Title: A Gift From Above
Author: Jo. R
Rating: Teens
Category: Fluff, humour, Sam/Jack
Season/Spoilers: Set season seven before Chimera and Heroes. General knowledge of seasons 1-6.
Summary: Thor meddles in Sam and Jack lives with an unexpected gift. (Aliens get Sam pregnant with Jack's baby cliché ahead – consider yourself warned!)
Disclaimer: The characters, once again, aren't mine. The characters, once again, are glad for this. Oh, yes.
Author's Notes: Oops. I did it again. Only… not quite. Big thanks to Ruthie and Ruth for the encouragement, and Shaz for the idea of cliché-writing in the first place. :)
Authors Notes 2008 Addition: This was written in 2005 for the Samjack4evah LiveJournal community. A combination of things kept me from posting it then so am dusting it off now just for the fun of it.

The plastic wand fell to the floor, almost as if it had bitten her. Sam Carter stared at her reflection in the mirror in the bathroom of her house in shock, not really seeing herself starting back.

She was pregnant.

Pregnant?!

There were a lot of reasons why that was so very, very wrong.

For starters, there was the lack of a partner. She was pretty reasonably sure to get pregnant, a woman needed a man to be involved somewhere. Or a sperm bank, and she didn't have an account at one of those either.

Secondly, she didn't have room in her life for a baby. She was a soldier, for crying out loud, fighting on the front lines of a war very few people knew about. And she was a scientist, one of the few at the SGC who understood how it all worked and who ultimately knew how to fix it when it all went wrong.

How could she be pregnant? How?!

"This isn't happening," she muttered, glaring down at the little piece of plastic as though it were to blame for her current predicament. "This is so not happening."

But it was. There were two blue lines staring smugly back at her when she picked up the stick from the floor. She growled at it and threw it in the bin in the corner of the room, unlocking the door (yes, she locked it even when she was the only person home) and flinging it back on its hinges, storming dramatically from the room.

She got dressed, the thought racing through her mind that it was all a mistake. A very big mistake. She'd done the test wrong – hey, it was possible, even for someone with her superior brain power! – or it was defective in some way. There was only one way to know for sure: another test.

Only this time, Sam decided grimly, it would be done by a professional. Someone she trusted not to screw up and someone who would hopefully – definitely – put to rest her fears.

She was half-way to her car, having locked the front door behind her, when she whipped out her cell phone and hit speed dial #3.

"Hi Janet, it's me. I've got a small problem…"

The 'small problem' turned into a 'big problem'. Doctor Janet Fraiser looked up from the test results and back at her friend with a sympathetic look on her face. She carefully schooled her features into a neutral expression before Sam looked up and caught her.

"I'm sorry, Sam. The tests are all positive. You're pregnant."

Sam's hopeful expression faded into a frown, her arms moving from resting on the arms of her chair to cross over her chest defiantly. "No, I'm not. It's a mistake."

"There's no mistake, honey, I ran the test three times. You're pregnant."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too – damn it, Sam." A slightly annoyed look passed over Janet's face and she closed the file on her knee with an audible sigh. "You are pregnant. We can play the 'am not/are too' game for as long as you want but it won't change things. You are pregnant and in the next seven to six months, you are going to get bigger and eventually give birth to a baby."

"I'm going to get fat, you mean," Sam glowered, her arms still crossed over her chest defensively. "And then I'm going to give birth to something that may or may not be human because there is no way this child was conceived naturally. I haven't had sex in way to long for that."

Janet threw her a look and glanced away, her voice cautious when she spoke. "Sam, are you sure you haven't, maybe, gotten drunk one night, maybe off-world…?"

"I'm positive, apparently in more ways that one," Sam groused, her blue eyes narrowing at the doctor. "I think I'd remember something like that, don't you?"

