Author's Note: Well, hell-o people!! Sorry that the wait's been long…I've been scheming with the new chappie lately. Anyway, hope you awesome readers enjoy!!
Disclaimer: I own a Gaius Baltar trading card. He's a total weasel, but I still love him. ^-^
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Bill Adama had quickly grown accustomed to not seeing his only son walking around Galactica since he'd left to command the Pegasus with Dee Dualla. To tell the truth, he was a little relieved that Lee wasn't on board his ship anymore; no more Lee meant no more painful reminders of his other son, his dead son. So the old man was more than surprised when Lee came barging into his quarters like he was being chased by an army of cylon centurions.
"I need, to talk to you," Lee stated in an out-of-breath rasp.
Slightly stunned into obedience by his son's matter-of-fact demand to talk, the old man gestured to an armchair in front of his desk, then went to his liquor cabinet and pulled out two tumblers and a bottle of ambrosia. "Drink?"
Lee nodded, then tiredly collapsed in the armchair. "Gods, you wouldn't believe the morning I've had so far."
"Up to your eyeballs in papers, I'm guessing?" Adama asked as he filled the tumblers with the green-colored alcohol, and handed one to Lee.
"I wish." Lee absently swished the ambrosia around in his glass. "Kara came over to the Pegasus a little while ago...I was in for one hell of a surprise."
"That's nice...she'd been a little jumpy to see you-"
"Sir, she's pregnant," Lee suddenly interrupted. He then realized that it was a bad idea to let that part of the secret out, and mentally kicked himself for it.
The old man looked at his son strangely. "Starbuck doesn't seem like the motherly type, but no matter. Who's the father? Anders?"
Lee gulped nervously; he'd been hoping that he would have to admit that the child was his, but the Lords of Kobol had other plans for him. He knew there was no escaping this now.
Taking a deep breath to keep himself steady, he looked his father dead in the eye, and said hesitantly, "It's not Anders', sir...it's mine."
Adama froze where he stood. He wasn't sure if he'd heard his son correctly. "It's - it's yours?"
"Yes sir." Lee gave the old man a grim smile. "Looks like I'm gonna be a dad."
Adama was suddenly numb with shock, so numb with shock that he didn't notice when his ambrosia-filled tumbler slipped out of his battered hand and exploded into a million pieces on the floor. He'd always believed that his oldest son had kept his relationship with Galactica's top viper pilot on a sibling-like level. Now, here he was, telling him that their relationship was anything BUT sibling level, and now possibly parental level.
"How long has Starbuck been p-pregnant?" he stuttered, his mind still unable to grasp the reality he was being exposed to.
"A month or two, maybe. She didn't say."
"A month..." The old man glanced at his son, and sighed sadly. "My gods, Lee...you're still so young..."
"Sure as hell don't feel like it," Lee grumbled. "What do I do, sir?"
"Well, under normal circumstances and as the admiral of the fleet, I'd tell you to keep your mind on your job and to not worry about Kara."
Lee was surprised by the old man's response. He never suggested something as ridiculous as this unless he absolutely hated the person he was talking about; Lee knew for a fact though, that the admiral felt anything BUT hatred for Kara - to him, she was like the daughter he never had. So, his suggestion to simply "forget" Kara put Lee on edge.
"Don't worry about Kara? Are you crazy, sir?! Why in the HELL would you suggest-"
"Remember your place, Lee, and watch your mouth," the old man commanded in a low voice. "If you'd let me finish what I'm saying, you might have some better choices."
Like a robot, Lee shut his mouth and stared at his father expectantly. Satisfied with the obedience, Adama continued on. "Now, I'd only tell you to do that if I was talking to you as the fleet admiral. But," he paused with the ghost of a smirk, "I'm not talking to you as a fleet admiral. I'm talking to you as a father, and as a father, I'm telling you to stay with Kara, support her, and give her everything you've got."
"Easy for you to say...Kara's really frakking pissed at me right now. I wouldn't be surprised if she told me she hated me."
Adama grasped Lee's shoulder firmly. "Trust me on this, Lee. If you love Starbuck, you'll go find her. You need each other more than you know." He pointed a hand at the hatch. "She shares quarters with Hotdog and Racetrack, in case you're wondering. Dismissed."
Lee nodded, gave his father a curt salute, then walked through the hatch. But, just as he was about to close the hatch, the old man stopped him and said, "Oh, and Lee?"
"Sir?" Lee addressed in a confused voice.
