Laura hums softly as she feels a small hand on her shoulder. She rolls over and opens her eyes slightly, smiling when she sees Aurora lingering by the bed. Aurora coughs and sniffles, rubbing her nose on the back of her hand.
"Hey sweetie..." Laura murmurs.
"I don't feel good," Aurora whispers.
"You don't feel good?" Laura questions, reaching out to brush Aurora's hair back from her face, feeling her forehead, "You are a little warm."
"My nose is stuffy and my throat hurts," Aurora mumbles. Laura lifts Bill's arm away from her waist and slips out of bed. She winces as she stretches out, rubbing her hand along the small of her back as she walks Aurora into the head. She shuffles through the meager bit of personal medicine they had, finding the children's medicine that they had traveled to Galactica with. She gives Aurora a cupful and puts it back, handing her a handful of tissues. Aurora blows her nose and tosses the tissues in the trash. Laura turns off the light and walks Aurora back to her bed before straightening out the blankets and folding them back, "Will you lay with me?"
"Of course," Laura smiles tiredly. Aurora climbs into bed and settles before snuggling back into her mother when she lays down. She sniffles and yawns, letting out a weak cough as her tiny hand rubs back and forth over Laura's stomach.
"Are they asleep?" Aurora asks as she closes her own eyes.
"They are."
"I can't wait to meet them," Aurora whispers with a last yawn, before her hand stills and she falls back to sleep. Laura rubs her back slowly, letting out a yawn of her own before she closes her eyes.
In the morning she wakes up once again as she feels a hand on her shoulder. Bill brushes her hair back from her face and she smiles sleepily.
"Morning," Bill murmurs, "I'm on my way out. She not feeling good?"
Laura shakes her head and reaches over, feeling Aurora's forehead again.
"She has a fever. Said her throat hurt," Laura says as she sits up a little bit, "I think I'm going to stay here with her for the day. She can't go to school like this."
"Okay, I'll call Billy and let him know. And I'll have them send down some soup for her with breakfast."
"Thank you," Laura smiles. Bill leans down and kisses her softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. Laura hums and kisses him back, "I love you."
"I love you too. Call if you need anything."
"I will," Laura nods, watching as Bill finishes buttoning his tunic before heading out of the hatch. Aurora lets out a loud cough and groans, burying her face in her mother's side. Laura runs her fingers through the tangled black hair and leans down to kiss her daughter's forehead, "Come on, let's get some more medicine and we can get in the big bed."
Laura ushers Aurora out of bed and into the head giving her another dose of medicine. They both use the bathroom before going back out and climbing into Bill and Laura's bed. Aurora sprawls out on her father's side of the rack, coughing as she buries her head into his pillow. Laura rubs her back soothingly, watching her sleep until a knock comes at the hatch, signaling the delivery of their breakfast.
Bill comes back around lunch, shutting the hatch to the room quietly. He smiles when he sees Laura stretched out on the couch, reading a book.
"Where's Aurora?"
"Asleep in the rack," Laura says as she closes her book before sitting up and patting the spot next to her. Bill undoes the couple buttons on the top of his tunic before sitting down next to her, "Her fever's been doing okay on the medicine, but I'll need to go down to Cottle at some point later today and get some more."
"I can stop and get some before I come back for dinner."
"Grape if he has it, she hates..."
"...Hates the cherry," Bill finishes her sentence, "I know."
Laura smiles and reaches up, stroking Bill's cheek. She presses a soft kiss to his lips and brushes his hair back out of his face.
"You're such a good dad."
"Turns you on doesn't it?" Bill grins. Laura rolls her eyes and taps his cheek gently, pressing another kiss to his lips.
"Unfortunately not much does these days," Laura says as she settles into his side, threading their fingers together. Her thumb strokes over his knuckles and she lifts his hand to her lips, pressing her lips to the back of it, "But you...you always do."
"I wish I could take you away, somewhere...anywhere..." Bill murmurs as he presses his lips to her head, "Give you a break from all of this crap."
"You are my break," Laura responds, squeezing his hand with a small smile, "You've always been my break."
Bill presses his lips to her hairline once more, rubbing his hand over her stomach. His hand strokes back and forth slowly as he sits beside her quietly. His hand pauses when he feels a couple kicks against his palm, smiling as he feels them move around.
"I can't believe there's two of them in there."
"I know, it still gets me most days."
"You still feeling okay?" Bill inquires, looking down at Laura. She nods and smiles up at him.
"I am. I'm huge...probably as big as I was when Aurora was born, but I feel good."
"Good," Bill smiles back, pressing a kiss to her lips before looking at his watch, "I should head back. I'll pick up some more medicine on the way home."
"Thank you," Laura says as Bill pushes himself onto his feet. He fastens up his tunic and leans down, pressing a kiss to her lips.
"I love you."
"I love you too," Laura smiles, watching him leave before getting up to go check on Aurora.
Bill comes back later in the evening with a bottle of medicine in his hands as well as a large bowl of brothy noodles, Zak and Kara following at his heels. He sets the items down on the desk as he hears the shower, going to the rack and finding Aurora sprawled out across the bed. He rubs his hand along her back before swiping her hair away from her face.
"Butterfly..." Aurora grumbles and rolls over, stretching out before opening her eyes and blinking lazily as she smiles at her father.
