Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed. You are all fabulous. Get ready for the chaos. It wouldn't be Ugly Betty without chaos and complete drama.

Factoid moment:

Britney Wyndham West, a.k.a. Monique's favorite stepmom is due August 1.

Amanda's due date is October 7

Antonella needs to figure out if she's actually pregnant before she gets a due date.

If they make it to full term, only I know.

As we get closer to the end of what's previously written, more original material will appear. Also, I completely rearranged stuff from the last two chapters of the original version to the point it might not be recognizable. Those two chapters are now about four chapters with a lot of new material interspersed. The first third of this chapter is new material.

Chapter 31: Flowers, Bagels, and Babies Oh My

"You really did bring bagels and the world's most adorable baby," Marc said as he saw Cliff step on the roof. With Jade in a baby carrier strapped to his chest, carrying a huge diaper bag in one hand and two giant bags from the best bagel place in the city in the other. Marc quickly put the last touches on the giant flowers centerpiece that he was putting together with the help of the EIC of craft monthly. So he could run over to Cliff to grab his baby girl. Even though they've only spent a few hours together, he absolutely loves this little girl.

"You really are that adorable Princess," Marc said, quickly placing a kiss on his daughter's head before unstrapping her from Cliff. "And I see you have improved in taste and know how to color coordinate baby Jade's outfit." She was in an adorable cream summer dress with matching panties covering the diaper. Her little shoes had little blue flowers, which happened to match Monique's original wedding colors. Unfortunately, there going with just cream right now.

"Or I realized that I should probably dress your child in one of the outfits that the divine Ms. West Hartley sent her goddaughter," Cliff said as he placed his things on one of the nearby chairs.

"You neglected to mention that my daughter has a fashion designer for a godmother already. Willy's going to be upset." Marc remarked, knowing that actually be the case. Breanna wasn't exactly a fan the Willy's.

"Mostly because she knows that she is Nana." Cliff shot back.

"Is that your daughter?" Terry asked from the altar where she was trying to put something halfway decent together. She really did come down to help. Thankfully, she actually understood color theory despite the horrible shade of pink used in yesterday's photoshoot.

"Yes." He answered simply. It was already public knowledge that he had a kid. There was no point in lying.

"I knew it, she looks like you. Can I hold her?" Mark really didn't want to hand over his little girl but knew he needed to.

"Just support her head."

"I have six nieces. I'll be fine. Who did you go with as your gestational carrier?" But apparently, Terry wasn't aware of all the juicy details, and Marc did not have the energy to explain. "I didn't even know you guys were back together unless you plan to have the kid before breaking up and still went forward anyway." Although maybe he should.

"One of my old friends. Marc knew her from the YETI program." Cliff answered, and it wasn't a complete lie. "Marc and I are just friends right now, but we're both committed to Jade."

"That is so true. Kids should always come first."

"My parents went through a messy divorce, so I don't want that for Jade," Cliff answered. Those words made Marc realize why Cliff was such an advocate for him despite the fuck up with the neighbor.

"Nor should you. Let's switch. You take your daughter back, and I will bring the bagels to the back table." She said, passing the baby back to Cliff. "I think we probably all missed breakfast."

"I was sitting down to a bowl of melon when the sprinklers went off," Marc remarked.

"I guess the fruit salad in here is for you." She said, handing it to Marc. "Take 15 and eat something. Besides, there's not much more we can do until the chairs get here." With that, Terry walked away.

"Chairs?" Cliff asked as he handed Jade back to Marc once Terry was on her way to the tables in the back.

"Although there isn't a Wyndham West property in the tri-state area that can host the wedding, we can get all the necessary accouterments like chairs," Marc explained. They were also bringing anything that wasn't burned to cinders.

"And yet you're here putting faux flower arrangements together."

"Because the flowers that actually are not lost in Connecticut or Jersey were burned to a crisp this morning," Marc told him. "Those flowers were beautiful, and now they're all gone."

"There's no point in being upset about that. You're doing a good job right now, and that's all that matters." Cliff said, trying to be reassuring.

"It looks passable. Jade, daddy, could do so much better if he had real flowers and at least three days." He tells his baby girl.

"And I can always do some finishing to the photos afterward. I can add real flowers then."

"This is true," Marc said just as Brittany approached the two.

"So, I heard my charge is here." She said, reaching out for Jade, who instantly went to her.

"Yes, I even changed her diaper before getting the bagels. So, you agree to babysitting duty?"

"Yes, I'm too pregnant for anything else. You are the best Cliff, I prefer not to change a diaper in this outfit. It's so good to see you again." Brittany said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"You've met before?" Marc asked, surprised.

