A.N. Well, here it is! The first chapter of Finally. How was the prologue? I know it was short but I just wanted to get those two things in first before I started the actual thing, ya know? Anyway, please let me know if this story is going to turn out ok or not! Surprisingly enough, this is all of the author's notes I have, pretty weird, ain't it? They usually take up the whole page! Ok, I'm done! Icess

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters. They all belong to Naoko Takeuchi, DiC, and other companies that can sue me! Yikes! Please don't! I'm just an innocent fan of Sailor Moon who has a passion for writing!

Quote: "Knowledge is love and light and vision." – Helen Keller

Title: Finally

Chapter: One

Author: Icess

"What do you mean you can't baby-sit Conor for me today Lita? I need this job!"

Serena Randall yelled frantically. "Who else am I supposed to call? Mina can't, she's flying out to Australia today!"

"Sere, I'm sorry. Ken called me; his dad is in the hospital. He needs me there with him."

Lita Bennett explained. "Hey, why don't you call Raye? I know she'll be able to. In fact, I just spoke to her last night and she said that she would be really bored today because she had nothing to do." She suggested.

"Yeah, okay. And Lita? I'm sorry that I flipped out on you. I'm just under a lot of stress." Serena sighed loudly into the telephone to emphasize it.

"It's okay, Serena. I know what you're going through. Bye."

"Bye, Lita, make sure to tell Ken hi for me. Give him my best."

"Will do, bye."

Serena waited for the dial tone and punched in Raye Secord's phone number. After a few rings, the answer machine picked up. "Yeah, this is Raye, you know what to do… BEEP"

"Raye, pick up the phone damnit! I know you're not sleeping, you never sleep this late! Come on! This is really important!" She waited a few seconds, and right when she was about to hang the phone up, Raye picked it up.

"Shit Serena! Can't a girl take a piss without having to answer the phone?"

Serena held the phone away from her ear and blew raspberries into it. "Sorry, Raye. But I need to ask a favor of you. Por favor."

"Well? What is it?" Raye asked impatiently.

"Can you watch Conor for me while I go into my interview this afternoon? Please."

"Of course I'll watch Conor, you know I love the little guy!" Raye answered enthusiastically.

"Oh my gosh! Thanks so much Raye! Um, I'll drop him off at about twelve-thirty, okay?"

"No prob girl! You know that all you had to do was ask! I'll see you later!"

"Bye!" Serena yelled and hung up. "YES!" She did her little victory dance and then remembered that she had no reason to be happy and stopped. "Conor, honey. Let's get you dressed. You're going to Auntie Raye's today." She heard a squeal and smiled at her son's response, he seemed to love Raye out of all of her friends.

"Mr. Sirois? Your one o'clock is here." Nina Stevens, Darien's temporary secretary, said into the intercom. Darien sighed solemnly. 'I have to get over this. I can't keep Nina here, she's Andrew's secretary.'

"Okay Nina, send her in." He heard the door open quietly and looked up. He gasped inwardly, 'Wow…' Serena Randall came in and stood there in a white Mexican wedding tank top and a pretty biased skirt. On her feet were natural colored woodstock sandals. Her waist-length blonde hair was pulled into an overflowing French twist. Her crystal blue eyes shifted from him to the floor nervously every second, almost as if she couldn't decide on where to look. (A.N. That's happened to me plenty of times! ;-)) "Miss Randall… is it?" Serena nodded slowly, awestruck by Darien's dark blue gaze. "Ok, thanks for coming, won't you sit…?" She went and took the seat that was right in front of his desk. "This won't be very long Miss Randall. I just want to make sure that all of the information on your resume is correct and then check out your references, okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." She said, looking down at her hands, which were trembling slightly.

"No need to be nervous… no need at all." 'Yeah right buddy, this could be the best job that I've ever gotten and you tell me that I shouldn't be nervous?' Serena almost said aloud.

