Epilogue

Home is where the heart is

Wherein nearly a year has passed and Jack goes to visit Sydney and Sark

 

Jack Bristow walked into Central Park, a large, rectangular wrapped package awkwardly under one arm and a bag in the other hand.  And because he was Jack Bristow the odd site of a man carrying a large package into Central Park during the night went totally unnoticed.

 

Ducking into a patch of shrubbery he sat the package down and checked his watch.  As he looked up from his watch the air rippled bluely in front of him.  Nodding in satisfaction he picked up his package and stepped through the opening.

 

He was greeted by a guard and a dwarf as he stepped out of the mirror and into a cell in the castle dungeon.  The dwarf, dressed in a frumpy suit, briskly led him out of the cell and into one down and across the aisle.  They both entered the cell where several other dwarves, dressed in jerkins, were gathered.  Jack handed the package over to the dwarves and addressed the first as the others unwrapped the mirror.

 

“How long do you think this will take?”

 

“Hard to say,” the dwarf peered through his glasses at the mirror, “Hasn’t been tried in centuries, but I’m confident the instructions we found will work.”

 

Jack nodded, “And this procedure should shift the mirror’s opening from the Beanstalk Forest to this cell?”

 

“Yes, that’s our hope,” the dwarf turned to look up at him, “By the end of the week we should have a good idea if this adjustment is going to take.”

 

Jack nodded again, “Very good.  I anticipate I’ll be here for at least that long.”

 

The dwarf nodded at him then bustled over to the group fussing around the mirror.

 

Ducking under the cell entrance he straightened up to find a guard waiting for him.

 

“Your carriage is ready for you Sir.”

 

“Thank you,” hefting his bag he made his way out of the castle and to the waiting carriage.

 

 

From the castle it took the carriage nearly an hour to reach Sydney and Sark’s cottage.  He stood outside knocking on the door as the carriage pulled around the circle drive and disappeared into the darkness.  Waiting on the stoop, lanterns flickering; he glanced around and noted what had changed since his last visit.  The refurbishment of the cottage and its roof had been completed, all traces of the process seemingly having been removed.  When he was here last Sydney and Sark were still ‘discussing’ the dimensions and layouts of the two new additions.

 

Just when he was starting to get annoyed at the delay the door opened to reveal a rather fatigued looking Sark.

 

“Jack.  Sydney was wondering when you’d arrive,” he stood aside to let Jack enter.

 

Jack walked past Sark then waited for the blonde to lead the way, “I was delayed at work.  How is she?”

 

Sark headed for the stairs, “They’re both fine.”  He grinned over his shoulder as he practically bounded up the stairs, “She had the baby this afternoon, a girl.  There was quite a bit of yelling and screaming, from both of them.”

 

Jack hurried his step to keep up with younger man as they exited the stairs and walked down the hallway.

 

Sark slid through the slight opening of a door, “Your father’s here luv.”

 

“I heard the carriage,” Sydney’s voice drifted out, “I was slightly afraid it was going to be someone for you.”

 

“I told them I wasn’t to be bothered until further notice.”

 

Jack lightly pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

 

“Hi Dad,” Sydney, hair neatly pulled back into a french braid and eyes shining, smilingly greeted him from her spot on the bed where she was cradling a small bundle.  Sark was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her, peering at the bundle in her arms.

 

He sat his bag down by the door and walked over to the other side of the bed, “Sweetheart.”  He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, “Sorry I couldn’t be here sooner.”

 

“That’s alright,” she smiled up at him, her eyes glowing and her cheeks dimpling, “We named her Bridget Anne Bristow-Sark,” she adjusted her arms so Jack could see the baby a little better.

 

“I tried to convince her to just use Bristow, but she insisted on the Sark.  It’s not even my real last name,” Sark offered while pulling the blanket back from the baby’s face a little.

 

Sydney rolled her eyes, “Well you said yourself you never use your real last name, plus it was a lot longer.  And we can’t just give her Bristow; she needs your name too.”

 

Sark shrugged and kissed her temple.  She smiled back at him leaning over to kiss his lips.  She continued to gaze at Sark as he tenderly stroked her hair.

 

Jack glanced once more at the small, scrunched face, brown haired baby before straightening, “I’ll leave you to get some rest now.”

 

Sydney looked up at him, “But you just got here…”

 

“It’s late and I’m here for a while so there’ll be plenty of time to catch up.  You should get some rest.”

 

She smiled radiantly up at him, “I’m glad you could make it Dad.”

 

“I wouldn’t have missed being here for anything,” he kissed her on the top of the head again before walking back to the door.

 

“I’ll show you to your room,” Sark started to rise from the bed.

 

“That’s not necessary,” he negated, “the same room as last time?”

 

At the affinitive nod he picked up his bag and glanced back at the bed before exiting the room.  Sark had put an arm around Sydney’s shoulders and she was leaning into him while he whispered something that made her laugher.  She snuggled against him as he bent to kiss the top of the baby’s head.  Satisfied with the familial scene he quietly exited the room, pulling the door closed behind and moving to his room.

 

 

After freshening up the next morning Jack quietly made his way down the hallway to the master bedroom, the door of which was standing slightly open, a glimpse inside showed Sydney still sleeping with a bassinet positioned near the bed.  Hearing a slight noise downstairs Jack went in search of Sark.

