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Author's Chapter Notes:

It's been a while, but with a wedding to get ready for, it's not easy to juggle between all the commitments. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I think it's funny.

At least, I had fun while I was writing it.


TODAY

“What the hell were you thinking!?”

Jarod heard the door slamming hard behind his back and turned around just in time to see Parker approaching him with the most disgruntled expression on her face. In the last ten years, Jarod had seen her so angry only once.

The pretender had received an urgent call from Argyle, asking for his help with a couple of pawnbrokers willing to get rid of him. Argyle had sounded so worried that Jarod had went off in a hurry without warning Miss Parker. He’d only left a caustic paper note on their fridge behind. And when three days later he’d come back home, Jarod had found a very pregnant Parker waiting for him with that same expression on her face, waving the paper note under his nose, reading out loud, “Gone for a pretend, see you in two days, J?!”

An overly grinning Jarod had taunted her with his answer, “Well, it took me one more day than I had planned. Miss me?”

Then the pretender had listened to Parker reproaching him for the following hour, screaming and barking that he wasn’t alone anymore, that Ethan had been worried because he’d sensed immediately that his father wasn’t away for work as Miss Parker pretended him to be, that she’d been scared to death in the certainty that he’d left for Centre-business and that he would never, ever, do an act like that anymore, if he really treasured his attributes.

He’d spent the night segregated on the couch, trying to figure out how to make up for his terrible mistake. The day after, Parker had found dozens of Pez forming the words ‘I’m sorry’ on the kitchen table – during the pregnancy she’d been developing an unbelievable adoration for Jarod’s favorite candy, so she ate Pez all the time. So when Jarod had entered the kitchen with a guilty expression on his face, she’d totally forgiven him. Nonetheless, she’d asked him to promise that he would never disappear like that again.

If that had been the moment Jarod had realized that his career as a pretender was over because Parker and the children would always come first, that day he realized as well that he was likely to sleep on the couch for the second time since they’ve bought that house.

“Parker, the kids are upstairs...” Jarod tried to use an old excuse to calm her.

“I don’t give a damn, Jarod!” she replied, but lowering her tone, “Why didn’t you tell me that Lyle was getting married?”

Jarod sighed and felt the urgent need to kill his false-brother-in-law. Lyle was spoiling their day and making him fight with Parker for the first time in ten years. He was lucky he was still alive.

“Listen, Parker, I really don’t want to talk about this now. We promised to spend a nice night with Ethan and Katie, I already collected the cake from the bak –”

Parker walked across the room and gripped him by his collar, “I want an answer, lab rat! Tell me why you lied to me!”

If he was shocked by Parker’s behavior, Jarod didn’t show. But if she was going to be her old self, then he could play the game too.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re far from being safe from the Centre. After Raines’ death Lyle became the chairman, I was just keeping an eye on him!”

“You knew about the wedding?” she asked, still holding his collar.

“Yes.” He hissed back at her.

Parker opened her eyes wide and glared at the man she thought she knew best. He didn’t even look sorry. But when he noticed the look of disappointment on her face, Jarod realized his mistake and raised his hands in an attempt to caress her arms.

“Parker...”

But she stopped him before he could talk, putting some distance between them. Jarod tried to reach her again, but they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of their children in the room.

“Mom, it was time you came home! Daddy told us that –”

Katie was flabbergastered by the mood in the room, she and Ethan had never seen their parents fight, not even once. And certainly they’d never seen their mother looking so angry and their father so desperate.

“Is...everything ok?” Ethan dared to ask.

“Yes, kids.” Parker replied, trying to hide her feelings with a fake smile. “We were just talking. Go upstairs and get ready, we’re leaving in ten minutes.”

“But...I thought we were going to celebrate whatever-day-is here at home, daddy even bought the cake and –”

“Ethan” Jarod interrupted his son, “Do as your mother told you. We’ll wait for you and Katie in the car.”

Ethan had never heard his father responding to him so cooly, he was always nice to his children. Katie was as much surprised as her brother, but the siblings decided to let go and obey their parents.

