Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or any of its characters or plots. I mean no infringement; this is for personal benefit only.
Challenge: From Ladygris and theicemenace -Write a one-shot no less than 500 words and no more than 1000 words in length that begins AND ends with the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night." It can be humorous, romantic, suspenseful, or anything in between.
Author's Notes: coming in at 923 words before A/N. This drabble will be added to the Cam one-shot shorts. This means NO name for Cam's wife to keep in cannon with my series. (The names are listed on my homepage at ShaViva's request, I wanted to keep the feel for my nameless series.) Enjoy!
Bedtime Stories~
"It was a dark and stormy night."
"Really, you're going with that one?" She lowered her head in embarrassment as a slight laugh escaped.
"Shhhh, its a good one." Cam defended himself sitting on the coffee table in front of the fire in his parents' living room.
She waved her hand in surrender. "Okay," she said as she pushed herself off the couch, trying not to interrupt the two children sitting wide eyed watching their father.
"What? You're not staying?" Cam stands to help pull her up off the couch.
She leans in as close as she can with her belly pushing its limits in the final weeks of her pregnancy. "I have to pee," she whispers in his ear. "Don't scare them before I get back." She waggled her finger at him as she headed down the hall to the small bathroom under the stairs.
Cam sat back on the table and clapped his hands. "So where were we?" he grinned as the two children giggled in anticipation of their bedtime story.
oOOo
She quietly exited the bathroom and slipped upstairs to the children's room, rummaging through the small bag of toys they brought for the trip to Grandma's.
"Can I help you find something dear?" Grandma Mitchell asked, watching her daughter-in-law's frantic search.
"Just looking for something," she said as she dumped the bag on the dresser.
The other woman quietly slipped in, turning the two twin beds down. One bed had Cam's cowboy sheets that he had used as a boy, bringing a feeling of motherly love in her hands as she lay the small camouflaged colored bear on the pillow. Then, she pulled up the safety gate so the toddler would not roll out during the night. She moved to the other bed with it cool crisp flower sheets in bright neon colors. She wondered how the little girl could sleep in the mess of visual noise, but the excitement on her face assured her the women at the store made the correct suggestion when she said she needed sheets for her six-year-old granddaughter.
"Yes!" she replied, holding her find close to her chest. She turned to face the woman now watching. "Please, I could use a little assistance on this one, Mom." She smiled as she laid out the plan in her head.
"Anything dear, just tell me what you need." The elder woman returned the smile watching her daughter-in-law grin.
The two women went back downstairs. Well, one spotted as a very pregnant mom waddled her way down to the kitchen.
"I need tape, string and the flyswatter," she huffed at the loss of breath she now experienced at doing most anything.
"Sit dear," Grandma said, pulling the chair out at the kitchen table. She then turned on the stove to boil some water for hot cocoa. "I think I have those items right here in the kitchen drawer." She pulled down several mugs and sippy cup from the drying rack by the sink. "Let's see."
oOOo
Grandpa was sleeping in the chair as a soft snore escaped every few minutes while Cam continued his story. The children wiggled on the couch as they had heard this story before about the man eating bugs that chased daddy through the hillside. How he had to tip-toe with Aunt Sam and Uncle Daniel and a bunch of very scary government meanies who would not stay quiet, since silence was the way to avoid detection from the scary bugs from outer-space.
The two women waited in the doorway as Cam did his big finale how they saved the world. "Your father has quite an imagination," Grandma said as she came around to sit next to the children wrapping her arms around them.
"JEEZZZ!" Cam screamed, jumping off the table and leaping across the room as the plastic bug tickled his neck. The children laughed hysterically as they had watched their mother lower the bug suspended on a string from the fly swatter.
"Let's go the kitchen and have some hot chocolate," Grandma urged through the giggles that now overcame them all watching Cam slapping at his neck.
"That was SO not funny." Cam uttered sternly before he too began to laugh, turning to grab his wife and pulling her close as he could with the large growing belly between them. "You're gonna pay for that," he said, grinning back at her. He began to push the hair off her shoulders to expose her neck and then littered several small kisses before he backed up at the movement between them. "Did he just kick me? What? Are ya'll ganging up on me tonight?" he asked as he rubbed her belly.
"He or she," she said as she gently slapped his shoulder "is up for their night time gymnastics. I need to sit down." She moved slowly over to the couch with Cam cradling her arm and easing her down.
The both sighed as they sank into the couch enjoying the quiet moment of alone time. From the kitchen they could hear the children giggling as Grandpa told them another funny story about their dad when he was a boy.
"So tell me the real story, and don't lie, you know I read that mission report." She smiled as she curled her hand around his.
Cam stretched out his arm across the back of the couch allowing them to snuggle in close to each other as he began. "It was a dark and stormy night. . . ."
~fin