Fic: Sympathy for Eve, 15/27 (NC-17)
Title: Sympathy for Eve, 15/27
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Beckett, Weir, Halling, Sheppard, Kusanagi
Relationships: McKay/Beckett, Sheppard/Kusanagi
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: mpreg, smut
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 15 of the Sympathy for Eve series. When Rodney gets turned into a woman for a month, he decides to experiment, but little did he know it could have unforeseen consequences. Set somewhere in a nebulous third season after any cliffhanger-y stuff has been resolved.
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
Elizabeth ran a finger along the small wooden table. "This is beautiful wood. It reminds me of birdseye maple from Earth."
"It is difficult to work, but well-worth the trouble," Halling said. "It will last for many generations."
"Yes. I think this will be perfect for a crib."
"Doctor Beckett will undoubtedly appreciate the workmanship," he said.
"Not Doctor McKay?" she asked, smiling.
"I do not know. He does not seem one to appreciate hand-crafts to the extent that Doctor Beckett does. His eyes are only for the technology of the Ancestors."
"That's true. You know to make the slats close enough together that a baby can't get its head caught, of course. Rodney's gone on a safety tear lately-- babyproofing their apartment, his lab, Carson's office. Poor Carson's hardly been able to keep up with him."
Halling smiled. "Ah, he is at that point in the pregnancy. Yes, I will be certain the crib is made as safe as possible."
"Thank you, Halling. I appreciate it."
"It is an honour to be asked. If I may ask, you do not seem entirely happy with this. Is it just that you are concerned for Doctor McKay?"
"It's partly that. To be honest, it's partly... well, jealousy, I suppose."
"Jealousy?" he asked curiously.
"The women who came to Atlantis made an agreement not to bear children while there. For those of us who are... older, it's meant giving up any hope of our own family." She didn't mention her own personal sacrifice in the matter.
He looked shock. "That is truly abominable! Surely, you do not intend to keep this agreement now that you have chosen to remain and join the fight against the Wraith?"
"The Wraith threat is exactly why we can't have children in Atlantis."
"I do not understand. The Wraith threat is why you must begin having children. What greater motivation can there be than your own children's future?"
"I'm sufficiently motivated by the safety of my people and my friends," she assured him.
"Are all your people so cold-hearted?"
"It's not cold-hearted to want the best for others, even if you cannot have it yourself."
"I am sorry." He was silent a moment, eyes unfocused in thought. "I should like very much to see Earth sometime-- to see a world so teeming with people that children are not sought and treasured as the greatest of gifts. I want to see it, and yet, I fear it would break my heart."
***
"Rodney," Carson's voice emerged from Rodney's earpiece. "I've cleaned my desk off. Ye need to come help me celebrate."
Rodney clicked his radio on. "I thought we were tarping the nursery for painting tomorrow."
"Just come to the infirmary."
"Okay, so what's this about?" Rodney asked a few minutes later as he walked into Carson's office.
Carson merely gave him a wicked grin, moved his laptop off the now-pristine desk, and leaned back in his chair. The office door locked with a series of clicks. "Come here, love."
Rodney's eyebrows shot up, but he did as Carson asked, coming around the desk to stand next to Carson's chair. Carson leaned forward and kissed his bulging abdomen before reaching down and cupping Rodney's balls through the fabric of his sarong.
Carson pushed his chair back, making room between it and the desk, and also revealing the outline of his erection within his khakis. His hands slid down Rodney's thighs and took hold of the hem of the sarong and pulled it up to expose his lover. Rodney's underwear were all too small, so he'd gone without this morning. "Sit on the desk," he said, voice rough with desire.
"Oh, God," Rodney gasped, quickly moving to comply, already growing hard.
Carson steadied him as he shifted onto the desk. Carson pushed Rodney's legs apart, rolled forward, and then leaned down to take Rodney's length in one slow slide of lips and tongue.
Rodney groaned, hands scrabbling on the desk surface for purchase before finally giving up and sinking his fingers into Carson's hair. Carson hummed his approval, the vibrations around Rodney's cock causing him to gasp and shudder.
While he fondled Rodney's balls with one hand, he reached into his lab coat pocket with the other and drew out the tube of lube he'd slipped in there earlier. He pulled off of Rodney's cock with an audible pop, making Rodney whimper. "Lie back, love."
Rodney was already breathing hard and Carson knew he wouldn't hold out for long. Rodney nodded wordlessly and laid back, hands shifting restlessly.
