Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. This chapter is significantly different than the original version. There are several new scenes with nearly 3000 words of new material. The chapter also has completely different introduction and conclusion.

I also had to change betas on this story. Ursula has graciously agreed to take over. I hope to do more regular updates in the future. I would like to thank Nina for her past assistance on this story.

Chapter 17:101 Reasons to hate Mondays

Marc is 100% convinced that he has never met a Monday that he's actually liked and that includes a Monday shoot with a unnamed former boy band member that taught him the truth regarding the phrase 'never meet your' idols. However, somehow this Monday managed to top it.

He thought it was going to be a good Monday after the lawyers managed to work out an afternoon visit with Jade and more importantly, Monique agreed to let him leave midmorning, so he could make the appointment. He is still shocked that despite Monique's fiscal responsibility policy, she allowed him to come back to New York for his first visit with Jade and to attend Wilhelmina's wedding the next day on the company dime. It probably has something to do with her resenting her own father, but Marc is going to take it.

With all this successful per-product work that he and Cliff did this weekend, Marc thought he could come back to Manhattan after a quick inspection of the Capitol Hill location, giving him ample time to mentally prepare for the Jade meeting.

Instead he spent the morning on the Hill supervising the congressional shoot from hell because Megan needed to be across town finalizing a deal to use the National Zoo and other Smithsonian Properties this week (because they refused to do it yesterday) and the other photographer was totally incompetent. Thank the gods of fashion that Claire Meade and Meade Publications give obscene amounts of money every year to the Smithsonian and know the right people to get permits on such short notice. Unfortunately they just don't do Sundays.

Thank God Marc found a wonderful gift for Jade at the zoo, otherwise he would've been annoyed at not being able to finalize everything yesterday. Okay the zoo was great, mostly because Marc had more fun looking at the pandas in 100° heat with Cliff Sunday (as they talked about taking Jade there some day) than in his entire relationship with Troy.

Marc tried not to think about that until this morning when Troy ran up to him in the lobby of the Ritz Carlton like a puppy whose owner returned after being away for the weekend. He did not enjoy how clingy Taylor was being and neither did Cliff apparently. He noticed Cliff rolling his eyes from beside him. Marc had so much fun with Cliff running around DC trying to find an alternate location for the wedding shoot this weekend that he completely forgot that he even had a boyfriend.

Okay he also found out he had a brand-new daughter and was dealing with the lawyers most of the weekend trying to straighten out this entire chaotic situation. Shouldn't he actually want to lean on his boyfriend for support when something this major happens in his life? Instead his support system consisted of Amanda, Wilhelmina, Cliff, and Daniel of all people.

And yet, Marc could not bring himself to even call Troy and tell him that he was now a dad. He told himself this weekend that it was because he wanted to do it in person. Instead he decided to avoid Troy until he was back late Tuesday with Amanda there for emotional support. He purposely sent his boyfriend away with Megan, giving her some ridiculous excuse about Cliff demanding that Troy be kept away from him as part of his contract. It was partially true.

"I don't believe you. Cliff doesn't even demand candy bars." Megan said, giving him an annoyed look. "Besides, if Cliff was going to bar somebody from the set, it should be you as his asshole ex-boyfriend. You did cheat on him. Maybe you should finalize arrangements for the zoo shoot and start prep while I spend the day at Congress."

How the hell did she know about him cheating on Cliff? Then again, she is the biggest gossip at Mode for a reason. Please, for the love of Prada, don't let her know about Jane. He wants to at least get through this week before everyone knows that he really did knock up his YEIT professor.

"Sorry, but I have to be back in New York by midday for an important meeting which means I can't make the meeting with the Smithsonian at 11 a.m. Also, I trust Cliff to carry on by himself, so you get quality time at the zoo, setting up for tomorrow. Besides I was up until 2:00 AM working out the specifics with Cliff for today after spending most of yesterday scouting locations because a certain former colleague of ours fucked us over by going to Isabella." And basically told most of the office about the Jody screwup in the process.

"I'm not going to leave you with my story boards just so you can take over after I put so much effort in it. Also, I am not going to be back until late tomorrow and you will be doing the shoot at the National Zoo alone. You need the time to get familiar with the place and come up with ideas because you don't want to use anything that Cliff came up with." That was their first argument of the morning. He really should put off interactions with Megan until he has had at least 3 cups of coffee.

