
      Once A Millennium


      Author: aria


      Rated: R



      Epilogue
      Serena stretched. It had been a long time since she slept that well. Of 
      course with all the things going on, who could sleep properly? She turned 
      over, intending to give her husband of one night a good morning kiss. 
      Serena opened one eye when her arms encountered nothing but a fluffy sweet 
      scented pillow.
      Sweet smelling?
      Serena sat up. Dark green walls decorated with sedate black and white 
      prints. She turned around slowly. A picture of a knight on a white 
      stallion behind her bed. Serenas heart started to ache now. It had been a 
      dream. It was all an incredible dream.
      She ran trembling fingers through her hair. If it was a dream then how 
      come it hurt so much?
      "Ouch!" she dragged her hand out of her hair and to her face when 
      something snagged.
      She looked at her hand. Four rings winked back at her, three golden and 
      one with and enormous emerald.
      Serena closed her eyes and looked again. She had to still be dreaming. How 
      else would those rings be there? Running her other hand over her left one, 
      Serena opened her eyes again. There were still there.
      Shakily she got up and looked out the window. Everything looked the same.
      There were light flurries slowly plumping up the blanket of snow already 
      there. Her room looked the same. Serena looked over everything. Her eyes 
      rested on the computer.
      She ran over and turned it on, going straight to the email. She went 
      through all the logs and couldnt find a trace of the strange email. 
      Serena slumped back in her seat. This was too weird. She had to get a grip 
      on herself. She launched the calendar to figure out what day it was. It 
      was the day before New Years Eve.
      She had to have had a stroke or something. Shaking her head she stuck her 
      head out of the door. Everything out there looked the same as well. She 
      was about to walk out when her phone rang.
      Serena walked back and answered with a guarded, "Hello?"
      A chirpy voice on the other end answered. "Ms. Woodard? Im just calling 
      from Dr. Johnstons office to confirm the tie change of your appointment."
      "Appointment?" Serena was even more confused now.
      "Yes, you called for an appointment and then had to change it to today."
      "Of course. Ummm... this might sound strange but can you tell me why I 
      have an appointment?"
      The other voice faltered. "Why you have an appointment?"
      "Yes. Why."
      "I cant tell you."
      "But its my appointment."
      "How can I be sure Im talking to the real Ms. Woodard?"
      Serena sighed. "Ok, ok. Just remind me of the time then."
      "5:30."
      Just after work. "Thank you." She hung up and walked out to get some 
      breakfast.
      Mina and Raye were already dressed and in the kitchen. They both looked up 
      when she walked in.
      "Hey Serena." Mina handed her a glass of juice. "How are ya feeling?"
      "Fine." She accepted the juice and sat down. "Has anything weird been 
      going on here?"
      Raye and mina both shook their heads. "Nope. Nothing that we can think 
of."
      Serena scowled and sipped at the juice. Grimacing she spat it back into 
      the cup. "Ugh!" That was strange she usually loved orange juice. She got 
      up and rummaged through the fridge, pulling out a carton of Chinese food. 
      She took a whiff of that and put it back as well.
      "Uh, Serena? Are you ok?" Mina looked at her worriedly.
      "Yup just peachy." Serena pulled her head out of the fridge and sighed. 
      Looked like she wasnt going to be having any breakfast today. "I gotta 
      get ready for work." She stomped off to the bathroom.
      4pm
      "No sir, your computer will not blow up on new years." Serena ran her 
      hands through her hair in frustration. "No sir your car will work fine. 
      Yes. That goes the same for your toaster and microwave." She banged her 
      pencil eraser on her forehead. "Your welcome sir. Bye." She hung and 
      looked over at her friend Mike. "Can you believe these calls?"
      "I know what you mean. Ive been getting nothing but those." He leaned 
      back and laughed. "So you going to the new years party?
      Serena paused. Theyve definitely had this conversation before. "Yeah. Are 
      you?"
      "Yup." The phone rang. "Ugh. Here we go again." He pushed the answer 
      button on the phone. "Good after noon Cybertech how can I help you?"