Carson took one of Rodney's hands and guided it to the desk edge, then took the other and pressed it to Rodney's mouth. "To muffle the sound," he said, and then sat back down.
Seconds after his mouth once again enveloped his lover, Carson slipped a lubed finger into Rodney's entrance, gently stroking in and out a few times before adding a second, angling them to rub Rodney's prostate in rhythm to his mouth. Rodney moaned into his hand, feet settling on the arm rests of Carson's chair so he could open himself up further. Taking that as a cue, Carson added a third finger and began stroking deeper and harder as he relaxed his throat and pushed down, tears springing to his eyes as Rodney's cock brushed the back of his throat.
"Oh, God... Oh God! Ohgodohgodohgod!" Rodney gasped, muffled by his hand.
Carson's fingertips stopped against Rodney's sweet spot and just rubbed in short strokes while he swallowed and swallowed and swallowed, throat muscles massaging the oversensitised head of his lover's cock.
Rodney bit down on his palm to keep from screaming, keening, and spilled into Carson's mouth, jet after jet pulsing against the back of Carson's throat to be swallowed in agonising pleasure.
Rodney's gasps of pleasure soon took on a tinge of pain, and Carson pulled off, carefully withdrawing his fingers. Rodney whimpered, then went completely boneless on Carson's desk.
Carson sat admiring Rodney lying so thoroughly debauched before him, one hand caressing Rodney's leg absently, while his lover regained his breath.
Long moments later, Rodney said, "Oh, God! You should clean off your desk more often."
Carson chuckled. "Your desk is next, love. Can ye stand?"
"Yeah. I think so."
"Good. I want you to stand and bend over the desk."
"Fuck!" Rodney gasped.
Carson stood, undoing his khakis and pulling his erection out through his underwear's fly. "That's exactly what I intend to do. Hard and deep. Now get up and turn around."
Rodney obeyed, breath coming in shocked gasps, eyes wide.
"Grab hold."
Rodney had barely gotten hold of the front edge of the desk before Carson was pushing into him, sudden and deep and desperate.
"Ah, God. I love fucking you from behind," Carson gasped, setting up a hard pace. "Your ass against me, firm but yielding..."
"Oh, yeah..."
"I love being able to look down and watch myself... Watch your ass stretched around my cock... Watch my cock sliding into you..."
"God, yes!"
"Oh, God, love! Going to... Going to come... Fill you up..."
"Yes," Rodney hissed. "Fill me, Carson."
Rodney almost lost his hold as Carson slammed into him once, twice, and then froze, letting out a strangled scream as he throbbed deep inside his lover's willing body.
Carson held Rodney until his softening cock slid out, then opened up a couple of moist wipes and cleaned them both up before tucking himself back in and rearranging Rodney's sarong.
"Thank you, love," he said as he pressed kisses to Rodney's mouth, forehead, cheeks, and mouth again.
"Should I ask what brought this on?" Rodney asked. "And if we can repeat it?"
Carson smiled. "I just kept thinking about ye naked under your sarong and what I'd like to do to that lovely arse of yours."
"Well... feel free to keep thinking about it, if this is the result."
Chuckling, Carson settled onto his desk, pulling open a drawer and producing a couple of cello-wrapped sandwiches. "I've not got much time for lunch, I'm afraid. I'm supposed to meet Parrish in botany about some medicinal samples he brought back."
Rodney settled into Carson's chair and took a sandwich. "So you never intended to help me in the nursery?"
Carson grinned apologetically. "I forgot about it, honestly."
***
John stared at the list. "You've got to be kidding me? You don't expect men to play any of these games, do you?"
"Doctor Zelenka thought some of them sounded like fun," Miko answered.
"You will never get Rodney to allow you to measure his 'tummy girth,' so you can scratch this game right now."
Miko smiled mysteriously. "We will see."
John sighed. "Can't we just play poker? We could do it with diaper pins or something instead of chips to keep in theme."
"You are hopeless!" She giggled and stuck her tongue out.
"Don't go sticking that out unless you intend to use it." He leaned down and captured her mouth and tongue almost before he finished speaking.
She squeaked and then slipped her arms around him, one hand slipping into his hair, their tongues doing battle, bodies pressing together.
"So, I'll see you for din-- Oh, my God!"
The two broke apart, Miko scrambling to hide the shower plans while John carded through his hair in a useless attempt to make it behave. Rodney stared at them in shock.
