Chapter 9

Over the prevailing weeks Lilith watched the two boys, her son and Koschei, becoming the closest of friends. At first they were only secret friends. Koschei would bully him at school and then come over to play afterwards. But thankfully and blessedly Lilith's son would be patient and understanding, forgiving Koschei everytime he came over. He spent nearly every day there and a couple nights he called his father at work and asked to stay. The Curator spoke to the Lord President a few times. Apparently the man didn't have the same mistrust of a human caring for his son like other parents did. This of course overjoyed Lilith since it meant having more kids to handle.

Lilith uncovered an issue as they went. Koschei would fight at school constantly. He eventually became her son's friend in public, fighting his friends to keep them off his best friend's back. But it troubled Lilith that Koschei was disruptive in class, fighting with other kids, and in general just being badly behaved. Right now she was tending to his black eye with a big slab of frozen meat, grossing out the Curator but Koschei didn't mind. It eased the pain. The Curator walked in with the medical kit, "Alright let's get rid of that nasty pain shall we?"

Lilith stood, narrowing her eyes at the Curator. "No. He will manage just fine for a few hours with a black eye."

"But Lilith-"

Lilith raised a hand, "I said no. Our son learns his lessons with pain and so shall Koschei." She turned to Koschei who was staring at her with evident confusion. She came down to eye level with him as he sat in a chair. "Koschei, I want you to remember this pain alright? How do you think that halfolist randorn baby felt when you were throwing it up and down?"

"Scared?"

"Yes. And I bet you made it sick too. This is why the momma attacked you. You should never be mean to animals Koschei. You're too good for that."

Koschei looked away, "I'm sorry Lilith. I was just playing."

Lilith pulled him into a hug. "Remember what I taught you Koschei. The apology can't heal broken bones, but not being mean in the first place will mean never having to apologize. I know you're a good kid Koschei, and I want you to see that for yourself. You need to know that on my planet, the animals are always afraid of humans. But on this world none of them are afraid of any of us because we don't give them any reason to be afraid. I don't want you to become a reason." Lilith watched him, running her hand over her hair. "We will heal your eye before school on Monday. I want you to deal with this and learn from it. Pain in small amounts can be a good teacher. Now go and get your homework. The new tutor will be here soon."

Koschei nodded, handing her the frozen meat before running off. She put the meat back into the freezer and turned to see the Curator smiling a little.

"What?"

The Curator shrugged, "I marvel at what a great mom you are even to kids that aren't yours."

Lilith walked over to a sink to wash her hands, "He practically lives here. I want him to remember one parent that is actually in his life." She fell quiet after that. The Curator gave a frown, concerned about the look on her face. She was thinking, something he had found over time to be a dangerous thing. So he was grateful when the doorbell rang. Lilith headed for the door, opening it to find a lovely woman she would say was Japanese if it weren't for the fact that Galifrey didn't have a japan. "You must be Anna. Welcome, the Curator says many good things. I am Lilith his live-in mistress."

The Curator gave a cough as Anna frowned at Lilith's joke for a moment. But then Anna laughed, realizing it indeed was a jest. She grinned, walking in and looking around. "Well he said your son is doing advanced algorithms past the point either of you are good at. And I love mathematics so I offered to help. Plus it gives me a chance to be around the Curator some more."

The Curator cleared his throat, "Anna, the boys are upstairs getting their homework ready if you're interested. I'm making snacks, would you like anything?"

Lilith grinned, "I make great smoothies. Would you like one?"

Anna looked confused, "Smoothie? Is that an Earth thing?"

"Yup, I was appalled when I found out that Time lords never do smoothies. So I had a machine specially made and I've been learning some good fruit recipes. They are very healthy." Lilith saw Anna looking quite intrigued and knew she had reeled the woman in.

"I'd love to try one. It sounds interesting whatever it is. I'll just go upstairs and get the boys started on their homework." Anna headed for the stairs.

The Curator called after her, "Second floor, two rights, one left, third door on the right in dark blue." Anna nodded to him and vanished up the steps.

Lilith wrangled the Curator into the kitchen to help her with smoothies. While he cut fruit and she dished out a frozen dish much akin to sherbet in flavor and make she spoke, "So that's Anna. She is very pretty Curator."

The Curator looked to her and said, "Thank you. Sorry for all those late nights away. But she truly is amazing and the time seems to just fly. I hope it doesn't make you uncomfortable."

Lilith dumped chopped up fruits into one of the blenders for her son's favorite mix. She then finished mixing up the small portion of custard her son insisted on. Nothing satisfied that boy more than fish fingers for dinner with a heaping cup of custard flavored smoothie for dessert. Lilith thought it was foul but she didn't protest. "We have a good thing going Curator. We both work hard toward the wellbeing of our son and, so long as she doesn't mind me here, I think we will all get along." The Curator kept chopping up the fruit in silence. Lilith had been distressed when she discovered the Curator getting involved with another woman. But who was she kidding herself anyways? After five years living with the man, Lilith had realized that he had the same attitude toward her that everyone else did. She was just a human, not worth getting involved with.

