Fic: Results (a Grandview story) Rated G
Title: Results
Rated: G
Series: Grandview
Word Count: 2,331
Disclaimer: Sadly, neither Stargate Atlantis nor her characters belong to me. If they did the show would never have been nor would it ever be canceled. We may have to move it to Cinemax though.
Summary: “Couldn’t we just get the home pregnancy test?”
John had gone back to work, and although he hadn’t gotten sick anymore, his stomach was always on edge.
Jack had grounded John’s team from off world missions until all the members were well again so John spent his days in his office catching up on paper work.
He finally decided to talk to Dr. Lam after his stomach lurched at the smell of the Salisbury steak wafting out of the mess hall.
John pecked lightly on the door to Lam’s office and she looked up at him from her place behind the desk.
“Hello colonel,” she said cheerily.
“Hey doc, you got a minute?”
“Of course. Have a seat.” She motioned to the chair across the desk from her and John closed the door and sat down. “What’s up?”
“Have uh- have Porter and Garrett been in here complaining about their stomachs being upset?” he asked as he studied the pattern on the floor between his feet.
“No, I haven’t seen either of them in a couple weeks. Why do you ask? Are you still feeling sick?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I think food poisoning would have passed by now.”
“Yeah, it’s been almost a month. Are you still getting sick?”
“Not throwing up, but I always feel bad, my stomach is upset more often than not.” He paused and chewed on his lip for a moment before adding, “I did almost throw up a few minutes ago though, because I smelled the food in the mess hall.” He finally looked up at her when she didn’t reply right away.
She nodded. “It’s a simple thing to take the test, John; all I’d need is a blood sample. Is that what you want?”
“I… yeah, I think maybe we should. You know, just in case. I wouldn’t want to be doing the wrong things if I… you know.” It was still difficult for him to refer to himself as pregnant to anyone other than Rodney, even though everyone at the SGC knew that they’d used the device and were actively trying to conceive. He supposed that if the test came out positive though, it was something he’d have to get used to.
“Alright, come with me,” Dr. Lam said as she stood up.
John followed her out of the office and into the infirmary; he hopped up on the bed while she got the needle and vial ready.
“Couldn’t we just get the home pregnancy test?” John asked as he rolled his sleeve up.
“We probably could, but those aren’t always accurate even in women,” she tied the rubber strip around his arm, “and with you being male, I just wouldn’t trust it. It’s best to do it this way.”
John hissed in a breath when the needle punctured his skin.
“That hurt?” the doctor asked.
John nodded slightly. “I’m still a little… some things… I’m still a little sensitive and some things hurt more than they usually do.” He felt his face heat and he looked away.
“Is that why you’ve started wearing looser shirts?” she asked after a moment of silence.
John whipped his head around and blushed a little deeper. “Yeah,” he said softly. He couldn’t believe that she’d picked up on his sensitive nipples simply because of some looser shirts and a flush at his mention of sensitivity.
“It’s alright,” she said soothingly. She untied the band, pressed a cotton ball to his skin and pulled the needle out. “Certain parts of your body will probably react to certain situations in the same manner a woman’s body would.”
“No, that document Zelenka sent said-”
She chuckled and he glared at her.
“I’m not talking about lactating, John.” She smiled and looked away from him. “It’s weird talking to a man about this,” she began when she looked back at him, “but during their period, some women get sensitive nipples as well as other things. You obviously won’t be getting menstrual cycles, but it is possible that you could experience some of the other effects.”
“So I’m going to have sensitive nipples for a week every month?” He asked awkwardly.
She shook her head. “I have no idea. This is something that will have to be documented as you go along. Of course, I wouldn’t want to say one way or another until I get the results of the test back, but a lot of women get sensitive nipples at the beginning of pregnancy.”
“How long will it take to get the results back?”
