When Rene plunked the two bottles of very fine vintage ambrosia in front of him, he knew that he had a task to do, the only one that had been assigned to him actually, so he couldn't avoid it or delegate as he might like. Besides, he owed her this much. She had smiled and been charming giving the IFB every shot they wanted. She played the shy blushing bride even though she clung to his arm a bit too tight. They both knew it was all an act, but that act was buying them a big party and the nice big honeymoon suite on the Rising Star for the next three cycles. She had been pretty convincing in all that sparkle and fluff. He could surely manage this for her benefit.

He'd tried to do one more thing for her beyond his required task. Once he learned of the bets laid on him about how far into the party it would be before he was drunk, he'd vowed to limit himself to just a few drinks, well three to be exact knowing that he'd probably consume more than that, but it left a wide margin of error. Even if he doubled his self-imposed limit, it would still be far below what he knew he could consume and keep his wits. It seemed only fair since Rene could not have any, certainly not while the cameras were on. How she was getting through this totally sober was a true testament to her "I'm tough. I can take it," attitude. He'd definitely would not be doubting her in the future, but with the gifting of the two bottles and her soft words in his ear, "Don't make me lose the bet. I have your back, you can get drunk," he knew he couldn't let her down.

He tapped his glass with a spoon to give what he hoped would be the last toast of the evening. The wording had been crafted in Adama's office and that only seemed fair as well since the Commander was right, this wasn't a ceremony for him but rather for the whole fleet to welcome into the family the warriors from Dilmun. It was a time for celebration so he left the wording up to the old man and vowed he could pull it off like it was his own.

"Ladies and Gentleman, and all you borays I call my friends, I want to thank you for coming and taking part in the most important day of my life. I know many thought it would never happen. Neither did I. I guess it just took the right lady with good aim. She shot me in the heart and then gave me a reason to live She has given me the greatest gift, a family."

"But it is now time for my new family to celebrate in a more private setting. Thank for sharing in my happiness. May you all find the kind of love I have, one that makes you feel as if you are part of something important." He lifted his glass and then lowered it to Rene's before taking only a small sip before proffering it to her. She sighed before drinking and he hoped it was a good sigh.

"Sit tight, I'll make sure they leave," he whispered to her and plastered on his public smile as he approached the camera crew from the IFB. He smiled ingratiatingly as he gathered up the pretty blonde announcer, guiding her to the door. He knew he'd been watched the whole time like the lone cylon raider on the edge of scanner because once the IFB was gone, Jake got up on the stage again, saying loudly into the microphone, "Let the party begin!"

The band began to play loud upbeat music and it was Apollo that met him at the door and guided him over to a table full of his friends with a, "You did a good thing here. The fleet will appreciate it. We appreciate it."

His friend held up his glass and Starbuck thought he might actually be very drunk, and why shouldn't he be? Rene had negotiated not only this room and the food, but rooms for most of his friends for the evening. She had out "Starbucked" the IFB and that was something to toast. He let his friend slide a drink over to him as he said again, his words slurring, "Ya done good, Bucko."

"Thanks," he said aloud, but inside he thought something else, as he cast a glance over to his wife who looked tired and drained. "It doesn't feel like I did something good here," he mumbled, but Apollo couldn't hear him over the music, so he spoke louder. "I need to get her some food. I'll be right back." He excused himself knowing if he was going to be draining those two bottles, he'd need some food in himself as well.

By the time he made it to the buffet table and back, Rene had disappeared. He looked around finding no sign of the sparkles and ruffles that should have made her easy to spot in a room full of brown and blue dress uniforms. He didn't see Lisbet or Maia either so he figured the girls were doing whatever girls do, and let Boomer wave him over, still saving the plate full of food for her. His friends welcomed him with another round of drinks and a cheer. He couldn't turn that down, now could he?

He was deep into a conversation about Peryton's vipers and some of the man's ideas when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Crius who leaned down to shout in his ear, "Having fun?"

He looked up to his new wing mate and pointing out a chair for him to join them, but Crius had a funny look on his face, almost concerned. Before Starbuck could wonder what had gone wrong, Crius was whispering in his ear, "You need to see to your wife." Starbuck craned his head to find just where she had gone off to, finding the room hard to scan, but that could be the half bottle of ambrosia he had already gone through. He expected to find Rene dancing with the girls or flirting it up with one of his friends and that Crius was giving Starbuck a chance to run interference, but she wasn't on the dance floor.

