Chapter 5: A merry Christmas to all.

John awake the next morning to someone or something jumping on his bed and then he heard a strange screeching sound in his ear, he had barely recovered from a concussion, so it sounded way to loud for him. One thing he did know was that he wasn't quite awake and he certainly didn't want to get up now, so he kept his eyes closed and hoped that whoever or whatever it was would just go away.

The bouncing continued, much to his annoyance, so he opened his eyes to find that Torren was jumping on his bed, "it's Christmas Daddy, get up there's gifts!" Torren screamed in his ear.

He flinched at the sheer volume of his son's voice, "I know it is buddy, but it's only 0600 hours, so why don't you climb in bed with Momma and Daddy and go to sleep for a little while and then when we wake up we can have pancakes. Plus, Daddy still has a headache, so he needs you to be quiet for a while."

Teyla had invited Jennifer and Rodney for breakfast along with Ronon and Amelia, so he had decided that he would order food from the mess hall, but they weren't due until after nine, so he still had a few hours to sleep yet.

"Why Daddy?"

"Because I am still feeling tired, so I would like to sleep for a while longer."

He was relieved when Torren simply nodded his head and replied, "okay, Daddy."

He suspected that he had overdone it the night before, so he wondered in the wisdom of inviting people over for breakfast, but then once they had gone they could open their gifts and put a movie in for Torren and spend the rest of the day sleeping if they wanted too.

Closing his eyes again, he wondered why he was so tired and then he remembered that he'd had a concussion and a fever. Carson had told him that he may feel exhausted for a week or more, so he should take the opportunity to get as much rest as possible. At that moment he was glad he hadn't told Torren about Santa Claus because he was sure that his son wouldn't want to stay in bed if he had. He himself had believed in Santa until he was about eight, but then he had found out where his parents had hidden the gifts one year, so even though he never told his parents, he knew that it was his parents who always bought the gifts for him and Dave.

With so many thoughts from his childhood mulling around in his head, he found it difficult to get to sleep, until he felt Teyla's arm across his chest. He immediately felt comforted by it and it wasn't long before he fell into a deep contented sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Teyla awoke the next morning, she was surprised to find that Torren had crawled in to bed with her and John at some point. Sighing she rolled over and looked at the clock and was happy to see that it was only seven o'clock, so she had a while before she had to get up, which was a good thing, since she was feeling nauseous anyway. Hopefully by the time their friends arrived for breakfast she would feel a whole lot better.

Looking down at her son she was relieved to see that he was still sleeping, but when she looked up at John, she was surprised to find that his eyes were open and he was staring at him.

"Good morning Sweetie," he greeted with a twinkle in his hazel eyes.

"Merry Christmas Honey. I see that Torren ended up in our bed at some point?" She grinned with amusement. Although she was feeling nauseous, just looking into John's expressive face made her feel better.

"He wanted to get up and open gifts, but as I still have a slight headache and I'm still feeling incredibly tired, I figured that it could wait until after breakfast."

"I could not agree more honey, but tell me were you any different as a child on Christmas morning."

"Dad never let us open our gifts until after lunch and our lunches usually involved a whole heap of extended family eating with us, so we had to be on our best behaviour and pretend to enjoy the company of way too many people and as you know I'm not exactly a people person."

"I imagine it would have been wonderful when everyone left and it was just the four of you though?"

John's eyes misted over and he got a faraway look in his eyes, "Yep, we'd sort the gifts out, and then take turns at opening them and then we'd spend the rest of the day just the four of us."

"That is a lovely memory John and did you and your family sing carols like we did last night?"

"There were always Carollers at our door the week leading up to Christmas and we would always open the door and offer them some food after they had sung for us, but the real fun would come Christmas night when mum would play the piano and we would all sing carols together."

She furrowed her brow and looked at John, "Carollers?"

He smirked at her, "people who go door, to door, singing Christmas carols for people."

"And did you offer them food every year?"

"Once again after Mom died, dad wouldn't even open the door to them. Dave and I would quite often head outside to listen to them and Ellie would give us some food to take to them, but I have no idea whether Dad knew about it or not."

