01/03/03
The Other Side of Despair Part4
"How is that, Grandma?" Sydney asked as she proudly pointed to her handiwork.
Margaret leaned over the table to see. "A little thinner, sweetheart. We want a nice flaky pie crust."
Parker smiled as she watched her daughter return to her chore. Sydney was kneeling on one of the kitchen chairs all her efforts concentrated on the rolling pin and pastry dough beneath her little hands.
Parker caught an amused glance from Emily across the table and the two women chuckled at the sight Sydney made. The child had flour in her hair and on her clothes and face. The pie dough she was working on was far from circular and had torn in a few spots. But Sydney was having a ball.
The past several days had been a wonderful experience, not only for the little girl but also for her mother and Uncle Sydney. Jarod's parents were warm, friendly people who had welcomed their granddaughter with love and enthusiasm. Parker had been worried that the Sullivans would resent the presence of two ex-Centre employees, especially the one who had been caretaker for their missing son for so long. But Parker's concerns had been groundless.
Margaret and Charles had quickly put them all at ease and welcomed them into the family. It was very apparent that the Jarod Parker had once known had inherited his kindness and compassion from his parents. The older couple was good to her and they positively doted on her daughter.
Major Charles had introduced little Sydney to the wonders of the ranch. The property spread across several hundred acres of grassland and forests where the Sullivans raised prize-winning horses. The Major quickly promised to find a pony just the right size for a little girl. In the meantime, her grandfather would saddle up his stallion each day and haul Sydney onto his lap for a ride. She would cling desperately to the saddle horn and beg her grandpa to go faster.
There always seemed to be new things for the little girl to see and do. In Sydney's young mind though, the coolest thing in the world was spending time with her Uncle Jack. Parker would watch the two of them together and wonder if her daughter could realize that Jack was such a close substitute for her father. The young man was literally Jarod's clone after all.
Jack was nearly halfway through his junior year at a nearby college. Technically he was majoring in business, but in reality he was perfecting his social skills with people his own age. Frat parties and football games were big parts of his life. Just yesterday, he had taken his young niece to a pep rally on campus. The two of them had come home filled with sugar and covered in confetti. Sydney and her Uncle Jack would giggle conspiratorially every time someone asked if they'd had fun.
The huge sprawling ranch house was a place of laughter and acceptance. Charles and Margaret had found an unusual family. Not only had they reunited with their son Jarod and daughter Emily, but they had also found two orphans in Jack and Ethan. The two younger men were now both an integral part of the Sullivan family. The Major was 'Dad' and they called Margaret 'Mom'. The older pair lovingly referred to them as 'the boys'.
An anxious Miss Parker and the gray-haired Sydney had merged into the extended family with ease.
Margaret had insisted that they stay through the holiday. Ethan and Emily had shown up at the ranch the day before and the house began to take on a loving chaos familiar to large families. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving Day so today the women were gathered in the kitchen to bake pies.
Parker and Emily patiently sat at the table and peeled an endless supply of apples while Margaret mixed pumpkin custard at the counter. Syd and the Major had disappeared into the den for a game of chess. Ethan had gone to get a little fresh air and exercise his favorite mare.
The back door opened with a crash as Jack returned from school.
"Look at my pie, Uncle Jack." Sydney exclaimed.
Jack dropped his backpack on the floor and leaned over the table to study the child's work seriously. "It looks a little crooked, Squirt." He said honestly as he flipped her gently under the chin.
The little girl shrugged. "It goes on the bottom, Uncle Jack." She said in exasperation. "No one will see that it's crooked."
Jack laughed. "We won't see it, but the poor thing is so lop-sided I'm sure it will taste crooked."
Sydney frowned. "Will my pie taste crooked, Grandma?"
"Nonsense." Margaret laughed. "Jack, behave yourself."
With a kiss on the top of Sydney's head, Jack reassured her. "Crooked or not, Squirt, I'm sure your pie will be delicious. I can't wait to try it."
