A/N: I decided to bring this story out of hiatus. Was hit with some inspiration that let me pick this up ago. Thanks got Shadows-of-Realm for the beta and encouragement to work on this again.

Chapter 3- Trouble is Brewing

"Jenny?" Will asked as the woman opened the door. "Nice dress," he felt his face redden. It felt wrong to realize that that loud couple had been his granddaughter and her fiancé. So they really are trying to make a little one. A little Rudolph.

"Umm. What are you doing here?" Jennifer asked, pulling down on the shirt to cover herself better. Rodney's shirt was not the proper attire to answer the door with your grandfather on the other side of the door.

He was an elderly man and thought he could get away with being forward, "I was coming here to tell you and your fiancé to keep it down. I know you two are trying to make a baby, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to hear your merry making. You should cover up more when you answer the door. Do you wear those often?" Will pointed to the dress shirt she was wearing.

Embarrassed was putting it mildly what Jennifer felt and she covered her face with her hands. Awkward was only the tip of this situation. Of all the hotels in the city, she and Rodney had to be put in one right next to her grandfather. She had no idea what to say to Will. If it were a stranger and apology would be the easy route to take, but it was worse because it was family. Jennifer was no longer the little girl who used to sit on the man's knee as he told her stories of his FBI days. "I apologize if Rodney and I kept you up..."

"But this is the first time you've seen each other in quite some time. I remember what it was like to be young and so much in love. So where is this reindeer guy you are engaged to?"

"Dad, come back to the room now," Scott appeared to pull his father back to their room and paused when he saw his daughter on the other side of the door.

"Great," Jennifer hit her head against the door frame. She did not want to have this conversation half dressed. "Can you give us a few minutes? Why don't you sit on the couch and we'll be right out," she still could not look at either man in the eye and could not send them away either. Before heading to the bathroom the embarrassed woman grabbed the overnight bag Rodney had bought with him.

"What are you thinking?" Will asked as he saw Scott's jaw set firmly. "Are you mad at them?"

Scott honestly did not know what to feel. He knew Jennifer was no longer his little girl and she was getting married soon, but there is a difference in knowing your only daughter is having sex and actually hearing it. That did not sit well him. It was like the one last pure image of his daughter being ripped away from him. "She is all grown up, isn't she?"

"You see this is why I never had any girls. It's hard to let them go," the father tried to comfort his son. "I thought you would have realized that when she took that top secret job of hers or even more when the reindeer asked for your permission to marry her."

"It's just starting to sink in," Scott looked at the closed bathroom door. "She has found the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Sometimes I just wish it was someone closer to her own age."

"Age doesn't really matter, does it? Does he love her? Can he provide for her and the family they are going to have? Does he come from a good family?" Will asked. "I saw the look on his face when he was talking about her. That is not a look one can fake."

Scott sighed, "Twelve years isn't that much when you think about it. And the answer to the rest of your questions is yes, except for the last one. I met his mother and the woman makes Mommy Dearest look like a saint, but his sister is nice enough." Lenore was definitely a woman he would never like to cross paths with again. "I'm still just having a hard time with this. Soon I will be walking her down the aisle. Another thing I am not ready for, at least they haven't set a date yet." He was not ready to admit that his only child was grown up and starting a life and family of her own.

"After that comes the grandchildren and if they keep that up the way they are going that day will be sooner than you expect it. So tell me more about this reindeer. You never told me anything about him. It's hard to miss that ring he put on her finger. Is he a doctor like Jenny?"

"Not a medical doctor..." he was interrupted by Will.

"One of those fake doctors that gets the title because of a degree," Will made a face. He should have known with the amount that the man had spent on the ring.

Scott gave him a small nod, "Why do you keep calling Rodney a reindeer? But yes, he has two PhDs, astrophysics and mechanical engineering. He's some kind of super genius according to Jen. They work together. That's how they met if that is what you were trying to get at."

"I call him that because that is the name of one of those reindeer," Will looked at his son like he was crazy. "So what you are saying is that she is marrying a geek?"

