A/N So here it is, the end of this story that started off in my mind as a one shot, and then morphed into a little mini-monster. I promise that this is the end this time and that I'm going back to work on my other stories now. I will be taking a few days off to go out of town and visit family for Christmas, but I hope to get back to updating them soon. Thank you to everybody that has read and reviewed so far. You guys are great! I hope you all like this little wrap up here. Merry Christmas!

ENJOY!


Little Packages, Big Gifts

Epilogue


One month later

Darien rolled over and slapped at the alarm clock that was blaring on the bedside table. Then he stretched and yawned, marveling at how great he felt. He hadn't felt this good in weeks.

Shortly after New Year's, he had come down with what he'd believed to be a minor cold. He'd popped some cold medicine and brushed it off, thinking that it would run its course in a few days and go away. But it had eventually developed into acute bronchitis and then worsened into an attack of full-blown pneumonia that had kept him flat on his back in bed for almost three weeks. He had just received his clean bill of health from Zoicite the day before, and today would be his first day going back to work.

He rolled over, but found the spot beside him empty. He wasn't really all that surprised. Since he'd been sick, all of the work of running the kingdom had fallen on Serena's shoulders, and she'd been getting up earlier than usual to take care of business. Luckily, with Molly and Melvin around, things had continued to run smoothly, leaving her with plenty of time to hover over and worry about him. Zoicite had encouraged her to move into another room temporarily to keep from getting sick as well, but she had refused and had stayed by his side. She had been with him every night, holding him when he shivered from fever, fetching water for him when he was thirsty, and rubbing his back when he had coughing fits. Yep, she'd been a trooper.

But now he was recovered, fit, and ready to help her take on the world once more. He flung back the covers and hopped from the bed, feeling like a new man. In less than ten minutes he had showered, shaved, brushed his teeth and hair, and was ready to go.

He snuck a quick peek through the adjoining door into Rini's room, but found her crib empty, making him grin. It seemed that both of his ladies were early risers this morning.

He whistled as he strolled down the hall toward the stairs, nodding and smiling at the few servants he passed that wished him good morning and told him how happy they were to see him well again. Feeling the strong need for a cup of coffee, and figuring that he would find Serena and Rini there, plowing their way through a massive breakfast, he turned toward the dining room.

But he was shocked when he entered to find only three people sitting at the long table. Lita was calmly spooning cereal into her son Nathaniel's, called Nat for short, mouth as she held him on her lap while across from her a very pregnant Mina leaned back in her chair rubbing her swollen abdomen.

"I swear this child is using me for soccer practice," the blonde moaned as she winced. "My insides have got to be black and blue by now from all of this kicking."

Darien chuckled as he walked toward the coffee pot on the buffet. "Maybe that means it's a boy. You know, that's what Kunzite is hoping for."

She stuck her tongue out at him and then grimaced as her stomach gave a visible leap. "All men want a son, especially for the firstborn. Well, except for you. But you had already known for a long time that you were going to have a daughter. But I think we need another girl to even the odds around here. You don't want all of Rini's playmates to be boys, do you?"

"I suppose not," he replied humorously as he poured himself a cup of hot brew.

"Anyway, Darien," Lita spoke up. "It's good to see you up and about in the land of the living again. You gave us all quite a scare there for a while."

"It's good to be back in the land of the living," he told her. Then he asked, "Where is everyone this morning? I did press the snooze button a couple of times, but I'm not that much later than usual."

Mina waved a weary hand. "Kunzite took off with Jadeite and Nephrite a little while ago to go do some patrolling or something. Amy and Zoi have already gone to the infirmary. And Raye and little J.R. haven't come down yet."

After two days of fighting over what to name their son, Jadeite had finally given up and told Raye to name him whatever she wanted. He didn't care what it was as long as the poor child had a name to be called by. And Raye, after indulging in a good hormonal cry on Serena's shoulder, had finally settled on Jadeite Ray, after both of them. After all, what could be more fitting than that? But everyone called the little black haired, blue-eyed baby J.R. to keep the confusion down.

