Atlantis Chapter Eight: Not Enough Time, But We Are Trying Anyway

Title: Atlantis Chapter Eight: Not Enough Time, But We Are Trying Anyway

Author: Ladyholder

Rating: NC-17

Word Count: 9278

Betas: Chris King & Keira Marcos

Art By CinnaMinion

February 2013

Atlantis Natrium

“Why did I ever agree to do this? I mean, I hate kids. You know I hate kids. They’re helpless and spit all over things that they shouldn’t, trying take everything apart and what they don’t they try to get sticky! They make horrendously unmentionable messes from both ends and everyone expects you to clean up both types with no problems. They never sleep when you want them to and they cry and scream until you pay attention to them. Why did you let me go through with this?”

“Because you didn’t stop me when we talked about it? Because we said that we could do this? And maybe because I want to see what a baby with your eyes and my hair looks like.” John’s voice had started out a bit plaintive, but had gotten firmer as he continued to talk. “And at this point it is way too late for either of us to be having second thoughts, Rodney.”

“It’s never too late to have second thoughts, Colonel. I mean…” Hands waving in semi-mute panic, Rodney paced in a circle around John, eyes intent on the multitude of wombs before them. “There’s nothing to say that we actually have to be the ones to raise him. I know that Carson wants every ATA gene holder to have at least one kid. Well look, we did it. And the results of our insanity are right over there!”

Despite his own fears of what was to come, John really was doing his best to be understanding. So he held onto his waning patience in the face of Rodney’s over the top hysteria as they both stared at the child floating in his Ancient gestation unit. Hopefully, by the time that they were able to decant the baby (and dear god, wasn’t that a weird thing to contemplate!) Rodney would have a bit more settled into the reality of fatherhood. Right now though, John had to keep the man calm enough to reach that point. “Yes Rodney, I was there when Carson mentioned that he wanted all the ATA carriers to have kids. And do I know that there will be a lot of the little darlings born in the next few years, but we said that we would be the first. And that means that we have a responsibility to the kid that we helped create. Which further means that we will be keeping and raising him. No matter how much that fucks with your world view.”

Blue eyes flicked over at him with a faintly betrayed look, likely sparked by John’s tone of voice. It did the Colonel’s pride absolutely no good to realize that he was basically mush when it came to Rodney pouting at him. John found himself mentally crossing his fingers in hope that their son wouldn’t inherit the talent. But knowing his luck, the kid would have it in spades.

“But, but… John. I am going to fuck this up. I’ll say something to make him cry and our kid will end up hating me. He’ll need to visit Kate everyday so he turns out somewhere close to normal.” Normally pronouncing doom and gloom calmed Rodney down, but this time he looked so upset at possible events that John had to offer some comfort.

“Rodney, come here,” John said as he grabbed for his lovers hand and drew him into a hug. “We are going to make mistakes, babe. Yeah, there will be days when the kid says that he hates us, but there’ll be more days when he says that he loves us. Because we are going to love him with everything we have and he will always know that. He will never have a cause to think that we didn’t want him. Okay?”

John could feel the warm puff of air on his neck as Rodney sighed. And then strong arms snaked around his waist and he was hugged tightly. “I do want him, John. I want him so badly that I am afraid that I will do the same shit to him that my parents did to me. And if that makes me sound like a girl, too damn bad. I have a right to be freaked out.”

Tucking his face into the fine hair behind an ear, John murmured, “Freaked out you can do, but don’t take it out on him. He’ll be here in a little more than a month, so get it out of your system now, okay?”

“You’re right. God, John. We’re going to be parents.” Rodney’s voice was filled with awe. Lifting his face from John’s neck, he quickly brushed a kiss over his lips and turned to face the wall with its occupied gestation chamber. “We’re going to be parents.”

~//~

Mid-February 2013

Atlantis Natrium

The best part of Carson Beckett’s day was going to the Natrium and checking on the wee ones growing within. Almost two dozen artificial wombs were now in service and each had a small plate affixed to the front, displaying the names of the child’s parents. Atlantis’s own baby-boom was set to start with the birth of little Jamie McKay-Sheppard.

The babe was looking to be a very long child, and not too chubby. The womb they had found, allowed visual observation in, but protected the child’s developing eyes from light. Very convenient, that. Since he was the first child to be gestated in the wombs in ten thousand years, the medical department had monitored his growth closely, discreetly checking to make sure everything went correctly. Just like with the little goats, the babe was bang on with his development. All in all, he was as healthy as could be.

Genetic testing of the baby had been limited, but it did show that little Jamie had a very strong expression of the ATA genome. Strong enough that Rodney was already looking into installing physical locks and lights in the baby’s room and possibly throughout their suite. Having the baby decide on his environment was not likely to be good or even comfortable for either of his parents. On the other hand, Carson was expecting that the boy would be completely comfortable with Ancient tech and how to use it from his first moment.

