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Chapter 27: Parental Instincts

"How could you not tell your own mother that you're engaged?" His mother asked in a way that made Daniel sincerely wish that he told Betty not to wear her ring, but he just didn't have the heart to. Mr. Suarez's reaction that morning was better than expected. There was lots of hugging and crying. Which was definitely better than the slapping.

"It was a spur of the moment thing. I was going to tell you after we became officially free and clear of Wilhelmina. Shouldn't we be focusing on your unconscious EIC?" Daniel said as he placed a still unconscious Monique on the couch. At least she was breathing though. Wilhelmina scowled at him. That wasn't anything unusual. It was her usual expression probably due to the overuse of Botox.

"Really, Claire, I'm surprised you didn't know. I did." Wilhelmina said with that same smirk.

"Not helping," Daniel said as he grabbed his phone to let security know what was going on. He should have stayed in London.

"She knew before I did?" His mother asked with the glare that unnerved him as a child.

"Because she overheard me talking to Monique. Can we talk about this later? We need to focus on the unconscious woman on the couch. We were not planning on telling anybody until tomorrow, but Amanda noticed the ring. You know how she is with expensive jewelry. Hi, this is Daniel Meade. We have a code 16 in the president's office." Daniel said into his phone as soon as the security guard picked up. Code 16 was for an unconscious person in the office not caused by alcohol. At least he thinks that's code 16. Whenever he found somebody unconscious in this office, alcohol was usually involved.

"My sister told Amanda before she told me. I had to find out from the makeup person." Hilda said incredulously.

"We didn't tell anybody except for your father and DJ this morning at breakfast." Because again, Betty did not want to take off the ring, and Betty was right. Mr. Suarez was more comfortable with him sleeping in Betty's room now that he put a ring on it.

"Why are you even in the building?" Really, he thought he would see less of her now that Betty no longer worked here. Then again, Justin now worked here, so who knew.

"I work here now. I am the new staff hair stylus. I just accepted the job when in DC." He felt sorry for his future nephew. "That also means I get to hear the latest Mode gossip without having to wait for Amanda. Apparently, Henry just won the 'when the hell will Daniel and Betty get engaged' pool." Daniel just rolled his eyes at that. Betty is not going to be happy when she finds out about that.

"You told your nephew before your own mother?" His mother almost yelled at him. Thankfully at that moment, Candy walked in with the one responsible for her future sister in law being unconscious.

"Seriously Daniel, next time you planned some big life-altering event, please tell me ahead of time, so I don't get blindsided by the press. I don't want to know how Suzuki a.k.a. Brian has my new cell phone number. This is a bad…" Candy started before she noticed the unconscious Monique lying on the couch. "I assume you told her." She said, looking at Hilda.

"More like she accidentally overheard when…" Wilhelmina' politely' trailed off as she pointed to Hilda. That was almost nice for her.

"Okay, you three out of here right now. You guys can argue about whatever you're arguing about in the waiting room. I will take care of this." Candy said literally pushing him out of the office.

"I already called security," Daniel told her.

"I will go ahead and call security to cancel the ambulance." Candy sighed. "Monique despises hospitals and is not going to want the press to find out about this. They will if she gets carted out in an ambulance. They had a field day in March when this happened last time."

"You're supposed to save me from unpleasant situations, not your old boss." He said in a whisper.

"Yes, but I got ambushed this morning by the press as I lead an absolutely terrified 15-year old into the building. You owe me. After this is sorted, we need to work on your official statement. The London Press is already becoming restless." This was going to be a very long day.

xxx

"Hey what's egg salad doing here?" Amanda asked, pointing with a carrot stick at the guy in a suit from four seasons ago with those glasses that she would recognize anywhere.

Carrot sticks were the only snack that Marc would let her get. She hated him because he wouldn't get her chocolate fudge cookies anymore. The carrot sticks were not doing anything to calm her nerves as they waited to meet with the lawyers. With her most likely having to go on bed rest any day now she could use the puppy money (and there's no way she would accept a penny from Matt right now). However, she was expecting the worst. Nothing has been going right lately, so why should this be any different.

