A/N : I do not own the characters.
Operation Christmas
"TJ, remember you have to think what you want to ask Santa for. We need to write your letter soon so he and his little helpers have enough time to make your presents." John said to the subdued little boy.
"Yes Uncle John."
Teyla and John looked at each other. For a couple of days now they both had noticed that Torren was not his usual happy self. They assumed he was coming down with something but that was not the case. He was usually so excited about Christmas but not this year. John really needed to find out what TJ wanted this year. Usually he couldn't keep quiet about what he was going to ask Santa for. He would go on and on for a couple of months beforehand so it was easy to let Rodney and Ronan know what to get for their favourite nephew, granted only nephew but favourite nonetheless. Even Rodney couldn't say no to TJ. TJ had a way of getting around Rodney.
John had only realised that TJ hadn't said what he wanted when both Rodney and Ronan had asked him what they were supposed to get him. Not that they stuck to Teyla's 'only one present' rule, a stupid rule thought John. Every year since his birth, Teyla insisted that for Torren's birthday and because they insisted, Christmas, the three men were only allowed to buy one present each for their nephew. Now they were brave men, they been up against the wraith, the genii, the replicators to name but a few of their adversaries, however going directly against Teyla was something they didn't want to do. They were not exactly afraid of her but she could be scary and her denying them the chance to spoil their first nephew was just wrong. The three men agreed with this rule but the each had one hand behind their back with their fingers crossed, so it didn't count. John had told Ronon what this had meant months ago and every so often he would use this to get out of something, mainly meditating with Teyla. So for Torren's first Christmas, John had persuaded Teyla to swap rooms for the night on Christmas Eve so the guys could get her room ready for the day. Two weeks before that first Christmas, she came back to her quarters to find a tree. The next day the tree had colourful lights on it which kept Torren mesmerized. The day after, there were baubles, again colourful. The fourth day there was a star on top. For each of the next three successive days a present appeared for Torren, one from Uncle John, one from Uncle Rodney and the last from Uncle Ronon. TJ loved the tree he would just stare at the colours for ages. Anyway, Teyla agreed to spend the night in John's quarters so they could get hers ready for Torren. She though it was really sweet that they would go to all this trouble. When she woke the next morning and Torren was ready they went back to their quarters to find that it was completely transformed. There were decorations everywhere. That was not the surprising thing though, the number of present were. There were so many just for Torren, piles and piles. Teyla just raised an eyebrow and looked at each and every one of them in turn but to their credit they did not flinch. John remembered that they stood there just staring back at her and knowing that if one of them 'blinked' first they would all be dead. Thankfully she thought she had it wrong so they began to celebrate Torren's first Christmas. Rodney made sure there was enough breakfast for all, they had taken their time and each uncle had to hold their nephew for a few minutes before the present opening started. It took three hours John remembered to finish opening all the presents. TJ even had a nap in the middle. Teyla made sure she looked at each of the labels before the presents were opened. She even admitted that everything was wonderful. The boys, John remembered were smug thinking that they got one over Teyla, how wrong were they? It was maybe a week or two after Christmas, they were all in the mess hall having lunch when Lorne stopped by to discuss something with John, and TJ was wearing one of his favourite presents, a baseball cap with an airplane on it. He hated to take it off and would sleep in it until Teyla removed it once he was asleep. Once Lorne had finished talking to John Teyla stopped him and thanked him for TJ's cap, it was at the same time that the three continued to eat and upon hearing this started to choke on their lunch.
"Er" Said Lorne looking at the three men who refused to look in their direction.
"The present appeared in my quarters on Christmas morning with your name on it. I just want to say thank you for thinking of my son. He loves the hat and refuses to take it off."
John gave a beseeching look to his second in command when he managed to catch his eye.
"You're welcome Teyla, I'm glad he likes it." Teyla regarded Lorne as he said this because he was turning red at the same time at under her look so he left quite quickly.
Teyla looked at her team mates and each of them went red under her gaze but again they refused to say a word.
Teyla did this to them on several occasions with other members of the expedition. The men couldn't remember whose name they wrote on each gift, so every time they were together and someone walked by and Teyla thanked them for their gift to Torren they decided that they would pretend not to hear. Lorne, bless him, had relayed the mess incident to Chuck who informed everyone else so all the members of the expedition knew what was going on and said it was a pleasure to buy a gift for the youngest member of the team. This did not deter Teyla one bit, again, the boys were feeling quite smug but she got the upper hand again. They were in the rec room watching a film and TJ was in a completely new outfit and had a couple of new toys with him when Cadman and Banks walked in.
"I have been meaning to thank you for the gifts you bought Torren."
"No problem."
"Any time."
"I am slightly embarrassed, I cannot quite remember what you two bought my son. Is it something he is wearing or playing with now?" asked Teyla in a really sweet voice that fooled no one.
The ladies looked at the men who looked at each other and none of the looks escaped Teyla's attention. John was trying to discreetly point at his t-shirt, Ronon had his hands on his head and Rodney was busy tying his shoe laces that were not even undone. The women didn't know which one to choose so they left suddenly pretending they were called on their coms.
"It is amazing that three men cannot count to one. One present from each of you, not one hundred, the fact that you have the members of the expedition lying for you."
"Hey we had nothing to do with that." replied Rodney "We never told anyone to lie for us, if they chose to do it it was because they thought you were being unreasonable." He would have carried on but someone cuffed him on the back of his head.
Rodney blinked first. Teyla won.
They had learnt from their mistakes for TJ's birthday. They had divided the expedition into three groups each of them took one and gave each person a present with the description of the gift in case Inspector Emmagen was on the case again. Throughout the day people were stopping Teyla in the corridors or the mess or anywhere they found her and gave her a present for Torren. Later that day, Teyla returned to her quarters to find it decorated with many balloons and a banner that said "Happy 1st Birthday Torren John". They were going to join her in a few minutes she had decided to have a small celebration. They arrived and each of them handed her one present.
