Epilogue

“They said they’ll be here this year,” Sydney said to Broots.

“Well, we’ll see,” Broots said a little stand offishly to Sydney. Last Christmas, Miss Parker and her family didn’t show up for Christmas. Everyone could have been there. They had some huge pretend they needed to do though. This year, they were all at Miss Parker’s family lodge like they were last time. “Maybe they will. The Centre and The Triumvirate haven’t shown their faces in awhile.”

“Is he bringing Gemini, Sydney?” Debbie asked. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him.”

Not long enough to Broots. “It’ll be a great Christmas whether they come or not,” He reasoned. “As long as we all have a good time together. So, uh, how many are coming?”

“Major Charles heard that Jarod was coming, so he is on his way here,” Sydney insisted.

“Oh. Uh? And Jarod’s sister?” Broots asked.

“She is coming too. It will be an interesting time, won’t it?” Sydney glanced toward Margaret coming out of the house, carrying her cocoa. “He’s not here yet.”

“Oof.” Margaret sipped her cocoa, standing next to Sydney. “Barely called. He can see us now. I wish he’d do it more often.”

Broots understand what she meant. He had at least heard from Jarod a couple of times but Miss Parker? Squat. Even his talks with Jarod were brief and minimal. He had doubts they’d really come. If they did? It would be one heavy party. “Full house then.”

“Ethan will be coming with his friend too,” Sydney said. “He couldn’t join with his son for Christmas. I know what that’s like, so I encouraged it.”

“Argyle?” Oh. Well? Oh. “A little bigger than the usual,” Broots said, “but I’m sure it’ll be a great Christmas.”

Then, Broots spotted a car he’d never seen before, but he knew the color. It was Jarod’s favorite car color.

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“Did we really have to blaze through here in red?” Miss Parker complained as she stared ahead. “I feel like I’m in a one horse sleigh.”

“Christmasy,” Jarod smiled at her. “Oh come on. We’ll have fun.” Still. “If you want to leave, we’ll leave. I just want to see everyone for a little while. Onyssius and Little Miss have grown up a lot. They deserve to see them.”

He watched her rub her finger right below the wedding ring. “You’re a genius. Couldn’t you have picked something that looked like copper without making it copper? This thing is making me itch like crazy.” She looked toward the back seat and any itching she had faded away with her smile. “You ready for Christmas?”

Jarod heard the car become filled with one of his used to be favorite sounds. Screaming excited children. At times, it was still great to hear that sound. After awhile though, screaming excited children could drag even him down. “Power of two year olds. If it could be harnessed, we could run at least one major city.”

“Well you get right on that one.” Miss Parker rubbed her neck. “Should have gave it one more Christmas.”

“Miss.” Jarod tried to ease her feelings. “They are in a way your family. Connected or not. You need to see them too.” When he was close enough, he stopped. He gave them a little bit of leeway for his family to make an entrance. He exited the car and checked in the back seat.

Onyssius had already undone his booster’s seatbelt. “Up daddy.”

Jarod picked him up while Miss went ahead and picked up Angel. She was neatly in her seat, waiting for them to wait on her. She took a lot after Miss. Even now, her hair color and her facial structures. So young, yet she already started to look just like Miss when she was younger.

He held onto Onyssius as he stayed near her by the front of the car.

“Jarod, I swear,” Miss warned him, “if your dad or your sister kidnap me again-“

“No kidnapping. I promise. This time it’s different.” He moved Onyssius to one arm as he brought her closer to him and gave her a kiss gently on her forehead. “One wrong thing said to you and we’re out. I promise.” It was a hefty promise. He didn’t know how well this whole Christmas would work, but he wouldn’t jeopardize anything happening with his Miss.

They went towards the door and weren’t surprised by being bombarded with Sydney, Broots, Debbie, and his mom coming toward them.

“Oh, look how big they are!” Margaret gestured to the one in Jarod’s arms.

“Howdy,” Onyssius said to her. “Soos.”

“That’s his name,” Jarod explained to his mom. “It’s a tough name.”

