Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1 for the usual statements
Author's note: Sorry for the long delay in posting this. My schedule is #$.

Time to Consider
Chapter 37

By Callisto

The Centre
Blue Cove, DE

A deep sigh, a sip of hot tea and a steadying lean back in his comfortable office chair all helped to calm both mind and body. It was incredible that they assumed Miss Parker had been cloned. However, knowing the truth as he did, reality was far more bizarre than their assumptions. Fortunately, they hadn't any evidence of Jarod's presence in Lyle's house. Only the suspicion of someone else being involved in Parker's escape existed. He couldn't help but laugh in their collective faces when it was suggested that he had been the one who somehow found a way into the Parker's backyard, broke a window pane then crawled through in time to hit Lyle over the head before sociopath had time to commit a most unspeakable crime against his own twin. Sydney mused for several minutes wondering how Lyle was dealing with that fact. Perhaps they were keeping that little gem from him as they had the fact that Master Parker was his son. What Lyle's reaction would be in finding out the boy was his wouldn't be a sight he would like to be around to witness.

Broots had been dragged into the T-board interrogation waiting room the minute he arrived at work. Sydney was able to catch a glimpse of the tech's face pressed against the small window in the door, as he was being escorted outside. A brief smile and quick lift of his brows told Broots what he needed to know. The truth was too fantastic even for the Centre. Broots backed up from the small window in the holding room and found a corner. He would plead ignorance of anything and everything. A simple lunch at Sydney's would explain his lost time and thwart their efforts. Slowly a sly smile creased Broots' lips as the lock on the door was being thrown.

Kowaris Cannery—Present
Anchorage, AK

Self-consciousness gripped Parker when she realized that she was alone in the room with Jarod, his father and sister. Without another word, she turned towards the door and quietly left. The major, not wanting to burden his already overwhelmed child with his sorrow and regret, abruptly followed Parker from the room.

"What are you going to do once you return to the other timeframe?" Emily asked quietly.

"What do you mean? We'll go on with our lives," Jarod replied.

"You may not be aware of this but you've hurt her pretty badly since you got here," Emily warned gently.

"I've hurt her? She barely looks at me and her hair. Why did she have to butcher it like that?" he asked in confusion. His mind was beginning to race again.

"Jarod, it was a surprise for us to find out that you two had become lovers. Though in retrospect, Norwood is right. It was only natural. Now to hear that you were also living together, I'm not sure your relationship will survive the blows it went through here."

"It was only because of my own reticence that I didn't do what I had planned. The thrill and shock of her winning the competition, then finding out about the concertizing, assuming that she would leave me behind. Afterwards, in the hotel to find out that she wanted me with her. A few things got pushed aside but I always intended on giving it to her. I didn't forget," he said firmly, trying desperately to hang on to the thought.

"Forget what?"

"It's back home. I hid the ring thinking that after Dad came by, I would have a chance to show him how I planned on making a living—then tell him about us. We were kidnapped before I got the chance."

"A ring?" Emily asked in surprise.

"I've wanted to ask her for months but with all the practicing for the competition and then winning and everything that goes with it. I felt like I was on the outside watching her getting sucked into the vortex of her career. Hopefully, with the new design specs, my racing partner will understand. He already knows what I was preparing to do."

"You were going to propose?"

"Of course. Just being with her makes me feel good," he smiled at the warmth of the memory.

"Congratulations. In that case, you need to schlep yourself upstairs and start groveling now. She looked pretty raw a few minutes ago but it appears as if she's still crazy about you."

"What? Raw? Did she have an abrasion of some kind? Is she injured?"

"No. I meant that she's still angry with you. She may not have looked at you for sometime but on the other hand, you did shut her out and refused to even talk to her. Granted, she was acting like a spoiled brat but then I'm hoping that was due to the loss of the merge affecting her."

"But I wasn't the one…" Jarod began indignantly.

Shrugging impatiently, Emily said "It's not the point of who did what, when. You want this woman; you're going to have to tell her. On top of that, before going up there, you need to draw on your older self. Getting into another childish argument will just drive you two further apart."

"But she knows, she's the only one who understands. She listened to me when I knew it must've been boring her silly. Then she pointed out a flaw in my original design that actually forced me into rethinking the whole project. I was happy to stay by her side during the competition and I am more than willing to follow her around the world. She has to know how I feel."

