'A teenager, I can handle. But a baby?'
Briefly, said baby had turned into a teenager, but at the end of the day, Sarah Jane ends up with a (still sort of alien) baby that needs a home and really, who else could possibly raise Sky? So Sky stays, and Sarah Jane Smith finds herself with a new, younger than expected, daughter turning her life upside down.


Hello and welcome!
This story has been in the works for a few months now and it started because I needed to write something lighthearted to the slightly heavier things I was writing and reading. So this is a total feelgood story, apart from maybe some drama here or there - but nothing serious.
When Sarah Jane said she had no idea what to do with a baby, well, I couldn't resist her challenge and having her actually end up with Baby Sky. Several chapters for this are already finished and it's something I keep writing on whenever I want something nice and light, so that's the entire feeling of the story.
In most chapters there will be guests, visitors, from all of DW, so if there is anyone you'd like to see dropping by, let me know - I'm keeping a list, so I'm sure they'll be able to show up at Bannerman Road sometime!
Now, I think that is enough chatter; I'll leave you to enjoy this first chapter!

The sandbox belongs to the beep, but I love to play in it!


'Beautiful baby Sky,' they had called her. Briefly, she hadn't been a baby anymore but a young girl just about to become a teenager.

A teenager, Sarah Jane thought, a teenager she could handle. But a baby? She wasn't so sure about that.

But there was no way she would give her back to Ms. Mayers, particularly now that she was a baby once again. Sarah knew that Sky would probably end up staying with her, even if she had not the slightest idea how to raise an infant.

None of them had known what would happen when Sky had been activated. One moment, Ms Mayers' portal was awaiting the arrival of the metalkind, the next they had all been blinded when the reactor shut down and the energy surged into the next outlet: Sky. When they were able to see again, she had disappeared.

Where moments ago a girl had stood was suddenly nothing - except there was. On the floor, lest the seat she had originally arrived in, was baby Sky again.

Immediately, Sarah Jane had stepped forward, protectively scooping the baby up in her arms. Her eyes were closed and for a terrible moment, Sarah had feared she wasn't breathing - but then, there was a gentle flutter under her fingers: a heartbeat.

Straightening to look at Ms Mayers, she returned her look of anger. 'Is she alright? What have you done -'

'She's different,' Ms Mayers spat.

'Different how?'

'The energy backlash, it's destroyed her genetic programming.'

'You mean, she's not a weapon any longer?'

'No.' Ms Mayers looked disgusted. 'The markers in her DNA dissolved. I have lost my daughter.'

Sarah had looked down at the baby in her arms. 'You mean she's human - normal - now.' It wasn't really a question but Ms Mayers nodded anyway. But before she could answer, the surviving metalkind pulled her into the portal, leaving Sarah Jane and Sky alone with Rani, Clyde and one very confused factory worker.

'Let's go home,' she sighed when it became clear that nothing more was going to happen, except someone demanding explanations.


'You!' Sarah Jane stared at the man in her attic - the shopkeeper and the Captain, his parrot. He stared back, eyes fixed on the babe. 'How did you get in here?'

'How has she not grown up?' He blatantly ignored her question and, sensing that insisting on an answer right now wouldn't get her very far, Sarah shrugged, trying to not wake the finally sleeping child.

'She did grow up. But that energy backlash from the portal, it destroyed her genetic programming and turned her back into a baby.'

'That shouldn't have happened.'

'Well, it did.' Sarah's eyes narrowed. 'You planned this, didn't you; you brought her here - what now? Are you going to take her away again?'

'Do you want me to take her?'

For a moment, Sarah considered it. That this stranger, who had brought Sky to her for protection, would take her away, take her somewhere she might be safe - but she could just as well end up in yet another war zone. A 'caretaker of the universe', he had called himself last time, but she knew virtually nothing about him and although he had done nothing to warrant it, she didn't exactly trust him.

She looked down at the baby again. Wasn't she far too old to raise a baby? Even without the timetravel and the years she'd lived twice she would turn sixty this year. But...she had seen the girl Sky would grow up to be. Had seen how she had looked at her, with those big eyes full of trust - how could she possibly break the faith she had put in her? 'The first thing I remember,' she had said, and somehow, that had felt...wonderful. Flattering. For Sky, she had become someone special in an instant and now, the reverse was true too.

