Well, *epically dramatic piano sounds* it's time. Can't believe I got this done this week, but I am so happy I did! Diego and Heather are about to finally and officially confront each other since their fight. Enjoy! ;)

(Diego's POV)

I have no idea what's happening?

After I talked with Padre, he insisted on me staying in his study while he went off to talk to Madre first…whatever that is supposed to entail?

My leg was nervously bouncing as I was still trying to process all the information that has just been continuously piling up on me for the past few days. Not like I even had enough time for that since I eventually heard the door reopening.

I was already bracing myself expecting to see Madre… but instead I saw Padre step back into the room with no sign of mother around.

It was like my body instantly had an impulsively confused reaction as I quirked up an eyebrow at him.

Eventually I expressed my confusion as I asked, feeling a bit testy, "Um… where's Madre?"

Padre just straightened up before responding, "She said she needed to go out to get something."

Mother running off somewhere else to avoid me?… Heh... Typical.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I responded, "Why am I not surprised?"

But father was immediately on me as he gave me a stern glare and directed, "Hijo…" Although I was still seething in confused frustration over this whole thing, I just pursed my lips and gave him a nod.

At first I thought father was going to leave me to stew in my own juices at my attitude, so I was surprised to see him approach me and put a hand on my shoulder as he started, sounding much more even and calm… like himself, "Try to keep and open mind, mijo. She'll be back and if she's getting what I assume she is… it'll be something you'll want to see. Just please, listen to your mother."

Qué?

What the hell could she possibly have to show me that'll change anything? Aside from a near lifetime of hardly ever showing me she loves me at all?

Apparently keeping content only to giving me 'skin care tips' or awkwardly patting my shoulder with a 'hello' or 'goodbye' than ever giving me a hug despite being her only damn child.

Eventually father left as I kept trying to 'process', emphasis on 'try'.

I just… I still have no idea what to even think? What does any of this even mean?!

MIERDA! Just… FUCK!

I kept stewing from where I was sitting for I don't even know how long until my brain registered the sound of the door opening. My head whipped over just in time as I heard the oh-so familiar 'clicking' of stiletto heels on the hardwood floors.

Madre.

She was just standing in the doorway and looked away right as I looked at her. At first I felt as if I wanted to make some sort of remark, until I realized what I was seeing, in her right hand was what looked like a high end medium sized shopping bag.

I was almost resisting the temptation to roll my eyes, assuming she had gone out and bought me something as a 'peace offering' to attempt to bribe into my 'good graces'.

Sounds ridiculous, but I wouldn't put it past my mother to do something like that if I'm being honest.

"Before you ask, I didn't buy you anything. I just needed a bag." She cut in, almost as if she was reading my thoughts.

But, it was like I couldn't hold back the sarcastic cynicism in my head as I scoffed out under my breath, "Could've fooled me…"

I almost fell out of my chair as I whipped my head over as mother slammed the door shut behind her and said, "Look, I did not just go all the way out to my studio to get something only to come back and be given crap about it! Got it?!"

My eyes went wide and my back muscles practically went taut on reflex as I just stared, feeling taken off guard.

Eventually mother looked like she evened herself out and sighed before saying, looking strained a bit still, "Just… hear me out here, okay? I know what you saw on that stupid show and don't understand what the hell was happening, but… just listen."

My throat felt swollen shut and dry to the point that I almost felt like I couldn't even speak, almost painfully so. So instead, I gave a hesitant nod as I proceeded to get more and more confused by the entire situation.

What is she going on about?

I thought all of that was already 'established' here and Padre even talked to her just now about this before she left and then came back to do… whatever the hell this is?

Eventually she let out a sigh as she put the bag down and took a seat across the room on the loveseat near one of Padre's bookshelves.

She crossed her legs at her ankles and folded her hands in her lap. Her eyes stayed trained on her hands in the dead silence of the room before eventually she started, her tone sounding surprisingly even for how tense she seemed, "When I was younger… let's just say I had a very different idea of what I wanted in life. Because when I was growing up, I had no one but myself. School, sports, competitions… I never had anyone who bothered to care enough to even show up. You know what your grandparents are like and trust me they've always been like that. As a little kid I hardly ever saw them since your grandpa would always be at work and your grandma really didn't care for 'our company' until we were 'old enough' to do things with her (especially me and my sisters), so it was just me and my siblings being 'left to nanny'. Yeah, we were fed and taken care of and even though there were 5 of us… it really didn't matter. Since my parents would only spend an hour with us every couple nights since they usually went out to eat on dates or would go to events together and your Uncle Damien was such an evil little twerp that our nanny was constantly watching him, the rest of us were just left to our own devices. And it was 'survival of the fittest' with us, no question. The moment you showed any sign of weakness or vulnerability, you were an easy target to knock down. Usually your Uncle CJ and Aunt Megan were usually too busy with their own bullshit to notice anything else. But since I was wedged between your demonic little skeez of an uncle and your lazy yet terrorizing succubus of an aunt… I had no time or patience to let anyone walk all over me. Even if I did, I couldn't afford to without the risk of being taken advantage of. My grandpa was probably the only one in my family to ever care about me at all and he taught me a very important lesson that made me hold my ground for almost my entire life. And you probably remember hearing me say it on that stupid show to an extent, but… I still stick to it even now. In this world there are shepherds and there are sheep, and don't allow yourself to be one of the idiotic sheep that's led to slaughter. Even though I was only 10 when he told me that, I knew what he meant. With my siblings and in life, I could either choose to be a leader or a follower. And I was not about to be a 'follower' and just let people screw me over. Not my parents, not my siblings, not anyone... at least not without doing something about it if they did. The only person I could trust was myself and to always make sure I could get others screwed over first to stay ahead before they screwed me."

