By the time Kara finally got finished with her pilots and figuring out how everyone would help out with maintenance, it was almost dinnertime and Kacey was hungry. Adama joined them in the mess hall, where they got a few stares, but she pretended not to notice.

Back in their quarters, Kacey made a big show of hiding her panther under her pillow so Sam wouldn't see it. Kara kept busy trying to make sure they'd all have clothes to wear the next day – the exodus from New Caprica had been rushed enough that nearly everything they owned had been left behind. She also worked on lining up someone to watch Kacey while she was supposed to be flying. Anders wasn't supposed to be getting out of bed for a couple days, so running around after a toddler wasn't the best plan. Helo didn't mind having baby-sitter duties; he figured Kacey could visit with Sharon, a little piece of her old life mixed in with the new.

Just before she could think about opening the envelope with the test results, a call came through the overhead for her to report to the Life Station. "Hey, kiddo, ready to go rescue Sam from the Doc?"

"Yeah!!"

The scene that unfolded in their quarters that night was surprisingly domestic. All three of them stretched out on Kara and Anders' bed together with Kacey chattering away about the book that Adama had been reading to her earlier. The story hadn't been meant for children, but as far as Kara could tell, he'd done a good job censoring and at least she was learning about the civilization that had occupied the Colonies for the centuries before her birth.

Kacey finally fell asleep, curled up between them, and Kara was too tired to get up and put her in her own bed. "This place isn't exactly conducive to trying to give her siblings, huh?" Sam quietly asked with a grin, looking around at their quarters. Kara wasn't amused.

"Why aren't you freaking out about this?" she asked him. "I mean…you've got no connection to her, and you certainly don't have to accept her."

"And you did?"

"I really didn't want to at first, but…I just couldn't hold her father's sins against her. She didn't ask to be born."

Sam was quiet for a long moment. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"If we hadn't pulled out so fast when you got shot on Caprica, maybe we could have been able to grab you, to save you from going to that frakking farm. None of this would have happened."

Kara looked over to the desk. "There's an envelope over there with a piece of paper inside that tells me whether or not Kacey's got my DNA. And I haven't been able to make myself go open it."

"Why not?"

Kara bit her lip. "Because…because I'm afraid it's going to say that she doesn't…How did this happen, Sam? How did I become someone's mother? It's not just DNA, that's the easy part. I have no idea how I'm going to take care of her, but I can't imagine not trying."

He took her hand. "We'll figure it out."

"What is she going to say one day when she's old enough to understand the truth? I don't think there's a more frakked up way for a kid to come into existence."

"You might not have asked for her, but you haven't abandoned her, either. She'll know that."

Kara sighed. "I'm going to frak this up, just like everything else."

"You won't. She's going to grow up amazing. All you have to do is love her; the rest you can make up as you go along…Go get that envelope." She hesitated a moment, but got up off of the bed and went over to the desk. "Do you need to open it?"

She considered it for a long moment, and finally shook her head. "No. I know she's mine." Taking the envelope in both hands, she ripped it in half, then again, and dropped the pieces in the trash can.

Kara got up the next morning and reinstated her old tradition of running on the Galactica's decks. She was definitely out of form, but it was somewhat calming to be one of the few people up and about on the ship that early in the day. It brought a sense of normalcy, a reminder of what life had been like before everything went to hell and back – twice.

"What do you hear?" Adama asked her as she fell into step beside him on his way to CIC.

"Nothing but the rain."

"First day back in a cockpit?"

"Yes, Sir."

Adama smiled. "Good. Enjoy yourself."

Kara laughed. "I'm definitely planning on it."

TBC...