-----------

Miss Parker started to wake up and realized she was still in the nursery. Odd. She looked on the other side. Jarod? She got up. How odd they both fell asleep in the nursery. She opened the door and peeked out. Dead of night, no one up. She started to head back to the room she had occupied with Broots. She still needed to change into something for the night.

When she reached their room, he was tucked in bed asleep. Not surprising, it seemed pretty late. She opened her drawers to look for her clothes, but they weren’t there. Where are my clothes? She went over toward Broots and hit him on the arm, waking him up. “Hey. You.” She pointed at his barely waking up face. “Where the hell is my stuff?”

Broots scratched his head. “Well? Jarod took it. He came in here, grabbed everything and put it in the nursery.”

Ah. “Without a word?”

“Pretty much. Um. I think you should go back, I don’t want to get on his bad side, Miss Parker.”

Ah. Jarod scared her little computer guy again. “It’s okay, Broots, if he tries to beat you up on the playground, I’ll tell him he’s a meanie and he should quit it,” she teased him. She looked toward her dresser. Well, there was one thing he did miss. Probably on purpose.

Her Centre phone. She grabbed it.

“Miss Parker?”

She turned to look back toward him. He had an odd look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Um.” He bit his lip. “Why didn’t you tell me or Sydney Jarod’s family was coming at all?”

“Your hunters,” Miss Parker said. “I wanted to give Jarod’s mom as much relief as possible. Gemini too, and Ethan.” She sat on the bed and looked at any messages she may have missed.

“Well, yeah, but, then why did we come?” Broots asked.

“My Christmas too.” She smiled and patted his leg in bed. “I always spend Christmas with you and Sydney. I wasn’t going to lose Onyssius’ and Angel’s Christmas though. That and Ethan, he’s my brother too.” She put the phone back away. “Now. This is a little strange dilemma I find myself in. Why did Jarod move me to the nursery?”

“He.” Broots sighed. “He obviously wants you out of my room, so I don’t try anything with you.”

“That makes no sense, Broots,” Miss Parker said, “Not that I’m horny yet, but his kids are out of me.”

“I don’t think it matters,” Broots said softly. “He doesn’t like me near you.”

Aww. Miss Parker just stared at Broots. Jarod didn’t just make him scared, he hurt his feelings? Not my poor tech geek. She patted his arm. “He’s overprotective right now. You know all the issues he’s had with family, Broots.”

“I know, of course I know,” he said. “But I’m just a computer guy that’s too jumpy. I’m not . . . someone else.”

She wasn’t even going to get into the ‘someone else’ he was referring to. “I am going to spend the week in the nursery I guess. If he did this, he’s got some reason,” Miss Parker said. “No big deal, but don’t let Jarod get under your skin.” She got up from the bed and headed out the door.

“Easy for you to say,” he whispered in the dark. “You didn’t see the way he looked at me.”

Miss Parker moved back down to the nursery room and felt around in the dark. Yep, her clothes were there. Did he want her not to miss a breastfeeding? They were right there, it wasn’t hard to close the door.

She got back in bad. “Hey.” She patted his coat arm. “Did you fall asleep?”

Jarod stretched slightly. “That’s what most people normally do at this time of night.”

“Ha ha, smart ass,” she said. “I can’t believe I fell asleep, and you moved me into the nursery? I’ll never understand you.” She gestured to the door. “Out so I can change and really go to bed.” He wasn’t moving. “What?”

“I moved in here too,” Jarod said. “I want to be near them. As long as I can.”

“Oh,” she said. “Then why did you move me?”

“You are part of my family now too,” he said. “Maybe we aren’t married, but you’re still the mother of my children now.”

Oh. O-kay? Apparently having his children, his brothers, and his mother all over for a first Christmas made him a little . . . clingy.

“You can get dressed. I won’t do anything,” Jarod promised. “If I did, you’d holler and throw me out. That’s the opposite of what I want, Miss.”

Hang on. She glanced at him up and down.

