Chapter 4
The team has already disappeared through the wormhole and he's still on the ramp. "You have everything, right?"
"You worry too much." Vala has her elbows on his shoulders and her fingers are raking through his hair. His mouth tightens and she knows that he's being serious. The balance between them, serious and frivolous, she's had to learn to take things a little more seriously and he's had to lighten up. "I have the bank information, the numbers, the gadgets and all the signatures. Don't fret while you're away." She brushes her lips over his.
They try to keep PDA's to a minimum, especially at the SGC, but he's leaving on a long mission. A week at the least. She's not going to refrain from showing him how much she loves him. Her arms pull tighter and their foreheads rest against each other after their mouths separate.
"Don't forget me and don't let Adria either."
"Never." Her eyes close and she pulls from her inner strength. "I love you." Her hands slip free of his hair and slide slowly off him. She looks up at Walter and he's pointing at his watch. "Walter says we take too long."
"I love you too and Walter can shove it." Cam strokes her hair, kisses her brow and turns and walks through.
Vala stares at the empty space as the wormhole is closed and the gate shuts down. "Come back to me." She whispers into the empty air. She never lets him hear her say it. It already breaks his heart to leave them every time. She knows that he can't stop, keeping this world safe is far too important to him.
She looks on a few minutes longer and then turns on her heel to go collect Adria from General Landry's office. He was generous enough to watch her for a few minutes while she saw the team off.
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General Landry isn't in the office when Vala gets there - Daniel is. He's sitting in one of the chairs across from the General's desk, and he looks up with troubled eyes when Vala walks in. He has a sheet of paper in his hand full of colorful markings, which isn't a surprise at all since Adria is sitting on the floor scribbling with crayons on a blank sheet of paper. She barely notices Vala's arrival.
"Vala... I think we need to talk," Daniel says, getting to his feet.
"You know, I could have sworn I left Adria in the care of someone a bit older, a bit shorter, stars on his collar..." Vala smirks.
Daniel doesn't crack a smile. "General Landry got called away. But Vala, we need to talk."
The tone of his voice sinks in and she immediately starts to worry. "What is it? Is she-"
"She's fine, but... let's step out there." He motions toward the briefing room.
"Adria, darling, Uncle Daniel and I are going to go talk. We'll be right out there. Please don't get into anything. Don't touch the telephone. No playing with the computer." There are half a dozen or so other warnings Vala would normally give, but right now she's distracted.
"Kay," Adria says, unphased.
"Vala," Daniel says, as soon as they're presumably out of earshot of Adria. "I think you and Mitchell need to have a little more discretion in what kinds of conversations you have in front of her. There's an earth saying - little pitchers have big ears? I think she might be learning to repeat some things you'd rather not have her saying."
"Like what?" Vala is starting to get defensive. She doesn't handle critique well in the best of situations, but for Daniel Jackson to criticize her parenting? He's a dear friend, but not that dear.
He holds up the drawing in his hand and points to one of the figures. Vala recognized it as a person - Adria's just barely getting the hang of stick figures, but Vala has looked at enough to decipher. This one has yellow scribbled around, but not through it. "Vala, she pointed to this one and told me it was hallowed."
Vala stares at it. "... what?"
"I just think you and Mitchell need to be a bit more aware when you're discussing classified matters like the Ori in front of her. Obviously, she's heard you talking about them. But we don't need a daycare full of people asking about the Ori, all right?"
Vala swallows. "Yes... all right."
She has no idea what Adria might have overheard, since she and Cam are very vigilant not to discuss worrying matters in front of her, especially not mission-related ones, but she doesn't want Daniel to know that she doesn't think Adria overheard anything.
She nods and thanks Daniel for watching her. More than anything she wishes that Cam hadn't just disappeared through that gate.
"Bug, you ready to go?" Adria smiles at her and pushes all her papers into a messy pile. Her crayons are tossed into her converted makeup bag and zipped in.
"A'ready mommy." She hands her the pictures she drew and carries her color crayons herself. "I drew you and daddy many pitures."
"I love it when you do that." They leave the General's office and head to their own room. Adria skips as she holds her hand trying to get Vala to join her.