“Yeah, but he’ll get there. Oh, can I hold him?” His mother asked. Jarod handed him over.

“Hot potato,” Onyssius said.

“Aren’t you just?” Margaret laughed. “You’ll get cold out here. Come inside and I’ll get you something good.”

“Cookies! Candy! Chocolate!”

“You do have your own mind, don’t you, Soos?” Margaret sighed and looked at Jarod. “Made sure he knew all the little things?”

“I keep his teeth perfectly healthy,” Jarod said. “He eats other things too, but you did say something good. It’s a trigger word.” He looked beside him at Miss. Still not a word.

“Aw, Miss Parker? Your baby grew up,” Broots said as he approached her. He playfully made faces at Angel. She wasn’t amused. “Tough crowd.”

“Only her daddy can make her laugh.” Good, she was speaking now. “Let’s go inside Angel, and see that Christmas tree.”

“Oh?” She passed Broots. Broots looked to Jarod. “Something wrong?”

Jarod sighed. “I’ll . . . maybe get to that.” He walked off to keep up with her.

When they reached inside the house, both Onyssius and Angel couldn’t be held for more than two seconds. They wanted down to check out the tree.

“Excitable children,” Sydney noted as he came toward Jarod’s side. “How are you, Jarod?”

Being able to sum it all up is impossible, Sydney. He just looked to the tree. “Terrific.”

“Agreed. Sometimes smaller words is all you need.” Sydney watched Onyssius go for the ornaments. “It’s a good thing I didn’t hang any of mine this year. I bought shatterproof.”

“Shatterproof is all you can have of anything with those two,” Jarod noted to him. He went over to the tree with them, looking at it. It’s their first Christmas tree. They were so tiny last time they saw it. Memories. That was such a hard Christmas, but a happy one too. Knowing all those children had been killed by Hades put such a damper on his spirits, but having that strange Christmas with his Centre hunters and seeing all of his new family? It helped so much.

Speaking of family, he spotted his dad coming in the door with his sister and Gemini. Jarod welcomed them with open arms, each of them, and asked them how they had been. Of course they asked about the kids and why it took so long to come back to them. Although, they already knew.

His dad was over it, he just wanted to see his grandchildren and he bared no ill will toward Miss Parker. His sister Emily though, still had a small grudge. She had to hide it the best she could though, Jarod already warned her of that.

Miss Parker on the other hand, wasn’t going to be as easy going. After being kidnapped not once but twice, she wasn’t exactly feeling a very friendly vibe. “Merry. Christmas.” She was trying though. “Make off with one of my kids and I’ll kill you, Sis.”

“Hey, she called you sis.” That was progress to Jarod. Not to Emily. “Go ahead,” he urged them.

“Soos. Howdy.” Onyssius was busy messing around with an old antique train, that was now being pulled away by Jarod. Even he could get past him sometimes.

“So are you a genius like your dada?” Emily asked him. He just stared at her.

“Daddy everyone,” Soos said. “Soos astronaut.”

“While pretending,” Jarod explained to Emily, “it’s easier to make the kids stay less detailed and then letting them choose who they want to be afterward.”

“Especially if they aren’t the same as you,” his father said. “It would be hard to keep everything straight. Are they?”

“Does it matter?” Miss Parker interrupted. “They are growing just fine.”

“They are growing just fine,” Jarod repeated after Miss Parker. “That’s all that matters.” He looked over toward his mom now talking to Sydney. “Everyone getting along well?”

“Fine,” his dad said. Not much else to it.

“Debbie Broots, you are here!” Gemini was silent in the back until he saw Debbie coming out of one of the rooms. “It’s lovely to spend the Christmas season with you again.”

Well. Now almost everyone was under one roof. Everyone except Ethan who’d be bringing Argyle. That. Would be interesting. At least.

“What about you, pretty girl?” Emily asked Angel in the corner. “Are you enjoying Christmas?”

Angel didn’t speak. She just gazed around.

