Chapter VI: Parenting Lessons Under Pressure
A/N: Thanks to IzzieStar who got a lot of this chapter out! She has kept me on my toes and I am grateful for that. Enjoy the chapter! Sparky She-Demon
Since John had left to go and find some model paints, Elizabeth felt like she had been having the same conversation with her son all morning and the main topic was model planes and 'Daddy John' and the fact that her son had woken up minus a tooth. Despite the unchanging subject matter, Elizabeth was secretly pleased. In the rare moments she had allowed herself to consider the possibility of John ever finding out that he was a Dad, she had never expected him to be so eager and attentive so soon. With JJ at least anyway. With Olivia, things weren't quite so clear-cut and rosy, but she persuaded herself that things would sort themselves and that Olivia just needed time to adjust to her Daddy.
When lunchtime passed and John still wasn't back, she was starting to get worried that something had happened. That was until her son started jumped up from his vigil at their room window, grabbed the model airplane that he had made with John and made for the door.
'Johnny,don't you have something to ask me?'
JJ stopped in his tracks and turned to his Mom with a grumpy expression, 'Daddy John is back and I really need to go and paint my model.'
'I'm not hearing that magic word.'
'Please!' JJ squealed desperately.
Elizabeth nodded at him and then watched as her son dashed out of the room without closing the door behind him. She then turned her attention to Olivia who was quietly playing with the stuffed white tiger she'd had since birth and still refused to sleep without. Something in Olivia's countenance bothered her and she stood up to close the door, but was greeted by the eager smiles of Carson and Rodney who were making their way down the corridor to see her. Instinctively, she turned to check Olivia who she knew was bothered by something. Her expression of passive sadness had been replaced with a grin directed at their guests. Stepping back, she let the men in, and was pleased to see that they were comfortable enough to sit on the beds. Particularly Rodney who had even moved the pillows around and was now sat lying back with his feet up.
'I swear this bed is more comfortable than the one I'm stuck with.' He commented, wriggling against the pillows.
'At least you haven't insisted on bringing your orthopedic mattress with you.' Elizabeth said, with a smile in Carson's direction which was returned.
'Hey, I need that mattress. It will probably take my back months to recover from this holiday.' Rodney replied.
'That's probably what those poor marines who had to carry it from the gate to your quarters in Atlantis were saying.' Carson said, chuckling fondly.
Smiling to herself at the memory of being greeted by what was possibly the thickest mattress she had ever seen come through the Stargate, in one of the strangest moments of her life, Elizabeth took the liberty to sit beside Carson on Olivia's bed.
'Mommy,' Olivia said suddenly, 'can I go and play with John?'
'Of course.' Elizabeth said.
With just the three of them, away from the prying ears of little children who Elizabeth knew picked up on everything, the conversation flowed even easier and they were soon sharing a bottle of wine which Carson had brought along for something just like this.
'So come on then, what do you miss most about Atlantis?' Carson asked Elizabeth.
'Apart from Rodney waking me up at three am?'
'Hey, I think we all know who was keeping you awake at three am now.' Rodney said, with a drunken laugh.
Unable to suppress a smile, Elizabeth continued, 'I suppose the thing I miss most is you guys; that feeling that you were part of something life-changing and dangerous, but that we always looked out for each other.'
'Aye, I think you're right. We had some fun too though, didn't we?' Carson said, fondly.
'We had so much fun! Do you remember that one night when we did the karaoke?' Rodney interjected.
'Please don't!' Elizabeth said, hiding her face in her hands.
'I remember your rendition of 'Thriller'.' Carson said to Rodney.
'I don't think I'll ever forget that rendition of 'Thriller'. Or those dance moves to be precise.' Elizabeth commented.
'Do you remember Ronon's face?' Carson said, nudging Elizabeth's arm.
Once again, Elizabeth found herself hunched over with laughter and only stopped when she heard a knock on the door and was faced with Jack, who was happy to see her looking the most relaxed she had been in years.
