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Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
After Catherine had closed the door behind her she walked over to her daughter.
It was like looking into a mirror; a mirror that showed her an image of herself 20 years ago.
She looked pale, thin, and shocked. Catharine wished there had been an easier way, but time was running out. As soon as Sam had mentioned that the Centre was after them she knew there was no time to waste. She could only prayed that they would have enough time to work some things out before they had to run again.
"Mama?" Miss Parker asked again, this time in tiny voice, sounding like the 10 year old girl her mother remembered so well again.
"Yes, sweetie, I am so sorry I was not there for you for so long."
"Why did you leave me?" Her voice was unsteady and the first silent tears started to run down her cheeks.
Everything Catherine had wanted to tell her, to ask, to declare, vanished from her mind. She simply rushed over to the bed and took her daughter in her arms. Then she held her daughter tightly and rocked her like she had when she’d been a little girl.
"Sorry, baby," was all she could manage before she too was crying for the irreplaceable lost years.
*****
"Jarod." Major Charles lightly shook his son by the shoulder. "Jarod wake up."
He hated to wake him, especially since he had been only been able to fall into a light doze just an hour ago. He knew that the little sleep his son had gotten wasn’t restful either, but even this little bit was better than nothing.
"Wha," the muffled response came slowly as the younger man tried to find his way back into the real world. Suddenly he was wide awake. The car was no longer moving.
"Why have we stopped?" He asked, but as soon as he looked around he knew how stupid his question was.
"We are here; the cabin is over there----the one on the right side about 400 yard from here. When I pulled by to check the address I saw the car parked in front so I think.... he stopped in the middle of the sentence as the door of the cabin swung open and two figures walked out. Even from their vantage point it was clear that they were Sam and JJ.
....they are still here. " the Major finally finished, pointing out the obvious.
He looked at his son who stared at the two people who were indulging in a little roughhousing while they headed for the big trash can next to the building.
"What do you want to do now?" Jarod’s father asked. Jarod was wondering if he had the nerve to just leave his seat, much less intrude on what seemed to be a perfectly happy family unit.
"I *want* to smash Sam’s face in, but I think I’ll settle for just approaching them directly. The Centre can’t be far behind us. If we want to get them out there safely we’ll have to do it quickly." Jarod sighed.
****
Catharine had no idea how long they sat there just clinging to each other and allowing that non-verbal assurance of love do their talking for them. Just being able to hold her daughter again was an overwhelming joy. She had missed it so much, even though she hadn’t known she even had a daughter, and now she felt the painful wound in her heart finally starting to heal.
"Angelina?" Catherine finally addressed her daughter in a soothing, low voice. She kissed her daughter’s damp forehead. "How do you feel?"
"I’m pregnant, Mama." She answered in a barely audible voice, her head still buried in her mothers neck.
"I know, baby, how far along are you?" Her mother responded softly.
Six weeks, came the surprised reply, but how did her mother know?
"Six weeks tomorrow." She added after a moment’s thought.
Now it was Catherine turn to be surprised. How could she know it so precisely? She decided to drop the subject for a moment, though, and to try instead to find out why her daughter was so angry at the nice man outside.
"And just why have you been throwing food at your boyfriend? What is his name anyway?" Catharine asked slyly hoping her guess was right. The man she’d met briefly in the hall seemed to be kind and steady, just what she’d like for her daughter.
Miss Parker lifted her head and looked into her mother eyes as a tiny smile crept onto her lips.
"He is not the baby’s father." She answered her mother’s unspoken question. "And his name is Sam."
This was the mother she remembered; caring, probing, but rarely asking her questions outright. The only real difference was in her; now she recognized her mother’s tricks to get the answers from her.
"Who is it?" Catherine asked, trying to keep her misgivings from coming out in her voice. Silently she prayed that the Centre was not involved, that they had not forced her daughter like they had tried to do to her.
She studied her daughter closely. A red blush crept into Parker’s cheeks and she broke the eye contact quickly.