"You know it has been quite a strange day. So many of the expedition has given me a gift for Torren."
"What is strange about that? TJ is the cutest, how can anyone resist that smile?" said John.
"The gifts are not the strange thing. It was the fact that about one in three members called Torren John TJ." With that she left them to go and get the cake ready which all three declared was a must for any birthday, obviously it had nothing to do with the fact that they all enjoyed cake!
The three men just stood there for a minute until TJ crawled to them and tugged on their trousers. Then the party began.
Easter was the turning point, when Woolsey gave Teyla an Easter egg for Torren she couldn't believe it. She had asked him to explain the tradition and he told her that it was a must. No child should be without a chocolate egg at this time of year.
"So it is only for children?"
"Er no, it is mainly for children however those who are young at heart." Woolsey gave a directed look at the three men in the room "also get eggs but they mainly buy them for themselves. In fact I heard your team mates arguing which was the best because they want Torren to have the best. Once they decided which one each of them would buy for Torren they then moved onto which one they were going to buy for themselves, the 'discussion' was getting quite heated as you can imagine."
"Yes I believe I can." Teyla said dryly giving each of her team mates a look and they just gave her an innocent look in return.
They had planted eggs everywhere in her room. Some were obvious just in plain sight others were under her bed covers and she would only find them once she went to bed. She managed to find some in her vest and her shoes. She had spent a couple of days with her people and returned to celebrate Easter with her team. She dread to think where she would now find the chocolate eggs, Torren loved it though, he found it funny that eggs were in some strange places, he especially liked it when he heard his mamma make strange noises when she found them. She went to her quarters, when the door opened she was amazed, every surface was covered in eggs of the chocolate variety of different sizes. There was not any free space. She couldn't take a step into her quarters, not one. At that moment Torren started to squeal as he caught sight of his three favourite men, they were strolling down the corridor and stopped in front of her door and peered inside. They took Torren from her and said they were going to spend time with their nephew and walked off. She was still shocked from the eggs that she didn't object to John taking Torren or Ronon taking the diaper bag. She vaguely remembered seeing Rodney with a try of food that Torren liked. She didn't know how long she stood there for but when she finally snapped out of it Keller and Lorne were there just grinning. She gave them one of her trademark looks and that didn't even deter them they just chuckled.
"Your son has the best Uncles Teyla." said Keller.
Lorne pointed to a banner that for some reason Teyla didn't see straight away.
'Happy Easter Torren from Uncle John, Uncle Rodney and Uncle Ronon'
Keller and Lorne heard a growl coming from Teyla they decided it was time to leave and made a hasty retreat still laughing.
Teyla made her way to John's quarters as she knew he had a supply of diapers, bottles and anything else her son may need. Torren often spent the night with Uncle John, sometimes as part of 'guy night' where all four would spend the night playing games or watching films or whatever guys did on 'guys night', Torren loved it. He also spent the night when John thought she needed the break or when there was 'girls' night'. Teyla swiped the controls to enter John's room. She saw all three of them on the floor playing with her son. They had bathed Torren and put him into his pyjamas. She just stood there for a while staring at the love that these three men had for her son. Torren was really lucky to have his Uncles. She couldn't begrudge them buying things for him, yes they liked to spoil him but not with only material things they spent a lot of time with him. He was having the time of his life and he was like this every day. He was a happy child and that had a lot to do with these three. They were also firm with him when he needed it. It was the first time that she realised that Torren John had three fathers, it made her tear up but she managed to keep them at bay. She walked further into the room and sat down with them to play with her son. Later they decided to watch some films, as they were getting the films and popcorn, other snacks and drinks ready for their night, Teyla went to Rodney hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you so much for caring about my son. You are a true friend and brother." Rodney was not one to show affection so when he did towards Torren everyone was shocked but they knew he had that side to him but never thought they would see it. John and Ronon were just staring at Rodney who was so stiff, he didn't feel comfortable with being hugged but realised that Teyla had said something nice, so he quickly put his arms around her to return the hug, it was a split second then he dropped his arms.
"You're welcome. He's a great kid, must take after his mother."
Teyla smiled then went to stand in front of Ronon and hugged and kissed him on the cheek as well.
"Thank you so much for caring about my son. You are also a true friend and brother."
"Yeah, what Mckay said." said Ronon gruffly. He wasn't one for emotions so he lightly punched her on the arm. Teyla understood the sentiment and smiled at Ronon.
"So what film are we going to watch?" Teyla asked as she settled on John's bed to watch the films.
John was staring at Teyla as if she lost her mind. Where was his kiss he thought. He watched her when she walked passed him to relax on his bed without even looking at him. Rodney and Ronon couldn't believe what had just happened. All three were looking at Teyla, Rodney and Ronon with massive grins on their faces they couldn't believe that she completely ignored Shepard, John with utter disbelief he caught the looks that were on Rodney's and Ronon's faces.
"Is something wrong John?" asked Teyla in that innocent voice of hers.
Hearing the question made him snap out of it.
"Er no, no. Everything is fine." John said as he settled on his bed on the other side of Teyla with TJ in between them. Rodney set up the film and they all got comfortable.
"I mean it's strange how certain people get preferential treatment and another gets ignored." muttered John underneath his breath.
"Did you say something John? I thought I heard something." asked Teyla innocently.
She heard exactly what he said and couldn't keep the smile off of her face.
"No, nothing."
