Alien unrelated work calls, but perhaps it's not so unrelated after all.

Well. I did not intend for an almost three months long delay between updates. There was a lot going on and instead of having lots of time to write, I was kept quite busy with life.
Either way, here is the next chapter and since the following one is almost fully written, I can assure you that the next update won't take as long. Thank you everyone for being patient!

Two weeks after Sky's birthday, on the Friday before the spring vacation would be over, Martha and Mickey had gotten married. The celebration had been great, but it would have been even more glorious if it hadn't been interrupted by a group of Skreglir who had tried to capture London. The Doctor hadn't shown up yet - when was he ever on time? - so Sarah had offered to take care of it with Luke and Clyde - because Maria and Rani had already been in their pretty bridesmaid dresses and Martha's sister refused to let them leave. Not that she had been happy about Sarah running off, seeing as she was supposed to be part of the whole thing too, head bridesmaid and all, but even she had to agree that it was preferable to have her miss a few minutes of the ceremony if it meant the wedding wasn't crashed by aliens.

In the end, they had saved the day and still managed to be just in time for the ceremony to start. There had been a lot of familiar faces at the wedding, Sarah had realised, quite a few people she recognised from her own days of gallivanting around the universe. It had been nice to catch up with them but she had to admit that at some point, it had gotten tiring to explain that Sky was her daughter.

Her daughter who had, in the span of a mere two weeks, managed to go from barely being willing to stand to running around the house on her brother's heels. Apparently, having four teenagers to follow around was enough of an incentive to start walking too.

If Sarah had thought the crawling had been bad, she almost wished those days back now. She loved Sky very dearly, that was no question, but now she had to constantly keep an eye on her. After two months of walking, she was quick on her feet and kept getting into places she wasn't supposed to get into.

Now that Sky was too big for Turlough's carrier, she was also faced with a very different problem: what to do with Sky when she was off after another alien. The kindergarten two streets over only took children from the age of two and if she was being honest, Sarah didn't really want to put Sky in another daycare either. Both Gita and Carla were always happy to watch Sky when there was no way to take her, but that wasn't a long-term solution either. Until she came up with one, though, it would have to do.

Today, though, she had no trouble letting Sky tag along because for once, she was going to do her real job.

There was something about the way that young woman was writing that struck Sarah, something in the way she conducted herself during interviews, so she just had to go and satisfy her curiosity about Amy Pond.

'Sky, come on, help me a little here,' Sarah sighed as she tried in vain to wrestle Sky into her jacket. It was unseasonably cold outside, especially for it being mid-May already, but Sky steadfastly refused to cooperate.

'No! Mama, no!' she screeched, her voice so high and shrill that Sarah had to fight the urge to cover her ears. That had only started a few weeks ago, throwing tantrums like that. Sarah had thought it was called the terrible twos, not the terrible ones, but apparently Sky was adamant to prove her wrong.

Either way, they were running late already and Sky still wasn't dressed properly. With a sigh, Sarah simply picked her daughter up and grabbed her purse (it was still her fancy diaper bag, but it was easier than to carry two bags all the time). Car rides had proven effective in calming her daughter down before, and she really didn't have time right now to wait until Sky decided to do that otherwise.

Strapping a wiggling toddler into a car seat was a challenge of its own but Sarah had become quite practiced at it in the last few weeks. Once Sky was safe and secure, albeit still wailing, Sarah slipped into her own seat and pulled out of her driveway.

As predicted, driving worked like a miracle and before they were even out of Ealing, Sky had stopped crying and was babbling happily again. Sarah sighed and shook her head. So far, raising Sky had mostly been smooth running but now that she was no longer a baby but actually becoming a little person, things were bound to become more complicated. And yet, despite all that she had already been told about what awaited her, she couldn't help but look forward to it. Even with the things they needed to figure out, like who would mind Sky when she was away until she was old enough for kindergarten.

