A/N - my oldest won a 937 piece lego set through a school fundraiser so you know what I've been doing all week. LOL. A slightly lighter chapter after some heavy stuff. xoxo - tmtcltb

x

Chapter 25 - The Daily Grind

x

A knock at the door interrupted Kara in the middle of reviewing Carlton's weekly report. She had to admit, if only to herself, that he made a fine CO. "Come in!"

"Commander Foster," Mike said formally as he entered, closing the door behind him.

"Admiral Slattery," Kara replied, trying to remember if she had forgotten an appointment, but a quick, upside down glance at her calendar showed nothing and such a lapse was very unusual for Nikki. "What can I do for you?"

"First, I understand that congratulations are in order," Mike replied, a grin swallowing up his face. "Andrea informs me that the remainder of the adoption process is a breeze and I won't have to do any more bribing or threatening."

"Bribing or threatening?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can't let the skills get too rusty." Mike stretched out his legs. "Your plan on the press release was rather brilliant too. The press is going to be going crazy deciding whether to run the birth or the adoption on the front page."

Not having as much faith as Mike, Kara was certain that the press would find a way to make both fit and make both families' lives miserable for the next month. "Thank you, sir. Val helped with the drafting and everything is set to go as soon as Rick and Courtney are ready."

"Of course she did," Mike muttered, and Kara thought he might have added God help us. "The situation does, however, put me in somewhat of a pickle. I have to decide whether to temporarily relieve you of command while you are on parental leave, or permanently reassign you to a desk. Cooper's already bitching about Green being grounded for the next three months but I understand he does intend to rejoin Delta Team once things settle down. What are your plans, Kara?"

Kara felt a moment of panic. She wasn't ready. Because as unbearable as she found the idea of leaving Delilah and Stella here for months at a time, the idea of giving up her position as Captain of the Nathan James was equally unimaginable. The only thing she could do now was buy time. "Carlton's enjoyed playing captain, I think he can keep the chair for a bit longer."

"All right." Mike nodded, but Kara could see that he wanted to say more.

"What?" she prompted.

Mike sat forward, hands on his knees. "The Franklin Benz is coming off the assembly line next month and Carlton's on the short list of possible COs. He's up for promotion and I think we both agree that he's ready."

"Carlton will be thrilled," Kara said. And it was true, Carlton would be ecstatic to receive his own ship, something he had wanted as long as Kara could remember. But Carlton moving to the Benz would mean that he and Kara were unlikely to serve together again, and Kara couldn't help feeling a bit of dejection at the thought of not having one of her best friends by her side. Although, Kara realized abruptly, the same thing would happen if she elected to move to a command position. Except, rather than just Carlton, she would be leaving her entire crew. Many of whom were more family than friends.

"If you know that you are coming back to the James, we could put Burk on the Benz, and Meylan's offered to step in for you temporarily. The problem is," Mike explained, "if Burk moves and then you decide to step down permanently, we might have to dry dock the Nathan James."

"Reiss will never agree to that," Kara replied, immediately understanding the dilemma. Despite the Nathan James's more ceremonial role, taking the ship off active duty would look bad. And if there was one thing that Reiss understood, it was optics.

"I'm not trying to pressure you, Kara," Mike sounded as frustrated as she felt. "I know how this decision is, and the sacrifice involved. If it were up to me, I would give you as much time as you want to get the girls settled and decide what works best for your family. But we both know that Reiss is not above halving the Navy's budget if we step out of line."

Kara nodded, knowing that Mike was correct. Reiss liked Kara because she made him look good. But the man had no loyalty. One step out of line and Kara wouldn't be surprised if he did a 180. Abruptly she realized that there was another complicating factor. One that Mike knew nothing about. Because even if Kara did go back, the second she announced her pregnancy, she would be again off the James. And if Mike put his current plan into place, there would be no Carlton to step seamlessly into Kara's shoes.

Yet how could she give up the Nathan James for the mere potential of a baby?

She took a deep breath. "How much time do I have?"

"We need to stay ahead of this one so, a month, maybe six weeks," Mike replied, not sugar-coating it. "Gator's done a damn fine job as XO on the Michener. If you want a transfer to a desk job, I'll keep Burk on the James and move Gator to the Benz. Put you on diplomatic duty. That would make Reiss happy and give Gator some time to adjust to the role on a lower profile ship. But the James is a different animal. She's a target, and I need someone experienced on her bridge. Ideally someone from the Arctic cruise. So the choice is either you or Burk."

"I understand." Vaguely, Kara wondered why every decision in her life seemed to need to be made at this moment. "I'll get back to you soon."

xxxxx

"Ma'am?"

Nikki's voice interrupted Kara's study of the report before her and she replied without looking up. "Yes?"

"You asked me to make sure that you left in time for daycare pickup, ma'am."

