CHAPTER 24:

The car ride from the hospital was a silent one with Willie resting her head on Daniel's shoulder with his arm draped around her protectively. As their car approached her building, they could see a few journalists from the distance.

"Fuck" Willie said under her breath. After she was discharged, the couple decided that the break of dawn would be the perfect time to drive home from the hospital. They thought by doing so, they would avoid the paparazzi that they assumed was still asleep. They were wrong.

"Don't worry, babe. Let's just ignore them." Daniel said softly rubbing her soothingly in an effort to calm her down. He placed a tender reassuring kiss on her forehead as the car halted. The couple nodded in agreement and Daniel stepped out of the car first and the cameras began to click and flash. He exhaled before proffering his hand to Willie who gripped it tightly. As soon as he helped her out of the car, her arm draped around his waist. As they tried to get through the paparazzi, Daniel put his strong arm around her, repeating 'No comment' the entire time.

Ms. Slater, how do you feel about Alexis' admission to your unborn child's murder?

Did you suspect her at all?

Was she the only perpetrator or did she have an accomplice?

Which you designer were you wearing when you were pushed down the stairs?

Daniel, where were you? Why didn't you protect your woman?

Did the baby die immediately?

Is there going to be a memorial for the little one?

Daniel, are you speaking to Alexis at the moment?

Thankfully, they made it safely into the building. Daniel fumbled with the keys and unlocked the door and let her go in first. She unbuttoned and peeled off her jacked as they walked in and Daniel dumped her bag on a nearby chair. She flung her jacket on the couch carelessly and proceeded to the bedroom with Daniel following closely behind her.

"Do you…would you like anything to eat?"

"No. I'm gonna change and get some sleep." She replied quietly

"Okay, but when you wake up you have to eat something. The doctor said you should eat iron rich foods to help with…"

"Danny, baby I know what he said. I was there. Now I just want to sleep." She snapped softly

"Okay, I'll help you get…" Daniel said while he proceeded to uncover the bed

"Daniel, baby I think I can manage to change and get under the covers on my own." Daniel realized that she was getting upset and he just silenced her with a peck on her lips. When they pulled apart he caressed her face gently and looked into her blue orbs adoringly.

"Baby, I know you don't like feeling helpless. I'm not saying you are, but I want to be there for you. I have to be there and be the tower of strength for the woman I love." As much as she hated being helpless and needing anyone, she couldn't argue with him because he was absolutely right. She needed him. She responded with a gentle kiss on his lips. "Now get some rest and in the mean time I'll unpack your stuff and put it in the washer. Where's your washing machine?"

"Uh…I…I have no idea. It's in here somewhere." She said stifling a laugh

"Okay, you do that and I'll find it. If you need anything, just shout."

"Thanks, baby." As Daniel walked out of the bedroom, she called out softly "Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, baby." He said looking at her lovingly "Now get some rest and when you wake up I'll have your breakfast ready for you."

"Thank you."

There are a number of phases when it comes to grief. They range from shock, disbelief and denial, blame, anger up to acceptance. Some people feel the phases more than they feel others, some people skip one or two and some people get stuck in the same phase longer than expected. But something was different with Wilhelmina, it seemed as though she felt all these emotions at the same time.

The few days following the incident seemed to drag on. Wilhelmina spent every single moment of the past few days in bed. She tried her best to be nice to Daniel but there were moments where she snapped at him. She hardly spoke. Not to Daniel and not even to Marc. She grew irritable every time they barged in her bedroom to tell her to eat something, telling her that if she needs to talk, they were there for her. The mere thought or mention of food induced her nausea and when they offered their shoulder to cry on, she couldn't help the urge to punch them in the groin. All she wanted to do was curl up and lie in bed without being bothered by anybody.

She feared going out of her bedroom because then she would be forced to go into the nursery, the nursery she decorated at only 14 weeks. Her hopes of getting it right were crushed and all those dreams of holding her bundle of joy in her arms for the first time, changing diapers, sleepless nights and first steps and words went to hell. All she wanted to do was to walk in the baby's room with her baseball bat and bash everything in it to pieces and if she dared to walk into that nursery that's she might do.

