Heya everyone! This story was originally posted as 'Love in the Country mixed with the City' but that was just TOO long, so I've renamed it and got me a beta to revise it. My beta, who I absolutely LOVE, is Alison (Saturnianali8r)!
Disclaimer: I don't believe in this, but this is for those few dimwitted people, I don't own Sailor Moon or anything associated with Sailor Moon! I only own this nice little story.
Author's Note: This story actually came to me when I was listening to Deana Carter's Strawberry Wine which is later incorporated. If you become too confused about who the characters are please feel free to ask. Also for you lovely flamers, I bask in your glow and just let your flames burn out.
Note: I'm reposted thischapter because it's come to my attention that you think, later on in the story, that I'm repeating myself when Serena is yelling at Rini. She's not, it's from 2 different POVs on the same scene. wont let me space out the scenes, so they all run together and it seems the way it does.
Rating: PG-13 maybe a little R-ish, not very familiar with the new rating system yet.
It was a warm, humid day. Serena Rosalie Tucker was sitting down on a tree stump as she looked out over the vast rolling hills that stretched out for miles in front of her, daydreaming as she listened to the music of nature around her.
Suddenly she was startled out of her daydream by a voice shouting her name.
"SERENA!"
The voice shouted again a moment later.
"Yea?" she shouted back.
"Time to do the horses!"
"Coming!" she shouted back a reply as she got up from the tree stump and took a last look at the rolling hills before beginning to walk towards the farm that was just barely in view.
Darien Spencer was standing at the entrance to a barn when his cell phone began to ring.
"Hello?"
"Bro, when yea coming back? The girls are starting to get rambunctious." came a tired voice.
"Calm down Nate. I'll be back in a little bit." Darien replied, amused.
"Fine. See you in a while." Nate replied.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you need some help?" came a quiet voice from behind him.
"Um…" Darien muttered as he turned around to find himself face to face with a tall, blue eyed, golden hair woman.
"I asked if you need some help." the woman replied a little louder.
"Actually, yes. I'm looking for the caretaker of the horses." he replied as he stared at the woman in front of him.
"That would be me." She replied, a little hesitant.
"Well Miss, I've got two horses and I was wondering if you could keep them here since where they're at now isn't really sufficient for them." He explained, still not tearing his gaze from the sight in front of him.
"Sure, we have room. How did you hear about this place? You don't look from around here." She asked, still unsure of the man in front of her.
"My brother, Nate, told me about this place. His place is where I've been keeping them." He tells her.
"Okay, bring them here around 1:30." She replies, "If you'll excuse me, I need to get to work." She added as she walked around him to open the barn doors, revealing a long row of horses.
"No problem, see you at 1:30." he said to her before turning to walk away.
He's got a nice butt. Serena told herself as she watched him walk away.
"Oh well, gotta get to work." She thought to herself silently as she began to feed the horses.
Darien drove up to his brother Nate's house. As he stepped out of his Chevrolet Suburban, he was suddenly bombarded with two little bodies who were squealing in delight at the sight of him.
"Hey Chloe! Hey Cecilia! Did you have fun with Uncle Nate?" Darien asked as he chuckled at the girls.
"No Daddy!" they both answered in unison, "We missed you, and Uncle Nate is no FUN!"
"Okay. How about tomorrow, you can come with me?" Darien said to the little girls as he picked them up and walked up to the two-story farmhouse.
"Yippie!" they squealed at the question.
"Guess what angels." Darien told them as he opened the door.
"What?"
"I found a really nice place to keep your horses while we're staying here." Darien told them, still chuckling at their enthusiasm.
"Yea! We can go and visit them, right?" Chloe asks as she began to whimper at the question.
"Yes, you can." Darien replied as he set them down from his shoulders. "How about you girls go and play out back with your cousin Jordan, while Daddy goes and talks with Uncle Nate." Darien said to the girls with a smile.
"Okay Daddy" the girls replied as they ran off to the back of the farmhouse.
As Darien turned around, he saw his brother grinning like a hyena. "Why are you smiling like that?" Darien asked with a confused expression on his face.
"Because I know you just met somebody, and before you say anything, I know you have by the way you're still smiling like that." Nate told him.
"Fine, okay I have met a woman I like, but don't even start. She's probably already taken." Darien retorted as he walked past him to sit down on the couch and stretch out.
"Tell me her name and I'll tell you wither or not she's taken." Nate replied as he sat down across from Darien on the loveseat.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna see her tomorrow." Darien told Nate.
