Fic: Astral Planes (Complete with Part 4)
Title: Astral Planes
Author: afrakaday
Rating: varies, T-MA
Word count: 28,000
A/N: Forever ago, I found the lovely prompt "Bill, Laura, Kara, and art" on this comm. This fic evolved out of that, as well as the "grandparents" prompt I got in the Secret Valentine exchange. Parts 1 and 3 were posted here during the Secret Valentine exchange (I wrote them out of order), but now that the second and fourth parts are done and the "art" part is finally here, I wanted to post the story all together in one place.
Summary: Attacks-never-happen AU. Bill and Laura meet at the decommissioning, sparking a serious attraction that grows into something much more.
Part 1 - Via Familia (rated MA)
Part 2 - Breaking New Ground (rated MA)
Part 3 - Inaugural Baby (rated T)
Part 4 - Wedding Bell Blues
Laura paced around the bedroom anxiously. Sunlight streaming in through the blinds cast abstract patterns for her feet to follow along the plush carpet.
“You are my partner in life and in love,” she muttered, tapping the stack of index cards against her hand as she recited the words written on the top card. Satisfied that she’d committed the line to memory, she tore the card in half and tossed it to the carpet with a flourish. She sipped lukewarm coffee before starting on the next one. “From a most inauspicious beginning, we soon came to a mutual admiration and understanding...”
After another half hour of pacing, reciting, and tearing, the floor was covered with her wedding vows, and Laura was confident that she’d be able to get through them later that afternoon without stumbling. She laughed to herself, imagining Bill in the room down the hall she’d relegated him to for wedding preparation purposes and wondering if the floor of his hobby room was now covered in broken pencils.
They’d woken up early and made slow, lazy love as the sun rose, both amazed that this day had finally come for them. They drank coffee and ate fruit and toast on the back patio, looking out over the already-set up backyard. Then, after they cleaned up breakfast, she’d marched him upstairs and temporarily kicked him out of the master suite, helping him move his freshly laundered dress grays and toiletries down the hall. “I don’t care if we see each other before the ceremony,” she explained, “but I do want you out of my way while I get ready to be a bride, all right?” He’d just given her an indulgent smile and kissed her before turning on his heel and heading into the guest bathroom to shower and shave.
Now it was time for her to get ready. She’d briefly considered making an appointment to get her hair blown out at a salon, but ultimately decided that her shoulder-length cut would look best styled as she always did it, fluffy and loose. She had turned on the tap to let the water warm up and started unbelting her robe when the doorbell rang.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she grumbled. She turned off the shower and listened for a moment. It sounded like Bill was still running the shower in the other bathroom. The doorbell chimed again.
“Frak.” With a sigh, she wrapped the short, silky robe tightly around her and padded down the stairs. She glanced through the side light and saw a young man with brown hair and familiar blue eyes. He wore jeans and a Fleet-issue sweatshirt, and carried a garment bag across his shoulder. It had to be Lee.
Fixing a smile on her face, she opened the door. “Hello?”
Lee looked taken aback. “Um...hi. I’m looking for my father?”
Laura opened the door wider and held out her hand. “Hi, Lee. I’m Laura Roslin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He shook her hand limply and crossed the threshold into the house, closing the door behind him. “Is he around?” he asked, looking her up and down with barely veiled curiosity. Laura couldn’t help but be pleased to note that he seemed somewhat impressed in his evaluation.
“Well, Lee, he’s in the shower right now.” She gestured to her attire. “I’d been planning on taking one, myself. It’s kind of a big day for us.”
He at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed. “I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your invitation. It has nothing to do with you.”
Laura softened; the young man looked fairly miserable. “I’m sure Bill will be pleased you decided to come.” Her eyes narrowed. “You are here to attend the wedding, yes?”
Lee flushed. “If you’ll have me.”
She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t you set down your bag and make yourself comfortable here in the living room, all right? Feel free to read the paper or watch the vid. I’ll run upstairs and let him know you’re here.”
He nodded slowly and looked around the airy room. “Thanks.” He moved to the couch and gingerly sat down on the edge of the cushion.
She shook her head to herself as she went to go inform Bill that his estranged son had shown up after all. Reaching the top of the stairs, she observed that the shower had stopped running. She knocked on the door to the guest bathroom. “Honey?”
The door opened, and Bill grinned at her as he wiped off the last traces of shaving cream from his face with a hand towel. “Missed me already?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into the bathroom with him.
She nuzzled her cheek against his now-smooth one and perched against the edge of the vanity, placing a hand against his bare chest when he leaned in to kiss her neck. “Your son is downstairs.”
“I thought Zak and Kara weren’t going to come until right before the ceremony.”
“Not that son. Lee.” She drew out the single syllable. “He just showed up on the doorstep. Says he wants to be here for the wedding. He apologized for not letting us know he was coming.”
Bill’s face had cracked into the smile she’d hoped this news would engender. “Wow. I have to admit I’m surprised.” He cocked an eyebrow as he considered her attire. “Sorry you had to meet your stepson for the first time wearing a bathrobe, Laura.”
“It’s all right. I seem to recall that I was wearing pajamas the first time I met Zak, too. At least my introduction to Lee took place at our house and not a hospital.” She slid her hands along his flanks, fingers toying with the towel slung low around his waist. “Why don’t you get dressed and go downstairs and talk with him? I really do need to get ready. The caterers will be here in an hour, and the priestess an hour after that...”
He leaned in for a lingering kiss. “And an hour after that, you and I will finally be married.”
Laura was breathless. “Mmm-hmm.”
