Disclaimer:  The characters are not my own, I'm only borrowing them to put them into situations of my own imagining.

Finding Family

Part Ten:  Family Tree

Rating: G

Category: S

Timeline: Sometime in the middle of the series

Spoilers: None

Keywords: MPJF, JOF

Summary:  Miss Parker accidentally shoots Jarod, which forces her to confront her feelings towards him.  Meanwhile, a seriously injured Jarod has to learn to trust someone to help him and finds out a little about his family history.

Houston, Texas, Friday Morning

Emily woke to bright sunlight filling the bedroom.  She had gone to bed late and had lain awake for several hours unable to stop her mind from going around in circles over Jarod.  The short conversation she had had with her mother last night had only served to heighten her curiosity.  Emily had begun to question her mother, but once she mentioned having met a man named Jarod, her mother refused to talk about the family over the phone anymore.  Her mother informed Emily that she would drive down from Austin in the morning and promptly hung up on her.

Stretching, Emily sat up from the pallet she had fixed on the floor and looked over at the large bed where she expected to see the object of her curiosity still asleep and recovering.  But to her surprise the injured man was no where in sight.  Glancing at the clock, she was additionally surprised to see it was after eight.  The baby usually woke her up by seven, but she hadn't heard a thing.  Listening now, she faintly heard the sound of the television in the front room.  Quickly pulling her bathrobe around her shoulders, she padded quietly out of the room and through the kitchen to the front of the house.

Standing quietly in the doorway, she saw Jarod and both children sitting on the couch watching Barney.  The baby, Will, sat in his lap teething happily on a piece of bagel with Jarod's good left arm wrapped loosely around him.  Kimie lay curled up next to him with her head on his right leg and her arms wrapped around her stuffed Barney doll.  Emily smiled at the rapt expression on all their faces as they watched the children's program.  Unwilling to disturb them yet, she walked back into the kitchen and quietly began making coffee and preparing breakfast.

Jarod was amused by the program unlike your average adult.  The catchy children's tunes were all new to him and he enjoyed the little girl's attempts to sing along.  The smell of coffee made him realize that Emily had gotten up and he was surprised she hadn't come to find them.  He considered getting up, but was enjoying the children cuddled up to him too much.  Kimie startled him by suddenly sitting up.  Jarod thought she was going to run to her mother, but instead she stood on the couch next to him and threw a small arm around his neck and leaned against his shoulder singing, "I love you, You love me, We're a happy family…."  Pain shot through his arm but he channeled the sensation away, effectively ignoring the pain and instead focusing on the sweet girl and the cuddly infant.

After pulling on a simple dress, Emily found the coffee finished brewing and poured two mugs, taking a grateful sip of hers then setting it down again.  She came into the living room carrying a mug of coffee for Jarod and found him with a big stupid grin on his face as the little girl sang and the baby gurgled.  She couldn't help but grin at them with a brilliant smile of her own.  The baby promptly dropped his bagel and reached his chubby arms towards her, "Mamamam!"  Emily set the mug on the side table and scooped the child up in her arms.  Noticing the girl leaning on Jarod, she reached out a hand to the little girl too and pulled her down off the couch.

"Honey, Mr. Jarod has an owie remember?  Let's leave him alone, okay?"

Jarod shook his head at her, "No, its alright.  I can't remember ever having a lovelier morning," and his eyes sparkled with genuine delight.

"I do this every morning and I have to admit to getting a little tired of the I Love You song, but when I see it through your eyes I see how lucky I am," she admitted.  "Thanks for getting up with the kids.  I stayed up too late last night."

"I heard the baby fuss and then Kimie talking to him.  You looked so peaceful in your sleep that I wanted to make it up to you for everything you've done to help me," replied Jarod.

"I a big helper too," Kimie chimed in proudly.

"She knew where to get the bagel for the baby and how to turn on the TV," explained Jarod reaching out to tousle the little girl's hair.  "Thanks for sharing your family with me," he smiled back at Emily.

"Well, I think I'm going to share a lot more," she said.  "My mother is coming for a visit.  I bet you'd like to clean up and change before she gets here."

Jarod stood up and looked worried, "I should probably leave."

"No way," Emily replied sternly, "I want you to meet her.  I think you'll find it interesting," she said cryptically.

Jarod looked down at himself.  He was still wearing the same pair of gray sweatpants she had dressed him after removing his blood stained clothes.  He had no shirt on, just the bandages on his right shoulder, and they were in need of changing as well.  He ran his left hand through his greasy hair and shrugged at her sheepishly, "I guess I could at least clean up before I go."

