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Lee is distracted, so he’s only five minutes early to meet Kara.
He has a class action lawsuit starting in a few days, the biggest one he’s ever worked on. He hasn’t slacked on the preparation, but everything needs to be organised down to the last detail. He can’t afford any mistakes. He remembers a witness statement that hadn’t been signed properly, and pulls out his phone to follow it up with one of his trainees.
Message sent, Lee looks up and down the busy street, but can’t spot Kara. He’s not entirely sure why they’re meeting here. He was distracted when she called earlier too, and didn’t give her his complete attention. He thinks she said something about signing papers. Maybe it’s to do with Ben’s name change.
That thought brings a smile to Lee’s face, as it always does. Ben announced a few months ago that he wanted to add Lee’s surname to Kara’s, and use them both.
“Benjamin Thrace-Adama. I think it sounds cool.”
“Until you have to write all that out on every official form,” Kara joked, seeing that Lee couldn’t manage to speak. It was stupid, but it had felt as if Ben was giving him a seal of approval. Saying that Lee’s efforts over the last three years had proved him worthy of being his dad after all…
Stupid. Lee knows his therapist would call him out for thinking like that, but he still feels he doesn’t deserve to be Ben’s father. That it should have been Zak.
He’s aware that’s a bad road to go down, so he’s relieved that Kara appears at that moment.
“What time do you call this?” he says.
She whacks him lightly on the arm. “Two minutes, Lee.”
“Three,” he shoots back, out of habit.
Lee takes a good look at Kara and forgets what he was going to say. His mouth falls open.
“Are you wearing a dress ?”
Kara whacks his arm again, looking defensive. “What if I am? It’s not the first time you’ve seen me in a dress.”
It’s not, but Lee can count the occasions on one hand. This isn’t a casual summer dress either. The style of the sleeveless blue dress is simple enough, but it’s well cut and formal. The only time Lee’s seen Kara wearing a dress like that was...he focuses suddenly on the building directly opposite them, and frowns with suspicion.
“Kara, is this appointment at that temple?”
“Yes.” She looks wary.
“You know how I feel about temples.” Lee feels his temper rising, but clamps it down. He doesn’t want to start an argument. “I know your faith is important to you, and I’m happy that you share it with Ben…” Mostly. Lee still takes every opportunity to point out all the logical fallacies in the scrolls to his son when they arise. “But it’s not for me, and you’re not going to convince me it is. I am not setting foot in that temple.”
He can see Kara’s eyes narrowing and mouth tightening throughout this speech, and as he finishes, she snaps, but not in the way he expects.
“You will if you want to be my husband.”
The noise of the street abruptly fades away, a muted buzzing in his ears. Lee stares into Kara’s irritated face, trying to process what she just said. Was that…
“Kara, was that a proposal ?”
Kara looks away. When she looks back she’s wearing her most brazen Starbuck expression, but she won’t meet his eyes. “It might have been.”
“Because it sounded more like a threat.”
That makes her look at him. “Are you criticising even this? Frakking typical.”
“I’m not criticising-”
“I should hope not.” Kara’s eyes are searing. “After all, it’s not like I had any choice. You’re never going to propose to me.”
It’s a strike Lee wasn’t expecting, and he staggers back a pace. She’s right, of course, but he hadn’t realised she knew...stupid of him. Of course she does. But does she realise why...he can’t let her think…
“Kara, it’s not that I don’t want…” He scrabbles to find the words. “It’s because of…”
“Zak.” The anger fades from Kara’s face. She holds out her hand, and Lee grabs it.
“I know that, Lee.” Kara lifts their joined hands, nods at her silver ring sparkling in the sunlight. “He took you along to pick that out, didn’t he?”
Lee nods. At the time, it had been one of the most excruciating afternoons of his life; but now, looking back, his memory is almost fond. Zak had been so happy, that afternoon…
“He had all these grand plans about how he was going to give it to you. Fancy restaurant, walk in the moonlight…”
Kara snorted. “That all fell apart. He was so nervous he blurted it out before we even walked out the door.” The look in her eyes is soft, in contrast to her tone. “Idiot.”
