Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I'm just borrowing them. I don't get paid for these stories; this is purely for entertainment purposes.
Author: Kimmi
Feedback: Yes please.
Rating: PG13
Authors note: I know this part took ages to post. I'm so sorry; hopefully the next parts won't take so long to post.
Summary: Jarod finds someone close to both his and Miss Parker's mothers respectively. Mr. Lyle and Chrissie have a… eventful yet uneventful dinner to discuss their feelings. And Chrissie gets enough money for her mothers operation but will she be able to get home to her family?
Strange Things Happen
Part 4
Miss Parker walked into the Centre determined not to show how upset she was feeling. She'd spent the rest of the weekend wondering where Jarod was, what he was doing and if he'd had a chance to speak to his girlfriend. She walked into the SIM lab Sydney was working in and sat down. Broots was in there as well. Broots was watching as Sydney worked with a pair of twins.
"Where are Lyle… and Chrissie?" She looked around the room looking for them. Broots shrugged.
"Chrissie called in earlier and said she was going to be late. As for Lyle I have no idea." Broots hadn't taken his eyes off the twins. He was finding it amazing. Sydney was working with one but the other seemed to be doing the exact same thing as the other. Sydney finished up what he was doing and sent the twins away.
"Miss Parker, are you alright? You seem a bit distracted this morning." Miss Parker shrugged.
"It's nothing Syd. I just didn't get a good night sleep last night." Chrissie walked in and she had bags under her eyes.
"Join the club." Chrissie walked over to where Broots was sitting and sat down next to him. She put her arm on his shoulder and buried her head.
"What's wrong? Why are you so tired? It's not a female thing that I should just mind my own business about is it?" Chrissie laughed against his shoulder.
"No Broots. It's just that I've got a very noisy house guest. He snores kinda loud and I couldn't sleep. And he's sleeping two rooms away." Lyle walked in while she was speaking.
"A house guest you say? Is your boyfriend staying with you?" Chrissie looked up at Lyle before answering his question.
"I wish. He's not as loud as this person." She rested her head on Broots' shoulder again. Broots was confused.
"Who is it that's staying with you?" Chrissie thought about the question. Mr. Parker had told her that no one, not even Lyle and Parker, were to find out about him being there.
"It's just an old friend. So what are we doing today?" She sat up straight trying to wake herself up.
"Well unless we get a hit on Wonder Boy, then we'll be staying here looking for him. Why?" Chrissie stood up and walked over to Miss Parker.
"I've got good news. You know how we got paid more money for getting stuck in the blizzard? Well my sister called me and told me that after the end of this week we'll have enough money for mamma's operation. She's been doing some odd jobs and putting our money together there's enough. I'm leaving. I've just got to give my weeks notice to Mr. Raines." Miss Parker smiled. She was happy for her. She knew how desperate she was to see her family and she didn't need to be around the Centre for too long.
"Congratulations. I'm happy for you." Chrissie nodded and smiled. Lyle stood up and was about to leave the room. He turned around to face Chrissie but didn't actually look at her.
"Yeah congratulations, I'm so happy for you." Lyle snapped then turned around and walked out of the room. Chrissie looked down at the floor.
"What was that about?" Broots stared after Lyle totally dumbfounded. Chrissie shrugged and played dumb.
"I'll go see." Miss Parker stood up and found Lyle standing in the hall with his back against a wall. "What was that about?" Lyle stared at her and shrugged.
"I don't know what you mean." Lyle stared at her. Miss Parker threw her hands up in the air.
"I know you like her but you don't have to be a jerk. She's missed her family and now she's going to get to see them. You should be happy for her." Lyle laughed.
"I am happy for her. Listen you'd never understand so just leave it okay." Lyle walked away leaving Miss Parker to wonder what he meant.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Jarod was walking along a hospital corridor. The lead he'd had on his mother had led him to this spot. The last person who'd seen her was who he was going to see. It was apparently an old friend of his mother. He'd gotten sick and had been sent to the hospital. Jarod took a deep breath and opened the door. Lying in the bed was an older man. He had grey hair and a scar over his left eye. Jarod walked over to the bed and cleared his throat. The man looked up at him and clenched his hands into fists.
