Taking a deep breath he stepped through the doorway, all the heads swiveled on him; no one ran, no one cried, smiles lit the faces of every single person within the lab, until finally Radek began clapping. One month, two weeks, a day and three hours since he'd handed over his position as CSO to Zelenka.
One month, two weeks, a day and twelve hours since everyone had heard about Lauryn's leukemia, and just as much time everyone spent wanting their snarky scientist back. Lieutenant Colonel Sam Carter stood in the back of the lab smiling as Rodney received his warm welcome back. It was obvious people respected him here; maybe Rodney had finally come to a spot in his life where he was comfortable.
"Welcome back Rodney," Radek said as he shook his friend's hand.
"Thanks Radek…and thank you for taking over the department, you've done well. So…what have we got?" he asked.
Within an hour Rodney was back to being pushy, snarky and loud, but everyone handled it with the grace they were used to. Understanding he wished to bring normalcy back to a life that had recently been turned upside down.
"Oh, Colonel," Rodney called out to her, beckoning her over with a wave of his hand, "I thought you'd like to know, we're going on a mission tomorrow to check on some allies we've made earlier this year…. Now there's not going to be much excitement probably, but it might be fun and interesting to check it out if you'd like…they're fairly advanced and they're good honest people…Elizabeth thought you and Daniel might like to join us. Ronan is going to visit another world to help out there…with Major Lorne's team, so there will be an extra spot."
"I'd love to," Sam replied smiling.
"Excellent, we leave around nine," he said grinning softly at her.
It was movie night, a family night of sorts, JJ and Lauryn chose to join the group this evening and they stuck the Lion King in for the kid's enjoyment. Although as Elizabeth sat there watching her men smile and laugh or frown at each scene, she was fairly sure they were enjoying it as much as the kids.
Lauryn sat between Rodney and Elizabeth, where they were parked on the couch, at the other end was Carson and Laura. JJ was sprawled on his stomach, in front of the TV on the floor, looking as if he were in heaven.
John sat beside Teyla on the floor, Sam and Daniel each took up a chair. Heightmeyer and Zelenka had even chosen to join this time. Which caused a smile to cross Elizabeth's lips; she'd heard rumors that the two doctors were spending more and more time with each other. She hoped it was true, she'd spoken to Kate before about Radek; she seemed to enjoy the Czech company.
Sighing she curled against Rodney's side, leaning her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes; she grinned as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Rodney took a hold of her, smiling as he glanced down at the left ring finger, "Whatcha lookin' at?" slurred Elizabeth as she relaxed further against him.
"I'm visualizing a certain ring I bought awhile back on this finger."
"Oh…and will I like said ring?" she asked giggling quietly as the others continued to watch their movie
"It's from me, how could you not…you'll love it…"
"I can't wait."
"Okay you two," came Carson's mumble from the other end of the couch, causing the two love birds to quit their talking, simply grinning at one another.
They stepped out of the wormhole early the next morning, and were rapidly greeted by Matree, "greetings my friends. Dr. McKay, it is good to see you are well," the man spoke as he vigorously shook the scientist's hand.
"Thank you Matree, it's nice to be alive. Oh, Matree, these are our friends Colonel Samantha Carter, and Dr. Daniel Jackson. They're studying some ancient while on Atlantis and they heard about your planet and wished to come see it…maybe study in some of your labs for a day?"
"That would be wonderful, Dr. McKay can show you around, you have been here several times," grinned Matree.
"Of course, thank you Matree. John?" Rodney turned to his brother.
"Meet back here by 17:00 hours, if you need anything just leave your comm. open," John offered, "Teyla and I are going to be looking at some of the wood we'll be collecting as well as debriefing Matree on the various different medical supplies he'll be getting in the next cycle. We also wanted to speak with him about education…are you still interested in that idea?"
"Yeah…Elizabeth more so than me, so make sure you get that conversation in. We'll see you at five," Rodney led Daniel and Sam off in one direction, while John, Teyla and Matree headed off in the other.
