Thanks to those who left a review for the prologue. I hope that I won't disappoint you with this and next chapters. I'd appreciate your honest opinion … positive or negative.

Chapter 1

"So, you two are definitely an issue?" John looked at Brian with a one sided grin and it was obvious that he was enjoying the discussion. He was sitting on the porch of their rented house together with Tim and Brian and the debate just turned to the women. Or, to be more precise, they discussed two specific women, namely Andrea and Cameron. John was glad that his friends came all the way up from San Diego to be present at his wedding. He saw Brian before in Shasta region, but at that time he was not in a condition to talk to him and now, since he was here too, he tried to find out as much as possible about the man, who obviously won Andrea's heart. And from the first impressions, he believed that Brian was quite a nice guy. He wasn't ready to trust him implicitly, but he believed that in time he might accept him as someone, who could be trusted to an extent. How looks can deceive … He eyed Brian and noticed his biker look, making him look almost intimidating but underneath there was a soft and nice soul.

Brian sat sideways on the topmost stair and leaned against the railing, while John took his master position on the swing, his favorite position for cuddling with Cameron, who, unfortunately, wasn't present at the guy's talk but was instead in the nearby town, shopping with Andrea and Sarah. Tim leaned over the railing, gazing towards the beach and looked a little lost in this debate. John and Brian were both in a steady relationship, John even just before the wedding, and he felt like he would be left out of the loop. He could only discuss the women in general, but nothing specific, since he didn't have any girlfriend at the time. Sure, he had some experience with women, but they were all just fleeting relationships, not really deserving that description at all. He was still looking for the one, who would take his breath away and make his heart race in his chest.

"We sure are." Brian nodded with a smile. "And I'd really like to make it work. Somehow I feel that this is the real thing."

"You better, man!" Tim decided that this was the point to get involved in the discussion. After all, they were talking about his sister and he felt that this was at least somehow his territory. He would never allow anyone to hurt her. Snickering or not, complaining or not; she was still his baby sister and he would never stop caring for her, protecting her from bad things and people.

John snorted amused and looked at Tim. He already knew that he was very protective of his sibling and enjoyed this open expression of his affection. I wish I had a big brother or a sister. I never got to know how it is to have siblings, how it is to protect them and be protected by them. He felt like he'd been missing something in his life, although that feeling slowly faded since he began the relationship with Cameron. She completed him and he was thankful to his future self that he decided to sent her back, even though he still couldn't understand why he gave her such orders as she told him on the winter vacation. "I believe that Brian knows very well that he should be careful not to anger the protective older brother of his girlfriend."

"Most definitely. Besides … how could I ever hurt a sister of the man whose life I actually saved?" Brian responded with slightly ironic remark, reminding Tim of what happened in the woods in northern California.

Tim grinned wide at him and nodded: "Exactly." Then he turned to John: "How's our groom doing? Any second thoughts yet? Still determined to pull this through?"

"No, no doubts whatsoever. In fact, I can hardly wait to call Cameron my wife." John smiled widely, expressing only what he really felt. He was anxiously looking forward to be able to slip a wedding ring on Cameron's slender finger. The longer they were in the relationship, the more he loved the female cyborg, which had been built to kill him, but fell in love with him instead.

"Too bad! And we were hoping that we could drag you out to a wild bachelor party and get you some nice women before you put on the shackles. You know … a little venting …" Tim ranted with faked disappointment.

"As if I would ever even consider accepting such an offer!" John laughed aloud. "But we could still go out and have a party, just no strippers or other female party animals."

"That's something I could live with!" Brian nodded. "We could go out, get drunk and howl at the moon."

"Fine by me, except for the howling part." John replied with a wide smile on his face. "We wouldn't want to draw attention to us, now, would we? I've heard that the police officers here are very sensitive to such disturbances and I have absolutely no wish to get acquainted with their methods or, god forsake, even their jails." His smile turned a bit sour at the mention of jail.

"I've never been imprisoned, so I have no idea what it looks like to be in a prison." Tim complained with slightly whining voice, as if he would feel bad for not experiencing imprisonment before.