Janet shrugged but didn't say anything. "Well, there are tests we can do to see if there's any evidence but given how long ago it probably was, it's doubtful we'll find anything. Sam, honey, I have to ask." She leaned forward in her chair and reached out to take Sam's hands. "Is there a chance you could've been assaulted without your knowing it?"

"If I was assaulted without knowing it, I wouldn't know enough to be able to answer yes to that question," Sam retorted smartly, shrugging her shoulders and drawing her hands back. "I suppose there's a possibility but if I was, surely that would come up in our post-mission checks? Besides, do you really think the guys would've let me out of sight long enough for something like that to happen?"

"If they were drugged or otherwise engaged, it's possible that they wouldn't be aware of where you were, even the Colonel and we both know how over-protective he could be." Janet took Sam's soft snort as her assent. Although Teal'c had a reputation for being SG-1's personal bodyguard, it was the Colonel anyone who meant Sam – or any member of the team - harm had to look out for. "But I suppose you're right. We would've picked up on it, made a note in your file, and I can't remember ever doing that or someone mentioning to me that they did. I'll check it out, though, just in case."

"You do that." Sam managed a thin smile, uncrossing her arms to pick at the arms of the chair again. "What do we do now? You're going to want to stick needles in me, aren't you?"

Janet smiled. "Sorry, Sam," she apologised without real meaning. "It's all for the best. If you want, I'll start getting things ready and compare the notes we've got on file to see if I can find anything there while you go and tell your team and General Hammond." She arched an eyebrow when Sam opened her mouth to protest. "They need to know, Sam. You know that. They'll only ask questions otherwise once they find out you're not allowed to go off-world."

Sam's jaw tightened. "I can't go off-world? Why? Pregnant women have travelled through the Stargate before. We've evacuated them from their home worlds and taken them to new places before and you said it was okay…"

"They were pregnant women without naquada in their bodies who were travelling peacefully from one planet to another. Not former Tok'ra hosts who, even with the best of intentions, can't go on a routine mineral survey without being shot at or kidnapped or otherwise injured in some way." Janet fixed her friend with her best steely gaze, allowing herself a small smile when Sam looked away in defeat. "It'll take me about an hour to get everything ready here. Is that going to be enough time to tell General Hammond and SG-1?"

"More than enough time," Sam said, grimacing at the thought. She stood up and ran a hand through her hair, biting her lip anxiously. "See you in an hour, Janet. Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it."

Luck was definitely something she needed and an hour was definitely more than enough time.

"You're WHAT?!" That was the Colonel. Jack O'Neill. Commanding Officer of SG-1 and friend as well as potentially-maybe-one-day-more.

"Calm down, Jack, I have a feeling there's more to it than that," Daniel Jackson responded diplomatically. He took his glasses off as Sam gave him a grateful look, cleaned the lenses on his shirt before putting them back on and peering at her expectantly. "So should we be saying congratulations…?"

"Not exactly," Sam answered with a shrug. She glanced at General Hammond and Teal'c, both of whom stayed quiet. "I don't know how I'm pregnant."

"Well, Carter, it's pretty damn simple. Surely you didn't miss that biology class…?"

"Colonel O'Neill." General Hammond threw Jack a warning look and earned himself a small smile from Sam. "Please, Major, continue."

Sam took a deep breath and fixed a calm expression on her face. "What I meant - before the Colonel - interrupted is that there is every indication that this… child… wasn't conceived naturally. To my knowledge, I haven't willingly had sex with anyone and there's no record, as far as Janet was aware, to say I was assaulted without knowing it off-world. It's a possibility she's looking into but in all likelihood, if that had happened, we'd have been aware of it before now. After I've finished here, I'm to go back to the infirmary to undergo further tests to see if they'll reveal anything else about this pregnancy."

There was a shocked silence and Sam found herself under intense scrutiny. She lowered her gaze to the briefing room table and waited, cheeks growing steadily warmer, for some to speak.