"This is absolutely amazing," Sam whispered as she looked at all the different books, Rodney had led her to a library in the science labs, leaving Daniel behind in an area of the building for ancient artifacts. "They can't be far behind us in technology…" she whispered as she ran her hands over books, studying some of the titles. She slipped one off the shelf and opened it.
"They've got quantum physics, astrophysics, biochemistry…I think Carson said molecular biology…yeah….they're pretty advanced, they've got computers that run faster than ours…they don't have the internet yet. But give it a few years; they've already got a form of telephone."
"How long have you guys known these people?"
"Uh…four, maybe five months or so; they're good honest people. We helped them out awhile back…they've been more than willing to allow us do research or study things, in exchange we've given them the technology to build ventilators, defibrillators other various medical equipment, we've also vaccinated them will all the different types of illness…Carson didn't want us to give them anything or visa versa. They're helping the people on the mainland begin to build houses and buildings…it's a fairly symbiotic relationship," Rodney stated as he looked at one of the books.
"How often are you here?"
"Uh…this would be the ninth or tenth visit, generally for a few hours at a time…Matree is working with me to set up a type of education program…since Atlantis is beginning to think about…well pairing up and eventually we might have children we didn't want to have to send them to Earth for education…and most of us have jobs…we thought there was another way. Right now we have it working so that the kids would spend two days a week on the mainland, learning survival techniques, then two days they'd spend here learning about the Atlantis and Ancient culture from other's perspectives…then they spend one day a week with any choice from Atlantis and kind of follow them around."
"Wow…you guys are pretty far ahead."
"Not really…JJ will be the first one to really start testing the system in the next several months or so. He already spends a good deal of time on the mainland. He likes the people there…he's made a lot of good friends, sadly he's become friends with a boy named Jinto…who is quite good at finding trouble, so you can imagine."
"Like his father I imagine," grinned Sam.
"Probably…he's also made friends with other kids on another planet we visit every month or so…so he's happy."
"Well that's good, when would you normally start the kids in the education system?"
"Six or seven probably…JJ isn't fond of going through the wormhole, he thinks it feels funny…but Lauryn doesn't mind, so we've decided to wait until the kids are slightly older. They'll get all education they need before that. Lauryn can already speak two languages, JJ's working on his second or third, so it's not like they're dumb."
"Sounds like you're taking all precautions to make sure the children of Atlantis can do it all."
"We're hoping most will desire to stay on Atlantis with their parents, or go to the mainland and live out their lives, but we're willing to accept some may want to go other places. They're good kids Colonel…well at least ours are, few more years and hopefully Atlantis will have a few more kids."
"Is everyone in Atlantis hooking up?" Sam asked slightly surprised.
"Oh no, no….not by a long shot," laughed Rodney, "No…actually Carson and Laura will be our first married couple on Atlantis. There are a few others beginning to see each other…I've heard rumors about some of my scientists hooking up with some of the military people…which is odd. Strangely enough most of the military guys have found girls in the medical or science side of Atlantis to date. But no, there are probably about eight to ten couples in Atlantis just dating and seeing one another. I think people are finally beginning to believe we could win the war against the Wraith, and feel we have more time to get to know one another."
"You feel comfortable here?"
"Are you kidding me?" Rodney asked laughing, "I couldn't be happier anywhere else. I'm playing out my childhood dream. I get to travel through the stars; I'm in a completely different galaxy. I love it here."
"That's good, I'm glad you're happy Rodney," Sam said grinning over at her friend.
Rodney returned the smile, he opened his mouth to say something, but it quickly snapped closed when the ground began to shake. "What the hell," he whispered as it continued to rapidly shake. "Get in the door way!" he yelled to Sam before the lights suddenly blacked out.
The room was dark, Rodney heard a loud crash, a cry of pain before he felt something crash down upon him and blackness envelope him.
"Everyone okay?" John called as he slowly stood to his feet, looking around at the damage the quake had caused.
"I'm all right," replied Teyla as she slowly lifted herself from the ground and moved towards John.
John instantly put his arm around her, both to protect her further and to check for injuries. He looked around and saw Matree beginning to stand. "Are you both all right?" asked Matree.
