The Center of Wisteria Lane

The Pretender/Desperate Housewives

Jarod/Miss Parker

Mike (Lyle) Delfino/ Susan Meyers

Set after the last movie for The Pretender.

It was a normal day on Wisteria Lane and Mike Delfino was crossing the road to fix his neighbor's bathroom because their pipes were leaking. It was pretty much a normal day action for him now.

No need to carry a gun, no need to constantly watch his back.

He liked this normal life he had, he didn't miss his old life for one bit. He was lucky to be able to walk free and was surprised he had managed to stay out of Jarod's radar for over 5 years. Only his sweet wife Susan knew that he was not really Mike Delfino but Lyle Parker. He had told her everything about his past and was surprised that she still stayed with him, even after he told her about all the horrible things he had done. She really loved him and he felt blessed to be able to feel such love.

Lyle had followed from afar the Center falling down, wondering with each passing day if him name would be brought up, if Jarod would pick him up himself or simply send cops, if his sister would be mentioned...

Jarod had managed to ruin them and Lyle escaped only because he had overheard Jarod speaking with Angelo over a webcam one night. The Pretender was informing Angelo that he had found Mister Parker's body along with the scrolls and that he had a plan to ruin the Center and make them crash down. Since Lyle had always been good at surviving, he packed his bags and left without leaving a trace behind him in less than 2 days.

He became Mike Delfino that day.

He had thought about warning his sister for a moment but he knew that Jarod would make sure nothing happened to her. Whatever was between those two was too strong and Jarod wouldn't let anything happen to Parker, he loved her too much. He even risked getting caught a few times just to make sure she was alright so he was confident that Jarod would look after his sister and that he didn't need to worry about her.

"You're going out?" He asked his wife when he saw her walk to her car.

"New neighbors are moving in today. I need to get them a traditional welcoming cake." She replied.

"So, you want the new neighbors to die of food poisoning already? Is it safe to make enemies out of them so fast?" He joked.

"Very funny honey. I'm not crazy, I'm going to buy a very plausible home cooked cake." She smiled back at him.

"Good. Grab some beers while you're at it?" He asked her and she nodded.

"I'll also order the bouncy house for MJ's birthday party after work today." Susan informed him.

"Sure honey." He replied as he watched her getting in her car.

Their son was turning 4 and Lyle knew what the signs he was seeing in his son meant. He knew that his son had the Pretender gene even without studying him. In a corner of his mind he wished he could find someone that would help him make sure his son turned out alright and not into a psychopathic killer like some other Pretenders gone bad because they had been left unattended. For the first time since he left the Center out of survival, Lyle actually wished that Jarod would find him.

He needed him, or Sydney.

He needed a chance to convince them to help his son.

Jarod thought that he had done pretty good over the last 5 years.

First, he found Mister Parker's body along with the scrolls. They were messed up pretty badly but he still managed to restore them and read them. Well, at least a few good and important parts that were still readable after the damages done by the water.

Everything was clear to him after that.

He blackmailed the Triumvirate and got them all arrested and dismantled. He did the same thing to the Center at the same time, making sure that Angelo, Sydney, Broots and Miss Parker were warned and would be left alone.

It was a couple of years of trials but eventually, it was over and they were free of the Center for good.

He had found his family again and Miss Parker agreed to try and see how far things could go between them despite their strange and very complicated history. They both had a lot of baggage but they were in love and had been for a long time. Deep down, to him, she was still the little Miss Parker that had gievn him his first kiss, the only kiss in his life that was worth remembering.

They were also both very willing to make it work.

She had been present by his side the day the Center got closed down, along with his young clone, his father, his mother and his sister (reunited all together for the first time in years at this moment). The half brother he had in common with Parker was there too. Ethan had met his biological father and decided to spend some time with him and Jarod's clone. He needed to feel part of a family.

All in all, it had been a pretty happy day. The Center was dismantled of course but the building was still there and it was decided it would turn into an hospital with all the latest technology, paid with the money the Center had left and that hadn't been used to compensate people they had hurt over their decades in action.

During this celebration, Broots, who attended with his daughter, mentioned that nobody knew what happened to Baby Parker, making them all worry.

"That's a very good question indeed... We never saw that baby again after we walked in on M. Raines gazing him." Sydney agreed.

"He was gazing a baby?" Major Charles asked, surprised that Raines would be that evil.