"Who are you? You're not from the Centre are you? Maggie told me you guys might come. I'm not telling you anything." Jarod's breath caught in his throat. This man definitely knew his mother.
"No sir, I'm not from the Centre… technically." The man raised his eyebrows. Jarod explained. "You see I was stolen from my parents and raised by the Centre. I ran away and now I'm searching for my family. I found my brother, but he died, I found my father, he's looking after my clone, I heard that you know my mother and judging from what you said you know her. Her name's Margaret." The man widened his eyes.
"Jarod, is that you?" Jarod gasped.
"Yes, I'm Jarod." The man sat up and pulled him into an embrace. "I haven't seen you since you were a baby. I wish I could get in contact with Maggie." Jarod was stunned.
"Why can't you get in contact with her? Why did you see me when I was a baby?" The man chuckled.
"I can't get in contact with her because she said it would be safer that way. And I saw you when you were a baby because I'm your godfather." Jarod caught his breath.
"What? I can't believe it. I came here looking for my mother, but at least I still found something." He hugged the man again. "I'm sorry. I don't even know your name." The man chuckled.
"That's ok. My name's Jackson." He put out his hand and Jarod shook it. "I'm sure you'd love to hear about your mother. Here have a seat. I'll tell you all about her." Jarod smiled and sat down.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chrissie walked out of Raines' office feeling drained. She'd explained again and again how she wanted to leave and he'd argued with her. He finally told her that he'd think about and if she was good then she could leave. She couldn't believe what an asshole he was being. And she wondered about what he meant by being good. She walked straight to Miss Parker's office. When she got there she knocked and waited to be let in.
"Raines is insane." Miss Parker looked up at her and smiled.
"Tell me something I didn't know. What's he done?" Chrissie scoffed.
"When he hired me he knew it was only for a short period of time, now he's telling me that I can't leave the Centre yet. He says he's going to think about it and I will be able to leave if I'm good." Miss Parker didn't like the sound of that.
"What do you think he means by that?" Chrissie shrugged.
"That's what I was hoping you could tell me." Miss Parker shook her head.
"We'll just have to see."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chrissie came home and found Mr. Parker asleep on the couch. She smiled and walked past him. She walked into the kitchen and started getting dinner ready. She was startled when she turned around and ran right into Mr. Parker.
"What are you cooking? It smells so good." Chrissie smiled.
"Pasta, my mother taught me how to make it. It's an old family recipe." She reached behind him and grabbed some sauce and put it in the mixture. "I hope you're hungry." Mr. Parker nodded.
"I'd really like to thank you for this. If there's anything I could help you with just name it." Chrissie thought about it then realised there was something he could do for her.
"Now that you mention it there is something you could do. You worked with Mr. Raines right?" Mr. Parker nodded. "Well he said that he has to think about letting me leave the Centre. He said if I'm good I can leave. What does he mean? What does he want me to do?" Mr. Parker laughed.
"He needs you to think he has total control over you. He's just playing mind games. If I were you I'd do something to prove that you are… committed to the Centre. Do something bold, something to get attention." Chrissie nodded. It made sense. Now all she had to do was find something that would do it.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Miss Parker walked into her house wanting nothing more than to see Jarod waiting for her. Unfortunately she had no such luck. She put her things on the table besides the door and went up stairs to get changed. When she came downstairs the phone rang. She walked over and picked it up.
"What?" She could hear only breathing for a moment.
"Can a person really change? If I changed would she want me?" It was Lyle and he sounded drunk.
"Lyle what's wrong with you? What are you talking about?" She heard him laughing.
"Answer the question. Do you think I could change?" Miss Parker sighed.
"Yes Lyle. I think you could. I didn't used to but I do now. Tell me what's wrong." Miss Parker considered going over to his house to sober him up.
