DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, except for the original ones. The spypeople will return after they convince me not to read speculations based on spoilers since it makes me a confused little girl. Thank you and have a nice day… :D

A/N- I was supposed to upload this last week but something happened. I hope you like this chapter (leave a review... :D). Five chapters left, and the next story will follow... hehehehe...

CHAPTER THIRTY

(A few days later…)

"Checkmate."

Her opponent smiled as he inspected the chess board. She told him that she will be able to checkmate him in ten moves but she had actually done it in nine.

"I guess I owe you fifty bucks."

Ana smiled. "I don't think you owe me anything, Mr. Brill. I said checkmate in ten moves, not nine. I owe you fifty."

Brill smiled at her. He finds her charming, affable, and a bit naughty. And he only knows her as Ana, from Switzerland, who recently moved in LA a few months ago with her father and sisters. "Well, we can't list this as a draw. You obviously won."

He was reaching for his pocket to get the fifty dollars when he saw Jack Bristow walking towards his way. He is wearing dark, casual linen slacks and a green shirt.

"Jack." He said and handed Ana the fifty dollars. He leaned back on the aluminum chair he is sitting on and measured the expression on Jack's face. "Are you in need of help?"

"No, I'm just here to fetch my daughter." Jack answered placing a hand on Ana's shoulder. Jacob is with Sydney and Nadia and they are waiting for them in the picnic tables.

Ana looked up and smiled at him. "You know Mr. Brill, dad?" She asked.

"Mr. Brill was a former colleague of mine." Jack answered.

"Oh…" Ana replied. She should have guessed that Mr. Brill was once with the CIA. She stood up and went behind Jack. "Thank you for the game, sir. It was fun."

Jack looked at Ana. She seemed to have sensed that something was off between him and his former colleague.

"Well, we'd better be going. We're meeting her sisters for lunch." He said. They were turning around to leave when Brill stood up and called Jack.

"May I speak with you for a moment?" He asked. Jack looked at him and then to Ana.

"You go ahead, I'll follow you. Nadia and Sydney are in the picnic area." Jack said. Ana gave him a nod and walked away from him.

He looked at Brill. He knows that this is going to be about Rambaldi.

"Don't get attached to her."

Jack's eyes bore him. He is clearly very angry. "Don't you dare order me around on what to feel about my daughter."

"You do know she's the Protector? One of Rambaldi's last prophecies before his endgame happens?"

"Rambaldi's a prick in the ass. How do you know if these… prophecies are real?" Jack asked, irritated. He wants to end this conversation, but something is holding him back. He wants to know more about Rambaldi's prophecies about his daughters.

"Jack, if the prophecies will come true, The Protector will die. She will die trying to stop the Chosen One and the Passenger's battle. And then, it will be their turn to die."

Fear gripped Jack but tried not to show it. "This conversation is over. I don't want you to tell this to Ana or to any of my daughters. Do you understand?" He said brusquely.

Brill saw the seriousness in Jack's face and nodded, not because he's afraid of him but because he understands the fear that he sees in Jack's eyes.

Jack took one last look at Brill and turned around to leave.

When he was a few meters away from his former colleague, Ana suddenly appeared next to him, her pigtails bobbing on her shoulders.

"I thought I told you to go ahead?" Jack asked looking at his daughter. She gave him an impish smile and linked their arms together.

"I was invited to have another game. I won." Ana replied. She is slowly getting comfortable in LA, and her naughty side is showing. "Dad, who's Rambaldi?"

He was a bit surprised with her question. Ana doesn't know about Milo Rambaldi. Irina tried very hard not to expose Ana to the man's idiotic and scary foretellings.

"Uh… just a person who lived in the seventeenth century. He created some things that the CIA is very interested in." Jack answered.

"Oh…" Ana answered and then shrugged. Yes, she's stubborn and she knows how to squeeze information from people, but her father is her father. She's patient when it comes to family. Especially with her parents.

Sydney saw Ana and Jack coming their way. "Whew, they're here." Sydney remarked. Jacob is walking around, both driving her and Nadia crazy.

"Do you want your kids to be that full of energy?" Nadia asked, leafing through 'Lolita'.

"Well, yes." Sydney answered, smilingly. A mini-version of Vaughn running around the house popped in her head. "Yes, I want my kids to be this full of energy."

Nadia looked up to her and smiled. "You're thinking about Vaughn."

Sydney blushed. "When you think about kids, you think about the person you want to have babies with."

"I wonder how dad will react to that." Nadia teasingly said, remembering their father's reaction whenever he sees Vaughn with Sydney.

"What about you and Will?" Sydney asked. This time, it's Nadia's turn to blush.

