A/N — I own many of you replies to your reviews. I'm sorry. I do appreciate each and every one and will get caught up. In the meantime, I'm busy trying to write *something* for Monday's TLS Valentine Day Fest. Come back and read the stories! I may not post but I know several other people who have stories ready to go and we'll have a great assortment. :) — xoxo, tmtcltb

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Chapter 30 — Weaving

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"Can we read this one?" Stella asked, holding out one of the new books the girls' received from Tex and Andrea as an adoption gift. Based on Stella's reaction when she saw the gifts — Andrea, Debbie, and even Sasha all brought gifts for the girls — Kara suspected that Stella was going to turn this into an annual event. A second birthday, as it were.

Kara smiled when she saw the cover of the book. "I loved Charlotte's Web when I was a little girl."

Delilah snuggled up to Kara, thumb in mouth. "Spiders are yucky but Auntie Andrea said this is a nice spider."

Stella was nodding emphatically. "A nice spider that adopts a pig. Doesn't that sound crazy? A spider adopting a pig?"

That wasn't quite the way that Kara remembered the story but she decided to let Stella decide on her own. Cracking open the book, Kara found the first page. "Where's Papa going with that ax? said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for break..."

"Why would he have an ax?" Stella interrupted. Her eyes narrowed. "He isn't going to squish Charlotte, is he?"

Kara hid a smile. "Nope, I promise. Anyway..."

Having established that Charlotte was in no danger but that Wilbur was still at risk of becoming dinner — resulting in Stella declaring that she was never eating meat again — Kara was still reading when she heard a sound from the doorway. She looked up to see Danny standing there, wearing the same blank expression that he had been sporting since they left the courthouse six hours earlier. Glancing at the clock, Kara realized that she had been reading for close to thirty minutes and that Delilah was asleep against her side.

Setting down the book, Kara tried to shift off the bed without waking the child. Figuring out the problem, Danny moved forward. "Let me get her."

Kara wiggled off the bed while Danny shifted Delilah from her side onto a pillow with only a soft murmur of protest. Having finished tucking Stella in, Kara turned, catching Danny as he smoothed Del's hair away from her forehead, his hand resting there for a long moment as he gazed down at the sleeping child. He looked up suddenly, meeting her gaze, and Kara thought she might have caught a glimpse of tears. She swallowed, feeling the knot that had been twisting her chest for hours relax the tiniest bit. Danny might — had — fucked things up today. And she was still totally pissed off but...

But he would have been just as devastated if they lost the girls as she would have been.

Stella leaned over, yanking on Danny's arm, interrupting the moment. "Daddy," Stella whined. "You promised to give me three kisses tonight because today is my special day and a super-duper bear hug."

"Did I?" Danny asked, a smile crossing his face and then he lifted a finger, tapping it against his lips. "Are you sure? Because I thought it was three hugs and one nose honk."

Stella giggled. "No, Daddy! That's just silly."

Leaving Danny to wrangle their older daughter — daughter, the word still felt awkward even in her head — Kara moved to the kitchen. Ignoring the bottle of champagne that she had put into the refrigerator before leaving the house this morning, planning on a private celebration, Kara snapped on the coffee pot, staring into the backyard as the water heated.

xxxxx

"No."

The air escaped Kara's lungs in a single rush at Evelyn Magnolia's response. "What?"

But nobody was paying any attention to Kara. They were all looking at Evelyn, who was wringing her hands. "I have lymphoma. I had it before and suspected that it was back but it's hard to see a doctor these days. Doctor Scott confirmed it for me. It means I don't have much time left."

When every eye in the room swung to her, Rachel nodded. "I can confirm that Mrs. Magnolia's cancer has returned and appears to have spread. Although there are treatment options, the odds of long-term survival under the current circumstances are low."

There was a moment of silence as everyone absorbed what Evelyn was saying. She was dying. And despite everything, Kara wished she could do something to help the woman.

"I'm sorry to hear of your health issues, Mrs. Magnolia," Judge Clark replied, her voice soft. "But I am a little confused. If you don't want to stop the adoption, why are you here today?"

"I..." Evelyn paused, looking down, hand wringing. "I wasn't going to come. I saw Stella just now. Out in the courtroom. She was so happy." Evelyn glanced up, her eyes fixing on Kara. "She obviously adores you, Captain Foster. And your husband, of course. But a mother..." Evelyn sat back, wiping her eyes again. "I saw the articles in the newspaper and I figured it was better if I didn't come forward. I didn't want to cause any problems but then I heard that Mr. Shemanski was trying to figure out who Stella's father was and I wanted Stella to know about my Kyle. So I thought that maybe it would be better for everyone if I came and explained about Erin and what happened."