When they stopped at a red traffic light, Sarah's eyes found her daughter's in the rearview mirror before she half turned back to smile at her. 'This is better, isn't it?' She received an enthusiastic little nod and then Sky squealed when the lights switched to green and they drove off again.

For the rest of the drive, Sky was in a much better mood, which also served to brighten Sarah's considerably. By the time they finally got to the tall building that housed Ms Pond's agency's head office, she was laughing along to her daughter's nonsensical babbles as she pointed at this and that and gave everything its own name in her language.

The building was one of the really fancy ones, with a garage underneath that Sarah had to show her press pass to to even get into. As it turned out, they had parking spaces specifically marked for press, which Sarah could only shake her head over. She was old school, really, the kind of journalist who got her big stories by sneaking into places she had no business being and if she was being honest, quite a few of her stories - especially the more obscure ones - she still came across this way. For this kind of journalism, only writing for shiny magazines about the latest gossip, she had always had little patience. Not that she didn't see why those articles were necessary and it was undeniable that some of those writing there were incredibly talented - but it really just wasn't her cup of tea.

Still, she was here for a reason: to find out if Ms Pond was really just a brilliant writer or if there was something more to her. Sarah doubted that she was an alien, that just didn't seem to fit her, but there were just a few things about her that didn't add up.

Taking Sky with her to her more conventional interviews had gotten Sarah quite a few odd looks in the past but that had been nothing compared to the looks of disdain she received today. Sarah had never cared much what people thought about her but that didn't extend to her daughter, who she clutched just a little tighter to herself where she was propped up on her hip. It shouldn't have been surprising that they would be met with more scorn than usual, considering that they were visiting a modeling and fashion business. Nothing mattered more here than looks, a flawless appearance to keep the image intact and since Sarah Jane Smith had never exactly made a secret of her age, her showing up with an infant was bound to raise eyebrows.

'Sarah Jane Smith,' she greeted the receptionist and flashed her press pass once again. 'I have an interview with Amy Pond.'

The woman looked her over with unabashed curiosity - she was a young thing who probably only remembered her from her time with Channel 3 - before pressing the speaker button on her phone to announce her. After a few moments, she stood and waved at Sarah.

'Follow me, please. Ms Pond is awaiting you.'

Silently, Sarah followed her through the winding hallways of the office, gently grasping Sky's small hands with her free one. Sky was watching her surroundings with adorably wide eyes, looking the picture of innocence and sweetness with her fluffy curls, but Sarah knew that the moment she saw something she liked, she would reach for it. And going by the receptionist's attitude towards her daughter, she doubted that would go too well.

Eventually, they stopped and the receptionist knocked at a door. 'Ms Pond?' she called, 'Your 11.30 is here.'

For a moment, there was silence, then the door flew open and Sarah found herself staring at Amy Pond in all her glory. Wild red hair messily tumbling over her shoulders, the barest hint of makeup and sparkling eyes. For a moment, they widened at the sight of Sky in Sarah's arms, then they narrowed at the receptionist.

'Thanks, I'll take it from here,' she dismissed the other woman, who immediately scurried away. Once she was out of sight, Ms Pond turned back to smile at Sarah Jane and Sky. 'Come in.'

They followed her into her dressing room and then sat by the table in the corner that Ms Pond led them to. 'Drinks?' She asked, then frowned. 'I think I only have water -'

'That's fine,' Sarah interrupted with a smile at her while simultaneously prying Sky's arms from her jacket.

Ms Pond watched with a somewhat wistful smile. 'Who are you, love?' she wanted to know and held out a hand to Sky. Sky eyed her curiously, then took the offered hand and brought it to her mouth as if to chew on it. Ms Pond's eye's widened and Sarah quickly but carefully worked her daughter's fingers loose so Ms Pond wouldn't end up with spit all over her hand.

'I'm so sorry - we're in the phase where we're trying to eat everything.' Sarah kept Sky's hands grasped in her own and gave Ms Pond an apologetic smile. 'This is my daughter Sky - Sky, say hello to Ms Pond -'

'Oh, it's Amy - hello Sky.' She gave the baby a wave that made her giggle and Sarah smiled as well.