Rodney and John had gotten the nursery decorated in yellows, greens and lots and lots of white diapers. Carson was convinced that they wouldn’t be enough, but at least they had a washing machine in the suite to help keep ahead of the tide. At his suggestion, Teyla had taken the soon to be proud parents on a visit the Athosian village for some hands on parenting classes. Apparently the lessons on how to diaper a baby’s butt had been deeply funny, with their ‘volunteer’ managing to christen both of them before all was said and done. Ronon had been a good man and gotten both events on film and he was looking forward to watching them later.

Carson patted Jamie’s womb and moved on to the next ones in line, checking the health and viability of each fetus. Teyla and her young man had filled one womb not long after Jamie’s conception had been confirmed, Lorne and Parrish had done the same. Over a dozen more couples had followed the example set by the first three and there were now lots of babies floating in their wombs. The latest addition was the womb housing the O’Neill/Jackson baby. At twenty days gestation, the placenta for the babe was fully attached to the nutrient pad and growing rapidly.

Since the technology was still new to them, special care was taken in the first ‘trimester’ of each pregnancy. Every bit of data, from the Ph of the amniotic fluid to the date of the baby’s first heartbeat was exhaustively recorded. A new tradition had sprung up over the last bit, where the new parents were brought in to hear that first sound, the one that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that sleep was now an even more precious commodity. Looking at the readouts, Carson realized that Baby O’Neill/Jackson was going to be very special indeed.

~~

Jonathan O’Neill was a very happy man. He had spent his ‘Sunday’ on one of the City priers with the other fishing enthusiasts, trying his hand at fishing in their new sea. Between the six of them, they had managed to hook enough of a salmon like fish to feed everyone a few days. One of the kitchen guys had mentioned that he knew how to make locs and Jon had immediately bargained for several fish worth of it. The bakers were now turning out something that could pass for a bagel and there was a cream cheesy thing that had shown up recently in the mess that he could get a tub of, he knew. A red onion and some dill from hydroponics and he had most of the stuff for locs and bagels, Danny’s favorite Sunday breakfast while on Earth.

Tonight was also the night where he and Danny would be hearing from Carson about the viability of their baby. When the day of Charlie’s death had come around, it had hit hard that he wouldn’t be able to go and spend time with his son. So Jon had done the next best thing and gone to visit someone else’s. He missed being a dad and Atlantis was offering him the chance to be one again, this time with Danny. The offer, the chance, had stewed in his heart for months before he had gotten up the gumption to try. Even then, he and Danny had decided to wait until they had thought everything through and made certain that it wasn’t the never-ending grief for Charlie that had prompted his request.

Four months worth of visits to the shrink later and he and Daniel had decided they were settled enough to actually go through the procedure of starting the baby. Rodney had been right about how hot the mutual hand jobs had been to produce the sperm needed to make it.

Restless, Jon got up out of his chair and started cleaning the apartment. Danny was out talking to Parrish about getting some cooking herbs for them and he was deeply bored. Rather than taking apart something that was doubtless very fragile and very needed, he cleaned. It wasn’t like his fishing gear didn’t need to be tidied up anyway.

He had just finished wiping down his rods when Daniel walked back in with a flat full of greenery. Jon walked over to help and claim a quick kiss. “Hey Danny boy. What did you manage to score?”

Humming lightly at the kiss, Daniel leaned forward across the flat and pressed a second quick kiss on Jon’s lips. “I got mostly stuff that will go with Mediterranean type foods and some of the Pegasus stuff that you like so much. Including a starter of the one that tastes like vanilla.”

“Sweet!” Jon said with a happy smile as he carried the plants over to their coffee table.

Dinner was just the two of them, full of foods that would sit lightly on tense stomachs. They talked about everything that had happened in their respective departments over the last week. It was a ritual that they had brought with them from Earth where they had often been separated for weeks on end due to school and Jon’s military commitments.

Jon was cleaning the dinner dishes when the expected call from Carson came in. Since he had a sink full of dirty dishes, Danny took the call. Several minutes of quiet conversation later, he walked into the kitchen with a big smile on his face. “We can head up to the Natrium whenever you are finished with that,” he said.

Hands deep in sudsy water, Jon smiled as watched the archeologist bounce on his feet, utterly excited at what they were about to do. “The dishes can wait if you want to go now,” Jon offered. As loathe as he was to leave any type of mess in their home, he was far more interested in finally getting confirmation that all was well with their baby.

“I can wait five minutes, Jon. I have learned some patience,” Danny said with a snooty look that was spoiled by the big grin that broke through. To get things moving faster, he grabbed towel and started drying the clean dishes and putting them away. With his cooperation, everything was quickly finished and they were ready to go. One short transporter ride and they were in front of the doors that lead to the hopes of the whole City, the Natrium.

Jon leaned over, took a quick kiss and just grinned when Danny looked at him, a question on his face. “For luck.”

“Uh-huh. Nut,” Danny said fondly as he waved a hand in front of the door sensor.

Walking into the room, Jon felt like he was entering a little chapel to babies. It was quiet, peaceful and there were many blinking lights around each of the teardrop shaped wombs. Carson was standing in front of the unit they had initiated three weeks before looking over the readouts. Since he looked calm and amused, but not upset, something in Jon relaxed, just a bit.

It was still a struggle to be courteous and not demanding, but Jon did his best. “Carson? Can we listen to it now? Please?”

