Title - The First of Many
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Keywords - JMPR
Summary - Jarod takes on the task of showing Miss Parker that not all memories of the past are bad ones. First in the "The First of Many Series".
Disclaimer - Not my characters. Just borrowing them for a little bit of fun. No harm intended.

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The First of Many
by Nicky


Jarod is just putting the finishing touches on dinner when he hears her key in the door. He takes one last look around the freshly decorated living room and decides it's as good as it's going to get. This evening was going to be interesting, to say the least. He just hopes she doesn't shoot first and ask questions later. He takes a deep breath and prepares for the inevitable.

As soon as the door opens, he can see that she knows something is different. She flips the light switch and is annoyed that nothing happens. He soon sees her gun flashing in the candlelight and decides to put her out of her misery.

"It's just me," he announces, startling her a bit.

"Jarod? What are you doing here?" she asks, now pointing the gun in his direction. "You have three seconds to explain yourself before I start shooting." Her annoyance deepens at the laugh that comment seemed to have elicited.

"Good," he laughs. "I was sure you were going to shoot first. At least now I get to explain." He smiles that smug grin of his and holds out a chair for her. "Have a seat. Dinner's getting cold."

She eyes him suspiciously before deciding to take him up on his offer. She sits at the table, setting the gun next to her within reach. Her mouth waters when he starts uncovering the food and she realizes how hungry she really is. However, she refuses to show any kind of emotion whatsoever. She didn't know what Jarod was up to, but she didn't want to give him any kind of advantage in this situation.

"So, what's this all about?" she asks finally. "The dinner. The candles. You know, you could have just come into the Centre on your own. This celebration wasn't necessary," she says sarcastically.

"Very funny, Miss Parker. But the day I end up back in that place definitely won't be a day I'll be celebrating." His tone turns cold and it sends a shiver down her spine. But he quickly covers the darkness that clouded his eyes with a mischievous glint. "Not only is there dinner and candles, but there are some gifts as well."

"Gifts? For me?" she can't help the lilt in her voice, obviously intrigued by the game he seems to be playing.

"More like clues. You see, this is a special day. But you're going to have to figure out what we're celebrating," he challenges. He fills both their wine glasses and takes a sip, looking at her over the rim. He watches nervously as she picks up the gun and points it at him again.

"Or, I could just shoot you and drag your sorry butt back to the Centre. That would be present enough for me," she says, noticing his panicked reaction. He gets a look in his eyes that reminds her of the fragile little boy that he still is and it breaks her heart. She decides to play along a little more. "But, what fun would that be? Where's the first gift?" She sets the gun down and looks at him expectantly.

"There's one that you can open now. The other one comes later," he tells her, the smile appearing on his face again. For a minute, he was sure she was about to take him back to the Centre. But she seems to be curious about his little party. He slides a flat, rectangular shaped box across the table.

"This is a gift as well as a clue?" she asks, picking up the box and shaking it. "Where are the other clues?"

"Look around you, Miss Parker. What do you see?"

"You made me a nice candlelight dinner. There's wine. Decorations, balloons," she rattles off everything she sees.

"But what about the balloons?" he hints.

"They're silver. In fact, all of the decorations are silver. Even those roses," she says amazed. An easy smile spreads across her face as she fingers the delicate petals. "They're beautiful, Jarod."

"Why don't you open the box," he suggests.
She eagerly takes that suggestion and tears into the box, ripping the silver paper away from the package. She opens her gift and gasps at what's inside.

"Jarod! This is gorgeous!" She pulls out the silver bracelet and runs her fingers across the diamonds. She gives it to him and holds out her wrist for him to put it on. "It's silver as well. I'm starting to sense a theme here. You say that we're celebrating something. And with all these silver gifts, I'd guess that it was an anniversary of sorts. 25 year anniversary if I'm not mistaken."

"You're absolutely correct," he grins. "The lady wins."

