I woke up and was met with complete darkness. I reached over to cuddle Darien but found his spot empty. I glanced at the clock happy that I didn't take my contacts out because I could see that it was a little past four. I got out the bed and pulled out some of Darien's sweats and put them on. I searched the whole apartment but found no traces of him, I was starting to get worried. That is until I looked towards the balcony and saw him out there leaning on the railing. I quietly sled the door open and stepped out. It wasn't until I wrapped my arms around his waist that he even realized I was there.

"What are you doing out here?" he turned around so that I was hugging his stomach rather that his back.

I smiled and lifted my head to look up at him, "I could ask you the same thing. How long you been out here?"

"Depends, what time is it?"

"It's probably about 4:30, now."

"A little over an hour and a half, then," he whispered, turning back to look at the sky. We stood there looking at the stars for a few more minutes, enjoying the silence. "Let's go back inside now, I've been out here long enough," he grabbed my hand and we walked back inside. It wasn't until we were lying back in his bed that he spoke.

"Today's my mom's birthday, she would have been 50. I miss her." he pulled me closer and laid his head on my chest. I've never lost anyone close to me, so I couldn't say that I understood his pain. I tried my best to comfort him. I ran my fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp. "She wasn't like most of these rich mothers, that leave everything for their hired help to do, she did things herself. She took Raye and I to school every morning and picked us up every afternoon. She took me to every practice I had, was there to clean my bruises and wipe away my tears. She never missed one of my games, not one, didn't miss any of Raye recitals or anything either." I was almost jealous, his mother did more than my own but something was missing.

"Where was your father?"

He started laughing, but you could tell by his tone he wasn't happy. In fact, he sounded bitter. "My father was nonexistent in my life. He was always at work, at a business meeting somewhere around the country, or with one of his many sluts. Pretty much anywhere his family wasn't." Yeah, it was apparent that this was still a sore spot.

"How'd your mother die?"

He sighed and I almost felt bad for asking. "She had a brain aneurism and died. I was at the gym training with my boxing instructor and she never came to get me, my instructor had to bring me home. I was worried because that wasn't at all like my mother to not pick me up, but when I walked through the front door, our butler Max told me she complained of a headache earlier and was upstairs resting. Max was on his way to check on her and bring her some Tylenol and a glass of water. I told him, I'd do it so I took the tray from him and brought it to her. I walked in my parent's bedroom and placed the tray on the bed and tried to wake her up. I called her name a few times and then started to shake her but she wouldn't move. I realized then, that she wasn't breathing. I called the ambulance and they came and took her. A couple of days later they told us that she had a brain aneurism and died. I took her death really bad. I cut myself off from everyone and anything that reminded me of my mom. I stopped playing sports, stopped going to classes. It's funny I went to school just to skip it. I don't know if my father didn't notice or just didn't care but he made matters worse by remarrying three months later. That's when I lost it all, I started partying hard. You name it, I did it, drinking, fucking, fighting, drugs. I did it all."

"How old were you?"

He shrugged, "I had just turned 14."

"Are you serious? There is no way,"

"Baby, you have to realize that when you're a kid with access to an unlimited amount of money, everything is obtainable. You can get anything and I do mean anything. And I did just that. Anything I wanted I got. I walked around with a chip on my shoulder, daring someone to challenge me and unfortunately for some they tried. I hospitalized 4 of my fellow students before Westbridge Prep kick me out. I went to two other trust fund schools before I was sent to an alternative school. It took me all of 3 weeks to get kicked of there and by then my father had had enough and sent me to an all boy's boarding school for troubled teens in the middle of fucking nowhere."

"Did you get kicked out of there too?"

"Nope," he shook his head laughing. "Not for lack of trying, though. The dean, Mr. Powers stayed on me like white on rice, I swear. If I even thought of stepping out of line, he was there, extinguishing the thought before I could even attempt to try it. It didn't really matter too much; we were in the middle of west bubble fuck and there wasn't shit to do. I figured it out early that their grand plan was to bore us into acting like civilized members of society. I can't lie, though, it worked."

"So what happened?"

