Security of Family
Author: Lady T ([email protected])
Archiving: If you want it just ask. Thanx
Rating: PG or PG-13 you decide
Summary: This is a future type fic. Aeryn goes through some things and realizes just how much she loves and needs her family.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I own nothing but the story.
John sat by Aeryn’s bedside watching her while she slept. He finally got her to go to sleep after holding her and rocking her gently while she cried. They had both cried actually. Now John sat next to the hospital bed staring at Aeryn’s face. There was still evidence of tears on her face and her body jumped slightly as she sobbed silently in her sleep. It broke his heart to see her like this. He hated the fact that her wasn’t there for her when it happened. A miscarriage. How could it have happened and why wasn’t I there for her, he thought to himself.
John sat back in the chair and closed his eyes and began thinking about the day’s events. He had been at work running a diagnostics analysis on a new project that he and DK had been working on when he got a call from his father…
“Commander Crichton, you have an important phone call from your father,” Private Parsons had said. “It's about your wife.”
“My wife? What did he say about her?” John asked.
“Nothing sir, he just said it was important.”
“Ok Parsons. DK, I’ll be right back.”
John rushed into the office and picked up the receiver. “Dad, what’s going on with Aeryn?”
“John, I went over to your house to visit Aeryn and John Jr. She looked really bad, John.” Said Jack Crichton.“She said she had been having stomach pains. She was sweating and was very pale and she said she had thrown up a few times. So, I told her that I wanted to bring her to the emergency room.”
“Wait. Stop dad. Tell me what happened. Is it the baby?”
“Yes, son. I’m afraid so,” said Jack with a sound of sorrow in his voice.
“What are you saying, dad?" John asked afraid that he already knew the answer.
“She had a miscarriage John. I’m sorry. " Tears began to form in John’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.” Said Jack.
“Where’s my son?” asked John.
“He’s here with me.” replied Jack.
“Aeryn, is she ok? Will she be alright?” John asked in a low, husky voice as he tried to hold back the tears, although it didn’t work.
“The doctor said that she will be fine, that she just needs to rest.”
“Alright then, I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thanks dad.” John said and hung up the phone.
He had stood in the office for a few minutes trying to compose himself, but couldn’t help but let go the tears he had been desperately trying to hold back. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. It was DK. “Hey John. What’s going on with Aeryn? Is she ok? Is the baby ok?”John continued to stand with his back towards the door as he answered. “We lost the baby, DK. Aeryn had a miscarriage.” John said as he began to turn around to face his friend. “Oh man, oh man, I am so sorry John. How did it happen, I mean, I thought everything was fine.”
“I don’t know DK. It just happened.” John said looking at the floor. “Look, I got to go to the hospital. Could you cover for me? I’ll call you later.“
"Yeah buddy. Go, go, get out of here. Go be with your wife,” said DK.
“Thanks man. I’ll see you later.” John said as he walked out the door. John then left to go to the hospital. He cursed himself the whole way there for not being there for Aeryn when it happened.
When he finally reached the hospital, he went up to Aeryn’s room. Jack and John, jr. were in the waiting room when John passed by. “John?” Jack called.“Daddy?” JR ran to his father and jumped into his arms.
“Hey, there’s my boy. What’s up? You being a good boy for grandpa? ...Hey dad. Thanks for looking after them for me.”
“Anytime son, you know that.”
“Daddy, grandpa said mommy’s sick and that’s why she’s in the hospital. Can we take mommy home now?”
“I don’t know Jay. Let’s wait and see what the doctor says, ok? Here, go to grandpa while I go and see mommy.” John put JR down and goes over to where he and his grandfather were building a puzzle. “Does he know?” John asks his father.
“No, I didn’t tell him. I figured you and Aeryn should explain it to him. He needs to hear it from you two.” Jack answered.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m going to see her now.” Said John.
“Ok. I’m going to take JR home with me. It’ll give you two some time to be alone and talk about it.”
“Ok, thanks dad. I’ll call you later,” said John.