“A couple of hours. If you were a woman it wouldn’t take that long, but I want to be extra careful. This is an unusual situation, John. You are the first man I’m going to run a pregnancy test on. In the meantime, go to your office, call Rodney and tell him you had the test done and take it easy. I’ll have one of the nurses bring you some crackers from the mess. That should help calm your stomach. And I’ll let you know.”
He nodded and hopped off the bed.
“Thanks doc,” he said as he walked away.
“No problem,” she returned.
~*~
John was lying on the couch when Rodney came into the living room with Nathan on his hip. Dr. Lam had suggested he call Rodney and tell him about the test, but he hadn’t done it. He didn’t want to get Rodney’s hopes up until he got the results.
“Hey,” Rodney greeted.
“Hey,” John returned.
“Duhduh,” Nathan said and reached toward John, clenching and unclenching his fists.
“You feeling any better?” Rodney asked as he handed Nathan down to John.
“A little.”
“Good.”
“Hey, Rodney,” John called when Rodney started toward the kitchen.
“Yeah?” Rodney asked when he poked his head around the corner.
John sat up and sat Indian style on the couch, facing Rodney. “I uh- I had Dr. Lam do the test today.”
Rodney’s face went blank and he sat on the end of the couch John had just cleared himself of. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
Rodney swallowed and John could hear it from his end of the couch, even over Nathan’s constant babbling.
Since he had used the device, John had thought of a hundred ways to tell Rodney whatever the result of the pregnancy test was. But now that it had come time to actually choose one, he couldn’t think of any, so he just handed Rodney the piece of paper Dr. Lam had given him. He watched as Rodney unfolded the paper, and he smiled as Rodney’s face lit up.
Rodney looked up at John, still clutching the paper between his fingers as if it were a lifeline. “You… we… it worked?” he managed.
John’s smile widened and he nodded. “Yeah, we’re going to be daddies again.
Rodney leaned toward John and John wrapped the arm that wasn’t holding Nathan around Rodney’s shoulder and kissed him.
“It worked,” Rodney said when the kiss broke.
“It worked,” John repeated.
John held Nathan up and let him stand on his thighs. “You’re going to be a big brother Nath,” he told him.
Nathan giggled as both his parents kissed his cheeks and Rodney tickled his belly.
“That means you need to get up on those feet boy,” Rodney said and took Nathan from John. He put him on the floor, held his hands and did their daily rounds around the living room.
~*~
That night John woke up to fingers rubbing across his stomach. He was usually the one who curled up around Rodney’s back, but somehow during the night their positions had switched.
Rodney was curled against John’s back, one arm was draped over John’s waist and his fingers were running lightly over the flesh on John’s stomach.
“Rodney,” John said quietly.
“I’m sorry,” Rodney replied but didn’t remove his hand. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“That tickles,” John said and turned onto his back.
Rodney smiled, kissed him and apologized again.
“What are you thinking about?” John asked when Rodney looked away from him and started staring off into space.
“The baby,” Rodney stated simply.
“What about it?”
“It’s going to be the first of its kind. The very first baby born to two men and biologically a part of each. I wonder if it’ll be another boy or if we’ll have a daughter this time.”
“It’s not even the size of a quarter yet, Rodney.”
“I know, but…”
“Do you have a preference?” John grimaced at the age old question.
“No,” Rodney shook his head. “I wouldn’t say I have a preference, but it would be kind of nice to have a little girl.”
John smiled. “Oh man,” he said, “can you imagine how protective Nathan would be of a sister when they get older?”
“Ha, I don’t think you and I would have to worry about beating the crap out of whatever guy she brought home, Nathan would do it for us.”
“You know, Rodney, if it does turn out to be a girl, we have to get an ancient chair and put it in the basement.”
“What? Why?”
“So we could keep an eye on her. Remember the Lord Protector and his freaky chancellor?”
“Yeah, the guy with the daughter who wanted nothing more than to jump your bones?” Rodney asked jealousy peeking through just a bit.
