Rated: T

Summary: Another Alternative Universe after Bill and Laura spend the night together on New Caprica

Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters don't belong to me. I make no money from this work of fiction.

A/N: Thank you to Laura Mayfair and her cat who proofread the story.

Zagreus

Part 1

New Caprica

Day 184 of the settlement, nine weeks after the ground breaking ceremony.

She had missed that, Laura realised once again as a five year old girl hugged her fiercely after school. Of course the former President had kissed and hugged her fair share of children during her campaign but she had forgotten the selfless affection of a young charge. She had been their teacher for a little less than six months and even if they had started to warm up to her a while ago, she was still unused to the mark of love that the little ones could so freely give. More and more each day she found herself acting like the Laura Roslin that had disappeared in Caprica over twelve years ago when she had left her classroom to pursue a career in politics. She tidied the school a little before keeping the promise she had made to herself in the morning and going to the medical tent. The man she had to consult was talking to a nurse she remembered from her last stay in Galactica sickbay so she waited for a while, out of earshot, so that she would not unwillingly eavesdrop. When the discussion seemed over she made her presence known.

"Doctor Cottle, do you have a minute?"

He was obviously quite surprised to see her. She hadn't really sought his company since the settlement. He nodded and led her to an empty area nonetheless.

"Do you have what you need to perform a pregnancy test?"

"I'm still waiting for the Pegasus sonogram. Do you think someone at the school is pregnant?"

"Yes. Something like that."

"Just what we needed. How old is she?"

"Fifty-two."

He stared for a few seconds, she couldn't really blame him. He had constituted her medical file during her cancer. And that file clearly stated that she had been menopausal for over a decade, since her mother's death. She decided to give him more information in order for him to start believing her.

"Ever since the cancer went into remission other things started again. Things that I most certainly didn't need. And those things have gone missing again for the last two months."

"What you mean is that since Baltar's miracle cure you started menstruating again and that your last period was two months ago."

"Yes. A few days before the ceremony."

"There could be other explanations than a pregnancy. You might be going through a second menopause."

"It didn't feel like that the first time. I have experienced no hot flash, no apparent skin change, and no weight gain. But the last point might be due to the fact I can't stomach anything before noon. Also my breasts are swollen. But it's not just the left and I've felt no sign of a lump or anything remotely like when I ignored cancer symptoms."

"You do realise that this pregnancy of yours could be wishful thinking to deny the fact that the cancer might indeed be back."

"I do. That is why I'm here."

He indicated the examination table. She sighed and laid on it after divesting herself of her pullover, shirt and bra. She shivered when the cold skin of her breast met the even colder skin of his hands as he dutifully palpated the former residing place of her illness. Once he was satisfied with his examination, he gestured for her to loosen the closing of her slacks and started to feel above her womb. After a few minutes he told her to dress.

"There might be a bit of swelling but I can't say for sure."

"So what now?"

"The sonogram should be here in two weeks. If you don't want to wait you need to apply for a transfer to the Galactica sickbay. It will need to be approved by the Presidential cabinet."

"The transfer will be reproved. There is no way Baltar's letting me back on a Battlestar."

"Then there's nothing to do but to wait. If you're not pregnant, you will have to be transferred for more tests that won't ever be available on the planet."

"And if I am?"

"You will have to decide if you want to go through with the pregnancy."

"Abortion is still illegal. I made it so and Baltar didn't change that even if it was his excuse for running against me. But that is not surprising."

"So you will just need to find a way to tell the Admiral he's going to be a father again."

Laura didn't even try to be secretive about the father's identity. They hadn't really hidden their affection for one another during the ground breaking ceremony. She hadn't seen Bill since that day: that was Baltar's payback for trying to steal the election. He couldn't prove it of course, but he had made it clear he knew about that when he had all but forbid them to spend time together. The Admiral was to remain aboard the Galactica unless ordered differently and Laura was to start teaching again immediately. There were other teachers in the fleet, teachers that had taught a lot more recently than she had, but she was given no other choice. Since every trip back to space had to be approved by the Presidential cabinet there was no way around it: for the six months she had been on New Caprica the ceremony was the only time she had seen Bill.

She hopped off the table and thanked the doctor before leaving the medical tent. She had already waited a month since her first suspicion; she could wait a few days more. If she wasn't pregnant it would mean two weeks of being blissfully unaware that her body was once again trying to kill her. It would also mean two weeks of dreaming a new room in the utopic Cabin she shared with Bill by the lake.

)-oO,o.

New Caprica

Day 197 of the settlement, eleven weeks after the ground breaking ceremony.

Lying on her back, Laura was listening to the sound of the rain against the canvas of her tent. Her intuition had been right: she was pregnant. Of course it was a relief that the cancer wasn't back, but she wasn't sure that a baby was what she needed at the moment. Most of the colonists were trying for babies – and she had encouraged them to – but she hadn't tried, hadn't thought about it really.

