Thank you to Berenakiss2, AdamaGirl, dinki66, Happymisa, ozzlover, walkerdude1 and the three guests for reviewing, you all helped me to keep writing and not get discouraged by someone PMing me and telling me they don't like how I'm writing alternative universe, instead of staying within the original plot.
Chapter rating: T
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
All mistakes are my own. I hope you enjoy :)
22nd October
"You ready to go pick your brothers and Kara?" Laura asked Katie as they drove, from the centre where their swimming class is held, to the boy's school.
"Ya" Katie replied excitedly, banging her hands against the sides of her car seat.
"Okay," Laura said as she parked the car, before walking around the car and unbuckling Katie. She placed the little girl on her hip and headed towards Zak's classroom, where she could see children excitedly grabbing their bags and walking towards their parents.
"Mommy" Zak said running to Laura with his bag dragging behind him.
"Aaam" Katie replied grinning at the sight of her brother, not quiet havigng mastered his name yet.
"Hi Laura" Kara added shyly, following closely behind Zak.
"Hi Bub" Laura replied hugging Zak tightly, before turning to Kara and adding "hi Kara, how are you doing?"
"I'm alright" Kara said, as the group walked over to Lee's classroom.
"Ee ee" Katie called upon spotting her eldest brother playing with Galen outside his classroom.
"Hi Katie" Lee replied walking over to hug his sister, "hi Mom".
"You ready to go?" Laura asked Lee.
"Yeah, I've just got to get my bag from inside" he replied running into the classroom. "Okay ready" Lee added, before quickly saying goodbye to his friends.
"I've parked over there, how about you and Kara, sit in the back and Lee and Katie can sit in the middle" Laura told Zak. When the summer holidays started in July they family decided it was time to buy a car that would accommodate their growing family, so after much deliberation they purchased a silver seven seat Mazda cx-9. They'd even decided to splash out a little extra on leather, knowing the kids would most likely spill food or drinks in the car.
"How does spaghetti, with some of the bolognese sauce your Dad made last night, sound for dinner?" Laura asked the trio excitedly.
"Yay" Lee and Zak chorused happily, before Lee asked "when's Dad going to be home?"
"He has to work late tonight, the nuggets have a test tonight and your Dads overseeing the assessment, but he should be back before you go to bed, so he can tuck you in" Laura replied.
"Okay, can we go play at outside now?" Lee asked enthusiastically.
"Sure, get changed out of your uniforms and I'll make you a snack" Laura replied ruffling the boy's hair. Ten minutes later Katie was happily playing in her bouncer when the boys came running downstairs.
"Mommy" Zak said coming to stand next to Laura, "I think Kara needs some help getting changed".
"Okay sure, I'll go help, where is she?" Laura asked.
"In the bathroom, I knocked, but she told me I couldn't help" Zak said
"Okay, can you both keep an eye on your sister, you can also have a bowl of fruit salad while I'm gone, and then once you've finished I'll get you a cookie each" Laura replied ruffling his hair and walking up the stairs.
"Kara, are you okay?" Laura asked knocking on the bathroom door.
"Umm, I'm alright" Kara replied finally managing to get her long sleeved top on.
"Are you sure sweetie?"
"Yep, all dressed" she replied opening the door and quickly running downstairs, leaving a baffled Laura in her wake, who noticed what looked like a large bruise on the back of the little girl's neck.
"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Bill asked walking into the kitchen, placing his on the jacket on the back of a chair and kissing her on the cheek.
"Good, have you had dinner yet? I've got some pasta and sauce ready to go if not" Laura asked, smiling softly at him.
"No, I left as soon as the final examination was completed" Bill replied sitting down at the table wearily.
"Well your home now and it's Friday, so you don't have to do anything but relax for the next two days" Laura said, heating up his dinner and placing it in front of him.
"Where are the kids?" Bill asked pulling her on to his lap and eating his dinner with one hand.
"Watching a movie upstairs, I brought up some popcorn a few minutes ago and they were engrossed, even Katie seemed to be enjoying it, although I think she just liked being with the big kids" Laura replied chuckling.
"That's good, I hope my little munchkins were good this afternoon?" Bill said, running his hand softly up and down her side.
"They were, but…..you know Kara's mother well don't you? I know she is in the fleet" Laura said as softly.
