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Chapter or Story
Chapter 9
The Kids Are Now 6 Months Old
Jarod was working on opening a doctor’s office near where they were living. He had been working on the plans for it for awhile. He would go into one of the empty rooms of the cabin and work on them all day if necessary.
Andrea was getting a lot of help from her mom with the kids. Every day, Catherine would come over and help her out until just after dinner when she would leave.
The owners of the house they were staying at had been an old couple, but both had recently passed away and Jarod and Andrea bought it from their children for a lot less than they would have paid in the US for a house. They were happy to be living there, and since Andrea had changed her last name, no one would ever find her.
One morning, Andrea’s cell phone rang. She still had it, just a different number and no tracking device in it. The only person she had given her number to that was not in Canada was Sidney. “What?” She said in her usual tone when answering the phone. Some things will never change.
“Parker!” It was Sidney.
“Hey Sid. It’s Andrea now.” She replied into the phone.
“Andrea.” He corrected himself.
“So, what’s going on?” She asked him. She told him never to call unless it was an emergency.
“Well, it seems that we have a bit of a situation on our hands. I do have a lot to explain to you, but I need you to promise me you won’t panic.”
“Unless you tell me Jarod is my brother or something like that, I promise I won’t panic.” She replied.
Sidney gave a chuckle. “No no...Jarod is not your brother. Only Lyle and Ethan as far as I know.” Sidney answered. “It is about a different situation. Well, Broots and I have been very bored lately. So, we went looking through the files and found some that we were sure you didn’t know about but should have. They are called the Leo Files and they deal with children, your children.”
Andrea’s hand flew up to cover her mouth and she looked pale. But like she had promised, she did not freak out. “Please go on.” She asked Sidney.
“Okay. Well, the kids are a boy and a girl who are both sixteen. They were twins, both born on July 29th here at the Centre. I have them in my care now. They children are yours and Jarod’s. They both look a lot like Jarod. You would love them Par...Andrea.”
She was crying now. Softly, so not to wake Jarod, but enough to know that she was both sad and happy. “When can I see them?” She asked.
“Whenever you want. I will drive to Vancouver and you can pick them up there. I know the drive will be long for you, but I think they need you.” Sidney explained. “And there is one more thing.” He added.
“What is it?” Parker asked.
“Well, the girl has a friend she is bringing, a girl who is her best friend on the face of the Earth, and she doesn’t speak any English. The two of them have been locked up together forever. I will let your daughter tell you about her, but she will be considered your “foreign exchange” student if you let her come live with you. Broots and I have already gotten her a passport that will work over there in Canada as well as passports for you and your kids. They are untraceable. We will never be able to find you all after we give you them. I know your last name from your mother. She called and told me everything. She is so happy. Now, let’s plan on meeting tomorrow at around 5:00 pm at the border of the countries.” Sidney explained all the while Andrea was silent.
“That sounds good. Oh Sidney, how can I thank you for everything?”
“I will answer that for you at the border.” Sidney replied.
“What does that mean?” Andrea asked surprised.
“You’ll see.”
“Well, ok. Thanks again Sid.”
“Anytime.” He said hanging up.
Jarod stirred and woke up shortly after their conversation ended. He could see Andrea had been crying. “What is it?” He asked.
“Jarod, we have two older kids, they were created by the Centre.”
Jarod shot up. “What?” He looked shocked but remembered that the Centre was capable of anything.
Andrea nodded and looked at him. “Sidney just called to let me know that he has them both in his care. He created passports for everyone in our family and said that it’s safe to stay here in Canada. The kids are also bringing a friend. They couldn’t leave her there. She has been like family to them for their whole lives according to Sidney.” Andrea added.
“This is unbelievable.” Jarod responded. He rubbed Andrea’s back gently and looked out into space. “We have four kids now.”
Andrea nodded and stared at a spot on the wall thinking about her kids. Sid had said that they looked just like Jarod. She wondered what he had meant by that. She couldn’t wait to meet her kids.
She called her mother wondering if Sid had told her about the kids. Catherine was just as shocked as Andrea was to hear the news. She was also very excited to meet her other two grand kids.
Andrea and Jarod began preparing two rooms for the kids, one for the girls and one for their son. The twins were still in the same room as they were, so they didn’t have to worry about changing that just yet. All day long, they moved beds and dressers into the two empty rooms of their house. All in all, the house had 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
The next day, they woke up early and drove to Vancouver. They arrived right on time, at 5:00 pm. Sidney was parked in a limo off to the side of the border. He stepped out and walked to the couple who both embraced him.
“Come over to the limo.” He instructed. “The kids have just woken up.”
The couple followed him and he opened the door. Three teens were huddled together somewhat because they were nervous. The first to look out of the limo was a teenage girl. She saw her mother for the first time in her life. “Mother.” She said softly looking at Andrea.
“She does look a lot like Jarod.” Andrea thought. “Hello.” She said to the girl.
The girl got up and out of the car and threw her arms around Andrea. “Your not ever going to leave me are you?” She asked as tears began to crawl down her face.
“No baby, I won’t ever leave you.” Andrea reassured her.
The girl nodded as she backed out of the embrace and looked at her mother for the first time in her life. She turned and looked at Jarod. They smiled at eachother. “Hello daddy.” She said.
Jarod smiled at the name. “Hello.” He said. “What’s your name?” He asked.
“Clara.” She replied. Her brother stepped out of the car next. “This is Andrew.” She said pointing to her brother. Clara was short, about 5’3, not tall like either of her parents, she got that from Jarod’s mom. She had Jarod’s eyes, same honey color and all. Her hair was pulled back and obviously a light brown. Both her parents had more a dark brown hair color, but she still looked enough like both of them that they were sure they had gotten their kid.