"Nothing happened over the weekend." Miss Parker was confused.
"I didn't say anything happened over the weekend." Lyle burst out laughing.
"No, that's the problem. That supposedly nothing happened over the weekend and now she's leaving." Lyle hung up before she could say anything. She went to leave the house to go to him when her phone rang again. "Lyle stay put. I'm coming over."
"What are you talking about Miss Parker?" It was Jarod this time.
"Jarod, how are you? Did you, uh, talk to your girlfriend?" She hit herself in her head. She sounded too desperate.
"No not yet. I'd rather do it face to face and right now I'm not with her." Miss Parker felt relieved that he at least wasn't with her. "I went on to find my mother and I found my godfather. I have a godfather Miss Parker." Miss Parker smiled. They talked throughout the night and she forgot about Lyle.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lyle walked into the Centre with a huge hangover. He felt terrible. He hadn't meant to get so drunk. He walked into the old Sim lab and found only Chrissie in there. She was asleep. Lyle smiled and walked over to her. He was glad it was dark. He had a massive headache and the light wasn't helping. Chrissie moved her head and saw Lyle.
"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone came in. I didn't sleep at all last night. That house guest I told you about snores like crazy then goes into a coughing fit. I went in there like twenty times to try to help him." She put her head back on the table but she was still facing him.
"I know what you mean. Got a little bit drunk last night so I'm feeling the effects of it today." He smiled idly. He drew in a deep breath. The night before he had decided they needed to talk and he had decided that he would ask her over to his house to talk. "Chrissie I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner tonight… with me…alone." He looked at her and braced himself for rejection.
"I'm sorry no. I can't I…" Lyle cut her off.
"I should have known you wouldn't want to. Forget I even asked." He turned to go. Chrissie stood up.
"No Lyle you don't understand me. What I meant was I can't tonight. My house guest is cooking for me tonight. But I'm free tomorrow." Chrissie looked at him hopefully. She was afraid she'd blown her chance. Ever since the weekend she hadn't been able to get him off her mind. Lyle was thrilled.
"You mean it? Wow. Umm I'll cook and we really need to talk." Lyle composed himself, smiled at her and walked out of the room. Neither one of them were aware that they had an audience. Raines turned around and picked up his cell phone.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Broots was typing away at his computer when Miss Parker walked into the room. Chrissie, Lyle and Sydney were all already there. Miss Parker walked to Broots, placed a hand on his shoulder, and read the screen.
"What are you working on Broots?" Broots swallowed nervously. He both hated and loved when she did that.
"Well apparently Jarod was, uh, at our last location. He was seen with a woman with dark hair shacked up in some room by a house keeper. She had gone in his room in the middle of the night to find him and the said woman in a very, uh, compromising position. Unfortunately she didn't see the woman's face, it was buried in his chest, but it does give me some leads to where he might have gone." Miss Parker was nervous but hid it under her Ice Queen persona.
"Are you sure they didn't see her face?" Broots nodded. Chrissie butted in.
"This weekend, are you sure?" Broots nodded again. Chrissie felt really hurt. She had expected Jarod to be at her house when she had gotten back but he had gone off with some other woman. She felt terrible for what happened with her and Lyle and he had some other woman? She excused herself and took a walk around the beach outside.
"I wonder what the matter with her was." Broots shrugged then went back to typing. Miss Parker stared after Chrissie for a moment then got back to the conversation.
"Well Broots you, uh, keep looking and call me if you find anything." Broots nodded. She walked out of the room and went back to her office. Once in there she let out a sigh. She couldn't believe how close that had been. If any of them found out that she was the woman he was with then they'd all be in trouble.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Jarod had been talking with Jackson the whole day. He was totally drained from some of the things he'd told him. He found out that his mother had attempted to commit suicide twice when she couldn't find Jarod and Kyle and again when she learned of Kyle's death. Jackson wasn't even sure how she'd found out about Kyle's death but he knew that she had. Jarod wondered to himself if perhaps he wasn't the only one with contacts inside the Centre. Jarod sat in his dingy one bedroom flat he was staying in and picked up his cell phone. It was time for his weekly check in with the Lopez's. It was kind of a ritual for him. He dialled the number and waited for an answer.
