Author's Note: This was written for Porn Battle Eleven. This is the non-porny version; the original version can be found at my AO3 account, listed on my profile. The prompt was: Stargate Atlantis, John/Jeannie, surrogate

A Perfect Gentleman

"Go to Hell!"

John stared after the rapidly-disappearing Camero in disbelief. The dust that had been kicked up in its wake was choking him, but he couldn't bring himself to move from where he was standing on the sidewalk after Nancy had abruptly pulled over and kicked him out of her car.

Part of him was convinced that it was all a mistake. That, any minute now, Nancy was going to drive back to where he was standing and give him the chance to apologize for whatever he'd done that had upset her so much. That they'd go home like nothing had ever happened.

Another part, the more sensible one, was pretty sure that it was all over between them.

And wasn't that just the story of his life, he decided, morosely. He got something good, for a change, and then he did something to fuck it all up. His career with the Air Force, his chance at reconciliation with Dave, and now his relationship with Nancy. All swirling down the drain faster than he could stop them.

When someone bumped into him on the crowded sidewalk for the third time in five minutes, this one with a muttered curse that he couldn't help but overhear, he figured that he should probably start moving. He had one hell of a walk ahead of him if he wanted to get back to his apartment before dark.

He'd barely gone more than a hundred feet down the sidewalk when someone bumped into him. But, even though the voice that snapped at him in irritation was male, the body currently resting against his was definitely female.

Startled, he stepped back from the woman, his hands instinctively going to her waist to steady her as she swayed. Then, he looked down into the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen.

The woman looked up at him in surprise, her mouth forming a silent 'o' and her curly blond hair falling back from her face. Then, a slow smile spread across her face, and John realized belatedly that his hands were still on her waist. Not that she seemed to mind, since she was making no move to shift away from him.

"What are you, blind?"

The brusque voice that snapped at him jerked him out of the reverie that he'd fallen into, and he looked past the woman to see a man standing behind her, his arms crossed over his chest. John noted in some distracted part of his mind that he had the same bright blue eyes as the woman, and he absently pegged the pair as siblings.

"Would you mind getting your hands off my sister?"

Yep, definitely siblings.

"Oh, he's fine, Mer," the woman said, still smiling at him, but she stepped back, out of his grasp, anyway.

"Oh, it's you," the man said, a moment later, rolling his eyes, and that was when John recognized him.

He'd only been at the university for a couple of weeks, but he'd heard all about Doctor Rodney McKay. The man was a legend, some kind of physics god if the rumor mill could be believed. John had heard his fellow mathematics lecturers talking about the man in varying tones of awe and exasperation, had heard his students whispering his name like they thought that saying it out loud might actually summon him from the pits of Hell where he was said to reside in his off hours.

Personally, John couldn't see it. The man didn't even have horns.

He didn't realize that he'd said that last part out loud until the woman burst into hastily-muffled giggles, hiding her smirk behind her hand. McKay glared at him, an exasperated expression on his face, and John could feel himself flushing under the intense scrutiny.

"Jeannie, meet John Sheppard," McKay finally said, flapping his hand in John's direction. "Sheppard works in the math department. Sheppard, my sister, Jeannie McKay."

"Nice to meet you," Jeannie said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Yes, well," McKay said, impatiently, "this is all well and good, but we have to get going."

"Nice running into you," John replied, still holding Jeannie's hand loosely in his own. "Maybe I'll see you, again, sometime."

"Maybe," Jeannie said, smiling, and then she and her brother disappeared into the crowd on the sidewalk.

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Two weeks later, John was grading exams when there was a knock on his office door. Looking up, he saw Jeannie standing in the doorway, a hesitant smile on her face.

"Hi," she said, quietly. "John, right?"

"Yeah," John said, rising from his chair as she moved into his small office. "To what do I owe this honor?"

"I was guest lecturing in Mer's Intro to Physics class," she explained, as she took the chair he offered her. "Oh, it feels good to sit down," she added, with a sigh, her hands resting on top of her very pregnant belly that John had somehow managed to not notice, yesterday.

"Anyway," Jeannie continued, "I remembered what Mer said about you working here, and I thought I'd look you up."

"Mer?" John asked, confused.

"Meredith," Jeannie said, her eyes sparkling as she smiled. "My brother's actual first name. Rodney is his middle name."

"Meredith," John repeated, with a grin of his own. "Oh, that's too good. I'll have to use that some time."

"But," Jeannie said, surprising him, "I didn't come here to talk about my brother."

"You didn't?" John asked, and the woman rolled her eyes at him.