"Serena and Rini finished breakfast and left about fifteen minutes ago," Lita told Darien as she wiped Nat's chin with a napkin. "Don't be surprised if there's not much left to eat over there. Those girls can pack away some food, even Rini. I don't think I've ever seen a seven month old baby with an appetite like hers."

Darien chuckled as he snatched up the last blueberry muffin sitting on a plate. "What can I say, she takes after her mother. I always did call her my little Serena clone. Well, I better get to work. I'll see you ladies later."

He left the dining room and strolled down the hall toward the office, munching on the muffin and sipping his coffee as he went. When he entered the outer office a few minutes later, Melvin gave a mock cheer of, "He's alive!" that made him laugh.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "I'm still kicking. Which is good for you because that means that you still have a job."

Melvin cocked back and propped his feet on the desk. "Nah! I'd still have a job even if you kicked the bucket. You don't think I'd leave running everything to Molly and Serena, do you?"

"You better watch what you say!" his wife growled from her neighboring desk. Then she smiled at Darien. "I am glad that you're feeling better though. Serena has been worried sick about you."

He sighed. "I know she has. Is she in her office? I haven't had a chance to say good morning to her yet."

Molly shook her head. "No. She popped in a little bit ago to see what was on the schedule. She doesn't have anything going on until about 10:00, so she said something about taking Rini up to the conservatory and letting her play for a while."

"How's my schedule looking?" he asked Melvin.

Melvin waved a hand. "You're cool for a while. I figured we'd ease you back in slowly. We don't want you having a relapse."

"Relapse my ass!" Darien growled good-naturedly. "Well, if you don't mind then, I'm going to run up and say good morning to my wife and daughter."

He left the office and took the elevator up to the top of the tall crystal tower of the palace. It was there that he had used the power of the Golden Crystal to create the large conservatory that had a panoramic view of the city. Serena adored flowers of all kinds, red roses being her favorite of course, so he had decided to make a place where she could enjoy them all year long, even in the dead of winter.

He stepped off the elevator and into the bright, sunny, flower and plant filled room, and immediately turned in the direction of the section that Serena called the rose garden. Not only was it her favorite spot, but there was also a small patch of grass that grew there where she like to spread out a blanket for Rini and let the little girl play. He was certain that was where he would find his girls.

Sure enough, as he drew close he heard Rini's babyish babble. "Ma…ma…ma…" and he ducked behind a young sapling to peek around it.

Rini sat on a blanket on the grassy spot, waving some kind of a toy around in her pudgy little hand toward the bent over woman sitting on the bench. "Ma…ma…ma!" she screeched again when she didn't get the reply that she was hoping for.

The bowed golden head raised a few inches. "Yes, precious. Mama sees your pretty toy."

That seemed to appease the little girl, and she went back to playing whatever game she had invented in her little head.

But all the hair on the back of Darien's neck had stood on end at the sound of Serena's voice. She sounded tired, and maybe even a little bit…sad?

Every protective instinct he had roared to life, and before he realized what he was doing he'd flung out his aura to read hers and he could feel the backlash of her emotions. He froze as what she was feeling flowed through him.

The tiredness was there, but it wasn't the most predominate thing she was feeling. The slight weariness that she felt wasn't very surprising to him though. In addition to worrying and helping to take care of him while he had been sick, Rini had begun cutting some new teeth and she had been having a hard time with it. There had been quite a few nights while he had been recuperating that he had woken up and could hear Serena though the baby monitor in their room as she paced the floor in Rini's room, singing softly and cooing nonsensical words to their fussy little girl. He had dragged himself out of bed a few times to see if he could help, only to be sent right back to bed by an irate Serena who insisted that he needed his rest. And the one time that he had reached a golden glowing hand toward Rini to see if he could offer his daughter a little relief from her aching mouth with his healing powers, Serena had jerked her away and flown angrily into his face, demanding that he conserve his energy so that he could get better. She told him that she had already given Rini some pain medication and that she would be fine once it kicked in.