"Because shooting wedding dresses at the national zoo should be more than just shooting wedding dresses at the national zoo?" Megan shot back.

"And Cliff storyboards did more than that. Not that you care or actually looked at them. Also unlike you, Cliff actually likes me and we work well together. Probably because I've never criticized his work." Marc couldn't help but put that out there. He just happens to find my current boyfriend as irritating as my best friend's now deceased dog. You owe him because you referred to him as my chubby lover when we were dating behind his back. He's my friend now. How do you know about the cheating thing?" Marc asked, already knowing what most likely happened.

"Your best friend has a big mouth and I was at the party too." Of course she was there.

"Why do you despise Amanda so much? What did she ever do to you?" Their feud was becoming so bad the two women needed to be kept apart at all times.

"I don't hate her because hate takes too much energy. I just think Matt can do better than the brainless Barbie doll." Megan said as she checked her Blackberry again.

"Yet you spent a lot of energy on manipulating Matt into breaking up with her when she was pregnant." Marc said angrily. He knew all about the dirty details of that incident, including dealing with a hysterical Amanda for a few weeks.

"I didn't know she was pregnant. Not that it changes things. She probably put a hole in the condom herself. I had to spend several months at Player because of that stunt. Let's just move on. I will keep your boy Troy occupied this morning running around the National Zoo and the Smithsonian prepping for the wedding shoot." Megan said leaving him behind with an angry glare.

Marc was surprised she acquiesced so quickly, until he checked his email sent to his personal phone, which led to Cliff taking it away from him to keep him from throwing it at a wall. God, he hates her.

Capitol Hill was absolute chaos, which is why his quick stop to help set things up ended up lasting hours. He should have known things would go badly There were 120 outfits, 10 models, six various locations within the complex, and two photographers. He knew Clint could handle it. But everyone else, not so much. His throat was raw from barking out so many orders. Thankfully, DC models listen.

The cherry on top of the disastrous morning was the family values senators and representatives along with their staffers coming by looking longingly at the models. There were representatives from all parties because apparently creepily gazing at scantily clad women was the great equalizer when it comes to the good ole boys club of Congress. He wasn't surprised. Wilhelmina told him about the Congressional sexual-harassment slush fund.

This group of distinguished gentleman (assholes) included Willi's daddy who was probably looking for the third Mrs. Slater among women who were younger than his granddaughter. Actually, Marc was pretty sure one model went to the same French boarding school at the same time as his only granddaughter.

Marc was highly annoyed by the fact that Wilhelmina's father had time in his busy schedule to come down and look at the models in various states of dress, but not to attend his daughter's wedding tomorrow. What type of father does that? Marc did not understand why Mr. Slater couldn't miss some stupid vote. Marc was turning over the shoot to a junior employee just so he could see Jade today.

Then again, the senator didn't bother to see his daughter when she was in a coma because of the primaries, so Marc wasn't really shocked at his absence. Marc was never going to be that type of dad. Jade would always come first. No matter what. Which is why he was becoming more frustrated by the minute.

He was just about to tell Mr. Slater to go to hell, in a very polite way, when Cliff suggested he check on the other photo shoot before he managed to get Mode kicked out or get himself arrested and therefore miss his train to Manhattan.

Even though Cliff's suggestion was probably made for the sake of not losing another location, he did need to check on the other photo shoot going on simultaneously in the capitol complex before his train left in an hour. There is nothing like business suits and statues of old politicians to sell magazines. Unfortunately, the other photographer was going in a completely different direction. Despite Marc's explicit outline, doing things with the statues that was disrespectful to say the least.

It goes without saying that Marc ended up missing his train. Wilhelmina would have killed somebody if this happened on one of her shoots. Marc was halfway there because they were making him miss time with his daughter. It took Marc two hours to get things stable enough for him to leave.

This also resulted in a phone call to Justin where he spilled everything so that his sort of assistant could get him on the good train back to Manhattan. Thankfully Justin was a miracle worker and did get him on the good train. Despite Justin's skill, his lawyers had to beg Jody's lawyers to push back the meeting by an hour, so he could get there. He didn't even get to see Cliff again to say goodbye because if he had gotten to Union Station just five minutes later he would have missed his train. (Which is the reason why he only had his Blackberry and laptop with him because he sort of forgot to retrieve his personal phone from Cliff.)