"Believe me; that's an experience you definitely don't want to make. You haven't missed anything by not experiencing the imprisonment." John answered seriously, remembering how he felt while being in prison in Mexico, before Cromartie destroyed the prison in search of Skynet's mortal enemy.

"And I can only second that." Brian supported John. He was looking at Tim seriously, as if to admonish him, not to wish for something like that.

"I guess you two know better than me." Tim really meant it, he wasn't being ironic. He knew that Brian had spent few days in detention because of unpaid parking tickets; that much Andrea told him. But he didn't know about John. However, John's words and even more his expression, instantly changed from amused into serious and even slightly depressed, made it clear, that he made such experiences in the past too. Now was not the time to dig further into this matter, so he decided not to pursue it further. For now.

"OK, let's leave the prison, police and such unpleasant stuff aside for now." Brian noted the slightly awkward atmosphere and decided to change the topic. "We haven't discussed the dress code for the wedding." He turned to John, just in time to catch his wide eyes, looking at him in utter disbelief.

"WHAT?" John gasped aloud. He definitely would never put on some tuxedo or anything remotely related to it. No, sir that simply wouldn't do!

Brian and Tim grinned at the groom devilishly, nodded in unison and Tim took the word: "Sure John. You can't wed in jeans and T-shirt! We'll go into town now and get you some nice suit, preferably a tuxedo, a white shirt, elegant shoes and of course, a matching tie." He smiled at John wickedly. He knew how his friend hated formal clothing and enjoyed it all too much for John's taste.

John shook his head vigorously: "No way, man! I'm not wearing anything like that. Ever!"

"So, you want to stand like some homeless tramp beside Cameron, who's, and I'm absolutely sure about it, going to wear some elegant, beautiful dress?" Tim didn't give up. Andrea told him before what Cameron had in mind for her dress. In fact, she and Cameron were just as they were talking, out there with the goal to buy Cameron's dress. And, according to the description, it would be gorgeous, just John … Nope, jeans and T-shirt were completely out of question!

John was looking slightly insecure and gazed into Tim's eyes: "Do you know something I don't?" He got the feeling that Cameron must have told Andrea something and Andrea told it further to Tim. Only he, the groom, was left out of this trust circle.

"I guess I do. I have general idea what Cameron's going to wear and, before you try to get it out of me …" He stopped John with raised hand, seeing that the groom already opened his mouth to ask him about the dress, his bride would be wearing. "… I promised to Andrea that I wouldn't say a thing to you. Cameron wants it to be a surprise." His eyes roamed up and down John and he shook his head in dismay: "Believe me; you'd look absolutely stupid if you won't listen to us. Beauty and the ugly beast. Or do you want to stick out like a sore thumb?"

John stared at him wide-eyed. How is it possible that he knows what Cameron's going to wear and I don't? That's simply not fair! "Are you sure?" Suddenly a picture of Cameron in a heavenly beautiful white wedding gown and him at her side, dressed in torn and filthy jeans, a similar T-shirt and tousled hair, came into his mind. He shuddered violently: "I guess you're right. Maybe I really should try to measure up to her." He smiled dreamily: "I'm sure she'll be the most stunning bride ever."

Brian chuckled upon hearing John's dreamy voice and added: "I guess that every man says the same when he's preparing to get married. I know I'd say the same." Then he got serious and asked with slightly insecure voice: "May I ask you a personal question, John?"

As long as it's not about the future and other connected stuff you may. A thought shot through John's mind before he nodded: "You may, of course."

"How did you and Cameron get together? I mean … she's really one stunning woman and …"

"And you don't understand how such a woman could fall for someone like me?" John finished Brian's question ironically.

Brian stuttered: "No, absolutely not! I'm just curious how you two realized that you're in love. If she lived with you, I'd expect that you'd realize it immediately, not after two years." His face was slightly flushed from embarrassment.