"Yeah she and I fought side by side in the first Cylon war, why?" Bill asked curiously.
"Would she ever be aggressive, or get angry quickly?"
"She drank a lot of alcohol and was known to get into a few fights, but other than that she was nice, what's this have to do with?"
"This afternoon when the kids got changed so they could play outside, Kara wouldn't come out of the bathroom and when I went in to check on her, she ran out of the bathroom flustered, and I spotted a large bruise on the back of her neck. I know that's not a common place to get a bruise, so I was wondering how her mother's been treating her since her father left last year" Laura replied sadly.
"Maybe we should keep an eye on her, she may have just fallen over, but when I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if Socrata was taking a strict and hard approach to discipline" Bill said solemnly.
"Daddy" the boys yelled excitedly when Bill and Laura walked up stairs, both running over to their father and jumping into his arms.
"Hey you two, how are you?" Bill asked scooping them both into a tight hug.
"Good, we're watching the Lego movie" Zak supplied, once Bill released the boys from his embrace.
"Ahhh, what's this the sixth time you've seen it?" Bill asked jokingly, before heading over to where Katie was sitting up against a mountain of pillows.
"Dada, dada, dada" Katie squealed as Bill lifted her into his arms, and peppered kisses over her face.
"My little princess, I've missed you" Bill replied lifting her over his head, to her delighted giggles.
"Come on time to get changed into your pyjamas, then you can finish watching the movie" Laura said pausing the movie and motioning towards the doorway.
Laura was walking past the bathroom door, after giving Lee and Zak a new clean set of pyjamas, when she heard the muffled sounds of sobs.
"Kara, are you okay in there?" Laura asked, knocking softly on the door.
"Yeah, ow um, I'm okay" Kara replied quickly.
"You don't sound okay, I'm going to come in sweetie" Laura said opening the door slowly. She found Kara with one arm stuck in her pyjama top, a bruised hand poking out and tears running down her cheeks.
"Sweetie what happened?" Laura asked concerned, kneeling down to Kara's level.
"My hand hurts" Kara replied sobbing.
"What happened to your hand sweetheart?"
"Mommy placed it in a door jamb and slammed the door shut, because I put crickets in her shoes after she hit me" Kara tearfully explained.
"Oh sweetie, we need to get this checked out by a doctor, this looks like it's broken" Laura said, gently examining Kara's hand.
"Bill" Laura called out, "can you come to the bathroom please".
"Yeah, what's the matter?" Bill asked rounding the corner with Katie in his arms, before stopping still at the sight of Kara's bruised hand, "what's wrong?"
"I think Kara's broken her hand, can you please round the boys up and get them in the car, I'll get the first aid kit and strap this lightly, hopefully I can remember how from those first aid courses I took for teaching a few years ago" Laura replied helping Kara into her top.
Three hours the family was waiting in a hospital room, when the doctor came in with Kara's x-ray.
"Looks like the 5th, 4th and 3rd metacarpal bones in her hand are fractured, we're going to need to immobilise her hand in a plaster cast for around six weeks, if you can come with me sir and fill out the fleet's details for health insurance, I'll get a nurse to prepare the cast. I've also contacted child services about the alleged incident, and they will be in contact with you soon" the doctor told the group.
"Okay sure, you'll be fine sweetie" Bill told Kara who was sitting on the chair next to Laura, nestled into the older woman's side, while Zak and Lee sat beside her, and Katie rested in her car seat.
"What colour would you like?" the nurse asked cheerily, as she wheeled a tray into the room.
"Blue please" Kara replied quietly, exhausted from the day's events.
"Are you okay?" Zak asked giving Kara a hug, once her cast was in place.
"Yes I am, your Mommy and Daddy are nice" Kara replied resting her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah they are, I'll help protect you too, you're my best friend" Zak told her confidently.
"How'd it go?" Laura asked Bill when he returned to the room.
"Alright, child services said they would investigate the allegation, and have called you're mother Kara. She's not answering at the moment, so they've told us to continue with our original sleepover plan and they'll contact us in the morning. So for now I think we should head home and go to sleep, as soon as they discharge Kara" Bill replied sitting down next to Laura and wrapping an arm around her waist.
Please review if you liked, helps motivate me a lot :)