Author's Chapter Notes: A/N: Thanks for the review for the first chapter. And here is the second as promised. Meta info can be found in the first chapter.
Chapter 2
A few days later, Elizabeth was found in the office the SGC provided her during her stay on Earth. She was trying to work on the new members' files but she couldn't. She could still remember the face Landry had made when she told him that John wouldn't come back with them. He had immediately called O'Neill and she had had to explain his reasons to both of them, which they had, of course, perfectly understood. Two days later, they had indeed received a letter from John where he resigned his commission. Now, they needed to decide who was going to replace him. Caldwell's name had of course come up first but, when asked through a gate communication to Atlantis, he declined the offer, to Elizabeth's surprise; she suspected that the scientists were driving him crazy. Despite Landry and O'Neill's requests, she hadn't wanted to take part in the selection of the new military leader, despite the fact that she would be working in close quarters with them.
Looking up from the file she was reviewing, she smiled at the sight before her; Sedge was lying peacefully in a corner of the office. She managed to convince both of the generals, the president and the IOA to let her take her dog to Atlantis. She hadn't wanted to back down on this point and she had won in the end. Facing Simon when she had to go to get her back had been less difficult than she had thought, at least for her. She had noticed some pain in his eyes when she said goodbye, probably for the final time, but she couldn't help but think that after all he was the one who left her in the first place.
Thinking about Simon made her think about these last five months with John and how she had lost him now, somehow. She knew that she hadn't really lost John; they were still together, they just wouldn't be together everyday anymore. Despite herself, a tear made its way down her cheek and she wiped at it, shaking her head to try and clear her mind from those thoughts. Feeling that her owner was sad, Sedge got up and went to her, putting her head on her lap. Looking down, Elizabeth smiled at her and patted her head.
"I'm ok, Sedge, don't worry. You'll see, Atlantis is a wonderful place and one day, I'll take you to the mainland. There are children there and they'll be happy to see you."
A knock on the door of her office prevented her from continuing.
"Come in."
"Am I interrupting you?" Sam asked, opening the door.
"No, not at all. Please, take a seat. Can I do something for you, Colonel?"
"It's Sam, please," she replied and Elizabeth nodded in response. "I just came to see how you were. Daniel told me about John staying on Earth…"
"I'm fine," Elizabeth answered with a small smile. "Well, as fine as I can be given the circumstances."
"But you're still together, right?"
"Yeah. It will be a very long distance relationship but it'll work, it has to."
"Well, long distance relationships work; you'll just beat a record."
"That we'll do!" Elizabeth chuckled slightly before sobering up. "And unlike others, we couldn't see each other every week or at least once a month, nor could we talk on the phone."
"I heard he stayed because he has a daughter…," Sam said, not really sure if she could ask this.
"Yeah. Her name's Abby, she's five years old. She looks so much like him and from what I heard, she could cause as much trouble as him," she let out a giggle at the last part.
Sam just nodded, not really knowing what to say. Both women smiled at each other; they were still a little awkward around each other. The first time they met, Elizabeth was replacing General Hammond and it wasn't an easy thing to do. But since Elizabeth left for Atlantis, every time they saw each other, they tried to improve whatever they had between them.
"Well, I'd better go," Sam said, standing up. "McKay wants me to go over some of his reports about Ancient technologies you found in Pegasus."
"I'm sure you'll find that fascinating. And Sam," she called as the other woman was opening the door, "congratulations."
"Thanks," she replied with a smile, putting a hand on her stomach as she left Elizabeth's office.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth immersed herself in the files again, wanting to know at least everyone by their name by the time they were going back to Atlantis.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Dinah was worried about John; she never saw him like this. When he wasn't with Abby, he seemed to be distant from everything and sometimes, he acted this way within his daughter's presence. She knew that Elizabeth's leaving affected him more than he admitted and deep down, she wondered why he stayed. She knew he loved Abby, but obviously, Elizabeth held a great part of his heart too. Seeing him now, sitting in a chair in the garden, looking at his daughter but not really seeing her, she decided it was time to talk to him. She sat in the chair beside him and waited for him to acknowledge her for a few minutes.
"Why are you here?" she finally asked, growing impatient.
"What?" he replied, surprised by her presence.
"I asked you why you are here," she repeated.
"I'm watching Abby play, why?"
"Not here, here. I want to know why you're here since you obviously want to be somewhere else… With Elizabeth," she added as an afterthought.
"What makes you think that?"
"Your attitude. You stayed here because of Abby…"
"Because I wanted to," he interrupted her. "She's my daughter; I have to be there for her."
"You feel obliged to stay here for Abby. John, I'm not saying you don't love her, I know you do, but you also love Elizabeth as much as you love Abby. You need her, you need both of them. I never saw you as happy as you were when Elizabeth was there. Why don't you and Abby join her?"
"I can't. It's not a place for children. And even if I wanted to go back there with Abby, my superiors wouldn't let me."
"You didn't ask them, how can you be so sure?"
"Believe me, I know."
"So what? You're going to stay where you're not happy instead of doing everything you can to join the woman you love, to have a real family life? I'm disappointed in you, John" she finished, standing up and going back inside.
"So am I, so am I…" he whispered, looking towards the sky.
He sat there till nightfall when Dinah asked him and Abby to come back inside. During dinner, he stayed silent aside from when Abby talked to him. The little girl realized that her father wasn't really there with her but, contrary to her godmother she didn't know why. Like every other girl of her age, she was just glad to have her dad at home.
John kept pondering what Dinah told him earlier and even though he knew she was right, he also knew he couldn't do anything.
"John, there's a call for you," Dinah called as he was tucking Abby in.
"I'm coming! Sleep tight, sweetie," he whispered, kissing her lightly on the nose.
"Daddy? Did you love Mommy?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Because you never kissed her like the other woman."
"We loved each other in a way, but it's true I've never loved her like I love Elizabeth. But even if we didn't love each other, we didn't love you any less. You know I love you, huh?" he asked, tickling her
"Stop it Daddy!" Abby said, laughing through John's ministrations. "I love you," she finally said between two breaths.
"John! They're still waiting!" Dinah called once again from downstairs.
"Coming! I have to go and you have to sleep," he said, kissing her forehead one last time before standing up and leaving the room.
Back at the SGC, it was just past midnight when Elizabeth decided to call it a night after having finished reviewing the new members' files. In her quarters, while getting ready to go to bed, she realized that in three days, she would have to go back to Atlantis without John. Tears filled up her eyes but she contained them, knowing that she couldn't do anything about it. A lump in her throat, she went to bed and willed her thoughts to go away so she could sleep.
In the wee hours of the morning, she was awoken by someone's hand in her hair. For a moment, she smiled, thinking it was John, but knowing it was impossible, she opened her eyes, wondering if it was only her imagination or if someone was really in her room. Her bedside lamp was turned on though she was sure she switched it off when she went to bed, and moving her head slightly she found out whose hand it was.
"John?" she whispered, surprised by his presence.
"Yeah, it's me," he answered in the same tone, his hand stroking the side of her face.
"I'm dreaming, right?"
"No," he said, starting to kiss her softly.
"But…, how?" she asked between two kisses.
"I was putting Abby to bed when General O'Neill called me…"
Flashback:
Taking the phone from Dinah's hand, John was still wondering who could possibly be calling him at this hour.
"Hello?"
"Sheppard, this is O'Neill."
"Sir? What can I do for you, sir? Oh my god, is Elizabeth alright?" he asked realizing that he might call because of that.
"She's fine, don't worry," he answered and he heard a sigh from relief coming from the other side. "I'm calling you about your resignation."
"I take it Elizabeth told you everything."
"Yes, but we still can't accept it."
"Sir…"
"Let me talk, Sheppard. I just came out from a meeting with the President himself, calling him on one of the favours I estimated he owed me. It wasn't that easy but I managed to convince him that Atlantis needed you. Don't worry, we're on a secure line," he said after hearing a sharp intake of breath. "Anyway, I said that I convinced him but that wasn't the harder part. No, the harder one was to convince the IOA to let you take your daughter with you. Thankfully, I used your reports about those Athosians who live on the mainland and for a time in the city."
"Sir…?" John said, not quite sure about what was decided.
"You can have your daughter with you on Atlantis. Sheppard, if you weren't an irreplaceable member of this expedition and that mainly due to your gene, I wouldn't have done that."
"I'm not irreplaceable, sir."
"Maybe not in everyone's eyes but for some you are. I know I didn't have this opinion when we first met but the situation is different now. What you live back there, it's even more impressive than what we know here. There's also the fact that your gene is really strong, and for the moment we have no one like you, even though Major Lorne's is pretty strong too. And you have a motto I believe in too, we never leave anyone behind. But more than what I already said, you're irreplaceable for your friends and Elizabeth, never doubt that."
"Thank you, sir."
"Bah, it's nothing. But don't tell anyone I said that, I'll deny everything, I have a reputation after all."
"I promise, sir," John said, chuckling.
"And quit the sir, please. I'm not your superior, well not really, so it's Jack. By the way, you're in Atlanta, right?"
"Yes, s… Jack."
"Okay, I have a friend there who owns a jet and I think he could give you a lift to Colorado tonight, if you want."
"Tonight, sir? I'm not…"
"Go, John," Dinah interrupted him, putting a hand on his arm. She might have only heard all of the conversation, but she knew what it was about.
"Abby's sleeping! And I thought you'd want some time with her before…"
"You can wake her up and if you let me drive you to the airport, I'll have some time with her. After all, it's not as if I won't see you anymore."
"Ok, then. Jack, you can tell your friend that we'll leave tonight."
"Great. How much time do you need?"
"Two hours. I need to pack our things and we'll go to the airport."
"Ok, I'll tell him. Oh and Elizabeth doesn't know about this, I'm sure you'll want to surprise her. I'm going to call the SGC and tell the airman on duty to give you a key to her room. Have a good trip, John."
