The doctor finally released Kara the next morning with orders to get some rest and to come check in with him the following day. Anders came to walk her from the infirmary back to their bunkroom. "You better not think you're going to spend all day hovering over me," Kara told him as they navigated the ship's corridors.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sam replied with a smile. "I've got a shift this afternoon."

Arriving in their bunkroom, he opened the door and Kara could see that a 'Get Well Soon' banner had been strung up on the wall inside. "It wasn't my idea," Anders instantly defended himself. "It seems that the pilots get concerned when their CAG inexplicably has to be carried off the hangar deck, so your squad was glad to know you were going to be okay."

"What did you tell them?" Kara asked as she sat on her bed.

"That you were in the infirmary, but you were annoying the hell out of the Doc, so he was kicking you out at his earliest convenience."

"Nothing else?"

"I didn't mention the baby," he confirmed, sitting on his own rack with a sigh. "Are we just going to pretend this whole thing never happened?"

"What 'whole thing', Sam? I didn't even know until it was over. That's not much of a 'thing' to worry about."

"Kara – "

"Maybe this is just the way things were supposed to turn out. I mean, what the frak would I do with a baby on a Battlestar?"

"We could have gone to New Caprica. Started over, made a life there."

Kara lay back on her bunk. "But it didn't work out that way. I think I'm going to sleep; maybe the day will go by faster that way."

Sam nodded. "Okay. I'll be back later." He got up and went over to kiss her forehead before leaving. Once he was gone, Kara closed her eyes and tried to relax. She just had to keep telling herself that life would be easier this way, and maybe eventually she'd actually believe it.

Caprica City had been Kara's favorite place in the Colonies before the attack. Everything was always active and fun; the nights were full of lights and music. Her apartment had a view of the downtown area, and she KNEW in her head that the skyline had been ravaged by the Cylon attack, and yet she was currently staring through her window at the same view she'd always known. Slow, cautious piano music filled the room.

"How was that, Mommy?" a little voice asked as the song ended. Kara turned around and smiled at the little girl sitting on the instrument's bench.

"Perfect."

The little cherub got up. "Will you play with me, too?"

Kara glanced down at her hands, curling her fingers and feeling the slight soreness that resulted from a childhood punishment. "It's been a long time."

"Please?" The child glanced up at the third figure entering the room. "Don't you think Mommy should play, too, Daddy?"

"Oh, definitely," Lee said, leaning against the doorframe and smiling impishly.

Kara sat on the bench, pulling her daughter into her lap. Fingers that normally made a flying hulk of metal into an extension of her own body were now easily dancing over the keys, playing a song she knew by heart. Little hands slipped on top of hers, fingers overlapping as the music went through both of them.

"Play it again," was the demand when Kara finished. She laughed.

"Okay, but only because you asked so nicely."

It was still dark in her bunkroom when Kara woke up. Everyone else was still asleep, but her brain wouldn't slow down for long enough for her to do the same. She got up and changed into off-duty clothes, then set off on a walk around the ship. The doctor had told her in no uncertain terms that she wasn't to fly, run, or work out until he cleared her, but she had a store of built up energy that she needed to get rid of somehow. Walking wouldn't hurt.

She hadn't understood when she first dreamed of her child and Lee; she hadn't known what had happened. But now she was aware, and being haunted once more by what could have been had unnerved her quite a bit.

"Look who's up and about," she heard a voice say and turned to see Lee behind her.

"Apparently so."

Lee smiled as he stopped next to her. "How are you?"

"Good. Hopefully I'll be back in a cockpit soon."

"Glad to hear it…Feel like talking?"

Kara eyed him skeptically. "How big of a mouth does the Doc have?"

"Big enough. I wouldn't be a good commander if I didn't get worried when I hear my CAG collapsed on the deck."

"I didn't exactly collapse…"

"Kara. Please."

She looked away. "Can we do this some other time?"

Lee nodded. "Yeah, sure. Why don't you come by my office once you check in with the Doc?"

Kara grudgingly nodded. "Yes, Sir."

It took a little while after she left the infirmary that afternoon before she finally arrived at Lee's quarters/office. He smartly didn't comment on her tardiness, just closed the door behind her and moved over to the bar to pour two drinks. "Here," Lee said, handing Kara a glass of water. She took it with a nod of thanks. "What was the Doc's final verdict?"

"I'm cleared for flight."

He smiled, sitting in a chair across from her. "That's good."

Kara looked down. "Yeah. Back to life as usual."

Lee studied her for a moment. He really, REALLY, didn't need to think about the details of her life now – her life without him – but it was obvious that something was going on, and he wanted to help if he could. Just glutton for punishment, he supposed. "Except nothing's the same?" Lee quietly asked.

Kara looked up, a bit surprised that he was actually pressing her for details. Their conversations had been short, to the point, and mainly work-related ever since she had arrived on Pegasus. She'd missed her best friend.

"Yeah," she finally said, her voice not much more than a whisper. "After everything they did to me…after that frakking farm, I never thought…I never wanted to be somebody's mother. I never thought I would be."

"Maybe the tests were wrong," Lee told her. "Maybe…maybe you'll get another chance to do right all the things that went wrong for you."

"I don't deserve another chance. I was given a miracle, Lee, and I frakked it up just like I do with everything else. Someone else was counting on me to survive and I couldn't even handle that! I was too stupid to figure it out for months – " her eyes widened as she realized what she'd said. "Weeks," she tried to cover herself, but she'd already gotten Lee's attention.

"You said you didn't know for months?"

"I meant weeks," she said, staring at her hands. "I'm just – I'm not thinking straight."

Lee wasn't giving up, though; he saw the look of guilt in her eyes. "How far along were you, Kara?" he asked, standing and moving closer to her. She didn't answer. "Kara? How far…" The word 'months' kept floating around in his head. Months. Enough time that she couldn't just say 'weeks' anymore, but not enough time that she was showing… "Oh, Gods, Kara. Was it mine?"

She couldn't respond, just looked up at him with eyes that were shining with tears. It was all Lee needed, though. He looked away from her, trying to keep his emotions under control. Another child… "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"No," she honestly replied, standing up as her tears spilled over. She hated crying more than anything, but couldn't force herself to stop. "It was already too late…Who its father was wouldn't have brought it back. You knowing wouldn't have changed anything and…I didn't want to hurt you."

"You didn't want to hurt me? Or you didn't want to have to deal with it, deal with telling your 'personal property' the truth? Didn't want your little C-Buck to know that while he was waiting for rescue back home, you'd been frakking around!"

Kara reached to punch him, but he caught her wrist before she could make contact. She swung with the other arm, and at least managed to smack him before he caught her hand. He didn't hit back, just held her at bay, staring at her with hard, icy blue eyes. Kara finally had to look away, and he released her.

"Get out," Lee said, turning away towards his desk. "Just get the frak out."

TBC...