John nodded, "we'll be fine, are you're people all alive?" he asked as he glanced at the others who were just beginning to stand. It had been a disturbingly large quake, he easily guess an eight or nine on the Richter scale. He'd only ever read about the large quakes in books back on earth. They'd been through a few in California but never worse than fives. Part of him was thankful they'd been outside when it had occurred, the worst it did was knock everyone to their feet. However, he was concerned about his brother, Daniel, the Colonel and other people of the planet.
"Matree, do you have these tremors often?" John asked in fear.
"No," the man answered honestly, "This was the first…perhaps we should get into town…I wish to check in on my people, certainly you do as well."
"Yes, let's go," John responded. They began to move in the direction of the city when his comm. chirped. "Sheppard, go ahead," he spoke firmly.
"This is Jackson…I'm in the artifacts part of the museums and libraries. I'm fine…what was that?"
"An earthquake…sorta," John replied.
"The lights are out here…there were a few other people in here with me. I think they may be hurt. McKay and Sam weren't with me Colonel."
"Thank you Dr. Jackson, keep me informed…and Jackson, try to get out of their before the place comes down on your head," John commanded.
"Will do."
"Jackson…keep an eye out for McKay or Colonel Carter." John tried not to let the worry about his brother suddenly creep up in his voice. He looked over at Teyla; he could tell she was a little worried already as well.
Teyla tapped her own comm. quickly, "Dr. McKay?" she spoke. She glanced over at John, "Rodney, this is Teyla, can you hear me?" she spoke into the head piece. "Rodney thi…." she stopped in mid sentence.
In front of them various parts of the city seemed to lie in rubble. It was unreal, buildings were or had fallen in the tremor, and people were running around in the streets, some bleeding, others were on the ground screaming for help. There were a few people attempting to help other people. The only thing standing was the Stargate and the DHD. Smoke was billowing into the sky from one of the buildings. Teyla felt her heart plummet at the sight, "Rodney," she began again softly as the two men by her side just continued to stare; "Can you hear me."
The first sensation was the inability to breathe deeply; Rodney groaned as he slowly rolled over onto his back, groaning as every muscle in his bruised and abused body screamed in pain. On his back he tried to take another deep breath and found himself still unable to draw in any air that didn't seem thick and heavy.
He slowly pried his eyes open in annoyance, the room was scarcely lit by what he could only guess were supposed to be emergency lights on two of the four walls. Dust and smoke was beginning to rise from around him. "Rodney…Can you hear me?" a voice spoke in his ear.
He quickly tapped the comm., "Teyla…" he gagged for a moment as smoke continued to fill the room and burn at his nose, and "This is McKay…what happened?" He slowly sat up, deciding if he could move his arms he could try and move everything else.
He got to his feet after about five minutes, all the while listening to Teyla explaining the massive quake they'd just suffered. He looked around at the damage and was suddenly surprised the entire building hadn't been leveled with the force she was describing. There were parts of the ceiling lying on the floor, shelves, books, debris from all over the room scattering the dusty unseen floor at this point. "Are you and John okay?" Rodney finally asked when Teyla was finished.
He groaned as he bent down to lift something off the floor, pain stabbed through his chest, "damn," he murmured.
"We are well…what's wrong?"
"I think I've got a busted rib…Daniel?"
"Dr. Jackson is fine it seems…where are you Rodney?"
"We're in the scientific library in the lower part of the science labs and artifacts museum," Rodney paused, suddenly realizing something, "Sam!" he hissed.
He began to search, calling out to her, "Where are you!" Rodney cried. Beginning to move things, he was rewarded with a groan moments later, followed closely by a loud cry of pain.
"Where are you?" he asked as he moved closer to the sound.
"Rodney?" came the weak murmur.
Rodney found her buried halfway under a pile of books, pinned beneath a book shelf. He grimaced, knowing the shelf was obviously heavy as it lay across on of her legs. He quickly cleared everything away from her face, chest and stomach, until the only thing remaining on her was the shelf, "Teyla?"
"I am here Rodney."
