Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. I'm so sorry this chapter took so long. It was the victim of life gremlins and email gremlins. It even took a day longer than intended, because I forgot to email this to myself the latest version this morning to post at work. I'm posting here tonight and everywhere else in the morning. Hopefully, the next chapter will come out sooner and we can get back on a monthly or semimonthly rotation.

Special thank you to Marielinha for being my beta of the original version of this chapter. Nina has worked on the rewrite.

This chapter is pretty close to the original version until we get to the end.

Warning: Allusions to sexual situations and domestic violence. It is not okay to hit your partner

Chapter 12: Lies We Tell Ourselves

It was 1:45 PM and Marc was trying to get everything together before he left the office for the long trek to DC by van, because Monique was evil. He was sending some last minute e-mails as he was waiting for Cliff to show up. Okay, maybe he was hiding from his boyfriend in his office, but he really did have to send out a few assignments for the next few days based on this morning staff meeting.

Two weeks ago, Marc would have been absolutely terrified at the thought of spending nearly 5 hours in a car with his ex-boyfriend but he was over that. He was actually looking forward to it. Surprisingly, it was just as easy to talk to Cliff now as it was when they were still together. With Amanda in Matt land he needed somebody right now.

Their easy camaraderie during the shoot from hell last Thursday was just the beginning. Friday, after working with Cliff on post production aspects of the shoot, they had lunch at Cliff's favorite restaurant. He had so much fun talking about whatever. It was almost like they never broke up, except for the lack of kissing.

It was easy for Marc to talk to Cliff about his fear of Matt taking his place in Amanda's life and life without Willy. He even confessed to Cliff his fears about his new job. He just felt comfortable opening up to him.

It hurt when Nikolai sent his nastily worded resignation to all of mode. Instead of commiserating with Amanda over his monthly slice of pizza, that he rarely had anymore, he called Cliff. Cliff convinced him that he actually deserved this job even if he was absolutely terrified of running three simultaneous shoots in DC next week.

Of course this happened after they spent all of Monday together at the Fashion Cares Memorial Day brunch. He was actually having a great time making fun of people's outfits before Troy showed up and Nikolai tried to hit on Cliff, the Bastard. Marc is sure Nikolai was responsible for Troy being there.

Marc loves spending time with Cliff but Troy hates it. He essentially accused Marc of still having feelings for his ex-boyfriend at the brunch in front of two Gossip Girls and an aging popstar. Marc is starting to think Troy has a jealousy problem. Troy also wasn't very happy about Marc being friends with Amanda either. Thanks to other things Nickolai said in that email, Troy was convinced that he and Amanda were fuck buddies. He probably should've lied and said that the Jody thing was just a rumor but he couldn't do that. The whole thing was made worse by Matt making a threesome joke.

He would like to blame Monique for this. He remembered the mind games that she played with Matt last year. Although, Betty and Daniel were doing things that Matt should have been concerned about, for example, Daniel was checking out Betty's ass during every single staff meeting when Marc was doing no such thing. But it's starting to become apparent that Troy's insecurities are not being fanned by Monique.

Today's lunch involved more of Troy's insecurities when Marc told him about spending the next four days in DC, alone with Cliff, before the first team arrived Monday. Marc would only be coming back late Monday for Wilhelmina's wedding before leaving Tuesday immediately afterwards for the DC invasion. If it wasn't for the fact that DC is less than a 3 hour train ride from New York, Marc would have never agreed to do this.

Wilhelmina was already upset that Marc wouldn't be around to help with the last minute wedding preparations this weekend but understood that his job came first. Okay, she understood after she threw something at him. She was even happy about his promotion. She let him order another bottle of expensive champagne on her credit card to celebrate when she gave him the metaphorical keys to her old office.

Because Marc knew Troy would throw a tantrum about the entire DC thing he waited to the last possible moment to tell him (because yes, he was a coward and he's still wearing concealer from telling him about Jody). That was a mistake. Never tell your current boyfriend that you're spending four days alone with your ex-boyfriend when there are clothes-staining foods around. Pomegranate juice was difficult to get off of any fabric. Although still better than the Jody reaction.

Troy wanted to come as his assistant, but Cliff just did not like Troy. Maybe it had something to do with Troy giving Cliff the glare of death every time he was in proximity, but really that really wasn't important.

And honestly, Marc didn't want Troy there even though he lied and said that he did. However, he used the excuse of the Empire State building shoot for explaining why Troy could not come.

It wasn't a complete lie due to budget constraints and the fact that Monique wanted to essentially scrap everything Wilhelmina and Daniel did before they left, the Mode team was working on the July, August, and September issues simultaneously. They were actually going to be shooting for three different issues when in DC. And Troy needed to do his part which meant staying behind in New York and doing the job Megan needs him to do.

Unfortunately Troy just wanted to follow him around like a lost puppy instead of doing his job or even letting Marc do his. Troy was unhappy that Marc had been working late recently with Monique and Megan on content for the next three issues. Marc doesn't want to look too closely at the fact that he's happy he has an excuse to get out of his last two dates with Troy.