“Go. Get ready.” He gave her a gentle push toward the door.
“Yes, sir.” She grinned at him over her shoulder as she took her leave.
Bill’s eyes followed the sway of Laura’s hips down the hall to the master suite until she shut the door behind her. He straightened up the guest bathroom to make it suitable for the guests who would inevitably end up using it later in the day and went to go put on some clothes. He hurriedly slid on his gray uniform pants and a set of tanks, leaving his feet bare and his tunic on its hanger for now, and made his way downstairs. It was time to talk to his son.
* * *
Lee looked up when Bill reached the landing. “Hi.” He stood awkwardly with his hands clasped before him, apparently waiting for an “at ease” instruction.
“Lee. I’m glad to see you,” Bill said.
“I wasn’t sure you would be. We haven’t talked--”
“No, I’m happy you came. I’d like for you to get to know Laura.” Bill held out his right hand, and when Lee took it, draped his free arm over Lee’s shoulder and clapped him twice on the back. “You are always welcome here. Always. I mean that.” Bill eased down onto the couch and gestured for Lee to join him. “So. What’s going on?”
Lee shifted uncomfortably in the corner of the couch. “For one thing, I’ve decided to leave the Fleet. My five years of service are up next month. I’m going to do some traveling, then go to law school on Libran.”
“Your grandfather would’ve loved to see you do that. He always tried to convince me of the superiority of diplomacy over military force, but I never wanted to listen.” Bill smiled at his obviously nervous son. “You’ve served the Fleet well, Lee. You’re a fine pilot. I’m sure you’ll be a fine lawyer, too.”
“What happened to, ‘a man’s not a man until he wears the wings of a Viper pilot’?” Lee reminded him tersely.
Bill sighed. He’d never live that down. His ex-wife used to like to throw that line in his face, too. “I never should have said that. I realize now that what was right for me wasn’t necessarily right for you and Zak.” Lee looked skeptical, but Bill continued, eager to take advantage of this opportunity to finally clear the air with Lee, impending nuptials notwithstanding. “When I was growing up, all I could think about was becoming a Viper pilot, joining the war effort. So I did.
“But things are different now. That stuff about ‘being a man’ having anything to do with flying a Viper is crap. I’ll be the first to admit that some of the best Viper pilots I’ve seen are women. Kara could kick my ass in a dogfight. Probably yours, too.”
Lee gave a stilted laugh at that. “Yeah, she’s something, all right.” He looked wistfully at his hands, subconsciously flexing them as if to control invisible thrusters.
“I think it’s great that you both have other opportunities available to you,” Bill said earnestly. “And I can see now that I didn’t seem very accommodating even just a couple of years ago. I think I just had trouble relating to you guys when you were growing up because I was off-world so much of the time.”
Lee seemed to relax at Bill’s pronouncement. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you,” he admitted. “Or about coming here at all.”
“So what made you change your mind?”
“Zak. Kara. The fact that they’d had a baby I’d never met. The family’s changing. You’ve found someone to spend your life with. Someone who’s closer now to Zak and Kara than I am.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “Talking with them convinced me I should try to get things right--with them, with you.” Lee took a steadying breath. “Dad, I’m sorry...”
“Son, there’s nothing to forgive. You’re here now. That means everything.”
Despite Bill’s blanket pardon, Lee persisted. “I’ve been less than civil to you for years, Dad. I always blamed you for being the bad guy in your and Mom’s divorce, held it against you.”
“Your mother and I weren’t right for each other. She had a lot to deal with, and not enough attention or help from me.” Bill’s face was sad in remembering his failure as a husband.
Lee shook his head. “No, Dad. Mom’s controlling and unstable. More than a little crazy. I get that now, but I didn’t for a long time. I blamed you for her being that way, and for leaving us with her, and I shouldn’t have.”
“Maybe not,” Bill conceded. “But I should have been around more for you, Lee. And your brother. I wish that I had.”
“When I saw you in your command at the decommissioning, and from what I heard about you on the Pegasus from people who had served under you, I resented that you seemed more like a father to your crew than you ever did to me.” Lee shrugged. “And at that point, Zak had flunked out of flight school. But instead of being a failure, suddenly he had the girl of my dreams and the old man’s approval.” He flopped back into the couch unhappily.
Understanding dawned on Bill. He’d had no idea that Lee had ever been interested in pursuing Kara, but suddenly Lee’s estrangement from both him and Zak over the past two years suddenly made a lot more sense. “Ah.”
“I was jealous of Zak, so it was hard to be around or to talk to him. I knew Kara before he did, did you know that? I actually introduced them.” He laughed bitterly. “Worst mistake of my life, though I guess it would have happened eventually, anyway.”
“It wasn’t easy for him after Kara flunked him,” Bill said gently in defense of his younger son. “He had to find a new path for himself after thinking he would be following you. He looked up to you so much.”
Lee seemed to accept that. “Anyway...it was hard for me to do, but Kara asked me to consider coming out for the wedding and staying with them for a couple days. So I put in a request for emergency shore leave, Admiral Cain granted it, I caught up with Zak and Kara yesterday, and”--he gestured around him--”here I am.” He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Nice place, by the way. A lot better than that dump you used to rent.”
Ah. The rat-trap apartment he’d mercifully left behind when Laura agreed to his suggestion that they move in together. Bill chuckled and rose from the couch, extending a hand to pull Lee up too and embracing his son when he stood. “You’ll be just fine, son,” he said. When they parted, Bill noticed Lee’s garment bag. “You brought something to change into for the wedding?”