"Who is egg salad?" Marc asked in puzzlement.

"Betty's former knight in nerdy armor who turned out to be a complete prick. Egg Salad was what Gio called him. I wonder what he's doing here?" Amanda asked, taking another carrot stick out of the bag. You think that she could at least have some spicy ranch salad dressing to go with this.

"Considering that these are the people in charge of the puppy trust fund, I would say he works here as an accountant. I don't pay attention to people when they tell me stuff that I don't care about, so I don't know. By the way, you spend way too much time with your new best friend's almost-husband if you're using his names for everyone." She detected a bit of anger and jealousy in his voice.

"You know you will always be my best friend. I can have more than one. Besides, you're the one who will be the Babies' godfather. Just like I know, I'm Jade's godmother. I better be Jade's godmother." Amanda nearly growled at him.

"Along with Monique, and only because Daniel is in England," Marc mumbled in annoyance. "I have to ask Jody about that. Although she already named Cliff as the baby's godfather, so I don't know. Maybe I should go with Hilda."

"Don't be like that. You know I love you. I just don't like Henry that well and will utilize any good nickname I'm aware of. Regardless of who started it. He's like the main reason Matt is so paranoid." She said quickly.

"I think Daniel is more responsible for that paranoia then Henry ever was. First, you have actually slept with Daniel, a lot. Then there is the fact that Betty was actually in love with Daniel during the entire course of their relationship. Hell, she may have been in love with Daniel during a part of her relationship with Henry. However, most important of all, you had sex with Daniel a little less than a month before you started sleeping with Matt and therefore we're not sure whose children you are carrying until the DNA test comes back." Marc pointed out.

"Just go ahead and rub it in," Amanda mumbled to herself. "Some best friend you are."

"Great, he is coming over," Marc mumbled.

"Amanda, I thought that was you. What are you doing here?" Henry asked with a smile that seemed unnatural. Amanda always found him creepy, hot, but creepy.

"We're here to see the lawyer about my puppy trust fund. Halston died right before Betty and Daniel left for London. They're probably just being nice and telling me that I've been cut off from the trust fund in person. Bad timing all things considered." Amanda said, pointing to her way too large stomach.

"You're pregnant?" Henry asked, confused. That's when she remembered that they were still trying to hide her pregnancy the last time he was around.

"No, I just gained a lot of weight from spending too much time with my friends Ben and Jerry," Amanda said sarcastically. She's pretty sure Marc mumbled something like "that's half true," but she could not be sure.

"Of course, I'm pregnant. You would have noticed this last time if you were paying attention to something other than Betty or Daniel."

"How is Betty doing in London? According to the tabloids, she's dating Daniel, but I don't trust those things." She couldn't help but roll her eyes. Of course, he would ask about Betty. Actually, that was probably the only reason he's even talking to her. She could probably count on one hand the number of conversations that they've had in the past.

"They are not dating," as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she saw this look of relief in Henry's eyes. "They're engaged," and in a second it was gone. That's when Marc held up his phone to show a headline about Betty and Daniel being engaged along with a grainy cell phone photo of Daniel picking up the ring yesterday. Henry looked as if his world crashed down around him.

"This is true?" He asked, pointing to the phone.

"We saw the engagement ring ourselves. It was obviously very expensive."

"It was absolutely gorgeous. Very eclectic but elegant and vintage. Absolutely, something the EIC of a fashion magazine would choose." Marc added.

"Also, you need to call Kenny, you won the engagement pool," Amanda added, smiling.

"Betty was practically glowing in a non-radioactive way as she showed off the vintage engagement ring." Henry became even more nauseous as Marc pulled up a picture that not only showed the stunning ring but also Daniel and Betty making out like teenagers. He just looked miserable. This made Amanda so happy that she temporarily forgot about all her problems.

"Ms. Robinson will see you now." The receptionist called after her and Marc.

"We have to go now, but I will tell Betty that you said hi," Amanda said, leaving a devastated Henry behind.

"God, I needed that." She said smirking to Marc as they followed the assistant.

"You're so evil. The hormones are making it worse. This is why you're my best friend." Marc said, smiling as he grabbed her hand. "That felt like old times."