"Okay." Nate replies as he sat onto the loveseat
"Hey boys, what are you up to?" came a feminine voice as a tall brunette with a green apron on walked into the room.
"Hey Lita." Darien told her with a smile.
"Hey babe" Nate replied as he looked up to her.
"So, what are you two talking about?" Lita asked as she sat on the arm of the loveseat.
"Nothing really" Darien shrugs.
"Okay," Lita says with a knowing grin as she shrugs, "Dinner well be ready soon." Lita told them as she got back up and walked away.
"Rini, it's time to leave!" Serena yelled up the stairs as she turned around to face her foster mother Irene's warm and welcoming face.
"Where are you going, dear?" she asked worriedly as she took a glass of tea into the living room.
"Lita and Nate want me and Rini to come over tonight for dinner." Serena replied enthusiastically as a 6-year-old blonde hair girl came bounding down the stairs with a bright 100-watt smile.
"I'm ready now Mommy!" the little girl exclaimed.
"Alright sweetie." Serena replied to the little girl.
"Irene, we should be back no later then eleven and if we end up staying the night I'll call you and let you know." Serena told her as she grabbed her purse and keys from the kitchen counter.
"Okay dear, have a nice time." Irene told them with a smile and walked back into the living room.
"Mommy, tomorrow can Alissa, Marcella, and Ebony come over?" Rini asked as she put on her seat belt.
"I'll call up Aunt Mina and Aunt Raye tomorrow morning and ask. How's that sweetie?" Serena said to Rini as she backed up from the driveway of the house and drove down the main county road towards Lita's.
"Okay mommy! Can I help you tomorrow if they can't?" Rini asked as she began to bounce up and down in her seat.
"We'll see sweetie, we'll see." Serena told her as they began to approach the two-story farmhouse.
"Will Aunt Lita let me have some cookies?" Rini asked with hopeful eyes.
"How about you ask her when you see her." Serena replied as she drove up into the farmhouses driveway and parked behind a Chevrolet Suburban with an out of state license plate.
'I wonder whose that is?' Serena thought to herself as she and Rini got out of her Ford F-150.
"Come on Mommy!" whined Rini as she waited with a tapping foot at the door.
"Alright Rini, knock on the door." Serena told her as she walked up to the door. Turning around she beeped her truck shut just as the door opened.
"Umm… hello?" asked a deep male voice.
"Hey, can we come in?" Rini asked excitedly.
"Umm, I don't know."
"Bro, who's at the door?" came Nate's voice from within the house.
"A little girl." He replied.
"Uncle Nate!" the little girl exclaimed as soon as Nate looked out the door.
"Hey Rini! Where's your mom?" Nate asked as he looked out the door to the white Ford.
"Right here." comes a gentle voice. "Lita called and said she wanted me to come over tonight for dinner and that she wouldn't take no for an answer, so here I am." She told him with a giggle.
"Come on in, you know you're always welcome here." Nate told her with a smile as he put Rini down on the floor.
"Daddy, who's at the door?" asked the two little girls who came running to the door.
"Chloe, Cecilia. I want you to meet Rini. Rini, this is Chloe and this is Cecilia." Nate told them as he gestured to each of them.
"Hey, do you wanna come and play with our Barbies?" asked Chloe
Rini looked up to Serena, "Can I, mommy?" Rini asked with a little pout.
Laughing slightly, "Sure, go on." Serena replied.
"Thank you mommy. Come on, let's play!" Rini said excitedly as she lead them further into the house.
"Hello again." Darien said to the blonde haired woman he had seen from earlier.
"Oh, hello. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. My name's Serena." She told him as she extended her hand.
"My name's Darien." He replied as he took her hand and shook it.
"Didn't you come by the horse barn earlier today?" Serena asks as she studied his profile.
"Yes, I did." He answered her and began to study her more closely then before.
"Oh yeah, you are the one who wanted room for two horses named…actually, you never told me their names." Serena tells him.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Their names are Moonbeam and Golden Crescent. They're my daughters, whom you just met." Darien answers.
"Hey Nate- Oh Sere, you've finally arrived!" Lita exclaimed as she came over to give her a hug.
"Hey Lits!" Serena exclaimed, "Did you hear that Amy is finally pregnant?"
"No way! When did she find out?" Lita asked wide-eyed.