“Aye lads. After we listen for a few minutes, I will need to talk to ye about a few things.” Carson informed them with a smile.

Nodding his head quickly, Jon agreed, “Sure, sure. Not a problem!” His attention was centered on their womb, and it was lit with a gentle red light, drawing his attention like a lodestone. Where the nutrient pad had been bare before, it was now covered with a tangled mass of blood vessels. He couldn’t tell at this point where their baby was in the mess, but it did look promising. Looking back and forth to the wombs that were further along, he saw that their baby had a lot more blood vessels than anyone else’s though.

It was Danny’s hand sliding into his that drew his attention away from his contemplation of the oddness. Carson was watching both of them and when he saw Jon focus back in, the Doctor touched a spot on the control panel and a sound like a very fast washing machine filled the room.

As soon as he heard the sound of his child’s heartbeat Jon felt his knees go weak and it was all he could do not to sit down. It was the sound of all his dreams and hopes for the future made real and he was floored at how much he was looking forward to the birth of this child. His and Danny’s baby. Hopefully the kid took after his other father…

“Huh.” Jon turned to look at Danny. While there wasn’t as much ingrained horror at a ‘Huh’ from Dr. Daniel Jackson as there was from Rodney, Jon had too many years of listening to his genius in the field to ignore him at home. “Carson? Why does it sound like there is an echo?”

Shoulders tensing that the thought that there might be something wrong with their child, Jon looked between the womb and Carson. When he didn’t immediately pipe up with the explanation for the echo he was now hearing, Jon asked, “Doc?”

“Oh, sorry lad. Just listening,” Carson answered with a sheepish grin.

“That’s okay. Why is there an echo?” Danny pressed.

Eyes alight with deep amusement; the doctor looked at the two men staring back at him. “Oh, that no echo lads. Ye’re having twins.”

The only consolation to Jon was that his ass wasn’t the only one who the ground.

~//~

March 2013

Main Lab, Atlantis

Rodney was at heart an engineer. He loved to tinker and improve upon his toys, to play with parts of anything mechanical, or watch the numbers that made up the universe dance to the tune he called. If he could manipulate it, make it better, take it apart or just play with it, he was happy. Or if he wasn’t, he figured out how to fix it so things were better and he was happy.

So finding three ancient ships, in what looked to be full working order was his version of Christmas, his birthday, and the Nobel Prize all at once. Combined with the detailed manuals that some bygone engineer had left for them, his life was currently very good. The one thing he could see making things better would be if they had found a ZPM stash at the yard, but so far, that search was coming up dry. Rodney was about to suggest sending someone to remove the full one from the Brotherhood. Since they weren’t using the damn thing and the Expedition had several at or below 0.03% power, they wouldn’t notice a substitution based off of glow alone. Which, at their low level of technology, would be the only way they would have to tell that the ZPM was any good. Plus they had that nifty Asgard transporter….

He would need to talk to John about it when he got home.

Meanwhile, he had three ships and a very limited number of trained scientists who could work on them and not blow themselves to kingdom come. So. He had every one of the Expedition members with any sort of engineering degree working on the first ship he had cleared. That included John. From his cursory of the ship’s hardware and computer systems, he was putting the current condition of the ship at 70% of nominal due to some failures in the coolant lines, software corruption and a possibly faulty star drive. And he didn’t want to move their new prize out of its berth but it was at least airtight and repairable, which along with the ability to power up, were his major requirements.

Thanks to the paranoid preplanning and hoarding on the part of all the major science departments in the military arm of the Expedition, they had many more naquadah generators then they needed to power the areas of the City they were using. From the first look at the ships power plant, if they got it back up and running, they would be able to move the portable units out and have enough power to fully operate the ship. So that was the first chore on the engineers list after making certain that the ship could handle the influx of power without blowing up.

Since that would require an ATA key to turn it on, Rodney would have to work out how to get around that obstacle. There was no way he would let John stay aboard a 12,000 year old ship being turned back on for the first time in 10,000 years. If it went half as well as the initialization of Atlantis had gone, he would be duly grateful. So grateful he might not curse the Ancient engineers who had attempted to mothball their new ship. While they had done a decent enough job on some things, there were so many secondary systems that had needed some form of stasis put on them and hadn’t that it was ridiculous. Absolute C had helped in some cases but the caustic nature of several of the chemicals the Ancients had used had eaten away at the coating of certain lines, in others the cold itself had caused damage, and then there was sheer amount of time that had passed without basic servicing. He was hoping that when they came up with the list of necessary repair parts they were on the station. Otherwise is going to have to cannibalize a ship to help repair the other two.

Moving away from the computer tied into the newly rechristened Hyperion, Rodney tried not to growl over the lack of durability in the Ancient designs, materials and installations. He was going to ignore that no machine of any type on Earth, of native manufacture at least, would have been capable of working after ten thousand plus years. The Ancients were supposed to have been better than that and he was bitterly unhappy that they weren’t. If he got his hands on one, he would be certain to register his complaints. Forcibly.