Thankfully, the lawyers that Daniel hired to help him with the Jade situation were good and being in the business, Jodi understood why he was late. Or maybe Cliff called and complained about everything. Evidently, she agreed to push back the meeting and did not say anything about it when she handed Jade over to him. Actually, she said nothing to him the entire time.

The meeting with Jade was great. The meeting with Jody was awkward. She didn't even look at him. Apparently, all communications were going straight through their lawyers. Marc even handed the gift he got for Jade to the lawyers to give to her. Marc was just grateful that he wasn't alone with just the attorneys for company.

Part of him wished Cliff could've been there, despite how weird their relationship was at the moment. He had definitely been Marc's constant over the last few days helping him get used to the idea of fatherhood. But Cliff had to keep the photo shoot going.

However, Justin being a good friend and fantastic assistant, managed to convince his mom to not only pick Marc up from Penn Station, but to accompany him to a very stressful first meeting with his daughter. If it wasn't for her keeping him calm, he probably would've thrown up twice on the lawyers which would have made everything worse.

His hour with Jade today was the only good part of the day (not counting his subway ride to Capitol Hill with Cliff that morning). He's not quite sure how somebody so sweet and sunshiny could come from him, but the three-month-old is perfect. Everything fell away when he held his baby girl. Jade just made everything feel good and wonderful. It was what he needed after his very bad day, until Jade spit up on his shirt. He forgot that babies have weaker tummies than supermodels. Thankfully Marc always carries an extra shirt.

Unfortunately, the hour was up much too soon, leaving Marc alone with the lawyers to discuss the plan. They had a few more supervised visitations scheduled over the next few weeks to help him get used to fatherhood and set things up with Jade. Jody's lawyers were willing to give him every other weekend. Marc wanted a 50-50 custody agreement. He has a feeling that the lawyers are going to get a lot of billable hours trying to negotiate that. The whole thing was so exhausting that he fell asleep on the ride to Chelsea. He didn't wake up until Hilda pulled up in front of his apartment complex.

"Are you actually going to be able to get upstairs by yourself?" Hilda asked as he got out of the car half asleep with his travel backpack and the photo album that Jody's lawyers gave to him in hand.

"Yes, mostly because you're never going to find a parking space this time of night." Marc joked.

"That is true."

"Thank you for coming with me. I owe you shoes. You didn't have to." Marc told her, genuinely grateful.

"We're friends. We are practically raising a Justin together so of course I'm going to be there with you for something like this. And I'm proud of you for stepping up. You didn't have to." Hilda tells him. She said something similar when she picked him up from Penn Station.

"Yes I did. She's my daughter. I don't want to think about not being in her life." Marc tells her, honestly.

"You're ahead of Santos." Marc can hear the bitterness in Hilda's voice.

"I'm trying not to be either my father or Justin's biological father."

"You'll do OK. You brought a great gift and you're already planning more visits. Besides, you have no reason to be scared. You've been helping me raise a Justin for the last four years and teenagers are so much worse than babies. Although now I'm going to have to have the contraceptive talk with Justin again you know in case he's not 100% gay. Actually I should make you do it." Hilda joked.

"Actually already did." When he first told him about sleeping with Jody months ago, but that's a conversation that he is not having Hilda right now.

"You got this. I'll email you the rest of the baby pictures later. Also, I'm available Friday, if you need somebody to go with you to that meet up."

"I'm hoping Cliff will be available since he's a friend of Jody, but I'll let you know." Marc said as he closed the door to the car and started to make his way up to his apartment.

It was after 10 when he arrived at his apartment to the sounds of Amanda crying and breaking things. He just barely missed the shoe being thrown at his head when he walked into the door. Considering everything else that has gone wrong today, this should not surprise him at all.

"You are the worst best friend ever." Amanda said as a pair of next season's West-Hartley shoes hit him in the stomach. "This is all your fault." Amanda said as she threw something else at his head. Marc barely ducked in time. If it wasn't for all the practice he acquired when he was Wilhelmina's assistant, he would have a concussion right now. She had a tendency to throw things.

