Thanks for the reviews I've gotten so far! keep the feedback coming 8-)

It took a little bit of time alone in an empty storage room for Kara to collect herself. Lee had been right, in a sense. The excuse she gave him for not revealing the truth had been crap, but not for the reasons he thought. It wasn't that she was afraid of having to tell Anders – although she wasn't looking forward to it – but she'd been afraid that Lee would blame her, just like she was blaming herself. She'd always been a screw-up, and probably always would be, but she hated it when she screwed up for him. She didn't want him to see this as another mess that she'd dragged him into. The really big messes, the really important ones, were things that he couldn't get her out of.

When she got back to her bunk room, Anders was there. "Hey, there you are," he said as she came in the door. "I was just about to go looking for you. You want dinner?"

"I'm not hungry," Kara said as she sat on her bed.

"Wow, that's a first," he teased. "What did the doctor say?"

"That I've gotta be up for early shift tomorrow."

Sam nodded. "You sure you're ready?"

"It's a matter of sitting on my ass for a few hours, Sam; I think I'll be okay."

"Okay, Captain Invincible. I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens to you."

Kara sighed. It really wasn't his fault that her life was falling apart. "I know. I'm just…"

He nodded. "I get it; it's okay. You want to go running in the morning?"

"Yeah, sure."

They were both awake before most of the ship the next day, having friendly races through the Pegasus' decks. The permanent chill that penetrated any space-faring vessel had almost been driven out of Kara's body by the time she and Anders got back to their bunkroom.

"I won," Sam declared as he became the first one to touch their hatch. Kara rolled her eyes.

"Today, maybe," she replied.

"Doesn't winner get a prize?" he asked.

"Depends on what it is," Kara said as she opened the door.

"How about you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "As much as I would love to, I don't think I've got time before my shift."

"I don't mean that," he said with a laugh. "I meant you, as in having you as mine."

"Personal property?" Kara asked, grinning impishly, as she got her stuff out of her locker.

"Yeah, in a matter of speaking. Marry me."

Kara dropped her shower kit. "Excuse me?"

Sam bent to help her retrieve her things. "You heard me."

"You don't want me, Sam," she said as she tried to take her belongings and brush past him on her way to the bathroom. He caught her arm.

"I think I know what I want."

"You don't know me. I…Nobody wants to take damaged goods."

"I don't see damage. I'd call it…character."

Kara pulled her arm free. "Were you drinking last night?"

"A little, but not enough to do anything."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"I am. I'll wait as long as I have to for you to say yes."

"I already said no."

"No, you said that I shouldn't be asking. But I am, and you're going to say yes." He smiled. "Go get a shower; you're going to be late for your shift." Kara didn't answer – she had absolutely no idea what to say – so she just followed his instruction and left the room. As if her life needed any more complications.

A few days later, Kara had a day off and decided there was someone she needed to pay a visit to for a little advice. As she approached the hatch to Adama's office, she could hear the tail end of the phone conversation he was having. She smiled to herself as she realized who he was talking to.

"How is Roslin?" she asked the admiral as she came into the room after he hung up.

"Beginning the school year on New Caprica. From the sound of her voice, I think she's enjoying herself." Kara smiled; it was easy to see how much of an impact the call had had on the Old Man. She was glad to see him happy. "So, to what do I owe this surprise?" Adama asked, gesturing for her to sit in the chair across from him.

"This ship was home for far too long for me to leave it very easily."

Adama smiled. "You treat that Doc on Pegasus any better than Cottle?"

"Not really…You talked to Lee?"

He nodded. "The next time that you end up in an infirmary, don't let me hear it through the fleet grapevine."

Kara nodded. "Yes, Sir." She watched him carefully; he didn't seem angry, which could only mean that Lee hadn't divulged the whole story. Kara really didn't want to have to share, but she'd promised herself nearly a year ago that she wasn't keeping secrets from the Old Man again. She wasn't sure if she could handle him blaming her any more than she could handle the same from Lee, but she knew she definitely couldn't take betraying him again.

Adama saw her smile melt away, and saw the look of concerned contemplation that replaced it. "What's the matter, Kara?"

Bad news comes second, she decided. "Anders asked me to marry him."

He smiled. "Was he sober?"

"At first, I wasn't sure. But he's asked every day since, and he's waiting for me to say yes."

"So why haven't you?"

"Because I think he might have lost his mind." They both smiled a little at that. "I just…I never thought – "

"That you would feel this way again? That someone else would love you?"

She couldn't look at him; her hands, folded in her lap, suddenly became fascinating. "I'm going to mess this up," Kara said, her voice not much more than a whisper.

One of Adama's hands covered both of hers. "No, you're not."

She shook her head. "You don't know that. You don't know what I did…"

He was patient, like always. "What did you do, Kara?"

"I lost something…something I didn't know I had and never thought I wanted."

Adama slowly nodded. "After I heard, I suspected. If you didn't know about the baby, then the something was taken from you; it wasn't something you lost."

"But it was taken from Lee, too," she blurted as tears spilled. She couldn't stop crying! "And you."

He stopped, considered that for a long moment. Kara steeled herself for anger in his voice, for disappointment, but it didn't come. "I will not deny that I would have wanted a grandchild," Adama finally said. "I won't lie to you, Kara. But it is not your fault that that didn't happen."

"Isn't it? I was pulling ridiculous Gs in stupid aerial maneuvers for show, never sleeping, barely eating, and spending almost every night in the mess with at least two full glasses of whatever somebody managed to brew. I killed my child without even knowing it."

"Would you have done any of that if you'd known in time?" Kara shook her head. "That's all anyone could ask for. That's all you can ask of yourself." He gently used his free hand to raise her chin so she was looking at him. "You'll get another chance, Kara, if you want it, because you deserve it. The sins committed against you will not be your own, you hear me?"

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you. And I have faith in you."

She slowly nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Now, if your heart says that you can go tell your 'personal property' yes, then stop letting your brain's fears take control and go tell him."

Another nod. "Yes, Sir."

He smiled. "Good. Anything else?" Kara shook her head. "That was quite enough for one day, hmm?"

"Yeah...I should probably get back; I'm sure I've got a mountain of paperwork in my office."

"I wouldn't want to keep you, then."

Kara grinned. "Thank you."

"Anything for my favorite pilot." She started to leave, but he stopped her. "Kara?"

"Yeah?"

"When you do get another chance at a family…I hope you'd let me consider them as part of my family, just like you are."

She smiled. "Them? How many grandchildren do you think you're getting?"

"How many would you consider having?" he fired back. She laughed.

"Probably one, if any. Maybe two if I manage not to screw up the first one too badly." Adama laughed. "Either way…it or they couldn't ask for a better grandfather." She gave him a little grin, then left.

TBC...