Several other emotions were swirling around inside his wife right now, almost too many for him to be able to decipher. But the ones that hit him the hardest were the doubt and severe anxiety that she was experiencing. What could have happened to make her feel this way?

Serena's head snapped up as she felt his golden aura touch hers, but she didn't look at him. Instead she kept her face turned away and lifted a hand in a gesture that suspiciously looked like she was wiping away tears.

"Da…Darien! I…I didn't hear or sense you come in," she stammered.

He stepped into the clearing surrounded by red roses. "That much is obvious. So do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," she said immediately, but her voice was far too stuffy and thick with tears to be anywhere close to being convincing.

Rini, upon hearing her father's voice, tossed aside her toy and held her arms up, crying, "Da…da!"

Darien took his attention away from Serena long enough to swoop down and scoop Rini up into his arms. "Good morning, my big girl! And how are you today?"

Rini squealed with laughter as he gave her a few well-placed tickles on her ribs. But after a moment she began squirming, wanting to be let down so that she could return to her toys.

So he set her back down on the blanket where she immediately set to work banging one hard plastic toy against another like it was the most important mission in the world. Then he went to take a seat next to Serena, who was slouched over with her elbows on her knees and her face buried in her hands.

He nudged her shoulder lightly with his and said, "Okay, spill! What has got you so worked up?"

"Nothing!" she told him again, her voice muffled in her hands.

As gently as he could, which was not as gently as he would have liked because she resisted him, he pulled her hands away from her face and held them both in one of his hands so that he could use the other under her chin to force her face up so he could see it.

His mouth pressed into a straight line as he took in her ragged features. Her cheeks were pale and her eyes were red rimmed, surrounded by wet, spiky lashes. Her pulse was pounding and erratic. He could see it jumping under the delicate skin of neck and feel it thrumming under his fingers at her wrist. Her breathing was also shallow and fast, which alarmed him greatly. She looked to be on the verge of flying apart at any moment.

"This is not nothing, Serena," he said in a gentle, but firm voice. "You are about a half step away from slipping into a panic attack, and that doesn't happen for no reason. Something has happened to upset you like this, and I want to know what it is. And don't you dare tell me nothing again. If I have to go get a sedative from Zoicite to get you to calm down, then that's what I'll do."

She jerked away from him, shaking her head. "N…no!" she chattered out between clacking teeth. "You…you don't have to do that."

He ran his fingers down her cheek, wiping away tear trails from her icy cold skin. The doctor part of him kicked in, making him wonder if she was going into shock. There was no reason for her to be so cold. With the sunlight pouring into the conservatory it was quite warm and balmy where they were sitting.

"Well it's either you tell me what's wrong, or that's what I'm going to do," he told her, forcing his voice to be hard so that she would know that he meant business. But to soften the blow he added, "I bet you'll feel better if you get whatever it is off your chest."

She blew out a shaky breath and then straightened up so that she could lean back against the back of the bench. Then she wrapped both of her arms around her waist and muttered, "Trista is going to kill me!"

He couldn't help but arch a brow. "Okay. I'm not quite following you yet, but I suppose it's a start. And why exactly do you think that Trista is going to kill you? Did you steal a time key and do some unauthorized time travel?"

She tried to glare at him, but her trembling lips ruined the effect. "It isn't funny, Darien!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" he apologized quickly. "So what seems to be the problem?"

She was quiet for a moment. Then she whispered, "I think I messed up the timeline."

Poor Darien was growing more and more confused by the second. "All right. And why do you think that?"

She gulped and tilted her head back to glance up at the blue sky above them that was visible through the translucent ceiling. "Do you remember our last date night, the one right before Christmas?"

He couldn't help but grin. "Yeah. That would be a hard thing to forget."

"Oh! Get your mind out of the gutter!" she growled. "I'm being serious! You remember how crazy that day was with all the running around and Raye having the baby and all. Well I…" her voice trailed off.

"Go on," he prompted her gently.

