Disclaimer:
These characters aren't mine. Well, some of them are. But the important ones
are all property of MTM and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm
not making any money out of this . . . . Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.
"What are you saying?" he gasps. "Are you telling me that you're . . .
Are we going to . . ."
"I was feeling really tired. Run down, even," she starts to explain,
though not really answering the question burning in his mind at that
moment. "I thought that I just
needed to get more rest. Imani and I
both have a hard time sleeping when you're gone. And you've been gone a lot.
But while I was exhausted all day, every day, Imani seemed to have more
energy than usual. I got some vitamins,
thinking that would help me to keep up with her. But, I just got more and more tired as the days went on. After dinner, I'd end up asleep on the couch
while she watched a movie or something until her bedtime. So, a couple of days ago, I finally decided
to just make an appointment with my doctor.
Imani had a visit with her pediatrician coming up, so I made an
appointment for the same day. When I
looked at the calendar to see when that day was, that's when I noticed how late
I was. And I knew."
She puts her hands on her stomach, rubs it and
smiles. He can't help but do the same, placing his hands on top of hers,
suddenly realizing that there was a baby growing inside of her. Their baby. He just hugs her and kisses her,
a few tears of joy coming to his eyes.
"Are you okay?
Is everything alright with the baby?"
"We're fine," she smiles, raising a hand
to stroke his cheek. "Let me
finish, though. I need to explain. And there's something else I have to tell
you."
She continues with her story.
"We were only there for a minute, Jarod. I swear.
I never take Imani to the Centre.
I wouldn't dream of it. But, on
the way to the hospital, I realized that I'd forgotten my health insurance
information at work. When I added Imani
to my health plan, they sent the new cards to the office. It didn't take long at all to get the
insurance cards. I just had to grab
them and we could be on our way. Which
is what happened. We were on our way
out when Lyle came by. Unfortunately,
his visit coincided with my first bout with morning sickness. I barely made it to my bathroom before I got
really sick. Imani kept calling for me,
asking if I was alright, but I couldn't let her see me like that. Lyle surprised me, though. By the time I had gotten out of the
bathroom, he had calmed her down. And
she was fine. She was sitting on his
lap and he was entertaining her with that stupid magic trick she was just
trying to show you. For a split second,
he seemed almost human. Like he really
cared about her. And she wasn't afraid
of him, Jarod. Trust me on this. I would have known if she was afraid. I would have felt it."
"Felt it?
What do you mean, Tori?"
"Do you remember that one gift you sent me last
year? It was after you'd found me at
Sydney's cabin. And after . . ."
"After you kissed me," he recalls with a
smile. "That's the day I realized
I couldn't live without you. I sent you
all that stuff for the banana splits to remind you of the good time were were
having at the ice cream parlor that day."
"And you also sent that picture Imani had drawn
for me," she adds. "By the
time I had gotten to the office, Broots told me that Lyle had already gone
through the box. But he didn't find the
picture. When I found it, I held it
close to my heart and I could actually feel the love she put into it. I could feel how happy she was. But I could also feel a terrible fear. And I knew then that Lyle was on his way
there. I dropped everything to get
there. To get to her. Because I could feel that she was
afraid."
He's shocked beyond words. He sits down on the bed and just listens to the rest of what she
has to say.
"But that day in the office was different. It wasn't like that day when he went to your
house in South Carolina. To be
perfectly honest with you, she seemed comfortable with Lyle. Like she could see
something in him that nobody else can.
Or like she knew he wasn't going to hurt her."
She pauses for a minute and takes a deep breath,
inwardly trying to decide whether or not to tell him this last part.
"Jarod, how much do you know about Imani's
abilities?" she asks cautiously, figuring that it's best that he knows the
whole story.
"She's not a pretender, if that's what you
mean," he says quickly.
"What about Sharisse? Or Miss Dee? Did they
have any gifts they could have passed down to her? She just seems to have this spooky kind of insight. Like an intense sense of women's intuition. I also noticed it in Miss Dee when we first
met. Miss Dee seemed to almost know me
the minute I walked through the door.
She seemed to know my name before I even told her. I know you had to have told her that people
were looking for you. But she so trustingly
opened the door to me. It's like she
knew I wasn't there to harm you, even before I knew it myself."
Jarod's really quiet. Thinking it all over.
Wondering how he could have missed it.
All the times when it seemed like Sharisse could read his mind. It was like she knew what he was thinking
before he even knew. And the way that
Miss Dee and Imani both formed an instant bond with Miss Parker that first day they met. But it all fit in with this theory of some special 'sense' or
'ability'. Which would make even more
sense as to why the Centre chose Sharisse to be the mother of his child to
begin with.
"There's more," she tells him when she
sees that he finally absorbing what she just told him. "I think Imani can . . . I'm not really
sure about this . . . but from what she told me once . . . when I first met
Imani, she told me . . . she told me that Sharisse and my mother sent me there
to help you take care of her."