"Daddy."
"Hi beautiful. How are you feeling?"
"Sick," Aurora says as she coughs, holding her arms up to Bill. He leans down and lifts her into his arms hugging her tight before carrying her to the desk to eat. He tucks a blanket around her and tucks her hair behind her shoulders before giving her a fork to eat with, "Mmm...noodles."
"I thought you'd like that," Bill smiles as he presses a kiss to her head before going into the head as Laura wraps a robe around herself, stepping out of the shower, "Hi."
"Hi."
"I brought back medicine and some soup for Aurora. I was thinking Kara and Zak could sit with her for a little bit and we could go do something."
"Go do something?" Laura asks as she arches an eyebrow, towel drying her hair.
"Yeah," Bill nods, "Go do something."
"Okay...let me get dressed and then we can go...do something."
"Okay," Bill smiles, pressing a kiss to her lips before leaving her to finish getting ready. He talks to Zak and Kara for a little bit before Laura comes out and puts her hand on his back, smiling at their kids.
"How are you two?"
"Good," Zak smiles, "How about you? You look great."
"I'm good," Laura nods, "She just had some medicine about an hour ago. I don't know how long we're going to be gone but if we're not back by nine she can have another dose. Nothing with milk in it and try not to let her wipe her nose on her sleeve. There's a board game I traded for got under the bed, I think she'll like it if she's up for playing."
"We can handle watching her for a couple hours," Kara assures Laura and Bill, "Can't we nugget?"
"Mmhm," Aurora nods as she slurps up a noodle. Laura smiles and kisses her daughter's head before letting Bill guide her out of their room and down the hallways of Galactica.
"Is it any use to ask where we're going?"
"No," Bill grins, looping his arm through hers as they walk. Soon they come to a hatch with two marines standing outside. Bill salutes them before one opens the hatch for them. Bill lets Laura step through before pulling the hatch shut behind them. He spins the lock and brushes his hand over her back before walking past her, "Just stay there for a moment."
Laura nods and runs her hands over her stomach, cradling it as she looks around the room. Bill walks over to a console in the corner of the room and powers it on before starting to type some things out. After a few minutes he flips a switch and presses a few buttons before walking back over to Laura. He rests his hand on the small of her back and guides her further into a room as panels begin to extend before powering on, flickering around a few minutes before a soft glow takes over the room as a recording begins to play.
Laura watches entranced as stars and planets begin to take shape basking them in a blue glow. Bill smiles as he watches her face before looking up himself.
"It looks...It's beautiful."
"It's home," Bill tells her. Laura smiles and looks over at her husband. She presses a kiss to his lips before resting her head on his shoulder. The two stand in a compatible silence for a while before Bill reaches into his pocket and pulls out a remote, pressing a button. Laura laughs as she hears music filter over the speakers, a gentle Virgonese waltz. Bill smiles and tucks the remote back into his pocket before wrapping his arms around Laura, taking her hand in his. He begins to move her across the floor of the observation deck, smiling at her as they dance.
"So this is doing something hmm?"
"This is doing something," Bill replies as he turns her, "What do you think about doing things?"
"I like it," Laura smiles, "I like it a lot."
"Good," Bill smiles, pressing a kiss to her lips as they continue to dance. After a couple hours at the observation deck, Bill walks Laura back to their quarters. She laughs as she sees Zak and Kara passed out on the couch and Aurora sprawled out in her bed.
"Who wore who out?" Bill smiles before going to gather Aurora into a better sleeping position. Laura wakes Zak and Kara up, thanking them for sitting with their sister before walking them out.
"Get some rest," Laura calls before shutting the hatch and turning the lock. Bill tucks the blankets around Aurora before kissing her head and smiling at her.
"Where did you and Mama go?" Aurora asks sleepily.
"Dancing," Bill tells the little girl, rubbing his hand up and down her leg as she yawns and closes her eyes, "We missed you though."
"Miss you too," Aurora mumbles before she falls asleep. Laura smiles and squeezes Bill's shoulder as she stands behind him.
"Do you think she'll forgive me?"
"For what?" Laura asks, a frown taking over her face.
"Being gone all the time...taking you away from her..."
"Bill..." Laura sighs and pulls her husband up off the bed, turning him to face her so she can cup his face in her hands, "She loves you. She loves you so much."
"I feel like I'm abandoning her."
"You're not," Laura assures him, standing up on her toes to press a kiss to his forehead, "You're not."
"You had a good time tonight?" Bill asks, changing the subject.
"I did, I had a great time. Thank you, that's exactly what I needed."
"You're welcome," Bill nods before walking her towards the rack.
"You know what would make this night absolutely perfect?" Laura says as she takes her dress off, grabbing a t-shirt out of their closet. Bill arches his eyebrow and Laura rolls her eyes with a grin, shaking her head after tugging the shirt on, "That would be good, but no...I could really, really go for a pizza right now."
Bill laughs and hangs his blues up before sitting down on the bed.
"A pizza?"
"Cravings don't stop just because we're in space," Laura smiles, sitting down next to him. She nudges her shoulder against his and looks over at him with a smaller smile, "You're doing a great job, Bill...even outside of the circumstances. Our kids...all of our kids are lucky to have you for their dad."
"Thanks," Bill smiles.
[TBC]
