Turning a Blind Eye
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Chapter Four
"So you went to bed late last night. That must've been one hell of a conversation." Lita teased as Serena walked into the kitchen to pour herself some coffee.
"You heard me?" Serena asked, her shocked eyes meeting Litas.
"Yup; the giggles too. So I'm guessing Danny didn't ruin anything between the two of you." Lita continued as she began whipping up Rini's favorite breakfast food, pancakes.
"No, Danny didn't ruin anything. We're going to have a picnic in the park Friday afternoon. He wants to spend some time with Rini." Serena smiled as she raised her mug to her lips.
Lita just smirked at her friend, knowing that she didn't have to say 'I told you so'.
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"Rini, are you sure you want to go with your dad tomorrow?" Lita asked as Serena approached the table with Rini's sippy cup in hand.
"Lita, don't turn Rini against her father." Serena said sternly as she sat down and gave Rini the cup that held the milk that the toddler had requested; at Lita's insistence that milk would be the perfect thing at the moment.
"I just want to make sure. Cause, you know, if she doesn't want to go I can watch her." Lita tried to defend her actions.
"We all could watch her. I mean, it would be an auntie night." Mina tried to back up Lita, not wanting Danny anywhere near Serena, Rini, or anyone else.
Serena looked to Rini, who was currently way to focused on coloring the place mat that Andrew had put before her with crayons to pay attention to what was going on. It was overly obvious when she didn't react to the thought of spending more time with her aunties.
"Guys, he was just upset and caught a little off guard that I was out. That's all. He apologized." Serena reminded them.
"That doesn't excuse his actions Sere." Amy pointed out as she popped a fry in her mouth, "Besides, I don't even get to spend any time with the little one." Amy added on.
"Yeah." Raye added, "I'm beginning to think Rini likes my brother more than me, and that's just not right!"
"Ok, so Darien has kind of won us both over. Who would have thought?" Serena asked as she remembered her two dates with Darien that had happened since the incident with Danny the previous Tuesday.
Darien had met them in the park for a lunch date on Friday and then took them both to dinner and a movie last night; the date last night was a surprise to Serena since it had been planned that it would be just the two of them. Until Rini wouldn't let go of Serena and cried until Darien suggested she come along, knowing Serena would be worried about Rini throughout the date if she left the child at home.
"You know Serena, Rini's refusal to letting you go might have something to do with what's been happening." Mina chimed in.
"That thought has crossed my mind." Serena admitted; evidently Rini was now convinced that any time Serena left her alone at night, something bad would happen. First it was the bad dream and then Danny exploding in front of her.
"Separation anxiety is normal for toddlers; and the fact that you're a single parent doesn't decrease the chances that Rini would have it. In fact it probably makes it a little more common since you're her mother and the one who mainly cares for her." Amy added.
"Yes, yes. I know. And the best way to combat it is to stop giving in to her demands that I stay home or take her with me." Serena waved her hand as she said it.
"Well, there's separation anxiety. And the fact that the last time Rini was with Danny he went batsh... he was very upset." Lita said, stopping her original thought as she glanced down at the toddler who was furiously coloring.
"Serena, I know you don't want to hear this; but, maybe Danny shouldn't be in Rini's life." Raye suggested softly, her hand going protectively to her stomach.
"Raye..." Serena began.
"No, Sere, we talked about this and we all think that he should at least take a break from seeing Rini." Lita countered.
"It really seems that Danny won't be a good influence on Rini." Mina added in.
"I can't just tell him today that he can't take Rini. I have to give him warning. I also think I should discuss this with him." Serena said carefully.
"Of course." Amy responded first, "That was part of the court agreement for custody."
"I forgot about that." Lita sighed.
"We should have done this earlier." Raye muttered.
"Guys, I'm right here. I think tonight will be fine and I'll talk to Danny tomorrow." Serena said, finding a compromise that the girls should find agreeable.
"We weren't planning to compromise." Raye muttered.
"But you're going to have to; Danny and I agreed we'd share custody of Rini and that if there were to be any changes to any of the per-arranged plans we'd give at least 48 hours notice." Serena told them sternly.
