Title - Tears of Yesterday III
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG-13
Category - JMPR, MP/L, MSR
Spoilers: Pretender Season 4, X-Files Season 8 Finale
Summary - Jarod and Miss Parker make some unexpected friends and discover some unexpected ties.
Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 9
* * * * * * * * * *
The gentle, rhythmic rumbling of the car engine lulls Miss Parker
into an easy sleep. The trip to Maine seems long and endless,
so she finds it easier to sleep through it. She's sore from
giving birth and sore from not nursing her daughter and she's
starting to get cranky. Sleep seems to be the best solution for
every body. Hours later, though it seemed like just minutes to
her, the car slows to a stop and she hears the doors opening.
"Parker. We're here," Mulder says, shaking her lightly.
Miss Parker wants to curl up under her blanket and sleep some
more, but Mulder's words finally register in her brain and she
reluctantly gets up. At least she'll be able to find a bed in one of the
rooms and sleep for the next week.
"I'm a little stiff," she winces as she sits up. "Can someone
help me?"
Lyle and Scully help her get out of the car while Mulder goes to
greet the older man walking towards them.
"Fox!"
"Hi, Uncle Ben." Mulder hugs the older man warmly before pulling
away to look at Miss Parker and the others approach them. "I
hope you have room enough in the inn."
"Always for you, Fox. You and your friends are . . . " Ben
trails off when he finally notices who's walking his way. He
has to literally shake himself to remind himself that this is
not Catherine Parker, alive and well and walking towards him.
This is the daughter he met those years ago. But she looks so
much like her mother this time. There's a glow about her that
wasn't there the last time.
"Miss Parker," he smiles. "It's good to see you again."
"Ben. It's good to be here again," she says returning his smile.
She reaches up to hug him warmly. "But as I recall, that's
'Little Cat' to you."
They share a knowing smile and hug one more time. The last time
they met, she didn't seem to remember him. But now, things have
changed. He knows that she remembered the time she spent at the
inn when she was just a girl. The one and only time she ever
came up with her mother.
"Welcome back, Little Cat. Welcome back."
"Uncle Ben, you remember my wife, Dana."
"Dana," Ben nods. "Yes, I remember. We met at Teena's funeral
last year. I didn't get much of a chance to speak to you, Fox.
But I'm really sorry about your mother."
"Thank you," he nods somberly.
"And I didn't know you two were married. You said that you
worked together. And who is this little guy?" He smiles at
William, tickling his small bare feet.
"We weren't married then," Mulder explains. "In fact, we've just
recently gotten married. About a month ago. And this is
William, our son."
"Newlyweds! How sweet. I'll have to give you my best room," he
says with a wink. He looks around the crowd, realizing there's
one other person he hasn't met. But looking into his eyes tells
him all he needs to know. They're Catherine's eyes. The
shock sends him back a step.
"Ben, this is Lyle," Miss Parker says gently when she notices the
old man's reaction. "He's my brother. We're twins."
"Catherine said that you . . . we thought that . . ." he
stutters.
"She was told that I was stillborn," Lyle says. "I was taken
away from her at birth."
"Dana, Fox. Can you help me inside? We can give Lyle and Ben a
few minutes," Miss Parker suggests after a long, uncomfortable
silence.
"Most people come up during the weekends," Ben manages to say,
his shock still evident. He forces himself to look away from
Lyle and addresses the rest of them. "You all will have pretty
much the whole place to yourselves."
"How about the cabins?" Mulder asks. He looks at Scully and
Parker and explains that they're a bit more secluded than the
rooms in the main inn and will offer more safety.
"Closed for maintenance. Sorry. There is one open, however.
The man staying there says he may be checking out today," Ben
says.
"Scully, why don't you take Parker to the lobby and get her
settled. I'll go see if the guy is going to be leaving today or
not," Mulder offers. "It's no use letting her get into a room,
only to have to move again."
"That makes sense," Scully agrees. She turns to lead Parker
towards the main inn, but sees that the woman is busy looking at
her brother. From the stories she told about Lyle, emotional
confrontations weren't exactly his cup of tea. She probably was
worried about his reactions to meeting Ben. But what was about
to happen was inevitable. The two men had to meet eventually. Now
was as good as time as any. Scully just hopes that Parker's not
caught in whatever fallout that's produced.
* * * * * * * * *
Lyle watches Scully lead Miss Parker towards the inn before
finally turning to face the man next to him. The man who could
very well be his father.
"So, Parker tells me that you and my mother were close," he says
to break the ice.
"Yes," the older man says with a nod, barely able to push out the
words racing through his mind. All he can do is stare at the
young man before him. The man who could very likely be his son.
