Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. I know. Wilhelmina's death was a shocker for a lot of you. But actually, that has been the plan since the beginning. Wilhelmina went so dark in the story that it fell like her only redemption could come in death. Now we're going to be dealing with the fallout.
I now have my outline together for the end of the story and we have 3 to 4 chapters left after this one. It all depends on how much I include in the Flash-Forward section. Although considering I had to move a section of this chapter to the next because it got too long. I'm leaning towards more chapters, not less. My goal is for this story to end with you getting a glimpse of where everybody will be in 2016.
Chapter 42: The Magazine Must go to Press, part one
Faye Somers-Suarezwas exhausted and she was used to the high octane insanity that was Fashion week. But wondering if your youngest grandchild was alive or dead and trying to keep everybody else together was a different type of insanity. Add in the fact that her goddaughter and somebody that she's known for almost 30 years, was also missing and you had a recipe for true mental and emotional exhaustion.
She slept maybe 12 hours total in the last four days and even those hours required the same sleeping pill she gave Daniel and Betty. Due to the 80s, they were nearly useless on her. At best she would be able to take a nap. Now that Nico and Alex were back safely with the family, Ignacio wanted her to rest but she couldn't. There was too much to do.
Her first unpleasant task was identifying Wilhelmina Slater's body. Nico couldn't do it. Vivian said that the young girl was completely numb, too shocked to even cry. At that point, other than asking to go to Monique's room, she hadn't said anything since being told of her mother's demise. The 16-year-old shouldn't be forced to deal with the grim duty just because her Grandfather was too busy using this tragedy to win points with his constituents to do it his damn self. Faye was not even sure his tears were real.
She assumed it would be easier this time, than when she had to identify Bradford's body. It wasn't. She kept thinking back to 1982, of being covered in sweat and Wilhelmina holding her as she finally delivered Amanda after 37 hours of labor. Of breaking down in tears after the doctor took her away to the Tannens and Wilhelmina actually hugging her. She remembered Wilhelmina telling her that it would get easier eventually but not understanding why she said that, not even now.
Once upon a time they were friends; Wilhelmina even named her Nico's godmother. When did things get so bitter and nasty?
Wanda was a good person and Wilhelmina was the product of what happens when this industry destroys you and turns you into something monstrous. Faye wondered how easily she could have ended up on that slab if things were different. Her family, the one she created for herself post-heart attack, not even two years ago were probably the only reason why she did not lose herself to bitterness and hate. She would've kept chasing after Bradford, until he killed her. But then she had her epiphany in the form of a heart attack and everything changed and she wouldn't trade this life for anything.
She wonders if Wilhelmina had her own epiphany in that house in the woods. Was that why she tried so hard to get Alex and Nico away from Carlo Medea? If that were the case Wilhelmina just did not have enough time to really do anything about it. Maybe that was the saddest thing about this entire unfortunate episode.
Faye kept her tears at bay as she made her way through the paparazzi not breaking down until she was behind the safety of the tinted windows of her limo. They would never, ever get footage of her crying.
She was eventually forced to address the media because Betty, Daniel, and Nico where not ready and she could only handle the senator turning this into a spectacle for so long. Also, after Brian Wu tried to pretend to be Marc to get into Alex's hospital room, Faye had enough. In the front of the hospital, Faye made a request for privacy but she knows they won't give it, as evidenced by another reporter trying to sneak into Nico's room. This was why she had Marisol arrange for a private jet to take Betty and family along with Nico to Puerto Rico to stay in her Villa for a few days. The press knew nothing about her house on the island.
Betty and Daniel were happy to take her up on her offer, once the doctor said they could take Alex home, Nico would not. The 16-year-old said she had too much to do. There was a funeral to plan after all. The fact that she was eating and talking at that point was the only reason why neither Faye nor Vivienne forced the issue.
Thankfully, Ruth convinced Nico that it was her responsibility as Wilhelmina's assistant to pull her funeral together. A final responsibility if you will. Amanda volunteered to help which was fine with Faye. She had other things to do, like putting two magazines back together again.
