Chapter Text
Part One
Its completely her own damn fault that she’s in the situation she’s in right now. As Director of the Time Bureau, Ava should have been paying more attention to what Mona was saying about their current magical fugitive instead of daydreaming about Sara. But how did one have a girlfriend as hot as Sara and not daydream about her? A very serious question.
They were standing in the holding cell of a fugitive who looked very human and not at all magical, which was probably why it took her agents so long to find her. Their newest acquisition was a petite woman with tan skin, dark curly hair, and dark brown eyes. Said fugitive was also currently looking at her with interest, not that she really noticed.
Her eyes flickered briefly to the fugitive and then to Mona who was still going on about …something. She really should have been paying attention instead of, she’s embarrassed to admit, thinking about Sara and babies. She didn’t really get along with kids, as evidenced by her brief and somewhat horrifying interlude at Camp Ogawa, but babies were a different story.
She hasn’t had a lot of interaction (or any really) with babies, but lately they’ve been on her mind. They were everywhere it would seem, at the grocery store, at her favorite coffee shop, even at the Time Bureau. Her employees were constantly showing each other adorable pictures of their babies. In the past this type of non-productive behavior would have irritated her, but now she finds herself joining in and cooing (internally of course) over these pictures.
Maybe the idea of babies was on her mind because she and Sara were serious now and she was giving some serious thought to their future together. Sara was at this point all but living with her and the captain even referred to the apartment as theirs. There was a promise to move in together completely one day, hopefully soon, and then marriage would probably be the next step, and then what comes after that? Oh, a baby, not that they definitely had to do any of those things or even in that order.
But a baby might not be so bad, she thought. A baby could learn to love her and maybe grow up into a kid that didn’t hate her, like those little monsters at summer camp did. So, it’s with that line of thought that she started to envision what their imaginary baby might look like. Hopefully a lot like Sara, those Caribbean sea blue eyes and that dimple for sure. She would definitely have Sara’s babies, not that she would admit that out loud.
She was so stuck in her head that she missed the fugitive, who had been gazing so intently at her, nod her head and then wave a hand in her direction. Suddenly there was a baby, a real live baby swaddle in a white blanket in her arms. She nearly squeaked in surprise, but managed to hold herself together.
“Oh my god, what just happened,” she said, panic rising in her voice.
Mona looked at her, huge dark eyes rounded in surprise. “You haven’t been paying attention to what I’ve been saying, have you Director Sharpe?”
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “My mind may have been elsewhere,” she admitted.
Mona pursed her lips and looked very much like she was trying to hold back a laugh. “Well, Zelema is a genie and once she finds her new master or mistress, she can grant their wishes non-verbal or otherwise.”
Oh crap. This wasn’t even really a wish, more like an idle thought.
Mona looked down at the baby and then at her. She could see an excited grin form on the fugitive caretaker’s face.
“No,” Ava said, immediately silencing Mona. She did not need to hear Mona squealing in excitement over this.
They both looked back down at the infant in her arms again. The baby was quiet at the moment, looking up at them curiously. It definitely wasn’t a newborn, maybe a few months old? She wasn’t sure. Her knowledge of infants was limited and she has never actually held a baby before. She didn’t even have any memories of holding a baby. Thanks Rip.
Mona’s brow furrowed “Hey, does she kind of look like Sara to you? ‘Cause she kind of does.”
She looked more closely at the baby and she could see it now. Caribbean sea blue eyes and that little chin dimple, somehow more adorable in miniature. Exactly what she had been daydreaming about.
“Huh,” Mona said interrupting her thoughts. “She’s got your nose? And that’s definitely your hair.”
The baby did have her nose and their soft downy hair was the same shade of honey blonde as her’s.
“We don’t know that it’s a she Mona or even whose baby it is.”
“She’s a she,” a slightly accented and melodic voice said behind them. “That’s what you wanted, a child with the blue-eyed woman you could not stop thinking about.” The genie smiled at her knowingly.
“Aww,” Mona gushed. “That’s so cute.”
