Today was Jaal's first day of work. They made their way over to Operations which is where he would be working now. There had definitely been a few interested glances in their direction on their trek, but nothing more than that thanks to their security detail.

Sara almost missed the times when she would be stopped by random people just making light conversation like they used to do as she would walk around the Nexus before. She craved a day where that would be possible again. Part of her couldn't help but think that the security was just too much, but if it meant keeping Toivos safe, she would do it.

At least in Operations, they both knew that everything should be safe and as close to normal as things possibly could be. They both knew everyone that worked here, and the security to even enter this area was higher, meaning that she could actually walk around the area without her guards in tow, allowing her to feel more normal again.

She had stopped in with security first since that's also where Jaal would be working. She said hi to Kandros, and thanked him for everything that he'd done for them as they caught up briefly. But she had already seen him recently, so she didn't take up too much of his time.

Before she left, she made sure to give Jaal a proper goodbye as well. She brought him down into a chaste kiss, and he held his forehead to hers for a moment. Not wanting to wake Toivos, he just looked at him for a moment, still safely in the sling as he let out a dejected sigh, clearly still upset for the prospect of Sara having to leave.

"We'll be fine, Jaal."

"I know, Taoshay. I will just miss you."

"So will we," she said, finally leaning back, knowing that they both had to get on with their days.

"Please don't hesitate to call me should you need anything."

"I won't, but I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Yes, and I didn't come along for nothing," Sahuna piped in. "Everything will be okay, son. Now you go and show the Nexus why you're my favourite," she said with a smile. It made Jaal smile and give a slight eye roll. Sara thought it was cute, but she probably would have been embarrassed had it been her own mother gushing to her new boss about her abilities.

They said their final goodbye's as Sara started to walk around to greet her old friends. Her first stop was Sid. Vetra had warned her that she had told Sid all about Toivos in great detail already, and said that she was very excited to finally get a chance to meet him in person.

Sara snuck up behind her, and waited until she was well within hearing range to finally greet her from behind.

"Oh, Sidera? I hear you've been wanting to meet someone?"

Sid had been diligently working on something, and hadn't even noticed them approaching. So she turned around in a bit of a surprise, especially thanks to the use of her full name. Something for which she wasn't particularly accustomed to.

"AAH! I heard Jaal would be in today, but I wasn't expecting you! Is that him?," she asked excitedly, pointing to the sling wrapped around Sara's torso.

"It sure is," Sara said, as she started opening it up to get him out. She figured he had been squished in it enough, and it might be better for her to start carrying him out in the open now that she planned to mingle with people for a bit.

"Oh my god, he's adorable. I don't know if Vetra told you, but I got a cat. I thought she was cute, but I think he just won me over."

Sara couldn't help but smile at how animated and happy she was. She wasn't all that surprised though. Sid had always seemed very curious and easily excitable.

"He really is cute, isn't he?"

"How could he not be! Oh my gosh, I want one."

"What, a baby?," Sara said with a bit of a laugh. "I'm not sure how Vetra would feel about that."

Sid just laughed at that. "No, I know I'm still too young, but he's just so adorable. Someday though, right?"

"Well, I don't think it's exactly fair for me to be the one lecturing you about being too young or waiting until you're ready, but uh, 'do what I say, and not what I do,'" she said with a laugh.

"Wow, you really have become a mom," Sid said with a laugh too. "You and my sister are too alike now."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment, but I know she'd be mad at me if I didn't at least try to discourage you while you're still this young," she said with another laugh. "I can't deny that it's a lot of work sometimes, but he's so worth it," Sara said while bouncing him around slightly, and smiling down at him.

"He just looks so right in your arms too. Oh, Sara, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, Sid. That means a lot to me. I guess I should probably be letting you get back to work though, I know how busy you are."

"Oh wait! I knew Jaal was coming today, so I brought a gift with me," she said as she turned back towards her work station.

"When I'm at home I've needed something to do, so I've started sewing some toys ever since people started reversing their procreation blockers. I figured there'd be a lot of kids out there soon with not much to play with. I made him one. It's a cat. I love cats. Did I say that already?"

