Two Men and a Baby

Chapter 1

A Sight to See

"Sure you don't wanna join us, Chewy? Gonna be loads of fun." John had run into Ronon on the way to the Jumper Bay. He, Rodney, Teyla and Torren were spending the day together touring San Francisco. Originally it had been planned for a much larger group, but one by one they'd backed out for various reasons. And most of them were good.

Lorne's mother had been in a car accident. She'd only wrenched her back, but he'd taken a couple of weeks leave to care for her so his sister wouldn't have to take off work. Like their mother, Bridget Palmer taught art and art history at a local community college. His girlfriend, Sydney, had gone with him.

Jennifer and Amanda were at Berkeley teaching a two-day xenobiology course.

Carson was on-call with Cedric Evans.

Woolsey was with the IOA.

Ronon had backed out just the day before. He had plans to spend the next few days with Amelia Banks at her family reunion. John had nearly laughed himself silly picturing the taciturn Satedan with Banks' large and gregarious family. Out of curiosity one day, he'd looked at the Gate Tech's file. She had five sisters, all younger: Bethany, Cameron, Delaney, Esmee and Francesca. The three just after Amelia were married with kid or kids and the last two were in college.

"No." Ronon met Amelia at the bottom of the stairs and they climbed the stairs to the Jumper Bay so they could "car-pool" to the secure area of the Air Force base where cars would be waiting for them.

~~O~~

Teyla was having trouble belting Torren into the car seat and growled in frustration, surprised when Rodney came to her rescue.

"Let me." Rodney had the boy buckled in within seconds. Teyla thanked him with a smile as she set the diaper bag on the floorboard behind John in the driver's seat, and she got in behind Rodney. Once everyone was buckled in, John pulled away from the hangar and headed for the exit.

~~O~~

Rodney talked non-stop about the attractions he wanted to see. Pier 39 with its fourteen full-service restaurants, Hornblower Cruises and Events for the Champagne brunch cruise, Alcatraz discovery lunch cruise or dinner dance cruise, though he wanted to take Jennifer on that one. Teatro ZinZanni at the Embarcadero, a five-course meal with a cabaret. Yes, his friends sensed a pattern to his requests.

On the other hand, John's and Teyla's tastes were more in line with each other. California's Great America, a theme park, Driven Raceway, indoor kart racing and entertainment, family-style, of course, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a world-famous seaside amusement park, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

The only item John and Teyla disagreed on was Hua Zang Si, a Buddhist temple housing amazing holy treasures, statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva and more.

In the end, Rodney was outvoted and they ended up at an indoor trampoline park, House of Air where John planned on indoctrinating Teyla into the joys of Dodgeball played on a trampoline.

"Fine." Rodney didn't sound fine, but figured if he gave in gracefully now, he'd get his way later when it was time to eat. "But I can't get on one of those things. With my back, I'll be in traction by the end of the day not to mention my, uh, problem with heights."

"That is not a problem, Rodney." Teyla did her best to keep her features blank but it didn't work. No matter. He couldn't see her face anyway. "You can watch Torren while John and I play the game."

"But I…" The physicist sighed in surrender. "O-kay. But don't be gone too long. I don't think he likes me."

John glanced in the rear view mirror. "He's sleeping. All you gotta do is keep an eye on him." All they had to do was move him into the stroller and he'd likely sleep the entire time they were there.

"They have food and drinks, right? I can feel my blood sugar dropping and I need to keep hydrated or I'll get another kidney stone."

"Yes, Rodney. Just remember not to leave the kid out in the hall when you go to the bathroom."

"I can take care of a baby for a few minutes. I do have a younger sister, remember?"

"Yeah, but you forgot her at the mall more than once, to hear her tell the story."

"In case you haven't figured it out, she exaggerates. She was eleven the last time, not exactly a baby. And she spent the day in the arcade relieving the regulars of their allowances and lunch money."

John chuckled. "I knew I liked Jeannie…better than I like you."

Rodney huffed. "And she's married. Or have you forgotten that as well?"

Rolling his eyes as he came to a stop at a red light, his friend grabbed the brochures out of Rodney's hands and threw them out the window. "How can I? You remind me every time her name comes up."

The two men continued to argue until Teyla's voice cut through their raised voices. "Stop this or you'll wake Torren. He gets fussy when he doesn't get enough sleep."

