So How Did I Meet Your Mom Again?24

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or any of its characters or story lines. No infringement is intended upon anyone or any subsidiary connected to Stargate: Atlantis or its parent series, Stargate: SG-1 or Stargate The Movie. I'm poor, you'll get nothing out of me!

Summary: When the team discovers McKay's future daughter living with their trading partners, the search is on for the mother because his daughter will have to be conceived in 16 months or cease to exist. No pressure, right?

Rating: PG-13 for adult situations.

Warnings: Possibly some adult situations or at least ideas.

Category: Friendship/Romance/Humor

Author note: I'm almost done with this story!

Rodney glanced at his watch and cursed. I'm late! He hurried off to the infirmary.

It had been four months since they had been together for the first time, and sure enough, Alex was pregnant. He could still remember the day they found out for sure. Even though they had both known what the pregnancy test would say, it had still been a shock to be told. Rodney's reputation had suddenly gone uphill since then. Now that he was a soon to be father, nothing he said seemed to really affect anybody. It was frustrating when he was trying to show someone how stupid they were and they just kept smiling at him knowingly, thinking that he was stressed because of becoming a father, despite the fact that he was a surly bastard before he was a father.

The science department had thrown a surprise party a week after it became common knowledge that Alex was carrying Rodney's child. Suddenly, everyone on base was looking out for him. He couldn't go anywhere on his own anymore. It was like people were terrified something would happen to him before the baby was born and ruin the magic of the first baby born on Atlantis. He couldn't really complain though; Alex had it way worse.

When Rodney had shown up to the briefing the day after their night together with a huge grin on his face, John had done a quick date check and promptly removed Alex from active duty. A decision that was not very popular with her. She had agreed that off world missions were probably not very smart, but she became very disgruntled when she found her Atlantis duties had also been revoked. That was nothing though, compared to when she found a Marine following her through the halls. John had taken the heat for that, even though he had only done it at Rodney's insistence. After several meetings with Weir, she was allowed on restricted duty, which translated into paper work, but she also got to lose the guard.

Rodney shuddered as he remembered those first few weeks. He had learned that when Alex wasn't happy, he wasn't happy and had since taken to going out of his way to do things that would bring a smile to her face. Although he was finding that even that was becoming more difficult with her mood swings. While Carson said he had seen much worse and Rodney should be grateful, he was still afraid to return to their now joint quarters at night until he had spoken to Sheppard about the kind of mood she was in when she had left.

Plus, her now monthly OB-GYN exams resulted in a bad mood for the following day or two. He had asked her about it after her second exam and been slightly amused to find out that her bad mood was caused by embarrassment because Carson was her doctor. She had told Rodney she was considering asking for a female doctor on the staff and Rodney had absolutely refused, saying she could endure a little embarrassment if it meant that the most qualified doctor on base was taking care of her and their daughter. She hadn't spoken to him for three days after that, but as she had continued going to see Carson, Rodney had thought it was worth it.

He rushed through the infirmary doors and quickly sought out Alex behind the closed off curtain where a nurse was setting up the sonogram equipment. Hmmm. Carson's running late too. He smiled at Alex, hoping she wouldn't notice he was late.

She frowned, "You're late."

Guess not, then. "So is Carson." Rodney defended.

"No he's not," she said still frowning at him, "he went to get a new tube of that jelly stuff."

"Oh, well at least I got here before we got started, right?"

"Tell me Rodney," she said moodily, "is that what you're going to say when you arrive after the baby has been born?"

"Lexi, honey," Rodney said pleadingly, "I promise I'm not gonna be late for that, you have my word. I just got a little caught up in the lab, that's all. Forgive me?" He said, utilizing John's puppy-dog eyes that seemed to work so well.

Alex looked at him and sighed. He knew she couldn't resist that look. "This time. But don't be late again, got it?" She asked threateningly.

Rodney nodded, relieved as Carson returned.

Carson smiled at Rodney. "I see ya made it then Rodney. Are ya ready to see yar wee bairn?"

Rodney frowned. " 'Bairn?' I do hope you mean baby although with you coming from Scotland, I guess it would always be a surprise when a baby popped out instead of a sheep."

Carson sighed. "Rodney, vets deliver sheep. I deliver babies. Now do you want to be here or not?"

Rodney wisely shut up and took the seat provided at the edge of the table.

Carson squirted some of the jelly onto Alex's abdomen, apologizing when she jumped. He had known exactly why she had become so high strung at their check ups, but there was nothing he could really do about it except give her as much privacy as possible. He had actually been surprised she hadn't requested a female doctor, but he had a feeling Rodney had something to do with it. God knows, Rodney would only let Carson near him for anything medically related so it would stand to reason he would only want Carson near his fiancé and child. He chuckled to himself, even in another galaxy, he was still a family doctor.

Carson turned the sonogram on and slowly started to move it across her belly. The sounds of a tiny rapid whooshing heartbeat filled the air and he looked over at Rodney to see his reaction. This was the first sonogram Rodney had been able to make. He looked astonished and absolutely amazed. Carson smiled. He couldn't wait to see Rodney's face when the baby was actually born, but if this was any indication, it was going to be priceless.