“Not as much of a talker, are you?” Emily asked her. “I’m your Aunt Emily. You can talk to me, Angela.”

Jarod noticed that. So did Miss Parker. She tried to make it sound like angel, but added a soft a toward the end. “Why did you call Angel, Angela?”

“No one’s named Angel, Jarod,” his sister said. “One day when her and Onyssius need to join school and make friends, they are going to need normal names.”

“They have names,” Miss Parker announced proudly. “Nice names.”

“Little Miss Angel is called Angel for short,” Jarod said. Jarod Angel hadn’t bothered them since his last meeting in the log cabin. He didn’t even know if he was still alive. Without all the scrolls speaking of angels all over the place, it was nice to have just one in his life. “Onyssius is Soos for short.” At least until he learned his name right.

“They aren’t normal names,” Emily said.

“Normal isn’t us,” Jarod said. That was that. “The tree is pretty this year, isn’t it, Miss?”

“Hm. Less antiquey,” she noted. “Smart idea with these two. Knowledge is still too limited.” She looked down at Soos and Angel. “Plus these two.”

“Parker.” Jarod often called her Miss now, but when she pushed too far, he still tended to use that last name for her. Not a scold, but a . . . warning. To be a little nicer.

She acknowledged her faux pas with a slight nod. She’d try to play nicer.

Jarod’s mother came over toward him, completely overshadowing his dad. “Jarod?” She said anxiously. “Can I see them? Please?” Sydney stood close beside her, and even Broots seemed curious.

Jarod gave a slight sigh. Emily and his dad should probably see them too. He looked toward Miss. “I’ll be back.” He left out of the house with his mother the closest on his tail.

“What’s going on, Son?” Major Charles asked as Jarod opened the back of his car.

“I don’t know. Do you, Sydney?” Broots asked.

“I believe Jarod has something special to show,” Sydney said.

“Yeah. Not everyone needed to herd out here,” Jarod said, knowing there wasn’t much of a choice. It was better everyone understood, at the same time, what was going on. He brought out a custom case. He put in a code to open it up.

“That must be some prize,” Broots noted, “with that level of protection.”

“The biggest,” Jarod said as he flipped it open. Inside was a place for four rings to lay. Three of them were there, while one was missing.

“Ooh, they are beautiful,” his mother said. “I knew they would be.”

“Truly exceptional,” Sydney noted.

“Why are we looking at rings?” Emily asked Jarod. “What is this?”

“Miss can’t wear every kind of ring in every pretend,” Jarod said. “Sometimes the neighborhood will look at her funny if she wears a huge diamond, or if it’s too upscale they’ll judge with the smaller ones. The one in the middle usually works between them.”

“Jarod?” His dad asked first. “You put some thought into these rings for a reason?”

“All identification of hers is gone, and mine have mostly been gone all my life,” Jarod admitted. “With Pretending, I can’t risk what I do have anymore than she can. Same reason I’ll never utter our last name,” he said to his dad. “But?”

He smiled. He just smiled. They got the hint.

“We had our own private ceremony,” Jarod admitted. “Nothing official. Just something between us two.”

“Miss Parker is like a real wife, not a pretend wife anymore.” Broots was the first one to say it. “Oh. Never saw her getting married. Guess she still didn’t. Well, she sort of did. Not officially. But not trivially either. Uh? Congrats. Jarod.”

Little bit of jealousy? No, a ton of jealousy, but Jarod accepted it. Broots would always have a crush on his wife. “The ring she’s wearing now is the worst of the lot. Just came back from a tough pretend. Copper is killing her finger.” He went ahead and grabbed the middle of the road one. “Time to switch.”

Emily just stared at them. “I . . . you made it sound like girlfriend, Jarod, like ‘accept it or you won’t see me again’ kind of thing. Is that bi . . .” She stopped when she watched Jarod’s face. “Is she really my Sister-In-Law?”

“Yes,” Jarod admitted. He knew only part of the people there were happy about the news. He locked the custom case back up, having his prize back in his hand he needed. Sydney approved, he was certainly happy. Broots approved, although with a degree of jealousy still. His mother definitely approved as he felt her hug his side.

