Found

Thanks to everyone who replied to this story. I'm so sorry it took me so long with an update. I hope you guys haven't lost interest.

And a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta reader, lena-irina-jonna. :flowers:

Paris,
France


Nadia was quite surprised at how big this house really was. It had four bedrooms, one per person. Nadia found it very odd that her parents wouldn’t share one bedroom. Irina had explained to her that mommy and daddy had a few problems with each other and Nadia hadn’t asked any further.

While Irina was in one of the bedrooms, Nadia went directly to the fridge. She found everything they would need in the next days, meat and some puddings, different cheeses, butter and many other things.
The girl hadn’t realised how hungry she was until she saw all these things. Her mother came when she was trying to catch one of these puddings, but she was too small to reach one.

“Nadia, are you hungry?” Irina asked, frowning. The girl nodded. Irina reached out for her daughter, lifted her up and sat her on the sideboard next to the fridge. “I’ll fix us something, okay? You could go and have a look at your room until I’m done.”

“Mommy, can I ask you something?” the girl answered, ignoring her mother’s suggestion. Irina looked surprised and after a few moments of silence, she smiled because of the question. Nadia didn’t need to ask that. Of course she could ask everything she wanted.

“Of course sweetheart. Everything,” Irina smiled.

“Can you tell me something about Sydney?”

At first Irina didn’t answer. Instead she put her daughter back to the ground. “You can help me making dinner, while I’ll tell you about your sister. How does that sound?”

Nadia smiled proudly that she was allowed to help her mother cooking. In the orphanage she had always helped in the kitchen. Irina smiled as she saw how thrilled her daughter was that she could help. “That sounds pretty good. I’d like that,” the girl nodded.

“Okay.” Irina took a chair from the dining room and sat Nadia on it, because she was too small to reach the top of the sideboard. Then the former KGB-Agent went back and returned with a sack full of potatoes in her arms. “Do you want to clean the potatoes?” she asked.
Nadia nodded and her cheeks started to glow in a flurry of excitement. “Okay, then do,” her mother nodded and put the chair with Nadia on it closer to the sideboard.

“Does Sydney look like me?” Nadia started to ask a few minutes after she had started.

Irina smiled at Nadia, while she was peeling the potatoes for her daughter so she could clean them. She planned to make a potato-salad and she liked it to prepare dinner together with Nadia. It was their first time alone after Nadia’s rescue. “Almost. She looks very much like me. I know you will like her.”

Nadia nodded. “Of course I will. She’s my sister and sisters must stick together.” She said that as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Why didn’t things work out between you and daddy? What happened?”

Irina glanced shortly at her daughter before she turned her attention back to her work. Her expression was stern now. “Nadia, that’s not something I can discuss with you. Things between me and your father are complicated. I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

Nadia glanced at her mother as if she didn’t believe her. “Which means you will never tell me anything at all. Adults are saying all the time that they’ll tell their kids when they’re older, just because they don’t intend to explain them anything, ever.” She was disappointed. In Nadia’s eyes she wasn’t too young to hear the truth. Whatever it was, she could handle it.

But Irina didn’t see it that way. Nadia was a child. She had already gone through so much and she deserved her childhood back. The truth was awful and Irina wanted to spare her from that as long as she could. But she also didn’t want her daughter to be mad at her. She stopped working and turned to her daughter, grabbing her softly by the shoulders. “Sweetheart, listen. Mommy made a few big mistakes. Your father is mad at me, because I left him and Sydney. If I could change that, I would, but I can’t.”

Suddenly Nadia looked sad, because she realized that this wasn’t the only reason. Things were probably more complicated than she could imagine. “But that’s not the only reason, is it?” She quietly replied.

“No, it’s not,” Irina confirmed softly.

“Can’t you just say you’re sorry?” Nadia whispered. Her voice was so full of sadness that it broke Irina’s heart for her daughter. Everything was so easy in children’s eyes. Nadia was right, adults were too complicated.

Irina hugged Nadia and kissed her hair. “Oh sweetheart! I wish, I could make things that easy for you and your sister, but I can’t,” she sighed.

+++++++

Two days later

Nadia was still sleeping and Irina was about to prepare breakfast when she heard the doorbells ring.
She expected the visitors to be Sydney and Jack and smiled when she thought of her eldest daughter, while opening the door. There they were. Jack and Sydney were standing right in front of her. “Hello, Sydney,” Irina smiled and wanted to hug her daughter, but fought the impulse. It was hard for Irina to say who was more nervous; she or her daughter.

“Hey,” Sydney made a pause and glanced shyly at her mother who was trying her best to calm her daughter with a friendly smile. “Mom”, Sydney added after a moment of silence.