"We're just friends, Syd. I just… like him."

Sydney smiled at her and then looked at Jacob.

"Ny-ny, up." Jacob said and raised his arms, prompting Sydney to pick him up.

"Whoa, demanding little boy. I think he got that from mom." Nadia remarked. Suddenly, she saw Ana sprinting across the park. She looked towards the direction to where she's going and saw a familiar woman in the distance.

Nadia squinted a bit, taking a second look. She might be mistaken.

"Syd, mom's here."

Ana ran and nearly crashed into her mother, as she hugged and kissed her. "Mom, I thought I'd never see you again." She said and hugged Irina as tight as she could. "I missed you so much."

Irina smiled, returning the tight embrace. "I missed you too, honey."

She looked at her daughter. Ana is grinning from ear to ear thus exposing the beautiful dimples in her cheeks. "How are you?" Irina asked, brushing away the wayward tendril from Ana's face.

"I'm fine. But I feel much, much better because you're here."

The remark made Irina laugh and hugged Ana once again. "Oh, I missed all of you so much."

"Even dad?" Ana asked, a bit surprised.

Irina wasn't able to answer because Sydney, Nadia and Jacob arrived.

"Ma-ma!"

"Hi, mom."

"Hey, mom. How are you?"

The hugs and the kisses came after that. Conversations about current activities in their lives streamed in and to the people passing by, they found it beautiful. They all thought that it is a family reunion of some sort.

But it is a family reunion. Jack kept his distance as he watched his children crowd their mother. Jacob is in Irina's arms, obviously excited at the presence of his mother, while his daughters seem so happy. Especially Ana. Her face brightened up like a 1000-watt light bulb when she saw Irina. He hasn't seen her that happy before.

"Ma-ma tey?" Jacob asked rubbing his nose in Irina's cheek.

Irina smiled at her son's seemingly increasing vocabulary. "Yes, mommy will stay for a couple of hours."

Jacob clapped his hands. "Da-da wushu mabafft?" he asked, and looked for his father. When he saw Jack, Jacob pointed to him and then turned to his mother. "Da-da wushu mabafft?" he asked, once again.

Her eyebrows knitted across her forehead and a confused smile played on her lips as she tried to decipher the baby talk.

"What did you say, sweetie?" Irina asked and looked to her daughters, who are laughing, and then to Jack. "Jack, did you understand…?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Dad, mom, we'll leave you for a while. We'll be setting the table for lunch." Nadia said and tugged her sisters' wrists, pulling them towards the picnic table.

Halfway through, Ana turned to Nadia.

"Okay, Ms. Matchmaker, what's your plan?"

Nadia smiled. "Nothing. I think they need to talk."

"I agree with you. But they're quite unpredictable. What if they start to tear each other's throats?" Sydney asked.

Ana giggled. "I don't think they'd do that in front of Jacob. Besides, I think Jacob has a little matchmaking plan for them."

"What are you talking about?" Nadia and Sydney asked simultaneously.

"Just watch."

Jack and Irina observed their daughters walk away from them talking and laughing.

"They have become best friends in such a short time." Irina commented as she shifted Jacob's position in her arms.

"Rambaldi notwithstanding, they're still sisters." Jack answered and looked at her. She seems so at ease with her role as a mother to a child almost a year old. "Do you know what will happen if ever Rambaldi's prophecies will come true?" he asked, remembering Brill's words.

"No, I'm still trying to look for answer to that question." Irina answered, looking at him. Jacob is playing with her necklace. "Why do you ask?"

Jack shrugged. "Nothing."

They stared at each other, different thoughts swirling in their heads. Jack's happy that she's here, since her presence has a positive effect on their children. But her presence also makes him jittery. The feeling is complicated for him.

Irina also feels happy. She loves her children, and she still loves him, nothing can change that. But she's here to say goodbye.

'Last goodbye? I hope not.' Irina thought and watched her son. Suddenly Jacob looked up to her.

"Ma-ma, kish…"

Irina smiled and gave Jacob a loud kiss on the lips.

"No, no, no." Jacob said and tried to evade his mother. "No kish Jakey."

Irina laughed a bit, looked at Jack and then to Jacob. "Who do you want mommy to kiss?" She asked, joking.

"Da-da!"

She was taken aback. The chocolate brown eyes are unflinchingly looking at her. 'Okay who taught this to a child barely a year old?' she thought.

"Mama kish dada! Mama kish dada!" Jacob said smiling at her.

Irina looked at Jack. He, too, has a confused look on his face. "Uh, Jack…?" she asked, a bit helplessly. She saw Jack shaking his head. Both don't want to give their children a wrong impression about their relationship.