His dad? Between the ground borders. “Glad to see you happy, Son. That’s all that matters to me.”

Emily? Well. It was no surprise. “She could have just worn the middle of the road ring, you didn’t have to get her four rings, Jarod. I bet that was her idea.”

“No, it was mine,” Jarod stopped her. “It was how I proposed.” He put the case back down and locked the back of the car. “And I mean this.” He turned around and looked at everyone there. “No one say a word about The Centre to her.”

“But? Why not?” Broots asked.

“It took a long time with her,” Jarod tried to explain. “It took a lot just to agree to a date. The next date was easier. The kiss was harder than teaching eighth grade students to memorize the first few digits of pie.”

“We don’t need a specific play by play,” Broots stopped him.

“The point is, I finally analyzed her. I had to drag Miss out from The Centre’s view. Their way of thinking. All of the lessons. All of the experiments they put her through,” Jarod explained. “I didn’t come last Christmas here because I still didn’t have these rings on her fingers yet. I was working on it and I didn’t want anything to trigger her.”

“Oh.” Broots seemed to understand. “There would be a lot of . . . guilt.”

“Right. So?” Jarod warned them. He very much warned them. He put all he could into warning them. “Miss Parker is my wife, and I don’t want anyone mentioning anything about The Centre, about our chase, nothing. One day, maybe we can touch up about the ‘good old days’, but right now? Just here for Christmas. As my wife, Miss. Got it?”

“But? Then, what would we talk about?” Broots asked. “I mean, we were all friends at The-“

“Not about me, not about the chase,” Jarod said again. “Let her steer the conversation. If it goes that way, fine. If it doesn’t, then leave it.” The past was an open wound for Miss, one that he did not want to rupture. “One mention of the word The Centre or The Triumvirate, and we are out of here.”

“Your wife sounds like she’s unstable,” Emily warned Jarod. “Marrying someone who used to chase you to take you back to your own prison is something she should feel guilty about.”

Into overtime with Emily. “Shame. Regret. Those are words I know very well from her. You don’t understand how hard it was to reach this point with her. To get the shame, regret and guilt out enough for us to be together. So I swear, Emily. I want to be here to celebrate Christmas with my family, my whole family. But you’ll see nothing but taillights when we leave, and nothing of us ever again if you push too hard.”

There. She got that. “I’ll never consider her a Sister-In-Law, but I’ll try not to trigger her, Jarod.”

“Thanks.” That was all he wanted.

“I just want to focus on the future,” Jarod’s mother said with enthusiasm. “Soos and Angel and my new Daughter-In-Law. Oh, if only Kyle could have been here.”

“Yes.” Jarod knew about that. “He’s working a case that has a ten year old’s life at stake. It needs solved. That needs to come first, but I’ll try to make time to see him too.” Which was also easier. He didn’t like to focus on the past anymore either.

“Yeah, sure, speaking of family I better go check up on Debbie,” Broots said.

“She’s playing with Gemini,” Sydney said.

“Yeah, I know,” Broots said. “Congrats, again, Jarod. I just gotta go.” He muttered beneath his breath, almost to a degree no one could pick it up, but Jarod was good at reading lips anyhow. “Before another genius steals someone I love.”

It was a good thing he didn’t say that out loud. Still. Times had changed, and Broots was never getting another Parker kiss again. More clear than ever. It may not be official contractual statements, but everyone got the point. Miss Parker was his wife, and no one was going to make it hard on her for Christmas.

---------------------------------

“Are you going to tell them?” Miss Parker asked Jarod. “How do you think they’ll take it?”

“About what I expected,” Jarod admitted as he took off her copper ring and slid on the other one he retrieved. After that, he smiled and picked up Angel.

“Emily’s already complaining, Jarod,” Miss Parker said looking briefly at her ring. “I don’t know how long we should stay.”

“I just now told her,” Jarod said, “that you are my wife. Everyone should know by now.”