"Hello this is the Lopez Residence. Rosa Lopez speaking, how may I help you?" Jarod smiled. He always thought Rosa's greeting was cute.
"Hi Rosa, its Jarod, how is everyone?" He heard Rosa squeal with delight.
"Hi Jarod, everyone's great. Mamma's getting her operation soon and Chrissie's coming home. I can't wait to see her. I've missed her so much." Jarod laughed.
"Well that's great. How are you doing in school?" Rosa told him all about how she'd come first in the 50m sprints. She told him about Marietta getting the lead in the school play playing Juliet, just like Chrissie had done and about Luis losing a tooth. After their chat Jarod bid her goodnight and told her to tell everybody else hello. He hung up the phone and decided to call Chris. He dialled her number and waited for her to answer. When she did Jarod could hear soft music in the background.
"Hello? Chris, what's going on? What's that I can hear?" He heard a distinctly male laugh echo through the phone.
"Jarod is that you?" She spoke in a hushed tone.
"Yeah it is. Have you got someone over there?" He felt a bit jealous although in reality he knew he didn't have the right to.
"Yeah I do. It's just a, uh… friend. He's staying with me for a while." Her voice was soft and he could tell she didn't want her "friend" to hear her.
"How long is this friend staying?" He could have sworn Rosa had told him that she was going home soon.
"For a while… listen Jarod, what do you want? I'm kind of busy." Chrissie put her hand over her mouth when she was talking, she didn't want Mr. Parker to hear anything.
"I just called to tell you… that I miss you." Chrissie sighed.
"Jarod I'm going to make this quick because I've got to go, but I know about your weekend with another woman. A maid came in your room in the middle of the night and saw you. Fortunately for her the maid didn't see her face. If she did I'd hunt her down myself. I've got to go. But I'll call you later to organise a meeting between us so we can talk." Jarod nodded. Chris hung up the phone with a loud click. Jarod sighed and hung up. She had the right to be upset with him. He definitely needed to talk to her. He sat back on his couch and thought about whom it might be who was staying with her.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chrissie walked back into the dining room and sat across from Mr. Parker. She picked up the photos of her family and stroked their faces. She sighed and looked up at Mr. Parker.
"All right, I'll do whatever you want. Please just don't hurt them." A wide smile spread over Mr. Parker's face.
"That's what I thought you'd say." He lifted his glass to her and laughed evilly at her distress.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Mr. Lyle walked into the Centre the next morning with a spring in his step. He was looking forward to the talk he would have with Chrissie. He never thought she'd actually accept his invitation but he was glad when she did. He saw Chrissie coming out of the elevator and went straight to her.
"Are we still on for tonight?" Chrissie jumped. She looked at him and smiled a half hearted smile.
"Yeah we are. Um I'll see you later." She turned in the opposite direction. She couldn't face him. After what had happened the night before she couldn't face him… or Miss Parker for that matter. She decided that she'd avoid both for the day and work out what she'd do about her dinner with Lyle. She had to let him down easily. She didn't want to think about what would happen to him if she didn't. She walked down the hall and ran into Miss Parker.
"Hey Chrissie, how are you this morning?" Miss Parker smiled at her.
"I'm fine, um, could you excuse me I've got to… go." Chrissie turned around and walked away as quickly as she could. Miss Parker stared after her. She looked around to see if there was someone that Chrissie didn't want to see. When she didn't see anyone she walked in the opposite direction. She walked right into Lyle who was walking around in what looked like a trance. "Geez, where'd you learn to walk?" Lyle laughed.
"Sorry, I guess I was just thinking about something else." Miss Parker followed his gaze and saw Chrissie entering the elevator again, her cell phone to her ear.