'In that case, Amy, I suppose you can call me Sarah Jane.'

'Nice to meet you.' Amy smiled at her. 'You know, I was a bit surprised when they told me you wanted to talk to me, I mean, I'm not that interesting - at least not interesting enough for Sarah Jane Smith to want to talk to me. You're famous, you know?'

'Oh, I'm really not. But you're most certainly special, Amy - there's something about you, about your writing that intrigued me -'

'So you're not here about the modeling or the perfume?'

'We can talk about that too, if you you'd prefer that.'

'No, I'm good - just ask away.'

And so, Sarah diligently began to go through her list of questions, just gently stirring Amy in this direction or that so she didn't even realise all she was revealing to Sarah. Some of her answers, though, made Sarah wonder because yes, they were good, great responses even, but they just seemed a tad off to someone who knew that there was more to the universe out there.

She allowed her mind to drift for a moment while one-handedly jotting down notes until suddenly, her head snapped up when Amy mentioned a name.

'It wasn't my idea, actually, Rory said -'

'Rory?' She inquired quietly, the truth dawning on her.

Amy frowned, then shrugged. 'Yeah. Rory. My husband?'

Suddenly, it all made sense. She knew why Amy's name was familiar, why she felt like she knew her writing style; they had a lot in common.

'Amy and Rory,' she whispered to herself and Amy's frown deepened. Of course, she probably hadn't had many pleasant experiences with people recognising her name in that fashion but really, Sarah couldn't find it in herself to be bothered. Instead, she tightened her hold on Sky and gives Amy a wide smile. 'Honeymoon on a honey moon that married an asteroid.'

For a moment, the room lay in utter silence as Amy stared at Sarah; disbelieve, mistrust and surprise unhidden on her face.

'How do you know that?' She asked carefully, her eyes narrow. 'Who are you?'

'Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor.'

'You know the Doctor?' It was evident that she didn't trust Sarah's words; of course not - after all, most people she's run into who knew him probably tried to kill him - or her.

'He's my best friend, He's told me a lot about you.' He had, when they talked on the phone now sometimes, or when he came to London to pay her a visit. He'd talked about them all, his assistants, companions, friends. At first, only about the ones she knew like Jo, Liz, Turlough or the Brig but then, gradually, he also talked about the others, the ones before and after. Less about the latter, for she knew most of them too - Rose, trapped in a parallel universe, Martha, her dear friend and Donna, who still had no idea just how special she was.

And then, he had spoken about River Song, born Melody Pond - the woman who killed him and who he married afterwards, one of the people he felt most guilty about. He had loved her, he said, she had been his wife - but also the stolen, tormented daughter of some of his dearest friends, Amy and Rory. He told her about their travels together, how he went into hiding after his death - she laughed, then, because she heard about that on the universal news Mr Smith put together for her, but she hadn't been too worried because, well, she had already heard of his next face. He had also spoken about Clara, the impossible girl who pulled him back to life after he lost Amy and Rory.

Suddenly, Sarah understood why he said foreknowledge was a horrible thing - she knew what fate awaited them eventually. Still, for now, they were here and Sarah always had relished in meeting people who knew the Doctor too.

'He did?'

'Mhm, yes.' Sarah hummed in response and pushed her notepad aside to keep Sky from crunching the paper.

'What did he tell you?' There was still a note of suspicion in Amy's voice but also quite a bit of curiosity.

'Oh, this and that. How he was late when he promised to pick you up, twice - he's never going to change, you'd think that a timelord would be able to be on time but he never is. Only when it matters.' She gave a wistful smile that was returned by Amy.

'Right?' Her smile broadened into a wide grin. 'Once, he dropped us off at this ice cream planet because he had to fix something on the TARDIS and instead of picking us up five hours later, we were there for five days!' She giggled. 'Turned out River had snuck in and distracted him!'