"Again, not the point. We've all made assumptions about her. First because of where she worked, then because of your argument with her. The frog was a prime example of making a basic mistake with assumptions. Now you're assuming that everything will return to normal just because you'll be back in the other timeframe. Too many assumptions will leave you miserable in a timeline where there's no one else whom you can relate to. If you don't remember most of what I'm saying here, remember this: Grovel, apologize and check your pride at the door. The Centre kept you from having what you wanted most—a family. Don't let your pride and assumptions keep you from getting what you need—a family of your own."

Shaking his head as though to free himself from the cobwebs binding his reason; Jarod felt more than understood her logic. He recalled the hurt look on Parker's face just as she was leaving. He had some bridge building to do before they returned to the other reality. The last thing he wanted was to find himself outside of their apartment with a letter telling him to be gone by the time she returned.

Nodding to himself, Jarod got up and started for the door. His hand was touching the knob when he looked over his shoulder and gave his younger sister a grateful smile. He was almost out of the door when he heard her call out to him.

"Jarod, wait a second."

"Yeah, Em?"

"You said Parker won a competition that had something to do with her career. What was the competition about?"

"Classical piano. She won the top prize, several thousand dollars and the chance to play in select concert halls with the world's best orchestras for the next two years," Jarod replied. At his sister's incredulous stare, he smiled through a band of multiple thoughts trying to crowd into his mind. "All this from a woman whose main ambition is to join her mother's charity working as an attorney. I thought I knew her, but that one threw me too. Mr. Parker's interference in her life was more profound than I could've ever imagined." With that, Jarod gently closed the door and headed upstairs to Parker.

The room was dark—the way she liked it when the deteriorating merge began hurting. Her entire body felt like she was being assaulting by 20 baseball bat wielding munchkins bent on destruction. What she really needed was a loving cuddle but it seemed as if she had neatly alienated everyone around her. Curling up into a fetal ball, she allowed depression to overtake her emotions. A far distant voice in her mind chided her to have more control, not to let her emotions get the best of her. Those words meant nothing now—she was alone without a friend in sight. What she really wanted was her mother who was literally a lifetime away. She heard the light knock, then the click of the door but chose to ignore it. Finding a comfortable position where the pain wouldn't overwhelm her was priceless. Whoever came in could take what they wanted, just leave her alone.

Jarod slipped inside and allowed his eyes to adjust before moving away from the door. Looking around, he saw her curled up tightly on the bedspread. He couldn't stop the heavy sigh of relief and affection from escaping his lips. She was there and in his mind was looking very enticing as a human huggable. A soft smile formed on his lips as he approached, slipped out of his shoes and eased himself onto the bed with her. This is where he wanted to be more than anything else. With careful movements, he encircled her body with one arm while leaning on the other. Slowly he lowered his hand to her hair and began smoothing it. A relieved shudder ran the length of her body encouraging him to move even closer and to press his lips against her ear.

"I had to push you away. I didn't want you to see me like that. You're right, it was horrible. The breakdown of the merge is crowding a thousand thoughts into my head at once. It's like having my mind racing at 200mph without any let-up and red-lined all the way. This afternoon I realized that your presence does seem to ease the symptoms. The next step is to manage better control over my childish side," he whispered softly. When there was no reply he looked over into her face and noticed that her eyes were open but her body was extremely tense.

"Turn over so I can hold you better. I think that should help a bit. Just being here with you is clearing my head." When she didn't move immediately, Jarod knew his sister had been right. "Knowing that the frog is still in the other timeframe means that we can go back. Once we return, the merge will stabilize and everything will be back to a sort of normal. It's something to look forward to. Come on, sweetheart. Roll over and let me hold you. When the pain subsides, then you'll be able to appreciate my groveling to the fullest."

Slowly, Parker unwound her posture and turned over. He was right about one thing, the minute he came into the room, the symptoms began to ease. However, the only thing that would make her consider taking him back was some very high quality groveling. He surprised her by threading his legs around hers and pulling her bodily as close as possible. Gently she touched his beard. It would have to go before they returned. Another surprise came from the pleasant aroma of his cologne, which his scruffy-looking clothes would've never suggested. Instead of pulling away, as was her original thought, she allowed him to cuddle her while whispering into her ear what she meant to him and his hopes that they could possibly pick up the pieces of their lives in the other timeline. He went on to explain some of the formulas he was working on and how one of them would mitigate the damage their absence may have caused.