Scott would not have labeled it exactly that, but it was an accurate description.

"So the rumors that geeks like kinky sex are true," the elderly man watched as a look of horror spread across his son's face.

"What took you so long?" Rodney asked, looking up from the bubble bath his was immersed in. "What is with the bag?"

"We've got company. You've got to get out," Jennifer sighed and the look from her fiancé told her he wanted a good reason why he should move. "My dad and grandfather are out there. Apparently they have the room next door and heard us through the walls. Oh, and that old man you ran into..."

"Don't tell me," he started to sink under the bubbles. "I think I'd rather stay in here," the last thing Rodney wanted to do was face either man right now, knowing they had been rather loud the last few hours and had assumed the room was empty.

"If I have to face them again you are going with me. You know for better or for worse," she tried to coax him out of the tub and chose to drain the water from the tub.

The physicist was not happy about this, "I have a bad track record of first impressions with the men in your family. Do I need to remind you about the first impression I made on your dad? It was bad enough when that man was a stranger but to know it was your grandfather it makes it worse. He heard that we have been trying to start a family."

"But you are friends with my dad now. It doesn't bother me that they know we are trying. They probably expect it, but it's bothering me that that they heard us having sex. Very loud mind-blowing sex. How can I look at them in the eye. I can only imagine what they think of me," Jennifer turned on the shower to clean the suds that remained in the tub and on Rodney.

Rodney shook his head, "Not so sure after what he heard tonight."

"Like this is easy for me," she snapped and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry for yelling. It's not like you are some stranger."

"Thank you for that," he grumbled and reached for a towel to dry himself off. The irritated man was not happy being compared to a random fling.

"You didn't bring a bra and underwear for me?" the ones she had worn earlier were somewhere under the bed.

Rodney shrugged, "There were none clean in my room and I didn't have time to go to yours to get some. I was running late as it was. Just use a pair of my boxers or don't bother with them at all." He dried himself off. "It's a little odd. Didn't you ask them why they are here?"

"I was a little too busy digesting they heard a good portion of our marathon love making session." she slapped her fiancé across the arm for the no underwear comment.

"What was that for?" Rodney asked as he rubbed his bicep.

Jennifer gave him an are you kidding me look, "For suggesting no underwear with my father and grandfather out there."

"Why? You don't wear them all the time," he really did not see what the big deal was.

"When it's just us, yes, but not with them out there. And put something on besides those Green boxers."

"You have the bag," Rodney did not appreciate the snippiness she was giving him. He knew this was an awkward situation, but she did not have to take it out on him. "Can I have my jeans and shirt?" he asked in the same tone she had spoken to him.

"You don't have to talk to me in that tone!" Jennifer threw the clothes at him. She knew she was harsh with him, but he was the only one around to take it out on.

Rodney made a face like a spoiled child, "You started it. You've been biting my head off since you came in here." He was not happy about having their first fight, but it was going to have to happen eventually and he was surprised that it took this long. It was true when John said that Jennifer had brought out a side of him that needed to be shown more often. "I'm just staying in here. You can go out and talk to them. They are your family." It was a low comment to make. Being with Jennifer toned down his jerky behavior but did not eliminate it.

"Don't go there, Meredith," she knew using his first name would tell him that she meant business. "They are your family too. Do you have any idea how awkward this is for me?"

He scowled at the use of his first name, "Because you are the only one who has reason to be embarrassed? They have known you your whole life. I'm just the outsider who is marrying you. They think I must be some sexual deviant corrupting their little girl."

"You don't really think that," she then thought he was Rodney and of course he would think that.

"I'm me. What do you think?" Rodney said with more sarcasm than he would have liked, but he was in a bad mood and it came more naturally.

"I would think you need to finished getting dressed and go out there with me."

"And say what exactly? Sorry for disturbing you while we were having sex, but this is the first time we've seen each other in three weeks, it's our first Valentine's Day together and you know those grandchildren you are probably hoping for one day, well why do you think we are trying so hard? And technically you are disturbing us because we were moving the festivities into the bathroom."