Marc now finds it somewhat ironic that Troy is asking him to abuse his new job to take Troy with him. But Marc is not going to do that. He promised Monique that he would treat Troy like any other employee, which meant leaving him with Megan. Troy didn't like that. That's how Marc ended up covered in pomegranate juice as well as being publicly accused of sleeping with his ex-boyfriend.

He did not need that on top of the Jody rumors being whispered around. Apparently, he fathered her secret love child. Where did they come up with this stuff? Maybe the pomegranate juice incident will displace the Jody stuff. He knew video from the incident was already being sent around.

Marc pushed all of that stuff out of his mind as he sent one last assignment to his team from the safety of his office. He needed an assistant to send these types of emails, a full-time one anyway. Justin still had school stuff. He really needed to conduct some interviews with potential assistants when he got back.

He's actually happy that he'll have his own minion to do his dirty work and pick up his iced cappuccinos. Also, an assistant would be able to keep Monique out of his office right now. The first thing he was doing after Monique's wedding was getting an assistant. Maybe a big one, with muscles.

"Are you here to tell me to dump Troy due to the pomegranate juice incident?" Marc asked Monique in irritation when he saw her in his office.

"That's your call. Although you can do better than someone who has abusive tendencies." She said pointing to his disregarded shirt that was now in the trash. You can't get pomegranate juice out.

"Do you have your list of other candidates for the managing editor position now that Nikolai has officially defected to Isabella? We didn't have time to discuss it after the staff meeting this morning and I would like to get somebody in place before my honeymoon." Monique explained.

"He went to Isabella? How do you know that?" Marc asked giving her a puzzled look.

"I worked there for years. I even managed to convince a few of my old friends to come here. We can talk about it later. It's not relevant right now. There are more important things to talk about."

"You mean like my relationship with Troy and your attempts to sabotage it?" Marc asked darkly.

"Your relationship with Troy is anything but important. Everybody knows you don't love him, including you. I don't have to do what I did with Matt because you will do all the work for me. Besides, we have bigger problems."

"Such as?" Marc asked annoyed.

"One of my other sources told me that someone else may be trying to buy Isabella as revenge against somebody associated with the Meade Empire. I just don't know if they are targeting Wilhelmina or someone else. My source wouldn't say. I sent Wilhelmina a message using the emergency contact e-mail address that Connor gave me."

That automatically worried Marc. That particular address was usually only employed in extreme emergencies or when direct communication could be used as evidence in a court of law.

"You used a new e-mail account right?" Marc asked.

"Of course, Marc I am not an idiot. The evil one received an email from Connor's sister congratulating her on her upcoming wedding and asking her to meet for coffee tomorrow about 45 minutes ago. That reminds me I still have to buy a present. What do you get two people you absolutely hate?" Monique asked cheekily.

"You're Connor's sister?" Marc asked in a panic. This information terrifies him and he starts to go for his inhaler as he feels his lungs constrict.

"Calm down and do your breathing exercises. As far as I know, I am not his sister. Although, my dad did sleep around a lot on business trips so who knows. I wouldn't be that surprised if I had a half sibling in Melbourne. Monique Owens is a cover I developed a long time ago. I used it a couple weeks ago when Wilhelmina was in the coma so they would let me see Connor to tell him about it in person. I needed to use something she would recognize." Monique explained.

"You had me worried there for a moment." Marc said as he put his inhaler back in his pocket.

"You need to be worried, although not to the point of having an asthma attack. If Wilhelmina calls you give her that address and don't ask too many questions. You need plausible deniability." Monique was out the door at that.

It was nice to have a boss who did not want him to end up in jail because of one of her crazy schemes. He didn't have time to think about it anymore because Cliff was standing in his doorway with a camera bag and one small suitcase.

"Are you ready to go?" Cliff called from the doorway.

"Yes." Marc said pointing to the three suitcases sitting in the corner of the office that used to be Wilhelmina's. (Half of her stuff was still there.)

"You realize we are only going to be in DC for a week, right?" Cliff asked, staring dubiously at his suitcases.

"Actually you're going to be there for a week and I'm coming back Monday for my pseudo-mommy's wedding and then I am taking the train back with the second team Tuesday afternoon. Although, I might just leave the luggage in your room if that's okay?" Marc asked.

"That's fine. I would hate for you to have to carry three huge trunks back and forth to DC. You need to learn how to pack." Cliff shook his head. "I'm bringing one little tiny bag, a camera case and a laptop to load the photos on."

"Not all of us can pull off T-shirt chic the way you can." Marc quipped.

"Oh, how flattering." Cliff said sarcastically. "Can we please just get to the car? I would like to be out of the city before rush hour starts in less than 2 hours."

"You are always so worried. Everything will be fine." Marc said just as Cliff took the keys from the rental van off his desk.

"I'm driving. I don't trust you. My insurance didn't cover stupid boyfriend behavior last time. There's no way I'm letting you behind the wheel of any car, even if it's not mine." Cliff explained as he grabbed one of Marc's suitcases and started for the elevator.

"Do you have to keep bringing it up? I had a medical emergency." A.k.a. going into an asthma/panic attack because Betty found the Tiffany wedding ring.