Andrew looked just like Jarod only with color changing eyes. He had the same hair and build as well as stance. “Hi.” He said coming out of the limo. “I knew we would eventually find you.” He walked up to Jarod first and gave him a casual hug. “Dad.” He said looking at him. He did similar with Andrea only giving her more of an embrace. “Mom.” He said smiling at her.
“And in the limo is Nina. She is from the former USSR. Back in 1994, the Centre went there on a visit. Her village was one of a few that had been attacked. She has an inner sense. We have always, all three of us, been able to talk to eachother through that. When she first got here, to the US, she was nervous out of her mind. She was only seven, Andrew and I were six. She had no family, this we were aware of. She was like us, Centre grown. We know she is not related to us because Uncle Lyle did a test to see who exactly we belonged to...”
“Uncle Lyle?” Andrea stopped her. “Do you mean my evil twin brother Lyle? Jerk! He knew about them all along and ..”
“Please let me finish.” Clara requested. Andrea nodded. “Well, Lyle did the tests and she belonged to two pretenders from the former USSR, however, they were both dead. We took it upon ourselves to help her. Ever since, she has been like family with us. Her English is very good, but she is very confused about the outside world. Andrew loves her, more than he has ever loved anyone I think.” Andrew was sitting in the limo with Nina. “All three of us have a special connection, and that is why we had to bring her. Now about Uncle Lyle. He only found out two weeks ago that we were your kids. He knew we were Jarod’s, but he didn’t know we were yours. Once he found out that, he treated us like family. He made sure that Sidney got us to you. He has never been anything but good to us. The only other person at the Centre who knew about us was Reins, and he was the only one who was ever mean. See?” Clara lifted her shirt in the back only to reveal one long whip scar.
“Reins did that?” Andrea asked looking at her daughter’s back.
Clara nodded. “It showed up on Andrew too, even though Reins didn’t hurt him. It is something special about Pretenders like us. We have the inner sense, and we have the ability to feel what the other is feeling as well as this.” Clara pointed to some trees and her finger began glowing like something off of ET. Suddenly fire came from her finger. “I never use it unless necessary.” She explained putting the fire out. “That. And this.” She concentrated and began floating in midair. She put herself down and then did something else. “And this.” She pointed at a rock and moved her finger from side to side. The rock moved too. “We are full of powers. All three of us. However, they are both shy and I am very outgoing.” Clara had explained everything to her parents, who were in shock of her powers. She was a pyro, she could also float and she could move things with her mind as well as hear voices. It was amazing.
The kids finally got Nina out of the car. “Hello.” She said quietly to both of the adults that were standing near her.
Andrea smiled at her and so did Jarod. “Its nice to meet you.” Andrea said.
“Thank you.” She said. She had gotten a bit louder.
“Hi.” Jarod said.
“Hi.” She responded.
“I’m Jarod and this is Andrea.” He said introducing himself and his wife to her. She smiled at the both and nodded in acknowledgement. She was finally loosening up. She was really tall and looked similar to Clara except that she had different hair and her eyes were much darker. She also had higher cheekbones and a bigger nose.
“Now Sid, how can I thank you?” Andrea asked. The twins smiled at their mother. They knew what was coming.
“Well,” Sid began. “I found out something looking at the kids’ DNA. I am your father.”
Andrea gasped and hugged Sidney. “Wow!” She said. “So do you want me to call you dad? Do you want to come live with us?”
“Well, yes, I would like it if you called me dad. And yes, I was going to ask if there were any houses near you because I wanted to bring Nicholas out here.”
“Nicholas?” Andrea asked.
“Yes. My son.” Sidney replied. “His mother and I divorced in 1999, after she found out where I really worked. He recently turned 18 and chose to live with me. I guess it means you have two brothers now, Lyle and Nicholas.” Andrea nodded and kept on smiling at her father. She was so surprised and at the same time happy that she found out who he was.
Just then, Clara’s cell phone went off. “What?” She shouted into it.
“Like mother like daughter.” Jarod said under his breath to his wife. She gave a half grin and watched as her eldest daughter talked on the phone.
“No! Just stop calling me you jerk! We broke up! I can never see you again.” She hung up the phone without saying goodbye and turned it off.
“Like father like daughter.” Andrea said to Jarod under her breath; noting how she didn’t say goodbye.
“Breaking up is so annoying. I was going out with a guy named Jim, he was a 17 year old sweeper at the Centre. We would meet every now and then, hang out and then go our separate ways. Well, he began to bore me so I just dumped him and now he calls 24/7! I need to change my number. The Centre however has no idea I even have a phone. Lyle gave it to me because he said he needed to keep tabs on me. I took the chip out however and switched it with a clean chip that I found so that they couldn’t track me. We escaped a few times with Angelo. That’s why Lyle wanted to keep track of us. Note, this is before he was Uncle Lyle.” Clara explained. “I don’t think I have much use for it anymore.” She frowned and stuck it back in the limo. “Better safe than sorry.”
They all walked over to the car. Sidney said his good-byes and walked back to the limo. He called Lyle from there to let him know that his niece and nephew as well as the foreign girl were safe. Everything was going okay.
After Lyle was off the phone with his father, yes his father...Sidney...He walked down the hall of the Centre fast. He had to get to Broots. Broots had been taking care of him now that Andrea was gone. Lyle wasn’t so bad actually. He claimed it was his new medication, ridilin could work wonders if it could make Lyle tame.
“Broots!” Lyle shouted running into the bald guys office. “Does my sister have any more children?” Lyle walked in a straight line pacing the floor continually. “Do I have any children?”
“Uh umm...I’m not sure.” Broots replied. “I will find out as much as I can for you by tomorrow. I promise.”
Lyle nodded and left. He and his sister always made Broots nervous.
He practically ran down the hall. He entered the room where the kids had been kept and played stupid as to where they were. The sweepers began searching, but with no luck. He commanded that every trace of them be erased before anyone, especially Reins found out the truth.
