Chapter 25

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"Seriously, McKay, you can't walk one stinking mile," John snarled as Rodney suggested they take the jumper to the good bye party at the town community center. "It's a nice sunny day and the weather warmed up since this morning. And I'm guessing you could probably use the exercise."

Rodney grumbled quite loudly and huffed, "Fine, but don't think just because you were missing for a year that you're going to get your way all the time. It's not like I even missed you that much."

"He's full of crap, Sir," Lorne muttered under his breath as he sidled up to Sheppard on their way to town. "I heard him sniffling at your funeral."

"I heard that!" McKay bellowed and Teyla gave him a dirty look as Torren startled against her chest, wrapped in the sling around her shoulders. "And I wasn't sniffling. My allergies were acting up. It was springtime on Earth and all the pollen was bothering me."

Ronon chuckled. "He had a few tears when the MALP showed us your dog tag nailed to the tree, too. But I don't think there was anything in Atlantis for him to be allergic to that time."

Rodney just humphed and moved a bit faster than everyone else. "Maybe we should do that all the time if it will get him to move quicker," Lorne suggested.

The others chuckled and they spent the rest of the trip with Lorne filling them in on many of the missions that had occurred during the past year. John was very interested in this since he didn't want the SGC to have any basis for removing him from his position as Military Commander of the city. Especially since he hadn't really been the Military Commander of the city in far too long. He wasn't sure if there was a precedence for this.

When they approached Finn and Tenyse's house, the family came out and walked along with them. John and Teyla introduced them to Rodney and Packard, who had left the jumper cloaked back at the cottage, just in case.

"Uh, Doctor Rodney McKay," Rodney corrected as he shook Finn's hand.

"A doctor, huh?" Finn gave a wry smile. "We sure could have used you last lunar cycle when John was attacked by the jacktu. Shalise did a fine job but her training is not complete."

"Uh, not that kind of doctor," Rodney stammered. "I'm a scientist."

Finn and Tenyse looked confused as to why anyone not medical would be called a doctor but remained quiet on the subject. Lorne looked at the couple and offered, "I'm guessing that our Chief Medical Officer would be more than happy to come visit and help your healer with medicines and techniques."

"Shalise would be most grateful, I'm sure," Tenyse said. "But it is a far journey to undertake too often."

"Actually, Lt. Packard here was able to maneuver one of our jumpers, a small flying ship, past the trees and it's back at the cottage," John told them. "With the right person flying, I think we could manage the trip in, what you'd say it took, Packard, an hour?"

Packard shook his head and Finn looked amazed at the thought. And John thought he also seemed relieved. John knew seeing the jumper and learning it was possible to actually get it through the gate had made him feel a hell of a lot better, too.

With a two day walk being typical for travel here, John knew, even with the best of intentions, he wouldn't get back here very often. But if they could get here in under an hour with a jumper, trips could be made a bit more. He figured Atlantis might even want to start a trade agreement. This planet had much fertile ground and plenty of people who could possibly work the land for them. With the right incentive, like better medical care, medicines and equipment, John knew many people would give their time to plant food for trade with Atlantis. And there were some crops that were hardy enough to grow all year since frost did not happen too often.

He looked at Tenyse and thought of all she had made for them while they were here and wondered if he could get Sam to throw some of the woman's fruit tarts into the bargain. Once Sam tasted them, he figured she'd be hooked, too.

John thought about all the possibilities they could bring to this planet and knew he'd make sure his schedule was free every time someone planned to come here for trade or training. He figured Teyla might try to rearrange her schedule a bit also. He knew she would miss Tenyse's friendship immensely. She had gotten so much baby advice from the woman and right now there wasn't anyone on Atlantis who had actually had children. Or at least he didn't think so. He'd been gone a year.

"Anybody have any kids in the city while we were gone?" John threw out the question and Lorne and Ronon looked amused.

"Looking for friends for little Torren here, Sir," Lorne asked.

John looked sheepish but didn't say anything. Rodney of course did.

"No, you're the only one who went and decided to become a Daddy."

John could see that Rodney was about to continue his little rant but Ronon gave him an intense stare and he shut up. And he really could debate what Rodney said because neither he nor Teyla had made the decision to become parents, it had simply happened. But now that they had a child, he couldn't imagine anything else.

