Disclaimer: I don't own
"The Pretender" or any of its characters. Thanx for not suing! ~Orinana
~~~~~~~~~
Paper
Snowflakes
part VI
By
Orinana
Jarod lie on his bed,
arms folded under his head, staring at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. The
walls suddenly reflected a dim green light, flashing on and off. Bringing one
arm up and tilting his wrist, he winced as the green light from his Timex
nearly blinded him. Turning the alarm off, he got up out of bed and left the
room, then moved across the hall to Parker's room and gave one quiet tap to the
door before entering.
Parker, who'd given
up on sleep quite a while ago, smiled a greeting from the closet, then nodded
for him to come over to her, whispering, "Help me with this."
Jarod took hold of
the doll house, while she collected the junk food, and headed out the door.
Parker stopped to turn out her light and close her door before tiptoeing down
the stairs along with him. Once they made it to the first floor, both dropped
their things then headed into the kitchen to talk.
"So," Jarod
began in a somewhat hushed tone, "what're we going to do for the rest of
her stocking?"
"I've got just
the thing," she smiled. Wanting to avoid the noise involved with dragging
a chair into the kitchen, Parker opted to hop onto the counter, using the
advantage to reach the top cupboard. After a moment of rummaging, she began to
toss things down to him. Jarod looked in confusion at the items in his hands.
"Pretzels, a bag
of white chocolate chips, and two cookie cutters?"
"It'll work out
great," she smiled, jumping down to the floor. "As long as we manage
to keep the noise down, we can probably get this done in less than two
hours."
"Huh?"
Parker sighed.
"The cookie cutters are ones we couldn't find earlier--they're shaped like
a man and a woman. We'll make gingerbread, and while they're baking we'll work
on the pretzels."
"The
pretzels."
"Right. Melt the
chocolate chips, add a little food coloring, and use it as a coating for the
pretzels. They're really good."
Jarod arched an
eyebrow and grinned. "Who knew you could be this creative?"
"Who knew I'd be
stuck in a cabin, awake at one in the morning on Christmas, playing
Santa?" They both laughed. "Well, let's get started on those cookies.
Thank goodness for the powdered milk and frozen egg substitute we found, or who
knows what we would've done!"
Later, as a large
batch of cookies baked and another waited to go in, they went about the tedious
process of dipping the bite-sized pretzels, one at a time, into the melted
chocolate, then laying them out on a piece of wax paper. They split the job in
half, Jarod dying his chocolate green, and Parker dying hers red. They left a
little over without coloring, and took turns dipping with the white later.
Parker's estimate
wasn't too far off. Within two hours, six plastic baggies sat before them on
the counter, three with cookies, three with pretzels, tied up with red yarn
Parker had found in the storage room.
"Just put these
into those makeshift stocking of ours, then on to the fun part," she
smiled, leading him into the living room. On the fireplace ledge, above the
oven mitts, was a plate of cookies and a glass of juice (when she realized
there was no fresh milk, Sam had insisted on unthawing a can of frozen juice
concentrate). Jarod drained the glass in two swigs, and the carefully arranged
cookies were soon in their
hands. After the small snack, they took hold of the doll house once again, and
placed it in the perfect spot underneath the tree.
Sitting down on the
couch, Parker and Jarod admired their work.
"I had
fun," she admitted after a moment, "playing Santa and all. I never
thought I'd get the chance to do things of this sort, not after Thomas..."
Quiet filled the
room, and it was several minutes before Jarod felt comfortable enough to speak
up. "It's late, and I doubt Sam will take pity on us in the morning, and
let us sleep in. Why don't we get some rest, hmm?"
"Sure."
Neither said another
word until they reached their rooms, where Parker stopped and, never taking her
eyes from the door in front of her, whispered, "I know this will sound
odd, especially coming from me, but I'm glad you're here, Jarod." With
that, she slipped inside her room.
~~~~~~~~~
"Miss Parker!
Jarod! Miss Parker!" The door to Parker's bedroom swung open, and a small,
very hyper child jumped onto her bed. As Parker shot up, Samantha began to
bounce about. "It's Christmas, Miss Parker!" Parker smiled patiently
-and tiredly- at the girl, although at this rate she might end up with a spot
of motion sickness.
As abruptly as she
was there, Sam left, running bare-footed across the hall to Jarod's room.
"Jarod, Jarod! Wake up!"
A head slowly
appeared from under the covers and stared bleary-eyed at Sam. "Huh?"
"Come on, Jarod!"
Not waiting for a reply, she bounded out the room. He heard small bare feet
race down the stairs, followed by the ecstatic exclamation, "He came, he
came! Jarod, Miss Parker, Santa came!"
