It all began with "It's All in Your Head."
They celebrated their arrival on Earth in "Dancing."
Then the beginnings of their family were chronicled in "Photos."
And now it's "The End."
Kara slowly made her way across the carpeted living room floor to the large bookcase that took up one big wall. She ran a finger along the spines and found the one she was looking for: a thick leather-bound volume.
Clutching her cargo close to her chest, Kara turned to make the trek across the living room to the well-worn sofa that lasted for so many years.
She sat down with a soft grunt and opened the well worn leather cover to begin flipping through the photos she'd seen millions of times before. Each one was permanently imprinted into her memory, but she enjoyed regularly looking through the documentation of her life with Lee.
The first was a candid shot of them dancing on the cruise ship that had been their home when the Colonials first arrived on Earth.
It was a quiet moment with the two of them looking deep into the other's eyes.
It had been one of the last times Lee ever wore a Colonial dress uniform and just one of many times Kara wore a dress just for him.
And life progressed through the pages.
At their "wedding," with faces covered in cake.
Pictures from their honeymoon, where they went out and took photos so that they could tell their family and friends that they'd seen the sights and to avoid those unnecessary questions and speculation before promptly heading back to their hotel room (the questions were still asked though).
At the dinner celebrating his making partner at his law firm.
Giddy and more than a little drunk at the opening of her very own art gallery.
All those shots of them in the snow during winter, her favorite time of year.
Photos of the just the two of them turned into family shots as their children came into their lives.
Billy.
Karen.
Louisa.
Stephen (Billy had been ecstatic when he heard that he finally had a brother).
Onesies and primary colored baby clothes turned into the grubby shirts, jeans, and frilly dresses the kids refused to change out of which turned into the trendy clothes of adolescents which turned into graduation gowns and caps which turned into suits, military uniforms, and in one case, the paint splattered smock of an elementary school art teacher.
And there was her and Lee throughout the years.
Lines slowly appeared on their faces.
Gray crept into their hair. His stood in stark contrast to his brown hair while hers blended into her blonde.
Soon the photos showed them with babies once again.
Their grandchildren.
And the cycle began all over again.
Except, to Kara's delight, there were more art teachers this time around.
She flipped back several pages to a photo taken when her babies were still little. Back when Louisa and Stephen could both fit on her lap and when Billy and Karen were light enough to hang off their father's neck.
It was a family portrait showing four happily smiling adults and four children in a rare moment where they were all behaving.
Bill and Laura were sitting with Billy and Karen standing on either side of them while Louisa sat in Grandma's lap.
Stephen was in Kara's arms as she and Lee stood behind the seated group. She held her baby boy's often-waving hands firmly in her own to keep him still for the picture.
Although it was blocked by the people in front of him, she remembered how Lee had one arm around her waist while his other hand was clearly lightly resting on his father's shoulder.
Simple gestures of affection that spoke volumes about how they'd grown as people.
It also happened to be one of the last times they were together as an entire family before the Old Man's health just gave out and Laura began her final decline as well.
Kara heard a soft noise that brought her out of her reminiscing. The telltale shuffling of slippers on the carpeted hallway floor. She looked up from the album and turned her head towards the general direction of the hallway.
"I know you're there, Lee," she called out with a smile.
And out he came, with that familiar sheepish expression on his face.
Lee Joseph Adama II (a name that she hoped would live on for generations), who, with the exception of his grandmother's hazel eyes, was the spitting image of his grandfather.
"What are you doing up so late, Gramma?"
"Just looking at some old photographs. And I might ask you the same question."
"I came down for a glass of water."
"Did you get it?"
"Yes."
There was a pause, and Lee made a move to leave, but Kara waved him over to where she was sitting.
"Come here a minute. Sit with me for a bit."
With her grandson seated next to her, Kara shifted the thick album over to his lap and turned to a photo of her, her late husband, and their many grandchildren at a family barbeque from over a decade previous.
"Do you remember this day, Lee?"
"Yes, Gramma."
They were silent for a moment before Kara began speaking again.
"You know…we went through a lot to get to Earth, but I don't think anyone ever took as much crap as your grandfather did. Especially because he was so stubborn in his beliefs."
Lee contemplated what his grandmother said before asking, "You mean he refused to adapt?"
"No. He refused to forget how things were supposed to work. The civilian government was always on the verge of falling apart and despite what he said in public, your great grandfather was more than willing to let the military take over. But none of that happened because of the man you were named after."
Kara poked her grandson in the arm to emphasize her point.
"He was the only one of us who really understood that we had to do more than just try to make it through the next day if we wanted to survive. He even stared down two opposing sides armed and ready to start shooting, and saved a criminal's life to make his point."
She smiled sadly at the memory of how Lee the elder had defused the situation on the Astral Queen before immediately switching gears and made sure that Cally was alright.
Poor Cally….years later, she, in an act of complete despair and utter self-disgust, had killed her husband and child before turning the gun on herself after finding out that Tyrol was a Cylon.
Kara didn't dwell to long on that tragedy, though, and pushed those memories back down into the recesses of her subconscious.
Tomorrow, the bulk of her family would be arriving for a weekend of fun and games to celebrate the anniversary of the Colonial's arrival on Earth.
