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“Jarod?” Miss Parker tried to focus around her. She looked beside her and saw Broots. “Where’s Jarod?”

“He had to go for a little while,” Sydney insisted, also now there. “He’ll be back in a couple of hours. If not, we’ll take you to Centre Medical.”

“But it’s okay, we’re here for you. We are always here for you,” Broots insisted, smiling at her. You are being very brave, Miss Parker.”

“Oh lay off.  This is something every woman can go through and-aaaaah!” She leaned her head back as far as possible, clinging tighter to Broots hand.

“It’s okay. Hey, you’ve been shot more than once before?” Broots said, trying to make her feel better.

“I don’t believe it’s the same kind of thing,” Sydney said coming closer as well.

“Of course it wasn’t, my body wasn’t changing to shoot a watermelon out of the bottom!” She yelled again. “Shoot me, somebody shoot me, I can deal with that pain. Right in the leg.”

“Uh? I don’t think that’s going to help, Miss Parker?” Broots said. “Do you want something? Water or something?”

“Jarod!” She yelled.

“Uh. He can’t be here. Remember?” Broots reminded her. “He wanted to be. You know, one of his Pretends had to come first.”

“You shouldn’t be like that, Broots.” Sydney moved to the other side of the bed near Broots. “Jarod truly wanted to be here. It must be a very large emergency.”

“What’s a bigger emergency than being there for the birth of your kids?” Broots complained.

“Life or death. Could you consciously stay, if you knew it meant someone’s life was in danger?” Sydney asked him. He looked at his watch. Hurry, Jarod.

 

Thirty minutes. One hour. One hour forty five minutes . . .

 

“We have to go Sydney,” Broots insisted. “It’ll be two hours by the time we get there. I’ll get Debbie ready.”

“If Jarod said-“ Sydney watched as his phone to Jarod rang. Please be good news. “This is Sydney.”

“I’m . . . get her to Medical.”

He hung up. He wasn’t even going to go into details or make excuses. “Let’s go, Broots.”

“No, no!” Miss Parker yelled. “I can’t, I can’t move. I don’t wanna move!”

 

Centre Medical . . .

 

“It’s okay, Miss Parker, it’s okay. Everyone goes through this,” the doctor said with no compassion. Not like Jarod would have done it. Jarod wasn’t a real doctor, but he was ten times better than a real one, and a hundred times better than the goof in Medical. “Your new Parkers will be arriving soon.”

“I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

No. Not that annoying high pitched voice. “Lyle, what are you doing here?!”

“Niece and nephew,” Lyle said coming toward her, with his usual smile, oblivious of any pain she was in. “You don’t look so good. Relax. Every woman goes through it. Not like you got shot.”

“Getting your shots in while I’m like this. I’ll have you scrubbing The Centre floors for a week.” She started strong, but was in a whine by the end to finish the sentence.  “Broots! Sydney!”

“Parker birth,” Lyle said to her. “Only Parker and medical involved.”

“No. I want my right-hand men in here, now,” she demanded. “Broots! Sydney!”

“She is the boss,” The doctor said. He looked toward  a nurse. “Get her right-hands in here.”

“But she is temporarily in too much pain to run The Centre,” Lyle insisted. “I mean, look at her. I’m calling the shots right now. They stay out. Parker only birth.”

“Damn you, Lyle, when I get out of this bed . . .” She didn’t even have the strength to come up with a comeback. Her whole body, it was wanting to do nothing but push. Her innate desire to push was so high.

“Don’t start pushing yet. I know you want to, hang on.” The doctor checked the baby. “Almost.”

“Almost nothing!”

“Not yet, you are close, but not yet. Take it easy.”

Easy nothing. Her body was telling her exactly what she needed to do. Broots. Sydney. It wasn’t fair. An unfeeling doctor and Lyle? She should have had . . .

“Kri Kraw Toads Foot, Geese Walk, Bare Foot.”

“Jarod!” She cried out. Her senses were too whacked to even think about if she should call out his name.

However, Lyle and the doctor’s senses were right on cue.

“Well. That’s interesting to call out,” Lyle said as he sighed. “Part of me knew. After all, she never even bothered to change the boy’s name. Damn.” He pointed to the doctor. “Not a word what she said. This stays in this room.”

Jarod, Jarod, Jarod . . . She finally needed him for something and he wasn’t there. And why did she need him so bad? It was just a regular birth, a regular birth. She thought of his happy smile again when he was a kid. The happiness hiding behind the sadness.

///Hello Miss Parker. Can I do something for you?///

While she found herself thinking of him, more started to fill her head. Things that she always tried to keep back, because he couldn’t remember. He was never allowed to. He knew about the Lion. About the suffering afterward. He knew somehow about their escape to the fair.

