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.

Harry smiled as he pulled the covers up over Georgia. It reminded him of when he did this when she was little and he stopped here on his way home from work to see her before she went to sleep. Now their lives had become too erratic to have any kind of routine and he missed spending this time with her.

Georgia yawned and settled down. Harry sat on the bed next to her and brushed some of her hair from her face.

"What did Mummy mean earlier?"

Harry smiled. Georgia must be tired - she had made the decision on her last birthday that mummy and daddy were far too childish names and from now on she would call them mum and dad. Harry had smiled indulgently at her at the time, but he didn't really mind what she called him, just as long as it wasn't Harry. She had gone through a phase of that at one point, although he couldn't really blame her as her brother and sister called them by their names, so it was no wonder she had been confused.

"When?" he asked.

"She said..." She stopped and scrunched her face up in thought, looking somewhere in the distance. Harry waited patiently. "'I'm glad I have you to look after her.'" She looked back up at him. "She meant me, didn't she?"

His heart quickened - he really didn't want to answer this, not now. "Yes, she did."

"But what did she mean?"

"I..." He couldn't lie to her, not now. "It's complicated, I'll explain in the morning."

"But Daddy..."

"In the morning," he repeated and bent down to kiss her on the cheek.

She sighed but closed her eyes.

Much as he was proud of her, sometimes he wished she wasn't quite so clever. Fortunately, she was tired enough from the late night that she would probably fall asleep before she had too much time to worry about it. He turned off her light and went down the hall to Sarah's room. He knocked gently before pushing the door open.

Sarah was still dressed, sitting on the bed opposite the mirror, struggling with her hair.

"Here, let me help." Harry sat down on the bed behind her. She dropped her hands into her lap and let him continue taking the flowers from her hair.

"I think Georgia got a bit enthusiastic putting them in," she said.

Harry smiled. Now that Sarah's hair was short, there was only so much she could do with it, apparently, since he knew very little on the subject. Georgia had threatened/promised to give him a lecture and demonstration. Whatever the two of them had done while getting ready, it had looked good, in his opinion. "You look beautiful."

She smiled. "I look tired and ill."

"It is late. You can be justified in looking tired."

She turned around to face him, so he had to stop what he was doing. He dropped his hands into his lap.

"We need to talk about this."

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Then when? After I'm dead?"

He looked down. How could she say it so matter-of-factly?

"You're going to have to look after Georgia, and not just at the weekends."

He looked back up at her and couldn't help a smile at the mention of Georgia's name. "I know that." It was a daunting proposition, but he was looking forward to spending more time with his daughter.

"I know why Nat got married so quickly. " Sarah looked over her shoulder at her reflection. "I'm not stupid, I know what you're hiding from me."

He looked in the same direction she did. "I was just trying to protect you." He didn't want to have to think about what was going to happen. He knew she was right, that this needed to be out in the open, but it was easier not to think about if they never discussed it.

She raised a hand and brushed his cheek with her fingers. "I don't need you to, Harry, I never did."

He swallowed the lump in his throat, shook his head and dislodged her hand.

She sighed. "I trust you to do what's best for her."

He nodded and stood up, hands in his pockets and paced around the bed. When he stopped and turned round he saw Sarah had been watching him the whole time. "We have to tell her."

"No." She shook her head. "I don't want to scare her. She's old enough to know that cancer means death."

"And she'd be right." At once, he regretted his harsh tone and came back round to sit next to her again. "She's a bright girl, she knows something's up. She'll only be more upset if we keep it from her."

Sarah sighed and looked at the flower she was twirling in her hand. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am." He smiled.

She put a hand up to wipe at an eye. Harry frowned and took her chin in one hand to tilt her head back up. Then he could see the tears in her eyes. Not saying anything, he put his arms round her and held her close. There wasn't any need for words because he knew why she was crying and was powerless to do anything about it.

Eventually, she said, "I just want to be able to see her grow up; what sort of a woman she becomes."

He nodded. "I know."

"I don't..." She pulled back and look at him. "As much as I hate to think of her growing up with me, I'm still glad we kept her. Eight years of her is better than none."

"I'm glad too. I just..." He shook his head. They'd had a big argument about this already and had to agree not to talk about it any more.

Sarah could obviously tell what he wanted to say, though, because she said, "I know. If I'd just got that lump checked out sooner. But there never seemed to be enough time and..." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, I can't turn the clock back. Which is ironic really." Given that they knew someone who could travel in time.

He kissed her on the cheek and reached up to take the final flower out of her hair. "I should let you sleep. And we'll talk to Georgia in the morning."

She nodded. "Night."

"Night."

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Fandom: Sarah Jane Adventures | Type: Character: Georgia Sullivan (original), Character: Harry Sullivan, Character: Sarah Jane Smith, Length: Long story, Pairing: Sarah/Harry, Series: Soap Opera, Type: Het | Link

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