Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. This chapter contains brand-new scenes. Sorry for the wait. There were some other stories I needed to focus on first and I attended my first comic book convention in the interim. I took a weekend from writing, but I did get to meet Elizabeth Henstridge from Agents of Shield.

Note: In this chapter, there are references to Alexis before her gender reassignment surgery. I've decided to always use the female pronoun when referring to Alex/Alexis because she perceived herself as female

Chapter 7: Secrets and lies.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, mostly because Aunt Breanna actually likes her, which is more than can be said for the rest of her boyfriend's family. Or at least it was quiet until Matt started getting text messages congratulating him on being nominated for a MAMA. He was completely shocked he received a nomination for writing. Actually, he choked on his orange juice. Amanda wasn't. She knew Matt was brilliant. Although judging by the text messages, only Betty and Monique agreed with her. She could tell that Matt was really unhappy that his mother and father did not offer their congratulations.

As Matt's baby cousins started to make a mess of the restaurant. Amanda thought it was a good idea to send a "congratulations" text message to Betty and Daniel. Okay she told Betty congratulations, but she hopes she loses to Matt. Daniel was different.

Princess Amanda: congratulations on getting nominated for the million-dollar bra issue. I'm sure you have fantasies of Betty wearing that every night. Or maybe you just dream of her naked. Whatever works for you.

Betty's boyfriend: please don't send text messages like that. DJ just read that.

Princess Amanda: He's 13. What do you think 13-year-old boys do in their private time? When they're not hitchhiking their way to England to visit their uncle.

Betty's boyfriend: Actually there really was a field trip that DJ is refusing to participate and which is why he was here to read my phone.

Betty's boyfriend: Tell Matt congratulations for me. It is an honor to be nominated, but we both know Betty's the better writer and will be taking that trophy back to England with her.

Princess Amanda: And they're both going up against Marc's possible baby's mama who wrote an entire series of articles about becoming a first time mother at nearly 50. Why did we not realize this was a possibility?

Betty's boyfriend: Because I canceled Betty's subscription and I banned all copies of the New York Review from the building after Jody screwed over Betty figuratively. Although if I knew that she screwed Marc over literally I would have been more vigilant.

Betty's boyfriend: I still can't believe he had sex with her. I'm sure vast quantities of alcohol were involved. I'm kind of surprised the rumor mill didn't leave copies of that magazine on his desk.

Princess Amanda: He was desperate. And they did and I threw up on it before he read it.

Betty's boyfriend: Not desperate enough to really leave Wilhelmina behind.

Betty's boyfriend: Also, I'm a little concerned about the baby sickness. You should probably check with your doctor.

Princess Amanda: It's different now. Kids change everything. And I have a doctor's appointment next week, I'll ask about it then.

Betty's boyfriend: We don't know that for sure yet if Jody's daughter is also Marc's daughter.

Princess Amanda: Check out the link to Jody's article.

Betty's boyfriend: She looks like Marc in miniature. This is like the worst kept secret ever.

Princess Amanda: Which makes me want to get confirmation sooner rather than later. Aunt Breanna is friends with Jody. She said that Jody's keeping the identity of the baby's father a secret, but maybe she actually does know.

Princess Amanda: I trust Breanna and if she tells me that Marc is a daddy then I'm willing to break the news before we figure out a way to get a DNA sample.

Betty's boyfriend: Breanna is not going to talk. She has yet to confirm or deny the paternity of baby Alexis, even though I'm 99% sure I know who the biological father is. And I mean that to me personally, not the press. And I think I have a right to know.

Betty's boyfriend: Just hold off on anything until you speak with the lawyers. Let the lawyers do the dirty work.

Princess Amanda: Why do you think Breanna should tell you who Alexis's father is?

Betty's boyfriend: DJ just tried to make a pass at Diana which is probably going to piss off her girlfriend. I have to go, but whatever you do don't talk to Breanna about this yet.

Betty's boyfriend: She could tip Jody off and then she'll end up taking an assignment in the Sudan and we will never see her again.

Princess Amanda: You are avoiding the question but its fine. I'll call you after lunch with the lawyers.

