Chapter Text
At the beginning of the school term there’d been an announcement in the school newsletter asking for parent helpers to assist with the end-of-year dance concert. Whenever there was a callout for parent helpers with any activity that Elizabeth Lance was involved in, Ava was first to volunteer. What now seemed like ages ago, at the beginning of the school year Elizabeth had decided she wanted to do ballet classes, which were conveniently offered after school in the school hall, and Sara and Ava were only too happy for Elizabeth to take part, which was why Ava was now, on the final Saturday of term, getting ready to go with Elizabeth to the local theatre two hours before the afternoon’s performance, to make sure they were there nice and early, and with plenty of time for Ava to help all the little children in Lizzie’s class, consisting of children in Reception and Year 1, get into their costumes.
As she was getting ready to go, Ava heard Rosie screaming with laughter and smiled to herself, wondering what on earth was happening to cause that most joyous sound. She peered into the Rosie’s room and saw Rosie, half-dressed, rolling around on the changing table with Sara in front of her, Rosie’s socks on Sara’s hands.
“Is this where these go? On here?” Sara asked, tickling Rosie with her sock-covered fingers.
Rosie squealed with laughter. “Mine!” she called, trying to grab at Sara’s hands while Sara tickled her. Though most of what Rosie said was still gibberish at best, she was slowly adding more and more words to her vocabulary, which Ava documented and found endlessly amazing. Twelve months ago Rosie had only just been able to say “mama”. Now she had about a dozen words, and Ava knew that was about to expand exponentially.
“Yours?” Sara asked with a big smile, teasing and tickling Rosie again. “These are yours, Rosie Ava? Are you sure? Are you sure?”
Ava grinned. Fearsome assassin Sara Lance entertaining their toddler with socks on her hands was something that at one stage Ava never would have thought she’d see, but since they’d become moms nearly three years ago, scenes like this occurred multiple times a day. The reason for Rosie getting a complete change of clothes in the early afternoon was that being the little Houdini that she was, Rosie had somehow managed to remove the lid from her sip cup, something that toddlers were not supposed to be able to do according to the designer, and empty the water inside all over herself, warranting the costume change.
“Babe,” Ava said. “Lizzie and I are about to go.”
“Yep, one sec,” Sara said, getting the socks onto Rosie’s feet, and a pair of floral-print leggings over her legs and diaper before Rosie could quite understand what was happening. Sara scooped Rosie up and onto her hip. “All right. Mommy Ava and Lizzie have a dance concert to go to.”
“Please don’t be late,” Ava said, as they went downstairs.
“Babe, please,” Sara said with a gentle smile, sensing Ava’s nerves. “I’m coming with the rest of the team. There is no way any of us are going to be late to Lizzie’s first ballet concert. So long as Gwyn and Alun are here on time for babysitting Rosie, which they will be, then everything will be fine.”
Ava took a deep breath, hoping that it really would be and trying not to let her nerves get the best of her. It might be Elizabeth’s first time on stage, but in a way, it was Ava’s first ballet concert too.
They entered the large open living-dining-kitchen area which was at the back of their London townhouse. Sara set Rosie down, and Rosie waddled over to the toy shelves, undoubtedly about to make a mess, and Ava tried not to worry about that, either. She was trying very hard to teach Rosie some pack-up games to help her keep things tidy, though she had a feeling that Rosie was still a little bit young to understand why putting the Duplo back in the box could be just as much of a fun game as scattering it all over the place.
“Are we going now?” Elizabeth called from Sara and Ava’s office at the front of the house.
“Yes,” called Ava. “Have you got your shoes on?”
“I’m patting Roger!” Elizabeth called back, referring to their large black and white tuxedo cat.
“Is he on your desk?” Sara asked Ava.
“Probably. Or my chair. He has the whole house, but he has to sleep right there.”
“He loves you,” Sara smiled.
“I wish he’d love me from some other location,” Ava replied, though she did find it hard to get too annoyed at the cat. “Elizabeth, are your shoes on? Come on, you can pat Roger all day tomorrow.”
“I’m ready,” Elizabeth said, running into the kitchen. Ava had done Elizabeth’s hair into a perfect ballet bun, with not a hair out of place. Sara had done her make-up, a smudge of red lipstick on her lips, a little pink blusher on her cheeks, a touch of eyeshadow, eyeliner, and as much mascara as Sara could manage to get onto her wriggling six-year-old. Elizabeth was wearing her pink ballet tights with her sneakers and school sports uniform as it said to on the note, and Ava was following all directions to a tee.
“Make sure you get lots of photos,” Sara grinned as Elizabeth did an excited twirl. “We’ll have to send them to grandpa.”
“Because there’s lots of photos of you and aunty Laurel when you did dancing when you were a little girl?” Elizabeth said.
“Yep,” Sara smiled. “Have an amazing time, sweetie. I cannot wait to see you dancing on the stage,” she said, giving Elizabeth a hug.
