Letting herself into Skyler's temporary SGC quarters Aria was surprised to find Skyler still in bed. Shaking her head she moved over to the bed and shook his shoulder, pulling at his covers trying to get him to wake up. "Come Sky get up, our flight leaves in an hour."
"I don't wanna go to school today mommy." Skyler mumbled as he pulled the covers tighter around him and buried his head under his pillow.
Sighing in exasperation Aria circled around to the other side of the bed and flipped the mattress dumping Skyler on the ground. Not expecting the sudden movement Skyler sprawled out on the floor with a loud oof.
"Alright I'm up, I'm up." He started to untangle himself from the covers and sat up with his back propped up against the nightstand. He reached up to grab the clock off the nightstand. "…Seven…Aria it's seven in the morning. Why am I awake at seven in the morning? I can't remember the last time I was up this early."
"Because we only have two weeks vacation time and we want to spend as much time with our families as possible. Now get up and get dressed or you won't have time to swing by the commissary to grab something to eat." Giving him quick kiss Aria stood up and started rooting around in the closet.
--
An hour later a tired Skyler boarded the plane with Aria and Axle. For their first week of vacation they were going to be staying with Axle's family then for the second week Aria and Skyler would be going to visit her family.
Originally Brain and Blue were going to be joining them, but Brain had decided to stay in Atlantis at the last minute to work on some ruins that had been discovered on the mainland. Blue had decided to wait until the next batch of people from the city were sent to earth for some down time since his sister would be out of the country on business this time around.
"You're sure about this?" Skyler asked as they sat in their seats waiting for the plane to take off. "You don't have to come, if you want to spend the whole two weeks with your family I'll understand. I know how anxious you are to see them."
"Skyler," Aria gently griped Skyler's face in her hands. "We've been through this, these people are your family as much as they are Axle's and I would love nothing more than to meet them. If you're willing to spend a week with my family the least I can do is spend a week with yours."
"I love you," he leaned forward to steal a kiss. "Have I mentioned that lately?"
"Possibly, maybe you should tell me anyway just to make sure." She kissed him back.
"Get a room you two." Axle shook his head at his friends. It was sickening sometimes the way the two of them got all lovey-dovey.
--
There was a welcoming committee waiting for them at the airport. Axle and Skyler had barely reached the baggage claim before Axle's parents ambushed them. While Axle's mom was busy trying to suffocate her son with a giant bear hug Skyler greeted Mr. Cooper.
"Papa C." Skyler shook the man's hand. Before he had the chance to say more Mrs. Cooper got a hold of him. "Mama C," he returned the hug.
"Look at the both of you," Marie Cooper took in the two men. "Don't they feed you wherever it is you're stationed? You're skin and bone."
"Oh, leave them be, there's plenty of time for you to fatten them up later." Chris Cooper admonished his wife. "And who is this lovely lady?" Aria had come up to stand behind Skyler.
"Mama C, Papa C, meet Aria," Skyler pulled her forward wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. "The woman that I love very, very, much."
"Oh, here we go." Axle muttered. "Ignore the love sick puppy, it'll save you the trouble of loosing your lunch."
"Hush you," Marie swatted her son's arm. "I don't see you with a lovely young lady."
"Moooom…would you lay off with the getting married thing. You have the grandchild you've always wanted now."
"It's a pleasure to meet you dear." Chris offered his hand to Aria ignoring his wife and son having heard the marriage/grandchild argument several times before.
"Speaking of grandkids, where's that punk you call your youngest son?" Skyler distracted Marie.
"Back at the house babysitting. Poor Alison has been so exhausted with taking care of that new baby that Matt offered to give her the afternoon all to herself while he watched A.J. at our house." Marie answered as she began to usher the group out of the airport.
--
"Hope you guys don't mind sharing Axle's old room so that Aria can have Matt's old room." Chris spoke as he helped Axle and Skyler unload the luggage from the car and take it to the house.
