No ownage of anything Stargate related. Yada dee yada dah.

Daniel walked slowly back to his position beside the bed, trying not to look as apprehensive as he felt. He did not want to get on Samantha O'Neill's bad side right now.

"Sam?" he questioned tentatively. That was not a quake in his voice.

She grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. So tightly that Daniel knew one of his bones was about to snap. Damn it, this was Jack's job! He was Uncle Daniel. Uncle Daniel was supposed to sit in the hall, fretting and pacing and anxiously waiting. Not standing by the bedside, trying desperately not to cry out in agony because doing so would only result in further pain to his person.

After the contraction ended, Sam slowly released the pressure on Daniel's hand but did not release it. With her eyes remaining closed, Sam tiredly but firmly stated, "Daniel, I don't care if he is in a meeting with Thor resurrected, tell him if he does not get here before this baby is born I will personally ensure that he is unable to help conceive another."

Daniel nodded, even though she couldn't see it, too afraid to answer otherwise. He escaped the isolation room turned labor and delivery center to try to get a hold of Jack ...again. Apparently, he was in a meeting with the President and other higher ups. One in which every secretary, contact, and water boy Daniel had been on the phone with deemed Daniel was not important enough to interrupt. And oh was Jack going to be pissed when he got out of that meeting and found out. Daniel did not pity them. His hand was still throbbing.

Daniel waited on hold ...again, and amused himself by imagining Jack scattering the minions; especially that one prat of a man that told him that Jack could always "be around for the next one". Are you kidding me?! And then an epiphany struck him! Jack had minions! Not that Daniel really thought of them as minions, per say, but they were his people and they were fiercely loyal and ...he really just liked the way the word sounded.

Jack had an older secretary, Mrs. ...Mrs. ...Mrs. Marsden! That's it. The woman had to be pushing eighty and she was all of five feet and ninety five pounds but she could put the most hardened military big wigs in their place with just a look. Even Jack miraculously got his paperwork done in time when on the receiving end of it. If Daniel could get in touch with her...

Daniel hung up and dialed Jack's office.

"General O'Neill's Office."

"Mrs. Marsden?"

"Yes? Daniel, is that you, dear?"

Daniel faintly blushed. For all her no nonsense attitude, Mrs. Marsden could turn completely grandmotherly in ten seconds flat if she decided she liked you. Daniel was on her 'good boy's list. And she did have a list. Daniel was sure of it. What side of the list Jack was usually on was up to debate, but judging by the few extra pounds Jack had started packing since Washington and Daniel's knowledge of Mrs. Marsden's excellent home baked cookies, he was gonna go with the good side.

"Yes, it is, Mrs. Marsden. I'm sorry to get right to the point, but Sam's gone into labor and Jack's in the..."

"Yes, yes. I'll take care of it." she cut him off. "Don't worry. He'll be there."

And Daniel had absolutely no doubt that she'd do it, too. He was positive she could have the President himself bowing his head in shame and apologizing profusely.

Jack was getting fed up and downright antsy to get out of this meeting. They'd been at it for four hours! Seriously, didn't the President have to flit off to a new location every few minutes? Four hours! Jack was ready to go. All the big decisions for the day had been made. The rest could be dealt with later.

The door opened to an extremely frazzled looking Presidential aid. On receiving a gesture that he could enter, Jack was surprised when the young man came to whisper in his ear.

"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt but there's a Mrs. Marsden on the line for you and she says..."

The man got a slightly distant look in his eyes before he summed it up by saying, "..she said it was urgent."

Jack bit back a grin, imagining what Mrs. Marsden actually told him. The woman knew how to get her way, that was for sure. Jack asked to be excused for the call and left the other men to their politics.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Marsden," Jack said cheerfully, thanking her mentally for getting him out of there.

"Good afternoon, General. Dr. Jackson called. Your wife has gone into labor and you need to get back immediately."

What?! Sam wasn't due for another ...what, two weeks? Two and a half? Jack took off from the phone without saying anything and then stopped, turned, and quickly replied, "Tell her I'm on my way."

Grabbing the aid who'd retrieved him, Jack said, "Tell the President I had to leave." Seeing the panic stricken look of the poor kid at having to tell the Commander in Chief that someone was skipping out of one of his meetings, Jack added, "My wife's gone into labor."

As Jack ran off, the young man shouted, "Con-congratulations, sir!"

Jack practically dove in the backseat of his car and told the driver 'this is it'. Busy fumbling with his phone and brain not really functioning properly, Jack didn't elaborate but thankfully his driver knew what that meant and drove Jack to the Pentagon.

Jack fumbled with the buttons and finally hit 'call', waiting for the SGC. Before the person on the other end could fully speak, Jack commanded, "Put me through to Dr. Jackson. He'll be in one of the iso rooms."

Jack waited impatiently, feet bouncing rapidly.

"Daniel Jackson."

"Daniel! What's going on? How is she?"

"You better get here quick, Jack. She's going really fast."

"Why the hell didn't you call me sooner?"

