A/N: I don't own Ugly Betty or anything recognizable. This isn't in the same universe as my last UB story. And I really would appreciate reviews!

Title: Episodes of a Life

Rating: K+

Summary: Daniel and Betty face various important moments throughout their married life.

1.

Daniel Meade rushed past his assistant on his way to his office. He was preoccupied and didn't have time for Maddie's peppy babble. His wife had been feeling sick for the past several days and she had a doctor's appointment that morning, of which he was eagerly awaiting the results. "There's a woman waiting for you in your office, Mr. Meade," she said as he walked into the apartment. "I think it's your sister."

He nodded and walked into his apartment and sat down at his desk. "What now, Alexis? I really don't have time for this."

"You seriously need a new receptionist," the person sitting opposite him said. "I'm not Alexis and I'm not Claire. And Claire says that Maddie keeps telling you that she's your wife or your sister. If Alexis ever came near your office, she'd probably get mistaken for your mother or me."

Daniel looked up at his wife and smiled. "I'm sorry, darling. How are you? How was your doctor's appointment?"

"I have something you need to see," Betty replied. She handed him a green folder. "Take a look at that and let me know what you think."

He took the folder and opened it. There was what appeared to be an ultrasound sitting on top of several pieces of paper. And there was a small white blob with a circle around it. "Okay, either you're pregnant or you have cancer," he said. "And I really would prefer the first to the second for a multiple of reasons."

"Well, Mr. Meade, in this case your wish is my command."

"You're pregnant?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm due in April."

"I'm going to be a daddy?"

Betty got up and walked over to her husband who pulled her into his lap. "Am I going to be a daddy?" he asked again, holding her small body close.

She smiled and kissed him. "Yes, you're going to be a daddy, you dork."

"Then I'm firing Maddie and finding someone more efficient to take her place. I can't have some ditz forgetting to tell me that my wife called me to tell me she's in labor."

Daniel Meade had inherited his father's heart problems. But he intended to live to see his grandchildren and therefore was taking no chances. If his doctor said to do it, he was going to do it. He was going to be there for his grandchildren's weddings. Bradford Meade had died before Daniel's wedding and Daniel wasn't going to repeat that act for his own unborn child. He had every intention of living to a ripe old age. He had married Betty and now he was going to watch their children grow up and grow old with his wife. He hated taking medicine but Betty hid it in his bagel every morning. She knew all the tricks for getting him to do what he didn't want to do. She had been his assistant for four years and now she'd been his wife for about a year. And that was after dating him for two years and being engaged to him for another year. There was no question about it; after nearly seven years, Betty Suarez-Meade knew her husband better than anyone else alive, even better than his own mother and sister. And he trusted her more than he'd ever trusted any other friends in his life. She was decidedly more trustworthy than, say, Becks.

2.

"Why do you want to know the sex of the baby?" Daniel asked his wife. "There are so few real surprises in life anymore. Can't we just have this one?"

"But we have to decorate the nursery and buy clothes. And we have to do it all in the right colors."

"We're painting the nursery yellow. And the kid isn't going to know what color his or her clothes are right away. We can buy it new clothes after it is born."

"Stop calling our baby an 'it'!" his five-months-pregnant wife yelled. "If you'd let me find out the sex of the baby, we could call our child him or her. And I'd like that. I don't like calling the baby it."

He sighed. "We could call the baby something like the McNugget or the plum or something like that."

Betty shook her head. "No, I want to know the sex of the baby. Then we can come up with a name."

"What if you find out the sex of the baby and I don't? Would that work for you?"

"How am I going to hide something like that from you?"

Just then the door of the exam room opened and the doctor walked in. "Have you two decided if you want to know the sex of the baby?"

Daniel sighed. "She wants to know and everyone knows that pregnant women always win."

3.

"Everything in this room is pink," Christina said looking around the nursery of Daniel and Betty's new house.

"The walls are yellow. The crib is white," Betty protested. "And so are the changing table and rocking chair."

"But all of her bedding and accessories are pink!"

"She's going to be a girly-girl," the mother-to-be protested. "And Daniel agreed to all of it."

"Honey, he loves you and you're pregnant with his baby. He doesn't know how to say no to you."

"But I'm the first person who has ever said no to him."

"I know you two are talking about me," Daniel said as he walked into the room and wrapped his arms around his wife's pregnant belly.