Suddenly she stops, almost at their destination. "Momma?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"What's an Orici?" She tilts her head at Vala's face. "It must be not very nice..."
"I'm not sure, Addy." She hustles her into their room and lifts her onto the bed. After she gets everything put away she joins her. Adria climbs into her lap and snuggles against her. "Where did you hear that word?"
"Dunno. It just was in my ear." She draws on Vala's forearm as she relaxes into her mother. "I think it just tickled in there."
"Okay, sweety. How about we have a little rule about things that 'tickle' in your ear?"
"What rule? I don't really like those much..." Her face twists in dislike at the thought.
"Momma doesn't like them much, not at all, either. Sometimes they are for our own good though."
She looks up and pouts but nods. "What's the rule?"
"Only mention them to Momma or Daddy. No talking about the things that come into your ears with other people."
"Am I naughty?" She doesn't like when she's naughty. Standing in the corner for so long isn't fun at all. She doesn't even get her crayons. One time when she went in the street her daddy looked so scared and then she got a spanking on her butt and that was even worse. He hugged her really tight after but she stays away from the street now. "I don't mean it. I didn't know that it was naughty. Please don't make me stand in the time out..."
"It's alright, darling, you didn't know this time. Next time though..." She leaves it off and lets her active imagination fill in the punishment. Luckily that's usually enough for her. "Are there any other things that tickle your ear?"
"Sometimes big ships are there. Sticks with glowy end parts. Mens with ugly faces... Sometimes they scare me..."
"Adria-" Vala's voice chokes and she has to stop talking, shaking her head.
Adria goes quiet, too. "I sorry, Mommy."
Tears well up in her eyes and before Vala knows it, she's bawling. Vala picks her up and hugs her tightly. "It's all right, darling. Just don't do it again."
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The mission gets cut short and Cam finds himself home unexpectedly after only a couple of days. He knows that Vala doesn't know, because she isn't waiting in the gateroom for him. He's happy to be able to surprise her for once.
Vala's in their quarters, watching a television show with Adria. When Cam walks in, she and Adria both jump up and run over to him.
"Hi, honey, I'm home," he announces, wrapping his arms around Vala tightly before bending to pick up Adria. "Mission got nixed. I'm back planetside for a few weeks, at least."
Vala presses a hand to his cheek and kisses his mouth. She doesn't even know what to say, she's just so glad to have him back.
Fortunately Adria always solves the issue of silence. "We moving into the new house, daddy."
"We are? Did your momma get all the paperwork done?"
Vala answers before Adria can say something smart alec-y. "She did. We don't need someone repeating the process." Her glare is directed at her daughter who giggles remembering mom's antics with the bank paperwork. "It was interesting but they moved up the end date and are letting us move in starting in two days."
"It will be nice having so much space." Cam looks around at the piles of stuff everywhere.
"It will be nice making use of it all..." Vala winks at him and kisses him again. "I'm thinking that we can get pregnant in the new house. New place, new life and all that..."
He kisses the top of Adria's head. "Your momma has good ideas, doesn't she."
"Sometimes..." She looks at her mom and gets an impish grin. "It wasn't a good idea to call the man at the bank-"
"Do not repeat that, Adria Mitchell."
Cam smirks at Vala. "What did mom call the man at the bank?" He's not asking Adria.
"Exactly what is appropriate for someone who leers too much and can't take his eyes off a girls breasts. The manager was very apologetic and got that date moved up as a token of his sincere apology."
He feels a little swell of anger, knowing that she was being ogled by someone else. But she can, and did, take care of herself. He's happy she only wants him to look at her like that.
"Adria won't need me to fend off the boys, she's gonna have all your moves down by the time she's eight."
Him mentioning her fending off boys reminds her of the things that Adria saw while he was away. She knows she should tell him, talk to him about it... But she doesn't. He's so happy to be home and the news of the house that she lets it slide by. Another day, they'll discuss it when they are all settled.
"Well, good thing I made it back early, then." He makes his way over to the couch and sits down. Adria squirms off of his lap, but stands on the couch beside him, bouncing slightly.
Vala sits beside him too, curling into him. "I missed you," she says, brushing a kiss over his cheek.
