Ugly Betty

It Takes A Village

A/N: Thank you so, so much for the wonderful reviews. You wonderful people really do rock and I really do suck at updating. Stick with me but! I am skipping forward quite a lot here because this is where the story really starts. Some things may not make sense but eventually (with flashbacks, haha) they will soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Ugly Betty in anyway.

Chapter Nine: A Watermelon and a Grape

"Daniel, Betty is on Line Two," his new assistant, Margot, said.

"Well put her straight through," Daniel snapped, rolling his eyes. 'How hard was it?' he wondered. The first thing he had said to his dull-minded but shinily blonde assistant was 'If Betty ever rings, just put her straight through.' He pulled a quick angry face then ran his fingers through his hair and picked up the phone, all sweetness and light. "How's the labouring soon-to-be mummy going?"

"Hurting. I think you better come home now," Betty said. She paused for a moment and he heard a sharp intake of breath. "My water has just broken and my contractions are getting closer together."

"How close?" he practically shouted. He was already standing and putting his jacket on.

"Uh, about five minutes apart but they are stronger than they were before and they last longer and they hurt more," Betty said. "But remember the book said to go to the hospital as soon as your water breaks."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't go anywhere until I get home," he ordered.

"Just hurry, okay?" she replied. "And can you call Gabe and tell him to meet us there?"

"Sure thing," Daniel said. He kept his voice as emotionless as possible. "I'll be home before you know it. Just stay calm and keep doing what you're doing because I bet you're doing great."

"Mmm," was all she said before she hung-up. If she wasn't frazzled and well, about to push something the size of a watermelon through something the size of a grape, she might have growled something cute about Daniel too being frazzled but as it was, she was about to push something the size of a watermelon through something the size of a grape and so she just did what she could and hung-up.

In seconds, Daniel was power-walking through the office. He stopped briefly at Margot's desk to set her free after she cancelled his meetings for the rest of the week and went straight to Amanda's circular desk. He paused for a moment and the full gravity of what was about to happen hit him. All of a sudden, his mouth was dry but his skin was wet and his words and his brain were muddled.

"Amanda, I need a favour," he said. She nodded, to caught up in whatever magazine she was currently reading to look at him. "Gabe. Ring him. The baby and he needs to meet us and I have to go home and we're going to the hospital and so you need to ring Gabe."

"Betty's in labour," she gasped, finally looking up. Daniel saw an excited glint in her eye. He knew that she and Betty had become somewhat close in the previous months and that she was awaiting the baby almost as eagerly as Daniel and Betty were.

"Yes. I'm just going to take her to the hospital now and we need to ring Gabe because of the baby," he answered. Amanda was out of her chair and holding her coat and handbag in an instant.

"Hey, Maddi," she yelled across the room to one of the other editors secretaries. "Take the phones. We're about to have a baby!"

"What are you doing?" Daniel asked as Amanda stormed across the hall and banged the button for a lift.

"As if you can handle a woman in labour by yourself. Look at you. You're panicking already," she called from across the way. The lift dinged and the door opened. "Hurry up, Daniel! Betty is in labour. We have to go!"

He joined Amanda in the lift and looked at her again as the lift went down. "So tell me again why you're here."

"Look, Betty and I talked about it and she wants me there. We are friends you know and you know how I hate to miss out on any sort of fun," Amanda vaguely replied.

"Amanda, childbirth isn't exactly the dance floor at the club," Daniel reminded her.

"You're going to need a woman around, trust me. You're freaking out already," Amanda said as the lift reached the ground floor, not the parking lot as he was expecting.

"Why are we here?" he asked as her heels clacked against the marble as she dragged him across the lobby and through the crowd.

"The town car, Daniel. What were you planning on walking Betty to the hospital?" Amanda asked. "Or using that really hot but completely impractical two-person convertible you call a car?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," Daniel admitted. "I guess a town car does make sense."