Her cheeks burned again. Although she may consider Mona as more than a colleague, a friend even, she did not need her to think that she had lost her edge.
She breathed heavily though her nose. “Mona, this is an accident.”
“So was I,” the caretaker chirped happily. “And my parents love me!”
She adjusted the weight of the baby in her arms and turned to fully face the genie. “Mona, no. That’s not what I meant. This current predicament that I’m in would make it seem like I’m taking advantage of our inmates, which I would never purposely do.”
“Oohhh.” Mona’s face fell at that realization.
She approached the genie, stopping to stand just at the edge of the invisible barrier that surrounded the creature.
“Listen, Ms. Zelema,” she said as authoritatively as she could. “I did not mean for this to happen. You have to take her back.”
Although there was a tiny part of her that didn’t want to, she held the baby out to the creature.
The genie made no attempt to move. “I cannot do that. Once you make a wish, it cannot be undone.”
“I did not wish for this to happen,” she protested.
The genie arched an eyebrow at her. “It was in your heart.”
“It was in my-.” Are you serious? What kind of Disney bullshit is this? She groaned in frustration. “Can I use a wish to send her back to wherever she came from?”
“You cannot wish someone from existence,” Zelema replied calmly.
“But I just wished her into existence and that’s okay?” Her voice was steadily rising in volume with each word.
Zelema shrugged. “I do not make the rules.”
“You don’t make the rules? Oh my god. What do I do with this then,” she asked, her voice growing desperate now.
The genie smiled at her, amusement in her dark eyes. “She is a baby Mistress, you take care of her.”
Panic flared up in her. She was going to get fired or sued or something because this was against the rules and surely unethical. Even worse, how was she supposed to explain this to Sara who was still getting used to the idea of being a partially kept woman. Her chest felt tight with worry now.
“Mona,” she said turning around. “You can’t tell anyone about this. I could get sacked for this.”
Mona gasped and put an honest to god hand to her heart. “I would never do that!”
“Well, thank you for your loyalty, but you probably should report me. I would probably report me.” She was a stickler for rules after all.
Just then the baby gurgled in her arms letting them know that she was very much still here and apparently happy about it. It made her melt a little, but only a little.
“Oh, you’re so cute,” she murmured, momentarily distracted.
She reached down to boop the baby on its tiny nose and was rewarded with a toothless little smile. Warmth bloomed in her chest. That little dimple became more prominent when the baby smiled, just like Sara’s did. A little miniature Sara, a tiny Lance. Dammit, she should not be getting attached this fast.
Mona tapped her shoulder. “You should probably get out of here, Director Sharpe. I can alter the security feeds later.”
“You’re right. I have to get out of here quickly.”
She held the baby more securely against her and had to keep herself from ‘awwing’ out loud when the baby nuzzled her cheek against her chest. Okay, so its possible that she might have a touch of the baby fever.
She took one last look around the room. Mona had moved to fiddle with the cell’s security panel and the genie was watching her, clearly deriving entertainment from the whole situation.
She scowled at the genie and then rushed out the room. The hallway was blessedly empty, but it was impossibly long with security cameras decorating the length of it. She quickened her pace, jostling the baby in her arms slightly as she did. The baby made a few unhappy sounds and she made some half-hearted shushing noises praying that the baby wouldn’t start crying.
“Listen Tiny Lance,” she whispered. “We just have to make it out of this no portal zone and then we can go anywhere, but I need you to be quiet, okay?”
The baby only whimpered in response.
A door opened behind her and a jolt of fear struck her. She still had halfway to go if she wanted to get out of the no portal zone. She was, however, only two doors away from Nora’s holding cell. She made split decision and beelined for Nora’s room, speeding up her pace only slightly as to not seem suspicious. Once inside, she let out a sigh of the relief. She quickly disabled the security cameras and the force field surrounding Nora. She predicted that she had a good 10 minutes before anyone would notice anything was amiss. The baby in her arms was no longer calm, her little face was scrunched up and turning red.
“Is that a baby?” Nora said from a small couch in the middle of the room. “Please tell me you’re not imprisoning babies now, because that is real low Ava even for a suit like you."