The three kids were in the back seat and they talked all the way home. At least the twins did. Nina was in the middle and had a twin on each side of her. Andrea and Jarod both noted how Andrew had taken Nina’s hand and was holding it gently between both of his. He was protective of her, but it was different than the way he was about his sister. This was how Jarod was with Andrea.
“You know, you have a brother and sister at the house. They are with your Grandmother.” Andrea explained. “And you can call us mom and dad too. If you want.” She explained to Nina. Nina nodded and gave a faint smile. This was a lot for her to take in.
“How old are they? What are their names?” Clara asked.
“Well, their names are Josh and Alexandra and they are 6 months old. They are twins like you two.”
The twins exchanged glances and smiled. “Then we have already met them.” Clara went on. “Our inner sense allows us to talk to other twins as well as some family members. Like telepathy. I will tell you something that the twins tell me. Just one second.” She closed her eyes and then opened them. “Your mother looks just like you only with a few more wrinkles and gray hair. She also wear bifocals.”
Andrea’s mouth dropped open. “The twins told you all that?”
“Well, their memories did. It’s more like we share memories.” Clara explained. “I knew who you were because of those.” She and Andrea were bonding well all the way home. From time to time, Andrew would talk to Jarod. He was more focused on Nina however, he was worried that she was getting too big of a reality check.
Chapter 10
Home
As they entered the house, Catherine greeted her two other grandkids and their friend warmly. She hugged all three of them and was introduced to each one. When she heard that Nina spoke Russian, she began conversing with her.
“You speak Russian mom?” Andrea questioned her.
“You would be surprised Andi. For 5 years, I worked with a Russian ballet and I learned from them.” She smiled at Nina. “I think we will get along great.” She told the girl in Russian. “I was afraid I would forget everything.” They both laughed at that and all of them entered the living room to talk.
After everyone was done talking and Catherine had headed home, Andrea and Jarod showed everyone to their rooms. Andrea went to show the girls where they were sleeping, and Jarod led Andrew to his room. At this, Andrew and Nina frowned. “What’s wrong?” Andrea asked the two of them.
“Please tell her.” Andrew said not comfortable telling his mother what was going on.
“He sleeps with Nina. They don’t have sex. I told him I would kill him if he did such a thing with her, but neither can sleep without the other. It has been this way for years now. Usually, they give us three cots at the Centre and we just sleep on the ground, but once, they put Andrew and Nina in a cell together with a queen sized bed. I told Andrew through our telepathy what was going on, Reins wanted him to get Nina pregnant with a pretender. She was only 16 at the time. When Andrew told Nina what was going on, they put on a great ‘show’ for Reins. Sure, they acted like they were doing what he wanted them to do, but they knew what would happen if they did have a baby, Reins would take it from them and they would never get to see it. They decided that they were too young anyway. So, we are all staying virgin until we are sure that we are ready to face the consequences. Pregnancy, AIDS, Herpes, so much can happen to people who screw around too much.” She explained. “Well, they wont get to sleep without eachother, so if you choose to put them in separate rooms, they will still try to be together. Once, Reins tried that too. It didn’t work very well. All night Nina cried and Andrew had nightmares. It was terrible. I can sleep fine alone, in – fact, I prefer that because I am restless, but they are like an old married couple. So please, just trust them.” Clara begged for her brother.
Andrew was behind Nina and whispered something in her ear that made her smile. Clara heard in her telepathic way and smiled and winked at Nina. She was glad her brother loved someone the way he loved Nina, and Nina was her best friend, so she was happy.
“Its fine with me.” Jarod said.
“Same here.” Andrea agreed. “Your old enough to make choices about who you sleep with, just please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Thanks.” Andrew said to both his parents.
“Yes, thank you.” Nina said. Andrea smiled at her. She had earned some trust, this much she was sure of.
Andrea led the kids up to their rooms. “This is your room.” She told Clara who slowly walked in. “We had set it up for two girls thinking both of you would be in here, but we can give you a queen size bed if you want one.” Andrea explained.
“Maybe later. If I get any taller.” Clara joked. Her mother smiled at her.
“And over here is your room.” She told Nina and Andrew. There was one queen sized bed in the room along with a dresser and a computer. There was a computer in Clara’s room too.
“Thank you.” Andrew said walking in with Nina at his side. It was a nice room for them.
“I’ll grab you all some pajamas.” Andrea said walking into her room. “What do you all usually sleep in?” She asked them.
“Nothing.” Andrew answered for them all.
“What?!” Andrea said shocked.
“Just kidding.” Andrew said.
“Cute. But not funny!” Andrea said giving him a half grin. “Seriously.”
“Well, for me, it’s a pair of sweats and that’s all. For the girls, they usually wear full pajamas.” Andrea nodded and went to get them their pajamas out of her room.
Her and Jarod left them to change as they put the babies to bed. Jarod had been with them the whole time. He had already gotten Josh to bed. “Alex needs to be fed.” He said handing her to Andrea. “I already changed her and she is still crying.” He said.
Andrea nodded and began to breast feed the baby. She rocked in the rocking chair with her for about fifteen minutes and the child was gone. She handed her to Jarod who put her to bed. “I think I will go and see how the older teens are doing.” She told him. He nodded.
She walked up the stairs and peeked into Andrew and Nina’s room. Andrew was wearing only his sweats and was sitting on the bed with Nina sitting beside him. They were speaking in Russian and they would kiss in – between sentences. She left them and went to Clara’s room.
Clara sat on the bed closest to the window and was looking out. She watched as cars went by and people walked by. She saw her mother peeking in and smiled. “Come in.” She said to her. “I’ve never seen the outside like this before. Except once when Lyle actually let me go on a date, but that was the only time.” She smiled at her mom. “I guess I always imagined this day, and it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. There was always that fear that you wouldn’t want us.” She frowned. “Or that one of you had died.” She was tracing the carpet with her big toe.