His next stop was at the computer he had set up for Parrish to handle the research into how the Ancients kept the air in their ships and stations fresh. From all indications they had used an advanced form of synthetic oxygen generation technology and living plants to balance things out. Chemical means of oxygen generation were all well and good, but the tang of the chemical mix was extremely evident so the plants had to serve some function other than to absorb the smell. Parrish was thinking that by having the oxygenated air run through the ships greenhouses not only did the O2 content get indirectly increased but the plants also scrubbed any final particulates left over from the oxygenation process out.

Small-scale testing in the lab back on Atlantis was proving proof of concept quite well. Initial results were showing that the system saved energy and the plants were growing at a faster rate than plants that were not part of the oxygen generation system. The biologists and amateur gardeners who were working on the project also noted that that particular greenhouse was very pleasant to work in. So perhaps there was an impact on morale as well. Not that he would credit the head shrinkers with that idea.

On to the final computer that he had set up this time to monitor Jamie and his health. The camera he had set up in the Natrium was showing an empty room. The view took in the panel displaying all the readings concerning his child’s health. From the results in the same Jamie wasn’t that far away from being born. If all went well he would be holding Jamie within the next 3 to 4 weeks. While technically Jamie was far enough along to be born, Carson was all for letting nature take its course and letting the baby and nature determine when it was due. He had cited many studies that had sounded like so much bullshit, but there was nothing showing that the baby was being harmed by waiting. So he was, reluctantly, practicing his patience.

His mental “to do list” complete Rodney shut down all of his computers and started to clean up his work area. Even though he wasn’t the neatest person on the planet when it came to his work area, he refused to leave his lab a total mess. Sketchy cleanup done, Rodney headed back home to see if John wanted to play after dinner since he was home from his tour on the Junkyard Dog.

~~

Four weeks on the Junkyard Dog and all John wanted was a long, hot shower. One where he did not have to be on a timer so he didn’t waste water or power using a scarce commodity.

Their quarters in the City were just the same as they had been when he had left them, thanks to the wonders of Ancient air filters, and Rodney’s persnickety nature when it came to his personal area. Ignoring the scents from the kitchen he dropped his duffel by the door, and started stripping out of his clothes as he walked towards the master bath. He was going to have to do something about the state of his clothes soon. Everything but his uniforms were starting to wear out and even they were starting to look ratty.

Naked and comfortable in the warm room, John reached out with the mental twist needed to turn on the water in the shower. Hot, strong, and currently better than coffee, it poured out in an unending stream from several different points in the little room. One step in and John felt some of his tension slip away. Muscles that had been tensed due to the unfamiliar work of using his aeronautical engineering degree for the first time in 15 years relaxed. Rodney was going to owe him for throwing him in the deep end like he had.

Ten minutes of wallowing in the wet heat of the shower and he was ready to get clean. Shampoo, conditioner, soap and a thorough scrub left his skin was as clean as he could make it. Arms braced under the main showerhead John contemplated going further and getting totally clean, inside and out. While he was tired he wasn’t completely exhausted and maybe Rodney could be talked into playing a bit.

One through, intimate cleaning and shave later, he was once again scrubbing himself down. While spontaneity had its place would he wanted was going to take a bit more time.

Body clean both inside and out, John dried off and padded out to their bedroom. From the sounds coming from the front room Rodney was futzing around in the kitchen and the smells were making him hungry. While he was perfectly happy with being naked he was still feeling a bit of a chill from the Hyperion and the Junkyard Dog in his bones.

Ancient technology was a wonderful thing John thought especially when he was feeling lazy. Clean new underwear, thick socks, new black T-shirts? John picked up the black, very new and not one of the ones he had been hoarding, shirt. The fabric wasn’t quite the same, but it was soft and warm and checking the tag, had a maker’s mark of one of the Athosian seamstresses who had made the clothes for Jamie.

Smiling slightly, John figured out what Rodney had been up to and was warmed by it. A glance into his closet show that all of his off-duty clothes had been replaced with new ones that almost glowed with fresh black dye. Jeans, cargos, shirts, dress pants, a jacket or two, and even what look like two sets of leather pants were all brand-new and hanging for him to wear. Running his hands over each new garment, he found that they were all soft, well constructed and looked a lot like the clothes he had bought on Earth and worn to death.

“Rodney? Can you come here?” John called.

The sounds of dinner being made stopped and Rodney stepped into the bedroom. A small smug smile lit his face as he saw John petting his new clothes. “Yes, I got you cloth for new clothes and took some of your old ones to the seamstresses who made us the baby clothes to use as patterns. Ninety percent of it is in the black that you like so much and I even got them to make you new socks and underwear out of some of the extra from Jamie’s stuff. Stackhouse will be by later to deliver you the uniforms you will need to replace all the ones that are only fit for the ragbag too.”

John raised an eyebrow at that last bit and grabbed a set of the new cargo pants to slip into. They fit as well as his original pair and they even had Tau’ri buttons and zippers which was unlike most of the Athosian made garments he’d seen which used a modified hook and eye system. “I feel very husband–like to hear that. Thank you dear, for getting me my foundation garments,” He said with a slight leer and a cheeky grin. He then followed the comments up with a ‘thank you’ kiss.