Her daughter’s “mom” made Irina smile and she finally hugged her, even though it was a strange hug, so tense.
The former KGB-Agent turned her attention to Jack who was still standing in the door. “Hello, Jack. Please come on in. I was about to make breakfast. Sydney, why don’t you go down the corridor and wake your sister? Breakfast will be ready soon. It’s the last door on the right.”

Sydney looked as if she didn’t know if she should do it. How would her sister react when she saw Sydney for the first time? What was Sydney supposed to say?
Irina noticed her daughter’s insecurity and knelt down in front of her. The former KGB-Agent was smiling. “I promise you, Nadia won’t bite.”

The girl didn’t reply anything, glanced shortly at her father before she made her way to Nadia’s room.

“Do you think they will like each other?” Jack asked while watching Sydney going to the room where Nadia still was sleeping.

Irina remained silent at first, her gaze was on Sydney as well, who reached Nadia’s door now. Without noticing it, Irina inhaled deeply as if she would hold her breath. She shook her head as she realized that she was probably more nervous than Sydney was about the first meeting of the sisters. “I don’t know, Jack. I hope so. Sydney always wanted to have a sister and Nadia needs one, too. So if you ask me if they will like each other, the answer is ‘I can’t tell yet’, but if you ask me if they need each other, then my answer is ‘yes, in every way’.”

They glanced at each other. Both remained silent. There was no need to comment what Irina had said, because Jack knew how right she was. After all Nadia had gone through, she needed Sydney probably more than Sydney would ever need her.

++++++++

Carefully Sydney opened the door. She saw Nadia lying in a bed to her right. Her back was to Sydney.
Hesitantly the girl with the brown hair made a step into the room and in Nadia’s direction. “Hey,” she whispered, hoping it would wake her sister, but she still was sleeping. “Uhm…Nadia, wake up!” The twelve year old girl shook her sister softly to make her wake up. This time she was successful and Nadia woke up.

As her little sister turned around, Sydney could see that her face was very much like her mother’s. Her hair was black, which made her look a little bit mysterious.
Sydney tried a smile, which Nadia returned. “You must be Sydney,” her little sister stated.

The brunette girl nodded shyly. “Dad and I just arrived.” It seemed as if it was hard for Sydney to speak. The reasons were all the emotions that overwhelmed her. So that was she, her little sister!

Nadia, who was sitting now, watched Sydney with a smile, which confused her big sister. Nadia could see Sydney frowning. “Mom was right. You look pretty much like her.”

Sydney smiled. Her sister made it very easy to break the ice and she was grateful for that. “I’ve heard that very often,” she replied while she sat down by Nadia’s side, so she could have a better look at her.

“I know you’re nervous about meeting me, Sydney, but so am I. But don’t worry. I already like you. We need to stick together, because our parents go crazy without our help.”

Again, Sydney frowned while she wondered how her six year old sister could be so smart. “Uhm…thank you, I guess. Are you sure, you’re only six years old?” she asked confused.

“Well, some people tell me, I would look like seven,” Nadia grinned.

Sydney couldn’t help, but laugh. She knew immediately that either they would be best friends or enemies. Somehow Sydney had the feeling that it would be the first option. She really liked that smart little girl.

“I knew you would laugh,” Nadia said with a grin.

“Mom told me to wake you, because breakfast will be ready soon.”

Nadia nodded. “Good. I will be right there, after I brushed my teeth and got changed.”

“Alright, I’ll go back to Mom and Dad, see if they already killed each other,” Sydney replied with a smile. Nadia grinned, jumped out of the bed and grabbed a few clothes before she went to the bathroom.

Sydney watched her sister leaving the room and smiled. This was how she had always imagined her little sister to be. Nadia was cute and definitely too smart for a six year old kid. But Sydney knew no matter what would happen she would be there to protect her little sister the best she could.

+++++++++
 
Thanks to the two of you for the reply. I'm glad you liked it. So here's a new chapter. Hope you'll like that one as well.

And a huge thank you to my lovely betareader lena-irina-jonna.
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“Irina, we need to talk about our plans. Concerning the girls, I mean”, Jack started. He had tried to push that subject as far away from him as he could. But he was also aware that he had to bring up that subject. It seemed the right time, now.

Irina sighed and looked up from preparing breakfast. “What do you mean?” She asked as if she didn’t know what Jack was talking about. The truth was she knew very well what her husband was talking about. She just didn’t want to go back to business now that she had both of her girls around. She just wanted to enjoy that, she and her two daughters.

