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Wounded Souls
Chapter 16-Milestones
By: crystal rose
Edited by: ladysolo
October 18, 2002
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Serena woke up late the next morning, tired from their late arrival from the airport the night before yet at the same time, giddy with nervous energy. Nervous was an understatement; Serena felt as if she had swallowed a jarful of Mexican jumping beans and only until she saw Darien would she feel at ease. That is, if he still felt the same way this morning as he had the night before. Serena could feel her heart thumping anxiously against her chest at the thought. What if he was just caught up in the moment and he never meant those words, those lovely words she had spent all night building her hopes upon? She didn't think she could live with his rejection again.
She shook her head to clear it of her negative thoughts. No, Darien had promised her it was going to be different this time around. She wouldn't think along those lines, she couldn't afford to. Maybe, she told herself, if her heart and mind were at one in this matter, her doubts wouldn't plague her so. Her mind kept telling her to approach this new stage in their relationship with caution while her heart whispered assurances of happiness just around the bend for her. She didn't know which voice to listen to; she didn't want to get hurt again.
Serena slid out of bed, donning her slippers and padding around the room in search of clean clothes to wear. She might as well face the future, be it with Darien or without, but she would be damned if she was going to open that door without taking a shower first. There were just some things one couldn't put off and taking a shower on one of the most potentially important days of her life was one of them. If Darien did the unthinkable and rejected her love, then at least she would be clean to receive the blow and some semblance of her pride would be spared.
It was pathetic, she knew, but cleanliness was the only thing Serena felt she had to offer Darien, especially after her confession the night before of the things she had done to make her feel so unclean.
She stepped into the shower and let the warm embrace of steam and water work its magic on her frazzled nerves. She watched the water flowing down the drain, a visual metaphor of her worries. Ever so slowly, Serena felt herself starting to relax, telling herself to trust in Darien's word and his love. But there was always that little voice telling her that he had hurt her countless times before and it was just a matter of time before he did it again. She shivered despite the hot water pounding on her back. She always felt the most vulnerable when she was naked.
Twenty minutes later, Serena emerged from the washroom clean and somewhat refreshed, ready to face the inevitable.
"Good morning, beautiful." Darien's quiet voice in the silent room seemed oddly muffled and Serena dropped the hairbrush in her hand. When her eyes fell on the baby monitor by her bed, she realized that Darien was in the nursery talking to Isabella.
She heard Isabella over the baby monitor giggle. "That's good, sweetie. Does my little princess need a new diaper?"
She felt the corners of her lips curl up into a smile. Even if things never worked out between the two of them, Serena knew that Isabella would have a wonderful father who would always be there for her whenever she needed him.
"Remember that little talk we had in Toronto?" Darien's disembodied voice asked. Serena listened curiously, silently wondering what Darien was talking about. "You remember when mommy had to get ready for your great-aunt's wedding and I was giving you a bath in the sink? I told you that I thought your mommy looked so beautiful in her dress and you agreed with me."
Isabella babbled nonsensically in the background. "See, you do remember. You were just trying to fool your daddy, weren't you?"
Serena found herself smiling at Darien's 'conversation' with Isabella and could almost see him in the nursery, twirling one of Isabella's curly locks around his finger with a serious look upon his face as he talked to her. He loved playing with Isabella's hair almost as much as he loved playing with her.
"Well, do you remember me asking you what I should do and you told me to tell her I loved her?" Darien paused, waiting for a reply that wouldn't come. "Well, I didn't really tell her yet because we got...distracted." He stopped talking again and Serena's heart began to pound as she wondered what he would say next.
"Listen honey, I don't want you getting 'distracted' until you're old enough to...well, let's just say I never want you to get distracted like me and your mommy did last night until I say so, okay?"
Serena laughed at Darien's overprotective nature when it came to their daughter. She could already tell that Isabella would have problems in the future when it came time for her to date. Serena paused, thinking about her own nightmarish experiences when she went out on dates. Maybe being strict with Isabella when it came time for her to jump into the dating game wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Now finished getting herself ready for the new day, she strode over to the nursery door and opened it quietly. She entered the room and saw that Darien was standing by the window, holding Isabella in his strong arms, the morning sun shining on them both. She had to hold her breath at the beautiful scene and had to resist the urge to run back into her room to get her camera.
She was just about to announce her presence in the room when Isabella turned around and did it for her. "Mama!"
Darien turned around as well and saw her standing by the door, looking painfully shy all of a sudden. "Am I interrupting?" she asked meekly, mentally slapping herself on the forehead for sounding so insecure.
"Of course not. Isabella and I were just talking about you," he replied with his usual brand of self-assurance.
"Were you?" she asked, playing along. "All good, I hope?"
"Nothing but the best." In his arms, Isabella began to squirm and reach for her. Smiling, Serena gladly took the baby from Darien and cuddled her close.
"So, um," Serena began hesitantly, "about last night..."
"Yes?" he replied just as hesitantly, a worried expression on his face.
"Any regrets?" she asked softly, shifting Isabella in her arms so that the top of her head was against her cheek, almost as if she were a human shield against Darien's rejection.
Darien stepped forward and lifted his hand to caress her arm lightly, looking deeply into her eyes. "Not one. You?"
Serena let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and smiled in obvious relief. "No. No regrets." She kissed the top of Isabella's head lovingly, savouring the sweet scent that seemed inherent in babies.
Without a word, Darien took one step forward and engulfed both of them in a hug. Isabella cooed, cheerfully ensconced between her parents.
"I'm so happy," Serena whispered against his chest, her voice wavy with emotion. She felt his arms tighten around them and moved closer to him, careful not to squish Isabella who didn't seem to mind the invasion to her personal space at all.
"So am I," Darien whispered back, resting his chin gently on Serena's head. He stepped back slightly to gaze into Serena's eyes. "I love you, Serena."
'I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry,' she told herself even as one tear slipped down her face. She smiled at Darien's expectant face and nodded, not able to find her voice just yet. "I love you too," she finally managed to croak.
Darien thought his heart would burst as he gently cupped Serena's face and tilted her head up to receive his kiss. The kiss was loving and sweet with none of the urgency of the kiss they shared last night. It was cut short, however, when Isabella started tugging on Serena's hair, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Ouch, sweetheart! That really hurts, honey," Serena said coaxingly as she pried Isabella's fingers from her hair. Darien chuckled and scooped Isabella up in his arms.
"Does my angel want some breakfast?" he asked, lifting her high above his head giving him access to her tummy, which he started blowing on. Finally, he brought her back down and smiled at Serena. "Shall we?"
Serena nodded and took his arm. "Hey, I just thought of something. What're we gonna tell your parents and everyone else about us?" She looked up at Darien's face, expecting an answer. She couldn't help but see the mischievous glint in his eye. "What?" she asked warily.
"Let's not tell them anything just yet. I kinda like the thought of having a secret romance right under my parents' noses. Makes me feel like a high school student all over again," he explained as Serena laughed wickedly and agreed.
"Minus the acne, of course," she replied wryly when she had calmed down.
Darien raised an eyebrow loftily and walked to the door with Serena in tow. "I _never_ had acne in my entire life, Ms. Mathis."
"Oh, pardon me, _Mr._ Shields," Serena said laughingly, feeling an unfamiliar giddiness that she hadn't felt since she was a young girl. "How could I ever have made such an assumption about the perfect male specimen that is you?"
"Well, you know what they say about making assumptions..." Serena glared at him and pinched his side. "Hey!"
"If you were any type of gentleman, _sir_, you wouldn't finish that sentence." Serena stuck her nose haughtily in the air.
Darien paused mid-stride. "Who said I was?" he asked suggestively, trying his best not to laugh at the petulant expression on Serena's face. Isabella, unaware of her parents' flirtation with each other, cackled and tweaked Darien's nose. The surprise on his face was enough to send both mother and daughter into hysterics as they went down the stairs and into the dining room. Walter and Candace were waiting patiently for the little family to arrive so they could start their morning victuals.
"Well there you three are," Candace exclaimed, not failing to notice the way Serena and Darien entered the room arm in arm. "How was the trip?"
The newly formed couple exchanged glances with each other and smiled Cheshire cat smiles. "It was...pleasurable," Darien supplied. Serena was hard pressed not to blush at the thinly veiled innuendo.
Walter narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before gesturing with his butter knife towards their empty seats. "Sit down, already. We've been waiting for the three of you to come down so we could finally eat," he informed them impatiently.
Darien set Isabella down in her high chair and began to spoon her baby food into her little dish while Serena grabbed the platter of bacon and served Darien before serving herself as if it she had been doing it all her life. Darien smiled at her in appreciation. "Could you get me some..."
"Uh huh." Serena grabbed the pitcher of orange juice and poured Darien a glass. "Oh Darien, Isabella's..."
"Got it." Darien bent down to pick up Isabella's fallen sock from the floor and put it on her foot.
From across the table, Walter shot Candace a bewildered look and Candace had to smother a laugh with her linen napkin. They watched as Serena and Darien ate their breakfasts all the while talking softly to each other.
When Walter couldn't take their mysterious behaviour any longer, he wiped his mouth with his napkin and once again waved his butter knife at them. "All right, what's going on with you two?"
Darien looked up from the conversation he was having with Serena about Isabella's upcoming doctor's appointment and smiled inwardly. "What do you mean, Dad?" he asked, masking his gleeful face with a look of innocence that would have made a serial killer proud.
"You've got that 'I know something you don't know' look on your face," Walter pointed out irritably before turning on Serena. "You. What do you know?"
Serena looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Me? I-I don't know anything," she squeaked nervously, running her fingers through her hair. She winced, knowing that her stammering was a virtual admission of her guilt. She shot Darien an anxious glimpse out of the corner of her eye. To her annoyance, she saw that Darien was grinning smugly not only at his father, but also at her. A swift kick in the shin took care of that.
Walter stared at her for a minute. "Why do I find your so-called innocence hard to believe?" He was staring so intently at her that Serena found it hard to swallow.
"Um...I don't know what you're talking about, Walter." She flipped her hair over her shoulder in an effort to look nonchalant. Serena noticed Walter's eyes flicker to her neck before widening considerably.
"Well, I'll be damned," Walter said softly, pointing his trusty butter knife at Serena's neck.
"Dad!" Darien yelled as Walter's knife hovered dangerously close to Serena's jugular vein. 'What's gotten into him?'
"Walter, what _are_ you doing?" Candice frowned at her husband in disapproval. He really couldn't stand it when someone knew something he didn't.
"This," he replied in a mysterious voice as he used the knife to lift a strand of Serena's hair that was resting by her neck to reveal a red mark about the size of a coin. The smile on his face was triumphant as Darien's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Darien!" Serena exclaimed when she caught her reflection in the mirror across from her, smacking Walter's knife away from her neck and covering up the mark with her hand self-consciously.
Walter grinned victoriously at the two before him. "So, anything you want to share with us?" Darien exhaled loudly and cursed to himself. There just wasn't any fooling when it came to the old man.
"Fine. We're...going out, right Serena?" The lady in question nodded her head dumbly and smiled wanly, reaching over Isabella's high chair to take Darien's outstretched hand. "We didn't want you guys to find out this way..."
"You didn't want us to find out at all," Candace finished for her son. "Why did you feel you had to hide this from us?"
"It's not that we were hiding this from you, Candace," Serena reassured the woman she was just starting to reconcile with. "We just wanted to keep this private for a little while. We've got to get to know each other all over again."
Walter waved the knife around dismissively until Candace reached over and yanked it away from him. "What's to know? You two love each other, right?" By their red faces, Walter knew he had his answer. "So?"
"Dad, butt out, would you? I haven't even taken Serena out on a date yet," Darien replied testily, not appreciating the fact that his father of all people was meddling in his love life.
"So what's stopping you?" Walter pressed.
"Yeah? What _is_ stopping you?" Serena asked Darien sternly, a pout on her face. "Do you realize that we've _never_ gone out on a single date? Ever?"
Darien squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, well aware that three pairs of eyes were watching him intently--well, four, if he counted Isabella, but he had a sneaking suspicion she was only looking at him because he was holding the next spoonful of mashed bananas in front of her face and wasn't budging. "So, why don't we go out tonight? How does dinner and a movie sound?"
"It sounds cheap," everyone heard Walter mutter.
Darien, Serena, and Candace groaned and threw withering glares in his direction, which he promptly ignored, opting instead to butter his long-neglected toast with the butter knife he pilfered from Candace's side.
"I promised Serena that I would give her everything she missed out on when she was trapped in her old life. What could be a more quintessential first date than dinner and a movie?"
"What a lovely idea, son," Candace beamed proudly.
"Serena? What do you want to do?" Darien inquired belatedly.
Serena's eyes glowed with happiness as she nodded her head. "I think that sounds wonderful, Darien," she replied almost shyly.
"Great. I'll pick you up at seven."
Walter looked up from his toast buttering and rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, you two live in the same house! You talk as if-" He couldn't finish his next sentence for Candace had stuffed his toast in his open mouth and held it there.
"Stay out as late as you want. We'll be happy to baby-sit."
"Thanks, Mom," Darien replied, ignoring Walter's muffled protests.
"Yeah, thanks Candace. We really appreciate it."
"No problem." Noticing that Walter had managed to chew his way out of his edible gag, Candace held up another slice of toast threateningly. "Want another slice, dear?"
Walter said nothing except to offer a disgruntled 'harrumph' to convey his bruised feelings. The three of them smiled and resumed their breakfast in silence, Serena and Darien occasionally sneaking glances at each other when they thought no one was watching, totally oblivious to the two people whose sharp eyes didn't miss a thing.
***
Serena fluffed up her hair once more in a vain attempt to make it look like she had just rolled out of bed and combed her fingers through it rather than spending the last forty-five minutes painstakingly arranging every strand into place. The sad thing was, Serena observed with a sardonic grin on her face, it had taken her an hour and a half to accomplish the feat and she was _still_ unsatisfied with the outcome.
A quick glance at the digital clock on the night stand told her that if some force of nature, like a windstorm or one of those famous California earthquakes, occurred in the next two seconds to keep Darien occupied for another _five_ minutes, she'd have all the time she would need to get her hair perfect this time around.
A sudden sharp knock broke Serena's train of thought and made her realize that the big one-meaning the earthquake she had been foolishly hoping for-would wait another day. Darien had managed to traverse the expanse between their two rooms undeterred and was now waiting patiently-or impatiently if his knock was any indication of his apprehensive state-outside her door. Drat the man for being such a stickler for punctuality. Yet another disadvantage to living in the same house, much less the same wing, as one's boyfriend.
Serena giggled impulsively at that foreign word. 'Boyfriend,' she repeated softly to herself, still unsure that this was truly happening to her. She hadn't had a boyfriend in a little over ten years.
'Wow, ten years,' she thought incredulously as she gave herself the once over in the mirror before striding to the door, the picture of confidence, when inside, she thought her wildly fluttering heart would give out before the night was over. 'Do I still remember the rules?'
Darien knocked again, although this time, rather hesitantly. Serena flung open the door lest he think she had changed her mind about going out with him after all. There he stood, leaning against the doorframe clad in a navy blue sweater that enhanced the colour of his eyes, loose fitting khakis and a black leather jacket.
'What rules?' Serena thought, shamelessly taking in the sight before her. Darien was a man who defied the rules and expected nothing less from the lucky woman whom he chose to be his partner. Besides, what had those infernal rules ever gotten her other than a string of meaningless sexual partners and an ill-begotten reputation that always preceded her?
Aesthetically speaking, Darien looked very much like the bad boy rogues she took a liking to in her wild days, from the still-damp strand of hair hanging impishly over his eyes to the cocky devil-may-care grin on his face. But Darien had something that all her other partners didn't have: a maturity that came with age and self-confidence that came with being content with one's life.
"Hey," Darien said, his eyes roving appreciatively over her body-hugging spaghetti-strapped light pink dress that flowed down to her calves. It was a dress that was casual enough to wear on a picnic in the park yet formal enough not to be turned away from the finest of restaurants. That's what he loved about Serena; she was always able to find a balance that suited her life perfectly. She looked wonderful and he told her so, enjoying the light flush that spread across her cheeks.
"These are for you," he informed her, thrusting a mixed bouquet of white baby roses, day lilies and sweet peas at her from behind his back.
"They're beautiful!" she exclaimed, taking the bouquet and rising on her toes to give him a peck on the cheek. She moved away before he could turn that chaste kiss of gratitude into something more risqué. "Come in while I put these in some water and then we can say goodbye to Isabella and your parents."
Darien stepped over the threshold to her room and sat down in a chair as Serena fussed around, trying to find the perfect place to put her flowers. Finally, after much rumination on her part and many fond smiles on Darien's, Serena settled on placing them on the dresser across her bed so that the ivory pitcher containing her floral prize would be the first thing she saw when she woke up and the last thing before she closed her eyes for the night.
"Shall we?" Darien asked as Serena grabbed a black sweater that was tossed over another chair. Together, they walked to the nursery room door and stepped through.
"Oh, are you kids ready to go?" asked Candace, getting up from the rocking chair upon which she sat.
"Have been for a while," Darien assured her easily, slipping his arm around Serena's waist.
"We just came to say goodbye to the three of you," Serena explained, looking past Candace to Walter and Isabella playing a game on the floor. "I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to watch Isabella for us."
"Nonsense, dear. We're more than happy to watch the baby." Candace swept her hand toward Walter, who was crawling around on all fours, defying his age, and making faces at his granddaughter, who shrieked with glee to prove her point.
Serena walked softly towards them. "Isabella, honey, mommy and daddy are going out for a while, ok? Be good for grandma and grandpa, hunbun." Isabella gave her a distracted look before resuming her game with her grandfather.
Darien chuckled and swooped down to give Isabella a kiss on the cheek, which she hardly acknowledged. "Bye sweetheart. We love you." Isabella gave her parents a dismissive wave.
Serena sighed. Her baby wasn't even a year old yet and she was already leaving the nest. She kissed Isabella on the forehead and rose to her feet. "She's already been fed so all that's left is to bathe her before bed. If something goes wrong, you can reach us on either one of our cell phones. I programmed the numbers on the phone here and in my room." She would've gone on had Walter not stood and picked Isabella up.
"Oh for heaven's sake girlie, we've been through this before with that ruffian you're going out with tonight," Walter said cantankerously. He turned to Candace with an amused look upon his face. "Why is it that all new parents-especially mothers-think that they're the only ones with childrearing experience around for miles?"
"Alright, alright. I can take a hint." Serena rolled her eyes jokingly and kissed Isabella one last time on the nose and was thrilled when her daughter clung to her tightly before releasing her. "Bye, love. We'll be back real soon."
"Not too soon, I hope," Darien murmured under his breath, steering Serena out the door.
As they headed toward the stairs, Serena heard Isabella's quiet whimper. "Mama?"
Serena's heart stopped and she would have fled back to the nursery to cuddle her baby had Darien's hand not clasped hers reassuringly. "She'll be fine, Sere. Mom and Dad are there so she'll probably forget about us after a few minutes. Besides, it's our time now."
Serena nodded after considering his words. "You're right." She took his proffered arm and walked down the stairs with him, discovering for the first time in her life what it felt like to be a lady.
***
Crickets chirped in the night air as Darien pulled his cherry red 1967 Mustang convertible onto a gravel driveway and stopped before a wrought iron gate. It was hidden away from prying eyes by dense foliage that looked as if they have been growing there since the dawn of time. Beyond the gate, a barely discernible path wound its way into a thick grove of trees, its destination a mystery as it disappeared into the night shadows.
"Darien, what is this place?" Serena hissed as Darien jumped out of the car and ran with an almost boyish eagerness to the gate, inspecting the heavy chain that was wrapped around the bars and secured with a heavy-duty iron padlock. Darien had taken her to a wonderful restaurant where they danced to the tunes of a live orchestra before taking her to a movie where, to his amazement and his relief, she had picked a silly comedy over the extremely popular 'chick flick' about a woman's struggle to overcome looming spinsterhood as she approached the ripe old age of thirty. Now that it was approaching midnight, Darien had driven her to a secluded road a few miles away behind the Shields house where there was nothing but trees and grass, belying the fact that they were on the outskirts of Los Angeles and not some idyllic countryside in New England.
"Darien, answer me," she whispered as loudly as she dared, not wanting to attract the attention of anything other than the crickets. She glanced around nervously then dropped her jaw as Darien swung the squeaky gates open with a triumphant grin.
Darien trotted back to the car and eased it through the opening, which was just barely wide enough to accommodate the wide vehicle. Once through, he stopped the car to go back and lock the gates securely. Upon seeing Serena's questioning glance, he smiled cheekily and patted her hand reassuringly.
"This is the boundary of our property. Nobody ever goes here because it's so far away from the house," he explained as he navigated the car through the overgrown path.
