. Next time, maybe Tyler will bring his new girlfriend, too. That should be lots of fun!"
Daniel gave his mother a scowl, "Yeah, right. Can't wait!"
Tyler nodded, grinning, seemingly unaware of Daniel and Amanda's previous relationship, "Sure! That sounds great. Amanda's real sweet."
"I'm sure Daniel would think so." Betty teased, trying not to sound too jealous.
Daniel wasn't going to let this go on. He was sick of all the lies and secrets in his family. Tyler may as well know what was what.
"Look, Tyler, you might as well know...Amanda and I used to date. She was my assistant for a while at Mode.
In fact, we sort of hung out, fairly recently, until she told me she kind of had a thing for you. It was never serious with her and me, though. And Betty and I...have been really good friends for a long time.
So, this thing with us is...well, has the potential to become serious pretty fast, I'd say, given that we've already been best friends all this time. Does that make any sense? I just didn't want any more secrets in this family.
I don't want you to worry that I have any uh...you know, hard feelings about Amanda. I wish you both all the best. I think she really likes you."
Tyler looked at Daniel and smiled slyly, nodding, "Yeah, she told me about you guys, Daniel. I was just wondering how long it was going to take you to say something. Thanks for being straight with me.
And I can see why you and Amanda were never serious. She told me you've actually been in love with Betty here since she first uh...slammed into some glass door or something?" he laughed, but Betty blushed slightly.
"She said that?" Daniel was shocked, but relieved that everything was out in the open. If he was going to do this, have any kind of relationship with his new 'brother' he didn't want to start it with this between them.
"Yeah, she said there was some pool on you guys for when you'd finally sleep together."
"WHAT?" Betty looked ready to crawl under the table.
"Yeah, what?" Daniel was a little shocked, as well.
"I think I won that!" Claire grinned triumphantly.
"Uh, actually…No you haven't. Sorry, but not that it's anybody's business what Betty and I do in our personal lives, but...nobody's won anything, okay? We just went out last night. And I was a perfect gentleman!"
Claire looked at Daniel as if he had just said he was actually a woman.
She laughed heartily, "Of course you were, dear! That's sweet of you to protect Betty's reputation. But...you were there all night. You said she was in the shower, then she answered your phone…wait…you're serious? You still haven't…slept together? YOU?"
Daniel rolled his eyes at his mother's incredulous expression, "Yes, ME! Gee, thanks, Mom! I told you, she was awake when I came over and I took a nap in her room while she worked in her living room. Then I went back home and changed and came back to take her out dancing.
Nothing happened, I swear! Believe me; I think I'd know if it did! Besides, like I said, it's frankly none of anybody's damn business what we do. I'm sick to death of everybody at Mode and in this whole town just assuming that's all I ever do, is sleep around. I'm not that guy anymore. I have changed."
Surprisingly, Tyler came to Daniel's defense, patting him on the back, "I know what you mean, Daniel. When I first told my old drinking buddies back home I was going on the wagon, they never let me live down all the times I got wasted with them.
I had to move to a new town to get away from them. They were bringing me down, keeping me from succeeding in my sobriety.
I finally decided it was more important for me to stay sober than to stay in the same little town where people only saw me as a certain kind of guy. Tyler, the drunk was all I'd ever be to them. I had to make a fresh start."
Daniel nodded, thinking Tyler had a point. "Exactly! Thanks, man. Listen, thanks for the food, Mom. But, I think we're going to go."
"Daniel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
He shook his head, "No, you didn't. It's okay. I understand. I'll call you tomorrow, probably. Thanks for this. It was...well, a lot better than I expected." He kissed her on the cheek.
She smiled, and kissed him back. "Me, too. I'm glad we all got the skeleton's out of the closet, finally. Thank you, sweetie. I love you."
"I love you too, Mom. Bye. Bye, Tyler."
"Bye, Daniel. Betty, take care."
"Goodbye, Tyler, Mrs. Meade. Thank you so much for having me."
"Of course, dear. Please...forgive me, if I was inappropriate. It was said out of love, I promise. I couldn't love you more if you were my own daughter. I'm thrilled to see you and Daniel together. I mean...you know, dating, finally."
