Originally posted 7/16/06This is sort of loosely a "Family Ties" story. It's set in that universe, the same Christmas visit as "A Visit to St. Nicholas" and "Merry Frelling Christmas." But really, it has a different purpose....
A month or so ago, when we first saw the SG-1 season 10 promo pictures, there was some discussion on
Terra Firma about how the one of Ben and Claudia kinda looked like it could be John and Aeryn with a few years of marriage under their belts. And there was some talk in the thread about how there would certainly be a story to tell about how it got taken, and then there was some begging of fic writers to write it and....
At the time I was busy working on the Crais and Talyn fic. I don't know if anyone else actually tackled this. But here's my take....
Rating: G
Setting: About 9 cycles after PKW
Spoilers: Through PKW
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my universe, no money being made, and thank you, Henson, for letting me play with them!
Many thanks to the beta crew: imloco2, shipsister, and MadScientist (who put an awful lot of red on this one
)....
And thanks to loco for the picture....
Picture Perfect
Ah, Christmastime at Dad's.... Even without the presence of his older sister, who wouldn't arrive till just before the big day, it was so much like the holidays of his youth, John just had to grin.
Half an arn ago, there'd been kids everywhere underfoot, his and Aeryn's three, and Olivia's three as well. Liv's children were each a bit younger than their space-born cousins. All together, there were six young'uns visiting for Christmas, ranging from Liv's little one who was barely eighteen months, to D'Argo, who was nine. Now they were all outside in the back yard, and Aeryn had just stepped outside with Livvy's husband to make sure they weren't getting into trouble.
"Hey, Liv!" John called to his younger sister, who was staring at the Christmas tree critically. Focused on rearranging the ornaments that the younger children had hung all in one spot, she didn't hear him. "Hey, Liv," he called again, "you got any ideas what I could get Dad for Christmas?"
Olivia stopped her fussing and turned to face him. "John, you're
here, with your family! You know Dad, that's present enough! He won't stop talking about this for years!"
Embarrassed, and feeling guilty at the same time because he knew his visits home weren't going to be any less rare in the future, John waved a hand vaguely in Olivia's direction. "Yeah, yeah, I'm glad we got to come, too. But, it's Christmas." He smiled wistfully. "Remember how hard we used to try to find the perfect gifts for Mom and Dad?"
She smiled. "Yeah. Those were the days, weren't they? Remember that book of barbeque recipes you made for Dad?"
John snorted. "I don't think he ever even cracked the cover."
"Yes he did...."
"Yeah, sure. When?" Olivia just stared at him, and he mumbled, "Oh." After a moment he cleared his throat and said, "What about that vase for Mom you painted with the picture of a rose? She sure loved that!"
"I have that now, you know," Olivia said, just a hint of moisture in her eyes.
John figured they'd better stop the trip down memory lane before they got too sappy, though that was one of the things holidays were for in the first place, and one reason why he and Aeryn had found a way to come to visit at this particular time. And doggone it, he wanted to get his dad an actual, physical present. "So, really, what do you think he would like? I'm not around enough any more to have a clue, even about music or movies."
Livvy thought about it for a bit and shrugged. "Seriously, one of the things I give him every year is a picture of the kids. I think he'd love to have one of yours."
"He's got the Santa Claus photo from yesterday."
Olivia didn't actually say, "
Men!" but he could tell by the way her eyes narrowed that she was thinking it. "That's not a portrait, that's a snapshot, and besides, Pippin isn't even in it!"
John considered. There had been times in the early days in the UTs that he would have given anything for pictures of family he might never see again. And one thing he had made sure to take away with him the first time he'd been back was a handful of old family photos. He guessed it was like that for the people left behind, too. But, cycles spent living in another world had made him far more cynical than he'd been when he left this place. He shook his head ruefully. "I get that Dad would love it. Hell, I'd love it! But even if you took 'em to get it taken instead of me and Aeryn, I don't think there's any way we can disguise Pip.... Any photographer we go to is going to realize he's not from around here, and it'll be a short hop to figuring out who the kids are. They'll end up on the cover of the
National Enquirer, and I do not want that."
Olivia listened to his speech, nodding in reluctant agreement, and then she brightened suddenly. "I think I can get us around that."
"Around what?" Aeryn came in through the patio door, obviously in time to hear Olivia's last statement.
John looked at her. "We were just talking about getting a picture taken of the kids for a present for my dad."
"He has the Santa Claus picture," Aeryn pointed out.