He smiled, but to Irina’s surprise it was a friendly smile, a sympathetic smile. “I think you know exactly what I’m suggesting.”

Irina nodded silently. She wanted to reply but she heard Sydney coming down the corridor. Her face got brighter. “Sydney”, she exclaimed instead of answering Jack.

“Hey. Nadia said that she’ll brush her teeth and get changed, before she comes”, Sydney explained.
The smell of pancakes already filled the kitchen. Sydney had forgotten how good her mother was at cooking, but she remembered immediately when she smelt the pancakes.

Irina realized that and smiled. “Are you hungry?”

Sydney nodded and sat down next to her father, who was smiling, too.

+++++++++

“Daddy!” Nadia exclaimed, running the last way towards her father and jumped into his arms. “I missed you, Daddy. Did you miss me, too?”

Jack softly stroked her hair and kissed her head. Actually he hadn’t realized how much he had missed Nadia until now. He really loved to have both of his daughters around, though he didn’t know what to think about Irina. The question whether she would betray him and his daughters again was always on his mind. On the one hand, he didn’t want to believe that Irina would betray him, again. He wanted to believe that she had changed and decided to be a good mother for Sydney and Nadia.
“Yes sweetheart. I missed you very much,” he answered, still stroking her hair.

Nadia gave her father a satisfied smile while Irina was watching them with love and Sydney was grinning and yes a little jealous, but only for a few seconds, which was probably normal for a sibling.
“Come on, sweetheart. Sit down. Your pancakes are ready,” Irina suddenly said.

“You heard your mother, Nadia. Take a seat,” Jack added softly and gestured his second daughter to a free chair next to Sydney, who smiled when Nadia sat down to her right.

“I helped Mom in the kitchen”, Nadia told her sister and father with a proud smile as if it was something only she could do.

Sydney smiled sadly remembering all the times she had helped Irina in the kitchen. It reminded her of a time that had passed, a time when Sydney had thought that her mother’s name was Laura Bristow. Again, she was reminded that this woman didn’t exist. Irina Derevko was her mother and not Laura Bristow. Sydney didn’t know Irina at all. The only woman Sydney knew was Laura Bristow.

“Sounds like you two had a lot of fun,” the brunette girl smiled in Nadia’s direction.

Only Irina realised the change in Sydney’s behaviour and frowned, but remained silent. They would be living here for a while and there was time enough to get to know Sydney.

“We had, hadn’t we, mommy?” Nadia replied with her mouth full of pancake.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Nadia,” her mother ordered gently. “Yes, we had. We could cook together as well, Sydney if you want to?”

Sydney made a face and stared down at her plate and ate a piece of her pancake. Irina waited for a reply but she didn’t get one.

The former KGB agent sighed. Yes, her relationship with Sydney was more difficult than her relationship with Nadia. It would take some time and Irina had to be careful, she had to be patient. She couldn’t force Sydney to trust her. All that mattered to her was that Sydney felt comfortable with her decision.

“There are a few kids down the street playing volleyball. I’d like to go there,” Sydney said instead of responding to her mother’s offer.

Irina smiled and nodded. She was glad that Sydney started trying to find new friends. As mentioned before, they would be living here for a while. So it was good that her eldest daughter tried to move on with her life. “All right! Will you be home before it gets dark?” Irina asked.

“I promise,” Sydney replied and glanced at her father who also seemed to agree.

“Can I go with you?” Nadia asked innocently.

Her sister had already opened her mouth to respond, but her mother stole a march on her. “Sweetheart, I think it’s better if you wait until you can go with me or your father.”

“But I want to go with Sydney. I want to find friends, too,” Nadia argued, already being sad, because she knew that she couldn’t convince her mother to let her go, which was quite unfair in her opinion. Why was Sydney allowed to go out alone and she was not? Nadia was a big girl and had learned very early to take care of herself.

“Your mother is right, Nadia. It’s not safe,” Jack explained softly.

Irina knelt down in front of Nadia, taking the girl’s hands into hers. “Sweetheart, do you remember that bad man who abducted you and injected you with this green fluid? We believe that he worked with some other people that are still after you. We just want you to be safe.” Her voice was soft and full of pity for her little girl. She could imagine how Nadia felt. “It’s too dangerous and I don’t want to lose you again.” Irina placed her hand on Nadia’s cheek to wash the tear away that was running down her daughter’s cheek. “I promise it won’t be like this forever.”

“But Sydney and I will be careful. I promise!” Nadia sobbed.

“I’m sorry Nadia, but I’ve made my decision. You will stay here and as soon as your father and I have finished business, we can go anywhere you like, but you won’t leave this house without me or your father,” her mother replied softly.