Lee nodded. “Yeah, Zak and Kara will be here shortly, I told them I’d keep an eye on Ariadne while they helped you and Laura get ready for the wedding. I figured I’d just change into my suit here, if that’s all right.”
“Of course," Bill said, before Lee's intention sunk in. “No uniform?” he asked noncommittally. “I’m wearing my grays, at Laura’s request. It’s a bit too formal, but your blues would be appropriate.”
Lee shook his head. “Nah. Time to start getting used to life outside of uniform.”
“All right, then. I’ve gotta go start putting the rest of mine on. You can use the room with the crib in it upstairs to get ready. It’s usually Ariadne’s room, but I don’t think she’ll mind sharing with you.”
Lee grinned, this time a genuine smile, at the mention of his niece. “Yeah, she and I seem to be getting along just fine so far. I can’t believe how tiny she is, though. I haven’t been around many babies before.”
“Funny, Laura said the same thing.” Bill walked over to a bookshelf and grabbed a picture of Laura sitting in a rocking chair with the baby snuggled against her chest, both of them wearing blissed-out expressions, and proudly showed it to Lee. “My two favorite ladies."
"Cute," Lee allowed.
"But Laura caught on to the baby care thing pretty quickly. You will, too.”
Bill looked at the watch he was suddenly glad he’d remembered to slip on, the one his father had given him shortly before he died. It informed him that the caterer should be arriving in fifteen minutes. “I’m sorry Lee, I really do have to finish dressing. Make yourself comfortable.”
“Is there anything I can do in the meantime, Dad?” Lee looked around the quiet house expectantly. Though tidy and well-appointed, it did not have the appearance of imminently hosting an elaborate event such as a wedding.
Bill picked up on the cause for his son’s puzzlement. “Most of the wedding and reception will be happening in the backyard; everything’s already set up out there,” he explained. “Feel free to take a look around if you'd like. Just take care of answering the door for us if anyone else shows up, okay?” Lee nodded his assent.
Just as Bill got to the top of the stairs, the doorbell rang. He hovered for a moment, waiting to see whether it was the caterers, but proceeded down the hall to finish dressing once he recognized Zak and Kara’s voices mingling with Lee’s, all overshadowed by the occasional squawk from the youngest wedding guest. He hovered by the door to the master bedroom for a moment and briefly considered jumping Laura in the shower, or at least filling her in on his conversation with Lee, before deciding against either option in favor of getting dressed; there’d be plenty of time for that later.
He was just about to close the door to the guest room to begin putting on his tunic, braided sash, and various medals, when he heard Lee exclaim, “Kara Thrace, what have you done?!”
* * *
Zak gently swayed from side to side, holding Ariadne in the crook of his arm so she could see what was going on. Both father and child were amused as they watched his brother’s reaction to the item they’d hauled with them up from Delphi.
Lee’s eyes were huge as he looked out the open front door. “Oh my gods, Kara. It’s huge!”
“I measured,” she said defensively, wiping her hands on the front of her navy sheath dress and frowning at the exertion it had required for her and Zak to lift the item in question out of the flatbed of their pickup truck. “It should be able to fit through the door, no problem.”
Bill and Laura’s front yard held a metallic sculpture, about four feet wide and nearly as tall. “It looks kind of like a...snowflake. Or a dandelion. Maybe an asteroid,” Lee guessed.
Shrugging noncommittally, Kara said, “It’s abstract, Lee. Whatever you see in it, it is.”
Lee squinted hard. “Is that a Viper wing going through the middle of it?”
“Part of one, yeah.” Kara grabbed his elbow and dragged him out to the front yard, Zak and the baby following once Zak dropped off the diaper bag he’d been carrying in the foyer. The foursome stood around the sculpture and Kara pointed out some of the pieces that comprised the work.
“Lots of Viper parts, some Raptor, other random scrap I found around the deck at the Academy. They’re used to my scavenging, some of the deckhands even put stuff aside for me,” she explained, fairly beaming with excitement.
Lee touched his open palm against several of the pointed ends of the pieces extending from a central core hidden from view. Kara hadn’t painted the metal; many of the pieces showed the age and stresses of decades of aero- and astronautical use.
“Some of your best work, Kara,” Zak said proudly. “Dad and Laura will love it.”
"I've seen your apartment...it's not very big. Where the hell were you welding, Kara?" Lee asked.
Kara laughed. "In the basement of the coffee shop. Very carefully."
"We should probably move this thing into the house," Zak suggested. "Lee, do you mind taking her?"
Lee gingerly accepted Ariadne into his arms. She was dressed up for the occasion in a pale yellow dress and frilly bloomers over her diaper. Having overheard the Adama-Thrace family's "what should we all wear" conversation the previous evening, Lee knew Kara had drawn a line at the goofy lace headband that had come with the baby's tiny dress. Zak had argued that it looked cute on her, but Kara overruled him: "It looks stupid. Everyone will be able to tell she's a girl from the dress, anyway. Those headbands are for babies who are bald, and our girl's got her daddy's hair."
So lost was Lee in the adorableness of his niece as his fingertips stroked her unadorned ebony hair that he barely noticed Zak and Kara hoisting the sculpture and coordinating their steps to walk it into the house. He followed at what he deemed a safe distance in case their efforts should go awry and send the pointy object out of their control. Although it was awkwardly shaped and clearly unwieldy, it seemed the Viper wing piece made a serviceable handle for them to hold onto.
They maneuvered carefully through the front door and into the foyer. "Where are you putting it?" Lee asked.
"Library," Zak huffed. "Kara, let me walk backwards...to the left. No, my left. Watch the edge of the rug here."