"Good…stay with me…I found Colonel Carter, she's pinned under a book shelf…it's a pretty good bet her leg is broken…"
"We will try and get to you as soon as possible…Colonel Sheppard is trying to make contact with Atlantis as we speak to get back up…do you wish me to beckon Dr. Beckett?"
"That would be a very good idea…Teyla, don't let Elizabeth come through…it may not be stable…get Zelenka to run some tests on the atmosphere…try to figure out why we suddenly had an earth quake…and…ah…Dr….Dr…Dillamond….he's that new scientists in from California…he's a seismologist among other things, get him here."
"Very well, do you need anything else?"
"To get out of here would be nice…but just get us out of here as soon as you can…"
"I will, I shall stay in contact Rodney."
"Thanks, McKay out," he left the comm. on, not wanting to lose contact with the link outside. He slowly knelt down beside Sam's head, and began to feel for broken bones or serious injuries. Once finding only bruises on her upper body he moved to her good leg, it was fine, he looked at the large book case and shook his head, it'd be a miracle if she came away with her whole leg after this. He looked at the shelf for a moment, trying to judge the weight before trying to move it.
Taking a deep breath he crouched down with his knees and placed both hands under the shelf. With three deliberate slow counts he heft the shelf up and off Sam's leg, letting out a cry of pain as he took on the weight then dropped it far enough away from them both. Dropping it he slipped to the ground weakly. Sweat and tears began to trail down his face as he took slow shallow breaths, trying to control the pain searing through his now broken ribs.
"Rodney?" came John's voice.
"I'm…okay," Rodney managed to mumble as he bit back another surge of pain.
"You don't sound okay…"
"Really…fine…Atlantis?"
"We're here Rodney," Elizabeth's voice broke over his comm.
Rodney felt a wave of relief flood over him, knowing that the gate wasn't damaged. He sighed, "hey you," he mumbled softly.
"Hey yourself…are you really okay?"
"Uh…no…probably a broken rib or two…nothin' unusual though…Sam's with me, she's got a broken leg for sure…not sure how badly yet…" he took another slow breath.
"Rodney?"
"I'm still here…Liz…trying to ride out the pain…I'm going to check on Sam, I'll get back to you…did you get my…"
"Dr. Dillamond, Carson and Radek are already on their way…how ya doin' now?"
"Better…Sam's leg seems to be a clean break in what feels like the fibula…"
"Set it if ye can lad…get it wrapped in a splint as soon as ye can Rod," Carson's voice broke over the radio.
"I can do that…I don't have anything to give her for the pain."
"She'll be fine Rodney, she's a tough lass."
Rodney took a deep breath and looked at her eyes as the slowly fluttered open, "No Sam," he whispered, "stay asleep…it'll hurt less."
"Rodney?"
"Hey…listen Sam, your leg is broken….I can set it, but it's going to hurt," he told her gently as he squeezed her arm.
"What happened?"
"We got caught here in an earth quake…well a quake from another planet actually. Sam, I'm going to set this leg, it's going to hurt…" he waited calmly for her to comply.
"O…okay," she finally replied softly.
"Okay Carson…I'm about to set it," he spoke through his comm. With a deep breath he took a hold of her leg. With a jerk, Sam let out a cry of pain as it slipped back into place, "I'm sorry Sam, so sorry," he replied gently as he brushed the bangs from her eyes.
"Is it straight Rodney?"
"Yeah…we've got wood, but I don't have anything to tie them together."
"Just do ye're best Rod."
John sighed as he looked at Carson, as the doctor stepped through the wormhole. "Welcome to the planet Carson…they're taking care of the most serious patients in the hospital…"
"All right…lets move some of them to Atlantis, we'll be happy to help them," Carson directed quickly. "Have ye found Dr. Jackson, Colonel Carter or Rodney?"
"Not yet Carson, we've spoken to Rodney for sometime after you finished talking to him. He got the leg splinted, he says Sam's coherent but in pain. Rodney is also fairly sure he has a concussion…"
"Did ye tell him to stay awake?"
"Yeah…he and Sam are talking to help each other stay awake. I'm heading over to the building their supposed to be stuck in to try and help dig them out…if you'd like to join me."
