CAPRICA CITY

She hated hospitals.

She hated her parents.

And she hated being here.

While all three of those statements were not necessarily true, except for maybe the one about hospitals, it was how Laura Persephone Roslin felt.

At all of thirteen years, the girl skulked the long 6th Floor hallway of Caprica City General Hospital as slowly as possible. Her two-year-old sister, Sandra, meanwhile, traipsed merrily on-ahead with the mylar balloon she'd picked out in the downstairs gift shop, bobbling along.

A corner of young Laura's mouth turned up as she read the greeting caption written on the balloon:

SORRY ABOUT YOUR ACCIDENT!

Giggling openly for the first time since receiving life altering news earlier in the day, she had to hand it to her younger sibling. The kid had perfect taste. Sometimes life was wonderfully ironic.

"Daddy!"

Frak. They'd reached the end of the line. Room 600.

Laura glared at little Sandy, the squealer, and then at one half of her main source of her sour mood.

Dr. Edward Roslin bent down to pick up his second child, despite a look of complete exhaustion on his face, and beamed with pride as he always did upon seeing one of his daughters.

He now had three.

Cheryl Hemera Roslin was born bright and early with the dawn, a month shy of her expected due date. The labor had been long and painful for her mother, but all was forgotten when the tiny pink cherub arrived on the scene. Such was the case with babies.

Laura couldn't believe it. Married nearly twenty years now, Ed & Judy Roslin were still having sex.

It was so embarrassing. Why couldn't they be like most of her schoolmates' parents? Divorced, dried up, or simply not caring anymore about making sexy-time with each other.

As it was, her friends teased her mercilessly about her amorous parents. Once, they'd walked in on them 'doing it'. It had been a snow day, and school let out early due to the weather conditions. Laura had been unable to get in touch with her mom or her dad, so she made an executive decision and invited her pals Kati and Poppy home for popcorn and a movie. Instead, the three girls had been treated to the cornea searing sight of the elder Roslins' orgy for two, in front of a roaring fire in the living room.

Nine months later, Sandra Chione Roslin was born. A living, breathing, everyday reminder of the utter embarrassment of that single moment in time.

And now another baby.

At least Laura hadn't been witness to her conception.

"Dad," Laura acknowledged flatly as she pushed into the anteroom of her mother's maternity suite.

"Hey, girl," replied Ed, without a trace of registry that his eldest child hated him. Being the academic that he was, Dr. Roslin's parental philosophy was that if one didn't make note of a minor issue, the hope was that it would not later fuel the fires of decent. "You're just in time. Mom's awake, and so is your new and littlest little sister."

"Great."

Ed put Sandy down so she could present Judy with her balloon gift, not to mention a million smothering kisses to the baby.

"Laura honey, I really want to thank you for breaking your slumber party to pick up your sister from Sephie's, and then come here this morning. We just really wanted to have all our girls together. I would've come to get you, but your mother needed me. And with your grandparents–"

"Wine-tasting on Leonis, yeah, I know." Laura waved her father off as she stared at her worn black and white sneakers. "It was no problem picking her up from Aunt Seraphina's. I doubt if any of her café staff will miss the little bugger. Sandra was on her third chocolate croissant when I got there."

"Huh. No wonder she smells so sweet."

"Yeah, an improvement of late, I'd say. Oh, and you owe Auntie a few cubits from her tip-jar. I kinda borrowed some to pay for our Mag-Lev fares to get here."

"Like how much?" Ed asked cautiously.

Laura fished into the pocket of her artfully torn jeans and produced a number of receipts. One for the Hydra Street station, and another for the hospital gift shop which included Sandy's balloon, and a single yellow rose which Laura held carefully in her hands.

Warmed by his eldest's tender gesture despite an outward attitude of indifference, Ed placed a kiss to the top of Laura's head. "You'll always be my best girl. I love you, Snicklefritz."

"I love you too, Daddy," she admitted quietly.

He knew.

At that moment, a tiny voice attempted to fill the room with music. Laura rolled her eyes and rounded the gentle curve of the frosted glass wall leading to her mother's bed.

Judith Roslin had never looked more beautiful. Or tired. But mostly beautiful. She was dressed in a shimmery gown of pink and lavender, and a beatific smile. She wore little makeup, not that she needed it, and her richly flame-colored hair flowed about her shoulders.

Sandra was doing her best to be a big girl, playing quietly at the foot of the bed with a small plush unicorn given to her by her mother in celebration of the occasion.

Baby Cheryl fussed and rooted at the opening of Judy's gown, eager to nurse. Her fuzzy red head was a match to that of her older sisters.

"Hi Mama," Laura uttered shyly. Her disgust at her mother was rapidly waning, the sight of such perfection having awed her completely. She remained fixed to the floor a few feet away from the tableau, afraid that she might ruin things if she joined in.

"Laura! Thank the Gods, you're here," Judy beaconed to her eldest. "Now our family is truly complete!"

"So say we all," agreed Ed from across the room. He was leaning on the glass room divider, looking handsome as always, with his prematurely graying hair and scruff of beard. He wore chinos and a polo shirt from Apollo University, where he taught botany, and well-loved, if not slightly stinky, leather sandals.

The focus seemingly no longer on the baby, Laura blushed with nerves and adjusted her eyeglasses. Glancing over her shoulder, she sought reassurance from her father who urged her gently to join her mother and sisters on the bed. With an audible hum, the young teen acquiesced and folded herself into the group.

"Whatcha think, honey?" Judy offered up a view of the baby, unwrapping her swaddling just a bit.

"She's pretty cute," Laura admitted with a swallow. "But she kinda looks more like a cherry than a Cheryl."

"Tauran Cherry Cake!" exclaimed Sandy loudly as she held aloft her new unicorn.