"Thank you, Jack, thank you for everything."
Both men hung up and John turned back towards Dinah.
"Don't worry, John. I'll be fine. Since Clare's death, I was prepared for the idea that one day, you were going to come and take her away. And like I said, you'll come back from time to time."
"Yeah. But not as much as you'd like us too."
"I know. Now, go pack your things, I'm going to wake her up and pack most of hers."
"Thanks, Dinah."
John hugged her before climbing the stairs and going into his room. Packing up his belongings took only ten minutes and once it was done, he just sat on the bed, thinking about what was going to happen. He was going back to Atlantis and Abby was coming with him. He knew it could be dangerous for her, he had told Dinah that earlier, but still he was happy; she's going to find out about the great mysteries of the city he cherished so much.
Coming in her bedroom, he saw Abby sitting on the bed, half-awake and still in her pyjamas and Dinah packing her clothes.
"Already done?"
"Yeah. Don't pack everything. We'll go shopping before leaving anyway, and I'm sure she won't be against new toys and clothes."
"You're probably right. Could you dress her?"
"Nah, she's going to fall asleep in the plane and I don't want to wake her up to put her in her pyjamas again later. She just needs to put on her robe, it'll be ok."
"Then, I think we're done. I also put her favourite toys and books in the bags."
"Ok. Take Abby, I'll take the bags."
"Come on missy, we're leaving," Dinah said, taking Abby in her arms.
In the car, John explained everything to his now fully awake daughter and she seemed to accept it pretty well. But, once on the tarmac, she didn't want to leave Dinah behind.
"It's ok, Abby. We're going to see each other again. It won't be forever, I promise. And you're going to be with Daddy and Elizabeth. Everything's going to be ok."
"Why don't you come with us?" she asked in between sobs.
"I can't. But I'm going to write you letters and you'll ask Daddy or Elizabeth to help you write one for me, ok?"
"Ok…"
"It's time, the plane's waiting for you. I love you, Abby," she said, hugging her tightly.
"I love you too."
"Take care you two," Dinah then said to John, hugging him too.
"I promise."
With a final goodbye, John and Abby got on the plane which would bring them to Colorado Springs Airport.
End of Flashback
"And here we are. I'm sorry for having woken you up," he said before kissing her.
"It's okay. I would have been angry at you if you waited to see me in the morning," she replied still kissing him. "By the way, where's Abby?"
"Here, on the chair."
"What?" she nearly cried out, but kept her voice low when she saw the little girl sleeping, curled up on the chair. "John, stop," she hissed as he was trailing kisses along her jaw before sucking at her pulse point. "John!"
"It's okay, I know that we can't take it too far. I saw you had the authorization to bring Sedge," he said to change the subject.
"Yeah. And how come she didn't react when you entered?"
"She knows me and my smell. And I might have bribed her…"
"She would have been a great guard dog, huh?" she said, rising slightly to see her dog who even lying down seemed to keep her head low.
"Leave her alone," he whispered, kissing his way down her throat, making her moan.
"Daddy?" a sleepy voice raised and Elizabeth pushed John off of her.
"I'm here sweetie. Come here, Elizabeth's here too."
Abby stood up from the chair and climbed on the bed, crawling towards the head, her eyes still half-closed. She sat between the two adults, snuggling closer to her father.
"Do you remember what I told you on our way to the airport?"
"That we're going to a new place? It's here?"
"No. We'll be leaving in a few days. I'm sure you're going to love it there."
"Why Dinah couldn't come with us?"
"Because she's not allowed to. You weren't too but one of our friends was very generous and offered to let me take you with me."
"And there won't be only the three of us," Elizabeth said, drawing Abby's attention towards her. "Sedge, come here."
Seeing the dog climb on the bed, Abby's eyes lit up.
"Her name's Sedge. She's my dog; well I guess she's our dog now. She seems to like you," she added when Abby started to stroke her.
"Mommy and Dinah didn't want a dog," she said in a sad voice.
"You have one, now," replied John kissing her head while she yawned. "We'd better sleep. It's still too early to get up."
At her owner's order, Sedge took back her place on the floor. John stripped down to his undershirt and boxers while Elizabeth helped Abby out of her robe. They lay down in the bed, Abby between them.
The next morning, Elizabeth woke up with a body curled up against her back and an arm around her stomach. Her eyes still closed, she smiled, remembering what happened sometime during the night but suddenly frowned, knowing something, or rather someone, was missing. Opening her eyes and raising her head slightly, she saw Abby sitting next to Sedge, stroking her. Careful of not waking John up, she slid out of his embrace and got up, joining her on the floor.
"How long have you been up?" she asked quietly, putting a hand in Abby's hair.
"I don't know," she answered, shrugging.
"I have to take Sedge to the surface for a walk. Do you want to come with me?"
"And daddy?"
"Let him sleep for a while more. So what do you want to wear, today?"
Twenty minutes later, the three of them where in the forest on the surface of the base, Abby holding Elizabeth's hand and Sedge trailing ahead of them. Suddenly, the little girl stopped, making Elizabeth call back her dog and kneel in front of her.
"What is it, Abby?"
"Do you love Daddy?" she asked, surprising the older woman.
"Yes, I love him. And I already love you too Abby, even though I've only known you for a few days. And even if your father loves me, he doesn't love you any less" she added, knowing what she was thinking. "You're his daughter. You're afraid he doesn't love you anymore even though he tells you the contrary?"
"Yeah…," she answered so quietly that Elizabeth had to strain her ears to hear her. "You and Daddy are going to have a baby?"
"What makes you think that?" Elizabeth asked, surprised since she hadn't even talked about it with John yet.
"Mommy told me that when two people love each other, they make babies."
"Yeah, it's true but Daddy and I aren't going to have a baby, not yet."
"Ok…"
Elizabeth could tell that she wasn't convinced by what she told her and kept in mind to ask John to talk to Abby about that. In her opinion, Abby asking questions about herself and her father was normal; she would have been worried if she just accepted the new presence in her life. Wanting to cheer the little girl up, she started to think about how she could do it. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.
"Hey, Abby do you like fairs?"
"Yeah," she answered, lifting her head up to look at Elizabeth.
"I heard there's one in town. Why don't we go wake your dad up so we can go there?"
Abby nodded in excitement, clearly enjoying the ideas.
"Ok then! Sedge, I hope you're done," she called, standing up.
They started walking back towards the entrance of the base, Abby now sporting a bright smile and nearly bouncing, which made the airmen at the gate smile. Back in their quarters, as soon as Elizabeth opened the door, Abby entered and jumped on the bed, thus awaking her father who was still sleeping mere seconds before.
"Hey, sweetie, calm down," he said his voice still rough from the sleep. "What's up?" he asked as Elizabeth sat on the bed and leaned to kiss him.
"We're going to the fair!!" Abby said ecstatic.
"Really?" he said and Elizabeth could see that his eyes had lit up just from hearing the word; her boyfriend was a real child when it came to that.
"Yeah," she answered. "I heard that there's one just outside Colorado Springs so, I thought we could go there today. Unless you had something already planned…?"
"Not really. I thought we could go shopping but I guess we could do that tomorrow. What time is it?"
"A little after 9am."
"Have you two already had breakfast?"
"No. We just went to the surface to take Sedge for a walk."
"Great. We'll eat something there, then. Give me ten minutes to get ready and I'm all yours," he said, finally getting up.
"Ok. Abby and I are going to ask Rodney if he could take Sedge for the day and this way, she's going to meet him too. Join us at the labs?"
"I will. But do you think labs, and especially Rodney's, are safe for Abby?"
"We're just going to be there for a few minutes. What could happen in such a short time?"
"A lot of things and you know it."
"Go get ready, John or else it will be already too crowded when we get there."
"Yes Ma'am!"
Elizabeth chuckled at him standing to attention in only his undershirt and boxers. He kissed them both, Elizabeth on the lips and Abby on the nose, and disappeared into the little en-suite bathroom.
"Come on, Abby, let's go see Rodney. Sedge," she called the dog as she opened the door and the three of them left for the labs.
Walking down the corridors towards the scientist's den, Elizabeth was glad to see that Abby's attitude towards her seemed to change, even though she knew it was only the beginning of a long road.
"Rodney," she said, coming into the lab followed by the little girl and Sedge.
"Hey, Elizabeth. What do you want? And who's this?" he asked, noticing Abby.
"Could you keep Sedge for the day?" she replied, ignoring his second question for the moment.
"Why me?" he whined.
"Rodney…"
"You know I'm a cat-person, not a dog one. Why don't you ask Doctor Jackson or Colonel Carter?"
"Because they have to work."
"Oh, and me? What? You think I'm just playing around?"
"No, but you have no schedule which means it would be easier for you to take her to the surface whenever she needs it."
"Because I also have to take her to relieve herself?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes, unless you want her to soil the labs?"
"Ok, ok, I'll keep her. By the way, you haven't answered me; who is this little girl? Does she even have the permission to be here?"
"Yes she does, and she's my daughter," John said from the doorway.
"Sheppard? But… but… I thought you weren't coming back with us."
"I thought so too, but President Hayes and General O'Neill gave me permission to take her with me. Well, to be more precise, they convinced the IOA to give me that permission."
"Wow, that's cool, I guess."
"Yes it is," Elizabeth replied. "Rodney, this is Abby, Abby this is Rodney, a very good friend of ours."
"Hi, Abby. It's nice to meet you. So, you're going back with…," he stopped when she hid behind her father. "Why does she do that?" he asked, kind of surprised. "Is she afraid?"
"No, she's not afraid of you, she's just terribly shy. It's going to be better in a few days. So, is he going to keep Sedge?"
"Yeah. If you're ready, we can go."
"Ok then, come on girls. See you later, Rodney. And don't destroy the mountain."