“It’s not what you think,” she hurriedly said.
The baby began to let out a few tentative cries. She tried to rock the baby hoping to calm the fussy infant. In her periphery, she was vaguely aware of Nora making her way over to her to peer at the baby in her arms. She ignored the witch in favor of making more shushing noises.
“Come on, baby. Don’t cry.” This only prompted the tiny infant to do the exact opposite.
“Does this baby kind of look like Sara to you?” Nora’s eyes widened with horror. “Oh my God, did you…? How long have I been in here?”
Ava’s head snapped up at the sound of panic in the witch’s voice. “No Nora, it’s nothing like that. I may have accidentally made a wish. I think? We just brought in a genie,” she finished lamely.
Nora arched an eyebrow at her. “A wish?” And then a Cheshire like smile spread across the witch’s lips. “Ava Sharpe, did you wish to have Sara Lance’s baby? How unexpected.”
Ava went bright red. She might as well have been caught writing Mrs. Lance all over her Bureau issued legal pad. And okay, she only did that once. Once!
“It was an accident and it wasn’t even a real wish. I never said it out loud,” she protested.
Nora grinned at her. “But you were thinking it, apparently.”
“I-. Fine,” she conceded. “It was just an idle thought, okay?”
She winced as the baby let out a particularly shrill cry interrupting their conversation. Everything she did seemed to be making the crying worse.
Nora sighed and held out her arms. “Here, let me.”
She passed the baby over without a thought, a testament to how far the two have come in their friendship in the months that Nora Darhk has been an inmate at the Time Bureau. She was working on Nora’s case, gathering evidence, and trying to find a way to get the witch out on parole, but it was taking more time than she would like. She watched as Nora adjusted the blanket more snugly around the baby. In Nora’s arms the cries became whimpers, which were then reduced to soft snuffling sounds, and then finally quiet.
“How did you do that?” She asked, somewhat impressed.
Nora shrugged. “I was a foster kid before I was in a cult. Older kids always helped take care of the younger kids.”
“Right.” Ava said slowly, reminded again of how tragic Nora’s life had been.
Not taking her eyes off the baby Nora asked, “So, what are you going to do?”
She ran a hand frustratedly through her hair. “I have no idea. Apparently once you make a wish, you can’t undo it and you also can’t wish someone out of existence.”
Nora let out a snort of laughter. “Well, let me be the first to congratulate you and Sara on your new daughter.”
Ava glared at the witch. “It’s not funny. I don’t even know what to do with a baby.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I just need to get her out of the Bureau safely and then figure something out from there.” She looked at the bundle in Nora’s arms thoughtfully. “I going to need Zari to create a birth certificate for her and a social security number,” she said, thinking out loud.
Nora’s brow furrowed. “You’re keeping her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? I mean what else am I supposed to do?”
“You could put her up for adoption,” Nora suggested.
Her heart clenched uncomfortably at the thought and it must have shown on her face.
“Or not,” Nora said quickly.
The thought of giving Tiny Lance away just didn’t settle well with her for some reason, but how would she explain to everyone that she had a baby now, a baby who looked very much like her girlfriend? She could say that she had been on an adoption waiting list and had finally gotten a call. Was that believable enough? Was she getting too invested in this baby she’d only met 20 minutes ago?
Nora held out the baby to her and Tiny Lance was carefully transferred back into her arms. She glanced over at the video feed on the security panel. The hallways were clear now and she should probably get out of here.
“I wish I could be there when you tell Sara.”
Ava tore her eyes away from the panel to see Nora grinning at her, feline eyes sparkling with amusement.
“You’re a terrible friend, I hope you know that,” she said indignantly.
Nora’s features softened slightly. She had never acknowledged their friendship out loud before and Ava supposed that between foster care and being a vessel for a time demon, there probably wasn’t much time for making friends.
She held Nora’s gaze and smiled. “Thank you for your help. I have to get out of here before anyone discovers what I’ve done.”
