TEN YEARS AGO

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The day the two fugitives arrived at Ben Miller’s bed and breakfast was a memorable one. Miss Parker parked the car in front of the cottage. It was almost 3 a.m. and Jarod was sleeping by her side, comfortably sitting in the passenger seat.

She casted a tender smile at his sound-alsleep-form, then – not so lovingly – she woke him up, “Hey, Sleeping Beauty.”

Jarod suddenly opened his eyes, twitching and rising his fists in a defensive posture. Parker stretched her arms and leaned onto him to calm him down.

“Jarod, it’s okay…” she tried to soothe him, “Whatever it was, it’s over now.”

Jarod sighed and put a hand still clentched into a fist on his forehead. Parker noticed that he was also sweaty.

“No, Miss Parker. It’ll never be over.”

The former huntress looked at the pretender with sadness and resignation. Jarod glanced up at her and took her hand in his, kissing the soft skin of her palm.

“Not until we get our son back”, he continued.

“You were dreaming of him, weren’t you?”   

Jarod smiled bitterly, “How come you know me so well?”

Miss Parker grinned, “Know you so well has been my lifetime job, Jarod. What were you dreaming of?”

Jarod closed his eyes, still worried by his own demons but without letting go of her hand, “He’s alone, Parker. He’s desperate, I feel his fear. We have to take him out of there.”

Parker tried to smile at Jarod, “He’s still so young, Jarod. He probably doesn’t even realize what’s going on.”

“And what if he does? What if Lyle doesn’t keep his word? What if – ”

“Stop it, Jarod!” Parker cut him off, her resolution evident in her tone. “We don’t have time for ifs or buts. We have an agreement, Lyle will keep his promise.”

“How can you trust him? After all he did to you, to me, to our brothers…”

Miss Parker sighed and jumped off the car, she was tired of having this kind of arguments with Jarod. She slammed the car door, the pretender tailing her. Miss Parker wanted to reach the front door, totally forgetting that they had their baggage in the trunk.

“Parker, don’t!”

“Don’t what, Jarod?” she stopped in her tracks and glared at him, frustrated and annoyed by his naïve view of life. Only black or white, to him, never shades of grey.

“I don’t want to fight with you about this again, but I can’t help it, I hate Lyle. I know he’s your brother, but –”

“Why is it that whenever we talk about him you come out with the twins story?! Jarod, I don’t give a  damn if he’s my brother, don’t you see? He’s a psychopath, I loathe him!”

“Then why trust him?” Jarod was almost screaming and his hands rested on Parker’s shoulders as he shook her a bit too resolutely. The look she gave him was one she could have casted at him in the old days, when they were still huntress and prey.

Jarod suddenly took his hands off her shoulders and sighed, his voice a murmur of desolation, “I – I’m sorry.”

Parker chuckled sarcastically, “Oh yeah, I bet you are.”

She moved past Jarod, trying to reach Ben’s front door again.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Jarod shouted at Parker, this time without following her.

He didn’t need to, as she came back immediately, facing him.

“It means that you’re an annoying-pesky-lab rat!”

“And I thought we were among grown-ups, here!” he replied, sternly.

“I wish it was easier talking to you, but I swear you remind me of a mule at times!”

Jarod wanted to reply, but she lifted her right hand and hushed him. Then she leaned into him and lowered her voice, “When the hell are you going to drum into your head that the only person I trust is you, Boy Genius?!”

Jarod opened his mouth to talk, but she interrupted him, “Shut up for once, will you?”

The pretender closed his mouth and sighed, his eyes betraying his damaged self-esteem.

‘Only *she* can do this to me’, he thought.

“Want to talk about trust? Then tell me why after all we’ve been through you still don’t have faith in me”, she asked him, sounding very disappointed.

Jarod was upset, he would have never imagined that Parker knew about his worst demons, the ones he still had to fight himself, and yet she did. He always underestimated her. 

How would the pretender ever admit that he was scared of totally trusting her because he feared it would lead him to disaster?

He’d been so used to their little games of cat and mouse that now he was afraid they wouldn’t be able to deal with the everyday life, that their new relationship would separate and eventually hurt them to the point they wouldn’t trust each other anymore. And this frightened him to death, because Miss Parker had been the only constant in his life, for better of for worse. He couldn’t afford to lose her.

As if she could read his mind, she rolled her eyes, “You think that without the status quo we won’t be able to get along, don’t you? You think we’re not ready for having a son and becoming a family.”

“I think it’s complicated. It’s always been.” He answered sincerely.

Parker chuckled nervously, “No, it’s not! But I’m going to adopt your view of things, so black or white it is. You have to choose between two alternatives: Trust me, or not. It’s very simple, actually.”

“You know I love you.” He replied. He didn’t want to have this conversation with her now, he wasn’t ready. For the first time in his life he had no words to tell *her*.

