Chapter Five

A/N: Thanks again to everyone who's read and reviewed!!!!!

Betty headed out of her office early on Friday afternoon. She had called Hilda and told her to meet her in the city. She desperately needed someone to talk to. Someone that she hoped would understand what she was going through. She waved goodbye to Daniel and hurried past Amanda's desk as she raced towards the elevator. Amanda watched her hurry out of the office, and then turned to Daniel's office.

"Where's she going in such a hurry and how come SHE gets to leave early on Friday?" Amanda huffed. Daniel looked up from the report he was writing and gave Amanda a hard look.

"Betty is going through some personal things right now Amanda and I think the best thing that we could do is not give her any grief and give her some space." Daniel said. Amanda looked at Daniel for a moment before stomping back to her desk, muttering under her breath.

Betty met Hilda at a coffee house near the Meade building. She was tapping her fingers nervously on the table, a cup of tea in front of her, when Hilda finally showed up.

"Ay, Betty why'd you have me meet you all the way down here? I feel like I'm sneaking around town for some shady meeting!" Hilda snapped as she put in her order for coffee. Betty sighed and waited for Hilda to fix her coffee and settle in before she began.

"Hilda, I really need a friend right now, not a sister. I've gotten myself into a horrible mess and I don't know which way to turn or what the right solution is." Betty said, looking down into her cup. Hilda took in her pinched expression, her serious demeanor, and the dark circles under her eyes and reached over and touched Betty's hand.

"Oh, Betty. Something's really bothering you? Are you and Gio having problems?" Hilda asked. Betty sighed over her cup and stared at the table for a long while. After a few minutes, she finally looked up at her sister.

"Gio wants to start a family." Betty said quietly. Hilda's face lit up in a smile until she looked harder at Betty.

"Oh God, Betty! You aren't still taking your pills?!?!" Hilda exclaimed loudly. Betty's face colored as she glanced around the coffee shop.

"Little louder Hilda!" Betty hissed, "I don't think Long Island heard you!" Hilda leaned forward over the table, making sure her eyes locked with Betty's.

"Well, it seems to me that two people who got married and are supposed to love each other wouldn't have to go through so much agonizing over whether or not to have children together. Unless, there's some other reason that you don't want to have kids with Gio." Hilda directed to Betty. Hilda knew that Betty would eventually come clean with what the reason was, although Hilda suspected it had something to do with Henry and his little girl.

"Hilda, things are just complicated right now. Work is crazy busy, Gio is busy trying to make a success of his deli, and….."

"Henry is back with his little girl." Hilda finished. Betty bit her bottom lip, fidgeting nervously in her chair. Hilda sighed and reached over and touched Betty's hand.

"Look Betty, I never had to go through what you're going through with Santos. Sure, he wasn't always there for Justin, but he didn't get someone else pregnant and leave us. I can't say I understand, but it seems to me that before you make any permanent, life-changing plans with Gio you need to find out something." Hilda said.

"And what would that be?" Betty asked her. Hilda looked at her seriously, but with sisterly love in her expression.

"Whether or not it's Gio or Henry you really want to spend the rest of your life with." Hilda replied.

Betty sat in her office later that day trying to finish up her piece on Single Parents. She was just putting the finishing touches on the article when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She looked up to find Henry standing in the doorway, an apologetic look on his face.

"Henry." Betty said, trying to speak past the lump in her throat.

"Hi." Henry said, giving her a small smile. She motioned for him to come in. Henry walked into her office and closed the door. Betty watched as he walked towards her desk and sat down in the chair in front of her desk. She pushed her glasses up onto her nose as she spoke.

"Betty"

"Henry"

The two of them managed to smile at one another before Henry spoke again.

"Go ahead Betty." Henry said softly.

"I just wanted to apologize earlier for what's happened over the past few weeks. I should never have asked you to help me with my article and I shouldn't have had Christina bring Maddie to my office when she was here. I'm sorry Henry, and I remember what you said about….." Betty stopped as Henry broke in.

"That's what I came here to talk to you about." Henry started, "I wanted to see if you still needed anything more for your article."