"Perhaps once people see how enthralled we are with having a child, more will follow in our footsteps," Teyla suggested smugly, keeping her eye on Rodney's dubious face.

Rodney seemed about to say something then looked at Ronon and stayed silent.

Finn and Tenyse picked up the conversation and asked the four new Lanteans questions about the city and what they did there. Zeth seemed quite curious as well to what it was like off this world and John realized he had not ever left this planet. Conversation flowed freely until they arrived at the community center and they went inside. John noticed that Kelina had remained quiet the whole way and he felt really guilty again. He knew she didn't mean to but she almost stared at the newcomers with hostility, her thoughts that they were stealing him and Teyla away from here. Hopefully he could help her feel better and try to convince her they would come to visit as often as it was possible. But they were used to seeing these people daily and he knew their visits would not be that frequent, obviously.

People surrounded them as soon as they walked in the door and Bessa, as always, scooped Torren from Teyla's arms. But Teyla didn't mind. She almost thought of Bessa as a surrogate grandmother to her son. She knew he could have no better. She caught the sob that rose in her throat at this thought and knew she would have to keep herself under tight control. Otherwise she could very easily become very emotional over the idea of leaving.

But she and John had discussed this not only at the river yesterday but as they lay in bed last evening while she was giving Torren his final feeding of the night. Atlantis was where they belonged and they knew it was the right decision but they also knew that knowledge wouldn't make leaving any easier. Just like the people of Atlantis, the people here had become family.

The Lanteans were very popular and Rodney finally got over his grumpy mood when everyone wanted to know what he did and how important he was in the city. They were fascinated with all the information he gave them about the Ancestors and the technology they left behind. Although Rodney knew he could only tell them about a small portion of what they really knew. But these people didn't even have electricity; anything he told them about was beyond their wildest dreams.

And Fenid had brought the Ancient box that John had been looking at when Teyla had gone into labor. John had finally figured out what it was a few weeks ago and everyone was fascinated. It was a recording device as he has suspected but it showed the images in hologram. John had initialized it for him and Fenid spent much of the afternoon recording John and Teyla talking and laughing with their friends. He knew it would come in handy when everyone began missing them too much.

Fenid also had an ulterior motive. He figured anyone wanting to see the images had to come visit him to do it. He had many friends but as he lived by himself, he was often lonely. John smiled at this and was actually happy that their leaving would help the old man in some small way.

John looked around, knowing they needed to leave fairly soon. They'd all been here a few hours and John and Teyla had managed to touch base with almost everyone here at some point. But some of these final goodbyes would be worse than others. And it still stung that Tim wasn't here and he would come back to Teyla and him already gone. He had left a special message on the hologram machine just for Tim. He hoped his new friend understood.

Surprisingly Rodney wasn't bugging them to go back. On their way here he had done nothing but grouse about having to come to the 'stupid' party when they could have been back home already. Rodney had been away from his lab for three days and was afraid his minions would have blown up his lab by now or at least screwed up most of his experiments and research. But the amount of good food and the hordes of people asking his advice about designing new equipment and machinery had Rodney in his glory.

John found Teyla and pulled her to his side. "Think we should start saying actual goodbyes to people? The little guy will need to go down for the night soon and we both know how cranky he gets when we screw up his schedule."

Teyla put her hand on John's arm and teased, "Yes, just like his mother."

John actually gave a little pout of contrition even though he knew Teyla was only joking. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips and said, "You know how much I love you, right Teyla?"

"Yes," she breathed out in return. "But I still love you more."

His lips returned to hers again for another taste. "And I love you the most."

"Ew! Really?" Rodney grimaced as he came up behind them. "Please tell me you two aren't going to be all lovey dovey now when we get you back to the city. Because if you are, I might just have to leave you here."

John's lips twitched in amusement. "So if we do stuff like this," and he stuck his nose in Teyla's neck and nuzzled for a second, "you'll leave us alone?"

Rodney's face scrunched up even more and he acknowledged, "Oh, yeah, definitely."

John and Teyla laughed heartily and John replied, "Good to know."

Rodney glanced at his watch then back at his long lost friends. "Are you two almost finished saying good bye to everyone here? It's getting pretty late and the time on Atlantis will be even later."

"What's the rush, McKay?" John asked. "It's not like you ever sleep anyway."

