Emily sat up in bed, gasping. Realizing she was still in her cell at the Centre, she laid back down, her hair sticking to her sweaty forehead. "It was just a dream." She whispered to herself, a kind of mantra. But it seemed so real. She wished Kyle were still here to tell. He had always comforted her after nightmares. But Kyle was dead; Rainse had told her as much. If only she believed that. She had a feeling that Rainse was either lying or mistaken, and judging on the whole deal with Skylar, she was guessing it was the former. She smiled, remembering Skylar. Her brother. Her twin. But they had found out their connection and Rainse had not allowed that. So he took Skylar away, and told her and Kyle that he was dead. But recently, she had hacked into the Centre files and had learned that they had put him up for adoption and he was still very much alive. That gave her some comfort. If she couldn't be happy, at least he could. Sighing she rolled over, so her back was to the camera that she knew was there. She had sims to do in the morning, and she wasn't looking forward to it. But with Kyle and Skylar gone, Timmy now Angelo, and Michel dead, she had to do all the sims herself. Closing her eyes, she fell into a restless sleep.

Long after the others had gone to bed Kyle sat up, just thinking. He wondered if should tell Bobby and Vanessa about their twin sister and brother. He was the only one that knew about the two, and he wondered if they were ready to hear it. If they were, was he ready to come face- to-face with his past? He knew Emily would probably hate the news that he had of who her father was, especially knowing that he had put her in that position, knowing full well what was to happen to her and her brother. He also knew that Vanessa's small ounce of trust in her father would once again grow smaller. Closing his eyes, he pictured Emily's smiling face. His breath caught in his throat. She was so beautiful. He knew if he did nothing, that Rainse would eventually destroy her. He couldn't let that happen. She was to important to him. He would tell the others in the morning and they would come up with a plan to get her out of there.

The next morning, he was still in the same place when the three others walked into the room. Miss Parker's fiancée Thomas was with them. Thomas had just recently been informed about the goings on at the Centre. He knew they had to be told.

"Kyle! What are you doing out here, did you even go to bed last night?" Jarod asked, looking surprised.

"I'm fine. But there's something I need to tell you four, Bobby and Vanessa especially." Kyle said, still deep in thought.

"Kyle, what is it? What's wrong?" Vanessa asked, sensing that something was wrong.

"Well, do you guys remember how there were nine Red Files?" he asked.

"Yeah, but we only know the identities of five of them." Jarod replied.

"Well what if I told you I could tell you three more?"

"Can you?" Jarod asked excitedly.

"Yes. One was a boy named Michel, but he died a couple years after I arrived. Then there was a set of twins, um, their names were Emily and Skylar. Skylar was let go, as soon as he and Emily discovered they were twins. Emily though, is still there, Rainse's only working Pretender." Kyle said, the last part softly.

"And… you're leaving something out, I can tell." Vanessa said imploringly.

"Well, Emily and Skylar were put there deliberately by their father, and well, they're you and Bobby's brother and sister." Kyle told her, looking her right in the eye.

"What!!?" Bobby and Vanessa exploded at the same time.

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

Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

After explaining to the Parker twins everything about the other set of twins, the group had fallen into a stony silence. Suddenly though Bobby spoke up,

"Kyle, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?" Kyle asked tiredly.

"Well, whenever you would say Emily's name something in your voice would change." Bobby stated.

"I noticed it too." Vanessa said from her place in Thomas' lap.

"Okay, you're gonna figure it out sooner or later, so I'll just tell you now. I'm in love with her, okay." Kyle said, blushing a little.

"Aww, my wittle brother is in love. How sweet." Jarod said in a baby voice, laughing.

Not even bothering to respond, Kyle just threw a pillow at him.

"You know there is something bothering me about this," Jarod said seriously.

"You mean besides the whole thing?" Thomas asked.

"I mean what are the chances of our sister and their sister having the same name?" Jarod asked Kyle.

"Well, I figure one is named after the other, but since I don't know the exact age of either of them, I can't be sure who is named after who." Kyle said.

"Well, my thought is that we think about this later. Right now we should work on getting Emily out of there." Bobby said.

"I agree, I mean she is our sister," Vanessa said, her comment directed to Bobby.

"So I guess, we better start. This won't be easy." Kyle said.

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


"Is this you're final answer Emily?" Rainse asked, after Emily had finished her latest sim.

"Yes," she replied sounding bored.

"Okay you may return to your room then." He said dismissing her, with a wave of his hand.

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

Later that night, Emily woke to the sound of tapping in the air vents near the ceiling of her cell. Looking up, she saw Angelo's face staring down at her.

"Wait a second Angelo, let me get it open." She called up to him, starting towards the vent.

As she opened the vent and Angelo crawled out, she noticed someone peering out from behind him.

"Angelo, who's in there with you?" she asked, suddenly a little afraid.

But as Angelo moved to the side, she had a clear view of who was behind him. And what she saw shocked her.

"KYLE!" she practically screamed.

Clamping his hand over her mouth he whispered to her, "Sshh, I've come to rescue you if you be quiet. Now your brother and sister are waiting for me to get you out of here so you can meet them."