"I don’t want to talk about him. He doesn’t matter anymore. He was .....," Miss Parker’s voice trailed off as she tried frantically to come up with an answer that would satisfy her mother. "He was a mistake!"
After a few seconds of silence she dared to look at her mother. She was looking at her with raised eyebrows and Parker knew instantly that this was not the end of this discussion, but that she would not have to answer right away. From the concern she saw in her mothers eyes, she was sure she suspected the Centre was involved. She wished she could tell her mother they weren’t.
She also wished she could tell her mother everything; her fears, her foolish longings, her constant pain, but after all those years of silent self sufficiency it was impossible for her simply to open up and spill her heart out. Not even for her mother could she break the habit of reserve. To tell the truth, she still could not believe that she was here in a cabin and in the arms of her mother. A part of her kept waiting to wake up, most likely in a Centre detention cell.
But this felt so good that she hoped that the dream would go on forever. She felt loved again, finally, and in her mother’s arms she was at home. Nobody had loved her for a long time. Okay, that wasn’t strictly true, Thomas had, but he was dead. She knew now that her creepy brother had, in his own perverted fashion, but he was... The thought of Lyle cut through her like a hot sword. Her mother didn’t know about Lyle; not that he’d survived his birth, and definitely not that she had killed him not even a week ago.
Miss Parker could feel a wave of panic rising in her mind she started to struggle free from her mother, but it seemed she was not going to let her go.
"Sh sh sh…" Catherine tried to calm her down; she could feel the panic in her daughter, feel that she was desperate. For a moment Catherine thought the fear had to do with the father of the baby, and she vowed if that bastard had done anything to hurt her he would pay dearly.
She was about to tell Parker that everything was going to be OK, that she was here to help now, but an image popped into her mind, freezing her in an instant.
It was young man with dark brown hair and dressed in tailored gray pants and a white shirt. Her old house in the background, and he was screaming.
‘Twins!’ She remembered suddenly. ‘The boy had said *twin* brother.....’
It was like looking into a mirror; a mirror that showed her an image of herself 20 years ago.
She looked pale, thin, and shocked. Catharine wished there had been an easier way, but time was running out. As soon as Sam had mentioned that the Centre was after them she knew there was no time to waste. She could only prayed that they would have enough time to work some things out before they had to run again.
"Mama?" Miss Parker asked again, this time in tiny voice, sounding like the 10 year old girl her mother remembered so well again.
"Yes, sweetie, I am so sorry I was not there for you for so long."
"Why did you leave me?" Her voice was unsteady and the first silent tears started to run down her cheeks.
Everything Catherine had wanted to tell her, to ask, to declare, vanished from her mind. She simply rushed over to the bed and took her daughter in her arms. Then she held her daughter tightly and rocked her like she had when she’d been a little girl.
"Sorry, baby," was all she could manage before she too was crying for the irreplaceable lost years.
*****
"Jarod." Major Charles lightly shook his son by the shoulder. "Jarod wake up."
He hated to wake him, especially since he had been only been able to fall into a light doze just an hour ago. He knew that the little sleep his son had gotten wasn’t restful either, but even this little bit was better than nothing.
"Wha," the muffled response came slowly as the younger man tried to find his way back into the real world. Suddenly he was wide awake. The car was no longer moving.
"Why have we stopped?" He asked, but as soon as he looked around he knew how stupid his question was.
"We are here; the cabin is over there----the one on the right side about 400 yard from here. When I pulled by to check the address I saw the car parked in front so I think.... he stopped in the middle of the sentence as the door of the cabin swung open and two figures walked out. Even from their vantage point it was clear that they were Sam and JJ.
....they are still here. " the Major finally finished, pointing out the obvious.
He looked at his son who stared at the two people who were indulging in a little roughhousing while they headed for the big trash can next to the building.
"What do you want to do now?" Jarod’s father asked. Jarod was wondering if he had the nerve to just leave his seat, much less intrude on what seemed to be a perfectly happy family unit.
