SGA fic: Gaijin, part 18/40
Dec. 16th, 2008 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sam_gamgeeGaijin, Part 18/40
The complete header can be found in part 1.
Previous parts can be found here.
Rodney entered his quarters and closed his eyes with a sigh of relief. It was two and a half months before the beginning of the tenth month festival and the wedding and he was totally ready for it to be over. He heard some giggling and opened his eyes to see Jillian and Kyle laughing from where they were sitting by the fire.
“What are you laughing at?” he asked sharply as he advanced on them. They both looked at him in mock horror until he pounced on Kyle and started tickling him, causing the child to laugh. He released Kyle when he started gasping for air. As Kyle sat up, Rodney asked, “When did you get to be so big?”
“When you weren’t looking,” Kyle replied with a grin.
“Obviously not. You’re what, five cycles old now?”
“I’m *six* cycles old,” Kyle replied in a huff.
Rodney pretended to count on his fingers. “So you are. Is there any stew left, or did you eat it all?”
Kyle huffed. “I can’t eat *that* much,” he replied rolling his eyes.
“Here,” Jillian replied with a smile as she handed over a steaming bowl. “You better get back to your parents, Kyle.”
“Aww, Jillian. Do I have to?” he whined.
“Yes, or I’ll tell them about the extra dessert I gave you.”
Kyle obeyed quickly, giving Rodney a wave on his way out.
“That wasn’t coercive at *all*,” Rodney replied with a laugh as he watched Kyle go.
“I love the kid, but he’s tiring after a while,” Jillian replied as she dished out her own bowl of stew. “I do feel like I’m more ready for when I have my own children, though.”
“That’s good. Have you thought about talking your dad into matching you with someone?”
Jillian shook her head yet. “I’m not *that* ready. How are things coming for you and Jaelyn? The big day’s coming quickly.”
Rodney shrugged. “As far as I can tell, it’s coming. Jaelyn’s still playing things close to her chest, but it does seem like everything’s coming together.”
“And she looks like she’s due any day now. Has the pregnancy gotten any easier?”
“A little. But some things have stayed the same – the bleeding, the nausea, the appetite, but not being able to eat much. Even Kirby doesn’t know what’s going on, so I’ve been doing the best I can to help her out. We’ll both be a lot happier once the baby’s been delivered.”
“I hope you let me spoil it.”
“Only if you promise to then keep it until it calms down.”
Jillian stuck her tongue out at him. “Spoilsport.”
“Hey, all’s fair. You made me do that a few times with Kyle.”
“Okay, okay.” Jillian started dishing out another bowl of stew as Kirby entered their quarters.
“How’s Jaelyn?” Kirby asked as he sat down and gratefully accepted the food from Jillian.
“About the same,” Rodney replied as he finished eating. “We’ll both be very happy once the wedding’s over and the baby’s born.”
“How’s your outfit coming?” Jillian asked between bites.
Rodney made a face. “It’s coming. It’s going a lot slower than I had expected, though. The things for the baby are going well, though. I’m almost done with the list Laura gave me. Like I said, I’ll be glad once the wedding is over and the baby’s born. Then we can start getting into something that looks like a normal routine.”
Kelly hailed them from outside and Rodney got up to officially let him in. “Good evening,” he said, bowing slightly to Kirby and Jillian.
“Would you like something to eat?” Jillian asked, gesturing towards the pot of stew.
“No, thanks,” he replied. “I just ate. But thank you.”
“Can you sit for a minute, or did you need me for something?” Rodney asked.
“I can sit,” Kelly replied with a smile. “I just came to see how you were holding up.”
“Since lunchtime?” Rodney replied with a laugh. “I’m fine. Why?”
“Well, considering how many questions and comments I’ve been getting about your wedding, I figured that you must be completely inundated by them.”
Rodney half shrugged. “It actually hasn’t been too bad. Though if I hear ‘Soon you’ll be able to do it properly’, with a wink one more time, I may not be responsible for my actions. For once in my life, I think I’m preferring the kids to the adults.” The other three laughed and Rodney replied indignantly, “Don’t laugh! I’m serious! The boys are a mixture of intrigued and grossed out about the whole process and the girls think it’s the coolest thing ever. What makes it even better is that they all want to help and every morning can’t wait to tell me their new ideas.”
“And here you thought we’d all make you go it alone,” Jillian replied with a laugh and a smile.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to think,” Rodney replied as he finished up his stew. “It wasn’t like you three were giving me any guidance. I just did what Jaelyn had told me what I needed to do. I really should’ve known better from past experiences. But I am glad that everyone and everything seems to be okay now after what Jaelyn and I did.”
“Feel like sparring some?” Kelly asked as Rodney cleaned his bowl out.
“That sounds great,” Rodney replied, stashing his bowl next to the fire pit and grabbing his staff from under his cot. “I could blow off some steam.”
“Rodney-san, how do you know if you love someone?” Lisa asked him the next morning when he arrived in the silk borough.
“Well, it depends on what sort of love you’re talking about,” he replied, trying to keep a straight face at her serious expression and the expectant looks on the faces of the girls standing behind her. “There’s love for your family, love for your friends, love for your husband – or wife, if you’re a boy. Which one were you talking about?”
“You know, *love* love,” she replied, emphasizing the word. “Do you love Jaelyn-san?”
“Of course I do,” Rodney replied. “I don’t know if I’m *in* love with her yet, but I’m very fond of her and I like her a lot.” He let out a puff of a breath. “And as for how you know – you just know. It’s wanting to be with the other person as much as you can, missing them a lot when you’re not with them, worrying when they’re hurt or don’t feel good, and you’re happy when they’re happy.”
Lucy called them to order and the group disbanded, grumbling, to work on their various projects.
“That was very sweet of you,” Laura said when Rodney sat down next to her.
“I try,” he replied as he sorted through his skeins to put them in the right order for his work. “How they figure I’m even remotely qualified to answer that sort of question, I have no idea, though.”
“You’re an adult and you’re different from all the other adults here,” she replied as she started weaving. “Therefore, you *must* know *something*.” She gave him a sidelong look with a grin.
Rodney laughed. “You do have a point. Now, if dealing with the adults was only so easy.”
“Is anyone giving you trouble?” Laura asked concern lacing her voice.
“No, thankfully,” Rodney replied. “It’s more of the whole small-town mentality where everyone knows and wants to know everyone else’s business. It’s not malicious, it’s just curiosity.”
“As long as you’re certain you’re okay with it,” Laura replied dubiously.
“Don’t worry,” Rodney replied with a smile. “If I do have a problem, you’ll be the first person who’s help I’ll enlist after my family’s and Kelly.”
“Actually, put me after your family, Kelly, and Jaelyn’s family. They need to be a part of the process too.”
“Duly amended,” Rodney replied with a chuckle.
Rodney settled in to work with a smile on his lips, glad that things were going as well as they could be and that he honestly had nothing to complain about.
“Rodney-sensei, I have something for you,” Brenda told him as she waved him over while he was on his way home.
“I told you, Brenda, that you don’t owe me anything for treating Charles – especially after that meal you made for me.”
“Then what if I told you it was for the baby and not for you? At least come look at it.”
“Okay, okay,” he replied as he headed over to her quarters.
She let him in and made a presentation of showing him the wood cradle in front of one of the cots. “What do you think?” she asked expectantly.
“I think it’s gorgeous,” he replied, going over and crouching down to look at it more closely.
“I had it commissioned when I heard that you and Jaelyn were expecting. And even though I know the two of you are supposed to be doing all the preparations for the baby yourselves, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help you both.”
“I hope Jaelyn knows about this,” he said, looking up at her. “I’d hate for her to have already gotten one.”
“Don’t worry,” Brenda replied. “There’s only one tribe that makes cradles and when I talked with their representatives a few months ago, they hadn’t talked with her yet and had promised that they would find a way to not make a second one for her when I explained the situation.”
“Good,” Rodney replied. “When were you planning to give this to her?”
Brenda shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. Did you want to do it?”
Rodney shook his head. “I think you should. I think it’ll mean more to her if you did.”
