Three weeks passed in a blur and, sooner than everyone expected, everything was ready for the beginning of the harvest on the planet.
Life had been surprisingly calm during those weeks: no cylon attacks, no stupid accidents, no internal mutinies… The only problem was the ever-decreasing level of food, which, hopefully would be solved after the works started on the surface of the planet.
In spite of all that, the guard was still high as both battlestars were alert to any sign of a cylon attack. New Caprica had been more than enough. And that fact was reflected on the small number of volunteers to work on the surface of the planet – nobody was interested in getting stuck on some deserted planet again. To solve that matter, the Admiral had been taking turns on visiting the fleet's ships to recruit the workers personally, which seemed to be working. Today it would Pegasus' time.
Through that period, Sam had split his time between CAPs and hanging out with Nate. Despite his talk to Kara, he still hadn't been able to forgive Erin… Their conversations for the past weeks had been short and civil, for Nate's sake. True, he wasn't as mad as he had been, but it was still too soon to simply forgive her…
Sam stood on the ladder of his viper and laughed at his son's amazed face as he sat on the cockpit of a viper. Most of the people were silently aware the little boy's connection with him, but it was rarely spoken around Sam. The little boy, however, was still oblivious to the fact that his friend was actually his dad.
"How cool do you feel in there, Buddy?" he asked Nate.
"So cool!" he replied in an excited voice. He pointed at the instruments board. "What are all these things for?"
"To make sure we don't crash," Sam informed him.
"Wow," the little boy said, reaching to touch one of the monitors.
"Well, well, breaking the rules to impress a kid," a familiar voice said from the ground. Sam turned around to see Helo standing there with a smirk on his face and Kara by his side.
"We may have to turn you in, Sammy," she added.
"Like you're not planning on doing the same with your kid," the former pyramid player pointed out.
Starbuck pointed at herself. "I'm the CAG," she said. "Rules don't apply to me."
Helo snorted. "Apollo would love to hear that one," he mumbled, receiving a glare from her in return.
Nate stood on top of the viper's seat and looked down too. "Hi, Kara!" he said.
"Hey, Kid, how's it going up there?"
"Cool," he responded.
"Hum, so I guess you'll be joining my nugget class soon, won't you?"
The little boy looked hopefully at his father. "You think Mommy will let me?"
"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you. Why don't you ask her in a few years?" he suggested.
Nate pouted. "But why?" he asked.
Kara laughed. The questioning age. She dreaded the day Jamie would enter that phase – what if her first question was the classical 'Where do babies come from'? Well, at least the answer to Nate wouldn't have to be as awkward as that one "'Cause you'd have a hard time reaching the pedals," she told him.
"I'm pretty sure that would be a problem," Helo agreed nodding.
"So I just have to grow?" the little boy asked uncertain.
"Yep," Sam told him, ruffling his hair. And the pout was gone quickly, to be replaced by a smile.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I promised Sharon I'd meet her after her CAP, which ended five minutes ago," Helo stated, looking down at his watch.
"I have to go too. The Old Man must be arriving. I have to be there to welcome him," Starbuck mumbled and looked up at Sam and Nate. "Okay, you two make you sure you don't shoot anything. We don't want the Admiral to find the house turned into a mess." Then, she pointed directly at Sam. "And make sure you're in Hangar Bay B in fifteen minutes to hear his speech. If I have to lose a single minute of my day in there, so do my nuggets."
"I'll keep that in mind," Sam told her right before one of the deckhands announced that the Admiral's raptor had just landed, causing Kara to quickly leave, followed by Helo, who went to look for Sharon. Sam turned back to his son. "Seems like it's time to give you back to your mum."
"Hum, do you have to?" Nate asked in disappointment. Sure he loved his mom, but she wasn't a viper pilot, who also happened to be a former pyramid player. Plus, he had her around every day.
"Yep," he confirmed. "But maybe I'll be able to come by later, okay?"
Hoping the 'maybe' would turn into an 'absolutely', the little boy nodded and let Sam carefully pull him out of the viper's cockpit.
"Now, Buddy, remember not to tell your mum that I let you sit inside a viper by yourself," Sam warned him right after putting him back on the floor. "She'd kill me…"
"Mommy wouldn't kill you," the little boy pointed out. "She'd just yell really loud."