As much as Monique was itching to return to launch MYW she wouldn't be healthy enough for at least two or three months. The woman had a lot of physical therapy in her future. The Bastard did a ridiculous amount of damage. There's no good time for your EIC to end up in intensive care but just weeks before the launch of the new magazine is one of the worst. Both she and Monique agreed that a temporary EIC would have to be brought in and surprisingly enough, they both had the same candidate in mind.
Then there was Mode to handle. With Wilhelmina gone and Daniel dealing with more pressing things, like putting his family back together again after what happened, there was another EIC a position to fill at least temporarily. Faye knew that Daniel would be back eventually, maybe even in a few weeks but the magazine couldn't be without leadership for that long. A temporary EIC would have to be appointed, thankfully unlike MYW mode had a succession plan already in place.
This is why she called Marc, Alexis, and Jordan to the townhouse she was borrowing from Chloe. She was never very sure about Betty's friendship with the starlet but the woman proved to be a true friend. She offered Faye the use of her New York home so they could avoid the paparazzi camped out at every single piece of property owned by anyone and her family.
The three were currently waiting in the living room of the borrowed hideaway as she finished up her phone call with the odious lawyers for Nico's sperm donor. They were chomping at the bit to get a hold of the teenager. Thankfully, Vivian Windom-West knew enough family court judges in the New York metropolitan area to keep man away for now. The last thing Nico needs to deal with is her father.
Being who she is of course Faye is going to listen in for a few minutes at the door before walking in the room in the most dramatic entrance possible. She was still Faye Somers, even though she's exhausted.
"Do you know why Faye called us here?" She heard Marc asked the other two.
"I don't know." Alexis started. "I was hoping it was for a surprise welcome home party, but that would probably require more glitter."
"And balloons." Marc added. "Are they still at the hospital? I tried to visit but the guards wouldn't let me through."
"Because Byron Wu tried to break into the hospital using your professional name." Jamie explained
"Seriously?"
"Yes, which was ridiculous. If you try to visit Monique use your real name. However, Daniel and Betty are currently on a private jet to Puerto Rico." Faye said walking into the room. She quickly took the seat next to Marc. "The paparazzi are vicious and they need some time to reconnect as a family. Thankfully, DJ's school is going to be understanding in this matter."
They are very understanding because one of their faculty members sold pictures of Alex and DJ playing together to the tabloids. They are desperately trying to get her to keep the boys at that school completely unaware of the fact that she, Daniel, and Hilda were already considering other options for next semester.
"And your villa has very high gates." Jamie quipped.
"And the paparazzi still think they're at the hospital. We need to keep up that charade as long as possible." Faye told the three.
"Is that why you asked us to meet you here?" Alexis asked Faye. She decided not to think anything of the fact that Alexis was sitting next to Marc instead of her boyfriend.
"Unfortunately, no. We need to talk about the magazine." She hated needing to focus on work things again but the magazine business waits for no one.
"At a time like this?" Alexis asked annoyed.
"The presses wait for no one." Faye replied darkly. "Alex is safe. Nico is safe."
"And Wilhelmina is in the morgue." Marc said flippantly. "At least that's what they're reporting. Is it true?"
"Yes. According to what Nico was willing to share, she died allowing Nico and Alex to get out of there. She also killed Carlo in the process." Faye closed her eyes remembering that very somber conversation just hours earlier. According to Vivienne, it's the most the young girl had said in the last day without the police there. Definitely more than what she said to say when she checked up on her goddaughter earlier.
"Are you really sure?" Alexis asked disbelieving which makes sense, considering what she did two years ago.
"Wilhelmina Slater has more lives than a cat." Jamie added.
"I identified her body." Faye closed her eyes, fighting back images of earlier.
"Shit." Marc mumbled under breath.
"Nico couldn't do it. The Senator was too busy grandstanding and Vivienne is too busy taking care of her daughter and granddaughter to do so."
"What happens now?" Alexis asked. That was really the hardest question in the universe to answer right now. The only thing they really could do was move forward.
