A/N: I can't help but wonder about Sarah and Adam's relationship on the show, seeing as they never really delved into it as I would have liked to see! Thus, I have to make my own assumptions, and I hope I'm paying them their deserved respects in this fanfic. There will definitely be more Adam/Sarah fics from me because they actually intrigue me more than Kyle/Jessi, and THAT is saying a HECK of a lot... O.O
She'd adopted Jessi, her daughter, about a week ago, and they were happy. The girl had adjusted quite well, of course, just as she had with the rest of her many guardians; it even selfishly occurred to Sarah that she might end up happier with her than she would have with any of the others.
It was early morning on a Saturday, and though she had been sleeping soundly, she suddenly became alert upon hearing the smallest traces of footsteps on the floor beside her bed, creeping closer and closer to her face.
She slowly tensed, ready to face whatever attack came her way; just to be safe, she had pepper spray, a taser, and strictly under extreme circumstances, a loaded, yet perfectly harmless gun tucked away between the mattresses…within reach, yet out of sight, of course.
A hand cautiously, gently touched her shoulder, and her eyes snapped open, flickering to the person from whom the hand had come.
There was no way to properly explain her relief upon seeing her dark-haired daughter standing there beside her, giving her a not-so-worried glance; the seventeen-year-old was used to this die-hard habit from her Mother's 'running-from-Latnok' days, and she gave her a small smile to reassure her.
Sarah returned it and let out a large sigh, closing her eyes and resting against the pillow for a second before opening them and sitting up, taking down her ponytail as she grinned.
Jessi sat down next to her on the bed, seemingly taking the moment's silence to enjoy her Mother's morning radiance. Hair beautiful even if disheveled now that it was free of the ponytail, clad in silky black pajamas, and smiling as she was with the sunshine gracing her cheeks, the younger woman couldn't help but admire her Mother's simple splendor.
"So, what did you need, Jessi?" Sarah asked, gently taking her hand.
"I wanted to do something fun on our first weekend as family. Is that okay?" Ms. Emerson laughed joyfully.
"Of course, it is! That sounds great! How about we go shopping for some new school clothes?" Her daughter's eyes brightened as she grinned widely, Sarah smiling, too. "Good. Now, please vacate my room, so I can get ready." She replied playfully, the younger of the two chuckling as well as she did as instructed.
Emerging the apartment complex about twenty minutes later, they jumped into Sarah's car and headed for the mall. Taking only about fifteen minutes, they reached the mall and aimlessly walked around for a few hours, picking out several new outfits that were definitely made for someone like Jessi.
One topic of conversation became quite interesting when Jessi mentioned a botanical gardens of some sort about which she'd read. Interested, Sarah wished to know more, and Jessi's eyes widened in excitement as she began animatedly telling her all about it.
"Supposedly, it's extremely beautiful, not that I couldn't tell as much from the picture. Speaking of which, the architectural designs look and sound amazing! I'd love to visit it over Spring Break from school or something."
"You know…we could go there." Ms. Emerson titled her face toward her charge, morphing her lips into a mischievous smirk. She wiggled her eyebrows at Jessi, who laughed.
"But it's- it's two cities over! You'd really…?" She trailed, eyes sparkling and face aglow as she looked at her Mother.
"Of course I would! I love you, Jessi. This is something I want to do for you because I know it will make you happy. That's all I ever want." Sarah tenderly grinned and grabbed her free hand, squeezing it lightly as the girl gazed at her for a few seconds before throwing herself on her, abandoning the shopping bags on the ground.
She laughed joyfully and returned the hug just as tightly, burying her face in her hair and breathing in slowly. It was strange to think about, but her daughter truly did resemble her in nearly every fashion.
