John exhaled, exhausted, and slid down next to the bed. It was over. Eryn's howls of pain had been replaced by the disgruntled screech of a baby. A baby boy to be exact. He felt guilty to be tired after not doing anything particularly strenuous, but holding Eryn's hands and helping her breathe through each moment of the birth had taken it out of him. Her screaming in his ear didn't help matters much either.
Teyla, John noticed in amazement, was absolutely fine. She didn't look remotely stressed or tired. He supposed that she'd most likely done this sort of thing before with other women in the village.
Carson, however, looked a bit worse for wear. He was almost as out of breath as Eryn was, and covered in a lot of gunge. It was quite gross.
'Thank God for scrubs.' John thought to himself, smiling weakly. Having experienced childbirth from such a close proximity, John decided that once was quite enough.
The birth, thankfully, had been quite quick, and once the Pethidine had kicked in, Eryn seemed a bit more comfortable. Carson was just checking the baby over, while Teyla helped wash the newborn and wrap him up in a blanket. John heaved himself up onto his knees and turned to face the new mother.
"Thought of a name yet?" He asked her, leaning over to gently dab her forehead with a cloth.
"Nevan and I like the name Kai." She replied, giving him a grateful look. "What do you think, John?"
He grinned. "It's a great name. Good choice." She nodded and smiled.
"Here you go, Eryn love. Your wee lad wants a hug from his mummy." Carson walked over to her and leant over to hand her the bundle of blanket he was holding. There were two bright blue eyes staring curiously out the top, and a small pink hand was trying to wriggle free. The bundle was no longer howling. He handed the baby to its mother and stepped back to give the pair some room. John did the same, and the men remove their scrubs. Teyla had already disappeared, presumably to deliver the good news to the rest of the village.
Carson went to pack away his medical equipment, and John slipped outside for some air and to give the new parent and baby some bonding time. There was a crowd at one end of the village, and John thought that it was Teyla, telling of the birth, until she appeared next to him.
"Hey, I thought you were over there." He said to her, nodding at the swarm of people.
"No, I have been over here speaking with Halling." She replied, gesturing to her right where the tall, bearded man was standing with his son Jinto.
"Then what's going on over there?" He asked, frowning.
One of the young Athosian children appeared next to John and tugged on his sleeve.
"The big man! The big man fell down! He's sleeping." The little girl said.
"Huh?" John asked, but Teyla tugged on his other arm and pointed. "Carson! Get out here!" John yelled over his shoulder to the tent, and started running in the direction of the crowd, who were surrounding a man that was lying on the ground with his eyes closed. John didn't need to see the man's face to know who it was. The familiar dreadlocks of his friend said it all.
oOo
"I what?" Ronon asked, giving a disgruntled look as he was prodded in the back of the head yet again.
"Fainted." replied Carson simply. "The knock to your head from the crashed Jumper must've caused you to have a funny turn. When we get back to Atlantis I want to check you over properly with a full body scan."
Ronon glared at John as though it was all his fault. John smirked and turned to jog back to the tent. He didn't want Eryn to be all on her own so soon after a traumatic experience. Carson could no doubt handle Ronon. Teyla gave the Satedan a warm smile, told Beckett she would return later and followed John back to the tent. She'd not yet had the chance to congratulate her friend.
When Teyla arrived, she was surprised so see that Eryn was sleeping, and Kai was not with her. The Colonel was also missing. She glanced around anxiously, and found what she was looking for. In the far corner of the tent sat John Sheppard, oblivious to the fact that she was there. In his arms lay baby Kai, fast asleep. John was grinning like a proud parent. Teyla smiled, unsure whether to disturb them. John, however, suddenly noticed her presence and glanced up at her sheepishly.
"Hi." He said. "I was uh...just…" He shrugged gently, trying not to disturb the baby. "She was asleep." He stated. Teyla nodded, still smiling, and went to sit next to them.
"He seems very content with you." She said.
"Yeah. Dunno why." The Colonel replied, grinning again as the child hiccupped in his sleep.
I'm not very good at writing births so I thought I'd miss that one out! By the way, in case you're wondering,I think the name Kai is Hawaiian and means 'The Sea' which I thought was appropriate for Atlantis!