A/N: My thanks go out to ladygris for all her help with getting this sequel off the ground. The endless brainstorming sessions are always a big help.

FYI I've made Lorne's nephews a little older than they are in canon.

Gracias,

~Sandy

All Roads Lead Home

Chapter 1

The Most Important Thing

A Small Town in Northern California

Independence Day

Creeping slowly along the winding rural dirt road, being careful not to hit the wooden fence along the right side, Evan pulled up in front of the white single story house. The garden was a riot of color, flowers of all kinds vying for sun, water and your attention. Trees towering over the home provided abundant shade, their bright green leaves rustling in the light breeze. Behind the house stables could be seen. They'd been used for storage since Emily and Mike had bought the house when Riley was just two. Now, for the first time, it would be occupied as it was meant to be.

He turned off the engine and glanced affectionately at the woman asleep in the passenger seat. Shannon had reclined the seat and somehow managed to turn onto her side even with the seatbelt on. Shortly after she fell asleep he pulled into a roadside store where he bought a small travel pillow, being careful not to wake her as he slipped it under her head.

"Sha?" She didn't stir so he gave her a gentle shake. A small squeak came from her throat, but she didn't open her eyes. He unbuckled his seatbelt, turned to the side resting his right hand next to her back and using it to lower himself until his mouth was close to her ear. "We're here, love." Still no response. He didn't really blame her what with the sixteen hours plus time difference. For her it was the middle of the night instead of mid-morning. Well, he reasoned, desperate times call for desperate measures. If we don't come in soon, Em will be out with the troops and that's no way for Sha to meet her in-laws.

Prying the top off the cold drink he'd gotten from a fast food drive through, he scooped out a few chunks of ice, pulled the edge of her top away from her neck and tossed them down her back. As on other occasions where he dared to be…daring, the consequences were extreme. However, unlike those previous times, he was prepared to pay for his actions.

Sha screeched and tried to sit up but the seatbelt held her in place. "Evan Lorne! I'm going to…"

With a cheeky grin, he climbed out of the truck and circled around to the other side to tap on the window. "Now-now. You might want to watch your language. My sister has two very impressionable young boys."

He stepped back, a grin still dimpling his cheeks as she shoved the door open. Turning to the side she swung her legs out while shaking the back of her top to dislodge the ice cubes. That accomplished, she glared at him, one hand on the top edge of the door and the other on the jamb. "I will get you for that!"

"Mmm. Lookin' forward to it. But you have to catch me first!" Seeing her eyes narrow told him her justice would be exacting so he took steps to mitigate the effects. He took off running a split second before she launched herself out of the car and began chasing him. Letting her catch up, he circled the big tree in the front yard with Sha in hot pursuit. He faked changing directions making her do the same, both of them now laughing. When she got behind the tree, he turned and ran for the side yard, her lighter footsteps right behind him. Slowing down so she could catch up again, he spun around to grab her around the waist, but her momentum knocked them both to the ground with her on top.

The laughter finally tapered off and when she leaned down to kiss him he kissed her back.

~~O~~

From inside the house Emily watched her brother being chased by his fiancée. He'd sent a photo of the two of them in Australia though her hair was shorter now. Maybe while they were here, they'd tell the story of how they met and why the announcement of their engagement was so sudden. It still felt odd saying the word fiancée in reference to her brother. Shaking her head, Emily saw them fall to the ground and kiss. Never had she thought that this day would come. But she knew Shannon had to be The One because Evan had never brought a girl home with him before. And if she brought out his playful side, a side Emily hadn't seen in a while, then she was more than welcome in the Sullivan home. "Dale! Riley! Uncle Evan's here with a surprise!"

The sound of sneakered feet thundered down the hall and across the foyer, the screen door opening and closing with a slam. Emily shook her head with a grin and followed.

Outside, the boys were peering into the horse trailer attached to the dually. Shannon had released Botany from his restraints and he was watching the boys in return. Riley reached out to pet the horse and when it seemed safe, Dale did the same as they peppered Shannon with questions. Shaking her head, Emily knew her boys were as fascinated by her accent as with the answers.

She touched Evan on the arm. "I see you finally made it, Ev." Emily gathered her brother into a hug. "Missed you."

~~O~~

"You too, sis." Stepping out of Emily's embrace, Evan took Sha's hand, pulling her to his side. "Shannon, this is my sister, Emily Sullivan. Em, Shannon Coyle…my fiancée."

