Childhood Fantasies by KB
Summary: A pretend as a doctor leaves Jarod with more than just patients to take care of.


Categories: Indefinite Timeline Characters: Broots, Jarod, Lyle, Miss Parker, Mr Parker, Mr Raines, Original Character, Other Centre Character, Sam, Sydney
Genres: General
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 8 Completed: Yes Word count: 41609 Read: 32675 Published: 28/05/05 Updated: 28/05/05

1. Prologue by KB

2. Part 1 by KB

3. Part 2 by KB

4. Part 3 by KB

5. Part 4 by KB

6. Part 5 by KB

7. Part 6 by KB

8. Epilogue by KB

Prologue by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Prologue


Sitting down at the table in the cafeteria, Jarod looked at the food in front of him. Not particularly appetizing, he had to admit, but he was hungry enough to make it look and smell better than it really was. Picking up the small milk carton he was about to open it when a loudspeaker began to make an announcement above his head.

"Dr. Jarod Kind to emergency."

Sighing, Jarod picked up the tray and dumped his uneaten lunch into the trash before leaving the room at a rapid pace, one hand pulling the stethoscope out of the pocket of his white coat and putting it around his neck.

* * * *


"What's going on?"

"Car accident. The kids are in room two."

He nodded and headed over immediately to find several nurses gathered around the two occupied tables.

"What do we have?"

"Little girl of about four and a boy of twelve months. They were in the back when the car was rammed."

"And the parents?"

"Next door." The nurse looked up. "They're doing everything they can."

Jarod nodded again, recognizing what she was trying to avoid telling him, and then approached the first table. On it lay a little girl, a brace holding her head in position, but the machines to which she was attached showed Jarod that she was alive.

"Assessment?"

"Broken leg, but that's the only obvious injury. We've ordered x-rays."

"Good." He glanced over at the other table, on which lay an even smaller figure of the baby boy. "And here?"

"No apparent injuries but we've ordered x-rays for him too."

Seeing that his colleague was checking over the girl, Jarod turned his attention to the boy, gently feeling each limb. As he pressed down on the small stomach, the baby opened his eyes and cooed gently.

"What the...?" The nurse turned startled eyes on the tall doctor.

"That's a pretty good sign," Jarod grinned. He looked down into the eyes of the baby that were almost as dark as his own and watched as the child bubbled. "I think he's pretty much okay, but I still want to get the x-rays done." He glanced over to the other side of the room. "How's she doing?"

"Just woke up, Doctor."

He stepped over and looked down at the little girl. Again, dark brown eyes met his but there was a look of pain in these.

"Hi, sweetie." He brushed the hair away from her face. "My name's Jarod. Can you tell me yours?"

"Bronwyn."

"And what's your brother's name?"

"Jamie."

"Good girl, Bronwyn. I want you to tell me, does anything hurt?"

"My leg." Her eyes filled with tears. "It hurts bad."

"I know it does." He placed a gentle hand on her forehead and the other over her hand. "Anywhere else?"

She tried to shake her head.

"Okay, Bronwyn." Jarod glanced up at the nurse, nodding towards the mask that she held in her hand. "We're going to give you something to make it better. Just shut your eyes for me."

He watched as they closed, the long lashes making half-circles on the girl's pale cheeks, and then at the mask that the nurse was holding above the slightly open mouth, making sure that the rubber of the mouthpiece didn't touch her. Slowly Jarod felt the hand that he was holding relax and kept an eye on the monitor, watching as her pulse slowed. Then he looked up at the man standing in the doorway with the large machine and nodded.

* * * *


"What have you got, Jarod?"

"A miracle."

"Really?" The doctor standing in the doorway raised an eyebrow and walked in, sitting opposite him. "Got any to spare? I could do with a few."

"I guess you didn't save them, huh?"

She shook her head. "Their injuries were just too severe. Massive internal bleeds with just about every organ ruptured - " she shook her head. "And the moron that hit them will probably lose his license for six months, if that."

"Leaving two orphaned children."

Dr. Childs brushed back a stray strand of her blond hair and looked over at him, a hint of smile on her face. "So what's your miracle?"

"One child with no injuries whatever and the other with only a minimally displaced facture of the proximal tibia, i.e. greenstick fracture. From that."

He tossed a photo of the mangled heap of metal across the desk to her and she picked it up.

"Miracle is about the best word."

"Amazing, isn't it?" He stared at a point above her head for a few minutes. "But I do have one problem."

"And that is?"

"I'll assume you haven't had time to do any investigation."

"No, but you obviously have, so what's the problem?"

"No family."

"What, none?"

"Nothing that we could find. We're doing well to get a surname. Apparently the house they lived in was repossessed this morning, both sets of grandparents were in their graves before the children were born and both parents were only children. Oh, and neither parent seems to have left a will."

"Insurance?"

Jarod shook his head. "So not only do we have two orphans, Sam, but they're penniless orphans in the truest sense of the word."

* * * *


"Dr. Kind, do you have a few minutes?"

"For you, Ruth?" He grinned down at the nurse as he walked into the children's ward and stopped by her desk. "Always."

"Then would you mind stopping in to see your newest patients? Bronwyn's been asking for you."

"She has?" Jarod's brow furrowed. "For me, not her parents?"

Ruth looked sad. "She doesn't seem to remember she even had any."

"Post-traumatic amnesia?"

"It looks like it. Anyway, will you go in?"

"Sure." He turned away and then looked back. "Has she asked for her brother?"

"That's the strange part. Yes, she has."

"Then I'll take him in with me."

Walking into the room, he scooped the small boy up out of his bed, smiling as the baby immediately clutched at his tie.

"Hey, kiddo, leave that alone! I need it!"

"Jarod!" The little girl looked up from the book she was coloring as he walked into the room. "I was hoping you'd come."

"Hi, Bronwyn." He sat down beside his bed. "Somebody else wanted to say hello as well."

"Jamie!" Bouncing on the bed, Bronwyn tried to get a look at the face of the boy but she couldn't manage it until Jarod put him down on the bed, knowing he couldn't get over the raised sides.

The man leaned back in his chair, a look of slight confusion on his face. He had thought that perhaps his question in the emergency room had prompted the girl's remembrance of the fact that she had a brother, but she could quite obviously recognize his face, so why didn't she seem to remember that she had parents?

"How much longer do I have to stay here?"

He blinked as she asked the question, looking down at her with a smile. "Until that's better anyway." Jarod tapped lightly on the cast. "Then, we'll see."

"I don't like 'we'll see'." The girl's bottom lip protruded. "Mommy used to say that before, too, and it always meant no."

Jarod's eyebrows shot up. "You remember Mommy?"

"Of course. She and Daddy were in the car, and now they're with the angels."

He glanced up to see that Ruth, standing in the doorway, had heard the words as well, but it was her next words that struck him dumb.

"But Mommy said that a nice doctor called Jarod would look after us and find us somewhere nice for us to live."

Ruth came over to the bed. "Bronwyn, do you mean that Mommy told you what was going to happen?"

"Yup." The girl picked up a pencil and started to color in again, but then she looked up, a puzzled expression on her face. "But there was supposed to be a doctor with yellow hair as well, and I haven't seen her yet."

Jarod leaned forward, picking up the boy as he was about to crawl over the picture. "Do you know what this doctor's name was?"

"Hmm." The girl sat back against the pillow for a moment and then looked up at him. "I forgot." She giggled. "But it was like a man's name, only it was a lady."

She turned back to her drawing.

* * * *


"Okay, what the heck was that?" Ruth demanded.

"I wish I knew." Jarod sat on the edge of the desk. "She knew. She knew about me, about the accident, her parents..."

"And who's the doctor? The one with 'yellow hair'?"

"Jarod, have you got a sec?"

They both turned to see Dr. Childs approaching, her hair gleaming golden in the lights from overhead.

"Sam?" As the word came out of his mouth, his jaw dropped and he turned back to Ruth to see a similar expression on her face.

"Uh, Jarod?" The other doctor came up. "Is something wrong?" As he continued to stare at her, she clicked her fingers in front of his eyes. "Hello?"

He blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"I just got this and I thought it might interest you. Seems those parents did leave a will after all - it was in the woman's purse. It's blood-marked but still readable."

"So why are you telling me?"

"Sitting comfortably?"

He nodded, glancing over at Ruth before looking back at Sam.

"You're their legal guardian."
Part 1 by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Part 1


He stared down at the piece of paper in amazement and then back up at both women. "But… how? I’ve never met these people."

"Sure?"

"I don't know the names."

Dr. Childs pulled out two cards from the file and handed them to him. "Driver's licenses. Recognize the faces?"

Jarod examined the photos carefully and then shook his head definitively. "Never seen them before in my life."

"Well, they know you. They must, or they wouldn't have left the kids to you."

He looked back over his shoulder to where he could see the girl on the bed in her room, sound asleep. Then he looked up at Ruth. "Are you finished your shift?"

"In five minutes, yes."

"Good. Come to my office then. We need to discuss this."

"I'll say."

* * * *


"So you're saying that the girl knows about her parents and the accident?"

"And me, and the fact that I'm going to, as she put it, 'find somewhere nice for us to live'." He looked up and waved Ruth into the room. "And she also mentioned something about a nice doctor with yellow hair, who had a man's name, but was a lady." Jarod eyed Dr. Childs. "I think we just found our culprit."

Ruth sat down. "She was talking in her sleep, just before, and I heard the name 'Sam'." She glanced at the female doctor. "It has to be you."

"What is going on?" Sam demanded.

Jarod leaned back in his chair. "As I said to Ruth, I wish I knew." He looked down at the photos. "I've definitely never seen these people - and I do mean seen, not only met. I've never laid eyes on them."

"Well, this is as clear as day." Sam picked up the will. "'We hereby leave custody of our children to Dr. Jarod Kind, who will take care of them and make a home for them with himself.' Doesn't get much plainer than that."

Ruth looked up. "Is that all?"

"Everything. It's like they had nothing left to leave."

"They probably didn't." Jarod picked up the paper on which he had been making notes and glanced over it. "I told you about the repossession. Well, I found some bank account details and every cent was withdrawn last week."

He circled a total on the page and pushed it over to them. Seeing the number, Sam picked up the folder and opened it, withdrawing a bundle of receipts, held together with another slip of paper and a bulldog clip.

"Anyone be surprised if I said that the total of the receipts we found in the purse with the will - and which are for food and diapers - was the exact same amount as that withdrawal?"

"Not really." Jarod looked up. "I'm beginning to develop a theory."

"Let's hear it."

"It's pretty outlandish."

"We'll laugh at you if we think it's necessary."

"Thanks." He grinned briefly. "Okay, I'm beginning to believe that there's some sort of psychic power at work here."

He waited.

"You're not laughing."

"If I didn't think it was the most plausible option, I would be." Ruth sat back in her chair and looked at him. "I began to get the same idea when Bronwyn was talking and that," she waved her hand at the papers on the desk, "seems to confirm it."

"Sam?"

She nodded. "Weird as it sounds, and I'm a huge skeptic by the way, I can't help but think that it's the only possibility."

"There's one way to test it," the man put in suddenly.

"Really?"

Jarod nodded. "She's never seen you - she admitted that much herself. So let's take you up and see if she'll know you."

* * * *


"Hi sweetie."

Jarod walked into the room and watched as the girl looked up, beaming. Her face was covered in the ice cream that she was finishing.

"Want some, Jarod?"

"No, it's fine." He smiled as he sat down. "You eat it."

The little girl scooped the last traces out of the bowl, licked the spoon clean and then glanced up at him. "Did you find the letter from Mommy?"

"Which letter, Bronwyn?"

"The one that says you're going to look after us."

Keeping the expression of amazement away from his face, Jarod nodded. "Yes, we found it."

"And is Sam coming up to see me?"

"Sam?"

"The lady I said about before. The doctor."

"Actually, she is."

"Goody." The girl began to bounce on the bed again and Jarod grabbed the bowl as it turned upside down.

"Hey, careful! You don't want to waste it."

"You'll give me more."

"Oh, will I?" Jarod laughed. "And when?"

"When we get to where we're going to live, 'cos you like ice cream, too, even more than me!" The girl glanced up to see the doctor standing in the doorway.

"Hi Sam."

Jarod raised an eyebrow as he looked up at her, but the doctor concealed her shock and walked over to the bed. "Hi Bronwyn. You wanted to get to know me, huh?"

"When Mommy told me about Jarod, I saw you, too."

"Where did you see us, Bronwyn?" Jarod placed the bowl onto the table as he looked down at her.

"In here." The little girl tapped the side of her head. "Where Mommy always said I have my magic picture room."

Jarod sat back in the chair, watching as Sam leaned against the wall. "And did Mommy have one of those too?"

"Yup." The girl smiled. "But she said that only the girls in our family have them."

"And did you tell anybody else about it?"

The little girl shook her head so that her brown curls danced. "Mommy always said that the only people I should ever tell were you, Sam and Ruth."

"And so you've never told anybody else?"

"Nope." She looked down at the tip of her nose, crossing her eyes in the process, and tried to lick the ice cream off it. A tiny frown appeared on her face as she struggled but couldn't reach it. Finally she looked up at Jarod.
"Help."

He laughed and picked up a cloth, wetting it at the sink, then gently washed the remains of the ice cream off her face. "You'll have to learn to eat it more neatly."

"You make a mess too, sometimes." She giggled. "You even spilled it on your pants once, when you weren't paying attention."

He laughed again, somewhat awkwardly, but remained silent.

* * * *


"Well, that explains everything!" Jarod spoke sarcastically and threw his hands up in the air as the two of them walked down the hall. "Suddenly I get landed with a family?"

"Come on, she's gorgeous."

"I don't dispute that." Jarod glanced at her. "And I have no problems with it either, but it's a little unexpected, wouldn't you say?" He grinned. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you seem to be included in this circle of ours."

"I...what?"

"Think about it. When she learned about me, she saw you."

He walked into his office and she followed. As she was about to continue speaking, there was a knock at the door.

"Uh, excuse me, Dr. Kind?"

Jarod looked up to see a man in a courier's uniform. "Yes?"

"I've been asked to deliver these to you."

"These?"

The man reached down and picked up several large parcels, placing them on the chair in the room. Then he held out a clipboard. "I just need your signature here."

Jarod signed the form and nodded his thanks, watching as the man left before glancing down at the parcels.

"Why do I get the feeling...?"

"That this is connected with your kids," Sam finished for him as she settled into a chair on the other side of the desk.

He raised an eyebrow. "My kids?"

"They are now."

Groaning, Jarod dropped into a chair. "I knew I should have called in sick this morning."

There was a brief pause, before the woman spoke again.

"Are you going to open them or not?"

Jarod looked up at her and grinned weakly. "If I don't, does that get me out of it?"

"No." She shook her head and picked up the will. "This gets you in so deep that nothing can get you out." Sam smiled. "Face it, Jarod. You are now the official guardian of two small, adorable kids."

He rolled his eyes. "You have no idea of softening things, do you?"

She laughed. "No, not really. Not if it helps you face reality."

"You forgot one important fact, though," Jarod told her.

"And that is?"

"One of my kids is psychic and knows everything about me." He groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"So open the parcels and maybe you'll learn things about both of them," Sam urged.

"That's the most sensible thing you've said all day."

He grabbed the first package and placed it on the desk, taking a letter opener and slitting the top.

"So, what's in it?"

"Clothes." Jarod looked up. "Girl's clothes." He reached in and pulled out a slip of paper. "And a note. 'So that they don't get damaged in the crash.'" He rolled his eyes again. "This is getting downright freaky."

"Not really. It fits your theory." Sam took a second package and slit it open.

"Boy's clothes?"

"Just the right size for a baby of Jamie's age." She reached in and pushed some of them aside. "And diapers."

"This mother really knew what she was about." Jarod's mouth narrowed. "If they’d had insurance, I would have suspected a scam of some sort, but they don't."

Sam handed him the third package - a thin, rectangular parcel.

"So shall we guess what's in this before I open it?" the doctor proposed.

"What do you suspect?"

"Necessary paperwork. Birth certificates and the like." He looked up. "The things I've been trying to find since I finished putting the cast on her leg and couldn't."

He opened the parcel and eased out the folder, opening it to reveal the birth certificates and then looked up at her. "Gee, maybe I'm psychic too."

"Don't even suggest it." She rolled her eyes before looking at him again. "Anything else?"

"Filled out adoption papers, medical history of both kids, location of two bank accounts that seem to have been set up to support the kids and which are under their names not those of their parents, forms so that my signature can be used to access the funds," he turned to the last page. "And a letter."

"From?"

"Do you need to ask?"

"So read it."

"'Dear Dr. Jarod Kind'," he looked up. "Positive start."

"Get on with it, Jarod," she prompted impatiently.

"'You don't know us but we know a thing or two about you and are well aware that we can trust you. For this reason, we are leaving you the care and custody of our two children. This bundle of paperwork and the other two parcels will provide you with what you need to take care of them for the short-term and we are relying on your generosity for them, long-term. Knowing what we do of you, we believe that you will do all that you can for them.'"

He stopped and looked up at the other occupant of the office. "I'm sorry but this is just creepy."

"I agree." Sam looked serious. "They're basically throwing their children on to you, with no certainty that you'll even take care of them." She looked up at him closely. "You will though, won't you?"

"How could I not?" Jarod glanced at her. "Especially considering the way that Bronwyn is around me."

"And I think that, despite what she said about only women in the family having the 'room' in their heads, Jamie knew something about you, too."

Jarod shrugged. "It could be possible. He certainly didn't seem scared to see me when he woke up." He glanced down and then up again, his mouth open.

"What? What is it?"

"'Bronwyn is already well aware of who you are and is looking forward to seeing you. We have done our best to give Jamie some knowledge of you as well, so that he can get used to you being around instead of us.'"

"Okay, that's just too unreal!" Sam got out of the chair and began to pace his office. Glancing over, she saw a twinkle in Jarod's eye. "What?"

"'Despite the shock that it will be to her, we hope that Dr. Samantha Childs will also be willing to help you with the children when you require it and, for this reason, we have encouraged them both to be aware of her also.'" Jarod glanced up. "And you were trying to get out of it? You're in just as deep as me."

"No way..." She dropped back into the seat and stared at him.

"'The only reason that we have not given you joint custody of the children is that Samantha's occupation is likely to make her less able to spend time with them.'"

He eyed her and she grinned faintly. "I get the sneaky suspicion that they're trying to play Cupid at the same time."

"Don't even go there." Jarod grinned. "I'm getting two kids. I don't even want to start thinking about a wife as well." He laughed. "But you're welcome to visit..."

"Thanks." She looked up. "Is that it?"

"A nice farewell and a wish that we make sure the kids grow up knowing that their parents loved them." He fell silent and swallowed. "The ink of the last words has run, as though something dropped on them."

"Tears?"

"They've just given up their kids. Could you get through a letter like that without breaking down? I don't think I could."

The phone rang, startling both occupants, and Jarod turned on the speaker.

"Jarod Kind."

"Dr. Kind? This is Children's Ward, Helen Daley speaking."

"Yes, Helen. What can I do for you?"

"Bronwyn asked if you were going to come up and see her before you left."

"I certainly had every intention of it."

"And she asked if you could bring a bear that she said you just got. I'm not too clear on that part, actually."

"That's okay." Jarod put one hand into the parcel and pulled out the stuffed toy, looking down at it. "I understand."

"Good. We'll see you soon then."

He disconnected the call and glanced over at Sam. "I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with a girl who's that good."

"You'd better get ready to deal with it, Jarod." She stood up. "Those two small orphaned children are depending on you." Silently she walked through the door and shut it behind her.

* * * *


"Jarod?"

Bronwyn’s voice was sleepy as she looked up at him through drowsy eyes and he put the bear into her arms.

"Here, sweetheart."

"Thanks." She snuggled down in the bed and then looked up at him again. "Will you stay till I'm asleep?"

"Sure." He sat down in the chair beside the bed and then reached over to cover her properly as she lay facing him.

"Jarod?"

"Yes?"

"You are going to take care of us, like Mommy promised, aren't you?"

He bent down and gently kissed her. "Of course I am."

"Mommy said that now, when we were with you, the Centre would never find you so that we'd be safe." Her eyes slipped shut as she finished the sentence and he was left staring at the small girl in amazement.

* * * *

"This is Sydney."

"Can you do me a favour?"

"Jarod?"

"Who else would it be, Sydney?" Jarod's voice contained a hint of frustration as he watched the baby boy sleep.

"It's just...you've never asked me that before."

"Well, I'm asking now."

"Only if you return it, Jarod."

"And how could I do that, Miss Parker?"

"You come back here, we'll do your favour."

He laughed softly. "Keep dreaming." Jarod leaned forward. "Sydney, in return for the things I've given you, I want you to do this for me."

"Tell me what it is."

"I want you to find out if a couple named Taylor ever had connections with the Centre. And if they knew about me."

"Taylor?" He could hear the surprise in Miss Parker's tones. "Why would they...?"

"They just might." Jarod laughed softly. "And, as you aren't going to find any leads on me for a while, I figured you could use your time productively." He disconnected the call, still chuckling.

As the little boy began to cry softly, Jarod slipped the phone into his pocket and walked over to the small bed, picking him up and holding the baby close to his chest.

"Okay, Jamie. I'm here."

He patted the small back and felt the child relax immediately, the sounds ceasing as the infant slept again. Jarod walked over to the window, and stared down at the city that was spread out below him. He liked bigger cities; they always gave him a greater feeling of anonymity. However, he couldn't help but feel convinced by Bronwyn's statement. His daughter's statement, he reflected with a faint grin. It seemed amazing that twenty-four hours could present him with all this. In fact it was even less. Jarod glanced at his watch. Less than twelve hours had passed since he had received the call to go to the emergency room.

"Dr. Kind? Are you planning to stay all night?"

He turned to see the nurse in the doorway. "No, Helen, I wasn't." Gently, Jarod placed the small boy back in the bed and walked over to the door.

"Did I understand right in briefing - these kids are yours?"

Jarod chuckled softly. "Well, they weren't this morning, but apparently so." He could feel the amazed eyes of the nurse on his back as he headed down the hall to the elevators.

* * * *


Jarod paced the length of the small hotel room, his eyes unfocused, his mind thinking only of the two children in the nearby hospital. It was already early morning – he would have to go back on duty again in only a few hours – but he had been unable to rest, torn about the decision that was confronting him.

The thought of adopting children was disquieting. His own perceived insufficiency as a father was balanced by the kind of life the Centre was forcing him to live. He couldn’t possibly uproot the children whenever the Centre loomed, and yet the thought of remaining in one place and leaving himself so open to capture was terrifying.

Without realizing, he pulled on his jacket and slipped his feet into his shoes before pocketing his wallet, keys and hospital ID. Ignoring his car, he strolled down the street, the puddles from the previous day’s rain reflecting the pink of the sky as the sun rose, and the scent of wet pavements filled his nostrils.

A tall gray building stood almost next to the hospital. This was the city’s Home for Orphaned and Deserted Children, and Jarod stopped to peer in through the tall gates at the bare asphalt playground inside. No lights illuminated the numerous levels, and the whole place had an atmosphere about it so similar to the Centre that Jarod found it hard to stop himself from shuddering.

