Disclaimer: Okay, all Pretender related stuff is the property of NBC's The Pretender. They are not mine! Although, other characters are mine.

Author's note: This is a [MAJOR] "What if" story so bare with me on this one, okay? I was so tempted to do it, so... I did! I had a lot fun writing it too. So here it is... enjoy!



Miss Parker sat in her office, fiddling with the papers lazily on her desk. Looking towards the clock on her office wall, she sighed heavily. She had just got done telling her father about one of her 'failures' on catching Jarod. Oh, how she hated doing that. The look on her father's face sent shivers rolling down her spine. Sighing again, she lifted a warily hand to her forehead, rubbing the aching flesh there.

"Damn head ache," she murmured to herself.

Just then, the ringing of her phone broke the silence, causing Miss Parker to jump in surprise. She reached over and yanked the phone up to her ear.

"What?" she snapped her usual.

"Would if there was no Centre?" she heard a male voice ask.

"Excuse me?" she asked. The voice was so unfamiliar. It sure as hell wasn't Sydney, Broots or Jarod.

"Would if there was no Centre?" the voice asked again.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked.

"Answer the question," the voice demanded.

What do you want?" she asked, getting up from her desk and looking over her shoulder out the window cautiously.

"Would if there was no Centre?" there was a pause for an answer. "Tell me! Would if there was no Centre?"

"Who are you damn it!"

"Would if there was no Centre?"

"I... I don't know. It would be different," Miss Parker finally answered, placing her hand on her forehead. The headache increased.

Different?" the voice asked. Miss Parker felt a leap in her chest, unsure if it was relief or fear. "Oh, it definitely would be different."

Then there was the dial tone. Miss Parker pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it in confusion. Slowly she replaced the phone to its cradle, looking around her office in suspicion.

She stepped out from behind her desk and walked over to the door of her office quickly, looking around carefully. Grabbing the handle of her large door, she pulled and pulled, but it wouldn't budge. "What the hell?" she asked as she pulled harder onto the handle. Hearing a squealing sound of nails giving way, the door swung open, causing her to wobble back. Catching her balance, she stepped out into the hall, her eyes widened in surprise. Everywhere she looked, she saw cobwebs and dust, and all the doors were nailed shut, like hers was. It was dead silent, no living thing in sight.

Until she heard someone shouting. No, it was two people shouting.

"Hello?" she heard them shout. Sydney, Broots... was it them? She took off down the hall in the general direction and turned the corner, bumping into someone with a thud.

"Sydney!" Miss Parker said in relief.

"Miss Parker! What happened here?" he asked, looking around. Miss Parker looked over his shoulder to see Broots standing there, looking around as well. She shook her head in confusion.

"I don't know Syd. You guys get the call as well?"

Sydney nodded. "Broots was in my office helping me out with a few things and then the phone rang..."

Miss Parker nodded, indicating he didn't need to say anymore.

"What do we do now?" Broots asked.

"Get out of here, I suppose," Sydney suggested. "C'mon."

They finally reached outside, after struggling through doors that were nailed shut and turned to look at their 'Centre' and saw that it just looked like an abandoned warehouse.

"Well I'll be," Broots muttered, staring up at the building.

"What in God's name is going on?" Miss Parker asked, turning to look at the busy street.

A teenage boy was coming their way, and Miss Parker stepped in his way. He looked up at her from under his baseball cap in surprise.

"Y-yes?" he asked nervously.

Tell me what you know about this place?" she demanded, no politeness in her voice. They kid looked at the warehouse and turned back to her.

"Uh... it's a warehouse that hasn't been used in years. It wasn't even working before I was born."

Miss Parker exchanged looks with Sydney.

"C-can I go now?" the boy asked cautiously. Miss Parker returned her gaze to him.

"Do you know him?" she asked, pulling out a picture of Jarod.

The kid looked at it. "Ah... yeah, he lives on the other side of town. I see him at the store sometimes."

"Really? And his name?" Miss Parker asked, looking back at Syd and Broots, making sure they are getting this.

"Ah... Jarod Gene I think," the boy said with a shrug.

"Gene," Miss Parker repeated, glancing down at the photo. She looked up at the kid again. "Where exactly does he live?"

"Don't know. Go to the other side of town and ask around there."

"C'mon Syd!" Miss Parker shouted over her shoulder, taking off down the sidewalk.

"Thank you for your help," Sydney said, nodding politely at the eenager. The kid nodded back as he watched the three walk away.

"Strange bunch," he muttered to himself.

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

"Have you seen this man?" Miss Parker asked an elderly woman, walking out of a grocery store. She glanced at Parker then at the photo. She smiled.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Gene. Fine gentlemen he is. Takes real good care of his children."

"Children?" Sydney repeated questionably.

"Mmm, yes, both of them. They are real cuties at that," she said with a smile.

"Where does he live?" Miss Parker asked, putting the photo back into her pocket.

"He lives on Spring St., the big white, beautiful house. He and a couple family members and friends built it when his wife was pregnant..."

"Wife?" Miss Parker snapped.

The woman nodded. "Mmm, yes, with their first child, Chelsea. Real cutie she is..."

"Look, thank you for your help. We need to be going now," Miss Parker interrupted, after hearing enough. She walked past the woman, while Syd and Broots followed.

‘’That woman sounded nice," Broots said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Yeah real nice... and talkative!" Miss Parker said sarcastically.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Wow, what a house!" Broots said, looking up at the beautiful white house. "That woman was right! It is some house."

Miss Parker shot him a look, but couldn't help but admitted to herself that is was indeed a wonderful house. The paint looked freshly painted, the shudders were a light blue and there was a wood chipped flowerbed with blue and purple flowers carefully planted in a neat manner. There was a brick sidewalk, leading up to the front porch, in which they walked up to.

Sydney reached over and rang the doorbell. It let out a nice hum of bells, not too shabby.

After a few seconds, the door began to click open. As the door creaked open, all three looked ahead to see... nothing? All together, they looked downwards to see a little dark haired five-year-old, with pigtails coming out of the sides of her head and a teddy bear tucked under her little arm. She smiled up at them.

"Why hello there," Broots said with a smile, bending over and placing his hands on his thighs to support his weight. "And what is your name?"

She hid a little behind the door shyly. "Chelsea," she whispered.

"That is a pretty name Chelsea. My name is Broots and this is Sydney
and Miss..." he began, but the look Miss Parker gave him was enough to
stop him in the middle of his sentence.

Miss Parker turned to her. "Miss Parker," she replied. The little girl stared up at her for a moment.

"You not dat friendly, are you?" she asked, squeezing her teddy bear more.

Sydney couldn't hold back a smile and Miss Parker glanced at him and gave him a look that could cut a man in two. Sydney quickly wiped the smile from his lips.

Miss Parker let out a sigh of frustration and then went on. "Is your daddy home?" she asked. Chelsea shook her head, causing her short little pigtails to softly hit her cheeks.

"He is going to be home soon, though. The baby-sitter is here now," Chelsea explained.

"Baby-sitter?" Miss Parker asked, glancing at Sydney. "Well, where is your mom?"

Just then, sorrow filled the small child's eyes and she looked down to the ground.

"Mommy went to visit Grandpa," she simply said.

Miss Parker smiled. "Why look so sad about it?"

Chelsea shook her head while looking down at the ground. Miss Parker stared at her for a moment then decided to drop the subject.

"Chels, who is at the door?" they heard a female ask, coming to the door and opening it all the way. "Oh, hello," the woman said, noticing the three that stood on the porch.

"Hi. We are old friends of Jarod's and wanted to stop by to pay a visit," Miss Parker lied.

"Friends?" the woman asked.

"Yes, Friends."

The woman seemed to look them up and down for a moment then held the door open for them. "Well then, come in."

"Thank you very much," Sydney said with a smile. She nodded in response.

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

"So you know Jarod from school?" Kellie, the baby-sitter asked. Handing the cups of coffee to Sydney, Miss Parker and Broots, as they sat down on a beautiful blue couch.

"Yes, Broots and I graduated with him and Sydney was his professor," Miss Parker quickly explained, before Broots and Sydney could. Kellie nodded.

"Well, I guess he'll be really happy to see you then," Kellie said with a smile.

"Yes he will," Miss Parker said, glancing at Sydney. "So... you are a baby-sitter or...?"

"I'm a friend of his. We go way back. I lived in his neighborhood when we were young."

Miss Parker flashed Sydney a look of disbelief. Just then, Chelsea came trotting into the living room.

"Kellie, Cian got into the cookies again," she said quietly. Kellie smiled at the three that sat on the couch.

"Excuse me," she said, getting up from her chair and heading down the hall to the kitchen.

"I can't believe this," Sydney said happily, looking around the house. "Look how good Jarod has done for himself. A beautiful house, wonderful children..."

"Yeah, it has to be a trick of his or something. It is all too weird," Miss Parker snapped, setting her cup on the dark coffee table in front of them.

Just then, the sound of a car pulling into the paved driveway caught their attention. All three exchanged glances as a car door was opened and then closed and then footsteps on the brick walk to the porch.

"Daddy!" Chelsea shouted with joy, running past the doorway to the living room to the front door. Shortly after a little dark haired boy ran after too.

The front door opened and a cheerful call rang through the air. "Hey you!" Jarod's voice said happily.

All three leaped to their feet as Jarod came into the doorway of the living room. He carried Chelsea on his right hip and Cian on his left and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of strangers.

"Oh... ah, hello," he said awkwardly.

"Hi," all three said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise.

