Author's note: I'm back! That didn't take too long, did it? I hope not. I'm on a roll...when I think I can't write...I write and now I have two new fanfics I'm working on besides this one (check them out...they're both pretty cool). sighs besides chapter nine, I'm also working on chapter 10 and 11...so who knows, they may come out quickly I don't know. I can't stop writing..I think it's my addiction or something like that...gotta take it easy...easy does it...easy..am I getting too wird for you guys smiles slyly heehehehe

So, anyway this is another very sweet chapater...think back to chapter four and you'll know what I mean. I really hope that you enjoy this chapter. Also like I said in the preview...the drama part is still going to be present, but I think that later on it's going to be more action and suspence. So be prepared. It's going to be a ride. Well, enough with my talking, read on! and don't forget to read and review!

Chapter 9

As Darien and Serena held their embrace, neither one wanted to let go. "I'm so glad you're back in my life." Serena whispered looking up into his dark blue eyes. Her own eyes held a since of renewal…a renewal of her life. A smile came across her face, an almost devilish one at that. In a flirty voice she spoke "Now that I have you in my arms, I'm afraid I can't let you go."

Darien gave her a confused look in regards to the sudden look on her face. "Huh?" Was all he could say. As sudden as the devilish look came across her features, a serious on came replacing it. Her tone of voice now matched her facial expression. "Darien, you owe me! It almost seems like forever since we've been together. Aside from working and my attending my classes at the university, we are going to be together every single day this week!"

Darien's eyes widen a bit but then soften at Serena's sudden reaction. He's voice was soft, just above a whisper. "I see that you've grown to be a bit bossier since the last time I saw you…I actually like it."

"What do you expect?" Serena shrugged her shoulders as she loosened her embrace around Darien. She stepped back, arms across her chest. "I'm almost afraid to let you go now. When I thought you were gone….even if I did get married and have a child…" Her voice trailed off as she thought of Destiny. A single tear came down from her eyes.

"You had a child with Seyia?" Darien asked

Serena nodded as she continued. "A few months ago she was kidnapped. The police, Seyia, the girls, my parents and I…we all looked for her, but we never found her. When the police finally caught up to the kidnappers, they told the police that they got rid of her…that they got afraid of being caught and that they weren't thinking…so they got rid of my baby!" By this time Serena was sobbing, "I thought losing you was bad, but losing her…she really was a part of me. I really need you; I can't lose you again…not that way. I know that things in life just happen just because…I know that there aren't any guarantees for the next day or the day after that…there are no certainties. So if I seem a little bossy…if I act a little clingy…if I seem to be very needy, it's because of everything that has happened and I'm so afraid that it would happen again." Serena paused and an even more serious look came across her face. She looked away from Darien as she continued to speak. "And if it does happen again, unlike this time, I don't think I would be able to live."

"Don't say that!" Darien scolded her. "Even if I did die, I would never want anything bad to happen to you. My wish would be for you to live long and happy." His hands rested atop Serena's shoulders as he looked directly into her eyes. He sighed. "At first, it had hurt me to think that you moved on. But then realizing that you only did so because you thought I was dead only made me…happy. Because I knew that smile that I loved so much was brightens the earth day by day. Your happiness is like the sunshine that brightens everyone like the sun." A distant look came across his eyes, and then he spoke again. "You would be a source of encouragement to those suffering from similar situations." He now whispered "Don't let the sunset forever if I'm gone. Please. If you killed yourself thinking I was dead, we wouldn't be together right now…you wouldn't have fallen in love again or even have a baby."

"You're right…" She whispered.

"So, with that said, what time should I pick you up?" Darien asked happily

Serena thought for a moment, then she spoke, "How about 7pm?"

