Title: Welcome into this world
Author: Vicky
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Summary: "It's two a.m. and I'm cursing your name"
Rating: PG
Character/Pairing: Elizabeth Weir
Warnings: Baby!fic
Prompt Number for fic 101: #47 Sore
Author's Note: This fic was written as a Sparky treat for the S4-S5 Fix-it Challenge on the John/Elizabeth community on LJ. I saw this prompt *points to summary*, and the idea just came, so I had to write it! Many thanks to my beta, Jaclyn who puts up with my mistakes!

"It's two a.m. and I'm cursing your name," Elizabeth gritted through her teeth, glaring at him.

John wisely said nothing. He had learned not to answer sometime around midnight, and since then, his life had been a bit easier. Well, as easier as you could get when your wife was in labour with your child, and when said wife could make your life a living hell because she happened to be your boss, too.

They had just gotten into bed when Elizabeth felt the first contractions, and though they had radioed Jennifer at once, she had told them to stay in their quarters as she was still in the early stages. They now had been in a private room in the infirmary for a little more than two hours, and were now nearing the end. Rodney, Teyla and Ronon had been with them up until now, when Jennifer had asked them to step out; Elizabeth was nearly ready to give birth.

"Ok, Elizabeth, when the next contraction hits, I want you to start pushing. It shouldn't be long now until you see your baby."

He kept his eyes on her face as she was giving birth to their child. She was tired, she was sweaty, but she was beautiful. His hand was sore because she was squeezing it as hard as she could, and he wondered for a second if she didn't want to actually break it, but he didn't care.

As she took a pause from pushing, he turned her face so that she was looking at him, and kissed her forehead, then her lips. He rested his forehead against hers, and brushed a lock of hair off of her face with his free hand.

"You're doing great, 'Lizbeth."

"I'm so tired...," she whispered so that only he could hear it.

"I know. But it'll soon be over, and you'll hold our daughter in your arms."

"You mean our son."

"We'll disagree until the last second, won't we?" he said on a light tone.

"I know I'm right," she replied with a tired smile.

"I hate to interrupt you two," Jennifer called them back, "but it's time to go back to work."

Elizabeth nodded, and with one last kiss to John, she resumed pushing as the next contraction hit. John kept on watching her face, murmuring words of encouragement to her. He wished he was able to do something else, anything else, to ease the pain off of her. And then, he remembered that he was on Atlantis, and that the City was sentient. Closing his eyes for a second, he connected to the City, and a second later, he could hear a soft humming at the back on his head. He knew Elizabeth could hear it too, their child having the gene, and he could feel her relaxing just a bit.

"One last push, and your baby will be there," he heard Jennifer say.

He opened his eyes just in time to watch her helping the baby out of Elizabeth. For a moment, he couldn't breathe; birth wasn't beautiful, it was messy, but seeing his son, because yes, Elizabeth was right, being brought to birth was something John would never forget.

"Congratulations, Mommy and Daddy, you have a son," Jennifer said, her voice barely audible above the infant's cries.

As the baby was placed on her chest, Elizabeth started to kiss his head, and stroke his back, trying to hush his cries. John's hand joined hers, and as if feeling he was safe, their son's cries slowly subsided.

"You were all comfy and warm in Mommy's womb, and you don't know what you're doing here, right son?" he whispered, kissing his head.

"Would the new Daddy like to do the honours?" Jennifer's voice startled him out of his contemplation. She was handing him a pair of scissors, and he took them and cut the cord. "Good. Now, would you like to go and help the nurses with your son, while I finish with Elizabeth?" It was less of a question, than a strong suggestion, but he turned to Elizabeth anyway to be sure.

"Go. I'll be fine."

He reluctantly parted from her with a last kiss, and followed the nurse who was holding his son in her arms to the adjoining room. He watched as they first washed him, and let him hold a finger in his tiny fist as he started crying the moment the water hit him. He continued watching as they weighed, measured, and did a hundred of other things to him. But he did learn to put on a diaper, and dressed him in one of the bodysuits Elizabeth's mother had sent them.

"Why don't you take him back to his Mommy?" one of the nurses, Brenda if he wasn't mistaken, told him, placing his son in his arms.

He was pretty sure that if he could watch himself in a mirror right this second, he would have been looking at a terrified face. They were asking him to walk and hold his son at the same time? But they didn't seem to be joking as Nurse Brenda turned him towards the door.

"You're gonna have to do that quite often, so it's better if you start getting used to it," she said, somehow knowing what he was thinking.

As carefully as he could, he walked towards Elizabeth's bed. She had a huge smile on her face by the time he got there, and he placed the baby in her awaiting arms.

"I thought you were holding a bomb at one point," she joked. "Hello, little man," she said softly, stroking his cheek with a finger. "Is he okay?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Perfectly fine. He passed all the tests easily."

"Good."

"How are you doing?" he asked, knowing from only one look at her that she was exhausted.

"I'm fine. I'm sore, and I probably need some rest, but I'm fine." She paused, then pointed a finger to his hand. "How is it?"

"A bit sore, but I guess it's nothing compared to what you've just gone through," he replied, shrugging.

She lifted her eyes to look at him, and gestured for him to come closer.

Sitting on the bed beside Elizabeth, he wrapped an arm around her. She brought his face down to kiss him properly, before they both returned their gaze to their son.

"He needs a name," she stated.

"He looks like a Tyler to me," John replied, choosing a name from the list they had made.

"He seemed to like that one," Elizabeth said as their newborn made a soft cooing sound before settling back down against his mother. "Tyler Matthew Sheppard. That does sound great."

They both looked at the little person who was going to change their life so much, trying to decide whether he would be a little troublemaker like his father, or if he'd be as calm as his mother.

"Should we tell the others to come in?" John asked, remembering that Rodney, Ronon and Teyla were probably waiting just outside the door.

"Yeah. But first, let me tell you something."

"What is it?"

"At two a.m. I was cursing your name. Now, I just want to thank you for having been there for me."

"No," he shook his head. "Thank you, Elizabeth. And I'll always be there for the both of you," he said, kissing them in turn.

Fini