"Damn!" she hissed. "There's no easy way for me to say it. So I guess I'll just be blunt. I had forgotten to take my birth control pill the night before. I remembered it while I was at the mall, and I meant to take it as soon as I got home, but everything went haywire and I forgot again until the next night after the Christmas Eve party."

Maybe it was the fact that the caffeine hadn't quite kick started his brain all the way yet, but all Darien could think to say was, "Okay?"

Her eyes snapped down from looking up and bore into his as she snorted. "Really! That's all you can say? You go through years of college, med school, and internship, and all you can say is okay? I'm trying to tell you that I'm pregnant, genius!"

Shock froze him for a moment, and then a sense of elation flowed through him. He was going to get to become a father again! He laughed. "Really? This is the best news I've had in a while!"

Serena's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? No it's not, Darien!"

He grinned at her goofily. "Of course it is! Sure, it's a little sooner than we had planned since Rini is only seven months old. But knowing that we are going to have another baby can't be anything other than good news."

"You're missing the big picture here!" she almost screamed in frustration. "All those years ago, when Rini came to the past for the first time and we traveled to the future and met your future self, there was no mention of us having another child at that time. And I would think that somebody would have let something slip. Rini could be secretive when she wanted to be, but I don't think that even she could keep something as important as a sibling a secret."

"That's not entirely true," he mused. "Rini was always pretty clear on Pluto's rule about not speaking about the future. And my future self didn't tell us any more about our future than he felt he had to. People aren't supposed to know anything about their futures after all."

"You are quite right, your majesty," a low feminine voice said as there was a puff of pink smoke before them and Sailor Pluto appeared. "Knowing the details about how your life is supposed to unfold may sound good to some, but is also a very dangerous thing. People who know too much are always tempted to try to change fate. But unfortunately, fate is one of the mysterious forces in life that doesn't appreciate meddling, and it always finds a way to set things back on the path that it wants."

Serena cringed at the sight of the time guardian. "I guess you're here to let me have it, huh?"

A rarely heard giggle escaped Pluto. "Now why on Earth would I want to do that?"

"Because I messed up!" Serena blurted out. "If I hadn't forgotten to take those stupid pills this wouldn't have happened."

Pluto shook her head. "Remember what I just said about fate. If you had taken those pills you would have been changing the path that fate had laid out for you and the timeline would have been altered. Things are unfolding exactly as they should."

Serena's mouth popped open in shock. "So you're saying that this was supposed to happen?"

Pluto huffed a quiet chuckle. "You didn't assume that Small Lady was your only child just because she was the only one you met in the past, did you? She understood the dangers of time travel and the importance of not sharing any of the details of her life in the future with you. And she did a wonderful job keeping things hush-hush. Which reminds me…"

The time guardian knelt down next to the small princess, who laughed in delight at having yet another person to show off her incredible toy playing skills to.

"I have a belated Christmas gift for you, Small Lady," Pluto told her softly. "Something from someone very special." She waved her hand and a toy appeared in her palm. It was just the right size for clasping little hands and was made out of a solid piece of plastic with no parts that could come loose and find their way into mouths where they didn't belong. But what made this toy different from any of the others that Rini had was the fact that it was shaped like a white Pegasus with its wings stretched wide and a golden horn on its head that had a rounded tip instead of a point so that a certain little girl couldn't be hurt by it.

Darien chuckled. "Helios just couldn't help himself, could he?"

Pluto shook her head. "No, he couldn't. He understands the reasons why there must not be any contact between the two of them until the time is right. But he said that he couldn't let her first Christmas pass by without giving her something. Even if she never knows that it came from him."

"Ohh! That is so sweet!" Serena squealed as she watched Rini take the Pegasus into her hands and then hug it to her chest. She wiped at the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes.

Darien huffed a sound that was almost a laugh. "Oh boy! Here we go again with the out of control hormones. Didn't we get off this ride not too long ago?"

She sniffled hard. "You can't blame all of this on me! It's half your fault too! As Mina is so fond of pointing out, it takes two to tango!"

He rolled his eyes. "I was teasing, Meatball Head."