Only a few paces away, the hospital was already partly lit up, cleaners, the kitchen and the night shift still hard at work. Entering, Jarod made his way into the building, showing the pass he had been given when he had come to stop an insurance scam that had been being perpetrated by one of the doctors. Somehow, he found himself heading for the children’s ward. Helen was sitting at the central desk and looked up when he came out of the stairwell, her expression immediately concerned.

"Did somebody call you?"

"No," he assured her softly. "It’s okay."

She nodded, somewhat uncertainly, and he could feel her eyes on him as he quietly let himself into the room in which Bronwyn lay, her uninjured leg tangled in the covers. Gently smoothing her hair, he lightly kissed her forehead, seeing a slight line disappear as he straightened up. Delicately straightening the covers, he pulled them up over her and saw her snuggle under them without waking. Picking up the folder that hung on the end of the bed, he opened it to check the temperature and pulse figures.

When they proved to be satisfactory, he slipped out and headed into the other room and leaned over the bed, seeing that Jamie was awake and staring at the ceiling. The boy pulled himself up using the bars and held out his arms, his hands opening and closing, revealing his desire for a cuddle. Smiling, Jarod swung the boy up into his arms and sat on a rocking chair beside the window. With the room in darkness, the rising sun was clearly visible over the city, and the first cars were driving the streets, heading for work. Jamie’s little arms curled around his neck and his head came to rest on Jarod's chest, snuggling against the man.

Jarod looked down to see the boy’s eyes were closed, his expression peaceful. A distant ringing made him look up again to see lights go on in the Home next door. Jarod found suddenly that his arms had tightened around the boy on his lap. The thought of subjecting either of these children, who had been given into his care, to the regimented lifestyle that was starting a new day before his eyes as he saw the doors open and residents march, rather than run, into the grassless yard for exercises, was horrifying and, he realized suddenly, impossible. Jamie squawked in his arms, the baby’s brown eyes opening in surprise, as Jarod tightened his grasp briefly, before realizing what he had done and releasing his hold.

Instantly forgiving, Jamie tugged on Jarod's tie, pulling it loose until the man removed it from around his neck to let the boy play with it. Smiling, he looked down into the boy’s eager expression as Jamie beamed up at him and giggled as Jarod gently tickled his tummy. The obvious trust in the child’s eyes only emphasized the decision he had already made – the children were his and nothing, now, would change that.

When Helen appeared with Jamie’s breakfast, Jarod handed the boy over and headed into the other bedroom, where he could see that Bronwyn had already finished eating and was busy drawing.

"What's that, Bronwyn?" He looked down at the picture she was now holding up to him.

"It's our house, where we're going to live now."

"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow. "And where is it?"


"Close by, so that Sam can come to stay and you can keep working here."

"And who says I'm...?" He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the door was still closed.

"Mommy said that, when we were together, you'd stop doing all different jobs and stay here so that you could look after us."

Jarod smiled and moved over to sit on the bed. "Your mommy was very clever."

The girl looked up at him and then threw her arms around his neck. "So you will? You promise? 'Cos Mommy said you'd have to think about it."

"I did think about it. I thought about it last night."

She grinned and touched the dark circles under his eyes, the result of his night of deep thought and furious pacing. "You look like you were awake all night. Mommy and Daddy looked like that, too, before the crash."

He wrapped his arms around her, his face becoming a little sad as he thought about what those parents must have suffered. "I bet they did."

* * * *


Jarod slipped in behind the wheel of his car and sat thoughtfully staring through the windscreen for several moments before starting the engine. He steered the vehicle out of the parking lot and turned to head for the hotel where he'd been staying to complete the pretend that had necessitated his work at the hospital and for which, he reflected thankfully, he had received no publicity at all.

Turning several corners, he stopped at a red light and then glanced up, his mind taking in the 'For Sale' sign that pointed down a nearby street. Something, instinct, made him turn down it as the light changed and he pulled up in front of a small cottage. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the drawing that the little girl had insisted he take so that he would know the house when he saw it. Well, he had seen it and now he knew it. Looking up in time to see somebody come out of the front door, Jarod got out of his car and walked over.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Are you the estate agent?"

"Yes, I am." The man glanced over his shoulder at the house. "Are you interested in looking at the property?"

"Do you have time to show me now?"

"Of course."

He walked through the four-bedroom property, looking carefully at all of the rooms on the two levels. It was a delightful house, snug and cozy with, and this was the thing he couldn't believe when he caught himself doing it, a nice wide staircase, no sharp corners and no other dangerous places that a young child could fall and get injured.

"Can you tell me about this house?"

"Certainly, sir. It's a deceased estate, formerly the property of an elderly couple who were quite well known around this area. The couple had two grandchildren of four and almost two who used to stay with them a lot, which is the reason that the cot and changing table are there."

"Does the property come with those?"

"It's to be sold as it is now, yes. Fully furnished."

"And… has there been much interest?"

"None at all, Dr. Kind. In fact, the family was considering removing it from the market at the end of the day."

Jarod shook his head, not quite believing what he was going to say next. "So what sort of price are you looking at for it?"

* * * *


Jarod pushed the sheet of paper in front of the women as he arrived in the room for the briefing session the next morning.

"What's this?"

He grinned. "Kind family residence."

Sam stared at him. "What?"

"Well, I thought you should know where it was so that you could come and visit."

"Jarod, what on earth...?"

He grinned and opened the folder that he was carrying, pulling out a sheet of paper, handing it to Ruth. "Bronwyn drew this for me yesterday."

As they examined the drawing, he pulled out a photo.

"And that's the house."

"Unbelievable."

"Considering I hadn't even seen the house before I got that, I'd say it's more than just unbelievable."

"And you bought it?"

"Hey, what can I say?" He shrugged. "My daughter's very convincing."

* * * *

He stopped in the doorway to find that she was still asleep and glanced at Ruth with a smile on his face. "How's she doing?"

"Both your kids are doing really well." She smiled. "There's not really any reason to keep them here. You could care for them fine yourself."

Jarod glanced at the empty beds that constituted the Children's Ward. "I should take advantage of the fact that it's so quiet to start getting everything ready."

"I can't believe you bought the house."

"You can't believe it? I'm still trying to cope with the idea."

She laughed softly. "Well, at least you won't have to tell her."

He grinned and then walked over as the small girl yawned and opened her eyes, meeting his gaze. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Hi, sweetie."

"You got it, didn't you?"

She held out her arms and he picked her up, wrapping her in a blanket as she snuggled close to him.

"Of course I got it. I had to." He smiled down at her. "You told me to, remember?"

"So when are we going there?"

"I need to finish a couple of things there first, Bronwyn, like buy some food and make the beds so that my girl and boy have somewhere warm to sleep."

She looked up at him. "And did you tell Sam and Ruth where it was?"

"Of course I did. I'm going to take them with me tonight so that they can see it."

* * * *


"Is that it?"

"You don't recognize it?" Jarod glanced over at her. "I thought you would have, from the picture."

"Actually, I do. I just wanted to hear you say it."

He grinned and walked over, opening the door and ushering the two women inside. "Welcome to," Jarod shook his head in amazement, "our home."

"It's great that he's so convinced," Sam laughed at Ruth as she walked in and looked around.


"So, what do you think?"

"Tell me how much it cost again."

He repeated the figure that he'd paid for it and her eyes widened. "Deal of the century."

"You're telling me, especially considering that the television and other electrical appliances were only bought new last year."

"And all the furniture and all the fixtures are now yours too?"

"They came with the house, yes."

* * * *


Sam ran a hand over the bed and pressed the springs before looking up at Jarod who stood in the doorway. Before she could speak, however, he jumped in.

"So which room do you want?"

"Excuse me?"


"Hey, they're half your kids too, remember, unofficially anyway. It might be nice if they could see you now and then."

She smiled. "Would you object if I said this one?"

"Not at all. I liked the other one better anyway." He grinned as he watched her go into her en suite briefly and then open the door of the closet. "Planning where your clothes are going already?"

"Something like that."

She followed him into the next room, in which was a small bed, the perfect height for a small girl, and a large doll's house.

"Don't tell me that that..."

"No, it didn't." Jarod grinned. "I saw it yesterday and couldn't resist."

"What are you, made of money?"

"I have a fairly available source of funds, yes." He hid a smile and led the way into the other bedroom, in which was a cot, changing table and rocking chair.

"Was all this here?"

"The furniture was. I put his clothes from that package into the drawers, as well as a few other bits and pieces that I bought yesterday."

"Those kids are going to be spoilt rotten."

"They deserve it."

She smiled over at him. "You know, I think they probably do."

* * * *


Jarod glanced around the room that was now his, taking in the newly purchased bed linen and various small items that sat on his shelves, including a collection of books. With a shake of his head, he stood and opened the closet, looking at the clothes that hung there. It really was his house. And, this being the most bizarre feeling, it was probably one of few times that he would be alone in it. Five days and he had two kids, a house and what seemed like a settled occupation. His life had seemed weird before but this was just beyond anything. Gently he reached over and picked up the two photos that sat on his shelf. He had found the pictures in the package with the other papers and had framed them because he couldn't think what else to do with them.
Going down the wide staircase, he looked at the open-plan room that constituted the lower level. Kitchen, living room and dining room all seemed to merge neatly together, giving the small house an appearance of being much larger. A flight of stairs hidden behind a door led down to the cellar that contained the brand new washing machine and dryer that the house had come with.

Jarod eased open the refrigerator and looked down at the stocked shelves, reaching over to do the same thing with the nearby larder. One shelf was dedicated to the baby food that he would need for the boy. His son, he reflected with a slight smile. That feeling still seemed strange but he hoped that, once they were settled in, he would feel more comfortable with the idea. Going out of the house, he locked the door and slipped the key into his pocket. Jarod glanced into the back seat of his car where the baby seat and child booster seat were waiting and then climbed in behind the wheel to go and get his family.

* * * *


He scribbled his signature on the second form and looked up as Sam appeared in the doorway.

"Getting ready to take the kids home?"

"Our kids?" He grinned at the look on her face. "Yes."

"Can you not?"

"Hey, I've only just gotten used to the idea myself. It makes it a little easier to know that the responsibility isn't all mine." Jarod capped the pen and put it into the holder on his desk, glancing down at the papers to make sure that he'd done everything.

"Then give me time to get used to it, too," she pleaded.

He stood up and walked around the desk, leaning against the edge of it with his arms folded. "Well, don't take too long, Sam. Those kids don't just need a male figure in their lives. Especially not somebody like me, who's going to be doing this whole thing blindfolded."

"You'll do fine, Jarod, or they wouldn't have left them to you."

"I could still do with any help or advice you feel like throwing my way, particularly at home."

She smiled. "Give me time to get used to it too, and then I'll do what I can - but, if it makes you feel any better, I was planning to spend the night there tonight."

He reached into his pocket and then picked up her hand, uncurling the slender fingers and placing something in the middle of the palm.

"And this is?"

"Key to the door." Jarod grinned. "I figured that, if you were late, you wouldn't need to wake the kids by knocking."

* * * *


Jarod watched as Ruth put her signature on the relevant line and then stamped the forms and put them into the folders.

"So, that's it."

She looked up to see Jarod staring blankly at a point on the floor and laughed, waving a hand in front of his face. "If you don't get moving, it'll be dark before you get those kids home."

"Please, Ruth." He looked up at her. "I'm still trying to come to terms with it."

"Jarod, you'll be fine. With everything this mother knew, it's obvious that you'll be okay. After all, you've been around kids before, right?"

"Temporarily, yes. But never long-term."

"Hey, they already adore you, so that's one difficult step completed."

The two of them walked into the infant's room and Ruth laughed again as Jamie held out his arms the moment he saw Jarod in the doorway.

"What did I tell you?"

He picked up the baby with a sheepish grin and then slipped him into the carrying pack, putting it on his back. Jarod could feel as the baby nestled into the soft material, then put his head down and seemingly went to sleep.

"Is he...?"


"Out like a light." She gently touched Jarod's arm. "You see? The biggest hurdle with any non-biological relationship has already been overcome. They both trust you implicitly. Now you've just got to get used to the idea yourself, and get some confidence in your abilities."

Jarod walked into Bronwyn's room and put a finger to his lips as she looked up and saw him.

"Is Jamie asleep?"

"He sure is." He walked over and picked her up. "Are you ready to go?"

"Uh huh." She nodded vigorously and threw her arms around his neck. "And when we get home..."

"Hey, let's get there first and then we can start making plans, okay?" He turned towards the door, waiting while the girl said goodbye to Ruth.

"You'll come and see us, won't you?"

The nurse smiled. "Of course I will. But you have to get used to being home, too."

"That's easy." The girl looked confidently up out of the man's arms. "I already know what that's going to be like."

"And what will it be like, Bronwyn?"

"Good." She snuggled closer to Jarod. "Really good."

Ruth raised her eyebrows as she looked up at Jarod. "Well, I'll come by in a few days and see how things are going."

"You do that."

"Will you be in tomorrow?"

"I'm changing to a 'call-in' basis, for the next while anyway."

"Sounds good." She looked up. "Good luck, Jarod."

"Thanks." He smiled at her and turned, walking down the hall.

* * * *


He opened the front door and walked inside, shutting it behind him as he carried Bronwyn over and put her down on the sofa. She looked around with a happy sigh.

"It really looks like it."


Jarod eased the straps off his shoulders and then took the sleepy baby out of the carry bag, cuddling him close.

"What do you mean, Bronwyn? You said that you saw it."

"I did." She looked up at him. "But sometimes I get mixed up with other things that I make up." The girl looked around again. "But this is just right."

He knelt in front of her. "Did Mommy mix things up too?"

"No." She shook her head. "She was always right."

Jarod nodded, comforted, and then looked down at her. "I'm going to put Jamie into bed. Want to come up and see your room?"

"Yup!" Bronwyn got off the sofa and made her way across the room but stopped at the stairs. "Are you going to carry me?"

"Let's see if you can do it yourself." Jarod knew the greenstick fracture in her leg had almost healed and he glanced down at the boy. "My arms are kind of full."

"Maybe I can help."

"Sam!" The little girl turned to see the woman standing in the doorway and she beamed. "I knew you'd come."

"And I'm glad you did," Jarod grinned at her. "Otherwise I'd have to grow another pair of hands."
Part 2 by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Part 2


Jarod turned on the kettle and then glanced at the woman who was sitting on a high stool, her arms resting on the bench. "Any more used to the idea yet?"

She nodded slowly. "When I looked in through the window and saw the three of you, suddenly it all seemed to click."

He glanced up at her. "I know what you mean. The moment we pulled into the driveway, it suddenly seemed completely natural." He glanced over at where the little girl was watching a video in rapt contemplation. "Whether it will still seem like it as time goes on is another matter."

"Do you realize how weird this all is?"

"Hey, I was the one who first mentioned that fact, if you'll recall." He grinned for a moment. "But what particular part of this are you referring to?"

"All of this." She waved her arms around the room and then met his eye. "Us."

He nodded. "I almost feel like a pawn in some giant game. Everything just seems really too neat. I mean, who were the two doctors in charge of the kids and their parents? Us. Who were the only people in the office when those packages were delivered? Us. Who...?"

"Okay, stop."

"Still a skeptic?"

"Trying desperately hard to be." She shrugged. "But I don't know if I can, now."

* * * *


"Jarod, are you going to make dinner?"

"Sure you don't want to?"

"No." Sam looked down at the book she was reading to the little girl. "You go ahead. I'll do it tomorrow."

He raised an eyebrow as he got up. "So you'll be here then? That's a relief."

She blushed slightly. "Well, we'll see."

Going into the kitchen, he took the meat out of the fridge and put a pan on the stovetop, reaching into the fridge again to extract some vegetables as the pan began to heat.

"Jarod?"

He looked over. "Yes, Bronwyn?"

"Did you buy ice cream, too?"

He opened the freezer and looked inside at the containers, glancing back at her with a smile. "How could I not? It's our favorite food, isn't it?"

"Goody." She looked back up at the woman who was reading the book and Jarod turned back to the stove.

* * * *


"Why on earth did you study medicine? You should have done a culinary course and made a fortune as a chef."

Jarod looked up with a grin. "Hey, I thought about it." He picked up the spoon and put a little of the baby food into the boy's waiting mouth. "But I decided medicine gave me more scope." Glancing down at the children, he looked back at her. "I think I was right."

Sam laughed and then looked down at the little girl who was sitting next to her and quietly cleaning her plate. "Nice, Bronwyn?"

"Mmm hmm." She ate the last piece of potato and then looked up at Jarod. "How did you know?"

He smiled. "Know what, sweetie?"

"Know that that was same as the last meal that Mommy and Daddy made?"

Jarod's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't, Bronwyn."

"Well, it was."

He looked at her, waiting for some sign of emotion, but none came and he looked up at Sam, eyebrows raised. She shrugged.

"How about we go upstairs and you have a bath while Jarod cleans up?"

"Hey, how did I get landed with the washing up?"

Sam eyed the dishwasher and grinned. "Who says you did?"

"Okay, okay." He looked down at the little girl. "And, after that, I might have something ready for you."

"Ice cream?"

"Hmm, maybe..."

He cleaned out the last of the jar and put the food into the boy's mouth, wiping his face with the bib and watching silently as Sam and Bronwyn went up the stairs together.

* * * *


"What are you going to do tomorrow?"

"No idea." Jarod glanced out of the window, the baby curled up in his arms. "I haven't started thinking that far ahead yet."

"Can you manage?"

He grinned at her. "You sound like a concerned mother."

She ran a hand through her damp hair and smiled. "I feel like one."

"Did you just wash her or did you wash you as well?"

Sam laughed. "As a special treat, I let her pour water over me." She grinned at him. "She said she'd do it to you tomorrow."

"Great, thanks for the warning." He smiled briefly for a moment before resuming his examination of the darkness outside.

"Jarod, what are you worried about?"

"All this." He looked up at her. "Let's just say that I never imagined myself in this position."

"And you think I did?"

"No, I'd say you probably didn't either but that doesn't make it a whole lot easier for me."

"Jarod, they trusted us. You."

"We don't even know who they were." He sat upright. "That reminds me. I asked somebody to see what he could find out for me." Jarod got up. "I'll put Jamie to bed and then call him."

* * * *


Jarod slowly walked up the stairs with the little boy curled up in his arms, and put him down on the changing table. For a moment he stood, looking at the small face and the long eyelashes that lay on the pink cheeks. Jarod stretched out a gentle finger and touched the smooth skin before picking up the baby again. He put Jamie down on his side in the bed, covering him gently, and then softly left the room. Passing the half-open door, he peeped inside to see the girl lying where he had put her earlier, clutching her teddy in her arms. Going over to the bed, Jarod bent down and softly kissed the round cheek, feeling an instinct of protectiveness that he only ever felt around children, like Michael. A memory of that time suddenly came into his mind and he smiled as he left the room again. It had been good training...

In his room, he picked up the cell phone and brought up the pre-programmed number. It was quickly answered.

"This is Sydney."

"What did you find?"

"Jarod, I wasn't expecting you to call."

"Why not, Sydney? I asked you to do me a favour and I figured, with somebody of Broots' ability, that it wouldn't take you long to find anything that might be useful for me." He heard the gasp in the background and chuckled. "Sorry if I gave you a shock there, Mr. Broots."

"Okay, what's going on, Jarod?"

"Now why do you think anything's going on, Miss Parker?" Jarod made his voice as innocent as possible. "I'm just slightly curious."

That has got to be the understatement of the year, he thought to himself as he opened the computer on the table in his bedroom.

"We sent you the little that we could find about anyone named Taylor." Sydney paused for a moment. "Couldn't you be more specific?"

"Not without giving away too much, no, Sydney." Jarod typed in the password and clicked on the email.

"And you'd never want to do that!" He could hear the sarcasm in Miss Parker's tones and grinned. "Otherwise we might actually find you!"

"I'm becoming increasingly confident that you won't." Jarod laughed as he heard a sound like a snort from the other end of the phone. "But I guess looking for me will at least give you something to pass the time."

* * * *


Jarod looked down at the pages of information in front of him, glancing up to see Sam standing in the doorway. "Anything?"

"Not yet, but I've only just started to look." He ran an eye over the first of the files that had been attached to the email and shook his head, opening the second. As he read the first few lines, his eyes lit up. "I think I might have just struck gold."

"Well?"

He looked up and realization struck. "Ever heard of a place called NuGenesis?"

"Should I have?"

"I'd be a lot happier if you hadn't." He looked down. "It's a fertility clinic and this tells me that the Taylors were patients there for a while."

"How long?"

"Once in 1996 for three months and once almost two years ago for the same length of time." He looked up at her. "Which would make it perfect timing for..."

"Getting pregnant with the kids." She sat on his bed. "What else?"

He looked up, brow furrowed. "According to this, the Taylors died just after Jamie was born, and I mean the whole family. All four of them."

"What?!"

"I'm serious." He paused, rereading the paragraph. "This says that the whole family was killed - in a car accident - when Jamie was only two months old."

"They obviously weren't."

"Unless this whole thing is a figment of our imagination." Jarod pinched himself hard. "Ow. No, it's not."

She smiled. "That was probably unnecessary."

"Hey, if I'm dreaming then I want to know about it." He grinned and then turned back to the computer, running his eyes over the remainder of the information. "It doesn't mention anything in here about any special abilities."

"Well, they’d hardly tell anyone, would they? It would be enough to get them put into some kind of freak show."

He nodded silently, reading through the last few facts that Sydney had sent.

"So what else is there?"

"Medical details - blood types, history, that sort of thing." He sat back in his seat and glanced over at her. "Frankly, I was hoping for more."

"Like what? An email from the psychic mother, telling you every step of the next thirty years?"

Jarod grinned. "It would’ve been nice."

"I think that's hoping for a bit too much." She leaned back, wrapping her arms around her legs. "You've got a little girl who can tell you just about everything anyway, so why do you need that?"

"For the occasions when she's wrong." He stood and walked over to the window, looking out. "She admitted today that her imagination could sometimes get in the way of her 'picture room'." He sighed. "So we now have to train a psychic child to use her abilities too."

* * * *


"I'm going to bed, Jarod," Sam announced.

"Okay, no problem." He glanced up from the computer. "Good night."

She smiled and walked down the hallway, going into the room and shutting the door behind her. He stared blindly after her for several moments before the mechanical voice of his computer informed him that he had mail. Turning, he entered the password and then stared at the sender.

"Maria Taylor?"

He looked around the room sharply as though expecting to see the woman come out of the shadows. "Okay, what gives?"

Getting up, he firmly closed the door and then sat down again, activating the video attachment. Eyes wide, he stared down at the woman’s image.

"Hello, Jarod. As I said in my letter today, you don't know me but I found out a few things about you when I went to NuGenesis to have my children and it's made me certain that you will do your best to take care of Jamie and Bronwyn."

He watched as she blinked the tears out of her eyes, glancing down for a moment before looking back up at the camera.

"I was at NuGenesis just after your escape from the Centre in 1996 and I'm sure that you're aware of how I knew about it. For safety's sake, however, I never mentioned my 'ability' to anybody at that place, a fact of which I know you were surprised to learn when you read through the information that you received from Sydney. But, with what I understood of that place and its connections, keeping it quiet seemed safer."

Jarod opened and closed his mouth several times without making a sound.