"What the hell, if we can survive sharing a tent with out killing each other a room should be a piece of cake." Axle shrugged as he dumped his bag on his old bed.
"What he said," Skyler agreed while tossing Axle's bag off the bed and dumping his own on it. "But I get the bed."
"Like hell you do," Axle tossed Skyler's bag off the bed.
"Fight over it later." Chris directed the guys back downstairs before they could start wrestling like when they were kids.
When the three got back down stairs they found Aria, Marie and Matt in the living room. While Matt was busy making a bottle Marie sat holding her grandson looking like she was the luckiest woman alive. Aria sat on the couch taking everything in.
"You mister, have some explaining to do." Axle zeroed in on his brother.
"Hello to you too." Matt turned to give Axle a hug.
"Spill."
"Long story short. I met Alison about a week after you guys left for wherever it is you've been for over the last year, three months later we got married and nine months later this little guys was born." He handed the bottle to his mom so she could feed A.J. "We named him after his godfather, since dad's named after his, Axle after his, and me after mine, we figured why break with tradition."
"I remember that day," Skyler plopped down next to Aria. "The day you were born and your folks asked my dad to be your godfather was probably one of the three happiest days of his life. His marriage and my birth being the other two."
Soon the group settled in and started talking about everything and nothing. Axle and Skyler both couldn't help thinking that it was good to be home. Aria had to smile at seeing how relaxed and happy Skyler looked surrounded by the people he considered family. She'd seen him relaxed and happy before but never quite like he was right then, it was nice to see this side of him.
"So Mama C what lovely delicious home cooked meal do you have cooking for us tonight?" Skyler questioned as dinnertime rolled around.
"And what makes you think I'm cooking anything?" Marie folded her arms staring down the man that was like a third son to her.
"Because you're Mama C and Mama C's always got something good cooking in the kitchen."
"He's got you there mom." Axle agreed. "Besides you said it yourself we're skin and bone, we need a good home cooked meal." He threw in the puppy dog eyes for good measure.
"It's a good thing I love you guys so much…" Marie muttered as she led the way to the dining area.
--
Later that night after everybody had gone to bed Aria came down stairs looking for a glass of water. Walking past the living room she paused in the doorway seeing Skyler pacing around the room trying to sooth a cranky baby. Marie had insisted on taking A.J. for the night so that Matt and Alison could have a night to themselves.
She smiled as she leaned against the doorframe and just watched the two of them. Skyler was going to make a great father someday, possibly sooner than later. With out really thinking about it she brought a hand up to rest on her stomach. For the last few days she'd been feeling slightly off and suspected that she might be pregnant but hadn't gotten up the nerve to find out for sure yet. She hadn't told anyone what she suspected for fear that she might be wrong.
Also on some level she was afraid of how Skyler would react, they'd never really discussed children and she wasn't sure how he felt about the matter. Aria knew that she could find out if she was pregnant or not while they were on earth but she didn't want to find out there, she wanted to wait until they were back home in Atlantis – and Atlantis was home now. As much as she may have missed seeing her friends and family earth just didn't feel like home any more.
When A.J. finally settled down and drifted off back to sleep Skyler placed him back in his crib and turned to leave. "Aria…" he was surprised to see her up. "Everything okay?"
"Fine," Aria shook herself out of her thoughts and smiled wrapping her arms around his waist. "Let's go to bed." She took his hand leading him back up stairs.
The rest of the week passed peacefully as everyone caught up on the lives of everyone else. By the time Aria and Skyler left the Cooper's had officially adopted Aria into the family and insisted that she come back to visit.
--
"Okay look before we do this there are some things we need to go over." Aria stated as she and Skyler boarded their plane. "My family's probably nothing like you're used to."
"Aria stop stressing." Skyler sighed inwardly. "I'm the one that should be freaking out about meeting your family not the other way around."
"I'm serious Skyler, this is stuff you need to know. Now for the most part my dad will be pretty good, as long as you make me happy – which you do – he'll be happy. But my mom…my mom will be a whole other matter." Getting comfy Skyler sat back and listened to Aria as she gave him a big list of do's and don'ts when dealing with her mother.