Betty wasn't sure she'd ever seen Claire Meade so flustered before. Usually, the woman was absolutely unflappable, unless she was having a screaming match with Wilhelmina, perhaps.
"No problem. I'm...happy, too. I'm sure we'll see each other lots more now." She found herself feeling sorry for the matriarch's normal stoic facade being torn to shreds and gave the woman one of her warm hugs.
That brought a smile, "Exactly! Then, maybe you will finally call me Claire. At least...for now." She gave Daniel a sideways glance.
"Mom..." he kissed her on the cheek, but gave her a warning glance and she shook her head, "Just kidding. Goodbye, dears."
As soon as they had gotten into the town car, Daniel brushed back Betty's hair from her face, and touched her cheek, "You see, Betty. Even my mom thinks we're sleeping together. She sees it's inevitable. Why fight it?" he began nuzzling her neck, as he ran his hand seductively down her arm, giving her chills.
She took a sharp breath, trying to keep her wits about her, she whispered, "I'm not fighting anything, Daniel. I want to sleep with you. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it."
He looked up, obviously surprised, "You are?"
She shrugged, "Well of course. You are one of New York's most eligible bachelors. You're supposed to be some kind of expert on sex, right? So, I'm sure it'll be fantastic and you'll teach me all kinds of new and exciting things."
He looked at her rather like Ralphie looked at his father when he got his Red Rider BB Gun from him on Christmas morning, "Yeah? That sounds great, Betty. I'd love to...do that. You..uh..mean, now? When we get home?"
She bit her lip, trying not to give herself away, "Well, no. I still intend on making you work for it, mister. I know you're used to having girls who give it away, Daniel. But you just got done making your mother feel terrible for judging you according to your past behavior. So, if you've supposedly changed so much, prove it.
Take me out at least on the customary three dates before you go...acting like 'old Daniel'!"
He rolled his eyes, sighing, "I knew that little display of yours was too good to be true! You do know this is getting really frustrating, Betty."
"Suck it up, Daniel. If you want me...you'll show me you do. I know you've seen how jumping into bed before you know the girl doesn't really last. We already know each other as good friends. But this is different, dating. So, I don't think we should rush into sex quite this fast."
He nodded, but leaned down, whispering into her ear, "I do know what you're saying, Betty.
But...even you've got to admit, when we, you know, start kissing and making out, it's damn hard to stop. Even for you. I can tell. So...why should we?
I mean, sure, if we just met or something it makes sense to date for a longer time, I guess, to get to know each other and all.
But, Betty, I know you more intimately than any woman I've ever had sex with, including Amanda, Sofia and...Molly, for that matter, and she was my wife!
How much better do you think we can get to know each other, for crying out loud?"
She smiled, "Maybe I just want to be seen in public on a date with my hot, new boyfriend, Daniel. Did you think of that? I don't want to be your secret. I don't want to be someone you're ashamed of being seen with.
I had that with that stupid Zachary Boule and I slugged him over it. I know you and Amanda were sneaking around because you thought it was hot or something.
But I'm tired of being someone put in the corner, laughed about, the girl nobody sees with the handsome boyfriend. I don't want to be anyone's dirty little secret. Can you understand that?"
He nodded, putting his arm around her, "Totally. Let's go to Madison Six for dinner tonight. I'll order my usual table and then we can go anywhere else you'd like, honey." He took her hand in his and kissed it gently, then brushed back her hair and grinned as he looked at her.
"I'm more than ready to come out of the closet with us, Betty. I have no intention of hiding our relationship. I don't want you to think I feel that way for a second. That's just not true. Trust me, the only reason I wanted to get you alone was so I could try and talk you out of this crazy idea you have about waiting so long to sleep together, that's all!
Look, I was just scared to say it out loud before. But forget that stupid shi…stuff I said about THINKING I love you, okay? I know now just how much I love you, and I don't care who the hell knows it! You want me to jump on a couch for you or something? Hell, I'd write a love letter, telling the whole world how I feel about you and put it on the front page of Mode! I'd shout it from the rooftop of the Mode building if you want. I'm crazy about you, girl!"