"Yep, you're right," Erin said after examining Jamie, who was lying on an examining table of the life station. "She's teething."

Kara huffed. Last night had been really, really long. She had barely slept two hours as the little girl wouldn't stop crying unless she was being held by one of her parents. Jamie was exhausted too; she hadn't sleep much more than her mother. "Looks like Lee and I won't be getting a decent night of sleep anytime soon."

"Hey, Nate had this phase and I survived. You just need to learn a few tricks," she stated. "For example, ambrosia…"

Starbuck raised an eyebrow. "You want me to drink myself to stupor?" she asked skeptically.

Erin snorted. "Of course not, you just need to rub it on the baby's gums. You'll see she won't feel so uncomfortable."

Kara didn't remove the skeptical look of her face as she caressed her exhausted daughter's cheek. "You sure that's not gonna make her sick?"

"She'll be just fine," Erin assured her.

"Hum, okay, I'll give it a try," Starbuck agreed. Then, she sat on the examining table next to Jamie and proceeded to inquire her friend. "So, I didn't see you at the wedding reception yesterday."

"I had stuff to do," she replied shortly.

"And – funny thing – Sam wasn't there either," Kara concluded. "Now, should I conclude that's a coincidence or not?"

"Starbuck, the gossip. Never thought I'd be here to witness such a thing," Erin joked.

"It's not gossip," she said. "It's just that usually I have Helo or Sharon to annoy as a way of entertainment, but they are in their 'honeymoon' with Hera in the Rising Star, so, do me a favor and provide me some entertainment with that story of yours before I go nuts."

The intern looked around to check if there was any nurse close. They loved their gossip… She pulled a chair and sat by the examining table. "Fine, I was gonna tell you anyway… Sam asked me to talk after the wedding and we went to his bunkroom. Long story short, one thing led to another and we slept together."

Kara laughed and shook her head. "I knew it!"

"But that's just the beginning," Erin continued.

She explained what happened after she stormed out of Sam's bunkroom and found out from Barolay that he hadn't actually cheated and was innocent after all.

"So the chick on his bed was his lunatic ex-girlfriend?!" Kara asked in shock, receiving a nod in return. "Frak, that is messed up. Did you talk to him after that?"

Erin nodded again. "We talked, I apologized and told him about Nate," she specified.

"You told him about Nate?! How did he react?"

"Good to the fact that he had a kid, bad to the fact that I hadn't told him. He can barely look at me," Erin explained. And he had every right, she thought. "But gods, you should have seen when they met. Sam was great and Nate loved him… it was like he already knew that guy was his dad although we decided not to tell him for a while. He wouldn't stop talking about his new friend Sam this morning… He's coming over again tonight."

"Looks like you had a busy day yesterday," Kara pointed out.

"You can say that again," Erin mumbled. "I really screwed up this time…"

Kara shook her head. "You're talking to the former master of screwing up here and I can guarantee you that, considering the circumstances, I've done much worse…"

"What's with the chit-chat Decker? You have rounds to do!" they heard Talbot say.

Erin huffed and grumbled something under her breath that sounded a lot like 'assface doctor'.

"He's worse than Cottle… and I thought the guy was nice…" Starbuck pointed out, climbing of the exam table and picking up her daughter.

"He has his phases," the intern mumbled.

"So Ambrosia on her gums?"

"Ambrosia on her gums," Erin repeated.

On her way out of the sickbay, Kara planned to things to do that morning. First, steal one of the ambrosia bottles Helo had stashed in his cabin. And second, apologize to Sam.

---

As he stood in the CIC, Lee was having problems keeping his eyes open. He groaned. As much as he loved t be a dad, sometimes he wished Jamie just had a 'turn off' button. The kid had some lungs… Well, of course she had – she was Starbuck's kid, after all.

And to make it worse, he had not only his paperwork to fill, but also Helo's. He could barely see the officers that were standing right in front of him… How would he be able to write at all? Coffee, he told himself. Loads of coffee.