"What did I do wrong? You knew I wasn't coming with you to your doctor's appointment because of Jade. I promise to make it up to you as soon as you stop throwing shoes at me. Hilda took pictures of my daughter throwing up on me. Besides, you shouldn't hurt innocent shoes like that." Marc said, as if he was approaching a wild animal ready to pounce at any moment. A pregnant Amanda was just as dangerous. Amanda was unstable before the pregnancy hormones. It was 1000 times worse now that she was pregnant and Betty was not around to keep her from hurling things at people's heads. He wondered for a moment if Jodi was like this when she was pregnant with Jade.

"Don't you dare play innocent with me, Marc. You have always loved Wilhelmina more than me. I hate you, fucking asshole." Amanda said in tears as she threw a pillow at him.

"Amanda, don't hurt Marc." Tyler said walking into the room.

"Yes, please listen to your boyfriend's brother. I have a daughter now."

"Don't care," Amanda shot back at the speaker.

"This isn't good for the baby. I brought you more ice cream." Marc heard Tyler say, holding two containers of regular Ben and Jerry's Phish food. Amanda was preoccupied enough with the ice cream that he was able to get out of the apartment unscathed. Within seconds, he felt himself being pulled into Betty's former apartment by a worried Matt and Monique.

"Why the hell did you not warn me that was going to happen?" Marc asked the pair standing in front of him.

"We have a system for when Amanda is having a code 12 pregnancy moment. This was a code 13! She wasn't that upset about me missing her doctor's appointment, was she? I really wanted to be there, but I had to see Jade and prove to her mom that yes, I'm going to be in my daughter's life. I thought Amanda understood that." Marc wondered out loud having no idea why Amanda was this upset. She was not even that upset when Daniel announced that he was moving to London. Amanda actually helped him pack.

"We tried, but your phone is currently in the possession of your ex-boyfriend and I didn't have your Blackberry number. You left it at Congress." Matt explained.

"I know. I would've missed my train if I went back and got it from Cliff and I trust him." Marc explained.

"Of course you do." He heard Monique mumble under breath.

"You actually do have my Blackberry number so you have no excuse."

"It's been going to voicemail for the last three hours." At Monique's words, he realized that the battery had died at some point in the last few hours.

"You could've called Justin who knew that I was with his mom. She was there with me to meet Jade since Amanda was at her doctor's appointment."

"Don't even mention the disaster that was the doctor's appointment this afternoon. What happened probably was your fault. Thanks to you, my girlfriend is not speaking to me. Actually she would rather spend time with my half-brother who was recently released from rehab." Matt told him in a cold voice filled with anger in irritation. Then again, Marc would be upset too if his significant other preferred to spend time with a crazy would be murderer.

"It wasn't Marc's fault, completely. Amanda is mad at you because of your own stupidity." Monique said in Marc's defense, glaring at Matt the entire time.

"Wilhelmina will use any piece of information to its fullest. We don't even know if Marc said anything to Wilhelmina yet. I thought I told you last year to stop blaming other people for your mistakes."

"I'm standing right here. What did I supposedly tell Wilhelmina that led to my best friend throwing shoes at me?" Marc said indignantly.

"Did you mention to Wilhelmina anything whatsoever that would give her any indication that Amanda had a doctor's appointment Monday." Monique asked him calmly.

"I wouldn't tell Wilhelmina something like that. She doesn't like me talking about my other friends or having a life outside of her. She is getting better, but we don't exactly have slumber parties where we paint our nails and gossip about guys." That's when Matt points to the giant congratulations on your new baby bouquet that came from Wilhelmina that was filled with designer baby items.

"Yes, I told her about Jade, but Monique told her first. I also had to tell her that even if I got back in time Monday to help her with last minute wedding stuff and the lawyers did not arrange a visitation with Jade, I would probably have to go to Amanda's next ultrasound instead. She was not happy, but that was mostly because she thought my lawyers could do better." At that point, even he realized it was his fault even though he didn't know what happened yet. He really regrets calling Wilhelmina back after her voicemail Friday morning.

"What did Wilhelmina do?" Marc asked with a sigh as Matt continued to glare daggers at him.

"I told you it was his fault." Matt said angrily.