The man who more than likely *is* his son.
"I never got to know her. Parker and I just recently found out
about each other. Just within the past few years." Lyle
realizes he's making idle chit chat, but he's the only one doing
any talking. Ben still couldn't stop staring. "Are you okay?"
he finally asks the older man. "It's just, you keep on staring."
"I'm sorry," Ben apologizes. "You have her eyes, you know. But
you look . . . exactly like I did when I was your age." The man
looks down and suddenly starts walking towards the inn, leaving
Lyle standing in shock.
Lyle finally shakes himself from his stupor and follows the old
man towards the building. He watches Ben stop and sit down in
one of the chairs on the porch. Probably a thinking chair - some
place for him to gather his thoughts. Lyle follows him to the
porch and sits in the chair next to him. He picks up a wood
figurine from the table between them.
"I used to do this too," Lyle tells him, rotating the object
between his fingers. "When I was younger. One day I picked up a
piece of wood and a knife. The next thing I knew, I had whittled
a little bird for my mom. Pretty soon, she had a whole
collection. My dad used to throw them at her when he got mad, so
I stopped making them because he used them to hurt her. Would
you mind?" He finds an unmarked piece of wood and shows it to
Ben.
"Be my guest." Ben offers him a knife. Then he picks up his own
piece of wood. The two men sit in silence, yet bonding in a way
that neither of them expected.
* * * * * * * * * *
"How's this?" Scully asks Miss Parker when they reach the inside
of the building. In the lobby, a comfortable sofa is on the wall
opposite the door.
"Perfect," Miss Parker groans as she sinks down onto it. She
doesn't care if it's as hard as a rock. She just wants a place
to rest.
"Maybe we shouldn't have left the hospital so soon."
"I'm fine," Miss Parker insists. "Just sore still. And tired."
"You need to rest," Scully tells her, coming to sit next to her.
"You've been through an ordeal."
"There's just one thing I need," Miss Parker sighs, smiling down
at William as he sits in Scully's arms. "I need my family back.
I need Jarod and Serena. Only then will I be truly fine. I feel
her, you know. Like she's so close by. But I can't ever find
her. It hurts so much to feel her, but not to be able to touch
her. You know what I'm saying?"
"I do," Scully nods. "But as painful as that is, it would
probably be even scarier if you stopped feeling her. My mother
said this same thing to Mulder once. About a year after Mulder
and I started working together, I disappeared. My mother told
him that she had dreams about it. But as awful as the dreams
were, she somehow knew it would be worse if she stopped having
them. So that connection you have with Serena is a good thing.
Yes, it hurts to not be with her. But as long as you can sense
her, then you know she's safe. And if she's safe, then Jarod's
safe."
"Thanks, Dana," Parker says through her tears. "That helps a
lot." She throws her arms around the woman in an
uncharacteristic display of affection on both their parts. As
they pull away, the door creaks open. Mulder sticks his head
inside.
"I have good news and bad news, Parker," he says with a cryptic
little smile on his face.
"Okay, give me the bad news first," she cringes.
"The bad news is that the guy has decided to stick around for a
few more days."
"That's okay," she sighs. "I really wanted one of the cabins,
but a room will be just as . . . "
"Don't you want to hear the good news," a voice from behind the
door asks. Mulder pushes it all the way open to reveal the
person standing next to him.
"Jarod," Miss Parker squeals in delight, trying to run to him,
but unable to stand up quick enough.
"No, stay there. We'll come to you," he smiles. He turns around
and pulls a stroller into the inn, wheeling it over to the sofa
where Miss Parker is sitting.
"What are you doing here?" she asks, grabbing his hand with one
of her own, and reaching into the stoller to pull back the
blanket with her other one. "I thought we decided that you . . . "
"No," he interrupts her. "*You* decided that. But in this past
day or two, I've come up with my own decision." He reaches into
the stoller and lifts the baby out, gently placing her in Miss
Parker's quivering arms.
"And what's that?"
"That we can't live like this. Serena and I cannot be apart from
you. No matter what, we have to stay together. We can keep each
other safe," he whispers, unbidden tears fighting to break free.
He takes a deep breath and leans in to kiss her, his lips
urgently tugging at hers. A little cry from the wiggling bundle
draws their attention.
"Sorry, Baby," Miss Parker says, smiling down at Serena.
"Mommy's just ignoring you. How are you, my love? I missed you
so much."
"We missed you, too," Jarod squeaks in a tiny, baby voice,
causing Miss Parker to laugh. They both coo over Serena and
don't even notice when Mulder and Scully slip out of the room.
Not that it matters at the moment. The only thing that matters
is that they're together again. All other worries can wait until later.