Face blushing a fetching shade of pink, Rodney returned the kiss with interest before pulling away to scowl at John. “There is no way I was going to let you go commando around all those priestesses, village daughters, village matrons or the odd random Princess. They might try to steal you again. And you’re welcome. Teyla and I found the fabric when we got the stuff for Jamie.”

Eyes fond, John quickly kissed Rodney again and started towards the kitchen asking, “What’s for dinner?”

“I made your favorite,” Rodney said as he followed the other man while looking at his ass. The new clothes were doing great things for his walk away and John knew it.

“The almost-turkey we found on New Athos?” John asked with a happy grin.

“Yup. I managed to score half a bird and it’s been roasting most of the day. Just have to get the veggies ready. We’re having some roasted potatoes from the greenhouses, and green beans with onions and garlic.” Rodney said promptly. “We also have that apple like thing done with honey and nuts for dessert too. Hungry?”

“Yup. For food and well…” John said with relish. He would never tell anyone, but the almost-turkey thing was actually better than a traditional turkey from Earth. On the Athosian bird, the breast didn’t dry out as it was cooked and that was a major win in his book. Stomach rumbling for food the way it hadn’t in the entire time he’d been gone John nodded. Oh, he was hungry all right. “And after we eat, I have some stuff… Planned.”

“Planned?” Rodney asked as he washed his hands before getting back to work on dinner. There was no way that he was going to let his culinary efforts go to waste, John knew. And he was going to do his best to make a dent in the mountain of food that Rodney had prepared.

“Planned. All cleaned up and ready, planned,” John said definitely. “How soon until we can eat?”

“Ten minutes,” came the distracted answer. John could hear Rodney take a deep breath as he bent over to look into the refrigerator they had in their room. There was a pitcher of the hot pink juice and a careful sniff showed it was made out of the bituu that was proving to be one of the best food finds that they had had. Rodney loved it, but the kitchen staff rarely had enough to make juice from it, so this was a treat right up there with chocolate.

“When did we get enough bituu to juice them?” John asked as he carefully poured them both a glass.

“Daniel was on P4H-688 helping them translate their dynastic papers and in return for his hard work in preserving their history, they gave him and the team he was with about a ton of the stuff. Rather than let it rot, the Mess juiced about 80% of it, we have another 5% under one of the new stasis devices and the rest is being used at a prodigious rate. Parrish thinks he can grow some in our greenhouses, which will cut down on the not having them when they are out of season. Too many people like them for a variety of reasons,” Rodney explained as he pulled various dishes out of their oven.

Jon only hummed as he moved the dishes to the table before getting ready to eat. He was going to need the fuel.

//

Dinner passed in a haze of lust and want. As soon as the last bite of whatever he had cooked was finished, Rodney piled the dirty dishes in the sink and went to go find John. And then fuck him blind. The slinky bastard had promised him all sorts of fun stuff and then spent dinner sucking every bite of his meal off his fork. Rodney was surprised that he hadn’t cum in his pants after that display.

When he got into their bedroom he almost dropped to his knees in thanks at the sight before him. John was laid out on the bed with his legs spread, showing a clean and shaved groin with one hand gently pulling on his cock while the fingers of the other were brushing the outside of his asshole. Rodney felt his mouth water at the sight. It wasn’t often that he indulged his oral fetish with John, but this was too much to resist.

His pants and underwear were easy to remove and the shirt was only frustrating because it cut off the sight in front of him. “You are the best sort of porn,” Rodney told John as he dropped his shirt into a chair. “The kind I can touch taste and fuck. Hold still.”

That was all the warning he gave John as Rodney knelt on the bed, ran his hands up his legs to the crease between thigh, and ass and spread his Colonel out to feast on. He was going to ignore the cock waving above him for the moment to play with John’s ass. He didn’t get to very often and Rodney wasn’t going to miss a moment of this chance to rim the very pretty asshole in front of him. Rodney started at John’s perineum and carefully outlined the whole area, from right above the asshole he was going to be fucking later to the base of his cock. Each and every inch got licked and sucked and enjoyed before he moved further south.

A careful swipe of his tongue across the furled skin in front of him brought only the taste of clean, smooth skin, without the musky earthiness that was normally there. God, he loved John for indulging him with this. Slowly, carefully, Rodney explored the skin that was revealed to his gaze thanks to the careful shave that John had given himself earlier. While the other man had never had a thatch of hair, he rarely went to the trouble of trimming his pubic hair down to skin level or even shaving. The fact that he had, made tonight even hotter. Pressing a light kiss to the bulge of John’s perineum, he sat up and looked for a few things to help him out in his quest to make his Colonel shiver out of his skin.

“You are not stopping, are you Rodney?” John asked. There was a ragged edge to his voice that Rodney  adored, but he was more interested in finding the edible nut oil they had bought from the last market world they had been at to worry about what John was talking about. The oil was right where they had left it and taking the bottle, he dropped it by John’s hips before grabbing one of their many extra pillows to place under the other man’s ass. Humming lightly as he manhandled his partner the way he wanted him, Rodney ignored the complaining going on over his head until he had John situated perfectly.

