Hey! Here's the final addition to this Detty story. Thank you to everyone who read and/or responded along the way - it meant a lot! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! :)

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3 Years Later . . .

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"Do you really have to get up, now?" Daniel groaned as he and Betty lay in bed. "Yeeees . . . I need to pick up a few last minute things before we leave and you said you needed to stop by your office," she reminded him as she pecked him on the nose and attempted to leave.

"What's your rush? And don't tell me you're running out to buy more stuff for those babies, because I swear if you pack anymore into those ten Louis Vuitton suitcases of yours we'll exceed the weight limit on the jet," he teased, pulling her back down to face him. "You're exaggerating by a long shot – I only have two suitcases and a duffel bag. Besides, I thought you'd be happy I'm still putting your mother's wedding present to good use," she reasoned. Daniel chuckled.

"And you know I can't help but spoil the babies. Speaking of which, you're not innocent in all of this. I remember a certain someone helping me pick out half of it," Betty pointed out. Daniel guilty lowered his head. "Now - our flight is scheduled to leave at noon and it's already 7AM. That leaves a little over an hour for me to shop before I have to get back here. And for your information, these things I'm getting are for Hilda," Betty defended herself.

"I'm sorry, baby. I know you're excited – I am too. But I just want a little more alone time with my sexy wife before we're in New York for a week – especially since your dad just recently found out about us not being legally married when he gave you away," Daniel explained as his lips made a trail along her collarbone. "Yeah, well I think he softened knowing we became legit in Mexico," she assured him, trying everything to resist his seductive moves.

"Couldn't you just get Chloe to pick up whatever it is you need?" he said. Betty sat up. "Nooo . . . A. Because, unlike some people, I don't make my assistants run my personal errands," she poked his bare chest, giving him a knowing look. "And B. I'm not exactly sure what I want to get," she finished.

Daniel pouted, his lips lowering to the top of her breasts as his hands simultaneously fondled them from under her cami, a last effort at coaxing her to stay. Betty softly gasped with pleasure and knew she had failed resistance. "Well, I guess I could spare a few more minutes – especially since we won't have any privacy once we get there," she playfully conceded as she ran her hand over his ass, toying with the band of his pajama bottoms, until her phone rang. Daniel moaned in frustration as they were interrupted.

"Hilda? Why are you calling so early?" Betty answered. "Listen, Mamita, you'd better get your ass over here now, because I don't know how much longer I can hold these suckers in!" Hilda warned. "What are you talking about - your C-section's not 'til tomorrow?" Betty said, puzzled. "Yeah, well apparently I'm not the boss here. Plane! Now!" Hilda screamed before hanging up. Startled, Betty stared at her phone for a few seconds before comprehending everything.

"We need to go. Can you tell Cam to get the jet ready?" she informed her curious husband, scrambling out of their bed. "Yeah, I'll call him right now. What's going on?" he asked. "Hilda's apparently having really bad contractions and isn't sure if she'll last 'til we get there – much less 'til tomorrow," Betty replied, rushing to the bathroom. Daniel grabbed his phone.

"Where's my contact solution?" she freaked out. "You already packed it – don't ask me why," he answered, amused at how her anal-retentiveness managed to occasionally bite her in the ass. "I bet your toothbrush is in there too," he smirked, hurriedly dialing the pilot's number. "Shut up!" she good-naturedly grumbled.

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"Did we make it in time? Did we miss it?" Betty and Daniel ran into the hospital's maternity waiting room out of breath. "No, you made it just in time. Bobby did that complicated phone typing thing saying they were prepping Hilda for the procedure," Ignacio assured them. "Oh, thank god!" Betty exclaimed. "Good!" Daniel sighed, relieved he didn't have to listen to his wife complain about being too late because he couldn't find his new 500GB IPad.

"By the way, Papi, it's called texting," Ignacio's daughter corrected him. "Texting . . . email . . . Tooter . . . too many things you kids use for me to keep up with," Ignacio shook his head. Betty and Daniel snickered at her father's technological ignorance. "Where are Mom and Justin?" Daniel wondered.

"Your mother just stepped out to get some coffee at the shop downstairs. Justin's staying with Marisol – she wouldn't have lasted more than an hour in this place – much less ten," Ignacio chuckled. "Oh, here's Leah – she'll take you two in," he told both of them, guiding them toward the nurse and introducing them.

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"Heeey you two. How are Mommy and Daddy?" Hilda greeted Betty and Daniel as they walked in from scrubbing. "Obviously not as good as you are . . ." Betty teased, seeing she was loopy from the meds. "I'm numbed and drugged – couldn't be better!" she grinned. "Are you guys ready for this?" Bobby smiled, noticing the doctors were ready to begin. "As ready as we'll ever be," Daniel joked. "Welcome to parenthood, man!" Bobby chuckled.

