
      Paradise v2.0


      Author: aria


      Rated: R


      Rating : 


      Chapter 8
      Serena sat stunned for a moment. "What did you just say?"
      He took another sip from the can and repeated, enunciating every syllable 
      as if she were a child. "Well get married as soon as we can. Im sure we 
      can throw one together for next week."
      Serena vision became a blur of red fury. She hurled the glass at him and 
      flung back the sheets to climb out of the bed. "You dont throw together 
      a wedding to someone you *want* to marry! You throw together a wedding 
      to someone you *have* to marry!"
      He ducked the glass and barely flinched when it shattered on the wall 
      behind him. "What? I thought thats what you would have wanted!"
      "Well you thought wrong!" It hurt her so badly to know that he was wanted 
      to marry her because of the baby and not because he loved her. "I am not 
      marrying you!"
      Darien was panicked as he watched her start to gather her things. She was 
      going to walk out on him again! He flew into action.
      Through blurry eyes, Serena watched Darien close the distance between 
      them. She couldnt stop herself from leaning into his arms when they came 
      around her. She wished that they could stay like that forever.
      Darien leaned down and pressed his cheek into her hair. "We wont get 
      married then. Ill do whatever you want. Just dont leave me again." He 
      dropped onto his knees and hugged her thighs, his breaths coming in 
      heaving sobs. "Please...Im begging you...I dont think I could go through 
      that again."
      Whatever Serena expected, she hadnt anticipated him on his knees begging 
      her to stay. She was stunned to say the least. Serena ran her slender 
      fingers through his hair and bestowed a small smile on him when he looked 
      up at her with tear filled eyes. He really did care about her.
      "Thank you." He stood up again after giving her knees a kiss. "Thank you." 
      He whispered again against her hair when he held her.
      They stood like that for some time and only moved apart when there was as 
      soft knock on the door. "Were here with the clothes, sir." Came the soft 
      voice through the door.
      Darien hugged her to his large frame again before going to open the door.
      Seven women walked in laden with clothes. They each smiled at Darien and 
      Serena deposited the clothing on the bed and then walked back out again. 
      The one that seemed to be the spokeswoman stayed behind and stopped to 
      speak to Serena. "I hope you enjoy the clothes maam."
      "Im sure I will. Thank you." Serena smiled at the woman as she walked out 
      of the room before checking out the items laid out carefully on the bed. 
      "These are amazing." She sighed when she fingered the fine fabric of one 
      of the dresses.
      Darien just smiled, "Why dont you find something you want to wear tonight 
      and change? You said you were uncomfortable right?"
      Serena nodded and started searching through the large pile. It wasnt long 
      before she found something suitable for the night and went to the bathroom 
      to change into it.
      She emerged moments later with her face freshly scrubbed of all the makeup 
      and dressed in a simple white nightgown.
      Shyly, Serena made her way back into the room and tried not to look at 
      Dariens face. She was a little afraid of what she might see there so she 
      made sure not to look. Instead she focussed on hanging up the dress Raye 
      loaned her. "Raye!" Serena had completely forgotten about her! She turned 
      to Darien, "I didnt tell Raye and Chad that I was leaving! Theyll be 
      frantic!"
      Darien had completely forgotten everyone else until that moment. He raised 
      his hand, "Relax. Ill take care of it." He pulled out his cell phone. 
      "Andrew. Can you find Raye Hanson and..." he paused so Serena could fill 
      in the name.
      "Chad Kumada."
      Dariens brow rose as he answered. "And Chad Kumada? Tell them that Serena 
      is with me and not to worry." He listened to the other man for a moment. 
      "Yes. Shes fine. Well see you in the morning. Bye."
      Serena waited for his reply as she watched him replace his phone in his 
      jacket. "Well?"
      "Andrew has already spoken to Raye and Chad." he chuckled. "You were 
      right, they were a bit frazzled when you disappeared but Drew's managed to 
      convince them to leave us alone until the morning."