When Parker was enough sure that the children were in their bedrooms, she stared back at Jarod, “We’re going to discuss this later, when the kids are asleep. ‘Til then, just pretend. It shouldn’t be difficult for you.”

Jarod wasn’t ready to let the subject fall, he was afraid that this whole mess he’d created would disappoint Parker to the point she would leave him. And he wasn’t going to lose her for any reason, Lyle above all. So he approached Parker and dragged her to him, kissing her as if there was no tomorrow. He didn’t feel her protesting or resisting, but she wasn’t as participating as usual. She felt distant, like she was doing this automatically. He didn’t like the feeling, so he leaned his forehead on hers after the kiss.

“Talk to me, please.”

“Not now”, she grumped, “Later.”

“Don’t hate me for that, Parker.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“But you don’t love me anymore, do you?”

Parker couldn’t hide the slight grin showing on her face after that sentence. ‘Sometimes this boy really pisses me off’, she thought. ‘He’s supposed to be the genius, and yet, he still behaves like a child.

“Don’t talk nonsense and get the car, Wonder Boy”, she patted him.

Jarod grinned in answer and walked past her, reaching for the door.

“Jarod?” she called him. He turned around, the sweetest smile on his face, “Yes?”

“You realize you’re going to sleep on the couch tonight, don’t you?”

Parker smiled to herself as she heard him whining something like, “...same old story” as he exited the house.


 
The dinner was spent in a spirit of total tranquility. During their stay at the restaurant, Parker and Jarod carefully avoided talking to each other, but they maintained a pleasant conversation with their children, still wondering what was going on between their parents. Seeing that Katie and Ethan weren’t like the other children – they were far more intuitive and sensible, they felt that their parents were troubled by something, or maybe someone.

After dessert, the family was chattering about the day Katie was born. There were times that Ethan asked himself why his parents never spoke about his own birth, but it didn’t really matter to him. He loved his sister more than anything in the world, probably even more than his parents. He always enjoyed listening to tales about the day Katie had arrived.

On the other hand, noticing that after the cheesecake her parents looked more relaxed, Katie took her chance to try and ease the tension between them by asking her father, “Daddy, when did you fall in love with Mom?” 

Jarod smiled at his daughter and glanced at Parker, who was suspiciously pretending to be cleaning her face with a napkin. He looked back at his children who were both waiting for an answer. Not wanting to make Parker more disappointed than she already was, Jarod said, “I think you two are a too young to ask things like that.”

“Come on, daddy! Answer this or I’m going to ask you why do we always celebrate this day of the year!”

Jarod opened his mouth at his daughter’s shrewdness and his eyes moved from Ethan, who simply shrugged with a huge smile on his face, to Parker, who was trying so hard to stay mad at him but was also curious to hear his answer to Katie’s question.

“Well, Pumpkin, I’m pretty sure that I fell in love with your mother the first day we met.”

Parker smiled to herself, but Jarod didn’t notice. Then it was Ethan’s turn to ask his father, “How old were you?”

“I was ten.” Jarod quietly stated.

Both children started to laugh and Parker wiggled her eyebrows as soon as she heard that lovely sound, “What’s so funny?” she asked Ethan after looking in disbelief at Jarod.

“So you found the love of your life when you were Katie’s age? It’s impossible, dad!”

“Why, you don’t believe that your mother and I have been knowing each other for more than 40 years?” Jarod questioned him, blinking slowly.

Ethan and Katie’s laughter faded and Jarod had the chance to share a look with Parker for the first time that evening. Yes, 43 years have passed, but she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“So, tell us what happened that day.” Katie urged her mother.

Finding silent agreement in Jarod’s eyes, she decided to tell them the censored version of their first meeting, “Well, I met your father at school. We both attended the same institute when we were kids.”

“The Centre?” Ethan asked.

Parker and Jarod gasped, looking almost sternly at their son, “Where did you hear that name?”

Ethan shrugged again and murmured, “I…heard daddy mentioning a Centre a couple of times, but he was sleeping. I just... knew it was something from his childhood, because he never spoke of it.”

And to think they tried so hard to keep the truth from their children, and then nightmares betrayed them. Parker sighed, “The first time your daddy saw me, I was entering his classroom during one of his lessons with Sydney and –”

“You mean ‘grandpa’ Sydney?” Katie inquired.