"Ruth and Amanda will be planning a memorial service for Wilhelmina with Christina in charge of finding wardrobe choices." Because if Wilhelmina could only wear one more outfit for the rest of eternity, it better be a good one. "When we are done with this, Marc we need to discuss if we want to do a memorial service for just the office."
The creative director nodded solemnly before speaking. "What about Nico?"
"She was released from the hospital this morning. Although she was spending more time in Monique's room anyway. Nico will be staying with Vivienne for the moment." And Faye was paying a small fortune for her team of lawyers to make sure it stays that way. "I assumed that once she is ready to be released from the hospital Monique will be moving in as well, temporarily."
"Very temporarily. She'll be back here within a month, No matter what." Jamie's sighed. He would know the best since he worked with her for nearly two years. "She's a workaholic."
"Sooner if spending time with her mother is the alternative." Marc snickered.
"Probably." Faye sighed. Rumor has it. The woman showed up to work the day that she buried her husband. Rumor also had it that led to the Valentine's Day meltdown of 2003 or was it 2004. Faye couldn't remember. "Vivienne Windom West is a great humanitarian, but an overbearing mother."
"Yet, if I didn't bring her food I don't think she would've ate anything when Monique was in her coma. I'm not sure she ever left the room." Jamie told everyone.
"However, regardless of what Monique wants she needs to rest. During her recuperation, MYW cannot be without an EIC, especially with the launch a little more than a month away."
"Could you push back the launch?" Jamie suggested.
"It's not possible." That would've been Faye's first choice. "Advertisements have already been sold and this magazine already has a questionable past due to the firing of its first EIC." Along with the subsequent lawsuit.
"So you're planning to bring somebody in temporarily?" Alexis asked.
"Alexis, Monique would like you to step in as temporary EIC until she's ready to come back."
"What?"
"She would ask you herself, but she's currently on vast quantities of painkillers.
"Which explains why she asked me to take her place." Alexis replied darkly.
"I agree with her choice completely. You are the most qualified person available and nobody else on the MYW team has as much experience as you do. The team also just had to deal with their boss almost being murdered by a colleague. They're going to need a strong leader to deal with this."
"Nobody will take me seriously as the EIC of women's magazine."
"Just because you were born with a Dick does not mean you're not a woman. You're a better woman than most women I know. You can do this. Remember, Monique was shot because she was protecting your nephew." Yes, she was playing the guilt card, but it was necessary. They did not have the energy or time to look for somebody outside of Meade publications to take over.
"It's the best option." Jamie told his girlfriend. "Hudson doesn't need two editors."
"No it doesn't." Alexis glared at Jamie. There is obviously something else going on that she was entirely unaware of.
"You don't have to give me an answer tonight but I will need one very soon. I want there to be some sort of structure in place before the MYW staff returns later this week."
"Okay," Alexis sounded resigned.
"In addition, with Wilhelmina gone and Daniel in Puerto Rico until this all blows over, Marc you will be acting EIC in their—in Daniel's stead." Faye corrected. She had to remind herself again that Wilhelmina wasn't coming back.
"What?" Marc asked in shock but Jamie was patting him on the backing congratulations.
"I will be helping whenever possible but you're in charge until Daniel is ready to come back." Because despite Marc being capable the situation at mode was bleak. Their boss actually was murdered by a colleague, somebody, they worked with daily for years. Even something like that would shake coldhearted fashionistas.
"I haven't even been creative director for six months yet. You could bring someone else in." Marc suggested.
"No, we need stability. After what happened, I can't bring somebody in from outside. And unfortunately, the only other option within Meade publications is Damien from Player and..." Faye shiver that the thought.
"That means there are no options at all." Alexis snickered.
"I guess there's nothing to say. When can we get back into the building?"
"Wednesday. The building should be adequately sanitize by then, however, I don't want the MYW and Mode employees back until Thursday. We need more time to get things together."
At that point Jamie and Alexis excuse themselves. Actually, Jordan called requesting salted caramel ice cream and dill pickle potato chips and the two had no choice but to pick up her cravings.