Lilith understood the attitude even if she didn't like it. He couldn't get romantically involved because her lifespan was so much shorter than his. But it still hurt to know that she would go without that form of love. When all the smoothies were blended she brought up the tray. Her son hopped to his feet so excited, "Yes! Mommy makes good smoothies!" Lilith set down the cups.

Anna eyed the smoothie inside, picking it up and sipping. Her eyes widened, "This is good! Lilith these smoothies are incredible!"

Lilith sat down at the table, "I thought you'd like it. I gave you more of a tangy flavor. Curator says you like Gordoons. I personally couldn't touch that fruit for years after coming here because of the tentacles." Gordoons were a strange green fruit that was as sweet as honey with tentacles that burst into flower for the various insects and birds of Galifrey.

Anna laughed at that, sipping on the drink. Koschei was drinking his own favorite mix that Lilith liked to call the Suicide. It had every single fruit that they could use mixed into it. Lilith and the Curator watched the boys work on their homework. But after a while keeping Koschei engaged became difficult. The Curator was not good with patience so Lilith tried to help him. She could do well enough when teaching him the English language. Three days ago he had been furious when he heard Lilith's boy speaking English and didn't understand it. Lilith agreed to teach him how to speak English and promised both boys to teach them German since she was fluent in that. Her mother and father had insisted that she be bilingual even though America really didn't make them be. Sure people learned Spanish in America as part of their jobs, but few people even knew where countries were on an atlas.

Plus it had been useful that both Lilith and River Song knew German when they had teleported to Germany to avoid some killer robot after River. Lilith missed River Song. She hadn't even gotten the chance to say goodbye to the woman before she had been whisked away into the Tardis to give birth to her son. River was a lovely woman to accompany on adventures with even if she was a psychopath. Truly Lilith couldn't hope for a better woman to be her son's wife. Did she ever get grandkids? If she did that would have been long after her death.

Once she was done with Koschei's English lesson he started watching as Anna tutored Lilith's son. He pointed out an answer, asking if that was the right one. Anna looked surprised and soon she had Koschei practicing the equation too. Lilith was just as surprised about this. Once her son was finished with his homework the boys rushed to play. Lilith put their backpacks on the hooks. She always made sure the boys remained organized. And since this was their weekend, Lilith always had them get their homework done first thing in the morning so that they could spend all weekend playing. She took the cups and went down to the kitchen. Anna and the Curator followed with their own cups and put them into the washer.

Anna finally broke the silence, "The boy Koschei, he seems to be very advanced. Has his father thought of putting him in more advanced classes?"

Lilith turned after putting in the last cup. "I wanted to discuss that with him but the Curator insists we shouldn't get involved. I think he's just afraid of how intimidating a silly little human like me could be." Lilith shot a glare at the Curator. "Back on earth sometimes children need more challenging work. And oftentimes genius children end up being criminals and making very little of their life because they weren't helped to advance their education. I think the reason Koschei has so many problems at school is because the material he's being taught is too easy."

The Curator held up his hands in self-defense, "Hey I just don't want to run the risk of the Lord President's wrath. Rassilon could cause many problems for us. And he no doubt doesn't want to deal with it right now while he is up to re-election."

Anna also shot him a glare. "You know what Curator? Then don't get involved. Anna, how about you and I join a coupe?" The Curator smacked his forehead, not liking the two women getting ready for war.

He left the room, "I'm not getting involved in this! You two can plot all you want. Don't count me in."

Lilith shouted after him, "Coward! Think of the children!" She laughed then turned to Anna, "I think he would do anything to make me into a quiet housepet. But I just can't do that. I have nothing except my son to concentrate on, and smoothie making of course. But that's it."

Anna gave Lilith a pitying look. "Well I happen to know where his campaign office is. I can take you there tomorrow. You've got a plan in case he doesn't prove cooperative?"

Lilith gave a truly wicked womanly grin. It was a grin that made Anna step back, looking nervous. "Oh yeah, I know just what I can say to that man to get what Koschei needs."

The next day Anna and Lilith walked into the Lord President's campaign building. He had hundreds of people that were working constantly to get that extra vote. Anna reached the lobby and was about to start up but Lilith said, "You go ahead and wait. I can do this." She moved to the receptionist. A woman who was the typical type, painting her nails while she was answering the holo-phones and continuously telling people to hold as she transferred them to other departments.

The receptionist looked up at Lilith, recognizing her instantly as the human she was. "Yes miss?"

Lilith was glad to see that the woman at least minded her manners. "Hello, I needed to speak to Lord Rassilon about his son."

"The Lord President is very busy. Perhaps you'd like to make an appoint-"

"It's very urgent miss…" Lilith read the nametag, "Diane, just tell her Miss Lilith Walker is here about his son."

"Miss-"

"I'm sure the Lord President would truly appreciate you making sure that urgent news regarding his son reached him straight away."