Amanda placed her phone in her purse before turning her attentions to her boyfriend and his family. She had no idea how a small five-year-old could create so much damage. There was strawberry syrup on the carpet and blueberry pancake syrup on the ceiling. Amanda was too busy texting Daniel to know how that happened.

The table was completely covered in water and orange juice. But then again so was baby Alexis. Amanda clutched her stomach, hoping that her darling baby would not be like that. Then she remembered the picture of her decimating pudding cups at a corporate picnic when she was two years old and started to cry a little bit. How was she going to deal with all of this if Matt does what he always does and runs away? He ran away from her once, what's to say that he won't do it again?

Thanks to his aunt not being an evil person breakfast mostly went well except Amanda burst into tears just as they were leaving. He's not entirely sure if they were happy tears because of the MAMA nominations or frustrated tears because his almost five year old niece managed to get pieces of her breakfast everywhere. They left a $75.00 tip after Lexis manage to get blueberry pancakes syrup on the ceiling. He wondered if Lexis was doing it on purpose.

He hopes it's not because Amanda overheard his telephone conversation with Spencer when she was preoccupied text messaging. It turns out his mom really is that big of a bitch and Matt was already coming up with ways to pay her back.

30 minutes later (after his aunt changed Lexis into her backup outfit), they walked into Monique's Office where she was sitting down with Claire Meade discussing something about the company. The last few weeks Matt has been getting used to being around Claire Meade. Most people would hate the person who was responsible for the implosion of their parents' marriage, he didn't (especially because they managed to keep going through the motions for another decade after Tyler was conceived).

His parents' dysfunctional marriage was not why his childhood was awful. It was awful because his parents were awful people who only cared about themselves. Matt's life wasn't exactly sunshine and roses before his parents divorced. It actually got better afterwards. Staying together for the sake of appearances when you're obviously incompatible is good for no one.

Besides he's pretty sure his parents would have found some other reason to hate each other like Tiffany Jagger. Matt's pretty sure she was the assistant who his dad impregnated during the early nineties because she practically disappeared in the middle of the night in 1994. One day she was trying to talk him into participating in the junior artist program at the University of Manhattan and the next day Jack Rodriguez was his dad's new assistant (three months later, he found out that mommy and daddy were going to live in separate houses).

He really couldn't hate her because Claire was more of a mother to Amanda than anyone else ever was (Amanda's adoptive mother wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of upcoming grandmother hood). Claire was the one who was there for Amanda when no one else was, including Matt. She was even there when Amanda took the pregnancy test. For that reason alone he was okay with their child calling Claire Meade grandmother. Besides, maybe if his father wasn't such a dick, this woman probably would have become his stepmother.

That being said, he was shocked to see his aunt hugging Claire Meade as if they were the oldest of friends.

"You know each other?" Matt asked quickly as he held his cousin who was trying to get out of his arms.

"We've known each other for a very long time. Your aunt and Alexis went to school together. They were the best of friends up until the accident." Claire explained.

"Alexis and I became best friends when we functioned as the cover for my big brother and his secret girlfriend." Breanna explained. "When your dad was sleeping with Claire behind your mom's back they covered things up by saying that they were taking the kids out for a play date. Your dad never liked spending time with me. I should have known something was up."

"I don't remember you ever mentioning having a friend name Alexis." He said changing the subject.

Talking about the brother/sister relationship between his aunt and father usually resulted in his aunt getting completely wasted. It was too early in the morning to deal with a drunk aunt. Besides he was curious. He was sure his aunt would have mentioned something like that when she decided to name her five year old daughter Alexis. She always said that she named her daughter after a dear friend who died.

"Yes I did. I told you that I named Lexis after my BFF Alex. Alex always said that if she ever went through with the gender reassignment surgery she would change her name to Alexis. After I thought she died, I thought it would be fitting to give my daughter the name she always wanted. It turns out she wasn't dead."

Of course they're talking about Claire's daughter and Tyler's half-sister Alexis Mead. Matt has only spoken with her on the phone a few times because she was long gone from Meade before Matt arrived there. He vaguely remembered several newspaper articles about Alex Meade returning from the dead as Alexis at fashion week 2007. He also remembered his aunt losing consciousness at her show that same year. In his head he started doing the math and realized that his aunt's Paris exile began slightly after the presumed death of Alex Meade.

"Have you spoken to Alexis since she came back?" Claire asked.