"Okay, Betty and Daniel, get ready to meet your first baby . . . it's a girl!" Dr. Reynolds exclaimed as she cut the cord and handed the crying baby to a nurse, who swabbed her mouth and cleaned her up before handing her to Betty. "Five pounds, three ounces, 18 inches," she informed them.

"Oh my god! Look at her, Daniel!" Betty cooed, entranced in the moment that had finally come. "She's beautiful . . . She's got your brown eyes . . . and your dark hair . . . your olive complexion . . . she looks just like you," Daniel said, misty-eyed. He softly and briefly kissed Betty, amazed that they had created someone so small . . . someone so perfect . . .

"Congratulations, Mama!" Hilda smiled as Betty held the baby down for her sister to see. "Thank you," Betty sincerely told her, a tear trickling down her cheek as she squeezed her free hand. "She's got your chubby little cheeks, too," Bobby added. "Bobby . . ." she protested, but couldn't resist smiling. "Our Chipmunk with a little Chipette," he spoke in awe as he witnessed the three of them.

As a boy and another girl were born and Betty, Daniel, and Bobby each held one of the triplets, Betty couldn't help but think of everything she and Daniel had gone through to have just one baby – much less three at once. After her ectopic pregnancy, they had tried again shortly after they were married but sadly it ended in yet another miscarriage. Fortunately, it was not ectopic and no further damage was done to her body.

Eventually she and Daniel had decided, after talking with Dr. Andrews, that it might be best to harvest some of her eggs - just in case her other fallopian tube did burst at some point. The doctor suggested that they find a surrogate, instead of continuing to try on their own, because it was clear Betty was having trouble carrying a child to term.

They had spent hours deciding whether to hire someone or to ask someone that they knew, finally coming up with Hilda. She was family - someone they both trusted and knew would be responsible while carrying their baby.

It was true that Hilda had had a miscarriage before. However, she had also had two successful pregnancies – one following her miscarriage. Hilda and Bobby were both very gracious about helping them, even while they were trying to raise a daughter of their own, who was under the age of two at the time.

Obviously it hadn't been easy living on opposite sides of the ocean, but modern technology made it easier. They had Skyped and Bobby had used his Flip video camera through ultrasound visits, along with sending them the DVDs. Hilda emailed her weekly picture updates of how big she was getting.

Betty and Daniel flew in for weekend visits as the babies got old enough to kick and respond to sound. And as the time grew closer to Hilda's planned C-section, Claire had given them full access of the Meade jet, just in case there was an emergency.

Their families had been very accommodating throughout the entire experience. Her father and Claire had even offered to stay with them in London for a few weeks after the babies were born to help them get adjusted to parenting. Alexis and DJ would also be staying for a week. With three newborns, she and Daniel both knew they'd need all the help they could get.

She and Daniel had never imagined they'd actually have triplets, but knew it was a possibility when dealing with fertility drugs, and didn't want to lower their chances of having not having a child at all. In a way, it worked out for the best because she knew at some point, they would want to have another child.

Asking her sister once was a lot as it was, but twice would be pushing it. And after all of the horror stories she had read about surrogates, she was thankful to not have to take that risk – especially since both she and Daniel were well-known in the media and more likely to be taken advantage of . . .

"Betty?" Daniel snapped her back to the present. "Everyone wants to know their names?" he prompted. "Well, we decided this princess' name is Gabriella Elizabeth. We both liked Gabriella and I liked Elizabeth better than Beatriz as the longer version of Betty," she responded to her sister and brother-in-law's curious eyes and looked at Daniel.

"This little guy is Nikolas Robert - Nikolas, for my middle name and Robert, after you, Bobby. If it weren't for you, Betty and I might not be together today," Daniel explained, holding his son, who was the spitting image of himself as a baby with fair skin, blue eyes, and blond hair. "Don't mention it, man," Bobby modestly held back the immense pride he felt.

"And this little miracle . . ." Betty came over to Bobby, who was holding her dark brown haired, blue-eyed, olive-skinned daughter. "Daniel and I . . . W-We'll never be able to thank you enough for what you've done for us . . . but as a start, we thought you should name her – within reason," Betty told Hilda, tears of gratitude brimming from her eyes. "Well if I had had two girls, I always would've wanted to name the second Mercedes and her middle name after Mami," Hilda suggested after pondering it for a minute.