An hour and a half later

"Well, we are finally done." Darien smiled warmly, trying to reassure Serena that the interview had gone very well. "When can you start, Miss Randall?" He asked abruptly.

Serena choked. "Excuse me? I got the job?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course, you have made yourself seem a lot more qualified than the other ladies that have applied for this job. I noticed that right when you sat down." Darien smiled again and Serena almost swooned (A.N. Who wouldn't?) when he did that.

"Oh my gosh! Thank-you so much! I won't let you down, I promise!" She then realized that she hadn't answered his question. "Oh… uh, is this coming Monday good for you?"

"That'll be fine Miss Randall. Now, here are some papers for you to take home and look over. The company regulations are in there as well as some rules that I made up myself. Take your time to read them and I'll see you bright and early on Monday morning. Okay?" Darien said, handing a folder of packets and loose-leaf papers over to her.

"Sure thing! And thanks again Mr. Sirois! You have no idea what this means to me!" She said happily and practically skipped out of his office.

"You're the one who has no idea Serena." He said quietly once Nina had once again closed the doors to his office.

"Hey Serena, come on in." Raye said, opening the door all the way so that Serena could step into her spacious apartment. "Conor is sitting in the living room watching TV and making origami." Serena nodded and quietly made her way into the living room where son was making a blue swan. She looked to the television and noticed that he was watching his favorite cartoon, 'Sailor Moon.'

"Hi sweetie!" She called brightly and Conor's head immediately shot up.

"Mommy! I missed you bunches!" He yelled and ran over to her, giving her a smacking kiss on the cheek.

"I missed you too pumpkin." She said, hugging him to her gently. She looked up to Raye and smiled. 'I got it.' She mouthed.

Raye's eyes widened and she bent down to where Serena was embracing Conor and gave Serena a soft hug. "Congrats." She whispered. Raye knew how much this job meant to Serena. She'd been trying for years to impress her parents and show them that she could raise her son and hold a steady job at the same time. She had been doing that until the company that Serena had worked for previously went out of business.

"Mommy, can we go home now? I'm tired." Conor said, yawning slightly in Serena's arms.

"Of course, Conor. Let's get going." She then turned to Raye. "Thanks so much Raye. I'll have the money to pay you in a couple weeks when I get my check."

"Serena! How dare you! You know that I don't expect you to pay me for watching this little tyke. He's an angel. Never gets into trouble." Serena smiled sheepishly and made a move for the door.

"I'll call you later, ok?" Raye nodded and Serena walked out into the hallway and made her way to the doors that led her outside.

Darien sighed as he closed the door to his condo. 'Another long day at the office without Caroline.' For a moment, tears gathered in Darien's eyes, but he brushed them away. 'Hopefully Serena will put some sunshine into that office.' He smiled slightly at Serena's reaction when he told that she'd gotten the job. 'Her eyes are very expressive,' He thought, and then made his way over to the answering machine. He pressed the button that would allow him to hear his messages.

BEEP "Mr. Sirois, this is the Lary Funeral Home calling. When can we expect a payment from you? It's been three days since the funeral; we wanted that payment on the day of. Call back. 426-5876." 'Damn friggin' people. Can't wait a lousy week.' He said silently.

BEEP "Dare, this is Drew. What happened, bud? We were supposed to meet at the House of Blues tonight. See you tomorrow." 'Sorry, Drew.' He sighed.

BEEP "Hey there, sexy. Want to get together tonight? I miss you SO much. Please come over tonight, I need you." An exaggerated voice said on the machine. 'Iris. Gosh, I don't even want to THINK about her.' He shivered.

"End of messages." The machine clicked off and Darien moved into his dark blue bedroom where he changed into his sleep shorts and flopped down onto the large king-size bed, face down. He immediately fell asleep, images of a golden haired angel floating through his hazy mind.

A.N. Well? It's done! The first chapter anyway.

Written on: July 8, 2002

Revamped on: August 13, 2005