 

He found the younger man in the kitchen making breakfast.  He also noticed a small, white furry animal lounging in a ray of sunlight on the kitchen window sill.  As if realizing it was being scrutinized the small animal twisted its head around to blink back at Jack.

 

“It just wandered up one day,” Sark noticed him and the direction of his stare.  Sark frowned as he went on, “I told Sydney we shouldn’t let it in the house, but she’s taken a fancy to it for some reason.”

 

The small animal made an almost smug squeaking noise then turned away from them, basking in the beam of sunlight.  Jack cast one last glance at it before turning his attention on Sark.

 

“I heard last night that you were taking a leave from work.”

 

Sark had gone back to preparing breakfast, “Yes.  Wendell has plenty of other advisers, complete idiots mind you, but still.  He wanted me to lead the group of diplomats he has currently in discussions with the 1^st Kingdom and despite the fact that I’m obviously unavailable right now, every now and than a courier will come by with some documents or some such nonsense for me to look over.  I think I sufficiently scared the last courier so it shouldn’t happen again any time soon.”

 

Jack grunted in response, he still couldn’t quite believe that King Wendell had appointed Sark as one of his advisors.  It seemed like a bad idea, Sark having the ear of a leader of a country.  Though he had to admit from what he’d heard the younger man seemed to be doing a fair job and he did approve of Sark’s attempts to start what essentially amounted to a 4^th Kingdom Intelligence organization.  With the Kingdom’s strategically and political significance there were sure to be people plotting ill intent towards both the country and the King.

 

“How’s Sydney’s school doing?” he sat down at the kitchen table as Sark continued to bustle about the kitchen, the generator that had been a pain to disassemble and get through the mirror providing electricity to power the modern appliances.

 

“Well you know she only had a few students, but right before she took maturity leave one of her students created quite a stir by out witting some forest creature that had been plaguing the near-by towns and had recently kidnapped some Lord’s daughter,” Sark paused as he pulled a few more items out of the refrigerator.  “It was in the paper and the student mentioned he couldn’t have done it if he hadn’t had the training from Sydney’s school.  There’s been a whole flood of prospective students being signed up by their eager parents.”

 

“It’s not that large of a building to take many more students,” Jack recalled his visit to the small-ish school the last time he was here.

 

Sark smirked, “I suspect it was too dark last night for you to notice when you went through town, but the school’s being expanded while Sydney’s on maternity leave.”

 

“That sounds expensive.”

 

Sark was still smirking as he scrambled eggs, “Sydney wanted to expand her ‘finishing’ school to add more classes; etiquette, dancing, regional politics, languages and to hire more teachers.  I convinced Wendell to make a private donation to the school’s fund.”

 

Jack raised an eyebrow, “It sounds like a training ground for future intelligence officers.”

 

Sark laughed, “Don’t let Sydney hear you say that.  She’s adamant that she’s just teaching kids how to better fit into courtly situations and to increase their understanding of politics with the other kingdoms.  I did briefly point out the advantages of enlarging such a school as Sydney’s to Wendell, after which he made his generous donation.”

 

Further conversation was halted as Sydney, carrying Bridget, walked into the room, “What are you two plotting in here?”

 

“We’re not plotting.  I’m making breakfast,” Sark lifted the pan in evidence.

 

She walked over to kiss his cheek, “I’m sure you could do both.”

 

Sark snaked an arm around her waist as she tried to step back, pulling her back to him for a longer kiss.

 

With a light laugh she stepped back from him finally and walked over to Jack, dropping a quick kiss on his cheek, “Morning Dad.”

 

“Morning sweetheart.  May I?” he nodded his head at Bridget.

 

Smiling she carefully put Bridget into Jack’s arms.  A squeaking from the window had her laughing and walking over to the ferret lounging on his back.  She lightly scratched under its chin, “Morning to you too.”

 

“Don’t forget to wash your hands,” Sark reminded her, eyeing the small creature.

 

She rolled her eyes and dutifully rinsed her hands under the facet.  After glancing and smiling at Bridget she started getting out plates and utensils for breakfast.  She and Sark briefly argued as to whether she should be ‘resting’ instead of pulling plates out of the cupboards, she won of course.

 

“So Dad, how long are you staying for?”

 

“At least a week,” that earned him a bright smile, “The dwarves are attempting to realign the Rambaldi mirror opening to the dungeon of the castle.  They should know something by the end of the week, but I may have to leave the mirror here if they don’t finish on time.”

 

Sydney smiled, “Just an excuse for you to come back again soon.”

 

“I talked to your mother; she wants to come visit you and the baby.”

 

There was a moment of silence as Sydney and Sark exchanged glances.  “We could use my New York apartment to meet with her if you want,” Sark offered.

 

Sydney glanced at her dad.

 

“I believe that would be the best option,” he answered her silent query, “Careful security arrangements would have to be made first, but I think that would be better than allowing her knowledge to the mirror’s entrance position.”

 

Sydney glanced at Sark again.

 

“Irina was quite pleased that you were so thoroughly getting out of the business.  She has no reason or inclination to harm Bridget.”

 

Sydney smiled slightly, “Okay then.  But not for a while yet.”

 

Bridget started to fuss a little so Sydney stepped over to take her back.

 

“Breakfast is ready,” Sark declared, scooping out three plates of scrambled eggs.

 

Chapter Twenty ~ Happy Ever After ~ Tell us a Tale