But there was more. There was so much more. There were so many more times. Even if being behind the glass couldn’t do anything, she kept going back to it and him. Back to under his bed. Raines always threatened he would take something out on Jarod, but it wasn’t allowed. Not to the precious resource called Pretenders.

///“Miss Parker? Why are you under my bed?”///

///“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”///

Those moments that he couldn’t remember, they were the reason. The reason that things happened, that he still couldn’t remember. Even when they were older, much older. It was instinct, it was just pure instinct. No matter how awful she had to be to him, for that night, she couldn’t help herself. She ran to him.

///”Jarod? Jarod?” She drummed on his glass, trying to catch his attention.

“Ohhh . . . well if it isn’t Miss Parker?” His familiar baritone came from the darkness. He came closer. “What is it?”

She just stared at him. He’d grown a lot. “Hi.”

“Hi?” He looked confused at her. “That’s weird.” He looked around her. “What’s wrong?”

“Find her, find her now!”

“Can I come in for a bit? Just a little bit,” she asked.

“Normally, I say no to people, you know who starve me and like to visit only to make my life hell,” Jarod answered. “What is it about you today?”

“There you are!”

A member of The Triumvirate. “Nevermind.” She felt her arms being placed behind her back roughly and handcuffed.

“Hey.” Jarod looked toward them. “Hey, wait. That’s Miss Parker. What are you doing?” He tapped on the glass. “Hey, what are you doing?”

“You saw a Pretender? We told you not to do that again without strict supervision!” The Triumvirate man pointed away toward the entrance. “Take her out, and then we’ll deal with it.”

“What do you mean deal with ‘it’?” Miss Parker asked. “What do you mean? You never deal with Jarod!”

“An acquaintance of ours wanted to test something on a Pretender,” he said. “Jarod will test it. He promises to make up for it . . . if the Pretender dies.”

“What?!” No! “Jarod, no! No!”///

They did it. They finally made good on their threat.  And she never visited him again. She moved into corporate and never returned to The Centre, until she had to make good on her promise. To catch Jarod and bring him back to the Centre.

Why was she doing that now? Why was the pain bringing back those memories?

 

///”Miss Parker, it’s okay.” Young Jarod touched her hand when she was underneath the bed. “Raines forgot to erase my memories last time. He said he would soon. He threatened Sydney’s life though, and I just couldn’t risk it. But I wanted to. And I’m sorry.”

“He’d make good on his promise,” Young Miss Parker said as she rubbed her eyes. “Don’t put Sydney at risk. I shouldn’t even put you at risk. It’s just that, this is the only place in The Centre that’s . . .” She stared at him. “That’s good.”

“I want to do more. I wish I could do more.” He moved closer trying to share underneath the bed with her. “You’re my only friend, and I can’t do anything for you.” He reached out to touch her cheek, but she also saw him starting to cry. He sniffled. “I-I-I . . . It’s not fair. It’s not fair! I should be able to tell Sydney. I should be able to tell someone.”

“Welcome to my life, Jarod,” she admitted. “I can’t tell anyone anything. All they do is wipe it out.” She felt him bring her closer, trying to hug her beneath the bed. “What are you doing?”

“You need a hug. You need the biggest hug possible in the world. And so do I. We both need another human’s touch.” He scooted over toward her side and brought her closer that way. “You’re spending the night here, safe and sound, until your father comes.”

“They always catch me, Jarod.”

“Not this time.” Jarod pointed to his right. “Over there is a moving camera that watches me at night. Wait for my signal, then climb into my bed and cover your head. Okay?”

She nodded and waited. Once he said okay, she climbed into bed. After a few minutes, she heard him joining her on the other side. They both stayed tucked up under the sheets, resting on their sides, and holding each other.

She couldn’t believe it. A few minutes passed. Then half an hour. They still hadn’t found her. That night, she laid in his embrace, and he in hers. She woke up with his nudging.

“Sydney starts getting in soon,” Jarod warned her. “You need to climb out before the lights come on.”

“Thank you, Jarod,” she said.

“For what?” Jarod asked. “I can’t stop them from doing anything. I could only protect you for a few hours.”

“A few hours . . . of bliss.” She reached toward him. As a Parker, she knew life was short. The good things in it were short lived. Everything took a chance. And she took a chance.

And kissed him. Short. Chaste. But her first.

He seemed a little amazed about it. There was a funny look on his face. “Okay?”

“ . . . was I that bad?”

“No,” Jarod admitted. “But they always find out. And . . . I won’t remember, Miss Parker. And I . . . I kind of want to remember that.”

Miss Parker smiled at him. She decided that she’d do that again. In the middle of the day. Just him and her. Just, random. He wouldn’t understand why she did it, but he would remember it.///

 

“Doing good, Miss Parker. Keep concentrating on good thoughts. They are always helpful.”

Jarod’s smile entered her mind again. And then, she realized she was covered in blood. All over her. And it wasn’t her own. “Huh?!”