The adults laughed. Laura rolled her eyes. The little pill didn't understand that the treat in question was not made out of actual cherries as they all knew them on Caprica, but the curled red ferns grown on the tough, flowerless world once known as Taurus.

Judy smiled and nodded to Ed, noting their sunny middle daughter, and their eldest who was starting to glower once again.

"Come on, Poppet!" Edward Roslin clapped his hands and held out his arms to Sandra. "Let's go see if we can find Mommy some ice cream in the cafeteria. I think she needs some, don't you?"

Sandy cheered loudly in agreement, and jumped into her dad's waiting embrace.

Once the door to the hospital room closed, Judith again turned her attention to Laura.

"So, what do you really think of your new sister?"

Laura bit her bottom lip.

"That bad, huh?"

Her mother was her best friend. There was no secret in that.

Everyone knew Laura worshiped her mother. Adored her father. For so long, it had been just the three of them. The Magic Three, they'd called themselves.

The initial arrival of Sandra had been a novelty to Laura, like that of the addition of a pet dog or cat to their little family. The expanded equation of Baby Cheryl had totally upset the fabric of her world.

"Why, Mom?"

Judy nodded. Her child was very much a Roslin. Straight and to the point, there was very little pretense to Laura. They'd raised her to be clear thinking, and honest. She was all that and more, and the woman could not have been more proud.

"I know you'll hate what I'm about to say..."

Laura crossed her arms and thinned her lips. "But I'll understand when I'm older. Right?"

"Something like that."

The girl sighed like only a teenager could. Her green eyes brimmed with tears, that out of stubborn will, refused to fall.

"Laura, your father and I could not love you any more if we tried. You mean more to us than all the worlds put together. We waited to have you until our teaching careers could afford it. I mean, thank the Gods for tenure! And then, when we did have you, it was like- here was this amazing little thing we created. Ed and I loved each other so much- and still do... but then there you were, and it was so much fun."

"Babies are fun."

"That they are," agreed Judy. "They're also fun to make."

"Mom!"

The woman couldn't help but laugh. Her daughter was clearly mortified at such an admission.

They'd had The Talk on and off since well before Sandra had been born. Laura had always seemed to relate to both of her parents more as an adult rather than a child, but some things were still understandably embarrassing.

She'd been having her period for a year now. Laura knew how things worked, for the most part. On more than one occasion she'd even taken matters into her own hands, locking herself alone in her room and exploring things for herself. But aside from a ticklish feeling that went all the way down to her toes, and a funny smell, the girl didn't quite see what there was to get all that excited about sex.

"You'll understand someday," Judith Roslin continued. "A long time from now. Preferably after I'm dead," she joked.

"Don't say that!"

"Okay, I won't. Though I'd prefer you waited till at least college."

"Don't worry. I will," Laura promised.

Boys were okay. They were stupid most of the time, but they had their cute moments. Though she couldn't imagine wanting to spend the rest of her life with one, let alone want one to get her pregnant.

"There's my girl. My responsible Laura."

Mother and daughter embraced. And cried. Big, happy teardrops slid down matching faces and fell onto Baby Cheryl, who fussed anxiously at such a sudden intrusion.

Laura cupped her sister's head and kissed her till she gurgled. "It's okay Little One," Laura soothed. "We're cool. I'm not really mad at you. Or Sandra. Or Mom and Dad. I love all of you, so much."

Judy hummed at the sight. Her first born was becoming a fine young woman.

Laura removed her glasses and wiped the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes. "It's true, you know. You can always count on me, Mom."

"I know, honey."

"Good." Laura patted her mother's knee, then eyed her sister with complete and genuine enthusiasm. "Can I hold the baby, now? 'Cause I really, really want to! She's like, SO adorable!"

"Of course!" Judy smiled as Laura cradled Cheryl carefully in her arms, whispering soft words and kissing her fine hair. "You look like a natural, if ever I saw one."

The girl hummed at the thought, then giggled. "The only kids I want are students. Just like you and Dad."

Her daughter was set on being a teacher. For the time being, at least. Judith Roslin, however, was convinced Laura would do something far bigger in her enfolding life. Ed often teased her for having such a notion, saying it was the musings of a mother wanting more for her child than what she herself had.

As it was, she felt as though she had everything. It was only natural to want her child to have that as well.

"Well, whatever you do in the future, I want you to have this."

Laura looked up to find her mother holding out what looked to be a half-circle of silver metal. In reality, it was a delicate cuff bracelet with swirled black pearls on each end. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she'd ever seen, and certainly one that was more 'grown up' than all the pieces she owned, put together.

"I bought this when we found out you were inside me," Judy explained to her speechless daughter. "Of course, I didn't know you were going to be a girl, but I certainly hoped and prayed you would be."

Laura held out her left arm, so her mother could slip the cuff onto her wrist. "Well, you've got three girls now. We should buy two more for–"

"No," Judith Roslin stated, her voice firm with emotion. "This is for you, Laura. Just you. I waited until now to give it to you, because I'm so proud of who you are becoming. And I want you to always know that you are loved so very much. Just as much, if not more, than that first day you stole our hearts."

As her mother pinched the adult-sized cuff tighter to her thin wrist, Laura understood the meaning of her mother's gift. It was as though both of her parents' arms were surrounding her in their love, just as they always would. She would never part with such a gift, nor her love for them.

Later, Ed and Sandy, along with the child's plush unicorn- now named 'Greg', returned. With them, they brought heaping containers of every kind of ice cream the cafeteria had to offer, to be shared by all members of their now complete family.

Both parents exchanged knowing glances at each other as Laura and Sandra painted melted vanilla on Cheryl's rosebud of a mouth, giving their sister her first taste of sweetness.

Life was so very good.