“We could never have not wanted you.” Andrea said sitting down next to her. “Your ours, and we love you.” She said putting an arm around her. Clara’s doe brown eyes looked into her icy blue ones and she saw that her mom was telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“I know.” Clara said truthfully. She rested her head on her mom’s shoulder. “I just wish we could have been with you when we were younger. We were told lie after lie by Reins.” She explained. “When Lyle found out about the project, he was interested, but when he found out who we were, you should have seen his face. All he said was if anything happened to us his sister would kill him. He knew it was true too. He looked freaked out. Sidney knew at the exact moment Lyle knew, and it was kind of like a family reunion. Reins has been missing for a long time. I think Lyle may have finally killed him.” Clara let out a sigh. “The Centre...What a terrible place. And to think that that’s where I was created.” She frowned.
“Let’s not think about that now. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have tomorrow.” Andrea got up to leave but Clara began to protest.
“Please stay with me.” She begged. “I will fall asleep if you’re here. At the Centre, my nurse Oksana came and usually read with me or told me stories. She was the closest thing I had to a mom. And now that I have one, just please stay until I fall asleep.” Clara said getting into the bed and patting some space next to it for her mom to join her.
“Okay.” Andrea replied. “Just let me get a book.” Clara smiled at her mom happily.
“Have you read any of these?” She asked, showing Clara the books she had. There were only a few.
“Yea, I have read them all. Lyle took us to the library to read a lot. But that’s ok, you can tell me how you and daddy met and ended up married.”
“Okay.” Andrea nodded and joined her daughter on the bed. “Well, we met when I was a baby. I would cry and cry and Grandma Catherine couldn’t calm me down. One day, she took me into a room with a bunch of kids, and Jarod began talking to me and I just quieted down. I was about 3. After that, we just began to grow up together. We had a ton in common in that we were both Centre children. I was raised outside the Centre, but I began to practically live there as I got older. I knew all the bad things they did by the time I was 18. It hurt to know that I was a part of that. Mr. Parker, the man I had thought was my father had told me it was all to help the world, but I should have known better. Jarod escaped the Centre one day, and dad...Mr. Parker told me I should join the department that was searching for him. It was basically Sidney, Broots, and I looking for Jarod. There was a time when I hated Jarod more than anyone one the planet, but one day I practically had an emotional breakdown. It was about a year maybe a year and a half ago. I got on an airplane and left for Canada. Sitting in front of me was Jarod. We went out to dinner, had an amazing night together, came out here, got pregnant, got married, and found out I had two more kids. The rest is ancient history.” She looked down and saw that Clara was half asleep.
“Good story.” Clara mumbled. “Thanks. Good night.” She closed her eyes and was asleep.
Andrea gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Sleep tight baby.” She whispered. She went to check on the other two. Nina and Andrew were asleep. Andrew had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her hands were on top of his. They looked happy just like that. Clara was right. Andrea thought. They are like an old married couple. She smiled and went back down to Jarod. “All asleep.” She announced. Jarod smiled at her. They went to bed right after that.
The Centre
7:00 in the morning
“What did you find Broots?” Lyle asked.
“Well, you have kids.” Broots told him.
Lyle frowned. “Where are they?” He asked.
“S-45” He replied.
“Thanks.” Lyle said heading over there. He knew that his card would get him into any of the S divisions. He walked into the room and saw two teens asleep in the corner. They looked about fourteen or fifteen. Both boys, both exactly the same. They both didn’t have shirts on, and Lyle could see the scars on their backs from the beatings he was sure Reins had given them. He had killed Reins earlier in the year.
He shot the camera in the corner and both boys scrambled up. They looked at him surprised by his actions. “Hello boys.” He said smiling at them. “I am your father.”
They eyes him curiously. “Reins said you were dead.” One of the boys said. The other nodded.
“Well, do you want a DNA test?” Lyle asked.
The boys shook their heads no. “We know our mother, her name is Sheridan.”
Lyle looked pale. He had been in – love with Sheridan for his whole life. They had slept together a few times. He had picked up the files from Broots office and was looking them over. Sure enough, the boys were conceived naturally. “She’s alive?” He asked the boys. They nodded.
“She’s in that room.” They pointed to the room next to them. He nodded at them.
“I’ll be back for you two.” He said.
He entered the room where Sheridan was sleeping. She was gorgeous. Lyle sat on the bed next to her and she began to stir. She finally woke up and looked at him. “Lyle!” She gasped. She reached up and stroked his cheek making sure it was him. He kissed her hand gently.
“You never told me about the boys.” He looked at her hurt.
“When Reins found out, he locked me up. It was exactly 15 years ago, when you were still Bobby. They locked me up. I was only allowed out of the Centre at night, and I never tried to escape, I couldn’t do that without our boys.” Lyle hugged her. He shot out the cameras in the room.
“I want you me and the boys to just go. Leave this place once and for all. We will all change our last name and move to some state where the Centre wont find us. We can be a family Sheridan.” He kissed her and she pulled him closer.
“You want us to be together?” She asked him.
He nodded. “I’ve been in – love with you for as long as I can remember Sheridan. Now that we have a reason, our kids, we need to go.”
“Okay.” She replied. “I trust you.”
Lyle smiled and went to get the boys. They all left out a back door that Lyle had known about all along. He had told Broots before what he was doing trusting him not to spill anything to anyone.
Meanwhile...Sidney and Nicholas
Sidney and Nicholas were packing. Sidney had picked up a catalog from the local store of houses for sale and he had found one within a half an hour of Andrea and Jarod that was nice and not too expensive either. A knock sounded at the door and Lyle and Sheridan were standing before him.
“Dad.” Lyle nodded. Sidney smiled at him.
“Who have you brought?” He asked.
“My family.” He replied. “When do you leave to go to Canada? Can we please go with you? I got passports from Broots.”
Sidney nodded. “Your on the run now too?” He asked leading them all into the living room.
Lyle nodded and sat down. “I just want to escape with my family, and my life.”
