The next day Zak wanted me to meet his mother. I was scared shitless. I – the great Starbuck – was afraid. I'm usually not afraid of anything. But mothers are supposed to have a six sense when it comes to their children, aren't they? She would see right through me. She would take one look at me and she would know that I'm not good enough for her son. I mean, Lee already knew that. And he had surely told his mother all about me by now and how bad I am for Zak. I was sure that today would be the worst day of my life.

When we arrived at Caroline Adama's house I saw Lee's car already parked in front. I memorized his license number so I would recognize his car everywhere. And of course he had to be here before us. They were probably already talking about me. Oh gods, what if he brought Melinda? Compared with her I would look even worse. I was slightly starting to panic. Zak had obviously noticed that as he told me that I really didn't have to worry. His mother would love me. Yeah right, if only he knew.

When Mrs. Adama opened the door she hugged us immediately. Both of us. I was a bit startled by that at first since I had never been welcomed like this by anyone else before, including my own mother. But I had to admit it felt kind of nice. I was already starting to like her.

And the way she was beaming at me she already knew about the engagement. Well, I knew Lee would have told her by now.

"If Lee told her anything bad about you, why are her eyes beaming with joy over seeing you?" Little Angel told me quietly. Somehow it had a point there. Shouldn't she look at me all suspicious and angry for stealing away her youngest son?

"Maybe she's a good actress." Little Devil said with an evil grin. Hmm, good point too. She probably had to endure a lot of awful girlfriends of Lee and Zak over the years and knew how to pretend.

When we stepped into the living room, Lee greeted us as well. Thank the gods, he was alone. Melinda didn't come. He even smiled at us. Have I mentioned that I love his smile?

All in all his attitude was a lot better than last night after Zak's proposal. Maybe he had realized that I may not be so bad for Zak after all?

"Or he is a good actor too." Little Devil pointed out. Have I mentioned that I hate him?

A little while later we all sat around the table, enjoying Mrs. Adama's really delicious food. I knew she would be a great cook, Zak had already told me that she was perfect. And perfect mothers – and wives for that matter - can always cook. I can't even make fried eggs without burning them. Well, Zak never said anything about wanting a perfect wife. He knew my flaws and he had still proposed to me. I realized that saying yes to Zak might have been the right decision after all.

"It wasn't really a decision. You just answered a question you haven't heard in the first place." Little Devil said grinning. Again he sounded much too happy for my taste.

"Ignore him. You made the right decision subconsciously." Little Angel said determinedly.

I decided to ignore both of them and concentrated on what was said at the table. So far the dinner went really well. I hadn't kicked anything off the table and the conversation hadn't turned towards my family yet. And Zak's mother really seemed to like me. She even said how thrilled she was when Zak had called her last night and told her the good news. I should have known he'd call her right away. Probably half Caprica was informed about our engagement by now. Zak always had to tell the whole world if something really good was happening to him.

Like I said, dinner went really well. But in my life, everything that is good never lasts very long. This time it only lasted until Mrs. Adama asked the inevitable question: Had we set a date yet?

While I practically choked on my food, Zak couldn't wait to respond to that.

"I thought maybe a month from now. We'd still have enough time to plan everything and it would be still warm enough. We could hold the ceremony outside, that would be great." He told her excitedly.

A month?

"You could get married on the beach. That would be so romantic. Or in Mrs. Adama's garden. It looks so nice from here." Little Angel whispered happily in my ear.

I had to admit, that did sound nice, but a month? I could already feel the panic rise inside of me again. Of course that could have been only a symptom from lack of oxygen as that piece of meat was still stuck somewhere in my windpipe. Luckily Lee, who sat right next to me, helped me out by patting on my back. When I could breathe again I looked gratefully at him. Talking wasn't an option right now. Oh gods, a month?

"Don't you think you're rushing this a bit too fast?" Lee asked carefully. I already knew I loved this man and just now he had proven he really deserved my love.

"Ahem, bad thinking." Little Angel waved her finger at me angrily. "You are not supposed to think something like that." Unfortunately I had to agree. Thinking about loving Lee really wasn't very wise while I was engaged to his brother.