That left her and Marc to deal with their grim task of deciding what type of Memorial service they should do at Mode. They finally decided on a simple gathering Thursday morning. She would arrange for Daniel to prepare some sort of statement for Marc to read that morning to the team. She herself would write the memorial piece that would run in the next issue of Mode. She owed Wilhelmina that.
"What about Wilhelmina's office?" Marc asked just before leaving.
"It's yours now. Just wait a few days before you create a bonfire with the pristine white furniture. Nico may want some things from there." She doubted it, but wanted the option to be there for the young girl.
"I'm not planning to do that. I don't even really want that office. It's just hard to believe that she won't be there to yell at me come Thursday. I'm not sure if seeing her empty office will be better or worse." Faye had similar thoughts.
"It took me two months before I moved into Bradford's office. I still have not completely renovated yet. I'm not sure if I ever will." She told Marc honestly before bidding the temporary Mode EIC good night, before continuing her mission to deal with thousands of things that had to be dealt with immediately.
She sent Daniel an email regarding the statement that he needed to prepare for Thursday. She also returned Spencer's many emails. Amanda's father easily understood that everything with Alex took priority for the moment. But he still wanted to set up a meeting with Amanda, now that she knew the truth. She told him that it would be best to just let Amanda decide what she wanted to do. After sending off that message, Faye decided to close her eyes for a few minutes to rest.
"You really shouldn't sleep at the kitchen table." She heard Ignacio say as he woke her up with a kiss to the cheek. She quickly glanced at the clock to realize that she closed her eyes to rest about an hour and a half ago. How did she fall asleep, without taking a pill first?
"You should've went to Puerto Rico with the others." Faye told her husband with a yawn.
"Somebody has to take care of you." He kissed her again, this time on the lips.
"And the restaurant. Is everything back together?" When Alex and Nico went missing Rosa became the headquarters for the search effort. After three days, the place was a coffee cup covered disaster.
"We will be able to open tomorrow for lunch. We are now booked solid for the next three months." Having your restaurant mentioned in the news for three days straight does have an effect on business, regardless of the reason. Not that she would tell her husband that. "Have you eaten?"
"I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep for a week when this is done."
"Not at my kitchen table. I'm still making you a sandwich."
"Fine. At least that's something I can eat while answering more emails. But use the low carb bread."
"You can take a break long enough to eat a sandwich. I think you're the one who should have gone to Puerto Rico with Betty and the kids. You're working too hard."
"No time, too much to do. That bastard did a lot of collateral damage that I still have to fix." She's just thankful that her insurance covers disgruntled employees. Accountants thought she was crazy when she insisted that they had that type of coverage but they were happy with her now.
"I thought you were meeting with Jamie, Jordan, and Marc tonight?"
"I did. Marc will take over for Daniel in the interim but Alexis has yet to accept."
"She will." Faye was nowhere near as certain as her husband.
"Yet, I still need to come up with a plan B in case she doesn't."
"Put Marisol in charge." Inacio suggested.
"And if she didn't have an extreme moral objection about writing articles about how to choose a vibrator for Christmas, I would."
"I thought Monique would be better by the time a holiday issue would go out."
"Honey, we start planning our Easter issues in January, the magazines that do them anyway." She said turning her attention back to her mailbox. "Amanda would like to know if you're up to catering a wake."
"At least you and Amanda are speaking to each other again. I'll talk to her myself when you're eating."
"Not about the Spencer issue. He wants to meet Amanda soon but I told him it was up to Amanda. Unlike other sperm donors I know, he seems willing to actually accept Amanda's terms"
"Are you still having trouble with Nico's father?"
"For the moment, Vivienne is handling it. Of course, this is after he approached the Senator for a payout to disappear." The Senator was willing to give it, but Vivienne was not. And now Faye is certain that she won't have to attend a wedding on Christmas day anymore. Even if a formal announcement has yet to come out.
"What do you want to do?" Ignacio asked as he placed a turkey and avocado sandwich in front of her.
"Give him whatever he wants so he will go far away and never come back. Except, I know that he'll just asked for more, and going through the courts is the better option for a permanent solution." Faye is sure that Nico will hate him and sue for emancipation once she's in a better place emotionally.