More soon...I promise!!! Please R & R
The Kids Are Now 6 Months Old
Jarod was working on opening a doctor’s office near where they were living. He had been working on the plans for it for awhile. He would go into one of the empty rooms of the cabin and work on them all day if necessary.
Andrea was getting a lot of help from her mom with the kids. Every day, Catherine would come over and help her out until just after dinner when she would leave.
The owners of the house they were staying at had been an old couple, but both had recently passed away and Jarod and Andrea bought it from their children for a lot less than they would have paid in the US for a house. They were happy to be living there, and since Andrea had changed her last name, no one would ever find her.
One morning, Andrea’s cell phone rang. She still had it, just a different number and no tracking device in it. The only person she had given her number to that was not in Canada was Sidney. “What?” She said in her usual tone when answering the phone. Some things will never change.
“Parker!” It was Sidney.
“Hey Sid. It’s Andrea now.” She replied into the phone.
“Andrea.” He corrected himself.
“So, what’s going on?” She asked him. She told him never to call unless it was an emergency.
“Well, it seems that we have a bit of a situation on our hands. I do have a lot to explain to you, but I need you to promise me you won’t panic.”
“Unless you tell me Jarod is my brother or something like that, I promise I won’t panic.” She replied.
Sidney gave a chuckle. “No no...Jarod is not your brother. Only Lyle and Ethan as far as I know.” Sidney answered. “It is about a different situation. Well, Broots and I have been very bored lately. So, we went looking through the files and found some that we were sure you didn’t know about but should have. They are called the Leo Files and they deal with children, your children.”
Andrea’s hand flew up to cover her mouth and she looked pale. But like she had promised, she did not freak out. “Please go on.” She asked Sidney.
“Okay. Well, the kids are a boy and a girl who are both sixteen. They were twins, both born on July 29th here at the Centre. I have them in my care now. They children are yours and Jarod’s. They both look a lot like Jarod. You would love them Par...Andrea.”
She was crying now. Softly, so not to wake Jarod, but enough to know that she was both sad and happy. “When can I see them?” She asked.
“Whenever you want. I will drive to Vancouver and you can pick them up there. I know the drive will be long for you, but I think they need you.” Sidney explained. “And there is one more thing.” He added.
“What is it?” Parker asked.
“Well, the girl has a friend she is bringing, a girl who is her best friend on the face of the Earth, and she doesn’t speak any English. The two of them have been locked up together forever. I will let your daughter tell you about her, but she will be considered your “foreign exchange” student if you let her come live with you. Broots and I have already gotten her a passport that will work over there in Canada as well as passports for you and your kids. They are untraceable. We will never be able to find you all after we give you them. I know your last name from your mother. She called and told me everything. She is so happy. Now, let’s plan on meeting tomorrow at around 5:00 pm at the border of the countries.” Sidney explained all the while Andrea was silent.
“That sounds good. Oh Sidney, how can I thank you for everything?”
“I will answer that for you at the border.” Sidney replied.
“What does that mean?” Andrea asked surprised.
“You’ll see.”
“Well, ok. Thanks again Sid.”
“Anytime.” He said hanging up.
Jarod stirred and woke up shortly after their conversation ended. He could see Andrea had been crying. “What is it?” He asked.
“Jarod, we have two older kids, they were created by the Centre.”
Jarod shot up. “What?” He looked shocked but remembered that the Centre was capable of anything.
Andrea nodded and looked at him. “Sidney just called to let me know that he has them both in his care. He created passports for everyone in our family and said that it’s safe to stay here in Canada. The kids are also bringing a friend. They couldn’t leave her there. She has been like family to them for their whole lives according to Sidney.” Andrea added.
“This is unbelievable.” Jarod responded. He rubbed Andrea’s back gently and looked out into space. “We have four kids now.”
Andrea nodded and stared at a spot on the wall thinking about her kids. Sid had said that they looked just like Jarod. She wondered what he had meant by that. She couldn’t wait to meet her kids.
She called her mother wondering if Sid had told her about the kids. Catherine was just as shocked as Andrea was to hear the news. She was also very excited to meet her other two grand kids.
Andrea and Jarod began preparing two rooms for the kids, one for the girls and one for their son. The twins were still in the same room as they were, so they didn’t have to worry about changing that just yet. All day long, they moved beds and dressers into the two empty rooms of their house. All in all, the house had 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
The next day, they woke up early and drove to Vancouver. They arrived right on time, at 5:00 pm. Sidney was parked in a limo off to the side of the border. He stepped out and walked to the couple who both embraced him.
“Come over to the limo.” He instructed. “The kids have just woken up.”
The couple followed him and he opened the door. Three teens were huddled together somewhat because they were nervous. The first to look out of the limo was a teenage girl. She saw her mother for the first time in her life. “Mother.” She said softly looking at Andrea.
“She does look a lot like Jarod.” Andrea thought. “Hello.” She said to the girl.
The girl got up and out of the car and threw her arms around Andrea. “Your not ever going to leave me are you?” She asked as tears began to crawl down her face.
“No baby, I won’t ever leave you.” Andrea reassured her.
The girl nodded as she backed out of the embrace and looked at her mother for the first time in her life. She turned and looked at Jarod. They smiled at eachother. “Hello daddy.” She said.
Jarod smiled at the name. “Hello.” He said. “What’s your name?” He asked.
“Clara.” She replied. Her brother stepped out of the car next. “This is Andrew.” She said pointing to her brother. Clara was short, about 5’3, not tall like either of her parents, she got that from Jarod’s mom. She had Jarod’s eyes, same honey color and all. Her hair was pulled back and obviously a light brown. Both her parents had more a dark brown hair color, but she still looked enough like both of them that they were sure they had gotten their kid.
Andrew looked just like Jarod only with color changing eyes. He had the same hair and build as well as stance. “Hi.” He said coming out of the limo. “I knew we would eventually find you.” He walked up to Jarod first and gave him a casual hug. “Dad.” He said looking at him. He did similar with Andrea only giving her more of an embrace. “Mom.” He said smiling at her.