"Sounds good…I know a great-"He was cut off by Serena who cut in excitedly

"We could go to a restaurant, then go to a movie or rent a movie and watch it at my place or your place or we could-" This time it was Darien who cut Serena off by putting a finger against her lips. His smile for her held so much love. "Now's my turn to be bossy." He said with a cocky smile. "I'll pick you up at 7pm and from there I will decide what to do next ok?" All Serena could do was give him a weak smile and nod. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Goodnight my princess." He whispered

"Goodnight my prince." She whispered, "See you tomorrow!" With that they both went in their different direction.

As Darien walked home after seeing Serena off, his mind started to drift. The only thing he could think about at the moment was…his baby…

Flashback (8 months ago)

It was early in the morning and Darien was heading off for work. It just so happened that of all days his car decided to brake down. When he called the cab service, they were experiencing unusually high call volumes and he was left on hold for more then 15 minutes. I can't be late for work again He thought to himself this would be the 3rd time this month! So he then decided that the best thing to do would be to take the bus, but he didn't know the schedule let alone which bus to take to work. Thankfully his job wasn't too far away, so he decided to walk. He was about 5 blocks from his apartment when he passed an alley. On another day, nothing would even draw his attention to this alley. But this day was different. Although it was faint and the noise around the area tried to cover it, he heard it. A baby's cry.

Curious, Darien made his way through the alley. He kept listening again for the sound. There! He noticed it was coming from…Darien ran as fast as he could to the dumpster. He didn't know what he would find when he reached the dumpster. He stepped on the edge of the dumpster and pulled himself up to see what was inside. His eyes widen with shock and horror. Inside the dumpster was a baby! And the baby was alive! He didn't know how he did it, counting on the fact that the dumpster was taller then he was, but he reached down into the dumpster and pulled the baby out. The baby cried louder then before, almost as if to say 'Thank you'.

Darien held the baby in arms protectively. He rocked the baby gently as he held it. "There…there…" He said softly to the baby. "It's ok now, you're safe." With that he rushed the baby to the hospital.

45 minutes had passed. He was more then late for work. Although as soon as he dropped off the baby, he was allowed to leave, his choose was to stay until he could find out how the baby was doing. He didn't know why, but it was important for him to know. Just then, the doctor came to see him. He knew she was there for him since he was the only one in the room. "How's the baby?" He asked eagerly with a concern look in his eyes.

"She" The doctor emphases on 'she' "Is a very lucky baby…no cuts or burses, no infections what so ever."

"Can I see her?" Darien asked.

The doctor smiled as she motioned for him to follow her. "Of course you can, you were the one to save her life."

Darien smiled as he stood up and followed the doctor. As they walked to where the baby was, the doctor continued to talk to him. "Normally in these cases, we would keep the baby's receive until we could find a more suitable place for the baby. Unfortunately, we just don't have enough room for this baby to stay. We recently had an unusually high drop off rate. Normally in these circumstances we try to find a foster home for the child. If you want to and are capable of doing so you can foster this child." At that moment the both stopped in front of a closed door. The doctor turned to Darien and smiled again. "It's so wonderful to see people who are so eager to help out little ones such as this one. You must have work that you are late for, yet you dropped them all for this little one, why?" She asked.

With out thinking of a response, Darien spoke from the heart. "It's just so cruel that someone can treat an innocent child like this. She hasn't done anything wrong to anyone. She deserves to have a better life and to not grow up feeling alone and not loved. She needs to be loved."

The doctor simply nodded her head when he finished. She opened the door to the baby's room. "It sounds like you've been there before." She looked back towards him as she walked towards the crib.

"No, not like this. My parents died when I was younger…old enough to remember them and what happened. She wouldn't remember this." He thought for a moment before he spoke again. "What papers do I have to sign?"

(Flash back over)

As Darien continued to walk, he thought about the baby who he had fostered. Because he felt that destiny had brought them together, he decided to call her Destiny. For 5 months she lived with him, things were hard at first, but just when things started to get better he received a call saying that there was a family that wanted to adopt her. Although Darien really didn't want to let her go he did. Ever since then he hasn't for gotten about her and he never would.

It's been about two months since Serena and Darien met again. Things started off from where is ended. Serena had never been happier then she was when she was with Darien. Everyone was more happy then surprised to see that Darien was actually alive.

