Title: Five Novus Descendants
Author: kimmy4eytj
Rating: K = G
Content Warning: none
Spoilers: S2E17 & 18: Common Descent & Epilogue
Characters: Tamara Johansen POV
Word Count: 1547
Summary: Five children TJ saw born.
Author's Notes: written for
sg1_five_things challenge # 145.04 - Five Children That Were Born on Novus.
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I must have gotten pregnant within the first several times Everett and I started having sex again. This time, I shared the knowledge with him right away. He simply stared at me, silent, stunned, his eyes shadowed with doubts. He didn't say anything for so long I started to wonder if I had made a terrible mistake again.
“You're pregnant,” his voice quavered.
He had spoken those same words when I told him I was pregnant with Carmen. A crushing despair came over me and my joy deflated. Suddenly, this all seemed wrong. I looked away, not wanting to believe that Everett didn't want this baby. Then he kissed my hands and I could feel him trembling. I turned back to him as he lifted his head. He looked different; expectant, happy and excited. It was his smile, it touched every part of him, and that convinced me. We would make this work.
We were happy and terrified. My wounds had been repaired, but not knowing if I would be able to deliver to term weighed heavily on both our minds. We shed many tears as we finally spoke of Carmen, our sadness at her loss, and the hope that this baby would arrive safely. People told us it was only fitting that we should be parents of the first child born on Novus. We didn't hold any thought to that fact, but the crew was happy to think it, so we said nothing to dissuade them.
I trained Camile and Chloe as midwives, and they did beautifully together. I couldn't have done this on my own. I was anxious. Everett had been far afield that day and almost missed his son's arrival. Steven Wray Young was swaddled in his father's jacket and presented to him. Everett stared at his son with such a loving amazement and a huge smile. Then he handed Steven to me and I cried with happiness. We both did.
Steven is so like his father. A mess of dark curly hair, dimples and a smile to melt your heart. If we let him, Steven would follow his father everywhere. The other day it started pouring. Steven was walking behind Everett, stepping in his footsteps, splashing and laughing until Everett scooped him up. They both looked like wet, shaggy dogs when they got home.
Steven doesn't understand yet about the joy that filled our hearts when he was born. Not just for me and Everett, but to our community. That all of us had a new reason to live and love, and hope for a future. A fresh start. Everything is new again on Novus.
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I laugh whenever I think of Matt's face when Alan was born. Chloe was a bit early when she went into labor, so I wasn't in the perimeter, but out in the fields working with Camile and Dr Inman. Eli came running down the lane, shouting to high heaven and incoherent until he caught his breath. When I got back to Chloe, she was already in hard labor and Matt was terribly flustered. I never heard such jabbering from Matt before.
I handed Matt the scissors, so he could cut the cord, and he tried to give them to Eli. If Chloe hadn't been extremely close to giving birth, I would have had a good laugh at Matt's expense. As it was, Matt took one look at Alan squirting free of the womb and he keeled over. I think if he hadn't woken up with a shiner already, Chloe would have given him one.
Alan is tall like his parents with a shock of bright red hair and beautiful blue eyes. Chloe said his hair is liable to get darker as he gets older as hers was the same when she was a child. He's only six months younger than Steven, so they are almost inseparable. When Everett takes Steven fishing, Alan is right there like a second shadow. Alan is very intelligent, always asking questions and dreaming up new inventions. He would have easily mastered Lego's.
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Sara was born in a proper house, in a proper bed, not on a cold dirt floor in a log hovel like her poor brother. Camile helped me bring her into the world, a squirming bundle of arms and legs. Everett saw her and was instantly smitten. She's got him so wrapped around her little fingers, he makes me play the disciplinarian. He says it's because she is my spitting image that he can't bear to be mad at her. Everett can be a real smooth talker and he knows how to get around me on this.
She's three now, and entirely too precocious. Her Uncle Eli spoils her just as badly as her father. She's taken to speaking Ancient at the dinner table when asking for food. She loves to make up songs. Many times while I'm working in the garden, Sara will be sitting nearby with sing-song words spilling from her mouth. It's quite hilarious to hear “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” sung in Ancient.
Varro gave us a rocking chair when I was pregnant with Sara. I used to rock Steven to sleep in my arms until my stomach got too big. Sara is still of an age where she loves to be rocked to sleep. Sometimes she lets me and other times only her father will do. I love watching Everett with his children. He's so gentle and takes the time to listen to them. I know I'm usually in for trouble when those three heads get together.
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Vanessa and Varro had Claire in the midst of a summer heatwave. She was a dainty little girl with a head full of dark hair. After I cleaned Claire and before I handed her to her mother, I put a bit of ribbon in her hair. Poor thing, it was so hot, she ended up with a horrible case of diaper rash. Lisa and Camile discovered an ointment could be made from a plant similar to an aloe that works to sooth skin irritation. It worked on Claire like a charm.
Claire is a tom-boy. Both her parents are the adventurous sort and Claire goes with them. They all just returned from a week long hunt and Claire was beaming ear to ear. Varro had made her a small bow with its own quiver full of pint sized arrows. Steven and Alan were quite jealous.
I'm so happy for Varro and his family. After the death of his first wife, I'm glad he could find happiness again without the specter of the Lucian Alliance to taint life. It didn't take Vanessa long to catch his eye, once he realized that I was not an option. They are such a good match together and with their little Claire to tag along, his smiles are wider. I think he likes being the only man of his household.
Although, Vanessa is already starting to show, so it won't be too much longer before another little James is under their roof.
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Little Dale was born five days after Claire. His parents gave him an important namesake. Dale Volker was our first death on Novus and a dear friend of Lisa's. She and Ron agreed that Dale should not be forgotten, so their first born son carries his name.
He has Ron's long eyelashes and the willowy suppleness of both his parents. What a little charmer is Dale. Eyes that laugh all the time and a smile that can't be contained, Dale is his father through and through. You never would have known on Destiny that Ronald Greer could be carefree and loving. Freed of the constraints of a military life and open to the love of a good person, he has surprised us all with his good nature. And Dale has the same disposition.
Dale has a propensity for numbers and digging in the dirt. He is much like Lisa that way. Her intelligence and green thumb are harbored inside that chuckling little boy. Lisa is teaching the children about astronomy and having naming contests. Eli is a bit put off because we won't allow him to name the stars or constellations after Star Wars or Star Trek characters. Lisa says it isn't dignified to have a star named Han Solo.
Dale can usually be found tagging along with Sara and Claire. They equally share getting into trouble activities. They stick up for each other so we can never figure out whom to blame. Much like a team, all for one, and one for all, they all suffer the consequences. We've recently started domesticating some oxen type creatures and Dale likes to be around them. He isn't afraid of their large size and walks right up to them. He gives Lisa a heart attack with his fearlessness.
Lisa is expecting again. She and Vanessa would like a swap of baby sexes this go around. I don't care as long as the babies are healthy.
It makes me proud that our community is growing. I'm just a simple paramedic, wife and mother. I learned as much as I could before we evacuated Destiny and am endeavoring to share those skills with others. Novus means new in Ancient. I love bringing new life to Novus.
© kimmy4eytj, March 2012
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, ACME Shark, and Spyglass Productions and their subsidiaries. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.