"Well, to be truthful, he was trying to cure him and help him develop his lungs... I think it worked pretty well." Miss Parker replied.

"We still don't know where he is...or what's happened to him..." Jarod replied with a concerned voice while Miss Parker, Angela, was by his side, holding his hand.

Suddenly, Angelo handed him a piece of paper with an address written on it.

"What is it Angelo? Is this where Baby Parker is?" Jarod asked his old friend who nodded.

"Well, I guess we'll have to go and see where this leads us..." Miss Parker said.

"We'll go together. What's one more chase?" Jarod nodded.

"Any word on Lyle?" Sydney asked.

"Not yet... I guess we'll have to look for him too. Who knows what that creep is doing now... I just hope we don't end up finding him by following a body trail." Miss Parker replied.

.

Jarod enjoyed spending time with his family.

Even if the trial had been long and tiring, those past 5 years were spent with them all and he enjoyed it all completely. Through the hard times, it was filled with happy moments, good moments he had craved for his entire life. He loved them and knew that now they would be able to stay in touch all the time and to see each other quite often without a deadly threat hanging over their heads but he also knew that they would go their separate ways soon.

They'll have to say goodbye. They all had a life to go back to and he needed to take the time to build himself a new one. A happier one with Miss Parker. The last few years together had been great. of course they fought from time to time but they always made up. Their love was stronger than anything and it looked like they also made each other stronger. Jarod brought peace to Angela Parker and she gave him all the love he had craved for so long.

It didn't take long for Jarod and Parker to arrive at the address Angelo had given them and they rang the doorbell.

"May I help you?" The woman who answered the door said before she recognized Jarod, who had been seen a lot in local newspapers lately.

"Oh, it's you. Are you here for the kid?" The woman asked him before he could say anything.

"Excuse me?" Miss Parker asked as the woman showed them inside.

"The baby from the Center. M. Raines was paying us to take care of him but now the money stopped coming because of the trial... We can't keep him anymore. I figured that was the reason you were here." She explained.

"We were curious as to the whereabouts of my baby brother, yes." Miss Parker replied.

"You'll be taking him back then?" The woman asked as she served them coffee in porcelain cups.

"If that's what you want... I mean if you love him we can arrange for visitation rights or something..." Jarod suggested after sharing a look with the woman he loved.

"We only took him in because M. Raines threatened my family and was giving us money to see to the child's needs. You can take him back. I've been expecting you to come ever since the Center closed down actually... His bags are almost ready and he knows that he'll go away soon. We want to forget about all of this as soon as possible." The woman said.

"What's his name?" Miss Parker asked after the woman called her husband and told him to get the kid and his papers ready so he could leave soon.

"Parker. His name is Parker." She replied.

Soon, the husband walked in the room and dropped a couple of bags near Jarod. He was followed by a cute 5 years old boy. Apparently, they had treated him right. Jarod assured them that he would take care of all the necessary papers while he watched Miss Parker introducing herself to the boy as her big sister.

"Are you taking me away?" The little boy asked her in a shy voice.

"Yes, I am. See this man? His name is Jarod. He's... He's my special friend and we're going to take care of you together." She told her little brother.

Jarod and her had talked about this possibility on the way over and she knew that he didn't mind. They were going to give their couple a real try by living together and getting married and Jarod had assured her that he would love for them to take her little brother in and to raise him.

The new couple and the little boy left about 20 minutes later, after they had taken care of everything.

For now they were still staying at Miss Parker's house near the Center but they were looking for a new place that would be their own, along with new career for the two of them.

Sydney came to visit them as soon as little Parker was settled in, along with Broots. The elder man was going to spend some time with his son Nicolas and the woman he had always loved. Now that he was free of the Center, he wanted to make the most of it.

Broots for his part had already found another job in the computer department of a big company. He would still be able to provide a good life for his daughter and he wouldn't have the threat of the Center hanging over their heads. They would both be safe and happy.

Despite being free, Angelo couldn't stay on his own. The damages the Center had done to his brain were too big. At first Jarod wanted to let him stay with them but Angelo refused to impose on the new couple. He feared that he would get in the way of a couple that was working so well already. Instead, they decided to buy him a spot in one of the greatest nursing home in the country. There, Angelo would be taken care off and would be free to do as he pleased.

They all promised to keep in touch with each others before they left, to visit each other.