Brenda nodded in acknowledgement. “Okay. Charles and I will take it over after dinner this evening.” As they headed out into the commons, she asked, “How are the preparations coming for the wedding and the baby?”
Rodney made a face. “They’re coming. Both Jaelyn and I – and I suspect our families and bound friends – will be very happy once the wedding’s over and the baby’s been born.”
“Well, I wish both of you and the little one all the happiness in the world.”
“Thank you, Brenda,” Rodney replied sincerely. “I really appreciate this.”
Rodney waited until he was well into the hall to the next borough before shaking his head in disbelief, an amused smile on his lips. Even though the elders had told everyone that part of Rodney and Jaelyn’s punishment was to amass all of the things they would need for their wedding and the baby themselves, the rest of the community had still helped them out. They just tended to be a little more under the radar than Rodney guessed they would normally be when they gave them the items.
Something else that was definitely not under the radar at the moment was the amount of ribbing he received from practically everyone regarding his wedding night and how it would fare with Jaelyn being so heavily pregnant. Rodney hadn’t figured their comments would be so ribald, given how discrete they normally were in their proprieties towards sex and intimacy. He didn’t think any of the Marines he had ever worked with were this smutty – and that was saying something. The Marines liked to live up to that stereotype in as many ways possible.
But he had to admit that what he enjoyed the most was the advice that he was continually given. Everyone wanted to pitch in with their two cents about what did and didn’t work for them as a married couple. Most of what he got was good, sound, practical advice. But while he was appreciative, Rodney didn’t know if he could handle one more person telling him that there would be times when the only thing he would be able to do would be to grin and bear it. And who knew that so many people felt that way here on a fairly regular basis? But, somehow, Rodney found it reassuring that, in the end, humans were basically the same wherever he went, regardless of the restrictions placed on them.
Kelly met Rodney as soon as he entered their borough. “Feel like coming over for dinner?” he asked.
“Sure,” Rodney replied. “Let me go tell Jillian. I don’t want her making more food than she has to.”
“I already spoke with her,” Kelly replied, “so she’s not expecting you.”
“Okay. Dinner at your place it is, then.”
As they ate, Rodney said to Kelly, “You really should get married, Kelly-chan. I hate to say it, but I think your culinary art is being wasted on just you, your father, and me – the few times I’m over here.”
Kelly-san laughed. “I see I have someone who agrees with me. Though, I have slightly different reasons for wanting him to get married.”
“Yeah, the standard ones of making sure I’m happy and giving you grandchildren,” Kelly huffed.
Sensing it was a sore subject between the two of them, Rodney tried to lighten the mood a little. “Those aren’t such bad reasons,” he commented. “At least they’re tried and true. I knew a woman back in Russia whose parents wanted her to get married –”
“Please, don’t, Rodney-chan,” Kelly replied with a laugh. “If you start on one of your stories, we’ll be here all night?”
“And that’s a bad thing how?” Rodney responded with a laugh of his own. “We both know you enjoy my stories.”
Kelly rolled his eyes. “*I* might, but I want to protect the tender ears of my father here.”
It was Kelly-san’s turn to roll his eyes. “I’ve heard things that could make you two young bucks blush,” he replied. “So, I don’t know where you got the idea that I need to be protected from what’s out there.”
Kelly blushed bright red as Rodney replied, “I think it’s the universal mentality that while you know your parents gave into certain biological impulses because otherwise you wouldn’t be here, you don’t want to *think* about it, let alone talk about it. And even worse, you don’t want to talk about it anywhere in the general vicinity of your parents.”
Kelly-san chuckled and shook his head as he took another bite of meat. “It’s good to know some things don’t change wherever you are or whatever age you are.”
Rodney nodded. “I agree with that. I’ve been getting that confirmed practically every day since Jaelyn and I started courting and even more so since she became pregnant and our wedding became imminent.”
Kelly sobered. “That’s something I want to talk to you about,” he said, playing with his food. “I’m supposed to be your shadow from now until the wedding. It’s nothing personal, but bound friends are supposed to keep a close eye on the bride and groom starting two or three months before the wedding to make sure they make it to the altar.”
Rodney looked at him for a moment before letting out a choked laugh. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” he asked, incredulous, and Kelly nodded. “Why?”
“To make sure you don’t let your cold feet get the best of you.”
“Believe me,” Rodney replied with a snort, “after everything Jaelyn and I have been through so far, it would take an act of God for me to *not* be at the altar. I’ll be there.”
“Sure, you say that now,” Kelly replied. “But just wait until reality starts setting in.”
“Don’t start worrying him, Kelly-kun,” Kelly-san told him sternly.
“Why would I be worried?” Rodney asked, looking between the two of them. “I think it’s a great idea to make sure people get to the altar, especially in such a small population like this. Just because I don’t think I personally will need it doesn’t mean that I don’t think it’s a good practice overall.”
“Well, honestly, it’s something of a suicide watch,” Kelly told him truthfully. “Now, it hasn’t happened a lot, but there have been a few times when someone has killed themselves rather than go through with the marriage.”
“After going through the whole courtship?” Rodney asked in disbelief. “Why didn’t they just break it off and try for another match?”
“In most cases there wasn’t another match available,” Kelly replied. “And they didn’t want to be with their match for whatever reason.”
“Usually the parents are forcing them or it’s an abusive relationship that they’re going into and they feel that they can’t get out,” Kelly-san clarified. “The latter doesn’t happen often but, sadly, it has. We do have provisions for that sort of situation, if it comes to light.”
“Has there ever been a Romeo and Juliet sort of situation?” Rodney asked, curious. At their blank looks, he thought for a moment before snapping his fingers and saying, “Finnian and Laura – is there any truth to that story?”
“Some, probably,” Kelly-san replied hesitantly, looking at him warily. “Every story we have comes from some kernel of truth, even if the years have obscured the exact details that started it. And, yes, there have been a few couples throughout the generations who have decided to emulate them, but it’s not a common occurrence, no.”
“As I’ve said, you won’t have any problems with me. I like Jaelyn a lot – maybe even love her – so there won’t be any difficulties on my side with marrying her. And, in any case, there’s no way I’m going to back out now after everything we’ve been through.”
“Good,” Kelly-san replied with a nod. “Kelly-kun, you’re helping me with clean up.”
Kelly looked like he was going to protest, but his father glared. He acquiesced and Rodney couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re going to pay for that when we spar after this,” Kelly told him.
“I’d like to see that happen,” Rodney replied with a full laugh. ‘This is good,’ he couldn’t help but think as he watched them make short work of the dinner dishes. He knew that the fact that he was happy and content shouldn’t be a surprise to him any more, but whenever it crept up on him, the revelation blew him away.
“Is it normal that I haven’t seen Jaelyn very much lately?” Rodney asked Kirby as he sat down next to him outside their quarters. He wondered if maybe her parents had decided to cancel the wedding and not tell him.
“It is,” Kirby replied. “Normally, the work is shared equally by the two people entering a marriage, so they do see each other, but not as much as they had previously. With Jaelyn doing all of the work, on top of her work for the glass guild and taking care of herself and the baby, she has even less time to spare, even for you. How are you handling the separation?”
“Is this a trick question to see if I’m ready to marry her?” Rodney asked with a wry smile.
“Maybe,” Kirby replied with an enigmatic smile.
“I do miss seeing her on a regular basis. I’ll be happier after the marriage when we’ll be able to settle down and start putting all of this behind us for the last time.”
“You’ll need to remember that adding both her and the baby at the same time to our family will be an adjustment,” Kirby told him levelly.
“I know,” Rodney replied, looking down at his hands. “If you’re worried about how Jillian will react, I’ll talk to her to see what I can do to make the transition easier for her. And hopefully having the baby around will help too, since I know she loves them.”
“It’s possible,” Kirby replied thoughtfully, “but don’t just assume that it will.” He smiled. “I know you’ll make a great husband and father, even with this rough patch that you’re going through. You’ve come a long way since you first came to us and I’m very proud of you and what you’ve accomplished.”
Rodney blushed. “Thank you, Kirby-sensei – that means a lot to me.” He stood. “I’m going to go talk to Jaelyn.”
“You might just want to wait; I hear her and Jasmine coming back from the bathing pool.”