"What am I going to wear!" Serena cried out as she was in her closet rumbling around for an out fit to wear. The floor was completely covered with cloths. Mina, Leta and Amy sat in different areas of Serena's room. Raye wasn't there because she had work to do at the temple. The 3 girls looked on as their friend was running around the apartment.

"He's going to be here in 10 minutes!" Serena cried out. Serena had no idea where Darien was planning on taking her. All he said was that it was a surprise and to dress nice. What did he mean by nice? 'Aaaaagggghhh!' She screamed inside her head.

"Serena, I like what you have on right now." Mina said. Serena looked down at the out fit that she was wearing. A short black skirt and a fitted hot pink t-shirt with sandals. Serena looked back up to her friend. "This is cute not nice and besides, what on earth does he mean by nice? Does he mean hot and sexy or does he mean conservative?" Serena rambled.

"Well," Mina continued, "I think it is nice. The weather out side isn't bad and you could wear it indoors or out."

Serena thought for a moment at what her friend said. "Ok, I'll change." She said as she headed for the closet again.

"What ever happened to that black dress you brought at the mall with us? I think that would look great on you." Leta said.

Serena thought for a moment then dinged deep in the back of her closet and a couple a seconds later pulled out the very sexy black dress. "You mean this?" She asked.

"Yea, that's it!" Leta explained, "Why don't you wear that?"

"I can't believe you still have that!" Mina said "Heck, I still can't believe you brought it!"

"Well," Serena started thoughtfully, "He never did see me in this before."

"Try it on." Amy spoke up after keeping quite for most of the night.

Serena shrugged her shoulders as she took the dress with her to the bathroom. After a couple of minutes later, she came out wearing the dress. Her friends were slightly taken aback. She still looked great in that dress although buying it 4 years ago.

"Serena, you still look amazing in that dress!" Mina said smiling.

"You're going to knock Darien off his feet!" Leta said. Just then the door bell rang.

"Oh my gosh!" Serena gasped "He's here…he's here! Do I really look ok?"

"You look great Serena." Amy said sincerely. "Don't worry too much. I'll get the door while you finish get ready." With that she got up and left the room to get the door. A few minutes later, Amy came back to the room were Serena and the girls were. She was smiling ear to ear.

"What's up?" Serena asked curiously wondering why her friend had such an expression on her face.

Amy walked back to were she was sitting before. The smile still on her face. "Oh nothing." She said. Mina then got up and left the room followed by Leta. They came back a couple of minutes later with the same expression as Amy. Serena looked at her friends completely confused. "Ok…"She said slowly as she left the room "You guys are wired!"

"We'll see you later!" Mina said still smiling. "We want to hear all the details when you get back!"

"About my date?" Serena asked confused as she stopped at the door of her room and turned back to her friends.

"You'll know soon enough." Amy said as she waved Serena good bye. Serena waved back to her friends as she left the room. When she walked into the living room where Darien was sitting, he looked up at her as she walked towards him. He couldn't help but having a compete look of shock on his face. To him Serena looked more then beautiful. He never would have thought in a million years that Serena would dress like that. He swallowed hard as he tried to stand up. He was somewhat weak in the knees. "Serena." Was all that he could say.

Serena like wise had a look of shock on her face. Handsome couldn't even begin to describe how amazing he looked. He was wearing a two piece black suit with a red shirt and black tie. He looked perfect. "Darien." Was all that Serena could say.

"You look so beautiful." Darien said smiling as he walked over towards Serena. He took her hand into his. "I've got a special night set up."

Serena smiled slyly. "Well, if it's so special then let's get this night started."

"Ok." Darien said as both he and Serena left the apartment closing the door behind them. Still in the room the girls sat.

"I can't believe it." Amy was the first to speak.

"She will be so happy." Mina said excitedly

"You know what she's gonna say." Leta said smiling

"Yea, but it also depends if she picks up on it. Remember what happened the first time around?"