“I got it, Zak.” Another doorway was conquered without too much damage to the trim, and Zak and Kara set the piece down in front of the bay window overlooking the backyard. Kara high-fived her husband, and he came back down low. “Nice.”
Inspired, Lee held up Ariadne’s wrist with one hand and high-fived her with the other before turning his attention back to the sculpture, now settled in its new surroundings. “It’s so well-balanced,” Lee said, observing the asymmetrical lines emanating from the center. He walked up to it and gave the thing an experimental push with the hand that wasn’t holding a baby. “The base isn’t that wide, yet it’s very stable for how big this thing is.”
“It’s actually a lot lighter than it looks; a lot of the pieces are hollow, or thin but curved,” Kara said. “But yeah, it took some trying to get it to stand up straight and evenly distribute the weight. My scale, protractor and I spent a lot of time together.” She fumbled around in the pocket at her hip. “I almost forgot!” She handed one end of a length of wide blue ribbon to Zak and together they circled the structure, threading the ribbon through the protrusions and meeting back at the part of the sculpture first visible from the door. Kara tied the ends together in a big bow and arranged it artistically to nestle against metal.
“Perfect,” Zak decreed, taking his fussing daughter back from Lee. “I think this one needs a nap before the festivities begin. I’ll take her upstairs and see if she settles down.”
“‘Kay. You might wanna grab the diaper bag from the foyer and take it up with you, Nugs.”
Zak nodded agreeably and left with the baby curled up on his chest; she'd ceased her mild crying as soon as the handoff was made. Lee narrowed his eyes at Kara. “Nugs? Really?”
She shrugged, blushing slightly. “I called him that way back when he was still a nugget at the Academy, but it only really stuck after I washed him out and he wasn’t getting drug-tested any more.”
Lee shook his head in wonder; he really had been out of touch. That thought was interrupted by the chime of the doorbell.
“I’ll get it,” he quickly told Kara, relieved to not have to spend any more time alone with his brother’s wife. She looked at him skeptically and followed him out of the library.
Bill beat them to the door, muttering, "This better be the caterers. They're late." Noticing Kara, he gave her a quick hug and kissed her cheek. "Hey. You look lovely."
"Never would have happened without your almost-wife's advice," Kara smirked. "Laura took me shopping last week, remember?"
The navy color and modest cut of her dress were faintly militaristic, her crystal pendant necklace and red lipstick anything but. The sleeveless style revealed the large tattoo on her upper arm. She'd complained to Lee the night before about the futility of primping, but she appeared fairly pleased with herself after successfully undergoing the groom's scrutiny.
Bill looked out the side light and didn't recognize the young man standing on the stoop. He opened the door. "Yes?"
"My name is Stewart Jaffee. Um...I'm a friend of Louis Hoshi."
"The caterer. Where is he?" Bill asked. "He and Felix were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago."
"He's...well, he's at my family’s restaurant at the moment, sir," Jaffee said nervously. Bill’s appearance seemed to be commanding the appropriate level of respect.
“Why’s that?” Bill looked over Jaffee’s shoulder, helplessly hoping the white catering van would be pulling up any minute.
The messenger spoke very fast, obviously not relishing his duty. “You see, sir, Felix Gaeta seems to have dumped Louis, personally and professionally. This morning Louis went to go to the restaurant to start working on your order. The doors are barred. He’s been completely locked out.”
“Son of a bitch!” Kara interjected. Jaffee nodded, and continued poor Louis’s tale of woe.
“Felix left a note on the door; apparently he’s gone with his lover to Gemenon. Cleaned out the business’s bank accounts, too. Louis came to me, asked if I could help him out. So he’s over at our restaurant, a Tauronese place on Larchmont--Buffet of the Bull? He’s cooking what he can put together for your reception and sent me over with some hors d'oeuvres, asked if I would do the prep work here and let you know what was going on.”
Laura and Zak came down the stairs, chatting quietly to each other, but stopped when they stepped down to the landing and saw three dropped jaws surrounding an open front door.
“Honey? What’s going on?”
Bill turned around and took in the sight of his bride. Despite the unfortunate news he’d just been given, he couldn’t help but break out into a grin; the grin she’d been unable to resist. He took a few short steps in order to rest his hands gently at the sides of her waist.
“You are so beautiful,” he said in a soft, low growl intended for her ears only.
Behind an oblivious Bill, Kara and Lee stepped outside to talk to the visibly shaking Jaffee. Zak stepped daintily around the couple to join them and closed the door behind him.
“You like?” she asked. Eyes sparkling, she toyed with the gardenia tucked behind her ear and stepped back slightly, awaiting his assessment.
Her cream-colored silk dress fell to her knees in a flouncy A-line. The pleated bodice crossed over her breasts in a deep V and was just as low-cut in the back, he could see when she twirled around once for him. Simple wedge sandals--”practical for an outdoor wedding,” she’d pronounced them when she showed them to him a few weeks earlier-- and the silver bangle she always wore completed the ensemble.
“Oh, I definitely like.”
“Good. And you already know how I feel about you and your dress grays, but allow me to inform you anyway that you are incredibly handsome.” She lightly danced her fingers along his sash and toyed with the tunic’s single button. “So tell me what just happened that had the three of you looking so shocked.”
“Problem with the caterers. They broke up.”
Laura frowned. “Really? Felix and Louis? They seemed like such a happy couple.”
“Apparently Felix has locked Louis out of C-by-Sea and gone off to Gemenon.”
“Motherfrakker!” Laura swore. She'd always liked Hoshi better.