Hesitantly, she turned her eyes back to the man and the parrot.

'No,' she said slowly. 'I want her to stay here, where I know she's safe.'

'Ah, yes, that's why I brought this child here - because nowhere in the universe could I find a home safer than yours.'

'Why did you bring her here?' Sarah Jane asked again and the man wandered over, peeking at Sky. 'And who are you?'

'Consider me a servant of the universe,' he repeated. 'Some things cannot be left to chance and sometimes, a child needs to find their way home. And some things have to be put in place to keep everything else on track.'

'So that's what you do? Put things on track? And Sky is just another thing you use like a pawn in your game?'

'Ah, but I'm not playing a game. I'm merely putting things where they belong.' He grinned and Sarah Jane frowned at him.

'I would still like to know who you are.'

'All in good time, Ms Smith, all in good time. And for now - goodbye.'

'Now wait -' It was too late already, the stranger had disappeared into...nothing. Like he had never been there in the first place.

Sarah Jane sighed deeply and looked down at Sky.

'Well,' she said. 'I suppose we should get you all settled now.'

First things first, Sarah decided, and had Mr Smith scan Sky once more. He was rather reluctant at first but, eventually, obeyed and confirmed that there were only faint traces of her programming left in her DNA. Apparently, anything programmed beyond her basic DNA, like the level of maturity, had been bound to the weapon-bits Ms Mayers had added and when those had been destroyed, it had reset the rest of her DNA to its pre-programmed state.

Which worried Sarah more than she had expected, even with Mr Smith's reassurance that Sky was now a perfectly healthy human child. It was one thing to have him check her own and Luke's health on occasion, but this was a baby: a much more delicate matter. There weren't a lot of people Sarah trusted, but perhaps a call to some old friends would be in order.

That was about when she realised that while she still had the nappies and the formulae Clyde had picked up this morning, she had absolutely nothing else that she needed to care for a baby.

She'd be fine.

Then, it really started to sink in and she stumbled over to the sofa, sinking down into the cushions, Sky still in her arms.

She was about to raise a baby. A baby. She didn't even like babies. Even though she had to admit that despite being a little rubbery, Sky was somewhat sweet. But she was still a baby.

And suddenly, Sarah Jane Smith, who fought aliens on a daily basis and was perfectly used to all things impossible, burst into tears. What on earth had she gotten herself into?

It was how Luke found her when he called half an hour later, tears still glistening on her cheeks and her eyes all puffy.

'Mum? What happened?' He demanded the moment he saw her, immediately worried and ready to jump into his car and come home. To be fair, he had never before seen his mum look so...terrified, worried and shocked at the same time.

'I've agreed to do something, Luke, and I didn't have time to think it through -' she buried her face in her hands before looking back up at her son. 'You were a teenager, but Sky, I don't know how I am supposed to do this, I mean, I haven't the faintest idea how to take care of a baby -'

'A baby?! Woah, mum, what happened?' In a way, this would be affecting Luke just as much as it would be affecting Sarah herself, so she recounted the entire story to him, all the while keeping an eye on Sky, who was still fast asleep between several pillows on the sofa.

'Do you want me to come home, mum?' was the first thing Luke asked once she'd finished. For a moment, all Sarah wanted to say was 'yes, please, come and help me' but instead, she just shook her head.

'No, Luke, you've got to stay and focus on your studies. I can't have you come running every time I feel a little out of my depth - oh, don't argue with me, you know I'm right.' She gave him a warm, if a little watery, smile. 'I'll figure this out somehow, don't you worry about me - us. And when you're coming home next weekend, you'll meet Sky and then we'll go from there, alright?'

'Okay, mum,' Luke agreed, albeit reluctantly. After all, Sarah had been in tears just minutes before and he knew his mum well enough to know of her tendency to pretend to be fine. So of course he worried, no matter what she told him. Still, he conceded, 'but you'll keep me updated - and mum?'

'Yes?'

'Promise to call if you need anything? Or if something happens?'

'Promise.' She gave him another smile. 'Now off with you, go enjoy your evening with Sanjay and your friends.'

