Bill takes the stairs two at a time with his rucksack over his shoulder. He was finally home after his four month stint out and he intended to spend every minute of it with Laura. When he had left they had had a fight on the way to the air field. Their phone call had alleviated some of the pain he felt by leaving her that way. She was supposed to be taking the week off and they were going to try to get out of town if possible. When he gets to the apartment he finds a note with his name taped to the door. He tugs it down and flips it open before starting to read.

Bill,

I'm glad you made it home alright. I have the rest of the week off but I had to go in today to finish up a few things. The laundry is open and there is some beer in the fridge. Meet me at the Riverwalk at 5 and we can get dinner.

Love, Laura

Bill opens the door and takes a deep breath once he's inside, dropping the sack onto the ground. It smelled like her, a smell he couldn't get off his mind most days. He takes his boots off and sets them next to the door before carrying his laundry to the small mudroom. He gets a load started and grabs a beer before heading for the shower. He cranks the water on and undresses before stepping under the hot spray. Bill proceeds to take a leisurely shower before getting out and wrapping one of Laura's fluffy towels around his waist. He wipes the steam off the mirror before getting out the few shaving supplies he had left behind previously, trimming up his five 'o clock shadow.

Bill adds his fatigues to the pile of laundry before going to the bedroom. He opens one of his drawers and gets out a fresh pair of underwear and an outfit before getting dressed. He hangs up his towel and goes out to the living room, flipping the tv on as he sinks down onto the couch with a happy sigh. Bill continues to do his laundry and works his way through a few tv shows as well as the newspaper before looking down at his watch and realizing he should leave now to meet Laura on time. He turns the tv off and rinses out his beer bottle, putting it in the recycling bin. He grabs his small ring of keys as well as his cell phone, before he slips his shoes on and leaves the apartment. Bill makes sure to lock the door before making his way back down the stairs he had come up a few hours earlier. He walks the few blocks to the ministry building at a brisk pace before rounding the Riverwalk's water feature and going to take a seat at the spot they usually met up at.

Laura hitches her bag over her shoulder as her heels clack across the stone steps while she makes her way to the Riverwalk. Her eyes apprehensively scan the area before finding the familiar head of thick black hair sitting on their usual bench. She approaches the bench from behind and sets her bag down quietly before covering Bill's eyes with her hands.

"Girlfriend or Cylon?" Laura muses with a jovial voice. Bill smiles and lifts a hand to prod at her fingers.

"I don't know, pretty fleshy for a cylon. So I'm going to say girlfriend…" He answers, pulling her hands away from his eyes. Laura laughs and leans down, pressing a kiss to his cheek from behind before rounding the bench. Bill stands and pulls her into his arms in a crushing hug. Laura wraps her arms around him and buries her face in his chest, enjoying the closeness for a moment until Bill pushes her back, holding her at arms length with a questioning look in his eyes. She bites her lip with a bit of apprehension as she watches Bill's eyes immediately flick to scan her body before widening quite perceptibly as she smoothes her hands over a slightly rounded belly barely hidden under the blue tank top she was wearing.

"Surprise," She says quietly. She tilts her head slightly as she watches him gape at her stomach like a fish, mouth opening and closing a few times before clamping shut. It was very similar to how she had reacted when she had taken the test a couple months before. He swallows hard before looking up at her and finally managing to form a few words.

"You're…pregnant?" Bill manages to choke out. Laura nods with a wide grin, stroking her stomach again as she watches him, "We…We're pregnant?"

Laura nods again, stepping closer to him. Bill puts his hands on her waist, taking a seat back on the bench and leveling his eyes at her stomach. Laura continues to let him process before gently running a hand through his hair, guiding his eyes up to hers.

"Bill?" Bill looks up at her with awed but confused blue eyes. Laura strokes his cheek gently, "I know you want to ask that dumb question."

"How?" Bill practically shouts. Laura laughs and takes his hand in hers and threads their fingers together.

"The medication they gave me after I got that bug on Saggitaron conflicted with my birth control…before we went to Scorpia. It didn't really seem like something to tell you over the phone and I..."

Bill silences Laura by tugging her into his lap and pressing his lips to hers, waiting a moment before deepening the kiss. Laura hums happily as she tightens her hand in his, kissing him back. Bill pulls away a moment later, resting his forehead against hers.

"All I've been thinking about since I left is seeing you again…I love you, Laur, wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I didn't," He tells her quietly. Laura's nose wrinkles slightly as her eyes start to tear up.

"I love you too...So you're happy about this?"

"I am a lot of things at the moment. Happy is definitely one of them. Shocked is definitely one of them…but good shocked," Bill says. He untangles his hand from hers and splays it over her stomach, his large hand practically covering the entire bulge. Laura covers his hand and pulls her lips away from his with a small smile. Bill smiles back at her, his thumb stroking absentmindedly, "Everything is okay?"

"Yeah, tip top shape, both of us," Laura assures him with a nod, "Are you hungry? We can go get dinner or we can go home and cook..."

