mayachain

Title: Beating Holidays
Characters: John/Rodney, Jeannie/Kaleb, David, Madison
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~400
Summary: Christmas Morning.
Notes: This is the Christmas sequel to Beating Hearts, to be concluded within the next 9 days.

David thinks the last time he felt any kind of excitement at opening presents must have been 1982, but it's different this year, John's here, and Madison's elation has infected everyone.

On December 25th, they somehow manage to sleep in until after oh-eight-hundred, as John calls it, and then Jeannie glares at everyone until they've downed a decent breakfast before giving in, Okay, let's risk a peek into the living room.

There are civilian clothes and dvds, a few audiobooks, framed pictures, Thank you, Jeannie, Kaleb, Madison; a necklace with tiny pebbles from a planet called MX5-411, and dried, Athosian herbs for both Kaleb and David, Those were a bitch to get cleared, with a strict prohibition of introduction to Terran plant life.

David has taken his brother's warning against intimidation by money to heart, and he feels apprehensive about a set of grandma's pearls for their hostess, even though he asked John's permission beforehand. There's another box with a set of Mom's earrings that won't get opened today, that he hasn't asked about, for John to give to Teyla.

This is something you should have had all along, he says, a bit uncomfortably, ignoring Rodney's incredulous One golf club? Seriously, just one? because John almost chokes and traces a finger over the shape of it, the wood Malcolm Sheppard used to teach his grandsons how to make the ball fly wide and long, one of a set of two.

These will really keep us warm, Rodney says, admiring the camouflage-colored mufflers his niece knitted for them, have you opened all your other presents? Then it's time for that one.

It's the last among many, but clearly the most important, and everyone leans forward as Madison tears the paper off. Then there's a shriek, and proud and pleased looks from John and Rodney when she throws herself at them, one at a time. Kaleb, curious, pries the book out of his daughter's hands, and David understands in a flash why Kaleb and Jeannie only gave Madison cds and clothes; they had known that any and all other gifts would be overshadowed by this:

The Adventures of Curie in the Land of Improbable Math.

Concept
by
Meredith McKay and John Sheppard

Story
by
Teyla Emmagen and John Sheppard

Illustrations
by
Ronon Dex and Evan Lorne

Mathematical advisors:
John Sheppard and Radek Zelenka

Probablility advisor:
Dr Rodney McKay.