"What do you mean? Nothing happened. I stayed there until I graduated. I came home on holidays but being around my "new mommy" caused me to act out. After a couple of run-ins with the police, Mr. Powers thought it would be best if I stopped going home. So during the breaks, I would stay at a friend's house or at the school. Raye came and visited me a couple of times, I think she enjoyed getting away just as much as I did. Mr. Powers got me into college which I graduated from last year. Occasionally when I'm in a bad mood or I've had a little too much to drink, the other Darien tends to come out. Once he's out, he's hard to control but I'm trying. I know my mother wouldn't be happy with me if she was here, so I'm doing my best to change and make her proud. It's just hard, I wish she was here and it's not fair that he's alive and my mother isn't. You know the family business was my mom's. She was rich and married my father thinking they were in love. Him and his slut wife are living off of my mom's family business. It makes me sick. I never want to be like him."

"And you won't. Baby, as far as I can tell. You're mom would be proud of the man you're becoming. You're a good man who made mistakes as a boy but who hasn't? You show me a perfect child and I'll show you a liar."

He shook his head, chuckling, "you're something special, has anyone ever told you that?"

I shrugged, "yes, but it's always nice to hear again."

"Enough about my past, tell me something about yours. How come you never talk about your father?"

"I don't know the man. He left my mom while she was pregnant."

"Then whose is the guy in the pictures on the wall holding you as a baby," he cut in.

"His name was Drake Stokes. He died of cancer when I was four but he wasn't my father, well he wasn't my biological father I should say. My mother doesn't know that I know Drake wasn't my father. She put my real father on my birth certificate when I was born, Brennan Michael Parham. I found it when I was 11. I was in our attic looking for family pictures for a project in school when I came across my birth certificate. Curiosity got the best of me and I kept looking through boxes until I found one that was full of pictures of him and I guess things that reminded her of him. They had to be high school sweethearts or something because she has pictures of the two of them together starting from when they were like 8 until they were at least 20."

"You never asked your mom about it all?"

"No. I wanted to in the beginning but I just never had enough nerve. Then the more I thought about it, this guy just walked out on us and never came back. I really don't want to know about a man that could do that. I don't talk about Drake because I don't really remember too much about him. I was only four when he died. I remember lying on his chest in the hospital and feeling his chest stop moving. I remember my mom falling to the ground and crying when the doctor said he was gone. Josh tried to pick her up but he was just a little boy, he couldn't pick up a woman so he just sat there and held her. I remember his funeral, his parents wouldn't even acknowledge us. They came from money, you could tell, they just had that air about them. It took my mom so long to stop crying. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and hear her crying. I don't like remembering a time when my mom was so sad, so I just don't bring it up." I was surprised I shared all of that. I'd never told anyone any of that. Not even Amy and she was my best friend.

"Damn, that's deep. I'm sorry baby," he kissed my forehead and I had to smile. I loved when he kissed my forehead. Amy's grandmother used to always tell us when we were younger that if a man kissed your forehead that he truly cares about you. I hugged him closer until we both fell asleep.

"WAKE UP, WAKE UP"

I shot up from my sleep scared shitless. I had to hand it to Darien he wasn't fazed at all. The only reason I even knew he was awake was because he reached up and pulled me back down.

"Ignore her, she'll lose interest in a couple of minutes," he whispered.

"What if she walks in?"

"Doubt it, I locked the door this morning when we came back inside."

And exactly like he said, a few minutes later I heard Raye walk away from the door. We ended up getting up a couple of hours later and found Raye and Mina watching TV in the living room.

"Finally, I was bored out of my mind. Your brother is not a morning person, I had to call Mina to keep me company."

Mina looked from the TV to Darien and I. "Hello, happy couple," she waved and turned back to the TV.

"Where's my brother?" I asked sitting in between them.

"He's in the room getting dressed. Some guys called him about playing a game of football at the park.

"Jay, I'm coming with. Just let me brush my teeth," Darien yelled as he disappeared back into the room.

"So, what's on the agenda for today ladies?" Raye questioned.

"We could go to your house and chill," Mina suggested.

"I can't, the 'Rents' should have come home this morning and I definitely don't wanna deal with them today."

Remembering the talk Darien and I had this morning, I understood why. "You okay?" I mouthed. She looked at me, then towards the room where Darien was. She understood that he had told me.

She shrugged, "I'm fine. Mina lets go to yours, I haven't seen lil' man in a while."