“It’s fine,” Jarod insisted. “You can trust me.”

Was he . . . was he using that to establish trust? With her? Was he really using that as some benchmark? “I already trust you, Jarod.”

“Then prove it, Miss.”

“I already did,” she admitted. “A long time ago.”

///”Miss Parker? What are you- Miss Parker?!”

She tried to shoosh him with tears in her eyes. “Quiet, Jarod. Just a few minutes. Okay?”

Jarod didn’t listen. She saw his feet come down from his bed, but he was running toward his drawers for more clothes. He moved quickly toward her. “Here. You can’t stay like that.”

It was a nice gesture. He couldn’t see anything. Her body was a little developed, but  she was still small enough that just lying down covered everything up. She took his clothes for him, but there was no room to change.

“Okay. Just follow my lead, okay?” He moved back to his bed. “When I give the signal, over on this side of the bed.” Miss Parker turned around slightly. She watched as Jarod’s hand appeared and started to move. She crawled up into the bed, with his white clothes tucked against her.

“Sorry, Miss Parker. I forgot to say you have to lie down.” Jarod was keeping his eyes closed. “The human body is a wondrous thing, but I’ve learned that boys shouldn’t look at girls in the position we are in right now.”

Miss Parker smiled at him. She probably could have gotten dressed without him seeing anything. “That’s sweet, Jarod, but I can’t do it alone.”

Jarod opened up one eye. “Why not?”

“Miss Parker! Miss Parker! Miss Parker!”

Jarod gasped. “Raines.”

“Yeah,” Miss Parker said. “Believe it or not, he’s the good guy this time. I have to go, Jarod. Thank you.” She held his clothes in front of her and turned to make it back to his doorway. Even in lights out, he couldn’t miss what he saw on her back.

“Miss Parker! Sydney! Sydney, help Miss Parker!”///

“How?” Jarod asked her.

Miss Parker didn’t want to go into the details. The less he remembered of those horrible days, the better. He already had a ton of bad memories. She’d just do this so he felt better. “No full frontal.”

She went to a corner, so only her back could be seen. It wasn’t sexual, she got it. It was a trust issue. Jarod wanted to see how far she trusted in him. She unzipped the back of her dress and took her arms out of the sleeves. She let it drop to the ground. As she did that, she reached for her silky red top. She placed it over herself and buttoned it up. Then she reached for her silky red bottoms and slid them on.

At least she didn’t have her sexy nightwear for this yet. That would have been different. She turned back around and Jarod patted the bed. She came over and lied down.

“See? Nothing,” Jarod said. She watched as he took off his own coat.

Was he getting undressed too? Okay. Trust both ways. Jarod didn’t have to go nearly as far. He was a T-shirt and  boxers kind of guy. This time, he slid under the covers too. He didn’t say anything else as he closed his eyes again.

That wasn’t too hard. Not as bad as she had always thought. She’d gotten undressed in front of Broots a couple of times to try and urge him to give her some affection when she wanted loving and couldn’t be with anyone. This though, with Jarod, it felt different.

She looked toward him, and swore she saw his fourteen year old self again. She blinked, and he was back to being his original age.

Everything he did out in the world started to ring loudly in her ears. Every notebook he left them. While he was her focus to capture, the longer she sought him out, the more she hated him. She believed the feeling to be the same. After all, she’d been through a strip search, a book publishing, a roach motel, been given the flu, and so many others.

But, then again, he did other things too. Including her pet rabbit. And even on the Pretending, something that must have been tough, he actually went out and bought her donuts. So many things flooding her head. Old. New.

What Jarod wouldn’t give right now to skip the need for garments all together. He wanted to curl up, just his body against hers. After his talk with Sydney, he was more sure than ever. Even if Zoe had been an option . . . he would eventually have to break her heart.

Zoe was a smarter woman than people gave her credit for. Although that goodbye was painful, it could have been more escalated once he saw what she had seen.

