A/N: Yay! It let me upload! Thanks to Fifi for her suggestions and to Fanwoman for an excellent beta! Enjoy! (psst, don't forget to review and let me know if ya did!)
Addie's first bath, one clean towel, two quick showers later, and all was well. Rodney, though disgusted at getting peed on, actually managed the incident with much more aplomb than Elizabeth expected. He even held Addie while Elizabeth took her shower and was talking to her quietly20 minutes later when she exited the bathroom in fresh clothes. Elizabeth stopped and smiled, taking in the sight of grouchy, snarky Doctor Rodney McKay cooing and making faces at a baby that barely filled his two hands.
Elizabeth opened her mouth to make a comment about babies turning the most hardened adult into a babbling idiot, when she heard what he was saying, and she laughed instead. Rodney looked up in surprise at her sudden appearance, but just smiled and looked back to Addie, continuing with barely a pause.
"As I was saying Addie…let's see. Where was I? Oh yes, we were up to Uncle Carson. You've met him before. You'll like him. He's smart, even if it is in the voodoo sciences, and he's always afraid of stuff. He's not very brave. But don't worry. Your daddy is brave. Almost as brave as Uncle John. I even saved his life before. Well, lots of times, but once just by being brave."
He looked so proud, Elizabeth laughed again, before chastising him. "Rodney. You know very well that Carson is brave. He wouldn't be here otherwise."
Rodney pouted. "But Lizabeth, I need to make sure Addie knows her Daddy is braver than anyone almost and can protect her." He grinned at her and started to say something, when Addie scrunched her face up. The look on his face was priceless as he practically sprinted to Elizabeth, handing over Addie quickly. After a couple moments though, Addie relaxed her face. Elizabeth checked the diaper, andsmiled to find it still dry. Rodney exhaled in relief. "False alarm. Good."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and muttered, "Brave, huh? But afraid of a little bodily fluids?"
Rodney glared, then gave in and laughed. "Hey, I wouldn't talk. Who was the one who squealed and turned a bit green when we realized the diaper was more than wet?" He grinned at her smugly. Elizabeth raised her eyebrow in answer.
"Rodney…that was you."
The smile quickly vanished and was replaced by a slight blush and a quiet, "Ooh. Yes. Right. Well, let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?" He was just heading over to sit back on the couch when Elizabeth's door chimed. She called to whomever to come in, and the doors parted.
There, on the threshold, stood John, Teyla and Carson, each of them carryinga large box or basket. Following closely behind them was Ronan,an overlylarge, blanket-wrapped object held securely against his chest.They all came in and set the bundles down by the couch and stepped back. Before either Elizabeth or Rodney could ask the obvious questions, Teyla stepped forward and smiled.
"Doctor Weir, Doctor McKay. Colonel Sheppard was kind enough to fly me over to the mainland, where we gathered some things I think will help both, excuse me, allof you, and to show our joy at this wonderful time." She reached down and opened the first box, and tilted it to show them an abundance of impossibly small outfits. She repeated the action with the second and third bundle, revealing soft looking blankets, what appeared to be a form of socks, and to Rodney's audible relief, several pieces of thick cloth immediately recognizable by any culture as the equivalent of diapers.
Elizabeth looked at all the things with delight, then looked at her friends one at a time with a blazing smile. Her emotions were so near the surface, she knew she had to do something, or she'd start crying again. She couldn't remember the last time she'd cried so much, but at least these were happy tears.
Rodney looked to be in almost the same boat as Elizabeth and cleared his throat, before turning to Ronan in an attempt to hold things together. "What have you got there?" Ronan stepped forward, set the bundle on the floor in front of Elizabeth and Addie and pulled the blanket off. Elizabeth gasped and couldn't stop the tear that escaped. Rodney walked over and squatted down to look at it in awe.