“And in the limo is Nina. She is from the former USSR. Back in 1994, the Centre went there on a visit. Her village was one of a few that had been attacked. She has an inner sense. We have always, all three of us, been able to talk to eachother through that. When she first got here, to the US, she was nervous out of her mind. She was only seven, Andrew and I were six. She had no family, this we were aware of. She was like us, Centre grown. We know she is not related to us because Uncle Lyle did a test to see who exactly we belonged to...”
“Uncle Lyle?” Andrea stopped her. “Do you mean my evil twin brother Lyle? Jerk! He knew about them all along and ..”
“Please let me finish.” Clara requested. Andrea nodded. “Well, Lyle did the tests and she belonged to two pretenders from the former USSR, however, they were both dead. We took it upon ourselves to help her. Ever since, she has been like family with us. Her English is very good, but she is very confused about the outside world. Andrew loves her, more than he has ever loved anyone I think.” Andrew was sitting in the limo with Nina. “All three of us have a special connection, and that is why we had to bring her. Now about Uncle Lyle. He only found out two weeks ago that we were your kids. He knew we were Jarod’s, but he didn’t know we were yours. Once he found out that, he treated us like family. He made sure that Sidney got us to you. He has never been anything but good to us. The only other person at the Centre who knew about us was Reins, and he was the only one who was ever mean. See?” Clara lifted her shirt in the back only to reveal one long whip scar.
“Reins did that?” Andrea asked looking at her daughter’s back.
Clara nodded. “It showed up on Andrew too, even though Reins didn’t hurt him. It is something special about Pretenders like us. We have the inner sense, and we have the ability to feel what the other is feeling as well as this.” Clara pointed to some trees and her finger began glowing like something off of ET. Suddenly fire came from her finger. “I never use it unless necessary.” She explained putting the fire out. “That. And this.” She concentrated and began floating in midair. She put herself down and then did something else. “And this.” She pointed at a rock and moved her finger from side to side. The rock moved too. “We are full of powers. All three of us. However, they are both shy and I am very outgoing.” Clara had explained everything to her parents, who were in shock of her powers. She was a pyro, she could also float and she could move things with her mind as well as hear voices. It was amazing.
The kids finally got Nina out of the car. “Hello.” She said quietly to both of the adults that were standing near her.
Andrea smiled at her and so did Jarod. “Its nice to meet you.” Andrea said.
“Thank you.” She said. She had gotten a bit louder.
“Hi.” Jarod said.
“Hi.” She responded.
“I’m Jarod and this is Andrea.” He said introducing himself and his wife to her. She smiled at the both and nodded in acknowledgement. She was finally loosening up. She was really tall and looked similar to Clara except that she had different hair and her eyes were much darker. She also had higher cheekbones and a bigger nose.
“Now Sid, how can I thank you?” Andrea asked. The twins smiled at their mother. They knew what was coming.
“Well,” Sid began. “I found out something looking at the kids’ DNA. I am your father.”
Andrea gasped and hugged Sidney. “Wow!” She said. “So do you want me to call you dad? Do you want to come live with us?”
“Well, yes, I would like it if you called me dad. And yes, I was going to ask if there were any houses near you because I wanted to bring Nicholas out here.”
“Nicholas?” Andrea asked.
“Yes. My son.” Sidney replied. “His mother and I divorced in 1999, after she found out where I really worked. He recently turned 18 and chose to live with me. I guess it means you have two brothers now, Lyle and Nicholas.” Andrea nodded and kept on smiling at her father. She was so surprised and at the same time happy that she found out who he was.
Just then, Clara’s cell phone went off. “What?” She shouted into it.
“Like mother like daughter.” Jarod said under his breath to his wife. She gave a half grin and watched as her eldest daughter talked on the phone.
“No! Just stop calling me you jerk! We broke up! I can never see you again.” She hung up the phone without saying goodbye and turned it off.
“Like father like daughter.” Andrea said to Jarod under her breath; noting how she didn’t say goodbye.
“Breaking up is so annoying. I was going out with a guy named Jim, he was a 17 year old sweeper at the Centre. We would meet every now and then, hang out and then go our separate ways. Well, he began to bore me so I just dumped him and now he calls 24/7! I need to change my number. The Centre however has no idea I even have a phone. Lyle gave it to me because he said he needed to keep tabs on me. I took the chip out however and switched it with a clean chip that I found so that they couldn’t track me. We escaped a few times with Angelo. That’s why Lyle wanted to keep track of us. Note, this is before he was Uncle Lyle.” Clara explained. “I don’t think I have much use for it anymore.” She frowned and stuck it back in the limo. “Better safe than sorry.”
They all walked over to the car. Sidney said his good-byes and walked back to the limo. He called Lyle from there to let him know that his niece and nephew as well as the foreign girl were safe. Everything was going okay.
After Lyle was off the phone with his father, yes his father...Sidney...He walked down the hall of the Centre fast. He had to get to Broots. Broots had been taking care of him now that Andrea was gone. Lyle wasn’t so bad actually. He claimed it was his new medication, ridilin could work wonders if it could make Lyle tame.
“Broots!” Lyle shouted running into the bald guys office. “Does my sister have any more children?” Lyle walked in a straight line pacing the floor continually. “Do I have any children?”
“Uh umm...I’m not sure.” Broots replied. “I will find out as much as I can for you by tomorrow. I promise.”
Lyle nodded and left. He and his sister always made Broots nervous.
He practically ran down the hall. He entered the room where the kids had been kept and played stupid as to where they were. The sweepers began searching, but with no luck. He commanded that every trace of them be erased before anyone, especially Reins found out the truth.
