trans_9 | The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls [closed]

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The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls [closed]

Away from the observation deck, Sherry found that the walls of the ship didn't change. It was easier to keep her eyes on the fleshy ground ahead of her (which she was pretending was not fleshy at all, thanks) than look up at the fleshy walls of Stacy. She could be curious about it later, it was just easier to be grossed out now. She filed away how she was getting to the Precinct that Leon and Claire talked about, and after such a long, strange walk from the Observation Deck, they were there. She hadn't spoken much, but then, she didn't talk a whole lot anyway.

Sherry couldn't help the gasp that sneaked out when she finally looked up again. "It's... big," she murmured by way of compliment. It wasn't like the one had been back home, certainly, but, definitely... definitely big.

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"You could say I'm your family." Sherry suggested seriously.

"Uh..."

He had to consider that one for a moment. He turned that idea over in his mind, finding it to be a not bad idea. He looked over at Claire, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Well..."

"What like... siblings?" She looked from Leon to Sherry and back again, not really sure that that would work. For one, several people were aware Claire and Leon were friends, had different surnames, and had never really given anyone an impression they might be related. Then Sherry...

"Sherry is probably too young, I mean I know some people have kids late in life, but..."

Sherry tugged a lock of hair, thinking. "Well, not exactly..." Hopefully the adults would get the hint. But probably not; Claire looked fit to explode from confusion. Leon looked unsure, but he might get the idea faster than Claire, she decided. Physically, she looked close enough to their coloring; thank God that her father had similar enough hair to Leon.

Leon slowly leaned forward and casually placed his hand over his mouth and chin. He looked at Sherry, and she could probably see that his eyes, at least, were smiling.

~~No, Claire, Leon was definitely not laughing at you right now.~~

"I think what she means is," he started after he was able to collect himself, "not that we tell people she's our kid sister... but that we tell people she's our kid."

It was a good thing Claire was mostly sitting on the desk and had her hands braced, because she probably would've fallen over if she wasn't stably planted. As it was the look on her face went blank for a long moment as she struggled to not say the very first thing that came to mind.

Once her brain had a chance to reboot she stared hard at Sherry, trying to decide if she would actually be passable as their child.

"...Do you think people will buy that?"

"Maybe," Sherry shrugged. Genetics were as they were. "My hair is close enough to Leon's, isn't it? And our eyes are blue... People see what they want to see anyway, don't they? If you tell them, they'll probably take it at face value and not look too deeply into it." It made sense to her; Sherry worried her lower lip between her teeth nervously.

"What do you think...?"

He again had to not laugh at the look on Claire's face. It was a good thing he had all that secret agent training.

"I don't think anyone will run DNA tests on us anytime soon." Well, except Dox. He was the only one in the science crew who seemed skeevy enough to do something like that.

"If it makes you more comfortable, we can also say she's simply my daughter..." he told Claire. He was willing to give her an out in case she thought it implied something about her or their relationship that she didn't want anyone thinking. "...or yours."

Claire didn't really think she was going to be completely comfortable with this right off the bat no matter what, since doing a quick mental count that would mean she'd have to have been fourteen when she had Sherry, but she appreciated Leon trying to make things a little less weird.

"No, it's fine." No matter what, it would be weird. But people were going to think what they'd think no matter what, so she'd just roll with it in the most straightforward way possible. "If we're both her parents that'll be less questions about the missing parent we'll have to make up answers for."

Sherry did not have Leon's Special Agent training to fall back on, so she ducked her head and felt her lips split into a goofy, endlessly pleased, grin.

"And we'd still take care of her anyway." This was still a lot to go with, but it made a certain amount of sense. And Sherry obviously liked the idea.

"So we're all in agreement?" Last chance to back out, Redfield.

Claire was put a little more at ease at the large smile on Sherry's face. This could absolutely backfire, but for now it seemed like the best course of action.

"Just one thing," she glanced over at Leon, raising her index finger into the air. "Last name?"

Sherry looked up and tried to think of a suitable name. Redfield? Kennedy? Redfennedy? She wasn't sure how it was supposed to work, exactly. Her parents had been married long before she arrived, and no one in her school had been the product of a single-parent home.

"Umm...Redfield..?" she suggested uncertainly.

Leon shrugged a little. It didn't make too much of a difference to him. "If that's the one you want."

Claire nodded, finally smirking a little as she looked between Leon and Sherry. "Well considering I'd have been an unwed teenage mother, Redfield would make the most sense"

Sherry let the name work over in her mind; ideally, Leon would have to have responsibility, too. Right? Maybe.

"Redfield-Kennedy," she said finally. "Is that okay with the both of you?"

Leon was the responsible type, if anything. And on some other level that he wasn't quite sure he wanted to think about, he did like the shared last name.

"It sounds good to me, sweetheart."

"Me too." This all still felt the slightest bit off center to Claire, but she wasn't going to give it much thought. Sherry was happy with the arrangement, and it wasn't really like Claire needed to adjust to being a mother-figure. She'd just have to adjust to being an actual mother. Okay that was probably what was off center.

Shaking her head very slightly, she smiled. "Okay, now I think we're settled."

Sherry nodded. It was kind of nice to go from orphan to not-orphaned, even if it wasn't exactly the truth. She couldn't help the smile that pulled her lips upwards. So while today started out horrible, perhaps now it could be the Worst Quarter Day Ever. Yes, she liked this idea.

"So, with that all settled, what do we do now?" Could she go wander? Did she want to? Initial horror aside, Sherry found herself curious of the people on the spaceship. She'd have to get used to that thought, I am on a spaceship.

Congrats, Leon, you're a dad now!

Hn...

"It's a girl," he said absently, mostly talking to himself.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts at Sherry's question. What do they do now?

"I guess we can show you around the rest of the ship; introduce you to a few other people."

"It's a good idea to get you a little bit more acquainted with the area," Claire added on, choosing to ignore the corny comment Leon made before.

"Even if there are a lot of areas blocked off, there's still tons to explore."

"I'd really like that." After all, she didn't exactly remember how they got here. Sherry stood up and rocked back on her heels, fidgeting now that they had to go back out there. She'd be on her very best behavior; no screaming in terror and fleeing, no hiding in vents.

For now, anyway. "Ready, Cl- Mom and Dad."

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The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls [closed]

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