"Who's that?" I cut in.

"My little brother. He's five."

"Yeah, Mina's mom is known for her marriages. She marries these rich old men and then divorces them. What's this her sixth or seventh marriage, Mina?"

Mina laughed, "This is her fifth, thank you very much Raye."

"Right, well like I said she marries these rich old guys. She surprised the shit out of with this last guy. For one he's her age maybe even a little younger and for two, he's not rich but mega rich." Raye laughed.

"He's a good guy though. He adores my mother and gave me my little brother so I have no complaints."

"Then it's settled, let's go," I exclaimed, standing up.

We got to Mina's quickly and parked behind Porsche Carrera GT. This girl had money. That's one of the most expensive cars in the world. Yeah, did you catch that I said the world. Just as we were climbing out Mina's car, the front door swung up and little boy with a head full of brown hair ran break neck speed into Mina's arm. "She's trying to make me take a bath," he scrunched up his face and I had to smile. He was cute. A small woman holding a towel suddenly made her presence known. "Master Evan. You stink, your mother would not be happy if she came home and you smelted like that."

"I'm a boy, I'm suppose to stink," he countered.

"He does have a point," Raye laughed.

The little boy, turned and gave Raye a smile, "Do you like clean boys?" The maid looked at Raye pleadingly.

"I sure do. I love a boy who smells like soap," she smiled as he seemed to think it over. Suddenly he turned and saw me. He shied away from me and whispered into Mina's ear.

She broke into a grin, "I don't know. You'd have to ask her." He pulled away from Mina and looked at me. "Do you like clean boys too?" This little boy was definitely too cute. He reminded me so much of Hotaru that it was a little freaky.

"Yes, I like my boys to be clean. Being stinky makes the cooties come and I'm scared of those. You wouldn't want to scare me would you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I will go take my bath then. You won't leave will you?"

I shook my head, "Of course not." The maid grabbed his arm and pulled him into hers. "Thank you," she mouthed to us all and made her way back to the house.

"I don't think you're his favorite anymore Raye," Mina laughed.

She shrugged, "He'll come back, they always come back. We made our way up to Mina's room and I almost had to throw up upon entering. Her room was disgustingly pink. Everywhere I looked I saw pink, she even had pink carpet. Who has pink carpet? As I inspected the rest of Mina's room, I came across a picture of a man that was extremely familiar. Ironically enough, Darien and I had just talked about him, this morning.

"Mina whose this?" I asked, holding up said picture.

"Oh, that's my dad. He's the only man to not fall in love with my mother," she laughed

CRASH

I didn't mean to drop the picture, I really didn't but of all the things I was expecting Mina to say, being her father wasn't one of them.

"Serena what's wrong?" I knew the color was draining from my face at an alarming rate but I couldn't control it at this point.

"Brennan Michael Parham is your father?" I asked.

"How do you know his name?" Mina countered.

I laughed, "He's my father too."

"Wait, what?" Mina looked thoroughly confused, not that I could blame her.

"He's my father too. My mother named him on my birth certificate as my father."

"What'd your mom say about him when you asked her?" Mina took one long look at my face and knew that I'd never asked.

"OH MY GOD. YA'LL ARE SISTERS! That's crazy," Raye laughed. "Now that I look at the both of you together. Ya'll do kinda look alike," she mentioned looking back in fourth between us.

"Well, what does your mother say about him?" I asked.

"No offense, if she's talking about your mother but she says he chose some cheap poor bitch over us. He was the first guy my mom ever loved and like I said before he was the first and only guy that didn't fall for my mom. When I asked him, he said that he didn't want to bad mouth my mom so…"

"You talk to him?" I interrupted.

"You don't?"

I shook my head, "he's never been around. I've seen thousands of pictures of him and my mom but he was gone before I was born."

"Serena you have to ask your mom what happened. As much as I love my mom, I know her. Her story is from her point of view and my mom's a little off, well more than a little so I wouldn't trust it."

"Okay, then let's go." The ride to my house was silent. Mina and I in the front, while Raye sat in the back.

"Mom, are you home?" I asked, walking into the house.

"In the living room," she answered. I had every intention of questioning her as soon as I saw her but finding her laying down in the living room watching TV, I lost my nerve. Mina saw this and took the initiative.

