Rating: PG
Pairing: Sarah/Harry
Beta: hhertzof
Spoilers: Invasion of the Bane
Summary: Sarah attempts to get used to the relationships she has with her children.

"What have you got there?" Sarah asked, as Nat came through the front door, a Tesco bag in one hand. At her question, Nat handed it over.

"Dad's spring cleaning," Nat said, as if that explained everything.

Sarah frowned at her.

"He suddenly realised his girlf-- fiancée needs space for her stuff, so he's clearing out some of his. And all of mine. I thought you might be able to use some of it."

Sarah was going to ask her why she hadn't moved her things out sooner, but she remembered Aunt Lavinia complaining that when she moved to Moreton Harwood she had to move some of Sarah's possessions as well as her own. So she said nothing and waited until they got to the lounge and sat down with the bag on her lap. The first thing she pulled out was a blanket. It had brightly coloured square patches on it, each with a picture of a different animal.

"It was a present from my grandparents," Nat said.

Sarah looked over at her. "This used to be yours?"

"Yes."

The next thing was a slightly moth-eaten teddy bear. Sarah held it up and grinned at Nat.

She smiled back. "I loved that bear, I used to carry it everywhere when I was little."

"Your parents really kept all of this?" Sarah kept digging through the bag, finding more toys, blankets and clothes in there.

Nat shrugged. "I didn't know they had."

It made sense though. Nat must have been so precious to them, since they were so desperate for a child they adopted someone else's. Sarah was glad she had been able to give them that gift, but it didn't stop her from wishing she hadn't missed Nat's childhood, and could only experience it second hand.

There was an irony in there, that Georgia would inherit her sister's cast-offs.

Sarah put everything back in the bag, almost wishing Nat hadn't brought it, given the direction her thoughts headed in. She was quite glad when Luke interrupted by coming in and presenting Nat with a piece of paper. Sarah frowned, not being able to tell what was on it and not really knowing what Luke had been up to. "What's that?"

Nat just said, "Research."

"I am capable of more than just gestating." There was definitely a conspiracy against her, since it now seemed to include Luke. It was getting annoying.

"If you were just doing that, it would be fine." She hadn't even heard Harry come in.

Sarah sighed.

"You've got pre-eclampsia."

Sarah opened her mouth to object that it wasn't that serious, but Harry carried on. "That's not something to be taken lightly."

"It's just a few headaches, I'll be fine," she told him, forcefully, once she could get a word in. There was only so much of his fussing she could take and she had told him that on more than one occasion. Most of the time he came round to see Luke and nag her on the baby-related things she hadn't yet done. Since she didn't want to separate him and Luke, as they were getting on so well, she tried to ignore Harry as best she could, given it was her house.

At least if he was still like this after Georgia was born, she could just pass the baby over to him, and he could worry about her without Sarah getting involved.

"And then you need furniture for the baby's room. And a pram and so on."

Sarah rolled her eyes. He'd written her a list of all the things they needed to buy. So far she had managed to avoid most of them. "I know, Harry, don't nag. You sound like my wife."

There was a silence in the room as Sarah and Harry stared each other down. Nat looked the other way, but Luke just frowned.

"You know my birthday party..." Luke said.

Harry walked across the room to stare out of the window, hands in his pockets. Sarah ignored him and turned to Luke with a smile.

"I've been writing a list of who I want to invite. But Mark at school told me I'm not allowed to send invites too far in advance because my party is going to clash with his."

Sarah could feel a headache coming on. She didn't remember turning fourteen being this complicated. "So what do you want to do?"

"My birthday is at the end of the summer holidays. So how can I invite people when I don't see them?"

Sarah tried not to think about the number of pairs of eyes and ears on her, waiting to solve all Luke's problems for him. Even though it had been nearly a year, she still wasn't used to having someone else depend on her for so much. "Why don't we have your party at the end of term? It can be a sort of end of the year and birthday party in one? Would that keep Mark happy?" She didn't think Mark was a friend of Luke's, but then his friendships and alliances changed so quickly.

Luke considered it. "Yes. That would work."

"Good." She rather thought that would keep Harry happy as well, as she would only be seven months pregnant for it, not eight. She looked over at Nat. "So now I've solved Luke's problems, any chance of letting me look at the latest alien threat?"

Nat hesitated, but eventually handed over the piece of paper. It contained a list of alien sightings that needed investigating. Most of them looked like the usual hoaxes, but a few could be real. Sarah knew she was unlikely to win this argument with three people opposing her, but she was still responsible for keeping Luke safe. "Luke, you don't go near any of these without Nat with you."

Luke looked unhappy but nodded. He had been discovering rebellion recently, doubtless learnt from his school friends, but Sarah trusted Nat to make sure he did as he was told.

Sarah resigned herself to being Research Girl. "I'll see what I can find." As Harry turned round she added, "I'm just looking on the net, nothing for you to worry about."

He shut his mouth again, but followed her out. She wanted to start now, rather than have Nat and Luke going off half-cocked and getting hurt.

"I'm just concerned," Harry said.

She sighed and tried not to get annoyed. "I know." It should probably be touching, and might have been if he wasn't so insistent. "But I can't just do nothing. The baby's going to have to live with that."

"You will tell me if it gets any worse."

"I already said I would, didn't I?" Immediately she said it she regretted snapping at him. So she said, more softly, "I know you want to help and you can't. And you missed out on this last time." Which she was thinking was probably a good thing, from her point of view. "But just wait three months and there'll be plenty I'll need your help with."

"Like giving birth?" he asked, hesitantly.

She smiled. "Definitely."

He smiled back and kissed her on the cheek. "I have to go. But we will go furniture shopping."

She couldn't really argue with that, since Georgia would need something to sleep in once she was born. And perhaps if she conceded a little, so would he.

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Fandom: Sarah Jane Adventures | Type: Character: Harry Sullivan, Character: Luke Smith, Character: Nat Redfern, Character: Sarah Jane Smith, Length: Long story, Pairing: Sarah/Harry, Series: Soap Opera, Type: Het | Link

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