[Stargate: Fiction] "Chosen and Loved" [John/Rodney, G]
Title: Chosen and Loved
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,300
Prompt: mcsheplets challenge #140 ‘past challenges’ (#123 ‘legacy’)
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Setting: sequel to On the Run & Can We Keep Him? (AU from the end of Season 1)
Summary: John is woken in the middle of the night, by a little girl with a question.
Chosen and Loved
Something woke John in the middle of the night, and for a moment, he lay and listened to the sounds of their cabin.
It was a real log cabin, built with his own hands- well, his and Rodney’s and Teyla’s and Ronon’s- surrounded by trees and a short walk from this planet’s stargate. Rodney had even incorporated some of the Ancient tech they’d picked up here and there into the design, so that the doors and lights could be controlled with their Ancient genes, but it was all so carefully installed that it was hardly visible.
Above the wind and the creak of the house settling, John heard a small sound. He paused, listening, and this time he could identify it, but he didn’t move until he heard little feet on the hardwood floor.
John slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Rodney, who had been out late repairing an Ancient irrigation system for a village they traded with. He padded into the kitchen, where he found three-year-old Ada standing on her small wooden stool, trying to fill a cup in the sink.
Sometimes, he couldn’t believe she wasn’t biologically their daughter. She had blue eyes like Rodney, and her hair was the same honey-blonde-brown his was in the sunlight. But Rodney said she had John’s pointy ears and outrageous cowlicks. She’d picked up mannerisms from both of them, John’s lazy drawl and Rodney’s rapid-fire questions, but her sunny smile and easy affection were entirely Ada.
“Need some help there, kiddo?” John asked, softly.
Ada turned, not looking surprised to see him there. “Okay, Daddy,” she said softly, and held out the cup.
He took it, starting to worry a little. Ada had recently begun an independent streak, so for her to accept help without an argument was a bad sign. He leaned around Ada to reach the faucet, and she leaned against him with a sigh.
“Hey,” said John, leaving the empty cup on the counter to peer down at his daughter. “You okay?”
Ada nodded against his stomach. “Yeah,” she said. “Just thinkin’.”
“Something important?”
She nodded again.
“And that’s why you can’t sleep?”
Another nod.
“Then how about we go look at the stars while you think?”
“Okay,” Ada said again, and lifted her arms for him to scoop her up.
The great thing about being the only people on the planet was the complete lack of light pollution- even with both moons nearly full, the stars still shone like diamonds. And the absolute best place to see them was the window seat just off the kitchen, piled with soft mis-matched pillows. John plopped down, and pulled Ada into his lap.
“I want to know something,” she said, which had been a standard conversation starter since she had mastered full sentences. Like Rodney, Ada was infinitely curious, but like John, she preferred to ponder new ideas for a while before starting to investigate.
“Okay,” John agreed.
Ada shifted so she could face him, still half in her father’s lap. “Where did I come from?”
“I-” said John, panicking. He was so not ready to have anything even resembling The Talk with his baby girl until she was thirty, at least. “I-”
“I know where babies come from, Daddy,” she said, with a miniature version of Rodney’s you’re an idiot, but I love you look. “Aunt Teyla explained it ages ago.”
“Oh.” John made a mental note to do something really, really nice for Teyla, soon. “Oh, okay.”
“So, where did I come from?” Ada asked. “I know it wasn’t a planet we’ve been to again, because Daddy would have said so. And if you’d known my mommy, you’d have told me about her. Right, Daddy?”
John took a deep breath. He and Rodney had both had pretty crappy childhoods, so their parenting rules had more don’ts than dos, the first being that they would never actively lie to their daughter.
“Well…” said John, because not lying didn’t necessarily mean telling the entire truth, either. “Well, you’re right, Ada. You were born on a planet Aunt Teyla had heard of, and we were looking for supplies to trade. We didn’t know your mom or your real dad, not even their names. We… well, Daddy kind of saved you.”
“Just like he saved you?” Ada asked, small fingers sliding under the hem of his t-shirt to skate across the familiar scar.
“Yeah,” John agreed. “Just like that.”
That story- at least, in its basic, sugar-coated form- Ada had heard many times already, and she wasn’t to be distracted. “When Daddy saved me, were you there, too?”
“Yep. Me and Aunt Teyla and Uncle Ronon. That’s how I know exactly what happened.”
“What did happen, Daddy?”
“Do you remember when we talked about how some people are scared of things they don’t understand? And how they sometimes get angry when they’re scared?”
Ada nodded. “Daddy says people like that are stupid, and I shouldn’t listen to them.”
“He would say that,” John agreed.
