"Dad, you shouldn't be drinking coffee. And you definitely shouldn't be eating waffles, especially with that much butter." Jennifer said dismayed at seeing her father's breakfast choice.
"Perhaps my blood pressure is being driven up by the constant mothering and nagging." Her father shot back, feeling angry and frustrated about his lack of independence.
"If you looked after yourself you wouldn't need mothering."
"I have managed just fine for sixty years."
Jennifer bit back her retort and instead moved to the hallway and pulled on her coat.
"Where are you going?" Matthew asked.
"To take Max for a walk." She said moments before the door slammed shut.
"Don't you think you were a bit short with her?" Dawn suggested. "She is worried about you."
"I'm fine. Even the hospital said my injuries are relatively minor, and they didn't care about my blood pressure. She worries too much."
"Of course she does, they told her you were dead."
"What are you talking about?"
"When she arrived at the hospital their systems were down and they used the original list which had you down as deceased. For over an hour she thought you were dead."
-00-
"Maybe I should go look for Jennifer." Jason suggested, worried with how long Jennifer had been gone.
"She'll be okay. She just needs time to think." Matt said, although he too was growing concerned by her absence.
"There's a lot of snow and ice out there." Jason pressed.
"You're uncharacteristically concerned." Anna pointed out.
"Of course I am. If anything, and I mean anything, happens to Jennifer, Ronon will kill me." Jason explained.
"Ronon cannot be that bad."
"He's not. He's worse." Jason said as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." He said leaving the room.
"Ronon?" Jason said as he opened the door. "Sorry, don't know you." He added seeing the man next to Ronon.
"I'm Daniel Jackson. I'm just here to make sure Ronon arrives and has someone to stop him causing any disruption. Jennifer here?"
"No. She's out with Max." He said before explaining. "The dog. She should be back soon. You want to come in?"
"I need to get back." Daniel said before looking at Ronon. "I take it you're okay from here."
"Yeah."
"Good. Well try not to cause trouble." Daniel smiled before adding. "Good luck." With that he turned and left.
"Come on in." Jason said to Ronon, praying Jennifer would return shortly.
"Who was it?" Matt asked not looking up from his newspaper.
"Ronon." Jason said causing Matt's head to shoot up.
"Jennifer's Ronon?" He asked looking at Ronon, unable to conceal his shock at seeing the man before him.
"Don't just make the poor boy stand there." Dawn chastised as she got to her feet. Turning her attention to Ronon she said. "Come in and sit down. Are you hungry? Of course you are. I'll get some food. Sit, sit." She directed, pointing at the couch, which Ronon silently walked over to. As he sat he was acutely aware of Jennifer's father watching his every move. Having sat he looked directly at the elder Keller and silently stared back. All the while Jason and Anna looked on unable to take their eyes off the staring contest.
The silence was only broken when Dawn returned holding a plate of biscuits which she offered to Ronon, who happily accepted the food as Jason muttered. "You're going to need more biscuits."
Ignoring Jason Dawn asked. "So what brings you here?"
"Jennifer." Ronon said, sensing the others were expecting a longer answer he added. "I was worried about her."
"I'm sure she'll be glad that you are here." Dawn said sitting next to Matt who continued to silently stare at Ronon. When the room fell silent she added. "So tell us about yourself."
"Not much to tell." Ronon said feeling awkward.
"You work at the same base as Jennifer and Jason?" Dawn pressed.
"Yes."
"But home is far away?"
"Yes."
"You have any family?" Dawn tried.
"No. Not any more." Ronon said.
"I'm sorry." Dawn said solemnly. In response Ronon just bit down onto a biscuit. After thirty seconds of awkward silence Dawn attempted conversation again. "So have you been here before?"
"Here?" Ronon asked.
"Chippewa Falls." Dawn explained.
"No."
"Well, as you are here we will have to show you round, won't we Matthew."
"Sure." Came the forced response earning a glare from Dawn. Not to be deterred though she forged ahead.
"There are some lovely walks round here. You look like a man who enjoys the outdoors."
"He is definitely the outdoors type." Jason jumped in pitying Ronon and Dawn.
"Of course at this time of year there are not many easy walks, but you could snowmobile." Dawn suggested. Before Ronon could question what a snowmobile was a dog barked in the distance.
"That'll be Jennifer, if you want to go out and meet her." Jason said.
"Yeah, thanks." Ronon said practically bolting from the room. Once the front door had shut Dawn looked at Matt and said.
"Did you have to be so rude?"
"Me?"
"You barely spoke to the poor man."
