That kiss. Their lips locked together for what seemed like an eternity, then slowly he slipped his tongue into her slightly opened mouth. For the moment, nothing mattered but the need for each other.

Jarod released Miss Parker, pushed her aside and raised his hands between them. His face was flushed, he spoke out of breath. "You always do this to me."

"What?" She reached out and drew him into her by his belt buckle.

"This! Us! I can't do this!" He walked abruptly away, but Parker grabbed onto his arm. Jarod stopped. Instead of his usual warm chocolate browns, she saw coldness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. It was just a moment of weakness. It won't happen again. You see, I can't love you anymore. I've had a lot of time to think things through while you were away. And loving you would not be in my best interest, Miss Parker."

"It's Melissa. My name is Melissa! Miss Parker died a long time ago. I'm not that person anymore. I'm not. Jarod, I'm not. I'm not letting you go."

"I was never yours to let go. I'm not for keeps. I'll never be. It would be a waste of our time for you to go on begging as you have. My main concern is Kayla and only Kayla, no one else. There is nothing you could do or say to make me ever forgive you. So, stop whatever dreams you have of us of being a family. It's never going to happen, Miss Parker."

"Jarod," she said his name softly as she lightly caressed his cheek. "I do love you."

"No, Parker, don't. I meant what I said about everything." Jarod took two steps back from her. "Don't ever say that again."

"But, I do." She held on to a little thread of hope. She waited for those three little words. But, what came out of his mouth was not what she had expected. "I love you, too." Those were not his choice of words.

"Don't, Parker." It was all Jarod said.

"Okay." Her blue eyes watered, tears fell slowly and painfully down her face.

"Mamaaaaaaa," her little girl called out.

"Go on, our daughter's calling out to you." Jarod smiled slightly.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and sipped it slowly. It saddened him that there was no future for the three of them together as a family. The sound of the doorbell interrupted his thoughts.

He never prepared himself of how his reaction would be if he'd ever came faced to faced with his mother. She was beautiful like the picture he'd kept of her all those years. A bit older, but, it was her. It was his mother. Sydney stood next to the woman and watched the tearful reunion.

"Mom?" He questioned as if unsure of the woman who stood before him.

"Jarod, my son." Margaret tearfully cried.

"Mom." For a genius, Jarod was at a lost for words. He yelled out. "Mom!" He hung on to her like a little boy who had been lost at a department store and he cried.

"My son, my son. You've always been with me. In my thoughts, in my prayers, everywhere. I never lost hope of us ever being together." She hugged what was once a boy and now a grown man.

Jarod squeezed her tightly. "Every night, I saw you. Your face kept haunting me, your hands holding out to me. Each time I'd get closer, you'd suddenly disappear. All those nightmares, sleepless nights, the emptiness in my heart, sometimes it was so unbearable to just go on. At The Centre, I was trained to not have any feelings, so I cried myself to sleep each night in the privacy of my own room."

Jarod turned to Sydney. "Wherever did you find her, Sydney? I don't how I could ever repay you for finding my mother."

Sydney spoke calmly. "Why don't we step inside?"

Jarod helped Margaret out of her coat. She looked around the living room and smiled at her son. Little squeals of laughter filled the room as Kayla ran in to join the reunion.

"And who's this pretty young thing?" Margaret crouched down to her granddaughter. "You must be Kayla. Mommy's been telling me about you. You're prettier than your picture. Give grandmama a hug, will you?"

Kayla hugged her grandmother as Margaret picked her up. "My, you're a big girl, aren't you?"

"Big girl," Kayla chirped.

Jarod was quiet as he listened in on his mother's conversation with his daughter. Thoughts went through his head. Thoughts at first which didn't make any sense at all.

"Melissa, dear. She's even more beautiful than her picture," Margaret beamed.

Miss Parker nodded in agreement.

Jarod turned his attention to Miss Parker. "You knew my mother was in town? How? When?" He questioned, a bit confused.

"Oh, dear, you didn't tell him. Melissa?"

Parker shook her head. "I never got a chance to. We were engaged in other conversations."

"Okay, Sydney, Mom? What's going on here?" He moved his head back and forth at them.

Sydney spoke up. "It was Miss Parker who found your mother, Jarod, not I. She deserves all the credit. After the island, she never stopped looking for her."

"Yes, sweetheart. That's the reason she left Kayla with you. She couldn't tell you of her hunt for me. Just in case, things didn't work out. But, it did. Here I am, back with you and my newly found family."

"Melissa." He spoke her name softly. "You?"

"Jarod." She barely whispered his name. "Yes, me."

To love someone is never your decision. Your heart has a mind of its own.

TBC- Chapter 8