Decker opened the door that lead to her quarters in Pegasus, letting Nate in, and followed by herself and Starbuck. The puzzled look in the other woman's face when she saw her greeting her son was enough to tell her that, if she wanted to save their friendship, the best was to explain the situation once and for all… she knew she should have probably mentioned Nathan's existence earlier.

The private quarters reserved to the medical staff were smaller than the others: they had a small living area, a separated room for sleeping (where literally no other item of furniture apart from a double bed and a nightstand fit) and a tiny bathroom. She had been lucky to move to the battlestar when it was almost empty – that allowed her to have a private place to move in, even thought she only slept there rarely…

"Nate," Decker told her son. "Why don't you take your toys to my room and play in there?"

"You coming too, Mommy?" the little boy asked.

"Later, sweetheart," she promised before guiding her son to the room.

That was something I hadn't seen coming… Kara thought, seeing the interaction between mother and son. Looking at the kid, she could see he shared his mother's facial features, although he hadn't inherited his mother's dark green eyes or strawberry blonde hair.

"So, you've met my son… Nathan," Erin said. "He's three, by the way."

"It would have been nice to have some warning, you know?" Kara told her friend in a harsh voice as she sat on a chair that surrounded a table. "I didn't even know you had a kid."

Erin sat in front of her. "It never came up…" Actually, it would have probably been nice to mention her son's existence during one of Kara's examinations during her pregnancy. "Nate's been staying with Mrs. Baker, the lady who brought him, since I got this opportunity in Pegasus, one year ago. I fly to their ship almost every night to spend time with him, and gods know how difficult that may be sometimes."

"Why don't you just have him here with you?" Kara asked in confusion. It would be unbearable having Jamie living in a different ship. How could Decker make herself go through that?

"It's just… I wanted to protect him from this. I didn't want him to live in a battlestar, to get scared every time action stations are called…" she explained. From that point-of-view, Kara could relate. She could her best, but gods knew a battlestar was not the right place to raise a child. "But now Mrs. Baker's son returned from New Caprica and he's sick. She can't watch Nate anymore."

"Oh," Kara said. She was already starting to understand the story. "What about his father? Can't he look after him?"

Decker laughed. Right now, she wasn't half as bothered as she had been in the other day when Barolay had mentioned him. "You know, I thought his father was dead 'till a few days ago. Due to the attacks, I mean. I ran into one of his friends and she told me he was alive." She paused. "The cheating bastard… I was gonna marry him, you know? I gave him everything. But then, he slept with this brunette little thing and I just left. I found out I was pregnant a few days later and never told him."

That's one screwed up story, Kara thought. Having to raise a kid alone… Gods knew that, as much as she loved Jamie, if it wasn't for Lee she would have gone insane with all the midnight feedings and diaper changing. "So your son's father doesn't know about him…"

The intern shook her head. "No, he doesn't." She saw Kara didn't look horrified or reproving. She seemed to understand, sort of. "I was going to tell him. Frak, I lost count of the times I called him but hang up without a word… No matter how mad I was at him, I thought Nate deserved to meet his father. Then, there were the attacks and he was supposed to be dead but turns out he's not and, honestly, if my son survived this long without a father, I'd rather live without him around." I still love that son of a bitch, Erin said in her head.

Kara couldn't be mad at Decker anymore. The matter was clearly painful enough without her throwing accusations at the poor woman…

Erin shighed. "He really broke me, you know? If it wasn't for Nate, I think I'd be a living ghost…"

"I know how that feels," Kara said. After her father's death, she had acted like living ghost herself – either spending time locked in her room or in front of James Thrace's grave. Karl had been the one to wake her up – he had shown up in the cemetery when she was there and kept telling her (yelling) that it was not her fault until she had finally broken down sobbing. "But it feels good when you finally wake up from it. Like a rush of fresh air and, all of a sudden, you're in a new chapter of life."

"Exactly," the intern agreed. "I woke up and then there was Nate. He's the only guy I care about these days…" That was a lie. She cared about him too. However, she hated him at the same time, which was confusing enough.

