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"Happy birthday!"
Rodney woke up abruptly at the shout. Before he could even properly gain consciousness and tell the offending person to shut the hell up, a heavy bundle was thrown on him. "Ugh." Rodney opened his eyes and it seemed that the bundle had thrown itself and was also the origin of the shout. "'s way too early, Claire. It's weekend," he said.
"It's your birthday!" she said as if that somehow made it okay to attack him before he had his coffee on a Saturday morning at a time when even John wasn't awake yet.
Speaking of which, Rodney turned to his husband, whose eyes were still closed. John couldn't possibly be sleeping through that noise. Rodney poked him with his elbow.
"I thought if we pretend to sleep, she might go away again," John said, opening his eyes.
"Daddy!" Claire said, scandalized. "It's his birthday!"
"Shouldn't that be one more reason to let us sleep in?" Rodney asked.
"You can do adult stuff with dad later. You have to open your first present!"
'Adult stuff' Rodney mouthed at John, who raised an eyebrow. Before he could start renegotiating the sleeping in proposal, Claire tugged on his arm, which was to say that she pulled until Rodney started sliding out of bed from beneath the covers.
He calculated briefly if it would be worth it to tell her that he was serious about wanting to sleep in. In the end, though, he didn't think he'd enjoy it if he had to feel guilty about ruining whatever she'd planned. Plus, presents!
"Okay, okay," he said. "God. Stubbornness must be a Sheppard trait."
"Ha!" John said, also getting out of bed.
Rodney scratched the back of his head as he padded after Claire who was skipping towards the kitchen. "I'll just go to the bathroom first," he said when they passed it.
"What?" she asked, with big eyes. "Oh, all right. But no showering. The present's waiting."
Rodney rolled his eyes. He looked at John, who shrugged, and went into the bathroom. From there he heard the others talk.
"No." Claire's voice.
"What, 'no'?" John asked.
"You'll just distract him," she said.
"That was the idea," John said.
There was a silence in which Rodney flushed the toilet.
"You can't! He's done. And he has to open his present first!" came Claire's voice.
Rodney shook his head as he washed his hands, then stepped out again.
"I tried," John told him.
"Let's just get this over with," Rodney said.
Claire frowned and looked at him with disapproval.
"Present?" Rodney prompted.
She smiled again and skipped towards the kitchen. Which was just as well, because kitchen meant coffee. And she'd already made some. Bless her.
But as soon as Rodney reached out to open the cabinet, she stopped him, pulling on his arm again. "Present first," she said.
"I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it more if I had a coffee," Rodney said.
"No," she insisted.
"Why are we up at this time on a Saturday?" Susan's voice came from the hall as she joined them. She yawned.
"It's Rodney's birthday!" Claire said.
"So?" Susan asked.
Claire glared at her, then turned to Rodney, prodding him towards a present on the counter.
"I'm allowed to get a coffee, right?" John asked, getting out a cup.
Rodney gave him a look and a small growl—making John grin at him—but obediently started opening the present.
"I think it's...melting?" Rodney said.
John forgot all about teasing Rodney and looked alarmed, but Susan hit him with her elbow and shook her head.
"Hurry," Claire said.
Rodney quickly opened the ribbon that tied the cardboard box together. It looked a bit wet on top. He quickly opened the box, only to be greeted with a small plume of steam. He peeked inside. "Coffee," he said.
"That's not the present, silly!" Claire said.
He managed to fold back the sides of the box to reveal what had to be the largest cup he'd ever seen. It was probably closer to a bowl than a cup.
"Turn it," Claire said.
He turned the cup to find the word "FUEL" on the side in large letters. He chuckled. "True enough," he said. "Can I please drink it now?"
"Yes," Claire finally gave him permission.
Rodney took a large sip and sighed. Now he felt more human. "Thank you," he said. He put down the monster cup, ruffled her hair, and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
She beamed at him. "That was just the first one!"
"I hope you didn't have plans for today," Susan said dryly, munching on a cracker.
Rodney only looked longingly at John. So much for a lazy day in bed. "So where's the next one?"
"You'll have to find it first," Claire said proudly.
Rodney looked at John, then at Susan, who started laughing.
John took pity on him and at least came over and kissed him. "Happy birthday, baby."
Rodney couldn't help snorting. It was a good thing that he really loved this man—and his daughters.
He was pretty sure that having them in his life now was the best birthday present of them all.