"Jacob, mommy can't kiss daddy." Irina started. They then saw the change in Jacob's facial expression. His smiling face quickly turned into a frown.

Then, he began to cry.

"NO, NO, NO!"

Irina wants to pacify him, but she can't do that by kissing Jack. "Hush, sweetie, please? Okay, mommy's going to kiss… daddy."

Irina looked at Jack once again.

Play along. Please?

Jack gave her a grim smile. He's going to strangle Ana when they get home. She's the only one crazy enough to try this stunt. He stole a glance at their picnic table. His daughters are eating something and are trying very hard not to act that they are watching them.

"Jacob, who taught you to say that?" He asked. Jacob just looked at him and shook his head.

"Mama kish dada!"

Jack sighed. Kissing Irina in public has consequences. And each consequence affects everyone.

He kissed Jacob in the forehead.

"No, no, no, no, no! No kish Jakey!"

Jack sighed again and then looked at Irina. "Should we give in to the little tyke's demands?" He asked when he saw that Jacob seems poised to throw another tantrum.

Irina wryly smiled at him and shrugged. She moved closer to him and looked up to his face. She tiptoed a bit and gave Jack a quick kiss on the lips.

Jacob clapped his hands. He's obviously very happy.

As his son clapped, Jack tried to shrug off the spine shivers he always seems to get whenever their lips meet.

"Really, honey. Where did you learn that?" Irina asked as she rubbed her nose in her son's soft cheek. She is amazed with Jacob's ease in switching emotions. Her son just giggled and reached for her ear.

Jack watched the mother-son interaction. Irina is so natural in the role that it's quite hard to believe that she is a ruthless, vicious terrorist.

Suddenly, Jacob pointed to one of the carts.

"Da-da, loon! Loon!" he excitedly said and fussed in his mother's arms. He wants to go to the colorful balloons.

Irina handed Jacob to Jack and Jack hoisted Jacob to his shoulders. His son squealed in delight when he realized that he's taller than almost everyone in the park.

"Be careful." Irina said, walking beside Jack and keeping a careful eye on her son.

"I'm always careful with him." Jack coolly answered. Is she implying that he'll let Jacob fall?

Irina rolled her eyes. If she will snap back at him, the most probable scenario that she can think of is that of a tension-filled day. Ana, Nadia and Sydney will be affected.

"Do you want to call a truce?" Jack suddenly asked. "I mean, just for this day?"

Irina looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "I don't mind spitting out barbed wires every time you talk to me."

"I'm serious, Irina."

She smiled at the formality of the tone. "Okay. Truce."

Jack looked at her but Irina's looking at their daughters. They are being surrounded by hordes of college boys.

His eyes turned to little slits. The men seemed to be clearly blind for not seeing the irritation in the faces of the girls. And Ana seemed to be the most annoyed of the three.

"Irina, could you be the one to bring Jacob to the balloons? I have to disperse some people." Jack said and handed the baby to her. He didn't see Irina shaking her head but he knows that she's smiling.

He slowly walked towards the picnic table, his face awfully serious and passive. 'I have my hands full with Vaughn, Sark and probably with Tippin. I think these men want to have a little staring contest with me.' He thought and observed his daughters.

"Men, young and old. We have told you countless of times that we cannot participate in your event. Now, please leave before we ask our father to make you go away." Nadia said and then looked at Ana and Sydney, obviously exasperated with the growing crowd of fraternity boys.

"What about your little sister?" One of the lanky ones asked. "We are in dire need of women participants." He said. Actually, they are in dire need of women participants as beautiful as them.

Ana rolled her eyes. "Oh for the love of God, people. We have told you nicely to go away but now we have to break this awful news to all of you. EARTH IS FULL, GO HOME!"

A few of them laughed. And then, they suddenly fell quiet and some even fell frozen to their spot. Sydney looked behind them and found their father staring at them. She waved at him, so that the college boys will quickly disperse.

"Uh, sorry to bother you three. We have to go." The 'leader' said, a bit loudly and they all rapidly scattered away.

When they had all gone, Ana smiled and shook her head. "Thanks dad. You've got some great timing. They wanted us participate in a frat party."

"Oh, a party. Why didn't you want to go?" Jack asked, teasing a bit. "You'll get to know some boys."

Ana made a face at him. "Dad, as if you wouldn't try driving all of them away."

The comment made Sydney smile since she had seen their father drive every guy who tried to get near her when she was Ana's age. She looked at Nadia and found her smiling at a scene by the distance. Sydney looked at what Nadia is watching and found that she has to smile herself.

"Uh, dad? Mom just bought an entire cart of balloons for Jacob."