"We're talking about how much you love Betty and the baby," Christina told him.

Betty laughed as her husband kissed her cheek. "You were talking about how I can't say no to my wife, weren't you?"

"I love you, darling, but you do have a hard time saying no to me."

"You're pregnant with my baby," he replied. "How am I supposed to say no to you when you're eight months pregnant with my baby? You had horrible morning sickness for the first several months and it wasn't just in the morning. I felt horrible. But once this baby comes, I'm going back to being Daniel Hard-ass."

"You were never Daniel Hard-ass before," his wife replied. "Granted, you do have a hard ass from working out for an hour a day but that's not the kind of hard ass we're talking about it."

He frowned. "You, go and sit in the rocking chair. You're being a little too sassy for my liking. Now go sit down and stay quiet until I figure out what I'm going to do with you."

Betty sat down in her rocker and smiled demurely at her husband. "Yes, sir, I'll be a good girl."

Christina shook her head. "I'm leaving now. I'll see you two later. Have fun being lovebirds."

4.

Three weeks later, Baby Girl Meade made her appearance. Betty went into labor while watching Sleepless in Seattle in the middle of the afternoon and had to call Daniel at work. Thankfully, Amanda, who was currently Daniel's secretary, ran right into his office to tell him that "Baby Meade had decided she was done incubating and he had to get his butt to the hospital right away." Daniel walked out on a meeting to go be with his wife. And as she watched him rush to the elevator, Amanda couldn't help but smile. Daniel Meade, president of Meade Publications, was going to be a father.

"She's perfect," Betty said, holding her baby daughter in her arms after twenty hours of labor. "She's absolutely perfect. She has ten toes and ten little fingers and one nose and two eyes and two ears and a mouth. And she's perfect."

Daniel beamed. "Your dad says that she looks just like you did when you were born. She has the same eyes and the same hair."

"And she's absolutely beautiful."

"Just like her mother," the proud papa replied.

"Do you guys have a name for her yet?" Hilda asked. "You've known you were having a girl since December."

"Sarah Claire," Daniel replied. "Sarah is Hebrew for princess and we thought that was perfect. And Claire, we picked that one for my mom."

Claire Meade beamed at her son. Daniel made her so proud in so many ways that she'd never expected. He was married to a wonderful woman and now he had a beautiful baby girl. After all of Alexis's power-mongering, Daniel had taken the reins of Meade Publications and restored its face of honor in the world of publications. No more was it known of Bradford's innumerable affairs and escapades or the scandal surrounding Fey Sommers's death. Now, it was known for Daniel's charitable contributions to the New York area and his campaign to restore integrity to his family's magazines. His use of "normal women" as models for Mode's fashion shows was now company policy. He was determined to make things real and not to project stereotypes or push unreality on young girls. He was determined to make his mother proud and his wife happy.

"Sarah's such a common name," Justin said. "You guys need something original that no one else would ever think of or us."

Daniel looked at his brother-in-law. "Do you have any suggestions?"

He shrugged. "Not off the top of my head but if you gave me a while, I could come up with something."

Betty sighed. "Justin, she's our baby. If you want to name a kid something original, have your own baby. Sarah isn't as common of a name as it used to be although it still is popular. But it's a pretty name. And she needs a name she can live with."

"Betty's right," Hilda told her son. "She and Daniel are Sarah's parents. They get to name her whatever they want to name her."

Justin sighed as Claire added, "And a Sarah Meade isn't going to get beaten up in the playground because of her name."

5.

Five years later, Betty Meade was walking down the hallway to baby Lucas's nursery to put him to bed. She could hear Daniel getting William and Sarah ready for bed. It was bath night, which was always Daddy's job; and William was putting up a fight, as usual. He didn't like water and he didn't like being forced to take a bath. Sarah was already sitting on the counter in her Beauty and the Beast nightgown with her hair neatly braided and her teeth brushed while her father wrestled with her little brother. After putting Lucas to bed, Betty came back to the bathroom and found her husband getting just as much of a bath as their son. "So who's winning the war, General Meade?"

Daniel smiled as a soap bubble landed on his head. "There's a reason I wear clothes I don't care about when I give him a bath. Now, can you hand me a dry towel?"

Betty gave him a towel as he lifted Will out of the bathtub. He toweled his son dry and got him into his pajamas. "Now bed," William announced.