"Mercedes – that's a really cool name – like the car," Daniel commented. "No not like the car!" Betty groaned. "Sorry, Hilda. We're not naming her that unless my language-impaired husband proves he can pronounce it correctly," she rolled her eyes at Hilda and sighed before turning back to Daniel. "Okay. Mercedes. Mer – like the female horse, ce – like se-dimentary rock, and des – like Des-i Arnaz. Mercedes. Try it!" Betty encouraged him.

"Mer-ce-des. Mercedes?" he pronounced, unsure. "Great! So what do you think?" she asked. "I like it – it really is a cool name! Mercedes Rosa Meade," he agreed. "Looks like it's a yes," Betty told her sister. "And of course, we want you both to be our babies' godparents," she smiled. "Aww . . . that's so sweet," Hilda said, with tears in her eyes. "We'd be honored," Bobby smiled.

"I'd better go tell our parents before they start to worry," Daniel said, carefully handing Nikolas over to Betty. "You did a wonderful job, Hilda. Thank you so much," Daniel smiled, leaning over to kiss his sister-in-law on the forehead before leaving.

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Betty silently stood in the pale-yellow, jungle-themed nursery, with light green accents. It was aesthetically decorated, with framed pictures Daniel and Betty had taken at the Bronx and London Zoos hung from the side walls above the three cribs and three bassinettes.

Different enormous-sized plush zoo animals from FAO Schwartz, including a giraffe, lion, white Bengal tiger, and an African elephant had their own special nook on the left side of the window seat, located on the back wall of the room. The long window bench, located on the back wall of the room had a comfortable light green cushion and was accented with a few smaller plush animals, while a valance highlighted the window itself.

The rocking chair Betty had been rocked in as a baby sat in the opposite corner of the window seat, refinished and newly upholstered. A small built-in bookcase behind it held childhood stories Daniel and Betty had been told. A large, jungle-themed rug with green and yellow highlights covered the middle of the dark cherry-wooded floor, coordinating with the valance. And Daniel's rocking horse would soon hold a place in their family room, when the triplets were old enough to ride it.

"Need me to call in the troops?" Daniel quietly asked, wrapping his arms around Betty's waist as he approached her from behind. Betty shook her head. "You know, the second I think I'm finally getting the hang of this, one of them starts to cry – and I thought Justin had been a pain," she sighed. Daniel chuckled, sympathetically kissing her cheek then resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I know exactly what you mean. When you were taking a shower, and our parents were making dinner, I thought they were all settled, but then Nikky needed to be changed and Meri had the hiccups, and I think Gabby just felt left out because she started crying too," he rolled his eyes.

"Think they're taking bets to see which one of us cracks first?" Betty joked, as they quietly peeked into each of the babies' classic, dark cherry bassinettes. "Maybe . . ." Daniel laughed as he moved a few stuffed toys, propping his feet up in the window seat and pulling her down with him. Betty rested her back against his chest. "It's actually pretty quiet for once," she contentedly observed.

"I don't know what we're gonna do once your dad and my mom leave. I know Alexis and DJ are coming next week and we hired Ingrid, but there are four of us now - for the most part. What happens when there are only two at time?" he worried. "We'll work it out. Besides, Ingrid's been a nanny for forty years – she was highly recommended by the editor of The European Parenting Magazine. And she's dealt with sextuplets – our three should be a breeze," she assured him.

"You're right. But I guess it's a good thing I became head of the art department instead of sticking with sales. Overseeing shoots and approving designs doesn't require as much time at the office, but it pays just as much. A couple of days at the office or on location is a lot better than five. The rest I can do from home," he reflected.

"And I can do a lot from home as well – I can manage to work from here at least one or two days a week, depending on my schedule. Plus, there's always the built-in daycare when we need it," she added. "So this is it – two and a half more weeks of immense help and then we're back to work full-time and on our own – except for Ingrid," he let it sink in. "Yep," she said. "Scared?" he asked. "Terrified," she confessed. "Me, too," he agreed.

"But I know two things: I love you and I love our children – I wouldn't trade them or you for the world," he admitted. "Me neither . . . It's amazing how far we've come since the day we met. We're married – we have triplets! Isn't that insane?" she incredulously giggled. "Ludicrous – but I couldn't ask for anything better," he sincerely told Betty, drawing her in for a familiar yet passionate kiss that always left her wanting more.

"I agree – I've got everything I could ever ask for . . . I love you so much," Betty gently captured his lower lip and stroked his jawline, emphasizing her point. As she snuggled her head in the crook of his neck, Daniel rested his head on hers and sighed, happily. Knowing any second a child might start to cry, they savored every peaceful moment as long as they could - simply grateful to have found each other.