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Disclaimer: If you think the Pretender characters belong to me, you're sadly mistaken. I stole them, hugged them, squeezed them, called them George, then gave them back like a good girl. This story is *NFIC*, so if you're not 18, go away and come back when you're older.
Author's Note: My thanks to my beta readers. Chalk this up to watching too much of shows like CSI, and the fact that my figure sculpture teacher was a forensic sculptor; she taught me everything I know.
Realization by Art
Brightfeather
~*~*~*~
"Words have divided man from woman,
one from another, this from that,
until only sages know how to put things together.
Without words, without even understanding,
lovers find each other.
... The moment of finding is always a surprise,
like meeting an old friend never before known."
--Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
~*~*~*~
Jarod pulled his car to a stop, grabbed his red notebook, and checked his notes one more time. He'd been on a vacation of sorts playing ranger for the National Parks Service when some children had stumbled across the small skeleton in a secluded cave while on a nature hike.
Jarod sighed as he glanced at the small box cradled in the seat beside him. They'd managed to determine that the body had been there for at least fifteen years, so the chances of finding out how it had gotten there were slim to none. He had volunteered to take the skull to an artist who'd been known to do some forensic sculpture for the authorities in the past.
He unfastened the seatbelt, carefully picked up the box, and climbed out of the car. Slowly, he walked over to the barn that held Ms. Lisa Winston's studio. Jarod knocked on the door lightly. Really, he would have preferred to use computer software or to have read a few books and done it himself, but Ms. Winston had already been called and told to expect him.
"Coming!" a voice called from inside.
A few minutes later, a slightly chubby, middle-aged woman opened the door, wiping her hands on a dirty, clay-smeared rag. "That must be my new commission," she said with a big smile as she motioned for him to come in. "I'm Lisa."
"My name's Jarod," he said politely as he examined her.
"C'mon in," she said as she tucked the rag into the back pocket of her ragged overalls. Lisa padded over to a table and turned the sculpture on it around, eyeing it critically. "You can put the box on the table; I'll start making the cast of the skull after I finish this project."
Jarod followed her in and set the box on the table. "But shouldn't you start on it right away?"
"Look, Mr.--"
"Jarod," he supplied.
"Jarod. This sculpture," she gestured towards it, "is made of terracotta clay, which means it's time sensitive. Once it dries, I can't make alterations. The child that the skull belongs to has been dead for well over a decade, and a day or two while I finish filling in the details on this won't make much of a difference."
"But couldn't you just keep it wet?" Jarod asked as he started to wander around the open studio space.
"I could," she answered absently as she flipped her long, thick, blonde braid over her shoulder. "And it could also collapse from the weight and water. Then three months of careful work would be wasted; I can't afford to wait on this one any more."
Jarod straddled a nearby stool and sighed. "So it'll have to wait... or could you teach me how to do it and then we could get it done faster?"
Lisa flattened a tiny piece of clay and added it to the sculpture. "It would take me two weeks to teach you how to do it, Jarod. Even then, there's no guarantee that it would look right; if you haven't the talent and the drive, the skills will only take you so far. Just be patient; I should be finished with this one soon."
Jarod frowned, got up, and resumed his wanderings around the studio. He stopped when his eyes came across a small plasticine sculpture. The only word he could think of to describe it was... beautiful.
"Did you make this?" he asked softly.
Lisa put down her tools, wiped her hands on her overalls, pushed up the sleeves of her worn tie-dyed t-shirt, and wandered over. "I take it that you like that one?" she asked with a small smile.
At Jarod's nod, she picked it up. "You can touch it if you like; just be careful because the detail is easy to erase." She placed the sculpture in his hands.
Jarod examined it closely. "There's so much detail," he murmured.
Lisa leaned back against a nearby table. "That is the point," she said dryly. "That was a commission for a full-sized statue that the buyer defaulted on, so it was never cast."
"Then why not make it full-sized?" Jarod asked.
"Because I send this mock-up to the bronze works, and they'll cast one for me as big as I want it," she replied. "I don't need anything bigger."
Jarod carefully set the statue down. It was perfect and exactly what he wanted to send to Miss Parker. "Could I buy this?" he asked with a charming grin.
Lisa studied his face for a few minutes. "Tell you what. You've got a really interesting face... I'll let you have it if you pay the foundry fees and sit for a portrait. Deal?" She held out her hand and Jarod took it.
"Deal. How much are the fees?"
Lisa smiled. "The foundry I use is in Italy, so it'll take up to six months for it to be cast and get back."
Jarod looked startled. "That long?"
Lisa's smile widened into a grin. "Well, it depends on how big you want it. If you want it the size it is, I can get it done almost locally, but if you want it as a full size statue, I'll have to send it out."
Jarod shrugged. "It's already the right size," he said.
Lisa nodded sharply. "I'll send it out in the morning mail, and you can model for me after I finish the reconstructing the child's face."
"Thank you, Lisa," he said.
Lisa gave him a short nod, walked back to her table, and picked up a tool. "I assume that you'll be leaving, Jarod. How can I reach you?"
Jarod scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the worn wooden floor. "I offered to bring the skull up here after I turned in my resignation," he said slowly. "I'm currently at loose ends; know of any place I can stay?"
A slow smile spread over Lisa's face. "Students will be arriving again next week, but we do have an extra cabin that hasn't been used for a while. For doing a bit of maintenance and some other chores, I'm sure that the others won't mind you hanging around." She shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe the bronze works won't be busy, and it'll be done sooner."
"I'll stay for a week or so, I guess," Jarod said slowly. "Then I need to find someplace a bit... further away."
Lisa shrugged. "Suit yourself. The cabin is about half a mile up the path from here. You'll probably meet one of the other artists and they can show you the way." She turned back to her work, effectively blocking out everything else around her.
Jarod shook his head before heading out to his car and gathering his sparse belongings. A week in an artists' colony might be interesting, especially one that was apparently devoted to teaching young artists. He shouldered his bag and headed up the path. Perhaps the sculpture would help with his current impasse with Parker. He needed *something* to get through the shell she'd erected after Carthis, and he rather thought that it might do the trick.
~*~*~*~
Parker rubbed her eyes and sighed. At least it was Saturday and she didn't have to go into the Centre to face Dr. Mengle and Son to answer as to why she hadn't caught Jarod yet. It wasn't her fault that Ratboy hadn't left any clues for her to follow for over four months.
