Never Quit Loving You

E I G H T

Betty walked through the door that led her to the airport terminal. She stopped a bit further away, looking around in the mass of people as she adjusted the little boy on her hip. Her eyes were starting to droop when her hand squeezed the handle of the carry-on luggage and walked through the last door that led her outside immediately.

The fresh air was warm, though nothing compared to the Arizona one she had breathed in the morning. The jacket she was wearing worked well in the light breeze.

"Betty!"

She looked to her right where the voice had come from and smiled when she met Fred's gaze. Her feet started slowly making their way toward the man who was approaching them, the carry-on wheeling behind her.

"Hi, honey," Fred quietly said when Betty kissed his cheek.

"Thanks for picking us up," she sighed and gave him the small suitcase and the duffel bag over her shoulder.

"Of course." He looked over at the little boy whose mouth had fallen open against Betty's neck and smirked. "When did he fall asleep?"

"Luckily, before we could get on the plane. Had a big tantrum in the airport, though." The blonde shrugged, "I feel bad. I'm not the only one who's gone to all those photoshoots and lost some sleep."

"Don't. He's a strong boy, he can handle it well."

"Better than most kids I guess," Betty said and kissed Wesley's head.

"Come on, let's get you two home."

The next morning, Betty found both Wesley and Fred in the boy's room, playing with his toys. She smiled when the little boy gasped quietly and jumped up, hugging her leg. "Morning to you too, little Nugget."

"G'morning mommy."

"How did you sleep, huh?" she asked while ruffling his curly black hair.

"Good. Fell asleep plane, wake up in my room."

"Yeah," she chuckled and leaned down to kiss his chubby cheek. "Did you like to sleep in your bed?"

Wesley hurried back to Fred and sat on his knees, grabbing another little car, and Betty shook her head at the lack of answer, smiling. "I'm gonna go get some coffee."

"Wait, Betty."

The blonde had already turned around and needed to look back over her shoulder at Fred who left the little boy to play by himself and stood up, walking over to her. They stepped into the hallway, and quietly the man addressed the topic. "So, I saw Jughead quite a few times."

Betty wanted to sigh, to say she didn't care, or scream and run away. But she couldn't. Instead, unaware, her eyes widened a bit, a spark finding its way into them. "Yeah?" Her voice was careful.

"Yeah. And I think you two need to seriously talk with each other."

"What did he say?" she asked and gulped right after, her mouth getting dry.

"It's not mine to tell you about his relationship. But you should know that he's hurt."

Betty straightened her back a bit and brought her arms to rest over her chest the way she always did when trying to protect herself from something. "And that gives him the right to tell me he has a girlfriend right after someone has mentioned our son?"

"Kid," Fred chuckled and placed his hand on her shoulder, "calm down. I know you're protective over Wes. I am too. But he doesn't even know he exists. Whoever it was mentioning his name, he thought they were talking about your boyfriend."