When the flight landed a couple of hours later Skyler was about ready to throw him self through an incoming wormhole, he loved Aria he did but she really needed to stop stressing and relax. For the entire flight she had been stressing out about how her mom was going to react to him and it had started to get on his nerves.
Before he had the chance to sulk any further, Aria's voice snapped him out of his daze. "Dad!"
Aria practically run up to and threw her arms around an older man. He was about as tall as Skyler with graying hair and a weathered face. Skyler stood back allowing Aria time to greet her father.
"Oh…where are my manners?" Aria let go of her dad, grabbing Skyler's hand pulling him forward. "Dad this is Skyler, Skyler meet my dad Lou Chen."
"Pleasure sir," Skyler held his hand out.
Lou shook his hand tightly and smiled back, "Nice to finally meet the man who's stolen my little girls heart." Grabbing some of the baggage Lou started for the exit.
The journey back to the house had been rather uneventful. Aria was extremely pleased to see Skyler and her father were easily getting along. Aria tried to believe that things with her mother would go as smoothly, but there was a huge difference between being a wishful thinker and just plain delusional.
They got out the car and walked up the path to a white house with blue shutters, a white picket fence and flowerbeds in the front garden. The door opened and there she was. With her straight black hair and piercing green eyes.
Standing on the porch Emily Chen looked Skyler up and down. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You must be Skyler."
"Yes Ma'am." Skyler held his hand out. "It's nice to finally meet you. Aria speaks very highly of you."
Watching Skyler and her mother Aria held her breath waiting for her mother's reaction to her boyfriend.
Emily ignored the out stretched hand and turned to her daughter, "You look well."
"Hello mother," Aria gave her mom a quick hug.
"You should take your things up to your room and get cleaned up. You will be staying in your old room while your friend stays in the guest room."
"Yes mother." Aria knew better than to correct her mother.
Grabbing their bags Skyler followed after Aria. "Charming woman, your mother."
"I warned you." After dumping their stuff in their rooms the two made their way to the living room.
"Aria, William Lane is in town and has expressed an interest in seeing you." Emily spoke to her daughter, once again ignoring Skyler. "I told him you would meet him for lunch tomorrow."
Skyler was about to speak up and ask whom William Lane was when Aria gripped his hand silently telling him to keep quiet. "Yes mother." She gave Skyler a look that told him she would explain later.
--
Sitting in a small café Aria waited for William to arrive. William was the kind of guy that any parent would love, he was polite, well educated, and had just recently graduated from medical school. She couldn't believe her mother had set her up on a date for lack of better wording, but there was no getting out of it – she'd tried with no success. So while her father and Skyler were off doing who knew what Aria was stuck spending the afternoon with William.
"Aria, nice to see you again." Looking up Aria saw William taking the seat across from her.
She'd first met the man in high school and her mother had instantly taken a liking to him. She'd been convinced that Aria and William were meant for each other. While William was a nice enough guy Aria had never really felt anything for him.
"William," She greeted.
"So how have you been?"
"I've been good. You?"
"Good, good."
Struggling to think of something to say Aria startled slightly when Skyler appeared out of nowhere and pulled up a chair.
"Hey," he kissed her cheek.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Aria was confused about Skyler's sudden appearance.
"Ball game was a bust, so your dad dropped me off here."
"Who's this?" William raised a questioning eyebrow.
"You must be William?" He held his hand out, which William shook uncertainly. "I'm Skyler, Aria's fiancé." Aria nearly spit out the sip of coffee she'd taken. Luckily William was too surprised by Skyler's statement to notice.
"Fiancé?" William's eyes widened, "You mother never said anything about you being engaged."
"He only asked me a few days ago." Aria pulled herself together, playing along. She was going to have to find a huge way to thank Skyler for this later. "After she set this lunch up, which is why she never said anything."