"When you first met me, you gasped. Was it because of who I am or who my father is?" My mom stood up immediately and glanced at me.

"You know?" she asked simply.

"Yes, I've known since I was 11. I found my birth certificate in the attic and then I found your box of mementos." I explained.

Mina stepped up. "We want to know what happened between all of ya'll?"

"Why?"

"Because we're both growing up without a father because of a situation between all three of ya'll. We have a right to know because we were affected," I turned to face my mother fully.

I heard her sigh as she gave in. "You sure you want to know. It doesn't paint any of us in a good light. Mina and I looked at one another and agreed simultaneously.

"You mine as well, take a seat it's a long story," she gestured towards the couch. We all sat down and gave my mother our undivided attention. "Brennan and I are from a small town in Montana. I mean small, population less than 300, everyone knows you, your mother and your father. You couldn't do anything without the whole town knowing type of town. I'd known your father my whole life. We were both from the wrong side of town. Brennan's mom was the town slut, while my dad was the town drunk and resident fuck up. We created a system fairly early, when his mother would come home with men he would knock on my window. I'd open it and he would then climb in my bed with me and we'd go to sleep. We would switch and I'd sleep at his house, in his bed when my dad came home drunk. You see when he got drunk, he turned into another person. He'd like to beat on people, me and my mom included. I had the biggest crush on Brennan but like most guys in town he didn't pay me any rabbit ass mind. He told me later that he thought of me as a little sister. That all changed when I went on my first date. My date brought me home and gave me this long and very deep goodnight kiss. I didn't know at the time but your father was watching. He knocked on my window that night and I let him in. When I was about to fall asleep he flipped me over and kissed me. He told me that he didn't want me with anyone but him so I had to get rid of the new guy because I was his girl. I was 15 when that happened and we started dating." I saw the wistful smile on my mom's face and knew that she still missed him. There were emotions in her eyes that I can't remember ever seeing before. "For the next two years, everything was great until Sophia Dumont came into town."

"So my mother wasn't from Montana?" Mina asked.

My mom shook her in head no and ran her fingers through her hand. "No, according to the talk around town, your mother had gotten into trouble back home and your grandfather sent her to live with her uncle as punishment. But it wasn't punishment for your mother in fact it was the exact opposite. Your mother was like nothing the town had ever seen. She was gorgeous, rich and by the end of the day was running our school. Students and teachers alike worshiped the ground she walked on. She had her eye on your father from the first moment she saw him but like me in the beginning, he didn't pay her any mind. He was the first person to do that and she was drawn to him because of it. She did everything to get his attention from wearing skimpy clothing to flirting with other guys hoping to make him jealous. Nothing worked until she bought him this nice leather jacket and he gave her a little attention. From then on she started to buy him all kinds of shit. Expensive things, things we would have never been able to afford from watches, shoes, to high priced electronics. She even started giving him money. For his 18th birthday Sophia bought him a motorcycle and that's where I drew the line. I told him to give it all back."

"Did he?" I questioned.

My mom laughed. "No, but he ensured me that there was nothing going on. That he was just using her for her money. He said that she was buying all this stuff hoping that he would give her a chance but that it wasn't going to happen. I didn't find out for about 3 more months that he was in fact cheating on me, well according to Sophia, cheating on her with me. She made him choose between the two of us, her and her money or me. Needless to say he chose her and I was heartbroken. By then her punishment was over and her father allowed her to come back. She set Brennan up with a job with her father and she brought him to California with her. It was about a month later and he suddenly showed up on my doorstep. I should have slammed the door in his face but I couldn't… I loved him. He was my first in so many ways and I couldn't close the door on that. He asked me to take a ride with him which I did, where he laid everything on the table so to speak. He explained that he loved me, that I was his heart, that she was nothing to him but a pay check. Brennan said that he was sick of being poor and liked what she could help him achieve but he didn't want to lose me. He showed me pictures of a house that he had already brought and said that I could have if I would come to California. He said that I didn't have to work that he opened some accounts for me and he would put money in it for anything I wanted. He talked me into becoming the other woman, basically and like a dumb teenager, I agreed to it."

"How could agree to something like that?" I cried. "You willingly became the other woman."

