Chapter 10

"How are you doing in training?" asked Sheridan, grasping his mug of tea and contemplating that he really did not know how to talk to a teenage girl, especially one that was his 'daughter'.

"Well, I suppose. Marcus is going to find out which of the more formal training sessions for the Rangers are available for me to join. I suppose technically I'm not a Ranger but it will help in terms of making me less of a security risk so I guess they'll probably make concessions for me to join in," said Iona, not really looking at him while delivering her explanation.

"I'm sure Delenn will be able to sort something out," said John. He wasn't quite sure what else to say next.

They both busied themselves with eating the food at the table for the next few minutes.

Then Iona glanced up at him and sighed. "You don't have to do this, you know. I mean I'm nearly grown up by now and you're not really my Dad. DJ's still little and she won't remember as much. So she'll definitely need you around but you've got a lot to do and tons going on. You don't have to take me on too," she said slowly, looking down.

John Sheridan was silent. He didn't want to lie to Iona and somehow he had realized that she was able to read him fairly accurately. He guessed that she had been telepathically linked to her father. He wasn't sure how much of a telepathic link she had with himself but he would guess that it was present somehow even if it was not as strong.

"I can't read you, don't worry. I can feel your stronger emotions but most people can read body language anyway and it's not all that different. I can just about sense you. I could feel more of my Dad. We were pretty close, I guess. As close as we could be anyway," said Iona.

"So you got along pretty well with your Dad, huh?" asked John with a smile. Little steps.

"Yeah, he was pretty great. He'd make some time for me even with everything. And he came back to the farm when he could. He'd call and even when he couldn't he...," Iona suddenly trailed off.

"What did he do when he couldn't call, Iona?" asked John gently.

"He knew I could feel him even if he couldn't really feel me. So every night he'd take a few minutes to say good night and that he loved me. I guess to be honest I couldn't always really feel him thinking of me, I'm a very mild telepath but I'm sure I could at times," admitted Iona softly.

"I'm sure you could, Iona," assured Sheridan gently.

"Iona, I do want to be a part of your life if you'll let me. Yes, I do have a lot of things going on but I would be extremely honoured to have the privilege of being a part of your new life here.

It sounds like you had a pretty special relationship with your real Dad and I know that I'll never be able to take his place. I won't try to. But maybe we can build our own relationship here, somehow. I have no idea how to be your Dad but I'm willing to learn and I'm going to make mistakes for which I apologize in advance but I'd really like the chance to try. Will you let me?" said John thoughtfully.

"Really?" said Iona.

"Why?" she asked after a few moments.

John Sheridan thought about his answer carefully.

"Because you're a wonderful young woman and any man would be proud to be your father. And I'm sure that you are nearly grown-up as you said but I think that you could still do with having a family and having a Dad around even if he's not really the same man that you grew up with. Who knows? I may be able to contribute in some way to your life as you go on growing up.

And I know that I could definitely do with a beautiful, intelligent young girl as my daughter. I'm sure there's a lot that I could learn from you and you are a large part of what makes my life worth living. Worth fighting the Shadows for," stated John honestly.

Iona looked at him silently. Sheridan had no idea how to be more open to help a telepath read his thoughts. What with the existence of Psi Corps, the opposite was what most people learned to do from fear. But now he wished that he could let Iona know that he was truly sincere. He wanted to have a relationship with her. She was already very important to him.

"I guess, Draal made a really good choice for us," she said finally.

Sheridan couldn't stop the beaming smile on his face at her words.