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He sat up from under the console, with a sigh.

"You know, that attitude? Not going to help at all."

He stuck his head back under, muttering under his breath for a moment.

"Completely accurate in its sarcasm, but still not helpful. And we were going to try to say certain words less, now weren't we?"

Even if the baby was still entirely too small to understand a single one of them.

"I wasn't trying to be helping, more descriptive."

She gave him a flat look and handed, shoved really, another tool at him.

"I have been trying, but you do realize that if the refrigeration system doesn't get fixed then we have to eat more of Noranti's cooking. Since I refuse to do that, the baby will get no milk and than the baby will have to eat that swill. So when we die of poisoning from that old woman I really don't think it will matter what words the baby has heard."

Drama, sarcasm and thinly veiled false threats, it was almost like she was human.

Shoved it directly into his midsection. He took it from her, blinking a few times.

"Ow?" He said, in a questioning tone, before going back to work. And, to be fair she had a point. "Noranti's cooking isn't that..." He paused for a moment, cleared his throat and got back to work. "Right, working faster, my dear and darling wife."

Half smile and nod he would come around with the proper motivation.

Noranti's cooking left much to be desired, actually it left a whole host of problems; but with the old woman being one of the few still with them, it was some comfort of family.

Chiana and Rygel had just left for Hyneria, and the feast was probably still going on there. So many gone, Stark, Jool, Sikozu, D'Argo... the pang of loss was going all too quickly for her liking. Life was carrying on even with out their friend in it.

"With any luck this will be fixed by the time we reach the next commerce planet. I thought I might take the baby down." She hadn't suggested it before, but she thought it would be a good idea to expose D'Argo to other cultures and worlds as soon as possible.

He worked on the underside of the unit for a few moments more before stopping himself, pushing away and sitting up.

"Sounds like a plan," he said, putting a hand over hers. Both were a bit greasy, so it didn't necessarily matter. But he knew what she was thinking. It was precisely what he had been thinking for days. He managed a small smile.

"You know, maybe we can find somewhere quiet, just be the three of us for a while. Grass under us, a nice wind in the air. And no malfunctioning fridges."

Back under he went.

He was a mess, but they both had been in the thick of things enough to not let details like that matter. She was thankful it was grease and not blood. Her thinking had changed dramatically in four cycles. Everything she'd known and been taught turned practically on it's ear.

This human, deficient species from a hopelessly inferior world, had changed everything. And he could somehow always make her smile; as she did now.

"I think Moya would be thankful to be rid of us a while. But, John, we will come back." She'd gone without family most of her life, now she had it and she was not ready to give it up, in any portion.

He stopped again, pushing back out from under the unit. He usually put work aside when she said something important. He smiled up at her, just nodding in agreement.

"Hey, c'mere a minute," he said, gesturing at her, "you've got a thing on your face."

"What?"

She wiped at her face, and looked annoyed, Did he get grease on her? She slid down from her seat, straddling his legs and continuing to wipe at her face with the back of her hands.

"Did I get it? What is it?"

"Nah, totally missed it. C'mere, I'll get it."

It was, naturally, all a very cunning ruse. An arm went around her waist as he pushed himself up, lips brushing her cheek. And then the other. Finally, with a moment of wonderful anticipation, just closer to her, his lips found hers.

A long few moments passed, before he rested his forehead against hers.

"There were a couple spots. But I got 'em."

And she fell for it, had it been another point of her life she might have been annoyed at the sweet simplicity of the gesture. The sheer silliness of the act would have driven her to rage and snide commentary. But she knew better now, she knew that these moments of being able to let down guard and be silly with each other were priceless.

She draped her arms over his shoulders and settled in more comfortably on his lap. That slow drawn smile pulled back her lips, something amazing in that small, move. Her lips moved with his and the kiss was returned warmly.

Aeryn moved slightly, letting her nose slide against his affectionately.

"Are you sure? You should probably check again."

He grinned at her movements, and it had nothing to do with satisfaction. Well, almost nothing, at any rate. His other arm joined the first around her waist, and he returned the affectionate nose-rub.

There was, really, no way in the world not to love this woman. None whatsoever.

"Well, I was, but you know how bad my eyes are sometimes."