"Your estate extends this far back?" Serena asked incredulously, looking around with a new understanding. Here she thought she had already explored the entire property when she first started working for the Shields almost two years ago.
"It does. I don't even think anyone but the landscaper remembers that that gate exists. I asked him to keep this part of the property somewhat in its natural state to give it a 'great outdoors' feel." As he said this, the trees gradually thinned out until they were completely out in the open in a field of wildflowers.
"Darien, this place is gorgeous," Serena whispered in a voice as light as the moonlight dancing on the petals. "I can't believe you never told me about this place."
Darien stopped the car at the end of the path and smiled boyishly, secretly glad that she loved this place as much as he did. "I loved coming here when I was a kid to just get away from everyone." He turned on the radio and found a jazz radio station before reclining his seat so that he was almost lying down.
Serena followed suit and turned on her side to watch Darien looking up at the sky. "What're you looking at?"
"I have no idea. The sky. The stars..." Darien reached up and pointed at a miniscule point in the sky. "See that star? I think it's the North Star."
Serena squinted her eyes and fought to swallow a laugh when it started blinking. "Uh Darien, I think that's a plane."
Miffed that Serena dared to question his fifth grade astronomy skills, he jabbed his finger at the sky as if pointing harder at it would make Serena see what he was talking about. "There. Look there."
"I _am_ looking there, Darien, and I'm telling you, that's a plane." She laughed triumphantly when a tiny red light suddenly appeared beside the 'star'. "See? I told you so." At the risk of looking immature, Serena stuck her tongue out cheekily at him and dissolved into helpless laughs when Darien reached over and caught her in a light headlock.
"Ok, I surrender! I surrender! That yellow, blinking light wasn't a plane; it was a star! And that roaring sound overhead isn't a plane...It's thunder! Yeah, that's it, thunder!"
Darien let his fingers drift down to Serena's side where he began to tickle her. "Lions roar, planes whoosh," he informed her smugly, not that she heard him over her laughing fit.
"Planes don't whoosh," she managed to gasp out between bouts of choked laughter. Serena managed to break free from Darien's light hold and punched him weakly in the shoulder. "They go WwrrrrrrhhhhSShhhhhhh."
Darien threw his head back and laughed at her poor impression of a low-flying commercial aircraft. "You're right; that's exactly what they sound like," he deadpanned, grinning when she pouted in that pretty way that he loved so much. Unable to resist, he leaned over and teased the pout away from her lips using her own.
"You were saying?" he asked when he pulled away.
"I was right, you were wrong," she replied, cursing herself for the breathiness in her voice.
Darien noted the glazed expression in her eyes and grinned. "Uh huh," he murmured, pulling her closer for another kiss. "You think so, huh." He felt her grin against his lips.
"I know so," she replied, surprised at the huskiness of her voice.
From there, no more words were exchanged as they sat in their seats, watching the stars-that-weren't-planes in the night sky and listening to the soft strains of jazz music over the car stereo, holding hands.
***
"How was the beach?" Melvin asked Serena as she bounded through the door with Isabella in her arms, leaving Darien to carry the stroller, beach umbrella, tote bag, backpack and diaper bag.
"It was great!" Serena twirled around in the foyer and laughed when Isabella squealed. Mother and daughter looked well rested, their hair windblown and skin luminous with a hint of a tan.
"It was great," Darien repeated tiredly as he trudged up the walkway, panting with the effort to keep the umbrella tucked under his arm and the tote and diaper bags balanced on his shoulder. He looked far from well rested, Melvin observed with a quiet chuckle. As soon as Darien stepped through the door, he let out a big breath and relaxed his arms, letting everything he was carrying come crashing down on the marbled floor.
"Thanks for the help, Serena. I really appreciate it," he said wryly once he had his breath back. With more drama than was necessary, Darien threw himself on the bottom steps of the staircase and lay himself down with the air of a martyr about to be sacrificed on an altar.
"I'll just put your things away," Melvin informed Darien, his lips twitching in amusement. He picked up one of the bags that Darien had thrown haphazardly on the floor to drop off Isabella's soiled clothes in the laundry room, smiling fondly at the little family. He just hoped that nothing happened to mess up their newfound happiness.
Without saying a word, Serena strode over to Darien, who was enjoying himself as he languished on the steps, and stood in front of him with Isabella on her right hip. "Are you finished yet?"
Darien grinned smugly. "No, I don't think so." He inhaled deeply and stretched, wiggling his fingers exaggeratedly, only to almost bite his tongue off when Serena plopped Isabella heavily on his stomach.
"Oof!" Darien shot Serena a glare that would have intimidated a lesser man and perhaps, had Serena been facing him instead of thumbing through the day's mail, she would have been intimidated as well. Darien pouted and almost laughed out loud when Isabella shrugged, her shoulders touching her earlobes. He planted a kiss on her cheek, scooped her up in his strong arms, and rose from his makeshift chaise.
"Any mail for me?" he murmured in her ear. He knew she was ticklish there and so, in the spirit of being a playful Casanova, took every opportunity to tease her there.
Serena raised her shoulder to her ear to quell the tingling sensation she felt there because of the proximity of Darien's lips to her earlobe. She looked over her shoulder to scrunch up her nose at Darien. "Stop that, you know I'm ticklish there," she informed him primly before turning back to the mail, separating them into piles according to recipient.
"Here's yours," she said, handing Darien his stack of mail and then flipped through hers. Serena shuffled all the bills to the bottom of the pile to be looked at later and came across a white envelope bearing the address of her old high school. She felt a tiny spark of nervousness-the same nervousness she'd feel every time her report card had arrived in the mail-and tore open the envelope, scared that the letter inside would say that she was somehow lacking in credits and therefore hadn't actually graduated high school, nullifying her degree and ending her career as a physical therapist.
She tore through the envelope using her thumb and pulled out a folded piece of cream coloured paper. 'Dear Ms. Mathis,' she read silently. 'You are cordially invited to Lester B. Pearson Secondary School's class of 1994's ten year high school reunion.' She continued to read silently and crumpled up the paper once she was done.
"Why'd you do that?" Serena turned her head and saw that Darien had been peering over her shoulder, reading every word of her letter.
"Do you mind?" she asked, arching her brows in an automatic gesture of self-defense. "I believe that letter was addressed to me, not you."
"So you're not going to your reunion?" Darien asked, deliberately ignoring her question, annoying her even further.
"What do you think?" Serena glared at him and started up the stairs, aware that Darien was still following her with Isabella in his arms. She stalked her way to her room and was about to shut the door behind her when Darien stuck his foot in the doorway, preventing her from doing so. Sighing in aggravation, she opened the door and let him in, narrowing her eyes when Darien plopped down on her bed and began to play with Isabella as she sat on his stomach.
"So, you're not going?" he repeated, tickling Isabella's feet. Serena shook her head. "Why not?"
"I don't want to." She turned away from his piercing gaze and went through the motions of tidying up her already clean room.
"You don't want to see your friends?" he pressed, watching Serena from his spot on the bed.
"I see my friends plenty enough. Amy and I meet up at least once a week for lunch and Raye and I talk on the phone practically every week, not to mention all the emails and chats over the Internet we have. Why should I travel all the way to Toronto just to see them when we practically live together anyway?" She checked her email and sure enough, Raye had written her a note and had sent it to her while she was at the beach with Darien and Isabella that afternoon. "See? What'd I tell you? I just got a reply to the email I sent Raye last night."
"What about your other friends?" Darien pressed on, catching one of Isabella's chubby hands and giving it a light kiss.
Serena shrugged. "What friends? The girls in my school hated me, and the guys just used me. The only friends I ever really had were Amy and Raye and I'm still amazed that they stuck by me even when everyone else cast me aside." The thought of her friends' loyalty brought a soft smile to her face.
"What about your teachers?" Darien asked, instantly regretting that he did. He watched her back stiffen and balled-up hands.
"No. Definitely not." Her voice was edged with steel and her eyes became cold. "That place holds nothing for me but bad memories," she concluded in a soft voice, her features losing their previous tension.
"What about prom? Didn't you go to yours?" he asked, wrapping his arms around Isabella when she lay on his chest.
"I didn't go to mine," she replied softly, tucking a soft blanket around Isabella and sat down on the bed beside Darien. She touched Isabella's curls as the baby watched her sleepily.
"Why?" he asked softly.
She shrugged, giving him a perfunctory smile that didn't reach her eyes. "My date was a huge jerk who got drunk in the hotel room before we even made it to the dance. I left him passed out on the bed and just walked around town for a few hours because I was too embarrassed to go home. I had such a pretty dress too," she ended a little wistfully.
"Why didn't you just go to the prom without him?" He nuzzled Isabella's head while she slept, her thumb tucked in her mouth. Serena stood up and walked to her dresser, trailing a finger over the surface.
"I didn't want to face everyone without a date. Call me crazy, but I just couldn't face all those girls with their dates, and their perfect hair and makeup, and their little cliques-I just couldn't. I knew they'd all just smile politely at me and then talk about me behind my back. I was the girl who stole their boyfriends, broke up their relationships, or messed up their chances with a boy they liked; they'd have a ball seeing me getting my just desserts." Serena squared her shoulders, turned around and smiled at Darien, and this time, he was happy to see that the melancholy air about her had dissipated.
"I don't need to go back there just to appreciate what I have now. Seeing you and Isabella everyday, spending time with you, knowing that you love me, that's all I need. You two make me feel that I've accomplished something far more important than those girls gave me credit for." She blushed and peered at him through her lashes. "I have to get Isabella's laundry downstairs. I'll be right back."
Darien nodded and waited until she closed the door softly behind her. "So, your mommy's never had a prom. Interesting," he murmured against Isabella's head. "Very interesting indeed."
By the time Serena came back, a small basket of dried baby clothes balanced on her hip, Darien had fallen asleep in her bed, the blanket tucked around him and Isabella. She set the basket down softly and tiptoed to her closet where she kept a camera loaded with film. She fixed the lens and snapped a photo of Darien and Isabella sleeping peacefully and smiled thoughtfully, watching her family with love in her eyes. She set the camera down, crept to the bed and got under the blanket, snuggling against Darien, laying her hand softly on top of his.
She sighed contentedly and seconds later, joined them in their sleep.
***
Music, the clinking together of crystal champagne flutes and polite chatter greeted Serena and Darien when they entered Luna Farrington's mansion. Every year, Luna held a fundraiser gala to promote awareness for the plight of women's rights in third world countries. Serena found it humorously ironic that she was at a party to benefit third world countries while they dined on canapés and caviar. She hesitated before handing the butler her wrap, looking at the door through which she entered as if she wanted to flee.
"Serena?" Darien asked, placing a hand on the small of her back. "Are you okay?"
Serena nodded and the butler, sensing that the girl wanted some privacy, excused himself from the room, her wrap in tow. Once he was gone, Serena swallowed and gestured for Darien to move closer to her.
"Are you sure I belong here?" Darien had to fight to suppress his groan. Serena had been feeling apprehensive about attending the party, worried that she wouldn't fit in. He had tried to ease her worries by buying her the glittery silver dress that she was surreptitiously admiring in a store window when they were shopping for baby clothes. She tried to deny it but Darien could see that she really wanted that dress but was too proud to tell him so the next day, he bought it for her.
While they were getting ready that night, Serena plagued him with her worries about not fitting in with the upper-class crowd, especially after her much-talked about return to the Shields house with Darien's child. Coupled with her insecurities about the way her post-natal body looked in the backless, form-fitting dress with plunging neckline and side slits going up to her mid-thigh, Darien had one hell of a time convincing her to come out of her room when it was time for them to leave.
Now, Darien tilted her chin up with his finger so he could look into her eyes. "Serena, if you really don't feel comfortable being here, despite my assurances that I won't leave your side for one minute, then we'll leave. Just say the word and I'll get the valet to bring the car around."
Well now, Serena felt ashamed for putting Darien into such a predicament. His sincere concern for her well-being made her question her insecurities. After all, what did she care what some uppity woman in a dress that probably cost more than her car back home thought about her relationship, past and present, with Darien?
She smiled at him reassuringly and hooked her arm through his. Patting her hand, he led her into the grand hall where the majority of the guests mingled, making idle chit chat in their finery, a sight that Serena had yet to get used to. Darien looked around the crowded room and waved when he saw his parents who had arrived about a half hour before them.
"Darien dear," Candace said as she kissed his cheek. "I'm so glad that you two are finally here."
Serena smiled politely and looked around the room. Walter came up and offered her his arm. "Hello Walter," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She smiled inwardly when his cheeks turned to a light shade of pink.
Walter tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow securely before leading her to an exquisite marble fireplace-clearly the focal point of the room-followed closely by Darien and his mother. He introduced Serena to the group of men and women belonging to Walter and Candace's country club as 'my son's girlfriend' and patted her hand with a pride akin to that of a proud father. Serena couldn't help but feel touched and the light squeeze she gave his arm told him so.
After about fifteen minutes of superficial small talk, Darien excused himself and Serena and led her to the refreshments table. He had had his fill of 'country club news' to last him a good long while. Besides, he was afraid that his bored fidgeting was beginning to show. After that mind-numbing conversation, he was thanking his lucky stars that he declined-politely-the membership the country club offered him in respect to his father.
"Thank God we got out of there," he muttered under his breath as he grabbed two flutes of champagne from a passing tray. He handed one of the glasses to Serena and took a sip from his own. Pleasantly surprised, he looked at the glass in his hand and took another sip. "That's pretty good. But then again, Luna's always had good taste in alcohol." Looking around discreetly to see if anyone was watching, Darien mimed drinking motions with his hand while Serena smothered her laughter with her hand.
"Stop that!" she scolded lightly, looking over her shoulder. "Someone might see you!"
Darien opened his mouth to say something when he heard a familiar voice that made his blood run cold. "Well, isn't this a small world?"
"Trista! How lovely to see you here." Serena smiled warmly at the dark haired woman in greeting.
"Oh yes. I was pleasantly surprised when I received an invitation last year. It's nice to see you here too. I missed you last year although I saw Darien," Trista said, taking a few canapés and putting them on her plate.
Darien fisted his hands in his pockets. Their night together occurred a few weeks after they saw each other here and about one month before Isabella was born. The thought that he was with Trista while Serena was carrying his daughter sickened him. Of course, Darien was smart enough to know that Trista was baiting him-her defiantly smug expression said it all. Brows furrowed, he wrapped an arm around Serena's shoulder and fixed a look of indifference on his face.
"So what have you been up to, Trista? Still dating Michael Rubeus?" Serena asked unabashedly as she placed her empty glass on another passing tray.
"Oh, we broke up a few months ago. He wanted to settle down and I just wasn't interested. I prefer keeping my options open." Trista's eyes roved over Darien's body as if she were assessing him-or undressing him. Either way, Darien didn't like it. He tightened his hold in what he hoped looked like a casual move and glared at her.
"Oh Serena, you should see our new line," Trista continued. "Our new men's line is to die for." Again, her eyes strayed over to Darien's direction. "Darien, you should come to the shop one day-I'll give you a personal fitting."
Serena had been watching Trista carefully while they were conversing and she couldn't shake the suspicious feeling that she was checking Darien out. Feeling uncomfortable, she scanned the room until her eyes rested upon a pair of familiar faces.
"Oh look, Darien-Andrew and Rita are here. If you'll excuse us, Trista, we simply _must_ say hello." Without waiting for an answer, Serena wrapped her arms around Darien's and tugged him away from Trista and her leering eyes. She had been in Trista's position many times and knew the signs to watch out for. She didn't want to suspect Trista of any wrongdoing but she'd prefer not to take any chances.
"Hey Drew, Rita." Darien pecked a polite kiss on Rita's cheek and gave Andrew a quick, one-armed hug.
Serena hung back, not yet feeling comfortable with Andrew-her former therapist-knowing all her childhood secrets and teenage indiscretions. It was unsettling that one person could know so much about her yet at the same time, know so little. "Hello, Dr. Eis-I mean, Andrew. Hello Rita."
Andrew heaved an inward sigh. Serena was still hesitant every time they encountered each other-a grand total of 3 times since she found out who he really was. She was aloof at best around him and only slightly wary of Rita. He felt slightly insulted on Rita's behalf since she knew nothing about Serena's situation but he kept quiet about it to preserve his friendship with Darien and, admittedly, to regain the trust Serena once had in him. "Hello Serena," he returned politely.
Darien, sensing the discomfort Serena and Andrew were feeling, pulled out his wallet thick with-not money-Isabella's pictures at almost every stage of her development and began to proudly show the off to Andrew and Rita. "See this picture? I took it the day before Isabella started walking." He flipped through more photos while Serena flashed Andrew and Rita a long-suffering grin that belied her amusement.
"Here's the picture of Isabella playing in her bucket-she hates the kiddie pool but she loves splashing around in that old galvanized bucket. Serena put her in there to take her picture and she just took to it. Won't let the gardener have it back..." Serena patted Darien's arm fondly and politely excused herself so she could get a glass of punch. Darien just waved her off and pulled out another wallet to show Andrew and Rita the latest batch of pictures.
Serena chuckled to herself when she heard Andrew groaning as Darien launched into the story of the time Isabella said "daddy". "She says 'Da-EE' but it's pretty obvious what she means..."
She smiled as she ladled out a glass of punch, thinking of that day when Isabella first called Darien daddy. He had been getting prepared to leave the house for work when Isabella all of a sudden blurted out "Da-EE", stopping Darien in his tracks halfway to his car. Had he not been on his way to a very important meeting with an equally important potential client, Serena had a feeling that Darien would've called in sick. As it was, Darien was a half hour late to his meeting and called Serena every hour from work to ask if Isabella said "The Word" again. He must've called the house a dozen times before Candace got fed up and scolded him over the phone.
Serena watched as Trista, on the arm of a man of about 60 years, give or take, walk up to the little group and start conversing with them. She didn't realize her eyebrow rose at Trista's close proximity to Darien or that her fingers tightened around the crystal goblet when Trista lay her hand intimately in Darien's forearm after Andrew seemingly told a funny joke to make everyone laugh. She frowned deeply when Trista let her fingers trail lingeringly over his arm before taking her hand off.
"You see that, don't you?"
"See what, Candace?" Serena went back to sipping her punch, continuing to watch Trista. Out of the corner of her eye, Serena saw Candace turn to her with an incredulous look on her face. She sighed inwardly and faced Candace, carefully concealing all signs of emotion from her face.
"Don't pretend you don't see what's happening over there. That hussy is hanging all over my son-your boyfriend and the father of your child, might I add-in a manner that makes her friendly display highly suspect." Anger flickered in Candace's eyes for a second before she regained control and smiled at a passing guest.
"Candace, Trista is a friend. She no more wants to 'steal' Darien from me than I want to steal that man hanging onto her arm from her." Still, she kept a close eye on the group. Darien was still showing his pictures to Trista's geriatric date.
"How long have you known this friend of yours? If I'm not mistaken, you neither receive correspondence from her nor have you ever had any scheduled outings with her. As far as I'm concerned, the last time you've interacted with this Trista-" Candace said her name with as much disdain as she could muster and continued in hushed tones "-was during that fashion show a _year and a half ago_. Tell me, what do you know about this woman?"
When Serena's face turned red with embarrassment and anger, Candace barked out a cynical laugh. "I'm saying this as the grandmother of your child. Keep a close eye on that trollop and an even closer eye on Darien." She eyed Serena with a mixture of pity and concern. "One would think that a woman of your past would recognize what a woman is capable of when she has her eyes on a man. I imagine no less than what you've done way back when." With that last barb, Candace left Serena alone by the punch bowl to join Walter and their friends by the window.
Serena fumed for a minute or two after Candace's sweeping departure, trying to convince herself that Candace was speaking as a concerned grandmother and not as a condescending bitch. They had been getting along better than they have in a long while and she didn't want to ruin it by arguing with her any further, especially when it appeared that she was right.
When she saw Trista shift closer to Darien on the guise of getting a better look at a picture of Isabella, Serena set down her glass so forcefully that a few drops splashed out and dripped on the pristinely starched white damask tablecloth-'Oh well, they wouldn't use that as a tablecloth if they can't afford to have it cleaned,' she thought absently-and stalked her way to Darien, whose arm she grabbed and pulled him away from the gathering.
"Excuse us, my boyfriend-" she put extra emphasis on the last word "-owes me a dance." She pulled Darien to the dance floor without much trouble and wrapped her arms possessively around him. 'So this is what it's like to be on the other side.'