"No, Daddy still has to brush your teeth, silly!" Sarah told him.

The three-year-old made a face as his father lifted his sister off the counter and put him up on it. "I don't like this part. Can we do this later?"

Daniel shook his head and brushed his son's teeth as Betty cleaned up the bathtub area. When Will's teeth were brushed, his father picked him up and took Sarah by the hand. "All right, one story and then you two are off to dreamland," he told them, leading them to Sarah's bedroom.

Sarah's bedroom was a fairy-tale princess's dream come true. The walls were still yellow but her bed had a canopy over it and the room was filled with little things that made it like a castle. Her grandmother had taken over the décor of Sarah's room, including the cost, and now Sarah's every wish for her room was her "fairy grandmother's command." Sarah, at age five, was almost all Suarez. She had the Latina spitfire act down perfectly and could make her father feel guilty with just one look. She loved fashion, which was probably a Meade trait primarily, and she loved cooking. And she always wanted to be right.

William Ignacio Meade was three years old; having been born in January of 2015. Physically, he was the perfect mix of Daniel and Betty; he had dark brown hair but bright blue eyes. Daniel had to be William's disciplinarian because his wife just couldn't say no to those innocent clear blue eyes. And he was a mix of his parents in his personality. He could throw temper-tantrums that could make either Aunt Hilda or Aunt Alexis feel proud. But then he could be kind and loving like his mother. Whenever anyone was sad, he had to hug them and make them smile. He didn't like it when people were mad at him, which was very much a Daniel trait. And he was very affectionate, always ready with an "I sorry" and a hug and kiss.

Lucas Bradford Meade was the latest addition to the Meade Empire. At ten months old, it was hard to tell which one of his parents he was going to act more like. He was a cuddly baby but he also liked to try to do things for himself. He had his father's light brown hair and his mother's dark brown eyes. He loved bright, shiny things. And he loved to smile and laugh. But Betty also saw him as most likely to end up with Daniel's "smile and thumbs up" trick. He was easily distracted like his father. "But he makes up for it by having your smile," Betty told her husband one day.

6.

"When my dad first hired you all the years ago, did you ever think you'd end up where you are now?" Daniel asked his wife as they sat in bed that night.

"I think I was hired to avoid ending up in bed with you. You wouldn't be attracted me, or so Bradford thought," she replied, snuggling up against her pillow and looked up at her husband.

He smiled. "I know. But what I meant was this; you were the editor in chief of Mode until Sarah was born. You're considered to be one of the most fashionable women in New York."

"If only people knew I had a personal shopper and I just let Christina do what she wants," Betty muttered.

Her husband laughed. "You're married to the president of Meade Publications and you're the mother of his three children. Did you ever think you'd be here?"

"Well, this morning, I was really hoping that I'd end the day in bed. I hate the days when the kids wear me out and I fall asleep on the couch or they're sick so I end sleeping in their rooms." She looked at him for a minute. "How is it that you have this huge powerful job with all this stress but you sleep more than I do?"

"I'm just talented," he replied. "And it's not my fault. I didn't tell Alexis to leave the company; that was Mom."

"But you're the kids' father and you sleep more than I do."

He groaned. "You usually tell me to go to bed so I don't fall asleep at work the next day. And I was the one who asked you to marry me. And I was the one who impregnated you with each of those little monsters who are sleeping away in their bedrooms right now so that's why you're stuck taking care of them."

"So it's all your fault," she said, leaning against his bare chest. "If it weren't for you, my life would be so much easier. And I would sleep more."

"But you wouldn't have such nice clothes or such a beautiful house. I do pay for the house and the bed."

"Nor would I be the mother of three amazing children," Betty said. "So, I never imagined that I'd be where I am right now, especially leaning against the bare, sculpted chest of one of New York's sexiest men."

"It must be a pretty nice place to be," he said.

"Daniel, I want another daughter," his wife informed him, out of nowhere."

"I think Bloomingdale's is having a sale," he replied, running a hand through her hair.

"Are daughters still next to the place where you trade in smart-ass husbands?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, they moved that department; now it's by the place where you get your Latina spitfire of a wife reprogrammed to act more like Nicole Kidman in The Stepford Wives."

"Can we be serious here?"

Daniel pulled himself up into a sitting position as Betty did the same. "You know there's a fifty percent chance that you'll have another boy. After all, I am Daniel Meade. I have more sons than daughters."