“Louis sent some food over and someone who’s helping him out. The guy says Louis is throwing something together for us at his family’s restaurant. That Tauronese takeout place.” That you don’t really like, he didn’t add, but it hung in the air between them anyway.
Laura tried not to let herself get upset. “They were supposed to take care of the bar, too. Buffet of the Bull doesn’t even have a liquor license.”
Bill thought for a moment. “We can send the kids out for booze. Or I’ll call Saul and ask him to do it.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “So it’ll be a little more casual than we were aiming for. As long as we get to exchange our vows, I’ll be happy.”
“You’re right.” She kissed him, a firm, chaste peck so as not to smudge her lipstick. “Tauronese takeout it is.” She thought wistfully of the sole in lemon caper sauce, mushroom ravioli, prime rib, and strawberry shortcake they’d so deliberately decided on, and shook her head to get the delectable images out of her mind. Noodles would have to suffice.
Hand in hand, they walked out to the front stoop, where the kids were watching Jaffee unload a pallet of fruit and vegetables from his car. “He have anything else to say?” Bill asked them.
“Not really,” Kara said.
“We told him we’d give him some help with the prep work,” Zak added. Lee shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
Bill placed a hand on Laura’s arm. “I’m going inside to call Saul.”
She smiled. “Okay. I’ll show this young man around the kitchen. Hi, I’m Laura,” she said to Jaffee as he approached the stoop. Zak took the pallet from Jaffee so he could shake Laura’s proffered hand, and they all followed him into the house. Bill alone went into the library to use the phone.
He stepped into the room and was briefly dazzled by the sunbeams reflecting off steel, aluminum, and titanium planes. “Kara Thrace,” he said softly to himself, looking over the unexpected addition to the decor. “What have you done?”
* * *
“Anyone home?” Saul Tigh bellowed as he let himself in through the front door. “I heard there’s a wedding going on here today.”
He carried a case of ambrosia in his arms and was trailed by his wife, who carried one of champagne.
Bill came out of the kitchen with Ariadne nestled comfortably in the crook of his left arm. “Hey, Saul. Thanks so much for getting the booze for us, really helped us out.”
“No problem, Bill.” Saul eyed the infant suspiciously; she cooed and made spit bubbles at him. “Where do you want me to put it?”
Bill nodded his head toward the kitchen. “In here is fine for now, we’ll want to set up the bar outside eventually.”
Saul set his own box down and took Ellen’s from her so she could receive Laura’s embrace and the ladies could exchange their customary air-kiss.
“You look fabulous, darling,” Ellen told Laura. Laura just smiled and inclined her head slightly in acknowledgment of the compliment. Bill wrapped his free arm around Laura and pulled her closer to him, giving her a squeeze.
Saul looked around the kitchen, taking in the tactical situation like the soldier he was. Kara and Zak wore aprons over their finery and were assisting Jaffee in fixing crudite platters and a cheese plate, while Lee was listlessly loading the dishwasher. “Uh...Lee. Want to come help me with the rest of it?” Saul said.
Lee closed the dishwasher door and snapped to attention. “Yes sir.”
“What do you mean, ‘the rest of it’?” Bill asked Saul. “I told you there are only going to be about a dozen people.” He indicated the twin cases of booze lined up next to the door to the patio. “This is two bottles per person right here!” He looked down at the baby he was holding. “Actually, Ariadne doesn’t count. So, more than two bottles a person.”
Saul shrugged as Ellen started opening the boxes. “Wanted to be prepared, I guess. Nothing worse than a party that runs out of liquor.” He followed Lee out of the kitchen.
Bill leaned closer to Laura’s ear. “Leave it to Saul to bring enough liquor to bring down a herd of elephants,” he muttered under his breath.
Laura giggled. “Or one Ellen Tigh!” she whispered, side-eyeing to the skinny blond who was currently stuffing the freezer full of champagne. Ariadne gurgled her agreement.
When Saul and Lee returned with forty pounds of ice and a case of Scorpian whiskey, a third person, her short stature enhanced by her purple turban, had joined their ranks.
“Elosha!” Laura cried, embracing her friend. “Oh my gods, this just got real.”
Smiling serenely, Elosha greeted the couple she’d been enlisted to marry, then was introduced to the rest of the room. “You all don’t look very ready for a wedding,” she said wryly, taking in Lee’s grubby sweatshirt and the complete mess covering the kitchen island.
“We’ll get there,” Kara said firmly. “Though Lee, you do look like hell. Go get dressed, we’ve got this under control.”
“The nursery’s free, bro,” Zak smirked.
Lee opened his mouth as if to defend himself, but just took his leave, nodding to his father and Laura as he headed upstairs.
“I’m ready for a drink,” Ellen announced. “Ambrosia, anyone?”
“Zak, why don’t you help Ellen and Saul set up the bar out on the patio,” Laura suggested. “And Kara, can you show Elosha around outside, give her the lay of the land for the ceremony?” She stopped and thought for a moment, taking a quick peek at Bill’s wristwatch. “If anyone shows up for the wedding, could you all please help them to a drink and have them wait out in the yard?”
“Now that’s my kind of wedding,” Saul said appreciatively to Zak and Ellen. Elosha looked nonchalant at the bride’s unorthodox instruction.
“Wilco, Madam Secretary,” Kara said, giving her hands a quick wash in the sink and looking out the window into the yard. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to Bill, taking a crying Ariadne from him and patting her back as she made soothing shushing sounds.
“I noticed something in the library that I want to show to Laura,” Bill informed Kara.
