Starbuck was about to ask Jake to leave them alone again, but the door chimed and Jake got up to admit Apollo, Boomer and Sheba. As Rene sat up in bed greeting his friends, he understood his opportunity for some privacy had passed and would not return for some time. But that was okay. Suddenly he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to be alone with Rene. He had too many questions to ask that might lead to places he probably shouldn't go. Neither of them was healthy enough for a fight. That's what it would have become. Jake had come way too close to a tender point for Starbuck. Rene had left all of them, risked her own life to get away from him. Oh yeah, sure they'd saved some people that needed saving and it wasn't really about her being unhappy, or so Jake thought, and yeah, Starbuck got to be the hero in the end, but it didn't change the facts. She'd left him and that still stung.

"We're not intruding, are we?" Sheba asked taking in the somber faces of the room.

"No, not at all." Starbuck rushed to hide the thoughts running around in his head as he got up from his chair, offering it up. "Just trying to wake up, that's all, right?" He reached a hand to Rene who was shoving covers aside to get up. She winced. "Doc said to go slow."

She tightened her grip on his hand once, a silent rebuke to not tell her what to do, but he just squeezed back. She needed someone to remind her that it mattered if she hurt herself. "Go slow," he said again, keeping a hold of her hand, not letting her get to her feet, just to sitting up on the edge of the bed, before he turned his attention to Apollo.

"Time for dinner?"

"Almost, we just thought we'd come by and warn you."

"Warn me? What, no, don't tell me, Avery's coming to dinner?" He grimaced. "I think we'll dine in."

Boomer chuckled. "See, I told you."

Apollo rolled his eyes at Boomer. "Actually, I'm here to let you know there have been some changes while we were gone."

"So everyone keeps saying, but we weren't gone that long. Want to clue me in on the conspiracy, Sheba?"

Sheba held up her hands. "Nope. I'm still mad you left me behind. I think you'll just have find this out for yourself, just like I had to figure out that you weren't coming back in the centaur or two that you mentioned."

"Hey, that wasn't my decision. Talk to your…uh…to Apollo about not including you on the mission. He made that call and in retrospect, I think you can agree that you may have wanted to miss out on this one. As for coming home late, that's Avery's fault, not ours. And if Avery's going to be at dinner, we aren't going."

"No," Apollo said slowly, "That's not what I came to warn you about. Like I said, there've been some changes. My father's responsible for dinner."

"What? You mean he brought the protein. That was good of him." Starbuck looked to Boomer who was trying to hide a smirk.

"Yes, but more than that, Starbuck. He made dinner."

Starbuck shot a glare at Jake, "He's the commander. He orders other people to do food prep duty when they've been stripped and moduled. You don't put him to work like that. Don't you think you guys should learn some respect by now?

"HEY!" Rene and Jake spoke in unison.

Jake grumbled, "I was with you guys, remember? I had no idea he could even cook."

"That remains to be seen," Apollo interjected. "It seems my father has joined the Copper Squadron, or at least that's what he's told me. When we didn't return, Jason asked for some help, and my father, being who he is, stepped in and helped."

"What? Jason? Not Crius or…" Starbuck looked down to Rene who got to her feet to join them, concern coloring her face an even paler shade of sallow.

"What kind of help? What would they need help with?" Rene asked Apollo.

It was Sheba that answered. "He asked the Commander to halt the fleet to wait for your return. Adama agreed and well, the rest seems to be the Commander's own idea."

"He agreed to put the whole fleet at risk of detection? Just for us? That doesn't sound like the skipper. We have even more people to worry about now and, the rest? What do you mean 'the rest'? How much could have changed in two sectons?" Starbuck voiced the question aloud that he, Rene and Jake were all thinking. The three shared a wary look especially as Boomer began to openly laugh.

"You'll see," Apollo answered giving them a wink. He couldn't keep his own grin hidden any longer.

Starbuck's instinct was to grin back, but he wasn't sure why. He felt like he'd just woken up from a year long sleep and was completely out of the loop..

"Okay, you boys have had your fun and games. I'm hungry and you owe me a dinner for the time when you stood me up so you could go to Caprica without me. Let's go." Sheba reached to shove Apollo and Boomer from the room. Starbuck reached down and found Rene's hand.

"Ready for this?" Starbuck asked, seeing Rene nod at the same time as she squeezed his hand hard, one action contradicting the other. "It's just family."

"Uh huh," Rene answered.

It let him know with barely a word that she still didn't consider Adama family, but she allowed him to lead her from the room down to the council chambers.