“Come on junior, let’s go home. We’ll talk to your mom and dad later, alright?” said Jack as he took John Jr. by the hand and walked him down the corridor.
JR looked up at him and asked, “Grandpa, is daddy gonna bring mommy home?”
“Soon junior. Soon,” Jack said as they entered the elevator.
John started walking towards Aeryn’s room and hesitated right outside the door before going in. He took a deep breath and entered the room. Aeryn sat in the bed looking out the window. She didn’t notice John entering the room until he closed the door behind him. She slowly looked around at him and he could see that her eyes were red and swollen from crying. John walked over to her and sat beside her on the bed. Aeryn rested her head on John’s shoulder and began to fully breakdown and cry uncontrollably. “I’m sorry John. I’m so sorry.”“Shh, Aeryn. It’s ok, It’s ok. It’s not your fault honey. I don’t blame you. It couldn’t be helped. It’s ok baby. It’s ok. I’m here now. It’s going to be ok.” John couldn’t help but cry along with her. He began rocking her and consoling her. They stayed that way for a long time.
Aeryn started to calm down after what seemed like an hour and John had noticed that she was finally starting to doze off. When she was asleep, John gently laid her down on the bed so she would be more comfortable. He then sat in the chair beside her and put his head back and rubbed his eyes, which were now red and burning. He leaned close to his wife and just stared at her while she slept. She looks so exhausted he thought to himself. He whispered close to her.
“Rest now baby. Just rest.”
****************************************
“Mr. Crichton.” John suddenly woke from his sleep.
“Huh. Oh, Dr. Ryan, sorry. I must have fallen asleep.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, but I had an emergency delivery. I’m really sorry about your wife. I’ve taken the time to look over her chart. Would you like to come to my office with me so we could talk about a few things?“
"Yeah, sure," John replied hesitantly. He got up and leaned over, kissing Aeryn lightly on the cheek. “Sleep well sweetheart. I’ll be back.”
Dr. Ryan and John walked down the hall to her office. Once there, John sat down across from her. “Dr., what happened? I mean, how could it have happened? I thought everything was going fine with Aeryn and the baby,” John asked.“I’ve gone over your wife’s chart and it looks like she had what we call an incomplete abortion,” she started but was interrupted by John.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“What that means is that when your wife was brought in, she had been hemorrhaging very badly. Now, along with the hemorrhaging, she had passed some of the pregnancy tissue but not all of it. The doctor who worked on her performed a procedure to extract the remaining tissue from the uterus.” Dr. Ryan finished to let John take in what she had told him.
“But why did it happen?”
“Well, in most cases, miscarriage may be considered a natural-selection process because it is the ending of a pregnancy that would not have developed into a healthy baby. In fact, often in cases of miscarriage, only placental tissue, not fetal tissue had formed. This could be the case with your wife since she was only eight weeks pregnant. But there could be so many reasons that it’s difficult to pinpoint any particular one.” John sat back and let everything the doctor said sink in. He was trying to make sense of it all.
“Will she be able to have another baby?”
“Aeryn is a perfectly healthy woman. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t be able to get pregnant again,” replied the doctor.
With that in mind, John got up to leave. “I’m going back to check on Aeryn. I want to be there when she wakes up.”
“Ok, John. I’ll be checking in on her later.”
“Thanks, Dr. Ryan.”
********************************************
John left to go back to Aeryn’s room. When he entered the room, she was sitting up with her legs hanging over the side of the bed. Again she was looking out of the window. It was nighttime by now and the sky was clear. “This reminds me of being on Moya. The stars are really beautiful tonight.” She said without turning around.
“Aeryn, you should be lying down,” John said with concern, and Aeryn could tell by the tone in his voice.
“I’m fine John.” She said as she turned her head to look at him.
“Still, I want you to lay down. Please, for me?” Now he was pleading.
“Alright, if it would make you feel better.”