His lips brushed hers again, and then again, and then once more, drawing on her lower lip as he finally let her go.

"Mmmhmm." She nodded the affirmative and tipped her head just enough to engage that kiss and taste his mouth. So much better this way, not that it had been easy to convince her that slow and emotional was worth it, but she'd come around. Few things could stand when there was the full will of John Crichton behind it.

"So, we fix this, we find a commerce planet, and then...?" What was this life now, no longer hiding and running, it felt almost as though she was waiting for the other boot to fall..no, that wasn't right. Shoe to drop? That seemed to sound right.

It had been worth the time it took. It had been worth the danger and the troubles and everything. Because here they were. Lovers, married. Parents. Not bad for four cycles, really. It had taken humanity sixty-six to reach space after the invention of powered flight, after all.

This was, in its own way, more of an accomplishment. At least, it was to him.

"And then," he said, leaning his forehead against hers, "we raise our son to fly straight and be honorable. We figure out how to be parents day by day. We love each other, we love our family on this ship and wherever they go."

He paused, a smile coming to his face.

"And I think we oughta make Pilot and Moya the godparents."

"Well is a good long range plan." Aeryn nodded, Peacekeepers were not without a sense of honor, rather that had been bred into them, with the complete obedience.

She liked the thought of their child being raised free amid peace. Never having to question where he came from, who cared for him or why he was there. Her son would know his parents.

"What?" It was a concept that was not translatable, Earth did have a few customs that were strictly it's own.

"Well, it's this thing on Earth. You choose people who aren't your family and kind of make them part of it. So that if the worst happens, when you're gone, your child or children will be raised by the best people you know. It's...well, it's partially just a formality given how rare it is, but it's really a declaration of trust, come to think of it."

He closed his mouth. Rambling, clearly. But she was close and that just sent parts of him off on auto-pilot, really.

"You want to leave our child to someone in the eventuality of our deaths." Well that was morbid wasn't it? Also a thought that would never have occurred to her as she'd always functioned as part of a unit, she was raised by her fellow Peacekeepers. They came and went and she never thought more of it than that. But she did nod. "I trust them, but there are mobility issues."

Even this close her mind was processing what he said, her body might have continued the small movements of flirtation and tease, but her mind was thinking over the concept of their child being raised by others.

"It's...only sorta about that," he said, responding in kind to her movements. "It's...it's kinda more about inclusion. Letting the godparents know you want them as a part of your child's life. That their experience or personality might help them growing up."

He paused.

"And in my case, getting really bad sweaters every Christmas."

"I enjoyed Christmas on Earth. Buying gifts, everyone dressed colorfully, the worship customs are strange though." And this gave her a thoughtful pause.

"Why do your kind make idols of snow and plead for gifts from a fat man in a red suit?" From an outside prospective it made no natural sense, which was in keeping with humanity in general. The myriad of religions on the planet had boggled her mind.

How could the population of a single planet be so at odds with each other?

He laughed.

"Not...quite how it works, darlin'," he said, laughing again after he thought about it for a moment.

"Though I can see where you get that from. The snow stuff is just for fun, and Santa's just supposed to deliver' em. It's about bein' good and nice and then there's the religious stuff. Me, I just want to introduce you to the concept of 'birthdays'".

""I know, Bobby explained it to me." Aeryn canted her head and looked at him.

"Human children speak freely and seem to have no regard for how the truth may be taken. It's refreshing."

John's nephew had enlightened her to quite a few things, the freedom of a child to speak and indeed to share some sort of unfiltered wisdom was a new concept for her. Humans could be endlessly surprising.

He laughed.

"Oh, just wait. Our son will be saying all sorts of things we'd rather he didn't in front of people we'd rather he not be saying it to. There's whole shows on Earth about it."

He paused a moment, brushing his nose against hers.

"So, when's your birthday?"

"I was born thirty three solar cycles. Peacekeepers don't hold this as a holiday. The concept of celebrating the anniversary of something so ridiculous as emerging weak and screaming from our mother's womb seems pointless."

There had been reasons to celebrate, her promotions, her additional trainings and assignments, her personal accomplishments. But birth? She puzzled over it.

"Well, we celebrate it as the beginning of life, and every cycle completed is viewed as sort of special. Probably a throwback to when we still had to worry 'bout large animals eatin' us when we got out of the caves."

