WHTMT - chapter 20
Sorry this took so long to update - company staying at our house two weekends in a row and school's out now - less time for me to write. :)ooooooooooooooooooo
"Kara ... Kara ... are you okay?"
She jolted awake suddenly, feeling something cold and clammy on her face. Her heart began to pound, then she realized it was just Lee with a cold cloth on her forehead. He was wiping the sweat away from her face and stood looking at her like she was the only person in the world.
"Lee?" she asked tentatively, throat still scratchy and full of phlegm.
"You were dreaming."
She shuddered at the memory. "They took me," she said quietly.
"The cylons?"
"I think they wanted my baby." She laid her hand protectively over her belly, feeling the baby move within her.
Lee laid a gentle hand over hers. "No one is going to take your baby, I promise you that. If anyone tries, they'll have to go through me first." Their eyes locked and Kara smiled gratefully at him. Then she cleared her throat.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Why are you being so good to me?"
Lee frowned at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"The last time we talked ... before Sam died ... you were ," she struggled to find the right words, "really angry with me. I figured you were upset because I left Galactica to go to the planet."
"I was," he admitted honestly. "I think I was more upset that you left without saying goodbye though, than the fact of your deciding to leave." He hung his head, blushing faintly. "I'm sorry I was such an ass that time ... I really didn't mean ..."
"So what happened then? You've gone from seemingly hating me to becoming my knight in shining armour."
He smiled ruefully at her. "I realized something in the time we were gone."
"What's that?"
"I missed you," he said simply. "We've often fought but we've always made up and still been a part of each other's lives. I missed having you around Kara." His thumb unconsciously stroked the back of her hand as he spoke.
"You missed having a screw-up like me in your life ? It must have been really boring without having all my messes to clean up." She was only half-joking but Lee took her seriously.
"It was. I never realized how exciting my life was when you were around until you weren't anymore." His eyes were piercing, sapphire blue, seeing right through to her soul. Only Lee had the ability to do that - Zack and Sam had each had their endearing qualities and had understood her in ways no one else had, but no one could pierce through her armour like Lee could. Especially now when she was so vulnerable.
A sudden pang of sadness shot through her as she remembered she wasn't first in his life anymore.
"I thought you had Dee to keep things exciting," she said, trying not to sound jealous.
Lee's eyes dropped away from hers. "I don't anymore." His voice dropped to an undertone. "Not that she ever did."
"What happened?"
"She didn't make it. The cylons destroyed the raptor she was in before I could save it."
Kara bit her lip, not knowing what to say. She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved, and words just weren't adequate. She linked her fingers with his over her stomach, and squeezed. He lifted his eyes up to look into hers again. "I thought I'd lost you too," he said softly.
She squeezed again. "You're going to have to work awfully hard to lose me Adama. We Thrace's don't give up easily."
"You're telling me." He squeezed back.
Neither of them realized their hands were still locked together till a discreet voice caught them by surprise.
"What are you doing up at this hour? It's 0300." Ishay gave them a mock stern look.
"We were ... " Lee began, searching helplessly for a good excuse.
" ... I had a nightmare, and I just needed to talk about it."
Ishay poured a glass of fresh water and held it up for Kara to drink. "Well, you get back to sleep young lady. You need to make sure to get enough rest to get better and keep your baby healthy."
She turned to Lee. "And you, stop keeping my patient awake."
Lee gave her a mock apologetic look back. "Yes ma'am."
Ishay nodded brusquely and strode off, leaving them alone.
"I guess I should go ..." Lee made as if to pull his hand away but Kara tightened her grip on it.
"Stay," she whispered and it was a plea Lee couldn't refuse. It wasn't like he didn't want to stay, he just didn't want to force himself on her.
He climbed back into bed beside her, hands still locked together. She immediately tucked her head in the space between his shoulder and neck and Lee felt the softness of her hair against his cheek.
He couldn't help but feel that though there was something very odd about this - Kara had just lost the man she loved and whose child she was pregnant with, and he'd just lost someone he'd loved as well - still, it felt amazingly right to have her in his arms, snuggled up against him. Despite all the despair, the fighting, the loss of the past two years, Lee was content with life - for the first time.
ooooooooooooooooooo
It was several weeks before Kara was able to be up and around again. Her lungs began to clear slowly, but she was very weak and spent nearly ten days on IV to make sure she and the baby were well-nourished.
Then came the day when she was finally allowed to leave Lifestation.
"I expect to see you back here in three days for a checkup and blood test," Ishay said sternly, "and if you run into any problems - ANY AT ALL - you come immediately. You're only three months away from delivering a healthy baby and I don't want you to do anything to screw that up."