"I wanted to ask you out on a date," she continued, and John could feel his eyes bugging out.

"You did?" he blurted, and Jeannie grinned.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," she told him.

"But," John stammered, gesturing helplessly at her protruding stomach, "what about-"

"Pregnant women are allowed to date, you know," she said, a sharp tone coming into her voice. "We're not a bunch of delicate little porcelain dolls that need to be wrapped up in cotton."

"But, you're not-" John pressed, trailing off, awkwardly and blushing when she gave him a pointed glare. "There isn't anyone-"

"I'm completely single," she reassured him.

"So, the father," John muttered, and then he fell into silence when Jeannie raised an eyebrow at him, her lips pursing as she stared at him.

He was aware that he was making an ass of himself, a reaction that hadn't happened around a woman in a long, long time. Not even Nancy had reduced him to mindless stuttering. And the fact that Jeannie wasn't running away because of it was an even better sign, and really, he should be thanking his lucky stars.

Instead, he just kept imagining some angry, faceless guy coming after him for coming onto Jeannie. And, while he was reasonably sure that he could take anyone who came after him, he knew that beating up an ex certainly wasn't likely to win him any points with her.

"Is that what you're worried about?" she asked, disbelief in her voice. "John, this isn't my baby."

Out of all the answers he'd been expecting, that hadn't been one of them.

"How-" he started, and Jeannie shook her head, clearly taking pity on him.

"Mer and his wife want kids," she told him. "But, Teyla can't keep a pregnancy to term, and they've already gone through two miscarriages in the last three years. So, I'm their surrogate. This baby is my little niece or nephew."

"Oh," John replied, and now he really did feel like an ass.

"But," Jeannie went on, her expression serious as she looked at him, "if you didn't want to go on a date with me, you just had to say so-"

"No," John interrupted her, quickly, before she could finish that thought. "No, I want to go on a date with you. Really."

And, he was surprised to find that he meant it. Losing Nancy had hurt, like he'd expected, but not nearly as much as he'd thought. And it was almost refreshing to have someone show some interest in him, for a change, rather than him doing all of the chasing.

"Great," Jeannie said, her whole facing lighting up when he said yes. "It's a date, then. You can pick me up at eight, tomorrow night."

It occurred to him after she'd left that he hadn't found out where he was supposed to be picking her up, but the crowd of students outside his door distracted him from anything but his job for the next couple of hours. And he was still facing a mountain of paperwork after the last of his students left for the day.

When a shadow darkened his doorway, he looked up, hopefully, expecting to see Jeannie. But, McKay was leaning on the doorframe, instead, an inscrutable look on his face.

"Jeannie is a grown woman," the other man said, without preamble. "She is, as she has informed me on several occasions, more than capable of running her own life and making her own choices, for better or worse. And, despite the military thing, I will admit that you're a sight better than the usual guys she brings home – not that there's been a lot."

McKay paused, and a conflicted look crossed his face before a determined resolve hardened on his expression.

"That being said," he continued, quietly, "she is still my baby sister. And, I don't care if that Special Forces training means that you can take me apart with your pinky fingers; if you break her heart, I will make you regret it."

His voice had dropped to an almost ominous rumble at the end, and John was starting to see why Jeannie didn't bring a lot of guys home, if this was what they all faced. McKay's threat was all the more terrifying for being so intentionally vague, and John found himself genuinely worried for his safety from the other man.

"Got it," he said, quietly, forcing himself not to break McKay's direct gaze. "If I screw up the date, I should just start running."

"I'm glad we understand each other," McKay said, a frosty smile on his face. Slapping a piece of paper down on the desk, he added, "That's our address; don't be late, and Jeannie likes chocolate."

His brotherly duties done, McKay stalked out of the office, leaving John stunned behind him. He was beginning to wonder if he'd gotten in over his head, but then he remembered the dazzling smile on Jeannie's face when he said yes, and he knew that he wanted to see that expression again.

Even if it meant facing her clearly insane older brother.

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The next night, eight o'clock sharp, John stood on the front porch of the address he'd been given. When he rang the doorbell, a willowy brunette answered the door, a curiously confused expression on her face. But the confusion clearly when she saw the flowers he was clutching in his slightly sweaty hands, to be replaced by a smile.

"You must be John," the woman said, and her voice had a musical lilt to it. "I have heard much about you over the past day."

"All good, I hope," John said, weakly, but he just got a noncommittal noise in response as the woman led him into the house.

"Teyla?" a new voice called, and John recognized McKay's voice. "Who's at the door?"

"John Sheppard," she called back. "He brought flowers and chocolate."