“Doing good, honey.” Jarod’s voice? No, there was something weird about it. “Are you ready to push?”

She looked to the right of her. Jarod? No, the eyes weren’t. And then she knew. She tried to move, but couldn’t.

“Now, now, you are in the middle of birth. You aren’t going to be able to stand up to walk, don’t even bother trying.” Jarod’s clone went over to the dead staff on the floor. “No overtime for them,” he joked cruelly. “Let’s see. Ah, Angel and Onyssius. Let’s get them born. Start pushing.”

“No! No! Broots! Sydney!” She yelled from the top of her voice as she tried to move. She gripped onto the white bedding, trying to pull herself up and away.

“It’s okay, My Saddest Little Valentine,” the clone said to her. “I’m not going to hurt you or them. Their future management. In fact, I’m here to make sure things go right. I’m better than even a real doctor you know.”

She watched that evil clone touching her legs, where they would be showing soon. “Don’t hurt them, please. I’ll give you anything. Anything in the world, just please don’t.”

“Allegiance is a nice thing,” he said. “So? You called for Jarod. You never changed your son’s name. Pretty obvious what happened,” he said. “These are the twin angels.”

“Don’t.” She barely had any strength to talk. She tried to get out of bed, but he stopped her.

“Calm down, Miss Parker,” he said. “You need to reserve that energy for pushing. If I was going to do something bad, I would have done it by now. Well, I mean besides killing all the staff.” He shrugged. “No witnesses. You know how orders go. But I wouldn’t dream of hurting you, and I’m not allowed to hurt Parkers. Well, kill them anyhow. That’s why I let your brother run away.”

She tried to stay away from his hand. He looked like Jarod. He was acting a little like Jarod, but cruel. Mentally unhealthy, she could easily tell the difference. “What are you here for?”

“Well, birth. The Triumvirate want to make absolutely sure this was just Parkers, and not the twin angels.” He shook his head. “Plus, a little no witness killing. A little harder to accomplish, on The Centre itself. Oh, but don’t worry, I’m not all just business.” He grinned sweetly. “I gave offerings to the new angels, in an offering exchange.”

What? “What did you do?”

“I could have done a lot of different things,” the clone said. “Many, but, I decided since this ‘season’ was Christmas, I would go ahead and do something special.” He patted her hand. “I sacrificed eighteen angels to heaven, to celebrate the birth of your two. Best gift ever, right?”

“What did you do?!” She tried to say it tougher. If only she wasn’t so wiped out. “What did you do?”

“I’m sure your little team will find it out soon,” he said. “And you know what? I haven’t properly introduced myself.” He took her hand and shook it. “Jarod Hades.”

“Hades,” she said with as much venom as she could muster.

“Damn, I’ve heard your voice on DSA’s before, but in person that is vicious. Cruel. Sexy as hell.” He kissed the top of her head. “Even better than I ever imagined my Saddest Little Valentine could do.”

She tried to move again, but he stopped her.

“Now, now. Relax. I already told you, I’d never hurt you. And you are about to be a mommy. Can’t turn back now. So, give it one of your all American pushes, huh?”

 

“No word from Medical.” Sydney was waiting right outside Jarod’s door.

“This is so stupid,” Broots insisted, pacing back and forth. “I mean, why can’t we at least be outside the door?”

“It’s how they get away with things,” Jarod said. “That’s why I wanted to be there.”

“It took four hours, Jarod,” Sydney said. “Even you said we had to move her.”

“I know. Life or death, I had to take the call.” Jarod watched Broots pacing back and forth.

“This doesn’t make any sense though,” Broots said. “I mean, shouldn’t I at least be able to stay by the door? I mean, to the whole Centre, I’m supposed to be a Parker here in about a month. Right?”

“That might persuade them,” Sydney agreed. “It’s worth a try, they aren’t answering the phone. Jarod. We will be back again.” He smiled. “I’m sure it will be soon.”

Sydney and Broots both headed off to Medical. When they started to get closer, they saw a body lying in the middle of the floor. They looked at each other, and then both hurried faster. Sydney looked into the window. “Oh my god!” He quickly opened the door, seeing Jarod’s clone right there. In front of her.

“Well,” Jarod Hades waved at him. “That’s not good. I’m not supposed to have any witnesses for this birth.” He looked toward Miss Parker and winked. “I’ll be right back. I’ve got two new people I have to go kill. Can I get you anything while I’m out?”

Sydney and Broots started to run, as Jarod Hades took off towards the door.

But, Miss Parker wasn’t a schoolgirl, a princess, or a girlscout. “Let them go and I’ll make it worth your while!”

That made him stop and look back toward her. “Hm?”

 

“We’ve got a psychotic clone that wants to kill us!” Broots yelled to Sydney while both of they ran. “I hope Jarod gets here soon!”