"Stop talking Matt. You are responsible for your own choices." Monique said glaring at Matt with a voice that resembles Wilhelmina's angry tone. "Marc, it wasn't your fault and Wilhelmina really didn't do anything except be Wilhelmina. According to various sources, Victoria Hartley is trying to buy Isabella press with the aid of an unknown British publishing powerhouse for the sole purpose of getting back at various people including her own child. That's what the evil one and I talked about Friday morning." Monique started before Matt continued for her.

"According to my mom's personal assistant who still likes me, Wilhelmina showed up to the tennis club Friday afternoon, most likely in hopes of verifying the information. When she couldn't get anything, Wilhelmina mentioned in passing about Amanda's doctor's appointment Monday in an effort to most likely gain my mother's trust. You're the one who gave her that information." Marc really didn't care about what Matt said, he was completely furious for another reason.

"She tried to play tennis less than two months after being shot in the stomach. What was she thinking? She is going to hurt herself." Marc said in concern.

"Good to know you're such a good friend. This is Wilhelmina. You and I both know she always puts her own personal health at risk in an effort to get ahead. I hoped things would be better once she left Mode, but this mess with Isabella isn't making it easier, but you have bigger things to concern yourself with now, like your daughter." Monique said pointing out the obvious. "We needed to know more about what's going on and to do that Wilhelmina used Amanda as the sacrificial lamb. This is what she does." Monique said in Wilhelmina's defense, sort of.

"A Willie doesn't change her horizontal stripes overnight." Marc said with a sigh before continuing. "How exactly does mommy Hartley knowing about Amanda's doctor's appointment result in the current situation?" Marc asked.

"Matt is going to have to tell the rest of this story. I only know what Amanda and Claire told me. I was in a team prep meeting for the second group going down to DC tomorrow for the zoo and the Smithsonian shoots. Please tell me Megan has everything under control. If Isabella scooped us again, somebody is going to die." Monique said angrily.

"Everything is set for the shoot at the National Zoo. We have the permits and the models. The Vera Wang, Montana So, and West-Hartley dresses are currently stored under lock and key at the Ritz Carlton Pentagon City. Again why are we staying in Virginia?"

"I got a special discount because I know the owners and the Pentagon City location was where they could accommodate us on such short notice. We are taking up two floors of the building." Monique pointed out.

"Good point. I'll show you the proofs of everything we did today before I left after I find out why the hell Amanda is throwing really expensive shoes at me." Marc almost screamed.

"Fine. It begins with the most uncomfortable doctor's visit known to man." Matt started reluctantly.

xxxxxx

8 hours earlier

This was the most painful visit to the doctor Matt has ever had in his life, and he wasn't the person sitting nearly naked in front of four other people only covered by a thin sheet of paper. Then again, Amanda was not exactly bothered by nudity, considering she put on the paper gown in front of everyone including Tyler who was invited to this family outing much to his personal dismay.

It was much easier to deal with his half-brother when he was in rehab. Having Tyler live in his apartment was extremely uncomfortable for Matt, even though it would only last until Brianna returned from Europe tomorrow with her baby's mama. At least Tyler was taking the fact that he was little Lexis' uncle and cousin quite well after the transatlantic teleconference from hell Saturday. Tyler did have the decency to cover his eyes when Amanda stripped in front of him. Claire had to explain that Amanda was very comfortable with nudity, and that's why she had no issues getting naked in front of everyone.

Matt assumed nothing could make this uncomfortable afternoon worse than the fact that his girlfriend's gynecologist looked exactly like his aunt's lover or whatever the hell Alexis Meade was to her. He never wanted to see his aunt again after being forced to endure uncomfortable conversations with his parents and being followed by the press for her sake. However, that wasn't going to happen because he had a dinner meeting with his aunt Wednesday.

Now the moment that truly made this the doctor's appointment from hell was his mother walking through the door with a court order, a couple of cops, and her lawyer.

"What the hell are you doing here mom?" Matt asked in anger. He remembered the bitter conversation they had Friday after she found out that Amanda used to date Daniel.

"I just want to see my new grandchild." His mother said in a sweet voice that was beyond fake. Matt will not even repeat what she said about Amanda Friday when she called after Amanda's unscheduled press conference.

"You made it pretty obvious Friday that you want nothing to do with me or your grandchild. Why are you here?" Matt asked annoyed.