.

After a while, Jarod and Miss Parker agreed that staying in Blue Cove wasn't an option. The place was filled with the ghosts of their past and if they wanted to start anew, they needed to do it someplace else, somewhere none of them had ever been and where the ghost of their past wouldn't come up.

"Well, that's not going to be easy, you've been all over the country running from the Center and I've been everywhere as well looking for you." Parker chuckled as she glanced at a map of the country.

"Oh come on, I'm sure we can find a good place." He replied as he came to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before he kissed her neck softly.

"Parker is watching..." She replied with a smile as she pointed to her little brother who was laughing as he played with his toys.

He had been living with them for a few months now and he had grown to consider Jarod his father and Miss Parker his mother. They had gotten married a few weeks ago during a simple ceremony with only their close friends and Jarod's newly reunited family invited and were now Jarod and Angela Parker Charles. The little boy was Parker Charles and had been officially adopted by the both of them. They now had the family they had dreamed of and a new beginning ahead of them.

A few days later, Jarod found a great job as a doctor in Fairview General Hospital. It was a new place for them and a job where he would do what he loved and help people. Angela looked into the town and liked it. She even applied to a part-time job as an accountant. It didn't take them long to find a house in a nice street, especially since Jarod had the help of a few people he had helped over his years on the run.

"Wisteria Lane... I didn't find much articles about them, which is a good thing. It looks like a quiet, normal, suburb area." Jarod informed her as they packed the last few items.

"Good, I think we have had enough drama to last us a life time." She replied with a smile before she asked: "What about the schools?"

"They all seem good. I still think we took the right decision when we enrolled Parker in the private school though. It will be safer in case anyone from the Center gets out and seeks retribution. We can never be safe enough." Jarod explained.

"You're right. I looked at their website and they seem to be a good place... I can't help but worry though."

"After everything we went through it's natural. Don't worry, we'll all be fine. We'll finally have happy normal lives and we might even manage to make friends we won't have to leave behind or watch die." Jarod smiled at her and she nodded before they exchanged a kiss and loaded the last few bags and boxes in their car.

Everything else was already in a truck and would be unloaded at their new house before they arrived. Jarod had hired someone he had helped in the past and he knew they could trust this person to deliver their things safely.

.

They arrived at their new house a little after the truck and they quickly opened the door so the men could carry their boxes inside.

"Can I play with my cars outside or do I have to carry boxes too?" Parker asked his parents as he watched the big, heavy looking boxes going inside the house.

"You can stay in the yard honey, we'll take care of everything." Angela chuckled.

Jarod then passed her with his arms full of boxes and he stopped to give her a kiss before he went to put the boxes in the kitchen. When he came back out, he went to stand by his wife and they watched their new house for a few minutes.

"I have a good feeling about this place." Jarod assured her.

"Me too." She smiled.

As they turned around to get more boxes, 4 women walked to them. One of them, the red haired one, was carrying a basket full of muffins.

"Hello! I'm Bree. This is Gabrielle, Susan and Lynette. We just wanted to welcome you to Wisteria Lane." The red haired one said in a joyful voice.

"Thank you, that's very nice of you." Angela replied.

"Where are you from?" Gabrielle asked.

"Blue Cove, Delaware." Jarod replied before he added: "I'm Jarod, this is my wife Angela and our son Parker."

At the mention of Blue Cove, a bell rang in Susan's head. She had heard that location before, but where? And why was the name Parker so familiar? Was it only because Lynette had a son named like this also or for another reason? She couldn't seem to remember at the moment so she let it go.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. If you need anything, feel free to come and ask us. My husband is a plumber, the best around." Susan told them.

"Thank you. Right now we're fine. But since you're here... We were planning on having a housewarming party to meet the neighbors Saturday. Maybe you could spread the word?" Angela asked them.

"Absolutely. You can already count us and our families in." Lynette smiled softly.

After the 4 women had left, Angela turned to Jarod and asked:

"Do you think we can trust them?"

"Why shouldn't we? You worry too much. The Center is in the past. This is our life now." He replied before he kissed her and they went back to unloading their car and started to sort everything in the house.

.

Jarod and his wife had managed to settle everything the way they wanted in the house.

"You know, it's pretty handy living with you." Angela told Jacob with a smile as he fixed a problem they had with electric cables.