"Daniel," Betty said with a sigh. "I know the chances of having a boy are good. And I'm not sure I want to another baby just yet. But I know that I want one. And I need to know that you're open to the possibility of another baby. You're the dad here; you get a say in this. And if you're fine with three kids, then I can be happy too."

Daniel smiled. "If you think we can do it again, then I'm up for it. But I'm not sure I want anything more than four kids," he told her. "But I'll promise you this. If we try for another baby and get a boy, I'll give you one more shot to get a girl. But we aren't having anymore than five children."

7.

Betty and Daniel ended up with five children. Two days into Fashion Week 2019, Betty Suarez-Meade gave birth to Nikolas Daniel Meade, who looked almost nothing like his father. And then shortly before Christmas 2021, Betty finally got her second girl when Vivianna Rosa Meade was born. "Are you happy now?" Daniel asked his wife as she held the tiny newborn blue-eyed baby in her arms.

She beamed up at him. "We have the five most perfect children ever born. They're all healthy and beautiful and happy and perfect."

He smiled and kissed her. "So when are you coming back to work?"

"The thirty-fifth of never," she replied. Betty had left Mode when Sarah was born because she wanted to raise her own children. She didn't want some nanny raising her kids and being a better parent to them than she was. She wanted to reduce the Meade family therapy bills. And the Meade family didn't need the money by any stretch of the imagination. The only reason for Betty work, ever, had been because she wanted to. And when Vivianna started school, Betty could go back to work.

"You're never coming back? But I miss seeing you at work."

"Darling, I haven't been there in eight and a half years."

"So when are you going to come back and protect me?"

Betty looked down at the baby in her arms. "Daniel, I like being Mommy. I like putting band-aids on cuts and kissing boo-boos. I did the whole magazine thing and I can do it again when this little one starts school. But right now, I like knowing where my kids are and what they're doing."

"I understand," Daniel replied.

"And I will come back someday. And I write freelance articles for you. I just don't have to be at Meade Publications every day and when I do come in, I can bring the kids with me."

"But you usually end up leaving them in my mom's office."

"She likes them."

"I've noticed," Daniel told his wife with a smile. Claire Meade had become a loving, devoted grandmother over the past several years. Sarah was her favorite but she loved all of her grandchildren. She loved buying them clothes and toys and other presents. And she was more than willing to baby-sit or just come over and play with them.

8.

Christmas in the Suarez-Meade family was always a big production. Betty had to take all of her children to Macy's so they could see Santa and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. And then they had to go cut down a tree for the living room and decorate it. Christmas cookies were an absolute must. And then there was Vivianna's birthday; it was three days before Christmas but her parents didn't want her to feel like she was just getting presents for Christmas and they'd forgotten her birthday. For Daniel and Betty, there were presents that had to be bought and then hidden until Christmas Eve. Thankfully, Ignacio always had his grandchildren over to help decorate his tree and Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve so Betty and Daniel could wrap their children's presents. Christmas 2027 was the first Christmas after Betty had gone back to work. Just before Vivianna started kindergarten, the Editor in Chief of Mode had retired and Daniel had hired his wife back almost immediately. And she was perfect for the job. She loved it too. Sometimes she felt like she worked too much but she knew that her children did understand. Sarah was fourteen and more than capable of babysitting her younger siblings for a couple hours when necessary. And Daniel always made his wife leave work by six o'clock. "You would have done the same for me," he told her. "And you need to go home and be Mommy."

Both Daniel and Betty had taken two weeks off work for Christmas. They wanted to spend time as a family. "Christmas is about family and we're going make good use of a couple weeks as a family," Daniel reminded their children a few days before Christmas. "We're going to spend New Year's with Grandma Claire in Vail."

"Is Aunt Alexis coming?" William, now thirteen years old, asked, wrinkling his nose. Aunt Alexis was not a great favorite of her nieces and nephews, primarily due to her overly competitive personality.

His mother shook her head. "Aunt Alexis and her boyfriend are spending the holidays in the Bahamas. But I'm sure she'll call on Christmas."

"She doesn't have to," Vivianna announced from her dad's lap. "I won't mind."

"Vivianna Rosa Meade," Daniel said. "Your aunt loves you."

"She never comes to visit or play with me. And when she sends presents, they're stupid stuff that I'm too young for. Aunt Hilda's presents are way better."