Ronon and Rodney just chuckled and they couldn't stop. They also heard the exchange between the two and couldn't keep a straight face. It became so bad that Rodney couldn't even eat and Ronon choked on his drink. John just threw a bag of chips at each of them, hitting them in their heads.
"Some of us are trying to watch a film. Do you mind?" John said irritably.
"No, not at all." Guffawed Rodney
TJ was starting to fuss and he turned towards John. John carefully picked him up and placed him on his chest where he settled into a deep sleep.
"At least one Emmagen has some taste." said John sarcastically as he kissed TJ's head.
This was heard by the other three. The boys kept on sniggering, so much so that John just raised the volume to make a point. A quick glance at Teyla saw that she was concentrating on the film and pretending not to have heard John. The boys settled down to concentrate on the film eventually so John decreased the volume so TJ wouldn't wake up. They stayed like that for a few films. By the end of the last film John and Teyla were leaning against each other fast asleep with TJ still in John's arms. Ronon and Rodney looked at each other and nodded. Rodney switched the film off and put everything where it should be. Ronon got a blanket and placed it on top of the 'family'. They fell asleep on top of the bed covers there was no way to get them without waking them. Before they left Ronon took a picture with the camera John got him one birthday. It was his pride and joy. They both made their way carefully out of the room and to their own quarters.
At some point during the night Teyla turned more towards John, she was on her side, her head on John's shoulder and one of her arms across her son who was on top of John's chest. She was flush against John. She didn't know what woke her but when she opened her eyes she was looking directly into John's who seemed to be wide awake.
"Morning." He mumbled.
"Morning." Teyla replied as she stretched, John closed his eyes as she did this. There was only so much a guy can take.
Later that day
"You seem to be distracted today John. Is everything alright?" Teyla asked as they finished there sparring session.
They both went to get their towels to wipe the sweat off.
"John?"
"Er actually, I was just wondering what happened last night?"
"To what are you referring?" Teyla knew exactly but she wanted him to admit it.
"Well, the things you said to.. the things you said to both Ronon and Rodney."
"What about it? Did you want me to say the same things to you?" They were now facing each other.
"You do know that I love TJ as if he were my own. I love that kid. Ronon I can understand but Rodney? RODNEY?"
"Of course I do. It is apparent for everyone to see how you feel about Torren John and he loves you also."
"Er I think you've forgotten a couple of things."
"Like what John?"
"You said a couple more things to the others and did something."
"I did? I do not remember. You may need to refresh my mind."
"Well you said something about 'being a true friend…'" John left it at that, hoping that would trigger the rest.
"You are correct, you are a true friend."
"That's it?" John asked incredulously.
"What else was there?"
"You said you thought of the others as brothers…"
"That is correct. Then I kissed each of them on the cheek. Do you wish me to think of you in the same way?
"Well, yes, YES. We're close." John was struggling to keep calm and kept on running his hands through his hair which made it more wild than usual.
"I cannot do that I am afraid as I do not think of you that way."
John's jaw just dropped. Teyla managed to keep a straight face but it was very hard.
After a minute, John recovered.
"Oh, oh er sorry, I thought, I thought… it doesn't matter what I thought. Sorry." John quickly went to grab his stuff.
"John, would you like me to kiss you?"
"Nah, its ok." John said on his way to the door.
"John, please wait. You are correct, I did kiss both Ronon and Rodney, I should kiss you as well. Please let me rectify my mistake?"
"Teyla its fine, don't worry about it."
"John, please?"
Teyla managed to get in front of the door before he could leave.
"Just close your eyes and I will kiss you and you can leave."
She was in her stubborn mood thought John, if he didn't do it she wouldn't let him leave and he really didn't want to be in the same room as her at the moment. So he stood there with his eyes closed and dropped his bag waiting for the peck on his cheek. Why didn't he keep his mouth shut thought John. This was happening because he was jealous of Rodney, RODNEY of all people.
He was waiting for the peck but it didn't happen, he knew she was there he could smell her then he felt her lips on his and her hand was on his cheek. The kiss was soft and sweet. When she realised that John was not responding she quickly stopped the kiss, stepped back and walked to her bag. She had only managed a few steps when an arm came around her waist and John pulled her to him. He rested his chin on her head. He felt Teyla stiffen so he put his other arm around her as well. He was under no illusion, if she wanted to she could get out of his grasp easily, he only hoped it would be after a much needed talk.
"Am I right in assuming you don't think of me as a brother?"
Teyla nodded her head, she couldn't speak she was so embarrassed. A tear managed to escape and fell onto John's hand. He felt the tear and was trying to figure how to tell her how he felt.
"So that's why you didn't say anything to me last night and why you didn't kiss me?"
Again Teyla nodded. John turned her around but she had her head down. He lifted her chin but she still refused to meet his eyes.
"Well just to let you know, I DEFINETELY do not think of you as a sister." said John in a suggestive tone.
Teyla heard the tone and saw the smirk then looked into his eyes and saw what she wanted.
"Let's try this again, then neither of us will be shocked." suggested John as he wiped away the tears that had fallen, he then bent down to capture Teyla's lips in the sweetest kiss that either of them had ever had.
When they parted both had grins on their faces.
"I told you I do not think of you in the same way as Rodney and Ronon. You are not a brother to me. You are more. I am hoping you feel the same. I wanted our kiss to be private, especially if you didn't feel the same way."
"I've felt the same way since the day we met."
"Me too." replied Teyla.
They smiled at each other and moved towards each other again and tried to catch up on so many years of kissing.
Back to the present
"Uncle John can I spend the day with Uncle Ronon please?"
"I don't know he may be busy."
"Can you ask?"
"Ok, just a sec. Ronon, come in, Ronon have you got some spare time today to spend with TJ?"
"Yeah I can spend a couple of hours with him from now if you want?"