“Yes, it would.” He said with a lopsided grin on his face. John helped her lift her legs up and Aeryn winced from the pull of muscles in her stomach as she laid back. “You ok?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” John pulled the covers up and sat down beside her so he could face her and took her hand in his. “Where did you go? I woke up and you weren’t there.”
“I know honey, I’m sorry," John said, lightly caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. “Dr. Ryan came in. I went with her to her office to talk to her about what happened…why you miscarried.”
“What did she tell you? Did she say why it happened?”
“She said you had something called an incomplete abortion.”
“Incomplete what?”
“It just means you miscarried, Aeryn. She said that it’s pretty common this early in a pregnancy.“
"Was it something I did?"
“No, no baby, it’s nothing you did. Please don’t blame yourself, ok? You did nothing wrong.” John said as he embraced her when he saw tears begin to well up in her eyes.
“But it hurt so much, John. And I was bleeding and it wouldn’t stop. I didn’t know what to do. Maybe if I had known what to do maybe I could have prevented it from happening. Maybe I could have stopped the miscarriage.” Aeryn managed to say through the sobs in her voice.
“Aeryn, honey, don’t do this. Don’t blame yourself for this. No one could have prevented this. It’s something that happened. We couldn’t have seen this coming. We have to try and get through this together now, ok? Shh, don’t cry baby. It’s ok.” John held her tight and started rocking her back and forth. He couldn’t stop the tears as they began streaming down his face, and he cried with her.
They sat that way for a few minutes until Aeryn quieted down. They sat in silence with only the sounds of each other sniffling. Aeryn finally broke the silence. “John?”
“Yeah?”
“Where’s John Jr.?”
“With my dad,” he replied.
“Does he know what happened?” Aeryn asked as she looked up at her husband.
“No. I haven’t told him yet. As far as he knows, you’re here because you’re sick and that’s why we came to the hospital. He does know that there’s something wrong with the baby, he just doesn’t know what.”
“We’ve got to tell him, John. He needs to know.”
“I know, let’s just wait until tomorrow, okay?” John said as he raised her chin to look into her eyes.
Aeryn hugged him tighter as she rested her head against his chest. “John?”
"Hmm?”
“Call him, I want to talk to him before he goes to sleep. I need to hear his voice. I’d like to talk to your father also.”
“Ok, sweetheart, I’ll call them now.”
John picked up the phone that was beside the bed and called his father. Jack answered the phone.“Hello.”
“Dad, it’s me.”
“John, hey son, how’s Aeryn?”
“She’s fine dad. She woke up and she would like to talk to you and JR”
“Sure, put her on.” John handed Aeryn the receiver.
“Hi dad, how are you?”
“Hey pumpkin. How are you feeling?”
“I’m ok, I guess. I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me today. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.” John closed his eyes at the last sentence spoken by Aeryn. It still bothered him that he wasn’t there for her when it happened.
“You know that I’ll always be there for you. For all of you.”
“Thank you dad. “
"You very welcome pumpkin.
“Is my son still up?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, he is. He wouldn’t go to bed until he talked to you. He wanted to make sure that his mommy was all right, so I told him we could wait up until you called. He was really worried about you.” Aeryn heard Jack call JR to the phone.
“Mommy!” JR shouted into the receiver. Aeryn pulled the phone back a little and smiled at her son’s excitement.
“Hi baby. Are you ok? Are you being a good boy for your grandfather?”
“Yes, mommy. I’m always being a good boy.”
“I know baby, you are a good boy.”
“Mommy, when are you and daddy coming to pick me up?”
“Why, aren’t you having fun with grandpa?”
“Yes I am. Grandpa took me to get ice cream.”
“Did he? What kind did you get?”
“Daddy’s favorite, chocolate.”
“That’s wonderful sweetie.”
“Mommy, is the baby making you sick?”
Aeryn choked up at the question. “Yes, JR, I was sick because of the baby.”
“Is the baby sick too?”