“You want to hear the story, don’t you?!” Parker shot back, annoyed.

Katie and Ethan shared a mischevious smile and Jarod couldn’t help but grinning, pleased by the children’s intelligence.

Sydney didn’t travel often, if nothing else for reasonable precaution, but Jarod’s former protector was known as grandpa Sydney by Ethan and Katie. He was the man who always sent gifts for Christmas and who came to visit them a couple of times a year.

Jarod interrupted Parker to continue the story from his point of view, “When I saw your mom, my heart started to beat so fast...” Parker loved the way Katie’s eyes filled up with light, they were actually sparkling.

“She was so beautiful that I almost couldn’t breath. I’ve never seen anything more extraordinary in my life. Not until you were born, Katie.”

Katie blushed, as she often did when her father made her a compliment. Jarod loved his children equally, but his relationship with Katie was very deep and special. The pretender didn’t want to make the same mistakes Mr. Parker had committed with his daughter, so he wanted their connection to be as much truthful as possible. Jarod was never too busy to listen to his daughter, neither to say how great it was to have her in his life. And Parker usually did the same with Ethan, who was her little monkey – even if he didn’t like being called that anymore.

“And the rest is history. When we were introduced, your mother decided that I would be her pet for the rest of our lives. She chased me for almost thirty years and then we got back together a few months before Ethan’s birth. End of story.”

Yeah, the short version of the story’, Parker thought.

“What did you like the most of mommy, dad?” Katie asked him, not willing to change the subject yet.

Jarod looked intently at Parker, “Her smile.”

As a smile slowly returned on Parker's face, he grinned too, “There it is.”

“I thought you’d say my eyes”, she murmured at him, blushing just like her daughter had done a few moments before.

Katie stood up and moved towards her father, jumping on his legs. The little girl didn’t seem capable of staying far from him for too much.

“Oh, yes, those too” Jarod corrected himself, while he held his daughter in his arms, “And her nose” and he touched Katie’s nose, making her laugh, “And her cheeks”, then he lovingly kissed Katie.

“I guess it would be easier to ask him what he despised the most in you” Ethan said to his mom, interrupting Jarod’s list.

“You have no idea, Ethan...”

Mother and son looked at each other in agreement while Jarod seemed too busy tickling Katie.

“Impatience.” He stated suddenly, startling them both and his eyes staring at Parker. “Your mother had always the talent to put herself in danger because she was impatient and never waited for my help.”

Now Jarod was talking to Parker only, trying to excuse himself for what had happened with Lyle and the secrets he’d kept about his wedding with Chuntao.

“She never listened to my explanations and she often mistrusted me, even if she knew that whatever I did, it was to protect her.”

“Well, kids, your father’s most annoying feature was that he never realized that I was big enough to take care of myself!” Parker remarked pointedly.

Ethan and Katie realized that they were quarreling again, just as the waiter was arriving with the check.

“The fact is that you never listen, Parker!” Jarod scolded her.

“And you should never keep secrets from me, Mr. Miller!” she snapped, standing up from her chair and bringing the check with her, willing to pay and leaving the restaurant as soon as possible. Jarod looked at his children and sighed, “I’m going to fix this, I promise.”

Katie was still in his arms when he stood up. Jarod caressed Ethan’s head as the boy commented, “I don’t know what you did to make her mad at you, dad, but the only time I saw her *that* angry was the day I came back late from school and she thought I’d been kidnapped.”

Jarod noticed that Parker was already exiting, so he followed her outside with the kids. He let go of Katie, who jumped inside the car and waited until Ethan was sitting on the backseat, too.

When he attempted to open the passenger seat door, Parker activated the safety lock and left as fast as she could.

“Parker!” Jarod screamed, his figure in the rearview mirror becoming more and more little.

As they looked at Parker grinning mischeviously, Ethan and Katie realized that their mother kept some aspect of her personality still well hidden and secret. She really could be vindictive.

“He deserved it, believe me.” She told the kids. They didn’t dare to utter a single word.










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