All three girls thought for a moment and then bursted out in laughter. "That was a classic!" Mina said in between laughs.

"Let's just hope that Darien doesn't experience the same problem!" Amy said as her laugher suppressed

"Well what ever happens, we'll be hear talking about it all night!" Leta said "I'm hungry, do you any of you want something to eat?"

"Are your eyes still closed?" Darien asked as he walked down the hall with Serena, holding her hand.

"Of course!" Serena said with one hand covering her eyes.

Darien continued to lead Serena. Finally he stopped in front of a door. He looked back over his shoulder to see if her eyes were still closed. He then opened the door to a huge party room. It was a circler room with a wooden floor and very large windows all around the room. The Ceiling was also made of glass. Besides the candle light, the moonlight filled the room. Unknown to Serena, Darien had taken her to a restaurant that was in the middle of the park. They were on the top floor that over looked the park, lake and town. There was also a balcony out side. "Open your eyes." Darien whispered into her ears. She gasped in complete surprise at what she saw. She was in a huge room. At one end of the room was a set table for two and on the same side of the room where they were, two people, one playing the piano and the other the violin.

"Darien…how…why?" Was all that she could say. Just then they started a new song. Serena listen to what they were playing.

"Oh my gosh!" She gasped. As she sat down at the table, Darien pushed her in closer to the table and then going around the table to the other side he took his seat.

"What is it?" He asked concerned.

"That's the song from Lady and the tramp when Lady and the tramp were at the Italian restaurant!"

"You like?" He asked smiling

"I-" Serena began but was cut off when a waiter came to their table with their food. He placed an extra large plate in the middle….it was spaghetti and meatballs.

"Oh this is so perfect!" Serena cried out with joy. "This is so thoughtful. I really do love that movie, especially that scene!"

"I know." Darien said as he smiled

As they finished eating, Darien looked at Serena. She looked back at him with a huge smile on are face and spaghetti sauce all over it too. Darien chuckled.

"What is it?" Serena asked confused.

"You have spaghetti sauce all over your face!" He said now bursting out in laughter.

"I'm not the only one." She reached into her purse and handed him a mirror. When he looked into the mirror, both of them began to laugh they both wiped the sauce from their face. The music was still playing in the background. Suddenly Serena got up and walked over towards Darien. Darien looked up at her with a surprised look on her face but her smile reinsured him that everything was ok. "Let's dance." She said reaching out her hand. Darien nodded his head as he stood up. They walked out to the middle of the room. Serena wrapped her arms around his neck and Darien wrapped his arms around her waist. The song that they danced to was "All I ask of you" from The Phantom of the Opera. When they finished dancing, they both walked out to the balcony.

"Darien, I can't believe that you did all of this." Serena whispered as she stood by the railing looking down at the lake. She looked back towards him when he didn't answer. He was standing by the door looking inside. Serena for the first time noticed that he had something else on his mind. "Darien?" Serena asked concerned.

"Great! They just put the cake on the table!" Darien said

At the mention of cake, any concern Serena had for Darien melted away. Serena ran back inside towards the cake leaving a surprised Darien behind. But he smiled when instead of diving into the cake like she normally would; but instead she just stood their staring at it. She looked up at Darien as he walked towards her. Her eyes were filled were wide with shock and confusion. The cake Serena was staring at was heart shaped with red and white frosting. In the red frosting 'Will you marry me?' was written on it. Darien suddenly got down on one knee and pulled out a small box from his pocket. Automatically knowing what was happening; Serena fell to the ground on her knees in tears. Darien was slightly taken aback by her reaction. She suppressed her tears of joy long enough to hear and respond to Darien.

"Serena," He started "With out you…" He paused as he tried to hold back his own tears. "With out you I don't feel alive, I don't feel complete. I love you so much. Please say you'll be mine for ever."

"Darien." Serena started to cry again as she hugged him. "I've been dreaming for this day to come. I love you so much. Yes, I will marry you!"