To be continued . . .
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG-13
Category - JMPR, MP/L, MSR
Spoilers: Pretender Season 4, X-Files Season 8 Finale
Summary - Jarod and Miss Parker make some unexpected friends and discover some unexpected ties.
Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used without permission. Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 9
* * * * * * * * * *
The gentle, rhythmic rumbling of the car engine lulls Miss Parker
into an easy sleep. The trip to Maine seems long and endless,
so she finds it easier to sleep through it. She's sore from
giving birth and sore from not nursing her daughter and she's
starting to get cranky. Sleep seems to be the best solution for
every body. Hours later, though it seemed like just minutes to
her, the car slows to a stop and she hears the doors opening.
"Parker. We're here," Mulder says, shaking her lightly.
Miss Parker wants to curl up under her blanket and sleep some
more, but Mulder's words finally register in her brain and she
reluctantly gets up. At least she'll be able to find a bed in one of the
rooms and sleep for the next week.
"I'm a little stiff," she winces as she sits up. "Can someone
help me?"
Lyle and Scully help her get out of the car while Mulder goes to
greet the older man walking towards them.
"Fox!"
"Hi, Uncle Ben." Mulder hugs the older man warmly before pulling
away to look at Miss Parker and the others approach them. "I
hope you have room enough in the inn."
"Always for you, Fox. You and your friends are . . . " Ben
trails off when he finally notices who's walking his way. He
has to literally shake himself to remind himself that this is
not Catherine Parker, alive and well and walking towards him.
This is the daughter he met those years ago. But she looks so
much like her mother this time. There's a glow about her that
wasn't there the last time.
"Miss Parker," he smiles. "It's good to see you again."
"Ben. It's good to be here again," she says returning his smile.
She reaches up to hug him warmly. "But as I recall, that's
'Little Cat' to you."
They share a knowing smile and hug one more time. The last time
they met, she didn't seem to remember him. But now, things have
changed. He knows that she remembered the time she spent at the
inn when she was just a girl. The one and only time she ever
came up with her mother.
"Welcome back, Little Cat. Welcome back."
"Uncle Ben, you remember my wife, Dana."
"Dana," Ben nods. "Yes, I remember. We met at Teena's funeral
last year. I didn't get much of a chance to speak to you, Fox.
But I'm really sorry about your mother."
"Thank you," he nods somberly.
"And I didn't know you two were married. You said that you
worked together. And who is this little guy?" He smiles at
William, tickling his small bare feet.
"We weren't married then," Mulder explains. "In fact, we've just
recently gotten married. About a month ago. And this is
William, our son."
"Newlyweds! How sweet. I'll have to give you my best room," he
says with a wink. He looks around the crowd, realizing there's
one other person he hasn't met. But looking into his eyes tells
him all he needs to know. They're Catherine's eyes. The
shock sends him back a step.
"Ben, this is Lyle," Miss Parker says gently when she notices the
old man's reaction. "He's my brother. We're twins."
"Catherine said that you . . . we thought that . . ." he
stutters.
"She was told that I was stillborn," Lyle says. "I was taken
away from her at birth."
"Dana, Fox. Can you help me inside? We can give Lyle and Ben a
few minutes," Miss Parker suggests after a long, uncomfortable
silence.
"Most people come up during the weekends," Ben manages to say,
his shock still evident. He forces himself to look away from
Lyle and addresses the rest of them. "You all will have pretty
much the whole place to yourselves."
"How about the cabins?" Mulder asks. He looks at Scully and
Parker and explains that they're a bit more secluded than the
rooms in the main inn and will offer more safety.
"Closed for maintenance. Sorry. There is one open, however.
The man staying there says he may be checking out today," Ben
says.
"Scully, why don't you take Parker to the lobby and get her
settled. I'll go see if the guy is going to be leaving today or
not," Mulder offers. "It's no use letting her get into a room,
only to have to move again."
"That makes sense," Scully agrees. She turns to lead Parker
towards the main inn, but sees that the woman is busy looking at
her brother. From the stories she told about Lyle, emotional
confrontations weren't exactly his cup of tea. She probably was
worried about his reactions to meeting Ben. But what was about
to happen was inevitable. The two men had to meet eventually. Now
was as good as time as any. Scully just hopes that Parker's not
caught in whatever fallout that's produced.
* * * * * * * * *
Lyle watches Scully lead Miss Parker towards the inn before
finally turning to face the man next to him. The man who could
very well be his father.
"So, Parker tells me that you and my mother were close," he says
to break the ice.
"Yes," the older man says with a nod, barely able to push out the
words racing through his mind. All he can do is stare at the
young man before him. The man who could very likely be his son.