"Is there anything else for you service Ma'am?" he asked her with an amused smile.

"I think that's it. I'll tip you later." She chuckled before she kissed his neck and went to check on Parker who was playing in the living room.

.

Further in the street, Susan Delfino was just getting home with Mike and MJ when she noticed a box in front of the door.

"Is it for me mommy?" MJ asked her.

"I'm afraid not honey. It's addressed to the neighbors but they got the number wrong." she replied.

"M. Jarod Charles." Mike read and it was like a light went on in Susan's head.

"Oh my god, that's where I heard it before!" She exclaimed.

"Honey?" he asked her.

"I... I didn't link it before... They're from Blue Cove and their son is named Parker... His wife is Angela... I knew it was familiar but I just couldn't place it..." Susan informed him.

"Jarod Charles..." Mike/ Lyle said, wondering if he could be lucky enough for it to be someone else than the Jarod he had tortured and tried to kill so many times.

"You think it's them? Mike? Are you in trouble? Do we need to pack?" Susan asked him.

"I don't know... I should go and bring the package to them alone though..." He warned her as he grabbed the brown box.

"Don't be silly. If you want to show them that you've changed, MJ and I will go with you. You told me yourself that Jarod wasn't big on guns anyway..." Susan told him.

"Parker won't hesitate to shoot me if she's got the chance." he warned her.

"Don't be silly, she's not going to leave a gun handy in a house with a child. Child who's probably your little brother by the way. Come on, we'll go together and try to make peace with them without making a scene in the street." Susan decided before she took MJ in her arms and Mike's hand in hers before they started walking to the new neighbors' house.

.

Jarod was just done fixing what needed to be fixed around their new house when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Angela said as she left the kitchen to open the door while Jarod put his tools away.

"Me too." Parker called out as he joined his mother to open the door.

The first thing Angela saw when she opened the door was Susan Delfino, one of their new neighbors and a boy whom she assumed was her son and so she smiled kindly at them. The next second, as she opened the door a bit wider, she saw who Susan was standing with and her face fell.

"Parker..." Mike started to say with his hand lifted in front of him in a waiting gesture but she didn't give him the time.

"Honey, go get your father. Tell him Lyle is here and stay in the kitchen until we tell you to come out." Angela told the little boy who nodded and ran.

"Please just hear me out, I've changed!" Lyle pleaded with her.

In the back of his head, he wondered who the little boy was. Had his sister adopter a boy with Jarod? Surely he was too old to be her own son. Parker... Could he be their little brother? He pushed the questions back for later. Right now, he needed to convince them to give him a second chance.

"You left us all to sink when the Center crashed and you want me to believe that you've changed? How many people have you killed lately?" She snapped at him as Jarod joined her.

"I knew you'd be fine. I knew that Jarod wouldn't let you get hurt or put away but I would have gone to jail or worst... I couldn't have that. I had to save myself, I'm sure you can understand that." Lyle tried to explain.

"Please, I know that his past isn't the best, he told me, but he's changed. At least hear him out before you call someone to arrest him." Susan pleaded as she hugged her son closer to her.

"We should hear them out Angela... The old Lyle would have run..." Jarod whispered in her ear as he made his presence behind her known and she nodded.

"Come on in." She said as she opened the door wider.

"Here, we got this in the mail for you this morning. It's a new mailman, he must have mistaken the numbers or something." Lyle/Mike said as he handed the box to Jarod.

"Thanks, it must be what Emily said she'd send us from her vacation." Jarod smiled as he placed the box on the table and sat down with everyone else in the living room.

"Can I come back out now daddy?" Little Parker asked from the kitchen.

"Yes, you can." Jarod said before the little boy ran to them and joined them in the living room.

"So, you already know my wife Susan, this is our son MJ, he's almost 4 and a bit shy in front of new people." Lyle introduced them.

"MJ?" Angela asked, trying not to be too concerned for the 'wife'.

"Mike Junior. I changed my name to Mike Delfino. Susan is the only one who knows the truth about me." Mike told them.

"The truth? Really?" Angela asked him.

"Yes, I told her everything, absolutely everything." He assured his sister.

"Fine. Parker, honey, this is Lyle, my brother... Your brother too." Angela told the little boy who smiled at the man.

"But you have to say he's your uncle okay? You remember what I told you?" Jarod added and the little boy nodded, went to shake Lyle/Mike's hand like his father did all the time with other men and went back to his toys.