Adama gave his son a subtle half-smile. "Congratulations, son."
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Kara was still pissed off at Lee, even though it had been a couple hours since she'd returned to Galactica. His words to her had practically burned extremely large and painful holes in her heart, and forced a sense of betrayal on her. At the moment, Kara wanted to hurt Lee so badly her hands immediately curled up into fists just thinking about.
"Gods, I wanna strangle Lee so much it's not even frakking funny," Kara growled as she walked back to the family quarters with Sharon.
"Oh boy," Sharon sighed. "How bad was it?"
"BAD. Lee and I were pretty much two point-five seconds away from clobbering each other, until..."
"Until what?"
"Until I let slip that I was pregnant. And...well, Lee looked ready to pass out, he was so freaked out. Then, he decides to frak up everything by saying he's not ready to be a dad, so I get pissed, tell him to be an asshole and a coward on the battlestar, and stomp out."
Sharon snorted. "I'm surprised you didn't beat the everliving shit outta him."
"Yeah, go figure."
Both women now stood in front of Sharon's quarters. Sharon jutted her thumb at the hatch, and asked Kara if she wanted to stay for a little bit.
Knowing that Hotdog and Racetrack would bombard her with questions the moment she was in the pilots' quarters, Kara nodded. "You bet I do," she smirked.
"All right, but be quiet. Baby's probably sleeping."
"Sharon, she's THREE. She's not a baby anymore."
"Forced habit," Sharon explained as she opened the hatch. The hatch was only halfway open when a small figure in a little blue dress hurtled through the doorframe and into Sharon's arms.
"Mowning, mama!" Hera greeted her mother in her tiny sing-song voice.
Sharon kissed Hera on the forehead, and gently hugged her. "Well good morning, pooka. Did you sleep well?"
Hera spread her arms wide. "Yes! Yes!"
"Good." Sharon repositioned Hera so she sat on her hip, then turned to Kara with a small grin on her face. "Guess who's here, Hera?"
Pure glee bloomed on Hera's face as Sharon set her down on the floor. "Auntie Kawa!" the little three-year old shrieked delightedly.
Kara held her arms out as Hera made a frenzied beeline for her; she then scooped the toddler up, swung her around a little, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Oh my gods, you're getting so big, Hera!" Kara gave her niece a soft squeeze, and she squealed and giggled in response.
Listening to Sharon's daughter and her innocent laughter gave Kara a warm and joyful feeling. She absolutely adored Hera like she was her own daughter.
Lost in her thoughts, Kara didn't notice that Sharon and Hera were trying to get her attention, until Hera grabbed a large chunk of her hair and yanked on it as hard as her little three-year old body would let her.
"Hera! That wasn't nice!" Sharon scolded her daughter.
Kara waved it off. "Don't sweat it. I'm fine." She winced a little from the stinging on her scalp. "What's the matter, cutie?"
"Inside! Inside, Auntie! Bweakfast time!"
Kara laughed. "All right, Hera. You hungry?"
"Vewy hungwy!" Hera parrotted her aunt. "I want bweakfast!"
Kara tapped her niece on the nose playfully, then stepped inside the quarters with Sharon. Once inside, she was greeted by Helo and the faint smell of toast.
"What's up, Buck?" Helo asked as he took Hera and put her in a high chair.
"Oh, nothing..." Kara beamed as she paused. "Except I'm officially pregnant."
For a few seconds, Helo stared blankly at Kara as his mind processed the news. Then, he smirked in amusement.
"Took you long enough. I was wondering when you were gonna get knocked up."
Kara lightly smacked Helo on the back of his head. "How about some congratulations, fraktard?" she corrected him jokingly.
"Hey, I was getting there." Helo gave Kara a slightly throaty chuckle. "First though, who's the dad?"
It instantly became silent enough to hear a pin drop in the quarters. Feeling less like a cocky viper pilot and more like a hormonal and shy schoolgirl, Kara shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot, and from her right to her left in the awkward quiet.
"It's Lee," she mumbled as she fixed her eyes on her boot-clad feet and the hardwood floor beneath her.
Once again, silence radiated throughout the quarters like a drug, and the look Helo gave Kara was one of incredible disbelief.
"APOLLO? Are you serious about this, Buck?"
Kara nodded sheepishly.
All of a sudden, the flabbergasted gawk all but vanished from Helo's face, and an impossibly large grin replaced it. "DAMN, Buck, aren't you a lucky pilot!" He clapped Kara on the shoulder. "About frakking time Lee became a daddy!"