"Aye…let's go."
"So…where did you learn how to fix a leg like this?" Sam questioned, grimacing slightly as her leg jolted again.
"Carson taught us. We were spent nearly a year on the Antarctica base when someone broke his leg by accident…no one knew what to do and Carson couldn't get there right away…after they discharged the guy from service, Carson demanded we all learn how to set and splint broken limbs."
"I'm surprised you even went to the lesson," laughed Sam.
"He made me, he made it completely mandatory…said he wouldn't pass any of us for our next physical if we didn't at least attend and make some attempt. He did a very good job teaching the class, we all came out with something…then when we got here, a few weeks after arriving one of our Athosian friends fell and broke his leg. It was one of my scientists that set the leg and splinted it."
"Gee McKay you sound like your proud of your people," Sam chuckled, she couldn't imagine Rodney being proud of anyone. Rodney had changed a lot in the two and a half years they'd been on Atlantis. She was no longer looking at the same man she'd been so annoyed by four years ago.
"I'm very proud of my people, I'm very proud of everyone under my command. Most of them are really good people," he replied softly.
"Do you ever actually tell them that?"
"Probably not often enough, but I have some image to uphold…granted Lauryn seems to have deflated most of my tough bastard image. Somehow the sight of a two year old giggling on my shoulder proves that I'm not much of an asshole," he laughed softly.
"So you and Elizabeth?" Sam questioned while she moved a little, repositioning her head on the jacket he'd given to her for a pillow.
Rodney smiled; he sat against on of the walls, right beside her, his head leaning against the wall, obviously hurting from the grimace on his face as it was. He shrugged suddenly, "yeah, me and Elizabeth."
"She doesn't seem your type."
"She's probably not…but neither are you Sam, let's face it. Elizabeth looked at me in a way no one ever looked at me. She brought me back down to reality…and I helped her realize just because she's a leader, doesn't mean she's alone. We've helped one another mutually. Eventually…a friendship turned to romantic feels….eventually to love. I love her," he whispered his eyes suddenly glossing over slightly.
"You want to marry her?"
"Yeah," he chuckled softly, "yeah I do…"
"Then you should…" those words caught Rodney's attention, he met Sam's equally blue eyes, "Jack and I spent years avoiding our feelings because we thought our job was more important. But…I look back at it now Rodney and I realize we could be married and have children by now. Maybe one day we still can, but I'm going to be in a few more years. Don't waste any more time than you have to Rodney, I don't know why we don't tell people how we feel when we have the chance. Waiting is no better."
"You're smart Sam…I know I always said I was smarter…and maybe I am…but you're by far wiser than me. You always have been; you've lived through more."
"You have something I may never have Rodney, and for that you're lucky, you have someone who will love you until the day you die and is willing to put everything aside to be with you. You have a daughter who loves you."
"Yes I do, I have everything I could ever really ask for. I've got a brother who loves me and watches over me, I've got a best friend who will always be there for me…I've got a great nephew. I've got a wonderful family.
John looked at the door way and felt his stomach tighten in a knot, "Rodney…this is John, can you hear me?"
"We're here John."
"We're right outside the door. Where are you guys in the room?"
"Opposite wall of the door."
"Good, I'm going to try and clear some of the rubble away from the door by blasting it away hopefully it won't bring the whole damn building down on top of us."
"We'll be here waiting."
"Good. Carson will be here with a stretcher, how are you doing Rod?"
"Sam and I are hangin' in here John, but you need to hurry. Sam may go into shock soon."
"Just keep hanging in there buddy, we'll get you out of there."
John looked over at Teyla and nodded, "Let's get this place lighted up," directed John.
"Incoming Wormhole," called Brendon from where he sat by the controls. "It's Colonel Sheppard," the tech explained as Elizabeth hurried over.
"Let them in," she commanded. She looked down and felt a grin grace her face as she watched Daniel, John and Teyla step through the wormhole. She searched for him, seconds later; Carson and his medics came walking into the gate room, followed closely by Rodney. She ran down the stairs, hurrying towards him.
