Office Hours, Thursday, After Classes
Entering her office, Laura automatically switched on the coffee pot behind her. As it gurgled and hissed, she lowered herself slowly into her chair. So many things going through her mind. Strangely, her visit to the clinic was chief among them.
She'd never had any children; her students had always been her children. And when she began the affair with Richard, there was little chance of a child from that liaison, either -- she always swore it never bothered her. But now she wondered...did it bother her? She would never have a child of her own to pass on the good things she'd learned from her mother and father, wouldn't have a child to pass on her "genetic material," as archaic as the idea sounded. She had long ago resolved herself to this fact, lived her life accordingly. But now, with Polly's visit, with her visit to the clinic, she found doors once closed were open again; she was literally being given a second chance. Did she take it?
She realized with a start that she wanted to take it. Her civilization was on its knees, and a strong desire welled within her to pass on stories and images and lives that were now long gone. She wanted someone else to remember; she wanted to tell the bedtime stories of princes and princesses she'd heard as a little girl; to teach the histories of Kobol and the Colonies to her children.
Behind her, the coffee pot hissed as it completed the brewing cycle, punctuating her thoughts. Her eyes drifted over the surface of her desk. A well-worn, leather-bound book lay on top of her textbooks -- one Bill had "given" to her during her last trip back to Galactica. She smiled, placing a hand over the book, fingertips brushing the cover.
Would Bill even want another child? she wondered. Fate had taken Zak, and the fallout had nearly destroyed his relationship with Lee. Would he risk his heart again? Maybe he wouldn't, and maybe this relationship between them wouldn't last. Or maybe they would decide life would continue without another Caprican addition to the surviving fleet. And then maybe all of this would pass -- the disappointment, the remorse; her students here, the surviving fleet, they would be her children. It could be enough. It had been in the past. Had things really changed so much in the blink of an eye that it wouldn't be now?
Laura shook her head. In this instance, it wasn't simply her decision. But Bill was probably going to choke as soon as she opened the discussion. She chuckled at the mental image of his face.
Well, some of its going to be fun, she thought.
Collecting her thoughts, she turned and poured herself a cup of coffee. She was perusing any number of history books over the cup as she waited for one student in particular.
[Okay... More than two minutes. The old girl was long winded today... Open, thread with D locked to D and Laura. NFB, though it's probably too late for broadcast, anyway.]
She'd never had any children; her students had always been her children. And when she began the affair with Richard, there was little chance of a child from that liaison, either -- she always swore it never bothered her. But now she wondered...did it bother her? She would never have a child of her own to pass on the good things she'd learned from her mother and father, wouldn't have a child to pass on her "genetic material," as archaic as the idea sounded. She had long ago resolved herself to this fact, lived her life accordingly. But now, with Polly's visit, with her visit to the clinic, she found doors once closed were open again; she was literally being given a second chance. Did she take it?
She realized with a start that she wanted to take it. Her civilization was on its knees, and a strong desire welled within her to pass on stories and images and lives that were now long gone. She wanted someone else to remember; she wanted to tell the bedtime stories of princes and princesses she'd heard as a little girl; to teach the histories of Kobol and the Colonies to her children.
Behind her, the coffee pot hissed as it completed the brewing cycle, punctuating her thoughts. Her eyes drifted over the surface of her desk. A well-worn, leather-bound book lay on top of her textbooks -- one Bill had "given" to her during her last trip back to Galactica. She smiled, placing a hand over the book, fingertips brushing the cover.
Would Bill even want another child? she wondered. Fate had taken Zak, and the fallout had nearly destroyed his relationship with Lee. Would he risk his heart again? Maybe he wouldn't, and maybe this relationship between them wouldn't last. Or maybe they would decide life would continue without another Caprican addition to the surviving fleet. And then maybe all of this would pass -- the disappointment, the remorse; her students here, the surviving fleet, they would be her children. It could be enough. It had been in the past. Had things really changed so much in the blink of an eye that it wouldn't be now?
Laura shook her head. In this instance, it wasn't simply her decision. But Bill was probably going to choke as soon as she opened the discussion. She chuckled at the mental image of his face.
Well, some of its going to be fun, she thought.
Collecting her thoughts, she turned and poured herself a cup of coffee. She was perusing any number of history books over the cup as she waited for one student in particular.
[Okay... More than two minutes. The old girl was long winded today... Open, thread with D locked to D and Laura. NFB, though it's probably too late for broadcast, anyway.]