"Sir, the Admiral's on the phone for you," Hoshi announced.

Lee groaned again and lifted the handset of the phone, bringing it to his ear. "Admiral," he said. "How are the marines doing on the planet?"

"They've already raided half the planet and so far there's no sign of cylons," the Admiral told his son through the comms.

"That's good," Lee said in a tired voice.

"Yes, if they don't find any sign of the cylons, they'll start preparing things for the harvest soon," Adama announced. "We'll need around 500 volunteers in about three weeks to work in there."

"Hum, hum," Lee mumbled.

"Maybe you should start announcing it through Pegasus."

"I will," Lee said shortly.

"What's wrong with you? You're awfully irresponsive today," his father pointed out.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that I barely slept last night. The baby wouldn't stop crying. Kara thinks she's teething."

There was a sound of laugher in the other end of the line. "She did seem a bit uncomfortable yesterday during the wedding reception. Well, then, good luck. You should get some rest, son."

"I can't. My XO is in 'honeymoon'. I have so much stuff to do…"

"They can handle a few hours without you," his father stated.

"I'll see what I can do after I finish at least half the paperwork I have to do," Lee told him.

"Alright, that's all, then," Adama stated. "And get some sleep. You can't command a ship sleeping on your shoes."

Lee heard a clicking in the line that mean his father had hung up. He sighed and turned to the paperwork, hoping he'd be able to do something useful.

---

Sam lazily climbed out of his viper's ladder after an uneventful CAP. Barolay, who was in the opposite side of the Hangar Bay, gave him a wave. Her reaction to Nate's existence had been, obviously, of surprise. First of all, because Erin hadn't mentioned having a kid to her at all. Secondly, well, simply because he had a kid.

He arrived to his bunkroom and quickly stripped his flight suit to his usual clothes. There was a knock on the door and, to his surprise, when he opened it he saw Starbuck was standing in there holding her daughter on her arms. Didn't she have the day off? He asked himself.

"We need to talk," Kara told him and signaled him to follow.

He nodded and went after her, hoping it wasn't about Erin. He didn't know how to feel himself and he simply wasn't up to talk about it with Kara.

They entered the Briefing Room, which was empty and turned to him. "So, I think I owe you an apology."

Sam's eyes shot open, not really seeing that one coming. "What for?"

She snorted. Either he was really oblivious, or the revelation that he had a son had caused him brain damage. "I don't know, Sam. Maybe for the fact that I've been pretty much either treating you like crap or ignoring you ever since Erin told me she found you in bed with some other chick," Kara said sarcastically. "You were right, I shouldn't have judged without knowing the whole story, so, I'm sorry for condemning you for something you didn't do."

Sam bit his lip. "Hum, she told you, then…"

Kara nodded. "Just for the record, I couldn't believe that you were a cheater at first. But then again, I'd be wrong before. And I don't think I need to tell you that she's sorry too," she pointed out.

He shook his head. "I don't think just saying 'I'm sorry' will fix the fact that I lost the first three years of my son's life."

"Will it at least fix the fact that I was a bitch?" she tried. He actually was a good guy and, honestly, she could use some good guys around. "Maybe even start a friendship."

Sam laughed. "Considering that receiving an apology from Starbuck is something rare, I guess I have the obligation to, at the very least, give it a try…"

Kara nodded and turned her attention to Jamie, who was peacefully napping in her arms. Erin had been right. Rubbing the ambrosia on the baby's gums had actually worked. She could foresee a few hours of sleep when she arrived her cabin. "So, have you met this ship's little princess?" Kara asked, meeting Sam's eyes once more.

"Not formally," he stated, looking at the baby.

"It's hard to believe everyone was ever this small, isn't it?" Kara pointed out.

"Yeah." He wondered how it would have felt like to hold Nate as a baby. He would never know...

"And, speaking of kids, Erin says you've become Nate's hero."

Sam looked at her. "She did?"