But, he had to be careful. This wasn’t Carthis. This wasn’t wanting a small night with her. If he wanted her, he wanted everything. Body, mind, and soul. Miss Parker still held so many demons and secrets inside. Even tonight. He stole a glance to look at her. Turmoil was all over her face. From what?

Was she thinking about the last time she ‘proved it’ that he didn’t remember and skipped telling him about? Was she thinking about something else again? Her face changed from confusion, anger, to bliss over and over.

He kept his wits about him. He lost them on Carthis. As soon as he felt that connection with her. No matter how brief it had been, he had been fighting there with all he had to make her choose him. To let him go, and come with him.

Too many demons. Too many secrets hidden from him. He had to be something else before he could become her lover.

He had to become her friend. Her trustworthy friend. Establish the same friendship and trust she had that night when she came to his room, beneath his bed after the lion incident.

He watched her face change again. This time into a slight smile. He knew, he could do it. Right now. With the right words and actions, he could have her pining for him. He knew how to do that. He learned all of that. From the words to use, to how to touch her just right. But, it would only be physical. And that wasn’t what he wanted.

He didn’t want sex, he wanted love.

And no matter how or where their family pretended, he wanted the ring on her finger to be real. Not wanting to intrude on her thoughts, but needing some kind of interaction, he settled for making a move. The most delicate move he could think of.

She felt a small peck on the side of her forehead. Not a serious kiss, something Sydney would have done to her. She looked beside her and Jarod laid back down, still oblivious to why she was feeling that way, but probably knew she was funny from the loss of focus again. Either tell him or go to sleep. The more things he knew though, the more he’d want to see more DSA’s, and she didn’t want him watching her life like that. Or, spoil his own Christmas with his family.

No, no more. The past was the past.

The next day, Jarod’s family seemed to be blending a little more around. Gemini was trying to play with Debbie on the outside of the house, while Broots was trying to get her to stay more inside. Sydney was having conversations with Broots on and off, probably about Debbie. Miss Parker baked more goodies, her family’s brownies Jarod had tried, for Margaret. His mother was far from shy from asking which recipes she wanted.

Ethan spoke more to Miss Parker on how things were going, and for some reason he crept out along Sydney too. In the hustle and bustle, they all managed to stay on task, wrapping last minute gifts. Jarod and Miss Parker both tended to the infants needs.

Everything seemed perfect. It could go down in Jarod’s most perfect day ever book. He never wanted it to end. But then, Ethan said something.

“Jarod.” Ethan tapped on his shoulder. “I have a bad feeling. The voices. There is a bad feeling .”

“There’s always something bad happening.” Jarod wanted to whisk the bad thoughts away. “We just deal with them as we go.”

Ethan nodded, but clearly wasn’t feeling any better.

Jarod couldn’t do that to him. “Okay, what do they say?”

“Dream Come True, Nightmare in Disguise.”

His entire Christmas week was a dream come true, so he didn’t want to hear that. “You think the families going to get caught?”

Ethan shook his head. “No. No.” He gripped onto Jarod. “It’s something else. I don’t know what yet, Jarod.”

While Jarod was mixing it up with his family, his mother though had her own plans.

The Centre: Christmas Morning, 2:00 AM

“Hit it all with that sulfuric chloride, It’ll tumble like nothing?” Lyle asked observing the demolition. He looked toward Raines. “Are the Parkers so easy to crumble now too? What happens to us?”

“I don’t know,” Raines said as he looked toward Adama.

“Parkers will be moved into the Triumvirate,” Adama said. “Once all the evidence in America is disposed of. We will crumble it. We will blow it up. It will be nothing but a large crater before it’s over.”

Lyle gestured to the building. “I mean, this is a little extreme.” He pointed to the SWAT-like vehicle that now housed Angelo. “We can’t just let them all die. And Jarod? I mean, he’s been champion boy since day one.”

“Lyle,” Raines warned him. “You didn’t take the last focus treatment they gave you, did you?”