"Imani talked to your mother? And her mother? Both of whom are deceased," he says disbelievingly.
"I know it sounds crazy, but she knew things,
Jarod. Things that she could only know
if she had actually seen my mother. Or
spoken to her. I don't know what to
think. Sydney says that sometimes kids
can see things that no one else can.
That sometimes kids can talk to angels."
"Miss Dee says that too. But I always thought it was just an old
wive's tale. When Imani was just a few
months old, Shari and I would peek in on her and stand where she couldn't see
us. She would be in her crib just
laughing and kicking and cooing like someone was tickling her or playing with
her. Miss Dee would say that she was
just entertaining the angels."
"So do you think it's possible?" she asks
him. "Do you think it's possible
Imani has all these hidden gifts and talents?
And if she does, then what does that mean for us? What are we going to do to protect
her?"
"You really do care about her," he says
with a smile, realizing how wrong he was to accuse her of the complete
opposite. "I'm sorry I implied
otherwise."
"No, Jarod.
I'm really sorry about the whole thing with Lyle. I shouldn't have taken her to the
Centre," she apologizes.
"I overreacted. And said some awful things.
I trust you with Imani. That's
why I brought her here to you to begin with.
I know you wouldn't put her in any danger. You're a good mother, Tori.
And you're going to a good mother to this little guy, too. I trust you. You have to trust yourself, too.
I'm sorry I almost destroyed that for you." He leans over and kisses her gently on the
lips before pulling her into a hug.
"I love you, Jarod."
"I love you, too."
"Jarod," she says with a small voice.
"Hmm," he replies, still holding her in
his arms.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Honey. But I think I'm going to be sick." She pulls out of his grasp and makes a
beeline for the bathroom.
"Tori.
Are you alright?" He knocks
gently at the door when he hears the gagging noises stop.
"What's wrong with Mommy?" Imani asks from
behind him, startling him a bit. Her
little lip was quivering and her big eyes were starting to fill with water.
"It's nothing, Princess," Jarod assures
her. "Mommy just has a little
tummy ache."
"Like the other day in her office," Imani
remembers. "She was really sick
and I couldn't help her. I started to
cry and cry, but that nice man came and told me she would be okay."
"Imani.
Did that man scare you or hurt you in anyway?" Jarod asks the
little girl delicately, trying not to alarm her.
"No, silly," she giggles. "He's my friend. That's Mommy's brother. Grammy Catie told me so."
"Grammy Catie?" Jarod is confused. But also a bit scared. Could this be what Miss Parker had been
trying to tell him about earlier?
"Imani, who's Grammy Catie?"
"That's what the nice lady said I could call
her. She said that Mommy was her little
girl. She's up in heaven with my real
Mommy," Imani explains. But then
she sees the anger and confusion on Jarod's face and her lip starts to quiver
again, afraid of what her father will do now that he knows she talks to the
'angels'.
"It's alright, Princess. I'm not mad," he promises her when he
sees that she's about to cry.
"Daddy's just surprised, that's all. Because I can't talk to the angels like you can. Nobody can talk to the angels like you
can. That means you're a special little
girl. But because you're special, you can't
let anyone know that you can do these things.
Just me and Mommy. Do you
understand?" Jarod watches the
little girl nod her head, but he's not really sure she grasps what he's trying
to say.
"Okay, Daddy," she agrees, though still
not really sure to what she's agreeing to.
"That's my girl," he says, kissing her on
the forehead. "Why don't you go
downstairs and wait for me in the kitchen.
I'll come and fix you a snack once I check on Mommy." He smiles as the little girl races off,
displaying some of that endless energy she's so full of.
"You feeling any better?" he asks Miss
Parker as she exits the bathroom.
"A little," she says. "Please tell me the whole pregnancy
isn't going to be like this."
"Hopefully it won't be this bad always,"
he says with a reassuring smile.
"You haven't eaten yet today.
And then I picked that fight with you.
You probably just got all worked up and that's why you were so
sick. Try to eat lots of small meals
throughout the day. And avoid
stress."
"Thank you, Dr. Jarod," she teases. "Oh, and about that stress. Just tell my husband not to pick on his poor
little pregnant wife anymore. And that
should just about take care of the stress," she laughs.
"I think that can be arranged," Jarod says
as he kisses her lightly. "I
promise you he'll be on his best behavior for the next . . . how far along are
you?"
"Almost five weeks," she smiles, rubbing
her still flat stomach again. Her smile
falls, though, when she realizes just how little time that leaves them. "That means we have a deadline now. We only have a few more months to figure
this whole thing out before this baby's life is also in jeopardy. And we cannot let that happen, Jarod. We can't let anything happen to our
children. We have to keep Imani and
this baby safe." She falls into
his arms and clings to him tightly, not wanting to let go.
"We'll figure it out, Tori," he
promises. "We'll find those
medallions and go claim what your mother left for us."
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