John still grinned at him. He understood Brian quite good, but couldn't resist the temptation to tease him a bit. He sighed theatrically to make even more effect: "Well, actually I fell in love with her when I first saw her, but tried to resist my feelings for almost two years; and then things changed again …" He trailed off, his eyes looking in the distance unfocused, seeing once again the horrific scene of Cameron, crumpled in a helpless, lifeless heap on the driveway in the pouring rain.

"I don't understand why you would want to resist such feelings. It's more than obvious that she loves you too." Brian still didn't understand and looked at Tim, who just shrugged. He didn't want to take part in this conversation, knowing well that John disliked talking about his past. In fact, he didn't even have an answer to Brian's question, only hunches, based on the rare facts that John told him about his past life.

John shook his head slightly and returned his now refocused gaze to Brian: "It wasn't always so obvious, although I believe that she loved mo too. She was just very bad at expressing her feelings at that time. And when she finally realized that she loved me, I still didn't believe her." His eyes displayed his feelings clearly and he shook his head again, smiling at his friends: "But that's not the issue right now. We should go to town to get what we need."

Tim, relieved that this conversation took the right turn, sighed and grinned at John: "Yeah, we should get going. I can hardly wait to see you in a tux!" He straightened and lifted his finger: "And after we manage to get you dressed for the ceremony, we're going to get really, really drunk. It's not every day that my best friend gets married and we should celebrate it properly." Suddenly he cupped his own chin with right palm and looked thoughtful: "Who's going to bring us home when we're totally, utterly drunk?"

John rolled his eyes and smiled from ear to ear: "I guess that Cameron wouldn't mind fetching us from the town. Although …" He trailed off, thinking of something and he got more serious: "I'm not sure if she'd approve of me, getting drunk. I guess she would give me a cold shoulder."

"As long as she doesn't throw you out of the bed it's all right." Brian laughed.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid she might do." John looked at Tim and Brian with big eyes, knowing exactly how Cameron disliked drunken people. He had seen her disapproving face often enough when Derek managed to get drunk. "But I'll survive." Suddenly his mood lightened and he grinned conspiratorially to Tim: "Like you said … it's not every day that I get married."

Tim nodded and they all three returned into the house to prepare for the short drive to the town.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I believe that this is easily the most beautiful wedding dress that I've ever seen." Andrea almost squealed in delight as Cameron stepped out from behind the screen, where the shop assistant helped her getting into a beautiful dress.

Cameron turned around, carefully watching her picture in the body sized mirrors on the wall and judging the dress. "Do you think so?"

"Absolutely! It's exactly what you told me you'd like to wear. John's eyes will fall out of the sockets when he sees you, believe me! He'll simply drool aver you!"

Cameron pivoted her lower body slightly to the right and to the left while gazing at her picture. Her face revealed her complete concentration and after she reached the verdict about the dress, she beamed at her picture: "I think you're right. But … don't you think that it's too traditional? I don't know if John is so much into tradition." She frowned slightly.

"Definitely not! He'll love it, that's for sure!" Andrea was meanwhile up on her feet and circled around Cameron to get a better view of her dress from all possible angles. The result was obviously more than satisfactory, for she smiled from ear to ear after she finished her inspection. "You look simply stunning, Cameron!"

Her words clearly reassured Cameron and she smiled again, while still looking at her dress in the mirror. She liked it very much and with Andrea's confirmation, she decided that this would be the dress she'd buy.

"I will take it." She turned to the shop assistant, who stood at her side and looked at the bride-to-be admiringly. She snapped her eyes to Cameron's face and smiled. There goes another expensive dress! This month I'll definitely earn my bonus!

"Of course, madam. Would you like anything else too? Maybe a bouquet, gloves, something else? We have a wide variety of accessories that would go extremely well with this beautiful dress. Maybe a veil?" It was obvious that she tried to sell some more wedding stuff to this girl, who obviously didn't even think about considering the quite high price of the dress. She definitely wouldn't buy this dress without trying to get a better bargain, but this brunette cutie seemed to be oblivious to the fact that they could discuss the price.

