Wow ! My list of reviewers became longer ! Cool ! Jen, Hifield, Jen-NCIS-lover, Dani, Sagey, Terri, Melraemorgan: thank you. Always a great satisfaction for an author to have comments, so please, continue. OK now, the truth about Jennifer Keller... I hope you won't be disappointed.

Chapter 10: Revelations

"Keep cool, OK? We're Rodney McKay's friends!" Amelia explained, moving forward, her hands outstretched in front of her.

"I don't know who're talking about!"

"He's May Jenkins's nephew!" Amelia replied desperately.

Hearing May's name, the old man looked surprised.

"What'd you say? McKay boy? Shrimpy? He's here?"

"Yes, in May's chalet…" Amelia replied, a bit released. "My name is Amelia Banks and this is Ronon Dex. We're staying in May's house for some time; she asked us to come and see if everything was OK for you, because of the storm; the same storm that forced us to take shelter in your house."

Amelia quietly approached the man and placed a hand on the barrel of his gun, gently indicating there was no need for it.

The old man made a strange gesture: he lowered his weapon and abruptly flattened his free hand against his chest. Finally, he took his hood off, revealing a more than intrigued face.

He perfectly matched the description Rodney made of him: a guy with a matt complexion and short, gray hair.

"You must be Ernest Matthews."

The sixty-year-old Indian stared at Ronon suspiciously before returning his gaze to Amelia's gentle face. He remained quiet for a few seconds, probably lost in his own mysterious thoughts, and remembering the good manners:

"Well, err… sorry for that," he said, and vaguely pointing his gun in the direction of the door: "There's a grizzly prowling about in the forest. People saw it this morning by the lake."

The old man rested his hand on his chest again and seemed to feel something through his closed jacket.

"We know that… The beast attacked us yesterday evening," Ronon replied quite annoyed by the newcomer's persistent glances at Amelia.

The guy finally turned his face towards the fireplace where the Winchester was hanging.

"Was it helpful?"

"You have no idea!" Amelia said with a shy smile.

"Is the grizzly d-…?"

"We've just scared it. The only one injured here is Ronon," replied Amelia before Matthews had the time to finish asking anything. She pointed at Ronon. "He took a scratch…"

"Is it bad, son?" Ernest asked, looking up at the Satedan, who was quite a bit taller than him. "You're lucky the beast did not kill you!"

Ronon nodded. The last person who had called him "son" was his grandfather when Ronon was seven. Smiling, the ex-runner went outside the house.

Amelia remained alone with the old man.

"Mr. Matthews, I'm sorry for your bathroom window; I had to force it to enter the house," Amelia apologized.

"Don't worry about that! I came here just to check everything was OK. I saw your skidoo out in the backyard, but if you want, I can drive you back to the chalet…"

The old man was preparing to leave when he suddenly turned around:

"Forgive my curiosity, where do you come from, girl? I feel that you and I may have some ancestors in common."

"I was born in San Diego, California, but my great maternal grandmother was Cherokee. Does ti help?" Amelia offered.

"Quite… and this man outside, he's your boyfriend?"

"Good question…" Amelia remarked sarcastically, pulling her gloves on.

OooooO

What was needed, Rodney McKay decided, was another scan; one scan alone could not be considered sufficient. Yet, when the new image of Jen's entire body on the screen, thousands of red dots appeared again twinkling over the green background of the rest of her anatomy.

"McKay, it's what we call a situation. We must contact Atlantis," Sheppard ordered, shaking the scientist's shoulder to force him to react.

"Wait!" Jennifer exclaimed. She jumped up on her feet to face McKay. "How sensitive are the scanner's settings, Rodney?"

McKay remained hopelessly frozen, staring at his girlfriend.

"Rodney!" Jennifer, still trembling, almost screamed.

"Hum… what… I… I don't know… I tried to set it for maximum sensitivity…"

"So, even an infinitesimal rate of foreign DNA in my blood would be immediately detected?"

