TM 208 - Four

[arrow_of_apollo]

208 - Four

An excerpt from the cover article of Fleet Family magazine, approximately fifteen years before the Cylon attack.

"It's All About Balance"

Those are the words of Colonel William Adama, when asked how the newly-promoted and newly-assigned Executive Officer of the battlestar Columbia manages to be both a full-time career officer of the Fleet and a husband and father of two energetic boys. It's a particularly apt bit of advice, as Col. Adama was, at the time of the question being asked, making his way across the small pond outside of his Caprica City home, walking from one small and seemingly precarious stepping stone to the next.


Following right behind him, literally in his father's footsteps is young Lee Adama, age 10. He seems to have inherited the elder Adama's sure-footedness until the boy begins to lose his balance. Adama stops and turns, but the young man's jaw is set, and he insists on making his way on his own. A little while later, with the boy out of earshot, Col. Adama insists to me that young Lee has also inherited his father's stubborn streak. "He's fallen into that pond a dozen times or more," says the Colonel, "but he gets up every time, all on his own."

Once the two are across the water, I watch them from my vantage point on the patio reuniting with the other half of their family, bringing the number of gathered Adamas from two to four. Col. Adama's younger son, Zak, 8 years old, begins running headlong across the lawn to meet his father. The Colonel scoops the little boy up and throws him onto his shoulders. I see Lee step in behind the two, hands raised just in case Zak loses his balance, but the younger boy is ecstatic and clings to his father tightly.

Standing just aside, watching the scene play out with a look of amusement on her face is the Colonel's wife, Carolanne. She waves to me, then with a last look to verify that her men are thoroughly engaged, now chasing one another around the grass making Viper engine noises, walks around the pond to sit beside me on the patio.

"This is one of the good days," says Carolanne, after I've mentioned her husband's comment about balance. "Bill's home for a whole week this time around, and the boys are determined to make the most of it. And he loves it." Her eyes turn, I must say, a little wistful. "But it never lasts. A few more days, and he belongs to the Fleet again and Lee and Zak are all mine."

Carolanne laughs. "But then I guess that's the balance, right? Some time here, some time there?"

I can tell, though, that it's not an easy arrangement. Later that evening, around the dinner table, the Colonel confirms this for me. "We all sacrifice a little, yes. I don't have a desk job, and I can't work from home, and I don't think a battlestar is the right place to raise a family, if you'll excuse my honesty. But we make do, and we enjoy the time we have."

Col. Adama reaches out and musses the hair of both boys. "Besides, I'll have my hands full with these two in a few years, anyway, once they're in one of my Viper squadrons."

During dinner, my editor calls, and I step away from the table. Leaning against the bar-- noting that the Adamas have excellent taste in ambrosia and other spirits-- I watch the four of them at the decidedly domestic scene and find myself hoping that their balance never falters.

--Dora Liu Pace, Fleet Family magazine


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Comments

[number-eight.livejournal.com]

OOC: GAH! This is so sad!!!

[arrow-of-apollo.livejournal.com]

OOC: Yeah, especially once you realize how much of a "lie" it is. Oh, those Adamas.