'I don't know if he ever mentioned Rose, she travelled with him as well - he took her on her first trip and promised he'd have her back the next day, miscalculated twelve hours and instead brought her back twelve months later,' Sarah shared, then remembered another, similar instance. 'There was also that one time where we had to deal with the Loch Ness monster -'

'You met Nessie?!' Amy interrupted, eyes wide. 'It's real?'

'Well, it was more of a Zygon problem and they brought Nessie -'

'So Nessie is an alien?'

'Yes?'

'Oh god.' Amy snorted in a vain attempt to hold back her giggles, but then still burst into full blown laughter. 'Of course Nessie would be an alien, and my raggedy man would be involved.' At that, Sarah couldn't help but join in - Amy had a point, there were very few odd things that had nothing to do with aliens and didn't involve the Doctor.

'It shouldn't be a surprise, should it? He's got his hand in everything - the spaceships over London, when Earth was stolen by the Daleks…' she trailed off and shrugged, the light mood suddenly replaced by a much more sombre tone.

'I think he mentioned you too,' Amy said after a moment of silence. 'Or maybe River did? You're the one holding the fort on earth, aren't you?'

'I'm doing my best,' was Sarah's soft reply. She gazed down on her daughter, who was fiddling with the buttons on her waistcoat, her head sleepily resting against her mother's shoulder. 'I have help, my son and his friends, and there's UNIT of course, but…' She shrugged. 'They like to go in all guns blazing, you know?'

'And the Doctor doesn't.'

'No. Neither do I - you still have so much to see, Amy, so many adventures to have and planets to see before you come back but eventually, you will.' Although not in this period, a century early instead. 'And when you do, you have to remember the most important thing: The universe is grand and vast and beautiful, but so is our planet. There are so many wonderful, fantastic things on earth, so many people to meet, places to visit, never forget that. Earth is just as wonderful as the entire universe.'

'It is,' Amy agreed. 'I promise I won't forget.' Then, a frown settled on her face and suspicion returned to her eyes as she eyed Sarah. 'What do you know?'

'What?'

'You know something, don't you? About the future, my - Rory's and mine - future.'

'Yes.' There was no point denying it. 'But you know I can't tell you.'

Amy sighed and slumped back in her chair, defeated. 'I know.'

She seemed so sad suddenly and Sarah reached over to squeeze her hand. This young woman, that's who she had been, once, many years ago. Bright eyed and full of life to those who didn't know her, couldn't see, but also sad and terribly scared of a future without the Doctor. Once, he had been the most important person in her life and she had dreaded the day he would leave her behind. Going back to a normal life had been hard, the readjusting nearly impossible, and it had taken almost three decades before she realised that she didn't need him to be the person she needed to be. That was something she had to do on her own.

And Amy, she wasn't alone, she would always have Rory by her side, be it in the past, future or future past.

'When I first stopped travelling with the Doctor,' Sarah started thoughtfully, 'I was very lost and lonely. Because I had no one who understood what I had just left behind. I didn't start this -' she waved her hand, '- until years later. Investigating on my own. There were times when I thought that I had only imagined it all. But you have your husband, Amy. No matter what happens, how you stop travelling with the Doctor, you two will have each other.'

'Until the end?'

'Until the end,' Sarah confirmed. It was not a spoiler, really, not intended as one at least, but more of a reassurance - and one that Amy desperately needed, it seemed, for at Sarah's words she relaxed visibly.

'Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without him. We already lost our daughter -' She broke off, her eyes darting to Sky who was playing with the buttons of her mother's cardigan. 'She would be that age now too, you know? And I know that she grew up to be River, who is absolutely fabulous, but how could I ever be a mother to River Song? And then I knew her as my best friend but then I had no idea she was my daughter and...I missed everything and she doesn't talk about it all, what happened to her but I know that it was nothing good because, look at her! How could I possibly ever be enough?'

