"How are you doing?" Bill asks, leaning against the row of seats in front of where Laura and Aurora were sitting, the young child sleeping with her head in her mother's lap.

"Fine," Laura says as she looks up from the dossier in her hands, "Little nauseous, but you know I haven't flown well in years."

"Want me to get you anything?"

"Mmm, soda water?"

"Sure," Bill says with a smile. He comes back a moment later with a small bottle handing it to her. Laura tucks the dossier into her bag before taking the bottle and opening it.

"Thank you," Laura says after taking a sip.

"You might want to consider a prescription," Bill indicates Mona who was passed out across the aisle. Laura snorts and laughs.

"She's never done well on the heavies."

"We should be at Galactica in about an hour," Bill tells her.

"Sounds good," Laura smiles. She busies herself with a book for the next half hour before Aurora wakes up, stretching out as she yawns, "Good nap?"

"Mmhm," Aurora hums and sits up. Laura brushes her daughter's hair out of her face smiling at her.

"We're almost there, you can see it out the window." Aurora scrambles over Laura's lap, pressing her face to the glass, watching as they continue their approach of the battlestar.

"Wow…"

"Come on, let me get your hair under control before we dock," Laura says as she nudges Aurora back into her seat. She digs a brush and hair tie out of her bag, brushing out the long, black, wavy locks before starting to braid it. She masterfully wraps a hair tie around the end and kisses the crown of her daughter's head, "Gorgeous."

"Thank you," Aurora says before looking around the heavy, taking in the various people milling around, "I thought Lee was coming."

"He is already on Galactica," Laura assures Aurora, "Why don't you wake up Momo while I use the restroom?"

"Okay," Aurora smiles, sliding across the aisle to sit next to Mona. Laura gets out of her seat and heads to the bathroom. She comes back a couple moments later, running a damp cloth over the back of her neck as she plops back into her seat. Laura looks up as her new assistant, Billy, comes over. She had taken a chance on Daniel's younger brother after Daniel had decided to move on to bigger and better things. But Billy worked just as if not more efficiently than his brother, she felt bad for retiring and leaving him to the animals.

"So, once we dock the Commander is going to take you on a tour with Mr. Doral and Ms. Adar. There's going to be a short press conference afterward, just a tease for the ceremony. The ceremony isn't until tomorrow morning, so you'll have the evening to yourself."

"Thank you, Billy," Laura smiles, watching out the window as they approach Galactica before landing in the hangar deck. Laura gathers her things and disembarks with everyone else, keeping a hold on Aurora's hand as they stand on the deck for a moment. The little girl spins in her mother's grasp, taking in the rows of vipers various engineering staff in orange jump suits were working on. Her eyes widen as a live viper rolls in, grinning as Kara hops out of the cockpit, shrugging out of the top of her flight suit.

"Kara!" Aurora calls out, waving enthusiastically at the blonde as she does her post flight check before coming over to the group.

"Hey nugget," Kara says as she scoops up Aurora, kissing her cheek. She salutes Bill and smiles at Laura.

"Sir, Mrs. Sir."

"Starbuck," Bill greets with a smile, "If you're done with CAP, why don't you take our guests on a tour of the flight deck? I have a couple items to sort out before we embark on the ship tour."

"My pleasure." Laura presses a kiss to Bill's cheek before leading Aurora to follow Kara, Mona trailing next to them, as the pilot gives them a tour of the bustling flight deck. Chief Tyrol wipes his hands off before holding one out to Laura.

"Madame Secretary, it's great to have you on board as well as the Princess Aurora," Tyrol smiles at the little girl. Aurora blushes and rests her head on her mother's hip.

"It's great to finally see the ship, Chief. How is everything coming along?"

"Good, we'll be ready to go tomorrow."

"Great, thank you so much for your help getting this taken care of." Kara continues to guide them around the deck before they meet up with Bill back at the stairs.

"Good tour?" Bill asks Aurora. She nods with a wide grin.

"I can't wait to fly!"

"Well you still have quite a few years little miss." Bill tells his daughter with a grin. He takes her hand and starts to guide the group through the ship, giving them a brief but thorough tour before they end back at the entrance to flight deck.

"Madame Secretary, I believe you have a press conference? Why don't I show Ms. Adar to the guest quarters?"

"I think that would be lovely. I will come find you after the press conference?" Laura inquires with a grin. Bill nods and winks at Laura, before continuing back down the hallway with Mona and Aurora.

"Ms. Adar? Lay it on thick, Bill."

"Just trying to keep up appearances," Bill says with a smirk as he opens a hatch for Mona next to his own quarters, "Let me know if there is anything you need, I'm guessing we'll probably get together for dinner in about an hour or so?"