"Skylar?" she asked.

"No. Your other brother and sister. We'll find Skylar later, I promise." Kyle said, pulling her into his embrace. She stood there for a moment before pulling away.

"Let's get out of here."she said, with a silly sort of grin on her face.

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

After escaping the Centre, they drove until they reached a two-story stone house. As she was about to get out of the car, Kyle grabbed her arm.

"Wait, Emily. There's something you need to know before you go in there."

"What is it?" she asked sensing it was important.

"Well, you know Miss Parker and Mr.Lyle from the Centre?" at her nod, he continued, "well, they're your brother and sister."

"WHAT!!"


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

Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

After explaining that her brother and sister were on their side, Kyle and Emily continued into the house.

As he opened the front door, Kyle called inside,

"Hey, you guys, we're here."

There was a sudden pounding of feet on the stairs. It stopped when it reached the door. As it became silent again, Emily peered around the door. There staring back her were four faces. She recognized the woman as Miss Parker and the man on her right as Mr. Lyle or Bobby, as Kyle had told her. Behind Bobby was a dark-haired man she recognized as Kyle's brother, Jarod. And on the left of Miss Parker, well Vanessa, as she had been told, was a man she did not recognize. She realized that he was her sister's fiancé, Thomas.

All of a sudden, Vanessa moved toward her and enveloped her in a hug. Bobby came up behind her, as if waiting for his turn. He then, approached his sisters, and pulled the two into his arms. The others hung back as if realizing the siblings needed this time together. Quietly they left the room unnoticed.

The first to move out of the three- way hug was Bobby. But he didn't move far. It was as if he moved to far, he would lose his sister again. And he would die before he let that happen.

"Vanessa, it's good to see you too, but I do need to breathe," Emily said laughing.

At the mention of her given name, Vanessa and Bobby both realized that Kyle had explained everything to their sister, whom they had just met. They looked at her taking in her form. She was definitely petite, only about five feet, three inches. She had waist-length blond hair and crystal blue eyes. She was beautiful. She obviously didn't take after their mother, as she looked more like Bobby than Vanessa.

"Skylar looks more like our mother than I do,"she said, as if reading their minds.

They both had the decency to blush, knowing they had been caught.

"Ugh, sorry, it's just that you're our sister, and we've just met you for the first time. Ever." Bobby explained.

"I know what you mean," she said softly.

Moving to the couch the three sat down, telling their life stories, eager to get to know their new sibling, or siblings, in Emily's case. They even got around to how they would attempt to find Skylar. As the minuets became hours, the three completely forgot about the others. Good thing the three had fallen asleep around two in the morning, as the newly reunited siblings got to know each other like brothers and sisters should.

The next morning, Emily woke to find herself in a strange place. But as the previous night's activities came back to her she realized she had fallen asleep with her head resting on Bobby's shoulder, and his arm wrapped protectively around her waist. Her hand was clasping Vanessa's, who was on the other side of Bobby. Both were still sleeping peacefully, and she had neither the heart nor courage to wake them. Getting up carefully and quietly, as to prevent waking her new siblings, Emily crept to the kitchen. She was surprised to see that Thomas, Kyle, and Jarod were sitting there, drinking coffee, and talking. It took them a moment to realize that she was watching them. When he saw who she was, Kyle smiled at her.

Patting the seat next to him, Kyle asked, "Are you going to sit down or not?"

Smiling, she walked over and sat down. Grabbing her hand, he brought it up to his mouth and kissed the back of it. Blushing at his outwardly affectionate actions, Emily glanced up from under her eyelashes at the other two. They were smiling knowingly. Embarrassed, Emily pulled her hand away, but when she saw the hurt look on his face, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. At her action, Kyle started grinning like a schoolboy, who had just gotten his first kiss.

"Good morning, everybody!" Emily exclaimed.

She was happier than she had been in a long time. Suddenly she remembered Skylar, the only one who could make her happier. Noticing the sudden disappearance of her smile, Thomas asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I want Skylar," she replied.

"We'll find him, I promise." Jarod vowed.

"Well, actually there's no use to look for him. I already found him. We just have to call him and tell him to come." Kyle said.

"Tell who to come?" Bobby asked as he and Vanessa walked in.

"Skylar. We were just about to call him." Emily said excitedly. Looking at Kyle, she held out her hand. He laughed, wrote down the number, and handed her it and the phone. As Vanessa moved to sit in Thomas' lap, Emily dialed. As she put the phone up to her ear, it started to ring.

"Hello?" someone on the other end asked.

"Is Skylar there?" Emily asked, her voice shaking.

"This is Skylar, " the voice replied.

"Skylar!! Oh my god, it's been so long…" Emily trailed off, tears running down her face.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"It's Emily."

"Emily? As in, my sister? Oh my god. Did you escape?" he asked dazedly.

"Well, you could say I was kidnapped." She said laughing.

"By who?" Skylar asked curiously.