"Very funny, Sheppard," the scientist said, clearly not amused. "Where are you going?"
"The fair just outside the Springs."
"Have fun, then, while I will be working."
Elizabeth and John said their goodbye and the three left Rodney alone to work. On the surface, they borrowed a car from the base and set off towards the fair, an excited Abby on the backseat.
Once there, despite John's puppy dog eyes, they bought something healthy to eat for breakfast, Elizabeth promising they could have some sweets later. They began their day at the park by some quiet amusements. John won a teddy bear for Abby and a stuffed dog, strangely looking like Sedge, for Elizabeth. Sometime later, they went on a merry-go-round, John and Abby on the same wooden horse and Elizabeth on another just beside them. After lunch, as promised, Elizabeth bought some cotton candy and they sat on a bench, both watching Abby stuffing as much as she could in her mouth.
Walking towards another attraction, Elizabeth stopped, making her companion turn around.
"Liz?"
"Maybe you should have some time together. I'm sure Abby would love to do some of the attractions with her father alone."
"Nope, we came here together, so we'll stay together, all the time. Come on, I saw a photographer this way earlier."
Intertwining their fingers, he dragged them towards the direction he pointed out. Abby was a little disappointed by her father's words; when she heard Elizabeth talking about leaving the two of them alone for a moment, she was really excited, but then he said that they'd stay together.
"Okay, I'm going to see when he could take us, stay here you two," John said and Elizabeth nodded, grabbing Abby's hand.
"Are you having fun, Abby?" she asked but the little girl stayed silent. "Abby… look at me please," she said, crouching before her. "I know you really wanted to spend sometime alone with your dad. I'm going to ask him again, ok?"
"Ok," she replied in a little voice.
"He's waiting for us… Everything okay?" John asked as he came back and Elizabeth stood up before replying to him.
"Yeah, no problem. We were just talking."
"Then, let's go," he concluded, leading them towards the photographer's stall.
After getting them settled, the three of them sitting on a bench with Abby between them, he took the photo and asked them to come in an hour to pick it up. While Abby was on a carousel by herself, Elizabeth decided to talk with John.
"I was serious earlier, when I said you and Abby should spend some time alone."
"Elizabeth…"
"No, listen to me. I'm sure she's thinking that I'm trying to keep you away from her."
"Why would she think that? There was never a problem with Clare or Dinah."
"Because Clare was her mom, and you weren't sharing the same type of relationship with them that you are with me. She's afraid that things would be different with me in your lives."
"Well, she did ask me yesterday when I put her to bed why I was never with her mom like I am with you. She was confused but I didn't think it could be a real problem."
"Believe me, John it is. You know what, as soon as she gets off the carousel, I'm going to give you two an hour alone."
"And what will you do during this time?"
"Don't worry, I'll find something to entertain myself. Here's Abby," she said, spotting the girl running towards them. "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah!"
"Great. I'm going to leave you two for a moment. Keep an eye on your father, will you?"
"Ok," she answered, giggling.
"I see you trust me…"
"John…," she sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Ok, let's say we meet up here in an hour."
"Perfect," he said, kissing her on the lips.
Elizabeth winked at Abby before the two of them turned around, and left her alone. She didn't really know what she could do for a whole hour, but guessed that she could always do some attractions by herself, especially the scarier ones that they wouldn't do with Abby. She hoped that spending some time together would help Abby to feel that her father's feelings towards her hadn't changed.
Despite what she thought, she spent the hour walking throughout the fair, not once stopping. She had mentally noted which attractions the three of them could do before they had to leave. She soon found herself back at the meeting point, a good ten minutes before the hour was up. Lost in her thoughts, she turned around to see if she could catch sight of them, and bumped into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I…," she stopped, realizing who it was.
"Elizabeth…"
"Simon," she replied, regaining her composure.
"I thought you'd already left."
"No, I still have a few days. You're here by yourself?"
"Yeah… You?"
"No. Actually, I'm with John, my…," she hesitated, not knowing how to put it.
"Boyfriend," he finished for her.
"Yeah… Why is it so awkward?" she asked, voicing both of their thoughts. "I mean… We were together for a few years, we even lived together, so why are we acting like this?"
"I don't know. Maybe, it's because our separation didn't go exactly well."
"That you can say," Elizabeth let out in a breath.
"Look, I know I've hurt you, Elizabeth, and I'm sorry, really sorry. I've never ever wanted to hurt you."
"Maybe you should have told me the truth when I first came back, then," she said, harshly, her eyes burning with fire. "I've never asked you this, but why did you wait until the last minute to tell me that not only you wouldn't come with me, but that you had met someone else too? Why, Simon?" she asked again when he didn't answer immediately, though keeping her voice as low as possible to not attract unwanted attention.
"I don't know. First, I received that video, where you told me to move on. Then, you came back into my life when I least expected you. I was lost, I think."
"It's my fault then."
"No, I haven't meant it like that. I…"
"Elizabeth," a male voice coming interrupted him.
A man holding a child's hand came beside her, and put his free arm around her waist. She turned slightly towards him and kissed his cheek before smiling at the little girl. Simon observed them; it was as if they were the perfect little family. He couldn't remember having seen Elizabeth this happy in years.
"John, Abby, this is Simon Wallace," she said and he saw in John's eyes that he knew about him already. "Simon, this is John Sheppard and his daughter, Abby."
"Pleased to meet you," Simon said shaking the other man's hand who in answer just nodded.
"I've literally bumped into him a few minutes ago. Did you have fun you two?"
"Yeah!" Abby exclaimed. "We went to the horror train, it was funny!"
"Really?" she said surprised, looking towards John and crossing her arms.
"What can I say? She's my daughter!"
"That she is, without a doubt."
Watching them, smiling and laughing, Simon felt like an intruder; he didn't have a place in Elizabeth's life anymore.
"Well, I gotta go."
"It was nice to see you, Simon."
"Likewise," he replied, nodding towards John. "Oh, while I think about it, your mom called yesterday; she wanted to know if I had heard from you."
"Yeah, I promised her I'd phone her next time I was back, and I completely forgot. What did you say?"
"That you came to take Sedge, and that I thought you were already gone."
"I'd better call her or she'll give me an earful next time," she said, cringing at this thought.
"Yeah… Well, goodbye."
"Bye, Simon."
With one last smile towards Elizabeth, he turned around and walked away from them. Leaning slightly against John, she watched him go.
"He still loves you."
"What makes you think that?"
"The way he looked at you."
"Well, maybe he still loves me, but I don't anymore," she said, smiling at him and kissing him lightly on the lips. "I don't want to call my mother," she then groaned, hiding her head in John's neck.
"Why?"
"Let's see, first, she'll yell at me because I didn't call her sooner, well maybe not yell but it won't be too far from that, then, she'll ask me once more why Simon and I broke up, she really likes him," she added at John's raised eyebrow, "and I'll end up telling her about you and Abby."
"And you don't want to talk about us?"
"No, it's not that. It's just that she'll want me to explain everything and…," she stopped not knowing how to say the next part.
"And?" he urged her.
"You're Air Force and well, my parents are anti-military. They already don't understand why I'm working with them so…"
"That might be a problem. But let's not think about that for the moment. We still have some time left before going back to the SGC."
"Ok, Abby, what do you want to do, then?" she asked the child, who gave her a shrug in response. "John?"
"Ferris Wheel!"
"I should have guessed. Abby's not afraid of heights?"
"Oh come on, Liz, she's my daughter, you should know better than this!"
"Right… Lead the way then. But I think they have a height restriction."
"She'll pass."
Still holding Abby's hand with his other arm draped around Elizabeth's waist, John dragged them towards the Ferris Wheel. They could see it dominate the rest of the attractions. There wasn't a lot of people before them in the queue and to John's delight, Abby was just a few inches taller that the minimum height. The three took place, with Abby between the two adults and they began their slow ascension. Abby watched with big eyes as they were nearing the top. The sight was awesome; they were above everything and they could see the whole park below them.
It was over way too soon for Abby's liking, and despite the puppy-dog eyes she'd inherited from her father, they decided it was time to go back to the SGC. Before leaving the park, they made a last stop at the photographer's to grab their photo.
Once in the car, John put the key in the ignition but instead of turning on the engine, he turned towards Elizabeth.
"Ok, what do you think we grab a bite to eat in town instead of eating at the mess?"
"Well, under other circumstances I'd have said yes but look at Abby," she said pointing to the little girl whose eyes were half-closed. "She's exhausted so why don't we postpone this idea till tomorrow night? Plus, we need to relieve Rodney of Sedge."
"It could be the other way around, actually. Then, tomorrow night, it's settled. Let's go back to the SGC."
John started the car and drove them back to Cheyenne Mountain. Once there, John had to carry Abby in his arms since she fell asleep in the car.
"She's exhausted," Elizabeth whispered when they were in the elevator.
"Yeah, but we have to wake her up; she needs to eat something," he whispered back as Abby stirred in his arms and opened her eyes slightly. "Hey, baby."
"I'm hungry, daddy," she said, snuggling closer in his arms.
"I know. We're just going to Rodney's lab for Sedge and then we're going to eat something, okay?" he said, and Abby just mumbled in response.
When they arrived in front of the lab, they saw Rodney with his back to them, and he seemed to be concentrating really hard on his work. Sedge's head shot up the moment she sensed them and she trotted towards them. The scientist still hadn't noticed them, probably too engrossed into his work, and Elizabeth saw an evil smile make its way onto John's lips; he was obviously up to something. Leaving Abby in Elizabeth's arms, he walked towards their friend and looked over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" he asked and smiled broadly when Rodney jumped out of his chair.
"Sheppard! Oh god, I think I'm having a heart attack! Where's Carson? Don't ever do that again, Colonel!"
"You're rambling, McKay…"
"Calm down, Rodney," Elizabeth said with her quiet voice, while John was still sporting a smug smile.