"Jarod, you're insane. What on earth would I have to celebrate with you?" she says, not realizing the harshness in her tone until she sees that she's hurt his feelings. But she didn't care anymore. Jarod has some nerve coming into her house like this and start assuming things about them.

"I'm insane? Is that what you really think?" he says angrily, standing up and storming across the room. "I'm insane for wanting to celebrate a special day? What about you? What about the days you choose to celebrate?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she yells back.

"What were you doing three months ago? You were at your mother's grave. Mother's day? You were there again. What about last month? Thomas' grave. Because it was his birthday. Every year, it's the same thing. You mark off your life as time in between your visits to the dead."

"Most people do that to remember their loved ones that they have lost, Jarod. It's not my fault that I have to do it more than other people."

"That's just the point I was trying to make," he sighs, his anger dissipating. He had to remember the real reason he was there. She needed this. They both did. "You have lost so much in your life. Thomas. Your mother. You have all these days that you celebrate death. I just thought it was time for you to celebrate life, Miss Parker. I thought that there should be at least one day when you can think back on a moment you were loved and not have ghosts haunt it."

"And this is that day?" she asks incredulously. "Jarod, what is it about today that makes it so special?"

"Twenty five years ago today, you gave me a gift that changed my life. I just wanted to return the favor." Jarod smiles at her before taking one last step to bridge the distance between them. Gently cupping her face in his hands, he tilts her head up and bends his head down until their lips meet with the sweetest touch either of them could have imagined. He maintains the gentle pressure and is pleasantly surprised that she doesn't resist. Finally after a few moments, he pulls away. His eyes are misty and he has to blink them a few times to prevent his tears from falling.

"Happy Anniversary, Miss Parker," he whispers, looking tenderly into her eyes while he strokes her cheeks with his thumb. "Thanks for being my first love. Thanks for giving me my first kiss." With a sad smile, he reluctantly releases her and steps away, still unable to break eye contact. Getting one last look at her, he finally turns to make his way to the door when the words he's been waiting all his life to hear stops him in his tracks.

"I love you too, Jarod," her teary voice sings.

"What?" he gasps, not sure he heard her. He turns quickly and his heart is soon assaulted with the intense gaze from the woman standing not two feet from him.

"Thank you for reminding me of that day," she continues, stepping closer to him. "Thank you for reminding me of that love." She pulls him into her arms and holds onto him, never wanting to let him go. She pulls away only enough to meet him for another kiss.

He eagerly responds, clasping his hand to the back of her neck and pulling her head closer to deepen the kiss. She runs her hands impatiently up and down his chest, aching to touch what was beneath the silky fabric of his shirt. Slipping her hands beneath the material, she moans into his mouth when her fingers meet his hot skin.

"Whoa," he gasps, breaking their contact. "Just so you know, I didn't come here tonight to seduce you. I want you to realize that," he insists.

"You're so cute," she smiles sweetly, pulling his lower lip between her teeth and running her tongue across it. She laughs at the moan he tries to stifle. "But you're not seducing me. I'm seducing you." She pulls him into another kiss and start to unbutton his shirt.

"Not right now," he pushes her away gently. His resolve was getting weaker and he had to stop this while he still could. "Not tonight. We'll have plenty of time for that later. Let's just take this slow. So that in another 25 years, we can have cause for another celebration. I don't want today to be the beginning of the end because we rushed things. I want us to last forever."

With one last kiss, he takes her hand and leads her to the sofa. They sit down, snuggled together comfortably.

"I have one last gift," he tells her, kissing her forehead as he pulls one more box from his pocket.

"Jarod, I don't need any other gifts. You've made me so happy . . ." she's stopped midsentence by the contents of the small, square box. With a shaky hand, she reaches out and frees the ring from it's velvet home. "Jarod. This is ..."

"It's not what you think," he says quickly. "Not yet anyway." He takes the ring from her and places it on the ring finger of her right hand. "Today is a celebration of our first kiss. Someday in the future, we'll celebrate this," he says as he kisses her right hand, "when we move the ring over here," he says, kissing her left hand.