Miss Parker just glanced at him as if he was crazy. “In Pretending.”

“In life.” He smiled. Oh, not this battle now. Not on this turf.

“It was . . .” She was fidgeting for words. “Friends with benefits, and maybe something else and . . .”

Jarod kissed her forehead. Whenever she tried to reach for the meaning of what this was, or that meant, it meant she was fighting to establish ground. When he kissed her, it seemed to always bring her back to their common ground.

“ . . . did you show your mom the picture we took?” Miss asked him curiously.

“Not yet.” They had snuck back to her old home, where her mother used to have the garden. It was beautiful, and with Soos and Angel, they took a family picture to rival any family picture he’d ever seen. “I haven’t told anyone about Angel yet.”

“Then tell them,” Miss warned him. “I don’t want her to feel like she doesn’t belong.” She reached for Angel and brought her close. She smiled at her. “You belong everywhere we go.” She touched her lips with her finger. It was how they communicated with each other.

Right. Step two. Jarod got up and headed toward his mom. Emily hung around the area too along with Sydney. “There’s something else you all should know. It’s about Angel.” Sydney nodded. He probably already realized it. “Onyssius can talk but Angel still doesn’t.”

“Is she okay?” Emily asked concerned. “Is she mute or deaf?”

“No. She talks softly. Sort of a jibberish,” Jarod said. “It’s very hard to hear her, or even understand when you do, but Onyssius always does. He translates for her.”

“As was the case with many twins at The Centre,” Sydney added. “Not all explanations are easy to find. Some do snap out of it. Some do not.”

“I guess she’s now a Silent Angel,” Emily said. “Sorry, Jarod.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Jarod said. “She may be my Silent Angel, but I don’t care. I love her just the same.” He didn’t know how else to put it. “She’s delicate so don’t make a big deal about talking. If she wants to say something, Soos will say it for her.”

“Oh, I understand,” his mother agreed. “She should feel welcomed too, whether she speaks or not. Then I better go see my granddaughter.” She got up and her and Sydney went to go see her.

Miss Parker watched them carefully as they came. Sydney just nodded his understanding.

“A beautiful little girl you are,” Sydney said to her. Angel touched his nose. He seemed to understand it well enough, Miss Parker didn’t need to explain it. He touched her little nose back. “Welcome to our Christmas party.”

Now Angel smiled. So did Miss Parker. “All of my children are special,” Miss Parker said to him.

“Yes, all of them,” Sydney agreed. “She already looks just like you.”

“Hm. There is something that Little Miss Angel does say,” Miss Parker revealed. “She says it loud and clear. Only one word. Drives me a little crazy.”

“What is it?” Margaret asked.

“Dada!” Angel cried as Jarod came back over for her. He reached over for her. “Dada dada dada dada dada dada!”

“Yep. One word,” Jarod agreed. “She gets louder with it the more secured she feels.” He pushed her little strands of hair back. “It might be something from . . .” He looked toward Miss.

Her decision. “The focus. With my daddy,” she admitted to Sydney. “Maybe.”

“Well, it’s a good sign,” Sydney said.

“Yep.” Jarod would never leave his Angel, ever. “Ah!”

Soos.

“Soos Alligator!” Soos said below on his ankle.

“That’s not out of the potential choices of what you are supposed to choose to be,” Jarod usually said smaller sentences to their kids, but his son just bit him above the ankle.

“No biting people.” Miss Parker phrased it for him better. “You can’t choose to be animals.”

“He’s got some spitfire in him,” Margaret laughed. “Are you okay, Jarod?”

“Yeah.” Still, Miss Parker knew it hurt. Their son put his all into his work. “Didn’t break skin. I think.” Jarod looked toward Soos. “You can be anything you want to be, Son. But don’t bite people. Maybe stick to non animals too, like mommy said?”

“Is he going to be okay with you and Miss Parker?” Gemini asked from behind him. Alongside him was Debbie. They were holding hands. “He isn’t very stoic about what he says at all. He could give your position away. How will you handle that?”