'Fine - but I'm coming home this weekend, alright? I want to meet my sister - she is my sister, right?' He seemed hesitant for a moment and Sarah blinked, surprised, before nodding slowly.

'Yes. Yes, of course she is. Your sister. Sky Smith.'

'I like that. Oh, Sanjay's back - love you, mum - and call me if you need me!'

The screen turned black before Sarah could respond and she slumped back into the chair.

What had she gotten herself into?

Sky was still asleep, so Sarah took a deep breath and turned back to her computer. She couldn't afford to panic, so she had to approach things strategically.

When she saw the sheer amount of lists with supposed 'baby essentials' online, Sarah still almost worked herself into another bout of panic before forcing herself to calm down. A closer look at the lists revealed that while a lot of things were considered 'essential' by the modern parent, she would start with the barest necessities. So, with another look at the sleeping baby, she began putting together her own lists.

In the end, she had two. The first one had the most dire items - a new car seat, a bassinet, a crib, babygros, a diaper bag, a baby blanket since the one she arrived in had been lost, bottles and pacifiers, nappies, and at least one book on how to even look after a baby. The second one were the slightly less immediately needed things: a pram, toys, some sort of changing table, clothes for all weather, and then some child-friendly furniture for Sky's room, considering she was here to stay.

Just as she was about to start looking which of those things she could actually order online, Sky woke up with a cry and demanded Sarah's attention.

Though her cries were still piercing Sarah's ears, at least this time, there were no lightbulbs blowing. Sensing that he was safe now, Mr Smith agreed to find the things on the first list so that all Sarah would have to do later was pick her favourites. He was not a personal shopping assistant, as he insisted, but since the world didn't need saving right now, he would help. Just this once.

Leaving him to that, Sarah gingerly began to rock Sky in her arms in an attempt to calm her down.

'What's wrong with you, baby, mhm?' She asked but of course, there was no answer, only crying. Perhaps - no, probably - another bottle was in order; Sarah didn't know for sure how often babies needed to be fed but she was reasonably certain that they got hungry more often than adults or even teenagers.

Doing things one-handedly proved to be quite the challenge and Sarah found a new appreciation for all the mothers who did this without ever mentioning it.

How had Aunt Lavinia managed? Was this how she had felt when she had suddenly ended up with her infant niece, barely older than Sky was now, and absolutely no idea how to take care of a baby? Sarah had never doubted that Aunt Lavinia had loved her but there had also never been doubt that she wasn't what people would have considered a conventional mother. Or mother figure. Rushing off to work and research every day, sometimes bringing the baby along to the lab and otherwise leaving her with kind neighbours who liked children certainly wasn't the way other children had been raised.

Work. Another thing to consider, since she couldn't exactly take Sky along when she dealt with aliens. At least her normal job wasn't bound to an office, being one of the top journalists in the country did have its perks. Maybe she could do some more scientific, research based articles for a bit - they usually paid well enough and didn't require her to go out investigating. Perhaps Dr Rivers could be of assistance on that front.

Which still left Sarah with the very present problem of actually raising a baby. Finally, after what felt like forever, the bottle was ready and Sky latched onto it immediately.

'Looks like you were very hungry, weren't you? Well. You're eating now, so no more of that.' Talk to her like a grown up who understood her, Sarah decided, heaven forbid she started with the baby talk.

Walking around with a baby in your arms wasn't as easy as it looked at first - even babies got heavy after a while, so she made her way back over to the sitting room and made herself comfortable in the armchair. It felt like eternity since Clyde had sat there, first feeding Sky, even though it had only been this morning.

Sudden and unbidden, Sarah remembered the first time she fed Luke - well, offered him food, since she hadn't actually fed it to him. How much had changed since then, she marvelled, and how much she herself had changed. Who would have ever thought she'd voluntarily adopt a baby? She certainly hadn't.

It reminded her, though, of yet another thing that needed to be added to her to-do list. Adoption papers. And she really had to talk to Kate to-

'Ow!' A tiny hand had, with surprising strength, pulled on her hair and Sarah looked down at Sky. She needed more hands. Two weren't enough if you were holding a baby and a bottle and needed to detangle tiny babyfists from your hair. 'Let go, Sky, please? Oh, you're finished with the bottle? Right, maybe - ah, yes.'

