______________________________________________________________________________________________







Being the self-assured man that he is, Dominic had psyched himself up enough to a point where he was pretty confident about meeting Serena’s parents. That was until now. He knew that the Piper’s were apart of the elite upper class… but nothing had prepared him for this.

“Umm..” his said dumbfounded as he looked up at the gargantuan mansion “that’s a house?”

“What” Serena remarked, “Of course!? Don’t be silly come on” she said as she waddled up the stairs with her bouncing raven colored ponytail



Dominic saw it as a magnificent castle of wealth. Serena just saw it as her childhood home.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

“Mom? Dad?” Serena yelled knocking on the door

“My goodness Princess, come on in” Oscar’s face was ecstatic to see his daughter.. and her new beau too.



He gave Serena one of his bear hugs that always sent her back in time. “Look at you Princess” he said getting a look at Serena’s huge belly and then at her face. “I don’t think I’ve seen you without makeup since you were 12″ he joked



And indeed Serena had gone makeup free. She had read in her latest pregnancy book that makeup was bad for the child. And she wanted to do everything by the books. Mostly out of common nervousness of being a new parent.

“Serena darling, it’s good to see you” Julianne yelled from the other room, her voice echoing throughout the huge walls of the estate “we are having grilled cheese and soup for dinner. We thought we’d try something a little more… southern”

“Southern..?” Serena smirked looking at her father

“According to your mother” Oscar said as he took his first real look at Dominic who looked slightly nervous

“Go ahead and make yourself at home son” Oscar reassured “we won’t bite you. Come on, you two go to the dinner table.”



“And so Serena just ran all over the park holding her diaper in her hand. And everyone was just staring at me chase her down” Julianne laughed as she reminisced on Serena’s childhood to Dominic

The two of them had been chattering away for awhile. And Dominic had warmed up quickly. Serena on the other hand, had gone completely quiet no less than 30 minutes into their visit

Julianne noticed Dominic staring at Serena who was twiddling her fingers on her very pregnant stomach.



“Serena?” Julianne said clearing cheese from her teeth with her tongue “are you alright darling? You’ve been fairly quiet.”

"Actually… I dunno mom” Serena continued twiddling her fingers

“Everything okay Princess?” Oscars voice came from the kitchen, he had been busy cleaning up the dishes

“I’m worried about Ryn… she didn’t come home this morning. And she hasn’t called or anything. It’s beginning to scare me.”



“Well honey, she’s done this once before hasn’t she?” Julianne reassured

Serena felt slightly offended at her mother bringing it up. Once in 2011 when Gigi was still a baby, Ryn had ran away. It was during one of her many off phases with Luca. And no one could find her for almost a week. It was Serena and Dorian who found her at a hotel in Strangetown.

They had all sworn to secrecy to never speak about it again. Yet, here her mother was, just candidly open about it like it happened yesterday…. but it didn’t. Serena was sure of it. Ryn was different now. And Serena had a very bad feeling about this entire matter.



After the talk about Ryn slowly died down, Oscar whisked Serena away from Julianne and Dominic who both were far too busy cackling about Donald Trump running for presidency.

“Princess, we need to talk. Follow me” Oscar lured Serena upstairs away from the listening ear of Julianne.



“What’s wrong dad? Is something wrong with mom?”

Oscar raised his eyebrows almost impressed at how sharp his daughters awareness was. “You’re very intuitive, just like me and your mother.”

Serena sighed, “I figured something was wrong when Dorian and I saw her at the nightclub earlier this year.”

“A night club” Oscar chuckled, “try a dive bar, a strip club, and everywhere else young and wild people go. It’s almost like she’s having a mid-life crises in her 60’s.”



Serena was silent, waiting for Oscar to get to the root of the problem

Oscar sighed and looked around the room, “the problem is” he said fixing his gaze on a lamp that reflected in his large framed glasses, “your mother isn’t having a mid-life crises.”

“Then what is she having, dad” Serena’s anxiety began to grow

“Serena, she has cancer. Skin cancer. Stage 4. And it is spreading.”

“Dad…” Serena’s eyes began to glaze with tears



“Neither of you told me anything” she shook her head

“Your mother didn’t want you to worry.”

“Well I am worried, dad. I’m worried about a lot of things at this moment.” Serena interjected

“I’m telling you now, Serena.” Oscar’s voice was calmer and more softening

“What is she going to do? Just nothing and die?”

“She did not want to seek treatment for awhile. It took a lot of convincing on my end before she finally made the decision, just yesterday, to begin chemotherapy. We had actually been trying to figure out the right time to tell you all of this.”

Oscar and Serena sat for a little while longer in silence. Oscar with his arm around his daughter’s shoulders. And they both sat and thought until Julianne and Dominic called them back downstairs.



It was late when Serena and Dominic arrived home. Gigi was at her grandparents house after Serena had Dorian drop her off. But now it was nearing closer to 24 hours since Ryn disappeared and Serena was more than sure that something was very wrong.

“I want you to relax, Serena.” Dominic massaged Serena’s aching back “do you know what tomorrow is?”

“What’s tomorrow?” Serena sounded exhausted at anticipating another thing

“You see. You are so caught up in wanting to help everyone else you are forgetting about yourself. Remember our child is past her due date. Tomorrow you are being induced"

Fuck. Serena had completely forgotten that tomorrow she was birthing a whole human being. She couldn’t do that now. The baby would have to wait. “Dominic, what about Ryn sh-"

”Ryn is a big girl, Serena, she’s a grown woman, and she knows very well how to handle herself. Remember the time she sprayed that guy with pepper spray and then crushed his nuts with her high heel shoes and pushed him on the ground and started beating him with her purse?“

Serena knew that Dominic was trying to reassure her, but this was not some pepper spraying comedy story. This was something more than that and something Serena could not shake.

”Dominic, I can’t let this go. I think Ryn is in trouble. This is not like her at all. To be gone a whole day and not call virtually anyone?“

"Then what do you suggest we do?” Dominic had given up trying to convince Serena

Serena turned to face him, looking straight into his eyes.



“It’s time to call the police.”













The next day Serena found herself at the hospital getting ready for delivery. A police report had been filed with a missing person’s case. It was all they could do for the time being. And track down Ryn’s car. And last whereabouts.



Great. Her best friend could be lying face down in a ditch and here she was in a robot. Or whatever the hell this contraption is… it’s so warm. Everything is mov…ing….slow…ly. The drugs had hit Serena like a ton of bricks.



“Okay sweetheart” the doctor yelled over the machine, “you’re probably feeling very loopy right now because of the drugs. Now you just lay there and we’ll get that bad mamma jamma out of you in no time!”



Had she just referred to Serena’s baby as a "bad mamma jamma"? Serena was beginning to get confused as to what was reality and what was drugs.



But the delivery was painless. And before they knew it, Serena and Dominic had a 6lbs 5oz bouncing baby girl.



Serena smiled as she looked at the infant who already favored one of the two parents. “Welcome to the world, Mackenzie Marie Fyres!”

And with the birth of Mackenzie, came the ending of Generation 1. Thank you all for tuning in. See you in the second book of Serena Piper’s Legacy.