"Okay little angel, it's breakfast time!" Rodney called as he opened the door to his daughter's room. Bright blue eyes looked up at him as she giggled and kicked her legs.

Reaching down, Rodney scooped her up into his arms and pressed a kiss to her temple. He quickly got her dressed and headed to the mess hall, carrying her on his hip.

John and JJ were already sitting at a table eating breakfast. Carson was in line. Rodney looked around but didn't see Elizabeth. "Morning'," he called as he set his daughter down in their usual spot before heading over to get some breakfast.

"Morning, hey there's my favorite kid," John said pressing a kiss to the girl's cheek.

"Hey!" growled JJ as he glared at his father.

"Just kidding, I have enough love for both of you," John replied grinning.

"JJ," babbled the little girl.

JJ smiled. That's where he had gotten his name. Lauryn still hadn't quite figured out the word John, and had started calling him JJ, so Johnny's nickname went from Johnny to JJ.

Carson and Rodney joined the table with their food. Rodney sat down beside his daughter and looked at her. "So angel…" the words barely left his mouth before she suddenly pointed to the bacon he had had on his plate.

"I've got myself a mind reader." Rodney grinned and handed the piece of bacon to the girl.

"You ask the same question everyday Rod. Eventually she'll prove she's smarter than you and doesn't need to hear you repeat it," joked John.

"Thanks," mumbled Rodney as he shoved a spoon of cereal in his mouth. The conversation for the morning was abnormally light. When they were finished eating, John and Rodney dropped JJ and Lauryn off in a room they had built just for them. It was a type of day care for the two children, and for any future children to inhabit Atlantis.

Rodney then headed off to his lab to finish up some of the paperwork that had been piling up recently, as well as some of his studies of the ancient language they had discovered a couple of weeks earlier.

John and Teyla were busy training more people from earth. While Ronan helped periodically, today he had been called off world to help his sister build an army for the future and therefore would be too busy to assist them with the training for the next couple days.

For once, in Rodney's eyes, a peaceful day on Atlantis seemed to exist. He headed to the playroom for lunch, smiling as greeted his nephew and daughter. "There's my girl!" He lifted her into his arms and smiled at her. It was then he noticed the small toy car in her hand, "Where did you get this?" he asked smiling. "JJ?"

"Don't look at me…I don't have any little orange cars…"

"Right ah, thanks…" Rodney looked back at his little girl; her blue eyes were wide with happiness.

"Made daddy!" she grinned as she clapped her hands together.

"Made…" He was just about to ask her to show him, when suddenly she wiggled from his grasp. Hitting the floor running, she moved over to another crayon that was sitting on the floor and picked it up.

"Show daddy!" she grinned again as she squeezed her hand around the crayon. Seconds later the once blue crayon had been turned into a small blue car.

"WHOA!" JJ called in surprise.

"Whoa…is a very good word right now…uh JJ. Go get your Dad and Aunt Elizabeth…," Rodney said, pushing his nephew out the door before looking down at his daughter.

The clear, excited blue eyes suddenly became watery. "Daddy don't like?" she whimpered. Seconds later she burst into tears.

"Oh no…no angel. Daddy's…just a little surprised that's all," he whispered as he picked her up and rocked her, unsure how she knew what he was thinking.

"She's perfectly normal," Carson deduced as he removed the stethoscope from his ears and gently rubbed the baby on her back as she looked up at him. Her eyes were still red and watery from the fit she had had with her father moments ago in the playroom. Carson smiled sadly as he realized Rodney probably wanted to cry himself.

"Uh Carson…she just turned a bloody crayon into a car! That's not perfectly normal!" shouted Rodney.

The wailing of an infant filled the infirmary as Elizabeth, John and Teyla all joined them in the infirmary. "What the hell did you do McKay?" John yelled over the girl's cries.

"Come here my sweet girl." Elizabeth scooped the baby up into her arms, gently rubbing her back in circles. The sobs slowly diminished into sniffles.

"You'll have to forgive Rodney, he seems to have forgotten his child isn't exactly from planet Earth, Rodney she's a wee alien. She's not going to be just like you or I, in fact I would have been surprised if she didn't have some strange gene…" Carson began but was silenced quickly by a glare from Rodney.

"But…but…" Rodney shook his head. He looked at his daughter who was still crying softly in Elizabeth's arms, "I'm sorry," he whispered and quickly disappeared out the infirmary door.

"I'll get him," John muttered as he hurried after his brother.

"Carson, is she an Ancient?" Elizabeth asked as she repositioned the baby in her arms.

"No, not that I can tell. She may have a wee bit of their make up. She's…she's not like any race we've encountered, not the SGC, or us."