"As a reward for undertaking the care of my children, I'm able to assure you that you will never be found by the Centre in order to be taken back there. It doesn't mean that you have to break off communication with the people you still contact there, only that those who intend to harm you will never have an idea of your location. You can settle down and take care of my children for as long as they need you."

"And how long will that be?"

Jarod spoke without realizing but, as he heard his own voice, he watched as the woman paused and he stared, open mouthed, as she seemed to listen to his question and consider a response.

"I'd like to be definite about the length of time, but unfortunately I can't."

"Are you dead or not?"

"Yes, Jarod, I did die in that accident." She glanced around. "Although it seems a little strange to say that now, before I die." The woman shuddered slightly and he could see the tears that came into her eyes.

"And...Sam?"

"Samantha Childs will be an important part of the children's lives for a long time, but it's you on whom they will focus. Jarod, I know that you can manage to bring them up well. If I wasn't certain of that fact, I would never have left them to you."

He leaned forward, feeling uncomfortable about what he was going to do but doing it anyway. "Maria, can you tell me why your daughter is so free from emotion about either you?"

The woman nodded. "Bronwyn has been brought up to think of you, and to a lesser extent Samantha, as her 'parents'. Her father and I are more like distant relatives than mother and father, although that's what she calls us, for the moment." Maria Taylor paused. "When she asks if she can call you 'Daddy' instead of Jarod, know that we will be happy for her to do so. It'll mean that she's managed to break last the emotional connections that she still has with us." She smiled faintly. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

"Is it true that only Bronwyn has this 'picture room', as she calls it?"

"Yes." The woman nodded. "That is true. Jamie doesn't have the psychic abilities that Bronwyn has. None of the males in our family ever do. But he has a greatly heightened sense of awareness, which was how he knew you when you first saw him in the emergency room."

"And...are you...sure?" Jarod leaned forward, his eyes fixed on those of the woman on the screen.

"Yes, Jarod. I am. I'm very sure." The woman smiled sadly. "I want to thank you for this. I hope you know how much it means to me."

"Y...you're welcome."

He watched silently as the video screen flicked off, finally pushing back his chair and getting up to go downstairs, his mind spinning.

* * * *


"Hey, sleep's always a good idea, you know."

Jarod looked up sharply to find Sam standing on the top step, Jamie in her arms, and he got off the sofa, coming up to her. "What makes you think I didn't sleep?"

"I got up three times to check on the kids and you were always just sitting there, staring." She smiled. "I made a wild guess."

The boy held out his arms and Jarod took him, cuddling the child and wrapping his jacket around the small form. He looked up. "Are you going to work?"

"That's why I'm up at six thirty, Jarod." She glanced over, lips twitching. "I do try to sleep later on weekends, just so that you know."

He grinned. "Well, you have fun at work and we'll enjoy ourselves here at home."

"Thanks, very helpful." She turned and walked back up the stairs, stopping as she reached her doorway. "I'll do breakfast once I'm dressed, if you feel like coming down for it."

He watched as she walked into her room and shut the door before looking down at the little boy who lay in his arms, looking up at him. As his eyes met that of the baby, the infant cooed. Jarod placed one finger on the tiny stomach and pressed gently, watching as the child giggled.

"Well, shall we go and get you all cleaned and dressed, Jamie?" Carrying the baby into the bathroom, he was about to fill the small plastic bath when he saw that the boy was staring up at the showerhead.

"You want to have a shower with me instead?"

The child cooed again, and Jarod grinned. "Well, if you're sure..." He made a little nest of towels, placing the baby inside it while he took off his clothes, and then started up the shower. When it was a proper temperature, he removed the small sleeping suit and diaper and then stepped under the running water with the child in his arms. Gently he picked up the special soap that he had bought the day before and began to rub it over the small body, watching as the child gave him a big smile. Smiling in return, Jarod glanced around the room and then back at his son.

* * * *

He wrapped the small body in a towel and carried it across the hall and into the child's room, placing the boy on the changing table.

"Did you just wash him or did you wash you as well?" a voice asked from the doorway.

"Hey, that's my line!"

"I know." She smiled and walked into the room. "But I got suspicious when I saw that your hair was wet."

"We showered together."

Sam looked down at the small baby. "Did he enjoy it?"

"From the sounds he made, a lot."

She smiled. "Breakfast will be ready soon."

"Is Bronwyn awake?"

"Not yet." She glanced at her watch and then up at him. "It's only seven and, after getting woken up every morning in the hospital at six, she's probably enjoying sleeping in."

He chuckled as he pulled the small top over the baby's head and she walked towards the door. "Sounds like a good idea. I should try that some day."

* * * *


"Jarod?"

He heard the sleepy voice as he walked past the door and immediately pushed it open. "Hi, Bronwyn."


She smiled drowsily up at him. "Did you talk to Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart. I got her message."

"Good."

Jarod sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are you going to get up for breakfast?"

"Don't I get it in bed anymore?"

"Hey, you're not sick now." He placed a gentle hand on her forehead. "But you can sleep a little longer if you want."

She smiled up at him and then rolled over, asleep almost immediately. With the boy still in his arms, Jarod got up and silently left the room.

"Where's Bronwyn?"

"Still asleep."

Sam's forehead creased. "She's not sick, is she?"

"No, just tired." Jarod sat down and put Jamie in the high chair. "I think you were right when you said that she'd sleep in. Don't forget, she only got out of hospital yesterday."

"But that fracture's healing, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes." Jarod picked up a piece of toast and spread jam on it. "I'm going to take the cast off in a few days."

"Good." Sam picked up the bottle and handed it to the baby who took it eagerly and began to drink the milk. With a smile, she looked up. "I really don't know why you're doubting yourself so much, Jarod. I just can't get over how complete everything here is."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

"Well, you've got a very full larder of baby food, just about every device you could need to prepare food for young children -"

"Most of which was already there, don't forget." He ate the last of his toast. "I only bought food, diapers and a few clothes. That's it." Glancing up, he gave a half-smile. "I know you're trying to boost my confidence, Sam. Thanks."

* * * *


He watched as she pulled the door closed behind her and then picked up the baby, placing him in the playpen that had been set up in the corner of the living room. Jarod set the mobile spinning and then looked down.

"I'm going to go see if your sister's awake. If you need anything, just yell."

The baby gave another grin and Jarod smiled in response, going up the stairs to find Bronwyn coming out of her room with her teddy still clutched in one hand. As he appeared, she threw herself at his legs.

"Hi, Jarod."

Bending down, he picked her up and hugged her. "How's my girl?"

"Hungry."

"You want breakfast?"

"Ice cream?"

"Not even I eat ice cream at this hour." He glanced at his watch as he carried her downstairs.

"No, you eat PEZ."

Jarod raised an eyebrow. "Do you know about all my bad habits?"

"Yup." She giggled. "But I won't tell Sam if you don't want me to."

"I think that's a good idea." He put her down in a chair and walked over to the toaster, putting two slices of bread in it before filling a cup with milk and handing it to her.

"What are we doing this morning?"

"What do you want to do?" He looked up as she finished the last of her milk and put down the mug, licking her top lip to get rid of the white line.

"Can we go to the park?"

"If you want, sure. But you have to get dressed first." Jarod glanced over to the stroller that sat beside the front door and then over at the boy who sat in the playpen, tapping the mobile to keep it moving.

"And after that?"

"Well," he sat back in the chair and looked at her, "let's wait until we get there before we decide, huh?"

"Okay." Her face wore a cheeky grin as she looked up at him. "Do I get to meet Sydney one day?"

Jarod narrowed his eyes. "How do you know about Sydney?"

"Mommy told me, but she said I should only talk to you about him and not tell Sam or Ruth."

"Mommy was right, again."

"But I get to meet him one day, right?"

"No promises, Bronwyn." Jarod got up and began to clear the table.

* * * *


The door of the house opened and Bronwyn looked up as Sam walked in and shut it behind her. The little girl put a finger on her lips. "Shh."

"Why?" Sam walked over softly and picked her up, looking over to see Jarod lying asleep on the sofa with Jamie on his chest. "Oh, I get it."

"It was funny," Bronwyn giggled. "He was talking to me and then he suddenly stopped and I looked up and he was asleep."

"Well, I don't think he slept last night." Sam carried the girl upstairs and into her room. "So he's probably tired."

"He was talking to Mommy." Suddenly the little girl looked up, both hands over her mouth and her eyes wide. "But I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Her eyes filled with tears. "Don't tell him."

"It's okay, Bronwyn. I won't."

"If you tell him, he'll get mad and then he'll run away and not come back." The child started to sob. "I don't want him to go."

"Hey," Sam picked her up and rocked her gently. "Jarod isn't going anywhere, Bronwyn. He's got you two to look after."

"P...promise?"

"I promise."

At the sound of the deep voice from the doorway, Bronwyn hid her face in the woman's neck. Jarod put the little boy down on the floor and then took the girl from Sam, who leaned against the wall and watched while he sat down on the bed.

"Bronwyn, look at me," he urged softly.

"Don't go, Jarod." The voice was a wail and she turned her face in to his chest.

He put one hand under her chin and gently lifted her head, kissing her. "I'm going to stay with you for a long time, just like I promised your Mommy last night. I'll stay with you for as long as you need me. I won't run away."

"But... I told... and Mommy said I wasn't s'posed to."

"Just because you did something that Mommy said you weren't supposed to doesn't mean I'm going to run away."


"So... you don't... mind?" She hiccupped, still sobbing.

"I was going to tell her anyway, tonight, so you're just making me tell her sooner."

The girl threw her arms around his neck, fresh tears pouring down her face as he stroked her hair. "And… you're not... mad?"

"No, Bronwyn, I'm not mad." Jarod rocked her. "And even if I was, that doesn't mean I'd leave you. You're my family now, and I wouldn't leave my family."

* * * *


Jarod walked into his room and picked up his computer, following Sam down the stairs. As she put the little boy into the playpen, he put the computer down on the table and then looked up at her.

"Remember last night how I said that I'd like an email from, in your words, 'the psychic mother, telling me every step of the next thirty years'?"

She glanced up. "Don't tell me you got one."

He nodded slowly, a smile curling his lips. She dropped into a chair opposite him, her mouth open. "No way."

"Yes way." He picked up his mug and swallowed the last of the cold coffee in it before refilling it from the warm jug.

"Show me."

"I have to tell you something first." His lips thinned. "Do you remember me saying something about a place called NuGenesis?"

"And you seemed relieved that I didn't know about it."

"Well, I think it's time you did know."

* * * *


He watched her face as the screen faded to black and then leaned forward and shut down the machine.

"And you said that...?" Sam began hesitantly.

"Every question that I asked that video was what I also asked last night, at the same time and same speed." He sighed. "And you wondered why I didn't sleep."

"I don't wonder any more." She caught his eye. "So you aren't really a doctor?"

"I've never completed an examination or received a certificate. All I've done is read the books and treated the patients."

"And you've never been caught out?"

He shrugged. "Once or twice. But I either talk them around or leave. Fast."

"But you won't leave now?"

"Hey, I promised." He sat back. "If anyone figures that I'm not really a doctor, I'll stop coming to the hospital, but I don't somehow think that'll happen." He eyed her. "Unless you tell them of course."

"I wouldn't do that, Jarod. You know I wouldn't."

"I know." He nodded. "That's why I decided earlier today that I'd tell you about it."

* * * *


"Jarod?"

He stood in the doorway, looking down at her, but as she spoke he walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. "It's okay, Bronwyn."

"I'm sorry, Jarod." Her eyes filled again and he picked her up.

"No more crying, sweetheart. You've done enough of that. Come on, now."

"I was… so scared..." she sobbed against his chest.

Gently he stroked the back of her head, holding her close to him. "You don't have to be scared of me ever leaving, Bronwyn. I wouldn't do that to either of you."

"And the Centre...?"

"Your Mommy told me that the Centre won't find me, sweetie, like she told you, and I believe her."

"But... one day... Sydney will..."

"Will what?" He looked down at her as she snuggled into his arms.

"Will come and...find you...to visit..."

"Well, that's okay." He wiped the last tears away. "After all, you wanted to get to know him, right?"

* * * *


"Is she asleep?"

"Yes." Jarod sat down on the sofa and curled his legs up underneath him.

"Well, at least we know now why she wasn't upset about her parents, and that she isn't hiding any emotions."

He nodded slowly. "I'd begun to think about that too." His eyes met hers. "Can you imagine actually doing that? Bringing up your kids to become attached to other people, knowing that you won't even see their fifth birthday?"

"No." She shook her head before an amused light came into her eye. "But then I never imagined bringing up kids."

"They weren't in your scheme of life?"

"Not really, no." She looked down at the carpet. "Ever since I can remember, I've only ever wanted to be a doctor, not a mom. In fact I never even had a boyfriend through high school, because I was too intent on my studies."

"You probably won't be too surprised to learn that I didn't exactly plan for it either, but for different reasons."

"Funny that." Her lips twitched. "Well, despite what we both planned, it looks as though we've got them. They're both attached very firmly to you, and I..."

"You can't get out of it either, Sam." He met her eye. "So don't even think about that possibility."

"I wouldn't want to, not now." She swallowed. "My heart was almost breaking, listening to her cry. I couldn't bear the thought that I might cause it by leaving if I felt it was getting too much."

"That's presumably why she gave them to both of us." He looked up at her. "So that we'd have somebody else to help if we ever did begin to feel like that."

* * * *


Jarod stretched and then his eyes opened suddenly, feeling the small body curled up against his. Looking down, he saw her lying there, her eyes closed and a look of perfect relaxation on her face. Hearing a sound from the doorway, he looked over to see Sam standing there, smiling.

"I got up to check on her and found she wasn't there, but I could make a pretty good guess as to where she'd go."

Jarod smiled and began to pull himself up in bed, but felt the little body tense and looked down. Seeing her begin to move uneasily, he stretched out a hand and gently placed it on her head, feeling her relax immediately.

"Don't worry, Jarod. It's only four o'clock. I was checking on them, not actually getting up."

He smiled. "It seems rough that you should get that job."

"Hey, you're taking care of them all day."

"And you're working all day."

"Which has to be easier than staying home with those two." She laughed softly and turned away, leaving the room.

"Jarod?"

Her voice was a mumble and he lay down again, stroking her hair.

"It's okay, Bronwyn. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."

Gently he put out both arms and drew her close to him. She sighed once and wrapped her fingers around his thumb, asleep immediately. With a smile on his face, he looked up out of the window, his eyes fixed on the moon as it sailed out from behind the clouds.

* * * *


Jarod felt the light touch of a kiss on his cheek and looked up to find a pair of brown eyes staring into his. "Hey, gorgeous."

"Are you still mad, Jarod?"

"I never was mad, Bronwyn." He wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her close to him. "Why did you think I would be?"

"Mommy said that, if we ever did anything wrong, then you'd be mad and you'd leave and then they'd get you." Her eyes were wide as she finished the sentence and he could see the panic in them.

"But your Mommy also said that, as long as I was with you, I'd be safe from them, and I want that, too. So that's a really good reason for me to stay, isn't it?" Jarod gently kissed her forehead. "Was that why you came in here, so you could make sure I wasn't running away?"

She nodded, slipping her arms around his neck.

"Tell you what, Bronwyn, I'll make you a deal."


"What?"

"I'll never run away from you if you never run away from me."

She nodded and buried her face in his neck, squeezing him as tightly as her small arms could manage. He pulled himself up in bed and leaned back against the wall behind his pillow, wrapping his arms around her and letting a few tears dampen his shoulder.

* * * *


"Jarod, what's this?"

Sam picked up the box and held it out to him as he walked into the kitchen with Bronwyn still in his arms. Jarod shrugged.

"My preferred breakfast."

"With no nutritional value whatsoever, coated in sugar..."

"They have eleven essential vitamins and minerals..."

"That you could get in something far healthier, like orange juice."

"And they taste great."

She eyed him. "It's a medical miracle that you're the shape you are."

"Running keeps you fit."

"So what will you do now?" She returned the pop tarts to their place in the pantry and grinned at him. "Now that you don't have to run anymore?"

"Hey, I still have to run."

"Oh yeah?"

"Definitely." He looked down at the little girl and then over at her brother. "After these two."

* * * *


"Ruth!"

Jarod looked up as he heard Bronwyn pronounce the name to find that she had somehow managed to get the door open. "Hey, you could at least have given me a chance to clean up before you did your tour of inspection."

"Oh, I couldn't wait." She picked up the girl who was hugging her legs. "It's so quiet now that they've even given me the day off. I thought I'd take advantage of the fact to fulfill my promise."

"Well, want to come to park with us?"

"Please!" Ruth looked down to see the pleading expression in Bronwyn's eyes and she laughed.

"How could I refuse?"

Jarod wiped Jamie's face and then picked him up, placing him in Ruth's arms, while he turned and rapidly cleared the table.

"You've become an expert already?"

He shrugged and grinned over his shoulder at her. "Hey, as a stay-at-home dad, I've had to pick up some things quickly."

"But you're still officially working?"

"Oh, yes." He picked up the small pager and the mobile phone, slipping them into his pocket. "They'll call me if they need me, but so far they haven't. After all, with the big Children's Hospital on the other side of the city, I'm really only a stop-gap measure."

She nodded. "That's why I wanted to work there and not at the Children's. We don't get the rush of patients that they do and can devote more attention to the few that pass through the wards."

"But, if you didn't work there, you'd never have met us!"

Ruth looked over to see the puzzled expression on Bronwyn's face and smiled, reaching over to tickled the little girl, who giggled in delight.

"And that's the best thing that's happened to me this week!"

She looked up to see the smile on Jarod's face. "Are you getting used to it?"

"It's easier here than it was at the hospital."

"And Sam?"

"I think she's slowly adjusting too." He placed the last plate in the dishwasher and then turned it on, leaning against the machine as it began to hum softly. "But we both still have moments of the 'I can't believe this is happening' variety."

Ruth laughed. "Now that I can definitely believe."

"You have kids, right?"

She nodded. "Three, but they're all into their late teens and only need me once in a while."

"And… your husband?"

"We separated a few years ago, but it's very amicable and the kids share their time between us very evenly. And we spend holidays together."

"Is that why you came back to work, to fill in the gap?"

"Basically, yes." She sighed. "I wanted to feel needed again."

"Well, nursing kids will definitely make that happen."

"Jarod, are we going?"


He raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready?"

She looked down at the pajamas that she was still wearing and giggled, coming over to grab his hand and drag him in the direction of the stairs.
Part 3 by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Part 3


"She's managing well on that cast."

"The displacement was less than five degrees, Ruth. I would expect that it will be completely healed by the time I take it off next week." He looked over at the girl as she began to dig a hole in the sandpit.

"And Jamie?"

"Is a perfectly healthy one-year-old." Jarod covered his eyes from the glare of the sun as he lay on the grass and looked at the boy who was lying on his stomach.

"Do you know how?"

"Fate, destiny, a miracle, call it what you want. For some reason, those kids were always supposed to survive in the back seat of a car that was mangled enough to kill both their parents."

The nurse nodded and then smiled. "Maybe it was just to give you a family."

He picked up the little boy and rolled over, awkwardly placing the child in the middle of his back, and resting his face on his hands. "Funnily enough, I did think of that the other night."

"When?"

Jarod looked up at her. "How much did Sam tell you?"

"She mentioned something about the parents going to a fertility clinic in Georgia, if that's what you mean."

"Did she also happen to mention that, according to what they know, the entire family was killed almost exactly a year after their second visit there, just after Jamie was born?"

The woman's jaw dropped. "They what?"

"The clinic received news of the deaths of all four members of the Taylor family, so that means the kids, too, and applied for copies of the death certificates, which they received."

"So the couple basically faked their own deaths?"

"That's about as basic as you can get, wouldn't you say?" He grinned. "And those of their kids as well, yes."

"How did you know about it?"

Jarod looked up. "When we get home, I'll show you."

* * * *


"So you're telling me that the Taylors faked their deaths more than a year ago so that now you could have the care of their children and not have to worry about some big custody dispute that might have made it into the papers and told the Centre where you were?" Ruth proposed.

Jarod shrugged as he looked up at the two women. "Can you come up with a better idea?"

"Well, no, not really." Ruth shrugged and shifted uneasily in her seat.

"Actually, I began to suspect something along those lines almost as soon as you told me about the Centre, Jarod." Sam's voice was soft. "It just seemed suddenly to click and all the pieces fitted."

"So people that you've never met and who had, presumably, never laid eyes on you before they died, go to all that effort, just to ensure your safety?"

"They didn't do it for me." Jarod stared down into the brightly burning fire that was illuminating the room.

"So who did they do it for?" Ruth demanded.

"Their children."

* * * *


Jarod stood in the doorway, looking down at the small boy as he lay in the bed, wriggling slightly in his sleep. For a moment, there was silence, until the big eyes opened and he looked up, using the bars to pull himself upright. Softly Jarod walked over to the bed and, as the baby held out his arms, scooped up the infant and walked over to the rocking chair, sitting down.

"How's my boy?"

The baby cooed gently and then closed his eyes, nestling into Jarod's arms as the man made the chair rock slightly.

"Hey, these children are supposed to sleep at night!"

Jarod looked up with a smile. "He is asleep." He got cautiously out of the chair but the child never moved as he was put down in the cot and warmly covered.

"You should have been a dad long before this."

"Several people have said that to me over the years."

"Were they psychic, too?"

Jarod laughed softly as he pulled the door almost shut. "Not that I know of." Coming down the stairs, he looked around the kitchen. "You should have been a mom long ago."

"Just because I can clean up?" Sam raised an eyebrow as she sat down on the sofa. "I think that's possibly a slightly old-fashioned idea."

He grinned as he picked up his mug. "Exactly what about our situation is old-fashioned? We're not married, they aren't even our kids, I stay at home all day while you work..."

"Okay, okay." She laughed. "I get your point."

"I'm glad to hear it." He looked over at where Bronwyn was curled up in a small beanbag, watching television, and smiled. When the show was finished and the credits began to roll, he reached over for the remote control and turned it off.

"Bedtime, Bronwyn."

"Okay." She got out of the chair and came over, giving Sam a hug and then holding her arms out to Jarod. He smiled and put down his mug, picking her up.

"I knew I wasn't supposed to get that coffee drunk."

* * * *


"We have two superbly well-behaved children."

Sam glanced up from her book as Jarod came back down the stairs. "Why do you say that?"

"Comparison with a couple of others that I saw in the park today while I was talking to Ruth."

"Oh, really?" She raised an eyebrow and closed the book.

"There was a mom with two kids almost the exact same age as ours. They arrived at about the same time we did and immediately the girl began doing everything she could to torment her brother - threw sand at him, wet him from the drinking fountain, the whole bit. Finally the mother got annoyed, I presume by the fact that her son had started to scream his head off, and announced that they were going home, at which point the little girl threw herself on the ground and had a temper tantrum."

"So what did the mother do?"

"Picked her up by the arm, forcibly put her onto the step behind the main part of the stroller and pushed it so hard that I thought it might break." He met her eye and grinned. "Do I need to add that the girl screamed for as long as I could hear them and that the boy never stopped screaming either?"

"No, not really." She looked up. "But you know why they're so well behaved."