"Yes. The insurance company would've covered if I knew. But I was too pissed off to ask why you completely wrecked my car after you told me that you only wanted to marry me because you cheated on me. Maybe we should have had a longer talk once I was no longer pissed that you, but it's too late to do the right thing now." There wasn't anywhere near as much anger as Marc thought there would be.

"You two broke up because you slept with someone else? You were engaged?" Marc heard Troy ask from behind him. This is not good.

His lungs started tightening up again at the sound of his boyfriend's angry voice. In the interest of avoiding a scene like the one in the cafeteria this afternoon Marc maneuvered Cliff, along with all their luggage, into the elevator without answering Troy's question.

"Avoiding your boyfriend already? Is there trouble in paradise?" Cliff asked as the elevator made its way downstairs.

"There's no such thing as paradise." Marc said as he laid his head on the side of the elevator and reached for his inhaler. He looked down to see his cell phone vibrating because Troy was already calling. That just made his breathing more erratic. As he took the first puff of his inhaler he had an ominous feeling that this was going to be a very long weekend.

xxxxxxxxxx

Thursday June 3, 2010 8:57 p.m. Greenwich mean Time

Daniel was sitting inside the Mode closet watching his girlfriend try on outfits for her first TV appearance tomorrow to promote her new magazine. She was obviously nervous because she was actually obsessing over her appearance. He found this adorable and terrifying at the same time.

DJ was down the hall in Daniel's office e-mailing Justin or doing whatever 15-year-olds do when they are ignoring everyone. Daniel was half-tempted to get one of the IT people to break into DJ's account so they could figure out what's going on with the quiet teenager, but Justin would never forgive him for spying on their conversations. He was just going to have to honor the agreement.

It had been over a week and they still did not know why DJ doesn't want to go back to France or his school. He and Betty finally broke down and told his mom what was happening a few days ago. Even she could not get DJ to talk. Only Justin knew and he wouldn't say anything because he felt it wasn't a dangerous secret and DJ would tell him when he was ready.

Apparently, Alexis must have known that DJ was in London because Daniel's lawyer received temporary custody papers yesterday and arrangements were made for DJ to finish the rest of this semester via e-mail. Those messages only made Daniel more concerned. He called Alexis 35 times since he heard from his lawyer yesterday alone and yet not one returned. He tried not to think about that as he watched his girlfriend play dress up.

"Are you sure this is OK? I'm essentially borrowing an outfit from the Mode closet to promote a competing magazine." Betty asked peeking out behind a rack of outfits wearing a cherry red business suit from next month's featured designer that showed off her curves. Daniel was currently imagining himself stripping that suit off of her after a very long day at the office in the town car.

"I don't think the readers of London Hub will overlap with the readers of Mode that much." He said as he was mentally unzipping the tight, in all the right ways, skirt that was a little bit shorter than what Betty normally wore.

"You know what I mean. I don't like this outfit. It's too tight and red." Betty said as she went back behind the rack and quickly threw the discarded jacket over to him. He didn't understand why she was hiding behind the rack when he has seen her naked more than once today. That was the fourth outfit she had tried on so far and she'd hated everything. He had never seen her this self-conscious before.

"You look good in anything and there's an entire website that proves that. It's fine for you to borrow something. It's a perk of dating the EIC of a fashion magazine. Your boss's assistant didn't call you until 25 minutes ago to let you know that you're going to be appearing on London Morning to promote your magazine tomorrow. It's almost 9 PM and most stores are closed or will be closed soon. I know you're not going to want to wear something that's already in your closet. Betty, this is the only option." He said giving her another outfit.

"Trust me, I get it. If it wasn't for you goofing off with DJ this weekend I may have made it to another store besides Dirty Little Secret and had something in my closet. I guess I should just be happy that because of Monique's new policy about 'human size' models there is stuff in here that is actually my size." She says with a sigh grabbing the next outfit from him. This gave him the perfect view of her cleavage framed in black and red lace.

"You are the perfect size." He said with a happy smirk and a leer at her well-endowed chest area.

"I'm talking about my entire body, not the part that you're currently staring at. Make eye contact, Mr. Meade" She said as she started to put the dress on. "Do you remember that time I went clubbing with Christina and ran into you?"

"You mean the time I told you to leave me alone and I ended up needing you anyway because I got blackmailed? Did I mention how sorry I am for acting like a complete dick back then?" He couldn't apologize enough for some of his stupider behavior.

"Yes, you have … several times. Anyway, before we went out, we raided the closet. The only thing that fit me back then were the shoes. Can you zip me up?" Betty said as she walked around the rack of dresses. She looked really good in the sleeveless dress that was very good to Betty's curves. Very, very good.

"You're taking this dress." He whispered as he gently worked the zipper making sure that his fingers gently caressed the flesh underneath.

"I don't think this is right for a morning TV show. It's too formal." She said moving to the mirror but not breaking contact.

"But it's absolutely perfect for tomorrow night when I take you out on a real date. I think the press has finally died down enough that we can go out in public without DJ as a diversionary tactic." And he's pretty sure he can leave said teenager at home without him running off to another country. "Besides, you need something more formal for business dinners or maybe even the MAMA's next week. You still do not have a dress."