Sharing a knowing
smile, they headed down the stairs. Next to the tree knelt Samantha, her hands
moving eagerly through all the rooms of the doll house, and a large cookie in
her mouth. At the sound of their approach, she looked up and laughed, one of
the greatest sounds in the world, Jarod decided.
After they had taken
their stockings down, both Parker and Jarod feigning surprise at all the
goodies that lie before them, Sam finally moved away from her doll house, and
sat down on the couch next to Jarod, leaning close and whispering something too
low for Parker to hear.
"You think this
is a good time, huh?" Parker looked at them in question, but Samantha
would only smile. "Well, I agree. Back in a minute." He stood up and
walked over to the tree, picking out one specific ornament. Parker gave the tinfoil
star a quizzical glance as he handed it to her.
She realized that the
star was rather heavy, and that the back didn't feel anywhere near as flat as
the front. Turning it over, she discovered a small, square gift-wrapped package
taped to it.
"What's
this?"
"Your Christmas
gift. Open it," he urged her. So Parker did, slowly undoing the slim
silver ribbon and shiny blue paper, while Sam stood by, hopping up and down
impatiently. A deep blue velvet jewelry box was revealed. Casting a raised
eyebrow in Jarod's direction, she opened the box, and the smallest of gasps
escaped involuntarily from her mouth.
"What is it?
What is it?" Sam peered down into the box. "Ohh... it's pretty."
"Yes, it
is." Parker lifted from the box a thin chain of silver. Dangling from it
was a small delicate angel, no larger than a penny, made completely out of
gemstones. A tiny round diamond created the head, and another, this one
bell-shaped, created the body. The wings were sapphires, each cut somewhat like
upside-down raindrops. She looked up at Jarod, and the jewels reflected the
fireplace, creating dozens of small spots of light that danced about her face.
"It's beautiful.
Where did you find it?"
"A couple of
pretends ago," he admitted, taking the chain from her and bending back to
hang it around her neck. It had been perfectly sized, she noted, fitting so
well that the angel came to rest in the nape of her neck. "I spotted it in
a jewelry store, and decided that it would make the perfect Christmas gift for
you. I was planning on getting it to your house after I dropped off Sam, so
that you'd find it when you got home, but..."
"Thank you,
Jarod. This is one of the few gifts I've ever gotten that I've really
loved." She meant it too. Daddy never gave her anything heart-felt, and
it'd been awhile since even Syd had bothered to try getting her in the
Christmas mood.
"I'm glad you
like it," he smiled. A silence hung between them for a moment, and even
Samantha sensed that there was something both wanted to say, but couldn't.
Grown-ups, she thought, looking at the two. They have to make everything so
complicated.
"The sun's
finally coming up," Parker noticed, nodding towards the window. Sam ran
over to it and looked out.
"Hey! The snow's
stopped again!" Jarod's head jerked up. Sure enough, the first rays of
sunshine were reflecting perfectly clear skies. There was a surge of
disappointment, but he couldn't quite figure out why. You know, you just won't
admit it, his mind retorted.
"Oh, shut
up," he murmured under his breath.
Parker gave him a confused
look. "Huh?"
"Uh,
nothing," he mumbled, then stood and headed into the kitchen. "I'm
gonna make some coffee." You see, came the voice as he was scooping
grounds into the coffee machine, you're just as bad as she is. Rolling his
eyes, Jarod focused even harder on the simple task at hand.
~~~~~~~~~
"The greater
part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our
circumstances."
-Martha Washington
It was just after
lunch. Samantha sat at the dining room table, cutting out construction paper
dolls for her doll house. Jarod grinned at her concentration, how the tip of
her tongue stuck out between her lips. A lot like Parker, with the set look of
determination on her face. Thinking of Parker, he realized he hadn't seen her
for about 15 minutes now. Heading upstairs, he gave her door a quick knock,
then went ahead and opened the door.
Parker sat on her
bed, and she froze as the door swung open to reveal Jarod. He stared down at
the gun in her hands dumbly, and she looked down at it as well, not even
recognizing it at first.
"Jarod--"
She stopped short, thinking of how to rephrase the question. Quietly, she
suggested, "Better shut the door. Sam might see it." He nodded, a
brief, weak attempt, and did so, but still didn't say anything. Parker cleared
her throat, but her voice remained hesitant. "The weather's cleared up,
and if it stays this warm, by t-tomorrow the snow'll have melted enough for us
to leave." Her careful eyes picked up how his jaw tightened, and his eyes
averted her. A sort of sad smile came to her lips. "You know, usually not
a day goes by that I don't clean this thing, but since we've...I haven't
touched it since I hid it from Sam."