Nora nodded. “Go, get out. And if you’re looking for a name for her, Nora has a nice ring to it.”
0oo0oo0
The hallways had miraculously stayed clear once she left Nora’s cell and she somehow managed to portal to the Waverider without raising any suspicion. She couldn’t believe how easy it was to smuggle a tiny human being out of the Time Bureau.
“Note to self,” she said aloud. “Security protocols need to be refined.”
“Bah!” the baby exclaimed.
She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips. “Exactly, Tiny Lance. I’m so glad you agree with me.”
“Gideon, can you tell me who else is on the Waverider?”
“There is currently no one on the Waverider. Captain Lance and the rest of the Legends are in colonial America dealing with a fugitive.”
“Perfect.”
She had no idea how she would explain her predicament to Sara if she ran into her just now. She needed some time to think. Could she even keep this magically made baby? Made not born, just like her. She couldn’t turn the baby in to the Bureau. She didn’t even know what would happen to Tiny Lance. There was no protocol for something like this. And the thought of giving the baby away, even if it was for her own protection, just didn’t sit right with her.
She went to the med bay and picked up one of the medical wristbands. She had to hold the band to the baby’s wrist, while Gideon conducted her scan. She’d have to ask Ray later to build a smaller band for future medical visits. If she decided to keep the baby that was.
“What the hell-.” She paused, noticing ocean eyes watching her intently. “What the heck am I supposed to tell Sara?”
They’ve never even discussed children and only kind of danced around the topic of marriage. She knows that Sara is slightly skittish about commitment and taking those big steps, but she also knows that Sara loves her and is 100% committed to their relationship. She just needed to take things slowly and bringing a baby into their relationship was definitely not taking things slow.
“Director Sharpe, the results for the medical examination are ready if you’d like to hear them,” Gideon said, interrupting her thoughts.
“Go ahead, Gideon.”
“It appears that the baby is a 4-month-old female in perfect health.”
“Well that’s good news,” she said half to herself and half to the infant resting in her arms.
“Also, the baby’s DNA is composed of genetic material from both you and Captain Lance,” Gideon revealed. “She is genetically yours and Captain Lance’s daughter. Congratulations, Director Sharpe.”
This shouldn’t really surprise her because this is exactly what she had been thinking about, but she froze up at AI’s words anyway. She took a moment to stare down at the baby in wonder. Being a clone and all, she didn’t even know if it was physically possible for her to have a baby.
A thought occurred to her suddenly. “This is probably an idiotic question, but I have to ask because of her origin. She isn’t like made of magic and going to disappear at any moment, is she?”
A few seconds passed and then. “Baby Sharpe-Lance appears to made of the same cells and tissues as any other human being and does not contain any magic. She is a normal human infant.”
So, this was a permanent thing now. Something that definitely couldn’t be fixed with more magic.
Oh god, I have a daughter.
She took a deep calming breath. “Right, thank you. And Baby Lance will suffice. Sharpe-Lance sounds ridiculous.”
And Sharpe is just a made-up last name anyways.
“Am I to understand that in the distant future, you would like to be referred to as Director Lance?”
Ava shook her head at the ceiling. “Cheeky bot. Do you think you could fabricate a onsie and maybe some diapers and formula?”
“Fabricating baby essentials right now.”
“Thank you, Gid-. Ouch!” She exclaimed as Tiny Lance tugged sharply on a lock of her hair. “Hey now, that wasn’t very nice.”
She untangled the small hand from her hair, but the baby continued to shake her little fist. “Hair is not a toy and you would know that if you had more.”
She ran her fingers through the feathery honey blonde hair covering the baby’s head. It was incredibly soft.
“What kind of conditioner do you use?”
Instead of getting a reply Tiny Lance tugged sharply on her hair again. She winced and gently pushed the baby’s hand away. “Yeah, okay I deserved that. You’re a baby. Stupid question.”
“Agent Sharpe,” Gideon said above them. “You will find a diaper bag with baby essentials in the fabrication room.”