"Very well, Major." General Hammond's voice had her look up. He smiled at her, a faint, concerned smile that would have been condescending had it been from anyone else. "If you want to get back to the infirmary, you're dismissed. I have to commend you, though, on how calmly you're handling this situation."

"I'm not the kind of person to fall apart, Sir," Sam commented, standing with a nod in his direction. "I'll keep that till I know all the facts and have dealt with the matter in the most appropriate way."

With her head held high, she left the briefing room, leaving four stunned men in her wake. General Hammond stood and dismissed them, disappearing to his office as quickly as he could – no doubt to brief the President on the goings-on of the SGC. Jack, Daniel and Teal'c remained seated for a long time, all wondering how to help their friend and teammates through the difficult times ahead.

A few hours later, Sam was lying on her back on a bed in the infirmary, staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression on her face. "Are we nearly done?" She asked when she heard Janet's footsteps approach.

"We're done," Janet answered with what she hoped was an encouraging smile. She didn't want to admit that after hours of going through notes and running tests they were still no further forward. Defeat was not a word in her vocabulary. "We should know more when the results get back and although I've put a rush on them, it could be tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"Great." Sam sat up and stared at her expectantly. "Does that mean I can leave and get back to work?"

"Actually, no." Janet's smile slipped slightly. "I'm a little concerned by your blood pressure, Sam. It's a little too high, especially for someone in your condition. I've recommended to General Hammond – and he agreed – that you stay overnight in the infirmary, or at least until the results come back and we know something conclusive."

"You mean until you know that it really is a baby I'm carrying and not an alien ready to burst out of my stomach and attack people?" Sam asked conversationally, without even blinking.

Janet, however, did blink. A lot. "Ah, no… That's not what I was thinking though now you mention it…"

"It was a joke, Jan." A small, genuine smile appeared on Sam's face. A hand moved to rest against the gentle, natural swell of her stomach. "I don't really think it's going to burst out of here and kill people. That would be just too horror movie-esque. My life is more science fiction, I think. Not horror."

"That's a nice way of putting it, Carter," an approving voice said from the doorway. Colonel O'Neill sauntered into the room, all traces of his anger gone in the aftermath of her revelation. "Though Sci-Fi really isn't my thing."

"Well, I can't say I've watched enough of The Simpsons to say whether or not my life compares to an episode," Sam quipped back.

Janet, sensing her presence wasn't needed, slipped out of the room with a quick warning to Sam not to try leaving: "I'm serious, Sam. If I find out you've tried, I'll put guards at the door."

Jack and Sam watched her go before looking at one another awkwardly. Jack put his hands in his pockets and stared down at her hand, which was still resting protectively over her stomach. "Sorry for the way I acted before, Carter, I just thought…"

"You thought I'd met with someone and hadn't told you," Sam finished for him, arching an eyebrow when he risked moving his gaze up to her face. "No matter what else is between us, Sir, I consider you and the guys to be among my closest friends. If there was someone in my life, I'd tell you. But, as you now know, there isn't. There hasn't been for a long time."

Jack nodded and kept his gaze on her face despite the near overwhelming urge he had to look away. "I wouldn't blame you if there was, you know. It would be perfectly normal, perfectly natural…"

"And completely out of the question now I'm saddled with a perfectly abnormal, unnatural pregnancy," Sam added with a roll of her eyes. "Yep, that's probably definitely gonna be a big turn off."

He tried not to grin but ended up ducking his head to keep her from seeing it. "So, ah, how you feeling?"

The attempt at changing the subject didn't faze her. Sam shrugged and smiled at him when he glanced up. "I feel fine, a little confused but generally okay. All of the tests came back okay so far apart from my blood pressure so I'm fine. How are you?"

"Confused," he admitted, helping himself to the chair beside her bed. "We – the guys and me – spent the last few hours trying to figure out when this – " he motioned to her stomach with his hand, "- could've happened. There's nothing I can think of, no incident, no mission…" He shrugged. "I'm sorry, Carter. I feel like we let you down somehow, by not stopping it from happening."

