Ok, Sorry for the delay. Been busy lately.
Usual Disclaimers apply
Enjoy!
The Parent Trap - Chapter 7: Gone Fishing
The plane flies high over head on that clear sunny day, heading
to who-knows-where. But lets not focus on the plane. Lets focus on
what’s going on below the plane, on the grounds of the Chiba house
where we see Beryl in one of her fits, “So what am I suppose to do?
Sit home and nit? (And you ‘know’ darn well I don’t sew, Darien.)”
Darien just sighed as he packed more of the gear into the
truck. He had been trying to inform Beryl, for the past two hours,
that he and his kids, and ex-wife, were going on a camping trip to the
mountains for the week. Unfortunately, Beryl hadn’t let him get to
the ex-wife part yet, cause of her constant nagging. This and other
resent events have had Darien in a loop about his engagement to Beryl,
(“Do I really need to go through this the rest of my life. Serena
is…… Darien for the last time, stop thinking about her, your engaged
to Beryl now.”) Another part of Darien‘s brain however had other
thoughts, (“But Beryl has started to become a pain since Chibi-Usa,
correction Rini, came back from camp.”), (“Great!”), (“Now what?”),
(“I’m arguing with myself………, again!”), (“Yes you are, and doing a
good job at it too.”)
Darien’s mental fight was interrupted when Beryl asked,
“EXCUSE ME! What is ‘SHE’ doing here? (That witch is here. I don’t
want her anywhere near ‘MY’ Fiancé.)”
Darien turned to where Beryl was looking and saw a vision he
never got tired of seeing, and still doesn’t. Serena was wearing a
sleeveless pink shirt and blue jeans, and all Darien could think was,
(“GOD, she is so beautiful!”) (“Then drop the engagement with Beryl
and be with the one you truly love.”) (“I thought we already had this
talk.”) (“Yep, and we‘ll keep having it till you start seeing
straight!)” Darien got out of his mental fight before Beryl decided
to call the funny farm for fighting with himself for the millionth
time that morning and said, “That’s the deal, the ‘four’ of us go
‘together’.”
“WHAT,” Beryl fumed, which Darien expected from her.
Before anything else could be said, Serena reached them with a
smile on her face, “Good Morning. Everything going ok?”
Beryl got her emotions under control and answered, truthfully,
“No, it’s not ok. I’m not very comfortable with the idea of my fiancé
camping with his ex.”
Darien’s mental fight of the hour, round 3, ‘ding’, (“What?
Well I’m sorry you feel that way, but Serena is ‘MY’ ex.”) (“That’s
it boy, go for it.”) (“GRRRRRRRRR!”) (“And I thought we were making
progress.”)
“Oh I agree Beryl. A man and his ex camping together is
strange,” Beryl was grinning in triumph before Serena said, “So I
think you should come with us.”
That turned Beryl’s grin into a frown, (“What? Me, in the
woods? Not my forte. I better stock up on bug spray….. FAST!”) With
that, Beryl ran into the house to hunt down everything she would need
to repel bugs, and pack clothes, followed shortly by Serena.
Half an hour later the two came back out and one of the twins,
who came out with her bags earlier, asked, “Dad, what’s Beryl doing
here?”
“Your mother invited her,” was Darien’s reply.
Both girls asked, “WHAT?”
(“Oh brother, here we go with the lecture to both girls.”)
(“Dump Beryl, dump Beryl, dump Beryl, dump Beryl, dump….”) (“SHUT
UP!”) Darien looked at both girls, “Be nice.”
Both girls just sulked before getting in the truck. Once they,
Beryl and Darien were all set, Serena wished them luck, “Well have a
good trip.”
Darien looked confused at Serena’s actions, “Serena, what are
you doing?”
Serena said, “Well, I thought you and Beryl could use some
time alone before the big day.”
The twins didn’t like this idea, “MOM! That’s not the plan.”
“Oh you’ll have a much better time without me. Have fun,”
with that said, the girls sulked into the back seats and Darien drove
the truck away.
Then, that little nagging part of Darien’s mind kicked in,
(“SERENA, you were suppose to get in between these two.”) (“Will you
shut up for the last time?”) (“Darien my man. You are ‘so’ going to
regret this.”)