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They had an October wedding in Atlantis. One of the Athosians had sewn a beautiful seashell colored wedding gown for Alex, who had just been beginning to show. The ceremony had been officiated by a Priest that had come over on the Deadalus just for that occasion. They had decided to have the wedding on the pier where everything had really happened between them. It just seemed fitting somehow. They could hear the waves lapping at the edge of the pier as the Priest read them their vows. The balconies above that pier were filled with people as only about fifty could fit on the actual pier. A photographer had taken careful pictures of the ceremony for Rodney and Alex to send home without compromising national security.

Their individual vows to each other were short, but moving.

"Alexis Marie Taylor, I love you with all of my being. I promise to remain faithful to you, and to love you until the day I die. You mean the world to me." Rodney's voice had cracked at this point so he took a moment to compose himself. "I never thought in a million years that I would be marrying someone as perfect as you. Lexi, I will love you all ways and always." He said, carefully spacing the last few words so she would hear the distinction as he placed her ring on her finger.

Alex cried freely as she started her own vows to Rodney. "Rodney Michael McKay, I have loved you since the day I carried you kicking and screaming through the gate." She smiled as the congregation laughed at that, Rodney smiling as well, although a little sheepishly. "You compliment me and everything I am. You're there for me no matter what. I can't imagine living without you anymore and that scares me. But it also tells me that you are the one for me. I promise I will be forever faithful to you and love you until the day I die. Rodney, I will love you all ways and always." She finished, stealing his line. He didn't seem to care as he beamed while she put the ring on his finger.

The Priest smiled. "By the power invested in me by the state of Illinois, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may kiss the bride."

Rodney caressed Alex's face before kissing her passionately to the cheers of the crowd. I'm a married man!

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Rodney opened his eyes and remained perfectly still. Something had woken him up, but he wasn't sure what. The room was quiet and he could hear Alex's soft breathing beside him. He reached over and laid a hand on her very swollen belly and felt the baby kick, hard. He smiled. He'd never get tired of that. For the last week he hadn't left Alex's side as "Baby Watch" had begun. It had started the day before Isabel's original birthday and was still in effect, 5 days after.

Rodney was not the only one on "Baby Watch" as Sheppard had termed it, the entire base was. Everywhere Alex and Rodney went, it would get quiet as people would watch as if they expected the silence to trigger the big moment. The base was in a state of high alert and any facial expressions on Alex's face would frequently result in a call to Carson who would get frustrated after the 7 or so calls a day from various expedition members reporting that Alex might have just gone into labor.

Alex herself hated the attention with a passion and tried to stay away from the more populated areas of the base, which was why Rodney was now dogging her every step, terrified she would go into labor and no one would be around. Rodney was starting to become very worried even if Alex wasn't. The child should have been born 5 days ago, but it wasn't. Carson had checked on her at Rodney's insistence and told Rodney there was nothing to worry about. They wouldn't have to induce her for at least another week, possibly two, as the baby was still fairly small. It did nothing to calm Rodney's nerves. He was a wreck but Alex seemed fine. And so "Baby Watch" continued.

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It was almost exactly a week later to the hour that Rodney was once again woken up in the middle of the night. He listened for any sound that might have woken him up. Alex turned in her sleep. He continued to listen. Alex rolled over again. Rodney turned to look at her and realized it was her tossing and turning that must have woken him up. He reached over and brushed the hair out her face, trying to soothe her back to a restful sleep when the expression on her face made him pause. She looks pained. He realized. She was still sleeping though and he didn't want to disturb her if it was a false alarm so he carefully crept out of bed and reached for his headset.

"Carson?" he whispered.

There was a pause on the other end. Alex moaned slightly and Rodney's eyes got big.

"Carson!" He hissed.

"Wha Rodney! I'm tryin ta sleep!"

"I think Alex just went into labor." He hissed back.

Carson came back on sounding concerned and very awake. Of all the false alarm calls he had gotten the past week, none of them had been from Rodney, surprisingly. "How can you tell?" He asked calmly, not wanting to get Rodney upset.

"Uh, she'd tossing and turning like she can't get comfortable and she's moaning slightly in her sleep. She looks like she's in pain." He finished, worried.

"Does she have calm moments in between the turning and moaning?"

Rodney thought for a moment, "Yeah, I think so."

"Rodney, I need you to check the sheets directly under her."

Rodney frowned at the headset. He wasn't stupid. Carson wanted to know if her water had broken, but wouldn't she have woken up? He moved closer and looked at the sheets for dark areas and completely lost it.

"Carson! It's wet! Oh my god, she's in labor! What do I do? Should I boil water? Wake up Elizabeth? Contact a midwife?" He spoke frighteningly fast, showing his panic.

"Rodney!" Carson shouted over the headset. "Calm down. If she's able to sleep through some of the labor, then we should let her do it. I'll notify the infirmary night staff to be expectin ya and when she wakes up, give me another call and see if you can't bring her down to the infirmary. If not, call the infirmary and they'll bring a stretcher. There's nothing to worry about, Rodney. Labor can take a long time for first time mothers. Let her rest while she can." Beckett said soothingly. "Put some towels down on the bed and try to get some more rest."

Rodney nodded, even though he knew Carson couldn't see it and put down the headset, running to the bathroom to grab some towels. When he had done all that he could, he pulled up a chair to the side of the bed and sat there, his eyes wide, breathing hitched, staring at his wife and worried to death.

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Author's Note: Just kind of winging it with the medical advice here, so any tips would be appreciated. School started this week and my schedule has been insane, but I want to finish this story. Only another chapter or two to go!