"Ok, but I still need to see Carson. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a second."
"And I'm sure you're fine. And I'll remind you that Carson is still in Scotland with Laura. They'll be back tomorrow afternoon."
"Oh, right, I forgot. Why did they have to go there in the first place?" he mumbled, but the couple could still hear it. "So, how was your day? Mine was pretty interesting actually," he continued without letting them answer his question. "You see, I've discovered that…"
"Can we talk about it later, Rodney?" Elizabeth asked, putting Abby down.
"Yeah, sure," he said turning back towards the bench in time to see Abby perched on the chair, picking up something. "No, don't touch that, it's…," he stopped as he heard a faint beep. "She has the gene…"
"That's my girl," John said, taking her into his arms before removing the life sign detector from her hands. "How come you have that here?"
"Well, I wanted to show it to Colonel Carter when she came this afternoon. And when she took it in her hands, it worked!"
"But, she doesn't have the gene…" Elizabeth remembered.
"No, but the baby she's carrying has it."
"You mean that during a pregnancy, if the baby has the gene, it can be transmitted to the mother," John understood.
"Not really. The baby has the gene, not the mother, but during the pregnancy, she has this ability to control Ancient technology. Now, about Abby, when we're back on Atlantis, I'd want to run some tests to know if her gene is as strong as yours..."
"No way," John interrupted him. "She's too young for that; she won't become your guinea pig."
"Oh come on, I was just thinking of sitting her on the chair. Elizabeth, help me!"
"I have to side with John on this one. You won't test her. Maybe in a few years, she'll be happy to help you, but definitely not now."
Rodney started muttering something under his breath, but neither Elizabeth nor John wanted to know what it was, if only for his own sake. Saying their goodbyes to him, they left the lab with Sedge and headed towards the mess.
"I did something wrong?" Abby asked, still in her father's arms, wondering why they made so much fuss when she picked up the strange object.
"No, sweetie. Rodney just doesn't understand that you're too young to help him." Just as he stopped speaking, a stomach grunted, making him turn towards the sound. "You hungry?"
"Yeah," Elizabeth admitted, narrowing her eyes at John and Abby when they started giggling. "Hey, that's not fair, you two!"
They were still laughing over Elizabeth's stomach when they entered the mess. John put Abby down and told her to sit at a table under Sedge's surveillance, while he and Elizabeth took care of the food. When they arrived at the table, they saw Daniel, with his own tray in front of him, trying to talk to Abby. So far, she hadn't answered him, barely acknowledging him by looking at him.
"She's not very talkative," he said to the couple when they joined them.
"She doesn't know you, Daniel," Elizabeth just stated, placing a plate of food in front of the young girl. "So will you come back with us this time?"
"You're kidding, right? I'd love to, but you know Jack..."
"He still doesn't want you to come? Even with the ZPMs?" she asked surprised.
"No. But one day, I'll find a way. I may have to wait till he finally retires, but I'll go to Atlantis indefinitely. Wait… Even if he retired, he'd try to prevent me from going there."
"Do you want me to talk to him?"
"I don't think you'd convince him."
"Hey, she's a diplomat, she can convince a monkey to give up bananas!"
"It's Jack we're talking about…"
"Yeah… Maybe you're right then."
"I can't believe that your daughter who's only five will get to live in the City while I'm stuck here."
John looked sideways at Elizabeth with a smile on his lips; she just shrugged at him, probably more used to the other man's reaction than he was. The rest of the dinner was spent between Daniel's questions about Atlantis and John and Elizabeth's answers. Abby just sat there, looking at the adults while chewing on her food; she knew that if she didn't finish her plate, she wouldn't have any dessert, and since she spotted chocolate cake earlier, she certainly wouldn't let it pass.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Daniel suddenly remembered as he was leaving them. "General Landry said that the room next to yours is free at the moment, Abby could sleep there if you want."
"Thank you," John answered.
They were bidding their goodnight when a woman entered the mess.
"Oh no…," Daniel sighed and he quickly left, the mysterious woman following him.
"Daniel, wait!"
"Who is she?"
"Vala Mal Doran. You've probably heard about her."
"Yeah I remember now," John said just as Elizabeth noticed Abby trying to stifle a yawn.
"I think it's time to go to bed, young lady," she said, standing up and taking her in her arms.
"I'll carry her," John offered.
Instead of replying to him, she gave him a pointed look. He knew that she wanted her to get used to her presence in her life, and that meant taking care of his daughter. Once they arrived in front of their quarters, John didn't open the door immediately. Instead, he just stood there, looking at them while Elizabeth was trying to figure out what was going on in his mind.
"Hey, Abby," he whispered at her, her head on Elizabeth's shoulder, "what do you think of having a big room and a bed all for yourself? It's just the door next to ours and the doors won't be locked. It'd be better than being all squeezed up in the same bed."
"You'll be there?" she asked.
"Elizabeth and I will be here," he said pointing to the door in front of them before pointing to the next one, "and you'll be there. Like I said, you could come anytime if there's a problem."
"Okay…," she agreed before closing her eyes.
"John, you sure…?" Elizabeth asked as they were making their way into the other room. "She doesn't know this place, she could be afraid."
"And she'll come to us if she is," he assured her as he was changing Abby into her pyjamas.
He tucked her in before kissing her forehead and her nose.
"Are you still awake, Abby?" Elizabeth whispered after having kissed her goodnight herself, and Abby just nodded and opened her eyes slightly in response. "You know what? Sedge is going to stay with you tonight, ok?"
"Yeah…" the little girl replied before closing her eyes for the night.
Elizabeth and John left the room, closing the door quietly behind them, before entering their quarters. Once there, they changed into their nightclothes, both a little tired from the day.
"We'll have to move into family quarters once back home," Elizabeth said, climbing into bed. "Your quarters are big enough for both of us, but not for the three of us."
"I'm glad we've found them, you know. I'm thinking of one on the South Pier, not too far away from the rest of the living area though."
"That's a good idea."
"I always have good ideas. Now, I can picture them; a pretty big area for the living-room, a master bedroom for us, and two other smaller, but not too small, bedrooms."
"Two more bedrooms? I think Abby will just need one."
"I know. But we still can have another one…," he paused for a second, unsure of what would be her reaction, "if we decide to extend our family."
"You want us… to have a baby?" Elizabeth asked in a whisper, stunned by what he said.
"Yes. Maybe not right now, but I love you and I definitely want to have children with you. Do you?" he asked, licking his lips.
She knew that he always did that when he was nervous and, instead of answering him verbally, she gave him a chaste kiss.
"So… I take it that's a yes," John said, to which Elizabeth nodded in response. "Great."
"But like you said, we'll have to wait. We need to get settled first, especially Abby. She left the only home she knew and she's going to an entire different world. She'll need some time to adapt herself to the situation. You know what's strange?"
"No, but I think you're going to tell me," he answered with a smug smile.
"Smartass," she replied, giggling. "Well, this very morning, Abby asked me if we were going to have a baby."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and I said no but when she asked, I didn't know how to answer her. I mean, we hadn't even discussed it yet, so it was… strange."
"Do you think she'll like to have a little brother or sister?"
"I don't know. She's your daughter, you tell me."
"We never talked about it since neither her mother nor I were in serious relationships before."
"Then, when we think it'll be the right moment, we'll talk to her."
"Ok."
"While I think about it, you said you wanted to go shopping?"
"Yeah. I've packed some of Abby's things but I've left most of them at Dinah's."
"Then we'll go shopping tomorrow afternoon. And we have one last briefing before going back to Atlantis, the day after tomorrow."
"You don't have to work?"
"No. I finished reviewing the new members' files yesterday, everything else's okay. I need to call my parents tomorrow," she sighed.
"It'll go well. Think about it, it's only a phone call, you're not going to see them."
"Yeah, but next time, we'll have to. They'll want to meet you and Abby."
"We'll think about it when the time will come, okay?"
John knew that he couldn't erase her doubts about the next day's phone call. Instead, he edged closer to her and started to kiss her temple, then her cheek and her jaw, before crushing his mouth to hers. Elizabeth complied when his tongue asked for entrance, and she opened her mouth. Still kissing her, John pushed her gently down on the bed, letting his hands roam over her body, while hers was in his hair, pulling him even closer. She spread her legs apart and he settled between them. Breaking the kiss, his lips trailed down her throat before moving up. He stopped to bite slightly at her pulse point and then took her earlobe between his teeth, tugging at it gently. Elizabeth was already breathing raggedly but she knew that it was only the beginning. One of his hands was now under her top, on her stomach, slowly moving towards her breasts, while the other started to slide it up. Just as his hands was stroking the underside of her breasts, a knock at the door made them jump apart. Elizabeth just had the time to pull her top back down before the door slid open, revealing Abby, Sedge in tow.
"Hey, sweetie," John said, a little out of breath, motioning for her to join them on the bed. "What happened?"
"I had a nightmare," she just said, snuggling into her father's embrace.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked and she shook her head vehemently. "Okay… Do you want to stay and sleep with us, then?"
Abby nodded and he laid her down between him and Elizabeth before doing the same. She fell asleep quickly, feeling safe with her father.
"I'm sorry," he said to a still slightly flushed Elizabeth, taking her left hand in his right.
"It's okay. I was pretty sure something like that would have happened. But I just hoped it would happen later."
"I'll make it up to you."
"You better! And we better sleep; we have a long day tomorrow too."
"Yeah. Goodnight."
"'Night."
John was fast asleep too and Elizabeth couldn't help but think: like father, like daughter. She knew he was exhausted from their day at the park, but also from his few hours of sleep the night before. Looking down at Abby, she sighed; now that she was in their lives, they could be interrupted more often than before. Though, looking at her sleeping face, she couldn't bring herself to blame her; they just needed to get used to each other. The first few weeks would be difficult, that was for sure, but they'd manage, Elizabeth was sure of that.