"He wasn't exactly chatty." Matthew defended.
"Well you probably intimidated him." Dawn said drawing a snort from Jason. "Now where are you going? Jennifer said you need to remain still." Dawn continued noticing Matthew get to his feet and hobble to the window.
-00-
"Ronon?" Jennifer asked not believing her eyes. "Are you okay? The others? You were late checking in and I've not heard anything since the-" Jennifer rambled until she felt Ronon's hands on her shoulders, as Max sat by her legs suspiciously looking at Ronon.
"Everyone is fine. You?"
Jennifer was about to dismiss the question with her stock answer of 'fine', however, on seeing Ronon's concern she shook her head and said.
"They told me he was dead. I thought I'd lost him. And you were missing, I thought I could have lost both of you." In response Ronon pulled Jennifer into him and held her.
As Max got bored he jumped up against Jennifer causing her to pull away from Ronon and stroke Max's head.
"You've not lost anyone." Ronon assured her as he looked down at Max.
"I've missed you." Jennifer said causing Ronon to hug her again causing Max to jump at Jennifer protesting the loss of attention. As the dog turned his attention to Ronon the former runner asked. "He always do that?"
"He's just excited." Jennifer said resting her head against Ronon's chest. When Jennifer finally pulled away Ronon stared down at her before stroking her cheek.
"You're cold. You should go inside."
"Yeah." Jennifer said hesitantly.
"Something wrong?"
"I had a fight with dad this morning."
"About what?"
"He wasn't looking after himself."
"So you've been hiding out here in the cold?"
"No, just clearing my head. I didn't want another fight so I walked slowly."
"He was resting when I saw him." Ronon said.
"He was?" Jennifer asked surprised.
"Yeah, sitting reading a paper."
"Well he's not sitting anymore." Jennifer commented causing Ronon to turn round and see Jennifer's father watching them from the window.
-00-
As they entered the house and Jennifer took off her coat Ronon caught sight of her cast and asked.
"What happened?"
"Barker took Sheppard's pep talk to heart and attempted to protect me from a non existent danger. My wrist got fractured as I hit the ground. It'll be as good as new in a few weeks." Jennifer summarised.
"Barker? The new Lieutenant?" Ronon growled.
"Yes and I'm sure he'll take plenty of grief for it."
"Does it hurt?" He asked gently lifting the cast.
"N-," Jennifer started only to confess. "Yes."
"You've taken anything?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I forgot to bring them with me. I left the city in a hurry."
"Roberts." Ronon called, louder than necessary as everyone else were feet away listening to the conversation from the other side of the door.
"Everything ok?" Jason asked.
"No, you need to drive us somewhere."
-00-
"I hope you don't mind, we're going to order in pizza." Dawn said as Jennifer, Jason and Ronon returned.
"Sounds good." Jason said.
"Good, it should be here soon. Did you get what you needed?" She asked looking at Jennifer.
"Yes thanks."
"You should have said you were in pain." She chastised gently.
"It wasn't so bad." Jennifer said.
"Where's Anna?" Jason asked.
"Had to go home. Stomach flu is doing the rounds with the little ones."
"Nice." Jason replied sarcastically. "But probably just as well. Ronon will definitely eat more than you thought."
-00-
"I guess it's time to go to bed." Dawn said quietly to Matthew who threw a suspicious glance at Ronon, who was holding a sleeping Jennifer. "Jason, help Matthew upstairs." She added.
"I'm fine." Matthew said.
"Do you want me to wake Jennifer and ask her?" Dawn asked.
"No."
"Then let Jason help you." Dawn said, smiling as Matthew reluctantly accepted the help.
"Can I get you anything?" She asked Ronon as she walked past.
"No, we're good." Ronon said glancing down at Jennifer.
"Her room is the first door on the right upstairs. I'll leave the door open for you." Dawn said before adding. "Goodnight Ronon."
"Night." Ronon replied before turning his attention back to Jennifer.
Not wanting to wake her he just sat on the couch with Jennifer sleeping on him.
He debated just staying like that all night, but as the minutes passed by and the temperature started to fall he became more concerned with keeping Jennifer warm.
Ronon carefully climbed the stairs with Jennifer nestled in his arms, followed closely by Max. Having reached her bedroom he carefully placed her in the bed. No sooner had he pulled the sheets round her Max was taking up all the free real estate in the bed. Ronon stared at the dog and shook his head before leaning down and kissing Jennifer before leaving the room and returning to the couch downstairs.
-TBC...
A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I will try to get the next chapter up tomorrow.