"Last week. YOU were...let's just say not in a good mood." Serena told her with raised eyebrows.
"How far along is she?" Lita asked happily.
"I think she told me 16 weeks, but I'm not sure." Serena shrugged as Lita began to lead her towards the kitchen.
"Oh my, we have to have a get together this weekend to celebrate!" Lita exclaimed.
"Women" Nate grumbled.
"Let me guess, this has happened before?" Darien asked, chuckling.
"More then enough times. Amy is the last one to get pregnant out of the 5 women and every time they always throw a huge thing. You should have seen Mina's! She had twin girls like you and of course it was the talk of the town, as usual." Nate tells him as they go back into the den.
"I'm guessing they go overboard?" Darien asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You've got no idea, but that's not as important as how I saw you checking out Serena. If I might add, I also saw her checking you out pretty intensely." Nate suggested as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
"Oh please! I was just looking at her." Darien explained as he turned his attention to the baseball game in progress.
"Lita, who's the guy?" Serena asked with her hands on her hips.
"Who do you mean? Nate?" Lita asked innocently.
"No, I mean Darien." Serena proclaimed as she began to eye Lita.
"Oh, he's just Nate's brother who's staying with us for awhile, until he and his girls are able to get a place of their own. His business moved him out here for their new offices." Lita stated as she took out a Honey Ham from the oven.
"Ooh, I didn't know Nate even had a brother and they sure don't look alike either." Serena told her as she began to set the kitchen table.
"Well, they aren't technically brothers. More like you and me, so close they might as well be brothers. The way Nate tells it is that they met in Junior High and have been friends ever since." Lita explained as she began to bring some of the food to the table.
"And I'm guessing from his girls, they're twins?" Serena stated as she began to fix Rini's plate.
"Yep. They're four going to turn five in a few months." Lita told her offhandedly.
"They're only about a year younger then Rini." Serena muttered.
"Yeah, they are aren't they!" Lita exclaimed.
"Anyways, I'll go and get the kids." Serena told her and then left the room.
As Serena walked up the stairs, she began to hear little girl voices coming from the direction of the playroom.
'I wonder what those girls are doing that's got them so giggly?' Serena asked herself as she walked to the door and opened it, just a crack, to peek in.
"Shush Jordan!" Rini exclaimed as she stood in front of a chair and began to do something.
"What are you four up to?" Serena asked as she opened the door all the way, making the three girls jump and Rini look up to her mother guiltily.
"Nothing, mommy." Rini said as she looks at her mother innocently.
"Well, go on downstairs you four. It's time to eat dinner." Serena told them as she eyed them suspiciously.
"Okay mommy," Rini replied with a little angelic smile as Chloe and Cecilia walked out the door as quickly as their little legs would carry them.
"Come on Rini, and I'm guessing Jordan's in here too?" Serena said as she looked at Rini.
"Ye-Yes." Rini muttered as she looked down at her feet.
"Well, where is he?" Serena asked.
"Umm,-"
"I'm right behind Rini, Aunt Serena." came a muffled voice behind her daughter.
"Move Rini.".
"Yes ma'am." Rini replied guiltily.
When Rini had moved aside, Serena saw that Jordan had his dark brown hair pulled up into little pink hairclips and had the girls play make-up on.
"Ri-Rini!" Serena exclaimed as she tried not to laugh at the sight. "Get downstairs, NOW!" Serena told her as she pointed towards the stairs.
"Yes ma'am." Rini replied again as she ran straight for the stairs.
"Come on Jordan. Let me get you cleaned up, sweetie." Serena told him as she untied the scarf that they had bound him with and walked him to the bathroom.
Rini walked down the stairs quickly to avoid her mother's anger and sat down next to Nate.
"Where's Jordan and your Mom?" Lita asked as she looked at her.
Rini looked up to Lita with an innocent face, "They're coming." She replied simply and looked down at her shoes.
A few minutes later, Serena came into the dinning room with Jordan who didn't have on any make-up or hairclips in his hair.
"Rini Alexandra Tucker! Explain yourself right this minute!" she said to Rini, very angrily.
"What did she do Sere?" Lita asked worriedly.
"How would you like to have a daughter instead of a son Lita?" Serena asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked at Lita.
'I can't believe Rini did this, and for the third time on top of that! Not to mention that she brought Darien's daughters into it as well!' Serena ranted to herself as she walked down the steps with Jordan beside her.
"Jordan, are you okay?" she asked him, just wanting to make sure.
