Title: "Como Fue"
Author: pineappleminivan.
Synopsis: A year later, Daniel reflects at Christmastime. A "what-if" soon to be made an Alternate Universe by new episodes.
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Ugly Betty, I'm just borrowing the characters. If you find something in here you'd like for your own story, go for it; just credit me somewhere.
Note: Wow. Second to last chapter now. It's been fun writing this, I hope you enjoy reading it.
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Daniel knew he was an idiot. His brain had been reminding him of this fact for most of the afternoon—like when he called Betty and asked her and her family out to dinner. Or when he called in a huge favor to get the reservations at Chappell's.
Or when he had rented the limo.
Now on the ride over, Daniel wondered if it was a little much, the white stretch limo. He made himself a gin and tonic for the ride over, to steel his courage.
What are you afraid of? His brain said, taunting him, "it's only dinner." Daniel threw back the drink. Like he expected, the drink didn't help.
He soon arrived at the Suarez casa and jumped up the steps. He raised his hand to knock, but Justin had already opened the door.
"Come on in!" Justin said. Hilda was waiting, ready to go in the living room. She looked fantastic. Santos didn't realize what he was missing, Daniel thought to himself.
"Betty!" Hilda yelled, "We're going to be late!" Daniel's heart skipped again. Why was he acting like a teenager again? He ran Mode, for God's sake. Women threw themselves at him, sometimes literally.
"I'm coming!" Betty said. He heard the telltale click of heels coming from the back of the house.
Daniel turned momentarily to look outside. When he turned back, he took a step backward, slipped on a piece of errant wrapping paper from when Betty opened her present earlier in the day, and he fell to the floor.
And all this time, he was still transfixed by what he saw—Betty. His Betty, or so he liked to think.
The dress fit her perfectly, flattering in all of the right places. An hour-long ordeal with a curling iron had tamed her hair, her eyebrows slightly waxed, and her glasses were, for the moment, put away in the clutch purse she was holding. Her braces had been removed nearly a year earlier, but he had so rarely seen her smile in the past year; tonight, he could finally see her amazing smile, the in her eyes, Daniel thought, which was just like her father.
From the floor Daniel scrambled to his feet among the chorus of concern from his fall. He assured everyone that he was fine, but he was completely distracted by that red dress. She still looked like Betty—but damn, he thought.
This was going to be a long night.
"What's wrong?" Betty said. She looked at Hilda, crestfallen.
"No! no no no trust me, nothing is the matter," Daniel said.
They got into the limo, and reached the restaurant without incident. Daniel helped the ladies out of the car, and they walked in.
"Reservation for Meade," Daniel said.
"Right this way, please," the host said. He led them to a back, private room.
When the host pulled back the curtain on the room, Hilda squealed and Justin yelled. Betty was too stunned to say anything.
"Papa!" Hilda said, running to him. She pulled her father into a hug. "How did you get out!"
"You can thank that man over there," Ignacio said, pointing to the Immigration lawyer also seated at the table. "This is Mr. Sawyer."
Then it was Mr. Sawyer's turn to receive hugs and thank yous. Hilda and Justin were still talking to the lawyer when Betty finally entered the room.
"Betty?" Ignacio said quietly. Betty smiled, hugging her father.
"Ah, now this mascara is going to run everywhere," Betty said.
"It's okay," Ignacio said, tears forming in his own eyes.
"But what about the charges, what about what happened back in Mexico?"
"Like I said," Mr. Sawyer replied, "thank the many loopholes built into the American legal system. Statue of limitations, an anti-extradition treaty, the fact that your mother's ex-husband was a notorious wanted man by the United States government—take your pick."
Sawyer picked up a menu and started reading it, while the rest of their party sat stunned. This was obviously not the first time he had done this.
"Dang," Betty whispered to her father, who nodded.
"Let's eat!" Ignacio said. "Sit, sit everyone!"
Everyone took places at the table. "Daniel," Ignacio said, "please, sit by me tonight."
Daniel acquiesced and seated himself between Betty and Ignacio.
"I cannot think of a better Christmas than this, to have these important people here for dinner tonight," Ignacio said. "This is a very, very good Christmas."
"Here here," Mr. Sawyer said.
The waiter came to the table and took their order. During the dinner Daniel managed to keep up with the conversation, but it was all he could to do keep from blatantly staring at Betty beside him.
Don't stare, his brain said, it's rude. But he was having a very hard time when Betty was sitting there in a beautiful red dress; she was finally relaxed and surrounded by her family.
Daniel took a long, cold drink of water.
"Daniel?" Betty said, "What do you think?"
"Sorry, what?" he said. "I guess I spaced for a second."
"We were hoping you were going to join us for the night," Ignacio said. "You are invited as well, Mr. Sawyer."
"Love to," said Sawyer, "but there's a lot of work I need to get done tonight," he said.
"On Christmas Eve?" Daniel asked.
"There's a reason I'm this good," Sawyer replied.
Daniel nodded, silently. He threw a look to Ignacio, who just nodded. He is, Ignacio seemed to say.
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Back at the house it killed Daniel to see the red dress go away and be exchanged for a pajama set.
But pajamas can be good, his brain said, think about it. Daniel shook his head, desperately trying not to think about Betty and pajamas.
Presents were exchanged Christmas evening, and the entire tenor of the house changed now that Ignacio was there to share in Christmas with his family.
"We had wrapped you presents," Betty told her father, "just in case."
Everybody was nearly crying. God, Daniel thought, even I'm having a hard time keeping it together.
Ignacio sat in his easy chair while Hilda, Betty, and Daniel were crowded onto the couch. "It's a Wonderful Life," was on the television—one of Papa Suarez's favorite Christmas movies.
"Quiet," he said, "this is one of the best parts!"
On screen, George and Mary were just about to kiss for the first time. Daniel suddenly felt very uncomfortable, sitting so close to Betty and watching the lovers on screen.
Justin scooted up on the couch on the other side of her mother, squeezing the already tight fit on the couch. She scooted to the right, and Daniel shifted over as well. Betty, however, had nowhere to go, already sitting on the edge of the couch.
"Justin!" Hilda said, "Ow! Watch it! You're getting too big to jump in like that."
Instinctively Daniel reached back onto the back of the couch, to move his shoulder and make more room.
He didn't mean for his arm to go back around Betty. It was an accident, he would swear later.
Betty froze, completely tense. Hilda was still nagging Justin and unaware, but Ignacio had seen what happened.
He didn't take his eyes from the television, but he smiled. He had used the same trick on Betty and Hilda's mother.
To Daniel's surprise, Betty turned towards Daniel and rested her head on his shoulder, putting one hand on his chest.
He really hoped she couldn't feel his heart beating at a million miles an hour.
They stayed that way through the rest of the movie, through the Christmas Eve specials and finally, through some infomercial after Ignacio had fallen asleep with the controller in his hand.
Daniel put his hand over Betty's smaller one and fell asleep.
When Betty sighed, Daniel thought he had died and gone to heaven. This was what he had wanted, what he had tried to find with Sofia but had always stayed out of reach. He was content, and quickly becoming domesticated.
He liked it. His eyes were getting heavy with sleep again.
"Absolutely the best Christmas ever," he said quietly, to the now sleeping room. Exactly, his brain said.