Once he was satisfied, Rodney flicked a glance at John and found that the other was laying back and making ‘Get one with it’ gestures with his hands. Obliging him was not going to be a problem at all, he decided. Using his hands, he once again spread John out to allow for easy access and dove back into his feast. Each inch, each fold of skin got licked, tasted, loved and worshipped as Rodney strove to drive John out of his mind. From the sounds the other man was making, he was on track to reach his goal. When he noticed that John was stroking his cock in time to the thrusts of his tongue into his asshole, Rodney reached up and carefully and pulled his hands away, pressing them into the mattress. If John was going to cum, it was going to be from his mouth alone, not from jacking himself off.

Stiffening his tongue up again, Rodney thrust it into the furled bud of John’s ass. The taste was still clean, untainted with the musk of John’s natural flavor and he was enjoying himself immensely. By the time he was interested in looking for the oil to move on to the next step, John’s asshole was well on its way to being opened and with every swipe of his tongue, Rodney was tasting that peculiar deep musky flavor that was John at his most basic. Panting lightly as he tried to get his breath back, Rodney carefully uncapped the oil and poured it over the skin before him, paying careful attention to the tender tissues his cock was going to be diving into. His fingers got a quick douse and he carefully slid two into John’s ass and crooked his fingers in an effort to find his prostate while his other hand kept his partners hips on the bed.

When John curled up and cried out, he knew that he had hit the right spot. Rodney moved up then, licking a hot stripe from asshole to the top of John’s dick and took it into his mouth to suck on. The poor thing had been neglected while he had been feasting on his partners ass and from the puddle of precum on his stomach, John had been enjoying what he was doing. Rodney relaxed his throat and took a deep breath as he moved down the cock in his mouth until his lips were firmly around the base of it. Right before he swallowed, he slid his fingers back into John’s ass and pressed firmly over the bulge of his prostate. From above there was a shout of pleasure as Rodney felt the muscles surrounding his fingers clamp down and he swallowed around the cock resting deep in his throat. That brought a louder shout and John’s hips stuttered, his cock moving back into his mouth and he got a taste of the others cum. Savoring the flavor was for later, and with another deep breath, Rodney deep throated John again.

One of the things he was deeply grateful for was the total lack of a gag reflex that he had developed while learning how to suck cock. He had been decent at it before, thanks to some fuck buddies he had had at various postings, but steady practice had made him excellent and he was using that skill to the hilt tonight. Only when John was boneless and patting his head with limp hands did he pull off the mostly limp cock and gently pulled his fingers out of his ass. As relaxed as the other man was, they glided out without any resistance.

Rodney grabbed the base of his own cock and pressed firmly, he wasn’t going to cum before he had even had a chance to fuck John. It was the work of only a moment to add some more oil to the hole that was glistening and lax, waiting for his cock to fill it and stretch it wide. Before he pushed in, Rodney had to make certain that John was okay wit continuing. No matter how much he wanted to dive in. “John? Is this what you want?” Rodney asked as he nudged the head of his cock against the loosened asshole it was resting against.

Hazel eyes clouded with pleasure opened slowly and the smile that curled John’s lips was both smug and lusty. “Oh, I didn’t go to all the trouble of getting squeaky clean just so you could just rim me. I want your cock in my ass. I want you to fuck me until I walk funny tomorrow. I want you to fuck me until I get hard again and cum all over myself. That is what I want.”

Rodney clamped his hand around the base of his dick again and took a deep breath. The images that John had just conjured were so much more than he was expecting, hotter than hell and he wanted to do all of them now. “John, you can’t talk to me that way,” Rodney groaned as he pressed hard to keep from coming.

John was moving his hips against the pressure of his hand in small circular patterns, rubbing his loosened asshole against the sensitive head of Rodney’s dick. From the blissed out expression on his face, Rodney could tell that he was rapidly getting aroused again. Good. Changing the grip on his dick from a clamping motion to a guiding one, Rodney pressed the head of his cock against the muscular ring & started to press in.

The heat and pressure was divine and Rodney paused before he was fully seated to just savor the sensation. It wasn’t that they didn’t make love a lot, it was more, they rarely had the time to take their time. So he was going to enjoy this slow journey into the heat of John’s ass. When he was fully seated, Rodney drew one John’s legs up and placed a kiss against the bony ankle on his shoulder. Eyes intent on the scientist’s face, John moved the other leg around his waist and tried to pull him in just a hair more. Smiling at the motion, Rodney decided that John was just too coherent at this point in the night for his tastes. He was going to have to fix that. And he started to move.

//

The feeling of a thick cock filling his ass was, in John’s opinion, the best thing ever. To have it be Rodney’s cock? That topped them all. And right now, Rodney was fucking him like a metronome, steady, deep and tireless. IT was wonderful. The stretch and burn of muscles that hadn’t been put to this use in weeks was deeply satisfying. Hell, it was more than satisfying, it was mind-blowing.