Jarod and the three others seemed to stare at each other for a moment, before Kellie returned to the room.

"Jarod, these people say they are friends of yours... from school. You know them?" Kellie asked, as Jarod placed Chelsea and Cian on their
feet.

"Ah..." he began and glanced at Kellie for help. She nodded. "Yes?" he said in a questionable manner. He returned his gaze back at the three that stood in the middle of his living room. "I, ah think..."

"Um, hi. My name is Sydney Green. I was your professor in high school," Sydney said, finally breaking the awkward silence. Jarod gladly shook his hand.

"Um, sure. Ah, Professor Green," Jarod said, still not sure of who he was. Kellie shook her head and smiled, taking both kids by the hands and left the four to talk.

"And I'm Miss Parker," Miss Parker said.

"Ah... Broots," Broots said awkwardly. Jarod nodded in response.

"Please, have a seat," Jarod said, gesturing towards the couch. They did so. "So, um... high school huh?" Jarod said, starting conversation as
he sat down in a blue matching chair across the room.

They nodded. "You don't remember us, do you?" Sydney asked with a smile.

"Not a clue," Jarod admitted, smirking.

Sydney laughed. "It's okay. You aren't from your high school."

Miss Parker and Broots gave him a look of astonishment.

"Huh?" Jarod asked.

"We... ah," Sydney began, but was having trouble thinking of something.

"We are here for um, house keeping," Broots finished. Miss Parker and Sydney shot him a look.

"House keeping?" Jarod repeated.

"Uh yeah," Broots said. "Um, Miss Parker is here for baby-sitting and Syd and I are here to um, baby-sit the house."

"I have a baby-sitter and the house is just fine."

"Yeah Broots," Miss Parker said, shooting him a look of warning. "Besides he has his wife and his friend to help."

"Wife?" Jarod asked, feeling his stomach turn in pain. "My wife is dead."

All three snapped their attention to Jarod.

"I'm sorry," Sydney said quietly. Jarod shook his head sadly.

"Well, thanks for lying to me... then coming up with a silly idea that I need more help. I really would like you to leave now," Jarod said, getting up and walking to the front door, feeling the pain rising. Broots, Sydney and Miss Parker followed.

"Please, we didn't mean for this to happen. Look we want to help you out," Sydney said.

"I am not letting strangers into my house and to watch my kids while I am at work. Now please leave," Jarod said, opening the door and gesturing with his hand for them to leave.

"No, seriously. We had heard from neighbors that you desperately needed help with housework and baby-sitting and that your friend can't always be there. Please, give us a chance. Please?" Sydney pleaded with him.

"Well, Kellie is going to New York next week," Jarod said, more to himself than to them.

"Yeah, that's what we heard," Sydney lied.

Jarod stared at them as if considering the situation, trying to ignore the aching pain in his gut. "Fine, but one wrong move and I'll have every finger on your hands cut to the knuckles, got it?"

All the three nodded.

Jarod sighed. "Now, are you planning to work full time or part time?"

Broots and Miss Parker glanced at Sydney. "Um, full time," he replied. Both gave him a warning look.

"Okay, fine. I have two spare rooms already. You two... house cleaners can stay in one, and the baby-sitter may have the other," Jarod said, no politeness at all.

"Great," Sydney said with a smile.

"I'm not going to work tomorrow, so we can get to know each other then, alright? Are you planning to stay tonight, or you have another place to sleep?"

All three exchanged knowingly looks.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


"Well here they are. Someone can sleep on the couch," Jarod said, gesturing towards the couch that was in the corner of the quest room. Sydney and Broots smiled at him, but Jarod didn't return to the gesture. He walked out of the room and across the hall to the other spare room.

"This is a lovely room," Miss Parker said, as he walked in and handed her an extra blanket.

"Yeah, when my wife's mom visited, this is where she slept. My wife would always keep it spotless so she wouldn't have to hear her mom complain in the morning. But her mom always happened to find something out of place or dirty," he said with a smile, glancing around the room.

Miss Parker smiled back. "I don't think it is any of my business... but, ah, what happened to your wife?"

Jarod's eyes snapped up to her face and stared at her."You are right. It's not," he snapped. Miss Parker blinked a couple times in surprise.

Disclaimer: Okay, all Pretender related stuff is the property of NBC's The Pretender. They are not mine! Although, other characters are mine.

Author's note: This is a [MAJOR] "What if" story so bare with me on this one, okay? I was so tempted to do it, so... I did! I had a lot fun writing it too. So here it is... enjoy!


After a moment he pulled his eyes away from her face and looked to the ground. "Sorry," he muttered. He took a breath and shook his head sadly. "A couple days before last year's Christmas, she had gone with a couple friends to a bed and breakfast for a present. She was a sucker for family and holidays so the night before Christmas, she decided to come home early and she hurried home as fast as she could," Jarod paused and shook his head before continuing. "The roads were slippery and she didn't see the stop sign up ahead from the heavy snow falling. Her car went right under a semi, slicing the whole top of the car off. I had gotten the call that she was dead..." he took a shaky breath, "when Chelsea and Cian were opening their presents the next morning. I told them their mommy isn't coming home in time for Christmas, but she loved them and she misses them." Jarod brought his hand to his face and shook his head sadly.

Miss Parker stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said softly. He shook his head again. Miss Parker slid her hand down his back and brought him closer to her. She then wrapped both arms around him and held him.

Miss Parker, surprisingly, enjoyed the feel of him in her arms. She always wanted to touch him, to hold him to her. She could have stood like that forever, but to him, she was a stranger. He didn't know her like she knew him, and he quickly pulled away from her grasp as soon as reality hit him, groaning in pain from the aching in his stomach.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. He turned for the door and stopped. He slowly turned around. "Kellie, the kids and I are going out for dinner tonight. You and your friends may join us if you like."

Miss Parker nodded with a weak smile. "That would be great."

He nodded with a smile. "Great." He took a step out in the hall and then glanced back. "It's a fancy place, so dress up."

"But I don't have a dress," Miss Parker said with a frown, looking down at herself.

Jarod looked her up and down. "Come here," was all he said, and he disappeared in the doorway. Miss Parker quickly took off towards the door and followed him to his room.

"Wow," she said, as she stepped into the room. It was painted with dark blue. The bed was blue, the lamp bases were blue, and all the woods were dark oaks. "This is a very nice bedroom."

"Yeah," Jarod said with a smile, making his way to the closet on the opposite side. "My wife didn't want to make it too... feminine so she wanted it in dark blue. Goes either way, right?"

Miss Parker smiled. "What was your wife's name?" she asked, beginning to walk around the room, glancing at family pictures and flowers and outdoor paintings on the wall.

"Kindra," he said with a smile, going through clothed garments in the closet. "Her mother would always call her 'Kinny Dear'. God, she hated that."

Miss Parker smiled. She glanced at a picture that caught her eye on a dark oak nightstand. "Is this her?" she asked, picking up the framed picture of a dark haired woman and Jarod hugging each other. Jarod glanced over at her.

He nodded. "Yeah, that is her."

"She was beautiful," Miss Parker said staring at the green-eyed woman in picture. "She looks intelligent too."

"That's why I married her. Here we are," he said, pulling out a beautiful blue dress. "This was her favorite dress." He walked up to Miss Parker and handed it to her.

"Oh wow, this is beautiful. I can't wear it," she said, running her hand over its soft fabric.

"Go ahead. All it was doing was gathering dust in there."

Miss Parker looked up at him. "Thank you."

Jarod nodded in response. "Now, go tell your friends that they need something to wear. We are leaving at nine, so that gives them enough time to do some shopping."

Miss Parker smiled. "Okay. Thank you again." And with that she took off down the hall.

Jarod watched her leave and then he sighed to himself. "What the hell am I doing?" he asked himself, rubbing his stomach.

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

"I have never ate so well in my life," Sydney said, leaning back in
his chair.

"Well, that's why it makes it my favorite restaurant," Jarod responded, glancing at his side of the bill.

"We can't thank you enough for letting us have this job and then taking us out to dinner," Sydney said.

"Well, if Kellie wasn't going to New York and you wouldn't have paid the bill for your own food," he paused to give them a smile, not exactly a polite one. "Then we wouldn't have done either."

"Well still, thank you Jarod," Sydney replied, trying to take the tension from Jarod he knew was there.

"Mr. Gene," Jarod said abruptly.

"Excuse me?" Sydney asked politely, flashing him a look of confusion and surprise.

"Mr. Gene. Call me Mr. Gene. You are my employee, so you call me Mr. Gene. When you are my friend, you call me Jarod. Got it?"

Miss Parker smiled, feeling a little proud of him.

Sydney stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Oh, um, of course."

"Daddy, don't be rude," Chelsea said. Jarod glanced at her and smiled.

"I am not being rude honey, I am just taking boss," he said gently.

She glanced at Sydney then back at her father. "Okay daddy," she said with a smile, sitting up in her seat more and dismissing the subject quickly. Kellie smiled and wiped the hair from Chelsea's forehead.

"Cute kid," Miss Parker said. Jarod glanced up at her and then glanced
at Chelsea.

Took after her mother," Jarod said softly. "Um, excuse me." He quickly stood and took off in the general direction to the bathrooms. Kellie stared off towards him and sighed.

"Don't mind me being rude. But Ja... Mr. Gene seems to be a little... um, well you know..." Sydney began unsteadily.