Smiling, a little proud of herself, Sarah managed to set the almost empty bottle on the table, freeing one hand to take care of her hair. Immediately, Sky grabbed her finger in lieu of the hair and Sarah sighed once again.

'What now, hm? Oh, you need to burp, don't you? That much I know...now let's see.' Gingerly, she manoeuvred Sky upright to her shoulder where she had, in hindsight, placed a soft towel earlier. Not exactly what you were supposed to be using but since she didn't have any of the proper cloth, now that the one Sky arrived in had disappeared, she had to improvise. Patting her back, she waited for her baby to burp.

Her baby. Now that was a thought. Strange, but surprisingly not unpleasant.

'I can't carry you around all day, you know?' Sarah mused after Sky had finally burped and was settled back into her arms. 'And I can't have you sleep in my bed, I don't want to roll onto you. I'd crush you. Let's see if we can find you a bed, shall we?'

Wandering around the house, rocking the baby while talking to it, to this tiny person in her arms, felt strangely natural, Sarah found as she was looking for something she could turn into a bed for Sky. In the end, she settled for the old classic: one of her wicker laundry baskets with one of the big pillows inside and another small, soft towel as a duvet. She thought about using one of the fleece blankets she kept in the linen cupboard for cuddling up on cold days, but during her brief research earlier she had read somewhere that big blankets were safety hazards for infants of Sky's age. So, until she got something more appropriate to wrap her in, the towels would have to do.

Thankfully, Sky seemed to find her makeshift bed comfortable enough because after changing, she was all too happy to doze off in the basket. Since she didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone just yet, Sarah carefully carried the basket back up to the attic in order to place the orders with baby supplies and take care of the formalities. Also, call Kate. And Liz, even if she was neither a physician nor currently on earth.

She was just about to start writing the cover up article on the blackout this morning - had it really just been a day?- when she heard steps coming up the stairs, accompanied by soft whispers. She couldn't help but smile. Of course Rani and Clyde would come to check on her - them. Coming to think of it, they had probably alerted Luke, or told him to call her earlier as well.

'You can come in, you know?' She called softly and a moment later, the two of them pushed into the attic.

'Hey,' Rani smiled, her gaze immediately drawn to the wicker basket on the coffee table. 'Is she alright?'

'Are you alright?' Clyde added, giving Sarah Jane herself a scrutinising look. She nodded.

'I'm fine. So is Sky.'

'What's going to happen to her?'

'Well.' Sarah hesitated, then took a deep breath, looking square at her young friends. 'Sky is going to stay here, with me. It's not like she can go anywhere else.'

'Are you going to adopt her, then?'

'I suppose so, yes. Mr Smith is currently drawing up the papers so everything is in order.' She shrugged sheepishly. 'I can't exactly go through child services, can I?'

'Guess not,' Clyde agreed, peeking at the baby again. Neither he nor Rani were about to mention Luke's rather upset call earlier, asking them to please check on his mum because when he had spoken to her, she had been more than a little distraught. They had decided to wait a little, but looking at Sarah Jane now, everything seemed to be fine.

'Is there anything we can do?' Rani pulled him out of his thoughts, 'I mean, we'll babysit, of course, won't we Clyde? But do you need anything else, like -' She broke off, out of her depth and clearly not sure what exactly they could do for Sarah Jane.

'I think we're set for now,' Sarah smiled, 'but maybe you could come over tomorrow after school? By then I may have a better idea of what I could use help with.' So clearly, Sarah Jane wasn't sure what she needed either. But that was fine, Clyde thought. New mums were like that, and Sarah Jane was a new mum now. Sort of. And she was still Sarah Jane. She would figure this out, somehow.

He smiled back. 'Should we get out of your hair then? Before we wake little Sparky here?'

'She's not so sparky anymore, Clyde, remember?'

'Oh, I think she'll always be "Sparky", Rani. Now, off home with you two, spend the evening with your mums and relax. I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Alright,' they both laughed, hugging Sarah Jane before letting her usher them out onto the landing and towards the stairs. 'See you tomorrow!'

