She could be her mother, is what Sarah thinks when she sees Cosima pointing out fish for Kira in the aquarium touch pool.
It's literally true, of course. They're genetically the same; no microscope could tell definitively which of them contributed DNA to make Kira. But that isn't what she means, isn't the thought that has turned her gaze and found her attention. No, it's the way Cosima watches over Kira, ensures she doesn't get out of sight, seems halfway to having the maternal tether Sarah feels tugging at her when Kira gets more than five metres away.
It's the way her head cocks when she listens to Kira ask questions, like and yet not like the broad and expansive tilts of her head and hands she uses when she talks. It's the way she holds Kira's hand with one of her own even as she leans into the touching pool and picks out a sea urchin with the other. It's the way she crouches down by Kira, passing her the oceanic prize, and cups her hands below Kira's as she turns it this way and that.
Or it could be the way Kira finds a handful of Cos's dress to hold when Cosima stands and turns, trying to spot Sarah. The way she drops the sea urchin carefully back into the tank and then trots along after Cos, stretching out to grab her hand, once Cosima has found Sarah.
"Hey, stranger," Cos says once they're close. "Thought we'd lost you, but Kira says it's cause you're too squeamish to play in the kiddy pool."
"She's a wuss!" Kira crows, and Cos laughs with her, hand on her shoulder to keep her close.
"Are you, Sar? Are you a wuss?"
"I berloody am not," Sarah says, "I'm just not stupid enough to stick my hands in cold water in the middle of winter."
"Wuss!" Kira shouts, and Cosima cackles. Rotten shit, Sarah thinks, but she's only halfway grouchy. Having Cosima healthy again, and strong enough to be out in public… she'll put up with a lot more than name calling before she holds a grudge.
"Alright, alright… if I put my hands in the tank will the two of you let off already?" She asks.
"MAYBE," Kira shouts, jumping up and down, and Sarah's pretty sure Cosima has slipped her more of her twizzler than was strictly a good idea, but she'll let it slide, because the way Cos is smiling at her makes her forget her daughter is a metre away.
Kira bolts for the touching pool again, and Cos reaches over and links her arm with Sarah's, drawing her after her daughter. "I promise to warm you up after," she murmurs, and leans over to kiss the corner of Sarah's mouth.
Sarah can feel a blush start at her neck and begin to rise, but - "We're in public, Cos, with Kira, Jesus," she rebuts, and Cos just laughs.
"Well, I thought hot chocolate was pretty PG, but I suppose we can always downgrade to tea."
