Fic: Fertile Ground
Title: Fertile Ground
Series: Bella 'Verse
Author: Beadattitude
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Unbeta'd
Summary: How Bella came to be.
Author's note; Boy, this idea really has me by the throat, huh?
~~~
Madison was their flower girl. Rodney watched John play with her, dance with her, be so good with her and oh, how it made his heart ache. They didn’t talk about it, but once, while they were sitting on the couch coloring, all Rodney could think was I want that.
Sometimes, Rodney thought about bringing up adoption. Or maybe surrogacy or maybe if Jeannie donated an egg and John…all such a shot in the dark. Which, Rodney supposed, was how it was for everyone, but with less weirdness.
~~~
It was Jennifer who started the whole thing. Well, okay, Rodney started out wanting kids, but Jennifer was the one to give him the opportunity, just not in the way he had originally envisioned. Two years after Rodney married John, Jennifer came to Rodney’s lab with a proposal. Made him sit down before she said anything. He was grateful for that.
“We’ve tested it six ways to Sunday and were about to mothball it until we could figure how to offer the technology to the “real” world, since it’s oh, still about a billion years away from what’s available. And I thought, you know, if there’s one person who should be able to use this thing right now, who should be able to pass his genes on…”
“You would do that for me? For us? Even after?”
She smiled wide enough that her dimples showed. “Rodney,” she said affectionately, “we were friends, first. Both of you were.”
“So, what do I do? How am I going to explain it to John?
“You tell John we need a sample from both of you, so Carson and I can plug them in and work some Ancient magic.” She twiddled her fingers at him when she said "magic".
“Okay. That’s. Okay.” Rodney tried to swallow against the lump in his throat. “Um, so, why did you do this instead of Carson?”
Jennifer flashed her dimples again. “’Cause it was my idea,” she said simply, kissed him on the cheek and lurched out of her chair. She walked to the door slowly, still adapting, he supposed, to her ever-growing belly, leaving him to think about starting a family of his own.
“That,” she added over her shoulder, a familiar chiding note in her voice, “and he was afraid he’d cry halfway through the pitch and you’re just awful with that.”
“Well, it’s unnerving! Hey, wait. You’ve cleared this with Landry, right? Maybe I shouldn’t say anything to John until…”
Her eyes sparkled, full of affection and mischief. “We cleared it all the way up to the President, Rodney. He wanted me to let him know if we throw you guys a shower.”
Somehow, that was what really convinced Rodney this was really real. “He did?”
She squinted a little, obviously trying to quote from memory. “’From what I understand, I have the SGC, and them specifically, to thank for protecting the earth many times over.’ And he asked me if I was asking for forgiveness or permission, I said permission and he said, "Good, 'cause I'm running out of medals and I never get to trump a Nobel.'"
Rodney snorted a little hysterically and pressed his hand against his mouth.
“Let me know about the shower. And oh, yeah, if you wanna have the baby.”
~~~
They got married once they figured out John’s leg was going to take him out of the field permanently. DADT had been gone for about a year, so that wasn't it, just that suddenly retiring (and being hired back on as a flight training consultant) had evidently made everything feel more serious and settled in John’s mind.
Rodney supposed John never quite stopped assuming he’d go out sometime, somewhere with a bomb strapped to his back, running headlong into an impossible mission, because John always gave everything. Committed everything.
He walked around for a week looking like he was going to throw up or pass out and finally, and just before Rodney was going to haul him into SGC medical, he turned up with a pair of rings and a shaky, hopeful smile.
Like Rodney would have said anything but yes.
~~~
Nancy had miscarried more than once, and John didn’t spell every word out, but it was pretty clear that it wasn’t one of those situations that brought them closer together, but made a gaping, ragged hole they kept trying to patch until they just couldn’t anymore.
~~~
Impending marriage and the freedom of semi-retirement drove John into a lazy frenzy - lazy until you looked at the set of his jaw - of home improvement, like it was the house that was getting married, was desperate for a makeover and John needed to sidle up to it in case it got skittish.