After dinner, Zak and his mother were doing the dishes in the kitchen while Lee and I went to the living room. Zak had whispered to me that he wanted to talk to his mother alone for a few minutes. I didn't have to ask what he was talking about with her– me of course. It was obvious he couldn't wait to hear her opinion about me. Oh gods, I already knew what would happen: He would come out of the kitchen and announce that proposing to me so early might have been a bit thoughtless and that we should reconsider that and just wait a few more months. Than, after a while, he would find a reason to break up with me and I would be alone again.

"And free for Lee." Little Devil whispered excitedly. Well, there was always a bright side to everything. Always think positive, that's what my aunt used to say all the time.

With Zak and his mother in the kitchen, that left me and Lee alone in the living room. We sat in silence for seven minutes and 35 seconds – I've been staring at the clock across the room all the time so I knew how much time had passed (seven minutes and 35 seconds can be a very long time, believe me) – before I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to say something. Unfortunately I had no idea what to say. So I closed my mouth again quickly and hoped that Lee hadn't noticed anything. We sat another four minutes and 20 seconds in silence until Lee cleared his throat and opened his mouth. Unlike me, he actually said something.

"So, do you like flying Vipers?"

After that we couldn't stop talking. As it turned out we had both dreamed of flying Vipers all our lives. And we both had been top students in academy. We even finished the academy in the same year, we had just been in different classes, so that's why we never met.

"Frak who ever was responsible for putting you in those classes." Little Devil muttered under his breath. Huh, I never even realized he breathed. Always learning something new. But I had to agree with him. Just imagine what might have happened if Lee and I had been in the same class?

"Don't think about that. It was fate that you never met before. You and Zak are destined to be together." Little Angel said determinedly.

Once again I ignored them both – fate, please, who believes in that anyway – and turned my attention back to Lee. He had just told me his call sign – Apollo. Of course he had to have the name of a god. I even remembered hearing about him in academy. He really had been a great pilot back than. I can only imagine how much better he is now, years later. Of course I'm still better. He told me that he had heard some good stories about Starbuck too. Knowing my reputation back then – actually it has never changed, I still have the same reputation now – those stories weren't all too good. But he said he always liked hearing them and had always wanted to meet "the great Starbuck" in person. It struck me as kind of funny that in a way I had known Lee longer than Zak, even though we never met in person.

"That means nothing." Little Angel exclaimed quickly.

"Now that's fate." Little Devil yelled. Hmm ...

Lee and I were so deep in conversation that we didn't even notice how Zak and his mother came into the living room. Only when Zak put his arm around me I realized that we weren't alone anymore. That didn't stop us from talking though. We talked about Vipers for hours and what a great feeling it was to fly. I told him about my work as a flight instructor and he told me what it was like working on a battlestar. I had to admit, I envied him for having a position on a battlestar. He actually had the chance to fly in space every day and practice combat tactics, maybe even getting a real mission from time to time. I could talk to him about these things forever.

"You really should pay more attention to your fiancé." Little Angel told me indignantly.

"Forget your fiancé, just look at those blue eyes ..." Little Devil sighed happily.

I agreed with Little Devil – I had to admit, I was really starting to like that little guy – and ignored Little Angel and kept listening to another one of Lee's stories about the Atlantia. I also ignored the strange looks that Mrs. Adama shot in our direction. She probably found it a bit weird that I was talking more with Lee than with Zak. But, I mean, that was only natural, wasn't it? I could talk to Zak every day, Lee, I would just see every now and than. Plus he was leaving in a few days, so I really should take every chance I had to get to know him better, right? And it was a good sign that I could relate with him so much, wasn't it? As his future sister-in-law it was very important that we had a good relationship. Oh gods, I hadn't even realized that – I would be his sister-in-law. Was it all right to have hot sex dreams about my future brother-in-law?

"Absolutely not!" Little Angel exclaimed. Again it sounded very indignant.

"Absolutely!" Little Devil yelled at the same time.

When Zak and I got home again that day I felt great. Talking to Lee had felt so good. And I really liked his mother. I'm glad I met her. And I think she liked me too. Oh, and have I mentioned that Lee broke up with Melinda the night before? I have no idea why, but who cares. Zak was more quiet than usual on our way home. It almost looked like something was bothering him. But I could worry about that tomorrow. Today was one of the best days of my life.

Tbc

A.N.: Thanks to laurie31 for beta reading this chapter. And thanks to everyone else for the reviews.