John muttered "Rodney junior" under his breath, the light changed and he pulled forward with the rest of the traffic. Their destination wasn't much farther so he signaled to get over to the right. Turning into the parking lot, he pulled into the first open slot he came to. He popped the trunk and Rodney got the stroller out while he carefully unbuckled Torren and lifted him from the car seat. Teyla spread a thin soft blanket over the stroller and let the back down. John laid the boy down and buckled him in. Rodney handed the diaper bag to Teyla and she stowed it in the basket in the back. John pushed the stroller toward the entrance followed closely by his friends.

~~O~~

John made sure Rodney was safely ensconced on a bench with a super-sized cold drink, a chili dog and the sleeping child before leading Teyla to the Dodgeball area. They watched the game for a while as John explained the rules then joined the next group of players.

Rodney finished his snack and went to throw the trash away and refill his drink. When he returned, Torren was awake and trying to get out of the stroller, hampered by the safety straps and beginning to get upset.

"Whoa! Where're you going? You need to just stay in there, at least until your mom comes back." Torren waved his arms, reaching for Rodney to pick him up. With a sigh, the physicist relented. "Fine, but don't blame me if your mom gets mad."

He sat on the bench again with Torren in his lap. Fishing in the bag, he retrieved a toy for him to play with and it kept him entertained for all of five minutes. His attention was captured by some kids about Madison's age jumping around and having fun. Kicking his feet, he reached in their direction making an inquiring sound.

"What? No, you're too little." Torren continued to make even more insistent sounds. "Alright, but just for a minute." Rodney carried the boy to the nearest edge of the trampoline, a wide area covered by thick cushions meant for safety and not for jumping. Holding him under the arms, he let him try to jump on his own. When that didn't work, he synced lifting him in the air with his attempts at jumping bringing his feet off the surface just high enough to make him think he was doing it himself. Rodney was rewarded with delighted giggles each time Torren "jumped." The sound was infectious causing Rodney to laugh too. The more Torren laughed, the higher Rodney bounced him.

When he tired, Rodney carried Torren back to the bench, setting him on his lap. He took a sippy cup from the bag and handed it to the boy while he wiped perspiration from his forehead with a napkin then drank from his own cup.

~~O~~

John and Teyla went into the bathrooms to freshen up before joining Rodney again. As they approached their friend they saw him playing with Torren, making him giggle.

Seeing the evil glint in John's eyes, Teyla tugged on the sleeve of his T-shirt pulling him to a stop before Rodney could see them watching. "You are planning on teasing him, aren't you?"

"I'm surprised you even have to ask. Of course I'm…"

"No." Her brown eyes flashed a warning. "His father elected to remain in the Pegasus galaxy and Torren is a very lucky boy to have so many 'fathers' in Atlantis to take Kanaan's place. Do not diminish that by mocking Rodney's efforts to bond with my son, John."

Looking as if he wanted to argue further, John finally relented. "Okay, okay. I won't say anything. For now. No promises about later."

~~O~~

The three friends parked the car and moved out onto the subway platform. They could have gotten to their next destination by car but because she'd never done so, Teyla wanted to ride the city's public transportation system. The men tried to dissuade her to no avail, so they just accepted the inevitable. Well, John did.

"I don't know why we're doing this. Subways are dirty, smelly and filled with trash and sweaty, unwashed people who have no concept of personal space." Naturally, Rodney felt compelled to complain. Growing up in Fort McMurray then in Vancouver, he'd shunned the transit system and rode his bike everywhere until he was able to purchase himself a car.

"Get over it, Rodney. You agreed to let Teyla choose the next stop on our fun filled day touring San Francisco and this is what she chose." They'd left the stroller behind so they wouldn't have to wrestle it on and off the trains so John was carrying Torren while Rodney carried the diaper bag. Teyla carried nothing in her hands or her pockets and Torren was holding tight to a stuffed rabbit he'd been enthralled with and they'd purchased from a street vendor.

The train arrived pushing a blast of hot air ahead of it. The short hairs around Teyla's face not held in the elastic fluttered in the breeze caused by the passing of the massive vehicle. It screeched to a stop, the doors opened and the trio, plus one, got on. Just as they were seating themselves, Torren started crying and reaching for the toy he dropped.

"I'll get it." Teyla quick jogged over to it and had just turned back to the train when the doors closed and it pulled away from the platform taking Rodney, John…and her son with it.

TBC

A/N: The attractions mentioned in this story are real. Go to: www . onlyinsanfrancisco . com for more information. (Take out the spaces.)

As always, thanks to ladygris for her help in Beta-ing this story.

~Sandy