"What? Where?" he questioned, but Crius tilted his head and crooked a finger asking Starbuck to follow. Grabbing his two bottles, much to the chagrin of his friends who were calling him back, he announced he had a woman to go claim. It elicited a cheer from the table followed by several "Go get her!" and a couple of crude comments. He tried to laugh at the jokes, but Crius was pulling at his arm. It wasn't a friendly tug and Starbuck began to wonder where they were going, when Crius led him out to the hallway. The IFB was still there, doing some sort of after party wrap up and he almost was snagged to say something, but he just smiled and waved at the camera while Crius dragged him away. He started to assume the man was leading him towards the honeymoon suite where Rene might have a surprise for him, a present to unwrap under all those sparkles and ribbons. He gave Crius an evil grin, but the man didn't smile back as he pulled him past the lift that led up to the rooms.

"Wait…what's wrong?" Klaxons had finally begun to ring in his head when Crius pulled him around a corner and stopped in front of the turbo wash room for the ladies. Crius pointed towards the door as if it explained everything.

"I can't go in there, not with the IFB broadcasting down the hallway."

Crius nodded somewhat reassuring him. "Ya need too. We have a bit of a melt down situation. I expected it sooner, so there's that. Lisbet's in with her but…" Crius hesitated for a moment before reaching out for the bottles in Starbuck's hand. "Let me hang onto these for ya. You can have them back when you get her back to the party. Your Commander said something about another toast and making an announcement. We need to get her back out there. Consider these your reward if you can get the job done. I'm going to see if I can find something to help."

Before Starbuck could ask for more details, Crius had backed his way into the room, calling loudly and cheerfully, "Reinforcements have arrived!"

Dara was there guarding the door, hissing at them, "Stow it will you. Not everyone needs to know and that isn't going to help." She said pointing at the bottles and then at Starbuck.

"I know what I'm doing. Where is she?" Crius asked, but Starbuck figured out the directions to the stall by the sounds of retching, only it had the tone and tenor of dry heaves versus the productive kind of being sick. His heart broke at the noise of gagging. Starbuck had understood that Rene hadn't done all this Sealing planning on her own. They all had contributed for his benefit, including his new wingman. He was touched, wanted to say so, but the gals were all glaring at him. He suddenly understood that while the others had helped, Rene had borne the brunt of this on her own. She had negotiated and entertained this day, and he'd been a selfish boray, actually believing that he should let Rene plan all this on her own. He thought that was what she wanted, but the sounds of heaving coming from the turbos told a different tale. He chastised himself and offered his apologies to Dara and Maia as he headed for the stall.

It was not a pretty sight. Lisbet was trying in vain to hold back all the curls that were now in disarray on Rene's head. Starbuck had a hard time wading through the dress, trying to be careful not to step on something that might be important. He nodded to Lisbet, taking over the task of holding Rene's hair as he kneeled over the turbo beside his wife. Her shoulders were heaving and he began to rub her back to soothe her. He felt fortunate when it seemed to work and the retching slowed.

She came up for air looking done in, but she didn't move into his arms as he held them out, shifting instead to sit against the wall on the other side of the stall. He reached out to flush the turbo, but doubted there was anything in there to dispose. She hadn't eaten all day from what he had witnessed.

"You alright?" he asked, wanting to touch her, but she pulled away and he settled for sliding down the wall to sit opposite of her. "You okay?"

She closed her eyes at his words and uttered a scornful, "Yeah, do I look it?"

"No." He struggled for the right words to say, but Lisbet and Maia glaring down at him didn't help. "Can you gals give us some privacy?"

Maia began to protest, but Lisbet gently led her away casting Starbuck an apologetic smile. He waited until he heard the door shut before he tried to speak again.

"You didn't have to do this you know." He realized too late that the words rang close to the "I told you so" he had warned that this all could become when it was first suggested in the Commander's office.

The rueful snort from Rene said otherwise before she shrugged and opened her eyes to look at him. "Yeah I did. I damn near killed Boomer and…and you. Apollo hiked over half of Caprica for two days. Everyone deserved a party."

"You do to." She shrugged to his words closing her eyes again. He tried not to leap across that small stall to pull her to him. She looked like she needed the space and the time to collect herself. "You did a good thing you know," he said softly, his words echoing Apollo's and referring to more than just the sealing and letting the IFB broadcast it for the whole fleet.

"Yeah," she said shrugging again. "I'll be fine in a few centons." But her words sounded flat and hollow and he was unsure what to do. His natural inclination was to crack a joke, and there were plenty to tell about that dress and how it filled up the stall in its excess, not just in volume but in sparkles and gems. Something told him this might not be the time for his flippant remarks. He wished his head were clearer so he could say the right thing, but opted for fluffing the ruffles that separated them, trying to find her hand.