"When I was still dating my future ex-husband, Cliff escorted Monique to a lot of family functions," Brittany explained.

"Including their wedding. I think that happened right before we started dating," Cliff told him.

"I'm trying not to think of that wedding right now. The future ex-husband is in Tahiti, screwing the successor, and my predecessor has scheduled a meeting with the divorce attorney for Sunday. I just want to concentrate on getting my stepdaughter married right now.

"This does not surprise me, but you deserved better."

"I should've known this was going to go badly when I found out he lied about having a vasectomy." Marc had no idea how to respond to that.

"Just think happy baby thoughts right now. You're going to need the diaper bag." Cliff said, putting the bag around Brittany's arm. "Jody brought the industrial diaper bag so there's like six bottles in there and enough diapers to last until Tuesday."

"That is a lot of diapers for just one day," Marc remarked.

"Jody just texted and asked if I could keep Jade overnight. I guess she realized that was a possibility when she dropped her off this morning. You can come over to if you want." Cliff offered, and Marc was very tempted. But only because he wants to spend time with his daughter, not because he wanted to spend more time with Cliff. Yes, Mark was really good at lying to himself.

"You two can coordinate your sleepover plans but I am going to find a couch where me and Ms. Jade can hang out. Tamika says that the chairs will be here in 10, so that will give you time to finisher fruit salad and maybe make out a little." Britney remarked.

"I see why your Monique's favorite stepmom," Marc mumbled under breath as Brittany walked away. Brittany just had baby Jade waving to him. Cliff just took a picture. He was just too perfect.

XXXX

Betty was worried. Even though she really liked Daniel's friend Monique and wanted her to have a good wedding, she would've preferred not to be on reception set up duty. Betty had more important things to be concerned with, like her fiancé. Actually, it has been that way longer than she cares to admit to herself. Danielle has been her number one priority for a very long time.

She was already worried because today was the first anniversary of Molly's death. This day was hard on her, and she only considered the woman a friend. She can't imagine how much harder this was going to be for Daniel. The fact that he found out that their marriage wasn't legal May make it worse for Daniel, not that they've talked about it. Between everyone finding out about the engagement and the Award banquet last night, there hasn't been time. Because she actually won, they "celebrated" and she had the bite marks to prove it. Also, it wasn't like she could bring it up when Justin or DJ was in the town car on the way to salvage this wedding and Daniel's magazine. It was too private.

Now that the wedding and the magazine were falling apart, she doubted they would find time today. Daniel has not even watched the video message that Molly left behind for him. He keeps finding different reasons not to play the thing. Despite how hectic things were if he really wanted to see her final message he would have by now.

Betty herself was not sure how she felt about the entire thing. If Molly knew that Daniel was in love with her, why did she go through with the ceremony anyway? Why did Molly get back together with Daniel after the breakup? Why did she ask her best friend to play matchmaker? Betty had too many questions that will never be answered. Molly was dead, and she doubted that video file could answer all her questions. The best Betty could hope for was that Daniel would get some sort of closure.

There were more important things to focus on, like how to make the executive dining room/meeting room look like a grand ballroom. Right now, it was just her and Brianna. Her father had called every single wait staff member he could think of that wasn't working to help with the setup of the buffet, but most wouldn't be here for another hour. Everyone else available to help save the wedding was either in the kitchen trying to salvage the dinner or upstairs trying to make the roof presentable for the most magnificent wedding of the summer fashion season.

Unfortunately, a lot of people were down in the Mode offices trying to salvage Daniel's first issue of Mode UK. That's where Amanda and Justin were now along with half of features. That's where she should be, but she can't because her boyfriend is being stubborn. As much as Betty wanted to help fix the magazine, Daniel told her not to. He wanted to do this on his own, and she could understand that desire, but she still wanted to help.

"Do you think we should go with the white tablecloths, that my daughter will most likely try to color on 10 minutes into the boring speeches, or that god awful pink disaster?" Brianna asked, holding the two choices with disdain. This broke her out of her thoughts of Daniel.

"You're asking me a style-related question?" Betty asked in shock.

"You did work at a fashion magazine for four years, and you seem to have your own sense of style. I like the way your house is decorated." Brianna said in a tone that seemed to be sincere. "Also Marc has roof duty with Terry and Cliff. I feel like you would have better tasting Cliff anyway."

"The house was mostly decorated by Daniel except for my office. Also, my nephew proofread most of my fashion-related articles, and Daniel packed my suitcase. Supposedly, there was an entire web site devoted to my bad fashion choices. Justin is the one you want to ask those types of questions to. I'm just here to help you." She said as she continued to assemble the centerpiece according to Marc's extremely annoying instructions. He made a video before abandoning her for the roof.