"Of course, I am only evil when I need to be. Monique taught me that. The fashion TV thing was a nice touch. Wait, how did Suzuki know so quickly?" She asked.

"I had to do something when you were in the bathroom throwing up, again. Besides it is better if I leak the news to Suzuki before someone like our favorite bitch Meagan does."

"How long did he agreed not to say anything mean about Jade on air?" Because Amanda just knew that was the real reason. Amanda already knows how far someone would go to protect their children.

"A full year. At least I included a flattering picture of the not so chubby anymore one." Marc said just before they finally took a seat in the lawyer's office.

Within seconds, she was nervous again. Ms. Robinson was a lot like Monique. Smart, beautiful, and very put together. She was also a little scary.

"Thank you for coming." She said, reaching over to shake Amanda's hand.

"Thanks for having us here," Marc told the lawyer because Amanda was too nervous to actually speak.

"Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?"

"No, thank you. I'm only allowed one cup a day, and I think I'll save it until after you tell me I'm losing the puppy money. Which, as you can see I could really use right now because I'm going to be way too pregnant to work soon."

"I understand. I hated going down to one cup a day when I was pregnant with my son. Also, I'm not here to tell you that you're losing the puppy care siphoned. Although it is changing forms."

"What?" Amanda asked, surprised.

"Your biological mother was worried about you being able to handle such a vast amount of wealth. That's why she decided to have you take care of Holston as a test." The lawyer explained.

"I don't know where she got that from," Amanda said nervously.

"The fact that you spent your rent money on a pair of designer shoes and was evicted may have had something to do with it," Marc said pointedly.

"That was like two years ago. I don't do that now."

"That's because you and Daniel devised a way for you to get free maternity clothes," Marc said with a smirk.

"That's because I'm writing articles about it for Mode and some parenting magazine. I cannot act like I used to. I have children to take care of. Let's be honest, between Matt and me, I am the mature/stable one." Marc actually shivered when she said that.

"Unfortunately, that's true, poor babies," Marc said, patting her stomach affectionately.

"Regardless of your past spending habits, by taking care of Halston successfully for three years, you have proved yourself as responsible. Therefore, you are entitled to the trust that Ms. Sommers set up for you." Amanda was completely shocked by that. Sometimes Amanda was convinced that Fey never cared about her. This just proved she did.

"How much money are we talking about?" Marc asked because Amanda was still in shock.

"I'm not allowed to disclose the full amount. However, you will receive a monthly allowance of $4000 and will receive an additional $2000 when your children are born. Also, you will be able to receive an advance if you want to go back to school, purchase a house, or start your own business." When she heard the lawyer's words, Amanda let go of the breath she did not know she was holding. She placed her hands on her stomach, protectively, and mentally told her children that they would be okay. They didn't need Matt because their grandmother decided to help take care of them.

XXXX

"God, please tell me that was all a dream," Monique said as she slowly sat up from what appeared to be Claire's couch. That was not a good thing.

"I would, but I don't like you that much." The sardonic voice of Wilhelmina Slater said. "Although, even I wouldn't tell you that you were possibly going to be an aunt that way. Although you're probably thinking grandmother considering you see your future sister in law as the child you can never conceive." At that point, Wilhelmina had what appeared to be a brandy at that moment.

"I'm personally surprised you have decent liquor in this office because the troll is dry this week even if it was hidden underneath a stash of chocolate truffles," Wilhelmina remarked.

"The liquor is in here for business reasons, supposedly. The chocolate is Amanda's most likely. Up until recently, we all have been enabling Amanda to keep up her chocolate habit. Because Amanda has gestational diabetes, the chocolate stashes will have to go," along with the brandy, Monique added privately. That was another thing she was going to add to the list of things to deal with.

"Just like her mother." Wilhelmina murmured.

"She had gestational diabetes? God, I wish we knew more about her pregnancy." She mumbled. At least, Monique got to talk to her biological mother on occasion. Amanda never really had the privilege. How much easier would things be if they could ask basic questions?