Cameron thought for a second and then looked at her hands, suddenly getting an idea: "Maybe matching long gloves wouldn't be bad at all." She remembered the times she used to wear fingerless mittens and how John always seemed to like them. Maybe he'll like the full gloves too? She tried to imagine herself in this dress with long white gloves and overlaid her picture with them. She liked the result. "Yes. I'd like some matching gloves, reaching over the elbows."

"Of course! You'll look even classier. I'll get them immediately!" The assistant took a quick look at Cameron's small hands to judge the size of the gloves she would wear and raced to another department of the store.

"Won't you even try to lower the price?" Andrea asked Cameron, after she inspected the price tag and her eyes widened upon seeing how much they wanted for this dress.

Cameron looked at her disinterested: "I don't think so. I'm getting married and I don't want to look at each cent. After all … this is the only time I'll ever get married."

"Well, if you won't, then I'll do some bargaining. It's simply too expensive not to even try to get a discount." Andrea answered with sly smile. She was quite good at such things and she sometimes almost drove the shop assistants mad with her skills. She decided that the dress was overpriced and would take the initiative to save Cameron some unnecessary expenses.

Cameron just opened her mouth to answer, as the assistant came back almost running with a beautiful pair of long gloves, judging by their length, clearly reaching over the elbows in the same color as the dress. "Here, madam, try this ones? They're a perfect match and you'd look simply amazing wearing them. Like a princess."

Cameron suddenly remembered how John sometimes called her 'princess' and smiled slightly at the coincidence that the assistant used the same expression, took the gloves, eyed them carefully for a second and then tried to pull one up her hand. It went smoothly and she realized that the shop assistant obviously guessed her correct size. After she pulled both on, she again looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at the picture.

"You look simply fabulous, Cameron! You have to take the gloves too!" Andrea was more than satisfied with what she saw before her and even clapped upon seeing the beautiful bride. Cameron was simply glowing in the dress and gloves.

"I agree with your friend. It simply completes the whole package and I'm sure that your groom will be more than just a little overwhelmed by your beauty." The assistant had to add her five cents in an effort to sell as much as possible. There comes my bonus!

Cameron flexed her arms gracefully to get a complete picture and was also satisfied with the impression. Andrea and the assistant were telling her the truth. She turned to them: "I'll take the gloves too."

"Of course, madam!" The assistant hurried to prevent Cameron from changing her mind. "If you would take the dress and gloves off, I'll take them to the cashier and prepare everything for you."

"While we're talking about the price. We'll have to discuss it a little. I think that it's too high." Andrea sensed the opportunity to start her bargaining and looked at the assistant like a predatory bird.

The assistant groaned inwardly, but showed the friendly face to Andrea. I really hoped that this wouldn't be one of those cases … Still, I'll sell more than all other colleagues combined in a week. Nice meeting you miss. "Of course, we can discuss it." Her voice sounded slightly strained and Andrea realized that she was expecting to sell the dress at the face price. Too bad!

Cameron looked between the two women and decided to let Andrea talk about the price. It didn't mean anything to her, but if would make Andrea happy, than she would only welcome her efforts.

After she took off the dress and the assistant took it to the cashier's desk, Andrea hot on her heels, Cameron quickly put on her clothes. She replayed the picture of her in a wedding dress, complete with the gloves and overlaid her hair with some hairdo she decided to have and smiled satisfied. I hope that John will like my look.

Andrea managed to get a discount on the dress and as Cameron approached the cashier's desk to pay for her purchase, she could see Andrea's self satisfied smile. After they paid and left the store, Andrea almost bounced at Cameron's side: "See? It was wise from me to bargain a little. It saved you ten percent!"

"Thanks." Cameron answered politely, not wanting to tell Andrea that it wasn't really necessary.

"We should go in there." Andrea suddenly exclaimed and pointed towards a cozy looking café.

"Why?"

"To have a little girl's talk!"

"Girl's talk? Why?"

Andrea frowned: "Because you're going to be a married woman soon and I'd like to have a last chat with my friend before she turns into a faithful wife and everything that goes with such marital status." Then she smiled: "And because we're meeting Sarah in this café in one hour."

