Date: March 1, 2009
Title: Restoring Hope
Author: Soccer-Bitch
Chapter: 11 of?
Rating: M (for language and adult situations)
Pairings: Jessica Clark/Cameron Mitchell, Ellie Harrison/Evan Lorne,
Jessica Clark/ John Sheppard
Warnings: Some Strong Language and sexual situations
Feedback: All opinions are welcome!
Disclaimer: I own Jessica Clark, ElaineDex owns Ellie GO READ HER STORIES! :D
Summary: After a horrible luck in life and love on Earth, will Dr. Jessica Clark pack up her life and start over in the Pegasus galaxy on Atlantis? SheppardOC, LorneOC
Thanks to: ElaineDex for use of her character Ellie and also to Pup of Power for help with bouncing ideas and generally helping. THANKS A BUNCH GUYS!!!!
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Standing in her room, Jessica swayed with her two month old son in her arms. Hardly believing it had only been two months since she had given birth to him, but in some ways the days seemed to go by a lot faster. Usually Christopher would fall asleep easy, but not this not. Whether he could detect his mother's mood or he just didn't want to fall asleep, Jessica wasn't sure. Adding some humming to the swaying, seemed to help a little bit, but not too much. It was late and most people around Atlantis were either sleeping or working the late shift. Yawning, she looked down into the wide awake, but tired face that she loved to bits. Her son. Without even trying she loved him so much. When looking into his eyes, she could see Cameron in them, but she tried not to think about that. She had received word that he knew that she had the baby, but knew he wouldn't be coming back for some time.
The door chimed, setting Chris into a fit of startled cries. Sighing in frustration, she opened the door, shushing him at the same time. To her surprise, Evan Lorne stood in the door way, his whole stance stuff with whatever was bothering him. She shifted away from the door, giving him room to walk in.
"You're going to have to excuse me for a minute until I can get him settled," she mentioned quietly, rocking the baby in her arms.
"No problem, sorry for disturbing him," she gave him a curious look. "I heard him crying while I was waiting,"
"Know any tricks to get him to stop?" she asked tiredly, blowing a piece of hair out of her face.
Evan smiled and shook his head. "I didn't spend a lot of time with my sister and kids to pick anything up."
Jessica nodded and began to pace, cooing softly at her son. By this time he had begun hiccupping, his cries slowly dying out to a whimper. "He's really tired but not able to go to sleep, colic and all," she offered as an explanation. Evan walked over to the couch and sat down.
"So what did you want to talk about?" she said quietly, watching as Chris slowly closed his eyes.
"Ellie." She looked at him, curious for him to expand. "We're loosing our closeness."
"Our work is causing us to spend less and less time with one another, I was wondering if you could talk to Sheppard to see if he can cut down our hours a little with a suitable excuse."
Jessica laughed. "I'll give him the real excuse then chat to him about an official one. But you're going to have to talk to Elizabeth about Ellie, giving her fewer hours is Elizabeth's department I'm afraid."
Lorne grinned at her as she set Christopher on his back in the basinet and covered him with a blanket that one of Teyla's people had given to her. "So what is the official name for him?" he asked as he stood up and walked over to the basinet to look at the sleeping baby. "He looks like Mitchell, but a bit of you as well,"
"John doesn't seem to mind that he looks like Cam, he loves him no matter what," Jessica said, a smile plastered upon his face. "Christopher Joshua Mitchell-Sheppard,"
"Two last names?" Lorne asked surprised.
Nodding her head, Jessica sat down on her bed. "Cameron will always have a son even if it isn't on Earth and I did many things wrong by him when I left Earth, so I guess it's kind of my way of apologizing to him. And since Christopher is my son and my last name is Sheppard now I gave him my name as well,"
"Are things going to get tense between you now?" Lorne asked.
Looking at him in confusion, "Between who?"
"You and Mitchell,"
"You mean like it was while I was pregnant?" Jessica sighed. "I want to blame all that on the hormones and the fact that I was so blissful in my new love with John, but I think I was just being a real bitch to Cam. I regret it, but at the same time, I wouldn't change it, because if I had been any nicer, he would have been able to change my mind and he would have taken me back to Earth,"
"Even though you and the colonel are married?"
"Not by Earth standards we aren't, but when we get the chance we will change that," Jessica said.
"Really?"
"Well John doesn't know that yet, but he will when the time comes or the subject comes up,"
"Are you adjusting well to being a Mom? Ellie's mentioned that she hasn't seen much of you lately," Lorne told her.
"That's because I'm up all night with Chris and when I get the chance to sleep I take it. Carson said that Chris being so fussy will pass and I will be getting sleep soon," Jessica told him.