"Oh John…," she said with a soft sigh, "you have so many bad memories of Christmas, so please tell me why you want to celebrate it now?"

"Because I love Christmas and I have always held on to the good memories from my childhood and now that I have a family of my own, I want to give them an opportunity to make some good memories as well."

She knew that John hadn't come out and said it, but that was probably as close as he had come to telling her that he loved them in a while and she knew that when she finally told him that she was pregnant that he would love the twins as well.

"Thank you, John, Torren and I love you as well."

She could sense that he was beginning to feel embarrassed, so she was relieved when Torren woke up and squealed, "Momma, we open gifts now?"

Wondering what the right thing to say was she looked at John and luckily, he answered for her, "how about we all get dressed and then you can open one gift before breakfast, we will spend the afternoon and evening together then and you can open the rest of your gifts."

"Otay Daddy, let's go."

A sense of relief swept over her when the little boy ran to his room to start getting dressed, she was happy that they didn't have to worry about diapers for Torren anymore, because once the twins came there was going to be a whole lot to change.

Teyla looked at John and she could see the pain lines around his eyes, she suspected that he had a headache, not that he would tell her.

Although she still felt nauseous, it wasn't too bad at the moment, so she decided that she would get up and have a shower first, then she would have a cup of Athosian tea. It always seemed to help when she was pregnant with Torren, so perhaps it would help her now.

"John would you like me to have a shower first, so that you can lie in bed a little longer?"

"That would be fantastic sweetie, but I don't think I'll have one this morning."

"Alright then, it is 8:00 now and we're expecting company at nine, so I will come and get you at around 8:40. Will that leave you with enough time to get ready?"

"Yep, that would be great."

She watched him for a while longer until his eyes began to droop. Once she was sure that he was going to be alright, she checked in on Torren, who was in the middle of his bedroom floor playing with some toys, then she headed in to the bathroom, to have her shower and get herself ready to start the day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Teyla had just wheeled John into the dining area when the door chime sounded, so he thought open and the door opened to reveal Rodney and Jennifer standing at door, it was at times like this that he was glad that he had the ancient gene and didn't have to physically get up to open the door.

He looked at them and grew suspicious, when he noticed that they both had a stupid grin on their faces. "Come in guys?"

"Guess what Sheppard?" Rodney asked him and the grin on his face grew larger.

John had a fair idea what he was going to say, but he had to ask anyway, "what?"

"I asked Jennifer to marry me and she said yes."

"Congratulations Dr McKay and Dr Keller," Teyla said as she came up and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek.

"That's great guys," John said and he suddenly felt overcome with emotion again, he knew that it was a side effect of the concussion and fever, but he also knew that he really had to get a grip, or someone would insist that he see a shrink.

"That's great McKay, "Ronon said, as he walked into the apartment with Amelia next to him.

"Hey when'd you get back Conon!?" Rodney practically yelled with excitement.

Everyone seemed to be talking all at once and suddenly his head began to ache, it was probably a good idea to disappear, but unless he could catch someone's attention, it would be impossible to move.

Teyla must have seen his distress, because before too long she had grabbed to back of his wheelchair and was pushing him back to their room. Glancing at his son's room on the way, he noticed that Torren was still sitting in the middle of the floor playing with his toys.

It didn't take long, until he was finally laying in his bed with the curtain's drawn and the lights out, he let out a sigh of relief and looked up at Teyla with gratefulness when she put a damp cloth on his forehead.

He was just about to thank Teyla, when Carson came rushing into the room, "are you alright Laddie?"

He moaned at the volume of his friend's voice, "yeah, it's just a bit of a headache, I should be alright after a little rest."

"You'll have more than a little rest laddie, a concussion is a brain injury believe it or not and it should not be taken lightly. You may have felt alright last night, but you are certainly paying for it today!" Carson ranted and although it was annoying, he knew that Carson only had his best interests at heart.

"Thanks Carson. Can you please ask everyone to leave and contact the kitchen staff and tell them we won't need any food for a while?" Teyla asked him quietly.

