Disclaimer: BSG (2003) and all the characters are property of Ron D. Moore. I merely borrowed his playthings to play a bit in his sandbox.

Enjoy! L

Chapter 1

„Grandpa, look! Looooook!" Bill opened a lazy eye and tried to determine what had caused his granddaughter's enthusiasm. He found her standing a few metres away from the bench he was sitting on, pointing at something small that was racing across the grass. A squirrel. Before he could say or do anything, they girl had decided to run after the little animal because she had found a new playmate. "Sophie, wait, come here first!" Bill, of course in vain, called after her. She had already reached a rather big tree in the middle of the park they were spending the afternoon in and was looking up. Apparently the squirrel had been successful in finding a place to hide. Well, at least that's what Bill thought when he decided to lean back again and wait for Sophie to come over and whine about not being able to pet the tiny creature.

He had thoroughly underestimated her level of stubbornness and determination. Her arms reaching above her head, she found a branch on which she pulled herself up in a speed that caused Bill's jaw to drop. This couldn't be happening – he had to get his granddaughter off a tree on a day where he thought they'd just be spending some nice time in a park that was fun enough with slides, swings and a flying fox that was Sophie's favourite. Laura had called some minutes ago to tell him that she'd finished work and join them soon which he was looking forward to since the three of them had not been able to spend much time together due to work schedules and a holiday that Lee, Kara and Sophie had been on.

In the short time that it took him to get up and jog over to the tree, the girl had already managed to climb a few more metres and when Bill reached the place, he could only determine her little form hidden by lots of branches above him. "Sophie! Come down again! Now!" He felt a mixture of anxiety and anger inside him – why did his granddaughter have to behave as reckless as her mother and take risks at every given opportunity? "Sophie!" Sophie's head peaked through the bulk of branches. "Grandpa… I… I'm stuck and the squirrel is… it's gone." Her voice sounded whiny. For a short moment, Bill thought about his options, but in the end he had no choice. "Oh for frak's sake…," he grumbled, took his jacket off and pulled himself on that first branch as well, on his way carefully avoiding the little twigs that had carried Sophie's weight but would certainly have him take a nice fall down that tree.

Laura, with a cup of coffee from the café in the park in her hand, happily strolled towards the place where Bill had told her they'd be waiting for her. She'd had a good day at school, for a change no trouble calls from any parents and no marking for the next day. So, she was glad to be able to end that day with some quality time with her family, spent in the warm late summer sun, and maybe she could convince Bill to make dinner for them afterwards. When she reached the bench they were usually sitting on, however, she found it empty except for Bob, Sophie's gorilla, and a bag of fruit and water Bill had taken with him. Laura looked around, trying to determine where they were – they certainly could not have gone far.

Then, an incredulous expression on her face, she saw two legs dangling from a tree nearby. Her husband's legs. The rest of him was hidden behind twigs. She could hear his voice now as well. "Sophie, take that branch to your left. Noooo, not that one. The bigger one! That's right. Now, you can almost reach me, see. Go on." If the scene presented there hadn't been so funny, Laura seriously would have been worried about her granddaughter and husband stuck in a rather big tree. She thought about going over and offering her help. But, with an amused smile on her face, she decided to walk back to the bench and wait for them there because she was sure that Bill would be more than embarrassed to learn she had witnessed this event.

- TBC -