"I hope it's not from fear that I'll leave." Jarod's brow furrowed as he sat forward in the chair. "Because, if it is, then they have to get rid of that idea as soon as possible. It's not healthy for kids to grow up under a cloud of guilt and fear." He paused. "I should know."

"No, Jarod." She leaned forward. "That might be a reason for Bronwyn to do what her mother told her, but they obey you because they love you."

"You think so?"

"Oh, come on." She sat back in the chair. "Can you doubt it? If they want food, who do they go to? You. If they want a hug, who do they go to? You. If they..."

"Okay, stop." He looked up at her. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"Not at all." She smiled at him. "I get a lot of it too, remember. The fact that they both throw themselves at the door when I walk through it every evening it more than enough for me."

* * * *


"Bronwyn, you have to sit really still for me."

The girl nodded and tightly held Sam's hand.

"It'll be really loud but, if you don't move, it won't hurt, okay?"

She nodded again and he started up the saw. Slowly he lowered it, seeing her eyes widen as it began to whine and cut its way through the thick plaster. Jarod carefully cut along the length of the cast, turning it off as quickly as he could, and then looked up to see her gasp.

"Hey, you weren't supposed to stop breathing!"

Sam laughed as she looked down and stroked the girl's hair, watching as Jarod cracked open the cast and pulled it away, throwing it into the bin.

The girl looked down at her leg and then back up at the man beside her. "It got all small."

"That's because you haven't been using it for a while." He smiled and then picked up the square lead sheet, sliding it carefully under the limb and then nodding to the x-ray technician. Sam picked up the heavy lead blanket and placed it over her upper legs.

"Bronwyn, we have to take some pictures of it and that means we have to leave the room for a few minutes. All you have to do is sit still while the machine makes a lot of noise. Can you do that for me?"

She looked up at Jarod and nodded. He kissed her gently and then followed Sam out of the room.

He looked down at where Sam was pressing her two hands together until the knuckles were white. "Hey, she's okay."

"Sure?"

"Positive. I'll expect that to look like a perfectly solid bone and she won't even remember this later."

"What did you give her?"

"A light sedative with lunch." He glanced through the small window. "I didn't want it to upset her either."

"Dr. Kind?"

"Yes?" He turned and looked at the nurse as she hurried up to them.

"I was about to page you. There's a child on the way in to emergency right now."

He looked at Sam. "She'll probably sleep for a while and I'll come with the x-rays as soon as possible."

"No problem." She grinned. "Don't tell me we're about to extend the family."

Sam could hear his laughter as he hurried away down the hall.

* * * *


"How's she doing?" Jarod asked softly as he entered the room.

Sam looked up from her seat beside the bed, leaving her hand in that of the little girl. "Been asleep for about twenty minutes now. How's your patient?"

"Stable, for the moment." He pulled the x-rays out of the envelope and held them up to the light so that she could see them. "Before. And after."

"Completely healed."

"She'll need a week or so of massage before she can walk on it properly again, but we can do that at home."

"We?"

"Okay, me." He grinned. "Luckily it wasn't far enough down the tibia that her knee or ankle had to be involved at either end, so we don't have to return a joint to full flexibility."

Reaching over, Jarod picked up a roll of bandage and began to gently wrap it around the girl's leg. As the child muttered, he looked up.

"It's okay, Bronwyn." Sam gently stroked the small forehead and the girl rolled her head in that direction without opening her eyes.

Jarod quickly wrapped the rest of the bandage around her leg and then taped down the end. Gently he picked her up and wrapped her in a blanket that Sam held out to him before the two of them left the room, heading for the children’s ward.

"Can I have my son back, please?" Sam demanded as she entered the room where Ruth was feeding Jamie.

The nurse laughed. "Well, I don't know. It'll cost you..."

Sam scooped the boy up, using the bib to clean his face. "I asked you to feed him, Ruth, not cover him."

"I was hoping to hide him down in the kitchen and take him home with me." She laughed and turned to Jarod. "How's she doing?"

"The fracture's completely healed but she's still asleep right now." He leaned down slightly so that the nurse could see the little girl, long lashes lying on her pink cheeks.

"Are you heading home?"

He nodded. "You can call me if you think it's necessary."

"We will, don't worry." She glanced through the doors to where two parents were sitting on either side of the bed. Jarod glanced at Sam.

"Do you mind if I do a quick examination before we head off?"

"Not at all. Go for it. I'll feed him." She waved her hand towards the jar that Jamie was eyeing hungrily. Jarod nodded and carried the girl into the room, putting her down on the other bed before walking around to the anxious parents.

"Is that your daughter?"

Jarod nodded. "As of a few weeks ago, yes."

"So she's not..."

"Not biologically, no." He heard a slight muttering and raised his voice. "It's okay, Bronwyn. I'm right here."

The muffled voice stopped and the other father smiled. "I don't think it needs to be biological."

"No, that's possibly true." He smiled and then looked down at the little boy who lay on the bed in front of him, placing the back of his hand gently against the small forehead, forcing himself not to react to the hot skin. "I think he'll be fine - probably sleep through the night and, with any luck, the fever will go down."

"But you don't know what it is?"

Jarod's lips thinned. "I'd like to be able to definitely say 'it's this' or 'it's that', but I can't without opening him up for exploratory surgery. I don't want to have to do that unless circumstances really require it." He looked up to see the anxious expressions on the faces of both parents. "But we'll do it if it's necessary, I can assure you."

* * * *


"Jarod?"

"Hi, sweetie." He undid the last of the seatbelts and then picked the little girl up in his arms. She put both hands around behind his neck and snuggled close to him, yawning.

"Can you manage?" Sam asked.

"If you open the door for me."

"What, I can't leave the two of you outside in the cold? What a disappointment!"

He laughed and carried the girl into the living room, placing her down gently in the corner of the sofa and laying a blanket over her, before turning to stoke the fire.

"You want coffee?"

"Actually, I'd prefer dinner." He got up and started the mobile spinning above Jamie's head before walking over to the kitchen area.

"What's with your new patient?" Sam asked as she pulled the covered dish out of the fridge and began to heat the contents in a saucepan.

"Not too sure. It could be an infection of some sort, but I don't know where. He's got a fever but that's pretty much it. I've ordered blood tests and that should tell me everything, I hope."

"Not expecting to be hauled out of bed by a phone call, are you?"

Jarod eyed her. "What are you trying to be, Sam, psychic?"

* * * *


Jarod raised his head, listening as the wind began to howl, and then glanced over at Sam. "Well, I hope neither of us gets called out into that."

"I'll say." She smiled and looked over to where Bronwyn lay with her head on Jarod's leg. "How is she?"

"Fine." He gently stroked his daughter's hair. "She should be waking up soon, though. I didn't give her much."

As he spoke, the girl's eyelids lifted and she looked up at him, holding out her hands. Jarod lifted her into his lap as Sam laughed.

"I thought you were suggesting I was psychic, not the other way around."

He grinned, looking down at the little girl. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"


"Better." She snuggled close to him. "And my leg isn't big anymore."

"No, it's not. You're right." He kissed the tip of her nose and she wriggled. As he was about to say something else, the phone lying on the table in front of him rang and he raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, maybe I am psychic after all." As Sam smiled, he answered it, spoke for several minutes and then hung up.

"Well?"

"Fun and games." He got up and handed Bronwyn to her. "He's being prepped."

"Jarod, do you have to go?"

"Yes, baby, I do." He bent down in front of her. "I have to make a boy better like I made you better. So you be good and I'll come and kiss you goodnight when I get home, okay?"

She nodded and Jarod stood up, slipping his arms into his coat and wrapping a scarf around his neck to block out the cold wind.

* * * *


Jarod silently opened the door and let himself inside, securing it behind him and then taking off the coat. As he turned, his eyes adjusting to the dim light thrown by the dying fire, he saw the little figure curled up on the floor in front of it and hurried over.

"Bronwyn, what are you still doing out of bed?"

She looked up at him. "I wanted to see you."

He picked her up and sat down in the chair, pulling it close to the fire and taking off the scarf, wrapping it around her. "You were supposed to wait for me in bed."

"I wanted to see you as soon as you got home." She snuggled closer to him and he bent down to kiss her gently on the forehead.

"Were you missing me, sweetie?"

"Uh huh." She nodded. "It wasn't the same when Sam put me to bed."

"So you got up again and came down here?"

Bronwyn looked up at him. "You're not mad, are you?"

"No, of course I'm not." He gently brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"And did you help the boy?"

"Yes, I did."

The little girl looked up at him sleepily and he smiled at her.

"Jarod?"

"What is it, Bronwyn?"

"Can I call you Daddy?"

Jarod paused for a moment, remembering the words that the child's mother had spoken and knowing instinctively that this would be the last in a long series of changes that had brought him to this point. He looked down at her again and there was a tender smile on his face. "Of course you can."

* * * *


"You weren't kidding when you said you like to sleep late on weekends, were you?" Jarod looked up at Sam with a grin as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs and she laughed.

"Not at all. I need my beauty sleep." She came over to the kitchen and sat down at the table. "You've been out already?"

"I checked on that new patient and bought some bread at the same time."

"And the kids?"

"I took them both with me, of course. What did you think I'd do - leave them here to make breakfast for you while I was gone?"

She laughed and reached forward, pulling one of the rolls out of the basket and spreading butter on it.

"Daddy?" Bronwyn asked.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can you fill my cup for me?"

"Sure." Jarod got up and went into the kitchen. He turned to find Sam standing behind him and grinned. "What?"

"When did that start?"

"After I came home to find her downstairs waiting for me last night."

"She got up again?"

He nodded. "Apparently it wasn't the same when I didn't put her to bed."

"So their mother got it right again?"

"Absolutely spot on. She asked and everything."

Sam rolled her eyes. "And you weren't sure whether they loved you or not." She snorted and went back to the table.

* * * *


"So what time did you get home?"

Jarod tried to hide a yawn. "Around two. It was a hernia, before you ask."

"Infected?"

"Beginning to be. Very messy."

"And how did he do it?"

He tried not to grin. "Picking up his nine-year-old brother."

"What?" She stared at him. "He was only five."

"It was a dare."

"It would have to have been." Sam eyed him. "Why don't you go take a nap?"

"Can you cope with the kids for a few hours without me?"

As he stood up, she threw a cushion at him. "Of course I can cope. Am I their mother or not?"

"Oh, so you finally admit to that fact." He tossed it back at her. "It's taken you long enough."

"It's only been two weeks."

"Is that all?" He stared at her. "It feels like forever."

She smiled. "I thought that this morning as well, but it really is only two weeks, or slightly less. We moved in here Monday of last week."

"Incredible." Jarod began to go up the stairs. "Just incredible."

* * * *


He pushed the door shut and walked into the kitchen, dropping the bags onto the bench and looking up at her. She grinned before speaking.

"What were you, a body builder in a previous life or something?"

"Why?"

"Shall I weigh those bags and then ask you again?"

"No," Jarod laughed. "It's fine."

"So did you get everything?"

"Everything on your list, plus two new gas bottles and also some cans of food - and some more ice cream. Oh, and some more meat. We can store it in the large freezer downstairs."

"Should I ask why or wait for you to tell me?"

He leaned against the bench and grinned. "I was a meteorologist once and I had a long, hard look at the weather forecast yesterday. Unless I'm much mistaken, there's a major blizzard on the way, and soon."

"In November?"

He eyed her. "Has anything about this year been normal?"

"Very funny."

"Actually, I'm serious." He stood up. "I'm going to rescue the bottles from the car and take them downstairs."

"You really are sincere about this, aren't you?"

Jarod looked over his shoulder at her, and all humor had disappeared from his face. "Very."

* * * *


"I'm going to head off to work, Jarod."

He looked up from his book as she appeared in the doorway of his bedroom. "Aren't you going in a little early?"

"There's a few things I want to check up on."

"Can I give you a hint?"

"Sure."

"Pack a few changes of clothes."

"What?" She stared at him. "Why?"

"Well, let's just say we won't be going to the park today."

She raised an eyebrow and he nodded.

"Okay, if it makes you happy." Sam turned away from the door and went back into her own room, appearing several moments later with a bag in her hand. "Can you cope here, if you're right?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. I also bought several more packages of diapers and a few other necessities yesterday."

"Well, have fun. I'll call you and let you know what's happening."

He nodded, listening to her leave before he lay down again.

* * * *


"Daddy!"

Jarod rolled over and opened his eyes to see Bronwyn standing beside his bed, pulling at the blankets.

"What's up?" He reached out an arm and helped her into bed beside him.

"Sam's not here."

"She went to work early."

"So it's just going to be us for the next three days?"

"Yes it...how did you know, Bronwyn?" He looked down at her as she snuggled into his arms.

"I saw it."

"In your picture room?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes beginning to glaze over until finally her eyelids shut and she relaxed against him. Reaching out a hand for the book that lay open on the covers, he moved her so that she was comfortably lying beside him and then began to read.

* * * *


"Jarod?" the voice on the other end of the phone prompted.

"Three days, Sam."

"Did Bronwyn tell you that or are you guessing?"

Jarod looked out at the whirling snow and chuckled. "She told me this morning."

"And how did you know?"

"I told you, I did a stint as a meteorologist."

"Well, despite the fact that it's pandering to your ego and you know I try to avoid doing that as much as possible, I'm the only person here who seems to have thought about it."

"Can you tell me if my patient's parents are there?"

"They are, yes."

"And do you feel like doing my job?"

"Are you asking me to take over his care?"

"Well, I can't get there, can I? They've closed the roads now. I just heard it on the radio."

"Okay, if you're sure..."

"It's only post-op. I'd be amazed if he needed further surgery."

"Fine, it's only giving me more work."

Jarod laughed again. "What, and three days of constant care of these two isn't giving me enough to do?"

"Okay, you win." She laughed. "I'll see you on Thursday."

"Looking forward to it, Sam. Bye."

* * * *


Jarod glanced into the two children’s bedrooms before putting up the gate at the top of the stairs and then going down into the cellar. Reaching up, he turned on the light and looked around. Wood, stacked three rows thick, covered one wall and he nodded, satisfied. He looked down at the generator and checked that the two bottles of fuel were both full and far enough away from it to be safe. Going over to the large freezer, he opened it and looked inside.


"Meat, bread, frozen vegetables, ice cream," his lips twitched in amusement as he said the words aloud and then closed it again. "Maria, I sure hope we know what we're letting ourselves in for here."


Walking over, he examined the large gas stove that sat under the stairs. He'd already cleaned it and checked that it worked. Jarod eyed the two large gas canisters beside it, moving them slightly further away from both the stove and the bottles of fuel. Even down there he could still hear the wind howling around the house and he shivered slightly, despite the warm clothes that he was wearing.

Clothes.

That was the one thing he hadn't unpacked from the car yet and, as he shut the door of the cellar behind him, Jarod mentally kicked himself for forgetting about them. Grabbing his key, he pulled on his jacket and did it up, making sure that the light of the porch was on so that he could find his way back to the house.

* * * *


"Daddy?"

"Just a sec, Bronwyn." Jarod leaned against the door, trying to get his breath, as he put the bags down and took off his coat. "I’ll be right up."

"Is it cold out?"

His eyes twinkled up at her. "It's very cold." Slipping his arms out of his coat, he ran up the stairs and hugged her, laughing as she gasped at his touch.

"I just saw Mommy."

Jarod looked down at her in concern. "Where, sweetie?"

She tapped the side of her head and he smiled.

"So what did Mommy say?"

"She said we'll be okay."

As Bronwyn began to wriggle, he let her slip to the floor and leaned against the railing of the stairs, staring blankly at the wall in front of him as he realized the full impact of what she had said.

* * * *


"I'm going to put your brother to bed, Bronwyn. Will you be good down here while I do it?" She nodded, looking from him to the television, and Jarod smiled as he bent down, scooping the boy up out of the playpen. He carried him upstairs and into his room, checking that the small heater was making the room warm as he lay the boy down on the changing table.

"Pajamas or sleeping suit, Jamie?"

Jarod held the two options out to the baby, grinning as the infant kicked one foot in the air. "Sleeping suit? Very wise choice, sir."

He changed the baby's diaper and then slipped the small body into the outfit, doing it up gently at the back. Sitting down in the rocking chair, he cuddled the boy for a few moments, rocking until he saw that the baby was asleep. Standing, he put his son down in the cot and covered him with the thick blankets before going back downstairs.

Throwing another log on the fire, he looked up in time to see Bronwyn get up and come over to him. She was walking on her leg as though there had never been anything wrong with it and, although he was massaging it every day, there were times when he felt it was unnecessary. Sitting down on the sofa after replacing the fireguard, he let her scramble up into his lap.

"Daddy, when are they getting here?"

"Who, sweetheart?"

"The people who are coming." She yawned. "Mommy said that some people were coming tonight."

Jarod raised an eyebrow and looked out at the snow that was still falling in a heavy whirl around the house. "I don't think anyone will come tonight, Bronwyn. They couldn't. The weather's too bad."

She shrugged. "Maybe. Mommy only said they might come." She reached up and put both arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Did Mommy say who they were?"

He waited for several moments but she didn't reply and he could feel that she was asleep. Mentally shrugging, he got up off the sofa and carried her upstairs, laying her gently in her bed and covering her, placing the teddy in her arms. He bent down and kissed her softly before leaving the room.

* * * *


"Who are they Maria?"

He sat down on the sofa again, staring at a point in front of him without seeing it, before turning his eyes to the window where he could clearly see the snow. Not expecting an answer, he got up and walked over to the kitchen, putting on the kettle. He was about to reach up for the coffee when his eyes saw the jar beside it and with a grin Jarod took down the cocoa instead. As he mixed the drink, he glanced up to see his computer lying on the table. Going over, he started it and sat staring blankly at the one message in his inbox. It was the video that he had received from Maria Taylor more than two weeks earlier and he had seen it so often that he knew every word but now something made him start it up again. One sentence caught his attention.

"...I am able to assure you that you will never be found by the Centre in order to be taken back there."

"Is it, Maria?"

He looked around the room as he had done the first night of getting the message, waiting for some sign that he knew wouldn't appear. Finally, with a shake of his head, laughing at himself, he closed down the machine again and picked it up, taking it upstairs and into his bedroom.

* * * *


Jarod placed the mug back on the table and then glanced at his watch. Really, it was too early to even think about going to bed yet, but a couple of weeks had got him used to having company and now he was missing it. Even as he sat back, the phone in front of him rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Jarod."

"Sam!"

He heard the laughter from the other end. "You sound almost pleased to hear from me."

"Well, for lack of anybody better, you know..."

"Thanks! Actually, I just rang to check on the kids."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Implicitly, but I just wanted to be sure. Are they in bed yet?"

"Sam, it's nine thirty! What do you think?"

"Okay, okay."

Jarod laughed. "How's my patient?"

"Improving in leaps and bounds. His parents are delighted."

"Glad to hear it."

He heard a muttering of voices on the other end before Sam spoke again. "Jarod, I've got to go."

"No problem. Have a good night."

"You too. Bye."

He replaced the phone on the table and stretched, glancing at the fire to check that it was still burning well. Getting up, he climbed the stairs and then peeped into the bedrooms, checking that both children were still asleep. Jarod went into his own room and took a book off the shelf, going back downstairs and turning on the radio before reseating himself and beginning to read.

* * * *


He closed the book with a sigh and poured the last of the warm drink into his mug, swallowing it and then getting up to rinse the mug and jug in the kitchen sink. Looking at his watch, Jarod saw that it was almost eleven and decided that it was more than time for him to go to bed. He had been waiting up on the off chance that Bronwyn might have been right and that people might come but he decided that enough was enough. Glancing at the fire, he estimated that the embers only had another two hours before they would go out and he stood for a moment, considering whether to build it up enough so that it would still be burning when he got up in the morning. Deciding against it, he turned off the lamp in the living room and was about to go upstairs when he heard a knock on the door.

Slowly walking over to it, he put an eye to the peephole and then stepped back, drawing in his breath sharply. The light wasn't very clear outside but it provided sufficient illumination for him to recognize his visitors. He narrowed his eyes, wondering how they'd found him.

"Maria," he whispered under his breath. "You promised."

His daughter's words came into his mind. Okay? How could this be okay? They were here and, although once inside it would be several days before any of them could leave, he had little doubt about what would happen then, unless he took drastic steps to change things. Going over to the hall table, he took out the gun that he hadn't even handled since moving into the house and then walked back to the door. Turning on the outside light and the one above his head, he paused for a moment, his hand hesitating over the knob. Finally Jarod turned the key and unlocked the door, pulling it open.

"Well, this is very impressive of you both, I must say."
Part 4 by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Part 4


The Pretender watched the woman’s blue eyes widen as she looked up at him, first looking at his face and then at the gun in his hand.

"Jarod?"

"Like I said, Miss Parker, very impressive. But I suppose you'll tell me this was just chance and your car broke down."

"Actually, yes, Jarod." Sydney tried to keep his voice calm. "That is precisely what happened."

"So why this house?"

"It was the only one with a light."

Jarod looked at them closely, taking in the fact that they both looked cold and that their clothes weren't warm enough for the storm that was raging. Fortunately the porch provided some protection.

"And where's the third possible member of your trio? Either one?"

"It's Debbie's birthday."

"And Lyle?"

"I don't think you'll see him chasing you for a while."

Jarod dismissed this. "And where are the sweepers that usually come with you to make sure I don't put up a fight on the off-chance that you actually find me?"

"No, Jarod." Sydney shook his head. "There's just the two us."

"Well, that's more than enough."

He was about to speak again when a voice from behind interrupted him.

"Daddy?"

"Go back to bed, Bronwyn," he ground out from between clenched teeth, suddenly furious that Maria would put her daughter in this potentially dangerous situation.

"Daddy, did Sydney come?"

Jarod watched the shocked reaction of the two people in front of him, unable to fully hide his amusement, despite the seriousness of the situation. Finally he spoke.

"Yes, he did. Go back to bed, please. Now. I'll come up and get you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Hearing the footsteps going up the stairs behind him, Jarod put out his left hand, palm up.

"Your gun, Miss Parker."

"What?"

"If you want my help and somewhere to spend the night that doesn't leave you with the risk of freezing to death, give me your gun."

As she hesitated, he took a firmer grip on the weapon in his own hand. "I have no intention of making my daughter watch you two drag me away, so either hand me your gun or try and find your way through that," he nodded into the storm, "back to your car."

"Parker, he's serious," Sydney urged, his eyes fixed on the younger man’s face.

Slowly she put her hand onto her holster, unclipping it and putting the whole item into Jarod's outstretched hand. He pocketed it and then lowered his own gun, moving aside and allowing them into the house. Walking over to the table as Sydney thankfully closed the door, Jarod placed his weapon down on it and then took her gun out, tipping the bullets into his hand before handing it back to her.

She looked up at him, confusion obvious in her eyes. "What...?"

"I'm going to trust you with it. I'd also appreciate it if you'd hang it up with your jacket so that neither of my children can find it."

"Children?" Sydney placed his coat on the stand and then glanced over at Jarod, a look of amazement on his face. "More than one?"

"Two." Jarod watched as Miss Parker hung up her own coat, slipping the gun into the pocket, and then, with a sigh of relief, he opened the window and tossed the bullets into the snow outside before he closed it. Turning, he put the gun back into the drawer and locked it, pocketing the key.