Pezhead had stopped calling, too. She just hoped that he hadn't dropped out of sight completely; if he did that, they were in serious trouble. Raines had presented her with a new deal; if she caught Jarod, she would be allowed to live. In fact, he'd offered the same deal to Lyle--the first one of them to catch him would live, and the other team would be scheduled for elimination. In the year since Carthis, Jarod's clues had been getting fewer, harder to find, and the wait in between breadcrumbs had gotten longer as well.
At least Lyle hadn't been having any luck, either. She was sure that if he'd found something, it would've meant a trip to the renewal wing for her. As the doorbell rang, Parker got up and hurried to answer the door. The UPS delivery man handed her a small, surprisingly heavy package and then held out a clipboard for her to sign the receipt.
She took the package with an absent-minded nod of thanks, signed the paperwork, and went back in the living room. She put the package on the coffee table, ripped the tape off, and pulled out a sculpture. Parker stared at it for a few minutes, then set it down on the coffee table.
She rummaged through the box until she found the note that she'd known had to be there. Parker unfolded the note and started to read.
'Parker,
I found this and it reminded me of us. J.'
Parker examined the sculpture and put her hand over her mouth. She remembered when she had sat like that with Jarod. It was beautiful. Two people sitting together in a quiet intimacy that spoke of deep affection between the couple. They were nude, of course, like most pieces of figure sculpture. It was the expression of the male figure that captivated her the most; he was staring at the top of the young woman's head where it lay on his chest, and just from the way his face was modeled one could tell that he loved her.
His arm was around her waist, holding her close to him, and their fingers were laced together. It made her remember a time over twenty years ago when she would've done almost anything to make him smile.
'I found him, Momma. I finally found someone to love, and it's Jarod. I'm going to marry him someday and get him out of the Centre away from Dr. Raines and Daddy. Then nobody will hurt us anymore.' The words that she had spoken at her mother's grave when she was thirteen hung in her mind as a tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.
Parker hadn't kept that promise, and she'd been trying to drag Jarod back to the hell he'd escaped from for years. Somewhere, deep inside her soul where nobody else was ever allowed to see, she admitted to herself that she still loved him, but that a real relationship between them was impossible. Looking at the sculpture made her wonder what it would have been like if the Centre had never interfered in their relationship.
Parker picked up the sculpture and started examining it for a maker's mark. It was too late to change things, but he at least owed her an explanation. She could live with her decisions. She was a survivor; she had been since the day her mother had disappeared from her life. But when did surviving turn into living? When would a time come when she could ask for more in life? How much of herself did she *really* have to sacrifice to the dark gods of the Centre?
Perhaps it was time that she demanded something more than empty answers. Maybe it was time she found the one person in her life that she knew had loved her for most of it and found out if he had any answers for her. Parker found the artist's signature, grabbed some paper, and jotted it down.
She settled the small statue carefully on the table, picked up the paper, and headed for the computer. It only took a few minutes to pull up Google and search for the artist's name. It took even less time to open the woman's website and find her resume. Parker copied down the name of the artist's retreat and did another search on it. Normally, she would've made Broots run the search, but both he and Debbie had the 'flu, and she didn't want to wake him up. It *was* Saturday, after all.
Parker smiled grimly as the location popped up, then headed to collect a box from her closet. She reached inside and pulled out a cell phone and a handful of credit cards--all under assumed names that the Centre knew nothing about. She reached back inside the closet, pulled out a bag packed full of comfortable clothes, then used the cell phone to call for reservations for the next flight out to New Mexico. Quickly, she changed into some brand-new jeans, a t-shirt, and running shoes that had never been to the Centre, stuffed the credit cards, ID, and the cell in her pocket, grabbed the bag and headed towards the door.
'Shit,' she thought suddenly. 'The Centre probably has a tracking device on my car.' With a grimace of disgust, she pulled out the cell and called a cab. It wasn't long before she was on the road, headed to the airport.
~*~*~*~
Lisa attached another piece of clay to the bust, smoothed it out, then stepped back to look at her work and compare it to the pictures. Perfect. It looked just like him. She smiled, reached for a tool, and started adding detail to the hair. Sure, she knew that the moment she cut open the head to get rid of the excess clay inside that some of her detail would be ruined, but it was a hell of a lot easier than trying to patch a hole because she'd pressed too hard.
"It's open," she called when she heard a knock on the door. Lisa finished with the hair, picked up her tools, and dumped them in the sink nearby.
"Excuse me," she heard a hard voice say.
Lisa turned around to see a tall, leggy brunette. "How can I help you?" she asked with a smile. From the designer jeans the woman was wearing, it was obvious that she wasn't there for sculpture lessons.
The brunette held out a picture. "Have you seen this man?" she asked. She looked around and spotted the bust. "Obviously, you have," she said dryly.
Lisa wiped her hands off on a rag that she pulled from her pocket. "You mean Jarod? Nice guy. He ordered a sculpture from me when he came in for a forensic reconstruction of a head."
"A head?" Parker asked, with one eyebrow upraised.
Lisa gestured at another, more lifelike bust. "Some kids found a child's skeletonized body, and the authorities had me do a bit of forensic sculpture. They found the child's identity form that," she explained.
"Well, good for you," Parker said. "Now, is there anything *useful* that you can tell me? Perhaps he left something behind?"
"Are you Miss Parker?" Lisa asked with a smile.
Parker nodded. "That would be me, yes."
Lisa walked over to a desk in the corner, pulled out an envelope, and gave it to Parker. "He said that I should give you this."
Parker pulled out a card and a key from the envelope. '1348 Gateway Lane. Come alone,' it said. "Thank you." She said, then turned to leave.
"Miss Parker?"
"Yes?" Parker turned back to the artist and folded her arms across her chest.
"Come back someday and I'll sculpt you and Jarod. Frankly, the two of you would look too good together for me not to do it."
Parker gave Lisa a look and walked out the door. Lisa shook her head, chuckled, and went back to the sink to clean the clay residue off her tools. She sometimes got feelings about people, and this was one of those times. She was sure that Jarod and Parker would be good together, given half a chance.
~*~*~*~
Parker slammed her car door and hurried up the steps of the ranch-style house. She used the key he'd left her to let herself in and walked through the house, trying to find her prey. She had to find out what he'd meant by sending the statue. He was *so* annoying. Infuriating. Adora--no! A relationship between the two of them was suicidal. Best case scenario, they'd end up with adjoining cells, brought together only to breed more little Pretenders for the Centre to exploit.
Parker refused to let that happen. It was better for things to remain 'you run, I chase' for their own safety. She entered the den and spotted him standing by the window. "Parker," he said softly. "I'm glad you accepted my little invitation."
"Well, wonderboy, what else could I do?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You sent me that damn sculpture and then expected me to do nothing? I'm hauling your ass back to the Centre to get Dr. Frankenstein and his monster off my back."