She looked identical to her when she'd been in her teenage years, she smelled like her, she thought like her, she acted like her, she was in love with the clone of…
Sarah halted all as that thought crossed her mind. Adam…
She had worked hard on tracking him down so far, and she was nearly there now. Though she so wanted to reveal herself to him, she always found herself presented with doubts, just as she had when meeting Jessi for the first time. Her daughter's experience had nearly ended in her death, however, and the brunette woman would do anything to prevent her reunion with Adam to conclude on similar terms.
Her technical offspring immediately noticed the change in heart rate, breathing, and free bodily movement and stepped back, searching her Mother's eyes for answers as her face showed immense concern.
Finally registering the distress Jessi was in upon seeing her in such a state, she shook herself out of it and grinned at her, pushing all thoughts of her beloved Adam elsewhere for the time being. She took her girl's hand and pulled her along after her, Jessi joining the smiling after continuing to gaze at her anxiously for a few seconds.
The drive to the Grensford Botanical Gardens was approximately five hours counting traffic, though Jessi corrected her in saying they had traveled exactly four hours, fifty-three minutes, and eighteen seconds.
Naturally, Sarah was a proud Mother, proud of the woman her seventeen-year-old had become. Thus, she took numerous pictures while they spent the afternoon together; pictures of her smiling, laughing, the two of them making funny faces, and even one in which Jessi was embarrassed to say hello to the camera phone when the woman abruptly shoved it in her face.
As they would never have made it back home before dark without majorly exceeding the speed limit and possibly causing a few minor-to-major car accidents, she and Jessi decided it would be wise to rent a room at a hotel for the night.
The furnishings were sparse, but quaint and home-like nonetheless, with two twin beds, a dresser, a small bathroom, and a bedside table between the two beds where a lamp and digital alarm clock rested.
Preferring to converse with each other anyway, they didn't mind the lack of brainwashing media or idiotic shows television had to offer, though they would occasionally flip to "House" or any other show related to exercising our brainpower…though Sarah highly doubted Jessi's could be exercised much more than it already was on a daily basis.
They slept soundly that night, Ms. Emerson grinning lovingly as she found Jessi's lips curved into a gently happy smile the next morning, no doubt dreaming of Kyle.
She'd only met the boy three times, and even then, just briefly, but she was amazed how much he…how much he reminded her of Adam.
He looked like him, spoke like him, thought like him, acted like him, and she knew for a fact a part of him loved Jessi like Adam had loved her… She didn't know how dominant that part was, but it was obvious that it would increase in the future.
As she sat on the edge of the bed with her hands folded in her lap, she closed her eyes and let the few tears that had developed stream down her face, biting her lower lip as it began to tremble.
She missed him… She missed her best friend, her confidant, her whole world; the one person who had bothered with and cared for her when no one else had been willing to do so.
A warm, tender hand on her shoulder startled her, causing her to whip around to face Jessi, slightly aware of how she must look to her now, face tear stained and red. The girl didn't seem to care about any of that, though, as she took her Mother in her arms and held her tightly, close to her.
She didn't have to tell her what was wrong; she knew what it was like to have things too painful to put into words, things that could solely be expressed in the form of tears or peculiar behavior.
The tears fell quickly and hard; she said nothing and only held her tighter as her body was wracked with sobs. Sarah clung to her, and though she tried to compose herself, knowing Jessi didn't deserve or need to see her so broken with all she's had to endure already, the abrupt torrent couldn't be stopped.
"Mom… Look…" She brought her unendingly tear streaked face from her shoulder at the hope in her daughter's tone, glancing curiously at her before following her gaze out the window.
A beautiful rainbow was visible just beyond the mist-topped mountains, even through the six forty-five A.M. semidarkness. It must have rained sometime during the night, and by the look on Jessi's face and her suggestive pitch, the elder of the two knew what they were seeing was no coincidence. She was happy her tears had decided to hold back for that one special moment.
Carefully removing herself from her daughter's arms after the spectacle of light and water had mostly died away, Jessi watched as she got up, wiped her eyes and face with her sleeve, and smiled at her.
