Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters don’t belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.

PaperTrails

He raced towards the deep blue ocean and dived right in. His father had known that he couldn’t swim and had taken him to go get swimming lessons. He didn’t want to at first, but then finally gave in to his father’s wishes. He wondered if he should call him Dad at first because he wasn’t his father. He didn’t have a father, or a mother because he was a clone. At least he had a name though. He didn’t have to go through the world as Gemini. He had chosen his name months ago because he liked the name Jeremy and it had stuck. They had rented beachfront property and decided just to lay low for a while and have a vacation.

He swam through the waves and looked back and watched as his father put down the towels and then he too waded into the water and swam for a bit. They both tiredly got out of the water and sat on their towels. They watched the waves lap at the shore and stared out in space.

Jeremy wondered if Margaret would accept him into their family. His father had told him repeatedly that she would, but in the back of his mind he always wondered. He was excited, but nervous that he would meet Margaret.

Major Charles had been watching Jeremy and Emily from the porch as he excitedly ran towards the ocean. He was glad that he had convinced him to take swimming lessons. He remembered when they were in another hotel and he asked Jeremy if he wanted to swim. He had already brought Jeremy swim trunks and clothes already. He embarrassedly admitted that he didn’t know how to swim. He knew that Jeremy wondered when he looked at him that he was seeing Jarod at that age. He had told him that he had never seen Jarod at that age except on DSA’s. Emily had been nice to him when she found out and went out of her way to be nice to him and befriend him and make him part of the family. He was happy that Emily was taking Jeremy under her wing. She was a good big sister to the boy. Before Emily was with them she had put an ad in the paper if they needed to get in touch with each other. They had put an ad in the paper

“Well, we should head up to the house now.” He looked at Jeremy and Emily as he said that.

“Okay.” Jeremy replied as he got up and picked up his towel.

They walked back to the porch and then inside the house. They went to each of their rooms to get dressed. Major Charles went into the kitchen and started to cook dinner and Emily helped. He remembered when he had tried to cook for Margaret when she was pregnant with Jarod. He tried to make something and it turned out terrible. She teased him about it and they both laughed about it. They decided to go out to eat instead. He had improved over the years because he had to.

He finished cooking and set the dinner on the table he called his son to the table while Emily set the table. When he met the boy for the first time he wasn’t really into talking to him right then because they were fleeing for their lives. After that then he talked to him and really got to know him. He then thought of him as his son. A son that he didn’t know that he had, but no matter how he came into the world he was his son.

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters don’t belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.

Jeremy got up and got the cereal out and then poured it into the bowl and then the milk followed. He sat down in front of the T.V. and clicked it on. His father was sitting on the couch reading the paper and he already eaten. His sister came out of her room and got a cup of coffee and sat on the couch watching the T.V. too.

“Was there anything from Mom today?” He asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“No, there was nothing.” Major Charles said as he looked up from the paper smiling at him.

Jeremy nodded and went back to watching T.V. and eating his cereal. He loved eating cereal much more than eating that green glop he had at the Centre. He loved the sweetness of the various cereals. He loved all the things that he didn’t have at the Centre. He often wondered if this how Jarod felt every time he got something new. He still remembered when Jarod smiled at him when he first ate ice cream. He was happy that he liked it.

He flipped through the channels, but when he was done he turned it off and washed the bowl out putting it in the drain. He then went back into his room and put his trunks on. He was going to go out on the beach.

“I’m going to go out to the beach, Dad.”

“Okay, but be careful. If you need me yell.” He said to him as he headed for the door. “Keep the screen open, so I can hear you.”

“Okay.”

He laid the beach towel out and sat down. He watched as the others around him played in the water, play Frisbee and even some people were building sandcastles. He watched some parents play with their children and wished that he could have had that when he was younger. He wished for a lot of things, but at least he had a family and never have to go back to the Centre again.

He got up and waded into the ocean and dived in. He swam for a bit and then came back in. Emily was watching him from the porch. He felt safe when he was with his father and Emily and he also felt safe with Jarod. He went to someone who was lonely in the Centre and having Mr. Raines as a mentor and then he had a family who loved him.

Emily watched from the porch as Jeremy dived into the ocean. She smiled at the memory of all Jeremy’s discoveries and wonderment in the world and wondered if Jarod was the same way. She couldn’t wait until they could finally all be a family. She only met and seen Jarod twice and that was it. It wasn’t enough to get to know him. She wished that her family wasn’t torn apart like it was. If her brothers weren’t like they were they would still be with her family and her parents were still be together.

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters don’t belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.

Emily got up early the next morning and went to go get the paper. She opened the door and walked in. Her father and Jeremy were up and were eating breakfast already. She had already eaten breakfast before she had gone out to get the paper.

She opened it and looked though the ads and saw an answer to her ad that she had put in the paper.

“Dad, she answered the ad.”

“Are you sure it’s her?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Emily replied. “I know where to meet her.”

“Then lets go.”

----

Emily stood at the meeting place and waited for her mother. Major Charles and Jeremy would be hiding and would come out after Emily would talk to her. She looked around and then suddenly saw her mother walking towards her.

“Emily, it’s so good to see you.”

“Mom, I’m so glad that you could make it.”

They hugged each other and then sat near the fountain.

“Mom, I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“Dad’s here.”

“Where is he?” She said looking around trying to find him.

“Before I bring them out. I have to tell you something else. There is a boy with him. His name is Jeremy, but he had a project name. It was Gemini. It was because he’s Jarod’s clone.”

“They cloned my boy? How could they do that?”

“Because the Centre is greedy, but we don’t have to worry about that anymore. It’s finally gone from our lives.”

“I know and for that I’m glad. We can finally stop running.”

Emily turned to where the two were hiding and signaled them that it was okay to come out of hiding.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” She ran up to her husband and hugged. She then turned to Jeremy.

“I’m so sorry what you had to go through.” She hugged the boy and he hugged back.