Jarod chucked and crossed the room to her in a few long strides. "I don't think so, Parker. If you were really here to capture me, you'd be dressed to kill, have your Smith and Wesson, and have at least Sam with you. Weather you admit it or not, Carthis changed things."
"Nothing has changed, labrat. It's still you run, I chase, and we can't change that." Parker turned her back to him, unwilling to admit that he was right.
A slow, almost predatory smile spread over Jarod's face. "I've loved you since we were twelve, Parker... at least, I think I was 12. Now who's running, you or me? Why are you afraid of us as a couple, Melissa?"
Parker whirled around to face him. "Don't call me that!" she ordered. "Nobody has called me that since Momma--"
"And I'm the only one left who really knows it and loves you enough to use it," Jarod pointed out gently. "Melissa, you *are* afraid of us. You're afraid that you might find what you've been missing all these years without me."
Parker turned around and stepped closer to him. "I am not afraid, pez head," she said, enunciating every word. She grabbed a handful of his t-shirt and used it to yank his head down. Without hesitation, she kissed him, hard, desperately trying to prove her lack of fear.
Jarod broke off the kiss, pulled back slightly, and studied her face intently. "Prove it." He yanked her closer, wrapped his arms around her and sealed his lips over hers.
A small part of Parker's brain considered struggling, but the feel of Jarod's warm tongue slipping into her mouth drove all sensible thought from her head. She pushed up his shirt and began exploring his long, lean body. She'd always wondered what it would be like with Jarod, and, damnit, she was going to find out.
She kissed him back, tangling her tongue with his as she explored his mouth. It only took a few minutes to yank his shirt up and try and pull it off. Jarod broke off the kiss, cursing slightly as he divested himself of the offending garment. It fell from his hand to the floor as he grabbed Parker's shirt, pulled it off, and threw it somewhere behind him.
Parker barely noticed, as her hands were busy fumbling with the button and the zipper of his tight, black jeans. Finally, she got them open and slipped her hand inside, suppressing the momentary desire to hum "Happy Trails" as she followed the hair from his belly button to the growing erection still hidden by his Garfield boxers.
Jarod sucked in some air as she touched his penis, then quickly unfastened her bra and began trailing kisses down her neck to his target. He hooked one finger through the belt loops on her jeans and began to walk backwards, pulling her with him as his lips fastened on her nipple.
"Shit," he cursed softly as he stumbled over the first of the short flight of stairs that led to the bedroom.
Parker simply laughed and started caressing his chest, sucking lightly on his collarbone. She was determined to leave her mark before the night was over. What they were doing was stupid and suicidal, but she was determined to make it something that they'd both remember until the Centre killed them.
Jarod recovered and led her up the stairs into the bedroom. He picked her up, ignoring her wordless protest, and dumped her on the bed. He reached for her jeans, unzipped them, and pulled them off before starting on her panties. "Cotton, Parker?" he asked with an upraised eyebrow.
"New," she said as she tugged him down for another kiss. "Didn't want to wear anything that'd been near the Centre."
"Smart," he observed as he yanked off her shoes, tossed them over his shoulder, and finished ridding her of her clothes. He sat back on his heels and admired her for a minute. "Do you know how gorgeous you are, Melissa?" he asked appreciatively before he started trailing kisses down her body.
Never one to lay passively, Parker tried to sit up and catch her prey, only to be stopped by a gentle hand on her chest. "Let me," he said, his brown eyes almost black with desire.
She started to protest, but stopped with a gasp when his tongue dipped into her belly button. Mentally, she shrugged. If he was determined, who was she to stop a pretender on a mission?
All other coherent thought fled as he started kissing his way down her legs, then inside her thighs. Automatically, she opened to him as his kisses got closer and closer to his goal. He parted her lips and began to carefully layer kisses on her hyper-sensitive skin. Slowly, he ran his tongue over the wet, slick, engorged folds before he inserted it inside her, then went higher to nibble on her clitoris. He alternated between nibbles, kisses and licks, carefully paying attention to every inch of skin.
Parker slid one hand into his hair and guided him to just the spot that she needed. "Jarod," she gasped, her hips bucking up towards him as she fell over the precipice.
Jarod kissed his way up her body and captured her lips with his. Parker broke off the kiss, flipped him over, and started drizzling kisses all over his torso.
She straddled his body, sitting on his thighs so as to obtain better access it. She started exploring and stopped to pay special attention to his nipples before moving downward. She followed the line of his body down to the bit that was begging for her attention. She grasped his erection gently, marveling at the feel of his silky, soft skin over his rock-hard length.
Slashing Jarod a mischievous smile, she kissed the tip of it, licking away the small drops of moisture from the head. "Parker," he groaned.
"You like?" she asked, still smiling.
"Want to be inside you," he said harshly.
Parker chuckled, then repositioned herself over his erection. Before she could say anything, Jarod grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto him. They both froze for a minute, as if remembering the possible consequences for the first time.
Parker thrust the realization aside and started rocking her hips against his. As if it were a signal, Jarod thrust up into her, finding a rhythm both new and old as time. He grabbed her hips, flipped the two of them over so that he was on top and kissed her thoroughly.
Jarod continued thrusting, deeper and deeper, faster and faster, reaching in between them to play with her clitoris. It didn't take long for Parker to climax and pull him with her. Together, they rode it out. Jarod held her tight to him as he rolled over, staying inside her.
Parker laid her head on his chest with a sigh of contentment, basking in the afterglow. "If I'd known it'd be like this, I would've caught and seduced you years ago; hell I would've broken you out to be my boy-toy."
She could feel Jarod's laughter rumbling in his chest. "Maybe I would have *let* you catch me," he said with a smirk.
Parker tipped her head up and stole a kiss. "You do realize that we've just signed our own death warrants, don't you?"
"Only if they catch us," he said. "I, for one, don't intend on letting them get near us--if you stay."
Parker rested her forearms on his chest and looked at him. "Jarod, we have to get my baby brother," she said quietly. "I've been taking him out of the Centre some weekends--"
"Bring him home with you next weekend," he said with a smile. "I'll get Angelo out, we'll warn Sydney and Broots to get out..."
"And then we'll disappear," she said. "Between the four of us, we've got enough evidence to bring the Centre down; do you still have friends in the FBI?"
"Yeah. I got the VCTF out of a tight spot last year, and Bailey owes me big." Jarod dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Can we stay like this forever, Missy?" he asked with a contented sigh.
Parker's eyes widened as she felt him grow and lengthen inside her. "Pez head, aren't you supposed to be a little too old to recover that quickly?"