"And whose fault was it that I ended up spending 3 hours in a lingerie store? Maybe I should be happy that I don't have to buy something for Monique's wedding." Betty pouted.

"You were not complaining when you found out you could get custom bras to wear under that dress."

"Good point. I'm still not getting a $4000 dress, even if it looks really good. I may be an EIC now but I don't make anywhere near your salary. I actually make slightly less than I did before because you were overpaying me." Betty said as she started to take the dress off.

"No, you don't." Daniel corrected her as he pulled the dress back down over her. Much to his own displeasure. "First, you were doing the conversion wrong in your head. Also, I negotiated a higher salary for you in exchange for signing the release."

"You did what?" She asked in shock.

"I wasn't going to let you come to London to live on Ramen noodles. It doesn't matter anyway because I'm the one getting you the dress. As you just pointed out, I can afford it." Daniel said kissing her neck and collarbone.

"You just can't buy me everything. It's not the 1950s and I'm not a kept woman. I'm practically living in the house for free alre—." He cuts are off as he moves from her neck to her lips capturing them in a kiss that stopped her from speaking.

"Are you going to kiss me every time we argue?" Betty asked him with kiss swollen lips.

"Maybe. Is it working?" He asked with a lascivious grin.

"No. I'm not getting the dress. At least not until I can afford something like this on my own."

"Fine, although you should still borrow one of the more upscale styles for the interview. I guess I'll go grab you some things from the sexy for less shoot next week for tomorrow." He said pouting.

"Thank you." She said as she lightly kissed him.

"Although you're wearing whatever I pick out." He was already mentally calculating the minimal amount of fabric that Betty would be willing to wear on morning television.

"As long as it's not something that requires me to wear a trench coat over it."

"I would never do that." She gave him her normal 'you're not fooling anyone' looks.

"However, my birthday is coming up in 47 days and I know how much you hate shopping. You can make it a lot easier on yourself if you just showed up to my office in a trench coat and maybe those high heels that Wilhelmina made you wear last year." Daniel said as he kissed her neck again.

"You are too much. Unzip me?" He did exactly as she asked although he had a bit of fun with it. She shivered a little as his fingers made contact with her now bare back. He quickly pulled the silky fabric down to her hips as his mouth started to make contact with the newly exposed skin.

"I just asked you to unzip the dress, not get me naked. There still people in the building even though it's late. DJ is here." That's been his girlfriend's excuse for the last week. They haven't done anything beyond mild kissing in eight days. Not that they were actually having sex before, but he was at least able to touch her more intimately before. Although it didn't seem like she was really protesting right now as he kept touching her.

"I locked the door and paid DJ 20 Euros or maybe it was Pounds to not interrupt us. Why do you think I am in here helping you instead of our closet goddess Nadia? Besides, it's the closet. Nobody is ever fully dressed in here." Daniel said as he pushed the dress down her hips and on to the ground as he quickly placed a kiss at the curve of her back. He was pleasantly surprised to see her wearing the matching black and red panties from the set he picked up for her this weekend.

"I still do not have a dress for tomorrow." Betty said as she stepped out of the dress. She moved to pick up the dress from the floor as Daniel maneuvers her to the couch where he was sitting earlier, all without his hands leaving her body.

"Go with the hunter green Brianna West-Hartley suit with the vintage lace camisole from DLS that you have at the house. Unlike most of the other designers, Brianna actually knows how to make things for short women with sexy curves." He said as he played with the black lace of her underwear.

"Not that I don't love your curves, but you look better in stuff that's designed for your body. I also suggest you pair it with the cream lace push up that gives you just the right amount of cleavage." Of course, when he says the word cleavage his mouth made contact with her neck as his right hand started to massage one of her breats through the fabric.

"You have this all figured out, don't you?" Her voice was breathy as she said this. If she was really worried she would have stopped him by this point. Instead, she turned around to face him so she could undo his tie and help unbutton his shirt.

"It's one of the perks of having a boyfriend that actually understands women's fashion. I've never had a girlfriend I could play dress up with before."

That wasn't completely true. There was Molly, but he didn't exactly help with the makeover process. Besides he was smart enough not to mention his first wife when his girlfriend was straddling him wearing nothing but a pair of sheer panties and a black and red lace bra that would be off as soon as he unfastened it.

"I know you want to wear your B necklace," he said gently removing the necklace that meant so much to his girlfriend. Because it was so important to her he usually took it off before they did anything. He didn't want to accidentally rip it off her in the moment.

"I think you should wear the necklace I got you for your last birthday. It would go better with the outfit. You can keep your B necklace in your pocket so it'll be close to you."

"The one that you got from Macy's?" Betty asked. "I did not even think you knew where Macy's was. Actually, I didn't know Macy's had costume jewelry that nice. I love that necklace. It goes perfectly with the earrings your mom gave me two years ago."

"I never told you it was costume jewelry. Actually it's from Tiffany's but Monique suggested I put it in a Macy's box so you wouldn't freak out." He said pulling her into another heated kiss. She would definitely freak out if she found out he paid $22,000 for it.

