One Day Later
"So whatits like?" Shelby asks as they stare at the glimmering light of the Stargate.
"It is an artificial wormhole," Teal'c replies.
Shelby rolls her eyes, "I mean, what's it going to feel like when you go through it? I heard that some people throw up."
"Let out a breath and close your eyes right before you walk through the gate."
"You think I am going to throw up," Shelby says, giving her husband an annoyed look.
Teal'c doesn't say anything.
"I am tougher than you think I am," she says.
"You are tougher than me," he says as they step through the gate.
She's too bewildered by the shocking thing that her husband just said to notice the trauma of gate travel.
"Father!" a teenage boy says, running to Teal'c the second that he walks through the gate.
"Ry'ac!" Teal'c replies, hugging the boy close to his chest.
Shelby stands back a bit, and tries to remember if she ever received a hug like that from her father, or any of the father figures her mother thrust into her life after that.
She's pretty sure she didn't.
"Son, this is Shelby, my wife."
Ry'ac looks at her critically. "She is not a Jaffa."
"She is of the Ta'uri."
"Is she a warrior like your friends?"
"No, she is training to be a healer."
"Training? I'm in training! How old is she?"
"Ry'ac, it is considered uncouth to ask a women her age," Teal'c replies.
"That is only if she's old. Shelby is definitely not old," Ry'ac says.
"It's ok, Teal'c. I'm twenty-one," Shelby says, offering a smile to the child.
"Twenty-one? You were married to me long before this child you have married was ever born," Dray'auc says, coming toward them.
"Our pledge has been broken," Teal'c says.
"Still, our marriage lived longer than her, even if it is dead now. Come with me to the house, so we can celebrate a holiday that none of us celebrate," Dray'auc says with stoic sarcasm.
"Actually, my wife does celebrate the Earth holiday of trees which do not die," Teal'c says.
Shelby groans, "You're still missing the point of Christmas."
"There is also a green god with a heart defect who wears a red suit and steals toys from noisy children."
"Alright, that is it, no more television for you," Shelby threatens.
"I used to have my husband all of the time, but now I only get him when his new people give him time off for holidays that he does not understand," Dray'auc says.
"Will the green god steal my staff weapon?" Ry'ac asks.
"No, it is not a toy. It is a training device," Teal'c says.
"And no-one steals toys on Christmas. That is a story, it's fiction. Most of the stuff on TV is fictional. Santa comes around and GIVES good children gifts on Christmas. And he might just bring you some too, Ry'ac."
"Is Santa the god of Christmas?" Teal'c asks.
"No, Jesus is the God of Christmas. He's also the God of Easter, and every other holiday and day that isn't a holiday. He is just plain God," Shelby says finally, becoming annoyed with her husband's ignorance.
"She is radical in the service of her god. You left the service of one god to serve another," Dray'auc says.
"It's amazing, but I am pretty sure that your family actually hates me a lot more than my family does you," Shelby whispers to her husband.
"We can find other places to lodge tonight, if you are in any way uncomfortable."
"I'm fine," she says, shooting him a sideways smile.
-0-0-0-
Shelby is observing the Jaffa women's conversation over their work, and trying to figure out how to enter herself into the conversation or the work, when suddenly she feels a staff weapon slam hard into her shoulder. She turns toward her attacker, and is thrown one of the small staff weapons that the children of Chulak first learn to fight with.
She manages to catch the weapon, but only at an awkward angle. By the time she's reformed her grip, the back of the staff weapon has hits her between the shoulder blades.
Another blow comes toward her, and she blocks it with her staff weapon held out straight in front of her.
She could try to hit him now, but she doesn't want to be the sort of person who hits kids. So she just prepares to block the next blow.
The next hit is to the back of her knees, and it causes her to fall to the ground. Ry'ac pounces on top of her, and holds the staff weapon against her throat. It causes her some pain, but is a long way from being anything more than a minor inconvenience.
"Dude, Why are you attacking me?" she asks the boy, pushing the words past the staff weapon.
"If I were attacking you, you would no longer draw breath," he replies.
"Ry'ac!" Teal'c exclaims when he sees his son in the victory position over his wife, "Release her!"
"I was only sparring. A child of eight would have been able to do far better than she," Ry'ac says with spite in his voice.
"She is not Jaffa! She has received no training, and you will not attack her again!" Teal'c demands.
Ry'ac pulls away from her, and Teal'c extends his hand to his wife, and pulls her off the ground with more force than is strictly necessary.
"I wasn't trying to beat you! You are a child, and I don't beat children!" Shelby says, dusting herself off.
"I am not a child! I have been through my prim'ta!" Ry'ac shouts.
Ry'ac starts to walk away, but Teal'c catches him by the cuff of his shirt. "You will apologize to Shelby."
"Only after she does," he says with distain.
"She has done nothing which would warrant an apology," Teal'c tells his son.
"She stole my father from me," Ry'ac says reproachfully.
Teal'c is so surprised that he lets the child go, and Ry'ac squirms away.
"Look, I'm going to dial Earth. You stay here with your son," Shelby says, walking away from the stunned Jaffa.
"Shelby, I will accompany you back to your planet."
"No, stay here with your family," she says moving farther away from him.
