~ Chapter 9 ~

Moments Like This

And ten years ago, that man was him.

But it all ended because of reasons he wasn't sure of, because she never told him. She just ran off, then came back 3 years after and took over the shares of his family's magazine. And not to mention seduced his father into marrying her, but for all the wrong reasons. Then she changed her mind and stopped the wedding, thoughts of her son was probably the main reason for it.

"Daniel, ready to go?" she asked him. Once again, he woke up from his trip to the past and followed them out.

--

Three days later.

It was a Saturday morning and Wilhelmina went out to meet a friend, so Beau was left in the house with Daniel. Danie caught Beau in the living room writing some kind of letter or note, he couldn't tell from the distance. The boy might have sensed that someone was there so he hid what he was doing.

"It's me."

Beau turned around and saw Daniel. He watched as he sat down next to him on the sofa.

"What are you doing?"

"A letter to my Mom." he said and carried on writing.

"Oh. For her birthday I see."

"Yeah, 'cos she's always sad when it's her birthday, my big sister is always busy so she doesn't come home as often as she did before. It's always me and Mom these past few years."

"I see."

"Last time my sister was here, it was 4 years ago. She made Mom happier, I was glad too." he said, Daniel sighed and patted Beau on the the shoulder.

"Hey, why don't we ring your sister and ask her if she wants to come to your Mom's birthday?"

"I don't know.."

"Come on Beau, I'm sure Nico won't mind." he said and stood up, waiting for Beau to do the same.

"We'll do a surprise party for your Mom if you want, me and you will take care of everything." he offered, and that got a grin from Beau.

--

They went to Daniel's room and he took out his phone. He dialed Nico's number, since they were still in touch. Nico and him had always been in contact with each other. Nico thought of him as almost her own father since her mother went out with Daniel. He always stuck up fro her and that really made her feel good, so he trusted Daniel.

"Hey Nico. How are you?" he asked when she picked up the phone. Nico was surprised to receive a call from Daniel, it's been 3 months since they last spoke.

"Danny?"

"It's me."

"Woah, long time no talk man..I'm pretty good, how are you and why are you calling me?"

"I'm not bad. So anyway, I'm in your Mom's house here in France--" he got cut off.

"Why are you in my Mom's house in France? Don't tell me you two are back---"

"No. God no, not that Nico. Anyway, I'm sat next to Beau"

"My little brother?"

"Know any other Beau? Actually, scrap that, I'm sure you do. So yeah, you're brother wanted to talk to you."

"Alright... Get him on Danny."

"OK, Beau, here's Nico." Daniel handed the phone to Beau.

"Sis, it's me." he said, sounding shy.

"Speak up Junior I can't hear you.. Why do you wanna speak to me? Is Mom being a pain?" she asked.

"No.. Sis, it's her birthday next week, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah, yeah."

"Well, me and Daniel are planning to throw a party for her.." Beau stopped when he saw Daniel mouthed family.

"Well, maybe just a family thing.. So I was wondering if you can come?" Nico was quiet for some time. Beau sighed.

"Please? It's been years, and I really wanna spend time with my big sis." Nico smiled on the other line and nodded. "Alright, you got me interested. Fine, but don't tell her. I won't let you down.." Beau smiled.

"Thanks Nicooo!" he said and laughed.

"It's cool Junior. Now pass me to Danny. Take care of yourself."

"You too. Bye." Beau passed the phone to Daniel, then the kid ran downstairs again, Daniel thought it was probably to finish off his letter.

"You made him happy Nico, thank you. I'm glad and excited to see you soon."

"Yep. Well anyway, I gotta run, going out soon. Take care of my mom and Junior while you're there."

"Who's Junior? Oh... Okay, I get it. But.."

"Junior is Beau."

"Why?"

"Because he reminds me of his father." Nico bit her lip and shook her head. 'No, you can't tell him' she thought. "Anyway, Danny. I really need to go, I'll see you soon, yeah?" Nico put the phone down before he could even ask anymore questions.

--

Wilhelmina came back later that day, with some take away food with her. She brought home some Chinese food for her son, and surprisingly for him too. They sat in the dining room, eating. Well Wilhelmina watching them eat.

"Why aren't you eating?" Daniel asked.

"I already ate Daniel. That's why I was out for lunch." Beau laughed which got Daniel and Wilhelmina to turn to him.

"He can be a bit stupid sometimes, wait, is sometimes the right word for it Daniel?" she said. Daniel rolled his eyes at this, and shoved food in his mouth. "Whatever"

"Didn't your mother teach you not to talk with your mouth full?" she smirked.

"Sorry Wilhelmina, but my mother was too busy drinking herself to sleep to do that, how can you forget?" Wilhelmina's smirked faded and she looked at him awkwardly, she was kind of regretting what she said. Beau was silent too.

"Come on, let's just eat." Daniel said when he noticed the change of atmosphere. Wilhelmina agreed and got up to get a drink.

--

11:30 PM

Wilhelmina couldn't sleep so she went down to the garden and sat with her short robe on one of the wooden recliner chairs. Daniel also couldn't sleep, so he went to his room's balcony to watch the stars and to get some fresh air. He was in his blue boxers and a white tank top. He stretched then looked up the sky, then closed his eyes. Once he opened them again, he was staring right through Wilhelmina's eyes. She sat facing opposite him in the garden. He noticed how peaceful she looked and very naturally. He gave her a slight nod. She didn't react, so he decided to get a reaction by going down to see her. When he got there, he sat on the chair next to her, but had his back hunched so he was closer to her.

"What is Wilhelmina Slater doing up late?" he asked

"I could ask you the same question." she said, still not facing him.

"Can't sleep. That's all, how about you? Won't the lack of sleep give you stress marks?" he smiled, but got a snort from Wilhelmina.

"You really need to study beauty to become an Editor-in-Chief of a fashion magazine, but what the hell can I do? I'm just a Slater not a Meade - I can't run the magazine without Bradford's golden son.."

"Willie.."

"Oh, forgive me, I meant to say other son. Golden is for Alex."

"Don't start, we're not in New York. It's a vacation, you have your son here, you're happy, I can see that.."

"So?" she massaged her temple with one hand.

"I haven't seen you this happy for a long time." he said and reached out for her hand, which was on her sides. She let him touched her hand.

"Know what would complete my life now?"

"A husband probably?" he suggested.

"That, maybe. But to have Nico here with us." she glanced over to him with a smile.

"He held tighter of her hands, which she figured out why.

"I mean me and Beau. But it's never going to happen, Nico hates me. It's just one of my crazy fantasies." she let go of his hand and stood up, set to leave. Until Daniel grabbed her arm to say something, but he lost his balance and fell on the pool, pulling Wilhelmina with him.

A/N: Once again, I just want to say that I really appreciate and love you for the reviews for this story. I'm sorry for updating so late - it's been like a week or so since I've updated, sorry again. I'll try update sooner next time. And next chapter would probably be up by the weekend but I can't promise anything :(

And woo, I know, Nico's in this chapter, it took me a while to get her in the story, but a phone call is better than nothing I guess. Don't worry, I'll be dragging her to France soon.

Preview of what's going to happen in later chapters: Birthday, Beau's thoughts about Daniel, More Nico, and what some Danimina flashbacks.