"Wow, you look like hell," Anders commented early one morning as he noticed Kara return to their bunkroom from the bathroom. She shot him a lethal look.

"Thanks."

He leaned against the wall by her locker as she put her things away. "Are you okay?"

"I'm getting there. I apparently drank a lot more last night than I thought I did."

"You've said that a couple times in the past week or so. Do you need a baby-sitter or something to keep you in line while you're robbing all the other poor pilots of their money?"

Kara smiled. "Are you offering?"

"Maybe. Get someone to cover your shift and go back to bed."

"There aren't enough of us on this ship to start dropping shifts without notice. I'll survive."

He shrugged. "O-kay, but you better not go out there and ralph in your flight suit, and then asphyxiate before you can get back on the deck."

She offered him a mock salute. "I'll do my best."

By the time she got down to the deck, Kara was feeling better, and her patrol went smoothly. The time went by relatively quick, due to a few races around the fleet and a couple stunt shows. Back onboard Pegasus, Kara removed her helmet as the canopy slid forward on her Viper.

"Good run, guys," she called to the pilots she'd been out with, who were also getting out of their cockpits.

"Are you off-duty yet, Captain?" a voice asked, and she looked to see that Anders was at the base of the ladder beside her fighter. Kara checked the clock.

"It just so happens I am," she told him with a grin before climbing down and kissing him.

"Glad to see you're back in one piece," Sam said as they started walking towards the door.

"I told you I'd be fine. I feel a lot better, honest."

"Wanna get something to eat?"

"Sure. Just let me change and then – ow!" Kara doubled over, bracing her arm against her stomach as pain spread through her entire being. If Sam hadn't managed to grab her, she would have been on the hangar floor.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know! Frak, it hurts!"

"Can you walk?" She tried taking a step, but nearly collapsed. Anders swung her up into his arms. "Okay, I'm taking you to the Life Station," he said as they headed out of the hangar. "Just hang on; you're going to be fine."

Anders didn't like the look on the doctor's face by the time the man and his team finished with Kara. "Sit down," he said as he approached the ex-C-Buck.

"What's wrong with her?" he shot back, not complying.

The doctor pointed towards a chair behind him. "Sit down, son." Sam finally obliged. "Captain Thrace…had a miscarriage."

Sam frowned. "She was pregnant?" The doctor nodded. "She told me – she said she couldn't have kids."

"According to her records from Galactica, there was very little chance. She's suffered serious damage to her body; it would have taken a lot of work for her to have been able to carry to term."

He slowly nodded. "Does she know?"

"She hasn't woken up yet. When she does – "

"I'll tell her," Anders cut him off. The doctor just nodded.

The sun was shining brightly. In a sky. Am I on Cloud Nine? Kara wondered to herself. But she couldn't have been; Cloud Nine was gone, destroyed in a nuclear fireball that took five other ships with it. That had to mean that the sky was real. New Caprica?

"Mommy, Mommy!" she heard a voice cry. A beautiful blonde child was currently running in her direction. Kara just barely managed to pick the girl up before she barreled straight into her. "Daddy said we could have chicken pie for dinner," the little angel announced.

"Oh, really? Where is Daddy?"

"Miss me?" a deep voice rumbled right behind her. Turning to face its owner, Kara found herself staring into a pair of deep blue eyes that matched those of the child in her arms. The little girl reached for her father to take her, and Lee laughed as the squirmy package was transferred from Kara's embrace to his own. He leaned forward, his lips meeting hers, making their daughter squeal. "You want some, too?" Lee asked her, showering her face with kisses and making her laugh even harder.

It was absolutely wonderful and perfect. Kara prayed to the Lords that it wasn't just a dream, even though she knew full well that it was.

Sam watched Kara as she slept, curled on her side on a bed in the Life Station. He'd spent the past several months of his life not knowing whether or not he would live to see the next day. Meeting Kara had given him a reason to keep TRYING to make it to tomorrow, and now that he had her in his life everyday, he was actually beginning to try picturing his future again. Mainly he just knew that he wanted her in it.

Kara started to stir, her eyelids fluttering. Anders took her hand. "Kara? Can you hear me?" It took a moment, but she finally gave a mumbled reply that he considered a 'yes'. "How do you feel?"

"Like crap," she answered. "What happened?"

"Do you remember coming back from patrol?"

She thought about that for a minute. "What's wrong with me?" she finally asked.

"You just…you were pregnant, Kara."

She looked away from him. "Were?" she finally asked.

"Yeah. The Doc said…it just couldn't have worked." She slowly nodded. "I should go let him know you're awake. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay." Kara made sure he was safely gone before allowing herself thirty seconds to quietly break down. She had finished and was staring off at nothing by the time the doctor returned with Anders.

"Give us a minute," he requested of the ex-C-Buck and closed the curtain around Kara's bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked his patient as he sat in the chair by her bed.

"Never better. Can I get out of here?"

"Not quite yet. We want to keep monitoring you a little while longer. Were you aware that you were pregnant, Captain?"

"No. I didn't think it was possible. I just figured my stupid body was being frakked up again."

"Well, last I checked, Viper wings don't come with a license to practice medicine. The next time you decide to start self-diagnosing yourself, come see me instead, would you? It'll save both of us some time and probably keep you from almost winding up in the morgue again."

Kara nodded. "Yes, Sir."

The doctor's features softened a bit. "You've already proven once that you can do the near-impossible, Captain. If…if you choose to try again, let me know. There are a few treatments that could help make sure you get past the three month mark next time."

"There won't be a next time," Kara replied. After a pause, the doctor nodded.

"All right."

It took a few seconds too long for his last comment to register in her mind. "Wait," she said as he started to get up. "Three month mark? How far along was I?"

"Well, I would say about ten weeks." He held her look for a moment. "And no, I didn't inform the gentleman waiting for you outside of that." Kara couldn't do anything but watch him leave. She had only been back from Caprica for five weeks; the baby hadn't been Sam's. There was only one other option, and the thought gave her a chill like ice water down her spine.

Anders approached her bed, taking her hand and offering her a smile. "What'd the doc say?" he asked.

"He's not springing me yet."

"Well, then, I guess I'm not going anywhere, either."

"I…I think I'm just going back to sleep. You don't have to stay."

Sam smiled. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Sitting around the infirmary all night isn't exactly my idea of a fun time."

"We…we should talk, Kara. I mean, I know we didn't know, but we still…we still lost it."

She swallowed a sob. "I don't want to talk about it."

Anders knew her well enough to know to back off. "Okay. We don't have to do it now. I just want you to know that you don't have to take this on by yourself." He kissed her forehead, and turned to go. Kara sighed to herself once she was alone. She didn't want to lie to him – she really didn't – but the alternative meant telling Lee the truth as well, and that wasn't an option. So she would have to let everyone continue to assume.

TBC...

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