A grin split Rodney's dirt covered face as he held out his arms grabbing her and hugging her for all she was worth, pressing his cheek against her's.
Elizabeth chuckled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close, weary of his bruises he probably had. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and finally pulled away, smiling up at him. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, looking his body once over.
"Nothing I haven't had before. Carson says I probably have a broken rib or two. Nothing I can't handle, maybe you'd like to help me get to the infirmary?"
"I'd be happy to."
By the time Elizabeth and Rodney managed to get to the infirmary, Sam was already lying on a bed, sleeping in a drug induced rest. Carson was carefully placing a gauze pad over Daniel's left eye. He looked over just in time to see Elizabeth escorting Rodney into the room. "Have a seat lad; I'll be right with ye."
Elizabeth helped Rodney sit on one of the beds, as he grimaced, gripping his ribs, "don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Aye he will be," Carson said coming over to reassure them and care for McKay. "He's got two cracked ribs and a few pulled muscles, nothing he can't handle. I'm just going to give ye something for the pain and let ye go home…I don't doubt ye'll feel better have a nice warm shower. Come back here after the shower and I'll wrap ye up."
"Thanks Carson…Liz, could you be ready by eight in your finest dress?" Rodney suddenly asked her.
"Uh…" she looked at him, completely surprised and smiled, "Yes, of course."
"I'll go get you the medicine, if ye'd like to wait."
"Liz, could you wait outside for a moment?"
"Sure, I'll be waiting for you sweetheart," she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Carson returned a few minutes later with the medicine, "It's a low dose of morphine, shouldn't knock ye out. And I assume you wanted this as well?" Carson grinned as he handed off a small velvet box.
"Yes, thank you…you're good my friend, very good."
"Need any help lad?"
"Yes, actually, I've got a few things I could use you, John, Teyla and Laura's help with."
Rodney took a deep breath: they had this perfected, with candles, a gorgeous dinner and everything, there would be music, he was sure he'd though of everything, Carson had even brought back a fine aged bottle of wine from Scotland just for them.
He'd taken his shower; Carson had wrapped his ribs, and then helped him get into one of his nicer dress pants and shirts. He looked ready to finally propose. Taking deep breath he reached out and knocked on the door. He couldn't help but find it odd how nervous he was. He'd known Elizabeth for nearly four years. He'd never been more in love with any woman in most of his life. Yet it had been the past twelve hours spent with a completely different woman that propelled Rodney to finally decide it was time to ask her to marry him.
He would always care for Sam, a part of him would always feel something towards her, and however he was well aware that he would never have her…besides as much as he cared for her. He was hopelessly in love with Elizabeth. He was ready to marry her.
Lauryn was in Carson and Laura's care, he'd ditched his radio back in his room, essentially the only people who really knew where the couple would be this evening; were Carson, Laura, Teyla and John and of course Lauryn.
The door slid open and he barely recognized the woman standing before him, she stood there, in beautiful high black heels, her dress was stunning, it was about an inch off the floor, it was obviously a one piece, leaving little to the imagination, it dipped just below her collar bone and sank down in the back just below her shoulder blades, her hair, which she had grown out a little more, fell at her shoulders, brushing the slightly freckled shoulders ever so lightly, the dress was a beautiful deep jade green color, bringing out Elizabeth's eyes.
"Wow…" he whispered, unsure what else he could say to describe how he felt about the woman standing before him.
"You look good Rodney," she said fondly.
Grinning, he quickly offered her his arm, and together the two made it to the pier, their favorite spot. They had spoken so often at the East pier, talked, cried, yelled at one another. Cried for one another, so many emotions to go through. Rodney couldn't imagine anyone he would have rather gone through all this with that Elizabeth.
The stars were out and brightly shining as mot of the city began to sleep. A small table sat in the middle of the balcony, a single red rose sat in a small vase, and candle lights surrounding them.
"You certainly went all out," smiled Elizabeth, as she felt a blush reach her cheeks. She'd been surprised when ten minutes after Carson released him from the infirmary with instructions for rest and relaxation, Rodney had told her to get dressed in her finest dress.