"Unfortunately, Justin is downstairs helping Daniel, so that leaves me with you," Brianna said, smiling. Alexis' friend had a very interesting sense of humor sometimes.

"I know," Betty said as she went back to wishing she was somewhere else. She usually liked doing crafty things, but not today.

"You're not happy about that?" She asked poignantly. Betty has discovered over the last few days that the woman is very good at reading people. Betty was also very thankful that she never met his aunt while she was dating Matt. She probably would have picked up on the Daniel denial before anyone else would have. It helps that she's known Daniel since he was a baby.

"I am his fiancée. I'm supposed to help him through this sort of thing." She wasn't just talking about the magazine but also the Molly thing. Actually, she found that more annoying than him, leaving her out of helping him with the magazine.

"Are we still talking about the magazine?" Brianna asked.

"Of course, what else would I be talking about?" Brianna looked like she was going to say something but thought better of it.

"Betty, I have known Daniel since he was in diapers. He's always been in someone else's shadow, whether it be his father, Alexis, or even Wilhelmina. I think he just wants to prove that he got his job in London for another reason other than his last name is Meade." Briana explained.

"I don't think that." She said in her defense.

"But lots of people do. I know a lot of people saw me that way. Why do you think I used my mother's maiden name in the beginning?" She asked.

"It sounded better." She replied with a shrug.

"Not entirely. I wanted to prove myself on my own merits. Daniel probably just wants to do the same." Betty didn't completely accept that explanation.

"Maybe you're right." She replied with a shrug as she went on to put another centerpiece together.

"Now, on to more important things, please just pick a tablecloth?" Briana demanded as she held up the two choices again.

"Just go with the white." She said quickly.

"Good choice. It goes good with the flowers. See you're not completely hopeless." Briana said with a genuine smile.

"Again, there's an entire web site devoted to my bad wardrobe choices," Betty said as she placed one of the centerpieces is on the table.

"I've seen the web site. I got all sorts of good ideas from it. Your personal style was not bad, it was just different. It was enough to get you noticed by other people. That's the whole point of this. Fashion is personal expression. The only thing that matters is if you like what you're wearing." Considering all the fashion designers that she has spoken to over the years, she was shocked. No one ever said something like that to her before.

"Okay, now I know why you and Wilhelmina despise each other," Betty said as she went back to putting together another centerpiece. Hopefully, she would be done with these crazy things in the next 15 minutes. Maybe she could go downstairs to see if Daniel has changed his mind about her helping.

"I don't hate Wilhelmina that much. I think she still has a soul somewhere. She did help us for the sake of Marc in my goddaughter. Granted, she had her own less altruistic reasons, but you can't expect the ice queen to change overnight." She said with a shrug.

"That's true. Wilhelmina was the one who told us that Mrs. Hartley was planning to make Daniel the father of Amanda's baby as some sort of sick revenge on Claire. And possibly me, not that I understand why. Of course, she had no idea that Claire actually was already going to be the twins' grandmother no matter what." Betty didn't mention why she really didn't see Amanda having Daniel's child is such a bad thing anymore.

"I hated Faye Somers for personal reasons. She said some things to Alexis that I'm never going to forgive her for. She also tried to sleep with my father when he was with my mother. Thankfully, being a bitch is not genetic, and Amanda seems to be a good person. It's like conclusive proof of nurture vs. nature. That's why I agreed to your plan." Brianna said as she placed another tablecloth down.

"I knew we had to do something when you told me about..." Betty was about to say something about being told about how Matt's mother tried to eliminate the last mistress after she got pregnant by her former spouse. She was stopped by a hand placed over her mouth.

"We're going to have to work on you being sneaky. No wonder the mode rumor mill knew all about you and Daniel. The first rule of being devious is to not reveal your plan. That's why most supervillains fail miserably in the movies." Betty nodded, and she removed your hand.

"You're a good friend. I don't think I would agree to have my boyfriend pretend to be the father of my best friend's child just to keep her safe. You're a better woman than me." She came up with the idea after a long conversation earlier this week with her father. She can help raise Amanda's child. That's what friends do.

"She's my best friend. If it wasn't for her, I would still be running away from my own feelings. I have to help her, especially because she only slept with Daniel for me." This whole mess happened because she was afraid of being with Daniel. If she never tried to use Matt as a Daniel substitute, Amanda would have never slept with Daniel again to keep him from rebounding with some random girl. Of course, the birth control thing still could have happened. Which meant Victoria Hartley would still want Amanda dead, and her plan to pass the baby office someone else's would not work. Then Amanda really would be in trouble.