"Oh! Thank you for explaining. Let's go then." Cameron nodded and bee lined towards the entrance door. How is it possible that I missed the fact that we agreed to meet in this café? Am I loosing my focus?

After they sat down in a corner, near to the exit, with excellent overview over the room, they ordered their drinks. Cameron didn't have to think what she'd like, she chose a cappuccino. In the last months she got to like the taste of it and chose it regularly when she had a chance.

They chatted a little until the waiter brought their drinks, his eyes frantically trying not to look at the two beautiful girls in front of him, but failing completely. After a short hesitation, his looks settled on Cameron and almost devoured her. The object of his lust seemed oblivious to his efforts, but Andrea noted his distraction and grinned at his back after he left them.

"He definitely likes you."

Cameron's head snapped up and she looked at Andrea perplexed: "What? Who?"

"The waiter." Andrea explained patiently, while grinning like a Cheshire cat. "He couldn't take his eyes off of you."

Cameron looked after the waiter, who was already at the bar, but still glanced secretly into her direction every now and then. She turned back to Andrea: "Why would he like me? He doesn't even know me."

Andrea sighed exasperated: "What do you think Cameron? I'd bet he finds you beautiful and I'm almost sure he has no girlfriend."

"Possibly." Cameron answered laconically. She wasn't surprised. Even during her last visits to the town, she noticed how young men stared at her and she realized that keeping low profile was problematic in this environment. It seemed that everyone noticed her and they didn't even try to hide their interest. John often teased her that she could get any man she wanted and she always replied that she already got the one she wanted. Everyone else was just a nuisance.

Andrea looked around and noticed that the café was almost empty. There were only three other guests sitting in the distant corner. Maybe now was the time to ask Cameron what she so desperately wanted to. She opened her mouth: "Cameron?"

After the cyborg girl diverted her attention from her cup of cappuccino and looked into Andrea's eyes questioningly, the blonde suddenly almost got cold feet and fidgeted for a second before continuing: "I'd like to ask you something, but it's kinda … personal."

Cameron just tilted her head and continued looking at Andrea, without saying anything.

Andrea understood Cameron's gesture as approval and tried to formulate her question correctly, not to upset her friend. "Ever since I've known what you are … I mean … that you're a cyborg … I've been asking myself how is it possible for someone like you to fall in love."

Cameron tilted her head a little more and took a few seconds time out before answering: "I don't know. I'm sure that as Skynet created me, it had no intentions to allow me such emotional freedom. I've been made as a perfect infiltrator and my infiltration protocols also involved emulated emotional reactions to make me more convincing. But I never really experienced the emotions until I met my John. I began to feel something then that I didn't know I was capable of at all. I was feeling happy when he was with me and sad when he wasn't around. I liked if he talked to me, if he explained things to me." She paused for a second.

"But … John told me something about a bomb in a car that hurt you and said that it probably caused your emotional reactions." Andrea cut in with additional question. She was anxious to finally find out how was it possible for a machine to fall in love with a human. She had no doubts that Cameron genuinely and deeply loved John. It was enough to look at them and it was obvious that they were very much in love.

Cameron nodded: "Yes, John is correct, but not completely. Ever since that event," she hung her head for a second, remembering how she almost took John's life. That would be like I'd be taking my own life too. "I've been experiencing very strong emotional reactions. I felt them even before, just not so strong. And ever since …" She trailed off like a human girl would, letting Andrea to fill in the blanks.

Andrea nodded thoughtfully and for few minutes they both sat in silence, sipping on their drinks. Then Andrea suddenly perked up and grinned at Cameron: "Is John a typical boy, Cameron?"

Cameron looked confused: "What do you mean by 'typical boy'?"

"Oh, just the stuff like showing off how strong he is, trying to always be right, doing dirty talking occasionally, watching sports on TV, drinking beer and so on."

Cameron thought for a moment and realized that John didn't do anything of what Andrea said. She shook her head and smiled "No, according to your definition, he's definitely not a 'typical boy'."