"Well it wasn't funny!" she snapped back. "And besides, my being sentimental has nothing to do with my hormones. I just happen to think that it's adorable that our little girl has a secret protector watching over her from afar."

"I don't," he growled. "Now that I think about it, it's kind of creepy. You do realize how old Helios is, don't you?"

Serena waved a hand. "Age is just a number. And you can't have forgotten how close Rini and he got during the whole Nehelenia fiasco. I thought the two of them together made a pretty good team. And don't forget, if it hadn't been for them you would have never gotten your hands on the Golden Crystal. Anyway, I've never been able to think of Helios as being old enough to have lived back during the Silver Millennium. It's kind of hard to picture when he barely looks a day over seventeen."

Darien groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Making Helios sound like a hormonal teenage boy is not making me feel better, Serena!"

"Oh, you're no fun!" she muttered. "And you can't lump Helios into the same category as other men. He's different. Besides, he never treated Rini with anything other than the utmost respect."

"I would have killed him if he hadn't!" he snarled. "She was only a child!"

"Who was on the verge of becoming a young lady," she pointed out.

He threw his hands in the air. "I give up trying to reason with you! You're too busy building fairytales in your mind."

"Every princess deserves a fairytale," she said smugly. Then a mischievous smile turned up her lips.

Darien backpedaled quickly. "Uh oh! What are you thinking now?"

Her smile grew and her eyes sparkled. "I was just thinking about something. Do you remember the conversation we had the night before Christmas Eve when we got back from our date?"

He nodded slowly, unsure of where she was going with this. "Yes."

"I was just wondering," she drawled in a thoughtful tone, "how come you were so quick to say that I was jailbait for running around in front of you in my short fuku skirt, but you never seemed to have a problem with Rini prancing around in hers when she became Sailor Mini Moon."

All the blood drained from Darien's face in one moment, leaving it stark white, only for it to flame burning red the next as the blood came rushing back. Then he exploded. "No way! That's it! She is not becoming a sailor scout! I'm putting my foot down on this!"

Serena wagged a finger at him. "Uh, uh, uh! You heard what Trista said. You can't defy fate. And that is what fate has decreed for our daughter in the future."

Pluto's head snapped up from where she was still crouched next to Rini and had been playing with the small princess in an attempt to try to ignore the conversation between her queen and king. Her garnet eyes widened in alarm. "Oh no! Don't try to pull me into the middle of this. I just came to reassure you that you getting pregnant was all part of the way time was supposed to go. I didn't mean to set off a whole war."

Serena's hands dropped to her stomach as she squeaked, "Oh! I almost forgot all about that for a minute with all this bickering about Rini. We're going to have another baby!"

Then joy began spreading across her face as those words really set into her mind. She squealed loudly, "We're going to have another baby! And this time it will be a complete mystery because this will be a child that we never knew existed! I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl!"

Pluto scrambled to her feet, holding up her hands. "Don't look at me. I'm not saying a word."

Serena blew a raspberry at her. "Oh hush! I wouldn't want you to tell me anyway. Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't trade knowing about Rini beforehand or the time I got to spend with her in the past for anything in the world. But this…this will be an exciting adventure into the great unknown."

"Which is exactly what the future is supposed to be," Pluto replied wisely. "And now that I have done my job here, I should be returning to the time gate to check on things." She bent down to pat Rini on top of her pink curls, and then bowed to Serena and Darien before disappearing in a glittery pink poof.

Serena sagged against Darien. "What a day already! And it's not even 9:00 yet."

Darien chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "Drama always seems to be the story of our lives."

She sighed, her hot breath bleeding through the fabric of his shirt. "And it's only going to get worse. Now we have to tell everybody about this."

"I know," he groaned. "Let's just make it simple this time. How about tonight we drive over to your parent's house and tell them privately. And then maybe tomorrow we'll just call everybody else into the office and tell them there."

"Sounds good to me," she agreed. "Do you think we can keep this out of the news for a while? I'm not ready for the whole media circus to start up again."