To be continued...
A few days later, Elizabeth was found in the office the SGC provided her during her stay on Earth. She was trying to work on the new members' files but she couldn't. She could still remember the face Landry had made when she told him that John wouldn't come back with them. He had immediately called O'Neill and she had had to explain his reasons to both of them, which they had, of course, perfectly understood. Two days later, they had indeed received a letter from John where he resigned his commission. Now, they needed to decide who was going to replace him. Caldwell's name had of course come up first but, when asked through a gate communication to Atlantis, he declined the offer, to Elizabeth's surprise; she suspected that the scientists were driving him crazy. Despite Landry and O'Neill's requests, she hadn't wanted to take part in the selection of the new military leader, despite the fact that she would be working in close quarters with them.
Looking up from the file she was reviewing, she smiled at the sight before her; Sedge was lying peacefully in a corner of the office. She managed to convince both of the generals, the president and the IOA to let her take her dog to Atlantis. She hadn't wanted to back down on this point and she had won in the end. Facing Simon when she had to go to get her back had been less difficult than she had thought, at least for her. She had noticed some pain in his eyes when she said goodbye, probably for the final time, but she couldn't help but think that after all he was the one who left her in the first place.
Thinking about Simon made her think about these last five months with John and how she had lost him now, somehow. She knew that she hadn't really lost John; they were still together, they just wouldn't be together everyday anymore. Despite herself, a tear made its way down her cheek and she wiped at it, shaking her head to try and clear her mind from those thoughts. Feeling that her owner was sad, Sedge got up and went to her, putting her head on her lap. Looking down, Elizabeth smiled at her and patted her head.
"I'm ok, Sedge, don't worry. You'll see, Atlantis is a wonderful place and one day, I'll take you to the mainland. There are children there and they'll be happy to see you."
A knock on the door of her office prevented her from continuing.
"Come in."
"Am I interrupting you?" Sam asked, opening the door.
"No, not at all. Please, take a seat. Can I do something for you, Colonel?"
"It's Sam, please," she replied and Elizabeth nodded in response. "I just came to see how you were. Daniel told me about John staying on Earth…"
"I'm fine," Elizabeth answered with a small smile. "Well, as fine as I can be given the circumstances."
"But you're still together, right?"
"Yeah. It will be a very long distance relationship but it'll work, it has to."
"Well, long distance relationships work; you'll just beat a record."
"That we'll do!" Elizabeth chuckled slightly before sobering up. "And unlike others, we couldn't see each other every week or at least once a month, nor could we talk on the phone."
"I heard he stayed because he has a daughter…," Sam said, not really sure if she could ask this.
"Yeah. Her name's Abby, she's five years old. She looks so much like him and from what I heard, she could cause as much trouble as him," she let out a giggle at the last part.
Sam just nodded, not really knowing what to say. Both women smiled at each other; they were still a little awkward around each other. The first time they met, Elizabeth was replacing General Hammond and it wasn't an easy thing to do. But since Elizabeth left for Atlantis, every time they saw each other, they tried to improve whatever they had between them.
"Well, I'd better go," Sam said, standing up. "McKay wants me to go over some of his reports about Ancient technologies you found in Pegasus."
"I'm sure you'll find that fascinating. And Sam," she called as the other woman was opening the door, "congratulations."
"Thanks," she replied with a smile, putting a hand on her stomach as she left Elizabeth's office.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth immersed herself in the files again, wanting to know at least everyone by their name by the time they were going back to Atlantis.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Dinah was worried about John; she never saw him like this. When he wasn't with Abby, he seemed to be distant from everything and sometimes, he acted this way within his daughter's presence. She knew that Elizabeth's leaving affected him more than he admitted and deep down, she wondered why he stayed. She knew he loved Abby, but obviously, Elizabeth held a great part of his heart too. Seeing him now, sitting in a chair in the garden, looking at his daughter but not really seeing her, she decided it was time to talk to him. She sat in the chair beside him and waited for him to acknowledge her for a few minutes.
"Why are you here?" she finally asked, growing impatient.
"What?" he replied, surprised by her presence.
"I asked you why you are here," she repeated.
"I'm watching Abby play, why?"
"Not here, here. I want to know why you're here since you obviously want to be somewhere else… With Elizabeth," she added as an afterthought.
"What makes you think that?"
"Your attitude. You stayed here because of Abby…"
"Because I wanted to," he interrupted her. "She's my daughter; I have to be there for her."
"You feel obliged to stay here for Abby. John, I'm not saying you don't love her, I know you do, but you also love Elizabeth as much as you love Abby. You need her, you need both of them. I never saw you as happy as you were when Elizabeth was there. Why don't you and Abby join her?"
"I can't. It's not a place for children. And even if I wanted to go back there with Abby, my superiors wouldn't let me."
"You didn't ask them, how can you be so sure?"
"Believe me, I know."
"So what? You're going to stay where you're not happy instead of doing everything you can to join the woman you love, to have a real family life? I'm disappointed in you, John" she finished, standing up and going back inside.
"So am I, so am I…" he whispered, looking towards the sky.
He sat there till nightfall when Dinah asked him and Abby to come back inside. During dinner, he stayed silent aside from when Abby talked to him. The little girl realized that her father wasn't really there with her but, contrary to her godmother she didn't know why. Like every other girl of her age, she was just glad to have her dad at home.
John kept pondering what Dinah told him earlier and even though he knew she was right, he also knew he couldn't do anything.
"John, there's a call for you," Dinah called as he was tucking Abby in.
"I'm coming! Sleep tight, sweetie," he whispered, kissing her lightly on the nose.
"Daddy? Did you love Mommy?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Because you never kissed her like the other woman."
"We loved each other in a way, but it's true I've never loved her like I love Elizabeth. But even if we didn't love each other, we didn't love you any less. You know I love you, huh?" he asked, tickling her
"Stop it Daddy!" Abby said, laughing through John's ministrations. "I love you," she finally said between two breaths.
"John! They're still waiting!" Dinah called once again from downstairs.
"Coming! I have to go and you have to sleep," he said, kissing her forehead one last time before standing up and leaving the room.
Back at the SGC, it was just past midnight when Elizabeth decided to call it a night after having finished reviewing the new members' files. In her quarters, while getting ready to go to bed, she realized that in three days, she would have to go back to Atlantis without John. Tears filled up her eyes but she contained them, knowing that she couldn't do anything about it. A lump in her throat, she went to bed and willed her thoughts to go away so she could sleep.
In the wee hours of the morning, she was awoken by someone's hand in her hair. For a moment, she smiled, thinking it was John, but knowing it was impossible, she opened her eyes, wondering if it was only her imagination or if someone was really in her room. Her bedside lamp was turned on though she was sure she switched it off when she went to bed, and moving her head slightly she found out whose hand it was.
"John?" she whispered, surprised by his presence.
"Yeah, it's me," he answered in the same tone, his hand stroking the side of her face.
"I'm dreaming, right?"
"No," he said, starting to kiss her softly.
"But…, how?" she asked between two kisses.
"I was putting Abby to bed when General O'Neill called me…"
Flashback:
Taking the phone from Dinah's hand, John was still wondering who could possibly be calling him at this hour.
"Hello?"
"Sheppard, this is O'Neill."
"Sir? What can I do for you, sir? Oh my god, is Elizabeth alright?" he asked realizing that he might call because of that.
"She's fine, don't worry," he answered and he heard a sigh from relief coming from the other side. "I'm calling you about your resignation."
"I take it Elizabeth told you everything."
"Yes, but we still can't accept it."
"Sir…"
"Let me talk, Sheppard. I just came out from a meeting with the President himself, calling him on one of the favours I estimated he owed me. It wasn't that easy but I managed to convince him that Atlantis needed you. Don't worry, we're on a secure line," he said after hearing a sharp intake of breath. "Anyway, I said that I convinced him but that wasn't the harder part. No, the harder one was to convince the IOA to let you take your daughter with you. Thankfully, I used your reports about those Athosians who live on the mainland and for a time in the city."
"Sir…?" John said, not quite sure about what was decided.
"You can have your daughter with you on Atlantis. Sheppard, if you weren't an irreplaceable member of this expedition and that mainly due to your gene, I wouldn't have done that."
"I'm not irreplaceable, sir."
"Maybe not in everyone's eyes but for some you are. I know I didn't have this opinion when we first met but the situation is different now. What you live back there, it's even more impressive than what we know here. There's also the fact that your gene is really strong, and for the moment we have no one like you, even though Major Lorne's is pretty strong too. And you have a motto I believe in too, we never leave anyone behind. But more than what I already said, you're irreplaceable for your friends and Elizabeth, never doubt that."
"Thank you, sir."
"Bah, it's nothing. But don't tell anyone I said that, I'll deny everything, I have a reputation after all."
"I promise, sir," John said, chuckling.
"And quit the sir, please. I'm not your superior, well not really, so it's Jack. By the way, you're in Atlanta, right?"
"Yes, s… Jack."
"Okay, I have a friend there who owns a jet and I think he could give you a lift to Colorado tonight, if you want."
"Tonight, sir? I'm not…"
"Go, John," Dinah interrupted him, putting a hand on his arm. She might have only heard all of the conversation, but she knew what it was about.
"Abby's sleeping! And I thought you'd want some time with her before…"
"You can wake her up and if you let me drive you to the airport, I'll have some time with her. After all, it's not as if I won't see you anymore."
"Ok, then. Jack, you can tell your friend that we'll leave tonight."
"Great. How much time do you need?"
"Two hours. I need to pack our things and we'll go to the airport."
"Ok, I'll tell him. Oh and Elizabeth doesn't know about this, I'm sure you'll want to surprise her. I'm going to call the SGC and tell the airman on duty to give you a key to her room. Have a good trip, John."