"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks. I'll bring him now."
Before he could even tell TJ to go and get his bag he was back with his favourite cap and a bag full of toys, colouring pens and paper all ready to go. John took his hand and they made their way to the gym. As soon as TJ saw his Uncle Ronon he ran up to him to hug him. Ronon picked him up and swung him around. If was as if they hadn't seen each other for years when it was only hours, the night before actually remembered John.
"Ok bye TJ. I'll see you for lunch."
"Bye, bye" TJ said with a wave in John's direction. John was waiting for him to come and hug him TJ was a tactile child and loved to hug everyone. It became apparent that he was going to do this. Ronon looked at John who just shrugged. Both he and Teyla couldn't figure out why TJ was acting weird.
As soon as John left, Torren turned to his Uncle and said
"Uncle Ronon I really need your help and Uncle Rodney's." Torren then burst into tears.
Ronon took him straight to Rodney's lab. Torren still hadn't managed to stop crying.
"Hey what's up? Why is he crying? Should we get John or Teyla?"
"No!" yelled Torren.
"Only you two can help me. I really really really need your help. Uncle Rodney you're the smartest person I know and Uncle Ronon you're the strongest. Please, please help me?"
"Torren, what do you need help with?" asked Rodney as he looked towards Ronon who just shrugged his shoulders.
"You both have to promise that you won't tell mamma or Uncle John. Do you?"
"We can't promise that until we know what you need help with, they may need to know." replied Ronon.
"It's about them. Pleeeeeeeeease?" begged Torren.
The men looked at each other and nodded.
"Ok."
"Ok.
"Uncle Rodney you're always honest with me aren't you?"
"Of course." Said Rodney slightly affronted as if he wouldn't be.
Torren was sitting on the bench in front of his uncles. He carried on looking at Rodney as if he was debating to carry on or not. He placed his small hands on his uncle's cheeks to look him in the eye.
"Is Santa real Uncle Rodney?"
Ronon knew as well as Rodney that if Torren found out Santa wasn't real because someone (i.e. Rodney) told him so then John would kill him. John had made Rodney promise not to shatter the child's innocence about Santa, the Easter bunny, the Tooth Fairy and any other childhood traditions. Rodney had always told Torren the truth. How could he break the child's heart, Christmas was his favourite holiday. It felt like hours but eventually Rodney answered
"If you believe in him then he is real."
With that Torren let out the breath he was holding. He thought for a moment that his smartest uncle would tell him that it was all a lie.
"So he is real and he has so many little helpers to help with all the presents? I know what I want for Christmas but I can't tell mamma or Uncle John as it's about them as well. I need to write a letter to Santa to let him know what I want but I'll need your help. Can you make sure the letter gets to him?"
Ronon looked at Rodney who looked at him with the same panicked looked on their faces. Oh crap they both thought.
"We need to write the letter straight away, we don't have a lot of time left. It's nearly Christmas! I have some paper and pens in my bag." Torren took his bag from his back and then found what he was looking for inside.
"Ok Torren, tell us what you want Santa to get you for Christmas." said Ronon.
"I only want three things and nothing else and if they all come true I'll be a really really good boy for the rest of my life. I'll go to bed when I'm supposed to, I'll eat all my vegetables and I'll even medimate with mamma. Santa is magic and anything you ask for has to come true. I know his helpers will help to make it happen but Santa says yes or no first doesn't he?"
"You mean meditate."
"That's what I said Uncle Rodney, medimate."
"Er er er, I guess so." said Rodney
"Cool. Ok, so here's what I want. I want a daddy, I want to get married and I want to be a big brother."
Torren smiled at his uncles who just looked so shocked. Crap, crap and more crap they both thought.
"You may need to explain why you want these specific things so we can make Santa understand."
"Well, I don't want Uncle John to be my uncle any more I want him to be my daddy. I love him so much."
"Why don't you just call him daddy?" Ronon asked
"What if he doesn't want me to call him daddy? Supposing he doesn't want me as his son? If Santa makes it a Christmas present then he can't say no because he can't return the present."
"Torren, you know Uncle John loves you? You are his son." Said Rodney
"He's never told me to call him daddy." Whispered Torren
"Ok, why do you want to get married? Aren't you a little young?" asked Ronon
Torren giggled.
"Silly, I'm not getting married, we all are?"
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Mamma, Uncle John and me, so we can be one big happy family. In all the films they get married at the end and live happily ever after. It's in the books as well and books never lie. You've read me those stories as well, both of you have. I know we have to get a ring, let Santa know that I have a lot of money for the ring so he doesn't have to worry about the cost. There isn't enough time for him to make a special one, so he will have to buy it but I'll pay for it."
"Right, what about the big brother thing?"
"Well I see how you two and Uncle John are together and I just think it would be nice if I had brothers like you. I mean I don't mind a sister, she'll probably be ok. Can you write the letter now?"
"Yeah, ok."
Rodney began to write the letter. Once he had finished he got Torren to sign his name. Torren addressed the envelope. He then proceeded to decorate the letter as it had to be colourful. Torren did the same to the envelope. Once the letter was inside the envelope Torren insisted on using as much glue and sticky tape as possible so the letter wouldn't fall out. Both Rodney and Ronon promised that Santa would get his letter. Rodney had just put the letter away when John walked in.
"Ready for lunch?"
"Yes." squealed TJ
"I'm not hungry."
"Neither am I."
John had never known both of them to turn down a meal.
"Are you two feeling ok?"
He received two nods.
"Ok, just you and me buddy. Say bye to your uncles."
"Bye bye."
He ran up to each of them and hugged them as tight as he could. They each bent down and when Torren had his arms around them to return the hug then he whispered
"Thank you so much for your help, you're the best. This will be the best Christmas EVER! Love you." He also kissed each of them on the cheek.