His chest rumbled under her ear as he laughed. "We can try. The hardest part will be trying to keep any of the servants from finding out. This kind of news could mean big bucks to one of them if they decide to sell it."

"We'll just have to swear all our friends to absolute secrecy," she murmured. "I'm not worried about Amy, Zoicite, Kunzite, or Nephrite letting anything slip. And Molly and Melvin would have their tongues cut out before they gave away anything about us. But Mina, Lita, Raye, and Jadeite? That's an entirely different story. I know they would never sell us out on purpose, but they like to talk too much, and this palace has ears everywhere. If I so much as sneeze, the papers are printing that I have a cold. And don't even get me started on what they've had to say while you've been sick. They had you on your deathbed with only hours to live."

He chuckled. "I was pretty sick, but I wasn't that sick."

"You did have me really worried there for a few days though," she murmured in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. "Zoicite kept trying to play things down, but I could see it in his eyes. He was worried too."

He squeezed her a little tighter. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. But you should have known that it would take more than a lousy bout of pneumonia to get rid of me. It kinda stinks though. Here I have a magic crystal that can heal cuts and bruises and mend broken bones in the blink of an eye, but it can't touch an infection."

"Or soothe labor pains," Serena quipped with a smile. Then she grimaced. "I guess I have that to look forward to again. Goodbye tiny waistline. Hello balloon belly and swollen ankles."

Darien grinned down at her. "I'll rub your feet for you again when they bother you. Besides, you've always said that all the discomfort and aches and pains that you went through with Rini was worth it in the end."

Serena looked toward her daughter with an expression of motherly pride. "She was definitely worth it. And this little one will be too. What do you say, Rini? Are you ready to become a big sister?"

The little girl stared at them for a moment with solemn maroon eyes. Then she threw her new toy and burst into giggles as it bounced on the ground, causing both of her parents to laugh as they got up from the bench they were on to go and sit next to her as she played.

After one of the maids came to them an hour later with a message from Molly and Melvin that demanded that they get down to the office and get to work, the woman went back and commented to one of her friends that she thought the king, queen, and princess made the most darling little family that she had ever seen.

Little did anyone know, besides the royal couple and Sailor Pluto, that the little family was about to get a tiny bit bigger.


Sailor Pluto looked over the timeline with an expression of immense satisfaction on her face. All was well in the past, present, and future at the moment, and everything was moving along as it should.

Deciding that she could afford to take an hour or two off from watching the time gate, and the fact that she was craving a little human interaction instead of carrying on conversations with herself, she searched through the river of time for a suitable moment to visit. She smiled when she spied the perfect one.

Closing her eyes and waving her staff, she disappeared in a poof, and then reappeared in the upstairs hallway of the Crystal Palace in front of a closed door. She changed into her civilian form, her fuku and staff melting away to be replaced by a conservative, knee length, purple dress. Then she raised her hand to knock lightly on the door.

"Come in!" a bright, cheerful voice practically sang.

Trista opened the door and stepped into a nursery, complete with a crib, rocking chair, framed nursery rhyme pictures, a few scattered toddler toys, and a smiling mother standing at a changing table as she dressed her child.

"Trista!" Serena squealed as she glanced up to see who her visitor was. "I wasn't sure if you would make it today or not. No one ever knows where you might pop up."

Trista laughed softly. "All is quiet at the time gate at the moment, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to come. After all, it isn't everyday that my princess will turn one." She reached out a hand to the little girl lying on the changing table and her fingers were immediately grabbed in a tight, chubby fingered grip.

Serena giggled. "I know what you mean. This past year just seems like it has flown by. It feels like it was only yesterday that I was giving birth to her, and now here she is turning the big one."

"And how is the king taking it?" Trista asked with a knowing smile.

Serena rolled her eyes. "You know how Darien is when it comes to things like this. He goes completely bonkers. I don't think anybody will forget the massive pile of gifts he bought for Christmas any time soon. You could barely see the tree by the time he was done. I've tried my best to rein him in on this birthday party, but I'm sure he's gone behind my back on several things. I've just learned to go with it."