"Yeah, the kid won't stop talking about you," she told him.

He nodded, glad he had made such an impression on the kid. "He's sort of amazing. You knew he was mine, didn't you?"

"Not all along," she stated, nervously. That was the part of the chat that she dared the most. "But, before you ask why I didn't tell you, it wasn't my secret to tell."

"I get it," he said simply. "I know you wouldn't betray your friend."

"If it makes you feel better, I think she would have told you earlier if it wasn't for the holocaust," Kara stated.

"But why didn't she tell me when she first saw she was alive?" he questioned.

"Maybe because you caught her a little out of guard," she suggested. "I don't know, Sam. You just have to understand that, when it concerns protecting our child, sometimes we go irrational… That's just how it works."

He was silent for a moment. Irrational. She was right. He had found out that he was a father less than a day before and he was already willing to break the law to protect his son from anything. "How is it like? To be a parent, I mean."

She sighed. "It's hard to explain by words. Scary at first, which I'm sure you already know, but, most of all, amazing," Kara declared, her eyes sparkling with pride. "I'm not gonna lie to you; it's not easy all the time. You want to protect your kid from everything; the thing is that sometimes you can't. But it's worth it in the end of the day." She caressed Jamie's little fist. "Just between us, I think it is my biggest achievement."

Sam nodded absently. "You think I'm gonna do a good job with Nate?"

Kara put one hand on his shoulder. "You became that little boy's hero in one single day, Sam. You're already doing a good job," she assured him, giving him a smile. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Thanks," he said honestly

Kara sighed. "Well, I'm gonna see if I get a few hours of sleep. Just be thankful Nate already had all his teeth," she stated. "See you around, Sammy."

"Wait," he said, causing her to turn back to him again. "If you were in my situation, if Lee had done what Erin did, would you forgive him?"

The answer was clear in her mind, she barely had to think about it. "Yeah, I would."

"Why?"

"Because I love him and life's too short," Kara explained. "We wasted long enough and, honestly, so did you. Take your time to come to terms, but remember that we're in a war. When you make a decision it may be too late…"

---

Lee arrived to his and Kara's cabin about two hours after starting the paperwork, a while after his father had called and given him direct orders to go home and sleep.

The scene he saw when he entered the cabin and turned on the lights made him smile despite the tiredness. Kara sleeping on the couch with Jamie, who was also asleep in her arms. He wondered why she hadn't taken the bed – she had probably been too tired, and just occupied the closest comfortable surface she'd found.

Very carefully, Lee approached her and slowly removed the baby from her arms, so not to disturb any of the two. As walked to her room, he looked down at his baby daughter and thanked the gods for the fact that she was asleep… He wasn't sure he would survive another full night without any sleep. He lay Jamie carefully on the crib and kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams, princess," he murmured to the baby.

Then, he left to his own room and quickly changed out of his uniform to his sleeping clothes and threw back the bed's covers before returning to the living room to get Kara. Lee lifted his wife from the couch to his arms and smiled when she unconsciously murmured his name, taking her to their bed.

Her eyes opened slowly as he covered her with the blankets. "Lee?" she asked, still half asleep. "Where's…"

"Jamie is in her crib, sleeping soundly," he assured her before she could finish the question. "We should do the same…"

"'Kay," she agreed sleepily, closing her eyes again.

When he occupied the spot by her side, she immediately snuggled against him, resting her head on his chest. "I'd forgive you," she whispered sleepily. "I love you."

He raised one eyebrow in confusion but decided to ask her later about what she meant by 'I'd forgive you'. Lee kissed the top of her head and smiled. "I love you too."

And, snuggled together, they quickly sank into sleep.

A/N: Hey guys, I was gonna post this yesterday but I ended up using the day to catch up with my sleep. Hope you liked this one. It is a little shorter than usual... Anyway, remember that 10 review will get you a preview. What did you think of this week's bsg? i've got to say that they need to give Starbuck a little more screen time...