Once she acquired the diaper bag, which was a calming lavender color, she searched through the contents pulling out a diaper and a lavender onsie decorated with little daisies. With some instructions from Gideon she managed to get the baby dressed. She searched through the bag again and found some truly adorable matching lavender socks. She only spent one minute cooing over them, which was a real feat because baby socks were so cute, like ridiculously cute.
“Hey Gideon, can you make one of those baby backpack things?” She looked down at Tiny Lance. “My arms are already sore from carrying you around. Guess I’m going need to add more push-ups to my workouts, huh?”
“Fabricating one papoose.”
She packed up the baby bag and strapped the now sleepy infant to her chest. The papoose was also lavender, which was apparently going to be Tiny Lance’s color. She had every intention of sneaking off the Waverider and back to her DC apartment, but before she could even open up a portal, Nate Heywood walked into the medical bay.
She jerked back in surprise and the motion startled the baby, setting off a round of crying. She tried futilely to calm the baby. Nate, still in his Bureau suit, froze at the scene in front of him, clearly not expecting to see his boss/friend holding a baby.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” she spit out.
“I don’t even know what this is supposed to look like,” Nate said still wide-eyed. “Whose baby is that? Are you babysitting?”
“Director Sharpe is currently holding her and Captain Lance’s daughter,” Gideon said helpfully.
“Gideon!” Ava admonished. The traitor.
“Your daughter? You have a -. Is this an anachronism?” Nate sputtered.
“No, it’s not an anachronism. It was an accident. I didn’t mean-.” The baby’s cries were reaching a fever pitch, drowning the sound of her voice out. She tried walking and bouncing, but that somehow made it worse. Between Nate throwing questions at her and the baby’s screams, she felt frustrated and a little helpless about not knowing what to do to calm Tiny Lance. Actually, she kind of felt like crying herself. “Nate stop! Can you just…help me?” She begged.
Twenty minutes later, after some formula and an unfortunate spit up accident involving her favorite standard issued blazer, Tiny Lance was finally asleep in her papoose. They took a seat at the dining hall table, both a little worse for wear. When it was clear that the baby was going to stay asleep, Nate began asking questions again.
“Okay, so are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
She scrunched up her face, heat already starting to rise in her cheeks. “Right, so it started earlier today when we brought a genie to the Time Bureau.” And then she proceeded to tell him the whole embarrassing story up until he showed up.
Nate to his credit didn’t laugh at her or crack any jokes about her wanting Sara’s babies. When she was done with her story, Nate leaned back in his chair, looked at her and then at the baby.
“Huh, so you’ve got a kid now. Does Sara know?”
“No, and you can’t tell her. At least not yet,” she added when it looked like he was going to protest. “I just need to figure out how to tell her? And maybe figure out a plan B if things go south.”
She bit her lip and looked down at the baby sleeping against her chest. A chubby cheek was squished against her sternum and a little hand clutched at her white button down. She suddenly felt an inordinate amount of affection for this little girl.
“Hey no,” Nate said, once he realized what she meant. “That’s not going to happen. You two will figure something out.”
“But worse-case scenario, what do I do if she doesn’t want to be apart of this. I don’t know the first thing about being a mom.”
Nate put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Well, not that I think your worst-case scenario will happen, but you’ve got me and you’ve got Gary and you know what, probably Mona too.”
“I hope you realize that doesn’t inspire any confidence,” she said dryly.
He put a hand to his heart. “I am hurt, but I’m going to help you out anyways. So, what do you need me to do?”
“Raise this child until she becomes of age.” She quipped.
Nate chuckled. “Anything else?”
“Well, I guess I do need some more things for the baby. I don’t exactly have anywhere for her to sleep. More clothes and diapers would probably be good. Is there any chance you can just get me everything a baby would need?” She said half joking.
Nate looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. “I could call up my cousin and see if she’s free to do a little shopping. She has a baby and would probably know what to buy better than me.”
“Really?” She said in disbelief. “You don’t actually have to do this.”
Nate shrugged. “It’s what friends do.”