"Well by Kyle, his brother Jarod, Miss Parker a.k.a. Vanessa, who just happens to be our sister, her twin brother Bobby, and Vanessa's fiancée, Thomas." Emily said in one long breath.

"Jarod is Kyle's brother?" he asked.

" Sure is." Emily said

"No offence, but is the only reason you called?"

"Well, I was going to invite you out here, and you can help us bring down the Centre." Emily told him.

"Sounds fun. When should I be there?" Skylar asked.

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

After giving him the necessary information, Emily and Skylar had hung up. He would arrive in three days. The three Parkers could barely contain their excitement. Kyle was also excited about seeing his old friend. For Jarod, the looks on everyones faces caused him to hope that the day he found his and Kyle's mother and sister, and their father and the clone, was not far off. But for now he'd just be happy for the others, especially Emily. He knew that she had not had a lot of happiness in her life, which made her deserve this even more.

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

After they had talked for a little while longer, Bobby, Vanessa, and Thomas all got ready for work. Bobby and Vanessa were going to approach their father, asking him about their unknown siblings. Then they'd try to get Emily a job within the Centre. While they were doing this, Jarod and Kyle would continue to work on hacking into Centre files. Kyle had insisted Emily help them, as Rainse had trained her in computer analyzing, which for him, was just a fancy term for hacking.

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

The next morning, Vanessa went in to wake up Emily, to find her not in her room. A little worried, Vanessa made her way to Kyle's room to see if he knew where she was. But when she walked in, the words froze to her lips. But then she smiled. It wasn't really very suprising. There, in Kyle's bed, lay the two bodies pressed together, their legs tangled among the sheets, sound asleep. After a moment, she realized there was someone behind her. Turning around, she saw it was three somebody's. Tommy, Jarod, and Bobby all stood there with grins on their faces. She quickly ushered the others from the room, so as not to wake the new lovers.

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

About two hours later, Kyle and Emily finally made an appearance. They walked into the kitchen, where the others sat, with silly grins on their faces.

"Well, if it isn't the two lovebirds," Bobby said slyly.

Both blushed realizing the others knew about the previous night's activities. The other four started laughing at the embarrassed looks on their faces.

>From then on though, it was an accepted thing. Kyle and Emily were lovers. No one had a problem with it, and everybody was happy for them. Just watching them, they could tell they were very much in love, and had been for some time.

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

Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

For Emily, the only things that could joy her even more was the arrival of Skylar, who she desperately missed, and the destruction of the Centre, which they were presently working on. She knew logically, that it would take close to a year at least, to reach their goal. But in the meantime she would secretly work on finding Jarod and Kyle's family. She would not tell them, until she had found them for sure, as not to get their hopes up. But for the moment she would just look forward to the arrival of her twin. As soon as he arrived, she would get to work.

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

The day had come. Emily was up early, bringing everyone else up with her. The anticipation was obvious in the house. Bobby, Vanessa, and Thomas were thankful it was a Saturday, and they would be able to be there when Skylar arrived.

At about nine in the morning, the doorbell rang. They all looked at each other. Emily was the only on to get up. The others remained where they were, knowing she needed a few minuets alone with him.

As Emily moved into the entrance hall, her stomach turned. She paused, her hand hovering above the doorknob. Summoning all the courage she had, she grabbed the knob and turned. At this the door swung open.

As the door opened, Emily saw him. He was tall, with dark hair and blonde highlights. He had dark eyes that looked deeply into her own. But the most important thing was that he was here.

He looked at her and smiled. "Emily. God, I've missed you so much." He said against her hair as he leaned down and wrapped her in an embrace. At that she started to cry silently, her tears soaking his shirtfront. But neither noticed. They were together again. They were home.

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

Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

But soon, reality intruded. They weren't quite home yet. They still had work to do. As they finally separated, Skylar planted a kiss on Emily's forehead. As she pulled completely away, she looked up at him adoringly. Pulling him towards the door, she asked, "So do you want to meet Vanessa and Bobby, see Kyle again, and meet Jarod and Tommy?" Nodding as they went in, he grabbed her hand. She squeezed his in support. She knew he needed reassurance. But she was there for him and he was glad for that. He needed all the support he could get at the moment.

As they walked into the room, Bobby and Vanessa stood up, so he would know who they were. Skylar immediately recognized Kyle, and realized that the two standing were his brother and sister.

He moved towards the two, and they moved towards him. Vanessa reached him first, and they hugged each other. When they were done they moved apart, and Bobby and him embraced. After a quick a hug they also moved apart. Vanessa returned to Tommy's lap and Bobby moved back to his seat next to Jarod. Kyle got up and reached for his hand. Then he moved to Emily's side and wrapped his arm around her. Skylar saw this and smiled. They had finally admitted their love for each other. Thank god.

After being introduced to Jarod, and Tommy, his future-brother in law, He sat down in the chair Emily had been occupying, and she sat in Kyle's lap. For the next few hours, they all talked, telling about their lives, what they were doing now and their plans for the Centre. And their future. As afternoon became evening, and evening became night, the seven of them started to get tired. Everyone eventually went to his or her rooms and then to sleep. Skylar was given Emily's room, and Emily went with Kyle. As she was getting in to bed, she remembered her vow to finding Kyle and Jarod's family. She would start in the morning.