The little girl's smile beamed with delight.
Emily gasped in false horror as her younger brother reached out and snatched a sliver of apple from the bowl in front of her. "Jonathan D. Sullivan, you are incorrigible."
Jack grinned evilly and flashed a mischievous wink at Miss Parker. He nonchalantly plucked another apple from Emily's bowl.
"Jack!" She squealed. "I've been peeling these damned things all afternoon. Stop it!"
Another piece of fruit disappeared into Jack's mouth. Sydney began to giggle at his antics.
Emily pointed at him menacingly. "If you try that again I swear I'm going to stab you with this paring knife."
With a chuckle, Jack continued to torment his sister. "You've got to catch me first." He laughed as he picked up his pack and hauled it on to his shoulder. "Professor Alton gave us a ton of work to do." He said abruptly as he kissed his mother on the cheek. "The bastard."
"That's not nice, Uncle Jack." Sydney scolded him.
"Easy for you to say, Squirt. You've been ditching school all week." Jack shot back, tickling the child's ribs for good measure. "I'm going to get started on the assignment so that it doesn't ruin my entire weekend. Call me for dinner."
As Jack headed out of the kitchen, his hand flashed past Emily's face and he grabbed a handful of apple slices from the bowl at her elbow.
"Jack!" She yelled.
He wagged his eyebrows in amusement and purred, "Catch me if you can." Jack dashed out of the room laughing as the apple Emily had in her hand flew at him.
As the laughter in the room faded, Margaret noticed the far away look on Miss Parker's face.
"What are you thinking, Miss Parker?" The older woman asked.
Parker smiled sadly. "Jarod used to torment me like that." She said softly. "I would get so furious with him." Parker remembered.
Sydney climbed down from her chair and moved to her mother's side. "Did Daddy do silly things a lot, Momma?" She asked curiously, leaning against Parker's thigh.
"Not a lot, baby." Parker answered with a sigh. "Just often enough to infuriate me."
"What kinds of things did my brother do to irritate you?" Emily asked with an inquisitive smile.
Parker patted her daughter's head affectionately before returning her attention to the fruit in her hand. "Well," Parker said in an exasperated tone. "He insisted upon calling my house at three o'clock in the morning." Parker's eye's softened with the memories of her old friend. "And there were packages he would send in the mail."
"Packages?" Sydney asked. "Like presents?"
"Sometimes they were presents." Parker chuckled. "Sometimes they were not. He once mailed me a dead bird."
"Gross." The little girl wrinkled her nose.
"There was one box that he had rigged up with a small explosive. Blew up in a ball of smoke right in my office." Parker shook her head.
"Sounds dangerous." Emily commented.
"No." Parker said confidently. "But it startled me badly. Made my office smell like sulfur for a week."
Margaret stood against the counter, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "I always think of Jarod as being so different from our Jack. It's difficult to imagine him being so," The woman paused as she struggled for the proper word. "Fun loving."
Parker dropped her knife in to the bowl on top of the last of the apples. She stared in to space for several long moments before she replied. "Jarod had a real zest for life. Everything was a wonder to him and he had a unique way of sharing that wonder with those of us who knew him." Parker gazed forlornly at her hands, held tightly in her lap as she went on. "I never realized it at the time. I missed him terribly when those late night phone calls stopped coming."
Margaret crossed the room, crouched in front of Parker and laid one hand over Parker's tenderly. "What happened, Miss Parker?" She asked. "What changed him?"
"I'm afraid, I did." Parker said as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I took his innocence for granted. I let The Centre beat the joy right out of him."
"Don't be sad, Momma." Sydney whimpered, throwing her arms around her mother's waist.
Parker sniffed briefly and then smiled encouragingly as she pulled Sydney into her lap. "I'm not sad, darling." She said. "I'm just sorry to have hurt your daddy the way I did." Parker squeezed her child tightly. "But I would do it again if given the choice. Because I got you in the bargain."