They hit the throng of people that always seemed to stand just inside the doors. Amanda huffed and immediately put her bitch on. "Hey, get out of the way, whores! If you don't, I'll rip each and every one of your cheap, generic hair extensions out. Everybody knows that short is the new long."

Unsurprisingly, the crowd parted and Daniel and Amanda made their way through the glass doors with ease. Amanda quickly spotted the car and grabbed Daniel's hand, yanking him over.

"Speed if you have to, I don't care," Amanda ordered the driver as she slid over the cream coloured leather. "Just get us to Daniel's now."

She looked Daniel over and sighed, "Your jackets buttoned up wrong."

-

"You're doing so well," Amanda cooed as the ten millionth contraction hit Betty. Betty grunted and groaned and pulled an array of faces, so many that Daniel again found himself amazed that the humble face could do so much.

"I don't feel like I'm doing well. I feel like I'm letting this thing win," Betty groaned after the pain had relatively passed. She watched Daniel the whole time she spoke but he didn't seem to notice.

"Well, it isn't winning because you're doing well," Amanda replied. She hit Daniel on the arm and glared at him. "Isn't she, Daniel?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded, swallowing to try and get some form of liquid into his dry throat. "Real well."

"I don't think I've ever seen that shade of colour on a man's face before," Betty grinned. "You doing okay there, Daniel?"

"Sure, I'm doing fine," he replied, his voice shaking. "It's just that, umm, I'm just, umm..."

"Hey, Daniel, can I see you outside for a moment?" Amanda asked. She turned to Betty. "Is that okay?"

"Sure but hurry," Betty said.

Somehow Daniel remembered how to use his feet and he followed the impossibly tiny and impossibly bossy woman from the room. As soon as the door was closed, he felt a surprisingly powerful punch to the upper arm.

"Snap out of it, you weakling," she snapped. "Betty needs you in there, you dumbass. And you're just standing there like a sack of potatoes. I know you're scared and overwhelmed but how do you think Betty is feeling? About ten times as bad. She needs the man she loves to help her through this and she needs you to be strong for her."

"I cant. I'm not prepared for this. I thought things were going to be different," he said.

"What? You thought it would be over in fifteen minutes like on television?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Moron. Sometime in the next hour, Betty is going into that delivery room and she has done so much hard work to get there. If you go in there with her and you stand there like a pole, she's going to lose some of that hard work. She won't push until she knows you're ready to push to so get ready to push, Daniel!"

"Okay," he agreed. Amanda nodded. Job well done. Before Daniel could say anything else, she opened the door and looked in.

"How are you doing, sweetie? You're looking good. I'm just going to get some ice-chips," Amanda said, ever-accommodating. It was refreshing and unusual to see her being so nice and helpful but Betty was grumpy, tired and hurting

"Don't want them," she grumbled.

"Oh, they aren't for you, they're for Daniel," Amanda said. She glared at her boss and shoved him into the room. "Push!" she hissed at him.

"Daniel, come and sit by me," Betty said. She looked at the clock and braced herself for another contraction. "Quick, hold my hand."

Something so needy and desperate in her voice spurred Daniel into action. He had been in a stupor ever since the phone call. If it weren't for Amanda, their saving grace (how strange and foreign did it feel to think that), he and Betty would have ended up at the Meade's Connecticut home with a pillow case, a spatula and his brief case. Luckily, they had ended up at the right hospital with the right suitcase.

"Ouch," Daniel winced as Betty's iron fist held him tight.

"Oh, trust me. That didn't hurt," Betty hissed. She looked at him and his heart broke. "Daniel, where have you been? I need you. I cant do this alone."

"I'm sorry, Betty," he said earnestly. "But I'm here now, I promise. Amanda and I are both here and Christina will be here when she can."

"I don't care about them, I care about you. I need you!" she replied.

"Hey, shh, shh," he whispered, pushing her wet hair back off her face and kissing her forehead. They were both vaguely aware of the door opening and if they had of looked up, they would have seen Amanda watching them tenderly and smiling.

"Dumbasses," she said to herself. How long would it take them to realise what the rest of the world already knew?