"You got me a necklace from Tiffany's when we were still just friends?" She said pulling away momentarily only to change positions. "That is a girlfriend present." Of course, Betty is saying this as she is removing his shirt and placing kisses down his chest.

"You're my girlfriend now. Otherwise you wouldn't be leaving teeth marks on my chest or letting me do this." He quickly unfastens the black piece of lace and tosses it to the other side of the closet. Just as he was about to drive headfirst, so the speak, his cell phone started playing We Are Family a.k.a Alexis' ring tone.

"Fuck, now she calls." He said with a groan of frustration as he backed away from Betty who was actually at that point starting to unbutton his pants.

"Why are you stopping?" She asked actually pulling him back. Apparently, she learned from last time.

"That is Alexis's ring tone." Daniel commented before grabbing his phone. She understood without further explanation. If anybody else was calling he would have let it go to voicemail. Actually, if it wasn't for the DJ thing he would let it go to voicemail. Okay, he was already half tempted to keep going but Betty was already up looking for her bra.

"You have excellent timing Alexis." He said sarcastically. "After over a week of avoiding me, you call when Betty's sitting on my lap 97% naked with your son safely paid off to not walk in on us." Daniel said with a lot of anger and severe discomfort.

"You actually picked up the phone?" Alexis asked in shock.

"I blame my good hearted girlfriend and the fact that your son is hiding in our townhouse without explanation." And the fact that I'm actually worried about you. "We would really like to know why he accidentally walked in on us in the kitchen last week. I'm going to put you on speaker so Betty can hear."

"I guess congratulations are in order. It's a shame that I found out from a newspaper headline last week. I wish you would have called me."

I would if you actually would've picked up my calls, Daniel thought darkly.

"I thought DJ would tell you." He responded instead. "You could have called too." Betty was giving him the eyes of death, which meant she didn't believe that excuse at all. He could already tell that he wasn't getting any more from her tonight.

"DJ is not speaking to me right now, unless it involves asking for money or getting out of spending the next few months with his grandparents."

"Why were you going to make him spend time with his grandparents?" Daniel asked. "They are awful people."

"Because I am going to be in the U.S. for business for a couple months and you can't leave a teenager alone for that long of a period of time." By the way Alexis was speaking Daniel was sure she wasn't telling him everything.

"He hates his grandparents. There has to be better options? Why can't he come with you? Or if you're working too much to keep up with DJ, why can't he go to New York and stay with mom? She's practically adopting Amanda's new baby and Amanda for that matter. I think she misses you even though she has the replacement child." Daniel said referring to Tyler.

"I will try to stop by NYC in a couple of weeks. I know my son hates his grandparents, but I didn't have a choice until two weeks ago. You moving to London was a really good thing."

"Why is that?" Daniel asked.

"I didn't want you to know how far I had to go to keep things from getting really ugly at the custody hearing."

"It was already ugly." Daniel mumbled under breath. He knew all about the money that Alexis was paying Lucy's parents to stay away.

"But DJ and the press don't know about most of that and to keep it that way I had to make certain concessions. The custody agreement basically states that DJ may not live more than 1500 kilometers from his grandparents." Alexis explained. "That completely rules out mom unless she comes here, but now that she is president of the company I doubt she has time. It doesn't really matter unless you and Betty are available. Would you two be willing to let DJ stay with you this summer?"

They already had this conversation yesterday when the lawyer mentioned the temporary custody papers. He was not only surprised by the custody papers but by the fact that they were joint custody papers. Betty was actually the one who talked him into signing, before they even knew why. This surprised him because of the way Betty freaked out around Henry's kid in April and had a massive panic attack when she thought she was pregnant with Matt's child. However, maybe it shouldn't. DJ and Betty have always gotten along except when he was spraying her with silly string.

"Of course, Betty and I already signed the papers yesterday. I just would like to know the real reason why?"

"Stupid lawyer. He wasn't supposed to send anything until tomorrow." He heard Alexis mumble under her breath.

"Alexis, why does DJ need to stay with us? I don't believe the 'this is for a job' excuse. I don't think DJ would be so freaked out if it was just that." This time Betty was the one asking questions. "Are you okay?"

"You've always been very perceptive, Betty. There is something else going on. I'll tell you everything tomorrow night. I'll be flying to London instead of going home. I'm actually at the airport right now getting ready to leave. Sorry, I didn't call earlier. The conference was so intense that I didn't have time to check my messages. I called DJ every night but he was not answering my phone calls. We'll go out to dinner tomorrow and I will explain everything afterwards. I'll be there around seven your time." Alexis was almost babbling right now. That's not good.

"Why can't you tell us now? DJ's been asking me questions about when my mom died." Betty stated but Alexis was already gone.

"She hung up on us." Betty said as she finished buttoning her shirt

"So I guess we're not picking up where we left off?" He joked, but he was also buckling his belt again.

"I am just not in the mood right now and I don't think you are either." Except sex was his number one coping mechanism when he was scared and he was a little terrified at the moment. Betty made him feel better.