"I had help," smiled Rodney.
"How sweet of everyone…" she replied blushing. She had an idea of what he planned on tonight, she held her breath, praying tonight would be their night.
"Yes, well…shall we eat?"
Rodney was patient, he had the perfect moment picked out, so when the music had started in the background he knew his moment had finally come, he looked at Elizabeth and smiled, "Can I have this dance?" he asked.
"Of course," she replied, surprised to hear a song she'd never heard before come on over the system.
The bar was empty
I was sweeping up the floor
That's when she walked in
I said, "I'm sorry but we're closed"
And she said "I know,
But I'm afraid I left my purse"
I said, "I put one back behind the bar
I bet it's probably yours"
And the next thing that I knew
There we were, lost in conversation
And before I handed her purse
I said, "You'll only get this back on one condition"
Rodney pulled her close for a moment, swaying with her to the music, and then finally taking a deep breath he pushed her away, grasping her hands tightly in his own.
And we danced
Out there on that empty hardwood floor
The chairs up and the lights turned way down low
The music played, we held each other close
And we danced
And from that moment
There was never any doubt
I had found the one
That I had always dreamed about
And then one evenin'
"Eliza…" he began but paused, "I…would…Um…What I mean to say…Elizabeth…"
"Rodney, honey slow down and breathe…"
When she stopped by after work
I pulled a diamond ring out of the pocket of my shirt
And as her eyes filled up with tears
She said, "This is the last thing I expected"
And then she took me by the hand
And said, "I'll only marry you on one condition"
Rodney took one deep breath, and then suddenly, stilling grasping her hands, he took a knee, and looked up at her with all the adoration in the world. "I have…never ever, in all of my life loved anyone as much as I love you. You've made me a better person, a stronger person…a less arrogant man…you've brought me hope, you've brought my little girl something I couldn't give her. Elizabeth Weir, I love you with all my heart and soul…you had me at hello, would you marry me?"
Elizabeth half laughed, half cried as she pressed her hand to her lips, she could feel the tears beginning to pour down her cheeks; she gently cupped his face, pulling him up and pressing a kiss to his beautiful lips.
Rodney suddenly pulled away, "is that a yes?" He asked grinning.
Elizabeth let out a loud laugh as she hugged him tightly around the neck, "yes Rodney, yes I would love to marry you!" she cried into his shoulder.
Rodney smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back, he could feel his own tears beginning to run down his cheeks. He pulled her close again, swaying with her to the music and smiled.
And we danced
Out there on that empty hardwood floor
The chairs up and the lights turned way down low
The music played, we held each other close
And we danced
Like no one else had ever danced before
I can't explain what happened on that floor
But the music played
We held each other close
And we danced
Yeah, we danced
Rodney slipped into the room with a smile on his face as he looked at Elizabeth, now dressed in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt; she sat on the couch, her hand out in front of her, unable to pull her eyes from the beautiful ring he'd bought her.
"I'm glad you like it," he whispered as he sat down beside her. It was a beautiful ring, white gold, small, simple but by no means cheap. It was ¼ karat diamond in between two smaller diamonds. She leaned her head against his shoulder, curling into his arms and grinned.
"I'm going to be Dr. McKay," she laughed.
"Oh God, how will they ever handle two of us," he grinned as he gripped her hand and pressed a kiss to her lips, "three actually…Lauryn's going to be a Dr. McKay one day."
"I love you," she whispered.
"I'm glad," he chuckled, "I love you too Liz, and I'm glad you like the ring. We'll have to pick out our wedding rings when we come back for Carson's wedding.
"I don't really want a wedding back home…I mean to make it legal on earth of course, but I'd like an Athosian one more."
"Then we'll have an Athosian wedding…"
"I'd like to get married soon," she whispered.
"I'll talk to Teyla tomorrow about ceremonies. Maybe we can be married as early as next week."
"Can you believe it," she spoke suddenly, "we're going to spend the rest of our lives together…this is a totally new beginning for us," she whispered
"Just another beginning…Dr. Elizabeth McKay," he grinned as he pressed his lips to her's again.