***
Darien growled and stared at all the papers on his desk, glaring at the walls in his office. It was seven in the evening and everyone in the office had gone home more than two hours ago. Just as he was about to go home, the secretary of the CEO of a major client faxed him the business proposal he had been waiting all day for. He knew he shouldn't have read anything when the papers began spewing out of the fax machine, but he just couldn't resist scanning the opening paragraphs and, to his annoyance, found that there had been a miscommunication between them because the secretary had all the wrong information. Since he had a meeting with that same CEO the next day, he wearily sat down in his leather swivel chair and began reading.
Now, almost two and a half hours later, he was still trying to make sense of the papers in front of him. Being the boss sure had its ups and downs, he decided as he tilted his chair back and placed his feet up on the desk. He was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't even notice that someone had walked into his office until he heard a familiar voice that sent his heart plummeting to his stomach.
"Busy?"
Trista stood in front of his desk, hands resting lightly on the surface, fingers splayed, her back arched seductively as she grinned saucily at him. She wore a black trench coat that was cinched loosely at the waist by a belt.
"What are you doing here?" he asked warily, warning bells going off in his head. "How did you get past security?"
Trista smiled seductively and moved around the desk to stand directly in front of him, pointedly ignoring his questions. She gave the belt a little tug, opening the coat to let Darien have a peek at the black garment underneath.
"Trista," Darien said warningly. He backed his chair up even as Trista advanced towards him looking like a cat on the prowl.
With an almost predatory look in her eyes, Trista eased out of her coat to reveal a body scantily clad in a sheer black bustier with a ribbon ruffle trim, from which garters extended to hold her stockings in place, and a matching G-string that had the same ruffled trim across the top. Her breasts, despite being covered up by the bustier, were in full view due to the sheer material and the G-string covered little else. The high heels she was wearing made her long legs look even longer.
Darien averted his eyes, his face flushing with the arousal he felt at seeing a near-naked woman in the room-hey, he _was_ still a man, after all-and the discomfort he felt that the woman wasn't Serena. He opened his mouth to tell her to put her coat back on when he felt soft lips upon his own, swallowing whatever words he was going say.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to enjoy the kiss but thoughts of Serena kept pushing to the forefront of his mind. With what little willpower he had, he grasped Trista's shoulders and roughly pushed her away.
"Trista, don't do this."
Trista laughed mockingly at him. "Why, because you're with Serena now?"
A quiet anger burned in Darien's eyes. "Yes."
"That blonde twit couldn't even sleep with you without saddling you with a kid. Face it, Darien-she's trapped you into a relationship you don't want. People like us aren't cut out to take care of little brats like the kid she's stuck you with-" she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Darien rose to his feet so quickly, his chair rolled away and hit the wall with a soft thud.
"Listen to me," he seethed, "because I'm only going to say this once. Serena and Isabella are my life." He jerked her arm to pull her forward so he could look at her eyes. Fear had replaced the sexual bravado and Darien was glad because he wanted her to fear him.
"They are my life," he repeated with cold calm. "One of the biggest regrets of my life was the night I spent with you and I thank God that it was cut short when you kicked me out for 'accidentally' saying Serena's name. Talk about a Freudian slip, huh?"
Darien almost felt sorry for Trista when her eyes filled with tears but he wasn't through yet. "Get out of my office, Trista, before you embarrass us both any further."
Sobbing, Trista collected her fallen coat off the floor and held it in her hands. "You're a bastard, Darien Shields. You know what I'll be doing six months from now when you get tired of your little fuck-toy? I'll be laughing my head off as she screws you over in court for every penny you have. I'll-" she didn't get to finish her sentence because Darien gripped her by the arms and shoved her against the wall.
Her scream was cut off when Darien slammed his mouth on hers and forced his tongue past her lips. He kissed her savagely, his tongue tangling with hers so that she almost gagged. He tore away from her, his breathing ragged and his eyes wild with what Trista thought of as passion.
"Did you like that?" he asked in a low voice. His eyes darkened when she nodded, unable to speak. The corners of his lips curled into a mocking version of a smile as he parted her legs with his own. She gasped when she felt his fingers caress her lightly between her legs.
"How about this?" Trista's senses were on fire. Her heart was thumping so loudly she almost didn't hear his next words. "You want to be my little slut, don't you? Hmm? Is that it?"
His words were starting to register in Trista's mind. Confusion swam in her eyes and she tried to push Darien away but he just locked stares with her. "I'll make love to Serena one day and I'll fuck you the next. How's that sound, whore?"
"Let me go." Trista hated how her voice trembled. She banged her fists against his chest but his face remained stony, oblivious to the pain she must have been inflicting upon him. The tears were pouring down her face now but she didn't care-she just wanted to get away from Darien Shields, wanted to forget him forever. "Let me go!" she cried, her voice rising to near hysteria.
Finally, Darien stepped back and Trista burst away from the wall, anxious to get to the door. She almost reached the doorknob when she felt her arm being jerked back. She whimpered as she was forced to face Darien once again.
"You breathe a word of this or the night we had together and I'll make sure you live to regret it." To emphasize his point, Darien tightened his grip on her arm. "It would be a shame if your fashion career tanked when you were just getting started."
"How dare you humiliate and threaten me like this!" she cried in belated outrage. She shrank back when he laughed derisively and released her arm.
"You open yourself up for ridicule when you dress like a hussy and go after a man with no interest. You open yourself up for threats when you deliberately try to cause trouble for a man with a family he loves more than life itself. Now, must I call security to get you out of my life, or must I ridicule your pathetic attempts at seduction?"
"Go to hell, Darien Shields!" Vaguely reminded of the night they spent together when she had uttered those very same words, she yanked the door open and fled into the relative safety of the hallway. Trista could hardly hear Darien's laughter over the sound of her own sobs.
Darien released the breath he had been holding and slammed the door, kneading his temples with his fingers. With brows furrowed, he picked up the phone and pressed a button, linking him to the security office downstairs.
"Yes, this is Darien Shields. There should be a woman with long dark hair wearing a black trench coat running through the lobby right about now. Memorize her face; if you let her in this building _one more time_, you will be out of a job." Without waiting for a response, he slammed the receiver down, effectively ending the conversation.
Driving home, he kept thinking of Serena and Isabella and how the night could have ended so much more differently had they not been in his life. His better half told him that he should be remorseful of his treatment to Trista but his larger half, the half that loved Serena purely and irrationally, told him that he shouldn't waste any more time thinking of a woman who had tried to destroy everything that he treasured with Serena and Isabella. He pushed the button to make all the power windows in the car go down to air out any lingering scent of Trista, despite having scrubbed his skin vigorously with soap and water in his private restroom for a half hour.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally turned into the long drive leading to his home, grateful that the day was almost over and that he could see Serena again. He glanced at the LCD display on the dashboard and felt a pang of disappointment. 'Damn Trista,' he thought vengefully as he got out of the car, 'I didn't get to say goodnight to Isabella.'
He entered the quiet mansion and was about to head upstairs to Serena's room when he heard her voice from a long distance away. He paused mid-stride and reversed his direction, heading towards the sound of her laughter. He briefly identified the husky sound of Lita's laughter as the kitchen door swung open and Lita herself walked through it.
Her eyes lit up and would have told Serena that he was home had Darien silenced her with a finger to his lips. Nodding in understanding, she touched his shoulder in a gesture of goodnight and headed to her room, eyes twinkling, her mind no doubt already working on the story she would tell her coworkers.
Serena was standing by the window overlooking the large stone patio, the moon's rays highlighting her features. Darien took a second to let his soul absorb her presence and quietly made his way to her. Before he could slip his arms around her waist, she spoke. "You're home."
Darien wrapped his arms around her and nodded his head. "How'd you know?"
She turned her face to smile at him and offered her cheek up for a kiss. Darien kissed her lips instead. "I saw your reflection in the window," she replied cheekily.
"Do you know, Serena Mathis, how much I love you?" he asked. They stood there, enjoying the nightscape view of the garden in silence save for the occasional cricket outside and the quiet hum of the refrigerator.
"Darien," Serena said after a few moments, "it's almost Isabella's first birthday. Can you believe it?"
"Umm, no," he murmured. "I can't believe half the things she's doing already. She's started to walk, and saying small words. Do you know how much I love hearing her say 'Daddy'?"
Serena sighed happily and snuggled her back against him. After another moment's silence, she spoke. "You know," she said hesitantly, "my maternity leave officially ends a few days after her birthday. It was supposed to have ended last month but I was allowed to extend it to a full year."
"So...what are you saying?" Somewhere in the depths of Darien's stomach, a tiny ball of ice started to form.
"Well, Isabella and I could go back to Toronto and you could visit every once in a while or..."
"Or?"
"We could stay here," she whispered. "I was thinking that if I stayed, I could go back to school and take some courses in psychology so I can counsel kids who have been sexually abused. That is, if I stay." She turned her head to look into his eyes. "What do you think?"
Darien rested his forehead against hers and kissed her eyelid. "I think you'd make a great counselor. Besides, I don't think Isabella wants to stay an only child forever."
Serena gasped softly and closed her eyes, the full extent of Darien's words wrapping around her like a blanket. She opened her eyes to find Darien gazing intently at her and her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. Overcome with emotion, she could only nod her head and blink away her tears. Serena turned herself around in Darien's arms and kissed Darien's lips with all the love she felt in her heart.
"Then we'll stay."
***
"Darien, could you point that thing somewhere else, please?" The exasperation in Serena's voice wasn't hard to miss given the annoyance written all over her face. "I'm trying to dress Isabella and every time she sees that camcorder, she gets distracted."
Darien just waved Serena off with his free hand. "Wave to the camera, sweetheart. Happy birthday, baby."
Isabella's head followed the camera much to Serena's growing frustration. She smiled at the camera and when Darien tilted the view screen, she clapped her hands and laughed. "Love da-EEE!" she exclaimed, grabbing at the camera just as Serena stuffed her into her pink gingham dress. Darien's chest puffed out with pride.
"I taught her that one," he told Serena, as if she didn't already know he spent three hours with Isabella saying the same two words over and over.
"Yes, I know. Now will you please go downstairs and see to it that the decorations have all been put up? And don't forget to call that clown to make sure he arrives at 2 o'clock on the dot. He was a bit sketchy when I told him he had to be here by that time because the birthday girl needs to take a nap right after." She would have ticked off more things for Darien to do had Isabella not interrupted her with a slobbery kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks kid," Darien said cheekily then, hurried out the door when Serena glared at him.
"Love mama," Isabella said, patting her cheek, instantly winning a smile and a cuddle from her mother.
When Isabella was finally dressed and her curls were pulled away from her face with a pink ribbon, Serena picked her up and carried her downstairs.
Now that Isabella had begun walking, the entire Shields mansion had been baby-proofed top to bottom; it now looked more like a daycare than the intended French country chateau. Isabella's lurching, unsteady gait made Serena nervous not only for her safety but also for the safety of all the valuables in the house. One day, the inevitable happened and Isabella accidentally knocked over an antique vase that Candace had ever since her honeymoon in Italy. Serena didn't know who felt worse, Isabella or her, when Candace rushed from the other room and discovered the broken shards on the floor and a crying baby, her mother offering flustered apologies and feeble attempts at repayment. To her shock, Candace smiled and waved Serena's apologies away.
"Don't worry about it, Serena," she said, even deigning to wink conspiratorially at an uneasy Serena, "I never liked that vase anyway. Walter's mother gave that to us on our wedding day and I've had no choice but to keep it in my home ever since. Isabella did me a favour by breaking it and the best part is, Walter's wrapped around this little girl's finger. He won't mind that it's broken."
At the bottom of the staircase, Serena put Isabella down so she could walk on her own. Isabella's halting lurches and stops made Serena think of the newborn colts down at the stables. When they finally reached the backyard, where a huge white tent had been erected underneath which round tables and white chairs had been set up, the entire staff that had been working on the last-minute preparations stopped and began calling out birthday greetings to Isabella as if she were a miniature queen amongst her people.
"Hi!" Isabella greeted back, bestowing upon her loyal subjects a friendly wave. They cheered enthusiastically and went back to their work. Isabella looked around, taking in all the activity being done on her behalf and smiled, seeing a familiar face. "Da-EEE!"
Darien rushed up the steps and picked up Isabella, twirling her high in the air and smothering her with kisses. Isabella squealed with glee and grabbed his nose, making Serena laugh.
"What time are they supposed to get here?" Serena asked, taking Isabella from Darien's arms and setting her in the playpen where she happily played with the toys inside.
"Celeste called from the hotel a few minutes ago and said that they were on their way," Darien replied. Since Celeste's husband, Robert, was on a business trip to LA for the week, Celeste thought she might as well tag along for a visit with her nieces. To surprise Serena, Darien had flown Sammy and Mika, and Raye, Justin and Kayla to LA where Sammy and Justin grudgingly agreed to stay at Darien's house upon his request.
Serena turned around at the sound of her name. "Hey Sammy! Where's Mika?"
"I let her sleep in." Sammy said. When Serena looked pointedly in Darien's direction, Sammy rolled his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. "Shields," he acknowledged stiffly.
"Sammy," Darien replied. He excused himself to go help out the stable hands with the ponies. A makeshift corral had been set up in another part of the garden for the younger children to ride the ponies in a sedate circle.
When he was gone, Sammy leaned over the playpen to tickle Isabella's bare feet.
"Place looks great."
Serena took in all the party preparations with pride. "Thanks. Candace helped me plan the party. I wanted to just have a small party with just the family but Candace insisted on making this day an event to remember." She paused to look at the pink and white balloons anchored to the backs of the chairs with ribbon, fluttering in the cool breeze. "Now that I see what she had in mind, I'm glad she talked me into it."
"So who are you inviting?" Sammy asked.
"Darien's extended family, their friends, my family and my friends," Serena replied.
Sammy seemed to take this in stride. He opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it again after a moment's hesitation. "Sammy?"
"Are you sure you want to stay here with him? You can go back to school in Toronto just as easily as you can in LA, you know."
Serena laid a hand on her brother's shoulder. He always did have a hard time letting go, she reasoned. "Sammy, my decision to stay here has nothing to do with going back to school and you know that. Can't you see how happy Isabella and I are here with Darien?"
"Weren't you happy in Toronto?" he asked, a wounded tone in his voice.
"I was," she began, "but I'm happiest wherever Darien is. He's Isabella's father, Sammy. They love each other so much. And I love him too."
Sammy cast his eyes down on the ground, finally accepting the truth. It hurt that she wanted to leave her home for a man who didn't deserve her. Still, she was an adult now with a child of her own and, Sammy had to admit, she had been making a fine life for herself so far. "You promise to visit often?" he asked in a small voice, trying to be brave.
Serena smiled with relief. "Of course we will. You're Isabella's only uncle-it's your job to spoil her."
Sammy smiled ruefully. "I'll try." A moment's silence and then, "Serena?"
"Yeah?"
"Think I should ask Mika to marry me?" His face turned pink in spite of himself. He grinned sheepishly when he saw that Serena had tears in her eyes. "I take that as a yes?"
A few tears fell as Serena nodded her head. "Oh come here," she cried, pulling him into a hug. "My baby brother's getting married."
Sammy let himself relish his sister's affection before pushing her away gently to preserve his male ego. "I just hope she says yes."
"You better believe she's gonna say yes." Serena sat down on the top step, keeping an eye on Isabella in the playpen and another eye on the progress of the party setup.
"So, when are you going to ask her?" Sammy sat down beside his sister and shrugged.
"I was thinking of asking her when we get back to Toronto. You know, romantic dinner, soft music, get down on one knee and pop the big question. She's been dropping hints about getting married for months and she thinks that I haven't gotten the message yet but I think anyone who finds all his Sports Illustrated magazines in the trash and nothing but bridal magazines throughout the house would know that something's up."
Serena laughed softly and pulled her brother in for a one-armed hug. "I'm sure she'll say yes. She'd be stupid not to."
She was about to say more when Lita burst out of the kitchen door, gesturing frantically at Serena. Just as she took a few steps in Lita's direction, Isabella saw her leaving and began to shriek, making grabbing motions towards her mother in a panic.
"Mama no!"
Torn between her baby and an impending kitchen crisis, Serena turned desperately to Sammy. "Go," he said, picking up Isabella and tickled her bare feet to make her forget being abandoned by her mother.
"Thanks Sammy," Serena said, relieved that Isabella stopped crying. "We'll talk more about this later, okay?"
A few hours later, under the protection of the big white tent, Serena and Darien stood behind their daughter who was sitting in a high chair, singing "Happy Birthday" with their closest family and friends. Isabella looked around, perplexed at the commotion on her behalf, took in the small pink and white cake with a lit candle in the centre, and immediately began to whimper quietly.
While the guests were finishing the song off, interrupted from time to time with the odd "Aww, she's so cute", Darien stepped back and watched as Serena comforted Isabella and showed her how to blow the candle out.
"See honey? Like this," she encouraged in her 'mommy' voice, blowing gently to demonstrate how it was done. "Just like when we practiced with daddy."
Darien smiled softly, picturing himself holding a 5-year old Isabella's hand as he escorted her to kindergarten on her first day of school. He saw her bravely trying to fit in with the other children, looking over her shoulder to see if he was still there. She smiled, reassured that he was still there and would remain as long as she needed him to be.
As quickly as that image was created, a new one took its place, this time of an older version of himself holding a bicycle steady as a seven-year old Isabella pedaled shakily down the driveway. "Don't let me go, Daddy!" she cried, gripping the handles tightly as she veered crazily from right to left. "I won't," he reassured her. She didn't even notice that he was standing at the end of the driveway, getting farther and farther away as she pedaled on her own down the sidewalk.
The next time the scene changed, Isabella was a teenager charging down the stairs towards a boy who was obviously taking her out on her first date. Darien could tell, as he stood watching them from the shadows, that his daughter was very excited behind the thinly veiled formality she displayed when she introduced him to her date. Before he could kiss his daughter goodbye, the scene shifted once again.
This time, he stood in a tuxedo beside a beautiful woman dressed in white. His eyes filled with proud tears when he realized that it was his daughter's wedding day and he was just about to walk her down the aisle. "Don't be sad, Daddy," she whispered. "I'll always be your little girl." The heavy wooden doors swung open as the organ music began to play. The scene faded away just as Darien lifted the veil over her head at the altar to give her a kiss. "You'll always be my little girl."
Darien came to at the sound of applause and realized that he had just imagined a whole lifetime with his daughter in a matter of seconds. With a little puff of air, Isabella blew out her candle and clapped her hands, pleased with herself. The crowd cheered when she took a handful of cake and spread it all over her face, many of them glad to have a larger version of it standing off to the side for their consumption.
Darien laughed, still a bit shaken by his vision, when Isabella offered him a handful of cake. She giggled when he ate the messy offering from her palm and gave him a sticky kiss on the cheek to the crowd's delight while Serena snapped a picture.
Because his heartbeat was still erratic, Darien pulled Serena close and held her against him. Sensing that something was up, Serena wrapped her arms around him, running them up and down his back and whispering comforting words in his ear.
And in her arms, Darien knew: Serena was the one. He thought that having his child, the beautiful little girl they created a year and nine months ago, was the reason he loved Serena so much but he was wrong. His vision, prediction, figment of his imagination-whatever one wanted to call it-taught him that Serena was the only one he wanted by his side as he watched Isabella grow up into a woman. He couldn't imagine that future, or any future, without Serena.
"I'm going to marry you, Serena Mathis," he whispered just as the children started laughing and clapping enthusiastically at the clown's antics. He chuckled when he saw Kayla lifted her dress over her head to get the clown's attention, much to her parents' horror. Raye, three months into her second pregnancy, practically ran to the front of the tent from her seat to tug her daughter's dress down.
"What did you say?" Serena asked, her attention on Raye and Kayla. Darien shook his head and smiled privately. "What?"
"I just said 'I love you, Serena Mathis.'" Serena beamed happily at him and pecked his lips lightly.
"I love you too." A cheer erupted from the children when the clown pulled a white dove from the depths of a cavernous pocket. Serena and Darien laughed when Isabella emitted an ear-piercing shriek when the dove flew close to her ear.
Darien rested his arm around Serena's shoulders and sighed in contentment as he watched his daughter imitate Kayla by pulling up her dress. No, life could not get any better than this. Isabella was blossoming into a beautiful child, his father was getting better with each passing day, his slow recovery attributed to walking with his granddaughter each morning around the garden and his mother was starting to come around about Serena-which was good because he was going to propose to her.
ust as soon as the perfect opportunity presented itself.
***
Darien stood in front of the fogged up mirror wearing nothing but a towel around his trim waist and a smug grin. He flushed when he caught himself flexing his muscles in front of the mirror and laughed quietly at himself for his foolishness. He almost wanted to shout with glee but he didn't want to wake up the sleeping blonde in the next room.
Darien glanced at his watch on the marble counter and grimaced. He had to get to work in an hour's time and here he was, not even shaved yet. He grinned ruefully at his reflection and grabbed his shaving kit from the shelf, ready to begin his morning rituals when a slight movement in the mirror caught his eye. He smiled: Serena had woken up.