When Lorne was about to reply the room door opened and Jessica's smile widened when she saw Sheppard walk in. Looking at Jessica, Sheppard walked over and gave her a sweet kiss before peering into see how Christopher was sleeping. "Lorne. How'd he go down? Has he been asleep long?"
"Colonel,"
"No, it was just like last night. He's only been asleep for a few minutes." Jessica said before the smell hit her nose. "And you smell,"
"Thanks Jess. I love you too," Sheppard said looking at his wife.
"Can you please go take a shower? I am not letting you the bed or holding him while you smell like that," Jessica said plugging her nose so that she got her point across. "What happened to make you smell so bad?"
"One of McKay's new experiments," he muttered under his breath before heading to the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
"I should probably head back to my room," Lorne said as Jessica scooted and got off the bed. "I appreciate all the help I can get,"
"I'll see what I can get him to do and remember talk to Elizabeth about her hours, its possible that she's logging in more than others and she may need some time off," Jessica hinted.
"Thanks, Jess," Lorne said giving her a hug before going to the door and opening it to see Ronon standing there ready to knock. "Bye,"
"Bye, Evan," Jessica said watching him leave before turning her attention to the man in front of her. "Can I help you Ronon?"
"Sheppard here?" he asked.
"He's in the shower, why what's up?"
"Wanted to know if he wanted to spar,"
"Who is sparring?" John asked walking out in a pair of grey sweat pants with his dog tags around his neck and nothing else on.
"McKay wants to learn self-defense, thought you'd want to get in on it," Ronon said with a grin.
"Naw, I think I'm gonna let Jess get some sleep. Chris hasn't been letting her get much, and she's losing a bit of weight," Sheppard said.
"You think so?" Jessica asked, a smile creeping onto her face.
"Why are you smiling?" John questioned her.
"I didn't think I was losing any of that damn baby fat," Jessica smiled. "Can you watch Chris so I can get a shower in?"
John walked up to her and nodded his head and looked at Ronon. "Thanks, John," Jessica told him before giving him a kiss and walking over to his dresser and taking out one of his casual shirts along with a pair of her maternity pajama pants.
"McKay wants to learn self-defense?" Sheppard asked giving his friend a look.
"Yeah, wants to be able to protect himself without killing anyone of us off-world," Ronon said with a grin.
"And when is this supposed to take place?" Sheppard asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Tonight or tomorrow. If you can get away, I'm sure it will be worth anything you have planned," Ronon told him.
"I'm sure Jess wants me to stay here and have time with Chris," Sheppard told him.
"Why not bring him?" Ronon asked.
"Cause Jess is trying to get him onto a schedule. If I throw it off, I might not be around. She is up all night with him. I think she is gonna take him to Carson soon," Sheppard said.
"Mitchell seen him yet?"
"Through pictures and once through the gate connection. He wants to have her come to Earth so that he can spend time with his son, but I don't think Jess is up to it and I'm not up to letting her go without someone that will stick up for her and tell him where to stick it," Sheppard told him as he heard the shower turn off.
"Can't go with her?"
"Not right now, don't have enough time with certain things that are coming with certain missions," Sheppard said. "I wouldn't feel comfortable having her go without me. She feels guilty."
"What for?"
"Cameron's parents always wanted grandkids to spoil. He told them she was pregnant, but that she left because her job shipped her off. They want to meet the baby,"
"They'll have plenty of chances when he's a bit older," Ronon said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I should go,"
"Alright. Let me know how it goes," Sheppard said with a grin as Ronon turned and walked away and towards the level changer.
Once she was out of the shower and dressed, Jessica came back into the room while putting her wet hair into a high ponytail. Walking over to the basinet, she smiled at her sleeping baby. Watching him sleep was something she told Ellie and Jennifer that she'd never do, but here she stood watching as he inhaled and exhaled each and every breath. He had sandy brown hair just like Cameron as well as his blue eyes, but she knew there was a possibility that they would change. She hoped that they didn't. She loved the blue eyes on him.
"Ronon is teaching McKay how to defend himself," Sheppard said wrapping his arms around her stomach and placing a soft kiss to her neck.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jessica asked. "I mean because sometimes McKay can get distracted and that could be a bad thing for Ronon."
"They'll be fine. So what were you and Lorne talking about?"
Jessica sighed. "Him and Ellie. It seems that they are drifting apart. Do you think you could perhaps give him a few less hours? Or maybe have his team go off world for something that isn't dangerous?"
"And what should I send them on? A science mission?" John asked, not a note of seriousness in his voice what so ever.