"You always got the better end of every deal, didn't you?"
The icy voice coming from the doorway surprised all three women, making them jump. Jarod stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. With one hand he held the edge of the swinging door, in the other he carried a briefcase. His eyes glittered frostily as he took in the domestic scene surrounding the table.
"I've invited Sydney and her mother to stay for the weekend." Margaret said cheerfully.
Jarod grunted.
"We've been having a lovely time during their visit." The older woman added enthusiastically.
"I can see that." Jarod replied, in an empty voice. He stepped into the room and briskly crossed the floor to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. "Hello, Mother." Jarod said.
"Hello, dear." She answered.
Jarod repeated the gesture of greeting with his sister.
Sydney crawled back onto her chair and said, "Look at my pie, Daddy."
Jarod frowned in displeasure at the little girl and finally dragged his eyes to the pastry lying flat on the table.
"It's crooked." He said bluntly. Turning to his mother Jarod said brusquely, "I'll be in the study." A moment later he was gone.
Parker's heart twisted as she recognized the dejected look on her daughter's face. Sydney sighed forlornly then straightened to lift her chin bravely. "So what if it's crooked?" She said sternly. "Uncle Jack will like it anyway."
Parker cupped her little girl's chin in her palm. "I will like it. And Uncle Sydney will like it too."
"And your Grandpa will like it." Margaret chimed in. "But that's not saying much." She added with a sigh. "I swear the Major will eat anything that isn't nailed down. The man actually likes calamari." She said with exaggerated annoyance.
"What's that?" Sydney asked.
Margaret leaned toward her granddaughter ominously and whispered in playful dismay, "Tentacles. Fried squid tentacles."
Sydney's eyes grew wide with disbelief. She glanced furtively at Parker. The girl obvious thought her grandmother was teasing her.
Parker nodded. "It's true. Fried squid tentacles." The look of disgust and dismay that ran across little Sydney's face was so comical that the three women couldn't help but burst into laughter.
End Part4
The Other Side of Despair Part4
"How is that, Grandma?" Sydney asked as she proudly pointed to her handiwork.
Margaret leaned over the table to see. "A little thinner, sweetheart. We want a nice flaky pie crust."
Parker smiled as she watched her daughter return to her chore. Sydney was kneeling on one of the kitchen chairs all her efforts concentrated on the rolling pin and pastry dough beneath her little hands.
Parker caught an amused glance from Emily across the table and the two women chuckled at the sight Sydney made. The child had flour in her hair and on her clothes and face. The pie dough she was working on was far from circular and had torn in a few spots. But Sydney was having a ball.
The past several days had been a wonderful experience, not only for the little girl but also for her mother and Uncle Sydney. Jarod's parents were warm, friendly people who had welcomed their granddaughter with love and enthusiasm. Parker had been worried that the Sullivans would resent the presence of two ex-Centre employees, especially the one who had been caretaker for their missing son for so long. But Parker's concerns had been groundless.
Margaret and Charles had quickly put them all at ease and welcomed them into the family. It was very apparent that the Jarod Parker had once known had inherited his kindness and compassion from his parents. The older couple was good to her and they positively doted on her daughter.
Major Charles had introduced little Sydney to the wonders of the ranch. The property spread across several hundred acres of grassland and forests where the Sullivans raised prize-winning horses. The Major quickly promised to find a pony just the right size for a little girl. In the meantime, her grandfather would saddle up his stallion each day and haul Sydney onto his lap for a ride. She would cling desperately to the saddle horn and beg her grandpa to go faster.
There always seemed to be new things for the little girl to see and do. In Sydney's young mind though, the coolest thing in the world was spending time with her Uncle Jack. Parker would watch the two of them together and wonder if her daughter could realize that Jack was such a close substitute for her father. The young man was literally Jarod's clone after all.