“Oh yeah. Glad you found it.” Kara grinned. “Let me know what you think.” Ariadne had calmed, and Kara waved for Elosha to follow her out the back door. “Right this way.” Zak and the Tighs stepped outside as well.
“Louis just texted me,” Jaffee spoke up for the first time since he’d begun his frenzied preparations in the kitchen, his eyes trained on the Caprican squash he was carving into a bowl to hold the dip he’d just whipped up. “He’s got a couple hot entrees and sides ready to go and is just waiting for the rolls to rise so he can bake them and bring everything over.”
“Oh good,” Laura said, smiling. While she wasn’t the worlds’ biggest fan of Tauronese noodle dishes, finding the texture unpleasant, she did enjoy that cuisine’s yeasty, slightly sweet rolls flecked with herbs. Moreover, the quiet young man was doing them a huge favor by stepping in to help in the face of Felix’s perfidy, so it wouldn’t do well to insult his family’s culinary specialty. “Thank you, Stewart.” She turned to Bill. “Honey? What’s in the library?”
He offered his arm. “Let’s go find out.”
Bill could barely suppress his excited expression as he led Laura to the other side of the house. Kara had really outdone herself with this project, and managed to have kept it a secret from them as well. He wouldn’t have guessed that Kara and Zak had it in them to keep such a major undertaking under wraps for as long as they must have done, especially given the amount of time Bill spent over at their place. He opened the door and placed a hand at the small of her back to lead her in before him.
“Oh my gods,” she gasped, her eyes wide. “Kara...?”
Bill nodded in affirmation.
“This is amazing,” she enthused, “simply perfect for this room. Better than anything I could have ever imagined.” Laura circled around the sculpture, taking in its unusual angles and examining its component parts, trailing her finger along the festive blue ribbon. “She made this out of pieces of spaceships?”
“Looks like it to me,” Bill said. “That main diagonal piece that goes the whole way through is definitely a Viper wing; I’d know that shape anywhere.”
Laura inspected the piece in question more closely. “Bill, I think it says something here.”
Bill stood close to her and peered over her shoulder. “I don’t believe it.” He laughed, the sound nearly maniacal. “I don’t even want to know how she pulled that off!”
“Bill, what?”
“It’s the nameplate off my Viper...the one that was part of the collection of Viper Mark IIs on the Galactica museum.”
“Lieutenant Husker?”
“That’s the one.”
Laura traced her fingers over the discreetly placed rectangular nameplate. “That’s really something. From what I recall of the decommissioning, it was unusual enough that your crew had discovered your old ship to begin with, right?”
“It’d been rusting out in a shipyard on Scorpia.” He walked over to his desk and picked up the photograph his crew had given him that day; his boys, eight and ten years old and in awe at seeing their father at his work. He brought the photo over to Laura so they could look at it together and compare it to the nameplate unobtrusively worked into the sculpture.
“Looks like the same thing to me,” Laura said after a moment. “Gods, Bill. That’s incredible.” She took a step back to admire the piece at a distance. “This is incredible.”
“A fitting testament to the celebration that’s happening here in,” he checked his watch, “twenty-five minutes.” He stepped behind her so he could wrap his arms around her tightly as they both admired the way the light interacted with the metal planes. “I knew by this time last year that I never wanted to be apart from you,” he confessed in a husky whisper.
She twisted in his arms to face him. “I was battling cancer...sick, self-absorbed, and we had most of our dates either at the hospital or at my house. I was a terrible girlfriend! How could you have known even then?”
“It wasn’t your fault your body mutinied against you,” he insisted stubbornly. “I always saw you for who you are, Laura.”
“I know,” she said, leaning into him so they were connected at hips and forehead. “That’s one of the many things I love about you.”
“Besides,” he continued, “once you got better, we had no problem making up for lost time.” He rubbed his hips against hers suggestively.
“Another one of the many things I love about you,” she rejoined. “Husker.”
They couldn’t help but grin at each other, both at the endearment, and the knowledge that their new piece of art contained a part of Bill’s past. Really, part of their shared past; the surreptitiously procured nameplate was emblematic of the circumstances that had brought them together in the first place. Laura threaded her fingers with Bill’s and gave his hands a squeeze. “You ready to do this?”
His kiss was all the answer she needed.
* * *
Laura and Bill walked hand-in-hand out to the sunny backyard, intentionally avoiding the disastrous kitchen area. Though the invitations had said two o’clock and it was still a quarter to, it appeared that all of their guests had arrived already. Laura skimmed the small crowd sitting at the two round tables they’d purchased for the event. Zak, Kara, Lee, and the baby sat at what appeared to be a de facto “young people’s” table, joined by Laura’s former assistant Billy and Bill’s former communications officer Dee. Though she and Bill were both retired now, it was nice to have people from their old positions here to celebrate with them. She knew Bill had been pleased to run into Dee in Zak’s coffee shop and find that she was on shore leave so he could extend the last-minute invitation.
At the second table, Ellen was comfortably draped across Saul’s lap, an array of full beverages before them; they’d brought out the big guns and dispensed with the bar entirely by just bringing the bottles straight to the table. Opposite the Tighs sat the priestess Elosha and Laura’s friend Marcy. Laura had been a bit embarrassed that “her” invitees amounted to just three people, including the officiant, but she was glad her old friend from her teaching days had been able to make it.
Light jazz music played through speakers set up by the bar; Zak had volunteered to take care of the music arrangements and had compiled a playlist for the reception and, it seemed, the pre-reception. He’d taken the couple’s preferences for oldies befitting the youthfulness they felt at getting married into account, but had requested more latitude for later in the reception. “It’ll be fun, I promise,” he’d winked. Laura hoped they wouldn’t regret delegating the task to the irreverent young man.