“At this age, no one believes a two year old,” Jarod told him. “As he grows up, he’ll learn.”

“Just life,” Miss Parker said to Gemini. “His is different, and as he gets older, he’ll come to understand that. Meanwhile if he does give something away? Well. Jarod’s never been bad at escaping.”

“That makes logical sense,” Gemini said. “As strange as it is, he doesn’t need a miraculous mind to keep his life in tact. He just needs to learn his life that way.” He looked back at Debbie and smiled. “I suppose if we had a child that would be something to remember. It would be good to watch Jarod and Miss Parker’s raising habits.”

“For what?” Broots asked from over in a corner, he had been hanging around in, that probably only Jarod knew about.

“For the future,” Gemini said. “If I choose to help people with my intellect and I have children, knowing the possible outcomes and results will be beneficial.”

“He wants to be a good dad,” Debbie summed up for Gemini.

“Sure. One day. Since nothing did happen, and that is good,” Broots said harshly to Gemini, “then someday far into the future that kind of thing may matter. For you. Specifically.”

Oof. “He’s never going to let this go, is he?” Jarod whispered to Miss.

Miss Parker smiled. “Don’t see why he complains. The sweeter they are, the more trouble they pick up. Angel will probably be dating some rebel on a motorcycle at like fifteen behind our backs.” That awarded her an awkward look from Jarod. “Not as easy as it sounds now, does it?”

“At least Gemini’s a genius,” Jarod said a little louder than he meant to be. “Not that I was . . . she could be with anyone.” He looked at Angel. “Just not.”

“Not rebels breaking the laws that don’t uphold justice that you try and protect?”

“Yeah, that.”

“We’ll see. Maybe the rebel will be Soos?” She prodded.

“Nah,” Jarod figured. “He’d be too busy being an alligator.”

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Miss Parker kept the lights dimmed while she tried to read. Being around Sydney and Broots again. She heard them talking in the distance. Definitely about the past. How could it not come up when she hadn’t seen them for two years? How could she explain.

Neither of them did that though. Debbie did once, very briefly. So did Gemini. Briefly. So did Ethan when he finally showed up that night with Argyle. Oof. It was time for bed.

Speaking of bed, Jarod had the kids sleeping with their grandma and Sydney tonight. Not a big surprise, he wasn’t going to give her long. Nor should he. As she thought of how she used to be. Everything she had to do at The Centre. Miss Parker had nerve, had her focus nearly all her life. Even before her focus, she tried to be independent.

Since the catastrophe, things had changed slowly for her though. While she wasn’t distracted, she no longer held her strong focus like she did before. Turned around and the wrong way, she found herself almost leaving Jarod with the kids. Twice. She felt like they deserved better, and she couldn’t think of any reasons why she should be in their life.

Then Jarod caught her and reminded her again of why she did need to be there, and why he wanted her there too. It was a constant struggle against the guilt and regret and the memories of what she made happen. Young and old, she messed up countless times.

And no matter how far they got into a pretend, the carnage caused in those days before Jarod’s flu fixed things? It was terrible. City damage was still being repaired years later. While many people understood the flu is what fixed things, others believed that the flu was some mutant virus that attacked the brain and made people go insane.

Those events lifted a lot of the more urban places away from pretending for awhile. They stuck with smaller areas, general middle ground places so Jarod could do good and watch all of them well in the meantime.

Her adjustments were tough at first, but each day she got better. She was nearly at the point of being cured, having . . . in a way, married Jarod. That ceremony. No witnesses, just them and their kids in that garden. Beautiful though, and something she’d never forget. She kept a copy of that picture, and Jarod did too.

Still, Christmas was risky. In her heart, she wanted to see Sydney and Broots again. Jarod wanted to see his family. The kids needed to get to know their real family members. Still? Even Jarod was ready to bail if he felt they needed to get out.

He wanted to see his family, but he wanted her in his life so much more. He wouldn’t risk her for a single Christmas. So it wasn’t a very big surprise he was coming to bed early too.