      Serena was very impressed. "He must be quite the smooth talker if he 
      managed to convince Raye."
      Darien walked over and pulled her into his embrace again. "You couldn't 
      even begin to imagine." he closed his eyes and let her warmth seep into 
      him. "You must be so tired." he pulled her with him to the bed and pushed 
      aside the clothes.
      Serena climbed in under the sheets when he lifted them and settled in 
      expecting him to do the same on the couch on the other side of the room. 
      She let out a squeak when he stripped down to his boxers and climbed in 
      next to her. She tried to climb out but a pair of arms clamped around her 
      as a voice growled in her ear.
      "Relax will you? Its not like Im going to ravish you or anything."
      She couldn't relax. "Darien..."
      His arms didn't loosen. "I swear Ill be the perfect gentleman. I just 
      want to hold you."
      Serena looked over her shoulder at him as if trying to discern if his 
      intentions really were that honourable. And maybe she was, but when she 
      saw that happy, sleepy little smile she couldn't help but smile herself. 
      He looked as happy as she felt at that moment.
      Content to have his body wrapped around hers, Serena settled back into the 
      bed.
      "So how far along are you?" his husky voice sent shivers through her while 
      his breath warmed her cheek.
      "About three months, or so. It happened--"
      "Back on the island." he finished for her. "How perfect."
      "Perfect? How do you mean?"
      "Of course it's perfect! We both loved that island. You said it yourself. 
      And to have conceived a baby out of love in a place that we loved...well I 
      think it's perfect."
      She hadn't thought of it that way. Of course she had been too busy pining 
      over Darien to do much thinking. But it was true and made perfect sense. 
      "So you're happy about your impending fatherhood?"
      "Thrilled." he hugged her to him again and placed his hands protectively 
      over her stomach. "Now let's get some sleep."
      The next morning, Serenas sense of smell was greeted by the most 
      wonderful aromas. Her eyes flickered open and she found a tray almost over 
      laden with food next to her where Darien should have been. Unable to help 
      herself, she picked a strawberry off the pile of fruit situated at one 
      side of the tray and popped it into her mouth. Sighing happily, she sat 
      herself up and helped herself to more.
      "It's amazing you're still so thin if that's how you've been eating." A 
      chuckle came from the other side of the room. Darien had just merged from 
      the bathroom and had put on a pair of jeans.
      Serena let her eyes wander over his bare chest for a moment before her 
      stomach growled. Without hesitation she turned back to the food and 
      continued to devour everything that was there. "I think you're trying to 
      make me fat!"
      Darien watched her eat, apparently very happy at her appetite. "I'm just 
      trying to nourish you both that's all." he sat down beside her and tried 
      to take a grape from the tray only to have her snatch it from him.
      "Sorry," she handed it to him. "I was going for it too."
      He waved it away. "No you have it." Darien slid off the bed and went to 
      make himself a coffee. "Do you want something to wash that down with?"
      "Frush yoosh."
      He couldn't stop himself from laughing now. "Come again?" he knew what she 
      was asking for but couldn't help himself from asking again. He wanted to 
      hear the composed, beautiful, elegant Serena talk with her mouth full.
      "Frush..." she paused to swallow. "Juice. You know what I was saying. Stop 
      being a pest and get me some fruit juice."
      "Yes, ma'am." Darien saluted and poured some juice into a glass then 
      brought it over to her. "You know you're a lot more bossy now."
      "Go away and let me eat in peace." she smiled even as she said the words. 
      Serena grabbed his arm and pulled him down so she could give him a peck on 
      the cheek. "Thank you."
      Darien simply smiled handsomely before getting dressed and busying himself 
      with phone calls on the other side of the suite.
      Serena finished the food in record time before heading to the bathroom for 
      a shower. It wasn't until she finished that she realized that she hadn't 
      brought any clothes in with her to change into. She carefully wrapped 
      herself up in an enormous fluffy towel and prepared to go search for some 
      clothing. She hurriedly crossed the cool room and went to the pile of 
      clothes that had been carelessly thrown to the floor the night before.