"Your clothes are all washed," Emily continued, "Let me get you a fresh towel and you can take a shower, and then I'll change your dressing."

Jarod nodded in agreement, then leaned down to pick up the coffee mug, "But first a few sips of this.  It smells great."  He took a sip and smiled again at her, "Some kind of nut?"

"It's Kona macadamia nut flavored coffee from Hawaii.  My brother is stationed there at Hickam Air Force base," she explained and began leading the way back to the master bathroom.

Jarod followed still sipping the hot coffee, "I feel a lot better today.  I don't know how to thank you for all your help.  I'm sure I would be feeling a lot worse by now if you hadn't helped me."

Emily shrugged as she turned to look at him, "What are friends for?"  Reaching into the linen closet she grabbed a large blue towel and handed it to him, "Here, use all the hot water you want.  I'm going to feed the kids breakfast while you wash up.  Call me when you want me to put on the new bandages, okay?"

Jarod nodded gratefully as she walked back to the kitchen with the kids.  After using the toilet, he adjusted the water and stepped into the hot shower.  At first he just stood there letting it pound on his neck musing on the small piece of sweet family life he had just gotten to experience.  'I have to find my family soon,' he thought to himself, 'We've missed out on so many lovely, everyday moments already.'  But as the water seeped through the gauze bandage, his wounds began to sting, so he decided to get on with using the soap.  It felt good to wash his hair although it was hard to use his right hand and he preferred to hold it folded to his chest to keep from pulling the stitches too much.  He turned sideways in the shower to wash his face, keeping his shoulder out of the water now as it was really starting to smart.  He felt the stubble of his beard and realized he needed to ask for a razor when she came back.

Emily poured a bowl of cereal for Kimie and sat down with her while she nursed the baby.  She was relieved to see Jarod was feeling and looking so much better.  The color of his skin wasn't so pale and his eyes were so much clearer.  Something about the way his dark brown eyes sparkled when he grinned reminded her of her brother.  She wouldn't have thought of it except she had just mentioned him for having sent the coffee.  Suddenly, she sat straight up in the chair and interrupted the baby's contented nursing.  Unceremoniously, she set the child on the floor and dashed to the bookshelf in the living room.  Quickly she fluttered her fingers along the books along the bottom shelf where a number of photo albums were shelved.  Pulling out an old brown leather album she rushed back to the table and plopped it open as she flipped through the pages.  It was an album she had helped her mother organize just before Kim was born when she was really interested in the family tree.  There was a picture of a family reunion that she wanted to find, and then the book fell open to it.  She leaned over scrutinizing all the faces.  It was from June of 1950, when the family had gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her great-grandparents.  The elderly couple was seated in the center then each of their four children and spouses were standing in the first row behind them.  Clustered in groups behind were each of their children.  Her mother stood to the left next to her older sister, but instead of marveling at how young her mother looked like she usually did, she focused on one of her mother's uncles.  Emily's mouth fell open in amazement.  The tall man had dark hair and a thick dark mustache, but the resemblance to Jarod was remarkable.  She wondered that she hadn't made the connection before.  She was so excited she thought about interrupting his shower to show the picture to him.  But then she remembered how sad he had been telling about being taken from his family.  She didn't want to get his hopes up with the idea that he may have accidentally found part of his family.  The resemblance could be just coincidence.  Emily studied the picture again and grinned rather wickedly, then she closed the book and set it on the buffet along the wall.  She was going to get her mother back for having been so mysterious the night before.  Why couldn't she talk over the phone?  She loved the idea of beating her mother to the punch.  She couldn't wait for her mother to arrive and meet Jarod, but first she had to give him a little shave.  Emily scooped up the baby as he began to fuss and nursed him again anxious for Jarod to finish his shower.

Jarod toweled off and put on his freshly laundered pants.  He pulled off the bandage on the front of his shoulder and leaned closer to the mirror to study the wound.  He nodded appreciatively at the neat stitches that she had put in.  The area was still inflamed and discolored from bruising, but it showed signs of healing on the edges.  So long as he could keep it clean and uninfected it should heal without too much scaring.  He took another big swallow of coffee since it had cooled off by now and decided to get Emily to help him re-bandage the wound.  Walking back to the dining room, she was just finishing feeding the kids breakfast.  She looked at him with a funny expression at first but she quickly covered up by bustling around, serving him some cereal too and excusing herself to the children's rooms to change their diapers and clothes.  He contented himself with more coffee and the simple breakfast and decided she must be nervous about her mother coming to visit.

Leaving the kids in Kimie's bedroom playing with toys, and returning to the dining room, Emily patted Jarod's bare back and said, "Okay, your turn.  Let me get this old bandage off first."  She carefully pulled the tapes off his back and leaned down to look at the wound.