"I'm not proud of the decisions I made but I loved your father. I wanted to be with him. Now, do you want to know the rest of the story or not?" Judging from my silence, she continued. "He brought me back home and helped me pack. We left that night and spent the next week driving to California together. He got me situated in the house and even spent a few more days there with me before he went back to her. I got small job at a bookstore to past the time when he couldn't be near and to save a little extra money for a rainy day. I even got my GED. For a year that arrangement worked well enough until I found out I was pregnant. I was happy but at the same time scared, I didn't know how he'd take it. I told him when I was 3 months and he was overjoyed. He started spending more and more time with me, so much so that I completely forgot about Sophia. Your brother was born and Brennan started talking about marriage and I was ecstatic. Of course I jumped at the possibility of having him all to myself. We got married when your brother turned 6 months. I honestly can't say what was going on with him and Sophia at this time. He never talked about her and for all appearances seemed to only be away from us when he was out of town on business. It was probably about a year later when Brennan was at work that the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, Sophia stood there. She started to lay into me about being a home-wrecker, hussy, you name it she said. And I took it all until your brother crawled to me. She saw him and completely lost it. Yelling at me about me is one thing but yelling at me about my son is another. I told her everything that your father ever told me about her. How she was nothing to him but a paycheck, that I was his heart, everything. Then I dropped the bomb on her, that we were married and that it was she who was the home-wrecker starting from back when we were in Montana." My mom was crying by then. I got up and walked over to her and hugged her.

"It's okay, mom," I whispered in her ear.

"Thank you sweet heart," she smiled. "Your mom had secrets too, Mina, ones that she was more than happy to share now. Like the fact that they were still making love, that he told her just the night before that he loved her and that she was the only one. Brennan came home at this point. At first he looked like a deer caught in head lights so I knew that everything that Sophia said was true. He started fussing with Sophia and told her that she had no right to come here. That we were his family and that she was nothing to him. She left in tears but I still wasn't satisfied. I was naïve to believe that he wasn't with her anymore but I really thought he wasn't so I made him choose at that moment between me and her, once and for all. He chose me and agreed to have nothing to do with her. It was about year later and for no reason at all I fainted at work. When I woke up the paramedics were there and they offered to take me to the hospital just for precaution. I went but I tried calling your father but he wouldn't pick up the phone so I left a message for him to call me back. When I got to the hospital the doctor ran a couple of tests and came back with the results that I was pregnant. I was happy, your father and I had been talking about having another kid so Josh wouldn't be alone. The doctor told me to go home and rest but made an appointment for a couple of weeks later. When I was leaving the hospital I took a detour to the maternity ward to see the babies, I was already looking forward to it. Right when I walked around the corner, I saw Sophia standing there obviously in labor. They had her walking down the hall trying to make her dilate further my guess and who's by her side. None other than your father. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was the father and at that moment I made a decision to end things with Brennan. When I turned to leave I glanced back at Sophia to find her starring at me smiling like yeah, I'm having his baby. I turned my back on them completely then and walked away. Your father never did see me. He came home and I had all his stuff packed and waiting. I told him to go to Sophia because I was done. He tried to talk his way out of it but I wasn't having it. The next morning, I filed for divorced. He contested it of course. He sent me flowers at home and at work. Showered me with clothes and jewelry, he even bought me a car but I did what he couldn't. I gave it all back, I didn't accept any of it.

Then I met this guy, Drake Stokes and he was different. He came from money but didn't rely on it. In fact, he made his own money. He didn't care that I already had a child and that I was pregnant with another one. He was everything I wanted your father to be. Brennan found out I was pregnant and started just popping up at random times trying to get me to give him another chance. On one such occasion he found out I was dating Drake and became enraged. He and Drake fought. Brennan won but I still refused to talk to him, to give him any of my attention. I simply took Drake in the house and took care of him. I think that's when he gave up. The gifts and everything just stopped. He signed the divorce papers and I never saw him again. I heard from mutual friends that he got involved with the wrong people. You see I keep him grounded. Not to sound conceited but without me he was a mess. He got into drinking, drugs, and gambling. Then one day he just disappeared and I stopped hearing about him."

"He never tried to contact you about Josh and I?"