      She fished out a pair of black slacks that looked like they would fit her 
      and a loose fitting ivory blouse. They werent too wrinkled so she 
      shuffled back to the bathroom to put them on.
      Darien was beaming when she emerged. "You look great."
      "You think so?" she fingered her loose hair and looked at her reflection 
      in a mirror hanging on the wall. "I'm not wearing any makeup or anything."
      "Exactly. You don't need that stuff." he came up behind her and perched 
      his head on her shoulder. "Trust me. You look wonderful."
      Serena looked at him and at how comfortable they were together and smiled 
      back at his happy expression. Things were definitely looking up. If they 
      continued the trend, she would accept his proposal when he asked again. 
      After they spent some more time getting to know more about each other of 
      course.
      "So when is everyone coming up to visit?" Her question was answered by a 
      knock at the door. "Now I guess." she laughed on her way over to answer 
it.
      On the other side were Raye, Chad, Andrew and Mina, all looking very 
      anxious.
      "Good morning everyone." Serena pushed the door wide so that everyone 
      could walk through which they did all at once.
      The questions started almost as soon as the door clicked closed.
      "What's going on?"
      "Are you ok?"
      "Does he know?"
      "Are you getting married?"
      Then suddenly they stopped as they heard each other's questions? Andrew 
      and Mina turned to Raye and Chad, "Does he know what? Why should they get 
      married?"
      Raye's eyes flashed at their challenging tones but they died when she 
      reminded herself that they didn't know what was going on. Hell they one 
      knew half themselves. "You'd better ask them. Its not my place to say."
      All eyes turned to look at the couple in question who stood together in 
      the middle of the room watching the melee almost gleefully. "Well?"
      "Well what?" Darien asked innocently.
      Raye smiled almost ferociously. "Do you know?"
      "Yes."
      "Are you getting married?"
      "Nope."
      "And why not?" Raye would have stepped forward except for the arm Chad 
      discreetly put around her waist holding her to him.
      It was Andrew's turn to blow up now. "What in the world is going on?" he 
      glared at Darien. "What do you know? Why should you get married?"
      Mina put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Andrew, dear." she lifted her 
      hand with the new ring on it and let it rest on her swollen belly, hoping 
      that the man would get the message. And he did.
      "You two are having a baby!" he gasped.
      Glad that he finally caught on, the rest of the room released the 
      collective breath they'd been holding.
      Darien wound an arm around Serenas waist and grinned as if he had just 
      won the lottery. "Yup, we're having a baby."
      Serena leaned into him. "But we're not getting married quite yet." her 
      eyes met his and she could see that he was remembering her refusal. Shed 
      have to apologize for it that night.
      "But you're back together again right?" Raye eyed them carefully.
      "Yes, Raye. Darien and I are back together again."
      The fierce look evaporated from the dark girl's visage and she let out a 
      shriek of joy. "Fantastic! I don't think I can handle you moping around 
      anymore!"
      "Moping?" Andrew shoved a playful fist in Dariens face. "You should have 
      seen this guy! You wouldn't have been able to recognize him if it hadn't 
      been for me forcing him to go to the party with Ann last night."
      Serena hadn't thought about the details of the previous night. So Darien 
      had come with a date huh? Well so did she and it didn't mean anything so 
      maybe it was the same with Darien and his date?
      Darien saw her look up at him and he could feel himself colour slightly. 
      To tell the truth, he had forgotten that Ann even existed the moment he 
      saw Serena again. Not that he would have paid much attention to her before 
      that. He hugged her in what he hoped was a reassuring fashion, vowing to 
      tell her everything later.
      The six of them decided to go out and have a light brunch before sitting 
      down in the hotel lounge and talking.
      The girls were surprised by the fact that the three men already knew each 
      other previously from dealings in the same circles. Serena had been 
      wondering why Darien had that look on his face the night before when she 
      mentioned his name.