Walking over to the fireplace, he threw several pieces of kindling onto it, waiting until they ignited before tossing several small logs on.

"Get warmer in front of that. I'll be right back."

Going up the stairs, he walked into his daughter's room, watching as she immediately sat up in bed. "Good girl, Bronwyn."

She held out her hands and he swung her up into his arms, wrapping her in a blanket and handing her the teddy she had left on the bed.

"Daddy, you don't like them, do you?"

"It's not that I don't like them, sweetie. It's just that it was a surprise to see them."

"Why? I told you they were coming."

He left the room and began to walk down the stairs. "But you fell asleep before you could tell me who 'they' were."

She giggled. "Mommy was right again."

He smiled. "Your mommy's always right." Coming into the living room, he looked up to see Miss Parker standing in front of the blazing fire and Sydney leaning against the wall beside her.

Sitting on the sofa, he looked down at his daughter. "Did you already know what Sydney looked like, or did Mommy just tell you the name?"

"His name."

Jarod looked up, nodding his head in the psychiatrist’s direction. "Well, that's him."

"And who...?"

"That's Miss Parker."

There was a sudden note of fear in the girl’s voice. "She's the one who chases you, right?"

He nodded slowly. "Did Mommy tell you that, too?"

"Yup." The little girl's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "But she won't do it now, will she? You don't have to run now?"

Jarod wrapped his arms around her and looked up at the woman. "No, baby. I'll make sure she doesn't do it me now." Feeling her sob several times as she turned her face to his shoulder, his expression hardened and he held her more tightly. After a few moments, he looked up again. "Miss Parker, this is Bronwyn Taylor." He paused. "The one you believe is dead."

He looked up to where the older man stood and then back down at the little girl who was becoming drowsy as she lay in her father's arms. "Sydney, this is my daughter. As of the last few weeks, anyway."

The psychiatrist came across and sat down in one of the chairs, looking down at the girl with a small smile on his face. His eyes traveled over the child’s face before closely examining Jarod's features.

"But she's not yours?"

"She's not my real daughter, no. Her parents left their children to me after a car accident."

"When?" the woman’s voice interrupted.

"Like I said, Miss Parker, a few weeks ago." Jarod looked up as she sat in the other chair. "The records NuGenesis have are false. Bronwyn's real parents were killed almost three weeks ago, rather than a year ago."

He felt Bronwyn give a small sigh and looked down to see that she was asleep, her bear still clutched firmly in one hand. Gently he stroked her hair.

"And your second child?" Sydney asked quietly.

"Bronwyn's brother. He's almost fourteen months old." He heard a sound from above his head and got to his feet. "You might as well meet the whole family at once."

Jarod came back downstairs into a silent room and tried to hide a smile, knowing that they had probably been talking about him. The little boy was wide-awake and tried to climb out of his arms almost as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Jarod grinned as he clutched the back of the boy's sleeping suit.

"Hey, whoa, get back here kiddo."

He took a firmer hold on the child and walked over to the sofa, seating the child on his knee as he sat down.

"This is my son, Jamie."

Feeling the boy wriggle, he let him slip to the floor. The child crawled over to the corner where several of his toys had been put and began to play with them.

"And their real parents are dead?"

"Yes, Sydney." Jarod smiled, watching the baby. "The whole family was brought into the hospital where I've been working." He stood and took a photo album off the shelf, opening it and handing the other two people photos of the damaged vehicle. "As a result of that, both parents died several hours after they arrived. By some miracle, their children didn't." He pulled out the will and gave it to Sydney who glanced over it and then handed it to Miss Parker. "And we found that a few hours later, which provided me with an instant family."

"And this house?"

"It’s mine, yes." He grinned. "My daughter knew about it and told me to buy it."

"In the same way that she knew about me?"

"Pretty much." Jarod pulled out the picture of the house and unfolded it, handing it to Sydney. "She drew that and said that it was where we were going to live. It was only a few hours later that I found the house, which was for sale, and the Centre helped me to purchase it."

"You mean you hacked into one of the accounts?"

"Of course." He sat down and grinned. "But that should be old news to you, Miss Parker. I've been doing that since the first day I escaped."

"So how does your daughter know all of these things?"

Jarod leaned back against the cushions. "Well, you might not believe it, but she gives every impression of being a psychic."

"Oh, come on, Jarod..." Sydney began.

"Do you have a better explanation?" He looked at the older man. "Have you ever seen her before?"

"Well, no…"

"And how else would she know about Miss Parker? Or me? I might say that she had a very good idea of who I was from the word 'go'."

Jarod looked over as his son crawled towards him and picked him up, cuddling the infant to his chest and gently rubbing a hand on his back.

"And him? Is he psychic as well?"

"According to what I found out from their mother, no."

"But they call you 'Daddy'."

He grinned. "Well, Bronwyn does. Jamie's a bit young to be calling me anything just yet." Jarod became more serious. "She called me by my name until a few days ago, but..." He stopped. "This is kind of complicated, but the mother - Maria Taylor - was psychic as well. Apparently she knew about the fact that she was going to die and so brought up both her kids to be attached to me, and not her and her husband."

Jarod looked up to see the amazement in Sydney's eyes and the curiosity in Miss Parker's. A small smile on his face, he looked at her. "What is it?"

"Is there anybody else involved or are you taking care of two small children on your own?"

"Do you doubt my abilities as a father, Miss Parker? I admit it's trickier than some of my other pretends, but..." He saw the annoyance on her face and stopped. "Yes, there is someone else. One of the other doctors who also works at the hospital: Samantha Childs. But she's snowed in there for the next few days anyway." He stood up. "Which has the benefit of giving you a bedroom. Sydney, I apologize but all I can offer you is the sofa."

"That's fine, Jarod. It's more than I expected."

He looked startled. "From me?"

"From wherever we could get accommodation."

* * * *


"Daddy, what's 'it'?"

Startled, Jarod looked down at her as Bronwyn crawled into bed beside him. "I don't understand, sweetie. What do you mean?"

"Well, Mommy was in the picture room last night and said that they wouldn't do it and I just wanted to know what the 'it' was." She scrunched up her nose. "And who's 'they'?"

"'They' would be Miss Parker and Sydney."

She nodded, snuggling close to him, and he looked down at her. "Did Mommy tell you anything else?"

"That you shouldn't worry. And that she keeps her pr..." She stopped, struggling with the word. "Prosmis..."

"Promises?"

"Yeah, that."

He kissed her. "Well, you tell your mommy 'thank you' for me when you see her next, okay?"

"Are you getting up now?"

Jarod glanced at the clock. "Are you hungry?"

"Mmm hmm."

He smiled and got out of bed, wrapping a warm bathrobe around himself and then picking her up. Immediately she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, if I have to get up then you can't go back to sleep again!"

She giggled and hugged him as the two of them made their way downstairs.

Looking up as they arrived on the lower level, Jarod saw Sydney sitting on the sofa and walked into the kitchen, turning on the kettle.


"I hope it's comfortable."

"Thank you, Jarod. It's fine."

"Well, you'll be able to leave on Thursday, so you only need to put up with it until then, anyway."

Sydney walked over, a startled look on his face. "How do you know that?"

"I told him so," Bronwyn announced. "'Cos that's when Sam will be back and she'll want her own room."

"Did you go in to see Sam this morning, sweetheart?"

"No, Daddy." She shook her head as he put her up on the bench. "I know she's not there and that you said Miss Parker could sleep in her bed."

Jarod nodded and tried to hide his amusement as he saw the astonishment on Sydney's face. Filling a mug with milk, he handed it to Bronwyn. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"I guess I shouldn't ask for ice cream, 'cos that would tell Sydney how much of it you eat." She giggled, her face wearing a naughty grin.

"No, I guess you shouldn't have." Jarod smiled. "So what do you want?"

"Toast."

"Okay, no problem."

He pulled out the toaster and opened the breadbox, extracting the last few slices and then throwing the bag into the bin as the toaster began to work.

"Are you out of bread?"

"Hardly." Jarod opened the cupboard and took out another loaf. "There's several in the freezer as well." He lifted Bronwyn off the bench and put her down on her chair before spreading out the placemats and getting plates out of the cupboard. "I spotted the storm a few days ago and did some major shopping, so we'll even have enough food for our 'visitors', as Bronwyn put it last night."

"You wouldn't call us that?"

"I can think of several other terms I'd use." Jarod's eyes hardened. "But none of them would be quite that complimentary."

* * * *


Jarod scooped the last of the food out of the jar and put it into his son's mouth, wiping the mess off his face before putting the lid back on and handing the bottle of milk to the boy.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Bronwyn?"

"I'm finished. Can I go and watch TV?"

"Sure. Can you manage?"

She nodded and slid off the seat, going over to sit in the beanbag after turning on the television.

"Why wouldn't she? Manage, I mean," the woman prompted.

"My daughter's leg was broken in the accident, Miss Parker. I only took the cast off a few days ago."

"She's recovered well," Sydney remarked quietly.

"Considering the state of the car, she's doing well to just be alive." He got out of his seat and picked up the plates, clearing the table and starting the dishwasher while Miss Parker and Sydney watched silently.

* * * *


"Where's Miss Parker?"

Jarod asked the question without looking up as Sydney appeared in the doorway of the bathroom where the younger man was bathing his son.

"Downstairs."

"If she so much as lays a finger on my daughter..."

"Jarod, please." Sydney shut the door. "She won't."

"I'm glad you're so confident, Sydney. I wish I was." Jarod picked up a small cup, filled it with water and tipped it over his son's chest, listening to the boy giggle in delight. He placed a finger on the tiny stomach and gently pressed, watching as the boy cooed.

"I know that you're nervous..."

"And you think I have no reason to be?" Jarod looked up. "I'm pretty much all these kids have to depend on in the world now and, although this might seem a little strange to you, I'm not mad keen on having to take care of them within the confines of the Centre after the two of you drag us all back there."

He lifted the baby out of the warm water and wrapped him in a towel, opening the door and carrying him across the hall into the bedroom, knowing that Sydney was following.

"I can understand..."

"No, you can't," Jarod told him from between clenched teeth. "Maybe you could have understood me and my feelings once, but you don't understand the way I feel now, not the way my circumstances have changed. So I'd rather not hear the old psychiatrist's line about the fact that you know what I'm going through, because you don't."

After carefully drying the baby, Jarod dressed him and then looked up, the anger evident in his eyes.

"I can't just up and disappear the way I normally would, Sydney, and I'm not going to expose my kids to a life like the one I've lived for the last five years. They're the most important things in the world to me and I swear to you here and now that I will kill to protect them."

* * * *


"Daddy, why are you mad?"

"It's all right, sweetie, I'm not mad with you." Jarod put Jamie down in the playpen before walking over to pick her up.

"But you're mad with someone." Her lower lip began to tremble as tears filled her eyes and he kissed her gently.

"I'm not mad with Jamie either, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." He looked down at her. "Did Miss Parker do anything to you?"

Wide-eyed, the little girl shook her head and Jarod smiled at his daughter, gently stroking her hair as he ignored the look the woman gave him.

"Do you want to watch the new video I bought for you?"

She nodded and he turned on the television and put the tape into the machine.

"Can Jamie watch too?"

"Of course he can." Jarod picked up the little boy and brought him over to the corner of the room, putting him on his sister's lap. With a final glance at the two children and then another at the snow that was blocking most of the light, Jarod returned to the sofa.

"What did you think I'd do, Jarod?"

"Does the word 'blackmail' mean anything to you, Miss Parker? Such as, in a random example, me for the life of my daughter?"

"Jarod, she wouldn't!" Sydney exploded.

"I wouldn't put it past her." Jarod's eyes glittered with the same angry light they had had earlier. "I wouldn't put anything past her." He swallowed hard. "Strangely enough, this image came into my head of me coming downstairs with my son in my arms to find my daughter with an arm around her neck and a gun at her temple." He looked over at his children and then back to see that Miss Parker’s eyes held a hurt expression.

"Jarod, I'm not my brother."

"Oh, if Lyle was here both of my kids would be dead already. I know that." Jarod spoke flippantly. "I suppose we should all be grateful for small mercies." He looked up. "Speaking of which, what, exactly, did you mean when you said that I wouldn't be seeing him for a while?"

Miss Parker looked at her hands. "Lyle's dying...probably dead by now, in fact."

"Is that meant to be a joke?" Jarod demanded.

"No." She shook her head. "He was plotting to overthrow my father, but Cox, who was supposed to be helping him, betrayed him and Lyle was found at home the night before last, having been poisoned."

"Who did it?"

"It could have been a lot of people. My brother wasn't exactly Mr. Popularity with anybody at the Centre, or out of it for that matter."

"You don't seem overly devastated."

She shrugged. "I'm not, but, after making sure that Broots and Debbie had left Blue Cove, we felt it would be safer if we left too."

"Which will, I can only presume, put the two of you fairly high on the possible list of assassins."

Sydney shook his head. "We were all - Broots included - in a meeting with Mr. Parker when the poisoning took place."

"They know when it was already?"

"A dart through the window into the middle of his back at the time when all three of us were sitting in my father's office puts us pretty well in the clear," the woman explained. "They found him before we left the office."

"So that little action keeps your father at the head of the list of the Centre's most powerful, makes sure that I'm still sitting up there at number one on the most wanted list and, last but not least, keeps the two of you working there."

Miss Parker looked up at him. "Actually, we didn't leave to find you."

He raised an eyebrow. "After five years, I'm supposed to believe you when you sit there and say that."

"I would have thought that the fact I am sitting here and saying that would have been reason enough to show you that things can change."

"So why did you leave?"

"Because Mr. Parker ordered us to."

Jarod couldn’t help looking surprised. "He's thrown you out?"

"No. His stated reason was that he didn't want us involved in the 'mess' that he knew was coming."

"And what did he mean by that?"

"I don't know."

"Daddy?" a small voice piped up at this point.

"Yes, baby?" Jarod looked over to where his daughter was watching him.

"Why isn't Miss Parker listening to what her mommy wants to tell her?"

Jarod stood up and walked over, picking up his two children and bringing them back over to the sofa. He placed his sleeping son in the corner and put Bronwyn on his knee.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?"

"Mommy just told me that Miss Parker's mommy has a really im...imp..."

"Important?"

"Yeah, that." She smiled at her father. "A 'portant message for her and that she won't listen to it."

"Did your Mommy know Miss Parker's mommy?"

"No, but she knew about her, like she knew about you."

Jarod nodded his head slowly. "And do you know how Miss Parker should listen to her mommy's message?"

The little girl turned and looked over at the other woman. "She has to go into the room."

"Like your picture room?"

She nodded and turned back to her father. "Are you still mad?"

"Not as mad as I was, sweetie." He kissed her gently.

"But you were mad with Sydney?"

"Just a little."

"'Cos you thought he was going to take you back to the Centre." She turned and looked at the older man. "But you aren't, are you?"

Sydney shook his head. "No, Bronwyn, I'm not."

"And is Miss Parker?"

"No, Bronwyn."

She looked back up at Jarod. "You see."

He smiled at her. "Okay, sweetheart. I won't be mad anymore."

"Promise?"

As he nodded, she slid off his knee and went back to the television.

"What room?"

Jarod tapped the side of his head. "When Maria Taylor was trying to explain to her daughter how she 'knew' things, she would say that she had a picture room in her head that would allow her to see what was going to happen. Apparently Bronwyn also 'sees' her mother there sometimes."

"So she's getting messages from the dead?"

"Basically, yes." He smiled half-heartedly. "And she's not the only one."

"What do you mean, Jarod?" Sydney demanded.

The younger man stood up. "I'll show you."

* * * *


Jarod shut the computer, looking at the two people sitting opposite him. "Obviously either she's making promises she can't keep," he glanced at his daughter, before looking back, "or both of you actually meant what you said to Bronwyn just before."

"You don't believe us?"

"What reason do I have for doing so?" Jarod looked at Sydney. "The fact is that trying to capture me puts money in your pockets every week. What reason could I possibly have for believing you when you say to a little girl, who has sat opposite and begged you not to, that you won't take me back there?"

"The fact that we did say so."

He snorted. "I'm sorry to sound skeptical, Miss Parker, but I don't believe that."

"Jarod, if she can help me..."

"You'll use her and then take her back to the Centre so that they can exploit her like they exploited me." He turned away and stared through the window at the snow that fell outside. "Sorry, no deal."

"Jarod, why would you doubt her?" Sydney leaned forward and gently tapped the computer. "She's been right so far, hasn't she?"

"Frighteningly so, yes," the other man admitted.

"Well then?"

"Besides, Jarod, we couldn't do anything now, even if we wanted to." Miss Parker broke the uncomfortable silence that had followed Sydney's last question. "What would you do if I said that I was going to take you back at the end of the storm?"

Jarod coldly eyed her. "I don't think you want me to answer that question, Miss Parker. What I say might haunt your dreams."

"So, having a pretty good idea of what you'd do, why would I?" She stood up and walked towards him, watching as he instinctively took a step back. "Jarod, I know that the last five years haven't given you much of a reason to trust me, but you used to, once."

"Things change."

"I'll say." She looked over to where the small girl was watching them, concern on her face. "It wouldn't have seemed possible a month ago that you would have children, so why is it so impossible for me to stand here and say that I won't take you back to the Centre?"

"For how long, Miss Parker? Three days, and then, when Thursday comes, you'll ask me to fix your car 'as a favour' and bundle me into the back of it, or a few more days, giving you time to get back to the Centre and collect a big team of sweepers so that I can't get away?"

"Or forever, so you get the chance to do for your children what Momma always wanted for me?"

"What?"

The word was a faint whisper as he stared at her and he could see the tears that glittered in her eyes. Miss Parker walked over to her coat and took her gun out of the pocket, keeping it hidden from the young eyes that watched her anxiously. As she approached, Jarod stepped further back, pressing up against the window, breath caught in his throat as his eyes were fixed on her hand. She stood so that she blocked the little girl's view of her father before reaching out and gently picking up Jarod's hand, putting the unloaded weapon into it.

"Put it with yours, so that they don't find it."

He looked up at her, meeting her gaze, and she could see the anger that still burned in his eyes and the fear that lurked behind it. Slowly his fingers wrapped themselves around the weapon, pulling it gently out of her grasp and slipping it into his pocket.

"Why, Parker?"

"Because you love your children, Jarod. You love them as much as my mother loved me and I couldn't do to them what should never have been done to you."

* * * *


"Daddy?"

Jarod looked down with a smile as Bronwyn tugged on his jeans. "What is it, gorgeous?"

"What are you making?"

"Lunch."

"I know that." She giggled. "But what?"

"Soup."

"What kind?"

He knelt down in front of her. "What's my little girl's favorite type of soup?"

"Tomato."

"Lucky that's what I'm making then, isn't it?" He leaned over to tickle her and she giggled as she wriggled out of his grasp, running over to the far side of the room. He stood up and continued to slowly stir the contents of the saucepan.

"You know, you were right, Jarod," Sydney stated softly from his seat on the other side of the dividing wall between the kitchen and dining area.

"Oh?" The other man raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

"I didn't feel like I knew you this morning. I always thought I would know what you were thinking, but then I really couldn't follow you at all."

Jarod looked over his shoulder, meeting the man's eye. "Were you afraid of me, Sydney?"

"I never thought I would say this, but yes, Jarod, I was."

Nodding, Jarod turned back. "As long as my kids are never afraid of me, that's all that matters."

Suddenly Jamie began to cry softly and Jarod looked up. He met Miss Parker's eye, watching as she hesitated.

"Go ahead."

"Are you sure?"

Jarod nodded and Miss Parker moved towards the sofa, gently picking up the child and awkwardly holding it close to her. The soft cries continued for several moments before they slowly ceased and Jarod turned back to the saucepan, a slight smile on his face. When he felt the meal was hot enough, he looked around again to find his daughter sitting on the floor, playing with a doll that had arrived in a package at the hospital a week earlier.

"Bronwyn, can you ask Sydney to help you set the table?"

The girl came over and held out one hand. Sydney glanced at Jarod out of the corner of his eye before taking it and finding himself almost pulled over to the table. "Can you help me? I can't reach the plates."

"Bronwyn, what do we eat soup from? It's not plates. What are the other things called? The same things we eat ice cream from."

The girl frowned for a moment before looking up. "Bowls."

"Good girl."

Jarod pushed down the large toaster, watching as the eight slices disappeared into it, and then stirred for several moments before he poured the soup into the large, pre-warmed tureen and put the lid on, carrying it to the table. As he got the ladle out of the drawer, the toaster popped up and he removed the slices, putting them into a rack before picking up a small jar of baby food.

"Lunch is ready."

* * * *


"Did you find your room?" the childish voice piped up from beside Miss Parker's chair, where she had been trying to get interested in one of the books that lined the shelves of her temporary bedroom.

Miss Parker looked down to see the little girl standing next to her chair and then glanced up at Jarod who sat opposite, watching her, a book in his hand.

"Which room?" she asked.

Bronwyn reached up and gently tapped Miss Parker's forehead. "The one there, where your Mommy is."

The woman smiled faintly. "Can you tell me what my Momma wants me to know?"

The girl frowned for a moment before shaking her head. "I only know what my Mommy wants me to know. You have to ask yours."

She looked up and then climbed into the woman's lap. Miss Parker glanced at Jarod and saw that he had started to read, but she suspected that he was still listening.

"My Mommy's dead too, like yours, but she still talks to me."

"When, Bronwyn? When does she talk to you?"

"If Daddy asks her something or I have to tell him something, then she tells me."

"And what else do you see in your room?"

"Pictures. That's why Mommy called it a picture room. I even saw Daddy in there lots, before the accident when I got to meet him and he brought us here."

"So you already knew about him?"

"I've always known about him. He was kind of like a present that you want lots but have to wait for." She looked up. "Did you ever have presents like that?"

Miss Parker smiled. "Sometimes."

"Like the bunny." Bronwyn smiled back at her. "You wanted him for a long time and then finally Daddy gave him to you."

* * * *


"How did she know that?" Miss Parker demanded softly.

Jarod looked up to find the woman staring at him. "She told you, Miss Parker. It was in her 'picture room'." He smiled. "She knows a lot about me, even to the extent of sometimes knowing my memories or feelings."

"And… is it really a room?"

He closed the book. "She sees it as a room. I asked her about it one day and she said that she would imagine a door she could open and go through. These are my words, not hers, but it's kind of like a cinema or a theatre. The images are projected on a screen so that she can see them, or the person - her mother - is in front of her and she can ask her questions or be told things. When she was learning about the room, her mother told her that she had to make sure no other thoughts were allowed to come in, and the walls that she sees in the room block those out." Jarod smiled faintly again. "Basically, Maria taught her daughter the same kind of deep concentration that people use in meditation."

"To a four-year-old?"

"Actually, her first memory of the room is as a two-year-old, but I would suggest that she's been told about it her whole life."

"And… why?"

"Maria Taylor knew about her abilities, and knew that her daughter would share them. Also, she knew that she would be dead before the girl turned five. For these reasons she either created or shared the idea of the room and it serves two purposes. First, it's given my daughter somewhere to focus her knowledge of the future and, second, it provides a constant link to her mother so that Bronwyn will never feel that she's been deserted or 'left' on my hands."

"She told you all that?"