"He does enjoy being a father," Trista observed. "But there are times that I think that he gets a kick out of having the excuse to act like a child himself."

Serena smiled, but her eyes held a little sadness. "I've often thought that myself. He never had much of a normal childhood, you know, growing up the way he did. Between the orphanage and the amnesia, he missed out on so much. That's why I really can't fuss at him too much when he goes a little overboard about things like birthdays and Christmas."

She finished fastening the diaper she had been changing and then sat her daughter up to pull a little blue dress over her head. "But we're not going to let anything ruin our fun today, are we, sweetie?" She cooed to the little girl. "You're going to have a wonderful party. All of our family and friends will be there. And there will be cake, ice cream, and cookies."

"Cookie!" the young princess squealed as her head popped through the top of the dress. "Cookie! Cookie! Cookie!"

Trista laughed. "Well she sure learned that word quickly enough."

"Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut," Serena muttered. Then she grinned. "Look at that expression on her face, Trista! Doesn't she look just like Darien when she does that?"

"She certainly does," Trista agreed. "And I can't believe how long her hair has gotten." She stroked the fine, silky, raven-black hair that fell almost to the princess's shoulders and smiled into the dark, sapphire blue eyes that were staring at her. "Darien sure put his stamp on this one."

"I know," Serena sighed. "Raye picks on me all the time and says that Lanie looks so much like Darien that she can't even tell that I'm her mother. Everyone says that Rini resembles me a lot, and maybe she does in her facial features, but her coloring comes directly from Darien's side of the family. So both of our daughters take more after his genes than they do mine as far as looks go. But at least Rini is a moon princess through and through. I can claim that she inherited that from me at least. Lanie seems to be drawn more to the Golden Crystal's power than the Silver Crystal's, so I guess she'll take after her daddy's powers as well as look like him."

She buttoned the last button on the tiny dress and lifted the toddler princess to her hip. "So what do you say, Princess Ilene Usagi Shields? Are you about ready to put on your party shoes?"

Lanie babbled incoherently for a moment. But the words, "Silly Mama!" were clearly heard.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Darien taught her that one too."

"She is her father's child," Trista replied humorously. "And she's a beautiful birthday girl, even if she doesn't look like her mother. But that's okay, right Little One? It's not like your mama's looks got lost in the mix."

"True," Serena said with a smug smile, which turned into a grimace a moment later when the sound of a crash, followed by yelling voices came in through the door to an adjoining room.

She heaved a sigh before yelling, "Serenity Serena Shields! Are you beating up on your brothers again?"

Twelve-year-old Rini's head, her face framed by her long pink pigtails, popped through the door. "I'm not beating them up! I ought to though! The little brats have been snooping around in my room again. Oh! Hi Puu!" Then she was gone.

"Honestly!" Serena muttered. "That girl has been almost impossible to deal with since she came back from the past this last time after fighting Nehelenia. It would probably be even worse though if Helios didn't help keep her calm. At least she listens to him!"

"Mama! Mama! Mama!" a little voice cried as a six-year-old boy with chocolate brown hair and eyes came running into the room. "Rini and Endy are fighting really bad this time, and I'm scared! I think they may kill each other!"

"Oh for Selene's sake! Trista, take Lanie for a minute!" she handed the toddler to the time guardian and then knelt down with her hands on her son's shoulders. "Kenji, sweetie, your brother and sister aren't going to kill each other. Mama's going to take care of everything."

Then she stalked into the adjoining room, which was the private living room for the royal family. An old anime rerun blared from the big screen television in the entertainment center, and on the floor in front of it two bodies were locked in battle as they rolled on the floor. Both of them were already glowing silver from their lost tempers.

"Serenity! Endymion! Stop that this instant!" Serena demanded as she stomped over and hauled Rini off her brother by the waist. "What has gotten into you two?"

"He started it!" Rini declared, flinging her finger toward the accused.