Sam snorted, shaking his head before he took Nate back to his mother.
---
"Good to see you, Admiral," Kara told her father-in-law with a smile as he descended the raptor's ramp.
"Good to see you too, Kara," he responded. "I hope you don't mind that I brought a guest."
Kara raised her eyebrows. "A guest?" She didn't need to wonder for long, as Laura Roslin exited the raptor right away. "Madam President." Now that brought more questions to her mind. Was she coming with the Admiral as a friend or something more?
"It's been a while, Captain Thrace… or is it Adama? I don't really know what to call you these days," Roslin confessed, giving her a smile.
"Either is fine," Kara said. "I just gave up correcting people…"
"I think I'll stick with Thrace. There are so many Adamas in this fleet," she pointed out.
"Not that many. Three, including Kara," the Old Man pointed out. "Well, four if we count Jamie. How is she by the way?"
"A lot better," Kara told him. Like they said, practice made perfect and, with time, she and Lee ended up learning a few tricks to ease her pain during teething. Some days were better than others but they barely had had any sleepless nights for the past three weeks. "Misses her grandpa, though."
"I'll make sure I pay her a visit before I leave," he promised.
"I hope you don't mind that I go too," Roslin said. Her love for children was still strong, even though she wasn't a teacher anymore. Maybe someday I'll do it again, she promised herself. "It's been months since I last saw her."
"No problem to me," Kara stated. "But maybe we should get going to Hangar B. Lee's waiting there."
"You two go ahead. I need to use the restrooms," Roslin said. "Don't worry, I will manage to find the way to the place where the speech will be, don't worry. I'll ask someone if I get lost."
"If you think so," Kara said. "Turn left in the next hatch you corridor you see and you'll find the restrooms."
They watched the president leave and proceeded to reach Hangar Bay B. The place was mostly used to repair small civilian shuttles and had large empty spaces. Ideal to be used as an assembly hall.
"So, Dad," she said as they walked, letting the Old Man know that that would an out of the record chat. "Can I ask a very personal question?"
Adama looked down at his daughter-in-law with an eyebrow raised. "You can ask, but I can't assure you I'll answer."
"Fair enough," Kara accepted. "I just wanted to know if there's something going on between you and the President… You know, 'cause Lee gets all… sensitive with this kind of stuff and I was hoping for a little warning before he started to freak out… So, is there?"
The Admiral felt like laughing. He should have seen that one coming… just not from Kara – the concerned wife. He wasn't buying that one. But it wasn't worth lying either. "Yes, there is something going on between me and Laura."
Starbuck smiled slightly but didn't say another word, respecting his privacy. The Old Man deserved it, after all. He had been leading the fleet and saving their asses since the attacks. A little happiness would be a good reward.
They reached Hangar B to find several officers already in there, as Hoshi had been using warning them to report there for the past five minutes. Lee stood talking to Doctor Talbot who apparently had left Erin, as a civilian, in charge of the life station. It didn't take long for him to see Kara approaching him along with his father. The doctor quickly excused himself and went to talk to somebody else.
"Think you can convince a few more people to go work down on the planet, Dad?" Lee asked his father when he reached him.
"I seriously hope so," the Old Man said. "The marines who were on the surface said it shouldn't last much more than a couple of weeks if everything goes as expected. It's mostly algae and they are easy to handle. Guess that will be a point in our favor."
"Not in favor of our taste, that's for sure," Starbuck mumbled.
Lee laughed and turned to his father. "As you probably just realized, Kara here is not a big fan of algae."
"Well, it will keep us alive, nevertheless," the Admiral pointed out.
---
It didn't take long for the Admiral to start the speech, which seemed to have no end. As much as Kara loved the Old Man, he sure seemed to be threatening them with eternal boredom unless he got enough volunteers to the harvest. At some point, her mind simply spaced out to something else (a lot less proper) only to be brought back when Lee shook her awake in the end.
"Where were you?" Lee questioned in a whisper.
She pretended she didn't know what he was talking about. "Right here, didn't you see me?"
