"You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear." ~ Author Unknown
A Song Only You Can Hear
Chapter Four
Close Your Eyes When You Kiss, Cry or Dream
"I think we should have a couple of kids, too."
Married? Children? Jennifer's heart skipped a beat and shock made her speechless. He doesn't know what he's saying. He won't remember this tomorrow.
"Rodney, just fly. We can talk about it later."
His vision wavered and he refused to let go of her hand. "Not until you say yes."
"Okay. Yes, I will marry you and we'll have two kids, a boy and a girl. What do you say to that?"
"That would be great. We'll call them Carson and Elizabeth Keller-McKay."
"Of course we will. Now let's go home!"
"Yes, ma'am. Here we go!" The Jumper lifted off then banked around toward the East. "Whoa! I don't feel so good." He put a hand to his head blinking rapidly.
"Can you put it on autopilot?"
"Uh…yeah." He searched the console. "Do you know how to do that?"
She went to his side again, her voice calm. "No. You have to do it, Rodney. Please try to concentrate."
"Okay, uh…oh, here it is." He pressed a few buttons and the autopilot engaged. A moment later he passed out.
Jennifer felt a twinge of pain so she went back to her seat. Though he was unconscious somehow the HUD was still active. She looked over the information displayed and saw that they would return to Atlantis sooner than she thought. A sigh of relief pushed out of her as she leaned back in her seat, eyes straight ahead.
After what felt like an eternity, Atlantis finally came into view. She tapped her headset. "Atlantis, this is Dr. Keller on board Jumper 3. We have a medical emergency! Dr. McKay is injured and not able to land." There was no answer. "Atlantis, please come in! This is a medical emergency!"
Static crackled in her ear and she'd never been so happy to hear Chuck's voice. "Jumper 3, this is Atlantis. We hear you. Your autopilot has been engaged and will bring you safely into the Jumper Bay. Medical has been contacted and will meet you there. What are the injuries?"
"Oh, thank God!" She gave him a quick rundown of their injuries which he in turn relayed to medical. A few seconds later she saw the bay doors opening but she didn't breathe easy until the hatch opened and the medical team swarmed around them.
Jennifer started issuing orders as soon as the hatch opened then protested when Dr. Johansson and one of the nurses urged her onto a stretcher. "I'm fine. I need to-"
"Not this time, Dr. Keller." Dr. Robert Johansson, a tall slender man with dark skin, pointed first at himself then at her, "Doctor. Patient." The nurse connected the safety straps over Jennifer's legs and torso then the two of them pushed her in the direction Rodney had been taken.
*****
Rodney groaned and carefully opened his eyes. The steady beep, beep of the heart monitor greeted him. He blinked rapidly a few times and his vision cleared. Across the room he could see Amanda Cole talking intently to Jennifer. Amanda took Jennifer's hand and gave it a squeeze. Jennifer nodded and turned away. She seemed to have a look of sadness in her eyes until she saw that he was awake then her face lit up.
"Rodney! How do you feel?"
He let his head fall back to the pillow, a hand on his forehead. "I feel like a giant snake knocked us down a hill. Ow!" He looked down at himself, shifting on the hospital bed. His left arm was still in a sling and his ribs hurt but didn't feel broken. "Everything hurts but my feet."
"At least you remember what happened."
"How did we get back to Atlantis? Did they come after us?"
He didn't remember taking off…or proposing. "You got us in the air and used the autopilot. The good thing is you don't have any internal bleeding and you'll be out of here in a day or so."
"No, the good thing is you're okay. I don't care about myself."
A look passed over her face and was gone so quickly he might have imagined it. She smoothed a hand over his cheek. "That's sweet. What else do you remember?"
"Our romantic picnic was a disaster except for that first night. Though we did get to spend some time alone even if most of it was spent hiding from a pair of giant snakes." He squeezed her hand.
"Are you hungry?"
"Mmm, I could eat. Dr. Keller, would you have dinner with me?"
She smiled. "I would be delighted, Dr. McKay."
*****
Two days later Rodney and Jennifer had both been released from the infirmary. She insisted on walking him to his quarters. His shoulder and ribs were still sore and he would need help changing clothes.
She wanted to stay with him but was afraid she wouldn't have the fortitude to keep her secret. Amanda had done all the tests herself and the results were password protected so there was no chance that someone would let it slip. It would stay just between her and Amanda.
*****
It was nighttime in Atlantis. Jennifer was watching Rodney sleep and going over the news Amanda had given her before he'd awakened in the infirmary. It had made her more than a little sad and it was all she could do not to cry in front of him.