"I like Justin's presents," Nikolas piped up. "He goes fun places."

"Is he coming for Christmas at Grandpa Suarez's?" Vivianna asked.

Betty smiled. "He'll be there when you go over to decorate the tree in a couple days. He's flying in from London tomorrow."

"Do you know what he's getting us this year?" Sarah asked.

"If we knew, would we tell you?" her mother replied.

"London, that's so cool," William said. "When did he go there? I thought he was in Paris."

"He's on tour in Europe right now," Daniel replied. "But he's taking a break for Christmas. He misses home."

"He hasn't been home in two years," Lucas complained. "We always have to go see him where he is. When is he going to be back on Broadway?"

"Aunt Hilda wants him to come home," Nikolas said.

"Is he still dating that French ballerina guy?" Will asked.

Justin was his cousins' favorite relative due to his exotic life. He was touring Europe with the touring companies of Broadway shows, most recently he'd been Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast. And his personal life was always interesting. He had been dating a French ballerina named Francois but they had broken up about a year earlier. "Justin is currently single," Betty told her son. "But you never know with him."

"One day he's going to show up married to some Czech model with three kids and we're all going to say, 'But I thought he was gay!'" Sarah said. "That's what Aunt Hilda thinks."

"I think Aunt Hilda is just lonely," Will told his sister. "She's been single for forever."

"Relationships don't make you happy," his older snapped. "Aunt Alexis always has some guy but she's never happy. Just because Mom and Dad make each other happy doesn't make it a universal rule."

"But wouldn't you like to have a marriage like Mom and Dad's?"

"Can we talk about what we're actually here to talk about?" Betty asked. "I'm glad you approve of my relationship with your father but we're talking about our vacation to Vail."

"Can we get a dog?" Lucas asked.

"In Vail?" Daniel replied. "We're not getting a dog while we're in Vail."

"Can we get one when we get back?" Nikolas asked.

"Your mother and I need to talk about it. Getting a dog is a big commitment. We have a tank filled with fish, Sarah has two canaries, and we have two cats. I'm not sure quite sure how I feel about adding a dog into the mix. It's hard enough trying to keep Otto and Henry from trying to eat Peter and Maggie and the fish. I don't know that adding a dog into the mix would go over terribly well."

"But I want a dog!" Nikolas protested.

"And I want to go on a week-long vacation with Daddy and no kids, but I don't get everything I want just because I want it."

Nikolas and Lucas were sitting next to each other pouting when Otto, the family's orange tabby cat, ran into the room and jumped up on Lucas's lap. "Do you like Otto?" Daniel asked his sons.

"He's fun," Lucas said. "But you can't take Otto for a walk and I want to take someone for a walk."

"Take Vivianna for a walk," Will muttered. "She's almost like a dog."

"All right," Daniel said as his younger daughter started crying. "Will, meet me in the kitchen. Anna, go see Mom. I'll talk to you in a couple minutes."

9.

"I told you I could be a hard-ass dad," Daniel told his wife that night.

"When did this occur?"

"When Sarah was born," he replied. "You said I couldn't. Well, I think I am. Will is grounded and has to apologize for his little sister. And I didn't smack him."

"Congratulations," his wife said, kissing his cheek.

"Betty, am I an old man?" he asked suddenly.

She looked at him, slightly shocked. He had to wear reading glasses. And he was starting to get a sprinkling of gray hair around his temples. He was fifty-two years old and only eight years younger than Bradford had been when he died. "Is this about your dad?"

"Will is twelve," he said. "In eight years he'll be twenty. And in nine years, I'll have outlived my father. Vivianna is six and I want to live to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. I want to see my grandchildren."

Betty leaned against his still perfect chest and sighed. "You're not old. You take better care of yourself than your father did. You take your medication and you work out. And you try to avoid stress."

"But am I an old man?"

"Did someone call you an old man?"

He nodded. "Will said I was an old man and couldn't relate to teasing a younger sibling."

"Honey, he was mad at you. And you have a younger sibling; she's just thirty-three years younger than you. And you don't usually see Talia enough to make fun of her."

"I'm also too mature to make fun of her," Daniel told his wife. "We are both adults now."

Betty laughed. "Yes, Daniel, you're all grown up now."

A/N: I thought about continuing but it's really long already. Please review and let me know what you think. I might do a sequel if I get enough encouragement.