      Serena watched him, listening to his everythings safe speech. She 
      whacked herself on the forehead with her pencil. Get a grip! She went back 
      to answering the phone.
      When five oclock finally rolled around, Serena was exhausted. She knew 
      everything was going to happen before it happened. She knew what a person 
      was going to say before they said it. It was driving her crazy.
      She packed up her things and walked with Mike to the door.
      "Can I offer you a ride?"
      Serena nodded. "Actually yeah. Youd be doing me a huge favour." She put 
      on her coat. "Can you take me to the hospital?"
      "Of course. Are you ok?" he ushered her to his car and opened the door for 
      her.
      "Yeah." She didnt comment any further. She knew as much as he did. Serena 
      sat quietly through the ride.
      When they finally reached the hospital, Serena was a nervous wreck. She 
      got out. "Thanks, Mike. See you at the party."
      Mike smiled weakly. "Sure. See ya."
      She watched him drive away and taking a deep breath walked into the 
      building. Serena was in the waiting room for no more than ten minutes 
      before a nurse came out.
      "Ms. Woodard?"
      Clutching her bag to her, Serena followed the small woman into the office. 
      She smiled at Serena. "Make yourself comfortable and the doctor will be 
      right in."
      "Thanks." Serena was having trouble breathing. She looked around the room 
      at all the charts and diagrams. They all had something to do with 
      pregnancy. She did the first thing that came to mind; she lowered her head 
      and breathed.
      She heard the door open and then a gasp. "Feeling a bit faint?" a woman in 
      her mid-forties knelt next to her and slowly straightened her up back into 
      a sitting position.
      "A little." The room was reeling. How in the world could she be pregnant? 
      She looked at her rings again. Unless... Serena gasped for air. A gentle 
      voice stopped her thoughts.
      "Just take it easy. I know it takes some getting used to."
      Serena closed her eyes and forced her breathing to slow. "I think Im ok 
      now."
      Dr. Johnston stood back up and took a seat at the desk. "How have you been 
      feeling?"
      "Fine, except for that little episode there." Serena laughed weakly.
      "Good." She jotted a note down then stood up again. "Ill have to ask you 
      get on the table there." She pointed to the other side of the room.
      Serena obliged her.
      "Now pull up your shirt a little."
      Serena did as she was told and watched her wheel over a machine that 
      looked a lot like a computer.
      "This is a little cold."
      Serena barely had the chance to register her words before she squirted an 
      icy gel onto her stomach.
      "What are you doing?" Serena craned her neck so she could see what was 
      going on.
      "Were checking on the size of your baby." She commented nonchalantly. 
      "You did express a concern about how far along you were didnt you?" she 
      looked over at her clipboard. "You werent sure about the date of your 
      last period."
      Serena just nodded. "Yes."
      The doctor smiled. "Lets see your baby then." She placed an instrument on 
      her stomach and moved it back and forth.
      Within seconds Serena could hear a fast little heartbeat and she 
      expectantly turned to the monitor. And there it was. Her baby. It was 
      nothing more than a jellybean shaped blob, but a warm fuzzy feeling 
      brought a smile to her face. Grinning Serena turned to the doctor.
      "A healthy looking baby. Id say you werent any more than six weeks 
      pregnant."
      Serena turned back to the screen. A baby...a tear ran down her cheek. She 
      wished she could share this moment with Darien. Hed be so happy. She 
      stemmed the urge to start crying and sat up. "Thank you."
      ----
      A little while later Serena was back at the apartment and in her room. She 
      looked up at the knight on her wall. "Hey Darien. Guess what? Were having 
      a baby." She grinned this was a lot easier than having to talk to the real 
      him. "Isnt that great?" then she pursed her lips. This was absurd. "I 
      know youre real. You have to be. I cant be in love," she looked down at 
      the rings, "Or engaged to a figment of my imagination." She started to cry 
      big silent tears. "This isnt fare! I finally find the one guy I can love 
      and I cant even be with you. Now Im having your baby and I need you more 
      than ever and all I get is to talk to a poster!" Completely frustrated, 
      Serena jumped up onto the bed and tore the image off her wall. "Why the 
      hell did this have to happen to me?" she sobbed. "Why?" she lay down on 
      the bed and looked at the picture. "Darien I need you."