Rodney, far too wearisome to follow her, replied, "Yes… I suppose…"

Teyla approached the young woman and looked at the screen over her shoulder.

"It's everywhere, Jennifer, but a majority of the dots seemed located in this area," Teyla said indicating a point on the picture.

The doctor closed her eyes and sighed.

"Yes, and I know why… it's perfectly normal…"

John and Rodney began to stare at her with a wary glance. Jennifer finally raised her eyes from the pad.

"It just occurred to me, I-I'm pregnant, I am not contaminated. I'm pregnant…"

Rodney suddenly felt his legs give away under his weight and he fell on the sofa.

"Wow, wow, wow! Wait a minute… Pregnant? But how is that possible…" he stammered, completely stunned.

The obvious answer was ready to come out of Sheppard's mouth, but he had to put his foot in it; if he valued his friendship with McKay, now wasn't the right time to laugh at his friend –said friend who looked like he just had put a mummified zombie mask on his face… The unexpected announcement has left him quite perplexed.

If Teyla, always the rational spirit, was already thinking about the way to congratulate her friends, John, on the other hand, was struggling with his mind. Something was bothering him:

"Hum, correct me if I'm wrong," The serviceman stared first at Jennifer and Rodney and then turned to Teyla. "I thought this device only detected cancers…"

"The Tumors the Ori's virus cause are highly virulent but they shouldn't look like these readings," Jennifer explained, pleased to be able to allay her friend's fears. "Anyway, only certain areas of my body should be affected, not my entire bloodstream. If I'm not mistaking, what the scan shows here seems to be the fetal DNA circulating in my blood." Then she whispered : "I'm beginning to understand a lot of things…"

"I thought nothing could pass through the maternal placenta…" Sheppard replied, proud to spread the limited scientific knowledge he possessed about pregnancy.

"Yes, in theory. Nevertheless there's still a tiny amount of fetal DNA and fetal cells found in the mother's blood, and we don't know why. Hopefully, physicists can use it to detect some of the genetic diseases we know without using too invasive methods like amniocentesis. These cells' DNA, or I should say, the embryo's DNA, is a new combination formed from Rodney's DNA and mine. That's why the readings are showing all over my body. It's the only explanation I have… Besides, I would already be dead if the readings were of the Ori's virus…"

"And, without being indiscreet, do you know when you…" John added, deliberately failing to finish his sentence.

"I have some ideas…" Jennifer replied, looking sideways towards Rodney. "I should be about six weeks along. And if it's true, then it explains my fatigue, my loss of appetite, my discomfort, even my upset stomach. And I put it all on my sleepless nights spent to develop the serotherapy!"

"But what about… hum… you know…" John tried not to fluster up too much as he continued, "Hum… You know, female trick… Every month… Well, I'm not an expert, but… You'd have been able to suspect something, wouldn't you?"

Wow! Did I just talk about menstruations with Jennifer Keller? Oh my god! John thought.

"You know, not so long ago, I barely avoided dying of hypothermia, and my consciousness was transferred into the body of a grave looter before I was able to return to it*. Do you know the effects this sort of misadventures can have on a woman's menstrual cycles?"

"OK! OK! I trust you, no need for details, I'm sorry I spoke about that!" Sheppard raised his hands in desperate surrender.

"Rodney and you apparently had not anticipated this event?" Teyla dared.

Jennifer, who had regained her calm, looked hesitantly at the future dad.

"I'm afraid not," she replied, biting her lip.

Teyla took her friend's hand in hers and gave her a bright, dazzling smile.

"If you are sure you're carrying a child, Jennifer, then it's wonderful!"

In spite of Teyla's attempt to ease the atmosphere, McKay's persistent catatonia kept them all worried. He looked as blank and dead as a statue.