"Your sister just signed over temporary custody of her son to us with some really strange excuse and not a lot of explanation. Also, did you notice that she just said she was at a conference?" Betty asked pointedly.

"What's so important about that?" He said as he begrudgingly handed Betty her top.

"Her assistant said she was at a retreat, but she just said she was at a conference. Obviously, she's lying. And there is the fact that your nephew keeps asking me questions about when my mom was sick. Come to think of it, he also asked me questions about my dad's heart attack a few years ago. I'm just too worried to do anything. I'm sorry. Maybe later."

"It's okay. I'm worried too. I'm just the opposite of you. Sex is my normal coping mechanism for stress." And fear.

"So you still want to fool around because you're scared?" She said giving him back his shirt.

"Pretty much." Daniel answered honestly.

"That doesn't surprise me. Later." Betty said as she stood on her tiptoes to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"I thought you didn't want to do anything in the house?" Daniel asked slightly confused.

"We're going to have a teenager living with us for the next few months. I'll get used to it. He will probably be too busy listening to music and text messaging his friends to care." Betty said as he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

"I think this is why I love you."

xxxxxx

Have you ever really loved somebody in a way that made no sense? Have you ever loved someone as a friend, a lover, and practically a member of your family simultaneously? Have you ever loved someone in a way that was all consuming and could never end no matter what they did to you? Even after nearly six years of not being in that person's life, you would be willing to sit with him or her in a tiny doctor's office at one of the best heart centers in the United States going over new treatment options.

Yet there she was at the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic sitting in one of the many waiting rooms with a sleeping baby Lexis on her lap as she listened to Alexis Sr. lie to her brother about what was going on. Maybe she should have left baby Lexis with the nanny, with Matt or even Auntie Jordan, who was in town visiting her mom for a few days, a.k.a. the doctor they were consulting with in Cleveland.

This had to be hard on the little girl because it was hard on her. However, too many questions would have been asked (except by Jordan because she knew too much) and all things considered, her baby girl deserved the opportunity to see her other mother.

In between flights and doctor visits the two had been bonding. Maybe that was because four-year-olds are very forgiving. It could have also had something to do with the Alexis sponsored toy-shopping spree. Breanna is going to have to get a seat on the plane for all of Lexis's new stuffed animals.

"You told him you were at the airport. Also did you have to be so cryptic? Now you know they're going to be even more worried." She said in a pseudo-whisper trying not to wake up the baby. The Cleveland Clinic is not exactly the most kid friendly place, even if she had videos for Lexis on her iPhone and new dolls to play with. After the past week, she could understand why her daughter was now asleep on her lap.

"This is coming from the woman who's been dodging her friends and family since last Thursday. You don't have room to talk. It will be true in a couple of hours." Alexis sighed.

"I emailed Monique. She knows where I am and I told her I will tell her more when I get to DC next week. I'll call Matt later because he has enough to deal with already with his psychotic mom, Tyler, and the baby. There's a big difference. My situation isn't life threatening. You always hide things."

Of course, she didn't tell Monique that she was now in Cleveland instead of France. Last week's conversation with Alexis had been complicated. But then again any conversation that starts out with 'I may be dying' always is. The cause in this case was heart failure. Let's just say that Bradford left Alexis something other than the Meade empire or that stubborn as a mule personality.

"Again this is coming from the woman who hid the fact that I got her pregnant from the entire world."

"Jordan knew the truth." And Jody and apparently Cliff because the man was ridiculously observant.

"It makes me feel so much better that my ex-girlfriend knew that I have a daughter before I did." That came out at breakfast, a fairly uncomfortable breakfast when she explained how she got Alexis an appointment so quickly with Jordan's mom. "Some people are convinced you secretly adopted Lexis from somewhere in Africa despite her light complexion."

"I don't know why. She looks exactly like you but with slightly darker skin and naturally curly hair. What was I supposed to do Alexis?" She asked bitterly.

"I thought you were dead. I was alone and my half-brother was trying to convince me to terminate the pregnancy for the sake of my career. You and I had been together since the first grade. I have always loved you no matter how you looked on the outside. I kept all your other secrets, why couldn't you trust me with that?" Breanna wasn't going to cry, even though she really wanted to.

"I wasn't planning on coming back. Wilhelmina convinced me that revenge could be best accomplished if I returned."

"Yet you didn't call me even after I made every effort to get in contact with you. You're the one who ignored me for four years." This wasn't exactly the right time or place to have this conversation. They've been putting off this conversation all week. You don't exactly want to have a screaming match with somebody who's in the third stage of heart failure.

"I thought you had moved on. I had no idea that Lexis was my daughter until I heard a voice mail from Amanda asking me if I knocked up her boyfriend's auntie five and a half years ago." She wasn't that surprise by how Alexis found out considering the way Matt found out that Amanda was pregnant. She blames herself.

"I should've moved on. I couldn't. You did not even remember me when you had amnesia. Instead, for the last week I have been wandering around Europe and the United States visiting cardiologists as I've tried to manage my company via BlackBerry and iPad. I even called in a favor from your ex-girlfriend."