Crossing the lush yard, Laura headed straight for Kara, pulling the younger woman up out of her seat when she reached her. “Thank you,” she said, embracing Kara tightly. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
“I’m glad.” Kara blushed slightly. “Did you notice the personalization?”
Bill took his own turn giving Kara a grateful hug. “We did,” he rumbled. “You’re a woman of many talents, Kara.” He pulled away. “How in the worlds did you get a hold of that nameplate?”
“Galen Tyrol owed me an old Triad debt. I had him make a new one so he could swap out the replica for the real one.”
“The Chief, huh?” Bill raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have to give him my thanks.”
“He’s mustered out, living on Picon doing contract work in R&D for the Fleet. Got married to Boomer, he told me they’re expecting a kid. He couldn’t believe I’d had one myself.”
Ariadne’s jarring wail interrupted the update. Lee, clearly uncomfortable with the squalling bundle in his arms, looked around desperately for relief. Bill laughed and took pity on his son. “Here. Give ‘er to me.” He held out his arms, and Ariadne quieted as Bill began to croon at her.
“Grandparent magic,” Laura said knowingly to Kara. Bill really did have a way with the baby. She guessed it had something to do with his deep, calming voice. Of course, his unmitigated adoration and endless patience where she was concerned helped, too.
As Bill tended to his granddaughter, Laura greeted Billy and introduced herself to Dee, noting that Billy seemed quite transparently smitten with the lovely young woman in the aquamarine sundress that matched her eyes. She turned to the other table. “Marcy!” Laura bent down to hug her friend.
“You look radiant,” Marcy told her. “I never thought I’d see you settle down, Laura.”
“Oh, we’re already settled,” Laura laughed, gesturing to the house and yard behind her. “This is just a formality. So I can technically be ‘grandma.’” She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Bill and Ariadne. “Bill didn’t like it when we found out that Zak and Kara were expecting and I told him I’d just be ‘grandpa’s girlfriend.’” She shrugged. “So...a party seemed appropriate.”
“Well, congratulations,” her friend said sincerely. “Everything looks beautiful.”
As Laura surveyed the yard, she had to agree. Bill and Zak’s countless hours of labor had paid off in the form of bountiful garden beds and blooming bushes. They’d used flowers from the yard for the centerpieces, big bunches of brightly colored gerbera daisies. Gauzy white drapes hung from the sides of the ivy-covered pergola adjoining the patio and swayed gently in the breeze, creating a dramatic backdrop for their imminent exchange of vows.
“Are you just about ready, Laura?” Elosha asked, standing up and gathering her scrolls.
Laura looked at Bill, who was swaying back and forth as he sang softly to Ariadne. “If Ariadne allows,” she said dryly.
“She’ll be fine. Won’t you, Ariadne,” Bill asked the baby as he tickled her chin. “Everyone, if you would please join Laura and me over this way as we exchange our vows--”
“It’ll be a short ceremony,” Laura added quickly in response to some of the mild grumbling that ensued.
Laura and Bill led the way over to the patio, standing before the small table they’d placed there for Elosha to set the scrolls on. Their guests gathered around them in a semi-circle, with Elosha behind the table, and Zak stepped forward to take Ariadne from Bill.
Ariadne, who had been perfectly content in Bill's arms, began to scream the second she was shifted away from him. She was too young to be able to really cling to him, but it was clear to all involved that if she had weighed more than eleven pounds, she would be gripping Bill's arm and not letting go.
Zak placed her on his shoulder and rubbed her back in small circles. "Does she need to eat?" he asked Kara desperately over their daughter's wails.
Kara shook her head. "You were there, Zak. You know she had a whole bottle ten minutes ago."
"Probably just gas," hiccuped infant non-expert Ellen Tigh.
Kara shot her a dirty look. "Thank you, Ellen," she said as she look Ariadne from Zak and took her own attempt at soothing the baby.
Laura bit back a smile, taking in the scene and deeming the stress of the situation completely unnecessary. All she wanted was to get married, and she didn't particularly care if Bill was holding a baby while they did it, if it meant Ariadne would stay quiet. She tugged Bill's sleeve. "Honey, why don't you just hold her?"
"Really?" he said doubtfully.
"Yes. I bet she'll quiet right down for you." Laura reached over to pluck the baby from Kara's arms and place her in Bill's. As Laura had predicted, Ariadne immediately stopped crying and even gave a contented sigh.
Laura raised an eyebrow at Bill, a silent told you so. He just shrugged with his free shoulder and adjusted Ariadne in the crook of his right arm as he turned to face Laura before their friends and family. Once she was settled, Laura nodded to Elosha for her to begin.
“Life here began out there,” Elosha started. “This is a tenet of the Scriptures. But it very literally applies to Bill and Laura’s relationship. They met in space, only to pursue this terrestrial life together. They now seek to declare their spiritual intentions to one another, cementing their bond for all time.”
Kara and Elosha led the crowd in the traditional response. “All this has happened before. All this will happen again.”
“Laura, Bill, you may now exchange your vows.” Elosha stepped back respectfully so that she wouldn’t be in the photographs Zak was positioning himself to take of the exchange.
Laura took a deep breath and reached out to take Bill’s free hand in both of hers. “You are my partner in life and in love,” she began, her voice strong and clear. “From a most inauspicious beginning, we soon came to a mutual admiration and understanding of one another.” She smiled, remembering just how quickly that initial understanding had been achieved. “At a time when I was alone and facing a bleak future, you came into my life and made it worth fighting for. You fought for me when I could not, showed me compassion, and gave me hope for a life I didn’t think was possible. And that is why I take you, before the gods and our family and friends, to be my husband, and I give you all that I am as your wife.” She withdrew one of her hands to wipe away a stray tear.