Jennifer slowly approached him on the sofa and carefully put her hands on his knee. All of a sudden, he finally came back to life and looked at her before wrapping her tightly in his arms. Jennifer could feel Rodney's heart close to hers; it was beating so fast it could have broken out of his chest.

"I thought you were gonna d-"

"I'm fine, Rodney… Trust me… ll I need is a medical examination and some tests."

"We have to return to Atlantis," Rodney insisted. "Carson has to examine you."

"Rodney, it is not necessary… I only need to go to Whistler hospital and then we'll see…"

Rodney slowly loosened his embrace and softly caressed Jennifer's fair hair. The young woman took her lover's face between her hands; she dove her eyes into Rodney's, and talked to him as though there was nobody else in the room:

"And after that, you and I will have a serious conversation…"

OoooooO

The morning sun caressed Teyla's face. She closed her eyes and savored this moment of calm now that everyone in the house seemed to have subsided. She had sat herself on a bench of the veranda, near the living room window, where she was able to watch her son now and again. Torren was parked in an improvised playpen made of chairs, large decked pillows, the back of the sofa and a blanket. The crackling in the fireplace startled him and made him laugh every time. He was gleefully playing with the little train toy that seemed to fascinate him a lot. Perhaps May would let him have it when they return to Atlantis, Teyla wandered.

She opened her eyes suddenly. John was standing before her, motionless.

"May I?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat beside her.

"Of course."

She felt her heart being carried away, right out of her body. Their arms were touching. Their legs too. John watched the snowy horizon but she knew he was about to broach the subject she dreaded. So she decided to take the lead.

"What I feel for you is sincere John."

John forced himself to stare at the forest in front of them, and decided finally to let her continue without answering.

"Kanaan and I are no longer as close as we were before. My feelings for him have changed, and so did my feelings for you. I didn't expect what's happening. I find myself very surprised. I have always held a great admiration for you, and you know as well as I that we've get along right from the start. But now it seems… It seems I-I fell in l-love, with you."

She had said it! Teyla could see a slight smile on John's face as he continued to look away. The Athosian woman was silent. Sheppard continued:

"I neither understand, Teyla. I've always respected you. You know that. You've always been there, strong, solid, soothing… Beautiful…"

He sighed. Expressing his feelings had never been his cup of tea. He was good at boasting Rodney, and laughing at him, or at throwing two or three funny jokes… That was him! But with Teyla, now, he had the impression his stomach had leapt up into his throat. Damn, she was beautiful! How had he been able to live every day next to her without succumbing?

He could sense his awkwardness was shared; Teyla was feeling the same. They had finally opened their eyes, finally opened their heart but the change their feelings implied frightened them.

After a moment of silence, John began again:

"When I saw you in the control room with Michael, when I believed that he was once again going to take you, I really became aware that I held to you much more that I thought. I… What I mean is, it occurred to me how deep my feelings for you where."

Delicately, Teyla put her hand on his cheek.

"I don't know what is going to happen, John… How we are going to deal with this. All I know is that I have to tell Kanaan first. He is the father of my son. I owe him an explanation. I think he is aware something had broken between us. He is a good man, a great leader of my people. I cannot start a new relationship if things are not clear between him and me."

Kanaan… Suddenly, John had the feeling that he was the worst man on Earth. And he was right. The Athosian was a good guy. A man who won Teyla's heart and her a baby. He felt like the thief of their happiness…

Teyla noticed his confusion and gently tightened her fingers on his face.

"Kanaan and I are over. We did not want to admit it, that's all. Don't feel guilty or remorseful"

She was good at reading his thoughts.

"I don't love him the same way anymore. I-"

The shock of a heavy backpack someone had thrown down at their feet made them jump. Instinctively they both released the other and each retreated to the ends of the bench. A few steps away from them, Ronon was observing them with a dark look.

"You're back! I knew we needn't worry!" Sheppard said, jumping to his feet. "Is everything OK? We didn't even hear you arrive! Where's Banks?"