"Sure as hell don't feel lucky," Kara muttered heatedly. "Lee told me he wasn't cut out for fatherhood."
"What do you mean?"
"He told me he wasn't ready to be a dad yet, the frakker."
"It's just a phase thing, Kara," Sharon offered. "Helo did the same thing when he found out I was pregnant. It'll pass...just give Lee some time to take it in."
"And what if he doesn't take it in?"
Sharon pursed her lips into a thin line. "Like I said, give Lee some time."
"If you haven't noticed yet Sharon, I've given him two frakking hours to get used to me being pregnant. Right now, he can kiss my royal Caprican ass and screw trying to take on his daddy role, because so far, I haven't seen or heard him man up and try to get me back."
A sudden, curt knock on the hatch and the sound of someone asking for Sharon or Karl quickly silenced Kara. When the knocking started again, the unknown someone's requests for the two became more intense.
An unknown someone that sounds like Lee, Kara thought bitterly as the knocking got louder. Godsdammit, WHAT THE FRAK IS THAT DIPSTICK DOING HERE!!
Her eyes zeroed in on Helo and Sharon, and she jabbed her index finger at the hatch. "Get me outta here without him noticing," she directed sharply. "I don't want to be near that uptight jackass at all."
Helo gave Kara a puzzled look. "Why are you so paranoid about dodging Apollo? What's your damage with him?"
"FRAK HELO, GET ME OUTTA HERE!"
"Fine fine fine!" Helo rolled his eyes, then walked over to the hatch with a strangely cocky air. "Better be ready to run, Buck. I'll let you know when, 'kay?"
Kara found it odd that Helo was talking to her like he was filling her in on a practical joke he was about to pull. He sounded like he was up to something, something they both knew that she wasn't going to like when she found out all the little details that went along with the plan.
She was just about to confront him, when Helo opened the hatch and let Lee walk in. Kara's breathing hitched the moment she glanced in his direction; Lee may have been a complete stick in her ass, but he was one flawlessly, dizzyingly, insanely handsome stick in her ass.
He was also one flawlessly, dizzyingly, insanely handsome stick in her ass that almost immediately singled her out as she stood rigidly in the middle of the quarters. "What the hell are you doing here, Kara?"
"What the hell are you doing here, Lee?" Kara fired back, her angered voice lashing out at Lee as cold and sharp as a razor.
Lee didn't say anything as he slowly walked over to Kara and gently grasped her arm. With breaking eye contact with her, he asked Helo and Sharon, "Can I borrow her for a couple hours?"
"Keep her," Helo shrugged as he removed a now-sleeping Hera from her high chair and took her over to her bunk. "We were actually gonna boot her. Sweet pea needs her nap time, and the last thing we need is Kara cussing like a marine in here."
Kara gave Helo a tight-lipped frown. "Thanks a lot, Helo."
"Sorry, Buck."
Lee cleared his throat to break up the forming argument between the two. "In that case, thank you, Captain, and thank you, Lieutnenant." He proceeded to drag Kara towards the hatch like a little kid dragging his blankie behind him. "See you two around."
With the hand that wasn't holding his daughter, Helo twiddled his fingers at Kara. "Have fun, Kara."
Kara returned his teasing farewell with a dark glare. "Judas," she called out just as Lee closed the hatch behind them.
Once the bulkhead fell shut with a loud, dull THUD, Lee spun Kara around so that they were eye-to-eye with each other, their faces separated by a space of only a few mere centimeters. Kara quickly noted that she close enough to Lee to see the very-faint splashes of green in his eyes, and close enough to him to really admire the way the hall lights made his eyes shine and glimmer like two pale blue gemstones.
"We need to talk," Lee declared in a low whisper. "You know what I'm talking about."
Kara gave Lee a suspicious look; he could've wanted to talk to her about his behavior and say that he was sorry...or he could've wanted to make more of an ass out of himself and embarrass her for her behavior on the Pegasus. Hoping it was the former, she stiffly nodded her head, and attempted to give Lee her best half-smile to ease up the tension that had begun to build up between them.
"Let's just do it where everybody on Galactica isn't gonna hear." It was now her turn to take Lee by the arm. She grasped his bicep, and began to tug him in the direction of the brig. "I know just the right place for us to talk."
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SQUEE!!! SO HAPPY I GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE!!! HOPE YOU PATIENT PEOPLE ENJOY THIS ONE!!!!! :D