As the pair in question entered the borough, Rodney replied, “Thanks, Kirby,” and waited while they said their goodbyes. Jillian came over to their quarters. “Can I talk to you, Jillian?” he asked.
“Sure,” she replied, giving him a questioning look, “as long as you don’t mind if I do my hair in the process.”
“Not at all,” Rodney replied, shaking his head as he followed her into their quarters. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay with Jaelyn and I getting married in a month and a half.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little late to be asking me that question?” Jillian asked icily as she sat down on her cot and began brushing out her damp hair. “Besides, the two of you were matched, so there’s very little I can do about it. But since you seem so taken with her, that has to mean that she has at least some redeeming qualities. If you’re worried that I’ll cause some sort of scene and disrupt the beginning of your marriage, you don’t have to worry. I promise I’ll be quiet and good and, hopefully, one day Jaelyn and I will be able to get along.”
Rodney looked at her, trying to figure out what to say and stuttered, “I – I don’t –”
Jillian took pity on him and interjected, “Don’t worry,” she replied, bailing him out and patting the cot next to her. “I’m willing to make an effort to like her and get to know her better and let the past go.”
“I wish I knew why you don’t like her,” Rodney replied morosely, sitting down where indicated.
“It’s something I wish to keep private, Rodney-kun,” she told him as she started braiding her hair. “And, don’t worry, it has nothing to do with you. You can stop blaming yourself and thinking you have to feel guilty because you can’t fix it. I only want the best for you and since she makes you happy, I’m happy.”
“But you’ll tell me if things change, right?” he asked, expectantly. “Because I do want you to be okay with what’s going to happen.”
“Oh, Rodney-kun,” Jillian laughed, her demeanor warming. “I –” She started laughing again. “Don’t worry. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make your new life with Jaelyn go as smoothly as possible.” She bound the end of her braid and took his face in her hands. “I promise.”
“Thank you,” Rodney replied as she took her hands away. He grinned. “Maybe after the wedding and the baby’s delivery, we can see about getting you matched.”
Jillian snorted and rolled her eyes. “Riiight. I can just see Dad agreeing to that. I’m still his little girl and I think he wants to keep it that way a little longer. And I’ll admit that I’m enjoying the lack of pressure in that area.”
“Maybe my wedding and the baby will help kick him in gear. You do want to get married, don’t you?”
“Sure,” she replied with a shrug, “at some point – like most girls. I just haven’t really thought about it actually happening.”
“Do you want me to talk to Kirby about it – test the waters and what-not?”
“He’d probably see right through you and tell you that if I wanted to be matched, I should just talk to him myself – even if you told him profusely that it was your idea and that you were the one pushing me into this.”
Kirby stuck his head into their quarters. “Jaelyn wants to see you, Rodney-kun,” he said before withdrawing.
“Duty calls,” Rodney said to Jillian as he stood. “Thank you,” he told her sincerely.
“You’re welcome,” she replied with a smile as she stood and began putting her things away. “Go on – you better not keep her waiting. I’ve heard pregnant women can be very temperamental.”
Rodney laughed and headed out into the commons, noting that Kirby was across the commons, discussing something with Jean, both of them watching him and Jaelyn closely. “Is everything okay?” he asked Jaelyn, concerned that there was another problem with the pregnancy.
“All things considered, everything’s fine at the moment,” she replied with an amused smile, a hand gently rubbing her distended belly. “And hello to you too.”
“Hi,” Rodney replied with a shy smile.
Jaelyn grimaced and Rodney quickly closed the distance and put his hand on her belly. “What happened? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Fine,” she replied a bit breathlessly. “It’s just that it hurts when the baby moves.” She grimaced again. “It did it again.”
“Huh,” Rodney replied. “I didn’t feel anything. I thought that at this point, you’d be able to feel something.”
“Well, I certainly did,” Jaelyn replied.
“I’ll be right back,” Rodney told her as he guided her over to his stool and helped her sit down. “I’m going to see if I can get something to ease the pain a bit.”
She nodded mutely as Rodney ducked back inside and grabbed his bag, along with a cup of water. When he came back out, she had doubled over and he quickly knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged his hand off and straightened up, breathing deeply.
“I don’t think you’re okay,” Rodney replied mildly. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Jaelyn shook her head. “It’s the same things it’s been,” she replied, slightly breathless. “I can manage until the baby’s born in a month. I should have known that it wouldn’t be an easy pregnancy, considering that we defied the gods.”
Rodney wanted to comment that the gods had nothing to do with her pain, but held his tongue as he began rummaging through his bag for something to help her. He pulled out some dried, powdered drusma root and added a couple pinches to the water. “Here, drink this,” he said as he handed her the cup. “It should help with the pain.”
“It’s not going to hurt the baby, is it?” Jaelyn asked, worriedly.
“No, the baby shouldn’t be affected at all,” Rodney replied.
“Good,” she answered before taking a sip. “You know, I can’t wait to have the baby.”
“I’m not surprised. It hasn’t been the easiest pregnancy.”
“True.” She took another sip of water at his prompting. “Though I’ve been doing a lot of meditating about this whole situation and working through a lot of my feelings regarding the pregnancy and the wedding and I’m in a much better place regarding the whole thing.”
“Oh, really?” Rodney asked, raising an eyebrow in question. “Did your parents tell you to tell me that?”
She pursed her lips together and glared at him. “No, Rodney-kun, they didn’t. Well, they did make me meditate as part of my penance to them, but that’s it. I’ve realized that all the misgivings I had were based on my fear of not knowing what is going to happen. And the deeper I went in my meditation and the more I talked with my parents and grandparents, the more I realized that my worrying wasn’t going to change anything. I saw that you weren’t suddenly going to change once we got married and that while other things were going to change, we’d have each other, as well as our bound friends, our families, and the rest of the community to help us get through them.”
“It sounds like you’re in a much better place now,” Rodney remarked as she took another sip.
“Oh, I am.” She smiled sweetly as she took another sip. “I’m actually having fun getting ready for the wedding and the baby. Brenda told me she showed you the cradle she had made for us.”
“She did,” Rodney agreed. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is. I think our little one will enjoy being rocked to sleep in it.”
“That reminds me – when are we going to pick out a name for the baby?”
“We traditionally don’t name the baby until a week after its birth. And it’s considered bad luck to talk about it before the birth.”
“Okay,” Rodney replied thoughtfully as she finished off the water and took the cup. “I can see why.” Changing subjects, he said, “Why don’t you come for dinner tonight?”
“I’d love to, but my grandparents want me to stay home as much as possible between now and the wedding. It seems like they’re afraid they’ll never see me after the wedding and once the baby’s born.”
Two weeks before the tenth month festival, Rodney finished the last of his outfit for the wedding. With a sigh of relief, he bound off the last seam and took the pants off the loom as Laura came over to inspect his work.
“Good job,” she told him, with a smile and a nod of approval, after she had inspected the cream-colored garment. “These will look amazing with your shirt and Jaelyn’s dress.”
“Are you sure blue is an acceptable color for a wedding dress?” Rodney asked dubiously as he glanced to the sky blue dress and shirt hanging on their finished pole. “I’m only asking because I don’t want to jinx our marriage any more than we already have.”
Laura laughed as she hung the pants up next to his shirt. “Don’t worry, Rodney. Blue is the standard color for both brides and grooms.” Her expression turned wistful. “I only wish I had been able to make your garments as well, Rodney-chan. But I’m proud to see how far you’ve come in your weaving. You’ll be an excellent master in two more cycles.” Her eyes gleamed as she added, “And I’m sure you’ll make an excellent teacher.”
“Oh, good lord,” Rodney replied, rolling his eyes. “I’m going to have to teach one of them, aren’t I?”
“Oh, come on, it won’t be that bad,” Laura replied. “Besides, when you’re teaching, you’ll have power over them. These kids know they don’t have to listen to you because they’re in the same boat as you, even though they seem to adore you regardless.”
“Which I have no idea where that comes from. I usually tend to be mean and cantankerous towards kids, not adoration-inspiring.”
Everyone began cleaning up for the day. “Looks like you finished just in time,” Laura replied, not commenting on his statement. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Rodney nodded and replied, “See you tomorrow,” before heading out and home.