"I think you're right about that."
"I hate this. Not knowing how to fix things. I'm a professional fixer. Sending Daniel and Betty to Puerto Rico made things better. I don't know how to make things better for Nico. She seems so broken and the bastard is making it worse. There is no simple fixes for this."
"Not everything in life is easily fixed."
"I know, but that doesn't keep me from wishing that it were that simple." They said as she finally took a bite of her sandwich.
"What do you want?" Jamie asked Alexis once they were in the car after their meeting with Faye.
"Find the salted caramel ice cream and pickle potato chips before Jordan gets cranky. I thought we had a few more months before the pregnancy cravings started." Jamie knew Alexis was deliberately misinterpreting his question.
"I'm just happy that she's far enough along for pregnancy cravings." Jamie said sadly, the miscarriage from before still fresh in his mind, especially after almost losing Alex. "However, I meant what do you want to do about MYW?"
"I don't think I have much of a choice. The other option is Damien and Damien should not be allowed near women in general" Alexis closed her eyes.
"You are part owner. There's always an option."
"I'm not sure this time. I think Carol's has the salted caramel ice cream, and they're still open." Alexis said pointing to the ice cream shop that they just passed.
"If we get it there, it will melt."
"If we don't get it we will be sleeping on the couch for a few weeks."
"You have been sleeping there any way the last few days."
"That's because you were at the hospital and DJ decided to bunk with Jordan."
"And that has nothing to do with you discovering that I'm your brother's uncle."
"Half-brother. Because of that distinction I choose to focus more on the fact that my nephew was kidnapped and I was unable to prevent it."
"You're the only reason why we figured out where Wilhelmina's house was." Alexis doesn't respond, instead she's looking in her purse for her cell phone that is chirping.
"Jordan now wants chocolate caramel swirl ice cream, salt and vinegar potato chips, real pickles, and Canadian Dried ginger ale and only the Canadian Dried ginger ale."
"Do they even sell that in this area?"
"I have no ideal. We're going to New Jersey tonight."
"Just think ultrasound thoughts."
Alexis couldn't sleep, and it had nothing to do with Jordan waking up every hour to throw up. She couldn't help the feeling that her actions put into motion every bad thing that has happened in the last two years.
If she did not form her unholy alliance with Wilhelmina and subsequently faked her death, Wilhelmina's body wouldn't be in the cooler of the nearest funeral home and Nico would still have a mother. Who knows what else Carlo was responsible for. Did he arrange for Bradford's death and the attempted killing of Jordan? How many bad things could be traced to her unwise choices?
Then again if she didn't fake her death. Betty and Daniel would've never met and her namesake wouldn't be here. So there was that.
The guilt kept her tossing and turning. She realized that she would not fall asleep unless she had answers to her questions and the only person who had answers right now was Faye because she knew Nico would never want to discuss what happen again. That's why she sent the woman a text message in the middle of the night. However, Alexis was not expecting the woman to call her back at 1:35 AM.
"So do I have your decision?" Faye asked without even a greeting.
"You're actually still up." Alexis said, surprised.
"I have too much to do and if you don't take the position at MYW, there will be even more for me to do." There was a hint of exhaustion in her voice. She knew what was there because Faye was the one holding everything together when Alex was missing.
"I'll do it. You're right, I owe Monique that much but that's not why I wanted to talk with you."
"Your brother really is in Puerto Rico. He has his cell phone with him. You should call. In about eight hours. Give them time to get settled and actually sleep like a normal person."
"That's not it. Do they know..." 'Do you know if Carlo actually murdered my father and killed Jordan's unborn baby?' That's what she needed to ask but the words would not come out
"Nico told Monique that Carlo confessed to killing Bradford when they were in captivity." She replied, already knowing what she wanted to ask. "Apparently the police have a lot of evidence supporting that confession. They also found the receipt to the courier that delivered the payment to the hitman sent to kill Jordan."
"Shit!" Alexis mumbled under breath.