Mother paused and I think she could tell I was in shock since my brain was still attempting to process everything that was just thrown at me that I had no idea about with her.

She hardly ever told me anything about herself, much less her childhood.

Yeah, I always assumed mother's siblings and my grandparents weren't 'great' just from how I knew them and how mother usually ignored them, but I had no idea that mother's childhood was that… isolated.

Of course I was cared for by a nanny too, but that was just when my parents were busy with work for the most part.

I was always with my parents in the evenings where we had dinner together or sometimes father would take me to work with him when he had a desk day as long as I promised to play quietly with my toys in his office. But, now that I'm realizing this, my parents did make time for me… at least by comparison.

My stomach felt like it was converging in on itself, but not from malice or anger.

For once, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually felt… sorry for Madre.

I had no other time to ponder this; however, as Madre continued, "But, that was my life. No one really cared about me, so why should I care about anything else? All my awards, achievements, and success was all within my control. Then I was on the show and I managed to get ahead using everything I learned to stay ahead my whole life during that whole first season… but for what? To have my head shaved by a couple lowbrow hosts? To embarrass myself for years after that in my mid to late teens? To finally win when I was 18 only to not even get what I deserved for my hard work off another stupid-ass fluke? But, I wanted fame and fortune, and reality TV was an easy way for me to get it. All I had to do was 'weed out all the losers' to make my way to the top. And that was my plan that I always tried to stick with… until I met your father."

Mother stopped as she looked over at something in the opposite corner of the room.

Curious, I quirked up an eyebrow and saw a large portrait of mother and father on their wedding day that has been hanging there for as long as I can remember in Padre's study.

Mother let out a sigh before saying, "There aren't a lot of things in my life that really changed anything for me, but I'll admit that he was one of them. Looking back on it, both of us were idiots that did a bunch of pointless crap to each other that didn't even matter in the end. Then we got closer later on and… I didn't know? Up until I met your father, I never saw myself 'sharing' anything with someone else. Yeah, Shane and I won dancing competitions together, but that was different. With your father, there was so much more on the line. Up until him, I never met anyone I even remotely considered an equal to me. It took a while until I finally and fully realized how I felt, but… I love him. And I probably did feel that way about him a lot longer than I knew. But… that's not the only thing I can say that about."

I kept spiraling in confusion as she reached over to the shopping bag she walked in with and I only got even more confused by the second when I saw she pulled out what looked like a high end and thick leather bound binder.

Mother looked at it for a few moments, smoothing her hand over the cover before she stood up and walked over to me. H

er heels clicking on the floor as she eventually held the binder out to me. I gave her a confused look before I looked down and saw something on the front of the binder that I didn't even realize what was on the cover. The cover had gold etched letters on the front going diagonal across the cover reading 'DBW'.

My initials.

I was about to ask mother what this was about until I noticed her take some steps back and have a seat on the love seat again. She looked 'hesitant' but eventually gave me a nod, giving me the cue to open the binder.

Fortunately my curiosity was at an all time high as I immediately opened the binder.

I froze up just as quickly as my eyes went wide and my body practically succumbed to a full on state of shock at what I saw.

It was me.

Well, it was pictures of me when I was 6 and first started fencing. There was one of me posing in my first fencing lamé at my fencing academy in Madrid (that I secretly would keep taking out of my gym bag and put it on after I was put to bed since I was so excited to wear it for the first couple months) and then right next to that picture was me posing with my first gold medal that I still have on display in my room to this day.

My fingers were turning the laminated pages at incredible speeds as I continued to page through this whole book of pictures of me fencing.

I kept paging through until finally I got to the last page (at least so far) and saw a sports magazine cover of me posing in my lamé, Olympic gold medal around my neck, and resting my saber on my shoulder.

Shock continued to overtake my entire being as I held up the binder to get a closer look until something fell out of the binder and into my lap.

