Chapter 13 – New Families
The next few days were filled with tests and discussion, Teyla had been restricted to the infirmary bed after the difficulty of the birth, her recovery was slow, but, as always, she was determined. Everything had been recorded about the latest addition to the Atlantis base except her name, John and Teyla had had many discussions since before her birth and had a not so short list that they were steadily going through. Teyla wanted a link to her family so they decided to use Teigan but where? First name? Middle name? And what other name or names would they use?
"I like Joanna" John said looking up from his list
"Joanna Teigan or Teigan Joanna?"
"Maybe I don't like Joanna so much"
"So Teigan Joanna"
"If we decide on Joanna at all"
"I rather like Emily"
Teigan Emily or Emily Teigan?"
"Emily Teigan"
"That's really pretty how about that?"
"I am still unsure"
"What about, Kimberleigh?"
"That is quite fitting and a name fitting with my people"
"Kimberleigh Teigan"
"Yes Kimberleigh Teigan Shepherd," as if responding to her new name Kimberleigh woke up and began to cry. Teyla instinctively moved towards her and flinched which didn't go unnoticed by John who pushed Teyla gently back on the propped up bed and moved the makeshift cradle closer to the bed and brought Kimberleigh to Teyla. She then proceeded to feed the hungry baby; Teyla had begun to feel more comfortable with feeding her after a few days. After burping her she looked in awe at the tiny child in her arms, still barely believing this was her child. John leaned over and cooed to the child;
"Is your name Kimberleigh Teigan baby?" she babbled happily and gave them a half smile, "There we go, it's official, we can post it around Atlantis and stop the nagging" he said jokingly. John sat in the chair beside her as Carson walked in
"Hello Lass, I've brought ye lunch" he said placing a tray on her table he looked down at Kimberleigh in her mother's arms "How are ye goin' with the feedin's lass?"
"Much better thank you, we're both more comfortable with it now"
"Have ye decided on her name yet?" he said writing on the charts
"Kimberleigh Teigan Shepherd" said John proudly Carson wrote it down on her sheet
"That's very pretty" Carson said, he put down the charts and left the room. Teyla picked up her sandwich and turned to John,
"You should go and get lunch"
"I'm fine"
"Go John" she stated forcefully "we will be all right for half an hour while you go and get lunch" he begrudgingly got up and moved off to the commissary. After he picked up his lunch he noticed Elizabeth sitting at a table alone, eating her lunch. As he got closer he realised she was playing with her lunch more than she was eating it.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" He joked as he sat opposite her, she grimaced and said
"I'm really not that hungry"
"You've barely eaten since you got back" She was looking quite pale and a lot thinner than usual "And I know you have only slept when someone forced you, what's up?"
"Just thinking"
"Must be quite a thought" She said nothing "Come on Beth…"
"Don't call me that" she said, looking away, Simon called her Beth and she missed him a lot. It wasn't John's fault and she regretted being so harsh. John's heard ached for his friend, he was shocked at her reaction
"Come on, you really need to eat something, you don't have to talk, just promise me you'll start to look after yourself" in response she put some food into her mouth, chewed, grimaced and swallowed "Quite a few of us are worried about you, you're making yourself sick" as if to prove a point she forked some more of her lunch into her mouth, she still looked as if the though of food made her sick but John was satisfied
"How's Teyla going?
"Better, she still sore, understandably, but more comfortable with feedings and stuff"
"That's good, I'm glad she's getting better" They ate in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again "Have you decided on a name yet?"
"Her name is Kimberleigh Teigan Shepherd"
"That's beautiful" They relaxed back into a comfortable silence until John had finished his meal, when they both stood to leave he noticed most of the food on Elizabeth's tray was gone. Maybe they were finally getting trough to her.
Elizabeth's stomach was doing back flips, she felt horrible and seriously though she shouldn't have gone to lunch at all. She sat down at her desk, popped a mint into her mouth to dull the after taste of her lunch and began to work again. This afternoon she had a mission briefing with SGA-3 then an update from Carson about SGA – 7 who were still in the infirmary from their last mission, not to mention the mission reports she hadn't read yet and all the paper work that was steadily taking over he office. She pulled the first file off the top of one of the many piles on her desk and began to read. By the time her briefing with SGA – 3 started she had read, signed, completed and filed 2 stacks of files from her desk. She gave a small pile of files to be distributed and entered the conference room, the feeling in her stomach had only slightly subsided and the lack of sleep hadn't been helping one bit. She sat in her seat and indicated to Major Jensen he could start. She cleared SGA-3 for their mission before returning to her office.