Even that faint innocent touch is enough to make him shiver slightly. "She had a nap yet?"
Vala can tell what he's thinking by the tone of his voice. "No, but I bet Auntie Carolyn would love a visit..."
"NO SHOTS!" Adria says, balefully. "Go see Aun' Sam?"
"I think Aunt Sam's probably tired from the mission still..." Cam wracks his brain to try and think of who else might be willing to give them a couple of hours of alone time.
In the end, they can't think of anyone. It's not the first time this has happened, but it never gets any more fun. It makes Cam long for the time when she was young enough that it didn't even really matter. Now she's entirely too alert and aware.
Vala sighs. "She'll be ready for B-E-D in an hour or so, I think. Sooner if someone wears her out..."
"Sure you don't want me to conserve my energy and use it to wear you out?" Cam winks at her.
"As lovely as that idea is... she's harder to wear out, so go on with it, Daddy." Vala stretches out on the couch and waves her off.
He sighs. "Fine. Come on, kid. We're hitting the basketball courts."
"BASKETBALL!" Adria jumps off the couch, all grins, and takes off at full speed toward the door.
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Adria's fast asleep in his arms when he brings her back... and so is Vala.
Cam creeps past her to put Adria down in her bed, and then shuts the door firmly behind him. He manages to make it over to Vala with a minimum of noise, leaning down next to her and kissing her neck.
She moans slightly. "Oh... Teal'c... is that you? We need to be quick, Cameron will be back soon..."
Cam's head pops up. "Hey!"
Vala keeps her eyes shut, but her smirk gives it away. She flings her arms up over her head, thrusting her chest out. "I've missed you so, my strong Jaffa lover."
"Hey, now..." Cam's fingers move along her sides, tickling her. She begins to gasp and jerk away, trying to avoid the sudden attack.
Vala shrieks and Cam slaps a hand over her mouth. "Sh, Adria's asleep."
Her face lights up and Cam feels something wet along his fingers, then a faint suction. "Mmm?" She hums, a muffled noise, and he lets his hand go lax. She grasps it and pulls it back, wrapping her lips around his finger and sucking.
His other hand stops tickling, distracted by the warmth and wetness. "Uh..."
She grins around her finger and then slides her mouth off of it. "Perhaps we should take this into our bedroom? The one with the nice locking door?"
"You sure you want to? I mean, Teal'c won't know what's going on when he shows up..."
Vala laughs and rises to her feet, pulling his hand along with her.
He flips the lock into place and slides his hand under her shirt.
"You wanna make a baby tonight?" She pulls her lower lip between her teeth and grins impishly at him.
"More than anything. I want to get you pregnant." Cam's lips capture hers and her fingers thread through his hair, holding him close and not letting his mouth move from hers.
Their bed is close and they tumble into it. Clothing is tossed around and their skin slides across each other. His fingers find her wet and ready but he spends a moment playing over her clit, priming her body more and working her to a fever.
"Now, please." Vala needs more, she wants him inside her.
Cam's happy to comply. He slips in easily and they make love slowly and quietly. Her gasps and moans are stifled by his mouth. Her body shudders around him as her climax washes through her and he follows right behind, spilling deep inside her.
His lips explore her neck and ear as they come down and relax. "You feel so good."
Vala's legs are still locked around him and she's holding onto his heat and weight. "I love when you come back early."
"I missed you too much, I couldn't stay away and... the mission wasn't anything we expected." He rolls them onto their sides which, unfortunately, causes him to slip free of her body. "We can start packing tomorrow."
She's feeling sleepy and mellow and the thought of all the boxes makes her scowl. "Or we could lay in bed all day."
"I love that plan so I won't point out the multiple flaws that surround it."
"You're very compliant after an orgasm." Vala traces her finger along his chest, scratching through the hair there.
He nods and flips the switch on the lamp. As the darkness takes over Vala turns her back to his front and closes her eyes. "We should probably try again in a few hours. Wake me up."
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They've already made the decision to leave their base quarters as is - they'll still likely end up under the mountain half of the time, even though Cam intends on asking Vala to spend more time at the house while he's gone so Adria can actually enjoy the space to roam and a yard to play in.