-

"I swear to God, the next time I see Gabe I am going to kill him for doing this to her," Daniel raged as he watched his Betty groan and writhe.

"He's right outside. Go and do it now," Amanda shot-back, her face just as fiery and impassioned. They both grimaced as Betty prepared to push again and in doing so, squeezed their hands with more force than they knew possible.

"I think I'll kill him first," Betty managed to puff out after her push.

"Well then I'll bring him back, make him clean up the mess and then kill him again," Amanda decided. "Betty, I'm proud of you and all but I am so mad at him."

"I hate seeing you in so much pain," Daniel said. Both women looked at him and saw the agony on his face. It was a touching moment in tee otherwise dirty business of child-rearing but it didn't last long because Betty was being instructed to push again. All of a sudden, with the announcement that baby Suarez was only a few pushes away, Daniel and Amanda went from anger to bliss and their clipped sentences of death, pain and genera hatingness to love, pride and lollipops.

"See, you are so close to finally seeing your baby," Amanda cooed.

"I cant believe how well you've done," Daniel added.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Betty cried. "Just hold my hands and help me push!"

Amanda and Daniel exchanged glances but promptly did as they were ordered.

"Just one more push for me, honey," the midwife coaxed.

Daniel and Amanda grinned at one another but respecting Betty's wishes said nothing.

-

Betty had never known pain like this. Had never known that the human body could even tolerate this much pain. She ached and burnt and hurt and throbbed in places she hadn't known existed.

And then on top of the physical pain, there was the fear. Betty had never felt so scared, scared of the pain, scared of the fact that the day she would meet her little boy or girl was here, scared that she couldn't do it, scared that she would be a bad mother and scared that Daniel wouldn't be there for her like he promised. He had been basically absent for the progression of her labour. He had bounced back after his little talk with Amanda but Betty had been so worried he was going to freak out on her and leave her all alone but suddenly he was Daniel again, supportive and hand-holding Daniel and that was when she knew she could do it.

And she did, with Daniel beside her and Amanda too, she pushed through the pain, pushed through the fear, pushed harder than she knew she could, she pushed her child, her baby, her beautiful little girl out into the world.

-

"She is so beautiful," Amanda sighed. She looked over at the newborn who was still sticky and covered in muck but resting contently on her mother's chest. A tear appeared in Amanda's eye and that was when she knew it was time to go. She leant over and stroked the baby on the cheek and then kissed Betty on her cheek. "I'm going to go home and get some rest. I'll come back when visiting hours are on."

"Okay," Betty said, so completely besotted with the new infant. She never looked up from her daughter, not once. "Thank you, Amanda. For everything."

"Thank you," Amanda replied, tears welling up again. "This was amazing and you did so well."

"Can you send Daniel back in, if you see him?" Betty asked. He had left briefly to use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat.

"Betty, we're going to take you back to your room in a minute," a nurse interrupted.

"I'll tell him to meet you there," Amanda said. She took another long look at the healthy little girl and smiled wistfully. "So tiny and so beautiful. So like her mother."

She left on that note and walked in a dream-like state from the delivery room back to the waiting room. Gabe was sitting on a chair, staring at the ceiling. He sat up straight and looked hopeful when Amanda entered the room.

"You have a daughter," Amanda said, her voice retaining some of the happiness but mostly becoming distant. "And you are lucky that she is so beautiful or I would be tying you to the back of a car right now."

"Is she okay? Are they both okay?" he asked.

"Yes, no thanks to you," she replied. "You are so lucky you didn't have to see Betty in that much pain."

"Not really," Gabe replied. "Another man got to watch my child being born. That sucks."

"Well maybe if you had acted at all interested in her, you could have been there but since you only decided to be a part of her life because you didn't want to be the bad guy anymore, you miss out," Amanda huffed. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised Betty went to talk to you at all and I'm surprised she agreed to let you even be in this building or be a part of her child's life."

"Our child," he corrected.