They could see themselves out, so she watched them skip down the stairs, waiting until she heard the front door shut before wandering back inside the attic to finish up work while Sky was still asleep.

'Do you think she's alright?' Rani worried, chewing her lip as she looked at Clyde. 'I mean, it's a baby, and it's Sarah Jane…'

'Yeah, exactly.' Clyde grinned. 'She's Sarah Jane. She'll be great.'

It was at least one vote of confidence that Sarah felt she sorely needed as she wasn't quite so sure herself.

Glancing at her sleeping daughter - her daughter, that would take some getting used to - again to ensure herself that she was, indeed still fast asleep and fine, she turned to Mr Smith, who, still wary of Sky, opened up silently.

'Mr Smith, could you please call this this-' she typed in a long string of numbers, '-number?'

'That number belongs to a covered line directly into UNIT headquarters.'

'Yes. I know. Just call it, please?'

Mr Smith didn't grace her with an answer and instead dialed the number. She could have called with a normal phone but this was a delicate matter and Mr Smith would ensure that none of the conversation she was about to have could be recorded. Not that she expected it to be, but better safe than sorry.

It only took a moment for the line to click and a picture flickered onto the screen.

'Aunt Sarah?' There was a look of worried confusion on Kate Stewart's face as she realised who was calling her. Sarah shot her a small smile.

'How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not "Aunt Sarah", Tiger.' They both knew she didn't mean it, and that she actually took the time to get back at her quip was a telltale sign for Kate that whatever the reason for her call was, neither the universe nor the world were about to end.

'Why are you calling, Aunt Sarah?'

'I need your help, Kate.'

'What's wrong? Are you in trouble - or Luke? I know you don't like guns, but I can-'

'It's nothing like that, no. And keep the guns far away - I got a baby today.'

'I'm sorry, what?!' Kate stared at her, utter bafflement unhidden on her face, and Sarah couldn't help look a little sheepish.

'A baby. A daughter. Sky.' She stepped aside, allowing Kate to look at the basket behind her, Sky sleeping inside.

'A baby,' Kate repeated slowly, then blinked at Sarah. 'Aren't you…I'm sorry. Who's her father?'

'What? No! Kate! I didn't have a baby, I got a baby! I found her on my doorstep this morning - because where else would you take an alien baby -'

'You've adopted an alien?'

'No! She's human. Mostly, at least. The point is, I have a baby now and...and I know nothing about babies.'

'Oh. Oh.' Kate's eyes widened as she finally realised why Sarah had called her. She knew that until she got Luke, Sarah had pretty much isolated herself from everyone, so she didn't exactly have any friends who had her babysit - or friends who actually had children. 'Do you...want me to come by tonight?'

Sarah glanced at the time and shook her head. 'It's a little late now, don't you think? You'll want the full story - and I'm not sure even I know all of it - but that will take a while…Could you come by tomorrow, maybe? I'm a little out of my depth here,' she admitted, giving Kate such a hopeful look that Kate couldn't help but nod.

'I take the day off and bring breakfast?' She offered and Sarah nodded gratefully. That she didn't protest was, in Kate's eyes, proof enough that Sarah really was at a loss because usually, she would insist on trying to prepare something. Most of the time, they ended up going out for breakfast then, because the kitchen was airing. Poor Sarah. Raising a child, she wouldn't get around learning to cook. Though how she'd manage that, well. Even Liz, who held cooking in even lower regard than Sarah, was less apt at setting the kitchen afire. 'Nine good with you?'

'Yes - thank you, Kate.'

'Anytime - is there anything you need, anything you want me to bring?'

'I don't know what I need - maybe a mental check if I lost my mind, raising a baby at my age!' When she saw Kate's look, she sighed and shook her head. 'No, you don't need to bring anything...I don't think so, at least.'

'Fine. I'll see you tomorrow, then.'

'Yes - oh, Sky's waking up, I think. I better go -' She gestured towards the back of the room, where Sky was indeed gurgling happily, clearly awake now. Kate smiled at her.

'Of course. Goodnight, mama Sarah.' The call ended before Sarah could protest and Kate's laugh was still hanging in the air as she wandered back over to the sofa.