They celebrate for a while with sweet kisses and caresses, but nothing more, finally nodding off still holding onto each other. Jarod pulls her closer before he finally closes his eyes, smiling at the turn of events. He knew the night was going to be interesting. But it turned out even better than he could have ever hoped.

"Jarod," she calls with a sleepy voice when his stirring wakes her. "You're not leaving, are you?"

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm never leaving you," he smiles.
"What time is it?" she asks.

"Almost 3 a.m. Go back to sleep."

"3 a.m? So technically, it's tomorrow," she says, turning in his arms to face him, a mischievous smile on her face. "It's a new day."

"Technically, yes," he agrees, not sure where she's going with this.

"A new day," she repeats, kissing him softly. "A new day to make new memories. Yesterday was the anniversary of our first kiss. And the day we first admitted we loved each other. Today could be a real anniversary," she proposes. "We could move this ring . . . and then get on with the honeymoon."

"No rushing," he says shaking his head. "No regrets."

"Jarod, I don't consider 25 years rushing things," she giggles. "I suggest you marry me now, genius, or we're not getting off of this couch with my virtue intact." She smiles seductively before planting a series of kisses around his face, purposely avoiding his mouth.

"Now?" he asks breathlessly, the kisses starting to cloud his mind. "It's the middle of the night."

"We can be in Atlantic City by sunrise," she purrs, moving up and licking the spot just below his ear, causing him to shiver.

"Alright, alright. You win," he admits to sweet defeat. "Let's go get married." He stops her oral assault on his neck with a passionate kiss of his own. This time, taking her breath away. "Then we'll see what we can do about that virtue of yours."
They laugh and run together to the car. An interesting night indeed, Jarod thinks to himself. Just the first of many.

The End.


Feedback please!

Title - Another Night of Firsts
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Keywords - JMPR
Summary - A night of surprising firsts for our duo. Second in the "The First of Many Series".
Disclaimer - Not my characters. Just borrowing them for a little bit of fun. No harm intended.

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Another Night of Firsts
by Nicky
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"Well?"

The door slams and Jarod sits up on the couch, peeking over the back to see his very beautiful, but very irate wife standing in the doorway, expecting an answer to a question to which he had no idea how to respond.

"Well what?" he says with a yawn, casually standing up and taking a much needed stretch. He lopes over to the door and attempts to give Miss Parker a kiss.

"You've got to be kidding me," she growls, causing him to cringe at the sound. "Don't touch me, you creep."

"Creep? What happened to husband? Love of my life?" He watches as she pushes past him, limping her way towards the couch. Instantly he's worried. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just fine," she hisses sarcastically. "Although, I would have sworn two hours ago you were trying to put me in the hospital. Fortunately the only casualty today was my shoe." She holds up a high heeled sandal for him to view before tossing it at his head. He ducks just before it hits him.

"Honey," he says with a chuckle, understanding finally dawning on him. "You weren't supposed to go inside the hotel room. It was just a trap I set up for Lyle and the sweepers . . ."

The look she shoots him practically freezes his blood and stops him midsentence. Suddenly he doesn't feel much like laughing. She really is mad at him. Really *really* mad, he notices with some fear.

"Just a trap?" she asks, pulling off her other shoe. He hides behind a chair just in case she decides to send that one airborn as well, but breathes a sigh of relief when he hears it land on the floor next to her. "It was all just a joke, wasn't it, Jarod? Well, I didn't find it very funny." One more icy glare and she rises to go upstairs. He hears her stomp down the hall and slam the bedroom door closed behind her. Definitely a sure sign for him to give her a little space.

He sinks back onto the couch, sighing in frustration. Wondering why she was so upset with him. He used to leave those traps for her all the time when she used to chase him. Sure she got upset at some of the more childish pranks. He knows she hated when he gave her the flu. And that strip search couldn't have been much fun. Being locked up in jail for the weekend for being caught with the concealed weapon had to have been annoying. The whole hurricane thing, although, he got caught in that trap himself, he admits was pretty scary.