He snickered and thrust his hips up into hers. "I've been waiting for thirty years for this, Miss Parker; can't help that I'm insatiable when it comes to you."
Parker stifled a moan by burying her face in his chest. "I've got two days," she said with a gasp.
"Wanna see how often we can make love in that time?" he asked with a grin.
Parker pulled the covers over them and braced her forearms against his chest as she started to move. "Whoever gets tired first loses," she said.
"Deal," Jarod said with a gasp and reached up to steal a kiss. It was a long time before they slept, and even then, they were both winners in their little contest.
~*~*~*~
Parker glanced at the clock again and bit back a frustrated sigh. Two hours until she could leave this hellhole. They'd spent a lot of time talking in between bouts of making love and decided that she should wait a month before trying to get her baby brother out. They'd established a schedule of sorts; she'd go to his barren nursery to visit him every day and take him home on the weekends.
Parker glanced at the paperwork on her desk, then shoved her chair away from it in disgust. Someone else could take care of it; she was through. Broots and Sydney were already out of the way; Syd had retired, and Broots had accepted an offer to work for Microsoft. Angelo was meeting Jarod later on that night, so all that was left was to rescue her baby brother.
A wave of nausea came over her, so she got up and hurried towards the bathroom. Parker knew what was causing it; they'd both forgotten all about protection on their weekend together, and it had coincided with the most fertile part of her cycle. She'd been able to pass it off as stomach flu so far, but they had to act fast before Dr. Mengle or Hannibal Lector figured it out and gave her a cell down in SL-26.
Before she reached the restroom, her nausea subsided, so she headed down to SL-15 where they were keeping her baby brother. She breezed past the nurse and over to the crib where the baby was kept most of the time. "Sissy!" the child squealed joyfully and held out his arms. Parker scooped him up and he laid his head against her shoulder. "Lub you," he said.
"I love you too, kiddo. Time for you to come home with me, honey," Parker said quietly. She'd always been careful to gentle her manner around him, relying on her memories of her mother to know how to act. He was a cute kid, if she did say so herself.
"Kay," the baby said.
Parker turned to the nurse. "Where are his outdoor clothes?" she asked.
"Mr. Raines won't be happy about this," the nurse warned. "Master Parker still hasn't done the fifty math problems that his tutor set for him to do today." She went over to the dresser and pulled some clothes out and handed them to Parker.
"Screw the math problems; he's too little for them," Parker said, snatching the clothes away. She sat down on the only chair in the room, pulled the gray, institutional pajamas off the child, and started dressing him in real clothes.
"I'll have to tell Mr. Raines about this," the nurse said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"He doesn't have a leg to stand on," Parker growled. "My father's will made me my brother's guardian, so I can take him home if I want to." She finished strapping sneakers on the little boy's feet, stood up, and settled him on her hip. With that as a parting shot, she left the room, got in the elevator, and headed back to her office.
"Sissy, me 'tay wif you forewer?" the child asked. "Me no like here."
Parker kissed him on the cheek. "We'll talk about it later, sweetie," she promised.
The boy laid his head on her shoulder. She opened the door to her office, grabbed her purse, and headed outside to her car. Within minutes, they were on the way back to her house to wait for Jarod.
~*~*~*~
The three of them waited quietly in a rental van by a vent outside the perimeter of the Centre complex. Parker watched it intently as a dark figure slipped out, walked over, and got into the van. "Thank you, Missy and Jarod," the empathy said softly. "Knew sister would rescue."
Parker reached in the back and fastened Angelo's seatbelt as Jarod started the van. "Where are we headed, Jarod?" she asked.
"Idaho," was his reply. "My father, Joseph, Ethan, and Emily are waiting for us there. I'll send the files to Bailey after we get a few states away from here."
"Who's Joseph?" Parker asked curiously.
"My... twin? My clone? I'm not sure what applies," Jarod admitted.
Parker shrugged. "Technically, he's your twin. Even clones aren't exact replicas, Jarod. He has different fingerprints from you, for one," she pointed out. Parker glanced in the back and smiled at her sleeping baby brother.
Jarod stepped on the gas and got on the freeway. "Get some rest, Parker," he advised. "I want at least four states in between us and the Centre before we stop."
Parker nodded, leaned back against the seat, and closed her eyes. She could tell that it was going to be a long trip.
~*~*~*~
Lisa looked at the couple in front of her and smiled. "Do you need to sit down, Mrs. Reich?"
Melissa Reich shook her head. "Thanks, but no," she said, her gray eyes twinkling. "I'm okay for now."
Lisa walked around them again, smiling in satisfaction at the picture they presented. She'd known that they made a cute couple the first time she'd laid eyes on them five months ago. It wasn't every day that an artist like herself managed to help a couple as famous as these two were.
She'd heard about them in the news when the VCTF had brought down that Centre place three months ago, thanks to them. She went back to her sculpture and carefully put the finishing touches on the sculpture's pregnant belly. With a small, satisfied smile, she moved on to sculpting Jarod, who had an ear to her stomach, with one hand covering it.
In short, the tableau was a gorgeous picture of intimacy, and she knew that she could sell it in her upcoming show. Her smile grew bigger as she watched Jarod turn his head to press a kiss on his wife's bare tummy, before resuming the pose.
Lisa wiped off her hands, then grabbed her camera and took some pictures. "That's it," she said with a smile. "I can do the rest from pictures.
Jarod stood up, grabbed a robe, and held it out for Parker. "I still can't believe you conned me into doing this," she said as she slipped into it.
Jarod grinned. "It wasn't hard," he reminded her. "Can I help it that I want a reminder of how beautiful you are right now?"
Parker snorted. "I'm a whale and you know it."
Jarod slipped into his own robe, tied it, and put his arms around her expanding waistline. "Nah, the baby is just growing," he said with a smirk. "And he makes you even more gorgeous than you usually are."
Parker leaned back against him with a sigh. She'd never really hoped that any of what was now her life would ever come to pass. They still had to find Margaret, but with all of the press around the fall of the Centre, she was sure that Jarod's mother would surface soon.
Jarod leaned over and kissed her gently, and all thoughts of what had been happening in their lives slipped away temporarily. "Call us when it's finished?" Jarod requested. "We're going home tomorrow, so you can reach us there."
Parker got off the modeling platform and headed to the changing room in the back of the studio, pulling Jarod with her. Her life was much different from how she'd planned just nine short months ago, but somehow she'd ended up where she'd wanted to be since she was a little girl--with Jarod.