For now, Sky didn't seem to need anything but attention - which Sarah had no idea how to give her. How did one play with a baby that couldn't do anything but grab things yet? She had written an article about child development a few years ago and was reasonably certain that at Sky's age of not quite three months - according to Mr Smith - she wasn't yet at a stage where she could do very much at all.

'Well, I suppose we should go downstairs,' Sarah decided, brushing a finger over Sky's cheek, 'because you might be fine for now, but I'm actually getting hungry.' Not surprising, really, considering she had more or less skipped breakfast when Sky had arrived and then they had been so busy trying to not let her fall back into the hands of Ms Mayers that she had only had time for a quick muffin. That had been sometime mid morning and then they'd gone back to the power station - and after that, well. If she was being honest, food had been the last thing on her mind.

Which might explain, she thought, why she suddenly was so hungry. Before Luke, regular meals had never been of great concern for her - she was usually too busy to stick to a proper schedule, so most of the time she ended up eating on the go, when someone put food in front of her or she skipped it completely. But when Luke moved in, there was another person to think about, a person who depended on her to take care of them, so she had tried to adapt to something that at least faintly resembled a regular schedule. Until Luke had left for Uni, she hadn't even realised how used she had gotten to it herself, regular meals at reasonable times. Only, now that she was on her own again for most of the day, she found herself slipping back into old habits more and more often.

But she couldn't afford that now, she realised. She had agreed to raise Sky, which meant that she had yet another person depend on her - a person who wouldn't be as forgiving as Luke if she forgot a meal, a person who was really, totally, fully dependent on her because she was so small that she couldn't live on her own yet.

It was, Sarah found, a rather unsettling though and she once again wondered what on earth had possessed her to agree to this. She must have been out of her mind to say she'd raise a baby - but she couldn't panic about that now. Maybe tomorrow, when Kate (literally the only person she could think of who knew about aliens and her life and had both her trust and children of her own) was there because then at least there'd be someone to buffer the worst of it if she lost it. Right now, however, breaking down wasn't an option, so she tried to focus on preparing herself a somewhat healthy dinner without setting something on fire while still keeping an eye on the baby.

Sky's wicker basket was standing on the kitchen table and she was happily gurgling to herself, grabbing at the shadows from the lampshade on the ceiling. Half her attention on her, the other half on her supper - tomato salad with some greens and cheese, no actual cooking involved - Sarah went back to musing her future and the past day.

If she was being entirely honest, she wasn't even sure exactly how old she was, but she was fairly certain that she was far too old to raise a baby. At least in the capacity of 'mum' - grandmother, yes, but mother to a baby at fifty-nine? Men did it all the time, she thought briefly, but then again, men weren't usually that involved in raising their children.

Sarah knew that she didn't look her age - not even the official one - but actually looked younger than she was. Always had, really. She wasn't even sure how it worked with the time-travel, because it had often felt as if she hadn't aged at all while she had been on the TARDIS. But again, who knew how long she had even been travelling with the Doctor? She certainly didn't, though if her estimates were correct, it had been at least twice as long as the time that passed on earth during her absence. Which, in addition to the four years she had spent in Aberdeen, would put her in her mid-seventies.

Honestly, what had she been thinking? There was no way she was fit to raise a baby, she didn't know anything about them and even by earth time, she would be close to eighty by the time Sky was grown up.

And what would the neighbours say? It wasn't that Sarah cared about the gossip about herself, though she had been aware of its contents even before Gita had started relaying it to her in detail. But while she might not care, her daughter would, in a few years, be confronted with it too - 'why are you living with your nana?' they would ask, and 'what about your parents?'. Questions she had no answer to, because if she was actually going to do this, she would be the only parent Sky knew. No grandparents, no father, no aunts and uncles - just her and Luke; mother, son and daughter.

When Sarah had been a child, she had wanted nothing more than for her parents to come one day and pick her up, take her home. She had loved Aunt Lavinia with all her might, but she hadn't exactly been the most motherly of women. Oh, she had cared and loved Sarah plenty, but she had a no-nonsense kind of attitude and feelings hadn't come easy to her. Until Sarah had come home from school one day in second grade, asking about family trees and where her parents were, it had never even occurred to her that maybe, her niece didn't know what 'death' meant yet. Much later, Sarah had often mused that perhaps her aunt's efforts to make her an independent woman had been a little too successful because her track record of close friendships was...meager. The few people she had maintained in touch with over the years were scattered across the globe - and the moon - or had died or disappeared.

