"You're fired?!" Betty reacted, shocked and angered.

"Not fired . . . let go," he clarified. "And Lindsay still wants me to work at Dunne, it just won't be for Royal Athletics anymore."

"What happened? Why did he scrap the magazine? You told me it was doing well?" she asked.

"It was, until the last month when I wasn't there. Business for Dunne in general hasn't been too great and some changes needed to be made for budget reasons. Two magazines were cut because of it – mine, and a fine arts one," Daniel explained.

Scarlett started crying.

Daniel picked her up and calmed her down.

"I'm going to go take her downstairs to spend some time with Mom while we talk. I'll be right back," he promised.

Betty nodded, trying to process the information. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"Hey, I'm back," Daniel said, closing the door and sitting on the bed beside her.

Betty half-heartedly smiled.

"You said Lindsay still wants you to work at Dunne . . . What would you be doing instead?" she inquired.

"He offered me the Creative Director position at your magazine," he answered.

"But that's Millicent's job," Betty replied, shocked that she remembered her name and puzzled at the situation.

"I know . . . That's why I was so worried about telling you all of this," Daniel sighed.

"It's that bad isn't it?" she assumed.

"Millicent has been filling in for you while you've been gone. And she asked Lindsay to stay in that position," he continued.

"Oh my god! Why didn't I see this before? That manipulative bitch has probably been gunning for my job since the beginning! She was just waiting for the right time to swoop in and take it! If I didn't know any better, I'd think that she hired someone to rig the plane so it'd crash . . ." Betty blurted out as all of her life at work in London suddenly came flooding back to her at once. "She's always been super nice to me and yet finds some way to make me look like an idiot in front of everyone. And you should see her whenever she's around Lindsay . . . always sucking up . . . But she was the only choice for my temp . . ."

"Betty? Are you okay?" Daniel asked, stroking her arm.

"Yeah . . . just remembering everything at work . . ." she answered, trying to absorb it all.

"Betty, that's great! You're really making progress!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry your memories had to be triggered by all of this, though. And if it makes you feel any better, Lindsay refused to let Millicent have your job," he said.

"Great! So what are you not telling me?" she asked, nervously.

"He said he couldn't deny that Millicent has been doing an excellent job while you've been gone . . . So he's going to make her co-EIC when you come back," Daniel revealed.

"What?! He can't! I-I built this magazine by myself! I made the final decisions on everything and he's just going to let her come in and take over?! She doesn't know shit about the vision of this magazine! I bet she's already ruined it!" Betty exclaimed, completely freaking out.

"Apparently Lindsay doesn't think so. And the numbers are steady," Daniel replied with a sigh.

"Damn it, Daniel! Whose side are you on?!" Betty snapped, shocked that he would defend her boss and that conniving bitch over her.

"Yours – always, Betty! I was just stating facts. Don't shoot the messenger!" he defended himself. "I fought for you. I told Lindsay how unfair this was . . . That you had done this all on your own and to have someone swoop in and reap the benefits of it was uncalled for. And you were in an accident caused by his plane, on the way to cover a story for one of his magazines. You shouldn't be punished for being absent during that period of time – or for having a baby, for that matter."

"What did he say?" she curiously questioned, hoping for a good response.

"Lindsay said that that was exactly why he didn't make Millicent sole EIC. But he couldn't see demoting her back down to Creative Director after the 'outstanding' work she has done so far," Daniel reluctantly answered, hating to dash the glimmer of hope in Betty's eyes. "Considering your memory loss, he thinks she would be especially helpful with getting you back into the feel of the magazine again."

"That is such bullshit!" Betty insisted, her voice cracking. "How can this be happening?"

"I don't know, baby. I don't know," Daniel said, taking her in his arms, stroking her silky dark brown hair as he kissed the top of her head. "But we can fight this. If this is still what you want, we can make it happen - I promise. I'll get my lawyer and –"

"No," she cut him off.

"No?" he questioned.

"I mean, I think I'm tired," she clarified. "I'm tired of not remembering everything; I'm tired of being afraid to feel how really I feel . . . I'm tired of having everything go wrong at once. I don't know if I'm up to fighting right now - not if you don't really want this."

"Betty, what are you saying?" Daniel reacted, shocked. "This is your dream job. You left everything behind for this opportunity. And now you're ready to just hand it over to the person who might have been trying to steal it from you all along?"

"Isn't that what you did with Wilhelmina? Weren't you tired of fighting with her?" Betty countered.

"Yeah, but that's not why I left. I left because I wasn't going anywhere at that job. I left because of you, Betty. You meant more to me than MODE, and I needed to start over. I needed to accomplish something on my own," he explained. "That's why I don't understand why you want to give this all up. You earned this."

"I know . . . only I think maybe fate is trying to tell us something. Maybe we're not meant to be at Dunne anymore," she contemplated. "But I want to know what you want, Daniel, and be honest. If you want the Creative Director position at my magazine, then take it. We'll fight and I'll make it work with Millicent if I have to. But if you don't, maybe we should talk about other options."