'Hey, I was just wondering if you want me to take the kids off your hands.' Jack offered.
'Thanks Jack, but they're both busy with John.'
Meanwhile...
After spending the morning trailing through stores to find enamel paint for his son, John was pleased to see that JJ was sat waiting for him in the bar area, staring at the F15 Eagle model that they had completed the previous day. When he looked up to see his father a big grin spread across his face revealing that he had lost a tooth since John had left in the morning.
'What happened to your tooth?' John asked, sitting beside his son.
'It fell out.'
'You lost one before?'
JJ shook his head earnestly.
'Well you'd better put it under your pillow so the tooth fairy can take it away and leave you a dollar.'
'Really?' JJ asked in wide-eyed amazement.
'As long as you're a good boy for the rest of the day.' John said with a twinkle in his eye which his son didn't pick on.
'I will be. Did you get the paint?'
John emptied the tiny pots and paint brushes from the bag he had been carrying and laid them out in front of his son who looked mildly disgusted by the minute amount of paint which he was being permitted to play with. Seeing his son's expression, John laughed.
'I'm afraid that's the size they come – it's not like we're painting a real plane.' John explained.
'Do I have to paint it like the picture?'
'Not the most interesting design is it? You can paint it anyway you want – that's why I got so many different colors.'
'Anyway I want?' JJ repeated, his eyes lighting up.
Although JJ was eager to set about painting his plane straight away, John insisted that he plan out his design first so that he wouldn't end up disappointed with the end result. After he settled on a bright design which consisted of green and red wings and a yellow body with a blue stripe down the middle, John finally let his son loose on the paints.
Whilst dabbing some paint onto the wing in a way which the brush certainly wasn't designed for, JJ said, 'Do you fly these planes, Daddy?'
Hearing the final word come from his son's mouth for the first time, John felt an unfamiliar sense of comfort and companionship and had to clear his throat before he was able to reply.
'I used to; a long time ago.'
'You should have told them that they look really rubbish.'
John chuckled, 'I think that's the point.'
The younger John looked up at the older and gave him a confused look, but didn't question any further and continued with his painting. Just as he was putting his finishing touches to his painting, Jack strolled through the bar and wandered over to them with an approving grin.
'F15 Eagle?' He asked.
'F15 boring!' JJ said in a sing-song voice.
'No Livie? Elizabeth seemed to think she'd come down here.' Jack asked.
'No, it's just been the two of us.' John said, obtusely.
Jack looked around in confusion, certain that Olivia wouldn't lie to her mother and his eye was caught by the movement of a curtain at the far end of the bar which revealed a few stray brown curls and a small hand. Not wanting to draw attention to her, Jack calmly made his way over to the curtain, but she was too quick and, seeing him approach, ran out from behind the curtain and straight to the staircase. From the faint glimpse that he had of her face it was pretty evident that she was crying.
Jack looked back at what Olivia had been watching. Her brother getting more attention from their father, while she was pretty much getting ignored.
Elizabeth, Rodney and Carson had actually been talking about the kids for about the past five minutes, when they heard a small tapping at the door. Waving to Elizabeth to sit down, Carson opened the door and Olivia darted into the room and burrowed into her mother's lap, bringing their conversation to an abrupt end. Smoothing her daughter's hair in a way that she knew would comfort her, Elizabeth asked softly,
"What's wrong sweetie?"
At first Olivia only burrowed into Elizabeth more. But then she said quietly,
"I tripped."
Carson knelt down to Olivia's height and looked her in the eye, smiling softly at her. Even with the tears in her eyes, she could help but smile back at his kind face.
'I'm a Doctor and I have lots of things that could make you better, but I have one very special treatment that I save only for my favourite patients.' He said.
'What is it?' Olivia asked shyly.
'An extra special Doctor Beckett hug. Would you like to try it?'