"Rude? Disconnected? A little touchy?" Kellie finished, leaning forward onto the table. Sydney nodded a little. Kellie smiled and leaned back in her chair again. "Well, you can't blame a guy who has lost his wife, in which he truly loved. Those two I swear were connected at the hip." She smiled and shook her head.

"He really loved her didn't he?" Sydney asked, glancing off towards the men's room.

Kellie bit her lower lip and smiled. "He used to be so sweet. He used to smile at everything you said to him, even if you were a stranger. Now, he only shows his affection towards his kids," she said, gesturing towards Cian and Chelsea, who were now devouring two bowls of ice cream.

"And a good father he is," Sydney said, staring at Chelsea.

"Great father! He had promised his kids he would take them camping, so he had cancelled a important meeting to do so," Kellie said in astonishment, lifting her eyebrows.

"My father would have never done that," Miss Parker muttered, watching as Cian stuck the spoon his mouth. She smiled as the little boy looked up at her. "They look just like him," she said, reaching over and brushing the hair back from the small boy's forehead. Broots and Sydney exchanged looks of surprise at her gentleness.

"You will have to forgive me," Jarod said softly, as he pulled his chair out and sat down again.

"It's okay," Sydney replied.

Jarod let out a sigh. "So are we ready to go?" he asked, looking at Cian. "Or are you still making a meal out of your spoon?" Cian let out a giggle and set the spoon in his bowl.

"All done," he said.

Jarod chuckled a little. "Okay," he said smiling. He glanced at the rest at his table. "Ready?" Everyone nodded.

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

Miss Parker slowly opened her eyes, focusing on the room. She jolted upwards, realizing where she was.

"It wasn't a dream," she muttered to herself in shock. She flipped her legs over the bed and walked barefooted to the door. She quietly stepped out into the hall and walked to Sydney and Broots' room, placing her ear on the cold dark wood for sound. Silence.

She glanced down the hall to Jarod's room. Making up her mind quickly, she began to tiptoe down the hall to his room. His door was creaked open a tad, giving her enough room to look in. She peered inside and in the darkness saw the sleeping man on the king-sized bed. He had a tight white tank top on with his back towards her, the blanket up to his waist.

Miss Parker smiled. She bit her lower lip and pushed on the door, swinging it open and wincing as it let out a quiet squeak. She tiptoed her way into the bedroom and leaned over him, looking down at his face. He looked peaceful, so peaceful she wanted to lie down next to him, watching him sleep, only imagining of what he was dreaming of.

And with that, he let out a soft moan and rolled onto his back, fluttering his eyes open to see someone leaning over him. "Kindra?" he asked with a raspy voice of sleep. He blinked a couple times. "What the hell?" he shouted, jolting up and grabbing the covers, pulling them to his chin.

Miss Parker leaped back in surprise. "Jarod! I ah..." she began to
explain but couldn't get the words out.

"Get out of here!" he shouted at her. Wincing in pain, he grabbed his stomach. "NOW!" She quickly spun around, taking off towards her room. As she passed Sydney and Broots' room, they opened their door to see what was going on, only to see Miss Parker running in her room and slamming her door, as well as Jarod slamming his. Both men exchanged questioning looks.

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


After getting dressed with what Broots and Sydney had picked out for her when they went shopping yesterday, she made her way downstairs. She tiptoed through the foyer and into the kitchen, which she hasn't seen before. Standing in the doorway, she studied ever nook and cranny of the beautiful tiled kitchen. It had an island in the center of the cabinet area, with a counter top that came around it. The tile was perfectly white, and there was a dark oak table in the center of the dinning area, where Jarod, Chelsea, Cian and Kellie sat eating their breakfast.

Kellie was the first to notice her presence and she looked up and smiled, bacon in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other.

"Well, good morning Miss Parker," she called cheerfully. Miss Parker saw the back of Jarod's head snap up and look across the table at Kellie, who gave him a brief glance of recognition.

"Um, morning," Miss Parker replied, just a hint of politeness in her tone.

Taking one last sip of her orange juice, Kellie quickly stood up and gestured towards her plate. "Would you like some breakfast, Miss Parker?"

Miss Parker glanced down at the plate briefly and then returned her eyes back to the face of the woman. "No. No thank you," Miss Parker replied, trying to sound as nice as possible.

"Well, I have to get to town real quick," Jarod said suddenly, getting up from the table and setting his plate by the sink, not even glancing at Miss Parker.

"That's right, I need to go shopping too," Miss Parker said, glancing towards Jarod, in which he finally looked at her. He gave her a look to kill.

"Shopping! Oh daddy, you promised!" Chelsea said, bouncing in her seat. Jarod let out a sigh and turned to her.

"Chels... you know I can't..."

"Daddy, please?" she asked, curling her lip down as far as she could, trying to make a frown. Miss Parker almost laughed at her.

Jarod sighed softly, walking over to the table and placing his hands on it, putting all his support on his palms. "You know I can't take you shopping," he said, getting a disappointed look from the little girl. "In your pajamas." Chelsea smiled a huge smile. "Go get dressed and hurry up! You don't want to keep... Miss Parker waiting now do you?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at her. Miss Parker smiled. Chelsea gave a quick nod and leaped to her feet, taking off towards the foyer and then scrambling up the stairs.

Jarod stood up straight again and walked passed Miss Parker, heading for the den. As he passed her Miss Parker muttered to him, "Thank you." He glanced at her and stared for a moment, keeping silent and then walking out of her sight. Miss Parker let out a sigh and Kellie caught it.

"Hey pumpkin, why don't you go upstairs get dressed and I'll take you
to the park?" Kellie asked Cian.

"Yeah!" was all that the small child said, leaping out of his chair and
running out of the kitchen. Kellie looked up at Miss Parker and then
stood from her chair.

"He is a slippery one, Miss Parker. Don't let him get away from you."

"Excuse me?" Miss Parker asked, watching her take her plate to the sink. Kellie turned from the sink to look at Miss Parker.

"I catch that sparkle in your eyes when you talk to him. Always trying to be with him. Babysitting his kids, hugging him, sneaking into his room, going shopping with him..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... he told you about that?" she asked, raising her hand up to stop Kellie from talking. Kellie nodded as she smiled. "Okay, first off... when someone is on the verge of tears, hugging them is the only thing to do in the situation. And I did not 'sneak into his room'. I couldn't sleep and I got up to get a drink of water and he said something and I heard it. Therefore, I walked into his room to see what he wanted," Miss Parker lied.

"Oh really?" Kellie said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Yes really," Miss Parker shot back.

"I'm ready!" Chelsea said, running into the kitchen. She looked around. "Daddy? Daddy I am ready!" she shouted.

"Okay, okay. I am coming!" Jarod said, coming into the kitchen. He smiled down at her. "Now I can't get you everything your little heart desires, you know that, right?" he asked gently.

"Right, daddy. Money doesn't grow on trees," she said with a smile. Miss Parker smiled wide.

"Intelligent little thing, isn't she?" Miss Parker asked, forgetting she was the daughter of the genius.

"Yeah well, I taught her well," Jarod said with no humor in his voice, bending down and fixing Chelsea's shirt. "There you go kiddo."

"Thank you daddy," she said with a smile.

"We will be back in about an hour," Jarod said, turning to Kellie. Kellie nodded, glancing at Miss Parker. "Alright let's go!" Jarod said, lifting Chelsea into his arms. She let out a happy giggle and rapped her arms around his neck.

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

"So where do you work at?" Miss Parker asked, breaking the silence between them in the car. Jarod glanced from the road briefly only to look at her for a split second.

"I'm a lawyer," he replied softly.

"Wow," Miss Parker said in amazement. "Successful?"

"Oh yeah," he said, giving her a brief smile. Miss Parker smiled back, happy that he was actually being nice to her.

"Where are we goin' daddy?" Chelsea said, leaning between them from the
backseat.

"We aren't going anywhere if you don't put that seatbelt of yours on," Jarod said gently, glancing in the rear view mirror. Chelsea briefly glanced behind her and then sat back, clicking the buckle around her small waist. "Thank you honey."

"Your welcome daddy," she said with a smile in her voice. Jarod smiled back at her.

"Well, as for where we are going," Jarod paused and glanced at Miss Parker, "we need to figure out what we need."

"Oh, I need to get more cloths. You can just drop me off somewhere and come pick me up later if you don't..."

"No, I have been a..." he stopped himself, glancing in his rear view mirror at his little girl and then finishing, "a jerk to you lately. I insist that you come with us. Right, Chelsea?"

"Yeah. You can come wit us Miss Parker," Chelsea said from behind. "Daddy, can we take her out for ice cream too?"

Jarod let out a soft chuckle. "Of course. I mean if Miss Parker wants to."

Miss Parker smiled. "I'd love too."

"Great!" Chelsea said, bouncing in her seat twice and then returning her little eyes out the window.

"Great," Jarod repeated, but softer, glancing at Miss Parker briefly.

"Great," Miss Parker said too, only to herself. She glanced out the window to try to hide the smile.

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

They walked through almost every toy store there is, hitting clothes stores for Miss Parker once in a while. Miss Parker held two bags full of clothes, Chelsea held a small bag of toys and Jarod held another small bag of toys for Cian.

"Jarod? Is that you?" an old woman asked, turning from a table at the sidewalk sale. "Oh my! Look at you handsome!" Jarod gave Miss Parker a quick warning look before the woman wrapped her arms around him into a bear hug. "Look at you!" the woman said, leaning back a little to look at him. Her smile wiped away in a split of a second. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, just fine," he muttered, lifting a hand to his aching stomach.