I looked down and saw a piece of paper folded in half and my name written in very concise cursive on the outside.

Madre's handwriting.

I looked up at Madre to see her pursing her lips and still looking very tense, but gave me a nod as she looked away from me.

Slowly I looked back down and opened up the sheet of paper and saw what almost looked like an entire letter all in Madre's handwriting as I read on:

Diego,

As many things as I know I'm great at, there is one that I have never been entirely sure of since the moment you were born. Even now I still feel like I have no idea how to be a mom since I never really had my mom in my life like that to show me any of that crap since she never really cared to show it at all until I was older. And even that is a stretch. I had competitions, track meets, and award ceremonies that no one ever bothered to show up to or do anything about. So… I wanted to change that. I started this as soon as you won your first fencing competition when you were 6 and just kept adding to it as you went along. At first I did it to try and keep track of your success, but… now it's more to me than just that. Because despite what you said about me, I do care and I am proud of you. I know I may not show it in the way you want me to, but I'm trying to at least do what I secretly wish my parents would've done for me. I know I'm not the best mother or the one you want me to be, but I'm trying. And I know I've never said it to you, but… I love you. I know you may not get it, but I realized that maybe I at least needed to tell you somehow, even if I just wrote it down. I just want you to understand that.

-Madre

My eyes kept scanning over the note. I was practically dissecting it as I read it almost half a dozen times before I slowly looked back up at mother.

She still wasn't looking at me and looked as tense as ever, like she has no idea how I was going to react toward her. Before now I would have taken this as her not caring about me or even liking me at all, but not anymore.

After listening to what she said, seeing those pictures, and reading that note… I understand now.

And I want her to understand it too.

I had no idea how to approach this all at first until I finally set down the binder and the note on Padre's desk before getting up and walking toward her. My boots stepping on the floor being the only sound I could hear along with my heartbeat in my ears as I finally got right in front of mother and eventually got down on one knee in front of her to be at eye level with her.

She slowly looked up at me and despite my mother usually being a pretty difficult person for me to read, she almost looked unsure still and maybe even… scared.

But, I was determined to show her that with me she had no need to be… not anymore.

Before I could change my mind, I slowly leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. I could feel her tense up for a second under my touch like she did when I was 11, but I was determined. I kept hugging her until I finally swallowed hard and eventually got out, "Te amo, mamá."

We stayed that way for a moment until I slowly felt her wrap her arms around me too and say just loud enough for me to hear next to my left ear, "Love you too…"

Alright… everybody may now say 'Awwww'! Lol. XD But for real, I hope you enjoyed the start of Diego and Heather's new found relationship and understanding of each other as mother and son. Through this I really wanted to show my progression of Heather's maturity and her overall sense of self at this point in her life. Because while she is still the emotionally insecure and constipated Heather that we all know and love, she has learned and matured over time. Because between her life experiences, marriage, and being a mother… Heather really has grown and changed for the better from the ruthlessly villainous Queen Bee she was as a teen on TDI. And it appears through her Heather-esque but somehow heartfelt note to Diego that she finally got through to her son that she does really love and care about him in her own way. While it will still take time and effort, it seems these two now have a good base to build on for a healthier and more understanding relationship. :) But, this is just one problem tackled of many. There's still everything Natalie has going on and Diego's painfully awkward crush on Claire. So stay tuned to see these all addressed! As always thank you for reading and please keep your suggestions coming for one-shots you'd like to see in the future. :D Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and constructive feedback is always very helpful and appreciated.

Stay Classy!

Dexter1995

P.S. And for those who were curious to know which ending exists in this universe on if Alejandro or Heather won, it's a variation on Heather's ending. Now before you all blast me for being an American Heather STAN since she was the official winner in my country and I mean absolutely ZERO offense to the big time Alejandro fans, but the way Alejandro's win happened in canonization was stupid. I'm sorry, but it really was fucking stupid to me that Heather did the same thing to take out Alejandro in BOTH endings with the only difference being she threw either the right or wrong mannequin into the volcano. Again, seriously? We could have had SO much more of a juicier ending with Alejandro's victory than just him winning on a technicality as stupid as Heather making a dumb mistake. Considering after the whole epic season that was TDWT and for Alejandro's win to just be Heather throwing in the mannequin of herself. I just… I can't. Alejandro deserved a more creative way to win in my opinion that was just as genuine as Heather's victory. Also, 'feral Zeke' didn't happen in my universe either since I just REALLY didn't want to go there. I know for the purposes of a cartoon it's kind of hilariously ridiculous that Ezekiel basically became Gollum by the end of the season, but… yeah, I still wasn't going there in this fic. Lol. XD So in my universe, Heather was the canonical winner and only didn't receive the money because Chris accidentally slipped up and dropped it in the volcano when it started to erupt and that was how Heather got legally screwed out of the million dollars. Just thought I'd share some lore! :)