Serena stood behind Darien, leaning against the doorframe in nothing but the white t-shirt she had on last night and white cotton bikini panties. He had a flash of remembrance to last night and how she snuck into his room after they came home from their date.
They watched a hockey game because the LA Kings were playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Serena's favourite team. He recalled with fond amusement Serena's reaction when he took her to the seats directly behind the Leafs. They were so close to the players that their sweat and spit would have splashed on them had it not been for the protective glass barriers. Serena loved it. Somehow, Serena had thought that they'd be sitting in the nosebleed section because it was a last-minute suggestion of Darien's that they go. Little did she know that business tycoons had sat in the seat that she was sitting in, all courtesy of Shields Financial of course. Why, even the king of a small Mediterranean country-and a potential client-had taken in a game or two while he was in town negotiating a deal with Shields Financial.
Darien didn't so much watch the game as he watched Serena. He loved her triumphant expression when the Leafs captain scored his third goal of the evening-a hat trick, she informed him with a condescending air that she didn't realize she had-and the way her lips would curl into a pout when a Kings player managed to get the puck past the formidable Leafs goalie. He watched her swoon when one of the players winked at her and watched her struggle to retain a polite smile when the same player smiled to reveal a mouth with almost the same number of teeth as Isabella. He took in her delighted squeal when the winning goal was scored by the Leafs, thus ending their four game losing streak. Since it was already getting late and Darien had work the next day, they headed home after the game, Serena making a play-by-play account of the game as if he hadn't been there with her.
After checking up on Isabella, who was asleep in crib with her arms and legs flailed out as if she had just dropped in exhaustion, and giving Serena a long kiss goodnight at her bedroom door, Darien regretfully trudged back into his own room and got ready for bed. He stripped down into his boxer briefs and, too tired to put on his pajama bottoms, crawled into the bed. His eyes were just about closed when he heard his door creak open.
He struggled to open one eye and what he saw had him opening the other eye in silent anticipation. Serena stood in the open doorway with the moon casting its light on her from the open window. She was wearing a white t-shirt that hung loosely on her, stopping just an inch above the waistband of her shorts to reveal her toned stomach, the reward of so many hours spent in Darien's gym to get her figure back after having Isabella. Shorts clung on her narrow hips, making her look more like a little league baseball player rather than a woman with seduction on her mind.
Darien sat up in the bed, watching her, waiting for her to make the first move. She said his name and, though the light in the room was dim, he saw the look of lust and confidence in her eyes. He watched as she walked toward the bed, shedding an article of clothing with each step. Finally, when she was gloriously naked in front of him, he pulled the covers back to allow her to climb in with him. She helped him remove his boxer briefs and then pushed him back down on the bed before straddling him.
They kissed hotly, the pent-up passion that had been building up ever since they first met fuelling their desire. In one smooth motion, Darien entered Serena, drawing a shuddering gasp from her while his vision exploded in a burst of white. They stayed locked in that position for a few seconds before Serena began moving her hips slowly. They said nothing, preferring to let their bodies speak for themselves.
Now, back in the bathroom, Darien felt soft arms encircle him from behind and was instantly brought back into the present. Darien felt her lips brushing the ten scratches on his back. They stood in that position for a while, Serena's arms wrapped around Darien's torso, her taut nipples pressing into his back. He reached behind him and slipped his hand underneath the waistband of her panties, kneading the smooth skin of her buttocks. Darien grinned smugly when Serena gasped and tightened her hold.
He watched Serena's face in the mirror; he could almost see the gears turning in her head. Sure enough, she planted one last kiss on his shoulder and hoisted herself up on the marble counter. He raised his eyebrow in question and was rewarded with a mischievous smirk. Wrapping her legs around his waist-an action that pleased Darien immensely-Serena brought him closer to her so that there was hardly an inch of space between them. She hooked her feet behind him and squirmed into a more comfortable position, blushing when she felt him harden immediately.
Without saying a word, Serena leaned over, squirted a dollop of shaving cream into her hand and spread it gently across the lower half of his face. Darien held his breath as Serena began to gently shave him with smooth, confident strokes. Her eyes were clouded with a mixture of concentration and desire, a combination that Darien found irresistible.
The room was silent except for the sound of the razor scratching his face and their shallow breathing. Darien leaned closer to Serena and squeezed her thighs to pull her closer to him. She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow as she struggled to school her mouth into a tight line, even though the corners were pulling up into a smile. She coughed in warning, her eyes flickering to the razor in her hand. Darien grinned boyishly underneath all the shaving cream and squeezed her thighs in roguish apology.
When she finally finished, Serena ran a face cloth under hot water and cleaned his face of any remaining shaving cream. Then, she pooled a generous amount of aftershave into the palm of her hand and patted the newly shaven area lightly. The light peck she gave his lips sent Darien's head spinning with barely-contained lust.
As if reading his mind, Serena tilted her head up to give Darien a deep kiss. She moaned when one of his hands traveled up her shirt, cupping her breast as he slowly leaned her backwards towards the mirror. She braced herself against the mirror with one hand as Darien's marauding mouth traveled its way up from her bellybutton, her moans getting louder and louder, echoing off the limestone tiles.
Pleased with her reaction, Darien's other hand worked its way down to her panties and realized that Serena's hand had beaten him to the punch. Finding her panties cumbersome, he tore them off her body, the sound of ripping material drawing a shocked gasp from Serena. He murmured apologies to her but judging from the way she pressed his hand into her, Darien knew he was forgiven.
Their fingers worked together at a frenzied rhythm while their mouths fused in a searing kiss. Serena tore her mouth away to bite gently on Darien's shoulder as he drove his fingers into her relentlessly. It wasn't long before Darien felt Serena's inner walls clamp down on his fingers and she screamed his name, the tiled walls and floors amplifying the sound. Thoroughly self-satisfied, Darien stepped back to gloat in the afterglow of Serena's massive orgasm.
She lay against the mirror, one leg dangling over the counter while the other one hung loosely around his waist, her hand at the apex of her thighs. Her skin was flushed and dotted with steam and sweat, her blue eyes were glazed and unfocused as her breasts rose and fell with every breath she took. Finally, she snapped out of her stupor and smiled almost shyly at him, as if she wasn't the brazen seductress she was last night and a few minutes ago.
Making up his mind, Darien gently scooped her up into his arms and carried her back into the bedroom, her legs once again wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. 'Forget work,' he thought as the towel dropped on the floor in the middle of the room and Serena impaled herself upon his rigid member right moments before he laid her on the bed to continue what they started.
***
Serena sat cross-legged on the nursery room floor, glumly watching Isabella as she toddled back and forth around her room, presumably giving her newest stuffed animal-a present from Walter 'just because'-the grand tour. Normally, she would've been holding Isabella's hand, helping her introduce the fuzzy creature to her growing collection of dolls, stuffed animals and everything else that fell in between but today, she just couldn't muster enough energy to even get up. She moped about all day, only venturing downstairs to fix Isabella and herself something to eat before going back upstairs to the nursery where she played with Isabella half-heartedly. Feeling the need to be alone, she stayed away from Walter, Candace and the staff. Even Isabella, at her tender age of one, seemed to sense her mother's depressed state and didn't raise a fuss all day, except when she needed a diaper change or when she wanted to take a nap.
She sighed, knowing full well the reason for her depression. Today was the day before her 29th birthday and Darien had had to go on a sudden business trip to London two days ago to deal with business matters that were way over Serena's head. For his sake, Serena kept up an understanding and supportive façade and had even offered to drive him to the airport. When the jet took off, she dropped her mask and let disappointment sink in.
She couldn't help but remember the wonderful birthday party he threw for her two years ago. He had been on a business trip that time as well, she remembered, and had surprised her by coming home early and flying in her mother and brother from Canada. She didn't suppose that Darien had an elaborate plan to surprise her this year since the call from London came at around midnight and Darien was on the jet and hour and a half later, apologizing profusely for not going to be able to take her to the play she had been dying to see on her birthday.
She was so busy brooding that she didn't even notice Candace walk into the nursery until she was sitting down beside her. The sight of the dignified Candace sitting cross-legged on the floor in her immaculate linen slacks and cashmere sweater was enough to snap Serena out of her mood-at least, for now.
"Hello Candace," she greeted her, albeit a little dully. Not knowing what Candace could possibly want with her in the middle of the day, she grasped around for a relatively safe topic for her to make the appropriate small talk with. "How's the work going downstairs in the great room?"
For the past four days, the great room had been undergoing a slight renovation per Candace's orders, and the cacophony of sound being made by the construction crew's various power tools, was enough to drive almost all of the household occupants insane-except one. Isabella had been forever fascinated by the whirring, banging, and buzzing noises she heard coming from within the enclosed space and was constantly trying to escape her mother's vigilant eye to investigate, almost winding up with her fingers in a bucket of cement compound had it not been for the contractor's cry of alarm. Since then, Serena and Isabella had been banned from coming within 20 feet of the great room.
Isabella, finished with her tour, walked over to Serena and settled comfortably in her lap. Candace leaned over and tickled her feet. "The construction's going well, considering..."
"Considering?" Serena retied one of Isabella's ponytails.
"Considering that this was a last-minute operation, the construction crew's doing a remarkable job."
Serena turned to Candace. "Why was it such a rush job, anyway?"
"Oh, just a little whim of mine. I wanted to add a skylight in the room and from there, the whole project just grew and grew." Candace laughed and to Serena, the sound was that of a nervous woman on the verge of revealing a secret. She also couldn't help but notice that she didn't answer the question. She shrugged mentally and decided to change the subject.
"Have you heard from Darien today?" She hated how pathetic and clingy she sounded but she missed him so much.
"I talked to him last night but you were already asleep." Candace couldn't miss the flicker of disappointment in Serena's eyes and smiled. If she only knew, she thought gleefully. She made sure that the smile curling her lips upwards was gone before she looked Serena in the eye. "He said that he was coming home the day after tomorrow once business was all wrapped up."
If it was possible, Serena's face fell even more. "Oh, it's just that I was hoping he could still be back in time for my birthday."
"Oh my, yes. Your birthday's tomorrow, isn't it? We'll have to make sure to have Lita prepare a special dinner or something." Candace was beginning to enjoy herself.
"Oh, that's okay Candace. I don't feel much like celebrating." Candace reached over and patted her hand sympathetically.
"Nonsense, dear. It's nothing less than what Darien would've done were he here to celebrate with you." And because she couldn't resist the urge to grin, Candace covered her mouth with her hand, pretending to look thoughtful. "Cheer up, Serena. He wouldn't have missed your birthday for the world, you know that, right?"
"Yeah." She smiled softly at Candace. "Thanks Candace. I really appreciate it."
Knowing that Serena was talking about something that went deeper than their talk, Candace simply nodded and patted her hand once more before standing up, groaning when she felt her knees creak. "Anytime. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to a certain chef about a certain dinner she has to prepare tomorrow."
When Candace left the room, Serena cuddled the sleeping baby in her arms, stood up rather shakily, and placed her gently in her crib. She traced a finger lightly over Isabella's cheeks before giving her a kiss, wishing for all the world that she was that age once again. Softly, so she wouldn't disturb her, Serena backed out of the room and opened the door to her room to wallow in self-pity privately.
"Walter, I don't see why I have to put on this dress just to eat dinner," Serena complained irritably into the phone the next day.
"But it's your birthday," he explained with perhaps more patience than he had ever displayed in the time that Serena had known him. "We're having a special dinner in your honour, girlie, so I suggest you get a move on and hustle into that dress. Do I make myself clear?"
'There's the Walter we all know and love,' Serena thought, rolling her eyes. "Fine," she huffed into the receiver. "I'll be down in a few minutes." She ended the call before he could reply.
Muttering to herself, Serena yanked on the dress that had arrived by overnight mail from London that day-a "preliminary present" according to the enclosed note from Darien. She had preferred to save the dress for when he would actually get to see it but Walter wasn't the sort of person one could easily say no to.
Feeling a little foolish in her fancy dress without makeup, Serena stalked over to her vanity table and began to apply a touch of lip-gloss, eye shadow, and blush. Stomping over to her closet, she selected the appropriate shoe to match her outfit and slipped them on.
'Might as well go all out,' she thought crankily, fumbling with her tennis bracelet clasp. Once it was on, she dashed out the door and practically ran as fast as her finery would allow down the stairs where Walter waited for her impatiently.
"Took you long enough," Walter greeted her gruffly as she laced her arm around his.
"Why are you wearing a tuxedo, Walter?" This day was getting weirder and weirder. First, Amy phoned her very early in the day and insisted that they get together and "do something girly" for her birthday, which turned out to be a morning at the spa. Not that Serena didn't appreciate the total body scrub-down with every possible organic scrub-Amy's work ethic was just too strict and Serena found it rather odd that she would take a spontaneous day off during the workweek. Still, she appreciated the gesture that her friend made for her on her birthday.
After the spa, they had lunch at a new restaurant where they spotted two married celebrities cozying up to each other in a corner booth. It was just too bad they weren't married to each other. Snickering to themselves, they finished their main courses and shared a slice of the most decadent chocolate cake that Serena had ever tasted. It was then that Amy announced her and Zach's plan to start trying to have a baby. After much squealing, Amy dropped Serena off at the house where Walter presented her with the box and told her to get dressed pronto.
Now, as she walked side by side with Walter, she couldn't help but wish that it was Darien on her arm, not his father. At her sigh, Walter turned his head and suppressed a groan. He couldn't wait until she finally had Darien in her arms again. Maybe then she wouldn't be so depressed.
"Hey girlie, wanna see how the great room turned out before we go to the dining room?"
Serena whirled around in disbelief. "I can't believe you! You were the one who berated me for holding up dinner which, might I point out, is being held in my honour, and now you want to take me on a detour to the great room?"
Walter sighed inwardly and led Serena to the newly redecorated great room, ignoring her muttered curses aimed in his general direction. The things he did for the people in this house...
He led them through the house and stopped at the wooden doors leading to the great room. Pausing for dramatic effect, he glanced at Serena and threw open the doors, once again looking at Serena so he wouldn't miss her reaction.
Totally unimpressed, Serena fumbled her way to the wall and flipped on the light switch, bathing the extremely dark room in light.
"SURPRISE!" Serena stumbled back and would've fallen had Walter not been there to catch her. With wide eyes, Serena scanned the room and saw that it was elaborately decorated with balloons, streamers, red paper hearts and...a disco ball? A banner stretched across one wall near the ceiling read "Happy Birthday, Serena!" and a makeshift stage was set up at one side of the room where a band began to play one of her favourite songs growing up.
It was then that Serena registered the fact that the room was cleared of the elegant furniture and chairs and round tables lining the wall had taken their place. The great room had the air of, and Serena had a very hard time believing this, a high school gym decorated for the prom.
"What's going on?" she whispered, dazed at seeing all the people dressed to the nines and wishing her a happy birthday. She thought she caught a glimpse of Mika in the crowd but when she blinked, she was gone.
"Happy Birthday," said a voice that had Serena's heart beating rapidly. She spun around and saw Darien, elegantly dressed in a black tuxedo and holding a black velvet box. "Did you really think I'd miss it?"
Too overcome to say anything, Serena jumped into Darien's arms and hugged him fiercely. "Oh, I thought you were going to be in London until tomorrow!"
Without saying a word, Darien opened the box in his hands to reveal a diamond and pearl tiara. "Remember this?"
"My birthday tiara!" Serena could barely keep still as Darien fastened it to her hair. "I can't believe you had it all this time! So where were you all this time?"
When Darien led her to the dance floor, the other guests took it as their cue to begin dancing too. "Alright, I confess," he began, swaying her to the rhythm of the music, "it was all a ruse. I went to London that first day to wrap up some business and then came back to LA the next day. I stayed right here in a hotel and had this dance floor and stage built so that you could have the prom you missed back when you were in high school. And this time, your date's here, sober and looking pretty spiffy if he does say so himself."
"You remembered," Serena whispered against his neck. "You set all this up because I missed my prom more than ten years ago." She touched the tiara lightly with her fingers. "And I'm the prom queen, just like I've always dreamed. I can't believe it."
"Believe it." Darien skimmed his hand down her back and felt supremely smug when he felt her shiver under his caress. "Make sure to say hello to Sammy and Mika later on. I had them flown over here for the party."
"I thought I saw Mika before!" she exclaimed, glad that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She would've said more but Darien stopped her with a kiss that increased in need and urgency.
"I missed you," Darien said when they pulled apart, his breathing heavy and his eyes glazed.
A few feet away, Walter and Candace, who was holding Isabella in her arms, stood by the punch bowl watching the couple dance. "You think they're going to make it?" Walter asked, not taking his eyes off Serena and Darien.
"You know, I wasn't really happy about what Serena did when she found out she was pregnant," Candace said, stating the obvious, "but on some level, I think I'm starting to understand her decision. I think Darien's going to be as happy with her as we are with each other."
Walter tugged playfully on Isabella's pigtail. "I couldn't agree with you more."
Hours later, when the party was over and the guests had all gone home, Serena lay facedown, naked on the bed. She tried to move to a more comfortable position but found that Darien was using the small of her back as a pillow.
"Darien," she mumbled, pushing gently on his shoulder to wake him up. "Move over."
Coming to, Darien drowsily changed positions and slid under the covers, waiting for Serena to slide in with him. She snuggled up against the hollow of his neck and laid her left hand on his chest, admiring the Art Deco-inspired, square-cut diamond with similarly shaped diamond sidestones set in a platinum band on her finger. He remembered browsing for the ring in jewelry stores for the past month before he came across it and the annoying sales associate that thought he couldn't afford the more expensive pieces the store had to offer.
"No thank you," he told the man with a bad suit and greasy hair, turning his nose up with disdain at the cheap-looking, 14 carat gold ring with a tiny diamond.
"But sir, this is a splendid looking ring," the salesman said of the paltry 0.25 carat diamond ring.
Darien cast him a scathing glare. "I don't believe in buying the woman I love a diamond ring that weighs less than a whole carat. That one you're offering me looks like a chip that the jeweler carved off a bigger diamond." Seeing a ring that caught his eye, Darien pointed to it. "Let me see that one. Tell me about that ring."
The man rushed to the ring Darien was pointing at through the glass. "Why, that diamond is flawless, 1.5 carats, icy winter white and set in platinum." His voice rose to match his excitement as it became obvious that Darien was very much interested in that ring. "It's vintage, circa 1924, a few months before the Great Depression hit. It was rumoured that the lady who owned it-"
"I'll take it." The excited jeweler beamed as brightly as his merchandise.
"Will that be cash or charge?" A few minutes later after the swipe of a card, the swish of a signature and the ringing of a register, Darien was the proud owner of an engagement ring.
"Darien," Serena now purred, stretching lazily beside him, "ask me again."
"Ask you what again?" Darien asked innocently.
"Come on, ask me again." Serena angled the ring until it caught the moonlight streaming in from the window and cast a rainbow of colours in a corner of the dark room. When he still didn't reply, she prodded him lightly in the ribs with her finger.
"Ow!" Darien exclaimed, rubbing his sore bones. A glare from Serena chased away the pain. "Okay, okay. Serena Mathis, will you marry me?"
Serena pretending to think it over. "I don't know. I mean, you like to hog the bed when we're sleeping and you always leave your wet towels lying on the bathroom floor..."
It was Darien's turn to poke her in the ribs, making her squeal with laughter. "I seem to recall that you haven't even answered the question yet, Serena-and no, shouting 'yes!' while we're having sex doesn't count. I'm inclined to think that you don't want to marry me at all."
Serena burst into laughter at Darien's playful pout. "God, I love you, even though you can be such an ass sometimes. Ask me again and I'll give you my answer."
Darien's face sobered as he gazed solemnly into her eyes. "Serena Mathis, will you marry me?"
Serena's face broke into a teary smile. "Yes, I will. With all my heart."
Although he already knew what her answer would be, Darien exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding and gathered her close. He kissed her face softly, never wanting to let go. Serena opened herself up to him, welcoming his body, his love, with open arms, the diamond ring sparkling in the moonlight as they slowly began making love.
************************************************************************
Finished April 30, 2003 (2:53 AM)
LS: *punches buttons on her calculator and fixes her (very scholarly) glasses* According to my calculations, CR could have written this chapter faster if she had omitted letter "U" from ever being utilized in the chapter.
CR: Fck yo. (You're right! It IS shorter without the U's)
LS: Well, 6 months IS a long time, mah lil' sugah carrot. But I'm not complaining-the chapter IS done. *busts out chianti* Is it alright if I forgot the fava beans? And I'm cutting back on meat, so your livers are safe for the moment.