She had been drunk and high the night the baby had been conceived. Not so far gone not to remember anything or do something she would regret in the morning but certainly gone enough to forget contraception. Although she wasn't sure what she would have done if she had remembered about it: it wasn't as if birth control was easy to come by these days. She wouldn't have foregone the night with Bill either. It was probably one of their only chances to do something about their mutual attraction. There had been no point when she was dying and after her miracle cure she had been much too focussed on the fleet day to day issues and the election.

She still had to find a way to tell him. The words would probably come easily once she started: she wouldn't have stayed that long in politics or even in education if she couldn't make up speeches as she talked. The real problem was to find a way to get in contact with him. She could, as a last resort, write to him and give the letter to Cottle or to one of the pilots that had clearance to fly to the Battlestars as a regular bases but she was selfish enough to want to hear his voice. With Billy dead and Apollo in space with his father, she felt a loneliness she hadn't known since the holocaust.

It was ridiculous really. She was far from alone. The children liked her, the parents respected her and tried to include her in their activities. Maya and the baby spent a lot of time with her both at school and after school and faithful Tory had not left her despite the turn of the election. But the children and their parents were too few compared to the Fleet; Maya was blissfully oblivious of the hardness that came with leadership and Tory… Tory was no Billy. She tried, she did her best, but she couldn't read her like her predecessor could. When Billy had sensed her cancer mere days after meeting her, Tory still didn't suspect anything of her boss' pregnancy. The young lady had been an asset during the electoral campaign but she had convinced Laura to try to steal an election while Billy had flat out refused to follow her when she had torn the fleet in half.

She dropped her hand to her lower stomach. She couldn't feel any movement yet of course but she knew a child was there. Her child. She didn't really know how she felt about it: she loved children – it would be hard not to in her primary line of work – but she had never had the occasion of thinking about having her own. None of her relationships were ever stable enough. Even this one wasn't, if it was a relationship at all. She felt like it was but she didn't know what Bill thought about it, they had never stopped to talk and label what was going on between them.

If they were lucky she might be able to convince Baltar that keeping her on the planet was pointless: a father still had a right to see his children. Maybe she could convince the so-called President that she could teach in space for all those who were still serving up there and had their children with them. She wasn't sure there were any though. Bill had been a lot more lenient with families that wanted to settle since the ground breaking ceremony.

Come to think of it, Bill was a family man to the core. His divorce and estranged son notwithstanding, family really mattered for him and he might propose on the spot when she finally revealed her condition. She wouldn't mind. There were worse reasons to get married than because a baby was on the way. She stroked her stomach absentmindedly. A baby. Their baby. Would it change everything? Would it change anything?

She remembered Sandra's baby shower like it was yesterday. It still hurt of course but they were all so happy and alcohol had snatched it all away… Could alcohol bring some of that happiness back? She doubted it. She wouldn't be that carefree again: even stoned out of her mind and drunk she still worried of the future. The threat of Cylons, disease, earthquake, volcano, and hurricane still loomed close in the forefront of her mind, even when she was more relaxed than she had felt in years, with her head resting on Bill's shoulder,

"Laura?"

Maya's voice called from the outside. Laura sat up as she called her in, noticing that the rain had stopped at some point of her musings.

"Tory and I are going to take advantage of the reprieve. Do you want to tag along?"

"No, thank you. But do you want me to babysit?"

"Only if you don't mind."

Once she had assured the young woman that she wouldn't have offered if she had minded and once she was alone with the baby, Laura sat cross-legged on the mattress.

"None of this would have been possible without you. I don't know if I should thank you or blame you though. What is there for a baby to look forward to? Maybe I should just give it to your parents to apologize for taking you, what do you think?"

Hera didn't answer, of course, sleeping peacefully in the familiar arms of the former President.

"You're right. I don't think they would like that very much either. It's you they wanted, not some cast-off baby and certainly not my cast-off baby. Besides, there is still the matter of Bill to deal with."

Laura cuddled her for a few minutes in silence.

"I might actually enjoy having a baby… And you might like having a playmate close to your age at school. You never know. If it's a boy you might even fall in love, marry and have babies of your own together."

She giggled. Her child wasn't born and she was already matchmaking… she didn't even know if it would be a boy or a girl. She probably needed more sleep. But Lords of Kobol, it felt good to be silly once in a while, even if it was with a seven month old half Cylon baby girl. Careful not to wake her young charge, Laura lay down on her side, curling herself around Hera both for warmth and comfort.

)-oO,o.

A/N: There will be 9 parts in this story. All of them are already written and I should post weekly if not more often. I'd love to hear what you think though.