The room was chaotic as usual with the younger kids involved in a game of tag while Dara was trying to get the older kids to finish their homework. Lizbet and Crius had their hands full with the babies Zac and Leia trying to get them fed. It was Crius that gave the first shout of "Hooray, you're back!" The walls reverberated as the children joined in. A white-haired man in coveralls and an apron poked his head out of the food prep area and Starbuck almost asked Crius who it was before he realized it was the Commander.

"Holy frak," he mumbled as Crius handed him Leia.

"Watch your language, Bucko, there are kids present and a Commander. Not sure which one I'm more worried about. He might be the commander, but it's this little tyrant that's been ordering us around with her big lungs. She still won't eat for anyone but you."

"Well there's a mission I can finally complete." He took her in his arms and wanted to cheer himself at the wide smile she gave him. He was even more grateful when Jake caught Kiff before the kid could tackle his mother.

"Go slow," he started to remind Rene, but the first genuine smile he had witnessed to grace her features in over a secton took his breath away.

"You alright? You look a little pale and confused." Concern creased Crius's brow.

Starbuck wanted to ask Crius how he had held up in their absence. His new wing mate had been clear in his displeasure at being excluded from the mission. That's when they thought the operation would be a short one, a few centaurs at most, but instead Crius had been left with all of the family responsibilities for over a secton, including Jason and Cain who were troublemakers when given the opportunity. It had been the right decision in the end. If they had been not returned, Crius would have kept the family safe. That must have been what everyone thought, they were lost forever, when a few centaurs turned into more than a few cycles. Crius had put aside his own fears and asked for help from the person Starbuck trusted the most, the commander. He owed his new wing mate more gratitude than he could repay.

"I should be asking you that question. I owe you a drink, or a whole keg of ale. I haven't been drinking yet so it must just be the radion poisoning messing with my mind, but I think that's the Commander in there making a mess of my food prep area," he mumbled as he motioned with his head towards a seat for Rene, and then took his own next to her at the head of the table.

Crius patted him on the shoulder as he handed him the bottle and slid over the jar of baby food. "He does more than cook. Cleans too."

"While commanding a battlestar and presiding over the fleet? I'm really starting to feel like a real slacker." Starbuck wanted to know more, but Crius had turned towards his own wife to help her with their children, so he settled back in his chair and let the familiar chaos of a Copper Squadron evening engulf him. These were the happy sounds of home as the kids played around them and Rene was by his side with Kiff and Kalea in her lap. He wanted to remind her again to go slow, but he had his own hands full with Leia and Lara trying to get him anything he needed, a drink, another bottle, a towel to wipe up the mess. It didn't take long for the meal to be ready and Jason brought plates to them. Everyone took their places, but it took a few bites for Starbuck to realize that he was the only one eating.

"Uh, what are you waiting on?" he asked Nik who had taken the seat on his other side.

"He insisted." Nik answered. Before Starbuck could ask who he was, Commander Adama came out of the food prep area, a plate in hand, and took a seat farther down the table next to Apollo.

Adama clapped his hands twice and in Starbuck's amazement that's all it took for the chaos of the room to go quiet. "Let's bow our heads and thank the Lord for what we are about to receive, as well as for returning to us the valued members of our family and our crew. Since we are talking about Starbuck, I will keep this prayer short and just say I also thank the Lord for the opportunity to give Starbuck back his chores. May the Lords of Kobol bless us and prepare our stomachs for my admittedly mediocre cooking."

Starbuck tried not to choke on the food in his mouth as the others echoed the blessing. He made a point of swallowing before asking Nik, "You didn't make him clean turbos, did you?"

"He insisted. Not my idea. Crius tried to talk him out of it, but the old man is stubborn."

"He did the turbos?"

Nik nodded and Starbuck wanted to ask more, but the evil grin on young man's face told him it was fact. He shook his head in disbelief. The whole chore rotation system was created just for Nik. While Jake was notorious for ditching out of child care duties some of the time, he still pulled his own weight in other ways, but Nik was even more famous for skipping out on anything that resembled work. Nothing motivated the kid, and Starbuck had tried several different strategies. It seemed Nik had taken a page from his own manual for how to pawn off his duties to someone else, but this, this was above and beyond anything he would have ever even dreamed of trying.

He looked incredulously at the Commander who even though he was seated farther down the table still seemed to command the room. "Uh, sir, I'm fit for duty. I can take back those chores."

"It's Adama."