"I think his behavior is a justifiable reason as to change the plans." Lita tried arguing.
"But I still had plenty of time to tell him he couldn't have her tomorrow." Serena pointed out, "Besides, I'm sure he's going to be on his best behavior from now on. I kind of reminded him that it was because I agreed to share custody that we have joint custody." Serena added softly.
"You go girl!" Lita whooped, making Rini finally look up from her coloring.
"Mommy, can I has dessert?" Rini asked after a confused moment of trying to figure out what Lita was yelling about.
"Yes, you can have dessert." Serena answered as she looked around for Andrew, surprised he had ventured as far as he had from the table while Rini was around.
To her surprise, Serena found Andrew walking out from behind the counter, a small sundae and shakes on a tray.
"How does he do that?" Serena asked, drawing everyone's attention to Andrew as he walked up.
"I'm just that good." Andrew smiled as he set the milkshakes down in front of the girls and the sundae in front of Rini.
"Tank you!" Rini beamed as she looked down at the sundae before her as if it were made of gold.
"Well, she's certainly your daughter." Andrew laughed as Rini began to dig in.
"Yes, I know. She's beautiful." Serena laughed as she looked at Rini's chocolate covered face.
"Yeah, there's that too." Lita added as she too looked at Rini.
"Aren't you going to, uh, clean that up?" Mina asked as she stirred her milkshake.
"Why bother? It'll only get chocola-fied again; so I'm going to wait until she's done then do a full wipe down." Serena commented as she stirred her own shake.
"She does have a point." Amy confirmed.
"Or she knows from experience." Andrew laughed as Serena scowled at him, "What? I can't forget all the afternoons you spent in here, going through napkins trying to keep your face clean while you wolfed down a sundae."
"Serena would wolf down sundaes and kill trees?" a voice asked from behind Andrew.
"Enny!" Rini yelled, her spoon tipping out of the sundae bowl and spilling melted ice cream on the table.
"Hello munchkin." Darien greeted as Rini stood up on the seat, wanting to be hugged.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Serena warned as she quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped off Rini's face and hands, "Ok, go."
After getting the 'OK' Darien picked Rini up and hugged her, extremely thankful that Serena had given Rini a wipe down when her hands latched on to his collar and she rubbed her face on his chest, he was wearing a light blue shirt and chocolate would have definitely been visible.
"Good save Sere." Lita approved, thinking the same thing Darien had.
"Oh trust me; I've ruined more shirts than I want to admit before I figured that one out." Serena laughed as she scooted over so Darien could sit.
"I can only stay for a minute; just picking up lunch." Darien said as he sat down, Rini still locked onto his shirt.
"If that were the case, Dare, you shouldn't have picked up the little one; she'll never let go." Raye notified him with a smile, "I also can't believe you're letting someone else know you're childhood nickname."
"We'll figure out a way to loosen that death grip." Serena assured him.
"I know; and well, how can you say no to this little one?" Darien commented as Raye nodded, understanding what he meant; no one could deny Rini. "Anyways, how are you?" Darien asked no one in particular as he rubbed Rini's back.
"About the same as yesterday." Serena smiled, "We've been seeing a lot of each other lately."
"And that's a bad thing?" Mina asked.
"Not really." Serena answered, an unwanted blush coloring her cheeks as the girls smiled at her.
"Since you're here now, I should get back to the hospital." Amy excused herself.
"Yeah, the restaurant probably needs me to finalize the dinner specials for tonight." Lita added her excuse.
"I promised to see Jake before I headed off to finish up some errands." Raye began scooting out of the booth.
"I'll go with you; I wanted to see Max today." Mina added.
"That was a lame one." Serena commented.
"It was last second, give me a break." Mina stuck out her tongue.
"Ok, come on, let's leave these two alone. Bye sweetie." Amy began the good-byes to Rini.
"Bye." Rini's response muffled as she turned to look at Amy.
"Bye pumpkin, remember to tell your mom you want to see us more often." Raye said as she patted Rini on the head, "And you, call me tonight."