“And I - I can’t wave on stage because you’re not allowed and because I don’t know what seat you’re sitting on,” said Elizabeth.
“Yep,” Sara said, “That’s right. But you’re going to dance amazing. I just know it.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth smiled. “Bye Rosie! Me and mummy are going now.”
Rosie looked up and took a Duplo block out of her mouth. “Bye, Zee-zee. Bye!”
“Bye!”
“Byyye!”
“Byyyyye!”
“Ok, we’re going now,” Ava said, giving Sara a peck on the lips, and taking Elizabeth by the hand before the girls got too silly. Unless Elizabeth was very good at hiding it, Ava knew that she was the more nervous one about the concert, and hoped that getting to the local theatre would help put her nerves at rest. At least once they were they, being late was one less thing to worry about. “See you later, babe.”
“Have fun, babe,” Sara said. “Enjoy it.”
“I’m going to have so much fun,” Elizabeth said, as they walked to the door. “Bye, Roger! I’m going to my ballet concert!”
Roger momentarily opened his eyes, then went back to dosing amongst Ava’s paperwork. Sara waved goodbye to Ava and Elizabeth as they got in the car, then went to see what Rosie was up to and assess how hard it was going to be to get her to have a nap.
It had been almost a year since the Legends were forced into retirement by whoever those time cops were. Some days, Sara missed it more than anything, even if raising two little kids onboard the Waverider wasn’t always easy, or close to being conventional. It had been her home for so long, and she’d had so many wonderful times there. They were fortunate, though, that they had this late-Victorian London townhouse for which they’d previously just used the address for Elizabeth’s schooling. When the renters moved out and they moved it, Ava had insisted on painting the whole house, getting new carpet upstairs, a new kitchen, and new bathrooms. The renovation work had thankfully been completed a few months ago, and the house was exactly how Ava liked it and had dreamed how it could be, incorporating new and old features, the modern with the classic. The house really was perfect, Sara thought as she surveyed the toys Rosie was distributing across the floor, and though there wasn’t a porch, there was a patio in the small narrow backyard, and sitting out there on a balmy evening with a bourbon sunset or a g&t was pretty hard to beat.
This had partly been made possible because the time police had agreed to many concessions, including all the correct paperwork and visas for the Legends to live and work wherever in the world they wished, so Ava had immediately set herself up as a consultant in the fields of governmental and business governance and policy, or some such thing. Sara didn’t really understand what Ava did, but she could do it from their office at the front of the house, either online or by phone, and whatever it was that Ava did, people seemed to pay her quite a bit to do it. Plus it allowed Ava to work the hours which suited her, so she could still be very involved in the girls’ lives. Sometimes Sara wished she could work too, but she had no formal qualifications, whereas Ava “came with” a college degree in commerce and management, and a Masters of Business Administration, plus all her experience at the Time Bureau. Sara’s resume was not nearly so conventional. However, she had decided that she had earned a gap year of sorts, and considering they’d spent most of the year working around tradespeople which Sara had helped to coordinate, Sara had taken care of the girls, doing most of the school runs, and teaching herself how to cook. She left the baking for Ava, but Sara could now do a large range of breakfast options, and there were about a dozen different dinner meals she could now cook with confidence. She also took the time to enjoy being mom to Lizzie and Rosie, and watching them grow. The fact that she was here, and the girls were here defied all the odds, so Sara was not going to waste a moment.
The time couriers, which the Legends had been allowed as another concession, enabled them to keep in regular contact despite living around the world, and in some cases, throughout time. An hour later Gary and Gideon were the first to arrive, and Sara almost felt bad that she had to shush them as soon as they walked in, as she’d finally gotten Rosie down for a sleep and Sara was hoping she’d sleep for at least another half hour or so.
“I’m so excited to go to Elizabeth’s concert,” Gary said, all but bouncing. “She must be so excited. I just love the pictures of her Ava has shared on the group chat. The hair, the make-up, the little hair ribbon with flowers thing, Elizabeth looks so cute!”
“Indoor voice, Gary,” Gideon said quietly with a smile, patting Gary on the arm. “How was Lizzie?” she asked, as she had a vested interest in Elizabeth’s health an wellbeing.
“Very excited,” Sara said, checking the time.
“And Ava?” Gary asked in such a way that it made it sound like Ava was another little child.
“Very nervous,” Sara said with a smile, thinking of her poor wife’s pre-show nerves.
…
Backstage at the local theatre, Ava had the area assigned to the Primary grade students completely organised. Their lemon-yellow second-dance costumes were hanging on the racks in alphabetical order by first name, as all the children were now dressed for their first of two dances. Ava had double-checked that everyone’s bright pink floral-spray hair-bows were tightly but comfortably secured, that no one had twisted leotard straps, or their shoes on the wrong feet, or twisted shoe elastics, or visible knickers, or any discomfort from the tulle on their skirts.
“Excuse me, Miss Ava? Could you please help? I’ve got a hair-pin that’s stabbing me in the head and I don’t want to wreck my hair.”