"I meant your head. 'Cause that was clearly not here," he pointed out. "I know you enough to know."
"Fine," she whispered back, approaching ears. "I was thinking of ways to keep you occupied tonight. You do remember what happened exactly one year ago, right?"
He smiled. Founder's day in New Caprica, also known as the official beginning of their relationship. "Maybe, refresh my memory," he said playfully.
"Good," she said, taping his knee. "Get creative, sweetheart. You won't get a replay of that night unless you get me a good anniversary gift. Oh, and your dad need to tell you something. Gotta go. I've got CAP in 15 minutes."
She got up, leaving her husband behind with his moth hanging half-open. Had she just dared him?
Think fast, Lee. Think fast, he told himself. Then, there was a light.
---
After several greeting, salutes and hand-shakes, Adama finally exited Pegasus' Hangar Deck B after the announcement.
"Nice speech, Dad," Lee told his father.
"Well, your mother always said I was good with rhetoric. It was her nice way of telling me I was full of crap," the Admiral stated on his way out. "Make sure you send me the list of the volunteers before the end of the week. I still need to talk to Anders about something."
"Right, but I kind of needed a personal favor before…" Lee stated.
"I'm listening."
"So, today is mine and Kara's anniversary," Lee told him.
"Today?" the Old Man asked. He could swear they'd gotten married a little later than that…
"Not wedding anniversary," Lee pointed out. "It's been a year since we've gotten together and I wanted to do something special but I needed your help."
His help? How was he supposed to help in their anniversary plans. "What for?"
"Well, Helo mentioned Kara misses flying with me as her wingman," Lee stated. "I know the commander is not supposed to fly vipers but she has CAP in ten minutes…"
"You want to go with her," the Old Man said.
"I never ask you stuff like this," he told his father. "I bet she'll love it as a gift."
Adama sighed. That was not supposed to happen but, well, those two sort of deserved it… "Have you checked it with the person who was supposed to fly with her?"
"Just did it. Bingo's fine with it," Lee stated.
"We never had this conversation. For all effects, it was that other pilot who flew CAP with Starbuck and if anyone tells me it was you, I'll just ignore it," the Old Man told Lee. "Consider this payback for saving Galactica during the exodus."
"Thanks, Dad," he said. "Oh, and Kara mentioned you had something to tell me."
About Laura. Now's not the time, he thought. He patted his son's shoulder. "We'll talk later. Happy anniversary."
Lee checked his watch. "Better go," he mumbled. He was so winning that one…
After seeing his son leave, Adama waited by the hatch for Anders to leave the Hangar B. It only took a few minutes for him to show up. There was something important they needed to discuss.
"Ensign Anders, I'd like to have a word with you," the Old Man said.
"With me, Sir?" Sam inquired.
The Admiral nodded and joined Sam as he walked to the Hangar A. "It's about the harvest," he declared. "There will be a number of civilians involved in the works on the planet and, as you probably know, civilians are quite uncomfortable working with the military. To be honest, we don't really know how to deal with them, either."
"You want me to tell you how to do it?" Sam asked in confusion.
"Actually, I preferred you went there yourself and deal with them yourself," Adama told him. "You lead a civilian resistance in Caprica. I'm sure babysitting a few dozens of civilians during an algae harvest won't be a problem to you."
"You're asking me to spend two weeks in that deserted planet to lead the civilian volunteers?" he asked uncertain.
"I know it sounds tough, but I believe that the success of a mission depends on the way it is lead," the Old Man told him. "You will be doing a very important work to the fleet if you accept this, Anders. So, can I count you in?"
Sam's mind was racing. The Admiral was probably not aware that, by going, he would be spending that time away from his son… But maybe that would allow him to reflect all he needed his and Erin's situation. Maybe what he needed to finally decide what to do was a little time away from everything…
"Yeah, I'm in."
A/N: Don't shoot me for this ending. So sorry for the delay. I decided to adventure myself eating sea food and got a stomach flu, which didn't allow me to finish this last set of the chapter in time because I was a little, well, you can imagine. Anyway, here it is. Hope you liked. I have one exam tomorrow, so wish me luck. Remember, 10 reviews will get you a preview in my livejournal.