For his twenty-fifth, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirty-second, thirty-third, and forty-fifth birthday, Kara's present to Lee was a big, black eye.
For his twenty-fifth, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirty-second, thirty-third, and forty-fifth birthday, Kara's present to Lee was a big, black eye.
Each one was different. Each one was given to him for a different reasoning.
The first came when he was at this shady little bar on Picon that Kara liked to think of as hers. She was having a particular bad day. Her nuggets had reached the point of rebellion when they started wondering what this brash, blonde woman knew that could do them any good. She was going to have to pull another all-nighter where she forced them to fly sims until they got it right. She was cranky. She was cranky and tired and honestly just wanted to drink her beer in peace before she went home.
That was why when a cute man came over to her and offered to buy her a drink she said no. Kara rarely said no to men that looked like that, but she could just tell that he was going to be a handful. Besides, she didn't want to deal with the stress of finding a way to get him out of her apartment in the morning.
He persisted, giving her some lame line about having a little brother in one of her classes, and she got mad. She asked him balls-out if he was trying to get her in bed, and the cute guy actually blushed. Kara smiled smugly. She knew she hadn't been wrong. The guy walked away, and she went back to her beer.
A few seconds later, she felt a hand on her arm. She reacted on instinct, swinging to take the punch. She felt good about knocking this guy down a few pegs until she saw he was clutching her jacket in his hand.
"It fell off your chair. I didn't want you to forget it," the man said, throwing it into her face. "Sorry. I shouldn't have bothered."
Once he was gone, Kara chuckled. That pissed off look on his face had been priceless. She would actually feel bad if he wasn't so obviously intoxicated.
To this day, Kara still maintained that she was right to hit him. After all, she didn't know he was Lee then
His twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth birthdays, she would like to forget. Both times she had taken a swing at him because something he said hit home.
The first time he was calling her a slut in the middle of the hangar bay. She wouldn't even realize it was his birthday until she was on the surface of Caprica with too much time on her hands and no way to get home.
The second time they were on the surface of New Caprica. She was helping some of the civilians settle in to their new life, and Lee was planetside to talk with Laura Roslin about her school. As always, they started their conversation with pleasantries and that turned into an all-out fight.
The argument hit its climax when she threw out some comment about his fraking a Petty Officer. Lee told her that she needed to stop being jealous of how his life was going and start respecting that she wasn't the center of it anymore. Kara lashed out in anger, and the punch sealed her decision to leave Galactica. She couldn't be around Lee anymore.
His thirty-second birthday was rather quiet compared to others. Kara had offered to do whatever he wanted to celebrate so they ended up on Pegasus's observation deck, watching the stars.
Lee had waited for the right moment and then started talking. He told her that when he was younger, he had imagined how his life would go and it turned out nothing like that little child's dream. He talked about the girl of his dreams who he had planned on marrying. Kara knew immediately she was nothing like that woman. However, it wasn't until he started listing her faults that she gave in to the urge to lash out.
Lee hit the deck hard, and Kara took the time to tell him to frak off forever before she began stomping down the corridor. He caught up to her almost immediately and pushed her against the wall.
"Fraking let go of me, Adama."
"You didn't let me finish," Lee hissed, tightening his grip on her arms.
"I think you said all the important things."
"Not even close." Lee took a deep breath and began talking again. "How about I admire all those stupid faults you think you have and that I'm glad my life didn't turn out like I expected? How about the fact that I am so crazy in love with you that it hurts? My life is more amazing than I could have ever imagined because you're a part of it, Kara." Lee threw up his hands. "I mean, frak me, Kara. I was going to ask you to marry me if you would have given me a chance!"
Her eyes had widened as her heart started pounding. Needless to say, she spent most of the afternoon kissing away his bruises.
Exactly one year later, she was giving birth to their son. Lee earned the punch that time. He was out on CAP when her water broke, and he almost missed the whole thing.
His forty-fifth birthday was the best day of his life. They finally found the thirteenth colony.
When Lee told Kara, she got mad almost immediately. He knew how much she wanted to settle down with their children, and he had promised not to tease her about how soft she had gotten. It was a cruel joke to be playing on her even if it was his birthday.
The punch made him hit the ground, and Lee started laughing. Kara could feel the anger slip away as she wondered when her husband had lost his mind.
"I'm glad to see some things aren't going to change now that the running for our lives thing is over."
It took Kara a second to figure out what he meant. "Oh frak. You were serious?"
Lee just kept on laughing. Life was good.