Andrea put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, looking dreamily at Cameron: "I think that Brian isn't either. He's so caring, always so considerate."

Cameron mirrored Andrea's position, sensing that this was the moment she should act as normal human girl. Only dreamy look didn't succeed completely. She looked rather amused then lost in her daydreams. "Well, then he has something in common with John. He's the same to me. He always tries to protect me, no matter the costs." She frowned in slight annoyance: "Even though he knows that I'm the one who's meant to protect him. Sometimes I simply don't understand him. He risks his own life to save mine, completely ignoring the fact that he's the most important person on the planet and that his survival is imperative for survival of human race."

Andrea giggled softly: "It's in their nature, Cameron. Males. They still believe to be the hunters in the Stone Age, predestined to protect the women they chose, doing everything to keep them out of harm's way. Silly, but sooooo sweeeeeet." She drew out the last two words with sugar sweet voice.

"I agree about the silly, but I don't think that it's exactly sweet. He endangers himself even though he knows how important it is that he survives." Cameron wasn't satisfied with such explanation and shook her head slightly.

"Oh, leave him the joy, Cameron! He just loves you so much. Believe me, sometimes it's better to allow our men a little chivalry than to insist on equality. It's not about that at all; it's actually about their instinctive protectiveness."

Cameron wasn't exactly convinced, but understood what Andrea tried to say. She noticed herself that it was sometimes better to allow John to think he would be the one protecting her. Even though he actually protected me a few times. He obviously really loves me. "Maybe you're right. But it's still unacceptable."

Andrea concentrated her gaze at Cameron's face: "I know what you mean, Cameron. But believe me; he will never be completely reasonable when it comes to you. You should have seen him back in the mountains as he thought he'd lost you. He had to fight with his inner fears to function normally. I believe that he hadn't spent a conscious moment without the thought of you."

Cameron nodded: "That's the difference between us. I always try to keep my head clear, even during my time in captivity. Although … I've noticed that I'm reacting much more on instinct than I used to. Before, I relied exclusively on the logic and my programming and everything was simple, but now," she sighed tiredly, "I'm responding like a human girl and it bothers me! It greatly diminishes my effectiveness!"

"I think that it's great that you react like you do." Andrea shook her head disapprovingly. She didn't like the way Cameron downplayed her emotional reactions. "It's almost impossible to think that you're a machine." She suddenly blushed and stopped, covering her mouth with the palm, as if she would have said something inappropriate.

Cameron smiled faintly at her, letting her know that she didn't resent her for mouthing it aloud. She knew that they were talking quietly enough for no one else to hear them. "Correct. I do fit in better. But in critical situations I'm not sure if I'll be calm enough if John will be by my side." Then she looked pensively across the table into Andrea's eyes: "But I did act like I should when I was escaping that military base. Maybe I am able to suppress the emotions when it comes to that?" She looked genuinely surprised over her discovery.

"You believe to be more concentrated on John's wellbeing than on the fighting itself, right?" Andrea asked and bowed closer to Cameron.

Before Cameron could answer, they heard the bell on the entrance door and as they turned to look at it, they saw Sarah, who just stepped into the room and was now scanning it to see if Cameron and Andrea were already here. In next second she noticed them and strolled towards their table with confident steps.

"You're early, girls! Did you manage to get everything you wanted?" Her question was directed towards Cameron and her soon to be daughter in law nodded in confirmation.

"We've got such a beautiful dress! John's going to drool upon it, you'll see!" Andrea was the first to answer.

Sarah sat down on the chair and waved to the waiter who was carefully looking at them. He needed just few seconds to arrive at their table and Sarah ordered a cappuccino like Cameron. After he left them, Sarah turned back to Cameron: "So, the dress is here. Anything else?" She sounded genuinely interested.

Cameron gave her a ghost of a smile: "I've also bought shoes and some other accessories."

"What accessories?" Sarah wanted to know everything.

"Oh, long gloves, a small tiara and a veil. Nothing special." Cameron deadpanned and looked at her future mother in law with amused eyes.

Sarah noticed the big bag at Cameron's feet and dived for it: "Is everything in there?"