"Good," the woman said staring at him. She glanced down at Chelsea. "Oh my! Is this Chelsea?" Jarod nodded. Before any warning, the woman had Chelsea swooped up in her arms. "I haven't seen her since she was in diapers!" the woman said. She set the frightened child down and stared down at her. "Gosh, she looks so much like her mother." Glancing up at Jarod, she smiled warmly. "But has a lot of her father in her too."

Miss Parker could see the forced smile on Jarod's lips and felt like slapping the woman telling her to 'Bug off! Leave him alone!' But she held her ground, knowing Jarod didn't need the help.

Disclaimer: Okay, all Pretender related stuff is the property of NBC's The Pretender. They are not mine! Although, other characters are mine.

Author's note: This is a [MAJOR] "What if" story so bare with me on this one, okay? I was so tempted to do it, so... I did! I had a lot fun writing it too. So here it is... enjoy!



The woman turned to Miss Parker suddenly, as if realizing she was there for the first time, and smiled... awkwardly.

"And who is this, Jarod?" the woman asked, glancing at Jarod briefly. She returned her small green eyes to Miss Parker. "Girlfriend?"

"No," Jarod said. "Babysitter."

"Babysitter, eh?" the woman said, as if looking her up and down. Miss Parker wanted so much to just slap the woman.

"Well, I have to go. We have a lot more stores..." Jarod began, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Don't be a stranger, okay? Call me once in a while," the woman said, pinching Jarod cheek. "You're a looker! A real fine gentleman!"

Jarod smiled and gave her a fake salute, as she smiled back and Jarod, Miss Parker and Chelsea, who stayed close to her dad in fear, hurried passed the woman before she could say anything more.

"Jeez," was all Chelsea said, looking up at Jarod. Jarod smiled down at her and brushed back her hair with his hand.

"Some woman," Miss Parker said, glancing behind them at her.

"Yeah, that is Mrs. Randolph. She is one of a kind," Jarod said, running his hand through his short dark brown hair nervously.

"Yeah, and if I didn't know any better, I think she wants you," Miss Parker said, jabbing her elbow into his side playfully. Jarod smiled shyly, looking down to the ground. Miss Parker saw the sparkle in his eyes and she almost gasped out loud.

"Yeah, well... she is a little old for me. And besides," he paused, the smile and happiness disappearing from his lips and eyes. "I don't think I'll ever find myself loving another... again."

Miss Parker glanced up from the sidewalk at his face. His eyes met hers and she noticed how quickly he glanced away.

"Well Chels, there is nothing else but crappy stores down there. What do you say we head on out of here?" Jarod asked the little girl, his smile obviously forced.

Chelsea smiled, "Okay daddy! But we to take Miss Parker out for ice cream. We promised her!"

"We did, did we?" Jarod asked with a smile, glancing at Miss Parker briefly.

"Yes we did. And she would be really sad if we didn't," Chelsea finished, glancing at Miss Parker and smiling.

Jarod let out a soft chuckle and lifted Chelsea into his arms. He kissed her softly on her small cheek and whispered, loud enough for Miss Parker to hear, "Or are going to be the one that will be sad?"

"I'll be sad too, but Miss Parker will be if we don't," Chelsea whispered back. Jarod smiled and then set her down.

"Okay kiddo, you win!" Jarod said. Chelsea smiled wide. "Go get in the car, and we will be right there." With that, Chelsea spun around and took off, full speed with bag over her shoulder, towards the red car.

Jarod looked to the ground briefly and then turned to her, "Look, if I offended you in anyway... I'm sorry..." he began.

"How could you have offended me?" she asked gently. He shook his head softly. "Look, you may think I am a stranger to you... but..."

Jarod looked up and waited for her to finish. After a couple seconds... "But?" he asked.

"But... um, it ah, feels like I have known you all my life. I can relate to what you are going through. Loosing a loved one and all."

"Who did you loose?"

"My mother."

"I'm sorry."


"She was a wonderful person."

"If I can ask, how did she die?"

"She was..." it hit her like a ton of bricks. "Oh my god!" Miss Parker said suddenly.

Jarod looked around him nervously. "What?"

"Ah... nothing. Let's just get in the car, Chelsea is probably waiting for us."

Jarod stared at her for a moment and then nodded. "Alright."

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

"She could be alive!" Miss Parker shouted, barging into Sydney and Broots' room. She caught Broots pull up his covers just in time. She smirked at him.

"What?" Sydney asked, looking up from a book he was reading from the near by shelf.

"My mother, Catherine! She could be alive! There is no Centre right? Meaning no one had shot her!"

"Oh my," Broots said, sitting up more.

"Broots! I need you to find her! Now!" she snapped, turning to the balding man on the bed that held his covers to his scrawny chest.

"But M-Miss Parker. I can't without my equipment and..."

"He is right, Parker. He won't be able to do it without the Centre," Sydney calmly explained from the couch.

Miss Parker let out a frustrated huff. "Fine! I'll find her myself... somehow." She left the room with that.

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

"Well, I'm off to see the Wizard," Jarod said, kissing Chelsea and Cian on the cheeks as they sat at the table eating their breakfast. "Be good for them, okay?" Jarod looked up at the three that stood by the counter.

"Okay daddy," Chelsea replied, as Cian nodded.

"Okay," Jarod said with a smile, kissing them one last time. He walked over to the three, but only looked at Miss Parker. "If Cian gets into
the cookies, just send him to his room for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes to him is torture, believe me. And for Chelsea, if she doesn't pick up her toys, no TV." Miss Parker nodded. "And as for you guys," Jarod said, turning to Broots and Sydney, "if I find one thing gone... I won't even hesitate calling the police. Got it?" They both nodded in agreement. "And if I find even a tiny little scratch on one of my kids," he said, turning to Miss Parker, "that you can't explain, I'll call the police as well."

"Of course," Miss Parker replied with a sly smile. Jarod nodded, not returning the smile.

"Oh daddy, Miss Parker won't hurt us," Chelsea said, proof that she was listening. "And Boots and Sadney won't steal nothing either." Jarod turned around to look at her and smiled.

"Just taking boss my dear," he said gently, walking passed her and kissing her on the top of her head. "Now, Kellie will be in and out, so if you have any question to where something goes or how it works... just ask her. And there is a woman's number on the fridge. Her name is Mrs. Smith. She lives down the block from here. If there is any emergencies, call her. Otherwise, be good!" Jarod said, pointing to the three adults as if they were children themselves. They nodded.

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


"And who is this?" Miss Parker asked, holding up a pink pony.

"Oh, that is Pinky, and this is Sparks," Chelsea said looking down at a yellow pony. Miss Parker picked up a green one.

"And this one?"

"Oh, that is Kindra," Chelsea said, the happiness gone from her eyes.

"Kindra? Your mother's name?"

"Yeah. The pony is green, like my mommy's eyes."

"That is beautiful."

"Yeah, that is what my daddy said," the little girl said, staring at the green pony. After a moment of silence, Chelsea looked up at Miss Parker, "Mommy isn't coming home, I know. Grandpa is dead. She went to visit him."

Miss Parker smiled sadly at her and ran her hand through Chelsea's thin
hair gently. "It's going to be okay."

"I know," Chelsea said quietly.

Just then Sydney came in and sat down at the couch.

"All done Syd?" Miss Parker asked, looking up at the old man.

"Well, there was barely anything to do... Everything was clean already!"

Miss Parker smiled at Sydney. "Yeah, Kellie kept it clean," Chelsea said, playing with one of her pony's tail.

"You like horses?" Sydney asked, getting up from the couch and bending on down his haunches to where they sat on the floor in the living room.

"Yes I do Mr. Sadney," Chelsea said quietly, looking down at the green pony in her little hand. Sydney smiled.

"Call me Sydney," he said gently.

"Okay, Sadney," she said with a smile. Sydney smiled wide and looked at Miss Parker briefly before standing up again.

"Where are you going?" Miss Parker asked, watching him walk over the little girl sitting on the floor and making his way to the hallway.

"I am going to try to find Broots. Last time I knew, he was trying to work the vacuum and almost sucked up a rug," the old man chuckled, disappearing in the hallway. Miss Parker smiled, staring off towards where Sydney just disappeared to and then looked down at the little girl again, watching her play with a pony's tail.

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

"Cian," Miss Parker said firmly, coming into the kitchen and seeing the little boy on his tiptoes reaching for a jar on the counter. As soon as he saw her, he stepped away, his little eyes still staring at the cookie jar longingly. Miss Parker smiled, walking over to the child and leaning down on her haunches. "Remember what your daddy said about the cookies?" Miss Parker asked the child gently.

Cian glanced up at the jar and then quickly looked back at Miss Parker, his lip out slightly. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

She smiled warmly. "It's okay, Cian. Just don't do it again. Now, go up and get ready for bed. I'll be up in a minute."

Cian suddenly leaned down and placed a kiss on Miss Parker's cheek, before the small boy scrambled out of the kitchen and up the steps. Still staring off, Miss Parker stayed there for a few seconds in shock. Finally she blinked and smiled, staring off towards the foyer in wonder.

Standing up, she turned and walked into the living room, seeing Chelsea still on the floor with her ponies all around her. As Miss Parker stepped closer, she smiled, seeing the little girl's head bent to the side where it lies on the couch. She was asleep, her mouth hanging open slightly, green pony in one hand and her breath heavy and even.