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Sir." Sam's smile was genuine but a little sad. "If you could've stopped it, you would've done. I know that. Honest."

"Good." Jack 's eyes met hers and they stared at each other intently for several, long moments until Sam blushed and looked away. Jack grinned. "Well, I better be going. Hammond's asked to see me this afternoon about temporarily finding a replacement for SG-1." His grin slipped a little at the alarm on her face. "Don't worry, Carter, the emphasis is on the temporarily though I'm gonna do my best to convince him SG-1 can function as a three-man team till you're ready to join us again."

She smiled and opened her mouth to thank him but didn't get the chance. There was a flash of white light, which she covered her face to shield her eyes from, and the next thing she knew, she landed with an 'oomf' on her behind on the cool floor of an Asgard ship.

Jack stood beside her and reached down a hand to help her up when he realised she was on the floor at his feet. "Thor!" He bellowed, giving her an apologetic look when she winced.

"Ah, Sir?" She asked, her face flushed. "Could I borrow your shirt please?"

He stared at her in confusion for a few moments before it registered that she had one hand behind her back, presumably holding the open back of her infirmary gown together. "Oh, sure thing, Carter."

As embarrassed as she was, he deftly undid the buttons on his shirt – aware of her gaze on him the whole time – and slipped out of the outer shirt. He handed it to her, relieved it was relatively cold at the SGC so he had a black t-shirt on underneath.

"Thank you," Sam said, slipping into the shirt and fastening it quickly.

The little grey alien still hadn't put in an appearance. Jack paced the small room – not the control room, he noticed, lips set in a grim line. "Damn it, Thor! This isn't funny! Major Carter needs to go back to the infirmary…"

"Why is that, O'Neill?" The little alien appeared in another, not-so-blinding flash of light. He cocked his head to the side and studied them with his big black eyes. "There is nothing wrong with Major Carter. I scanned her prior to beaming you aboard. I would not have endangered her life or that of the child she carries if it was not perfectly safe."

"Your scans revealed I'm pregnant?" Sam took a small step forward, towards Jack and Thor. Her eyes widened slightly and her heart quickened. "Thor, could you do me a favour and run some more details scans? Detailed enough, say, to tell us who or what the father is, when I'm due, that kind of thing?"

"Carter?" Jack threw her an intrigued glance.

"It'll be quicker than waiting for Janet's tests," Sam told him quietly. "I need to know, Sir. As soon as possible. I need to make a decision one way or another pretty soon…"

A decision. Jack rocked back on his heels, his mouth tightening. A decision whether or not to terminate the pregnancy.

Thor just blinked at them, as confused as an Asgard ever was. "I do not understand the question, Major Carter. Surely you would not abort the child I have gifted you and O'Neill with."

"Gifted?"

"Me?"

Sam and Jack stared at each other, the colour draining from their respective faces at the same time.

"Thor!" They exclaimed together, with Jack taking a menacing step closer to the little grey alien. "Tell me you didn't do what I think you did, Thor. That's way out of line…"

"I do no understand, O'Neill. I merely provided you and Major Carter with a gift that your government were not prepared to allow you." Thor tilted his head to the side and stared at them. "Was that wrong of me?"

"Cut the bull, Thor, you've studied humans long enough to know it's wrong. You had no right to interfere in our lives like that. You violated Carter, took away the element of choice…" Jack shook his head and put his hands in his pockets to keep from strangling Earth's biggest (though still very small) ally.

Thor blinked at them again. "Do you wish me to remove the foetus?"

"No!" It was Sam who spoke, a frown in place on her very pale features. "You can't do that, Thor… Why? Why would you do this? Fair enough, you saw it as a gift but surely you could've talked to us first…?" Her gaze remained fixed on the Asgard even as Jack turned back to make sure she was okay. "The cloning problem," she said softly, her eyes narrowing. "You did this to help yourselves. You've always said Colonel O'Neill's DNA might someday hold the key but it wasn't advanced enough so, what, you decided we weren't advancing fast enough for you?"