"Har, har," he snapped back. "It just so happens that when I do sleep I prefer to do it on a nice soft bed and not on the hard ground or a bench in the back of a jumper."

John gave a heavy sigh and looked around the room. "Yeah, give us a few minutes to say good bye to a few people."

"I thought that's what you were supposed to be doing the whole time you were here," McKay griped.

"We have been, Rodney," Teyla soothed him in her calm voice. "But there are a few people who we have become very close to over the time we have been here and we do not feel that we can just walk out of the room without one last word of farewell."

"Fine!" he conceded snappishly. "But get on with it, okay?"

"Thank you, Rodney, for your patience and understanding," Teyla smiled at him.

John closed his eyes at the absurdity of her statement but he knew it was just Teyla's gracious way of showing him that maybe he should be patient and understanding. He took Teyla's hand and moved toward Shalise and Tolden. He could tell by their faces that they knew why they were approaching.

"It is time for us to leave," Teyla explained. "John and I are both very torn and wish there were some way to stay on both worlds but we promise we will come to visit." Teyla took another deep breath and continued emotionally, "I know that our Doctor Keller would be more than willing to come and visit here. She has extensive knowledge and I am sure she could help you far better in some things than I ever could. I will speak with her as soon as we return."

Shalise smiled at Teyla but remained silent, tears gathering in her eyes. John took Shalise's hand and squeezed it tight. "I don't know what we would have done without you, Shalise. You gave Teyla work to do and have been such a good friend. You were right there to deliver our son and then make sure we weren't gonna screw him up the first few days. I know I had my doubts about our abilities on taking care of him."

"You have been wonderful parents, John," she assured him. "Both you and Teyla. You have such love for your child and for each other and that will help you through much in life and in parenting. I wish you well and will miss you immensely." Her voice cracked at this last word and the tears started to flow in earnest. John gave her a quick hug then allowed Teyla to be swallowed by her embrace.

John stepped back and shook Tolden's hand as the women remained holding each other. "Take care of her, okay. She's a great lady and she deserves some great things. I hope you know how lucky you are."

Tolden firmly took John's hand and answered, "Oh, I know. Just wish I had admitted it to myself and made my move sooner. We could have been together for longer than we have been."

John's smile grew crooked. "Yeah, that scenario sounds vaguely familiar. But the important thing is that you're together now. Just make sure you don't do anything to change that. I've been trying to take that same advice for myself."

Teyla finally pulled herself away from Shalise and John could see the devastation on her face. He drew her into his arms and kissed her damp cheek. "We'll come back soon, Teyla, I promise."

They moved across the room and came to Bessa and Shuntar. Torren had been passed around the room quite a bit but had ended up back with Bessa again. Teyla felt more tears begin as she placed her hand on her son's back. John took the baby as Teyla hugged her friend.

"Thank you, Bessa, for all you have done while we have been here. You have given me so much advice and assisted me in making outfits for Torren as he continued to grow. I do not wish for him to ever forget you. John assures me we will be back to visit. His people have found a way to get one of their ships safely through the ring without compromising any of the hindrances you have left for the Wraith. And so we will return, I know we will. But it may be some time and not as frequent as we have seen each other while we were here. This thought saddens me."

John was saying goodbye to Shuntar as well. "You've been a good friend and a great partner. Make sure you tell Tim that I expect him to continue with the plans we started for some of the other equipment. And when I get back to Atlantis, I'll see if I can get real plans for a few things that might come in handy around here. And I'll be back, don't you worry. We've got a way to get here quicker than the typical two day trip so it won't be as hard as I originally thought." He shook the older man's hand and gave him a slap on the shoulder. "Make sure you keep Tim out of trouble, huh? He doesn't always know how to do it himself. And Finn certainly is no help in that area."

Shuntar laughed when he thought of John and the other two men and their little sojourn into the river after a night at the tavern. He wasn't sure John was capable of keeping himself out of trouble either.

Teyla finally released Bessa, although reluctantly, and her face was no more dry than it had been with Shalise. John gave Bessa a one armed hug and the woman gave Torren one last kiss and caress, her eyes filled with sorrow. He knew she had loved TJ as much as any grandparent could.

As they walked toward the door, Rodney surprisingly subdued, all around people waved and called out farewells. Finn and his family departed with them as they would be walking back to the jumper to say their last goodbyes. John and Teyla knew they would be the hardest to say goodbye to and wanted a bit more privacy for that last act.