"Come on. What do you say we head home?" Her charge beamed instantly and stood, rushing around to straighten up the room before they left as her Mother laughed. "Home" was automatically associated with "Kyle" for that girl, and she loved her for it. Perhaps she could tag along and finally meet the boy's family... Well, maybe not; but it would be nice to see the young man again.
Luckily, at this time of the morning, there was never any traffic heading back to Seattle, so the drive only took three hours, fifteen minutes, and six seconds, once more according to her brilliant daughter.
Arriving on the Tragers' doorstep, Sarah Emerson was a nervous wreck; she squeezed Jessi's hand quite hard, the other hand clutching the strap of her purse with just as much strength. Should one of the Tragers, besides Kyle, open the door, what would she do or say? She could merely pray she wouldn't do as was prone: run.
Kyle's eyes widened as he opened the door and looked from Jessi to her, expectedly doing a double-take, though he had clearly seen and known the elder brunette the first time. Inviting them inside, he smiled and led them into what Sarah suspected to be the family room, gesturing for them to sit on the couches as he sat in one of the armchairs next to the longer piece of furniture.
"It's good to see you again, Sarah." He smiled at her, and she returned it.
"Thank you, Kyle, and the same to you. Where's the rest of your family?"
"They already had things planned, but I had nothing else to do, so I stayed here. I had a feeling I'd be needed here today, and I was right." He smiled at Jessi warmly, who returned it, and then he cast her Mother the same sentiment, eyes shining in glee.
It was the same…Adam's smile had made her feel as Jessi did now…
She became aware of her mind unpredictably hurtling back into memories of him, and then, all was dark. Jessi's frantic calls of her name were the last things she faintly heard; the last things she felt were what she was sure to be Adam's feather-touch fingers stroking her cheek and grasping her hand.
Her vision was beginning to come back now, first only seeing black splotches, then blurry images, and finally, she was able to clearly make out the anxious face of Jessi, who was looming over her and monitoring her closely.
Sarah noticed Kyle behind her daughter, standing off to the side and wearing an equally worried expression. It was then that she took note of where she was; still at the Tragers, still in the living room, though the sky outside had darkened to a mix of bright orange and indigo-magenta hues.
She turned back toward the two adolescents in the room as a hand grasped hers; it was somewhat calloused with a soft, warm communication, and she knew it to belong to Jessi.
She smiled at her daughter, carefully sitting up on the couch on which she lay with the girl's help. Kyle moved forward and handed her a glass of water, from which she gladly drank.
A blond woman suddenly stepped out from behind Jessi, and Sarah's inner alarms immediately went off. Jessi sensed this and quickly stood in front of the newcomer.
"Mom!" The elder brunette stopped her train of thought and rested upon the pillows once again at the cry, the alarms quieting. She trusted her daughter with her life, and if she knew and cared enough about this woman to protect her, she must be all right. "This is Nicole, Kyle's adoptive Mom. You know, the psychiatrist who took me under her wing when I first came to Seattle."
'Nicole' smiled at her meekly, carefully, unsure whether to awkwardly shake Sarah's hand, while the opposite woman simply observed her. Even though she had been getting better about reconnecting with humans after twenty years of chosen isolation, she was continuously wary around each new person she met, no matter that this woman had raised Kyle and helped Jessi from the beginning.
"Hi, Sarah. As you already know, I'm Nicole Trager. I heard you had quite the black out earlier, and I wanted to see if you and Jessi would accept my offer of spending the night here? I couldn't possibly let you walk out of my house knowing you could be potentially ill."
The woman being questioned's untrusting eyes widened, while her college day look alike's eyes flickered to Sarah in worry at Nicole's last statement. After a second, though, Jessi turned to smile radiantly at Kyle, who reciprocated the expression eagerly. Upon glancing at her seventeen-year-old's face, there was no way she could refuse.
"Thank you, Nicole. We'd love that."