"I can do that lassie and just let me know if you want something to eat later on and I'll have someone send some food up from the mess hall." Carson suggested, while poking around in his doctors' bag.

"I'm going to give you a strong pain killer John, to help with the pain and hopefully it will help you fall asleep for a good few hours as well."

"Thanks Doc," John said covering his eyes with is good hand.

He felt the prick of a needle in his shoulder and sighed with relief as the pain in his head began to dissipate, he watched Carson leave the room and closed his eyes desperately wanting to go back to sleep for a few hours. He hoped that he would feel better later, since they still had gifts under the tree to be opened.

"I will leave you to sleep for a while honey," Teyla said holding his hand.

"Let me know when it's dinner time, because I still want to watch you open your gifts?"

"The gifts can wait John, if you do not feel better today, we will open them tomorrow or the next day. We will wait how ever long it takes for you to feel better."

Slowly turning his head towards her, he opened his eyes and smiled at her, "I Love you Teyla."

"I will see you later John."

Closing his eyes again he felt himself feeling droopy and at that moment he was glad that the pain medication was making him feel that way, because for now he didn't feel any pain and it wasn't long before he was fast asleep again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Teyla walked out into the living area again, to find that everyone was still there and sitting around her table eating pancakes,

"How is he?" Amelia asked with concern.

Teyla wasn't impressed by the fact that everyone was still in her home, so she asked them to leave as politely as possible, "Dr Beckett has asked that he sleep for the rest of the day, so when you have all finished your breakfast I would ask that you leave and John and I will catch up with all of you when he is feeling better."

Rodney stared at her and she sensed that he was about to argue, but to her relief, Carson interrupted him before he had a chance to open his mouth, "Come on you lot, I believe that Teyla and John would like some time alone today, how about you all join me in my apartment for dinner and we can catch up with them another day."

"That's a great idea Doc," Ronon mumbled, stuffing the last of his pancake into his mouth.

"Yeah, I'll catch you later Teyla," Amelia said standing up ready to follow Ronon out of the door.

Teyla watched as her friends left one by one, until Carson was the only one standing in her apartment.

"How are you doing Lassie? Do you need someone to look after Torren today, so that you can go and rest with John?"

"No, I should be alright, Torren usually has a nap in the afternoon, so I will curl up with John and have a sleep then, but thank you for your offer Carson."

"I will see you later then Teyla, and please don't hesitate to call me if you need any help."

Nodding, she watched her friend leave the apartment and she was pleased to have some peace and quiet, she looked over at the mess on her table and decided that she would load the dishwasher later, for now she would see what her son was up too. Walking into his room, she was happy to see that he had fallen asleep in the middle of his bedroom floor, so she carefully put him in his bed. Then she went and lay down on her own bed and it wasn't long before she was fast asleep again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

John slowly became aware, to the sounds that were going on around him, he heard the gentle breathing of someone laying next to him, but he also heard a sound farther away and it sounded like a child crying. He had to admit that he felt better than he had before he'd gone to sleep, but seeing as his knee was still throbbing, there was no way he was going to be able to get up and attend to the crying child.

Looking at the person lying next to him he realised that it was Teyla and she was fast asleep, "Teyla, sweetie, I think that Torren is awake and crying?"

Suddenly the sound stopped, it was almost as if someone else was in the apartment with them, "Sweetie, is there someone else here?"

He watched as she slowly awoke and once he was sure that she was aware enough to comprehend what he was saying, he spoke to her again, "is there someone in our apartment?"

"Yes John, Amelia and Jennifer offered to come around and clean up the breakfast dishes and keep an eye on Torren, so that we could both have a sleep."

"I don't remember having breakfast and are you alright sweetie, I mean you're not sick, are you? You don't usually need a sleep in the middle of the day."

"I am fine honey and as for the dishes, the others decided to stay for breakfast, even though you were not feeling up to it."

Rolling over in the bed he looked at the clock on his bedside table and it read 1600 hours, "perhaps it's time we got up and opened our gifts, I'm sure that Torren has been wanting to do it all afternoon."