"Oh, I should have guessed. Anytime a male has trouble concentrating it's usually because they're either watching sports or all their blood has gone…" She looked down then back up at his face. "…somewhere else." Lyle pulled a mock amused face.
"You're so funny." Miss Parker looked back towards the elevator and saw the doors closing.
"I don't know why you're acting this way. She's got a boyfriend." Lyle laughed.
"Well I'm acting this way because she's coming over to my house tonight and I'm cooking her dinner." Miss Parker's jaw dropped open. She couldn't believe him.
"I don't believe you." She glared at Lyle and looked into his eyes to try and judge if he was telling the truth. She could tell that he was. "Oh my god, how'd you manage that?" Lyle smiled and shrugged.
"We needed to talk about something." Miss Parker's jaw dropped open again. Lyle smiled at her dumbstruck expression. He walked away leaving her to ponder what it could be that they needed to talk about.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chrissie stepped out of the elevator still on her phone. She walked around the grounds listening to Mr. Parker explaining how he'd broken something.
"Listen I'll fix it when I get back from Lyle's house tonight." Mr. Parker finally shut up, from shock.
"Why are you going to Lyle's? Is there something going on between you?" Chrissie could hear the anger building in his voice. She winced.
"That's why I'm going there. To make sure he doesn't think that anything would happen between us." She sighed. There was nothing she'd rather do than to have something between her and Lyle but now with Mr. Parker that would definitely never happen.
"Good. You make sure he doesn't get the wrong idea. I'll see you when you get home tonight." He hung up before she could say anything. She sighed and turned around to get back inside. She was dreading how the night with Lyle was going to go now.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lyle looked over the dinner set up one last time. He had to make sure everything was perfect before Chrissie got there. He smiled when he heard a knock at the door. He walked over quickly and opened it. His breath was taken away when he saw Chrissie standing there. Her hair was tied back with a hair tie that had a huge flower on it. She was wearing a fiery red dress with some matching red shoes, although how he'd managed to look at her feet amazed him. Chrissie smiled.
"Are you going to invite me in or are we having dinner out here?" Lyle shook himself to regain his bearings. He smiled and ushered her in.
"Sorry, you look amazing." Chrissie smiled.
"It's just something I had around." It wasn't really something she had around. She had purposely chosen that outfit because of the reaction she knew it would receive. She couldn't help herself. She had gone there to do as Mr. Parker said and make sure Lyle didn't get the wrong idea but there was something between them that she wanted to explore a bit first.
"Make yourself at home. I'll just go get us a drink." Chrissie smiled at him and looked around the house. She noticed a theme running through the décor.
"I see you like Asian things." She called to him through the rooms. Lyle smiled.
"I used to." He mumbled to himself. He walked back in the room and poured her a drink. "How was your day?" Lyle had no idea what else to say. He felt like a teenager on a first date.
"Fine, how was yours?" Chrissie couldn't believe she was asking these stupid questions.
"It was alright. I kept on thinking about tonight." He felt stupid. He shouldn't have said that. Chrissie frowned.
"Listen Lyle we need to talk. I don't want you to think this is more than it is." Lyle frowned. He knew where this conversation was heading.
"Look can't we just enjoy the night a bit before we get into the heavy stuff. We can talk about it after dinner." Chrissie nodded. She wanted the same thing. It would be better if they had a pleasant night and then got into the reality of things.
"I noticed you don't have any pictures of Miss Parker around here. She is your sister after all. I couldn't stand living in a place without pictures of family scattered everywhere." She laughed but stopped when she saw the serious look on Lyle's face.
"Well I don't really have a normal family life like you." Chrissie felt bad. She moved closer to him and started rubbing his back.
"I'm sorry. I guess that's just something you and Miss Parker will have to work through, to have a normal relationship. Hey it's not like I have the most family life either." Lyle looked at her confused. He'd seen the photos of her family and they looked like the perfect family in his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Chrissie sighed and pulled out her wallet. She took a picture of her mother, sisters and brother and showed it to him.