The man who more than likely *is* his son.
"I never got to know her. Parker and I just recently found out
about each other. Just within the past few years." Lyle
realizes he's making idle chit chat, but he's the only one doing
any talking. Ben still couldn't stop staring. "Are you okay?"
he finally asks the older man. "It's just, you keep on staring."
"I'm sorry," Ben apologizes. "You have her eyes, you know. But
you look . . . exactly like I did when I was your age." The man
looks down and suddenly starts walking towards the inn, leaving
Lyle standing in shock.
Lyle finally shakes himself from his stupor and follows the old
man towards the building. He watches Ben stop and sit down in
one of the chairs on the porch. Probably a thinking chair - some
place for him to gather his thoughts. Lyle follows him to the
porch and sits in the chair next to him. He picks up a wood
figurine from the table between them.
"I used to do this too," Lyle tells him, rotating the object
between his fingers. "When I was younger. One day I picked up a
piece of wood and a knife. The next thing I knew, I had whittled
a little bird for my mom. Pretty soon, she had a whole
collection. My dad used to throw them at her when he got mad, so
I stopped making them because he used them to hurt her. Would
you mind?" He finds an unmarked piece of wood and shows it to
Ben.
"Be my guest." Ben offers him a knife. Then he picks up his own
piece of wood. The two men sit in silence, yet bonding in a way
that neither of them expected.
* * * * * * * * * *
"How's this?" Scully asks Miss Parker when they reach the inside
of the building. In the lobby, a comfortable sofa is on the wall
opposite the door.
"Perfect," Miss Parker groans as she sinks down onto it. She
doesn't care if it's as hard as a rock. She just wants a place
to rest.
"Maybe we shouldn't have left the hospital so soon."
"I'm fine," Miss Parker insists. "Just sore still. And tired."
"You need to rest," Scully tells her, coming to sit next to her.
"You've been through an ordeal."
"There's just one thing I need," Miss Parker sighs, smiling down
at William as he sits in Scully's arms. "I need my family back.
I need Jarod and Serena. Only then will I be truly fine. I feel
her, you know. Like she's so close by. But I can't ever find
her. It hurts so much to feel her, but not to be able to touch
her. You know what I'm saying?"
"I do," Scully nods. "But as painful as that is, it would
probably be even scarier if you stopped feeling her. My mother
said this same thing to Mulder once. About a year after Mulder
and I started working together, I disappeared. My mother told
him that she had dreams about it. But as awful as the dreams
were, she somehow knew it would be worse if she stopped having
them. So that connection you have with Serena is a good thing.
Yes, it hurts to not be with her. But as long as you can sense
her, then you know she's safe. And if she's safe, then Jarod's
safe."
"Thanks, Dana," Parker says through her tears. "That helps a
lot." She throws her arms around the woman in an
uncharacteristic display of affection on both their parts. As
they pull away, the door creaks open. Mulder sticks his head
inside.
"I have good news and bad news, Parker," he says with a cryptic
little smile on his face.
"Okay, give me the bad news first," she cringes.
"The bad news is that the guy has decided to stick around for a
few more days."
"That's okay," she sighs. "I really wanted one of the cabins,
but a room will be just as . . . "
"Don't you want to hear the good news," a voice from behind the
door asks. Mulder pushes it all the way open to reveal the
person standing next to him.
"Jarod," Miss Parker squeals in delight, trying to run to him,
but unable to stand up quick enough.
"No, stay there. We'll come to you," he smiles. He turns around
and pulls a stroller into the inn, wheeling it over to the sofa
where Miss Parker is sitting.
"What are you doing here?" she asks, grabbing his hand with one
of her own, and reaching into the stoller to pull back the
blanket with her other one. "I thought we decided that you . . . "
"No," he interrupts her. "*You* decided that. But in this past
day or two, I've come up with my own decision." He reaches into
the stoller and lifts the baby out, gently placing her in Miss
Parker's quivering arms.
"And what's that?"
"That we can't live like this. Serena and I cannot be apart from
you. No matter what, we have to stay together. We can keep each
other safe," he whispers, unbidden tears fighting to break free.
He takes a deep breath and leans in to kiss her, his lips
urgently tugging at hers. A little cry from the wiggling bundle
draws their attention.
"Sorry, Baby," Miss Parker says, smiling down at Serena.
"Mommy's just ignoring you. How are you, my love? I missed you
so much."
"We missed you, too," Jarod squeaks in a tiny, baby voice,
causing Miss Parker to laugh. They both coo over Serena and
don't even notice when Mulder and Scully slip out of the room.
Not that it matters at the moment. The only thing that matters
is that they're together again. All other worries can wait until later.
To be continued . . .