"At first, when she came back I tried calling, but she never returned my calls and I stopped trying. Although that was mostly because her assistant at the time was a complete asshole." Amanda nodded her head in agreement.

"Maybe you should try again." Claire said looking strangely at the little girl he was holding. "She lives in France now with her son DJ."

"Alexis has a son?" His normally unflappable aunt asked in a state of shock.

"Yes and it's a small miracle we managed to keep that out of the press. We originally thought that Daniela was Daniel's son, which is why he has the nickname DJ short for Daniel junior. But apparently Alexis slept with her brother's girlfriend without a condom." Claire explained as his aunt started counting to 10. She looked pissed for reasons that Matt couldn't understand.

"Although, I think he likes Daniel better than Alexis. I mean, DJ showed up at Daniel and Betty's house last night when he was eating ice cream off of Betty's stomach in the kitchen." He was just grateful at that moment that Amanda didn't refer to it as ice cream sex.

"Excuse me while I go call my daughter and son to see why my grandson is in London with his uncle. Matt we're having a press conference in 30 minutes regarding this morning's nominations. I expect you to be there." With that Claire Meade was gone.

"That's okay. We're just going to go to the closet to try on Amanda's dress. Do you want to stay here or do you want to come with us." She asked her daughter.

"Can I play dress up?" Baby Alexis asked batting her eyelashes.

"Sure, that's my favorite thing. We can play dress up together in the closet." Amanda said as she grabbed Lexis from him and kissed him goodbye. His aunt followed behind.

"That works out well because I need to talk to you as your aunt is putting the finishing touches on the maternity bridesmaid gown." Monique said to him.

"About what?"

"Daniel and I had a very interesting conversation yesterday and Claire agreed with my decision. Because you have a share in this company I thought I would talk to you before I made a big announcement." Monique explained.

"I thought we agreed that I would be a silent partner and you would control everything." That was the whole point of the trust. Monique had her mother's business sense and was better suited for the cutthroat world of publishing.

"That doesn't mean I don't value your input. You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. Besides, you are an award nominated writer now and I think maybe you should have a more formal position here with an actual office.", Matt wasn't expecting Monique to say that, nor was he expecting to be named a Junior director of anything, let alone special programs and outreach at Mode.

Marc walked into the offices at 9:45 AM, barely missing his ex-boyfriend at the muffin cart getting his usual blueberry muffin and normal coffee. It means nothing at all that he ran into the elevator when he saw his ex. Maybe it had a little to do with the fact that Troy happened to be standing in line behind him. He doesn't have to be at the photo shoot for 45 minutes and he's not going to deal with any boyfriend drama—he means ex-boyfriend drama- before then.

As he stepped off the elevator, he was expecting to see Monique holding court with the press. She was a master at manipulating the press. Instead, Claire was the one leading the press conference with Matt answering questions about his articles from Player, his role with the company, and rumors about his relationship with the daughter of the late Faye Somers. Nothing like finding out someone you really don't like just received a promotion that they probably don't deserve via a press conference.

At Mode, Matt will be the junior director for special projects and the coordinator for Meade's charity outreach programs. Marc wondered if it would be petty to throw his Starbucks at him.

If he did, at least it would get Amanda to stop hanging all over the asshole. If they want to keep the existence of their relationship and the fact that Matt is the father (99% probable but Marc is still hoping for a Daniel upset) of her child from the tabloids they really need to stop making out in front of the press core. It was probably already too late by that point anyway but it was still sickening. Megan who was standing on the other side of Claire looked ready to kill. He personally hopes that the baby causes Amanda to throw up ending the kiss.

The press conference was over as soon as Suzuki started asking questions about Betty and Daniel's relationship and the identity of the new EIC of Mode UK.

"You do realize that you and the billionaire boy are going to be on the cover of every tabloid from here to Jakarta after that." He asked after the press conference as they were walking to Monique's office after Amanda told him that Mistress Monique wanted to see him before he had to deal with his ex-boyfriend along with Cliff's ex-girlfriend that he was still best friends with.