"When I married you, you became my family," he says, continuing to follow her.
"No, your son is all that matters."
He tilts his head at her looking confused, "You matter as well."
"He is your kid, and so help me, I will not be the reason you are not a good father to him."
"Your own father chose not to have an active role in your life," Teal'c states.
"Yeah, and I knew you left your son. It should have bothered me before. But seeing it, seeing him… Your son needs you, Teal'c, and I did not stand between the two of you."
"I left my son long before I met you."
"I know, but he really hates me, dude, and if I leave, you'll get quality time with him."
Teal'c looks at her for a while, "You are a part of me. He cannot love me without loving you."
Shelby starts to cry, "You talk so good, Teal'c."
He gives her a hug, "Your father made a critical error in not choosing to spend more time with you."
"Teal'c you're making the same mistake with Ry'ac. You're a father. Sometimes I'm selfish, and I want to keep you all to myself. But the fact is, Ry'ac needs you more than I do, and he deserves to be your priority. You have to take him back Earth with you… him and your ex-wife."
"I cannot do that."
"He's your son, Teal'c, and no matter how much time you want to spend with him, you just can't do it when they are on a different word."
"Shelby, when we first met, you frequently referenced the fact that I was a prisoner. This was untrue, but for my son it would be true. He would not be permitted to leave the base, attend educational institutions, and engage in social interaction with others of his age. It would be no sort of a life for a child."
"Then you have to come here more often. You have to see your son every single day that you have off."
"With your work schedule, that would leave us no time to interact with one another," Teal'c says.
"But Ry'ac," she protests.
"Has a mother and step-father* who provide him with adequate care."
"And you think I am not receiving adequate care?" she asks.
His lips quirk almost imperishably in a smile, "There are things which I can take care of that no one else can."
Her stomach twists, and she giggles in spite of herself, "I can't decide if you trying to talk dirty is funnier or hotter."
He smiles at her.
"But I can take care of myself. I'm not your child," she says seriously.
"I know you are not."
"I'm young enough to be your child, or hell, your grandchild, your great-grandchild!"
"That is untrue," he protests.
"You're over 100! That is more than enough time for a few generations."
He touches her cheek, "You are not my granddaughter."
"You lived a lifetime before I was even born, and you're going to live a lifetime after I am dead. How could I ever mean as much to you as you do to me?" she sobs with tears in her eyes.
"I did not live until I met you," Teal'c says.
"I thought I got all of those cheesy romance movies out of the house," she teases.
"I drew breath before I met you. I ate, I kal'no'reamed, I worked, and I fought. I was married and had a child. But I never loved. Not before you."
"Teal'c," she says.
"And I will not love after you are gone. This life I live with you, it is the only one that matters. I will not have another life after you are gone."
"You have to Teal'c, I want you to be happy."
"There is much time before we have to worry about this. This is the benefit of falling in love with a particularly young Earthling."
She laughs at him. "You should find your son."
He nods his head, and takes a couple of steps away from her before he turns back, and gives his wife a searing kiss.
-0-0-0-
Shelby sits cross-legged on the grass, pretending to study a textbook that she brought along. She's really focused on the scene before her. Her husband sparring with his son.
He's letting his son win of course. Teal'c used to be first prime, and his son was still a child. But he isn't going easy on his son. He's allowing blows to come to his son, and she can't take it.
"Teal'c, you're going to hurt him."
"I am strong, father," the child says, puffing his chest out.
Teal'c turns to her, "I would never hurt my son."
Shelby rubs her arms nervously, refusing to say anything else.
"She's a scaredy cat," Ry'ac teases.
Teal'c kneels down before his son. "Ry'ac, there is something that you need to understand. When Shelby was a little girl…" he glances at his wife. He knows that she doesn't want him to tell, but he also knows he needs to. "She was hurt by her mother's husband."
"How?" Ry'ac asks.
"He hit her. He kept hitting her. She had bruises on her when we first meet. So you can understand why she wants to make sure that you would not get hurt."
"Father, why did she not fight back?"
"She left before he could hurt her again," Teal'c says avoiding the question.
Ry'ac walks in front of her, and hands her a training staff. "My father taught me to do battle with those who are unjust. I would like to train you as well."
Shelby doesn't really want to learn to fight. But she knows that this is the best way for her to bond with the boy in front of her, and she senses that it might also be one of the best ways for her to bond with her husband.
"I would really appreciate any training that you could offer me," She tells the boy, trying to imitate the formal Jaffa method of speech.
"Well, to start with, your grip on the staff weapon is pretty good. But your stance is awful. That's why I knocked you down. I don't usually go for that, I prefer intimidation, and making the opponent back up. But you were just begging to be knocked on your mik'ta."
"Ry'ac!" Teal'c scolds.
Ry'ac turns his face toward his father, clearly wondering what he did wrong.
"Use appropriate language around your stepmother."
"Yes, father," Ry'ac says respectfully.
*Ok, there is the logic behind Ry'ac still having a stepfather. Dray'ac's new husband betrayed Teal'c because Teal'c kissed Dray'ac. If Teal'c was with Shelby by then, he would not have been kissing his ex-wife. So Dray'ac's second husband wouldn't have died, and therefore Ry'ac has a stepfather.