In The Distant Future

By caramelapples

Chapter 7

"I don't think I want to know what the hell is going on… Whatever it is, it's something bad," Kara said, sitting down on the couch. She ran her fingers through her short blond hair. "Gods, did you hear what she said? She said that she didn't want to die…" She laughed ironically.

Lee stood behind her, leaning on the couch. "I don't want to know either, Kara."

Silence overcame them, both knowing what the other was thinking. They waited for Bill, not knowing if he will actually make an appearance. Perhaps he would stay with Laura the whole night. But if he were to come out of the room now, they didn't want to waste the chance of asking him about the outburst without Laura's presence.

Kara threw glances at the clock hanging on the wall, its minute hand ticking like usual. Wasn't it supposed to stop when things like this happen? Wasn't the whole world supposed to stop and notice that everything was not all right?

They turned around when they heard the soft opening of the door. Bill emerged wearing a pained expression. The younger two in the room didn't have to ask for Bill to explain. He understood from their fearful looks and worried eyes. "She's asleep now," he said, finding it hard to resist running back in the room and shaking her awake, telling her that it didn't matter if she couldn't keep the baby, telling her that all he wanted was for her to be well again.

"What happened?" Lee was the one who spoke.

"She's dying. She didn't want me to tell you-not yet…" Bill pinched the bridge of his nose.

Their faces paled as they heard the former Admiral's voice tell them the awful, inevitable truth.

"Don't they have treatments for this sort of thing? It's her cancer, right? It's her frakking cancer, right?" Kara said. If cancer was a person, it would have been dead by now. Kara would have made sure of that.

Bill nodded grimly. "Yes it is. But the doctors can't give her any serious treatment when she's carrying the baby." He sat down beside Kara and rubbed his face with is palms. He was truly lost. "She knew about her cancer and the baby earlier than she let on. Gods…" He looked up at Lee and let out a heavy sigh. "She knew it and she hid it from me."

"I-" Lee seemed to be at a lost for words. "I'm sorry," was all he could muster without losing grip on his emotions. A mother he never had would never be around long enough to be a mother to her own child. The pain that gripped his heart took him unexpectedly. Both he and Kara. They had never thought they could care for Laura Roslin the way they did. And the more they cared, the more pain it caused.

The butterfly fluttered its wings and settled itself comfortably on a rose in full bloom. It stayed still for a while only until it was interrupted by shadow that might threaten it. The distant wind sounded like music.

"Don't hurt the butterfly, Laura…"

The toddler turned to see her big brother watching her from the swing. Ignoring the once fascinating creature that was so colourful and could fly, she trotted clumsily to him and in a swift motion, he lifted her up into his arms and kissed her cheek. "You're starting to look like your mama with your big green eyes and cute dimples," he cooed. The toddler giggled and reached out for his nose unsuccessfully. "Can you say my name?" he asked.

She seemed more interested in grabbing his nose.

"Can you say my name, Laura?" he repeated. "Lee."

The nose was forgotten. "Wee."

"Lee."

"Wee."

"Lee."

And suddenly his nose was so much more interesting and fascinating.

The sunlight from the window blinded her for a moment when she opened her eyes. Faint images of her dream came back to her. It was beautiful. Her baby was beautiful. She realised that Bill had his arm around her waist (though not small as it was) as he slept in peaceful slumber. She tried to wiggle out but didn't succeed as he tightened his grip, pulling her closer.

Then she remembered last night. That dinner! She had broke down in that gods awful way. She winced in embarrassment as the vision of her running out of the dining room crying came back to her. Gods, I'm a wimp.

"Bill." She nudged him gently. "Bill."

He slowly raised his eyelids and found himself looking straight into her clear green eyes. "Morning."

She smiled. "I need to get ready to go to school," she said.

"Don't go. Sleep."

"Sleep?" she raised her eyebrows.

"You need to rest."

"I just had a full night's sleep!" she exclaimed. "And I had the most wonderful dream ever."

"Oh? Care to tell me?" he asked, not even attempting to release her.

"I dreamt of our baby…" she said, dreamily. "She was beautiful. Lee was there."

He watched her close her eyes and smile in calmness. "He called her Laura," she added.

"So we shall name her after her beautiful mother," Bill said and kissed her softly.

She nodded and placed a hand on his which was resting on her barely swollen belly. "Bill?"

"Yeah."

"I need to get to work." He removed his arm, not willingly, and watched her form retreat into the bathroom. A sudden sadness settled over his heart as he realised that he wouldn't be able to hold her every night-not when she was gone.

To be continued…

A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who have been reading and reviewing! Hopefully this chapter brings hope into this otherwise rather angsty fic. I'm very happy that you're all still reading this after a while. As usual, please leave a review! I like to know what you think. Thanks!