He heard the door open again and wanted to call out that they weren't done, but it was Crius who busted into the stall nearly hitting him with the door before he shut it, latched it and slid down to sit by Starbuck.

"So," he drawled drunkenly with an exaggerated cheerfulness, "We've moved the party in here, have we?"

Rene shook her head at him, muttering low, "Cut it out Crius."

But the country boy wasn't listening as he drawled out, "I've got friends in low places and I've been to some dives, but this one is definitely the stinkiest and the smallest. Little too tight for dancing, not that I like to do that anyway. I always look like a prancing porcine. I think I found something that will help get this party started." He pulled out of his jacket pocket a small fumarello that looked hand rolled. Before Starbuck could ask if it was what he thought it was, Crius spoke up, "Your gold clusters hero husband is not going to have a problem with this. You've done everything by the regs and rules, so I'm pretty sure you're allowed to break a few. Besides, no one is letting either of you near a cockpit, shuttle or viper, for at least three cycles so…" He put the fumarello to his lips, lighting it up as the sickly sweet aroma of plant vapors wafted from the end. He handed the smoldering stick to Rene who did not hesitate to take it, pulling it to her lips as she closed her eyes inhaling deeply, holding it in. She coughed lightly as she exhaled, but Starbuck thought her shoulders dropped at least a notch or two down and the tightness around her eyes softened.

"Not bad, huh? You can thank Jake for it. We'll deal with him later, but for now…" Crius let her take another long puff before he took it from her hand and took one of his own before proffering it back to her. She pulled another long drag, opening her eyes and smiling at him when she exhaled. Starbuck reached for the fumarello, taking a long puff himself, inhaling just enough to be part of the fun and perhaps burn up what was left before his wife might do damage to their unborn child. The readings had still been inconclusive on how the radion poisoning from their little visit to Caprica and the hospitality of the Cylons might affect the baby. Plus, she didn't need to be tripping off any blood tests Salik might choose to run in the future. He handed the smoldering weed back to Crius who pulled in a long drag before he passed it to Rene. She took a longer pull on the fumarello that Starbuck let her finish before he took it from her hand. He gave his wing mate an appreciative grin, before letting it turn wicked as he tossed the fumarello into the turbo.

Crius chuckled at him. "Oh, so you think you might actually get that promotion to Captain do you? Not when they find what is hiding up in your quarters. Besides, Captains fly a desk more often than a viper."

Before Starbuck could rise to the taunt, Crius turned back to Rene. "Better?"

Her voice was soft and dreamy as she replied, "Yeah."

"We need to get you back to your adoring public. You have a husband to get drunk and then scold. I know how much you gals like the scolding and the nagging. I have a wing mate to get plastered and then help haul to his rooms and you have that…" Crius fluffed at the ruffles, "that thing to deal with that has swallowed one of the best pilots I know. How could you have let that happen? You couldn't find something simple and slinky? I like you in slinky."

"That's my wife, Crius," Starbuck warned.

"What, you don't like slinky? You like this, this, lords what do you call this thing? It ain't a dress, that's for sure. You look like you were swallowed by a flock of avians that just feasted on butterflies then puked you back out into a mound of wildflowers. I can't even look at you."

Crius got the chuckle Starbuck wanted to elicit as she reached down to fluff some of the ruffles. "I'm resisting the urge to destroy it. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but after more than two centaurs in this thing," she shook her head. "Don't let me near a knife or I am going to slice off a layer or two."

"I think that's my job," Starbuck joked, "destroying it I mean to get it off you. I liked it. You look pretty."

"I look…less pregnant than before. That was a plus."

"Well yeah, you could hide a whole battle cruiser in that thing," Crius laughed. "You don't plan on wearing it again, do you? You gotta warn us not to smoke around it. Damn, we just took your life in our hands there. All that fluff has to be flammable."

The words did not get a laugh, instead Rene choked on a sob, hands coming up to her mouth in shock and in an attempt to hold it in.

"Oh hey, I'm just kidding ya, kid," Crius said, as he reached out a hand, not to Rene, but to Starbuck's chest to hold him back from going to her.

Rene flapped a hand at her face in an effort to dry the tears that threatened to flow and smear her makeup. "I know…I know…it's just…I burned his dress. It went up so fast. I…just couldn't bear the idea of someone wearing it for someone else. I made it for Kenan and …" she hesitated and swallowed hard, her hand still fanning her face. "I loved him. I really did. And I love you, Starbuck, I do. Frak…I'm a mess. I'm sorry Starbuck. I just wanted it to be perfect for you and I didn't mean to…, it's just, the damn IFB and they were outside the room still broadcasting and I just wanted to make it to the turbo, and they were critiquing everything, they were judging our sealing and then they asked me about the dress and…" She halted, looking up to the ceiling and trying to take deep breaths. Starbuck regretted tossing the fumarello as she could use a puff right now, and so could he.