"That was the whole point." Matt said as they made their way to the elevator. "Aunt Brianna told me this morning that my mom was the one who pressured Spencer in to not making the announcement about being Amanda's dad. She didn't want anyone to find out about the baby. Spencer acquiesced because he was worried about what my mom would do to Amanda if he didn't go along with it. At least that is what he said when I called him. I decided it was time to let everyone know anyway."

"You missed the best part. Matt thanked me personally and told everyone the reason why he left early was because I was pregnant."

"Sorry I missed it." Marc said sarcastically.

"If it wasn't for the fact your mom is probably having a heart attack right now I would not have allowed you to turn the press conference into a personal spectacle." Claire said as she followed behind the three.

"You completely ruined my family. I think I deserve something." Matt said in a way that obviously wasn't serious.

"Considering your parents stayed married for several more years, I doubt that it was my fault. I believe Tiffany Jagger was the indiscretion that ended that marriage according to the country club rumor mill. However, considering what a horrible person your mother is, I'm positive she didn't need any help." Marc agreed with that. Wilhelmina was cuddly by comparison.

"Amanda when you get done with Monique, could you please try to call my son and get him to explain why my nephew who was supposed to be on a school trip to London showed up at his house last night? He is not taking my calls. If that does not work, try Betty."

"Will do." Amanda said in a way that told Marc that she probably already knew half the answer to that. But Claire was gone before she could even realize that.

When they walked into Monique's office a few moments later she was standing in the middle of the room on a table wearing just a black bra and panties surrounded by wedding dresses. His boss seemed oblivious to everything going on around her as she screamed in to her head set. Judging by the conversation it was mommy Monique on the phone. Again, someone that almost made Wilhelmina cuddly.

Viviane Windom-West was a legend in the New York social scene. Marc met the woman for the first time a couple years ago at some charity dinner that he went with Wilhelmina to when she was dating Wilhelmina's father briefly.

At the time, Marc didn't know she was Monique's mother. They had different last names and Monique looks more like she could be Wilhelmina's child than the daughter of Viviane Windom-West. It was obvious she didn't recognize him when they met in January at Matt's gallery show, if she really believed he worked for Player.

"I had no idea Player or Mode would be nominated this year. Most magazines don't get nominated two years in a row." Monique's screamed this as he saw Brianna place a small girl in Matt's arms along with a designer purse. "Please take her somewhere else before Mo teaches my daughter new four letter words. Be good for Matt and auntie Mandy, baby."

"Yes, I chose that wedding date specifically to ruin your perfect rehearsal dinner. Mom I love you, but not all of my decisions are based on the best way to piss you off." That statement drew his attention back to Monique's conversation.

"Do we even need to have a rehearsal dinner? This is my second wedding. I think I know what to do." Matt and Amanda were running out of the room with the small child at that point.

"Are you still mad about the fact you were not there for the first wedding because we eloped?" Marc could hear a faint yes in the background.

"Why? You wouldn't have come anyway because Jordan was just an assistant. I'm shocked you are going to this wedding, because I'm marrying the sandwich guy." That led to more arguing and Vivian Windom-West, asserting that she's nowhere near that shallow because when she serves dinner to the homeless on Thanksgiving, it's not a photo op.

Also, apparently Vivian never liked Jordan because he was six years older than Monique and they started their relationship when the EIC was barely legal. Where mommy Windom-West respected Gio was he took responsibility for his sister after their parents died and started his own business. Because she respects Gio she wants decent wedding pictures to show off to all her friends and is mostly concerned about the lack of rehearsal leading to bad wedding pictures.

"Cliff is an award winning professional, even if he got robbed last year." Totally true. "He can get good shots with a disposable point and shoot camera with bad light and no planning. He doesn't need to practice to get good images." At that moment Monique covers the microphone and asks him for her blackberry. At least this distracted him from thinking about Cliff.

"No I can't do the rehearsal dinner Thursday because I'm still going to be in DC. We're not going to get back till Friday morning." At that point Monique switches the phone to speaker mode. He quickly took over the conversation when Monique asked for his help. Of course she asked in French.

"Hello mommy Windom-West. This is Marc St. James, one of your daughter's colleagues. We met in January at the Matt Hartley gallery show."

"So you're her new assistant?" Okay she really didn't remember him from when she was dating Wilhelmina's father. "I bet you're happy to be out of Player."