By the time Carson came for their meeting she was exhausted and only half way through the files on her desk
"Afternoon lass" he stated cheerfully
"Hello Doctor, how's my team?" she asked
"They're getting much better, I released them this morning. Stevenson's just had another cast put on but we'll be releasing him this afternoon if all's well. However I do recommend they are not put back on full active duty till next week"
"Duly noted, I'm glad they're all better" SGA – 7 had had a run in with the Wraith on a recon mission and barely got away with their lives.
"What about Teyla and Kimberleigh?"
"She's healing nicely but only time will tell how far it will go"
"What does that mean?"
"It means I'm not sure if she'll heal fully or not"
"Will she be all right?"
"It won't affect her every day living but if she doesn't heal properly however she may have trouble conceiving again and a high chance of it recurring with a second birth"
"Will it affect Kimberleigh?"
"She seems to be fine; I'd release her if her mother wasn't still in the infirmary with me"
"How have they taken it?"
"I want to be sure of how she goes before I tell them either way" Elizabeth nodded in understanding and stood as Carson left. She staggered slightly as dizziness washed over her and gripped the desk hard.
"Are ye all righ' lass?"
"Just fine Carson, I've not been sleeping well, I'm probably just tired" She smiled as her stomach cart wheeled; trying to hide the fact she was sick. He gave her an analysing eye before going to leave again
"If it happens again I want to see you down in my office" she nodded no longer trusting herself to open her mouth, she threw in a quick smile for good measure and sat as she watched his retreating form. She put her head in her hands and breathed deeply in an effort to calm her rebellious stomach.
Carson returned to the infirmary to see a sleeping Teyla with John by her side holding his little girl. It was a beautiful picture and he sighed as he remembered what he'd just told Elizabeth about their small family. John looked up from the face of his daughter as Teyla stirred
"Hey" John said gently
"How are ye feelin' lass?" Carson moved forward and made his presence known, she stretched and her wince didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room
"A little better thank you"
"I'd like to take you out for some tests later this afternoon" She nodded and smiled before he turned to leave
"Are you feeling any better after your rest?"
"Mmm" he handed a fussing Kimberleigh to her to be fed
"Are you fussing Bambi?" she said affectionately to her daughter, John looked at her puzzled
"Bambi?"
"Bambi is something that my people use as a 'pet name' for babies" John smiled at the use of her Earth term and nodded understandingly. Teyla burped Kimberleigh and laid her in the cot to rest, as she did so a nurse entered.
"Excuse me, Doctor Beckett has asked me to get you up and ready for him to monitor you this afternoon" Teyla nodded and moved to sit with her legs hanging off the edge of the bed
"Now just be careful because we're a bit worried about those stitches so please go slowly" The nurse and John stood on either side of Teyla and she stood slowly with their support. She shook slightly with the new feeling of standing and the protests from her abdomen. John held her a little tighter sensing her pain.
"Are you OK?" she nodded and smiled reassuringly as Dr. Beckett rushed into the room
"Sorry lass, got caught up with other patients" he brought over a strange walking frame and instructed her how to use it. "I know it seems silly but I don't want any undue stress on your stitches" They helped her along for the first few steps and Carson watched her progress "OK that's enough for today, lie down for a little while then I'll get a chair and we can start on those tests" they helped her back to bed and Dr. Beckett took some notes in his files
"How do you feel, any pain?"
"A little" they discussed the location and extent of the pain before he got her into a wheelchair and took her for some tests. John took this opportunity to shower and change while they were out.
Just as John was getting out of the shower he was paged to the control room
"What's up?" He said coming in at a run
"Unscheduled off world activation… It's SGA – 5 they're coming in hot!"
"Lower the shield" Elizabeth said as John called for back up. The team rushed through when it was clear and they shut down the gate. Dr. Beckett was waiting and checked over the team quickly
"What happened out there?" Elizabeth asked
"The wraith were culling the planet, we only just made it out" Major Jensen said
"Ok, go get checked out, briefing in 30 mins" They nodded and followed Beckett to the Infirmary. All of a sudden a wave of dizziness washed over Elizabeth and caught her off guard, without anything to steady her she fell to the floor blacking out.