There on the floor was the most beautifully handmade cradle they'd ever seen. It had rockers on the bottom, allowing it to sway ever so gently at the slightest push, demonstrated by a beaming Rodney over and over. He quickly rushed to the other room to grab a pillow from Elizabeth's bed to line it, and then took theagain-sleeping baby from Elizabeth, placing her gently into the cradle. As he began to rock it slowly, he looked up at Elizabeth with a grin and let out a child-like "Cool!"
Everyone laughed good-naturedly, and John thumped him on the back with a grin. Rodney wasn't about to be embarrassed; he was having too much fun as his attention was totally captivated by the quietly sleeping baby rocking before him. Elizabeth sat on the edge of the couch, her hand coming up to rest on Rodney's shoulder as she leaned over to observe their daughter herself.
Silence reigned for a couple minutes, as the rooms other occupants realized their presence had been completely forgotten. No one was offended; everyone knows you can't compete with a new baby for attention.
Carson cleared his throat quietly, causing the still enthralled parents to jerk their eyes to him. Before they could get the apology out,Carson waved his hand dismissively. "No. Do nae think another thought abou' it. I'm sorry ta be interruptin' yer family time, but I need ta explain this." For the first time, Elizabeth and Rodney noticed the large pouch slung on his shoulder. At their unspoken question, he continued.
"I made up quite a bit o' food for the wee one. Accordin' to the database, it does nae need ta be kept cold and does nae spoil as long as ya keep it sealed when yer not usin' it, so ya can make as much as ya want at a time. I made enough to get ya through several days at least. Just fill the bottle container about ¼ of the way up fer each feedin'."
Elizabeth smiled gratefully at Carson and stood to kiss his cheek gently, then repeated the action to John and even stretched up to do to same to Ronan. Much to everyone's delight, Ronan blushed and looked away quickly. She then hugged Teyla, thanking her profusely and asking her to relay their thanks to the Athosians who'd obviously contributed to the bounty surrounding them.
Everyone took their leave then, and it wasonce again just Rodney, Elizabeth, and a sleeping Addie. Elizabeth began to go through the box of clothes and the next several minutes were filled withsoft "oohs" and "ahhs" as she examined the intricate stitching and skilled craftsmanship. When she finally turned to show a particularly adorable outfit to Rodney, she froze to see him sprawled on her couch, sound asleep. His hand hung over the side, holding on to the cradle tightly, even in his sleep.
She smiled and reached down to smooth his hair and froze at the intimate act she had almost done without even thinking about it. She'd become so caught up in playing "family," that she'd forgotten they weren't one. Elizabeth smiled fondly at the sleeping scientist, a tinge of sadness in her eyes, and then checked on Addie. She was starting to stir, so she quietly gathered the precious bundle, a diaper and the formula and went into her bedroom.
There, she changed Addie's once again wet diaper and quickly poured the formula into the bottle and proceeded to feed Addie. She had to admit, these diapers were much better than the towel Carson had used. As Addie ate quietly, Elizabeth tapped her earpiece and contacted Colonel Caldwell.
She had a long conversation with him, arranging for him to take charge for a few days while she adjusted to motherhood. He'd become such a part of the Atlantis team lately, she was finally comfortable asking him, and knew he wouldn't attempt to change things like last time. She also asked him to put in a request to the SGC on their next trip for all the various things a newborn baby needed. While the Athosiansgifts were nice, especially the diapers, if she had to use cloth diapers, she'd prefer rubber pants to go over them.
Caldwell laughed, and she realized she'd said that part aloud. He assured her he'd anticipated the request, and that his 2IC had already departed with the Daedalus towards Earth on a route that had become routine. He assured her they would load the holds with enough stuff to get Rodney and Elizabeth through until Addie was potty trained. She was skeptical, 'til he reminded her of the size of the Daedalus, and she laughed along with him. She smiled in relief as she realized they only had to make it for a few weeks with cloth diapers.
She had just disconnected the call when she heard a loud thud, then a panicked "LIZABETH!" Elizabeth jumped up and ran into the other room, to find Rodney on the floor, having obviously fallen off the couch. He looked up at her frantically. "Where's Addie!"