      ----
      The next morning the bright sunlight woke her up. Timidly she opened one 
      eye first. The other one snapped open when she saw she was still in her 
      room. "Damn." Groggily she got up. The girls would want to go shopping in 
      a bit.
      She tolerated the shopping trip, heading straight to the shops where she 
      knew she bought her things from. She looked at Raye and Mina. They were 
      acting normally enough. They were gaily hopping from shop to shop looking 
      at everything. She looked down at her bags. She wasnt even sure she 
      wanted to go to the party. Then she thought about it for a bit.
      Maybe if she did everything to same, she could get back. A small smile 
      started to from on her lips now. It was better to have a pathetic plan 
      like that then to sit around moping and who knew, maybe it would even 
work.
      They headed home after buying everything they needed. And Serena got 
      dressed, careful to make everything look the same as she could remember.
      She walked out fully dressed and the other girls were wearing the same 
      dresses she remembered. They took the cab and it dropped her off at the 
      office building. This time she wasnt feeling nervous. Actually she was 
      quite anxious. She got off the elevator and looked for Mike.
      "Serena! You look fabulous!"
      "Thanks Mike. You look good too."
      Mike grabbed two flutes and handed one to her.
      She smiled and simply held the glass. They wandered through the room and 
      she was introduced to his father.
      Mike looked impressed when she wasnt even fazed by the news. They mingled 
      some more.
      Serena kept looking at the clock. It was eleven oclock. As if on cue, a 
      waiter walked up and whispered in Mikes ear.
      "Im sorry, Serena. I have to go talk to my dad about something."
      Serena nodded. "See ya in a bit."
      She headed to the buffet table and inhaled the delicious smells. She was 
      starving. She grabbed a couple of prawns and managed to eat them before 
      she heard her name being called.
      She looked over and sure enough a teetering Mr. Howard was heading toward 
      her. She readied herself.
      He came over and made the same chit chat.
      Serena kept far from him as possible but like the last time, he managed to 
      pin her between himself and the buffet table. Serena didnt even try to 
      shove at him this time. Instead she went straight to stomping on his foot 
      and pushing him over.
      Mike and his father came running out of his office to see what the 
      commotion was all about. Mikes eyes widened. He quickly strode over to 
      Serena who was standing over the fallen mans body and put a hand on her 
      arm. "What happened?"
      Serena tried not to laugh while she watched the man try to get on his 
      feet. "He was trying to grope me. I simply defended myself."
      "Youre alright?" Mike looked concerned. He motioned to a waiter to help 
      Howard up.
      "Yeah, but Id like to go home now. I dont feel like partying anymore." 
      She wanted to get home and check her email!
      Mike took her home and Serena quickly said goodbye before hurried taking 
      the stairs up to the apartment. She ran through the living room and 
      straight to her room. Kicking off her shoes she turned on the machine and 
      checked her mail. Nothing yet. She sighed and sat back. Then she 
      remembered it wasnt until midnight that she got the mail. "Stupid." She 
      went and took a shower then came back to the machine.
      She surfed for a bit before going back to her mail. She refreshed it every 
      few seconds scanning the page for the strange mail. Then she heard the 
      clock strike twelve. She looked expectantly at her monitor but saw 
      nothing. She refreshed a few more times but it was useless. It wasnt 
      there.
      Distraught, Serena slammed at the side of her monitor. "Now what am I 
      going to do?" she got up and flopped onto the bed. She stuck her head up.
      Did she hear the door?
      She got back up and listened. The front door opened and she heard 
laughing.
      It was Mina and Phil.
      Serena walked out. "Hey. Back so soon?"
      "Serena!" Mina stumbled over. "Nah, we just needed my cappuccino machine. 
      No one in his building will lend us one." She blinked and looked at Serena 
      again. "How come youre home so early?"