After an hour’s drive, and a one hour hike, the four were
already deep in the woods, on their way to the lake where they planned
to stay the next 4 nights. Little did Beryl know, the twins already
started their attempts to drive her off. Because Beryl had never
hiked before, she had to frequently stop, and every time, the girls
would put rocks in her backpack. They also played a couple of obvious
pranks by putting a little lizard on her Evian bottle, and later on
her head. Beryl screamed in fright both times before Darien gave the
girls a stern look that said ‘watch it.’ That’s when he popped in
Darien’s head again, (“At least the girls know Beryl is bad for you..”)
(“I don’t believe this. The girls, and myself, are teaming up on me.”)
After another hour of hiking, they reached the camp site and begun
pitching the tents, and after two other pranks the girls made, Beryl
went to bed claiming to take a “large” sleeping pill.
Later that night, after Beryl and Darien were asleep, Rini,
and Usagi sneaked out of their tent and into Beryl’s. Once inside,
they dragged her air mattress, with Beryl on it, to the lake and
pushed it off the shore and onto the water, and watched as Beryl
floated away. Usagi made the comment, “Sweat dreams Beryl, for you’ll
wake up with a splash in the morning.” With that, the two went back
into their tent and back to sleep.
The next morning, Darien woke up to someone screaming his name.
He woke up and got out of his tent just in time to see Beryl fall off
her mattress and into the lake, “Oh man.” Darien then looked at the
girls’ tent and gave them the stare, before walking out of his tent to
a wet Beryl, who was just walking to shore. Beryl kicked a pot as she
passed the burnt out camp fire and was raging mad, so Darien asked,
“What’s going on?”
Luckily for the girls, Beryl wasn’t thinking straight when she
said, right into Darien’s face, “Here’s what’s going on. The day we
get married is the day we ship those ‘BRATS’ off to Switzerland. It’s
me or them, choose.”
That little part of Darien butted in again, (YOU SEE! YOU SEE!
I told you she was all wrong for you, but did you listen, nnnnnooooo.”)
And for once Darien agreed with the voice and said to Beryl, “Them.”
The girls quietly high fived each other as Beryl asked,
“Excuse me?”
“T - h - e - m, them. Get the picture,” Darien was grinning
at Beryl.
Beryl fumed at Darien, and didn’t bother getting her gear as
she took off the engagement ring through at Darien’s face, and stormed
off into the woods. Darien then lost his grin, turned to the girls,
and said, “Girls, pack the gear. We’re going home, and your grounded.”
The girls gulped and got dressed while the voice in Darien’s head said,
(“Ya right. You’ll ground them for this when pigs fly. Admit it,
your glad they did that so you can get Serena back.”) It was then
that Darien remembered Serena back at the house and mentally grinned
at the voice, (“Guilty as charged.”) (“YES, Now we’re getting
somewhere.”)
It wasn’t till late that afternoon by the time Darien and the
girls got back Darien’s house. Serena came out to greet them and
asked, “Back so soon? Was it fun?”
Rini said, “Well, I wouldn’t go right to fun.”
Serena asked, “You wouldn’t?”
Usagi announced, “We’ve been punished till the end of the
century.”
“Starting now,” Darien said as he gave the girls their bags.
Serena then noticed a missing face, “Where is Beryl?”
“Usagi and I played a few harm-less pranks on her and she kind
of freaked out a little.”
Darien went into detail about what happened on the trip and
Serena said, “Darien I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked Beryl to join
you.”
“(I’m not sorry. Heck, Serena, I’m glad you did.) Tricked
would be more like it,” Darien said. After he marched the girls to
their room, and after they apologized for their behavior, Darien
returned to the living room, Darien said, “I got to remember to thank
them one day.”
(“What does he mean by that,”) Serena thought. But she set
the question aside for later and briefly explained that Mina and
Andrew are on a picnic……….. since lunch time yesterday. The two
decided what to have for dinner and choose Spaghetti and Meatballs,
which got a few laughs out of Serena.
