Disclaimer: MGM owns SGA; KOI does NOT.
Note: To all who have taken the time to review this story, I say thank you: DaletheChu, DaniWilder, ElisaD263, Jay Say, and LockBox22, I appreciate the feedback.
Elisa, there's a little extra Sam and Jack shippage in this chapter just for you.
Jay, I think a Sam/Jack, Jennifer/Rodney double-date is a perfect venue for a kissing contest. Maybe you'd like to write it, hmm?
Chapter Ten:
Independence Day in The Springs
Part 4: Through a Glass Darkly
by koinekid
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
1603 MDT
Colorado Springs, CO
Had Rodney McKay assumed his barbecue would descend into chaos without him, he'd have been proven wrong by the combined efforts of his best friend and his brother-in-law. John and Kaleb had set aside any lingering animosity from the flag fiasco and were working in tandem to keep the food rolling out. From the look of things Kaleb had even convinced a few of the meat-eaters to sample the vegetarian cuisine. That worried Rodney. Based on the RSVPs, he and Jennifer had anticipated a low vegetarian turnout and shopped accordingly. Yet Kaleb's cooking had converted Rodney's sister from a blissful carnivore to a card-carrying ovo-lacto. Would they have enough food to go around? Rodney fished his mobile phone from his pocket, intending to text the question to Jennifer.
"General," John called, his speech only slightly slurred from the alcohol. "What can I set you up with?"
Rodney breathed a sigh of relief as Jack, true to his word, requested a bratwurst. No way vegetarian food would sate the hearty appetites of all these soldiers. Then Jack added, "The grilled corn on the cob looks good too."
Kaleb puffed out his chest. "That's my specialty."
Rodney scowled at the phone before stuffing it back into his pocket. No need to bother Jen; He'd check the fridge in a few minutes. Turning, he perused the crowd. With the exception of the two cooks, the group around the grill had dispersed. Carson had seated himself across from Jeannie at one of the crowded picnic tables, and the two were engaged in an animated conversation. Rodney recalled the Scot's disappointment at learning of Jeannie's marriage when she first visited Atlantis: Such a pity. She reminds me of someone I once dated. I think I'd have married the lass if her brother hadn't tried to kill me. (*)
Nearby, Radek was talking with his ex-wife, a short woman with mousy brown hair and glasses thicker than his. Shortly after her transfer to Atlantis, she and Radek had begun wearing their rings again, Though they still kept separate quarters, Radek claimed to be happy. Jennifer thought it incredibly sweet, and while Rodney hesitated to say so, he was glad for his former second. His current second, meanwhile, was having less success at the game of love. Bill's tactic of choice: inviting potential paramours to join his next World of Warcraft campaign. He insisted it had worked before and would again. But not, apparently, on Jennifer's colleagues from the hospital.
Further into the yard a cluster of women – married and single alike – had formed around Ronon as he regaled them with tales of the battlefield. Murray exchanged his potato salad for a couple of cans of beer and started across the yard. When he approached the fan club, his baritone voice booming, "Come, Ronon Dex, join me for a drink," a number of female eyes turned in Murray's direction. More than a few stayed turned. Ronon grimaced.
Owing to his duties as designated driver, Ronon refused the beer, but a raven-haired beauty flashed a gleaming smile and offered her cup. "I could use a refill."
Murray grinned and popped the top.
Retrieving his phone once more, Rodney activated the camera. Seeing all the merrymaking would do Jennifer good. He snapped a few pics and typed his message: Ur missing the fun! He paused before pressing send and strolled into the yard. One of the nursery's windows looked out over the back yard. Jennifer and Sam might be watching the fun already.
Shielding his eyes from the sun, Rodney squinted at the nursery window. Through the glare on the glass, he spotted two people, one with long hair, another with short. They were passionately kissing.
The bottom dropped out of Rodney's stomach.
The fingertips skimming the back of Jennifer's neck made her shiver. "Hey! Cold hands," she mumbled.
Sam laughed. "Jack complains about them too."
Jennifer twisted her upper body to regard the woman standing behind her. "Do you often have General O'Neill in this position?"
A shrug. "He likes my help putting on his dog tags in the morning. And sometimes in the afternoon."
"In the—?" Jennifer's jaw dropped. "Sam, you're awful."
"Hold still." Grasping the young woman's shoulders, Sam compelled her to face forward. "You know you were just as bad when you and Rodney first got together."
"Was not." Jennifer blushed. "And anyway, how would you know? You were in another galaxy."
"I have my sources on Atlantis." Sam's eyes twinkled. "Do you still have that slinky red dress?"
"A-are you going to help me with this or not?"
Sweeping aside her friend's golden mane, Sam brought together the ends of a silver chain. She fiddled with the clasp a good twenty seconds before managing to pull back the lever and slip the loop into the open circle. "Ha! Got it," she said as the clasp snapped shut. "You know, dog tag chains are a lot easier to fasten."
"Next time," Jennifer quipped as the chain settled against her neck. She closed the jewelry box atop her bureau, traced the contours of the elegant silver picture frame that had been her Mother's Day gift, and turned to face her friend. "It's funny. I take my rings off all the time before surgery, but it felt wrong not to wear them today." She lifted a section of the chain, and her wedding and engagement bands slid down its length to bump against her chest.