On the way home, he went through his mental checklist of what still needed to be done for the wedding and was surprised to find that only a few things were left. Most of those were last minute things they couldn’t do until that day, such as food preparation. He then went through the list of people outside of his borough that he hoped would attend, regardless of whether or not they had already expressed their intention to, and even though he knew that most of the people in the village would be there, regardless. When he got to the end of the list, he felt like he was forgetting people and went through the list again, shaking his head in confusion because everyone was on the list that he could think of, but he still felt like he was forgetting…. His brain suddenly supplied names and faces for people he had long stopped thinking about.
He stopped suddenly and Jillian, who had come up behind him, asked, “Are you all right, Rodney-kun?”
“Yeah, fine,” he replied shortly. “Just a random memory I wasn’t expecting,” he added, giving her a soft smile as he started walking again.
“Was it a good one?” she asked as she kept pace with him.
“Neutral,” he replied. “But a fond one.”
He fell quiet as they continued home, reminded that he had never planned on getting married before coming here, though he and the rest of the team had made provisions – drunken provisions – in case if they ever had to for the sake of duty. For instance, that John would be his best man and that Ronon and Teyla would be his groomspeople – and vice versa for John. And that if they couldn’t do that, then they would all be supportive of whatever the local customs were. But here he was and they were back in Atlantis – and there went their bargain down the toilet. He sighed. If only there was a way for them to be here to see this, to see that he was happy….
“What’s going on?” Kelly asked, breaking off Rodney’s train of thought, when he saw Jillian and Rodney enter their borough. “Is everything okay?”
“As far as I know,” Jillian replied with a shrug as they both looked at Rodney’s morose look. “He hasn’t said anything.”
“Are you okay, Rodney-chan?” Kelly asked him worriedly. “I won’t have to tie you down for the next two weeks, am I?”
“I’m just peachy,” Rodney replied with a wan smile. “Don’t worry – I just remembered a promise I had made to someone that now I can’t keep. I’ll be fine.”
“Rodney-kun! Rodney-kun!” a breathless voice woke him. “Wake up, Rodney-kun!”
“Not gonna wake up,” he replied sleepily. “’Snot morning yet.”
“Rodney! Wake up! It’s Jaelyn! She needs your help!”
That woke Rodney up and he sat up quickly, wiping the rest of the sleep from his eyes. “What’s going on?” he asked Jillian.
“She’s really sick, Rodney-kun. Jennifer’s waiting for you outside.”
“Why’s Jennifer –?” Then he remembered that Jennifer was staying with Jaelyn to help her get ready for the wedding. “Getting up, getting up,” he said to defer any more questions or comments as he got out of bed. “Tell her I’ll be there in a second, I just need to get dressed.”
Rodney hurriedly pulled on his clothes and grabbed his bag before heading out to meet Jennifer. “Okay, let’s go,” he said to her by way of greeting, and she nodded grimly as she fell in step with him across the empty commons.
“What’s going on?” Rodney asked when they entered Jaelyn’s family’s quarters and immediately went over to Jaelyn’s cot, ignoring the rest of her family.
“I don’t know,” Jessica told him from where she was kneeling next to Jaelyn’s cot – the woman in question curled up on her side and looking pale and miserable. “She was complaining of feeling a little dizzy last night and she’s thrown up a few times. She hasn’t had an appetite.”
“How are you feeling now?” Rodney asked Jaelyn gently.
“A little better, but about the same,” Jaelyn replied.
Rodney put a hand to her forehead, but instead of the expected fever, her skin was cold and slightly sweaty. “Has she had a fever?” he asked Jessica.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head.
“What other symptoms does she have?” Rodney asked, worry evident in his voice.
Jessica hesitated before saying, “Well, there is…this.” She pulled the blanket down and Jaelyn’s shirt up and Rodney saw the huge, dark bruise covering Jaelyn’s belly.
“Okay. Wow,” Rodney replied. “Yeah, that’s not something I know to deal with, but I know it’s bad. Jennifer, can you –?”
“I’ll get him,” she replied and she was gone before he could finish his sentence, let alone respond.
“Everything’s going to be all right,” Rodney said, turning back to Jaelyn and gently brushing back her damp hair. “Jennifer’s going to get Kirby and we’re going to fix this so we can get married tomorrow, okay?”
Jaelyn nodded mutely, looking worried and scared. “And the baby?”
“The baby should be fine,” he told her, still brushing her hair off of her forehead and not knowing what else to do.
Kirby and Jennifer entered moments later and Rodney quickly moved aside as Kirby began looking Jaelyn over and asking questions. When he was done, he pulled Rodney aside. He gave Jaelyn’s family a furtive glance before whispering to Rodney, “I’m sorry. I don’t think there’s anything we can do for her. Bleeding that extensive….” He paused for a moment. “There isn’t a way that I know of where we can save both her and the baby. We might still be able to save the baby while she’s still alive, but I don’t know how much time Jaelyn has left.”
Rodney swallowed roughly and looked past Kirby to where Jaelyn was curled up on her cot. “She had finally started getting excited about the baby and the wedding,” he said, his gaze shifting back to Kirby.
“I know, you told me, Rodney-kun,” Kirby replied with a small smile. “But we need to do something, and quickly, or we’re going to lose them both. Do you want to tell them, or should I?”
Rodney nodded. “I’ll do it.” He motioned Keith closer as he and Kirby rejoined Jessica and Jaelyn. “I have some bad news,” he told them. “The bleeding’s too bad and extensive for us to do anything about. We should be able to save the baby, but you wouldn’t survive, Jaelyn.”
“Do it,” she replied steadily. “Save the baby.”
“Jaelyn –” her mother gasped. “There must be something else you could do,” she said to Kirby and Rodney.
“I’m sorry, but there isn’t,” Kirby replied.
“Let’s respect Jaelyn’s wishes,” Keith responded, standing and going to Jennifer. Rodney watched as he told her and her eyes widened and she gaped at them.
“Where should we do this?” Rodney asked Kirby.
“I’m hesitant to move her, but doing it down by the pools would be easier to keep things clean.”
Rodney nodded and in a matter of moments, they had moved Jaelyn, cot and all, down by the pools. The rest of her family trailed behind them. The family quietly and somberly said their goodbyes as Rodney and Kirby got everything ready to deliver the baby.
When it was Rodney’s turn to say goodbye, he knelt by her cot. “I’m sorry,” he told her miserably.
“It’s okay,” she replied soothingly. “I guess I’m not meant to be a mother. I was really starting to look forward to it. Take care of our baby, okay?”
“I will.”
She smiled at him. “I know you will. You’ll be a great father.” She gasped and put her hands to her belly. “I think you better get moving.”
“Okay,” Rodney replied. “I love you, Jaelyn-chan.”
“I love you too, Rodney-chan.”
Kirby kneeled next to Rodney, just out of Jaelyn’s line of sight, as Rodney pushed up her shirt to expose her stomach. Rodney closed himself off as much as possible as he gave Jaelyn the leaves to chew that would put her under. While they waited for the effects to take hold, he watched as Jaelyn’s breathing slowed and her eyes closed. Kirby cleaned Jaelyn’s stomach and the knife Rodney would use.
“Okay, we’re ready,” Rodney replied blankly.
He took the knife from Kirby and made careful incisions where Kirby indicated. As the blood ran out, they mopped it up as quickly as possible, Jessica and Keith coming over to help. When they got Jaelyn’s stomach open, they saw the source of the problem – the *babies* weren’t in Jaelyn’s womb as expected. They had developed in her abdominal cavity. For a moment Rodney froze when he realized that she had been carrying twins. Then reality caught up to him and he carefully opened the sac encasing them. But the babies were already dead, blood loss having already starved them of vital oxygen.
Jessica’s anguished sob brought him back to the present and Rodney saw that Jaelyn had stopped breathing.
“She’s gone, Rodney-kun,” Kirby replied softly, a hand on his shoulder keeping him in place.
“She was carrying twins, Kirby,” Rodney said to Kirby as he fell back. “She was carrying twins.”
Continue to Part 19
The complete header can be found in part 1.