"Amanda is her assistant. She is the one who threw up on your shoes Tuesday." That piece of gossip was already circulating through the Mode offices. "I am one of her managing editors and the one in charge of the DC shoot."

"She is still your boss. If she said so you could be back Thursday in time for the reception." Technically true, but Monique is not that type of boss.

"Yes she is in charge and she's a wonderful boss." Much better than Wilhelmina, and it hurts him to think that. "However, there's no way we're going to be able to get back Thursday in time for a dinner. I think we're shooting at the State Department that day until midnight. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get the Ben Franklin room for a photo shoot for a fashion magazine? The most practical solution would be to do the dinner sometime Friday afternoon." Marc suggested. "The awards banquet doesn't start until 8:00."

"Civilized people don't eat dinner at 4:00. However, a rehearsal luncheon would be great. Mo can invite all her underlings and it could be a pre gala event as well." He just rolled his eyes at that.

"That's fine as long as I control the guest list." Monique shouted back.

"As long as you don't invite your father and his new slut, I don't care." At that moment he could tell the designer was happy that she got her daughter out of the room.

"See that's one thing that we agree on mom. If I could get away with it, I wouldn't invite him to the wedding. I'm definitely not going with that arcane tradition of the father giving away the bride. You're walking me down the aisle because you were actually there." Monique told her mother.

"He would have to have been your father in the first place instead of a sperm donor to have that right. I am happy that you were nominated even if we are going to have to completely change the rehearsal dinner. But I have a meeting for Windom-West foundation at 10:30 that I need to get to."

"That's fine. I'm in the middle of trying on the wedding dress. I'm currently standing in front of my staff wearing my underwear. I will see you tonight at the Suarez house for the final menu tasting."

"I don't see why we have to go all the way to Queens for a menu tasting." Mommy Windom-West complained.

"Because the chef who I have taking over for the unimaginative catering company prefers to work in his own kitchen. You know neither one of us want bad food at this wedding." he heard Monique say to her mother.

"This is very true. Angelina would never let me hear the end of it." Marc would later find out that Angelina was Angelina Williams of the Upper East Side Williams and Vivian Windom West's arch nemesis since their days together at Brown.

"Angelina is definitely not on the guest list. I can't stand her."

"I can't either. I'm perfectly fine with you not inviting her. I never wanted her there in the first place." With that mommy Monique was gone.

"You owe me for that." Marc said as he smiled at her.

"Trust me you will love the surprise I have for you later today. I even found you a special helper for the DC shoot." She said cryptically but Marc didn't get to ask questions.

"Now that you're done yelling at mommy dearest can you please put on your wedding dress? I seriously doubt Marc wants to see you in your underwear for the remainder of this meeting." Breanna said from the sidelines.

"I don't have a problem with it. I live with Amanda. I've gotten used to cleavage popping out all over the place a long time ago. I am a complete professional Miss Windom-West."

"You two already know each other?" Monique asked as she slipped one of the dresses over her matching underwear ensemble. The fact that she was wearing a matching ensemble gave Marc hope that his new boss really knew what she was doing.

"I was there when she told Wilhelmina to go to hell during fashion week 2005." Marc explained.

"Actually, I told Faye Somers to go to hell and told Wilhelmina to go fuck herself. It was the pregnancy hormones." That means that Breanna was pregnant before the Paris exile, which means that all the rumors about her getting knocked up by some random guy in Paris were obviously wrong.

"We also ran into each other at the MAMA awards last year. We have the same ex-boyfriend. You already know that, otherwise you wouldn't have told me to be nice." Breanna glared.

"You're not doing a very good job." Monique said as she adjusted herself to fit the bodice of the dress.

"Did you get a chance to go over the concept mockups I sent your assistant?" He asked trying to keep things professional (and prevent a fight from breaking out).

"Everything looks good. I have a few changes we can talk about after I make sure the backup dress for the shoot fits. Seriously can you hold still?" She said as she started to do up the bodice. The dress was gray and strapless.

"I don't remember Vera Wang being this hands on." Marc mumbled to himself.

"She's also not that violent." Monique said.

"It's a Hartley thing. We're very hands on. In this case, it's a personal favor to my friend and my nephew who now owns part of this company. Monique and I have known each other since my first wedding dress was featured on the cover of Wedding Bell when she was not even legally old enough to get married yet." Breanna explained.