The receptionist Diane got the clue that Lilith was not going to take no for an answer. So she began making the calls until Lilith heard the Lord Rassilon speaking. "Lord President I apologise for disturbing you, but a Miss Walker is here about your son. She is asking to speak with you."

Lilith could hear his authoritative voice on the other end, "Send her up. I'll see her."

The receptionist hung up and said, "Head for the teleport. He will be on floor five hundred fifty-two."

Lilith skipped over to the teleport, humming. When the automated machine asked her where to go she happily said, "Floor five hundred fifty-two please." Teleports were strange to her. The world around her seemed to shimmer almost like looking through a warped mirror. Then the image changed to another room entirely full of people talking on little headsets and coordinating the campaign. This was the central hub. She stopped a man reading papers, "Excuse me, where is the Lord President's office?" The man pointed out where to go, too busy to even realize a human spoke to him. Lilith always got weird looks when she was out in public. After all, humans were not allowed on Galifrey as a rule. So Lilith was a bit infamous. She found her way to the office which looked smaller on the outside than it was inside. She knocked and saw through the glass walls as Rassilon waved her in. Part of his image was that he allowed his name to remain public even though he had a title. He said he wanted complete honesty with the public. Lilith couldn't help but to admire the president. He was a strong man with authority, plus from what she read he had achieved many amazing things for Galifrey in his time.

He motioned for her to sit as he continued to talk on a headset. She sat down and waited patiently for him to finish his call. When he finally hung up he looked to her, "I see the last five years have been good to you Miss Walker. You said something urgent was going on with my son?"

Lilith smiled to him, "Yes well he gets into quite a few fights. I was worried that it was a cry for attention but I've come to learn something else. He's a genius sir; with an IQ rivaling my son's which as you know is high. I think he needs-"

"As you know miss Walker my time is finite. If my son has done anything to cause problems with yours then just send him home to our nanny."

"No sir listen please, I want to help him."

"I can help me son. Now please just mind your own son, I will mind my own." Rassilon gave her a cold look. Lilith was too shocked to fight as a man came in to escort her out.

But Lilith stood, slamming her hand down on the table. "All I'm trying to do is get you to take an interest in your son. He is a genius and needs to be put in a higher level class-"

"I'm sure that all of our children seem like geniuses compared to a human Miss Walker, but my son is a normal boy. He will grow out of his fighting and will be just fine. I won't make him go into a special class just because you think he could use a heavier workload."

Lilith was flustered when he completely banished her notions. She stepped up toward the desk, "Now you listen here Ras-"

"No, you listen Miss Walker. If you continue to try and make my son into some case he isn't then I will be forced to remove him from your care. I do not wish to do that for the reason being that he is happy in your capable hands and his grades have improved in the short weeks you've cared for him. But if you do not drop this then I shall have no choice. So please leave."

Lilith felt her arm being grabbed but she yanked it away. "You see Rassilon, I know how important image is. And while I was trying to be civil and discuss Koschei's needs without bringing up your absence from his life, I can see you are not a reasonable man. So I will make a threat. Sign this paper allowing me to arrange him a higher class rate, or I will bring your campaign crashing down around your ears."

"Leave now. I will be sending a car to pick up my son. He is forbidden from seeing your son."

"I can bring your campaign down with a single word."

"Out-"

"No, not one word. Just six."

"Miss Lilith-"

"Six words."

"Get out!"

"Six." Lilith watched him as she rose up, turning for the door. "You have been given your warning." She set down the paper for him to sign on the table next to the door. He watched her go. Lilith walked to the teleport escorted by the young man in a suit. She stood on the teleport, looking to this man as he watched her. "What kind of father is he?"

Lilith returned home empty handed. She made dinner for her and the boys. Anna and the Curator were going out for dinner tonight. Lilith kept looking out the window toward the driveway periodically, waiting for the hammer stroke to fall. But the car never came. Anna came into the room, "Lilith have you seen the news?" She turned on the holo-screen that was set up in the kitchen. On the news was Rassilon in an interview from an hour ago.

"My son is quite well. I leave him in the hands of a very capable woman who only has his best interest at heart. Regretfully while my time out on the campaign trail has left it difficult to have personal time with my son, this woman ensures he-"

"But sir isn't it true there are rumors that you don't see him for weeks at a time?"

"Those findings are completely unfounded…" Rassilon struggled with the continued barrage of the news crews. Lilith eventually shut off the tv as there was an angry pounding on the front door. She walked to the door, opening it.

Papers were handed over by the same man in the suit she had seen earlier that day. "The Lord Rassilon leaves all decisions in your capable hands on the condition that you never again say six words." He smiled to her, looking rather impressed with the human woman. She smiled back to him and thanked him. She shut the door, looking to the Curator who was in his best clothes looking quite annoyed.

"Lilith you could have caused irreparable damage to his career. Are you proud of yourself?"

Lilith held up the signed papers to get Koschei into the more advanced classes with a bright grin on her face, "Yup!"