Thor hung his head in Asgard shame. "Forgive me, Major Carter. Upsetting you was not our intent. We thought we could benefit mutually from this arrangement. You and O'Neill could experience the joys of parenthood while we would, of course, have access to the child's DNA once it is born."

"Send us back, Thor." Jack moved to stand beside Sam, giving in to impulse and reaching out to touch her arm in a gesture of support, a sign of unity. "Give us a few hours, then get in touch with Hammond. We need to talk about this. Decide what we're going to do."

The alien nodded and disappeared. Several minutes later, Sam and Jack reappeared in the infirmary, startling a nurse who was surprised to find the missing patient and missing Colonel returned – clothes swapping and all. She hurried off to find Janet and alert her that the Major and Colonel were back, leaving the stunned couple in silence.

"I can't believe him," Jack said eventually, running a hand through his hair. "Jesus, Carter… I know he meant well but this… This is just beyond a joke."

"He didn't mean any harm," Sam answered slowly, as if she was waking from a dream. She lifted her face and stared at him through shocked eyes. "You're the father," she murmured, her hand moving back to rest on her stomach. "I never thought…"

Jack didn't get the chance to ask her what she'd never thought. Janet scurried into the infirmary, General Hammond, Daniel and Teal'c on her heels. The four of them crowded by the bed, General Hammond's eyebrow rising as he took in Jack's state of undress.

"Colonel O'Neill," the General said sternly. "I assume there's an explanation for this?"

"Yes, Sir." Jack couldn't stop himself from straightening, fighting back a wince at the reprimand that was sure to come. "The mystery of Carter's baby's been solved, in a manner of speaking."

"In a manner of speaking?" Janet moved to stand by Sam's side, a look of concern on her face. "Sam? Are you okay?"

"Colonel O'Neill's the father," Sam blurted out, her hand finding Janet's and squeezing tightly. "Thor decided he'd give us a gift, one that might help the Asgard solve their cloning problem."

"Thor is responsible for this?" A look of relief passed over Janet's face. "At least that answers the question of whether the baby's human… Doesn't it?"

Sam nodded but wouldn't look at anyone. She just stared down at the hand resting on her stomach as though it didn't belong to her.

"Okay, well, I think Sam's had enough excitement for one day all things considered." The look Janet threw at the four men still gathered around the bed with identical expressions of surprise on their faces left no room for arguments. "You can all come back tomorrow, separately, if Sam feels up to it."

Daniel and Teal'c said their goodbyes and slowly walked out of the room. General Hammond lingered with Jack, throwing the Colonel a look when he made no move to leave the room.

"Colonel O'Neill," General Hammond said in his best command voice. "Major Carter needs her rest and I need you to help me explain this mess to the President."

Jack cringed but stood his ground. "With all due respect, Sir, I think I need to stay here and talk to Major Carter about what we're going to do. We told Thor to contact you in a few hours, Sir, to explain it. Then maybe you could come and explain it to us."

General Hammond opened his mouth to argue but Janet decided to side with the Colonel and walked around the side of the bed. "Colonel O'Neill's right, Sir. He and Major Carter need to make a decision whether or not to go ahead with the pregnancy. It's best we give them some time alone."

With a great deal of reluctance and not without a long look back over his shoulder, General Hammond let Janet walk him out of the infirmary, shaking his head as soon as they got outside. "It's not just the President I'm concerned about," he confided in the doctor, the two of them walking slowly towards the elevators. "What's Jacob going to think about this, that's what I want to know!"

