gothic Minerva: That must have been horrible! Two months? I would have died or something… Let me know once you've written it so I can read it.

Chapter 18

"So, what does an Athosian wedding consist of?" Elizabeth asked Andrew as the two of them and Rodney walked along one of the balconies.

It was the morning of the wedding and everyone who had something to do was running around trying to get it done, so everyone else did their best to stay out of the way.

"Think of it as a normal Earth wedding with the odd twist every now and then."

"So who are we with, the groom or the bride?" Rodney inquired.

"The bride."

"Do we have to do anything?" Rodney asked, hoping they wouldn't have to do anything important and risk messing it up.

"Not really."

"When does it start?" Elizabeth looked down at the boy they were walking with; she liked him and was looking forward to him actually being with them.

"This evening, the party afterwards lasts for seven days."

"Will you be staying that long?"

Andrew shook his head. "We need to get back. We'll stay for a couple of hours after the wedding, but then we need to go."

"Then what should we do today?"

"Hide from everyone until we need to go over for the wedding," Rodney suggested, grinning.

Elizabeth smiled and shook her head before looking down at Andrew. "Shall we?"

"Yes!" Andrew called out before taking their hands and leading them inside, "I know the perfect place to hide!"

Andrew led them to a small room that had several chairs in it and a small table. They went in and after looking foe a moment they all sat down.

"No one will find us here, except the others if we're needed for something," Andrew explained.

"This place never came up on our searches," Elizabeth said as she looked around.

"It's a hidden room, only someone looking for it, or who knows where it is, can find it," Andrew told her.

"Where are Keayna and Helen?" Almie asked as she walked into Carson's office, "I can not find them anywhere."

"Keayna is helping Ava and Helen is keeping Alex and Lucy occupied so that no one has to worry about them," Carson told her. "I thought it best to stay out of the way. People tend to get rather snappy when they're stressed, take Rodney for example, he's the worst I know."

Almie smiled slightly before coming in and sitting down opposite him.

"Carson, have you seen Lizzie?" Maigan stuck her head in the door.

"Dr. Weir?"

"No, Lizzie… the nurse?"

"She's on her break right now," he told her, "I can…"

He faltered when he saw that Maigan's head had disappeared from the doorway. Almie laughed slightly at his perplexed expression.

"They are truly wonderful children."

"And now that Maigan's changed the future they'll all be different from the ones we've gotten to know."

"I doubt that they will be very different from the ones that are with us now."

A silence descended over the two of them that lasted for a few minutes until someone came in.

"Hi," Helen smiled as she came over and sat next to Almie.

"We're are Lucy and Alex."

"Maigan asked Lizzie to look after them for a while and she agreed."

"As in nurse Lizzie?" Carson inquired.

"Are the twins with Lizzie?" Keayna asked as she came in and sat down, placing Helen on her knee.

"Yep, so now we get some time with mummy and daddy," Helen replied.

"Now I know why Rodney thinks that sounds odd," Carson spoke up, "it just is. I mean… you're not even born yet but you are and…"

"Good, isn't it?" Almie asked as the perplexed expression returned to Carson's face.

"Do I have to do anything?" Aiden asked as he and James were sitting in the cafeteria poking bowls of jelly with their spoons, to pass the time.

"No, just sit where you're told," James smiled at Aiden, he seemed to be more nervous than him and he was the one getting married in a few hours.

"Will you have to get married when you get back to your time?"

James went to answer and then stopped for a moment. "I don't know, probably."

"Where the other two?"

"With mum."

"Your mother?" Aiden asked slowly after a moment to let the words sink in.

James grinned and nodded. "You can meet her at the wedding."

"Can't you tell me anything now?"

"Err… no."

"Why not?"

"It's fun having this much power and I'm not giving it up anytime soon."

"How come I'm the only one who doesn't know who my other half is?" Aiden put the spoon he was holding down and looked straight at James.

"John and Teyla were obvious, so were Elizabeth and Rodney," James explained, "Carson and Almie met in a prison cell and you and mum meet at my wedding."

"Even though you're not even born yet."

"Yep."

"This is just too confusing."

"Tell me about it, we may have to go through this all over again when we get back to our time and then it'll be a bigger thing because they'll have more time to plan and prepare it."

"How will I know who she is?" Aiden broke the silence.

"It'll be obvious from where you are sitting as to who she is. To keep you quiet for now her name is Lizzie."

"She's from Earth?"

"Yep."

"Mum, have you seen Maigan today?" Ava asked as she got changed behind the screen.

"Only in passing, she seems preoccupied with something that seems to be of great importance," Teyla replied.

"Probably keeping out the way and trying to find a way to send us back knowing most people probably won't disturb her much because of the wedding," Ava reasoned as she came out from behind the screen.

"You look wonderful," Teyla stated as she looked at Ava.

Ava was wearing a simple sleeveless white dress that had a low cut back. She would wear it for the ceremony that evening.

"What is happening with my hair?"

"Major Sheppard has found some small fake white roses that we could weave into your hair later," Teyla indicated the small pile of the dresser.

Ava smirked. "Why don't you just call him John?"

"Because…"

"Yes, why don't you just call me John?" John interrupted as he came into the room and walked over to stand next to the two of them.

"I…"

"Stop picking on mum already," Maigan sighed as she came over to join them.

"And just where have you been?" Ava demanded.

"Just around," Maigan smiled innocently.

"Doing what?"

"Nothing much."

"I think she's lying," John stated.

"Really, whatever gave you that idea?" Maigan remarked sarcastically, gaining a look of mock shock from John.

Teyla and Ava started laughing as Maigan made a run for it, followed quickly by John. A few moments later there were yells of 'mercy' from Maigan.

"I'm glad the future has changed," Ava smiled before going to change again.

Nice little chapter before the wedding which is the next chapter and it's gonna be a lovely wedding and Aiden and Lizzie will finally meet - yey!