#23 - Child - Expanded
oooooooooooooooooo
"You sure are taking up a lot of space in there kid," Kara said to her swollen belly as she stood naked in their quarters looking at herself in the mirror.
When she'd discovered she was pregnant five months earlier, despite regular birth control shots, the news had been bittersweet. Lee had smiled wider than she'd ever seen him smile before, and an aura of sheer male pride at being able to procreate had permeated his whole being almost immediately.
The old man had been ecstatic. She'd never even seen him in a fatherly role, as he and Lee had been on more formal terms since they were all stranded on Galactica, but it seemed being a grandfather was something he'd been looking forward to. And he confided to her one day when they were having dinner alone together, that she was the one he'd hoped Lee would settle down with. She was perfect for him, he'd said - she challenged him and made him work harder than he'd ever had to before. She scratched the surface of the 'by-the-book, do things the proper way' Lee and knew him better than anyone. And of course the old man himself adored her as well. He'd let her know in no uncertain terms that a child cut from the cloth of Kara and Lee's personalities would be something he would be immensely proud of.
But Kara herself had been wary. She'd not wanted to have children for a long time and was still unsure if it was to be a part of their future until it was thrust upon her and she had no choice. She'd never have considered abortion, even if it was legal or available - it was Lee's child, a part of him growing inside her, but it took her many months to warm to the idea.
Now she stood before the mirror, stroking her growing belly. It was the first time she'd looked at herself and saw a mother and child symbiotically entwined, rather than a woman whose flat stomach and rippling muscles were disappearing under new curves and stretch marks.
"After all the work I'm putting in here, you'd better grow strong and healthy," she said softly, eyes glimmering with tears. "And I sure hope you're as pretty as your dad."
fin