But, she got smarter over the years. She got a lot better at avoiding his little pranks. She really is a force to be reckoned with, that wife of his. It's been a while since she, or her wardrobe, has fallen victim to one of his traps. It's been at least since before they got married. Maybe that's it. Maybe she always got this angry before. But before, he was never here to face her wrath. Today, he is. Today he gets to experience first hand his wife when she's truly angry with him. Surprisingly enough, this is the first time in the almost seven months they've been married. Their first fight, he thinks to himself with a smile. Surely the first of many, but he couldn't think of any future arguments right now. Right now, he needs to worry about making up with her for this fight.

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Miss Parker storms across the bedroom, opening drawers and making sure she slams them shut. She's trying to make as much noise as possible so that Jarod knows how really angry she is. Apparently with him, the adage 'out of sight, out of mind' is something to live by. She can't believe she spent the day following a fake lead only to end up in that trap with Lyle while Jarod lazed away the day asleep on the couch. He probably didn't even do the laundry, she thinks to herself rolling her eyes. A quick peek into the hamper proves that theory correct and also gives her something else to slam.

After a half hour of stomping and slamming, she realizes there's not much to do in the room by herself. She flops down on the new, big king sized bed that they just recently bought - due to the damage they inflicted on her old one during their honeymoon - and rolls onto her side, staring at the vast emptiness beside her. It's normally her favorite place to be, but the bed just seems too big and lonely without Jarod.

She huffs in frustration. This was one of the worst of his practical jokes ever. And she just bought those shoes. She really loved them. They looked so sexy on her feet and had Jarod down on his knees drooling when she first wore them. He couldn't keep his hands off of her. Yeah, that was a fun night. A night that lasted well into the next day if she's remembering accurately. A knock at the door breaks into her memories and she angrily stomps over to it and pulls it open.

"What?" she asks impatiently, annoyed that he dared interrupt her. Her mouth starts watering when a wonderful smell reaches her nose. In her attempt to be mad at him, she'd forgotten that she hadn't eaten since she left the house that morning. She looks at his hands and sees her favorite pizza. He must have had it delivered while she was throwing her tantrum.

"Thought you might be hungry," he says, giving her a smug grin that makes her even angrier for some reason.

She grabs the box from him and takes out two slices, placing them into his still outstretched hands. While he's distracted juggling the hot pieces of pizza to avoid being burned, she slams the door in his face and takes the rest of the pizza to the bed with her.

"Problem solved," she says to herself with a little smile. Now, she won't have to worry about starving. This must be his feeble attempt to apologize she thinks, rolling her eyes. It's a good start, but he's still got a long way to go. She takes one last deep breath of the spicy pie before digging mercilessly into it.

************

He stands at the door in shock for a second before the cheese from the pizza begins to scald his skin. He runs into the bathroom down the hall and grabs a few paper towels to set his dinner on. Two slices of pizza. And he thought they would be in the bed feeding each other by now. Looks like he's going to have to go to phase two of his plan. He's determined to get her to forgive him before the night is over.

He hops up onto the bathroom counter while he eats his meager meal, more into thinking about what to do next than he is about the food. He glances around the room and his eyes land on the huge tub they've spent many an evening in. She loves the long, hot baths they take. It could be just the thing to calm her down, he thinks, a grin coming to his face. He shoves the rest of the pizza into his mouth and moves to turn the bathroom into her private spa for the evening.

Twenty minutes later, the room is perfect. The bath has been run with just the right amount of bubbles added. Candles are lit around the room. And her favorite robe is waiting for her behind the door. All that's missing is his wife.

He knocks on the bedroom door again before peeking his head inside. He doesn't even get a chance to open his mouth before she comes flying past him.

"I hope you're done screwing around in there. I have to pee," she huffs in aggravation. Not exactly the words he's looking for from her, but they'll do. At least she's speaking to him again. He follows her into the bathroom and hears her surprised gasp when she sees the candles.