"I will." Rini smiled up at Raye
"Yes Raye, I'll call you later." Darien smiled over the toddlers pink curls.
"See you later, alligator." Mina smiled as she kissed Rini on the cheek.
"In a aisle cocadial" Rini tried to say.
"Heh, close enough." Mina chuckled.
"See you at home, babe." Lita winked at her as they all headed out of the Arcade.
"Auntie Lita." Rini yelled, making everyone look at her.
"Yeah sweetie?" Lita asked, coming back to her with a frown.
"I wanna 'ave cake." Rini pointed out.
"Cake, huh?" Lita asked as she raised her gaze to Serena who met it with relief then nodded.
"Uh-huh." Rini nodded.
"Maybe we can make the cake together tonight after dinner, how does that sound?" Lita asked then was bombarded as Rini propelled herself off Darien and into Lita's arms.
"YEAH!" Rini enthusiastically screamed.
"Oh yeah, there's definitely some Serena in that little girl." Raye laughed as Lita hugged Rini and put her down so she could climb back up onto Darien's lap.
"Bye guys, thanks for lunch. I'll call you later." Serena called after them as they, as a group, returned to leaving.
"Scared?" Darien asked.
"Yeah, I..." Serena looked down to Rini who was once again on Darien's lap, but was looking at her melting sundae with longing.
"Hang on." Serena said as she reached across the table and moved the sundae to the other side of her, making Rini crawl from Darien's lap, over Serena and settled next to her mother; picking up her forgotten spoon as if she never stopped eating.
"Now that she's fully distracted," Serena sighed, "Yeah, when she yelled for Lita I thought she would answer a question that was asked earlier."
"What question was it?" Darien asked, curious as to what made Serena so nervous.
"Lita asked Rini if she wanted to go with her father tomorrow." Serena answered.
"I see, and did she answer?" Darien followed up.
"No, I came up then and distracted her with her sippy cup." Serena answered.
"I'm guessing she is going with her father tomorrow." Darien said carefully.
"Yes, she is. I know you don't specifically agree with it..." Serena began.
"No, I don't disagree with you. She's your daughter and he is her father. Whatever you have agreed with him about how you're dealing with the situation you're currently in is your decision." Darien slightly interrupted her.
"Thank you, Darien." Serena whispered.
"I don't agree with his actions, but since Rini is going to be with him tomorrow I guess he has modified his actions enough that you believe he can be with his daughter in a safe environment." Darien said carefully.
"He would never hurt her." Serena immediately said.
"I would hope that's the case. But, Serena, I work in a hospital where three times a week I monitor the night shift. I've seen cases come in where no one meant for anyone to get hurt. I don't want to see Rini in my emergency department." Darien told her seriously.
"Darien, don't beat around the bush." Serena said flatly.
"He called you last week to pick up your daughter because she didn't want to eat broccoli. He yelled, cursed, and showed violent tendencies when I appeared; in front of your child. I know you want Rini to have a full life and to know her father; but I honestly can't say that he needs to be in her life or that he is a good influence." Darien answered honestly.
"The girls said something similar." Serena muttered with a sigh, "The thing is, I know Danny and I know how he gets when things change."
"I told you this last week and I'm going to tell you again, don't make excuses for him. Does he have control issues?" Darien asked suddenly.
"I don't know, I've never thought about it, why?" Serena asked, confused about the sudden change in topic.
"Well, could you alone change the terms that he can see Rini?" Darien asked.
"No, it has to be mutual or court ordered." Serena answered.
"And whose idea was it to have it be mutual?" Darien persisted.
"Well, both of ours?" Serena answered though she didn't sound sure of it.
"He talked you into it," Darien answered for her, "He has control issues Serena; those issues are the stepping stones to things much worse. He knows that as long as he gets visitation with Rini he has some control over your life. He doesn't like me because I'm out of his control." Darien told her.
"I appreciate your opinion on the situation, I really do. But regardless of anything he's still Rini's father and he deserves to be a part of her life. However, I will keep your opinion and the information you've given me in the back of my mind tomorrow when Danny comes to pick up Rini." Serena said calmly.