Aeryn paused uncertain how to answer the question and tears began to form in her eyes. “The baby was…was sick Jay, but listen, we can talk about that tomorrow, ok? I want you to go to bed and get a good nights rest and I’ll see you tomorrow ok?”
“Ok mommy.”
"I love you John, Jr.”
“I love you too mommy.”
“Alright, your daddy wants to talk to you.”
Unable to hold back the tears and keep her composure, Aeryn handed John the phone. “Hey big guy, whatcha doin’?”
“Nothing daddy. When are you and mommy coming home?”
“We’ll be home tomorrow Jay. You behave yourself and make sure you listen to grandpa, ok?”
“Ok daddy. Here’s grandpa.”
John, Jr. handed the phone to Jack. “Hey dad, I’m gonna let Aeryn get some rest now.”“Ok son, call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks dad, I will.” They said their goodbyes and John hung up the phone.
Aeryn moved closer to John and rested her head on his chest. “John, how are we going to tell him? How do you tell a four year old that the baby brother or sister he thought he was going to have isn’t going to happen now?”
“Well, we’ll find a way to explain it to him. He’s young and he may not understand everything we tell him but he’ll accept it. He’s a smart kid.”
“Yes he is, just like his father.”
“And his mother,” John finished.”
“Listen, I want you to get some rest now, ok?”
“Yes Commander Crichton, if you insist,” Aeryn said smiling up at her husband.
John got up off the bed to let Aeryn have room to lie down. He sat in the chair beside the bed and continued holding her hand kissing it gently. “I love you Aeryn.”
“I love you too.” Aeryn said. She looks exhausted, John thought.
The nurse came in to give Aeryn a sedative to help her sleep. After she left John turned the lights out in the room but the light from the hall still shown in the room. “John will you lay with me?” Aeryn asked. “I just want you to hold me until I fall asleep.”
“Of course I will honey, anything you want.” Aeryn moved over to let John in bed beside her. He took off his shoes and slid in beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She cuddled him and buried her head in his chest. John began to stroke her hair. She loved it when he did that. It always put her to sleep.
John didn’t notice just how tired he was until he laid down in the bed with Aeryn. He looked down to see if she was asleep and to no surprise she was. He kissed her on the forehead and whispered softly to her. “Goodnight baby, it’s going to be alright. I love you.” John then laid his head back on the pillow and drifted off to sleep.
**************************************
The next morning when John woke up, he noticed he was alone. “Aeryn?” He jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, she wasn’t there. “Aeryn!” John shouted again. Not bothering to put on his shoes, he ran out into the hall and almost collided with the nurse who was escorting Aeryn back to her room in a wheelchair. “Oh god Aeryn don’t scare me like that again.” John said holding his chest as if he were having a heart attack. “What’s going on, why didn’t you wake me?”
“I went down to see Dr. Ryan. She wanted to examine me. The nurse rolled Aeryn into the room and helped her into bed. John waited until she left before he continued his conversation with Aeryn.
“Aeryn, you should have woke me up.”
“You looked so tired and peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Still, I would have liked to have been there with you.”
“John, I just had an examination that all.”
“What do you mean that all, Aeryn…I…look, I’m sorry. It’s just that when I woke up and you weren’t there, it really scared me. I thought something was wrong.”
“John listen to me, will you, I’m fine really. Dr. Ryan said she’d be up to talk to us in a few minutes.”
John sat down on the bed beside Aeryn and took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “Aeryn, I’m sorry for not being there for you yesterday when it happened. I feel like such a failure. What kind of husband am I if I can’t be there when my wife needs me?”
Aeryn looked him in the eye intensely. “John, stop it. You stop saying that right now. You have always been there for me for as long as I can remember. Ever since I met you, you have been there. You made me a promise long ago that you would never leave me and you have never broken that promise. I love you John Robert Crichton. Because of you I have become more than I could ever have imagined. You have made me so much more. I am somebody that I could never dream possible. I am a wife and a mother. And you, you are my husband, my lover, my partner, my best friend, and a wonderful father to my son. So don’t think that I would ever think of you as a failure. I love you so much John Crichton. You are everything to me…everything."