Raines and Lyle were going to jail for a long time, Sydney had moved out to California, where they'd finally settled, to live with them, and Jarod's family lived nearby. She had her family around her, and for the first time in years, she was happy. It was enough.
Author's Note: My thanks to my beta readers. Chalk this up to watching too much of shows like CSI, and the fact that my figure sculpture teacher was a forensic sculptor; she taught me everything I know.
Brightfeather
~*~*~*~
"Words have divided man from woman,
one from another, this from that,
until only sages know how to put things together.
Without words, without even understanding,
lovers find each other.
... The moment of finding is always a surprise,
like meeting an old friend never before known."
--Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
~*~*~*~
Jarod pulled his car to a stop, grabbed his red notebook, and checked his notes one more time. He'd been on a vacation of sorts playing ranger for the National Parks Service when some children had stumbled across the small skeleton in a secluded cave while on a nature hike.
Jarod sighed as he glanced at the small box cradled in the seat beside him. They'd managed to determine that the body had been there for at least fifteen years, so the chances of finding out how it had gotten there were slim to none. He had volunteered to take the skull to an artist who'd been known to do some forensic sculpture for the authorities in the past.
He unfastened the seatbelt, carefully picked up the box, and climbed out of the car. Slowly, he walked over to the barn that held Ms. Lisa Winston's studio. Jarod knocked on the door lightly. Really, he would have preferred to use computer software or to have read a few books and done it himself, but Ms. Winston had already been called and told to expect him.
"Coming!" a voice called from inside.
A few minutes later, a slightly chubby, middle-aged woman opened the door, wiping her hands on a dirty, clay-smeared rag. "That must be my new commission," she said with a big smile as she motioned for him to come in. "I'm Lisa."
"My name's Jarod," he said politely as he examined her.
"C'mon in," she said as she tucked the rag into the back pocket of her ragged overalls. Lisa padded over to a table and turned the sculpture on it around, eyeing it critically. "You can put the box on the table; I'll start making the cast of the skull after I finish this project."
Jarod followed her in and set the box on the table. "But shouldn't you start on it right away?"
"Look, Mr.--"
"Jarod," he supplied.
"Jarod. This sculpture," she gestured towards it, "is made of terracotta clay, which means it's time sensitive. Once it dries, I can't make alterations. The child that the skull belongs to has been dead for well over a decade, and a day or two while I finish filling in the details on this won't make much of a difference."
"But couldn't you just keep it wet?" Jarod asked as he started to wander around the open studio space.
"I could," she answered absently as she flipped her long, thick, blonde braid over her shoulder. "And it could also collapse from the weight and water. Then three months of careful work would be wasted; I can't afford to wait on this one any more."
Jarod straddled a nearby stool and sighed. "So it'll have to wait... or could you teach me how to do it and then we could get it done faster?"
Lisa flattened a tiny piece of clay and added it to the sculpture. "It would take me two weeks to teach you how to do it, Jarod. Even then, there's no guarantee that it would look right; if you haven't the talent and the drive, the skills will only take you so far. Just be patient; I should be finished with this one soon."
Jarod frowned, got up, and resumed his wanderings around the studio. He stopped when his eyes came across a small plasticine sculpture. The only word he could think of to describe it was... beautiful.
"Did you make this?" he asked softly.
Lisa put down her tools, wiped her hands on her overalls, pushed up the sleeves of her worn tie-dyed t-shirt, and wandered over. "I take it that you like that one?" she asked with a small smile.
At Jarod's nod, she picked it up. "You can touch it if you like; just be careful because the detail is easy to erase." She placed the sculpture in his hands.
Jarod examined it closely. "There's so much detail," he murmured.
Lisa leaned back against a nearby table. "That is the point," she said dryly. "That was a commission for a full-sized statue that the buyer defaulted on, so it was never cast."
"Then why not make it full-sized?" Jarod asked.
"Because I send this mock-up to the bronze works, and they'll cast one for me as big as I want it," she replied. "I don't need anything bigger."
Jarod carefully set the statue down. It was perfect and exactly what he wanted to send to Miss Parker. "Could I buy this?" he asked with a charming grin.
Lisa studied his face for a few minutes. "Tell you what. You've got a really interesting face... I'll let you have it if you pay the foundry fees and sit for a portrait. Deal?" She held out her hand and Jarod took it.
"Deal. How much are the fees?"
Lisa smiled. "The foundry I use is in Italy, so it'll take up to six months for it to be cast and get back."
Jarod looked startled. "That long?"
Lisa's smile widened into a grin. "Well, it depends on how big you want it. If you want it the size it is, I can get it done almost locally, but if you want it as a full size statue, I'll have to send it out."
Jarod shrugged. "It's already the right size," he said.
Lisa nodded sharply. "I'll send it out in the morning mail, and you can model for me after I finish the reconstructing the child's face."
"Thank you, Lisa," he said.
Lisa gave him a short nod, walked back to her table, and picked up a tool. "I assume that you'll be leaving, Jarod. How can I reach you?"
Jarod scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the worn wooden floor. "I offered to bring the skull up here after I turned in my resignation," he said slowly. "I'm currently at loose ends; know of any place I can stay?"
A slow smile spread over Lisa's face. "Students will be arriving again next week, but we do have an extra cabin that hasn't been used for a while. For doing a bit of maintenance and some other chores, I'm sure that the others won't mind you hanging around." She shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe the bronze works won't be busy, and it'll be done sooner."
"I'll stay for a week or so, I guess," Jarod said slowly. "Then I need to find someplace a bit... further away."
Lisa shrugged. "Suit yourself. The cabin is about half a mile up the path from here. You'll probably meet one of the other artists and they can show you the way." She turned back to her work, effectively blocking out everything else around her.
Jarod shook his head before heading out to his car and gathering his sparse belongings. A week in an artists' colony might be interesting, especially one that was apparently devoted to teaching young artists. He shouldered his bag and headed up the path. Perhaps the sculpture would help with his current impasse with Parker. He needed *something* to get through the shell she'd erected after Carthis, and he rather thought that it might do the trick.
~*~*~*~
Parker rubbed her eyes and sighed. At least it was Saturday and she didn't have to go into the Centre to face Dr. Mengle and Son to answer as to why she hadn't caught Jarod yet. It wasn't her fault that Ratboy hadn't left any clues for her to follow for over four months.
Pezhead had stopped calling, too. She just hoped that he hadn't dropped out of sight completely; if he did that, they were in serious trouble. Raines had presented her with a new deal; if she caught Jarod, she would be allowed to live. In fact, he'd offered the same deal to Lyle--the first one of them to catch him would live, and the other team would be scheduled for elimination. In the year since Carthis, Jarod's clues had been getting fewer, harder to find, and the wait in between breadcrumbs had gotten longer as well.