"I know your name sir, I just…"

"No son, in this room, I'm just Adama. Not sir, not commander, just Adama, and that's an order."

Before Starbuck could reply that he couldn't do that, the respect the service demanded was far too ingrained, even if the man was his best friend's father, Jason chimed in, "Or grandpa. He gets grumpy if you call him old man."

"Jason!" Starbuck barked, but Adama held up his hand halting the rebuke.

"It's alright Starbuck. They are right, I don't like the moniker, but these boys like to tease me, and I am not so old and feeble that I can't take a good ribbing now and then. Besides, they are just sore I keep beating them at triad."

Stunned, Starbuck looked at Apollo as he tried to process the words. He just couldn't picture his commander in a triad uniform, and once he could, it was an image he did not want in his head. He would prefer the ILs running more tests on him than the sight of those skimpy bottoms and mere straps for a top barely covering the white chest hair on the old man.

Apollo chuckled. "I tried to warn you. There've been some changes."

Nik leaned over, whispering low in Starbuck's ear, "Jason and Cain aren't stupid. They know about respect and let the commander win."

"Wait a centon. I'm still trying to get a disturbing image out of my brain." He rubbed his knuckles into his forehead. "Oh God, I think it's etched there."

"Really. Starbuck, they're being respectful," Nik promised.

"Oh well that makes it all better, I suppose." He rolled his eyes. "And the turbos?" he asked, not wanting to really know. Another image his brain was trying to expel.

"He claims he taught you how to clean them, and you'll be cleaning his too now that you're back. Want some more food?" Nik got up, not giving Starbuck a chance to reply until he returned with another plate of what was actually a really decent meal.

Rene leaned towards him speaking low, "So he's staying?"

He reached out for her hand, finding that they communicated best since Caprica if he could touch her. "I told you before, he's like my father."

Rene looked down the table to Chameleon, who was engaged in a conversation with Lizbet and Crius. "I thought he was your father."

"Well, it seems I have two now. And they're both staying I guess. It's not a problem is it? If it is I'll have to leave you so the three of us can go over to the IFB and do a sitcom called 'My Two Dads'." He didn't like that he couldn't read the look on Rene's face. She wasn't laughing at the joke and she nodded a little too slowly.

"I guess not. But it's getting crowded."

"We'll make room and we could use the extra hands once the baby arrives." He hoped that the logic would help to sway her to the inevitable. "The rats could use some new members to the pack, don't you think?"

She didn't get a chance to reply as the door to the chambers chimed, a sound not often heard in the room as people came and went usually without announcement.

"That would be our guests," Adama spoke.

"Guests? Oh no…You said Avery wasn't coming." Starbuck protested but Adama shot him a look that told him that his buddy Adama was still the Commander.

"No, we heard you loud and clear on that request. Gaia and some of the women requested an audience."

"An audience?" Boomer asked noting the peculiarity of the word.

"Their words, not mine. They said they just wanted to thank you for rescuing their children, and I thought we all could use a little gratitude and recognition since I can't formally award medals for the mission." Adama turned to Rene, fatherly concern painting his features. "They just want to thank you and you deserve to hear the words. You were missed and I'm not sure you understand how important you are. With your permission, of course." Adama waited.

Starbuck sighed in relief as the words melted Rene's resolve. She looked to him first and he squeezed her hand twice.

"Can't hurt to listen, right?" She didn't squeeze his hand back, instead disengaging from his as she nodded.

"Jason, will you let them in?" Adama said. The young man went to the door, keying it open. Gaia entered the room, barely giving the walls a glance, confirming Starbuck's fears.

Avery and his people had been here, probably often.

With Gaia was a woman that Starbuck didn't recognize, but he knew the young boy holding the woman's hand. Zion was a bit taller than he remembered, and thankfully appeared healthier than he'd been on Caprica. The woman holding his hand was most likely his mother.

Gaia approached the table. "We didn't want to intrude. We just wanted to thank you for returning our children to us. We can't thank you enough for. . ." Her words faltered as Zion pointed to Starbuck.

"He's the one who saved me," the boy explained to his mother. Zion pulled her towards the head of the table and she began to speak, "Thank you so much for saving my boy. Since the destruction he's all I have. Thank you so…" she took a few steps, but her eyes fell upon Rene and the woman froze in shock as her words altered. "Oh my lords! How can that be? For sectons I saw you…I saw you in my dreams. How can it be that you…you are alive? You…are flesh and blood and…" She looked from Rene over her shoulder to Gaia, "I thought it was just a dream. I thought the woman wasn't real but…she's here. She…she's the one."