"I don't know about the diabetes, but she did consume vast quantities of chocolate during her pregnancy. I'm personally surprised that she was barely showing at nine months. She was always throwing up. That is how I knew Amanda was pregnant by Fashion Week." Wilhelmina said with her trademark smirk.

"Of course," Monique said, wondering if that was true, why didn't she use that information for her own purposes? "Where is everyone? Please tell me that they didn't call an ambulance this time. I have to deal with my mother in less than 2 hours, and she won't take hospitalization as an excuse for missing her wonderful rehearsal lunch." Monique said sarcastically.

"Daniel is currently being berated for not telling his mother or Betty's sister about the engagement."

"So they decided to leave me in here with you completely unconscious?" Monique asked incredulously.

"No, they left you in here with Daniel's assistant who was smart enough to cancel the ambulance because she knew that you wouldn't want it. He apparently brought her from London because he can't go anywhere without somebody trailing behind him. She's currently in Claire's restroom dealing with your hysterical future sister in law." She said, pointing to the door to the right.

"Candy was my assistant first. She is also one of my good friends and one of my bridesmaids." Monique corrected her.

"That explains why she offered to take the girl to the gynecologist this morning for a blood test. From what I overheard, you have a little more than eight months to prepare for the inevitable, if it comes back positive. Apparently, the home tests have been inconclusive. Although the sound of retching seems conclusive enough for me." Wilhelmina remarked.

"She does have a name. It is Antonella." Monique replied in annoyance.

"Yes but I don't know what it is nor do I care. I do wonder why Antonella trusted your former assistant and some total stranger over you or her brother with this? Trouble in paradise?" Wilhelmina said, looking at her with pure contempt.

"I'm not going to hurt her. However, the other person responsible for this situation is a dead man." Monique said viciously.

"It wasn't anyone in the family?" If Monique didn't live the life that she lived, she would think that question to be absurd, but all things considered, it wasn't. The fact that Wilhelmina was asking a question like that told Monique that those sorts of questions were not absurd in her world either, unfortunately. Poor Mercedes.

"I don't think so." She said thinking about certain unpleasant memories involving a former business partner/family friend of her mom that molester Mercedes.

"It was most likely her way too old for her boyfriend who broke up with her a couple of weeks ago. He probably ended things with her once he got what he wanted. Now, he is a dead man." At the very least she was having him charge with statutory.

"Though, you never know. Gio's two Cousins just quit the wedding in the most suspicious way possible, and Daniel is now his best man. Maybe it's guilt, instead of stupidity on their part." She said, thinking about the silly excuse they gave her for leaving the wedding along with lots of apologies. "I didn't think a 'close family friend' would touch my sister that way, but he did. Fortunately, my mom believed us. There's a reason why most of the country club set is terrified of Vivian Windom-West."

"Be very thankful that your mother believed your sister," Wilhelmina said, finishing her glass as she made no eye contact. "Not everyone would. Not everyone would speak up in the first place. That sort of thing is unfortunately very common." Her comment was like the final piece of the puzzle. Obviously, something similar happened to Wilhelmina as a teenager, and most likely, nobody listened to her side of the story.

"If it was something like that, I hoped that Antonella would have come to me. If not, she has a lot of people she can trust, including Candy and Hilda. Antonella and Justin went to the same school and are friends. They bonded over losing their parents. Of all of the parents of her friends, Hilda would probably be the only one who knew what she would be going through. Actually, Antonella probably didn't say anything. Hilda probably picked up on all the signs I missed. God, she threw up on Matt Tuesday. Flu, yeah, right." Monique said bitterly.

"Yes, 'the condom broke' Flu. I had that one about 20 years ago." Wilhelmina remarked.

"That should have been an obvious sign. I've been dealing with a pregnant Amanda since February fashion week, and I completely missed it. She wasn't afraid of me, she was waiting for me to notice and I didn't. Maybe it's a good thing I cannot have biological children because I'm horrible at this parenting thing." Monique said morosely, finishing off her drink.

