[Stargate: Drabble] "What's in a Name" [John/Rodney, G]
Title: What’s in a Name
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 750
Prompt: mcsheplets challenge #157 ‘baby’
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Setting: part of the On the Run series
Summary: “She needs a name, Rodney.”
What's in a Name
“She needs a name, Rodney,” said John.
Rodney looked up from where he was repairing their battered puddle jumper’s starboard engine. John leaned against the ship’s hull, their new daughter against his shoulder. It had been just over two weeks since they had rescued her from her home planet, where newborns with the ATA gene were sacrificed to keep the Wraith away.
“Is it lunchtime already?” Rodney asked, getting to his feet. He wiped his hands on a rag before leaning in to rest one hand over his daughter’s tiny shoulders. “Hey, there, Baby.”
“Rodney,” said John again. “She needs a name.”
“She has one. Right, Baby?”
John scowled. “And when she’s announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in thirty years, do you really want her answering to Baby Sheppard-McKay?”
“Of course not. And it’s McKay-Sheppard. I just don’t think this is a decision that should be rushed into.”
“It’s been two weeks. Usually, you’re the first to want to name stuff. Like the gateships?”
“They’re ships that go through the ‘gate,” Rodney said, stubbornly. “And I don’t see any reason why we can’t just wait until she learns to talk and let her choose her own name.”
“When she’s two?” John asked.
“I could use full sentences at sixteen months.”
“Of course you could. But Rodney-”
“You pick a name,” Rodney interrupted, not looking at John. “Something simple, and cool, and won’t get her picked on every single day until she finally changes every record she can find and-”
Between them, their daughter made a distressed sort of whimper. Rodney paled and tried to take a step back, but John caught him by the front of his jacket and pulled him closer, gentling his grip when Rodney was flush against him.
“She’s only upset because you’re upset,” he said. “And so am I. Talk to me, Rodney.”
Rodney sighed. “I’m not… Well, I probably should have told you this earlier, before we got married, but I hadn’t thought about it in so long… and there aren’t exactly any legal documents in the Pegasus Galaxy. Really, we’re married because we say we’re married, not because someone authorized-”
“Rodney,” said John, exasperated and affectionate and somehow insistent that he get back on topic, all without using more than his name.
Except, it wasn’t.
“I, um…” he began, then sighed. “Rodney is my middle name. My first name is Meredith.”
“Meredith?” John repeated. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean that’s it? It’s a girl’s name, that’s what! You try being the shortest kid in class, who’s twice as smart as anyone else and completely unable to deal with people less intelligent than yourself.”
“Which was everyone, I’m sure,” said John, smiling.
“Yes, it was,” Rodney agreed. “And having a girl’s name didn’t make my life any easier, then. What if she hates her name, John? What if we name her something she hates and she hates us forever?”
John leaned in to kiss him gently. “What would you name her, if you could know for certain that she would love it.”
“There’s no way to possibly know what she would-”
“Rodney…”
He looked down at their daughter, cradled in John’s arms and looking back up at him with wide blue eyes. She gave a happy little coo and waved both arms at him, until he moved one hand into her reach, and she could grab his large fingers with her tiny ones.
“Ada,” said Rodney, after a long moment. “I’d name her Ada.”
John smiled. “After Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, the first computer programmer?”
“You really are a dork for knowing that, “ said Rodney, but he was smiling, too. “She won’t hate it?”
“Of course not,” said John. “Right, Ada? Tell Daddy how much you like your name…”
He passed her over, a maneuver they’d perfected within twenty-four hours of bringing her home, and Rodney held her carefully.
“Hey, Ada,” he said, softly, and she burbled happily at him.
“See, I told you she’d love it. But I think she really needs a middle name, too.”
Rodney shook his head, still looking at their daughter. “Your turn.”
“Oh, um,” said John. “I was thinking of Charlotte.”
“After Charles Babbage?”
John smiled, a little sheepishly. “Chuck Yeager.”
Rodney leaned in to kiss him. “Ada Charlotte.”
“Sounds like a Nobel winner,” said John.
“In anything she wants,” Rodney said, firmly. “And we’ll be proud of her. Even if it’s Literature.”
John laughed, and kissed him again.
