She always started the story the same way, talking about the Dead Poet. The Dead Poet was their favorite bar. It was close to campus and it was usually free of the normal male idiots that prowled Amsterdam Avenue. For her, it was the books that lined the wall. Any place that had this many books seemed safe, comforting. She understood books. She hadn't actually been to many bars, but Laura had been oddly insistent that she come to this one. When she saw the menu and learned that the drinks were named after literary figures, she understood why. It became a regular thing for them to blow off steam on a Friday night. How could she ever guess her life would change in this bar?
That night, she was facing the door, but she didn't see them come in at first. She remarked later she didn't know how she missed them. Three guys in grey uniforms and one slick looking blond dude, all hot and buff. The one in the middle stared in her direction and she had shifted in her chair at the intensity. The movement caught Laura's attention and then of course, she had to see them for herself. Her blatant stare drew the blonde guy and before she knew it, their small table was surrounded by the males. Laura had engaged the blond guy, Evan it turned out, in flirtatious banter. Teyla was asking the brunette named John about his uniform. Even quiet Katie was smiling up at the skinny Rodney, her fingers tapping on her botany textbook. That left her and the starer in mute silence. She cleared her throat and he grinned wryly at her. He introduced himself and they began to talk.
It had been awkward at first. She was shy and he wasn't much of a conversationalist. She learned that he was in his third year at West Point and that he wanted to be a drill instructor eventually. She told him that she was in her last semester as pre-med at Columbia. He seemed suitably impressed, but then they fell silence, listening to their friends talk. Then Laura got up to order another drink at the bar and Evan trailed after her. John co-opted her chair and angled it closer to Teyla as they discussed the Giants' latest season. Katie and Rodney had drifted over to one of the bookcases, pointing at the various books they'd read.
She would make something up at this point of the story, like he asked her to dance or she went over to check out the songs and he followed her, but the truth was she couldn't remember how they ended up standing in front of the jukebox. They weren't comfortable talking about themselves, but, ah, they both loved music. She was a fan of more gritty female voices like Nikka Costa, Lara Fabian, and Alicia Keys. He'd been getting an education in heavy metal and rap since he started at West Point, but he confessed that he secretly liked country music, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood. She'd playfully slapped him on the arm at that and she could feel the warmth of his skin through the heavy gray wool. His hazel eyes dropped to her hand lingering on his arm and she knew she blushed a bit. She let her hand drop and they moved on from music to their friends.
She told him that the others were actually a few years older than she was. Laura had taken her under her wing when they became lab partners in Laura's senior year. Laura was in grad school, working on a mechanical engineering masters. Teyla was working an entry level job at City Hall. Katie was also in grad school, working on a masters in botany and genetics. He told her that John and Rodney had been in his unit and had given him a hand when they could. Evan was a friend of John's, an off duty cop who had joined the force right after high school graduation, thanks to 9/11.
That's when he told her he grew up in Iowa. Her eyes wide, she told him where she'd grown up in Wisconsin and it turned out their childhood homes were only three hours apart. She'd been about to ask if he was going home for Thanksgiving when Laura came over to inform her that she had to go to the bathroom. Shrugging, she drained the rest of her drink and told him that she'd be right back.
He'd take over at this point, telling how he watched her walk away, her hips swaying, her blonde ponytail brushing against her shoulders. He hadn't known that this was going to be the girl he would spend the rest of his life with, but he knew she was something special. While the girls trickled to the back of the narrow bar for the restroom, the guys huddled up. Rodney had been the first to speak, as always, informing them that he no longer had any desire to head to the Blue Donkey. He liked Katie. Evan and John exchanged looks before admitting that Laura was kinda hot and that Teyla was sorta cool. They had all looked at him and he just grinned. He knew what he felt. It was decided that after the girls finished talking about them, they'd suggest going for a walk to the Hudson river. It wasn't too far and the girls were dressed for a girls' night out, as opposed to a night of clubbing. It was a nice night, kinda warm for November.
He'd ordered another Monty Python Holy GrALE while they waited. It'd been a long time since he felt this interested in a girl. All the girls on campus were also soldiers and while many of them were perfectly nice, he just couldn't see them as girls. The school didn't really encourage fraternization, what with their million and one rules about hanging out with the opposite sex. It just wasn't worth the effort. As a result, he hadn't dated since his high girlfriend, Melena. In a different world, she might've been the One, but he knew that he was meant for a bigger purpose. He could think of no greater purpose than defending his country, but it was a very long time to ask Melena to wait. The break-up had been amicable enough, but the town was small enough that he didn't feel comfortable casually dating around during his summers home. He just concentrated on his goals for his future, but now that he was old enough to be allowed into bars and off campus, he wanted to take some chances. And this girl seemed worth the risk.
He would stop here and the same thing would always happen. She would lean against him and he'd wrap his arm around her shoulders, dropping a kiss on her forehead. He would go on telling the story, still holding her to him.
When the girls came back from the bathroom and before the boys had a chance to blink, Laura had taken control. Katie had an early morning class to teach and Rodney was instructed to walk her back to her place. Teyla and Laura wanted to go dancing. They were taking the subway down to the 13 Bar/Lounge and John & Evan were welcome to tag along. He had waited patiently for his instructions, noting the light blush on her face, but aside from a hard glare in his direction, Laura said nothing and began gathering up her things. The others followed suit. The guys all made sure they had their cell phones and their room key. If there was some discreet fist bumping, the girls pretended not to see.
Their friends all paired up and went their separate ways, leaving the two of them standing alone. It was more silence at first, the ease of before lost. Finally, he had chuckled. Perhaps they should start over, he had suggested. She'd giggled in response, and he remembered that it was the cutest sound he ever heard. I'm Ronon, he'd said. I'm Jennifer, she'd answered.
He would finish by saying that how's I met your mother. Sometimes the children would request more details, like what they did after that or what their first date was like, but their parents would smile and shake their heads. When they were older came the promise. Disappointed but not surprised, they would snuggle down in their beds and requested another story, this one about Atlantis.
She always started the story the same way. Once upon a time, there was a city in the middle of an ocean…