Jarod laughed softly and shook his head. "She didn't tell me any of it. I did a little deep thinking and that's the result." He became serious. "I hadn't thought about it until just now, but it's the perfect metaphor for you, Miss Parker."

"Oh really? Why?"

"Well, I seem to remember Thomas telling me that the work he ended up doing at your house was on your mother's studio." He studied the pattern of the floor to avoid looking at the tears in her eyes. "So you have the room. You just have to transfer it into your mind so that your mother has a place to talk to you."

* * * *


"Daddy, did it work?"

"I don't know, Bronwyn." He sat down beside her as she sat up in bed, snuggling close to him. "We'll have to wait and see."

"I think it'll work."

He looked down and saw the small smile on his daughter's face. "Bronwyn, were you telling the truth when you said that you didn't know what her mom wants to tell her?"

She shrugged. "Kind of."

"In other words, you do know, but your mommy said not to tell anyone until we find out whether Miss Parker can do it or not."

"Daddy, you aren't s'posed to know what she said!" She gently tapped the back of his hand and he laughed.

"Of course I know, Bronwyn." Jarod gently kissed the top of her hear. "Because I know what you're thinking!" He tickled her, watching her roll on the bed until she gasped for breath and then threw her arms around his neck.

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Bronwyn."
Part 5 by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Part 5


"My daughter asked me to ask you if it worked."

She raised an eyebrow interrogatively and he laughed softly.

"Okay, she asked me and now I'm asking you."

"I saw somebody there, but it wasn't Momma."

"Thomas," he proposed.

Miss Parker nodded slowly and then looked up at him. "How did you know?"

"A feeling I had." Jarod did up the small suit and then gently picked up the baby, cradling him as he sat down in the chair and began to rock slowly. "Your memory of Thomas is almost as strong as that of your mother, but not quite. It would make sense that you would, if you'll excuse the phrase, try for something easier first, before reaching out to your mother."

"If you know that much about me now, why couldn't you believe me earlier?"

He sighed and stood up, gently putting the sleeping baby into his cot. "Because it seemed too simple. You've been chasing me for five years and now, in one night, you turn around and stop? Answer me honestly, Parker. If the situation had been reversed, how would you have acted?"

"I don't know, Jarod, because I've never tried to understand you."

He looked up at her calmly. "Then perhaps its time you did."

* * * *


"Jarod?" the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

"Hi, Sam."

"How's it going?"

"Not a problem." He laughed. "I told you there wouldn't be. How's my patient?"

"Much better. You'll probably only come back in time to release him."

"Then I'll leave him in your care and you can do all the dirty work."

"Thanks," she laughed.

"Somebody wants to say hi."

"Not Jamie?"

"Hey, you haven't been gone that long!" He handed the phone to the little girl sitting on his knee, who eagerly clutched the receiver.

"Hi Sam."

Jarod glanced at Sydney to find himself being visually examined while his daughter spoke on the phone.

"What?"

"Nothing." Sydney shook his head and looked back down at his book.

"Oh really?" He glanced down. "At least, nothing you can say in front of my girl."

"Perhaps."

"Then you'd better start thinking of a good answer because I'm going to ask you again when she's in bed."

* * * *


Jarod carried the relaxed body of his daughter into her room and gently placed her down on the bed. Putting the teddy into her arms, he covered her and then leaned down, kissing her gently before straightening up again and leaving the room. Peering into his son's room, he nodded in satisfaction before going back downstairs.

"Well?"

"Well what, Jarod?"

Ignoring Miss Parker's question, he reached forward and plucked the book from Sydney's hand, glancing down before shutting it.

"I was reading that," the psychiatrist exclaimed indignantly.

"You were up to page one hundred and twenty-three," Jarod told him. "Try to remember for when I give it back to you."

"Oh, so you will?"

"As soon as I get a satisfactory answer to my question yes."

Sighing, Sydney sat back in the chair. "So what was the question?"

"You can't remember?"

"Jarod, two hours ago you said the word 'what'. I don't consider that a question."

"You know, 'any word, pronounced in such a way that the tone of voice raises at the end of it, rather than lowering, can be considered a question', so I can't..."

"I don't need to hear my own words, thank you," the older man snapped.

"I thought perhaps you'd forgotten them."

"That isn't funny, Jarod."

"I thought it was." He sat back against the sofa, arms folded. "So - what? Or, to make it clearer, what was that look for?"

"I was...thinking."

Jarod rolled his eyes. "I'm glad to hear it. So what were you thinking about?"

"Would you be surprised to hear that it was you?"

"Not really." Jarod stared into the fire for a moment before looking back. "Which particular aspect of me was under your consideration?"

"The newest."

"The fact that I'm a father." He paused. "So what precisely were you thinking?"

Sydney half-smiled. "Wondering how such a new situation could seem so completely natural."

* * * *


As the lights flickered twice and went out, Jarod got to his feet and, in the light thrown by the blazing fire, took the flashlight from the mantelpiece.

"I'll be right back."

Opening the door that led down to the cellar, he placed the torch on the step so that it illuminated the generator and then started it up.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked above his head.

He looked up as Miss Parker came down the stairs. "What does it look like?"

"Preparing for a siege?"

"Oh, very funny." He glanced at the slightly diminished woodpile and then put one hand on the freezer, checking that it had restarted.

"How much preparation did you have for this storm?"

"Two days. But the generator, stove and freezer were already here. I just added the other bits and pieces."

"So we won't starve?"

He laughed softly. "Parker, it's currently Tuesday night. The blizzard will be over by Thursday, so we would hardly have starved in that length of time. But I don't want to have to take care of my one-year-old son in a situation where I can't even get hot water to sterilize his bottles."

They came up into the living room to find that the lighting had been restored and Jarod walked into the kitchen to check that the fridge was working. Glancing around the room, he saw that his daughter was sitting on Sydney's lap and came over to kneel in front of her.

"What happened, sweetie?"

"I saw the lights all go dark and…"

"Did you get up when it was all still dark?"

She shook her head. "When the lights came back on, I got up and came down to check that you were okay."

He smiled and then picked her up. "I thought I was the one who was supposed to make sure that you were okay."

"Mommy said I have to look after you, too."

Jarod sat down on the sofa and she nestled into his lap, one hand clutching the teddy and the other hand wrapped around his thumb.

"Was Mommy there again?"

She nodded earnestly, her eyes wide. "She's there lots, isn't she?"

"Did you remember to say thank you for me?"

"Mmm hmm." The girl nodded again.

"Well, you can tell Mommy next time you see her that she can go and have a vacation now, if she wants to, because we're okay now."

"Sure?" The eyes she turned up to him were becoming sleepy and he smiled, kissing her softly on the forehead.


"Very sure."

* * * *


"Thank you, Sydney."

"You're welcome." He looked up and smiled. "Actually, she came over and got up there pretty much on her own."

"Is she asleep?" Miss Parker asked quietly.

Jarod nodded, looking out to where the snow was beginning to pile up against the windows before getting up and closing the curtains. Suddenly a thought struck him and he picked up the phone.

"Well?" Sydney prompted.

"Dead." He looked over, a light in his eyes. "So even if you wanted to..."

"Jarod!" the woman exclaimed indignantly.

"I was kidding, Parker. Calm down."

"That wasn't funny."

"Sorry."

Sydney picked up his book. "What page?"

"One hundred and twenty-three." He grinned. "I would have thought you might have made the effort to remember."

"Not really. I knew you would."

"Oh, so you're relying on me now? That's new."

"If we don't rely on you," the woman commented drily, "we might find ourselves walking back to Delaware on Thursday."

"I wouldn't do that to you, Miss Parker."

"You wouldn't?"

"No." Jarod grinned. "I'd buy you a bus ticket."

* * * *


"It's dark, Daddy," the girl’s voice spoke out of the darkness in Jarod's ear.

He reached out a hand and pulled her into bed with him where she snuggled down into his arms. "It's still early, Bronwyn." Jarod glanced at the clock. "It's only four o'clock. How come you're awake this early?"

"My room's cold."

"It is?" He sat up, feeling her hands and face. "But you're not too cold."

"I came in before I got cold."

"Just a sec." He got out of the bed, pulling on his bathrobe. "Stay there, okay?"

She nodded and he left the room, going into hers and putting one hand on the small heater that sat there. It was stone cold and he quickly went into his son's room. The warmth that he felt as soon as he entered told him that this one, at least, was still working.

Gently he tapped on the door of the other room and, when there was no response, pushed it open. Here, too, it was cold. Going back into his daughter's room, he pulled the spare blanket out of the cupboard and put it over the sleeping woman. Softly he went back into the Jamie's room and took the blanket out of that cupboard, carefully closing the door behind him and going silently downstairs. He put it over the man who lay on the sofa and added more wood to the fire.

"What is it, Jarod?"

He jumped and spun around. "Do you mind not doing that?"

Sydney smiled. "I thought you would have seen that I wasn't asleep."

Jarod went over to the window and opened the curtain, but there was almost no increase in light into the room. "I know the sun isn't up yet, but today seems like it'll be colder than yesterday."

"So what are you doing up?"

"Bronwyn woke me. The heaters in her room and Miss Parker's aren't working for some reason. I'll check them over later and try to work out why."

"And Jamie?"

"He's fine." Jarod touched the heater that should have been warming the sofa and wasn't. "But you might not have been, without the fire and the blanket." He pulled the curtain shut again and turned away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed."

He opened the door of the bedroom and looked in to see Bronwyn lying with her head on his pillow, watching him. Closing the door behind him, he stepped over to the bed.

"Do you want to stay with me or go in and sleep with Jamie?"

Soundlessly she held out her arms and he chuckled, sliding into bed beside her and wrapping her in his bathrobe. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on one cheek.

"Guess what, Daddy?"

"What, sweetheart?"

She giggled. "You said you could read my mind."

"So you want me to guess?"

Bronwyn nodded and he pretended to think. "Hmm, you're hungry."

She shook her head and Jarod grinned. "Okay, you're thirsty."

The girl giggled. "You're silly, daddy." She kissed the tip of his nose. "Guess."

Jarod looked thoughtful. "Mommy wasn't in your picture room when you went there tonight."

She snuggled close to him, nodding. "You really can read my mind."

* * * *


"Was I dreaming, Jarod," Miss Parker asked as she came down the stairs, "or did you come into my room last night?"

He grinned. "It was a choice between me coming in or you freezing to death, Miss Parker. Which would you rather?"

She sat down on a chair at the table and watched as he put the last of the food into the boy's mouth. "How come?"

"Several of the heaters seem to have blown as a result of the power going off and I guess yours did, too. I've fixed Sydney's and Bronwyn's and yours should be repairable as well." He laughed. "Besides, I've been in your room before."

"Oh, yes." She sent him a mock-glare. "So you have."

"Nice try, but that doesn't make me nervous in the way it does, say, Broots, for instance." He smiled. "Especially not now that you've promised."

She nodded and then stood up, wrapping the bathrobe around herself. "Is the hot water working?"

"It should be. It's a gas heater. And, even if it isn't, as long as you don't take too long, there should still be enough to allow you to shower."

Miss Parker smiled. "I'll keep it short. Your kids need it more than I do."

Jarod's jaw dropped and he stared at her as she went up the stairs.

* * * *


"Daddy, what are you doing?" Bronwyn asked, coming into the kitchen to stand beside him.

He looked down at her with a smile. "Remember how we use that machine to wash Jamie's bottles so that he gets nice clean things to drink?"

She nodded. "But you're not using the machine now."

"No, baby, because we want to save the generator, so I'm using the gas stove instead."

He stirred the water so that the plastic items in it moved around and then slowly began to lift the first one out, placing it carefully on the sink. As he turned back for the next, the wooden spoon caught on the handle, spinning the saucepan and, even as he moved to grab his daughter and pull her out of the way with his left hand, Jarod felt the boiling hot water pour onto his right.

"Daddy!"

Sydney looked up from his book at the sound of the child's scream and jumped to his feet as Jarod stepped away from the pool of water on the floor. Ignoring the pain of his hand and the hot, wet material against his arm, he put his daughter up on the bench, keeping his right hand behind his back.

"Are you okay, sweetie? Did it burn you?"

His eyes scanned her arms and legs, sighing with relief to see that there were no splashes on her clothes. Gently he stroked her cheek. "It's all right, baby."

"Daddy…" she whimpered. "Your hand..."

"It's okay, sweetheart. Really." He lifted her down as Sydney moved over and turned on the cold tap. "You go with Miss Parker and check on Jamie for me." She paused and he nodded firmly, meeting the woman's eye as she came over. "I mean it, go on."

"Jarod," the psychiatrist murmured into his ear, taking the younger man's arm and pulling him over to the sink, allowing the water to run over the blistering skin. The younger man tensed as the pain increased and then looked quickly over his shoulder to see that Miss Parker had obviously taken his daughter upstairs.

"Sydney, turn off the gas," he ordered from between teeth clenched against the pain.

The older man turned the knob, reaching down to pick up the saucepan and the plastic parts of the bottle that were scattered over the floor before using paper towel to mop up the still-hot water.

"Are you okay?"

Jarod nodded, removing his hand from under the cold flow and gently flexing his fingers, sharply inhaling as the pain intensified.

"Leave it there."

"Hey, who's the doctor here, you or me?"

Giving a half-hearted smile, Sydney walked over and increased the flow of the water, placing one hand on Jarod's shoulder and forcing the hand back under the cold stream. "I am." He looked down. "You're going to need something for that."

"It's fine."

"No, Jarod, it's not. You've just poured a saucepan full of boiling water over your hand. How can that be fine?"

Jarod leaned weakly against the sink, looking up and allowing Sydney to see the fear in his eyes. "As long as it wasn't over her..."

* * * *


"Daddy?"

Hearing the whimper in his ear, despite the pain that seemed to blot out almost everything else, Jarod opened his eyes and looked into the tear-filled eyes of his daughter, sitting up immediately and withdrawing his hand from the bowl of cold water in which it had been resting. "It's okay, Bronwyn." He pulled the frightened girl into his lap and gently stroked her hair with his left hand. "I'm all right."

"Did it hurt, Daddy?"

"Not much." Jarod allowed himself the lie and then kissed her as he leaned back against the sofa cushions. "Are you sure you're okay? It didn't burn you at all?"

"I checked her, Jarod," Miss Parker responded quietly. "There's not a mark."

He sighed with relief and then looked down at her again. "I'm fine, Bronwyn. You don't have to worry about me."

"But… Mommy said I should… look after you… and…" Tears filled her eyes and she turned to him, putting her head against his chest and beginning to sob. Jarod wrapped both arms around her and rocked her gently.

"It's all right, honey bee. It's fine. I'm okay."

"P… promise?"

"I promise. It's just a little burn." As the soft sobbing ceased, Jarod looked down at her. "Did you show Miss Parker your doll's house that I bought you?"

The little girl shook her head, sniffing.

"Well, how about you go up and do that now? I'm sure she'd like to see it."

"I'd love to," the woman remarked.

"So you go and do that now, okay? Then, later, I might give you something nice to eat."

"Sure?"

He nodded, smiling at her. "Maybe you can wipe the ice cream off my nose this time, huh?"

* * * *


"Does it hurt?" a voice asked from the doorway, as Jarod came out of the deep sleep that the strong painkillers Sydney had forced him to take had caused.

The Pretender opened his eyes and glared at her. "Miss Parker, I've got a large burn on my hand. You tell me whether it would hurt or not." He pulled himself slowly up in bed, still feeling groggy. "What time is it?"

"Almost three. We finished lunch two hours ago." She walked into the room. "Do you want something to eat?"

"It's fine. I'm not hungry." He looked down at the blistered skin on the back of his hand and then up at her, a look of anguish on his face. "How's my baby?"

"Both of them are fine. They're in bed."

He nodded slowly. "She's going to have nightmares for a week about this."

"You mean like the one you just had about it being her?"

Jarod looked up at her, his eyes narrow. "How did you know?"

"Momma told me."

There was a hint of a smile on his face. "You mean you can do it?"

"In a way, but I'm sure it'll get better."

"Hey, anything's better than nothing."

She shut the door and leaned against it. "I just wish I'd tried earlier. She might have told me about that and I could have done something to prevent it."

"I'll get over it, Parker. I'm more grateful that it didn't end up on her." He swung his legs off the bed, sitting up and burying his face in his hands, feeling himself tremble slightly at the memory of the dream. "Oh God, if it had..."

"But it didn't, Jarod." She sat down on the bed, looking at him. "So don't start imagining all sorts of bad possibilities."

He looked up, a sad smile on his face. "I was trained to imagine all sorts of bad possibilities, Parker. That's something I learned for over thirty years and it's a hard habit to break." A thought struck him. "Did you sterilize the bottles somehow before you used them for lunch?"

Miss Parker nodded. "Sydney dragged out the machine and, despite the fact that it adds to what the generator has to do, we'll keep using it. Anything to avoid a repeat of that." She gently touched his arm.

He nodded slowly, pulling up his sleeve to see the slight burns on his lower arm and palm as well as those on the back of his hand, and then looked up at her. The expression in his eyes caused her to raise an eyebrow.

"What is it, Jarod?"

"I was just thinking that I don't think you could have prevented this, Miss Parker, even if you had known it was going to happen."

"What do you mean?"

His lips curled into a half-smile as he looked up at her. "Every single thing that's happened for the last four weeks, since I met my kids, has had a good and very logical reason." The smile widened. "I think we just found out the reason for you two being here."

* * * *


"I thought you were relying on me," the younger man suggested, "I didn't know that I was going to have to start relying on you both instead."

"Stop throwing pots of hot water around and you won't have to," the woman snapped.

Jarod looked up, as Sydney fastened the bandage over the wound, and grinned at Miss Parker. "Well, it gives you an even better reason to stay out of my way now, doesn't it? Next time my aim might be better."

"Considering I was half-way down the stairs, it would have had to have been a darned good throw."

"Hey, practice makes perfect."

"Well, how about you wait until that one heals before you start doing it again?"

"Oh, come on. Where's the fun in that?"

Sydney glanced at him. "You don't have enough painkiller here for us to have to treat another injury like this, for one thing. And for another, I don't think your daughter could cope."

The humor left Jarod's face. "Where is she?"

"In bed." Miss Parker sat down in the chair. "After crying herself to sleep, despite everything I could do to stop her."

Jarod looked up. "Why didn't you call me?"

Sydney glanced at him. "I told her not to. She wouldn't have been able to wake you, anyway, not with the strength of that medication."

He nodded slowly before getting up. "I'm going to see her."

"Don't, Jarod. Not yet."

"Why not?" He looked down sharply at Sydney.

"Because you still don't look quite like yourself, and she's bright enough to pick up on something like that."

Nodding, Jarod sat down again, rubbing the red streaks on his fingers where the water had lightly splashed them.

"Do you want something for the pain?" the doctor prompted gently.

"No. If we don't have much, then I'll keep what we do still have in case something happens to one of them." He sat back against the sofa and swallowed, briefly closing his eyes, suddenly feeling sick.

"What is it?" Sydney asked.

"Nothing."

Shaking his head, he got up and walked over to the window, staring out through the almost covered panes, gently placing his burned fingers against the cold glass.

"I learned a long time ago not to believe you when you said that." Sydney walked over and placed one hand on Jarod's uninjured arm. "It didn't happen. She wasn't hurt. You have to stop thinking about it."

"I can't. I can't get that image out of my head."

"You'll have to, Jarod. If you don't, then you won't be able to act the same around her and she'll notice. Like I said before, she's a bright girl." Sydney smiled. "Just like her father."

* * * *


He walked quietly into the room, kneeling down beside the bed and gently wiping the tears off his daughter's cheeks. She opened her eyes and, with a sob, threw her arms around his neck.

"Daddy, I was so scared."

"Well, you can stop worrying now, Bronwyn, because I'm fine." He gently kissed her forehead. "And I'm sure Mommy told you that, too, didn't she?"

The little girl nodded slowly. "Did she tell you, too?"

Jarod smiled. "Miss Parker told me. Her mommy told her."

"She can do it?"

"She sure can, and you taught her how." He hugged her. "I've very proud of you, honey bird."

"Why?"

He sat on her bed and pulled the little girl onto his lap. "Because you did exactly what I told you to do, without stopping to ask questions. That helped because it meant I could let Sydney take care of me without worrying about you."

She hugged him. "Mommy always said that, if you ever told me to do something, there'd be a good reason for it."

"And there always will be." He stood up, holding her tightly in his arms. "Shall we go downstairs and have some ice cream?"

"Did you have lunch?"

"No, so I'm hungry." He kissed the tip of her nose as they began to go downstairs and she giggled, hugging him tightly.

* * * *


Jarod leaned back against the sofa, watching as Miss Parker checked on the state of the meal she was cooking. "I should have done this before. It gets me out of all sorts of jobs."

"Even the sort you want to do? You won't be able to bathe your son tomorrow, in case it exacerbates the burn."

"We'll see."

"No, we won't, Jarod." Sydney leaned forward. "You're doing well to be able to feel the pain of that at all. If you immerse it in even tepid water, you'll probably damage the nerves - and you are right-handed, let me remind you."

"So I'll learn to be ambidextrous."

"And you'll get a great insight into how Lyle felt without a thumb."

He grinned half-heartedly. "Okay, you win." Reaching down, he pulled the little boy up into his lap and lay down on the sofa, smiling as Jamie began to climb over him. Shutting his eyes briefly, he opened them again when he felt the small body stop moving and grinned as he found himself staring straight into his son's eyes. "What's up, kiddo?"

"Dad-dy."

"Wha-at?!" Jarod pulled himself upright on the sofa, holding the boy tightly and staring at him. "Say that again, Jamie."

"Daddy." The boy pressed his hand down onto Jarod's chest and cooed. Eyes wide, Jarod stared over at Sydney.

"Did I...?"

"Yes, you did." Sydney nodded definitively. "Unless I'm hearing things too."

Jarod looked down to where his daughter was playing with a doll. "Sweetie, come here for a sec."

She scrambled to her feet and ran over. "What is it, Daddy?"

He looked down at the boy. "Who's this, Jamie?"

"Bon-yn." The baby grinned and held out his hand to his sister, then he looked up at his father. "Sam."

Sydney looked up, curiosity on his face. "I take it he doesn't mean the sweeper?"

"Of course not!" Jarod allowed the amused contempt to be obvious in his voice and face. "Samantha Childs. I told you about her. She helps me with the kids when she's home."

The little boy leaned forward and patted the phone that sat on the table in front of them before looking back up at his father and giggling. "Sam."

"Jamie, the phone isn't working. Sam can't..."

As the baby patted it again, the phone rang under his hand and he looked up at his father, cooing. Jarod's eyes were wide but he answered it.

"Hi Sam."

There was a pause. "How did you guess, Jarod?"

"Jamie told me."

"Oh, very funny." He could hear the amusement in her voice.

"No, he really told me." Jarod brought the phone close to the child's mouth. "Say it again, Jamie."

"Sam," the baby stated into the receiver.

"What did I tell you?"

There was another, longer pause. "What was… his first…?"

"Daddy."

"To you?"

Jarod grinned. "Well, he sure didn't say it to Bronwyn."

"And he knows her, too?"

"Do you doubt it?"

"No," she laughed, getting over her shock. "Not really."

Jarod decided to change the subject. "So it seems like phone's working again."