Her hands were warm and gentle and Jarod closed his eyes as he felt her brush his shoulder and arm.  It was a mother's touch, soothing and relaxing.  He felt her breath on his cheek as she leaned over to examine the front of his shoulder as well.  Opening his eyes, he turned his head and stared at her blue eyes just inches away.  A spark of electricity seemed to jump between them, and Emily jumped back in embarrassment.  'Whoa!' she thought, 'If I'm not careful, I could find myself attracted to this guy.'  She took a breath and put on her best doctor persona from her medical school days.  "It looks like it will heal nicely," she said aloud, "You should take some more antibiotics too.  Just sit there and I will be right back."

Jarod sat pondering what had just happened.  The connection he had felt between them was less interesting to him than her reaction to it.  It was like a veil had been pulled over her and she had become another person.  Almost the way he did when he did a pretend for a simulation.  The combination of the strong coffee, food and rest had finally cleared his head of the fever induced fog he'd been in for the last two days.  He remembered his first impression of the young mother when he had met her in the supermarket.  Her red hair had reminded him of his mother and her name was the same as his sister.  Could she be his sister with latent pretender abilities herself?  If so, he needed to find out for sure and protect her from discovery by the Centre.

Emily set down a bunch first aid supplies on the table interrupting his thoughts and he scrutinized her with an intense look.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable with his stare, Emily questioned, "What?"

Jarod decided to take a round about tack and softened his look as he asked, "Did you always want to be a doctor?"

She laughed lightly and picked up a gauze pad and the bottle of Betadine to wash his stitches.  "Hardly.  My mother always complained that I could never make up my mind.  I'd get really interested in a topic like insects or rocks or dinosaurs and read everything I could lay my hands on.  Then something else would be more interesting and I'd go off in another direction."  She worked deftly while she talked, using the conversation to distract him from the stinging wound.  "Even in college I had a hard time declaring a major.  I had a boyfriend who got me to try out for a college play my sophomore year.  He didn't make it on the cast, but I did.  I did six plays which were really fun and everyone said I was great.  There was about six months when I was determined to make it in Hollywood," she laughed again.  "Luckily, I came to my senses and went to medical school.  I switched to the MD/PhD program when I found I really enjoyed research.  There's a kind of thrill at figuring out the puzzle, especially when it's totally new.  You know that no one has ever done an experiment before just like yours.  It's like being an explorer, you know?"

Jarod nodded at her.  He did know that feeling.  He hated to admit it sometimes but he missed the challenge, yes, even the thrill of solving some of the sims he had done for the Centre.  He reached out his left hand and gripped her hand lightly, stopping her from applying antibiotic ointment with a Q-tip.  She looked at him questioningly.  "It sounds like you have natural pretender abilities like me," he observed quietly.

Emily shook her head, "Those home movies of yours showed that you have a mental ability that far exceeds the normal.  I'll admit to being smart, but I'm no genius."

"Your varied interests and acting abilities say otherwise," he reminded her.

"Well, now I'm a plain old stay-at-home Mom and I'm going to keep it that way," she countered.  "Here, hold this pad in place," and she moved her hand away from his to pick up a gauze pad and pressed it gently to his shoulder.  He obeyed, holding the pad with his left hand, while she cut and placed tape to hold it on his shoulder.  Then she began to repeat the process of cleaning and bandaging the smaller wound on the back of his shoulder.  "It was lucky the bullet went right through and didn't lodge in your shoulder, another quarter inch and it would have broken your shoulder bone too," she told him.

Jarod sighed heavily as the scene replayed in his mind.  He knew Miss Parker had shot him by accident but he still resented the fact that she had her gun drawn at all.  There had been so many times when he thought he had gotten through to her how misguided her loyalties to her father and the Centre were.  Especially last year after Thomas's death, he thought she would finally leave the Centre too.  But she seemed all the more determined to remain there and exact some kind of revenge for his death.  Then last fall when Mr. Fenegor blamed his own father for her mother's death, she had strengthened the icy barrier between them that had started to thaw.  Now she wanted to get revenge for her death as well.  Well, he had to quite simply find his father first, if he was still alive.  Jarod had found an old memo in the Centre's archives sent by Mr. Raines, no less, that implied that an obstacle to complete complete authority over the Pretender project had been neutralized.  He knew Centre-speak well enough to understand that this meant someone had been killed to silence them.  He feared it was his own father.  He sighed again.  He might never get to know his real father, but he knew his surrogate father very well.  He should call Sydney and let him know he was alright.  He knew Sydney would be worried about him and it wasn't fair to let him fret.  Jarod had long since forgiven Sydney realizing that they were both pawns in the Centre's game.  If it hadn't been for Sydney, his childhood could have been a real hell under Mr. Raines like the one that his murdered brother Kyle had endured.  Once again Jarod sighed.