Several hours later, Jarod woke up slightly disorientated. Heaving a mighty contented yawn, he was about to stretch when he realized something heavy was lying in his arms. Moving his hands slowly, he felt nothing but soft, warm skin. Turning his head, he breathed in deeply and got nothing but a pleasantly familiar scent—Maritza. He smiled sleepily as he kissed her head and then moved on to her shoulder.

"You still have a lot more groveling to do, buster," she said drowsily. With a complete lack of inhibition she stretched in his arms and then looked over at her man with contented possessiveness.

"Hey, I thought I was the only one with possessiveness issues," he said with a clearer voice.

"If I caught you kissing another woman, I wouldn't have chased her. I would've killed her on the spot. But then that's me, definitely not you." She treated him to a very predatory, toothy grin.

All Jarod could do was to frown slightly and shrug understandingly. Then looking into her eyes he asked, "I still want to come with you while you're on tour."

"Who says I'm going on tour? One thing this fiasco has taught me is that I need to stay as close to home as possible. Anything could happen, Jarod. I couldn't stand losing my mother again."

"Alright. It doesn't matter where you are as long as we're together. I promise I'll never shut you out again," he said solemnly.

Parker smiled sadly and pulled him closer. "I hate promises. People have broken them to me too many times. Just don't do it again," she paused for a second. Then looking into his eyes asked, "There's something I want you to do for me."

"What is it?" he asked quietly.

Parker explained in detail what she wanted and felt a rush of relief when she noted that there was no hesitation in his eyes when he agreed to help her. With a happy grin of anticipation, her serious mood suddenly shifted. "I want more groveling out of you, now!" she said with half-serious insistence. Jarod happily complied.

Preparations were busily underway to return the temporal travelers back to the place where their sanity and a small green tree frog awaited. Jarod went through the stack of formulas and selected a few, displaying them to Daniel. When Jarod explained what they were, Daniel quickly made his choice and watched with quiet understanding while Jarod burned all the rest except for two he kept for himself. With Emily and Daniel's help, all traces of his habitation were systematically erased from the room.

Parker's room wasn't in such as state that it took 3 people to clean and clear it completely. Actually, it took her a few hours to put her belongings into order and to erase hers and more recently Jarod's presence from the room. It took so long because the breakdown of the merge was continuing in vicious increments forcing her to stop several times to ride out the pain. During a moment of reprieve, she spotted her drooping younger brother. Walking up to him, she pulled Ethan to the side. The major looked curiously at the siblings while the younger, shorter Parker gave her older-looking and taller, little brother specific instructions. She handed Ethan a slip of paper and continued speaking to him urgently. Ethan listened intently, then turning to leave he had only progressed a few steps before abruptly returning to his sister and giving her a bone crushing hug. Ethan hung onto Parker for several minutes, burying his nose in her hair and trying to memorize the way she smelled and felt. Reluctantly, he released her and averting his eyes, he left.

A curious smile graced Parker's face while she stared at her brother's back. After Ethan packed an overnight bag and left the cannery on his mission, Parker approached Norwood. The scientist, like the rest of the family, watched a solemn Ethan leave in silence. He refused to answer their questions about his destination. As Parker approached, Norwood was ready to deal. There was plenty that he wanted to know and as usual, it was all about Parker's business.

"Where did you send Ethan?"

"I sent him to nunya. There's something I want you to do for me. It's very important."

"Nunya? What or where is it?"

"It means none ya business," she replied sharply. Whenever she had to deal with the wily scientist, it quickly became apparent that she always had to have plenty of cards to play.

"Then what you want, I will not do," Norwood stated firmly.

Parker gave her best predatory grin and said aloud to herself, "Why do they make it easier than shooting fish in a barrel?" Then to the scientist, "Norwood, you're not only going to do what I want, but your going to like it as well—guaranteed."

"You have a beautiful smile. How can you turn something so pleasant into a threat?"

"Shut up and listen, Harry Potter. I've got a proposition for you," she replied. Switching languages to make sure her meaning was clearly understood, Parker laid out her ideas quickly, sinking only once into a morass of pain while fighting to keep her mind and self together. By the end of their conversation, Norwood was invigorated and eager. It was only later that night when he realized that she never did tell him where she had sent Ethan.