Zion's mother turned back and took a faltering step towards Rene, before falling to her knees at Rene's feet. "Thank you, thank you so much, oh my lords, thank you."

She dissolved into hysterical sobs and Rene recoiled from the woman. Rene scanned the room, eyes wide, searching for an escape. Starbuck wasn't sure if it was in fright or disbelief, but he was sure that Rene was going to bolt if he didn't do something. He reached out and grabbed her arm to hold her there while he tried to figure out what else to do. Rene tensed under his grip.

"We were just doing our jobs, ma'am," Starbuck offered up and squeezed Rene's arm twice. He was relieved when his wife followed his lead mumbling, "Just doing our jobs."

But the words had the opposite effect as the woman began to cry harder, uttering indecipherable sobs before looking up into Rene's face. "I dreamed of you so many nights, the hope that you delivered, the promise of salvation. How can that be?" The woman looked back to Gaia again. "It must be the lords. She is a deliverer. It has to be like the holy books foretold. It has to be…the Lords have delivered us from our enemies. She has delivered us."

Rene gasped, and Starbuck could hear Rene's breath get short as she violently shook her head no. She started to push her chair back scrambling to get to her feet. Starbuck struggled to get to his own feet, setting little Leia on the ground. He was about to call out to Apollo for help, when Gaia came forward to guide the hysterical woman to her feet.

"I don't know Euterpe, I don't know. Only the lords know why she was in our dreams. The Lords speak to us in mysterious ways." Gaia pulled the woman to her embracing her for a moment as the woman fell into her arms sobbing.

Boomer made it to the women before Starbuck could get around Rene's chair that had backed into him almost pinning him in place. "Ladies, really we were just doing our duty as warriors. We should have come sooner, but…"

Gaia straightened, composing herself as she pulled the other woman to her in an effort to shield her. "I'm sorry. I…I didn't know that she had witnessed what I had…had seen in my dreams as well. But I had to know. I had to know if what I dreamed was true. I'm sorry. We have interrupted your meal and upset Rene. I'm truly sorry." Gaia turned from Boomer to Adama, a weighty look passing between the two. "I would like to speak with you again, perhaps tomorrow.

"Of course. My door is always open," Adama answered and Gaia shifted her eyes to Rene.

Starbuck felt Rene tremble under the woman's gaze.

"The Lords sent you to us and I offer up my gratitude for their wisdom."

Rene offered no reply. In fact, Starbuck thought she was holding her breath and didn't have air to spare for words, so he offered up what he could hoping to get the woman to leave so Rene wouldn't flee. "Just doing our duty, Ma'am. Its what warriors do."

Gaia nodded, but her eyes remained on Rene for a moment longer, then she turned and led Zion and his mother from the room.

Once the door closed, Rene let out the breath she'd been holding, her eyes scanning the room for danger. The shocked look on all her friends' faces had her pushing farther back in her chair like a cornered animal.

"Rene?" Starbuck spoke softly, but kept his grip tight on her arm.

She finally turned to him, emotions bubbling to the surface. "Get your hands off me." Her voice was low, but he could hear the panic.

Feeling her tremble under his grip, he kept a firm hold on her arm. "It's okay. You're okay." He offered up the platitudes knowing too well her next reaction would be to run. If she bolted on him, he would lose her. She was good at vanishing when things were too much.

"I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for any of this!" Her voice rose higher.

"Rene, it's okay."

Adama's voice overrode his attempts at calming her. "We know, Rene."

The words hit her like a jolt of electricity and she yanked her arm from Starbuck with strength he didn't think she had. If it weren't for Kiff and Kalea in the chair with her, she would have been on her feet and three paces towards the door, but Kiff held on as Rene reached to pick up Kalea to hand her off to someone, anyone. Her voice rose in panic. "NO, you don't know! I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask the Lords or whoever the frak is running this mong fest for …for…powers or whatever the frak it is…I didn't!"

Adama's voice was soothing, and yet firm as he answered, "We know. Just as none of us asked for the destruction of our worlds, nor did we ask for Kobol to appear on our course, or Dilmun, and yet, here we are. We can ascribe what has happened to whatever celestial power we want to, Lords or superior beings, Angels or Demons, Fairies or Gremlins, but it does not change the events that have occurred. We are here and we understand. We know you didn't ask for this."

Rene and the rest of the room paused at his words. Maybe it was hearing the most religious man any of them knew referring to the lords and the book of the word as fairytales that had stunned the room. Maybe it was just the simple truth of it. None of them had asked for the destruction, but at least it was an enemy they knew and could fight against.