"I think dinner out sounds perfect, we need to celebrate," Bill comments with a grin. He helps Laura up before standing, threading his fingers with hers as he takes her hand in his.

"How's everything been on Galactica?" Laura asks, leaning into Bill a bit as they walk.

"Good, no complaints. We are picking up a batch of new graduates while we're here, so that might be changing."

"Mmm. How many?"

"Couple hundred," Bill says as he opens a restaurant door for Laura, following her inside. He holds up two fingers to the hostess before they follow her back to a table. Bill pulls out Laura's chair for her, pushing her in when she sits down before taking the seat across from her, "You should come up some time when we're docked. Day tour."

"Right now I wouldn't trust myself not to throw up all over the heavy," Laura comments wryly, a blush covering her cheeks. Bill frowns and strokes her hand.

"Nauseous?"

"Not for the most part, little bit in the morning…but we went to Aerilon a couple weeks ago for a speech, and I don't know that Richard has forgiven me for ruining his favorite shoes after we jumped," Laura tells him, her blush deepening as she looks down at the menu. Bill chuckles and squeezes her hand.

"That a girl." Laura rolls her eyes at his obvious disdain for her boss.

"I hate to bring the mood down…but what does your schedule look like?" Laura asks, closing her menu after deciding what she wanted to order.

"We pick up the recruits this week, spend a couple weeks out with them and then come back. Inevitably even after making it all the way through school and training, we lose quite a few. That will be a long weekend before we go back out…" Bill trails off.

"How long?" Laura asks, apprehension filling her tone.

"Supposed to be until fleet week."

"That's another four months!" Laura exclaims.

"I know, I know. I will look at the schedule when I get back and see what I can do," Bill squeezes Laura's hand reassuringly, stroking the back of it with his thumb, "God knows I have the vacation. But don't worry."

Laura nods and smiles weakly. The two of them look up as their waiter comes over, setting down a couple glasses of water.

"Hi, I'm Sarah, how are you guys doing tonight?"

"Good," Bill answers with a smile, closing his own menu.

"Are you ready to order or do you still need a few moments?"

"I think we can order," Bill looks at Laura for confirmation. Laura nods with a smile as she takes a sip of her water. Bill glances at the menu quickly before handing it over as he rattles off his order. Laura hands her own menu over as she orders with a small smile. The waitress nods with a smile as she writes everything down before heading off towards the kitchen. Laura takes another drink of her water before tossing her hair over her shoulder as she smiles at Bill.

"So, what do you want to do this week? I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, but we could leave for the cabin afterwards. Are you going to see the boys at all?"

"Zak doesn't have school on Friday and Lee has a free evening. I was thinking we could have at least have dinner together. Zak mentioned something about the Delphi game too."

"I think that sounds fun," Laura says, toeing out of her shoes underneath the table, "I think you guys deserve a nice day together."

"You don't want to join us?"

"I think Zak deserves a nice afternoon with you without me lingering around, you are the one he hasn't seen for four months. It'll give me time to make dinner."

"You don't have to cook."

"I want to. We'll leave tomorrow for the cabin and come back Thursday night. You can spend Friday with Zak and we'll have dinner with both of the boys that night. Sounds like the perfect excuse to have a girls day with Mona," Laura winks.

"How has she been?" Bill asks after Laura's best friend.

"She's been good. Dating some lawyer from Canceron - total tool," Laura comments, "She's excited about the baby…I think I was deaf for a few minutes from the squeal she let out. I've already had to fend off her going retail crazy."

Laura moans as she grips at the opposing edge of the table, Bill frakking her eagerly from behind right over the kitchen table.

"Oh gods, harder," Laura begs, grinding back against him. Bill tangles his fingers in her hair, pulling gently. Laura groans as Bill's thrusts come faster before he buries himself into her depths groaning her name as he cums hard.

"Yes!" Laura calls out as her own release floods her body. She rests, panting for a moment before pushing herself up with a slight wince, no longer finding comfort on her stomach, "Sorry. Do you mind if we move?"

Bill slips out from behind Laura, pulling her up with a supportive hand. Laura straightens out her skirt and smiles at him.

"Don't ever apologize for being intoxicating," Bill tells her as he kisses her hungrily. Laura kisses him back, running her hands up his chest.

"Yes, sir," Laura smiles, taking Bill's hand and tugging him towards the bedroom. Bill undresses Laura and himself before climbing into bed behind her. Laura teasingly grinds her hips back against his, looking back at him with a look only describable as desire filled playfulness, "I didn't say we had to stop."

"Four months, we're no where near being done," Bill growls as his hips rock into hers, an arm slipping around her waist.

"Good," Laura moans as she reaches back and tangles her fingers in his hair, "I don't ever want to be done with you."

Later in the evening, Laura groans as she sinks down to Bill's chest panting heavily. Bill's hands run down her back and over her backside, holding her close.

"Oh gods, that's it…I can't. I have to tap out," Laura moans as she slides off of him. Bill kisses her forehead and hums happily.

"There's always tomorrow," Bill teases. Laura laughs and pushes herself up again, looking down at him.