Aeryn finished and John pulled her into an embrace that was so tight she thought she would suffocate. She hugged him back as tight as her strength would allow. The stayed that way for a minute more and when they finally pulled apart, Aeryn smiled at her husband and wiped away his tears that had fallen during her speech.
“God I love you Aeryn. You are the only woman who could make me cry.” John said as they both smiled at each other. “Yes well, I love you too.”
Aeryn moved closer to him and kissed him lightly on his lips. John hesitated not sure if he should respond. He didn’t want to push her too fast into physical contact after what she had been through. It’s just a kiss, he thought. Nothing more. I’m sure she won’t be ready for any real physical activity for a while. Of course I’ll leave it up to her to make the first move.
Just then his thoughts were interrupted and they stopped kissing. “Good morning.” Said Dr. Ryan smiling as John and Aeryn broke their kiss.
“Good morning Dr. Ryan.” John said grinning like a schoolboy who was just caught in the stairwell with his childhood sweetheart.
“Well Aeryn, it looks like you’ll be leaving here soon. Everything checks out so I’m having you discharged today. I would just like to go over a few things with you and John.” Dr. Ryan closed the door so that they could talk in private. John sat next to Aeryn on the bed and held her hand. Dr. Ryan sat in the chair in front of them.
“First of all, I want to tell you both again how sorry I am about the miscarriage. I’ve gone through this with hundreds of couples and it’s never easy. I can’t say that I’ve been through this physically myself, but it still feels as though you’ve lost a part of yourselves. Anyway, you check out fine, Aeryn. There wasn’t any damage done to you physically although it may take a couple of months to heal completely. If you do plan on getting pregnant again, I’d say to wait at least three months before you decide to try again. As for any sexual activity, it’s best to wait until after your first normal menstrual cycle or until you feel physically and mentally ready. It’s all up to how you feel.”
She then pulled a card out of her pocket. “I hold group counseling sessions for couples who have been in situations such as yours. We meet every Friday at the address on the card. I would like it if you both would attend a sessions or two just to talk and share your feeling with others.” She handed them another card. “Here is also the name and number of a friendof mine who is a professional counselor who deals with these matters on a one to one basis, just in case you don’t feel comfortable talking to a group.”
“Thank you Dr. Ryan, we will try and make it to one of your sessions.”
“Ok, great. Listen, I’m going to draw up your paperwork and we’ll see if we can get you out of here by lunchtime.”
“Thanks again Dr. Ryan," said Aeryn.
Dr. Ryan left the room and closed the door behind her to give them their privacy. “So would you like to go to one of these sessions?” John asked.
“I don’t know yet, John. I’ll think about it.”
“Ok, you just let me know when your ready.”
Aeryn placed a hand on John’s cheek. “I will.”
here was a long silence as Aeryn rested her head on John’s shoulder. “You know what I would really like, John?”
“What hun?”
"I would really like to get out of here. I want to see my son.”
“Yeah, well I would like to see him too so I’ll call them up right now. He’s gonna be so happy to see you.”
They laid back on the bed and just stared at each other. Aeryn finally spoke. “I still don’t know what
we’re going to say to him John. I’m scared.”
“Scared of what, hun?”
“Scared that he’ll be mad at me. Scared that he’ll somehow blame me for what happened.”
“Aeryn, first of all, it’s not your fault what happened. Second, he could never be mad at you. You’re his mother. His lifeline. He cherishes you and worries about you. He just wants his mommy to come home. He misses you, you know. Hell Aeryn, he misses you if you leave him to go to the bathroom or you get up and go into the next room. ‘where’s mommy, where’s mommy?’” John said, mocking his son. “He could care less about me. When I teach him all the tricks of the trade about football, and after all that hard work I do getting him into the pros, he’ll look into the camera at the championship game and say ‘hi mom’. Aeryn laughed so hard she thought she was going to choke. John placed a hand on Aeryn’s cheek. “That’s what I like to see.”