"Thank you, Jack, thank you for everything."
Both men hung up and John turned back towards Dinah.
"Don't worry, John. I'll be fine. Since Clare's death, I was prepared for the idea that one day, you were going to come and take her away. And like I said, you'll come back from time to time."
"Yeah. But not as much as you'd like us too."
"I know. Now, go pack your things, I'm going to wake her up and pack most of hers."
"Thanks, Dinah."
John hugged her before climbing the stairs and going into his room. Packing up his belongings took only ten minutes and once it was done, he just sat on the bed, thinking about what was going to happen. He was going back to Atlantis and Abby was coming with him. He knew it could be dangerous for her, he had told Dinah that earlier, but still he was happy; she's going to find out about the great mysteries of the city he cherished so much.
Coming in her bedroom, he saw Abby sitting on the bed, half-awake and still in her pyjamas and Dinah packing her clothes.
"Already done?"
"Yeah. Don't pack everything. We'll go shopping before leaving anyway, and I'm sure she won't be against new toys and clothes."
"You're probably right. Could you dress her?"
"Nah, she's going to fall asleep in the plane and I don't want to wake her up to put her in her pyjamas again later. She just needs to put on her robe, it'll be ok."
"Then, I think we're done. I also put her favourite toys and books in the bags."
"Ok. Take Abby, I'll take the bags."
"Come on missy, we're leaving," Dinah said, taking Abby in her arms.
In the car, John explained everything to his now fully awake daughter and she seemed to accept it pretty well. But, once on the tarmac, she didn't want to leave Dinah behind.
"It's ok, Abby. We're going to see each other again. It won't be forever, I promise. And you're going to be with Daddy and Elizabeth. Everything's going to be ok."
"Why don't you come with us?" she asked in between sobs.
"I can't. But I'm going to write you letters and you'll ask Daddy or Elizabeth to help you write one for me, ok?"
"Ok…"
"It's time, the plane's waiting for you. I love you, Abby," she said, hugging her tightly.
"I love you too."
"Take care you two," Dinah then said to John, hugging him too.
"I promise."
With a final goodbye, John and Abby got on the plane which would bring them to Colorado Springs Airport.
End of Flashback
"And here we are. I'm sorry for having woken you up," he said before kissing her.
"It's okay. I would have been angry at you if you waited to see me in the morning," she replied still kissing him. "By the way, where's Abby?"
"Here, on the chair."
"What?" she nearly cried out, but kept her voice low when she saw the little girl sleeping, curled up on the chair. "John, stop," she hissed as he was trailing kisses along her jaw before sucking at her pulse point. "John!"
"It's okay, I know that we can't take it too far. I saw you had the authorization to bring Sedge," he said to change the subject.
"Yeah. And how come she didn't react when you entered?"
"She knows me and my smell. And I might have bribed her…"
"She would have been a great guard dog, huh?" she said, rising slightly to see her dog who even lying down seemed to keep her head low.
"Leave her alone," he whispered, kissing his way down her throat, making her moan.
"Daddy?" a sleepy voice raised and Elizabeth pushed John off of her.
"I'm here sweetie. Come here, Elizabeth's here too."
Abby stood up from the chair and climbed on the bed, crawling towards the head, her eyes still half-closed. She sat between the two adults, snuggling closer to her father.
"Do you remember what I told you on our way to the airport?"
"That we're going to a new place? It's here?"
"No. We'll be leaving in a few days. I'm sure you're going to love it there."
"Why Dinah couldn't come with us?"
"Because she's not allowed to. You weren't too but one of our friends was very generous and offered to let me take you with me."
"And there won't be only the three of us," Elizabeth said, drawing Abby's attention towards her. "Sedge, come here."
Seeing the dog climb on the bed, Abby's eyes lit up.
"Her name's Sedge. She's my dog; well I guess she's our dog now. She seems to like you," she added when Abby started to stroke her.
"Mommy and Dinah didn't want a dog," she said in a sad voice.
"You have one, now," replied John kissing her head while she yawned. "We'd better sleep. It's still too early to get up."
At her owner's order, Sedge took back her place on the floor. John stripped down to his undershirt and boxers while Elizabeth helped Abby out of her robe. They lay down in the bed, Abby between them.
The next morning, Elizabeth woke up with a body curled up against her back and an arm around her stomach. Her eyes still closed, she smiled, remembering what happened sometime during the night but suddenly frowned, knowing something, or rather someone, was missing. Opening her eyes and raising her head slightly, she saw Abby sitting next to Sedge, stroking her. Careful of not waking John up, she slid out of his embrace and got up, joining her on the floor.
"How long have you been up?" she asked quietly, putting a hand in Abby's hair.
"I don't know," she answered, shrugging.
"I have to take Sedge to the surface for a walk. Do you want to come with me?"
"And daddy?"
"Let him sleep for a while more. So what do you want to wear, today?"
Twenty minutes later, the three of them where in the forest on the surface of the base, Abby holding Elizabeth's hand and Sedge trailing ahead of them. Suddenly, the little girl stopped, making Elizabeth call back her dog and kneel in front of her.
"What is it, Abby?"
"Do you love Daddy?" she asked, surprising the older woman.
"Yes, I love him. And I already love you too Abby, even though I've only known you for a few days. And even if your father loves me, he doesn't love you any less" she added, knowing what she was thinking. "You're his daughter. You're afraid he doesn't love you anymore even though he tells you the contrary?"
"Yeah…," she answered so quietly that Elizabeth had to strain her ears to hear her. "You and Daddy are going to have a baby?"
"What makes you think that?" Elizabeth asked, surprised since she hadn't even talked about it with John yet.
"Mommy told me that when two people love each other, they make babies."
"Yeah, it's true but Daddy and I aren't going to have a baby, not yet."
"Ok…"
Elizabeth could tell that she wasn't convinced by what she told her and kept in mind to ask John to talk to Abby about that. In her opinion, Abby asking questions about herself and her father was normal; she would have been worried if she just accepted the new presence in her life. Wanting to cheer the little girl up, she started to think about how she could do it. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.
"Hey, Abby do you like fairs?"
"Yeah," she answered, lifting her head up to look at Elizabeth.
"I heard there's one in town. Why don't we go wake your dad up so we can go there?"
Abby nodded in excitement, clearly enjoying the ideas.
"Ok then! Sedge, I hope you're done," she called, standing up.
They started walking back towards the entrance of the base, Abby now sporting a bright smile and nearly bouncing, which made the airmen at the gate smile. Back in their quarters, as soon as Elizabeth opened the door, Abby entered and jumped on the bed, thus awaking her father who was still sleeping mere seconds before.
"Hey, sweetie, calm down," he said his voice still rough from the sleep. "What's up?" he asked as Elizabeth sat on the bed and leaned to kiss him.
"We're going to the fair!!" Abby said ecstatic.
"Really?" he said and Elizabeth could see that his eyes had lit up just from hearing the word; her boyfriend was a real child when it came to that.
"Yeah," she answered. "I heard that there's one just outside Colorado Springs so, I thought we could go there today. Unless you had something already planned…?"
"Not really. I thought we could go shopping but I guess we could do that tomorrow. What time is it?"
"A little after 9am."
"Have you two already had breakfast?"
"No. We just went to the surface to take Sedge for a walk."
"Great. We'll eat something there, then. Give me ten minutes to get ready and I'm all yours," he said, finally getting up.
"Ok. Abby and I are going to ask Rodney if he could take Sedge for the day and this way, she's going to meet him too. Join us at the labs?"
"I will. But do you think labs, and especially Rodney's, are safe for Abby?"
"We're just going to be there for a few minutes. What could happen in such a short time?"
"A lot of things and you know it."
"Go get ready, John or else it will be already too crowded when we get there."
"Yes Ma'am!"
Elizabeth chuckled at him standing to attention in only his undershirt and boxers. He kissed them both, Elizabeth on the lips and Abby on the nose, and disappeared into the little en-suite bathroom.
"Come on, Abby, let's go see Rodney. Sedge," she called the dog as she opened the door and the three of them left for the labs.
Walking down the corridors towards the scientist's den, Elizabeth was glad to see that Abby's attitude towards her seemed to change, even though she knew it was only the beginning of a long road.
"Rodney," she said, coming into the lab followed by the little girl and Sedge.
"Hey, Elizabeth. What do you want? And who's this?" he asked, noticing Abby.
"Could you keep Sedge for the day?" she replied, ignoring his second question for the moment.
"Why me?" he whined.
"Rodney…"
"You know I'm a cat-person, not a dog one. Why don't you ask Doctor Jackson or Colonel Carter?"
"Because they have to work."
"Oh, and me? What? You think I'm just playing around?"
"No, but you have no schedule which means it would be easier for you to take her to the surface whenever she needs it."
"Because I also have to take her to relieve herself?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes, unless you want her to soil the labs?"
"Ok, ok, I'll keep her. By the way, you haven't answered me; who is this little girl? Does she even have the permission to be here?"
"Yes she does, and she's my daughter," John said from the doorway.
"Sheppard? But… but… I thought you weren't coming back with us."
"I thought so too, but President Hayes and General O'Neill gave me permission to take her with me. Well, to be more precise, they convinced the IOA to give me that permission."
"Wow, that's cool, I guess."
"Yes it is," Elizabeth replied. "Rodney, this is Abby, Abby this is Rodney, a very good friend of ours."
"Hi, Abby. It's nice to meet you. So, you're going back with…," he stopped when she hid behind her father. "Why does she do that?" he asked, kind of surprised. "Is she afraid?"
"No, she's not afraid of you, she's just terribly shy. It's going to be better in a few days. So, is he going to keep Sedge?"
"Yeah. If you're ready, we can go."
"Ok then, come on girls. See you later, Rodney. And don't destroy the mountain."
"Very funny, Sheppard," the scientist said, clearly not amused. "Where are you going?"