"Rene, it's okay," Starbuck said again. The empty words were the only weapon he had right now in his arsenal to protect her and keep her safe. It had some effect as she hung her head, but stopped struggling to get up and to get the kids from her lap. He reached for her again, seeking to hold her hand. She let him make contact. He tightened his grip and kept going. "We know. You didn't come up with this on your own. Other people had the dreams too and…and we saved those people and made it home alive. This isn't such a bad thing."

"You don't understand," her words were weaker, but she at least met his eyes and let him grip her hand.

"I know. Never claimed to understand, and that's okay. I don't have to understand to know I love you." The words hit the target and she sighed in defeat.

Adama saw the opening and used it, flying in formation with Starbuck. "You are right, we don't understand and I get the feeling you don't either. So perhaps we could…together… try to understand just what this is that you can do. Study it, learn together how it can be used for our benefit, much like you did on Caprica. I'm sure whatever beings endowed you with this gift did not intend it for your own personal gain, as you have demonstrated with Avery and his people."

Rene sighed again and Starbuck moved closer to her, seeking to hold eye contact. "He's right. You may not have gone back at first for the right reasons, but you kept going back. You didn't just leave them even when they didn't seem to want to be saved. What you can do is…is…is extraordinary, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't' use it. I mean, not right now, but after the baby and…maybe you can get us to Earth if we gave you the coordinates and…"

He froze as he saw the guilt that flew across her eyes like a ghost Raider streaking along the edge of his scanner. Then it was gone. Did someone already tell her the coordinates? If she knew how to find Earth, what would it take to keep her from trying? Jake was right about his wife, she didn't do anything half way and . . .

"Starbuck, can you give us a moment alone?" Adama interrupted his thoughts. "I think it is time that Rene and I spoke together on a few matters. Now. May we use your quarters?"

"Yes sir…I mean…yeah, if it's okay with …" He looked to his wife, but her eyes were on Adama. Starbuck gently released her hand and reached for Kalea. "It's going to be okay," he said to her, but she didn't seem to be listening, only seeing her chance to escape as she handed Kiff off to Jake before she raced from the room. "Sir?"

"It will be fine, son. I won't let her become overtired. You and I will speak tomorrow."

Everyone watched the commander leave and there seemed to be a collective sigh once the door closed. "Alright, I think someone needs to tell me what happened while we were gone," Starbuck ordered. He tried to ignore Nik's evil chuckle as Crius started to explain.

Rene wasn't sure why she had agreed to speak with the commander alone, she just knew she had to get out of that room and all the eyes on her, especially those that Starbuck respected. She didn't know how she had become a player in the dreams of a group of religious fanatics surviving the destruction on Caprica. It wasn't her, that's all she knew. She was…she was…She didn't know what she was other than what Starbuck called her, a kid. A disrespectful kid who now had holes in her memories like a worm had eaten her rotten apple brain. If the Commander wanted to know how she jumped through space and who taught it to her, she wasn't even sure if she could recall the details. But it was too late to run as the door to her quarters closed.

She tried to keep her breathing slow and even as Adama blocked the door to the room. She blinked several times to chase away the vision of another time, another man, one with a thinner build and darker hair, but the same commanding presence.

"Rene, are you alright?"

"Y..yes sir."

"Please, just Adama." He seemed to give his own sigh of resignation. "We will only discuss that which you wish to. May I have a seat?"

"Uh…yes…of course, sir." She took a step back, leaving room for the Commander to move into the room towards the small table and chairs. She ended up backing into the built in sofa, and fell into a seat. "I…I don't know how I do it, enter people's dreams and…and the jumping just…just takes energy and I don't know how I get to the right coordinates. I swear I just …I just wish and…"

The commander took a step towards her, a hand outstretched like he was actually going to touch her. Her flinch was registered by the man. He stopped, held his position for just a moment before slowly taking a step back and carefully taking a seat at the table. "I apologize. That was reckless of me." He crossed his legs.

She was able to breathe a little easier now that he was farther away from her. He waited, but for what she didn't know. When he did finally speak his voice was low and slow.

"I actually wanted to speak with on another matter. Yes, I would like to learn more about what has transpired and your abilities, but those might be discussions for another time when you've had some time to gather your thoughts and when we can include our scientists."

She couldn't stifle the sarcastic snort. "You think scientists will know why I see other people's dreams? Look, I read the books on dream interpretations. That Dr. Fraud thinks they all are about sexual repression, and trust me, I'm not repressed."