At least Lyle hadn't been having any luck, either. She was sure that if he'd found something, it would've meant a trip to the renewal wing for her. As the doorbell rang, Parker got up and hurried to answer the door. The UPS delivery man handed her a small, surprisingly heavy package and then held out a clipboard for her to sign the receipt.
She took the package with an absent-minded nod of thanks, signed the paperwork, and went back in the living room. She put the package on the coffee table, ripped the tape off, and pulled out a sculpture. Parker stared at it for a few minutes, then set it down on the coffee table.
She rummaged through the box until she found the note that she'd known had to be there. Parker unfolded the note and started to read.
'Parker,
I found this and it reminded me of us. J.'
Parker examined the sculpture and put her hand over her mouth. She remembered when she had sat like that with Jarod. It was beautiful. Two people sitting together in a quiet intimacy that spoke of deep affection between the couple. They were nude, of course, like most pieces of figure sculpture. It was the expression of the male figure that captivated her the most; he was staring at the top of the young woman's head where it lay on his chest, and just from the way his face was modeled one could tell that he loved her.
His arm was around her waist, holding her close to him, and their fingers were laced together. It made her remember a time over twenty years ago when she would've done almost anything to make him smile.
'I found him, Momma. I finally found someone to love, and it's Jarod. I'm going to marry him someday and get him out of the Centre away from Dr. Raines and Daddy. Then nobody will hurt us anymore.' The words that she had spoken at her mother's grave when she was thirteen hung in her mind as a tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.
Parker hadn't kept that promise, and she'd been trying to drag Jarod back to the hell he'd escaped from for years. Somewhere, deep inside her soul where nobody else was ever allowed to see, she admitted to herself that she still loved him, but that a real relationship between them was impossible. Looking at the sculpture made her wonder what it would have been like if the Centre had never interfered in their relationship.
Parker picked up the sculpture and started examining it for a maker's mark. It was too late to change things, but he at least owed her an explanation. She could live with her decisions. She was a survivor; she had been since the day her mother had disappeared from her life. But when did surviving turn into living? When would a time come when she could ask for more in life? How much of herself did she *really* have to sacrifice to the dark gods of the Centre?
Perhaps it was time that she demanded something more than empty answers. Maybe it was time she found the one person in her life that she knew had loved her for most of it and found out if he had any answers for her. Parker found the artist's signature, grabbed some paper, and jotted it down.
She settled the small statue carefully on the table, picked up the paper, and headed for the computer. It only took a few minutes to pull up Google and search for the artist's name. It took even less time to open the woman's website and find her resume. Parker copied down the name of the artist's retreat and did another search on it. Normally, she would've made Broots run the search, but both he and Debbie had the 'flu, and she didn't want to wake him up. It *was* Saturday, after all.
Parker smiled grimly as the location popped up, then headed to collect a box from her closet. She reached inside and pulled out a cell phone and a handful of credit cards--all under assumed names that the Centre knew nothing about. She reached back inside the closet, pulled out a bag packed full of comfortable clothes, then used the cell phone to call for reservations for the next flight out to New Mexico. Quickly, she changed into some brand-new jeans, a t-shirt, and running shoes that had never been to the Centre, stuffed the credit cards, ID, and the cell in her pocket, grabbed the bag and headed towards the door.
'Shit,' she thought suddenly. 'The Centre probably has a tracking device on my car.' With a grimace of disgust, she pulled out the cell and called a cab. It wasn't long before she was on the road, headed to the airport.
~*~*~*~
Lisa attached another piece of clay to the bust, smoothed it out, then stepped back to look at her work and compare it to the pictures. Perfect. It looked just like him. She smiled, reached for a tool, and started adding detail to the hair. Sure, she knew that the moment she cut open the head to get rid of the excess clay inside that some of her detail would be ruined, but it was a hell of a lot easier than trying to patch a hole because she'd pressed too hard.
"It's open," she called when she heard a knock on the door. Lisa finished with the hair, picked up her tools, and dumped them in the sink nearby.
"Excuse me," she heard a hard voice say.
Lisa turned around to see a tall, leggy brunette. "How can I help you?" she asked with a smile. From the designer jeans the woman was wearing, it was obvious that she wasn't there for sculpture lessons.
The brunette held out a picture. "Have you seen this man?" she asked. She looked around and spotted the bust. "Obviously, you have," she said dryly.
Lisa wiped her hands off on a rag that she pulled from her pocket. "You mean Jarod? Nice guy. He ordered a sculpture from me when he came in for a forensic reconstruction of a head."
"A head?" Parker asked, with one eyebrow upraised.
Lisa gestured at another, more lifelike bust. "Some kids found a child's skeletonized body, and the authorities had me do a bit of forensic sculpture. They found the child's identity form that," she explained.
"Well, good for you," Parker said. "Now, is there anything *useful* that you can tell me? Perhaps he left something behind?"
"Are you Miss Parker?" Lisa asked with a smile.
Parker nodded. "That would be me, yes."
Lisa walked over to a desk in the corner, pulled out an envelope, and gave it to Parker. "He said that I should give you this."
Parker pulled out a card and a key from the envelope. '1348 Gateway Lane. Come alone,' it said. "Thank you." She said, then turned to leave.
"Miss Parker?"
"Yes?" Parker turned back to the artist and folded her arms across her chest.
"Come back someday and I'll sculpt you and Jarod. Frankly, the two of you would look too good together for me not to do it."
Parker gave Lisa a look and walked out the door. Lisa shook her head, chuckled, and went back to the sink to clean the clay residue off her tools. She sometimes got feelings about people, and this was one of those times. She was sure that Jarod and Parker would be good together, given half a chance.
~*~*~*~
Parker slammed her car door and hurried up the steps of the ranch-style house. She used the key he'd left her to let herself in and walked through the house, trying to find her prey. She had to find out what he'd meant by sending the statue. He was *so* annoying. Infuriating. Adora--no! A relationship between the two of them was suicidal. Best case scenario, they'd end up with adjoining cells, brought together only to breed more little Pretenders for the Centre to exploit.
Parker refused to let that happen. It was better for things to remain 'you run, I chase' for their own safety. She entered the den and spotted him standing by the window. "Parker," he said softly. "I'm glad you accepted my little invitation."
"Well, wonderboy, what else could I do?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You sent me that damn sculpture and then expected me to do nothing? I'm hauling your ass back to the Centre to get Dr. Frankenstein and his monster off my back."
