Friendly Advice


Caitlin had been climbing the walls of the pilot's rec room, nursing the same drink from hours ago. She so badly wanted to get out of this barge and into the cockpit but alas things were all quiet. Dani had been busy, doing something so she had no one really to hang with. Cait leaned forward in her seat and placed an elbow on the table, supporting her head as she sat in boredom listening to the chatter of the rest of the pilots.

Dani wandered into the pilot's rec room, someplace she tried not spend too much time in anymore now that she'd found out she was pregnant. It wasn't because she didn't want to spend time with her fellow pilots, but the cigar smoke wasn't good for the babies and she didn't want to be the 'downer' and make people stop smoking just because she was pregnant and sticking around the compartment.

She spotted Caitlin and moved toward her best friend's table. The two had been wingmen since early in the war and had known each other since flight school. Aside from Reverend Mother Ordade who'd known her since she was in diapers, there wasn't anyone in the fleet she'd known longer, and Dani definitely was closer to her than she was to the Reverend Mother.

"Cait, you look like you're about ready to shoot something."

"Yeah myself," Caitlin looked up and forced a small smile, catching sight of Daniella. She hated being stuck inside this ship, locked inside like a convict for bad behavior. "Dani, you look like you need a drink" It wasn't a statement saying her best friend looked like hell but she did seem a little shaky.

Dani sat down heavily in a chair next to her friend. "I could use a drink," she admitted quietly. "If I didn't have two buns in the oven I would be getting stupid drunk right now."

She watched the card game for a few moments, wondering how she should try and explain what was going on in her head. "Can I ask you a question Cait? What was it like having sisters? Real blood family?"

"Eh it was hell. You know fighting over things everyday was enough to drive me to the Colonial Fleet. Nah it was....good. They were my friends and my sisters at the same time. That is what I remember of them." Caitlin looked at Dani with a surprised look. "Why do you ask?" She had never really been asked about family before, especially not from Daniella.

"I might have a half-sister." Dani told the other woman quietly, still shell-shocked. "We just did blood tests down in sickbay. Lt. Bell from fleet operations. I guess she found something that got her questioning and she did a little digging. Our father's names were the same and she thought they might be the same person...and it turns out they were."

The young woman looked longingly at the bottle of ambrosia at a nearby table. There was something comforting about the idea of getting stinking, blinding drunk. But a kick from one of the babies reminded her why that was a bad idea and she brought her hands down to her stomach to give it a gentle rub.

"Wow. Now I know why you want that drink." Caitlin nodded and then looked at the bottle, pouring herself another drink despite Dani's inability to have some. "Lieutenant Bell, I've never talked to her before. How do you feel about maybe having a half sister now?" She leaned back in her chair and took a sip from her freshly poured drink.

"I'm not sure." Dani continued to rub her stomach, it kept her hands occupied instead of reaching for the drink and it seemed to calm her passengers down.

"Cait I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to be a wife and mother, let alone a sister. I've never had a family, not the kind they show on television. I grew up with a hundred 'sisters' in the same dormitory, then joined the fleet and the squadron became my family too. I have no clue what I'm supposed to do."

"Well if I was you I would count myself lucky if it's true. You're going through a lot of stuff right now and at this time you should be looking for family support. You know I'll be around to help you out but it is always good to have real family blood to count on." Caitlin was surprised by her own moment of wisdom.

"So I'm just supposed to let this complete stranger into my life because we might share the same father? Who died before I was born?" Dani shrugged, knowing she was being a little irrational but couldn't help it. Maybe it was all the hormones in her system right now, her blood work had driven the poor lab tech performing the test crazy. "I mean she seems like a nice person but I've never met her before today."

"Dani, you can't blame your half sister for your father's abandonment. I just think you should at least get to know your sister, you owe it to yourself to see if you can have a relationship as sisters." Caitlin took another sip of her drink and placed the mug on the table. "I'm not saying jump into a relationship just see if you can bond with someone from your father's side."

"Right, you're right." Dani sighed and moved one hand up to put it on her head. "I just don't know how to go about it. I mean, am I supposed to treat them different than I would another friend?" Caitlin was her sister in all but blood, at least that's how Dani thought of her. Caitlin was how Dani imagined a sister could be, and the two had been known each other close to four years now, since they'd met up in flight school and then been assigned to the same squadron.

Cait was her wingman, and it still bothered Dani occasionally when the other woman went on patrol and she couldn't be out there with her to back her up. The rookie paired up with Caitlin now seemed competent enough but it wasn't the same.