548
Wounded Souls
Chapter 16-Milestones
By: crystal rose
Edited by: ladysolo
October 18, 2002
*******************************
Serena woke up late the next morning, tired from their late arrival from the airport the night before yet at the same time, giddy with nervous energy. Nervous was an understatement; Serena felt as if she had swallowed a jarful of Mexican jumping beans and only until she saw Darien would she feel at ease. That is, if he still felt the same way this morning as he had the night before. Serena could feel her heart thumping anxiously against her chest at the thought. What if he was just caught up in the moment and he never meant those words, those lovely words she had spent all night building her hopes upon? She didn't think she could live with his rejection again.
She shook her head to clear it of her negative thoughts. No, Darien had promised her it was going to be different this time around. She wouldn't think along those lines, she couldn't afford to. Maybe, she told herself, if her heart and mind were at one in this matter, her doubts wouldn't plague her so. Her mind kept telling her to approach this new stage in their relationship with caution while her heart whispered assurances of happiness just around the bend for her. She didn't know which voice to listen to; she didn't want to get hurt again.
Serena slid out of bed, donning her slippers and padding around the room in search of clean clothes to wear. She might as well face the future, be it with Darien or without, but she would be damned if she was going to open that door without taking a shower first. There were just some things one couldn't put off and taking a shower on one of the most potentially important days of her life was one of them. If Darien did the unthinkable and rejected her love, then at least she would be clean to receive the blow and some semblance of her pride would be spared.
It was pathetic, she knew, but cleanliness was the only thing Serena felt she had to offer Darien, especially after her confession the night before of the things she had done to make her feel so unclean.
She stepped into the shower and let the warm embrace of steam and water work its magic on her frazzled nerves. She watched the water flowing down the drain, a visual metaphor of her worries. Ever so slowly, Serena felt herself starting to relax, telling herself to trust in Darien's word and his love. But there was always that little voice telling her that he had hurt her countless times before and it was just a matter of time before he did it again. She shivered despite the hot water pounding on her back. She always felt the most vulnerable when she was naked.
Twenty minutes later, Serena emerged from the washroom clean and somewhat refreshed, ready to face the inevitable.
"Good morning, beautiful." Darien's quiet voice in the silent room seemed oddly muffled and Serena dropped the hairbrush in her hand. When her eyes fell on the baby monitor by her bed, she realized that Darien was in the nursery talking to Isabella.
She heard Isabella over the baby monitor giggle. "That's good, sweetie. Does my little princess need a new diaper?"
She felt the corners of her lips curl up into a smile. Even if things never worked out between the two of them, Serena knew that Isabella would have a wonderful father who would always be there for her whenever she needed him.
"Remember that little talk we had in Toronto?" Darien's disembodied voice asked. Serena listened curiously, silently wondering what Darien was talking about. "You remember when mommy had to get ready for your great-aunt's wedding and I was giving you a bath in the sink? I told you that I thought your mommy looked so beautiful in her dress and you agreed with me."
Isabella babbled nonsensically in the background. "See, you do remember. You were just trying to fool your daddy, weren't you?"
Serena found herself smiling at Darien's 'conversation' with Isabella and could almost see him in the nursery, twirling one of Isabella's curly locks around his finger with a serious look upon his face as he talked to her. He loved playing with Isabella's hair almost as much as he loved playing with her.
"Well, do you remember me asking you what I should do and you told me to tell her I loved her?" Darien paused, waiting for a reply that wouldn't come. "Well, I didn't really tell her yet because we got...distracted." He stopped talking again and Serena's heart began to pound as she wondered what he would say next.
"Listen honey, I don't want you getting 'distracted' until you're old enough to...well, let's just say I never want you to get distracted like me and your mommy did last night until I say so, okay?"
Serena laughed at Darien's overprotective nature when it came to their daughter. She could already tell that Isabella would have problems in the future when it came time for her to date. Serena paused, thinking about her own nightmarish experiences when she went out on dates. Maybe being strict with Isabella when it came time for her to jump into the dating game wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Now finished getting herself ready for the new day, she strode over to the nursery door and opened it quietly. She entered the room and saw that Darien was standing by the window, holding Isabella in his strong arms, the morning sun shining on them both. She had to hold her breath at the beautiful scene and had to resist the urge to run back into her room to get her camera.
She was just about to announce her presence in the room when Isabella turned around and did it for her. "Mama!"
Darien turned around as well and saw her standing by the door, looking painfully shy all of a sudden. "Am I interrupting?" she asked meekly, mentally slapping herself on the forehead for sounding so insecure.
"Of course not. Isabella and I were just talking about you," he replied with his usual brand of self-assurance.
"Were you?" she asked, playing along. "All good, I hope?"
"Nothing but the best." In his arms, Isabella began to squirm and reach for her. Smiling, Serena gladly took the baby from Darien and cuddled her close.
"So, um," Serena began hesitantly, "about last night..."
"Yes?" he replied just as hesitantly, a worried expression on his face.
"Any regrets?" she asked softly, shifting Isabella in her arms so that the top of her head was against her cheek, almost as if she were a human shield against Darien's rejection.
Darien stepped forward and lifted his hand to caress her arm lightly, looking deeply into her eyes. "Not one. You?"
Serena let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and smiled in obvious relief. "No. No regrets." She kissed the top of Isabella's head lovingly, savouring the sweet scent that seemed inherent in babies.
Without a word, Darien took one step forward and engulfed both of them in a hug. Isabella cooed, cheerfully ensconced between her parents.
"I'm so happy," Serena whispered against his chest, her voice wavy with emotion. She felt his arms tighten around them and moved closer to him, careful not to squish Isabella who didn't seem to mind the invasion to her personal space at all.
"So am I," Darien whispered back, resting his chin gently on Serena's head. He stepped back slightly to gaze into Serena's eyes. "I love you, Serena."
'I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry,' she told herself even as one tear slipped down her face. She smiled at Darien's expectant face and nodded, not able to find her voice just yet. "I love you too," she finally managed to croak.
Darien thought his heart would burst as he gently cupped Serena's face and tilted her head up to receive his kiss. The kiss was loving and sweet with none of the urgency of the kiss they shared last night. It was cut short, however, when Isabella started tugging on Serena's hair, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Ouch, sweetheart! That really hurts, honey," Serena said coaxingly as she pried Isabella's fingers from her hair. Darien chuckled and scooped Isabella up in his arms.
"Does my angel want some breakfast?" he asked, lifting her high above his head giving him access to her tummy, which he started blowing on. Finally, he brought her back down and smiled at Serena. "Shall we?"
Serena nodded and took his arm. "Hey, I just thought of something. What're we gonna tell your parents and everyone else about us?" She looked up at Darien's face, expecting an answer. She couldn't help but see the mischievous glint in his eye. "What?" she asked warily.
"Let's not tell them anything just yet. I kinda like the thought of having a secret romance right under my parents' noses. Makes me feel like a high school student all over again," he explained as Serena laughed wickedly and agreed.
"Minus the acne, of course," she replied wryly when she had calmed down.
Darien raised an eyebrow loftily and walked to the door with Serena in tow. "I _never_ had acne in my entire life, Ms. Mathis."
"Oh, pardon me, _Mr._ Shields," Serena said laughingly, feeling an unfamiliar giddiness that she hadn't felt since she was a young girl. "How could I ever have made such an assumption about the perfect male specimen that is you?"
"Well, you know what they say about making assumptions..." Serena glared at him and pinched his side. "Hey!"
"If you were any type of gentleman, _sir_, you wouldn't finish that sentence." Serena stuck her nose haughtily in the air.
Darien paused mid-stride. "Who said I was?" he asked suggestively, trying his best not to laugh at the petulant expression on Serena's face. Isabella, unaware of her parents' flirtation with each other, cackled and tweaked Darien's nose. The surprise on his face was enough to send both mother and daughter into hysterics as they went down the stairs and into the dining room. Walter and Candace were waiting patiently for the little family to arrive so they could start their morning victuals.
"Well there you three are," Candace exclaimed, not failing to notice the way Serena and Darien entered the room arm in arm. "How was the trip?"
The newly formed couple exchanged glances with each other and smiled Cheshire cat smiles. "It was...pleasurable," Darien supplied. Serena was hard pressed not to blush at the thinly veiled innuendo.
Walter narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before gesturing with his butter knife towards their empty seats. "Sit down, already. We've been waiting for the three of you to come down so we could finally eat," he informed them impatiently.
Darien set Isabella down in her high chair and began to spoon her baby food into her little dish while Serena grabbed the platter of bacon and served Darien before serving herself as if it she had been doing it all her life. Darien smiled at her in appreciation. "Could you get me some..."
"Uh huh." Serena grabbed the pitcher of orange juice and poured Darien a glass. "Oh Darien, Isabella's..."
"Got it." Darien bent down to pick up Isabella's fallen sock from the floor and put it on her foot.
From across the table, Walter shot Candace a bewildered look and Candace had to smother a laugh with her linen napkin. They watched as Serena and Darien ate their breakfasts all the while talking softly to each other.
When Walter couldn't take their mysterious behaviour any longer, he wiped his mouth with his napkin and once again waved his butter knife at them. "All right, what's going on with you two?"
Darien looked up from the conversation he was having with Serena about Isabella's upcoming doctor's appointment and smiled inwardly. "What do you mean, Dad?" he asked, masking his gleeful face with a look of innocence that would have made a serial killer proud.
"You've got that 'I know something you don't know' look on your face," Walter pointed out irritably before turning on Serena. "You. What do you know?"
Serena looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Me? I-I don't know anything," she squeaked nervously, running her fingers through her hair. She winced, knowing that her stammering was a virtual admission of her guilt. She shot Darien an anxious glimpse out of the corner of her eye. To her annoyance, she saw that Darien was grinning smugly not only at his father, but also at her. A swift kick in the shin took care of that.
Walter stared at her for a minute. "Why do I find your so-called innocence hard to believe?" He was staring so intently at her that Serena found it hard to swallow.
"Um...I don't know what you're talking about, Walter." She flipped her hair over her shoulder in an effort to look nonchalant. Serena noticed Walter's eyes flicker to her neck before widening considerably.
"Well, I'll be damned," Walter said softly, pointing his trusty butter knife at Serena's neck.
"Dad!" Darien yelled as Walter's knife hovered dangerously close to Serena's jugular vein. 'What's gotten into him?'
"Walter, what _are_ you doing?" Candice frowned at her husband in disapproval. He really couldn't stand it when someone knew something he didn't.
"This," he replied in a mysterious voice as he used the knife to lift a strand of Serena's hair that was resting by her neck to reveal a red mark about the size of a coin. The smile on his face was triumphant as Darien's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Darien!" Serena exclaimed when she caught her reflection in the mirror across from her, smacking Walter's knife away from her neck and covering up the mark with her hand self-consciously.
Walter grinned victoriously at the two before him. "So, anything you want to share with us?" Darien exhaled loudly and cursed to himself. There just wasn't any fooling when it came to the old man.
"Fine. We're...going out, right Serena?" The lady in question nodded her head dumbly and smiled wanly, reaching over Isabella's high chair to take Darien's outstretched hand. "We didn't want you guys to find out this way..."
"You didn't want us to find out at all," Candace finished for her son. "Why did you feel you had to hide this from us?"
"It's not that we were hiding this from you, Candace," Serena reassured the woman she was just starting to reconcile with. "We just wanted to keep this private for a little while. We've got to get to know each other all over again."
Walter waved the knife around dismissively until Candace reached over and yanked it away from him. "What's to know? You two love each other, right?" By their red faces, Walter knew he had his answer. "So?"
"Dad, butt out, would you? I haven't even taken Serena out on a date yet," Darien replied testily, not appreciating the fact that his father of all people was meddling in his love life.
"So what's stopping you?" Walter pressed.
"Yeah? What _is_ stopping you?" Serena asked Darien sternly, a pout on her face. "Do you realize that we've _never_ gone out on a single date? Ever?"
Darien squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, well aware that three pairs of eyes were watching him intently--well, four, if he counted Isabella, but he had a sneaking suspicion she was only looking at him because he was holding the next spoonful of mashed bananas in front of her face and wasn't budging. "So, why don't we go out tonight? How does dinner and a movie sound?"
"It sounds cheap," everyone heard Walter mutter.
Darien, Serena, and Candace groaned and threw withering glares in his direction, which he promptly ignored, opting instead to butter his long-neglected toast with the butter knife he pilfered from Candace's side.
"I promised Serena that I would give her everything she missed out on when she was trapped in her old life. What could be a more quintessential first date than dinner and a movie?"
"What a lovely idea, son," Candace beamed proudly.
"Serena? What do you want to do?" Darien inquired belatedly.
Serena's eyes glowed with happiness as she nodded her head. "I think that sounds wonderful, Darien," she replied almost shyly.
"Great. I'll pick you up at seven."
Walter looked up from his toast buttering and rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, you two live in the same house! You talk as if-" He couldn't finish his next sentence for Candace had stuffed his toast in his open mouth and held it there.
"Stay out as late as you want. We'll be happy to baby-sit."
"Thanks, Mom," Darien replied, ignoring Walter's muffled protests.
"Yeah, thanks Candace. We really appreciate it."
"No problem." Noticing that Walter had managed to chew his way out of his edible gag, Candace held up another slice of toast threateningly. "Want another slice, dear?"
Walter said nothing except to offer a disgruntled 'harrumph' to convey his bruised feelings. The three of them smiled and resumed their breakfast in silence, Serena and Darien occasionally sneaking glances at each other when they thought no one was watching, totally oblivious to the two people whose sharp eyes didn't miss a thing.
***
Serena fluffed up her hair once more in a vain attempt to make it look like she had just rolled out of bed and combed her fingers through it rather than spending the last forty-five minutes painstakingly arranging every strand into place. The sad thing was, Serena observed with a sardonic grin on her face, it had taken her an hour and a half to accomplish the feat and she was _still_ unsatisfied with the outcome.
A quick glance at the digital clock on the night stand told her that if some force of nature, like a windstorm or one of those famous California earthquakes, occurred in the next two seconds to keep Darien occupied for another _five_ minutes, she'd have all the time she would need to get her hair perfect this time around.
A sudden sharp knock broke Serena's train of thought and made her realize that the big one-meaning the earthquake she had been foolishly hoping for-would wait another day. Darien had managed to traverse the expanse between their two rooms undeterred and was now waiting patiently-or impatiently if his knock was any indication of his apprehensive state-outside her door. Drat the man for being such a stickler for punctuality. Yet another disadvantage to living in the same house, much less the same wing, as one's boyfriend.
Serena giggled impulsively at that foreign word. 'Boyfriend,' she repeated softly to herself, still unsure that this was truly happening to her. She hadn't had a boyfriend in a little over ten years.
'Wow, ten years,' she thought incredulously as she gave herself the once over in the mirror before striding to the door, the picture of confidence, when inside, she thought her wildly fluttering heart would give out before the night was over. 'Do I still remember the rules?'
Darien knocked again, although this time, rather hesitantly. Serena flung open the door lest he think she had changed her mind about going out with him after all. There he stood, leaning against the doorframe clad in a navy blue sweater that enhanced the colour of his eyes, loose fitting khakis and a black leather jacket.
'What rules?' Serena thought, shamelessly taking in the sight before her. Darien was a man who defied the rules and expected nothing less from the lucky woman whom he chose to be his partner. Besides, what had those infernal rules ever gotten her other than a string of meaningless sexual partners and an ill-begotten reputation that always preceded her?
Aesthetically speaking, Darien looked very much like the bad boy rogues she took a liking to in her wild days, from the still-damp strand of hair hanging impishly over his eyes to the cocky devil-may-care grin on his face. But Darien had something that all her other partners didn't have: a maturity that came with age and self-confidence that came with being content with one's life.
"Hey," Darien said, his eyes roving appreciatively over her body-hugging spaghetti-strapped light pink dress that flowed down to her calves. It was a dress that was casual enough to wear on a picnic in the park yet formal enough not to be turned away from the finest of restaurants. That's what he loved about Serena; she was always able to find a balance that suited her life perfectly. She looked wonderful and he told her so, enjoying the light flush that spread across her cheeks.
"These are for you," he informed her, thrusting a mixed bouquet of white baby roses, day lilies and sweet peas at her from behind his back.
"They're beautiful!" she exclaimed, taking the bouquet and rising on her toes to give him a peck on the cheek. She moved away before he could turn that chaste kiss of gratitude into something more risqué. "Come in while I put these in some water and then we can say goodbye to Isabella and your parents."
Darien stepped over the threshold to her room and sat down in a chair as Serena fussed around, trying to find the perfect place to put her flowers. Finally, after much rumination on her part and many fond smiles on Darien's, Serena settled on placing them on the dresser across her bed so that the ivory pitcher containing her floral prize would be the first thing she saw when she woke up and the last thing before she closed her eyes for the night.
"Shall we?" Darien asked as Serena grabbed a black sweater that was tossed over another chair. Together, they walked to the nursery room door and stepped through.
"Oh, are you kids ready to go?" asked Candace, getting up from the rocking chair upon which she sat.
"Have been for a while," Darien assured her easily, slipping his arm around Serena's waist.
"We just came to say goodbye to the three of you," Serena explained, looking past Candace to Walter and Isabella playing a game on the floor. "I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to watch Isabella for us."
"Nonsense, dear. We're more than happy to watch the baby." Candace swept her hand toward Walter, who was crawling around on all fours, defying his age, and making faces at his granddaughter, who shrieked with glee to prove her point.
Serena walked softly towards them. "Isabella, honey, mommy and daddy are going out for a while, ok? Be good for grandma and grandpa, hunbun." Isabella gave her a distracted look before resuming her game with her grandfather.
Darien chuckled and swooped down to give Isabella a kiss on the cheek, which she hardly acknowledged. "Bye sweetheart. We love you." Isabella gave her parents a dismissive wave.
Serena sighed. Her baby wasn't even a year old yet and she was already leaving the nest. She kissed Isabella on the forehead and rose to her feet. "She's already been fed so all that's left is to bathe her before bed. If something goes wrong, you can reach us on either one of our cell phones. I programmed the numbers on the phone here and in my room." She would've gone on had Walter not stood and picked Isabella up.
"Oh for heaven's sake girlie, we've been through this before with that ruffian you're going out with tonight," Walter said cantankerously. He turned to Candace with an amused look upon his face. "Why is it that all new parents-especially mothers-think that they're the only ones with childrearing experience around for miles?"
"Alright, alright. I can take a hint." Serena rolled her eyes jokingly and kissed Isabella one last time on the nose and was thrilled when her daughter clung to her tightly before releasing her. "Bye, love. We'll be back real soon."
"Not too soon, I hope," Darien murmured under his breath, steering Serena out the door.
As they headed toward the stairs, Serena heard Isabella's quiet whimper. "Mama?"
Serena's heart stopped and she would have fled back to the nursery to cuddle her baby had Darien's hand not clasped hers reassuringly. "She'll be fine, Sere. Mom and Dad are there so she'll probably forget about us after a few minutes. Besides, it's our time now."
Serena nodded after considering his words. "You're right." She took his proffered arm and walked down the stairs with him, discovering for the first time in her life what it felt like to be a lady.
***
Crickets chirped in the night air as Darien pulled his cherry red 1967 Mustang convertible onto a gravel driveway and stopped before a wrought iron gate. It was hidden away from prying eyes by dense foliage that looked as if they have been growing there since the dawn of time. Beyond the gate, a barely discernible path wound its way into a thick grove of trees, its destination a mystery as it disappeared into the night shadows.
"Darien, what is this place?" Serena hissed as Darien jumped out of the car and ran with an almost boyish eagerness to the gate, inspecting the heavy chain that was wrapped around the bars and secured with a heavy-duty iron padlock. Darien had taken her to a wonderful restaurant where they danced to the tunes of a live orchestra before taking her to a movie where, to his amazement and his relief, she had picked a silly comedy over the extremely popular 'chick flick' about a woman's struggle to overcome looming spinsterhood as she approached the ripe old age of thirty. Now that it was approaching midnight, Darien had driven her to a secluded road a few miles away behind the Shields house where there was nothing but trees and grass, belying the fact that they were on the outskirts of Los Angeles and not some idyllic countryside in New England.
"Darien, answer me," she whispered as loudly as she dared, not wanting to attract the attention of anything other than the crickets. She glanced around nervously then dropped her jaw as Darien swung the squeaky gates open with a triumphant grin.
Darien trotted back to the car and eased it through the opening, which was just barely wide enough to accommodate the wide vehicle. Once through, he stopped the car to go back and lock the gates securely. Upon seeing Serena's questioning glance, he smiled cheekily and patted her hand reassuringly.
"This is the boundary of our property. Nobody ever goes here because it's so far away from the house," he explained as he navigated the car through the overgrown path.