"There is, we'll need to pace ourselv…," Laura trails off as she notices a swath of black across his shoulder. Her fingers stroke over the two small, interlocked, thick rings gently, "What's this?"

"A tattoo."

"You didn't have this the last time I let you leave," Laura assesses.

"No I didn't."

"What is it?"

"Us," Bill says, rolling Laura onto her side and pulling the blankets up around them, "It's hardly traditional, but it's us. Two souls coming together. You very much have my soul, Laura…"

"See I told you…much more devastatingly sexy," Laura says as she continues to move her fingers over the black skin, admiring it, "I love it."

"Good," Bill smiles, kissing her head, "Laur…"

"Hmm?" Laura hums tiredly, tangling her legs with Bill's as her hand drifts away from the tattoo, slipping under his arm to hold him close.

"When you called…that night that you called me on Galactica, did you know you were pregnant?"

"Yeah," Laura says, pressing a soft kiss to Bill's skin, "I'd picked up a test on the way home from work that afternoon."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"It's not something I wanted to tell you over the phone," Laura tells him, "I wanted to see the look on your face."

"Explains the sniffles."

"Mmm, I think emotional wreck would downplay it," Laura yawns gently, her eyes drifting closed. Bill runs his fingers up her back, kissing her temple.

"Sleep, my love."

"Mmm I'm so glad you're home," Laura murmurs as she snuggles up to him.

Laura lets out a loud yawn as she packs a few things into her bag for the cabin. Bill comes up behind her, putting his hands on her waist and pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"Tired?"

"Mmm someone kept me up to all hours of the night," Laura grins as she leans back into him. Bill grins against her skin and slips his hands from her hips to wrap around her.

"Can you blame me, it has been four months," Bill murmurs into as he tugs on her ear lobe. Laura smacks his arm and turns around, pulling away.

"You need to rein it in for..." She looks at her watch, "Three more hours."

"I suppose," Bill smiles, pressing a kiss to her lips. Laura smiles and pats his cheek.

"Good boy," She tells him before turning back around to her bag, adding a few more things before zipping it up. Bill picks it up along with his own and carries them out to the living room, depositing them by the door. Laura finishes getting dressed before turning off the lights and padding out to the kitchen.

"There's hot water in the kettle," Bill tells her, getting himself a cup of coffee to go.

"Mm thank you," Laura kisses his cheek before getting a couple things down to make a cup of tea for herself. Once she fills her cup with hot water she empties the kettle and sets it next to the sink, "Ready?"

"If you are," Bill replies. Laura flips off the last couple lights and follows Bill out the door down to the car. Bill tosses their bag into the trunk before taking the keys from Laura and starting the car, "Where are we headed?"

"You know where the Delphi General Outreach Center is downtown on 5th?"

"Yeah."

"Couple doors down from that."

"Sounds like a plan," Bill smiles and takes Laura's hand in his as he starts them off towards their destination. Laura threads her fingers through his and rests his palm against her stomach as she yawns again, closing her eyes.

Towards the end of the appointment Laura smiles at Bill as he comes into the exam room, holding a hand out to him. Bill smiles back and takes her hand, kissing her knuckles gently.

"Doing well?"

"Mmhm," Laura smiles reassuringly, squeezing his hand. The doctor breezes in a moment later, smiling at the couple.

"Bill, it's nice to finally meet you, I'm Doctor Cruse," The doctor shakes Bill's hand before taking a seat next to Laura. She gently palpates Laura's stomach in a few places before squirting some gel beneath her belly button. She grabs the wand attached to the ultrasound machine next to them and turns it on before using the wand to smooth the gel over Laura's stomach. Dr. Cruse takes a look at the screen and adjusts a few settings before turning it to face Laura and Bill.

"There they are," The doctor smiles.

"Oh my gods," Laura whispers.

"You can see the head here, spine…arms, legs…see this bit of a flutter here?" Dr. Cruse asks as she moves the wand around, capturing different angles and measurements along the way. She clicks a few more buttons and a resounding thump pulses through the room, "That's the heart."

Bill smiles and kisses Laura's temple, brushing her hair away from her face, "Look at that…"

The two watch the screen entranced as the doctor continues to move the wand around, finishing her portion of the actual exam.

"My gods…that head," Laura says, an amused fear tinging her voice. Bill chuckles and squeezes her hand. The doctor smiles and stills the wand as she looks at them.

"Do you want to know what you're having?"

"I do," Laura says, looking up at Bill, "You?"

"Yeah," Bill agrees. Dr. Cruse starts to move the wand around again before holding it in one spot.

"That right there is your baby girl." Laura grins and looks up at Bill who had a wide smile on his face.

"A girl," Laura whispers to him. Dr. Cruse turns off the machine and hangs the wand back up before wiping the gel off of Laura's stomach.

"You two are free to go, there should be a couple prints for you at the front desk. Laura, I will see you again next month. Bill, you're always welcome to tag along."

"Thank you, Doctor," Laura says as she sits up, fixing her shirt before standing and fixing her pants as the doctor leaves. She stands up on her toes and kisses Bill with a smile, "A little girl."

[TBC]