"What did he do?" Why did he do it? Alexis doubted Faye had that answer. No one really did, now that Carlo was dead.
"Screw with Bradford's medication and then push him over the edge the day he broke up with Wilhelmina not that the bastard knew that at the time. He just wanted your dad out of the way because apparently Wilhelmina's feelings for your father were real, at least real enough for the bastard to be jealous." Alexis was numb.
"There is no explanation about why he did what he did to Jordan, except maybe he was trying to buy Wilhelmina's favor. I don't know." Alexis hated those words. She needed a reason for why this happened
"Was there anything that we could have done?" Was there anything I could have done?
"Other than never hire Carlo at Mode in the first place, no. No one had any idea how he was so obsessed with Wilhelmina, that he would go so far to have her."
"I saw bits and pieces of it at the house. He would follow on her every word. Worship her. There was this darkness to him that made me uncomfortable. It's the reason why I decided that I needed to come back. I should have done more."
"We all should have, but it's over now."
"Maybe Wilhelmina would've been alive if I told the police about her secret hideaway immediately."
"Or Carlo may have tried to kill Alex first if they did. Don't second-guess yourself. It will keep you up all night."
"I'm not sure I believe you." There had to have been something she could have done differently.
"You don't have to. I will email you Monique's notes. Once she's out of the hospital you need to meet with her to do a handover meeting but you should be able to function with her notes until she's up for more." Knowing Monique that would probably be tomorrow.
"Of course." Alexis said ending the call before making her way to the guest room. There's no point in her waking everybody else up with her insomnia.
Wilhelmina Slater was not always the best person in the world. Actually, she was a real b…
xxxxxx
Wilhelmina Slater was a great creative mind, one of the greatest the fashion industry has ever seen. She was brilliant passionate and completely willing to stab you in the…
xxxxxxx
Wilhelmina Slater was not perfect. She did a lot of horrible things including keeping the existence of my son from me for more than a year. The person who murdered her was also responsible for murdering my father, because to my surprise, she actually loved him. How the hell did that…
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Wilhelmina Slater had a true sense of style that very few can replicate. She was an intelligent woman who made the mistake of hiring the wrong...
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Death is something that's hard for us to deal with. Someone wiser than me said that's because we were never meant to die. I'm not sure how accurate that statement is but there's a part of me that believes her. I don't quite believe that Wilhelmina is dead because I thought that my brother died, but now she is my sister and…
xxxxxxx
Wilhelmina Slater wasn't perfect. She lived far from perfect unless airbrushing was involved and even then it still wasn't perfect, not by Wilhelmina standards anyway. She actually made us redo the October covert four times because she's a b…
xxxxx
Wilhelmina Slater was a flawed human being. She made many mistakes. Most of those things I can't even mention because there is still a police investigation going on. I'm sure she did many things that she probably regrets, but in the end the one mistake she never made was having her daughter Nico. Nico contains all the goodness that was crushed from Wilhelmina so many years ago.
Wilhelmina loved her daughter so much that...
xxxxxxx
"I am never going to finish this speech." Daniel said tearing the page He was working on and throwing it into the trashcan by his beach chair.
"What draft was that?" Betty said turning away from her careful monitoring of DJ and Alex. Honestly, he's surprised, she turned away for that long. She hated being away from Alex since they got him back. Actually, all of them have been very clingy. It's why he's out here on the beach, writing instead of working on the computer in the house.
"Number 14 I think."
"You don't actually have to say anything at her wake if you don't want to. I don't think anybody is expecting you to, honestly. Your relationship with Wilhelmina was really complicated." That was the understatement of the millennium, and with her death in the name of protecting his son, it became even more complicated.
"Actually, your stepmom is making me do this. They are doing a small, intimate gathering to remember Wilhelmina when everybody returns to the office Thursday. She wants me to write something that Marc can read to the team. Your dad's actually catering." Because you need Mr. Suarez's croissants at a time like that.
"That's not a bad idea."