"Thank you, I think that's the most calm anyone has accepted my advice about controlling relationships. Of course I'm normally doing this in the hospital while examining a patient at 3 in the morning." Darien said without thinking.
"I don't know how you can do it." Serena whispered as she laid her hand on top of his on the table.
"What do you mean?" Darien asked, not understanding her.
"Deal with the horrors of life and not be cynical." Serena answered as she glanced next to her to see Rini falling asleep on the seat, her sundae finished.
"I'm not sure how I do it, I know I just do." Darien answered honestly as Andrew appeared next to the booth with a bag in hand, "Thanks Drew. I'll see you tomorrow, Serena." Darien said as he took the bag from Andrew and stood up.
"Darien, I mean what I said. I'm going to keep what you said in the back of my mind when Danny picks her up tomorrow; and if I get the feeling that he's using her for anything I'm going to call my lawyer and the courthouse." Serena said seriously as she put her hand on his arm.
"Good. I really hope I'm wrong about him; Rini deserves to have a good father in her life." Darien smiled down at the sleeping toddler, "I'll see you tomorrow night; and don't hesitate to call me if you need me." He reminded her.
"I won't. Have a good day." Serena smiled up at him, her eyes shining as if stars were hidden in their depths.
Darien leaned down and kissed her, unable to stop himself.
"Tomorrow night" Darien sighed as he straighten, "Can't come soon enough."
"But it'll have to do. Now get out of here, the hospital is probably falling apart without you." Serena teased.
"In my dreams." Darien chuckled as he left the Arcade.
Serena watched Darien leave with a smile then looked down to her sleeping daughter. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Darien and the girls have a point with Danny, and they've hit the problem on the head.
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"Jacket, blanket, toys, books, movies…" Serena muttered as she walked around the house, periodically stuffing something in a bag.
"Every week." Lita sighed with a smile from the kitchen table where she was sipping her coffee.
"What?" Serena asked, drawn from her own world.
"I'm just saying that you do this every week." Lita repeated with detail.
"Yeah, I know." Serena muttered.
"Sere, what's up?" Lita asked, now seeing that something was a little off with her friend.
"I'm just.. thinking. I'm thinking about what you guys and Darien told me yesterday." Serena answered.
"O..k…" Lita said slowly, not sure what else to say.
"Well, mainly what Darien told me. I just…. He's right. You guys are right. I need to call my lawyer." Serena sighed as someone knocked at the door.
"Are you going to tell him now?" Lita asked softly and quickly and she got up from the table.
"No, I'll tell him tonight." Serena answered as she walked to the door.
"Sere…" Lita began but stopped herself when Serena opened the door to show Danny on the other side.
"Serena." Danny greeted.
"Danny. Here's her stuff, let me get her from her room." Serena said bluntly and she handed Danny the bag and left him in the entry way.
"Lita, good to see you." Danny said.
"Likewise." Lita answered as she glared at him with her arms folded on her chest.
"Daddy!" Rini yelled in greeting though she didn't leave her mother's side.
"Hey sweetie." Danny smiled down at her.
"Ok, so I'll see you at 8." Serena told Danny.
"Sere…. Yeah, 8:00." Danny muttered as Serena knelt down to Rini.
"Ok, you be good sweetheart and I'll see you tonight." Serena spoke to her daughter.
"Momma, is Darien gonna be here?" Rini asked.
Serena took a quick look at Danny and saw him glare a little.
"Yeah, he'll be here when you get home." Serena answered, "I love you." She added as she hugged and kissed her daughter then turned to her ex.
"Bye, Serena." Danny grumbled.
"Good-bye, Danny." Serena said, though her good-bye held a second meaning and a threat only a mother could issue.
"Lita." Danny said with a nod.
"Bye Danny. Bye pumpkin, you be good." Lita said as Danny took Rini's hand.
"Bye bye!" Rini smiled at Lita then left with her father.
"You ok?" Lita asked as she came up to Serena who still stood in the doorway.
"He knows I'm going to take Rini away from him." Serena said quickly as she grabbed the phone and called her lawyer.