MarshAngel
Mina called her mother for the second time that afternoon. There was still no answer. Her mother was probably running around London on an almighty shopping spree. She winced at the vision of her mother in one of those strangely futuristic Alexander McQueen creations. It was unlikely but not impossible.
Somehow her mother had acquired the exalted position as a buyer for one of the chicest fashion boutiques in London. In all her years Mina had never in her life known her mother to hold a job. There had never been a need, as her father did extremely well in international business law.
She sighed. Her mother had always been somewhat distant. It wasn't something she blamed her for. Her mother had tried to be more affectionate but had always come off somewhat false. It just hadn't been in her personality. Her mother was finally asserting her independence and unfortunately for Mina, it came at the one time she really felt it necessary to impart important information to her.
She had been so excited to let her know she was getting married. She supposed she'd have to leave the information to her father's secretary. He'd get back to her a week later or worse yet after she'd said the vows and maybe even given birth to their first grandchild. She didn't doubt her father loved her, he occasionally showed it to her at rather odd moments but the man seemed unable to concentrate on more than one thing at any given time and more often than not some very important contract caught hold of his attention.
She spun around and smiled brilliantly at her relaxing fiancée. He hadn't really proposed; they'd simply arrived at the decision, having wanted their baby to have his father's name. She frowned at that. She supposed she should make him get down on his knees. The mental picture caused her to smile. She hoped their baby looked exactly like him, well maybe without the five o clock shadow.
"Well?"
"I guess we'll just have to inform them later. It seems they're very busy at the moment." She settled into his warmth on the sofa.
"I say we get busy ourselves." Andrew whispered in her ear. His breath, like a warm summer breeze, tickled and sent shivers down her spine. She giggled.
"Let's get ourselves a witness, a minister and a garden and have a quiet little ceremony on a hill somewhere, just you, me the minister and the photographer. In his mind he could just see himself kissing her as the minister pronounced them man and wife even as the desert sun set casting the white clad couple in a brilliant orange glow.
It was a mere fantasy however, one unlikely to happen, she probably wanted something more formal with all her friends. It was her choice; he'd fulfill whatever fantasy came to mind. Whatever she came up with would undoubtedly be perfect and beautiful, because she was perfect and beautiful and any moments he spent with her would be as beautiful as any he had in his own mind.
"Okay," She whispered. She watched as his eyebrows shot up before his
face lit up in one of those brilliant smiles she loved to see. He was Adonis
in the flesh.
She was amused at his reaction. She was no mind reader but she could
tell by the look he's had on his face he had an image in mind. She wished
she could have shared the moment with him, seen into his mind. She would
instead settle for the reality that would be the result of whatever fantasies
he sought to bring into their life.
It was not too long after, Mina found herself reliving Andrew's fantasy. It was more beautiful than she had dared to imagine. Here she stood arm in arm with the man of her dreams on a small hill overlooking the ocean beneath the setting Southern California sun.
Both she and Andrew had worn casual outfits of white crinkle cotton. The long, beautiful, white summer dress blew in the wind exposing a good deal of tanned leg and threatened to blow the wreath of white flowers of her curled blonde hair. The flowers held their place however, even when Andrew tilted her head back for a passionately hard and thorough kiss that had left the minister clearing his throat as the photographer took the perfect shot. It was one she would hang in her office for future customers. She had never captured a more perfectly romantic moment on film of such a beautiful couple.
They had spent the next three days in Acapulco basking in the sun and
the light of their love, between bouts of morning sickness. It was
not a time either of them was likely to forget especially since they vowed
to do it all over again. By the time they got back to LA the wedding proofs
were waiting for them. They were so beautiful, they had the best shots
framed and engraved with their names and eternal vows of love that very
day. There would be no doubt for future generations of the Furahata clan
that the two had been very much in love.
"Not now! Damn it! I refuse to get that. Whoever it is can come back later."
"If it's someone we know, they know we're home. Our cars are in the lot."
"Good! The they'll figure out we're busy when we don't answer."
"They're not stopping. Sweetheart, get the door."
"No!"
"Get the door."
"No!"
"Then get off me so I can get the door!"
"Ughhhhhh. Fine! I'll get the damn door!"
Darien rolled off his dear sweet Serena and pulled on his pants hurriedly, grumbling as he struggled to put his shirt on backwards. Barely managing not to slide across the floor on Serena's satin bra, he made his way to the front door, mumbling all the way. It had better be a damn good reason because if this was one of his friends' ideas of a joke it sure as hell wasn't funny.
"What!" he roared as he flung the door open.
Before him stood a grinning Jay, an embarrassed Nick, and two wide-eyed women he slowly recognized as Raye and Lita. It was quite obvious; from Darien's state of complete disarray that he had been in the middle of something. Darien's face turned a shade of red that Jay had thought impossible for a human being. He was stuck somewhere between complete embarrassment, white-hot anger and complete shock.