“What?”
“Your smile," he answered and kissed her on her forehead.
Just then the phone rang and John answered it. It was his father. “Hey dad, I was just about to call you. Aeryn’s being discharged so you can come and get us when you’re ready.”
“That’s great John. Your son’s just finishing his breakfast and after he brushes his teeth, we’ll be on our way.”
"Sounds go to me Colonel.” John said in a very military way. Jack laughed on the other end. “Dad, can you also do me a favor and go over to the house and grab a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt for Aeryn to wear home?”
“Not a problem commander.”
John grinned. “I’ll see you when you get here. Oh, and dad, thanks again.”
“That’s what families are for son.” John hung up the phone.
The nurse came in with breakfast for Aeryn and the cup of coffee that John requested. She placed the food on the tray in front of her and asked if she needed anything else and then left. “John I can’t eat this, It smell like dren.” “That’s because it is dren Aeryn. Why do you think I’m only having coffee?” he said with a broad smile. “Come on baby, you have to eat. You need to get your strength back up.”“What I wouldn’t give for some food cubes right now.”
“I thought you hated food cubes.” “Well I eat anything other than this.” “Alright, Mrs. Crichton, don’t make me force you.” John said picking up a fork and going for Aeryn’s mouth with a sly grin on his face. “Ok ok, I’ll eat it if it makes you feel better.”
“Hun, why do you always say that, it drives me up a wall.”
“I know, why do you think I keep saying it.” They both laughed.
Aeryn at her food and John called DK to let him know what was going on. After she ate, Aeryn fell asleep again and John took a walk outside to stretch his legs. Just as he was about to walk back in, his dad’s car pulled up. He walked over to where Jack was parking. “Hey John,” Jack said getting out of the car. John went over to the passenger side to let his son out.“Daddy!” John picked him up and hugged him.
“Hey what’s up? I missed you kid.”
“I missed you too daddy. Can I have a piggy-back ride?”
“Sure, hop on.” John bent over to let JR on his back and they walked into the hospital. “Mommy’s gonna be so happy to see you.”
“Is mommy still sick?”
“She’s better than she was yesterday, but she’s still a little sick.”
“Is the baby born already daddy?” John paused and look at his father. Jack knew it was a difficult question to answer and he could see it in his son’s eyes.
John put his son down and bent down to be at eye level with him. JR, let’s just go up and see mommy ok?”
“Ok daddy. Can I push the button on the elevator?”
“Yeah, you can push the button.” They got into the elevator and went up to Aeryn’s room.
When the reached the room, Aeryn was awake. “Hey hun, I got a surprise for you.” Just then John Jr. ran into the room and jumped on up on the bed.“Mommy!”
“Hi baby, come and give me a big hug.”
“Careful Jay, try not to hurt your mom.” John said. “He’s fine John. Ooh that’s such a nice big hug. Let me look at you.” Aeryn pulled back a little to look at her son. “You’re my special boy, you know that?”
“Uh-huh.” JR nodded. Aeryn looked up to see Jack standing next to John.
“Hi dad.”
“Hi pumpkin.” Aeryn smiled thinking back on the time John had explained why his father would call her a big orange vegetable. He had told her it was an expression of affection. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m better, thank you.” Aeryn said still holding on to her son.
“Mommy, where’s the baby?” Aeryn stopped smiling and looked up at John then to Jack and back to John again.
“Listen John, Aeryn, I’m going to take off now and leave you guys alone. I have to errands to run so I’ll talk to you later.”
“Ok dad, thanks again for taking are of JR for us.”
“Anytime son.” John gave his father a hug and Jack kissed Aeryn on the cheek and John Jr. on the head. After he left, John sat on the bed next to Aeryn.
Aeryn stared at her son not knowing how to begin. It was John who had spoke first. “JR, Mommy and I need
to tell you something Ok?”
JR nodded. “Is it about the baby?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s about the baby.”