"I'm obviously the oldest, and you can see there's no father in this picture. My father died when I was Luis's age. He was a police officer and he died on the job. My mother was heart broken. It was just me and her for a long time. Then she met Marietta's father. They fell in love and along came Marietta. Her father was a police officer as well. The same thing happened with him as it did my father. A few years later Mamma was lonely and had a one night stand and along came Rosa. And Luis… well Luis was the product of an encounter my mother didn't exactly approve of. But she loves him all the same. She loves all of us and we love each other. To other people when they hear we all have different fathers their first thought is that Mamma's a slut or something but she's not. It's a strange family dynamic but I wouldn't have it any other way." When she finished her family story she looked up and noticed that Lyle was staring at her. He leant in closer and was about to kiss her when she pulled away. "Um when's dinner? I'm starving." She stood up quickly and walked to the other side of the room to get distance between them. Lyle sighed and bowed his head.
"It should be ready any minute. I'll just go check." He walked into the kitchen and pounded his head on a cupboard. "Stupid… stupid" He lifted his head and saw Chrissie standing in the doorway. "Chrissie I was just…"
"I hear you can hurt yourself doing that." She walked over to him and put her hand on his cheek. "We wouldn't want that now would we?" She leant in closer and brushed her lips against his. She pulled back and licked her lips. She looked him in the eye then moved back and kissed him harder and more passionately.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Miss Parker was working late at the Centre. She went through some files that she found on her desk. Apparently someone was moving into her father's old house. She couldn't believe that even after all he'd put her through and the fact that he wasn't even really her father she still mourned his death. She flipped through the file to try to find some information on who had bought it. All it said was that a couple had gone and looked over the place and decided to buy it. The real-estate agent had made a note commenting on the age difference between the husband and wife. Miss Parker sniggered. The last couple who had lived there also had a considerable age difference. Her thoughts wondered to Brigitte. She wondered what kind of a mother she would have been. She felt a little sorry for her. Although she had killed Tommy, she was being used as much as Miss Parker herself. She thought about her half-brother. He didn't even have a name. Mr. Parker had just always called him Baby Parker. She had been more than willing to take Baby Parker out of the Centre when Mr. Parker had died but she hadn't been able to. Mr. Raines had said that it would be better if he stayed there until he was older. She doubted very much whether he'd ever be able to leave the Centre. Not many people did. For the time being Baby Parker was being held in the Centre Baby Care Unit. She closed the file and decided she'd go visit her baby brother… or whatever he was.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lyle and Chrissie were still kissing passionately. The both could smell the unmistakeable smell of smoke. They broke apart and saw smoke billowing out of the oven.
"Damn." Lyle walked a few steps and opened the oven door. A thick cloud of smoke poured out, leaving his face black. He pulled out what was supposed to be his main meal. It looked like a large lump of coal. He turned to Chrissie. "This was supposed to be a roast." Chrissie laughed.
"I'm sorry. That was my fault. I don't know what came over me." She sat down in a chair in the kitchen. Lyle looked at the ruined meal then up at Chrissie.
"It doesn't matter. It's just a meal. I'm just glad I got to it before the house burnt down." He grinned at Chrissie then put the charcoaled meat in the sink. "We can still have dinner though." He picked up the phone and dialled a number. Chrissie looked at him, confusion written all over her face. "Hello Pizza Hut. I'd like a pizza…" Chrissie started laughing.
"We're having pizza from Pizza Hut?" Lyle put his hand to his lip to quiet her. She laughed again. She looked back to the where she had been standing before, when she was kissing Lyle. She put her hand to her lips and felt where his lips had been only minutes before. She closed her eyes and slightly cursed herself. She shouldn't have done that. It was going to be even harder to let him down easily. Lyle finished up on the phone and walked over to her. He put his hand on her cheek.
"It will be here soon. So what do you want to do while we wait?" He licked his lips and leant in closer. She turned her head slightly so he wouldn't be able to kiss her. Lyle looked at her stunned.