Olivia nodded eagerly and happily wrapped her small arms around his neck tightly. Carson winked at Elizabeth and returned Olivia's hug. Feeling this, Olivia hugged him tighter and declared him to be her favorite Doctor in the world.
The door swung open and Olivia turned to see Jack, staring straight at her. Embarrassed at what he had seen just minutes earlier, Olivia buried her head into Carson's neck, hiding from the man that she so looked up to. Seeing her obvious unease, Jack decided that it could wait and accepted the glass of wine that Elizabeth was offering to him.
As the day went on, Jack continued to attempt to get Olivia on her own, but she remained attached to somebody for the entire duration and he really didn't want to put her in the position where she would have to explain herself in front of everybody else when she clearly didn't want to talk about it at all.
When all seven of them squeezed around a table at dinner time and Olivia sat at the opposite end to him, Jack began to accept that he wasn't going to be getting anything out of Olivia until morning. That was until Elizabeth insisted that Olivia was shivering and that she go and get a jumper. After ten minutes, Elizabeth was beginning to worry about her daughter and Jack readily stepped in to go and check on her.
Jack considered knocking on the bedroom door, but ultimately decided to let himself in and was faced with Olivia standing with her foot hovering over the plane that father and son had spent so long putting together and painting.
'What the hell do you think you're doing, young lady?' He asked, angrily.
Panicked, Olivia tried to run past him through the open doorway, but he was too quick and grabbed and her causing her to shout for her Mum. Desperate to calm her down before somebody in the hotel noticed, Jack lifted her up and apologized for shouting. He placed her down on the bed and then hovered in case she ran off again. When it became clear that she wasn't going to, he sat down beside her.
'So, are you gonna tell me what's going on?'
Olivia shook her head stubbornly, but remained where she was sat.
'I think I can probably guess. You're feeling a bit left out because John's spending all his time with your brother?' He asked softly.
Olivia nodded and stared at her lap. Sighing, Jack put his hand on her shoulder and stroked it gently.
'The thing about John is that he's new to this, and he's going to screw up. In fact, he is screwing up. And don't tell your Mom I used that word.'
Olivia giggled and then the smile fell from her face, 'Why doesn't he like me?'
'He does. I promise you. He's just not very good at showing it. At the moment anyway.'
'Then why doesn't he play with me?'
'Have you asked?'
Olivia considered his question than shook her head.
'There you go then. Look, I know it's hard for you, so how about I have a word with him and you give another chance?'
'Okay.' Olivia said, sounding not entirely convinced.
Jack nodded at her, in what he hoped was a reassuring way, and then took her hand and guided her back to dinner where he lied that Olivia had got off the lift at the wrong level and had got lost. Pretty much as soon as they sat down, a rather attractive waitress appeared with their dinner, making an extra effort to smile and say hello to the twins.
'Do I not get a smile?' John asked, as she placed his dinner down.
'Do you deserve one?' She asked, cheekily.
'I think so.' John replied, eying her up.
The waitress considered him and raised an eyebrow, 'Maybe if you eat all your dinner up.'
With that, she left and Elizabeth caught enough of her expression to know that she was smirking. Her eyes moved over to John who was also looking particularly pleased with himself. She shook her head to herself before taking a bite of dinner to cover her expression.
When Jack was satisfied that the twins were safely tucked away in their room asleep, and Rodney, Carson and Elizabeth were occupied with each other, he sidled up to John who was sat at the bar chatting to the waitress who had served them at dinner. She certainly had a smile on her face now. Eventually, she picked up on the atmosphere between Jack and John she left the two men alone, as annoyed and awkward with each other as ever. Allowing John to finish his drink, Jack suggested that they find somewhere a bit quieter and they eventually ended up in John's room, where John sat against a chest of drawers with a clear look of boredom in his eyes.
'Got another bomb drop for me, Sir? Any other children that I should know about?' John asked, cruelly.
'It's funny you should mention it actually; you see you also happen to have a daughter. About four-feet tall, curly brown hair? Ringing any bells?' Jack asked sardonically.