Bill shifted Ariadne against his chest and squeezed Laura’s hand before beginning. “I never believed in the gods,” Bill started, looking apologetically at Elosha before turning his attention back to his bride. “But, Laura, you are my goddess. You made me believe--in you. You made me believe that with you, I stood a chance of happiness in this next phase of my life. And today, you make me believe all over again, by taking me as your husband, and consenting to be my wife. I’ll never be free of you, nor do I want to be. For you are what I am. All that is, and should always be.”
Laura felt herself verging on tears again; he’d used that passage, from Love and Bullets, to first tell her how he felt about her back when she was undergoing her treatments one year ago. It was perfect. Not waiting for an instruction from the officiant, she leaned in toward him. He caught her cue, and brought his lips to hers for a passionate kiss only dampened slightly by the infant between them.
Elosha had removed a length of cord from the sleeve of her robe, and held it up as Bill and Laura broke apart. “By the power invested in me as a priestess of the Lords of Kobol, as recognized by the sovereign authority of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, I bind you as husband and wife. Bill and Laura grinned at each other as Elosha wrapped the cord around their wrists, lashing Laura’s right to Bill’s left one, as his right hand was otherwise occupied. Elosha tied off the knot and raised their bound wrists as they turned to face their guests. “I now pronounce you grandma and grandpa,” she laughed, as everyone applauded the happy couple.
Zak and Kara rushed up to congratulate them first, crushing them into a group hug before Kara relieved Bill of his tiny burden. “You were so good up there, baby!” she told her daughter.
* * *
At last, their guests had left. Elosha and Marcy had headed out fairly soon after dessert, probably for lack of appropriate dance partners. The kids and the Tighs had kept the party going strong for hours more, fueled by the supply of booze that had constituted the Tighs’ wedding gift and Zak’s increasingly inappropriate dance music. Bill and Laura had been content to snuggle on the porch swing, alternately gazing at the stars and watching their loved ones have fun under the fairy lights. Lee seemed to be the only one having a poor time of it, trying to get Dee to dance with him and shuffling awkwardly around the much taller Billy. By the time Dee and Billy had left together, Lee was drowning his sorrows with the Tighs, and ultimately just Saul, who was drinking straight from the bottle with a passed-out Ellen slumped against him, while Kara and Zak danced and sang on the patio, occasionally trying, without success, to get Lee and Saul to join them.
Around midnight, designated-driver (“DD and DJ!” as he kept reminding everyone) Zak had packed the Tighs off into a cab before loading up his own truck with a sleeping Ariadne, softly drunk Lee, and still-exuberant Kara and heading home to Delphi. “See you lovebirds in a couple of days when you’re ready to come up for air,” he’d called in salutation, smirking as he waved goodbye.
Exhausted, but incredibly content, Laura had waited at the foot of the stairs for Bill to turn out all the downstairs lights, then gasped when he eyed her predatorily and swept her off her feet and into his arms. He trudged up the stairs methodically, careful not to bash her head into the wall as Laura held on for dear life. “That was nice, honey,” she commended him once he crossed the threshold of their bedroom and gently set her on her feet.
She kicked off her shoes in the general direction of the walk-in closet and turned to her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Are you happy, Mr. Roslin?” she purred in his ear as she slid a hand down his chest and expertly flicked open the single button to his uniform.
“Never happier,” he promised. “Mrs. Adama.” His fingers traced over her cheekbones and trailed down the back of her neck until they found her dress’s zipper. He started to pull it down, but with her arms still playing at his chest he couldn’t get very far. “Turn around, Laura.”
She complied, giving him a wicked grin before turning to face the bed. For the first time, she noticed that someone had brought the two floral centerpieces up to their room and placed them on the twin nightstands. There was also a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice, along with two glasses. Laura groaned at the sight; they’d both had their fill earlier in the evening.
“What?” Bill asked as he drew the zipper down.
“Just noticing that someone’s been up here...equipping us for our wedding night.” Laura ignored Bill’s lazy thrust of his hips against her ass, too curious about the card she noticed on the nightstand next to her side of the bed. She slipped out of her dress, letting it pool at her feet, and sauntered to the nightstand in her bra and panties to investigate.
The card was addressed “To the Lovebirds!” with a drawing of two Vipers flying in formation on the upper right side of the envelope and two birds on a branch decorating the lower right. “Looks like another wedding present,”she said, sitting on the edge of the bed and patting the space next to her. “Hopefully something better than that toaster Lee gave us.”
Bill quickly shucked his tunic and pants before joining her on the bed. “Go ahead, open it,” he urged.
Laura pulled a card out of the envelope, and three joints spilled out onto Bill’s lap, one dangerously close to the gap of material at the fly. They both started laughing.
“Zak,” Bill said, gathering up the joints off his boxers and examining them closely. “Has to be.”
Laura opened the card and started reading. ”Dear Dad and Laura, I figured you might benefit from some herbal relaxation after all the stresses of wedding planning. You are a beautiful couple and deserve all the happiness in the worlds. Happy 0th Anniversary to you both. Love, Zak.”
Bill laughed and contemplated the joints in his hand with interest. Laura plucked them from his light grasp and set them back on the bedside table, along with the card.
“Later,” she said firmly, moving to straddle him. “I’ve got plans for my husband tonight.”
(rated T)