"Your estate extends this far back?" Serena asked incredulously, looking around with a new understanding. Here she thought she had already explored the entire property when she first started working for the Shields almost two years ago.
"It does. I don't even think anyone but the landscaper remembers that that gate exists. I asked him to keep this part of the property somewhat in its natural state to give it a 'great outdoors' feel." As he said this, the trees gradually thinned out until they were completely out in the open in a field of wildflowers.
"Darien, this place is gorgeous," Serena whispered in a voice as light as the moonlight dancing on the petals. "I can't believe you never told me about this place."
Darien stopped the car at the end of the path and smiled boyishly, secretly glad that she loved this place as much as he did. "I loved coming here when I was a kid to just get away from everyone." He turned on the radio and found a jazz radio station before reclining his seat so that he was almost lying down.
Serena followed suit and turned on her side to watch Darien looking up at the sky. "What're you looking at?"
"I have no idea. The sky. The stars..." Darien reached up and pointed at a miniscule point in the sky. "See that star? I think it's the North Star."
Serena squinted her eyes and fought to swallow a laugh when it started blinking. "Uh Darien, I think that's a plane."
Miffed that Serena dared to question his fifth grade astronomy skills, he jabbed his finger at the sky as if pointing harder at it would make Serena see what he was talking about. "There. Look there."
"I _am_ looking there, Darien, and I'm telling you, that's a plane." She laughed triumphantly when a tiny red light suddenly appeared beside the 'star'. "See? I told you so." At the risk of looking immature, Serena stuck her tongue out cheekily at him and dissolved into helpless laughs when Darien reached over and caught her in a light headlock.
"Ok, I surrender! I surrender! That yellow, blinking light wasn't a plane; it was a star! And that roaring sound overhead isn't a plane...It's thunder! Yeah, that's it, thunder!"
Darien let his fingers drift down to Serena's side where he began to tickle her. "Lions roar, planes whoosh," he informed her smugly, not that she heard him over her laughing fit.
"Planes don't whoosh," she managed to gasp out between bouts of choked laughter. Serena managed to break free from Darien's light hold and punched him weakly in the shoulder. "They go WwrrrrrrhhhhSShhhhhhh."
Darien threw his head back and laughed at her poor impression of a low-flying commercial aircraft. "You're right; that's exactly what they sound like," he deadpanned, grinning when she pouted in that pretty way that he loved so much. Unable to resist, he leaned over and teased the pout away from her lips using her own.
"You were saying?" he asked when he pulled away.
"I was right, you were wrong," she replied, cursing herself for the breathiness in her voice.
Darien noted the glazed expression in her eyes and grinned. "Uh huh," he murmured, pulling her closer for another kiss. "You think so, huh." He felt her grin against his lips.
"I know so," she replied, surprised at the huskiness of her voice.
From there, no more words were exchanged as they sat in their seats, watching the stars-that-weren't-planes in the night sky and listening to the soft strains of jazz music over the car stereo, holding hands.
***
"How was the beach?" Melvin asked Serena as she bounded through the door with Isabella in her arms, leaving Darien to carry the stroller, beach umbrella, tote bag, backpack and diaper bag.
"It was great!" Serena twirled around in the foyer and laughed when Isabella squealed. Mother and daughter looked well rested, their hair windblown and skin luminous with a hint of a tan.
"It was great," Darien repeated tiredly as he trudged up the walkway, panting with the effort to keep the umbrella tucked under his arm and the tote and diaper bags balanced on his shoulder. He looked far from well rested, Melvin observed with a quiet chuckle. As soon as Darien stepped through the door, he let out a big breath and relaxed his arms, letting everything he was carrying come crashing down on the marbled floor.
"Thanks for the help, Serena. I really appreciate it," he said wryly once he had his breath back. With more drama than was necessary, Darien threw himself on the bottom steps of the staircase and lay himself down with the air of a martyr about to be sacrificed on an altar.
"I'll just put your things away," Melvin informed Darien, his lips twitching in amusement. He picked up one of the bags that Darien had thrown haphazardly on the floor to drop off Isabella's soiled clothes in the laundry room, smiling fondly at the little family. He just hoped that nothing happened to mess up their newfound happiness.
Without saying a word, Serena strode over to Darien, who was enjoying himself as he languished on the steps, and stood in front of him with Isabella on her right hip. "Are you finished yet?"
Darien grinned smugly. "No, I don't think so." He inhaled deeply and stretched, wiggling his fingers exaggeratedly, only to almost bite his tongue off when Serena plopped Isabella heavily on his stomach.
"Oof!" Darien shot Serena a glare that would have intimidated a lesser man and perhaps, had Serena been facing him instead of thumbing through the day's mail, she would have been intimidated as well. Darien pouted and almost laughed out loud when Isabella shrugged, her shoulders touching her earlobes. He planted a kiss on her cheek, scooped her up in his strong arms, and rose from his makeshift chaise.
"Any mail for me?" he murmured in her ear. He knew she was ticklish there and so, in the spirit of being a playful Casanova, took every opportunity to tease her there.
Serena raised her shoulder to her ear to quell the tingling sensation she felt there because of the proximity of Darien's lips to her earlobe. She looked over her shoulder to scrunch up her nose at Darien. "Stop that, you know I'm ticklish there," she informed him primly before turning back to the mail, separating them into piles according to recipient.
"Here's yours," she said, handing Darien his stack of mail and then flipped through hers. Serena shuffled all the bills to the bottom of the pile to be looked at later and came across a white envelope bearing the address of her old high school. She felt a tiny spark of nervousness-the same nervousness she'd feel every time her report card had arrived in the mail-and tore open the envelope, scared that the letter inside would say that she was somehow lacking in credits and therefore hadn't actually graduated high school, nullifying her degree and ending her career as a physical therapist.
She tore through the envelope using her thumb and pulled out a folded piece of cream coloured paper. 'Dear Ms. Mathis,' she read silently. 'You are cordially invited to Lester B. Pearson Secondary School's class of 1994's ten year high school reunion.' She continued to read silently and crumpled up the paper once she was done.
"Why'd you do that?" Serena turned her head and saw that Darien had been peering over her shoulder, reading every word of her letter.
"Do you mind?" she asked, arching her brows in an automatic gesture of self-defense. "I believe that letter was addressed to me, not you."
"So you're not going to your reunion?" Darien asked, deliberately ignoring her question, annoying her even further.
"What do you think?" Serena glared at him and started up the stairs, aware that Darien was still following her with Isabella in his arms. She stalked her way to her room and was about to shut the door behind her when Darien stuck his foot in the doorway, preventing her from doing so. Sighing in aggravation, she opened the door and let him in, narrowing her eyes when Darien plopped down on her bed and began to play with Isabella as she sat on his stomach.
"So, you're not going?" he repeated, tickling Isabella's feet. Serena shook her head. "Why not?"
"I don't want to." She turned away from his piercing gaze and went through the motions of tidying up her already clean room.
"You don't want to see your friends?" he pressed, watching Serena from his spot on the bed.
"I see my friends plenty enough. Amy and I meet up at least once a week for lunch and Raye and I talk on the phone practically every week, not to mention all the emails and chats over the Internet we have. Why should I travel all the way to Toronto just to see them when we practically live together anyway?" She checked her email and sure enough, Raye had written her a note and had sent it to her while she was at the beach with Darien and Isabella that afternoon. "See? What'd I tell you? I just got a reply to the email I sent Raye last night."
"What about your other friends?" Darien pressed on, catching one of Isabella's chubby hands and giving it a light kiss.
Serena shrugged. "What friends? The girls in my school hated me, and the guys just used me. The only friends I ever really had were Amy and Raye and I'm still amazed that they stuck by me even when everyone else cast me aside." The thought of her friends' loyalty brought a soft smile to her face.
"What about your teachers?" Darien asked, instantly regretting that he did. He watched her back stiffen and balled-up hands.
"No. Definitely not." Her voice was edged with steel and her eyes became cold. "That place holds nothing for me but bad memories," she concluded in a soft voice, her features losing their previous tension.
"What about prom? Didn't you go to yours?" he asked, wrapping his arms around Isabella when she lay on his chest.
"I didn't go to mine," she replied softly, tucking a soft blanket around Isabella and sat down on the bed beside Darien. She touched Isabella's curls as the baby watched her sleepily.
"Why?" he asked softly.
She shrugged, giving him a perfunctory smile that didn't reach her eyes. "My date was a huge jerk who got drunk in the hotel room before we even made it to the dance. I left him passed out on the bed and just walked around town for a few hours because I was too embarrassed to go home. I had such a pretty dress too," she ended a little wistfully.
"Why didn't you just go to the prom without him?" He nuzzled Isabella's head while she slept, her thumb tucked in her mouth. Serena stood up and walked to her dresser, trailing a finger over the surface.
"I didn't want to face everyone without a date. Call me crazy, but I just couldn't face all those girls with their dates, and their perfect hair and makeup, and their little cliques-I just couldn't. I knew they'd all just smile politely at me and then talk about me behind my back. I was the girl who stole their boyfriends, broke up their relationships, or messed up their chances with a boy they liked; they'd have a ball seeing me getting my just desserts." Serena squared her shoulders, turned around and smiled at Darien, and this time, he was happy to see that the melancholy air about her had dissipated.
"I don't need to go back there just to appreciate what I have now. Seeing you and Isabella everyday, spending time with you, knowing that you love me, that's all I need. You two make me feel that I've accomplished something far more important than those girls gave me credit for." She blushed and peered at him through her lashes. "I have to get Isabella's laundry downstairs. I'll be right back."
Darien nodded and waited until she closed the door softly behind her. "So, your mommy's never had a prom. Interesting," he murmured against Isabella's head. "Very interesting indeed."
By the time Serena came back, a small basket of dried baby clothes balanced on her hip, Darien had fallen asleep in her bed, the blanket tucked around him and Isabella. She set the basket down softly and tiptoed to her closet where she kept a camera loaded with film. She fixed the lens and snapped a photo of Darien and Isabella sleeping peacefully and smiled thoughtfully, watching her family with love in her eyes. She set the camera down, crept to the bed and got under the blanket, snuggling against Darien, laying her hand softly on top of his.
She sighed contentedly and seconds later, joined them in their sleep.
***
Music, the clinking together of crystal champagne flutes and polite chatter greeted Serena and Darien when they entered Luna Farrington's mansion. Every year, Luna held a fundraiser gala to promote awareness for the plight of women's rights in third world countries. Serena found it humorously ironic that she was at a party to benefit third world countries while they dined on canapés and caviar. She hesitated before handing the butler her wrap, looking at the door through which she entered as if she wanted to flee.
"Serena?" Darien asked, placing a hand on the small of her back. "Are you okay?"
Serena nodded and the butler, sensing that the girl wanted some privacy, excused himself from the room, her wrap in tow. Once he was gone, Serena swallowed and gestured for Darien to move closer to her.
"Are you sure I belong here?" Darien had to fight to suppress his groan. Serena had been feeling apprehensive about attending the party, worried that she wouldn't fit in. He had tried to ease her worries by buying her the glittery silver dress that she was surreptitiously admiring in a store window when they were shopping for baby clothes. She tried to deny it but Darien could see that she really wanted that dress but was too proud to tell him so the next day, he bought it for her.
While they were getting ready that night, Serena plagued him with her worries about not fitting in with the upper-class crowd, especially after her much-talked about return to the Shields house with Darien's child. Coupled with her insecurities about the way her post-natal body looked in the backless, form-fitting dress with plunging neckline and side slits going up to her mid-thigh, Darien had one hell of a time convincing her to come out of her room when it was time for them to leave.
Now, Darien tilted her chin up with his finger so he could look into her eyes. "Serena, if you really don't feel comfortable being here, despite my assurances that I won't leave your side for one minute, then we'll leave. Just say the word and I'll get the valet to bring the car around."
Well now, Serena felt ashamed for putting Darien into such a predicament. His sincere concern for her well-being made her question her insecurities. After all, what did she care what some uppity woman in a dress that probably cost more than her car back home thought about her relationship, past and present, with Darien?
She smiled at him reassuringly and hooked her arm through his. Patting her hand, he led her into the grand hall where the majority of the guests mingled, making idle chit chat in their finery, a sight that Serena had yet to get used to. Darien looked around the crowded room and waved when he saw his parents who had arrived about a half hour before them.
"Darien dear," Candace said as she kissed his cheek. "I'm so glad that you two are finally here."
Serena smiled politely and looked around the room. Walter came up and offered her his arm. "Hello Walter," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She smiled inwardly when his cheeks turned to a light shade of pink.
Walter tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow securely before leading her to an exquisite marble fireplace-clearly the focal point of the room-followed closely by Darien and his mother. He introduced Serena to the group of men and women belonging to Walter and Candace's country club as 'my son's girlfriend' and patted her hand with a pride akin to that of a proud father. Serena couldn't help but feel touched and the light squeeze she gave his arm told him so.
After about fifteen minutes of superficial small talk, Darien excused himself and Serena and led her to the refreshments table. He had had his fill of 'country club news' to last him a good long while. Besides, he was afraid that his bored fidgeting was beginning to show. After that mind-numbing conversation, he was thanking his lucky stars that he declined-politely-the membership the country club offered him in respect to his father.
"Thank God we got out of there," he muttered under his breath as he grabbed two flutes of champagne from a passing tray. He handed one of the glasses to Serena and took a sip from his own. Pleasantly surprised, he looked at the glass in his hand and took another sip. "That's pretty good. But then again, Luna's always had good taste in alcohol." Looking around discreetly to see if anyone was watching, Darien mimed drinking motions with his hand while Serena smothered her laughter with her hand.
"Stop that!" she scolded lightly, looking over her shoulder. "Someone might see you!"
Darien opened his mouth to say something when he heard a familiar voice that made his blood run cold. "Well, isn't this a small world?"
"Trista! How lovely to see you here." Serena smiled warmly at the dark haired woman in greeting.
"Oh yes. I was pleasantly surprised when I received an invitation last year. It's nice to see you here too. I missed you last year although I saw Darien," Trista said, taking a few canapés and putting them on her plate.
Darien fisted his hands in his pockets. Their night together occurred a few weeks after they saw each other here and about one month before Isabella was born. The thought that he was with Trista while Serena was carrying his daughter sickened him. Of course, Darien was smart enough to know that Trista was baiting him-her defiantly smug expression said it all. Brows furrowed, he wrapped an arm around Serena's shoulder and fixed a look of indifference on his face.
"So what have you been up to, Trista? Still dating Michael Rubeus?" Serena asked unabashedly as she placed her empty glass on another passing tray.
"Oh, we broke up a few months ago. He wanted to settle down and I just wasn't interested. I prefer keeping my options open." Trista's eyes roved over Darien's body as if she were assessing him-or undressing him. Either way, Darien didn't like it. He tightened his hold in what he hoped looked like a casual move and glared at her.
"Oh Serena, you should see our new line," Trista continued. "Our new men's line is to die for." Again, her eyes strayed over to Darien's direction. "Darien, you should come to the shop one day-I'll give you a personal fitting."
Serena had been watching Trista carefully while they were conversing and she couldn't shake the suspicious feeling that she was checking Darien out. Feeling uncomfortable, she scanned the room until her eyes rested upon a pair of familiar faces.
"Oh look, Darien-Andrew and Rita are here. If you'll excuse us, Trista, we simply _must_ say hello." Without waiting for an answer, Serena wrapped her arms around Darien's and tugged him away from Trista and her leering eyes. She had been in Trista's position many times and knew the signs to watch out for. She didn't want to suspect Trista of any wrongdoing but she'd prefer not to take any chances.
"Hey Drew, Rita." Darien pecked a polite kiss on Rita's cheek and gave Andrew a quick, one-armed hug.
Serena hung back, not yet feeling comfortable with Andrew-her former therapist-knowing all her childhood secrets and teenage indiscretions. It was unsettling that one person could know so much about her yet at the same time, know so little. "Hello, Dr. Eis-I mean, Andrew. Hello Rita."
Andrew heaved an inward sigh. Serena was still hesitant every time they encountered each other-a grand total of 3 times since she found out who he really was. She was aloof at best around him and only slightly wary of Rita. He felt slightly insulted on Rita's behalf since she knew nothing about Serena's situation but he kept quiet about it to preserve his friendship with Darien and, admittedly, to regain the trust Serena once had in him. "Hello Serena," he returned politely.
Darien, sensing the discomfort Serena and Andrew were feeling, pulled out his wallet thick with-not money-Isabella's pictures at almost every stage of her development and began to proudly show the off to Andrew and Rita. "See this picture? I took it the day before Isabella started walking." He flipped through more photos while Serena flashed Andrew and Rita a long-suffering grin that belied her amusement.
"Here's the picture of Isabella playing in her bucket-she hates the kiddie pool but she loves splashing around in that old galvanized bucket. Serena put her in there to take her picture and she just took to it. Won't let the gardener have it back..." Serena patted Darien's arm fondly and politely excused herself so she could get a glass of punch. Darien just waved her off and pulled out another wallet to show Andrew and Rita the latest batch of pictures.
Serena chuckled to herself when she heard Andrew groaning as Darien launched into the story of the time Isabella said "daddy". "She says 'Da-EE' but it's pretty obvious what she means..."
She smiled as she ladled out a glass of punch, thinking of that day when Isabella first called Darien daddy. He had been getting prepared to leave the house for work when Isabella all of a sudden blurted out "Da-EE", stopping Darien in his tracks halfway to his car. Had he not been on his way to a very important meeting with an equally important potential client, Serena had a feeling that Darien would've called in sick. As it was, Darien was a half hour late to his meeting and called Serena every hour from work to ask if Isabella said "The Word" again. He must've called the house a dozen times before Candace got fed up and scolded him over the phone.
Serena watched as Trista, on the arm of a man of about 60 years, give or take, walk up to the little group and start conversing with them. She didn't realize her eyebrow rose at Trista's close proximity to Darien or that her fingers tightened around the crystal goblet when Trista lay her hand intimately in Darien's forearm after Andrew seemingly told a funny joke to make everyone laugh. She frowned deeply when Trista let her fingers trail lingeringly over his arm before taking her hand off.
"You see that, don't you?"
"See what, Candace?" Serena went back to sipping her punch, continuing to watch Trista. Out of the corner of her eye, Serena saw Candace turn to her with an incredulous look on her face. She sighed inwardly and faced Candace, carefully concealing all signs of emotion from her face.
"Don't pretend you don't see what's happening over there. That hussy is hanging all over my son-your boyfriend and the father of your child, might I add-in a manner that makes her friendly display highly suspect." Anger flickered in Candace's eyes for a second before she regained control and smiled at a passing guest.
"Candace, Trista is a friend. She no more wants to 'steal' Darien from me than I want to steal that man hanging onto her arm from her." Still, she kept a close eye on the group. Darien was still showing his pictures to Trista's geriatric date.
"How long have you known this friend of yours? If I'm not mistaken, you neither receive correspondence from her nor have you ever had any scheduled outings with her. As far as I'm concerned, the last time you've interacted with this Trista-" Candace said her name with as much disdain as she could muster and continued in hushed tones "-was during that fashion show a _year and a half ago_. Tell me, what do you know about this woman?"
When Serena's face turned red with embarrassment and anger, Candace barked out a cynical laugh. "I'm saying this as the grandmother of your child. Keep a close eye on that trollop and an even closer eye on Darien." She eyed Serena with a mixture of pity and concern. "One would think that a woman of your past would recognize what a woman is capable of when she has her eyes on a man. I imagine no less than what you've done way back when." With that last barb, Candace left Serena alone by the punch bowl to join Walter and their friends by the window.
Serena fumed for a minute or two after Candace's sweeping departure, trying to convince herself that Candace was speaking as a concerned grandmother and not as a condescending bitch. They had been getting along better than they have in a long while and she didn't want to ruin it by arguing with her any further, especially when it appeared that she was right.
When she saw Trista shift closer to Darien on the guise of getting a better look at a picture of Isabella, Serena set down her glass so forcefully that a few drops splashed out and dripped on the pristinely starched white damask tablecloth-'Oh well, they wouldn't use that as a tablecloth if they can't afford to have it cleaned,' she thought absently-and stalked her way to Darien, whose arm she grabbed and pulled him away from the gathering.
"Excuse us, my boyfriend-" she put extra emphasis on the last word "-owes me a dance." She pulled Darien to the dance floor without much trouble and wrapped her arms possessively around him. 'So this is what it's like to be on the other side.'