"I don't even want to think about my eulogy yet. At least with this statement, it can be heavily edited before Marc reads it out loud. I don't want to accidentally say anything bad about Wilhelmina in front of Nico. She did so many bad and horrible things to us in life and yet Wilhelmina may be the only reason why Alex is still alive. How do I put all that into words?" Daniel was almost pleading with Betty.
"I don't know."
"But I need to do this for Nico's sake. She needs this. She protected Alex and we repaid her by going to the Caribbean when she's dealing with her recently deceased mother." He turned his gaze back to Alex, who is currently constructing a sand castle with his big brother. Okay Alex was destroying the castle that DJ was trying to build. But they were still doing it together.
"I don't know what to do either. Faye did invite her to come with us. I invited her to come with us. She didn't want to leave Monique. Gio said that she practically moved into Monique's hospital room after she was released."
"She lost her mom and she almost lost Monique too. Of course she is going to be very clingy right now. DJ was like that right after Lucy died. I don't think I was able to do more than go to the bathroom without him for the first week. Actually, he's really clingy right now." DJ was the one carrying Alex everywhere. He wouldn't let anybody else do it.
"I know. I could not sleep with my toddler last night because he was already there. You make a good substitute." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
They were going slow in regards to the physical component of whatever this relationship was. Mostly hugs and kisses on the cheek but it was still better than before. Also just like the time when they refused to admit that they were dating, they keep accidentally kissing on the mouth a lot.
"Maybe I'm just as clingy right now. And since DJ has Alex occupied I decided it's best to reaffirm that you're still here." He pulled her over into his lawn chair.
"I'm still here. I'm not leaving, not again. I think we're going to have to sleep over at your house when we get back for at least a few days. It's bigger." She laid her head down on his chest.
"That can be more than a few days, what about permanently?" Daniel realized that he probably should've waited a little while to ask her that, considering the shocked expression on her face.
"We just started dating again the day before all of this happened. Moving in together is a big step."
"We've been dating off and on for two years and we have a child together. You can have your own bedroom right now but I would feel better if you and Alex were just down the hall in my large apartment with a guard posted outside."
"That won't make a difference. That didn't make a difference this time. Wilhelmina's building had excellent security which was why Carlo was waiting until they were in the parking Garage to ambush them."
"Good point." Daniel admitted reluctantly.
"Also, I think my dad will be upset if I moved in with anyone without having a ring involved."
"There's a ring in my sock drawer literally with your name on it. It's yours whenever you want it."
"What?" Betty asked shocked. Maybe he shouldn't have told her about the ring.
"Over a year ago I bought you a ring that may or may not be considered an engagement ring in some cultures. I was in Paris shopping with Lucy and I just saw this ring that screamed Betty and had to get it." Lucy made him get it.
"Actually a year ago? Even though we were completely broken up at the time." Betty had one eyebrow raised in puzzlement.
"Actually a year ago. We were shopping for Christmas presents. I actually got you a locket at the same time but I couldn't pass up this ring even though I knew I would be holding onto it for years. There is just this part of me that knew I would eventually give it to you."
"And after everything that happened with finding out that I kept Alex from you and you still didn't take it back?" Betty sounded, bewildered.
"I thought about it more than once. I never did. Now that we almost lost Alex, I realize that holding onto that anger is just stupid. Your stepmother sent us here to put our family back together again after what happened. So the ring is waiting for you when you are ready, whenever we are ready for that. In the meantime do you want to share the house so it will be easier for us to check up on Alex in the middle of the night?"
"Yes." She kissed him, hard. Enough that they almost broke the lounge chair, but somehow managed to keep standing with their combined weight.
"Now will you help me with my Wilhelmina eulogy?"
"I think my emotions on her are just as confused as yours."
"But you're a better writer than me and you're much more optimistic."
"Not like I used to be." Betty mumbled darkly. "Maybe you should just not write a eulogy?"
"Again, your stepmom is making me."
"That's not what I mean. Write a thank you letter to the team for helping out during the kidnapping. Marc told me that half of the Mode staff volunteered to help look for Alex. Start there." Daniel smiled realizing that was exactly what he needed to do. The words started to come out easier at that point.
"I knew you were better at this than me."
To be continued