Daniel and Sam lingered after their see-our-renovations/pre-wedding party, listened to the Rodney’s only slightly embellished stories and Daniel narrowed his eyes and was silent for a long time while the conversation flowed around him.
“What?” Rodney said, prodding him with his foot.
Blushing, Daniel ducked his head and said slowly, “Some mating rituals entail the husband building a nest or bower for his mate.” Sam snorted beer up her nose, which caused John to snort beer up his nose and Rodney squawked that he was so not the wife.
~~~
John looked poleaxed when Rodney just blurted the whole thing, and dropped his favorite hammer on his foot. He didn’t even seem to notice.
“What?” he asked, quiet and low, his voice shaking. “President Obama wants to give us a baby?”
“No, no no, well, yes, sort of, but Jennifer - it’s her idea - and Carson have been studying this piece of medical tech and figured out it’s the Ancient equivalent of an infertility treatment. Infertility solution, I’d say. And we, um, have a bit of a fertility problem, that is. With each other.”
“A baby?” John asked, voice cracking. Rodney had only seen John that close to tears when Rodney was dying. “From…” he gestured between them.
“Yeah,” Rodney whispered.
John crumpled to his knees on the cold garage floor. “I had no idea I wanted this,” he looked up at Rodney, dazed. “I just…you know.”
Rodney went to him and pulled John into his arms. “Okay, then,” he said and they just knelt there a moment, shaking together, until Rodney wiped his eyes on John’s cotton-clad shoulder.
“You did not just wipe your snotty face on me,” John said, incredulous and half-laughing.
“Get used to it.” John shivered under his hands and made a yearning noise against Rodney’s throat.
“We’re gonna have…” John whispered, breath hot against Rodney’s skin. He couldn’t seem to get the rest of the words out.
Heart too full to speak, Rodney kissed him. And if they laughed into each other’s mouths and pawed at each other and if sawdust got everywhere and there were messy, sniffling kisses there on the garage floor, well, Rodney kept that part to himself, because that right then, Rodney believed, that’s when Bella was really conceived.
~~~
Series: Bella 'Verse
Author: Beadattitude
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Unbeta'd
Summary: How Bella came to be.
Author's note; Boy, this idea really has me by the throat, huh?
~~~
Madison was their flower girl. Rodney watched John play with her, dance with her, be so good with her and oh, how it made his heart ache. They didn’t talk about it, but once, while they were sitting on the couch coloring, all Rodney could think was I want that.
Sometimes, Rodney thought about bringing up adoption. Or maybe surrogacy or maybe if Jeannie donated an egg and John…all such a shot in the dark. Which, Rodney supposed, was how it was for everyone, but with less weirdness.
~~~
It was Jennifer who started the whole thing. Well, okay, Rodney started out wanting kids, but Jennifer was the one to give him the opportunity, just not in the way he had originally envisioned. Two years after Rodney married John, Jennifer came to Rodney’s lab with a proposal. Made him sit down before she said anything. He was grateful for that.
“We’ve tested it six ways to Sunday and were about to mothball it until we could figure how to offer the technology to the “real” world, since it’s oh, still about a billion years away from what’s available. And I thought, you know, if there’s one person who should be able to use this thing right now, who should be able to pass his genes on…”
“You would do that for me? For us? Even after?”
She smiled wide enough that her dimples showed. “Rodney,” she said affectionately, “we were friends, first. Both of you were.”
“So, what do I do? How am I going to explain it to John?
“You tell John we need a sample from both of you, so Carson and I can plug them in and work some Ancient magic.” She twiddled her fingers at him when she said "magic".
“Okay. That’s. Okay.” Rodney tried to swallow against the lump in his throat. “Um, so, why did you do this instead of Carson?”
Jennifer flashed her dimples again. “’Cause it was my idea,” she said simply, kissed him on the cheek and lurched out of her chair. She walked to the door slowly, still adapting, he supposed, to her ever-growing belly, leaving him to think about starting a family of his own.