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

When she woke up in the morning, she opened her eyes to see Kyle staring down at her. He smiled when he saw she was awake. He leaned down and kissed her.

"Now this is a wake up call I could get used to." She said smiling.

"You better. I plan in doing this for a long time to come." Kyle replied, also smiling.

After getting up and dressed, the two headed downstairs. When they reached the kitchen, Emily headed straight for her laptop, but only after saying good morning to Skylar. She was going to start looking right then. She felt that she needed to find them as soon as possible, or else there may be nothing to find.

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

It had been two months. Her and Skylar had not been given jobs at the Centre, but that was fine with her. She had not come up with any definite leads, but she had a feeling that that would soon change. But right now she had other things to worry about. She was late. She hadn't had her period in quite awhile. So the day before she gone out and bought a home pregnancy test, and was currently waiting for the results. The box had said it took two minuets. These had to be the longest two minuets of her life. When the time had finally passed, she looked at the box.

"Okay. A plus if you are, a minus if you aren't," she said to herself. Taking a look at the test she saw two pluses. Looking quickly at the box, she read aloud, "Two pluses, means…twins."

She couldn't move. She was still in that same position when Kyle came in a few minuets later. Seeing her state, he took the test out of her hand and looked at it. Glancing at the box, he looked up sharply.

"You're pregnant? Oh god, Emily."

"Are you mad?" she asked, about to cry.

"Mad, why would I be mad? I love you and we are going to love our children. And we'll tell everyone tonight, okay?" he asked, pulling her into an embrace.

"That sounds great. If only it were that simple. You know as well as I do that when Rainse finds out, he's going to take them away. They're the only Pretenders with two genes. He will take them away." She said, tears running down her face.

"No he won't. I will do anything I can to keep our children away from him. And I mean anything." He vowed, kissing her hair.

They stayed that way for a while longer, before she pulled away and they continued on with their day.

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

But night came too soon. All too soon. Before they knew it, everyone was home, and they were sitting together in the living room, chatting about the days events. Realizing it was time; Emily cleared her voice, and asked for everyone's attention.

"If everyone will just listen to me for a minute, Kyle and I have something we need to tell you guys." Seeing she had everyone's attention, she continued, " this morning, I took a home pregnancy test. I'm two months pregnant with twins. I will be having these babies, and I will do anything to keep them from Rainse. As you all know, these will be the first Pretenders to have been bred by Pretenders, and they will have two genes. The Centre will want them, but Kyle and I will do anything to keep them from taking our children. I guess I'm done now." She said, sitting down, blushing.

Everyone sat in shock for several minuets before congratulating the parents to be. They were all happy for them, and would also do anything to protect their new niece/ nephew, or both.

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

Over the next couple of weeks, nothing much happened. Jarod finally broke down and called Zoey. After asking how she was, and learning that she would get better, with the treatments she was taking, and talking about nothing in particular for awhile, he invited her to come out to Blue Cove and live with him, well them, as he told her everything about the people he lived with and the Centre. She answered immediately, with a resounding yes. She would be there with in a week.

Anxious for her arrival, even though most in the house had not met her, though they had heard all about her in the last few weeks, the house was a flurry of activity. It was obvious Jarod loved her very much, which automatically made everyone else love her also. They wanted Jarod to be happy. And if she made him happy, then she made everyone else happy with him.

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



Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

The day finally came. It was much like the day that Skylar arrived. When the doorbell rang at about 10:00 am, Jarod got up and went to the door, while everyone else stayed seated. When he got to the door, he didn't hesitate. He threw open the door and looked into Zoe's smiling face. Pulling her to him, Jarod wrapped his arms around her. In return she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. The stood that way for awhile, until Jarod pulled away. Picking up her bag in one hand, he reached out his other hand. She grabbed it with her own and they went inside.

As they reached the living room Zoey was surprised to see six faces staring back at her. She realized these were the people that Jarod had told her about. Looking around at the people, her gaze stopped on one man and the obviously pregnant woman sitting on his lap. She realized this man was Jarod's brother, Kyle.

That made the woman Emily. To the right of those two, two men sat on a couch. Both looked very much like Emily, and she realized the dark-haired man was Skylar, Emily's twin. The light-haired man was her older brother Bobby. On the right of them, sat another man with a woman in his lap. She also looked very much like Emily, and Zoe concluded that she was Bobby's twin, Vanessa. And that meant she had to be sitting in her fiancé Thomas's lap, as he was the only one she hadn't identified yet.

Jarod, seeing that she had figured out who everyone else was, introduced her to everyone.

"Guys, this is Zoey," he announced, stating the obvious.

"Well, Jarod we did figure that out ourselves. But thank-you for the introduction." Emily said, laughing. That broke the tension. Soon everyone was chatting like old friends.