Of course she had met Jo Grant - Jones - last year, which had been a treat, but she was such a scatterbrain that keeping in touch was seemingly impossible. Tegan sent the occasional email, but she was usually busy with her own life. There was Liz, of course, who had been transferred to the UNIT moon base about five years ago, the one friend she had always stayed in contact with and who still always came by for tea when she was on earth. They had clicked, when they first met - two independent women, stubborn to the core and unwilling to follow silly rules that had no point. The Brigadier's worst nightmare. To make it even worse, Doris had tagged along from time to time and he hated not knowing what they were gossiping about. But then he had died earlier this year and suddenly, her old friends were reduced to Doris and Liz.

There was Kate, of course, who, in a very complicated manner, could even be considered family (her stepmother was, after all, the widow of Sarah's uncle - whom she had never met), but Kate had her own children and a very important job that had left her little time for any kind of social life. That she had agreed to come by the next day was a testament to how distressed Sarah must have seemed.

Then there had been Harry, of course, but he was still MIA and no one had heard from him in years. As far as family went, Sarah thought, Harry had always been who she would have wanted as a part of hers. If Kate was a sort of niece, then Harry was her big brother, her protector, always looking after her. But even if he was still alive, which wasn't a given, he was out of reach, leaving her alone on that front too.

A few years ago, there had also been Josh and Nat but...well. She missed the two of them terribly and she knew that at least Nat liked children, but she hadn't spoken to either of them since she had come back from Dreamland.

Yet another thing that made her unsuitable as a mother for a baby. With Luke, explaining her past had been easy enough. He had been created by aliens and had been old enough to understand that her life hadn't always been the one she was leading now. He had been able to see that not all the things that happened before he came into her life had been good. She had kept the worst from him, of course, but after the Daleks had stolen earth, he had asked about it and how could she have denied him an answer?

It happened often enough, especially in the early days, that one of them woke up, plagued by nightmares, and Sarah had promised to never mention to his friends that it wasn't unusual that he ended up wandering into her bedroom at night because he was scared. Luke might have been a teenager in appearance but he had been little older than Sky was otherwise, an infant still, so she had allowed him to slip under her covers and held him until they both fell asleep again. Just as often, she sat by his bedside, stroking his hair when his dreams didn't wake him and there had even been nights when he had come barging in because her own screams had woken him.

Things had gotten better, nightmarish plagues only coming by from time to time, but since Luke had left for Uni, Sarah found herself up more and more often in the depth of night, woken by yet another horrible dream that truly was memories twisted together with her worst fears.

How could she be looking after a baby when she was more likely to wake it up screaming than the other way around? That couldn't be healthy, not how things were supposed to be, right? She couldn't do this, could she?

Sarah hadn't even noticed that there were silent tears running down her cheeks again and she had started to gently caress the soft down of Sky's hair. She had stopped gurgling, instead stared at Sarah with wide eyes now.

'Oh Sky,' she whispered, her croaking voice surprising herself, 'what am I going to do with you?'

The answer, for now, was simple: Feed her, and then maybe see if she could get some sleep herself. What she was going to do in the longer run, Sarah didn't know yet. How could she? She had only known Sky for a day, but she had wormed her way into her heart already and while she had doubts and arguments upon arguments why she shouldn't keep her, the thought of giving her up almost hurt physically. Her wonderful son had softened her heart, she realised. It had taken him some time, she had been so cold and reserved still back then, until she finally allowed him into her heart and then it had taken him no time to warm her soul and have those walls come tumbling down. Now, with Sky...she had already firmly established her place right next to Luke and Sarah had no idea how she could possibly let go of her again.

Carefully, she carried the baby's basket up into her bedroom, then took Sky out to burp and change her once more.

Perhaps, she thought as she switched off the light, her eyes fixed on the baby next to her bed, perhaps somehow, she would figure out a way through this after all.


I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts!