AUTHOR'S NOTE: THANKS JACKIE FOR BEING MY BETA AND THANKS EVERYONE
FOR ALL THE REVIEWS

CHAPTER 35

THE WEDDING

May 22, 2003

Coast of North Carolina

2:15pm

Everyone came for the wedding including the other Black Files, who had managed to escape from the Centre, much to everyone's shock. Early that morning Jarod had come down to the lobby to find the nine children in the lobby of the hotel.

When asked how they escaped Jake just replied: "We got a ride."

It was too early in the morning for Jarod to even ponder what the boy meant. What Jarod found most disturbing about the children was the fact that they were dressed in the same fashion of the wedding party. White cotton pants and shirts for the boys, and white sun dresses for the girls. Much to her mother's delight, Alex also wore a dress.

It was a beautiful wedding. One could not have asked for a better day. Jarod stood at the altar –hand made by Charles, Ethan, Nick and Chris- , Will stood to his right as best man; Alex was maid of honor. Sydney escorted his daughter down the aisle to her soon-to-be husband.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here this day to unite this man and this woman in holy matrimony," Father Moore began. "These two amazing people have surpassed innumerable obstacles in order to stand here this day to be able to profess their love for one another. Whose honor is it to give away this lovely bride?"

"Ours," replied Sydney, Morgan's brothers, and her children. Morgan and Jarod smiled at her family.

"The rings please." Aaron and Andros came forward with two white-gold rings. A Celtic design was engraved on the out side of them on the inside was the inscription: JR & MR 5-22-04.

"Jarod and Morgan these rings represent your love for one another, never ending. It is my understanding that Jarod and Morgan have written their own vows and would like to say them now."

"Morgan." Jarod began, slipping the ring onto her finger. "You have been the one constant in my life. I remember the day you walked into my life. Before then all I ever knew was darkness, but you were the one who showed me the light. You are my soul mate, my reason for living. Without you I am nothing."

"Jarod." Morgan said, placing the ring onto his finger. "You have never given up on me. Without you I would be lost. When my mother died I began to build a wall up around myself. You were the one person who was able to knock it down. For every brick I placed around myself you took down three. If not for your love for me and your stubbornness, I would still be at the Centre believing the lies that Mr. Parker had told me. Without you I would have never known the truth about my mother. Without you I would have never had the courage to leave the Centre. Nor would we have the five wonderful children we have today or the two on the way."

"It's about time one of them mentioned us." Alex whispered.

"Hush, Alex." Aaron said, elbowing his sister in the side.

"Jarod, do you take this woman to be your bride?"

"I do."

"Morgan, do you take this man to be your husband?"

"I do."

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

"Finally." The children sighed with relief.

The reception was nice. The dance floor too had been constructed by Charles, Ethan and the others. It was decorated with paper lanterns and strings of lights. Chris and Will took it upon themselves to DJ. During Morgan and Jarod's first dance as a married couple, Jake and Rachael walked back towards the shore. Ethan was the only one who noticed. The two children stood on the shore waves lapping around their ankles.

"So are you two going to tell me what's wrong?" Ethan asked from behind.

"Nothin'. We're just thinkin'." Jake replied.

"You know, Alex and the others use that same excuse when they don't want to tell anyone what's bothering them. It doesn't work when they use it and it's not working now." Ethan told them.

"Actually, we really were just thinking." Rachael told him.

"Well then, about what?" Ethan asked.

"How soon it will be before we leave." Jake elaborated.

"What do you mean?"

"We don't belong here. Our job is done. We came to reunite a family and we succeeded. That," Rachael nodded towards the group dancing, "is not our family."

"And what of the others?" Ethan asked.

"Tobias and Terra belong here. Lex is their uncle. Their dad is gone; their mother was just a center worker in need of some extra cash and she's now dead. Raines killed her shortly after they were born." Jake told him.

"Cassie and Marc will be happy here. Over the past few months Jon has developed a soft spot for them he'll probably adopt them in a few months. Besides Debbie will make a good big sister."

"And what about Greg, Jeremiah, and Melissa?"

"Sam and Jen love those three kids. We've already over heard Sam and Jen talking about taking them in once they got out. They love those three as though they were their own."

"What of all of your parents?"

Rachael sighed. "Alex, Aaron, Andros, Maddie, and Mike were the lucky ones. Out of all of us they're the only ones who have both parents still alive. Cass and Marc's parents are dead. They were both Centre projects. Once Cass and Marc were born, Raines had no use for their parents. Greg, Jerry and Lissa...well lets just say they are better off not knowing their dad. Their father killed their mother. And our mother is alive and well."

"Do you plan on going to her?"

"No," Jake whispered. "She made it clear long ago she wanted nothing to do with us. When we were three we found her. She works at the Centre...surprise, surprise. She told us that we meant nothing to her; that we were just another paycheck." He said bitterly.