Lyle stared back at Raines. “Seems unnecessary now.” He looked back to Adama. “Parker served it’s part. There’s no more focus.” He turned to look toward the building. “No more focus.”

“We are transferring the experiments and live subjects that we are interested in,” Adama said. “Mutumbo will make his selection too. He wanted his own experimental Pretender. Bhekumbuso’s replacement will not be here for selection.”

“Well, the clone kid is long gone, so he can just keep wishing about that.” Lyle sighed. “Why is it taking so long?” Lyle complained. “It takes less than a day for responsibility to change hands in The Centre.”

“You question?” Adama looked toward Raines.

“No, of course not.” Lyle shoved his hands in his pockets and remained silent.

“Raines.” Adama didn’t stop looking at Raines.

“Angelo is my creation. He is used in a certain way,” Raines said. “I don’t . . . agree with this. It will impair him.”

“You were not made to agree.”

Raines took a deep breath. “I feel like this might be over extenuating your power over The Centre.” Adama just laughed at him. “And I don’t believe it is something that should be done, while your own creations are out there. Running. Against my daughter.”

 “I mean, come on, this is just ridiculous,” Lyle tried one more time. “The babies are normal so you think that, what, it’s probably the actual baby named Angel that helps fulfill some prophecy? With the Gemini project? I mean. Where’s your proof? And why can’t we wait until we get all of this-“

Raines watched as Adama pointed a gun straight at Lyle. There would be no answers from the Triumvirate. There never had been. It wouldn’t start now. Lyle held his hands up in surrender and Adama put it away. “That is not right, but you’ve no need to know our plans. Mutumbo has graciously found a management place for you.”

Lyle straightened his tie. “I can live with that.”

“Mister Raines. You shall be with me,” Adama said.

“And what about the current thought to be leader of The Centre?” Lyle asked. “If you don’t mind my asking. If so, I withdraw the question.”

“As you said, there is no guarantee of the future when we get rid of it all here,” Adama said. “Miss Parker has been on the radar since her birth. Bhekumbuso’s replacement will decide where her future will be.”

“Eeeeh. Can . . .” Lyle hesitated. “Management position for her?”

“No.”

“Yeah. Didn’t think so.” Lyle looked toward Raines as Adama checked on Angelo a few meters away. “You know she’s going to be pissed as hell. Jarod too. This is going to go south, fast.” He shrugged in a whisper. “You telling them?”

“No.”

“This is going too far on a Parker name.”

“I know,” Raines wheezed. “You don’t challenge the Triumvirate. Stay still, shut up, or you are dead.”

“We both know that the twin angels are already here,” Lyle said watching to make sure Adama was far enough. “Maybe we can use it to gamble?”

“No,” Raines said. “Keep quiet. If she gets pregnant again, it will give us nine more months to figure out how to use the angels against the Triumvirate.”

“If she gets pregnant with twins,” Lyle said. “One baby, we are goners.”

“Still gives us at least a few months,” Raines said. “Now. Quiet.”

“Man. She was pissed before, she is going to be mega pissed.” He chuckled. “I bet she could destroy a building.”

“I’m not worried about her,” Raines said. “It’s Jarod we’ll have to worry about.”

“What, Mister Avenger?” Lyle scoffed. “Why?”

“The Triumvirate is slow,” Raines took another breath. “It’s too big to shift overnight. Until our positions are affirmed. We’re sitting ducks.”

“Oh.” Lyle rocked back on his heels once. “Shit.”

Raines stared straight at the demolition. Right now, he was there to oversee the secret demolition plans, and to get out the projects while Miss Parker was temporarily running it. But his part now felt over too.

While they didn’t have a plan yet on what to do, it wouldn’t stop their goal. Their only goal left.

As Mr. Parker tried once to get The Centre out of the Triumvirate’s control, so too would they.

But the Centre itself?

“Merry Christmas,” Lyle muttered as all three of them watched the mighty foundation start to crack into pieces.