Word Count:
723
Rating: PG
Category:
Angst. Friendship
Story Status:
Complete
Summary:
John's POV on family, past and present - set after 'McKay and Mrs
Miller' but sometime before 'Sunday'.
Beta:
Thank you to Jayne Perry for the beta-reading.
Surrogate Family
By Leesa Perrie
When I was twelve my family and I went to stay at my mother’s
parents for a big family get together over Thanksgiving. My
uncle
and aunt and two cousins, my parents, my brother and me; we were all
there.
It was a big party. My maternal grandparents didn’t
have a
large house, but we all managed to cram into it. It was
fun. It was a big adventure.
It was a bigger tragedy.
Fire broke out in the night. Fast and furious, my dad and I
were the only survivors. The entire family gone.
When I was fourteen, my dad died in a car accident, and I ended up in
foster care, my paternal grandparents having died before I was born and
not having any uncles or aunts or cousins on that side. I
moved
around a few times, and never really settled anywhere. The
Air
Force put me through college.
No family; somehow it seemed easier that way. No one for me
to worry about, no one to worry about me.
Before they died, my life was a normal happy life. Sure,
there
were the normal problems of an extrovert child, but I was
loved.
After they died, my dad struggled. And I struggled right
alongside him. It was never the same between us, though he
tried,
I guess.
A disastrous marriage attempt when I was young and foolish took another
family away from me. Sometimes I wonder if I married her for
her
family as much as for herself. They were a great bunch, but
it
didn’t work out, and I moved on.
In time, my friends became my family, but then I lost those friends
through war. I cut myself off then, hiding behind an easy
going
mask of nonchalance.
Of course, now I have friends again. A family.
Though
it’s been hard; I lost one of them, though I’m sure
he’s still out there somewhere, alive. But he
won’t
come back, not voluntarily, if our paths ever do cross again.
Lost one, gained one. Came close to losing one or more of
them
more than once, but we’ve always pulled through somehow.
The one who is closest is the one I pushed away after a perceived
betrayal of trust. We’re over that now, though
he’ll
never know how close he is. He’s the brother that
died in
the fire; smart, mouthy, curious, and not really all that
adventurous. Not like I was, am. I led my brother
into some
fine scrapes, just like I do him; my surrogate brother.
I won’t ever tell him that, though. His
ego’s big enough as it is.
I wonder about his family from time to time. I
don’t think
he’s had a lot of positive experience with the whole family
thing. Though his sister and he seem to be working on their
relationship, judging by the letters and parcels, and his visit last
Christmas. I’m pleased for him.
But his parents. He’s never said much about
them. I
asked him once if they were alive still. He said his dad was
dead, but he didn’t know about his mom. That had
shaken me,
and Teyla truly found it hard to understand; that he didn’t
know
if his mom was still alive or not. And that he truly
didn’t
seem to care one way or another.
Makes me wonder how bad things must have been to get like that.
Not that I would ever pry, or that he would ever say.
He’s
like me that way. Neither of us talk much about our past,
pre-Atlantis. Though bits come through from time to
time.
Snippets of information, here and there. But nothing too
substantial.
When I went to McMurdo, I had no intention of gaining any friends, let
alone a family. But then I had no notion of travelling to
another
galaxy, either.
I still wonder why I came. And sometimes I regret it, mostly,
however, I don’t.
I certainly don’t regret the family I found here, despite the
worries or the pain they can cause me, or I them.
I may never say it out loud, well, except that once to Teyla, and how
embarrassing was that? This is my home, my family, and I’ll
do
whatever it takes to protect this place and to protect them.
Whatever it takes; even my death.
The End