Kara threw her a vaguely dirty look. Yeah, and I got pneumonia on purpose because I love being on death's doorstep.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure she takes it easy," Lee said, taking her arm. She threw him a dirty look as well. I'm not an invalid, she thought. Oh but you are, her subconscious countered. For the first time in your life you need someone to take care of you.
"Don't you have work to do?" she asked him, semi-seriously.
"Yes, and you're going to help me," he beamed.
She rolled her eyes. "I knew it. You're going to make me do all the paperwork while you get to have all the fun."
"How about this for a deal; after the baby is born, I'll babysit for you if you take all my CAP shifts," Lee offered.
Kara weighed it for a moment. "Sounds good to me. I can't wait to get back into the cockpit ..." She trailed off, realizing she was revealing more than she wanted Lee to know.
Lee, for his part, had always been able to read between the lines when it came to her - a necessary skill since she had an aversion to opening up to people.
"Deal." He smiled apologetically. "To be honest, I missed it while I was on the Pegasus myself."
"How long ... I mean, what happened ... why ..." Kara stammered, a hundred questions all trying to break free at once.
"It's a long story," Lee said, sadness crossing his face briefly. "Let's get settled in our quarters and I'll tell it to you."
"Our quarters? Are you staying with me?"
He stopped and turned to her in surprise. "Of course. I promised to take care of you and I intend to keep that promise."
"But you have your own quarters - private ones right?"
"Yes, but it only has a single bunk, and no offense, but I'm not sure the three of us can fit." He blushed.
"We did it in Lifestation," she said softly, eyes pleading with him.
"Yeah, but you're only going to get bigger."
She smacked him playfully.
"Well, it is the truth," he said shrugging.
"Please? I don't think I could sleep alone," she begged, voice dropping to a whisper at the end.
Those beautifully sad hazel-green eyes tore at his heartstrings. Why fight it? Even if they slept in a regular bunkroom, they'd probably end up in the same bed anyway. And much as he might protest, he was happy to be squished, so long as it was by her.
"Okay, I'll take you there and then go back for your stuff," he said, putting a hand on her lower back to guide her.
"You think I've forgotten the way to the CAG's quarters?" she teased. "I did live there for a while you know."
"i remember. I just want to make sure you get there safely."
"You probably just want to get me started on the mountain of paperwork you've been avoiding while you go have fun."
"Caught me," he replied, a cheeky grin on his face as he raised his arms in surrender.
Just then they turned a corner and stopped, Adama senior standing before them.
"Kara," he said warmly, a big smile splitting his face. "It's good to see you up and about." His eyes traveled down her body, taking in the new curves he wasn't used to. "It looks good on you," he said, nodding at her stomach.
"Sure doesn't feel good," she grumbled half-heartedly.
"I have it on good authority that that ends soon enough, and you forget all about the awful parts once you've got the baby safe in your arms."
Kara looked from one man to the other.
Adama senior nodded. "Caroline threw up the whole nine months when she was pregnant with Lee. She swore she'd never do it again, but there she was, three years later with another baby in her arms."
"Well, I'll check in with you in about three months and let you know then," she said, a trifle sarcastically.
"I look forward to it." He came forward and gave her a quick hug. Then he turned to Lee.
"Take care of our girl." It sounded suspiciously like an order, but Lee just nodded, smiling.
oooooooooooooooooooooooo
"So, you want to get started?" Lee gestured at a stack of papers on his desk.
Her mouth hung open in shock. "I thought you were just kidding," she said slowly.
"Well, you might as well do something while I go collect your stuff," he replied cajolingly, coming around and pulling back the chair for her. "Besides, you've been away from all this stuff way too long, and I don't have an assistant. I promise I'll let you do some of the fun stuff ..."
She gave him a sidelong smirk and sat down. He did have a point - she had missed it, even the endless hours of paperwork.
Lee leant over her shoulder to push a few sheets of paper in front of her.
"You can start here," he said softly.
His breath tickled her ear and the spot where his shoulder met hers tingled with unchecked electricity. Kara sighed as she picked up the pen. Living with Lee was going to be a lot tougher than she expected.
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
Lee stood outside the hatch door he'd just shut behind him and slumped against the metal. His whole body felt like it was on fire after just a few seconds touching her, and he had to will himself to stop thinking of her so as not to proclaim his desire to the rest of the ship.
He needed to be there as her friend - she neither needed nor wanted anything else from him, especially now.
TBC