"You two have a strange definition of friendship. Then again I'm friends with my ex-boyfriend who cheated on me and the goddaughter of his ex-boyfriend's accidental miracle baby. I'm even friends with the father of my daughter, who is now her other mother despite the fact she abandoned me during my pregnancy by faking her death. Granted, she did this so she could go through gender reassignment surgery because her father was a bastard who listened to his evil girlfriend a little too much, but it still hurt. Regardless of all that, I even disappeared for a few weeks so I could go doctor shopping with Alexis. Because of those things, I have no right to criticize you."

Betty really wants to ask about that again. Anything related to what happened with Alexis during her disappearing act was not discussed. Actually, Alexis being sick was another thing that wasn't being talked about in the Meade household. She and Daniel were very good at avoiding unpleasant conversations, which may explain why it took them so long to get together.

"Is everything ready?" Betty asked, knowing that the other subject was off-limits. She has lots of questions, but it would not be appropriate to ask any of them.

"Yes. Don't worry about it. I even fixed the financial situation. Amanda now has an independent income coming in even after she stops working." She said confidently as she kept placing tablecloths on tables around the dining room. Again, maybe she was trying to make sure nobody else was listening in on this conversation.

"I thought she wouldn't take any money from you or anyone else?" Betty asked in confusion. "Daniel was only able to get her a new maternity wardrobe because he lied to her and said they were from the closet," Betty explained.

Before she really spent time with her, she was kind of under the impression Amanda was a bit of a gold digger. That changed after Amanda spent three months wearing that horrible yellow hat to pay back the money lost during the missing rent fiasco. (She also switched to paying rent via direct deposit instead of by money order which required her to carry too much cash.)

"It's good to have a plan B. Even though I absolutely despise the woman, Faye set up a little trust fund for Amanda. She disguised it as the dog care fund. According to Amanda's adopted father, the money was always intended for her." Betty let go of a breath she did not know she was holding at that moment.

"That makes sense. I didn't think anybody loved their Dog that much." She was happy that Amanda at least had some proof now that her biological mother actually loved her. "But how does that help us? The fund barely can cover rent and food in New York, even with her roommate." Of course, knowing Marc, he would probably take over paying rent. He can afford it now with the new job. But then again, he has Jade, and she knows Marc will want to pay child support.

"That's why the fund just got a large cash infusion," Brianna said smugly.

"What? Why? How?" Those were the only thing she could say.

"Because Amanda does not want to be a gold digger, as you stated earlier. However, if she thinks it's coming from Faye, you know that she will take it, no questions asked. Amanda needs money. Any court in the country would probably give her double in child support if she could ask for it. Per Claire, Amanda's doctor wants to put her on total bed rest soon even if we didn't have to put our plan into motion. We have to get her away from Victoria before she does something else. We don't have time to convince her that she deserves the money. I know my former sister in law, and she will confront Amanda soon. We need to be prepared." Brianna said sadly.

"Let's just hope it's not with the gun," Betty said worriedly.

"Victoria doesn't like to break her nails. It's going to be okay." Brianna tried to sound reassuring, but it didn't work.

"Does Matt know?" Betty asked.

She hasn't had time to speak with him other than a quick conversation yesterday, where he congratulated her on her engagement and winning an award for writing. She should have at least told him herself about the engagement, but she didn't have time. At least he handled it better than some. She actually had to block Henry after all the frantic messages he sent her via Facebook.

"Matt knows that he's the father, and he knows what his mother has planned. He's willing to stay quiet if it means keeping Amanda and the babies safe." She said cryptically.

"And the rest?" Before Brianna could answer, a very energetic five-year-old burst into the room with Claire and DJ behind her.

"Aunt Bitchtoria is here." Little Alexis said, butchering her aunt's name.

"Aren't you after your grandmother's heart?" Claire said, smiling at her granddaughter before continuing. "Accurate mispronunciation aside, security has just alerted me that Victoria is in the building and heading to the Mode offices downstairs."

"Where is Amanda?" Brianna asked with worry.

"Monique's office, I saw her there when I was trying to offer Daniel help with the London issue." Betty just nodded in agreement with her future mother in law.

"At least, it's not the roof. This looks like Showtime. Come on, baby. Victoria is less likely to try to kill someone when you are around." Brianna said, grabbing her daughter.

"I don't know why but she actually likes baby Lexis now. Actually, DJ, you better come too. If things go wrong, get your sister and her baby Cousins out of there." She instructed DJ, who just nodded following behind.

"I assume we're going with the white tablecloths," Claire said as she continued where Ms. West Hartley left off.

