Absolution- Alias Fanfiction

27) Flashbacks

AN: Music for this chapter (on repeat): Moscow Nights by Vladimir Troshin, Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini - Variation 18 from the Somewhere in Time Soundtrack, Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, Kung Foo Fighting by Carl Douglas, Why Can't We Be Friends? by War, Father and Daughter by Paul Simon, Russian Dance from The Nutcracker by P. Tchaikovsky

TWENTY-SEVEN

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"Sydney?" Irina called from the hallway, brushing the remaining snow from her coat.

"We're in here, Mom." Sydney called out from the bedroom having just finished changing Lena.

Irina smiled as she stepped into the room and saw how beautiful her girls looked.

"I wasn't sure what to wear so I hope this is going to be ok?" Sydney smoothed her hands of the red fuzzy sweater she was wearing.

"It's perfect and you look beautiful." Irina took her face in her hands and kissed her cheeks, before removing her coat. She scooped up the baby and snuggled her against her face.

Sydney surprised her with a quick kiss to the cheek. "That was from dad." She smiled catching the sparkle in her mother's eye. "He sounded positively deflated that it was me on the phone instead of you."

"Sydney, I doubt that very much. How could your father be disappointed to hear from you?" She shook her head and sat on the couch, deciding it was best to feed Lena now, before they got to the restaurant.

"Well he was. I heard the audible sigh." She shrugged, not bothered by it. "He hasn't even gone home yet or slept since Jakarta." Sydney didn't miss the flash of concern that swept across Irina's face.

"Why not?" Irina asked casually, shifting herself so that her arm supporting Lena was supported by an overstuffed pillow.

"He claims he has a lot of work to do." Sydney sat down in one of the big leather chairs across from Irina and began playing with the nesting doll on the coffee table. "That's code for he 'doesn't want to go home to an empty house." She added after a moment of silence deciding to leave out the part about the mass of photographers waiting there.

Irina swallowed hard and chose to ignore the remark about the empty house.

"So, do you want to tell me now about what happened with Michael or would you rather wait until we get to the restaurant?"

"Wait." Sydney smiled thinking how that topic would be a perfect segue -way into talking to her mother about her father.

"Ok." Irina smiled seeing the mischievous gleam in Sydney's eye. "Well, is there anything particular you'd like to do while we're here?"

"No, not really." Sydney shrugged, and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. "As long as I'm spending time with you anything is fine by me." She smiled.

"That sounds good to me, too." Irina smiled in return, "I'm sorry I had to leave you alone just after we arrived."

"It's okay. I understand you have to take care of things. What did you and Vladimir talk about? Or should I not ask that question?" Sydney finished removing all twelve dolls and lined them up revealing those present at the Nativity of Christ's birth. "I'm not used to asking you questions about your business dealings without having to interrogate you." She bit her lip nervously. "And I don't want you to feel like I'm interrogating you, because I'm not. Its just a little strange for me still, to be sitting this close to the Kremlin talking to you, about all this, like this." She fidgeted nervously with the smallest doll, the baby Jesus remembering how she'd spoken to Irina just after Agent Crane informed her that Irina hadn't said a thing during a two hour long interrogation/debriefing... other then to ask about Sydney. Sydney hadn't exactly been kind to Irina when she marched up to that cell and put 'Irina' in her place, or so she thought at the time. "I'm sorry. I'll just be quiet now."