A Someday Thing
It's been too quiet 'round here. :)
Title: A Someday Thing
Date: December 3, 2006
Rating: R
Main characters: Elizabeth Weir, John Sheppard
Summary: John and Elizabeth talk a little about the future.
Beta: none. All mistakes mine.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: The boys and girls of "Stargate: Atlantis" belong to a lot of people who are not me. No harm intended, just some not-for-profit fun.
Author's Notes: This is set a few months after Anniversaries so the two of them are engaged.
Feedback: Is like peanut butter and chocolate together.
John closed and locked the front door as Elizabeth hung their coats up. Rubbing her arms, she went to nudge the thermostat up a little. It was spring, but it was chilly tonight, and they'd been out for several hours.
They'd spent the evening at Elizabeth's brother's house. In between chatting with Andy and playing with Joshua a lot, John had found himself with baby Mallory on his lap at one point. She was just over eight months old now, and getting big enough to be interesting. She could recognize people's faces and voices, and she babbled a lot, and her hand-eye coordination was pretty good. Making her laugh was both incredibly easy and rewarding.
John remembered holding her the first time, the day she was born. She'd been tiny in comparison, and he'd been a nervous wreck having that fragile little thing in his arms.
Now, of course, she had ended up gnawing on him more than once, and drooling on his shirt. Melissa, Andy's wife, had apologized profusely, but John hadn't cared much.
He grabbed a beer from the fridge and flopped onto the couch, watching Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye. She was surveying the dining room table, which had been conquered by what he referred to as the Wedding Empire. They were getting married in two months, and as the winter had progressed, the paraphernalia had just kept encroaching until it took over the dining room. John half-expected some morning to wake up and find it had made a play for the sofa in the night.
Elizabeth flipped through a few papers without real interest. Because she was far more into planning and arrangements than he was, she had been doing most of the work. Despite the fact that they had sworn solemnly to each other that they wanted a simple wedding, they had too many relatives and friends (all with opinions, of course) involved and things just kept getting bigger and bigger. With a sigh, Elizabeth turned away from the dining room and cast herself onto the couch next to him. John chuckled, which earned him a glare. "What?"
Trying and failing to keep the grin off his face, he said "Looks like the most organized woman on the planet has finally met her match."
The dean of the law school's mature response was to stick her tongue out at him.
He watched her for a moment as she stretched her legs. Playing with Mallory earlier had stirred up some things, things that they probably needed to talk about. He couldn't help thinking about a child Mallory's size but with darker hair and big green eyes. Possibly even with the dreaded Sheppard ears. A whole little person who was part of Elizabeth and part of him. It was a scary thought, but also exhilarating and gut-churning all at the same time.
"Home" and "family" had been abstract concepts in his head for a long time. John had always thought of them as a someday thing. Someday in the future, maybe, he'd have that. He'd been focused on his research and his work for years, and then coming to Langford initially had seemed to cut him off from the possibility at first. Before he moved his office into the law building, John had been finding Langford isolating and a little sad. He had friends in the faculty, good people but not anything more than friends. He'd traveled a lot that first year, but ever since his office had been moved, he only left for business or to see his family.
He realized Elizabeth had an eyebrow raised and was looking at him expectantly. He'd been staring at her without realizing it. "Sorry," he muttered, taking a drink.
Elizabeth turned and draped her legs over his lap and propped herself up with an arm. "What's up?"
He put a hand on her foot, his fingers rubbing her ankle absently. "Just thinking."
He knew she wasn't going to let it go, and the truth was they probably should have a mature, responsible conversation about the subject. Still, he waited until she huffed out an exasperated, "About?"
"Kids," he said laconically, watching as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh."
"We haven't talked about it," he shrugged.
"No, I guess we haven't," Elizabeth said. He couldn't quite read her tone, which was a little unnerving.
"I just, I was holding Mallory earlier and I couldn't help thinking about what our kids would look like," he explained.