"What I want is for you to be happy . . . for us both to be happy," he answered. "And what you're telling me makes me believe that you'd never truly be happy unless you had your job back . . . I can promise we can fight it – I'd even fight it for you, but I can't promise we'd win, so . . ."

"So . . . what now?" she wondered.

"I, uh, I've actually thought about this before – not someone stealing your job, but you someday leaving your magazine. I thought about us starting a magazine of our own. I-It's just an idea; it's a stupid fantasy . . ."

"No! No, Daniel, it's not stupid at all – I love it!" Betty exclaimed, giving him one of her signature hugs. "Owww!"

"Hey . . . Easy, baby! Your hugs have always been my favorite, but you don't want to pull out your stitches. Are you okay?" Daniel asked, concerned.

"I'm fine . . . oww . . . just a little sore," she insisted.

"Here, lay back down. Your bandage needs to be changed anyway," he said, grabbing the kit. "I'll go get Hilda."

"No, Daniel. It's okay. I think we can safely say that we've already crossed the whole naked boundary thing this morning – well, again - for me, anyway. And that's not counting the time you made me check that questionable mole you had on your ass. Did you ever have that thing removed?"

Daniel chuckled.

"Of course I did. You dragged me to the dermatologist and watched," he reminded her.

"Oh, yeah . . . And I didn't do it for pleasure, Daniel," she pointed out. "You're such a big baby when it comes to needles – did you honestly think you wouldn't go running from a scalpel if I didn't hold you down and let you squeeze my hand?"

"No . . ." Daniel reluctantly admitted, staring at the quilt on the bed.

"Which brings me to wonder if maybe I should get Hilda to do this after all?" Betty questioned.

"Betty I'm fine. I've had to see a lot of medical things since Molly and you've been in the hospital. Watching you bleed out was one of the scariest . . . I thought I was going to lose you all over again. I didn't let go of Scarlett for hours. I guess in a stupid way I thought if I did, I'd lose her, too. Mom and Tyler got me to take a break, though."

"Oh, Daniel . . ." she took his hand. "I'm so sorry I put you through that."

Daniel shrugged, modestly.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't your fault . . . Anyway, my point is that I think I can handle a simple bandage change," he smirked, cleaning his hands with an alcohol pad.

"Ookkaaay . . ." she commented, doubtfully.

"Could you, um, lift up your shirt and, um, pull down your pants a little?" Daniel asked, a little apprehensive of the situation.

Betty took advantage of the opportunity and decided to be spontaneous. To hell with thinking about what could happen. She needed to go with the moment and not hold back.

"Oooh, Dr. McSexy, what would my husband think if he saw me playing striptease with you . . .?" Betty flirted, slowly following his request.

"I don't know . . . I guess we'll have to take that risk," Daniel flirted back; giving Betty a sexy stare, then gradually began to peel her bandage off.

She smiled.

"Owww . . . You'd think by now they'd make something that wouldn't feel like it's ripping off your skin," Betty complained.

"Sorry, I tried to be gentle, but that last part kinda got stuck," he apologized, massaging her now red skin, and examined her incision. "It still looks okay, from what I can tell. I don't see any loose stitches."

"Good, then maybe I just pulled some muscles or something," she replied.

"Yeah," he said, cleaning away the dried blood and betadine around it that Hilda had missed and putting new gauze and Tegaderm on it. "All done. See – I told you I'd be fine."

"Okay, I was wrong," she unwillingly admitted.

"I love hearing you say that," he smiled.

"Daniel . . .!" she smacked his chest and pulled him down with her by his shirt. "You're so lucky I don't have the strength for a pillow fight right now!"

Daniel grinned.

"What can I say? I guess I know exactly when I can get away with stuff," he smirked, running his fingers lightly along the side of her bare mid-drift, sending a warm sensation throughout her body.

"Do you?" she playfully countered, toying with the buttons on his shirt until a few came undone, sliding her hand beneath it to touch the warm skin of his bare chest.

Daniel teased her lips with his tongue before entering. Betty grabbed onto the back of his head, pulling him into her more, wanting as much of him as she could get at the moment. She undid the remaining buttons of his shirt and he quickly shrugged it off.

She felt his fingers work their way up underneath her t-shirt to her breasts, lightly touching the sides. She continued to get lost in the way his lips were traveling down her neck. They stopped, concentrating on the curve connecting her shoulder, driving her crazy. Daniel's fingers began to massage her breasts. It was normally a feeling she enjoyed, but not at that moment.

"Owww . . ." she groaned.

"A-Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Daniel immediately stopped, concerned.

"I'm fine . . . I'm guess I'm just a little sensitive in that area right now . . . a little sensitive in a lot of areas, actually," Betty explained, embarrassed. "But we can still kiss, and I can focus on you a little more . . ."

She allowed her hands to roam over his chest and arms, down to his firm ass and squeezed it.

"Betty, I don't think we should be doing this," Daniel stopped her.

"Oh. I-I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have – I don't know what I was thinking!" her cheeks turned beat red.

"Betty," Daniel sighed.