She hurried over to him and helped him up, but his confusion caused by hisabrupt awakening was making it difficult. "Rodney. Rodney, calm down. She's fine. She's sleeping in the bedroom. When she woke up, I took her in there to feed and change her. I needed to talk to Caldwell, and didn't want to wake you. You looked like you could use the sleep." As she spoke soothingly, she helped him stand and led him to the bedroom, where he could see the sleeping baby for himself.
As he sawAddie was alright, he heaved a huge sigh, and she could see him relax mightily, though he was obviously still keyed up. Elizabeth led him back to the living room, and then sat on the couch sideways, facing him as he sat down, too. He stretched his arm along the back of the couch and immediately started toying with a curl at the back of her neck. She almost protested at the familiarity, but decided to stay quiet. Besides the fact that he obviously needed the comfort after such a scare, -it feels too good- Elizabeth thought with a faint blush.
If Rodney noticed the blush, he didn't say anything. He didn't even seem to realize he was touching her, though she was keenly aware of it. His mind was obviously elsewhere, though she quickly found out where his focus waswhen she told him he could go back to his quarters for the rest of the evening if he was that tired.
Rodney was already shaking his head before she'd finished speaking. "Lizabeth, I'm not leaving her. Waking and finding her cradle empty scared me half to death. I won't, I can't go to an entirely different room several hallways away."
The conviction in his voice was strong, and some part of her realized all along that he wouldn't just leave. She leaned away from him reluctantly in an effort to steady herself and decided to compromise. "Alright. You can sleep here. On the couch," she emphasized at his surprised look. I'm gonna pull the cradle into the bedroom so I can get up with her when she needs fed though. Okay?"
Rodney didn't seem particularly happy with the arrangement, but knew better than to argue, lest he get booted from her quarters altogether.
At his nod of acceptance, Elizabeth decided there was no time like the present and dragged the cradle into her room and next to her bed. She then went out to give Rodney an extra blanket and pillow. A final trip to the restroom, and a subdued, almost shy goodnight to Rodney, and she was headed to her room.
As the door closed behind her, she let out a sigh of relief, then changed into comfortable shorts and a tank top for sleeping. She gently placed Addie in the cradle, and then climbed into bed. Her mind was going too fast to shut down, so she decided to let it wander where it wanted. The events of the exciting day obviously had caught up with her quickly though, and she was asleep in no time.
Something woke her several hours later. It was dark in the room, and she had no idea what time it was. She heard slight fussing from the cradle; but when it quickly quieted,she left the baby in the cradle.She settled back down to rest, and looked around the room.Elizabeth gasped as her eyes came to rest on Rodney. He was sitting on the floor on the other side of the cradle, his back against the wall, sound asleep. Next to him sat an empty bottle.
Elizabeth grabbed her watch and checked the time, surprised that she'd been asleep for almost 6 hours. Rodney must have heard Addie and come in to care for her, letting Elizabeth sleep. She looked at him again and saw him shiver, his blanket obviously forgotten in the other room.
That was it. She was only so strong, and seeing the poor man in such a state was more than she could take. She climbed out of bed and bent down to shake his shoulder gently. "Rodney. Rodney, wake up."
He opened bleary eyes, not fully awake. "Liz'beth? Wha's wrong?"
She smiled at him, sympathy and caring for him in her eyes. "Shhh...Nothing's wrong, Rodney. But you need to get up. You're going to catch a cold."
Rodney pulled back sleepily, and muttered. "No.I need to be here in case she needs me again. I'm fine."
Elizabeth stopped and looked at the door to living room, then Rodney again. With no words, she turned around and tugged him to the bed, as he looked at her with sleepy confusion. She pulled the cover on the other side of the bed down, and guided him to sit, then lay, and then covered him up. She walked around to the other side of the bed and got in, rolling to face him with a small smile.
"It's okay, now. Just sleep, Rodney. I'll listen for Addie." He reached out to grasp one of her hands, smiling sleepily, and she let him, curling her fingers around his. "Just sleep, Rodney. We'll figure it all out in the morning."