"Lyle, we can't." Lyle sighed and hung his head.
"Why don't you make up your mind? One minute you seem to want the same thing I do." He stroked her cheek softly. She closed her eyes and indulged his touch. He jerked his hand away and stood up violently. "Then you turn right around and say we can't? Why can't we? Why don't you tell me and stop playing with my heart." Chrissie sighed. She stood up and placed her hand on his.
"I want to. Believe me I want to. But it's complicated, now more than ever. Those moments when it seems like I want the same things you do? It's because I do. But then reality hits and I realise I can't. It's too complicated." She hung her head in shame. She knew he wouldn't understand. He probably never would. Lyle took her hand in his with one hand and stroked her cheek with his other.
"Why don't you tell me? I want to know. I need to know. Why can't we? Why is it complicated?" A tear rolled slowly down her cheek. He brushed it away. She looked up into his eyes. She leant in and kissed him again. She pulled back and Lyle smiled at her. She frowned back in response.
"I'm sorry. I just can't." She turned around, walked into the next room, picked up her things and walked out the door. Lyle followed her and leant against the door when she was gone. He heard someone knocking on the door. He smiled and opened the door.
"I knew you'd come back." The pizza delivery guy stood shocked.
"Uh, are you Mr. Lyle?" Lyle hung his head and nodded. "I have your pizza." He handed the pizza over, got his money and walked away as fast as he could. Lyle shut the door and put the pizza down. He sat down and wondered what it was that was so complicated.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Jarod walked down the corridor of the hospital and entered Jackson's room. Jackson was asleep. Jarod smiled and placed a blanket over his body. He walked over to the cupboard next to the bed. He opened a draw and his eyes instantly landed on the photos that were in there. He picked them up and sorted through them. He noticed three pictures in particular. The first was an older one and it was of an obviously teenaged Jackson with his arms around a girl of the same age. They looked very much in love. He recognised the girl instantly. It was his mother. He couldn't his eyes. Judging by the picture, his mother and Jackson had been an item.
"You and my mother were together, Jackson?" Jarod looked at the second one. It was also old but not as old as the first. He looked past Jackson smiling and holding a baby to the woman's face he knew better than anyone's. He knew the woman couldn't be the face he knew but he knew who it was. It was Catherine Parker. And if it was Catherine, he knew who the baby was.
"Miss Parker, when she was a baby of course. That was the last time I saw her, either of them." Jarod jumped at the sound of Jackson's voice. He stared at him at a loss for words. "Beautiful aren't they?" Jackson took the photo and looked over it.
"How do you know them? Were you and Catherine… together?" Jarod was shocked by Jackson's laughter.
"No Jarod. It was definitely nothing like that. Catherine was my sister."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chrissie walked around the land outside her house. She felt really bad for what happened with Lyle but she knew that it was how things had to be. She walked onto her porch and sat on the porch swing. She sighed and thought back to what Lyle's lips felt like against hers. After she'd left his house she had felt like turning around and running into his arms but she had decided against it. Her and her family was in enough danger; she didn't want to put Lyle in danger as well. She spotted movement in her blinds behind her and took a deep breath. Mr. Parker ducked his head out of the door and gestured for her to come inside. She sighed and followed his instructions. She closed the door behind her.
"You're home earlier than I expected. I trust things went smoothly." Chrissie nodded although it was clearly written all over her face that things hadn't. Mr. Parker didn't even notice. "Good. I'm glad. That son of mine can be tricky." Mr. Parker walked away from her talking about something or other. She wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. She mumbled something to him about feeling really tired and wanting to go to bed and walked through to her room. She closed her sliding doors and got into her pajamas. She turned on her TV and snuggled up amongst her pillows. She contemplated picking up her phone and calling her family but couldn't bring herself to do it. She'd left a message with them telling them she wouldn't be home like she would have hoped. She'd told them that she hadn't been able to leave. She couldn't stand to tell them the truth of why she wouldn't be home. They wouldn't understand anything. She started drifting off to sleep when she was awakened by her phone ringing. She let the answering machine pick it up.