Stopping in front of her, Miss Parker leaned down and gently lifted the girl into her arms, carrying her towards the foyer. Carefully walking up to the steps, trying not to wake the sleeping child, she made it to the little girl's room. Pulling back the covers, she laid the girl down and covered her up. Miss Parker found herself standing beside the bed for a moment, staring down at her.

Man, how the child looked like her father: long dark eyelashes, dark eyes, and dark hair. She was beautiful... just like her father. Miss Parker blinked a couple times, the thought scaring her more than Mr. Raines would.

Ironic. That's the word for it. Here she stands beside the bed of a little girl that is the child of Jarod. Is this a dream? Or was the other world a dream? No, this can't be reality... can it? The organization that destroyed her completely... destroyed him completely, is gone. But yet, not everything is 'peachy'. He still grieves over the loss of his beloved wife and here she is obsessed over her mother... again. Are they both not meant to be happy and at peace or...?

Shaking her head to clear her mind, she walked out of Chelsea's room, closing the door silently and walking down the hall to Cian's. Opening the door just a crack, she peeked in, smiling at the sight of the little boy trying to pull his pants over his training trousers.

Miss Parker walked into the room and over to Cian, bending down and pulling the dinosaur pajama bottoms over the diaper. Grabbing the top from the floor, Miss Parker carefully helped the little boy put his head through the correct hole, his little arms following.

"There," Miss Parker said, smiling, tugging on the bottom hem of the shirt. "All ready. Did you brush your teethe?"

Cian nodded, clenching his teeth together and folding up his lips to show her.

"Very good," Miss Parker said, after the inspection. "Alright, now, into bed."

Miss Parker watched as the boy climbed onto the bed, the covers also printed with dinosaurs and climbed under the sheets. Miss Parker chuckled, pulling the covers all the way up to his chin and then turning the lamp off on the nightstand.

"All cozy?" she asked. Watching the boy nod, Miss Parker smiled, turning for the door.

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


"That had to be the worst client I had!" Jarod huffed, walking into the house and setting down his briefcase. "Sorry I am so late," he said, looking up at Miss Parker, who stood in the hallway, cup of coffee in hand.

"It's okay," she simply said, glancing briefly down at her mug. "You want coffee?"

"I am on a strict rule not to have coffee at night," he said, smiling, rushing passed her into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he looked around quickly. "Where is um... Green and Broots?"

"Oh, they already gone to bed," she said, gesturing with her hand over her shoulder.

"Oh..." Jarod said, looking a little surprised. Shrugging a little, Jarod bent down into the refrigerator and pulled out a half-eaten cherry pie. "Want some? Mrs. Jones from down the road brought it to me. She is a great cook. Chelsea absolutely loves Cherry."

Miss Parker smiled at him, watching him pull the plastic covering off the pie and then walking over to the cupboard to pull out two plates.

"How did the kids behave?" Jarod asked, setting the plates down and retrieving two forks.

"Great," Miss Parker said, smiling. "They are perfect."

He smiled up at her from cutting the pie into two even slices. "Yeah well, even at their young ages, they are two couple of geniuses."

"Like you," she muttered, unable to hold it back. Jarod's eyes snapped up at her face, and stared for a moment. Miss Parker shifted to one foot nervously, wondering how she let that one slip.

Finally, he looked away, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Miss Parker did the same.

"We never really talked about your background, Miss Parker," Jarod said, stabbing his pie with his fork.

Miss Parker practically choked on a cherry. "There are reasons."

He looked up from his pie at her. "What kinds?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not a criminal or anything. Just... you know bad childhood." He stared at her for a moment, before looking down at his pie again. "And what about you?" she dared to ask, interested in his past. "How was your childhood?"

He simply shrugged. "Rather boring actually. I lived in the country with both parents until I was thirteen. Then my parents got divorced and my mom and I moved here. I grew up in this little town," he said, flashing her a smile.

"Boring? You probably have millions of memories."

He smiled oddly, pushing a cherry around his plate casually. "Yeah. Where we lived before, we had a huge pond in our backyard. My dad and grandpa would always take me fishing on it in the summer."

Miss Parker smiled, watching his face carefully as he spoke, his eyes still down on his plate, playing with the cherry with his fork. From that moment, she realized how gorgeous he was, and that hit her like a kick in the gut. The realization was so powerful that it made her heart beat faster and she felt like listening to him all day.

"Were you popular in school?" she asked, taking a bite of her pie and letting the sweet sensation of the taste fill her mouth as she stared at him.

Jarod chuckled softly, glancing up at her. "In my elementary grades, I was considered a geek. You know, always getting A's. But when I reach high school, I became more popular."

"Didn't try as hard on the grades, huh?" she asked, jokingly.

Jarod smiled warmly. "No, I still got A's, but I used to hide my report card and tell my friends that I got a D here and a B here. I would have given anything to be as stupid as everyone else."

Miss Parker sighed, looking down at her pie. "I heard that one before."

He looked up at her, studying her for a moment. "And what about you, Miss Parker? Were you the ace of your class?"

She lifted her eyebrows, looking up at him. "Well, yeah, I guess. I got all A's, a lot of friends, a lot of boyfriends..."

"I bet," he said, without thinking. She watched as his eyes widened a little and then flashed her a nervous smile. She almost burst into laughter at his face, but held it down. Settling for a friendly smirk instead.

"Yeah, I had this one special guy that I was absolutely head over heels for. He was actually the one that gave me my first kiss." She smiled at the memory and wished the man across the table from her knew what she was talking about. "I loved that boy so much, and I never got to tell him that."

"He probably knows," Jarod said softly. She looked up at him in surprise.

"I hope so," she whispered, staring at him for a moment. Looking down at her half eaten pie, she quickly changed the subject. "So, is your family still around?" she asked.

He sighed. "Yeah, I have family around... somewhere." She smiled. "And you?" he asked.

"Um... I'm not sure," she said, staring down at her pie in thought.

"Not sure?" he asked. "Hmph, that could be bad."

She bit her lower lip and looked up at him, smiling gently. "Yeah."

"Well, Parker, I am beat," he said, getting up and walking his plate to the sink. "I'm going to hit the sack. Good night and nice talking to you."

"Ditto," she said, flashing him a smile. "Oh, and Jarod."

He stopped at the hallway and looked over his shoulder at her. She smiled.

"Sweet dreams. We should do this again sometime."

Disclaimer: Okay, all Pretender related stuff is the property of NBC's The Pretender. They are not mine! Although, other characters are mine.

Author's note: This is a [MAJOR] "What if" story so bare with me on this one, okay? I was so tempted to do it, so... I did! I had a lot fun writing it too. So here it is... enjoy!



He returned the smile. "Yes we should and we shall," he said, before winking at her playfully and disappearing from her sight. She shook her head in amazement, taking another bite of her pie.

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


"Daddy, don't you have to be at work?" Chelsea said, frowning up at her dad as he entered the kitchen.

"Nope, I am taking the day off," he said, smiling down at her. "I don't need to meet with any clients, so I figured, what the hey, I'll spend the day with my kids and..." he paused to glance at each face that sat at the table. "My employees."

"What are we going to do today, daddy?" Chelsea asked, already her eyes glittering in excitement.

"Um..." Jarod began. "We could go swimming down at the beach, go hiking, or bike riding. There is a fair tonight at the edge of town, we could also go there."

"Swimming!" Cian shouted, leaping from his chair and jumping up and down.

Jarod smiled warmly down at his son, before flashing his eyes up at the three adults. "What do you guys say?"

Sydney and Miss Parker exchanged looks, while Broots said for them, "We didn't bring swim suits."

Jarod crooked his eyebrow. "Then go shopping. Mr. Green, you are a good driver, right?"

Sydney blinked once, leaning back in confusion. "Yes, yes I am."

"Good, don't wreck the car," Jarod said, not a scrap of humor in his tone. Tossing him the key, Sydney caught it and looked down at it briefly, before the three stood and turned for the door.

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

"Look what I found Miss Parker!" Chelsea said, holding up a shell.

"Wow!" Miss Parker said, pretending to be surprised. "Can you hear the ocean in it?"

Chelsea held it to her little ear and listened. After a moment, she smiled widely and pulled it from her ear, looking at it. "Yeah! I can! Listen!"

She held it up to Miss Parker. Taking it from her, Miss Parker lifted the shell to her ear. "Yep, I can hear it to. Why don't you go show your dad."

"Okay!" she said, turning and trotting off for the water.

"Never knew you were that great with children, Miss Parker," Sydney said, sitting in the chair beside her. She glanced over at him, ready to snap a rude remark, but stopped. The need to hurt someone's feelings wasn't as great as it used to be.

"Thank you, Syd," she said, smiling slightly. Sydney blinked a couple times in surprise, before smiling as well. "Well, I am going in the water now. Want to come?"

Sydney glanced towards the water and smiled. "Sure, I guess."

Smiling widely at him, Miss Parker began her way towards the water, Sydney at her side. As they reached the shore, Chelsea was wading up to them, the water around her slowing her down.

"Miss Parker! Daddy said I could keep it!" she said, smiling.

Miss Parker returned her happy smile. "Good. You can set it on my chair if you like so you don't loose it."

"Okay!" she said, stepping out of the water and running for the chairs.

Easing their way into the water, they made their way to Jarod, who was teaching Cian how to float.

"No, no... relax," Jarod said softly, holding the boy just out of water, one hand behind the boy's head, the other on his bottom. Cian's little body relaxed a bit, tilting his head back more like his father instructed. "Good," Jarod said, flashing a smile towards Miss Parker and Sydney as they approached.