"Basically I'm giving her a chance to piss off her brother since she was never willing to come back to Meade Publications when he had a stake in the company. What do you think of the dress?" Monique twirled around on her desk for him to see.

"To say "I do" it looks fabulous. For the cover, you don't have the breast to pull that off." He said honestly, because he learned quickly that Monique doesn't require the same ass kissing as Wilhelmina. If it's not right she expects him to say something.

"That's what I thought but no one listens to the designer." Breanna complained.

"Fine. It's so unfair that Mercedes got big breasts and I just ended up with a big ass." Monique said pulling the dress off quickly and throwing it to the couch. Instead, she missed and it landed on the head of the person walking into her office. He should've known it was Cliff because his whole body started to tingle.

"Cliff if you get muffin on the prototype, I will strangle you and not in a fun way." His heart instantly began to speed up as soon as she mentioned the name. He's a professional. He can work with his ex-boyfriend. Besides he's completely over Cliff. He has Trevor now. Oh wait his name is Troy. Actually, Marc can't remember right now because he's too busy staring at his ex who in that outfit is making Marc wish he wore a slightly larger pair of pants this morning.

"That's your muffin, not mine." Cliff stopped and looked at him for a moment and didn't say a word. Marc really didn't know what to say. He was about to congratulate him on his nomination this morning, but Monique beat him to it. She also forced him into his fate of spending the entire day with his ex-boyfriend by dismissing the two to go down to the shoot.

He was so distracted by Cliff that he accidentally ran into the doorway leaving Monique's Office. Oh yes, this is going to be one very awkward day.

Monique stood on the table again in her underwear watching the very awkward reactions.

"Those two are more fun than watching the secret mating rituals of interns. They're obviously in love otherwise Marc would not have gone headfirst into my door." She said as soon as the two were to the elevators and Brianna started to pull her down.

"I can't believe you successfully talked me into setting up my ex-boyfriend with his ex-boyfriend and your new managing editor. You know what Marc did to him?"

"Most of Meade publications knows about the neighbor fuck up. And it's still better than what that model did to Cliff. Marc panicked and screwed somebody when he thought they were on a break. The model made Cliff think that he was in love with him so he could get better jobs. Marc regrets what he did and the model didn't regret what he did until he was blacklisted from every single fashion magazine on the East Coast."

"I never thanked you for that."

"I didn't do it, Marc did."

"What?"

"The Mode rumor mill is legendary and Marc easily found out about what Cliff's now ex-boyfriend did and he took vengeance Wilhelmina style. It's the main reason why I know Marc is still in love with him.

I don't think they would be giving each other those glances if their feelings for each other were not mutual. I also think Marc would have been coordinated enough to not hurt himself leaving my office. I'm sure I'm right."

"Love isn't always enough." Monique said sadly. "Some people should just not be with each other. Maybe sometimes you shouldn't forgive."

"But you forgave Cliff, so maybe he should pay it forward." So it took Cliff a little while to figure out that he played for the other team. And poor Breanna found out by catching Cliff give his roommate fellatio. "Trust me you're much more forgiving than I ever would be, if I caught my boyfriend screwing around. However, you forgave him. I'm sure there's a possibility that he will be able to forgive Marc and maybe get back together again."

"College is a time of experimentation." Breanna said as way of excuse. "I accepted what happened and eventually we became friends again, but not lovers. I think the best we can hope for is the two of them getting through this issue and the DC shoot without killing each other or running into more furniture."

"That's a first step. If you remember correctly you and Cliff didn't become friends again until after your other best friend died and you broke down in tears at a photo shoot at Isabella that Cliff was working on." Monique pointed out with a smile.

"Alex didn't die, she just became Alexis completely."

"You didn't know that at the time. Alex did not even say goodbye to you."

"Yes she did. Exactly 40 weeks before Lexis was born." That last part was mumbled under her breath so much so that Monique barely heard her.

"What are you saying? Didn't she have a girlfriend back then?"

"I need to go find Matt and my daughter." Brianna said as an excuse as she started to run out the door. She did not even bother to grab the dresses.

"Brianna," Monique called after her as she put her suit back on. However, her friend was long gone.

To be continued