Evelyn paused again, before she looked directly at Danny and Kara. "And maybe then I could see my granddaughter again."

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Another fifteen minutes passed before Danny entered the kitchen. Without speaking, Kara poured him a cup of coffee, turning to hand the mug to him. He leaned back against the cabinets, gaze following her as she moved to the table.

Tellingly, he didn't mention the champagne in the refrigerator either.

Kara set her cup down, twisting it between her hands, uncertain of what she wanted to say. And then Danny spoke, his voice gruff. "We thought that she was a fake."

Kara's head jerked up, eyes moving to his face. "Fake?"

"Her DNA didn't match," Danny explained. His lips pressed together, then he sighed, pulling out the chair across from Kara and sitting down. "Her name popped up after Kyle Magnolia was identified as being possibly Stella's biological father. I asked Pablo to look into it, just in case. He went to talk to her and got a cheek swab. It didn't match. Not Stella, not even the DNA from the Gerald R. Ford, who she claimed was her son. We figured that she was confused. Or the DNA from the Ford was mislabeled or contaminated. You know how it is."

Kara nodded. With so many people still missing, their fates uncertain, Kara had seen more than one person convince themselves that a stranger was their lost family member. And she had known that the DNA match between Stella and the sailor on the Gerald R. Ford was not considered to be reliable. When the DNA came back, Danny obviously dismissed Evelyn as confused, seeing a picture of a child who looked like her granddaughter and believing it to be true, without any basis in reality.

Reluctantly, Kara conceded that, if their positions were reversed, she would have dismissed Evelyn's claim as well. Except, Kara realized, Rachel said the DNA did match. "But Rachel..."

"Evelyn had, has, lymphoma. She had a bone marrow transplant years ago, before the virus hit," Danny interrupted. He took a swallow of his coffee. "Apparently, it changed her DNA. We found that out two days ago, when Evelyn called Pablo to insist that the test results were wrong. I still thought that her story was bullshit, so I called Rachel. Who told me that it could be true."

Vaguely, Kara recalled reading about that happening back before the virus. People finding their bone marrow donor by doing an ancestry test. "I remember Slattery talking about that once. How it was a complete nightmare for homicide detectives. Complete strangers who shared identical DNA." Mug halfway to her mouth, Kara stopped, a horrible thought occurred to her. "Then how do we know that she's actually Stella's grandmother?"

Danny fiddled with his cup. "Rachel said that after a bone marrow transplant, the recipient will have two kinds of DNA. Their own and the donor's. But you can't just test blood. You have to keep looking until you find the second profile. That's when Rachel offered to come run the tests herself. She didn't trust the lab on base."

Kara set down her coffee, letting everything that Danny had said sink in. She couldn't fault his logic. She wouldn't have believed Evelyn either, under the circumstances. At least, not without knowing about the bone marrow transplant.

But that didn't explain what happened this afternoon.

Sitting back in her chair, Kara crossed her arms over her chest, eyes glued on Danny. "I understand why you didn't tell me about Evelyn originally. But how could you let me walk into that courtroom without telling me what was going on?"

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Danny glanced at Kara, they all did, Evelyn's words hanging in the air. This was why she was here, then. Not to disrupt the adoption, but in the hope of seeing her grandchild. And although every bit of Kara wanted to say no, she also knew that she couldn't — she wouldn't. Because this might be the only person in the world who had known Stella's parents in person, who knew about her past and the life she might have led if the virus hadn't killed everyone she knew. And that meant this decision wasn't about Kara at all. It was about the little girl sitting in the courtroom waiting for them.

Kara nodded to Evelyn Magnolia. "I'm sure we can accommodate that request. We're actually having a barbeque on Sunday. Perhaps you would like to join us?"

Evelyn's shoulders relaxed, a smile lighting her face. "Thank you. Thank you, Commander Foster! I saw your pictures in the newspaper, you know. And I just knew that you and your husband were the right people to raise my baby's little girl. Good, honorable people. Navy, just like my boy was."

"Mrs. Magnolia," Judge Clark interjected. "You understand that, if the adoption proceeds, the Greens will be under no legal obligation to allow you to see your granddaughter."

"Yes, yes, I understand." Evelyn paused, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. "Just finding Stella again is a miracle. I never got confirmation that Marie died, but I wondered. She was so very sick, even before Stella was born..."

"Marie?" Judge Clarkson interrupted again. She frowned down at her paperwork. "I have Stella Magnolia's deceased mother listed as Erin."