"I am looking out for my only child. You don't even know if the baby is yours. Since the other possible grandmother is here, I thought I should be here too." She said sardonically glaring right at Claire. There was definitely no love lost their.

"This child is mine." Matt said in anger, looking his mother directly in the eyes.

"You don't know that because Amanda is no better than her whore mother and would probably spread her legs for anyone. You also refused to get a DNA Test. I thought I taught you better than that." His mother said condescendingly.

"Do you think calling me a whore is insulting, because it's not. Everybody calls me a whore. For someone who went to Brown, I thought you would be more creative. We decided against performing a DNA test until after the baby is born because of the risks associated with doing the test in utero. Also, the point of conception was determined to be most likely around the first time I slept with Matt. There was almost a month between that encounter, and the last time I slept with Daniel. There is no point risking a miscarriage to know for sure now, when neither possible father really cares." Amanda said stating the logical reason why Matt agreed with Daniel and Amanda not to test until later.

"Yes, but what about all the people in between. Are you another possible father?" His mother said dismissively pointing to Tyler. This accusation pissed Matt off.

"More like the uncle. Don't you recognize the family resemblance, Victoria?" Claire answered with a wicked smile. She probably got great satisfaction in telling his mother this, like this. Her only regret is that she can't pull out a camera right now without seeming ridiculously gaudy.

"He's your son?" His mother asked nonplused.

"He's my brother." Matt answered with a smile. "I always wanted another sibling. It looks like daddy gave me one."

"Your brother?" His mother asked in momentary confusion.

"But he's also Daniel's brother." His mother said nothing regarding his clarification. Instead, she continued her mission to humiliate Amanda for the sake of 'protecting' him.

"Due to Miss Tannin-Somers-Cannon's questionable reputation, I feel it's best to have the DNA test to prove the paternity of the child now. For all you know Matt, she could be using this to get money." Victoria said as her lawyer handed the court order to the doctor.

"I don't want one penny from Matt. I'm not using this baby to keep him with me or to get a piece of the Hartley fortune. I was not even planning to tell Matt I was pregnant after he left me because he thought I was sleeping with someone else when it was an absolute lie." Why did his girlfriend have to bring this up now?

"You were not going to tell me?" Matt asked her realizing what she just said.

"Why should I Matt? You dumped me because you didn't trust me without even talking to me. I bet somewhere in that mind of yours you probably think this DNA test is a clever idea because you don't believe me when I tell you that Daniel is the only other person I've slept with in the last year." You could hear the anger in his girlfriend's voice as she spoke.

"Amanda." He said as he grabbed her hand, but she pushed him away.

"I think we should leave and give those two some time to talk. In the meantime, I would like Amanda's lawyer to look over those papers." Claire said quickly pushing everyone out of the room.

"I don't have a lawyer." Amanda mumbled from the bed.

"Yes you do. The same firm helping Marc. Why do you think they've been asking you so many questions about your own situation? Don't worry; I will take care of everything." Claire whispered in Amanda's ear as she kissed her on the forehead.

"Matt, do you trust me?" Amanda asked the moment everyone was out of the room.

"Yes." He answered quickly.

"The only person I have had sex with other then you since I developed feelings for you was Daniel. I only slept with him because you went back to Betty. I wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me. I already loved you even back then. I stopped sleeping with Daniel after you kissed me, because I realized I was fooling myself." Amanda told him in tears.

"I thought you stopped sleeping with him because he called you Betty in bed." He said repeating the story that she told him.

"That was the other reason." She said quickly.

"Even though your gynecologist believes that you conceived the baby in January, you could have conceived in December. You know what the baby books say." He said pointing out the obvious.

"I know that. That's why I agreed to do the test after the baby was born just to be certain. You want to do the test now, despite the risk to the baby?" She asked him looking him directly in the eye.

"I've found it's best to humor my mother." He said quietly knowing how much worse this could get. He could not believe she got a court order.

"That's not the question I asked you, Matt. What do you want to do?" Amanda said with anger.

"I know. I don't know what I want." He answered her honestly.

"You never know what you want, Matt. Do you want me? Do you want this child? Maybe in that mind of yours you're hoping the baby is Daniel's so you can run away. Children are a lifetime commitment. Maybe you're hoping if Daniel got someone pregnant, Betty will just fall back into your arms." Amanda said almost hysterical.