"I'm glad."
Barely audible, and somehow the kind of statement that made Parker want to run
out the door, away from this conversation. It was so uncomfortable, like a
confrontation, only there was no way for her to retaliate. Hell, he hadn't even
raised his voice.
"Jarod,
I--" He didn't even bother to listen to the rest of what she said, just
opened the door, walked through, and shut it. Parker gave a wary sigh, and
glared down at the weapon in her hand. Damn thing. It wasn't fair--that stupid
weapon was always popping up at the wrong moments. Just like when Thomas had
first seen it...
~~~~~~~~~
Parker had come
downstairs a few minutes later. Neither mentioned the gun, but the thought of
it hung between them like a brick wall. When Parker sat Sam down and explained
to her that tonight was their last together, the little girl had started to
cry. Not fun.
Sam continually
refused to go to sleep. Around eleven, she finally nodded off in her bed,
following a dry and generic story by Jarod. After being sure that she had
enough covers, he crept out of the room. He had to stop and take a deep breath
before heading down the stairs. He knew she was downstairs, and knew as well
that eventually they'd have to talk about tomorrow. There was no sound when he
reached the bottom level, however, and he saw with confusion that she wasn't in
the living room. Walking through the dining room to the kitchen door, he popped
his head in, but didn't see her there either.
As he turned and
walked back through the dining room, he spotted her, with relief, lying on the
couch, fast asleep. Jarod tiptoed past her, flicked off the light, and began
towards the stairs. It was halfway up, however, that he stopped, a thought
coming to him that he couldn't ignore. Walking back down and over to the couch,
he knelt down, close enough to feel her slow, steady breaths on his cheek.
After a moment of just intaking that sensation, he closed his eyes and softly
kissed her, not on the forehead as he had earlier, but on the lips.
"Merry
Christmas, Miss Parker."
~~~~~~~~~
Probably one of the
greatest shocks of Parker's life was waking up the next morning to find Jarod a
few feet away, taking down their Christmas tree. Everything in her had been
certain that he would leave, disappear in the night like he did so well.
In a corner, near the
dining room, sat Sam, with her knees drawn up under her chin and sniffling as
she watched Jarod. Then, she noticed that Parker was awake, and both sat up at
the same moment, the smaller running over and throwing her arms around the
older.
"Oh, Miss
Parker, I don't wanna go!" With a small sigh, Parker wrapped her arms
around Sam's small body, and rested her head against the girl's. Samantha's
crying grew louder, and she closed her eyes, feeling terrible guilt. Jarod
stopped for a moment, feeling a tug as he watched the two, then turned resolutely
to his work. Once all of the handmade-ornaments had been removed and tossed
into a garbage can, he took the tree and went outside alone, dragging it to the
one side of the house and allowing it to roll down the hill, into the woods.
While he was busy
outside, Parker realized that Sam was out of her pajamas, dressed and hair
pulled back in a neat ponytail. Looking around, she saw that everything was
tidy, in fact, cleaned up, much like it had been the night she arrived. With
the tree gone, there was nothing to show that three people had spent Christmas
here. Even the snowflakes were gone from the windows. Giving Sam a small pat,
she moved her onto the couch and headed into the kitchen. The dishes were
cleaned and put away, everything sparkled. Upstairs, all three beds had been
made, and only her own bags remained to be placed downstairs.
~~~~~~~~~
Three car doors
slammed shut. Samantha stared gloomily out her window at the cabin. Up front,
Jarod turned the key in the ignition, and everyone jumped at the sound of the
motor starting.
"Well,"
Jarod said brightly, his tone so fake he wasn't sure why he was even bothering,
"is everyone ready to go?"
"No," Sam
retorted. Parker gave him a look--stupid question. He just shrugged, and turned
the wheel, steering them down the driveway and away from the house. Jarod
didn't feel like saying anything. He thought of the last few days, and the
unexpected events entailed. He'd forced himself to accept the reality that they
were leaving, had done every bit of preparation there was to do before one left
a stranger's house you'd borrowed for a few days, and hated himself for it. He
ran a hand through his hair, and tried to stay concentrated on the road he was
driving on. Driving towards town...a town he'd yet to plot his escape from. The
fact that he needed an escape, from Parker's clutches and the threat of return
to the Centre, brought forth anger, and a sad sort of expectancy. When it came
to that hell, some things just never changed.
But he didn't say
another word, and neither Parker nor Samantha bothered to speak up. They drove
on, in complete silence, towards Bloomfield, Vermont.
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