"How's he doing?" Miss Parker asked, looking down at Cian, who stared up at her from the water.

"He is a fast learner," Jarod said, smiling down at Cian, who smiled back. "I'm going to let go now, okay?"

The smile vanished from the boy's lips. "No."

"It's okay, Cian. You will float," Miss Parker said, smiling. "Just keep your head back and relax."

"No float," Cian said. "Can't float."

"Cian," Jarod said softly, lifting both hands out of the water and waving them over his son's view.

As soon as Cian realized what was happening, he lifted his head up in surprise and... sunk. Jarod quickly splashed his hands down and pulled up the coughing boy.

Coughing over and over from the water, Cian wrapped his arms tightly around his father's neck, recovering from the dive. Jarod stared at him with worried eyes, waiting for his child to stop coughing.

"You okay, Cian?" Jarod asked. "I'm sorry, daddy didn't mean to scare you."

Everyone prepared themselves for an outburst of tears, but instead, Cian smiled widely. "Floated! I floated!"

Jarod chuckled, kissing the child on his cheek. "Yes you did, Cian."

Miss Parker and Sydney laughed softly, staring at the happy boy that still clung to his father.

Glancing for the shore, Miss Parker spotted Broots holding a shell to his ear and Chelsea standing beside him. Finally, he arrived.

After a moment, Chelsea took off for the water, diving head first into the waves and swimming as fast as her little arms would allow to her
father, brother, Miss Parker and Sydney. Broots followed her, only inching his way into the cool water, instead of diving.

As Broots reached them, he whispered sadly in Miss Parker's ear, " I went to the library and I couldn't find anything on your mother."

Miss Parker frowned, swallowed and then looked over at him. "It's okay. We will find her." Broots blinked twice in surprise, before nodding.

"Cian, you want to see my shell?" Chelsea asked. Cian loosened his grip around his father's neck and bobbed his head up in down. He released his death grip completely and splashed into the water, both children swimming towards the shore. Jarod smiled slightly, staring off as his kids made it to the shore.

"Your children are wonderful," Sydney said, turning from the shore to look at Jarod. Jarod snapped his eyes over at the older man and nodded.

"Yeah," he said softly. "They are."

Sydney stared at him for a long moment; studying the man he watched grow up. Well, in the other world he did. To this Jarod, Sydney was a complete stranger and that made his heart heavy. Seeing the pain flash in this man's eyes as he watches his children from afar made the urge to pull him into an embrace stronger than ever. Hell, no matter what world, Jarod is always in pain.

"Miss Parker, Broots, could you please go get a bottle of water for me?" Sydney asked, looking over at the other two. Both stared at him for a long moment before turning for the shore. Sydney turned back to Jarod.
"Look, I used to be a psychiatrist and if you want to talk about your loss..."

"Used to be," Jarod stated, looking away from the shore to the older man. He lifted both arms and wrapped them around his stomach, his face following in pain. "I don't need your 'help', Mr. Green. Especially a stranger's."

"But I am not a stranger!" Sydney burst out.

"I've only known you for a week. Not even a week! And you think I want to listen to you tell me what I should..."

"Please, Jarod. It will help..."

"Jarod?" Jarod spat out. "Mr. Gene."

"Mr. Gene," Sydney corrected. "Look, you may not believe this, but I can help you. This is not healthy for you to..."

"You don't know me! How can you tell me what's good for me or not!" Jarod shouted angrily at him, stepping back and turning for the shore.

"Please, just one night. Talk to me, tell me what bothers you the most. You have to talk about it! Get it out! It will help a great deal!"

Jarod looked over his shoulder and scowled at the man. "Like I said before... I don't need your 'help'."

"You used to," Sydney said softly, staring off sadly towards Jarod as he made his way to the shore.

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

"Daddy, Cian won't get out of the tub," Chelsea said, entering the kitchen, her hair still dripping from her bath, making a wet ring around the neck of her shirt.

"Alright," Jarod said softly, holding his stomach, walking past her and making his way up the stairs.

Miss Parker smiled at Chelsea and motioned for her to come over. Skipping over to her, Miss Parker pulled her onto her lap and began to
pull her damp hair back.

"What's wrong wit daddy?" Chelsea suddenly asked. Miss Parker flinched at the question.

"He just has a lot on his mind, that's all. Don't worry, he will be okay," she said, ringing Chelsea's hair out, the access water falling into the towel Miss Parker grabbed from the floor.

"Is Sadney and Boots going to come wit us to the fair?" Chelsea asked, fiddling with a string that hung from her tiny white T-shirt.

"I don't think so," Miss Parker said softly, watching Sydney enter the kitchen. She watched as he forced a smile, staring down at the little girl.

"Hello Sadney," Chelsea said, smiling.

"Hello."

"Are you going to come wit us to the fair? It is going to be fun!"

Sydney's smile faded a notch, looking briefly down at the floor. "I don't think so. You guys will have fun without me."

Chelsea frowned. "No we won't. More the merrier."

Sydney chuckled, looking up at the little girl again. "You get your intelligence from your father, don't you?" Chelsea smiled widely.

"Alright, Chelsea, Miss Parker, you ready?" Jarod asked, coming down the steps with a fully clothed Cian on his hip. Both nodded. "Alright, grab your coats."

Walking passed Sydney, Jarod made sure not to look at him, and Sydney noticed. Looking down to the floor sadly, Sydney stood silently as the four walked out.

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

"Cotton candy!" Cian shouted, running up to one of the stands.

"Alright, Cian, but don't eat all at one time again," Jarod said, pulling out a dollar. "You get sick easily."

Cian grabbed the bag in excitement and fiddled with the tie, trying to get it open. Smiling, Miss Parker took the bag from him and opened it. He flashed her a smile and pulled a wad of cotton candy out of the bag, lifting it up for Miss Parker.

"Why thank you Cian," she said, taking the candy from him and taking small bites from the wad.

"Welcome," he muttered, walking ahead with Chelsea.

"Can we go on the octopus, daddy!" Chelsea said excitingly.

Jarod nodded. "You guys go ahead, I'll wait here."

Miss Parker looked over at him. "Are you alright?"

Jarod looked over at her. "It's bad for my stomach."

"Are you sick, daddy?" Chelsea asked.

He forced a smile. "Go onto the ride, baby. I will wait here, okay?"

Chelsea nodded, pulling Cian towards the ride, the little boy clutching his bag of cotton candy.

"Don't drop that bag, Cian!" Jarod called after them, watching them give the man a ticket and climb aboard. Wincing in pain, Jarod brought a hand to his stomach. Miss Parker noticed his action and looked up at his face. He was suddenly pale, his eyes looking in pain.

"What is wrong?" Miss Parker asked, concern showing heavily in her voice.

Jarod flashed her a smile, obviously forced. "I'm okay. Don't worry."

"You have an ulcer, don't you?"

Jarod flashed her a look of surprise, staring at her for a moment. The intensity rose between them until Jarod looked away when he was being called.

"Daddy!" Chelsea giggled, waving to him from her seat high above the ride. He forced a happy smile and waved to her, Miss Parker turning and smiling up at her as well.

They watched as the ride moved, diving up, down, and side to side. Miss Parker glanced over at Jarod now and then, noting his expressions. He was smiling, but only for when his children glanced over at him, and his eyes still showed his pain.

As the ride ended, both children wobbled over to them, a little dazed by all the spinning.

"That was fun!" Chelsea cheered.

"Again!" Cian shouted.

"Maybe later," Jarod said, grabbing Cian's hand.

They walked all over the place, stopping for the kids to play a game or ride a ride. Every now and then, Jarod would take a shot at a game, but he refused to ride any rides, and Miss Parker knew why.

By nine o'clock, Jarod had won a huge frog for Chelsea, a dinosaur for Cian and a brown, stuffed bear for Miss Parker that had a little leather coat on and sunglasses.

"Can we go on the doubled Ferris wheel!" Chelsea said, pointing up to the tall thing. Jarod looked up towards the top and groaned.

"I don't know, Chels."

Come on daddy! Miss Parker hasn't ridden anything! She wants you to ride with her!" Chelsea said, looking over at Miss Parker.

"I do?" she asked, smiling down at the little girl. Chelsea bobbed her head up and down. Miss Parker simply shrugged, looking over at Jarod.

Sighing, he shook his head. "Fine," Jarod said, softly.

Chelsea cheered, jumping up and down. Grabbing her father's hand she pulled him over towards the ride, Miss Parker and Cian following.

After giving the man their tickets, Chelsea handed the huge frog over to Jarod, not wanting to drop it and her and Cian climbed abroad.
Waiting for the next lift, Miss Parker and Jarod handed over their tickets and climbed into the seats as well.

Miss Parker noticed how Jarod clutched the stuffed frog tightly, staring down as the seats got higher and higher from the ground.

"I hate heights," he muttered. Miss Parker smiled over at him. Finally,

Jarod had a human trait.

"Just don't look down," Miss Parker said, humor in her tone.

"You don't know how many times I heard that one," he said smiling, looking over at her. Miss Parker returned the smile.

Silence broke through, both concentrating on the ride and not loosing their stomachs. Finally Jarod spoke again.

"I don't know how I survived this. We would go every year with..." Jarod trailed off.

"Kindra?" Miss Parker finished.

Disclaimer: Okay, all Pretender related stuff is the property of NBC's The Pretender. They are not mine! Although, other characters are mine.

Author's note: This is a [MAJOR] "What if" story so bare with me on this one, okay? I was so tempted to do it, so... I did! I had a lot fun writing it too. So here it is... enjoy!