"I ordered turn down service with at least one delectable private waiting for me on my bed," Mona teases as she drops her bag onto her bed.

"Of course Ms. Adar, let me correct that right away," Bill shakes his head with a grin before taking Aurora to his quarters. He puts her and Laura's bags on the couch and looks down at his daughter, "What do you think, butterfly? Cool enough to hang out with your dad for a little bit?"

"Definitely," Aurora says with a grin. Bill chuckles and leads her out of the quarters, meeting up with Saul in the hallway, "Hi, Uncle Saul."

"How is the princess today?" Saul greets, casting a small smile in the little girl's direction as he hands Bill a couple files. Aurora giggles and continues to keep pace as she walks between the two men. After a bit she tugs on her father's pants.

"Where are Zak and Lee?"

"Zak is on shift right now, I don't know where Lee is but I know we'll see him for dinner."

"Oh, can we say hi to Zak?"

"Yes we can," Bill says as they head towards the CIC. He guides Aurora inside and up to Zak's work station.

"Lieutenant, I believe you have a visitor," Zak takes off his headset and turns around, grinning when he sees his sister.

"Hey Ror!"

"Zakky!" Aurora smiles and wraps her arms around her brother, giving him a big hug.

"Laura is doing a press conference right now, but we're going to have dinner afterward, when are you off?"

"Couple hours, sir."

"Come by my quarters when you're relieved."

"Yes, sir."

"Come on, Aurora. Still have more work to do," Bill prompts the little girl, taking her hand again.

"Bye, Zak."

"Bye, Ror. I'll see you later." Bill leads Aurora away and Dee snickers from behind Zak.

"Zakky?"

"Shut up, Dualla," Zak says as he puts his headphones back on.

Laura spits after brushing her teeth. She rinses out her mouth and wipes the left over white foam with the back of her hand before flicking the light off and padding out to the living area where Bill was tucking Aurora in on the couch.

"Comfortable?" Bill asks as he tucks the fleet blue blanket around the little girl.

"Snug as a bug," Aurora grins. Bill smiles and presses a kiss to her head.

"Your mom and I will just be in the next room if you need anything, kay?" Aurora nods and reaches up, hugging Bill before letting him go. Laura smiles and leans down, giving Aurora a kiss on her head.

"Night baby girl."

"Night mama," Aurora replies with a yawn. Bill stands and turns off all of the lights except for a small lamp on his desk. He leads Laura back to his rack and lets her climb in as he undresses, folding his blues before climbing in next to her.

"So what do you think of the old girl?"

"It's a great ship, the crew respects you…I see that spark in your eye when you're walking around barking orders."

"I don't bark," Bill says indignantly.

"No you don't," Laura smiles and kisses Bill before rolling over, pressing her back to his front. Bill wraps an arm around her waist, resting a hand on her stomach as he kisses her shoulder.

"Hows your stomach been since you've been on board?"

"Better, Galactica's gravity is definitely better regulated than the heavies."

"Well that's what we're known for, our gravity regulation," Bill chuckles. Laura smacks him on the hip as she laughs.

"Shush, Commander. And turn off the light, I'm tired."

"Sir, yes, sir," Bill says, reaching up to turn off the light.

"Thank you," Laura says, snuggling back further before closing her eyes, "Love you."

"Love you back."

Laura closes the hatch behind her quietly, spinning the lock before taking her shoes off and looking in on Aurora, surprised to find Bill at his desk, reading quietly.

"Hey," She whispers as she walks over to the desk, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, kissing his head.

"Hey, where'd you run off to?"

"Oh you know just down the street," Laura jokes before leaning against the desk, "I just took a couple laps, couldn't sleep."

"You sure you're alright?" Bill asks, looking up at her with concerned eyes.

"I'm great," Laura assures him with a smile, "And I'm 48 hours away from purse bliss."

Bill smiles at her and nods, squeezing her leg. He gets up when someone knocks on the hatch, letting the marine on the other side in as he rolls the breakfast cart in. "Thanks, Jaffee."

"You're welcome sir," Bill shows him out and shuts the hatch again. Laura pours herself a cup of coffee and takes a seat on the couch at Aurora's feet. She watches her daughter sleep as she sips her way through her cup, Bill taking a seat back at his desk and continuing to work through the pile of paperwork.

After a while Aurora starts to stir, cracking one eye open before shuffling down the couch and snuggling up to Laura. Laura smiles and wraps an arm around her daughter, pressing a kiss to her head gently.

"Morning sleepy head."

"Mmmm," Aurora groans, burying her head further into Laura's chest.

"So snuggly," Laura says as she rubs Aurora's back, holding her close as she lets her wake up. Aurora sits up a while later and yawns as she rubs her eyes.