"The fair just outside the Springs."
"Have fun, then, while I will be working."
Elizabeth and John said their goodbye and the three left Rodney alone to work. On the surface, they borrowed a car from the base and set off towards the fair, an excited Abby on the backseat.
Once there, despite John's puppy dog eyes, they bought something healthy to eat for breakfast, Elizabeth promising they could have some sweets later. They began their day at the park by some quiet amusements. John won a teddy bear for Abby and a stuffed dog, strangely looking like Sedge, for Elizabeth. Sometime later, they went on a merry-go-round, John and Abby on the same wooden horse and Elizabeth on another just beside them. After lunch, as promised, Elizabeth bought some cotton candy and they sat on a bench, both watching Abby stuffing as much as she could in her mouth.
Walking towards another attraction, Elizabeth stopped, making her companion turn around.
"Liz?"
"Maybe you should have some time together. I'm sure Abby would love to do some of the attractions with her father alone."
"Nope, we came here together, so we'll stay together, all the time. Come on, I saw a photographer this way earlier."
Intertwining their fingers, he dragged them towards the direction he pointed out. Abby was a little disappointed by her father's words; when she heard Elizabeth talking about leaving the two of them alone for a moment, she was really excited, but then he said that they'd stay together.
"Okay, I'm going to see when he could take us, stay here you two," John said and Elizabeth nodded, grabbing Abby's hand.
"Are you having fun, Abby?" she asked but the little girl stayed silent. "Abby… look at me please," she said, crouching before her. "I know you really wanted to spend sometime alone with your dad. I'm going to ask him again, ok?"
"Ok," she replied in a little voice.
"He's waiting for us… Everything okay?" John asked as he came back and Elizabeth stood up before replying to him.
"Yeah, no problem. We were just talking."
"Then, let's go," he concluded, leading them towards the photographer's stall.
After getting them settled, the three of them sitting on a bench with Abby between them, he took the photo and asked them to come in an hour to pick it up. While Abby was on a carousel by herself, Elizabeth decided to talk with John.
"I was serious earlier, when I said you and Abby should spend some time alone."
"Elizabeth…"
"No, listen to me. I'm sure she's thinking that I'm trying to keep you away from her."
"Why would she think that? There was never a problem with Clare or Dinah."
"Because Clare was her mom, and you weren't sharing the same type of relationship with them that you are with me. She's afraid that things would be different with me in your lives."
"Well, she did ask me yesterday when I put her to bed why I was never with her mom like I am with you. She was confused but I didn't think it could be a real problem."
"Believe me, John it is. You know what, as soon as she gets off the carousel, I'm going to give you two an hour alone."
"And what will you do during this time?"
"Don't worry, I'll find something to entertain myself. Here's Abby," she said, spotting the girl running towards them. "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah!"
"Great. I'm going to leave you two for a moment. Keep an eye on your father, will you?"
"Ok," she answered, giggling.
"I see you trust me…"
"John…," she sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Ok, let's say we meet up here in an hour."
"Perfect," he said, kissing her on the lips.
Elizabeth winked at Abby before the two of them turned around, and left her alone. She didn't really know what she could do for a whole hour, but guessed that she could always do some attractions by herself, especially the scarier ones that they wouldn't do with Abby. She hoped that spending some time together would help Abby to feel that her father's feelings towards her hadn't changed.
Despite what she thought, she spent the hour walking throughout the fair, not once stopping. She had mentally noted which attractions the three of them could do before they had to leave. She soon found herself back at the meeting point, a good ten minutes before the hour was up. Lost in her thoughts, she turned around to see if she could catch sight of them, and bumped into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I…," she stopped, realizing who it was.
"Elizabeth…"
"Simon," she replied, regaining her composure.
"I thought you'd already left."
"No, I still have a few days. You're here by yourself?"
"Yeah… You?"
"No. Actually, I'm with John, my…," she hesitated, not knowing how to put it.
"Boyfriend," he finished for her.
"Yeah… Why is it so awkward?" she asked, voicing both of their thoughts. "I mean… We were together for a few years, we even lived together, so why are we acting like this?"
"I don't know. Maybe, it's because our separation didn't go exactly well."
"That you can say," Elizabeth let out in a breath.
"Look, I know I've hurt you, Elizabeth, and I'm sorry, really sorry. I've never ever wanted to hurt you."
"Maybe you should have told me the truth when I first came back, then," she said, harshly, her eyes burning with fire. "I've never asked you this, but why did you wait until the last minute to tell me that not only you wouldn't come with me, but that you had met someone else too? Why, Simon?" she asked again when he didn't answer immediately, though keeping her voice as low as possible to not attract unwanted attention.
"I don't know. First, I received that video, where you told me to move on. Then, you came back into my life when I least expected you. I was lost, I think."
"It's my fault then."
"No, I haven't meant it like that. I…"
"Elizabeth," a male voice coming interrupted him.
A man holding a child's hand came beside her, and put his free arm around her waist. She turned slightly towards him and kissed his cheek before smiling at the little girl. Simon observed them; it was as if they were the perfect little family. He couldn't remember having seen Elizabeth this happy in years.
"John, Abby, this is Simon Wallace," she said and he saw in John's eyes that he knew about him already. "Simon, this is John Sheppard and his daughter, Abby."
"Pleased to meet you," Simon said shaking the other man's hand who in answer just nodded.
"I've literally bumped into him a few minutes ago. Did you have fun you two?"
"Yeah!" Abby exclaimed. "We went to the horror train, it was funny!"
"Really?" she said surprised, looking towards John and crossing her arms.
"What can I say? She's my daughter!"
"That she is, without a doubt."
Watching them, smiling and laughing, Simon felt like an intruder; he didn't have a place in Elizabeth's life anymore.
"Well, I gotta go."
"It was nice to see you, Simon."
"Likewise," he replied, nodding towards John. "Oh, while I think about it, your mom called yesterday; she wanted to know if I had heard from you."
"Yeah, I promised her I'd phone her next time I was back, and I completely forgot. What did you say?"
"That you came to take Sedge, and that I thought you were already gone."
"I'd better call her or she'll give me an earful next time," she said, cringing at this thought.
"Yeah… Well, goodbye."
"Bye, Simon."
With one last smile towards Elizabeth, he turned around and walked away from them. Leaning slightly against John, she watched him go.
"He still loves you."
"What makes you think that?"
"The way he looked at you."
"Well, maybe he still loves me, but I don't anymore," she said, smiling at him and kissing him lightly on the lips. "I don't want to call my mother," she then groaned, hiding her head in John's neck.
"Why?"
"Let's see, first, she'll yell at me because I didn't call her sooner, well maybe not yell but it won't be too far from that, then, she'll ask me once more why Simon and I broke up, she really likes him," she added at John's raised eyebrow, "and I'll end up telling her about you and Abby."
"And you don't want to talk about us?"
"No, it's not that. It's just that she'll want me to explain everything and…," she stopped not knowing how to say the next part.
"And?" he urged her.
"You're Air Force and well, my parents are anti-military. They already don't understand why I'm working with them so…"
"That might be a problem. But let's not think about that for the moment. We still have some time left before going back to the SGC."
"Ok, Abby, what do you want to do, then?" she asked the child, who gave her a shrug in response. "John?"
"Ferris Wheel!"
"I should have guessed. Abby's not afraid of heights?"
"Oh come on, Liz, she's my daughter, you should know better than this!"
"Right… Lead the way then. But I think they have a height restriction."
"She'll pass."
Still holding Abby's hand with his other arm draped around Elizabeth's waist, John dragged them towards the Ferris Wheel. They could see it dominate the rest of the attractions. There wasn't a lot of people before them in the queue and to John's delight, Abby was just a few inches taller that the minimum height. The three took place, with Abby between the two adults and they began their slow ascension. Abby watched with big eyes as they were nearing the top. The sight was awesome; they were above everything and they could see the whole park below them.
It was over way too soon for Abby's liking, and despite the puppy-dog eyes she'd inherited from her father, they decided it was time to go back to the SGC. Before leaving the park, they made a last stop at the photographer's to grab their photo.
Once in the car, John put the key in the ignition but instead of turning on the engine, he turned towards Elizabeth.
"Ok, what do you think we grab a bite to eat in town instead of eating at the mess?"
"Well, under other circumstances I'd have said yes but look at Abby," she said pointing to the little girl whose eyes were half-closed. "She's exhausted so why don't we postpone this idea till tomorrow night? Plus, we need to relieve Rodney of Sedge."
"It could be the other way around, actually. Then, tomorrow night, it's settled. Let's go back to the SGC."
John started the car and drove them back to Cheyenne Mountain. Once there, John had to carry Abby in his arms since she fell asleep in the car.
"She's exhausted," Elizabeth whispered when they were in the elevator.
"Yeah, but we have to wake her up; she needs to eat something," he whispered back as Abby stirred in his arms and opened her eyes slightly. "Hey, baby."
"I'm hungry, daddy," she said, snuggling closer in his arms.
"I know. We're just going to Rodney's lab for Sedge and then we're going to eat something, okay?" he said, and Abby just mumbled in response.
When they arrived in front of the lab, they saw Rodney with his back to them, and he seemed to be concentrating really hard on his work. Sedge's head shot up the moment she sensed them and she trotted towards them. The scientist still hadn't noticed them, probably too engrossed into his work, and Elizabeth saw an evil smile make its way onto John's lips; he was obviously up to something. Leaving Abby in Elizabeth's arms, he walked towards their friend and looked over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" he asked and smiled broadly when Rodney jumped out of his chair.
"Sheppard! Oh god, I think I'm having a heart attack! Where's Carson? Don't ever do that again, Colonel!"
"You're rambling, McKay…"
"Calm down, Rodney," Elizabeth said with her quiet voice, while John was still sporting a smug smile.
"Ok, but I still need to see Carson. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a second."
