"The Untold History of the Ancient Colonies: Part I - Kobol" the title reads. "By Dr. David Roslin, Professor of History and Dean of Research, Caprica City University."

Considered by many to be the top researcher in his field of ancient civilizations, Dr. David Roslin's experiences include participating in archaeological digs in the outer colonies, researching the existence of Earth and the 13th tribe, decades of teaching college students about their ties to the colonial tribes, and overseeing the research activities of the history department at the leading educational institution in the colonies.

"My goal in writing this series of books is to bring a new perspective to the ancient history of the colonies. My field has been accused of being boring, even dead, but the truth is that our current way of teaching has made it that way. We barely mention the grittier aspects such as human sacrifice, genocide, conflict, war, betrayal, and a host of other uncomfortable topics. The flip side of that coin contains stories of love, commitment, self-sacrifice, and tremendous leadership. I hope to inspire a new generation of students by revealing these stories, showing the sexier side of history.

I dedicate this book to my three beautiful daughters. They are my inspiration. I love you, L, S, and C."

"Oh, my Gods," Laura whispers after reading the inside cover. "What have I done?"

"Laura, you need to sit down," Bill says grimly, guiding her to the sofa where she begins to cry. "Cheryl, can you get her a bottle of water from the fridge?"

"You were right. You were both right," she says staring at Bill, then at Sandra. "Gods, I was horrible to her. The things I said…and daddy…I totally ruined this for him."

Cheryl returns with the bottle of water, handing it to her sister and then walking far away from her.

"Sandra, can you sit with her?" Bill says as his phone rings. It's a call from Dave.

"Yeah," she says, noticing her father's name on his phone.

He leaves the foyer and walks down the hallway, far out of earshot from Laura.

"Hello, Dave?" he answers.

"Bill, what the hell has gotten into Laurie?"

"I can explain, but it might be best to do this in person. Where are you?"

"I'm driving Jean home. She's so upset I didn't think she should drive herself. And she won't talk to me. I'm going to stay with her until her boyfriend gets there, then I'll call a cab and come home."

"I'm sorry about this, Dave. I can come get you. The drive home will give us a chance to talk. Sandra is sitting with Laura right now. She's upset but I think she'll be okay while I pick you up. Unless you think I should bring her with. Maybe she and Jean can talk-"

"No. It's too late for that. I'll text you later. We're almost there. Bill, I need answers. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Was that daddy?" Laura mumbles when Bill returns to the sofa.

"Yeah, he's driving Jean home. I'll pick him up after her boyfriend gets there."

"Can I go with? I have to apologize to her."

"No, we need to give this a little time."

"She doesn't want to talk to me. I don't blame her," she says wiping tears from her cheeks.

"It's because you're mean," Cheryl states, her eyes narrowed at Laura.

"Cheryl, don't," Sandra says shaking her head at her.

"No, let her. I'm mean. I deserve it," Laura says staring straight at her littlest sister.

"You shouldn't ever treat your friends like that. Jean loves you. She has ALWAYS been your friend. I've never seen her be mean to you. EVER. And you ruined daddy's big surprise. You're a bitch!" Upon getting that off her chest, Cheryl turns around and walks to her bedroom.

"I'll go talk to her," Sandra sighs, standing up from the sofa.

"Don't. Let her be. Everything she said is the truth. I crapped on everything today because I refused to believe that there was a perfectly good explanation to why they were spending time together. I should have asked Jean about it rather than blow her off."

"Well, she probably wouldn't have told you anything because she was trying to keep daddy's secret. And that might have made you more suspicious. I mean, I was suspicious. I'm the one that connected the dots in the wrong way," Sandra says. "I'm just as much to blame."

"Nuh-uh. You told me there couldn't be anything going on. Sure, it looked bad, but that doesn't mean something bad was happening. This is on me. And I know that look, Bill, this has nothing to do with pregnancy hormones. I would have reacted the same way even if I wasn't pregnant. This is about me not trusting my best friend even though I don't have any reason not to trust her."

Dave pulls Jean's car into the garage of her townhouse, then closes the door.

"Eugene's on his way here if you want to leave," she says without looking at him while she dabs at her eyes with a tissue. "You don't need to stay. I'll be okay. I'm sure Cheryl wants everyone to know about your book, so you should go."

"I'm not leaving until Eugene gets here. I don't know what's going on that made Laurie act that way. I'm sorry for what happened tonight. You've always been a good friend to her, and while I know she treated you poorly tonight, I hope that someday you can both overcome this. Good friends are hard to find, especially when you get older. I hated those things she said to you, it was like she was possessed. I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."

Jean tries to force a small smile to her face but fails. She stares at him through red, puffy eyes, wondering what it must be like to have him as a father. He's so protective of his children yet here he sits with her in the garage of her home. What started out as an exciting opportunity to bring new business to her law firm and to help Dave achieve a dream he held for years, has turned into an epic disaster.

"Do you want to come in for something to drink while we wait? I know why Laura said those things. I'm already humiliated enough, what's a little bit more? But before I tell you, I could use a shot of whiskey."

"Might as well pour me a glass, too."