Previous parts can be found here.
Rodney entered his quarters and closed his eyes with a sigh of relief. It was two and a half months before the beginning of the tenth month festival and the wedding and he was totally ready for it to be over. He heard some giggling and opened his eyes to see Jillian and Kyle laughing from where they were sitting by the fire.
“What are you laughing at?” he asked sharply as he advanced on them. They both looked at him in mock horror until he pounced on Kyle and started tickling him, causing the child to laugh. He released Kyle when he started gasping for air. As Kyle sat up, Rodney asked, “When did you get to be so big?”
“When you weren’t looking,” Kyle replied with a grin.
“Obviously not. You’re what, five cycles old now?”
“I’m *six* cycles old,” Kyle replied in a huff.
Rodney pretended to count on his fingers. “So you are. Is there any stew left, or did you eat it all?”
Kyle huffed. “I can’t eat *that* much,” he replied rolling his eyes.
“Here,” Jillian replied with a smile as she handed over a steaming bowl. “You better get back to your parents, Kyle.”
“Aww, Jillian. Do I have to?” he whined.
“Yes, or I’ll tell them about the extra dessert I gave you.”
Kyle obeyed quickly, giving Rodney a wave on his way out.
“That wasn’t coercive at *all*,” Rodney replied with a laugh as he watched Kyle go.
“I love the kid, but he’s tiring after a while,” Jillian replied as she dished out her own bowl of stew. “I do feel like I’m more ready for when I have my own children, though.”
“That’s good. Have you thought about talking your dad into matching you with someone?”
Jillian shook her head yet. “I’m not *that* ready. How are things coming for you and Jaelyn? The big day’s coming quickly.”
Rodney shrugged. “As far as I can tell, it’s coming. Jaelyn’s still playing things close to her chest, but it does seem like everything’s coming together.”
“And she looks like she’s due any day now. Has the pregnancy gotten any easier?”
“A little. But some things have stayed the same – the bleeding, the nausea, the appetite, but not being able to eat much. Even Kirby doesn’t know what’s going on, so I’ve been doing the best I can to help her out. We’ll both be a lot happier once the baby’s been delivered.”
“I hope you let me spoil it.”
“Only if you promise to then keep it until it calms down.”
Jillian stuck her tongue out at him. “Spoilsport.”
“Hey, all’s fair. You made me do that a few times with Kyle.”
“Okay, okay.” Jillian started dishing out another bowl of stew as Kirby entered their quarters.
“How’s Jaelyn?” Kirby asked as he sat down and gratefully accepted the food from Jillian.
“About the same,” Rodney replied as he finished eating. “We’ll both be very happy once the wedding’s over and the baby’s born.”
“How’s your outfit coming?” Jillian asked between bites.
Rodney made a face. “It’s coming. It’s going a lot slower than I had expected, though. The things for the baby are going well, though. I’m almost done with the list Laura gave me. Like I said, I’ll be glad once the wedding is over and the baby’s born. Then we can start getting into something that looks like a normal routine.”
Kelly hailed them from outside and Rodney got up to officially let him in. “Good evening,” he said, bowing slightly to Kirby and Jillian.
“Would you like something to eat?” Jillian asked, gesturing towards the pot of stew.
“No, thanks,” he replied. “I just ate. But thank you.”
“Can you sit for a minute, or did you need me for something?” Rodney asked.
“I can sit,” Kelly replied with a smile. “I just came to see how you were holding up.”
“Since lunchtime?” Rodney replied with a laugh. “I’m fine. Why?”
“Well, considering how many questions and comments I’ve been getting about your wedding, I figured that you must be completely inundated by them.”
Rodney half shrugged. “It actually hasn’t been too bad. Though if I hear ‘Soon you’ll be able to do it properly’, with a wink one more time, I may not be responsible for my actions. For once in my life, I think I’m preferring the kids to the adults.” The other three laughed and Rodney replied indignantly, “Don’t laugh! I’m serious! The boys are a mixture of intrigued and grossed out about the whole process and the girls think it’s the coolest thing ever. What makes it even better is that they all want to help and every morning can’t wait to tell me their new ideas.”
“And here you thought we’d all make you go it alone,” Jillian replied with a laugh and a smile.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to think,” Rodney replied as he finished up his stew. “It wasn’t like you three were giving me any guidance. I just did what Jaelyn had told me what I needed to do. I really should’ve known better from past experiences. But I am glad that everyone and everything seems to be okay now after what Jaelyn and I did.”
“Feel like sparring some?” Kelly asked as Rodney cleaned his bowl out.
“That sounds great,” Rodney replied, stashing his bowl next to the fire pit and grabbing his staff from under his cot. “I could blow off some steam.”
“Rodney-san, how do you know if you love someone?” Lisa asked him the next morning when he arrived in the silk borough.
“Well, it depends on what sort of love you’re talking about,” he replied, trying to keep a straight face at her serious expression and the expectant looks on the faces of the girls standing behind her. “There’s love for your family, love for your friends, love for your husband – or wife, if you’re a boy. Which one were you talking about?”
“You know, *love* love,” she replied, emphasizing the word. “Do you love Jaelyn-san?”
“Of course I do,” Rodney replied. “I don’t know if I’m *in* love with her yet, but I’m very fond of her and I like her a lot.” He let out a puff of a breath. “And as for how you know – you just know. It’s wanting to be with the other person as much as you can, missing them a lot when you’re not with them, worrying when they’re hurt or don’t feel good, and you’re happy when they’re happy.”
Lucy called them to order and the group disbanded, grumbling, to work on their various projects.
“That was very sweet of you,” Laura said when Rodney sat down next to her.
“I try,” he replied as he sorted through his skeins to put them in the right order for his work. “How they figure I’m even remotely qualified to answer that sort of question, I have no idea, though.”
“You’re an adult and you’re different from all the other adults here,” she replied as she started weaving. “Therefore, you *must* know *something*.” She gave him a sidelong look with a grin.
Rodney laughed. “You do have a point. Now, if dealing with the adults was only so easy.”
“Is anyone giving you trouble?” Laura asked concern lacing her voice.
“No, thankfully,” Rodney replied. “It’s more of the whole small-town mentality where everyone knows and wants to know everyone else’s business. It’s not malicious, it’s just curiosity.”
“As long as you’re certain you’re okay with it,” Laura replied dubiously.
“Don’t worry,” Rodney replied with a smile. “If I do have a problem, you’ll be the first person who’s help I’ll enlist after my family’s and Kelly.”
“Actually, put me after your family, Kelly, and Jaelyn’s family. They need to be a part of the process too.”
“Duly amended,” Rodney replied with a chuckle.
Rodney settled in to work with a smile on his lips, glad that things were going as well as they could be and that he honestly had nothing to complain about.
“Rodney-sensei, I have something for you,” Brenda told him as she waved him over while he was on his way home.
“I told you, Brenda, that you don’t owe me anything for treating Charles – especially after that meal you made for me.”
“Then what if I told you it was for the baby and not for you? At least come look at it.”
“Okay, okay,” he replied as he headed over to her quarters.
She let him in and made a presentation of showing him the wood cradle in front of one of the cots. “What do you think?” she asked expectantly.
“I think it’s gorgeous,” he replied, going over and crouching down to look at it more closely.
“I had it commissioned when I heard that you and Jaelyn were expecting. And even though I know the two of you are supposed to be doing all the preparations for the baby yourselves, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help you both.”
“I hope Jaelyn knows about this,” he said, looking up at her. “I’d hate for her to have already gotten one.”
“Don’t worry,” Brenda replied. “There’s only one tribe that makes cradles and when I talked with their representatives a few months ago, they hadn’t talked with her yet and had promised that they would find a way to not make a second one for her when I explained the situation.”
“Good,” Rodney replied. “When were you planning to give this to her?”
Brenda shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. Did you want to do it?”
Rodney shook his head. “I think you should. I think it’ll mean more to her if you did.”
Brenda nodded in acknowledgement. “Okay. Charles and I will take it over after dinner this evening.” As they headed out into the commons, she asked, “How are the preparations coming for the wedding and the baby?”