And after chatting awhile, they learned that Tommy and Zoey really were. They had met in Jr. High, when Tommy had lived in the same town as her. They had stayed friends throughout High school, and had wrote letters back and forth the whole time Tommy was in college and working on Wall St. But once he moved to Blue Cove, they ended up losing touch. This was the first time they had seen each other in a little over five years. He was sad to hear about her illness, but glad that she was there and getting better. Soon though, everyone started getting hungry for lunch, since Emily usually couldn't last past noon. Deciding it wasn't safe to go out with the Centre so close, they called for pizza.

That night, after all the pizza had been cleaned up and the Chinese that they'd had for dinner had been put in the fridge, they all headed up to bed. Vanessa and Tommy went into her room, Bobby and Skylar went into their own rooms, Emily and Kyle went into his, and Jarod and Zoey went into his. Soon the house was silent. Except in Kyle's room. While he was sleeping, Emily was sitting in the almost dark room, typing away at her laptop. Suddenly though, she noticed an address that caught her attention. Oregon. Thomas owned a house in Oregon. Having a feeling about Major Charles and the boy being there, she quickly made reservations for a 1:00 am flight to Oregon, packed a back-pack, and wrote a note to Kyle, explaining she had a lead, but to what she didn't say.

The next morning Kyle woke to find Emily missing. A little worried, he looked around. Seeing her note on the nightstand, he quickly read it and sighed. The note had said not to worry, but he was. He had a strange feeling about this and he didn't know if that was good or bad.

Meanwhile, Emily had just pulled up to the fore mentioned house. Seeing a boy in the driveway, shooting hoops, she got out. Upon seeing her car, he stopped and turned toward her. Seeing his face, she gasped. He looked exactly like Jarod had at that age. Vanessa hadn't been lying. Deciding to bite the bullet, she asked, "Is Major Charles here?"

"He's inside. Who are you?" the boy asked suspiciously.

"My name is Emily. I'm from the Centre, well kind of."

"What do you mean "kind of"?"

"I'll explain it to you when I explain it to your Dad, okay."

"Okay, come in I guess."

When they got inside, the boy took her into the living room where the Major sat typing on a computer. "Hey Dad, someone's here," the boy said.

The Major turned around and looked Emily over. The boy continued, "She says she's from the Centre, kind of."

Grabbing his gun off the table beside him, he pointed it straight at her. "What do you want?" he growled at her.

"Don't shoot. I'm here on behalf of your other sons."

Slowly he lowered the gun. "What do you mean sons? There is only Jarod now. Kyle's dead."

"No he's not. He is very alive and with Jarod right now. I came to get you and take you to them, but they don't know I'm here. Kyle wouldn't have let me come if he had known."

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm carrying his children."


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



Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

After the Major got over the initial shock, she explained all about what they were doing, and that Vanessa and Bobby were on their side. She also told a little about everyone in the house.

"So you're Catherine Parker's daughter, and you, like your sister, have a twin brother. Am I right?" the Major asked.

"You got it." Emily replied.

"So when do we go see them?" the boy asked.

"Well, I have tickets for tomorrow's flight. Is that okay with you two?" Emily said.

"That works out fine. Jay, you better pack some clothes in a back-pack." The Major said, addressing the boy.

As he went upstairs, presumably to his room, the Major approached Emily. "Tell me about my son. You said you grew up with him, and you're having his children, so you must know him well." the Major begged.

"Of course I know him well. I'm in love with him. But Kyle is… Kyle is Kyle. He's kind of hard to explain. Why don't you just wait until tomorrow when you can meet him for the first time." Emily suggested.

"Guess I'll have to. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to pack. You can come if you like." The Major said, heading to the steps.

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

The next twelve hours dragged by really slow for all three, but eventually they landed in Blue Cove. Getting in the car that Emily had left in the airport parking lot, they headed to the house.

When they finally got there, Emily told the other two to follow her inside, and to be very quiet. They entered the house, and Emily made her way to the living room. When she got there, she was happy to see that everyone was present. Walking into the room, she announced, "Hey, look who's back!"

Upon seeing her everyone started talking, asking where she had been. Eventually she got everyone quiet again, and said, "I can't tell you where I was. But I'm sure these two can."

At this, Major Charles and Jay came in. As soon as Jarod saw them he gasped. "Dad is that really you?"

At his brothers' question, Kyle turned around. "Dad?" he asked, looking shocked.

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

After a few hours of catching up, they all settled down to talk. The new arrivals were told what they were up to, and agreed to help bring down the Centre.

Kyle finally got to ask Emily something that had been bothering him. "So these last few weeks, what you've been doing is looking for Jarod and my family? Have you found anything on Mom or Emily yet?"

"Yes that's what I've been doing, and no I haven't found anything on your mother or sister. Yet. I will find them." Emily said with determination. She was going to find them. If not for Kyle and Jarod, then for herself.

