Ugly Betty

It Takes A Village

A/N: Again, thank you so, so much for the reviews. I hope my quick updates have made up for my previous lack of. I can't promise it will always be like this but I am on a total roll at the moment. This may seem a little bit melodramatic but just remember that Betty and Daniel are both exhausted and stressed. Things are hard now but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Happy reading!

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

Chapter Ten: Cosmos and the cosmos

"You and Betty will be fine," Amanda said to her older half-brother as they rode up in the lift to his penthouse. It had been a struggle at first to accept that she had had sex with her brother but after a lot of binge-eating sessions and some therapy sessions, she had gotten over it.

"I know that," Daniel huffed. "It was just a stupid fight. It'll be fine."

"Then why are you so worried?" Amanda asked. Daniel turned to look at her and she grinned. "You're so not okay so don't even say you are."

"I said something really mean to her. Of course I'm worried," he agreed. "She could have my you-know-what's for that."

"She could have had them for a lot more," Amanda said under her breath. Daniel shot her for a questioning look but she covered quickly. No use trying to convince them they loved each other, she reasoned. They'd figure it out eventually. "I mean, remember when she first started and you tried so hard to get her to quit? I'm sure she hated you more for that."

Daniel was quiet. The lift opened and both people were quiet as Daniel unlocked the front door and pushed it open. They were met with a flurry of action as Betty whipped around the house half-dressed. Her hair was done in a neat half-up, half-down fashion but her make-up was only half done.

"Betty?" Daniel asked. Amanda put her coat and handbag on the couch then tip-toed into the kitchen.

"Daniel," she answered curtly.

"What's going on?" he asked, obviously confused.

"I have a date tonight. Remember?" she asked. "Don't tell me you forgot. You're meant to be baby-sitting Sybella for me."

"I cant tonight. I have the benefit dinner and you remember what happened the last time I didn't show to one of those," he answered.

"I told you about this date weeks ago. Long before you knew about the stupid benefit," she shot-back. She shot him a look full of daggers. "What am I supposed to do now, Daniel? You just keep letting me down."

"I'll watch her," Amanda offered. She was holding a handful of chocolate biscotti and watching the two fight. "I had plans, of course, but I could cancel them."

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that. You shouldn't have to deal with HIM being irresponsible and forgetful," Betty replied.

"It' fine. I'd actually really like to stay with her," Amanda shrugged.

"Just let her," Daniel sighed. Betty glared at him again but nodded.

"Fine. I'm going to finish getting ready," she said. She shook her head at Daniel and then stormed past him into her bathroom. He, in turn, made an exasperated noise and stormed past Amanda into his bedroom.

Amanda walked over to the pink fluffy play mat that was on the floor and looked down at the gurgling baby that lay on it. She sighed and sat on the floor, closer to Sybella. "I guess it's just you and me tonight, sweetheart. Those morons that call themselves your parents are going to have awful nights but you and me; we're going to have fun."

The doorbell rang a while later and Betty zoomed out of her room.

"How do I look?" she asked Amanda.

"You look great," Amanda appraised her. "You have fun, you here?"

"You have my number if anything goes wrong. Belle is going to need a bottle in about an hour. You need to put it in the microwave for about-"

"I've looked after her before. I know what I'm doing," Amanda interrupted. "Now go and have some fun."

Daniel exited his room at that moment and found Betty and Amanda standing at the front door. The bell rang again.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" he asked.

"Yes," Betty said. She leant forward and wrenched the door open to reveal a short brown-haired man in black slacks and a light blue button-down shirt. "Hey, Mike. Just let me get my bag and we'll go."

"Yummy," Amanda whispered to Betty as she swept back past her.

"Well, I'm out of here," Daniel said. He leant down to kiss Sybella on the head. "Be nice to Aunty Amanda. It was nice to meet you, Mike."

In seconds he is gone and Betty is by Amanda's side fussing over Sybella and kissing her over and over again.

"Okay, Mummy, I think that's enough," Amanda says finally. She pulls her 'niece' away from her mother and shoos Betty out the door. "Have a good night, Betty and don't worry about us here. We are going to be fine."

Eventually everybody is gone and Amanda is left along with Sybella. She takes a seat on the couch and stands Sybella up so she can look at every inch of her. Within moments a small but pudgy hand is resting in her mouth and Amanda laughs.

"You re the most adorable thing on the planet," she coos. "You are. And don't worry because I won't let Mummy and Daniel's idiocy get to you. No, I won't."

"Amanda?" Daniel called as he let himself into the apartment. He removed his coat and walked into the lounge-room. He smiled down as he saw his half-sister asleep on the couch hugging Sybella to her chest. They looked so peaceful that he decided to put off waking them up for as long as he could. He went into the kitchen and poured himself a scotch on the rocks, even though he normally believed the melted water diluted the scotch's healing properties but tonight he was drinking to calm himself down, not to get drunk. The ice clanged against the glass and the sound of the pouring liquid was like gold to his ears.

"Daniel?" a small voice asked. He turned around to find Amanda standing behind him, still cradling Sybella. She blinked and narrowed her eyes as if to suss out whether it was really him or not. "What are you doing home so early?"

"I showed up, had a cocktail, ate my salad then got so bored I decided to bail," he answered.

"More like you wanted to see if Betty was home yet," Amanda replied. She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go put Belle in bed. Pour me one of those only make it a Cosmo and make it strong."

Daniel did as he was ordered and when Amanda was finishing putting Sybella in bed, she joined him in the living room, stretched out on the couch and took a long sip of her drink.