***
Darien growled and stared at all the papers on his desk, glaring at the walls in his office. It was seven in the evening and everyone in the office had gone home more than two hours ago. Just as he was about to go home, the secretary of the CEO of a major client faxed him the business proposal he had been waiting all day for. He knew he shouldn't have read anything when the papers began spewing out of the fax machine, but he just couldn't resist scanning the opening paragraphs and, to his annoyance, found that there had been a miscommunication between them because the secretary had all the wrong information. Since he had a meeting with that same CEO the next day, he wearily sat down in his leather swivel chair and began reading.
Now, almost two and a half hours later, he was still trying to make sense of the papers in front of him. Being the boss sure had its ups and downs, he decided as he tilted his chair back and placed his feet up on the desk. He was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't even notice that someone had walked into his office until he heard a familiar voice that sent his heart plummeting to his stomach.
"Busy?"
Trista stood in front of his desk, hands resting lightly on the surface, fingers splayed, her back arched seductively as she grinned saucily at him. She wore a black trench coat that was cinched loosely at the waist by a belt.
"What are you doing here?" he asked warily, warning bells going off in his head. "How did you get past security?"
Trista smiled seductively and moved around the desk to stand directly in front of him, pointedly ignoring his questions. She gave the belt a little tug, opening the coat to let Darien have a peek at the black garment underneath.
"Trista," Darien said warningly. He backed his chair up even as Trista advanced towards him looking like a cat on the prowl.
With an almost predatory look in her eyes, Trista eased out of her coat to reveal a body scantily clad in a sheer black bustier with a ribbon ruffle trim, from which garters extended to hold her stockings in place, and a matching G-string that had the same ruffled trim across the top. Her breasts, despite being covered up by the bustier, were in full view due to the sheer material and the G-string covered little else. The high heels she was wearing made her long legs look even longer.
Darien averted his eyes, his face flushing with the arousal he felt at seeing a near-naked woman in the room-hey, he _was_ still a man, after all-and the discomfort he felt that the woman wasn't Serena. He opened his mouth to tell her to put her coat back on when he felt soft lips upon his own, swallowing whatever words he was going say.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to enjoy the kiss but thoughts of Serena kept pushing to the forefront of his mind. With what little willpower he had, he grasped Trista's shoulders and roughly pushed her away.
"Trista, don't do this."
Trista laughed mockingly at him. "Why, because you're with Serena now?"
A quiet anger burned in Darien's eyes. "Yes."
"That blonde twit couldn't even sleep with you without saddling you with a kid. Face it, Darien-she's trapped you into a relationship you don't want. People like us aren't cut out to take care of little brats like the kid she's stuck you with-" she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Darien rose to his feet so quickly, his chair rolled away and hit the wall with a soft thud.
"Listen to me," he seethed, "because I'm only going to say this once. Serena and Isabella are my life." He jerked her arm to pull her forward so he could look at her eyes. Fear had replaced the sexual bravado and Darien was glad because he wanted her to fear him.
"They are my life," he repeated with cold calm. "One of the biggest regrets of my life was the night I spent with you and I thank God that it was cut short when you kicked me out for 'accidentally' saying Serena's name. Talk about a Freudian slip, huh?"
Darien almost felt sorry for Trista when her eyes filled with tears but he wasn't through yet. "Get out of my office, Trista, before you embarrass us both any further."
Sobbing, Trista collected her fallen coat off the floor and held it in her hands. "You're a bastard, Darien Shields. You know what I'll be doing six months from now when you get tired of your little fuck-toy? I'll be laughing my head off as she screws you over in court for every penny you have. I'll-" she didn't get to finish her sentence because Darien gripped her by the arms and shoved her against the wall.
Her scream was cut off when Darien slammed his mouth on hers and forced his tongue past her lips. He kissed her savagely, his tongue tangling with hers so that she almost gagged. He tore away from her, his breathing ragged and his eyes wild with what Trista thought of as passion.
"Did you like that?" he asked in a low voice. His eyes darkened when she nodded, unable to speak. The corners of his lips curled into a mocking version of a smile as he parted her legs with his own. She gasped when she felt his fingers caress her lightly between her legs.
"How about this?" Trista's senses were on fire. Her heart was thumping so loudly she almost didn't hear his next words. "You want to be my little slut, don't you? Hmm? Is that it?"
His words were starting to register in Trista's mind. Confusion swam in her eyes and she tried to push Darien away but he just locked stares with her. "I'll make love to Serena one day and I'll fuck you the next. How's that sound, whore?"
"Let me go." Trista hated how her voice trembled. She banged her fists against his chest but his face remained stony, oblivious to the pain she must have been inflicting upon him. The tears were pouring down her face now but she didn't care-she just wanted to get away from Darien Shields, wanted to forget him forever. "Let me go!" she cried, her voice rising to near hysteria.
Finally, Darien stepped back and Trista burst away from the wall, anxious to get to the door. She almost reached the doorknob when she felt her arm being jerked back. She whimpered as she was forced to face Darien once again.
"You breathe a word of this or the night we had together and I'll make sure you live to regret it." To emphasize his point, Darien tightened his grip on her arm. "It would be a shame if your fashion career tanked when you were just getting started."
"How dare you humiliate and threaten me like this!" she cried in belated outrage. She shrank back when he laughed derisively and released her arm.
"You open yourself up for ridicule when you dress like a hussy and go after a man with no interest. You open yourself up for threats when you deliberately try to cause trouble for a man with a family he loves more than life itself. Now, must I call security to get you out of my life, or must I ridicule your pathetic attempts at seduction?"
"Go to hell, Darien Shields!" Vaguely reminded of the night they spent together when she had uttered those very same words, she yanked the door open and fled into the relative safety of the hallway. Trista could hardly hear Darien's laughter over the sound of her own sobs.
Darien released the breath he had been holding and slammed the door, kneading his temples with his fingers. With brows furrowed, he picked up the phone and pressed a button, linking him to the security office downstairs.
"Yes, this is Darien Shields. There should be a woman with long dark hair wearing a black trench coat running through the lobby right about now. Memorize her face; if you let her in this building _one more time_, you will be out of a job." Without waiting for a response, he slammed the receiver down, effectively ending the conversation.
Driving home, he kept thinking of Serena and Isabella and how the night could have ended so much more differently had they not been in his life. His better half told him that he should be remorseful of his treatment to Trista but his larger half, the half that loved Serena purely and irrationally, told him that he shouldn't waste any more time thinking of a woman who had tried to destroy everything that he treasured with Serena and Isabella. He pushed the button to make all the power windows in the car go down to air out any lingering scent of Trista, despite having scrubbed his skin vigorously with soap and water in his private restroom for a half hour.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally turned into the long drive leading to his home, grateful that the day was almost over and that he could see Serena again. He glanced at the LCD display on the dashboard and felt a pang of disappointment. 'Damn Trista,' he thought vengefully as he got out of the car, 'I didn't get to say goodnight to Isabella.'
He entered the quiet mansion and was about to head upstairs to Serena's room when he heard her voice from a long distance away. He paused mid-stride and reversed his direction, heading towards the sound of her laughter. He briefly identified the husky sound of Lita's laughter as the kitchen door swung open and Lita herself walked through it.
Her eyes lit up and would have told Serena that he was home had Darien silenced her with a finger to his lips. Nodding in understanding, she touched his shoulder in a gesture of goodnight and headed to her room, eyes twinkling, her mind no doubt already working on the story she would tell her coworkers.
Serena was standing by the window overlooking the large stone patio, the moon's rays highlighting her features. Darien took a second to let his soul absorb her presence and quietly made his way to her. Before he could slip his arms around her waist, she spoke. "You're home."
Darien wrapped his arms around her and nodded his head. "How'd you know?"
She turned her face to smile at him and offered her cheek up for a kiss. Darien kissed her lips instead. "I saw your reflection in the window," she replied cheekily.
"Do you know, Serena Mathis, how much I love you?" he asked. They stood there, enjoying the nightscape view of the garden in silence save for the occasional cricket outside and the quiet hum of the refrigerator.
"Darien," Serena said after a few moments, "it's almost Isabella's first birthday. Can you believe it?"
"Umm, no," he murmured. "I can't believe half the things she's doing already. She's started to walk, and saying small words. Do you know how much I love hearing her say 'Daddy'?"
Serena sighed happily and snuggled her back against him. After another moment's silence, she spoke. "You know," she said hesitantly, "my maternity leave officially ends a few days after her birthday. It was supposed to have ended last month but I was allowed to extend it to a full year."
"So...what are you saying?" Somewhere in the depths of Darien's stomach, a tiny ball of ice started to form.
"Well, Isabella and I could go back to Toronto and you could visit every once in a while or..."
"Or?"
"We could stay here," she whispered. "I was thinking that if I stayed, I could go back to school and take some courses in psychology so I can counsel kids who have been sexually abused. That is, if I stay." She turned her head to look into his eyes. "What do you think?"
Darien rested his forehead against hers and kissed her eyelid. "I think you'd make a great counselor. Besides, I don't think Isabella wants to stay an only child forever."
Serena gasped softly and closed her eyes, the full extent of Darien's words wrapping around her like a blanket. She opened her eyes to find Darien gazing intently at her and her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. Overcome with emotion, she could only nod her head and blink away her tears. Serena turned herself around in Darien's arms and kissed Darien's lips with all the love she felt in her heart.
"Then we'll stay."
***
"Darien, could you point that thing somewhere else, please?" The exasperation in Serena's voice wasn't hard to miss given the annoyance written all over her face. "I'm trying to dress Isabella and every time she sees that camcorder, she gets distracted."
Darien just waved Serena off with his free hand. "Wave to the camera, sweetheart. Happy birthday, baby."
Isabella's head followed the camera much to Serena's growing frustration. She smiled at the camera and when Darien tilted the view screen, she clapped her hands and laughed. "Love da-EEE!" she exclaimed, grabbing at the camera just as Serena stuffed her into her pink gingham dress. Darien's chest puffed out with pride.
"I taught her that one," he told Serena, as if she didn't already know he spent three hours with Isabella saying the same two words over and over.
"Yes, I know. Now will you please go downstairs and see to it that the decorations have all been put up? And don't forget to call that clown to make sure he arrives at 2 o'clock on the dot. He was a bit sketchy when I told him he had to be here by that time because the birthday girl needs to take a nap right after." She would have ticked off more things for Darien to do had Isabella not interrupted her with a slobbery kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks kid," Darien said cheekily then, hurried out the door when Serena glared at him.
"Love mama," Isabella said, patting her cheek, instantly winning a smile and a cuddle from her mother.
When Isabella was finally dressed and her curls were pulled away from her face with a pink ribbon, Serena picked her up and carried her downstairs.
Now that Isabella had begun walking, the entire Shields mansion had been baby-proofed top to bottom; it now looked more like a daycare than the intended French country chateau. Isabella's lurching, unsteady gait made Serena nervous not only for her safety but also for the safety of all the valuables in the house. One day, the inevitable happened and Isabella accidentally knocked over an antique vase that Candace had ever since her honeymoon in Italy. Serena didn't know who felt worse, Isabella or her, when Candace rushed from the other room and discovered the broken shards on the floor and a crying baby, her mother offering flustered apologies and feeble attempts at repayment. To her shock, Candace smiled and waved Serena's apologies away.
"Don't worry about it, Serena," she said, even deigning to wink conspiratorially at an uneasy Serena, "I never liked that vase anyway. Walter's mother gave that to us on our wedding day and I've had no choice but to keep it in my home ever since. Isabella did me a favour by breaking it and the best part is, Walter's wrapped around this little girl's finger. He won't mind that it's broken."
At the bottom of the staircase, Serena put Isabella down so she could walk on her own. Isabella's halting lurches and stops made Serena think of the newborn colts down at the stables. When they finally reached the backyard, where a huge white tent had been erected underneath which round tables and white chairs had been set up, the entire staff that had been working on the last-minute preparations stopped and began calling out birthday greetings to Isabella as if she were a miniature queen amongst her people.
"Hi!" Isabella greeted back, bestowing upon her loyal subjects a friendly wave. They cheered enthusiastically and went back to their work. Isabella looked around, taking in all the activity being done on her behalf and smiled, seeing a familiar face. "Da-EEE!"
Darien rushed up the steps and picked up Isabella, twirling her high in the air and smothering her with kisses. Isabella squealed with glee and grabbed his nose, making Serena laugh.
"What time are they supposed to get here?" Serena asked, taking Isabella from Darien's arms and setting her in the playpen where she happily played with the toys inside.
"Celeste called from the hotel a few minutes ago and said that they were on their way," Darien replied. Since Celeste's husband, Robert, was on a business trip to LA for the week, Celeste thought she might as well tag along for a visit with her nieces. To surprise Serena, Darien had flown Sammy and Mika, and Raye, Justin and Kayla to LA where Sammy and Justin grudgingly agreed to stay at Darien's house upon his request.
Serena turned around at the sound of her name. "Hey Sammy! Where's Mika?"
"I let her sleep in." Sammy said. When Serena looked pointedly in Darien's direction, Sammy rolled his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. "Shields," he acknowledged stiffly.
"Sammy," Darien replied. He excused himself to go help out the stable hands with the ponies. A makeshift corral had been set up in another part of the garden for the younger children to ride the ponies in a sedate circle.
When he was gone, Sammy leaned over the playpen to tickle Isabella's bare feet.
"Place looks great."
Serena took in all the party preparations with pride. "Thanks. Candace helped me plan the party. I wanted to just have a small party with just the family but Candace insisted on making this day an event to remember." She paused to look at the pink and white balloons anchored to the backs of the chairs with ribbon, fluttering in the cool breeze. "Now that I see what she had in mind, I'm glad she talked me into it."
"So who are you inviting?" Sammy asked.
"Darien's extended family, their friends, my family and my friends," Serena replied.
Sammy seemed to take this in stride. He opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it again after a moment's hesitation. "Sammy?"
"Are you sure you want to stay here with him? You can go back to school in Toronto just as easily as you can in LA, you know."
Serena laid a hand on her brother's shoulder. He always did have a hard time letting go, she reasoned. "Sammy, my decision to stay here has nothing to do with going back to school and you know that. Can't you see how happy Isabella and I are here with Darien?"
"Weren't you happy in Toronto?" he asked, a wounded tone in his voice.
"I was," she began, "but I'm happiest wherever Darien is. He's Isabella's father, Sammy. They love each other so much. And I love him too."
Sammy cast his eyes down on the ground, finally accepting the truth. It hurt that she wanted to leave her home for a man who didn't deserve her. Still, she was an adult now with a child of her own and, Sammy had to admit, she had been making a fine life for herself so far. "You promise to visit often?" he asked in a small voice, trying to be brave.
Serena smiled with relief. "Of course we will. You're Isabella's only uncle-it's your job to spoil her."
Sammy smiled ruefully. "I'll try." A moment's silence and then, "Serena?"
"Yeah?"
"Think I should ask Mika to marry me?" His face turned pink in spite of himself. He grinned sheepishly when he saw that Serena had tears in her eyes. "I take that as a yes?"
A few tears fell as Serena nodded her head. "Oh come here," she cried, pulling him into a hug. "My baby brother's getting married."
Sammy let himself relish his sister's affection before pushing her away gently to preserve his male ego. "I just hope she says yes."
"You better believe she's gonna say yes." Serena sat down on the top step, keeping an eye on Isabella in the playpen and another eye on the progress of the party setup.
"So, when are you going to ask her?" Sammy sat down beside his sister and shrugged.
"I was thinking of asking her when we get back to Toronto. You know, romantic dinner, soft music, get down on one knee and pop the big question. She's been dropping hints about getting married for months and she thinks that I haven't gotten the message yet but I think anyone who finds all his Sports Illustrated magazines in the trash and nothing but bridal magazines throughout the house would know that something's up."
Serena laughed softly and pulled her brother in for a one-armed hug. "I'm sure she'll say yes. She'd be stupid not to."
She was about to say more when Lita burst out of the kitchen door, gesturing frantically at Serena. Just as she took a few steps in Lita's direction, Isabella saw her leaving and began to shriek, making grabbing motions towards her mother in a panic.
"Mama no!"
Torn between her baby and an impending kitchen crisis, Serena turned desperately to Sammy. "Go," he said, picking up Isabella and tickled her bare feet to make her forget being abandoned by her mother.
"Thanks Sammy," Serena said, relieved that Isabella stopped crying. "We'll talk more about this later, okay?"
A few hours later, under the protection of the big white tent, Serena and Darien stood behind their daughter who was sitting in a high chair, singing "Happy Birthday" with their closest family and friends. Isabella looked around, perplexed at the commotion on her behalf, took in the small pink and white cake with a lit candle in the centre, and immediately began to whimper quietly.
While the guests were finishing the song off, interrupted from time to time with the odd "Aww, she's so cute", Darien stepped back and watched as Serena comforted Isabella and showed her how to blow the candle out.
"See honey? Like this," she encouraged in her 'mommy' voice, blowing gently to demonstrate how it was done. "Just like when we practiced with daddy."
Darien smiled softly, picturing himself holding a 5-year old Isabella's hand as he escorted her to kindergarten on her first day of school. He saw her bravely trying to fit in with the other children, looking over her shoulder to see if he was still there. She smiled, reassured that he was still there and would remain as long as she needed him to be.
As quickly as that image was created, a new one took its place, this time of an older version of himself holding a bicycle steady as a seven-year old Isabella pedaled shakily down the driveway. "Don't let me go, Daddy!" she cried, gripping the handles tightly as she veered crazily from right to left. "I won't," he reassured her. She didn't even notice that he was standing at the end of the driveway, getting farther and farther away as she pedaled on her own down the sidewalk.
The next time the scene changed, Isabella was a teenager charging down the stairs towards a boy who was obviously taking her out on her first date. Darien could tell, as he stood watching them from the shadows, that his daughter was very excited behind the thinly veiled formality she displayed when she introduced him to her date. Before he could kiss his daughter goodbye, the scene shifted once again.
This time, he stood in a tuxedo beside a beautiful woman dressed in white. His eyes filled with proud tears when he realized that it was his daughter's wedding day and he was just about to walk her down the aisle. "Don't be sad, Daddy," she whispered. "I'll always be your little girl." The heavy wooden doors swung open as the organ music began to play. The scene faded away just as Darien lifted the veil over her head at the altar to give her a kiss. "You'll always be my little girl."
Darien came to at the sound of applause and realized that he had just imagined a whole lifetime with his daughter in a matter of seconds. With a little puff of air, Isabella blew out her candle and clapped her hands, pleased with herself. The crowd cheered when she took a handful of cake and spread it all over her face, many of them glad to have a larger version of it standing off to the side for their consumption.
Darien laughed, still a bit shaken by his vision, when Isabella offered him a handful of cake. She giggled when he ate the messy offering from her palm and gave him a sticky kiss on the cheek to the crowd's delight while Serena snapped a picture.
Because his heartbeat was still erratic, Darien pulled Serena close and held her against him. Sensing that something was up, Serena wrapped her arms around him, running them up and down his back and whispering comforting words in his ear.
And in her arms, Darien knew: Serena was the one. He thought that having his child, the beautiful little girl they created a year and nine months ago, was the reason he loved Serena so much but he was wrong. His vision, prediction, figment of his imagination-whatever one wanted to call it-taught him that Serena was the only one he wanted by his side as he watched Isabella grow up into a woman. He couldn't imagine that future, or any future, without Serena.
"I'm going to marry you, Serena Mathis," he whispered just as the children started laughing and clapping enthusiastically at the clown's antics. He chuckled when he saw Kayla lifted her dress over her head to get the clown's attention, much to her parents' horror. Raye, three months into her second pregnancy, practically ran to the front of the tent from her seat to tug her daughter's dress down.
"What did you say?" Serena asked, her attention on Raye and Kayla. Darien shook his head and smiled privately. "What?"
"I just said 'I love you, Serena Mathis.'" Serena beamed happily at him and pecked his lips lightly.
"I love you too." A cheer erupted from the children when the clown pulled a white dove from the depths of a cavernous pocket. Serena and Darien laughed when Isabella emitted an ear-piercing shriek when the dove flew close to her ear.
Darien rested his arm around Serena's shoulders and sighed in contentment as he watched his daughter imitate Kayla by pulling up her dress. No, life could not get any better than this. Isabella was blossoming into a beautiful child, his father was getting better with each passing day, his slow recovery attributed to walking with his granddaughter each morning around the garden and his mother was starting to come around about Serena-which was good because he was going to propose to her.
ust as soon as the perfect opportunity presented itself.
***
Darien stood in front of the fogged up mirror wearing nothing but a towel around his trim waist and a smug grin. He flushed when he caught himself flexing his muscles in front of the mirror and laughed quietly at himself for his foolishness. He almost wanted to shout with glee but he didn't want to wake up the sleeping blonde in the next room.
