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