"Uh. Hi," John said, grinning disarmingly.
"Oh, my God! You... You've... violated my lab!"
"It was a kiss!" John protested.
Rodney looked suspiciously at Miko, who was blushing furiously. Carson took in the tableau, shook his head, gave John a wink, and headed off down the hallway. Rodney crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "And why were you kissing one of my people?"
John looked at Miko for support, but she was apparently lost in wide-eyed mortification. "We're, uh, seeing each other."
"Seeing each other?"
"Dating, Rodney. You know dating, right?"
"You can't date one of my scientists!"
John gaped at him. "So who am I supposed to date?"
"I don't know... Uh, one of the military women!"
"Fraternisation."
"Elizabeth?" Rodney offered.
"Chain of command. And, just... no."
"Ummm... Teyla!"
"She's on my team, so it's still fraternisation."
Rodney grunted and nodded. "Biro or Heightmeyer?"
"Biro?! Please, Rodney. And I don't need my date picking me apart, either."
"Well, I don't know! But you can't be violating my labs, thank you very much."
Miko gave a squeak of protest.
"It was a kiss. I'm sure you and Carson have done worse. Radek talks."
Rodney had the decency to blush before returning to his argument as if Miko wasn't even in the room. "But this is Miko! I mean, it's just... She's so... innocent... and you're, well, you."
"What the hell does that mean?" John squawked.
"Well, Colonel, it's just that you, ah... have a bit of a reputation."
"I can assure you, the number of times I've done anything reputation-worthy is infinitesimally smaller than certain other members of this expedition." John pointedly eyed Rodney's protruding abdomen.
"Just stop, both of you!" Miko yelled. "Doctor McKay, I hold you in highest respect, but you are not my father and I am not a child. I am seeing Colonel Sheppard-- John-- and what we may or may not be doing is no concern of yours unless it interferes with my work."
"But you don't know him like I--" Rodney started to protest.
She thrust out her chin in an expression so much like Rodney's that he fell silent. "I know about his mother, his grandparents, and all nine of his foster families. What do you know about him?"
Rodney gaped at her, then turned to John. "Foster families? I thought your father was an Air Force colonel."
John nodded. "He was, but I didn't meet him until I was seventeen."
Rodney's eyes reflected hurt and betrayal before he looked down at the floor. "Sorry. I, ah, really need to go work on the nursery. You two..." Rodney made vague hand motions and walked out.
"Rodney!" John yelled after him, but Rodney stepped into a transporter without turning. "Damn!" He slumped into a lab chair.
"I'm sorry," Miko said. "I didn't mean to cause problems."
"It's okay. Hey, hey... It's okay. We'll work it out. Come here." He slipped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, holding her close.
"I was angry at him because you're not like that," she said.
"I have been," John admitted.
She nodded. "It's easier than opening heart only to have someone leave again."
He buried his face against her neck. "Yeah."
"Including opening your heart to friendship." She leaned back, reached down and tipped his face to look at her. "Rodney McKay is a stubborn, proud, unrelenting man. I expect he would be a stubborn, proud and unrelenting friend."
"Meaning what?" he asked.
"You worry that he is drifting away from your friendship and you hold yourself back. You need to trust him. I think, like you, he doesn't give his friendship easily."
"And he doesn't take it back easily?" John asked.
"No. I don't think he does. Even when he discovers he didn't know his friend as well as he thought."
***
"Hey."
"Hi," Rodney said.
John held up a package. "I got you something for the baby. I was going to save it for the baby shower that Miko and Simpson are planning, but I'm too impatient."
"Thanks," Rodney answered, taking it. "Should I open it now or wait for Carson?"
"Open it now."
Rodney stepped back. "Come in." He went and sat on the couch while John sprawled into a chair and pulled the package open, revealing a baby blanket. He sat and stared, fingering it. "Wow. It's so soft."
John grinned. "I couldn't pass it up. Say, what's going on in the nursery?"
"Oh. We're trying to put drop-cloths down for painting, but Carson keeps having things come up."
"Can I help?"
"Don't you have other things to do?"
John shrugged. "They'll wait."
Rodney smiled. "Yeah. I could use the help."
John stood and held out his hand. "Then come on. We've got a baby to get ready for."
Rodney let John help him up and then headed into the other room. "So, foster families?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's not really all that exciting, but I'll tell you if you want to know."
"Yeah. It'll pass the time," Rodney said.