Head jerking up, Kara realized that it was already four-thirty. After a long discussion with Elena and her husband, Danny and Kara had agreed that it would make sense to ease the girls into their new lives over the course of the summer. This being the first week, Kara and Danny had the girls from Friday morning to Sunday evening, with the schedule increasing by one day for the next six weeks. So this morning, following a quick breakfast with Danny before he left for morning PT, Kara dropped Stella off at their local school's summer camp and brought Delilah here to daycare. Thank goodness she asked Nikki to remind her. The last thing Kara wanted was to be late on her very first day of pickup.

Standing up, Kara grabbed her bag, shoving in the pile of folders that she still needed to review. Typically she would simply have come back in the morning, or more likely stayed until she finished tonight, but Kara refused to spend the girls' first weekend with them at the office. Instead, she would have to read them after the girls were in bed. "Thank you, Lieutenant. If anyone is looking for me, I'll be on my cell."

"Yes, ma'am. Have a good weekend!" Nikki said cheerfully, no doubt delighted that Kara was leaving early and planning to follow her out the door as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, the preschool at the Command Center was immediately below Kara's office so ten minutes later, Kara was buckling a disheveled and muddy Delilah into her car seat.

"Did you have fun at school today?" Kara asked as she pulled out of the parking lot, recalling Andrea's advice about keeping up a steady stream of chatter.

"I play in mud," Delilah explained. "And I ate an apple and cut horses."

Despite having reviewed the day's syllabus in advance, Kara recalled nothing involving horses or mud or scissors. She made a note to check and make sure that she had the wrong paperwork. Maybe fairytales was next week? "Mmmm. That sounds fun. Miss B said that you were going to build a castle today."

"Delilah mad at B. B is mean."

"Miss B is mean?" Kara asked, confused by both the statement and the sentiment. Both of the Slatterys highly recommended the on-base preschool, which their twins attended, and it seemed unlikely that either of them would tolerate a subpar teacher. "Why?"

"Miss B said no and Delilah cried," the toddler replied, her lips tipping down in a pout. "I want cookies!"

Realizing that she had just been played by a three-year-old, Kara decided to change the topic. "Are you excited to see Stella?"

That brought out a smile. "Yes. Ask Stella what you do at school today."

The sing-song tone in Delilah's voice made Kara realize that she was mimicking someone, most likely Elena. Pulling into the parking lot and finding a spot towards the back, Kara confirmed it was ten of five, giving her plenty of time to get inside before the 1700 pickup deadline.

Eight minutes later, a slightly frazzled Kara finally got the door to the school open, a sobbing Delilah on her shoulder. The five hundred foot walk from the car to the school had seemed like a mile with Delilah stopping every two feet to examine bits of trash and random rocks, until Kara finally resorted to simply picking the child up - and Delilah promptly dissolved into tears. Glancing around, Kara realized that Stella was the last child here, sitting on a bench looking at her feet, and Kara quickly hurried across the gymnasium.

"There's your mom!" the teacher trilled, pointing to Kara.

Stella's head popped up, her grin instant. She ran towards Kara, throwing her arms around her, ignoring Delilah's screaming. "I knew that you wouldn't forget me."

"Of course not," Kara pressed a kiss to the child's head. "Now get your backpack. Grandma Debbie is coming over for pizza and a movie."

If possible, Stella's face brightened more, Debbie having made an instant friend when she promised to take Stella to visit Mrs. Abbot to ride the horses again. "Yeah!"

While Stella scampered off, Kara glanced at the teacher, trying to recall the woman's name. "I'm sorry I was late. I'm still getting this new routine down."

"Oh, you're fine," the woman replied, both of them ignoring Delilah's screams. "I'm sure that Stella is simply nervous because she's new. Having her come to the summer camp was a good idea. This way she'll know some of the kids in her class come fall."

"Where are the other kids?" Kara asked, juggling a thrashing toddler as best she could.

The woman, Kara really needed to figure out her name, waved a hand. "A lot of parents pick up early on Friday but it's not a requirement. Stella had a lot of fun today, didn't you, sweetheart?"

Stella ran over to hug the teacher. "Today was awesome. Thank you Mrs. W!"

"We'll see you next week," Mrs. W responded, before glancing at Kara. "Stella will be here Thursday and Friday, is that correct Mrs. Green?"

"Um..." Kara stumbled over the question. After speaking with the principal and camp director, they had been allowed to register Stella for both summer camp and school as Stella Green, everyone agreeing that a name change in six to eight weeks would only be confusing. But Kara hadn't considered whether people would assume that she shared the girls' surname as well. "Yes, two days next week."

Taking Stella's hand, she managed to get both girls outside. Reaching the parking lot, Kara immediately set down Delilah, her arms quivering from the strain of containing her for the last ten minutes. The child plopped down on the ground for a minute, tears streaming down her face, before abruptly bouncing to her feet and grabbing Stella's hand. "My Stella is home! I love my Stella!"

Exhausted, Kara wondered whether it would be easier to get the car first, but decided she couldn't leave the girls alone. Hiking Stella's backpack over her shoulder, she turned to Delilah. "Would you like to hold my hand or Stella's hand on the way back to the car?"