When Rodney changed the angle of his thrusts to find and scrape his prostate, John gasped and reached for his dick. He wanted to stroke it in counterpoint to the cock moving within him, to feel the pressure build until it burst in orgasm, but Rodney had other ideas. He had just palmed his own hardening cock when his scientist took his hand off it and pressed it against his side. A moan burst out of his mouth at the action. John adored it when Rodney got pushy in the bedroom, and today looked to be one of those times.

The repeated stabbing of pressure against his prostate, the glide of Rodney’s cock against the over sensitive nerves of his hole, the smells and sounds, all combined to throw him back into full arousal. John felt the blood pull out of his head and pool in his cock, throbbing in time to the flesh moving within him. Moans and gasps were falling from his lips and John didn’t care. He felt too good, his skin too tight with pleasure and he knew that he wasn’t going to hold out much longer. His earlier orgasm had just primed the pump and he needed to cum. Needed to relieve the pressure, to let his mind white out and see the universe in a way that he could never see it when he wasn’t in this state.

One more thrust and it was there, Nirvana, heaven, the whole of the universe laid out at his feet in patterns that he wanted to see again. John gasped and clenched down on the cock that had taken him to this place and held it, held the man at who’s hands he come apart at. And when Rodney shook and cried out with his orgasm, John could only wrap his arms around him and hold on.

~//~

Late April

Atlantis Natrium

On his calendar, Carson Beckett had a whole week blocked out that he was looking forward in a way that he hadn’t looked much in a long while. The birth of little Jamie McKay–Sheppard was on his horizon. He’d even gone so far as to rig an alarm on the monitoring panel to inform him at the first hint of what, in a human, would be true labor. The Ancient womb had been flexing lightly and what would have been Braxton – Hicks contractions and he and the Expedition’s pediatrician were finding it fascinating The Ancients had gone to quite a lot of trouble to exactly duplicate the environment of a human womb.

The wee one was now officially at 40 plus weeks and was in the final stages of gestation where he was gaining weight rapidly. If things continued on the way they were, the babe would be born within days. Patting the bulb of the womb, Carson did one last tour of the room and headed out.

His rounds done for the day, Carson headed back to his quarters. He had been moving since early morning due to an accident involving Marines, a skateboard, and an impromptu ramp. The Colonel had not been happy at the corporal for his stunt, nor with how long he would be off duty thanks to his newly broken leg. He had been even less happy with the Marines who had been egging him on. Major Lorne was going to be busy thinking up a suitable punishment for the whole group.

Speaking of not happy… Carson took a moment to detour through the public garden that the agronomists and amateur gardeners had planted for the hell of it as a cutting garden. Every plant in there was both pretty and able to be clipped and used in flower arrangements. There was everything from lilies to sweet roses and even some of the plum scented fronds from Sateda that Ronon had gone back to get when the garden had been planned. Every world that they came across that had something that might fit in there was reviewed to make certain that no one was allergic. So far everything turned out fine.

A dozen snips later and he had a respectable bouquet and hopefully Miko wouldn’t skin him for crawling out of their bed at dawn to take care of the idiot Marines. They had started dating after his relationship with Cadman had fallen apart and he was very glad that he had actually listened to Teyla when she had acted as the go between for them. He felt calmer, better able to work now that he was with Miko and while a small part of himself was still in love with Laura, he loved Miko more. Small she might be, but she was also feisty, and had no problems with letting him know when he was being an ass or putting too much of himself into his work. After all, she stood up to Rodney on a daily basis and had yet to run away screaming.

When he poked his head in his door, there were no objects flying at him so he was duly grateful. Miko had been very odd the last few weeks and he was starting to get suspicions as to what was wrong. Well not wrong, but if he was right, Miko wouldn’t be the only one trying to kill him. Rodney would try to skin him alive for benching his third in command.

“Miko, sweetheart? Are ye here?” he called softly. When there was no answer, he stepped in and made certain to remove the shoes. He didn’t want another lecture on good manners and not tracking the outside world into her house.

A quick glance through their large front room showed him that Miko wasn’t indulging in her love of cooking. Nor was she curled up in their small library nook reading some of the paper books they had both collected over the years. Their spare room was still empty even after six months of living together and that left the master bedroom. Carson looked down at the flowers he held and quickly moved to put them in the vase that Miko had traded for on PX4-973. A quick pass under the tap and he wasn’t killing his gift before Miko could see them.

Floral apology store safely, Carson moved to the bedroom and found his partner napping on his side of the bed. There was a small tablet beside the bed and LSD sitting underneath. Picking up the tablet, Carson turned it on and saw the memo from Keller, informing Miko that she was six weeks pregnant. Brain numb, he picked up the LSD and concentrated, turning it on to its highest setting. Instead of the two life signs he would normally expect to see there were three. It looked like the Atlantis baby-boom had hit them too.

Rodney was so going to kill him. Right after Miko did.

~//~

Midnight between April and May 2013

Sheppard – McKay Household

Atlantis Natrium

Rodney woke up to the lights in their bedroom flashing in a strobe pattern and the 1812 Overture playing on the surround sound system he had installed after they had moved in. His flailing should have smacked John at least once but he wasn’t in their bed. A quick check showed that it was still warm.