“Oh she wanted more than that; she wanted to have my baby. Of course I was saving that for you. But they used the chair to spy on the people of the village.”
“Oh, we could really be ‘those’ parents. The kind no guys want to meet.”
“Yeah, you know fathers are the worst when it comes to meeting boyfriends, and she’d have two fathers. She’d be screwed.” John joked.
“We’d never have grandkids.”
“Yeah, but at least our little girl would be safe.”
Rodney pursed his lips and looked up at the ceiling. “You know, on second thought, another boy sounds good.”
John laughed and turned toward Rodney. He laid his head on Rodney’s shoulder and draped one arm over his stomach. “It’ll be what it’ll be and we’ll love it regardless.” He yawned and settled himself closer to Rodney.
“Yeah,” Rodney said and wrapped an arm around John’s shoulder. “It’ll be, and that’s what matters.”
~*~
John almost knocked Rodney over as he rushed into the bathroom. He came out a moment later and curled up on the bed.
“Bad morning?” Rodney asked as he finished getting dressed for work.
“They’re all bad now,” John groaned and pulled the blanket up to his neck. He was beginning to wonder if actually finding out that he was pregnant had been such a good idea. It seemed that his refusal to get his hopes up had been the only thing holding off the morning sickness. Every day since he found out that he was pregnant the morning and half the day had been spent in the bathroom, except for that one time when he couldn’t even make it to the small bathroom and ended up throwing up in the garbage can in the kitchen.
Rodney had been as supportive as a non-pregnant husband could possibly be. He brought John crackers and chicken broth, he fluffed his pillows and rented him DVDs. John wished he could say he was milking that for all it was worth, but milking would mean he didn’t actually feel as bad as he made out. On the contrary, it seemed that every time John lifted his head off the pillow he had to rush to the bathroom.
“You want me to stay home today?” Rodney asked as he sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hand over John’s hair. “I could take Nathan to daycare, rent us a few movies and we could spend the day in bed.”
John shook his head. “No, you need to work, Rodney. I really have no idea how I’ll be going on any missions in this condition.”
“It won’t last forever. The pregnancy book says morning sickness usually only lasts a couple of months.”
“But I hate being sick,” John pouted.
Rodney nodded and patted John’s shoulder. “I know, but you’re doing it for our family. You’ll be better soon and then you’ll see this for what it is.”
“Oh I know what it is, Rodney, and I know why I’m doing it. I don’t regret it I just wish I didn’t throw up so much.”
Rodney leaned over and kissed John’s temple. “I know. Look I’m going to get out of here. Call me if you need anything okay.”
John nodded and turned over.
“You want anything before I go?”
“No, I’ll be alright.”
Rodney kissed John’s temple again and left the room.
John woke up to a pounding on the door. He grumbled as he went down the stairs and looked out the window.
“Hey, Ronon,” he said as he opened the door.
“Heard you were sick,” Ronon said as he walked in and plopped down in his chair.
“Kinda comes with the situation,” John said as he lay down on the couch.
“Heard about that too. Congratulations.”
“Yeah, I meant to call and tell you but then I got sick.”
“Its okay, Rodney told me.”
“So how’s um- Carol?”
“Karen.”
“Right, sorry.”
“She’s good.”
“Where’d you meet her?”
“At the shooting range.”
“It’s a match made in heaven then,” John joked.
“She’s a great girl.”
“Did Rodney tell you to check up on me?”
“He told me you were sick and alone. I decided to come over and bug you.”
“You know you don’t have to stay. All I’ve been doing is…” John hopped off the couch and rushed to the small bathroom under the stairs. “That,” he huffed when he came out.
“Sucks to be you.”
“Thanks, Ronon. Way to be supportive.”
“No problem, that’s what I’m here for.”
John rinsed his mouth out and lay back down. He turned on the TV, switched on the news for Ronon and then went back to sleep.
TBC