"I've been trying to get in touch with you for three hours, Jack!"

Speaking more to himself than Daniel, Jack said, "Aren't first pregnancies supposed to be long labors?" It was something like that, he was sure of it. Sara had been in labor for twenty hours, at least.

Daniel answered him anyway. "Actually, I think Sam's been in labor all day, but it's Sam. She kept saying she was fine and there was no way she was in labor and then her water broke right in the middle of the commissary."

"Great. This is just great. I'm missing the birth of our first child."

"Yeah about that." Daniel had a suspiciously amused tone to his voice. "Sam said that if you didn't get here before the baby was born that she was going to ...how did she word it, 'personally ensure that you couldn't help conceive another'." Ouch. Jack grimaced.

Jack physically fell over in his seat as his driver, Ted, drove like he was the main star of a Nascar event.

"I'll get there, Daniel."

Jack flew to the other side of the car. Maybe, he amended. Maybe he'd get there. In one piece. And alive.

Jack whipped through the Pentagon at lightning speed and used the brand spanking new transporter between the Pentagon and the SGC, courtesy of one Colonel Samantha Carter, to end up in Colorado Springs less than thirty minutes after he'd first found out. After the aggravatingly long security check which Jack knew was necessary and he himself had implemented, Jack was running down the hall to the Iso rooms of the SGC.

Just as he saw Daniel in the hall, Jack heard loud and clear, "I am NOT having this baby until he gets here, you hear me? That's an order! I don't care if I have to be hung upside down, this baby is NOT coming out yet!"

Jack didn't even stop to say anything to Daniel, barreling into the room.

A sweaty and still glaring Samantha O'Neill jerked her head in his direction, relief evident on her face the moment she laid eyes on him. Vala stood to one side of the bed, holding steady to Sam's hand.

"Jack! Oh thank god!" Her head fell back on the bed and she closed her eyes. Jack, having momentarily been frozen on walking in the room, now rushed to her side and took her other hand in his.

"It's okay, baby. I'm here. I'm so sorry, Sam. I got here as fast as I could."

"Jack..."

"Yeah?" he asked, when she didn't elaborate.

She smiled tiredly, opening her eyes to gaze at him. "You're babbling."

He grinned then and leaned down to kiss her, not caring about the other people in the room. Another contraction started mid kiss and she grimaced in pain, gripping his hand firmly.

Dr. Lam called out at the end of the bed, "Okay, Sam. You've got to push for me now."

Sam didn't hesitate. She'd been fighting the urge to push for the past thirty minutes and it was a sweet relief to not fight her body's instinct. An extremely painful body altering relief but a relief nonetheless.

After the contraction passed, Vala went to release her hand. "I'll just slip out and wait with Daniel..."

Sam shook her head vehemently and grabbed Vala's hand back. "No. I want you to stay."

Sam didn't see it as her eyes were closed, but Jack did. Everything about Vala's face showed her shock that Sam felt close enough to her to let her stay for this momentous event and then she smiled just a little, shyly. She glanced at Jack questioningly, and when he nodded his approval, she genuinely smiled.

A fierce grip on both their hands turned their attention back to Sam as another contraction hit. Reality began to settle in on Jack as he watched her push. He'd been in such a mad rush to get here ...to get to Sam, that he hadn't actually stopped to think about the fact their baby was coming. Their son. God, he was about to be a father again. A bundle of nerves exploded in his chest, setting his heart rate faster as butterflies took flight in his stomach. He was so unbelievable nervous and fearful for Sam and the baby. What if something went wrong? He'd be absolutely powerless to stop it.

Jack brushed her hair back from her face with his fingers and Vala cooled Sam's face with a cloth. It was killing him to see her in this much pain and know he couldn't do a damn thing about it but hold her hand.

"Next time I'm getting an epidural," she informed him sagely.

He smiled. "You mean you aren't gonna castrate me after all?"

Sam looked at him pointedly. "Don't tempt me."

He grinned again and brought her hand to his lips.

The next contraction hit and Sam released his hand to grab for his jacket. It wasn't until just that moment when Jack realized he was still in full dress blue's. Peachy.

Thirty more minutes passed and Sam was completely exhausted. A broken cry escaped her lips, though no tears followed.

"Jack, I can't do this anymore. I'm so tired."

Vala watched as Jack stroked his thumb over Sam's hand, leaning down to touch his forehead against the side of Sam's head. Jack whispered something in Sam's ear that Vala couldn't hear. He continued to murmur quietly to her, silent tears escaping her eyes until he looked at Sam pointedly and she nodded, much calmer than before. Jack kissed her temple before standing upright again, taking her hand in both of his. Sam smiled brilliantly up at her husband and Jack returned the look with his own soft smile. Even just looking at him from an angle, Vala could see the overpowering love coming from Jack's eyes as he looked at Sam.

"Okay. Here we go. Push, Sam."

Sam nodded at Carolyn, taking a deep breathe, chin to chest, and pushing with everything she had.

"Good. That's great, Sam! He's almost here! I can see his head now."