Before Darien could let out an angry blast or an embarrassed spiel of words, Serena came up behind him looking completely unruffled, as fresh as a spring day, and as beautiful and refreshed as a dew-covered rose at dawn. He was somewhat annoyed that she managed to come off looking perfect while he stood in their door with his hair a shameful mess, his shirt inside out and open, and only two of the five buttons on his pants done.
"Don't just stand there Darien," She smiled, "let them in!" Obviously she hadn't seen all their guests clearly, he thought, or she wouldn't be standing there looking cool calm and collected as though she had awoken refreshed from a yearlong nap rather than what was more akin to a tussle in the hay.
As he stepped aside to let their guests in and was soon satisfied by
the shocked squeal of delight, amazement, and confusion his formerly composed
fiancée let out.
Without further ado Serena promptly assaulted her two old friends with
a hug reminiscent of her younger days. She pulled back only to hug them
once again planting kisses on both their cheeks.
Raye certainly hadn't expected a welcome of this magnitude and it showed as tears ran down her cheeks. She wasn't the only one caught up in the emotion of the moment. Lita shared her tears as the three friends reunited with a fervor that three men watching found vastly amusing and, though they wouldn't say it aloud, enormously touching.
The next few moments were filled with meaningless apologies, tear filled stories of the past few years and iron bound promises for the future. The situation, much to Darien's relief, had distracted everyone from asking any questions that would place him in the embarrassing position of having to explain just what he was doing before he answered the door.
He was soon reminded of his own upcoming wedding when to his great shock,
they discovered that Nick and Lita had tied the knot while Raye and Jay,
an odd pair, were well on their way to a wedding of their own. To tell
the truth he was the only one really surprised, it seemed Serena had been
expecting, if not waiting for these very events to occur. He was starting
to get the feeling that he would always be out of the loop. He frowned
at the thought but easily realized he couldn't care less, he was finding
he liked surprises, particularly when they came from her.
"You're nervous."
"I'm not nervous!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not! If I were nervous I'd let you know. I'm not nervous."
"Ok so you're not nervous. You're just pacing and snapping because it's particularly enjoyable."
"Ok so I'm a little nervous," Darien finally admitted.
The wedding invitations had been sent and the wedding plans were beginning to come together. They had finally set a date, the dresses, and Tuxedoes had been bought, gifts had already begin to arrive, the announcement had been made and the vast preparations from rings to limos and flowers had all been taken care of. It had certainly been nerve-wracking but there was still one more hurdle, one that Serena considered minor but one he was finding rather nerve-wracking. He was, for the first time, sitting down with the two people who had raised the perfect woman who sat quietly following his pacing back and forth in the waiting room of the airport.
It might not have been so bad had he not already given Mr. Tsukino good
reason to hate him. He didn't doubt that Kenji saw him as the man who had
stolen his little girl and led her down a bad path. He had not even
known Serena was in a serious relationship needless to say engaged to a
man with whom she was living.
He was forced to stop his nervous pacing when he Serena got up and
began waving at two people approaching them. Darien swallowed hard as he
saw Kenji and Ikuko.
Kenji looked over every inch of the tall frame of the man who would be his son-in-law. He looked decent. He supposed he would be called handsome. He didn't' smile even as his wife whispered into her daughter's ear as the hugged that he was absolutely gorgeous.
"So, I take it you're the young man who's supposed to marry my daughter."
"Yes sir." Darien replied as strongly as he could. Even though Kenji was a whole head shorter than him he found himself intimidated by the older man.
Kenji resisted a smile. The poor kid was actually nervous. With those broad shoulders and the hint of muscles he saw beneath Darien's shirt there was no doubt as to who was physically stronger and yet it seemed the young man was unnerved by his presence.
He was proud of his ability to instill a certain amount of fear and respect in his new son-in-law. He was also reassured that Darien cared enough about Serena to make an attempt at impressing her parents. He took pity on him."I have no intention of shooting you here. They don't allow you to transport weapons on the airplane these days and my grandfather's sword wouldn't fit in my suitcase. You're safe, for now."
"Daddy!" Serena screeched indignantly.
"I'm sure Darien knows I'm kidding sweetheart." Kenji smiled at his daughter.
Darien chuckled nervously. He was not at all reassured.
After her parents had settled in the guest room of their apartment, the couple let them sleep off their jet lag. Darien had eventually relaxed but only after the seemingly endless questions her parents had had for him had ended. He felt as though he were being interviewed and investigated for a job for the CIA; they were that thorough.
He had easily warmed to Serena's mother, instantly recognizing the same gentleness in her he'd found in her daughter. He had to admit however, that in some cases genetics overrode years of nurture. Serena didn't have many of her mother's features or Kenji's personality quirks. She was very much like Richard, the father he knew well and was comfortable with.
It was obvious to him however, that Kenji and Ikuko had instilled all
their own values within their daughter and had raised her to perfection.
Many of the things he appreciated about her came from the two people he'd
met today and for that he was deeply grateful.