For once in his life, Bill Adama didn't understand what he was feeling. It had hurt him to watch his son grow close with the President of the Twelve Colonies. That much was clear, but he couldn't understand the source of the pain. Was he jealous of the woman for being close to his son when he wasn't? Or was he jealous of his son for being close to the woman when he couldn't be? Perhaps it was a little of both. All he knew was he felt a lot of resentment toward them both when Lee announced he was to be her advisor.
But after awhile his feelings started to shift. Lee's first major task as her military advisor was to form an agreement with the prisoners of the Astral Queen to get them to work toward their freedom. He succeeded but put the President in a compromising situation with Zarek, agreeing to elections on her behalf.
Those few moments, when the President and he were yelling at Lee, felt strangely right. It was like President Roslin was Lee's mother and his wife, and they were giving their unruly adolescent a talking to together. It was wonderful. And it was something he had missed out on in his marriage to Carolanne.
Carolanne had never been a disciplinarian. That task had always fallen to Bill, so he was always the "mean" parent. He hated it but that was what his boys needed him to be, and he'd do anything for his boys.
But it wasn't like that with President Roslin, with Laura, as he was beginning to think of her in private-he wondered what it would be like to call her by her given name, to have that connection. With Laura, it was like they were part of a team for those few moments. They even teased each other a bit, each passing off the blame for their unruly child on the other. And Lee really was both of theirs. He was Bill's son and her military advisor. But he was also his own man, which was what they both wanted for the young Captain Apollo.
Still, neither of them were particularly happy with the actions the boy had taken that day. Bill was surprised that he was clearly more displeased than Laura was. He figured she'd be determined to keep her position, especially in light of her refusal to negotiate with the terrorist. But she seemed oddly nonchalant with the idea of mandatory elections-once Apollo had made his case, of course. She probably expected to win in a landslide. Bill could understand that. She'd certainly have his endorsement after the way she handled the events since the attacks.
If anyone but Laura were elected, Bill would declare Martial Law. He had reluctantly accepted her authority over him, and over the weeks, he learned to respect the woman and the office. He wouldn't have that same respect for anyone else. He hadn't had it for Adar or any of his predecessors, and he'd never have it for the presidents who came after Laura, assuming he'd live to see her successor take office.