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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
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.
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.