"No," Amanda said. She leant down to retrieve her black leather handbag she had stashed behind a pot plant. "Her child."

She left the room then and went off in search of Daniel. He wasn't hard to find and soon they were sitting on two very uncomfortable red chairs in a white hallway.

"Thank you for all of your help, Amanda," Daniel said. He had a grin on his face that he couldn't wipe off. Amanda knew she looked the same. A bit dizzy and gooey but extremely tired.

"I am just so amazed that Betty created her and that that little girl came from her. It's the most amazing thing I have ever seen and that baby is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," Amanda gushed.

"She is, isn't she. And we are so lucky we get to be a part of her life," Daniel gushed back. He sounded like a soppy moron but he couldn't help it. He was completely and utterly overjoyed.

"We do," Amanda said. She swore then and there that no matter what, she would be there for that little girl. She would teach her how to work a room and sashay across the floor like no-one else could and all that other superficial stuff but it that little girl needed her for anything, anything at all, she would drop everything and run like hell to get to her. She told Daniel this and he smiled.

"If we feel like this, imagine how much more Betty feels," he said. Amazing Betty, beautiful Betty, life-giving Betty.

"Speaking of Betty, she's asking for you," Amanda said. "You should go to her."

"What are you going to do?" Daniel asked.

"Go home, have a shower, crash," Amanda replied. "I'll be back for visiting hours but."

They stood up and Daniel insisted on walking Amanda to the lift. They stood and waited for it as it made its slow ascent.

"I should warn you, Gabe is in the waiting room," she said. "And they were getting ready to take Betty back when I left."

"I'll take care of it," Daniel replied. The lift came and Amanda stepped in. She smiled at him and he smiled back. "I'll see you soon."

-

Betty woke-up and found herself watching Daniel as he stood in front of her hospital bed. He was holding her daughter in his arms.

"Is she awake?" Betty asked, straining her head to catch a glimpse of the small infant that Daniel cradled in his arms. He turned towards her and she could see dark hair sprouting from the fluffy pink blanket.

"She's still sleeping. She likes to sleep," he noted. "I read that babies sleep around 18 hours a day. Maybe it was 16, I'm not sure but they sleep a lot."

"They don't really know how to do anything else," Betty laughed. She sat up and got herself comfortable. "Can I hold her, please?"

She saw the hesitation on his face and her heart was light. Daniel begrudgingly made his way to her bed and carefully handed her the sleeping baby, kissing her on the forehead first.

"Remember to support her head," he reminded her. She rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly.

"She's so beautiful, Daniel. I cant believe I created her," she whispered.

"Right out of thin air," he whispered back. He sat next to her on the bed and gazed down at them both.

"Hello, Sybella," she purred. "I'm your mother and this is the man who is going to be your father."

"Hello, Sybella," he echoed. And as they sat there breathing every inch of the baby in, he knew he had made the best decision of his life. Eventually, Daniel spoke again. "Has Gabe seen her?"

He had gone to 'take care of it' like he told Amanda he would but he hadn't been able to find the red-haired jerk.

"Yeah. He thought she was beautiful because she is," Betty replied. Daniel yawned and Betty laughed softly. "Have you slept at all?"

"I got about half an hours sleep in the waiting room," he admitted. "But it wasn't very comfortable. Not comfortable at all, actually."

"You poor thing," Betty replied.

"Me poor thing? How about you? You just pushed a human being out of you," he said, amazed. "It was incredible."

"I don't feel incredible. I just feel tired, sore and completely happy," Betty grinned. Daniel grinned back.

"So, Amanda, hey?" he said, breaking the silence once more.

"Tell me about it. I give her a week before we're back to demanding, bitchy Amanda. I hope so anyway because it's nice for a change but it's also scary seeing her like this," Betty noted.

"She loves Sybella already," Daniel said. "We'll keep that part of her but I agree. I like Amanda with attitude. Keeps the world in its place."

Sybella gurgled a little then and then the two adults had their attention completely turned to her in a nanosecond.

She was so small but so loved.