"Unless you're going to force her to have an abortion against her wishes or give up her child or watch you raise it as your own with her having no say just to protect your own reputation, you will be fine. Besides, you're not that horrible of a person." Wilhelmina said with bitterness. Is that what the Senator did to her? Was she forced to pretend that Renée was her sister when she was really her daughter? The man was ruthless. Monique could see this happening.

"I would never do that." She said in absolute horror. "First, there are laws about that sort of thing. No matter what, it has to be her decision. I don't give a fuck about my reputation and never have. People have been speaking badly about me since before I was even born. Supposedly, my existence ruined a perfectly happy marriage, not the fact that my father was fucking the nanny. And let's be honest, considering the power dynamic going on, you know it wasn't fully consensual."

"I'm aware."

"I'm not going to force Antonella into a decision that she doesn't want. Is that what happened to you? Were you forced to pretend your daughter was your sister?" Just for a fraction of a second, the Wilhelmina mask fell, and Monique knew that her suspicions were correct.

"You'll be surprised what the child of a politician can be forced to do under certain circumstances," Wilhelmina said cryptically. That was the closest she would ever get to a confession. It seemed most prudent to change the subject.

"Thank you for tipping Brianna and me off to what Victoria is planning," Monique said quickly thanking Wilhelmina for actually being helpful. She assumed this would be the safest grounds for conversation.

"As much as I despise Claire and can understand why somebody would want revenge on her, I hate being made a fool of for someone else's schemes. I just got her back for thinking she could make a fool of me." Wilhelmina said with a smirk. "I'll be back after the honeymoon for you to sign the papers. I doubt you feel up to signing anything right now."

"Not at all. We were only doing it today, so we would not have to send the contracts to London. I would drink more, but I have to deal with my mother and a possibly pregnant teenager very quickly. This is such a mess." She said, finishing her drink. It was rare for her to drink this much outside of the anniversary of her first husband's death.

"This is near a college campus, right? Pity," Wilhelmina said, almost sincere. "If you need someone to take care of the person who caused your little problem, I may know of some very discreet individuals." She was pretty sure Wilhelmina just offered her the services of a hitman. She is not surprised because this is Wilhelmina Slater. All things considered, it was quite tempting. Although she should probably talk to Antonella before she decided on how to take care of the moron. Gio was going to kill somebody when he finds out. Maybe she'll wait until after the blood test results come back. She was hoping for a small miracle.

XXXX

"So you finally decided to grace me with your presence," Matt said from his hospital bed as soon as his aunt walked into the room. Other than Tyler and various mothers of half-siblings, he has mostly been without visitors during this ridiculous hospital stay. (He doesn't consider his therapist a visitor.) Even his so-called mother was too busy to actually see him. Hell, even his father had his assistant sent flowers, or maybe the assistant did that voluntarily. He wasn't sure.

"Things have been kind of insane. Between everyone finding out about who my daughter's other mother/biological father truly is and being there for everyone finding out exactly how sick Alexis really is I haven't had time to deal with all the other crisis going on." She said in an exhausted tone.

"You mean me fainting when I found out I had another half-brother that no one told me about because my dad doesn't know how to use a condom properly? You think they would let me out of here by now. It was just stress." He said with annoyance. Matt doesn't understand why he was admitted to the hospital, besides the fact the hospital has a wing named after his father.

"I was thinking about the crisis caused because you don't know how to use a condom properly." She snapped back.

"When you have lived in as many countries as you have and had as many bedroom partners, they don't take losing consciousness as just a stress thing. Even if it were just stress, considering your colorful psychological history, you would still be in the hospital; you would just be in a different section." His aunt said, referring to his 10 years in therapy and a few hospital stays in the psych ward. Most of the hospital stays occurred when he pissed his mom off.

"I do know how to use a condom. I just don't know that much about birth control pills and unfortunately neither did Amanda. You were done in the exact same way, so don't say anything." Matt replied.

"I wasn't going to." His aunt snapped back.

"I also had no idea my mom was so insane and would react this badly to the situation." He defended.

"I went to France for a reason when I found out I was pregnant. Your mother is unstable for reasons that god only knows. You do not need to deal with her right now. I especially do not need her to find out that her evil plan from 16 years ago didn't work as expected." He's pretty sure his aunt mumbled something about Tiffany being stupid enough to move back to NY, but he wasn't sure because she slipped back into French.

