Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4

Previously..

He had been gone seven weeks today. The last seven weeks had been good. She still missed Zack terribly, but was starting to move on with her life. She was back to enjoying the things she loved. She felt the best when she was flying. It had been the last thing Zack had done before he died, and even though it killed him, she felt closer to him.

Lee had not called, not that she expected him to. She assumed he had made it back to his ship without any problems. She thought about him some, but not that much. Today she was at the gym playing a pick up game of pyramid with some of the guys.

She was doing pretty well, basically kicking their egotistical male butts. She would have won too, if it hadn't been for that bum knee. She tried to pivot and drive at the same time, but her knee did not move the same direction her body was going. She went down hard.

She wanted to grab her knee and cry like a baby, but her pride and the four men surrounding her kept it to a simple, "Frak!"

"Kara are you okay?" asked Brett, one of her fellow flight instructors.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Just help me up."

He pulled her up slowly, but she would have gone back down if it wasn't for his arm around her. The pain when she tried to put her knee down was almost too much to bear, she couldn't hide the wince of pain.

"Kara we are going to have to get you down to the med center, and let them take a look at your knee."

"Yeah, I think I really messed it up this time," she replied, swallowing her pride and letting her friend pick her up and take her to sick bay.

Kara waited quietly on a stretcher for a nurse doctor, anyone to come see her. Apparently an injured knee wasn't a big priority to these people. After waiting an hour a nurse finally appeared.

"Hello Lieutenant, it says here you injured your knee today, let me see, playing pyramid ball?" The woman questioned, eyebrows raised. She almost acted like it was a sin Kara was playing a sport.

"Yeah, I have an old injury, and I think I reinjured it. Hurt's like hell."

"You need to remove your pants, and the doctor will come in and take a look at it," she said completely ignoring Kara's complaints of pain.

"I was reading in your chart Kara, and it says you were due over 3 months ago for your preventative injection."

A birth-control injection had been the farthest thing from Kara's mind for the past few months. It was due right after the funeral, she remembered getting the reminder in the mail, but thought what was the point.

"Is something wrong? Is there a chance you are pregnant, Lieutenant?"

"No, oh no," Kara quickly covered. "It's just that my fiancée died three months ago," she said, not faking the pain written all over her face.

"I'm sorry to hear that, when was your last cycle Kara?"

That is when the warning lights went off in Kara's head. Think fast, she told herself. "Two weeks ago," she lied. "More like nine" she thought.

"Would you like to go ahead and get back started on your injections today?" the nurse went on.

"Um, no, I don't think so there is really no point, plus they make me fat," Kara added.

"Okay, so what do you want me to write down for your method of birth control?" She was really starting to get on Kara's last nerve.

"How about abstinence," Kara replied with a bit of a snarl, wanting the woman to just go away.

"Okay, I will send the doctor in."

After a gambit of x-rays, they determined nothing was broke. They believed the ligaments were strained, maybe a small tear, but nothing that would require surgery. Kara was fitted with a knee immobilizer and given strict instructions to stay off it. She was also grounded. The doctor was not sure when she would be able to fly again. Her knee had already doubled in size.

Kara was no longer concerned about her knee. She had one thought and one alone. Get to the pharmacy. Not for the pain meds the doctor had so graciously given her, but for a pregnancy test.

She went to an off base store to get it. One where she would not be recognized, because buying a pregnancy test was a very private thing. Especially when you wanted no one to know about it.

She couldn't get home fast enough and made her way to the bathroom as fast as her crutches could carry her. She had never used one of these before, in the past Kara had been to smart to get into a situation like this. There were simple instructions, just pee on the stick, two lines pregnant, one line not.

Kara did not even have to wait the four minutes recommended. Within seconds two bright pink lines were present. "Oh, frak me!" She took the stick and hurled it across the room with all her might, as if getting rid of that little thing would fix the problem.

She hobbled into her bedroom and threw herself onto the bed. "What am I going to do?" She asked herself. Kara talked to herself. Zack had always laughed at her. One day he had tried to surprise her, and walked in on her talking to herself in the bedroom, and thought she had another man over.

Lee would know what to do. He was much more level headed then her. She could not do this alone, not now. "Crap, what will his parents think? First their youngest son dies, and now his fiancé is knocked up by his brother, barely even three months after his death." She did not care what people thought about her. She learned long ago people would make their minds up before they even knew a person. She could not tarnish Zack's memory that way. It would only bring his family embarrassment and more hurt.

She was tired, her knee hurt and this was just too much. She pulled Zack's pillow toward her like she had done so many nights before and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning she went to the table, and wrote down her options. Kara had a quick mind, and her instructors had always commented on her "out of the box thinking" most of the time not in a good way. She could figure this out. On the paper she wrote these things.

Call Lee, make him figure this out.

Terminate the pregnancy.

Leave the military and just disappear.

Adoption.

Don't do anything.