"Who is apparently Lexis' godmother? I can't wait to tell her on the drive to the airport how angry I am that she didn't mention that three years ago."

"And you forgot to tell her that you were in an open relationship, so I think she's entitled to not tell you things. Why couldn't the doctors discover the dilated cardiomyopathy when you were in the coma?" She said under her breath.

"They were a little preoccupied keeping me from dying at the time. Also, dad wasn't exactly forthcoming with his health problems. Family history is a major part in diagnosis." Alexis responded.

"Keeping your mouth shut is also a family trait apparently." Breanna said bitterly. "DJ probably ran away to Daniel's house because you hid being sick from him for almost two years. That's almost the entire time you have known him. I assume he's a smart kid from what you told me. I'm sure he knows."

"As for the amnesia, I blocked out everything related to getting gender reassignment surgery. That meant I didn't remember you because you were with me during doctor shopping and you taught me how to put on makeup. You're the only one who really knew me." You knew the situation was bad when Alexis changed the subject to that particular topic.

"What is it with you and doctor shopping? You must have dragged me around this country and several others to over 15 different doctors to find the best to do the surgery. You are doing the exact same thing now. I'm sure they have good cardiologists in France. The guy we spoke with on Monday seemed to know what he was talking about."

"I already have a good cardiologist in France. I'm not responding to the drug treatment. The thing with the alcohol didn't work either. You heard what the doctors here said this morning. It's time for a surgical option."

"Yes, it sound exactly like what the cardiologist said Monday in France and yesterday in New York." They snuck back into New York Tuesday night without anybody knowing she was back in town. She didn't stay at her apartment just in case someone stopped by. By Wednesday afternoon they were on another plane to Cleveland to get a third opinion. At least the doctors in Cleveland presented more surgical options. Now they were waiting to discuss the test results and more options.

"This is one of the best places in the world for cardiac care. I don't want to be my father. Sometimes I wonder if he even fought to stay with us. He knew he was sick and he didn't tell us. I want to see DJ graduate."

"What about your daughter?" She never got to hear Alexis's answer because they were called back to see the doctor again.

Cliff was about 30 seconds from throwing Marc's cell phone out the window. Since they left Manhattan 4 hours ago, Troy has been calling every 10 minutes. He was shocked that Marc was putting up with that type of behavior. Okay, actually, he's surprised that Amanda isn't trying harder to break those two up. Actually, he's surprised that she has to try at all. Cliff would have dumped any boyfriend who acted like this months ago.

"Seriously, did you have to choose a song by Justin Pieper as your ring tone for your boyfriend? I should have used this trip to introduce you to grown-up music." He said under his breath in annoyance. Seriously Marc, the sex can't be that good.

"I think his last name is Bieber. I can't stand it either. He was an absolute brat at his photo shoot last year." Marc mumbled almost to himself as he silenced the phone again. Marc refuses to turn the phone off because apparently he's waiting for a phone call from Wilhelmina.

"I'm not surprised. Why is it on your phone? That's even worse than the N*Sync ringtones you used to have."

"Like Green Day is any better. N*Sync is classic. Troy must have programmed it in along with his smiling picture. You can't say anything because you have BSB songs on your iPod." The only song he had on his iPod from their catalog was Treat me Right and that was because Monique added it a long time ago.

"It was one song and it reminded me of you. Why are you with Troy?" He didn't mean to ask the question but he did anyway. It just came out.

"I love Troy." Cliff laughed at that.

"No you don't. I know you Marc and I know what you're like when you're in love. At the very least, I thought I did. The fact that you're letting all of Troy's calls go to voicemail makes it really obvious, this is not love." Also the fact that you are bruised is really not love. If Troy actually hit Marc, he didn't even want to think about what someone like that would do to baby Jade.

"I'm just not answering his phone calls because we are discussing work related things." Marc said in his defense.

"Ten minutes ago we were discussing if Spike could kick Edward's ass in a one on one match. Can you even carry on a conversation with Troy? You and Troy have absolutely nothing to talk about. The only things you two have in common are that you work for the same company and prefer sex with men." Also, you may not know it yet, but your dad and Troy should not be around children.

"Do we really need to have anything else in common?" Yes.

"I don't know, you tell me. I watched you two interact with each other. It was like watching my parents at my graduation two months after their divorce." A divorce caused by abusive and obsessive behavior.

"That's not true. Troy and I talk about all sorts of things." Marc said in a way that told him he was obviously lying. He just wasn't sure who he was lying to.

"Like what?"

"The meaning of life." Marc said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Nice try. Honestly, why are you with Troy?" He said taking a moment to look at Marc, even though he should really focus on the road.

"If I said it was only because he is hot, would you believe me?" Marc said with a Side.

"Not at all. If that was your only requirement for a perspective boyfriend we would have never dated. I know you care about things besides appearance." Cliff said honestly.

"You do remember I tried to hide the fact that we were dating from all my friends?" Unfortunately, he did remember that incident, and so did Jody. It was one of her early excuses for not telling him about Jade.

"Yes, but you never left me on your doorstep overnight. Thank god you live in Chelsea. That poor boy would have been dead in certain other neighborhoods." Cliff said remembering everything Amanda told him.