"Where's the bathroom?"

"In the other room, baby," Laura says, pointing her towards the rack area. Aurora yawns a few more times as she scrambles off towards the bathroom. Laura stands and folds up the blanket Aurora had used, setting it on top of the pillow before perusing the items that had been brought in on the breakfast cart. She makes a small plate for Aurora, setting it on the opposite side of Bill's desk with a glass of juice. She lifts Aurora into the chair and pushes her in before grabbing a piece of fruit for herself. Bill finishes the file he was working on and rests his hand on his chin as he watches Aurora eat breakfast.

"How did you sleep?"

"Good," Aurora says as she pulls a grape off of the bunch offering it out to Bill. Bill smiles and takes the green globe, popping it into his mouth, "Your room is pretty cool."

"Well, thank you. I've spent quite a while working on it."

"Mom said you used to spend a lot of time here and only lived in an itty bitty apartment when you would come home, is that true?"

"It is," Bill says with a nod, "Before you were born I used to leave a lot more often than I do now, and I was gone for longer periods of time, and before I met your mom I didn't really do much when I did come home."

"Why did you leave so often? Is it cause of the Cy..Cyli...what are they called again?"

"Cylons," Laura prompts.

"Right, what mama said."

"It was because of the cylons, because my job was to protect everyone if they ever come back."

"Where did they go?"

"No one knows."

"Oh," Aurora says, screwing her face up in thought for a moment before shrugging and continuing to eat her breakfast. Laura smiles and presses a kiss to Aurora's forehead before looking at Bill.

"I'm going to go shower."

"Sounds good," Bill smiles and winks at her.

Aurora tucks her chin to her front as Laura zips up the back of her dress. Laura straightens out the skirt portion before running her fingers through Aurora's hair.

"Up or down?"

"Up," Aurora requests. Laura brushes her daughter's hair out before working the mass into a clean bun at the nape of her neck.

"Alright, you're all set," Laura says as she turns Aurora around. Aurora smiles and swings her hips back and forth, making her skirt sway, "You look beautiful."

"So do you," Aurora says, batting her eyelashes. Laura laughs and stands, smoothing out her own dress before holding her hand out.

"Let's go find dad." Aurora takes Laura's hand and follows her out to the corridor, walking quietly at her mother's side until they stumble upon Lee and Kara, already dressed in their flight suits.

"Captain Adama, Lieutenant Thrace," Laura greets, smiling at the duo, "Good morning."

"Morning," Lee greets and picks up his sister, "How are you two doing?"

"Good, have you seen your father at all?"

"He's been haunting the hallways I believe, working on his speech or something," Kara says.

"If you stumble upon him will you tell him I'm taking Ror down to the flight deck?"

"Of course," Lee says, setting Aurora back down on her feet, "We'll meet you down there in half hour?"

"Sure," Laura smiles and takes Aurora's hand, managing to navigate themselves back to the flight deck. The vipers had been cleared out for the most part and the stage was currently being set up. The two of them walk over to a viper that Tyrol was working on.

Tyrol pulls his hands out of an area he was working on, slamming the panel shut before starting to wipe his hands off on a work towel. He climbs down the entry stairs and smiles at Laura and Aurora.

"I think we're ready to go. Apollo's going to give her a test drive here in a little bit."

"It looks...perfect."

"It's been a trip, but she is 100% authentic parts."

"Thank you so much for your help with this."

"Anything for the Old Man," Tyrol says with a smile, tucking his towel back in his pocket, "Want to take a look inside Aurora?"

"Yes, please!" Aurora grins, climbing the stairs to peer into the cock pit. Tyrol steps up behind her and lifts her inside, plopping her in the seat. Laura keeps a watchful eye as Aurora gets an introduction to the finer points of the Mark IIs cockpit. She had no doubt that her daughter was going to follow in her father and brother's footsteps and be a pilot. And on this particular day the thought absolutely terrified her for some reason. Laura looks over as Lee and Kara sidle up next to her.

"She looks good up there," Kara comments with a smile.

"She's five."

"You've got 13 years to talk her into education or something else," Lee assures, "Adama's make great lawyers too."

"Did you find your dad?" Laura asks, changing the subject.

"Yeah, he'll be down in about half an hour. Is that enough time to take her out, Chief?"

"Sure, Captain," Tyrol helps Aurora out, letting Lee climb in.

"Gods, this thing is ancient."

"She was the best back in the war," Tyrol says as he helps Lee get settled in before calling for a flight crew. Aurora watches in fascination as the Viper is prepped before Lee slams the cockpit shut, ready to take off. Laura sighs, shaking her head gently as a knot begins to settle in her stomach.

[TBC]