Ugly Betty
It Takes A Village
A/N:I know. I'm bad. I swore I wouldn't abandon this story and I meant it. I just haven't had much inspiration for it lately until I sat down tonight and forced myself to write. You have all been such a supportive bunch that you deserve an update every now and then. I promise this story will be finished, either in a week or another seven months. Haha. Thanks so much!! Sorry this is a little angsty and maybe not filled-out enough but it's way past my bedtime.
Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Ugly Betty in anyway.
Chapter Seventeen: Jumping the Gun
The diamond heart on her finger glistened in the sunlight. Her hand rested against the window-pane of Daniel's office and she sighed as she looked down at the busy street below before returning her glance to her ring. She moved her other hand and rested two fingers on the ring. Slowly, very slowly, she twisted it upwards. She paused and quickly shoved the ring back where it belonged.
"You okay?" Amanda asked from behind her.
"Not really," Betty answered, still facing the window. She sighed. "Manda, everything was going so well."
"I know," Amanda agreed simply. She walked over and rested her chin on Betty's shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Betty. I pro-"
"You don't know that," Betty said, cutting Amanda off. "So please don't make promises you can't keep."
"Sorry," she replied slightly testily. "I was just trying to help."
"I know but I can't be helped right now," Betty replied.
"You know, it could be worse," Amanda snapped. She took a step back and glared at the side of Betty's face. "Daniel could be in a hospital bed right now. He could be dead. He could have left you at the altar. He could have cheated on you but he didn't. You are making a big deal out of nothing."
"This isn't nothing!" Betty cried. She whirled around and glared at Amanda. All the bottled-up anger she was meant to be saving for Daniel came spewing out of her gaze. "This is bad. This is majorly bad. This is break-up bad."
"It's only break-up bad if you want it to be," the blonde disagreed. There was something pleading and desperate in her voice. "Don't give up. You two can make this work. I think you can, anyway."
"And if I don't want to make it work?" Betty asked venomously. "I don't think I can be with him anymore. I should just break-up with him now. It's for the best."
"You are so stupid, Betty Suarez. And you're jumping the gun. The results haven't even come through yet so if I were you, I'd hold-off on making any decisions you're going to regret." Amanda all-but-shouted.
"Says the woman who's only ever been in one serious relationship in her life," Betty scoffed. "You know nothing about love."
"This isn't about love. This is about you not having the guts to deal with this situation. You're scared. Scared of what, I don't know. But you're scared. Have you even talked to him?"
"Not since," she paused while she mentally counted back. "Monday night when we found out. Three days ago."
"Call him," Amanda ordered. Betty hesitated and Amanda groaned. "Obviously I can't talk any sense into you right now so I'm going to go. Enjoy being miserable. I'll be at the desk if you hear anything."
"Manda..."
"Betty, just shut-up. I can't handle you right now. You're being unreasonable."
"I'm being unreasonable?" Betty asked. "I'm. Being. Unreasonable. I think I have a reason to freak-out. You'd freak-out too if you were in my position."
"I know," she sighed. Her face had softened now and she gave Betty a gentle scratch on her back. "I'm sorry I yelled but it scares me."
"What scares you?" the dark-haired woman asked.
"The idea of you and Daniel not being together. If you broke-up, I'd lose my faith in love. It'd be like Jack and Rose all over again," Amanda answered.
"They didn't exactly break-up," Betty pointed out. "He died. She lived. No-one is dying here."
"Exactly. But she loved him for the rest of her life and you're going to love Daniel for the rest of yours," Amanda continued. "Can you honestly tell me that you'd be able to leave him if the results are positive?"
Betty was silent for a long-time. She glanced down at the shimmering heart on her finger and a small smile crossed her face. Someone had put a lot of time, love and effort into creating the stone and melding the ring around it and a certain someone had been at the right place at the right-time to find it. It was perfect. It fit her properly, it suited her personality-wise and style-wise, it was the kind of ring she'd daydreamed her Prince Charming would give her. It was almost as if it had been made for her, almost as if it was destined for her. Just as the time Daniel had seen it had been the wrong time to buy it, maybe it was the wrong time to be wearing it. Maybe she and Daniel weren't meant for each other there and then. But then maybe...
"No," she answered finally.
...maybe there was no better time than the present for the two of them.
She was the last to leave the office. The floor was mostly darkened. Just a few lamps and safety lights lit the way to the elevator. Betty pressed the button and waited for the doors to open. She waited for almost a full minute until they did. When the doors slid open she realised she wouldn't be riding down alone.
"Going down?" the other occupant asked.
"Yep," she answered shortly as the right button was pressed.
"I got worried when you didn't come home," Daniel said.
"I had to work late," she tried to explain lamely. He was the boss. He knew damn-well she had nothing to do.
"And what was your excuse last night?" he asked. "You rang to say good-night to Sybella but you didn't talk to me. I didn't know where you were. I was worried. I almost called the police but I figured they wouldn't do anything since we'd had some kind of contact with you and you weren't in trouble. Where were you?"
"I was at Hilda's," she answered.
Her sister had moved back to the US with three months earlier with a grown-up and recently graduated Justin. He wanted to attend a prestigious fashion school which, conveniently, was located in Manhattan.
"Hilda's," he mused with a nod. "Hmm. Right. And you couldn't tell me why?"
"Because you would've come and got me," she answered meekly.