"And I'm sure you're fine. And I'll remind you that Carson is still in Scotland with Laura. They'll be back tomorrow afternoon."
"Oh, right, I forgot. Why did they have to go there in the first place?" he mumbled, but the couple could still hear it. "So, how was your day? Mine was pretty interesting actually," he continued without letting them answer his question. "You see, I've discovered that…"
"Can we talk about it later, Rodney?" Elizabeth asked, putting Abby down.
"Yeah, sure," he said turning back towards the bench in time to see Abby perched on the chair, picking up something. "No, don't touch that, it's…," he stopped as he heard a faint beep. "She has the gene…"
"That's my girl," John said, taking her into his arms before removing the life sign detector from her hands. "How come you have that here?"
"Well, I wanted to show it to Colonel Carter when she came this afternoon. And when she took it in her hands, it worked!"
"But, she doesn't have the gene…" Elizabeth remembered.
"No, but the baby she's carrying has it."
"You mean that during a pregnancy, if the baby has the gene, it can be transmitted to the mother," John understood.
"Not really. The baby has the gene, not the mother, but during the pregnancy, she has this ability to control Ancient technology. Now, about Abby, when we're back on Atlantis, I'd want to run some tests to know if her gene is as strong as yours..."
"No way," John interrupted him. "She's too young for that; she won't become your guinea pig."
"Oh come on, I was just thinking of sitting her on the chair. Elizabeth, help me!"
"I have to side with John on this one. You won't test her. Maybe in a few years, she'll be happy to help you, but definitely not now."
Rodney started muttering something under his breath, but neither Elizabeth nor John wanted to know what it was, if only for his own sake. Saying their goodbyes to him, they left the lab with Sedge and headed towards the mess.
"I did something wrong?" Abby asked, still in her father's arms, wondering why they made so much fuss when she picked up the strange object.
"No, sweetie. Rodney just doesn't understand that you're too young to help him." Just as he stopped speaking, a stomach grunted, making him turn towards the sound. "You hungry?"
"Yeah," Elizabeth admitted, narrowing her eyes at John and Abby when they started giggling. "Hey, that's not fair, you two!"
They were still laughing over Elizabeth's stomach when they entered the mess. John put Abby down and told her to sit at a table under Sedge's surveillance, while he and Elizabeth took care of the food. When they arrived at the table, they saw Daniel, with his own tray in front of him, trying to talk to Abby. So far, she hadn't answered him, barely acknowledging him by looking at him.
"She's not very talkative," he said to the couple when they joined them.
"She doesn't know you, Daniel," Elizabeth just stated, placing a plate of food in front of the young girl. "So will you come back with us this time?"
"You're kidding, right? I'd love to, but you know Jack..."
"He still doesn't want you to come? Even with the ZPMs?" she asked surprised.
"No. But one day, I'll find a way. I may have to wait till he finally retires, but I'll go to Atlantis indefinitely. Wait… Even if he retired, he'd try to prevent me from going there."
"Do you want me to talk to him?"
"I don't think you'd convince him."
"Hey, she's a diplomat, she can convince a monkey to give up bananas!"
"It's Jack we're talking about…"
"Yeah… Maybe you're right then."
"I can't believe that your daughter who's only five will get to live in the City while I'm stuck here."
John looked sideways at Elizabeth with a smile on his lips; she just shrugged at him, probably more used to the other man's reaction than he was. The rest of the dinner was spent between Daniel's questions about Atlantis and John and Elizabeth's answers. Abby just sat there, looking at the adults while chewing on her food; she knew that if she didn't finish her plate, she wouldn't have any dessert, and since she spotted chocolate cake earlier, she certainly wouldn't let it pass.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Daniel suddenly remembered as he was leaving them. "General Landry said that the room next to yours is free at the moment, Abby could sleep there if you want."
"Thank you," John answered.
They were bidding their goodnight when a woman entered the mess.
"Oh no…," Daniel sighed and he quickly left, the mysterious woman following him.
"Daniel, wait!"
"Who is she?"
"Vala Mal Doran. You've probably heard about her."
"Yeah I remember now," John said just as Elizabeth noticed Abby trying to stifle a yawn.
"I think it's time to go to bed, young lady," she said, standing up and taking her in her arms.
"I'll carry her," John offered.
Instead of replying to him, she gave him a pointed look. He knew that she wanted her to get used to her presence in her life, and that meant taking care of his daughter. Once they arrived in front of their quarters, John didn't open the door immediately. Instead, he just stood there, looking at them while Elizabeth was trying to figure out what was going on in his mind.
"Hey, Abby," he whispered at her, her head on Elizabeth's shoulder, "what do you think of having a big room and a bed all for yourself? It's just the door next to ours and the doors won't be locked. It'd be better than being all squeezed up in the same bed."
"You'll be there?" she asked.
"Elizabeth and I will be here," he said pointing to the door in front of them before pointing to the next one, "and you'll be there. Like I said, you could come anytime if there's a problem."
"Okay…," she agreed before closing her eyes.
"John, you sure…?" Elizabeth asked as they were making their way into the other room. "She doesn't know this place, she could be afraid."
"And she'll come to us if she is," he assured her as he was changing Abby into her pyjamas.
He tucked her in before kissing her forehead and her nose.
"Are you still awake, Abby?" Elizabeth whispered after having kissed her goodnight herself, and Abby just nodded and opened her eyes slightly in response. "You know what? Sedge is going to stay with you tonight, ok?"
"Yeah…" the little girl replied before closing her eyes for the night.
Elizabeth and John left the room, closing the door quietly behind them, before entering their quarters. Once there, they changed into their nightclothes, both a little tired from the day.
"We'll have to move into family quarters once back home," Elizabeth said, climbing into bed. "Your quarters are big enough for both of us, but not for the three of us."
"I'm glad we've found them, you know. I'm thinking of one on the South Pier, not too far away from the rest of the living area though."
"That's a good idea."
"I always have good ideas. Now, I can picture them; a pretty big area for the living-room, a master bedroom for us, and two other smaller, but not too small, bedrooms."
"Two more bedrooms? I think Abby will just need one."
"I know. But we still can have another one…," he paused for a second, unsure of what would be her reaction, "if we decide to extend our family."
"You want us… to have a baby?" Elizabeth asked in a whisper, stunned by what he said.
"Yes. Maybe not right now, but I love you and I definitely want to have children with you. Do you?" he asked, licking his lips.
She knew that he always did that when he was nervous and, instead of answering him verbally, she gave him a chaste kiss.
"So… I take it that's a yes," John said, to which Elizabeth nodded in response. "Great."
"But like you said, we'll have to wait. We need to get settled first, especially Abby. She left the only home she knew and she's going to an entire different world. She'll need some time to adapt herself to the situation. You know what's strange?"
"No, but I think you're going to tell me," he answered with a smug smile.
"Smartass," she replied, giggling. "Well, this very morning, Abby asked me if we were going to have a baby."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and I said no but when she asked, I didn't know how to answer her. I mean, we hadn't even discussed it yet, so it was… strange."
"Do you think she'll like to have a little brother or sister?"
"I don't know. She's your daughter, you tell me."
"We never talked about it since neither her mother nor I were in serious relationships before."
"Then, when we think it'll be the right moment, we'll talk to her."
"Ok."
"While I think about it, you said you wanted to go shopping?"
"Yeah. I've packed some of Abby's things but I've left most of them at Dinah's."
"Then we'll go shopping tomorrow afternoon. And we have one last briefing before going back to Atlantis, the day after tomorrow."
"You don't have to work?"
"No. I finished reviewing the new members' files yesterday, everything else's okay. I need to call my parents tomorrow," she sighed.
"It'll go well. Think about it, it's only a phone call, you're not going to see them."
"Yeah, but next time, we'll have to. They'll want to meet you and Abby."
"We'll think about it when the time will come, okay?"
John knew that he couldn't erase her doubts about the next day's phone call. Instead, he edged closer to her and started to kiss her temple, then her cheek and her jaw, before crushing his mouth to hers. Elizabeth complied when his tongue asked for entrance, and she opened her mouth. Still kissing her, John pushed her gently down on the bed, letting his hands roam over her body, while hers was in his hair, pulling him even closer. She spread her legs apart and he settled between them. Breaking the kiss, his lips trailed down her throat before moving up. He stopped to bite slightly at her pulse point and then took her earlobe between his teeth, tugging at it gently. Elizabeth was already breathing raggedly but she knew that it was only the beginning. One of his hands was now under her top, on her stomach, slowly moving towards her breasts, while the other started to slide it up. Just as his hands was stroking the underside of her breasts, a knock at the door made them jump apart. Elizabeth just had the time to pull her top back down before the door slid open, revealing Abby, Sedge in tow.
"Hey, sweetie," John said, a little out of breath, motioning for her to join them on the bed. "What happened?"
"I had a nightmare," she just said, snuggling into her father's embrace.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked and she shook her head vehemently. "Okay… Do you want to stay and sleep with us, then?"
Abby nodded and he laid her down between him and Elizabeth before doing the same. She fell asleep quickly, feeling safe with her father.
"I'm sorry," he said to a still slightly flushed Elizabeth, taking her left hand in his right.
"It's okay. I was pretty sure something like that would have happened. But I just hoped it would happen later."
"I'll make it up to you."
"You better! And we better sleep; we have a long day tomorrow too."
"Yeah. Goodnight."
"'Night."
John was fast asleep too and Elizabeth couldn't help but think: like father, like daughter. She knew he was exhausted from their day at the park, but also from his few hours of sleep the night before. Looking down at Abby, she sighed; now that she was in their lives, they could be interrupted more often than before. Though, looking at her sleeping face, she couldn't bring herself to blame her; they just needed to get used to each other. The first few weeks would be difficult, that was for sure, but they'd manage, Elizabeth was sure of that.
To be continued...