For now, they're packing up the apartment. Cam still has the lease for another few months but he isn't bothered by it. After talking it over with Vala, they've both agreed that it's worth it to them to pay and be able to go ahead and move now.
Vala's actually very good with finances, a fact that she reminds him of constantly. Her cover story with the outside world is still accounts receivable and she's got a knack for always knowing exactly how much money they have that he, in turn, teases her about.
They've enlisted Teal'c and Daniel and Sam to help them pack and move things around. Sam's brought Cassie over to babysit while she's visiting Colorado Springs, which frees Vala up to help as well. It takes longer than anyone would have thought to go through the apartment but by later afternoon they have the rented moving truck and Cam's truck both filled.
Cam finds Vala standing in their bedroom while everyone else is outside making sure things fit.
She turns when she hears him walk in, smiling. He can see she's a little misty eyed, though. She waves her hand, explaining it away before he even asks. "This was my first home on this planet. I've been so excited about the house... and I'm not... I've never been sad to leave a place before, I've never felt..."
"Attached?" Cam asks, thinking he understands.
She nods and gives him a grateful smile. "I've never felt like a place was really mine before."
"Well, now you'll have a whole house that's yours." Cam wraps his arms around her. They both have their names on the lease, Vala's government forged papers and credit history passing inspection with flying colors. She is, in the eyes of all concerned, a foreigner (from Australia, of all places) successfully immigrated and living legally on U.S. soil.
Cam had insisted on it. He'd wanted to be sure that if anything happened to him, the house and everything that was his would go to Vala and Adria, no questions asked. It also means she's free to travel on her own, something else Cam wanted to be sure was possible, just in case she ever needs to leave in a hurry.
That part he hadn't shared with her, though.
"Cam, Vala - we're leaving!" Daniel shouts from the front room, and there's the sound of a door shutting behind him.
"I have the key to the house, so we better head out, too," Cam says, kissing Vala on the forehead. "You okay, or need a few minutes here?"
She shakes her head. "No. Let's go home."
They are surprised to see General Landry parked and leaning against his car when they pull into the driveway.
Cam pops out and salutes. Even though they're off duty, off base, and in plain clothes old habits die hard. "General... I didn't expect to see you here."
"Still having trouble with surprises, Mitchell?" Landry just smiles. "I heard there was a big moving day. Thought I could lend a hand."
"That's very kind of you, General, sir." Vala walks over and gives him a hug. He's stiff in her arms and it makes her grin that she can still fluster him. "You can give Cam tips on setting up his office. Yours is arranged ever so nicely." She nabs the house key from Cameron and bounces up the front steps. She walks across the large porch and slips the key in.
There is a hand on her shoulder and she pauses, before turning it. Cam's face is right there, his palm tracks down her arm and covers her hand. "Together." The word is simple and she smiles at him. He's a romantic through and through and it makes her shiver.
They turn the key and the door opens slightly. Vala gives it a slight push and it smoothly slides the rest of the way in. Suddenly she's being picked up.
Cam's pulled her into his arms and is carrying her into the house. "I've always wanted to do this."
"Just like the movies." Vala kisses his cheek. "I think the part where you carry me to bed and have your way with me will have to wait, though."
"Far too many people around." Cam set her down inside the foyer.
Vala shakes her head. "The bed is in the truck." Her lips cover his surprise and she giggles into his mouth. She pushes him backwards until his back is pressed against the wall. Kissing him, hard, in their new home, it just feels marvelous to her.
A throat clears behind them. "You two need to help, ya know... Not just make out while we move your stuff." Daniel sets a small table and lamp just inside what will be the living room. "You can make out later, preferably when I'm gone."
Vala pulls away from Cam, walks passed Daniel giggling and taps her fingers against the archaeologist's cheek. "You're no fun, Darling."
Cam just shrugs. "She's very excited to have a house of her own."
"She's not that only excited one, apparently." Daniel just chuckles and turns to get another load.
Cam has the decency to turn pink as he looks down at the evidence of his excitement. She gets him going, quickly, and he take a minute to calm himself before heading out to help Teal'c with the couch.