So How Did I Meet Your Mom Again?26
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 done with this story! P.S. Time has skipped ahead almost three years.
"Shhh, lad, it'll be alright." Carson soothed to the fretful infant on his lap. Nothing seemed to work. Connor William Beckett was determined to prove that Carson was inept at childcare. Carson jiggled him slightly while trying to look in the microscope. Why on earth did Elizabeth think this was a good idea? He realized she had probably just dropped off his son while he was doing to research to make a point; he hadn't really had any quality time with him lately. But damn it, he was trying to find a solution to the imminent Wraith incursion! By Rodney's calculations based on Isabel's age among other things, they had less than three months before the Wraith attacked. If they couldn't find a way to stop them in the next thirty days, Elizabeth had given the order to evacuate back to earth and blow up the city. No one wanted that. And so the late nights continued.
Connor started smacking his little hand furiously at the book propped up in front of him. He started whining, which from experience, Carson knew was the start to throwing a tantrum. Where on earth did he get that temper from? He looked down to still the little hands when he saw what Connor was smacking at. It was a picture of a ladybug on a leaf in his child's book. A bug. Carson's mind went into overdrive. Why didn't I think of it before? This will work!
He stood up, lifting the baby above his head as he joyfully cooed at him. "Yer a smart little wee bugger aren't ya? Good job Connor, good job!" The baby laughed and Carson reached for the comm.
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John and Teyla walked into the briefing with Jeremy Eldon Sheppard between them, happily using his grip on their hands to swing himself back and forth. John took a seat, immediately picking up Jeremy and sitting him on his lap where he jiggled him to the two year old's infinite delight.
He'd never thought he'd be sitting in the briefing room with his son, about to listen to Beckett's newest idea on how to defeat the Wraith. But since little Isabel had been born, a lot of small things like that had changed.
Elizabeth walked in, smiling at John and his son. She shared a look with Teyla across the table that seemed to sum it all up in one word. Men. She and Teyla and Alex often complained that while they only had one child, they had to care for two children. She'd never seen such juvenile behavior in men, until the top three most respected men in Atlantis had had a child of their own. It was like the grown up gloves came off.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Rodney who had just entered with young Isabel, nearly three now. The little girl was happily trying to convey to Rodney just how important it was to have a lot of ice-cream before bed every night, not just Sundays. To Rodney's credit, he seemed to be hearing her argument very seriously, despite her biggest point being 'cause it's yummy.'
Elizabeth smiled as Rodney in turn tried to make arguments against it, though since his mostly consisted of facts, didn't quite appease the smart little girl. She had never seen a man take so completely to fatherhood. And if the hints Carson had been dropping left and right without actually saying it were anything to go by, Rodney was going to be a second time Dad sometime in the future. She'd never thought Rodney would be ideal father material, but she was happy to say, she'd have been wrong.
Rodney put Isabel in the seat next to him, when they had switched arguments and were now negotiating a new, later, bedtime. Elizabeth glanced up as Alex entered the room looking a little under the weather. Probably morning sickness. She saw Rodney's concerned glance in her direction. It seemed he didn't know Alex was pregnant again. I can't wait to see his face when he finds out.
Elizabeth's thoughts were interrupted when Carson walked in quickly, dropping the stack of reports he held in his right hand, while jiggling the infant in this left. He turned relieved eyes to Elizabeth and handed her the baby who instantly quieted.
"Right. So ya all know that I've been trying ta find a way ta make the retrovirus able ta be used on a large scale. Well, airborne didn't work, but using a vector will." He said proudly while looking around at the blank stares around him. "I can infect a different strain of virus that is an airborne virus with the retrovirus. The DNA on the two viruses will merge and as the Wraith are infected with the first virus, perhaps the cold virus for instance, the second virus will attack their DNA. And since I perfected the retrovirus last year, it'll only take one shot to turn them permanently human."
All the adults in the room froze, their eyes going wide. Carson had just found the solution.
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Sheppard straightened his vest and checked the rest of his team. Rodney was holding Isabel in his arms while kissing Alex. For reasons Beckett wouldn't go into, he had grounded her from gate travel, so she would be staying on base for this mission. He looked over his shoulder and saw Carson looking lost as his son fussed again, Elizabeth refusing to take the child. As good as Carson had been with both Rodney's and his child, when it came to his own, he was clueless, which was why Elizabeth kept insisting he spend time with his son.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Teyla with Jeremy. "Your son would like to say goodbye, John."