"I *want* to smash Sam’s face in, but I think I’ll settle for just approaching them directly. The Centre can’t be far behind us. If we want to get them out there safely we’ll have to do it quickly." Jarod sighed.
****
Catharine had no idea how long they sat there just clinging to each other and allowing that non-verbal assurance of love do their talking for them. Just being able to hold her daughter again was an overwhelming joy. She had missed it so much, even though she hadn’t known she even had a daughter, and now she felt the painful wound in her heart finally starting to heal.
"Angelina?" Catherine finally addressed her daughter in a soothing, low voice. She kissed her daughter’s damp forehead. "How do you feel?"
"I’m pregnant, Mama." She answered in a barely audible voice, her head still buried in her mothers neck.
"I know, baby, how far along are you?" Her mother responded softly.
Six weeks, came the surprised reply, but how did her mother know?
"Six weeks tomorrow." She added after a moment’s thought.
Now it was Catherine turn to be surprised. How could she know it so precisely? She decided to drop the subject for a moment, though, and to try instead to find out why her daughter was so angry at the nice man outside.
"And just why have you been throwing food at your boyfriend? What is his name anyway?" Catharine asked slyly hoping her guess was right. The man she’d met briefly in the hall seemed to be kind and steady, just what she’d like for her daughter.
Miss Parker lifted her head and looked into her mother eyes as a tiny smile crept onto her lips.
"He is not the baby’s father." She answered her mother’s unspoken question. "And his name is Sam."
This was the mother she remembered; caring, probing, but rarely asking her questions outright. The only real difference was in her; now she recognized her mother’s tricks to get the answers from her.
"Who is it?" Catherine asked, trying to keep her misgivings from coming out in her voice. Silently she prayed that the Centre was not involved, that they had not forced her daughter like they had tried to do to her.
She studied her daughter closely. A red blush crept into Parker’s cheeks and she broke the eye contact quickly.
"I don’t want to talk about him. He doesn’t matter anymore. He was .....," Miss Parker’s voice trailed off as she tried frantically to come up with an answer that would satisfy her mother. "He was a mistake!"
After a few seconds of silence she dared to look at her mother. She was looking at her with raised eyebrows and Parker knew instantly that this was not the end of this discussion, but that she would not have to answer right away. From the concern she saw in her mothers eyes, she was sure she suspected the Centre was involved. She wished she could tell her mother they weren’t.
She also wished she could tell her mother everything; her fears, her foolish longings, her constant pain, but after all those years of silent self sufficiency it was impossible for her simply to open up and spill her heart out. Not even for her mother could she break the habit of reserve. To tell the truth, she still could not believe that she was here in a cabin and in the arms of her mother. A part of her kept waiting to wake up, most likely in a Centre detention cell.
But this felt so good that she hoped that the dream would go on forever. She felt loved again, finally, and in her mother’s arms she was at home. Nobody had loved her for a long time. Okay, that wasn’t strictly true, Thomas had, but he was dead. She knew now that her creepy brother had, in his own perverted fashion, but he was... The thought of Lyle cut through her like a hot sword. Her mother didn’t know about Lyle; not that he’d survived his birth, and definitely not that she had killed him not even a week ago.
Miss Parker could feel a wave of panic rising in her mind she started to struggle free from her mother, but it seemed she was not going to let her go.
"Sh sh sh…" Catherine tried to calm her down; she could feel the panic in her daughter, feel that she was desperate. For a moment Catherine thought the fear had to do with the father of the baby, and she vowed if that bastard had done anything to hurt her he would pay dearly.
She was about to tell Parker that everything was going to be OK, that she was here to help now, but an image popped into her mind, freezing her in an instant.
It was young man with dark brown hair and dressed in tailored gray pants and a white shirt. Her old house in the background, and he was screaming.
‘Twins!’ She remembered suddenly. ‘The boy had said *twin* brother.....’