"I don't want Betty." He said trying to grab her again, but she pushed him so hard he fell over.

"I don't care, Matt. All I care about is if you love me. If this child I'm carrying is someone else's child that I conceived when I was not in a relationship with you and you were in a relationship with someone else, will you still love this child?" He thought about her question. Could he really raise another man's child? He wasn't sure.

"You can't answer me. Don't worry about it. Your silence tells me everything I need to know." Amanda said getting up from the bed with her backside showing to walk over to the door.

"Can you do the test?" She asked her doctor standing right outside probably listening to the entire thing.

"Yes, we can do it today." The gynecologist replied.

"Let's do it." Amanda said walking back into the room.

"Amanda," Matt said trying to grab her again.

"Don't touch me. I love you, but it's obvious that you don't love me. Just get the fuck away from me right now. I don't need you and I don't want you." Amanda said in tears as she walked back into the room.

"It's better this way Matt. You should be with a girl who is more of your station." His mother said callously as she patted him on the shoulder.

"If Amanda is pregnant with your grandchild, you'll never see him or her. You'll never see me again either way. As far as I'm concerned, I have no mother." Matt said angrily as he physically pushed her away. He was so done with her.

"I think I understand why my biological father cheated on her with you. She's an absolute bitch." Tyler said from behind him and Matt couldn't agree more.

Xxxxxxx

The present

"I can understand why she hates you right now. I don't understand why she hates me." Marc said after he heard the entire story.

"It's nothing personal. Amanda hates everyone right now. She is mad at me for not being there and she is probably angry at you for the same reason, even though you had a really good reason not to be there. The fact that Matt thought it would be a good idea to tell her that Wilhelmina was responsible for telling Victoria about the appointment just made things worse." Monique said with a sigh and a glare directed at Matt.

"The only people she doesn't hate currently are Tyler and Mrs. Meade. They've spent the majority of the afternoon bashing my mother." Matt said sitting down on the couch that once belonged to Betty. You can tell that it was hers because of the loud colors.

"Claire went out for takeout right before you got here." Just then Amanda walked into the apartment with ice cream in hand.

"I'm sorry I threw shoes at you." Amanda said quickly.

"It's okay, Amanda." Matt started.

"I wasn't talking to you, you heartless bastard. I was talking to Marc. Claire just brought pizza. Do you want a slice? You can tell me how things went with Jade. Since, unlike some heartless bastards, you are stepping up and taking responsibility for your actions and your daughter. You totally deserve pizza for that." Amanda said as a peace offering.

"Sure. I was too nervous to eat on the train. Not that the food was any good. I couldn't even get carrot sticks. I didn't have time to pick up anything good at Union Station because I would've missed the train. I also have baby pictures." Marc answered as he held up the album from Jody.

"Monique can come too. Everyone but the heartless bastard." Amanda said pointing to Matt.

"Amanda, I'm sorry." Amanda hushed Matt with one finger before she walked out the door.

"You said everything you needed to say this afternoon. Part of me hopes this child is Daniel's because, unlike you, he had no trouble with the idea of raising another man's child with the person he loved." Amanda said icily.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked her.

"When Betty thought she was pregnant last year with your child, Daniel offered to raise that child with her even though they were not dating. That's how much he loved her. You will never love me like that. He was willing to raise another man's child because he loved her, when I'm not even sure you're willing to raise your own child. He moved to another country to be with her and you couldn't stay in this country to be with me. Shit, Marc has known about his daughter for less than a week and arranged for visitation before the DNA results were finalized. So fuck you. I'm done." With that, Amanda was out the door.

"You are so screwed." Monique said as she grabbed her bag. "You can show me the proofs and pictures of your daughter at your apartment. I could use a slice of pizza and cute baby pictures. Cute baby pictures always make me feel better. I wish I was still drinking." Monique said with a sigh.

"We don't have alcohol, but we probably have chocolate and I definitely have lots of pictures of Jade." Marc said as he unplugged his now partially charged Blackberry so he could show Monique and Matt a few.

"I just met Jade today and I know that I love her more than anything else. I wouldn't have even cared if the DNA test went the other way because she's mine. I don't know what's wrong with you. You screwed up so badly Matt that jewelry is going to be required to fix this." Marc said as he walked out the door.

