Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.
Present Day (Wednesday, December 17th, 2008, John Sheppard's apartment):
Buzz! "John Sheppard's doorbell rings. "Ah there's our fourth person now." He says as walks to his door to let the new arrival in. "Hey! Hey!" He says as he opens the door.
"Hello, John!" Elizabeth Weir, now Elizabeth Branton, greets him with a hug.
"Lizzie!" Evan shouts from the kitchen, leaning over the counter to look at her.
"There's the groom!" Elizabeth says, walking towards him and giving him a hug. "Congratulations sweetie!" Kissing him on both cheeks.
"Thanks, Lizzie." Lorne replies with a smile. "So you and Mike are gonna make it to Palm Springs for the whole week, right?"
"Absolutely!" Elizabeth says enthusiastically. "We would never miss it for the world." As they walk into the living room, Ronon comes in from the balcony with a beer. "Ronon Dex! How's it going?"
"Elizabeth, hey, So where's mike. What's that Husband of yours doing that's so important that he can't come down here?" Ronon asks her as he offers her a beer.
"Thanks! But I brought my own." Showing him a bottle of merlot.
"What?! Wine? You don't drink wine at poker night!" He says incredulously.
Ignoring him, Elizabeth says to Ronon "He's been working overtime… big science break through. So he couldn't make it this week." Taking a seat at the poker table set up by the sliding doors to the balcony. "Geez, I haven't seen you guys in ages!"
"Hey, that's your fault." Evan says as he divides the chips among them. "Traipsing all over the country."
"Hey it's my job, Ev." Elizabeth tells him as she reaches for the glass of wine that Ronon had poured for her. "Thanks." She says to him.
"So where are you staying tonight?" Ronon asks her.
"Hyatt."
"You know you can always stay the night over with me and Marie." Evan tells her.
"I know. But I have an early conference tomorrow morning." Elizabeth explains.
"I spoke to Rodney earlier." John says, flipping through the channels, then stopping on CNN. "There he is, he wanted to make sure that we watch his interview tonight."
"I haven't seen Rodney in a long time." Elizabeth says. " I think the last time I saw him was at Ka…" she hesitates "at the funeral. Him and Radek."
"Speaking of Radek, he called me earlier, he almost backed out." Lorne says.
"Why?" John asks him.
"Well he said that he and Patty have never left their kids for more than two days. So I just told him to bring them along." Evan explains.
"Awww, that's sweet." Elizabeth comments.
"Yeah, well my parents hired a nanny for all the kids that are coming for the whole week so we can do anything we want."
"How many guests do you have?" Elizabeth asks.
"Not too many." Evan says. "We invited about a hundred. Marie thinks that not everyone will make it."
"Why is that?" Ronon asks.
"Her parents." Evan answers. "We sent them an invitation, but…" He just shrugs.
Everyone becomes silent.
After a few minutes, Ronon says "So this one whole wedding week thing…"
"Hey we can call it the WWW!" John butts in. Smiling, Evan nods in agreement.
"This whole week thing…" Ronon says as he shakes his head, amused. "… what do you have planned?"
"Well, we have a whole itinerary for you guys starting from the day you get there." Lorne says as he takes a sip of his beer. "So Sunday is when everyone gets here. Some will be arriving in the afternoon, some in the morning. So it's just dinner downtown. We still have to decide which restaurant."
"Can I suggest a place?" John asks.
"Yeah, sure, you've been to Palm Springs, right?"
"Yup. My grandparents were called snowbirds. They would go there for six months in the the winter time since the weather is perfect that time of year. Not too cold." John explains "Anyway, last year I was there, it was their anniversary, they wanted to watch the follies and right beside it was an Italian restaurant. Tiny place, but you did say that there's only going to be about 20 of us, right?"
"18." Evan corrects him.
"Okay, good. Anyway, great food, and they can make any drink you want. It's called Kalura. I had dinner there the next night. Met some locals, which was cool coz we were sitting at the bar, and then I found out that they were actually really good friends with the manager and bartender, and that they also just work around the area." Sheppard continues. "I only paid like thirty or forty bucks. But I'm pretty sure that they took off like 50 bucks off of my bill."
"Now that's cool." Ronon comments.
"So, what else is in store for the rest of the week then now that you've got the restaurant down?" Elizabeth asks.