"I'm being serious, John," Jessica told him as they moved away from the basinet and towards their bed. "Why are you finding this so funny?"
"Lorne is so in love with that woman that he came to you to get you to make me help him with his hours?" he continued to laugh. "Jess, come on it's a little funny,"
"If I was in his shoes, I'd ask for help too. Fine, don't help." Jessica said as she pulled the covers back and slid under on her side of the bed that was closer to the basinet.
Her side of the bed used to be on the opposite side, but when they placed the basinet there, it was just easier all around for her not to crawl over John to get to a screaming Christopher. That was another thing she was worried about. He wasn't eating as much as he had been the week before and he was starting to get extra fussy and crying more so then when she brought him home from the infirmary. She worried about it a lot. If things weren't better by the afternoon, then she was planning on taking him to see Carson or Jennifer, depending who was on duty at the time. She just hoped that nothing bad happened so she could see one of them right away.
"Don't be mad," Sheppard said crawling under the covers with her. "Jess, you have to think its funny,"
"I don't," she said, turning from her back to her side, so her back was now facing her husband. She was in no mood to have any type of pillow talk, she knew it would just make her more upset then she already was. When she felt his hand on her hip, she almost removed it, to make him understand that she was upset that he didn't take her seriously. She didn't want her friend's relationship to end like hers and Cameron's did.
Cameron had a way of making her feel guilty without even trying. She had been emailing him videos and pictures of Christopher, but she knew that he wasn't satisfied with that. It was going to be hard, not being able to see his son. He especially wanted his parents to see him as well. She didn't want to deny them their grandson, but how would she explain the reason why they aren't going to see him too often was because she was in a different galaxy? For some reason, she believed that wouldn't fly to well with the ones in charge of the program's secrecy. She had decided that when she could come up with a more capable answer to give them, then she would go visit and hope that they bought her story.
"Jess?" Sheppard asked.
She didn't say anything; she was waiting for sleep to come over her. She was tired. Christopher hadn't taken a nap all day and he didn't want to be put down whatsoever. That just made things harder then they needed to be in her opinion. It made her wonder how mothers of twins or even triplets did it. She sighed before speaking. "I'm tired John, we can talk later,"
"I love you, Jessie," he told her before kissing her neck and wrapping her in his arms. He did that while she was pregnant as well, but when he kept it up after Christopher was born, just made her happy. She didn't know what to think about that. She was actually glad for it. She didn't want to be one of those married couples that get bored with each other in every possible way. She has seen a lot of her friends' parents go through that and it was hard to watch.
Morning came much too quick for Jessica. She dressed her uniform, while her husband got a few more hours in. He had gotten up many times last night with Christopher, since the night before she was up every time. After feeding him, Jessica swaddled her son and left the room. She needed to get out of there and see her friends that she hadn't seen in a while since Christopher didn't have a regular schedule yet. But they were going to start to work on it soon.
Walking into Rodney and Ellie's lab, she spotted her friend bent over her laptop working.
"Working hard or hardly working?" Jessica smiled at her when she had her attention.
"Well since Rodney's here, overworked," Ellie said as Jessica walked closer to her friend.
"Aww…he's gotten so much bigger since the last time I saw him." Ellie said gushing over her friend's son. "Cameron sent a message."
"Again?" Jessica sighed. "He wants to see Christopher in person and I don't blame him, but I don't feel comfortable taking him away from Atlantis right now."
"He does have a right to see his son; after all, he is half of him." Ellie reminded, aware of the bad blood between the two but still having Chris's best interests at heart.
"I know that he does and I want him to see him, but he's just been so fussy that I don't think I could handle the ship to earth on my own and Elizabeth said that she doesn't want me to go through the gate with him until he's older."
"When's that supposed to be?"
"Six months," Jessica said. "But we've been doing these live feeds through the gate, but I know it's not the same. I think it is time that I faced my fear of Cameron trying to take him away from me. You don't think he'd do that to me, do you?"
"No, but I think he still loves you and wants you to be closer." Ellie said.
"You know John told General Landry about us having a wedding and he told John that it isn't legal until we do it on Earth or have someone with our rituals from Earth there to perform it."
"That's absurd!" Ellie said,
"I know. Technically, John hasn't told me yet. I heard him talking to Ronon about it. I just don't know if I want to go through all that again. The nerves, the first time around were bad enough."
"So you wouldn't do it again?" Ellie asked, surprised.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pup-of-Power: I know, I'm horrible! Well here is the next one!
ElaineDex: Ellie and Lorne are giving me a run for my money. I am running out of ideas. But if you have some, I will gladly listen to them. :D
Songorita: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like it so far. I hope you continue to review it. :D