"I'm sure he'll understand, Sir, as much as any of us ever will," Janet supplied helpfully. She stood beside him at the elevators, fighting the urge to go back and check up on Sam. "No matter what they decide, they're going to need all of our support, Sam especially. I don't want to think about how this is going to affect her career…"

"It won't," General Hammond insisted, his expression determined. "With Thor admitting to it, there's no evidence to say Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill did anything wrong. I'll make sure that the President, the Joint Chiefs and anyone else who wants to know is aware of that."

Janet gave him a small smile and stepped into the elevator when it arrived, her shoulders slumping just a little. At least that was one hurdle out of the way.

"Carter, we need to talk about this. We need to decide what we're going to do." Jack watched her and stood up again, resuming his earlier pacing. She still didn't reply. "At the very least, we need to decide whether to keep the baby or to… you know."

She moved her head and looked at him with unseeing eyes. "I'm not getting rid of it," she said softly. "I know it involves you now but… The more I think about it, the more I wonder if this isn't the only way."

"The only way what?" Once again he sat down, the confused expression returning to his face.

"The only way I can have a child," Sam answered distantly. "Janet told me once it might be more difficult because of Jolinar. At the time, I didn't think about it but the more I do…" She lifted her shoulder and shrugged. "I'm not getting any younger, my body keeps going from one trauma to the next. Maybe this is the only chance I'll get at having a child of my own. I can't throw it away."

Jack nodded, understanding dawning on his face. He swallowed, hard, realising it meant he was going to be a father again. "Well," he said on a released breath, "now that's decided, we need to get down to business. Choosing names," he clarified when he saw her arch an eyebrow. "Decide where to live, what to do about regulations."

"I'll live at my house." She frowned at him. "I'll change the office to a nursery. As for names… Isn't that a bit early? We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl or an alien. We should probably wait till its born."

"An alien?" He allowed himself a small grin, pleased when he saw a ghost of a smile play on her lips. "I think Thor would've told us if it was an alien. But half of the fun of having a baby is the not knowing. We can pick out both names – and one for an alien if you want – and then we'll see if he or she or it suits the name we choose after it's born."

"You want to be involved," Sam realised, the smile fading from her face. She tilted her head to the side and stared at him seriously. "I didn't think you would."

It was Jack's turn to look surprised, his eyebrows rising. "Why not? This is my baby, too, Carter, and although he, she or it might not have been conceived in the normal, fun way, it's still my baby. My son or daughter… or alien. Which brings me back to living arrangements…" He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "How about you move into my place? It's bigger, plenty of room for us all. We could decorate one of the spare rooms as a nursery…"

"And I'll have the other spare room for me?" Sam finished, her gaze fixed on his face.

Jack's cheeks flushed and he looked away. "See, that's why I mentioned regs, too. I don't think, realistically, you could live in my house without anything happening between us. If we're going to do this, I want to do it right. Properly. As a real family."

"You mean… as a couple. You and me. In a relationship?" She stared at him when he dragged his gaze back to her face, contemplating the suggestion. She shook her head and gave him a sad smile as reality intruded on her daydreams. "They'd never go for it. Even if General Hammond could convince the President to let us have this baby and keep working together, they'd never allow it if they found out we were going to live together and be together."

He disagreed but knew better than to argue with her. Instead he nodded and fixed a neutral expression on his face, shrugging his shoulders as she studied him. "We'll figure it out, Carter. One way or another. So now it's settled you'll move in with me," and he gave her a look that told her not to argue, "we need to figure out what we're calling it."

Sam rolled her eyes and did her best to stifle a yawn. "Can we save that conversation for tomorrow? I think for once I agree with Janet and could really use some sleep."

"Then I'll leave you to it." Jack stood and gave her a long, lingering look she couldn't decipher and then smiled softly. "Get some rest, Carter. I'll be back in the morning."

She returned his smile and watched him leave before letting her eyes slide shut, confident he'd be back in the morning. Confident the problem – the child growing inside her – would wait until then.