There was a pause, and then McKay called back, "The good kind?"

"Roses and Cadbury," Teyla told him, as he walked into the living room. "I think Jeannie will approve."

"I'll approve of what?" a familiar voice called out, and John looked up to see Jeannie descending the staircase.

"Wow," was all he could think to say, and Jeannie smiled at his reaction.

"Do you like it?" she asked, shyly, adjusting the thin strap of her bright red dress. "I didn't think it was going to fit; give me another week or so, and I'll only be able to squeeze into sweats."

"You look beautiful," John told her, honestly.

"Just beautiful?" Jeannie asked, teasingly, as she stopped in front of him.

"Well," John replied, "if I said what I was really thinking, your brother might kill me."

"Well, we can't have that," Jeannie said. Taking the flowers from him, she added, "Let me put these in some water, and then we'll go to dinner."

As she disappeared into the kitchen, John found himself alone in the room with McKay and Teyla, and McKay raised an eyebrow at him, significantly.

"I will be a perfect gentleman with your sister," he said, reassuringly, but McKay just glared at him.

"You'd better be," McKay muttered, ominously, but he clammed up as soon as Jeannie walked back into the room.

"Ready to go, John?" she asked, with a pointed look at her brother as if she knew exactly what he had been talking about.

"Have a good time!" Teyla called after them, as they disappeared out the front door.

"I think your brother hates me," John remarked, as he opened the car door for Jeannie to get in.

"Oh, Mer hates all the men I go out with," Jeannie said, dismissively. "But, usually his threats are much more graphic than this."

"And, he can carry out his threats?" John asked, worriedly.

"Well, if he can't, then Teyla usually can," Jeannie said, and John found himself even more worried by the casual tone in her voice. "Or, sometimes, she has her brother Ronon come and loom menacingly in the background. But, he barely even grumbled at you, tonight."

Shooting him a smile that was obviously supposed to be reassuring, she added, "Relax; I think Mer actually likes you."

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After a nice, quiet dinner at a restaurant that John really couldn't afford, they drove aimlessly around town for a while. After about half an hour, they found themselves on a road that overlooked the town, and on an impulse, John pulled over into one of the drive-offs on the side of the road.

"What are we doing?" Jeannie asked, curiously, and John shrugged.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I thought it might be nice to sit and look at the lights for a while, is all."

"It's awfully quiet and secluded up here," Jeannie continued, musingly. "You know, I might think you'd come up here to try and take advantage of me."

"I – I would never-" John spluttered, horrified, and then he saw the teasing grin on Jeannie's face.

"Too bad," she said, with a sigh. Then, before he could move, she'd managed to twist around in her seat and pin him against the back of his seat. "Guess I'll just have to take advantage of you, then."

"You're – you're pregnant," John blurted, anxiously, and Jeannie cocked an eyebrow at him in an expression that made her look disturbingly like her brother.

"That just means that we won't have to worry about it happening, tonight," she informed him.

"With your brother's baby," John insisted, but the protest sounded weak even to his ears, especially when he found himself putting his hands on Jeannie's waist to steady her as she leaned over the gear shift.

Jeannie hesitated, clearly giving him time to back out, but John's mind was already made up. He pulled her forward into a kiss, carefully supporting her body against his. With some inventive twisting, he managed to get himself stretched out over the seats, with Jeannie straddling his lap.

"I've never done this in a car, before," she confessed, looking down at him.

"There's a first time for everything," John told her, pulling her down for another kiss.

They moved together, slow and careful, and John made sure to support Jeannie's weight above him. Several times, Jeannie's protruding belly brushed against his torso, and his hand moved almost of its own volition to rest against the side of the bump.

To his utter amazement, he could feel the baby moving slowly inside her, and he stared at her stomach with undisguised curiosity. Then, at a very definite kick, his eyes snapped back up to Jeannie, staring at her in shock. Bright blue eyes met his, and then Jeannie smiled at him, her mouth curving crookedly.

Without even thinking about it, John blurted out, "That could be our baby some day."

To his surprise, Jeannie didn't shy away at his words; instead, her smile got even bigger as she leaned in close to him.

"Maybe, some day," she murmured.

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Some time later, Jeannie had collapsed onto his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, and John ran his fingers lightly through her messy curls.

"That was amazing," he said, honestly, and he could feel Jeannie smiling against his skin.

"I certainly wouldn't be opposed to it happening, again," she told him.

"Well, it should be soon," John told her, "because your brother is going to kill me."

"Oh, relax," Jeannie said, lifting her head to look at him. "I'll tell him you were a perfect gentleman."