"She's Australian!" Dale interjected before Emily could say a word. The nine-year old was dancing with excitement. "Isn't that cool?"

"It's very cool." Turning back to Shannon, Emily extended her hand. "We know you're busy, Shannon, so thanks for coming."

Shannon took the proffered hand. "No worries. I wouldn't have missed meeting Evan's family for anything."

A dual yowl from the back seat of the dually reminded the engaged couple they'd forgotten two members of the family. Opening the back door, Evan passed a pet carrier to Dale and one to Riley.

"Cats?" the older boy asked, his lip curling. "What're their names?"

Nodding at each in turn, Evan answered the question with a grin. "Dale's got Flash-bang and Riley, you're holding Suzie Tsunami. Be nice to your cousins."

"Cousins?" the boys chorused.

"Yeah. They're going to be my step-children so that makes them your cousins. Botany too."

Slipping her arm around Evan's waist, Shannon gave Emily a sidelong glance. "Hope you don't mind."

"Of course not. There's plenty of room. And Botany will be living here now so the boys will have to get used to the additional responsibility."

They started toward the house, Shannon looking around in fascination. "You have a beautiful home."

"Thanks. It's not easy with two growing boys running around, but we manage."

Emily's SUV was parked in the driveway on the side, but his brother-in-law's Jag, a recent acquisition, was not. Evan huffed. "Please tell me Mike didn't have to work again this weekend."

The smile his sister had been wearing disappeared. "I not only have no idea, I don't care one way or the other."

Like his mother, brother and uncle, Riley's eyes turned dark blue with the change in emotion. "Dad moved out a few months ago."

"He what?" Evan was more than a little surprised.

Shannon glanced at Evan. He sounded incensed though his mask was in place. "I'm sorry."

A short bark of laughter came from Emily as she opened the screen door. "I'm not. He's living with his girlfriend. Now she can pick up his socks and yell at him to leave the seat down."

Not knowing what to say, Evan stayed quiet for the time being. Emily's last email had mentioned that they were having difficulties, but hadn't included specifics, and certainly not a separation from her husband of sixteen years.

"And before you ask, the divorce will be final soon. I get the kids, the house, the SUV and our stock portfolio. We bought Intel at six. That last was a condition of not contesting the divorce."

They followed Emily into the kitchen. The mood had become somber and Shannon leaned close to whisper in his ear. He nodded as he took the keys from his pocket.

"Dale, Riley. Would you bring in our bags and the cat supplies please?" Tossing the keys to Riley, Evan dropped that same arm around her shoulders as Shannon smiled at them.

"They're in the back seat."

The boys hurried to do as their new aunt asked.

"Thanks, guys." Evan called out waiting until the boys were out of earshot before speaking to his sister again. "You okay?

~~O~~

Emily shrugged as she went to the cabinet. She took down five glasses and Shannon rushed to help. Her soon-to-be sister-in-law carried a pitcher of iced tea to the table and sat down with a sigh. "It's been a big adjustment, you know? And it doesn't help that he never calls. I'm not worried so much about Riley, but he missed Dale's birthday. No call, no card, no email."

Shannon settled next to Evan at the table. "Anything we can do?"

"I'll be fine, and so will the boys eventually."

Crossing one leg over the other, Evan picked up his glass. "I can have a talk with him, if you like. Make him see the error of his ways."

"He should want to see the boys, but you can't force someone to be a father if he doesn't want to be."

Though his expression seemed calm, Shannon could tell that Evan was very upset with Mike. She was too and hadn't even met the man.

Shaking his head, Evan looked down at the table. "Won't lay a hand on him. Promise." He paused, Shannon watching the wheels turning. "I do know a guy who beats up Marines for fun. Neither of us has to be involved. I'll just have a word with the guy and he will talk to Mike."

"Which one is that, love?" She didn't miss the startled look on Emily's face at her use of the term of endearment and grinned inwardly. Probably never heard a woman call the career soldier by anything other than his given name or rank.

"Ronon."

"I don't want him hurt, Evan."

Shannon had recently met the big Satedan. At first he was intimidating, but that all changed when she got to know him a little better. "Best leave things be, love. Just the sight of Ronon might give Mike a heart attack."

Emily didn't respond to the last remark, just went to the pantry to get a package of cookies to munch on. "I, uh, should probably tell you that I've been seeing someone. It's nothing serious, just the occasional lunch, day out with the boys, a few art exhibits. We've never even held hands and I'm sure it's because I'm still married. At least in the eyes of the law."