"I could not agree with you more. First I need to go to the bathroom and then I will help you get out of bed."

Ten minutes later when Teyla wheeled him out into the lounge he found that Amelia was sitting with Torren on the floor and Jennifer was just finishing up in the kitchen.

"Thank you for your help ladies, but Teyla and I are awake now and can look after Torren."

"The cooks are cooking a Christmas dinner, so when you are hungry, just give them a call and someone will bring some up to your apartment for you." Jennifer explained with a smile.

"Thank you, Jennifer," Teyla answered.

He was relieved when the two women finally left the room and he was alone with his family, to celebrate Christmas together.

John let out a deep breath, "now that we're finally alone, would you like to open some gifts?"

"I would love too, how about I go and get Torren, as he has gone back to his room for now. Then you can sort out the gifts."

"Can you help me sit on the floor please Sweetie?"

She nodded and helped him out of his wheelchair and onto the floor, where he had easy access to the gifts.

By the time Teyla returned with Torren a few minutes later, he had sorted the gifts into two piles, there was a large pile for Torren and a few small gifts for Teyla.

They both sat and watched Torren open his gifts and the joy on his son's face as he unwrapped them, was one of the most incredible feelings he'd ever experienced in his life. Torren looked at each gift before setting it aside and opening the next one. There were colouring books and pencils, jigsaw puzzles and even some Athosian carved figures that Halling had made for him, but the one he seemed to like the most was the remote-controlled helicopter that John had ordered from earth.

"Tankyou Daddy," he muttered trying to make his helicopter work.

"How about we let momma open her gifts and then I will help you fly it later."

"Otay Daddy," Torren said putting the plane down and picking up one of the Athosian figures.

Once he was sure that Torren was occupied, he sat back and watched Teyla open her gifts, Jennifer had brought some perfume back from earth for him to give Teyla and Jennifer had assured him that Teyla would like it.

"John this fragrance in beautiful, thank you."

He handed her a small slim rectangular box, this is the gift that he was most proud of and he really hoped she appreciated its significance.

A feeling of joy overcame him when her eyes lit up as she took the gold bracelet out of its box.

"John!" she exclaimed, "this is exquisite, what are these small gems attached to it?"

"They are our birthstones, from what we can work out, you were born in January the same month as me, so the red stones are called Garnet which is our birthstone and the purple stone which is called amethyst is for February, which is when we suspect Torren was born, according to the earth calendar."

Oh, John, I'm glad that there is room for more gems, because in around seven months' time, we will need to attach two more gems."

He looked at her and felt stunned, was she actually telling him what he thought she was, "umm… Teyla, what do you mean?"

She handed him two small black and white pictures and he was amazed by what he saw, "are you…? Is this a…?" He whispered, unable to articulate what he was feeling.

"Yes, John I am pregnant and these are pictures of our babies."

"Babies, how many of them are there?"

"Just two John, I'm having twins."

Tears came to his eyes as he contemplated what was happening to him. "Wow! He exclaimed, "this is the best Christmas present ever."

Before they had a chance to say anything else Torren came over and sat on his good leg, "are you otay Daddy?"

He showed Torren the pictures that Teyla had just shown him, "I couldn't be better T.J, because in about seven months' time Momma is going to have two babies and you are going to be a big brother."

"They not babies, they big blobs," Torren said in disgust.

"The babies are in Momma's tummy."

Torren seemed to lose interest at that point, so he just sat grinning at Teyla wondering what was going to happen next.

"Shall we have some dinner now John?"

"Sure," he whispered still trying to come to terms with the fact that Teyla was going to have his babies.

For the rest of Christmas day, he was on an absolute high, they shared dinner as a family and afterwards they sang some carols together. The greatest gift of all that Christmas was his family and by this time next year it would have grown by two.

When he was lying in bed that night he thought about all that had happened over the last few days and he decided that although he hadn't been one hundred percent well, it was the best Christmas ever.

Fin…

I want to wish everyone a very happy and safe Christmas. Thanks for reading and reviewing this story, I hope you enjoyed it.