She persuaded Daniel to go back to Mode to oversee everything. That was her way of getting rid of him so she could be alone. Daniel knew what she was doing nevertheless decided to go to the office anyway, hoping that his absence might do her some good, even though he failed to see how so. However he wasn't leaving her completely alone, he asked Marc, her loyal assistant to stay with her in case she needed something. Marc wasn't much help either as she remained the same. All she did was lie in bed, refusing food.

In the afternoon Daniel came home with DJ after their lunch. As soon as they walked in, the boy darted for the TV and Daniel proceeded down the hall. He cracked the bedroom door open and peeked inside and saw that she was sleeping. He slowly walked toward her on her bed and climbed on.

"Hi babe" Daniel whispered as his hand soothed along her sleeping form

"Hey" She said groggily. She pecked him on the lips before continuing "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you. I called earlier and Marc said you didn't eat."

"I'm nauseas."

"But, Willie…"

"I'm still nauseas, Daniel. It's difficult to eat because I can't seem to keep it down."

"Okay, I didn't mean to upset you, baby. Physically, how are you? Other than the nausea."

"I'm still cramping."

"A lot?"

"No, they're mild."

"I hate to tell you this, Willie. I just came from Alexis' arraignment…she was charged with assault only and not fetal homicide."

"I figured that. Under New York statutory law, fetal homicide exists if the fetus has been killed after 24 weeks of pregnancy."

"I'm so sorry, Willie. It's really unfair."

"I know."

"And because she turned herself in, she's going to…."

"…Get off with a slap on the wrist." She finished indignantly.

"Are sure you're okay?" He asked as he touched her arm gently

"I'm going to be." She assured

"Willie, I'm afraid that's not all. It's DJ. His grandparents are coming in a few days."

"For a visit?"

"To take him away."

"They're taking him away? They can't do that."

"They filed a petition for custody."

"But you don't have to worry about that, you are his father. We can fight them."

"Wils, babe I'm not his dad."

"What?"

"The DNA results came back and I'm not his father."

"Oh, my God, Daniel. Are you alright?"

"Baby, please. I don't want you worrying about this. I'm fine. Just focus on you and your health and I'll try and figure out a plan with the DJ situation."

"How can I not?"

"Willie, please, I've called my lawyer for advice…We'll figure something out."

"Do his grandparents know that you're not the father?"

"Yeah, they subpoenaed the evidence and that's how they came to know. The judge awarded them temporary custody."

"How long have you known?"

"A couple of days. I didn't wanna worry you."

"I understand. Who is the father?"

"Alexis. That's part of the reason we got into the fight during my visit the other day. But a huge part of it was that she killed our…" She looked in the distance at that while his words died down.

"You're going to be late for your meeting with…" She said, changing the subject

"I cancelled it."

"What?"

"Willie, baby, Mode magazine isn't going to fall apart in just a day. Right now you are the most important thing. You need me and I have to be here with you."

"Does DJ know?" He just shook his head slowly. She didn't know what else to do and how she could help him. She just gripped his hand softly and intertwined their fingers.

The bedroom had now become a favorite place of the bereaved Wilhelmina. Another week went by and her boudoir was her escape from it all. The press, Alexis and everyone at Meade Publications. However she didn't do much of an escape in her bedroom because she thought about the past few days and how she had been a total bitch to Daniel. She was isolating herself to protect him. She loved him so much that she didn't wish for him to feel what she was feeling at that moment. That's the reason she coaxed him to go to work even though she needed him. She assumed that work would help him forget about their pain. As she sat in bed engulfed in her thoughts, Marc's distinctive knock shook her from her deep thoughts. He walked in and approached slowly.

"I'm not going to bite, Marc." She said softly

"Hey, Willie. Uhm…you need to eat…again."

"Fine, get me anything with iron."

"Okay, good. Messages…"

"If it's another 2 dozen condolences, spare me the pleasure."

"Okay. But one of the messages is from your dad. He says he's really…" She shot him a fierce glare "Okay, I thought you'd like to know."

"I'm sorry, Marc. I just…"

"It's okay, Willie. There's one more thing…you have a visitor."

"Who is it?" She asked as her eyebrows furrowed

"Mama Meade."

"Claire is here?"

"Yeah, she's waiting in the living room, saying she desperately wants to talk to you. I told her I'd check with you so…"

"Tell her I'll be there in a moment."

