Curate, connect, and discover
So, I adhere to the headcanon that “our” Rick DID come back to Beth at some point (probably after the battle of Bloodrich). He didn’t actually abandon her for 20 years and that’s why he has memories of holding Morty as a baby. However, “his” Beth and her family were attacked by the Galactic Federation and killed.
That’s why our Rick knows he can dimension hop and replace a copy of himself, and why he’s so thoroughly apathetic to the C-137 family, even though he does have moments of fondness. They’re not his.
His baby died years ago…