“Were the people on the planet I was born on like that?” Ada asked.
“Yeah, kiddo,” said John. “Yeah, they kinda were. On that planet, babies who’d just been born were welcomed to their village in a kind of ceremony. There were two babies born the day we visited, and Aunt Teyla got us invited to the ceremony. One of the elders took the first kid and set him on a big stone block, so that everybody could see him. After a couple of minutes, he announced the baby’s name, and the mom came to take him again. But when the second kid got set on the stone, the whole thing lit up bright blue.”
“That was me, wasn’t it?” said Ada. “I made it light up. Because… because I have the Ancient gene like you and Daddy. Right…?”
“Right,” John agreed. “The people on that planet blamed the Ancients for creating the Wraith, and they… well, they don’t believe that people with the Ancient gene should live there.”
“Oh,” said Ada, softly. “So that’s why I had to come live here? Because they wouldn’t let me stay?”
“Yeah, that’s why,” said John.
Someday, when Ada was older, they’d have to tell her the whole story. How the village elder had picked up a wicked-looking knife, ready to kill the ‘demon child’ until a bullet from John’s P90 had taken him down. How Rodney had darted forward to scoop the baby up, shielding her from the crowd. How Teyla had tried to explain the Ancient gene to them, and pleaded for the baby’s family to come forward, only to be met with silence.
How John had kept saying they should take the kid to the Athosian village, so a family there could adopt her, right up until the moment he’d landed the ‘jumper and Rodney had unceremoniously plopped the girl into his arms, and he’d known that she would be theirs, forever.
For now, though, that was enough of the story for Ada, enough to know that she’d been chosen, that she was wanted and loved.
“I’m glad,” said Ada, after a moment. “You and Daddy would have been awful lonely without me.”
John laughed softly. “Yeah, we would have been.”
“Hey,” said a new voice sleepily.
Father and daughter looked up to see Rodney standing in the kitchen doorway.
“Come sit with us, Daddy!” said Ada, grinning at him.
“Did we wake you?” John asked more softly.
Rodney rolled his eyes and slid in beside him, with Ada snug in the middle. “No, you didn’t wake me.” He leaned in and added softly, “Did she wake you?”
“She’s all right now,” John whispered back.
Rodney nodded, trusting that John had taken care of it, and wriggled closer. John grinned, and settled in, too.
THE END
Current Mood:
hopeful
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,300
Prompt: mcsheplets challenge #140 ‘past challenges’ (#123 ‘legacy’)
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Setting: sequel to On the Run & Can We Keep Him? (AU from the end of Season 1)
Summary: John is woken in the middle of the night, by a little girl with a question.
Chosen and Loved
Something woke John in the middle of the night, and for a moment, he lay and listened to the sounds of their cabin.
It was a real log cabin, built with his own hands- well, his and Rodney’s and Teyla’s and Ronon’s- surrounded by trees and a short walk from this planet’s stargate. Rodney had even incorporated some of the Ancient tech they’d picked up here and there into the design, so that the doors and lights could be controlled with their Ancient genes, but it was all so carefully installed that it was hardly visible.
Above the wind and the creak of the house settling, John heard a small sound. He paused, listening, and this time he could identify it, but he didn’t move until he heard little feet on the hardwood floor.
John slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Rodney, who had been out late repairing an Ancient irrigation system for a village they traded with. He padded into the kitchen, where he found three-year-old Ada standing on her small wooden stool, trying to fill a cup in the sink.
Sometimes, he couldn’t believe she wasn’t biologically their daughter. She had blue eyes like Rodney, and her hair was the same honey-blonde-brown his was in the sunlight. But Rodney said she had John’s pointy ears and outrageous cowlicks. She’d picked up mannerisms from both of them, John’s lazy drawl and Rodney’s rapid-fire questions, but her sunny smile and easy affection were entirely Ada.
“Need some help there, kiddo?” John asked, softly.
Ada turned, not looking surprised to see him there. “Okay, Daddy,” she said softly, and held out the cup.
He took it, starting to worry a little. Ada had recently begun an independent streak, so for her to accept help without an argument was a bad sign. He leaned around Ada to reach the faucet, and she leaned against him with a sigh.
“Hey,” said John, leaving the empty cup on the counter to peer down at his daughter. “You okay?”
Ada nodded against his stomach. “Yeah,” she said. “Just thinkin’.”
“Something important?”
She nodded again.
“And that’s why you can’t sleep?”
Another nod.
“Then how about we go look at the stars while you think?”
“Okay,” Ada said again, and lifted her arms for him to scoop her up.