'You seem to know her quite well, given all those secret little visits you've been having to my children over the years, never thinking to drop in an tell me.'
'You know what Sheppard, I don't care if you have a problem with me, what I care about is the fact that you have a daughter absolutely crying out for love and attention from you and you don't even seem to notice that she exists.' Jack said, angrily.
Although he didn't allow it to show in his countenance, this outburst from Jack affected John more than he cared to let on and he found himself with a growing sense of shame in his gut as he realised just how little he had allowed himself to get to know his daughter. To hear this from Jack though, was the worst part so he remained on the defensive.
'Well thanks to you I haven't exactly had the opportunity yet, but I'm sure you'll be the first to know when I do.'
'Right, you want an apology? Fine, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the twins, but you have to stop using that as an excuse. You want to know something? I came across Olivia this afternoon trying to break that plane that you and your son spent all those hours on. She's not a vindictive child John, so you can probably figure out what drove her to that especially when she has spent most of her life interested in planes.'
Since learning of the twins' existence, it was the first time that John didn't feel angry to hear Jack talking about them. He finally understood just how much Jack cared about them and that in caring about them he wanted to see John be the best Dad he could be. It wasn't a competition; they were two human beings who had been forced to live as near hermits, and that wasn't Jack's fault. Hell, John was even almost grateful that he had been around to keep an eye on them.
John stepped forward and held his hand out to Jack who accepted it.
'Can I buy you a drink?' John offered.
'Let's make it a bottle.' Jack replied.
The next morning…
John peeked around the door and saw Olivia reading a book. He looked to her eyes which were full of the intensity which he had so often seen in Elizabeth's eyes in Atlantis. Watching her, he knew that he should step forward and make his presence known, but it was mildly enjoyable just watching her, seeing the small squint in her eyes as she came to a word that she couldn't quite spell out.
As he leant forward, the floorboard creaked and Olivia looked up in shock. When she realised who it was she blushed and smiled before looking back to her book, although John could see that her eyes were no longer reading the word. He sat down beside her and picked up the book, turning it round and eying the title.
'Winnie the Pooh, huh? My Mom used to read this to me and my brother when we were kids.' He said with a nostalgic smile.
'What is your brother like?'
'Kinda boring actually, but he was fun when we were kids. We were always playing pranks on our parents together.'
'Did you ever push your Mommy into the swimming pool?' Olivia asked with a grin.
'Worse than that. I remember on Mom and Dad's anniversary one year, they were dressed up to go out to a fancy restaurant, and Dave and I were mad about them leaving us, so we set the lawn sprinklers off as soon as they left the house.'
Olivia giggled in shock and amusement and it was so infectious that he found himself laughing along with her.
'What happened?'
'Well they were both pretty mad, and we were grounded for a month, but they stayed in.' John said with a twinkle in his eye.
'You were really naughty!'
'Well, I still am, but don't tell anybody.' He said, putting a finger to his lips.
'I don't mind.' Olivia said, kindly.
'Good. Look Olivia, I feel like I've let you down a bit since I came into your life, and it probably looked to you that I liked your brother more.'
Hearing this, Olivia quickly broke eye contact and stared at the floor making it even harder for John to try and stress just how much she meant to him.
'What I'm trying to say here is that I don't like your brother more than you, I guess I just don't know how to be with a little girl, but I'd really like for you to teach me.'
Olivia finally looked up at him with a small smile and nodded, filling John with love that he didn't know he could feel and love that no doubt Rodney McKay would give him hell over.
'Shake on it?' He said, putting his hand out.
Olivia put her own hand out, but just as he was about to touch her hand she lifted it and put her thumb to her nose whilst wriggling her fingers and sticking her tongue out. John chuckled and had a feeling that they were going to be okay.
A/N 2: Now that the twins have been established as characters, the next chapter will focus more on the growing tension between John and Elizabeth.