THE END
Current Mood:
calm
Author: Ami Ven
Rating: G
Word Count: 750
Prompt: mcsheplets challenge #157 ‘baby’
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Setting: part of the On the Run series
Summary: “She needs a name, Rodney.”
What's in a Name
“She needs a name, Rodney,” said John.
Rodney looked up from where he was repairing their battered puddle jumper’s starboard engine. John leaned against the ship’s hull, their new daughter against his shoulder. It had been just over two weeks since they had rescued her from her home planet, where newborns with the ATA gene were sacrificed to keep the Wraith away.
“Is it lunchtime already?” Rodney asked, getting to his feet. He wiped his hands on a rag before leaning in to rest one hand over his daughter’s tiny shoulders. “Hey, there, Baby.”
“Rodney,” said John again. “She needs a name.”
“She has one. Right, Baby?”
John scowled. “And when she’s announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in thirty years, do you really want her answering to Baby Sheppard-McKay?”
“Of course not. And it’s McKay-Sheppard. I just don’t think this is a decision that should be rushed into.”
“It’s been two weeks. Usually, you’re the first to want to name stuff. Like the gateships?”
“They’re ships that go through the ‘gate,” Rodney said, stubbornly. “And I don’t see any reason why we can’t just wait until she learns to talk and let her choose her own name.”
“When she’s two?” John asked.
“I could use full sentences at sixteen months.”
“Of course you could. But Rodney-”
“You pick a name,” Rodney interrupted, not looking at John. “Something simple, and cool, and won’t get her picked on every single day until she finally changes every record she can find and-”
Between them, their daughter made a distressed sort of whimper. Rodney paled and tried to take a step back, but John caught him by the front of his jacket and pulled him closer, gentling his grip when Rodney was flush against him.
“She’s only upset because you’re upset,” he said. “And so am I. Talk to me, Rodney.”
Rodney sighed. “I’m not… Well, I probably should have told you this earlier, before we got married, but I hadn’t thought about it in so long… and there aren’t exactly any legal documents in the Pegasus Galaxy. Really, we’re married because we say we’re married, not because someone authorized-”
“Rodney,” said John, exasperated and affectionate and somehow insistent that he get back on topic, all without using more than his name.
Except, it wasn’t.
“I, um…” he began, then sighed. “Rodney is my middle name. My first name is Meredith.”
“Meredith?” John repeated. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean that’s it? It’s a girl’s name, that’s what! You try being the shortest kid in class, who’s twice as smart as anyone else and completely unable to deal with people less intelligent than yourself.”
“Which was everyone, I’m sure,” said John, smiling.
“Yes, it was,” Rodney agreed. “And having a girl’s name didn’t make my life any easier, then. What if she hates her name, John? What if we name her something she hates and she hates us forever?”
John leaned in to kiss him gently. “What would you name her, if you could know for certain that she would love it.”
“There’s no way to possibly know what she would-”
“Rodney…”
He looked down at their daughter, cradled in John’s arms and looking back up at him with wide blue eyes. She gave a happy little coo and waved both arms at him, until he moved one hand into her reach, and she could grab his large fingers with her tiny ones.
“Ada,” said Rodney, after a long moment. “I’d name her Ada.”
John smiled. “After Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, the first computer programmer?”
“You really are a dork for knowing that, “ said Rodney, but he was smiling, too. “She won’t hate it?”
“Of course not,” said John. “Right, Ada? Tell Daddy how much you like your name…”
He passed her over, a maneuver they’d perfected within twenty-four hours of bringing her home, and Rodney held her carefully.
“Hey, Ada,” he said, softly, and she burbled happily at him.
“See, I told you she’d love it. But I think she really needs a middle name, too.”
Rodney shook his head, still looking at their daughter. “Your turn.”
“Oh, um,” said John. “I was thinking of Charlotte.”
“After Charles Babbage?”
John smiled, a little sheepishly. “Chuck Yeager.”
Rodney leaned in to kiss him. “Ada Charlotte.”
“Sounds like a Nobel winner,” said John.
“In anything she wants,” Rodney said, firmly. “And we’ll be proud of her. Even if it’s Literature.”
John laughed, and kissed him again.
THE END
Current Mood:
calm