"I'm sorry.  I'll try to be more gentle.  I'm almost finished here," Emily said misunderstanding all his sighs.

"No, no, it's not you," answered Jarod.  "I'm thinking about all my family.  I, ah, need to ask you something, um…" he floundered unsure whether to ask her straight out if she could be his sister.  "Do you have a photograph of your mother?" he finally decided to ask.

"Sure, but, oh" Emily looked at her watch, "She'll be here any minute and you can see her in person."  She cut a last piece of tape and patted it gently on his back.  "Come in the master bathroom, I'll help you shave."

"Shave?" Jarod echoed.

"Yeah, we don't want my mother thinking I go around picking up scruffy homeless people all the time," Emily joked.

They peeked in at the kids to make sure they were still happily playing.  Kimie was stacking large cardboard blocks around some stuffed animals and baby Will was sitting in front of a toy bin tasting all sorts of plastic toys that had he pulled out.  As they walked to the back master bedroom and bath, Jarod was suddenly curious and asked, "Where's their father?"

"My husband, Eric, is on a business trip for two weeks.  He works for Exxon as a field exploration geologist.  Those first three days he was gone were the hardest, but now I'm in the rhythm of the day.  Well, until we brought you home," she smiled wryly at him.  "I'm afraid Eric would never have approved of caring for you.  He'd have been jealous and overprotective.  I'll tell him about you after you leave."

"I don't blame him a bit," Jarod replied feeling jealous himself of a man he'd never met and the wonderful family that he had.

Emily opened the cabinet under the sink and got out a can of shaving cream and pulled a new disposable razor from its package.  "From the clumsy way you used the spoon, I'm guessing you're right handed, right?"  Jarod nodded.  She folded the toilet seat lid down and gestured magnanimously, "Have a seat at my barbershop."  He sat and she applied the shaving cream to his cheeks, "Do you trust me?" she asked.

He gazed up at her frank, open face and pretty blue eyes, "Implicitly."

"Right, then, you keep the mustache."

Jarod shrugged.  He didn't really care.  He had worn his hair many different ways depending on the impression he wanted to make in a pretend.  If she had a preference, he was happy to oblige.

Emily quickly slid the razor around, gently tilting his head back and forth to get the angle just right.  She stepped back with a big smile, "Well, you clean up pretty nice.  Hmmm, how about a hair cut too?"

Jarod nodded mutely as she pulled a comb and a pair of scissors out of the vanity drawer.  He closed his eyes as she combed and lifted his hair with her hands, listening to the sound of the snipping.  The rhythmical sound and the gentle pulling was soothing and relaxing.  He didn't want to open them as he felt her step away.  He heard a snap as a plug went into the electrical outlet and felt the blast of hot hair from a blow dryer as she stepped back and styled his still damp hair.  He allowed himself to fall into a mild meditative state as he released his worries and existed only in the moment.  All too soon, she was done and he took a deep breath and stretched briefly before opening his eyes.  He looked up at her looking down at him with her mouth open in amazement.

Jarod stood up and looked in the mirror.  He looked quite handsome, although a little old fashioned.  His hair was parted down the middle and cut short over his ears, and the mustache curved down on either side of his mouth.  He smiled at himself and then over at Emily.  She had a mysterious smile on her own face in return as she stared at him.  It was his turn to ask quizzically, "What?"

"You need a shirt," she announced.  She turned around and walked to the laundry room where his duffel lay on the floor and all his clothes were folded in a stack on the laundry table.  She lifted a couple of black tee-shirts off the top of the stack, shaking her head, "It'll hurt your shoulder too much to get into these."  She pulled a simple white button-down dress shirt out of the middle.  "It's not ironed, but it will be the easiest to put on."  Holding it open for him, she helped him pull the shirt on trying to avoid straining his shoulder.  He tried to button two of the buttons, but she stepped up and finished the rest and even tucked his shirt in like she was dressing one of her children.

For his part, Jarod stood there feeling like a small child himself, still mildly hypnotized by all the ministrations she had applied to him to transform him from a fugitive to a respectable person.  "I should leave and …" he started to say when the door bell rang.

Emily grinned, "Too late.  You can't leave that easily.  Come on.  I want you to meet my mom."

As they walked toward the living room, a small blur raced passed them and flung open the door to the morning sunshine, "Nanna!" Kimie cried joyfully as she threw herself in an older woman's arms.  The woman leaned over to hug and scoop up the little girl, her graying red hair falling down around her face.  As she stood up, Jarod stared at her not even realizing he was holding his breath.