She sighed, "follow me." She took us upstairs into her room where she pulled out a box from her trunk. She opened the box and pulled out a stack of envelops tied together and handed them to me. "They started coming on your seventh birthday. They're from him. He sends you, me and your brother a letter on our birthdays and Christmas every year."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about these?"

"I'm sorry but he doesn't do well in our lives. Money is his main concern and I didn't want to let him back in only for him to bring more pain," she cried. I understood what she meant, she didn't want him in her life to bring her anymore pain and I couldn't say I blamed her.

"I understand mom, I truly do but I want to know where the other half of me came from. I want to meet him but…..I won't do it if you don't want me too."

She shook her head. "No. baby, I've been selfish enough. If you really want to do this, then I won't stop you. I just want you to be prepared for all the possible outcomes. I'll leave you to read your letters, I'll be downstairs if you have any more questions." She kissed my forehead and left the room, closing the door.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever felt this out of place. This feels like a family moment, so Imma go. Mina, I'm taking your car. I'll get the keys out of your purse downstairs," Raye exclaimed walking out the door. I sled the first letter out of the pack and opened it. I sat on my mom's bed and began reading. It wasn't long before I felt tears spring to my eyes. Mina sat beside and wrapped her arms around me. "He wants to be in my life. He wants to know me too, Mina," I muttered, completely breaking down.

"You know I've always wanted a sister. I never would have thought that I already had one," Mina laughed. "And as your big sister, it's my job to tell you to stop crying. Pretty girls like us don't cry it ruins our makeup." She continued to smile as she wiped away my tears. "He lives in New York, now but he'll be here in a couple of weeks for some business. You can meet him then. He calls me every day. When he calls today you can talk to him."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"No problem, what are sisters for?" Just as I was putting the letter away, something else inside the envelop caught my eye. With shaking fingers I pull it out.

"It's a check for 10,000 dollars." Mina exclaimed, since I still seemed to be in shock. I grabbed the stack of letters and started to open letter after letter. I found a check in each one, granted they were all for five thousand rather than ten. But who was I to complain.

"MOM, MOM," I yelled as Mina and I ran downstairs. "Did you ever open any of the letters?"

She shook her head. "What for, nothing your father could say would change what he did."

"There's a check in every letter, mom." I showed her all the ones I'd found.

"I don't want your father's dirty money or is it still your mother's money," she questioned looking at Mina.

"Actually dad is in real estate and he and my mother haven't been together since before I was born."

"Wait, what?" my mom seemed confused.

"Dad is in real estate. His company is worth a lot these days. They handle the big money clients, you know celebrities, executives, lawyers, those types. Mom and daddy are not together and haven't been since before I can remember. I've asked them both what happened but dad refuses to speak bad about my mother to me and my mom just refuses to speak on the subject at all. From what I've gathered over the years somehow my mom trick dad into having me or something along those lines. He hasn't been with her since. Of course he's around for my birthdays, Christmas and summers, but only for me," Mina explained.

"But I thought-" my mom was cut off as Josh walked through the front door yelling.

"ANYBODY HOME, HELLO." He found us in the living room and stopped short.

"Why does everyone look so gloomy?" We all exchanged looks before my mom turned to me.

"Serena, why don't you and Mina go out for a little while. I think it's time that I told your brother as well."

"Alright." I kissed my mom on the cheek and turned to leave. My brother caught my eyes and silently questioned me. I gave away nothing as I shook my head and walked out the door with Mina right behind me. Mina was already calling us a ride as we walked down the driveway.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a moment of silence.

"For what?"

"How I've treated you over the years. Nobody should be treated like that and to make matters worse, you're my sister."

I shook my head. "It's not like you knew. And if it makes you feel better we can just say that it was sibling rivalry. All siblings go through it. Besides like I already told you, I've forgiven you. You just gotta stop harping on it," I smiled as a black limousine pulled up behind us. The driver got out quickly and opened the door for us. We both climbed in and as the driver closed the door, Mina's cell phone went off. She pulled it out of her purse and smiled once she saw who it was.

"Daddy, I have someone who wants to talk to you," she handed me the phone and for a second I just starred at it. I was almost afraid that it was a joke. After a couple of seconds of Mina pushing the phone in my direction, I took her out of her hand.

"Hello, dad." It sounded weird coming from me. Maybe because I'd never said it before. "It's me, Serena," I added.