He opened the door, his eyes showing serious concern. “Fun day?”

“Doing fine, Jarod,” she assured him. “Onyssius and Angel are having Santa visit tonight. Promise.”

“Santa can visit anywhere and everywhere,” Jarod pointed out as he got undressed and climbed into bed. He pulled her closer to him. “Way more concerned about Mrs. Claus?”

“I am fine,” she said again. “I mean it, I’m good.” Yet. He pointed at her, catching her uncertainty she tried to hide. “Memories, that’s all. I’m good, Jarod.”

“Maybe, but just in case, I let Onyssius and Angel sleep away tonight.” He wrapped his hand within hers. “You and me, Mrs. Parker.”

She closed her eyes and clenched her hand with his. Even as his wife, her old thoughts still stirred. “Mrs.”

“Yes,” he whispered. “Mrs. Miss. Memories are haunting. Don’t let them stop our future.” He gave her another kiss on the forehead like he did earlier before he moved to her lips.

----------------------

Jarod had kept his Miss in his arms almost the entire night. He even slept with her in his arms. Anything he could to keep her safe and there. While pretending, he knew she would stay. Between pretends, she would stay too. He could feel her unease last night though and expected it.

It was just too soon. Even a couple of years later, it was too soon to bring back the memories to her. Miss was a natural Pretender too, and when taken out of The Centre’s element around her, she did a fine job. A little bitchy still, to be sure. There were certain pet peeve areas she wouldn’t budge on, but she had become much better in general.

While Christmas was the one time he wished he could spend days with his family, he came on Christmas Eve for a reason. To see his family briefly, let them know what was going on, but after Christmas morning, he already planned on them getting out. No matter how great and warm it felt. It was just too soon.

“Alligator!” Soos said as he unwrapped his present. “Wrestle Alligator.”

“I’m beginning to regret we told him that story,” Miss said to Jarod. “Especially after yesterday. Oh boy.”

Jarod just smiled to her. “No skin breakage. He’ll be fine. Show him the basics when he gets older.” That rewarded him with a less than stellar look from her.

“Hey check it, an Alligator Soos,” Argyle said to Onyssius. “Yeah. Cool. Alligator. I bet you’ll have fun with that, huh?” He looked toward Angel. “So LMA, whatcha gonna get, huh?”

Angel smiled at Argyle and reached out for his nose.

“Don’t break. You got a grip,” Argyle complained. “Little help?”

“She touches for affection,” Miss Parker said as she helped Angel let go of his nose. “She holds for annoyance.”

Ethan just smiled at that. “She feels a lot like you and our mother,” he said to Miss Parker. “They are both so special. Having you and Jarod as parents.”

Oh. He was so sweet. The Jarod part made sense, they were definitely lucky to be his children. Who else experienced everything so fast? Jarod jammed down every childhood past time that children learned throughout years into something special every day. But her? Well. She tried. “Thank you, Ethan.”

“Thanks for being here. I know it’s hard,” he said. He smiled at her. “I’m glad we talked. When days go by, we’ll talk again.”

“Alligator.” Soos held his toy up again, wanting more attention.

“Hang on. Let Angel open her present,” Jarod said to him.

Everyone watched as Angel opened her gift with a little help from her mother. She didn’t rip the paper apart quite like Soos did to shreds.

“Is it clothes?” Emily asked before Angel was done unwrapping.

“No,” Miss Parker said. She looked back to Angel and watched her pull out a doll. Angel hugged it.

“A single doll?” Emily was confused.

“I think it’s a beautiful doll,” Jarod’s mother said encouragingly.

“Very,” Sydney agreed.

“Great doll,” Broots muttered.

“Alligator,” Soos said again.

“Great doll and alligator,” Broots said, smiling at the boy. “Both great toys.”

“I can’t take much with us,” Jarod explained. “Most things we buy as we move along, but most we can’t get attached to. Every pretend though, I’m going to try to take these two toys along with our DSA’s.” Try. Sometimes, it was too tough. He tried before to get them toys. They only lasted so long before they needed to go. He’d either forget, or it was too risky to get back home just for them.