"Monday, I'm not so sure." Evan fowns. "I think the ladies…" Looking at Elizabeth "…are going to the spa." Elizabeth sighs at this. "And us guys are going to play golf." Ronon grunts as John beams. "Then Tuesday, the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Marie and I decided that we'd do it a Tuesday night to keep it small, so most likely, it's just going to be us. Then Wednesday is football!" Lorne says, opening another bottle of beer. "Thursday, Marie said something about a fair."
"Hey that sounds like fun." Elizabeth says.
"It's not that kind of fair." John puts in as he's counting his chips.
"How many kinds are there?" Ronon asks.
"Well it's kinda like a swapmeet." John explains.
"Agh… she tricked me." Evan grumbles.
"No, no, it's actually kinda cool. There's like artwork and all sorts of stuff. They close down a street in downtown and everybody just walks around. And there are restaurants and coffee shops on that strip." John says. "Trust me, Ev, you'll love the artwork, it's fun. They have another one during the weekend, but that's over in Palm Desert. The one in Palm springs is smaller and done every Thursday night."
"So what's on Friday?" Ronon asks Evan.
"Uh, the rehearsal dinner. And then Saturday we'll be going up the tram, there's going to be snow boarding, skiing. It'll be awesome." Evan says.
Elizabeth starts laughing. All three men turn to look at her. When she calms down, she finally says "Remember that school trip, up in Big Bear?"
"Hahaha!" John laughs "Radek!"
"What about Radek?" Evan asks.
"Radek didn't know how to ski or snowboard." Ronon tells him.
"Yeah, it was the annual senior Big Bear trip." John adds.
"Oh I remember that! I tried to sneak off with you guys. But sir O'Neil caught me and called my parents."
"He was your JROTC Instructor, right?"Elizabeth asked.
"Yup." John answers. "Anyway, Ronon and I were trying to convince him to snowboard. But Rodney and Carson said that he should start with skiing first."
Flashback to Senior Big Bear School Trip (January 2000):
"No! No! You're doing it wrong!" Rodney says.
"Okay Radek, ya just have to bend your knees a bit." Carson explains.
"Like this?" Bending a bit "Aaaah!" Radek screams as he loses his balance then rolls down the hill.
"Shit!" Someone yells. Rodney and Carson ski down the hill to follow Radek. Someone in pink breaks his fall, or rather roll. John races down the hill to help.
As they are helping him and the girl in pink up, Radek is cursing and throwing off his skis. As he looks up at the girl to apologize, he stiffens.
"Ya could at least say thanks or sorry." Carson says, indicating to the girl.
"Uh, thanks. I mean sorry." Radek finally recovers as he stares at the girl.
"You're welcome, and it's okay, really. No broken bones." She smiles at him.
Looking at the girl then to Radek John says "This is Radek, and I'm John, these are Rodney and Carson." Pointing to them. "And you are?"
"Patricia. Patty." She says with a smile, blushing at how Radek's staring at her. "Are you okay? Is there something on my face?" She asks him.
"Huh?" Radek asks dumbfounded. "Ah, yes, yes. I mean no!"
"We've been trying to teach to him to ski all day. Maybe you could help him out." John suggests with a smile.
"Uh, that's okay. I think I'm just gonna go back to the lodge." Radek says embarrassingly.
"I don't mind. I can teach you. I'm an excellent skiier." Patty tells him with a smile.
"Really?" He asks. And she smiles at him and nods, holding out her hand.
Back to the Present:
"And they've been together eversince." Elizabeth states.
"One time, when Marie and I were still dating, she told me that Radek asked her to the prom." Lorne said. "It was that day when you asked Laura if she was smoking." He tells John.
"Oh yeah, didn't she run off or something?"
"Well, Marie did, not Laura. Marie had a crush on me then." Smiling at the memory. "Anyway, she said that Radek seemed like he was being forced into asking her. Now I know why. He and Patty were already sorta seeing each other. I never knew that."
"Yup, he literally ran into her. Long-distance relationships do work." Elizabeth comments.
"Hey so why didn't you help Radek up when he took that tumble? Weren't you there trying to teach him, too." Evan asks. Then frowns at John for kicking him under the table. "Ouch, what?"
"I was having a race." Ronon answers.
"With whom?" Evan asks. John kicks him again, Evan kicks him back.
And then Ronon replies. "Jennifer."
TBC.