And they say, he went out with a bang...

Title: My Father Before Me
Fandom: SGA
Pairing: past Rodney/John
Categories: angst, AU, future!fic, kid!fic
Length: long
Warnings: past character death; rated R for adult/dark themes

Author on LJ: telleer
Website: n/a

Author's Summary: Even after twenty years, Rodney still has no idea how to raise children.

Review:
Twenty years after Atlantis, Rodney is forced to reveal the identity of his son's biological father and what happened a very long time ago.

This story reminded me very much of Freedom. Not that the two plots have a lot in common, but there is striking similarity, both in method and emotion, between the way Rodney from My Father Before Me retells the last moments of his son's biological father's death and the way Rodney from Freedom teaches his advance physics classes.

How do you raise two kids while dealing with the loss of a loved one? How do you know whether you have been a good parent (because you are certain they would hate you had they known the truth)? How many times have you reassured yourself that what happened a long time ago was not your fault? How many times have you told yourself that you have done the right thing? How many times have you wished you had done the wrong thing? How do you forgive yourself? My Father Before Me is a deeply emotional story about lost, sorrow, love, and the importance of family, in every sense of the word. And while the story is not very long, I think the author did a fabulous job conveying those emotions. Although things are not fully resolved in the end (and I think the author fully intended for the story to end this way), hopefully the characters will work those things out in their own time.

Sensual, delicate, and surprisingly (considering it's Rodney) touching. My Father Before Me will bring you to tears. Highly recommended.

My Father Before Me (pt. 1) (pt. 2)