Jack was nearly halfway through his junior year at a nearby college. Technically he was majoring in business, but in reality he was perfecting his social skills with people his own age. Frat parties and football games were big parts of his life. Just yesterday, he had taken his young niece to a pep rally on campus. The two of them had come home filled with sugar and covered in confetti. Sydney and her Uncle Jack would giggle conspiratorially every time someone asked if they'd had fun.
The huge sprawling ranch house was a place of laughter and acceptance. Charles and Margaret had found an unusual family. Not only had they reunited with their son Jarod and daughter Emily, but they had also found two orphans in Jack and Ethan. The two younger men were now both an integral part of the Sullivan family. The Major was 'Dad' and they called Margaret 'Mom'. The older pair lovingly referred to them as 'the boys'.
An anxious Miss Parker and the gray-haired Sydney had merged into the extended family with ease.
Margaret had insisted that they stay through the holiday. Ethan and Emily had shown up at the ranch the day before and the house began to take on a loving chaos familiar to large families. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving Day so today the women were gathered in the kitchen to bake pies.
Parker and Emily patiently sat at the table and peeled an endless supply of apples while Margaret mixed pumpkin custard at the counter. Syd and the Major had disappeared into the den for a game of chess. Ethan had gone to get a little fresh air and exercise his favorite mare.
The back door opened with a crash as Jack returned from school.
"Look at my pie, Uncle Jack." Sydney exclaimed.
Jack dropped his backpack on the floor and leaned over the table to study the child's work seriously. "It looks a little crooked, Squirt." He said honestly as he flipped her gently under the chin.
The little girl shrugged. "It goes on the bottom, Uncle Jack." She said in exasperation. "No one will see that it's crooked."
Jack laughed. "We won't see it, but the poor thing is so lop-sided I'm sure it will taste crooked."
Sydney frowned. "Will my pie taste crooked, Grandma?"
"Nonsense." Margaret laughed. "Jack, behave yourself."
With a kiss on the top of Sydney's head, Jack reassured her. "Crooked or not, Squirt, I'm sure your pie will be delicious. I can't wait to try it."
The little girl's smile beamed with delight.
Emily gasped in false horror as her younger brother reached out and snatched a sliver of apple from the bowl in front of her. "Jonathan D. Sullivan, you are incorrigible."
Jack grinned evilly and flashed a mischievous wink at Miss Parker. He nonchalantly plucked another apple from Emily's bowl.
"Jack!" She squealed. "I've been peeling these damned things all afternoon. Stop it!"
Another piece of fruit disappeared into Jack's mouth. Sydney began to giggle at his antics.
Emily pointed at him menacingly. "If you try that again I swear I'm going to stab you with this paring knife."
With a chuckle, Jack continued to torment his sister. "You've got to catch me first." He laughed as he picked up his pack and hauled it on to his shoulder. "Professor Alton gave us a ton of work to do." He said abruptly as he kissed his mother on the cheek. "The bastard."
"That's not nice, Uncle Jack." Sydney scolded him.
"Easy for you to say, Squirt. You've been ditching school all week." Jack shot back, tickling the child's ribs for good measure. "I'm going to get started on the assignment so that it doesn't ruin my entire weekend. Call me for dinner."
As Jack headed out of the kitchen, his hand flashed past Emily's face and he grabbed a handful of apple slices from the bowl at her elbow.
"Jack!" She yelled.
He wagged his eyebrows in amusement and purred, "Catch me if you can." Jack dashed out of the room laughing as the apple Emily had in her hand flew at him.
As the laughter in the room faded, Margaret noticed the far away look on Miss Parker's face.
"What are you thinking, Miss Parker?" The older woman asked.
Parker smiled sadly. "Jarod used to torment me like that." She said softly. "I would get so furious with him." Parker remembered.
Sydney climbed down from her chair and moved to her mother's side. "Did Daddy do silly things a lot, Momma?" She asked curiously, leaning against Parker's thigh.
"Not a lot, baby." Parker answered with a sigh. "Just often enough to infuriate me."