“Is the baby sick like mommy was?” John looked at Aeryn as if to say, you can jump in here anytime.
“JR, look at me baby.” JR turned to face his mother. “Sweetheart the reason why I’m here is because the baby got sick inside me. Do you understand?” JR looked at his mother confused. She continued. “The baby wasn’t growing inside of me the way it should have and it got very sick. It got so sick that it wouldn’t grow anymore and it…it.” Aeryn began to cry and couldn’t finish the sentence. She couldn’t even look into her son’s eyes.
“Jay, what mommy is trying to say is that the baby died. It was too small and too weak to grow anymore. Do you know what I’m saying?” John gave his son time to answer.
“Does that mean mommy’s gonna die too?” Oh no Jay, mommy’s going to die. She’s staying right here with us.”
Aeryn stopped crying and turned JR around and said to him sternly. “Baby, I’m not going anywhere, do you hear me? I would never leave you or daddy. I love you both so much. I don’t know what I would ever do without you. I’m not going to die ok?” JR nodded and Aeryn wiped his tears away. She kissed him on the cheek and pulled him onto her lap so that he was face to face with her and looked into his bright blue eyes and hugged him tight.
She held onto him for a minute more and then gently pulled away pushing his sandy brown hair back. She looked into his eyes once again. “I love you baby. You’re always going to be my baby, you know that?” Aeryn said smiling at him. “Even when I’m a big boy mommy?”
“Even when you’re a big boy. You’ll be my big boy baby, how’s that?”
“What if I’m old like daddy?” Aeryn giggled.
“Hey, who are you calling old?” John said poking JR in the chest. JR laughed.
“Well, you are old Crichton…ancient.” Aeryn laughed at the memory of once being called ancient. “Hey, I might be old but, grandpa's ancient.”
“John, I’m telling your father.” “Go ahead, tell him. Tattleteller.” They all laughed at each other.
After a few minutes they calmed down and continued sitting on the bed. John had his arm around Aeryn who was still holding their son. She rocked him gently back and forth. “I’m going to grab something to drink, anybody want anything?” John asked.
“Sweetie, do you want daddy to get you something?” Aeryn asked looking down at John Jr.
“Chocolate shake daddy.”
“One Chocolate shake coming up. Aeryn you sure you don’t want anything?”
“No thanks, I’ll just have some of yours.”
“Oh will you now?” Aeryn raised her eyebrows at him. “Ok you win, I know that look.” John said then lef the room. John said then left the room.
JR continued to let his mom hold him and rock him in her arms. "Mommy?"
"Yes sweetie?"
"Can you have another baby?"
Aeryn pulled JR back to look at him. She stroked his cheek lightly and kissed him. "Yes sweetheart, I can have another baby. I can have as many as you and daddy want."
"You mean daddy can put another baby inside of you?" Aeryn giggled remembering how she and John tried to explain how the baby got inside her in the first place. "Yes baby, daddy can give me another baby." There was a long silence. "JR, you're not mad at mommy are you?"
"No mommy, it wasn't your fault that the baby couldn't grow. You said that you and daddy could make another one. Can you make another boy?" Aeryn grinned.
"We'll see baby, we'll see." Aeryn laid John Jr. down o the bed and lay next to him stroking his hair. "Are you tired JR?" JR nodded. "Try to get some sleep then." Aeryn wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her. Within a few minutes JR began to fall asleep.
Aeryn looked down to see if her son had fallen asleep. When he did, she got up to change her clothes. John came back after she had gotten up off the bed. "Here we go, two choc..."
"Shh, he's sleepi"ng. Aeryn put her finger to her lips and indicated that John Jr. was asleep.
"Oh, sorry." John whispered. "I'm going to change my clothes. I'll be right back."
"Okay,” John whispered again.
Aeryn took the clothes that Jack had brought for her into the bathroom to change. John put the cups down on the table beside the bed and laid next to his son. He stared at him for a few minutes before dozing off himself.