"Was it very difficult?" Kara asked. "Giving birth without him there?" She was sure she would have dies if Lee wasn't there holding her hand…

"Well, it wasn't exactly pleasant. Not only because he wasn't there but also because I was in labor for 18 hours and ended up needing a c-section," Erin told her. "Your Jamie was a child's play, compared to Nate."

Seven hours had been enough for Kara. She couldn't imagine herself in Decker position, being cut open to take the baby out… "You know what? Let's stop the depressing chat," Kara suggested. "This is freaking me out."

"Double that and you'll have what I'm feeling," Erin said. "So, you want me to introduce you to Nate properly?"

---

Kara had a smile on her face when she arrived home. The kid was cute, she had to admit it, but that was not the reason for that smile. She had thought she wasn't good with kids by nature, being Jamie and Hera the only exceptions because, well, Jamie was her daughter and Hera was practically her niece. However, Nathan Decker had proved her wrong. Kids loved her (Nate was specially fascinated by the fact that he knew someone who piloted vipers) and, as much as she would never admit it out loud because that would simply ruin her image, she loved them too. So, unlike her mother… Children seemed to have a natural dislike for Socrata Thrace, which was a good thing, considering what she did to her own daughter.

And of course Kara couldn't help but smile when she saw Lee kneeling by their bed using a towel to dry their baby daughter, who seemed to have just gotten out of the bathtub. "You bathed her?" she asked her husband, approaching the bed and kneeling by his side.

"Yep. Jamie here needs to be clean when she visits grandpa in a couple of hours," he told his wife.

Kara leaned to kiss Jamie's cheek and inhaled the smell of lavender of her baby soap. She loved her daughter's smell right after she was bathed. "We're going to Galactica?"

"Yeah, Dad called saying that he and Roslin had an announcement to make," Lee explained with a shrug. "You don't think they are… you know."

"Together?" she suggested. She wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, after all, the Old Man and the former President seemed to be very close lately. "I dunno…"

He shook the thoughts out of his head as he dressed his daughter with a yellow bodysuit. The baby, as usual, was trying to fit her whole fist inside her mouth.

"Did you know that Decker has a three-year-old son?" Kara asked her husband.

He looked up at her with a confused look. "Your intern friend?" he asked, receiving a nod in return. "I had no idea. I didn't even know she had a husband or a boyfriend."

"She doesn't," Kara told him. "Seems like the kid's father cheated, so she dumped him and never told him about the baby."

"Ouch…" Lee said.

"Yeah," she agreed but then, glared at him. "You do know that if someday you cheat on me, I'll kill you, right?"

He snorted, not doubting what she was saying. "I think that was implied when we got married."

"Good." She passed Lee, Jamie's tiny cotton pants, so he could dress her.

"But just so you know, I don't plan on cheating on you," Lee informed him wife, trying to fit his daughter's kicking legs into the pants. "You're a handful just by yourself."

"Oh, thank you, honey," she said sarcastically. "Now I'm a handful."

"What I mean is that you're worth a thousand women, Kara," he said honestly, lifting their daughter from the bed. "All I need in my life are my two favorite girls, who happen to be in this room right now."

Kara smiled. Lee would find the most subtle ways to declare his love and she just loved him for that.

He put the baby in the bassinet that was still in their room and planted a kiss on her forehead. Like a switch had been pulled, the baby fell asleep almost as soon as she hit the mattress – sleeping was definitely not an issue with Jamie Adama. "Now, I think we both need a shower," he told her suggestively. "Wanna save some water and time?"

His wife snorted. "Lee, if we take a shower together, I doubt we'll be able to save any, if you know what I mean."

He put his arm around her shoulders. "It's the intention that counts, right?"

She laughed. "You used to be such a saint, Flyboy. I think you're getting 'starbucked' now that I'm always around rubbing my ways on you…"

A/N: Smaller chapter, I know. Today I have the oral presentation of a very important assignment, so wish me luck. Seriously, I think I'm gonna fain before I'm able to finish my part... Anyway, remember that 10 reviews will get you a preview in my livejournal (Check it from time to time). I'm promising you'll find Nate's father's identity soon,