“He could be.”
“Kind of hard to think about proposing to me yourself, after that. I get it, Lee.”
Lee feels foolish, because he should have known she would understand. Kara always understands about Zak. He nods, his throat tight.
Kara sighs. “I know I’ve kind of sprung this on you, but I thought it might be better this way. Not give either of us time to screw it up.” She grins ruefully. “If we have time to wait, you’ll over-think it, and I’ll doubt myself…”
It takes Lee a moment to catch up. He stares at the blue dress with new eyes.
“Kara, is that...a wedding dress?”
She nods, her hazel eyes full of nerves.
“The appointment in the temple...is our wedding ?”
“There’s that sharp legal brain.”
“Kara, we can’t get married right now.”
“Why not?” Kara falters for a moment, and then glares. “If you say one word about paperwork, I’ll throttle you. You’re not the only person in this family who can organise anything-”
“It’s not that. We can’t get married without Ben being there.”
Lee glares back at her, ready to argue the point, but Kara softens. Everything about her softens, in a way he’s never seen before.
“That’s why.”
“Why what?”
Kara’s smile is so radiant he almost blinks. “Why I’m marrying you. Ben’s waiting for us in the temple.”
“He is? He knows about this?”
“Of course. He helped me pick the rings.”
“Is that why…” Lee’s eyes widen as it all connects in his head. “Is that why he’s been so quiet the last few days? I thought he was sickening for something.”
Kara laughs loudly. “He was afraid he might slip up and give it away.”
“I’m amazed he managed to keep quiet.” More than amazed; Lee is astounded.
“I challenged him to prove he could do it. I knew that would work.” Kara grins, her eyes smug.
“A challenge?” That would work. Ben is definitely their son in that respect. “Dare I ask what the reward was?”
“A day go-karting. Nothing we can’t deliver on.”
“So Ben...liked the idea? Of us getting married?”
“Of course he did. He was thrilled.” Kara’s expression is the equivalent of an eye roll. “Come on, Lee.”
“So he’s waiting at the temple.”
“Yep. So are the Agathons.” Kara flushes slightly. “And your dad.”
“Really? All of them? You’re pretty confident that I’m going to say yes, aren’t you?”
That earns him an elbow in the stomach, as Lee knew it would, but it was worth it for the look on Kara’s face. He bends over, laughing, as Kara scowls at him.
“Frak you, Lee Adama. You’ve knocked me up twice now, the least you can do is make things official-”
She breaks off, a hand flying over her mouth. The traffic fades away again as Lee’s world narrows down to one word.
“ Twice ?”
“Frak,” Kara gasps ruefully. “That was not how I intended to tell you.”
“You’re sure?” Lee can hardly form the words.
“I took three tests. All positive.”
Lee can hardly believe it, although it shouldn’t be such a shock. They were trying, but it’s been over a year now, and they’d both begun to think it wasn’t going to happen. He pulls Kara into his arms, a smile slowly spreading across his face.
“I’m going to be a dad,” he murmurs in her ear, full of wonder, and then screws up his eyes, cursing himself as he realises what he’s said. “That is...I didn’t mean I’m not a dad already... I’m Ben’s dad in every way that matters, even though…”
Kara moves back a little, putting her finger on his lips to stop his guilty backtracking. “It’s fine. I know what you mean.”
“I just meant it’s different. Being in it from the beginning.”
Kara sighs. “For me too. I don’t mean this is a do-over, because I think I did a pretty good job being a mom the first time round.” Lee murmurs his fervent agreement, and she smiles. “But it will be good not to do it on my own this time. To be in it together.”
The way we should have been with Ben.
Kara doesn’t say the words, and neither does Lee. They agreed a long time ago to draw a line under that and move on. They’d both apologised, both understood why the other had acted as they had, and dwelling on it served no purpose. Still, Lee can see the regret in Kara’s eyes and knows it must show in his own. He kisses her, trying to ease it for both of them. They have that second chance now, against all the odds.
