A/N: Trust me, if I owned SGA, I would tell you. That would just be amazing. But, I don't. Soo….
The last chapter is really just a filler chapter. I'm hoping for this chapter to have more meat, so to speak. Enjoy!
Chapter 15
After John filled out the paperwork for the mission, he went back to his quarters. He was sure Nikki would be in the lab until who knew when.
She was exactly like Rodney when it came to research and projects. Their project now was to connect two of the zpms into Atlantis and then get the city back to full working order.
He had been as excited as everyone else, but the exhaustion was starting to get to him. It'd been a long day and all he wanted to do was crawl into bed with Nikki and go to sleep.
Right now, he would just have to settle for crawling into bed and going to sleep.
Right before he walked to his bed, he remembered that he still needed to send Dave an e-mail. He hadn't sent him one in a couple of weeks.
He didn't really talk about much in the e-mail. He told his brother that everything was fine, he was alive, Nikki was okay. He did throw in the story about how Kira came into their lives. He figured that would make the e-mail more interesting.
He ended it by saying that maybe he'd be able to go to Earth soon. He wanted to see his brother and his family. He had missed them since they had left Atlantis. He and Dave were finally starting to become real brothers again.
John sat back in his chair and thought about everything that was going on. He had two majors under his command now, he was short a person on his team, he was going to be a father, as well as an uncle. He sighed. There was so much going on around Atlantis.
Teyla was having a baby and she was happy with Kanaan. Ronon finally had a girlfriend and seemed to be pretty happy with her. Rodney and Jennifer didn't seem to be having any problems. Every time he saw them they were like two love birds.
He thought about Nikki and the baby. He loved her more than he thought he was capable of. Now that he thought about it…he loved her more than he had ever really loved Nancy. He had never felt this way with his ex-wife.
He remembered his dad pressuring him, always hinting at buying engagement rings and hearing wedding bells. Maybe that had been why he had married her. Or at least a part of it. He had wanted to get his dad off his back and make him happy for once. That was probably the only time he ever made the man happy since his mother had passed away.
After that, he had become damn near impossible to please unless your name was Dave and you did every little thing his father wanted.
He sighed again and rubbed his hands over his face. He couldn't think like that. He had found out that his father had regretted everything that had happened between them and he was beginning to have a new relationship with his brother. He wouldn't ruin it by bringing up the past.
He sat there and thought about the people he was responsible for on Atlantis. He was responsible for every single person who lived on the base. If anything happened to anyone, it was his responsibility. It could be a pretty big burden sometimes. He was just thankful that Elizabeth helped him carry that burden. And now that he had Nikki, she did as well. And in some ways, Lorne helped by being his second in command.
It was still mostly on his shoulders though. He thought about Lorne again. John had noticed that the major had started to hang around a certain other major an awful lot lately. He had actually started to join them during meals.
Not that he minded Lorne's presence, he loved it. Lorne was a good man and a good friend. He had helped John through a lot and John had helped him out as well. At times they were practically joined at the hip, as Nikki liked to say.
They had started sparring once or twice a week and Lorne had joined him and Ronon on their morning runs.
The man was slowly making his way into their little family.
He smiled at the thought of Lorne and Kira together. He didn't know Holt all that well yet, but she seemed really nice. And Nikki and Alex had warmed right up to her when they had met her.
He decided right then and there that if they decided to be in a relationship, he would support them. They were both majors and there was no rule about dating among similar ranks.
He also knew that they were both mature enough to deal with it appropriately if things were to not work out between them. He knew Lorne well enough to know that he would keep things professional on-duty.
If either of them came to him about it, he would tell them that he was rooting for them. They both deserved to be happy and out here in the Pegasus galaxy, you don't have many choices.
His mind drifted back to Nikki. She was having his baby. He knew that he needed to do the right thing. Not just because she was pregnant, but because he loved her and he could definitely see them lasting and staying together for the rest of their lives. That thought made a smile slip onto his face. The mere idea of spending the rest of his life with her always brought a smile to his face no matter what was going on.
He decided he would talk to Dave about it soon to see what he thought about it. After all, that's what brothers were for, right?
All of a sudden, he remembered that Nikki was supposed to have had an appointment with Jennifer earlier that day about the baby. He wondered how that had gone. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her about it with everything going on.
He didn't know when he would get the chance to either since things were starting to pick up around the city, especially among the scientists.