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


Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

It had been several months since the reunion of the Russell men. No developments had been made in shutting down the Centre. Emily had found nothing new on Margaret and Emily. She was starting to lose hope. The only thing that had progressed was the pregnancy. Now 7 1/2 months along, Emily was quite big. She knew it wouldn't be long before the Centre would find out and try to take them away. Kyle kept insisting that the Centre would never get their children, but she couldn't shake a feeling of impending doom. She just hoped Kyle was right this time. One day though, it all changed. Kyle and Jarod had found something on the Centre. Quickly, they packed a bag and caught a flight to Miami. Supposedly, an annex was down there, and it held all the Centre secrets. About a week after they'd left, Emily got a phone call. Her and Skylar were the only one's home, so she awnsered it. "Hello?"

"Emily?" Jarod's voice asked.

"Yeah. Jarod?"

"Yeah. Listen, I need you to come down here as soon as you can. But don't worry the others. Just come."

"Why?"

Kyle's been hurt," he paused as she gasped. "When we tried to break into the files office, there was a guard, and Kyle was shot. We couldn't go to a hospital, so I patched him up myself. For the first few days he was fine, but then he became fevered and delirious. The wound probably became infected. But he keeps asking for you and his children."

A noise ripped from Emily's chest and tore into Jarod. He couldn't describe it, he just knew that it wasn't a noise that should be coming from Emily.

"Is he going to be okay?" she whimpered.

"I think he will be. But he needs you right now."

"I'll be there in a few hours," She said hanging up the phone.

After explaining to Skylar and everybody else, who had just gotten home, Emily got a bag packed. While she was packing, everyone came in and watched. Finally, the Major asked what everyone was wondering. "Is he going to be okay?"

"How the hell should I know? I'm not a god damn doctor," she snapped at them.

Seeing the looks of shock on their faces, her iron control broke, and she slid into a sitting position on the floor. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and started to cry. "God, I'm sorry. I'm just so scared. The last time it was just me, but now I'll have the babies. I need him to be with me. I can't do this alone," she said, the last part something between a whimper and a whisper. Skylar immediately kneeled at her side, and pulled her to him. In her ear he whispered, "Shh, he'll be fine, I promise."

"But you don't know that," she accused.

"We can't know Emily, that's just the deal. We have to stumble through life grasping at every bit of happiness we can. But there comes a time when you have to let that happiness go."

"But what if I lose him, he's the happiness I'm grasping."

"Then you'll have to let that happiness, him, go."

"I don't know if I can," she whimpered.

"You'll have to."

"But I love him so much."

"I know you do. I've always known. But to truly love is to love wholly, where you don't just think of yourself, but of him. He will not let go of himself until he knows you'll make it without him."

"Will I?"

"Of course you will. We'll all be here to help you pick up the pieces. So if it comes to it, let him go. As long as you keep him in your heart, he'll be with you."

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




Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

When Emily finally reached Miami, she drove to the address Jarod had given her. She knocked on the door several times before it finally opened. Jarod quickly let her in and led her to Kyle's room. When she went in, she was shocked to see him lying there in a fitful sleep. She was so used to seeing him up and so full of life. Just then she heard him call out her name. She rushed to his side. "Sshh, Baby. I'm here. I'm right here."

He opened his eyes at the sound of her voice. "Emily?"

"Yeah Baby. I'm here. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Rest now, okay. You need your rest."

"I kept asking for you, but you never came."

"I know. I'm sorry. You need to rest, okay. Get some sleep." Kissing his forehead, she waited until his eyes had slid shut and she could hear his deep breathing, before she crept out of the room.

When she entered the main room, she saw Jarod sitting in one of the chairs, head in his hands, shoulders shaking. Walking over to him she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey, he's going to be okay. Isn't he?" she asked, suddenly unsure.

"I don't know. He may not make it."

Emily quickly turned as to hide her tears. Seeing her shoulders shaking, Jarod quickly went to he and pulled her into an embrace. He was becoming quite concerned with the sobs that were violently racking her small form. He was now just realizing how much this girl actually loved his brother, and how much he loved her in return. He also knew that if Kyle died, yes it would be a great loss to him, but he would be able to keep on living. He also that Emily on the other hand probably wouldn't. It had dawned on him that Kyle was her whole world, and without him she felt she was nothing.

"God Emily, I'm sorry I didn't do anything to stop this when I had the chance."

"Jarod don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done to stop this. No one blames you."

"I knew how much he loved you and how much he wanted to see his children grow up. I knew how much he had to live for, and even knowing this didn't cause me step in front of him, just like he did for me. I'm sorry Emily."

"Don't be. No matter what anyone at the Centre thinks, you are human. And humans make mistakes. You make mistakes. You're not perfect Jarod, and we don't expect you to be. You just made a mistake." Emily whispered.

"I shouldn't have. Not when it was my brothers life that was in the balance." Jarod retorted.

"Jarod, listen to me when I say it wasn't your fault. And from now on we won't even mention it, okay?"

"Okay."

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

A few hours later, Emily woke to the sound of moving in Kyle's room. Rushing in, she was shocked by the site that greeted her. There was Kyle, looking completely normal. No delirious ramblings, nothing. Looking up, he smiled when he saw her.

"Hey there."

