After Jarod’s full recovery, they followed his plan. They spent nine months with Catherine and Ben, supported by Ethan and Angelo’s closeness.

During Parker’s pregnancy, Jarod satisfied every wish, every tiniest whim that Miss Parker manifested. Needless to say, she clearly took advantage of his unconditioned submission, especially after the doctors evaluated her pregnancy as high-risk and obliged Parker to spend the last three months before Clio’s birth in total rest.

Jarod and Ethan went the extra mile to help her. Sometimes they were also yelled at with sharp retorts, or hit by objects she threw at them, mostly when Parker’s hormones turned her in an evil witch.

Nonetheless, those nine months were the happiest of their lives. Catherine, Margaret, and Sydney competed for making presents to the couple and the to-be-born-baby. Moreover, the two parents were having the time of their lives with Michael, who immediately became his mama and papa’s boy. 

Pampered by everyone, the kid had forged a special bond with Angelo, who had become his playfellow since the moving. They enjoyed each other’s presence: Angelo got more and more sociable and his extreme empathy attacks had almost disappeared; Michael learned how to feel the others’ emotions at a higher level.

It didn’t take long to Parker and Jarod to find out how smart Michael was. He had inherited a maniacal curiosity for what surrounded him from his father. And he had also been gifted with his mother’s inner sense, which allowed him to feel the world around him.

Jarod and Parker spent almost every moment with Michael, they wanted to create a special connection with him, mostly to make him forget the fact that they hadn’t been together in the first few years of his younger life – for obvious reasons. Michael felt loved and safe, and by now he remembered almost nothing about his life at The Centre.

As for Parker and Jarod, they still had difficulties at sleeping at night. 

In the middle of the night, when the pretender woke up sweating and shouting for the nightmares that afflicted him, Parker was the one who reassured him and hugged him tenderly until he got back to sleep.

Sometimes, instead, it was her turn to have bad dreams; her insomnia was typically caused by her father, her brother, Raines. At times like those, words were useless; Jarod held her, whispering soothing words in her ears, usually the ones he had said to her in another occasion.

Trust your heart Miss Parker. Don't let them take away your happiness.

And every time he said this, Parker’s weeping turned into tears of contentment. After a few months of cohabitation, she still wondered how she could have possibly lived without Jarod all those years. They’d wasted so much time running that now she almost feared that the life they were building was just a dream from which she would wake up.

Miss Parker’s relationship with Ben and Catherine had never been better. They told tales about the past, which got even richer in details when Maggie and Phillip came visiting. Jarod’s parents sometimes told them about the few years they had spent with Jarod and Kyle. Emily still suffered at the thought of her dead brother, but that emptiness was filled by Ethan and Jesse, to whom she felt more and more connected day after day.

It wasn’t easy for the former pretender to share the horrors of his past with his family. Jarod and Parker talked about as little as possible, but Jarod had sporadic shrink sessions with Sydney, who wanted to help him getting rid of the most terrible memories. In spite of the psychiatrist’s emotional involvement, Jarod felt better and his tortured soul began a healing process that would evidently take long.

After the experience with Lyle, Jesse was promised a job in her team by Agent Zane – as soon as he would reach the right age to take the tests. Zane felt like that she would have Jarod, in one way or another.

The boy felt enthusiastic at the idea, even if the Major and Maggie had admonished him to complete his studies, because his superior cleverness had to be assisted by general culture. Jarod agreed with his parents, who were very indulgent towards Jesse, but not about his education. They wanted him to enjoy a normal life, like every other kid. 

They didn’t need to worry, though, because Jesse blended in with people much better than Jarod, and when they all met for the monthly family reunion, he found himself spending more and more time with Debbie. Broots always checked on his daughter, he couldn’t believe she was charmed by Jarod’s clone, among all. That felt like another blow, because the two most important women of his life had both fell in love with Jarod. And yet, after spending time with Jesse, Broots couldn’t help but notice how amusing and carefree the kid was. He didn’t have Jarod’s mysterious-crazy-aura. And Broots was grateful, because Debbie was bonding with Jesse more and more each passing day.

Ethan had discovered a new peacefulness state of mind. Together with Ben and his mother, they used to take long walks, they talked about everything. He had found a job as social worker, he loved being helpful to boys in need, he understood them like no one else.

It didn’t take him long to find love, too. The day Ethan introduced Monica to his siblings, Miss Parker was at her eighth month of pregnancy. Maybe it was her former Ice Queen self, maybe her hormones, but she found herself shouting that Monica had to pass over her dead body to get out with her brother. But a second later, she had burst into tears, she had hugged the girl, saying that she was incredibly glad to have her as sister-in-law. 

Monica was terrified, she thought that Miss Parker was crazy, but Ethan had warned her about her mood swings. Jarod, on the other hand, introduced her to the family with joy. He knew that Ethan had told Monica the truth about his life and his origins, and he was happy that his little brother had found a person who understood and accepted him.

When the time came, the doctors decided for a caesarean section, advising Miss Parker against the natural childbirth. Even if she resisted the idea at the beginning, Jarod managed to convince her that a C-section was the best solution. That wouldn’t be a picnic, but at least she would avoid the majority of the risks.

Parker trusted Jarod’s opinion blindly, so she listened to his begs when he asked her to let the doctors operate her. She agreed, provided that he was in the OR during the operation. So, Jarod pretended for the first time after a whole year, taking the place of another surgeon a few days before Parker’s birth.

He didn’t want to be involved, he didn’t feel like it, but he kept his promise and stood in the OR during his daughter’s birth.

The operation wasn’t easy, there were moments of panic when a hemorrhage almost made the doctors perform a urgent hysterectomy. Fortunately, everything went fine, and both mother and daughter came out of the operation strong and healthy.

Jarod couldn’t believe Clio’s beauty. She had light blue eyes, just as Parker’s, and she also had her slightly arched nose. Her smile, though, was like his, and Jarod could mirror himself in his daughter’s funny faces. As soon as he hugged her, he fell in love with her unconditionally, just as it had happened to him when he had seen Miss Parker for the first time.

They chose Clio Faith Charles as her full name, in memory of Parker’s little adoptive sister who had meant so much to both of them.

When they asked Father Moore to baptize the baby at all the relatives’ presence, they took the opportunity to do the same with Michael. 

Their son was baptized as Michael Kyle Charles. 

By doing so, the siblings they had lost would always be remembered. This was their legacy.

Angelo was chosen as Michael’s godfather and Ethan was asked the same for Clio. They owed Ethan much of their happiness, and he would be the greatest advisor for Clio, should she manifest Catherine’s inner sense, one day.