Cleaning Up After The Ancients - Chapter 168

Chapter 168 - Interlude - Teyla’s Day Part 4

Setting down her plate, Teyla glanced over to where John was finishing up his somewhat exaggerated retelling of their fight with the ancient Wraith on the system's second planet.

“So then, while he was distracted with the bugs, I called down to the orbiting jumper to shoot him with a drone.”

“You are lucky it wished to play with you.” Halling put forward from where he was sitting on one of the arrayed stones next to John. “Wraith from the fall of the Ancestors are rarely seen, but where they go only death follows.”

“Yeah.” John nodded in agreement. “Kind of got that impression when I emptied an entire magazine into him and he kept coming. But if there’s one thing you can count on with Wraith it’s that they love to draw things out.”

“Only so long as they believe you are not an actual threat.” Teyla offered with caution, not wanting any of those listening in to get the wrong idea.

Catching sight of Charin out of the corner of her eye, Teyla glanced over to see the older woman giving her a somewhat encouraging look. 

Sighing, she rose to her feet and walked over to John, leaning down to whisper next to his ear. “John, could we talk?” Her eyes flicked over the small crowd gathered around the cooking pit who were watching their interaction with barely restrained amusement. “In private.”

An odd look flashed across John's face before settling into a crooked grin. “Not one of the most encouraging phrases to hear, but sure.”

He glanced around the settlement for several before his eyes seemed to settle on the out of the way transport that had brought them to the mainland. “The jumper do?”

Teyla offered him a thankful smile. “That would be perfect.”

Pulling the remote out of his pocket, he pressed down causing the jumper to let out a chime of warning before the hatch began to lower. “Didn't want the kids sneaking in so I locked it.”

“A wise precaution.” Teyla acknowledged as they walked over.

Given the rapidly setting sun, the well lit interior of the vessel was something of a relief. Though it still left her feeling somewhat guilty to think that since she had done just fine for decades without access to the Ancestors ability to perfectly light a room.

“So…” John drew out the word as the hatch closed behind them. “This about us?”

“In a way.” Teyla admitted, settling down onto one of the benches to keep herself from nervously pacing. “Though to set your mind at ease, this is not one of your people's breakup conversations.”

“Gotta admit,” John began as he took a seat across from her. “That was a bit of a worry given the way you phrased things. But if it's not that, I'm more than a little lost about just what it might be.”

Taking a meditative breath to steel her nerves, Teyla began. “Do you recall our first night together?”

John offered her a wry grin. “As much as I can given the alcohol. And I still hold I was a lot better the following morning.”

“We both were.” Teyla agreed, finding it hard not to smile at the memory. “In this case though, what I wish to discuss is more about what we forgot during that night.”

Because that had been the only time they hadn't used protection.

“What we forgot?” John began in clear confusion. “What do you…” He trailed off, his eyes going wide as the realization seemed to hit. “You don't mean?”

“Yes.” Teyla confirmed with a weak smile. “I verified it with Doctor Beckett today, it seems I am pregnant… With twins…”

John opened his mouth and then closed it, repeating the action several times before finally getting a word out. “Huh.”

Teyla waited nearly a minute for him to say more before deciding to prod him. “A boy and a girl if the medical scanner is accurate.”

“And you're sure they're mine?” John finally got out, the question enough to make Teyla roll her eyes given she had made it very clear when they first got together that he had been her only partner in slightly over a year.

“While I can not entirely rule out the possibility that my pregnancy was caused by an encounter with some unknown Ancestral device, other than that you continue to be the only one I am having sex with.”

The slight snippishness in her tone seemed to make John wince. “Sorry, I know it's always pretty much a roll of the dice when you don't use protection. I just didn't figure we'd end up getting double six's.”

“It was quite a surprise for me too.” Teyla acknowledged with a tilt of her head. “I was not planning to bring up the subject for several more years at least.”

“Yeah,” John nodded in awkward agreement. “We didn't even really get to have the kid talk, which well, I kind of wasn't even planning on having.”

“You do not want children?” Teyla asked cautiously, desperately hoping she had misinterpreted his words.

“No!” John emphatically shook his head only to cringe. “I mean, that's not what I meant. I was trying to say I wasn't even planning on us having the talk about it yet. Cause we just got together…” He grimaced slightly. “And you know. While things seem to be working out pretty well, that doesn't mean they'll continue to do so… And kids are the sort of thing you only start talking about–”

“I understand.” Teyla interrupted, hiding her relief with a small smile.

Silence descended on the cabin for several minutes as she gave John the time to process everything.

“So…” He began with a cautious tone. “Did you want to have kids?”

“My desires on the subject were never particularly relevant,” Telya confessed, suspecting he would get more than a little annoyed if he found that fact out later from someone else. “As it is a held expectation of those who possess the genetic gift to sense the Wraith that they will make the attempt to hand that gift down to the next generation.”

A grimace of clear distaste flashed across John’s face almost too quickly for Teyla to catch. “You know, with us here that’s not really something you guys have to push any longer. Especially if your people take Evan up on his offer to gate them to another galaxy without the Wraith around.”

“I am aware.” Teyla bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. “And while it might not have been planned, I still find myself happy with the thought of children.”

“Yeah.” John nodded in seeming agreement. “A couple friends of mine back home said something similar when they had kids.” He paused for a second before letting out a nervous breath. “All right, it’s kind of hard to put this, but we never really talked about how your people handle that sort of thing, so what are my expectations going to be here?”

Teyla’s chest tightened as his choice of words cut almost directly to the center of her worry. “My people’s expectations for the father depend heavily on whether a pair is bonded together or not. Since we are not however, the only expectations are the ones you wish to place on yourself.”

“Okay,” John muttered almost under his breath. “Not going to wake up with Halling standing over me with a shotgun then.”

“I am not aware of that reference.” Teyla admitted, frowning at the picture the words conjured in her mind.

John cringed. “It’s kind of a thing around certain parts of Earth. You get a woman pregnant, and their father, brother, overly large friend shows up with various threats and gives you a choice between them or marrying the girl.”

“Ah,” Teyla exclaimed as understanding hit. “Many worlds in this galaxy practice similar traditions, but Athosian women are more than capable of taking care of themselves so such things never took root in ours.”

“Fair enough.” John acknowledged, drumming his fingers on his knee a few times before seeming to catch himself. “There’s a lot we’re going to need to talk about, isn’t there?”

“Yes.” Teyla agreed with an honest smile, glad he wasn’t immediately jumping to one extreme or another. “But we do not have to do it now if you do not wish to.”

“That’s good.” John sighed, bowing his head in clear relief before grimacing and focusing back on her. “Are we keeping this a secret?”

“I was not planning to.” Teyla confessed. “But if you wish to do so?”

“No.” John shook his head only to pause as a thoughtful look came over his features. “Well, maybe from Rodney. But there are a couple people I’m gonna want to talk to about the issue. And a couple people like Doctor Weir and General O’Neill that I’m gonna have to talk to about it.”

“I expected as much.” Teyla nodded, well aware of his responsibilities. “Though I wish to be with you when the conversation with Elizabeth occurs.”

“We can call her up in the morning.” John offered, giving a weak grin as he motioned to the Jumper’s interior. “So you wanna sleep at my place tonight?”

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Author’s Notes: Extra long chapter to finish this part up, next two chapters will be seeing how Rayle is handling the Tok’ra/Goa’uld war and then back to Eventus.