"Should we be concerned that there will be any other…developments?" Elizabeth asked softly.

"I wouldn't. At the moment, she is ahead of most babies her age, by two she will probably be speaking nearly full sentences. She's already walking for the most part. I think her development will remain ahead of most children her age. She's incredibly smart. Rodney says she can read his mind. I haven't seen that for myself yet, although she did turn one of my tongue depressors into a small toy bunny," Carson said, holding up the miniature stuffed white bunny.

"But you don't see any other cause for concern?" Teyla questioned as she reached out and gently ran her hand over Lauryn's soft hair.

"No, her genetic make up is mostly human DNA. She'll be very similar to you or me."

"You told Rodney all this?"

"Aye, but I think it's going to be a long road for him. This is a new realm…."

"This is probably how Superman's parents felt," Elizabeth whispered softly.

"Aye, but if she starts lifting large rocks, tractors, and bench pressing Ronan, I don't know what Rodney will do," laughed Carson softly as he removed the girl from Elizabeth's grasp and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Aye, don't let that big goon scare ye lass, he's still the lovable dork he's always been, just a wee bit stressed is all."

"What is this…superman?" Teyla questioned.

"Hey, how ya doin'?" John asked as he joined his brother on the floor of one of the balconies.

"She's an alien…"

"Ah, yeah, she has been since…well since she was born. Come on Rodney, you knew that when you agreed to adopt her, what suddenly changed?"

"Uh, hello!" Rodney yelled.

"Okay, for starters lose the attitude okay? That yelling around her isn't going to help any. You're her daddy. She's knows something isn't right and she's already terrified enough, So she has…developed a few…interesting abilities, so what. You made a nuke in the sixth grade. Mom and dad didn't disown you."

"This is different John, I have no idea how to handle this…"

"Can I tell you a secret that dad once shared with me? There is no greater feeling in this world than holding this tiny little body in your hands and realizing you helped create it. There's also nothing as horrifying as holding that tiny creature in your arms and suddenly realizing that you have to protect it, love it unconditionally, and prepare it for a world that can be cruel and harsh. In the end all you can hope for is that your child will love you in return, and to know that they're doing well because of you. Rodney, she's still Lauryn. She's still that little angel you care for every day when you hold her growing body in your arms, when you feed her, change her, get her dressed. She's still the little apple of your eye, as well as Elizabeth's. She's the little girl who had this entire base wrapped around her finger within the first few hours she was here. No one brings out a grandfatherly side of Caldwell like Lauryn does. But I'll let you in on another little secret; she's more human than you may think. Come here." John gripped his brother's arm and led him back into Atlantis.

They walked towards Elizabeth's office but stopped short of entering. Elizabeth held the baby in her arms, chatting idly to her. John pointed to the girl. "Biologically she isn't your child - but in your soul, in your heart, and in her mind she is yours. You see those big blue eyes? She has eyes just like yours. That little crooked smile she gets when someone is talking to her? She learned that from her old man. Her mannerisms, the way she claps or uses her hands when she's talking, the way she watches Elizabeth speak with such fascination - she's your daughter Rodney. These are all things she's seen you do, and has learned from you. Every thing you do, and say around her, has an impact. Her ability to unconditionally love everything that comes to her - she learned that from you, too."

"John, how do I raise a child to use abilities I know nothing about?"

"Little bit of prayer, little bit of power, and a whole lot of patience. Rod, every parent in the world fears for their child. I can't tell you all the things I feared for Lisa and JJ. Even now, JJ is my world. I can't imagine what I would do if anyone every tried to hurt him in any way. I want to protect him from the world, all parents do. But we can't do that Rodney. As much as they need us to stand up, they need to learn to do the walking by themselves."

"I should probably go in there…" Rodney whispered.

"Oh, that would probably be one of your better ideas. There's nothing wrong with being scared Rodney. There will be days when you'll both be at a loss. But all you have to do is remind her that you love her. She'll always see you as her super-man in your eyes."

"Thanks John," Rodney whispered.

"Any time little brother."

Rodney sighed, taking another deep breath he stepped into the office. Elizabeth looked up and smiled at her friend, he came over and knelt beside her. Looking his daughter right in the eyes, he smiled a truly genuine smile. "You are the light of my life. You make me see everything from a different point of view. I'm scared, I won't deny that, but I'm not angry at you, and I'm not scared of you," he whispered as he lifted her from Elizabeth's arms. He sighed as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Are you all right?" Elizabeth asked.

"I will be," he said gently, as he squeezed the hand resting against his arm. She leaned against his shoulder, smiling as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead as well.

"Thank you for being a mother to my daughter."

"She's our daughter…"

"Our little angel," whispered Rodney as he sighed and continued to look at those big blue eyes.