While Olivia shook her head in amusement, John said, "Yeah, but that's not a real portrait, and Pip's not in it. This would be a nice picture of all three of them."
Aeryn frowned. "I thought we didn't want to attract attention."
Perhaps not wanting to hear the objections again, Liv cut to the chase. "That's what I was just going to tell John. I have a friend who's a great photographer. He's just getting his own business off the ground, and has his studio in his home." She looked back and forth between them, and added, "He's great with kids. I'm sure he'd be glad to take some pictures for you and keep it quiet."
John looked at Aeryn, and back to his sister. "You trust him?"
"Absolutely. I've known him forever, and he'd never break a confidence."
"I want the negatives."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "That is a very untrusting attitude, and besides, everything is digital these days!"
"Then I want the memory stick. Ah-ah," he said, wagging a finger at her when she opened her mouth to object. "Not negotiable. That's part of the package. We'll pay for it."
Livvy glanced at Aeryn and apparently saw family solidarity there, and sighed. "All right. Let me see if I can arrange a sitting." After a pause, she added, "I'm going to tell him I think you're being a butthead about this."
The childhood insult made him laugh, and Liv, too. Then he got serious for a microt and said, "I know I am, Liv, but better safe than sorry. You go ahead and tell him it isn't him we don't trust."
He had a sneaking suspicion Olivia was sorry she had brought it up, but she went to make the call.
* * * * * * * *
As it turned out, the only time Olivia's friend could fit them in without the prying eyes of other customers was that very evening shortly after dinner. John made up a lame-sounding excuse about going out to look at Christmas lights around the neighborhood, and then he and Aeryn scrambled to make sure the kids were presentable for the photo session – without making his dad suspicious that they were up to something. Whether they succeeded in that or not John didn't know, but eventually he and Aeryn and D'Argo, Hope and little Pip were standing on the photographer's front porch. Pippin stood clinging to Aeryn's jeans while Hope rushed to ring the doorbell with a six cycle old's enthusiasm for the new.
"Jason. Jason. Jason," John muttered, waiting for the door to open. Aeryn looked at him quizzically, and he explained. "This guy is Livvy's friend. I'm just trying not to embarrass her. It's only polite to remember his name."
"I hope Pippin will stay awake long enough to do this. It's past his bed time."
"
I'm just hoping," John muttered darkly, full of second thoughts about the whole idea, "that he's willing to sit with the big kids and smile! He wouldn't go to Santa Claus yesterday."
"That's 'cos Grandpa
wanted him to," Hope pointed out.
"Well, now
we want him to smile for the camera," John pointed out in return. Two cycle olds were difficult under any circumstances, and Pip was more stubborn than most.
The door opened abruptly, and they all turned towards it. Jason was younger than John had expected, maybe about 35, with brown eyes and a head of dark hair. He checked them all out briefly, his eyes lingering on Pippin, who didn't look any less Nebari in the bright red T-shirt that he, like his siblings, was wearing. Jason turned back to John. "You have got to be Olivia's brother! Come in, all of you." He stepped back out of the way and gestured towards the family. John reached down and picked Pippin up and carried him, bringing up the rear as they entered the house.
There was a silent moment in the entryway while Jason gawked at John, gawked even longer at Aeryn, and then turned back to John and stuck his hand out. "I'm really glad to meet you at last," he said. "Livvy has talked about you as long as I've known her, which is a very long time. You have no idea how large you loom in the family legend."
John took his hand and shook it, but protested, "Not nearly as large as my dad, I'm sure. He went to the moon when it meant something, and he did it twice! I just got lucky and fell down the rabbit hole." A sideways glance at Aeryn's smile confirmed she'd noted that word, "lucky."
Jason shook his head and snorted. "Olivia definitely has
your number," he said, but before John could open his mouth to argue, he turned to the kids. "So, we're going to take a picture of you for your grandpa, right?"
"He has lots of pictures of our cousins," D'Argo agreed.
Hope nodded. "He should have some of
us, too!"
The note of jealousy in both their voices startled John. He thought back on his own childhood, though, and found he agreed: Being the out-of-town cousins sucked sometimes. "Absolutely he should!" He gave Jason a
let's get this show on the road look, and the man ushered them into the garage where he had his studio.
Pippin clung to his father, but the two older kids were wide-eyed and curious. It struck John rather forcefully that if they lived on earth, this wouldn't be a new experience. Like Livvy's kids, and like John and his sisters before them, they'd have done this at least every cycle. Year. As it was, though they understood what photography was, they'd never seen all the backdrops, lights, and other equipment involved in making a portrait, and they'd never sat for one.