“How far along are you?”
“About ten weeks, I think. Still early days, so we shouldn’t tell anyone yet. Not even Ben.”
Lee frowns. “We’ll have to handle telling him carefully. It might be a shock. We don’t want him to think…”
Kara laughs. “And there we go.”
“What?”
“Two minutes, Lee. Two minutes before you started worrying.” She sends him a look of fond exasperation. “You’re going to drive me absolutely crazy by the time the baby’s born, aren’t you?”
“Sorry.” Lee feels she’s being a little unfair. He knows he has a tendency to fuss unnecessarily, but this isn’t a work deadline, or Ben going to a sleepover. This is huge. “But there’s so much to think about…” Maybe they’ll have to move. They’re going to need more space. And they’ll need to figure out how to manage without Kara’s income, she’ll have to stop flying soon...
Kara pinches his arm, jerking him out of his thoughts. “Lee, stop it! I know there’s a lot to consider, but for now, can’t you just...be happy?”
“Sorry.” Lee can see the flash of hurt under her annoyance, and she has a point. “I am happy. I promise. I couldn’t be more happy.” He kisses her, trying to convey all the excitement he feels mixed in with the worry.
As Lee draws back, he sees the temple behind Kara, and remembers something. “The answer is yes.”
Kara blinks, looking a little dazed. “Yes?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.” Lee grins. Their eyes meet, and his heart soars. He’s going to marry Kara, and they’re going to be parents again. He tries to put aside his old protective defences, his fears and his over-thinking, to feel purely and uncomplicatedly happy. “We’d better go in, if they’re all waiting for us.”
“Better had.” Kara grins back at him. They cross the road, but as they start up the steps of the temple, she stops suddenly, putting a hand on his arm.
“Lee. We don’t have to do this.” She shifts uncomfortably, her eyes shadowed. “You don’t believe in the gods, so being married is nothing but a piece of paper. My beliefs are important to me, but I don’t want to push you into anything.”
Trust Kara to start backtracking as soon as she’d got him to agree. Lee is tempted to point out it took her two minutes to start doubting herself, but the moment feels too fragile for that. He sees that he needs to show her how important she is to him, to battle the self-doubt lurking in her eyes. Her mother’s harsh words never seem to quite leave her.
“You’re not pushing me into anything, and this means more to me than a piece of paper. I spent so many years having to hide that I loved you, never able to speak about it to anyone. Standing up with you in front of our friends and family, saying we love each other and belong together, officially and publicly...it means a lot to me.” His throat clogs, surprising him. He hadn’t realised he felt so deeply about this. “It’s all I ever wanted.”
“Lee…” He can tell from her face that he said the right thing, that she believes him. She puts her arms round him, and they cling tightly together until they are both steady again.
“So, are we going to follow Ben’s example and become Thrace-Adamas?” Lee asks, letting go of her and straightening his tie.
“Kara looks surprised, and then chuckles. “Works for me. It would be nice to all have the same name, wouldn’t it?”
“It would. Thrace-Adama it is.” They climb the remaining steps.
“Karl will be surprised to see you,” says Kara, looking suddenly mischievous, and Lee laughs, catching on.
“How much did he bet you that you wouldn’t get me inside the temple?”
“Twenty cubits.” Kara grin widens. “Your dad bet fifty.”
Lee laughs even louder. “Haven’t they learnt yet that you’re always the exception to every rule for me?”
“Obviously not. The winnings will buy us a few celebratory drinks.”
“I knew marrying you was a good idea.”
Lee pulls open the temple door, and Ben runs towards them, beaming.
“I knew Dad would say yes!”
“Of course I did,” says Lee, as Ben pulls both of them into a celebratory hug. “Your mother made such a romantic proposal that I couldn’t refuse.”
“Really, Mom? What did you say?”
‘ You frakker ’ Kara mouths at him over their son’s head. Lee grins at the promise of retribution in her eyes. He’s looking forward to it.
To everything.