It was a fairly basic stuffed animal made out of a soft, felt like fabric. It was bright orange, and cartoon-like, and was surprisingly well done if Sara had anything to say about it. It wasn't overly large, but it was bigger than Toivos was. Something for him to grow into. Sara could already picture him being a toddler holding it in the middle of the night as a security blanket after a nightmare. The thought was almost enough to make Sara cry, to know that Sid had put this much thought and effort into making something for him.

"Oh my god, Sid. This is so amazing. I love it."

"You do?! Oh, I'm so glad. I've only ever seen my cat before, so I wasn't sure how different they might be, or if I did it justice."

"Oh, you did. This is great. I'm sure Toivos will love it too when he gets older. Thank you, so much, Sid," Sara said, as she brought her into a hug.

"You're welcome. And hey, keep me in mind if you ever need a babysitter."

Sara laughed and nodded her head. She hadn't even thought that far ahead into the future. For now they had Sahuna with them, but it was nice to know that they could easily have that resource should they need it. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Sid. I'm sure we'll be putting the offer to use when he gets a bit older. Thanks."

They both said their goodbyes and Sara started to circulate a bit more. Her next stop was with Davis Qar. He basically told her congratulations but brushed her off slightly saying that he was too busy to chat. She almost wondered if he had been jealous for not being chosen to do the story about Toivos. It really didn't matter though. Keri had done a good job, and Sara trusted her more than anyone, so she wouldn't have changed anything.

Her next stop was with Kesh. She had already come to their apartment once to meet Toivos for herself, but Sara had still wanted to stop in and say hi. As her office doors whooshed open, Kesh saw that it was Sara immediately.

"Sara? What a surprise. I didn't expect to be seeing you here so soon."

Each of Kesh's children were there with her in her office. With not many people having families on the Nexus yet, there weren't any daycares available, but work still needed to get done. Sara wasn't surprised that this meant that Kesh just had to bring her kids to work with her.

"So is this. I definitely didn't expect to be seeing everyone today. How are all of my godchildren doing?!," she said as she looked down at all of the tiny krogan faces that had toddled over to swarm her legs.

Sara had met them a few times. The last time was just before Toivos was born, and they had been slightly less lively then, but still seemed to recognize her. It had only been 5 months since they'd hatched, but krogan babies developed a lot faster than most other species, so they were almost fully capable walkers already, and big enough to be looking for attention, but not rambunctious enough yet to be headbutting her in the stomach.

Sara gently handed Toivos over to Sahuna for a moment so she could bend down and give them all hugs. There were 4 of them, and they had all immediately begun to climb on top of her, vying for her attention.

"Whoa, whoa, one at a time," she said, while trying to make sure she gave each one of them a real hug before placing them back on the ground again.

"Well I see they're all doing really well," Sara said with a laugh.

"That they are. Each one of them is thriving. It's more than I ever could have hoped for," Kesh said, absolutely beaming. "Though they certainly make my job a lot harder." Just as she had finished saying those words, one of them had run to go headbutt the window, which warranted an eye roll from Kesh. "Trying to get everything done with them around as a constant distraction has slowed me down a lot, but I wouldn't change a thing. At least Vorn takes them half the time, so that makes it easier. How about your little one? It's been a few weeks since I've gotten a chance to see him. He already looks quite a bit bigger."

"Yeah, he is. He's been doing really well too. He has a checkup in a couple weeks to make sure he's making good progress, but so far he's great."

"Good to hear it, Ryder. It would seem that the 600 year journey has been a bit of a gift to the both of us, hasn't it?"

Sara smiled at the thought. Of course for her, the trip had changed her life entirely, but she knew that Kesh was also referring to the fact that the amount of time they had spent in cryo had already lead to progress in healing the genophage. It wasn't nearly enough to cure it, but strides had been made in helping repair the damage. Without this journey, neither of them would have the families that they have now, and it made Sara grateful for taking the plunge, just as she was sure Kesh must be feeling the same way now.

"It sure has. Things haven't always been easy here, but I think coming to Andromeda was the best decision of my life," Sara said genuinely.

"I think we're in complete agreement on that one, Ryder," she said, as they both gave each other a kind smile.