The three kids were in the back seat and they talked all the way home. At least the twins did. Nina was in the middle and had a twin on each side of her. Andrea and Jarod both noted how Andrew had taken Nina’s hand and was holding it gently between both of his. He was protective of her, but it was different than the way he was about his sister. This was how Jarod was with Andrea.
“You know, you have a brother and sister at the house. They are with your Grandmother.” Andrea explained. “And you can call us mom and dad too. If you want.” She explained to Nina. Nina nodded and gave a faint smile. This was a lot for her to take in.
“How old are they? What are their names?” Clara asked.
“Well, their names are Josh and Alexandra and they are 6 months old. They are twins like you two.”
The twins exchanged glances and smiled. “Then we have already met them.” Clara went on. “Our inner sense allows us to talk to other twins as well as some family members. Like telepathy. I will tell you something that the twins tell me. Just one second.” She closed her eyes and then opened them. “Your mother looks just like you only with a few more wrinkles and gray hair. She also wear bifocals.”
Andrea’s mouth dropped open. “The twins told you all that?”
“Well, their memories did. It’s more like we share memories.” Clara explained. “I knew who you were because of those.” She and Andrea were bonding well all the way home. From time to time, Andrew would talk to Jarod. He was more focused on Nina however, he was worried that she was getting too big of a reality check.
Chapter 10
Home
As they entered the house, Catherine greeted her two other grandkids and their friend warmly. She hugged all three of them and was introduced to each one. When she heard that Nina spoke Russian, she began conversing with her.
“You speak Russian mom?” Andrea questioned her.
“You would be surprised Andi. For 5 years, I worked with a Russian ballet and I learned from them.” She smiled at Nina. “I think we will get along great.” She told the girl in Russian. “I was afraid I would forget everything.” They both laughed at that and all of them entered the living room to talk.
After everyone was done talking and Catherine had headed home, Andrea and Jarod showed everyone to their rooms. Andrea went to show the girls where they were sleeping, and Jarod led Andrew to his room. At this, Andrew and Nina frowned. “What’s wrong?” Andrea asked the two of them.
“Please tell her.” Andrew said not comfortable telling his mother what was going on.
“He sleeps with Nina. They don’t have sex. I told him I would kill him if he did such a thing with her, but neither can sleep without the other. It has been this way for years now. Usually, they give us three cots at the Centre and we just sleep on the ground, but once, they put Andrew and Nina in a cell together with a queen sized bed. I told Andrew through our telepathy what was going on, Reins wanted him to get Nina pregnant with a pretender. She was only 16 at the time. When Andrew told Nina what was going on, they put on a great ‘show’ for Reins. Sure, they acted like they were doing what he wanted them to do, but they knew what would happen if they did have a baby, Reins would take it from them and they would never get to see it. They decided that they were too young anyway. So, we are all staying virgin until we are sure that we are ready to face the consequences. Pregnancy, AIDS, Herpes, so much can happen to people who screw around too much.” She explained. “Well, they wont get to sleep without eachother, so if you choose to put them in separate rooms, they will still try to be together. Once, Reins tried that too. It didn’t work very well. All night Nina cried and Andrew had nightmares. It was terrible. I can sleep fine alone, in – fact, I prefer that because I am restless, but they are like an old married couple. So please, just trust them.” Clara begged for her brother.
Andrew was behind Nina and whispered something in her ear that made her smile. Clara heard in her telepathic way and smiled and winked at Nina. She was glad her brother loved someone the way he loved Nina, and Nina was her best friend, so she was happy.
“Its fine with me.” Jarod said.
“Same here.” Andrea agreed. “Your old enough to make choices about who you sleep with, just please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Thanks.” Andrew said to both his parents.
“Yes, thank you.” Nina said. Andrea smiled at her. She had earned some trust, this much she was sure of.
Andrea led the kids up to their rooms. “This is your room.” She told Clara who slowly walked in. “We had set it up for two girls thinking both of you would be in here, but we can give you a queen size bed if you want one.” Andrea explained.
“Maybe later. If I get any taller.” Clara joked. Her mother smiled at her.
“And over here is your room.” She told Nina and Andrew. There was one queen sized bed in the room along with a dresser and a computer. There was a computer in Clara’s room too.
“Thank you.” Andrew said walking in with Nina at his side. It was a nice room for them.
“I’ll grab you all some pajamas.” Andrea said walking into her room. “What do you all usually sleep in?” She asked them.
“Nothing.” Andrew answered for them all.
“What?!” Andrea said shocked.
“Just kidding.” Andrew said.
“Cute. But not funny!” Andrea said giving him a half grin. “Seriously.”
“Well, for me, it’s a pair of sweats and that’s all. For the girls, they usually wear full pajamas.” Andrea nodded and went to get them their pajamas out of her room.
Her and Jarod left them to change as they put the babies to bed. Jarod had been with them the whole time. He had already gotten Josh to bed. “Alex needs to be fed.” He said handing her to Andrea. “I already changed her and she is still crying.” He said.
Andrea nodded and began to breast feed the baby. She rocked in the rocking chair with her for about fifteen minutes and the child was gone. She handed her to Jarod who put her to bed. “I think I will go and see how the older teens are doing.” She told him. He nodded.
She walked up the stairs and peeked into Andrew and Nina’s room. Andrew was wearing only his sweats and was sitting on the bed with Nina sitting beside him. They were speaking in Russian and they would kiss in – between sentences. She left them and went to Clara’s room.
Clara sat on the bed closest to the window and was looking out. She watched as cars went by and people walked by. She saw her mother peeking in and smiled. “Come in.” She said to her. “I’ve never seen the outside like this before. Except once when Lyle actually let me go on a date, but that was the only time.” She smiled at her mom. “I guess I always imagined this day, and it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. There was always that fear that you wouldn’t want us.” She frowned. “Or that one of you had died.” She was tracing the carpet with her big toe.