Sam pushed again, determined to get the baby out when Carolyn shocked the heck out of her.

"Okay. Okay. Stop pushing for a second."

"Stop pushing?!" she couldn't help but shout.

Carolyn just smiled, eyes still focused on the baby. "His head's out, Sam. I just need to suction his nose and mouth really quick and then you can push him the rest of the way out. Okay. I'm done. Bring your baby into the world, Sam."

Sam bore down again, her muscles feeling like they were being ripped apart and then ...relief. The breath she had been holding burst out of her and just as she opened her eyes, Sam heard it. The most beautiful sound in the world ...her baby's loud indignant cries at being brought into the world.

Jack was positive that his heart stopped beating when the baby came out. Each second took forever to pass. Then, Jack saw the face. The baby's eyes creased, tightly shut, and his little mouth frowned and puckered out, belting out the loudest wail Jack had ever heard. And Jack let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

Dr. Lam put the baby on Sam's stomach and Jack's vision blurred. He had a son. He was a father!

"Sir, do you want to cut the cord?"

For a second, Jack's brain didn't process that he was being spoken to but then he nodded his head, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. By the time, Jack cut through the cord, a nurse was already starting to dry the baby off.

"Sam," Dr. Lam started, "we're just gonna take the baby over there to finish drying him off and make sure he's okay."

Sam nodded, not taking her eyes off her son. Once Carolyn had taken him off to the side, Sam looked at Jack. He had the largest smile she'd ever seen on his face and tears running down his cheeks. In all the years she'd known him, Sam had never once seen him cry.

"Jack."

He looked down at her at his name and if possible, his smile got bigger. He leaned over her, cupping the side of her face, and rested his forehead against hers. Practically beaming, he informed her, "Sam, we're parents!"

Sam graced him with her mega-watt smile and Jack pulled back just enough to look over her features, memorizing the way she looked at this moment.

"You are so beautiful."

Sam couldn't help but think he sounded like he was in awe at being in her very presense and she shook her head, pulling him to her to kiss him senseless.

"I love you," she said seriously, mere inches separating their faces.

"I know," he replied with a smile. She couldn't help but grin at his smugness.

Vala, meanwhile, had crowded around the baby's little station as the nurses checked his vitals. He had stopped crying now and slowly blinked open his eyes. He settled on Vala and looked at her curiously.

She grinned. "Well, hello there, darling. I am your Aunt Vala. A great many people have awaited your arrival, I'll have you know. Let's see, there's your Uncle Cameron and Muscles. And of course, your Uncle Daniel. He's the handsome one always following me around."

Jack whispered in Sam's ear. "I think our son's getting his first lesson on space pirating."

"Jack!", Sam chided, holding back a chuckle.

The nurse finished bundling little O'Neill and brought him over to Jack and Sam. Vala followed, stopping at the side of the bed. Once the baby was settled in Sam's arms, Vala said, "I'll go let the pacing uncles in the hall know every thing's okay."

As she turned, Sam grasped onto her arm. When their eyes met, Sam said simply, "Thank you."

Vala smiled serenely. "Thank you, Sam."

The women communicated something silently between them and then Vala left the new little family to their privacy.

Jack perched on the side of the bed, looking at the little bundle.

The baby slowly blinked his eyes open again, finding it much harder to do so now that he was all wrapped up and warm. A blurry figure with a familiar voice said, "Hey there, buddy. Happy birthday."

Baby O'Neill whipped his eyes around and caught something bright. He stared at the blurry image, entranced. Then it too spoke. "Jack, he's beautiful."

"You betcha. And hungry by the looks of it."

The baby moved his head around clumsily, looking for Sam's breast. Sam adjusted her gown to accommodate him and little O'Neill latched on, making a happy gurgling sound.

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, buddy, life doesn't get much better than that right there."

Sam laughed incredulously. "God, Jack! You are such a caveman."

He grinned. Sam stroked the baby's cheek and Jack reached out to touch his padded bum, feeling that he was real, that this was actually happening.

His voice thick with emotion, Jack quietly said, "Thank you."

Sam turned to her husband, his eyes still on the baby, and cupped his cheek. Leaning toward him, she kissed the other one. Jack looked at her then.

"I love you."

She smiled smugly. "I know."

And Jack did the only thing he knew to do when she got that knowing look. He kissed her.

Once Sam finished feeding the baby, Jack stood up and Sam handed him their son. Jack had been told that babies this young couldn't smile yet or at least weren't doing it on purpose. But he didn't believe it. Not when after taking the world's biggest yawn, his son smiled content in his arms, drunk with milk.

"Hello, Nate. I'm your Dad. I'm gonna teach you all about fishing, and hockey, and the stars. Your mom may be a theoretical astrophysicist, but I know the constellations better than she does."

Jack glanced at Sam to see her reaction to that to find her sleeping with a small smile on her face. Nathan, in his arms, had fallen asleep right about the time he said 'dad'.

Jack smiled and kept talking. "And then there's The Simpsons. They're very important..."