"Cool," John answered, and began to talk.
Next part
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Beckett, Weir, Halling, Sheppard, Kusanagi
Relationships: McKay/Beckett, Sheppard/Kusanagi
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: mpreg, smut
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 15 of the Sympathy for Eve series. When Rodney gets turned into a woman for a month, he decides to experiment, but little did he know it could have unforeseen consequences. Set somewhere in a nebulous third season after any cliffhanger-y stuff has been resolved.
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
Elizabeth ran a finger along the small wooden table. "This is beautiful wood. It reminds me of birdseye maple from Earth."
"It is difficult to work, but well-worth the trouble," Halling said. "It will last for many generations."
"Yes. I think this will be perfect for a crib."
"Doctor Beckett will undoubtedly appreciate the workmanship," he said.
"Not Doctor McKay?" she asked, smiling.
"I do not know. He does not seem one to appreciate hand-crafts to the extent that Doctor Beckett does. His eyes are only for the technology of the Ancestors."
"That's true. You know to make the slats close enough together that a baby can't get its head caught, of course. Rodney's gone on a safety tear lately-- babyproofing their apartment, his lab, Carson's office. Poor Carson's hardly been able to keep up with him."
Halling smiled. "Ah, he is at that point in the pregnancy. Yes, I will be certain the crib is made as safe as possible."
"Thank you, Halling. I appreciate it."
"It is an honour to be asked. If I may ask, you do not seem entirely happy with this. Is it just that you are concerned for Doctor McKay?"
"It's partly that. To be honest, it's partly... well, jealousy, I suppose."
"Jealousy?" he asked curiously.
"The women who came to Atlantis made an agreement not to bear children while there. For those of us who are... older, it's meant giving up any hope of our own family." She didn't mention her own personal sacrifice in the matter.
He looked shock. "That is truly abominable! Surely, you do not intend to keep this agreement now that you have chosen to remain and join the fight against the Wraith?"
"The Wraith threat is exactly why we can't have children in Atlantis."
"I do not understand. The Wraith threat is why you must begin having children. What greater motivation can there be than your own children's future?"
"I'm sufficiently motivated by the safety of my people and my friends," she assured him.
"Are all your people so cold-hearted?"
"It's not cold-hearted to want the best for others, even if you cannot have it yourself."
"I am sorry." He was silent a moment, eyes unfocused in thought. "I should like very much to see Earth sometime-- to see a world so teeming with people that children are not sought and treasured as the greatest of gifts. I want to see it, and yet, I fear it would break my heart."
***
"Rodney," Carson's voice emerged from Rodney's earpiece. "I've cleaned my desk off. Ye need to come help me celebrate."
Rodney clicked his radio on. "I thought we were tarping the nursery for painting tomorrow."
"Just come to the infirmary."
"Okay, so what's this about?" Rodney asked a few minutes later as he walked into Carson's office.
Carson merely gave him a wicked grin, moved his laptop off the now-pristine desk, and leaned back in his chair. The office door locked with a series of clicks. "Come here, love."
Rodney's eyebrows shot up, but he did as Carson asked, coming around the desk to stand next to Carson's chair. Carson leaned forward and kissed his bulging abdomen before reaching down and cupping Rodney's balls through the fabric of his sarong.
Carson pushed his chair back, making room between it and the desk, and also revealing the outline of his erection within his khakis. His hands slid down Rodney's thighs and took hold of the hem of the sarong and pulled it up to expose his lover. Rodney's underwear were all too small, so he'd gone without this morning. "Sit on the desk," he said, voice rough with desire.
"Oh, God," Rodney gasped, quickly moving to comply, already growing hard.
Carson steadied him as he shifted onto the desk. Carson pushed Rodney's legs apart, rolled forward, and then leaned down to take Rodney's length in one slow slide of lips and tongue.
Rodney groaned, hands scrabbling on the desk surface for purchase before finally giving up and sinking his fingers into Carson's hair. Carson hummed his approval, the vibrations around Rodney's cock causing him to gasp and shudder.
While he fondled Rodney's balls with one hand, he reached into his lab coat pocket with the other and drew out the tube of lube he'd slipped in there earlier. He pulled off of Rodney's cock with an audible pop, making Rodney whimper. "Lie back, love."
Rodney was already breathing hard and Carson knew he wouldn't hold out for long. Rodney nodded wordlessly and laid back, hands shifting restlessly.