"You know you don't have to stay here with me. I'm sure you have plans of your own and I was meant to baby-sit tonight," Daniel said.

"I'm fine where I am," she answered. "So tell me why have you been such an asshole to Betty lately?"

"I haven't been an asshole," he defended himself.

"Oh, you have been a complete and total jerk," Amanda shot-back. "Tonight you were horrible. You were mean. You promised Betty you would baby-sit and then you refused. Not to mention the whole sleeping with Margot and not telling her thing."

"I don't have to tell Betty everything," Daniel argued. "It's my business and I should be allowed to keep it that way."

"Or maybe you didn't tell her because you thought she'd be disappointed in you. Well, I hate to be the one to tell you but good job on that one because you managed to do that anyway."

"Amanda, I don't know what to say. Every excuse I can come up with just sounds lame and overused. I'm tired, I'm bored, and I'm overwhelmed. They're just words. Everyone uses them. They don't mean anything," he replied. "And Betty would rather know the truth than hear some lame excuse."

"Well," Amanda said, finishing off the last of her drink. "I guess you better tell her the truth."

"I was a jerk, wasn't I?" Daniel asked.

"Complete and total."

"How do you think her date's going?" he asked.

"I don't know. For her sake, I hope its going well."

"I don't know. I didn't like the look of Mike or Mitch or whatever the guy's name was. He seemed like a bit of a sap to me," Daniel said.

"Really? I think he looked nice. Besides you barely even looked at him," Amanda said. She smirked to herself.

"What's that look for?" Daniel asked, catching the smirk himself.

"Nothing," Amanda replied nonchalantly. She slurped down the last of her Cosmo then stood up. "Anyway, lame-o, I'm out of here. I've suddenly had enough of playing the good aunty and sister and I now feel the need to get my dance on. Maybe Marc and Frederico feel up to a little night-out."

"Marc's back from London?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. He and his fellow queen are looking for a place rather aptly in Queens. Anyway, the night is getting old," she said. She picked up her handbag and wove her scarf around her neck. "I'll see you."

"Good night, Amanda," Daniel said, taking the last slug of his scotch.

Betty's night, meanwhile, had been a complete and utter disaster. Mike, lovely as he was, was a complete and utter bore. He had spent the night talking entirely about his curren passion which was the Universe, the stars and the cosmos. Betty loved looking at the stars as much as anyone else but she quickly bored of hearing about the different constellations and the gravitational pull of the moon. She was relieved when they returned home but only slightly. The menial conversaion had given her time to think and she had come to a realisation that she was not looking forward to talking to Daniel about. But for now she had Mike to deal with.

"I had a great time," Betty smiled. She leaned forward and kissed Mike on the cheek. "Thanks for a lovely dinner. Good night."

"Good night," her male companion replied.

Betty quickly unlocked the door and entered her apartment. She waved once more at Mike who stood at the door looking hopeful. He waved back and Betty all but slammed the door shut. The apartment was quiet save the sound of soft music coming from the stereo. The only light was coming from the muted television. It cast a soft blue glow over the room, casting different shadows with every flash.

"Amanda?" she called. Without an answer and as if on auto-pilot, Betty made her way into Sybella's room to check on her. The rocking chair had been moved over to the window and it was gently rocking. She walked over and stood next to it and looked down to find Daniel, not Amanda as she expected, rocking her sleeping daughter.

"She was crying," Daniel said in explanation.

"I hear you," Betty replied. She leaned down and kissed Sybella on the cheek and then ran her fingers across her thick but baby soft hair. "I wasn't expecting you home so early."

"I thought we should talk so I came home," Daniel said.

"Does that mean you thought I was going to be home early?" she asked, immediately on the defensive.

"I don't want to fight, Betty," he sighed. "I didn't think that at all. What I said is what I meant. I wanted to talk to you."

"So talk," she said. She pulled the other armchair over closer to the rocking chair and waited in anticipation.

"I know you don't want to hear excuses," Daniel started. "I guess the only thing I can say is I'm sorry and I was an ass."

"You were," Betty agreed. "But thank you for apologising."

"And as for the Margot thing I guess all I can say is I made a bad decision. People do that sometimes. They make stupid mistakes and I know that I make more of them than the average human but I'm trying. For you and Sybella, I am trying to make the right decisions and be a better person," he said.

"I don't care that you slept with her. I care that you didn't tell me. We're friends. Best friends, in fact, and best friends tell each other things like that," Betty replied quietly.

"I am sorry," he repeated.

"I've been thinking a lot lately and I think Sybella and I should get our own place," Betty said.

"What?" Daniel asked. "No, you can't move out."

"You would still be in mine and Sybella's life but maybe it's best for us and maybe it'll be better for you and me as well. Maybe we'll talk more and it couldn't hurt to be a little less reliant on each other. I'd still come back to Mode when Belle's old enough to go to day-care and you can still call me whenever you want to but I think we'll be better off not living in each other's pockets all the time. It's killing us, Daniel, and I love you way too much to have this kill us," Betty said, tears welling up in her eyes. Her throat ached where a lump had suddenly grown.

Daniel stood up and carefully placed Sybella in her cot. He turned to Betty, the pain evident in his blue eyes, "I suddenly feel very tired. I'll see you in the morning."

"Daniel," she whispered desperately. "Please don't walk away."

"I don't want you to go," he said without turning around. "But I can't talk about this anymore. Not tonight. I love you, Betty, I do but if you've made up your mind, I know there's nothing I can do to change your mind."

And with that he left Betty alone with her greatest joy and her greatest pain- Sybella and the prospect of a Daniel free life.