From his vantage point, John watched Cameron as she sat observing the others as they relaxed along the side of the newfound lake, dubbed Lake Baum by Sarah. He let out a sigh, wishing his wife, protector, and best friend wasn't a machine. Her expression at the moment was her default setting, emotionally neutral and unreadable. He promptly reminded himself Cameron was female which meant inside she was irritated with him and decided he was luckier than most men.

He'd lost his temper with her that morning and ordered her not to bring up the topic of going home again. The lake would be given a basic survey and then they would return to TechCom City. This was all before it became obvious how large Lake Baum was. John had found amongst his maps some geological relief maps and after an hour of examining the terrain, it was obvious the volume of water was enormous. Somewhere, during the destruction of Judgment Day, something had formed a dam that created the natural bowl that had filled with water.

Their small family party was too small to circumnavigate the body of water. Now he had to convey the fact to his wife, who had probably already figured the situation out on her own. That would be easy enough to deal with. He would apologize, sincerely, read Cameron's faint tells for how she received the apology and then either leave her alone to calm down or give her a hug and a kiss and enjoy feeling his beautiful wife melt into his arms.

That, unfortunately, was not an option. Sarah had berated him earlier about the handling of the dispute between Ruth, his T-1000 adopted sister, and Cameron.

"You can't let that sort of thing go, John."

"Mom…"

"Don't mom me. I might have surrendered my title as matriarch, but Ruth is my daughter and Cameron is still my daughter-in-law. I will not have this sort of thing going on between the those two. For one, their family. Two, those two are far too dangerous to let them fight each other."

"You're right," John mumbled, not wanting to deal with the pair of deadly females. He loved his metal sister and theirs was a close relationship. John had longed for a sibling growing up and Ruth had craved her brother's attention all her life, need his acceptance and approval while she dealt with the confusion of growing up a metal in a mostly human family who led a hybrid society. Then there was the issue of the female he slept next to, his wife.

As he started working his way towards Cameron, John decided he was thankful the two females involved were metal. If they were human, this unfortunate conflict might never be resolved. He sat down next to Cameron who remained silent, looking off into the eternal darkness of the post-Judgment Day world they inhabited.

"We're going home. The lake is too big for us to explore with the resources we have with us."

"I could have told you that. In fact, I believe I did," Cameron monotoned.

John chuckled at her snide remark.

"What is it you find humorous, John?"

"You're doing better at being sarcastic, Cameron."

He grinned as Cameron wrinkled her nose at him for a brief moment before resuming her watch of the surrounding area.

"I'm sorry about this morning."

His wife looked at him, tilting her head slightly to the right. She flashed him one of her faint smiles, accepting the apology. To his surprise, Cameron didn't move closer so he could put his arm around her.

"You're angry with me about Ruth."

"Angry? No, not so much as I am concerned. I can't have my wife, a TOK-715, fighting with my sister, a T-1000, and pissing off my mother, THE Sarah Connor. It's more trouble than one man, me, John Connor, can handle. Not to mention the entire public relations thing we always have to deal with as the commanding family."

"Ruth shouldn't have weaponized and challenged me," was Cameron's obstinate, expected, blunt reply.

"You shouldn't have drop-kicked her."

Cameron folded her arms across her chest, causing John to let out a deep sigh. "Don't be stubborn about this. You're going to apologize."

"Not until Ruth acknowledges my dominance, right to lead as matriarch, and apologizes for the effrontery of weaponizing against me, me, a TOK-715."

John rocked back and stared up at the jet-black sky. This was going to be more difficult than he'd imagined. Cameron, somewhere along the way, had developed the sin of pride. It didn't raise its ugly head often, but when it did, it caused no end of grief.

"What led to the disagreement that caused this ill-advised escalation between the two of you?"

"Ruth is having difficulty adjusting to motherhood. Just like I did and every other new mother does. She is feeling conflicted as a terminatress. Ruth now must deal with multiple, conflicting priorities. Ruth is still fixated on protecting Hailey and she is dealing with that and the fact she now has her Dan to protect and care for."

"Understandable, that was difficult for you," John replied with empathy.

"Yes, it was. It is. And I told her that. Now Ruth is experiencing the highly confusing emotions generated by all the data she must constantly collect and monitor in regards to Naomi."

"Also, understandable."

"I told her to get Sarah to watch Naomi and sexbot her Dan. To have intimate time with her husband and pay attention to him. Then to demand to be held in his arms and talk to her Dan about the conflict within her."

"Sounds like good advice."

"It is good advice. Advice generated from experience," Cameron replied. "Pillow talk is good in many ways."

"Then what happened?"

Cameron frowned. "Ruth weaponized and I dealt with the act of defiance."

There would be no possible way to get Cameron to take the first step in restoring the relationship between the two family members. His wife might not have been as tactful as she could have been communicating with Ruth, who, being a terminatress herself, should have recognized Cameron was not in infiltration mode, but was acting as the family matriarch and trying to help Ruth.

"Do you think this could have been a glitch?"

"If it was," Cameron said in her tone reserved for all things related to Riley, "Ruth is going to Savannah the minute we get back to TechCom City and having her code looked at. I won't allow her to be around you otherwise. Ruth must learn to deal with this."

Cameron's expression surprised John. She looked worried.

"You're worried," he noted aloud. Cameron nodded and leaned into her husband.

"When we are gone, Ruth must be there for Hailey, to control Hailey's wild impulses as commander of TechCom. The Old Man will provide all the necessary individual security Hailey will need as the General. But Ruth will be the one who must talk sense to Hailey, just as she always has."

"I know," John whispered, taking Cameron into his arms.

"Ruth must command the Infiltrators. Sarah will go away sometime in the future as well, leaving Ruth in command. She must be a good wife to her Dan. Like all family units in our clan, Ruth and Dan must set an example."

"And then there is little Naomi."

"Yes, there is little Naomi, who must be raised, broken of her bad terminatress traits, and a suitable spouse found for her. Naomi, like all Connors and Reeses, must find her place in the command structure. She is likely to want a human mate like her mother, which as we both know will complicate matters."

"You think about this," John said aloud, suddenly realizing Cameron did indeed think about these issues.

"Yes. Ruth must raise a human male as well, to continue the family line."

A heavy fatigue settled over John. He was beyond weary of the pressures of being General John Connor. To just be John Connor, husband of Cameron and father of Hailey would be more than enough to make his life meaningful. Having a sister and extended family was a bonus.

"Well, let's go find Ruth and get this overwith."

"That won't be necessary," Cameron replied. "Ruth listened to our entire conversation." Cameron pointed at a large bush some twenty meters away from where they sat.

John knew better than to question Cameron. He frowned and using his best General Connor voice, bellowed. "Ruth, come here!"

No matter how many times he watched Ruth morph into something other than her preferred form and back again, it was always a little unnerving to watch his adopted sister work her T-1000 magic.

A sheepish Ruth walked over to John and Cameron and stood before them.

"I'm sorry, Cameron."

"I'm sorry I didn't handle things better, Ruth."

To John's surprise and relief, the pair hugged. Cameron took Ruth by the hand and led her towards the shore of Lake Baum. John felt his cheeks turn red when he heard Cameron ask Ruth how her sexbot session with her Dan had gone.