Carson took one of Rodney's hands and guided it to the desk edge, then took the other and pressed it to Rodney's mouth. "To muffle the sound," he said, and then sat back down.
Seconds after his mouth once again enveloped his lover, Carson slipped a lubed finger into Rodney's entrance, gently stroking in and out a few times before adding a second, angling them to rub Rodney's prostate in rhythm to his mouth. Rodney moaned into his hand, feet settling on the arm rests of Carson's chair so he could open himself up further. Taking that as a cue, Carson added a third finger and began stroking deeper and harder as he relaxed his throat and pushed down, tears springing to his eyes as Rodney's cock brushed the back of his throat.
"Oh, God... Oh God! Ohgodohgodohgod!" Rodney gasped, muffled by his hand.
Carson's fingertips stopped against Rodney's sweet spot and just rubbed in short strokes while he swallowed and swallowed and swallowed, throat muscles massaging the oversensitised head of his lover's cock.
Rodney bit down on his palm to keep from screaming, keening, and spilled into Carson's mouth, jet after jet pulsing against the back of Carson's throat to be swallowed in agonising pleasure.
Rodney's gasps of pleasure soon took on a tinge of pain, and Carson pulled off, carefully withdrawing his fingers. Rodney whimpered, then went completely boneless on Carson's desk.
Carson sat admiring Rodney lying so thoroughly debauched before him, one hand caressing Rodney's leg absently, while his lover regained his breath.
Long moments later, Rodney said, "Oh, God! You should clean off your desk more often."
Carson chuckled. "Your desk is next, love. Can ye stand?"
"Yeah. I think so."
"Good. I want you to stand and bend over the desk."
"Fuck!" Rodney gasped.
Carson stood, undoing his khakis and pulling his erection out through his underwear's fly. "That's exactly what I intend to do. Hard and deep. Now get up and turn around."
Rodney obeyed, breath coming in shocked gasps, eyes wide.
"Grab hold."
Rodney had barely gotten hold of the front edge of the desk before Carson was pushing into him, sudden and deep and desperate.
"Ah, God. I love fucking you from behind," Carson gasped, setting up a hard pace. "Your ass against me, firm but yielding..."
"Oh, yeah..."
"I love being able to look down and watch myself... Watch your ass stretched around my cock... Watch my cock sliding into you..."
"God, yes!"
"Oh, God, love! Going to... Going to come... Fill you up..."
"Yes," Rodney hissed. "Fill me, Carson."
Rodney almost lost his hold as Carson slammed into him once, twice, and then froze, letting out a strangled scream as he throbbed deep inside his lover's willing body.
Carson held Rodney until his softening cock slid out, then opened up a couple of moist wipes and cleaned them both up before tucking himself back in and rearranging Rodney's sarong.
"Thank you, love," he said as he pressed kisses to Rodney's mouth, forehead, cheeks, and mouth again.
"Should I ask what brought this on?" Rodney asked. "And if we can repeat it?"
Carson smiled. "I just kept thinking about ye naked under your sarong and what I'd like to do to that lovely arse of yours."
"Well... feel free to keep thinking about it, if this is the result."
Chuckling, Carson settled onto his desk, pulling open a drawer and producing a couple of cello-wrapped sandwiches. "I've not got much time for lunch, I'm afraid. I'm supposed to meet Parrish in botany about some medicinal samples he brought back."
Rodney settled into Carson's chair and took a sandwich. "So you never intended to help me in the nursery?"
Carson grinned apologetically. "I forgot about it, honestly."
***
John stared at the list. "You've got to be kidding me? You don't expect men to play any of these games, do you?"
"Doctor Zelenka thought some of them sounded like fun," Miko answered.
"You will never get Rodney to allow you to measure his 'tummy girth,' so you can scratch this game right now."
Miko smiled mysteriously. "We will see."
John sighed. "Can't we just play poker? We could do it with diaper pins or something instead of chips to keep in theme."
"You are hopeless!" She giggled and stuck her tongue out.
"Don't go sticking that out unless you intend to use it." He leaned down and captured her mouth and tongue almost before he finished speaking.
She squeaked and then slipped her arms around him, one hand slipping into his hair, their tongues doing battle, bodies pressing together.
"So, I'll see you for din-- Oh, my God!"
The two broke apart, Miko scrambling to hide the shower plans while John carded through his hair in a useless attempt to make it behave. Rodney stared at them in shock.
"Uh. Hi," John said, grinning disarmingly.