Livvy's friend seemed to sense that they didn't know the drill, and took the time to show Dar and Hope how everything worked. Interestingly, he made no overtures towards Pip at all beyond a brief smile. Aeryn frowned at what she perceived as a slight against the boy, but John suspected the photographer had sized up his youngest subject just right. He could feel Pippin turn his head so he could see what the big kids were doing.
He winced when Jason put a fancy camera in D'Argo's hands and let the nine cycle old take a photo of his sister. John didn't even want to imagine how much the equipment had cost. If he dropped it, it was not going to be good for their budget.... But Jason and Dar were pleased with the results, and Hope grinned broadly when she got to view the picture. She demanded her turn, and Jason gave her the camera and let her take a photo of D.
Pip finally decided he was being left out of the fun. He sat back in John's arms and demanded to be put down. John tried not to seem too triumphant when he turned Pip loose. The moment the boy was on the ground, he scooted over to his sister and reached for the camera.
John and Aeryn both exclaimed, "No!" but Jason said comfortably, "It's okay, let me take it from here. Sometimes it's better if the parents aren't right there hovering."
"Whatever you say," John sighed. "We'll just be back here." They walked back towards the entrance to the house.
Aeryn sat down on the dark bench that ran the width of the rear of the garage/studio. The back wall itself seemed to be made of large black squares, with a bit of coppery coloring defining the edges of each panel. After a microt, she swiveled sideways and put her legs out in front of her. With a sigh of her own, she pulled one leg up for balance and let her hand dangle over the edge of the bench.
John tried to watch what was going on with the kids without intruding. Jason did seem to be doing fine with Pippin. He held onto the camera himself and let Pip press the release, then showed all three kids the resulting picture. Once they'd all seen it, he set about posing them for their group portrait.
John glanced at Aeryn. She looked tired. "Everything okay?"
"Fine. It's just very exhausting, participating in all your holiday rituals."
"Amen to that," he agreed, and, feeling suddenly tired himself, sat down on the bench not far from his wife. After a microt, he leaned over next to her, supporting most of his weight on one elbow, but resting his head on her back.
"Ah," she murmured, a smug grin in her voice, and shifted ever so slightly to settle herself against him. "Perfect."
He twined his fingers loosely together and exhaled. "Mmmm." Aeryn was right.... This was what nine-cycles-going-on-forever felt like: perfect.
They sat there in companionable silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts as they half-listened to the sound of Jason the photographer cajoling their children into smiling, all three at the same time.
From time to time Jason counted down and took a photo. The flashes didn't intrude much on their consciousness, until there was a much brighter one. They were too comfortable to move, but they looked up with curiosity.
Jason had turned around, and was pointing his camera at them instead of the kids. He snapped another shot or two and then smiled apologetically. "I hope you don't mind. You just look...." He hesitated for a moment, and John had a feeling he was considering waxing poetic. What he finally said was, "Married. You look married. You know. Happily."
That was actually just about the coolest thing anyone had ever said to them, but John really didn't want to get into it with a near-stranger. He twisted his head so he could see Aeryn's face. "Hear that babe? We look married." She snorted at him cheerfully, and they both sat up and grinned at Jason.
He shrugged sheepishly. "Well, we're all done here. Come on over and take a look at the monitor and you can pick what you want for prints. And you might just like one or two of those last ones, too."
* * * * * * * *
Christmas morning came at last. The kids were distracted with the family chaos and their own presents, and Aeryn was supervising them, but John couldn't help keeping a close eye on his father as the elder Crichton unwrapped his gifts. He held his breath when his father picked up the package with the photos. Jack stopped dead when he opened the box and saw the faces of D'Argo, Hope and Pippin smiling up at him. He lifted his head and looked at John, delight written all across his face. "You did this the other night, didn't you?" he asked, voice just a little husky. "What a wonderful idea!"
John nodded, thrilled with the response. "You can thank Livvy for the idea, and the photographer, too, he's a friend of hers."
His dad looked at the picture again and his smile grew even broader. "He did a damn fine job."
"There's a bonus, too. Take a look in the box."
His dad pulled out a second frame, holding one of the impromptu photos Jason had snapped at the end of the session. He gazed at it intently for a bit, mouth hanging open, and then looked up at John. "Wow!"
"Merry Christmas, Dad."
"Merry Christmas, John."
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