Title: Winter Snow
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: PG 13+
Chapter: 16- Serena's Little Girl?!

Last time on "Winter Snow"…

"I never want to be away from you ever again." Serena whispered, running her fingers across Darien's perfectly toned chest. She looked up only to be met with another kiss. As soon as their lips met, Darien had a disturbing image flash in his mind and broke the kiss suddenly. Crystal felt an unwanted presence in the apartment. A Zap of electricity ran up and down her spine as the same blur of images that she saw last night entered her mind again.

"I...I'm gonna go for a walk, I need some fresh air" Darien said before buttoning up his shirt and walking out of the apartment.

"What's wrong with him?" Serena asked, quite confused.


Crystal rushed through the backroom of the arcade and quickly slipped her apron on

"Oh! Crystal, thank God! Can you please take this to table nine?" Liz came rushing in, handing Crystal a cup of coffee and a chocolate muffin.

"Sure." Crystal took the muffin and coffee from the stressed out Liz.

"Here is your coffee, Mr. Chiba." Crystal smiled as she placed the coffee and muffin in front of the tall man, reading a newspaper.

"Crys! You didn't tell me you were working today." Darien glanced at Crystal's 'uniform'

"I know, last minute thing. So, what was this about getting some fresh air? The arcade hardly looks alfresco." Crystal placed her hands on her hips and frowned.

"Well, I went to get some fresh air... and some coffee." Darien shrugged.

"Right, well ok. I've got to get back to work. See you later!" Crystal scooted towards the counter and took a few orders. Darien finished his coffee and muffin and paced over to the counter not long after.

"Hi Liz" He greeted, paying for his coffee.

"Hi Darien!" Liz smiled warmly.

"Do you know where my sister is?" Darien asked

"Yeah, she's out the back, baking a fresh batch of cookies. Do you want me to go get her?" Lizzy asked.

"No, it's fine, but can you tell her that I'm going for my afternoon lecture and I won't be back until later tonight?" Darien gave a warm parting smile.

"Yep sure!" Liz smiled back. Darien sighed, massaging one side of his neck lightly as he walked out the arcade doors.

Crystal placed the tray of cookie dough into the oven and stated making the blueberry muffin mixture. She spent her whole day baking and cooking. Every one of her muffins, cakes, cookies, slices and other desserts turned out exactly like the cook book picture. With every batch she baked, she gained more and more experience and confidence in the kitchen. Her mentor and inspiration was Lita when it came to cooking. Lita was proud of her little apprentice. She was glad that Crystals' willingness to learn made up for Serena and Minas' incompetence in the kitchen. Andrew strolled in with Mina that evening as Crystal placed a tray of cookies near a window to cool down.

"Oh wow!" Mina exclaimed as she saw the trays of muffins and cakes and cookies in front of her

"Introducing... our new chef and waitress!" Andrew smiled and slipped on his apron. "Crystal!" she laughed placing all the chocolate chip muffins in a basket.

"Did you make all these?" Mina asked, looking at the delicious blueberry muffin sitting on its own, on a white napkin.

"Sure did," Crystal nodded. "From scratch, too!" Mina gasped, almost drooling all over the rows of muffins. "Here, you can be my taste tester." Crystal handed the muffin to Mina who eagerly took a bite.

"Oh, this is incredible!" Mina chomped on the muffin, making sure she caught any crumbs.

"This is really good too." Andrew sampled a small slice of Apricot Danish pastry. "Thanks a heap, Crys, for making all these. I know I would never have found the time."

"Not a problem Andrew, I'm more than happy to help." Crystal looked down at her watch. It read 5:46 pm. "Well Drew, I've got to go now, see ya!" Crystal took her apron off and placed it back on the hook before waving and heading out of the back door. Crystal ran home. She felt happy that she could help out a friend, and satisfied that she had accomplished quite a bit that afternoon. She entered the apartment to find a little note on the glass table. It read:

Crystal,
Gone to my afternoon course. Won't be back until 7. There's pasta in the microwave.
Please don't set the microwave alight. Heat up the pasta properly. 2 minutes in microwave. Stir thoroughly. 2 minutes in microwave. Keep the front door locked.
-Darien

A soft tapping interrupted Crystal. She put the note down on the table and answered the door

"Hiya!" A little blonde girl 3 years of age looked up at Crystal. A broad smile graced her round features as she stood at the door, clutching her little tiny backpack.

"Hello Crystal! Thanks again for helping out." The tall dark haired guardian of the child thanked her before turning around to leave.

"Hi Sophy!" Crystal smiled as the little girl placed her bag on the glass coffee table.

"Cryssy... where's Momma Rena?" The petite blonde girl asked curiously.