He finally decided to haul himself up off the chair and collapse onto the bed. He hadn't even taken off his boots, but he was out before he hit the pillow.
SGA
Nikki rubbed her eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time. She had been staring at the computer screen for hours now working on the power modifications and bringing everything online. They hadn't realized how much stuff there was to bring online.
Elizabeth had decided to send the extra zpms back to the SGC minus one. They would keep one extra hidden just in case of emergencies. You never knew what could happen on Atlantis. You could never be too careful.
Rodney yawned and closed his eyes. "Okay, I hate to say this, but how about we all call it a night and start this up again tomorrow."
Nikki nodded and closed her laptop. "I couldn't agree more."
When she wasn't looking, McKay snuck a glance at her belly. Lately it was getting obvious that she was pregnant. He had called it a night more for her and the baby's benefit than his own. He knew that she wouldn't go get some sleep with everyone else still working. He wouldn't have either.
She got up and walked out of the lab. The majority of the scientists followed her out, but Radek and Rodney stayed behind. Rodney rested his head on the table and just sat there for a minute. Zalenka looked over at him as he was shutting down his equipment. "Everything okay, Rodney?"
He sat up and looked at him. "Yeah, everything's fine. Just thinking about things. I'm going to head to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."
Radek nodded. "Good night, Rodney."
Nikki thought about going back to her own quarters for the night. She figured John was already passed out, but whenever she tried to sleep in her own bed without him, she just couldn't sleep.
She would feel nauseous when she knew John wasn't there with her. It was like the baby knew its father wasn't around and was upset by it. That thought made her smile. It was probably all of those conversations that John loved having with their child.
She walked into his quarters and sure enough John was passed out on the bed. He hadn't even bothered to take off his boots or get undressed. It looked like he had just collapsed onto the bed and went to sleep. Which is probably what he had done.
She took off his boots and socks. She knew he wouldn't really get comfortable if he slept with them on. She got ready for bed herself and then crawled onto the bed and snuggled up to the sleeping form of the father of her child. She still couldn't believe that in that past few months she had traveled to another galaxy with her brother, lived on the lost city of Atlantis, met the man of her dreams and fell in love with him, got pregnant with his child, and met her long lost twin.
It just seemed so bizarre to her. Now she knew how John felt having lived here for a lot longer than she had. He expected bizarre things to happen. He had gotten used to it. They pretty much all had at this point.
She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with her last thoughts of the man snoring softly beside her.
SGA
The next morning, Nikki woke up to the sound of running water in the bathroom. She slowly opened her eyes and realized John wasn't on the bed anymore. The water stopped and a few minutes later, he walked out with a towel wrapped around his waist.
He walked over to his dresser and found his clothes for the day. He got dressed and then went back into the bathroom and try to tame his wild hair.
A few minutes later, he walked out again and she could smell his aftershave all the over on the bed. She smiled when he stopped and looked over at her, noticing that she was awake.
A smile appeared on his face and he walked over to her side of the bed. He sat down and started playing with her hair. "Sleep well?"
She nodded and leaned into John's touch. She loved it when he played with her hair.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Oh! I didn't get a chance to ask you yesterday how the appointment with Keller went."
She sat up and leaned against the wall. "It got cancelled. A few people had come in with some kind of sickness and Jennifer decided it was best to reschedule."
He nodded and leaned back against the wall as well. "Good. I don't want you getting sick. Or the baby." She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. She loved it when he got a little protective of them.
"When did you reschedule for?"
She looked at the clock on the nightstand and sighed. "The appointment is in an hour."
He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'll be able to go now. So that's good news." She smiled and looked up at him. He looked down and met his lips with hers. When they pulled away they were both smiling. Reluctantly, she got up and started to get ready for the day.
Forty minutes later, they were walking out the door and on their way to the infirmary.
They walked into the infirmary right on time for the appointment. They walked into Jennifer's office and found her staring at her laptop. She looked up as they entered and smiled. "Ah, just on time! Why don't you have a seat in the back and we'll take a look."
They made their way to the back of the infirmary and Jennifer pulled a privacy curtain around them. No one needed to see the family as they got their first glimpse of their new child.
Nikki sat down on the infirmary bed as Jennifer got everything ready that she needed. John stood on the other side of the bed with his hands resting on her shoulders. She was really glad he had been able to come with her.