As she made eye contact with Jarod, the woman gasped, "You look just like him!"

Jarod was flabbergasted.  Having never grown up in an extended family, he had never looked like anyone.  He was stunned to have the line, usually given to Miss Parker because of the resemblance she had to her mother, used to describe him.  "Who?" he managed to choke out.

She stepped into the room with the little girl in her arms and reached out a hand to shake his hand.  "You look just like my Uncle Theron, of course, back when he was younger."

Jarod could only stare at her as his heart dropped in heavy disappointment.  She wasn't his mother.  She had a mild resemblance, but she wasn't his mother.  His disappointment was so bitter.  He didn't realize he had even let his hopes get so high.  He didn't even register her words.

Emily stepped between them as Jarod failed to take her mother's offered hand.  "Mother, this is Jarod.  Jarod, this is my mother, Mary Fisher."

Jarod struggled to compose himself as he took a ragged breath trying not to cry and shook Mary's hand.

Emily touched his arm getting his attention.  His crestfallen face was heartbreaking to see.  "I'm sorry.  I should have shown you this right away.  I wanted it to be a surprise."  He looked at her in expectation as she pulled him gently out of the room.  "Mom, come see this too."  The older woman set down her grand-daughter and followed.

Emily led the way to the dining room where the innocent looking photo album lay on the buffet.  Quickly she flipped it open to the family reunion picture from nearly fifty years ago.  "Sit down," she said to Jarod pulling a chair out for him, "Doctor's orders."

He sat down numbly and stared at the picture she pushed in front of him, her finger pointing to a man with his hair parted down the middle, short above the ears and a mustache dropping down on either side of his mouth.  "Who?  What?  When?" he mumbled in amazement.  He looked up at Emily for an explanation.

"I remembered this photo this morning while you were in the shower, but I wasn't sure if the resemblance was real until after I cut your hair," she began.  "This photo was taken in 1950 at my great-grandparents 50th wedding anniversary," she pointed to the people as she spoke.  "These are their four children and their spouses.  This is my grandma and grandpa and this is my mother and her…"

But she didn't finish as he gasped in astonishment, "My mother!"  He looked up at the two women smiling down at him.

The older woman leaned down and gave him a hug, "I'm your Aunt Mary," she announced.

"I guess that makes us cousins," Emily grinned at him.  "Welcome to the family."

"But why do I look like him?" asked Jarod, pointing to the man who could have been his twin.

"He's your other grandfather," Mary said reluctantly.

"Other grandfather?" Jarod repeated.

Her finger pointed to a young man standing behind his grandfather wearing an Air Force uniform.  "This is your Dad."

"Major Charles," he breathed eagerly bending to look closer at the photo.

"Actually, he was a Captain then.  This is going to be a long story.  Emily, dear, would you bring us all some coffee.  I've been driving since 6AM this morning.  I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you last night when you called, but I promised that I would never talk about Jarod on the phone."

"Promised who?" demanded Jarod.

"Your father, of course," Mary replied.

"Then he is still alive?" Jarod asked his voice full of hope.

"Yes, and he's worried about you.  He's been searching for you and your mother for years.  I thought he and my sister had died in a plane crash years ago, but he contacted me about two years ago.  He said something had happened to you the year before and that you might try to contact me.  It was most frustrating as he didn't explain much.  Just made me promise never to talk about his family over the phone or on the internet and then asked that if my sister Margaret or if you, Jarod, should ever contact me to let him know."

"Mother!  You never told me," exclaimed Emily in exasperation as she returned to the room with the coffee pot in one hand and the fingers of the other hand looped through the handles of three coffee cups.

"You were busy with Kim and pregnant with Will and so happy in your own life that I didn't want to burden you with sad family memories," Mary explained to her daughter.

"Wait, wait," exclaimed Jarod in turn, "You can contact him?"

"After a fashion.  I post a personal ad in the Chicago Sun Times and he'll get back with me when he can," she replied.

Jarod's mind was whirling as he sorted out all the new information.  "If you and my mother, Margaret, are sisters," he started.  Mary nodded at him to continue.  "Then this picture of the generations of your family suggests that Charles was your cousin."  She nodded again.  "But cousins aren't allowed to marry," he protested.

Mary took a sip of her coffee and looked straight in his dark brown eyes, trying to get a feel for his character and strength and whether he could handle the information she was about to tell him, "As I said, it's a long story…"

To Be Continued…I plan to get back to Parker again soon, I promise.  The characters just seem to be taking me on a little ride down memory lane…