"The best way to prevent that is to keep you here where you are surrounded by lots of doctors who will help keep you sane and your mother away. Besides with everything going on, I know that you have not made time to see your therapist even though lord knows you should." His mouth opened in complete shock at that.

"You had me committed?" Matt asked, incredulously. He really should not expect anything less from his slightly deranged aunt. He's starting to regret giving her power of attorney. Although she was still a better choice than his mother or father.

"No. I just suggested that your team be comprehensive and for you to see your favorite psychologist three times a day. Considering everything that has happened in the last six months, you need it." That was true even if he did not want to say that to anyone, including his aunt.

"Now that I'm here and will be in New York for the foreseeable future, they're going to release you into my capable hands." She actually dared to smile at that.

"That makes it so much better." He said sarcastically rolling his eyes at his crazy aunt.

"I did what I had to. You cannot argue that you didn't need the break."

"I needed to be in DC with Amanda." He argued back.

"Except if you did go to DC, she would have stayed in New York because she can't deal with you right now."

"Okay, that is beside the point," Matt argued.

"That is the point. You needed time to figure a lot of things out. Amanda needed some time to herself and away from you. Besides, even your mother wouldn't be stupid enough to try and attack Amanda in a city like DC. Every location they were shooting at was covered with security guards and required you to go through a metal detector." Matt shouldn't be surprised. "It was better if Amanda was there with her friends, then alone here."

"You worry my mom is going to hurt Amanda." He said as more of a statement that a question because he was worried too.

"I'm worried about a lot of things. I'm sure Tiffany told you the real reason why she left." Contrary to what they thought, his father wasn't the one trying to make the Tiffany situation go away, it was his mother. Her solution was to push her down a flight of stairs or rather to pay someone else to do it. Why she actually tried to have somebody killed, Matt would never know the answer to that, but he would die first before he would allow that to happen to Amanda. It was that moment that he realized that he really loves her regardless.

"I don't think she's quite ready to utilize that particular strategy again until she exhausted all other possibilities." Aunt Briana said casually as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say. "Amanda and the babies will probably be safe if her current scheme works. Let's just say you're lucky that Amanda slept with Daniel Meade the month before you got her pregnant."

"What do you mean by that?" Just as he spoke, a piece of paper was thrown at him.

"You'll be amazed how easy it is to expedite a paternity test if you donate enough money to a good research cause." His aunt said as he cautiously picked up the paper with trepidation.

"You have no reason to be petrified. You are the father." She said with an expression that wasn't entirely comforting.

"It wouldn't matter anyway. I love Amanda." He said, expressing the conclusion that he came to over the past few days. It's amazing what a few days in the hospital working with his therapist can accomplish.

"But it's a lot easier." His aunt said with a smirk knowing him a little too well. "Your mother's counting on the opposite being true."

"What are you talking about?" He asked as confused as ever.

"Earlier this week your mom had another tennis date with Wilhelmina Slater, and she just happened to pass the name of the lab that was willing to do a fake paternity test for her in addition to some other bits of information. Your mother wants the new Hartley heir to disappear, and that's what she will get, with a little forgery. Tomorrow she's going to get a lot of happiness from telling Daniel that he is the father."

"I'm confused. Why would my mom do this? How do you know this? Also, Wilhelmina Slater does nothing unless she gets ahead. She was the one who told mom about the doctor's appointment in the first place." Matt blurted out all at once.

"Marc is like a son to Wilhelmina. Hell, she's already claimed Jade as her granddaughter. Jody is terrified. Wilhelmina won't hurt him. Hurting Amanda would hurt him. It's probably the only reason why she didn't use the existence of the twins against you." His aunt spoke as if she would understand things that he never would.

"I wondered about that," Matt said to his aunt.

"Love is a strange thing. It can make you do all sorts of things that you would never do otherwise. How far would you go to protect someone you love? Would you let her go, to keep her safe? To keep your children safe?" She asked him, and he was not entirely sure how far he would go.

To be continued