She staggered in the living room with her eyes locked on her nemesis'. She tugged on her silk robe tighter as she settled on the couch opposite the chair that the old woman was vacating.

"Good afternoon, Wilhelmina."

"Claire, to what do I owe the honor?" Asked Willie

"I want to talk."

"About what?" She asked icily

"Alexis might go to jail."

"My heart is breaking." Willie offered sarcastically

"I know you're angry."

"You have no idea how I feel, Claire."

"I lost a child once…"

"Your dead son came back. This isn't the same fucking thing." Claire was beginning to lose her cool. Now seemed like the perfect time to tell Wilhelmina exactly was she thought of her.

"Wilhelmina please, you think me not giving you a piece of my mind when I found out that you were screwing Daniel is because I wanted to spare your feelings? I kept my mouth shut because Daniel begged me to. And the reason I complied is because when this phony relationship of yours comes to an end which won't take too long, I'll be there. You won't come between me and my son."

"Why are you here, Claire?"

"You got the DA to bump the charges from assault to attempted murder."

"You came here to tell me something I already know?"

"We will file a motion to get the prosecutor removed from this case because I know you had some kind of influence to his decision. I hired a private investigator to look into…"

"I know you didn't come here to threaten about filing a damn motion. So the ADA and I had a no strings attached relationship 4 years ago, so what? The fact that Alexis was trying to kill me is not a fabrication. "

"Wilhelmina please, get the charges dropped back to assault. Alexis will do community service for…"

"I will do no such thing."

"I wasn't finished… In return, keeping your share of Meade won't be contested."

"Like I said, I will do no such thing."

"You'd really destroy my daughter's life? All for some power play over the company?"

"Power play? She destroyed my son's life, your grandson's life, literally. And I'm not doing a goddamn thing. I just want justice served."

"Bullshit!" Shouted Claire "I know you're hurting but let's not twist this around, shall we not? You paraded your pregnancy and fooled everyone into thinking that you were carrying my husband's child. That was all a power move."

"What the hell is your point, Claire?"

"I want to make a deal with you. I know what you want, but Alexis will never give you control over Meade publications. She'll go to prison first."

"Well, then, we have nothing to discuss."

"Not, necessarily. I said she'll never give you control over the company." As much as she wanted Alexis to suffer, she knew that her defense was pretty strong. If Claire had a solution that would keep them out of court and still let the felonious Alexis suffer, she wanted to hear it. She heaved a sigh before letting Claire continue.

"Go on."

"I'll convince her to split her shares, sign over half to Daniel and half to you. You'll each have 50% stake at Meade. Equal partners in running the company, equal partners in running the magazine. You'll both be Editors-in-Chief. And in exchange you will use your influence with the DA that I know you had and get the charges to just assault."

"Well, I don't think Daniel will be happy you battering away his legacy to spring his jailbird sister."

"You may not understand this, Wilhelmina, but there's something called sacrifice. Daniel and Alexis may be going through a rough patch, but…"

"A rough patch would be if she scratched his car, made out with his girlfriend or something like that. She murdered his baby. I know you don't believe this and I don't really give a shit but I love Daniel and I don't think he's going to be too happy…"

"Well, since you two are playing house, why don't you tell him the big news? Goodbye." On the double, Claire stood up and headed for the door.

Meanwhile at Coney Island:

Daniel, Betty and Gio were on a search for DJ who had disappeared for almost half an hour. The boy took off when he witnessed Daniel blurting out that he wasn't his father in a fit of anger. Now Daniel walked along with Betty while Gio went looking on the other side of the amusement park

"Daniel, why didn't you tell me? You tell me everything." said Betty

"I know, I just…I guess I thought I could fix it somehow. You know? Make it go away. I was just afraid if I said it out loud, it would make it real."

"Wow. Do you know who the real father is?"

"Yeah. Alexis." Daniel said resentfully

"Oh…wow…"

"Look the important thing is, Alexis doesn't want to be the father, and I do."

"What does that mean? What are you going to do?"

"Gonna run away, someplace where his grandparents can't get to us. He, Wilhelmina and I are gonna take the Meade jet and head off to some remote island or something."