"She said that goes with the flowers. Although we're probably going to have to take baby Alexis' magic markers away," Betty said as she started placing some of the finished centerpieces around the room. "Daniel said you couldn't help either?" She asked after a few minutes.

"I already took her markers after my only granddaughter, so far, used them on my $40,000 desk. That's why we went to see Daniel." Clara said with a frown. She was tempted to laugh.

"He wouldn't let you be there," Betty said this as more of a statement than a question.

"He wanted to prove he could do this on his own. He has a good team." Claire's words echoed Briana's from earlier.

"I know. Daniel is good at what he does, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried." Betty said as she went to grab another centerpiece.

"You wouldn't be wearing that ring right now if you didn't worry about him." She said, pointing to the ring. It was very different from the one that Molly had that once belonged to Claire, but it fit Betty perfectly.

"Are you still upset we didn't tell you right away?" Betty asked.

"No. It wasn't as if you waited days, and we are all aware Amanda cannot keep a secret. Although I hope you will still have the wedding in New York even if your father moves to Los Angeles." Claire said as she finished up the tables and started helping with the centerpieces.

"What?" Betty asked in surprise. This is the first time she's heard anything about this.

"He didn't tell you?" Her future mother in law asked as her face fell.

"Tell me what?"

"He was offered the executive chef job at the new restaurant in Los Angeles. Although he wasn't sure if he was going to accept the job offer." This was the first time she heard about this at all.

"How do you know?" How could Mrs. Meade know something that she doesn't know about her own father?

"I am a friend of your father, and he wanted a second opinion. We talked last week when he brought over food for Amanda. His food is one of the few things that doesn't make her baby-sick." She explained.

"Oh," was the only thing Betty said as she went back to mechanically putting the centerpieces together.

Despite being in the middle of a catastrophe, things are going surprisingly well. First, David's cousin wasn't that smart. His virus managed to take out an article about the best maternity wear for the parenting magazine but did not delete any of the restaurant reviews or hotel reviews in the latest issue of Mode UK. Actually, anything non-fashion related was left intact. Therefore they had 30% of the magazine plus the advertising to work with. That was better than last time, confirming in Daniel's mind that David Pratt was definitely no Wilhelmina Slater.

The devil herself was upstairs helping to prepare the roof for the wedding or play with her new granddaughter, Daniel wasn't sure. Wilhelmina actually offered to help Daniel put the magazine together. Daniel said no because he needed to do this on his own. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure if her offer was actually genuine. Maybe she just wanted to ridicule him. He was starting to wonder if she was still taking the "good" pain pills because drugs could only explain her weird behavior. She was holding her grandbaby at the time, so maybe that had something to do with it. New babies are magical.

They managed to make peace at the MAMA reception the night before. He let her do the acceptance speech since they won for the swimsuit issue. She even apologized for her sister's behavior and promised to keep her away. So obviously Wilhelmina has to be stoned or having some sort of midlife crisis/nervous breakdown. Maybe Marc having a kid sent her over the edge.

Then maybe she was in a good mood because of her post-wedding conjugal visit. Daniel thought that she was crazy for marrying a guy who is going to be in jail for a very long time. Then again, most people thought he was crazy for marrying a woman who was dead before there two month anniversary. He didn't exactly have room to talk. In his case, the wedding wasn't real, so maybe it's not the same thing.

At least Wilhelmina wasn't offended by him rejecting her offer of help. In contrast, his girlfriend wasn't happy even if she was currently off with Brianna setting up tables for what will probably be the most dysfunctional reception of all time. He would try to smooth things over with Betty but just didn't have time right now. Daniel would get her something from Tiffany's after everything was calm again. Maybe he should just bring her to her favorite French Fries place later on. The one thing he knows about his girlfriend is she probably would rather have cheese-covered French Fries as an apology present than the usual diamond necklace he got everyone. She probably saw more meaning in the cheese fries.

The second thing going for him in this disaster was he had an excellent staff. He already knew that he was making Sumreen Co-EIC when he arrived back in London Monday. Anyone else would have been freaking out by this point, but she was thriving under pressure. She seemed in absolute control and knew exactly what she was doing. By the time he actually made it to the Mode offices, she already had a complete game plan together to put the magazine back together again. At the current rate, they will have the magazine reassembled well before publication.

Despite being not quite 16 yet, Justin was a genius when it came to fashion and style. He already had a rough draft of an article written by the time they got to Mode. It's amazing what a 15-year-old can do with the iPhone under the correct motivation. He was so talking to Monique about Justin doing September Fashion Week this year. Maybe he can be the correspondent covering it for Mode UK. He knew more about the London fashion seemed then Daniel did at the moment. Justin was currently working with the international fashion editor to re-create the What's Hot, What's Not for the issue. Is it wrong for him to hope that his future children get Justin's fashion sense?