Cameron and Andrea looked at each other slightly perplexed, before Cameron answered: "Sure, Sarah."

Sarah noticed the perplexed tone of Cameron's voce and realized that her reaction might have been a bit too out of place, so she straightened up with slightly red face and mumbled: "OK, you'll show me everything at home."

Cameron just nodded and waited for Sarah to continue conversation. And she didn't have to wait too long.

"So everything's ready for the big day?" Sarah was still a little angry that Cameron and John actually forged John's documents as to enable him to get married without Sarah's consent. Not to mention that it was now just a matter of few days or even hours that she'll become the first mother in the history with a cyborg daughter in law. Of all people in the world, she, the infamous Sarah Connor, hater of everything mechanical, is going to have a robot daughter in law. But that wasn't even the worst thing! The worst thing was that she was ready to accept Cameron as a part of her family, as her son's wife. Machine or no machine, Cameron already managed to take her place in Sarah's heart.

"Everything." Cameron confirmed with a single nod and a satisfied smile.

"We just hope that the guys will convince John to buy some nice suit." Andrea added.

"That's probably going to be more difficult than you think." Sarah sighed with a grin. "He's so damn stubborn when it comes to clothing and nothing beats his old torn jeans and T-shirts." She paused for a second and then turned to Cameron: "Is future John also so bad at his clothing?"

Cameron nodded and gave her a slight grin: "Yes. He prefers the same clothing style as my … your John." She corrected herself quickly after noticing a shadow, flying over Sarah's face at the mention of 'my' John.

"Oh dear. You'll have to take care to teach him better this time. I guess that he had no woman to tell him he should take more care about his clothing style." Sarah smirked evilly.

"I'll do my best." Cameron smiled slightly. "But future John had some women in his life."

"I have no doubts you'll manage it." Andrea giggled. "He'd do just about everything for you. Even wearing a tuxedo and a tie."

"That's what worries me!" Sarah looked lost in her thoughts.

"What? That he'd do anything for Cameron or the tuxedo part?" Andrea challenged the older woman.

Sarah rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently: "The 'doing anything for Cameron' part, of course!"

"Why?" Cameron looked perplexed again.

"Just … oh, nothing. Forget it. I'm just a worried mom, giving away her son to the next woman in his life." Sarah waved her hand dismissively more to calm herself than to reassure Cameron. "You said that the future John had some women in his life. Was he ever married?" Her face got that predatory expression, waiting for the answer.

"I'm not aware of any wife or any steady relationship." Cameron circumnavigated the dangerous reef perfectly. "Why are you worried? I'm not taking John away from you. I'm just extending your family."

Sarah gawked at Cameron not really believing what the cyborg girl just said. Soft giggles from the direction where Andrea sat, only underlined her astonishment and as she cast a quick glance towards the blonde, she saw her, how she put both hands over her mouth to suppress giggling. She turned back to look into Cameron's poker pace again and noticed how her lips barely visible twitched. "Gotcha!" She grinned and pointed at the brunette.

Cameron tilted her head and smiled warmly at the older woman: "I meant it. Literally."

Sarah nodded and finally relaxed: "I know, Cameron. It's just so strange to see you now … so … so warm! After trying for so long to push you away…" She stopped and shook her head, looking at the table.

Cameron felt strangely touched by Sarah's words. For the first time the mother of her fiancée admitted that she actually cared for her. Should I try it or not? A thought crossed her mind and she hesitated for a second, but then decided and put her hand on Sarah's hand, lying on the table.

As Sarah felt Cameron's hand on hers, she debated for a second if she should withdraw it or not, but then decided that she should finally give Cameron credit and accept what she offered her. She turned her hand and squeezed Cameron's gently.

Both women looked into each other's eyes and a silent agreement was reached between them. They both loved the same man and they were aware that he needed them both. Cameron nodded slightly in understanding and Sarah returned the gesture while gently squeezing the hand that the cyborg girl still had in hers. They both agreed without saying anything that they'd do anything to make John happy. Together.

TBC