All of Us -- Chapter 16

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

Caroline Robinson sat down at her desk in her study in her new home and sighed as she picked up a folder that was lying on the top of the desk. She opened it up and took out two pieces of paper and unclipped the two photographs that had been attached to them and stared at them, even though she’d seen these pictures several times by now and knew exactly who was on them. I’ll never forget their faces. Not in a million years.

She set the pictures down for a moment and looked around the room, a faint smirk on her face. No more pictures of the bastard around! I wonder if he left Georgia for Germany yet. I hope so. The divorce might be final, but still, the sooner he’s on a different continent from me, the better! Caroline's gaze fell on a framed picture of herself and her ten-year-old daughter. Oh, Jenny. Your collar was sticking out and… She caught herself and laughed. That picture was taken six months ago and you still find yourself correcting her! Get over it. That reminds me, I should wake her up. I don’t want her to be late for her first day of school here.

Caroline got up and walked out of the room and up the stairs and down the hall to her daughter’s room and carefully opened the door and stepped inside. She knelt down by the bed. “Jenny, sweetie, wake up. It’s 7:30 in the morning. You need to start getting ready for school now.”

“No way, Mom,” Jenny mumbled. “Can I please sleep late today?”

“No, sweetie,” Caroline said. “You need to get up and get ready for school. We only moved here two days ago. We’ve got to make a good first impression. Wait at least a week or two before you show them how lazy you really are, okay?”

Jenny giggled. “Yes, Mom.”

“That’s my girl,” Caroline said. She gave Jenny a kiss on her forehead and went back to the doorway and turned around. “What do you want for breakfast today? Cereal? Waffles? Oatmeal?”

“Did you eat the rest of the blueberry toaster waffles yesterday?” Jenny asked.

Caroline laughed. “Waffles it is. I’ll stick some in the toaster for you while you’re getting dressed.” She left the room and went downstairs and into the kitchen and opened the freezer and took out the box of toaster waffles and made some for herself and for her daughter. She had just set them on the table and was pouring herself some juice when Jenny came into the room and sat down. “There you are. What do you want to drink? We’ve got apple juice, orange juice, and milk.”

“Milk’s good,” Jenny said.

“Good,” Caroline said. She took out the milk and poured a glass and put the milk and juice containers back in the refrigerator and carried the glasses over to the table, handed Jenny the milk, and sat down with her glass of juice and took a sip. “Are you looking forward to school today?”

“Sort of,” Jenny admitted. “I like school, but I wish that we didn’t have to move. Why did we have to leave Georgia? Why did Dad have to leave Georgia, too? Is it because you and Dad can’t stand each other now that you’re divorced?”

“No,” Caroline told her. Well, partially. He was the one who actually requested the transfer. I was given mine by my superiors. “You know that because of what your father and I both do, the possibility was always there of one or both of us getting transferred at any moment to pretty much anywhere. We explained that to you when your old friend Nina moved away because her dad had been transferred to Japan when you were five, remember?”

“I remember,” Jenny said.

Caroline quickly ate her breakfast and stood up to put her dishes away in the sink. “Finish up, Jenny. I want to have you at school by twenty minutes after eight at the latest. Don’t forget to brush your teeth before we leave.”

“I won’t, Mom,” Jenny promised. She got up and put her own dishes in the sink before she went back upstairs.

Caroline watched her go and then went back into her study and picked up the two photographs again. Will I finally get to see…? She wiped the tear that fell from the corner of one of her eyes. After everything that I’ve gone through, after everything…

“Mom, I’m ready,” Jenny shouted from the front door.

“I’ll be right there,” Caroline said. She stood up, quickly re-attached the photographs to their papers, shoved the papers back in the folder and grabbed it, took a look at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath before she left the room.

TBC