"Who…"

"His name's John and I've invited him for Thanksgiving."

"But…"

Holding up her hand for silence, Emily continued. "I know what you're going to say. But I like this guy and don't want you to do anything to scare him off." Her lips turned up in smirk. "Though I don't think he's afraid of anything and he looks good on a surfboard. Just meet him before you decide you don't like him."

~~O~~

While dinner was cooking, Shannon and Emily stayed in the kitchen to talk and Evan went into the living room to play video games with the boys. Dale was wiggling his fingers through the slats in the cat carriers and laughing when the cats stuck their paws out trying to catch him.

Taking the opportunity that had been presented, Evan questioned Riley about the man his sister was seeing. "So, Riley, tell me about John. What's he like?"

The teenager shrugged. "He's a guy."

"That part I could've figured out. What else?"

Most of his attention on the game, Riley again shrugged. "Rides a bike. Takes us for rides when Mom lets him."

Evan huffed. "I meant what's his last name? What does he look like? What does he do for a living? Has he done jail time?"

Riley shrugged again. "He told us his last name, but I don't remember. Dunno 'bout jail, but he's kinda old, like you. Dresses in black most of the time. Plays guitar. Never talks about his job. Has this really weird hair. We were at the beach one day and some creep started botherin' a girl a little older than me, in college, I think. Thought he was gonna beat him up or something. He looked mean when he told the guy off."

"Not exactly helpful, Ry." Picturing his sister dating a Goth Biker with a heart of gold, Evan growled as his on-screen persona was eliminated by Riley's for the last time. The teen shouted in triumph rubbing it in. The game reset and he was "alive" once again.

"Mom asked us not to say anything, not after Dad, well, you know."

"Fine. Get me his name and I'll have him checked out." He'd meant it in jest, but Emily and Shannon had entered the room just as he said it. From the tone of her voice, she was not amused.

"Evan Gabriel Lorne!"

Beside him, Riley muttered "uh-oh" under his breath as he hit the pause. Tiptoeing around his uncle, mom and aunt, Riley picked up a carrier and slapped Dale on the shoulder motioning for him to bring the other one. For once their footsteps were quiet on the hardwood floor as they left the adults alone.

Facing Emily, Evan tried that self-deprecating smile that had gotten him lots of dates in high school. It had never worked on his mom or sister and didn't today.

"Tell me you are not checking up on me!" She picked up a pillow and hit him with it, following him around the room using pillow smacks to make her point. He almost did a Dick Van Dyke over the ottoman before finally standing his ground. "I don't care how high your contacts in the government go. I better not find out…"

Snatching the pillow from Emily's hand, he turned serious. "It was a joke, Em. I'd never invade your privacy that way."

~~O~~

A stifled snicker came from Shannon as she stood in the doorway waiting to see what would happen, identical pairs of blue eyes turned to give her a mild glare. "Sorry. It's just…I don't have a brother or sister so this is funny. Thought it was gonna end up in a pillow fight. Evan and I have had our share."

Turning to face Shannon, Emily's eyes glinted with amusement. "You and my brother…in a pillow fight? We used to do it all the time as kids, but he stopped after joining the Air Force, except with the boys."

Shannon glanced at Evan who just shrugged and grinned, and she returned it with a fond smile. "He's actually quite playful…for soldier." He gave his sister a sheepish grin. "Though I'm usually the one that starts it."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Like this." She took the pillow from Evan and hit him with it.

It startled him and he reached for the pillow on the easy chair behind him and smacked Shannon on the arm. Naturally she hit him back, but when he tried to hit her again, she ducked to the side. He missed, hitting Emily in the chest.

Emily went to the sofa, grabbed another pillow and before they knew it, the three adults were engaged in all out warfare of the pillow kind, laughing and chasing each other around the living room.

The two boys came back to the living room to see what the ruckus was, standing there watching and shaking their heads. With an eye-roll at each other they went back to their room to play with the cats.

A few minute later, their energy spent, Emily, Evan and Shannon collapsed onto the sofa, laughing at themselves until Shannon turned to Evan and said, "Your middle name is Gabriel?" causing the siblings to break into laughter once more.

~~O~~

Dinner time came around, vegetable noodle soup and salad, the boys peppering their uncle and his fiancée with questions on a variety of subjects. At the moment it was Evan's current posting.

"…So you still at that super-secret base, Uncle Evan? The one you can't tell us about?" Dale asked.

"I'm sort of at a new one, but it's still a big secret, buddy."

