And here we go again :) Happy Reading :)
Luckily, John and I didn't have any duties to fulfil so there was no sleep-deprived staff the next morning. We both woke to the sun shining in from the balcony which gently warmed us. I gently snuggled into John's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me.
"Carson, how exactly am I going to have this baby?" He asked. It was a valid question but even being a doctor I didn't really have all the answers for him. "I think we need to talk to Keller because this isn't exactly your run of the mill pregnancy."
"Yeah, I get that," He replied with a grin and a slight chuckle, "By the way, your daughter wants to say hello." He reached over and pulled my hand until it rest on one side of his bump. After only waiting for a moment there were several kicks which were clearly quite hard by the way John tensed a little. "Good morning wee lady, I see you're wide awake but you can't give Da' too much of a beating otherwise he'll get all grumpy and he's no fun when he's grumpy."
John shoved my head a little in amusement, "I'm always fun!" He defended and we both chuckled. However there was a knock on the door that caught our attention. "Expecting anyone?" John asked and I shook my head, getting out of bed and putting some clothes on quickly.
Opening the door I got sight of my brother, "Craig, what brings you here?" He grimaced and raised an eyebrow before standing to one side and letting him in. "I just thought I'd drop by and say hey. Our paths haven't really crossed." I nodded, agreeing with him.
John was still curled up on the bed when Craig took a seat on the sofa, normally I wouldn't let people see John in such a vulnerable scenario but he was my twin brother. Besides, John barely moved when Craig came in which proved he was comfortable with the whole thing. "Hey John." He cast over briefly before turning back to me.
"So, how's it going? You've hit the three week mark." I smiled and he shrugged. "It's going okay. It's a lot to get used to but there's no time to hang around so I'm just kind of going with it I guess."
"Well apparently you've settled in rather well. Don't say a word; Don't deny it either. Just try to keep your love life a little more discreet, half the city is gossiping about you and it's creeping me out." Craig blushed. "I...uh...No comment."
"Aye, good answer. Now, why are you really here to see me?" I asked. "Did you ever get homesick?" He questioned and I sat back on the sofa. "Sometimes, but we left for different reasons."
"I don't think they were all that different, Carson. We both left because our moron of a father wanted to beat the living daylights out of us. I just, I miss home, y'know?" I sighed, knowing how he felt. "I missed what home looked like Craig, but I didn't really miss anything at all until I walked back into that hospital. Even then, those people were the ones that made me who I am which means they will always remain in my past. You are the only thing I missed and I did a pretty crap job of acknowledging that."
"You didn't even think about me, therefore you didn't even let yourself miss me." Craig looked horrified and I could see John move around the bed and out onto the balcony. "I'm not going to lie to you Craig. When I left I made my decision that this was a fresh start and that my past was gone. I swore to myself I wouldn't go back there."
"Then I should go. I wouldn't want to ruin your life again." He stood up and went to walk out of the door. I tried yelling for him to stay but he was adamant on leaving. I moved outside to where John was leant on the rail and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
I sobbed into his shoulder, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. He whispered into my ear, "You swore you wouldn't go back, Carson. What changed?" And all at once I knew what had gone wrong. I had to find him, I had to talk to him and make him see.
I managed to track Craig down to the gym where he seemed to be taking his frustrations out on a punch bag. "Can we talk?" I asked calmly, supporting the punch bag as he tore into it. "We already did."
"I know, but there's something I didn't tell you. Something I should have." Craig kept punching and I knew I'd just have to come out with it. "You're right, I didn't think about you; I didn't miss you. I told myself I would never go back there, not for anyone. You see the thing is, I got one bloody word and I travelled to another fucking galaxy and right back into that hell hole for you! Does that not say something to you? I had to compartmentalise Craig, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to walk away from that nightmare and I would have ended up dead like you almost did!"
He landed one last blow to the bag before cursing out loud. He threw his gloves down and the floor and paced around angrily for a while before coming around to stand before me. "I hated you for leaving. You have no idea how much I hated you for leaving. But you know why I hate you know? Because I'm fucking glad you left. I never saw how bad it was until it was too late, I'm you're brother for God's sake! I should have known and I should have done something about it and I didn't. I'm glad you had the guts to walk away, because I'm not sure you'd be standing in front of me if you hadn't."
It felt like my throat had closed up as tears began to well in my eyes. I held them back for the time being but he knew I was teetering on the edge. "You, my brother, are the bravest man I ever met. I'm just sorry I was so ignorant." He knelt before me and I instantly wrapped him in a hug. "I love you Craig, I mean it."
"I love you too Carson. I promise I'll be a better brother from now on." He told me and I had to laugh. "You took a bullet for me Craig, I'd say you've done more than enough." I reminded him and he shrugged modestly, taking a seat next to me on the bench.
"John's going to kill me, isn't he?" Craig said out of the blue and I chuckled. "You'd think so, but no. Don't worry about him, I think he's glad that you aren't completely terrified by him." Craig frowned, "Why would I be?"
"I guess you've mostly seen him with me, pregnant and a complete teddy bear. Craig, if I'm honest, he's the biggest, baddest son of a bitch that I have ever known. Honestly, I feel sorry for anyone who thinks they can go up against him; the wraith are the top of his 'to kill' list." Craig raised an eyebrow. "You do realise that's the father of your child you're talking about?"
"Of course, at least I know no harm will ever come to my little girl because John will break the neck of anyone who lays a finger on her." I told him with a sinister smile. "Oh yeah, talk about protective parents. Jesus, this kid won't be allowed a boyfriend until she fourty, is she?"
"fourty-five, just to be sure." I teased him back and we both laughed. I patted him on his shoulder, "come on, I don't know about you but I'm starving." Craig agreed and followed me back to my quarters.
"Hey, you guys worked things out?" John smiled as we walked in. He was sat relaxedly at his desk with a mug of herbal tea in his hand but he had spun around to face us. I rolled my eyes, "Yes mum." I replied sarcastically. "Good, I thought I was going to have to knock your heads together." He said and both Craig and I snorted.
"How about we go for some food? Call it brunch." John suggested and we all decided it was a great idea. Offering John a hand to haul him out of his chair we slowly made our way down to the mess hall. It hadn't gone unnoticed that John got far more looks now than a few months ago. His bump was rather large and he was still a man after all, and the military leader of this base too.
"So I want waffles, lots of waffles." John said and the amusement began once more.
Okay, so I know this has taken forever :/ sorry, but I hope you enjoyed it :)