The commander didn't blush like she thought he would. "Well he has dealt with Starbuck," she reasoned. He spoke again, just as slow and even as before.

"I was approached by the IFB with a proposal that I think will solve some of our mutual concerns."

She groaned. She would prefer to talk about religious zealots and dream walking than the IFB that had hounded her from the first moment they learned she was dating Starbuck. The commander went forward. "I know. That was my first reaction as well, but they sweetened the pot considerably and you do have quite a large quantity of spirits that need to be dispersed or they will be confiscated. Wouldn't you want your friends and family to enjoy those expensive and rare goods, rather than see them jettisoned out the air lock?"

"Frak," she muttered. "You found them."

The commander chuckled. "I assumed at first it was a prank orchestrated by Starbuck, but then I found the second stash and…and the IFB unwittingly offered me a solution that we can all find…satisfactory. A party."

"You mean the sealing that they wanted to film. There's only one prob…problem. We're already s…s…sealed." The damn stutter had returned and she would have cursed if she thought she could get it out with stumbling.

"True, but very few attended and not many have knowledge of the event."

He had her there. She and Starbuck had sealed and then flew off to Caprica for what was supposed to be a short task before they had something resembling a honeymoon, which was just going to be a few days alone in their quarters. Instead they had not even received that meager celebration. In exchange she had gifted her new husband over a secton in a radion infused cesspool followed by Cylon torture, then a surgery and a sabbatical surrounded by most of their friends and a grouchy doctor in the Life Center. Starbuck had missed out on a bachelor party, as well as the shocked look on most of his friend's faces as they realized that hades had in fact frozen over. Starbuck deserved his moment to shine, and he certainly was due a celebration of some sort. But while she couldn't remember all the details of their sealing, she did remember the feelings, the sense of peace while holding his hand and of basking in the warm glow of his smile. A sudden flash of stars and that smile flashed in her mind.

"The people that matter know."

"And don't those people deserve a party?"

The Commander pushed her buttons like they were a preflight check leading to full turbos down the launch tube. She wanted to grumble, "You mean Starbuck," but then the Commander played his capstone.

"Your family was very worried when you didn't return. It has been a rough secton for everyone. Don't they deserve a celebration, one long overdue for winning the battle at Dilmun?"

It was a good capstone, and he was winning this hand. Her friends deserved more than a party, and she did still have that amazing dress.

"The whole fleet could use a reason to celebrate, especially after the setback on our journey." His words felt like a viper launched into her guts. He'd found her weakness, not just Starbuck or her family, but her guilt at not being able to deliver the fleet to a sector free of Cylons.

The Commander had won this battle, but she didn't know how to concede gracefully. She gave an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose it was inevitable, wasn't it? I mean, the IFB kind of controls things, doesn't it?"

She didn't know the commander could chuckle, and that it sounded much like Starbuck's.

"Try to keep that information to yourself."

She sighed, and tried to figure out a way out of this, but the Commander was right. Everyone deserved a party and it would kill several avians with one stone.

"Wh…what do..do..I have to do?"

She thought the Commander would grin in victory, but it was almost worse when instead he bestowed upon her a soft smile.

"What you have already done, get sealed, just in public with the IFB filming. I have also negotiated a few suites on the Rising Star for the wedding party and your family. Of course, you and Starbuck will have a night or two in the honeymoon suite. There will be a reception where you may want to provide an open bar, but we can coerce the IFB to pay the bill for the food and the band."

"I have a band," she added, "and they might enjoy the publicity. How long could we have the suite for?"

"Neither of you will be on full duty for a while, so I suppose we could," Adama paused a grin finally appearing, "negotiate."

"No fair. You have the advantage. I can't hold out for the terms I want."

"I'm sure you can find a way to black mail us all to achieve your demands."

She tried to suppress her own grin. "Oh, that does sound like fun, but seriously, I'm not sure how much longer the dress is going to fit."

"Oh, well then maybe we should move past negotiation, bypass blackmail, and I will move straight up to Starbucking."

"Starbucking? What is Starbucking?"

The commander just laughed and bid her a good night. She didn't have time to wonder for long what the old man meant her husband returned to their quarters with Jake and Apollo along. Starbuck's repeated, "Are you okay?" combined with the worry in his eyes, helped her to decide to let the Commander be the one to tell Starbuck about the IFB. It was, after all, why the commander got paid the bigger stack of cubits.