Darien glanced at his watch on the marble counter and grimaced. He had to get to work in an hour's time and here he was, not even shaved yet. He grinned ruefully at his reflection and grabbed his shaving kit from the shelf, ready to begin his morning rituals when a slight movement in the mirror caught his eye. He smiled: Serena had woken up.
Serena stood behind Darien, leaning against the doorframe in nothing but the white t-shirt she had on last night and white cotton bikini panties. He had a flash of remembrance to last night and how she snuck into his room after they came home from their date.
They watched a hockey game because the LA Kings were playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Serena's favourite team. He recalled with fond amusement Serena's reaction when he took her to the seats directly behind the Leafs. They were so close to the players that their sweat and spit would have splashed on them had it not been for the protective glass barriers. Serena loved it. Somehow, Serena had thought that they'd be sitting in the nosebleed section because it was a last-minute suggestion of Darien's that they go. Little did she know that business tycoons had sat in the seat that she was sitting in, all courtesy of Shields Financial of course. Why, even the king of a small Mediterranean country-and a potential client-had taken in a game or two while he was in town negotiating a deal with Shields Financial.
Darien didn't so much watch the game as he watched Serena. He loved her triumphant expression when the Leafs captain scored his third goal of the evening-a hat trick, she informed him with a condescending air that she didn't realize she had-and the way her lips would curl into a pout when a Kings player managed to get the puck past the formidable Leafs goalie. He watched her swoon when one of the players winked at her and watched her struggle to retain a polite smile when the same player smiled to reveal a mouth with almost the same number of teeth as Isabella. He took in her delighted squeal when the winning goal was scored by the Leafs, thus ending their four game losing streak. Since it was already getting late and Darien had work the next day, they headed home after the game, Serena making a play-by-play account of the game as if he hadn't been there with her.
After checking up on Isabella, who was asleep in crib with her arms and legs flailed out as if she had just dropped in exhaustion, and giving Serena a long kiss goodnight at her bedroom door, Darien regretfully trudged back into his own room and got ready for bed. He stripped down into his boxer briefs and, too tired to put on his pajama bottoms, crawled into the bed. His eyes were just about closed when he heard his door creak open.
He struggled to open one eye and what he saw had him opening the other eye in silent anticipation. Serena stood in the open doorway with the moon casting its light on her from the open window. She was wearing a white t-shirt that hung loosely on her, stopping just an inch above the waistband of her shorts to reveal her toned stomach, the reward of so many hours spent in Darien's gym to get her figure back after having Isabella. Shorts clung on her narrow hips, making her look more like a little league baseball player rather than a woman with seduction on her mind.
Darien sat up in the bed, watching her, waiting for her to make the first move. She said his name and, though the light in the room was dim, he saw the look of lust and confidence in her eyes. He watched as she walked toward the bed, shedding an article of clothing with each step. Finally, when she was gloriously naked in front of him, he pulled the covers back to allow her to climb in with him. She helped him remove his boxer briefs and then pushed him back down on the bed before straddling him.
They kissed hotly, the pent-up passion that had been building up ever since they first met fuelling their desire. In one smooth motion, Darien entered Serena, drawing a shuddering gasp from her while his vision exploded in a burst of white. They stayed locked in that position for a few seconds before Serena began moving her hips slowly. They said nothing, preferring to let their bodies speak for themselves.
Now, back in the bathroom, Darien felt soft arms encircle him from behind and was instantly brought back into the present. Darien felt her lips brushing the ten scratches on his back. They stood in that position for a while, Serena's arms wrapped around Darien's torso, her taut nipples pressing into his back. He reached behind him and slipped his hand underneath the waistband of her panties, kneading the smooth skin of her buttocks. Darien grinned smugly when Serena gasped and tightened her hold.
He watched Serena's face in the mirror; he could almost see the gears turning in her head. Sure enough, she planted one last kiss on his shoulder and hoisted herself up on the marble counter. He raised his eyebrow in question and was rewarded with a mischievous smirk. Wrapping her legs around his waist-an action that pleased Darien immensely-Serena brought him closer to her so that there was hardly an inch of space between them. She hooked her feet behind him and squirmed into a more comfortable position, blushing when she felt him harden immediately.
Without saying a word, Serena leaned over, squirted a dollop of shaving cream into her hand and spread it gently across the lower half of his face. Darien held his breath as Serena began to gently shave him with smooth, confident strokes. Her eyes were clouded with a mixture of concentration and desire, a combination that Darien found irresistible.
The room was silent except for the sound of the razor scratching his face and their shallow breathing. Darien leaned closer to Serena and squeezed her thighs to pull her closer to him. She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow as she struggled to school her mouth into a tight line, even though the corners were pulling up into a smile. She coughed in warning, her eyes flickering to the razor in her hand. Darien grinned boyishly underneath all the shaving cream and squeezed her thighs in roguish apology.
When she finally finished, Serena ran a face cloth under hot water and cleaned his face of any remaining shaving cream. Then, she pooled a generous amount of aftershave into the palm of her hand and patted the newly shaven area lightly. The light peck she gave his lips sent Darien's head spinning with barely-contained lust.
As if reading his mind, Serena tilted her head up to give Darien a deep kiss. She moaned when one of his hands traveled up her shirt, cupping her breast as he slowly leaned her backwards towards the mirror. She braced herself against the mirror with one hand as Darien's marauding mouth traveled its way up from her bellybutton, her moans getting louder and louder, echoing off the limestone tiles.
Pleased with her reaction, Darien's other hand worked its way down to her panties and realized that Serena's hand had beaten him to the punch. Finding her panties cumbersome, he tore them off her body, the sound of ripping material drawing a shocked gasp from Serena. He murmured apologies to her but judging from the way she pressed his hand into her, Darien knew he was forgiven.
Their fingers worked together at a frenzied rhythm while their mouths fused in a searing kiss. Serena tore her mouth away to bite gently on Darien's shoulder as he drove his fingers into her relentlessly. It wasn't long before Darien felt Serena's inner walls clamp down on his fingers and she screamed his name, the tiled walls and floors amplifying the sound. Thoroughly self-satisfied, Darien stepped back to gloat in the afterglow of Serena's massive orgasm.
She lay against the mirror, one leg dangling over the counter while the other one hung loosely around his waist, her hand at the apex of her thighs. Her skin was flushed and dotted with steam and sweat, her blue eyes were glazed and unfocused as her breasts rose and fell with every breath she took. Finally, she snapped out of her stupor and smiled almost shyly at him, as if she wasn't the brazen seductress she was last night and a few minutes ago.
Making up his mind, Darien gently scooped her up into his arms and carried her back into the bedroom, her legs once again wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. 'Forget work,' he thought as the towel dropped on the floor in the middle of the room and Serena impaled herself upon his rigid member right moments before he laid her on the bed to continue what they started.
***
Serena sat cross-legged on the nursery room floor, glumly watching Isabella as she toddled back and forth around her room, presumably giving her newest stuffed animal-a present from Walter 'just because'-the grand tour. Normally, she would've been holding Isabella's hand, helping her introduce the fuzzy creature to her growing collection of dolls, stuffed animals and everything else that fell in between but today, she just couldn't muster enough energy to even get up. She moped about all day, only venturing downstairs to fix Isabella and herself something to eat before going back upstairs to the nursery where she played with Isabella half-heartedly. Feeling the need to be alone, she stayed away from Walter, Candace and the staff. Even Isabella, at her tender age of one, seemed to sense her mother's depressed state and didn't raise a fuss all day, except when she needed a diaper change or when she wanted to take a nap.
She sighed, knowing full well the reason for her depression. Today was the day before her 29th birthday and Darien had had to go on a sudden business trip to London two days ago to deal with business matters that were way over Serena's head. For his sake, Serena kept up an understanding and supportive façade and had even offered to drive him to the airport. When the jet took off, she dropped her mask and let disappointment sink in.
She couldn't help but remember the wonderful birthday party he threw for her two years ago. He had been on a business trip that time as well, she remembered, and had surprised her by coming home early and flying in her mother and brother from Canada. She didn't suppose that Darien had an elaborate plan to surprise her this year since the call from London came at around midnight and Darien was on the jet and hour and a half later, apologizing profusely for not going to be able to take her to the play she had been dying to see on her birthday.
She was so busy brooding that she didn't even notice Candace walk into the nursery until she was sitting down beside her. The sight of the dignified Candace sitting cross-legged on the floor in her immaculate linen slacks and cashmere sweater was enough to snap Serena out of her mood-at least, for now.
"Hello Candace," she greeted her, albeit a little dully. Not knowing what Candace could possibly want with her in the middle of the day, she grasped around for a relatively safe topic for her to make the appropriate small talk with. "How's the work going downstairs in the great room?"
For the past four days, the great room had been undergoing a slight renovation per Candace's orders, and the cacophony of sound being made by the construction crew's various power tools, was enough to drive almost all of the household occupants insane-except one. Isabella had been forever fascinated by the whirring, banging, and buzzing noises she heard coming from within the enclosed space and was constantly trying to escape her mother's vigilant eye to investigate, almost winding up with her fingers in a bucket of cement compound had it not been for the contractor's cry of alarm. Since then, Serena and Isabella had been banned from coming within 20 feet of the great room.
Isabella, finished with her tour, walked over to Serena and settled comfortably in her lap. Candace leaned over and tickled her feet. "The construction's going well, considering..."
"Considering?" Serena retied one of Isabella's ponytails.
"Considering that this was a last-minute operation, the construction crew's doing a remarkable job."
Serena turned to Candace. "Why was it such a rush job, anyway?"
"Oh, just a little whim of mine. I wanted to add a skylight in the room and from there, the whole project just grew and grew." Candace laughed and to Serena, the sound was that of a nervous woman on the verge of revealing a secret. She also couldn't help but notice that she didn't answer the question. She shrugged mentally and decided to change the subject.
"Have you heard from Darien today?" She hated how pathetic and clingy she sounded but she missed him so much.
"I talked to him last night but you were already asleep." Candace couldn't miss the flicker of disappointment in Serena's eyes and smiled. If she only knew, she thought gleefully. She made sure that the smile curling her lips upwards was gone before she looked Serena in the eye. "He said that he was coming home the day after tomorrow once business was all wrapped up."
If it was possible, Serena's face fell even more. "Oh, it's just that I was hoping he could still be back in time for my birthday."
"Oh my, yes. Your birthday's tomorrow, isn't it? We'll have to make sure to have Lita prepare a special dinner or something." Candace was beginning to enjoy herself.
"Oh, that's okay Candace. I don't feel much like celebrating." Candace reached over and patted her hand sympathetically.
"Nonsense, dear. It's nothing less than what Darien would've done were he here to celebrate with you." And because she couldn't resist the urge to grin, Candace covered her mouth with her hand, pretending to look thoughtful. "Cheer up, Serena. He wouldn't have missed your birthday for the world, you know that, right?"
"Yeah." She smiled softly at Candace. "Thanks Candace. I really appreciate it."
Knowing that Serena was talking about something that went deeper than their talk, Candace simply nodded and patted her hand once more before standing up, groaning when she felt her knees creak. "Anytime. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to a certain chef about a certain dinner she has to prepare tomorrow."
When Candace left the room, Serena cuddled the sleeping baby in her arms, stood up rather shakily, and placed her gently in her crib. She traced a finger lightly over Isabella's cheeks before giving her a kiss, wishing for all the world that she was that age once again. Softly, so she wouldn't disturb her, Serena backed out of the room and opened the door to her room to wallow in self-pity privately.
"Walter, I don't see why I have to put on this dress just to eat dinner," Serena complained irritably into the phone the next day.
"But it's your birthday," he explained with perhaps more patience than he had ever displayed in the time that Serena had known him. "We're having a special dinner in your honour, girlie, so I suggest you get a move on and hustle into that dress. Do I make myself clear?"
'There's the Walter we all know and love,' Serena thought, rolling her eyes. "Fine," she huffed into the receiver. "I'll be down in a few minutes." She ended the call before he could reply.
Muttering to herself, Serena yanked on the dress that had arrived by overnight mail from London that day-a "preliminary present" according to the enclosed note from Darien. She had preferred to save the dress for when he would actually get to see it but Walter wasn't the sort of person one could easily say no to.
Feeling a little foolish in her fancy dress without makeup, Serena stalked over to her vanity table and began to apply a touch of lip-gloss, eye shadow, and blush. Stomping over to her closet, she selected the appropriate shoe to match her outfit and slipped them on.
'Might as well go all out,' she thought crankily, fumbling with her tennis bracelet clasp. Once it was on, she dashed out the door and practically ran as fast as her finery would allow down the stairs where Walter waited for her impatiently.
"Took you long enough," Walter greeted her gruffly as she laced her arm around his.
"Why are you wearing a tuxedo, Walter?" This day was getting weirder and weirder. First, Amy phoned her very early in the day and insisted that they get together and "do something girly" for her birthday, which turned out to be a morning at the spa. Not that Serena didn't appreciate the total body scrub-down with every possible organic scrub-Amy's work ethic was just too strict and Serena found it rather odd that she would take a spontaneous day off during the workweek. Still, she appreciated the gesture that her friend made for her on her birthday.
After the spa, they had lunch at a new restaurant where they spotted two married celebrities cozying up to each other in a corner booth. It was just too bad they weren't married to each other. Snickering to themselves, they finished their main courses and shared a slice of the most decadent chocolate cake that Serena had ever tasted. It was then that Amy announced her and Zach's plan to start trying to have a baby. After much squealing, Amy dropped Serena off at the house where Walter presented her with the box and told her to get dressed pronto.
Now, as she walked side by side with Walter, she couldn't help but wish that it was Darien on her arm, not his father. At her sigh, Walter turned his head and suppressed a groan. He couldn't wait until she finally had Darien in her arms again. Maybe then she wouldn't be so depressed.
"Hey girlie, wanna see how the great room turned out before we go to the dining room?"
Serena whirled around in disbelief. "I can't believe you! You were the one who berated me for holding up dinner which, might I point out, is being held in my honour, and now you want to take me on a detour to the great room?"
Walter sighed inwardly and led Serena to the newly redecorated great room, ignoring her muttered curses aimed in his general direction. The things he did for the people in this house...
He led them through the house and stopped at the wooden doors leading to the great room. Pausing for dramatic effect, he glanced at Serena and threw open the doors, once again looking at Serena so he wouldn't miss her reaction.
Totally unimpressed, Serena fumbled her way to the wall and flipped on the light switch, bathing the extremely dark room in light.
"SURPRISE!" Serena stumbled back and would've fallen had Walter not been there to catch her. With wide eyes, Serena scanned the room and saw that it was elaborately decorated with balloons, streamers, red paper hearts and...a disco ball? A banner stretched across one wall near the ceiling read "Happy Birthday, Serena!" and a makeshift stage was set up at one side of the room where a band began to play one of her favourite songs growing up.
It was then that Serena registered the fact that the room was cleared of the elegant furniture and chairs and round tables lining the wall had taken their place. The great room had the air of, and Serena had a very hard time believing this, a high school gym decorated for the prom.
"What's going on?" she whispered, dazed at seeing all the people dressed to the nines and wishing her a happy birthday. She thought she caught a glimpse of Mika in the crowd but when she blinked, she was gone.
"Happy Birthday," said a voice that had Serena's heart beating rapidly. She spun around and saw Darien, elegantly dressed in a black tuxedo and holding a black velvet box. "Did you really think I'd miss it?"
Too overcome to say anything, Serena jumped into Darien's arms and hugged him fiercely. "Oh, I thought you were going to be in London until tomorrow!"
Without saying a word, Darien opened the box in his hands to reveal a diamond and pearl tiara. "Remember this?"
"My birthday tiara!" Serena could barely keep still as Darien fastened it to her hair. "I can't believe you had it all this time! So where were you all this time?"
When Darien led her to the dance floor, the other guests took it as their cue to begin dancing too. "Alright, I confess," he began, swaying her to the rhythm of the music, "it was all a ruse. I went to London that first day to wrap up some business and then came back to LA the next day. I stayed right here in a hotel and had this dance floor and stage built so that you could have the prom you missed back when you were in high school. And this time, your date's here, sober and looking pretty spiffy if he does say so himself."
"You remembered," Serena whispered against his neck. "You set all this up because I missed my prom more than ten years ago." She touched the tiara lightly with her fingers. "And I'm the prom queen, just like I've always dreamed. I can't believe it."
"Believe it." Darien skimmed his hand down her back and felt supremely smug when he felt her shiver under his caress. "Make sure to say hello to Sammy and Mika later on. I had them flown over here for the party."
"I thought I saw Mika before!" she exclaimed, glad that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She would've said more but Darien stopped her with a kiss that increased in need and urgency.
"I missed you," Darien said when they pulled apart, his breathing heavy and his eyes glazed.
A few feet away, Walter and Candace, who was holding Isabella in her arms, stood by the punch bowl watching the couple dance. "You think they're going to make it?" Walter asked, not taking his eyes off Serena and Darien.
"You know, I wasn't really happy about what Serena did when she found out she was pregnant," Candace said, stating the obvious, "but on some level, I think I'm starting to understand her decision. I think Darien's going to be as happy with her as we are with each other."
Walter tugged playfully on Isabella's pigtail. "I couldn't agree with you more."
Hours later, when the party was over and the guests had all gone home, Serena lay facedown, naked on the bed. She tried to move to a more comfortable position but found that Darien was using the small of her back as a pillow.
"Darien," she mumbled, pushing gently on his shoulder to wake him up. "Move over."
Coming to, Darien drowsily changed positions and slid under the covers, waiting for Serena to slide in with him. She snuggled up against the hollow of his neck and laid her left hand on his chest, admiring the Art Deco-inspired, square-cut diamond with similarly shaped diamond sidestones set in a platinum band on her finger. He remembered browsing for the ring in jewelry stores for the past month before he came across it and the annoying sales associate that thought he couldn't afford the more expensive pieces the store had to offer.
"No thank you," he told the man with a bad suit and greasy hair, turning his nose up with disdain at the cheap-looking, 14 carat gold ring with a tiny diamond.
"But sir, this is a splendid looking ring," the salesman said of the paltry 0.25 carat diamond ring.
Darien cast him a scathing glare. "I don't believe in buying the woman I love a diamond ring that weighs less than a whole carat. That one you're offering me looks like a chip that the jeweler carved off a bigger diamond." Seeing a ring that caught his eye, Darien pointed to it. "Let me see that one. Tell me about that ring."
The man rushed to the ring Darien was pointing at through the glass. "Why, that diamond is flawless, 1.5 carats, icy winter white and set in platinum." His voice rose to match his excitement as it became obvious that Darien was very much interested in that ring. "It's vintage, circa 1924, a few months before the Great Depression hit. It was rumoured that the lady who owned it-"
"I'll take it." The excited jeweler beamed as brightly as his merchandise.
"Will that be cash or charge?" A few minutes later after the swipe of a card, the swish of a signature and the ringing of a register, Darien was the proud owner of an engagement ring.
"Darien," Serena now purred, stretching lazily beside him, "ask me again."
"Ask you what again?" Darien asked innocently.
"Come on, ask me again." Serena angled the ring until it caught the moonlight streaming in from the window and cast a rainbow of colours in a corner of the dark room. When he still didn't reply, she prodded him lightly in the ribs with her finger.
"Ow!" Darien exclaimed, rubbing his sore bones. A glare from Serena chased away the pain. "Okay, okay. Serena Mathis, will you marry me?"
Serena pretending to think it over. "I don't know. I mean, you like to hog the bed when we're sleeping and you always leave your wet towels lying on the bathroom floor..."
It was Darien's turn to poke her in the ribs, making her squeal with laughter. "I seem to recall that you haven't even answered the question yet, Serena-and no, shouting 'yes!' while we're having sex doesn't count. I'm inclined to think that you don't want to marry me at all."
Serena burst into laughter at Darien's playful pout. "God, I love you, even though you can be such an ass sometimes. Ask me again and I'll give you my answer."
Darien's face sobered as he gazed solemnly into her eyes. "Serena Mathis, will you marry me?"
Serena's face broke into a teary smile. "Yes, I will. With all my heart."
Although he already knew what her answer would be, Darien exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding and gathered her close. He kissed her face softly, never wanting to let go. Serena opened herself up to him, welcoming his body, his love, with open arms, the diamond ring sparkling in the moonlight as they slowly began making love.
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Finished April 30, 2003 (2:53 AM)
LS: *punches buttons on her calculator and fixes her (very scholarly) glasses* According to my calculations, CR could have written this chapter faster if she had omitted letter "U" from ever being utilized in the chapter.
CR: Fck yo. (You're right! It IS shorter without the U's)
LS: Well, 6 months IS a long time, mah lil' sugah carrot. But I'm not complaining-the chapter IS done. *busts out chianti* Is it alright if I forgot the fava beans? And I'm cutting back on meat, so your livers are safe for the moment.
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