John saw Kelina standing with her friends looking uncertain. He figured she might not want to say goodbye later. He walked over to her and gave her one of his most dashing smiles. "Come on, sweetie, we need our family to be with us when we go and that's you. You'll get to see the jumper and tell you what, maybe at another time, I can come get you and bring you back to Atlantis with us. Would you like to see the city?"

Kelina's eyes lit up and she saw her friends all stare open mouthed at the possibility. John knew Kelina would be the center of attention again for a while, just having seen the Ancestor's ship but if she actually went to Atlantis, that would solidify her standing in the town with the teenage girls for a lifetime. Kelina moved into John's outstretched arm and he pulled her in close as they walked to follow the others out the door.

The long walk was fairly quiet with only Rodney making noises every now and then about the lack of transportation on this planet.

"You actually walked this far to work every morning, Teyla," Rodney inquired, astounded. "Even when you were pregnant?"

"Yes, Rodney," Teyla answered. "It was very good exercise and I think it may have made my labor come on when it did. It started after just such a walk."

Rodney's face squeezed tight and he complained, "Okay too much information, thank you. At least I didn't have to be there for the delivery. I probably would have passed out at the first contraction."

"I do not believe so," Teyla contradicted. "You are much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Some day when you have a child you will see that indeed."

"McKay with a child," Ronon snorted. "That would be quite a sight."

Rodney glared at Ronon but didn't say anything. Too soon they came to where Packard had landed the jumper and he decloaked it. Finn and his family jumped back wordless and stared.

John opened the back and before he went in handed the baby to Rodney. Rodney looked panicked. "What do you want me to do with this thing?"

John chuckled. "Just hold him, McKay. I haven't been in a jumper in a year. I want to see if they still respond to me the same."

"What, did you think you lost the ATA gene while you were here?" McKay snarled sarcastically.

"No," John answered honestly but he did admit to wondering if he still had what it took to actually control the Ancient tech. He had been in the jumper earlier to load all of their stuff but he hadn't actually started it up. Now he sat in the pilot's chair and did some pre-flight checks while Finn and Zeth checked out the insides. Tenyse and Kelina were also looking around curiously and Rodney was trying to explain in language he called 'Jumpers for Dummies'.

After just a few moments John knew he needed to get it over with and finally say goodbye to these people who had been more than family to them over the last year. They had been their lifeline and their sanity and he knew they wouldn't have made it through without them. He just wasn't sure he could actually say all that; at least not without breaking down and shedding a few tears himself.

He pulled himself out of the seat and grabbed Zeth's extended hand. "I have to tell you it's been an immense pleasure watching you grow just in the last year. And now that Teyla and I won't be around, we thought perhaps you might like to use the cottage; I mean when you're ready to move out on your own. The garden needs to be turned over and planted with fresh crops but I fertilized it all winter so hopefully the soil is good and rich."

Zeth looked bewildered then turned to his parents who smiled deeply. "You are an adult now, son," Finn agreed. "It might be time soon to make your own way."

Zeth pumped John's hand then kissed Teyla on the cheek as he hugged her. "Thank you, yes, I will take the cottage."

"You'll have to take care of the birds, too. They need to be fed and have their eggs collected every day," John instructed cheekily as Zeth was the one who had taught him how to care for them.

Kelina came next and John pulled on the end of one her long braids. "Stay as sweet as you are. And I promise when we come back we'll make arrangements for you to come get a tour of Atlantis, okay."

Kelina's lip quivered and her eyes filled once again with the tears she could not hold back. She reached her arms around John's neck and he gave her a snug embrace. These were usually very difficult for him but maybe because she was still a young girl and he knew she just needed comfort, it wasn't as hard. Or maybe he had just grown emotionally. Now wouldn't that be a fete.

He eased Kelina away and she moved right into Teyla's arms. He could hear Teyla sniff alongside Kelina.

"Thank you, Kelina, for all you have done for us. Besides the lovely companionship you always supplied, you have been instrumental in giving us assistance with Torren when he was first born, providing me with extra household help and especially for all you did while John was injured. Your assistance was priceless. I will miss seeing your happy face every day. However as John says we will make every effort to return at times and when we do, your family will be our first visit."