Cheryl exits her room and returns to the living room, where she stands in front of her sister that she just told off fifteen minutes earlier. After a deep sigh, she says, "I've been thinking. I shouldn't have said mean things to you just because you were mean to Jean and ruined daddy's surprise. I was mad. I remember being mad at Persephone once, but then we decided to get over it and now we're best friends. I want you and Jean to get over it, too. Are you going to apologize to her so you can be friends again?"

"I'm going to try, my sweet girl, but I really hurt her, so it's not going to be easy. But I promise I'll keep trying."

"Good. Will I squish the baby if I give you a hug? Because you look like you could use one."

"You won't hurt the baby and, you're right, I could really use a hug right now," Laura admits, holding her arms toward her littlest sister.

Cheryl climbs into her lap, wrapping her arms around her neck. Laura clings to her, admiring her for an emotional maturity beyond her years, one she wishes she possessed herself. Why is there so much intelligence and maturity in this four-year-old girl? She feels like they could all learn a lesson from her littlest sister.

"What was that?" Cheryl asks, suddenly pulling back from her sister.

"The baby kicked, that's all. She's probably letting me know what a dumbass I am."

"No, she isn't, Laurie," she replies placing her palm to her sister's cheek. "You're her mommy and she'll love you no matter what, even when you make mistakes."

"I never should have teased Laura about my crush on you. I knew she was sensitive about it, especially after Betty passed away, but I did it anyway. I exercised poor judgment, and tonight that bad karma came back and kicked me in the gut. I'm sorry, Dave," Jean says, beginning to cry softly again. "I messed this up for you. I never meant to do that."

Crushes. Those are things Dave has had some experience with, whether it was a friend of one of his daughters, a college student that hung around for all his office hours, or his own crushes from growing up.

"Did Laura ever tell you about the friend that stayed with us after summer camp between her fifth and sixth grade year? I think this girl might have just finished sixth grade, but I don't remember her name. She was from Virgon, nice family. She spent a week with us. Every day, she took at least one picture of me with a camera her parents had bought her for sightseeing in the city. She was always asking me to pose next to whatever we were looking at. After she returned home, she sent Laura a scrapbook she had made online about her trip. It was all photos of me."

"You're making that up," Jean accuses him, but the small smile on her face tells him she appreciates the story.

"I'm not – I swear! She told Laura she was going to marry me someday and then she could be her new mom and her best friend."

"Oh, that's terrible, and a little bit creepy! I never did anything like that. I don't even think I have a picture of you," Jean says with a small chuckle. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing."

"At the time, it was uncomfortable, but looking back on it, it's sort of funny. I mean, I'm a history professor. Lots of women love that, right?" he asks with a wry grin.

"Yeah, Dave, I'm sure that's it," she chuckles, her eyes finally smiling after being filled with tears.

"That's better," he says. "I like to hear that laugh. My point is, crushes happen. Had a few of my own when I was growing up. Even had a crush on the aunt of a good friend of mine. She was an older woman, but she made the best oatmeal raisin cookies. Even though I finally outgrew that crush, I still think of her whenever I have those cookies."

"Wait, didn't Betty used to make you oatmeal raisin cookies all the time?" she asks with a grin.

"She did, and nobody needs to know what I just told you. That's between me and you. Betty never knew," he whispers, which brings a snort and a hearty laugh from her.

"Thank you. I'm grateful that you understand what I told you and that you aren't judging me for it. I feel better. You are the kindest, most intelligent person I've ever met. Someday, a very lucky woman is going to meet you, and you're going to fall in love again - I'm sure of it. They don't make too many men like you anymore, Dave Roslin."

"Oh, I don't know. There seem to be dozens of history professors around, and we're all pretty nice people."

Her eyes roll at this statement, further proof what a nice guy he is. He genuinely has no idea how unique he is in a colony full of people pretending to be something they're not just so they can get a leg up on the competition.

"When your book hits the stores in another week, you need to be prepared for the attention you're going to receive, because that photo of you they put on the back cover? That's a very good photo. That's the type of photo that women will notice, and they will buy your book even if they don't know the first thing about ancient history. They will look you up at the university, and you're going to get a ton of emails and phone calls. So get ready. It's going to happen soon."

"I think you might be exaggerating," he says, doubting her prediction.

"I'm not. Ask Laura and Sandra. They'll back me up."

"Laurie, did you see this picture of daddy on the back?" Sandra asks, handing her the book.

"Oh, my, that's…that's a really good photo," she says looking at her father dressed in a tight-fit polo with his arms crossed, biceps bulging, and a warm smile on his face. His dimples are prominent, as are the grey highlights at his temples, and his bright green eyes. "Well, I kinda think if the subject matter doesn't tempt people to buy his book, then this photo will. He's quite handsome."

"Persephone says daddy's a hottie," Cheryl informs them.

"Great, that's just great," Laura says rolling her eyes. "Here we go again."

"I gotta go," Bill says checking the text message on his phone.

"Bill, you haven't said much," Laura says, following him to the front door.

"We'll talk later."

Bill texts Dave when he arrives at the townhouse, parking in the driveway. After giving Jean a quick hug and shaking Eugene's hand, Dave leaves through the front door and walks the short distance to the car.