"Oh," he started to get up from his chair. "Well I hate to run, but I have a meeting to get to. Congratulations Aria." He kissed her cheek then left.
When William was gone Aria pulled Skyler into a breath taking kiss, "I love you. Remind me to thank you for this later."
"With pleasure. Your dad explained everything to me and we both figured you could use someone to rescue you." Skyler smiled stealing another kiss.
"Remind me to thank him too."
"Will do, now let's get out of here. You can show me around, I'm interested to see where you grew up." Skyler griped Aria's hand dragging her along with him.
--
After an afternoon of ice cream and the five-cent tour of the town Aria and Skyler returned to the Chen household. With neither one of her parents home Skyler felt it safe to follow Aria into her room.
"We're in your room?" Skyler smirked, sitting down on the bed.
"So?" Aria looked around the room shrugging; there was nothing special about the place.
"We're in your room alone." He playfully grabbed Aria's waist pulling her to stand between his legs, a seductive look on his face. "With the house to ourselves."
"You are such a guy." Aria laughed, kissing him.
Skyler pulled his head back and looked at her; she was breathing heavily and her lips were slightly parted. "You're beautiful, you know that?"
Aria answered by pulling him back in for another kiss. Skyler laid back on the bed pulling Aria with him. Just when things were really starting to get heavy Aria tensed up pulling away from Skyler.
"Aria, what…?" Skyler sat up worried.
"My parents are home."
"Shit!" Skyler flew off the bed like it was on fire, putting distance between him and Aria. "I value my life." He explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world when he saw the questioning look on Aria's face.
There was a knock at the door as Emily's voice was heard through the door, "Aria I would like to speak with you in the dining room, now." Her voice was commanding, with no room for argument.
Aria slowly got off the bed and walked towards a scared looking Skyler. She smiled at him and put her arms around his neck. "Now who's the one who needs to relax? It's nothing I'm sure. She probably spoke with William that's all, I'll take care of it."
"What're you doing? Get you butt down stairs before that woman comes in here and tears me to pieces." He started ushering her to the door. Aria started chuckling. "What are you laughing at? My life is on the line here and you're laughing?"
"I just find it amusing that you can fight the Wraith without flinching but when it comes to dealing with my mother you're like a scared animal." She kissed him on the cheek then left to go see what her mother wanted.
Twenty minutes later when Aria hadn't returned Skyler decided to head down stairs to see if she was still alive.
'The woman wouldn't kill her only child…would she?' He wondered as he put his ear to the dining room door trying to hear what was being said.
"The air vent works better."
Skyler jumped, just barely keeping himself from yelping. Turning around he found Lou sitting at the breakfast bar of the kitchen. Willing his heart to stop racing Skyler snagged the chair next to the older man.
After a moment of silence Skyler sat forward, putting his elbows on the counter and started talking in a low voice. "No offence against your wife, sir, but what the hell is that woman's problem with me?"
Lou leaned forward matching Skyler's posture, "It's nothing personal against you…not really. My wife knows deep down you're a good guy, she can see it in the way Aria looks at you, the way she lights up just at the mention of your name. But Emily has a very understandable hatred for anything military. When she was just a baby Emily lost both her father and grandfather in the Korean War. Both men were forced into service and their family suffered and struggled to survive for a long time afterwards."
Skyler sighed and looked down at the table. He was screwed.
"And of course Emily has always had her heart set on Aria marrying a doctor, so when she found out that the two of you were engaged…well let's just say that sealed your coffin."
Oh yeah he was totally and completely screwed.
"You're a brave man trying to pull off a lie like that." Lou smiled, giving a soft laugh.
"Glad to see that my misery is so amusing…wait how did you know that it was a lie?" Skyler raised an eyebrow and damn it he'd been spending too much time around Elizabeth.
"Please, if the two of you were really engaged Aria would have told me about it the second you got off the plane."
Fidgeting nervously for a second debating on whether or not to confess Skyler decided what the hell things couldn't get any worse. "Actually, sir it wasn't a complete lie…At least I hope it wasn't."