"Stella!" Delilah shrieked, grabbing at her sister. Thankfully Stella didn't seem to mind, instead launching into a description of her day that lasted not just across the parking lot, but most of the way home. Delilah, on the other hand, seemed to have used up the last of her energy, her eyes drooping within minutes of getting into the car. By the time they arrived home, the child was completely out.

Sending Stella inside to locate Debbie, Kara stared at Delilah, trying to decide what to do. She was filthy, with mud caked into her fingernails and her hair a knotted mess. In addition, she hadn't eaten anything since her afternoon snack. Finally, there was the whole problem of being at an unfamiliar house. Kara wondered whether a groggy, miserable three-year-old would be better than a confused, scared three-year-old.

A hand settled on Kara's back. "Looks like our princess is tired."

Feeling herself relaxing, Kara began to turn, pausing as she took in Danny's appearance. "What happened to you? Did you join Delilah playing in the mud?"

Danny chuckled. "Sort of. Tex volunteered to train a new set of grunts. He asked me to check out a few of the guys who show promise. What do you want to do with Delilah?"

"I was just considering whether we should wake her up to eat dinner and take a bath," Kara explained.

"Nah," Danny replied. "Let her sleep. I'll take her inside."

"We have pictures tomorrow morning with Andrea," Kara reminded him. "For the press release."

Danny shrugged. "So we'll get up earlier than planned. Worst case, we ask Andrea to wait for an hour. You can blame it on me and Tex. Say that I'm still cleaning mud out of my ears."

Kara nibbled on her lip. "What if she wakes up?"

"That's why we put the girls in the same room," Danny replied, moving forward to lift Delilah, maneuvering her onto his shoulder with an ease that Kara admired. "So if they wake up in the middle of the night, she won't be scared."

"Okay, but make sure to take off her dirty clothes and put the baby monitor on," Kara called after him. A minute later, having gathered her work and the girls' bags from daycare and camp, Kara made her way to the kitchen where Debbie sat with Stella.

"Hi Mom." She leaned over to give Debbie a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for bringing the pizza. Danny's just getting Delilah to bed and then cleaning up a bit. Apparently it was a mud day for both of them."

Debbie chuckled. "I'm just happy to see all of my girls - and Danny, of course. With Peter working, there's not much to do at home."

"Grandma Debbie loved my stained glass window," Stella informed Kara, beaming as she held up a piece of paper wrapped in plastic. "And she said that we are watching Finding Nemo tonight."

"It's a beautiful picture but remember to use an inside voice while your sister is sleeping," Kara cautioned as she ushered Stella towards the living room. "I'll start the movie and we'll be there in a minute with the pizza and lemonade."

Debbie was already pulling out plates and silverware when Kara returned and, after first tapping the art project on the refrigerator, started unpacking lunchboxes. Debbie was the first to speak. "Stella seems very excited about pizza and movie night."

"Stella gets excited about everything," Kara returned with a chuckle. She glanced at the clock, realizing that it was almost six, the trip home having taken over an hour. There had to be a better system. "I'm just glad that I don't have to cook."

Debbie fiddled with the silverware she was holding for a moment. "I don't mean to overstep, Kara, but I do remember what it was like to have a small child. Rushing to get to daycare and work and then rushing to get out of work in time to get to daycare and then rushing home for dinner and bedtime, and then starting it all again in the morning. I'm happy to pick up Stella a few days a week if that would be helpful."

Kara placed Delilah's empty lunch dishes into the dishwasher, her mind immediately going to all of the afternoons when she got off the bus to an empty house. Expected to do her homework and chores before Debbie got home. Somehow she never thought about how Debbie managed when she was younger. Back then there was no Mrs. Corum to help, as Kara hadn't met Jennifer until kindergarten.

"I may take you up on that," she said finally, deciding not to point out that until the adoption was final, Debbie wasn't on the approved caretaker list. And whether or not Ms. Guy was still around, Kara was taking no chances. She turned, watching as Debbie poured out the lemonade. "Why didn't you tell me that you had been arrested?"

Debbie's hand shook as she set down the bottle, eyes locking with Kara's. "That was a hard time for me, Kara. One that I don't like to think about. And I figured that nobody would ever find out. I mean, who looks at a thirty year old arrest record?"

Ms. Guy is who, Kara wanted to shout. But instead she took a deep breath, considering Debbie's words. Wondering how she would react if, in twenty years, Stella or Delilah found out about the reprimand in her file for fraternizing. Would she volunteer that information? Would she tell them about some of the worst moments of her life? Or would she simply hope that it never saw the light of day?

Damn it. She would have done the same thing as Debbie.

"It must have brought up a lot of bad memories," Kara said finally.

Debbie reached over, grasping Kara's arm. "I know that a lot has happened in the last few months, Kara, but I'm so happy for you and Danny and the girls. All I want is to be there for you, however I can."

Kara swallowed, her throat thick. "Thanks Mom. I appreciate it."

Debbie squeezed her arm one last time before letting go. "Now let's eat that pizza before it gets cold."