"She dragged me on every ride," Jarod said softly, staring down. Briefly closing his eyes, he swallowed. "I don't know how I survived them all," he whispered.

"Because it was before your ulcer," Miss Parker said, staring down as well. He snapped his attention to her face, his eyes seeming to darken. "I don't have a..." but the shooting pain in his stomach cut his sentence short.

"You do, Jarod," Miss Parker said, staring at him in worry. "Why deny it?"

"You have no idea what you are talking about," Jarod whispered, his voice low and dangerously ragged. Miss Parker blinked in surprise. Luckily, the ride ended there, and Miss Parker scrambled out of the seat and caught up with the two children, Jarod following behind her slowly, holding his stomach.

"Can I get a hot dog?" Chelsea asked, taking her frog from her dad.

"Me too!" Cian said.

"Alright," Jarod said, nodding and forcing a smile.

Walking up to the hot dog stand, Jarod pulled out his money. Glancing over at Miss Parker, he opened his mouth to ask her if she wanted one, when he stopped. Her face was pale, her eyes staring over his shoulder at someone.

"Parker?" Jarod asked, looking over his shoulder at the person behind the hotdog stand. She had short brown hair, blue eyes and a lollipop stick hanging out of her mouth.

"Brigitte!" Miss Parker snapped. The woman looked over at Miss Parker
suddenly, staring at her for a moment.

Shifting her hot dog hat on her head, she asked, "Do I know you?"Staring for a long moment, Miss Parker shook her head, smiling at the sight of Brigitte with a ridiculous hat on and a striped yellow, red and green shirt on. "Sorry, my mistake," Miss Parker said.

"How did you know my name?" the woman asked, taking the sucker out of her mouth.

"It is on your name tag," Miss Parker snapped. Brigitte looked down at the nametag on her breast pocket.

"Oh," she said simply, shrugging. "What will it be, love?" Brigitte asked Jarod. Just then, Miss Parker burst into laughter, and Jarod
looked over his shoulder at her in surprise.

"Parker?" he asked. She shook her head, trying to stop laughing, but it was too hard. She lifted her hand up in the air, gesturing for him to go ahead and order. He shook his head and turned back to the woman, asking for two hot dogs.

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

"Are you serious?" Broots asked, smiling up at her. Miss Parker nodded, smiling widely at the memory. Broots laughed, shaking his head. "Boy, I wish I could have seen that!"

Miss Parker nodded, smiling still. "Just had to be there." Sitting down on the bed, she looked around the room. "Hey, where is Sydney?"

"Oh, last time I knew he was in the kitchen doing the dishes," Broots said, turning off the TV. "Don't know where he is now."

Miss Parker nodded, leaving the room quietly.

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

"Knock, knock," Sydney said, peeking into the room. Jarod looked up from his closet at his visitor.

"What is it?" Jarod asked, not too politely. He picked up a coat by its hanger from the bed and hung it up in the closet.

"What are you doing?" Sydney asked, trying to make conversation and try to ease the tension. Jarod flashed him a look that made Sydney cringe.

"Cleaning the closet," Jarod snapped, sticking his head into the closet and reaching for a couple of shoeboxes.

Sydney nodded. "Mind if you stopped for a moment so we can talk?"

Jarod stopped suddenly and looked over at him, staring at him with no expression. "I stopped."

"I mean, sit down and..."

"Why not bring out the long leather couch too," Jarod said sarcastically.

Sydney huffed in frustration. "Why don't you like me, Jarod?" Jarod clenched his jaw tightly together, staring at the older man from across the room. "All I want is a chance."

Briefly closing his eyes, Jarod set the boxes down on the floor, coming to sit down on the bed. "I'm sitting."

Sydney walked across the room and sat on the opposite side of the bed. "Do you want to talk about this?"

"Oh and you ask me now," Jarod said, crossing his arms. Sydney inhaled sharply. "Start talking doc," Jarod snapped.

Sydney forced a smile. "Tell me about your wife."

"We're done," Jarod snapped, getting up from the bed, feeling the first stab of pain. "Thanks for the talk doc, I'll think of it night and day."

"I know it's hard, but it is the only way to get over..."

"Would if I don't want to get over her?" Jarod asked, staring deeply into the older man. His stomach took a dive.

"You can not obsess over a dead woman like this..."

"Don't talk about her like that!" Jarod shouted.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Get out of here. Now!" Jarod whispered, pointing towards the door. The
pain was over whelming now.

"Jarod..."

"NOW!" Jarod demanded.

Sydney got up, leaving the room quickly. As soon as he was out of sight, Jarod collapsed onto the bed, whimpering in pain. His stomach ached like he just had been stabbed, and it seemed to be increasing by the second. Wobbling to the bathroom, Jarod reached up from the cupboard with the mirrored door. But when a huge shot of pain zapped through his body, Jarod pulled his arm back down, coming to wrap around his stomach with the other. Clenching his teeth together, waiting for the pain to subside, he leaned over the sink.

"Oh, god," he whimpered. Suddenly, he began coughing, every cough torture to his stomach. As he coughed up blood, he frantically reached for the cupboard, pulling out his medication.

Turning the faucet on, he washed down the blood in the sink and took a cup from the cupboard, swallowing the pill quickly. Sinking to his knees, his arms folded onto the sink, he wept, the pain still there, but decreasing.

Turning the faucet on again to muffle out his crying, he sat there on the tiled floor and cried, praying to whatever or whoever that controlled his life. Praying that he would live long enough to see his children grow up and marry. And to see his grandchildren grow up too. He never wanted to leave them like she did. Never betray them.

That thought increased the pain and tears, and he curled up into a fatal position on the cold floor.

"I love you so much," he whispered. "Why did you leave me? Why?" he whimpered, hugging his aching stomach tightly. "You never even said good-bye."

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

"Chelsea, get to bed," Miss Parker said, coming up the stair to see the little girl sitting on the floor by her father's room. She got up quickly and dashed down the hall. Miss Parker following, she entered the little girl's room, walking over to her bed and helping her into the covers.

"Miss Parker, daddy was crying," she said softly.

Miss Parker furrowed her brow. "He was?"

"Yeah and he was saying, 'I love you. Why did you leave me?'"

Miss Parker looked away and stared off into thought for a moment, before tucking the little girl in and turning off the light. "Good night, Chels."

"Miss Parker?" the little girl called. Miss Parker looked over her shoulder at her. "Tell daddy that I won't ever leave him."

Miss Parker smiled weakly, staring at the little girl in the dim light, holding back the tears. Unable to speak, she nodded and left the room, making her way down the hall to Jarod's room. Peeking into the huge room, she looked around. She didn't see him.

Walking inside, she walked quickly across the room to his bathroom, where inside she heard running water. Placing her hand on the doorknob she opened the door a crack. Inside, she saw Jarod, his back to her, but she could see his face in the reflection of the mirror. His head was down, eyes closed and tears stains on his cheeks. He looked paler than ever and seemed on the thresh hold of passing out. Miss Parker's heart ached, staring at his appearance.

Suddenly, his attention flashed up into the mirror, seeing her in the reflection over his shoulder. Quickly looking away to hide his tears, he muttered hoarsely, "Get out of here, Parker."

"You don't need to be a lone right now," she said softly, pushing the door open more to move inside.

"Please Parker, just leave," he said, the tears threatening his eyes again. The pain in his stomach increased again. "Damn," he whimpered.

Jarod?" Miss Parker asked, coming up behind him and placing a hand on his bare shoulder. He had his tank top on, with his pajama pants, loosely tied at the waist.

"I'm fine," he snapped, ripping his shoulder from under her touch.

"No you are not. You have an ulcer. A bad one."

"No I..."

"Don't Jarod," she snapped, turning him towards her. "I had one too. I know how it is." She forced his eyes to look at her, cupping the sides of his face. "It's a scary thing, but don't try to deny it."

"I don't want other's sympathy. I got too much when..." His brow furrowed, and more tears ran down his cheeks.

Miss Parker pressed her lips gently on his cheek, brushing the tears away with her lower lip. "It's okay to cry." She pulled him into an embrace, his face resting in the crook of her neck. "Everything is going to work out, Jarod."

Pushing her away, he wiped at his tears. "How are you so sure?" he asked, his tone bitter. "How are you so..."

"Because!" Miss Parker said, holding his face in her hands again.
"Because I know." She stared into his eyes, baby brown's sparkling with unshed tears. He was so beautiful. Miss Parker, still cupping the sides of his face, leaned closer to him and pressed her lip onto his. He flinched, tried to pull away, but she still held him.

After the passionate moment of their lips' embrace, Jarod pushed away, wobbling backwards and fell to his knees. There he placed his face in his hands and wept, his tears quaking his body roughly. Miss Parker, heart brokenly, bent down on her knees, pulling him into a hug and held him, feeling his body quake with emotions against her.

"Shh," she hushed, running her hand through his hair. "It's going to be okay. I know it. Everything is going to work out." She kissed the top of his head softly. "It has to."

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


"Miss Parker?" Broots whispered, tiptoeing into her room.

Fluttering her eyes open, she flashed a dangerous look over at Broots. Glancing over at the clock, she noted how early it was.

"It is six in the morning, this better be good," she said, sitting up.

"Oh, yeah it is very good. I ah, found something out on your mother."

Miss Parker's eyes flashed with excitement. "And?"

Broots smiled, handing her a newspaper article. "I found this in the library this morning."