"Oh yes," Evelyn waved a hand. "But we called her Marie. That was her middle name. Erin Marie Magnolia. Erin and Evelyn were too close. Both E names, you see."

Personally, Kara didn't think Erin and Evelyn sounded at all alike but she decided not to share that thought.

"Marie was living with me when Kyle died. When she got pregnant again..." Evelyn gave a sob, shaking her head. "That's why she ran off. I told her that if she was going to disrespect my son by sleeping with people like Terek Jones, that she could get out of my house. I didn't mean it, of course. I was just so angry. And then she was gone and there was nothing I could do." Evelyn looked again at Kara. "I thought that I would never see Stella again. Even five minutes would be a blessing."

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Danny's hand tightened around his mug, his lips pinched. "I thought the entire thing was a load of crap. Pablo said Evelyn was nice but wracked with guilt over driving her daughter-in-law away. I thought she made up the entire thing, both about her son and Stella."

Kara waited, expecting something more — at the very least, an apology — but Danny remained silent. She finally spoke, using the same voice that never failed to have her crew shaking in their boots. "You should have told me."

Unfortunately, Danny was immune. "You knew the results of that test as soon as I did."

Kara stared at him in disbelief. "And you don't see a difference between you knowing those results might be coming and me being completely blindsided by Stella having a living relative who could disrupt the adoption?"

"I told you. I didn't believe the woman." Danny's jaw tightened. "Besides, it's not like Evelyn actually wanted custody of Stella."

"Seriously?" Kara snapped. "That's your excuse for lying to me about something this important? All's well that ends well? What if she had wanted custody? What then?"

xxxxx

"Well then," Judge Clark said after a few moments of silence. "Given that there is no impediment to the adoption itself, I suggest that we return to the courtroom."

When nobody objected, the Judge stood, and everyone else quickly followed. Rachel stepped closer to Kara, giving her and Danny each a hug before saying goodbye. "I'm going to escort Evelyn back to her hotel. But I will see you on Sunday."

Nodding, Kara turned to Danny, only to see him with his head close to Pablo. When they noticed Kara, both men straightened. Pablo's eyes moved from Kara to Danny and then back. He lifted an eyebrow. "Does this mean that I'm no longer invited on Sunday?"

xxxxx

Danny shot to his feet, catching the chair just before it fell, turning to face the window. "Well, if she had wanted Stella then I was completely fucked anyway so you being pissed at me wouldn't matter anyway."

Kara's mouth fell open on a silent gasp, staring at Danny's back. She had known that Danny was on edge, but she had interpreted his behavior as concern about her. He had seemed so confident, so certain that everything would work out.

She had never considered that he might be just as scared as she was.

Danny had been just as worried about the adoption as Kara, but he hadn't felt able to confide in her.

Because the last time he did, Kara left.

Tears burning in her eyes, Kara moved forward until she was touching Danny's back. "I didn't know you felt that way."

He clenched the windowsill, staring outside. "I thought that adoption would be easier. It seemed easier. And then things kept coming up. First Mrs. Guy and then Evelyn. I kept telling myself that there were bound to be bumps but that they could be fixed. Not like..."

"Not like losing the baby," Kara finished around the lump in her throat.

"I couldn't believe Evelyn because if what she was saying was true, it meant she could take Stella away from us," Danny concluded.

No wonder Danny turned to Pablo — a man who had known Danny longer than any of them. The one person who wouldn't ask questions.

Kara took a deep breath, but before she could say anything, Danny turned, his eyes meeting hers. "Five years ago, you told me that you needed space and I let you push me away. I'm not making that mistake again. You can be as pissed as you want, Kara, but we're going to have to figure this out. Together."

"I know."

Danny stared, as though he couldn't understand what she said. Kara smiled slightly, hand rising to his chest when she stepped closer. "You're right. I did push you away back then. And I had five years to figure out my mistake. I'm not going anywhere, Danny. No matter what happens from here on out, you're stuck with me. I mean that."

She could see as her words sunk in, watching as Danny's stiff frame relaxed a smidge. He studied her face. "I should have told you about Evelyn earlier."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you should have." She let that sit there for a minute, before tipping her head. "Paul Shemanski? Really? Does the guy think he can pass for Polish?"

Danny reached out, encircling her with his arms and pulling her towards him. Slowly, giving her plenty of time to step back. "He told me that I was an idiot for not telling you about Evelyn right away."

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," Kara replied, relaxing against Danny's chest, slipping her arms around him.

After a moment, Danny dropped his chin onto her head. "I'm sorry. Are we okay?"

"Not yet," Kara replied. "But we will be."