Nadia just got up and left the kitchen without a word. A few seconds later they heard a door that was slammed shut.

“It’s not so important for me. I could stay here,” Sydney offered with glances between her parents.

“No, Sydney. Go, meet the other kids. Your mother and I can handle this. She’s just…” He sighed and looked helplessly at Irina who was standing now and staring on Nadia’s plate with the pancake which was about to become cold. “This situation isn’t easy for her. But we want you to have fun. You need to get used to this life.”

Irina nodded in agreement to his words. Sydney stood up, put the plate in the sink and told her parents goodbye before she left the house.

“Maybe we should consider giving Nadia some time outside the house. Somewhere we can see her, so she and Sydney can get to know each other,” Jack suggested carefully.

“No! You know how dangerous it is for Nadia right now. Cuvee’s peers are just waiting for an opportunity to get her back. I won’t make the same mistake twice, Jack. As much as it hurts Nadia, but she won’t leave this house without one of us.”

“She would have Sydney by her side.”

Irina shot him an evil eye. She couldn’t believe that he of all people made this suggestion. He should know better. “Yes but we both know that it would put Sydney in danger as well. For now she’s not a target for them and I plan to use that as long as I can. Sydney will be one soon enough, believe me.”

Jack frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Somehow he had a feeling that Irina knew more than she wanted to tell him. Secrets were never a good thing, especially if Irina kept secrets from him. “What are you hiding from me?”

“When will you start to trust me, Jack? I’m the mother of your children,” Irina argued with a hurtful look.

To Jack it seemed for a second that she was pretending to be hurt by his words. She did what she had always done. If he had asked her a question she didn’t like, she had just evaded it. But he wouldn’t make it so easy for her this time. “Stop this, Irina! We both know that you’re not as innocent as you want to let me believe. You keep secrets from me. Again! Which doesn’t make you trustworthy in my eyes, I’m sorry.” He glared at her.

Irina glanced coldly at him, while thinking of a good reply. When had this conversation about Nadia become a conversation about them and her betrayal? She didn’t know. What she knew was that she didn’t want him to leave her holding the baby. “Stop this!” She ordered coldly.

“Stop what?! Telling the truth?!” he shouted.

“You can’t blame me forever for what happened. It just did! I was KGB and I had orders and you were CIA. I’m sorry that I had to leave you and Sydney behind. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Nadia. That’s all I can give you. I can’t turn back time and I can’t change who I am! Irina Derevko, that’s who I am. You still want to have Laura back, but she doesn’t exist, as much as you’d like her to be real.”

“I don’t have to listen to this! Not from you!” He snapped and got up. Tears appeared in his eyes, Irina could see them and it hurt her as much as him what had happened in the past.

Irina thought about the right strategy and decided it would be best to not talk about this anymore. It wouldn’t lead to anything, she realised. “Excuse me. I’d like to talk to Nadia again. Let’s hope that she is not as stubborn as her father.”

“I’m stubborn? Then what are you?” He asked and raised an eyebrow.

Irina smiled but didn’t respond and made her way to Nadia’s room where she knocked on the door. No answer came from inside. The former KGB agent sighed. Nadia was probably as stubborn as her parents. Of course she was, otherwise she wouldn’t be their daughter. “Nadia, can we talk?” Irina tried to open the door, but it was locked. She frowned. Hadn’t she and Nadia talked about that Nadia wasn’t allowed to lock the doors? “Open the door. I need to talk to you,” Irina tried again. Suddenly she didn’t have a good feeling with this. Something was wrong. Why did Nadia not at least answer?

Jack, too, realised that something was wrong and joined Irina. “What’s going on?”

“The door is locked and your daughter doesn’t reply when I ask her something.”

He shook his head. “Why is she always just ‘my’ daughter when she doesn’t listen?” Irina ignored his question and left Jack to come back with a key in her hands with which she was able to open every room in the house.

The former KGB agent glanced around the room shocked. The window was wide open and Nadia was gone. “Jack she’s gone,” she gasped.

Jack was as shocked and worried as Irina was. No! This couldn’t be! His little girl in the hands of these bastards, again?! Jack didn’t want to imagine what they were going to do to Nadia. But had she really been abducted or had she just left, because she was angry about her parents not letting her leave the house to play with other kids?

++++++++
 
Yes! An update! :happydance:

I love how you wrote about their interactions. Sydney still seemed a bit hesitant with Irina, but that's understandable.

I think Nadia's just left to find Sydney. After all she is Jack and Irina's child, the most stubborn people in the world.
I'm just hoping she'll be alright.

Can't wait for more.
 
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