After helping with wedding madness and getting everything moved over here, Amanda was also helping. She was doing a lot better than she did right after his dad's funeral. Amanda was definitely more comfortable with her sense of style than she was nearly 3 years ago. Mandy was currently working on the maternity article that was lost. Daniel was planning on running a variation of it in Mode as well.

The person who surprised him the most was Candy. First, she was willing to drop everything she was doing for Monique and come help with the magazine. He would have completely let her say no, but she did it anyway. Next, she contacted Becks despite the awkwardness of it all. He has no idea what happened during that conversation, but by the time he reached the Mode offices, the pictures were in his inbox. There was also a quick email asking Daniel what his assistant's favorite flowers were.

As soon as they weren't in the middle of a crisis, Daniel was going to ask Candy if she was interested in Becks as more than a one-off. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about his assistant dating his friend but it could be worse. She could be into somebody like that pretentious playwright guy Betty almost ended up with last spring. Compared to him, Becks was the nicest guy in the universe.

Finally, there was the fact that he has a new creative director. It made him feel better that he poached her from Lindsey Publishing. Now that Lindsay took over Isabella Press, it would be an all-out war. The announcement was made the night before at the MAMA awards. Even though she knew it was coming, Wilhemina still managed to break a wine glass. Now that she lost her chance at buying Isabella, Daniel wonders if she's going to try to get back into Mode. There has to be a reason why Wilhelmina was helping put together the wedding of someone she doesn't like. (Unless she really was stoned, that would explain many things.) Considering how nice of a person Monique is, she might be willing to give Wilhelmina a second chance. Of course, considering the shrewd businesswoman that she is, that second chance would probably be at the food magazine.

After looking at her resume, Daniel knew that he wanted Natalia Winters at the magazine even before Diana quit so quickly. Now it was necessary to hire her without complex contract negotiations. The fact that she was willing to take the job under these circumstances was a miracle in itself. However, her salary was going to be a bit higher.

So after two hours, the magazine was starting to come back together. Daniel might actually have time to participate in the wedding.

Really he should have known better than to relax. Everything came apart when the new minority owner of Isabella managed to get past security and walk right into Monique's office. This is where Amanda is currently writing A Fashionista's Guide to Pregnancy. Even though he was in the middle of a meeting with Natalia and Sumreen, he followed behind. There was no way Daniel was going to let his best friend (not counting his fiancée) deal with Dragon Lady Hartley alone. He knew all about what the woman did to the second woman that unfortunately got knocked up by her husband. He didn't trust the woman enough not to find Amanda's broken body at the bottom of a stairwell.

"What the fuck are you doing in my office?" Daniel yelled at the woman.

"I didn't think this was your office anymore. According to Suzuki, you're supposed to be in London now, destroying another part of your father's legacy." Victoria said, looking at him with an air of arrogance that he remembers well from his mother's former country club friends. These were also the same women that completely abandoned her after the rehab stint and the insanity that was Faye Somers's murder trial.

"As long as my name is on the front of this building, this is my office. You don't belong here. You have Isabella now. Get the fuck out of here," Daniel said forcefully, seconds from calling security. It almost felt like he was channeling his father. He knew precisely why the evil bitch was here, and this wasn't going to go down right now. Amanda didn't need this.

"I will leave as soon as I give her this. It's amazing how easy it is to expedite a paternity test when you have the right connections. I guess congratulations are in order, daddy." She said, smirking at Daniel as she gave the inconspicuous paper to Amanda. He had to fight the urge to smirk back. Thanks to Wilhelmina's double-cross, he already knew what was going to happen. He also knew that whatever was in there was completely fake. Unfortunately, Amanda did not.

Everyone knew that Amanda could not keep a secret even if her life depended on it, and in this case, it really did. Therefore, Amanda did not know that Matt was really the father of her twins. Daniel told himself it was better this way. Unlike Matt, Daniel had no problem taking care of a child that wasn't his. He was doing well with DJ. Also, unlike Daniel, Matt was not mature enough to actually raise a child. He just knew Matt would leave Amanda at the first sign of trouble. Matt always did. Daniel is personally quite thankful that Matt abandoned Betty right after the Henry incident last year. Amanda was practically his best friend; if you didn't count his fiancée. Daniel would do anything for her, including help her raise a child. He already said that he would when he thought Matt was not coming back.

As soon as Amanda read the words on the paper, tears were running down her cheeks. Without a second thought, Daniel ran to her and put an arm around her.