“As long as you are trying, Jarod, I’m sure they’ll remember that over the years,” Sydney said.

“Yeah,” Major Charles agreed. “Even if you can’t keep something, Son, they’ll still love you.”

“I know, I just want them to have something,” Jarod said. The future was unpredictable.

“They live a better life now then they ever would have at The Centre,” Emily said casually. “Than you ever did. I’m thankful for that.”

Just. Like. That. “Yeah,” Jarod said, not giving it away. “Who wants to play in the snow?” He looked at his kids. “Big pile of snow. Let’s get you two all dressed up.” He picked up Soos and the Alligator and Miss Parker picked up Angel and her doll.

“Oh, yes. Playing in the snow. That will be fun. I better make some more cocoa,” Jarod’s mother said. Gemini and Debbie were already heading outside. Emily followed her dad outside too.

Jarod and Miss Parker took them to their room and got them dressed, but they left the other way out.

“Jarod.”

Jarod looked behind him and saw Sydney. He always knew him better than anyone.

“Have a merry Christmas. You too, Miss Parker,” Sydney said giving a slight nod.

“Thanks, Sydney,” Miss Parker said. Jarod just nodded back.

“Snow?” Soos asked as they went out the back.

“Ooh, lots of snow,” Jarod insisted to him. “But not here. We’ll go play in a huge field of snow.” He took Miss Parker’s hand in his tightly. He wanted to stay at least until noon. It wasn’t going to happen. Whether Emily did that because she forgot, or she did it on purpose, it was just a signal they had to go. Miss Parker buckled up Angel and Jarod buckled up Soos. They each got into the car and Jarod started it up.

“Riding in a red sleigh away from Grandma’s house,” Miss Parker said. “I hope they had a good time.”

“I did,” Jarod told her, “and I’m sure they did. Who doesn’t like a visit from Santa Claus?”

“Alligator!” Soos said from the back.

Jarod kept his hand on the wheel, but he also grabbed his wife’s hand. “One day.” He wouldn’t keep her away from everything forever. Having pretended to be a psychologist several times, he knew and concentrated on the best ways to get her through it all, while still keeping his wife at his side.

It was a long road, but such was life. A terrific and terrifying uncertainty of what would happen next.

----------------------

“Jarod, you’re late.”

“Sorry.” Jarod Smith tied on his apron. He didn’t prefer to help the entire world like the original Jarod did. He’d done enough, with his factors being so far off, he’d never recover. Instead, he stayed simple. He found a simple apartment. A simple style of clothes, non-white. A simple last name of Smith. A simple job serving coffee and cappuccino’s in a little mall.

He stayed simple, to stay out of the spotlight. He didn’t want it. He just wanted to be Jarod Smith, simple guy. “Good morning.” He smiled at his customer. A usual. She smiled back. It was nice to give people their pick me up for the day too. It wasn’t life changing, but it was a good place to work to see people smile. “Here you go. Have a nice day.” He served her drink and her smile became much wider. People loved their drinks.

The next person in line was huddled back in a scarf and a hood. Not uncommon, it was cold outside. “Mocha Cappucino.”

Jarod Smith fixed him a mocha cappuccino. He set it down and waited for him to pay. When he did, he slammed his hand down on the counter. Enough to see the edge of something on his skin.

“Thanks, Angel.” He lifted his head enough to show who he’d been. Angelo. He picked up the mocha cappuccino. “Thanks for keeping it warm for me. I’ve always liked it hot.”

Before Jarod Smith could even think of what to say, he watched Angelo walk out with a grin on his face, sipping on his mocha cappuccino.

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THE END!

I am so glad you all went on this journey with me. It sure was a long one, but I enjoyed it. I never knew how much fun it was writing for Pretender until I started this. Considering how old the show is too, I didn't know if I would even have an audience. This was absolutely a blast and I doubt it will be my last one now.:) Thanks everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed it all.