"Ah, she's gone with her mommy and her daddy and Sammy to a very important dinner, but she'll be back to pick you up later." Crystal informed. "Ok, so how 'bout we go downstairs and feed the duckies at the park?" Crystal offered.

"Yeah!" Sophy exclaimed, nodding her head vigorously.

"Ok, let's go. Crystal grabbed Sophy's jacket and her own and they both walked downstairs to the park, just across the road.

"Look Cryssy!" Sophy pointed to a little duck following its mother. Sophy loved going to the park and she especially loved the duck pond. Even though she was little and very young, she knew quite a lot about the park and the flora and fauna that surrounded her. Crystal had taught her a lot.

"I like that plant! What is it?" Sophy asked eagerly.

"That one there is called a water lily." Crystal pointed "And the one next to it, over there is called a lotus. The big tall long ones along the edge of the water are bamboo. After quite some time at the pond, Crystal looked down at Sophy. "Come on, they have planted some new plants at the other side of the park." Crystal smiled warmly.

"Ok! Can you teach me some of their names?" Sophy asked. In some sense, Sophy was just like Crystal but she bared a striking resemblance to Serena.

"Sure!" Crystal nodded gently as the two girls headed to the newly added section of the park.
"Oooh, it smells really nice here!" Sophy noted, running towards a bed of purple flowers. "What are these?" Sophy sniffed the scent of the flowers.
"They're violets." Crystal also leaned over to smell them.
"These are pretty!" Sophy giggled.
"Those are marigolds. And the ones next to them are dendrobium orchids.
"These ones are my favorite! They're so small but they smell so nice! They smell like vanilla roses but these are white and they're tiny!" Sophy picked a tiny little flower for Crystal to sniff.

"Mmm! They're one of my favorite flowers too! They're Jasmine flowers. After about half an hour of wandering around in the new section of the park, Crystal decided to take Sophy back home.

"That was fun!" Sophy smiled and sniffed the white flower in her hand as they re-entered the apartment.

"Sure was!" Do you remember the 3 plants we saw at the pond?" Crystal asked as they both lay down on the floor, on their stomachs, idly swinging their feet in the air.

"Um... one was the water lily and there was lots and lots of bamboo..." Sophy thought a little.

"One more... it starts with "L"..." Crystal hinted.

"The Lotus!" Sophy remembered.

"Yep! And what's the name of the flower you're holding?" Crystal pointed to the tiny white bud.

"I think it's called a Jasmine. I remember that one because my friend at preschool, her name is Jasmine too." Sophy recalled with excitement. "Cryssy, will you do my hair like Serena's please?"

"Ok," Crystal giggled. "You like Miss Rena's hair don't you?" Crystal asked, watching the little girl nod her head in excitement. Crystal gently ran a brush through Sophy's hair, twisting it twice and looping it into a bun. She pinned both buns in place on top of Sophy's head, letting the remainder of her long hair cascade down in typical Serena style. "All done! Would you like a drink now Soph?" She asked

"Yes please!" The small child replied politely. Crystal got up and walked over to the kitchen while Sophy stood up and looked around the living room.

"Who's this?" Sophy pointed to a framed photo of a tall dark haired tackling Crystal to the ground.

"Oh that's my big brother Darien. Remember? I told you that he's studying to be a doctor." Crystal poured Sophy a glass of apple juice.

"Where is he now?" Sophy nodded.

"He's at the big people's school." Crystal smiled giving the little girl her juice.

"Doctor Darien." Sophy giggled. "I think he'll make a really good doctor." She added as they both sat down on the floor again. Just then, the door unlocked and opened. Darien ran his fingers through his hair.

"Hey Crys! Who do we have here?" Darien asked smiling at the little blonde girl.

"Are you Doctor Darien?" Sophy asked sweetly. Darien chuckled.

"Not yet. But yes, I'm Darien." He smiled.

"Darien, this is Serena's pumpkin pie, Sophy." Crystal introduced. Darien looked at Sophy strangely. *Serena's… child?* Jealousy grew inside of him. *How? Who? What? When? Where?* Questions flooded into his head. It was then that he noticed that Sophy DID look just like Serena. They even had the exact same hair style! The door unlocked once again and opened.

"Hello everyone!" Serena greeted warmly.

"Momma Rena!" Sophy blurted out as she ran and hugged Serena.

"Hello Baby Bear!" Serena hugged back. They greeted each other affectionately. Darien turned around and looked at Serena accusingly.

"You, have a child?" He questioned, disbelievingly. His heart was beating loudly in his ears at the thought of his girlfriend having a child at such a young age. His mind swirled with confusion. How could he not know?


Crystal Saturn