She stared at the list trying to weigh each one. Number 1 was probably what she should do, but right then she wasn't so sure. Number 2 would be the easy way out. It would be the same option Lee's girlfriend took. Kara was never one for taking the easy way out. She had never had an opinion about abortion one way or the other, but the thought of killing hers and Lee's baby was not an option. Infact the thought of it made her sick. Number 3 would work, no one would ever know she could raise the baby and find a job as a pilot somewhere, but that would mean giving up the first love of her life, Vipers. It was to early to consider option 4 but that was a possibility. Number 5 looked like her favorite. Don't do anything. She had months before she would be showing, and her knee gave her the perfect out for not being able to sit in the cock pit for awhile. Yes she would go with number 5.

Option number 5 only lasted for a couple of weeks. As the pregnancy progressed so did Kara's hormones. She was never sick, but she was so tired all she did in her free time was sleep. She was also extremely emotional, she would go from screaming tirades to crying fits. It was almost more than she could handle. One day she broke. She called him.

"Hello, this is the automated operator for the voice mail boxes of the crew of the Atlantia. Please state the name of whom you are trying to reach and we will direct you to their box, or you can enter the pin number now. Please remember messages may not be checked daily and our men and women will get back with you as soon as possible. State the name now." "Lee Adama." "Thank you transferring now."

It was only seconds before she heard him. Not him, but a recorded him. "Hey its Lee, leave a message and Ill call you back. Beeeeeeeeeeeeep"

"Um, hey Lee its Kara, I was just um wondering how you were doing and, and all. Call me if you have time. Bye Lee." It was probably not what she should have said. She kicked herself mentally for leaving such a pitiful sounding message. Kara Thrace was a strong person. Not the time to leave cowardly little messages on ex-lovers answering machines.

She waited a week and he never called, another month and still no call. She took it as a sign. It was time to do something she had to decide. She made an appointment under the name of Amanda Benson with a midwife at a clinic 30 miles away from base. She new she could not let the military know of her pregnancy, it would ruin her. It was not that women weren't allowed to become pregnant, its just that Viper pilots who had just been through very expensive training at the cost of the government were expected not to let this happen. Kara was an expensive tool of the government. Her future was in their hands and something like this could tarnish her record and get her stuck as a Flight instructor the rest of her career.

The woman at the clinic was kind, something Kara was not used to. After examining her she did an ultrasound confirming Kara was about 12 weeks pregnant. Kara was amazed by the ultrasound. She had not been around children much less babies before, and here she was looking at the perfect little form of a baby inside her belly. She was amazed this machine could get such a clear picture of the little thing. "See that" she said pointing to the sudden movement. "It's kicking."

"Am I supposed to feel that?" Kara asked.

"Not yet, but soon."

The woman's name was Laura and Kara felt she could trust her. She confided her situation to Laura, and after hearing her out Laura gave her advice.

"I see, Amanda, that's really not your name is it?" she said with a smile, to which Kara gave a small smirk back. "You are right, you can't fly a Viper being pregnant, it would not be good on the baby. I think if you milk it you can get by a few more months on the bum knee excuse, but you may have to become creative toward the end. You have six more months. You are a tall girl, so I doubt if hiding the pregnancy will be a problem even toward the end. Just eat healthy and get a slightly bigger uniform. If you want a home delivery I suggest we do it at my home since neighbors can be so nosey. Then if you decide to put the baby up for adoption I have friend who can arrange it all. If not, then it is up to you what you do next."

"Thanks, I think I can do this," she said with renewed strength, it was so nice to have finally confided in someone. Up until that moment she was the only one in the world that new about the new little life growing inside her.

Kara was very surprised the next morning to receive a letter in the mail from one Commander William Adama. The letter was not personal, not in the least bit. It simply told how several of their pilots were asking to be transferred on the news that the Galactica would not be in service much longer and he had several openings he would like her to consider filling.

It was like a dream come true. It was the opening she had been looking for. A chance to be on a Battlestar, it did not matter that Galactica was the oldest remaining ship in the fleet, it would at least give her a start. She had been passed up so many times for Battlestar positions because of her tarnished record, too many times in hack to put it simply.

"Frak! Why does this have to come now," she screamed at her empty apartment. Even if she was not pregnant the knee would keep her down at least another few weeks. She could not let this pass her up.

Commander Adama Sir,

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve under your command. Unfortunately your request has come at a poor time in my life. I have injured my knee and am grounded for some time. I am also going through some family problems, I have an ill grandmother I am caring for in my off time while my cousin is out of the colony. I would be available in approximately six months time if you would still have me.

Sincerely

Lieutenant Kara E. Thrace

It was a bogus letter, a lie, and not the way she wanted to start the relationship out with a possible new commander. He was probably only doing it because he felt sorry for her, or because Lee had told him how pitiful she looked. She did have a grandmother that lived in the area, she had never met her, it was her mother's mother, and she had no desire to ever meet her. For once in her life something about her mother was useful.

The letter worked. Three weeks later a reply came, it gave the date she was to report upon the Galactica. Kara stood and stared at the date. It was the same day her baby was due.

Thanks for reading. I have had some free time so hopefully I can get one more chapter up tomorrow. I know I am going away from the original miniseries, I think it implies Kara was on Galactica a full two years before the decommissioning ceremony. I think people have referred to that as AU, I have know idea what that term means, can someone help me out please. Thanks for reading please review I love hearing your thoughts good or bad, but the good ones more, lol.