After that, they talked for a while, catching up with each others and trying to decide if Lyle was worth saving or not while the two little boys went to play together in Parker's room after getting permission from their parents. It would be better if they didn't hear the adult's conversations and since they were family anyway, they should try to get closer to each others.

Angela and Jarod decided to give Lyle one last chance and to tell everyone that Angela and Mike were twins, separated when they were 10 after their parents died, that they had lost touched and just reconnected, finding themselves by luck living in the same street after so long. The story was far fetched but Susan assured them that people would believe it. Weirder things had happened in this street apparently.

Mike decided to tell them his worries about MJ being a pretender and Jarod promised to look into it and to guide the boy if he truly was one. Mike immediately felt better, relieved from his worries. MJ wouldn't turn into a psychopath. He would be fine now.

"So, do you want to stay for dinner?" Angela asked after a while of talking, when it became obvious to her that her brother deserved to be given the benefice of the doubt.

"Oh, we don't want to impose on you..." Susan replied.

"Not at all. Jarod was a chef once and he's cooking. It's always worth it when he does." Angela assured them with a gentle smile.

"Well, it can't be worst than when Susan cooks." Mike joked.

"Hey! I've gotten better!" Susan exclaimed with a smile as she gently tapped her husband on the shoulder.

"You're not a good cook then?" Jarod asked Susan.

"I've never been a good cook. When we met it was my friend's Mary-Alice's wake and he was trying to eat the macaroni and cheese I had brought for appearance. He believed it was impossible to mess up this dish... He was proven wrong the minute he took a bite." Susan chuckled.

"Well, one more reason to accept our invitation. I'm cooking Italian tonight." Jarod declared before he went in the kitchen and started to cook.

The Delfino family accepted the invitation and used the time to work on their cover story to explain Parker, Angela and Jarod.

.

MJ and Parker had quickly gotten along. Their small age difference didn't seem to matter. They quickly got very close and good friends.

Parker managed to make a lot of friends quickly and he even was the only one Juanita Solis didn't try to bully. The strong little girl had a big crush on him and he was always nice to her. She didn't have any reasons to be mean with him.

Just like Susan had guessed, everyone accepted their story, as miraculous and unbelievable as it seemed. Apparently, in neighborhoods like this one, people didn't pay much attention to your life as long as you acted like everyone else and mowed your lawn, took your trash out and was a nice neighbor.

Angela had been accepted into Susan's group of friends and she played Poker with them every weeks. She liked Bree's strong personality, Gabrielle's sense of fashion, Susan's sweet and accepting personality and Lynette's brain. She managed to bond with each of them one way or another and quickly had a strong circle of friend of he own.

It took Jarod some time but he managed to accept the idea of being friends with Lyle. Calling him Mike seemed to help him accept the fact that he wasn't the same man who had tortured him so much at the Center.

If the pretender was happy with his family and his job as a doctor, sometimes, he fell on a case that required help. When he could help from a distance he did, when he couldn't, he tried to take a few days to go and help. Of course he missed his family and hated being away from them but he couldn't let people suffer, it went against his nature. Most of the time though, Ethan and his clone would go and save the situation without him having to leave his family's side. Technology helped them a lot. with this.

Jarod often got visits from his parents, his siblings or even Sydney or Angelo who came once in a while.

Now that the Center was out of the picture, they all had the rest of their lives to start living and as Jarod looked at the sonogram picture of his daughter, the one his wife was pregnant with, he couldn't be any happier and he knew that she, too, was happy.

"Are you sure you don't mind calling her like my mother?" Angela asked Jarod that night in bed.

"Of course not. Catherine Parker tried to save us all. She was a great woman. Calling our daughter after her is a great idea." He replied before he kissed her.

"Mike told me that he saw on internet that Rains died in jail yesterday." She told him.

"Really?"

"You sound shocked... I see that i'm not the only one who was starting to think that man would outlive us all." She chuckled.

"I guess his luck ran out when ours started coming in." Jarod replied before he kissed her and wished her good night, whispering how much he loved her before they both went to sleep.

I know this is short, but I didn't have enough inspiration to make it longer. I just needed to get it out of my head to be able to work on other things.

If it inspired you to do something similar, feel free to do it. I might work more on it later, who knows.

Review please?

Lorelei Candice Black