'If there is one thing I have learned about motherhood,' Sarah said slowly and reached over to squeeze Amy's hand, 'it's that sometimes love is enough. Love your child - no matter how impossible it seems. I never expected to be a mother, never thought I'd be cut out for it, certainly not this late in my life - but then Luke stumbled into my life. I had no idea what I was doing with a genius teenager who knew nothing of the world. And Sky…' She couldn't stop herself from smiling at the little girl in her lap and then let out a snort. 'I called my teenage neighbours because I didn't know how to handle a baby.'

'You seem to have it down now.'

'Do I? Most of the time I feel like I'm just winging it still.' Sarah shrugged. 'But that's the point. I grew up without a mother too and I finally met her in the past a few years ago - I have barely known her for a day but there are still times when I wish I could turn to her for comfort. I have not yet met your daughter but I have heard of her and I am certain that she feels the same. Just because she has lived a full life, is older than you - none of that matters when it comes to needing your mother's comfort. In our case, with time travel involved, age does not matter as long as you love each other.'

'You truly believe that?'

'I know that,' Sarah corrected with a gentle smile that, after taking a deep breath, Amy returned reluctantly. She ran her hands through her red hair before reaching over and squeezing Sarah's hand that was still resting on the table between them.

'Thank you.'

'Anytime.'

For a moment, they just sat in companionable silence, only to be interrupted by Sky suddenly squirming in her mother's lap. She was not exactly used to getting so little attention, so now she was growing impatient and demanded it once more.

'Ma-ma, da!' She pointed across the table at Amy and it was enough for Sarah to understand that her daughter wanted to be in the focus of everyone's attention. Which meant Amy's as well.

'It seems Sky wants you to hold her, if you like?' She smiled at Amy, who nodded and scooted her chair to the other side of the table so she could take the toddler easier.

She picked Sky up with ease and the girl scrambled over into her lap, where she immediately reached up to pull on those long red curls that tumbled over Amy's shoulder's.

The smile that graced Amy's face as she carefully detangled little hands from her hair was wistful and Sarah felt a pang in her chest as she watched them. Amy would have made a good mother, would make one to another young child one day in her future in the past.

Still, she stood by what she said earlier, she was still River's mother, no matter how grown up she was.

'Are you still going to write your article?' Amy asked after another moment of silence and looked up from the child in her arms. Sky was mesmerising to watch but she didn't want to get lost in her, not when she would be gone again soon.

Sarah shrugged. 'I suppose I should, otherwise it might be suspicious that I was in here for so long.'

'Oh, what are they going to say, that you're my torrid affair?' Amy laughed. 'I don't think they will. But if you want to write it, ask away - we're good here, aren't we?' She bobbed Sky's nose and the girl enthusiastically nodded.

'Well, in that case, tell me about your latest projects.'

'There's the campaign for my new perfume, the posters are over there - they're the final prints, I think they'll go out to the shops next week…'

They chatted about these things for about half an hour, Sarah diligently taking notes all the while; with two hands to write, her shorthand was finally decipherable again too. Then, Sky started to squirm once again, demanding to go back to her mother with a very clear 'Mama, mama, mama' until Sarah picked her back up.

'I'll walk you out - it's time for me to go home anyway,' Amy explained as she grabbed her own coat and purse.

'Thank you - oh, you want down, Sky? Well, then, careful.' Sarah placed Sky on the floor, still holding on to both her hands, slowly following Amy with Sky toddling along in front of her.

Outside Amy's office, it was silent. For a moment, neither woman put too much stock into it, but when they realised that there was no one anywhere, not a single soul, they found themselves frowning at each other.

Their suspicions were confirmed when suddenly, Sarah's watch began to beep.

'Amy?' Sarah said as she flipped her watch open.

'Yes?' Wordlessly, she stepped over and picked Sky up, her eyes never leaving her new friend.

'What would you say about stopping an alien invasion? We'll have you home in time for tea.'

A grin spread on Amy's face, pushing off the frown. 'I'm in.'