"I did not!" ten-year-old Endy yelled as he jumped to his feet. His tousled golden hair was almost quivering with his rage and blue sparks were practically shooting from his crystal blue eyes. "She came in while I was watching TV and started yelling at me!"

"Because you've been sneaking around my room!" Rini screamed. "My diary was moved out of its hiding place, and I know it was you, you little leech!"

"Was not, Meatball Head!" Endy fired back. "What would I want to read your stupid diary for, anyway? It's probably full of nothing except how much you love Horseboy and how you want him to kiss you." He made a few kissy sounds.

An unearthly screech tore from Rini's throat. "I'm going to MURDER you!" And she tried to break Serena's hold.

"Darien!" Serena yelled at their closed bedroom door. "I know you're in there! Now get out here and help me!"

A few seconds later, the bedroom door opened and Darien stood there with his arms crossed. The squabbling adolescents immediately fell still and silent under their father's stern glare. After a moment, he said in a firm tone, "Rini, Endy, go to your rooms and stay there until you're told you can come out."

Both children grumbled under their breath, but turned toward their rooms without argument.

After the two doors had slammed behind them, Serena fixed an angry glare on her husband. "How do you do that?"

He smirked at her. "It's all about your expression, posture, and tone of voice. They have to know that you mean business."

"Well if you're such a master at it, why didn't you come out here and stop it sooner? I know you heard them going at it," she demanded.

"I was about to," he said calmly. "But sometimes it's healthy to let kids try to work out their own disagreements. Then I heard you enter the scene and figured that you could take care of it. After all, weren't you the great Sailor Moon once upon a time?"

"Smug bastard!" Serena growled.

"Ooo! Mama called daddy a bad word!" Kenji cried from the nursery doorway.

Serena closed her eyes and counted to ten, very slowly. Then she fixed a smile on her face as she opened them. "Yes, I did. And that was very bad thing for mama to do. Now why don't you go play a video game or something until it's time for your sister's party, okay sweetie."

"Okay!" he grinned, bouncing off toward his room where the prized game system that Santa, aka Darien, had gotten him the past Christmas.

"Very well handled," Darien drawled. "Are you done with me now. I was just trying to finish wrapping a few more gifts."

"More gifts!" Serena cried in disbelief. "I thought we already had all the gifts we were going to get. What did you do now?"

He grinned as he eased back into the bedroom. "You'll just have to wait and see." He retreated behind the door.

"Unbelievable!" Serena sighed as she walked over to where Trista stood in the nursery doorway and took Lanie from her. Then she said, "Trista, I know you don't like to tell me anything about the future, but I'm begging you to just this once. I love every one of my babies with all my heart, but please tell me that I am done having children now. Not that I wouldn't love any child that fate decides to give me, but I honestly don't think my sanity can take it. If I count Darien, I feel like I have five children."

Trista pressed her lips together and looked away. "I'm afraid I can't tell you anything, my queen. I'm sorry."

Serena shrugged. "I figured you wouldn't. I just thought I'd try anyway. Oh well! Come on, mama's big birthday girl! Let's finish getting you ready. Grandma and grandpa will be here soon to see you."

Trista bit a smile back, almost putting a hole through her bottom lip. It was times like this that she found it very hard to be the guardian of time, when she wanted very badly to answer her queen's question. But it was never good for anyone to know too much about their own future.

But wouldn't Serena's expression be priceless if she knew about the twin boy and girl that waited for her about five years down the road.

Yes, sometimes it was hard to be the all-knowing time guardian.

But watching the reactions of the unenlightened never got old.


A/N Well everybody, I hope you enjoyed my little Christmas present to you. I had a blast writing this and even cracked myself up a couple of times, which is not easy to do since I don't consider myself to be much of a comedian. But just the same, if I managed to entertain you for even the slightest moment, then I consider it a successful mission. As always, I love to hear what you wonderful readers think. So please don't be shy about dropping me those reviews. Reader feedback is the best gift that even an amateur writer like me could possibly ask for. Be happy! Be safe! And Happy Holidays to you all! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~