Jennifer stopped him from going any further, "Finish that sentence and you will never have sex with me again." It was scary how well she knew him and that he was going to bring up their sometimes kinky antics, but if she did not know him as well as she did she would not be marrying him.

"Then we would never have any children. Kind of puts a dent in your plan doesn't," Rodney's head knew he should stop but his mouth usually had a life of its own. "That is unless you go seek assistance from someone else. I'm sure Ronon might still be interested in you. So by all means." He was even shocked that it came out of his mouth. "I'm sorry I didn't mean it."

"You are such an ass," she was very close to slapping her fiancé across the face for his suggestion. "How can you even say that?"

"Because I'm an ass," he rolled his eyes and empathized on the sarcasm.

Jennifer had enough of his immaturity, "You know what, if you are going to act like this why don't you just stay here and sulk like a child while I go play adult and smooth things over with them."

"That's fine by me," Rodney leaned against the sink, refusing to budge. Given the choice to avoid potentially bad situations he would do it.

"No, it's not," she poked him hard in the chest to emphasize how angry she was with him.

"But you just said," he could not understand why women said one thing and mean another. "Here is a better idea, how about I go back to Atlantis and you stay here. It seems to me whatever I say is wrong and you take issue with. Why should I stick around for this? I don't want to be a punching back for your bad mood because guess what? Your bad mood is contagious and you've put me in a pretty bad one."

The comment pushed her over the edge and Jennifer did something that she never thought that she would, she slapped him hard across the face, "What has gotten into you? Don't talk to me like I'm a member of your staff that has screwed up."

Rodney rubbed his cheek where he was slapped, "What the hell? What has gotten into me? You've been on my ass acting like a bitch for the most part since you came in here. Am I just to bend over and take it? I've not had a decent night sleep in three weeks and the only reason that I'm awake right now is because of the caffeine pills I took a few hours ago because I wanted to spend more time with you instead of making it a very early night. So you are right to blame me. If I didn't take those pills I would be sleeping right now and none of this would have happened." he reached for his cell phone which was on the edge of the sink. The angry physicist caught sight of the red mark on his face and headed toward the door.

When she saw the mark on Rodney's face Jennifer immediately regretted her actions. "Rodney, I'm sorry," she knew she had been too hard on him. The panicked physician knew it had been a long time since she lost her temper that bad and hitting the man she loved made her feel worse than she already did.

Rodney turned around and shook his head, "No, Jennifer. Not now." He was enraged now and needed to get away before he said something that he would regret and that could irrevocably harm their relationship. As soon as he opened the door, Will's last comment about kinky sex was heard by the fighting couple. Just great. Now he thinks I'm a pervert. The words of the old man only increased the embarrassment and Rodney looked down as he exited the bathroom. He held up his cell phone, "Sorry work emergency." The words were half mumbled as he did not want to look at the men and see what her family really thought of him and to hide the red mark on his face.

"What kind of work emergency could be in the middle of the night?" Will was the only one that thought that what happened was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Rodney stopped and kept his gaze down, "Power problems on the base."

"I don't know why the three of you are so embarrassed by this. You are marrying Jenny and I don't think my son here honestly believes that you two were waiting until your wedding night to have sex," the older man had no problem pointing out the obvious. "You may be loud and by the sound of it, enjoy having rough sex, but the only thing that is important is that the two of you love each other and would never do anything to intentionally harm each other.

"Dad," Scott admonished his father for being so forward. He knew there had to be more to this work emergency that Rodney said he hadto take care of.

"Then why did I get slapped," Rodney muttered to himself. He paused for a moment and debated if he should stay or go. Both options had pros and cons; if he stayed he might not be able to control his mouth which would get him in trouble with the three Kellers in the room and if he left it would only get him in more trouble with the one he was already in enough trouble with. With his hand on the door, Rodney made up his mind. "Radek can handle the problems," he moved away from the door and thought it best to make nice with the future in-laws and have it out with his fiancée later.