Jack returned as promised but was a little later than he planned. After a meeting with Thor and General Hammond, in which the little grey alien had grovelled a lot and promised to share technology and all sorts of other wonderful things with Earth in exchange for access to DNA samples from the baby when it was born, it seemed the issue of paternity was finally allowed to rest. Heck, he'd even got Thor to agree to name another ship after him – and one after Carter – which was cool, as far as he was concerned.

Another thing that was 'cool' was the fact that the General had apparently spent almost all night arguing with the President and the Joint Chiefs over what was going to happen next. Thor, too, had helped and redeemed himself just that little bit more in Jack's eyes. The bottom line was that the President and the Joint Chiefs had been persuaded that it wasn't fair to punish the child – or Sam and Jack for that matter – for what Thor had done so, thanks to the meddling of the little grey alien and the gift he'd given them, there was a new loop hole in the SGC regulations meaning that men and women under the same command could get together at the discretion of the base commander.

"Hey, Carter, great news!" He couldn't wait to tell her. He couldn't keep the grin off his face, either. Jack bounded into the infirmary and grinned at her even more, even though she glared at him from over the rim of the bowl she was throwing up in. "Morning sickness, huh? That's a pain. But anyway, Hammond just got off the phone with the President and the whole regulation issue you were worried about? You can stop worrying. It's all sorted, thanks in no small part to Thor."

"Great." Sam glowered at him and lowered her head back to the bowl with a low moan. "Fantastic. Now go away."

Jack hesitated, his enthusiasm waning just a little bit. "Carter?"

"Sir, I'm throwing up for the country here, maybe even the planet. I don't need or want an audience." The effect of her glare was ruined by another bout of emptying an already empty stomach.

He hesitated, torn between wanting to go and be supportive and between wanting to get as far away as possible from the sound and smell as he could. 'Suck it up, Jack,' he told himself sternly. 'You want a relationship with her, you have to stick it out through the good times, bad times and the downright gross times.'

She glared at him but he ignored it and moved to sit behind her on the bed, rubbing her back awkwardly as though that would somehow help.

Eventually – thankfully – it was over, and one of the nurses arrived and took away the bowl, much to Jack's relief. He moved out of the way, letting Sam lie back and took his seat beside the bed, content to just watch her for a while.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"You were staring."

"Was not."

"Were too."

"Was not."

"Were too."

"Was not."

"Colonel!" Her glare was back full force. For some reason, it only made his grin resurface. "What were you saying about the President and Thor?"

"Oh, that." He flashed her another grin and repeated what he'd learned that morning, sitting back with a smile when he was finished so he could watch her reaction play out across her face. "So… it's good news, isn't it?"

After a long moment, Sam nodded, a shy smile forming on her face. "Yeah. It is."

"So we're going to do this…?" He leaned forward in his seat – almost sitting on the edge of it in anticipation. "We're really going to give us a try?"

"Yeah." Her smile grew a little more confident as his hand crept over the bed to cover hers. "We'll give it a try and see if it works out."

"It will," Jack promised, the grin on his face making his jaw and cheeks ache. "I know it will."

It worked out. Even through the many arguments over what to call their baby – he, she or it – including an argument over whether eight names was too many for one little, tiny person.

In the end, they settled on Johnathon Jacob for a boy and Gracie Rose for a girl, which turned out to be a good thing since Sam gave birth to both – a surprise for the happy parents as well as the little grey alien who masterminded the whole thing.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Sam cooed, staring down at her son.

"They are," Jack agreed, grinning at his son.

"Don't they… look a little grey?" Jacob Carter spoke up, a soft smile on his face as he stared at his grandchildren.

Sam and Jack looked at each other, eyebrows raised. "It'll pass," they said in unison, both hoping it was true.

Samuel Jack and Gracie Rose gurgled up at their parents, a twinkle in their eye. A secret that the twins shared, both with each other and with Uncle Thor.

The End.