Tiny Lance made a little noise and opened and closed her little fist that was clutching at her shirt. She stroked the baby’s cheek until she settled down again and once she was satisfied that Tiny Lance would stay asleep, she pressed a soft kiss to the top of the baby’s head. When she looked back up Nate was smiling warmly at her.
“You’re good with her,” he said.
“Then you clearly missed when I couldn’t figure out that she was crying because she was hungry earlier. Here, take my credit card and get what you think is necessary. Meet me at my apartment?” She pulled out her wallet and then held out a card to Nate.
He shot her some finger guns and grabbed the card. “Can do boss!”
0oo0oo0
Nate came back with way more baby things than she thought there would be. Who knew babies would even need this many things? And like the good friend that he was, Nate stuck around and helped her baby proof the apartment.
There was a changing table and crib set up in the guest room now, a pack and play and brightly colored toys in the living room. In the kitchen there was bottles and formula, but there was also some baby food because Nate’s cousin had said that the baby might be ready to start including solid food into her diet.
There was also a car seat and a high chair and a few other items that she hasn’t had the chance to unpack yet. Halfway through setting up the guestroom turned nursery, Ava realized that hiding the baby from Sara would be pretty difficult considering her girlfriend lived with her, well mostly lived with her. Sara tried to split her nights between Ava and the Legends, but lately more often then not, Sara spent her nights with her.
Ava had helped Nate as much as she could, but she did a lot more directing than moving of actual baby items. She had been reluctant to put Tiny Lance down, so helping set up baby furniture and moving things around were kind of difficult. It was just that the baby was so tiny and she was worried she might get hurt if she put her down and turned her back even for a second.
By the time they were done setting up the apartment half the day had already passed. Nate had to go back to work and she ended up calling in sick. She would have to call in sick the next few days too until she could figure out what to do with the baby and Sara.
She wasn’t any closer to figuring out a good way of telling Sara. She could still put the baby up for adoption without Sara having to find out, but that would feel to dishonest considering the baby was technically half Sara’s. Besides, she made this baby. This baby was her responsibility now. Taking care of her was the right thing to do.
Now that Nate was gone, she felt more uneasy about being alone with the baby. She breathed a sigh of relief when Tiny Lance fell asleep minutes after Nate had opened up a portal and left. While the baby slept, she made a makeshift office in the kitchen, rather than using her home office. She spent her free time speed reading the baby books Nate had the foresight to buy her, and googling and youtubing baby things. She pulled out a new binder and carefully labeled it Baby Care Manuel with the label maker Sara got her for Hanukkah.
As the afternoon dragged on into the evening, Tiny Lance mostly slept, cried, and ate. She found that the baby had no interest in solid food, so it looked like she was going to stick to formula for now. She also discovered the joys of changing dirty diapers. Nate who was a master diaper changer, had showed her the ropes before he left. It wasn’t the greatest experience, but it was manageable.
Just as the sun was starting to set, the baby monitor came to life with the sounds of Tiny Lance’s wails. She left her makeshift office at the kitchen table and made her way to the guest room turned nursery. Tiny Lance wasn’t hungry and had a clean diaper, but wouldn’t stop crying. She rocked her and walked around the house singing a little until the baby calmed down.
She made her way to the pack and play crib that was in the living room, but still in her line of vision from the kitchen. The moment she tried to put Tiny Lance down though, she started crying again. She sighed and as soon as the baby was in her arms again, she was met with silence. Out of pure curiosity, she put the baby down and the crying began once more. She picked Tiny Lance back up and the crying stopped.
“Hmm, well that’s interesting.” She said to the baby. She repeated the actions again and got the same results.
“Looks like you just want to hang with me, huh?” A small smile graced her lips at that.
She wasn’t exactly Miss popular at the Time Bureau and most people needed to warm up to her first, so it was kind of nice to be wanted like this so immediately. She pulled the baby closer to her chest and placed a kiss on soft downy hair. Tiny Lance reached up and tugged at her hair.
She chuckled and said, “Let’s go find you an actual toy to play with.”