Parker shook her head, “Love is not an issue, here. We are talking about trust. And to think I was sure we were over that, now I figure I was totally wrong.” She sighed, “I should have spoken before.”

“About what?” Jarod stared at her in disbelief. Was she trying to break up with him?

Parker put her hands on his face, so that Jarod could relax in her touch. He was already feeling better.

“Ok, let’s get straight to the point. I’m pregnant, Jarod.”

The pretender’s eyes roamed over her face as he assumed an astonished expression. Parker tried to decipher it, but finally give in.

“And before you ask, yes I’m sure. Didn’t you notice that my bladder drove me into an unberable incontinence these last days? And you’re supposed to be the genius!”

Jarod felt he didn’t have any voice left. He tried to say something, but he just couldn’t.

“I don’t know what it is that makes you feel so bad. Maybe you’re afraid I’m just taking the piss out of you, that I will bring you back to the Centre and that this is just a very meticulous plan I made up with Lyle. Or maybe you are just afraid of us because you don’t know how to be around me anymore. Am I so difficult to deal with, Petruchio?” she asked him, jokingly.

Jarod lifted his arms and let his hands rest on her hips. Soon a new picture of Parker crossed his mind. An image of those lovely hips (that he already woshipped) getting larger to leave space to a growing belly. And this brought a huge smile on his face. He raised his head and looked into her eyes, feeling overwhelmed and speechless at the same time.

Parker’s voice became almost a soft moan, “Please, trust me, Jarod. Trust us.”

He nodded slowly, a tear forming to the corner of his eyes.

“We’re gonna make it through this. I’m not gonna leave you, let alone betray you. Lyle is only a means to a purpose. He’s going to give us our boy because he knows you would kill him, if he didn’t. You were the one who taught me that he would do anything to survive, remember?”

The pretender nodded again, feeling stupid and sorry. He wanted to disappear, such he felt a nullity only standing there, facing that amazing woman.

“And if he tries anything” Parker took her gun from her holster, “I’m going to put a bullet into his brain. Just to remind him how much his sister loves him.”

Jarod grinned, but still didn’t talk.

“Gee, say something, Jarod!” she grumped.

He limited himself to put his right hand on her belly, caressing it tenderly.

“You’re pregnant.” He murmured, his eyes blinking.

Miss Parker grinned back at him and Jarod thought she’d never looked more beautiful. She even blushed a bit and looked away, embarassed.

“Knocked up by the horny pretender. Daddy would be so proud of me.” She joked.

“Which one?”

Parker looked back at him, astonished. Then they both burst into laughter, revealing into that sound echoing all around them. Jarod chose that moment to kiss her, still unable to move his hands from her hips. Then he bended to the ground leaning on his knees and kissed her belly, too. Parker would never forget how much delighted she felt at that moment.

Jarod rested his face on her belly, then he sighed. He thought about the life growing inside Parker’s womb, he thought about the son they were still waiting for. He suddenly realized he’d never felt happier before. All his fears disappeared at once, leaving place only for happy thoughts.

“Forgive me, will you?” he almost begged her.

Parker took his hands in hers and helped him standing up, so that he could see her answering.

“No more stupid worries, genius.”

“I swear.”

“I mean it, Jarod. I need to know that you will take care of me and the children, I can’t be afraid of you running away from your duties.”

Jarod smiled, “Now, you really sound like a mother-to-be. Can’t wait ‘till you start show.”

Parker laughed, “Yeah, if you say so. Now let’s get this obese-to-be inside, ‘cause I’m tired and I would really need some rest.”

Still smiling, Jarod took her hand and stopped her before she could step away from him.

“Parker…”

“What?”

He squeezed her hand, “Catherine would be proud of you.”

As usual, all her strenght faded at Jarod’s attempt to mention her mother. She let a few tears of joy she’d been holding stream down her face.

“I think she would be proud of both of you, actually.”

Startled by the intrusive voice, Parker and Jarod turned around only to see Ben Miller on his porch, smiling at them in astonishment.

“Well, Miss Parker, Jarod” he made a few steps towards them, “I didn’t think I would have seen either of you again. And especially not together.”

Jarod grimaced in embarassement, “How much did you hear?”

“Enough to know that in nine months you’re going to need diapers.”

Miss Parker chuckled and held him, making Jarod realize how much she cared for this man.

Then Ben stared at Jarod, “But not enough to know what has changed since the last time…When you came here on your own, separately, you were willing to talk behind each other’s back…and now here you are, as a couple…and as parents-to-be.”    

“Can this wait until tomorrow?” Jarod asked him, “She’s going to kill both of us if she doesn’t touch a bed soon.”

“And I think she’s going to be even more dangerous, now that her hormones will affect her mood, won’t she?” Ben said, jokingly.

Parker glared at the two of them, “Watch it, boys. My gun safety is still unlocked.”