"Hey yourself, Sleeping Beauty. You okay?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. Jarod was just in here and said that the wound was looking better and that I should be fine within a couple of days."

"Then can we go home?"

"Sure. We'll go home, you'll have those babies and we'll live happily ever after."

"I think you're forgetting a few things, like shutting down the Centre and finding your mom and sister. But for now I'm just going to be happy for what I have now."

"And what exactly do you have?" Kyle asked mischievously.

"Well, let's see. I have my two brothers and my sister. I have Thomas and Jarod. I have Zoey. I have the Major and Jay. I have these two, whenever they decide to make an appearance. And I have you. Probably the best thing in my life is you. I love you Kyle."

"I love you too, Emily."

And together they sat and wept for the things that had been stolen from them as children, and for the loss they had almost faced, but overcome. They felt safe in each other's arms. They felt a comfort, that they didn't even known had existed. It was like coming home. But sitting there in Kyle's arms, Emily realized they still had miles to go. They weren't quite home yet.

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




Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

By the next Tuesday, Kyle was ready to go home. They caught an early morning flight and landed in Blue Cove around noon. On the drive home though, they encountered a small problem. Feeling a sudden wet spot from between her legs, Emily spoke up. "Um, guys, we have a small problem."

"What's that?" Kyle asked.

"My water just broke."

Jarod, who was driving, almost swerved off the road. "What? Emily we have to get you to the hospital."

"Fine. Go, whatever. Just do it now."

"What about the others?" Kyle asked.

"Call them on the cell phone and have them meet us there." Emily told him.

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

When they reached the hospital, Jarod dropped them off at the doors to the ER. Quickly going inside, Kyle grabbed the first doctor they encountered.

"Hey, can you help us? My girlfriend is going in to labor."

"Okay, my name is Dr. Ross. Ma'am, how far along are you?"

"About eight months. Call me Emily." Emily replied.

"Okay, someone get a gurney!" Dr. Ross yelled.

After getting a gurney, and putting Emily into Trauma One, the doctor got a nurse and they started the delivery.

"Okay Emily, this is Carol. She's going to be helping. Okay, on the next contraction, I need you to push as hard as you can okay?"

Emily awnsered with a scream, as the next contraction came.

"Okay push, push!" Dr. Ross told her.

"I am!" she yelled

"Oh shit! Carol, I need your help."

"What is it Doug?" the nurse asked.

"The cord's wrapped around the baby's neck. I need to cut it."

"What!?" Emily yelled.

"The cord, Emily. Don't worry." Dr. Ross said.

After cutting the cord, he had her push again.

"Okay, it's out. Congratulations, you have yourself a beautiful baby boy."

"What about the other one? I'm having twins." Emily said, as they handed her the baby.

"Uh, Doug, here it comes." Carol told him.

"Okay Emily, push."

"I can't." she cried.

"Yes you can. Come on Baby." Kyle told her, taking her hand.

Pushing as hard as she could, Emily let out a scream. But that was soon drowned out by a wail.

"Congratulations. You have a beautiful little girl." Dr. Ross announced.

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

A little while later Emily was resting in her room while Vanessa, Bobby and all the others cooed over the babies. Just then, Dr. Ross walked in.

"So Emily, how are you?"

"I'm pretty good. Are the babies healthy Dr. Ross?" she asked.

"Well, we had a small problem with the boy at first, but now they are both completely healthy, just a little early. And please, it's Doug." He told her.

"Was the boy going to die?"

"He was very close to it. We got it cut just in time."

"Hey Emily, what are you and Kyle going to name these two?" Skylar asked.

After whispering to each other for a minute, Emily and Kyle smiled.

"Well, Kyle and I agreed Kalia Margaret for the girl, and Douglas Andrew for the boy, after the doctor who saved his life." Emily said smiling.

"I'm honored. Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me I'll leave these babies with their new family. Good luck, twins can be a handful." Doug said.

"Do you have twins?" Emily asked.

"As a matter of fact I do. Two girls. Well, congratulations." With that Doug left.

"Well then Kalia Margaret and Douglas Andrew," the Major said, picking up his grandchildren, "welcome to the world."


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




Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

It had been two days since the twins were born and Emily had just brought them home for the first time. After giving them a quick tour of the house, which they seemed to like, since all they had seen since they were born was the hospital, she had put them in their bassinets and was singing them to sleep. Remembering a song she had heard on the radio a few months ago, she started to sing-

"Every time our eyes meet
This feelin' inside me
Is almost more than I can take
Baby, when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can see your dreams

I don't know how you do what you do
(Every little thing that you do)
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps gettin' better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side for ever and ever
Every little thing that you do
(Oh, every little thing that you do)
Baby, I'm amazed by you

The smell of your skin
The taste of your kiss
The way you whisper in the dark
Your hair all around me
Baby, you surround me
You touch every place in my heart
Though it feels like the first time, every time
I wanna spend the whole night in your eyes

I don't know how you do what you do
(Every little thing that you do)
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps gettin' better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side for ever and ever
Every little thing that you do
(Oh, every little thing that you do)
Baby, I'm amazed by you