"It's going to be okay. We can do this together." He whispered in her ear as she started to sob harder. This was killing him. He wanted to tell her the truth so badly but he couldn't. It was literally a matter of life or death. If this did not work, he was sure that Victoria Hartley would try to kill her.

"It seems that that child you were trying to pass off as my grandchild is not Matt's. Therefore I want you to leave my son alone and go back to whatever trailer park you came from." Amanda was crying too hard to be offended, but Daniel was. She really didn't know Amanda at all.

"Let us offer praise to every god in the universe that the twins won't have a harpy like you for a grandmother. Thankfully Alexis will still get her new baby cousins." Brianna said with little Alexis resting on her hips. The little girl actually cheered. His niece obviously wanted a playmate badly. Apparently, DJ was too old for anything useful like my little ponies or Barbies. Or so Daniel has been told.

"No, she won't. The babies are not Daniel's. There was this onetime thing at a bar after work. I barely remember it." Amanda said nervously. Daniel knew that she was lying. Mandy was doing that thing that she did every time Wilhelmina had her scared half to death. Daniel was shocked she wasn't running out of the room yet.

"I always knew you were a gold-digging whore," Victoria said bitterly.

"Anti Victoria said a bad word." The five-year-old said, smiling.

"I'm sorry, baby. How about I make it up to you, and we will go for ice cream before the wedding?" Daniel was shocked at how quickly her demeanor changed. She actually seemed like a decent human being at that moment. Then again, Wilhelmina was the same way with William when she thought that he was her son. Hell, Wilhelmina was practically a puppy with Jade half an hour ago. She brought her a teddy bear.

"Can I go please, mommy?" Baby Alexis pleaded with her mother.

"Only if your big brother goes with you." She said before turning to Victoria. "I'm sure you have yet to meet Alexis' son DJ. See, unlike you, the Meades completely embraced illegitimate children instead of... well, you know what you did, and so does God." Brianna punctuated her words with an angry glare.

"I will have your children back to you in one hour." She said just about to leave but not before taking a very long look at the desk outside where Justin and his boyfriend were going over something together.

"Because you're not carrying my grandchildren, I suggest that you stay away from my son. He doesn't need to be around your type." She said, unable to resist one more dig. Daniel chose not to stay silent this time.

"I dated the type of girls that you want your son with and trust me; Amanda is 10 times the woman these women are. You may see her as nothing more than someone after your son's money because she didn't come from the Upper East Side, but I've never met someone that is so loyal to her friends before. She's too good for your son." Victoria didn't stick around to say anything else.

XXXX

Amanda felt like she was going to throw up, and for the first time in forever, it wasn't baby sickness. How the fuck did this happen? It was only a couple of times with Daniel, and they always use condoms, and she took her pill meticulously. Wherewith Matt, she was reckless, and she screwed up with her birth control. Of course, you can't get pregnant if you're already pregnant. Shit!

"If small children were not around, I would have said something about the fact that Matt said he was going to switch to cock for life just to piss her off because of this. I don't know what my brother saw in that woman. Obviously, it wasn't much because he was never able to keep it in his pants," Brianna said as soon as Daniel entered the office again. Her words actually managed to make Amanda smile for a second before she started crying again.

This was horrible. Daniel and Betty were happy, and engaged Amanda just screwed everything up because her plan to keep him from rebounding with some random stranger blew up in their faces. She's so stupid.

"It is going to be okay," Briana said soothingly, as she rubbed Amanda is back. "I hate to say this, but Daniel is probably in a better place in his life to be a dad. He is doing an excellent job with DJ and baby Lexis." Daniel appeared to be shocked by her praise. Daniel has this thing where he assumes everybody sees him as a screwup, but he's not.

"I said that the baby is not his. There was this one time at a club." Amanda lied again, still in tears. She couldn't ruin her best friend's happily ever after.

"I thought it was at a bar?" Daniel asked, catching her in the lie. Of course, he did. Fuck.

"They both serve alcohol. I get confused, sometimes." Amanda said as she wiped her nose on his shirt.

"I know you're lying. I was there when Monique made you go over every person you have had sex with in the last three months before conception. There hasn't been anybody else for nearly a year. I know you were not lying then." That's when she started crying harder.

"I don't want to be Charlie," Amanda said in between sobs. She heard Brianna whisper the question, "Who's Charlie?"

"The mother of Betty's ex-boyfriend's child. You're not Charlie. She would've never done what you just tried to do. Besides, you and I both know that we are much better off as friends, but that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon you." Daniel said trying to reassure her.

"Yes, but unfortunately, you're in London now and engaged to the love of your life. By the way, I better be doing all the outfits for that wedding." Daniel smiled at that.

"Of course you are. You can always come with me to London." Amanda was surprised that he offered.