John saw this but couldn't hear what was being said. After TJ finished saying his byes they left to go have lunch.
"We are so screwed." said Rodney when they had left.
"I'm pretty sure that's an understatement." replied Ronan.
"We're clever people, we can figure this out. How are we going to make his 'gifts' come true?" said Rodney
"Well, I'm pretty sure we can't do anything about the third one. Maybe if we make the other two happen he will forget about the last one?" said Ronon
"We have a few weeks to figure all this out and we have to figure this out, if not come Christmas morning we are going to have a distraught five year old, an angry mother and fuming father and that's if we're lucky and I'm betting that we won't be." Rodney said
A week later…
"Torren we need to have a talk."
"Uncle Rodney did you send the letter to Santa. Did he receive it yet?"
Torren was with Rodney and Ronon. Ronon went to pick him up as early as possible as he and Rodney had to sort out the 'Christmas wishes'. John was supposed to spend the day with TJ but while he was getting ready Ronon arrived. TJ was given the choice and chose Uncle Ronon instead of Uncle John much to John's surprise. TJ ran to hug John before he left with Ronon. John stood there for a few minutes before he moved. He thought something weird was going, TJ had never 'dumped' him for anyone before, he loved spending time with John. Even a couple of days ago when John brought up the subject of his letter to Santa he couldn't believe the child's response.
"I've already sent the letter to Santa, Uncle Rodney and Uncle Ronon helped me. I don't want a lot this year just three things but they're very important."
John and Teyla looked at each other wondering what three things, could Torren want.
"Mamma, Uncle Rodney doesn't lie does he?"
"No of course not. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I asked him if Santa was real and he said yes."
"What else did you ask Uncle Rodney?" John asked the boy
"I asked him and Uncle Ronon to help with my letter to Santa. Uncle Rodney's the smartest man and he'll know where to send the letter to. Uncle Ronon is the strongest and he'll make sure the letter gets there."
"Torren, why did you not let us help you with the letter?" Teyla asked
"I want them to come true and if I tell you they may not."
Back in the lab…
"Torren we need to talk." Said Rodney
"Has Santa got the letter yet?"
"Yes he's received it but because it's so close to Christmas it will be difficult to make your wishes come true." Rodney tried to explain.
Ronon and Rodney agreed that there was no way they could try and make wish two and three come true so they had decided to try and convince Torren that getting a 'daddy' would be enough. Torren started to tear up and was being brave and trying not to let the tears fall.
"But I thought that Santa was magic and that he could do anything?"
"He is but there are just some things that even he can't do." Ronon tried to help.
"I've been a good boy, only one thing was for me the others are for mamma and Uncle John. I've promised to eat all my vegetables. It's not fair. How can he be magic if he can't do three wishes?"
Torren couldn't stop crying now. No matter what Rodney or Ronon said. They tried to comfort him but nothing was working. They had to call John. He arrived five minutes later.
"Hey buddy, what's the matter?" said John as he went to TJ who was in Ronon's arms.
As soon as TJ realised that John was there he wanted to jump into his arms and reached out and stretched his arms. John grabbed him. TJ buried his face in John's neck and carried on sobbing. Even John couldn't console him. John took him back to their quarters before he left he gave both Rodney and Ronon a look to say he will be back later and he wanted answers. After sitting with TJ for ten minutes on the sofa, just rocking him, and kissing his head seemed to calm him down. Eventually he stopped crying.
"Do you want to tell me what made you upset?"
TJ just shook his head.
"Are you sure?"
TJ nodded his head and hugged John tighter.
"Do you want something to eat? What about ice cream?"
TJ could never say no to ice cream.
"No thank you." He replied in a subdued voice. "Can I go to my room?"
"Yeah sure."
John watched TJ go to his room, shoulders slumped. He watched as TJ went and got his favourite soft toy when he was feeling really bad and just sat in front of the window looking out.
By the time Teyla arrived TJ had been sitting in front of the window for a few hours. He didn't want to watch a movie, play a game or even go flying in a puddle jumper. John tried different things but TJ would just shake his head no and carried on sitting in front of the window. John told Teyla what had happened, even she couldn't get anything out of Torren about what made him upset. John decided to go and see his team mates after dinner to see if he could shed some light on what was bothering TJ.
"Torren is there something wrong with your dinner?"
"No mamma, I'm just not that hungry."
Teyla and John watched Torren play with his food, this was not his usual behaviour. Sometimes it was a competition between TJ and Rodney who could eat the fastest. It was weird that even though TJ was Teyla's and Kannan's son, he had the traits of the team and nothing of his biological father, maybe it was because Kannan was out of the picture and the four of them spent a lot of time together and the male members of the team were the first babysitters Teyla asked, much to the disappointment of the other members of the expedition. John went to the mess after dinner to find his team mates. He found them deep in conversation and their food left to one side. So that makes three people who didn't have an appetite, three people who usually loved their food.
"So you guys want to tell me what happened earlier today? Why my son was so upset he sat in front of his window just looking out hugging Scooby? Why he played with his dinner and didn't take one mouthful?"
John made both of the men jump as they hadn't seen him come in, they were too engrossed in their talk. However they did see his pointed look at their uneaten plates.
"Did you just call Torren your son?" asked Rodney
"Yeah and don't try and change the subject. You know he's my son, just because he's not mine biologically that doesn't mean a thing. As far as I'm concerned he's mine and I'll do anything for him and I mean ANYTHING!"