Jarod chucked and crossed the room to her in a few long strides. "I don't think so, Parker. If you were really here to capture me, you'd be dressed to kill, have your Smith and Wesson, and have at least Sam with you. Weather you admit it or not, Carthis changed things."
"Nothing has changed, labrat. It's still you run, I chase, and we can't change that." Parker turned her back to him, unwilling to admit that he was right.
A slow, almost predatory smile spread over Jarod's face. "I've loved you since we were twelve, Parker... at least, I think I was 12. Now who's running, you or me? Why are you afraid of us as a couple, Melissa?"
Parker whirled around to face him. "Don't call me that!" she ordered. "Nobody has called me that since Momma--"
"And I'm the only one left who really knows it and loves you enough to use it," Jarod pointed out gently. "Melissa, you *are* afraid of us. You're afraid that you might find what you've been missing all these years without me."
Parker turned around and stepped closer to him. "I am not afraid, pez head," she said, enunciating every word. She grabbed a handful of his t-shirt and used it to yank his head down. Without hesitation, she kissed him, hard, desperately trying to prove her lack of fear.
Jarod broke off the kiss, pulled back slightly, and studied her face intently. "Prove it." He yanked her closer, wrapped his arms around her and sealed his lips over hers.
A small part of Parker's brain considered struggling, but the feel of Jarod's warm tongue slipping into her mouth drove all sensible thought from her head. She pushed up his shirt and began exploring his long, lean body. She'd always wondered what it would be like with Jarod, and, damnit, she was going to find out.
She kissed him back, tangling her tongue with his as she explored his mouth. It only took a few minutes to yank his shirt up and try and pull it off. Jarod broke off the kiss, cursing slightly as he divested himself of the offending garment. It fell from his hand to the floor as he grabbed Parker's shirt, pulled it off, and threw it somewhere behind him.
Parker barely noticed, as her hands were busy fumbling with the button and the zipper of his tight, black jeans. Finally, she got them open and slipped her hand inside, suppressing the momentary desire to hum "Happy Trails" as she followed the hair from his belly button to the growing erection still hidden by his Garfield boxers.
Jarod sucked in some air as she touched his penis, then quickly unfastened her bra and began trailing kisses down her neck to his target. He hooked one finger through the belt loops on her jeans and began to walk backwards, pulling her with him as his lips fastened on her nipple.
"Shit," he cursed softly as he stumbled over the first of the short flight of stairs that led to the bedroom.
Parker simply laughed and started caressing his chest, sucking lightly on his collarbone. She was determined to leave her mark before the night was over. What they were doing was stupid and suicidal, but she was determined to make it something that they'd both remember until the Centre killed them.
Jarod recovered and led her up the stairs into the bedroom. He picked her up, ignoring her wordless protest, and dumped her on the bed. He reached for her jeans, unzipped them, and pulled them off before starting on her panties. "Cotton, Parker?" he asked with an upraised eyebrow.
"New," she said as she tugged him down for another kiss. "Didn't want to wear anything that'd been near the Centre."
"Smart," he observed as he yanked off her shoes, tossed them over his shoulder, and finished ridding her of her clothes. He sat back on his heels and admired her for a minute. "Do you know how gorgeous you are, Melissa?" he asked appreciatively before he started trailing kisses down her body.
Never one to lay passively, Parker tried to sit up and catch her prey, only to be stopped by a gentle hand on her chest. "Let me," he said, his brown eyes almost black with desire.
She started to protest, but stopped with a gasp when his tongue dipped into her belly button. Mentally, she shrugged. If he was determined, who was she to stop a pretender on a mission?
All other coherent thought fled as he started kissing his way down her legs, then inside her thighs. Automatically, she opened to him as his kisses got closer and closer to his goal. He parted her lips and began to carefully layer kisses on her hyper-sensitive skin. Slowly, he ran his tongue over the wet, slick, engorged folds before he inserted it inside her, then went higher to nibble on her clitoris. He alternated between nibbles, kisses and licks, carefully paying attention to every inch of skin.
Parker slid one hand into his hair and guided him to just the spot that she needed. "Jarod," she gasped, her hips bucking up towards him as she fell over the precipice.
Jarod kissed his way up her body and captured her lips with his. Parker broke off the kiss, flipped him over, and started drizzling kisses all over his torso.
She straddled his body, sitting on his thighs so as to obtain better access it. She started exploring and stopped to pay special attention to his nipples before moving downward. She followed the line of his body down to the bit that was begging for her attention. She grasped his erection gently, marveling at the feel of his silky, soft skin over his rock-hard length.
Slashing Jarod a mischievous smile, she kissed the tip of it, licking away the small drops of moisture from the head. "Parker," he groaned.
"You like?" she asked, still smiling.
"Want to be inside you," he said harshly.
Parker chuckled, then repositioned herself over his erection. Before she could say anything, Jarod grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto him. They both froze for a minute, as if remembering the possible consequences for the first time.
Parker thrust the realization aside and started rocking her hips against his. As if it were a signal, Jarod thrust up into her, finding a rhythm both new and old as time. He grabbed her hips, flipped the two of them over so that he was on top and kissed her thoroughly.
Jarod continued thrusting, deeper and deeper, faster and faster, reaching in between them to play with her clitoris. It didn't take long for Parker to climax and pull him with her. Together, they rode it out. Jarod held her tight to him as he rolled over, staying inside her.
Parker laid her head on his chest with a sigh of contentment, basking in the afterglow. "If I'd known it'd be like this, I would've caught and seduced you years ago; hell I would've broken you out to be my boy-toy."
She could feel Jarod's laughter rumbling in his chest. "Maybe I would have *let* you catch me," he said with a smirk.
Parker tipped her head up and stole a kiss. "You do realize that we've just signed our own death warrants, don't you?"
"Only if they catch us," he said. "I, for one, don't intend on letting them get near us--if you stay."
Parker rested her forearms on his chest and looked at him. "Jarod, we have to get my baby brother," she said quietly. "I've been taking him out of the Centre some weekends--"
"Bring him home with you next weekend," he said with a smile. "I'll get Angelo out, we'll warn Sydney and Broots to get out..."
"And then we'll disappear," she said. "Between the four of us, we've got enough evidence to bring the Centre down; do you still have friends in the FBI?"
"Yeah. I got the VCTF out of a tight spot last year, and Bailey owes me big." Jarod dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Can we stay like this forever, Missy?" he asked with a contented sigh.
Parker's eyes widened as she felt him grow and lengthen inside her. "Pez head, aren't you supposed to be a little too old to recover that quickly?"
He snickered and thrust his hips up into hers. "I've been waiting for thirty years for this, Miss Parker; can't help that I'm insatiable when it comes to you."