The boy groaned as he stirred his soup. "Oh, man. You have the coolest job and I can't tell anyone."

If he only knew… "Sorry."

Emily stepped in to change the subject when Riley opened his mouth in preparation for engaging Evan in a longwinded discussion about being in the military…again. Since the age of nine, he'd been fascinated by anything military, had even been talking about enlisting in the Air Force like his uncle. Emily would never have discouraged either of her boys from following their dreams, but one soldier in the family was enough as far as she was concerned. She wasn't sure she could handle having her son posted to places that she wasn't able to know about. The boy was only fourteen (going on thirty) so it wouldn't become an issue until he graduated high school. "So tell us how the two of you met."

~~O~~

Exchanging a glance, Evan nodded for Sha to tell the story. She'd signed the NDA and knew what she could and couldn't say. She stirred her soup gathering her thoughts.

"One day, he just fell out of the sky…and saved my life." While that was the truth as she saw it, there was much more to it.

Taking her hand, Evan kissed the backs of her fingers and gave her a loving smile. "We saved each other."

"Yes, we did."

The looks on the boys' faces told Evan all he needed to know regarding their thoughts on the subject of love. He let the conversation swirl and eddy around him, basking in that glow that comes with spending time with family. Thinking back to Blueberry Hill, he realized that one of the things he'd disliked the most about the amnesia was having Emily, Dale, and Riley's faces in his mind, but not being able to remember their names. Sometimes he'd had flashes of the times he'd spent with his sister's family away from work and responsibility realizing that Carson had been right. He had needed rest, time to just be a man without worrying that the next word he uttered might cost the lives of friends as well as enemies.

Pushing those thoughts back into their little box, he looked down to see only broth left in his bowl so he lifted it to his mouth to finish it off. When he lowered the bowl again, Sha was doing the same, both of them looking into the shocked faces of the Sullivan family. "What?"

"Nothing, Ev. I've just never seen you do that before."

"Oh." With an internal snort, Evan recognized that he'd picked up more than a few of Sha's habits while they'd been together in her home. Clearing his throat, he stood and gathered up the dishes carrying them to the sink, first rinsing then stacking it all in the dishwasher. Heat from the oven and a sweet scent announced that his sister had been baking and it brought to mind his epic dessert fail. Trying not to grin, he reached into the sink for a cloth to wipe the table.

"Hey, Mom. What's for dessert?" Dale asked anxiously. In the middle of a growth spurt, the boy was an eating machine.

"Your favorite, sweetie. Cherry cobbler." Emily and her boys stared in bewilderment as Shannon and Evan burst out laughing.

~~O~~

Three days later, Emily, Dale and Riley helped Evan and Shannon to the truck with their bags, minus Botany, Flash and Suzie. It had been decided by unanimous vote that the cats would stay with the Sullivan family instead of traveling back to Australia with Shannon. The boys missed their dog, a mutt named Bongo who had passed away just a few months before, and the cats seemed to have become fond of them as well. The little traitors had even abandoned "Mom" and "Dad", Flash to sleep with Dale and Suzie to sleep with Riley. The horse trailer remained behind as well.

Evan put the last of their bags in the back seat of the truck and turned to face his family. As he'd hoped, they had taken to Shannon very quickly, welcoming her in their sphere of warmth and love without reservation.

After hugging each of the boys, Evan gave his sister an extra long hug while Shannon said her good-byes as well. When she got to Emily, she extended her hand, but the other woman gathered her into a tight hug. "Welcome to the family, Shannon."

"Thank you." The women parted, Shannon taking hold of Emily's hand. "I meant what I said before. Evan really did save my life. If it hadn't been for him, there's no telling where I'd be right now."

Nodding, Emily squeezed her hand in return. "We'll see the two of you for Thanksgiving."

"You bet." Helping Shannon into the passenger seat, Evan slammed the door then climbed into the driver's seat. "Love you!" They waved as they drove away.

"Your family is the best, Ev. I love them already."

Glancing in the rearview mirror, he could see Emily and the boys still waving. "That's good, because they love you too."

~~O~~

Emily watched her brother and his fiancée drive away then turned to her sons, seeing their besotted smiles, knowing they both had a crush on Shannon. She urged them into the house then watched Botany running around in the paddock Evan had built for the bay. He tossed his head, his mane and tail streaming in the wind thoroughly enjoying himself. With a sigh Emily thought, life is good when you have the most important thing, a loving family.

TBC