"No, Jarod, this is just a figment of your imagination. Pinch yourself again and it'll probably hurt this time, too."

He grinned. "I would, but I'd probably damage healing skin."

"What did you do?"

"In trying to save the generator, I was using the stove to sterilize Jamie's bottles and I kind of..."

"Poured boiling water over yourself. Great." Her voice became serious. "It didn't hit either of the kids, did it?"

"If it had, I would have fought my way through the storm to the hospital with them to make sure they were okay. You know that."

"Yes, I do." She was quiet for a moment. "I thought you might want to know, your patient is eating everything put in front of him and complaining that he can't go outside to play in the snow."

Jarod grinned. "I know the feeling. You'll probably come back tomorrow to find us building snowmen."

"Are you coping okay? I mean, especially now with an injury."

"It's fine, Sam. A couple of visitors showed up on Monday and they're lending a hand to make up for mine."

"And… are they…?"

"Sam, don't worry."

"Okay, as long as you're sure."

"I am. Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

"I thought you said he wasn't psychic," the psychiatrist suggested as Jarod hung up the phone.

"Hey, you heard the video too, Sydney. It was a heightened sense of awareness, that's all."

"Since when can a heightened sense of awareness predict the future?"

"Among one of the many genes that he inherited from his mother is the one that gives his sister her 'picture room' and it's probably that which gave him the ability to know Sam was going to call." Jarod sat back against the sofa. "Unless it was just pure luck."

"Do you really believe that?"

"No, but I'm trying to come up with something plausible that you'll believe."

"Don't bother. I believe it. I think."

Jarod grinned. "Great that you're so certain." He looked up as Miss Parker came over from the kitchen. "Do you believe it?"

"I've been trying to think of some other explanation but, although I was a strong believer in luck when you opened the door, I'm beginning to think that there has to be something stronger." She shook her head. "I can't believe I just said that."

"Daddy?" Bronwyn interrupted, leaning against his leg.

"What's up, sweetie?"

"Miss Parker still hasn't listened to her Mommy's message."

The woman picked up the girl and put her on her knee. "I've had other things to think about, Bronwyn."

The child’s expression became sad. "Like Daddy's hand," she murmured.

"And like your brother talking."

Bronwyn looked confused. "But we all talk. Why can't he?"

Jarod opened his mouth and then closed it again without having made a sound, glancing over to see the amused look on Sydney's face.

"Go ahead, Jarod. Explain child development to a four year old."

"You mean the way you explained it to me when I was four?"

"Uh, well, yes." Sydney looked sheepish. "Like that."

"Maybe later." He looked back. "Bronwyn, I'd like you to tell Miss Parker what her mommy's message is."

"I can't, Daddy."

"Why not?"

"'Cos she wouldn't believe me. Only you would, and that doesn't help."

"Did Mommy tell you that?"

The girl nodded silently, holding out her hands to him. He picked her up and put her on his lap, gently stroking her hair with one hand as she snuggled close to him. Looking over at the woman, he shrugged slightly. "I think that's a good reason to believe her, Miss Parker. Why don't you go up to your room and see what she can tell you?"

"Can you manage?"

"We'll be fine."

* * * *


"That didn't help at all!" the woman exploded.

Jarod looked up from his book as Miss Parker came down the stairs. Seeing the little girl asleep on his lap, she lowered her voice. "Absolutely no use."

"What did she say?" he asked curiously.

"That I should trust Bronwyn's mother completely."

"And that was it?"

The woman nodded and Sydney looked up at her as she sat down opposite him. "Parker, are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. She said that was all she could tell me." Getting up, she began to pace the room. "And I do trust her, but she hasn't told us anything that could have anything to do with me or what might happen."

"Not yet, anyway."

She looked down at Jarod. "What do you mean by that?"

With a smile, he looked down at the little girl and then back up at her. "Bronwyn's probably talking to her mother right now."
Part 6 by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Part 6


Jarod got up off the sofa and began to go up the stairs. As he was about to go into her room, Bronwyn stirred in his arms.

"Daddy?"

"What's up, honey bee?"

"Mommy wants to talk to you."

He looked down at her, but her eyes remained closed. "How, Bronwyn? How will she talk to me?"

"Same as b'fore." The little girl snuggled closer and then relaxed again. A look of understanding crossed Jarod's face as he put her down on the bed, and, after covering her and checking that the heater was working, left the room.

"All right, Maria. You're the boss."

Picking up the computer, he put it under his arm and then headed back down the stairs, setting it up on the table before filling his mug from the jug that Sydney had just put on the table.

"What's going on, Jarod?"

He looked over at Miss Parker, a hint of a smile on his face. "Ready to hear the message?"

"You mean you've got it?"

"No." He nodded towards the machine as it started. "But we're about to."

The Pretender saw Sydney's eyebrow’s lift when the machine announced an email, and his mouth open slightly when he saw the sender. The dead woman smiled as her image appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Jarod. How's the hand?"

"Not bad." He sat back against the sofa and grinned. "A little warning wouldn't have gone astray, though. I would’ve made sure that Bronwyn wasn't there."

"It will help to build the bond between the two of you. That was why she had to be there. Don't worry, though, she won't suffer nightmares about it. I won't let her. If you want something for your hand, there are painkillers in Sam's cupboard that you didn't know were there before. I'm sure Miss Parker will get them for you."

"And that's the other thing that a little warning would have been useful for, Maria."

"Why, Jarod? It all worked out, like I knew it would."

"Okay, okay." He glanced up to see the shocked expression on Miss Parker's face and grinned. "What's so important that you made a second video and put a sending delay on it?"

"It doesn't relate to you."

"I figured that much. Do I get to hear it or would you rather I left the room?"

"No, you can stay." She smiled. "Miss Parker, can you hear me?"

The woman dropped into the seat beside Jarod. "I'd have a hard time not hearing you."

Maria Taylor laughed. "I'm glad. You got Catherine's message?"

"Yes, but I don't see..."

"Will you give me a chance to explain or get carried away like you usually do?"

Miss Parker stared down at the face, which smiled back at her. Jarod fought to hide his amusement as Sydney moved over to sit on his other side, looking down at the screen, his voice quiet but firm.

"Go ahead, Maria."

"Thank you, Sydney." She smiled in the psychiatrist’s direction, before returning her gaze to the other woman. "Miss Parker, although this won't be a shock, or particularly upsetting for you, Lyle is long dead by now. The poison in the dart, although only a small amount, was more than enough. As your father has just found out, though, the person who did it wasn't just after your brother."

"You mean…Daddy…"

"I'm afraid so, Miss Parker. The same type of poison entered his body about an hour ago and he's breathing his last right now."

"Who?" the woman hissed.

"Mr. Raines. He and Cox have formed an alliance and have been planning this for some time. If you still believe in luck the way you did on Monday, it was that which kept the three of you safe. The 'mess' that Mr. Parker referred to was the plan he had to find and destroy his son's assassin, suspecting it was the start of a coup attempt. He never got the chance to complete that plan."

"So what happens now?" Sydney asked, seeing that Miss Parker was seemingly unable to speak.

"This is where you have to trust me and what I'm about to say next. They're after you both, and Mr. Broots and those with him also."

Jarod tensed, glancing over to the table where both guns were locked away.

"I keep my promises, Jarod," Maria scolded.

"Okay, sorry."

"So what do we do?" Sydney asked.

"Stay where you are, for the moment. The whole situation will be over in exactly a week and both assassination attempts that are currently being planned will be successful." Maria attempted to hide her amusement and then became serious as she looked up again. "If any of you were to return to the Centre, you wouldn't survive for twelve hours. As soon as this discussion is over, you need to call Mr. Broots and tell him to stay where he is. Then he and his daughter will be safe."

"And...after that?"

"Whatever you would like to. Although it seems a strange thing to say, the Tower would be happy to have you back, not working for them but giving them direction, as Mr. Parker and Mr. Raines have been doing for years." She leaned forward, a smile curling the corners of her mouth. "It will be a surprise but the order of power at the Centre is not exactly the way you ever imagined it. In fact, it's almost the exact opposite. The Tower and Triumvirate have been convenient 'scapegoats' almost since the Centre's inception. Your other option is to close the place down entirely. Either option is possible and would work. It all comes down to what you both want." Maria paused. "I'm not sure, though, whether you should count on Jarod's help."

"Not a chance," the Pretender growled.

"There's no danger, Jarod. Or there won't be."

"I don't care, Maria. I'm keeping both of those children a long way from Blue Cove, no matter who's in charge."

"All right, it's your choice." She smiled. "My boy's growing up, isn't he?"

Jarod nodded sadly. "Very fast."

"And my girl is, too." She turned her head slightly to the left. "Hi, baby."

"Mommy!"

Jarod turned and saw the little girl standing beside the sofa. Carefully reaching past Sydney, he picked her up and put her on his knee, smiling at her. "You like getting out of bed, don't you sweetheart?"

"Mommy told me to."

"Maria, these children are supposed to sleep at night!" the man exclaimed.

"Jarod, stop repeating other people's lines. You've got enough imagination. Make up your own."

"I would, but she said it so well..."

She laughed softly. "Is there anything that Sydney or Miss Parker want to ask me before this becomes a parental discussion?"

"You've explained it all pretty clearly," Sydney responded.
"Except… it will be okay?" the other woman offered hesitantly. "You aren't sending us back there only to end up in the same state as my brother, so that Jarod and your children will be safe?"

"Miss Parker, I trust you both. Believe me, if I didn't then I would have dropped a hint to Jarod and there wouldn't have been anyone in this house for you to find on Monday night. You need to trust me - like your mother told you to."

Miss Parker nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face, and got up off the sofa. Jarod watched her for a moment and then looked down to find that Bronwyn was asleep again in his arms. He smiled at the woman on the screen.

"Do I have any more of these 'beyond the grave' discussions to look forward to in the future, Maria, or is this the last?"

"Well, there might be one or two more, just in case. And maybe a couple for my children, so they don't forget me."

"Birthday messages and that sort of thing?"

The woman nodded, her eyes suddenly full of tears. "You don't mind, Jarod?"

"You know I don't. You're their mother." He held the little girl tighter, his own eyes glistening. "I'm just grateful you gave me the chance to be their father."

* * * *


"Broots!" the woman snapped as soon as the call was answered.

"Miss Parker, where are you? I've been waiting to hear from you all week!"

"Don't worry about us. What are you doing?"

"Well, Debbie and I were about go back to Blue Cove..."

"Don't. And that's an order, clear?"

"Y… yes, Miss Parker. A… are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"Not right now. Just stay where you are and don't contact anyone from the Centre. I'll call you again when it's safe to come back."

"And is Sydney...?"

"Sydney's fine. We both are. But, if any of us go anywhere near the Centre, we won't be. Understand?"

"Yes, Miss Parker. Uh, there's someone else here who wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

"Miss Parker?" a deeper voice stated.

"Sam? What are you doing there?"

"I got a message from a woman a few days ago, telling me to go and stay with Mr. Broots and his daughter until you called."

Miss Parker turned and eyed the computer. "Did this woman have a name?"

"Maria Taylor."

Hearing the man's voice over the speakerphone, Jarod grinned and then leaned forward. He silently activated the video again, forwarding it to a certain point and pausing it as Miss Parker continued.

"Fine, Sam. Stay there and, when I call again, go back to the Centre with Broots and Debbie."

"Yes, ma'am. But you do know about Lyle, don't you?"

"And my father, yes." She spoke again, interrupting the question he had started to ask her. "I'll call you, Sam."

She hung up and then turned to the other men, fixing her gazes on Jarod when she saw the knowing look in his eyes.

"Okay, did she really contact him?"

Jarod activated the sound and then started the video.

"...Mr. Broots and those with him..."

"She knew and arranged for it." He sat back, his bandaged hand stroking the back of his sleeping daughter's head. "I can only assume that she sent him a time-delayed email in the same way she did with me."

"Fine, I believe it. Can we stop the supernatural bit now?"

Jarod chuckled softly. "In a week, Miss Parker. Then you can go to the Centre and do whatever you want, out of reach of all supernatural powers."

"Actually, Jarod, no, she can't," the psychiatrist put in quietly.

"Oh?" Miss Parker raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

Sydney smiled. "Your Inner Sense, Miss Parker. That's just as supernatural as Bronwyn's 'room' or her mother's abilities. And I don't think you'll want to get rid of that, just as you finally learn how to use it."

"In other words, I'm in too deep."

"We all are." Jarod laughed. "I was told that the first day I found out that these children were mine and it's only got deeper as time's gone on. You two played with fire by turning up here and now you're involved as well."

"You make it sound like we did it by choice."

He shrugged carefully. "While I believe in psychic powers, I've never had a great deal of confidence in the idea that our destinies are planned out before we're born or anything like that. I think that the decisions we make affect what happens and people like Maria and Bronwyn only have a better idea of what we'll do when it comes time to make the decisions than we know ourselves. After all, I could have decided to use the steriliser and then I wouldn't have burned myself. But I didn't, and look what happened as a result. See what I mean?"

Sydney nodded slowly and then looked up. "Can you put us up for a week?"

"What choice do I have?" Jarod smiled. "It's fine. I'll put Bronwyn in Jamie's room and Miss Parker can sleep in that bed as of tomorrow, as long as you can cope with the sofa for that long."

"I told you, Jarod, it's perfectly comfortable."

"Good." He stood up, cradling his daughter. "And now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it's more than time she was in bed again."

* * * *

"Sam!" Bronwyn exclaimed as the door opened and a cold draft blew into the room.

The little girl jumped from her chair and ran over to the door, throwing herself at the woman's legs as she walked in through the door. Jamie leaned over, his arms outstretched, until Jarod lifted him out of the highchair and put him down on the floor as he grinned at the woman.

"You could at least have given us a chance to go outside and start building in the snow before you reappeared."

"I didn't want to wait." She unwound the scarf and took off her jacket before she bent down to hug Bronwyn and then pick up the little boy. "I've got a couple of days off to make up for my enforced stay and I left as soon as the streets were clear enough to drive."

"You want breakfast?"

"If you're cooking."

"Oh, well, if you want something extravagant..."

Jarod laughed and got up, about to go into the kitchen when she grabbed his arm, looking at the hand.

"You weren't kidding about that, were you?"

He laughed again, pulling it away. "It's fine. Hardly hurts this morning."

"Can I trust you cooking or will you burn the other hand too, just so that you have matching scars?"

As he chuckled, she turned, putting Jamie into the high chair and walking around the table, holding out one hand. "Sydney, I'm Sam Childs. Nice to meet you."

"It's a pl...how did you know?"

Jarod laughed from the kitchen. "She left you a message, didn't she?"

Sam giggled and sat down, looking up at Jarod. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes."

"As soon as we got off the phone, an email arrived. Nice little video, like the one you got, telling me who had turned up and giving me a complete run-down of the situation." She lowered her voice. "Your gun's secure, isn't it?"

"Very. You know I wouldn't leave anything lying around that could hurt them."

"Okay." She looked down to where Bronwyn was watching her. "Sweetie, can you get my mug for me?"

"Sure." The girl danced into the kitchen and opened the cupboard, at which point Jarod looked up, a twinkle in his eye.

"I was considering putting locks on those doors, just in case. I mean, with two rapidly growing children..."

"That reminds me." She leaned across and tickled Jamie's stomach, making him giggle. "Who am I, baby?"

"Sam!" the boy declared, beaming and reaching out for her.

"Very good!" The woman scooped him up and hugged him. "You're such a clever boy, Jamie. Just like your Daddy."

Looking around, Sam smiled at the woman who was coming down the stairs. "And, at a wild guess, this would be Miss Parker." She offered her hand then sat down again. "I'm sure we'll get time to know each other over the next week."

"So she told you about that as well?"

"Hey, I had to know about the interlopers."

Jarod grinned. "Funnily enough, that was the exact description which came into my mind on Monday."

"She mentioned that, too."

"How long did you guys chat for?"

"I don't know, but it was a huge file. Took up masses of room in my computer."

"And did you lose power at the hospital, too?"

"Jarod, haven't you been listening to the radio? The entire city has been without power." She rolled her eyes. "So I guess you were right."

He tried not to smirk. "I did tell you..."

"Oh, stop it!" She groaned and then looked down at the plate he placed in front of her and smiled. "Now this almost makes the days of hospital food worth the wait."

"I'll do you something really special for lunch, too."

She nodded and then reached into her pocket, tossing a small bag of things over to him. Picking it up, he looked at her. "What's this?"

"Cream for your burn and, on the off-chance that you still needed it, painkiller."

He smiled. "Thanks, Sam."

* * * *


Jarod shut the door of the car and walked into the building, feeling the heat hit him as the doors closed.

"Well, the absent one returns!" a passing nurse declared.

"Hey, Ruth. How've you been?"

"Probably not as well as you, lounging around at him for five days."

He held up his right hand with a laugh. "Yeah, relaxation galore!"

"Was either one of your kids involved in that?"

Jarod tried to look hurt. "Why is it that nobody's ever concerned about me?"

"If you can't take care of yourself then you don't have a hope of taking care of two young children."

"So what are you suggesting, that I hand them over to you? Nice idea but no thanks." He laughed. "Besides, didn't your kids give you a huge welcome when you got home yesterday?"

"Now that you mention it, yes they did." She laughed. "So how come you decided to actually turn up? Your patient went home yesterday."

"What, you don't have anyone else for me to treat? How disappointing!"

"Want some treatment yourself?"

"It's fine." Jarod walked into his office and Ruth followed. "Actually, my daughter was asking when she was going to see you again, so I thought I'd see if you felt like visiting."

"Bronwyn's missing me?"

"Jamie asked when Ruth was coming, too. See what an impression you made on our kids!" Jarod rolled his eyes. "They'll never be satisfied with the two of us ever again."

* * * *


It was a week after the blizzard had finished, and that morning Sydney and Miss Parker had left. Jarod had gone to work once they had departed. Now he pulled the car into the driveway and got out, catching up the child who ran towards him and hugging her.

"How's my girl?"

"Good, Daddy." She kissed him on the cheek and he grinned.

"Did you dig in the snow or wash yourself with it?"

"You're silly!"

"Oh, am I?" He tickled her and she giggled, wriggling in his arms as he began to walk towards the house. "So, if I'm silly, why are you the one with the cold nose?"

"'Cos I knew you'd kiss it and warm it up."

He laughed and did as he was told, opening the door and letting her slip down as he walked inside.

"Close the door, Jarod. It's freezing out there!"

"Yes," he mused as he took off his jacket. "You can see that well from in here."

Sam laughed and got up off the sofa. "Hey, you aren't the only one who's been out in it. We've been in the back yard all day, running around."

"Oh, you poor thing." Jarod came over with a look of sympathy on his face. "Shall I run you a hot bath and let you go to bed early to get over the stress?"

"Listen, do you want dinner or should I send you upstairs without it?"
"Oh, so you're cooking? I'm impressed!" Jarod leaned against the bench, arms folded, and grinned at her. She laughed and lifted the lid on the pot, allowing him to smell the contents. "Hmm, not bad."

"Not bad?" As Bronwyn giggled, she walked over to the bottom of the stairs and stood there, one hand pointing in the direction of his room. "Right, that's it, young man, bed with no dinner for you tonight!"

* * * *


Jarod came softly downstairs to find the front door of the house open and green branches appearing through the doorway. Going over with a grin, he took some of the weight. "Hey, I thought I was going to help you with that!"


Sam's face appeared, flushed from effort. "You were taking so long that I thought I might as well start on my own. What were you reading anyway?"

He chuckled. "Surely there's only one story I could read to them tonight."

"The Night Before Christmas?"

"Of course."

"Did you talk to Maria about trying to keep the presents a secret?" Sam queried as they set the tree onto the stand and secured it.

"Earlier this afternoon. Bronwyn said Mommy wasn't there when she went into the picture room, so I think she's going to play along. In fact Bronwyn said it was really dark in there after she woke up from her nap." He laughed softly and pushed the tree into the corner of the room.

"And did you buy the wrapping paper?" Sam went on as she eased a bowl under the sawn-off trunk, filling it with warm, sweetened water.

Jarod walked over to the coat rack and lifted down his jacket, revealing the bag containing the rolls of brightly colored paper.

Sam smiled and went over to the cellar door, disappearing to reappear with her arms full of bags that she put on the sofa. "Who's doing what?"

Grinning, Jarod stood back and his eyes traveled from the tree that overtopped him by almost a foot to the figure of the woman who was at least seven inches shorter than he was. "Would you like to pick a job or shall I do it for you?"

"Okay, okay." She sat down and began to get things out of the bags, placing them on the table while Jarod went down the stairs to reappear carrying various boxes and bags.

* * * *


Placing the last package under the heavily decorated tree, Sam stood back and watched as Jarod carefully set the star on the very top, climbing down the short stepladder and folding it away.

"Good job."

"You, too."

Jarod walked into the kitchen and turned on the kettle, glancing at his watch and then back at her. "What time are they getting here?"

Sam shrugged. "When they can. I talked to them this afternoon and she said they hoped to leave sometime early today, meaning that they should, at best, be here soon."

"And at worst we could be waiting all night," Jarod gave a mock-grumble as he got down the jar. "And we'll get woken at all hours tomorrow morning, I have no doubt."

"On Christmas morning, Jarod? Of course." She laughed. "And even though we haven't said anything, the fact that Bronwyn's sleeping in Jamie's room should be enough to make her suspect something."

"Oh, she does." He filled the jug with coffee and the two walked back to sit on the sofa. "In fact she asked me after her nap if somebody was coming."

"What did you tell her?"

"That her heater wasn't working and I didn't want her to get cold tonight."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "And she believed you?"

"Hey, what can I say?" He shrugged. "I can be very convincing."

* * * *


Jarod glanced at his watch. "They're doing better for making us stay up than on the night they both showed up unannounced."

"You could extend the same courtesy of that night and keep them standing out in the cold for hours while you point a gun at them."

He grinned. "It was less than ten minutes. And what gun? I sold it last month."

Sam sighed. "I'm glad. I'd hate to think that..."

"I know. I thought the same. And I went scrabbling in the snow for the bullets that I tossed out of the window and got rid of them, too." He remained silent for a moment before looking up at her. "Sam."

She smiled up at him. "Yes?"

"Being twelve thirty, it's now officially Christmas Day and I'm sure I won't get time to give you this later." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "I hope you like it."

Taking it from him, she eased it open, her eyes fixed on the open locket showing the children’s photos, miniature versions of the pictures Jarod had in his room. She smiled and slipped it on. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Sam reached into her pocket and pulled out a package. "I had the same thought, actually, about not finding time later." Laughing, she put it in the palm of his hand. "Great minds..."

He opened the box to find a silver bookmark, the faces of the children, updated photos, inlaid into the object, and he smiled. "Thanks. It's beautiful."

"I thought something useful would be better than something decorative, for you anyway." She picked up the locket. "Although I always liked decorative."

She gently picked up the box and was about to close it when a slip of paper fell out and drifted down to the floor.

"What the...?" Jarod reached forward and picked it up, glancing at the few words that it contained before glancing at her, grinning. "Guess who?"

"I'm sure I can." She reached forward and opened his computer, typing in the password and then sitting back as the mail was announced. Jarod filled their mugs with hot coffee from the jug and then opened the message.