Ava wasn’t sure who the girl who had approached her was, but the girl seemed to know her. “Of course,” Ava said. The girl wasn’t in Elizabeth’s group, she looked about 9 or 10 and was in a different costume, but Ava wasn’t going to tell her to seek out her own group helper, suspecting that she’d gotten a bit of a reputation amongst the students during the dress rehearsal for doing the best ballet buns and never stabbing anyone with a hairpin. “Can you show me which one you think it is?” she asked.
“I think this pin,” said the girl, “But if I pull it out I don’t want all my hair to fall out.”
“Don’t worry,” Ava smiled, “I won’t let that happen. Do you have a hairpiece that needs attaching too?”
“I have this,” the girl said, holding up a sea-green hair clip adorned with sequins, which matched her costume in tones of blue and green.
“Wonderful,” Ava said.
“Thank-you,” said the girl. “Oh. Hi Elizabeth.”
“Hi Isabel,” Elizabeth said little shyly to the bigger girl, as she reappeared by Ava’s side after playing with her friends.
“Oh yeah, Miss Ava is your mum, isn’t she?”
“Yep,” said Elizabeth.
“She’s the best at doing people’s hair.”
“Yep,” agreed Elizabeth.
Ava had no idea that compliments from young children, one of them almost a complete stranger, could make her feel so wonderful and warm inside.
After Ava had fixed Isabel’s hair, she had had time to take a number of photos of Elizabeth all dressed up for the her “flower dance” and Lizzie called it, and had sent them to Sara and the Legends. Ava pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the messages, scrolling through the emojis of smiling faces, heart-eyes, thumbs up, and hearts, to read Sara’s private message.
Sara: Aww baaaabe. She’s going to be amazing. I’m so proud, honestly babe, the feeling is insane. On our way now. Rosie’s very happy, cute and sleepy after nap. I don’t think Gwyn and Alun realise what they’ve gotten themselves into by agreeing to watch a Timmy Time marathon on Cbeebies while she wakes up. Pretty sure they’ll be ok with her for two hours, but that also sounds like famous last words. Have an amazing time, enjoy the show, you can watch Lizzie from side-stage, right? She just looks so adorable in those photos. We’ll FaceTime dad with her before bed tonight. Love you, babe. Enjoy the show. I know you’re busy wrangling little kids, but don’t forget to have a bit of fun too xxxxxxx
…
“Mummy! Mummy, did you see me? Did you see me on the stage?”
Elizabeth came running out into the foyer and into Sara’s arms after the show. Sara and the Legends who had came to the concert had been patiently waiting, knowing that Elizabeth and Ava would be just about the last ones out, as Ava would make sure every other child was all packed up and ready to go, and that the area assigned to them was spotless.
“I did, sweetie,” Sara grinned, lifting Elizabeth up and giving her a big hug. “You were amazing.” Elizabeth wasn’t any sort of dancing prodigy, but she was good enough for her age and experience, and Sara was just happy that Elizabeth was happy to take part in an extra-curricula activity, and was more than happy to encourage her. “And I think Ava did a fantastic job behind the scenes too.”
“Mummy makes everyone get changed so fast. My class was always the quickest into our costumes and everyone’s was always right,” Elizabeth said as Sara set her back on the ground. “And nothing got broken or lost.”
“That’s my girl,” Sara smiled, giving Ava a quick kiss while Elizabeth received hugs and high-fives and many compliments from the Legends.
“That was fun,” Ava said, feeling as though she’d just accomplished some huge feat. “And it’s nice to be around children like that, and to see Lizzie with her peers.”
“You do help out in the classroom once a fortnight,” Sara smiled, taking hold of Ava’s hand.
“Yeah, but this is different,” Ava said, as helping with the children backstage was much different and more hands-on compared to listening to them read once a fortnight.
“I know,” Sara said as they made their way towards the exit, Elizabeth holding hands with Behrad and Gideon. “Gosh, you’re an amazing mom, babe. All right. Who thinks we need to get a quick snack at McDonalds on the way home?”
“Me! Me!” Elizabeth said, jumping up and down.
“I do!” said Gary.
“I’ll have a McFlurrie,” said Behrad. “Please.”
“I just want a soft serve,” said Nate. “They don’t have soft serves in the totem.”
“I wouldn’t mind a coffee,” said Zari.
“I don’t know what the options are,” said Gideon.
“I could go for an apple pie,” said Astra. “Gideon, you’ll like the apple pies.”
“Then an apple pie, please,” said Gideon.
“Some chips and a Coke would go down ok,” said Spooner.
“But aren’t Gwyn and Alun making dinner?” Ava asked.
“Just a snack, babe,” Sara said, giving Ava’s hand a squeeze. “It’s a post-concert tradition from when I was a kid that I mean to continue. Ok, Legends, have those one-pound coins at the ready, because we are getting snacks at McDonalds.”