"Well, I don't want to be a complete distraction for you, so I'll get out of your way. I might be coming around for visits more often now that Jaal's working here, so I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon."

"Ah, that would be wonderful. We'll see you soon then."

"Sure thing," she said as they both walked out of Kesh's office.

She had been most excited about seeing the other pathfinders, but she had almost purposely been putting them off knowing that Tann would have to be included in that. She knew she couldn't avoid him forever though, and they were the last ones on her list left to see, so she and Sahuna had started making their way over to the pathfinder headquarters.

Sara knew that Tann was well aware of everything that had happened, but he hadn't made any efforts to contact her directly, and neither had she. She wasn't sure if he was actually upset about everything, or if he simply didn't care. It really could have been either knowing him. At any rate, it was time to confront him, and this way she could see all of the other pathfinders again too.

"Oh Ryder. How good to see you," Sara was pleasantly greeted by the secretary as she entered the HQ. At least she had always proven to be a lot nicer than Tann.

"Hi," Sara greeted her with a smile. "Listen, I know I'm not technically a pathfinder anymore, but I was hoping I could go say hi to everyone while I'm here."

"Oh, yes of course. As far as I'm concerned you'll always be welcome here. If Tann gives you any trouble, just let me know. I'll deal with it."

"Thanks."

"No problem, Ryder. And congratulations. I see you've brought your little bundle of joy with you."

"Yeah. Things are finally starting to calm down a little, so I figured it was time to show him off," Sara said with a chuckle.

"Rightly so. Well, everyone's here. I'm sure they'd all love to catch up with you."

Sara nodded in acknowledgement before heading up the ramp. Sahuna had decided to stay and speak with the secretary to give Sara some more privacy.

"Good morning, pathfinders!," Sara beamed, and they all turned around from whatever it was they had been working on.

"Sara!," Valeria said in surprise, as she walked over to engulf her in a hug. She had been the least prepared for the role suddenly bestowed upon her, and had really taken to Sara and Cora when she herself had become a pathfinder. She was probably the one that was the most excited to see Sara, but everyone else came in shortly behind her to give Ryder their own hug as well. They had all been in their positions because of Sara in some way or another, and she had been there for them from the start. It wasn't so surprising to think that they would have missed her.

Sara was holding Toivos in a way to point him out to introduce him to everyone and they all cooed over him. Sara could see that Tann had periodically kept glaring in their direction. She was trying not to pay too much attention to him while she was enjoying the time with her friends.

She knew they were busy though, and let them get back to work after briefly catching up with everyone. Valeria said a small blessing for their family, while Hayjer had told her that he was proud of her. Avitus simply said that he was happy for them.

She begrudgingly made her way over to Tann now, knowing that she couldn't leave without at least putting in an appearance. He had seen her after all, she couldn't just avoid him.

"Ryder," he simply greeted.

"Tann."

"So, I take it this is who I have to blame for making my job a lot harder, is it?," was all he had to add.

Sara scowled at him.

"Yes, I'm sorry I had a baby," she said, sarcastically. "What do you want me to say, Tann? I'm sure you've been brought up to speed about everything, and how I didn't even know."

"Oh yes, I'm well aware. It's just great to see that you were using one of the most sophisticated pieces of machinery that the Andromeda Galaxy has to offer as nothing more than the means to satisfy your personal gratifications."

Sara rolled her eyes. "First of all, you better be joking. You damn well know that I took my job seriously. What I decided to do in my down time isn't really any of your business."

"I beg to differ, when the results of what you 'did' in your 'down time' has had a direct impact on my work. I'm responsible for the pathfinder teams, and your actions have had ramifications to all of my plans," he said while making air quotes.

"Well, I'm sorry that my species has a sex drive. And just so you know, I happened to be deeply in love, and still am for that matter, not that you care. It wasn't just simply for 'personal gratifications'. Toivos may have been unexpected, but he wasn't a mistake if that's what you're trying to say. I'm not going to apologise for him."

That's when Addison jumped into the conversation. Sara hadn't even noticed her come in, she had been so furious.