There were a number of colorful toys and after inspecting her choices, she picked up a bright pink rattle and settled on the couch with Tiny Lance in her arms. She waved the rattle close to the baby, not really expecting a reaction, but was pleasantly surprised when a tiny hand reached up and grabbed the rattle from her. She stared at Tiny Lance in wonder and then watched as the baby began to shake the rattle.
She grinned. “Oh my god,” she exclaimed. “Look at that hand eye coordination.”
She felt her heart swell with pride, which was stupid because this was probably something a four-month-old baby was supposed to be able to do.
“I am very impressed with your performance, Miss Lance,” she told the baby in a semi-serious tone. So, she wasn’t exactly good at complimenting people outside of progress reports and mission debriefings. Another thing she would need to work on.
She startled a little when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Using one hand, she managed to grab her phone while still holding onto the baby.
The name Sara Lance flashed across her screen with a request for a video call.
“Okay love, you’re going to have to stay quiet for me. Can you do that?” She asked.
Tiny Lance shook her rattle disinterestedly.
“I’m going to take that as a yes.”
She held the phone up so that only her head and shoulders were visible and accepted the call. Her girlfriend’s face appeared on the screen, looking rumpled and exhausted. The captain’s hair was falling out of her ponytail and a smudge of dirt could be seen across her cheek.
“Hey babe, it looks like I won’t make it home tonight,” Sara said apologetically. “Zari got hurt pretty badly. She’s fine now, but it was kind of a rough day and I just want to stay with the team and make sure they’re okay.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” she lied. As disappointed as she was that she wouldn’t see Sara tonight, it also bought her some time.
Sara squinted at the screen, registering where Ava was. “You’re home kind of early.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but Tiny Lance decided at that moment that was imperative that she shake her rattle. She coughed to cover the noise and put her hand over the rattle to silence it.
“I wasn’t feeling well. Actually, I took the rest of the day off and came home early.”
Sara’s expression instantly changed to one of worry. “Oh babe, I’m sorry. You know what, I’m going to come home and take care of you.”
“No!” She blurted out and then cringed. Could she be anymore obvious?
The worry on Sara’s face was replaced with slight confusion.
“I mean,” she backtracked. “I’ll be fine Sara. It’s just a little cold. All I need is a good night’s rest and I’ll be good as new.”
“Are you sure?”
Just below the phone, Tiny Lance was still trying to shake the rattle and had started to make a few noises of frustration. She went into a coughing fit to try and cover it up.
“Yeah, I’ll be perfectly fine.” She smiled at the end hoping that Sara would buy her lie.
Sara eyed her suspiciously. “You’re not telling me to stay on the ship just so you can work while you’re sick, are you?”
“What? No, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.” Okay, she might be overdoing it now.
Sara sighed. “I don’t believe you for one second Sharpe, but I’m going to trust that for my sake that you will at least try to get some rest and take care of yourself.”
“I will,” she said feeling a little guilty. “I mean it.”
“Good.” Sara looked at her for a long moment, eyes sweeping carefully over her features and taking stock. She smiled at the captain and Sara gave her a smiled infused with warmth and affection in return. “I’ve got to go, but please don’t work yourself too hard, okay? I love you, baby.”
The smile stayed on her lips. “Love you, too.”
She ended the call and the screen went blank.
“That was a close one,” she said to the baby. “And you were no help at all.”
She let go of the rattle finally and Tiny Lance shook the rattle with abandon, making little excited noises as she did.
She snorted. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy.”
Eventually, Tiny Lance stopped shaking her toy and her little eyes drooped as she let out an adorable yawn. Ava brought her upstairs and placed her in the crib. She watched the baby for a few moments, but it didn’t look like Tiny Lance was actually going to go to sleep.
“How about we read a story? Nate,” she paused. “Uncle Nate bought you a stack of books and reading is good for brain development, probably.”
She picked up the first book on the top of the stack and read the title out loud. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” She flipped through the first couple of pages admiring the art style of the book. “He certainly is very hungry.”
Tiny Lance appeared to like the story or maybe she just liked the sound of her voice, either way the baby drifted off to sleep.