He did smile at her regardless, kissing the tip of her nose.

"But point is you get presents. And cake. And people have to be extra nice to you all day."

"If that's the case, and I am unsure what exact day I was born or even if those days are uniform given the variance of cycles in all the worlds I've been to, and the fact that I have died and come back to life...shouldn't people be extra nice to me everyday?"

She found the loophole, and she grinned with the humor of it after a long serious faced silence that followed her statement.

"Cake would be nice, I think."

He smiled at her smile, as he frequently did.

"Then pick a date, and I'll make you cake. Get you somethin' nice, too. Possibly fancy lingerie. They've got that out here, right? Please tell me the translator microbes managed that one."

"A single date? I am supposed to declare a day significant?" She gave him a skeptical look, usually things were broken down by quarter cycles for specificity, but to arbitrarily pick a single day...a single day in relation to star ship travel. It was an impossible task he'd given her. "When is your birthday? I'll pick that. We can get them both over with at once then."

She thought about it and then frowned. "No, I'll pick the solar day before yours. That way I know what obligation I am under by what you do for me."

As to the translation of what he said next, oh she understood it completely. "You want me in something tactically inappropriate?" There was that dry humor again, the understood the concept but would she truly wear such an outfit anywhere but in private with him?

A hand came up, brushing aside a stray strand of hair.

"I can live with that," he replied, with a smile. "And yes. Extremely tactically inappropriate."

He leaned forward to kiss her again, just a slow movement, lips more sliding against each other than coming together.

"Is it a gift for me, or for you?" She was grinning, rather pleased at the notion that he was so powerfully attracted to her. Previously in her life that would have been enough. She would never have looked for anything deeper than that, but now... Crichton had shown her another way. She could never go back to being the Peacekeeper she was before.

And she wouldn't trade it for the world, not one moment. And surely not any of those kisses.

"Well," he said, finally, in between kisses, "it's more of a gift for both of us. Pretty sure you'll want it in black."

He grinned at her, then consumed her lips again with his own, a hand moving through her hair, holding her closer.

"...there are other colors?" She grinned and lost herself in another round of those kisses.

"I need to know what I am supposed to do for your birthday then. Suggestions?"

"Yeah, but..." he paused, grinning, "pretty sure you look really good in black."

Then he laughed outright.

"Nope, can't do that. For the full experience, you have to surprise me."

"So I could buy you lingerie, something without the name 'Calvin' on it." She teased and nipped at his lower lip with her teeth before she grinned.

"No, I think that you will get something different, something special." She just had to figure out what that was.

He grinned, hands moving around her hips, pulling her all the closer.

"I can't hardly wait. And y'know, the trouble is findin' you something...lacy...that goes with pulse pistols."

"Everything goes with pulse pistols." At least in her mind it did.

She moved forward just a bit, her thighs resting stride his hips and her body so very nearly pressed against his.

"You want to see me in something lacy and soft?"

"See, pretty sure when it's on you, it's just a different kind of sexy," he replied, pulling her against him without hesitation, not wanting to wait. He kissed her again, then nipped playfully at her chin.

"Way I figure, the person makes it soft. You'd just make it better."

Fine pair they were, not getting any work done this way. She found she could deal with it rather well though.

"There are advantages to not being soft too."

Advantages such as the aggressive hold she pulled him tightly to her with and the hard kiss that returned his earlier quick one.

"Yes," he managed before the kiss consumed him again, his own arms wrapping back around her, "yes there are. And you're pretty much all of them."

He nipped at her lower lip, hands starting to move for catches.

Her hands slid to his shirt and toyed fingers up under the hem. She grinned into the kiss and pulled back enough to lick her upper lip.

"How long did you tell Chiana we would be down here working?"

Her movements rather thoroughly discombobulated him. It was uncanny how she still had the ability to do that. Just a moment and he was undone, and hers forever. Again and again.

"Umm, about an arn, I said. Give or take. Mostly give."

"Just an arn?" She smirked in an uncannily feline way and reached behind her to the controls for the central module illumination, deftly she flipped the switch and the room began to darken.

"We'd better hurry then." With a smirk and soft chuckle the area faded to black.