She read: Local Fundraiser Saves Money for Homeless. Reading threw the article quickly, she spotted the name: Catherine Parker. Reading about how her mother's fundraiser saved the lives of many homeless people, she smiled.

Frowning suddenly, Miss Parker says, "But how are we going to find out where she is?"

"Well, this is proof that she is alive and that she is somewhere in this town, because it says 'Local.'"

Miss Parker nods. "Keep working," she said, handing the newspaper over to Broots again. Turning, Broots walked towards the door. "Oh and Broots?" He stopped to look over his shoulder at her. "Thank you." Smiling, he left the room.

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

"Daddy?" Chelsea said, knocking on the door. "Daddy, are you going to work today?"

Miss Parker walked down the hall, noticing Chelsea standing outside her father's door. "What is it, Chelsea?"

"Daddy won't answer the door," the child frowned. The memory of what had happened the night before flashed in Miss Parker's mind, and she quickly reached for the doorknob and noted it was locked.

"Stand back Chelsea," Miss Parker instructed. When Chelsea was out of the way, Miss Parker stepped back and gave the door one solid kick, the door smashing inward.

"Cool!" Chelsea said, looking up at Miss Parker in amazement, but she was ignored when Miss Parker walked passed her into the bedroom.

Seeing Jarod still lying in bed, his back facing her, made her heart leap. She hurried over to the bed.

"Chelsea, go get Sydney," Miss Parker said, looking over at the little girl. Chelsea hurried away to do her task. Miss Parker looked down at Jarod, noting the paleness. Panic beginning to build inside her, she reached down and began to shake him. He was burning at the touch and he wouldn't wake up. Shaking harder, she began to call his name. "Jarod! Jarod, wake up!"

The only response was a weak whimper. "Jarod, wake up, please!"

"What is it, Miss...?" Sydney began, but trailed off at the sight of Miss Parker's fear stricken face as she shook Jarod. Trotting around the bed, Sydney leaned over Jarod, surveying him closely.

"What is wrong with daddy?" Chelsea asked from the doorway, her eyes burning with fear.

"It's okay, Chelsea. Go to your room and play," Miss Parker said to her, forcing her voice to be normal, but had no luck.

"But...?" Chelsea began.

"Go!" Miss Parker shouted at her, panic rising as Sydney tried to wake Jarod by shaking him.

Chelsea stepped back in surprise, standing there for a second, before bursting into tears and running down the hall to her room. Miss Parker trotted across the room, shutting the door. Quickly picking up the phone on the nightstand she dialed 911.

"Jarod, wake up!" Sydney shouted. He lifted the younger man's eyelids, checking his eyes. "He is very pale and he is burning hot," Sydney said, more to himself than to Miss Parker.

"Yes, please we need help," Miss Parker said into the phone, panic in her voice. Taking a moment to calm herself, she began to explain to the woman what had happened. "Yes, he has a history of ulcers."

At that, Sydney snapped his attention up to Miss Parker, who nodded at him. Swallowing hard, he looked down at the pale face of Jarod.

"Damn," Sydney muttered under his breath. It's worse than he had thought.

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


"BP 70 over 40 and falling. Pupils are dilated," one of the nurses said, pushing the stretcher down the hospital hallway. Miss Parker glanced back at Sydney, who stared down at Jarod's form worriedly. "Prepare OR for surgery."

Stopping at the doors, Miss Parker and Sydney watched them wheel Jarod into the emergency room. Sydney reached out and grabbed the doctor's arm, pulling her over to him.

"What is his condition doctor?" Sydney asked.

The doctor took a brief glance towards the doors to the emergency room. "He has a perforated ulcer, causing massive internal bleeding. It is too early to tell if he will be all right or not. Excuse me."

Quickly, she walked away, closing the doors behind her. Miss Parker stared off towards the doors, before looking over at Sydney's worried face. "He'll be fine, Sydney."

He looked over at her, his eyes unreadable. "This should be what you wanted."

Miss Parker's brow furrowed. "Excuse me?"

"Jarod, the one you blame for giving you an ulcer, is dying from one!"

Miss Parker stared at him in disbelief. "I know you are upset Sydney, but that is no reason to..."

"Don't say anything," Sydney said, turning and storming down to the lounge. Miss Parker stared off towards him in worry, briefly looking down to the ground.

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

"How is he, Miss Parker?" Broots asked, walking up to them. Miss Parker glanced back at him.

"He is going into surgery now," she said softly. "Who is watching the kids?"

"I called the lady, Mrs. Smith, whose number was on the fridge," Broots muttered, sitting down beside her in the hall. "Where is Sydney?"

Miss Parker inhaled sharply, shaking her head. "Last time I knew, he went down to the lounge. Broots nodded, then looked down at his watch.

"When is Jarod going to be out of surgery?" Miss Parker shook her head, while she stared off into thought, her brow furrowed.

Looking down to the floor briefly, Broots swallowed. "He, ah, he's going to be okay, M-Miss Parker. He's a fighter."

"That was the 'other' Jarod we knew. Would if this one..." she began, but trailed off when her voice cracked. Swallowing back the tears, she covered her face with her hand. Broots slowly lifted a hand to her shoulder, gently patting it.

"It's going to be okay. No matter what Jarod we knew or know, he'll make it through."

Miss Parker looked over at him, and stared for a moment, before nodding and smiling weakly. "Of course he will, Broots," she said softly. "Of course he will."

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

"Is he out of surgery?" Sydney asked, walking up to the two. Sydney shook his head in sadness after they both muttered a reply. "He has been in there forever!"

Sighing, Miss Parker got up from her seat, glancing down at her watch, and began to pace. Sydney, taking her seat, sat down beside Broots, staring down at the tiled floor.

Broots briefly looked over at Sydney and leaned over, whispering, "Miss Parker is really worried. I never seen her so worked up over Jarod."

Sydney glanced over at him, staring for a moment. "She cares, Broots," he simply said, glancing up at the pacing form of Miss Parker. Broots blinked twice, looking away from Sydney to Miss Parker.

Suddenly, the doctor appeared from the door across the hall, coming to walk up to them. Broots and Sydney leaped to their feet, coming to stand in beside Miss Parker.

"Jarod is still out of it from surgery," the doctor said, looking down at her chart she carried. "But, he should be just fine."

"Should be?" Sydney asked, worried.

"He lost a lot of blood from the ulcer and surgery, therefore, he may be very weak for a while. You may go in and see him now," she said, walking away.

All three entered the room, taking in the machines and tubes around him. Sydney took in a shaky breath, walking over to Jarod's side and sitting down in the chair. As if lifted Jarod's lifeless hand into his, long dark eyelashes began to flutter open.

"Sydney...?" Jarod whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Yeah, I'm here," Sydney replied with a gentle smile.

Confusion flashed into Jarod's brown eyes as he stared up at the older man, who held his hand gently. "Why are you..."

"I want to be your friend, Mr. Gene," Sydney replied, giving Jarod's hand a gentle squeeze.

Jarod stared at him for a long moment, then smiled weakly. "Call me Jarod."

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


"I called Mrs. Smith about fifteen minutes ago. She and the kids should be here at anytime," Broots said, entering the hospital room.

Jarod smiled at him. "Thank you."

"How are you feeling?" Sydney asked, adjusting his blanket.

"Fine, Sydney. A little weak, but fine. Thank you," Jarod replied, closing his eyes briefly. Sydney smiled, glancing over at Miss Parker. Miss Parker smiled in return, noting the happy glitter in the older eyes.

"Daddy!" a small voice said from the doorway.

"Oh, Chelsea!" Jarod said with a smile, watching his little girl run up and stand on her tiptoes to hug her father in the bed.

"You okay, daddy?" Chelsea asked.

"I'm fine, Chels. Where is Cian?" Jarod asked.

"Mrs. Smith and him are coming," Chelsea answered, looking over towards the door of the hospital room.

"Here we are," said the woman, leading Cian in by the hand into the room.


Miss Parker looked away from Jarod and Chelsea to the new visitors, her eyes widening suddenly.

"Oh my god!" Miss Parker spat out, looking at the woman in surprise.

Looking over towards her, Catherine's eyes widened as well.

"Angel?" she asked.

"Mom!" Miss Parker said happily, running across the room and wrapping her arms around her mother tightly.

"Oh my god," her mother whispered into her hair as she hugged her. "I haven't seen you since your father and I got divorced!"

At that, Miss Parker hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, baby," Catherine said, smiling. "I love you."

Miss Parker smiled, not wanting to let her go. "I love you too."

"Isn't this ironic?" Jarod said happily, flashing Sydney a smile.

Like a dream," Broots muttered, staring at the scene with a gentle smile on his lips.

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


"Dream... happiness...dream," Angelo muttered, his eyes fluttering open.
"Chelsea... Cian... dream... Gene... dream."

"What is wrong with Cracker Boy?" Miss Parker snapped, walking down the steps and coming up to Sydney.

"He has been muttering these things for a while now," Sydney said, looking down to his watch. "Can't figure it out."

"Maybe he had a nightmare," Miss Parker said, crossing her arms as she stared down at Angelo curled up on the floor.

"Or a dream," Sydney muttered, hearing Angelo mutter the word again. Turning from the scene, Sydney looked at her carefully. "Any leads or news from Jarod?"

"Nope, Broots still hasn't found anything on Wonder Boy," Miss Parker said, turning and starting to walk away, Sydney at her side. "We only found out that he was in a small town up North helping a woman recover from a car accident where she collided into a semi. That's our Jarod for you."

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

The End...