      The women got on well, almost continuing conversation from the ill-fated 
      trip. They even exchanged numbers to keep in touch.
      But the real world called to them before night fell. Chad and Raye had to 
      get back to be ready for work in the morning and so did Andrew. Serena and 
      Darien opted for one more night at the hotel before going back to Dariens 
      apartment.
      They said their goodbyes and exchanged hugs before they returned to their 
      room. His phone starting ringing almost as soon as they stepped into the 
      suite.
      Darien sighed and pressed the button to answer. "Darien Weston."
      "Darien? Its Malachite Mason. I need you to come in this evening to check 
      over the network. It seems to have gone down again."
      Darien rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, while sighing 
      yet again. Hed never known a network to go down so often in such a short 
      time. "I cant come straight in. Im on the other side of the country at 
      the moment."
      "What? What the hell are you doing over there?"
      "I was at the Winter Ball with some friends--"
      "I dont care. Just come in as soon as possible. We cant have it down 
      when we come back to work in the morning can we?"
      "No, we cant." he mimicked his tone of speech and watched as Serena 
      curled up with laughter on the bed. "Ill be in as soon as possible." He 
      hung up without waiting for the other man to reply. "It looks like were 
      heading back home sooner than we expected."
      "Its no big deal. Well just get settled early thats all." She shrugged 
      and started picking up the piles of clothes and started shoving them into 
      his suitcase. It quickly reached its limit, even when she carefully folded 
      everything as small as she could. She looked up at Darien. "I dont think 
      that its going to work."
      He was watching from the other side of the bed and could see that it 
      wouldnt work ten long minutes ago and had already formulated a plan. 
      "Ill get some suitcases from the hotel shop."
      "Ok." She leaned up for a kiss and watched him walk out the door. Serena 
      folded up the rest of the clothing and thought about how wonderful life 
      was. It was incredible that they could fall back into synch so easily. She 
      was in a dream state when Dariens cell phone ran again. Without thinking 
      about it, she picked it up and answered. "Darien Westons phone."
      "Serena?" the gruff voice on the other end sounded surprised and angry at 
      the same time.
      Her stomach sank when she realized who it was. "Malachite?"
      "So he found you then!" he shouted before he hung up with a loud bang.
      "Whats his problem?" Serena sighed and pushed the button on the phone 
      again. It was useless trying to figure Malachite out. His moods changed 
      more than anything she could think of. Still, what did he have to be angry 
      about?
      She was puzzling over it while she finished folding.
      "Whats the matter?"
      Serena jumped and turned around to see Darien comfortably leaning against 
      the doorframe as if hed been there for some time. "Darien! I didnt hear 
      you come in!"
      "Sorry, sweetie." He rubbed at her shoulders and sat down beside her. "You 
      just have this look on your face..." he rubbed at her eye brows, smoothing 
      the creases away. "Whats the matter?"
      "Malachite just called and I picked up." She pointed uselessly at the 
      phone. "He sounded pretty mad."
      He kissed her temple and smiled. "Dont worry about him. Ill take care of 
      Malachite."
      Serena smiled and hugged him for once. It felt so nice to feel protected 
      and cared for. "Thank you."
      "Dont thank me yet. Wait until Ive actually done it." Boy was he ever 
      going to take care of Malachite. He tipped her chin up and pecked her 
      pursed lips. "Come on. Weve got to go so I can fix Malachites problem 
      for him." He rolled his eyes as he said the words.
      "Right." She shoved the remaining things into the large cases and was done 
      in a flash. "Im ready."
      "Great!" he pulled her up and picked up what he could. "Lets go home!"
      The plane ride was smooth and over in a flash. Mostly because Serena fell 
      asleep on Dariens shoulder. She climbed on board, seated herself beside 
      Darien and drifted off. When she opened her eyes, they were in a limo on 
      their way to his apartment. She smiled up at him and then at the lavish 
      limo interior. She could really get used to this.