"Thought you'd might enjoy a relaxing bubble bath," he whispers into her ear. Unless he's imagining things, she definitely trembled when his warm breath danced down her neck. Perhaps this evening will end well after all.

************

He's standing so close that she can't help but be affected by his warmth. She shudders as he whispers something into her ear about a bubble bath. She must admit, the bath looks very tempting. Too tempting to pass up, she decides.

"Good idea. The first one you've had tonight," she says, trying to keep up her angry facade. But she's starting now to forget all about why she's even mad in the first place. Especially with the way his fingers are stroking through her hair, lifting it into a messy ponytail on the top of her head.

"The first of many, I hope," he chuckles, nudging her into the bathroom. He proceeds to slowly strip her, drawing her deeper and deeper into his spell. When she gets herself seated in the tub, she's shocked to see him still dressed.

"Not joining me?" she asks.

"Not tonight. This is for you. To make up for earlier today. I'm really sorry you got in the middle of all that. I'm sorry you ruined your shoes. I loved those shoes," he smiles.

"I know you did," she says, returning his smile. "I loved how you reacted to them." Her face flushes in memory. Or maybe it's from the sensation of his hands gently bathing her body. She sits back, closes her eyes, and enjoys the treatment.

Too soon for her own liking, he's pulling her out the tub. Her bottom lip sticks out like a little child and he can't help but nibble on it.

"Just moving this to where we'll both be comfortable," he says, carrying her effortlessly down the hall. She could definitely get used to this kind of treatment, she decides, laying her head on his shoulder and letting out a contented sigh.

"I was comfortable," she purrs, letting her lips dance lightly across the skin on his neck. She smiles when she feels his body starting to react to her.

"You know, I should apologize to you, too," she says, pulling him next to her when he sets her down on the bed. "I shouldn't have yelled and screamed at you that way. I was tired and cranky and just not in a good mood."

"It's okay," he smiles. "It was our first fight as a married couple. That means we get to spend the rest of the night making it up to each other."

"Sounds good to me," she groans as he attacks her mouth with his own. She gives as good as she gets, pulling him closer to her body until there's barely a space between them. She breaks the kiss and spends a few moments tracing her fingers across his face, studying the details and contours that she's come to know and love.

"Promise me something," she whispers.

"Anything," he pants, putting his mouth to use elsewhere while she uses hers for talking.

"No more of these pranks. As you can see from today's events, things can take a very dangerous turn very quickly. I was terrified in there with Lyle," she sniffs, unable to hold back a tear.

"I'm so sorry, Honey," he apologizes again. "I didn't realize . . . "

"I know you didn't," she says, shaking her head. "I didn't realize either. Until it was almost too late. We can't afford to be careless like that anymore. Too much is at stake."

"What do you mean?" He props up on his elbow and stares quizzically at her.

"This is a night for firsts," she smiles shyly. "Our first fight. Our first making up from that fight. But if we're not careful, we can miss out on another important first due to arrive about seven months from now."

He still looks confused, so she takes his hand and places it gently on her abdomen. It was still flat, but the action was enough to put a spark in his eye.

"Parker?" he gasps, afraid to say the words. Afraid that they're not thinking of the same thing.

"Another first, Jarod," she smiles. "The first addition to our family. I'm pregnant." She pauses, looking at his shocked face and wonders if he’s breathing. "We're going to have a baby," she adds, just in case it wasn't clear before.

"We're going to have a baby," he repeats. It takes a few seconds, but a smile spreads across his face, belying the tears in his eyes. He looks down and, seeing his hand still on her stomach, begins to rub it. "We're going to have a baby."

"Are you okay?" she asks him, suddenly worried by the stupor he couldn't seem to shake himself out of. "Are you okay with this?"

"You're having my baby," he says, kissing her lightly on the lips. He has to blink away a few tears before they fall onto her face. "Nothing could make this more okay. I love you, Parker."

"And I love you," she replies with a smile, pulling him once again into her embrace where they spend the entire evening celebrating this new night of firsts.

The end.

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