"What kinds of things did my brother do to irritate you?" Emily asked with an inquisitive smile.
Parker patted her daughter's head affectionately before returning her attention to the fruit in her hand. "Well," Parker said in an exasperated tone. "He insisted upon calling my house at three o'clock in the morning." Parker's eye's softened with the memories of her old friend. "And there were packages he would send in the mail."
"Packages?" Sydney asked. "Like presents?"
"Sometimes they were presents." Parker chuckled. "Sometimes they were not. He once mailed me a dead bird."
"Gross." The little girl wrinkled her nose.
"There was one box that he had rigged up with a small explosive. Blew up in a ball of smoke right in my office." Parker shook her head.
"Sounds dangerous." Emily commented.
"No." Parker said confidently. "But it startled me badly. Made my office smell like sulfur for a week."
Margaret stood against the counter, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "I always think of Jarod as being so different from our Jack. It's difficult to imagine him being so," The woman paused as she struggled for the proper word. "Fun loving."
Parker dropped her knife in to the bowl on top of the last of the apples. She stared in to space for several long moments before she replied. "Jarod had a real zest for life. Everything was a wonder to him and he had a unique way of sharing that wonder with those of us who knew him." Parker gazed forlornly at her hands, held tightly in her lap as she went on. "I never realized it at the time. I missed him terribly when those late night phone calls stopped coming."
Margaret crossed the room, crouched in front of Parker and laid one hand over Parker's tenderly. "What happened, Miss Parker?" She asked. "What changed him?"
"I'm afraid, I did." Parker said as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I took his innocence for granted. I let The Centre beat the joy right out of him."
"Don't be sad, Momma." Sydney whimpered, throwing her arms around her mother's waist.
Parker sniffed briefly and then smiled encouragingly as she pulled Sydney into her lap. "I'm not sad, darling." She said. "I'm just sorry to have hurt your daddy the way I did." Parker squeezed her child tightly. "But I would do it again if given the choice. Because I got you in the bargain."
"You always got the better end of every deal, didn't you?"
The icy voice coming from the doorway surprised all three women, making them jump. Jarod stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. With one hand he held the edge of the swinging door, in the other he carried a briefcase. His eyes glittered frostily as he took in the domestic scene surrounding the table.
"I've invited Sydney and her mother to stay for the weekend." Margaret said cheerfully.
Jarod grunted.
"We've been having a lovely time during their visit." The older woman added enthusiastically.
"I can see that." Jarod replied, in an empty voice. He stepped into the room and briskly crossed the floor to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. "Hello, Mother." Jarod said.
"Hello, dear." She answered.
Jarod repeated the gesture of greeting with his sister.
Sydney crawled back onto her chair and said, "Look at my pie, Daddy."
Jarod frowned in displeasure at the little girl and finally dragged his eyes to the pastry lying flat on the table.
"It's crooked." He said bluntly. Turning to his mother Jarod said brusquely, "I'll be in the study." A moment later he was gone.
Parker's heart twisted as she recognized the dejected look on her daughter's face. Sydney sighed forlornly then straightened to lift her chin bravely. "So what if it's crooked?" She said sternly. "Uncle Jack will like it anyway."
Parker cupped her little girl's chin in her palm. "I will like it. And Uncle Sydney will like it too."
"And your Grandpa will like it." Margaret chimed in. "But that's not saying much." She added with a sigh. "I swear the Major will eat anything that isn't nailed down. The man actually likes calamari." She said with exaggerated annoyance.
"What's that?" Sydney asked.
Margaret leaned toward her granddaughter ominously and whispered in playful dismay, "Tentacles. Fried squid tentacles."
Sydney's eyes grew wide with disbelief. She glanced furtively at Parker. The girl obvious thought her grandmother was teasing her.
Parker nodded. "It's true. Fried squid tentacles." The look of disgust and dismay that ran across little Sydney's face was so comical that the three women couldn't help but burst into laughter.
End Part4