      They silently walked into the apartment and Serena gasped at the sight of 
      it. She couldnt believe this was the same place that she had been to 
      before. It was a mess! Clothes and various other objects were strewn 
      carelessly around the room. She shuddered to think of what the rest of the 
      place looked like. "Darien? Dont you have a housekeeper or something?" 
      she started picking up everything that caught her eye.
      Darien dropped the suitcases and swatted them out of her hand. "You dont 
      have to do that. Ill get the housekeeper to come in tonight ok?" he 
      looked around the place and grimaced. Hed forgotten the state of it when 
      he left. More than slightly embarrassed to let her see it this way, Darien 
      started running around the room to tidy up what he could while he called 
      the housekeeper.
      Serena stood around staring bemusedly at the demolished apartment. Andrew 
      wasnt joking when he said Darien had let things slide. She just didnt 
      imagine it was that bad. Her heart went to mush once again at the thought 
      of him being so distraught over her leaving him.
      Then Darien walked back into the room again with a pile of laundry. She 
      couldnt stop herself from kissing him. She grinned at the glazed look 
      that had come her his face.
      "Wow. I should clean up more often!" he dropped the clothes on the floor 
      and pulled her closer. "What was that for?"
      "No reason."
      "Well then, I graciously accept and offer one in return."
      He claimed her lips with his, kissing her until she couldnt see straight 
      and had to close her eyes. When she finally opened them again, he was 
      staring dreamily into them. It was the happiest moment of her life to see 
      him as in love with her and she was with him.
      Darien knew he should say something, declare his undying love and all 
      that, but he wanted to find the right words first. He obviously took too 
      long because she sighed, happily though, and stepped back out of his 
      embrace.
      "We should get tidied up."
      Darien sighed and nodded but remembered that Malachite wanted him in the 
      office. "Ive got to go to the office...do you think hed let me off until 
      tomorrow?" he smiled impishly.
      But the phone rang as if on cue and he shared a look with Serena. It was 
      obvious who it would be.
      "Darien Weston." His eyes till hadnt left Serenas when he started 
      talking to his employer. "Yes, Malachite we just got in. Yeah were back 
      together. Its great isnt it?" he covered the phone while they shared a 
      laugh. He quickly recovered and answered the angry voice on the other 
      side. "Yes, Ill be in soon." He hung up on him again. "It looks like hes 
      in crisis mode. It seems that everything has fallen apart around him." 
      Darien picked up his coat and smiled. "Want to come along?"
      "Um, let me think." She paused dramatically. "No. I dont think that itll 
      be a good idea."
      "I think youre right. Besides who will get this place cleaned up before I 
      get back?" he winked and winced playfully when her fist glanced off his 
      shoulder. "Alright. Alright." She walked him to the door and he pecked her 
      on the cheek. "The housekeeper is coming so dont worry about cleaning 
      up." He saw the glint in her eyes as she looked around the room. "Dont 
      you dare. Ill ask her for a full report so if I hear that it was clean 
      before she started Im going to get very cross with you."
      "Ok. But Im going to clean a little bit."
      "Just a little." He kissed her again, slow and lingering. "Just take it 
      easy ok?" Darien placed his hand over her stomach.
      "I will. Now go before Malachite comes down here!" Laughing she shoved him 
      out the door. "Ill see you later!" she watched his retreating figure 
      disappear down the hall.
      She walked back in and shut the door behind her, turning her eyes to the 
      disarray. "What a mess."
      Serena was partly done cleaning the living room when there was a soft 
      knock at the door.
      "Im coming!" she put down the piles of magazines she was sorting through 
      and walked to the door. "Hello...huh?"
      The hall was empty.
      Puzzled, Serena stepped outside. Maybe she had to go and get something?
      The moment she stuck her head out, something heavy and dark covered her 
      head and something hard struck on the back of the head knocking her out 
      cold.