"I can't do that. My life is here. I can't leave Marc alone with Jade." They promised to do this together.

"I understand that, but Marc is not alone. Wilhelmina has obviously stepped up to be the perfect grandmother. And I'm still helping him with his lawyers." Daniel tells her. "Maybe that's the reason Wilhelmina is almost acting nice."

"I'm pretty sure Cliff is going to be Jade's stepfather as soon as that sort of thing is legal in New York state." Amanda laughed.

"That's my plan. Cliff is such a better stepdad than Troy."

"It helps that he's not a stalker or abusive," Daniel remarked.

"I could understand not wanting to leave your best friend. But what if there was another reason to go?" Brianna asked. "You know that I sponsor a design workshop every summer at various universities throughout the US and Europe. This year's seminar happens to be in London, and it doesn't begin until July. One person has dropped out, and we have an empty spot. I don't mind using nepotism because I've seen your potential. Think of it as a welcome to the family present." Brianna suggested.

"Marc would be the first one putting you on the plane to go, and you know it," Daniel added.

"But I'm not family," Amanda said, wiping away a tear again with Daniel's shirt.

"Yes, but you're now carrying Daniel's children, which makes you the mother of Alexis' little cousins. That counts for me." Briana explained.

"The babies are not Daniel's," Amanda said again with a little less force behind her words this time. If she repeats the lie enough, maybe they will eventually believe her.

"Yes, but according to that piece of paper, the babies are not Matt's. We have already established that you haven't had sex with anyone else since Independence Day 2009. By process of elimination, I'm the father." Daniel explained again.

"But what about Betty?" Amanda asked. She wouldn't step on her other best friend's toes.

"She was the one that suggested you come to London. She's kind of lonely without many friends there." Daniel said, honestly. It really was Betty's idea. "Just think about it," Daniel said, squeezing her hand.

"I'll think about it," Amanda said as she was handed a tissue.

"I think I want to go see Marc. I need to clear my head before I go back to writing the article."

"Take a few minutes. Get your head together. I've been told that a few of the bagels that Cliff brought are still upstairs." Daniel told her.

"See, much better than Troy," Amanda said as she got up from the couch but not before Daniel kissed her on the forehead.

"It will all work out. You'll see." With that, Amanda left the office and made her way to the roof. She knew Marc was up there because Cliff kept sending her adorable pictures of Marc and Jade.

On the way, she thought about texting Matt. He should know. But she couldn't bring herself to tell him just yet. She knew this would be the real end of them together.

Part of her wondered if it was for the best. She wasn't entirely sure that Matt was ready for parenthood. If it wasn't for the Betty factor, she would prefer if the babies were Daniel's. He was prepared to be a dad. She just didn't want to mess things up with him and Betty. She worked too hard to get them together for it to all fall apart.

The thought made her sick.

Which is how she ended up in the bathroom next to the stairwell to the roof. Let's be honest; she doesn't actually need an excuse to throw up these days. Why did she ever in the past make herself throw up to lose weight?

Of course, during a break in the throwing up, Marc and Cliff walked into the bathroom. Why were they in the ladies' room?

"The first thing I'm going to do Monday is have Claire and Monique put in changing tables in all the men's restrooms or at least the one at Mode. This is ridiculous. Matt's going to need to change diapers as well." At least she now knew why they were there. She tried not to cry at that.

"I have this feeling that won't happen."

"

"Mandy? Is that you? Do you need the baby sickness bag?"

"I'm okay, I'm just…" She couldn't finish that sentence; she just sat down to the floor and started crying again. Marc is beside her in seconds. She's thankful she decided to go with the disabled stall. She's getting to the point in her pregnancy where the handrails are convenient.

At that moment, Marc looked in her purse, probably to get her either her mouth wash or a tissue. Instead, he found that piece of paper that completely changed her life. She doesn't even remember putting it in her purse. Then again, the last half an hour has been blurry. Marc quickly wrapped an arm around her.

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

"No, you're not." She blew her nose in his shirt.

"I'm not. Your babies deserve a good dad. And this way they gain a bonus stepmom. You'll just have to make sure she doesn't dress them." She almost smiled at his words. "Now use your mouth wash and then have some Ginger ale. We will come up with a plan later. Let's just focus on the wedding for now."

"Okay."

To be continued

xxxxx

To stave off confusion, the only people who know the true paternity of Amanda's baby are Mrs. Hartley, Briana, Matt, Monique, Wilhelmina, Claire, Daniel, and Betty. Even Amanda is going to be kept in the dark for her own safety, and Marc has other things to be concerned with right now. Others may be allowed into the conspiracy as things progress.