She crawled into the bed next to him pressing herself against his good right side, turned out the bedside light and pulled the covers up to her chin. Sleep claimed her within a few minutes.
*****
"Jennifer, is everything okay? You haven't been yourself for a couple of weeks." Rodney had a hold of her hand and looked at her with concern. Today was the first day he'd gone without the sling and his shoulder throbbed though he ignored it.
"I'm fine. Those snakes must have scared me more than I thought." She smiled to dispel his concern. "I'll be fine."
"I know this will sound more than a little odd coming from me but maybe you should go see the staff psychologist."
She nodded. "I just might do that. And it's not odd at all, honey. It just shows how much you care about my mental as well as physical health."
He squeezed her hand. "Want me to make you an appointment?"
"No, I'll do it. Promise."
Jennifer waited until Rodney was gone before making an appointment as promised. He was able to see her the next morning after breakfast. She felt better for just having made the call. Her problem wasn't the snakes as she'd told Rodney and she had an idea what the psychologist would say. She wasn't looking forward to either conversation but she had never backed down from a challenge before and wouldn't do so now.
Nothing's wrong with me. I was just getting used to being pregnant and now it's over, that's all. I didn't even get a chance to tell you. You'll blame yourself for me losing the baby because it was your idea to go on the picnic. At least now I know how you feel about having children.
*****
Jennifer took a deep breath then let it out slowly. Just as she'd predicted, the psychologist gave her the same advice she'd given herself. It wouldn't get any easier no matter how long she stood outside Rodney's quarters so she touched the chime to announce her presence. The door opened and Rodney gestured her in. He was surprised to see her there as they had planned to meet later for movie night.
"Rodney, we have to talk."
She declined to sit and he collapsed into the chair himself. "Uh-oh. Nothing good ever comes after the words 'we have to talk'."
"It's not as bad as you think, honey." She took another deep breath. "Okay, the easiest way is to just say it. Rodney, when we went on the picnic, I was pregnant."
"Pregnant? Wait, you said was. You didn't...oh, no." He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. "My fault. It's my fault."
She knelt in front of him, one hand ruffling the hair at the nape of his neck. "I don't blame you so please don't blame yourself. I had planned on telling you that first night but we fell asleep then all that stuff happened. You know, you still haven't told me how you dislocated your shoulder." Her attempt at lightening the mood fell flat. "Rodney, please say something. I mean something besides 'it's my fault'."
He lifted his head, pulled her to her feet then into his lap. "We were going to have a baby? Wow!" His smile could have lit up the room. "That's so…wait! You drank beer and had wine with dinner that first night. You're not supposed to do that if you're pregnant, are you?"
She laughed and kissed him. "Silly man, you are incredibly clueless, aren't you?"
"Wh-wh-what do you mean?"
"While you were setting up camp I dumped the beer out. As for the wine, when you weren't looking I poured it back into the bottle."
"Oh. Well, what about those shots you take that are supposed to prevent, uh…"
"Ah, yes, the Depo-Provera." She shifted in his lap and put an arm around his neck. "I have always known that you were exceptional but this has proven it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Depo-Provera has a failure rate of 0.3%...or 2.6%, depending on who you ask. Your DNA must be something extraordinary for us to have conceived under such stringent conditions."
He opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I'm…speechless."
She raised both hands in the air and, with a greatly overdone Southern accent, she said, "Pr-aise the Lord! It's a miracle!"
"Ha-ha. Very funny. So, if this happened once, it could happen again, right?"
"Yup. That's why, going forward, we will we using another form of birth control in addition to the Depo-Provera. At least until we decide we're ready to have kids. Assuming you want any in the first place."
"As I recall, you promised me a boy and a girl."
"You remember that?"
He nuzzled her neck. "Mmm-hmm. I also remember you said yes to my proposal and I plan on holding you to it. Though I didn't plan on asking you while piloting a Jumper with a concussion. And I had planned on having a ring."
She held her left hand up as if admiring a ring. "Hmm, Dr and Dr Jennifer and Rodney Keller-McKay. It has a nice ring to it. No pun intended." She stood up and took him by the hand, walking backward toward the bed. "I think we should try out this alternative form of birth control right now. Just to make sure it works, of course."
"Of course." They kissed and held each other tight. "Uh, Jennifer…"
"No, you can't put it on your resume."
"Okay. It was just a thought."
They never made it to the movie. Later that night, Rodney dreamt of a child dressed all in pink that smelled of baby powder and giggled when he bounced her on his knee. The child had Jennifer's brown eyes, his brown hair and chubby little cheeks that just begged to be kissed. Cuddled next to the woman he loved, he pulled her closer and sighed contentedly in his sleep.
The End