Rodney made a face. “They’re coming. Both Jaelyn and I – and I suspect our families and bound friends – will be very happy once the wedding’s over and the baby’s been born.”
“Well, I wish both of you and the little one all the happiness in the world.”
“Thank you, Brenda,” Rodney replied sincerely. “I really appreciate this.”
Rodney waited until he was well into the hall to the next borough before shaking his head in disbelief, an amused smile on his lips. Even though the elders had told everyone that part of Rodney and Jaelyn’s punishment was to amass all of the things they would need for their wedding and the baby themselves, the rest of the community had still helped them out. They just tended to be a little more under the radar than Rodney guessed they would normally be when they gave them the items.
Something else that was definitely not under the radar at the moment was the amount of ribbing he received from practically everyone regarding his wedding night and how it would fare with Jaelyn being so heavily pregnant. Rodney hadn’t figured their comments would be so ribald, given how discrete they normally were in their proprieties towards sex and intimacy. He didn’t think any of the Marines he had ever worked with were this smutty – and that was saying something. The Marines liked to live up to that stereotype in as many ways possible.
But he had to admit that what he enjoyed the most was the advice that he was continually given. Everyone wanted to pitch in with their two cents about what did and didn’t work for them as a married couple. Most of what he got was good, sound, practical advice. But while he was appreciative, Rodney didn’t know if he could handle one more person telling him that there would be times when the only thing he would be able to do would be to grin and bear it. And who knew that so many people felt that way here on a fairly regular basis? But, somehow, Rodney found it reassuring that, in the end, humans were basically the same wherever he went, regardless of the restrictions placed on them.
Kelly met Rodney as soon as he entered their borough. “Feel like coming over for dinner?” he asked.
“Sure,” Rodney replied. “Let me go tell Jillian. I don’t want her making more food than she has to.”
“I already spoke with her,” Kelly replied, “so she’s not expecting you.”
“Okay. Dinner at your place it is, then.”
As they ate, Rodney said to Kelly, “You really should get married, Kelly-chan. I hate to say it, but I think your culinary art is being wasted on just you, your father, and me – the few times I’m over here.”
Kelly-san laughed. “I see I have someone who agrees with me. Though, I have slightly different reasons for wanting him to get married.”
“Yeah, the standard ones of making sure I’m happy and giving you grandchildren,” Kelly huffed.
Sensing it was a sore subject between the two of them, Rodney tried to lighten the mood a little. “Those aren’t such bad reasons,” he commented. “At least they’re tried and true. I knew a woman back in Russia whose parents wanted her to get married –”
“Please, don’t, Rodney-chan,” Kelly replied with a laugh. “If you start on one of your stories, we’ll be here all night?”
“And that’s a bad thing how?” Rodney responded with a laugh of his own. “We both know you enjoy my stories.”
Kelly rolled his eyes. “*I* might, but I want to protect the tender ears of my father here.”
It was Kelly-san’s turn to roll his eyes. “I’ve heard things that could make you two young bucks blush,” he replied. “So, I don’t know where you got the idea that I need to be protected from what’s out there.”
Kelly blushed bright red as Rodney replied, “I think it’s the universal mentality that while you know your parents gave into certain biological impulses because otherwise you wouldn’t be here, you don’t want to *think* about it, let alone talk about it. And even worse, you don’t want to talk about it anywhere in the general vicinity of your parents.”
Kelly-san chuckled and shook his head as he took another bite of meat. “It’s good to know some things don’t change wherever you are or whatever age you are.”
Rodney nodded. “I agree with that. I’ve been getting that confirmed practically every day since Jaelyn and I started courting and even more so since she became pregnant and our wedding became imminent.”
Kelly sobered. “That’s something I want to talk to you about,” he said, playing with his food. “I’m supposed to be your shadow from now until the wedding. It’s nothing personal, but bound friends are supposed to keep a close eye on the bride and groom starting two or three months before the wedding to make sure they make it to the altar.”
Rodney looked at him for a moment before letting out a choked laugh. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” he asked, incredulous, and Kelly nodded. “Why?”
“To make sure you don’t let your cold feet get the best of you.”
“Believe me,” Rodney replied with a snort, “after everything Jaelyn and I have been through so far, it would take an act of God for me to *not* be at the altar. I’ll be there.”
“Sure, you say that now,” Kelly replied. “But just wait until reality starts setting in.”
“Don’t start worrying him, Kelly-kun,” Kelly-san told him sternly.
“Why would I be worried?” Rodney asked, looking between the two of them. “I think it’s a great idea to make sure people get to the altar, especially in such a small population like this. Just because I don’t think I personally will need it doesn’t mean that I don’t think it’s a good practice overall.”
“Well, honestly, it’s something of a suicide watch,” Kelly told him truthfully. “Now, it hasn’t happened a lot, but there have been a few times when someone has killed themselves rather than go through with the marriage.”
“After going through the whole courtship?” Rodney asked in disbelief. “Why didn’t they just break it off and try for another match?”
“In most cases there wasn’t another match available,” Kelly replied. “And they didn’t want to be with their match for whatever reason.”
“Usually the parents are forcing them or it’s an abusive relationship that they’re going into and they feel that they can’t get out,” Kelly-san clarified. “The latter doesn’t happen often but, sadly, it has. We do have provisions for that sort of situation, if it comes to light.”
“Has there ever been a Romeo and Juliet sort of situation?” Rodney asked, curious. At their blank looks, he thought for a moment before snapping his fingers and saying, “Finnian and Laura – is there any truth to that story?”
“Some, probably,” Kelly-san replied hesitantly, looking at him warily. “Every story we have comes from some kernel of truth, even if the years have obscured the exact details that started it. And, yes, there have been a few couples throughout the generations who have decided to emulate them, but it’s not a common occurrence, no.”
“As I’ve said, you won’t have any problems with me. I like Jaelyn a lot – maybe even love her – so there won’t be any difficulties on my side with marrying her. And, in any case, there’s no way I’m going to back out now after everything we’ve been through.”
“Good,” Kelly-san replied with a nod. “Kelly-kun, you’re helping me with clean up.”
Kelly looked like he was going to protest, but his father glared. He acquiesced and Rodney couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re going to pay for that when we spar after this,” Kelly told him.
“I’d like to see that happen,” Rodney replied with a full laugh. ‘This is good,’ he couldn’t help but think as he watched them make short work of the dinner dishes. He knew that the fact that he was happy and content shouldn’t be a surprise to him any more, but whenever it crept up on him, the revelation blew him away.
“Is it normal that I haven’t seen Jaelyn very much lately?” Rodney asked Kirby as he sat down next to him outside their quarters. He wondered if maybe her parents had decided to cancel the wedding and not tell him.
“It is,” Kirby replied. “Normally, the work is shared equally by the two people entering a marriage, so they do see each other, but not as much as they had previously. With Jaelyn doing all of the work, on top of her work for the glass guild and taking care of herself and the baby, she has even less time to spare, even for you. How are you handling the separation?”
“Is this a trick question to see if I’m ready to marry her?” Rodney asked with a wry smile.
“Maybe,” Kirby replied with an enigmatic smile.
“I do miss seeing her on a regular basis. I’ll be happier after the marriage when we’ll be able to settle down and start putting all of this behind us for the last time.”
“You’ll need to remember that adding both her and the baby at the same time to our family will be an adjustment,” Kirby told him levelly.
“I know,” Rodney replied, looking down at his hands. “If you’re worried about how Jillian will react, I’ll talk to her to see what I can do to make the transition easier for her. And hopefully having the baby around will help too, since I know she loves them.”
“It’s possible,” Kirby replied thoughtfully, “but don’t just assume that it will.” He smiled. “I know you’ll make a great husband and father, even with this rough patch that you’re going through. You’ve come a long way since you first came to us and I’m very proud of you and what you’ve accomplished.”
Rodney blushed. “Thank you, Kirby-sensei – that means a lot to me.” He stood. “I’m going to go talk to Jaelyn.”
“You might just want to wait; I hear her and Jasmine coming back from the bathing pool.”
As the pair in question entered the borough, Rodney replied, “Thanks, Kirby,” and waited while they said their goodbyes. Jillian came over to their quarters. “Can I talk to you, Jillian?” he asked.