“Jarod is down in his room, he wouldn’t know to break the glass and come!” Sydney reminded him.

Broots dug into his pocket and pulled out a small looking button like a garage opener. “Considering, you know, clones and birth and scrolls, I made something special for an emergency. I pushed it as soon as I saw the dead body.” He looked back again. The clone still wasn’t after them. “Can we slow down? He doesn’t seem to be following.”

“Miss Parker may be distracting him, but he’ll come.” Sydney yanked Broots over to another corridor and looked back. His breathing was out of control. That was a great amount for his age.

Broots jumped as he heard more running again, but it was from the other direction. “Oh thank goodness, it’s Jarod.”

“What’s happening?!”

“Your clone is apparently assisting the birth,” Sydney said.

“He murdered everyone in there, and he wants us! But, he stopped,” Broots said. “What do we do?”

 

“Get out of here!” Jarod moved quickly to Medical. When he reached it, he opened the door. He could see that familiar, evil grin of Hades. Right next to Miss Parker pushing. He better not . . . Jarod pointed his finger at that devil of a clone. “You touch her, you touch them.”

“Well, I guess the original is fine for The Triumvirate too.” Hades moved away from the bottom of Miss Parker. “She’s currently pushing. Best not to screw up at this time. Go ahead.”

Jarod looked toward her. She was definitely pushing, and she had to. He could see the head. It was time. He came up closer to her. “It’s alright, Miss Parker. Right here, right here.” He didn’t take his eyes off of his clone that was right beside her head.

“So, just between us?” Jarod Hades asked him. “Those aren’t just the little weasel’s one night standers are they? Those are genuinely your little twins. Why else would you be here?”

Jarod didn’t answer back, instead telling Miss Parker to concentrate on pushing.

“There you go, Miss Parker, you’re doing great,” Hades said next to her, patting her hand.

“Don’t. Touch her.” Jarod had to concentrate on what he was doing. The baby had to be born, but he couldn’t just leave him there either.

“Just giving her support. Geez, you’re kind of crabby,” Hades said as he stroked her hair.

“Almost there, almost there.” Jarod looked back toward her, while trying to reach over for the suction for its mouth and nose . It wasn’t long before it was crying. “When you feel it. One more and it’s over. Give it one more good one.”

She grunted and pushed. Holding onto it in its correct position, Jarod caught it. Hades handed him the shears to cut the umbilical cord. He took them and worked fast, trying to keep his eye on Hades too. There was no time to even think about how he was finally holding his family in his arms. He had a clone that was capable of stealing his identity, and that had murdered several times over, right beside Miss Parker’s head.

There was finally a gap in time. Jarod moved up toward Hades, watching his hands. He lifted Miss Parker’s gown up higher and placed it next to her.

“Skin to skin contact after birth, it’s such a good idea.” Hades only smiled. “I guess I better split.” He looked at the almost collapsed Miss Parker, that still had number two to start pushing out. “Congratulations on the new family. Don’t worry.” He put his finger to his mouth. “I won’t say they aren’t just Parkers.” He looked toward Jarod. “Really. I like it this way much better. Do you have a problem like she did if I just go and kill the last two witnesses?”

“One of them has a daughter, and one of them I’ve known as far back as I can remember,” Jarod said. “Yes. I. Do. Mind.”

“Hm. Okay. Tough crowd.” He shrugged. “Think I’ve left you enough fun things to discover out there anyhow. So, guess I should go.” Miss Parker started to push again. “Looks like number two is on its way. Better get back down there, Jarod. Good luck, my Miss Parker.”

Jarod watched as Hades grabbed the exhausted Miss Parker and stole a kiss while she was trying to push. Then he ran out. “Okay, you’re doing fine. He’s gone now.”

“I had. A killer clone of you. Right beside me. Jarod!” She managed to breath between breaths.

“Does The Centre ever make life normal?” he asked. “It’s okay. Give the second a little time, it won’t be as bad.” He moved back up toward her and looked down at the naked baby. He reached over and grabbed the baby blanket that was prepared for it. “I’m going to take her so I can get him.” He picked the crying child up and placed it in one of the glass medical bassinets. “Breathe, it’s okay. He’s gone.”

Jarod was half talking to himself with that statement too. Hades was there, right there, killing people in The Centre, assisting birth, and almost blankly telling him he killed more people he had helped. He was torn, but trying to keep his mind on the birth. “Okay, let’s start pushing soon. You feel it?”

“Damn, women are crazy! I’d rather take a bullet,” she moaned.

“I know,” Jarod said. “Broots told me that you asked Sydney and him to shoot you. In my medical opinion, that wouldn’t have helped a whole lot,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

 

 

Miss Parker was fading in and out again. She remembered pushing more, and more crying. Then more voices. And then . . .










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