"You heard about that?" And so did Jody which is another reason why she's afraid to tell you about your daughter.

"The entire building heard about that. Monique told me after Amanda told me. It made me feel a lot better about the fact that you cheated on me. Now I know that it was nothing personal. You just sabotage every relationship." I hope you don't do that with Jade.

"Did you ever think that maybe that is why I am staying with him? Maybe I'm tired of every single one of my relationships falling apart because I ran away the moment things got serious. I don't want to be alone." Marc said honestly and Cliff almost felt like crying. He also felt like stopping the car and showing him one of the many video files of Jade.

"I'm glad that you finally realized what you were doing before, but that's no excuse to stay in a bad relationship, this time around. You should not stay with someone you don't love just because you're afraid of being by yourself, especially someone who tosses juice at you and leaves bruises. That was my parent's marriage."

"Thankfully, the only children I'm planning to bring into our relationship is Amanda's because, well, Matt is just that flaky."

"You never know."

"I know the Mode rumor mill is accurate 99% most of the time, but that I actually managed to conceive a love child during the last time I tried straight sex, I think I would've known by now." It took all of Cliff's willpower not to snort at that. "I mean, she was menopausal and even if she wasn't. I think I would've heard from her lawyers by now. This was all just some ridiculous rumors started by Nikolai just to screw with everything or part of Monique's matchmaking game. We need to find her a new hobby." Marc suggested. "So far the Jody rumor has resulted in me trying new concealer."

"I agree with finding Monique a new hobby." After you dump your boyfriend.

Cliff wasn't entirely sure how to attack Marc's denial or even if he should. Jody doesn't want him to know the truth yet and Cliff doesn't want to be the one to tell him unless he has to. Except Marc already knew he was just lying to himself. That did not surprise Cliff at all. "You don't read the New York review do you?" Cliff asked deciding that he was going to have to speed up the timetable. But first he needed to gauge how far in denial Marc really was.

"No, what does that have to do with…" Marc was cut off by Diva blaring from his cell phone. Thank god it wasn't the toddler calling again.

"Hey Willie. Long time no call. We're on our way to prepare for the DC shoot." Cliff exhaled in relief. Now, at least Marc could cut off the phone for the last 45 minutes of their drive.

"I have to go because Nikolai had a hissy fit and quit via iPhone Tuesday. Oh, you were CCed too." Cliff wasn't surprised about that. He also received a copy of that message. Actually Cliff is pretty sure that was the genesis of the Jody rumor.

"I guess they haven't taken you off the email system yet. Anyway, it turns out Nikolai is already at Isabella. That traitor! Not that there is anything wrong with someone going to Isabella. You won't believe it, the super budget conscious Monique is making us stay in Arlington." Marc said into the phone almost looking happy except when he talked about the hotel. Which was fine with Cliff because he really should talk to Jody first before approaching Jade territory.

"I don't know why you're complaining. It's still the Ritz Carlton. It's not like it is the American Hotel that was featured in State of Play." Cliff mumbled.

"It's a Ritz Carlton located in Arlington on top of a shopping mall." Marc argued back.

"It's a Fashion Center." Cliff shot back.

"If it has a Gap, it's a mall. Sorry Willie, I got distracted. I don't know why she sent the e-mail except that something's going on with Isabella. Apparently, someone wants to use it for revenge against someone else. I will text message you the coordinates." Cliff was happy that Mark was distracted with Wilhelmina. As long as Marc was busy doing something else, he could avoid the Jade conversation. Even better Marc than being on the phone with the toddler.

Cliff tried to tell himself that he didn't like Marc's current boyfriend for Jade's sake. Growing up with an abusive father, Cliff would not wish that on anyone. It really had nothing to do with the fact that maybe he still loved Marc. He was doing this all for his goddaughter and Troy was not good enough for his goddaughter.

His goddaughter was the reason why he took a phone call from Jody five minutes later, after Marc went back to reading his email. Obviously, he really didn't want Cliff to keep poking holes in his relationship with Troy. Even though he hates talking on the phone when driving, even with speakerphone, he still accepted the phone call. He would regret that in about 30 seconds before he had a chance to tell Jody that he would call her back once they were at the hotel when they could talk privately about his next assignment for the New York Review, Jody started talking.

"Nikolai's an absolute prick. He told Marc that Jade was his daughter via email and he BCCed me on it. If you're with Marc, can you please break his blackberry so he doesn't read the message. I assume he hasn't yet because I haven't received an angry phone call."

'Fuck.' Cliff mumbled as he looked over at Marc. Now Cliff is really glad he's driving because they would've had another medical related car accident due to Marc losing consciousness.

"Too late. He knows because you just told him. I'll talk to you later." Jody owed him the best assignments for the next six months for dealing with this.

To be continued.

So now Marc knows and apparently fainting is what guys in this universe do when they find out about their impending fatherhood.

Expect a lot of new material in the next chapter.

A/N: Most of the medical data in this chapter comes from the Cleveland Clinic website, four years ago because I didn't want to change things that much.