"But why does he still call you Uncle John?" asked Rodney
"What does it matter what he calls me? It's just a name, a title. So you think Kannan deserves the name 'dad' even though he's hardly been around? Let me tell you something I love that boy as if he were my own and I know it's crazy but sometimes when I look at him I see myself, maybe it's a smile, a look in his eye or when he does his puppy dog eyes. I couldn't love him any more if he were my own. Teyla and I thought it would be best if we let TJ decide what he wants to call me, at the moment he's happy with Uncle John, if it changes it changes, if it doesn't it doesn't. So now you two are going to explain to me what happened and if you think it's difficult to tell me you may want to think about who you would want to tell, me or Teyla. Rodney and Ronon looked at each other, Ronon sighed and started the story without going into details about the wishes.
"Torren wanted help with his Christmas presents. We helped him write the letter but his wishes were a little 'different'. He wouldn't tell us until we promised to help him. We promised, thinking that it would be some sort of toy, boy were we wrong! Anyway, we told him earlier that Santa couldn't help, that's when he started to cry and then we called you."
"Why didn't you come to me? I would have helped you with his presents."
"It's not the sort of thing you could help with." Replied Rodney
Hearing the tone
"What exactly did he ask for?"
"We can't tell you Shepard. But let me tell you, if we could fix it for him we would. He asked for three things and really only one of them was for him. He promised that he would eat all his vegetables if the wishes came true and he'd go to bed when he was supposed to."
For the first time that day John realised that his two 'brothers' were also a little distracted. They were hurting because they couldn't help Torren. He knew they loved him just as much as he did.
"Hey don't worry, you tried your best. He'll be back to his usual self tomorrow. Are you sure there is nothing that I can do to help?"
They both shook their heads.
"Thanks for trying to help him."
John went back to his quarters and explained everything to Teyla, she too was concerned and wondered what their son could have wished for.
The next morning they all met up for breakfast. TJ was still carrying Scooby, he slept with Scooby the night before. He sat between John and Teyla, Rodney and Ronon were sitting opposite. They all discreetly watched Torren play with his food, again he didn't seem to be hungry.
"Uncle John, can I spend the day with you?"
"Yeah, that's fine but it's going to be a boring day, I have a lot of paper work to do."
"That's fine."
"Hey Torren, are you looking forward to Christmas? Santa will be coming soon. Have you been a good boy?" asked Woosley.
"Santa's not real."
Everyone gasped, they couldn't believe what Torren had just said.
"Of course he's real, who told you he wasn't?" replied Woolsey as he looked to Rodney.
"If he's real why can't he get me my Christmas presents? Santa is for babies. Uncle John can we go now?"
"Er sure." John got up as did TJ they held hands as they made their way to his office, leaving everyone at the table looking at them as they left.
Once they were in the office TJ just sat in front of the window and stared out of it. He stayed like this for a few hours. Ronon came to pick him up and take him to the gym, where he did the same thing, just stared out of the window. Teyla went to pick him up. That evening he only managed a couple of bites of his dinner. The three of them sat down to watch one of TJ's favourite films. TJ was sitting on John's lap where he fell asleep soon after the start of the film. John felt something wet on his t-shirt, when he looked down he saw that TJ was crying in his sleep. John nudge Teyla so she could look and the looked that the two shared was one of grave concern, Torren was such a happy child but now he was so depressed, not eating, crying and sitting and staring out of the window for hours on end.
They decided to have him sleep with them that night. He slept well and started crying again during the night but stopped after ten minutes. They asked Jennifer to look after Torren that morning. They were going to speak Rodney and Ronon again. Once Jennifer arrived they left to go to Rodney's lab.
"Hey guys, we need to do something about TJ. He was crying in his sleep last night, this morning he hardly even ate anything. He's too quiet. Just tell us what he wants for Christmas." demanded John.
"Please Rodney and Ronon we need to get him to be his happy self again. It is breaking my heart to see him like this. He needs to believe in Santa. Can you not help in any way?" Teyla begged.
"The things he's asked for are unconventional." started Rodney "Supposing you don't like the presents?"
"Let us deal with that, can you make his gifts come true?" John asked
Rodney looked at Ronon, they had actually tried to come up with ways to make Torren's Christmas wishes come true but they came up with nothing. Then Rodney started clicking his fingers. He looked to Ronon
"What about if we got the thing for the second one then technically 'Santa' would have fulfilled that wish and I have an idea about the first one, Shepard gave me the idea yesterday at dinner?"
Ronon looked thoughtful
"Yeah, that may work."
"Er, ok so that's great but you have to make him believe in Santa before Christmas, I don't think that we can see him like this anymore and there is still a week until the big day." Said John
"Leave that to us, we'll think of something but whatever we do you can't say anything." Rodney said as he looked to both Teyla and John.
Teyla looked at John and they both nodded. The day was the same as yesterday, Torren spent some time with each of the four of them and just sat in front of the window staring at the sea. Again, he did not eat much at lunch or dinner. He sat in John's lap that evening and fell asleep. They kept him with them that night as well.
"Torren, Torren wake up." Ronon whispered
Torren woke up to see his Uncle Ronon standing above him. His Uncle John's arm was around him so he wouldn't fall out of the bed.
"Uncle Ronon? What are you doing here?"
"You need to get up quick. Uncle Rodney's got an email. He said we have to get there as soon as possible."
"Why?"
"It's from Santa."
"Santa's not real."
"Well who sent Uncle Rodney the email then? Come on, get up. Go brush your teeth, you can have your shower later."
"Mamma says I have to shower in the morning."
"Not today, she'll understand on Christmas day. Come on, hurry up. Make sure you don't wake up your mamma or Uncle John."
Torren slowly moved his Uncle's arm and got out of bed.
"You need to put the toothpaste on the tooth brush for me. I'll get my clothes."
Ronon went to the bathroom to help him. Five minutes later, Torren was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and sneakers and took Ronon's hand.