Elizabeth looked thoughtful. "Green eyes and dark hair? Just a wild guess." He smiled, squeezing her foot. She turned more serious. "I admit, I've thought about it before, too." It was his turn to raise his eyebrows and she yielded. "Watching you with Joshua. I know you're good with kids in general, but I've seen how you take care of him, John."
He thought about that for a minute. He did like kids, although one of the chief attractions had always been that they were someone else's and went home eventually. "I think we'd be okay as parents," he said after a pause.
Elizabeth smiled at him, something almost tender in her face that made his heart beat a little faster. It was a look that always got to him, one that made him feel like he'd somehow already been with her for a lifetime, and that he still wanted more.
John leaned forward to drop his beer bottle onto the coffee table and then tugged so that Elizabeth was closer to him. She willingly wrapped her arms around his neck when he kissed her. "We should probably take a little time after the wedding to get used to the whole 'married' thing before we try to start a family," she said as he trailed his lips over her cheek.
He chuckled. "What, you don't want to get knocked up on your honeymoon?" Even without seeing it, he knew she was rolling her eyes.
"I'd rather be thinking about other things on our honeymoon," she purred in his ear and abruptly his mood shifted from sweet and lazy to hungry and eager. His fingers moved in between them and he started unbuttoning her blouse, but Elizabeth, as he knew all too well, never ended a serious conversation early. Though she did shift her legs in a way that made him catch his breath. "Did you have a number in mind?"
He blinked, momentarily distracted by the curves he could see above the thin lace of her bra. "Two?" Then he bent his head. The angle was awkward but he heard Elizabeth groan.
Her fingers ran through his hair and down the nape of his neck. "Two's a good number," she said a little breathlessly.
John trailed kisses up her throat. He caught Elizabeth's waist in his hands and lunged swiftly so that she fell onto her back on the couch. He paused only long enough to strip off his shirt and then he dropped on top of her. "Two it is then."
Elizabeth wrapped her legs around his instinctively as he got to work on the fastening of her jeans. "John, maybe we should go upstairs," she murmured. Normally Elizabeth wasn't reluctant to have sex more or less anywhere in the house - the incident in the laundry room stood out in his mind - but she did prefer the bed. "It's a little cold in here," she added.
One of his hands delved into her open jeans and the other braced him above her so he could look into her eyes. "I'll keep you warm." It was a total cliché, but Elizabeth bucked under him and he didn't particularly care. "Besides," he continued, brushing his lips against hers. "We should celebrate having the run of the house while we can."
Her feet wound around his ass and pulled and John shuddered as his body pressed against Elizabeth's. She gave him a positively evil grin. "We could always consider this practice," she smirked.
He felt her fingers fumbling with his fly and nodded. "We need to practice a lot first," he agreed.
"At least once a day." They got his pants and boxers off.
"Maybe twice," he teased. Then he nearly lost his balance and fell while trying to wrestle Elizabeth's jeans and underwear off her legs without getting up. They both laughed uncontrollably and finally he seized the denim and threw it so hard the metal button clanged against the tv screen across the room.
Both of them naked, he settled into the cradle of her hips. His eyes closed, as they always did when their bodies were joined like this. After a moment he looked down at her. "Morning, noon and night," he continued as they started to move together.
Elizabeth only hummed in response. Her eyes were unfocused and he loved this so damn much, loved seeing her like this, knowing that she belonged to him and no one else, not ever again. A home and kids and wedding vows were all well and good but this, now, was what he really needed. Everything else was just a bonus.
He made himself slow down a little, drawing it out and savoring Elizabeth's response until they were both near the breaking point. He shifted his body just right and was rewarded by hearing her yell his name. He would never get tired of that, he thought dimly, resting his head on her breast, listening to her gasping for air under him.
When he made no move to get up, Elizabeth dragged the afghan that was draped over the back of the couch down and spread it over them, snuggling impossibly closer. John nuzzled her neck and stopped as he thought of something else. "So, should we start arguing about names now?"
