Whenever I Say Your Name, Chapter 7

::::: Present Day: Atlantis :::::

"Elizabeth." John's whisper sounds loud in the abnormally quiet infirmary. The lone nurse who looks up from his wife's bedside is in stark contrast the chaos of activity from only a few minutes before. She gives him a sad smile of understanding before quietly leaving the room, presumably to find Dr. Beckett.

John lays his P-90 on one of the empty infirmary beds, not caring that he'll get hell later for contaminating one of their clean stations. He walks over to Elizabeth's bed and gazes down at her, unsure of what to do next. John brushes a stray lock of hair from her forehead. She looks so much more peaceful than he expected.

"John?" she asks. Elizabeth's eyes flutter and start to open, her hand automatically reaching for his in her half-sleep.

"Hey, beautiful." John greets her with a smile. "Sorry I'm a little late."

Elizabeth can only smile back as she struggles into a sitting position. John helps adjust the infirmary bed and she leans against it with a sigh. She looks up at her husband with a wry smile.

"I guess we're just not good at timing things the first time around."

John laughs, then places a soft kiss on her lips. Elizabeth can't be too mad at him if she's cracking jokes. However, John has been a husband long enough to know that it's not a good idea to bring up that she was the one who sent him off-world a few days ago. Before he can provide a different comeback, there's an all too familiar Scottish lilt heard from behind him.

"Well let's hope it doesn't take you four tries to get one right," comments Dr. Beckett as he walks into the infirmary. He strides over to Elizabeth and places a small bundle in her arms.

"This is as much your fault as it is mine!" Sheppard can't help but remind the doctor. "You told me not to worry. 'She's got plenty of time left,' you said. You promised me four more weeks. No signs of early-"

"John," says Elizabeth softly, placing her hand on John's arm and immediately silencing his tirade. "Meet your daughter."

The Major looks on in awe as Elizabeth pulls away the blanket covering the baby's face. Their daughter, sensing that she's being watched, opens her eyes to gaze at her father. John knows, from the books Elizabeth made him read, that the baby really can't focus on anything yet, but it feels like she's looking right through his soul.

Tears come, unbidden, to John's eyes as he sees their beautiful baby girl for the first time. Elizabeth watches, her own tears falling down her cheeks, as a look of pure love comes over her husband's features. John reaches out and unwraps the rest of the blanket. He counts all ten fingers and ten toes, laughing as the baby makes a swat at his finger with her hand.

"She's perfect," John says, still a little choked up. "Tiny, but perfect."

"Dr. Beckett said it was an easy delivery," Elizabeth comments as she tucks the baby back in her blankets. "No complications - even if it all happened a little faster than any of us were expecting."

John looks up to thank the doctor for taking care of Elizabeth and the baby, but he is long gone. Carson had snuck out, shooing Sheppard's team from the door of the infirmary as he went, to give the new family some privacy.

Elizabeth scoots over on the bed to give John room to sit. Her husband complies, wrapping his arms around his wife and daughter.

"So…are we going to use the name we talked about?" he asks.

They had picked out a girl's name they both favored, but had left open the option of changing it if the name didn't seem to suit the baby.

"Yes," Elizabeth responds. "I think it fits her nicely."

John snuggles his family a little closer. Elizabeth leans against him with a happy sigh. The baby, feeling safe, warm, and content, closes her eyes and drifts back off to sleep. John sends up a silent prayer of thanks to whatever gods deemed him worthy of all this and whispers his daughter's name for the first time.

"Welcome to the world, Alyssa Jane Sheppard."

The End.

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I'm taking it as a compliment that some of you thought this would end sadly. :::grin::: It's nice to know that I'm keeping you all on your toes. This story, I knew I would end happily. Others I'm working on...I haven't decided yet. So you never know where my whims will take me. :::evil grin:::

What do you think of the baby's name? Alyssa because it sounds a little like the first half of Elizabeth with the A thrown in for Atlantis. Jane because I think it's like the female version of John.

I haven't decided if I'm going to write a sequel. (Even though the idea of writing John as a new dad or future kids does sounds appealing.) I think that two series are a little too much for me to handle right now. Maybe in the future.

I hope you all enjoyed this story, even if it was pure of fluffy shippiness. I promise that a new chapter of Moments in Time is coming up soon. Happy Holidays!!

MsRaven