“Sure,” she replied, giving him a questioning look, “as long as you don’t mind if I do my hair in the process.”
“Not at all,” Rodney replied, shaking his head as he followed her into their quarters. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay with Jaelyn and I getting married in a month and a half.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little late to be asking me that question?” Jillian asked icily as she sat down on her cot and began brushing out her damp hair. “Besides, the two of you were matched, so there’s very little I can do about it. But since you seem so taken with her, that has to mean that she has at least some redeeming qualities. If you’re worried that I’ll cause some sort of scene and disrupt the beginning of your marriage, you don’t have to worry. I promise I’ll be quiet and good and, hopefully, one day Jaelyn and I will be able to get along.”
Rodney looked at her, trying to figure out what to say and stuttered, “I – I don’t –”
Jillian took pity on him and interjected, “Don’t worry,” she replied, bailing him out and patting the cot next to her. “I’m willing to make an effort to like her and get to know her better and let the past go.”
“I wish I knew why you don’t like her,” Rodney replied morosely, sitting down where indicated.
“It’s something I wish to keep private, Rodney-kun,” she told him as she started braiding her hair. “And, don’t worry, it has nothing to do with you. You can stop blaming yourself and thinking you have to feel guilty because you can’t fix it. I only want the best for you and since she makes you happy, I’m happy.”
“But you’ll tell me if things change, right?” he asked, expectantly. “Because I do want you to be okay with what’s going to happen.”
“Oh, Rodney-kun,” Jillian laughed, her demeanor warming. “I –” She started laughing again. “Don’t worry. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make your new life with Jaelyn go as smoothly as possible.” She bound the end of her braid and took his face in her hands. “I promise.”
“Thank you,” Rodney replied as she took her hands away. He grinned. “Maybe after the wedding and the baby’s delivery, we can see about getting you matched.”
Jillian snorted and rolled her eyes. “Riiight. I can just see Dad agreeing to that. I’m still his little girl and I think he wants to keep it that way a little longer. And I’ll admit that I’m enjoying the lack of pressure in that area.”
“Maybe my wedding and the baby will help kick him in gear. You do want to get married, don’t you?”
“Sure,” she replied with a shrug, “at some point – like most girls. I just haven’t really thought about it actually happening.”
“Do you want me to talk to Kirby about it – test the waters and what-not?”
“He’d probably see right through you and tell you that if I wanted to be matched, I should just talk to him myself – even if you told him profusely that it was your idea and that you were the one pushing me into this.”
Kirby stuck his head into their quarters. “Jaelyn wants to see you, Rodney-kun,” he said before withdrawing.
“Duty calls,” Rodney said to Jillian as he stood. “Thank you,” he told her sincerely.
“You’re welcome,” she replied with a smile as she stood and began putting her things away. “Go on – you better not keep her waiting. I’ve heard pregnant women can be very temperamental.”
Rodney laughed and headed out into the commons, noting that Kirby was across the commons, discussing something with Jean, both of them watching him and Jaelyn closely. “Is everything okay?” he asked Jaelyn, concerned that there was another problem with the pregnancy.
“All things considered, everything’s fine at the moment,” she replied with an amused smile, a hand gently rubbing her distended belly. “And hello to you too.”
“Hi,” Rodney replied with a shy smile.
Jaelyn grimaced and Rodney quickly closed the distance and put his hand on her belly. “What happened? Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Fine,” she replied a bit breathlessly. “It’s just that it hurts when the baby moves.” She grimaced again. “It did it again.”
“Huh,” Rodney replied. “I didn’t feel anything. I thought that at this point, you’d be able to feel something.”
“Well, I certainly did,” Jaelyn replied.
“I’ll be right back,” Rodney told her as he guided her over to his stool and helped her sit down. “I’m going to see if I can get something to ease the pain a bit.”
She nodded mutely as Rodney ducked back inside and grabbed his bag, along with a cup of water. When he came back out, she had doubled over and he quickly knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged his hand off and straightened up, breathing deeply.
“I don’t think you’re okay,” Rodney replied mildly. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Jaelyn shook her head. “It’s the same things it’s been,” she replied, slightly breathless. “I can manage until the baby’s born in a month. I should have known that it wouldn’t be an easy pregnancy, considering that we defied the gods.”
Rodney wanted to comment that the gods had nothing to do with her pain, but held his tongue as he began rummaging through his bag for something to help her. He pulled out some dried, powdered drusma root and added a couple pinches to the water. “Here, drink this,” he said as he handed her the cup. “It should help with the pain.”
“It’s not going to hurt the baby, is it?” Jaelyn asked, worriedly.
“No, the baby shouldn’t be affected at all,” Rodney replied.
“Good,” she answered before taking a sip. “You know, I can’t wait to have the baby.”
“I’m not surprised. It hasn’t been the easiest pregnancy.”
“True.” She took another sip of water at his prompting. “Though I’ve been doing a lot of meditating about this whole situation and working through a lot of my feelings regarding the pregnancy and the wedding and I’m in a much better place regarding the whole thing.”
“Oh, really?” Rodney asked, raising an eyebrow in question. “Did your parents tell you to tell me that?”
She pursed her lips together and glared at him. “No, Rodney-kun, they didn’t. Well, they did make me meditate as part of my penance to them, but that’s it. I’ve realized that all the misgivings I had were based on my fear of not knowing what is going to happen. And the deeper I went in my meditation and the more I talked with my parents and grandparents, the more I realized that my worrying wasn’t going to change anything. I saw that you weren’t suddenly going to change once we got married and that while other things were going to change, we’d have each other, as well as our bound friends, our families, and the rest of the community to help us get through them.”
“It sounds like you’re in a much better place now,” Rodney remarked as she took another sip.
“Oh, I am.” She smiled sweetly as she took another sip. “I’m actually having fun getting ready for the wedding and the baby. Brenda told me she showed you the cradle she had made for us.”
“She did,” Rodney agreed. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is. I think our little one will enjoy being rocked to sleep in it.”
“That reminds me – when are we going to pick out a name for the baby?”
“We traditionally don’t name the baby until a week after its birth. And it’s considered bad luck to talk about it before the birth.”
“Okay,” Rodney replied thoughtfully as she finished off the water and took the cup. “I can see why.” Changing subjects, he said, “Why don’t you come for dinner tonight?”
“I’d love to, but my grandparents want me to stay home as much as possible between now and the wedding. It seems like they’re afraid they’ll never see me after the wedding and once the baby’s born.”
Two weeks before the tenth month festival, Rodney finished the last of his outfit for the wedding. With a sigh of relief, he bound off the last seam and took the pants off the loom as Laura came over to inspect his work.
“Good job,” she told him, with a smile and a nod of approval, after she had inspected the cream-colored garment. “These will look amazing with your shirt and Jaelyn’s dress.”
“Are you sure blue is an acceptable color for a wedding dress?” Rodney asked dubiously as he glanced to the sky blue dress and shirt hanging on their finished pole. “I’m only asking because I don’t want to jinx our marriage any more than we already have.”
Laura laughed as she hung the pants up next to his shirt. “Don’t worry, Rodney. Blue is the standard color for both brides and grooms.” Her expression turned wistful. “I only wish I had been able to make your garments as well, Rodney-chan. But I’m proud to see how far you’ve come in your weaving. You’ll be an excellent master in two more cycles.” Her eyes gleamed as she added, “And I’m sure you’ll make an excellent teacher.”
“Oh, good lord,” Rodney replied, rolling his eyes. “I’m going to have to teach one of them, aren’t I?”
“Oh, come on, it won’t be that bad,” Laura replied. “Besides, when you’re teaching, you’ll have power over them. These kids know they don’t have to listen to you because they’re in the same boat as you, even though they seem to adore you regardless.”
“Which I have no idea where that comes from. I usually tend to be mean and cantankerous towards kids, not adoration-inspiring.”
Everyone began cleaning up for the day. “Looks like you finished just in time,” Laura replied, not commenting on his statement. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Rodney nodded and replied, “See you tomorrow,” before heading out and home.