"What do you mean?" Lou straightened up.
Skyler reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jewelry box. Opening it he showed the ring inside to Lou. Lou was about to speak when the dining room door opened and Emily emerged, a smiling Aria behind her. Both men stood up – Skyler quickly stuffing the ring in his pocket – as she came towards them a determined look on her face.
"You will never scare me like that again." She faced Skyler down. "If ever you do ask my daughter to marry you, you will do it properly like a gentleman."
Stunned by the sudden change in attitude Skyler stood dumb founded for a moment until Lou subtly poked him in the back. Snapping out of his shock he pulled the ring back out.
"In that case, Mrs. Chen, I would like your permission to ask Aria to marry me." He could see Aria's eyes widen in surprise as she stood behind her mother. "I know Aria's your only child, and I know how important she is to you, but I really love her. I mean, really love her. She's the most beautiful person I've ever met and I don't just mean that physically. I have never felt the way I do about your daughter with any other woman…not that there have but a lot…because there haven't…" Skyler knew he was starting to ramble, but couldn't stop himself.
"Stop," Emily held up a hand cutting Skyler off. She glanced over Skyler's shoulder to her husband who just gave a nod of his head. Nodding herself she griped Skyler's shoulders and moved him around to face Aria. "Aria, Skyler has something he would like to ask you."
Not believing what had just happened both Aria and Skyler stood just staring at each other in shock. The sound of Emily clearing her throat broke them out of their stunned states.
Skyler gently took Aria's left hand, "This isn't exactly how I had planed on doing this," he'd actually been planning to propose in a puddle jumper in orbit above Atlantis at sun set…or something like that. "But, would you marry me?"
"Of course I'll marry you. I would love nothing more than to marry you." The luckiest man in the world Skyler hugged Aria, lifting her off the ground.
"I don't know what you said to your mother, but you are the greatest woman ever." Skyler whispered into her ear as he hugged her close.
"All right, you two are now officially engaged. There is much for you to discuss, so I will leave you two alone." Emily smiled then grabbed her husband's arm pulling him out of the room.
--
The rest of the week seemed to fly by for Skyler. The majority of the time was spent planning a wedding. Skyler and Aria hadn't been planning to have their wedding anytime soon wanting to get used to the idea first but, Emily insisted they get married while they were there since she didn't know when they'd be able to visit again and she wanted to be there for the wedding.
Thankfully she was all for a small ceremony with just immediate friends and family so it didn't take much planning. The couple knew that when they got back to Atlantis they'd have to have another ceremony of sorts for all their friends there, but they didn't mind.
They weren't even going to try to keep this from everybody back home – Axle and his big mouth would have made that impossible anyway.
--
A few hours after returning to Atlantis, Skyler found him self wandering around various corridors with no set destination in mind. Almost as soon as they returned Aria had disappeared off to who knew where – probably off to tell all of her friends the big news.
"Skyler Tyrell Cain!" Automatically Skyler found him self stiffening up when he heard Elizabeth use his full name – the only time anyone used his full name was when he was really in trouble.
Skyler slowly and uncertainly turned around to face his aunt, "Elizabeth?" He tried to put on his most charming smile.
"Don't you Elizabeth me." She was right up in his face now. "You have been back in this city for hours now and I'm only just hearing about this now." She gripped his left hand holding it up to see the gold band around his ring finger. "And to top it off I had to hear about it from Caldwell instead of my own nephew."
'Oh crap!'
"Uh…um…I…uh…" Yeah there was no way Skyler was charming his way out of this one. "I'm sorry." He threw the puppy dog eyes in for good measure.
"Damn right you better be sorry," Elizabeth poked his chest. "And you know that we're going to have to have a ceremony here." She hooked the front of his shirt and started leading him back down the corridor. Skyler just nodded and allowed her to drag him along, he knew better than to try and argue with her – or in this case inform her that they'd already planed on having a ceremony in Atlantis.