“That,” she added over her shoulder, a familiar chiding note in her voice, “and he was afraid he’d cry halfway through the pitch and you’re just awful with that.”
“Well, it’s unnerving! Hey, wait. You’ve cleared this with Landry, right? Maybe I shouldn’t say anything to John until…”
Her eyes sparkled, full of affection and mischief. “We cleared it all the way up to the President, Rodney. He wanted me to let him know if we throw you guys a shower.”
Somehow, that was what really convinced Rodney this was really real. “He did?”
She squinted a little, obviously trying to quote from memory. “’From what I understand, I have the SGC, and them specifically, to thank for protecting the earth many times over.’ And he asked me if I was asking for forgiveness or permission, I said permission and he said, "Good, 'cause I'm running out of medals and I never get to trump a Nobel.'"
Rodney snorted a little hysterically and pressed his hand against his mouth.
“Let me know about the shower. And oh, yeah, if you wanna have the baby.”
~~~
They got married once they figured out John’s leg was going to take him out of the field permanently. DADT had been gone for about a year, so that wasn't it, just that suddenly retiring (and being hired back on as a flight training consultant) had evidently made everything feel more serious and settled in John’s mind.
Rodney supposed John never quite stopped assuming he’d go out sometime, somewhere with a bomb strapped to his back, running headlong into an impossible mission, because John always gave everything. Committed everything.
He walked around for a week looking like he was going to throw up or pass out and finally, and just before Rodney was going to haul him into SGC medical, he turned up with a pair of rings and a shaky, hopeful smile.
Like Rodney would have said anything but yes.
~~~
Nancy had miscarried more than once, and John didn’t spell every word out, but it was pretty clear that it wasn’t one of those situations that brought them closer together, but made a gaping, ragged hole they kept trying to patch until they just couldn’t anymore.
~~~
Impending marriage and the freedom of semi-retirement drove John into a lazy frenzy - lazy until you looked at the set of his jaw - of home improvement, like it was the house that was getting married, was desperate for a makeover and John needed to sidle up to it in case it got skittish.
Daniel and Sam lingered after their see-our-renovations/pre-wedding party, listened to the Rodney’s only slightly embellished stories and Daniel narrowed his eyes and was silent for a long time while the conversation flowed around him.
“What?” Rodney said, prodding him with his foot.
Blushing, Daniel ducked his head and said slowly, “Some mating rituals entail the husband building a nest or bower for his mate.” Sam snorted beer up her nose, which caused John to snort beer up his nose and Rodney squawked that he was so not the wife.
~~~
John looked poleaxed when Rodney just blurted the whole thing, and dropped his favorite hammer on his foot. He didn’t even seem to notice.
“What?” he asked, quiet and low, his voice shaking. “President Obama wants to give us a baby?”
“No, no no, well, yes, sort of, but Jennifer - it’s her idea - and Carson have been studying this piece of medical tech and figured out it’s the Ancient equivalent of an infertility treatment. Infertility solution, I’d say. And we, um, have a bit of a fertility problem, that is. With each other.”
“A baby?” John asked, voice cracking. Rodney had only seen John that close to tears when Rodney was dying. “From…” he gestured between them.
“Yeah,” Rodney whispered.
John crumpled to his knees on the cold garage floor. “I had no idea I wanted this,” he looked up at Rodney, dazed. “I just…you know.”
Rodney went to him and pulled John into his arms. “Okay, then,” he said and they just knelt there a moment, shaking together, until Rodney wiped his eyes on John’s cotton-clad shoulder.
“You did not just wipe your snotty face on me,” John said, incredulous and half-laughing.
“Get used to it.” John shivered under his hands and made a yearning noise against Rodney’s throat.
“We’re gonna have…” John whispered, breath hot against Rodney’s skin. He couldn’t seem to get the rest of the words out.
Heart too full to speak, Rodney kissed him. And if they laughed into each other’s mouths and pawed at each other and if sawdust got everywhere and there were messy, sniffling kisses there on the garage floor, well, Rodney kept that part to himself, because that right then, Rodney believed, that’s when Bella was really conceived.
~~~