"I'm sorry." Ethan said, resting an arm around each of their shoulders.

"Don't be," Rachael told him. "You didn't do anything."

"What of your little brother and his mother? Do they know about you two?"

"No, not yet." Jake told him.

"They will soon though." Rachael said.

"You see, Adam's mother is dying. She has cancer; so far there is nothing the doctors can do," said Jake. "She has a year tops."

"And after she dies?"

"We'll send Adam to you guys. His mom has no family and our dad never found his," Rachael told Ethan.

"If you don't mind me asking where do you two plan on going?"

"We'll figure it out when we get there," Jake said

"In case you two haven't realized it, you're eight years old. You can't just travel around the country. Social services will pick you up and stick you both in an orphanage. And let me tell you, not many people are interested in adopting a set of twins especially those over the age of two. Which means you two will spend the next ten years as wards of the state. So, really you two have no choice but to come back to the house. It's not as though any one will mind. In fact, I'm quite sure that Alex and the others will be quite angry if you don't stay. I want you two to give me a good reason on why you two are leaving." Ethan told them. Neither twin had a response.

"This is how I see it. I think that you two are scared. For as long as you two can remember you've been looking out for the others. Now there are other people who are capable of looking after them. You guys are scared that you're going to be replaced...that you've lost your place in this family. You two feel as though you aren't needed anymore and that is not true. You two are as much of a part of this family as any one else. So let's get back to the reception so that we can be with our family." Ethan said offering his hands to the two eight year olds. They took his hand and walked back towards the rest of their family.

"Ethan?" Rachael said.

"Yes."

"We have a proposition for you." She continued.

"What's that?" Ethan asked curious.

"A proposition is..." Jake began.

"I know what a proposition is, Jacob." Ethan said annoyed.

"How would you like to be our guardian? All of the others have someone to watch them. We need someone to watch us." Rachael said

"I think I could go for that." Ethan replied, and for the first time Ethan saw the two children smile.

The next day the Centre workers returned to Blue Cove. The rest, sans Jarod and Morgan, returned to Charlottesville. Jarod and Morgan went to France for a week for their honeymoon. The children had tried to convince their parents to stay for two weeks, but Morgan refused to be away from her children for so long.

While the newlyweds were gone, the residents of the house set to work the task of constructing a nursery for the two children due with in the next seven months.

May 24, 2003

Blue Cove, Delaware

8:40am

When Sydney and the rest of the new pursuit team arrived back in Blue Cove they were forced to undergo a T-Board due to the fact they had been working with the children. None of them were found at fault. Every day since Morgan and Peter's deaths had been faked, Mr. Parker and Lyle had lost focus in their work. Lyle no longer bothered tormenting Broots and avoided the rest of the pursuit team altogether. Sydney had offered to talk to Lyle about this sister's "death", but Lyle rejected him. Sydney also considered telling Lyle the truth about his heritage but after discussing it with Morgan decided against it.

Mr. Parker had been in a state of shock ever since the "death" of his two "children". He considered them to be the future of the Centre. They were considered to be the future Centre moneymakers. As soon as his "daughter" had returned that damned pretender, he had intended on forcing them to create more children. He was then was going to sell them to the highest bidder. Parker was scared his kingdom was crumbling down around him. He had lost Gemini, all of the Black Files, and Phoenix. Thank God, Raines was brilliant enough to separate the boy from his sister. The girl was the Centre's shining star. Smarter than her father, Alyssa alone made enough money in a month to support the Centre for half a year.

May 24, 2003

Blue Cove, Delaware

SL-26

11:52pm

"Come on. Come on. Almost there. Yes!" The girl cried triumphantly.

She slowly brought the screwdriver attached to a piece of string towards her. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Frightened of being caught, she began to quickly bring in the tool, praying that it would not come off of the string. As soon as it was with in her reach she grabbed it and dove onto her cot, shoving the screwdriver under her mattress. She then grabbed a set of files off of the floor and opened them just the door to her cell swung open.

"Alyssa, are you still awake?" A woman asked.

"I was just preparing myself for my Sim tomorrow morning, Sara. I don't want to disappoint the Triumvirate or the Chairman."

"Well go to bed soon. You don't want to perform badly because of sleep depravation."

"Yes ma'am." Alyssa replied. Sara exited the room closing the door behind her. After she left Alyssa deactivated the camera to her room and then went over to the wall opposite of her bed, taking the screwdriver with her. She slowly pulled a brick out of the wall placing the screwdriver in the crevice and she then pulled out a picture hidden behind the brick.

"Soon big brother. Soon." She whispered to it. She then replaced the picture and the brick and reactivated the camera. Done with her task, Alyssa returned to her excuse for a bed and went to sleep. She had a big day tomorrow.

YOU ALL KNOW THE DRILL READ AND REVIEW