"You go about it natural by giving it some time. You can't be sisters in ten minutes Dani." Caitlin smirked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Dani smirked back and chuckled at her friend's comment. It was actually a relief to hear someone say that. "I just haven't got a clue what you're 'supposed' to do in this sort of situation. Maybe I'm getting myself all worked up over nothing?"

"You are. Maybe you should just start with the basics and then work up to the bigger more personal things with your sister." Caitlin shrugged trying to give advice about that. "And for another, you should keep your calm for your....you know."

"Right...the babies." She patted the stomach again, feeling incredibly large and ungainly. "The doc wants me to try and take it a little easier anyway, she was worried about my blood pressure."

How exactly she was supposed to do that, Dani wasn't sure, but at least the doctor hadn't threatened to make her quit working or put her on bed rest...not yet.

"Well for one you should limit your time in here. The smoke and stuff isn't good." Caitlin wasn't fond of it but it was the only place beside her bunkroom that she could sit and relax. "Second you should stop worrying about everything. I know you worry about everything. So stop it!"

"You know I don't spend a lot of time in here anymore since I found out I was pregnant." Dani shrugged, not dismissing her friend's concern but trying to defend herself a little. "I try not to worry but it isn't easy. I worry about you more than me, I'm not out there to watch your back anymore and I don't like it." The only time she hadn't flown by Caitlin's side before this were the few months after they fled the Colonies when she'd been recovering from her injuries in that final battle.

"Dani, you don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself out there and besides it was more about me watching your back than it was the other way round, the way I remember it anyway." Caitlin smirked, playing a small joke on her best friend who needed some relaxation.

"Oh!" Dani's mouth dropped open in mock outrage at the statement. She narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at her friend. "Who saved your ass when you had two Raiders on your six that you couldn't shake? You are an evil person twisting the facts like that, Caitlin Kerrigan. As soon as I can fit in the simulators again you and I are going to put that boast to the test."

She smirked and sat back in her chair. There wasn't much she could do until then, unless that requisition came through on the vid game console and a flight sim program.

"That's my point Dani, you shouldn't be thinking about what is happening to me out here. What you should be thinking is about the babies. And it was three Raiders, I managed to take one out before you came to my rescue." Caitlin wanted Dani to concentrate on what was really important.

"The babies are never far from my thoughts, trust me," Dani rolled her eyes. "I'm constantly aware of them."

"Good to know." Caitlin smirked. "So how are you feeling about it all?"

"Everything?" Dani shrugged and leaned back in the chair, making her swollen middle more obvious. "I alternate between being fascinated, impatient, terrified, and annoyed several times a day. I want them out already but I know they need to 'bake' for as long as possible before it happens." She hadn't really talked with Caitlin about it much since she'd told the other woman she was pregnant and was off flight status three months ago. Caitlin had been the first person she'd told after finding out herself.

"I'm happy that they're so healthy but freaked that I'm this big already. I love Rhys but am nervous about actually living together when we move to family quarters, I guess I'm a waddling bundle of contradictions," she joked.

"Will you just relax and concentrate on actually having these babies? I'll keep the toasters off your butt for long enough, you have to do the rest." Caitlin loved to be out in her little ship fighting the Cylons, it was something she could almost call a sport nowadays.

"You try having all these hormones running through you and your body slowly distorted out of all recognition," Dani rejoined. "I'll try and relax if you make sure you keep yourself alive out there. I want 'Aunt Cait' to be around to change their dirty diapers and bounce them on her knee."

"Hmmm I think I might just make it to be 'Aunt Cait' although I don't know about the diapers thing." Caitlin smirked, drinking a little more from her mug. "I mean can you imagine me doing that right? After one try you'll be like 'Caitlin, you need help girl.'

"I can't really imagine myself doing it either," Dani confessed with a grimace, "but I guess I'll get plenty of practice. There's no formula in the fleet either, so I guess I'll get plenty of practice being a 'Mark I Feeding System' too."

"You'll be fine. You'll be clipping your wings and taking up the housewife position right?" Caitlin continued to tease which wasn't right but it was designed to relieve the stress.

"Not if I can help it," Dani muttered, looking mournfully at the drink Caitlin had in her hand. "I'll be climbing back into a viper just as soon as I can fit into a flight suit and the docs clear me." She loved flying too much to possibly give it up unless she couldn't do her job as a mother at the same time. Like it or not, that was the more important task for her now.

"We'll see mother." Caitlin smiled smugly as she took another drink. She knew that Dani would force herself back into the flight suit and into the cockpit sooner rather than never. It was just who she was.