"Damn right I would have. You know, Betty, I know this is hard for you but it's hard for me too. I could really use your support," he snapped.
"I know and I'm sorry," she replied. She was exhausted now and sick of fighting. The doors pinged open but neither of them moved. Betty shuffled backwards and leaned on the wall next to him. "I was being selfish and I was only thinking about what this could mean for me, for us."
"You were wondering how to break-up with me," he corrected.
"I have to protect Bella. This isn't just about me," she began to explain. "I'm her mother. I need to protect her from getting hurt."
"And you need to protect yourself from getting hurt," he added. Betty nodded mutely. Daniel rolled his eyes but suddenly, his face was angry. "I can't believe you think I would hurt you like that. This doesn't affect our relationship at all. At least it didn't until you made it. Any cracks that have appeared were caused by you. I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Nothing will change that. Not even this."
"How can you say that? This could be a major part of your life. Are you saying it isn't going to affect us?" Betty asked incredulously. The elevator doors closed and they stood in the enclosure, suspended in air. "Or are you just going to abandon it? Because that isn't like the man I love."
"I'm saying we don't even know if it's going to be an issue and if it is, you and I will work it out. Together. But I'm not leaving you and I'm not letting you leave me. Please stop making decisions we'll both regret," Daniel begged.
"You think I'm being stupid, don't you?" Betty asked. "Amanda does."
"I think any thought that wants to take you away from me is stupid," he agreed emphatically. He sighed and shook his head to clear it. "Can we please go home?"
"I told Hilda I'd..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence because Daniel had crashed his lips onto hers and he wasn't letting go.
"You're coming home, Betty," he said forcefully.
The answering machine light was flashing when the two walked through the door. They were hand-in-hand and chuckling over something.
"Is Sybella downstairs?" Betty asked. Her friend, Astrid, from school lived in an apartment three floors down. The two girls were constantly together and forever flitting between apartments.
"Yeah," Daniel answered. "Martha said she'd bring her up. I'll give her a call."
He walked over to the kitchen bench and saw the flashing light. He pressed the button. Betty was rummaging through the fridge though she paused to listen to the message.
"Hi, Daniel. It's Ashleigh. Umm, it's been a long-time. Almost a year, in fact. I hear that you and Betty are getting married in two and a half months. That's really good for you. I have something I need to tell you before you get married, though. It's something I should have told you a long time ago. I'm not saying this to break-you two up. I promise. Anyway, I guess this is like a band-aid I should just rip-up. I have a son. A four-week-old called Andy. The thing is, Daniel, he's your son. At least he might be. I'm not sure. I need to do a DNA test so call me sometime so we can set that up. I'm back in New York. You can get me on my old number. I really hope things are well for you. And I'm sorry."
Daniel and Betty mutely turned to look at each other. A half-eaten lettuce fell to the ground. Betty bent over and picked it up. She rinsed it in the sink and then set it aside.
"Does lasagne sound good?" she asked.
In a daze, he nodded.
"Lovely," he murmured. He hadn't yet moved and his eyes were slightly glazed over.
"Good," Betty answered. She wiped her wet hands on the tea-towel. "Don't forget to call Martha. I'm going to get changed."
She brushed past him and sped down the hall to their bedroom. She closed the door behind her and sank to the floor. Numbly she stared at the distant wall. A few hot, stray tears made their way down her cheeks but she furiously brushed them away. 'I will not cry,' she said to herself. And she didn't. What she did was get up, get changed, make dinner for her family, put her daughter to bed and climb silently into bed next to her fiance.
And all without a word because neither of them had anything to say. And the next day Betty left Daniel to go and have DNA samples by himself and didn't come home. The day after that he came and got her. And the day after that they talked and worked things out. And then for the next thirty-seven days they waited with baited breath.
And again the answering machine light was flashing when they walked through the door. Sybella and Astrid were playing in her bedroom under the watchful eye of Astrid's nanny, Martha. Betty stuck her head in and gave both girls a big hug. She then went to change into more comfortable clothes and joined Daniel in the kitchen.
"Another message," she noted.
"Thank you, captain," Daniel replied dryly.
"It's not going to play itself," she pointed out. She sidled closer to Daniel. "It's been six weeks. Do you think its the results?"
His hand hovered over the 'play' button but didn't press it which gave her the answer. Silently, she pushed his hand down onto the button and the very official voice of a man swam around the room.
She didn't hear everything or catch every word but she did catch the vital ones. Results. Negative. Daniel Meade is not the father.
She covered her mouth as tears of relief flooded her eyes. A different kind of tears filled Daniel's. There was relief but there was also disappointment. It was just an urge all humans had, the urge to spread their DNA around. It killed him a tiny bit that Andy wasn't his son. Then Betty was at his side, her hand resting on his forearm. She looked up at him with such an understanding and not at all reproachful look that he couldn't help but smile. Because if anyone was going to have his DNA, he was glad it was going to be her children.
He bent down and kissed her.
"That's that," he said with a shrug.
"If you still want to be a part of Andy's life, I'd understand. You're good at stepping up to the plate," she murmured.
"I doubt Ashleigh wants me to be a part of his life but thank you anyway," he answered. He kissed her again and lifted her up so she was sitting on the kitchen-bench. "It does make me want a baby of my own though. Or, rather, a baby of our own."
"I'm sure we can work on that," Betty whispered. She was still smiling when he kissed her.