Her brows bunched. Something still felt wrong. Ah. The modest neckline of her sundress covered her bust all the way to her clavicle. She tucked the chain beneath her dress and sighed her contentment as the gold bands made contact once more with her flesh.
"Today, you're not a surgeon," Sam suggested. "You're a wife and a mom and a party host. And there's that frown again. Is everything okay?"
"It's just the heat. It has me all..." She gestured vaguely, unable to finish.
"Come on, Jennifer. We're friends. I'd like to help if I can."
Jennifer crossed the room and sank onto the bed. The springs compressed further than she would have liked.
"It's not Rodney, is it?" Sam sat next to her.
Eyes flashing, Jennifer shot back, "Of course not."
Sam grinned. "I figured. How about that dragon lady in the pink business suit?"
Jennifer laughed a little. An hour or so ago when she opened her front door to welcome Gloria Fine, the woman's pink suit gave her a moment's amusement. Had the visitor been anyone else, Jennifer might have joked, Avon calling? But perusing the Want Ads for a new job did not strike her as a particularly fun holiday activity.
"That was my Chief of Medicine," she said. "Did you run into her outside?"
Sam nodded. "She almost hit Jack's car when we pulled up. The glare she shot him could melt carbon."
"The hospital paged her," Jennifer explained. "There was a multi-car pileup on Ronald Reagan Highway."
Sam cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
"According to Gloria. Why?"
"Reagan is road we used to get here, and there was no wreck."
Jennifer frowned. "Maybe it happened after you passed."
"Maybe," Sam agreed. "But you don't think so?"
"It would be just like Gloria to make up an excuse to leave early and insult me on the way out." Jennifer let out a shaky breath. "I honestly don't know why that woman hates me so much."
"I might," Sam offered. "Ever hear of Ivy League envy? You got into Harvard; she didn't."
Jennifer shook her head. "I didn't know that. How did you?"
Before Sam could respond, laughter rang through the room. Her sharp eyes roved across the room then settled on an LCD monitor mounted on the wall opposite the bed. The display blinked to life, and as the picture took focus, it revealed a man and a woman kissing in front of a window. The woman stepped out of the embrace and pulled the man toward the center of the room.
"Someone might see," she whined.
"It's the second floor, babe," he returned but let himself be dragged along without complaint. As they neared the bottom of the image, motion sensors in the nursery automatically switched the display to a feed from another camera so that the pair were at the top of the picture once more.
"Is that the baby monitor Rodney gave you?" Sam asked. The engineer in her stared hungrily at the technology.
"Part of it." Jennifer said. Rodney had begun the project before Easter, installing LCD screens of various sizes in strategical locations throughout the house and keying them to a network of high quality webcams overlooking the nursery. At first he limited himself to large monitors in the living room and here in the bedroom and a flip-down monitor in the the kitchen. But as the weeks passed, he added monitor after monitor until every room in the house was wired. He'd even installed a monitor on the patio despite Jennifer's protestation that it was unnecessary. As long as Nate was in his crib, one of them would always remain inside the house.
"Sam, how do you know about Gloria?"
The colonel pointed at the woman on the screen. "I recognize her. Him too, I think."
Jennifer nodded. "They're from—"
A shriek echoed through the speakers.
The LCD monitor on the wall activated as soon as Rodney stepped into the living room. Paternal instincts drove his eyes to the screen despite his knowledge that his son was safely ensconced in Jennifer's womb. A good sign, he decided.
"Maybe we ought to consider having one of our own," a masculine voice warbled over the speaker.
"Jay, it's way too soon," another moaned.
The female voice was clearly not Jennifer's, and Rodney deflated. It wasn't as though he really believed his wife would betray him with another woman. Okay, maybe when he'd had too much to drink, the fantasy of Jennifer and Sam sharing a kiss might briefly cross his mind. But when confronted with the actual possibility... Well, he'd never have that fantasy again.
Rodney crossed the room to discover the identities of the trespassers who'd nearly given him a heart attack. On the monitor, he could see Jennifer's favorite nurse from Atlantis, Marie...something. He never could remember her last name. She and her longtime boyfriend, Joseph Kidd were apparently taking an unauthorized tour of the nursery. Kidd was an Air Force captain, or had been. Rodney recalled Jennifer possibly mentioning a promotion. A pity. Major Kidd didn't have quite the same ring.
"We could start on that baby right now." Kidd stepped behind her and wound his arms around her waist. "Making love in your old boss's house, that's gotta be a fantasy."
"Jay..." Her protests fell silent when he began nibbling her ear. She reached for the crib to steady herself.
Rodney huffed. How many people were going to make out in his house today? Sam and Jack, he didn't mind. But Marie and Kidd were inches from where Rodney's son would sleep. He stood with his hand poised over the transmit button. If one article of clothing came off...
Kidd's fingers toyed with the buttons on Marie's silky blouse. His hand disappeared beneath the fabric.
Rodney pressed the button.
Marie's shriek was loud enough to distort the speakers; Rodney would need to adjust the gain on the microphones before the baby arrived.
To be continued
Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated
Note: Special thanks to DaniWilder for use of the Joseph Kidd character, who received his first mention in "How One Date Changed Jennifer Keller's Life."
(*) Ten points if you correctly identify this reference. Hint: it's a film.