"Alright, that's enough, Tann," she said with a nasty glare in his direction before turning towards Sara. "Don't pay any attention to this old windbag, Ryder," she said, as she directed Sara back towards the big window, hearing a huff of annoyance from behind them. "I'll have a word with him later. For now, you just take a minute, and calm down."

Sara tried to do just that, looking down at Toivos. She suddenly remembered what Addison had said the first day that she had seen him. There really was something about holding a baby that was calming. It helped that he seemed to have a big grin on his face, studying his mother. (It was still likely that it was just gas at only one month old, but she could pretend that it was happiness).

"I never realised just how right you were until this moment," Sara said, turning back to Addison with a smile. "How quickly he already made me forget about Tann."

Addison nodded and returned her smile. "Are you willing to share? I'll admit, I saw you come in here a few minutes ago, and was hoping to get some of that baby therapy if you were willing."

Sara nodded, and gave Toivos a gentle kiss before passing him over.

"Oh my, you certainly have grown since I've seen you last," Addison spoke gently to Toivos. "What's it been? About a month at this point, hasn't it? The time has just gone by so quickly, it's hard to keep track."

"Yeah, I think it's been about that. To be honest, it's been a bit of a daze for me too, so I'm not entirely sure either," she said with a laugh.

"Oh, and it'll only get worse from now on. There will be a time that you'll barely remember him being this small."

Sara nodded at the sentiment, already sad for the prospect. He may only be four weeks old, but he was already growing up too fast. She could easily see the changes that had taken place, starting to develop little bits and pieces of personality.

"So, is it just the usual, or is something else going on that warranted a trip to the baby therapist?," Sara asked.

Addison let out a small sigh. "To be honest, I didn't want to burden you with this, because I didn't want you thinking that I'm placing blame on you, but I suppose you should at least be aware of it. Toivos has had a bit of an unforeseen ramification in terms of human survival projections."

Sara looked over to her questioningly now.

"Don't worry. I don't think it's anything serious enough to truly be worried about, and like I said, this isn't anyone's fault. But I think you know as well as everyone how limited our population was to begin with. There were only 20,000 humans that came on the ark, and add another 1000 that came on the Nexus. We project that we've lost nearly 3000 due to all of the circumstances since coming here, not to mention that there's still turmoil, putting even more people at risk. Then there's all of the outcasts on Kadara who may not even be interested in preserving humanity anymore."

Sara was silent, trying to take in all of the information, wondering where she was going with this.

"I'm not sure how much you know about species survival rates, but it's projected that you need a minimum of 5000 healthy and viable members in order for its survival, otherwise the genetic diversity won't be enough. Granted, we have a bit more leeway thanks to our DNA banks, but all that being said, our numbers have done nothing but dwindle since our arrival. Even if we try to estimate approximately 15000 healthy and willing people, we're edging hazardously close to being endangered."

Sara looked down at her feet, finally understanding the fear of what some of the messages she had received were trying to convey. Toivos would never be a mistake. Whether it was Sara that gave birth to the first hybrid or someone else, it didn't change the fact that he was a possibility and that people would want to have their own children from similar relationships. He didn't really change anything, he just allowed people to realise these potentials sooner rather than later. Maybe that was a good thing even.

"Like I said, I didn't want this to seem like I was blaming you. It's good that we're aware of this now, it just means we have to plan for the future," Addison said as she looked back down at Toivos, practically having read Sara's mind. "Because you're certainly worth it, aren't you," she said bouncing him around a little, as he just looked at her curiously. "I've gotten word from your doctor that her services have become extremely sought after. There are a lot of interspecies couples that are interested in this right now."

"Wow. I hadn't heard that. Lexi's come to us for all of our checkups so far, so I guess I haven't gotten to see it for myself yet," she said, sounding genuinely shocked. It made her happy, but she could see how that would add to Addison's particular burden.

"Yes. I'm not all that surprised really. How many people back in the Milky Way would have killed for a chance like this? But it has made more work for us all here. We've already started coming up with plans to encourage people to have babies of their own species. Offering grants, or prioritized work placements. We've even started looking into an outreach to allow outcasts a way back into the Initiative if having children is something they want."

Sara nodded along. "I can understand how this has probably made things harder. Thanks for not taking any of it out on him."