"Merry Christmas."


"To you, too, Maria." Jarod grinned and held up the slip. "So how'd you manage that?"


"A magician never reveals her secrets."

"Magic too?" Sam rolled her eyes. "So we've got that to look forward to when they get a little older?"

"Not quite. I'm sure the psychic thing will be enough."

"I am, too." Jarod smiled. "Did you hear the letter that Bronwyn wrote to you last night?"

"Yes, Jarod." Maria smiled somewhat sadly. "We heard it."

"Good." He grinned. "She was a little astonished to find that you weren't in the picture room this afternoon."

"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Oh, and they'll be here soon. You won't have to stay up much longer."

"Want to tell me what time Bronwyn's going to creep into my bed tomorrow… I mean this morning?"

"Like I said, Jarod, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." She laughed. "But I can tell you that you'll get some sleep."

"Great." He rolled his eyes. "Very comforting."

"She'll go to sleep early tonight, though, so that will help."

"Funnily enough, Maria, we both guessed that." Sam laughed. "Maybe your skills aren't inherited after all. Perhaps they're contagious."

The dead woman laughed. "Very clever, Sam. Contact someone at the hospital in the contagious diseases ward and see if they can find a cure for it."

"We'll do that, Maria."

"I hope you both have a good day."

"And I hope you keep an eye on it, too, Maria," the man suggested. "I know Bronwyn will want to talk about it with you later."

"I will, Jarod." She smiled. "Wish the others Merry Christmas for me too."

Jarod smiled back as the screen faded to black and then turned towards the door. "If they don't get here soon, I'm going to bed and they can freeze on the doorstep."

Sam grinned. "Now that's just nasty."

"Why? I'm willing to bet that I'll be wakened at four or something." He smiled. "It's okay for you. Jamie's too young to crawl into your bed but Bronwyn's getting very good at it with me."

She was about to answer when there was a knock at the door and Jarod got up.

"At long last!"

He walked over and turned on the light above his head, turning his left hand so that he could see his watch and opening the door with his right as he tapped one foot impatiently on the floor.

"Well, this is very impressive of you both, I must say."

* * * *


"Daddy!"

Jarod rolled over and moaned, not opening his eyes, but, as he turned away from the little girl, a grin appeared on his face and just as quickly vanished.

"Daddy!" The small hands shook him hard and the girl climbed up onto the bed, forcing open first one eyelid and then the other. He groaned again at the sight of the small flashlight he had given her to prevent her falling over, which she was shining into his eyes.

"What is it, Bronwyn?"

"Are you awake?"

"If I say no, will you go and get into bed with Sam instead?"

"No." The girl burrowed under the covers and then into the arms that he wrapped around her. "Daddy, why is it so dark downstairs?"

"It's early, baby." He glanced at the clock. "It's only three thirty. The sun won't be up for hours yet."

"But it's even darker than that. And the door of my room's closed, too. And the fire's still burning. And the gate's on the stairs. And..."

"Okay, enough. I don't need a list." He closed his eyes again and then looked up as she moved to sit on his chest. "Sweetie, it's too early to get up yet."

"Please, Daddy!"

"No, Bronwyn." He moved her so that she was lying on top of him. "Try to go back to sleep."

"I can't!" She sat up again and bounced on his chest. "Something's happening today, I can just tell!"

"Did Mommy tell you that?"

The girl shook her head vigorously and Jarod smiled inwardly.

"Did you see it in your picture room?"

"No, Daddy. I just feel it."

She bounced again and he groaned. "You're really too heavy for that."

"You let Jamie do it."

"Jamie's a lot smaller than you." He gently pulled her off and held her in his arms, stroking her hair with one hand while he began to tell her a story. After ten minutes the story stopped as Jarod looked down to see that she was asleep and, a tender smile on his face, he held her closer and tried to sleep again himself.

* * * *


He yawned widely, opening his eyes to find his daughter once more lying on his chest and looking down at him.


"Daddy, are you awake prop'ly now?"

"I was awake properly before, sweetheart." He kissed the tip of her nose. "But it was too early to stay awake."


She giggled. "Is it still too early?"

"Six thirty?" Jarod shrugged as he looked at the clock and then back at her. "It's still pretty early."

"But Sam gets up to go to work now, and you get up then lots, too."

Jarod pulled himself up in bed, yawning again, and then grinned at her. "You're too smart for your own good. You know that, don't you?"

She giggled. "You are, too, Daddy. I remember Miss Parker saying it before she and Sydney went away."

He laughed and got up, wrapping his bathrobe around himself and then picking up the girl who held out her hands to him. Going out of the room, they were in time to see Sam coming out of her room also.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She came over and kissed the little girl. "We're all up early this morning, aren't we?"

"I was up much earlier b'fore!"

"Oh, really?" Sam went into the other bedroom and came out with the little boy in her arms. "What time?"

Jarod rolled his eyes. "How does half past three sound to you?"

"Well, I'm glad you didn't come in to see me then."

"Daddy said I should."

"Next time, tell Daddy that I'm quite happy for you to stay there with him."

The two of them began to descend the stairs, children in their arms, and Jarod could hear the almost inaudible sound of footsteps descending behind them, but he was careful not to turn around. As they got to the bottom of the stairs, the lights in the room were suddenly turned on.

There was a moment of silence, during which time Jarod, his brown eyes full of laughter, glanced at the smiling man who was leaning against the wall beside the light switch. Finally the girl he was holding gave a delighted squeal and wriggled until he put her down, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to the large tree in the corner. Sam followed with Jamie, whose eyes were wide as he looked at the tinsel-covered tree, and Miss Parker went over to the kitchen to put on the kettle.

"Merry Christmas, Jarod."

"To you, too, Sydney." He smiled and was about to say more when his daughter put a large parcel on his lap.

"Daddy, help."

"Santa gave it to you, baby."

"It's too big. I can't do it on my own."

"Okay." Jarod placed his hand over that of his daughter and helped her to tear off the tape, finally pulling the paper free to reveal the first of many presents that had been wrapped the night before.

* * * *


"Happy with what Santa gave you, sweetheart?" Jarod looked down at the little girl who sat in his lap and then glanced over at the pile of papers that littered the corner of the room. Bronwyn beamed up at him, her mouth full, for the moment, of the toast she had been eating and he laughed, handing her the mug that sat on the table in front of him.

"Broots said that he and Debbie would be here in time for lunch," Sydney remarked.

"Why didn't they come for the night?" Jarod asked, an expression of avid curiosity on his face, and Miss Parker laughed.

"Where would you have put them? Sydney's on the sofa, I'm in Bronwyn's room, and she's either in her brother's room or, I suspect, sleeping in your bed, so where, exactly, would you fit Broots and Debbie?"

"You don't believe that I could have knocked up an extension overnight?" Jarod tried to look hurt. "Nobody has faith in me anymore."

Miss Parker laughed. "I have complete faith in your abilities as a father, but even you would have a hard time putting up a warm, weather-proof extension in eight hours."

"Well, if you're going to start putting conditions on it…" He sipped his coffee. "So you don't have faith in any of my other abilities?"

"If you like," Sydney teased him from the other end of the table, "we could run a short simulation, just to make sure you aren't losing your touch."

* * * *

Miss Parker grabbed the little girl’s hand and pulled her up onto her lap, glancing at Debbie who immediately got up and went out of the front door.

"I've got a present for you too, Bronwyn?"

"Really?" The little girl looked up, her eyes wide. "Mommy didn't tell me."

"Did Mommy tell you anything about today?"

"No." Bronwyn looked puzzled but eventually grinned. "I think Daddy told her not to so it would be a s'prise."

"Well, I think this will be a surprise for your Daddy too."

Jarod raised an eyebrow. "Parker, what are you playing at?"

"Be patient, Wonderboy. You'll see when she does."

He grinned. "I never thought I'd hear that nickname again."

"What's my present?" the girl demanded as she bounced in excitement, and the adults laughed.

"You've obviously been imbuing your daughter with your own brand of patience, Jarod," the psychiatrist smiled.

"The only patients I like are the medical kind, Sydney. I've left that branch of her education and development to Sam."

"To me?" Sam looked horrified. "I thought you were doing it."

"Well, that explains why she looks so eager." Miss Parker laughed and then looked up at the door. "Okay, Debbie. Bring it in."

The girl reappeared carrying a large basket and came over to the chair, putting in down on the floor. Smiling, she looked up. "Want to help me open it, Bronwyn?"

Nodding, the child slipped off Miss Parker's knee and sat down on the floor, putting one hand on Debbie's and the two of them lifted the lid. There was a short gasp of delight from Bronwyn, before Broots' daughter reached in and picked up the small brown bundle, placing it on Bronwyn's lap and stroking the long ears. Seeing the animal, Jamie crawled over and gently touched it before looking up at his father and beaming.

"Bunny."

Nodding, Jarod picked him up, turning back to stare at both the rabbit and the giver. "Parker, what on earth…?"

"I remembered what she said about the present you gave me a few years back and thought this might be nice." The woman smiled. "Besides, every child should have a pet so that they can learn about responsibility and everything else."

"And you can always knock up a cage for it tonight, Jarod." Sydney smiled. "It doesn't have to be warm or weather-proof because it can stay in here."

A grin on his face and handing the boy to Broots, Jarod went over and opened the door that led to the cellar, descending into the darkness, and there was a loud banging for several moments before he re-emerged with a substantial hutch in his arms, which he put down beside his daughter. Glancing over at Sydney, he winked. "Bet you didn't think I was that quick, huh?"

"Okay, how did you know?" Miss Parker demanded.

"I didn't." He walked over to a box that Sam had been holding in her hands for several moments and reached into it to pull out a small animal that squeaked in dismay until he carried it over and put it into the structure, watching as it buried itself in the straw. "But you aren't the only one who thought that kids should have pets."

* * * *


Jarod picked up the drowsy little girl and cuddled her to him, smiling as she put her head down on his shoulder and went to sleep before looking at his former mentor.

"You were lucky, Sydney."

"Oh," the psychiatrist looked up, interested. "Why?"

"Well, let's just say that when I got woken up at three thirty this morning, my daughter was all for coming downstairs."

"Three thirty? Considering that we didn't get here until one, I'm glad she didn't."

"Why on earth didn't you leave Blue Cove before you did?"

"Well," Miss Parker resettled herself. "Some of us do have work to do."

Glancing over at Sam, Jarod laughed. "I think we were just insulted." He stood up and walked over to the stairs. "Tell you what, Miss Parker. When my daughter wakes me up at three thirty tomorrow morning to find out if Santa's coming then too, I'll send her in to you and you can tell her stories." With a grin, he looked at Sydney. "Are you going to bring my son up to bed as well or will he spend the night down here with you?"

Sydney placed the small boy into the cot and then looked over to where Jarod was slowly rocking in the chair, his daughter in his arms. Leaning against the closed door, Sydney smiled. "So, at the end of your fifth year out of the Centre after your original escape, you have no fear of it anymore, two children, a rabbit, a guinea pig, a house..."

"And contact with my family again." Jarod smiled. "I got a call yesterday and they're coming to visit tomorrow. You'll hopefully see them before you leave. That is if you really are leaving, and you're welcome to stay."

"I don't suppose there's anything else you're not telling me?"

"Like what?"

"No romance?"

"When?" He looked up. "When would I fit it in, among all the other things that you just listed?"

"You've got someone, living here…"

"Sam?" Jarod laughed so loudly that his daughter wriggled slightly. Calming, he rocked her until she was still again. "She's a good friend, but there's probably about as much chance of that as of Parker and me."

Sydney raised an eyebrow. "Maria did leave them to both of you."

Getting up, Jarod placed the sleeping body of his daughter on the small folding bed that took up a lot of the space in the room and then covered her. "Okay, I probably shouldn't say definitely one way or the other, but I've always been described as a permanent force in the lives of these kids, whereas Maria's only ever suggested that Sam was here 'long-term', if you want to put it that way. For that reason only, it would make it hard if we ever got involved in a relationship." He shrugged. "But I'm not going to prophesy. You ask my daughter tomorrow morning. She might tell you something she's not telling me."

* * * *


"I like your Dad, Jarod." Sam looked up at him as they sat on the sofa, finishing the last of the coffee, having watched the car drive away down the street.

"I'm just still trying to come to terms with my mother being there." He grinned. "It was certainly the best Christmas present I could have got." Jarod glanced over at the girl who lay in Sam's arms. "Except for these two, of course."

"You count them as Christmas presents?"

"No." Jarod shook his head. "I count them as life presents." He smiled down at the small boy he held. "I think my parents were a little surprised."

"And they thought we..."

"So did Sydney. Not that we'd thought about it yet, but that it was possible."

"What did you say to him?"

"I suggested that Maria's ideas about you maybe not always being there for the kids was scaring me away from the suggestion, but, not being psychic, I couldn't really tell."

Sam leaned back against the arm that he had spread out along the back of the sofa and looked up at him. "Should we tell them?"

He shook his head, grinning as he bent down to kiss her. "Not yet." He reached down and placed his free hand on her stomach. "Not until August, anyway."
Epilogue by KB
Childhood Fantasies
Epilogue


Jarod felt the cold feet against his body before he was properly awake and he looked up to find his daughter staring at him before she kissed his nose.

"Hey, gorgeous."

"Daddy, when's Sam coming home?"

"Today, baby. We're going to go and get her this morning."

"And…?"

"Yes, your new brother and sister too."

"And when Sydney comes…"

He sat up in bed and stared at her before his eyes narrowed. "Are you telling me something you shouldn't be again, like with the twins?"

She giggled. "Maybe." Gently the little girl kissed her father's nose. "Mommy said that I could ''cident'lly' tell you."

"And you did 'accidentally' tell me, you're right." He laughed. "We'll have a very nice surprise for him, won't we?"

She nodded and snuggled against him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he leaned back against the bed head. "Will you be okay when I'm in school all day and Sam's at work?"

"Hey, I managed with you two, didn't I?" He laughed. "And if Sydney's coming then I'll have somebody else to help me."

"Daddy?" a new voice asked from the doorway.

Jarod looked around to see his son come into the room. He laughed as the boy scrambled up onto the bed. "Well, we're all up early this morning, aren't we?"

"Breakfast, Daddy?"

"Are you hungry, Jamie?"

The boy nodded, grabbing Jarod's hand and pulling him in the direction of the door. Jarod laughed and, both children clinging to him, got out of bed.

* * * *


"Hi, sweetheart." He stopped in the doorway. "I know I'm early, but my alarm clock must have been running fast when it dragged me out of bed this morning."

Sam smiled. "It's okay, I got the feeling you'd be here soon." She looked around as he walked in. "Where are the kids?"

"Ruth saw me come in and abducted them. She said she's bring them back in about half an hour."

"We'll never see them again." Sam rolled her eyes and returned Jarod's kiss as he sat on her bed. "Is everything ready at home?"

"It is. I put the last item in the last drawer last night so that it would all be perfect when we brought our latest family members home today."

Jarod walked over and picked up the small babies from the two beds in the corner, carrying them over to their mother and putting the little girl in her mother’s arms.

"And have you heard from Maria recently?" Sam asked.

"Only in an indirect sort of way when Bronwyn 'accidentally' told me this morning that apparently Sydney's coming to visit."

"Oh, really?" She smiled. "When?"

"I didn't get that far, but I'm guessing it'll be soon. Just in time for you to have a few days off and then come back to work."

"While you stay at home and do nothing all day."

He grinned at the expression on her face. "Yeah, just like that."

"Well, he'll get a shock or two."

Looking down at the tiny baby that lay in his arms, Jarod smiled tenderly. "They'll only be little shocks."

* * * *


Jarod handed the mug to his older son and put the bottle to the lips of the baby boy in his arms.

"Daddy, he's coming," Bronwyn announced.

"Sydney?" Jarod smiled. "Is he coming today?"

She nodded vigorously, scooping the last of the ice cream out of the bowl and putting it into her mouth with a big smile. He laughed and tossed a damp cloth over to her.

"I said a year ago that you'd have to learn to eat ice cream neatly, Bronwyn, so when are you going to?"

"When you do." She giggled. "Last time, you spilled it all down your front."

"That wasn't really his fault." Sam reached over and wiped the little girl's face as she laughed. "I grabbed his hand when the contractions started."

Jarod laughed at her. "And I'll bet you're glad that's over."

"You have no idea." She rolled her eyes. "One day a man is going to have to give birth so that they can design something natural that will take the pain away."

He grinned. "Hmm, design… natural - do you see a problem there?"

She laughed and put her daughter down in the small bassinet, starting it rocking gently underneath the baby. "I knew you'd make a difficulty with that."


"Hey, I was only being logical."


"Well, stop." She reached over and pulled a pile of mail in her direction, glancing through it. "You got a letter."


"I won't sue you if you read it." He picked up the boy and put him over one shoulder, gently patting his back. "My hands are full. Go for it."

She eased open the envelope and pulled out the card it contained, opening it and then glancing at her watch. Jarod watched as she got up and walked over to the sofa, sitting down and opening his computer. He got up with a laugh and carried his new son over to sit beside her.

"Let me guess..."

"You needn't bother, seeing as you're already well aware of who it's from."

Sam handed him the card and he opened it to see the woman’s signature and also a date and time. He looked up with a laugh. "Is she getting better?"

"I'd like to think I am, Jarod, yes." The dead woman smiled. "Happy anniversary and congratulations to the two of you. Sam, you weren't wrong when you said I was trying to play Cupid."

"It worked." Sam leaned back against Jarod's outstretched arm with a smile as she looked at the screen, pulling her older daughter onto her lap.

"I'm glad." Maria smiled again. "And I'm also glad that you provided my children with such lovely siblings."

Jarod rolled his eyes. "Can we get to know them without being told every aspect of their personalities before they're a fortnight old?"

"I'm talking about what they look like, Jarod, not their personalities. But, if you don't want me to tell you…" She trailed off and shrugged.

"Thank you." He grinned. "After all, as you said so well at Christmas time, you wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."

"So you didn't want Bronwyn to tell you that Sydney's coming?"

"We-ell…" Jarod grinned. "Okay, you can tell us the important things."

"I'm glad to hear it." She smiled. "For one thing, you might want to open the door before you say anything else about Sydney. He's standing on the doorstep."

As the screen went blank, Jarod laughed and got to his feet, handing his new son to the boy's mother before walking over to the door. He opened it to find Sydney with his hand raised to knock.

"We've been expecting you," the younger man announced.

"Oh, really?" Sydney stepped into the house, smiling. "For how long?"

Jarod turned to Sam. "How old are the babies again, sweetheart? Is it four days or five since we brought them home?"

She laughed at the look on Sydney's face as he stared at Jarod.

"You what?"

"Hey, if you can try to spring a surprise on us by coming to visit then we can reply in kind." He grinned. "Want to meet the latest arrivals?"

"I can't believe…" His eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We wanted it to be a surprise."

Sydney took a seat on the sofa and looked down at the small body that was put into his arms before he looked up.

"Which?"

"A boy." Jarod paused. "Jacob."

"You didn't…?" Sydney's eyes glittered suspiciously.

"And why not?" Sam smiled. "Actually, it was also my father's name so that made it seem like a doubly good reason."

He glanced up at Jarod. "Did you say 'babies', as in plural?"

"No, Syd. They changed the rules of English grammar while you weren't paying attention." The new father walked over and picked up his baby daughter. "Yes, I said 'babies', plural. And if you guess twins, I'll even let you hold both at once."

* * * *


"Does Parker know?" Sydney asked, as he rocked the girl in his arms, smiling at the long dark lashes that swept the round rosy cheeks.

Jarod shook his head as he put his baby son down in the hand-carved wooden cradle. "Not unless her mother told her. We thought we'd keep it a complete surprise. In fact, we only told my parents during the second last month."

Sydney suddenly narrowed his eyes and made an obvious display of counting back the months on the fingers of his free hand. "They weren't premature, were they?"

The younger man grinned as he took his daughter and put her down, covering her with the thick blanket. "No, they weren't."

"So all your convenient little excuses at Christmas about 'long term'..."

"I'm impressed that you remember." Jarod laughed. "Yes, we were planning for the future by then and Sam was actually already four weeks pregnant."

"You knew at four weeks?" Sydney followed Jarod down the hall. "How?"

"Our daughter 'accidentally' used the names Catherine and Jacob in 'casual conversation' and as she had no reason to mention either Sam's parents or your brother and Parker's mother, we guessed. Then she told us."

Sydney nodded and then picked up the boy who threw himself at his legs when the two men appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"How long are you staying for?" Jarod asked.

"Well, I was only planning to stay for a day or two, but I can easily extend it if you feel like you need a spare pair of hands."

"Hey, I've got two perfectly good ones."

Sydney grabbed his right hand as Jarod was about to walk into the kitchen and looked down at the faint marks on it. "Perfectly good?"

"It's fine, Syd. It healed completely except for a few scars and I hardly remember I even did it anymore."

"I'm glad to hear it."

* * * *


The little girl threw herself at her father as soon as the front door was open and he picked her up with his free arm, keeping the other firmly around the baby girl in his other arm.

"How was school, sweetie?"

"Good, Daddy." She threw her arms around his neck. "Were you okay here all day without me?"

"I had Sydney to help, didn't I?" He kissed her. "I missed my girl though."

"You mean Sam?"

"No," he laughed. "Try again."

"Catherine?"

"She was here with me, wasn't she?"

"Miss Parker?"

He sat down on the sofa and tickled her. "You're not trying hard enough."

"Me."

"Of course."

"So you didn't miss me at all?" another voice asked.

Jarod looked up to see Sam standing in the doorway and grinned. "One of these days I'm going to learn when to keep my mouth shut."

"No." She came over and kissed him. "You'd never do that."

"Oh, really? Why not?"

"You can't teach an old dog..."

"Are you saying I'm old?" Jarod tried to look indignant. "I've just spent the whole day running - and I do mean running - after three small children and then my wife calls me 'old'."

"Wife?" Sydney looked up sharply. "Is there something else you've forgotten to tell me?"

* * * *


She curled up beside him and rested her head against his chest, feeling as his hand moved through her hair.

"You still awake?"

"Uh huh." Looking up, she smiled. "Work isn't that tiring."

"Maybe I should try it some time." He tried to stifle a yawn and she smiled.

"It doesn't help when your alarm clock comes in and wakes you up at three."

"How you sleep through her climbing into bed is beyond me."

"She doesn't talk to me, so I ignore it and go back to sleep."

"Want to teach me that skill?"

"Nope." She gently kissed his chest. "She'd be hurt if you didn't talk to her."

"You're right." He tightened his arms around her and she smiled, looking up.

"I've been meaning to ask - your comments earlier today..."

Jarod laughed softly. "I've been wondering when you'd pick up on those."

"Ah, so they were deliberate."

"Of course. Just about everything I say is."

Raising herself on one arm, Sam looked down at him. Gently he reached up and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Marry me."

Slowly she lowered herself so that her face was lying on the pillow next to his and he rolled over so that he could look into her eyes. He put both arms around her and pulled her closer to him, kissing her softly at first and then slightly harder, feeling as she relaxed in his hold. Pulling away slightly, Jarod looked down into her eyes again, his thumb gently brushing her lips.

"Well?"

"Yes, Jarod." She nodded and leaned over, kissing him again. "Of course I will."



The End
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