This was the first time they'd be seeing their child. She wanted him to be able to see it too. She was really excited to see the baby on the sonogram, but she was also really scared. Her entire life she had never wanted kids. She always told herself that she wasn't going to get married, settle down, and have kids. If she did get married, she wouldn't really settle down somewhere. She would want to keep traveling and doing what she did.
She had never wanted to be tied down with roots like you would be with kids. She never liked babysitting when she was a teenager. All the other girls her age would be making money by babysitting. She would be at her part-time job that was optional, but she wanted the money.
The one time she did babysit, it had been a total disaster. The kid hadn't stopped crying the entire time, he refused to eat, refused to sleep, refused to do anything except sit there and cry.
Sufficed to say, she found out real quick that she wasn't good with kids. At all.
She was terrified to become a mother. If she was that terrible with kids back when she was one, how the hell was she going to raise one now?
John felt her growing anxiety and squeezed her shoulders a little bit, letting her know that he was there and that everything was going to be okay.
He too had his worries about becoming a father. He certainly hadn't had the best role model to go by. He didn't want to be anything like his dad. And he was terrified that he was going to turn into just that.
He didn't want his kid to grow up resenting him just like he had done with his own father.
He also knew that no matter what, he had Nikki and that everything was going to be alright as long as they had each other.
Jennifer turned around and smiled at them. "Okay, are you ready?"
Nikki nodded and got all the way on the bed. It was reclined just enough for her to get comfortable and still be able to see what was going on on the screen.
"I'm going to put some of this gel on your stomach. It's going to be a little cold. Could you please lift up your shirt a bit?"
Nikki pulled up her shirt to just below her bra. Jennifer squeezed some gel onto her stomach. She was right. It was pretty cold.
John grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside the bed. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand. He gave her a warm, loving smile, and then looked up at Jennifer.
She pulled the little wand out and pressed it to Nikki's belly. She moved it around a little looking at the screen.
All of a sudden they could hear the tiniest little heartbeat. It made John's chest swell with pride and a huge smile grace his face. The image of their baby came onto the screen.
And then they started to hear a second noise. Nikki looked up at Jennifer. "What's that?"
Jennifer typed a few things on the keyboard and moved the wand around a little more. She turned and looked at the couple. "It looks like your baby is health. Both of them."
John froze and looked at her. "Wait. Did you say both of them?" Keller smiled and nodded. She looked up at the screen and pointed out where both heads were. And then John realized that the second noise they heard was the heartbeat of their second child.
"Colonel, Nikki, you're having twins."
Nikki's eyes widened and she looked at John. His eyes were just as wide and he looked back at her. They stared at each other for a second before a huge grin split across his face. He stood up and kissed her right on the mouth in front of Jennifer.
Nikki was still in shock when they broke away. She looked back at Keller. "We're having twins?" Jennifer smiled and nodded. "When a woman who is a twin has a baby, the chances that she'll have twins herself is greatly increased. After we met Kira, I wondered if you would have twins yourself or not. I'll let you get cleaned up and give you a few minutes of privacy."
Dr. Keller left the little corner in the back of the infirmary. As soon as she walked out, Nikki turned to look at John. She could see his happiness. She felt it spread through her and warm every inch of her.
She just knew that everything was going to be okay as long as they were together. She got the gel off of her stomach and sat up. "Wow. Two babies. John, we're not only going to have one child of our own…we're going to have two."
He nodded and looked at her seriously. "I know. And I can't wait. It's going to be scary having two since we're first time parents, but we have each other and we're surrounded by family. What more could we ask for?"
She smiled at him and nodded. "You're right. I guess I'm still in shock!"
He chuckled. "Me too. Believe me."
SGA
They walked into the mess hall for lunch later that day. They got their food and made their way over to their table. They had decided to tell their friends at lunch when they saw them. Besides, John didn't think he could keep a handle on his excitement.
They sat down and started to eat their food. John just couldn't wipe that damn grin off his face no matter what! He tried thinking about other things that would surely piss him off, but it just wasn't working!
Ronon set down his sandwich and eyed his friend. "Okay, Shep, spill."
John looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Chewie?" Ronon rolled his eyes at the nickname. "You know what I'm talking about. Ever since you walked in you've had a smile plastered to your face. What's going on?"