"Oh, my God! You... You've... violated my lab!"
"It was a kiss!" John protested.
Rodney looked suspiciously at Miko, who was blushing furiously. Carson took in the tableau, shook his head, gave John a wink, and headed off down the hallway. Rodney crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "And why were you kissing one of my people?"
John looked at Miko for support, but she was apparently lost in wide-eyed mortification. "We're, uh, seeing each other."
"Seeing each other?"
"Dating, Rodney. You know dating, right?"
"You can't date one of my scientists!"
John gaped at him. "So who am I supposed to date?"
"I don't know... Uh, one of the military women!"
"Fraternisation."
"Elizabeth?" Rodney offered.
"Chain of command. And, just... no."
"Ummm... Teyla!"
"She's on my team, so it's still fraternisation."
Rodney grunted and nodded. "Biro or Heightmeyer?"
"Biro?! Please, Rodney. And I don't need my date picking me apart, either."
"Well, I don't know! But you can't be violating my labs, thank you very much."
Miko gave a squeak of protest.
"It was a kiss. I'm sure you and Carson have done worse. Radek talks."
Rodney had the decency to blush before returning to his argument as if Miko wasn't even in the room. "But this is Miko! I mean, it's just... She's so... innocent... and you're, well, you."
"What the hell does that mean?" John squawked.
"Well, Colonel, it's just that you, ah... have a bit of a reputation."
"I can assure you, the number of times I've done anything reputation-worthy is infinitesimally smaller than certain other members of this expedition." John pointedly eyed Rodney's protruding abdomen.
"Just stop, both of you!" Miko yelled. "Doctor McKay, I hold you in highest respect, but you are not my father and I am not a child. I am seeing Colonel Sheppard-- John-- and what we may or may not be doing is no concern of yours unless it interferes with my work."
"But you don't know him like I--" Rodney started to protest.
She thrust out her chin in an expression so much like Rodney's that he fell silent. "I know about his mother, his grandparents, and all nine of his foster families. What do you know about him?"
Rodney gaped at her, then turned to John. "Foster families? I thought your father was an Air Force colonel."
John nodded. "He was, but I didn't meet him until I was seventeen."
Rodney's eyes reflected hurt and betrayal before he looked down at the floor. "Sorry. I, ah, really need to go work on the nursery. You two..." Rodney made vague hand motions and walked out.
"Rodney!" John yelled after him, but Rodney stepped into a transporter without turning. "Damn!" He slumped into a lab chair.
"I'm sorry," Miko said. "I didn't mean to cause problems."
"It's okay. Hey, hey... It's okay. We'll work it out. Come here." He slipped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, holding her close.
"I was angry at him because you're not like that," she said.
"I have been," John admitted.
She nodded. "It's easier than opening heart only to have someone leave again."
He buried his face against her neck. "Yeah."
"Including opening your heart to friendship." She leaned back, reached down and tipped his face to look at her. "Rodney McKay is a stubborn, proud, unrelenting man. I expect he would be a stubborn, proud and unrelenting friend."
"Meaning what?" he asked.
"You worry that he is drifting away from your friendship and you hold yourself back. You need to trust him. I think, like you, he doesn't give his friendship easily."
"And he doesn't take it back easily?" John asked.
"No. I don't think he does. Even when he discovers he didn't know his friend as well as he thought."
***
"Hey."
"Hi," Rodney said.
John held up a package. "I got you something for the baby. I was going to save it for the baby shower that Miko and Simpson are planning, but I'm too impatient."
"Thanks," Rodney answered, taking it. "Should I open it now or wait for Carson?"
"Open it now."
Rodney stepped back. "Come in." He went and sat on the couch while John sprawled into a chair and pulled the package open, revealing a baby blanket. He sat and stared, fingering it. "Wow. It's so soft."
John grinned. "I couldn't pass it up. Say, what's going on in the nursery?"
"Oh. We're trying to put drop-cloths down for painting, but Carson keeps having things come up."
"Can I help?"
"Don't you have other things to do?"
John shrugged. "They'll wait."
Rodney smiled. "Yeah. I could use the help."
John stood and held out his hand. "Then come on. We've got a baby to get ready for."
Rodney let John help him up and then headed into the other room. "So, foster families?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's not really all that exciting, but I'll tell you if you want to know."
"Yeah. It'll pass the time," Rodney said.
"Cool," John answered, and began to talk.
Next part