"'Twas the night before Christmas" written by Clement Clarke Moore.

I don't own SGA or anything associated with it. Although 'Teylanna' is my creation.

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'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except Rodney and Teylanna…

***

"He's not going to come, Teylanna."

"Yes he is."

"No he's not."

"Yes he is."

"Really, he won't come."

"Yes he will, Daddy."

"Let me rephrase, young lady," said Rodney as he tried with all his might to give his daughter one of his patented 'don't argue with me' glares. It was the sixth time in the four hours since he and Jennifer had put their daughter to bed that she'd called out to them. "He's not going to come until you go to sleep."

Teylanna sat up in her bed and crossed her arms across her little chest in a way that reminded Rodney of Jennifer when she'd thought he'd done something incredibly annoying.

"And what kind of stupid rule is that?" she demanded, then mumbled, "Sorry," when she saw the look her father gave her when he heard the 'S' word. "I mean really, he can't come until I'm asleep. Why not? Is he afraid I'll see him? Is he afraid of me?"

"There are times I'm afraid of you," Rodney mumbled softly.

"What did you say, Daddy?" demanded Teylanna, her little nose wrinkled in confusion.

"Nothing!" exclaimed Rodney in a hurry. "No, he's not afraid of you. Santa is, well he just doesn't like…he just won't come until you go to sleep." He knew it wouldn't satisfy the incredible curiosity of his seven year old daughter so he said, "Look it's like the rule you made up about washing your hair before you wash your feet when you're in the tub. It's just something you want to do and that's how it is with Santa."

Teylanna huffed and her little hands fell onto her lap. "What if he doesn't come?"

Rodney sighed and sat down on the edge of Teylanna's bed. "Hey," he said to get her to look at him. When she finally looked up he said, "Santa has come every year so far, right?" When Teylanna nodded he asked, "He's always brought you what you asked for, right?" Again his little girl nodded. "And you've been a good girl, right?" Teylanna's nod was a little slower than the others, as if she wasn't sure if that was the whole truth or not. "You've been the best little girl that your Mom and I could have asked for," he assured her in what Jennifer had always called his father voice. "Now," he said as though she was a student and he was her instructor, "If you were a good girl, which you were, and Santa always comes, what will happen?"

"Santa will come," she replied after giving it a moment of thought.

"After you go to sleep," he said as he gently tapped the tip of her nose with his finger.

Teylanna nodded and eased herself backwards and closed her eyes when her head touched her pillow. Rodney stood up and carefully tucked his daughter in, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. He straightened up and said, "Merry Christmas, Teylanna."

"Merry Christmas, Daddy," she replied, though she kept her eyes closed.

Rodney shook his head and walked towards the door, pausing when he reached it to give his daughter one more look. Satisfied that she was finally going to give in and go to sleep, Rodney stepped through the door and made his way to the couch. He plopped down onto the couch and looked at the clock adorning the far wall. He cringed at seeing that it was well after midnight and then picked up his tablet. He read the report Woolsey had been hounding him to read, and when he was done he sent Woolsey a message nicely saying that it was a waste of his time. After tossing the tablet back onto the couch, he stood up and walked back to Teylanna's room. He poked his head around the doorframe and smiled. She'd turned over onto her belly with her face facing towards him. Her eyes were still closed and her mouth was slightly ajar.

"Teylanna?" he whispered. He got no response and tried one more time. "Teylanna?"

When he received no response the second time, he nodded to himself and walked back out into the living room. He made his way to their tree, still brightly lit with an obscene amount of multicolored lights, and tapped his earpiece. "McKay to Apollo."

'It's about time, Doctor,' came Ellis' clipped voice.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Have you ever tried to get a child to go to sleep on Christmas Eve, Colonel?" he asked in a harsh whisper. He feared he might have woken Teylanna and turned to look at her door, but there was no sign of her.

When Ellis' voice filtered through his earpiece again it was noticeably gentler. "No, Dr. McKay. I haven't had the opportunity."

Rodney's eyebrows lifted in surprise, but then he remembered that John had told him that Ellis had a son that he very rarely saw. "Yes, well, it's not that easy." He hesitated for a second and then added, "Fire away when ready."

A moment later a bright white flash announced the arrival of a dozen or more presents of all shapes and sizes, wrapped in all different colored wrapping paper. He didn't bother counting the presents- they were being held in a secure location and he'd programmed the transport command subroutine himself.

'Transport successful,' announced Ellis. There was a slight pause and then, 'Merry Christmas, Doctor.'

"Ah, thank you," Rodney replied a little hesitantly. He wasn't entirely sure he'd heard Ellis wish him a Merry Christmas or not. Just to be on the safe side he said, "Merry Christmas."

'Apollo out.'

Rodney shook his head in disbelief and made his way to his room, believing a little more in the existence of miracles than he had before. He walked through the door and stopped. He stood there for a long time, unable to move as he took in the sight of his beautiful wife sleeping peacefully in their bed. She was on her left side facing away from his side of the bed, the blankets covering her only going up to just above her hip leaving her upper body visible.

Her beauty and peacefulness was amazing to him considering the day she'd had bouncing from trauma room to trauma room trying to save Major Lewis' team after they'd been attacked by the Wraith. But she'd managed to save them all, with the help of her staff of course.

He crept in, quietly got ready for bed and then slipped underneath the covers, being as gentle as he could as to not disturb her. He'd just gotten settled on his back and closed his eyes when he felt the bed shift, and then felt Jennifer's hand slide across him to rest on his chest. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look into her eyes.

"She's asleep?" Jennifer asked.

Rodney nodded as his right hand slid up to hold Jennifer's. "You should be, too."

Jennifer smiled and closed her eyes. "I love you."

Rodney smiled back and just watched his wife as she drifted back to sleep. It occurred to him that as a man who didn't particularly believe in miracles, he'd seen more than his fair share of things that could most definitely fall into that category. The beautiful and intelligent woman who'd just told him she loved him was one of them. The beautiful and intelligent little girl sleeping in the next room was another.

Rodney sighed happily and whispered, "I love you, too," before letting sleep claim him as well.