The noise wasn’t stopping even though his eyes were open so Rodney sat up. As soon as his feet hit the deck Atlantis shut the alarm off and he looked over at John who is coming out of their bathroom. “What’s up?”

“Carson called while Atlantis was going nuts in here. Jamie has finally decided to be born. His womb has been pulsing strongly for the last 30 minutes and he says we need to get up there to see him be born.” John reported.

Rodney could tell that, under the forced calm, the other man was just as freaked out as he was. It was both comforting and freaky because he was really used to John being the one to keep it together. At least he had remembered to grab the bag full of baby gear they had for Jamie.

Jamie. The thought of his son… their son, galvanized him into action. Grabbing the pants he had pulled off only hours before, Rodney slipped them on and jammed his feet into his boots. One T-shirt, his com pushed into his ear, and a quick tooth brushing and he was ready (not) to meet their son.

They were out the door before Rodney tried to contact Carson for himself, “How is Jamie?”

“The wee one is fine. But you two should hurry. The Ancient womb is flexing for all its worth and I estimate we have about 10 minutes before Jamie is officially born,” The doctor responded absently. Most of his attention was obviously elsewhere and Rodney for once, couldn’t fault him about that.

The transporter was only steps from their door and attached later there are heading to the Natrium at a fast jog. The door opened without any problems from him so Rodney charged through on John’s heels. And immediately stopped.

There just wasn’t room to barge in and over people without causing damage. There was Carson, two of his nurses, and the pediatrician they’d gotten in their second year when they found the trading medical knowledge was just as good as the sweat of their brows. Someone had also dragged in a portable incubator, defrib unit, and a very small intubation pack. Something tight inside of him relaxed at the sight of all the medical equipment and how serious Carson was taking the birth.

Jamie was still in his womb and was lying very still. The contrast to his previous behavior was startling since he had never seemed to be still. Even when Rodney had been told he was sleeping, he limbs had been twitching and moving in random patterns against the confines of the womb. Now, the only way he knew that everything was okay with the baby with the steady sound of his heartbeat.

“Carson? Is there anything that we need to do?” John asked, pitching his voice over the sound of the heart monitor and the idle conversation of the medical staff.

The Scotsman raised his head from where he was intently studying the readings on the monitoring panel with the pediatrician. “Ah, good. Ye’re here. I need ye both to come over here and suit up in the scrub covers that Marie has for you,” he said as he grabbed a set of gloves.

“Scrub covers? Why do we need scrub covers?” Rodney asked as he was handed a set. Every single set he’d ever had to wear looked like it had been made by Omar the Tentmaker: and they never fit right but he shrugged into it anyway. The duty nurse was even nice enough to tie the top tie for the both of them.

“Because this is going far faster than I expected and do ye really want to be cleaning birth fluids out of yer clothes?” The doctor asked. Most of his attention was still firmly on the panel in front of them. “Now get over here, you great lummoxs.”

Feet moving slowly despite how fast his heart was beating, Rodney moved over to the artificial womb that is held their son for the last 40 something weeks. John was just as slow as he moved to the other side. “No gloves?” He asked as he saw that everyone else had them on.

“No. Ye can’t get good skin contact through them and we need to both to do the parental release thing. Really, my nurses and I could do this, but it just seems more fitting if you both are in on the finishing of this pregnancy,” Carson explained as he waved at the two sensors that they had used to initialize the womb. His hands were twitching as if he were acting out what they would be doing once the machine opened.

“Right,” Rodney said, and took a deep breath. Now or never.

Face a big green, John looked just as nervous as he felt. But his eyes were shining and staring straight at him. Rodney held his gaze and nodded. Fingers set over the buttons, John said quietly, “On three. One. Two. Three.”

Both of them touched the green pads at the same time in the top popped off of the womb with the remaining amniotic fluid draining a rapidly, leaving Jamie cushioned against the nutrient pad that had sustained and supported the placenta attached to it. Carson reached in and pulled him out of the bulb. The pediatrician was working around Carson’s hands, making certain that there was no fluid in Jamie’s lungs and that the mucous plugs were gone from his nose. The baby was now moving and mewling slightly.

Rodney watched the whole thing with a tight feeling in his chest. His son. Their son was born. At the first small cry he quickly looked at John and smiled at the expression on his lover’s face. So much of what he was feeling was reflected on the other man’s face. Wonder, awe, fear and want.

“Gentlemen, do you want to cut the cord?” The pediatrician asked holding out a set of surgical scissors.

His hand shaking like it had been when he had opened the womb, Rodney put one hand on top of John’s and the other around his waist leaning over his shoulder to watch as they made James Alexander McKay-Sheppard an independent person in his own right.

Carson wrapped a surgical sheet around the baby and handed him over to John after the pediatrician took the scissors. As soon as John had Jamie safely in his arms, every light in the room brightened beyond daytime levels for an instant and then dimmed. Only then did the baby truly scream at being out of his warm environment.

His face alight with the same look of peace he normally displayed only in Rodney’s arms, John leaned over and murmured in their sons ear, “You are born, my son. Welcome to the world.”

Rodney could only agree.

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