"Trust me I know that." Matt said quietly. If Marc turned around at that moment he would have noticed the Tiffany's box in Matt's hand that resembled the box he found in Cliff's glove compartment almost two years earlier.

Xxxx

"Are we okay?" Amanda asked her friend after she handed him half a slice of pizza and a spinach and goat cheese salad. Apparently Claire went to the good place. They were in Marc's room, because at least that would give them a little privacy and she was supposed to be on bed rest for a little while. Also, Marc looked like he was about to pass out. She wonders if he'll actually eat his food. Oh well, more for her.

"You apologized and I understand." Marc said, motioning for her to lie down next to him on the bed. "I'm sorry I accidentally told Wilhelmina about your doctor's appointment. She's just been extra nice about the Jade thing and I said too much."

"I'm mean for not telling you about Jade." Amanda clarified as she moved to lie down next to him. "I mean if I told you earlier you would've been able to get in more than an hour, rushed visit today. Also I could've been there."

"It's OK, I think being in DC with Cliff gave me time to process things which is something that I needed before seeing Jade. Also I wasn't alone. Justin convinced his mom to come with me. He really is a good assistant." Marc told her as he took a bite of pizza.

"But I still should've been there. Meeting your daughter for the first time is something that your best friend should be there for." Amanda laid her head on his shoulder.

"I understand why you weren't there though." He placed an arm around her. "You had to take care of your baby and I had to take care of mine and unfortunately we couldn't straighten out the schedule. We are parents now. Sometimes we have to put our kids first." Marc tells her as he runs his fingers through her hair. She instinctively curls into him.

"Which is scary. How did we end up parents?" Amanda asked

"Bad hook up decisions and questionable prophylactics." Marc said with a smirk

"But I don't regret it. I just wish Matt wasn't such an asshole." Amanda laments.

"I don't regret it either. I never thought I would become a dad, but I'm happy that Jade is here. I just wish Jody would've reached out to me earlier. I missed so much."

"She did. Actually, the night of the awards last year. She called while you were getting tipsy with the ex-boyfriend. I wrote the message on the back of a receipt, but I found that receipt when we moved over here. Here, have a cheese stick." She offered.

"Well, that is better than the girdle thing." Marc said, taking the cheese stick from her and eating it in one bite.

"Sorry." Amanda said sheepishly trying to hide behind her plate.

"It's not your fault. I was really drunk that night. That is never going to happen again."

"Because we're parents?"

"Exactly." Marc placed an arm around her to reassure her.

"I always knew that Matt was going to leave eventually. He's not one for commitment or the long term. He never finishes anything. I just thought it would last until I actually delivered. How am I going to do all this by myself?" He can hear the panic in her voice. He felt that panic himself when he found out about Jade days ago.

"Neither one of us is dealing with parenthood by ourselves. We have each other and Mode has daycare. We can start looking for a three bedroom in our price range next week. Thankfully, our price range is actually something decent now since I'm a creative director. So I think New Jersey is off the table."

"I hope so. But you're less alone than me because you have Cliff."

"He's Jade's godfather. He's helping me muddle through this because it's best for his goddaughter."

"Who should totally become her stepfather." Amanda shot back.

"We are friends. I'm also dating Trevor." Marc said defensively. She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"You're dating Troy. Actually, I'm kind of surprised you're still dating Troy. I assumed he would've ran away faster than Matt from possible parental responsibilities."

"I haven't told him yet." Marc confessed.

"That's going to go well. It almost makes me glad I'm not going to DC anymore. That is so going to blow up."

"I needed to focus my energy on Jade and the shoot. I didn't have time to deal with Tony drama." Amanda decides not to even bother correcting Marc this time.

"Which is better than Matt drama."

"I'm sorry he's an asshole." He placed an arm around her.

"It's not right, but it's okay. If Hilda could be a single mom at 16, then I can be a single mom now. I don't need him."

"You really don't."

"As soon as I'm done eating, you're so showing me pictures of my goddaughter."

"Of course. I'll even tell you all about Jade throwing up on me." That made Amanda giggle.

"Of course she did."

"So, is Jade going to have a boy play mate or a girl play mate?"

"One of each."

"I'll call the realtor. We will start looking for apartments Monday."

"Thank you."

To be continued.