"Are his grandparents awful people?" Betty questioned

"No. Not at all."

"Okay, so these two nice people show up to get their grandson, and all of a sudden you want to become an international fugitive?"

"Betty, you don't understand."

"Try to make me understand."

"I'M LOSING EVERYTHING!" He screamed, startling Betty with his outburst "I lost my unborn child with a woman I love. I feel like I'm losing her…she just…she's not talking to me or anybody, she's not eating she's just…and now I'm gonna lose DJ too."

"I'm so sorry, Daniel. I really am. But still, you gonna board the Meade jet with DJ and Wilhelmina who's just lost a baby. Is Wilhelmina even going to be content with that and how are you gonna survive without drawing any attention to yourselves?"

"This is a really bad plan, isn't it?"

"Well, you know sometimes when we want something really bad, we forget that there are other people involved. We just get stuck in our own little worlds, and it doesn't matter what other people feel. Except that it does matter." Before Daniel could say something, Gio appeared

"Hey, I think I know where he is."

Gio led them under the pier where DJ was hiding. He was sitting there, his knees to his chest with his head bowed. Daniel walked over, approaching him slowly.

"DJ, hey. Are you okay? You really had me worried." He was met with angry silence form the boy. He didn't even bother to look up.

"Look, I'm so sorry you had to find out like this, but it doesn't change the way I feel about you. Not a bit. Even after I found out, I still wanted you to be my son. I wanted to fight for you." DJ finally looked up at him blinking away his tears. He had been crying. The sight broke Daniel's heart even more.

"Why don't you? Fight?"

"It's complicated. Your grandparents miss you very much…and I know you miss them…and your mom. Don't you? Look, I just…I think it's time…for you to go home for a while."

"But I want you to be my father, mon papa." DJ argued

"I want that maybe more than anything, but, DJ…I'm not. Maybe I can be your really cool American uncle." He said the latter sentence almost playfully in an attempt to cheer up the kid. "I'm not going away, ever." DJ threw himself at his arms. After pulling apart from their long embrace, Daniel spoke.

"Now, let's go home so you can say goodbye to Willie, okay?"

"Oui"

"Look, Willie and I will come and visit you in Paris sometime. I promise."

"Merci, Papa."

The atmosphere was rather frosty at Willie's home since DJ's departure back to France. She hadn't been saying much to Daniel since the miscarriage but it seemed to be getting worse and worse with each passing day. She would only reply with a 'yes' or a 'no' to whatever he said to her when he made an effort to start a conversation. And then in the middle of the night Daniel would wake up to her sobbing. Thankfully she hadn't rejected his attempts to console and comfort her, which meant that she needed him. However she refused to touch the subject of her crying episodes whenever Daniel brought them up.

Daniel knew he had to be there for her and put up with her no matter what, because he loved her. This evening the couple was watching television, well Daniel was watching and Willie was staring in the distance with a blank expression on her face. They just sat there not saying what they should have been saying to each other.

A knock on the door slightly interjected their uncomfortable silence. Daniel jumped from the bed and hurriedly went to answer it. Upon opening the door he was quite taken aback by who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Wow, you live with her?" Alexis asked, still in shock at who answered the door

"Alexis, what are you doing here?"

"I need to speak with Wilhelmina."

"She's asleep."

"Daniel, please." She begged

"Wait here." He said reluctantly and turned on his heel, vanishing to the hallway. Alexis waited by the door for a few moments.

"I'm sorry, Alexis."

"What'd she say?"

"She says she's not ready to speak with you. Says she needs time."

"That's uh…understandable. She hates me right now…and so do you." Daniel didn't argue as he was still mad at her, but didn't hate her. But he wasn't going to admit that to her yet and ease her guilt.

"So, Mom told me you're leaving."

"I could use a break. Provence is really beautiful this time of the year. My flight leaves in an hour."

"So, while you're in France, maybe you can spend some time getting to know DJ."

"You're okay with that?"

"He's your son."

"Daniel, I'm really sorry…"

"Alexis, you said that numerous times. Look, no matter how many times you say sorry, it's not gonna make a difference. But maybe with time…" Alexis nodded in agreement eyes brimming with tears. "Goodbye, Danny."

"Bye, Alexis." Said Daniel and then he closed the door