Title: A Someday Thing
Date: December 3, 2006
Rating: R
Main characters: Elizabeth Weir, John Sheppard
Summary: John and Elizabeth talk a little about the future.
Beta: none. All mistakes mine.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: The boys and girls of "Stargate: Atlantis" belong to a lot of people who are not me. No harm intended, just some not-for-profit fun.
Author's Notes: This is set a few months after Anniversaries so the two of them are engaged.
Feedback: Is like peanut butter and chocolate together.
John closed and locked the front door as Elizabeth hung their coats up. Rubbing her arms, she went to nudge the thermostat up a little. It was spring, but it was chilly tonight, and they'd been out for several hours.
They'd spent the evening at Elizabeth's brother's house. In between chatting with Andy and playing with Joshua a lot, John had found himself with baby Mallory on his lap at one point. She was just over eight months old now, and getting big enough to be interesting. She could recognize people's faces and voices, and she babbled a lot, and her hand-eye coordination was pretty good. Making her laugh was both incredibly easy and rewarding.
John remembered holding her the first time, the day she was born. She'd been tiny in comparison, and he'd been a nervous wreck having that fragile little thing in his arms.
Now, of course, she had ended up gnawing on him more than once, and drooling on his shirt. Melissa, Andy's wife, had apologized profusely, but John hadn't cared much.
He grabbed a beer from the fridge and flopped onto the couch, watching Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye. She was surveying the dining room table, which had been conquered by what he referred to as the Wedding Empire. They were getting married in two months, and as the winter had progressed, the paraphernalia had just kept encroaching until it took over the dining room. John half-expected some morning to wake up and find it had made a play for the sofa in the night.
Elizabeth flipped through a few papers without real interest. Because she was far more into planning and arrangements than he was, she had been doing most of the work. Despite the fact that they had sworn solemnly to each other that they wanted a simple wedding, they had too many relatives and friends (all with opinions, of course) involved and things just kept getting bigger and bigger. With a sigh, Elizabeth turned away from the dining room and cast herself onto the couch next to him. John chuckled, which earned him a glare. "What?"
Trying and failing to keep the grin off his face, he said "Looks like the most organized woman on the planet has finally met her match."
The dean of the law school's mature response was to stick her tongue out at him.
He watched her for a moment as she stretched her legs. Playing with Mallory earlier had stirred up some things, things that they probably needed to talk about. He couldn't help thinking about a child Mallory's size but with darker hair and big green eyes. Possibly even with the dreaded Sheppard ears. A whole little person who was part of Elizabeth and part of him. It was a scary thought, but also exhilarating and gut-churning all at the same time.
"Home" and "family" had been abstract concepts in his head for a long time. John had always thought of them as a someday thing. Someday in the future, maybe, he'd have that. He'd been focused on his research and his work for years, and then coming to Langford initially had seemed to cut him off from the possibility at first. Before he moved his office into the law building, John had been finding Langford isolating and a little sad. He had friends in the faculty, good people but not anything more than friends. He'd traveled a lot that first year, but ever since his office had been moved, he only left for business or to see his family.
He realized Elizabeth had an eyebrow raised and was looking at him expectantly. He'd been staring at her without realizing it. "Sorry," he muttered, taking a drink.
Elizabeth turned and draped her legs over his lap and propped herself up with an arm. "What's up?"
He put a hand on her foot, his fingers rubbing her ankle absently. "Just thinking."
He knew she wasn't going to let it go, and the truth was they probably should have a mature, responsible conversation about the subject. Still, he waited until she huffed out an exasperated, "About?"
"Kids," he said laconically, watching as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh."
"We haven't talked about it," he shrugged.
"No, I guess we haven't," Elizabeth said. He couldn't quite read her tone, which was a little unnerving.
"I just, I was holding Mallory earlier and I couldn't help thinking about what our kids would look like," he explained.
