Picking Up:

Chapter 7


"I was thinking, would you help me do something extra special for Mommy?"

"Like what?" Sofie asked with an excited twinkle in her eye.

"Like… cook a special meal, or make her a present. Do you think there's something she'd like?"

"We could make a seize-her salad! It's Mommy's favourite. I don't like the icky fish, but Mommy does."

Talia only just suppressed her laughter, but she couldn't help a small smile. "Ceasar salad is Mommy's favourite huh? Well how about we go shopping and see if we can find the ingredients. I think there's one other thing we should try to find, if you'll help me."

"What what what?" Sofie asked excitedly, bouncing up and down.

"We're going hunting for roses."

"Mommy loves roses! We tried to put some in the garden, but Chris says they don't grow here."

"Hmm, well I bet if we look very very hard we can find a bouquet to buy, so Mommy has a special surprise when she gets home."

"Special surprises help Mommy know we love her, right?"

"Yes little one. Mommy always knows we love her," Talia's smile broadened at the words, relishing the knowledge they were finally true, "but it's always nice to remind her how special she is."

"What makes Mommy special?"

"Well, she's stubborn and strong and smart, and she's loyal and kind, and she's never afraid to make hard choices. And best of all, she's ours."


"It's perfect," Susan told the man behind the counter, unable to suppress the grinning spreading across her face or the twinkle in her normally hard eyes. She had never thought herself a luck person; mother dies young, brother dies, father estranged then dies too, so many lost loves and lost dreams. Then Sofie came along, and now Talia, and today she found just what she needed—more perfect than she could have hoped for—just when she needed it. Maybe she was finally done paying off karma; maybe her luck had finally changed.


Susan was pounced upon as soon as she arrived home, and it seemed her girls had been nearly as busy with their afternoon as she had. Sofie proudly presented her with two red roses, but the light in her eyes dimmed just a little when she admitted she had accidentally broken the stem on their third rose. It was sitting on the counter, and Susan picked it up with a gentle smile. The remaining stem was only an inch long, and she easily broke off the only thorn and threw it away. She squatted down to look Sofie in the eye, and placed the flower over her daughter's ear. "Now it's even more beautiful."

Sofie smiled at that, and soon the stems on the others had been broken off and thrown away and each woman wore a rose in her hair and a goofy grin on her face.

The dinner was amazing, and Susan was touched by the effort they'd put in to the meal. That had sat down to eat almost as soon as she'd come in, so she had yet to put her plans for the evening into action; she tried to focus on the wonderful food and more wonderful company, but she was antsy. Finally they neared the end of the meal, and she could wait no longer to get things started.

"Sofie, guess who I talked to today?"

"Ummm… A Pak'Ma'Ra?" she guessed wildly, earning a chuckle from her mother.

"Not quite. It was Chris! He said he had extra ice cream, and an old cartoon but no one to watch it with him. And, he mentioned he missed you."

"I miss him too! Can I watch cartoons with him Mommy? Pleeeease?"

"You know, I think that might just work!" Susan winked at Talia, pleased that her daughter was feeding right into her plans. "In fact, you haven't spent the night with him since before we went to Babylon 5. Should we see if he's up for a sleepover? Lt. Ericks is on the overnight shift, so I bet he'd like the company."

"Can I help him make pancakes for breakfast?" Sofie asked with excitement.

"I think that would be up to him, but it never hurts to ask! Just remember to have some fruit so I don't have to worry. Do you want to call him or should I?"

"I'll do it!" she called out, already racing to her room.

Susan couldn't help but smile at Sofie's enthusiasm, and her expression brightened even more when she saw Talia watching her with a knowing gleam.

"If I didn't know any better," Talia purred, scooting her chair closer, "I'd think you were trying to get her out of the way."

"And why would I do that?"

The telepath leaned in close enough for her hot breath on Susan's ear to send heat coursing through her body. "So you can have your way with me, and take me everywhere," she whispered seductively.

"Miss Winters," she choked out, "I do believe you have a dirty mind."


"Chris says I can spend the night! And he wants to hear alllll about everything since I saw him! And he has a new game for us to play, but he said it might have to wait until tomorrow cause sleep is important."

Talia smiled. "That sounds wonderful Sofie. Do you stay with Chris often?"

Sofie nodded. "He used to pick me up from school, and watch me when Mommy had to work. He's been my nanny since forever! He and Lt. Ericks came to the base with us. But now that I'm bigger and we live here I don't need him so much."

"Do you miss him?"

"Only sometimes. We still have sleepovers! When you're not here we play together every day, and he teaches me piano and lets me climb trees, but I like when you're here so it's okay if I don't see him so much."

"I love getting time with you, but it's important not to forget people when we make new friends. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time with him tonight."

"Speaking of," Susan commented as she came into the room, "you should go get your things together so we can head over."

Sofie agreed and bounded out of the room. Susan slipped an arm around Talia's waist as they watched her go.


Talia had liked Chris instantly. He looked gigantic next to Sofie, but the way he picked her up and twirled her around before bringing her up to sit on his shoulders, laughing with glee and resting her chin on his bald black head, instantly endeared her. It felt good to finally meet someone who was a big part of Sofie's life; for all that she'd been in the Ivanovas' world for more than a month, they'd been so wrapped up in enjoying their time together there was a lot about their regular lives that was still unfamiliar to Talia. She'd heard Chris mentioned a few times, but it wasn't until she saw them together that she realized how important he was to Sofie. Getting to meet him felt like taking one more step in being part of their lives.

Sofie had hugged them both goodbye, and now they were home. She couldn't help thinking of it that way, even though she'd been there such a short time. Talia realized with a flutter that it was the first time they'd had the house to themselves. She grinned at the prospect of a whole night alone with her love.


Author's Note: I've wanted to include Chris for a while, because I liked the idea of Sofie having a male influence in her life more than just seeing Sheridan once or twice a year. I'm not thrilled with how I put him in, but oh well. This chapter was hard for me to write for some reason, and it's probably my least favourite I've written for this story, but I wanted to go ahead and get it out because we're almost at the end of this journey. Just one more chapter to go (and possibly an epilogue-I'm playing around with ideas), and I think everyone can guess where things are going but I hope you're enjoying the ride :)