"And?" Crius prompted. He waited only a beat or two before he added, "Kenan was a good guy. He'd understand. He'd want you to be happy. He would have liked Starbuck."

She let out a deep breath in a sigh. "It's not that. Or, it is…it's…they had a picture of my brothers. Where the frak did they get that? I don't even have that. I just forgot how much they looked alike, you know, and Ari looked even more like him and…I didn't remember that Ari looked a lot like Daniel until I saw that holo. I don't even really remember what Ari looked like in real life and I don't remember how he died, but I guess that's a good thing. They asked if he would have walked me down the aisle and If that's what Jake did when he…I didn't know he was going to do that, Starbuck. I didn't I swear. It was supposed to be just Cain, and then Gage asked and then Jake was walking up the aisle and pushing at Gage and…." She paused, taking another deep breath.

Crius pulled another fumarello from out of his jacket, lighting it up. This one smelled more like the normal variety and while probably still not good for her, Starbuck wasn't going to object to anything that would get her through the rest of this day. He found the words coming to his tongue, "I'm sorry," but Crius's hand shot out, practically slamming his medallions into Starbuck's skin in warning. Starbuck wasn't sure what he was being warned to do or not do and looked to his wing mate, beginning to realize that Crius had more of a role as guardian in the Rat's family than he previously thought. Crius eased up his hold on Starbuck, handing him the fumarello instead of to Rene. Starbuck read the meaning of the gesture. He was to follow the advice Crius gave him often, keep his mouth shut and listen.

"It will come back to you in time. Nobody is upset about what Jake did. No one can blame you either," Crius added, not removing his hand from Starbuck's chest. "He's pretty damn close to you and you probably should have asked him to do it in the first place in Ari's stead. But it got handled. This isn't life and death Rene, it's just a damn sealing. You can break it off tomorrow and do it with someone else next secton."

She gave another snort, "Yeah, right. It's Starbuck. This is pretty damn epic."

"Well, yeah, about that," Crius drawled. "Like you said, it's Starbuck so nobody is expecting it to work out. You know that's why they're making a big deal about it, right? This has nothing to do with you."

Starbuck ignored the pressure of Crius's hand, deciding that maybe he might be able to help this situation. "Actually, it has everything to do with her."

Crius shook his head at him, but Starbuck didn't let it deter him. "Rene, I never saw myself sealed until you came along. It's not you that's going to screw this up, it's me. And…" Crius had eased up on his chest so he kept on wading deeper into those dangerous ruffles. "I know what you sacrificed to get here. I wish I was admiring Kenan's pretty wife, but he didn't make it and I…I got lucky instead and you're my pretty wife. I wish Ari was here. I really would have liked to have gotten to know my brother in law. It was my fault. I was too damn reckless and…"

"It's not your fault!" she shouted.

He let the words echo off the tile walls and fade before he replied softly, "It's not yours either, nor what happened on Caprica. You didn't know Avery was going to be an astrum and that the Cylons would be waiting for your return. Boomer didn't turn the right direction and a raider got him, but you are the one who got him down alive. You don't have to keep punishing yourself for Caprica," he paused wondering if he should keep going, but since he had waded in, he thought maybe he should go the distance, "or for Ari, or anyone else you couldn't save. You did your best and sometimes the enemy is just too strong. But that doesn't mean you have to take on the weight of the world."

She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments before fixing her gaze on him. He handed her the fumarello and forged forward. "I'm no expert, but I think that's what being sealed means, not being alone. We help each other bear the burden and sometimes we watch the other's back so we can let loose and have some fun. You didn't have to do this, but everyone seems to be having a good time. I've got a plate of food waiting for you and your friends would like to enjoy your company. What do you say we get out of here? Or you don't have to go back to the party, we could just go up to that suite and have our own party."

She sighed and took a drag from the fumarello before handing it back to him. Crius broke the long silence. "Come on, that dress is worth more than all our sectar's pay put together. You can't let it go to waste in a dive like this."

She nodded, and reached out a hand to Starbuck. "I do have a bet to win. I have two more bottles set aside just for you."

He laughed. "I suppose I could make the sacrifice for you. Only if you make one for me."

She quirked her eyebrows at him.

"When you ditch me in a secton, don't wear that dress for anyone else, just for me."

She nodded and he got to his feet reaching a hand down for his wife, and one for his wing mate.