John looked at Nikki. She smiled and gave him a nod that told him to go on and tell them. He turned back to his friends. Everyone was there: Rodney, Keller, Ronon, Amelia, Teyla, Kanaan, Lorne, Kira, and Alex.
His smile got slightly larger. "Well, we got some pretty great news today from the amazing doctor over here."
Jennifer blushed and smiled at him. Rodney looked at Jennifer confused, and then back up at John.
"You obviously know that we're going to be parents in a few months…"
They all nodded or grunted their replies. They were all starting to get a little impatient as Sheppard took his time telling them what was going on. He was building a little bit of suspense.
"Well, we found out today that we're having twins." It took a second for the information to sink in. When it did, smiles erupted on all of their faces. Ronon and Lorne cheered and high-fived each other. Teyla, Amelia, and Kira got all girly with Nikki and started talking to her about it.
Alex slapped Sheppard on the back and smiled at him. "Congratulations, John. By the way, I don't have to give you the whole, 'You better treat my sister right otherwise I'll kick your ass. Same goes for her kids' speech, do I? Not that I could kick your ass even if I wanted to…"
John chuckled. "No, you don't. I would never hurt your sister. And as for her kids, they're my kids too, and like hell I would ever hurt them. But, if I did hurt them, I would let you kick my ass. And I would make Lorne and Ronon let you kick my ass."
Alex smiled and nodded. "Well! That's settled then!" John smiled and looked at his friends. Rodney was still in shock. "Wow, Sheppard! Twins? Good luck!" John rolled his eyes. "Thanks, McKay. You too."
He raised an eyebrow. "You'll be babysitting from time to time, Uncle Rodney."
Rodney's eyes widened and he looked at Jennifer. She burst into laughter at the look on Rodney's face. "Oh this I have to see!"
Rodney rolled his eyes, but smiled at her. Kanaan looked at John. He extended his hand to him. John took it and shook his hand. "Congratulations, Colonel Sheppard. You will make an excellent father, I'm sure." John smiled and blushed slightly. "Thanks." Kanaan nodded his head once and then went back to observing like he usually did. He never was one for much conversation.
John looked over at Evan. Lorne looked up and he smiled at his commanding officer. "I'll be more than happy to lend you my babysitting services from time to time, Colonel."
"That would be much appreciated. Uncle Evan." Lorne froze for a second and looked confused. John smiled as the table got a little quieter than it had been.
Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, Kira, and Alex were the only ones paying attention to John and Lorne's conversation.
"Sir?" John looked at his second in command. "You're part of the family now, Lorne. When we're off-duty, use my name, not my rank. This little group of ours is a like a little adopted family and you're the new member. Well, you and Kira." He smiled at Kira when she looked at him.
"That means a lot, si-Sheppard." John looked back at Lorne and his smile grew. "There you go! See! Not so bad!" Evan laughed and looked around at his new family. He fit right in with their little group and he loved being around them every day. It was his favorite part of the day. Well, that and when he got to spend time with Kira.
Evan sat there thinking about everything that was going on around him. His friends were celebrating the news that John and Nikki were having twins. Not only were they becoming parents and just falling in love with each other, they were going to have two babies right off the bat. He couldn't be more happy for Sheppard. He practically vibrated with happiness.
Evan hadn't seen him that happy since he and Nikki had just started dating.
He looked at his commanding officer. They had grown really close in the past few weeks. He didn't have too many friends on Atlantis. Sure, he had some amongst the other military, but not any real close friends. He found it difficult to really open up to people.
But he had started to open up to Sheppard and Sheppard had done the same with him. Everyone knew how much the Colonel was a private man. He didn't open up to just anyone.
He had heard Nikki say once that it was like they were becoming joined at the hip. He could believe it. When Sheppard wasn't with Nikki, off-world with his team, or in meetings, he was with Lorne.
John had told him about his strained relationships with his family. Evan couldn't help but notice the tension when his brother Dave had been there. Everyone had noticed it, but no one was brave enough to ask.
Sheppard had confided in him that he had lost his mother when he was nine-years-old. After that, his dad didn't care about his happiness as long as he was working for his company and doing what he wanted him to do. And because of that, him and Dave always fought.
It hadn't been until Dave had been in the coma when they finally started to mend their relationship.
Evan had felt bad for his friend. He knew Sheppard took it hard.