"Hello this is Christina Lopez. I'm not home right now, but feel free to leave a message." Beep. She recognized the voice as soon as she heard it.
"Chrissie are you there? If you're there please pick up?" Chrissie silently hoped that he'd hang up. She didn't want Mr. Parker to hear any of what she knew he'd say. No such luck. "Fine then I'll believe that you're not there. Chrissie I'm sorry if I've done something wrong or that I've hurt you in some way. I just don't… I don't understand why things have to be this way. I'll, uh, I'll see you tomorrow. I still think we need to talk." She heard the dial tone for a second before the machine cut off. She lent over, stared at the message light for a minute, and then deleted it. She switched off her television and curled up into a little ball. She fell asleep trying to block Lyle from her mind.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"You're sister? Then that would make you Miss Parker's uncle. I can't believe it. What's this picture?" He showed the picture of Jackson and Jarod's mother. Jackson stared at the picture for a moment.
"That's Maggie and me when we were 17. Cat introduced us. They were best friends those two. Cat thought it would be cool if Maggie was her sister so she logically wanted me to be with her. We were together for about a year. I introduced her to Charles." Jarod was shocked by the overload of information. He sat in shock.
"This is too weird. My mother and Catherine Parker were friends, you and my mother dated and you are Catherine Parker's brother." Jackson nodded. Jarod remembered the third photograph that had caught his attention earlier. He picked it up and looked at it. He held it up to Jackson. "How did you get this?" Jackson looked at the photo.
"I received that from a contact I have inside the Centre. They were an old friend of Catherine's. That's the only one I have of her apart from the one you already saw of her as a baby. She's beautiful, so much like Cat. She'd be more like her if she smiled." Jackson reflected on what he'd said. Jarod sighed.
"She's even more beautiful up close." He took the photo back from Jackson and looked over it longingly. He hadn't realized how much he missed her. He hadn't had a chance to go and talk to Chris about their relationship. Jackson started laughing. He watched Jarod closely and he knew exactly what was wrong.
"You love her don't you?" Jarod was startled. He wasn't aware it was that obvious.
"How… how did you know?" Jackson laughed in response.
"You look like a man in love. Besides, you're father used to look at you're mother like that. And of course we can't forget the fact that she's telling me." Jarod was stunned. He looked around the room for a sign of someone else. They were the only two people in the room.
"I'm sorry but who's telling you?" Jackson, who seemed to be thinking, smiled and looked at Jarod. He pointed towards his head.
"Cat." He smiled and went back to his thoughts. Jarod was shocked then he realized what he meant.
"You have the Inner Sense!" Jackson nodded.
"It's good to at least be able to hear her voice. She's told me that Miss Parker is discovering her Inner Sense. I've tried to reach out to her but I've had no luck so far." He seemed sad. He had all right to be sad. Miss Parker was his niece and he hadn't had any contact with her since she was a baby. "I would have known it was you when you first came if Maggie hadn't scared me with thinking the Centre would be after me. I thought that they'd want to get rid of me like they did Cat." He sighed and seemed to become soothed. "But she's right. They don't know about me being Cat's twin. She'd made sure of that. If they had of known they would be no way I'd be here." Jarod thought he was hearing things.
"Twin, you're Catherine's twin?" Jackson nodded. "Of course, like Parker and Lyle. It runs in the family." Jackson nodded.
"Lyle… Cat say's I need to reach out to him more. He needs guidance. Although Cat seems to think he's found a guardian angel of sorts. If I don't get a chance to get to him hopefully she'll be there for him." Jackson yawned. He was still very tired. Jarod sighed and sat on his bed.
"Get some more sleep. We can talk more tomorrow." Jackson nodded and went back to sleep. Jarod thought about the information he'd just learnt. The first thing he wanted to do was call and talk to Miss Parker.
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To be continued...