When Aeryn came out of the bathroom, she looked to see them both sleeping soundly. She smiled to herself at such a beautiful sight. She went over to the bed and sat down in the chair. She stared at her husband and her son for what seemed like an eternity.
Dr. Ryan came in to bring Aeryn her discharge papers. "Well look at those two sleepy heads." She said playfully. "I just noticed how much your son looks exactly like your husband when they're sleeping."
"Yes, I know. Aren't they beautiful?"
"They sure are." Dr. Ryan replied.
Aeryn finished signing the papers and thanked Dr. Ryan again. "You're welcome Aeryn. Just make sure you get some rest when you go home. You can let the nurse know when you're ready to leave so she can wheel you out."
"Thank you." Aeryn said and hugged her doctor. "For everything."
When her doctor left Aeryn went over to the bed. "John?" She whispered in his ear. "Wake up, sleepy head."
John stretched and moaned as if he'd been asleep for hours. "What, what is it Aeryn?"
I'm done here, we can go home now. I've talked to the doctor and signed the discharge papers. I'm ready to go home."
"Ok, let's get on the dog and bone." Aeryn looked at him confused.
"I still don't know what that means Crichton."
John smiled. "Honey, I thought after all these years you would have picked up on my human nonsense." Aeryn smiled back at him.
John put on his shoes and the nurse came in with a wheelchair. John picked up his son who was still sleeping. "I'll go bring the car to the front."
"Ok honey." Aeryn replied. He then left to get his car while the nurse wheeled Aeryn down the hall.
When they got down to the car, John helped Aeryn get in. Aeryn looked back at a still sleeping John Jr. and smiled. John got in the car and looked at Aeryn. "You ready?" He asked as he brushed her hair back away from her face.
"Yes I am, let's go home." She answered.
**************************************
That evening Aeryn laid in bed waiting for John to finish helping John Jr. get ready for bed. "You done
junior?"
"Yes daddy."
"Ok, let's go say goodnight to mommy."
"I want a piggy-back ride daddy."
"Ok, hop on." JR got onto his father's back and they went into John and Aeryn's bedroom.
"Come here baby." Aeryn said sitting up in bed. John went over and sat on the bed. JR fell back onto t he bed next to his mother. She pulled the covers over him and hugged him close. "I just want to hold you." John climbed under the covers with them and laid next to his son.
"Mommy are you still sad?"
"Yeah sweetheart, i'm still a little sad. But you know what makes me happy?" JR shrugged. "You...you make me happy."
"And daddy too?" Aeryn smiled at her husband. "Yes, daddy too. It doesn't matter how sad I get, all I have to do is look at you and your daddy and I'm the happiest woman on earth. I love you both so much."
Aeryn kissed her son on the cheek and moved closer to kiss John on the lips. She rested her hand on his cheek a moment and glared into his eyes. JR began to giggle and John and Aeryn looked down to see their son grinning at them. "What are you laughing at?” John said tickling him. "Are you and mommy gonna make another baby now?"
"No." said John. "We're just gonna tickle you all night long."
JR began to laugh hysterically. Aeryn joined in on tickling him. After a few minutes, they all laid back exhausted from laughing. "Mommy?"
"Yes dear."
"Can I sleep with you and daddy tonight?" Aeryn turned to her son. "Of course you can sweetie. I want you to stay with us tonight."
"Hey, don't I get a say so in this?" John asked jokingly.
"Do you ever get a say so in anything John?" Aeryn asked raising an eyebrow.
"Nope, I guess you're right."
John reached over and turned out the lights and they all laid there in the quietness. The window was slightly open and the room was lit up a bit from the moonlight. John Jr. had quieted down and was beginning to fall asleep. John reached over and gave Aeryn a kiss and cupped her cheek with his hand. "Goodnight honey." Aeryn kissed the palm of his hand. "Goodnight my love." They both leaned over and kissed their son who was already fast asleep. They both had their arms around him.
Within minutes they were all asleep with the love of each other blanketed by the security of family.
The end