Parker stifled a moan by burying her face in his chest. "I've got two days," she said with a gasp.
"Wanna see how often we can make love in that time?" he asked with a grin.
Parker pulled the covers over them and braced her forearms against his chest as she started to move. "Whoever gets tired first loses," she said.
"Deal," Jarod said with a gasp and reached up to steal a kiss. It was a long time before they slept, and even then, they were both winners in their little contest.
~*~*~*~
Parker glanced at the clock again and bit back a frustrated sigh. Two hours until she could leave this hellhole. They'd spent a lot of time talking in between bouts of making love and decided that she should wait a month before trying to get her baby brother out. They'd established a schedule of sorts; she'd go to his barren nursery to visit him every day and take him home on the weekends.
Parker glanced at the paperwork on her desk, then shoved her chair away from it in disgust. Someone else could take care of it; she was through. Broots and Sydney were already out of the way; Syd had retired, and Broots had accepted an offer to work for Microsoft. Angelo was meeting Jarod later on that night, so all that was left was to rescue her baby brother.
A wave of nausea came over her, so she got up and hurried towards the bathroom. Parker knew what was causing it; they'd both forgotten all about protection on their weekend together, and it had coincided with the most fertile part of her cycle. She'd been able to pass it off as stomach flu so far, but they had to act fast before Dr. Mengle or Hannibal Lector figured it out and gave her a cell down in SL-26.
Before she reached the restroom, her nausea subsided, so she headed down to SL-15 where they were keeping her baby brother. She breezed past the nurse and over to the crib where the baby was kept most of the time. "Sissy!" the child squealed joyfully and held out his arms. Parker scooped him up and he laid his head against her shoulder. "Lub you," he said.
"I love you too, kiddo. Time for you to come home with me, honey," Parker said quietly. She'd always been careful to gentle her manner around him, relying on her memories of her mother to know how to act. He was a cute kid, if she did say so herself.
"Kay," the baby said.
Parker turned to the nurse. "Where are his outdoor clothes?" she asked.
"Mr. Raines won't be happy about this," the nurse warned. "Master Parker still hasn't done the fifty math problems that his tutor set for him to do today." She went over to the dresser and pulled some clothes out and handed them to Parker.
"Screw the math problems; he's too little for them," Parker said, snatching the clothes away. She sat down on the only chair in the room, pulled the gray, institutional pajamas off the child, and started dressing him in real clothes.
"I'll have to tell Mr. Raines about this," the nurse said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"He doesn't have a leg to stand on," Parker growled. "My father's will made me my brother's guardian, so I can take him home if I want to." She finished strapping sneakers on the little boy's feet, stood up, and settled him on her hip. With that as a parting shot, she left the room, got in the elevator, and headed back to her office.
"Sissy, me 'tay wif you forewer?" the child asked. "Me no like here."
Parker kissed him on the cheek. "We'll talk about it later, sweetie," she promised.
The boy laid his head on her shoulder. She opened the door to her office, grabbed her purse, and headed outside to her car. Within minutes, they were on the way back to her house to wait for Jarod.
~*~*~*~
The three of them waited quietly in a rental van by a vent outside the perimeter of the Centre complex. Parker watched it intently as a dark figure slipped out, walked over, and got into the van. "Thank you, Missy and Jarod," the empathy said softly. "Knew sister would rescue."
Parker reached in the back and fastened Angelo's seatbelt as Jarod started the van. "Where are we headed, Jarod?" she asked.
"Idaho," was his reply. "My father, Joseph, Ethan, and Emily are waiting for us there. I'll send the files to Bailey after we get a few states away from here."
"Who's Joseph?" Parker asked curiously.
"My... twin? My clone? I'm not sure what applies," Jarod admitted.
Parker shrugged. "Technically, he's your twin. Even clones aren't exact replicas, Jarod. He has different fingerprints from you, for one," she pointed out. Parker glanced in the back and smiled at her sleeping baby brother.
Jarod stepped on the gas and got on the freeway. "Get some rest, Parker," he advised. "I want at least four states in between us and the Centre before we stop."
Parker nodded, leaned back against the seat, and closed her eyes. She could tell that it was going to be a long trip.
~*~*~*~
Lisa looked at the couple in front of her and smiled. "Do you need to sit down, Mrs. Reich?"
Melissa Reich shook her head. "Thanks, but no," she said, her gray eyes twinkling. "I'm okay for now."
Lisa walked around them again, smiling in satisfaction at the picture they presented. She'd known that they made a cute couple the first time she'd laid eyes on them five months ago. It wasn't every day that an artist like herself managed to help a couple as famous as these two were.
She'd heard about them in the news when the VCTF had brought down that Centre place three months ago, thanks to them. She went back to her sculpture and carefully put the finishing touches on the sculpture's pregnant belly. With a small, satisfied smile, she moved on to sculpting Jarod, who had an ear to her stomach, with one hand covering it.
In short, the tableau was a gorgeous picture of intimacy, and she knew that she could sell it in her upcoming show. Her smile grew bigger as she watched Jarod turn his head to press a kiss on his wife's bare tummy, before resuming the pose.
Lisa wiped off her hands, then grabbed her camera and took some pictures. "That's it," she said with a smile. "I can do the rest from pictures.
Jarod stood up, grabbed a robe, and held it out for Parker. "I still can't believe you conned me into doing this," she said as she slipped into it.
Jarod grinned. "It wasn't hard," he reminded her. "Can I help it that I want a reminder of how beautiful you are right now?"
Parker snorted. "I'm a whale and you know it."
Jarod slipped into his own robe, tied it, and put his arms around her expanding waistline. "Nah, the baby is just growing," he said with a smirk. "And he makes you even more gorgeous than you usually are."
Parker leaned back against him with a sigh. She'd never really hoped that any of what was now her life would ever come to pass. They still had to find Margaret, but with all of the press around the fall of the Centre, she was sure that Jarod's mother would surface soon.
Jarod leaned over and kissed her gently, and all thoughts of what had been happening in their lives slipped away temporarily. "Call us when it's finished?" Jarod requested. "We're going home tomorrow, so you can reach us there."
Parker got off the modeling platform and headed to the changing room in the back of the studio, pulling Jarod with her. Her life was much different from how she'd planned just nine short months ago, but somehow she'd ended up where she'd wanted to be since she was a little girl--with Jarod.
Raines and Lyle were going to jail for a long time, Sydney had moved out to California, where they'd finally settled, to live with them, and Jarod's family lived nearby. She had her family around her, and for the first time in years, she was happy. It was enough.