Addison looked back at her seriously again. "Like I said, this isn't anyone's fault. It's just new, and something we have to try to work out together. I don't think anyone wants the humans or the turians to die out, but this is also something new and people are going to be excited. Really, all this means is that we have to start pushing the procreation propaganda," Addison said with a laugh.

"People were scared, but we're in a good place now," she continued. "I think the desire is there for a lot of people already. As long as they know we're safe, and we have the resources, I think we'll be fine."

"I'm sure Jill would love to do a story on it," Sara said with a laugh.

"Maybe I'll get in touch. It certainly won't hurt matters. I'm sure a message from the Pathfinder wouldn't hurt either, especially now that you can speak from experience."

"I'm not the Pathfinder anymore, Addison."

"No, maybe not the acting one. I'm sure you remember our first conversation, where I told you you had to earn that title. Well, as far as I'm concerned, you have. You weren't only the human pathfinder, you were the pathfinder for all of us. You were the one who found everyone a home and safety. You will always be Pathfinder as far as I'm concerned."

Sara just looked at her, surprised and a little taken aback. Addison had shown her nothing but kindness since learning about Toivos, which had been shocking in its own right, but she never would have expected her to be so open or actually sound proud of her. It was humbling, and enough to make Sara be on the verge of crying out in public. Something for which she hated the thought of, so she choked down whatever tears were threatening to come out.

"Thanks, Addison," She managed to get out, sounding genuinely thankful, and not overly emotional.

"Well I meant it, Ryder. And speaking of which, I've had some thoughts about how to put you to use. I'm not trying to rush you back into work or anything. Take time to heal and finish getting adjusted if you need it, but we could really use your expertise when you're ready."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I think the pathfinder headquarters could really do well with an advisor. The other species still do most of their pathfinding from right here. Having input from your experiences ground-side would be of use. Not to mention it would help having manuals and guidebooks produced for future generations of pathfinders. Interviewing prospects for second-in-commands, taking down concerns of the people and delegating them to the right pathfinder team for the job. It would likely be a bit of an anything and everything type of position, but we could really use someone like that. You still have a SAM link too, so it would make it convenient."

::I would be happy to be of service,:: SAM piped in.

Sara nodded her head, definitely intrigued, and happy for the prospect to be working with SAM again. She had slowly been working on repairing their relationship, and trying to let him know that she wasn't upset about anything that had happened to her as a result of his actions in taking over too much of her. She missed him, and figured this could be really good for them. "You know what, I think I actually really like the sound of that."

"Good. There's no one else quite like you, and I think the people around here could really benefit from your advice. I've already talked to Tann about it. As grumpy as he was just now, he was fine with the idea. We can set up a workstation for you right in the corner there, next to the window. You can even bring this little guy with you since there's nothing much for child care options yet."

"So when can I start?," Sara asked with a laugh.

"Are you really that eager?"

"Well I can't promise that I won't be a bit distracted for a while, but getting out of the house might be nice, especially now that Jaal's gone."

"Alright. Give us two weeks to get everything set up. You can always start part-time, and take things easy for awhile. It'll give yourself time to get adjusted."

"This actually sounds like it might be perfect for me, Addison. Thanks for the opportunity."

"You're welcome, Pathfinder. Now I advise that you take advantage of your two extra weeks while you've got them," Addison said as she handed Toivos back over.

They both said their goodbyes before Sara and Sahuna headed back home. She left with a bigger smile than she had come in with. It might not be the same as being around Jaal constantly, but now they'd be working right by each other. They'd get to be together during breaks now, and Jaal would get to come and take Toivos whenever he was able.

Sara could start to feel like she was contributing again. Not that taking care of Toivos wasn't important, but she constantly felt guilty, and like she wasn't doing enough to hold her place on the Nexus. She had been worried that she wouldn't know how to fit into this community again, but now it was nice to feel like she was finding her place, and that she could be of some use. But more than anything, she was finding herself again, and this made it feel like every piece of her life had finally come together.


A/N: I just want to thank everyone who's continued to read this. I know it was a slow start, and probably got a little bit angsty and even a bit political, but it's about to get into the more happy territory.