Teyla and Kelina embraced and John could see the girl didn't want to let go. But she did finally and took a few steps to remove Torren from Rodney's very uncomfortable grip, the 'thank God' slipping out of his lips unnoticed by him.

Next, John moved to Tenyse while Teyla moved into Finn's arms. Embraces were exchanged and even a few tears were shed; John again promising they would visit soon. Now John stood in front of Finn while Teyla faced Tenyse. He wasn't sure he could do this. The thought of returning soon was the only thing getting him through this.

He grasped Finn's hand and held it tight as Finn returned the pressure. John tried to speak but found his throat extremely dry and a huge lump in his throat. Finn seemed to be afflicted with something similar.

Finn got over his affliction first. "This is not goodbye, my friend. You have said so yourself many times today. And I know you to be an honest and decent man. You are also a man who brought my beloved wife back to me after nine long winters apart. There is no repayment for that. But know this, should you ever need me, you may send for me and I will be there for you. It is the least I can do for someone who returned my most precious possession to me and sacrificed so much in the process. You could have used the ring first to go home but you are a man who does what is right and good and you felt it right and good to ensure Tenyse got safely returned to her home. The price you paid was very great although I must admit to a selfishness in being happy that the events happened as they did. Your friendship has meant much to me."

John's jaw clenched as he tried to gain some control. He still didn't think he could actually say any words. So he nodded his head and mumbled, "Yeah, me too."

He needed to blink his eyes a few times and take a deep breath but when Finn pulled him in for an embrace, John didn't resist. He gave a tight squeeze and then stepped back.

Both men turned to their wives who were now crying in each other's arms. Teyla didn't know what had gotten into her. She was never this emotional but ever since she had delivered the baby, her feelings were all over the place. Shalise had mentioned her hormones could still be in abundance but Teyla hoped it would end soon. It was very tiring.

But now saying goodbye to Tenyse was tiring also, emotionally so.

"I must thank you once again for all you have done for us while we resided here," Teyla sniffed. "You not only provided us with a place to live and arranged for people to share meals with us but you shared your own family with us even though you had not seen them yourself in so long. You made sure we always had everything we needed and you tirelessly attempted to instruct me to cook even when you realized I did not have the skill and never would. And then the constant gifts of pastries and dinners at your house were so wonderful especially as we got to share it with your beautiful family. Your generosity did not end though and you gave of yourself so unselfishly while I was giving birth and then again when John was injured and many other times as well. There are not words that can convey how much I appreciate what you have done; how much we," and she took John's hand in hers, "appreciate what you have done."

Tenyse pulled Teyla in for one final hug then she wiped her eyes and moved from the inside of the ship. Her family followed her. As they looked in toward their friends ready to go back to the life they once had she said, "Good journey, dear friends. I know our paths will cross again, of that I am sure. Until then we will say farewell."

"Au revoir," John said with a grin. "That's a language on my world and it means 'until we see you again.' And if I have anything to say about it, we will. You can count on that."

Finn and Tenyse pulled their children away from the ship and watched as the back closed. John and Teyla just stood gazing at the closed hatch for a moment and finally shook free from their trance when Packard started up the jumper and called out for everyone to have a seat.

John and Teyla moved to the back benches and chuckled as Ronon, who had somehow ended up with the baby, made silly faces and babbled nonsense to Torren. Rodney looked aghast when he saw the child was playing with an LSD. He moved quickly to remove it from his hands then stopped to stare at the display that was lit up.

"Hey, this kid has the gene!" Rodney bellowed as he placed his hand on the small device.

John snorted and shook his head. "Of course he does, McKay. He's my son."

"I know but I thought maybe …" he suddenly stopped, realizing what he was about to say and backpedaled, "maybe the gene didn't show up in kids until they were older. We never really tested that out."

Lorne gazed back at Sheppard and Teyla and a sly smile curled his lips up. The baby had the ATA gene. His relief was palpable. And it wasn't even his child but he knew Keller would probably do all sorts of tests on all three of them once they got back and the truth would have come out soon enough if Sheppard hadn't fathered the child. But now there wasn't a problem. The baby was definitely his.

John shook his head again and relaxed against the back of the bench. He looked through the window out the front and thought he should probably go sit up front so he'd know the way but he knew the HUD would have all that information for him whenever he needed it. And he knew he would need it at some point, hopefully soon. For now he would just enjoy the ride.

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