"Thanks, but I've gotten it just about finished." Betty said, "But off the record and just as a friend, what happened with Charlie?" Henry looked down at his hands. Betty waited until he was ready to speak, her eyes watching his face intently.

"When I went back to Tucson, Charlie and I agreed to co-parent with Maddie. I guess she finally realized that we weren't going to be a couple and she was accepting of the agreement. One evening she had gone out with a couple of friends from high school. I had Maddie with me and Charlie wanted to stay out late. From what I gather, she had been drinking but wasn't drunk. Anyway, when she was heading back to my apartment, she lost control of her car and flipped into a ditch. She was pinned inside the car until another driver could get the paramedics there. She had massive internal injuries. She was in a coma for about five days until they told her parents and me that she was clinically brain dead. Her parents took her off life support the next afternoon. Maddie was only nine months old at the time." Henry finished quietly, finally looking up at Betty.

Betty's eyes swam with unshed tears. She and Charlie hadn't ever been the best of friends, but she had never wished something like that on her. And Henry and Maddie; her heart went out to both of them, especially Maddie. Betty had at least had some time with her mother before the cancer had taken her, but Maddie would have to rely on pictures and memories of her mother. Betty drew in a shaky breath.

"Henry, I'm so sorry. I can't begin to imagine how hard that's been for you and for Maddie. I wish I'd never asked you to help with the article. No wonder you were so upset when I asked." Betty said. Henry shook his head at her.

"Betty, there's nothing for you to apologize for. I didn't tell you about Charlie when I came back to town so you couldn't have known what happened to her." Henry said. Betty smiled at him.

"Well, I'm glad that you told me." Betty said. Henry looked up hopefully at her.

"Betty, that's not the only reason I came here. I wanted to apologize to you. I've been acting like a jerk lately and I wanted to ask your forgiveness. I shouldn't have pushed you away when you needed help and then told you that I couldn't be around you. It was unfair and cruel of me." Henry said, "It was just hard when I got back in town and……"

"I miss you…." The words were spoken so quietly, yet hung in the air in the office. Henry glanced at Betty, wondering if he'd just imagined what he thought he heard.

"What did you say?" Henry asked. Betty looked down in her lap, toying with a loose thread on her sweater. Henry rose and walked around to the corner of her desk. He perched himself on the corner right next to her chair as he gently put a finger under her chin. He tilted her face up to his and looked at her questioningly.

"I said I miss you." Betty said, louder this time, "I miss having you as a friend. I miss being able to talk about anything and everything with you. I miss seeing you and Maddie. God, I can't believe I said what I said the other day with her right here, I don't know what I was thinking." Betty said, looking miserable.

"Betty, you said what you said because you're thinking about starting a family. You and Gio have been married long enough, it's only natural that you would be ready to have a family of your own." Henry said.

"Oh, God. That's not it!" Betty cried.

"You don't want to have children?" Henry asked.

"Well, yes but……"

"So you DO want to have kids?"

"Yeah, but….."

"Well then Betty what's stopping you?" Henry said.

"I want to have kids, but I don't want to have them with Gio!" Betty yelled. Henry looked at Betty first in surprise, then shock as her words registered.

"Henry……"

"Betty, I've missed you too. So much I ache inside. I'd like nothing more right now than to kiss you and carry you off somewhere where we could be alone. But I can't! You're married!" Henry said, pained. Betty tried to reach up and take his hand in hers. But before either of them could move, a voice from the doorway startled them both.

"I'm glad someone remembers Betty's married! By the way, if you don't want kids with me, then just who the hell DO you want to have a family and a future with?" Gio exclaimed as Henry scooted away from Betty and Betty's face flushed.

"Gio, please. Let's go somewhere and talk." Betty tried. Gio shook his head angrily at the two of them.

"I'm through talking Betty!" Gio said acidly, "You've made it clear how you feel, I'm just the idiot who actually thought you loved me." Gio turned and stormed out of the office, ignoring Betty's voice calling him back. Betty sat back down in her chair, her head falling into her hands. Henry put his arm around her in a comforting gesture as he let the only woman he ever loved give in to her tears.

TBC………………………………………