"How is she?" Bill asks.

"Better than she was an hour ago," Dave replies. "She told me about how she teased Laurie about having a crush on me. What I can't figure out is why the hell Laurie would think we were dating?"

"There was a lot of circumstantial evidence." Bill continues to explain how things looked and the clues that made Laura think there was something going on with Jean.

"She actually thought Jean and I would sneak around and do that? Does she really think I'm that gullible and Jean that manipulative?"

"You'll have to ask her about that."

"You didn't think that, did you?"

"No. I couldn't see the two of you being involved, and I knew Jean had promised Laura she would never act on her feelings toward you. She valued her friendship."

"I can see I need to have a very serious conversation with both Sandra and Laurie about this."

"Sandra thought there must be a good explanation for why you and Jean were so friendly. This isn't really her fault."

"Have you talked with Laurie about this?"

"No, but we need to sit down and hash this out. Dave, she hasn't been herself for the past few months because of this, and I'm tired of it. Ahhh, nevermind, this is something she and I need to talk about," he replies, his voice heavy with frustration.

"Daddy, I'm sorry," Laura says standing from the sofa when he walks into the house. "I ruined this for you, and the things I said to Jean are unforgivable. I screwed up."

Dave slowly nods his head at her before he speaks. "Have you eaten anything?"

"Not yet. I was hoping we could talk first."

Bill's hand immediately goes to his forehead, rubbing it like he has a giant headache.

"Laurie, right now I'd like to sit down and relax. Let's talk about this tomorrow. I think you should go home with your husband and make sure you eat something," Dave replies, noticing Bill's discomfort.

"Well, okay," she says with disappointment. "What time tomorrow?"

"I'll call you in the morning."

"Bill, you barely said two words to me on the way home. Please talk to me."

"I'd prefer to eat first." He pulls two plates from the cupboard and warms up a casserole they had meal prepped the day before.

"Can I help you with anything?"

"No, just take a seat. I can handle this."

He pours them two glasses of water, sets a lettuce salad on the table, and they spend the meal dining in silence. Laura watches him as he focuses on his food, barely setting eyes on her.

"Alright, Bill, I don't know what you want from me here. I frakked everything up and lost my best friend tonight. Destroyed my dad's big surprise. Pissed Cheryl off. Apparently, I've pissed you off, too. Will you please talk to me?"

When he shifts his gaze to her face, his eyes stare straight through her, burning with barely controlled anger and frustration. "Sandra and I both told you that there must be another explanation for what was happening, but you wouldn't listen. All of this tonight could have been avoided if you had just listened, all of it. And it's not just what happened tonight. It's what's been happening for two damn months! You've been so angry. You've been punishing both Sandra and me and I'm completely sick of it. This is supposed to be a happy time for us right now, we have a baby on the way. A baby, Laura! And you've been sulking around and complaining and not taking care of yourself like you should. The only way I can get any peace and quiet is to frak your brains out and hope you fall asleep afterwards. It's like you've turned into this other person the past eight weeks and I can barely stand to be around you. Then watching you scream at Jean tonight – I don't know that person. I don't want to know that person."

The whole time he's speaking, her eyes are closed, her head nodding as she takes in every word. "I'm listening now, and I'm hearing you loud and clear, Bill. I'm going to bed," she says quietly before pushing her chair back from the table and leaving the room.

She stares at herself in the bathroom mirror while Bill cleans the table and loads the dishwasher. The woman staring back at her looks tired, depressed, and ashamed. She quickly scrubs her face hoping it will remove some of the shame, but it doesn't help. When she hears Bill start the dishwasher, she changes into a long loose nightgown that doesn't restrict her baby bump and slips under the covers, facing away from the door. He doesn't need to see her tears. She doesn't want his pity.

He carefully enters the bedroom so as not to disturb her, although he suspects she's still awake. After closing the bathroom door behind him, he brushes and flosses his teeth, then gargles quietly with some mouthwash. His clothes are tossed in the hamper while he changes into lounge pants, his preference for sleeping next to her while she's pregnant. She has a tendency to radiate a lot of heat at night and a shirt is just too uncomfortable for him.

He loves her. He doesn't understand how their entire lives could get so turned upside down from this one issue. They went from happily married newlyweds, to happily married newlyweds expecting a baby, to unhappily married newlyweds expecting a baby, and then unhappily married newlyweds expecting a baby watching each other say and do things completely out of character for both of them. The one constant through it all is their love for each other, and this is what they both must lean on to get them through this.

He slips under the covers behind her, but she doesn't acknowledge his presence, doesn't move a muscle. Her breathing is shallow, so he knows she's awake.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, brushing his lips against her bare shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispers again repeating his kiss. "I love you. I'm sorry for the things I said," he tells her, placing his hand on her waist. "I love you so much, Laura. I'm sorry."

"Me, too, Bill," she replies rolling over to reveal her face covered in tears. "I'm so sorry about everything. I love you, too."

He nods his head offering her a small smile, his now gentle gaze warming her heart. Kisses are placed to her forehead and cheeks while his arms slip around her pulling her into his side. "We'll figure this out together. I promise."