Jennifer was glad that Rodney did not leave her alone and she went to stand next to him, but sighed when he moved away as she got close. She should have known it would not be that easy. "Dad, how come you didn't tell me you were here when I talked to you earlier?"

Scott noticed the tension between the couple. He did not want to cause any more trouble between the two. "When I talked to you the other day you sounded down that Rodney would not be back today so the two of us decided to fly into see you. Then I could not get in contact with you. I know you said you would be in San Francisco, but you never said where you were staying."

"It's a secure facility," Rodney replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. It was crazy how the perfect evening turned into a nightmare so quickly. He closed his mouth and let Scott finish.

"And then I called you when I saw Rodney in the lobby, but didn't see you. I was wondering what was going on since you said he wasn't supposed to be back for another month." Scott did not need to tell her that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion about Rodney as he thought it would only cause more problems than they already had.

Jennifer offered a weak smile, "So did I. Good thing I was wrong."

"Why don't we change the subject," Will wanted to do something to break the tension. "Have you two set a date and place for the wedding?"

"No date yet, but we decided on a place. Paradise Island in the Bahamas," the idea had been Rodney's. The notion came to him when he was confined to bed as he recovered from Josh's attack. When Rodney had mentioned getting married on Atlantis she had to remind him that if they wanted family there that it was not possible until he said that he was talking about the resort in the Bahamas. That was her dork for her; an inside joke for the base personnel that would attend and a beautiful destination wedding for those who knew nothing about the Ancient city.

"Sounds like it will be beautiful," Will tapped his son on the knee. "It's getting late and I would like to retire for the evening. We should meet for breakfast in the morning. That way I can get to know you better Roderick."

"Um. Okay sure," Rodney was scared to correct the man as he felt the demon that was possessing his fiancée would yell at him or the old man would yell about respecting his elders. "Breakfast at ten?"

"That would be nice, Rodney. He is right that it's getting late. We'll see you in the morning," Scott wanted to give his daughter time to work out what ever went down in the bathroom between the engaged couple. He knew his father was right when they had nothing to be embarrassed about. None of them would be here if someone did not have sex and they were consenting adults in a committed relationship. Knowing and liking were different things. "Goodnight Jenny."

"Yes, good night Jenny and reindeer man. One piece of advice before I go: never go to bed mad. It's one of the keys to a long happy marriage," Will gave his parting advice before leaving with Scott following not far behind.

Reindeer man and Roderick? Is the man trying to drive me crazy? Rodney did not want to take the advice and went into the closet to retrieve the extra blanket and pillow to sleep on the couch.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch," Jennifer looked defeated as Rodney set up the couch to sleep on.

"I want to," he refused to look at her. Being slapped hurt him more than physically and he needed time to process everything. Rodney knew he had pushed her hard with his words, but he never thought she would have responded with a slap across his face.

"What about never going to bed mad?"

"Advice I am choosing not to take. You hit me. I just can't right now. I might have acted like a jerk, but I didn't deserve to be slapped like that." Deep down he knew he probably did deserve it, but he still chose to act like a spoiled brat. "I'm tired. We'll pick this up in the morning."

Sleep did not come easy for both parties and separately each tossed and turned in their respective beds. Neither wanted to other to know they were having difficulty falling asleep.

Several hours later loud banging on the door ripped Rodney from the light sleep he was in. He stumbled to the door and saw three Marines standing on the other side. "Dr. McKay, please come with us." The tone said the please was only a formality.

"What's going on?" Rodney was puzzled by the urgency in man's voice. He recognized on of the men from the new batch of Marines that were on the base after it landed in San Francisco and he surmised that the other two came on when he was away.

"Just come with us. You are required back now," one of the Marine's grabbed a hold of his arm.

Rodney resented being manhandled and his head turned back to where Jennifer was sitting up in bed, confused and a little frightened.

"Major Teldy will be here shortly to escort Dr. Keller back."

The confused scientist barely had time to grab his shoes before he was forcibly led toward the elevator.