A few days ago, he had overheard a conversation between Nikki and Kira. They had been talking about him and Sheppard. Nikki had told her that John was starting to get really close to Lorne. He had told her that he was starting to feel like a brother to the man. That information had hit Lorne hard and shocked him. He hadn't realized until then just how much their friendship meant to John. And what it meant to him.
He didn't have any brothers or sisters, but now that he was getting closer to Sheppard, he felt like he did.
He turned and looked at Kira. She smiled up at him the way she always does when he looked at her.
He was starting to get attached to her, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how Sheppard would react to him dating Kira. She was in the military and she was Nikki's sister. He decided to talk to John about it later.
John noticed Evan's far-off look. He had been staring at the wall for a few minutes now with a serious look on his face.
Sheppard stretched his leg out and kicked out lightly to get his attention without everyone at the table automatically listening in.
Lorne's attention snapped into focus and he looked over at Sheppard. John raised an eyebrow at him, but stayed silent. Lorne snorted and rolled his eyes. He had been caught spacing out.
John gave him a look telling him they'd talk later. Lorne nodded slightly and went back to listening to everyone's conversations.
SGA
After lunch, John kissed Nikki good-bye and headed for his office. He was going to come up with some excuse to give Elizabeth to let him go back to Earth so he could talk to his brother. He hadn't told him that Nikki was pregnant yet. He wanted to do that in person.
He walked into his office and sat down. He started on some paperwork, but didn't get through the first file before there was a knock on the door.
John looked up and saw Evan standing in the doorway. John smiled and waved him in. He set down his pen and leaned back in his chair.
Lorne crossed the room and sat down in the chair across from the desk. John sensed his discomfort.
"So, what's on your mind, Lorne? What was going on back in the mess hall?"
Lorne sighed. It was now or never. He looked up at Sheppard. "I need to talk to you about something. I'm not sure how you'll take it, sir, but I need to get it off my chest. So…off the record?"
John nodded and gestured for him to continue. "Well, the thing is…it's Kira, sir. I feel like we're starting to become more than friends, and I don't know what to do about it. She's military and we're out here, and I didn't know what to do."
John gave the major a half-smile. "You know, it's funny. Just last night I was thinking about what I was going to say if we ever had this conversation…"
Lorne's eyebrows furrowed. Was it really that obvious? John chuckled. "I've noticed for a while now that you two have gotten closer. And last night I decided that if you were to ever come talk to me about it, I would tell you to go for it and that I'm supporting you. I don't know about Nikki, but you know her. She'll want the two of you to be happy."
Lorne's mind was blown. "But, sir, what about regulations?" "Evan, you're both majors. There are no regulations saying that two people of the same or similar ranks can't be together. And even if there were, I wouldn't report it. If the SGC ever asked me about it, I would deny it or ever knowing about it. You see, major, we're out in the middle of a galaxy that isn't even ours. We're fighting a battle that isn't ours to fight. Our families are light years away from us. In my opinion, we deserve to all be happy. And if you and Kira being together makes you happy, then I am sitting here telling you to man up and go for it."
Lorne chuckled and looked down at his hands. "That can be difficult, sir."
John snorted and nodded. "Tell me about it! Ronon threatened me to tell Nikki himself that I liked her before I made any kind of move. He kept telling me to man up and I finally did. So now I'm telling you to. Do what makes you happy, Evan. Nothing less."
Lorne looked up at Sheppard. He was surprised he was so cool with all of this. "Thank you, Colonel. That means a lot."
John smiled and nodded. "I know the feeling. I expect you to keep things professional while on-duty and try your damnedest not to let it interfere with your work. If you can do that, which I know you can, than I completely support you. Those are my conditions. I don't think that's too bad."
Evan nodded and couldn't keep the smile that was slowly growing on his face. "Thank you, sir. You won't regret it!" "Of course I won't. You'll be happy. If you're happy, my teams happy, Nikki's happy, then I'm happy. If I'm happy, Elizabeth is happy. And if she is happy, than Atlantis is happy. It's one big circle."
Evan nodded. "Yes, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the girl."
A smile split across John's face. "You do that, Lorne. Good luck and go get her."
Lorne's face was practically glowing as he stood up and left the office. Everything had gone far better than he had thought! He was on his way to the happiness that Sheppard had. He could just feel it.
SOO? What did you think? I was trying to dig a little deeper into their minds a bit. I hope y'all liked it! Tell me what you thought! Review, please and thank you! =D