On the way home, he went through his mental checklist of what still needed to be done for the wedding and was surprised to find that only a few things were left. Most of those were last minute things they couldn’t do until that day, such as food preparation. He then went through the list of people outside of his borough that he hoped would attend, regardless of whether or not they had already expressed their intention to, and even though he knew that most of the people in the village would be there, regardless. When he got to the end of the list, he felt like he was forgetting people and went through the list again, shaking his head in confusion because everyone was on the list that he could think of, but he still felt like he was forgetting…. His brain suddenly supplied names and faces for people he had long stopped thinking about.
He stopped suddenly and Jillian, who had come up behind him, asked, “Are you all right, Rodney-kun?”
“Yeah, fine,” he replied shortly. “Just a random memory I wasn’t expecting,” he added, giving her a soft smile as he started walking again.
“Was it a good one?” she asked as she kept pace with him.
“Neutral,” he replied. “But a fond one.”
He fell quiet as they continued home, reminded that he had never planned on getting married before coming here, though he and the rest of the team had made provisions – drunken provisions – in case if they ever had to for the sake of duty. For instance, that John would be his best man and that Ronon and Teyla would be his groomspeople – and vice versa for John. And that if they couldn’t do that, then they would all be supportive of whatever the local customs were. But here he was and they were back in Atlantis – and there went their bargain down the toilet. He sighed. If only there was a way for them to be here to see this, to see that he was happy….
“What’s going on?” Kelly asked, breaking off Rodney’s train of thought, when he saw Jillian and Rodney enter their borough. “Is everything okay?”
“As far as I know,” Jillian replied with a shrug as they both looked at Rodney’s morose look. “He hasn’t said anything.”
“Are you okay, Rodney-chan?” Kelly asked him worriedly. “I won’t have to tie you down for the next two weeks, am I?”
“I’m just peachy,” Rodney replied with a wan smile. “Don’t worry – I just remembered a promise I had made to someone that now I can’t keep. I’ll be fine.”
“Rodney-kun! Rodney-kun!” a breathless voice woke him. “Wake up, Rodney-kun!”
“Not gonna wake up,” he replied sleepily. “’Snot morning yet.”
“Rodney! Wake up! It’s Jaelyn! She needs your help!”
That woke Rodney up and he sat up quickly, wiping the rest of the sleep from his eyes. “What’s going on?” he asked Jillian.
“She’s really sick, Rodney-kun. Jennifer’s waiting for you outside.”
“Why’s Jennifer –?” Then he remembered that Jennifer was staying with Jaelyn to help her get ready for the wedding. “Getting up, getting up,” he said to defer any more questions or comments as he got out of bed. “Tell her I’ll be there in a second, I just need to get dressed.”
Rodney hurriedly pulled on his clothes and grabbed his bag before heading out to meet Jennifer. “Okay, let’s go,” he said to her by way of greeting, and she nodded grimly as she fell in step with him across the empty commons.
“What’s going on?” Rodney asked when they entered Jaelyn’s family’s quarters and immediately went over to Jaelyn’s cot, ignoring the rest of her family.
“I don’t know,” Jessica told him from where she was kneeling next to Jaelyn’s cot – the woman in question curled up on her side and looking pale and miserable. “She was complaining of feeling a little dizzy last night and she’s thrown up a few times. She hasn’t had an appetite.”
“How are you feeling now?” Rodney asked Jaelyn gently.
“A little better, but about the same,” Jaelyn replied.
Rodney put a hand to her forehead, but instead of the expected fever, her skin was cold and slightly sweaty. “Has she had a fever?” he asked Jessica.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head.
“What other symptoms does she have?” Rodney asked, worry evident in his voice.
Jessica hesitated before saying, “Well, there is…this.” She pulled the blanket down and Jaelyn’s shirt up and Rodney saw the huge, dark bruise covering Jaelyn’s belly.
“Okay. Wow,” Rodney replied. “Yeah, that’s not something I know to deal with, but I know it’s bad. Jennifer, can you –?”
“I’ll get him,” she replied and she was gone before he could finish his sentence, let alone respond.
“Everything’s going to be all right,” Rodney said, turning back to Jaelyn and gently brushing back her damp hair. “Jennifer’s going to get Kirby and we’re going to fix this so we can get married tomorrow, okay?”
Jaelyn nodded mutely, looking worried and scared. “And the baby?”
“The baby should be fine,” he told her, still brushing her hair off of her forehead and not knowing what else to do.
Kirby and Jennifer entered moments later and Rodney quickly moved aside as Kirby began looking Jaelyn over and asking questions. When he was done, he pulled Rodney aside. He gave Jaelyn’s family a furtive glance before whispering to Rodney, “I’m sorry. I don’t think there’s anything we can do for her. Bleeding that extensive….” He paused for a moment. “There isn’t a way that I know of where we can save both her and the baby. We might still be able to save the baby while she’s still alive, but I don’t know how much time Jaelyn has left.”
Rodney swallowed roughly and looked past Kirby to where Jaelyn was curled up on her cot. “She had finally started getting excited about the baby and the wedding,” he said, his gaze shifting back to Kirby.
“I know, you told me, Rodney-kun,” Kirby replied with a small smile. “But we need to do something, and quickly, or we’re going to lose them both. Do you want to tell them, or should I?”
Rodney nodded. “I’ll do it.” He motioned Keith closer as he and Kirby rejoined Jessica and Jaelyn. “I have some bad news,” he told them. “The bleeding’s too bad and extensive for us to do anything about. We should be able to save the baby, but you wouldn’t survive, Jaelyn.”
“Do it,” she replied steadily. “Save the baby.”
“Jaelyn –” her mother gasped. “There must be something else you could do,” she said to Kirby and Rodney.
“I’m sorry, but there isn’t,” Kirby replied.
“Let’s respect Jaelyn’s wishes,” Keith responded, standing and going to Jennifer. Rodney watched as he told her and her eyes widened and she gaped at them.
“Where should we do this?” Rodney asked Kirby.
“I’m hesitant to move her, but doing it down by the pools would be easier to keep things clean.”
Rodney nodded and in a matter of moments, they had moved Jaelyn, cot and all, down by the pools. The rest of her family trailed behind them. The family quietly and somberly said their goodbyes as Rodney and Kirby got everything ready to deliver the baby.
When it was Rodney’s turn to say goodbye, he knelt by her cot. “I’m sorry,” he told her miserably.
“It’s okay,” she replied soothingly. “I guess I’m not meant to be a mother. I was really starting to look forward to it. Take care of our baby, okay?”
“I will.”
She smiled at him. “I know you will. You’ll be a great father.” She gasped and put her hands to her belly. “I think you better get moving.”
“Okay,” Rodney replied. “I love you, Jaelyn-chan.”
“I love you too, Rodney-chan.”
Kirby kneeled next to Rodney, just out of Jaelyn’s line of sight, as Rodney pushed up her shirt to expose her stomach. Rodney closed himself off as much as possible as he gave Jaelyn the leaves to chew that would put her under. While they waited for the effects to take hold, he watched as Jaelyn’s breathing slowed and her eyes closed. Kirby cleaned Jaelyn’s stomach and the knife Rodney would use.
“Okay, we’re ready,” Rodney replied blankly.
He took the knife from Kirby and made careful incisions where Kirby indicated. As the blood ran out, they mopped it up as quickly as possible, Jessica and Keith coming over to help. When they got Jaelyn’s stomach open, they saw the source of the problem – the *babies* weren’t in Jaelyn’s womb as expected. They had developed in her abdominal cavity. For a moment Rodney froze when he realized that she had been carrying twins. Then reality caught up to him and he carefully opened the sac encasing them. But the babies were already dead, blood loss having already starved them of vital oxygen.
Jessica’s anguished sob brought him back to the present and Rodney saw that Jaelyn had stopped breathing.
“She’s gone, Rodney-kun,” Kirby replied softly, a hand on his shoulder keeping him in place.
“She was carrying twins, Kirby,” Rodney said to Kirby as he fell back. “She was carrying twins.”
Continue to Part 19
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Date: 2008-12-17 03:31 am (UTC)I can't wait to see the next parts of the epic.
And it's so wonderful, so heart wrenching!
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Date: 2008-12-17 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-17 11:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 03:52 am (UTC)