I don't know how you do what you do
(Every little thing that you do)
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps gettin' better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side for ever and ever
Every little thing that you do
(Oh, every little thing that you do)
Baby, I'm amazed by you"

As she was singing, Kyle came in, which was unnoticed by her. He just stood there and watched her. When she reached the end of the song, he heard her say,

"So, guys? Was I really that bad?" she asked when she saw that Kalia had fallen asleep. Turning to Doug, she was thrilled to see he was still awake. "You like to listen to your mom, don't you?" With that he laughed. "Yeah, that's mama's boy. That song is my and your daddy's song. He just doesn't know it. But he will. You wanna know something about your daddy?" Kyle cringed, afraid of what she might tell their son. She continued, "He's the best daddy in the whole world. He loves you and will spoil you just like he does mommy. But when he's right, he's right, no point in arguing. But you won't have to worry, that hardly ever happens." She joked.

"Hey, don't be putting those lies into my kids head," he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Hearing him she jumped.

"God Kyle, don't do that! You scared the shit out of me!" Looking at the baby, she realized what she just said. "Um, I mean you scared the, uh, hebejebe's out of me. Yeah, that's what I meant."

Kyle laughed. Looking down at his now sleeping children he said, "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Emily nodded in agreement. Turning her head so her lips were against his cheek, she said, "They're ours. How could they not be?"

"They look like you. Of course they're beautiful." He replied, kissing her softly.

She was about to say something, when suddenly, she gasped. Looking to see what was wrong, Kyle was stared back at with painfilled eyes.

"Emily? Are you okay?" he asked, sounding panicked. Before she could reply, her body gave into the pain. As she passed out, she fell. Kyle caught her right before she hit the floor. Sitting down, he pulled her into his lap. Calling for Jarod, he brushed back the stray hair that was covering her face. He knew something was wrong, and a feeling in his stomach told him that nothing would ever be the same.





Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

Kyle was sitting next to Emily's hospital bed. The same place he had set for the last two months. The doctors still had no idea what had caused this, and everyone had given up hope of her waking up. But he couldn't. He couldn't because knew that if she died, he wouldn't be able to go on living. Not even for the two bundles of joy, who had grown much bigger. He did love them, yes, but without Emily it would just be to hard. The night before Skylar had come in and told him that Emily wouldn't want to live like this. He had to let her go. Kyle still didn't understand why he had agreed. The doctor would be in in a few minutes to take her off the life support. Everyone had already told her their tearful good-byes, and were now giving Kyle some time alone with her. Just then, the door opened and the doctor came in followed by the whole family, as Emily had always referred to them. Zoey and Vanessa were silently crying, but none of them more then Kyle was on the inside. Moving to Emily's other side, the doctor gave him a sympathetic smile. With that, he quickly tuned off all the machines. Looking at her Kyle couldn't believe it. She was gone.

He stayed that way for what felt like forever. Finally Skylar came in and told him that they had to go. He had to let her go. Kyle knew he was right.

Kyle rose and followed Skylar towards the door. He stopped when they reached it and stood in the doorway to take one last look. He suddenly realized he might never see her again. He must savor this last moment, not let it pass by too quickly. He watched her and a thousand things come to mind. Every memory he had of Emily came rushing at him at once. He smiled a soft, sad smile, realizing the only memory he'd ever need is the memory of how much he loved her.




Feedback at : topcat2@home.com

As Kyle was just about to leave for the final time, he was startled to see her chest rise and fall. Rushing over to her, he was shocked to hear her shallow breathing. Yelling loudly for the doctor, Kyle grabbed her hand. She was still alive. Warm happiness spread through him. There was still hope. Maybe his kids would grow up with a mother. Maybe he would still have a reason to go on living.

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

The next morning's dawn rose to find Kyle in the exact same spot. The doctors had been more or less shocked be her recovery. And though she hadn't woken up, Kyle knew she would. Everyone had told him not to get his hopes up, but he knew, and always had known, she wouldn't leave him.

The whole day he remained in that spot, afraid that if he left, she would wake up and he wouldn't be there. The rest of the family was in and out of there all day. Even Bobby and Vanessa, who had called in to work sick.

At nightfall though, the only one that had decided to remain there with him for the night was Skylar. One sat on each side of her bed, and fell into an uneasy sleep. Around midnight though, Kyle was jolted from his sleep, when he heard someone call his name. Squinting to see in the dark, he said, "Skylar?" thinking it had been him that had called for him.

"Kyle?"

There it was again. Looking to the bed, he was shocked to see that Emily was awake. Turning on the bedside lamp he looked her over. "Emily?"

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"What time is it? Don't you mean what day is it? It's July ninth. You've been in a coma for the last two months and a day," Kyle said.

"But two days ago I had the twins. That was May sixth. How can it be July ninth?"

"You were in a coma. The doctors said you weren't ever going to wake up, so they took you off the machines. But then you started breathing on you own. I knew you wouldn't leave me."

"Of course I wouldn't leave you. Not now. Not when we're almost home."

TBC



Feedback at : topcat2@home.com