“We could never have not wanted you.” Andrea said sitting down next to her. “Your ours, and we love you.” She said putting an arm around her. Clara’s doe brown eyes looked into her icy blue ones and she saw that her mom was telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“I know.” Clara said truthfully. She rested her head on her mom’s shoulder. “I just wish we could have been with you when we were younger. We were told lie after lie by Reins.” She explained. “When Lyle found out about the project, he was interested, but when he found out who we were, you should have seen his face. All he said was if anything happened to us his sister would kill him. He knew it was true too. He looked freaked out. Sidney knew at the exact moment Lyle knew, and it was kind of like a family reunion. Reins has been missing for a long time. I think Lyle may have finally killed him.” Clara let out a sigh. “The Centre...What a terrible place. And to think that that’s where I was created.” She frowned.
“Let’s not think about that now. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have tomorrow.” Andrea got up to leave but Clara began to protest.
“Please stay with me.” She begged. “I will fall asleep if you’re here. At the Centre, my nurse Oksana came and usually read with me or told me stories. She was the closest thing I had to a mom. And now that I have one, just please stay until I fall asleep.” Clara said getting into the bed and patting some space next to it for her mom to join her.
“Okay.” Andrea replied. “Just let me get a book.” Clara smiled at her mom happily.
“Have you read any of these?” She asked, showing Clara the books she had. There were only a few.
“Yea, I have read them all. Lyle took us to the library to read a lot. But that’s ok, you can tell me how you and daddy met and ended up married.”
“Okay.” Andrea nodded and joined her daughter on the bed. “Well, we met when I was a baby. I would cry and cry and Grandma Catherine couldn’t calm me down. One day, she took me into a room with a bunch of kids, and Jarod began talking to me and I just quieted down. I was about 3. After that, we just began to grow up together. We had a ton in common in that we were both Centre children. I was raised outside the Centre, but I began to practically live there as I got older. I knew all the bad things they did by the time I was 18. It hurt to know that I was a part of that. Mr. Parker, the man I had thought was my father had told me it was all to help the world, but I should have known better. Jarod escaped the Centre one day, and dad...Mr. Parker told me I should join the department that was searching for him. It was basically Sidney, Broots, and I looking for Jarod. There was a time when I hated Jarod more than anyone one the planet, but one day I practically had an emotional breakdown. It was about a year maybe a year and a half ago. I got on an airplane and left for Canada. Sitting in front of me was Jarod. We went out to dinner, had an amazing night together, came out here, got pregnant, got married, and found out I had two more kids. The rest is ancient history.” She looked down and saw that Clara was half asleep.
“Good story.” Clara mumbled. “Thanks. Good night.” She closed her eyes and was asleep.
Andrea gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Sleep tight baby.” She whispered. She went to check on the other two. Nina and Andrew were asleep. Andrew had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her hands were on top of his. They looked happy just like that. Clara was right. Andrea thought. They are like an old married couple. She smiled and went back down to Jarod. “All asleep.” She announced. Jarod smiled at her. They went to bed right after that.
The Centre
7:00 in the morning
“What did you find Broots?” Lyle asked.
“Well, you have kids.” Broots told him.
Lyle frowned. “Where are they?” He asked.
“S-45” He replied.
“Thanks.” Lyle said heading over there. He knew that his card would get him into any of the S divisions. He walked into the room and saw two teens asleep in the corner. They looked about fourteen or fifteen. Both boys, both exactly the same. They both didn’t have shirts on, and Lyle could see the scars on their backs from the beatings he was sure Reins had given them. He had killed Reins earlier in the year.
He shot the camera in the corner and both boys scrambled up. They looked at him surprised by his actions. “Hello boys.” He said smiling at them. “I am your father.”
They eyes him curiously. “Reins said you were dead.” One of the boys said. The other nodded.
“Well, do you want a DNA test?” Lyle asked.
The boys shook their heads no. “We know our mother, her name is Sheridan.”
Lyle looked pale. He had been in – love with Sheridan for his whole life. They had slept together a few times. He had picked up the files from Broots office and was looking them over. Sure enough, the boys were conceived naturally. “She’s alive?” He asked the boys. They nodded.
“She’s in that room.” They pointed to the room next to them. He nodded at them.
“I’ll be back for you two.” He said.
He entered the room where Sheridan was sleeping. She was gorgeous. Lyle sat on the bed next to her and she began to stir. She finally woke up and looked at him. “Lyle!” She gasped. She reached up and stroked his cheek making sure it was him. He kissed her hand gently.
“You never told me about the boys.” He looked at her hurt.
“When Reins found out, he locked me up. It was exactly 15 years ago, when you were still Bobby. They locked me up. I was only allowed out of the Centre at night, and I never tried to escape, I couldn’t do that without our boys.” Lyle hugged her. He shot out the cameras in the room.
“I want you me and the boys to just go. Leave this place once and for all. We will all change our last name and move to some state where the Centre wont find us. We can be a family Sheridan.” He kissed her and she pulled him closer.
“You want us to be together?” She asked him.
He nodded. “I’ve been in – love with you for as long as I can remember Sheridan. Now that we have a reason, our kids, we need to go.”
“Okay.” She replied. “I trust you.”
Lyle smiled and went to get the boys. They all left out a back door that Lyle had known about all along. He had told Broots before what he was doing trusting him not to spill anything to anyone.
Meanwhile...Sidney and Nicholas
Sidney and Nicholas were packing. Sidney had picked up a catalog from the local store of houses for sale and he had found one within a half an hour of Andrea and Jarod that was nice and not too expensive either. A knock sounded at the door and Lyle and Sheridan were standing before him.
“Dad.” Lyle nodded. Sidney smiled at him.
“Who have you brought?” He asked.
“My family.” He replied. “When do you leave to go to Canada? Can we please go with you? I got passports from Broots.”
Sidney nodded. “Your on the run now too?” He asked leading them all into the living room.
Lyle nodded and sat down. “I just want to escape with my family, and my life.”
More soon...I promise!!! Please R & R