"Did you leave a note for mamma and Uncle John?"
"They can get me on the coms."
"Uh – huh." Torren stopped, which meant Ronan stopped, "They'll be mad if we don't leave a note. Then we'll get grounded."
"Why will I be grounded?"
"Because I will tell them that you didn't want to leave a note."
"Fine, fine where are the paper and pen?"
Once the note was written and placed somewhere they would find it they left hand in hand. Ronon would never take Torren without letting Teyla or John know but he couldn't exactly tell Torren that his parents were actually awake and pretending to sleep so they heard every word. He didn't have a chance to tell them of the plan before hand, as soon as he stepped into their bedroom he saw both Teyla and John were awake as they heard the noise. As soon as they saw him they relaxed he put a finger to his lips to tell them to be quiet. They closed their eyes again in case Torren looked over. They heard every word and found it hard not to chuckle especially when Torren told Ronon that he would be grounded if he didn't leave a note for them.
"Do you think their plan will work?" Teyla asked John
"I hope so."
They got up as soon as the two left.
"What took you two so long?" demanded Rodney
"We had to leave a note so Teyla would know where Torren is."
"Well you're here now. Did Uncle Ronon tell you I got an email from Santa?"
Torren nodded his head.
"Well do you want to read it?"
"I can't read big words Uncle Rodney?"
"That's ok, we'll read it to you."
Rodney opened the email.
"Dear Torren John,
I am sorry that I thought I couldn't make your Christmas wishes come true. Your Uncles Rodney and Ronon with some other people on Atlantis have all written me letters to let me know that you are a well behaved boy and that I should grant you your wishes. Also the fact that the wishes are not for you made me rethink my earlier decision. So I have decided to grant two of your wishes, the first two. Now I am going to need your help and that of your uncles. You three are going to be honorary members of 'Santa's helpers.' I have sent your Uncle Rodney membership cards so you know who is part of Santa's helpers. Only trust the people with these cards. There are always people pretending to be part of Santa's helpers to learn all of my secrets. I will need your help to make your wishes come true as we have left it a bit late. I need all the money you have so I can get you the best ring possible. Thank you for believing in me. Your uncles will explain to you how you can help.
Love Santa.
Torren looked at his uncles with a look of awe. He couldn't believe that he received an email from Santa. Rodney then pulled out the 'membership cards'. Torren held his as if it was made of gold. It was red and green and had his picture on it as well as his name, age and where he lived. He looked at Uncle Rodney's and Ronan's and their cards were the same but with their photo and information on it.
"Now Torren, you need to keep your card safe and don't let anyone see it. Not your mum or Uncle John. It has to be a secret. Do you understand?"
Torren just nodded. He couldn't believe it he was Santa's little helper. He was going to help Santa so his Christmas wishes would come true.
"Now Torren, you won't be able to help Santa if you don't eat properly. The last couple of days we've noticed that you haven't been hungry so you need to eat to keep your strength up. Do you understand?"
"Yes Uncle Rodney."
"Hey TJ you want to have breakfast?" John asked as he and Teyla walked into the lab.
TJ had his back to them so they didn't see his eyes go wide. He quickly hid the card in his pocket and turned to his mum and Uncle John.
"Yeah."
He quickly walked to them. He saw Uncle Rodney close the email.
"Uncle Rodney, Uncle Ronon aren't you coming?"
The five made their way to the mess. The adults covertly kept their eye on Torren to see if he would eat a proper breakfast and to their relief he did, in fact he wanted more. He seemed to be back to his usual self.
A couple of days later John saw TJ putting his money box into his backpack.
"TJ, where are you going with your money box?"
"Er, er, I, I, I owe Uncle Ronon some money. I made a bet that I could beat him sparring and I lost."
"You bet your Uncle Ronan that you could beat him?"
"Yes."
TJ was refusing to look at John. John knew the boy was lying and he hoped that Ronon and Rodney knew what they were doing. TJ better get his money box back at some point John thought.
Christmas Day
The tradition was that all five would have breakfast in the Emmagen/ Shepard quarters then it will be the present opening portion of the day. It had been that way since TJ's first Christmas. Everyone was in the quarters by seven o'clock seeing as it was one of the days where Torren could wake them up early, the other was his birthday, Rodney and Ronon hated missing Torren open his presents so they made sure they were there as well, in fact the spent the night there as it would be easier than going back to their quarters. They had a good breakfast. Torren seemed to be playing with his food again and not eating much.
"Ok. Present time. Come on." John said making his way to the living room area with the comfy couches and decorated tree.
Ronon gave Torren a present to give to John. John and Teyla had bought a cup of coffee and tea respectively with them and were drinking. TJ made his way to John a little hesitantly and held out the present for him.
"Hey is this for me?" TJ nodded. "Don't you want to open your presents first TJ?"
TJ shook his head.
"This is my present." He looked to his Uncle Rodney and Ronon and they both nodded. He turned back to John. John placed his mug on the table and started to open the present. It was something that was framed, maybe a photo thought John or a picture that TJ drew. When he managed to remove all the wrapping paper and look at his gift, he was shocked, speechless. He looked at TJ
"This is what you asked Santa for?" asked John
TJ nodded.
"Come here."
TJ stepped forward slowly he didn't know if Uncle John liked it or not. As soon as he was close enough, John grabbed TJ into the tightest hug he could without hurting the boy.
"This is the best Christmas present ever. Son."
John leaned back and kissed TJ on the forehead. TJ had the biggest grin on his face, Uncle John, no daddy, liked the present. He looked to his dad and saw tears in his eyes and he was about to ask a question when his dad said
"Happy tears."
John let a couple fall. TJ wiped them away with his small hands. John had a matching grin on his face.