Ronon continued to stare at them without speaking. John looked away and sought Teyla's help. Chewie had certainly seen them; perhaps he had also heard what they were talking about… John knew his friend's opinion on a possible relationship between Teyla and him; he felt like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar… Strange feeling when you're in your forties!

"How is Amelia?" Teyla asked with much self-assurance while meeting the inquisitive glance of her friend.

Before such an aplomb, Ronon has to capitulate:

"She's fine. We're both fine. We've even brought someone along…" Ronon growled as if blasé as he walked toward the entrance of the chalet.

OooooO

Everyone was gathered in the lounge. Amelia and Ronon's return was a relief for everyone in the house. Jennifer gave her friends her best hugs and Teyla even offered her Athosian forehead-to-forehead embrace to Ronon. And Rodney had came back to his senses again, or so:

"Ernest? Ernest Matthews?" Rodney exclaimed.

"Shrimpy! My, you're a real grown up now; last time I saw you, you couldn't reach my shoulders!" Ernest exclaimed with enthusiasm as he clapped an arm across Rodney's shoulders.

Once free, Rodney instantly pointed a menacing finger at John.

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything!" John defended himself.

"But you were about to!"

"Come on, Meredith! Stop seeing evil everywhere… Shrimpy's cute, I already like it!" John savored the way the nickname sounded in his mouth. He continued: "Believe me I'm gonna reserve it for special occasions only!"

Before Rodney's exasperated face, John introduced himself to Matthews:

"I'm Lieutenant-Colonel John Sheppard of the American Air Force, pleased to meet you, sir." He shakes Matthews' hand.

"Likewise, son!"

Curiously, as John tried to take back his hand the old man seemed reluctant to let go. He was looking in John's eyes as if he wanted to scan the soldier's mind. A feeling of uneasiness came over John. But before a too long and awkward silence settle, Ernest finally released him and put his hand on his chest the same way he had done in front of Amelia in the hut.

Curious guy, John thought.

"Yeah, err… You already know Rodney, Ronon and Amelia. Let me introduce you with Teyla Emmagan and Doctor Jennifer Keller."

Ernest greeted the girls with a nod.

Suddenly they heard a horn from outside. They all went to the door, Teyla in front ready to open it. Outside, a huge buzzing snowplow had parked in front of the house barely leaving place to Jeannie and her pickup.

"Hi everybody!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I've brought food! You should thank Sam here, he kindly opened the way for me!"

Half concealed behind the snowy window of his engine, Sam greeted the lot with a sway of the hand before initiating a U-turn and leaving the now snow-cleared yard.

"Ernest? 'God! How are you!" Jeannie warmly asked, taking the old man in her arms.

"Jeannie? Time goes by too fast! You were pretty as a child, but look at you now! You look stunning!"

"Flatterer!" Jeannie laughed, with a warm smile. "Is everything OK for you?"

"Oh, don't worry, your friends took care of my house for me," he said, indicating Amelia and Ronon. "I left for Whistler to visit my son, Davis, the day before the storm and those two found themselves fighting a Grizzly bear in front of the hut! Can you believe it?"

"The telephone lines should be repaired in two or three hours!" Jeannie announced while unloading with Ronon two large bags of groceries from the pick-up rear.

"How did the night go? No foolishness in my absence?"

The lot exchanged furtive glances…

"We'll discuss all this at lunch if you don't mind," muttered Rodney.

"I have to leave" Ernest broke in. "It's been a pleasure to meet you all, and catch up with old friends…"

"Please, Ernest! Stay with us for dinner!" Jeannie asked. "We'll talk about the wonderful summers we spent here!"

"Yeah, Ernest, you'll tell us some nice anecdotes about our beloved Meredith," John added, his best grin into place.

Everyone had come back inside the house except Rodney; the scientist was standing motionless and morose on the porch. For sure, it's going to be the longest day ever… he thought exasperated.

TBC…