"Yeah, I'm just never going into a room with girls anymore!" Jordan exclaimed with a shudder.
"That would be a good idea." Serena replied as they walked into the kitchen, as she tried to suppress her laughter.
As soon as they entered the kitchen, Jordan went and sat down.
"Rini Alexandra Tucker! Explain yourself right this minute!" Serena explained very angrily.
"What did she do Sere?" Lita asked worriedly.
Serena simply retorted, "How would you like to have a daughter instead of a son, Lita?" she asked Lita.
"Not again!" Lita exclaimed.
"Oh yes again, and on top of that, she got Darien's daughters into it as well." Serena exclaimed, "They had the hairclips, make-up, everything!" Serena told her as she eyed her daughter.
"Rini, why do you do that to Jordan?" Lita asked looking at Rini.
"I-I'm so-sorry Aunt Lita." Rini replied as her bottom lip started to quiver.
"Not that again Rini!" Serena told her.
"What's going on in here?" Darien asked as he walked into the room.
"Guess what my daughter got your daughters into?" Serena asked Darien, not taking her eyes off Rini.
"What?" Darien asked confused.
"Rini got them to dress Jordan up like a girl." Serena told him tiredly.
"They.did.what!" said Darien in-between bursts of laughter.
"Yeah," Serena replied.
"Not again." Darien said as he calmed down.
"Again?" Serena asked questioningly.
"Those two have done that to Jordan two or three times, maybe more." Darien told her as he tried to catch his breath.
"Oh brother," Serena uttered as she began to massage her temples.
"Don't worry about it Sere" Lita told her as she put her hand on Serena's shoulder.
"Alright" Serena said as she sat down next to Chloe.
Once dinner was over, the kids went off to do who knows what while everybody else went into the den.
"So Sere, do you want to get everybody together this weekend?" Lita asked as she kept her eye on the television.
"Yes. It'll be fun to have everybody together again." Serena replied as she relaxed against the recliner she was seated in.
"When are you going to start the Rodeo try-outs?" Lita asked as she looked at Serena.
"I don't know, probably next week or sometime soon." Serena shrugged. "I'm not going to enter it so I don't care, whenever Irene says something about it I guess."
"Why don't you enter it? You're like a pro on a horse and you know how to handle them better than anybody else we know around here!" Lita exclaimed.
"Lits, don't start! You know good and well why I'm not doing it so don't!" Serena replied as she began to give Lita 'the eye'.
"Fine, Fine. I'll lay off." Lita said a moment later with her hands in defeat.
"What time is it?" Serena asked in a tired voice.
"About twelve." Nate replied.
"Is it alright if I stay the night Lits? I don't feel like driving home this late." Serena asked.
"Of course." Lita replied breathlessly.
"Thanks, I just got to go call Irene and let her know." Serena told her as she walked into the kitchen and dialed her phone number.
"Hello?" asked a tired voice.
"Hey" Serena said sheepishly.
"Serena, where are you this late?" asked the tired voice.
"Sorry to call this late Sammy. I just wanted to call you guys and let you know that I'm staying over at Lita's tonight and I'll be home in the morning for work with Rini." Serena explained.
"Okay Serena." Sammy replied.
"How was Baseball Camp?" Serena asked.
"It was awesome! We got to meet a few major league players and they showed us some of their secret tricks!" Sammy exclaimed excitedly.
"That does sound like fun. Tomorrow I want you to tell me all about it, but I'll let you go so you can go back to sleep." Serena told him quietly.
"Okay, see you in the morning." Sammy told her, still in a tired voice.
"Alright, goodnight and sleep tight."
"Good-night Serena." Sammy muttered as he put the phone away.
Serena walked back into the den to see Lita jumping up and down while the guys were muttering things under their breath and began to laugh.
"What got your spirits back up?" Lita asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sammy came back home today. I woke him up though, but he sounded like he had a lot of fun." Serena exclaimed as she sat down with a sigh.
"What's the sigh for?" Lita asked with concern.
"Just worn out, nothing really."
"How come?"
"Nothing. I'm gonna go and take a quick shower and make sure the kids are in bed." Serena announced as she disappeared again.
Well that's it for this chapter, please tell me how it is! I've got about 8 or so chapters already typed up and and all of them laready betaedbetaed. I'll probably start writing more once I've posted chapter 5.
Feedback is most welcomed!
And once again, I love my beta hugs
Princess2000204