      "The party was a bust." She slumped onto the couch.
      "Come to mine! Its great so far!" Phil walked out of the kitchen with the 
      machine and held it up like it was a trophy.
      Mina nodded. "Yeah. You cant stay here all alone." She pulled her up. "Go 
      put your dress back on and well take you back to the party."
      "You guys. I really dont feel like partying."
      "Come on!" Mina dragged her back to her room. "Now get dressed or Ill 
      dress you."
      Serena rolled her eyes. She knew when Mina got like this there was no 
      getting out of it. "Fine. Ill be out in a minute." She shoved herself 
      into the dress and pulled her hair back into a knot and applying her make 
      up quickly.
      "Ok lets go!" Mina hooked her arms through Serenas and dragged her down 
      to the cab that was waiting.
      Serena sat numbly in her seat. She barely even noticed the ten-minute 
      ride. Mina pulled her out of the cab and they followed Phil into the 
      building. Serena cringed. She could feel the bass as soon as they got out 
      of the elevator.
      Mina turned to her as they got to the door. "Sere, at least smile or 
      something. Youll scare everyone if you walk in looking like that."
      She let out a heavy breath. "Fine." She plastered on a false smile and 
      raised her eyebrows. "Better?"
      Mina nodded. "Much."
      The apartment was crammed full of people. Some Serena recognized and some 
      she didnt. She fought to keep the smile on her face when a few men 
      grinned at her.
      She tugged at Minas arm. "This was a mistake. Im going home."
      "Oh no youre not!" Mina grabbed her before she could turn. "Theres this 
      guy I want you to meet."
      "Mina. Dont do this to me." Serena moaned. There was only one man she was 
      interested in and it didnt look like she was ever going to see him again.
      "Hey guys!" a smiling Raye walked over. "I didnt think Id see you for 
      the rest of the night." She gave Serena a hug. "Dont look so down! Weve 
      found the perfect guy for you!"
      Serena rolled her eyes. "No! Im not going through this again."
      "Hes perfect for you though! Hes good looking and hes got brains!" Mina 
      pulled her to what looked like a bedroom. Raye followed.
      "Just meet him and see ok?"
      Serena dug her heels into the floor. "No. Im not in the mood for this 
      your guys."
      "Whats the matter?" Raye and Mina both took and arm and pulled her into 
      the room.
      "You guys please!" Serena felt a tear run down her cheek.
      Mina and Raye instantly stopped. "Oh my goodness! Are you ok?" they sat 
      down on either side of her. "We were just kidding around." They put an arm 
      each around her shoulders. "Whats wrong?"
      "Im pregnant."
      "Youre what?" in addition to the girls voices a male one joined in as 
      well. Phil had decided to take the initiative and bring their quarry to 
      her.
      Serenas heart stopped. That voice. Shocked she looked up and saw him at 
      the door.
      He was wearing a tailored suit and his hair was cut short, but everywhere 
      else he looked the same. The eyes, his lips, his shoulders were all like 
      she remembered. Serena stood up and ran to him.
      "Darien!"
      "Serena." He swung her up into his arms and claimed her lips with his. He 
      gently put he down and let his eyes rake over her.
      Darien had just opened the door when she made her announcement. "Did I 
      hear you correctly?" he place a hand over her stomach.
      "Yeah." She looked up at him looking for a reaction. She didnt have to 
      wait long.
      He swung her up again and kissed her until they were both breathless.
      Serena pulled back this time. "How did you get here?"
      "I dont know." He kissed her again.
      "What about the others?"
      "They are well." He nibbled at her lips.
      Serena tried to ask another question but her stopped it with a finger on 
      her lips. "Whatever it is ask me later, wife." Darien dropped his head and 
      kissed her breath away.
      Eyes slightly glazed Serena smiled back. "Whatever you say, husband." And 
      she kissed him.
      Mina, Raye and Phil stared at each other trying to comprehend the 
      situation. Husband? Wife?
      Shaking their heads, they walked out of the room and quietly shut the door 
      behind them.
      They werent going to ask.
      ----{--@
      the end