Shortly after dinner, Darien went to his room to fix him self
up. Darien asked Serena if she wanted to see where he worked, and
Serena said yes. Now he was making sure he looked nice. Cause he
wanted to go on a mid-night stroll in the park with her too, which
Serena also liked the idea of when he spoke of the idea to her.
Serena was downstairs waiting for Darien to come down. While
she was waiting, she began thinking, (“What is with Darien today?
Ever since he and the girls got back, he has been staring at me with a
grin on his face every now and then, not that I didn’t like it mind
you, but he hasn’t looked at me that way since…….. Could he be…..?”)
Serena’s train of thought was interrupted by the door bell. Serena
thought it was the baby sitter Darien called, since Mina and Andrew
hadn’t come home yet, so she opened the door to let the sitter in.
The baby sitter was a tall woman, maybe a few inches taller then
Darien. She had green hair going down to her knees and had eyes as
red as her twins, “Hi, you must be the baby sitter Darien sent.”
The baby sitter was surprised to see someone other then Beryl
at the door. True she wasn’t needed during the summer till now, but
she and Darien were good friends and occasionally got together for a
chat or two, “Yes I am. My name is Setsuna Meiou.”
Setsuna extended her hand and Serena shook it with her own,
“Hi, I’m Serena Tsukino, Darien’s ex-wife.”
Setsuna was surprised at this. She’d heard of Serena from
Darien countless times, but never thought she’d actually get a chance
to meet her, “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you. Darien’s told me a
lot about you, but I thought I’d never get the chance to meet you.”
Serena could only smile at the comment, and she began to like
this woman, “Well, I almost wasn’t here cause I hadn’t seen or heard
from Darien until our two clever daughters got us to reunite recently.”
Setsuna raised an eye brow at the phrase “’two’ clever
daughters.” Setsuna only knew of Usagi, and her eyes went wide when
she looked at the stairs to see ‘two’ Usagi’s run down the stairs.
One of the Usagi’s ran to her and jumped into her arms, “Setsuna!”
Serena could only laugh at the look on Setuna’s face. “Well
you already know Usagi. And this,” she said while picking up Rini, “is
her twin sister Rini.”
Rini waved to Setsuna and said, “Hello, nice to……… wait a
minute, Mom what’s with the dress you have on.”
Is was then that Usagi also noticed what her Mom was wearing
as her Mom and Setsuna set both her and Rini down. Usagi saw her Mom
wearing a nice white colored dress that seamed to sparkle when the
light shined on it. It was a nice two-piece dress with a sleeveless
top, and a skirt that went to just past her knees. All and all, the
twins thought their Mother looked pretty. As if she was going out.
This was confirmed when they saw their Dad come down, also looking
dressed up to go out. The twins shared a happy smile with each other,
knowing full well why their parents were dressed up and secretly
crossed their fingers for luck.
Darien said, “Now girls, you behave for Setsuna, ok?” The
girls nodded their heads, and Darien walked next to Serena and draped
his arm around her shoulder and hugged her closer with out thinking as
he said to Setsuna, “Think you can handle two Usagi’s today instead of
one, Setsuna?” Darien took a quick glance and Serena and noticed she
leaned her head on his shoulder, and took it as a good sign, (“The
girls wanted us back together, and if I play my cards right we
probably will be.”) Darien hoped so, cause this morning, when Beryl
left him, was when he realized that 8 years without her was too much
for him, and he also realized he shouldn’t have divorced her all those
years ago. So he decided that tonight he was going to try to win her
heart back.
The actions of Serena and Darien toward each other didn’t go
unnoticed by Setsuna or the twins. Setsuna got this knowing look on
her face and predicted to herself that these two might have been
divorced for 8 years but would soon find their way back to each other.
She opened the door to let the two lovebirds bye, “Well you two have a
nice time and don’t feel rushed to end the night.” After Serena and
Darien left, Setsuna turned to the twins and said, “Ok, I want the
whole story on how this all started.” The twins noticed Setsuna had a
smile on her face, so the girls were all too happy to tell the tale.
A short time later, Serena and Darien got to the hospital.
Darien told Serena to stay in the car, and he went around to open her
door and assist her out by offering his hand. When Serena stepped out
of the car she ask, “What department do you work in anyway, Darien?”