"Daddy!"
TJ leaned forward gave John a kiss on the cheek and hugged him. John hugged him back then they just looked at each other and couldn't stop smiling. John picked up the framed certificate that 'officially' changed his name from 'Uncle John' to 'Daddy' and gave it to Teyla to have a look. John looked to Ronon and Rodney and couldn't put into words what he was feeling at that precise moment and just gave each of them a nod and they responded in kind.
"Santa's really real. I asked for a daddy for Christmas and he gave me one and not any one but the best one!" TJ said
Teyla had tears in her eyes. It was a certificate that Rodney had designed to make her son's wish come true and it seems John's as well. They were father and son but this paper made it 'official' at least in Torren's eyes. As far as she was concerned it was official in her heart. Those two loved each other unconditionally. Teyla leaned over to kiss her son for the wonderful gift that he gave to his dad.
"Mamma, there's a present for you too."
Torren rushed off to grab the gift for his mamma. He rushed back to give the small brightly coloured box to his mamma. Teyla took it from him and kissed him to say thank you, he just giggled. She started to open the present, John was taking another sip of his coffee, Teyla opened the small box to reveal the most gaudy, tacky, garish ring ever. It was a bright purple piece of chunky plastic and it looked like something you would get at the bottom of a cereal packet. It took both Rodney and Ronon ages, and some bribery, to find a member of the expedition with a ring like that who was willing to give it up.
"Oh Torren, it is most beautiful and it is my favourite colour." Teyla said.
"You really like it mamma?"
"I love everything you give me."
"Good. Now we can get married and live happily ever after." Torren declared.
John choked on his coffee. The others just sat there in silence. Torren seemed to be completely oblivious to the atmosphere in the room.
"Torren what do you mean?" Teyla asked into the silence.
"Well, you need a ring to get married so we can live happily ever after. I wanted a proper family, a mamma and a daddy." The last he said looking at John who was still recovering from choking.
"Er TJ?" John said waiting for TJ to look at him.
"Yes daddy?"
"Er there may be a problem."
"What problem?" Torren said as his bottom lip started to wobble "Don't you want to get married and be a family?" Tears had started to form in his eyes.
"TJ, I want all of those things. The problem is with the ring." John said as he was ignoring everyone including Teyla.
"But it's mamma favourite colour, purple! Mamma loves it. Don't you mamma?"
"Yes of course Torren."
"TJ, the problem is I've already got a ring."
"Really?" TJ said with wide eyes.
John nodded.
"If you go into our bedroom, to the dresser and it's in the bottom drawer on the right. Can you get it for me?"
TJ hesitated until John touched his right hand so he would know which side was right. TJ found it difficult to tell his right from his left but Uncle John, daddy, never made fun of him, he always helped him. TJ rushed off to get the ring, he was back in less than a minute. He gave the box to his daddy. John took it and opened it and got down on one knee in front of Teyla.
"I had planned to do this later tonight but plans change." John said wryly "Teyla Emmagen, you have made me the happiest man alive. I have you and our son. Every day with you two is the best day of my life. I have loved you since the day I met you. I've also loved Torren since the day he was born. The past five years have been amazing and I should have done this at least four years ago, better late than never. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
Teyla sat there for what seemed like hours but was in fact seconds. Tears were falling and she had a massive smile on her face.
"Of course I will." Teyla leaned towards John and they kissed.
He stood up with Teyla, hugged her and swung her around. They were both laughing.
"Mamma, you need to wear the ring daddy bought. It's more pretty and very shiny."
John placed the ring on Teyla's finger and kissed it.
TJ went to jump on Ronon, he hugged him said thank you for helping to make his wishes come true, he then got up and did the same to Rodney. John and Teyla were snuggling up to each other on the sofa.
"TJ don't you want to open your presents?"
"Daddy, Santa gave me my two presents already, I'm happy."
Ignoring the statement, John got up and handed his son a present. TJ opened it and found it was his money box and it seemed to still have his money in it. He looked to Rodney and Ronon and they told him they received an email from Santa saying that he was proud of the fact that TJ was willing to pay for the ring so decided to return the money box with an extra special gift. Ronon handed TJ another box and once he had unwrapped it, he found a Batman money box inside. TJ couldn't speak, he held it up to John.
"Daddy, look."
"Wow, TJ that's cool. You have got to make sure you take care of it and that you don't break it. Santa must think you're really special to get that."
John knew for a fact that a certain Scientist, not that far away, had his heart set on the money box but somehow it found its way to TJ. John looked at his buddies again and they just blushed. He was really lucky he thought to have a family like this. They spent the better part of three hours opening the rest of the presents and admiring everything everyone received from Santa.
"Torren, did you really only ask for two things?"
"No mamma, I asked for three things but he said that he wouldn't be able to help with the last one." Torren said as he still sat on Rodney's knee.
Both John and Teyla realised that Ronon and Rodney looked uncomfortable and were avoiding their eyes.
"TJ what was your third Christmas wish?"
"I wanted to be a big brother daddy." TJ said matter-of-factly.
John looked at Teyla to see if she was as shocked by this and she was but it seemed for a different reason.
"Teyla?" John asked
"I was also going to tell you later. It seems as if Torren will have his third wish granted in about seven months' time. Jennifer confirmed it yesterday and I wanted to tell you in private."
"Huh? What? Huh?" said John.
"Did we hear correctly? You're going to become parents in seven months' time?"
Teyla was crying again and smiling and nodding her head all at once. Rodney and Ronon looked at each other, then at Torren.
"So all of his Christmas wishes came true? Maybe Santa is real." Whispered Ronon
Rodney was about to scoff when he looked at Torren who went to sit with his mamma and daddy. Could Santa be real thought Rodney?
The End