The great thing about being the only people on the planet was the complete lack of light pollution- even with both moons nearly full, the stars still shone like diamonds. And the absolute best place to see them was the window seat just off the kitchen, piled with soft mis-matched pillows. John plopped down, and pulled Ada into his lap.
“I want to know something,” she said, which had been a standard conversation starter since she had mastered full sentences. Like Rodney, Ada was infinitely curious, but like John, she preferred to ponder new ideas for a while before starting to investigate.
“Okay,” John agreed.
Ada shifted so she could face him, still half in her father’s lap. “Where did I come from?”
“I-” said John, panicking. He was so not ready to have anything even resembling The Talk with his baby girl until she was thirty, at least. “I-”
“I know where babies come from, Daddy,” she said, with a miniature version of Rodney’s you’re an idiot, but I love you look. “Aunt Teyla explained it ages ago.”
“Oh.” John made a mental note to do something really, really nice for Teyla, soon. “Oh, okay.”
“So, where did I come from?” Ada asked. “I know it wasn’t a planet we’ve been to again, because Daddy would have said so. And if you’d known my mommy, you’d have told me about her. Right, Daddy?”
John took a deep breath. He and Rodney had both had pretty crappy childhoods, so their parenting rules had more don’ts than dos, the first being that they would never actively lie to their daughter.
“Well…” said John, because not lying didn’t necessarily mean telling the entire truth, either. “Well, you’re right, Ada. You were born on a planet Aunt Teyla had heard of, and we were looking for supplies to trade. We didn’t know your mom or your real dad, not even their names. We… well, Daddy kind of saved you.”
“Just like he saved you?” Ada asked, small fingers sliding under the hem of his t-shirt to skate across the familiar scar.
“Yeah,” John agreed. “Just like that.”
That story- at least, in its basic, sugar-coated form- Ada had heard many times already, and she wasn’t to be distracted. “When Daddy saved me, were you there, too?”
“Yep. Me and Aunt Teyla and Uncle Ronon. That’s how I know exactly what happened.”
“What did happen, Daddy?”
“Do you remember when we talked about how some people are scared of things they don’t understand? And how they sometimes get angry when they’re scared?”
Ada nodded. “Daddy says people like that are stupid, and I shouldn’t listen to them.”
“He would say that,” John agreed.
“Were the people on the planet I was born on like that?” Ada asked.
“Yeah, kiddo,” said John. “Yeah, they kinda were. On that planet, babies who’d just been born were welcomed to their village in a kind of ceremony. There were two babies born the day we visited, and Aunt Teyla got us invited to the ceremony. One of the elders took the first kid and set him on a big stone block, so that everybody could see him. After a couple of minutes, he announced the baby’s name, and the mom came to take him again. But when the second kid got set on the stone, the whole thing lit up bright blue.”
“That was me, wasn’t it?” said Ada. “I made it light up. Because… because I have the Ancient gene like you and Daddy. Right…?”
“Right,” John agreed. “The people on that planet blamed the Ancients for creating the Wraith, and they… well, they don’t believe that people with the Ancient gene should live there.”
“Oh,” said Ada, softly. “So that’s why I had to come live here? Because they wouldn’t let me stay?”
“Yeah, that’s why,” said John.
Someday, when Ada was older, they’d have to tell her the whole story. How the village elder had picked up a wicked-looking knife, ready to kill the ‘demon child’ until a bullet from John’s P90 had taken him down. How Rodney had darted forward to scoop the baby up, shielding her from the crowd. How Teyla had tried to explain the Ancient gene to them, and pleaded for the baby’s family to come forward, only to be met with silence.
How John had kept saying they should take the kid to the Athosian village, so a family there could adopt her, right up until the moment he’d landed the ‘jumper and Rodney had unceremoniously plopped the girl into his arms, and he’d known that she would be theirs, forever.
For now, though, that was enough of the story for Ada, enough to know that she’d been chosen, that she was wanted and loved.
“I’m glad,” said Ada, after a moment. “You and Daddy would have been awful lonely without me.”
John laughed softly. “Yeah, we would have been.”
“Hey,” said a new voice sleepily.
Father and daughter looked up to see Rodney standing in the kitchen doorway.
“Come sit with us, Daddy!” said Ada, grinning at him.
“Did we wake you?” John asked more softly.
Rodney rolled his eyes and slid in beside him, with Ada snug in the middle. “No, you didn’t wake me.” He leaned in and added softly, “Did she wake you?”
“She’s all right now,” John whispered back.
Rodney nodded, trusting that John had taken care of it, and wriggled closer. John grinned, and settled in, too.
THE END
Current Mood:
hopeful