Title: Softy

Summary: The baby in Ronon's arms let out a small belch, giggled, and then proceeded to try and gnaw on Ronon's finger.

Spoilers: Nothing

Warnings: Fluff alert.

Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis is not mine. Only the story line and any made up characters that may appear in the story belong to me.

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Ronon sat back in his favorite worn out chair in the Atlantis rec-room and looked at the tiny thing placed at his feet. How did he get himself into this? Was it the fact that he could never resist Teyla or was it that she had technically lied to him? She'd asked him if he would keep an eye on something for her while she took care of some business with Halling and some other Athosians. She'd told him that he wouldn't really have to do anything, and that she wouldn't be long, just a half hour or so – she'd conveniently left out the fact that the something he would be looking after was a three-month-old baby.

Ronon shifted around in his seat and just thanked the Ancestors that the kid was napping. He was pretty cute looking for being as tiny as he was Ronon thought. He just sat there, in his little basinet, with a pacifier in his mouth. Ronon didn't actually know who the baby belonged to – probably one of the Athosians that were meeting with Teyla that afternoon. A soft whine pulled Ronon from his thoughts. He quickly looked down and was terrified to see the baby stirring.

'Oh god, here it comes, the inevitable crying and screaming' Ronon thought.

But as Ronon focused on the infant he realized that its pacifier held fallen out of its mouth. Ronon swiftly slid out of the chair, grabbed the pacifier, and stuffed it back in the infants' mouth. The baby stopped its whining immediately and Ronon sighed in relief. He took a moment to look carefully at the tiny thing and get a good whiff of 'baby smell'. He was surprised to feel a smile creep across his face.

The kid had such tiny features; Ronon placed his hand above the infant's face and almost covered it entirely. He then gently touched a hand and gently placed one of his fingers in the small palm. He was amazed to feel the baby lightly clamp his hands around the finger. Ronon let out a wide smile this time.

45 Minutes Later -

Teyla walked delicately towards the room she had left Ronon and the baby in. She was hoping that Ronon wasn't too mad at her for tricking him into babysitting duty but when Marta had shown up for the council meeting unexpectedly bringing her new born son they had been in need of a quick babysitter and Ronon had been the first person that Teyla had come across. He didn't want to be left with the infant to begin with and now she was late.

She carefully poked her head around the corner to look inside the room. She got nervous when she saw that the basinet was empty and that Ronon was nowhere to be seen. She quickly turned the corner to get a better few of the room.

It was then that she spotted Ronon standing over by the window, his back to her, mumbling to himself. He had propped an open book – probably forgotten by one of the expedition members – up on the windowsill at eye level, but he didn't seem to be really studying it.

"Ronon," Teyla called out sternly but quietly, "Where's Minta?"

Ronon turned around and smiled at Teyla. It was then that Teyla saw the smiling infant Ronon held in his arms. She smiled in a mixture of relief and embarrassment. She was so glad that Ronon didn't mind spending time with the baby, thrilled that he actually seemed to be enjoying himself, but she also felt bad that she had just been so rude to Ronon.

"Teyla…" Ronon sound almost surprised to see her. Acting as if he'd been caught in a compromising Ronon tried to explain what he was doing. "We were just going over the basics of..." He leaned over to tilt the book back to look at the cover, "Quantum Physics….I don't get it, but I think the baby does." The baby in Ronon's arms let out a small belch, giggled, and then proceeded to try and gnaw on Ronon's finger. "Then again maybe not."

Teyla couldn't help the belly deep laugh that escaped.