His face broke out in a smile as he took Jeremy from Teyla, lifting him above his head and blowing a raspberry on his exposed tummy. Jeremy giggled and squirmed until John held him tight and spoke softly to him. "Hey little man, will you look out for your mommy while I'm gone?" While Jeremy didn't really understand the meaning of looking out for someone, he sagely nodded his head. "I wuv you Daddy." He said softly, sensing something was going on, but not sure what.
John felt like his heart was going to burst at those words. And to think I was afraid of being a dad. "I love you too, little man." He wrapped his arms around Jeremy, hugging him tight before handing him back to Teyla.
"Take no risks John." She said seriously. "Remember, you have family waiting for you." John nodded. There was no way he was going to put himself in a position where he might leave his family behind. "We'll be in and out. I promise."
The mission itself wasn't really dangerous. Not nearly as dangerous as the usual missions they went on. Multiple teams were spreading the airborne virus on as many planets as they could, leaving ample extra for the people to spread should the Wraith come for a culling. John's mission was slightly different. His team was going to the Wraith home world. All he had to do was fire the special bombs McKay had installed, to the strategic locations in the planets atmosphere that Beckett had chosen. Supposedly, even if the virus missed infecting some of the Wraith, they could still catch it from infected Wraith for up to 12 days, the time period when they would turn from Wraith to completely human. John had no intention of sticking around afterwards. They could check the long distance sensors and use the Deadalus to find out if it had worked.
John kissed his wife and cleared his voice, getting the attention of the rest of the people gathered in the room. "Let's go."
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John watched as the last bomb exploded in the atmosphere. "Okay guys, let's hightail it out of here." He said, as he reactivated the gate and returned to Atlantis. I really hope this works.
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It was days later when the Deadalus was able to get any reliable Intel on the affect of the retrovirus on the Wraith. Cullings had stopped and the population on their home world was now reading as partially human. It had worked.
While none on Atlantis truly believed that every last Wraith in the galaxy would be infected, they knew that enough would. Enough that they no longer had to fear the destruction of their city.
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"Rodney, can we talk?" Asked Alex nervously. While she knew he adored their daughter, there was no telling how he would take her news of another child on the way.
Rodney immediately dropped what he was doing and walked over to her, concerned from the tone of her voice. "Sure, what is it?"
"Remember how I haven't been feeling that well lately? How I went to Dr. Beckett to find out why?" Rodney nodded, terrified. "Well, he found out what was wrong with me."
"Oh my god! You're dying aren't you? I knew it was too good to be true! I was too happy! I had it all and the universe decided to turn around and bite me in the ass! What is it? Cancer? Is it your heart? Brain tumor?" He rambled off. Alex grabbed his chin, focusing his attention.
With a completely serious face she said, "No. Worse." Rodney paled at this. "I'm pregnant."
Rodney's jaw dropped open, completely in shock. He heard a whirring and a click and looked over Alex's shoulder to see a grinning John holding a camera. "Now that is a Kodak moment."
"You knew?" Rodney screeched. "You knew and you didn't tell me? I thought she was dying!" He said, seriously angry now. All this time, he had thought there was something terribly wrong with his wife, what with all the hush-hush and the constant vomiting on her part. All that time and his supposed best friend had known and hadn't told him.
"Well, yeah." Sheppard said, still grinning. "I knew as soon as Beckett grounded her from gate-travel and put her on restricted duty. He was happy about it. What else would it have been except that she was pregnant?" He asked reasonably.
Alex saw the look on Rodney's face and realized John was in serious trouble. "Uhhhh, Col. Sheppard, sir? I think you better run."
John looked confused at this until Rodney started approaching him menacingly. "Now, Rodney," John tried, "Let's not overreact here." He said backing up. Rodney picked up speed and John took off running for his life.
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Carson had just been about to ask Rodney if he wanted to grab a bite to eat, when John ran past him, fear in his eyes, followed a few feet behind by a shouting Rodney. "I'll kill you!"
Carson didn't give it a second thought. He took off running after the other two men, sure that his services were about to be needed, if the look on Rodney's face was anything to go by.
Alex stepped out of the room in time to see Rodney and Carson disappear, their shouts echoing down the hall. Elizabeth was standing next to Teyla across the hall, where they had obviously seen everything. Alex looked at them and then down the hall. All three women rolled their eyes. "Men."
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Author's note: Okay, now I'm really done, I think. Is there anything I missed? I'm so happy I'm done, you have no idea! This was the longest thing I've written in my life! Hope you all enjoyed it and thanks for sticking with me!