She quickly pulled down her t-shirt, pulled up her pants, and attempted to hobble to the door.

"Betty, wait!" he told her, getting up to stop her. "You have to listen to me!"

She ignored his pleas, attempting to get out as fast as she could. She needed air, some time to think. Unfortunately, she ended up falling instead.

Daniel immediately raced to her side.

"Betty, are you okay? You can't just go running off like that – you have to be careful," he scolded and tried to help her up.

Betty swatted his hands away.

"I can get up myself, Daniel," she snapped. "Besides, you've made it pretty clear that you don't want to be near me at all."

"Betty, I think you're blowing this way out of proportion. I -" Daniel started to explain.

"'Way out of proportion'?! Daniel!" she exclaimed, incredulously.

"Betty," he tried again.

"No – Daniel, it's fine," she claimed, her voice cracking. She struggled to hold back the flood of tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm obviously not sexy to you . . . and that's okay. I'm not your wife – not the one you married, anyway. I'm trying, and I thought I might actually . . . Never mind, I guess it isn't enough anymore. And to add to that, because I just had a baby, I'm fat, flabby, and sore in certain areas – it's all a total turn off. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to go find a skinny model to satisfy your needs. It's not like I can remember our marriage, anyway."

"Betty, what are you talking about?! I love you!" he assured her.

"You may love me, Daniel. But you're not attracted to me," she stated.

"What?! Of course I am!" Daniel insisted. "I want this, Betty. I want you – all of you. Believe me, I do. You are the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen or been with. I am always turned on by you. Maybe even more, now, seeing you be the mother of our child. But you've got five more weeks to heal first. We need to slow down, that's all."

Betty sighed, lowering her head in shame. She was both relieved and humiliated. At least Daniel still found her attractive. But when she'd finally let herself live in the moment, she'd also forgotten about the physical barriers that were currently between them. She wondered if actually knowing how it was to be with Daniel would help things any? Then again, if it was as good as the short preview she'd experienced, knowing might make the waiting even worse . . .

"Hey . . . Are we good?" he asked, lifting her chin and pushing her hair back from her face.

Betty nodded.

"Yeah, we're good," she answered, still embarrassed.

He lovingly kissed her forehead, allowing his lips to linger before sliding his head down to meet hers and kissing her soundly on the mouth.

"Good . . . We should probably talk more about starting our own magazine, if that's what you really want to do," he said, helping her back over to the bed. "Oh. And not that I mind staring at your nipples – I could do it all day, actually – but I can't concentrate on anything productive that way."

Puzzled by his comment, Betty looked down to find two wet circles on her t-shirt.

"Oh my god – I'm leaking!" she exclaimed, mortified.

"Baby, it's okay. I'll get you another shirt," he said, amused.

"You know, you wouldn't think it was so funny if you were leaking in an inappropriate place," she countered, changing her top.

Daniel was too busy staring at her breasts while she discarded her stained shirt to pay attention.

"Mmmhmm . . ." he mumbled.

"You're a pretty big distraction yourself, you know," she argued, playfully poking his chest.

Daniel grinned and reluctantly put his shirt back on.

"So . . . are we really going to do this – start a magazine together? We don't have to . . ." he said, giving her an out.

"No! I mean, yes! I mean – I do want to," Betty assured him. "But where? And how? Do we even have the money for it?"

"We can start one wherever you want – London, Paris, Rome –" he offered.

"Here? C-Could we start one here?" she timidly asked.

"You want to move back to New York?" he asked, surprised.

"Only if you want to. You've already moved once for me. I can't ask you to do that again if it's not what you really want," she assured him.

"No, it is. Being back here this past month has made me miss it. London's great and all, but New York truly feels like home," Daniel told her.

"I know . . . And most of our family is here . . . Scarlett will get to grow up with her cousins and have her grandparents and aunts and uncles around . . . Alexis, DJ, and Christina are still only a plane ride away," Betty reasoned.

"Let's do it. You're still on maternity leave for another five weeks, and I no longer have a magazine to check in with. Let's just make a clean break," he agreed, holding up his hand for a high-five.

"Deal," she slapped his hand, intertwining her fingers through his and bringing their hands down. "So if we're moving back here, were you thinking maybe we should start the magazine at Meade?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? I own part of the company and Mom mentioned that there's still an open space of offices from where MYW used to be. We can re-design everything in there and make it our own," Daniel suggested.

"It sounds perfect . . . And we can both be EICs, like you and Wilhelmina – you can focus more on the photoshoots and ad sales, and I'll deal more with the business contracts and overall feel. We can lean on each other for anything in between," she continued to think out loud.

"And I know we'll get along much better," he added with a wicked grin.

Betty giggled.

"After four years of working together, we'd better," she joked.

"We've always made a great team, you and me," he smiled. "And not just at work either."

"Yeah," she agreed, rubbing her thumb along his hand and looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you earlier. This all is beginning to feel pretty perfect and I was afraid of losing it – of losing you . . . Daniel, I -"

A knock at the door from Claire and an unhappy baby interrupted them.