It was supposed to be a time of joy, not mourning.
She turned her thoughts back to the man she married and continued to speak to her grandson.
"I did so many things wrong in my life. And nearly everything I did right was because your grandfather refused to give up on me. He gave me the normalcy that I never had, and he gave me the chance to meet all of you…"
Lee watched his grandmother trace the face of his grandfather in the photo with infinite tenderness. For the moment, she was lost in her own world of memories, remembering the life she'd shared with the man who'd taught him to stand firm and fight for what he believed in.
She felt more than saw the strong hand resting on top of her frail one.
"You miss him, don't you?"
"Every moment. We had 52 years together…four children, eighteen grandchildren, and a great grandchild on the way…52 wonderful years…"
Kara wiped away the tears that began welling in her eyes before closing the album.
"It's late…"she patted her grandson's knee and moved to stand up. "You should be in bed."
Lee quickly got to his feet, and helped his grandmother the rest of the way up.
"How about you, Gramma?"
"I'll head up in a few minutes."
"Okay."
"Good night, Lee," she pulled him down to kiss him on the cheek. "And get that wife of yours something before you go back to bed."
"I will, Gramma. Good night."
"Hey."
That voice.
That infuriatingly casual greeting.
Kara opened her eyes to see a familiar figure.
"Lee?"
There was Lee-her Lee-standing by the bed they'd shared, smiling down at her. His eyes were as blue and bright as they'd always been, but he was young again. Gone were the signs of passing decades and a lifetime of dealing with her antics and those of their children and grandchildren.
"Hey, Starbuck."
Kara gaped at the sight in front of her, not knowing what to make of it. She got up out of bed slowly, her joints creaking and popping, and just stood there, wondering what to do next.
She suddenly let out an incredulous laugh and threw herself at him, expecting to fall right through. But she didn't.
He felt as solid and real as he had ever been, and his arms came up to pull her close, enveloping her in that warmth that she'd yearned for in the months since his death.
"Gods, I missed you…Is this a dream?" she asked against his chest, hoping that if it was she would never wake up from it.
His reply was a simple "No."
Kara suddenly felt different.
Lighter.
More energetic.
Her back seemed straighter, and those aches and pains in her joints were gone.
She pulled back to see what had happened to her body, and what she saw made her gasp.
She was young again as well.
"What?" she asked in disbelief, not knowing what was happening to her.
Lee looked at her with a soothing smile and said with all due seriousness, "It's time, Kara."
She turned to look at their bed and saw that she was still lying in it. Or at least her body was, bearing the badges of age she had earned over the years.
She turned back to look at Lee. "But what about our family…"
"They'll be fine. We'll always watch over them."
A soft noise suddenly came from the bedroom door.
It was Lee, the grandson.
The young man slowly walked over to his grandmother's side and knelt down, intending to just quickly check up on her before heading out.
"Gramma?"
But she wasn't breathing.
"Oh…"
They watched as their grandson's head bowed down.
Kara was at a loss. What was she to do?
Could she go and put her arms around him and comfort him like she used to?
Or was she supposed to stand by, do nothing, and watch him mourn for her.
She looked at her husband, her eyes full of pleading. But, he just smiled and urged her towards the bed.
"Go on."
Kara stepped up and hesitatingly put her hand on Lee's shoulder. Although she could feel him, he showed no indication that he could feel her.
Suddenly feeling more comfortable, she leaned down to whisper one last message into her grandson's ear.
"I'm alright, Lee. I'm with your grandfather now. Remember everything we taught you and you'll be fine. And don't worry about making me proud, because I already am."
Her husband came up beside her and added, "We both are."
"We love you, Lee."
Kara straightened back up and looked at her Lee.
"Did he hear that?"
"No. But he felt it."
And their grandson did seem less sad and more at peace.
Satisfied, she turned to her husband and said, "I'm ready."
Lee held out his arm, and Kara threaded hers through it. And so they set off to begin the next and final step in their journey together.
"So…what's it like?"
"Boring without you."
"Figured."
"I'll tell you one thing, though."
"What?"
"We kept the secret about our wedding to the grave."
Lee had no idea how long he'd been sitting at his grandmother's bedside, holding her limp hand in his, and looking at the serene smile on her face.
They'd been talking just a few short hours before, and now she was gone.
"Honey?" a voice startled him. "Everybody's waiting-Oh!"
He turned to see Kathy, his wife, standing at the door, with her hands covering her mouth.
"She must have passed in her sleep."
"I'm so sorry…Are you alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. I…should go tell…everyone." But he wasn't completely ready to make the announcement that their beloved mother and grandmother was dead less than a year after they'd lost their father and grandfather.
He stood up and let Kathy pull him close to her.
"It'll be okay, Lee."
He felt the tiniest little flutter against his abdomen and smiled at the sensation.
"I know it will, Kathy. I know it will."
His wife was carrying the latest addition to the Adama clan, and although his grandparents would never get to meet his child, he or she would still get to know all about his or her great grandparents.
Their legacy would never be forgotten.
And so ends a story I began more than a year ago with "It's All in Your Head." Thank you to all of you who stuck with this since the beginning.
I might or might not add to "Photos" in the distant future. But don't be disappointed if I don't.
Please tell me what you thought about this journey.