Elizabeth looked thoughtful. "Green eyes and dark hair? Just a wild guess." He smiled, squeezing her foot. She turned more serious. "I admit, I've thought about it before, too." It was his turn to raise his eyebrows and she yielded. "Watching you with Joshua. I know you're good with kids in general, but I've seen how you take care of him, John."
He thought about that for a minute. He did like kids, although one of the chief attractions had always been that they were someone else's and went home eventually. "I think we'd be okay as parents," he said after a pause.
Elizabeth smiled at him, something almost tender in her face that made his heart beat a little faster. It was a look that always got to him, one that made him feel like he'd somehow already been with her for a lifetime, and that he still wanted more.
John leaned forward to drop his beer bottle onto the coffee table and then tugged so that Elizabeth was closer to him. She willingly wrapped her arms around his neck when he kissed her. "We should probably take a little time after the wedding to get used to the whole 'married' thing before we try to start a family," she said as he trailed his lips over her cheek.
He chuckled. "What, you don't want to get knocked up on your honeymoon?" Even without seeing it, he knew she was rolling her eyes.
"I'd rather be thinking about other things on our honeymoon," she purred in his ear and abruptly his mood shifted from sweet and lazy to hungry and eager. His fingers moved in between them and he started unbuttoning her blouse, but Elizabeth, as he knew all too well, never ended a serious conversation early. Though she did shift her legs in a way that made him catch his breath. "Did you have a number in mind?"
He blinked, momentarily distracted by the curves he could see above the thin lace of her bra. "Two?" Then he bent his head. The angle was awkward but he heard Elizabeth groan.
Her fingers ran through his hair and down the nape of his neck. "Two's a good number," she said a little breathlessly.
John trailed kisses up her throat. He caught Elizabeth's waist in his hands and lunged swiftly so that she fell onto her back on the couch. He paused only long enough to strip off his shirt and then he dropped on top of her. "Two it is then."
Elizabeth wrapped her legs around his instinctively as he got to work on the fastening of her jeans. "John, maybe we should go upstairs," she murmured. Normally Elizabeth wasn't reluctant to have sex more or less anywhere in the house - the incident in the laundry room stood out in his mind - but she did prefer the bed. "It's a little cold in here," she added.
One of his hands delved into her open jeans and the other braced him above her so he could look into her eyes. "I'll keep you warm." It was a total cliché, but Elizabeth bucked under him and he didn't particularly care. "Besides," he continued, brushing his lips against hers. "We should celebrate having the run of the house while we can."
Her feet wound around his ass and pulled and John shuddered as his body pressed against Elizabeth's. She gave him a positively evil grin. "We could always consider this practice," she smirked.
He felt her fingers fumbling with his fly and nodded. "We need to practice a lot first," he agreed.
"At least once a day." They got his pants and boxers off.
"Maybe twice," he teased. Then he nearly lost his balance and fell while trying to wrestle Elizabeth's jeans and underwear off her legs without getting up. They both laughed uncontrollably and finally he seized the denim and threw it so hard the metal button clanged against the tv screen across the room.
Both of them naked, he settled into the cradle of her hips. His eyes closed, as they always did when their bodies were joined like this. After a moment he looked down at her. "Morning, noon and night," he continued as they started to move together.
Elizabeth only hummed in response. Her eyes were unfocused and he loved this so damn much, loved seeing her like this, knowing that she belonged to him and no one else, not ever again. A home and kids and wedding vows were all well and good but this, now, was what he really needed. Everything else was just a bonus.
He made himself slow down a little, drawing it out and savoring Elizabeth's response until they were both near the breaking point. He shifted his body just right and was rewarded by hearing her yell his name. He would never get tired of that, he thought dimly, resting his head on her breast, listening to her gasping for air under him.
When he made no move to get up, Elizabeth dragged the afghan that was draped over the back of the couch down and spread it over them, snuggling impossibly closer. John nuzzled her neck and stopped as he thought of something else. "So, should we start arguing about names now?"