“I work in Pediatrics. I’ve always wanted to work with kids
ever since I left the orphanage. I guess, I just want to help kids
out so they don’t have to be a lonely as I was when I was a kid.”
“(Darien, you’ve never been alone ever since you met me.)
That’s so sweet Darien.”
Darien smiled at Serena, “(Always the understanding one. She
is so beautiful.) Thanks Serena.”
The two had only just reached pediatrics when the nurse at the
front desk said, “Oh, Dr. Chiba. I was just about to page you. Your
patient in room 427 is having another one of his fits again.”
“Still scared of his surgery he’s scheduled for tomorrow
night?” The nurse nodded her head in answer to his question, and
Darien said, “Thank you, Nurse Hotaru, I’ll go see him.”
After a short walk, Serena and Darien entered room 427, and
Serena saw a little boy that could be a copy of Darien. He was about
6 years old, and dark hair and blue eyes. Darien sat next to the boy
in bed as Serena heard him ask, “So, what’s wrong with you today
little one.”
The boy looked up at his doctor and cried his eyes out into
Darien’s shirt, “Dr. Chiba, I don’t wana go to surgery tomorrow, I’m
so scared.”
Serena’s heart went out to the little boy. She knew all to
well how kids can get scared of going into surgery, cause it happened
to her when she was only 4 years old to have her tonsils removed. She
walked to the other side of the bed and said, “You know, you wont even
be awake when you go into surgery. Before you go in, they’ll give you
something to help you sleep, and by the time you wake up, it will all
be over.”
The little boy turned to look at Serena, “Really?” Serna
nodded her head before the boy jumped into Serena’s arms to give her a
hug, “Thank you, lady.”
“Your welcome. And by the way, I’m Serena. A friend of your
doctor here.” After talking a couple more minutes, Serena and Darien
left to see the rest of the hospital. Of all the places they went to,
Serena’s favorite was the nursery, “I still remember the day our twins
were born, it was one of the best moments of my life to hold them in my
arms.”
“Ya, I was pretty shocked too, when I found out you gave birth
to twins,” Darien said as he draped his arm over her shoulder and the
two walked out of the hospital, with Serena’s head on his shoulder.
To anyone looking, they looked like the perfect couple.
A short time later found Serena and Darien at Tokyo Park and
the two walked for a while talking about just about anything that came
to mind. Serena and Darien found a bench and sat down, with Serena
leaning on Darien for comfort as the two looked at the moon in front
of them, with a lake below it. Serena took the time to reflect on her
life with Darien, “(I haven’t felt this way with Darien since we meet
on the QE2. He’s been a complete gentleman to me all day. What could
it mean?) Doesn’t the moon look beautiful tonight Darien?”
Darien was looking at the moon and answered, “Yes it does,
Serena.” Then he turned to looked at Serena, who sat up to look at
him as Darien said, “But not as beautiful as you.”
Serena looked up at Darien in shock, (“Did he just say what I
think he just said?”) Serena looked into Darien’s eyes and saw so
many emotions going through them, most them revolving around one
emotion. Love. Darien began to close the distance between their lips
and Serena began to go into a panic, (Is he trying to kiss me? What
do I do? What if we get back together and he just hurts me again,
like last time 8 years ago?”) It was this last question that scared
Serena the most. Before either could blink, Serena got off the bench
and walked a couple of feet away.
(“What went wrong,”) was what Darien was thinking when she did
this, “(I thought she would take me back after the day we spent with
each other.) Serena….”
Serena interrupted Darien, “Darien just take me home, ok? I
don’t want to get hurt again.” Darien agreed, but all his efforts to
talk to Serena more that night failed. She kept interrupting him for
one reason or another.
The next day, it was time for Serena, Rini, and Mina to return
to Napa, California. Darien still couldn’t talk to Serena, and he
could only watch sadly as the taxi carrying it passengers pulled from
the curb and head toward the airport.
You think this story is over? Guess again. We have the epilogue left
and then this story is done. Send all comments to gbess@iname.com
Visit my web site at www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Courtyard/2058
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